The agency is likely to recommend that people who can consistently wear N95 or KN95 masks, rather than cloth masks, should do so.

Coming Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. ET
Army Recognition Group is appointed with its online Defense and Security magazine Army Recognition, as the only Official Online Show Daily News and Official Web TV for DSA 2020 Defence Services Asia and NATSEC National Security Asia that will be held from the 24 to 27 August 2020 in Kula Lumpur, Malaysia.



DSA / NATSEC Defense and Security Exhibition will take place in Kuala Lumpur from 24 to 27 August 2020. (Picture source Army Recognition)

The organizers of DSA 2020 understood the interest to use the international notoriety and popularity of Army Recognition online Global Defence & Security magazine to spread all activities of the event and to provide the exhibitors with a global online window in parallel with DSA and NATSEC 2020 Defense and Security exhibition.

As the only Official Online Show Daily News and Web TV supplier for DSA 2020, Army Recognition editorial team will have a significant presence at the show to provide full coverage about this event. Published online and updated daily, if you cannot attend DSA 2020, follow all activities of DSA 2020 with our news, reports, pictures and Web Television.

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Our Official Online Online Show Daily News and Official Web TV DSA 2020 spread all activities of the event and provide all exhibitors with a global online window in parallel with DSA 2020 Defence Services Asia and NATSEC National Security Asia about the latest defense and security technologies and innovations.

As Official Online Web TV of DSA 2020, we will provide daily videos with interviews, reports and full coverage of the event. Thanks to the popularity of our Online Defense and Security News channel on Youtube with more than 125,000 subscribers, 964,000 views/month and more than 2,400,000 minutes view/month and our Defense and Security Web TV website https://www.defensewebtv.com use these new ways to communicate and promote your Company and its range of products.

At the same time, Army Recognition provides a free service for all exhibitors, with the diffusion of latest press releases in the Official Online Show Daily News DSA 2020. Army Recognition proposes a new range of online marketing and advertising solutions such as product technical datasheets, Company profiles, Banners, Logos, and Videos, etc.

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Weather Alert

...The Flood Warning continues for the following rivers in Kentucky...Illinois...Missouri... Ohio River at Paducah. Ohio River at Cairo. Ohio River at Olmsted Lock and Dam. .Recent heavy rainfall and snow melt will continue to keep water levels on the lower Ohio River in or near minor flood this week. 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 REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM THIS EVENING 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 7:00 PM CST Monday the stage was 38.6 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 Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved $2 million in new funding to support efforts to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus (nCoV).





Doctors take care of a woman suspected of contracting Coronavirus in Vinh Phuc Province

According to the bank's statement, the funds will supplement an ongoing regional technical assistance and strengthen response capacity in Cambodia, the People's Republic of China, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The assistance will fund the development of recommendations for improved outbreak investigation and surveillance, including in rural areas, and the strengthening of health systems resilience and capacity for epidemic response. It will support the supply of diagnostic and laboratory equipment for rapid testing to help combat the outbreak.



ADB has a track record of providing rapid and targeted support to our members in emergency situations, said ADB President, Masatsugu Asakawa. We stand ready to provide further assistance as required.



ADB is collaborating closely with World Health Organization officials and other regional experts to identify areas for coordinated responses and possible further financial assistance to respond to the 2019-nCoV situation.



Additional technical assistance is under preparation to help other developing member countries improve key economic and health systems, including disease surveillance, provision of medical supplies, outbreak response plans, and regional cooperation. Where needed, support may include the procurement of medicines and medical equipment. Other activities may include economic and health system assessments to improve understanding of the economic impacts and the design of appropriate response measures.



ADBs economists are looking at the impact that the virus could have on the regions economies, including through channels such as tourism, consumption, trade, and supply chains. Dtinews



Vietnam successfully isolates new coronavirus: health official The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology has successfully cultivated and isolated the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the laboratory.
Rated banks in Saudi Arabia should maintain stable financial risk profiles in 2020, however growth remains dependent on the dynamics of the oil market and is vulnerable to global economic and regional geopolitical trends.

S&P Global Ratings in their report Banks in Emerging Markets: 15 Countries, Three Main Risks, notes that the lending growth in the kingdom will be mortgage-led and expects credit losses to stabilise in 2020 at about 70 bps.

The report further suggests that the growth prospects remain linked to commodity prices and are susceptible to adverse changes in the global economic conditions.

For Saudi Arabia, credit losses are set to stabilise, aided by the steadying economy and mortgage-led lending growth. The recovery of investment programmes and pick-up in GDP growth will likely stabilise the cost of risk for Saudi banks in 2020 at about 70 bps.

Weak growth and muted investment activity in the Saudi private and public sectors have weighed on the contracting industry. Although most problematic exposures have been written off, we do not rule out some volatility in exposure quality. In addition, the outflow of expatriates continues to pressure the property, vehicle markets, and the retail sector.

On the regulatory front, S&P Global Ratings continue to consider the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) a strong regulator with a good track record. We note, however, that SAMA has relaxed some regulatory requirements in 2019 related to mortgage lending due to government objectives to increase home ownership.

Looking ahead, we think the governments expansionary budget will be sufficient to boost the GDP growth above 2 per cent in 2020-2021, although credit growth will remain moderate.

The average long-term rating on banks in Saudi Arabia stood at 'BBB+' at September 30, 2019. This was in line with the outlooks on the banks, which were stable. The average stand-alone credit profile was 'bbb+', one notch higher than the anchor level for a bank operating in the country.

This is predominantly owing to the strong capitalisation of Saudi banks. -- Tradearabia News Service
More Officials May Be Ousted After Trumps Acquittal, Says Kellyanne Conway

More federal employees could be dismissed in the coming days following the ousters of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and Ambassador Gordon Sondland, who were key impeachment witnesses, said White House counsel Kellyanne Conway on Monday.

When asked by Fox & Friends anchors about whether more officials will be dismissed, Conway said it was maybe part of the White Houses plans. She then attempted to defend the removal of Vindman, a former Ukraine expert at National Security Council (NSC) who testified last year against President Donald Trump, after Democrats and Vindmans lawyer accused the president of carrying out his revenge. His brother, Yevgeny Vindman, a senior NSC lawyer, was also dismissed Friday.

In the case of the Vindman brothers, you remember, they were detailed here, and remain employed today, Conway told the news outlet. She said they didnt get fired but just got relocated. Reports have said that the Vindman twins were hired by the Pentagon.

They are working at the Army, where they were. They were detailed to the NSC. This is typical, Conway added. Ive had detailees on my small staff. This is very typical in a White House to have a detailee for a temporary period of time who then returns to what their full-time job is.

A lawyer for Vindman told media outlets on Feb. 7 that Vindman was fired from his position and was escorted from the White House premises. It came months after the former NSC official testified during a House Democrat-led impeachment inquiry and told a panel that he listened in on the July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, alleging that he thought Trumps requests of his counterpart were improper.

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, center, director for European Affairs at the National Security Council, arrives at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Oct. 29, 2019. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

But later on in the inquiry, Vindmans former NSC boss, Tim Morrison, told the House Intelligence Committee that other staffers viewed Vindman as unreliable and prone to leaking information. Meanwhile, he confirmed Vindman didnt keep him in the loop at all times when asked by the Republican counsel. Vindman also did not immediately speak to Morrison about his concerns about the July 25 phone call, Morrison claimed.

Over the weekend, Trump sought to highlight Morrisons testimony, writing on social media that Vindman had reported contents of my perfect calls incorrectly, [and] was given a horrendous report by his superior, the man he reported to, who publicly stated that Vindman had problems with judgement, adhering to the chain of command and leaking information. The presidents assertion was then disputed by Vindmans lawyer.

Sondland, through his lawyer on Friday, confirmed that he would be recalled from his position effective immediately. However, Sondland was far more effusive than Vindman, saying that he was happy to have served as Trumps U.S. ambassador to the European Union.

Gordon Sondland, the former U.S ambassador to the European Union, testifies before the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill on Nov. 20, 2019. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

He wrote a big check to the inauguration but wasnt really there before the president improbably, unsurprisingly, won, for people like that, Conway said of Sondland in the Fox interview, adding that it was nice of Trump to provide Sondland the ambassador post in the first place.

Sondland had donated $1 million to the presidents inauguration committee.

The White House personnel changes came just two days after the GOP-controlled Senate acquitted Trump on abuse of power and obstruction of Congress impeachment charges in a mostly party-line vote.
"It's been an honor and a fulfilling career to serve as Kidder Mathews' CEO for the past 21 years. During that time, we've grown from 4 offices in Washington to 22 offices in 5 states and 850 people. It's just been phenomenal that we've become the largest privately-held commercial real estate firm on the West Coast," said Lyon. "Our succession plan, including Bill Frame and our strong leadership team, gives me and our board of directors the utmost confidence in the continued execution of our strategic plan to maintain our outstanding culture, continue to grow, and to remain independent into the future. Over the past 3 years, Bill has done an outstanding job as president and COO, and he has proven that he is ready for this next level of leadership as CEO," said Lyon.

In 1992, Lyon merged his family-owned business with Kidder Mathews. He worked as a broker and consultant and served on the Kidder Mathews board until he was named President and CEO in 1999, and then promoted to Chairman and CEO in 2006. During his career as CEO, Jeff has been recognized with several leadership awards including Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young, CEO of the year by Seattle Business Magazine, Lifetime Achievement Award for Commercial Real Estate Leadership by the Puget Sound Business Journal, and the Power 100 Award by the Puget Sound Business Journal, which was given to the top 100 Puget Sound business leaders who have built iconic companies on a global scale. Jeff has always been very active in the community and the industry, serving on several boards, and he well appreciates the concept of giving back. In 2015 he led the Kidder Mathews board to formalize the firm's charitable contributions by creating the Kidder Mathews Foundation. The Foundation donates thousands of dollars and countless volunteer hours each year in several markets along the West Coast, to the firm's chosen entity, Habitat for Humanity.

Under Lyon's leadership, he has led the company to record levels of revenue, increasing from $27 million in 1999 to $212 million in 2019. Total transaction volume grew from $769 million to $9.6 billion, and the number of professional brokers grew from 73 to over 400 today. In addition, the firm's large property management division has grown significantly from 3 million square feet of managed space to 71.4 million and now includes a staff of 236, and the valuation advisory division expanded to 1,679 appraisals annually and 44 advisors and staff. The firm's attractive culture and success have earned it over 410 awards, including 57 for Best Place to Work, in various publications on the West Coast and nationally.

"Jeff has been a great mentor and partner. He has done a tremendous job maintaining our attractive culture and leading our firm into the position as the largest privately held firm on the West Coast that allows us to attract the top level of professional advisors and sophisticated clients," said Frame. "I am honored to have been named CEO and eager to continue on our path of growth and success as we move the company forward."

Bill Frame joined Kidder Mathews 28 years ago as an office sales and leasing specialist, and he was a perennial top producer in the firm. He served on the firm's strategic planning committee as well as the board of directors for 18 years. In addition, he was the managing director of the firm's Tacoma office for 16 years prior to being tapped to become president and COO in 2016, as a part of the firm's growth and CEO succession plan. Bill has been responsible for all operations, corporate growth, and shareholder profitability during the firm's aggressive growth over the past 3 years. He has been instrumental in the enhancement of the firm's operational infrastructure and added several new systems, platforms, and professional personnel to support the firm's growth and size.

Brian Hatcher, who will be named president and COO of the firm on July 1, joined Kidder Mathews in 1997 as a top producing office leasing and sales specialist. He served on the Kidder Mathews board of directors and strategic planning committee prior to being promoted to the regional president of brokerage in 2011, overseeing Washington and Oregon.

About Kidder Mathews

Kidder Mathews is the largest independently owned commercial real estate firm on the West Coast, with 800 real estate professionals and staff in 22 offices in Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, and Arizona. Kidder Mathews offers a complete range of brokerage, appraisal, property management, consulting, project & construction management, and debt & equity finance services for all property types. The firm performs $9.6 billion in transactions, manages over 70 million square feet of space, and conducts over 1,600 appraisals annually. For more information, visit kidder.com.

Contact:

Karen Benoit

Sr. Vice President Marketing

Kidder Mathews

206.296.9600

[email protected]

SOURCE Kidder Mathews

Related Links

www.kiddermathews.com


With the second highest number of confirmed and suspected diagnoses in China, Huanggang city in Hubei Province has been hit hard by the outbreak of 2019 Novel Coronavirus [1] . Residents of cities like Huanggang and Wuhan have been instructed to stay home and suspected patients have been quarantined at designated medical facilities. This drastic yet necessary move by the Chinese government has undoubtedly led to a surging demand for non-perishable foods. In response to this mass-scale need for basic necessities, and also in an effort to aid the relief efforts in Hubei province, the Company immediately decided to donate 750 cartons of luncheon meat cans each to Huanggang Central Hospital and Wuhan No. 9 Hospital, respectively.

Ms. Zeshu Dai, Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, commented, "We would like to express our deepest respect for all aid workers and medical personnel fighting at the frontline against the coronavirus in Hubei Province. As the whole country continues to fight against this epidemic, the shortage of food supplies has become a serious problem that cannot be ignored. We are closely monitoring the needs of the residents in the affected areas. To support those patients and healthcare personnel battling at the frontline, we immediately made our inventories available to help increase food supply and delivered canned products to them. We look forward to working with everyone in overcoming the challenges ahead and aiding those who are currently fighting against the ongoing epidemic."

[1] 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is a virus (more specifically, a coronavirus) identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China. Early on, many of the patients in the outbreak in Wuhan, China reportedly had some link to a large seafood and animal market, suggesting animal-to-person spread. However, a growing number of patients reportedly have not had exposure to animal markets, indicating person-to-person spread is occurring. At this time, it's unclear how easily or sustainably this virus is spreading between people. The latest situation summary updates are available on The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's web page 2019 Novel Coronavirus, Wuhan, China.

About China Xiangtai Food Co., Ltd.

Headquartered in Chongqing, China, China Xiangtai Food Co., Ltd, is a food company primarily engaged in pork processing. The Company's operations span key sections of the pork processing value chain, including slaughtering, packing, distribution, and wholesale of a variety of fresh pork meat and parts. Primarily focused on pork products, the Company also offers other fresh and processed products, including beef, lamb and poultries. Through its core values, the Company is committed to maintaining the highest standards of food safety, product quality, and sustainability to provide high-quality, nutritious, and tasty food in a responsible manner through its portfolio of trusted brands. For more information, please visit http://ir.plinfood.com/.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact in this announcement are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that the Company believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. Investors can identify these forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "aim," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "potential," "continue," "is/are likely to" or other similar expressions. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent occurring events or circumstances, or changes in its expectations, except as may be required by law. Although the Company believes that the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot assure you that such expectations will turn out to be correct, and the Company cautions investors that actual results may differ materially from the anticipated results.

For more information, please contact:

Company Contact

Mr. Xiaohui Wu, President

China Xiangtai Food Co., Ltd.

Phone: +86-1860-117-0697

Email: [email protected]

Investor Relations Contact

Ms. Tina Xiao, President

Ascent Investor Relations LLC

Phone: +1-917-609-0333

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE China Xiangtai Food Co. Ltd.

Related Links

www.plinfood.com


The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open to the public on December 14 this year, veteran Hollywood actor Tom Hanks announced during the Oscar ceremony in the Dolby Theatre.

Hanks is museum trustee and co-chair of the Academy Museum campaign with chair Bob Iger and co-chair Annette Bening.

"There is plenty of culture to be found in the City of Angels, but there has never been a museum dedicated to the art and science of motion pictures," Hanks said.

Academy Museum Director Bill Kramer said in statement, "We cannot wait to welcome the whole world to the Academy Museum. When our doors open on December 14, our thrilling combination of exhibitions, screenings, and public and educational programs will create unparalleled experiences for movie lovers everywhere."



The museum was first announced in 2012. Major construction has been completed on the museum's iconic building, designed by world-renowned architect Renzo Piano and located on Los Angeles's Miracle Mile.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 14:13:26|Editor: Xiaoxia

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday she thinks an infrastructure bill is "within range."

"I'm optimistic because we must do it," the Democratic leader said at a National Governors Association event. "I think there's a real chance, the president wants it," she said.

Several senior U.S. lawmakers have called for immediate action to upgrade the country's crumbling infrastructure, but talks between the administration and Democratic leaders over a 2-trillion-U.S.-dollar plan fell apart in May last year.

At the event moderated by New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, the House speaker said Richard Neal, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, will meet with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Tuesday when they may resume talks on an infrastructure bill.

Pelosi noted that the key issue is how to pay for it. "Infrastructure, it's all about money," she said. "The national debt is growing at such a rate that we'd have to pay as you go."

The California Democrat again criticized the Trump administration's tax cuts rolled out in late 2017, calling them a "tax scam" that added 2 trillion dollars to the national debt. "This is unsustainable," she said.

When asked by Maryland Governor Larry Hogan whether is it possible to get something done on infrastructure in this election year, Pelosi said she thinks it is "really honestly within range."

"There's never going to be enough appropriate funds ever to meet the needs that we have, we have to be more entrepreneurial and creative in how we come up with it," said Pelosi.
Ukrainians evacuated from Hubei province will be held in quarantine in two rest houses in Kyiv region

Ukrainian citizens evacuated from the Chinese province of Hubei in connection with the outbreak of coronavirus will be kept in quarantine for 14 days in two rest houses Kyiv region.

The announcement was made during a briefing by Acting Director General of the Center for Public Health of the Health Ministry of Ukraine Ihor Kuzin.

According to him, the evacuated Ukrainians will be quarantined in specially designated institutions.

"Two closed institutions have been identified. These are not hospitals, these are extended care facilities," he said. Both institutions are located in the Kyiv region.

Kuzin said that there is also another proposal from the Ministry of Defense for the placement of citizens during quarantine. Three quarantined evacuation sites have been identified.

Kuzin said already 51 people, including one child, have signed a consent to evacuation and quarantine.

Currently, development and coordination of all technical and logistical details of the evacuation is underway.
Putting healthier food on school cafeteria menus has done little to change school lunch participation rates: By my calculation, roughly 20 million eligible children, mostly from middle- and upper-middle-class families, continue to opt out of the national program by bringing lunch or by buying special a la carte food items not covered by the program.

As an individual family decision, packing lunches might seem like the best option, especially for children with special dietary needs. But when millions of families do so, their actions reduce the political will and financial resources necessary to make public school lunches better for everyone.

The Trump administration isnt much help. According to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, providing schools with the flexibility to plan menus that appeal to students taste preferences is a way to attract more paying customers to the federal program and reduce food waste. Mr. Purdue has pursued this strategy for making school lunch great again.

In practice, this has meant enacting policies that loosen restrictions on the amount of sodium, flavored milk and refined grains that can be served in school meals. The departments own data shows that participation in the national lunch program is higher in cafeterias that serve healthier meals, yet the administrations latest proposal, released last month, would allow schools to serve more French fries and fewer green vegetables.
A Ford Escort on display at a Ford dealership in Shanghai, China, on Thursday, July 19, 2018. Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Several automakers on Monday reopened or are preparing to restart factories in China after an extended holiday shutdown due to the coronavirus, which is now responsible for more than 900 deaths in the country. Ford Motor resumed vehicle production at its plants in Chongqing and Hangzhou, according to Anderson Chan, a company spokesman. It's unclear when the facilities will fully reopen to their capacity before the shutdown, which started late last month. The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker operates six assembly plants in the country. "We are taking a gradual approach in ramping up production operations, based on market demands and without compromising the safety of our employees," Chan said in an emailed statement to CNBC. "We are carefully monitoring the situation and working closely with relevant government authorities and stakeholders in planning and acting accordingly." Tesla, according to Reuters and local media reports, on Monday reopened its Shanghai gigafactory. Tesla on Jan. 30 said it expected a one to one-and-a-half-week delay in the ramp of its Model 3 sedan as a result of the epidemic. Spokespeople for Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Other automakers such as General Motors and Japan's largest automakers are preparing to restart their China operations in the coming days and weeks, according to officials.

Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., speaks during a ceremony at the company's Gigafactory in Shanghai, China, on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020. Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images

China's National Health Commission on Monday said there have been more than 40,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the country, with more than 900 deaths due the deadly pneumonia-like virus. The epicenter of the virus is believed to be Wuhan, a major auto hub and home of Dongfeng Motor, one of the largest and most diversified joint venture automakers in China. GM spokesman Jim Cain on Monday told CNBC that the company  the largest U.S. automaker in China  plans to start reopening its 15 assembly plants in the country over a two-week period starting Feb. 15. The tiered openings, he said, would be based on supply base availability, employee health concerns and local government recommendations. Toyota Motor this week is preparing its four plants to resume operations starting "the following week and beyond," according to a company statement Friday. Eric Booth, a spokesman for Toyota, confirmed those plans remain on Monday, declining to elaborate on details of the reopenings. "The safety and security of our team members, suppliers and stakeholders continues to be our top priority," Toyota said in an emailed statement. "We will continue to evaluate the situation."

Nissan Motor on Monday confirmed it is "preparing to restart production in China at the earliest from Feb. 17" at its plants in Huadu and Dalian, both located hundreds of miles away from Wuhan. Restart dates for other facilities will differ by plant, according to an emailed company statement. Due to supply shortages of parts from China, Nissan also plans to temporary halt production in Kyushu, Japan, on Feb. 14 and Feb. 17. The company declined to supply additional details on the shutdowns. Honda Motor on Friday said it planned to restart production at its plants in Wuhan on Feb. 13. A company spokesman on Monday confirmed those plans, however Japanese newspaper Nikkei has reported that Honda will aim to restart production in the Wuhan area on Feb. 17. Hyundai Motor last week said it would idle all seven of its plants in South Korea because of a lack of parts from suppliers in China.
Several big names in politics are facing a Portillo moment as the election count continues this evening, writes Michael Clifford.

The sudden departure of well known politicians in the course of an election count has come to be known as a Portillo moment after the shock loss of a seat for former Tony party minister Michael Portillo in the 1997 UK general election.

The most high profile departure looking likely this evening is that of Regina Doherty, the minister for Social Protection who is a close ally of Leo Varadkar.

Fine Gael was always going to have a battle to hang onto the two seats in Meath East that it won in 2016 with Doherty and junior Minister for European Affairs, Helen McEntee.

Geography was against Doherty and she garnered just over 10% in the first count. The poll topper in the constituency was, as elsewhere, the Sinn Fein candidate, in this case Darren ORourke. Doherty came in fourth behind ORourke, McEntee and outgoing Fianna Fail TD Thomas Byrne, all of whom are poised to be re-elected.

Minister for Transport Tourism and Sport Shane Ross fell on the fifth count, with just 3,419 first preference votes.

Cavassers across rural Ireland had reported back that the former journalist and stockbroker was a deeply unpopular figure on the doorsteps, but it was thought that he was safe in his own constituency of Dublin Rathdown.

He made major play of delivering the re-opening of the Stepaside Garda Station in the heart of the constituency. Ross also managed to get his fellow Independent Alliance members, Fintan McGrath and John Halligan to put the shoulder to the wheel in his canvas. Notwithstanding that, he came in sixth on the first count.

Although "not surprised", he said he was disappointed.

"It's a very volatile constituency and I was taking nothing for granted. I'm not totally surprised. Of course I'm disappointed, but that's politics."

I think the position [now] is I certainly will not be elected, says Shane Ross #GE2020 https://t.co/9zMMPw4asx pic.twitter.com/fGVlmzy664  RTE News (@rtenews) February 9, 2020

Another independent minister on the way out is Minister for Children Katherine Zappone in Dublin South West.

She came in sixth in the first count for the five seat constituency, in which Sinn Feins Sean Crowe topped the poll with 20,007 first preference votes.

Former Tanaiste Joan Burton was always under pressure to retain her seat in Dublin West. The extent of her political demise became apparent when she secured just 5% of the first preference vote as Sinn Feins Paul Donnolly topped the poll on 28% to be elected to the Dail for the first time.

Burton had a relatively low profile in the last Dail after she resigned the party leadership following the rout of Labour in the 2016 election. Some observers were surprised that she had contested this election. She was first elected to the Dail in 2002.

Burtons Labour party colleague Jan OSullivan also looked last night as if her time in elected national politics was coming to an end. She came in sixth in the first count for the Limerick city constituency where outgoing Sinn Fein TD Maurice Quinliven topped the poll.

Other high profile TDs under threat include Fianna Fails front bench spokesperson on health, Stephen Donnolly and the spokesperson on Brexit, Lisa Chambers.

Donnolly had in 2011 been elected as an independent and in 2016 he ran under the Social Democrats banner before joining Fianna Fail in the last Dail.

In Dublin North West, Noel Rock conceded early on after he was fourth in the first count for the three seater will little prospect of getting over the line on transfers. Here again, the polltopper was the Sinn Fein candidate, Dessie Ellis, who was elected on the first count.

In Wexford, two junior ministers Michael Darcy and Paul Kehoe were left fighting for the last seat in a constituency where Johnny Mythen topped the poll.
FORREST CITY, Ark.  Two police officers were wounded and a gunman was killed Monday in an exchange of gunfire at a Walmart store in eastern Arkansas, authorities said.

Forrest City Police Chief Deon Lee said one of the officers was taken to a hospital in Memphis, about 45 miles away. Hes going to be OK, Lee said.

The officers responded to the Forrest City Walmart after police received a report of a man who was making threats and was kind of talking out of his head, Lee said at a news conference. Arkansas State Police Spokesman Bill Sadler said local authorities have identified the suspect as Bobby Joe Gibbs, 40, of Forrest City.

Lee identified the injured officers as Lt. Eric Varner and Detective Eugene Watlington. Both are assigned to the criminal investigation department and neither was wearing a bullet-resistant vest, Lee said.

Due to their heroism and quick response, no civilians were injured, Forrest City Mayor Cedric Williams said.

Walmart spokesman Scott Pope said the company was helping police with the investigation. Once the State Police Criminal Investigation Division completes its probe, it will forward the findings to the local prosecutor to review the officers use of deadly force.

Tammy Priddy works at Simmons Eye Center in the Walmart. She said she was preparing patient records when she heard eight shots. She hid under a counter in the lab until the gunshots stopped then ran from the store. Officers outside Walmart ordered her to get as far away from the building as possible. She was not injured.

Police formed a perimeter with yellow crime scene tape around the Walmart parking lot after the shooting. The store was closed and employees were sent home.

Mary Martin, who said she was Gibbs aunt, went to the Walmart after she heard about the shooting. She said Gibbs didnt have a job, but had previously worked as a DJ.

He was a good person. He loved his family, she said.

When asked about the description of Gibbs talking out of his head at the store, Martin responded: That doesnt sound like Bobby.

Its not the first time in recent months that a Walmart store has been the scene of a shooting. A man was injured in a shooting at a Walmart in Memphis earlier this month, three people were fatally shot at a Walmart in Duncan, Okla., in November, and a gunman killed 22 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, on Aug. 3.

Adrian Sainz is an Associated Press writer.
Prince William and Kate Middleton are a picture of what every royal couple should be. They look good together and work even better as parents despite their busy schedules as senior members of the royal family.

This year, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge want to expose their two older kids, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, to more royal activities.

While Kate Middleton and Prince William want to keep a part of their life in privacy, they wish to step into the spotlight as a family with their three kids tagging along. Fans from all over the world would be thrilled to see the three kids -- including the youngest Prince Louis -- out and about in 2020.

More Exposure

The parents of three kids are gearing up for more media exposure as a family this year. An insider told Closer Weekly that Kate and William will be seen in public more with their two eldest kids tagging along

"They aren't going to be parading the children around like accessories or anything like that, but don't see any harm in them making a few appearances a year during the school holidays, at charity events which they see as a good fit," the source said.

It should not come as a surprise if the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge would want to have their children around attending various royal functions. Not only will it be nice exposure for the kids, but it will also help them get used to the life that awaits them when they get older.

"Kate and William have talked to both Prince George and Princess Charlotte about their roles in the future," the source revealed. The couple made sure it was presented in a child-like manner to help them understand without feeling any bit overwhelmed.

The Royal Duty

"George knows that there is something special about him," the insider added. The young prince will someday become the King of England and as early as now, his parents make sure that he understands what it means to be king.

The young prince is quite open to that possibility, too.

"Prince William talks to George about what it means to be royal," a source told Ud Weekly."The source added that the Duke of Cambridge does all the talking in a simple manner because he does not want his son to feel all too overwhelmed at a young age.

The little royal is currently third in line to the throne behind his grandfather Prince Charles, and his father Prince William.

Making Time

As much as Kate and William want to spend time with their kids, the royal couple has to attend to an overwhelming number of royal duties. Since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced they are stepping back from royal duties, the Cambridges had to cover more royal duties and functions.

Although they do not get to spend as much time with their children as they want, Kate and William always make sure that the children get what they need.

Perhaps, the plan to expose their two older kids to more royal functions is not only to prepare them for the future. It may also be an opportunity for the royal couple to be with their kids as often as they could.

What is the future like for these young royals? Everyone is waiting to see.
Chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray on Monday set up a committee under the chief secretary to look into the demand for concessions to boost development and redevelopment projects, including slum rehabilitation projects, in the state. Industry bodies have sought concessions, including reducing the stamp duty fee by half.

Thackeray met a delegation of real estate bodies, including Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI), Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (Credai) and National Real Estate Development Council (Naredco), to discuss how to boost public projects.

A senior housing department official said, These bodies have sought sops including slashing of the stamp duty fee by half (from 6% to 3%) and doing away with the development charge. A committee under the chief secretary and other secretaries from the urban development department, housing department, etc, will look into the demands.

Niranjan Hiranandani, co-founder and MD of Hiranandani Group, and president of Naredco, said issues related to slum rehabilitation was discussed with the CM. Issues like how the new revamp projects are not taken up, and why new projects are not coming up was discussed. Lots of suggestions were made, but the CM said the state needs money and there is a question on how much concession can be given, if at all, he said.

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A fresh batch of foreign envoys will visit Jammu and Kashmir this week to get first-hand information about the ground situation after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, officials said on Monday.

The first batch of envoys, including the US Ambassador to India, had visited Jammu and Kashmir last month.

The fresh batch of foreign envoys will visit Jammu and Kashmir later this week, an official said.

Those who will be part of the delegation include envoys from European Union and Gulf countries, the official said.

A team of 15 envoys, including US Ambassador to India Kenneth I Juster, paid a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir in January.

The central government had on August 5, 2019 abrogated Article 370 and bifurcated the erstwhile state Jammu and Kashmir into union territories, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NEW YORK, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Amynta Group announced PDP Group, Inc., its managing general agency focused on providing specialized insurance services and title administration solutions to auto dealerships, lenders and manufacturers, has partnered with Hailsure Underwriting Managers, LLC to provide a parametric hail insurance program for the auto dealer marketplace. Hailsure Underwriting Managers specialize in providing alternative market solutions utilizing parametric insurance.

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Fraser Seitel

More and more, in talking with my friends, I hear the constant refrain, I dont want to live like this anymore! In short, we are suffering collectively from deep bouts of depression. I can say without any hesitation that this is the worst in my nearly 82 years. I fear for this country as never before. It doesnt help in the slightest to say that weve survived bad times before when one feels that this is worse than anything thats happened, at least in my lifetime.

These arent my words. I passed 82 decades ago, and Im happy as a clam. No, these are the words of one Ian Mitroff of Berkeley, California, whose funereal Letter to the Editor appeared in The New York Times the day after the Senates impeachment verdict.

That Mr. Mitroff is ready to chow down his last kale salad and end it all is sad but not surprising. His depression is shared by millions of like-minded Democrats, sickened by Donald Trump and the spectacle of their own uninspiring candidates, increasingly unwatchable televised debates and a political party that appears to have been hijacked by the owners of the New York Knicks.

When the Times most liberal of liberal columnists, Michelle Goldberg, is driven to bemoan the harrowing chaos of the Democratic primary, maybe the mean-spirited Trumpster is gleeful, but Im not (well, maybe a little).

Theres a long way to go until Election Day, of course, and the revitalized, revenomized POTUS remains eminently capable of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory at any moment. But the Democrats have a real problem. Specifically, none of the current crop of debating candidates will likely beat the incumbent in November.

The Democrats bestand perhaps onlyhope to beat Trump is a newly-minted candidate (and also, Democrat), reviled by the left-wing of the party, primarily because hes a rich businessman. And while its a long shot that Michael Bloomberg can win the nomination in a party dominated by anti-business zealots, its he alone who would prove the fiercest Democratic competitor to beat Trump in a general election.

Assuming he can make it through the AOC-inspired suicide squad gauntlet and earn the nomination, heres the three-step public relations plan that could earn Bloomberg the election.

First, acceptand commendmuch of the Trump economic program.

Giving Trump credit for anything is, of course, anathema to most self-respecting Democrats, including the presidential candidates. Their revulsion is so intense they cant possibly bring themselves to endorse anything associated with the Machiavellian President.

Thats a big mistake.

The primary reason 60 million-plus Americans disagree with Democrat notions of Trump is because they correctly credit him for helping orchestrate a booming economy. With output, wages, the stock market and employment all flourishing, Democrats are dopes to insist that Trumps economic course is the wrong one and to declare American business the enemy. But theyre stuck with that position for fear of offending the Bernie brigade of uninformed socialists.

Bloomberg, by contrast, should unapologetically echo Trumps support of American business, industry and markets. The former Mayors credentials as an entrepreneurial business builder are eminently more authentic than Trumps inherited wealth.

This allows Bloomberg to promise building on his predecessors economic successes with an economy that maintains much of the Trump business expansion, while focusing more on lifting the wage gap between haves and have-nots, increasing opportunities for those at the lower end of the scale and approaching trade policy with continued vigilance on protecting Americas interests but with increased diplomacy and less rancor, particularly toward American allies in Europe.

Second, assure progress in areas Trump is unwilling or unable to confront.

Most Americanswith one notable exception who lives on Pennsylvania Avenue and Mar-a-Lagosupport gun control, agree the climate seems to be changing for the worst and basically support a womans right to choose.

Although Trump doesnt particularly seem like the gun-toting type and hails from a liberal, abortion-supporting state, he owes much of his political success to staunch conservatives, who adamantly oppose issues like these. So, hes hog-tied. This leaves Trump vulnerable to the all-important moderate voters who reside in the only states that matter: Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida.

This, in turn, presents an enormous opportunity for Bloomberg to differentiate himself from the incumbent with deep experience in and practical solutions to these critical U.S. problems.

The former mayors Everytown for Gun Safety and Mayors Against Illegal Guns alliances have led the way in securing multi-state support for gun control.

On climate change, Bloomberg reduced energy inefficiency in New York and personally donated hundreds of millions of dollars toward reducing carbon emissions. Also to his credit, he has denounced the pie-in-the-sky Green New Dealas well as the equally fantastical Medicare for Allfor being a non-starter.

Finally, on reproductive choice, Bloomberg can talk freely about the importance of ensuring that Roe vs. Wade remains the law of the land and that the nation not veer too far right in restricting reproductive choice.

Third, guarantee a kinder, gentler, less combustible, more predictable leadership.

Even his greatest political and business supporters shudder at waking up each morning to learn what new tweetstorm calamity Trump has unleashed on the world. At base, Donald Trump remains Donald Trump, guided solely by the counsel of one man: himself. And to anybody who knew him then or knows him now, thats one terrifying thought to wake up to. And Trumps petulance, coarseness and unpredictability remain the greatest present danger to his reelection.

Michael Bloomberg, on the other hand, though not particularly charismatic or eloquent and often a tad imperious and condescending, is still a sound, pragmatic, thoughtful and whip-smart leader. And hes got way more experience in running and building things and way better judgment in making decisions than Donald Trump will ever have.

Stated simply, with Bloomberg as President, youll sleep better.

Again, Bloomberg getting nominated remains a long shot. For one thing, Democrats and most in the media may never be able to acknowledge the truth that Trump, warts and all, has accomplished some excellent things as President and millions of Americans like him.

And the harsh reality is that the only Democrat with a chance to beat him in November is the one with the billions of his own dollars to do it.

***

Fraser P. Seitel has been a communications consultant, author and teacher for 40 years. He is author of the Pearson text The Practice of Public Relations, now in its 13th edition, and co-author of Rethinking Reputation" and "Idea Wise. He may be reached directly at yusake@aol.com.
BRIDGEPORT  Police are looking for information on an attempted carjacking that happened around 3:30 today.

According to police, two males wearing black attempted to take a vehicle from its driver on Benham Avenue.
BAKU -- The ruling New Azerbaijan Party (YAP) is set to gain a majority of seats in the Caucasus country's single-chamber parliament, following snap elections that observers say will allow President Ilham Aliyev to remove elites associated with his father in a consolidation of power through reforms.

YAP candidates won 81 of the 125 seats in parliament, according to data provided by the Central Election Commission (CEC) on February 10 based on voting protocols from almost all polling stations.

The CEC put the turnout at 47.81 percent, nearly eight percentage points less than in the previous parliamentary elections.



The result, if it holds, gives the ruling party an increase of 16 seats from what it had in the outgoing parliament, the Milli Majlis, before the snap elections were called.



Pro-government parties and nominally independent candidates who support YAP policies took all the rest of the seats in the February 9 elections, which were marred by apathy among voters and reports of irregularities such as multiple voting, interrupted video feeds at polling stations, and the hindrance and abuse of independent observers.



In a preliminary report, monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe said "the restrictive legislation and political environment prevented genuine competition" in the elections, while "significant procedural violations during counting and the tabulation were reported on voting day.



Voting was "assessed negatively" at 7 percent of polling stations observed, the report said, adding that the "statistically high figure" is indicative of "serious procedural shortcomings."

In a statement on February 10, the U.S. Embassy in Baku seconded the conclusions drawn by the OSCE report.



"The United States shares the observations and concerns of the OSCE ODIHR monitoring mission that the February 9 parliamentary elections transpired in a restrictive legislative and political environment that prevented genuine competition," the statement said.



"The elections were marked by limitations on the freedom of media and assembly. We were disappointed by significant procedural violations observed by ODIHR on Election Day, including ballot box stuffing, group voting, a disregard of reconciliation procedures, and limited transparency during vote counting," it said.

The ballot was boycotted by some opposition parties in protest over limitations on access to media and the right to peaceably assemble.

Since Azerbaijan declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, its elections have repeatedly been deemed as falling short of democratic standards by international observers.



The 58-year-old Aliyev, who has ruled Azerbaijan since shortly before his father's death 17 years ago, called the election in December, nine months before it was formally due, amid public discontent over a slowing economy. YAP said the composition of the legislature needed to be changed in order to carry out Aliyevs "reform" program.



But instead of genuine reforms that might strengthen the country's long-beleaguered opposition, opposition leaders and analysts say the president hopes to boost the government's image by replacing discredited unpopular old elites with younger technocrats.



Mehman Aliyev, director of the independent Turan news agency, told RFE/RL that "the only purpose was to put a number of candidates out of parliament and bring new ones in their place -- and nothing else."



Critics say Aliyev and his allies are seeking a way to ensure a line of succession that began with the president's father, Heydar, a Soviet-era KGB leader and Politburo member who passed the presidency to his son shortly before his death.

'Generational Overhaul'



Aliyevs reform plan follows several high-profile changes in the government and his administration near the end of last year that included the appointment of 62-year-old economist Ali Asadov as prime minister.



"This can be described as an effort at 'authoritarian modernization,' at making public services more efficient within the same strict authoritarian framework. That will be welcome for much of the public, but will it be enough?" Thomas de Waal, a senior fellow with Carnegie Europe, specializing in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus region, said before the weekend vote.



"Clearly, a generational overhaul is underway. Does this also mean a big surge of reform in Azerbaijan? There are some reasons to be skeptical," he added, noting that the old guard may be swept aside only for a Baku-based business-political elite to take control of the country instead.



Some critics say the partys hope for a change in the composition of parliament suggests Aliyevs party may be trying to clear the way for Aliyev's wife, First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva, to take over the presidency at a later date.



In fact, parliamentary powers are limited in Azerbaijan. Most political power in the Caucasus country is concentrated in the hands of the presidency.



Aliyev -- who was reelected in 2008, 2013, and 2018 -- was able to consolidate his power through a 2009 referendum that abolished the countrys two-term presidential limit and a 2016 referendum that lengthened presidential terms to seven years.



Minor complaints were already trickling in within hours of the opening of polling stations on February 9.



Some independent observers said they saw instances of carousel voting -- when people visit multiple polling stations -- and people casting multiple ballots at once.



One candidate reported seeing an ambulance ferrying voters to multiple polling stations.



One election monitor working for a candidate said he was beaten and thrown out out of a polling station he was attempting to observe.

Other election monitors said they were being prevented from entering polling stations or were ordered to remain in certain locations. The Institute for Democratic Initiatives shared several videos of people interfering with observers seeking to record at polling stations.



Cameras were being blocked at some of the 1,000 or so voting locations that had live video feeds.



One candidate, activist and blogger Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, told RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service that he was initially prevented from voting at a Baku polling station and was told he hadn't registered properly. But an election official later said access to the polling station was being limited ahead of President Aliyev's arrival there to vote.



Meanwhile, apparent power outages cut the lights for more than half an hour at some polling stations in Suraxani and Hovsan, northeast of the capital.

Election officials registered 1,637 candidates. A total of 19 political parties fielded 272 of the candidates. They included 123 candidates from the ruling YAP, followed by 25 from the opposition Musavat party and 21 from the opposition Party of Hope (UMID).



A total of 81 lawmakers, about two-thirds of the outgoing parliament, were seeking reelection.

With reporting by Reuters
Nepal's National Human Rights Commission has directed the government to immediately evacuate Nepali citizens from the Hubei province of China, the epicentre of coronavirus outbreak.

The instruction was made during an emergency meeting of the commission on Sunday, Himalayan Times reported.

The Nepal government initiated the process of evacuation of Nepalis from Hubei on February 1. The embassy of Nepal in Beijing requested those interested in returning home to submit applications. By February 2, 180 Nepalis including three minors have submitted application. However, the government still has not been able to confirm the evacuation date.

The government has not been able to finalise the location to house China evacuees as they will have to be quarantined for two weeks once they return home before they are released.

As of now, two buildings of Nepal Electricity Authority Training Centre in Bhaktapur have been vacated to quarantine Nepalis returning from China.

The and social study department and a hostel at the training centre have been vacated to house Nepalis. These facilities can accommodate up to 150 people".

The novel coronavirus was first detected in China's Wuhan city in late December and has since spread to more than 25 countries. The death toll in the deadly outbreak in China and other parts of the has reached 904, CNN reported citing Chinese authorities on Monday. The number of infected people globally has now hit the 40,000 mark.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
[February 10, 2020] VCA Charities Raises Over $180,000 To Support Australia Wildfire Veterinary Relief Organizations

VCA Charities, along with the national network of VCA Animal Hospitals, has joined with international non-profits to provide financial assistance to provide veterinary care to pets and animals injured by the wildfires in Australia. VCA Charities has pledged donations to Wildlife Warriors Worldwide, RSPCA Australia and the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA). To date, more than $180,000 has been raised to benefit veterinary care for animals affected by Australia's devastating wildfires. "VCA Charities is donating $50,000 to the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital through Wildlife Warriors Worldwide to help koalas, flying foxes and many other animals affected by the bushfires, drought and human impact," said Bindi Irwin, Wildlife Warriors Worldwide. "We are also preparing for conservation efforts that will be needed for years to come. On behalf of all the animals we will continue to care for, thank you to VCA Charities for supporting our work." Wildlife Warriors Worldwide supports the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital that has been working around the clock on affected animals: treating them; rehabilitating them and preparing for the conservation efforts that will be needed when the fires end. These funds will go directly to veterinary care of the koala patients that were affected by the fires, veterinary care for the skyrocketing intake of burned and affected Flying Foxes and to start the efforts of rebuilding their populations and habitats across the country where these animals need to live. A $50,000 donation is being made to the RSPCA Australia, who are mobilizing across the country with their staff, volunteers and resources to provide assistance wherever it is needed to affected animals. RSPCA members want to keeptheir animals safe and have provided much-needed equipment, supplies as well as emergency care and boarding, where available. Across Australia, the RSPCA will continue its work alongside government and emergency agencies, veterinarians and local authorities to help identify and assess injured animals affected by the crisis.



To support veterinarians and help them provide veterinary care to affected animals, VCA Charities will match up to $50,000 in donations raised by the American Veterinary Medical Foundation (AVMF) on behalf of the AVA's Benevolent Fund. The entire amount will go to the AVA to support ongoing veterinary care for affected animals and provide financial aid to veterinarians who volunteer their services and provide medical supplies for pets and animals injured by the devastating wildfires. "So many people want to help the animals in Australia who have been displaced and injured by the devastating wildfires," said Brandon Antin, Vice President of Corporate Affairs at VCA Animal Hospitals. "VCA Charities has stepped up to provide a trusted venue that gives VCA clients and the public an opportunity to support the overwhelming veterinary needs of pets and wildlife whose environment has been impacted and destroyed. Additional funds will be distributed over the next few months to provide further veterinary resources to pets, wildlife and veterinarians affected by this crisis."

About VCA Charities VCA Charities is a 501(c)(3) with a mission to inspire and nurture pets and their people to triumph over challenges and thrive together. Established in 2005 by the founders of VCA Animal Hospitals, VCA Charities helps to feed thousands of pets, provide access to expert veterinary care, and support animal welfare organizations globally. Please visit the VCA Charities website to find the most up-to-date information about VCA Charities and its programs at http://www.VCAcharities.org. About VCA Animal Hospitals VCA Animal Hospitals operates more than 920 small animal veterinary hospitals in the U.S., Canada and Japan. The hospitals are staffed by more than 4,500 fully qualified, dedicated and compassionate veterinarians to give pets the very best in medical care, of which over 600 are board certified specialists who are experts in areas such as oncology, cardiology, emergency and critical care, and surgery for animals. VCA Animal Hospitals provides a full range of general practice services to keep pets well and specialized treatments when pets are ill. As part of the Mars, Inc. family of brands, VCA is committed to its purpose-A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS. For more information, please visit VCAhospitals.com or follow on Twitter @vcapethealth and Facebook (News - Alert) (facebook.com/VCAAnimalHospitals/). View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200210005602/en/

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Shaheen Bagh protest: The Supreme Court said anti-CAA protesters can't block public roads for ever and they should stage protest at a place where other people don't have to face inconvenience.

The Supreme Court on Monday, in view to the pleas seeking removal of anti-CAA protesters from the Shaheen Bagh-Kalindi Kunj road, issued notices to the Centre, the Delhi Government and the Delhi Police. Earlier on Thursday, the Court had deferred hearing pleas against the sit-in protest and blockage of the road stating it doesnt want its decision to create any impact on the polls.

The Supreme Court bench comprising justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph said the protesters cannot block the road, leading to inconvenience for the commuters. The court said if people want to protest, they should sit at an appropriate place so that others wont get affected or face any problem by it. How can they block the road and a public area?

The Supreme Court added that there should be some defined areas for protest.

The court made it clear that it wont pass any judgment without hearing the other side and told a petitioner to wait for one more week. The court will now hear the matter on February 17. The people have been sitting on roads for over 58 days, lets wait for one more week before coming to any conclusion or taking any action, said the court.

In his petition, advocate Amit Sahni told the court that traffic flow on the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch has been affected since December 15 and requested to give direction to the authorities to deal with the situation.

Reports said a 4-month old infant died at the Shaheen Bagh because his mother was sitting with him at the protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on January 30. The protest includes newborns and children which is against their child rights and natural justice as its too cold and unfavorable condition outside.

Today, in cognizance of the death of an infant, the court asked how can a 4-month-old child be taking part in such protests?

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Karnataka's agro-meteorological technology to provide real-time weather updates, which is beneficial especially for farmers, is all set to make a mark in far away Africa.

Representatives from Ethiopia who visited the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) are keen on a collaboration for 'knowledge sharing' and 'technical assistance'. This is expected to be the first international collaboration for the KSNDMC, which already provides assistance on local weather monitoring to states such as Bihar and Maharashtra.

Speaking to DH, KSNDMC director G S Srinivasa Reddy said a delegation of representatives from the agriculture and disaster management departments of Ethiopia had sought assistance in replicating the state's weather monitoring set up in the east African nation.

"They were primarily interested in two aspects: the disaster monitoring system and how the system was implemented to improve agriculture," Reddy said.

The factor that drew the Ethiopian delegation to KSNDMC was that Karnataka is a leader in the implementation of such a system in the country, Reddy said. Having associated with Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), officials from the country approached KSNDMC via the Center to assess one of the largest networks of weather monitoring devices in the region.

"The delegation was keen on knowledge sharing and seeking technical assistance. They will approach us via ADPC for any assistance and this will be the first international collaboration for our Center," Reddy said.

C N Prabhu, senior scientific officer, KSNDMC, said that sector-wise disaster mitigation, and managing and monitoring drought were among the key issues discussed with the delegation. "Representatives from Ethiopia were pleased to learn the manner in which technology was implemented at the grassroots for the purpose," he said.

It can be recalled that KSNDMC has been offering assistance on meteorology and affiliated topics for several states in the country. While Bihar has already signed an MoU with the state for assistance as it attempts to replicate a similar weather monitoring network, officials from Maharashtra - including a cabinet minister - will arrive on February 13 for the same purpose.
The wife of a brave firefighter who died while battling a ferocious bushfire has revealed the eerie final text message he sent to her.

Mel O'Dwyer lost her husband Andrew O'Dwyer, 36, when the firetruck he was traveling in rolled off the road after hitting a fallen tree at Buxton, south of Sydney.

Fellow firefighter Geoffrey Keaton also died during the incident on December 19 last year - just days before Christmas. The pair were part of a four-truck convoy on their way to battle an out-of-control blaze.

Ms O'Dwyer admits she was unaware of how severe the fires were at the time.

'I did read a message on his phone afterwards that he'd actually said that they were going into hell,' she told 60 minutes.

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Andrew O'Dwyer (pictured with his daughter Charlotte and wife Mel) died when his fire truck rolled off the road after hitting a fallen tree at Buxton, south of Sydney a week before Christmas

Andrew O'Dwyer text his wife saying 'We are going into hell' just hours before he died (Mock-up text pictured)

Mr O'Dwyer, who was a volunteer firefighter, wasn't scheduled to work that day, but he rushed to help when the blaze reached dangerous levels.

His final words to his wife were 'I love you'.

Ms O'Dwyer said the family as been left devastated at their loss.

'It still doesn't feel real to me. It's not until I actually really sit down and think he's not coming back  that's hard.'

The pair were married nearly seven years ago, they have a 19-month-old daughter named Charlotte together.

An experienced volunteer firefighter, Mr O'Dwyer had been a member of the Horsley Park RFS for 18 years. First joining the brigade as a teenager, his team had watched him grow up.

They watched as he was married and welcomed his daughter Charlotte into the world.

Mr O'Dwyer (centre) leaves behind his wife Melissa (left), young daughter Charlotte (right) and two young boys

Andrew O'Dwyer (pictured with his daughter Charlotte) has been remembered as someone he always went above and beyond to help others

During his funeral, Brigade Captain Darren Nation shared how the young father had thrived while working for the RFS.

'The love he had for the fire brigade was as thick as the blood that ran through his veins,' he said.

Mr O'Dwyer will be remembered as someone he always went above and beyond to help others.

'He put his life on the line to help other people in need and ended up losing his life - that's a hero to me,' Ms O'Dwyer said.

Australia's devastating bushfre season has seen 33 people killed with 25 confirmed deaths in New South Wales, three in South Australia and five in Victoria..
Australias Socialist Alternative recently published a rare comment on the US-led vendetta against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Having maintained a determined silence on his case for years, the pseudo-left organisation is now attempting to cover its tracks ahead of the extradition trial that begins on February 24 in London and threatens to see Assange railroaded into a life sentence in the American prison system.

Published in the December edition of Socialist Alternatives newspaper Red Flag, The betrayal of Julian Assange, by its editor Ben Hillier, is a crude attempt to cover up the organisations own role in the betrayal of the WikiLeaks publisher.

Julian Assange being dragged out of the Ecuadorean embassy in London, April 2019

Several formally correct points are raised in the piece. During his years holed up in Ecuadors embassy in Londonin effect a political prisonerAssange warned that the United States was hunting him down, Hillier acknowledged.

He was derided as an egomaniac and a rapist who was trying to avoid being investigated in Sweden over accusations of sexual assault. (In fact, he offered all assistance to prosecutors; he just demanded a guarantee that he would not be extradited to the US) Pretty much everything Assange claimed has now come to pass.

The article then detailed the sealed indictment on Espionage Act charges, the jailing of Chelsea Manning, Assanges arrest in the Ecuadorian embassy and his imprisonment in Londons maximum security Belmarsh Prison.

Developed around an interview with WikiLeaks editor Kristinn Hrafnsson, the Red Flag article raised the question, Have the liberal media begun to change their tune? Are they offering more support now that it is clear for all to see what is happening? After quoting Hrafnssons reference to the medias self-interest on the issue, Hillier added: So even now, its not really about Julian Assange. Its that even the pro-capitalist press can see the precedents that are being set and worry that they might in the future be caught up in the dragnet if they cross the line.

From start to finish, this represents the politics of opportunism and hypocrisy. The pseudo-left in Australia, like their international counterparts, washed their hands of Assange in 2011 and 2012. The frame-up Swedish sexual assault allegations provided the pretext for the betrayal of the journalist and publisher, who US imperialism put in the crosshairs after WikiLeaks published numerous exposes, including the Collateral Murder video documenting war crimes in Iraq, the Iraq and Afghanistan war logs, and the diplomatic cable release that detailed the intrigues and provocations of US State Department personnel around the world.

Contradicting Socialist Alternatives apparent recent discovery that Assange was right all along to have rejected the allegations from Sweden as nothing but a politically-driven frame-up aimed at railroading him to an American high-security prison, Ben Hillier wrote in August 2012: Assange is wanted in Sweden for questioning over rape allegations. Those allegations should not be dismissed, as some of Assanges defenders have done out of hand. He should face questioning and be held to account if transpires that he committed such an offence. [sic]

In other words, Socialist Alternative lent political support to the bogus Swedish allegations right at the moment when these took centre stage in Washingtons vendetta against the WikiLeaks publisher.

Hilliers 2012 demand that Assange face questioning and be held to account over the allegations was published just a fortnight after the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Four Corners current affairs program broadcast a devastating exposure of the Swedish case.

Investigative journalist Andrew Fowler detailed the chronology of the false allegations, the improper actions of police and prosecutors in Sweden, and the connection of all this with the US states preparation of conspiracy and espionage charges. Swedish authorities finally abandoned its investigation into the allegations in November 2019, admitting there was insufficient evidence to proceed.

Socialist Alternatives long-standing evasion of the evidence of Assanges innocence partly reflected the pseudo-left organisations sensitivity to the middle class feminist politics of its membership and supporters, including the anti-democratic precept that all sexual assault accusations against women must be believed regardless of evidence.

More fundamentally, however, the organisations position was bound up with its pro-imperialist lurch to the right in 20112012, when it hailed the Obama administrations regime change operation in Syria.

In August 2012, the same month that Hillier demanded that Assange submit to Swedish questioning, leading Socialist Alternative member Corey Oakley declared that knee-jerk anti-imperialism was a thing of the past, and that any emphasis on the imperialist threat to Syria was profoundly mistaken. Oakley is currently the secretary of the Victorian Socialists electoral front that Socialist Alternative formed with the organisation Socialist Alliance.

Socialist Alternative falsely presented the armed campaign to oust the government of Bashar Assad as a popular revolutioncovering up the central role being played by Islamic fundamentalist forces being financed and armed by Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, and via these countries, the United States and its intelligence agencies. The Australian pseudo-left adamantly defended the collaboration of anti-government Syrian militias with the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

This political line resulted in numerous pro-imperialist statements that were marked by increasing recklessness and depravity.

Military advances in 2014 and 2015 by the ultra-reactionary Islamic State (ISIS) were hailed in gushing articles published in Red Flag. In July 2014, for example, Socialist Alternative celebrated Sunni rebels, led by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria for dismantling border posts between Syria and Iraq.

The rebels now control an enormous swath of territory stretching from the outskirts of Aleppo in Syria to just west of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, Corey Oakley wrote. Rebels have taken control of strategically crucial cities and towns on, over or near the borders of both Jordan and Saudi Arabia, raising fevered speculation about whether they too will succumb to the tide of revolt. The fallout from these events is extraordinary.

In December 2015, a Red Flag article hailed the shooting-down of a Russian jet by the Turkish military near the border with Syria as a small victory for humanity. The articles author, Michael Karadjisa member of Socialist Alliancehad previously defended a rebel commander in Syria who was shown videotape eating the organs from a corpse on the grounds that his actions were only minor cannibalism.

The promotion of pro-imperialist politics went hand-in-hand with a determined silence on the US governments drive to destroy both WikiLeaks and Assange. This is why the pseudo-left in Australia and internationally said and did nothing about the relentless drive to imprison Assange while he courageously held out within the Ecuadorian embassy in London and continued his work with WikiLeaks.

In election campaigns waged by Victorian Socialists, in both the state ballot held November 2018 and the federal poll last May, none of the organisations candidates issued a statement about the enormous assault on democratic rights that the vendetta against Assange represents. Nor did any of its distributed printed materialsincluding leaflets and prominent posters distributed courtesy of the tens of thousands of dollars given to the organisation by the trade union bureaucracyinclude any reference to the US extradition threat.

Socialist Alternative has boycotted the Assange defence campaign that developed before and after the WikiLeaks founders illegal arrest in the Ecuadorian embassy at the hands of British police in April last year.

For Hillier to now complain about Assanges betrayal at the hands of the liberal media further exposes the pseudo-lefts opportunist politics. It represents Socialist Alternatives desperate effort to muddy the waters while adapting to the political groundswell to defend Assange that is underway, as increasing numbers of workers and young people understand that defending the WikiLeaks publisher is essential to protect democratic rights more broadly.

Characteristically, Hilliers article concluded with an effort to spread pessimism within the defence campaign. After citing the open letter issued by more than 100 doctors from 13 countries, demanding that proper medical treatment be provided Assange or he could die in Belmarsh prison, Hillier concluded his article: Perhaps things are finally turning. But if the doctors are right, the shift might have come too late for Julian Assange.

Genuine supporters of democratic rights can have no truck with such demoralisation and must instead urgently mobilise in Assanges defence, including through upcoming public rallies being organised by the Socialist Equality Party:

Sydney

Saturday February 22, 12:00 p.m.

Parramatta Town Hall

182 Church Street, Parramatta

Melbourne

Sunday February 23, 2:00 p.m.

State Library of Victoria

Then march to Federation Square

Wellington, New Zealand

Sunday, February 23, 3:00 p.m.

Cuba Street (intersection with Left Bank)

Wellington

Brisbane

Saturday February 29, 2:00 p.m.

Reddacliff Place, Brisbane

(corner Queen and George Street)
Just within five years, from 2015 to 2019, Vietnams import/export turnover reached $2.106 trillion, which was higher than the total import/export turnover of the 15 years before.

In recent years, Vietnam's economy has made strong gains in the context of a complicated economic and political situation globally.





Vietnam has been step by step implementing the foreign policy of multilateralization, taking advantage of the trade cooperation, investment, integration and technology transfer opportunities for the national economic development.



Vietnam has made big leaps, especially in recent years, in boosting import/export. The total import/export turnover in the last 20 years, 2000-2019 reached $3.995 trillion.



In 2001, Vietnams total import/export turnover was modest, just $30 billion. After six years, in 2017, the figure rose to $100 billion, after Vietnam officially became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

In recent years, Vietnam's economy has made strong gains in the context of a complicated economic and political situation globally.

Four years later, in 2011, the total import/export turnover increased by two folds to $200 billion. In 2015, the figure hit $300 billion.



Just two years after that, in mid-December 2017, the total import/export turnover hit $400 billion. And turnover hit $500 billion as of mid-December 2019.



Thanks to this, Vietnams position in import and export as per WTOs ranking has improved significantly.



In 2006, Vietnam ranked 50th in the world in exports and 44th in imports. In 2018, it ranked 26th in exports and 23rd in imports.



With the results, Vietnam is among the top 30 countries and territories with the highest import/export value. In ASEAN, Vietnam ranks third in import/export, just after Singapore and Thailand.



After a long period of witnessing a trade deficit, Vietnam has continuously had a trade surplus in recent years.



In 2011 and earlier years, Vietnam's trade balance of goods was always in a deficit, with the deficit of billions of dollars, peaking at $18.02 billion in 2008.



However, from 2012 to now, the trade balance has reversed with trade surplus seen more regularly, except 2015 which had the trade deficit of $3.55 billion.



In 2018, the trade surplus hit $6.83 billion and in the first 11 months of 2019, with the sharp increase in exports, the trade surplus reached $10.94 billion.



In the first 11 months of 2019, the total import/export value of the foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) reached $297.87 billion, up by 3.2 percent compared with the same period last year.



Meanwhile, the import/export turnover of Vietnamese enterprises during the same time increased by 15.1 percent. This was the third time they obtained the growth rate of over 10 percent.

Linh Ha

Vietnams exports forecast to plunge in Q1 Vietnams exports are forecast to plunge in the first quarter of this year due to impacts of the acute respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
Authorities have released the name of a man who died during an officer-involved shooting Saturday in Vestavia Hills.

The Jefferson County Coroners Office identified the man as Douglas Harold Hart. He was 67 and lived in Irondale.

Police officials say the incident happened at 4:20 p.m. Saturday in the 4400 block of Old Overton Road. Capt. Johnny Evans said officers were dispatched to that location on a report of a person with a gun.

Multiple sources say police were called because Hart had a gun and was threatening suicide. Police have not publicly confirmed those reports.

Once officers arrived on the scene, which was near a residential area and a boat launch along the Cahaba River, they made contact with Hart. Shots were fired and ultimately Hart was pronounced dead on the scene at 5:01 p.m.

Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates said he could not yet determine the cause and manner of Harts death.

One officer was injured and taken to the hospital, where he was treated and released. Officials did not say what type of injuries the officer sustained.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agencys State Bureau of Investigation is leading the probe, which is standard procedure for officer-involved shootings. Authorities said additional information could be released sometime today.
Photo: Seth Wenig/AP/Shutterstock

Two women took the stand Monday as defense witnesses in Harvey Weinsteins rape and sexual-assault trial, as his legal team tries to undermine the allegations by two accusers, Jessica Mann and Lauren Young.

Mann claimed that Weinstein forced oral sex on her in early 2013 at a Beverly Hills hotel and alleged that he raped her at a Midtown East hotel around mid-March of that year. She also claimed that Weinstein raped her in California once more around fall 2013. The disgraced movie mogul is only charged with the alleged Manhattan incident.

Lauren Young alleged that seven years ago, Weinstein trapped her in the bathroom of a Beverly Hills hotel suite, masturbating as he grabbed her breast. Weinstein is charged in Los Angeles with that alleged assault.

The reason defense lawyers called two women, actress Talita Maia and Claudia Salinas, is because Mann and Young alleged they were around during their respective assaults. Mann said that Talita was outside the bedroom when Weinstein committed sexual assault at the California hotel; Young said that Salinas stood outside the bathroom door during her alleged assault. Both women are testifying because of subpoenas. Young had testified that Salinas was a former Miss New Mexico, but Salinas denied that outside of court.

When Maia took the stand this morning, she smiled at Weinstein.

Maia, an actress, described Manns relationship with Weinstein as amicable. When they all met at a party around early 2013, Maia said she and Mann didnt know who he was.

Well, then I realized I had to introduce them, and I didnt know who he was, Maia said. So he said Harvey Weinstein. I think he realized that we didnt know who he was, so he repeated himself, Im Harvey from the Weinstein Company. I made a joke, Thats why everyone is being so nice to you. Jessica put her arm around him and pinched his cheek and said, Its because hes so cute!

Mann once told Maia she sang for him at a meeting and was very happy.

During the night of the alleged forced oral sex, Maia said she was uncomfortable when they asked her to join them upstairs since the bar where they met was closing.

If I stayed in the lobby, I would have looked like a hooker, she said of her decision to go to the hotel suite. Mann and Weinstein went into a room while she watched TV. They came out of the room after ten minutes. Maia said that Mann seemed normal.

Prosecutor Joan Illuzzi tried to get Maia to say that she didnt like Mann.

Jessica did things in my life that impacted my life in a very negative way, in a terrible way, and I wish I didnt have to go through that, Maia said. I dont hate her or anything like that.

Through questioning, Illuzzi got Maia to reveal that she sent Weinstein a save the date to her wedding.

Mann allegedly told Maia that if [Weinstein]s avail hes going to come as my date.

Maia said that Mann and Weinstein were romantically involved.

She said a few times that he was, like, her spiritual soul mate.

Salinas, who said she was employed as an influencer, took the stand after Maia.

Im going to cut right to it: Did you ever see Harvey Weinstein coming out of a bathroom suite naked? asked Weinstein attorney Damon Cheronis.

No.

Ever seen him naked under any circumstance? 

No, never.

Did you ever lock Lauren Young in a bathroom with Harvey Weinstein?

No.

During cross-examination, prosecutor Meghan Hast tried to undermine Salinass credibility, pointing out that her answers didnt jibe with things she previously told investigators.

I just remember that we met, Salinas said. I dont remember specifics. I remember we met for a drink.

Hast also asked Salinas about a comment to investigators: It could have happened.

Salinas said that it could have happened but that that didnt mean she was present.

Hast also asked Salinas about her comments to investigators that Harvey Weinstein was always asking me to bring my better-looking friends to events.

Hast suggested through her questioning that Salinas brought friends along because she had rejected Weinstein.

And off of that, you started to bring your pretty, better-looking friends? Hast asked.

Objection! one of Weinsteins lawyers said. One of the women in a row reserved for Weinsteins team made a mm-mm sound of disapproval.

You did bring better-looking friends? Hast asked.

All my friends are good-looking, Salinas said, prompting laughs.

The defense is expected to call additional witnesses on Tuesday. Closing arguments are expected to take place this week.

Update, February 24: Harvey Weinsteins verdict has been announced.
Excessive use of smartphones and social media may be associated with mental distress, and suicide risk among adolescents, according to a review of studies.

The review, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, focussed on smartphone use, and did not consider online gaming.

"Physicians, teachers and families need to work together with youth to decrease possible harmful effects of smartphones and social media on their relationships, sense of self, sleep, academic performance, and emotional well-being," said Elia Abi-Jaoude from The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Canada.

The analysis by researchers, including those from Toronto Western Hospital in Canada, contains guidance for physicians, parents and teachers on how to help teens manage smartphone and social media use.

The researchers said the finding should be among the factors considered by clinicians and researchers who work in the field of youth mental health.

"Given the importance of engaging youth in mitigating potential harms from social media, a prohibitionist approach would be counterproductive," the researchers said in a statement.

"For adolescents today, who have not known a world without social media, digital interactions are the norm," they said.

However, the statement did not explain how many studies were involved in the review.

The researchers noted that potential benefits of online access to productive mental health information as well as low barriers to resources such as internet-based talking therapies cannot be discounted.

These also include media literacy, creativity, self-expression, sense of belonging, and civic engagement, they said.

A recent poll from the US indicates that 54 per cent of teens think they spend too much time on their smartphones, and about half said they were cutting back on usage, the researchers said.

"Encouragingly, youth are increasingly recognising the negative impact of social media on their lives and starting to take steps to mitigate it," they said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The co-leader of Israel's opposition Blue and White party said on Monday that President Donald Trump's Mideast plan offered a promising blueprint for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had turned it into a campaign "stunt" by pushing for immediate annexation of West Bank settlements.

Yair Lapid, who is slated to become Israel's next foreign minister if his party prevails in the March 2 election, insisted he was against such unilateral steps and expressed hope the Palestinians would come around to seeing the upside of Trump's blueprint and begin negotiating based upon them.

The Trump plan is widely viewed as being favourable to Israel since it would allow it to eventually extend sovereignty over all of its West Bank settlements along with the strategic Jordan Valley.

The Palestinian have angrily rejected the plan since it would only provide them with limited autonomy in several chunks of territory with a capital on the outskirts of Jerusalem, and only if they meet stringent conditions.

Netanyahu has sought to sell the plan, and his close relationship to Trump, as a testament to his master statesmanship ahead of the country's third election in less than a year.

He's also seeking to galvanise his hard-line base by annexing territory ahead of the election and establishing facts on the ground that would be difficult to reverse and make the prospect of a contiguous Palestinian state all but impossible.

But he's been forced to walk that pledge back under criticism from the typically like-minded administration who has chided Israel's zest for annexation.

Lapid, who centrist party is seeking to unseat Netanyahu, would not detail how his vision differed from Netanyahu's beyond saying he would favour direct negotiation with the Palestinians rather than imposing a framework upon them.

Visiting the Jordan Valley on Monday for a tree planting ceremony, Netanyahu insisted he'd be patient and only impose Israeli law on any territory there "in agreement with the Americans."

The Palestinians seek the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem  areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war  for an independent state.

The US is eager to keep the option of statehood on the table.
Days of military commanders living in sprawling bungalows set to come to an end

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 10: There are intense discussions on to reduce the pension cost to the exchequer in the military.

Hectic discussions are on between the Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat and the three service chiefs on this aspect. The pension budget has mounted to Rs 1.33 lakh crore in 2020 as opposed to the Rs 41,000 crore it was in 2010.

General Rawat has favoured increasing the retirement age of certain classes of non-combatants and medical staff to 58 from 39. This would help in reducing the pension cost, the CDS feels.

Creation of CDS a seminal step towards greater integration

NEWS AT 3 PM, FEB 10th, 2020

Another aspect under discussion is to do away with colonial bungalows. The CDS prefer vertical housing with the armed forces generating their own resources to fund this project. The project is called the New Moti Bagh Model. General Rawat is in favour of agencies such as the National Highways Authority of India to fund military housing projects as per the specifications of the military. The projects would also be monitored by the military and this would be in lieu of compensation for acquiring cantonment lands.

Further the military also plans on generating Rs 35,000 crore in the next seven years. This would mean that military commanders living in sprawling bungalows would stop. Officers would start living in flats and in one building, sources familiar with the development confirmed to OneIndia.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, February 10, 2020, 16:03 [IST]
Locations visited by cruise passengers now safe for travel

ROC Central News Agency

02/09/2020 06:48 PM

Taipei, Feb. 9 (CNA) Locations in northern Taiwan that were visited last month by passengers aboard the now-quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship due to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak are now considered safe for travel, Minister of Health Chen Shih-chung () said Sunday.

Chen's comments were made two days after the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) advised people who had been to the specific locations around Taipei, New Taipei and Keelung Jan. 31 to take precautionary measures amid concerns that some of the cruise visitors might be infected by the virus.

The places the passengers visited between 6 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Jan. 31 during the cruise ship's port call at Keelung included the Taipei 101 skyscraper, Jiufen and Shifen in New Taipei, and the Ximending area in Taipei's Wanhua District.

Commenting on the CECC's warning, Chen said that these locations were considered to be risky only during the visit by the passengers.

The locations are no longer a potential health risk because all indoor locations have undergone disinfection, according to Chen.

CECC Deputy Commander Chuang Jen-hsiang (), meanwhile, said the CECC has been closely monitoring the health of around 280 people believed to have had close interactions with Diamond Princess passengers during the Taiwan port call.

The ship, carrying 2,666 passengers and 1,045 crew members, has been quarantined off the coast of Yokohama, Japan, since Monday.

As of Sunday, a total of 70 cases of coronavirus on the cruise had been confirmed, according to Japanese media reports.

The Taiwan authorities have not said whether any of the 70 infected people were among the passengers who got off the ship and toured northern Taiwan on Jan. 31.

(By Yu Hsiao-han and Joseph Yeh)

Enditem/J





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All 160 seats have been filled with Fianna Fail the biggest party - just.

The next Dail will be made up of: FF 38; SF 37; FG 35; Green 12; Lab 6; SD 6; S-PBP 5; Ind 21.

Cavan-Monaghan was the last constituency to finalise results with Fianna Fail duo of Brendan Smith and Niamh Smyth taking the seats

Simon Harris took one of the last seats after he got elected in the 15th count in Wicklow. Fianna Fail health spokesman Stephen Donnelly was also elected.

Mary Lou McDonald: 'This vote for Sinn Fein is for Sinn Fein to be in government.'

Sinn Fein received 24.5% of the vote share on first preference; Fianna Fail got 22.2% and Fine Gael 20.9%.

Fine Gael have lost a Minister and two Junior Ministers in Regina Doherty, Mary Mitchell O'Connor and Pat Breen. Minister of State Michael DArcy and Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross have also lost their seats.

Fianna Fail's Lisa Chambers was eliminated in Mayo. Former Labour Tanaiste Joan Burton and Solidarity's Ruth Coppinger have also lost their seats.

Labour leader Brendan Howlin Read More: has been elected in Wexford. Verona Murphy was elected Read More: on the eleventh count in the same constituency

has been elected in Wexford. Verona Murphy was elected on the eleventh count in the same constituency Social Democrats Co-Leader Roisin Shortall has been elected in Dublin North West

Limerick elects Read More: first ever Green Party TD

first ever Green Party TD Sinn Fein has won a seat in Tipperary for the first time

There are 160 seats in the Dail. The Ceann Comhairle is automatically re-elected, leaving 159 seats up for grabs and 80 the magic number for a majority.

[snippet1]977032[/snippet1]

FF take final two seats to bring them ahead of SF

Fianna Fail will be the biggest party in the 33rd Dail after the counting finished in General Election 2020 with Cavan-Monaghan the final constituency to announce their result just before midnight.

The Fianna Fail duo of Brendan Smith and Niamh Smyth took the final two seats as transfers from running-mate Robbie Gallagher saw them over the line.

That brought the party to 38 seats - just one above Sinn Fein. Fine Gael won 35 seats as the major and minor parties must now come together in order to work out how to get to the magic number of 80 for a Dail majority.

Sinn Fein, who topped the poll in most areas, and Fianna Fail each had 37 TDs elected but as Ceann Comhairle Sean O Fearghail was automatically returned, FF will be the top party in when the Dail resumes.

The Green party took 12 seats, Labour and the Social Democrats six each, Solidarity-People Before Profit will have five TDs and there will be 21 independents in the next Dail.

Harris, Donnelly keep seats after mammoth Wicklow count

Minister for Health Simon Harris has been re-elected for Fine Gael.

He, along with Fianna Fail health spokesman Stephen Donnelly and Green Party councillor Steven Matthews, took the final three remaining seats in Wicklow in the 15th count late on Monday night.

On Sunday, Sinn Feins John Brady swept to victory on the first count in Wicklow after topping the poll, gaining some 17,000-plus votes, or 24% of the poll.

He was followed by Jennifer Whitmore of the Social Democrats, a Greystones-based councillor who outperformed many pundits' expectations.

'I am moving forward outside of politics': Katherine Zappone loses Dail seat

Minister for Children, Katherine Zappone is bowing out of Irish politics after losing her seat in Dublin South West on Monday night.

She lost out after a two-day marathon on the eleventh count to Noel Francis Duffy of the Green Party and John Lahart of Fianna Fail, who took the fourth and fifth seats respectively.

The Independent candidate, who trailed in the end by over 2,000 votes, said she was very proud of her work as Minister in the Fine Gael Government.

Asked if her vote had been hit by an anti-Government sentiment among voters, given that she served in Government in the last Dail, she said it looks like that might have been the case.

I do think in the earlier period of the campaign people were willing to distinguish me as an independent from Fine Gael. But I think as time went on that didnt transpire as much. But at the same time I knew what I was doing when I made the decision to negotiate and form Government with a major political party and I really do believe that as a TD I had the opportunity to bring about more change within Government than outside of it and I feel very proud about that. 

She said she was going to continue her change work outside of Irish politics.

I know there are some paths that will be opening for me. What I am not going to do is run for the Seanad. I had five great years as a senator. .. I am moving forward outside of politics.

She said it was deeply disappointing that it seemed there would be fewer women in the next Dail than in the outgoing one.We need the diversity of women in the Cabinet as well as in the Dail, she said.

The count in Citywest concluded shortly before 9 pm on Monday, after two recounts of two separate counts along the way. The first elected TD was Sinn Feins Sean Crowe, who polled almost two quotas with 20,070, and almost 30 per cent, of first preferences, on Sunday afternoon.

He was followed home on Monday afternoon on the eighth count, by Paul Murphy (Solidarity-PBP/Rise). Colm Brophy was elected on the tenth count on Monday evening, with Lahart and Duffy returned on the eleventh.

Mary Lou McDonald says she could be next taoiseach

By Press Association

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (left) and Mary Lou McDonald. Pictures: Liam McBurney/PA Wire and Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

Mary Lou McDonald has predicted she could be poised to become the next taoiseach

The Sinn Fein president insisted she may lead a new government as taoiseach as her party continued to bask in a remarkable General Election result that saw it top the popular vote, shattering Fianna Fail and Fine Gaels long time grip on power.

On an impromptu walkabout in Dublin city centre, Mrs McDonald said: I may well be the next taoiseach, yes.

Counting continued on Monday and, by 5.30pm, 134 of the Dails 160 seats were filled.

Despite receiving the most first preference votes, Sinn Feins place in the next government is not guaranteed.

Proud to lead. On this day two years ago I was Elected President of @sinnfeinireland This weekend we made history - all of us, together. pic.twitter.com/CWVxZkhLBG  Mary Lou McDonald (@MaryLouMcDonald) February 10, 2020

The party failed to run enough candidates to capitalise on its surging popularity in Ireland, so it will not finish up with the most seats.

Fianna Fail is on course to be the largest party though Sinn Fein could finish in second place behind outgoing Taoiseach Leo Varadkars Fine Gael, which is the big loser of the poll.

All three parties will fall well short of reaching the 80 seats required for a Dail majority so, barring another election, some form of coalition is inevitable.

The task of forming a government could be a long and tortuous one and may force either Fianna Fail or Fine Gael to back-track on long-standing pledges never to do business with Sinn Fein.

One permutation could see the exclusion of Sinn Fein, with Fine Gael and Fianna Fail entering power together in a so-called grand coalition, though that prospect looks unlikely at this stage.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald celebrates with her supporters after being elected at the RDS Count centre today. Pic: PA

Smaller parties and groupings such as the Greens, Labour, the Social Democrats and Solidarity/People Before Profit, and a sizeable number of independent TDs, may all be courted as the main parties seek junior coalition partners.

Mrs McDonald has pledged to work to form a peoples government and get to grips with crises in housing and health  the issues that featured so prominently on the campaign trail.

This election has certainly been seismic and historic, its been an election thats really been driven by a demand for change by the people, she said.

Sinn Fein won the election, we won the popular vote, weve recorded an historic victory for our party but the election is much more than that.

The election is about a real appetite for political change, and that means a change in government.

We asked the people to vote for Sinn Fein, the chance to demonstrate what government looks like when citizens and families are put at the centre of government.

I hope that we can deliver such a government because I am very clear that the people who came out and voted for Sein Fein voted for Sinn Fein to be in government.

40 seats for one party looking unlikely as counting continues

It looks as though no party will get more than 40 seats in the general election.

Fianna Fail has suffered a number of losses today that has hurt their chances of leading the next government.

They need everything to fall their way to hit the 40 mark.

Sinn Fein look likey to finish with 37 TDs - a 15 seat gain.

Meanwhile, Fine Gael is going to be somewhere in the mid-30s.

It means there could be as little as two seats between the two largest parties - and that even a Fianna Fail/Sinn Fein coalition might not command a Dail majority

On the back of it Mary Lou McDonald has said she believes she can be Taoiseach and has started talking to other parties about supporting her.

A mandate to establish a Sinn Fein negotiating team for a new government is being organised as a matter of urgency.

The party's Housing Spokesperson Eoin O Broin says the electorate want change now and the pressure is on the party to deliver.

Outgoing Dublin Lord Mayor leaves door open on FF/SF coalition

By Juno McEnroe and Digital Desk staff

Newly elected Fianna Fail TD for Dublin North West, outgoing Dublin city mayor Paul McAuliffe, has left the door open on his party working with Sinn Fein in government.

The TD took the third and last seat in the constituency after a long fight for the party, which now looks set to be left with six seats in the capital.

Paul McAuliffe (third left) celebrates after being elected to the Dublin North West seat. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

Mr McAuliffe said he would consider his election result and assess the transfers and look at who voted for him before making up his mind up about which party Fianna Fail might work with in power.

But, when asked, he did not rule out Sinn Fein:

The reality of Irish politics is people have to look at their mandate, see where it has fallen and then start to talk to each other and it will not be good enough for people to sit on their hands this time.

Every party will have to play their part in forming a government and try to put in place that change that was voted for right across the country.

I want to look at the votes I was given. More than 44% of people in my area voted for Sinn Fein, it is an unprecedented result.

I want to see where their number twos and threes went. I want to soak that up and see where the mandate has come.

At this point, I think it is all about reflecting the mandate we have been given and then looking at policies.

If there is common ground, of course you can work with people.

However, speaking at the Cavan-Monaghan count centre in Cavan town Fianna Fail TD Brendan Smith has emphatically ruled out going into government with Sinn Fein.

Absolutely not. No way. Thats my view, Mr Smith said, when asked if he would consider going into government with Sinn Fein, which has taken two seats in the constituency already.

First of all I dont agree with their economic policies, and I have had huge difference with them over the years, and my position will not change in that respect.

He said was not aware of remarks made by Micheal Martin, his party leader,

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Mr Martin was quoted as saying he is a democrat, and that he would listen to the people and respect their decision. The remarks were widely seen as a potential change in the Fianna Fail stance on entering government with Sinn Fein.

Mary Lou-McDonald, the Sinn Fein president, welcomed today what she called the softening of Fianna Fails stance on a coalition with her party. She said she was glad Mr Martin has  come to his senses when making comments on Sunday that seemed to open the door to possible talks with her party.

Mr Smith said that was news to me. I dont think anybody can ever question Micheal Martins view in regard to Sinn Fein, he has been consistent, strong and constant on that, he said, before reiterating that he would no way consider going into government with Sinn Fein.

Meanwhile, more than three-quarters of seats in the 33nd Dail are now filled as counts continue to come in.

Earlier today Dublin Central saw Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe home along with Green Party's Neasa Hourgian and Social Democrat Gary Gannon.

Dublin South Central has become an entirely left-wing constituency with the four seats going to Sinn Fein, People Before Profit, the Green Party and Independents 4 Change.

Barry Cowen has won a Fianna Fail seat in Laois Offaly.

Sinn Fein's Dessie Ellie stormed to victory in Dublin North West with 44% of the first preference vote, or 14,375 votes.

A huge number of his transfers went to Solidarity People Before Profit candidate Conor Reddy, putting him in play for spot in the three-seat constituency.

After the fourth count the Soc Dems co-leader Roisin Shortall with over 8,000 votes.

Although he put in a better performance than may expected, Fine Gael's Noel Rock lost out.

Elsewhere, Danny Healy-Rae has retained his Kerry seat, while Colm Burke and Mick Barry have taken the final two seats in Cork North-Central.

Paul Murphy of Solidarity-People Before Profit/Rise has been elected on the ninth count and is the second TD home in Dublin South West.

Verona Murphy wins Dail seat in Wexford

Independent candidate Verona Murphy has been elected in Wexford on the eleventh count.

Verona Muprhy at the count centre today. Picture: Mary Browne

Fine Gaels Minister of State Paul Kehoe and Fianna Fail TD James Brown were also returned on the eleventh count without reaching the quota, bringing the count to the conclusion.

Sinn Feins Johnny Mythen was elected on Sunday following the first count. He was followed by Labour leader

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Fianna Fail TD Malcolm Byrne, who was elected for the first time in Novembers by-election, failed to retain his seat.

Fine Gaels Minister of State Michael DArcy was eliminated on the tenth count with his transfered votes bringing Mr Kehoe over the line a battle with Mr Byrne.

The moment Verona Murphy was elected #Wexford pic.twitter.com/uHNm8U3o01  Deborah Naylor (@DebsNaylor) February 10, 2020

Ms Murphy received the third most votes after transfers (11,849). She was deselected as a Fine Gael candidate last year following controversial comments about immigrants during Novembers by-election campaign.

Ms Murphy missed out on a seat that time and ran as an independent in the general election under the slogan of vocal and local.

She struck a conciliatory tone at the count centre on Monday, and thanked her family and team for their support. Ive been hear before and tasted defeat.

Mr Kehoe, who took the last seat thanked his team and used his election speech to warn about the dangers of social media.

We are elected, we will do our best for the country. But I really, really question the people who use social media in the way that they use it.

Mr Byrne, who narrowly missed out on retaining his seat, agreed, saying it has this general election has been a dirty campaign. Other successful candidates commiserated with Mr Byrne. He said he is disappointed but intends to remain in public life.

EARLIER:

More than 100 seats for the 33rd Dail have now been filled as counting continues across the country.

Sinn Fein may win up to 38 seats, some projections show. Fianna Fail is projected to end up with around 41 and Fine Gael's final seat tally is likely to be around 39.

The first recount of the election has been granted in Dublin South West.

Fianna Fails Deirdre ODonovan has been granted a recount of the last count, count 5. She was eliminated with 3,639 votes in the count, trailing Solidarity-People Before Profits Sandra Fay by just three votes.

The recount is getting underway and is expected to take about two hours. Sinn Feins Sean Crowe is the only candidate elected in this five seater.

In Kerry, the third count has failed to elect anybody and it could be only until after the fifth count before either Danny Healy-Rae or Brendan Griffin get elected.

Long standing Labour TD

Read More:

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The Independent candidate Peter Casey has been eliminated in Donegal on the fourth count.

Sinn Fein has won a seat in Tipperary for the first time in the history of the state.

Its candidate Martin Browne, who lost his seat on the county council just last May, was elected on the eighth count this afternoon.

Independent TD Mattie McGrath was re-elected in the same count.

The election count there is now complete following the election of Labour's Alan Kelly and Fianna Fail's Jackie Cahill on the ninth count without reaching the quota.

Dublin South Central has returned four left wing TDs to the 33nd Dail, with Minister of State Catherine Byrne the latest high profile Fine Gael figure to lose her seat in the general election.

Long-time Sinn Fein TD Aengus O Snodaigh topped the poll, and without a running mate his transfers brought Brid Smith (People Before Profit-Solidarity) over the line on the second count.

Green Party candidate Patrick Costello took the third seat, and Independents4Change TD Joan Collins clinched the final seat, ahead of Byrne on the last count.

State of play:

With more than 100 of the 160 seats filled in the 33rd Dail, Fianna Fail looks

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As things stand, Sinn Fein has 36 seats so far and are likely to pick up four more, while Fianna Fail have 21 seats at present, but are in contention in constituencies all over the country.

Fine Gael's poor election is continuing with the party firmly in third place with just 18 seats, with several senior ministers including Richard Bruton and Paschal Donohoe yet to be elected.

The Green Party currently hold 7 seats and could ultimately win double that if counts continue as expected, but with the size of the Sinn Fein surpluses, the spread of the transfers is quite disparate.

The Social Democrats are on course to have a very good election and will return with five or six seats, up from the two they held in the last Dail.

Jim O'Callaghan: Not 'tenable' for Fianna Fail to go into coalition with Sinn Fein

By Juno McEnroe

Fianna Fail's justice spokesman Jim O'Callaghan has said that the idea of his party and Sinn Fein working in government together is not tenable.

Speaking after his re-election in Dublin Bay South, the senior Fianna Fail figure said his party could not go back on promises made to voters not to enter coalition with Sinn Fein.

Jim O'Callaghan is elected as papers are counted at the RDS in Dublin. Picture: PA

Asked by the Irish Examiner about party leader Micheal Martin's softening of the ground over potentially working with Sinn Fein, Mr O'Callaghan said:

My own view is completely clear. We gave an assurance prior to the election to the electorate that we wouldn't go into coalition with Sinn Fein.

That's what we said before the election. That's what I said on the doorstep when people raised that question with me in Dublin Bay South.

"And I don't think it is tenable now for us to change our policy in respect of that.

He said this was not a personalised comment against Sinn Fein TDs. But he added:

When you look at the policy differences between Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein, I don't think it is tenable that we should be in coalition with them.

The remarks come after leader Micheal Martin yesterday

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Other Fianna Fail TDs have also privately said that they would not be against opening discussions with Sinn Fein. However, any cooperation with Mary Lou McDonald's party would require a Fianna Fail Ard Fheis and for ordinary members to approve such a path.

Ms McDonald has said she is open to working with all parties.

Together, Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein would potentially command close to or above 80 TDs, a majority in the Dail and enough to form a government.

Howlin: Left-wing coalition 'doesnt make sense numerically'

Labour leader Brendan Howlin has been elected in Wexford after reaching the quota on the eighth count.

There was a relatively subdued reaction to Mr Howlins election just before 11am today. He was expected to be returned late last night but failed to reach the quota before counting was adjourned.

Brendan Howlin after being elected. Picture: Mary Browne

Mr Howlin got 12,930 votes after transfers. The quota was 12,513.

Speaking afterwards, he said he was honoured to be elected but conceded it was a bad election for the Labour Party nationally. Mr Howlin is the second Labour candidate to be returned after the election of its TD Sean Sherlock in Cork this morning.

Asked about a potential coalition, Mr Howlin said Labours director of elections has been talking to Sinn Fein's director of elections this morning but that a broad left-wing coalition doesnt make sense numerically.

Mr Howlin said he is not thinking about his future as Labour leader at the moment and is instead concentrating on getting as many colleagues as possible across the line today.

Then well have a period of reflection and see what the future holds and see how were going to shape a resurgence in the party.

|Brendan Howlin celebrates his election this morning. Picture: Mary Browne

Roisin Shortall just befere it was announced that she had been elected. Picture via Social Democrats,Twitter

Shortall signals Soc Dems are open to coalition talks with SF or FF

By Juno McEnroe

Social Democrats Roisin Shortall has signalled that her party would be open to possible coalition talks with Sinn Fein or Fianna Fail.

Following her successful re-election to Dublin North West, Ms Shortall said voters had decided they wanted change and an end to a divided country that had existed under Fine Gael.

Speaking to reporters in the RDS, Dublin, Ms Shortall added: We just don't know how things will shake out...It will be two or three days before the final seats are filled.

From our point of view, the priorities are that the big problems in the country are solved. That's what the public wants us to do.

"They didn't like the kind of responses of government over the last four years and they are very definitely looking for something different, a change in direction.

Asked about working with Sinn Fein or Fianna Fail, Ms Shortall said: Any party will speak to any party depending on what the numbers are. We thought it was wrong for any party to be excluded [from talks]. The numbers dictate and the public decide what it is going to be.

The Social Democrats now look on track to potentially win as many as six seats in the elections. This follows the election of Holly Cairns in Cork South West while the party also looks set to take a Dail seat in Dublin Bay North and possibly Dublin Central.

Coveney: FG 'didn't connect' with voters

Tanaiste Simon Coveney has described the verdict of voters as harsh and a result of the pubic being impatient for more housing and a better health service.

Housing and health were the key issues of the hugely disappointing election, he told RTEs Today with Sean ORourke.

Tanaiste Simon Coveney at the counting of votes for Cork City South Central. Picture: Provision

Undoubtedly, they were the two big issues of the campaign and people were impatient for progress and an improvement to public services in both of those areas, he said.

Mr Coveney said the electorate had voted for something more radical in the belief it could be delivered quicker, adding that he wasnt sure it could.

However, he acknowledged: This undoubtedly was an election where Fine Gael didnt connect with the electorate in the way we wanted to.

Im not going to sugar-coat anything here - this was a bad election for Fine Gael. Well recover from it, learn from it, listen to what people have had to say and bounce back.

Asked if Leo Varadkar should continue as party leader, Mr Coveney said he should.

I think actually he has done a really good job as Taoiseach, even though the verdict of the people was a harsh one, and one we need to accept, he added.

Mr Coveney again ruled out a coalition between his party and Sinn Fein saying it would result in a lot of clashes. It is primarily about policy, he added.

Mary Lou McDonald waves to supporters at the count centre in the RDS, Dublin. Picture: RollingNews.ie

Bertie Ahern: Mary Lou McDonald has 'right' to lead government-formation talks

Former Fianna Fail Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said Mary Lou McDonald has the right to lead talks on the formation of a new government.

Mary Lou has the right to first call, he said.

Mr Ahern told RTEs Today with Sean ORourke that Sinn Feins overall vote would have translated into 48 seats - 11 more than they are likely to win - and that was the will of the people.

Sinn Fein are the huge winners; they have had an extraordinary election, he said.

Mr Ahern said his experience in helping form unthinkable coalitions in the past taught him what is likely to end here is not predictable.

Everyone is saying this is earth-shattering.. but fundamental changes have had to happen in the past I think people will work to form a government because they wont want another election, or that is where they will inevitably end up.

Mr Ahern said he believes confidence and supply is fairly dead and he doesnt see such an arrangement as part of the next Dail.

Meanwhile, Fianna Fails director of elections Dara Calleary said his party will certainly talk with Sinn Fein about a programme for government.

We will see what programme they put together...We certainly will talk about the programme and the policy actions, he said. We certainly will engage with them, we are not going to refuse to talk to them."

But he added policy differences and issues of principle remained difficult hurdles to a power-sharing agreement between the two parties.

Voters have demanded urgent action on housing and health, he said, adding: If somebody pus something in front of us that will deal with those in a credible manner, in an urgent manner, we have to talk to people.

'Uniquely demanding and complex'

Outgoing Minister for Finance and Fine Gael director of elections Paschal Donohoe said Sinn Feins performance was a remarkable achievement but he played down the assertion they had won the election.

Ill form a view regarding who won the election when we see who is in the next government, he said.

I think that is a critical element for deciding who did and did not win.

Mr Donohoe said his party needs time to reflect on the outcome and that the coming weeks would be uniquely demanding and complex in terms of trying to form a new government.

Clare set for first SF TD in 98 years

Clare is set to elect its first Sinn Fein TD in almost a century later today with the election of west Clare mother-of-five, Violet Anne Wynn.

The counting of votes resumed at 9am at the Falls Hotel in Ennistymon with the distribution of independent, Liam Woulfes 1,504 votes.

SF hasnt had a TD elected in Clare since 1922 and Ms Wynne and Cllr Cathal Crowe (FF) are expected to take two seats.

There are currently five candidates in the hunt for the other two seats with Timmy Dooley (FF), Pat Breen (FG), Joe Carey (FG), Michael McNamara (ind) and Cllr Roisin Garvey in the hunt.

EARLIER: 'This is a vote for SF to be in government': McDonald

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald has said Election 2020 has delivered a vote to put Sinn Fein into government once the count is over.

"This vote for Sinn Fein is for Sinn Fein to be in government," she said this morning, adding that her first choice remained a "new Government without Fianna Fail and Fine Gael".

She confirmed the party had contacted the Greens, People Before Profit and the Social Democrats, as well as Independents and will speak to the Labour party - "everybody who would be outside the old two (of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael)". However, she said she also remained open to talking to the larger two parties.

Ms McDonald also said she was glad to see Micheal Martin had "come to his senses" after he appeared to soften his stance on whether to consider a government compact with Sinn Fein. The democratic thing is for them to speak to me and stop this business of saying Sinn Fein can be put on the margin so many people now have chosen us to represent them, she told RTEs Morning Ireland.

Mary Lou McDonald in ebullient form at the RDS count centre in Dublin yesterday. Picture: PA

The Fianna Fail leader yesterday said large policy differences remained between the two parties, but also said "I am a democrat" and acknowledged the large popular vote for Sinn Fein.

It was never a sustainable position to suggest that a party such as ours, that represents such a substantial number of citizens, that there would be an active campaign to exclude us was completely wrong, said Ms McDonald.

Weve known for for a long time that the dominance of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael is over.. the people have made that decision.

Ms McDonald said she believes a peoples government can be formed.

The Sinn Fein leader also admitted the party, which stormed home in many constituencies with huge surpluses, should have run more candidates, with the benefit of hindsight.

There is no doubt there are constituencies where we have left seats behind, she said.

SF-FF coalition 'would be a betrayal of the people': Brid Smith

Solidarity People Before Profit's Brid Smith has said a Fianna Fail/Sinn Fein coalition would be a betrayal of the people's wishes.

Deputy Smith, who was elected yesterday in Dublin South Central, said: "If that happens (a SF/FF coalition), I think it will be a huge disappointment to the people of this country, who clearly said - repeatedly said, to us on the doorstep - 'No Fianna Fail, no Fine Gael. We want something entirely different'.

"We want them out; we're sick of them both - that's what we got continually thorughout the campaign.

"I think it would be a betrayal to the people to go back into a government that had either of those parties in a ruling position."

Brid Smith, reelected, at the RDS count Centre Dublin. Photo:Gareth Chaney/Collins

Earlier:

Seventy-eight of the 160 seats to be won in Election 2020 have now been filled, with counting to resume in a number of constituencies this morning.

Sinn Fein still lead the field, but both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are gaining ground thanks to their far higher number of fielded candidates - Sinn Fein fielded 42 candidates, to Fianna Fail's 84 and Fine Gael's 82.

Twenty-nine Sinn Fein candidates have now been elected to the 33rd Dail. Fianna Fail have won 16 seats while Fine Gael has 14 TDs so far.

Independent candidates have picked up eight seats, the Greens five, SOL-PBP and the Social Democrats have two apiece. Labour and Aontu have secured one seat each.

A number of well-known political names and heavy-hitters have lost their seats. Fine Gael have lost both a Minister and Junior Minister in Regina Doherty and Mary Mitchell O'Connor. Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross also lost his seat, while Fianna Fail's Lisa Chambers was eliminated in Mayo. Former Labour Tanaiste Joan Burton and Solidarity's Ruth Coppinger have also lost their seats.

The Tanaiste Simon Coveney and Fianna Fail's finance spokesperson, Michael McGrath, were elected in Cork South Central.

The constituency has returned the same representatives it did in 2016 - two Fianna Fail, one Fine Gael and one Sinn Fein.

Mr Coveney had to wait just over seven hours after Sinn Fein's Donnchadh O Laoghaire topped the poll to be elected on the eighth count, after he exceeded the 11,429 quota with 12,170 votes.

Because Mr McGrath, with 10,809 votes, had more votes that the other remaining candidate, Green Party Cork city councillor Lorna Bogue, on 9,179, plus the untransferred surplus, he was deemed to be elected, without reaching the quota, taking the fourth and final seat.

DonnchadhOLaoghaire, pictured at the Cork count.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald insists she will talk to all parties when it comes to forming a new government. She said any refusal to engage with Sinn Fein on the formation of a new government betrayed a "state of denial. They (Fianna Fail and Fine Gael) are still not listening to what the people have said."

Asked if the result marked a revolution in Irish politics, Mrs McDonald replied: Yes, you could call it that for sure.

However, Taosieach Leo Varadkar said he intends to stand by the party's commitment not to enter into coalition with Sinn Fein. Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin suggested yesterday that he had softened his stance against talking to Sinn Fein, while acknowledging that large policy differences remain between the two parties.

Micheal Martin TD speaking to the press at the Cork North and Cork South Central Count Centre at Nemo Rangers GAA Club in Cork. Picture: Dan Linehan

A total of 159 seats have to be filled (Ceann Comhairle Sean O Fearghail is automatically returned in Kildare South). Count centres will re-open their doors from 9am today.

Fianna Fail's John McGuinness was re-elected in the Carlow-Kilkenny constituency overnight, with counting set to resume at 10am today. McGuinness excess and the transfers from the latest candidate to be eliminated - Adrienne Wallace of Solidarity People Before Profit - will be transferred once counting resumes.

'Nail-biting'

Earlier yesterday, Sinn Feins Katheleen Funchion secured a seat on the first count with an excess of more than 5,000 votes. Carlow-based Fianna Fail candidate Jennifer Murnane-OConnor now leads the remaining candidates with more than 10,000 votes, on her way to the 12,274 vote quota.

Deering, along with fellow Fine Gael candidate John Paul Phelan, the Greens Malcolm Noonan and Fianna Fails Bobby Aylward are all in contention for the remaining seats.

Meanwhile, There are two seats to be filled in Dublin Mid West, after Sinn Fein claimed the first two yesterday. Counting resumes in Citywest at 10.30am.

Last night, outgoing Fine Gael Minister Josepha Madigan managed to clinch the third and final seat in Dublin Rathdown, despite what she described as a "nail-biting day".

Lisa Chambers on losing her seat in Mayo: 'This is democracy in action'

Fine Gaels Michael Ring topped the poll in Co Mayo and was elected to the Dail with 14,796 votes on the first count.

Michael Ring celebrating his election overnight. Picture: Keith Heneghan

Also through on the first count was Rose Conway-Walsh, the first Sinn Fein candidate to be elected to the Dail since 1927. A third-time general election candidate, Conway-Walsh more than doubled her 2016 return, achieving 14,633 first-preference votes.

The county has for a long time been a Fine Gael/ Fianna Fail stronghold, but the Sinn Fein surge has burst open the grip of the traditional big two.

Speaking at the count centre in Castlebar, Conway-Walsh said: There were lots of predictions that it would be two and two all the way, but we knew from canvassing right across the county from the beginning that there was a mood for change.

Fianna Fail deputy leader Dara Calleary surpassed the quota on the final count, taking a total of 13,636 votes. His colleague and Fianna Fail's Brexit Spokesperson Lisa Chambers, with 8,911 votes, lost her seat to former Mayo footballer and Fine Gael newcomer Alan Dillon, who finished with 10,977. Standing in Castlebar, Dillon filled the large gap left by former Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

Addressing the count centre, Lisa Chambers said: "This is democracy in action...It is difficult in defeat always. Of course, I am disappointed but life moves on."

The Green Partys rising star Saoirse McHugh was knocked out after the fifth count, with a total of 6,036 votes, while Fine Gael's Michelle Mulherin finished with 7,427 votes after the sixth count.

Turnout in the Mayo constituency was 66.12%, and the quota was 12,871.

Michael Lowry punches the air as he celebrates topping the poll on the first count in Tipperary. Picture: Eamonn McGee

In Tipperary, the general election count will restart at 10am in Thurles, with four seats left to fill.

Veteran Independent TD Michael Lowry topped the poll and was the only candidate elected last night.

He is the first Dail deputy to win a seat in his constituency in every general election since he first stood as a candidate in 1997.

He said he was honoured to represent the county, saying: "This is my ninth general election (and) my sixth as an Independent candidate. It's my sixth time heading the poll and it's all due to you, my supporters."
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Limited Impact on China's Economy







Already, many internationally renowned economic institutions have released preliminary estimates of the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the economy. On January 31, Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), reported that the novel coronavirus would have negative consequences on the performance of China's economy in the first quarter, but that it is still premature to accurately gauge its impact before the end of the first quarter. On January 21, in the World Economic Outlook report released in Switzerland, the IMF revised China's 2020 growth forecast from 5.8 percent to 6 percent.





On February 3, the World Bank and the IMF said that the Chinese government has the capability to manage the epidemic and that they are confident in the resilience and policy space of China's economy. In a speech in Paris on February 5, Christine Lagarde, chief of the European Central Bank and former managing director of the IMF, said that while the threat of a trade war between China and the United States appears to have receded, the coronavirus adds a new layer of uncertainty to the global landscape. According to the research of epidemic economics, epidemics can cause a severe negative impact on an economy in the short term, but the impact is usually muted in the mid and long term. This trend conforms to the forecast of Wei Shangjin, former chief economist of the Asian Development Bank. He commented on January 28 that if the epidemic is contained by April, it will exert only a limited impact on the Chinese economy, probably a 0.1 percentage point decrease in China's GDP this year.





The forecasts of major international economic organizations have been mostly consistent with those from the Chinese government. The impact of the epidemic on China's economy will be determined by the progress and effectiveness of prevention and control efforts, and it still seems that the impact is episodic and temporary and won't change the general positive trend of the Chinese economy in the long run. When predicting the coronavirus impact on China's economy, international institutions like the IMF usually use the 2003 SARS epidemic as a benchmark. According to statistics released by the IMF, China's GDP grew by 10 percent in 2003, 0.9 percentage points higher than in 2002. From 2003 to 2012, the annual growth rate of China's GDP averaged10.6 percent, and the figure was 6.9 percent from 2013 to 2019.





Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics of China on January 17 showed that China's GDP reached nearly 100 trillion yuan (US$14.3 trillion) in 2019, with per capita GDP surpassing US$10,000 for the first time. The annual GDP growth rate hit 6.1 percent in 2019, and the year-on-year growth in the first quarter of that year was 6.4 percent. At current market prices, China's GDP in the first quarter of 2019 accounted for 22 percent of the total of the year. The share of the first quarters of the three years from 2016 to 2018 was 21.8 percent, 21.9 percent and 22 percent, respectively. That means the fluctuations of GDP growth rate in the first quarter would create less impact compared to the other three quarters of the year. If the epidemic is contained in the next few months and the Chinese government introduces proactive economic policies thereafter, the coronavirus outbreak will only leave a limited impact on China's economy.





Mounting Uncertainty in the World Economy





Although the novel coronavirus outbreak could only cause a fleeting impact on China's economy, any major fluctuation in the world's second large economy will significantly influence the global economy through supply and industrial chains. China's share in the world economy had increased from 4.3 percent in 2003 to 16.3 percent in 2019. If evaluating the impact just based on China's economic aggregate in 2003, it's easy to fall into the trap of linear contrast. In 2019, China's economic aggregate was about US$14.1 trillion. In this context, a 0.1 percentage point drop would result in a loss of more than US$14 billion. Given that China has become the world's largest goods trading country and contributes more than 30 percent of world economic growth, the spillover effect of fluctuations in China's economy can't be underestimated. For instance, the novel coronavirus outbreak has caused a sharp contraction in China's transportation sector, which led to a rapid drop in the country's demand for oil. To address the situation, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided to reduce oil output.





Today, Chinese tourists make more than 160 million outbound trips each year. The coronavirus epidemic happened to break out during the Spring Festival holiday, a peak time for outbound travel of Chinese people. From that angle, the epidemic has exerted a major impact on tourism and civil aviation in China's neighboring countries which are popular destinations for Chinese tourists. According to statistics released by the Japan Association of Travel Agents, 400,000 group travelers from China are expected to cancel planned trips to Japan before March. Countries more dependent on tourism such as Vietnam, Cambodian and Thailand may suffer even greater losses.





But the most severe uncertainty is impact on the supply chain of the manufacturing sector. According to The World Development Report 2020 released by the World Bank, a prominent feature of today's global economy is that intermediate goods account for 70 percent of the world's total trade, which is more evident in East Asian economies. In the months to come, the negative impact of the epidemic on countries such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia will grow. Considering their increasingly closer connections to China in fields like textiles and electronics, countries like Bangladesh and Cambodia will also be affected. Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, is a major automobile manufacturing base, and many manufacturers in China have opted to remain idle. In this context, the global automobile industry will also suffer a heavy blow.





Before the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, China-U.S. trade friction was affecting the global supply chain, and some enterprises started moving their manufacturing bases from China to countries like those in Southeast Asia. The epidemic has spread globally, with confirmed cases reported in more than 20 countries and regions around the world. Developed countries are taking rigorous measures to strengthen quarantine inspection, and some even cut off air transport with some regions of China. However, if countries around the world fail to make concerted efforts to stop the epidemic, global trade in parts and components will suffer greater losses, adding new levels of uncertainty to the 2020 global economy.




By Express News Service

VIJAYAWADA: Cracking the whip against the two-wheeler owners who customise their bikes, traffic police seized 30 two-wheelers in enforcement drives conducted on Sunday.

As complaints of youths creating disturbances with their customised high-end bikes increased, city commissioner of police Ch Dwaraka Tirumala Rao took the issue seriously and instructed traffic officials to carry out intensive enforcement drives at all major junctions.

According to Section 52 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, no owner of a vehicle shall alter the vehicle that the particulars contained in the Certificate of Registration are no longer accurate. It strictly prohibits the alteration of vehicles against standards prescribed by the vehicle manufacturer. Not just seizing the vehicles, the violators were asked to bring factory-fitted exhaust pipes to get their bikes released, the traffic police said.

Meanwhile, Nandigama DSP GV Ramana Murthy said auto drivers violating rules were contributing to more number of road accidents and accidental deaths. In order to create awareness among them, Nandigama rural police conducted an enforcement drive in Kanchikacherla village and seized two passenger autos. The police also imposed fine on other drivers for carrying passengers more than the permissible limit.
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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
President Donald Trump is predicting a GOP Senate victory in Alabama following Democrat Doug Jones vote at the impeachment trial.

Trump in a Tweet on Sunday lashed out at Jones as a lightweight and called his vote to convict partisan.

So good to see that Republicans will be winning the Great State of Alabama Senate Seat back, Trump wrote.

Lizzie Grams, a spokeswoman for Jones' campaign, said the senator declined to comment. In a statement after his vote, Jones said he reluctantly concluded that the evidence was sufficient to convict Trump of both abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Senators are elected to make tough choices," he said in the statement.

However, in a tweet, Jones responded humorously to the lightweight reference.

Thanks! Havent been complimented about my weight in awhile, Jones tweeted. Regardless Mr. President, thank you for signing into law the 17 bipartisan bills that I sponsored that will help folks in Alabama.

Jones faces reelection this fall in a heavily Republican state that Trump carried by 28 percentage points in 2016. In an upset, Jones narrowly won a special election for a vacant seat in 2017 against Republican nominee Roy Moore, who had been accused of sexual misconduct with teenagers when he was in his thirties.
Ben Obese-Jecty is the Deputy Chairman (Political) for Hornsey and Wood Green Conservative Association and stood as the candidate for Hackney North and Stoke Newington in the 2019 General Election.

In January, the Prime Minister pledged to set up a cross-Whitehall taskforce, taking personal charge of a new Cabinet Committee that will tackle the growing issue of serious and violent crime, in particular, the growth in county lines drugs networks.

The urgency to defeat exploitative gangs has increased significantly as their reach and levels of violence have extended ripple-like from major metropolitan areas, fuelling the demand for recreational drugs in the suburbs and commuter towns. What started as inner-city urban gang warfare, has now moved to the hedgerows of the home counties.

Ive witnessed these gangs in operation. Living in an area of North-East London blighted by serious and violent crime Ive found gangs operating from cars parked outside my home in a quiet side road and in the playground nearby. The police response is lackadaisical at best, but far more gruesome events have taken place just a few roads away.

On 22 February 2019, Kamali Gabbidon-Lynck a member of the gang, WGM (Wood Green Mob), was viciously stabbed to death in Wood Green by members of rival Tottenham gang, NPK (Northumberland Park Killers). Of the five youngsters found guilty, three of those convicted were only seventeen years old. One was Jayden ONeill Crichlow, a drill-artist known as SJ and one-third of the popular drill act OFB (Original Farm Boys). His debut single was released shortly after his arrest, subsequently achieving nearly 11million views on YouTube, boosted by the notoriety of his part in the brutal murder. As the five were handed their life sentences, each due to serve a minimum of between 21 and 28 years, fighting broke out in the Old Bailey between the families of the defendants. Rumours swirled of betrayals and snitching.

Media outlets desperate to promote drill as a bleak latter-day Anthem for Doomed Youth, valorise these gangs with hagiographic puff-pieces, whilst comfortably detached and cocooned from the maelstrom. In September of last year, The Guardian ran a lengthy article about OFB under the auspices that they were trying to move the genre beyond the violence for which it has been demonised; in hindsight, a naive stance for the paper to take. The Guardian, fully aware of the situation, was content to refer to SJ and the success of his debut single released a fortnight after his arrest for the murder, without ever addressing the topic.

Social media adds a complex dimension to the issue via a channel that is fuelling the crisis. The speed with which inter-gang rivalries now escalate is impossible to police. A perceived slight in song lyrics can quickly result in social media activity via platforms such as Snapchat that leads to fatal consequences. Young fans, ignorant of their role, are complicit in encouraging the violence, egging it on from the sidelines. The need to protect a reputation in front of anonymous and unknown peers is perhaps one of the issues saddest and most futile aspects.

Winding-up these gangs will require innovation; a balance of judicial, societal, and educational measures to reduce the rate of recidivism and rescue those at risk of being lost to a path from which they will find it difficult to return.

Judicially, whilst the call for more police on the streets is a simple solution that reassures the public, it is unlikely to deter attacks as violent as those weve seen previously. It may, however, prevent would-be assailants from feeling emboldened enough to launch the type of brazen and callous attacks upon which reputations are forged. A more effective strategy makes improvements to community policing via larger Safer Neighbourhood Teams. Building relationships and earning trust within local communities will develop local intelligence and inform the broader intelligence picture for each region.

Tougher sentencing is cited as a deterrent, but with teenagers already receiving life sentences, is there any scope to escalate their severity? Having worked extensively with young people exposed to criminality, Shaun Bailey has often stated that crime needs privacy. Tagging offenders, particularly those whove committed less serious offences, denies them the freedom to be drawn back into criminal activities, reduces the willingness of those engaged in such activity to associate with them, and forces those at risk to adhere to the conditions of their sentence. When coupled with the provision of work programmes that provide employment opportunities for those with such status, we can give disenfranchised young people a second chance to succeed.

Societally, whilst media outlets continue to glamorise a niche musical genre in drill so inextricably linked with violent crime, and social media platforms continue to abdicate responsibility for hosting such content, we cannot expect to see a fall in its popularity or its negative impact. Any attempts to regulate artistic expression will likely be seen as heavy-handed and only burnish its reputation as something illicit. The rejection of the violence integral to the genre must start organically. It is the role-models and community leaders who must be worked with to drive this, focusing upon those whom the target demographic identifies with, rather than politicians and celebrities so detached from those they hope to influence that their impact is negligible.

Education cannot be overlooked with the impact of school exclusions a key contributing factor. Pupil Referral Units (PRU) are the local authoritys final safety net for children excluded from education. Many fail to attend the units and both the authority and the PRU should work closely with local police as a safeguarding issue, identifying those at risk of falling into criminality. With an effective process in place, we can staunch the flow of children into the preying arms of waiting gangs targeting PRUs. To many, like SJ, roadlife presents a far more attractive, and in the short-term lucrative, option.

Ultimately the matrix of gangs, postcode wars, drugs, county lines, drill music, social media, poverty, education, and opportunity may require broader resources than a pan-Whitehall task force can muster. Key to this will be understanding the impact that targeting vulnerable young people, seduced by their perception of an outlaw lifestyle, has on marginalised communities. How does the new task force propose to eradicate gangs that are such an established part of the milieu in many of the affected areas? To achieve the desired outcome, the task force will need to reach even farther than its broad scope already implies.
Expected to be priced at a premium of around Rs 80,000 to Rs 1 lakh over the regular model.

Toyota Innova Crysta CNG will be based on the 2.7-litre petrol engine with a 5-speed MT.

It looks identical to regular models save for the CNG sticker on the rear windshield.

Expected to be priced at a premium of around Rs 80,000 to Rs 1 lakh over the regular model.

Launch expected in the next couple of months.

The Toyota Innova Crysta witnessed a price hike of upto Rs 1.32 lakh with the introduction of BS6 compliant engines. While the petrol variants prices were hiked by upto Rs 63,000, it didnt contribute much to the Innovas sales. Thus, to widen its appeal, Toyota will be offering a CNG version of the Innova Crysta, which has been spotted testing for the first time.

This bi-fuel variant will be based on the Innova Crystas 2.7-litre, 4-cylinder petrol engine. In its usual state, it belts out 166PS and 245Nm, but expect slightly lower numbers from the CNG version.

The conventional petrol engine is paired with a 5-speed manual and 6-speed automatic but the CNG version will only get the former. This version of the Innova Crysta looks exactly the same as the vanilla version save for the CNG sticker on the rear windshield.

It is expected to be launched by April 2020. For now though, the only other 7-seater CNG offering you can buy is the Maruti Ertiga. It costs roughly half of what Toyota charges for Innova Crysta CNG. We expect the Innova Crysta CNG to be based on the base G variant and command a premium of around Rs 80,000 to 1 lakh over the petrol variant.

The addition of a CNG option in the Innova Crystas lineup will make it an even more tempting alternative to its rivals like the Mahindra Marazzo, Tata Hexa, Tata Gravitas and the upcoming 7-seater MG Hector.

Toyota Innova Crysta BS6 Models Launched. Pricier By Up To Rs 1.32 lakh

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Disclaimer: This article has not been edited by Deccan Chronicle and is taken from a syndicated feed. Photos: CarDekho.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 14:14:26|Editor: Xiaoxia

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BAKU, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Initial voting results suggested that the ruling party retains majority in Azerbaijan's parliament, the country's Central Election Commission said on Monday.
Before the end of 2009, France and Germany will take strong initiatives to open "new Horizons" needed by Europe and the World, going well beyond the current Crisis' management, anounced French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angie Merkel, reassuring that both a judgement on Lisbon Treaty by nearby Karlsruhe German Federal Court, and the forthcoming National Elections in Germany would confirm their capacity to act.

They were replying to Press questions in Berlin, after key-regional elections on Sunday, where Merkel's ChristianDemocratic party kept everywhere a strong 1st and won the possibility to forge a New Majority with Liberals at the largest of 3 Landers : Saxony (4 millions inhabitants), while its main competitor, the Socialdemocrat party fell to unprecedented lows : Tackled by the small "Linke" (left) party in Saarland (1 million inhabitants), it became even smaller than it in Saxony and Thuringen (3 million inhabitants), where SPD arrived only third. While its usual partners, the "Greens" also fell down, contrary to CDU's new partners, the FDP Liberals, who go up.





- "At any case, at the end of the year (2009), if things go as scheduled, we shall take strong initiatives, showing that Europe needs a Franco-German axis, as well as the World, even if it never excludes other" countries to join, replied Sarkozy to a question if France and Germany will revive the "European dream", by "relauncing the EU motor" for the Future, with actions going further than the mere management of the global crisis, (as it was done fex. in the Past with the creation of the "Euro" Monetary zone, etc).



- "I am convinced that the Franco-German friendship must be constantly nourished by New Projects", he added."There are many areas of cooperation where we intend to take, very soon, some Franco-German initiatives, which will allow to open more Horizons" to the EU, Sarkozy stressed.



But if "we don't speak about that now, it's only in order to avoid interfering in important elections coming in Germany", he observed. However, "we have already started to consider the Future with the (German) Chancellor, and what we can do in order to honour our predecessors". "We are already speaking about that, and we are preparing things". "I am working very well together with Mrs Merkel, and I wish that it goes on", Sarkozy concluded.





- "It's important for EU's credibility that France and Germany advance forward together", stressed Merkel from the outset. "Don't worry about Germany's capacity to undertake initiatives" with France, she added. "France and Germany will be perfectly able to make proposals" for the EU.



- "After-crisis" plans must be prepared, meanwhile, with measures "advancing progressively", Merkel anounced. And, for the short term, we must deal also with EU Citizens' dismay since they feel that it's a Scandal for some in the Financial Markets to be paid with excessive "Bonuses", etc, she agreed with Sarkozy.



- "Abuses in financial markets must stop", stressed also Sarkozy. Backing Merkel's announcement that France and Germany call for an EU meeting to forge "a crystal-clear European position" in view of the G-14 Summit at Pittsburg, he warned that "everyone will have to undertake his responsibilities, in front of World's Public Opinion. particularly those who don't want to make the same effort of regulation as France and Germany".



Moreover, "Global Trade cannot be correctly dealt, without taking into account also Environmental and Social rules", Sarkozy added, referring to recently expressed positions against Unfair Competition via Environmental and/or Social Dumping, (See earlier "EuroFora"'s publications).



Such moves are obviously linked to the need to ensure at least an elementary respect for Human Rights by Third Countries, (f.ex. exploitation of Children's work, etc) in order to avoid, precisely, any such Social Dumping.



- "EU has Values, protecting Human Rights and Human Dignity", and "it cannot close its eyes" in front of grave violations, particularly "Torture and/or killings", added, indeed, Sarkozy.



Thus, "the time comes, where decisions must be taken". But, in case of "Sanctions", "all International opinion should be convinced of the need to take action", he observed.



Expressed on the occasion of recent developments in Iran, the same principles should logically apply also to other similar cases, including fex. that of Hundreds of ECHR judgements' condemning f;ex. Turkey for grave crimes, (as Torture, brutal Killings, Enforced "Disappearances", Destruction of Family Homes, harassments and oppressive violations of Freedom of Speech, etc).



Meanwhile, questioned on (EU Commission's chair) Barroso's bid to succeed himself for a second mandate, they both expressed a "wish" or a "feeling" that "EU Parliament"'s various political Groups might fix a date for decisions "during September". However, is he is endorsed before the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, it will be legally necessary to re-vote anew for a full term of office afterwards, according to EU Legal Experts, revealed recently in Strasbourg the experienced former President of EU Parliament's Constitutional Committee, German Socialist MEP Jo Leinen. And Germany will not vote for Lisbon Treaty's ratification but only "on September 8 and 18", revealed Merkel, ( i.e. after EU Parliament's plenary session in Strasbourg).



- Therefore, "for EU Commissioners' appointment, it's too early yet, because we must wait for the ratification of Lisbon Treaty" by all 27 EU Member countries, including naturally Ireland's Referendum on early October, said to "EuroFora" the influential President of EU Parliament's largest group of MEPs, Joseph Daul, expressing, however, the hope that a controversial deal with the head of the Socialist Group of MEPs, Martin Schultz of Germany, might hold for Barroso alone, at a forthcoming vote due to fix the Strasbourg plenary's Agenda.



But MEPs reportedly just "postponed" for 1 week all their previously scheduled group meetings (See : http://www.euractiv.com/en/future-eu/barroso-unveil-summer-homework-week/article-184825 );



However, while the choice of a new EU Commission's President by EU Parliament is supposed, according to many MEPs' wish, take place according to EU policy issues, paradoxically, this would mean that Barroso's bid would pass before even the anouncement of France and Germany's "initiatives" for EU's "new Horizons"...
The 56th Security Conference will be held on February 14-16, 2020.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will attend the Munich Security Conference (MSC) 2020.

Read alsoZelensky shares impressions of meeting with Pope Francis

"We are pleased that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will join us for a high-level townhall discussion on Ukraine at MSC2020," the MSC wrote on Facebook.

UNIAN memo. The Munich Security Conference is an annual conference on international security policy that has taken place in Munich, Bavaria since 1963.

The conference is held annually in February. The venue is Bayerischer Hof Hotel in Munich, Germany.

The 56th Security Conference will be held on February 14-16, 2020.
What if you get stuck on the highway in a storm? Here are some tips
DARTMOUTH, N.H. - Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., sprinted through New Hampshire this weekend, trying to use a widely praised debate performance - and an ensuing infusion of donations - to exceed expectations in the upcoming primary and beef up her skeletal organization in the races to come.

Hours after Friday's debate, her campaign announced that it had raised $1 million. By Saturday afternoon, they revised that number to $2 million. But Klobuchar, who has had strong debate performances in the past, acknowledged the challenge she faces at this inflection point: Can she turn a moment into momentum?

Campaign officials said they had 100 staffers spread between New Hampshire and Nevada, many fresh off planes from Iowa. The campaign is using its monetary bump to run television ads in South Carolina and bolster Super Tuesday efforts.

But first comes a frenetic race through New Hampshire, where Klobuchar has continued to add events to an already packed schedule.

"I know I'm not the candidate that's No. 1 right now, but we are surging," she told voters at Dartmouth, her third of four campaign events Saturday. "Someone told me in a text with an auto-correct that went bad: 'congratulations on your insurgency.' "

Klobuchar is competing for moderate voters along with Buttigieg, who claimed victory in the Iowa caucuses, and Biden, who placed a disappointing fourth. To standing-room-only crowds, she sold herself as a Goldilocks for those who believe the 77-year-old Biden is past his political prime and the 38-year-old Buttigieg is too young and inexperienced.

"I know it's fun to have political newcomers," she said Saturday, repeating a swipe she's made at Buttigieg. "But I think when you're dealing with [an election] like this, you want someone that can hit the ground running, that knows where the bodies are buried."

Klobuchar touted endorsements from The New York Times and newspapers in New Hampshire as evidence of her bona fides. And if voters want proof of what she has to offer, she said, they should re-watch her eighth debate performance.

Still, in an interview with The Washington Post, Klobuchar acknowledged the uphill battle she faces. The senator has consistently remained outside the top tier in polls, and it's not clear that she can garner significant support in Nevada and South Carolina, states that are significantly more diverse than Iowa.

In Nevada, which holds its caucuses Feb. 22, 3% of voters say Klobuchar is their first choice, according to a RealClearPolitics polling average. It's lower in South Carolina, where 2% of voters favor Klobuchar. Nearly two-thirds of that state's Democratic primary voters are black.

"The vice president right now has a big chunk of the support" in South Carolina right now, Klobuchar told The Washington Post. "They don't know me. And so I've got to get them to know me . . . then I'll just have to make the case."

It won't be easy. Activists groups have criticized Klobuchar, chief prosecutor in Minnesota's most populous county from 1999 to 2007, for refusing to bring charges in dozens of cases in which people were killed during encounters with police.

There are more immediate problems, too, such as the dwindling days before New Hampshire's primary.

Like the other senators vying for the White House, Klobuchar is trying to make up for time lost to the Senate impeachment trial. She's touted herself as an effective, aisle-crossing leader with a history of winning Republican-leaning areas of her home state. The Democrat casually told voters at the University of New Hampshire that she had been texting with John McCain's widow, Cindy, before coming onstage.

"I have won every red and purple, suburban and rural congressional district every single time I've run," she said Saturday afternoon. "I have won every race, every place, every time all the way down to fourth grade, where my slogan that I have since abandoned was, 'All the way with Amy K.' "

At events, she makes jokes. She mentions her father, a recovering alcoholic, is frequently visited by members of his Alcoholics Anonymous group at the assisted living facility where he resides, but "he says it's pretty hard to get a drink around here anyway."

She told voters that in one race, she had raised $17,000 from ex-boyfriends.

Undecided Democatic voters praised her wit but were more concerned with whether she could be a competent standard-bearer for the party, and a foil to President Donald Trump.

"I can't see the country swinging from the chaos and conservatism of the Trump administration to a very liberal candidate such as [Sen. Bernie] Sanders," said Darby Johnson, 58, of Newmarket, who said she was giving Klobuchar another look after the debate. "I just don't think the country is ready to go, boom, boom from one extreme to the other. And I wouldn't want to see that."

She said she especially wondered whether Klobuchar could win the vote over Biden. "She's a little bit younger and she's a woman . . . and I worry that Biden seems like he's two steps behind," she said.

Barry Rock and his wife, Jerrie, of Durham, New Hampshire, supported different moderates in the race. He leaned toward Biden, she favored Buttigieg. But after Klobuchar's debate performance, they decided to make the drive to the University of New Hampshire to hear her speak.

"Last night, if you asked me, I would have said Buttigieg," Jerrie Rock said. "But now I'm leaning toward her. Before, [Klobuchar] didn't have the spark. Last night, she had a fire in her."
Mamata Banerjee upset after not being allowed to speak during PMs meet

Missionaries of Charity itself requested SBI to freeze all bank accounts: Govt

Mamata Banerjee on PM Modi's virtual hospital launch: We inaugurated it last year

Work together to revive economy: Mamata Banerjee to Centre

India

oi-PTI

Kolkata, Feb 10: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the union government to work together with opposition parties and refrain from the "politics of vendetta" to revive the economy.

Every body should work together to improve the economic condition. If needed Prime Minister Narendra Modi should speak to the opposition parties, the Trinamool chief said at a post budget press conference.

The budget is the last full budget before the crucial 2021 state assembly polls.

Banerjee referred to the recent comments by RBI on the state of the economy and said the union government should look after it, instead of being busy in the politics of hatred.

"Whatever RBI is saying is a sensitive matter. The union government should look after the economy, instead of being busy in the politics of hatred. The prime minister should take everybody along, if needed hold discussions with opposition parties," Banerjee said while urging the union government to refrain from the "politics of vendetta".

The Union government nowadays does not consult states before taking any decision, Banerjee alleged.

The state Budget presented today is a pro people budget keeping in mind the needs of the people, she asserted.

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Story first published: Monday, February 10, 2020, 19:54 [IST]
The 92nd Academy Awards made history. The South Korean film, Parasite, became the first foreign language film to win Best Picture for its dark drama. It also bagged three other awards (Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Film), and deservedly so. But that wasnt all that the Oscars brought with it this year.

From Brad Pitt and Joaquin Phoenix to Renee Zellweger and Janelle Monae, artistes weaved in the political, cultural and social context of our times to make the night bigger than a celebration of the best of film. Winners used the platform to underline the gravity of the climate crisis, highlight the need for minority and indigenous representation, expose gender discrimination, and caution against far-right extremism. Echoed across speeches was the overarching theme of justice and inclusivity in an unfair, unjust world. Phoenix (who won Best Actor for his role as a mentally ill, failed comic in Joker), quoting his brother, the late actor, River, said, Run to the rescue with love and peace will follow.

But the Oscars didnt get everything right. Not a single woman was nominated for Best Director, and the lack of ethnic representation continued to plague the awards. The Academy would do well to remember what actor Frances McDormand said in her 2018 Oscars acceptance: Inclusion Rider (a provision to ensure diversity in films). But for now, the Academy can breathe a sigh of relief. By awarding Parasite, it has, finally, acknowledged the need to diversify. However, it still has a long way to go before it is truly representative of film in all its glory.
A city council member in California took the dais and quoted from QAnon, a pro-Trump conspiracy theory about deep state traitors plotting against the president, concluding her remarks, God bless Q.

A man spouting QAnon beliefs about child sex trafficking swung a crowbar inside a historic Catholic chapel in Arizona, damaging the altar and then fleeing before being arrested.

And outside a Trump campaign rally in Florida, people in Q T-shirts stopped by a tent to hear outlandish tales of Democrats secretly torturing and killing children to extract a life-extending chemical from their blood.

What began online more than two years ago as an intricate, if baseless, conspiracy theory that quickly attracted thousands of followers has since found footholds in the offline world. QAnon has surfaced in political campaigns, criminal cases, merchandising and at least one college class. Last month, hundreds of QAnon enthusiasts gathered in a Tampa, Florida, park to listen to speakers and pick up literature, and in England, a supporter of President Donald Trump and Brexit leader Nigel Farage raised a Q flag over a Cornish castle.

Most recently, the botched Iowa Democratic caucuses and the coronavirus outbreak have provided fodder for conspiracy mongering: QAnon fans shared groundless theories online linking liberal billionaire George Soros to technological problems that hobbled the caucuses, and passed around bogus and potentially dangerous treatments for the virus.

About a dozen candidates for public office in the United States have promoted or dabbled in QAnon, and its adherents have been arrested in at least seven episodes, including a murder in New York and an armed standoff with police near the Hoover Dam. The FBI cited QAnon in an intelligence bulletin last May about the potential for violence motivated by fringe political conspiracy theories.

Matthew Lusk, who is running unopposed in the Republican primary for a Florida congressional seat and openly embraces QAnon, said in an email that its anonymous creator was a patriot who brings what the fake news will not touch without slanting. As for the theorys more extreme elements, Lusk said he was uncertain whether there really was a pedophile ring associated with the deep state.

That being said, he added, I do believe there is a group in Brussels, Belgium, that do eat aborted babies.

The seepage of conspiracy theorizing from the digital fever swamps into life offline is one of the more unsettling developments of the Trump era, in which the president has relentlessly pushed groundless conspiracies to reshape political narratives to his liking. In promoting fringe ideas about deep state schemes, Trump has at times elevated and encouraged QAnon followers  recirculating their posts on Twitter, posing with one for a photograph in the Oval Office, inviting some to a White House social media summit. Recently, during a daylong Twitter binge, Trump retweeted more than 20 posts from accounts that had trafficked in QAnon material.

QAnon began in October 2017, when a pseudonymous user of the online message board 4chan started writing cryptic posts under the name Q Clearance Patriot. The person claimed to be a high-ranking official privy to top-secret information from Trumps inner circle. Over two years and more than 3,500 posts, Q  whose identity has never been determined  has unspooled a sprawling conspiracy narrative that claims, among other things, that Trump was recruited by the military to run for office in order to break up a global cabal of pedophiles, and that special counsel Robert Muellers investigation would end with prominent Democrats being imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay.

The anonymous posts subsequently moved to 8chan, where they remained until August, when that site was taken offline after the El Paso, Texas, mass shooting. They now live on 8kun, a new website built by 8chans owner.

Some QAnon fans are hardened conspiracy buffs who previously believed other fringe theories, such as the bogus claim that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were an inside job. But many QAnon adherents are everyday Americans who have found in Qs messages a source of partisan energy, affirmation of their suspicions about powerful institutions or a feeling of having special knowledge. Some are older adults who discovered the theory through partisan Facebook groups or Twitter threads, and were drawn in by the movements promises of inside information from the White House (some QAnon devotees even believe that Trump posts himself, under the code name Q+). Others are seduced by the movements wild, often violent fantasies, including claims that Hollywood celebrities are part of a satanic child-trafficking ring.

In online chat rooms, Facebook groups and Twitter threads, QAnon followers discuss the hidden messages and symbols they believe to be exposed in Qs posts, or drops  for example, because Q is the 17th letter of the alphabet, a reference by Trump to the number 17 is seen as a possible signal of his support for them.

They watch Patriots Soapbox, a YouTube call-in show devoted to coverage of QAnon, and other niche media projects that have popped up to fill the demand for Q-related content. Reddit barred a cluster of QAnon groups from its platform in 2018, after a spate of violent threats from members, and Apple pulled a popular QAnon app from its app store. But other social platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, still host large amounts of QAnon content. In general, these platforms do not prohibit conspiracy theories unless their adherents break other rules, such as policies against hate speech or targeted harassment.

The frequent introduction of new symbols and arcane plot points to dissect and decipher has given QAnon the feel of a theological study group, or a massive multiplayer online game. In interviews, several adherents described QAnon as a lifestyle or a religion, and said it had become their primary source of political news and analysis.

Its more of a cult than other conspiracy theories, said Joseph Uscinski, a political science professor at the University of Miami who studies fringe beliefs. QAnon is not just an idea; its an ongoing thing that people can sort of get into and follow along with that keeps them entertained.

With its core belief that the president is heroically battling entrenched evildoers, QAnon may be the ultimate manifestation of Trump-inspired conspiracy mongering. From the start, it was inexorably bound up with Make America Great Again communities online: The New York Times found last year that some 23,000 of Trumps Twitter followers had QAnon references in their profiles.

But QAnon has steadily migrated offline to Trump campaign rallies, where dozens of supporters can be found with Q paraphernalia, carrying signs and commiserating about the theory. In recent months, QAnon adherents have complained that security officials keep people from bringing their gear into the rallies; the campaign said it permitted only approved signs and licensed merchandise at its events.

Harry Formanek, a 65-year-old retiree who attended Trumps Florida rally in November wearing a QAnon T-shirt, said he learned about the theory after hearing allegations that top Democrats were running a child-sex ring out of a Washington pizza parlour  the hoax known as Pizzagate, which was something of a precursor to QAnon. Now, he said, he spends roughly an hour a day on QAnon-related websites and believes, among other things, that Trump signals his support with Q-shaped hand gestures during public appearances.

My friends think Im crazy, Formanek said. I mean, the proofs are just undeniable.

With its growth in popularity, QAnons tangible presence is not limited to clothes, bumper stickers and campaign signs, all of which can be found for sale on Amazon and at other retailers. The theory also showed up at Mesa Community College in Arizona, where an adjunct professor of English, Douglas Belmore, began working it into classroom lectures. He was fired last summer after students complained.

Belmore announced his dismissal on Twitter, saying, Why arent more professors, teachers, cops, pastors, and woke Americans everywhere NOT talking about this? Later, he tweeted, I pray that you see The Truth about POTUS and Q and their War against the trafficking of children, and posted a video clip of Trump at a rally pointing to a baby wearing a Q onesie.

On the campaign trail during the past two years, at least six Republican congressional candidates, as well as several state and local politicians, have signalled some level of interest in QAnon. Danielle Stella, a Republican congressional candidate in Minnesota whose campaigns Twitter account has favorited QAnon material and used a QAnon-related hashtag, was suspended from the platform in November after suggesting that the Democratic incumbent, Ilhan Omar, be hanged for treason.

In an email responding to questions about her position on QAnon, Stella said through a campaign aide: The decision to side with Twitter regarding my suspension for advocating for the enforcement of federal code proves that The New York Times and Twitter will always side with and fight to protect terrorists, traitors, pedophiles and rapists.

In San Juan Capistrano, California, Pam Patterson, a city council member, invoked QAnon in her farewell speech to the body in December 2018, reciting a Q posting as if it were Scripture.

To quote Q No. 2436, she said, for far too long, we have been silent and allowed our bands of strength that we once formed to defend freedom and liberty to deteriorate. We became divided. We became weak. We elected traitors to govern us.

Lin Bennett, a state legislator in South Carolina, spoke approvingly of QAnon on social media but later backed away from it, telling Charlestons Post and Courier newspaper in May, I got tired of looking at that stuff.

And in Montana, an elected justice of the peace, Michael Swingley, was reprimanded in November by a state judicial board for using his official email account to send an angry message to a journalist who had written an article skeptical of QAnon. Swingley wrote that, regardless of whether Q is real, patriots were uniting because of it and your world of fake news and liberal agendas that give away our country to foreigners and protect the Clintons and Obamas is coming to an end.

Beyond the mainstreaming of QAnon in certain Republican circles, a bigger concern for researchers who track conspiracy theories is the potential for violence by unstable individuals who fall under its sway, particularly in the fraught political climate of the 2020 election. In its intelligence bulletin identifying QAnon as a potential domestic terror threat, the FBI warned that partisan conspiracy mongering in the United States was being exacerbated by the uncovering of real conspiracies or coverups by political leaders. Social media was serving as an incubator for groundless theories and inspiring followers to take action, it said.

Although conspiracy-driven crime and violence is not a new phenomenon, the bulletin said, todays information environment has changed the way conspiracy theories develop, spread and evolve.

Uscinski said that because some people with a conspiracy mindset are willing to entertain political violence, it was perhaps inevitable that as QAnon attracted a bigger following, it would eventually come to include a dangerous, if tiny, subset of adherents.

Once you reach a threshold of people, he said, that particular apple is going to show up in the barrel.

The FBI bulletin cited two episodes it said involved QAnon followers. In one, a 30-year-old Nevada man, Matthew Wright, armed himself with an AR-15-style rifle, a handgun and extra ammunition, and drove an armoured truck onto a bridge near the Hoover Dam in June 2018. There, he engaged in a 90-minute standoff with police officers while demanding the release of an inspector generals report on the government investigation of Hillary Clintons email practices.

After his arrest, Wright wrote letters to Trump and other officials, calling himself a humble patriot and making references to the QAnon slogans Great Awakening and Where we go one, we go all.

I simply wanted the truth on behalf of all Americans, Wright wrote, adding that he hoped those responsible for purposely damaging our beloved country be held accountable and be brought to justice.

In Arizona, the leader of a local veterans-aid group in Tucson, Michael Lewis Arthur Meyer, 39, was arrested in July 2018 after occupying a tower at a cement plant that he insisted was sheltering a child-sex-trafficking ring. Meyer alleged a law enforcFement coverup and referenced the QAnon conspiracy theory as he and armed group members searched for the nonexistent ring, according to the FBI bulletin.

After the bulletin was prepared, there were additional incidents in Arizona and Colorado. Timothy Larson, 41, was accused in September of taking a crowbar to the altar inside the Chapel of the Holy Cross in Sedona, while yelling about the Catholic Church and sex trafficking. Larsons social media posts are filled with QAnon references and pro-Trump memes.

And in December the police in Parker, Colorado, charged Cynthia Abcug, 50, with conspiring with fellow QAnon believers to kidnap one of her children, who had been removed from her custody. Abcug believed her child was being held by Satan worshippers and pedophiles, according to her arrest warrant.

Also recently, Anthony Comello, 25, said in a New York City court in December that his belief in QAnon had led him to murder a mob boss, Francesco Cali, who he asserted was part of the deep state cabal working against Trump. Comellos defence lawyer, Robert C. Gottlieb, said in a court filing that after the 2016 election, his clients family began to notice changes to his personality that worsened over time.

Mr. Comellos support for QAnon went beyond mere participation in a radical political organization, Gottlieb wrote. It evolved into a delusional obsession.
HAMPTON, N.H.  It was two days before the New Hampshire primary, and Joe Biden was talking about 13th century common law.

The point Biden was making is that he wrote legislation in the U.S. Senate to protect women from domestic abuse, the Violence Against Women Act. But it was hard to make out the connection between Bidens detour into the Middle Ages with his argument that domestic violence is a modern sign of cultural decay.

We have to change the culture, he told an audience of a few hundred people inside a hotel ballroom in this seaside town. You all know what the phrase rule of thumb means, the derivation of it?

So many women were dying at the hands of their husbands beating them, that English common law, in the late 1300s ... 1390 or something like that, changed the law and said you could no longer beat your wife with a rod thicker than the circumference of your thumb, Biden said. But you could beat her.  We have a serious cultural problem in this country. But we can change it. Thats why I wrote the legislation.

Biden then melded together a reminiscence of his work on domestic violence in the Senate and as vice president for eight years under President Obama, when the White House started a movement to raise awareness about sexual assault.

Joe Biden speaks at a campaign appearance in Hampton, N.H. on Sunday. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

But it was a disjointed trip down memory lane.

When I wrote [VAWA], I got criticized for it. I said, Imagine all the women suffering from post-traumatic stress, just like men on the battlefield and women on the battlefield. Youre worried your husband gets home and youre eating dinner at the table and he smacks your head against the wall. What happens? What do we do? What do we do? Biden said. Thats why I started the Its On Us campaign ... inside the vice presidents office. What happened was I wanted to know the progress we were making.

This is Bidens third run for president. He ran in the 1988 cycle and dropped out in the fall before the primaries began. He ran in 2008 and dropped out after finishing fifth in the Iowa caucuses. This is the furthest hes made it in a presidential campaign.

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But Bidens attempts to minimize his fourth-place finish in Iowa last week have done little to stop his support from plummeting in public polling. He had one of the smallest groups of supporters at a gathering of all the candidates on Saturday night. And his campaign events here in New Hampshire on Sunday did nothing to counter the idea that his candidacy risks flaming out.

Joe Biden greets a person in a polar bear costume during a campaign event in Hudson, N.H. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Three weeks ago, Biden held the lead in the RealClearPolitics average of New Hampshire polls, with 23.3 percent. Now, on the eve of the primary Tuesday, he is in fourth place, at 12.7 percent. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is in the lead with 26.1 percent, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg has 21.3 percent, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is at 13.4 percent.

Biden has already set the expectations very low for himself in New Hampshire. I took a hit in Iowa, and Ill probably take a hit here, Biden said Friday night during the most recent debate.

He is setting his sights on the South Carolina primary on Feb. 29, of which he has been the frontrunner all year in polling, in large part because he has retained the support of African-American voters in that state.

Biden argued Sunday that all four of the first primary contests  the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 3, the New Hampshire primary on Feb. 11, the Nevada caucuses on Feb. 22, and the South Carolina primary on Feb. 29  should be counted together when assessing the strength of any one candidate.

You have to take the first four as one, Biden said. Not a single person has won without overwhelming support from the black community, overwhelming, overwhelming. OK?  Right now, I am far and ahead in the African-American community.

But he allowed that things could change. It remains to be seen, he said.

Indeed, as much as Biden might want the first four contests to be counted together, that is not the way presidential campaigns work. Bad results bring bad polling in the next contest, dwindling financial support, and negative media coverage, and voters move to more viable candidates.

Bidens campaign is short on grassroots energy, meaning he may lack the organizing muscle needed to mobilize voters to the caucuses in Nevada, and he also is without the self-sustaining money supply that Sanders has from small-dollar donors who give a few dollars a time on a recurring basis.

And if the polling in South Carolina shows his support dropping as it has the last few days here in New Hampshire, hell face even steeper odds.

Biden stayed behind after his event here in Hampton Beach for 45 minutes after it ended, shaking hands, taking selfies with supporters and fans, and hugging children before he left for his second and final event in Hudson. He bent down to greet Shelly Bell, 63, who has lived her whole life with Seckel syndrome, a congenital nanosomic disorder. He kissed her hand. They made faces at each other.

Another woman held up her phone and asked Biden to record a video greeting for someone else. Biden cheerfully obliged, then ended with a request.

Need your help, pal, he said. Need your help. Need your help.

With two days to go until the New Hampshire primary, Biden is campaigning across the state. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Read more from Yahoo News:
Tesco customers are being urged to check Clubcard vouchers this month after the supermarket giant revealed millions of unused vouchers will expire at the end of February.

The number of outstanding vouchers is equivalent to 650,000 weekly shops, or a week's shop for the entire population of Glasgow, it revealed today.

Alternatively, the unused vouchers could cover the cost of 4.2million pizzas from Pizza Express or 1.4million day tickets to Thorpe Park.

All of the vouchers need to be spent by 29 February and are worth up to triple their value when used with one of the 150 Clubcard Reward Partners - meaning customers should act quick to claim their rewards.

Tesco is urging customers to check whether they have Clubcard vouchers that need using up

Clubcard vouchers are valid for two years after they have been issued and are stored on a customer's account.

Understandably, some customers save up their vouchers for a big reward, while some simply forget about them.

Customers can check the number of points and vouchers they have - and present them for scanning at the till - via the Clubcard app.

Alessandra Bellini, Tesco chief customer officer, said: 'Clubcard is our way of helping customers to get the very best value when shopping with us, and we want to help them make the most of it.

'We also understand that our customers lead busy lives and may forget about the points and vouchers that they've built up over time.

'With a large number set to expire at the end of the month, we are encouraging people to check the Clubcard app to see if any of these unused vouchers are theirs.'

Vouchers are valid for two years after being issued and are stored on a customer's account

Clubcard customers earn one point for every 1 spent in-store and online. On fuel, it is one point for every 2 spent. To earn 5 in vouchers, customers would need to spend 500.

Vouchers are sent to customers every three months or they can download them onto the Clubcard app.

However, points can be worth far more if consumers use them with their numerous reward partners such as Cafe Rouge and Prezzo.

For example, if customers have 50p in vouchers to spend, this translates to 1.50 when spent with Royal Caribbean, meaning customers can save on their holidays.

Outstanding points The ten locations with the highest number of vouchers about to expire: 1. London West End: 388,000 worth; 2. Manchester: 156,000 3. Bristol: 140,000 4. London Wood Green: 137,000 5. Ilford: 126,000 6. Birmingham: 120,000 7. Edinburgh: 115,000 8. Romford: 114,000 9. Croydon and Glasgow: 107,000 10. Liverpool: 104,000

Clubcard Plus

Tesco launched Clubcard Plus in November of last year, with customers paying 7.99 a month in return for added benefits.

These include getting 10 per cent off two 'big shops' a month, double data for Tesco Mobile customers and no foreign exchange fees for customers who use their Tesco credit card abroad.

However, there are restrictions.

Customers must shop in-store as the discount does not apply online.

Certain items such as fuel, Lottery tickets, tobacco, baby formula milk and gift vouchers, are also excluded from the savings.

Another potential setback for some is that customers will need a smartphone to access the perks as they will need to scan a barcode at the till via an app, so if you dont have a high-tech phone you wont be able to use the Clubcard.

Tesco would not reveal to This is Money how many customers have signed up to Clubcard Plus since launch.
Berlin Bulletin No. 173, February 7, 2020

A FASCIST COUP

by Victor Grossman

While millions this week stared at Iowa and Washington with worried amazement, confusion or anger, Germany, too, had its own messy confusion a which turned into a frightening alarm signal!

For the very first time, a state government a in Thuringia a was able to achieve rule with the support of the far, far right Alternative for Germany (AfD), a party whose leaders are in a continuous flirt with Nazi phrases, Nazi goals and Nazi methods. Every other party has sworn up and down never ever to have anything to do with AfD! Although there were suspiciously contrary murmurs in some circles of the Christian Democrats (CDU, Merkelas party), this pledge had been kept. Until Wednesday, February 5, 2020.

The events that day were astounding. Thuringia had not had a regular, stable government since its elections last October. The three-party coalition which ruled since 2014 (and since October on a temporary caretaker basis) was led by Bodo Ramelow of the LINKE (Left) party). It was the first and only state government ever led by the LINKE a together with the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens as junior partners and based on an ultra-shaky majority of one single vote in the legislature. The LINKE minister-president Bodo Ramelow, 63, a union leader who had moved to East Germany after unification. He proved to be not the radical Bolshevik fire-eater so many had almost hysterically warned about but rather a mild-mannered father-figure, always accompanied by his little terrier Attila, and with a somewhat leftish program. Last October his party defied East German trends and increased the LINKE share of the votes (to 31%) a and 29 seats (of a total 90). But both partners, the Greens and especially the SPD, had slumped a and now the three together had only 42 seats, instead of the one-seat majority now four seats short. And neither the CDU nor the equally right-wing, stoutly pro-capitalist Free Democrats (FDP) a misleadingly called the Liberals a was willing to join up with those blood-red aHonecker-followersa , no matter how mild (and even anti-GDR) Ramelow had become.

One other party had also gained votes in October a and that was the faschistic AfD. With 23.4% and 22 seats they were in second place, a result of East German disappointment, insecurity about the future, and well-founded feeling of being second-class citizens in united Germany a plus the hatred of foreigners infused by the rightists, with more than enough assistance from the oh-so-democratic mass media plus vicious campaigns in the social media.

But all the other parties had made that pledge a never ever with fascists! So there seemed only one way out. Ramelow would continue the three-way coalition as a minority government, dependent in every vote on every issue in the legislature on at least temporary support from a few CDU or FDP voters. A very shaky set-up indeed, but seemingly the only possibility. And everybody reckoned with it a or so it seemed.

But behind the scenes another scheme was being hatched out. The rules called for three secret votes. If, in the first two, no candidate won a full majority then, in a third vote, a plurality would suffice a simply more votes than anyone else. As expected Ramelow missed out in the first two. He expected to win out as the only candidate in the third vote (or possibly against a weaker AfD candidate). Then, suddenly, in jumped another counter-candidate, the almost unknown Thomas Kemmerich, 54, local head of the FDP, which had only barely crossed the necessary 5% hurdle to get seated at all. (It got about 5.0005 % a with a plus of 71 votes, many from his own family with its six sons and daughters plus in-laws). But in that secret ballot he not only got his own five-man caucus votes but those of all AfD members as well, who had obviously made a deal to drop their own hopeless candidate. Even together the two had only 26 delegates, however. It was the secret support by the CDU delegates which, defying all their partyas pledges, joined the AfD to give Kemmerich the needed success: 45 to 44.

Ramelow was out! And, like a thunderbolt from Hades, was the fact that the AfD, while probably not opfficially in the new government, would have veto power over its every decision. Far worse, the CDU, the biggest party in Germany a or its local affiliate a had broken the taboo on the fascists. The AfD leader in Berlin triumphed: a It has finally become clear that there is a majority, not only on paper, against Left-Social Democrat-Green dominationa away from de-industrialization, hatred of automobiles, climate hysteria as well as from gender gaga and antifa violence.a

It was thus in peaceful Thuringia, Germanyas agreen lunga , with its handsome hilly forests and wonderful old castles and historic cities a Weimar, Eisenach, Erfurt, Jena a that the AfD had its first major success a and where it has long been most virulent. Its up-and-coming boss, BjArn HAcke, is notorious for comments against Jews, Africans, the Left:

aChristianity and Judaism are an antagonism. That is why I cannot comprehend the term aChristian-Judeo Occidentaa .

Or, denouncing the monument to Holocaust victims in Berlin, HAcke said: aWe Germans, our people, are the only people in the world to plant a monument of shame in the center of their capital.a

aI donat want Germany to have only a thousand-year past. I want Germany to also have a thousand-year future.a (It was Hitler who constantly spoke of his Thousand Year Reich!)

Looking forward to a future AfD rule, he said: aA few corrections and small reforms will not be sufficient, but German resoluteness will be guarantee that we will grasp things decisively and basically. When the change-over take place we Germans will not take half-way measures, the garbage dumps of modernism will then be removed.a

Making his plans even clearer, HAcke, when a TV moderator dared to disagree with him, responded: aI can assure you that this will have massive consequencesa perhaps someday I will become an interesting personal and political personality in this country: It can happen. And then I wish you great success in your career.a Soon after he got up and walked out.

With the pledge by all other parties never to collaborate in any way with the AfD now broken by two of them, and its resultant taboo-break and gain of influence in Germany, other omens took on added significance: the leading cop in a Berlin borough seen lunching, chatting and driving off with a leader of a pro-Nazi gang which has been threatening anti-fascists, smearing Naz symbols on their homes, burning one of their cars. There was more news of pro-Nazi elements in the armed forces. Of down-pedaled connections or even collusion between serial murderers of immigrants and police agents supposedly observing them, with evidence locked away (for 120 years) by a top CDU leader. Of year-long attempts to cover up the burning to death of an African immigrant while shackled in a jail cell. Or the friendly relationship between the ex-head of the FBI-equivalent Constitutional Protection Agency with AfD leaders. Or current attempts to remove vital tax exemption from the Victims of Fascism-Anti-Fascist Union (VVN-BdA). All are causes for alarm in a country which, after Brexit, exercises a dominant role in European Union rearmament, military maneuvering and expansion, both within and outside NATO.

And some history buffs recall that the very first Nazi Party cabinet ministers were appointed in Thuringia a in 1931, two years before Hitler took over all of Germany.

I regret writing such a worrisome Bulletin. And there is also good news a a majority in Germany a and Thuringia a oppose such tendencies. Many are fighting back a vigorously in the field of climate change, against rent increases with a key new law in Berlin, plus a referendum now gaining strength to confiscate the worst of the giant real estate moguls. And many, especially young people, fighting back against the fascists. Which side will grow faster? I will have to put that question off to the next Berlin Bulletin.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

LATE NOTE. The anger of so many people, demonstrating all over Germany, plus many politicians, even Angela Merkel, repudiating Thuringian members of her party, caused Kemmerich to step down after one day. He called for special new elections in Thuringia.
Miyajima, one of Japans most popular tourist sites, is planning to introduce a new entry tax on visitors to fund new infrastructure as well as curb overtourism, which a local official has admitted is becoming dangerous.

Miyajima, in the Inland Sea off the city of Hiroshima, is famous for the Itsukushima Shrine, which appears to float on the waters of a narrow bay at high water. The island has long been popular among Japanese travellers, and was named one of Japans top scenic sights as early as 1643.

With a growing number of domestic and foreign visitors, however, Miyajima has become overcrowded at the busiest times of the year, such as cherry-blossom season in the spring and fireworks festivals in the summer.

The local government, which spent 900 million (US$8.2 million) on a new ferry terminal for tourists in 2019, has now announced that it is considering imposing a tax of 100 (91 US cents) on all visitors.

There were more than 4.6 million visitors last year and the popularity of Miyajima has really risen since it was listed on the Unesco World Heritage list [in 1996], said Emiko Maruko, a spokeswoman for the citys tourism division.

Right now, Miyajima is always in the top things to do in Japan on the Trip Advisor website so its often very busy, she said.

There are lots of things that we want to do to improve the island for visitors, so the city is considering this new tax. We dont think there is overtourism all the time, but there are definitely times of the year when there are too many people and levels of overcrowding there are dangerous.

Kyoto has introduced a per-night tax for those staying at hotels in the city. Photo: Lucy Dayman

A number of other famous sightseeing spots in Japan are also introducing levies for tourists in an attempt to limit numbers. Kyoto has introduced a per-night tax for anyone staying at a hotel in the city, while the operators of the popular sightseeing boats that navigate the Takachiho Gorge are raising rental fees after it was pointed out that a sharp increase in tourists meant some people had to wait nine hours to hire a boat.

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Industry insiders predict that as the number of inbound tourists continues to grow, other must-see destinations may choose to introduce similar levies.

Countrywide, the number of foreign visitors is not a problem at all, said Ashley Harvey, general manager of destination management firm Aviareps Japan.

There were 35 million tourists in 2019 and if they were spread out over the 3,000km from the far north of Japan to the far south, then that is not a problem. The problem is of extreme concentration in a small number of areas, so the challenge for the domestic industry is achieving regional spread and seasonal spread.

Harvey said there would always be tourist hotspots, such as Tokyo or Kyoto, and there was a school of thought that the relatively small levies were actually a good thing.

Paying a little more may mean that only people who are genuinely interested in a destination will go there and that a destination will get a more appreciative customer, he said, adding that reducing prices for certain special interest groups such as pensioners or school groups or at less busy times of the year would ensure that visitor numbers remained steady.

But it is also important that any revenue that is generated from these sorts of schemes is ploughed back into the tourism sector to make it increasingly sustainable, rather than just going to a citys general account.

This article Japans Miyajima island introduces tax on visitors to help curb dangerous overtourism first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020.
Armenia-Jordan business forum is being held in Yerevan today as part of the visit of King Abdullah II of Jordan.

The event is attended by Armenian Minister of Economy Tigran Khachatryan, senior Jordanian officials, politicians, public figures, and businessmen from both countries.

It is expected that within the framework of the forum a memorandum of cooperation will be signed between the Ministry of Economy of Armenia and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply of Jordan.

King Abdullah is in Armenia on a two-day visit at the invitation of the Armenian President.
(Newser)  The Academy Awards have no host this year, but they opened with a musical performance by Janelle Monae (featuring an appearance by Billy Porter) that made mention of all the talented female directors Hollywood is celebrating. (Unspoken addendum: None of those directors are nominated for an Oscar.) Next up were Steve Martin and Chris Rock, whose monologue included jokes about the failed Iowa caucuses, Jeff Bezos' divorce, and, yes, the lack of nominated female directors and the general whiteness of the show. We'll be updating this story as the night goes on:

Regina King then presented the first award of the night, best supporting actor, to Brad Pitt for Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood. He noted his acceptance speech could only be 45 seconds long, which, he said, is "45 seconds more than the Senate gave John Bolton this week."

Mindy Kaling presented best animated picture to Toy Story 4 and best animated short film to Hair Love.

Idina Menzel performed Into the Unknown from Frozen 2 alongside those who have sung the song for foreign language voiceover versions of the film.

Diane Keaton and Keanu Reeves presented best original screenplay to Parasite.

Natalie Portman and Timothee Chalamet presented best adapted screenplay to Jojo Rabbit.

Shia LaBeouf and Zack Gottsagen presented best live-action short film to The Neighbors' Window.

Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph presented best production design (after a mini comedy sketch about their prolific acting skills) to Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood and best costume design to (after a brief musical montage of songs about clothes) to Little Women.

Chrissy Metz performed another nominated song, I'm Standing With You from Breakthrough.

After a video presentation (featuring Greta Thunberg, among others) on the importance of documentaries, Mark Ruffalo presented best documentary feature (pointing out many of the nominated films were directed or co-directed by women) to American Factory and best documentary short subject to Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl).

Mahershala Ali presented best supporting actress to Laura Dern for Marriage Story.

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Anthony Ramos (John Laurens and Philip Hamilton from Hamilton) then introduced Lin-Manuel Miranda, who in turn introduced a montage of the best movie songs of all time. At its close, Eminem performed; click here to find out why that happened.

Oscar Isaac and Salma Hayek Pinault presented best sound mixing to Ford v. Ferrari and best sound editing to 1917.

Randy Newman performed "I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away" from Toy Story 4.

Utkarsh Ambudkar came on to rap a recap of the show so far, which caused some to scratch their heads. Sample tweet no. 1: "And because the show doesnt have enough time sucks, lets do a recap rap of whats happened so far." Sample tweet no. 2: "i love utkarsh but can i get ONE black person rapping on this stage."

Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus presented best cinematography to 1917 and best film editing to Ford v. Ferrari.

Tom Hanks then took the stage to talk about the nearly-complete Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

Cynthia Erivo performed "Stand Up" from Harriet.

Rebel Wilson and James Corden (dressed up as their characters from Cats ) presented best visual effects to 1917.

) presented best visual effects to 1917. Ray Romano and Sandra Oh presented best makeup and hairstyling to Bombshell. (Viewers were wowed by Charlize Theron's look in the film.)

Penelope Cruz presented best international feature film to Parasite. (The award used to be called "best foreign language film," and director Bong Joon-ho said he was happy to be the first to receive the award under its new name.)

Elton John performed "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" from Rocketman.

Taika Waititi recognized the indigenous people on whose native lands the ceremony is taking place, then introduced Sigourney Weaver, Gal Gadot, and Brie Larson, who in turn introduced the first female conductor to lead the Oscars orchestra, Eimear Noone, for the best original score presentation. The trio of superheroes then presented best original score to Joker and best original song to John and Bernie Taupin for "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again."

and best original song to John and Bernie Taupin for "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again." Best director went to Bong Joon-ho for Parasite.

Steven Spielberg introduced the in memoriam segment, which started with Kobe Bryant, ended with Kirk Douglas, and played as Billie Eilish and brother Finneas performed "Yesterday."

Three minutes past the ceremony's scheduled end time, George MacKay introduced Olivia Colman, who presented best actor to Joaquin Phoenix for Joker. It was 10 minutes past the scheduled end time by the time Phoenix finished his acceptance speech.

Rami Malek presented best actress to Renee Zellweger for Judy.

Jane Fonda presented best picture to Parasite, the first non-English language film to win the top prize. Twitter went wild at the upset, and the audience went wild when producers turned the lights down mid-acceptance speeches (after what seemed like an entire night with zero winners getting played off stage). The lights came back on, and the ceremony ended 31 minutes late.

(Read more Oscars stories.)
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The foreign travel industry in India is literally expanding. Despite the slowdown due to rupee fluctuations, the Indian outbound numbers have been growing at an average annual growth rate of 10-12 per cent over the last seven years, the World Trade Organisation said in a report.

According to tourism industry officials, Dubai and a few more cities in the UAE, besides Europe, the US and the UK, are top destinations for Indian tourists. Apart from the Middle East, South Africa is also targeting Indian tourists after relaxing its Visa rules.

According to Jan Van Der Putten, Vice President Operations, Africa and Indian Ocean, Hilton, To suit the needs of Indian visitors, the country has attractive packages and products suitable for any type of visit. Direct flights to Johannesburg and visa on arrival have further improved the arrivals and the tourism industry in Africa, and we have already seen strong demand from India as a result.

Exceptional quality, impeccable service and the warmest of welcomes, no one does hospitality like Hilton. This is the motto behind Namaste, their guest offering designed to deliver a tailored experience for guests travelling from India to Middle East and Africa. Namaste is curated for the up and coming Indian world traveller and the programme caters to three major segments: destination weddings; meetings and conventions; and film shoots. Millennial travellers are looking to explore offbeat destinations and Hilton is aiming to cater to Indian guests heading to destinations like Doha, Ras Al Khaimah, and Cairo.
L ondon's violent crime epidemic is being fuelled as a rapidly growing proportion of recreational users shun street dealers to buy drugs on the dark web, a new study warns.

The shift to online purchases  which has doubled in the past five years  is said to be intensifying the bloodshed between rival postcode gangs, who fight increasingly savage turf wars to control the dwindling market on the streets.

It has also contributed to the growth of county-lines networks, as organised gangs expand beyond the capital into towns and cities across the UK, using violence to drive out local dealers.

The potential link is identified in a study by City Halls Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), which was founded in 2018 to find ways of breaking the cycle of violent crime and determine its underlying causes.

Latest figures show that 28.6 per cent of recreational drug users in England ordered narcotics via encrypted browsers on the internet last year, up from 12.4 per cent in 2014.

The figure in London is believed to be even higher, with dealers able to deliver orders in some parts of the capital within minutes from sellers who build up reputations with Amazon-style customer reviews.

Professor Tom Kirchmaier, an expert in crime and finance at the London School of Economics, told the Standard: Ordering drugs has become as easy as using Amazon Prime and, unfortunately, rising knife crime is the outcome of a switch by consumers to the dark web.

There has been a quick and dramatic reduction in the market for street drugs. In this contested market, gangs are fighting for their market share. Buying drugs online is safer and cheaper, and usually the quality is good.

"The only drawback for the user is the drugs are not available for immediate consumption but they will arrive through your letterbox minutes or hours later.

Last year, London recorded an 11-year high of 149 homicides. The youngest victim was Jaden Moodie, a 14-year-old who had been caught up in county-lines dealing and was stabbed to death in Leyton by rival gang members.

Lib Peck, director of the VRU, said: We know that drugs fuel violence, and our research makes it clear that the fact people are able to buy greater quantities of drugs on the dark web has increased competition between criminal gangs.

"The VRU is investing in long-term interventions in local communities and neighbourhoods to drive down knife crime, but its all of our responsibility to end the drugs supply chain both on the streets and online.

Organised crime groups based in the UK generate more money from selling illegal drugs on the dark web than in any other country in Europe, according to the EUs monitoring centre for drugs and drug addiction.

England came second only to Finland, where almost half (45.2 per cent) of the drug-using population said they had purchased illegal substances from the dark web, according to the 2019 global drug survey.

America is one of a few countries to buck the trend, with an FBI crackdown to penetrate the dark web markets reducing sales from 18.1 per cent to 11.9 per cent.

Everyday internet browsing can be tracked by law enforcement agencies through each users unique IP address. On the dark web, which has been developing since 2011, users mask their identities with encryption technology such as the Tor browser.

Adverts are posted on private Snapchat or WhatsApp groups, transactions completed in cryptocurrencies, and deliveries dispatched either through the post, packaged as an ordinary parcel, or by courier.

Lawrence Gibbons, the head of drug threat at the National Crime Agency, said: The scale of drugs being bought and sold on the dark web remains small compared to the amount being sold by street vendors or wholesale.

"Nevertheless, tackling the organised crime networks involved is a priority for the NCA and law enforcement partners.

The NCAs unique capabilities allow us to identify and target those using the dark web for criminal activity.

The VRU said in its Violence in London: what we know and how we respond report: Though it is still representing a small part of the overall market for drugs, the online market for drug sales has increased in recent years.

This combination of a more lucrative yet smaller market may drive violence by increasing the competition between organised criminal groups. It may also have driven the rise of county lines, the term used when drug gangs from big cities expand their operations to smaller towns, often using violence to drive out local leaders and using vulnerable people as couriers for drugs.
The Donald Trump administration is again set to slash funding for the fight against the Islamic State (IS) in a new budget request unveiled today, as Iraqs leaders have publicly demanded an end to the US-led combat mission.

The Pentagons request would slash funding for the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces to $200 million, down by a third from last year  money that will focus on helping to provide wide-area security in liberated areas, addressing the ongoing [IS] threat, preventing [IS] re-emergence and setting conditions for long-term stability.

Overall, Trump is seeking $900 million for the counter-IS fight next year, a 30% cut from current year levels. Iraqi security forces, which have continued operations despite a US pause after an uptick in tensions with Iran, will receive $645 million for the IS fight.

Even as the US troop footprint in Syria winnowed to just 600 American forces after Trump allowed a Turkish incursion into areas liberated from IS, the Pentagon insists that the budget strengthens the security capabilities of [Department of Defense] partners countering [IS] to secure territory liberated from [IS] and to counter future [IS] threats by training and equipping partner security forces.

The Pentagon has kept a residual troop presence in eastern Syria, which the administration has said is there to prevent IS from retaking oil fields in the area, though officials have indicated Russian and Syrian forces are posing a continual threat. But funding has declined.

While the Pentagon chips away at the funding for countering IS, Trumps budget forecasts funding an increased number of US troops to defeat terror, up by nearly 4,000 units to 91,233 forces for the fiscal year that starts in October.

The diminished request could foreshadow a bigger role for US forces to train Iraqi units as the Pentagon has faced political pressure to withdraw after an American drone strike killed Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani at Baghdads airport on Jan. 3.

The US-led Office of Security Cooperation, separate from the defeat-IS mission, will get $628 million next year, as the Pentagon attempts to build up Iraqs military over the long haul to be interoperable with American and NATO forces. The Pentagon requested just $45 million for the office last year.
Kate Wright and Rio Ferdinand attend the FENDI MANIA Collection Launch on October 16, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for FENDI)

Kate Ferdinand has revealed how difficult she found life when she first moved in with husband Rio and his three children.

The former The Only Way Is Essex star has opened up about the incredibly difficult time as Rios mum Janice had recently died from cancer, just two years after his wife and mother to his children Rebecca, had also died.

Read more: Kate Ferdinand opens up about feeling 'constantly compared' to Rio's late wife

Speaking to You magazine, she revealed: "I cried every single day for a year when I first moved in with Rio.

"My heart was breaking for them. All I wanted to do was try to fix him, make the kids happy and be as kind and supportive as I could. I gave up my job. I wanted to do everything right. But I didnt know how to cook.

"I lost myself. I felt as though I was acting all the time, trying to smile and learn to cook and be this perfect woman. I tried to talk to Rio but it sounded like I was moaning when he had much bigger problems to deal with. So Id go to our bedroom and cry."

Rio Ferdinand and Rebecca arriving for the world premiere of Dead Man Running at the Odeon West End, Leicester Square, London (Photo by Ian West/PA Images via Getty Images)

The interview comes ahead of a BBC documentary Rio and Kate: Becoming a Step Family which sees Ferdinand attempting to integrate into the family and becoming step-mum to Rio's three children grieving children, Lorenz, Tate and Tia.

The children lost their mum to breast cancer in 2015.

Read more: Kate Ferdinand reveals Rio's children have asked the couple about their baby plans

The programme sees Rio saying: "There ain't no manual that tells you how to become a step-mum."

Ferdinand took to social media recently to discuss the documentary, writing: "This is a hugely important and personal project for @rioferdy5 and I.

"We have been on such a journey and we really hope the film will help other step families and those experiencing the journey of grief - coming soon."

The documentary will air on Monday 10 February at 9pm on BBC One.
Another day, another Samsung leak, this time about Samsungs belated, pint-sized smart speaker, which willif the rumors are truebe able to take charge of your TV and other appliances with IR receivers.

Just last week, there was a leak claiming that the Samsung Galaxy Home Mini would finally see a South Korean retail release on Wednesday (and just a day before Samsungs Unpacked event in San Francisco). Over the weekend, XDA Developers Max Weinback tweeted a series of videos and screenshots that purportedly show the Bixby-powered smart speaker in action.

Among the most interesting tidbits was that the Galaxy Home Mini could act as an IR blaster, allowing you to turn on your TV, change channels, and take charge of other IR-enabled components from up to 40 feet away.

Its a feature that reminds us of Amazons $120 Alexa-powered Fire TV Cube, which similarly uses built-in IR emitters to control your TV.

That said, neither the Amazon Echo Dot nor the Google Nest Mini, which would be the Galaxy Home Minis closest competitors, boast IR emitters, so the addition of IR functionality to the Galaxy Home Mini would certainly up the ante as far as budget-priced smart speakers go.

Weinbechs tweeted leaks also noted that the 2.4GHz-only Galaxy Home Mini would feature a microUSB charging port (compared to the barrel-shaped power ports on the Echo Dot and Nest Mini), as well as the ability to pair two Galaxy Home Minis together for stereo sound (a trick that both the Echo Dot and Nest Mini can do). Weinbech noted that the speaker wont have a line-out jack, a feature that the Echo Dot has but the Nest Mini doesnt.

Beyond that, most the other Samsung Galaxy Home Mini details have already been thoroughly leaked, including Bixby voice control (naturally), the ability to double as a SmartThings hub, AKG sound, multi-room and Bluetooth audio support.

The one detail we dont know yet is when the Galaxy Home Mini, which was first revealed last August, would get a U.S. release. Hopefully well hear some news during Tuesdays Unpacked event.

A since-yanked press release on Samsungs website said that the Galaxy Home Mini would arrive on Wednesday in South Korea, but its not clear whenor ifthe smart speaker will arrive in other worldwide regions, including stateside.

And no, theres still no word about the Galaxy Home Minis big brother, the Galaxy Home, which was announced at Samsungs August 2018 Unpacked event but has barely surfaced since, save for a quick peek at Mobile World Conference last February.
Moscow, Feb 10 : Russia will carefully evaluate any new sanctions and respond adequately, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

"We consider this practice detrimental and contrary to international law, and we believe that many countries suffer from this practice," Peskov told reporters, Xinhua news agency reported.

The US and a number of other countries have used excessive trade and other restrictions unlawfully from the point of view of international law regarding third countries, he said.

Peskov was referring to reports that the US administration is weighing sanctions against Russia's oil giant Rosneft.
The Harris County Flood Control District is expected to begin construction of a new wetland mitigation bank near Katy Hockley Road in Cypress by the summer of this year. The new wetland area will serve as a natural flood mitigation tool while meeting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requirements for nature preservation, according to Rick Howard, Project Manager and Ecologist for the HCFCD.

At a Feb. 6 community engagement meeting, the HCFCD detailed the mitigation bank project, its compliance with federal nature standards and the benefit to the community as a method of stymying flood waters. The project is funded by a $4.8 billion flood bond approved in August of 2018, according to Marcus Stuckett, Director of Engineering for HCFCD.

The project involves restoring and revegetating a 150 acre swath of land owned by HCFCD near Katy Hockley Road. The first stage of the project will be scraping the soil down, revegetating the land with natural herbaceous wetland species and adding mima mounds, or mounds of excavated soil that replicate natural prairie landscape and help trap flowing water.

The environmental benefit to restoring the wetlands is significant. These wetlands... provide nutrient chemical uptake, habitat for wildlife and discharging water at an increased rate, Howard explained.

The project is in compliance with a mitigation rule that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers initiated in 2008. To maintain environmental stewardship, mitigation banks must offset a no-net loss environmental impact in another area. Simply put, if a flood district wants to undertake a project that will impact the environment in a particular area, it must replace an area of the same size somewhere else. This mitigation bank will give the HCFCD credits for other projects that could have a negative impact on natural areas.

Mitigation banks create, restore, and preserve those functions (of a wetland). Then we can trade, those credits for sites that may impact, Howard said So we can take an impact in one location and say, Well, we're offsetting it by building this wetland mitigation in advance of that location.

HCFCD is working closely with entities like the Katy Prairie Conservancy to make sure all the vegetation added to the mitigation bank is natural and indigenous and that the flow of the land replicates the natural topography of a prairie.

The wetlands project will also provide flood mitigation for the Cypress area and all the areas downstream of it. By excavating the soil, the clay underneath will be closer to the surface, and it will absorb water and prevent flowing water from rushing downstream, Howard explained. The clay helps retain rainwater and hold that water for a long period of time, he said.

The mitigation bank is still awaiting approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, but Howard anticipates that the approval will be granted by the end of February. He expects construction to begin in the spring or summer of this year. Once construction begins, the project should take between 12 and 14 months to complete for a final project completion date of summer of 2021.

claire.goodman@chron.com
A Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) jawan, who abducted two businessmen, has been arrested by the police, an officer said on Monday.

"SSB jawan Rajesh Kumar, posted at SSB Battallion in Mohanlalganj, Lucknow was arrested on Sunday. He, along with three others, abducted two businessmen from a roadside eatery in Motipur on late Saturday night," Superintendent of Police Gaurav Grover said.

Kumar allegedly beat up the businessmen after holding them hostage.

Later, a police team rescued them and arrested Kumar. His three associates are on the run.

A probe is on into the matter, the police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chinas second makeshift hospital to battle against the novel coronavirus in epicenter Wuhan on Feb. 6 completed acceptance testing by the citys urban construction department and health commission after 10 days of construction.

The first batch of medical teams have entered the hospital, received the first batch of patients of the novel coronavirus pneumonia on Feb. 8.

The decision to build the hospital, located on the bank of Huangjia Lake in the Jiangxia district, was made by Wuhan immediately after the first makeshift hospital Huoshenshan broke ground on Jan. 25, the first day of the Chinese New Year. The Leishenshan Hospital was requested to be built in half a month.

In face of the rapid spreading of the novel coronavirus, the hospital expanded its total designed construction area three times from 50,000 square meters to 75,000 square meters and finally 80,000 square meters. Its designed capacity was also expanded from 1,300 beds to nearly 1,600 beds. The size of Leishenshan is twice as that of Huoshenshan.

The Leishenshan Hospital uses modular design based on layout of field hospital, and includes three major areas: one for treatment, one for medical workers logistical support, and one for auxiliary treatment.

CNBC covered the whole construction process of the Leishenshan Hospital in articles, pictures and videos, saying the construction of the new facilities echoes the rapid completion of Beijings Xiaotangshan hospital in 2003 built to treat patients affected with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

During an interview of Philippine newspaper Watchmen Daily Journal, an 84-year-old historian said she admired the Chinese government for their efficiency and effectiveness in responding to the need of its people, noting that such speed was just like magic.

CNN noted that the "cohorting," or zoning of the patients in the Leishenshan Hospital is very important, citing Emergency medicine physician Dr. Solomon Kuah who helped the International Rescue Committee coordinate the construction of emergency hospitals during a 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Such design can effectively make up for the deficiency of the hospital, and its necessary to divide patients of differing levels of contagiousness.

Both the lockdown of Wuhan and the Chinese New Year made it extremely difficult to seek materials and labors for the construction of the hospital. However, the employees of the Wuhan branches of the China State Construction Engineering, China State Railway Investment Construction Group, China Construction Science and Industry Corporation, China Construction Industrial & Energy Engineering Group, and China Construction Third Engineering Bureau showed great enthusiasm for contributing their power, applying to go to the frontline.

The number of constructers at the site kept growing, from hundreds to thousands. As of Feb. 4, there were over 1,000 managers and nearly 8,000 workers working at site day and night, and more than 1,400 large machineries and transportation vehicles were running busily. A total of 3,000 container houses, as well as 3,300 sets of mechanical and electrical installation tools have been shipped to the construction sites.

What makes the construction speed is the innovation of Chinas construction technology, said Wu Hongtao, secretary of the Party committee of China Construction Third Engineering Bureau First Engineering Co., Ltd., who directed the construction at site.

He introduced that both Leishenshan and Huoshenshan Hospitals adopted cutting-edge construction technologies, and used as many assembly parts as possible to reduce field workload and save time. Besides, the construction and integral hoisting were carried out in an alternative manner, which maximized the efficiency.

As a result, the Leishenshan Hospital was finally completed in just 10 days, and will make full contribution to the battle against the novel coronavirus.
Asia American Dies of Coronavirus in China; Five Britons Infected in French Alps

A woman wearing a face mask walks on the Qianmen pedestrian street the morning after the Lunar New Year holiday, which was extended due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, in Beijing, China on Feb. 10, 2020. / REUTERS

BEIJINGA 60-year-old American has died of the new coronavirus, the first confirmed non-Chinese death of the illness, US officials said, as millions of Chinese began returning home after a Lunar New Year break that was extended to try to contain the outbreak.

While the vast majority of cases have been in China, the virus has spread to some two dozen countries abroad, including five British nationals infected in a French mountain resort.

The American died on Thursday in Wuhan, epicenter of the virus outbreak in the central Chinese province of Hubei, a US embassy spokesman said in Beijing on Saturday. He did not elaborate.

A Japanese man in his sixties and hospitalized with pneumonia in Wuhan, capital of Hubei, also died after suffering symptoms consistent with the new coronavirus, Japans foreign ministry said.

The virus has been a blow to Chinas already-slowing economy, with Goldman Sachs cutting its first-quarter GDP growth target to 4 percent from 5.6 percent previously and saying a deeper hit is possible.

Its certainly not going to be a return to normal next week, said Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at Capital Economics in Singapore.

The death toll in mainland China rose to 910 on Monday, Chinese authorities said, passing the 774 deaths recorded globally during the 2002-03 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

Most of the deaths in China have occurred in and around Wuhan. Across mainland China, the number of cases stood at more than 40,000.

The virus has spread to 27 countries and regions, according to a Reuters count based on official reports, infecting more than 330 people. Two deaths have been reported outside mainland Chinain Hong Kong and the Philippines. Both victims were Chinese nationals.

World Health Organization (WHO) expert Mike Ryan told a news conference in Geneva that the number of new cases in Hubei had stabilized over the last four days, which may reflect the impact of control measures put in place.

Speaking later to Reuters he cautioned, however, that its not a decline. That can just mean four days of relative calm before it accelerates.

The latest patients outside China include five British nationals staying in the same chalet at a ski village in Haute-Savoie in the Alps, French health officials said, raising fears of further infections at a busy period in the ski season.

The five, including a child, had been lodged in the same chalet with a British man believed to have contracted the virus in Singapore. They were not in a serious condition, the officials said.

France issued a new travel advisory for its citizens, saying it did not recommend traveling to China unless there was an imperative reason. Italy asked children traveling from China to stay away from school for two weeks voluntarily.

Stay strong

Hidden among the statistics are poignant tales of grief and frustration. Canadian mother Amelia Pan is at home while her two-year-old daughter, Cerena, is running a fever and stranded in Hubei where her father has contracted the virus.

I am just hanging in there, Pan said in a Skype interview. I need to stay strong so I can fight for my family.

Chinas Communist Party rulers have sealed off cities, canceled flights and closed factories, a response that has dented the worlds second-biggest economy and had ripple effects globally for financial markets and businesses dependent on China.

Chinas economy will sputter towards normal on Monday, as millions return to the big cities after the biggest holiday of the year. The holiday was extended, but many workplaces will remain closed and many white-collar workers will continue to work from home.

US electric carmaker Teslas factory in Shanghai resumed production on Monday, a government official said on Saturday.

Apple Inc said it was working to reopen its China corporate offices and call centers and was making preparations to reopen retail stores there.

But Chinese authorities have blocked a plan by Apple supplier Foxconn to resume production from Feb. 10 over concerns about the spread of the virus, Japans Nikkei business daily reported on Saturday.

Volkswagen, facing supply chain disruptions, said it had postponed restarting production at most China plants in its joint venture with SAIC Motor and the Tianjin plant in its JV with FAW Group until Feb. 17.

News of the death on Friday of Li Wenliang, a doctor who was reprimanded by police for raising the alarm about the new coronavirus, sparked outrage on Chinese social media.

Chinese-ruled Hong Kong introduced a two-week quarantine on Saturday for all people arriving from the mainland, or who have been there during the previous 14 days.

The Pentagon is shrinking the size of its delegation traveling to the Singapore Airshow 2020 and US defense firms Lockheed Martin Corp and Raytheon Co said they would not attend. Singapore has 40 coronavirus infections.

Another three people on a cruise liner off Japan tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed cases from the ship to 64, Japans health ministry said.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd on Friday banned any guests holding Chinese, Hong Kong or Macau passports, regardless of when they were there last from boarding the companys ships.

The WHO warned on Friday against the unnecessary, unhelpful profiling of individuals based on ethnicity.

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We could sit here and debate what he should have done or what he could have done or what could have happened, but Mr. Houser chose possibly the most extreme choices in that list of alternatives," Gamboney said before handing down the sentence.
Maharashtra Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday said that the stalker who set ablaze a young woman at Hinganghat in Wardha district last week leading to her death this morning, would be tried in a fast-track court and called for strict punishment.

The investigating agencies in this case have been directed to ensure that the accused is punished in the strictest possible manner, he said.

Thackeray said his government will study the Disha Act, enacted recently by the Andhra Pradesh government, and try to make laws stricter to prevent such incidents in future, PTI reported.

ALSO WATCH | Wardha: Alleged stalking victims death sparks anger, CM Uddhav vows action

The Disha Act mandates completion of investigation into cases of sexual offences within seven working days from the time of record and trial within 14 working days from the date of filing the charge sheet.

Home minister Anil Deshmukh spoke to the family members of the victim and announced all support for them.

Despite our best efforts, we could not save the woman. I have spoken to her parents and have told them that the government will stand by them with all its strength. We have also offered a government job to her brother, he said.

Deshmukh said that special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam is in touch with the local police officers to ensure that the trial starts at the earliest.

Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said that the government will be more sensitive in future to ensure that such incidents do not happen. It is shameful for the progressive state like Maharashtra that we could not avert such cases, he said.

The 24-year-old woman, a college teacher, who was set ablaze by a youth in Maharashtras Wardha district last week, succumbed to her injuries after a week-long battle at a hospital in Nagpur.

Following her death, locals held protest demanding punishment against the accused, Vicky Nagrale (27), who was arrested by the police from Takalghat near Nagpur on the day of the incident on February 3.

He was charged under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means).

Police said Nagrale was a married man and has a seven-month-old son. He worked at a firm in Balharshah and used to stalk the woman. The victim was his friend, but she severed ties with him two years ago, police said.
Gov. Kristi Noem drafts bill limiting 'action civics'

This legislation prohibits colleges and schools from directing, requiring or compelling students to protest or lobby as part of a grade or a class.
- Horace Ekow Ewusi, an NPP guru, has petitioned BNI over missing excavators

- Mr. Ewusi is pleading with the BNI to also investigate the Minister of Environment, Prof. Frimpong Boateng

- He says Mr. Frimpong Boateng and his cohorts are also involved in the illegal mining

- Our manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

The troubled former NPP vice chairman of the Central Region, Ekow Ewusi has made some serious allegations about top persons who are involved in galamsey in the country.

The embattled New Patriotic Party member has petitioned the Director-General of Bureau of National Investigations to investigate the Inter-Ministerial Committee on illegal mining over the missing seized and movable logistics.

According to Mr. Ewusi, as of October 31, 2019, out of 254 excavators seized from the illegal miners, 100 were released under the strict and direct instructions of the Minister of Environment, Prof Frimpong Boateng and the rest kept in a safekeeping yard in Accra.

READ ALSO: Explainer: Airbus brouhaha; what we know so far

He also alleged the sector minister has in his possession an undisclosed confiscated gold, movable vehicles and auxiliary logistics.

Mr. Ewusi says he was surprised Prof. Boateng said in the media that 500 excavators were seized. He has also asked the BNI to investigate a number of mining towns and companies in their quest for the truth and whereabouts of the missing excavators and gold.

Some the companies he wants investigated are; Thy Will Company Ltd, Symphony Company Ltd and River Restoration Company Ltd.

There was a framework implemented by IMCIM to engage constituents in the mining enclave in community mining which I believe will be of interest to your office to also investigate these mining towns engaged in this Community Mining Programmes, namely Okyerekrom, Nkoteng, Kotokuom and Fomena which have all benefited from the Community Mining and to whose benefit and interest were these Community Mining programme designed and formulated, Mr. Ewusi said in the petition.

ATTENTION: Read the best news on Ghana #1 news app. Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Ghana

The former NPP official in the C/R also pleaded with the BNI to investigate an aide to the Professor Frimpong Boateng, known as Joe Farasee.

READ ALSO: Heartbreaking: Video of Chinese nurse consoling daughter from afar during Coronavirus crisis goes viral

YEN.com.gh earlier reported it is quite sad how a virus that was mildly talked about is rapidly taking the lives of people living in the affected areas and countries.

According to the World Health Organisation, the coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).

President Akufo-Addo is a "wicked old man" - Angry protester fumes | #Yencomgh

READ ALSO: Mahama will be thrown in jail before the 2020 Elections - Kofi Akpaloo claims (Video)

Have national and human interest issues to discuss? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page.

Source: YEN.com.gh
Sydney Dam Levels up Amid Downpour

Dam levels across greater Sydney have risen by more than 20 percentage points amid heavy weekend rainfall, with enough water for as much as 150,000 Olympic-size swimming pools flowing into Warragamba Dam.

Sydney, the Central Coast, and the Blue Mountains were soaked after receiving between 200mm and 400mm of rain from 9 a.m. Friday to 5 p.m. Sunday, with additional rain expected on Monday and through the week.

The Bureau of Meteorology suggested on Sunday that Sydney had not experienced such rainfall since before the new millennium.

Water NSW data on Monday morning showed that greater Sydney dam levels were at 64.2 percent, up from 41.9 percent in seven days.

Warragamba Dam recouped a years worth of water in one weekend, rising 17.7 percentage points to sit at 60.7 percent at 10.30 a.m. on Monday. Some 360,000 megalitres of water flowed into the damalmost 150,000 swimming pools.

The dam this time last year was 61.4 percent full.

Water NSW in a statement on Sunday said the ash and debris generated by recent bushfires around the Warragamba area would not affect water quality.

Two silt curtains are in place to intercept ash run-off.

While it is likely some ash and debris has been washed into the upper reaches of the Warragamba system, there is no impact on the water quality being supplied for treatment. Any surface debris is being avoided by extracting water from 30m below the surface as a precaution, WaterNSW said in a statement.

Prospect Dam is more than 90 percent full, while Woronora Dam to Sydneys south is almost 60 percent full, jumping 25 percentage points.

The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast more severe weather conditions on Monday with heavy rains, strong winds and damaging surf possible along the entirety of the NSW coast and inland southern NSW.

Flash flooding remains a possibility in several NSW regions, including Sydney.

NSW Drenched by Extraordinary High Rain

NSWs coast has copped extraordinarily high amounts of rainfall with Sydney recording its heaviest drenching in up to three decades.

The rain was coupled with strong, gale-force winds that battered the east coast since Wednesday resulting in fallen trees and powerful waves.

NSW Bureau of Meteorology acting manager Jane Golding said the weather and its impact across the state imitated an east coast low.

Over the last week we have seen some extraordinarily high rainfall all along the NSW coast, she told reporters in Sydney on Monday.

Some areas copped up to 700mm of rainfall since Wednesday including Robertson in the Southern Highlands, which saw 698mm of rain  500mm of which across the weekend alone.

Pottsville in the northern rivers region was battered with close to 605mm of rain, while the central tablelands copped 631mm since Wednesday.

The rain has impacted parts of drought-stricken NSW including the northwest slopes, where up to 100mm of rain fell in the past few days.

Thats more rain than they have seen in quite a few years, Golding said.

While the rain has been welcomed by many drought-affected communities, Golding said follow-up rain was needed to make a difference.

The Central Coast, Sydney, and the Blue Mountains were also soaked after receiving between 200mm and 400mm of rain from 9 a.m. Friday to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Golding said Sydney experienced its highest multi-day rainfall figures since February 1990.

Strong winds also wreaked havoc on the coast where waves peaked at up to 10m and high tides caused extensive flooding and erosion.

Residents near the Narrabeen Lagoon in northern Sydney were evacuated overnight after warnings of significant flooding. It is now safe to return.

Four people were hospitalised on Sunday afternoon after a tree fell on their car in the Sydney CBD, and a 16-year-old boy was treated for broken ribs after being trapped between debris in the Hunters Allyn River.

Water from the Georges River was also inundating Milperra and Liverpool in western Sydney early on Monday, the NSW State Emergency Service said.

River levels at Milperra are now higher than during the 1988 flood and major flooding is impacting other areas such as Warwick Farm and Chipping Norton.

Utility companies are rushing to restore power in swamped regions, with more than 85,000 Ausgrid customersprimarily in northern Sydney and the NSW Central Coastwithout power on Monday afternoon.

Endeavour Energy has more than 16,000 customers without power.

The NSW SES responded to about 10,000 calls for help and carried out multiple rescues of people trapped by rising rivers and floodwaters.

The weather has also caused major disruptions to Sydneys roads and public transport, with Transport for NSW chief operating officer Howard Collins saying most services were affected.

A significant landslip in Leura has closed the Blue Mountains line west of Springwood to Bathurst and is expected to be closed for several days, he added.

The rain on Monday moved to the states South Coast where up to 150mm had fallen and is heading towards Victoria.

Severe thunderstorms are expected to cause havoc and bring intense rainfall to much of NSW throughout the week.

Sydneys parched dams are filling up with Warragamba dam at more than 60 percent capacity after jumping from about 45 percent last week.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has called for an immediate ceasefire in Syrias Idlib, adding that the talks between Russia and Turkey on the current situation in Idlib will take place on Monday.



"The ceasefire in Idlib must be introduced immediately," the minister said during a press conference in Ankara, cited by Anadolu agency.

He added that the agreement between Russia and Turkey on Idlib had not been signed yet. "If an agreement had been reached, there would be no need for todays meeting [with the Russian delegation on Idlib]," Cavusoglu noted.
A young gamekeeper posted an eerie comment to her Facebook just days before she was mauled to death by a pack of lions.

Swane van Wyke, 21, was killed on Thursday while working in the lion enclosure at a private game reserve in Limpopo, South Africa.

Staff reportedly heard Ms van Wykes screams after she escaped the closure and discovered her covered in blood with deep bite wounds.

Swane van Wyke, 21, was killed on Thursday while working in the lion enclosure at a private game reserve in Limpopo, South Africa. Source: Swane van Wyke/Facebook

On January 30, the young woman posted an image of herself with a zebra and the caption enjoy what you do for as long as you can.

The image has since been flooded with condolences from across the world.

My heart hurts to hear today that you are no long with us. You had so much potential and truly enjoyed what you did, until the end! one person wrote.

It is unknown how many lions attacked Ms van Wyke and if they will be destroyed, police, who have since launched an investigation, told The Daily Mail.

On January 30, the young woman posted an image of herself with a zebra and the caption enjoy what you do for as long as you can. Source: Swane van Wyke/Facebook

Our initial investigations show she was performing her duties when attacked by an unknown number of lions, South African Police spokesman Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe said.

The circumstances leading to this tragic incident are still unknown at this stage.

The tragedy comes less than a year after Leon van Biljon, known as The Lion Man, was killed by his own lions while trying to fix a fence in an exclosure at Mahala View Lion Lodge in South Africa, according to CNN.

Swane van Wyke is seen standing at the entrance of a lion enclosure. Source: Swane van Wyke/Facebook

The three lions responsible were later killed.

A few months earlier, tourist Pieter Nortjes arm was almost ripped off after he put his hand through a fenced enclosure to pet a lion.

The 55-year-old was forced to have 60 stitches, according to The Daily Mail.

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Viewers have slammed the 60 Minutes program for barely addressing the issue of hazard reduction burns during a one-sided debate about Australia's summer bushfire crisis.

The Nine Network's flagship current affairs show instead featured three eminent panellists ganging up on former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce and accusing him of downplaying the science of climate change.

Mr Joyce, a former Nationals leader, repeatedly acknowledged that global warming was occurring, even though he remains staunchly opposed to a carbon price on emissions.

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The Nine Network's flagship current affairs show instead featured three eminent panellists ganging up on former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce and accusing him of downplaying the science of climate change

Despite that, he was accused of being a climate change sceptic during a panel discussion on the bushfires moderated by 60 Minutes reporter Tara Brown.

Addressing Mr Joyce, visiting American climate scientist Professor Michael Mann accused Prime Minister Scott Morrison's Coalition government of failing to meet its own emissions targets.

'In all fairness, Barnaby, Scott Morrison and his government have played a destructive role in global negotiations to act on climate,' he said.

'They have literally dismissed the connection between climate change and these unprecedented bushfires that we're experiencing and the scientific community has spoken authoritatively on this matter.'

Social media critics slammed 60 Minutes for dedicating little time to discussing the merits of hazard reduction burns.

Viewers have slammed the 60 Minutes program for barely addressing the issue of hazard reduction burns during a one-sided debate about Australia's summer bushfire crisis. Pictured: a Rural Fire Service volunteer at Tumbarumba in the NSW Riverina in January

Poll Was Barnaby Joyce unfairly treated on 60 Minutes? Yes No Undecided Was Barnaby Joyce unfairly treated on 60 Minutes? Yes 638 votes

No 110 votes

Undecided 17 votes Now share your opinion





'The real issue is land management and the resources needed to deal with that,' Bob Bradley tweeted.

'Better aerial resources needed. Climate change is totally irrelevant.'

Craig Lapsley, Victoria's former emergency services commissioner, briefly touched upon the topic as he argued insufficient hazard reduction burns and green groups weren't responsible for the bushfires.

'Our bushfires are driven by weather,' he said during the 60 Minutes debate.

'They're not driven by fuel, they're not driven by arsonists, they're not driven by greenies stopping us doing burning, they're driven by extreme weather.'

During the 35-minute pre-recorded segment, there was little mention of hazard reduction burns  a role performed by state government-funded Rural and Country Fire services.

Addressing Mr Joyce, visiting American climate scientist Michael Mann accused Prime Minister Scott Morrison's Coalition government of failing to meet its own emissions targets

Mr Joyce briefly mentioned the issue of fire breaks when asked during the debate if he accepted that climate change was the cause of the extreme bushfires.

'We've had a massive change in the climate, I can see it in my own area,' he said of his New England electorate in northern New South Wales.

'That is not my argument. My argument is one of immediate efficacy: we got to put back in our fire breaks, we gonna make sure we build central watering points so no truck has to travel more than 20km.

'These are the things that I want to concentrate on.'

Professor Mann briefly mentioned flammable conditions but this was in the context of global warming.

Social media critics slammed 60 Minutes for dedicating little time to discussing the merits of hazard reduction burns. Pictured: a fire at Mount Adrah in southern NSW

'When you turn the entire continent or large parts of it into a tinder box, there's really no amount of fire suppressant or back burning that's going to get you out of the problem,' he said.

With hazard reduction burns barely debated on 60 Minutes, there were plenty of critics on Twitter and Facebook accusing Nine of bias.

'You threw Barnaby Joyce under the bus last night,' one woman said.

'Very unfair and unprofessional journalism! Barnaby had no chance of putting his side across. It was extremely one-sided.'

Another woman criticised the program for focusing on climate change instead of examining fire management practices.

One man suggested the Greens were responsible for the bushfires even though they don't control hazard reduction policy in any state

With hazard reduction burns barely debated on 60 Minutes, there were plenty of critics of Twitter and Facebook accusing Nine of bias. 'You threw Barnaby Joyce under the bus last night,' one woman said

'If we blame it all on climate change and ignore the more tangible factors such as fuel loads, mismanagement of national parks, restrictions on firebreaks and incompetence of local councils- what is going to change?,' she asked.

'There will be another bushfire season next year and we will be facing the very same problems again.'

One man accused 60 Minutes of left-wing bias and compared the program to the ABC.

'What a disgraceful program that was,' he said.

'I thought I was tuned to the ABC watching Four Corners.

'Those three muppets spoke over the top of Barnaby every time he attempted to say something, anything.'

There was praise, however, on social media for the program taking global warming seriously.

'Excellent story last night on 60 Minutes. People need to realise climate change is real,' one woman said.
President was addressing state governors: Getty

Medical experts have urged the president to remain vigilant about the danger posed by coronavirus in the US, after he said it would be gone by April.

As the World Health Organisation warned the spread of coronavirus cases which had no history of travel to China could be the spark that becomes a bigger fire as people across China returned to work after the Lunar New Year holiday, Donald Trump claimed the US was in good shape,

The heat, generally speaking, kills this kind of virus, he told a meeting of state governors at the White House.

He added: A lot of people think that goes away in April as the heat comes in. Were in great shape though, we have 12 cases, 11 cases, but were in very good shape.

Yet experts in infectious diseases urged caution. While they said it was expected the number of cases would drop, nothing could be taken for granted.



They also said members of the public could help themselves by steps such as getting vaccinated against the flu.

I think its probably too early to say, said Kate Tulenko, a medical doctor and CEO of Corvus Health, a Washington DC-based medical services, when asked about Mr Trumps claim cases would be gone by April.

She told The Independent it was likely the US would see an increase in cases over the coming month, but that instances would drop off towards the spring.

She said she understood why there might be a tendency to play down any risk in order to avoid panic. Yet she said official needed to remain alert, and the public could help itself.

You read all this stuff with people saying its only the flu, or its not as bad as the flu. Well, 100,000 people die from the flu every year around the world, she said. Right now, the most useful thing people could be doing is to get vaccines against the flu.

Others experts said they shared the presidents hope that cases would go by April, but that nobody could be certain.

William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert Vanderbilt University Medical Centre in Tennessee, and an adviser to the centres for disease control (CDC), also said he hoped the presidents claim was correct.

Story continues

"I have been saying we have to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst," he said, speaking from Nashville.

"Someone has told the president that respiratory illnesses such as flu tend to recent in the spring, and that is true, But this is a new virus and a new host - humans. It's very difficult to predict. We don't know exactly."

Dean Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, went even further.

It would be reckless to assume that things will quiet down in spring and summer, he told CNN.

We don't really understand the basis of seasonality, and of course we know we absolutely nothing about this particular virus.

The presidents comments came as the death toll from the epidemic rose to 908, all but two in mainland China, as 97 more fatalities were recorded over the weekend.

The Diamond Princess cruise ship with 3,700 passengers and crew onboard remained quarantined in the Japanese port of Yokohama, with 65 more cases detected, taking the number of confirmed case from the Carnival Corp-owned vessel to 135.

Across China, 3,062 new infections were confirmed on Sunday, bringing the total number to 40,171, according to the national health commission (NHC).

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there had been concerning instances of transmission from people who had not been to China.

It could be the spark that becomes a bigger fire, he said in Geneva. But for now it is only a spark. Our objective remains containment.

He added: We should really fight hard as one human race to fight this virus before it gets out of control.

Additional reporting by Reuters

Read more

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She also urged the Centre to work with the opposition parties and states, shunning the politics of hatred.

Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday appealed Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consult the opposition parties for the economic revival of the country.

She also urged the Centre to work with the opposition parties and states, shunning the politics of hatred. Referring to the Reserve Bank of Indias recent observations, the Trinamul Congress supremo further called upon the Centre to tackle the economic plight.

Her message came after state finance minister Amit Mitra presented the last full budget of her second government in the state Assembly offering a series of sops with an eye on the Municipal Election this year and the Assembly polls in 2021.

All must work together to uplift the countrys poor economic situation. The should take all along including the opposition parties, if required, to hold discussion for the revival of the econmoy.Whatever the RBI has said is right, Ms Banerjee said.

She argued, It is a sensitive matter. The Centre needs to look after the economy instead of pla-ying politics of hatred.
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- Ruffa Gutierrez was a special guest on the popular ABS-CBN talk show Magandang Buhay

- During her guesting, she opened up about her violent reaction to learning that her past partner was cheating on her

- The veteran actress said that she chased that guy with a hanger because of the anger she felt after getting cheated on

- She also clarified that she did not do anything violent to the girl her ex-boyfriend was having an affair with

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Ruffa Gutierrez was interviewed about her personal life on the ABS-CBN talk show Magandang Buhay.

KAMI learned that she opened up about her violent reaction to learning that her past partner was cheating on her.

According to Ruffa, she chased that guy with a hanger because of the anger she felt after getting cheated on.

However, she clarified that she did not do anything violent to the girl her ex-boyfriend was having an affair with.

Alam mo mahilig ako sa hanger eh, hinabol ko ng hanger yung lalake.

I won't waste my wrinkles on the girl no. Bahala siya, alam kong mas maganda ako at mas may saysay ako sa kaniya. Lumabas ang pagka-Annabelle Rama ko, Ruffa revealed.

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KAMI previously reported that Vice Ganda interrogated Ruffa about her ex-boyfriend John Lloyd Cruz.

Ruffa Gutierrez is one of the most adored celebrity moms in the Philippines. She has two lovely and beautiful daughters with former partner Yilmaz Bektas. The actress is also the elder sister of celebrity brothers Raymond and Richard Gutierrez.

Please like and share our amazing Facebook posts to support the KAMI team! Dont hesitate to comment and share your opinions about our stories either. We love reading about your thoughts and views on different matters!

Source: KAMI.com.gh
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 16:34:44|Editor: huaxia

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ULAN BATOR, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- A twenty-month-old child has died after choking on jelly candy in central Mongolia, local police said Monday.

The incident happened in Bodont soum in Arkhangai Province in central Mongolia on Friday, the province's police department said in a statement, warning parents to keep an eye on their children.

Further investigation is under way, it said.
'Whenever the Government of India throws the debris, they will not take such care of the mosque's debris and Muslims may object to such a move at that time.'

The Babri Masjid Action Committee is considering moving the Supreme Court of India to stake claim to the debris of the demolished Babri Masjid that is still lying in situ.

The BMAC will meet this week and decide on the issue after Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi announced the setting up of a trust for the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya as directed by the Supreme Court in its verdict in November 2019.

"It is the duty of Muslims to ensure that the debris of the mosque should be kept sacred," Zafaryab Jilani, convenor, Babri Masjid Action Committee, tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com.

Why do you want the Babri Masjid debris?

The debris of a mosque is holy to us. According to the Shariat or Islamic law, you cannot just dump the debris of a mosque at any place. Especially, you cannot dump the debris of a mosque at any dirty place.

It is the duty of Muslims to ensure that the debris of the mosque should be kept sacred.

More importantly, whenever the Government of India throws the debris, they will not take such care of the mosque's debris and Muslims may object to such a move at that time.

Therefore, we felt we need to go to the Supreme Court of India and get an order on the Babri Masjid debris, so that in future there should be clarity on this issue.

And what do you plan to do with the debris?

Let us shift it to our designated place. Whenever we want to use it, we will use the debris.

Will you keep the debris on the new plot allotted by the government to construct the mosque?

That site (in Dhanipur village in tehsil Sohawal, Ayodhya district) will have nothing to do with this debris.

In Ayodhya (city) there are Muslims who have vacant land. We want this debris to be put there. The Shariat says this and therefore we are complying with the Shariat.

But why go to the Supreme Court for this?

We have to go because this judgment on the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid was given by the apex court.

If the Supreme Court of India does not give guidelines to the Centre that the Babri Masjid debris must be handed to us, they will not give.

This can become confrontational later on. Right now, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad too are saying they don't want the debris and we can take it, but without a Supreme Court order we cannot take the debris.

Who is giving you land in Ayodhya city to keep the debris?

The Muslims of Ayodhya, like Haji Mehboob, have told us so. Then others like Haji Abdul Haq's sons have told us. Akhlaq Sahib from Ayodhya too told us that he has land where we can bring this debris.

What about the plot given at Dhanipur village for a new mosque? Will you accept it?

We have already said we cannot take land in place of the Babri Masjid. The Shariat does not give us that permission. We have got nothing to do with it (the plot). Let the Sunni Waqf Board answer your question.

The feeling is since you did not get the Babri Masjid site, you are staking claim to the debris.

We are taking it because the Shariat says so. It has its importance.

God forbid, if this debris is thrown into some nullah, then there can be a problem in future. So as a precautionary measure we want to keep the debris of the Babri Masjid.
Safety of journalists Aminateh, Asong now in doubts PhotoGrid

Journalists and some members of the opposition Social Democratic Front, SDF, party have come under attack in Limbe after a rigging scheme by the ruling Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement, CPDM, was uncovered at Sundays twin Municipal and Legislative Elections.

Cameroon-info.net understands that Ndenge Godden Zama, Limbe I SDF Electoral District Chairman and some of his party members uncovered a rigging plot allegedly put in place by the CPDM.

An aspiring councillor on the List of the CPDM in Limbe I, a certain Arrey Grace Manyi, is reported to have been caught with huge numbers of CPDM ballot papers. Zama, who doubles as Secretary General of the SDF Fako Divisional Coordination, and some SDF aspiring Councillors say they caught the ballot papers with the lady red-handed and almost stopped voting in the polling station but for the timely intervention of the Senior Divisional Officer, SDO, for Fako, Emmanuel Engamba Ledoux.

People come here, collect multiple CPDM ballot papers, stuff them in envelops to go and fill ballot boxes. If we harm somebody in this town today, nobody should blame us. As I am telling you now, they (separatist fighters) are asking for FCFA 5 million ransom from me. My brother is in the bush because of this election. Look at it, I am not happy, Zama told the SDO at the scene of the incident Sunday.

A day after the polls, Journalist Asong Hillary Jr. says he has been receiving tons of threats already from politicians in Limbe. He declares that his safety and that of his family is now in doubts.

He writes to his colleagues: While some people say I'm part of the rigging machinery in Limbe, CPDM officials have gone mad against me claiming that I exposed the lady who was reportedly caught stuffing envelopes with CPDM ballot papers. Let it be known, therefore, that one innocent Mr. Asong Hillary Jr. is the subject of threats from political stooges of both the ruling and opposition parties in the Limbe municipality. My life and that of my entire family are uncertain.

Asong adds that: I was attacked yesterday night at my business centre by some people who consider themselves affiliates to the CPDM. They revealed that one Obi Ekwalle, an SDF polling agent at the said voting centre said I, Hillary Asong, made the call while he wanted to stay quiet in the hope of collecting money at the end of the move.

Asong tells Cameroon-Info.Net that: After monitoring yesterday's elections in Limbe as assigned by my media house, I received a couple of calls from unknown numbers whose owners refused introducing themselves but told me I should be ready to expose everything in Limbe including my death and/or that of any of my children.

Later on at Westgate Complex, a leisure centre where I'm manager, some members of the CPDM, (including the accused lady and the president of the polling station where the incident occurred) came around for their first time since the creation of the complex months ago and told me they were disappointed in me, saying I should not be the one to do such on Elections Day. They revealed to me a certain Obi Ekwalle, an SDF polling agent at the same voting centre declared that I was the one who drew the attention of SDF members who stormed the place (even in my absence and without my knowledge).

In a missive penned in Limbe Monday, February 10, 2020, Aminateh Nkemngu, journalist and registered voter in Limbe calls on the competent authorities to assume their responsibilities and investigate cases of election fraud in Limbe, as well as threats to journalists and some members of the opposition.

Titled Alert and serious call to order for CPDM politicians in Limbe!, Aminateh says they have received information on good authority that following yesterdays election and unmasking of ballot box stuffing and vote buying by militants of CPDM in Limbe, some journalists and other sympathisers of the SDF have come under what I will call life threats for contributing to expose the huge fraud masterminded by CPDM to which the attention of the SDO for Fako, Mr. Engamba Emmanuel Ledoux was drawn with concrete evidence.

As such, Aminateh Nkemngu took upon himself to make the following declarations:

That Cameroon is a state of law and nobody whosoever is above the law. So the law must take its full course in investigating electoral fraud in Limbe no matter whose ox is gored.

That we are all Cameroonians. We are all free to live anywhere on the national territory. Any attempt by any individual to spew hatred by claiming ownership or having Limbe at heart because it is his or her village through rigging elections is criminal and must be resisted.

That as Cameroonians, we owe our immediate communities in particular and Cameroon in general the responsibility to build social peace and justice. Any attempt to thwart this sacrosanct principle of nation building through outright stuffing of ballot boxes, vote buying and intimidation must be dealt with according to the rules and regulations in force.

The 2020 local elections are holding against a backdrop of armed confrontation in the South West and North West Regions. This election offers us a unique opportunity to demonstrate to our radicalized young people that change is only possible through the ballot box and not the barrel of the gun. In that way, we will be encouraging them to drop arms and come back home. Any attempt therefore to stuff ballot boxes, buy votes and provoke social tensions must be considered an act of terrorism and those found guilty by the competent authorities be treated as such.

Finally, I hasten to say if a credible and transparent investigation into serious allegations of ballot box stuffing, vote buying and threats to lives in Limbe are not properly investigated and handled, it could degenerate into physical, bloody and even armed confrontations between militants of the contesting political parties (SDF and CPDM) in Limbe!!!

Story by Atia T. Azohnwi
Three members of a family were killed and twelve others injured, three of them critically, when a car was crushed between a bus and a truck on a highway in Banaskantha district of Gujarat on Monday evening, police said.

The incident happened near Iqbalgadh in Amigadha taluka in Banskantha district, some 30 kilometres from Palanpur, an official said.

"A luxury bus carrying a marriage party returning to Bharuch from Jodhpur in Rajasthan, a truck and an Alto car were involved in a crash when the truck tried to enter the highway from the wrong side. Three were killed and 12 injured, three of whom are critical and hospitalised in Ahmedabad. The other nine are being treated in Palanpur," he said.

The Palanpur police station official identified the deceased as Meghnaben Joshi (42), Adhya Joshi (12), and Nitish Joshi (45), all members of a family travelling in the Alto car.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a recent study, University of Arkansas physics researchers found evidence of an inverse transition in ferroelectric ultrathin films, which could lead to advances in development of data storage, microelectronics and sensors.

"We found that a disordered labyrinthine phase transforms into the more ordered parallel-stripe structure upon raising the temperature," said Yousra Nahas, first author of the study titled "Inverse Transition of Labyrinthine Domain Patterns in Ferroelectric Thin Films," published in the journal Nature. Former and present U of A physics researchers Sergei Prokhorenko, Bin Xu, Sergey Prosandeev, and Distinguished Professor Laurent Bellaiche, along with colleagues in France, also contributed to the study.

Proposed a century ago, these types of transitions seem to contradict the fundamental law that disorder increases with temperature. They have been found in other systems such as superconductors, proteins, liquid crystals and metallic alloys. But they had not been found in ferroelectric materials, which are of interest to scientists because they possess spontaneous electrical polarization that can be reversed by the application of an electric field.

The University of Arkansas researchers were able to model the transitions using the Arkansas High Performance Computing Center, which is funded in part by the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. Researchers in France demonstrated the model's predictions through laboratory experiments.

"These findings may be put at use to leap beyond current technologies by enabling fundamentally new design principles and topologically enhanced functionalities within ferroelectric films," said Nahas.

The study was supported by grants from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Army Research Office.
Taurangas mayor is calling the government to take action on a turf war between gangs in the Western Bay of Plenty.

Mayor Tenby Powell says the shootings in Te Puke and Hairini and an alleged arson at a business in Greerton, are a part of two gangs fighting for distribution of the drug trade.

Tenby wants to speak with the Police Minister Stuart Nash about the best way to deal with the issues and if the area needs increased police numbers while gang activity is high.

It's only a matter of time before the collateral damage spills over from property, in the case of Greerton, to people in the Tauranga Moana area.

I've been contacted by many people who, if I can paraphrase it, really are scared.

I've just observed an increase in activity to the point where over a period across 72 hours it got to what I would call from a military perspective, operational tempo, which was alarmingly high.

Gangs shooting at each other on No. 1 and 2 roads in Te Puke and now it's ended up in Greerton with this barbershop being burnt down, which is alleged to be arson.

They're fighting each other for distribution in particular areas. There's no doubt about that. They could be fighting each other for other reasons as well, I don't know. It's not [just] me saying it, it's what everybody is saying.

There's no doubt in my mind that we're a small place, to get a slice of the action in terms of drugs, distribution, they're going to have to find a way of doing that and it would appear that at the moment it's causing an awful lot of activity.

The money to be made from drugs distribution is just astronomical, and the gangs are starting to fight with each other in what is effectively a turf war.

The scene of the stabbing on The Strand, Tauranga. Image: Daniel Hines/SunLive

Neither Tenby nor the police would confirm which gangs are involved but its believed to involve the Mongrel Mob and Mongol Nation.

The incidents began on January 25, with the smashing of windows at Greerton business Bladed N Faded barber and tattoo studio, the same business has been gutted by a suspicious fire on January 27.

A stabbing occurred on January 26 where two men are alleged to have stabbed a man on The Strand.

During one of the defendants first court appearance Judge Michael Crosbie said he had been told by police the pair are allegedly prospecting for the Mongol gang.

On January 28 shots were fired in Hairini, police responded to a firearms incident just after midnight.

Later that day, police attended an incident on No.2 Road, Te Puke, where shots were reportedly fired and roads were cordoned off.

The police are doing an absolutely stunning job, amidst trying and challenging circumstances, Tenby says.

We need government help that's the bottom line. Now police are doing a stunning job. I don't know this for sure, but I wonder if theyre resourced to the level to cope with this level of operational tempo and I wonder if we don't need an immediate surge to assist.

If the level of activity gang activity continues then I will be asking the [Police] Minister for a surge in police numbers and the police that are trained in dealing with armed conflicts.

I would welcome a conversation because I'd like to sit down with Stuart and Clifford Paxton and say let's understand together the lay of the land and all the issues that we need to contend with.

Western Bay of Plenty Police continue to investigate a series of recent incidents involving damage to properties and shots being fired, says Western Bay of Plenty area commander Inspector Clifford Paxton.

We are investigating each of these incidents separately, as well as any possible links between them, and any potential gang involvement.

We know our communities are understandably concerned about recent events.

We continue to maintain a visible presence in those communities where there are heightened concerns, and will continue to assess this on a regular basis.

Investigators at the scene of the Hairini shooting. Image: John Borren/SunLive .

Tenby says one way to curb the violence is to reduce the amount methamphetamine coming into New Zealand.

It's more than gangs, it's around the distribution of meth, it's drugs. That's the issue and if the supply can be taken away, I truly believe that we'll make good in roads into this distribution violence abating.

From my perspective, the solution is to cut the head off the monster, which is to stem the supply of meth into the country.

It's not easy because it's very resource intensive. It's going to take a lot of people to do that and it needs good intelligence gathering and it's expensive as a consequence of that. But as I see it, I think that cost would pale into insignificance as compared to the damage being done to society.
The protesters at Shaheen Bagh cannot block the road indefinitely and protests and demonstrations should happen in designated areas, the Supreme Court on Monday remarked in a case seeking the lifting of a road blockade on the Shaheen Bagh-Kalindi Kunj stretch in the Capital.

The bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and KM Joseph sought the response of Delhi Police and the central and Delhi governments, but declined to order immediate removal of the people who are protesting against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA.

You cannot block public road indefinitely. If everybody starts protesting everywhere, then what will happen? justice Kaul remarked.

The bench, however, said that it did not want to take a call on the two petitions without hearing the government first. The petitions were filed by lawyer Amit Sahni and Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nand Kishore Garg.

If you can wait for 50 days, you can wait for one more week, the court said when the petitioners pressed for interim relief. It posted the matter for further hearing on February 17.

The protesters at Shaheen Bagh are opposing CAA  passed in Parliaments winter session in December  which accelerates the path to naturalisation for members of the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan who came to India before 2015.

The legislation has become controversial because it links citizenship with religion and because it leaves out Muslims.This has led to widespread protests across the country, along with stirs against a proposed all-India National Register of Citizens (NRC), and the potential problems of the two working in combination.

Shaheen Bagh has been the epicentre of such protests in the Capital.

Sahni, in his plea, stated that the road closure at Shaheen Bagh causes great inconvenience to public at large. The plea added that the closure and the consequent traffic diversions have led to the wastage of precious time, energy and fuel, besides overburdening the Delhi-Noida flyway, Akshardham and Ashram routes.

The Kalindi Kunj road, Sahni argued, is a vital artery since it connects three states  Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana  and the road closure has led to huge difficulties not only for the residents of the area but millions of commuters.

Sahni stated that while people have the right to protest, the same is subject to reasonable restrictions and protesters cannot be allowed to occupy public roads indefinitely.

No one can be permitted to occupy the public road for any reason whatsoever under pretext of peaceful protest and that too for indefinite period to make other suffer for the samethe fundamental right of the protestors do not exist in isolation in a watertight compartment. One fundamental right of a person may have to coexist in harmony with the exercise of another fundamental right by others, the petition said.

Sahnis plea was rejected by Delhi high court on January 14, stating that it is the responsibility of the police to maintain law and order and court cannot issue directions to the police on how to handle agitation, protest or traffic at the place of protest.

When the plea came up for hearing last week, the top court deferred it citing Delhi elections, hinting that it did not want its observations or decision to impact the polls, in which it became a major issue, particularly in the BJPs campaign.

Meanwhile, another bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde on Monday issued notice to the central and Delhi governments in a suo motu case on the participation of children in demonstrations and protests.

This case came to be registered after a 12-year-old Mumbai girl wrote to the CJI, highlighting the fate of the four-month-old Mohammad Jahan, who died January 30, reportedly after he was taken to Shaheen Bagh protests by his mother every day.

In her letter to the CJI, Zen Gunratan Sadavarte, a recipient of Indian Council for Child Welfare National Bravery Award 2019, urged the court to direct authorities to stop involvement of infants and children in demonstrations and protests. She also sought a police probe into the death of Jahan.

When the case was taken up for hearing on Monday, lawyers representing some women protesters raised the issue of discrimination faced by their children at schools and detention of children at camps.

A lawyer appearing for three women said, Children come home from school crying because they are called Pakistanis and terrorists.

CJI Bobde, however, refused to entertain those arguments stating that it is completely unrelated to the case.
Its not easy being a paleta man.

Victor Flores, 47, can tell you about it first-hand. He has been pedaling his three-wheeled cart on the East Side for more than 12 years.

Theres the weather  hes worked in rain, blazing sun and even snow  and the inherently inconsistent nature of selling ice pops and other treats on the street to a sometimes fickle public.

Then there are the thieves.

In December 2018, two gunmen robbed Flores on Pine Street. One of the robbers jabbed a pistol into his side and demanded his cash, while the other man stole all of his ice cream.

The paleta man said he was first robbed, also at gunpoint, on Presa Street when he started his business. It was a terrifying experience. They took the few dollars he had earned that day and all of his goods, but at least he wasnt hurt, he said.

And Flores was back on the streets with his cart the next day. He has to work, he said, to support his disabled wife and himself.

Flores doesnt talk much, speaks only Spanish and doesnt have much time for conversation. When hes not working, hes taking care of his wife.

Despite the dangers, Flores likes his work. The hours and the independence fit his needs, and he likes making people smile. He is a paleta man, after all.

Most days, Flores maneuvers his cart along East Side streets, hugging the curb away from traffic, past blocks of cemeteries, do-it-yourself homes and the rise of new residences. From 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., hes out there, ever watchful for potential customers.

Photos of ice pops cover his cart. The flavors come in a wide range: coconut, chocolate, limon, pecan, strawberry, to name a few. Some drip with banana fudge, others have a crown of peanuts.

Flores knows his bicycle cart brings back memories and smiles for many adults. And kids love to see the paleta man. Those customers translate into sales.

He also has regular customers who try to look after him.

One is Johnny Guerra, owner of A&A Body Frame & Paint on East Commerce Street. The 85-year-old businessman who has had his shop on the East Side for 54 years always flags down Flores when he sees him to buy what Guerra calls the best ice cream around, often buying a dozen for his employees.

He also wants a chance to see how Flores is doing and offer moral support.

I just want to help him out, Guerra said.

About the author A 22-year veteran of the Air Force, Vincent T. Davis embarked on a second career as a journalist and found his calling. Observing and listening across San Antonio, he finds intriguing tales to tell about everyday people. He shares his stories with Express-News subscribers every Monday morning. See More Collapse

On this sunny winter afternoon, Guerra bought a mango paleta for himself and took a break to chat with Flores, asking him to describe his encounters with the robbers for a visitor. Guerra interpreted for Flores.

As Flores ended his tale, Guerra shook his head at the dangers the man has to face. He asked Flores in Spanish why he doesnt arm himself.

My gun is Christ, Flores replied, pulling a copy of The Case for Christ from a tortilla chip box atop his cart. He pressed the booklet with the image of radiating light on the cover to his chest.

That hit me deep, Guerra said, as Flores slid the booklet back into the box.

As Guerra finished his paleta, Flores pulled out a crinkled $10 bill to show Guerra.

Flores held up the bill to the sunlight to reveal a transparent image of Alexander Hamilton from the back.

Counterfeit, Guerra said, as Flores nodded.

Flores is one of a long line of paleteros who have sold paletas, snow cones and raspas in neighborhoods across San Antonio for decades.

Jorge Pina, director of programs at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, grew up when paleteros were everywhere in the city.

He recalled as a child seeing a man with his horse-drawn wagon, shaving snow cones from a block of ice.

Pina, 65, said the process evolved as the vendors made money and bought two-wheeled carts, pickups, vans and food trucks to sell their products.

Thats enterprise, he said. They evolved. Its all over the world.

While single street vendors such as paleta men might seem to be more vulnerable to hold-ups, San Antonio Police Lt. John Gomez, commander of the SAPD Robbery Task Force, said his personnel dont recall any recent incidents or patterns where street vendors have been targeted.

As with most potential victims, I would recommend they remain aware of their surroundings, Gomez said, and for the paleta men to avoid being out at night, which I believe they already practice.

He added that street vendors should park in a well-lit area and keep money out of sight.

For his part, Flores follows Gomezs advice except that he doesnt park in any one spot. He said he needs to keep moving to find customers and he has a regular route he follows.

Flores has tried other jobs; at one point, he did yard work, mowing lawns and trimming around sidewalks and driveways. That is, he did that work until the day he stepped inside a house for a few minutes then came outside to find someone had stolen his lawn mower and trimmer.

On the same winter afternoon when he stopped to talk with Guerra, Flores colorful cart caught the eye of four construction workers across the street at Redeemers Praise Church. Taking his leave from Guerra, Flores pedaled over to the four men, selling them chicharrones for their break.

Pobrecito, Guerra said, waving to the paleta man as he wheeled away in his cart toward New Braunfels Avenue. He has to go on.

Vincent T. Davis is a reporter in the Greater San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | vtdavis@express-news.net | Twitter: @vincentdavis
Motorists in various parts of Pearland may have noticed gateway monuments popping up over the past few years along major thoroughfares at high-profile entrances to the city. And theres a special reason why the word Pearland on the structures is in two shades of green.

The monuments are part of an effort by Pearland Economic Development Corp to create a sense of place and community and improve the appearance of key roadways.

Since 2016, the PEDC has erected eight gateway monuments that each feature the name Pearland and cost about $200,000 to design, purchase and install.

Youll see them at spots along Cullen Parkway  the site of the first one  Broadway and Main Street (Texas 35). Another sign is being installed on Scarsdale Boulevard.

The nonprofit corporation,which is primarily funded by a half-cent city sales tax, plans eight additional markers to be erected over the next few years.

EDC vice president Brian Malone said the monuments, which light up at night, are intended to do more than serve as city-limit markers.

We want people to come into Pearland and we want them to invest not only personally but also commercially with their businesses, he said.

Using color shades to prevent a common mistake

PEDC marketing director Melissa Black said the signs also were designed to eliminate confusion about the citys name to those who arent familiar. She said a common mistake people make when they first see the city name is to say, Pearl land.

To combat this, the city markers were designed so that Pear and Land are in different shades of green, highlighting the distinction.

PEDC President Matt Buchanan said that once the Scarsdale sign is erected, the process will slow for a while, with future monuments to include planned markers on FM 521 where road construction is likely.

Weve made a good dent in this project over the last few years; so we are going to wait on those, he said. It doesnt make sense to put this investment in now if road work means we would have to move (the markers).

The PEDC has also focused on improving roadway corridors, turning many areas from unkempt and untidy, according to Malone, to attractive green spaces by adding decorative elements such as pavers and trees in place of patches of weeds. Before and after images can be seen in this powerpoint presentation.

Work has been completed on Cullen Parkway from Clear Creek to Freedom Drive; along Texas 35 from the Beltway to Broadway; on Kirby Drive from the Beltway to Clear Creek; on Pearland Parkway from Clear Creek to the Rotary building, and on Texas 288 from the Beltway to Magnolia Parkway.

Pears off the highway

The city and the Pearland EDC will erect eight large marker signs, complete with a pear logo, on either side of Texas 288 within the city. Toll lanes in the median of the highway are expected to open this summer.

Malone said the signs will be over 60 feet tall, with each featuring a large pear at the top and lit to be visible at night.

Pearland has invested in city signs in the past but, because of growth, those markers now sit inside city limits. Buchanan said most have been removed.

We have a unique product (with Pearland), and we want people to know where it starts and where it stops, he said. The previous signs didnt show that, but weve done that with these.
(Kitco News) - Political changes from the U.S. presidential election in November could see gold prices soar, this according to Peter Schiff, CEO of Euro Pacific Capital.

I think if Trump is not re-elected, if we get like, President Sanders, gold should go above $2,000 this year, and if its not above $2,000 by election, it should be $2,000 election night once we get the results, Schiff told Kitco News on the sidelines of the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference.

The Phase One deal signed with China earlier in the year has no real long-term impact on the economy, Schiff said.

I dont think theres going to be a Phase Two, this is pretty much it. The government isnt even really getting rid of the tariffs, the tariffs are still here. So theres still a problem. This is not a game changer for the U.S. economy at all, he noted.
Peregrine falcons like Aero, who sat on the arm of Bob Fuchs, were once on the endangered species list because of the widespread use of DDT. The pesticide was found to thin eggshells, killing the embryos inside.

These birds are kind of an indicator of the health of the planet, Fuchs said. People need to appreciate what we have. They deserve to have a place in our world.

Some of the birds tire after being on display for an hour and are taken home. Not so with Halsey, a great horned owl, who lives with Carri Honz of Lincoln and hardly ruffled a feather while Honz spoke to group after group.

Great horned owls are one of the longest-living raptors, Honz said. In captivity, theyve been known to live up to 60 years.

The 29-year-old Halsey was injured in a collision in 1997 in Chase County in southwest Nebraska. He apparently suffered a concussion, and the lengthy recovery left him unfit to return to the wild.

Halsey sat quietly, but thats not the way he is at home, Honz said. At feeding time, he sometimes even attempts to share his supper with Honz.
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - February 10, 2020) - Copper Fox Metals Inc. (TSXV: CUU) (OTC PINK: CPFXF) ("Copper Fox" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Northern Fox Copper Inc. ("Northern Fox"), has entered into a property acquisition agreement dated February 9, 2020 (the "Agreement") to purchase the 6 contiguous mineral claims totaling approximately 15,956 hectares located in the Liard Mining Division of northern British Columbia that comprise the Eaglehead Property (the "Eaglehead Property") from District Copper Corp. ("District Copper") (TSXV: DCOP) (OTC PINK: CAXPF).

The aggregate consideration to be paid by Northern Fox for the Eaglehead Property is CAD$1.412 million, which will consist of CAD$1.2 million cash payable to District Copper in installments over a three year period, and the assumption by Northern Fox of the reclamation bond for the Eaglehead Property in the amount of CAD$212,000. Under the terms of the agreement, Northern Fox has paid a non-refundable deposit of $50,000 on signing. An additional $150,000 will be paid at Closing and the balance of the purchase price in the amount of $1,000,000 will be payable in three annual installments of $340,000, $330,000 and $330,000 respectively on each anniversary following Closing.

At Closing, District Copper will have received cash payment of $200,000 from Northern Fox and the refund of the CAD$212,000 reclamation bond that District Copper currently has on deposit with the British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources.

The Agreement also grants District Copper a 0.5% net smelter return royalty over the Eaglehead Property, half of which can be purchased by Northern Fox for $1,000,000 at any time up until the second anniversary of commercial production on the Eaglehead Property. Northern Fox has retained the right to accelerate the installment payments to District Copper in its sole discretion.

Story continues

The closing of the transaction contemplated by the Agreement remains subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. The transaction is a Non-Arm's Length transaction pursuant to TSX Venture Exchange policies and a related party transaction pursuant to Multilateral Instrument 61-101, Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). Copper Fox is exempt from the valuation and minority approval requirements in MI 61-101 as the fair market value of the Eaglehead Property, as well as the value of the cash to be paid as consideration, does not exceed 25% of Copper Fox's market capitalization.

Elmer B. Stewart, President and CEO of Copper Fox, stated, "The proposed acquisition of the Eaglehead copper project advances Copper Fox's business strategy of the acquisition and exploration and development of potentially large porphyry copper projects in North America while at the same time providing non-dilutive funding to District Copper to continue exploration of its two gold projects in Canada".

Eaglehead Project:

The Project is at an early to intermediate stage of exploration that hosts a calc-alkalic porphyry copper-molybdenum-gold-silver system. The Project is located in the Liard Mining Division in northern British Columbia. Since discovery of the Camp zone in 1963, various exploration activities have been completed by numerous exploration companies including grid-base soil geochemical sampling, modern ground-based and airborne geophysical surveys, 126 diamond drillholes and preliminary metallurgical test work.

Exploration has identified five zones of porphyry style copper-molybdenum-gold-silver mineralization that could be part of the same porphyry copper system and further exploration including diamond drilling would be required to evaluate the porphyry potential of the Project.

Elmer B. Stewart, MSc. P. Geol., President and CEO of Copper Fox, is the Company's non-independent, nominated Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101, Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and has reviewed and approves the scientific and technical information disclosed in this news release.

About Copper Fox

Copper Fox is a Tier 1 Canadian resource company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V: CUU) focused on copper exploration and development in Canada and the United States. The principal assets of Copper Fox and its wholly owned Canadian and United States subsidiaries, being Northern Fox Copper Inc. and Desert Fox Copper Inc., are the 25% interest in the Schaft Creek Joint Venture with Teck Resources Limited on the Schaft Creek copper-gold-molybdenum-silver project located in northwestern British Columbia and a 100% ownership of the Van Dyke oxide copper project located in Miami, Arizona. For more information on Copper Fox's other mineral properties and investments visit the Company's website at www.copperfoxmetals.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Elmer B. Stewart

President and Chief Executive Officer

For additional information contact Lynn Ball at:

investor@copperfoxmetals.com

(844) 464-2820 or (403) 264-2820

Neither TSX Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange Inc.) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of the Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information is generally identifiable by use of the words "believes," "may," "plans," "will," "anticipates," "intends," "budgets", "could", "estimates", "expects", "forecasts", "projects" and similar expressions, and the negative of such expressions. Forward-looking information in this news release includes statements regarding: the acquisition of the Eaglehead Property; payment of the aggregate cash consideration over a three year period; assumption by Northern Fox of the environmental reclamation bond for the Eaglehead Property; receipt by District Copper of a cash payment and refund amount by Closing; a 0.5% net smelter return royalty for District Copper over the Eaglehead Property; the purchase by Northern Fox of half the 0.5% net smelter return royalty; the acquisition and exploration and development of potentially large porphyry copper projects in North America; the final approval of the transaction by the TSX Venture Exchange; the possibility that the Project contains five zones of porphyry style copper-molybdenum-gold-silver mineralization that could be part of the same porphyry copper system; and further exploration including diamond drilling to evaluate the porphyry potential of the Project.

In connection with the forward-looking information contained in this news release, Copper Fox and its subsidiaries have made numerous assumptions regarding, among other things: timely approval of the transaction by the TSX Venture Exchange; and that the geological, financial and economic advice that Copper Fox has received is reliable and is based upon practices and methodologies which are consistent with industry standards.

Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause Copper Fox's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. Known risk factors include, among others: final approval for the transaction may not be obtained from the TSX Venture Exchange; the rights and obligations under the Agreement may not be carried out as currently contemplated; the geology of the Project may not be as previously identified, and further exploration may not proceed as anticipated; fluctuations in copper prices, demand, commodity prices, and currency exchange rates; conditions in the financial markets; the overall economy may deteriorate; the need to obtain additional financing to develop properties and uncertainty as to the availability and terms of future financing; the possibility of delay in exploration or development programs or in construction projects and uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones; and uncertainty as to timely availability of permits and other governmental approvals.

A more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties facing Copper Fox is disclosed in Copper Fox's continuous disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities at www.sedar.com. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and Copper Fox disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as required by law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52264
Photo: Liisa Jokinen

New Yorkers have a knack for getting dressed up for no reason at all, but youd be hard-pressed to find as many chic and colorful people strutting the streets as were out and about for Fashion Week this weekend. Photographer Liisa Jokinen (the founder of Gem and the lens behind Hel Looks and NYC Looks) caught plenty of these stylish people outside shows for Christopher John Rogers, Area, Jonathan Cohen, Sies Marjan, and Collina Strada this past weekend. Scroll down to see 22 fashion people  stylists, writers, influencers, and designers  explain how they decided what to wear to the shows.

Natasha Bock, Stylist, 22

Photo: Liisa Jokinen

All my clothes are vintage except the Simone Rocha loafers. My style philosophy is wearing whatever makes you feel the most authentically you  vintage preferred! Im inspired by tacky costume jewelry and 80s jazzercise instructors.

Instagram: @tashiejane

Sodi, Explorer, 25

Photo: Liisa Jokinen

Everything that Im wearing here is vintage: a Susan Graver coat; a Nuevo Progreso, Mexico, tourist hoodie; an Old Navy button-down shirt; leather Tommy Hilfiger pants; and a pair of Air Jordan 1 Lows. If I could yank my thoughts and feelings into our physical space, this is exactly what it would look like.

Instagram: @sodii.ii

Nik Vitaly, Fashion Designer, 19

Photo: Liisa Jokinen

Im wearing a traditional geisha-inspired two piece garment with a fur coat and a Russian hat. My style is inspired by the universe and the feelings that make us human.

Instagram: @nikvitaly

Marina Ingvarsson, Fashion Stylist and Influencer, 33

Photo: Liisa Jokinen

Im wearing Tibi coat and boots, Commando leggings, and a DeMellier bag. I believe in less is more Mid-century-modern interiors and the brutalist architecture inspire me.

Instagram: @marinaingvarsson

Anahita Moussavian, Deputy Fashion Editor at the New York Post and Alexa, 37

Photo: Liisa Jokinen

Im wearing a Topshop coat, SVNR slip dress, Supreme thermal, Urban Outfitters socks, Converse sequin sneakers, a feather Dauphinette purse, and a Bow & Drape beanie. The love necklace is from Patricia Field, one of my favorites! I think you should wear what you love and whatever makes you smile and feel true to yourself. I find inspiration in all kinds of places, from the runways to a bodega. But at the core of it is a blend of sparkly, sporty, and ethereal vibes.

Instagram: @anahitaglitters

Nova Styles, Storyteller and Content Creator, 26

Photo: Liisa Jokinen

Im wearing a Balenciaga faux-fur jacket, Monki headband, Nike kitten heels, and a bag from Opening Ceremony. My style philosophy: unapologetically me. Im inspired by internal vibes from my daily visual stimulations.

Instagram: @iamnovastyles

Christopher Maljaei, Freelance Photographer and Fashion Merchandising Student, 21

Photo: Liisa Jokinen

Im wearing a Dries Van Noten coat, a Comme des Garcons sweater and skirt, and some Rick Owens boots. I like to dress how I feel and stay true to myself. I get inspired by architecture, photography, video games, movies, and music.

Instagram: @homme__alone

Gisela Castillo, Author, 45

Photo: Liisa Jokinen

Im wearing a Sandy Liang coat, Marine Serre x Nike bodysuit, Demonia boots, Stephen Jones x Marc Jacobs hat, and a Telfar global mini-bag. I no longer wait for a special occasion to wear amazing pieces. Harajuku Japan inspires my style.

Instagram: @giselakas

Rebekah Campbell, Photographer, 27

Photo: Liisa Jokinen

Im wearing a vintage redone Amish dress, white tights with a homemade pink sock, and thrifted blue-jean heels. My style is find your inner child. I like mood swings, psych wards, flower fields, and friends.

Instagram: @rebekahcampbell

Wojciech Christopher Nowak, Freelance Stylist, 19

Photo: Liisa Jokinen

Im wearing a custom-made leather trench coat, Kenneth Cole shirt, and Kylelyk pants. I love simplicity, modern high-fashion looks, feminine menswear, and monochromatic looks. Street style inspires me, and also influencers like Courtney Trop.

Instagram: @wojciechchristophernowak

Kathy Lee, Editor, 35

Photo: Liisa Jokinen

Im wearing a Maison Margiela blazer, Comme des Garcons trousers, Iris & Ink sweater, Koio boots, and Frame bag. My style philosophy is a Japanese boy stealing from his old mans closet.

Instagram: @kathyglee

Caroline Vazzana, Fashion Editor, Style Influencer, and Author of Making It in Manhattan, 27

Photo: Liisa Jokinen

Im wearing a Zadig & Voltaire dress, boots, and bag for their show, and a Charlotte Simone coat. I believe more is more, and that you should wear what makes you happy! Im always inspired by New York, the buildings, and the people. It always inspires me to be bold.

Instagram: @cvazzana

Celenie Laura Fleur Seidel, Senior Womenswear Editor at Farfetch, 30

Photo: Liisa Jokinen

Im wearing a Prada shirt, Nanushka shirt, vintage Prada skirt, Gucci tights, Bottega Veneta shoes, and Wandler bag. At the moment I think its important for us all to find new meaning in what newness is. Buying vintage pieces can feel just as new as a new-season item. I think we all have a responsibility to really consider how much were consuming in all areas of our lives, and the more you can be clever about that, the better.

Instagram: @relrel

Stevens Anazco, Artist, 26

Photo: Liisa Jokinen

Im wearing a Telfar white bag and thrifted orange leather trench. Clothing doesnt have to be expensive to be stylish. I love thrifting and matching things to give off a vibe. I love anything that has a shape or silhouette, or accentuates my body shape, especially cinched at the waist.

Instagram: @stevensanazco

Irene Ojo-Felix, Features Editor at Models.com, 31

Photo: Liisa Jokinen

Im wearing a Post-Imperial suit with a Staud bag, necklace from Johnny Nelson, and Sies Marjan shoes. I love how oversize and comfy the suit is. I dont really believe in gendered clothing. Wear whatever looks good on you. Johnny is super dope and makes rings out of the faces of black visionaries. He gave me this Africa skull necklace, and its one of my favorite things to wear.

Instagram: @iojofx

Scott Harvin, Publicist at Exposure America, 24

Photo: Liisa Jokinen

Im wearing a denim duster by my friend Jessica Lache Fulks. My style has been incredibly influenced by my fiance, Morgan Lee Cook. He showed me pretty much everything I know about fashion and art, and our mutual southern roots always find their way into what I wear.

Instagram: @scott.harvin

Jo Rosenthal, Artist and Writer, 25

Photo: Liisa Jokinen

Today I just wanted to dress like a warm grandma. Im wearing Collina Strada.

Instagram: @justjorosenthal

Linda Rodin, Entrepreneur, 71

Photo: Liisa Jokinen

Im wearing a fake fur coat I got years ago in Paris, a Dries Van Noten collar, a Sies Marjan skirt, and Chanel boots. I like to wear what is comfortable and looks good. Ive had the same style since I was a kid.

Instagram: @lindaandwinks

MelRenee Leamon, Freelance Fashion Stylist

Photo: Liisa Jokinen

Im wearing an Issey Miyake skirt, Cult Naked button-down, vintage leather blazer, Sunnei boots, and Telfar bag. I try to always wear clothes that feel true to who I am. I never want to feel like Im trying too hard to be noticed. I get inspired by designers like Martine Rose, Demna Gvasalia, and Phoebe at old Celine.

Instagram: @melreneestyles

Sophie Kemp, Editorial Assistant at GARAGE Magazine, 23

Photo: Liisa Jokinen

Im wearing a Ralph Lauren turtleneck (courtesy of Liana Satenstein), vintage pants and slip skirt, vintage Ferragamo kitten heels, a Post Malone Dickies jacket, vintage cardigan, vintage purse, and Rachel Comey earrings. Id say my style is to basically just wear every pattern and color possible  it makes me feel joyful. My style is heavily indebted to Joanna Newsom, Harmony Korine, post-punk, and French New Wave films.

Instagram: @sophiefkemp

Tess Garcia, Freelance Fashion Journalist and Student, 21

Photo: Liisa Jokinen

Im wearing ASICS sneakers, Stance x Rihanna socks, Adidas leggings, with a thrifted dress, coat, and belt. I try to ignore what I see on Instagram as much as possible, and just do what feels comfortable and fun.

Instagram: @hithisistess
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., ripped up a copy of Donald Trump's State of the Union address shortly after his speech. While perhaps she was responding to an earlier snub, when President Trump didn't shake her hand, it's not wise for Democrats to sink to the level of Trump's childish antics.
Bosses who refuse to grant their employees leave over the holiday period may be breaking the law.

Telling workers they can't have time off over Christmas and New Year period because it's 'too busy' is an 'unreasonable' excuse under the Fair Work Act.

Most full-time workers in Australia get four weeks annual leave a year, in addition to their sick or personal leave entitlements, while shift workers are entitled to five weeks off.

While the Fair Work Act does not specifically cover annual leave bans, it does ensure that employers can not 'unreasonably' refuse the holiday requests of their workers.

Bosses who refuse to grant their employees leave over the holiday period without a good reason may be breaking the law (Stock image)

Whether a request is 'reasonable' depends on the individual case and depends on if an employee gives sufficient notice, and the nature of the business.

Despite many employees complaining of having extended leave knocked back, there is neither a minimum or maximum amount of leave that can be taken at any one time.

Full-time employees will continue to be paid during their annual leave, except in the instance where they and their employer agree to unpaid leave.

Their time off is paid at the normal hourly wage and they will not be paid overtime.

ANNUAL LEAVE MYTHS BUSTED: - Employers can not deny the annual leave requests of their workers without 'reason'. - Simply claiming that is a 'busy' time of the year may not be a good enough excuse for denying your leave request. - Despite the claims of some employers, there is no minimum or maximum amount of leave that can be taken. - All full-time and part-time employees are entitled to a minimum 10 paid sick or personal leave days annually. Advertisement

Annual leave requests must always be made in advance of the leave being taken and in most workplaces require the signature of both the employer and employee.



Different rules apply to different industries, particularly when it comes to how much accrued leave is considered 'excessive'.

In the construction industry, workers who have more than eight weeks accrued leave can apply for time off which must be approved by their employer.

This also applies to most hospitality workers, however only if they haven't already got leave pending.

Retail workers who have accrued more than eight weeks of leave are required to give at least eight weeks notice.

They must also take no less than one-week off at this time.

Most workers in Australia are granted four weeks of annual leave, in addition to their sick or personal leave entitlements (Stock image)

When it comes to sick and compassionate leave, all full and part-time employees are entitled to varying amounts of paid and unpaid time off.

All employees, except casuals, get 10 days sick and personal leave annually.

Australians can manage to get 16 days off this Christmas by taking just eight days of annual leave, when public holidays are taken into account.

In fact if you took your annual leave around public holidays and already existing long weekends, the standard 20 days off could be turned into as many as 55.
A UK-registered company whose sole director is Mumbai-based entrepreneur Shadab Shaikh has been wound up in British courts following allegations that it sold vitamin and healthcare supplements to vulnerable people using high pressure sales tactics.

The company, Young Forever Limited, was wound up in the high court before Judge Prentis, the Insolvency Service said on Monday. The official receiver has been appointed as liquidator. It was incorporated in June 2018, with offices in Kensington, West London.

The service conducted confidential investigations after it received complaints about the companys trading practices. Investigators discovered that the it sold vitamins and healthcare supplements through cold calling members of the public who were either elderly or vulnerable.

Young Forever used call centres based in India and victims said that sales staff were persistent and would call repeatedly. Sales staff also falsely claimed that Young Forever was linked to government bodies, healthcare providers or the National Health Service, the service said.

The court also heard that the companys marketing and sales techniques were improper, applied excessive mark ups in excess of 1000% and the company failed to maintain or preserve adequate records. Shaikhs address is mentioned in records as Malad West, Mumbai.

Irshard Mohammed of the Insolvency Service said: Young Forevers victims were the elderly and the vulnerable and many more people will be protected from their aggressive sales tactics thanks to the courts decision to wind-up the company.

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Pyongyang Unprepared for Outbreak Like Coronavirus, Says North Korean Doctor Who Defected

By Kim Young-kweon February 09, 2020

North Korea's medical system for coping with contagious diseases like the coronavirus is prioritized to protect the elites of the regime in Pyongyang and is unequipped to treat its local citizens, said a former North Korean medical doctor.

Choi Jung-hoon, a North Korean defector who is now a research professor at Korea University's Public Policy Research Institute in Seoul, said North Korea is making "a big fuss" about the virus because its medical care system is unfit to take necessary measures to contain it.

Choi said instructions for taking sanitary and quarantine measures from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are handed down to local leaders. But, he said, there are problems implementing them at the provincial level because rudimentary medical facilities are ill-equipped and the medical infrastructure is focused on Pyongyang.

Priority Pyongyang

"The purpose of fighting contagious diseases is different in North Korea compared to other countries," Choi said. "In South Korea or the U.S., the measures are taken for the health and safety of its citizens. But in North Korea, priority is given to the leading members of the government in Pyongyang."

Choi was in charge of implementing measures to contain contagious diseases at the sanitation unit of the Chongjin Railway Bureau before defecting to South Korea in 2012.

He began working there after studying clinical medicine at the Chongjin Medical University in North Korea's third-largest city, Chongjin, which is in the northeastern province of North Hamgyong.

Quarantine measures

North Korea has taken all-out measures to prevent the fatal coronavirus from entering the country as the number of confirmed cases and deaths rise quickly in China, where the fast-spreading respiratory disease was first reported in the city of Wuhan. As of Friday, there were no known confirmed coronavirus cases reported in North Korea.

Calling its effort to keep the virus at bay a matter of "national existence" in January, North Korea temporarily closed the border it shares with China on Jan. 22 and suspended all air and train routes to China on Jan. 31.

North Korea took quarantine measures by banning new foreign diplomats from entering the country earlier this week.

The regime also set up various "emergency anti-epidemic headquarters" across the country as "a campaign to arouse all the masses to the work of preventing the novel coronavirus infection," North Korea's state media Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday.

Announcement vs. reality

Choi said even though North Korea announces such measures when infectious diseases break out, what actually happens at local levels is altogether different.

"When there is an outbreak of an infectious disease in North Korea, only Pyongyang is completely protected (quarantined)," Choi said.

"All railroads and roads heading to Pyongyang are blocked. The regime does not take proper measures [to protect] North Korean residents who make their daily living by relying on these roads to travel to various regions, which places them in worse situations," he added.

Choi said North Korea is not equipped with tools to diagnose or treat outbreaks like the coronavirus might cause.

"North Korea's medical system is poor, as the world probably knows," Choi said. "It does not have proper medical equipment, let alone reliable electricity or water supply facilities in hospitals and health centers."

As there is probably nothing that doctors could do to diagnose or treat those infected with a contagious disease like the coronavirus, people would be left on their own to cope with the outbreak, Choi said.

Cases likely to be concealed

If there are cases of the virus, North Korea will try to conceal them, instead of seeking help from international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) or from the South Korean government, Choi said.

"Because North Korea tries to put up an image of having the best 'self-sufficient' medical science to treat and prevent infectious diseases through propaganda, the regime is reluctant to announce any outbreak publicly," he said.

He believes that there could be a coronavirus outbreak in North Korea.

"It is impossible to have closed off all roads connecting to China," he said. "The new coronavirus could have entered the country through smugglers" traveling across the border as viruses arrived in the past.

Choi said North Korea needs to seek help from the international community by sharing its health and medical information and focus on improving its medical science to help its people rather than focusing on developing nuclear weapons and missiles to maintain the regime security.

Christy Lee contributed to this report which originated in VOA's Korean Service.

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The Queensland government has shot down a petition to lift a ban on gun silencers despite some farmers saying they need to muffle the sound of gunfire to protect their hearing.

Lockyer Valley resident Jamie Hawker has secured more than 2300 signatures in support of his petition to the state government, calling for firearm silencers to be reclassified.

The government will not lift its ban on gun silencers. Credit:Eimantas Buzas

Under current law, silencers are classified as "category R" weapons, alongside machine guns, bazookas and hand grenades.

Only a small proportion of people can access category R weapons, such as armourers who are repairing weapons for the defence force and police.
If you oppose public schooling, you are thought to be against education; the possibility that you favor private institutions of learning never quite arises. If you reject government highways as congested death traps, you are seen as an opponent of travel by roads and streets. If you do not favor socialized medicine, many opine that you are an enemy of good health, not a proponent of free enterprise in this field.

Likewise, if you want the Federal Aviation Administration disbanded, your views are rejected as maniacal, since this implies that you want planes to crash and passengers to be killed.

Nothing can be farther from the truth. Instead, the cry "disband the FAA" is a move in the direction of more safety, not less.

How can this be? The FAA is a coercive bureau. No passenger-carrying plane gets off the ground without the FAA's imprimatur. It does not lose any money when it makes a type I error, allowing an unsafe plane into the air (as in the cases of the Boeing 737 Max). Nor will this occur when it commits the type II error, keeping safe aircraft in their hangars. It is thus impervious to bankruptcy, no matter how poor a job it does.

The alternative to the monopolistic FAA is a competitive certification industry. Private firms give the thumbs-up sign to those aircraft they deem airworthy and withhold it from those that do not pass muster. Airplanes can still operate without these Good Housekeeping Seals of Approval, just as a non-certified public accountant can still practice. But many consumers may well base their decisions on such certifications. If, for example, a medical certification firm approved of thalidomide, a morning sickness drug that leads to birth defects, as did the governmental licensing bureau, the Food and Drug Administration, it would soon enough become distrusted, lose clients, and be forced to exit from the industry. It would leave in its wake its ex-competitors, who did not err in this regard and thus are likely to be more competent.

It is to this profit and loss competitive system, not government agencies, that we owe our safety regarding a myriad of goods and services. For example, in the financial world of stocks and bonds, there are Fitch, Moody's, and Standard and Poor. Factories and engineers, rely on universal testing laboratories, not government bureaucrats. Then there are brand names; people trust McDonalds, Wendy's, and Burger King for clean premises and safe food, not the state apparatus. There is also Consumer Reports, which tests everything from mattresses to vacuum cleaners to automobiles. It is time, it is past time, to incorporate the market process to ensure safety in the airline industry.

It would be all well and good if the FAA were staffed by geniuses, or angels, or creatures who never erred. Alas, they are merely made of flesh and blood, like all the rest of us. The error made by those who support government regulatory bureaus of this sort is not contemplating scenarios when they are at fault. Then all's well. But when they make mistakes, as all people do, there is no automatic mechanism through which they can be replaced. The FAA is thus a brittle institution, fine in fair weather, not reliable in foul.

In contrast, there is an automatic weeding out system in place with private enterprise certification. Perfection will not be attained herein, either. But at least there will be a continuous and automatic process of improvement.
In a huge revelation on Monday, Congress leader K Natwar Singh said that the Muslim League would not have allowed the country to function and there would have been more "direct action days" if partition had not taken place.

"In my view I am glad India was partitioned. Because if India had not been partitioned we would have had Direct Action Days -- the first we had during Jinnah's (Muhammad Ali) lifetime was on August 16 (1946) when thousands of Hindus were killed in Kolkata (then Calcutta), and of course then the retaliation took place in Bihar where thousands of Muslims were killed. Also, it could have been impossible for the simple reason that the Muslim League wouldn't have allowed the country to function," he said.

The Muslim League, led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, had called on Muslims to engage in direct action in support of the creation of a separate nation. On August 16, 1946, also known as the 1946 Calcutta Killings or Direct Action Day, communal riots erupted between Muslims and Hindus in Calcutta in Bengal province of what was then the British India. To buttress his point on Muslim League, Singh gave the example of the Interim Government of India, formed on September 2, 1946, and how the Muslim League first declined to join the cabinet of the council's vice-president Jawaharlal Nehru, and later became part of it only to "turn down" all its proposals.

"Therefore you can imagine this on a larger scale, if India was not partitioned, the Muslim league would have made things very very difficult for us to function. Also, the government situation (then) would have worsened by the week," he explained.

"It would have been impossible to live with them. Because Gandhi ji standards were very high and Jinnah''s temperament was so abrasive that I certainly wouldn't have got on with him," the 88-year-old said, adding that he must be the only one in the audience who saw Gandhi in flesh and blood. He was of the view that it was Gandhi who pampered Jinnah on the persuasion of India's last Governor-General C Rajagopalachari.

"In many ways, and it is my judgement, that Gandhiji pampered Jinnah. In 1944, Gandhi visited Jinnah''s house in Malabar Hill 17 times. But not once did Jinnah return his visits."

'Someone wanted to become PM, led to partition': Modi takes on Nehru, slams Cong on CAA

PM Modi on Partition

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, PM Modi stated that even Pandit Nehru had realized the atrocities that would be perpetrated on minorities, and the BJP had only furthered his ideology by bringing in the CAA to give citizenship to the religiously persecuted minorities. "Now that the discussion is open, I want it to go far. Everyone wants to become a Prime Minister, nothing wrong with that. But just because someone wanted to become the PM, the nation was partitioned and a line was etched through the country," said PM Modi.

PM Modi evoked the story of nationalist Bhupendar Kumar Datta who had been a part of Congress and stayed back in Pakistan during partition. He quoted his speech in the Pakistan assembly which read, "This side of Pakistan is concerned, the minorities are practically liquidated. Those who leave are under a total sense of frustration."

Read: 'I'll never let anything happen to your unemployment,' says PM Modi to Opposition
Police reports:

Jailed on PFMA

Police responded to a domestic disturbance call at about 12:30 a.m. Monday in the 1900 block of South Arizona.

When they arrived, the alleged victim was there with her five children. She told officers that Dave Michael Solan, 37, arrived home highly intoxicated and began arguing with her. She asked him to leave several times, but he refused.

She said she finally got him out the door, but he broke the door in and physically assaulted her and threatened her with a pipe wrench. Two of the womans young daughters stepped in and Solan allegedly grabbed one by the throat.

He then left the residence but officers found him with just a block away.

Solan was arrested for aggravated driving under the influence (third offense), driving with a suspended or revoked license, partner or family member assault by strangulation, partner or family member assault using a weapon, and partner or family member assault with reasonable apprehension.

Tasing at MCDC

Police arrived at the Montana Chemical Dependency Center at 5:40 p.m. Saturday after receiving a call that a former client, Mark Andrew Nay, 40, forced his way into the facility and pushed two staff members.

Nay left via the back entrance and police found him walking on the 300 block of East Park Street. When they caught up to him, Nay gave them a fictitious name and attempted to flee on foot. He was tased after resisting arrest.

He was jailed for obstructing a police officer, resisting arrest and two misdemeanor counts of simple assault.

Good Samaritan

Police received a call around 11 a.m. Sunday from a resident on Frog Pond Road saying that his home had been broken into. The resident found footprints all throughout the outside of the house and inside as well, all the way down into the basement.

After getting off the phone with police, the resident called his father, who said he was on his way. As he was driving to his sons residence, he found Justin Keith Lintner, 31, walking along the road because his car had broken down. Being a good Samaritan, the man gave him a ride to the gas station.

When police arrived, they found that whoever had broken in attempted to start a fire in the basement to keep warm. Also during the investigation, they discovered that the man with the broken-down car and the man who broke into the home were the same person.

Police found Lintner still at the gas station and he was not only jailed for criminal trespass to property, but for negligent arson, too, along with two $20,000 warrants out of Anaconda-Deer Lodge County.

Tweedy warrants

A call came in around 8 p.m. Saturday that Ronald John Tweedy, 40, who had warrants for his arrest, was at the Swiss Alps Casino, 1000 S. Excelsior Ave.

Police found Tweedy in the casino and arrested him on two felony warrants  failure to register as an offender and violation of his release condition.

DUI arrest

Around 8 p.m. Friday night, Montana Highway Patrol in Butte arrested Robert James Holland, 34, for aggravated driving under the influence.

At 7 p.m. Friday, police stopped Richard Michael Osborne, 48, near the Civic Center, as he was driving a vehicle that fit a description of a car used during a theft from a porch the week before.

After getting permission from Osbornes probation officer, police searched the vehicle and found the stolen item from the week before. Osborne also had marijuana joints in his possession.

He was arrested for probation violation, possession of dangerous drugs, and possessing stolen property.

Vehicle hit

Someone from Resodyn, 130 N. Main St., reported a hit and run at 9:30 a.m. Friday.

Police were able to ascertain that the owner of the suspect vehicle was William Gray, 57, who had a warrant for his arrest from the Montana Highway Patrol.

Gray was also jailed for hit and run, no liability insurance, and driving without a license.

911 call

Someone from a residence on the 1000 block of West Woolman Street called 911 Friday morning, but then hung up before completing the call.

Police responded any way, and when they arrived, Kenneth DeShazo was in the home and he was arrested on a warrant out of city court.

Storage break-in

On Friday afternoon, police arrived at Montana Mini Storage, 3516 S. Warren Ave.

One of the storage units had been broken into and jewelry was taken. The case is still under investigation.

Teens drinking

It was still light out when officers headed to the Maud S Canyon parking lot Friday just after 4 p.m. regarding a report of teens drinking in the area.

When police arrived, the teens had left for parts unknown.

Just fine

Shortly before 11 p.m. Friday, police went to the 300 block of Arizona Street because a call came in about a disturbance.

When officers arrived, they were told their presence wasnt needed as everything was just fine.

Not so fine for Nicole Waddell, 21, who had a warrant for her arrest out of Anaconda-Deer Lodge County. She was carted to jail.

Spinning cookies

Shortly before midnight Friday, some teens were caught spinning cookies in the Butte Civic Center parking lot.

They were told to move it along.

Car broken into

Just before 7 a.m. Saturday, police responded to the Comfort Inn, 2777 Harrison Ave.

Someone staying at the motel had the window to his vehicle broken out. Food and clothing worth $500 were taken.

Police are waiting for surveillance video.

Shots heard

A call came in just before noon Sunday about gun shots heard just behind Montana Tech.

As it turns out, it was coming from the Rocker Gun Range.

Intoxicated male

On Sunday afternoon, an intoxicated male was walking in the middle of the road on Texas Avenue.

Police picked him up and took him home.

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Yet, there has been no substantive conversation about the exchange of the heads of the two countries' diplomatic missions.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has confirmed the Russian Foreign Ministry's readiness to send Russia's ambassador to Kyiv, although there have been no substantive talks on this issue.

"It's premature to speak about the candidates. In general, you see certain contacts take place between the two presidents and at the expert level. At the same time, there has been no substantive conversation about the exchange of the heads of the diplomatic missions. Although, of course, such readiness has been declared by the foreign minister," he told journalists, according to an UNIAN correspondent in Russia.

Read alsoRussian FM Lavrov speaks about possible exchange of ambassadors with Kyiv

As UNIAN reported earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Russian side did not mind returning its ambassador to Kyiv and receiving the ambassador of Ukraine in Moscow.

In September 2018, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine informed the Russian Federation of the intention not to extend the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation.

The Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation, and Partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation was signed by the then Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and his Russian counterpart Boris Yeltsin on May 31, 1997.

The document fixed the principle of strategic partnership, the recognition of the inviolability of the existing borders, respect for territorial integrity and mutual commitment not to use its territory to harm the security of each other.

It was automatically renewed on each 10th anniversary of its signing, unless one party advised the other of its intention to end the treaty.

The Treaty expired on April 1, 2019.

UNIAN memo. On February 23, 2014, the Russian Foreign Ministry recalled Russian Ambassador to Kyiv Mikhail Zurabov to Moscow, who had occupied the post since 2009. After that, Andrey Vorobyov became Charge d'Affaires of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, but he died on May 30, 2016. Since November 2016, Alexander Lukashik has been serving as Charge d'Affaires.

Ukraine recalled the then Ambassador to Russia Volodymyr Yelchenko in March 2014. Since 2015, Ruslan Nimchynskyi has been serving as Charge d'Affaires of Ukraine in the Russian Federation.
[February 10, 2020] Cox Lot Vision Provides Dealerships with Clear View of Vehicle Inventory in One Easy-to-Use Solution

ATLANTA and LAS VEGAS, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- at NADA Show -- Thanks to enhanced Lot Vision technology powered by Cox2M, auto dealers and their teams can stop wasting time searching for cars on foot and instantly access their entire vehicle inventory on a mobile app. Cox2M is an Internet of Things (IoT) business line from Cox Communications that provides asset tracking and monitoring solutions. Lot Vision, which was first deployed at Manheim operating sites, was piloted at U.S. Auto Sales and an EchoPark Automotive dealership. The innovative solution is now available with enhanced capabilities to dealers nationwide. Blue Water Importers, an organization that imports more than 10,000 vehicles annually from Canada, has used Lot Vision to add efficiencies and optimize operations. "Not only has Lot Vision saved us time when locating vehicles, but it has allowed us to identify and improve gaps in our processes. It has also proven to be valuable in reducing unauthorized use of vehicles," said Jarod Dempsey, chief information officer, Blue Water Importers. "We had been in the market for a solution like this for a long time and, until Lot Vision, we were unable to find a reasonable and reliable system that was simple to deploy but also scalable."

Lot Vision enables users to improve operational efficiency, streamline workflows and enhance customer experience by providing real-time location and telematics on all vehicles. Through a GPS-based wireless device placed in a vehicle's on-board diagnostics port or tracker attached to a steering wheel, Lot Vision technology provides instant answers such as what cars are in stock, where they are on the lot, whether they need maintenance, and which are ready for sale  all from a mobile device or laptop. "Since vehicles are constantly being moved around, dealerships often have a difficult time knowing exactly where a certain vehicle can be found," said Donnie Beamer, director of automotive solutions, Cox2M. "This can be detrimental to the customer experience, particularly when someone has located a car online and has come in to take it for a test drive. Lot Vision allows dealers to locate that particular car  or any other  with few clicks on a keypad or swipes on a connected mobile device."



Additionally, Lot Vision: Tracks the time a vehicle spends in each phase of processing on the lot

Through integration with HomeNet, allows dealers to syndicate new and used car inventory between the platforms and locate for-sale vehicles on the lot

Reconciles inventory faster and more accurately than sending employees on an on-foot search

Tracks multiple lots, so dealers can gain a full view of inventory when more than one lot is involved

Monitors the progress of vehicles through reconditioning and merchandising, enabling operations to prioritize and locate vehicles that are aged or have stalled in the sales process HGreg.com, which manages 30 privately owned dealerships throughout North America, has also recently integrated Lot Vision and has seen improvements in operations and the customer experience.

"With Lot Vision and the HomeNet integration we'll be able to view information that we used to have to pull from multiple sources or couldn't access at all. We expect to benefit from this daily," said Chase Sattler, vice president of operations, HGreg.com. Cox Automotive and Cox2M also plan to integrate Lot Vision with Dealertrack DMS, to give clients a seamless workflow that helps save time by allowing them to locate vehicles directly from DMS. "Whether a dealership has 200 cars or 20,000, Lot Vision can help depict inventory more accurately, locate vehicles quickly and optimize the customer experience for both wholesale and retail operations," continued Beamer. To find out more about Cox2M Lot Vision, visit https://www.cox2m.com/lotvision. About Cox2M

A new Cox Communications business line, Cox2M is committed to enabling truly connected environments by providing commercial Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to businesses and communities. Cox2M delivers the ability to monitor and track commercial assets, powering operational efficiencies and improved experiences for its customers. Cox2M's end-to-end solutions seamlessly integrate connectivity, hardware, software and analytics to solve customer problems. Cox2M currently serves the automotive sector and is broadening its focus to other business sectors, cities and communities.d assets. About Cox Communications

Cox Communications is committed to creating meaningful moments of human connection through broadband applications and services. The largest private telecom company in America, we proudly serve six million homes and businesses across 18 states. We're dedicated to empowering others to build a better future and celebrate diverse products, people, suppliers, communities and the characteristics that makes each one unique. Cox Communications is the largest division of Cox Enterprises, a family-owned business founded in 1898 by Governor James M. Cox. About Cox Automotive

Cox Automotive Inc. makes buying, selling, owning and using cars easier for everyone. The global company's 34,000-plus team members and family of brands, including Autotrader, Clutch Technologies, Dealer.com, Dealertrack, Kelley Blue Book, Manheim, NextGear Capital, VinSolutions, vAuto and Xtime, are passionate about helping millions of car shoppers, 40,000 auto dealer clients across five countries and many others throughout the automotive industry thrive for generations to come. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with revenues exceeding $20 billion. www.coxautoinc.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cox-lot-vision-provides-dealerships-with-clear-view-of-vehicle-inventory-in-one-easy-to-use-solution-301001401.html SOURCE Cox2M

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Modern Pastry Shop | Photo: Wendy L./Yelp

Looking to sample the best coffee around town?

Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the top coffee spots in Boston, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of where to fill the bill.

Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions.

1. Caffebene

Photo: Christine F./Yelp

First on the list is Caffebene. Located at 333 Massachusetts Ave. (between Huntington Avenue and St. Botolph Street) in Fenway, the breakfast and brunch spot, which offers coffee, tea and desserts, is the highest-rated coffee spot in Boston, boasting four stars out of 236 reviews on Yelp.

2. The Well Coffee House

PHOTO: the well coffee house/Yelp

Next up is downtown's The Well Coffee House, situated at 2 S. Station, Suite A6. With five stars out of 72 reviews on Yelp, the community service/non-profit spot, which offers coffee, tea and more, has proved to be a local favorite.

3. Dolce Vita Cafe

Photo: edwin s./Yelp

Brighton's Dolce Vita Cafe, located at 1698 Commonwealth Ave. (between Euston and Colborne roads), is another top choice, with Yelpers giving the spot to score coffee, tea, bagels, juices and smoothies 4.5 stars out of 93 reviews.

4. Modern Pastry Shop

Photo: elda m./Yelp

Modern Pastry Shop, a bakery that offers coffee, tea and desserts in North End, is another high-traffic go-to, with four stars out of 1,959 Yelp reviews. Head over to 257 Hanover St. (between Richmond Street and Board Alley) to see for yourself.

This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
Orbital and suborbital flight are common terms in the spaceflight industry that sound very similar, but they mean different things.

The main difference between orbital and suborbital flight is the speed at which a vehicle is traveling. An orbital spacecraft must achieve what is known as orbital velocity, whereas a suborbital rocket flies at a speed below that.

Orbital velocity is the speed that an object must maintain to remain in orbit around a planet, according to an explainer from the Austrian private aerospace company Orbspace . A good way to picture this is to imagine a ball being thrown at ground level  at a normal throwing speed, the ball travels in an arc through the air before hitting the ground. But say you were to put a little rocket on the ball that made it travel so fast that its arc shape would perfectly match the curvature of the Earth. At that point, the ball would have achieved orbit and would fly at a consistent height above our planet.

Related: Biggest milestones in human spaceflight

To orbit 125 miles (200 kilometers) above Earth, a spacecraft must travel at a screaming 17,400 mph (28,000 km/h). "It is actually this incredibly high speed which makes orbital space flight technically so complex and therefore expensive," Orbspace representatives wrote. One of the main reasons airplanes can't fly in space is that they don't go fast enough.

Suborbital flight, in contrast, requires much lower speeds. A suborbital rocket doesn't have the power to achieve orbit. Instead, it will fly up to a certain height that depends on its speed, and then come back down once its engines are shut off. To reach 125 miles above Earth, a suborbital vehicle needs to fly at a relatively sedate 3,700 mph (6,000 km/h), although that's still much faster than a commercial airplane, which flies at around 575 mph (925 km/h).

At the top of their flight arc, passengers in a suborbital vehicle will still achieve a few minutes of weightlessness. They are, in fact, falling back toward Earth , but they are experiencing freefall, similar to an airplane completing parabolic maneuvers to simulate zero gravity.

A Blue Origin New Shepard rocket launches the Reusable Space Ship H.G. Wells on its record 6th flight to suborbital space from the company's West Texas launch site on Dec. 11, 2019. (Image credit: Blue Origin)

Launching space tourism and experiments in microgravity

Several private spaceflight companies are vying to take paying customers on either orbital or suborbital trips. Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are in a race to achieve regular private suborbital flights in the near future.

Virgin Galactic has been aiming to take six passengers at a time in its SpaceShipTwo vehicle, giving customers a few minutes of microgravity as they fly. A ticket on SpaceShipTwo costs $250,000, and the vehicle's ongoing testing is bringing it closer to readiness.

Blue Origin has also conducted suborbital flights with its reusable New Shepard rocket. The company hopes to start carrying paying customers in 2020, though it has not disclosed the price of its trips, saying only that they will be in the "hundreds of thousands" of dollars initially.

Many scientists are excited at the prospect of using commercial suborbital vehicles for microgravity research . Such tests would be far less expensive than sending experiments and people to the International Space Station.

SpaceX has been sending materials and satellites into orbit for paying customers for a while now. Both SpaceX and the aerospace company Boeing are planning to start ferrying astronauts to orbit in 2020.

Here are some key milestones in orbital and suborbital flight:

Oct. 3, 1942: Nazi aerospace engineers achieved the first suborbital flight of their V-2 rocket. The vehicles were weapons dropped on the Allies that, because of their great speed, were almost impossible to intercept.

Oct. 4, 1957: The Soviet Union fired the opening shot in the space race, launching the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1 , into orbit.

, into orbit. April 12, 1961: Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin made the first human orbital flight in history. He completed one orbit of our planet before coming back to Earth.

made the first human orbital flight in history. He completed one orbit of our planet before coming back to Earth. May 5, 1961: U.S. astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American in space, traveling on a 15-minute suborbital flight.

became the first American in space, traveling on a 15-minute suborbital flight. June 16, 1963: The Soviet Union's Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space, completing 48 orbits of Earth and remaining in space for nearly three days.

became the first woman in space, completing 48 orbits of Earth and remaining in space for nearly three days. Nov. 21, 1963: India launched its first suborbital rocket, Nike-Apache, whose components were built by NASA.

April 24, 1970: Chinese engineers placed their first artificial satellite in orbit aboard the CZ-1 rocket.

in orbit aboard the CZ-1 rocket. April 28, 2001: Dennis Tito became the first space tourist , paying a reported $20 million for a trip to orbit aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

, paying a reported $20 million for a trip to orbit aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Oct. 4, 2004: SpaceShipOne won the Ansari X Prize by becoming the first private vehicle to reach suborbital space twice within five days. Its design was later bought and used by Virgin Galactic to create SpaceShipTwo.

by becoming the first private vehicle to reach suborbital space twice within five days. Its design was later bought and used by Virgin Galactic to create SpaceShipTwo. Sept. 28, 2008: SpaceX 's Falcon 1 became the first privately funded rocket to reach orbit.

's Falcon 1 became the first privately funded rocket to reach orbit. Nov. 23, 2015: Blue Origin's reusable New Shepard capsule made its historic first flight into suborbital space. The company's rocket booster successfully landed autonomously on a landing pad  also a first.

Additional resources:
Olusegun Adeniyi, the Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole (OPLD), says the Boko Haram insurgents will never get hold of any part of Nigeria again.

Mr Adeniyi, a major general, stated this while reviewing the progress of the ongoing counter insurgency operation of the Nigerian Armed Forces in the northeast on Friday in Maiduguri.

He said the military had succeeded in reducing the sect from the terrorist army they used to be, to mere criminals because of the defeat they suffered since 2015.

The commander dismissed the insurgents attempt to retake any territory as dream that will never come to pass for them.

According to him, Boko Haram had in 2013 transmuted from a terrorist group to a terrorist army sustaining intense attacks on towns, villages, communities, markets and military bases.

In 2015; immediately President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office he gave order that all military commands be relocated to Maiduguri.

It was only then that the military commenced attacks on the insurgents, recapturing the territories under the control of the terrorists numbering over 24 towns and villages, he said.

Mr Adeniyi maintained that the insurgents had been defeated since 2017 and would remain so, adding that the current pockets of resurgent of the terrorist had international dimension.

He explained that the proliferation of arms in the Sahel, occasioned by the expulsion of armed militias from Libya created the opportunity for the terrorists to try to find their feet.

According to him, the exodus of ISIS terrorists from the Middle East and subsequent alliance with a faction of Boko Haram through the Lake Chad region is another dimension.

He reiterated that the military would continue to fight to ensure that ISIS did not have a foothold in the region like they succeeded in other countries. The commander noted the adoption of Super Camp strategy had further compounded the problem of the insurgents, adding that the strategy had enabled the troops to have longer reach. He added that the army was well equipped and motivated to take the fight to the terrorists in their hidings, which resulted in successful operations. The commander stressed that there was no inch of the Nigerian territory that the army is contesting with Boko Haram insurgents. Mr Adeniyi revealed further that the theatre command had commenced local production of Mines Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles in Maiduguri to meet their operational equipment requirements. He explained that the induction of Ezugwu MRAP in the theatre of operation by the engineer corps had enhanced local fabrication in Maiduguri. According to him, the MRAPs are 100 per cent local content with only the glasses being produced in Kaduna.

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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 10, 2020) - Forum Energy Metals Corp. (TSXV: FMC) ("Forum") is pleased to announce that it has received positive assay results from the summer sampling program completed at its 100% owned Love Lake project in northern Saskatchewan. A total of 45 samples from the Love Lake Mafic-Ultramafic Complex within the Peter Lake Domain were taken over an eight kilometre length of the Rabbit Lake Road which transects the property. Ten grab samples were taken from the What Lake trench where historic sampling returned values as high as 4275 ppb Palladium, 3580 ppb Platinum and 200 ppb Gold, along with 0.43% Copper and 0.23% Nickel from a grab sample.

Five of ten grab samples taken by Forum over a 100 metre by 200 metre area in the vicinity of the What Lake Trench returned:

134 ppb to 442 ppb Palladium

108 ppb to 331 ppb Platinum

20 ppb to 144 ppb Gold

Results for Rhodium pending

47 ppm to 60ppm Scandium

0.06% to 0.37% Copper

0.01% to 0.04% Nickel

Mapping has confirmed the layered and brecciated nature of this gabbro intrusive with many phases exhibiting visible sulphides. Analysis of the minor element geochemistry and whole rock analysis are currently underway to determine the magmatic model for copper/nickel and PGM mineralization within the Love Lake Complex.

The Peter Lake Domain is the largest mafic/ultramafic complex in North America second only to the Midcontinent Rift in Minnesota and Ontario, host to numerous magmatic nickel/copper and platinum/palladium deposits. Peter Lake has been overlooked and remains entirely underexplored. Figure 1 illustrates the potential for the Love Lake Complex to host economic deposits similar to:

Reef-style platinum/palladium (Bushveld, Stillwater) Structurally controlled palladium (Lac des Iles), and Magmatic nickel/copper deposits (Voisey's Bay)

Forum will undertake a completely new approach to exploration of the area under the direction of Dr. Larry Hulbert. A high-resolution airborne magnetic survey is planned for this spring, followed by extensive summer mapping and sampling field work to identify targets for drilling later this year.

Dr. Larry Hulbert, Forum's Geological Advisor for the Love Lake Project and Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release.





Figure 1: Interpreted Geology of the Love Lake Pluton and Exploration Models for Nickel, Copper, Platinum and Palladium.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4908/52253_8e64d7e914df9b78_003full.jpg

Quality Control/ Quality Assurance

Samples were collected in the field by Forum's Vice President, Exploration, Ken Wheatley and consultant Jim Atkinson and were personally delivered to TSL Geoanalytical Laboratory in Saskatoon for assaying. All samples including blanks, duplicates and certified reference standards where analysed for 41 elements by ICP-MS following a multi-acid digestion. Platinum Group Element assays were conducted on 30 gram samples followed by lead fire assay and ICP-MS analyses. Currently major (whole rock) element analyses are being conducted on the same samples for detailed petrochemical investigations.

Stock Options

The Company also announces that, in accordance with the Company's stock option plan, it has granted to certain of its directors, officers, employees and consultants incentive stock options to purchase up to an aggregate of 400,000 common shares exercisable on or before February 10, 2025 at a price of $0.10 per share.

About Forum Energy Metals

Forum Energy Metals Corp (TSX.V: FMC) explores for energy metals, including copper, nickel, platinum, palladium and uranium in Saskatchewan, Canada's Number One mining province. In addition, Forum has also established a strategic land position in the Idaho Cobalt Belt. For further information: www.forumenergymetals.com

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Richard J. Mazur, P.Geo.

President & CEO

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:

NORTH AMERICAUNITED KINGDOM

Rick Mazur, P.Geo., President & CEO

mazur@forumenergymetals.com

Tel: 778-772-3100

Burns Singh Tennent-Bhohi, Director

burnsstb@forumenergymetals.com

Tel: 074-0316-3185

Craig Christy, VP Corporate Development

cchristy@forumenergymetals.com

Tel: 250-863-0561

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52253
Italy second-row Dean Budd said his side are targeting the visit of Scotland in two weeks' time to end their record winless streak of 24 straight Six Nations matches. New Zealand-born Budd is part of an Azzurri outfit whose negative run stretches back to February 2015 but will host Gregor Townsend's side, who are also yet to claim a victory this campaign, on February 22. "Scotland are always with us unfortunately (in) the battle of the battlers down the bottom and it's one we're going to be targeting," Budd told AFP after Sunday's 35-22 defeat by France. "I'm not going to go out and say Scotland are a bad team because they're bloody class. They're really a good side but playing at home is certainly an advantage for us," he added. Budd said he wanted better weather in a fortnight's time in the Italian capital compared to the heavy rain and strong winds caused by Storm Ciara which hit during the loss to Les Bleus. "We're hoping for a nice sunny day in Rome and we can try and throw the ball around a bit more," he said. - Possible Parisse return - Reports in the French press said former captain Sergio Parisse will return to the Test scene to say his goodbye either as Scotland visit the Italian capital or as England head to the Stadio Olimpico on March 14. "I honestly don't know if he's involved or not so I can't even give you an inside word on that. Hopefully it's a positive influence," the Whangarei-native said. "We're starting to really work well together now. A guy with that much experience, being that much of a legend in Italian rugby is only going to add good things I hope," he added. Budd started the fixture in the French capital as 118-Test veteran Alessandro Zanni was ruled out 10 minutes before kick-off with an injury suffered in the warm-up. "I was almost rattled. I wasn't quite ready. When you're on the bench it's quite a relaxed thing. I was planning to be on the field about 60 minutes later but it was cool," he said. "To be thrown in the deep end is the best way to learn to swim in my mind. So I was happy to get out there and get stuck into it," he added. The former Auckland and Blues forward partnered 21-year-old Niccolo Cannone at second-row as the Treviso lock made just his second international appearance. "I think he has a massive future. He's got an awesome work ethic and he really knows how to put his body on the line and tackle," Budd said. "With a bit of time in the jersey to become more comfortable he'll be a name we will talk about in the future," he added.
NOVATO, Calif., Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- QT Ultrasound, developers of the QTscan, will be among the innovators in imaging technology to address audiences at some of the most influential industry events kicking off this new year.

3D Printing of Human Breast Tissue QT Ultrasound Breast Scanner

Dr. Susan Love Foundation for Breast Cancer Research hosted the 10th International Symposium on the Human Breast on February 7 & 8, 2020 in Los Angeles. Dr. John Klock, CEO and Chief Medical Officer of QT Ultrasound, was part of the multidisciplinary and international group of iconoclastic researchers, clinical scientists, and advocates to formulate new technical approaches to the study of breast cancer. By facilitating this intimate, think-tank environment, the Symposium goals included stimulating ideation, collaboration and, ultimately, breakthroughs that will end breast cancer.

Dr. Klock's presentation Making 3D Printed Models of Human Breast Tissues Using Transmitted Sound Imaging described how 3D image acquisition using transmission ultrasound can generate high-resolution datasets that can be used to 3D print specific tissue configurations from living subjects. Klock states that "this technology has many potential diagnostic and research applications."

SPIE Medical Imaging 2020, the leading conference exploring the science of medical imaging, will host over 1,200 attendees, February 15-20, in Houston. Among the important scientific sessions planned will be four oral platform talks by QT Ultrasound. Dr. James Wiskin, Principal Scientist for the company, will be chairing the USCT and 3D Ultrasound Session and presenting on the latest advances in transmission ultrasound and related clinical applications. Presentations include:

Quantitative Breast Density (QBD) estimation with 3D transmission ultrasound and incomplete information

Author(s): James W. Wiskin, Sanghyeb Lee, Martin Cwikla, Bilal H. Malik

Clustering-based quantitative breast density assessment using 3D transmission ultrasound

Author(s): Bilal H. Malik, Sanghyeb Lee, James W. Wiskin

Limited view reconstructions with 3D transmission ultrasound tomography: clinical implications and quantitative accuracy

Author(s): James W. Wiskin, Bilal Malik, Nasser Pirshafiey, John Klock

Orthopedic and myopathic imaging with 3D transmission ultrasound tomography: experimental verification, quantitative accuracy and clinical implications

Author(s): James W. Wiskin, Bilal Malik, D. Borup, Veena Theendakara, John Klock

Life Science Intelligence (LSI) is hosting Emerging Medtech Summit 2020 February 18-20, 2020 in Dana Point, California and QT Ultrasound will be there among 100 other innovators, strategists, and thought leaders participating and working to build the future of MedTech.

About QT Ultrasound

QT Ultrasound is a privately held company engaged in the research, development, and commercialization of an innovative automated imaging system producing high-resolution transmission ultrasound images. The company has received FDA 510(K)clearance for its QT Ultrasound Breast Scanner, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded over $15 million in funding to continue QT Ultrasound research. The company's clinical trials have been conducted at prestigious institutions in the US and Europe and at the Marin Breast Health Trial Center in Novato, California. QTscans are now available commercially through the QTbreasthealth imaging center.

The QT Ultrasound Breast Scanner is indicated for use as an ultrasonic imaging system to provide reflection-mode and transmission-mode images of a patient's breast. The device is not intended to be used as a replacement for screening mammography.

For more information about QT Ultrasound, visit qtultrasound.com .

For more information about the commercially available QTscan, visit qtbreasthealth.com .

Contact:

Michaela Kalff

[email protected]

415.497.1339

SOURCE QT Ultrasound

Related Links

http://www.qtultrasound.com


New Delhi, Feb 10 : National Commission for women has taken cognizance in the matter of alleged sexual harassment of girl students at Gargi college, University of Delhi. NCW chief Rekha Shama confirmed this on Monday.

A delegation of NCW will visit Gargi college on Monday.

A few students of Gargi College on Saturday had alleged that some "drunken men" -- said to be pro-CAA demonstrators -- had entered the women's college campus and misbehaved with students.

The incident, the students say, took place a few days ago during Day 3 of the annual festival 'Reverie'. A group of drunken men reportedly entered the college affiliated to Delhi University, and manhandled the students.

"Girls were groped, locked in washrooms, stalked to the nearby Green Park metro, cat-called, eve-teased and misbehaved with during the festival," read the blog of one of the students of Gargi College.

The blog added: "The men were allegedly shouting 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans that made us presume they had 'Hindutva/BJP' affiliation. We don't know how true this is as those who witnessed the episode are scared to come forward." A student requesting anonymity told IANS: "I can't confirm the allegations of molestation but a large group of drunken men had dropped in and manhandled students."
Based on the evolution of the epidemic and weather conditions in each locality, each local government should decide whether students should go back to school or take a longer break.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) has suggested that localities that are still free from the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (nCoV) can reopen schools after sterilization, VnExpress reported.

College campuses and schools must be cleansed and disinfected before the students return, said the MoH.

Local health authorities need to instruct children, parents and teachers how to prevent nCoV infection in schools.

The MoH also asked the Ministry of Education and Training to include nCoV in teaching plans so that the students know how to prevent the disease.

For localities where nCoV-caused pneumonia patients are detected, the MoH suggested keeping monitoring the situation and allowing children to return to school only after disinfecting classrooms, ensuring that infected people are isolated for 14 days.

After Tet, almost all cities and provinces across Vietnam have decided to close schools from primary to university levels for two weeks, until February 16, in order to minimize the infection of the new coronavirus.

In the meantime, a number of schools have been disinfected.

During the forced school break, the Ministry of Education and Training asked teachers to teach online to ensure the progress of the training program.

"Based on the evolution of epidemic and weather conditions in each locality, the local government should decide whether students should go back to school or take a longer break," Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son told Tuoitre Online.

The Vietnamese government declared the nCoV an epidemic on February 1, since then many measures have been in place to deal with the situation. Hanoitimes

Anh Kiet

Some universities, schools to remain closed until Feb 16 due to coronavirus emergency A number of universities and schools in several provinces and cities will extend their closure until February 16 amid an ongoing public health emergency caused by the novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV.
She may live in the USA, but Olivia Newton-John still calls Australia home.

In an interview with TV WEEK on Monday, the 71-year-old beloved performer said she couldn't miss the opportunity to give back to her home country amid the bushfire crisis.

'It's so important, and I feel privileged that I'm able to help in some way. Australians are tough,' she told the publication.

Going home: In an interview with TV WEEK on Monday, Olivia Newton-John said she couldn't miss the opportunity to give back to her home country amid the bushfire crisis. Pictured at the G'Day USA gala in LA in January 2018

The Grease star is set to perform at the Fire Fight Australia concert on Sunday, and said she 'had to come back'.

Olivia went on to tell the magazine she'll also use her time Down Under to cheer on daughter Chloe Lattanzi, 34, who is currently competing on Dancing With The Stars.

The iconic actress admitted that while she didn't offer Chloe any 'advice', she did encourage her to be herself.

'It's so important, and I feel privileged that I'm able to help in some way. Australians are tough,' she said. Pictured at the G'Day USA gala in LA in January 2018

Chloe turned heads during her debut on Dancing With The Stars on Sunday night with a triumphant performance.

But no one was prouder than her mother, Olivia, who was front row on the night.

After watching Chloe and her dance partner, Gustavo Viglio, the proud mum struggled not to break down.

Support: Olivia went on to tell the magazine she'll also use her time Down Under to cheer on daughter Chloe Lattanzi, 34, who is currently competing on Dancing With the Stars

'I am so proud, I'm so proud and my heart is beating so fast and I'm trying not to cry,' she told host Amanda Keller. Seated beside husband John Easterling (left)

'I am so proud, I'm so proud and my heart is beating so fast and I'm trying not to cry,' she told host Amanda Keller.

'She did a wonderful job - just gorgeous, just gorgeous,' she added, on the verge of tears.

Seated beside her husband, John Easterling, Olivia appeared extremely emotional, and Chloe herself was struggling not to cry.

Honestly love you: After watching Chloe and her dance partner, Gustavo Viglio, the proud mum struggled not to break down

'She did a wonderful job - just gorgeous, just gorgeous,' Olivia added of Chloe's performance on the show

'Can I give her a hug?' Chloe asked, before racing over and embracing her mother in a touching moment

'Can I give her a hug?' she asked, before racing over and embracing her mother in a touching moment.

Describing her achievement in appearing on the show, Chloe revealed that she'd had a bad experience on a reality show in the past.

'I wanted to be voted off every week because I was so terrified,' she said of her time on MTV's Rock the Cradle, a singing competition in which she placed third in 2008.
ITHACA., N.Y -- A second Cornell University student has been cleared of having coronavirus, public health officials confirmed Sunday.

The student had been in isolation after presenting symptoms Feb. 2 that met criteria for a possible coronavirus case, Cornell University officials have said.

The student, who does not live on campus, received medical care while the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention processed lab tests, Cornell officials said in a statement.

Lab work results confirmed the student does not have novel coronavirus, the university announced in a brief statement Sunday night.

Last week, another Cornell student was tested for the virus, but the CDC and health department confirmed that person also did not have coronavirus, Cornell officials said.

"We are grateful for this good news and for the expertise and compassion exhibited by the campus and community staff members who have been assisting this student,'' university officials said.

The virus has killed more than 900 people worldwide and sickened more than 40,000 -- the vast majority in mainland China, according to CNN and other news media. 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 providing additional information and updates about the situation as it develops on its Cornell University novel coronavirus website.

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.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) on Monday, re-arraigned a former justice minister, Mohammed Adoke, before the Federal High Court in Abuja, on fresh money laundering charges.

He was arraigned alongside a controversial businessman, Mr Abubakar, on a seven-count charge.

Of the seven charges, Mr Adoke had six counts while Mr Abubakar had one count.

The duo are standing trial alongside others at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Gwagwalada in Abuja, in respect of the Malabu Oil scam.

The two defendants pleaded not guilty to the seven count charges, when read to them on Monday before Justice Binta Nyako.

According to the anti-graft agency, the duo, in September 2013, made payments (in naira and dollar), of about N900m into the former AGFs accounts.

This is in violation of various provisions of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, EFCC said.

After the defendants took their pleas, the prosecution lawyer, Bala Sanga, urged the court to remand them in EFCC custody pending when their bail applications would be heard and determined.

But the defence lawyers, led by Kanu Agabi for Mr Adoke and Wole Olanipekun for Mr Abubakar, informed the court that they had filed separate applications for the bail of their clients.

The court took the counsels argument.

In their argument, one of Mr Adokes lawyers, Mike Ozekhome, asked that the applicant be granted bail on a favourable, liberal and easy affordable terms.

Mr Ozekhome further said, or an order allowing the applicant continue to enjoy the bail conditions already granted him in a sister case.

The senior lawyer said the purpose of bail is to allow the applicant enjoy temporary freedom, which he added, is according to section 36 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

He further told Justice Nyako that Mr Adoke was brought to court by the commission directly from the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi.

On his part, Mr Olanipekun, also pleaded that the second defendant be granted bail as he has just one count charge and that he should also be granted bail on liberal terms.

But, the prosecution lawyer, who said he has no objection to keeping the defendants in the correctional facility in Kuje, urged the court not to grant Mr Adoke bail.

During the bail application, Justice Nyako, made it clear that, once a person is arraigned before a court, it becomes the subject of the state and the only place to keep that person is the correctional centre.

After taking arguments from the lawyers in the matter, Justice Nyako, stood down to 2.pm, to rule on the bail application.

Backstory

The EFCC has been on the heels of Mr Adoke for his alleged role in the controversial transfer of Nigerias OPL 245 oil field.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how almost half of the $1.1 billion paid by Shell and Eni in a controversial OPL 245 deal negotiated by Mr Adoke and some other officials of the Goodluck Jonathan administration, ended in accounts controlled by Mr Abubakar.

The oil multinationals paid the money through the Nigerian government to Malabu, a company then controlled by Dan Etete, a former petroleum minister, who is on the run.

Malabu, which was illegally awarded OPL 245 when Mr Etete was a minister in 1998, then transferred about half of the money into accounts partly controlled by Mr Abubakar.

The EFCC alleges that Mr Abubakar distributed the money to some top officials of Shell and Eni as well as some officials of the Jonathan administration.

The EFCC also believes Mr Adoke received N300 million from Mr Abubakar in 2013. The anti-graft agency alleges that was his share of the Malabu windfall.

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Shell, Eni, and their officials are already being prosecuted in Italy for the scandal.

Mr Adoke has denied any wrongdoing and said the actions taken in respect of the transfer of the bloc were based on the instructions of former president Goodluck Jonathan, and in the best interest of Nigeria.

In 2015, the former minister went on a self-imposed exile outside Nigeria. He eventually travelled to Dubai where he was arrested by Interpol, at the prompting of the EFCC.

Upon his return to Nigeria, he was arrested at the Abuja airport and handed over to the EFCC on December 19.

Mr Adoke was first arraigned in January over the Malabu oil scandal. The EFCC accuses him of facilitating a deal that saw $1.1 billion paid illegally to questionable characters over the oil block 245. He denies the charges.

He was later granted bail, but despite meeting the conditions, the EFCC failed to release him.
Renee Zellweger put on a dazzling display on Sunday night as she toasted her incredible success at the 92nd annual Academy Awards by attending two star-studded parties.

The actress followed her Best Actress win with an appearance at the 92nd Oscars Governors Ball, before rounding off her night at the Vanity Fair after-party.

Renee rubber stamped her return to the spotlight by claiming the award for her role as troubled stage and screen icon Judy Garland in director Rupert Goold's biopic, Judy.

Well done: Renee Zellweger put on a dazzling display on Sunday night as she toasted her incredible success at the 92nd annual Academy Awards at two star-studded parties

Her triumph was all the more remarkable given her near decade long period of self-imposed exile, during which the actress's name - so synonymous with Hollywood blockbusters - featured sporadically in no more than four largely forgettable films.

But the raucous celebrations got off to a slow start, with the American star opting to drink fruit infused water after leaving Hollywood's Dolby Theater and making her way to the 92nd Oscars Governors Ball.

Joining her fellow winners at the Hollywood & Highland Center event, Renee gazed proudly at her award as she waited for her name to be etched onto its base by a resident engraver.

The 50-year old star still sported the same sweeping off-the-shoulder gown she wore while accepting her award as she relaxed with nothing more than still water following her triumph.

With the engraver getting to work on her trophy, Renee enjoyed a good natured back and forth with the night's biggest winner, South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho.

Cheers! The raucous celebrations got off to a slow start, with the American star opting to drink fruit infused water after leaving Hollywood's Dolby Theater and making her way to the 92nd Oscars Governors Ball

All yours: Bringing her coveted Oscar to the star-studded party, Renee proudly looked on as a resident engraver etched her name onto its base

Say cheese: Renee beamed as she posed with her richly deserved award at the after-party

Careful: The actress looked transfixed as the engraver got to work on Sunday evening

Banter: She was seen enjoying a laugh with South Korean film director Bong Joon Ho and producer Kwak Sin-ae after their surprise Best Film and Best Director win for Parasite

The Parasite director claimed four of night's more prominent awards, winning Best Picture, Best International Feature, Best Original Screenplay and Best Director.

And he appeared to be in an animated mood while sharing a joke with the actress as he waited alongside producer Kwak Sin-ae and their impressive trophy haul.

Renee was in equally good company on the night, with Judy director Rupert Goold and producer David Livingstone also on hand to help her celebrate.

Huurah! Renee delightedly showcased her Oscar as she arrived at the Vanity Fair after-party later that night

Triumph: Best Actor winner Joaquin Phoenix and Best Supporting Actor winner Brad Pitt were also in attendance

It's all about us: Renee was also joined by Best Actress winner Laura Dern at the Vanity Fair bash on Sunday evening

And the trio were still together as they left the Governor's Ball and made their way to the annual Vanity Fair after-party at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.

Taking to the red carpet for a photo-call, Renee was reunited with Best Actor winner Joaquin Phoenix, Best Supporting Actor winner Brad Pitt and Best Supporting Actress winner Laura Dern as they showed off their newly engraved awards.

All four offered beaming smiles before making their way inside, where they celebrated into the early hours.

Stunning: Her one-shouldered pillar gown made the most of her stunning frame

All mine: The star was rarely without her award as she let her hair down on Sunday evening

Inseparable: The star was bursting with pride as she showed off her Oscar before making her way inside

With guests keen to congratulate the actress, she was given an affectionate hug by Vanity Fair editor Radhika Jones.

Tyrese Gibson was also on hand to praise Renee, with the pair posing for a fun selfie shortly after she made her entrance.

She later posed for photos with Anne Morgan, who claimed the award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling for Bombshell while greeting onlookers with a polite wave.

Say cheese: Making her way inside, the actress posed alongside Anne Morgan, who claimed the award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling for Bombshell

High spirits: The actress greeted onlookers with a wave while rubbing shoulders with guests at the event

Well done Renee: The star got a hug from Vanity Fair editor Radhika Jones as she partied in Los Angels on Sunday

Laughs: The actress enjoyed an animated conversation with Tyrese Gibson

So happy for you: Tyrese affectionately held her hand as they exchanged words

Here we go: The pair later posed for a fun selfie at the Vanity Fair event

Taking to the stage at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre earlier that night, Renee dedicated her Academy Award to tragic icon Garland, telling those in attendance: 'Judy Garland, you are certainly among the heroes who unite and define us. And this is certainly for you.'

In her Tinseltown career, Garland was awarded by the Academy a Juvenile Award in 1940 coming off her signature performance of Dorothy in the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz.

She was also nominated twice for Oscars but did not win: In 1962 for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Judgment at Nuremberg; and in 1955 for her work in A Star Is Born the previous year.

Us three: Joaquin, Renee and Brad won in three of the Academy Awards' most significant categories

Renee noted this much in her speech, saying, 'Judy Garland did not receive this honor in her time.'

She said that Garland's spirit was present throughout the latest cinematic endeavor, and the celebration of such.

'I am certain that this moment is an extension of the celebration of her legacy that began on our film set,' she said, 'and it is also representative of the fact that her legacy of unique exceptionalism and inclusivity and generosity in spirit, it transcends any one artistic achievement.'

In good company: The actress was joined by Judy producer David Livingstone (L) and director Rupert Goold (R) as she made her way to the Vanity Fair party later that night

Joint effort: Director Goold beamed as he joined his leading lady on the red carpet

Ecstatic: The actress brandished her gong after making her way to the event from the 92nd Oscars Governors Ball

We've been here before: It is Renee's second Academy Award win after previously winning Best Supporting Actress for Cold Mountain

Somewhere under the rainbow: Judy star Renee dedicated the Academy Award she won playing Judy Garland to the late star on Sunday

Recognition: The double Oscar winner praised Garland's 'legacy of unique exceptionalism and inclusivity and generosity in spirit'

Stylish: Zellweger dazzled in a one-shoulder white gown by Armani Prive at the event

In her acceptance speech, the Texas native pressed on how heroic figures in all walks of life bring people together.

'This past year of conversations celebrating Judy Garland across ... generations and across cultures has been a really cool reminder that our heroes unite us,' said the actress.

'Now, the best among us, who inspire us to find the best in ourselves, when they unite us, when we look to our heroes, we agree, you know? And that matters.'

She thanked everyday heroes such as troops, firefighters and first responders, in addition to staples of Americana including activist Harriet Tubman, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Sally Ride, athletes Venus and Serena Williams, and artists/entertainers including Martin Scorsese, Fred Rogers, Selena and Bob Dylan.

Accolades: Zellweger previously took home Best Actress in a Supporting Role Oscar for her work in 2003's Cold Mountain

Golden achievement: The beaming beauty basked backstage with her Oscar

My night: Renee held her trophy aloft as she celebrated her win on Sunday evening

Well done Renee: Fellow Academy Award winner Rami Malek and Jane Fonda were on hand to congratulate the actress

It's all about us: While Renee won Best Actress, Laura Dern won Best Supporting Actress for her role in Marriage Story

'When we celebrate our heroes,' she said, 'we're reminded of who we are as one people united.'

Renee outlasted a strong field of competition up for the prize, including Harriet's Cynthia Erivo, Marriage Story's Scarlett Johansson, Little Women actress Saoirse Ronan and Bombshell beauty Charlize Theron.

The victory made her a two-time Oscar winner, as she previously took home Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her work in 2003's Cold Mountain.

There it is: The Best Actress winner brandished her newly engraved trophy

Tragic end: Garland died at the age of 47 in London in June of 1969. She was pictured in London on New Year's Eve of 1968

Biography: Judy, directed by Rupert Goold, arrived in theaters this past October
Scores of students of the all-women Gargi College on Monday held a protest against the alleged molestation of students by a group of men who had gatecrashed a cultural festival.

The Delhi Police said it has launched a probe into the incident and is scanning CCTV footage.

Police, however, have not received a complaint in this regard, a senior officer said.

Over 100 students held a protest outside the gate of Gargi College on Monday.

Students and teachers posted on social media about the incident.

As per their posts, during the college festival, 'Reverie', around 6:30 pm on Sunday , groups of unruly, drunk men mobbed the entrances of the college and forced their way in.

The students alleged that Rapid Action Force and Delhi Police personnel were deployed close to the gate from where the men allegedly entered.

"There was a complete lapse of security. The students were groped, molested and even assaulted by the men who all appeared to be in their mid-30s. The college had claimed to set up security but I don't think there must have been such an incident in any college campus across the country," a student said on condition of anonymity.

Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal reached the spot to take stock of the situation.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Atul Kumar Thakur said appropriate action will be taken in the matter.

"We have not received a complaint in this regard yet. But we have began a sou-moto enquiry into the incident," the DCP said.

Police are scanning footage of CCTV cameras to collect evidence and speaking to students to ascertain facts, he added.

The enquiry is being conducted by Additonal DCP (South) Geetanjali Khandelwal, Thakur said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nearly 20 years ago, Andrew Zadock thought he had a case of the flu and took tablets to ease his cold. This went on for 10 years but the tablets werent working.

It was not until his forehead started swelling that the 65-year-old sought serious medical help. Doctors diagnosed him with PNS tumor (paranasal sinus tumor  a cancer that grows inside your sinuses).

Andrew, who lives on the hope that he will get help soon, shared his story with Sunday Magazine.

I fell sick early 2002 while I was in Kisumu where I sold household items. I had just moved to the town after many years of working on construction sites in Nairobi. I decided to quit the construction job after I fell from a building and sustained injuries that took long to heal.

Back in Kisumu, I was down with what I though was a flu. At first, I took tablets to unblock my nostrils and to ease my cold. But the tablets didnt help. Since I was not in pain, I continued with my business and kept taking medication for what I thought was flu.

For nearly 10 years, I tried to manage my blocked nostrils through herbal medication and self-medication since I wasnt in pain.In 2014, my forehead started swelling, down to my eyes, my nose and my mouth. For months, I tried to ignore the swelling until it became painful. I thought my condition was serious when a friend hinted that I might be having a growth on my face. I went the hospital and doctors recommended an x-ray after giving me medication to ease my pain.

But those who carried out the x-ray within the facility did not give a proper report that could be interpreted by the doctor. I was frustrated after a lot of back and forth with the doctor and decided to go back to my business without receiving a full diagnosis and treatment.

In March 2018, I went to another hospital in Kisumu, this time with a very swollen face. The right eye was always teary and I felt pressure around my eyes and my forehead because of the swelling. Also, the eye had started to budge out of its socket. I could feel the swelling on the roof of my mouth and in my nasal cavity which made breathing very strenuous.

Doctors conducted a CT scan that revealed that an abnormal mass of cells was growing in my nasal cavity, in the eye sockets and in my mouth. The tests revealed that the tumor was rapidly growing and filling my nasal and oral cavity, thereby obstructing air passage through my nose. The tumor had started eroding some soft tissues in these cavities and between my eyes and in my forehead. In fact, there was a slight penetration of the mass into my frontal bone (bone in the skull).

Doctors diagnosed me with PNS tumor (paranasal sinus tumor) and referred me to Kenyatta National Hospital for further management to kill the abnormal cells. At KNH, I dropped out of the medical process midway when the consultations became a tedious and costly process. Finding no reliable accommodation in Nairobi and without funds to cover the doctors visits, I decided to go back to Kisumu.

My condition was deteriorating with each day I stayed at home in Kisumu. I was alone through the whole process. My marriage broke in 1984, shortly after the death of our son and so I was alone throughout the whole process. I now stay at my brothers house in Luanda, Vihiga.

My face is still swollen and very painful. I have lost sight totally in one eye. I always have headaches. In December last year, I tried another stint at KNH and abandoned the process midway because of lack of funds and accommodation. My family members in Nairobi suggested that I seek help at Kakamega Referral Hospital where they said I could access medication from home in Vihiga. But doctors at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital had told me that my condition could only be treated at KNH or in Eldorets Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital. Anyway, a doctor at Kakamega Teaching and Referral Hospital took samples of my blood for fresh tests and promised to get back to me. That is what I am waiting for.

I feel that I have become a burden to people who are closest to me. I can see it and I feel sorry for them since they have tried all they could to help me. I am in constant pain and I cant do anything on my own. My only brother who took me in is paralysed and the two of us are usually of little help to each other when my nephew goes to work. I thank God for my nephew who has been my biggest source of strength. And my encouragement to people going through a similar situation, or worse, is to trust in God. I have contemplated suicide countless times but found strength in God that keeps me moving, hoping that help will come soon.
(CNN)  "Parasite" made history at the 92nd Academy Awards, becoming the first foreign-language film to win best picture, while adding honors for director Bong Joon Ho, original screenplay and the renamed "international feature film" category.

It was a surprising outcome -- given that many felt the World War I epic "1917" was the frontrunner -- but hardly a complete shock, given the praise showered on the South Korean thriller by the industry and critics through the awards season.

The overwhelmed director graciously singled out his fellow nominees, going so far as to mention using a chainsaw to carve up the award and share it with them.

The four acting wins, meanwhile, followed the script, given the array of honors handed out in the run-up to Oscar night.

Three of the recipients were first-time winners, with Joaquin Phoenix winning for his title role in "Joker," a dark drama spun out of the Batman franchise. He delivered a passionate speech about animal rights, among other things.

Renee Zellweger, a 2004 supporting actress winner for "Cold Mountain," earned her first lead actress award for "Judy," a biography of Judy Garland near the end of her troubled life.

Brad Pitt and Laura Dern claimed their first acting Oscars in the supporting races for "Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood" and "Marriage Story."

Although he won an Oscar as a producer for "12 Years a Slave," Pitt received his first as an actor for his supporting role in "Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood." He injected an immediate note of politics into the ceremony, referring to President Trump's impeachment trial by noting that his 45-second speech was more time than the Senate had allocated for witnesses.

Dern was recognized for "Marriage Story," thanking her acting parents, Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd, in an emotional speech.

Both wins were widely anticipated, given the array of honors the two have earned in the run-up to Oscar night.

Another best-picture nominee, writer-director Taika Waititi's anti-Nazi satire "Jojo Rabbit," took the adapted screenplay prize.

Oscar voters spread the wealth. Eight of the nine nominated best pictures have earned at least one award, with "1917" snagging a trio in sound, cinematography and visual effects. "Once Upon a Time" garnered a second for production design, with "Ford v. Ferrari" winning one of the sound prizes and for editing. "Little Women" nabbed costume design, and Hilda Gudnadottir was honored for the original score for "Joker."

The lone exception was "The Irishman," the expensive Netflix gangster drama from director Martin Scorsese.

"American Factory," a Netflix documentary released with the support of the Obamas, was honored in that category. The film chronicles the takeover of an Ohio production plant by Chinese interests.

"Toy Story 4" received best animated movie, as did its predecessor in 2011 -- the first franchise to win a pair of awards within that category, which was introduced in 2002.

The composing team of Elton John and Bernie Taupin also shared an Oscar for their original song for "Rocketman," the musical drama based on John's life.

Suspense over the best picture race remains at the heart of this year's event, based on the consistency among acting honors in the buildup to movie industry's biggest night.

The awards have also reignited the debate about inclusion and diversity within the academy, which birthed the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag five years ago. Despite academy efforts to address the issue, only one person of color -- actress Cynthia Erivo, for the Harriet Tubman biography "Harriet" -- is among the 20 nominees for best and supporting actor and actress.

Ratings for the Oscars will be watched closely, amid a general decline for the major ceremonies leading up to it, including the Golden Globes -- which kicked off this year's truncated awards season in early January -- and the Grammys two weeks ago.

The ceremony again opted to go without a designated host, after employing that approach in 2019. While that served as something of a novelty, it will be interesting to see whether it generates similar curiosity the second time around.

The night opened with a raucous musical number by Janelle Monae, followed by an introduction by two past hosts, Steve Martin and Chris Rock, joking about the lack of female directors and people of color among the nominees.

Matthew A. Cherry, director of the animated short "Hair Love," dedicated its victory to the late Kobe Bryant, while speaking of the need for greater representation.

The production included a joke at the expense of "Cats," the major box-office flop, and a surprise performance by Eminem. The latter drew an enthusiastic response from the crowd, but generated a "why" response on social media.
The nations leading public charter organization slammed President Trumps proposed 2021 budget for chilling school choice by collapsing the Federal Charter Schools Program into a block grant to be administered at the state and local level for the sake of cutting costs.

President Trump has consistently said that school choice is a priority for his administration, but this budget, if enacted, would leave families in need with fewer school options, Nina Rees, President and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, said in a statement on the recently released budget. She added that the decision would only bolster the rising anti-charter sentiment that prevails in the modern Democratic party.

The presidents proposal to collapse the Charter Schools Program into a block grant with other federal education programs would jeopardize the ability of community leaders to start new schools because it would put too much power in the hands of anti-charter politicians at the state level, Rees stated.

Prominent Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are both against the expansion of charter schools, while Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg are against the expansion of for-profit charters.

The White Houses 2021 budget for the Education Department decreases the agencys annual budget by 7.8 percent to $66.6 billion. As part of the cut, the Trump administration will consolidate all 29 of its grant programs into a single block grant of $19.4 billion to incentivize state and local initiatives, while allowing the federal government to significantly reduce its footprint, and also will reduce staffing and administrative costs over time.

The proposal cites the Every Student Succeeds Act, which replaced No Child Left Behind and was signed into law by former president Obama in 2015, as restoring greater State and local control over education while maintaining key accountability and reporting requirements aimed at protecting students, supporting meaningful school improvement efforts, and giving parents the information they need to choose a high-quality education for their children.

Story continues

Rees argues that the move shifts the focus away from high-quality, tuition-free opportunities.

Combined with the $4.8 billion in proposed cuts to other public school funding, the presidents budget would cripple programs that both district and charter schools rely on to educate low-income students, she states.

While the budget does not mention public charter funding, it does include a scholarship proposal of up to $5 billion annually for state programs to allow families to send their children to private school.

President Trump prominently featured his support for school choice in last weeks State of the Union address, including gifting a scholarship to a fourth-grade girl from Philadelphia as proof of his war against failing government schools.

While the Trump campaign flaunted the move, The Philadelphia Inquirer later reported that the girl was already attending a new public charter, Math, Science and Technology Community Charter School III  which received 6,500 applications for 100 seats next year.

Stephanie Davis, the girls mother, said she was really surprised and honored by Trumps announcement, but revealed she was happy with her daughters recent enrollment at MaST, and was not sure if they would take the scholarship.

I dont view MaST as a school you want to get out of at all. I view it as a great opportunity, Davis said.

Janiyah Daviss mom, Stephanie, would do anything to give her daughter a better future. Last year, that future was put further out of reach when PAs governor vetoed legislation to expand school choice. But, President Trump had a special message for Janiyah.#SOTU2020 pic.twitter.com/gcmlms7ma1  Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) February 5, 2020

More from National Review
Russia has been keeping relatively quiet on the global stage of late, particularly as it has issues closer to home to focus on including political reforms and economic revival, but make no mistake about it, the country's influence across the world is far-reaching and important. Russia might display a foreign policy approach in which it doesn't appear to want to "interfere" in the domestic affairs of other nations or to see regime change; In January in his State of the Nation address, President Vladimir Putin insisted that "we don't want to impose our point of view on anyone." Nonetheless, similarly to other superpowers like the U.S. and China, Russia has spread its economic and geopolitical influence by supporting (and indeed, propping up) rulers and regimes, like Syria's Bashar Assad, or plowing money into infrastructure projects (like energy infrastructure in Europe) and by giving both tacit and overt military and economic support to other states around the world, as seen in Venezuela. It matters where Russia chooses to intervene, invest, "interfere" and even annex because its influence is a direct challenge to the West, or more specifically, the U.S. It is also a way to allay the humiliation of the past, experts say. "The U.S. and China are competing for economic dominance; meanwhile, Russia is asserting its role on the geopolitical stage, where it wants to compete on a par with the U.S.," Agathe Demarais, global forecasting director at The Economist Intelligence Unit, told CNBC. "For Russia, being present on the global stage and defending what it considers as its backyard represent crucial steps to overcoming the humiliation that the country perceived that it suffered after the Soviet Union collapsed and the U.S. was left as the sole global superpower."

US President Donald Trump and his wife US First Lady Melania Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Australian Governor-General Peter Cosgrove attend a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris on November 11, 2018 as part of commemorations marking the 100th anniversary of the 11 November 1918 armistice, ending World War I. Ludovic Marin | AFP | Getty Images

Here are the regions that Russia is invested in, both politically and economically:

Latin America

Unsurprisingly for a country that has a long history of Communist rule in the 20th century, Russia has had long ties with several Latin American states that have socialist or communist regimes, like Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba. It has sought to develop these relationships largely with diplomatic support, arms sales and energy investments. But it has also recently strengthened economic and political ties with regional powers Argentina, Mexico and Brazil. Nonetheless, Russia's relationship with Venezuela is the most prominent, and antagonizing, for the West. Russia has long supported the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and has been seen as a key power propping up the socialist government, helping to ward off a U.S.-supported coup led by opposition leader Juan Guaido in 2019. Russia has also supported Venezuela on the military and economic front; Caracas is believed to have bought billions of dollars' worth of weapons from Russia, paid for with loans from Russia, whose state oil company Rosneft has also invested heavily in Venezuela's state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, or PDVSA.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on September 25, 2019. SERGEI CHIRIKOV

Russia's government and Rosneft have given Venezuela at least $17 billion in loans and credit lines since 2006, according to Reuters calculations. Russia restructured Venezuela's debt in 2017, to allow it more manageable repayments. "Russia is Venezuela's main geopolitical ally and has also established considerable economic ties in the country, particularly in areas such as energy and defense. The energy sector saw investments by many of Russia's main oil and gas companies, such as Gazprom, Rosneft, and Lukoil, but Russia's involvement in armaments has been more heavily publicized," the EIU's Demarais told CNBC Tuesday. However, she noted that "Russia's economic involvement in Venezuela, unlike China's, has paled against its political investment in securing the survival of the Maduro regime." This has largely been part of a broader geo-strategic interest of challenging the U.S. in different parts of the world, she said, and, "given the Chavez/Maduro government's anti-American rhetoric, this was a natural beachhead for Russian interests in the West." She said proof that Moscow views its relationship with Venezuela mostly along geopolitical lines is the fact that Venezuela still has considerable unpaid financial obligations to Russia, of around $3 billion. As U.S. sanctions (that Russia calls illegal) continue to bite, Russia continues to support Venezuela and on Friday, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited the country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (L). Sean Gallup

Lavrov's visit, which was preceded by trips to Cuba and Mexico, was also a show of defiance against U.S. sanctions, something that Russia knows all about given international sanctions on the country for its own misdemeanors including its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. The foreign minister met Maduro and other top ministers to discuss deeper cooperation on energy, mining, transport, agriculture and defense, as well as discussing steps "to counteract illegal unilateral sanctions."

Africa

Europe, the U.S. and China's investments in, and aid to, Africa are well established but what's less well known is that Russia had a strong influence in the continent during Soviet times, but this waned following the collapse of the union in 1991. With China forming investment partnerships around the world, and particularly Africa, as part of its Belt and Road Initiative, widely seen as a way for China to increase its global influence and economic reach, Russia looks keen to increase its own trade relations with Africa and access the country's vast mineral wealth and grab commercial opportunities. In October 2019, President Vladimir Putin hosted a Russia-Africa summit and economic forum for over 40 African heads of state in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Ahead of the summit, Putin told TASS news agency that only Russia would respect the sovereignty of African governments and he played on the long history of relations. "We see how an array of Western countries are resorting to pressure, intimidation and blackmail of sovereign African governments," Putin said, adding that Russia was ready to provide help without "political or other conditions." "Our country played a significant role in the liberation of the continent, contributing to the struggle of the peoples of Africa against colonialism, racism and apartheid," he said. "Although ties deteriorated after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, traces remain: the Mozambique flag, for instance, carries the Kalashnikov rifle."

Delegates at the 2019 Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum at the Sirius Park of Science and Art. Anton Novoderezhkin

At the summit, Putin said Russia's trade with Africa in 2018 amounted to over $20 billion, having doubled in the previous five years, but that the aim was to increase this. "We believe that trade, economic and investment cooperation is an important element in Russia's relations with African countries," Putin told the audience. Daragh McDowell, head of Europe and Central Asia at Verisk Maplecroft, is not convinced that the Russian state's reach in Africa is that extensive, arguing that private Russian companies had done well in the continent, such as those connected to the military contractor Wagner Group and linked to Russian businessman and a close associate of Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin. "From what I can see of the engagement in Africa, a number of individuals and companies  particularly those connected to Yevgeny Prigozhin and (the) Wagner group  have done very well out of mineral concessions, but I'm not sure that I'd call that a win for the Russian state, per se. Then again, the use of deniable, private sector mercenary firms means that the Russian state is, on paper at least, not really putting much in," he said. The success of private firms then allowed the Russian foreign ministry to follow "in the wake of a successful engagement to trumpet the foreign policy 'success'," McDowell told CNBC.

Middle East

Russia has rapidly expanded its geopolitical and military ties in the Middle East in the last decade, not only with Syria but with the region's most powerful kingdom, Saudi Arabia, particularly (but not only) in terms of the OPEC alliance with Russia and other non-OPEC producers to limit oil output in a bid to stabilize oil prices. In fact, Russia is one of the few countries that has managed to have good relations with both Saudi Arabia and its arch nemesis, Iran. Russia has repeatedly criticized the U.S.' re-imposition of sanctions on Iran following its withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attend the G20 Leaders' Summit in Buenos Aires, on November 30, 2018. Ludovic Marin | Getty Images

Aside from Russia's relationships with fellow oil producers, which could be expected, its relationship with Syria is perhaps the most infamous one it has in the region. Russia's military presence in Syria and support for Assad came to the fore in recent years during the allied campaign against the terrorist group Islamic State, on the one hand, and preventing the attempts of rebel forces in a civil war trying to overthrow the Assad regime, on the other. Russia has repeatedly said it does not want to see regime change in Syria. Russia's support is seen as a way for the country to expand and maintain its influence in the Middle East; it has also benefited from a U.S. administration under President Donald Trump that does not want "boots on the ground" in the Middle East (although it appears keen to still shape government policy, most recently seen in Trump's peace plan for Israel and Palestine). The EIU's Demarais noted how "in many African and Middle East countries, Russia seeks to use the vacuum left by the U.S. to fulfill the objective of increasing its global presence. Russia also seeks to capitalize on popular disenchantment with controversial U.S. policies, such as relocating the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and brands itself as a reliable, alternative power," she said.

Europe

Russia's relationship with its closest neighbor Europe is complicated. While it has appeared to foment and exploit divisions in the EU by giving its support to right-wing and populist movements in the region, it has also undertaken massive joint infrastructure projects with European countries and companies, such as the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline with Germany, on which the U.S. recently imposed sanctions. On the more problematic side of Russia's relationship with Europe, Putin has met with leaders of the region's more ideologically extreme parties who are seen as potential threats to the EU project, including Marine Le Pen who leads the nationalist National Rally party and Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Italy's right-wing Lega party has also reportedly held meetings with Russia's top brass.

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with French presidential election candidate for the far-right Front National (FN) party Marine Le Pen at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 24, 2017. MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV

What those parties and politicians share is the kind of euroskepticism that has led to unprecedented political upheaval, like the U.K.'s departure from the EU. There has, in fact, been an investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 referendum, but the report has not yet been published. Perhaps the biggest issue for Europe is how Russia has treated an aspiring EU and NATO member, Ukraine, by annexing Crimea in 2014 and for its role in a pro-Russian uprising in the east of Ukraine that is still unresolved. Russia is still subject to international sanctions for these actions although support for sanctions is low among some EU members. There have been some concerns in other former Soviet states, like the Baltic nations Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, that a resurgent Russia could provoke a military confrontation or even invade, particularly given the sizable minority of ethnic Russians still living in those countries since the Soviet Union collapsed. Concerns have led to NATO stationing more troops in the Baltic states (and Poland) to act as a deterrent to Russia, who has made the Baltic states nervous in light of some provocative military exercises and maneuvers it has carried out in the Baltic Sea or in airspace close to the Baltic nations  often prompting NATO jets to be scrambled to investigate. But close watchers of Russian politics say it's very unlikely that Russia would ever provoke an actual conflict in its former territories, however. "I think this fear of Russia possible invading the Baltic states is completely overdone and irrational," Jacob Grapengiesser, partner & head of Eastern Europe at asset manager East Capital, and based in Moscow for the last 20 years, told CNBC Wednesday. "I just think Russia wants to be respected and seen. Don't forget their history: For much of the nineties, they were really down on their knees and now they're upstanding and doing relatively well. So, I think you need to see it in that light. This is why they fly their planes and invest in new weapons and they just want to show that they are someone." "But I think they have no intentions of taking it further than that by some sort of invasion," he said. Other countries that were also part of the Soviet Union  those in the Caucasus which include Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia  have a checkered relationship with Russia. While relations between Moscow and Georgia remain strained following a military conflict between the countries in 2008 (there were anti-Russian protests in the capital Tbilisi in 2019) those between Russia and Azerbaijan have improved. In December, Putin wished his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev a happy birthday and said "it is hard to overestimate your personal contribution to consolidating the strategic partnership between our two countries. I genuinely value the trust and mutual understanding that has developed between us."

What does it mean for the West?

Experts diverge on how extensive and influential Russia actually is abroad. Verisk Maplecroft's Daragh McDowell told CNBC that "a lot of Russia's foreign policy is based on bluffing and good PR." "Moscow can dispatch mercenaries to prop up certain governments, provide political advice etc. but it simply doesn't have the capacity or resources to turn this into long-term influence except in a handful of cases (primarily Syria and Venezuela) and even then it tends to be dependent upon particular political actors or factions without the kind of deeper 'roots' needed to ensure the relationship endures when the personalities change," he said Tuesday. "They also can't provide the level of investment and development assistance that countries like China can, which is a much more robust strategic competitor for the West."

Matryoshka dolls and other souvenirs in the Central Market, Budapest, Hungary. fazon1
Using data from the World Economic Forum, Stacker compiled a list of the 25 countries with the largest income disparity.

This article was first published on theStacker.com
FORREST CITY, Ark. - Two police officers were wounded and a gunman was killed Monday morning in an exchange of gunfire at a Walmart store in eastern Arkansas, authorities said.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/2/2020 (700 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Law enforcement officials block off a Walmart store in Forrest City, Ark., on Monday, Feb. 10, 2020. Police say at least three people have been shot at the store. (Micaela A. Watts/The Commercial Appeal via AP)

FORREST CITY, Ark. - Two police officers were wounded and a gunman was killed Monday morning in an exchange of gunfire at a Walmart store in eastern Arkansas, authorities said.

Forrest City Police Chief Deon Lee said one of the officers was taken to a hospital about 45 miles (70 kilometres) to the east in Memphis where he was in surgery, and the initial prognosis is he's going to be OK.

The officers responded to the Forrest City Walmart after someone called police to report a man who was making threats and was kind of talking out of his head, Lee said at a news conference Monday afternoon. Arkansas State Police Spokesman Bill Sadler said local authorities have identified the suspect as Bobby Joe Gibbs, 40, of Forrest City, though the state crime lab has yet not confirmed his identity.

Law enforcement officials block off a Walmart store in Forrest City, Ark., on Monday, Feb. 10, 2020. Police say at least three people have been shot at the store. (Micaela A. Watts/The Commercial Appeal via AP)

Lee identified the injured officers as Lt. Eric Varner and Detective Eugene Watlington. Both are assigned to the criminal investigation department and neither was wearing a bullet-resistant vest, Lee said.

The mayor heaped praise on the officers.

Due to their heroism and quick response, no civilians were injured, Forrest City Mayor Cedric Williams said.

Walmart spokesman Scott Pope said the company was helping with the police investigation. Walmart is based in Bentonville, Arkansas. Once the Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division completes its investigation of the shooting, it will forward the case file to the local prosecutor to review the officers' use of deadly force.

Police tape blocks off a Walmart store parking lot in Forrest City, Ark., on Monday, Feb. 10, 2020. Police say at least three people, including two officers, have been shot this Walmart in eastern Arkansas. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz)

Tammy Priddy, 57, works at Simmons Eye Center in the Walmart. She said she was preparing patient records for the day when she heard eight shots. She said she hid under a counter in the lab until the gunshots stopped.

"The first two shots kind of startled me, and then a coworker came in and said it was gunfire," Priddy said.

She and a coworker ran from the building and officers outside the Walmart ordered her to get as far away from the building as possible. She was not injured.

"I was too afraid to think of anything except to get to safety," she said. We kept our minds straight to where we were safe and we were able to get to safety.

Forrest City, Ark., Mayor Cedric Williams, left, holds a news conference after two police officers were wounded and a gunman was killed in an exchange of gunfire at a Walmart store in eastern Arkansas Monday morning Feb. 10, 2020. Williams said that the officers were hospitalized soon after the shooting at the store about 45 miles west of Memphis. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz)

Police formed a perimeter with yellow crime scene tape around the Walmart parking lot after the shooting. Police cars with flashing lights blocked roads to the store. The store was closed and employees were sent home. A small strip mall and two gas stations saw no business Monday afternoon, as they were within the police perimeter.

Mary Martin, who said she was Gibbs aunt, went to the Walmart after she heard about the shooting. She said Gibbs didnt have a job, but had previously worked as a DJ.

He was a good person. He loved his family, she said.

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When asked about the description of Gibbs talking out of his head at the store, Martin responded: That doesnt sound like Bobby.

It's not the first time in recent months that a Walmart store has been the scene of a shooting. A man was injured in a shooting at a Walmart in Memphis earlier this month, three people were fatally shot at a Walmart in Duncan, Oklahoma, in November, and a gunman killed 22 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, on Aug. 3.

The retailer came under criticism for having insufficient security at the El Paso store on that day and has since quietly expanded security at all its stores in the city to include an armed off-duty police officer and a security guard.

A spokeswoman for the company said in November that the hiring of off-duty officers in El Paso was not a blanket policy. Its unclear what security measures were in place at the Forrest City store on Monday.

___

Associated Press writers Cedar Attanasio in El Paso, Texas, and Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas, contributed to this report.
Manchester, February 9: Manchester United on Sunday confirmed Odion Ighalo has been registered for the Europa League and will be eligible for the upcoming tie against Club Brugge.

The Nigerian has not attended the training camp in Spain, with manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer revealing to us his latest signing will continue to work in Manchester, before linking up with his new colleagues on their return, a statement on Man United's website said. Marcus Rashford Injury Update: Manchester United Striker Set to Miss Arsenal Clash, Might Not Return before International Break.

The deadline-day arrival from Shanghai Shenhua could be involved when the Reds travel to Belgium in the round of 32 on February 20. Fellow January signing Bruno Fernandes is also available to feature for United in the competition, despite representing Sporting Lisbon in the group stages, the statement on www.manutd.com said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 09, 2020 05:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 10, 2020 19:29 700 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2063ab886 1 National coronavirus,China,regional-government,regional-administrations,Muhadjir-Effendy Free

Several regional administrations have repatriated Indonesians living in China because of the coronavirus outbreak without coordinating with the central government, a top official has said.

As far as I know, there are four [regional administrations], Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy said on Monday as quoted by kompas.com, but declined to name them.

He said most of the returnees were students on local government-funded scholarships.

The minister urged regional leaders not to repatriate citizens without coordinating with the central government.

At least notify the central government through the Health Ministry or the National Disaster Mitigation Agency [BNPB] because emergencies are a part of the BNPBs job, he said.

The government has evacuated 236 Indonesians and two foreigners from Wuhan, China. They are currently under observation in a quarantine facility on Natuna Island, Riau Islands, where they must stay for 14 days to ensure they do not have the new coronavirus. (gis)
Two police officers were shot and a suspected gunman has been killed inside a Walmart in Forrest City, Arkansas, after a man allegedly threatened people inside the store before he opened fire on two officers on the scene.

Lt Eric Varner and Detective Eugene Watlington were injured in the shooting, and one of the officers is listed in critical condition at a nearby hospital, according to Forrest City police chief Deon Lee.

Chief Lee said Lt Varner, who has been on the force for more than a decade, has already been released from the hospital.

Detective Watlington is undergoing surgery, but his prognosis is better than initially expected, Chief Lee said.

The suspect, Bobby Joe Gibbs, was killed.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

According to police, a security guard inside the store alerted police to a suspicious person in the grocery section of the store before 11am on Monday.

Chief Lee said the suspect was "making threats and talking out of his head" before the two officers confronted the man, who then allegedly pulled out a handgun and fired several rounds.

Neither of the officers were in police uniform, and the officers were not wearing bulletproof vests, according to Chief Lee.

Roughly 30 officers are employed by Forrest City.

Arkansas State Police are advising people to "stay away from the areas if at all possible" while the agency's criminal investigation division assists at the scene.

In a statement, ASP said: "The prayers and thoughts of the ASP are with the two Forrest City Police Officers that were injured this morning in a shooting at the Walmart store."

The US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also responded to the scene.
NORWOOD, Ohio, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Water Vaccines Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on creating transformative vaccines solving global health challenges, has entered into an exclusive worldwide license agreement for the development of a Streptococcus Pneumoniae vaccine with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital ("St. Jude"), the nation's leading hospital dedicated to understanding, treating and curing childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

The technology was developed in the laboratory of Jason Rosch, Ph.D., Department of Infectious Diseases at St. Jude.

Acute otitis media caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae remains one of the most common infectious diseases worldwide despite widespread vaccination. A major limitation of the currently licensed pneumococcal vaccines is the lack of efficacy against mucosal disease manifestations such as acute otitis media, acute bacterial sinusitis and pneumonia.

"We sought to generate a novel class of live vaccines that are fully attenuated and retain all major antigenic virulence proteins," Rosch said. "A live vaccine candidate based on deletion of the signal recognition pathway component ftsY induced potent, serotype-independent protection against otitis media, sinusitis, pneumonia and invasive pneumococcal disease." In studies, the live vaccine induced a strong serum IgG2a and IgG2b response that correlated with CD4+ T-cell mediated class switching.

"We are excited to develop a vaccine that has the potential to provide a significant benefit to a great number of patients worldwide," said Joseph Hernandez, Chief Executive Officer of Blue Water Vaccines. "St. Jude is a global leader in medical research and a beacon of hope for families all over the world facing serious medical conditions. We are thrilled to add this ground-breaking technology to our development portfolio."

About Blue Water Vaccines

Blue Water Vaccines, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing transformational vaccines to address significant health challenges globally. Blue Water Vaccines has partnered with the University of Oxford to develop a novel universal influenza vaccine that protects against all influenza strains. For more information, visit www.bluewatervaccines.com.

About St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and cures childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. It is the only National Cancer Institute- designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments developed at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to 80% since the hospital opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude freely shares the breakthroughs it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing and food  because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. To learn more, visit www.stjude.org or follow St. Jude on social media at @stjuderesearch.

For further information, please contact:

For Blue Water Vaccines:

Erin Henderson

Director, Corporate Relations

Phone: 404-405-6315

[email protected]

For St. Jude:

Michael Sheffield

Desk: (901) 595-0221

Cell: (901) 275-9065

[email protected]

[email protected]

SOURCE Blue Water Vaccines Inc.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday (February 10) while hearing a petition seeking clearing of Delhi's Shaheen Bagh from the protesters, said it will not pass any direction on the matter without hearing the other side. The matter has been posted for next hearing on February 17.

The court also maintained that people are entitled to protest but they have to do so in an area designated for agitation. "There has to be an area for protest and one can't block the entire road or the city," the court said during the hearing.

The court today also issued notices to Centre, Delhi government and state police on pleas seeking removal of protesters from Shaheen Bagh and sought a reply on the matter within a week.

The Shaheen Bagh had lately gained nationwide attention due to a continued anti-CAA sit-in by people, especially Muslim women against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Population Register and National Register of Citizens.

The Shaheen Bagh had lately gained nationwide attention due to a continued anti-CAA sit-in by people, especially Muslim women against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Population Register and National Register of Citizens.

Anti-CAA protests erupted in various parts of the country, including the Shaheen Bagh area of Delhi, after Parliament gave its nod to the Citizenship Amendment Bill in December last year.

Earlier on February 7, the apex court had deferred hearing till Monday on pleas seeking directions to the Delhi Police to take action to ensure smooth traffic movement on the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch. The road remains blocked due to the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests for over two months now.

The PIL, filed by Dr Nand Kishore Garg and Amit Sahni through their lawyer Shashank Deo Sudhi earlier last week, sought appropriate directions to the Centre and others for removal of protesters from Shaheen Bagh near Kalindi Kunj. It said that people in Shaheen Bagh are illegally protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019, by blocking the common and public road connecting Delhi to Noida.

Sahni had submitted before the top court that the Delhi High Court did not order the forthwith removal of traffic restrictions observing 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. The Delhi HC had asked the police to examine the issue while bearing in mind that law and order are supposed to be maintained.

Another petition was also filed by BJP leader Nand Kishor Garg seeking the apex court's directions for removing anti-CAA protesters from Shaheen Bagh.
Photo credit: FBI

From Popular Mechanics

The U.S. Justice Department has filed charges against four members of China's military on suspicion of perpetrating the March 2017 Equifax data breach.

About 145 million Americans were impacted by the breach, which leaked highly sensitive information about consumers, including their Social Security numbers.

The FBI is looking for tips on the four men in question.

Just shy of three years since the infamous Equifax data breach leaked sensitive personal information about nearly half of the U.S. populationincluding social security numbers, birthdates, addresses, and driver's license numbersthe U.S. Department of Justice has filed charges against four members of the Chinese military in connection with the March 2017 hacking.

A federal grand jury at the U.S. District Court in Atlanta returned an indictment last week, charging Wu Zhiyong, Wang Qian, Xu Ke, and Liu Lei of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) with hacking into Equifax's computer systems to steal trade secrets from the credit reporting agency, as well as personally identifiable information from 145 million Americans.

"This data has economic value, and these thefts can feed Chinas development of artificial intelligence tools," Attorney General William P. Barr said in a statement.

Allegedly, the defendants exploited a vulnerability in the Apache Struts Web Framework software that Equifax used in its online dispute portal. The four Chinese nationals then used that access to obtain login credentials that could be used to further infiltrate the Equifax network, according to the indictment. Over the course of several weeks, the four men allegedly ran queries in the Equifax database structure to find sensitive and personally identifiable information on Equifax customers.

Once the Chinese nationals found files of interest, they allegedly stored the stolen data in temporary output files, compressed and divided them, and exfiltrated the information from Equifax's network to computers outside of the U.S. In total, according to the indictment, the attackers ran 9,000 queries on the Equifax system.

Story continues

The hackers took preventative measures to hide their location, per the indictment. They allegedly routed internet traffic through approximately 34 servers in 20 countries to obfuscate their actual location and used encrypted communication channels to blend in with normal activity on the Equifax server.

According to the indictment, the four Chinese nationals are charged with Computer Fraud, Economic Espionage, Wire Fraud, Conspiracy to Commit Computer Fraud, Conspiracy to Commit Economic Espionage, and Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud.

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Liquor baron Vijay Mallya is expected to return to court on Tuesday as the UK High Court begins hearing his appeal against being extradited to India to face fraud and money laundering charges amounting to Rs 9,000 crores.

The Royal Courts of Justice in London will hear the appeal against a magistrates' court extradition order, signed off by former UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid in February last year.

The 64-year-old former Kingfisher Airlines boss, who remains on bail since his arrest on an extradition warrant in April 2017, had sought permission to appeal from the High Court against the extradition order.

In July last year, a two-member High Court bench comprising Justices George Leggatt and Andrew Popplewell ruled that "arguments can be reasonably made" on some aspects of the prima facie case ruling by Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot in her extradition order of December 2018.

"By far the most substantial ground is that the senior District Judge (Arbuthnot) was wrong to conclude that the government had established a prima facie case," said Judge Leggatt.

Mallya's counsel Clare Montgomery had questioned the basis on which Judge Arbuthnot had arrived at certain conclusions and claimed the Chief Magistrate had been "plain wrong" in accepting some of the Indian authorities' assertions that Mallya had fraudulent intentions when he sought some of the loans for his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines, that he made misrepresentations to the banks to seek the loans and had no intentions to pay them back.

Mallya later told reporters outside the courtroom that he felt "vindicated" by the ruling and repeated his offer to pay back the money owed to the Indian banks.

"I still want the banks to take all their money, do what they have to do and leave me in peace," he said.

The appeal will now move on to a full hearing this week, listed for three days until Thursday, with a verdict likely soon after or at a later date.

The High Court judges had accepted Judge Arbuthnot's conclusions on all other aspects of the extradition case as they dismissed the other grounds on which permission to appeal was sought, including so-called "extraneous circumstances" of Mallya being pursued by the Indian authorities for political reasons of a clash between the ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress party.

Some of the other grounds invoked claimed Mallya would not receive a fair trial in India, which was also dismissed as the judges upheld Arbuthnot's ruling on the matter that the wide media interest in the Mallya case would ensure justice.

His legal team also sought to challenge the Indian government's assurances that Mallya would be held in safe prison conditions at Barrack 12 in Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai, which was dismissed by the High Court.

At the end of a year-long extradition trial at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London in December 2018, Judge Arbuthnot had found "clear evidence of dispersal and misapplication of the loan funds" and accepted a prima facie case of fraud and a conspiracy to launder money against Mallya, as presented by the CPS on behalf of the Indian government.

Mallya remains on bail involving a bail bond worth 650,000 pounds and other restrictions on his travel while he contests that ruling.

The High Court appeal will mark one of the final stages of the appeals process against his extradition to India, as in the case of wanted bookie in a match-fixing scandal Sanjeev Chawla - who lost his UK High Court challenge on human rights grounds and took the matter up to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) based in Strasbourg, France.

Chawla's application was rejected by the ECHR last week, with his extradition to India expected later this week once all the paperwork in the case is concluded.

ALSO READ: United Breweries, United Spirits grow in value as Vijay Mallya's extradition trial enters last leg

ALSO READ: Vijay Mallya can't use pendency of plea to stall verdict in UK court, says SC

ALSO READ: Courts allow banks to utilise movable assets of Vijay Mallya to clear debt
This is an exchange with Scott Eric Alt on his Facebook page, from 24 January 2017. His words will be in blue.

*****

Prediction about Trump and SCOTUS. This is just a prediction; I am not infallible.

There is an open seat on the Court: it is early in Trumps administration. He will choose a nominee very much in the mold of Justice Scaliared meat for the base. The balance on the Court will remain exactly as before; conservative Christians will say, See I told you so, wave banners, trumpet it in the streets, and claim strong vindication.

Then, when people like Ginsburg, Kennedy, and Breyer retire, Trump will name justices in the mold of Earl Warren (a Republican nominee), David Souter (a Republican nominee), or Harry Blackmun (a Republican nominee and the author of Roe v Wade). The balance on the Court will remain exactly as before; come 2021 or, God help us, 2025, Roe and Obergefell will remain.

You heard it here first.

What would it take to convince you that Trump really is anti-abortion and/or pro-life, Scott?

Lets see if he makes it a major theme of his administration, on the level of Obamacare being a major objective of the last one.

Okay; what would prove that it is a major theme?

Some words about it in his inaugural address might have been evidence.

Sure; but that didnt happen, so what would prove (in the future) that it is a major theme?

Obama mentioned health care as an objective several times in his 2008 inaugural. Trump mentioned abortion or other pro-life issues 0 times.

Trump strongly stood against partial-birth infanticide in the third debate, with many millions watching. He also mentioned it prominently at that annual dinner in New York with Cardinal Dolan, which took tremendous guts in that New York liberal audience.

Now I ask for the third time: what would it take to convince you that it is a major theme of his (since you made that a condition, which is secondary to my main question) and that he is pro-life? Or can nothing at all do that?

As an exampleif Trump were to give a televised address to the nation on the evil of abortion and steps his administration is taking to end it. Or if he were to talk about it at more than in passing length in a SOTU address and talked about it as an important objective of the next four years. And then hed have to follow through on the steps he had laid out.

Virtually no Republican Presidents have ever done that (possibly excepting Reagan): because of the extreme polarization of the issue in a political sense. Yet that didnt cause you to question whether they were pro-life, or to not vote for them, right?

George W. Bush didnt discover pro-life in 2000.

That wasnt my point. He never made it a major issue of his campaign or presidency, to my knowledge (I saw him talk in person in 2004). So why do you make that particular demand of Trump in order to accept him as pro-life? Why is the bar set so much higher? You didnt question (as far as I know) the pro-life bona fides of these other GOP Presidents. And we know that Reagan and Bush I changed their views.

Im just trying to understand the chain of reasoning of a Never-Trumper: especially on this issue.

Do you care if Trump actually does anything pro-life? Or only that it can be said he is pro-life? I am confused.

Of course I do. Ive been a pro-life activist for 35 years, and it has always been the #1 issue whenever I vote.

So you answered regarding what would make you change your mind. Then I went on to a second point about your standard being much higher for him than for previous GOP Presidents (see my previous comment). Now Im trying to understand that.

Why do I have to ask things 2-3 times to get an answer out of you?

If you go back to my original question, I asked: What would it take to convince you that Trump really is anti-abortion and/or pro-life? You deny that he is pro-life, as shown in your cynical take regarding the Mexico City Policy and what he will supposedly do in future Court appointees.

Im trying to understand the basis of such strong cynicism and what would change your mind. I suppose we could distinguish between someone being pro-life and what they do about it as a President. Mostly in the past presidents have expressed pro-life convictions through Supreme Court appointees. There isnt a whole lot they can do except express approval of congressional and state restrictions, and to sign those bills that come to their desk. That would be another test for Trump.

So if he appoints a second strong pro-lifer to the SCOTUS, do you then give up your theory above and concede that he really is pro-life?

If it does matter to you that presidents actually do pro-life things, then isnt the real question, What would convince you Trump has done an important pro-life thing? If I could be convinced Trump is pro-life, but he does nothing significant to stop abortion, then whats the good, except a theoretical absence of harm (at least absence of harm on this point, not necessarily others).

I agree. You seem to deny both things: that he is pro-life, opinion-wise, and that he will do anything other than grant red meat to the base out of mere political expediency and not conviction.

Still awaiting answers to my second round of questions. To repeat them:

[Bush II] never made it a major issue of his campaign or Presidency, to my knowledge (I saw him talk in person in 2004). So why do you make that particular demand of Trump in order to accept him as pro-life? Why is the bar set so much higher? You didnt question (as far as I know) the pro-life bona fides of these other GOP Presidents.

Trump has a higher standard because his pro-life credentials have not been established. Reagans and Bushs had longer provenance. When Trump says what changed his mind was a kid who was going to be aborted but turned out to be a superstar, he was specifically asked But what if the kid had not been a superstar? Trump was stymied, saying, Oh, then I guess not, but I havent thought about it. Thats what Michael meant when he said Trump sounded like a eugenicist and thats what led the SBA List, initially, to oppose Trump and say he was insufficiently pro-life. But when he became the nominee, suddenly SBA discovered new evidence just like thatshazaam!

Now maybe you could say Trump is evolving still because his conversion was recent, yada yada.

But when Trump has proven himself a liar on so many other points, the question does arise whether this supposed pro-life conversion is just a convenience in an election year because of the sentiments of the base.

Skepticism is certainly warranted in Trumps case, and therefore the standard is higher. Trump could prove his pro-life sentiments, and that remains to be seen. But I am still skeptical.

Trumps conversion on the issue was not, in fact, in the last year or two. In an April 2011, Trump stated that I changed my view a number of years ago. So that is some number of years before 2011. Trump continues in the interview:

Donald Trump: One thing about me, Im a very honorable guy. Im pro-life, . . . One of the reasons I changed  one of the primary reasons  a friend of mines wife was pregnant, in this case married. She was pregnant and he didnt really want the baby. And he was telling me the story. He was crying as he was telling me the story. He ends up having the baby and the baby is the apple of his eye. Its the greatest thing thats ever happened to him. And you know heres a baby that wasnt going to be let into life. And I heard this, and some other stories, and I am pro-life. David Brody: So those stories did change you, they came around and changed you? Trump: They changed me. Yeah, they changed my view as to that, absolutely. (Brody File Exclusive: Donald Trump Explains Pro-Life Conversion: 4-8-11)

Again, in an October 2016 interview with Raymond Arroyo, Trump reiterated the same story:

Trump said a number of moments influenced his change of heart on the matter, but the biggest was a magnificent person he knows who was almost aborted. He told Arroyo: One was a couple that I know very, very well. And you had a strong pro-life and you had a strong pro-choice, and they argued over  the mother was pregnant  they argued over the child. One  I wont get into the specifics  but one wanted to abort and the other said we cant do that, were not going to do that. Anyway, they had the baby  it was a long time ago  and the baby is such a magnificent person, who I know, a magnificent person. And the person that was actually pro-choice is now pro-life because of it, and it had an effect on me.

The problem with Trumps change of heart on abortion (Washington Post, Trevin Wax, 1-26-16)

From the article:

Consider how he responded to a reporter who wondered if he would have become pro-life had the child been a loser: Probably not, but Ive never thought of it. I would say no, but in this case it was an easy one because hes such an outstanding person. To summarize Trumps view: Im pro-life because we shouldnt abort fetuses that may grow up to be outstanding people. But opponents of abortion take a different position: Im pro-life because we shouldnt kill innocent human beings, no matter who they might grow up to be.

Thank you. Its less than ideal, but its important to note that Trump was not saying that a child should be aborted if he or she isnt outstanding. The question he was answering wasnt that, but rather, about if he would have become pro-life had the child been a loser.

The question of what influenced him to become pro-life, which is largely emotional and personal is quite different from should a non-outstanding child be aborted?

Also, we know that his conversion took place years before 2011, and he is reporting his mindset at that time, not his view today, some 8-12 or so years later.

And thats assuming this was an accurate report. It may very well have been. But in any event, the article provides no documentation. It merely states: Consider how he responded to a reporter who wondered if he would have become pro-life had the child been a loser:

We dont know where that appeared, so we cant see any context. Even the reporters question was not cited. So this could quite possibly be out-of-context.

Possible. My point is, skepticism is reasonable. It is reasonable not to take Trumps words on faith.

He could be genuinely pro-life. But the only evidence I have seen is what Trump claims.

The reinstatement of the Mexico City policy is goodbut it is also SOP, and has limited effect on actual abortions.

Thats fair. But then were back to what does it take to convince you? etc. We have one good act, and probably another soon with the SCOTUS pick. Thats not enough for you. So itll require signing some good pro-life bills, a second good Court pick (or more than that), I guess.

***

[the following was added to the original dialogue on 2-9-20]

Planned Parenthood  unlike Scott Eric Alt  seems quite sure that President Trump is actively pro-life, in an article (no date given):

Making History In Condemning Abortion Donald Trump is the first sitting president in U.S. history to directly address the annual March for Life anti-abortion rally. [NBC News video: 1-19-18] [Dave: that was via video. At this years March he was the first president to address the march in person] . . . Calling for a Nationwide Abortion Ban While on the campaign trail, Trump said abortion should be outlawed . . . Its clear: The total and near-total bans passed by politicians in some states reflect Trumps view on abortion. [link to People magazine, 5-20-19] . . . Packing Courts With Anti-Abortion Judges Before he was elected, Donald Trump said he would elect pro-life judges to the Supreme Court who would overturn Roe v. Wade  the case that recognized the right to access safe, legal abortion. No surprise: Trumps Supreme Court appointees, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, have long records of opposing abortion. Trump also has packed the federal courts across the country with judges who have track records of restricting reproductive rights.

Scott mentioned the State of the Union address. A Fox News article (2-3-20), noted his remarks in the 2019 address:

Trumps comments on life in last years State of the Union, calling out Democratic Party leaders for their support of late-term abortion and even infanticide, were the most explicit made on the issue by any president in that address.

He did so again in this years address: noting a mother in the gallery whose daughter was born at 21 weeks, and again condemning late-term abortion. He said:

Our goal should be to ensure that every baby has the best chance to thrive and grow just like Ellie. That is why I am asking the Congress to provide an additional $50 million to fund neo-natal research for Americas youngest patients, he said. That is also why I am calling upon the members of Congress here tonight to pass legislation finally banning the late-term abortion of babies.

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Scott replies on 2-9-20 on Facebook (do you see a change of approach and ratcheting up of the hyper-polemics here?):

Bore/d/ing Dave recycles a Facebook exchange from 3 years ago. Incidentally, I fail to see how anyone who merely says things about ending abortion, but who appoints justices who call Roe settled law, who separates migrant children from their parents and interns them in cages, who refunds Planned Parenthood, who brings back land mines, can be called pro-life in any meaningful sense. Trumps contribution to the pro-life movement is to throw words at it while his hands are committing murder. (The last expression is a figure of speech, for the reading comprehension impaired.)

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See also the discussion of this article on my Facebook page.

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Related Reading:

On the Complaint that Pro-Lifers are Single-Issue [9-24-15]

On Trump & the Supreme Pro-Life Cause [8-16-16]

Dialogue with Deacon Steven Greydanus on Voting & Pro-Life [11-8-16]

Trump Aint Really Pro-Life [1-24-17]

Lessen Evil Votes for Hillary? [note: Mark Shea did not vote for Hillary, but he urged people in swing states to do so] (vs. Mark Shea) [4-7-17]

Debate: How Pro-Life is the Republican Party (Especially the Leadership)? [5-8-17]

Debate: SCOTUS & GOP in Relation to Abortion Rates [11-15-18]

Dialogue on Conservative vs. Liberal Pro-Life Voting [2-9-19]

Explaining the Pro-Life, Christian Vote for Trump Yet Again [4-30-19]

Dialogue: Christian Witness, Trump, & Prudential Voting (vs. Deacon Steven D. Greydanus) [5-10-19]

Abortion Declines Under Trump (Surprise, New Pro-Lifers!) [1-10-20]

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Unfortunately, Money Trees Do Not Exist: If you have been aided in any way by my work, or think it is valuable and worthwhile, please strongly consider financially supporting it (even $10 / month  a mere 33 cents a day  would be very helpful). I have been a full-time Catholic apologist since Dec. 2001, and have been writing Christian apologetics since 1981 (see If you have been aided in any way by my work, or think it is valuable and worthwhile, please strongly consider financially supporting it (even $10 / month  a mere 33 cents a day  would be very helpful). I have been a full-time Catholic apologist since Dec. 2001, and have been writing Christian apologetics since 1981 (see my Resume ). My work has been proven (by Gods grace alone) to be fruitful, in terms of changing lives (see the tangible evidences from unsolicited testimonies ). I have to pay my bills like all of you: and have a (homeschooling) wife and two children still at home to provide for, and a mortgage to pay.

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My book royalties from three bestsellers in the field (published in 2003-2007) have been decreasing, as has my overall income, making it increasingly difficult to make ends meet. I provide over 2700 free articles here, for the purpose of your edification and education, and have written 50 books . Itll literally be a struggle to survive financially until Dec. 2020, when both my wife and I will be receiving Social Security. If you cannot contribute, I ask for your prayers (and likes and links and shares). Thanks!

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See my information on how to donate (including 100% tax-deductible donations). Its very simple to contribute to my apostolate via PayPal, if a tax deduction is not needed (my business name there is called Catholic Used Book Service, from my old bookselling days 17 or so years ago, but send to my email: apologistdave@gmail.com). Another easy way to send and receive money (with a bank account or a mobile phone) is through Zelle . Again, just send to my e-mail address. May God abundantly bless you.

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Photo credit: Charles Edward Miller (8-26-18): Illinois Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky Stop Brett Kavanaugh Rally Downtown Chicago Illinois [Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0 license]

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Five Turkish soldiers were killed on Monday by Syrian regime artillery fire in the northwestern province of Idlib, the last major rebel bastion, Turkey's defence ministry said.

Another five soldiers were wounded in the "intense assault that targeted our elements sent as reinforcement to the region with an aim to prevent clashes in Idlib, ensure our border security and stop migration and human tragedy," the ministry said in a statement.

The Turkish army retaliated, it added, "destroying targets."



"The developments are closely watched and the necessary measures are being taken," it added.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Turkish soldiers were killed and injured by regime forces shelling Taftanaz airport, north of Saraqeb town. But the war monitor did not give a toll.

This is the second such incident in a week after eight Turkish military personnel were killed in regime shelling in Idlib last Monday.

The latest attack is likely to further raise tensions between Ankara and Damascus.

Fahrettin Altun, Erdogan's top press aide, said on Twitter that "Turkey retaliated against the attack to destroy all enemy targets and avenging our fallen troops."



He added: "The war criminal, who ordered today's heinous attack, targeted the entire international community, not just Turkey."Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Defence Minister Hulusi Akar immediately came together for talks following the attack, NTV reported.

It comes as a Russian delegation is in Ankara since Saturday for talks on Idlib, another round of which was expected Monday.

Turkey and Russia have worked closely despite being on opposing sides of the war, and the two agreed previously on a deal to avert an offensive by Syrian government forces.

Under that deal, Turkey set up 12 observation posts in Idlib.

Turkey has beefed up those positions in recent days by sending at least 350 vehicles with commandos backed by armoured vehicles.

But the regime supported by Moscow has intensified an assault against the last major rebel bastion, home to an estimated three million, for more than two months.

The situation in Idlib is particularly worrying for Turkey considering its close proximity to the Turkish border.

The United Nations said Monday close to 700,000 people in northwest Syria have been displaced since December.

Many of those have been forced to flee towards Turkey, which is already home to over 3.5 million Syrian refugees.

Ankara fears a renewed surge of violence could cause a new flow to Turkey, which could be politically damaging to Erdogan at a time when Turks are facing economic hardship.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Katie Holmes was surprised to discover that her pregnancy symptoms and bump was actually a 14 lb ovarian cyst (SWNS)

When Katie Holmes periods suddenly stopped and she started to be sick in the morning, she thought she might be pregnant.

Particularly when her stomach grew into a bump and people started offering her seats on public transport or asking about her due date.

But despite countless pregnancy tests and visits to the doctors, everything was negative.

The 22-year-old from Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire was prescribed antibiotics for urine infections, but that did nothing to help.

By then her tummy had grown into a big bump that was hard to touch, her hair had started to fall out and she could barely eat.

Eventually an ultrasound revealed Holmes had a cancerous ovarian cyst weighing 14lb  the same weight as twins.

Read more: Woman says her hair extensions saved her life after they helped her spot breast cancer

The symptoms of the cyst made Katie look pregnant (SWNS)

For months, I had no idea what was wrong with me, she says. It was so frustrating not having an answer and really quite scary.

I was in lots of pain, I couldn't pee properly and my periods had stopped.

I'd get full after eating half a meal and my stomach was growing in size even though I wasn't gaining weight anywhere else.

It got to the point where people were asking me my due date and offering me seats on public transport - it was mortifying.

Her doctor thought she could have gastroenteritis and she was sent home with tablets but when they made no difference, she kept returning to the doctors every week for two months.

The turning point came in December 2016 when her stomach suddenly 'dropped' one evening at home.

She was lying in bed when she suddenly felt an excruciating pain in her stomach.

It was the worst pain I'd ever felt, she explains.

I looked down at my stomach as I lay in bed and felt it looked different somehow, so I dragged myself out of bed and to the mirror.

My stomach had been solid and round for months, but looking at it that night, it was like the whole bump had dropped to a resemble a soft fat tummy hanging down.

Story continues

It was really bizarre - I'd gone from looking pregnant to looking really overweight in an evening, and it was just so confusing.

Read more: Mums persistent ulcer turned out to be a form of tongue cancer

Katie's stitches from surgery. (SWNS)

The experience prompted Holmes to head online to search her symptoms.

Googling lead me to a blog about having a girl who had ovarian cyst, and when I suggested that to the doctor, they finally scanned me and found I was right.

She took her findings to her GP and was finally sent for an ultrasound which revealed Katie was carrying a massive ovarian cyst.

My cyst was so big that it was covering my ovaries on the ultrasound scan, which was really scary, she explains.

In fact the cyst was so big it had actually pushed some of her vital organs up into her ribs.

It was a relief to finally have an answer for my pain but also terrifying because there was a chance that I could have cancer, she says.

The doctors warned me that if my ovaries were twisted from the cyst, then they'd have to remove them so I was facing the possibility of not being able to have children as well.

Katie was booked in for a laparotomy in January 2017 where doctors removed the 14lb ovarian cyst as well as one of her ovaries.

Tests revealed that the cyst contained cancerous tissue, but doctors successfully removed the entire mass before the cancer could spread, leaving Katie cancer free.

Read more: 'Harmless' spot on mum's nose turned out to be skin cancer

Katie went on to have a daughter, Ava (SWNS)

But having her ovary removed left Holmes worried she would struggle to have children in the future.

Incredibly, however, in July 2017 she found out she was pregnant, and went on to give birth to baby Ava in April 2018.

The day after my surgery I was devastated to hear that they'd had to remove an ovary - I thought I might never have children.

I hadn't been convinced I'd ever want kids before I went through all this, but there was something horrible about having that choice removed from me.

I was focusing on getting my life back on track afterwards when I actually found out I was pregnant just six months after the surgery - for real this time!

I was over the moon.

I've never been happier, she's just amazing and I'm so glad my cancerous cyst didn't stop me from becoming a mum after all.
REBECCA Chandler-Wilde says her family has always been concerned about the environment so it made sense to have solar panels installed at their home.

The retired management consultant and her husband Simon, a maths professor and dean at the University of Reading, decided to have them fitted on the roof of their house in St Andrews Road, Henley, in 2011.

At the time, their daughters, Helen, 25, who is a Telegraph journalist in London, and Rosie, 20, who is studying psychology at Exeter University, were still living at home.

Mrs Chandler-Wilde says: We went on holiday to Germany to see the Black Forest and there were lots of houses with solar panels. It was just normal out there. This was just before we got the solar panels, so I would say that was the catalyst.

We have always been concerned about the environment but I would say it is more my interest. I have always had a great interest in environmental issues as well as having a desire to act on it.

The 14 roof panels cost them 13,000 at a time when the Government was offering a feed-in tariff, a payment for supplying any surplus energy back into the main grid.

Thanks to that and the savings they made on their energy bills, the system had paid for itself by last year and now the family will continue making money for the next 16 years.

The tariff was scrapped last March but this month the Government introduced the smart export guarantee, which is similar in all but name.

Furthermore, the price of solar panels has dropped considerably, which is why Mrs Chandler-Wilde is leading Solar Streets, a campaign by Henley Town Councils climate emergency group to encourage other residents to follow her example. The group aims to make Henley carbon neutral by 2030 and the project is the first of five that will be introduced to help the town meet the target.

Public meetings will take place in the town hall later this month for people to find out more about Solar Streets and sign up.

The group has partnered with IDDEA, a renewable energy firm based in Wiltshire, to offer residents the opportunity to have 14 solar panels fitted for 4,000 with small reductions for fewer panels.

Just like in the Chandler-Wildes case, the system will pay for itself from the savings on energy bills, although how long that will take depends on current usage.

Additional equipment, such as batteries to store the energy that is generated, can cost between 2,500 and 5,000 but is particularly useful to households who are out during the day and would find it hard to adapt their lifestyle.

IDDEA developed the system after the town council in Frome, Somerset, requested a solution for residents who wanted solar panels at an affordable rate. The towns population is about twice as big as Henleys but 70 homes have already taken advantage of the scheme.

Mrs Chandler-Wilde says: The Solar Streets model is reducing the costs of solar panels by making it extremely efficient to install them.

They put residents into a pool to say they are interested so they can buy the panels in bulk and they have their own scaffolding equipment. They will then hit the town all at once, going from house to house, which makes it much more efficient.

The price does not change regardless of how many people are interested. I appreciate that 4,000 is still a lot of money for some people but it is an investment and saves you money in the long term. If you buy a car, that loses value over time, but with this it keeps saving you money. There is the upfront cost but over time you reap the rewards.

In Frome it is ongoing but so far they have got 70 houses. If we could get that number we would be absolutely delighted but really any number would be great because it is all about reducing carbon emissions and saving people money.

You are doing your bit for climate change but you are also saving money, so it is beneficial to you and the environment. Solar panels are such a worthwhile investment.

Mrs Chandler-Wildes own experience is evidence of the benefits.

She takes a reading from a meter in a cupboard under the stairs to show how much energy her panels have generated. (More energy is generated in the summer months due to the sunshine.)

British Gas then sends her a report to show the payment value of that period. All of these payments combined have totalled more than 13,000, meaning the panels have now paid for themselves.

IDDEA, which was established in 2007 and has worked on more than 800 solar projects across the South-West, offers a free, no obligation survey of your house and will be able to offer advice on what system will work best depending on the design of the property and the lifestyle of the owners.

The company donates 50 from every installation to a community project, such as fitting solar panels to a school or other public building.

Michael Lamerton, head of sales and marketing for IDDEA, said: Our two tag lines are that it helps you take control of your energy bills and to tackle climate change. We are facing an unprecedented emergency but we can do something about it. If you talk to any of our customers we are very highly recommended. For a 4kW system, on average you will save a ton-and-a-half of carbon from going into the atmosphere every year.

A young family who find it difficult to make lifestyle changes will benefit hugely from a battery and they have the same payback period in terms of savings compared to just buying the panels.

Energy prices have increased by more than six per cent a year in the last 10 years and it is only going to get more expensive. You will be helping to fight climate change but you will also be taking control of your energy bills.

He added: We are delighted that Henley has joined this scheme. A lot of other councils have been dipping their feet into trying to tackle climate change but Henley is actually doing something about it.

 Anyone interested in finding out more about Solar Streets can attend one of the public meetings to be held at Henley town hall on Thursday, February 27 at 12.30pm and 7pm. Anyone who is unable to attend a meeting should call 01380 726999 or email info@iddea.co.uk
- Alongside genotype, prenatal factors such as vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy, can influence the development of ADHD, says MD Minna Sucksdorff from the University of Turku, Finland.

The study is the first population-level research to demonstrate an association between low maternal vitamin D level in early to mid-pregnancy and an elevated risk for diagnosed attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder ADHD in the offspring.

The study included 1,067 children born between 1998 and 1999 diagnosed with ADHD in Finland and the same number of matched controls. The data was collected before the current national recommendation in Finland for the intake of vitamin D during pregnancy, which is 10 micrograms per day throughout the year.

Vitamin D deficiency still a problem

The primary investigator, Professor Andre Sourander says that, despite the recommendations, vitamin D deficiency is still a global problem. In Finland, for example, mothers' vitamin D intake among several immigrant groups is not at a sufficient level.

- This research offers strong evidence that a low level of vitamin D during pregnancy is related to attention deficiency in offspring. As ADHD is one of the most common chronic diseases in children, the research results have a great significance for public health, says Professor Sourander.

The study is part of a larger research project that aims to discover the connections between the mother's health during pregnancy and ADHD in offspring. The goal is to produce information for developing preventative treatments and measures for identifying children with ADHD risk.

The study was done in collaboration between researchers from the University of Turku, Finland, and Columbia University, New York and it was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health NIHM (USA) and the Academy of Finland, and it is part of the INVEST flagship programme of the University of Turku.

In the study, the researchers used the exceptionally comprehensive Finnish Maternity Cohort (FMC) consisting of approximately 2 million serum specimens collected during the first and early second trimester of pregnancy.

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BERLIN  Germany is troubled. Its democracy is being tested. Its two big traditional parties, right and left, are shrinking fast. Angela Merkel, its powerful chancellor of 14 years, is a lame duck.

So when her chosen successor, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, announced on Monday that she would step aside, it was Ms. Merkels defeat, too. And perhaps one for her country and all of Europe.

Mondays announcement reinforced a profound sense of malaise and political limbo in Germany at a time when neighboring capitals are impatiently looking to Berlin for leadership in a post-Brexit Europe.

Now faced with a difficult succession struggle, the country is grappling with an uncomfortable sense of deja-vu, as the growing power of the far right echoes the rise of the Nazis in the last century.
Armed and baton-wielding police commandos were deployed on February 6 against sacked Dengue Eradication Campaign workers who were demonstrating outside the presidential secretariat. The young workers were forced by the police into a government-designated Agitation Site at nearby Gall Face Green in central Colombo. The operation was a clear exposure of President Gotabhaya Rajapakses freedom posturing during his Independence Day speech, two days earlier.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, attends an event to mark the anniversary of countrys independence from British colonial rule [Credit: AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena]

The Dengue Eradication Campaign workers are among 15,000 employees recently sacked by the Rajapakse government, which claims that the previous administration irregularly hired them.

Thousands of the sacked workers from the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, housing and archeological departments and trainee teachers, as well as pensioners and tertiary students, have demonstrated outside the presidential secretariat in the past weeks. Protest leaders have been allowed to meet Rajapakses staff but none of their demands have been resolved.

A few days earlier, Rajapakses office had issued a statement declaring that the protests were an inconvenience to the general public and that demonstrators should wait until their problems were solved by the government. Police then declared that the Agitation Site had been established and that all demonstrations should be held at that location.

A day after police forced protestors into the Agitation Site, President Rajapakse, surrounded by his security officers in civilian clothes, met with the Dengue Eradication workers at this location. He told them they could apply for a program he has initiated to solve unemployment.

Sri Lankan riot police forcing sacked workers away from Presidential Secretariat [Source: News1st TV Sri Lanka]

The sacking of the Dengue Eradication workers and other government employees, and the police action against them, is warning that the Sri Lankan president will not tolerate any challenge to his big-business, cost-cutting agenda.

Sri Lankas mainstream media lavished praise on Rajapakses Independence Day speech. A Daily Mirror editorial proclaimed that Rajapakse had pledged to ensure the rights of all Sri Lankans to think freely, hold independent opinions and express themselves without hindrance.

Likewise, an editorial in the Island highlighted the same lines from Rajapakse. It claimed that the president wanted to prove wrong those critics who claimed that he would be a dictator, who would suppress all the democratic rights of the people.

Even as the Sri Lankan media published these hosannas and approvingly reported the establishment of the government-designated Agitation Site, the press barely mentioned the baton-wielding police commandos, who were ready to use their water-cannon equipped vehicles and tear gas if the demonstrators resisted.

Police riot van used against protesting workers in Colombo [Source: News1st TV Sri Lanka]

Notwithstanding the media praise for Rajapakses speech, the new president made clear that he and his government would not tolerate any mass opposition.

[I am] working towards fulfilling the needs of the people of this country, he declared and added, I do not envisage public officials, lawmakers or the judiciary to impede my implementation of this commitment. This is a language of autocratic rule.

Predictably, last weeks official Independence Day events were dominated by the military.

Gotabhaya Rajapakse was Sri Lankan defense secretary from 2005 to 2014, under his brother and President Mahinda Rajapakse and during the final defeat of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May 2009. According to UN estimates, 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the final battles. Ex-colonel Rajapakse, wearing all his medalsincluding those from the bloody war against the LTTEsaluted a passing parade of marching soldiers and police officers.

Rajapakse also promoted 17 brigadiers to the rank of major general on Independence Day. These included Brigadier Deshapriya Gunawardana, who has been accused of leading a military operation against innocent civilians that killed three young people at Rathupaswala in 2013. Gunawardana is one of several officers who have been indicted by the attorney-generals department and faces an ongoing court case.

Three weeks ago, Rajapakse made former navy spokesmen, D.K.P. Dassanayake a rear admiral. He is one of the main individuals facing a high court case over accusations of his involvement in the abduction 11 youth for ransom during the war. The youth were tortured and murdered.

During his speech Rajapakse reiterated his commitment to a unitary statethe political and legal formulation used by successive Sri Lankan governments over the past 72 years to justify official racist discrimination against Tamils, Muslims and other minority communities.

I am committed to protecting and nurturing the Buddhist philosophy of this country during my tenure, he declared. He demagogically claimed that he is not bound to serve only the interest of the people who voted for him.

During the last Novembers presidential elections Rajapakse, who is hated for his ruthless persecution of the war against LTTE, was rejected by all Tamil constituencies in the countrys North and East.

Rajapakse cynically claimedno less than seven timesthat he would guarantee freedom to media and right to live freely.

Last December, however, he threateningly told media heads: I expect all media institutions to fulfill their responsibilities on behalf of the country and engage in media reporting that will enhance the countrys prestige.

Violent threats against journalists and media workers have increased since his election in November. The most recent were death threats against seven Tamil journalists who participated in a meeting to commemorate Lasantha Wickrematunga, a well-known journalist and editor. Wickrematunga was assassinated during President Mahinda Rajapakses regime.

The presidents Independence Day speech also contained a thinly-veiled threat against social media, which Rajapakses claimed creates situations where people are misled by false information. He threatened to act against extreme organisations that pave the way for terrorism and further dysfunction in the country.

In other words, the new president is attempting to create the conditions to crack down on any organisation he defines as extremisti.e., anti-establishment left-wing political formations, workers independent organisations and socialist-minded workers.

Rajapakse has maintained the national mobilisation of the military and anti-terror emergency regulations established by former President Maithripala Sirisena after last years Easter terrorist attacks. He has also appointed retired military officers to oversee ministries and corporations which were normally considered as civilian affairs. He and his government have made clear that it will impose International Monetary Funds austerity to slash the fiscal deficit, privatise or commercialise state-owned enterprises and cut subsidies to the poor.

Last month, Rajapakse reactivated the Strategic Development Project Act, which provides massive concessions to foreign investors, including a 25-year tax holiday.

Colombo has already curtailed all government capital expenditure, demanded government bodies implement cost-cutting measures, and cancelled salary and pension rises given by the previous government, claiming these increases were irregular and that there are no funds in the treasury.

Having carried out these attacks, Rajapakse cynically declared in his speech that eradication of poverty is the priority of our government.

Contrary to these claims, Rajapakse and his government are preparing for authoritarian forms of rule and mass repression against the inevitable eruption of working-class struggles against his big-business regime and its austerity measures.
Colorado Springs City Council deadlocked Monday over the appointment of Stephannie Fortune to fill Councilman Richard Skorman's seat on the board. Who among the 7 finalists should be appointed?

You voted:
Hey, Answer Man, I thought drivers were supposed to get all the ice and snow off their cars, including all the frost off the windows, before driving. Looking around, it seems I must be wrong. Can you clear this up for me?  Ice Scraper

Answer Man's wife, Answer Woman, recently shared a childhood memory of her father habitually scraping just a pancake-sized patch of frost off his windshield to see where he was going. That sounds radically incautious. But all across Rochester, you can see plenty of drivers who seem comfortable hitting the road without taking the time to fully defrost. And don't get me started on cars covered in a foot of snow; following one of those is like driving through a mini blizzard.

The law has surprisingly little to say on the topic. Minnesota Statute 169.71 says you have to have your windshield and front side windows scraped and defrosted to allow "proper vision." Nothing there about the rear side windows or the rear view. And nothing about snow cover, unless you like to imagine (and I do) that at a certain point, the snow pile gets to be enough to trigger a weight restriction.

As with many things, there's what's legal and there's what's right. And the right thing for snow and ice is to do everything it takes to operate your car safely for the people around you. Sgt. Troy Christianson, of the Minnesota State Patrol, described a fatal pedestrian crash he responded to, in which the driver struck an elderly woman crossing the street on her way to church, all because he hadn't scraped his windshield properly and couldn't see her.

Christianson recommends clearing all the windows and getting as much snow as possible off the top of the car, especially the hood. That snow tends to get drawn into the fresh air intake, which on most cars is located near the bottom of the windshield. The moisture from that snow contributes to fog or frost on the insides of the windshield and windows.
A private consortium is offering an extra $2 billion to build Melbourne's airport rail link in a bid to secure the support of state and federal governments on a tunnel linking the city and Melbourne's west.

Super fund IFM Investors, which leads the AirRail consortium proposing to build a 6 kilometre tunnel between the city and Sunshine, has written to Premier Daniel Andrews and Prime Minister Scott Morrison offering a "materially higher funding contribution to the project, above the current $5 billion we have proposed".

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Premier Daniel Andrews have vowed to co-operate on Melbourne's airport rail project. Credit:AAP

This takes the total offer to $7 billion, on top of the $10 billion taxpayer contribution that would be split between the state and federal governments. This blows out the Andrews government's initial estimates that airport rail would cost $8-$13 billion.

The letter was sent on Thursday last week, ahead of the state and federal governments making an announcement about the project's design.
Crown casino's "special arrangement" with the Australian government gave Chinese high rollers access to fast-tracked Australian visas and allowed Crown itself to vouch for people's character, according to details released under freedom of information laws.

For 13 years, the Australian government allowed Crown to lodge bulk applications on behalf of Chinese nationals and then act as the middle man for applicants who hit a roadblock.

Crown casino, Melbourne. Credit:Jason South

The arrangement was set up under the Howard government in 2003 after "discussion between Ministers' offices at the time" and lasted until 2016, when the dramatic arrest of Crown employees in China in late 2016 prompted the Department of Home Affairs Mike Pezzulo to cancel the deal.

It first came to light last year after former Crown Resorts employee Jenny Jiang blew the whistle on the powerful organisation and alleged that Crown's desire to penetrate the lucrative Chinese market had been facilitated by Australian consulate staff in China.
* Three main parties tied on 22% - exit poll

* But Sinn Fein likely to have fewer seats

* Centre-right parties battle to lead government

By Padraic Halpin and Conor Humphries

DUBLIN, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Ireland began counting votes on Sunday in a national election that an exit poll indicated would show a historic breakthrough for left-wing nationalists Sinn Fein but leave a fractured political landscape with no clear path to a governing coalition.

In a major realignment, Sinn Fein support surged 50% to bring it into joint first place on 22% with Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, the two centre-right parties that have dominated Irish politics for a century, according to the poll released on Saturday evening after voting ended.

But Sinn Fein, the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army which has reinvented itself as the country's main left-wing party, is likely to fall behind the other two because it fielded fewer candidates for parliament.

"I think it's the most extraordinary exit poll in the history of state and the most extraordinary election in the history of the state ... because of the rise of Sinn Fein," said Gary Murphy, Professor of Politics at Dublin City University.

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar's Fine Gael and rival Fianna Fail are likely to be left slugging it out for first place in terms of seats - before starting what is likely to be a torturous process of forming a governing coalition in the 160-seat parliament.

"Obviously on these numbers its going to be very hard for any combination of 80 (seats) to be achieved, well have to wait and see," Fine Gael minister Heather Humphreys told national broadcaster RTE.

Counting under Ireland's complex single transferable vote system began at 0900 GMT on Sunday with some results expected from early afternoon. The final and potentially decisive seats may not be filled until Monday or even later.

The exit poll result was an improvement for Varadkar's Fine Gael, in power since 2011, after opinion polls a week ago showed it in third place.

Story continues

But the party's strategy of focusing on economic growth and its success in negotiating an EU exit deal for neighbour Britain failed to capture the imagination of voters, who were far more focused on domestic issues like health and housing, where Sinn Fein focused.

COALITION CONUNDRUM

Fianna Fail has ruled out going into coalition for the first time with Fine Gael and both parties say they will not govern with Sinn Fein, meaning there is no obvious government to be formed, analysts said.

Both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have said they will look to smaller parties to form what would likely be another minority government - requiring support of one of the two main parties from the opposition benches.

The parties have swapped power at every election since emerging from the opposing sides of Ireland's 1920s civil war. They have similar policies on the economy and trade talks on the post-Brexit ties between Britain and the EU.

Sinn Fein has moved on from the long leadership of Gerry Adams, seen by many as the face of the IRA's war against British rule in Northern Ireland - a conflict in which some 3,600 people were killed before a 1998 peace deal.

The party's candidates were the biggest gainers by vote share, up from 14% at the last election in 2016.

"It's clear that Sinn Fein are poised to have a very good election," Sinn Fein's deputy leader in the Irish parliament, Pearse Doherty, told RTE. "Thats the message we were getting, that there was a palpable mood for change."

(Editing by Frances Kerry )
O'Maine Studios in Portland, Maine, site of the 2020 Rapid Insight User Conference "The User Conference is our favorite opportunity to connect with our customers, and to hear the exciting new ways theyre using our technologies."

Rapid Insight, Inc., an analytics software solutions company, today announced an open call for presenters for the companys annual User Conference taking place June 24-25, 2020, in Portland, Maine. The conference will feature a full day of customer presentations focused on innovative, real-world predictive modeling and data analysis experiences using Rapid Insights analytics platform. Submissions must be received by March 31, 2020.

Each year the Rapid Insight User Conference brings together analysts, data scientists, management stakeholders, and IT professionals from a variety of industries, including higher education and healthcare, who leverage the platform to transform data into actionable information for their organizations.

The two-day conference will open with a full day of Rapid Insight University courses, designed to deepen users practical knowledge of the Rapid Insight platform, led by the companys expert analysts. The following day will feature engaging keynotes, customer-led presentations, one-on-one open labs, panel discussions, and ample networking opportunities.

The User Conference is our favorite opportunity to connect with our customers, and to hear the exciting new ways theyre using our technologies to transform their organizational strategy, said Michael Laracy, Rapid Insight founder and president. Were thrilled to host the conference in Portland, Maine, at a unique venue that will inspire peer-to-peer learning and networking.

The conference will be held June 24-25, 2020, in Portland at OMaine Studios, with hotel accommodations available at the nearby Courtyard by Marriott  both located in the citys celebrated Old Port district. Early bird registration is available until April 30, 2020.

Current Rapid Insight users are invited to submit proposals for full-length 40-minute sessions, panel discussions, or 15-minute use-case blitzes. Speakers accepted for full-length 40-minute sessions will receive complimentary access to all conference events. Panelists and use-case blitzers will receive reduced registration fees.

For more information on how to submit a proposal or to register, visit the Rapid Insight User Conference webpage


The clamping down of information coming from China about the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan just went off the air. Chinese citizen journalists Chen Qiushi and Fang Bin, have been sending reports from Wuhan since the outbreak. Through them, other than state sponsored news, they gave the real situation in the area. However, one has gone missing under certain circumstances.

Chen is now out of touch and nowhere to be found in the last 20 hours. His fellow, Fang has not posted anything, until last Friday. He was arrested capturing video of corpses inside a hospital, which is banned by state-media. Soon after, his apartment was forcibly opened without any reason, and he was taken away to be quarantined. But it was not to be taken lightly, because of Chen's reports, people are now critical of the government's motives.

China's iron fist on media censorship and clamping down has never been so tight. Both Chen and Fang's ordeals are now the scuttlebutt on American social media. Government censors are now shutting down, or do targeted supervision to stop the hysteria from spreading. Weibo , WeChat, and Douyin are now placed under watch and posts regulated. Posts about the Wuhan doctor are taken down and Chinese are reminded to toe the line about sensitive information.

Accessing Twitter is not possible, and the people cannot get the information to protect themselves for the disease. News does stream in by via contraband networks that pose a problem to the Chinese controllers. At the same time, exposing more citizens with similar situations as Chen.

Also Read: Li Wenliang, Coronavirus Doctor Dies Amidst Mixed Reports Causing Public Anger

Human Rights Watch has taken interest in the non-transparency of the Chinese authorities. Maya Wang said that other than Weibo and WeChat, Twitter is less scrutinized under an iron heel. But since the information clamp down, information is dreadfully minute as censors are keen to "regulate" information availability.

Chen sought to get information and inform about the coronavirus and this epidemic. Local officials have little documentation of the real-deal in hospitals. News outfits like Bloomberg need to verify the videos, whether it is real or not. Chen and Fang are now at the heart of the controversy of the government's actions.

Citizens got information from Twitter and other happenings that were not allowed to be shown by state media control. Eventual loss of information will place the Chinese populace at the hands of the epidemic and controlled information.

The Communist Party is controlling information for the prevention of hysteria, panic for protection, from the worsening coronavirus outbreak. Though everything is now reaching a level that is akin to what is already happening.

This week many WeChat members are now unable to access their accounts when the coronavirus is the topic of the thread. Losing their accounts affected users by an inability to get money through linked accounts. Everyone online, must stick to the rules or they'll face consequences of their actions. Thus, mentioning the coronavirus outbreak is taboo for them.

Chen is not accounted for as of this writing. His whereabouts is unknown although he could be concerned about personal safety while Fang Bin is not yet missing.

Related Article: Coronavirus Scare Hitting the Chinese Stock Market Hard Compared to SARS in 2003

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Linkedin Michael Andrew (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 10, 2020 12:42 701 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20638e7af 1 World Indonesia,Australia,bushfire,disaster,relief-aid,nonprofits,fundraisers Free

Indonesian schools and businesses are raising funds to donate to relief efforts for the Australian bushfires, which have burned across 12 million hectares of forest since September 2019.

Bina Bangsa elementary school in North Jakarta has organized a fund-raising campaign after two students carried out a research project and learned about the fate of many thousands of Koalas, along with a billion other animals that experts estimate have perished in the fires since they began.

Upon learning about the ecological cost of the fires, Ryan and Rachel Theresia presented their findings at a school assembly and proposed a fund-raising charity drive for the World Wide Fund For Nature Australias Koala Protection Program and called on their classmates to participate.

The school approved the charity drives, asking parents to help support their children with donations. According to the school, more than Rp 20 million (US$1,460) was collected from the drives on Jan. 30, Feb. 4 and Feb. 6.

It is a good opportunity for the students to learn about the world and the current global issues, Bina Bangsa principal Linawati Lauw said in a letter to parents.

We also hope that through this activity, our students will have the opportunity to practice the value of compassion and generosity in action and to take responsibility as global citizens.

The school will have a presentation on Feb.19 and Natassia Kaufman, second secretary of the Australian Embassy, will attend to receive the donation on behalf of Australia.

The severity and duration of the bushfires, which continue to blaze across large swathes of Australia, have prompted a flood of donations from across the globe, with more than A$75 million ($50 million) raised through Facebook campaigns alone.

While the Indonesian Military (TNI) has deployed personnel to Australia to help fight the fires and assist with relief operations, smaller enterprises across Indonesia are also pitching in.

Through Indonesian fund-raising platform Kitabisa, nearly Rp 20 million ($1,460), mostly from small individual donors, has been collected out of a target of Rp 100 million ($7,307).

In Bali, tourism businesses have been organizing fund-raising campaigns with proceeds going to charities in Australia.

Bali charity My Red Envelope has launched the Bali for Bushfires campaign, a program that partners with tourism operators to give customers a discount for their donations.

Visitors to Bali are encouraged to donate in exchange for a 10 percent discount when booking with a participating tourism operator.

Any Bali-based business is welcome to join My Red Envelope, which aims to connect people to businesses that practice social responsibility.

In Canggu, a popular resort town in Bali, vegan eatery Give Cafe has launched its own campaign to raise funds for bushfire charities, with donations going to Wires Wildlife Rescue and the Australian Red Cross.

While the official donation will be made at the end of March, the cafe told The Jakarta Post that it had already made a small donation of Rp 15 million ($1,096).

The cafe operates through a philanthropic business model, with 100 percent of profits going to causes deemed most urgent.

Some Rp 423 million (US$31,000) has been raised since the cafe opened in August 2018 and a separate campaign to raise funds for the victims of the 2020 Jakarta floods is also running.

According to reports, torrential rain has doused one-third of the bushfires in New South Wales, providing immense relief to the scorched areas. However, parts of the region are now at risk of flooding with the rainfall being the heaviest in 20 years, reports Reuters.

 The writer is an intern under the ACICIS program
Amanda Palmer's finest song, the gripping 10 minutes of The Ride, was the first encore, and worth the wait. Over a fairground 3/4 accompaniment she sang of the potential to be frightened into submission, and never actually live. "It's just a ride," she told us. "The alternative's nothingness, might as well give it a try."

In fact there was an intermission, slicing the four hours in half. Otherwise it was one woman's voice, piano and ukulele, leading us through the secret doors of her life: the ones behind which hide the memories most people try to forget. And this soul-baring, heart-baring, abortion-baring and life-baring had a cumulative effect.

And that's what she brought to the show: a daring. Who else is crazy enough to do a one-person four-hour show of wincingly personal stories laced with songs? Bruce Springsteen's slightly shorter Springsteen on Broadway was one of Palmer's inspirations, and while Springsteen is a finer songwriter, Palmer certainly pulled it off.

If some material was delivered with more vocal and pianistic brutalism than the songs desired, she had, at her best, access to the master-switch between laughter and sadness, and in her stories she was almost a Hamlet figure: a jumble of intelligence, wit, desolation and resilience, wracked by indecision. She lacked, however, the Prince's keen articulation: as funny, moving, engaging and courageously candid as her stories were, they could have been told with more concision. But hell, you got to share the life of an intriguing, warm-hearted, talented stranger; one who possesses a fine voice that she seldom fully exploited, because, well, that might be a bit like showing off. And Palmer wants theatricality (crowned by striking lighting), but not show-biz.

The surprises ranged from My Favourite Things to Beds Are Burning  which is a fair old distance, like having influences as diverse as the Cure, Lou Reed, Jacques Brel and Nick Cave. But only Palmer could do this, and ultimately it was about sharing, compassion and empowerment.

Amanda Palmer: Enmore Theatre, February 20.
New Delhi, Feb 10 : Despite requests by Jamia professors, management and the police, the Jamia protesters continued their stand-off with the security forces in a bid to march to Parliament.

The protesters have been demanding that the security forces must be sent back, the way towards Parliament be opened for the protesters and the detained students freed.

The security forces continued their efforts to convince the protesters to go back inside the university.

"Your protest has been registered, it's been over three hours that you are pushing our personnel and barricades. Please move back to the university now," a police officer kept requesting.

Later, the management of the Jamia Millia Islamia was also called to pacify the protesters.

"I will request police to get back, but first students should sit," the chief proctor of Jamia, Waseem Ahmed Akhtar, said while addressing the protesters.

Earlier in the day, tension mounted during the protest march from Jamia Millia Islamia to Parliament after a scuffle ensued when police confronted the protesters who tried to push forward towards Parliament. In the melee that ensued, many from both sides fainted.

Coming up against four layers of barricades and massive security deployment, some of the protesters tried to climb over the barricades. But they met with stiff resistance from the police.

When shoes were hurled at the police from inside the ranks of the protesters, the organisers quickly stepped in to tell the protesters not to indulge in violence.

The anti-CAA march from Jamia Millia Islamia to Parliament began behind schedule on Monday amid heavy security deployment. The police had earlier denied permission to the protesters for the march.

The march to Parliament was called by the Jamia Coordination Committee against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

A similar march on January 30 had created a controversy after a man raising pro-CAA slogans opened fire injuring a protesting student.
Prosecutors say he also took Bolers public benefits card, which surveillance cameras captured him using at a Walmart the following day. They also say he took Bolers cellphone, which may have been used to post a message to Bolers Facebook page on the evening of Aug. 1, 2018, asking family and friends to leave her alone."
Pity the poor spinel.

The gemstone that many people have never heard of has been saddled for centuries with the name the great impostor, Alessandro Borruso said as he sipped a morning espresso in the cafe of Sothebys London offices, where he is head of sales for Europe.

The spinel acquired that pejorative name for good reason. For hundreds of years it was believed that spinels and rubies were the same stone. Indeed, a spinel can be every bit as beautiful as a ruby, Mr. Borruso said, with a rich color that he called stoplight red.

And, according to Courtney Stewart, a senior research assistant in the Department of Islamic Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, rubies and spinels are known to be found in the same mines, which would have further confused these two very similar looking stones.

No wonder no one suspected there was a difference until 1783, when the French mineralogist Jean-Baptiste Louis Rome de lIsle developed a test that showed a spinel was not a ruby, said Claibourne Poindexter, an associate jewelry specialist at Christies New York. And there was still more bad news.
Rijeka Capital of European Culture, more Italians visiting 1.2 mn Italian tourists visited Croatia in 2019

(ANSAmed) - MILAN, FEBRUARY 10 - Proximity, culture, gastronomy, and competitive prices have been the winning ingredients for Italian tourism in Croatia. The growing trend is expected to pick up the pace even further this year with Rijeka as 2020 European Capital of Culture. Croatia illustrated its tourism attractions at the international tourism fair BIT in the presence of Croatian tourism minister Gary Cappelli and Ambassador to Italy Jasen Mesic.



''One million, two hundred thousand Italians visited Croatia in 2019,'' Minister Cappelli said. ''This year we are expecting a further rise of 3-4%. Excellent maritime and flight connections have played a part in this and they have been improved further, bringing the two sides of the Adriatic Sea closer together.'' The latest element is that of Rijeka, the largest port in Croatia and this year's European Capital of Culture. That Rijeka is taking the baton from Matera is another sign of the cultural proximity between Croatia and Italy.



''Italian culture,'' Minister Cappelli stressed, ''is very close to its Croatian counterpart. We understand each other perfectly. We are expecting 4 million tourists from around the world in Rijeka in 2020. In these first 6 months we also have the presidency of Europe and these two signifiant circumstances will grant us visibility around the world.'' (ANSAmed).




Two jawans of the Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF) CoBRA were killed and four others were injured in an encounter in Bijapur district of Bastar division on Monday.

One Maoist was also killed in an encounter, police said.

The injured include a deputy commandant rank officer, who sustained bullet injuries and his condition is said to be serious.

The CoBRA personnel of the 204 battalion were deployed in Tipapuram camp of Bijapur district.

The deputy inspector general (DIG) CRPF, Komal Sinha, informed that the encounter took place at around 10.30 am at a forest in Irapalli village on the border of Bijapur and Sukma districts in Bastar division when the security forces were out on a counter-insurgency operation.

The DIG said that two constables who were killed in the encounter were- Vikas Kumar , who hails from Banda district of Uttar Pradesh and Punanand Sahu a resident of Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh.

 Four others including deputy commandant Prashant Kumar, constable Ajit Singh , constable P Pawan Kumar and constable Gareeban Purav were injured in the encounter, said the DIG.

Police claimed that the deputy commandant P Pawan Kumar sustained bullet injured in his abdomen hence his condition is critical.

 The dead Maoist is yet to be identified, said a district police official.

A senior official of Chhattisgarh police said that the bodies of deceased were evacuated from the spot and the injured are airlifted to Raipur for treatment.

There were at least 700 CRPF personnel who went into the Irapalli jungle. The operation was launched on Saturday evening after they had some specific input of Maoist camp inside the jungle, said a senior police officer of Chhattisgarh police, preferring anonymity.

Meanwhile, seven Maoists, three of them carrying cash rewards on their heads, surrendered in front of senior police and CRPF officials in Bijapur district on Monday.

Of the seven who surrendered, Amit Lekam (22), Madkam Shankar (28) and Oyam Motu (20) were Mirtur local organisation squad deputy commander, Pamed local guerrilla squad deputy commander and LOS deputy commander respectively and were carrying a reward of 3 lakh each on their heads, said a police official.
The quest for ultimate happiness is one that we have all embarked upon.

But many will now be hoping its worth the slog as experts say it wont peak until we are in our 80s.

Leading neuroscientist Daniel Levitin has said that older generations are much more cheerful than younger ones.

Leading neuroscientist Daniel Levitin has said that older generations are much more cheerful than younger ones

He said that World Health Organisation data from across 60 countries shows that happiness peaks at the age of 82.

Dr Levitin, who is a professor of psychology at McGill University in Canada, said: If you look across the world, across the 60 countries that have been studied, the peak age of happiness tends to be about 82.

People get happier. Now theres a neurochemical basis for this, your neurochemistry shifts.

But theres also kind of a psychological and very practical basis.

He said that World Health Organisation data from across 60 countries shows that happiness peaks at the age of 82

You realise youve gotten through all these things that were stressing you out. If you make it to 82, you know youve managed [and] youre OK.

In his book The Changing Mind, published this month, he adds that happiness actually declines in our 30s but starts to pick up from the age of 54.

Dr Levitin, who at 62 has another two decades until his happiness peaks, said his findings of a sharp increase in happiness as people age holds true across 72 countries from Albania to Zimbabwe.

He attributes late-life happiness to people readjusting the too-high expectations of their youth to realise that life is pretty good.

Other important factors were exercise, trying new experiences and nurturing relationships.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 18:01:58|Editor: Lu Hui

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BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 4 million community workers are fighting on the front line of 650,000 urban and rural communities following the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak, a civil affairs official said Monday.

Chen Yueliang, an official with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, told a press conference in Beijing that every community is guarded by an average of six community workers, each of whom serves 350 residents.

They are tasked with extremely arduous epidemic prevention and control work, and they work very hard, said Chen.

Noting that sharing pens and thermometers in screening a community may bring risks of cross-infection, Chen stressed taking scientific prevention and control measures at the community level, adding that many community workers now check residents' temperature by making phone calls, using social media groups and community information platforms, according to Chen.

To minimize the risks of cross-infection from close contact, information related to the epidemic control in some communities is recorded in real time by scanning a QR code or logging onto a WeChat mini-program instead of using traditional methods of registering on a piece of paper, he said.
The parliamentary elections of the sixth convocation were held in Azerbaijan yesterday. Chairman of the State Duma Committee for CIS Affairs, Eurasian integration and relations with compatriots, Leonid Kalashnikov, who observed the elections, told Vestnik Kavkaza about the voting.

First of all, he emphasized the high competition for the Milli Majlis seats. "The elections were great. They were really competitive - 11 people competed for every deputy's seat. Even in Russia we dont see this often," Leonid Kalashnikov said.

The elections were certainly open. "I dont know what the results will be, but for me as an observer it was important to understand whether these elections were open. Yes, there were. That there were about 80 thousand observers in these elections, of which nearly 900 were from other countries - that's a lot for a country with a population of 10 million. there were 250 observers from the CIS countries alone," he said.



"The single conclusion of CIS observers is that the elections were fair, open and democratic. As far as I can tell, there is a rise of new people to all authorities - to the Presidential Administration, to the government, now to parliament. Surely, Milli Majlis will be updated and young people will become MPs," Leonid Kalashnikov stressed.

At the same time, the Russian MP expressed confidence that a number of European observers will try to give negative assessments to the Azerbaijani elections. "I am absolutely convinced that this will be the case. Not so long ago I listened to the report on the elections in Belarus at the Council of Europe: first it said that everything was remarkably organized, that now it's much better than it was, but the conclusion was 'unsatisfactory'. We can expect that the same will be the case with Azerbaijan," he warned.
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PITTSBURGH, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Michael Baker International, a global leader in engineering, planning and consulting services celebrating 80 Years of Making a Difference, today announced that Ed Gentilcore has been named Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer. He assumes the role from H. James McKnight, who is retiring after a 45-year career that includes nearly 25 years of service at Michael Baker. In his new role, Mr. Gentilcore will continue to serve as a trusted advisor to the Executive Leadership Team and colleagues companywide. In addition, John M. Tedder has been promoted to Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel. Both Mr. Gentilcore and Mr. Tedder will continue to be based in Michael Baker's corporate headquarters in downtown Pittsburgh.

Mr. Gentilcore most recently served as Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Michael Baker. He has more than 30 years of nationally recognized experience in engineering and construction law and litigation. He has managed bidding, contracting, environmental reviews and claims management on major capital construction projects and has experience in multiple delivery systems, including design-bid-build, Design-Build and integrated project delivery.

Prior to joining Michael Baker, Mr. Gentilcore was Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at the New York Racing Association and spent seven years at Sherrard, German & Kelly, P.C., as Shareholder, Director and Chair of its Construction Services Group. He also has worked in senior positions with Duane Morris, LLP and Reed Smith, LLP.

Mr. Gentilcore earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech/Rhetoric and Communications from the University of Pittsburgh. He is a U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED AP) and served as a co-chair of the ConsensusDOCS Committee charged with the development of the ConsensusDOCS 310 Green Building Addendum.

He has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America in the fields of Construction Law and Construction Litigation. He also currently serves on the Governing Committee of the American Bar Association Forum on Construction Law. The Forum is the world's largest association of construction lawyers.

John M. Tedder previously served as Associate General Counsel at Michael Baker and has more than 24 years of legal experience focused on project development, procurement and complex design and construction disputes. His expertise includes work surrounding power plant capital projects, commercial development, highway/bridge construction and energy and natural resources.

Before joining Michael Baker, Mr. Tedder was Shareholder at Sherrard, German & Kelly, P.C., Partner at Duane Morris, LLP and Reed Smith, LLP, and an Associate at Babst, Calland, Clements & Zomnir, P.C. He also has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America in the fields of Construction Law and Construction Litigation.

Mr. Tedder earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh and a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina.

About Michael Baker International

Michael Baker International, celebrating 80 Years of Making a Difference, is a leading provider of engineering and consulting services, including design, planning, architectural, environmental, construction and program management. The company provides its comprehensive range of services and solutions to support U.S. federal, state, and municipal governments, foreign allied governments, and a wide range of commercial clients. Michael Baker's more than 3,000 employees across nearly 100 locations are committed to a culture of innovation, collaboration and technological advancement to help solve challenges for clients and communities throughout the country. To learn more, visit www.mbakerintl.com.

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A court in Nagpur on Monday granted exemption from appearance to BJP leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in a complaint seeking criminal proceedings against him for non-disclosure of cases in his election affidavit.

This is the fourth time Fadnavis has been granted exemption, with Chief Judicial Magistrate P S Ingle stating that it has been granted as "last chance".

The court was hearing an application filed by advocate Satish Uke seeking criminal proceedings against Fadnavis for alleged non-disclosure of criminal cases registered against him in his election affidavit in 2014.

Fadnavis' lawyer, Uday Dable, sought exemption on the ground that his client, who is the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, had to attend the 'Vidhan Sabha Salagaar Committee' meeting on Monday.

Uke's lawyer Sudeep Jaiswal opposed the plea and sought for a non-bailable warrant to be issued against Fadnavis.

After hearing both sides, the court granted exemption as 'last chance' to Fadnavis and set the next hearing on February 20.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
South African Wamkele Mene, has been voted as the first Secretary-General of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat (AfCFTA), at the ongoing 33rd ordinary session of the heads of state and government of the African Union.

The 40-year-old has previously worked as the Head of Mission to the World Trade Organisation for South Africa.

Wamkele Mene was South Africa's Chief Negotiator in the African Continental Free Trade Area Negotiations.

Prior to assuming this position, Wamkele was a senior trade diplomat, negotiating on behalf of South Africa at the World Trade Organisation.

He holds an LL.M in Banking Law and Financial Regulation from the London School of Economics and Political Science; an M.A. in International Studies & Diplomacy from the School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS), University of London; and a B.A. Law from Rhodes University.

He will be heading the AfCFTA Secretariat to be located in Accra, Ghana, when the AfCFTA kicks off in July this year.

121 candidates applied for the Secretary-General of AfCFTA post

As many as one hundred and twenty-five candidates, all African citizens, applied for the job.

Two prominent Ghanaians, including a former Minister of State under the previous administration, made it to the shortlist of 30 candidates, but could not make it to the final shortlist of six candidates who went through series of evaluations.

The finalists were from Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia and Morocco.

The African Continental Free Trade Area is a single market Duty-free Quota-free trading bloc covering the entire African Continent with a total population of about 1.2 billion and a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of almost US$3 trillion. The operational phase of the Agreement was formally launched on 7th July 2019 at the African Union Summit in Niamey, Niger.

The African Continental Free Trade Area is a single market Duty-free Quota-free trading bloc covering the entire African Continent with a total population of about 1.2 billion and a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of almost US$3 trillion. The operational phase of the Agreement was formally launched on 7th July 2019 at the African Union Summit in Niamey, Niger.

---citinewsroom
MADRID (Reuters) - Amazon (AMZN.O) withdrew on Sunday from attending an international telecoms conference in Barcelona later this month because of the new coronavirus. Several Spanish media outlets, including El Mundo, said the online retailer confirmed that 'due to the outbreak and continuing concerns about the new coronavirus' it would not be exhibiting or participating in the Mobile World Congress 2020, scheduled from Feb. 24 to 27

MADRID (Reuters) - Amazon (AMZN.O) withdrew on Sunday from attending an international telecoms conference in Barcelona later this month because of the new coronavirus.

Several Spanish media outlets, including El Mundo, said the online retailer confirmed that "due to the outbreak and continuing concerns about the new coronavirus" it would not be exhibiting or participating in the Mobile World Congress 2020, scheduled from Feb. 24 to 27.

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Jessica Jones, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
gps voice [SPEAKING MANDARIN] amy qin Ill say a few things. So its a rainy day. Very, very gloomy, rainy day. And its a little loud because we have to keep the windows open, because thats the recommendation in these situations. You have to keep everything ventilated.

[music]

amy qin

Two weeks ago, our researcher Elsie and I went down to Wuhan, which is this major city in the center of China that has been the epicenter of the recent coronavirus outbreak. By then, it had been under lockdown for about a week. And we were really curious to see how people were faring and what was going on, especially at the hospitals there. We took the train from Beijing to Wuhan. And we got off, and what we saw was totally crazy. I mean, wed never seen anything like it. This is a city of 11 million that had come to a complete standstill. It felt like being in a parallel reality. To see those streets completely empty was really striking. It was eerie to hear the silence. And the only time we heard anything was the occasional barking of a dog or an ambulance passing by. We were walking around this hospital and we walked into the courtyard in front of the outpatient department. And thats where we came upon this very jarring scene. You had 30 or so patients that were all kind of sitting quietly in the courtyard, all hooked up to IV drips that were hanging from tree branches or in their cars.

interposing voices [SPEAKING MANDARIN]

amy qin

We meet this mother and her two children who are all hooked up to IVs. The mothers name is Yang Ling.

yang ling [SPEAKING MANDARIN]

amy qin

They tell me that they are actually a family of six. Theres Yang Ling. There is her husband, her husbands parents and then their son and their daughter. And they have all been staying together. And she tells us that their grandmother got sick first and one by one, each of them has gotten infected by the coronavirus. And now, her husband is the only one that doesnt have coronavirus.

yang ling [SPEAKING MANDARIN]

amy qin

And then they tell me that just one week after the grandmother started showing symptoms, their grandfather died.

yang ling [SPEAKING MANDARIN]

amy qin

She tells us that after the grandfather dies, the funeral home comes to take the body away 

yang ling [SPEAKING MANDARIN]

amy qin

 and he is cremated immediately. And she says that 

yang ling [SPEAKING MANDARIN]

amy qin

 he was taken away just like a dead dog or a dead pig.

yang ling [SPEAKING MANDARIN]

amy qin

As shes talking, her voice is starting to carry across the courtyard outside this hospital. And other people are starting to listen in and crowd around us, and shes starting to get more and more upset. She was so palpably angry that at one point 

yang ling [SPEAKING MANDARIN]

amy qin

 the mother was waving her arms around in frustration and almost ripped the IV needle out of her hand.

yang ling [SPEAKING MANDARIN]

amy qin

Ive been covering China for seven years. And Ive heard people express frustrations with the government before, but really only in private. This was one of the few times that Ive heard such raw anger toward the government publicly.

yang ling [SPEAKING MANDARIN]

amy qin

And she basically says, is this really my country or is this some kind of [EXPLETIVE] up country  a country that doesnt take care of anything?

yang ling [SPEAKING MANDARIN].

amy qin

And then she says, what kind of government is this? And after hearing that, that made me think that something was happening that was bigger than just an outbreak of a virus.

michael barbaro

From The New York Times, Im Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. Today: Inside China, what began as a story of fear over the coronavirus has now become the story of fury over the governments handling of the crisis. Beijing correspondent Amy Qin on what she saw in Wuhan. Its Thursday, February 13. Amy, what is it about this moment that you think is making people like the Zhang family feel free to speak out about their anger and to pretty explicitly criticize the Chinese government?

amy qin

So for the Zhang family, this is for them a matter of life or death. And it was a common feeling I heard throughout the city. But theres another added frustration boiling across the rest of the country about how the government is handling this crisis. And for them, its really been captured in the story of this doctor named Dr. Li Wenliang.

michael barbaro

And who is this doctor?

amy qin

So Li Wenliang is an eye doctor at a hospital in Wuhan. And he had heard about this virus back in December that was going around the hospitals in the city. And so he went on WeChat, which is this big social messaging platform, and sent in a private messaging group with some of his med school classmates a text message basically warning them to protect themselves. And a few days later after he sent that message, he was actually called in by the police in Wuhan. They brought him into the police station and they made him sign a statement saying that he was spreading false and illegal information  basically, that he was spreading rumors.

archived recording Authorities say it is untrue and eight people were detained for spreading fake news online and no medical staff had been infected.

amy qin

But of course, it wasnt a rumor.

archived recording Chinese health authorities are still working to identify the virus behind a pneumonia outbreak in the central city of Wuhan.

amy qin

By the time Dr. Li was brought into the police station, 41 people had the coronavirus. And from there, it just spread.

archived recording 1 A SARS-like virus, which has infected hundreds in China, has now reached the United States. archived recording 2 Now China has announced the first death from an outbreak of pneumonia caused by an unidentified virus. archived recording 3 121 people are under medical observation in Wuhan. Rumors on social media alleged that the outbreak in Wuhan could be linked to SARS. archived recording 4 The World Health Organization says its a new type of coronavirus.

michael barbaro

And Amy, at this point, what is happening to Dr. Li?

amy qin

So after Dr. Li gets taken into the police station and forced to sign this statement, he was actually treating a patient for glaucoma. And she wasnt showing any symptoms at the time, but he ended up contracting the virus from her.

michael barbaro

Wow.

amy qin

And from his sickbed, he starts to speak out again.

archived recording In a matter of days, Dr. Li Wenliang went from treating patients to becoming one.

amy qin

He gives some interviews to Chinese media and he starts to become this public figure.

archived recording Struggling to communicate, Li spoke with CNN briefly by phone. You can hear the hospital machines pulsing in the background.

amy qin

He becomes known as a whistleblower 

archived recording Whistleblowers silenced by police. Calls for Li and the others to be vindicated grew online.

amy qin

 that the government didnt act fast enough on information that they were given, and that they had missed this critical window of opportunity to get the outbreak under control.

archived recording Chinas Supreme Court even weighed in, adding quote, It might have been a fortunate thing if the public had listened to this rumor at the time. But for many 

michael barbaro

So hes becoming a kind of spokesperson for a lot of frustrations.

amy qin

Exactly.

archived recording (li wenliang) [INAUDIBLE] [COUGHING]

amy qin

And so at this point, it just feels like there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

archived recording 1 Now, the death toll in the outbreak of a new coronavirus in China has jumped to 17. archived recording 2 Hundreds of people have been diagnosed with a deadly virus known as the 2019 novel coronavirus. archived recording 3 Overall, there are now more than 31,500 confirmed cases worldwide.

amy qin

More and more people are getting sick. Were seeing the numbers just surge every day 

archived recording 4 600 deaths.

amy qin

 people who are confirmed cases of the coronavirus, people who are dying of the coronavirus.

archived recording 5 Has jumped to more than 700.

amy qin

Everything felt so uncertain.

archived recording 6 Officials are imposing restrictions on travel out of Wuhan, China. archived recording 7 And 13 cities in lockdown this morning. archived recording 8 Near-empty shelves line supermarkets. archived recording 9 A need for masks and protective suits. archived recording 10 Chinas health minister, Ma Xiaowei, has said that he expects infections to continue to rise. And of course, that has everyone here in the country even more nervous. archived recording 11 The citizens are actually freaking out. archived recording 12 China right now is being massively rocked by anger. archived recording 13 And the State Department has said it is chartering a flight to evacuate Americans out of Wuhan. Justin, though, will not be on that 

amy qin

So foreign governments started pulling their citizens out of Wuhan, and thats when I got the call. So it was late last week, and I had been on the phone all day with my editors. And I get a final call saying you need to go to the airport. There was one flight left that was being arranged by the U.S. State Department to go back to the U.S., so I start scrambling. I leave all my masks, my disinfectant wipes, my hazmat suit, my gloves with my colleagues. And then its about a 40-minute drive to the airport.

amy qin O.K. So I am at the airport in Wuhan now. And its been a crazy, hectic day. I think that the next few weeks in quarantine on a military base will bring its own interesting moments.

michael barbaro

And what is the scene at the airport?

amy qin

The scene at the airport was a little bit frenzied. I mean, at this point, these are really some of the last flights out for these countries who are evacuating their citizens, so it wasnt just the Americans. There were also the Canadians, the Japanese. And we didnt even know at that point where they were taking us to. So Im in the airport lobby and Im waiting for my flight. And then my phone starts to buzz, and Im seeing all these messages come through. And I look at them, and then I see that Dr. Li has just died. And I could sense that this was going to be a big moment, because I had started overhearing people talking about it in the airport terminal. But then I just had to leave. I had to get on the flight.

michael barbaro

Well be right back. So Amy, Dr. Li has died from the very virus that he alerted the government to, and youre on a plane back to the U.S. from Wuhan. So what happens once you land?

amy qin

So once I land, I find that I am at the Miramar Marine base in San Diego, California. Im carted off to quarantine, and then I turn on my phone and I start going through my messages. And I see this huge upswelling of outrage over Dr. Lis death. People from every stripe of the political or social spectrum in China  so you have people who are business people, who are blue-collar workers, artists, lawyers  theyre all posting about Dr. Lis death. And Ive never seen people come together like this before  and people were so upset about his death.

michael barbaro

And what are they saying?

amy qin

A lot of people were posting candle emojis and other kinds of remembrances for Dr. Li. They were posting photos of him. He had taken a selfie of himself wearing a surgical mask and someone had recreated that image to replace the surgical mask with barbed wire to kind of indicate that he had been muzzled. Some people were posting the anthem from Les Mis, Do you hear the people sing? Singing a song of angry men?

michael barbaro

Wow.

amy qin

We actually saw the hashtag I want freedom of speech trending for five hours, which of course, it was quickly censored. And we saw petitions going up by Chinese academics calling for freedom of speech. And we even saw a local government social media account posting a portrait of Dr. Li, along with the lines, Heroes dont fall from the sky. Theyre just ordinary people who step forward.

michael barbaro

Wow.

amy qin

So the reaction is really remarkable. I mean, even the hospital where Dr. Li died posted an official notice of his death. And that had three million reactions and 300,000 comments. And so it was so clear that this was something that had really tapped into the frustration that was happening.

michael barbaro

And what do you make of those reactions? Because it feels like it no longer is really just about this virus and the way that it was handled?

amy qin

Yeah so at this point, it is clear that this is becoming so much bigger than just the virus. This is really about the government and this social contract that the people have had with the government, where they agree to keep silent as long as the government provides for their prosperity and health. It operates under this principle of stability at all costs.

michael barbaro

Right. And in their effort to create stability, in fact, they did the opposite.

amy qin

Yeah. I mean, I think that theres this realization definitely that there is something wrong with the system. And I dont think that it means that people are going out in the streets and calling for a revolution. But the fact that people are calling for freedom of speech, I mean, thats really what this brought out. People in China are already used to a pretty high level of censorship, but when it comes to censoring a warning about public health, that goes too far. And the reaction is so overwhelming that the government quickly realizes that they need to do something. And thats when we see Chinas leader Xi Jinping come forward out of the shadows and try to take control of the situation

archived recording (xi jinping) [SPEAKING CHINESE] [LAUGHTER]

amy qin

He comes out and makes an appearance in Beijing.

archived recording (xi jinping) [SPEAKING CHINESE]

amy qin

He visits a community center and a hospital. He gets his temperature taken. He talks with local residents.

archived recording (xi jinping) [SPEAKING CHINESE]

amy qin

And he does a video conference with doctors in Wuhan.

archived recording (xi jinping) [SPEAKING CHINESE] [APPLAUSE]

amy qin

So by this point, the government has sent the nations top anti-corruption agency to go down to Wuhan and investigate Dr. Lis death. And state media is calling Dr. Li a hero.

michael barbaro

This feels like a real shift for a government that originally reprimanded Dr. Li and is now sending a team to investigate why he was muzzled. It feels like a concession.

amy qin

It is. But at the same time, we have to remember that this is also part of the partys ethos, which is to always try to control the narrative. And for them, the path of least resistance in this situation is to hold Dr. Li up as a hero, but also to do it in a way that coheres with the party narrative.

michael barbaro

Huh.

amy qin

Erasing the parts that might challenge their legitimacy or authority, which is the fact that he was punished by the government for trying to call attention to the fact that there was this virus going around.

michael barbaro

Do you think that the people in China view the governments response as an attempt to protect them from the virus or to protect the government from the story of a situation thats out of control?

amy qin

Both. People really believe that the government wants to get this epidemic under control. But at the same time, they know that the government is only going to do this in a way that does not threaten its own hold on power. And that means taking control of the narrative  sending in their own journalists to make sure that only the positive aspects of what theyre doing is being highlighted, and that people who are slipping through the cracks or all the failures of the policy are not being highlighted.

michael barbaro

Amy, Im curious. Have you been able to speak to the Zhang family since you evacuated, since you took that flight from Wuhan to California?

amy qin

We have. The last time we checked in with them, their situation had changed. The mother and the daughter were both infected with the coronavirus and have finally been able to get into one of the makeshift quarantine centers set up by the government. Bella, the daughter, sent us a video of the center, and it just shows a huge exhibition center with beds crowded tightly together and all these sick patients in these beds. Meanwhile, Bellas brother and their grandmother are still at home back in the family apartment sick and unable to get into a hospital. The grandmother is in very serious condition. She can barely get out of bed. And theyre also still living with their father, who is the only family member who hasnt gotten infected so fae. Though they all think that it will be a matter of time.

michael barbaro

So basically, half the family is being cared for and the other half have been kind of abandoned.

amy qin

Right. And remember, their grandfather had died in their family apartment and was taken to be cremated immediately. And they still dont even know where his ashes are.

michael barbaro

Is the reality that another death in the family could happen something that they are preparing for?

amy qin

Yes, theyve been planning for it. They told us that when the grandmother dies, theyre not going to let her go to the crematorium. But actually, the mother said shes going to drag her body to the local neighborhood committee and just put it there on the front steps to show them how their inaction has devastated their entire family.

michael barbaro

Do you know whether the family knows about Dr. Lis death, or if they were able to watch that video of Xi Jinping in public addressing the situation?

amy qin

I think if theyve seen, its barely registered. They are so consumed with just trying to survive right now, like so many other people in Wuhan, that theyre just putting their heads down trying to move forward.

michael barbaro

Amy, thank you very much.

amy qin

Thanks, Michael.

michael barbaro

On Thursday, nearly 15,000 new cases of coronavirus were added to the tally of infected people in the Chinese province where Wuhan is located  the largest one-day increase of the epidemic so far. That brings the total number of cases to more than 48,000. At the same time, 242 new deaths were also reported, bringing the total death toll in the province to 1,310. Well be right back. Heres what else you need to know today. For the second day in a row, President Trump intervened in the prosecution of his longtime friend and adviser, Roger Stone, this time by attacking the judge in the case. On Tuesday, at the presidents urging, the Department of Justice recommended a more lenient prison sentence for Stone, who was convicted of obstructing a congressional investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. That move prompted four federal prosecutors to leave the case in protest. On Wednesday, Trump claimed without evidence in a tweet that the judge who will sentence Stone is biased against the president in what Democratic lawmakers said was a clear attempt to intimidate the judge before she sentences Stone.

archived recording (chuck schumer) The president ran against the swamp in Washington, a place where the game is rigged by the powerful to benefit them personally. I ask my fellow Americans, what is more swampy, what is more fetid, what is more stinking than the most powerful person in the country literally changing the rules to benefit a crony guilty of breaking the law?

michael barbaro

In response, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for an investigation into Trumps conduct.

archived recording (chuck schumer) As a result, I have formally requested that the inspector general of the Justice Department investigate this matter immediately.

michael barbaro
Princess Anne is set to make royal history by taking over Prince Harry's military role in the Royal Marines, the Sunday Times reports.

The hard-working Princess Royal, 69, who lives at Gatcombe Park in Gloucestershire, is already associated with 65 military organisations and currently Chief Commandant for Women in the Royal Navy.

She will reportedly become the first ever female Captain General of the Royal Marines when the Duke of Sussex gives up his military commands in the spring.

According to the publication, the Queen will announce the appointment in due course.

Princess Anne is set to make royal history by taking over Prince Harry's military role, according to reports. Pictured: The Princess Royal with her husband Tim Laurence at the Jutland commemoration in South Queensferry, Scotland in May 2016

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (pictured at the WellChild Awards Ceremony in London in October 2019) are currently residing in Canada with their son Archie, but the prince is expected to return to the UK next month for a farewell engagement with the Royal Marines

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced they are stepping down as senior members of the Royal Family in January.

Buckingham Palace announced that as part of the couple's new arrangement, which involves them becoming 'financially independent', the prince is required to step back from his 'official military appointments'.

This includes Captain General of the Royal Marines - a role he was handed by the Queen in December 2017, succeeding the Duke of Edinburgh.

Harry is also the Commodore-in-Chief Small Ships and Diving in the Royal Navy, and the Honorary Air Commandant at RAF Honington in Suffolk.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced they are stepping down as senior members of the Royal Family in January. Pictured at the Westminster Abbey Field of Remembrance opening in November last year

The Sussexes are currently residing in Canada with their son Archie, but the prince is expected to return to the UK next month for a farewell engagement with the Royal Marines.

Princess Anne is also expected to attend, according to the publication.

Prince Philip, who was Captain General for 64 years, was reportedly keen for his daughter to take over the role from his grandson.

It is hoped her appointment will prove inspirational to women considering a career in the Armed Forces.

The hard-working Princess Royal, 69, is already associated with 65 military organisations and currently Chief Commandant for Women in the Royal Navy. Pictured opening the renovated Drumfork Community Centre in Helensburgh, Argyll and Bute in January

Just one female marine enrolled for the notorious commando course in 2019, out of 1,000 who expressed an interest, while all the 600 recruits for this year's course are men.

The Princess Royal is already Royal Colonel of the 6th Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, Commodore-in-Chief of the naval force of Canada and Royal Honorary Colonel of the City of Edinburgh Universities Officers Training Corps, to name but a few.

She is also Patron of The Battle of the Atlantic Memorial project in Liverpool, the Camp Hill Veterans' Services, aiding Canadian veterans in recognition of their services to their country, and the National Museum of The Royal Navy.

After training at Sandhurst, Prince Harry was commissioned as an officer in the Household Cavalry's Blues and Royals in April 2006.

The Princess Royal is already Royal Colonel of the 6th Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, Commodore-in-Chief of the naval force of Canada and Royal Honorary Colonel of the City of Edinburgh Universities Officers Training Corps, to name but a few. She attended the Six Nations clash between England and Scotland at the weekend

The loss of his military titles and appointments is likely to be particularly painful for Prince Harry as he often appeared to be at his happiest when serving in uniform. Pictured: Harry in a Spartan armoured vehicle in the Helmand province, Southern Afghanistan

During his ten years in the Army, he undertook two operational tours of Afghanistan and qualified as an Apache helicopter commander.

His second tour of Helmand, in 2012, is believed to be one of the few times in his life that the Prince truly found contentment away from the restrictions and pressures of Royal life.

Known as 'Captain Wales' by his comrades, he proudly told one fellow soldier: 'I've got the best of both worlds. I get to do all this. I can fly helicopters. I can shine a spotlight on the work I want to do.'

It was the Army which offered Harry his first taste of life away from being a royal.

After training at Sandhurst, Harry was commissioned as an officer in the Household Cavalry's Blues and Royals in April 2006. During his ten years in the Army, he undertook two operational tours of Afghanistan and qualified as an Apache helicopter commander

Harry's military career ended in June 2015 but he has remained a passionate supporter of the Armed Forces and was handed a number of ceremonial military titles.

He said at the time: 'Luckily for me, I will continue to wear the uniform and mix with fellow servicemen and women for the rest of my life, helping where I can.'

Harry's determination to quit as a senior Royal had already sparked criticism from fellow veterans.

James Glancy, a former captain in the Special Boat Service, last week said that he and military colleagues would not raise a toast to the Duke if he tried to earn money from his Royal position with commercial ventures.

As the ceremonial head of the elite unit, Harry is entitled to wear the uniform and insignia equivalent to a Field Marshal. Pictured: The Queen smiled at Harry as she inspecting soldiers at their passing-out Sovereign's Parade at Sandhurst Military Academy in 2006

There was nothing in Buckingham Palace's announcement, however, to suggest that Prince Harry give up his private association and support for a string of military charities, including Walking With the Wounded.

Similarly, Harry could continue his involvement with the Invictus Games for injured Armed Forces personnel and veterans.

Former First Sea Lord, Lord West, expressed his regret over Harry stepping down from his military appointments.

He said: 'The whole situation is extremely sad and I think it is unfortunate, after his splendid service in the military, that he will now no longer be involved with the military in the UK.'
The verdict of Delhis assembly election will be out today. The results will not only determine who governs the city for five years, but will also leave a new imprint on the canvas of Indian democracy.

The vitriol unleashed during the election campaigning is still fresh. Though the campaign was for the Delhi elections, the manner in which issues were taken up suggested that it was a national election. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fielded an entire brigade of nationalists. In the seven-decade-long history of Indian democracy, this was perhaps for the first time a party had deputed almost 250 Members of Parliament for a contest which involved 70 assembly seats. During the campaigning, the partys former president and home minister Amit Shah led the charge. He went door to door, addressed various gatherings in support of the partys candidates, and tried to convey his message through several rallies. The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, also addressed 12 election rallies. The attempt, as is characteristic of the BJPs electoral strategy elsewhere, was aimed at winning a significant section of votes from the majority community.

The BJP has made prime minister Narendra Modi its face in this election. But this time, he addressed only two public rallies. This indicated that the party was exercising a degree of caution to ensure that if the result was unfavourable, Brand Modi would remain untarnished. This is despite the fact that the BJP has tried to pass the electoral test by riding on the PMs far-reaching decisions on issues such as triple talaq, Article 370 and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

Also Watch | Delhi poll results: Trends show majority for AAP, cadres celebrate

Its leaders also mentioned the dharna at Shaheen Bagh repeatedly, accusing political rivals of supporting it. In response, the senior leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) argued that those in charge of law and order in the city had the power, and thus, the responsibility, to clear the dharna at Shaheen Bagh. The law and order machinery of Delhi comes under the Union home ministry. The results will tell which argument resonated with the people of Delhi.

But irrespective of the outcome, the polls have once again proved that India is chalking out a new definition of secularism. Arvind Kejriwal reciting the Hanuman Chalisa only reaffirms that. Later, in a public gathering, he was also seen carrying a mace. Earlier too, various political leaders have visited temples, mosques, and other places of religious significance. The context is hard to miss. Sonia Gandhi had once said that it was because the Congress was projected as an anti-Hindu party that it was defeated in the 2014 elections. There is an effort to counter precisely this impression.

Some may attribute this to the BJPs quest to establish the dominance of the majority. But it is a fact that AAP, which started the campaign in the name of development, was forced to change its tune to compete with the BJP. They could sense that Shaheen Bagh had become a convenient tool for the BJP to try and change the course of the campaign. The organisers of the protests against the CAA, both in Shaheen Bagh and elsehwere, were aware of this fact. They used the Constitution, the national anthem, and images of Mahatma Gandhi and BR Ambedkar as symbols of resistance to foil the attempts at communal polarisation. There was an attempt to chant religion-specific slogans at some places, but the demonstrators stopped it because they didnt want their efforts to be identified with any particular creed.

The assessments made before these elections clearly projected AAP to be in pole position. That is why the BJP opted for an aggressive strategy right from the beginning. Shah himself was at the helm of this strategy. If you look at his record, you will find that Shah contests every election as if it is his first and last fight. Kejriwal fought on his record on education, electricity, water and health. His honesty, administrative intentions, and efficiency cant be doubted. In such a scenario, the BJP needed some extra effort to gain a proper foothold in the elections.

Will Delhi vindicate Shahs aggression? Or will the Kejriwal governments performance overshadow him? What will be the impact of the Congress dismal effort? Tuesdays outcome will answer these questions. It will also shape Indian politics.

Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief, Hindustan

The views expressed are personal
A priest was found dead under mysterious circumstances in the premises of an ashram in Lucknow on Monday, said police.

According to police, the deceased has been identified as Amarnath Tiwari, aged between 58 and 60, was found dead in the Bakshi Ka Talab area of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh.

After getting the information, the police rushed to spot and initiated the probe. The police is suspecting it to be a murder.

"After getting information about the death of a priest aged 58 to 60 under mysterious circumstances, we rushed to the spot. We are investigating the matter," Hardesh Katheraia, Circle Officer, Bakshi Ka Talab said.

"According to the initial investigation, the case is suspected to be a murder. Further investigation is on," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Flagship health assurance scheme gets top national honour for successful implementation of sustainable e-Governance initiative

Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) has been awarded gold under Category-1 for "Excellence in Government Process Re-engineering for Digital Transformation" for e-governance 2019-20.

The award was presented during 23rd National Conference on e-Governance held in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Implemented by the National Health Authority along with its State counterparts, AB PM-JAY, is the worlds largest publicly funded health assurance scheme covering 50 crore poor and vulnerable citizens.

This award seeks to recognize government projects that involved analysis and redesign of workflow and which resulted in improvement in outcomes related to efficiency, effectiveness of process, cost, quality, service delivery or a combination of these. The impact of the re-engineering process is to have a significant digital transformation.

Receiving the award on behalf of the National Health Authority, the apex organisation responsible for the design and implementation of the scheme, Dr. Indu Bhushan, CEO, AB-PMJAY and National Health Authority said, It is a huge honour to receive this award today. This award is not only a recognition of the sophistication of the IT system that is the backbone of PM-JAY but also of our efforts for moving towards universal health coverage through digital transformation. Through this award we will be able to showcase the innovation and talent we have deployed to build one of the best IT systems in the world. In the near future our efforts will be channelled towards further strengthening this digital backbone into empowering the beneficiaries, maximising efficiency of service delivery, expand coverage of the scheme to the left out population groups, enhance convergence with existing central and State health schemes and minimise fraud and abuse with use of frontier technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning into our systems.

The purpose of the award is to recognize achievements in the area of e-Governance, disseminate knowledge on effective methods of designing and implementing sustainable e-Governance initiatives. This award encourages innovations in successful e-Governance solutions with promotion and exchange of experiences in solving problems, mitigating risks, resolving issues and planning for success.

National Awards for e-Governance are presented every year to recognize and promote excellence in implementation of e-Governance initiatives.

Talking about the IT system of AB PM-JAY, Kiran Anandampillai, Advisor IT, National Health Authority said, We have created an IT platform with the focus to provide seamless, quality, affordable healthcare services to the poorest citizens in the remotest corners of India. We are building several layers of security to protect sensitive personal patient data therefore ensuring that there is no misuse of the data collected and used. We are deploying advanced data analytics to monitor the implementation on real-time basis. The insights received is helping us not only take timely action but also do evidence-based policy decision-making.

These awards also seek to recognize the national level e-Governance projects which resulted in delivering enhanced value to citizens through effective use of Information and Communication Technology. This is an effort to recognise the adoption of emerging technologies (such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, machine learning, natural language processing etc.) for e-Governance projects.
Manchester United are desperately trying to find a buyer for Alexis Sanchez this summer, according to the Manchester Evening News.

The Red Devils forward is currently on loan at Inter Milan and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has recently said he would return to Old Trafford this summer.

Solskjaer said at the end of January: 'Alexis will come back in the summer and will prove you all wrong.'

Manchester United are trying to find a buyer for Alexis Sanchez who is currently at Inter Milan

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insisted last month that Sanchez will return and prove people wrong

SANCHEZ'S STATS 2019-20 Apps: 10 Goals: 1 Assists: 3 Yellow cards: 1 Red cards: 1 Advertisement

But this looks to be a ploy to ensure his resale value does not dwindle as the Red Devils are scouring for someone to take Sanchez off their books.

The 31-year-old has a contract until 2022 and earns 400,000 a week - three quarters of which Inter Milan are paying this season.

The Chile international set up Inter's equaliser in their 4-2 comeback victory over bitters rivals AC Milan on Sunday night.

That was his first start since September having been out with an ankle injury for three months.

In fact, Sanchez has not completed 90 minutes in any of his 10 appearances since leaving United on loan.

The Red Devils are lining up two forwards this summer which would rule out space for Sanchez in the squad.

Leicester's James Maddison and Aston Villa's Jack Grealish are also of interest as midfield options.
The 25-year-old woman lecturer who was set ablaze by a stalker in Maharashtra's Wardha district last week died while undergoing treatment at a hospital here on Monday morning, officials said.

Ankita Pisudde, resident of Hinganghat town in Wardha, had been critical after sustaining 35 to 40 per cent "grade III" burns on February 3 when she was set afire allegedly by one Vikesh Nagrale (27) while she was on way to her college, they said.

She was undergoing treatment at the Orange City Hospital & Research Centre here, located around 75 km from Wardha.

"Doctors at the hospital declared her dead at 6.55 am today," Hinganghat's police inspector Satyaveer Bandiwar said.

The woman sustained deep burn injuries on scalp, face, right upper limb, left hand, upper back, neck and eyes along with severe inhalational injuries, the hospital said in a medical bulletin on Monday.

She died of "septicemic shock" after suffering from deep dermal burns along with severe inhalational injuries, respiratory distress and related complications, it said.

Around 4 am onMonday,her oxygen levels deteriorated inspite of ventilator support, coupled with decreasing urine output and reduction in blood pressure, the hospital said.

As part of immediate resuscitation measures, medicines were escalated to maintain the blood pressure and all feasible steps were taken to improve the oxygen levels in blood, but the patient remained "extremely critical", it said.

"Around 6.30 am, she had bradycardia and inspite of prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the patient could not be revived and was declared dead at 6.55 am," it said.

The probable cause of death was "septicemic shock", the bulletin added.

During her treatment, she underwent tracheostomy (creating an opening in neck to place a tube into the windpipe to allow air to enter the lungs), burn dressings, debridement and escharotomies, the hospital informed.

Debridement is a medical procedure to remove dead, damaged or infected tissue, while escharotomy is a surgical procedure used to treat full-thickness (third-degree) circumferential burns.

The woman's parents and uncle were kept informed about her deteriorating health condition and death, the hospital said, adding that the body was later handed over to police for postmortem and other formalities.

After the woman's condition deteriorated, the hospital informed about her critical status to Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, Wardha Guardian Minister Sunil Kedar, Nagpur Divisional Commissioner Sanjeev Kumar, Police Commissioner Bhushan Kumar Upadhyay, Wardha Collector Vivek Bhimanwar and Wardha Superintendent of Police Basavraj Teli.

Heavy security was deployed in Hinganghat to avoid any law and order problem following her death, the police said.

Several locals, mostly women and college students, took out a march in Wardha city last Thursday, demanding death penalty for the accused.

Home Minister Deshmukh visited the hospital on Tuesday and announced that the accused's trial would be fast-tracked.

The state government last week flew Navi Mumbai-based National Burns Centre director Sunil Keswani to Nagpur to supervise the woman's treatment.

It has also appointed well-known lawyer Ujjwal Nikam as special public prosecutor in the case.

According to the victim's relatives, Nagrale, who was arrested within hours of the incident on February 3, had been harassing her for quite some time.

Nagrale and the woman were friends till two years ago when she severed ties with him due to his "irrational behaviour", the police earlier said.

A special team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Trupti Jadhav will probe the case, the Wardha Police said last week.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Janet Jackson has announced that she will be going on a world tour this summer, and she will be stopping in Connecticut.

The Grammy award-winning member of the legendary Jackson family is going on her Black Diamond World Tour this year in celebration of her new album dropping this year.
Israel mapping West Bank annexations under US Mideast plan: Netanyahu

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 09 February 2020 7:09 AM

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel has started drawing up maps of the occupied West Bank areas that it wants to annex under US President Donald Trump's self-proclaimed "deal of the century" for the Middle East.

"We are already at the height of the process of mapping the area that, according to the Trump plan, will become part of... Israel. It won't take too long," he said at an election campaign rally in the Ma'ale Adumim settlement near Jerusalem al-Quds on Saturday.

Netanyahu also stressed that the area Israel plans to annex would include all West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley.

He had already pledged to swiftly bring the annexation of the aforesaid areas to a cabinet vote following the publication of the US scheme.

However, after Netanyahu's pledge, Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner said Washington expected Tel Aviv to wait until after the March 2 general elections before making any moves toward annexation.

It would likely take "a couple of months" to complete work on detailed West Bank maps before Israel will be able to annex settlements and the Jordan Valley, Kushner said.

Elsewhere in his Saturday remarks, Netanyahu stressed that the Trump administration would back his annexation plans.

"Don't be mistaken, the Americans will go along with this, President Trump will go along with this," he said.

The Israeli premier further claimed that only he could secure American recognition for Israeli "sovereignty" over West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley.

"I don't trust [Blue and White party chairman] Benny Gantz," he said, referring to his chief political rival.

Netanyahu also hailed a series of pro-Israel measures taken by the Trump administration, including the recognition of Jerusalem al-Quds as the Israeli "capital," the relocation of the American embassy from Tel Aviv to the occupied city, the recognition of Israeli "sovereignty" over Syria's Golan Heights and the "legalization" of Israeli settlements.

Reacting to Netanyahu's comments, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, reiterated that his country's map is the one based on the 1967 boundaries with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.

The Palestinian leadership will disregard any alterations to the internationally recognized map of the state of Palestine, he said.

"The map of the State of Palestine is the map recognized by the world in accordance with the United Nations resolutions, and it is the only one that can achieve security, peace and stability in the region and the world," Abu Rudeineh pointed out.

"Any other maps mean the continuation of the [Israeli] occupation and cannot be accepted."

Trump released his contentious deal during an event at the White House alongside Netanyahu in Washington on January 28.

The so-called 'Vision for Peace'  which all Palestinian groups have unanimously rejected  largely meets Israel's demands in the decades-old conflict while creating a Palestinian state with limited control over its own security and borders.

It also enshrines Jerusalem al-Quds as "Israel's undivided capital" and allows the regime to annex settlements and the Jordan Valley, a fertile strip of land that accounts for roughly one quarter of the West Bank.

The proposal further denies the right of return of Palestinian refugees into their homeland, among other controversial terms.

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Armenia and Jordan have discussed the prospects of establishing strong ties between business representatives of the two countries, said the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Supply Tariq Hammouri.

His remarks came at the Armenian-Jordanian business forum on Monday.

According to him, a clear instruction was received from the King of Jordan in this regard. He expressed confidence that the meetings of representatives of the private sector should have a positive impact on trade and economic relations, raising them to the same level as the political relations of Armenia and Jordan.

According to him, Yerevan and Amman can establish cooperation in many areas, including the cooperation in the fields of information technology and tourism.

An Armenian-Jordanian business forum was held in Yerevan Monday, within the framework of which a memorandum of cooperation between the countries was signed.
SHANGHAI, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- OneSmart International Education Group Limited (NYSE: ONE) ("OneSmart" or the "Company"), a leading premium K-12 education company in China, today announced that it has appointed Mr. Jinshu Ke as Chief Education Officer, effective February 1, 2020. He will report to Mr. Xi (Steve) Zhang, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Ke has served as Senior Vice President of OneSmart since August 2017. From 1999 to 2017, Mr. Ke worked as a customs official in Fujian Province where he served as Deputy Director General and Director General of Quanzhou Customs, Director of Political Department and Director of Regulation Department of Quanzhou Customs under Xiamen Customs, and a customs attorney. During his tenure in Xiamen, Mr. Ke held a number of management positions. Mr. Ke was a middle school teacher from 1992 to 1996. He received a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the Normal College of Jimei University (Xiamen City) and a L.L.M. degree in civil and commercial law from Xiamen University. Mr. Ke is a registered lawyer in China and served as a part-time lawyer until 1997.

The Company previously announced the appointment of Mr. Yong (Todd) Liang. Mr. Liang has nearly 20 years of experience in human resource management serving in a number of senior regional and national roles in China for respected global companies including General Electric, SSL Group, Yihaodian, and Wanda Group.

Mr. Steve Zhang, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of OneSmart, commented, "I am excited to welcome Jinshu on board as Chief Education Officer. His extensive leadership experience and vision have played a critical role in rolling out our strategies since he joined in 2017. I am confident that the addition to our management team will continue to enhance our premium brand and services and improve our operational strengths. I look forward to working with them closely going forward."

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 United States

Ms. Linda Bergkamp

Phone: +1-480-614-3004

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE OneSmart International Education Group Limited

Related Links

www.1smart.org


A man who stole fuel from two service stations within a month claimed he was "low on finance" and going through a bad patch.

Luke Fitzgerald (26) may avoid a prison sentence for the thefts if he is deemed suitable for community service work.

The defendant had his case adjourned until April for a probation report to see if he is suitable to undertake community service work.

Balbriggan District Court heard that the defendant drove his vehicle into the forecourt of Applegreen Service Station southbound on the M1 at Lusk Junction.

He filled his car up with 38.39 worth of fuel, before entering the shop where he bought a bottle of cola but did not pay for the fuel.

Two weeks later, he drove his vehicle into the forecourt of the Applegreen Service Station south on the M1 and filled his car up with 52.42 worth of fuel and drove off without paying.

Both incidents were captured on CCTV and Fitzgerald was identified.

Two further charges of theft from the service stations were struck out as no evidence was produced in court.

Difficulties

The defendant, of Glasmore Park in Swords, pleaded guilty to the thefts of fuel from the service stations last June 20 and last July 3.

He had one previous conviction for criminal damage dating back to 2013, the court heard.

Defence barrister Annette Kealy said the defendant had moved to the UK five years ago after struggling to find work.

"He came back and forth and because of relationship difficulties he came home full-time to salvage it. When he came home he couldn't get work and went through a bad patch," said Ms Kealy, adding the defendant was "low on finances" at the time.

"He acted stupidly and very much regrets his actions and he is remorseful."

Ms Kealy said the defendant was now labouring, adding: "He has pleaded guilty with remorse and shame and has 120 in compensation."

Judge Dermot Dempsey ordered checks to see if the defendant was suitable for community service in lieu of jail and adjourned the case until April for finalisation.
US Presidential Candidate Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) speaks to Rotary Club members at the Nashua Country Club: AFP via Getty Images

Amy Klobuchar really wants New Hampshire to know that she is not a socialist, and she doesn't think it is a particularly good idea to nominate one as the Democratic nominee, either.

Just hours before voters in the Granite State were set to start casting ballots in the first in the nation primary, Ms Klobuchar emphasised that point as she mounts what could be her last real chance at turning her long-shot presidential candidacy into a winning prospect.

"We've had a lot of debates, as you know," Ms Klobuchar told a weekly Rotary Club meeting at a country club in Nashua on Monday, as attendees munched on cured meats and chicken cacciatore. "And ... I don't agree with everything people say on the debate stage."

She continued: "In fact, when we were asked during the last debate if we thought a socialist should lead the ticket, I was the only one who raised my hand and said, 'No, I don't think so.'"

It is a stance she has made clear in various ways for months now to largely deaf ears in the media. She is friends with the target of that question, self-described democratic socialist Bernie Sanders, but she is far from convinced about his vision for the future.

At just the last moment, though - just as Joe Biden's candidacy has appeared to fade and as moderate voters have grappled with the increasingly real prospect that they might nominate Pete Buttigieg, a 38-year-old candidate with zero state-wide or national experience - her prospects appear ascendant.

On Monday, New Hampshire woke up to good news for the Minnesota senator, who has emphasised her focus on policies she believes would help small business across the country. After months of relative obscurity and middling polls, two polls showed her overtaking Elizabeth Warren to occupy third place in the race behind Mr Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders.

In one, Ms Klobuchar came in third with 14 per cent support, to second-place Mr Buttigieg's 19 per cent. Mr Sanders, who is a senator from nearby Vermont, appears poised for a blowout in the state, with 27 per cent support in that poll.

Story continues

For Stepanie Wolf-Rosenblum, a 64-year-old physician who stopped by the Nashua event to hear Ms Klobuchar speak, the Minnesota senator is exactly why she would prescribe for the White House.

Mr Buttigieg has a bright future ahead of him, she said, but she thinks that the damage Mr Trump has done in the past three years necessitates a leader with experience in the Oval Office.

"We need somebody with experience. A range of experience," she said. "And we need someone with established relationships."

She continued: "She relates to people and their struggles, and their pain in a way that I don't think other candidates have."

Devra Cohen, a 63-year-old child care doctor, also praised Ms Klobuchar, but said that her decision to support the senator on Tuesday had nothing to do with Mr Biden's plummeting chances.

"I made my mind a few weeks ago," she said. And, she thinks Ms Klobuchar could restore dignity to the White House that has been sacrificed during Mr Trump's presidency: "I think she's a woman who has a moral core. We need somebody who has that."
A White Island volcano survivor has come out of a two month-long induced coma to discover her husband and teenage daughter were killed in the disaster.

Lisa Dallow, 48, survived the eruption which killed 21 on December 9, but her husband Gavin, 53, and daughter Zoe Hosking, 15, never made it off the New Zealand volcano alive.

Ms Dallow has been recovering in The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne with severe burns to 60 per cent of her body, unaware of the tragedy until waking up this month.

She has been left devastated by the heartbreaking news, a family spokeswoman said.

'It took a while for it to sink in and then she just kept saying she cant believe they had died.'

Lisa Dallow, 48, (centre) survived the eruption but her husband Gavin, 53, (left) and daughter Zoe Hosking, 15, (right) never made it off White Island alive on December 9

Gavin Dallow, 53, (left) and his step-daughter, 15-year-old Zoe Hosking, (right) died when the volcano erupted on White Island in December

Ms Dallow can only remember flashes of the horrifying day.

'She remembers it exploding and then telling everyone to run,' the family friend told Adelaide Now.

'She then recalled how rocks were falling everywhere and hitting her on the back.'

The family spokeswoman said Ms Dallow's last memory before blacking out was wondering when rescuers would arrive.

The disaster left her critically injured with burns to 60 per cent of her body.

After being rescued she was flown from New Zealand to Melbourne for treatment where she was put in an induced coma.

She already missed her husband's funeral last month when 600 people flocked to the Adelaide Oval to farewell the beloved lawyer.

Ms Dallow missed her husband's funeral as she was in an induced coma in hospital recovering from her injuries

Family are now hoping she will be able to attend a memorial for her daughter Zoe, which has been delayed.

Zoe died near the volcano and her body wasn't retrieved until a recovery operation several days after the eruption, while Mr Dallow died in a rescue helicopter.

Ms Dallow is no longer considered critical and faces six months of rehab, as well as having to return to the now-empty family home.

'She is burnt from head to toe all on her back. The only part of her body that is not bandaged is her face,' the family spokeswoman said.

Mr Dallow's funeral saw 600 people flock to the Adelaide Oval to farewell the beloved local lawyer

Mourners in the front row of the service with Ms Dallow conspicuously absent since she was in hospital

The family didn't know the trio planned a day trip to the active volcano from their Royal Caribbean cruise and were surprised as Mr Dallow was famously cautious.

21 of the 47 people on the island at the time of the eruption died, either there or in hospital.

Another 26 were injured by the deadly ash clouds, with many still in hospitals in Australia, New Zealand and the United States recovering from their burns and other injuries.
PENDLETON, Ore.  Areas wracked by flood waters and slides in northeastern Oregon last week are beginning to recover as flood waters recede and crews work to open up roadways again.

Authorities in Umatilla County say that one woman was found dead in the wake of the floods.

Neighbors reported 62-year-old Janet Tobkin Conley missing from a ranch near Pendleton last week. She reportedly told them that she wanted to stay in her home as the flood waters rose. Search and rescue teams and the Oregon Air National Guard began searching for Conley on Saturday.

"Conley was located on Sunday morning, on the Bar M Ranch property by searchers and neighbors from the area," the Umatilla County Sheriff's Office said. "It appears she was swept away by rushing water."

RELATED: Governor declares state of emergency as widespread flooding plays havoc in northeastern Oregon

According to the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) the National Guard used helicopters to rescue 54 people, 10 dogs, one cat and a rabbit during the height of those floods. Conley is still the only known fatality.

High waters and subsequent road damage forced ODOT to close Interstate 84 in both directions on Friday. Crews worked through the night and opened one lane in each direction by late Sunday night.

The agency said that it would continue to work on inspections and repairs, but there was "no timeline" for completely reopening all lanes of the highway, in addition to nearby roads and structures.

This week the weather is expected to be cool and dry in the region, with no new threat of floods for the time being.

Governor Kate Brown declared a state of emergency for Umatilla, Union and Wallowa counties on Friday, freeing up more resources to aid in recovery through the region.

ODOT said that a website had been set up for homeowners, renters and businesses to report damage to their property, which the agency said would be used by Umatilla County to request support from the state and federal government.
10.02.2020 LISTEN

Dear Mr. President,

Lots of people around the world say that you are such an effective and working president. I do not begrudge them at all. I have also worked with you for close to a decade of my professional life and I must confess you are arguably the best president Ghana has ever produced.

I have taken the liberty of writing this open letter on the Airbus corruption saga partly because of your urgency in referring the matter to the Office of the Special Prosecutor.

Mr. President, your prompt response on this matter is worth mentioning but Ghanaians will be keenly watching how this embarrassing situation plays out.

Mr. President, whereas I do not doubt the competence of our investigative authorities to get to the bottom of this massive international corruption, I respectfully submit and appeal to you to use your Executive powers under Article 278 to set up a commission of inquiry to look into this long, unwinding and unending issue of Airbus SE corruption scandal.

As a matter of fact, the nation needs answers, and rightly so many people are still in the process of configuring the facts surrounding this saga. The

the Commission of Inquiry will afford the good people of Ghana the opportunity to witness for themselves the gravity of the situation through the Television cameras.

It will also create a level playing field for the persons mentioned in the matter to openly tell their side of the story devoid of any partisan correlation.

Respectfully sir, everyone who is privy to the core details of the series of court documents published by the Department of Justice (DOJ) of the United States and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) of the United Kingdom cannot allege ignorance of the persons who have brought our nation into this international shame.

The incidence of bribery and corruption spearheaded by Airbus where the European Aviation giant paid millions of bribes to state officials of five countries including Ghana in exchange for lucrative contracts must certainly be our turning point in the fight against corruption.

Ghana is one of five countries in which the European aviation giant, Airbus, paid or attempted to pay millions of dollars in bribes in exchange for contracts, leading a court in Britain to slap a fine of 3 billion on the company.

In court documents and hearings, Airbus admitted five counts of failing to prevent bribery, using a network of secret agents to pay large-scale backhanders to officials in foreign countries, including Ghana, to land high-value contracts.

Mr. President, it is important for the names of the people involved in the Airbus scandal to be made public as was done in the Mabey and Johnson scandal in 2009.

We had long been fooled in the land of our birth by foreigners acting with the active connivance and support of some of our own citizens. And it is time to deal ruthlessly with this canker of bribery and corruption.

Mr. President, probing this grand Airbus SE corruption is not enough if the Attorney General does not have the teeth to dash at the throat of the culpable.

And it is time to deal ruthlessly with this canker of bribery and corruption.

Yours truly

Ernest Kofi Owusu Bempah
A woman who is eight-months pregnant is the first participant to be enrolled into a study evaluating the safety and acceptability of two different HIV prevention approaches when used during pregnancy -- the monthly dapivirine vaginal ring, which is currently under regulatory review, and a daily antiretroviral (ARV) pill called Truvada, an approach already approved in several countries and commonly referred to as PrEP, short for pre-exposure prophylaxis.

The study, known as DELIVER, or MTN-042, is the first of its kind of the dapivirine ring in pregnant women and will also provide much needed information about the safety of Truvada as PrEP in this population.

DELIVER is being led by the National Institutes of Health-funded Microbicide Trials Network (MTN) and will be conducted at four clinical research sites in Malawi, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. A similar study involving breastfeeding mothers and their babies, called B-PROTECTED (MTN-043), is expected to launch in the coming months at these same sites. Both are Phase IIIb clinical trials.

Globally, more than half of all people living with HIV are cisgender women, and in sub-Saharan Africa, they are particularly vulnerable, especially during pregnancy and breastfeeding, when they are up to four times more likely to acquire HIV. For many women, the amount of time they are pregnant, breastfeeding, or both, represents a significant portion of their reproductive years. Ultimately, the goal of the DELIVER and B-PROTECTED studies is to ensure that women can have safe and effective HIV prevention options they can use throughout their lives, including during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Both Truvada as PrEP and the dapivirine ring have been shown to reduce the risk of HIV in previous trials involving nonpregnant and non-breastfeeding women, with safety parameters indicating these methods were also well tolerated. Women who were pregnant or breastfeeding were excluded from participation in these trials, and those who enrolled had to use contraception, and, if they became pregnant, stop using study product. Such measures, which are typical in clinical trials, are primarily intended to protect the fetus and baby from potential harm but also mean that little or no information about the safety of a drug during pregnancy or breastfeeding will be available. In particular, during pregnancy, the body undergoes many changes that could affect how a drug gets absorbed and distributed such that the drug may not be as effective, or its use may be harmful to the mother, her pregnancy, fetus or baby.

Information thus far about the safety of Truvada as PrEP and the dapivirine ring during pregnancy is encouraging but still quite limited. While Truvada (which contains the ARVs emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) is approved as PrEP in many countries, some national programs have yet to decide whether to offer it to pregnant women. The vaginal ring, which contains the ARV dapivirine, is a new product developed by the nonprofit International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM). IPM is seeking the ring's regulatory approval. If approved, the ring would be the first biomedical prevention option designed specifically for women - and the first long-acting method, but its use would not be recommended (contraindicated) for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. Specific data on the ring's safety and use among pregnant and breastfeeding women is needed before regulators would consider expanded approval for these populations.

There is no question of the need for more definitive information about the safety of oral PrEP and the dapivirine vaginal ring during pregnancy and breastfeeding. National governments need it, clinicians need it, and, most of all, women need it so they can make informed decisions." Bonus Makanani, M.B.B.S., F.C.O.G. (SA), associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Malawi College of Medicine in Blantyre

Dr. Makanani is overseeing DELIVER at the Malawi site as well as leading the overall study with Katherine Bunge, M.P.H., M.D., an assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

"Mothers - and their babies - deserve and need to be protected from HIV with methods they know are safe to use when they are pregnant or breastfeeding," Dr. Bunge added. "With DELIVER, it's all about safety. The purpose of the study is to assess the safety of two HIV prevention products - the ring and PrEP - during pregnancy, but also to do so in the safest way possible."

DELIVER will enroll 750 healthy, HIV-negative pregnant women ages 18-40 who will be randomly assigned to use either the monthly dapivirine ring or Truvada as daily PrEP. Of the 750 women who will be enrolled, 500 will be assigned to use the vaginal ring. All participants will be asked to use their assigned product until the time they deliver. Women will be followed for an additional six weeks, and their babies will remain in the study for one year.

The study will be conducted in four phases, enrolling one group of women at a time, beginning with women who are late in pregnancy, with each successive group of women at an earlier stage of pregnancy and using their assigned product longer. Interim reviews of study data by an independent panel of experts will take place after completion of each phase and before determining whether it is safe to proceed to the next phase.

One reason for this design is to be attentive to the potential risks and complications that can occur at different times during pregnancy and fetal development, and to ensure that use of the dapivirine ring or oral PrEP does not pose additional risk or harm to either the mother or her fetus.

The first group will consist of 150 women late in pregnancy, who are 36-37 or more weeks (8-9 months) pregnant, when it is believed use of PrEP or the ring would pose the least risk. The second and third groups will each enroll 150 women who are 30-35 weeks (7-8 months) and 20-28 weeks (5-7 months) pregnant, respectively; while the fourth group will comprise 300 women who will be 12-19 weeks (3-5 months) into their pregnancies.

Sites will work closely with nearby hospitals and health centers where women are receiving their primary care and are likely to deliver.

"The facilities that are collaborating with us have been quite receptive to this study, and the communities are fully supportive as well," commented Lee Fairlie, MBChB, FCPeds (SA), MMED (Paeds), who is the DELIVER protocol co-chair and also leading the study at the Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute (Wits RHI) Shandukani Research Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, where the first participant was enrolled.

Pending in-country ethics and regulatory approvals, the study should to begin within the next few months at the three other sites: the College of Medicine-Johns Hopkins University Research Project in Blantyre, Malawi; Makerere University-Johns Hopkins Research Collaboration in Kampala, Uganda; and the University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences Clinical Trials Research Centre, Zengeza.

Participants in the study will be seen every two to four weeks and asked questions about their health and experience using the ring or PrEP and whether they are having any problems, such as headache, nausea, pain or discomfort. In addition, women will undergo physical exams, and laboratory tests will be conducted. All women will receive HIV risk-reduction counseling and testing, and, as needed, be referred for any medical or counseling services not provided through the study or at the site.

The dapivirine ring is made of flexible silicone that slowly releases dapivirine in the vagina during the month that it is worn. Women can insert the ring themselves and replace it with a new one each month. In 2016, two large clinical trials - ASPIRE, conducted by the MTN, and The Ring Study, led by IPM, found the ring was well-tolerated and helped reduce the risk of HIV by approximately 30 percent. In 2019, results of two open-label extension studies - HOPE for former ASPIRE participants and DREAM for former Ring Study participants -suggested higher adherence - indicating women want and will use the ring - and safety findings consistent with the Phase III trials. Together, the results also suggest a greater reduction in HIV risk (about 50 percent) than seen in the Phase III studies.

Information about the use of the dapivirine vaginal ring during pregnancy and breastfeeding is still very limited. Though animal studies of dapivirine indicate no concerns related to pregnancy or fetal development, the only human data is from about 250 women who became pregnant while participating in ASPIRE and The Ring Study and stopped use of the ring as soon as it was known they were pregnant. Notably, there were no significant differences in pregnancy and infant outcomes between women assigned to use the dapivirine ring and those assigned to use a placebo. These findings are important for understanding outcomes associated with exposure during conception and early pregnancy and support moving forward with DELIVER, which will provide information about the safety of the ring during the second and third trimesters.

Most of the information about the safety of Truvada during pregnancy is in women living with HIV who are using Truvada as part of an HIV treatment regimen, with multiple studies showing it is not harmful. It is based primarily on these studies that the World Health Organization recommends Truvada as PrEP during pregnancy and breastfeeding, while also acknowledging the need for more data about the safety in HIV-negative women. Observational studies in which women who have become pregnant while using Truvada as PrEP and continued its use have thus far seen no cause for concern, but key questions about safety and outcomes remain unanswered.

The IMPAACT 2009 study, which is being conducted at the same sites as the DELIVER and B-PROTECTED studies, is evaluating the safety and drug absorption and distribution of Truvada when used as PrEP by pregnant adolescent girls and young women ages 16-24. Researchers have completed the first phase, which looked at how drug is taken up in the body during pregnancy and during the post-partum period. Pending results, the study will proceed to the next phase, enrolling up to 350 participants who are no more than 32 weeks into their pregnancies. Overall results are anticipated in 2022.

Complementing DELIVER and B-PROTECTED are two additional studies in MTN's research portfolio. MTN-041 assessed community and stakeholder's attitudes and beliefs about the use of daily PrEP and the monthly dapivirine ring by pregnant and breastfeeding women in each of the trial site communities where DELIVER and B-PROTECTED will be conducted. MTN-041 included focus groups with male partners, mothers and mothers-in-law, and women who were currently or recently pregnant or breastfeeding, as well as in-depth interviews with community and traditional leaders and service providers. Results are anticipated to be reported later this year. The other study, MTN-042B, has nearly completed recording data close to 8,000 medical records medical charts of pregnancy outcomes and complications occurring within a two-month period at centers and hospitals where DELIVER/MTN-042 study participants are expected to deliver. This data, together with data collected as part of an extensive review of published reports and scientific literature, will help serve as a basis for comparison of pregnancy and infant outcomes in DELIVER.

DELIVER is expected to take up to four years to complete, with results anticipated in 2024.
A record 7,300 foreign criminals are living in freedom instead of being deported, Home Office figures reveal.

Killers, sex attackers, robbers and drug dealers are among the overseas offenders released after their prison sentences.

But even though the criminals are due to be thrown out of Britain, they are not detained. Many slip off the radar  potentially putting the public in danger. Others exploit human rights or asylum laws to avoid being sent home.

A record 7,300 foreign criminals are living in freedom instead of being deported, Home Office figures reveal (stock image)

The figures also revealed 2,087 foreign criminals  or five a day  were freed in the year to June.

Last night MPs and criminal justice experts accused the Home Office of overseeing a fiasco. In total, 7,341 foreign national offenders due to be deported were living in the UK  up 46 per cent from 5,021 at the same point in 2015.

Nearly a third  2,256  have been on the loose for more than five years. A further 2,895 have dodged being booted out for between 12 months and five years.

Of the 588 offenders freed between April and June last year, only 29 have been deported.

It comes after a series of scandals affecting the Home Office, including the fallout from the Windrush scandal, when Commonwealth citizens were wrongfully removed or deported from the UK. Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Christine Jardine said: The Conservatives approach to immigration is completely shambolic.

Their hostile environment policies have seen innocent people detained and deported, but they are failing to properly enforce the law and keep people safe.

Killers, sex attackers, robbers and drug dealers are among the overseas offenders released after their prison sentences (stock image)

Home Office failures like this are what have shattered public confidence in the immigration system. David Spencer, of the Centre For Crime Prevention think-tank, said: It is ridiculous that the Home Office is willing to put the public at risk by releasing known offenders on to the streets. It is a fiasco.

If a convicted criminal is facing deportation, they must be kept behind bars until their deportation is resolved.

It is time to put public safety before prison numbers and convict rights. Britain can deport EU criminals if they are sentenced to jail while non-EU criminals must have served at least one year behind bars.

Once a convict has served their sentence, they can only continue to be held if there is a good chance of imminent deportation.

Controversial guidelines say that those who have completed their sentences should be kept behind bars only if deporting them is a realistic prospect.

The Home Office said that since 2010 it had removed more than 51,000 foreign criminals.

A spokesman added: Our priority will always be to keep the British public safe ...

Where removal isnt immediately possible, electronic monitoring is already used to track foreign national offenders who have committed serious offences.
PROVIDENCIALES three banks have agreed to close the majority of their ATMs from 7pm to 7am every night to protect customers from being robbed at cashpoints.





The decision came after a recent spate of robberies in which the victims were forced to hand over their bank cards and threatened with violence if cash could not be retrieved.





The closure, which includes drive-through automated teller machines (ATMs) and in-bank machines, began on Wednesday (February 5).





It does not include cash machines in highly visible public places such as Providenciales International Airport and supermarkets, and ATMs on the other islands will not be affected.





Governor Nigel Dakin met with representatives from the three banks on Monday seeking their support in removing "a criminal methodology that has developed in TCI.





He released a statement on Wednesday in which he said the decision came as a result of the recently launched National Security Strategy.





"We needed more than just a policing response, he wrote, adding: "I am grateful for the banks co-operation on this.





"I stressed that in making the request I had the support of the premier, leader of the Opposition, police commissioner and the major employers across the tourist industry.





"A good example of national unity and a good example of where small changes in the private sector, in terms of all other changes we are making across the public sector, should make a difference.





The closure will not impact mechanical drop boxes for deposits but will remove, temporarily, the ability to deposit money through electronic ATMs between 7pm and 7am.





"This is not time limited, Dakin said, "it is subject to review dependent on a survey and recommendations around the security of individual ATMs conducted by the banks.





"The banks and Governors Office will remain in close touch during this period and we will collectively keep the public informed of changes.





The governor added: "We hope the banks use this opportunity to also look, and if necessary improve, the security around them.




Gov. J.B. Pritzker emphasized the need for meaningful ethics reform during his Jan. 29 State of the State address. If hes serious, this is the place to start: Free the legislative inspector general from interference and oversight by the very lawmakers the IG is supposed to investigate. Reconfigure the Legislative Ethics Commission to make it truly independent  to facilitate the IGs work, not impede it. That means no lawmaker should serve as a member. Its a baked-in conflict of interest.
INDIANAPOLIS, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) today announced that the analysis performed by Washington University School of Medicine in the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network Trials Unit (DIAN-TU) Study showed that solanezumab did not meet the primary endpoint. Additional analyses of secondary endpoints and biomarkers are ongoing by Washington University and Lilly. Results will be presented at the Advances in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Therapies (AAT-AD/PD) Focus Meeting in April of 2020. At this time, Lilly does not plan to pursue a submission for solanezumab in people with dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease (DIAD), also known as autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease, based on the result of the primary endpoint. This outcome does not impact the ongoing solanezumab Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer's (A4) Study.

"We are grateful to the courageous participants, their families, and clinical investigators for their dedication to the study. We look forward to the opportunity to analyze the data so that we may continue to propel the science forward and bring hope to these patients," said Daniel Skovronsky, M.D., Ph.D., Lilly's chief scientific officer and president of Lilly Research Labs. "Lilly is committed to finding treatments for patients and remains excited about the potential of our medicines under development in the area of Alzheimer's."

The DIAN-TU platform trial is a Phase 2/3 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. The goal is to test potential disease-modifying therapies in individuals at risk for or with dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease, which is caused by rare gene mutations. It began as a two-year biomarker target engagement study and evolved into a Phase 2/3 registration study with a primary cognitive outcome measure and a minimum of four years of treatment.

The primary efficacy analysis included 50 solanezumab and 40 placebo participants. The minimum four-year treatment period was completed by 36 solanezumab and 32 placebo participants. The initial study dose was 400mg every four weeks. A late amendment to the study increased the dose resulting in approximately 25 percent of the total doses being administered at the 1600mg level.

The DIAN-TU Study, which was established in 2010 and funded by Lilly, Roche and Genentech, National Institutes of Health, and other donors, is the first disease prevention trial to test investigational Alzheimer's disease compounds with different mechanisms of action from two pharmaceutical companies. The collaboration between Lilly, Washington University, Roche and Genentech combined research, resources, and expertise for a common goal of serving patients and their loved ones battling this devastating disease.

"Our first attempt to slow Alzheimer's before symptoms manifest is the result of the heroic commitment of patients and families at risk for dominantly inherited Alzheimer's, leading global academic researchers, the NIH, the Alzheimer's Association, philanthropic supporters, the DIAN-TU Pharma Consortium, government and regulatory colleagues, and pharmaceutical companies whose drugs are being tested," said principal investigator Randall J. Bateman, M.D., the Charles F. and Joanne Knight Distinguished Professor of Neurology and the director of DIAN-TU. "It wouldn't have been possible without all stakeholders coming together for the cause to stop Alzheimer's disease."

For more than 30 years, Lilly has been committed to bringing innovative Alzheimer's disease therapies and diagnostics to patients and continues to lead the field in research, which also includes identifying biomarkers to support early detection of the disease.

About Solanezumab

Solanezumab is an investigational anti-amyloid monoclonal antibody being studied in preclinical Alzheimer's disease in the Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer's (A4) Study. The A4 Study is a clinical trial testing solanezumab in older individuals who have evidence of amyloid in their brains, but do not show symptoms of memory impairment.

About the Primary Endpoint: DIAN-Multivariate Cognitive Endpoint (DIAN-MCE)

The DIAN-Multivariate Cognitive Endpoint (DIAN-MCE) includes the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised Logical Memory Delayed Recall, Cogstate International Shopping List Test, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised Digit Symbol Substitution Test, and the Mini Mental State Examination.

About Eli Lilly and Company

Lilly is a global health care leader that unites caring with discovery to create medicines that make life better for people around the world. We were founded more than a century ago by a man committed to creating high-quality medicines that meet real needs, and today we remain true to that mission in all our work. Across the globe, Lilly employees work to discover and bring life-changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to communities through philanthropy and volunteerism. To learn more about Lilly, please visit us at lilly.com and lilly.com/newsroom. P-LLY

This press release contains forward-looking statements (as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) about solanezumab as a potential treatment for patients with people with dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease, and reflects Lilly's current beliefs. As with any pharmaceutical product, there are substantial risks and uncertainties in the process of drug development and commercialization. Among other things, there is no guarantee that future study results will be consistent with study findings to date. For further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, see Lilly's Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, Lilly undertakes no duty to update forward-looking statements to reflect events after the date of this release.

SOURCE Eli Lilly and Company

Related Links

http://www.lilly.com


BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar on Monday said that he wants to bring a welcome motion in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly session on VD Savarkar.

Speaking to media, Mungantiwar said: "These days it has been observed that a lot of wrong things are being said by various leaders about Veer Savarkar. To give due respect to the freedom fighter, we demand that in the upcoming session of the Maharashtra assembly, a welcome motion regarding this to be tabled for discussion in the House."

"We want to see the Shiv Sena, which is in power, supports this motion or not. Shiv Sena is the party which had praised Savarkar many times but after forming the government in Maharashtra, they are silent over it," he said.

"We also want to see whether they love Veer Savarkar or the Chief Minister's chair," he added.

The Congress opposed this demand saying why did the BJP bring up this motion now; they could have done it earlier when they were in power for five years in the state.

Congress Minister Vijay Wadettiwar said: "BJP is doing this deliberately to create a problem for the Shiv Sena. If they were so serious, they would have brought this motion when they were in power. This is nothing but to politicise the whole issue."

Shiv Sena leader Sunil Prabhu said: "First the BJP has to honour Veer Savarkar with the Bharat Ratna. Only then they should talk about him. They are playing politics over it. Our Hindutva stand is known to all. First, they should bring a welcome motion in the Lok Sabha on Veer Savarkar.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Yes, things will get nuttier, because now he has impunity.

In this Fox News clip pulled by Aaron Rupar of Vox.com, impeached and unhinged president Donald Trump blurts out that he'd like to re-write American criminal law on drug dealing so that it resembles authoritarian systems like China, where people identified as drug dealers are executed.

"Countries with a powerful death penalty, with a fair but quick trial, they have very little if any drug problem. That includes China."

Here's the clip.

Trump suggests he'd like to model American criminal law on drug dealing on authoritarian systems like China, where dealers are executed: "Countries with a powerful death penalty, with a fair but quick trial, they have very little if any drug problem. That includes China." pic.twitter.com/9WprysjJAX  Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 10, 2020

And from someone who knows about authoritarian regimes

This is the classic authoritarian line. Give the murderers badges and give the thieves cabinet posts, then say crime is solved. And a fair trial in a dictatorship is an oxymoron. https://t.co/wrxmiBkLI0  Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) February 10, 2020

More reactions from Twitter.

Trump speaks on how he would like to have more people killed fairly and quickly but he is not sure America is ready for that yet. Maybe in 2021? https://t.co/mDf9GS0Zx6  Connor Ratliff (@connorratliff) February 10, 2020

Seems like there was a time when Republicans were *against* brutal authoritarian communist dictatorships. Guess it was just envy all along. https://t.co/MNLttrAn46  David Roberts (@drvox) February 10, 2020

Trump lauds more efficient criminal justice system in China. https://t.co/C01FhJ7nYm  Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) February 10, 2020
The main mirror for the James Webb Space Telescope is tested in the giant clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is the nation's largest organization of space scientists and engineers, according to the agency's website . With a main campus just northeast of Washington, D.C., in Greenbelt, Maryland, GSFC has managed or played key roles in hundreds of NASA missions, including the Hubble Space Telescope , Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter , Landsat satellites, the Parker Solar Probe and the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) network.

GSFC also manages several installations in other locations, including:

The Wallops Flight Facility on Viriginia's eastern shore  a launching site for suborbital rockets, research balloons and research aircraft.

The Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City  a hub for climate research.

The Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation Facility, in Fairmont, West Virginia, where computer programs for space missions are tested.

The White Sands Complex in New Mexico  one of the ground stations for the TDRS network.

A visitor center at the Greenbelt campus welcomes the public and operates educational programs, and a visitor center at Wallops provides viewing for launches as well as educational exhibits and programs.

A new research center for the space age

GSFC was founded shortly after NASA itself, in late 1958. As Alfred Rosenthal explained in his 1968 publication " Venture Into Space: Early Years of Goddard Space Flight Center " (NASA, 1968), GSFC provided an institutional base for experts from military projects, such as the Navy's Vanguard satellite program and the Army's work on space communication, who were being transferred to the new civilian space agency. The Center was also assigned a long list of other duties, including theoretical research, development of instruments to fly in space, interpretation of scientific results from flight programs and administration of contracts.

In contrast to some other NASA centers, such as Glenn and Langley, which were based on established aeronautical facilities, Goddard was created specifically to work on space research.

Related: Read about Goddard's 60th anniversary celebration

Construction of the new center began in 1959 on land formerly owned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In March 1961, the center was formally dedicated and named in honor of American rocket pioneer Robert H. Goddard , 35 years after he launched the first successful liquid-fueled rocket in Auburn, Massachusetts.

Today, according to the Center's website, the main Goddard campus comprises more than 34 buildings on a campus occupying 1,270 acres. All the Goddard installations, combined, employ more than 10,000 people, the Center stated in its 2018 annual report .

An aerial view of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. (Image credit: NASA Goddard/Bill Hrybyk)

Notable early achievements

A NASA chronology of Goddard missions lists 104 launches in its first decade (1959-1969), including 40 Explorer satellites to measure the space environment surrounding Earth, 10 TIROS weather satellites, five Orbiting Solar Observatories, three Syncom communications satellites, five Orbiting Geophysical Observatories, eight ESSA cloud-photography satellites, two Orbiting Astronomical Observatories and four Applications Technology Satellites. A variety of technical problems affected some of these early missions, but the majority were successful.

Goddard's early Explorer satellites ushered in the new field of space physics by measuring Earth's magnetic field, and showing how Earth's magnetic field deflects most solar wind particles around the Earth while trapping some particles in the Van Allen radiation belts .

Related: Read more about the Delta family

Teams at Goddard managed the 1960 launch of the very first communications satellite  a huge mylar balloon called Echo that reflected radio transmissions back to Earth, as well as the first international space satellites: Ariel, in collaboration with the United Kingdom, and Alouette I, with Canada, both in 1962. Ariel and Alouette pioneered a "no exchange of funds" type of partnership, in which the partners contribute services and equipment to a project, but none of the partners pays any of the others with money. This arrangement is used to this day in projects such as the International Space Station .

Goddard engineers organized the creation of the Delta rocket as a vehicle to launch small to medium-size payloads into Earth orbit, and used it for many of Goddard's early launches. Among many later variations on the design, the Delta II became an "industry workhorse," with 155 launches from 1989 to 2018, according to Boeing .

A US Air Force Delta II booster with a GPS satellite. Goddard engineers developed the Delta rocket that was used for numerous launches. (Image credit: U.S. AIr Force photo)

The key to it all: communication

A satellite in low Earth orbit spends only a few minutes within range of any one tracking station, so many stations are needed to keep in touch with a craft throughout one orbit. As NASA historian Lane Wallace explains in her book " Dreams, Hopes, Realties ," (NASA, 1999), over the decades, Goddard has organized a series of worldwide networks of antennas on Earth to communicate with spacecraft in orbit, setting an example of international cooperation on technical projects.

Goddard's Minitrack network, created for the very first satellites starting in the 1950s, led to the Mercury Space Flight Network of the 1960s, with seven ground stations and two ships at sea communicating with solo astronauts in Mercury capsules. Communication between ground stations depended on telephone lines, which could fail. So, during Project Gemini , which sent two-man crews into orbit in the mid-1960s, Goddard maintained a backup mission-control center that could take over from Houston if necessary.

To handle the big data downloads from the first robotic space observatories, Goddard set up a new Satellite Tracking and Data Acquisition Network (STADAN), with antenna dishes up to 85 feet (25 meters) wide in 21 locations around the world. Goddard's Applications Technology satellites (ATS) demonstrated the concept of using satellites in orbit to relay messages between spacecraft and Earth stations. ATS led to TDRSS, the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System, which now includes 10 satellites in geosynchronous orbits providing near-continuous communication with the International Space Station, the Hubble Space Telescope and other spacecraft.

Goddard also manages the Near Earth Network of more than 15 worldwide commercially operated ground stations for communication with orbiting spacecraft, and the NASA Communications Network (NASCOM), which sends data between control centers. According to its 2018 annual report, Goddard is working on space communications using laser light, which can transmit more data per second than radio waves.

Goddard's Networks Integration Center, pictured here, leads all coordination for space-to-ground communications support for the International Space Station and ensures complete communications coverage through NASA's Space Network. (Image credit: NASA Goddard)

Earth and space in depth

Starting in the 1970s, Goddard's work grew to include deeper views into space and closer examination of Earth using robotic spacecraft.

Orbiting solar observatories watched the sun in ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma-ray light that can't be seen from observatories on the ground because those wavelengths are blocked by Earth's atmosphere . The Solar Max satellite observed solar flares and was also repaired by space shuttle astronauts in 1984, paving the way for future on-orbit servicing of the Hubble Space Telescope.

The Uhuru satellite, developed at Goddard, launched in 1970 and discovered Cygnus X-1, the first observed object thought to contain a black hole. Uhurus project manager at Goddard, Marjorie Townsend, was the first woman to manage a NASA satellite project.

Other Goddard satellites sensitive to X-rays and gamma-rays established the link between galaxies and mysterious powerful sources of light called quasars. The satellites also analyzed the gas in clusters of galaxies, found new pulsars and discovered gamma-ray bursts .

Another of Goddard's accomplishments was the International Ultraviolet Explorer satellite, which launched in 1978 and featured a new type of stabilizing gyroscope that was later used on the Hubble Space Telescope. The satellite also demonstrated a new "transparent" software system, allowing guest astronomers to use the telescope.

The Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite, launched in 1989, made the first precise measurement of the cosmic microwave background , also known as the afterglow from the Big Bang. GSFC scientist John Mather shared the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics for the project.

Early weather satellites flew in relatively low Earth orbits, able to photograph a particular geographical region only when they passed over it. In 1975, GSFC developed the first Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), which flew in a high orbit that kept it almost stationary above the longitude of North America. The GOES series has progressed through several generations of improvements, leading to the GOES-16 and GOES-17 satellites monitoring the Western Hemisphere today. The GOES satellites, once built and launched, are turned over to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for daily operation.

An early Goddard geosynchronous satellite, ATS-3 , took the first space-based color photograph of an entire hemisphere of Earth in 1967. And an instrument on Goddard's Nimbus 7 confirmed the existence of an ozone "hole" over Antarctica in 1985.

Recent past, present and future

Goddard's main campus has a number of specialized test and manufacturing facilities , including:

A centrifuge than can subject 5,000 lbs. (2,268 kilograms) of spacecraft hardware to 30 g.

A reverberation chamber that can generate up to 150 decibels of sound, subjecting hardware to the noise levels of a rocket launch.

A Space Environment Chamber that can achieve a wide range of vacuum and thermal conditions.

The Spacecraft Magnetic Test Facility, with a magnetic coil system that can cancel Earth's magnetic field.

The High Bay Clean Room, suitable for final assembly of a spacecraft, the largest of its kind in the world, with a volume of 1.3 million cubic feet (36,800 cubic meters).

Goddard has a hand in more than 50 current space flight projects. Among them, the Hubble Space Telescope and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter both have their mission control centers on the GSFC campus. Two currently operating Mars probes, Curiosity and MAVEN , carry Goddard-developed science instruments. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) , which has been searching for planets around other stars since 2018, is under Goddard management.

Goddard missions being prepared for launch include Landsat 9, the latest in a series of Earth-monitoring satellites going back to 1972; the James Webb Space Telescope (in collaboration with the European and Canadian space agencies); Lucy , a mission to explore the Trojan asteroids that accompany Jupiter; and WFIRST (Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope) , which should image large areas of the sky 1,000 times faster than Hubble.

If you've seen a particularly beautiful animation of how a solar eclipse works or what makes the moon's phases, it may well have come from Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio , which produces still images and animations based on data collected by NASA missions.

Wallops: Small and adventurous

Relatively small rockets, called sounding rockets, fly up to altitudes from 62 to 870 miles (100 to 1400 kilometers) from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, in Wallops Island, Virginia. Wallops originated as a missile test facility at the end of World War II and was put under Goddard management in 1981.

Sounding rockets provide an economical way to test space instruments and study regions of space that cannot be reached with aircraft, balloons or orbiting spacecraft. By the end of 2018, Wallops had hosted over 116,000 launches, according to Goddard's 2018 annual report.

Adjacent to NASA's operations on Wallops Island is the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), where Antares rockets have launched Cygnus cargo modules to the International Space Station. MARS is operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia.

A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket with a Cygnus spacecraft, as seen at sunrise on April 16, 2019, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. (Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)

GISS: Climate research in New York City

The Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) was established in NASA's early days under the directorship of physicist Robert Jastrow, who had been doing theoretical work for the Naval Research Laboratory's Vanguard satellite program in the 1950s.

When the Vanguard team was incorporated into the new NASA Goddard center, Jastrow convinced NASA managers that the theoretical research division should be located near major research universities to attract academic researchers. In 1961, GISS began operating in offices in New York City near Columbia University.

In the late 1960s, GISS moved a few blocks to the building it now occupies. This building later became famous because its ground floor includes Tom's Restaurant, the regular hangout of characters on the "Seinfeld" TV series.

During its early years, under Jastrow, the institute concentrated on astrophysics and planetary science. Under James Hansen, director from 1981 to 2013, and his successor, Gavin Schmidt, GISS research has turned to climate change and other global aspects of Earth's environment.

Additional resources:
Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday, granted bail to a former Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, on the same terms and conditions earlier granted by Justice Idris Kutigi of the FCT High Court in Gwagwalada.

Mr Kutigi had on January 30 granted a N50 million bail to Mr Adoke.

The judge also ordered Mr Adoke to provide one surety who must be resident in Abuja and who must have a landed property in the capital territory.

The second defendant, Aliyu Abubakar, also got bail on the same condition.

The defendants were also ordered to submit their international passports to the court and to sign an undertaking to always attend trial.

The court warned that any attempt to jump bail would result in the revocation of their bail.

Re-arraignment

The EFCC, on Monday, re-arraigned Mr Adoke and Mr Abubakar before the Federal High Court in Abuja on fresh money laundering charges.

They were arraigned on seven charges, Mr Adoke had six counts while Mr Abubakar had one count.

The duo are also standing trial alongside others at the FCT High Court in Gwagwalada in Abuja, in respect of the Malabu Oil scam.

The two defendants pleaded not guilty to the seven-count charge when read to them on Monday.

According to the anti-graft agency, the duo, in September 2013, made payments (in naira and dollar), of about N900 million into the former AGFs accounts.

This is in violation of various provisions of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, EFCC said.

Ruling

Ruling on the bail application earlier argued by lawyers in the matter, Justice Nyako said she has no more conditions to add.

She said, I take the same conditions as the FCT high court.

The judge noted that Even though the case filed before Justice Idris Kutigi, and the one here is different we are both courts of coordinate jurisdiction.

She said she cannot be sitting as an appellate court over a court of coordinate jurisdiction.

She ordered the EFCC to deposit Mr Adokes passport before the FCT high court in Gwagwalada.

After the ruling, the court adjourned to April 1 and 2, for the commencement of trial.

BACKSTORY

The EFCC had been pursuing Mr Adoke for his alleged role in the controversial transfer of Nigerias OPL 245 oil field.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how almost half of the $1.1 billion paid by Shell and Eni in a controversial OPL 245 deal negotiated by Mr Adoke and some other officials of the Goodluck Jonathan administration ended in accounts controlled by Mr Abubakar.

The oil multinationals paid the money through the Nigerian government to Malabu, a company then controlled by Dan Etete, a former petroleum minister who the EFCC said is on the run.

Malabu, which was illegally awarded OPL 245 when Mr Etete was a minister in 1998, then transferred about half of the money into accounts partly controlled by Mr Abubakar.

The EFCC alleges that Mr Abubakar distributed the money to some top officials of Shell and Eni as well as some officials of the Jonathan administration.

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The EFCC also alleges that Mr Adoke received N300 million from Mr Abubakar in 2013. The anti-graft agency alleges that that was his share of the Malabu windfall.

Shell, Eni, and their officials are already being prosecuted in Italy for the scandal.

Mr Adoke has denied any wrongdoing and said the actions taken in respect of the transfer of the bloc were based on the instructions of former President Goodluck Jonathan and in the best interest of Nigeria.

In 2015, the former minister went on a self-imposed exile outside Nigeria. He eventually travelled to Dubai where he was arrested by Interpol at the prompting of the EFCC.

Upon his return to Nigeria, he was arrested at the Abuja airport and handed over to the EFCC on December 19.
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Linkedin Aman Rochman (The Jakarta Post) Malang  Mon, February 10, 2020 17:30 700 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2063a6bed 1 National Posyandu,health,disability,disabled,people-with-disabilities,East-Java,Malang,healthcare,healthcare-services Free

Village officials, healthcare providers and disability advocates have teamed up to create East Javas first integrated health services post (Posyandu), to help people with disabilities in Bedali village, Lawang district, Malang.

The Posyandu - whose services include health examinations and medication, physiotherapy, counseling, parenting, arts and crafts training, as well as shuttle services - has been available at the Bedali village hall every first Thursday of the month since December, 2019, operating from 8 a.m. to noon.

These [services] are all free, Posyandu head Ken Karta said at the posts opening day last week, adding that the facility had 20 staff of different backgrounds, including psychiatrists, general practitioners, midwives and volunteers.

Ken said the Posyandu was established because of the difficulty that people with disabilities in the area faced in accessing health services at community health centers (Puskesmas) and hospitals.

He said disabled children and adults paid an average of Rp 200,000 (US$14.63) per medical examination, not including transportation costs, which could be very burdensome for low-income families.

These hurdles led the village administration to take the initiative to work together with a number of related institutions - including disability advocacy group Lingkar Sosial (Linksos) Indonesia, the Lawang district Puskesmas, and the Radjiman Wediodiningrat psychiatric hospital - to establish the Posyandu.

The Puskesmas helped provide the general practitioners, midwives and Posyandu volunteers; the psychiatric hospital contributed psychiatrists; while Lingksos provided business and marketing training. The village administration, meanwhile, lent its hall to be used as a venue for the Posyandu and also provided ambulances to offer shuttle services.

Mustajab, a 39-year-old Bedali resident, who has a daughter with a disability, said that he felt lucky that the Posyandu was there and was located only 500 meters from his house. He said he previously had to go to the Lawang psychiatric hospital to get health services for his daughter.

Its 9 kilometers from home. I spend about Rp 150,000 per visit, he said.

Siti Kotimah, 44, who also has a daughter with a disability, echoed Mustajabs sentiments. She said the Posyandu was even better than the hospital because she could meet with friends there to share knowledge. It also offered training and shuttle facilities.

Thats what makes it different from Lawang psychiatric hospital, she said.

To access the services at the Posyandu, residents only need to fill in the waiting list form, have their weight and waist measured, and their blood pressure checked. A staff member will then ask about their health conditions over the past month, then a physician will examine them and provide medical advice, as well prescribe medications before they are finally examined by a psychiatrist.

The health services are preceded by group exercise and play sessions and the Posyandu also provides training for people with disabilities to make floor mats.

Ken said that since the Posyandu opened last December, the number of disabled people registered in the villages social welfare information system next generation (SIKS-NG) had increased tenfold to 90 from nine.

Many were not registered in the SIKS-NG previously because their families were ashamed, he said. Some had even been excluded from their family cards [KK] for the same reason, making them ineligible for health services and insurance provided by the government.

Thats why we proactively come to them. At the Posyandu everyone can get the same services regardless of their residence status, he said, adding that Posyandu volunteers would help them get registered in the SIKS-NG and obtain ID cards.

Ken said that Posyandu for people with disabilities could easily be established in other villages and subdistricts, as long as the respective local officials had the will to do so.
LONDON, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CRU, leading provider of cable news, analysis and consulting is to hold its flagship CRU Wire & Cable Conference in London 8-10 June 2020.

London Calling - CRU Wire Cable Conference (PRNewsfoto/CRU)

This year's conference includes industry thought leaders addressing some of the most pressing issues facing the global wire and cable industry. The industry keynote presentation will be given by Professor Anand Menon, Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at Kings College London; on the economic impact of the UK government's Brexit proposals, followed by a Q&A with a CRU expert on the implications for wire and cable producers and consumers. Professor Menon, as director of The UK in a Changing Europe an award-winning academic think tank on Brexit, has been one of the UK's leading experts on Brexit developments.

An energy presentation will be given by Antonella Battaglini on the role of the global cable making industry in enabling wind and solar grid integration. Antonella is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Renewables Grid Initiative (RGI), a unique collaboration of European NGOs and TSOs that promotes transparent, environmentally sensitive grid development to enable the further steady growth of renewable energy and the energy transition. She will be joined by Mike Lee, Head of Asset Management, Transmission Investment will provide an operator's perspective on the challenges being faced in the evolution of Offshore Transmission in the UK.

Professor Sir David Payne will discuss communication and explore the future of fibre technology. A world class pioneer of technology whose work has had a great impact on telecommunications and laser technology, Sir David is Chairman Emeritus, The Marconi Society and Director of the Optoelectronics Research Centre, University of Southampton.

They will be joined by on the agenda by senior representatives of leading wire and cable manufacturers, speakers that have already confirmed include Pratik Agarwal, Managing Director, Sterlite Power Transmission Company; Axel Schlumberger, Senior Vice President, Southwire and Richard Antic, Vice President Business Development, Champlain Cable.

Now in its 14th year, this important industry forum attracts over 200 senior executives, including the leading cable producers, and wider the insulated wire and cable supply chain.

"With the event set to take place in London for the first time in its history, so close to CRU's headquarters, the conference this will offer the best opportunity to gain face time with these industry leaders and CRU experts from across our wire, fibre, copper, aluminium and economics teams," commented Nicola Coslett, CEO, CRU Events.

The conference also offers the perspectives of cable makers from around the world, alongside distributors and other industry leaders on the challenges and opportunities faced in specific regions or specialty products markets. Other companies confirmed on the agenda include Southwire, Champlain Energy, El Sewedy Electric Power System Projects and Sterlite Power Transmission Company.

The CRU Wire & Cable Conference will be held on 8-10 June 2020 at Leonardo Royal London St Paul's, London, England. For further information please visit http://bit.ly/36ZytFj

Read more about CRU: http://bit.ly/About_CRU

About CRU

CRU offers unrivalled business intelligence on the global metals, mining and fertilizer industries through market analysis, price assessments, consultancy and events.

Since our foundation by Robert Perlman in 1969, we have consistently invested in primary research and robust methodologies, and developed expert teams in key locations worldwide, including in hard-to-reach markets such as China.

CRU employs over 280 experts and has more than 11 offices around the world, in Europe, the Americas, China, Asia and Australia  our office in Beijing opened in 2004 and Singapore in 2018.

When facing critical business decisions, you can rely on our first-hand knowledge to give you a complete view of a commodity market. And you can engage with our experts directly, for the full picture and a personalised response.

CRU  big enough to deliver a high-quality service, small enough to care about all of our customers.

SOURCE CRU
China's FAW Group firm automaker Haima Automobile also cancelled its scheduled press conference as top leadership team of the company could not make it to India.

Greater Noida: The Indian automotive industry is apprehensive about coronavirus outbreak disrupting component supplies from China, but a clear picture will emerge only in the next few days after factories in the country reopen, SIAM said on Monday.

Auto industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said it will be collecting information and data from its members in the next couple of days to understand if there could be disruptions, and to what extent, if there are any.

"It is still slightly early to comment on it. The only thing I can say is that there are apprehensions and everybody is waiting to see as today is the day when China (market) is supposed to open up post their Chinese New Year holidays," SIAM Director General Rajesh Menon told reporters here.

He was responding to query on whether the coronavirus outbreak would disrupt supplies from China and, if that happens, how it could affect transition to BS-VI emission norm from BS-IV from April 1.

"We will get clarity on the exact nature of impact and the possible implications. What is clear is that there are apprehensions. To what extent the problem will be, we will come to know in the next few days," Menon reiterated.

When asked if there would be a need for SIAM to make a representation to the Supreme Court to extend the BS-VI transition deadline in the wake of possible supply disruption due to coronavirus, Menon said, "It is too early (to comment on that). We have to wait from our member companies to decide on that. In two or three days we will have a better idea."

He said the supply chain in the auto industry ranges from Tier I to Tier II and III suppliers, and information has to come from across.

"We are in touch with member companies and we will see what needs to be done once we have more data in hand," Menon said.

He further said it was too early to assess how much of components come from China would see disruption.

When asked about the problem posed by coronavirus, Maruti Suzuki Managing Director and CEO Kenichi Ayukawa told PTI, "Nobody knows at this moment."

He further said it was unclear at the moment as to how long the outbreak would last and what sort of impact it could have.

"Some people say it is very serious and some people say maybe three months later it will be fine," Ayukawa said, adding that the situation needed to be assessed.

Last week, Tata Motors CEO and Managing Director Guenter Butschek had said that clarity about supply constraints of components from China will only emerge when workers in the coronavirus-hit country rejoin work (expected from Monday).

The company, which imports certain components for both Nexon EV and other traditional models from China, said if the workers don't join work next week, then it could lead to supply issues for not only for Tata Motors but for the entire global automobile industry.

The coronavirus outbreak and subsequent advisories on Chinese travelling into India has had an impact on the attendance of officials from participating companies at the Auto Expo here.

China's largest SUV manufacturer Great Wall Motor (GWM), which announced USD 1 billion in India, stated that its leadership team from the headquarter could not make it here due to the outbreak and the subsequent travel advisories.

China's FAW Group firm automaker Haima Automobile also cancelled its scheduled press conference as top leadership team of the company could not make it to India.
Bill Gates is no longer the world's richest man. He's currently ranked the worlds second-richest man with a $118 billion fortune. That, in case you can't figure out, is still a ton of money, plenty to afford a luxury Superyacht.

Bill Gates, 64, is just an ordinary holidaymaker who has not previously owned a yacht. He used to rent them out whenever he wanted to get a breath of fresh air on the sea. But he now decided to invest in a one-of-a-kind Yacht that's worth more any of us can even imagine.



Here are a few things to know about Bill Gates' new purchase, the Aqua Ship -



Liquid Hydrogen As Fuel



The Aqua ship is fitted with two 28-tonne vacuum-sealed tanks that are cooled to extremely cold temperatures. We're talking temperatures around -423F (-253C) and filled with liquid hydrogen. It's the only fuel that's used to power the ship.

 Sinot

The fuel is capable of generating enough power to put the two one-megawatt motors and propellors to work. The on-board fuel cells will be used to combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity. The best part? Well, the byproduct of the process is H2O, which is water. So, the Superyacht is technically just emitting water. Talk about luxury sea travel without the usual environmental guilt!

Did I Tell You It's A Luxury Vessel?



The Aqua ship was first showcased last year at the Monaco Yacht Show by the Dutch design firm Sinot. It's arguably one of the best-looking yachts that I've ever seen and it's packed with truly innovative features.

The yacht has five decks in total and each of them comes fitted with all the trappings of wealth that you can imagine. It's got space for 14 guests and 31 crew members, although it looks like it can accommodate a lot more people than that.

 Sinot

Sinot is using a gel-based fire bowl to keep passengers warm outside instead of burning coal or wood. That makes complete sense otherwise what would be the point of owning something that's using alternative fuel to reduce emissions, right?

I suggest you watch this video below to get an understanding of exactly how luxurious this thing really is.







It features an infinity pool, a helipad, a spa and a gym in addition to the five decks that I mentioned. There's also a room called the "Aqua Room" which is a cabin surrounded by glass to give you a stunning view.



All the amenities aside, the Aqua ship isn't a fast mover. It has a top-speed of 17-knot which is roughly around 30kmph speed. However, it can travel 3,750 miles which is enough to cover the distance from London to New York before needing to stop for refueling. It's also a good time to point out that the Aqua will use diesel as back up due to the lack of hydrogen refueling stations.



Investing In Alternative Fuels



The Aqua Ship is a 112-meter long luxury vessel that's completely powered liquid hydrogen. So it' safe to say that this investment goes hand-in-hand with Gates' long-standing interest in alternative fuels. Bill Gates is someone who's very enthusiastic about new technology that could tackle emissions from transportation and beyond.

 Sinot

In case you don't know, the emissions from the industry and transport make up for over 75-percent of the world's carbon footprint and it's highly important that we extend any help to bring down that number. Bill Gates is just doing his part, which often involves a lot of money.

This, by the way, isn't the only investment he's made on his quest to find alternative fuels. He is also an investor in Heliogen, a startup that aims to turn sunlight into a fossil furl replacement. It's the first company in the world to concentrate sunlight to reach temperatures that are high enough to power heavy machinery without carbon emissions.



Pricing & Availability



The Aqua ship is truly one of the luxurious transport that I've ever seen. It's both beautiful and functional at the same time, with hardly anything to complain about. Speaking about the yacht, the marine designer Sander Sinot said, "For the development of Aqua we took inspiration from the lifestyle of a discerning, forward-looking owner, the fluid versatility of water and cutting-edge technology, to combine this in a superyacht with truly innovative features."



Aqua isn't expected to hit the shores until 2024 and Bill Gates is the first one to order the vessel that's estimated to cost a whopping $644m i.e roughly Rs 4,600 crores. Well, Bill Gates used to rent out Yachts worth $300m, so if anything this is only going to save him money in the long run. Oh, and it's cheaper what India is spending on the custom jets for the President and the PM. Just saying.

Check out the Aqua here.
STAMFORD  Campaign volunteers, supporters and staff this weekend spoke with likely voters in Stamford ahead of Connecticuts primary election on April 28.

Mike Bloombergs Campaign in Connecticut on Sunday held a volunteer canvassing event with local supporters to drum up support for the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, according to a release.

We are trying to raise awareness and tell those who might not know that Mike is a visionary and a great leader who will unite and rebuild our country, said Melanie Blandon, a Stamford resident and campaign supporter who organized Sundays event at Latham Park, in the release. Mikes campaign has made it so that volunteers like myself and Dana Neuman could get involved and bring out all of the supporters for his run for the presidency.

Blandon was among the supporters who attended the campaigns first volunteer event in Greenwich, which canvassed Greenwich Avenue to drum up support for the candidate.

The campaigns Connecticut state director, Brett Broesder, also spoke with the group of volunteers about how important this election is to the future of our country.

We need to beat Donald Trump and Mikes the guy to do it, said Broesder.

After Blandon and Broesder addressed the group, volunteers canvassed downtown Stamford holding lawn signs and clipboards, used to sign people up for getting involved with the campaign.

The event was one of more than 1,250 events happening across the country over the weekend as part of a nationwide Weekend of Action.
Brands That Hire Influencers For Inauthentic Insta-Tourism Do Disservice to Customers

Today's hyper fluidity of travel, connectivity and social media sharing make living the millennial dream of international and exotic travel experiences an easy reality. Unfortunately, a deeply troubling facet has emerged from that world that I can no longer be silent about - called Insta-tourism. And yes, I can legitimately complain about this, because I myself am a millennial.

Let me explain. Recently, a friend and I embarked on a trip to Southeast Asia, and in planning the trip, we did what most millennials these days do - we built our itinerary by hunting for the most popular geotags and added them to our extensively-tabbed and color-coded Google Doc. Full disclosure: the Google Doc had nothing to do with being millennials; it was because of my extremely detailed personality.

With our AirBnB's booked, my new shiny Away luggage packed, we were ready to depart for Singapore and Bali. As quintessential millennials, we preplanned Bali and Singapore clothes, figured out our Sim card situation to stay connected, and purchased travel necessities from the latest in direct-to-consumer brands.

But then, Day One of vacation, sitting drinks-in-hand poolside and beachside at the popular beach club Potato Head, it began. I noticed hordes of people snapping shots in the same pose for more than an hour until the perfect photo was captured. It became immediately clear that these types of destinations actually tailor their environment and atmosphere to appeal to social sharing. I began asking myself "Why do people do this? What is the appeal?" I quickly found myself not wanting to be that person.

A few days later, we visited Lempuyang Temple - also known as the Gates of Heaven, which certainly lives up to its name. However, what you don't see from all of your friend's social posts is two things - the less glamorous side of a 230am wake up call to get there, and more jarring, our realization that most of the amazing Instagram photos and posts at the temple are actually faked using a mirror held beneath the glass to mimic the appearance of water beneath the stone. The method is even chronicled in an article in The Telegraph.



From that point on, we simply couldn't take it anymore. Since we arrived in Bali, it became abundantly clear on numerous occasions that popular geotags were simply popular because it was easy to stage a very "Instagrammable" photo there. This wasn't the experience we were interested in. From that moment forward, we decided to instead focus on meaningful connections with the locals we came into contact with.

Returning from Lempuyang Temple, we found some redemption with our driver, who explained how much the island has changed in recent years, specifically because of Instagram. He was kind enough to pull over into some less traveled scenic bluffs and regaled us with stories of the people in the area. We were much more interested in this. The island is so much more meaningful than a handful of geotags and staged photos.

The next day, on a snorkeling trip to Nusa Pineda, we found further redemption with our afternoon driver. He told us stories about how he and his wife lived on the island and what their life was like. We appreciated how much he was willing to share with us and how much effort he put into ensuring that we were getting to see the island's true beauty. The conversation made a lasting impression on me.

As we departed the island, we wanted to show our appreciation for the experience, so we offered him a tip that reflected our appreciation. He was shocked and expressed that it was a lot and he could not accept it. We insisted and told him that the day he provided us meant more than he could ever know. He then shared with us, "this will change my family's life this month." It was at the moment I knew that we were so focused on hitting the vacation "hotspots" that we had forgotten the most important aspect to vacation experiences - authenticity.

I work with brands every day, many of which retain a very authentic approach. My vacation reminded me more than I ever could have imagined about the importance of this. Recently I came across several beauty brands that hosted an influencer retreat in which they flew several personalities to a tropical island for a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I found myself asking 'what's in it for the consumer?' Sure, the influencer gets a free vacation and the brand gets some glitzy content. The consumer, on the other hand, gets left with an inauthentic, cold experience, devoid of any meaningful connections.

I have two pieces of advice - one for brands and one for travelers. For brands, don't ever forget the value of telling and capturing a story. A story is more powerful than you'll ever know. It unites people as an audience, forges an emotional connection (which drives loyalty) and creates lasting sentiment. For travelers, it's very simple, do yourself a favor, don't fall into the trap of Insta-tourism. Disconnect and experience the local culture. The stories that you bring back may even change you. No one will miss that inauthentic "candid" photo that you and 1,000 other people posted to Instagram.

This guest post was written by By Donald Hair, Group Account Director, North America, The Social Element


T he Manchester Arena suicide bomber and his brother gave up their education, became more radicalised and began to be seen with a convicted terrorist, a court has heard.

Adel Forjani, 49, an uncle of Salman and Hashem Abedi, told the jury he took a lease on a barbers shop where his sons worked, near where his family and the Abedis lived in Manchester.

The Abedi brothers visited the shop and convicted terrorist Abdalraouf Abdallah was seen with them at the premises in Moss Side, Mr Forjani said.

The jury heard that Abdallah, from Manchester, was left in a wheelchair after being shot in the Libyan uprising, and was later convicted of terror offences in the UK.

Elizabeth Cook/PA

Speaking through an Arabic interpreter, Mr Forjani, who came to the UK as a Libyan refugee in 1994, said he told his sons he did not want them to associate with Abdallah.

He said: I told them that I did not want him to come back to the shop and not mingle with them, when my son told me this man had Isis way of thinking.

Mr Forjani, married to the sister of the Abedis mother, said the brothers parents left to live in Libya around six months before the Arena bombing, leaving the two youngest brothers home alone, and their behaviour began to change and they began wearing traditional Islamic dress.

He said their parents made a visit back to the UK in April 2017, because their sons had started to have unacceptable behaviour.

The scene close to the Manchester Arena after the terror attack / PA

He added: They started to be radicalised, they were into drugs and they left their education, thats as far as I know.

The jury has heard Salman and Hashem Abedi were bought one-way tickets to Libya but Salman returned to the UK later to carry out the suicide bombing on May 22 2017.

Hashem denies having any knowledge of his brothers plans and denies all charges.

Mr Forjani said the brothers had attended a mosque in Rusholme, near their home in south Manchester, which did not tolerate extremist views.

A few months before the bombing they changed to another mosque in Whalley Range, the jury heard.

Mr Forjanis son Alharth, 21, described how his cousin Hashem asked him to help buy an ingredient of TATP explosives, saying it was for his car.

Hashem Abedi, the brother of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi / PA

In January 2017, Hashem Abedi came to his door as Salman sat in a car outside, jurors heard.

The witness said: He wanted me to buy something on Amazon for him. It was quick. I made a purchase for him and thats it.

Prosecutor Duncan Penny QC asked if Hashem Abedi told him why he wanted help with the order.

Mr Forjani Jnr replied: He did not tell me and I did not ask him. He told me it was acid for his car. I trusted him, basically.

Mr Penny asked: What did you think you were buying sulphuric acid for?

Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Hashem Abedi / PA Wire/PA Images

The witness replied: It was for his car. Thats what he told me.

The court has heard thjat Mr Forjani Jnr, then aged 18, allowed Abedi to use his account to purchase a litre of sulphuric acid, at 95% strength, which was delivered to Mr Forjanis address.

Hashem Abedi allegedly collected the order, giving Mr Forjani 15.75 for the acid and 14.46 for shipping.
Tashiro Isa, 85, has been arrested for allegedly striking and killing a mother-of-eight, and leaving the scene of the crash

A California man who made it his mission to track down the hit-and-run driver who killed his wife and mother of their eight children led police to an 85-year-old suspect after discovering his damaged car.

US Navy veteran Brenda Jean Richardson. 48, died after a white Lexus struck her motorcycle in Corona last Wednesday, just four days before her birthday.

The impact caused her to be thrown from her bike 30 feet into the air, inflicting severe injuries. She died at a local hospital the next day.

Her husband, Rod Richardson, told KNBC-TV that he decided to search for the car that hit his wife.

Scroll down for video

Rod Richardson (left) took matters into his own hands and tracked down the suspected hit-and-run driver who killed his wife, Brenda Jean Richardson (right), last week in California

Richardson was driving in Corona, California, just days after his wife's death when he looked inside the entrance to an apartment complex and found this badly damaged Lexus

The husband's discovery led to the arrest of Isa (pictured) on charges of felony hit and run and vehicular manslaughter

Video courtesy of KTLA

While at the intersection of River Road and Kalus Avenue where the deadly collision occurred, Richardson said he spotted the entrance of the River Ridge apartment complex in the 900 block of Rebecca Way.

'Something was on my heart, tugging me, saying "you need to go in",' Richardson told the news station.

As soon as he entered the complex, he saw a white Lexus with extensive damage to passenger's side front door and sun roof.

'My heart dropped,' he said.

Richardson shared a photo of the suspect's 2006 Lexus ES330 on Facebook, writing in the caption: 'It is the car!!! I think I found the car that killed my wife.'

Just before 4pm, he called Corona police and officers arrested Tashiro Isa, 85, on suspicion of felony hit and run and vehicular manslaughter.

Brenda, 48, was a US Navy veteran and a married mother of eight children (pictured with husband Rod and three of their kids)

Speaking of the suspect, Richardson said that 'it was impossible for him not to know' that he struck his wife before leaving the scene.

Police Sgt. Chad Fountain confirmed Richardson's account, the Riverside Press-Enterprise newspaper reported Saturday.

Brenda (pictured in uniform) was a US Navy veteran who worked for decades with the Veteran's Administration in Long Beach

Richardson said he was moved to act because the grief of losing his wife and mother of his children was overwhelming.

'When you have your older kids falling on the ground crying cause they have no control,' he said. 'Your younger kids waking you up in the middle of the night saying they missed her, it's a lot.'

Richardson said his wife, who went by the nickname 'Pinky,' was a US Navy veteran who worked for decades with the Veteran's Administration in Long Beach. The couple married in December 2017.

According to a press release from the Corona Police Department, Brenda was riding her motorcycle west on River Road at 7.41pm on Wednesday when a car turned left from eastbound River Road, smashing into her.

Brenda, known to her loved ones as 'Pinky,' worked for decades with the Veteran's Administration. She would have celebrated her birthday on Sunday

The Richardson family have started a GoFundMe account to cover funeral expenses.

'She was the most loving mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, co-worker, and so many other things to everybody she knew,' her grieving husband wrote in the description. 'She was a beautiful soul who made her life mission to make sure everyone she knew were cared for and knew they were loved... She is gone too soon and our lives are forever changed. She will be waiting for us in Heaven.'
The National Investigation Agency has taken up the probe into an encounter along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway last month in which three Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists were killed, officials said on Monday.

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notification on Monday directing the agency to carry out a thorough probe into the circumstances in which the three terrorists had sneaked into Jammu and Kashmir through the International Border at Sambha.

In a late night operation on Sunday, three Overground Workers (OGWs) were arrested from Pulwama district of south Kashmir in connection with the January 31 encounter.

They have been identified as Suhail Javed Lone, Zahoor Ahmad Khan and Shoiab Manzoor, the officials said.

Lone, a Jammu student, was the second point of contact for the JeM terrorists in case they failed to meet Sameer Ahmad Dar, who was driving them to the Kashmir Valley in a truck.

Dar, a cousin of the suicide bomber who killed 40 CRPF personnel in a deadly attack last year in Pulwama, was among the five arrested after the incident.

The militants were killed in a fierce gunbattle with police at the Ban Toll Plaza on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway on January 31.

A police constable was also injured in the incident.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Building managers conduct temperature screenings outside a building in the financial district of Singapore on Feb. 10, 2020. (Roslan Rahan/AFP via Getty Images)

Too Early to Label Singapore Business Conference a Super Spreading Event: WHO Expert

A business conference in Singapore that has been linked to a dozen cases of the new coronavirus is not a super spreading event based on the information available now, a World Health Organization (WHO) official said on Monday.

Five British nationals in France, one Briton in the United Kingdom, three people in Singapore, one South Korean, and one Malaysian contracted the coronavirus at the business conference, which took place at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in January and counted more than 90 foreigners among the attendees.

Asked whether the event spurred concerns about people gathering amid the spread of the virus, Dr. Mike Ryan said that the outbreak shouldnt prevent normal activity.

I think its way too early and much more of an exaggeration to consider the Singapore conference event a super spreading event, he said.

But certainly it is always a concern when people come together and move apart and we have to have risk management procedures associated with that. But you cant shut down the world, either. Normal activity must go on.

A sign warns people of temperature checks outside a building in the financial district of Singapore on Feb. 10, 2020. (Roslan Rahan/AFP via Getty Images)

Gatherings and meetings should be reasonable and well-managed, he said in Geneva, Switzerland, one day ahead of a planned international conference at WHOs headquarters there. Experts who are working on the front-line would be dialing into the meeting in an apparent bid to not hold another event that saw transmission of the disease.

Were not going to be in a position to say on the slightest possibility that there may possibly an infection associated with nCoV that were going to cancel every event, otherwise wed cancel these press conferences, he told reporters, referring to WHOs daily briefings to the press. Where is the limit to this?

He asked people to remain calm.

The business conference has stemmed widespread concerns about transmission of the virus outside of China. One British man who attended the conference then traveled to a ski chalet in France. French authorities said on Saturday that five other Britons, including a child, who had contact with the man tested positive for the virus and seven others were isolated and being monitored for the disease.

A view of the house where five British nationals including a child, who have been diagnosed with the coronavirus after staying in the same ski chalet with a person who had been in Singapore, were staying at the French Alpine resort of Les Contamines-Montjoie, France, on Feb. 8, 2020. (Denis Balibouse/Reuters)

Authorities in the United Kingdom said that the five newest of its eight cases were acquired when British people traveled to France, the same way Spanish authorities said its second confirmed patient contracted the illness.

Six other British people who stayed in the chalet have tested negative, French officials said.

Forty-five children and relatives in the area were tested for the virus on Sunday and three schools in the area were closed.

English experts were continuing to work hard tracing patient contacts from the UK cases, its Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said in a statement on Monday.

Forty cases have been confirmed in Singapore, including 19 patients who have no history of travel to China.

World Health Organization (WHO) health emergencies program director Dr. Michael Ryan speaks during a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on Jan. 22, 2020. (Pierre Albouy/AFP via Getty Images)

Ryan, at the press conference, said that findings published over the weekend said that the incubation period could last up to 24 dayssome 10 days longer than previously thoughtsaid that WHO wasnt changing its recommendations to fight the virus as of yet.

Incubation periods that long can actually be from the way the figures are recorded; a very long incubation period can reflect a double exposure, Ryan said, pointing to what happened during the Ebola outbreak.

When we investigate we find, oh no, there was a second exposure a week later or two weeks later, and thats when the infection occurred, he said. So we need to be really, really careful when we look at outliers.

The median incubation period, Chinese researchers said in the paper, which was published in Medrxiv, was found to be five days. The shortest incubation period was three days.
14:52 | Lima, Feb. 10.

General Director at the National Center for Epidemiology, Disease Prevention and Control (CDC-Minsa) Manuel Loayza informed that following the test performed on the student the result was negative for 2019 Coronavirus.





The doctor explained that the isolation measure was taken as soon as the citizen arrived in Peru  as established by the protocol.





Loayza said that the Foreign Affairs Ministry which remains in contact with Peruvian scholarship holders overseas informed Minsa about the return of a student from Hong Kong on a flight to Lima with a stopover in Paris.





Thus, Minsa activated the Inter-health Platform and as soon as the citizen stepped on Peruvian soil authorities asked for his consent to isolate and take him to Dos de Mayo Hospital.





Hospital epidemiologist Jose Luis Bolarte explained that the student is currently in the isolation unit and under observation until any respiratory syndrome is ruled out.









Minsa also located the 41 people who were around the student for evaluation and follow-up purposes.
Making ends meet in retirement isn't something most people think about until they're close to leaving the workforce. But superannuation is heading for its biggest shake-up since the 1990s, and any changes could drastically change the financial future for millions of people.

This week, Treasury closed submissions into its Retirement Income Review. While the name may sound dry, it's actually a crucial moment for workers, employers and the superannuation industry itself.

Women are among those who retire with lower levels of funds. Credit:Jessica Shapiro

The review, recommended by the Productivity Commission, is the first of its kind since the 1990s when compulsory superannuation was put in place. The panel was set up to look closely at the means-tested age pension, compulsory superannuation and the voluntary ways people fund their retirement, such as home ownership and savings.

So far the submissions have been focused on the Australian population's major demographic shift  people are living for longer and the financial situation of workers is drastically different to when the system was created 27 years ago.
The Governor of Niger State, Abubakar Bello, has commiserated with victims of banditry attacks in Gurmana and other communities in Shiroro Local Government Area.

The attack by bandits on motorcycles led to the death of three persons and left many injured.

According to a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mary Berje, in Minna on Sunday, Mr Bello visited the victims who are receiving treatment at IBB Specialist Hospital in Minna.

Mr Bello commiserated with families of those who lost their lives in the incident and prayed God to give them the fortitude to bear the loss.

He disclosed that both the state and federal governments were working round the clock to bring an end to the carnage being perpetrated by the unscrupulous elements.

READ ALSO:

Mr Bello directed the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) to provide succour to the affected communities.

The governor said that strategic measures were being taken to curb the activities of the bandits.

He urged members of the community should assist security agencies with valuable information about bandits and their informants.

The chairman of the local government area, Suleiman Chukuba, had told journalists on Saturday that the bandits killed three persons and injured 50 others.

Mr Chukuba said over 300 cattle were also rustled from a Fulani man by the bandits.

He disclosed that the bandits invaded the community in about 100 motorcycles and shot sporadically into the air to announce their arrival.

He said, I cant ascertain the actual number of the bandits but my people said they came in about 100 motorcycles and three on each motorcycle.

President Muhammadu Buhari, last week, ordered an airstrike on bandits locations in the state.

(NAN)
Tardive Dyskinesia Industry

Description

Tardive dyskinesia is an involuntary movement disorder that typically arises from the long-term use of antipsychotic medication in schizoaffective disorders. Tardive dyskinesia is characterized by involuntary, repetitive movements of the face, trunk, or extremities, including lip smacking, grimacing, tongue protrusion, facial movements or blinking, puckering and pursing of the lips. TDs are most common in patients with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder who have been treated with antipsychotic medication for long periods, but they occasionally occur in other patients as well.

The key factors driving the growth of the Tardive dyskinesia market are rising schizophrenia patients, increasing bipolar patients, growing antipsychotic prescription, increased use of long-term neuroleptic drugs and increasing incidence of neurological disorders. However, the expansion of the market is hindered by side effects of drugs and under-diagnosed.

The report Tardive Dyskinesia Market provides a comprehensive study of the US and Japan tardive dyskinesia market with detailed analysis of market size, growth and penetration of the industry. The major trends, growth drivers as well as issues being faced by the industry are being presented in this report. The industry comprises few large players such as Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Neurocrine Biosciences and Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. All these companies have been profiled in the present report highlighting their key financials and business strategies for growth.

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Table of Content

1. Tardive Dyskinesias  An Overview

1.1 Antipsychotics Overview

1.2 Tardive Dyskinesias

1.3 Signs and Symptoms

1.4 Causes

1.5 Treatment

1.6 Existing and Pipeline Drugs

2. The US Tardive Dyskinesia Market Analysis

2.1 The US Tardive Dyskinesia Market by Number of Patients

2.2 The US Tardive Dyskinesia  Number of Patients by Severity

2.3 The US Tardive Dyskinesia Sales by Value

2.4 The US Tardive Dyskinesia Annual Price

3. Japan Tardive Dyskinesia Market Analysis

4. The US Tardive Dyskinesia Drugs Market Analysis

5. Market Dynamics

5.1 Growth Drivers

5.1.1 Rising Schizophrenia Patients

5.1.2 Increasing Bipolar Patients

5.1.3 Growing Antipsychotic Prescription

5.1.4 Increased Use of Long-Term Neuroleptic Drugs

5.1.5 Increasing Incidence of Neurological Disorders

5.2 Market Trends

5.2.1 Medications Causing Tardive Dyskinesia

5.3 Challenges

5.3.1 Side Effects of Drugs

5.3.2 Under-Diagnosed

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6. Competitive Landscape

6.1 Comparison between Valbenazine vs. SD-809

7. Company Profiles

7.1 Valeant Pharmaceuticals

7.1.1 Business Overview

7.1.2 Financial Overview

7.1.3 Business Strategies

7.2 Neurocrine Biosciences

7.2.1 Business Overview

7.2.2 Financial Overview

7.2.3 Business Strategies

7.3 Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd.

7.3.1 Business Overview

7.3.2 Financial Overview

7.3.3 Business Strategies

List of Charts

Side Effects of Antipsychotics

Signs and Symptoms of Tardive Dyskinesias

The US Tardive Dyskinesia Market by Number of Patients (2016-2025)

The US Tardive Dyskinesia  Number of Patients by Severity (2016-2025)

The US Tardive Dyskinesia Sales by Value (2017-2025)

The US Tardive Dyskinesia Annual Price (2016-2025)

Japan Tardive Dyskinesia Market by Number of Patients (2016-2025)

Japan Tardive Dyskinesia  Number of Patients by Severity (2016-2025)

Japan Tardive Dyskinesia Sales by Value (2017-2025)

Japan Tardive Dyskinesia Annual Price (2017-2025)

The US Valbenazine Market by Penetration (2017-2025)

The US SD-809 Market by Penetration (2019-2025)

The US Tetrabenazine Market for Tardive Dyskinesia by Penetration (2017-2025)

Schizophrenia Patients in the US (2017-2025)

Bipolar Patients in the US (2017-2025)

Medications Causing Tardive Dyskinesia

Comparison between Valbenazine vs. SD-809

Valeant Pharmaceuticals Revenue by Segment (2016)

Valeant Pharmaceuticals Revenue and Net Income (2012-2016)

Neurocrine Biosciences Product Candidates in Clinical Development

Neurocrine Biosciences Revenue (2012-2016)

Teva Pharmaceuticals Revenue by Segment (2016)

Teva Pharmaceuticals Revenue by Region (2016)

Teva Pharmaceuticals Revenue and Net Income (2012-2016)

Continued

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Jamie Lynn Spears' ex fiance Casey Alridge has been arrested and charged with burglary after becoming linked him to a string of campsite thefts.

Aldridge, 30, was arrested by Mississippi police on December 30, and has now been charged with five counts of burglary of storage of a house and one count of burglary of a dwelling, according to TMZ.

Aldridge, who shares a daughter with Spears, was arrested after police say he was linked to the burglaries of several campsites in the area around Gloster, Mississippi.

Mug shot: Jamie Lynn Spears' ex fiance Casey Alridge has been arrested and charged with burglary after police linked him to a string of campsite thefts

Aldridge was engaged to Spears from 2008 to 2009, and together they share 11-year-old daughter Maddie.

Spears became pregnant with Maddie when she was just 16 and Aldridge was 18.

Aldridge has had several brushes with the law over the years.

Last year he was arrested after police found Oxycodone, Lorazepam, Xanax and drug paraphernalia on him upon finding him passed out in a vehicle parked alongside the road in Natchez, Mississippi.

The way they were: Aldridge was engaged to Spears from 2008 to 2009, and together they share 11-year-old daughter Maddie (pictured 2009)

In 2016 as he was arrested in Amite County, Mississippi in connection with driving under the influence, reckless driving and possession of paraphernalia, Radar reported; he subsequently served a year's probation after he was found guilty of the charges.

Spears welcomed her second daughter, Ivey Joan, in 2018 with her husband of nearly six years, Jamie Watson.

Aldridge is also father to a five-year-old daughter named Skylar Brooke with ex-wife April Watson. He finalized his divorce from Watson June 2018, Radar reported.

Parenthood: Spears became pregnant with Maddie when she was just 16 and Aldridge was 18 (pictured 2007)

Jamie Lynn made headlines last year when she said on Instagram that Zoey 101 did not wrap up in 2008 because of her pregnancy, but rather because her contractual obligations had ended.

She made the revelation in commemorating the 14th anniversary of the program, posting a shot from the show's theme, with the caption, 'Are you ready? 14 years later...still a jam...'' adding the hashtags, #itdidNOTendbecauseofpregnancy and #contractwasfinished.

She added in response to a user's question, 'I went home to finish high school and was going to pursue movies.'
The evacuation of 647 Indians from Hubei, the province worst-hit by the new coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) outbreak, was a complex exercise which included the listing of hundreds of unregistered Indians, reassuring panicky Indian students about their safety and negotiating hard with Chinese authorities grappling with the most critical medical emergency in decades.

Diplomats in Beijing were discussing reports of a new influenza infection in central China soon after the first death from the novel Coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) was reported on January 10.

By the second week of January, Indian embassy officials in Beijing were wiping the dust off files of registered Indians in Hubei and in Wuhan, the capital city of the province.

Also Watch l Health Minister Harsh Vardhan lists steps taken to counter coronavirus

Hundreds of Indian students, they found out, had already left for India for the Chinese New Year (CNY) holidays.

India issued its first advisory on January 17 for citizens travelling to and from China.

Be careful, take precautions, it said.

Alarm bells first went off in the quiet corridors of the embassy on the evening of January 20 when President Xi Jinping made a public statement on the disease.

The recent outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan and other places must be taken seriously, Xi said.

It was about to be.

The morning of January 23 was the turning point  Wuhan had been locked down with hundreds of stranded Indians inside.

They had begun to call the embassy, wanting to be rescued, and some tweeting to New Delhi desperate calls for evacuation.

The embassy realised that the Indians needed to be extracted from the city, from the province, which had in a matter of days literally turned into a massive quarantine zone, which no one could access without multiple approvals.

In the next few days, embassy officials worked round-the-clock to list the Indians in Hubei.

It wasnt easy as it is not mandatory for Indians to register with the embassy or consulates in China.

We had to attach a name to the face, and then attached a passport number. We either emailed or called each individual. We assured them, Ambassador Vikram Misri told HT.

Word-of-mouth and community groups helped.

At the end of the exercise, the total number of Indians still in Hubei was found to be around 680.

After that it was about negotiating with the Chinese government  starting from the foreign ministry in Beijing, then with the Hubei foreign office and lastly with Wuhans foreign office.

We first made a case (to the Chinese foreign ministry). Especially about the young students and their parents in India whose natural desire was to see them back in India, Misri said.

The foreign ministry facilitated the process after it was clear that New Delhi wanted the Indians in Hubei back in India, at least the ones who wanted to.

Then the logistics had to be put in place.

Then, the task was to coordinate with university authorities and arranging buses for Indians staying across Hubei to bring them to Wuhan.

Dozens of buses were hired.

All the drivers had to be registered with the Wuhan government so that they had the required permission to travel to different cities, many already under lockdown.

The embassy dispatched two diplomats Deepak Padmakumar and M Balakrishnan to Wuhan to coordinate the evacuation on February 1 and 2, who are now in quarantine in New Delhi.

Compared to the first, the second evacuation process was more complicated as more than 300 Indians had to be brought to Wuhan from different parts of the province.

As many as 15 buses were deployed to pick up Indians from 15 locations across Hubei including from cities 300 km to 350 km away; some had to be brought from Enshi, some 520 km away.

At a few places in Hubei, locals forcibly stopped the buses from entering their neighbourhood, fearing that the infection could spread.

A group of Chinese employees hunched over their phones at the Indian embassy then did the talking with the locals to persuade them to allow the buses to go through.

At least one Indian, however, missed out because the bus could not get through.

Most critical was maintaining the integrity of the approval channels, Misri added.

At the Wuhan airport, no tickets were issued to the evacuees, only boarding passes.

India had sent out messages to south Asian countries if they wanted their citizens from Hubei and Wuhan to be evacuated.

Maldives said yes and seven Maldivians were evacuated from Wuhan along with the Indians.

Misri said the embassy is in contact with the 80 Indian students who remain in Wuhan.

We have assured them of all help and will keep them updated about any further development, he said.
Raman analyzers are used to measure the interaction of light with matter. Laser is generally used in such analyzers to cause the atoms in molecules to vibrate. The light scattered from the atoms forms a fingerprint type of data that is used to identify chemical structures and physical phase of the samples. Some of the applications of Raman Analyzers include, measurement of crystallographic orientation, identification of molecules in samples such as proteins, polymers, pharmaceuticals, inorganics, minerals and other sample types.

All types of samples including solids, liquids and gases can be analyzed using the Raman Analyzers. With the development of real time Raman Analyzers, Pharmaceutical applications flourish, since the Real Time Raman Analyzers allow reactions to be followed in the laboratory or on-line at production site. These Raman Analyzers are available as hand held, bench top and wall/rack mounted equipments.

Some of these Raman Analyzers are phAT enabled. This allows a new approach to sampling by eliminating the sample irreporoductibility and focuses on a larger surface are of the sample simultaneously, there by offering the benefits of non-destructive sampling. The process Raman Analyzers may be wall mounted or rack mounted on simply placed on a trolley since they are larger than the bench top Raman analyzers.

These process Raman Analyzers require to be installed in hazardous area and thus the exterior of these devices are designed to sustain the environment. The Handheld Raman Analyzers are designed to overcome a number of challenges including sampling challenges due to field conditions. Often field samples require to be sampled at awkward angles or materials is in different forms such as liquids, gels, or powders. Apart from being portable and handy the most handheld Raman spectroscopy are able to analyze samples through plastics or glass bottles directly.

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There are a number of manufacturers that offer Raman Analyzers. However a number of these manufacturers offer their analyzers for distribution and sales only in North America and Europe. This is due the high demand and adoption for the use of the devices in the region. However, due to the fast expanding pharmaceutical industry in China, it is expected to be one of the most lucrative market during the forecast period.

The Global Raman Analyzers market is classified on the basis of product type, sample type, application, end user and region:

Based on the Product Type, Raman Analyzers market is segmented into following:

Hand Held Raman Analyzers

Bench Top Raman Analyzers

Wall/Rack Mount Raman Analyzers

Based on the Sample Type, Raman Analyzers market is segmented into following:

Solids Raman Analyzer

Liquid/Gas Raman Analyzer

For any queries get in touch with Industry Expert @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/ask-an-expert/25243

Based on the Application, Raman Analyzers market is segmented into following:

Research

Analytical Studies

Process Applications

Based on the End User, Raman Analyzers market is segment as below:

Research Institutes

Biopharmaceutical/Bioprocess Industry

Biotechnology Companies

Growing focus on drug development in the healthcare industry is the major driving force for the market. There is a rise in the R&D investment in the pharmaceutical industry that drives the growth of the Raman Analyzers market globally, since it is extensively used in the pharmaceutical industry.

The Raman spectroscopy is also extensively use in the food safety, and other industries. Thus, the rise in demand for food safety along with the rise in demand for metals and minerals is also driving the growth of the Raman Analyzers Market. However the high cost of Raman Analyzers increases the R&D cost incurred that may hinder the growth of the Raman Analyzers market.

On the basis of geography, global Raman Analyzers market is segmented into six major regions that include North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific except China, China and Middle East & Africa. North America is expected to be the most lucrative Raman Analyzers market owing to the increasing demand and local manufacturers. A number of manufacturers offer Raman Anlyzers that are available and distributed only in developed regions such as North America and Europe.

Thus Europe is expected to be the second most lucrative region for the growth of the Raman Analyzers market. Asia-Pacific is the emerging Raman Analyzers market due the extensively expanding pharmaceutical industry in the region particularly India and China.

To receive extensive list of important regions, ask for TOC here @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/25243

Key participants operating in the Raman Analyzers market are:
New Jersey has already slashed the weight of standardized test results in teacher evaluations. Student performance in day-to-day classwork could be next.

The state Board of Education last week gave Gov. Phil Murphys administration preliminary support to reduce the weight of Student Growth Objectives (SGO)  locally determined goals for student improvement  from 25% to 15% for some teachers. The reduction would apply to about 16% of the states teachers, those who are also graded on their students standardized test performance.

Teachers final ratings would likely see little impact, said Linda Eno, an assistant state education commissioner. About 99% of New Jersey teachers were rated effective or highly effective last school year, and changing the weight is a minor tweak to a strong system," she said.

SGOs were not at all likely to be the factor that pushed a teacher toward an ineffective rating, Eno said.

But tying student performance to teacher evaluations has long been a divisive and politically charged issue. The proposed change is already coming under fire from state Sen. Teresa Ruiz, D-Essex, an architect of the states landmark tenure reform law passed in 2012.

The DOE has been transparently clear in their goal to dismantle teacher evaluations with the actions that they have taken, said Ruiz, who championed the use of student data in teacher ratings. If their goal was to do away with evaluations, then I would prefer that people would just be up front.

Changing the weight of Student Growth Objectives was not part of the Department of Educations original revisions to the teachers evaluation process proposed last year. It was added after a representative from the New Jersey Education Association, the states largest teachers union, suggested reducing the weight of student outcomes during a public comment session in January, according to state documents.

The state agreed to make a change to create consistency, Eno said. Student Growth Objectives are already 15% of the evaluation for all other teachers, and the system will still allow schools to identify struggling teachers, she said.

The NJEA supports the move because tying student improvement to teacher evaluations doesnt necessarily help students learn, spokesman Steve Baker said.

Ruiz didnt know about the proposed change until after the state board meeting Wednesday and plans to write a letter to the Education Department, she said.

Every time we do something to dismantle any kind of checks and balances in our school system, the ones who have the most to lose are communities that are in underperforming districts, she said.

New Jerseys decision to rate teachers based on student performance came amid a national trend in the early 2010s. The Obama administration tied federal grant money to states adopting certain education policies, including making student outcomes a factor in teacher evaluations.

Prior to 2013-14, New Jersey teachers were either rated satisfactory or unsatisfactory based on as little as one observation by an administrator. But former Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, worked with Ruiz and other Democrats to revamp the evaluation system, and student outcomes counted for as much as 45% of some teachers evaluations after the law took effect.

Murphy, a Democrat endorsed by the NJEA, promised to reduce that and slashed the weight of standardized test results from 30% to 5% after he took office in 2018.

Currently, teachers in grades 4-7 in math and 4-8 in language arts have their ratings based 70% on observation, 25% on Student Growth Objectives and 5% on standardized test results. For all other teachers, 85% of their evaluations are based on observation and 15% on Student Growth Objectives.

New Jersey teachers are rated as highly effective, effective, partially effective or ineffective. Teachers who consistently earn poor ratings can lose tenure no matter how long they have been employed by a district.

The proposed change in the evaluation system would require a final vote from the state Board of Education in the coming months.

Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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The Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers' Association (JNUTA) has written to Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik over 'inaction of police in the matter of the investigation into mob violence by masked persons' on the campus on January 5 this year.

"We would like to emphasise here that a very important aspect of the mob violence on January 5th, 2020 was the targeting of teachers. A meeting organised by JNUTA to appeal for peace on the campus was attacked and several teachers attending it were assaulted and injured, one teacher suffering a grievous head injury," reads the JNUTA letter to Patnaik.

"After the initial press conference that the Delhi Police had, no further progress has been reported even though a promise to that effect has been made on January 10. No members of the mob have been identified, nor any arrests made, even though more than a month has passed since the incident," the letter adds.

Meanwhile, JNUTA also carried out a protest outside the Police Headquarters in Delhi demanding action in the matter of mob violence inside the JNU campus.

JNU students, as well as opposition parties, are protesting against the violence on the campus on January 5.

More than 30 students of the university including JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh were injured and taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre after a masked mob entered the university and attacked students and professors with sticks and rods.

The JNU administration and politicians, cutting across party lines, condemned the attack on students and urged the police to take strict action against the perpetrators.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As Storm Ciara hit the United Kingdom, it has reportedly claimed its first victim as a falling tree killed a 58-year-old Mercedes driver who was driving from Winchester to his home in Micheldever, Hants. According to international media reports, the accident took place on February 9 evening when the wind speeds in the area were believed to be in excess of 60mph. The strong winds blew trees, sheds, roofs, trampolines and other debris onto tracks and further reportedly blocked lines and brought down overhead power cables as well.

According to international media reports, Britain has also issued more than 200 warnings. The Met Office has further issued amber weather warnings for snow, gales, snow and ice, as commuters faced havoc. Furthermore, the forecasters reportedly said that some areas could see blizzards, with some parts of Scotland already getting a blanket of snow.

READ: Storm Sabine Wreaks Havoc In South-west Germany

According to reports, sirens were sounded in a few parts of the county of West Yorkshire to warn people of a potential risk of floods. Many residents of Radcliffe, Ramsbottom and Bury were asked to evacuate and leave as the water level of river Irwell swelled up. While talking to a local media outlet, Bury's councillor, Tamoor Tariq said that the flooding had not taken place, adding that the council was coordinating their plan and were getting sandbags in case of any eventuality. He further added that there is no time frame but there is a strong possibility that it might happen.

READ: Europe's Winter Storm Moves East, Disrupting Travel, Schools

Red flood warning

According to reports, areas around Leeds have already been issued a red flood warning, prompting officials to use sirens to alert the residents. While talking to a local media outlet, one of the residents of Cheshire said that the storm resulted in one of the worst weather conditions, adding at the moment it was not as bad as the 2007 flooding.

He added that the siren warning system was installed after the 2007 flooding because at that time residents did not receive a warning. The resident also said that a few people complained about not being able to go to work because of roads being blocked by fallen trees and floodwater.

READ: Over 200 Flood Warnings Issued As Storm Ciara Hits United Kingdom

READ: Riders In The Storm: Dutch Cyclists Brave Storm Ciara
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - New York lawmakers are heading into a week of hearings on Gov. Andrew Cuomo's budget proposal.

One of the big issues on the table is how to slash Medicaid costs without hurting patients or financially crippling counties that help pay for the program.

Lawmakers are also holding hearings next week on education aid to local school districts and on spending on public safety programs.

Lawmakers will also discuss whether the rollout of New Yorks new bail reform law has endangered public safety. Criminal justice reformers say the alleged problems with the new law are being exaggerated.
The aircraft performing the flight was the one which earlier transported medical supplies presented by Vietnam to China, along with 11 Chinese citizens back to Wuhan. In the photo: 30 citizens from Wuhan in Chinas Hubei province arrive at Van Don Airport in Quang Ninh province (Photo: VNA)
PwCs 23rd Annual CEO Survey - Middle East reveals that regional CEOs, despite recognising an increase in geopolitical and economic uncertainty, remain confident in their own growth prospects and are focused on driving efficiencies, upskilling their people and seeking new markets for opportunities.

The survey found that nine out of ten Middle East CEOs are worried about geopolitical uncertainty. Yet despite this uncertainty 66 per cent of the CEOs in the region are confident about their companys revenue growth in the next year, with 74 per cent more confident about the next three years.

With guarded optimism, Middle East CEOs continue to navigate uncertainty and seize the opportunities for the near future.

Hani Ashkar, PwC Middle East Territory Senior Partner said: CEOs in the Middle East are surrounded by uncertainty. Whether its geopolitical, economic or technological; business leaders are navigating this instability and overcoming obstacles through efficiency, talent and technology, making way for new opportunities for growth. Uncertainty can be a segue for reduced headcount, decreased investment and overall timidness when it comes to growth opportunities. But CEOs in the Middle East do not shy away, looking instead to adapt to create sustainability and growth for the future.

77 per cent of Middle East CEOs plan to make operational efficiencies over the next 12 months to improve performance. 75 per cent of CEOs, however, expect headcount to increase or stay the same. This nuanced picture suggests that the drive for efficiency is as much about getting in shape to seize future opportunities as surviving current difficult market conditions.

Corporate sustainability is the focus, not rash cost cutting. Despite the uncertainty however, 47 per cent expect their companies to enter new markets in 2020 with Saudi Arabia and Egypt the most cited markets for growth.

80 per cent of our respondents this year said a shortage of skills in the workforce was a potential threat to their organisations growth prospects, up from 70 per cent last year.

CEOs increasingly recognise that they must maximise the potential of their existing staff through upskilling programmes (70 per cent). Our GCC Hopes and Fears survey further demonstrates that there is also great demand for upskilling from employees in the region.

The response of our CEOs to technological change reflects both increasing global awareness of the need to manage the privacy and cybersecurity risks of technology and a regional background in which the requirement to cope with geopolitical instability features prominently in business planning.

Understandably, therefore, the proportion of Middle East CEOs who identify rising tensions as a key factor shaping their cybersecurity strategy is almost double the global survey average.

Companies throughout the region are steadily adapting to the realities of a lower rate of economic growth. In this context, corporate sustainability in the region is focused on building leaner, more efficient and nimble businesses to withstand a downturn and be ready to exploit any opportunities on the horizon. Yet mention sustainability in the context of climate change and our CEOs appear underprepared.

Stephen Anderson, Middle East Strategy and Markets Leader, ended: Middle East CEOs continue to make the transition to a lower growth environment, in increasingly uncertain market conditions. They are consequently focused on operational efficiencies to enable long-term, profitable sustainable growth. Our CEOs justified anxiety about the immediate term is balanced by a more positive outlook when they look further towards the future. It is pleasing to note that there is a region-wide focus on upskilling to drive digital transformation, which in turn will enable better products and services and improve job prospects for the local workforce, including young people and women. -- Tradearabia News Service
France on Monday condemned a bid by Iran to put a satellite in space, urging Tehran to abide by international obligations on its controversial ballistic missile programme.

"France condemns this launch which calls on technologies used for ballistic missiles and, in particular, intercontinental ballistic missiles," the French foreign ministry said in a statement after Iran announced it "successfully" launched a satellite Sunday but failed to put it into orbit.

Recalling Iran's obligations under a 2018 UN Security Council resolution, the ministry added: "Iran's ballistic programme hurts regional stability and affects European security. France calls on Iran to fully respect its international obligations in this matter." Washington has long raised concerns in the past about Tehran's satellite programme, saying the launch of a carrier rocket in January 2019 amounted to a violation of limits on its ballistic missiles.

US President Donald Trump has justified his withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear accord by the need to reach a more comprehensive agreement that also covers the Iranian ballistic programme.

The Zafar -- "Victory" in Persian -- satellite was launched on a Simorgh carrier rocket but failed to reach orbit.

Days before the 41st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution and crucial parliamentary elections in Iran, Tehran on Sunday also unveiled a new short-range ballistic missile and its "new generation" of engines designed to put satellites into space.

The Revolutionary Guards' website said the Raad-500 missile was equipped with new Zoheir engines made of composite materials that make them lighter than previous steel models.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi, Feb 10 : The Government on Monday introduced the Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda Bill, 2020 in the Lok Sabha which seeks to confer the status of institution of national importance to a cluster of ayurveda institutions in Gujarat Ayurveda University campus in Jamnagar.

The three institutes which would be clubbed are Institute of Post Graduate Teaching and Research in Ayurveda, Gulab Kunverba Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya and Institute of Ayurveda Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Raising opposition against the introduction of the Bill, Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy said why the institute is being set up in Gujarat and that it should instead be set up either in Kerala, Delhi, Varanasi or West Bengal.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor also opposed that Bill saying that it "failed to define the criteria to meet the larger perspective".

Tharoor said that the government has been arbitrary in the selection of the three institutes.

Introducing the Bill, Minister of State for Ayush Shripad Yesso Naik said he would consider the suggestions made by the members of the house regarding the draft law.
A strong winter storm that battered Britain with hurricane-force winds and heavy rains moved eastward Monday, causing severe travel disruption and an array of flood warnings as rivers burst their banks or were on the verge of doing so.

There were reports of deaths directly linked to the storm with one driver in south-western Czech Republic killed after his car was hit by a falling tree. A man also died early on Monday in the north of Slovenia when a tree fell on his car.

And in Sweden, one man drowned late Sunday after the boat he and another person were sailing in on the southern lake of Fegen capsized. The victim was washed ashore and later died. The other person is still missing, according to the Aftonbladet daily.

Britain bore the brunt of storm on Sunday and more than 20,000 homes spent the night without power. Parts of the country were bracing for blizzards and snow on Monday.

While Storm Ciara is clearing away, that doesn't mean we're entering a quieter period of weather, said Alex Burkill, a meteorologist at the Met Office. It's going to stay very unsettled.

In the wake of the storm, many parts of the country were mopping up after a month and a half's rainfall fell in just 24 hours in some places and rivers burst their banks. Around 180 flood warnings remained in place across the country. The River Irwell burst its banks in northwest England and residents were evacuated.

In the Scottish town of Hawick, which borders England, a guest house and bistro collapsed into the River Teviot on Sunday. No one was injured.

Britain's transport networks were severely disrupted with flights, ferries and trains all seeing cancellations and delays. Drivers faced treacherous conditions with floodwater, fallen trees and other debris closing roads. Commuters were being urged to check their routes before traveling.

British Airways said in a statement that there will be a "minor knock-on effect" to Monday's schedule.

"We're getting in touch with those affected, and have brought in extra customer teams to help them with a range of options including a full refund or an alternative flight between now and Thursday," the airline said.

Any customer flying short-haul to or from Heathrow or Gatwick, can also choose to make changes to their travel plans if they would prefer to fly another time.

On Sunday, the storm hit the Isle of Wight off the southern coast of Britain with gusts of 97 mph (156 kph). Propelled by its fierce winds, a British Airways plane was thought to have made the fastest New York-to-London flight by a conventional airliner, arriving 102 minutes early.

In Germany, utility companies were also scrambling to restore power to some 50,000 homes in northern Bavaria early Monday. Train travel across Europe's biggest economy was also severely disrupted, leaving many commuters unable to get to work.

Deutsche Bahn said Monday it was slowly resuming long-distance rail services in the north of the country but warned travelers to expect further disruptions. Airlines canceled hundreds of flights from German airports.

The storm, which was dubbed Sabine in Germany, also led to school closures in several cities and regions, including Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia state, where several people were injured by falling branches and toppling trees.

Meteorologists expect gusts up to 140 kilometers per hour (87 mph) in mountainous areas of southern Germany later Monday.

About 96,000 households were also without electricity across the Czech Republic and at least seven flights from Prague's international airport were cancelled, including the flights to Zurich, Munich, Frankfurt, Duesseldorf, London and Amsterdam.

An Airbus A320 operated by Qatar Airways was diverted from Prague to Vienna after the pilots were not able to land early Monday. Dozens of train routes were blocked due to trees on the tracks, while other trains are delayed.

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

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has started a massive outreach programme to convince Christians in India that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act is a good move that should be appreciated by the community.



While protests were raging across the country against the amended citizenship law, the minorities panel has travelled to seven states and a Union Territory and met around 100 church leaders over the past two months, this newspaper has learnt.

Sources say the panel has faced tough questions from church leaders, many of whom have already issued statements against the CAA. From equating CAA with US President Donald Trumps travel ban on people of certain countries (mostly Muslim) entering the US to reminding Christians that India is yet to ratify the 1951 Refugee Convention, the NCM representative cited several conventions to the priests.



Lawyer George Kurian, a Christian member and Vice President of NCM, who has met church leaders in Maharashtra, Odisha, Kerala, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Delhi to bring the community on board on the CAA issue, is likely to visit other states as well.

When asked about the same, Kurian confirmed he has been meeting Christians of different denominations to discuss the CAA but refused to share the details. Inclusion of Christians in CAA is a good move. The CAA needs to be appreciated. There is a lot of misinformation going around, which has to be countered. The CAA does not snatch away the citizenship of any Indian, the lawyer said.



To understand the discussions, The Morning Standard spoke to seven church leaders of different denominations who met Kurian. The Church leaders requested anonymity. Many of them asked Kurian about the CAA-NRC link, which has been termed as lethal for Muslims by critics.

According to the CAA, non-Muslims--Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014 due to religious persecution will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.

A Jesuit priest from the southern state of Kerala, also the home state of Kurian, said the CAA is against the secular ethos of the Constitution and they wont get swayed by meaning-less dialogues.

A Syro-Malabar Church official from the same state, however, welcomed CAA. He said that NCM official reminded Church leaders that India is the safest place for minorities in the world and there is no reason to doubt the governments intention as it only wants to give a dignified life to minorities from neighboring countries who have faced hostilities in their countries.

Kurian explained to us that no country allows majority of the neighbouring country to migrate to that country. Mexico is an example. Americans are not feeding Mexicans. Kurian also told us how the US President enacted a law disallowing people from Islamic countries to even visit America, forget citizenship and this was upheld by their federal court, said the Church leader.

A high-ranking Roman Catholic Church official from Karnataka said, We heard the NCM official who cited advantages of CAA but our members pointed out that CAA cannot be looked at in isolation and has to be seen with NRC. The citizenship law is seemingly favourable to Christians but we told him that we are not selfish and we want justice for all communities. The Indian population is certainly not prepared for NRC and we (church leaders) told him that the nationwide NRC is going to be catastrophic.

According to sources, Kurian made two visits to Karnataka and spent about five days in the state which has seen many protests against CAA-NRC.

An Anglican Church official from Tamil Nadu, where Kurian spent three days, also expressed concerns about CAA and exclusion of Muslims. On his meeting with Kurian, the official said, We told him in clear terms that the law is discriminatory and we oppose it.

In the past, several umbrella organisations of Churches in India such as the National Council of Churches in India, Catholic Bishops Conference of India and Church of North India have expressed concern over CAA.
On CIAs tip off, cops nab man with fake Indian currency worth Rs 24 lakh

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 10: A man who arrived in Mumbai from Dubai has been arrested for being in possession of fake currency.

The agencies found on the man fake currency in the denomination of Rs 2,000 to the tune of Rs 24 lakh. The notes were printed in Pakistan and sent to Dubai. The man had picked up the currency in Dubai and had planned on circulating it in India.

The person identified as Javed Shaikh had been to both Dubai and Bangkok in the past. He may have brought in many such consignments, the police suspect. While Shaikh managed to clear security at the airport, he was caught at the bus stop outside the international terminal. The police managed to catch him based on a tip-off by the CIA.

Bengal fake currency: NIA charges one more accused

The fake currency was stuffed in one of the trolley bags. The notes were scattered inside a cushion which was stuffed into a gap between the bag's wall and a cloth liner. The police took over an hour to locate the currency.
It has been a good month since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their stunning exit from the royal family, yet Prince William and Kate Middleton still havent gotten over the shock of their departure. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge appeared at the BAFTAs this year, where several celebrities, including Brad Pitt, poked fun at Megxit. The jokes were well-intended, but experts believe William and Kate were not ready for them.

Prince William and Kate Middleton | Samir Hussein/WireImage

Prince William and Kate Middleton dazzle at the BAFTAs

William and Kate made a surprise appearance at the BAFTAs this year, which were held inside the Royal Albert Hall in London. The couple walked the red carpet prior to the event, which is basically Britains version of the Oscars.

This is the fourth year in a row that William and Kate have attended the award ceremony. This year also marked the 10th year that Prince William has served as the president of the BAFTAs.

When the award ceremony started, William and Kate were seated in the front row. Unfortunately, the two appeared a little tense when Brad Pitt and Rebel Wilson made jokes about Megxit.

Harry and Meghan announced their exit at the beginning of January. The couple is stepping down as senior members of the royal family and are currently living in Canada. The announcement reportedly shocked the royals and based on William and Kates reactions at the BAFTAs, it is still a touchy subject.

Wilson poked fun at the royals

There were two notable instances where presenters made jokes about the royal family at the BAFTAs. According to Fox News, royal expert Neil Sean says that Wilsons jabs at Prince Andrew and Harry were the most offensive to William and Kate.

The feedback is that many of the stars stepped out of line in front of the patron, which is the Duke of Cambridge, Sean stated. William is a huge supporter of films and spoke openly in his speech about the lack of diversity at the awards.

When Wilson took the stage to present the award for Best Director, she joked about the ceremony being hosted at Andrew and Harrys palace. The awkward quip did not go over well with the audience.

Prince William and Kate Middleton's hectic schedule in the wake of Megxit has 'brought them closer together' https://t.co/E2evJ9A7wd  Daily Mail U.K. (@DailyMailUK) February 10, 2020

The cameras also caught Prince William and Kate Middletons reaction and the pair looked very uncomfortable with the joke.

A few months ago, Prince Andrew resigned from his royal duties in light of his connections to the pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew has also been accused of sleeping with one of Epsteins sex traffic victims when she was only 17 years old. Andrew has denied all of these allegations.

Brad Pitt gets in a jab

To make things even worse, Pitt also got in a few jokes at the royal familys expense. Although the actor could not make it to the event, he gave his speech to Margot Robbie, who accepted his award for Best Supporting Actor.

During his speech, Pitt had Robbie thank everyone involved in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. He also threw in a few punch lines about what he was going to name his award.

He says that he is going to name this Harry, Robbie said on behalf of Pitt. Because he is really excited about bringing it back to the States with him His words, not mine!

Kate Middleton And Prince William Were Super Pissed At The Jokes At The BAFTAS



Apparently, the reactions you saw on your TV screen of them Laughing, were EDITED! They were actually Pissed!



WOW!https://t.co/7qBvhbJs2U  SocialCivilRightsFan2 (@MegsWorld8150) February 6, 2020

Following the joke, the cameras cut to the crowd and it appeared as though everyone enjoyed a good laugh. Sean, however, claims that the footage was edited to make it look like the audience liked the joke.

He added that Prince William and Kate Middleton were assured that they would not be made fun of ever again at the event. Luckily, the couple had a good time at the ceremony, despite the jabs.

How are Prince William and Kate Middleton handling Megxit?

In light of what happened at the BAFTAs, inside sources claim that William and Kate are not handling Megxit very well. Prince William allegedly told a close friend that he never wanted to see Prince Harry leave the royal family and hopes he will be back again someday.

Kate, meanwhile, used to be very close to Harry and is also saddened by his departure. Sources say that she has not reached out to Meghan, mostly because they were never close.

It is unclear what will happen with Harry and Meghan in the coming months. The two are planning on becoming financially independent and will be splitting their time between the UK and Canada.

They are expected to buy a second home in Canada, though there has been some speculation that they might move to Los Angeles instead.

Prince William and Kate Middleton have not commented on the reports surrounding their appearance at the BAFTAs.
Only a generation ago, Fine Gael were able to take three of the four seats in the Cork East constituency. Now they're barely able to hold onto one.

After that dominant spell was broken, Fianna Fail was pretty much guaranteed two seats  one of the northern end of the constituency and the other down south. Now they have just one.

There was nearly always a Sherlock in the mix, between the current TD, Sean, and his late father, Joe. Sean has retained his seat, only slightly down on his first preferences. No mean feat when Labour received a pummeling all across the country in recent years.

With a whopping vote like that he topped the poll and was elected on the first count. It caused many political pundits to wonder why they hadn't run a second candidate in the northern end of the constituency. If there is another election any time soon they almost certainly will.

In 2016 Mitchelstown-based Kevin O'Keeffe topped the poll, but he failed to get elected this time. It came as a huge blow to his shell-shocked supporters who readily admitted they didn't see that coming.

[snippet1]977032[/snippet1]

Fine Gael has a problem. Junior minister, David Stanton, barely held onto his seat. Somewhat ironically he taught Buckley when he was a pupil at St Colman's College, Midleton. Maths was one of the subjects taught  his student has now become the teacher when it comes to acquiring larger numbers.

Stanton maintained that if they'd gone to the country last October or November the result may have been more positive for his party.

The heady days of Fine Gael getting three seats are well gone and in order to get two they'll need to deploy a real heavyweight candidate in the northern end of the constituency. At present, nothing is on the horizon.

David Stanton. Picture: David Keane

The O'Keeffe dynasty is in trouble. Kevin's father, Ned, held a seat for Fianna Fail from 1982 to 2011. Kevin was a county councillor for a number of years before taking over the family mantle in Leinster House. He slipped up this time.

Incredibly, the FF seat was instead taken by 22-year-old Trinity College, Dublin student James O'Connor, who has barely been a wet week in politics, having only won a seat on the county council at the last Local Elections.

I'm a bit taken aback. It's a setback, but we will rebuild and put the O'Keeffe name forward again. There are two seats here for Fianna Fail and there will be another election sooner than you think. FF HQ took their eye off rural Ireland in favour of getting seats in Dublin, he said.

A jubilant O'Connor is not going to juggle his new Dail career with his Business, Economics and Social Studies at Trinity. Student life is parked. It's a dream come true for me. I developed an interest in politics when I was in primary school, he said.

James O'Connor. Picture: David Keane

The pressures will be immense for such a young man. He said he likes to relax by playing the piano and violin, or watching rugby, national hunt racing and point to points.

Sherlock admitted that at several stages during the counts he thought he was a gonner: I told my wife that I'd have to dust off my CV."

A TD since 2007, he admitted it was one of the toughest battles he has ever fought. He's managed to live to fight another day.
One of two soldiers killed Saturday in Afghanistan was described by his father as very, very patriotic, a young man who joined the Army right after graduating in 2009 from Burbank High School in San Antonio.

Sgt. 1st Class Javier J. Gutierrez and Sgt. 1st Class Antonio Rey Rodriguez of Las Cruces, N.M., were victims of an insider attack carried out over the weekend by a man posing as a member of Afghanistans armed forces. The soldiers, both 28, served with the 7th Special Forces Group.

Gutierrez leaves behind his wife, Gabby, and four children who range in age from 2 to 7.

He just had that calling in him, his father, Javier S. Gutierrez, said Sunday. I guess like that video game, Call of Duty, to serve the country.

Looking back, he thinks his sons future in the Army was probably set as early as junior high school and certainly by the time he joined Burbank Highs ROTC program. He liked to play military-oriented video games in high school.

A good deal of his inspiration for joining the Army also came from a great-grandfather, Thomas Ortiz, who served in the Army Air Forces as a bombardier in World War II and was taken prisoner by the Nazis after his plane was shot down. Russian soldiers liberated him.

As a matter of fact, when he was in the nursing home and my son came back from basic training, my grandfather couldnt talk too much anymore, recalled Gutierrez, 51, of San Antonio. And my son went over there in his uniform to go show his great-grandfather, and my grandfather just started weeping.

If Ortizs service influenced a young Gutierrez to join the military, so too, perhaps, did his father. The elder Gutierrez, who now works for FedEx Freight in Schertz, joined the Marines and served as an enlisted combat engineer in the Gulf War. He left the corps four years later as a corporal.

In Burbank, he joined ROTC and he felt like that was his purpose in life, to join the military, Gutierrez said of his son. He wanted to join the Marines at first, I guess partly because I used to be in the Marines, but it was the Army that he ended up joining. He went into infantry and from there went into airborne school and from there went to Special Forces.

Courtesy Gutierrez family

Heartbreaking departure

Bidding farewell as his son left for boot camp wasnt easy.

Wars were raging at the time in Iraq and Afghanistan. One surge had finished in Baghdad when Gutierrez entered the Army, and another would start late that fall in Kabul. Before the end of 2009, 465 U.S. troops would die in both war zones.

I was just so heartbroken to see him leave, so heartbroken, Gutierrez said. But now I know what really heartbroken feels like.

His son was initially stationed as an infantryman at Fort Bragg in North Carolina while assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. He later attended Special Forces assessment and selection at Fort Bragg and graduated in 2015 as a communications sergeant. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Eglin AFB, Fla.

Gutierrez and Rodriguez were battle-tested veterans. Gutierrez had served a tour in Iraq, and Rodriguez deployed 10 times to Afghanistan, eight of those tours with the 75th Ranger Regiment and the two others with the 3rd Battalion of the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne).

They were posthumously promoted to sergeant first class.

On ExpressNews.com: The motivation behind insider attacks

A spokesman for the U.S.-led NATO force there, Col. Sonny Leggett, said a man wearing an Afghan military uniform fired a machine gun into a group of troops. U.S. and Afghan authorities have given conflicting accounts of how many troops were killed or injured in the attack.

Leggett said the gunmans motive wasnt yet known.

So far this year, six U.S. service members have lost their lives in Afghanistan, bringing the total to 2,447 since the start of hostilities in 2001. Deaths for troops in the U.S.-led NATO coalition now stand at 3,591, according to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, which tracks fatalities in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The elder Gutierrez said the arrival of an Army casualty assistance team to his home Saturday night bringing news of his sons death reminded him of an evening long ago as he prepared to leave San Antonio for Marine Corps boot camp Nov. 1, 1987, in San Diego, Calif.

He was 19.

I was waiting in the front room with my parents, and two Marines came to our front door at nighttime, and they said, Were here for your son, and so I left, the elder Gutierrez said. And so yesterday I have two military personnel come in, and they say, Were here to tell you something about your son. So the contrast between the two, it was very hard to take, and it still is, and I think it always will be.

Pride in what his son did and his strong Christian faith are sources of solace for the family. Gutierrez recalled that his son was one of a few to win the green beret, the distinctive headgear worn by Army Special Forces troops. The risk of injury while training weighed on his mind. He feared that getting hurt would end his pursuit of becoming an elite soldier, but he was determined to make it.

I think one of his main attributes was humbleness because he would just talk about it very low profile, almost like it didnt mean nothing.  He just had a very calm side to him.

A nickname stuck

Javier Jaguar Gutierrez was born in Jacksonville, N.C., during late summer 1991. He got his middle name from his dad, who was called Jaguar while playing street football as a teenager at church.

Top hits: Get San Antonio Express-News stories sent directly to your inbox

It was an unofficial nickname, obviously, but I loved that name so much that (I said) when I have a son, Im going to name him Jaguar, he said. And so when he was born, I named him Javier Jaguar Gutierrez, and the doctor looked at me and then looked at my wife, and my wife was too tired to argue it.

Jaguar grew up a happy boy, never demanding and content with what he had. He enjoyed hanging out with his friends and even liked spending time with his sisters and parents.

He also was bright. His father said Jaguar didnt have to study much to earn good grades. He also scored so well on the Pentagons aptitude test that the Army wondered why he wouldnt take an occupational specialty other than infantry.

At home, he proved a clever trickster.

He loved his sisters, his dad said. He loved to make their life miserable when he was growing up by poking them or by eating their food. When they would bring in food and they put it in the refrigerator, hed eat it and then theyd come and get it and it would be gone. He would lick the remote so his sisters wont get it and he could watch the TV, and so his sisters didnt want to touch it after that.

Once in the military, Gutierrez followed his fathers path. He called one day to tell the family that he and his girlfriend, Gabby, had eloped. That sounded a lot like what happened a long, long time ago in North Carolina.

We knew each other for maybe about a month that we saw each other, and then when the war broke out I told her, Hey, lets get married, and she came over to North Carolina, Gutierrez said of his wife, Sylvia.

The family last saw Gutierrez at Christmas.

The plans were for everyone to drive from San Antonio to Jacksonville. But knowing his deployment was coming up, Gutierrez brought Gabby and the kids to San Antonio. It was just the sort of Christmas the Gutierrez family had enjoyed since the elder Gutierrez and Sylvia returned from North Carolina with their son, whom they call their Gulf War baby.

He wanted to come down here and see all his family, his grandparents, his uncles and cousins.  We went to Kiddie Park, we had the typical Hispanic Christmas with tamales and pinatas and a lot of family and a lot of food, a lot of fun, Gutierrez said.

He enjoyed it. He really did enjoy it.

In Florida late Sunday, Gutierrez said Gabby tearfully played videos of her husband on her mobile phone, with him telling how much he loved her.

Gutierrez said nothing will ever be the same.

And our Christmases, he said, then paused.

But, at the same time, were grateful to the Lord that he gave us a beautiful son that brought joy to the whole family, he said, adding that while the family grieves they also take comfort in knowing Jaguars faith in Christ was strong.

He was a man who pursued God, and what helps us out is our faith in God and knowing that one day were going to see him again.

sigc@express-news.net

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story included a video provided by the Department of Defense depicting a man by the name Javier Gutierrez. He was not Sgt. 1st Class Javier Jaguar Gutierrez from this story. The video has since been removed.
Urban Commons, a Los Angeles-based real estate investment and development firm, has hired Matthew Goldstein as Vice President of Construction. Goldstein will work with key leadership at Urban Commons to execute strategic growth opportunities for the companys development and design teams.

With more than a decade of construction and real estate development experience, Goldsteins expertise includes projects from large-scale, high-end hospitality and mixed-use, to multifamily, office and government. In his role at Urban Commons, Goldstein will utilize his knowledge to manage a growing team, as well as oversee key contracts and relationships.

Matthew Goldstein has joined the team as we are about to witness exponential growth in development and acquisition, as we diversify the Urban Commons portfolio, said Howard Wu, Principal and Co-Founder at Urban Commons. As our projects across Southern California and the coastal U.S. come to fruition, Matthew will be instrumental in creating success.

Its exciting to join Urban Commons when the company is focused on future growth, added Goldstein. My team will improve 2020 plans to drive efficiency and revenue, helping Urban Commons remain competitive.

Prior to joining Urban Commons, Goldstein was a Managing Director at the John Hardy Group, where he grew Los Angeles office operations and led project teams throughout the western U.S. He previously held leadership and project management roles at several Los Angeles and Las Vegas-based companies and holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Urban Commons is expected to continue its growth through acquisition and development in 2020. Urban Commons is the sponsor to Eagle Hospitality Trust, the current leaseholder of the iconic Queen Mary, a Southern California landmark and special event venue surrounding a 347-room hotel and banquet facility aboard the historic British ocean liner.

Goldstein will deliver revenue-driven projects for Urban Commons, through property renovations and increasing keys in its existing portfolio, as well as diversifying Urban Commons offering, supporting 2020 acquisitions and ground-up developments.

About Urban Commons

Urban Commons is a Los Angeles-based real estate investment and development firm with a successful track record of developing, repositioning and rebranding assets throughout the United States. The company focuses on improving under-managed and under-utilized assets by developing innovative solutions that promote optimal economic, social and environmental returns.

Since founding in 2008, Urban Commons has owned, operated and developed a variety of real estate properties including several dozen hotels, apartments, retail, office, and senior care, throughout the United States including the development of nearly one million square feet of commercial retail space.

Media Contact:

Fred Hulls

Director of Communications

Fred@urban-commons.com

310-804-5032
PORTSMOUTH, N.H.  It's that magical week in New Hampshire, the one after the Iowa caucuses and before voters head to the polls to vote in the New Hampshire presidential primary.

But the primary is not always magical for those who claim victory in it. Republican or Democrat, sometimes it's the people who didn't actually win that experience more magic from the nation's first election in the presidential race.

While the state has been celebrating the primary's centennial this election cycle, the New Hampshire presidential primary actually has four birthdays, not just one, according to historian and documentarian John Gfroerer.

Gfroerer has produced several documentaries about New Hampshire's political history, including "The Premier Primary." This winter, he's presenting video-laden lectures about the primary's history around the state as part of New Hampshire Humanities' Humanities to Go program.

"Before 1913, the electoral process was more run out of backrooms by the political elite," Gfroerer said. "1913 is when the state decided to bring it out of the backrooms and put it on the ballot."

Democratic presidential candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt campaigns in Portsmouth's Market Square in July 1932. Standing next to him is the city's mayor, Fernando W. Hartford, who founded the Portsmouth Herald. The crowd was estimated at 50,000.

That was the year the state Legislature passed and the governor signed a law to create a direct primary, open to all residents eligible to vote. That's the first primary birthday the state celebrated.

More: Joe Biden says he remains 'confident' in his campaign ahead of New Hampshire primary

However, the first presidential election year when this new law was in effect was 1916. So that's why in 2016, the state celebrated the 100th birthday of its first presidential primary.

In 1916, the New Hampshire primary was held a week after the Indiana primary and the same day as Minnesota. When creating the new law about the primary, it was first decided it should be held in May of each presidential election year. Later, on second thought, legislators amended the law, deciding it would be better to hold the primary on Town Meeting day, the second Tuesday in March, when all the towns around the state would be convening anyway. This decision was based in Yankee frugality: It saved money to combine the two for both citizens and town officials.

Story continues

It's not until the third primary birthday that we celebrate the part of the New Hampshire primary that is closest to state voters' hearts  the fact New Hampshire votes first.

After the 1916 primaries, some states dropped their primaries because there was such a low voter turnout. Indiana didn't but decided to move it to May. Just by chance, the first year the New Hampshire primary occurred before other states' primaries was 1920. This year is the centennial of the first time the New Hampshire primary was "first-in-the-nation."

More: 'Stakes are incredibly high': New Hampshire voters feel the pressure as primary looms

But in 1920, there were still no candidates' names on the ballot. New Hampshire voters were electing delegates to go to the Republic or the Democratic convention. Voters didn't necessarily know which candidates the delegates would vote for at the conventions. So voters were still somewhat cut out of the nomination process. New Hampshire, being such a small state, didn't have many delegates at the conventions and so its influence in the nomination was small.

In 1949, N.H. Speaker of the House Richard Upton led the move to put the candidates' names on the ballot and his legislation was successful. So in the 1952 presidential primary, voters still voted on which delegates to send to the conventions, but they also voted separately for which candidate they wanted to be chosen as the nominee of their respective party at that party's convention. The direct vote on the candidates didn't have any result, but it set up to know how voters were feeling, and was reported widely around the nation.

Then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton hugs his wife Hillary at his election night party in New Hampshire in 1992. Clinton finished second to Paul Tsongas, but his strong showing led him to declare himself the Comeback Kid.

There was also a lot of drama in both the Republican and Democratic fields of candidates that election year, and the results of the New Hampshire primary early in the process had an effect on the race. Many have referred to the inconsequential vote directly on the candidates as just setting up "a beauty contest," but it brought New Hampshire lots of attention and some sway, some influence in the presidential race.

That's the fourth birthday Gfroerer referred to in his talk, and the state still has a few years before celebrating that centennial.

More: Buttigieg picks up another delegate in new IDP tally; Sanders wants 'partial recanvass'

Two subsequent years that will most likely warrant centennial celebrations of their own include 1975, when State Rep. Jim Splaine, D-Portsmouth, wrote the law allowing the secretary of state to set the primary date earlier than the March Election Day by seven days if necessary. The law was later fine-tuned to fight off repeated challenges by other states as election reforms made the state primaries more important in the process.

The other is 1976, when Democratic state Rep. Bill Gardner was elected secretary of state at age 28. A strong and staunch supporter of the New Hampshire primary's first-in-the-nation status, he has been kept in office by both Democratic and Republican legislatures since then, and has been a force in maintaining the primary's prominence.

Some of the drama of that 1952 presidential primary added to the New Hampshire primary's cachet, according to Gfroerer.

In 1950, Estes Kefauver, a U.S. senator from Tennessee had led a U.S. Senate committee investigating organized crime and held public hearings across the country. "People would go to movie theaters to watch the hearings being broadcasted," Gfroerer said. "He became the first TV political star."

Kefauver decided to run for the Democratic Party's nomination in the 1952 presidential election and he came early to New Hampshire to campaign for the primary. He would stop anywhere, participate in any activity, to get the chance to shake voters' hands and garner press attention for his campaign.

"Kefauver made himself human and accessible," Gfroerer said, creating for the first time the retail politics the state's primary has made famous. Because he was so popular, coverage of his campaigning in New Hampshire was published and broadcast nationwide. Kefauver won in a huge victory in the New Hampshire primary, defeating President Harry S. Truman, the sitting president of the United States. Truman then withdrew his bid for re-election. He won 12 of the 15 primaries in 1952 and received 3.1 million votes. But delegates were still very powerful and Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson, who got only 78,000 votes, became the party's nominee.

In 1956, Kefauver again sought the Democratic presidential nomination and in the New Hampshire primary defeated Stevenson. But his campaign weakened in subsequent primary battles. He eventually received the nomination for vice president on the Stevenson ticket, which was defeated by President Dwight Eisenhower.

Still, especially during the 1952 New Hampshire primary campaign, Kefauver brought some of the flavor and character that the primary still has today. Newsreels of the day featured his campaign stops and gave him enough momentum to discourage an incumbent president from running for re-election.

"New Hampshire was accessible, and a great visual," Gfroerer said of how the Kefauver campaign first brought the national media to spend time in the state's rural towns. "It was the peak of the Cold War, we became part of propaganda of democracy."

Despite the many battles to come to maintain the primary's first-in-the-nation status, and though Kefauver and many who have followed in his footsteps didn't become president by magically winning here, that early coverage cemented the New Hampshire primary in the country's election process.

"The story was democracy works," Gfroerer said. "It showed this is why it's great to be a democracy."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New Hampshire primary: How it came to be
Around 9 banks from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are looking to carry out legal action against Indians who have defaulted on loans worth Rs 50,000 crore, The Economic Times reported.

The development comes after a January 17 notification by the Indian government that identified UAE as a "reciprocating territory" for enforcement of certain civil court judgements.

This means that UAE banks can now carry out proceedings against those defaulters that have fled to India or have closed their UAE operations, provided that these banks got a favourable verdict by the UAE court. Similarly, in civil cases, the UAE will also admit the rulings of Indian courts.

The report mentioned that UAE-based Emirates NBD, Mashreq Bank and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank are among those that have already initiated action in this regard.

A report by Gulf News noted that over 75 percent of these defaults were by large business and corporate houses, while the smaller retail loan and credit card default accounted for about 20 percent. It added that many banks that belong to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are also looking to avail a similar option to take action against Indian defaulters. According to a report by Matrubhumi, the largest number of defaulters were from Kerala.

The report noted that several Indian businessmen and other salaried earners started leaving the UAE in 2016, after having defaulted on some loans following a slump in the country's small and medium enterprises (SME) sector that led to job losses and the closure of businesses.

India's law ministry, earlier in January this year, named the UAE a 'reciprocating territory', wherein verdicts of 'superior courts' in that country can now be executed through local courts in India.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 00:14:48|Editor: huaxia

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HONG KONG, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Various sectors of the Hong Kong society have donated more than 1 billion yuan (143 million U.S. dollars) and also medical equipment for the novel coronavirus control efforts in the mainland.

The Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region said Monday in a statement that the donations fully demonstrate the deep feeling between the people of Hong Kong and the mainland.

Some donations will be transferred to the Red Cross Society of China via the special account of the office, including 100 million Hong Kong dollars (12.88 million U.S. dollars) from the Li Ka Shing Foundation, 30 million Hong Kong dollars from Shimao Property Holdings Ltd., 3 million Hong Kong dollars from Hong Kong Federation of Fujian Associations, and 3 million Hong Kong dollars from All-China Women's Federation Hong Kong Delegates Association.

With regard to donations made by national lawmakers and political advisors from Hong Kong, Xu Jiayin donated 300 million yuan, Yang Guoqiang donated 100 million yuan, Lam Lung-on set up a 15-million-yuan fund and donated face masks and protective clothing, among others.

Hong Kong entrepreneurs Peter Lee Ka-kit and Martin Lee Ka-shing donated 10 million yuan in the name of their family to set up an anti-epidemic fund. Another entrepreneur Adrian Cheng Chi-kong donated 10 million yuan to the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University to aid its anti-virus fight.

Hong Kong people have also donated face masks, medical protective clothing, disinfectant and other medical equipment purchased overseas to the mainland, according to the statement.

With the newly-built hospitals put into service and more medical staff arriving on the frontlines to fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak, China has seen an increase in the number of patients recovering from the novel coronavirus infection. (1 U.S. dollar equals 6.98 yuan, 7.76 Hong Kong dollars)
[February 10, 2020] AvaTrade Announces a New Regulation Under Abu Dhabi Global Markets

ABU DHABI, UAE, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AvaTrade, the leading forex and CFD broker, is proud to announce today the newest licenced company within the Ava Group  'AvaTrade Middle East Ltd (FSPN 190018)  which will be regulated by the Abu Dhabi Global Markets ('ADGM') Financial Regulatory Services Authority ('FRSA'). As a leading player in the financial markets, AvaTrade is one of the most regulated brokers in the industry. Adding Abu Dhabi's Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), with the group's 9th global licence to the company's vast regulatory network, is considered a major milestone for the broker. AvaTrade's CEO, Mr. Daire Ferguson, explains: "We are delighted to allow even more traders and business partners in the Middle East to enjoy everything we have to offer; from innovative technologies, state-of the-art mobile applications, Islamic accounts, lucratve affiliation programmes and superb trading conditions. This new ADGM regulation is yet another one of many exciting endeavours AvaTrade is pursuing."



The Abu Dhabi Global Market Authorities (ADGM) has issued AvaTrade with a full Category 3A licence (No. 190018) to service both Retail & Professional clients license; the first broker ever to be issued with such a licence. This provides the Ava Group with an excellent opportunity to further strengthen the AvaTrade brand in the Middle East as a whole and the UAE in particular, whilst giving AvaTrade's clients the knowledge and security that they will be serviced by one of the most globally regulated brokers. The new AvaTrade Abu Dhabi office, located in the Abu Dhabi Global Market Square, will be led by Senior Executive Officer, Mohamed Ahmed. "Mohamed brings vast experience in the financial field, and we are certain he will be a true asset for the AvaTrade brand and our local clientele in the region" added Ferguson.

"As a global Manchester City FC partner, which is also headquartered in Abu Dhabi - it seems fitting for AvaTrade to establish a physical presence in Abu Dhabi and the UAE  as part of our longer-term strategic objectives for the Arabic region". Find out more about AvaTrade Abu Dhabi at avatrade.ae About AvaTrade AvaTrade, a regulated, award-winning forex and CFD broker, was founded in 2006 and offers over 1000 financial instruments, on top of a full suite of leading trading platforms, including a cutting-edge mobile app, AvaTradeGO. Clients enjoy personal account managers, a comprehensive collection of educational material and multi-lingual client support. AvaTrade accommodates to traders of all levels and further ensures secured trading with advanced encryption and fully segregated accounts. AvaTrade is regulated across ninth jurisdictions and was recently awarded the 2020's Most Regulated Broker Award by one of the world's leading business publications- The European. Contact Mohamed Ahmed

Senior Executive Officer

AvaTrade Abu Dhabi

[email protected]

+971-525143330



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Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu, has expressed "the concern of the United Nations at the continued flow of arms, including by sea, to Libya
If I will die, let it ...
Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala, chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and newly appointed ministers greet each other after they are sworn in at Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru, on Feb. 6, 2020. (PTI Photo)

Bengaluru: The portfolio allocation undertaken by Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa indicates that the 10 defectors who help him pull down the JD(S)-Congress coalition government back in July have pretty much got the plums they were demanding.

Among them, Ramesh Jarakiholi, a powerful chieftain from Belagavi who played a major role in the toppling of the previous regime, got his choice of portfolio--Major and Minor irrigation--which used to be lorded over by his one-time friend, D.K. Shivakumar of the Congress.

Another defector, Dr K. Sudhakar also got a portfolio Shivakumar held, Medical Education.

Of the others, Somashekhar, Byrathi Basavaraju, B.C. Patil, Anand Singh, K. Gopalaiah and K.C. Narayan Gowda have been able to secure the plums sought.

Only Arabail Shivaram Hebbar and Shrimant Patil have had to make do with relatively low-key jobs.

Heres who got what:

Ramesh Jarakiholi: Water Resources

Dr K. Sudhakar: Medical Education

Anand Singh: Food and Civil Supplies

Shrimant Patil: Textiles

K. Goapalaiah: Sugar and Small Scale Industries

B.A. Byrathi Basvaraju: Urban Development (not including Bengaluru Affairs and

Town Planning)

S.T. Somashekhar: Cooperation

B.C. Patil: Forests

K.C. Narayan Gowda: Municipal Administration

Arabail Shivaram Hebbar: Labour

Having settled this matter, Yediyurappa will next face another uphill task, of distributing district-in-charge ministries and then appointing chairmen to state-run boards and corporations.

Theres history to why Ramesh Jarakiholi so sought the job Shivakumar used to have. Of the three Jarakiholi brothers, it was he who was closest to the Congress strongman but the friendship soured when Shivakumar started promoting the Belagavi Rural MLA, Lakshmi Hebbalkar. It did not go down well with the Jarakiholi family in general and Ramesh Jarakiholi in particular.

Ramesh Jarakiholi was the municipal admin minister in the Kumaraswamy coalition government. But even back then, he was always wanting what Shivakumar was having, which was Water Resources.

The tussle reached a peak when Hebbalkar, with the tacit support of Shivakumar, defeated the nominees of the Jarakiholi family to gain control of the Gokak Co-operative Bank, which the clan had been controlling for over three decades.

This was the trigger that made the entire Jarakiholi family come out in the

open against Hebbalkar, and Ramesh Jarakiholi started venting his ire against

Shivakumar. Since then, he nursed a grudge to replace him in the Water Resources ministry. It was such a compelling grudge that he did not hesitate to pull down the coalition government and leave the Congress party, in which he had started his political career as a student leader.

Prior to toppling the government, Ramesh Jarakiholi categorically asked Yeddiyurappa to promise him the irrigation portfolio, which Yediyurappa fulfilled after dilly-dallying for almost two months.

With Chikkaballapur MLA K. Sudhakar too, there is a Shivakumar back story. He and Shivakumar, both Vokaligas, used to be ardent followers of the former chief minister S M Krishna. Now having sidled up to the BJP, the doctor has managed to ensconce himself in Shivakumars Medical Education portfolio, but also spirit away a medical college allotted to Kanakapura to his own constituency.
Hands off Eureka!

The banning of the Eureka flag from construction sites by the Australia Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) is an attack on the democratic values on which our society was built on.

The Eureka uprising on 3rd December 1854 marked an historical moment in Australian society. Its example has guided some of the most progressive and militant approaches to social change in the country, including the right to rebel and fight for our democratic rights. Workers stand truly by each other in their fight for their rights at work in solidarity with each other. The lone worker has no power but together they are invincible.

Australian governments have attacked those basic principles of solidarity and the right to rebel. The systematic attacks on workers and their trade unions, particularly the most militant such as construction workers affiliated to the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), aim at weakening and ultimately destroying all unions.

The ABCC banning of the Eureka flag has been challenged by giant construction company Lendlease. This shows the contradictions among the business sector and the out of touch ideologically driven actions by the government. It is clear that union sites deliver quality, safer, more productive and profitable outcomes.

In a highly casualised industry such as construction the Eureka flag on building sites is a protection against wage theft. It means better wages and conditions, safety, union representation, site allowances, superannuation, redundancy pay, portable long service leave, rostered days off, annual leave, and holiday pay as well as income protection and other benefits out of the union membership.

The government wants lone workers who would be forced to work for less in a deregulated market. In a race to the bottom the cheaper the labour it means more profit for the bosses.

These are some of the reasons construction and other workers will fight to defend the peoples flag.

The Communist Party of Australia demands the abolition of the ABCC and calls on workers to mobilise in defence of the Eureka flag. Only with mass mobilisation we can get rid of the current draconian laws that criminalise the right to organise and impose huge fines on workers and their unions.
A new survey in AARPs Shes the Difference series explored the concerns of women voters ages 50 and older in the key swing state of Nevada. Below are some highlights from the poll.

On Voting

Democratic women voters ages 50 and older in Nevada are highly motivated to caucus  they are not just worried about themselves, but they are also interested in issues that will affect the welfare of their children and future generations.

More than 9 in 10 (91%) self-identified Democratic women voters ages 50 and older say they will at least probably attend the Nevada caucus on February 22, including more than 8 in 10 (82%) Democrats who say they will definitely attend.

More than 8 in 10 (83%) older women voters say they think about their children and future generations when they vote, and more than 3 in 4 (78%) worry about the world they may leave behind.

On the Issues

When asked to identify the most important issues facing the country, Nevada Democratic and Republican women voters ages 50 and older have very different ideas.

Democrats are significantly more likely than Republicans to cite

Healthcare (47% vs. 26%)

The environment and climate change (28% vs. 9%)

Guns (28% vs. 6%)

Corruption (17% vs. 9%)

Income inequality (12% vs. 1%)

Republicans are significantly more likely than Democrats to cite

Immigration (60% vs. 12%)

Terrorism and national security (27% vs. 16%)

The national debt (21% vs. 9%)

Crime and drug abuse (15% vs. 6%)

On Healthcare



That said, healthcare costs continue to be a primary concern across party lines for older women voters in Nevada.

Healthcare was cited as a top issue by nearly 4 in 10 (38%) older women voters in Nevada. More than 3 in 4 (76%) give their elected officials a D or F grade on dealing with the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs.

Older women voters in Nevada are most likely to blame drug companies charging too much for medication (47%) and health insurance companies prioritizing profits over patients health (40%) as most responsible for rising healthcare costs.

For many women voters ages 50 and older in Nevada, healthcare costs are both a personal and pocketbook issue.

64% know someone without health insurance

33% say they cant afford to pay for their healthcare

33% say they have skipped medical care because it was too expensive

24% have rationed prescription medications due to high costs

21% have gone into debt because of high medical costs

On Retirement and Social Security



Retirement security is a bipartisan issue of personal and policy concern for older women voters in Nevada.

Women voters ages 50 and older in Nevada are much more likely to be retired than the national average (48% in Nevada vs. 16% nationally). Many place some blame for retirement insecurity on current policy, with 63% giving elected officials a D or F grade on making it easy to save for retirement.

Similar to the large majority of older women voters nationally, women voters ages 50 and older in Nevada plan to relay on Social Security as their primary source of income when the retire (75%), but they are not confident that they will be able to live comfortably through retirement because Social Security falls short of what they need to meet their living expenses.

In Nevada, bolstering Social Security has strong bipartisan support: 94% of Democrats, 84% of Republicans, and 85% of Independents agree that we should strengthen the system so that every American has a chance to retire.

Methodology

The Harris Poll conducted this online and phone survey on behalf of AARP December 525, 2019. The sample has 1,001 registered women voters ages 50 and older in Nevada.

The data from phone and online interviews were combined and weighted to reflect known demographics. The data are weighted to the population of female Nevada residents ages 50 and older using population benchmarks from the Census Bureaus March 2019 Current Population Survey and the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions 2017 National Health Interview Survey.

Weighting by education, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, marital status, household income, employment status, and landline/cell phone usage bring these data into line with the actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents propensity to be online to ensure representativeness among the online respondents.

For telephone respondents, number of phone lines, recent phonelessness, and number of adults in the household were also included to account for probability of selection. Raked weights are estimated using Random Iterative Method (RIM) weighting.

For more information, contact Rachelle Cummins at rcummins@aarp.org. For media inquiries, contact media@aarp.org.

Suggested citation:

The Harris Poll. She's the Difference: Nevada Survey Results. Washington, DC: AARP Research, February 2020. https://doi.org/10.26419/res.00373.002
- Major Mahama's dad wants the state to fast track the prosecution of killers of son

- Three years after the army officer was murdered while on assignment,the killers are yet to be found

- Our manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

The father of the late army officer, Major Maxwell Adam Mahama who was lynched to death is bitterly complaining about the slow pace of trial to find the killers of his son.

Captain Dennis Mahama (Rtd) in an interview on Accra Kingdom FM pleaded with the Ghana Police Service, CID unit to fast track investigations into the murder of his son, three years after his murder.

He also pleaded with the courts to also speed up prosecution to ensure justice is delivered.

READ ALSO: Explainer: Airbus brouhaha; what we know so far

According to the father of the late soldier, he wants the culprits to be punished in accordance with the laws of the land but expressed frustration over the delay of trial by the Accra High Court.

Our sentiments are our sentiments. The law is the law. Even though this is what we wish, the law says otherwise, even though we saw close to 100 people, the law says only 14 people will face trial and we are very shocked and surprise how the trial has delayed, Captain Dennis Mahama (Rtd) said.

Im pleading with the court to make sure they speed up prosecution and jail all the people who were involved in the mob-action, he added.

ATTENTION: Read the best news on Ghana #1 news app. Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Ghana

14 persons, including the Assembly Member of Denkyira Obuasi, William Baah, are standing trial at an Accra High Court over the killing of Major Mahama, who was an officer of the Fifth Infantry Battalion at Burma Camp.

The late Major was on duty at Denkyira-Obuasi in the Central Region when on May 29, 2017 some residents allegedly mistook him for an armed robber and lynched him.

READ ALSO: Galamsey saga: Ekow Ewusi drops names in petition to BNI boss

The mob had apparently ignored his persistent plea that he was an officer of the Ghana Armed Forces.

YEN.com.gh earlier reported that reports emanating from Ghanas premier university, University of Ghana indicates that the President of the Students Representative Council (SRC), Isaac Agyemang has allegedly embezzled GH 66,138 of students dues.

According to report by Universenewsroom.com, the General Assembly of UG approved a sum of GHC 365,452 from the SRC dues as expenses for the first semester of the 2019/2020 academic year.

President Akufo-Addo is a "wicked old man" - Angry protester fumes | #Yencomgh

READ ALSO: Happy and sad video of Mahama in power and in opposition causes stir online

Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page.

Source: YEN.com.gh
The Allahabad High Court on Monday dismissed a petition challenging recovery notices served on anti-CAA protesters for alleged damage to public property.

The Lucknow bench of the High Court said such matters are already sub judice before the Supreme Court so there was no occasion to file the instant petition here.

The order was given by a division bench of Justice Pankaj Kumar Jaiswal and Justice Karunesh Singh Pawar on the writ petition filed by a protester, Mohammad Kaleem.

The petitioner had challenged a notice issued by the UP government for the recovery of damages allegedly caused to public property during a recent protest in the city against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

The petitioner had stated that the notice was illegal.

Opposing the plea, the government counsel submitted that it was a mere notice to which the petitioner should reply before the issuing authority and secondly same matters are pending before the apex court so the petition is not maintainable in the HC.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Last week, Realme's European branch teased the release of its future flagship device, the Realme X50 Pro 5G, on Twitter and announced that it's attending the MWC for the first time this year.

Now the company is making it official by scheduling its event on February 24 at 9:30 am CET during this year's MWC 2020 in Barcelona. The firm is about to unveil one of the first Snapdragon 865-powered smartphones with 5G support as Qualcomm teased during its announcement of the chipset a couple of months ago.

This official invitation is a breath of fresh air amidst all the companies canceling their appearance during this year's MWC due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.
The slapping of PSA was, in itself, an admission on the governments part that it has no legitimate reason to keep the Abdullahs and Mufti behind detention.

The Union governments latest move, to slap the Public Safety Act on former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, smacks of desperation and muddled thinking in the highest echelons of policymaking. The move belies the governments claims that normalcy is being gradually restored in the Valley. Had that been the case, the Centre wouldnt have felt the need to slap a draconian law on former chief ministers and a clutch of other incarcerated political leaders the day their six-month detention without charge was coming to an end.

The PSA, a preventive law that allows for detentions without trial for up to three months with provisions for multiple extensions, is used against individuals whom the state deems to be a threat to internal security or maintenance of public order. Detainees of PSA, a law that ironically was introduced by Sheikh Abdullah, can be imprisoned for up to two years, need not be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, cannot apply for bail in a criminal court and cannot engage a lawyer to challenge the arrest.

To suddenly slap this stringent law on former chief ministers who have remained in house arrest since the Centre abrogated Article 370 and bifurcated the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories, speaks of an anomaly within the Narendra Modi government regarding its Kashmir policy.

On the one hand, in reading down Article 370 and 35A of the Constitution and ending Jammu and Kashmirs semi-autonomous status, the BJP is implementing a core agenda that has formed part of its action plan since its inception and occupied a prime spot in its manifestos for 2014 and 2019. And yet, when it comes implementation of the policy, instead of clarity of thinking and a clear pathway to its objective  as would have been expected of a party that had the abrogation of Article 370 firmly in its agenda  the BJP is afflicted with a curious ad-hocness.

It is evident that the Modi governments plan of incarcerating existing political leaders of the Valley who have been an inalienable part of its dystopian reality and allowing grassroot leaders to grow organically, has not fructified in the short term and the political vacuum that was created since withdrawal of special status has only grown. Despite the tall claims that the existing structure and politicians are replaceable with a new crop of political leaders who may kickstart the political process, the move to further detain regional leaders proves the failure of that policy.

This has led to a situation where the governments hand was forced by circumstances arising from the failure of its policy. The Centre is aware that it would be legally untenable to keep the Abdullahs and the Muftis under further detention without charge, but it is still not confident enough to put its 5 August decision to democratic test. It is apprehensive that if the former chief ministers and the other leaders of National Conference and PDP are set free, they may use their political clout to mobilise public opinion against abrogation of Article 370.

The preventive detention of Abdullah and Mufti, who have been incarcerated since 5 August last year, may be extended beyond six months only if an advisory board, constituted two weeks before the completion of the 180-day period, recommends that. In absence of such a mechanism, the Centre had little option but to invoke the PSA.

The desperation within the government is evident when we see the ridiculous charges brought against Abdullah and Mufti to justify their continued detention. In Abdullahs case, his popularity and mass appeal have been mentioned as causes, and his act of aiding the Indian State by getting people to take part in the democratic process despite threats from separatists and terrorists have been cited as Kafkaesque reasons for slapping the draconian PSA.

This surreal move would have been a black comedy had the sinister underpinning not been painfully clear. The PSA dossier, as leaked to the media, mentions that Omar Abdullahs capacity to influence people for any cause can be gauged from the fact that he was able to convince his electorate to come out and vote in huge numbers even during the peak of militancy and poll boycotts.

Among other charges, the PSA dossier reportedly accuses Abdullah of instigating people on Twitter against the unity and integrity of India even though no posts on the microblogging site have been cited to back up this allegation. Incidentally, Abdullahs last two tweets since his incarceration on 5 August call for peace and calm.

Violence will only play in to the hands of those who do not have the best interests of the state in mind. This wasnt the India J&K acceded to but Im not quite ready to give up hope yet. Let calm heads prevail. God be with you all.  Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) August 4, 2019

The absurdity doesnt end there. As NDTV has reported, the dossier alleges that in order to secure support of common people, the subject (Omar Abdullah) removed all covers / curtains and while resorting to his dirty politics has adopted a radical methodology by way of instigating general masses against the policies of central government.

No explanation, reportedly, has been given on how a man in solitary detention may mobilise masses against the Centre, and it is not clear how a leaders popularity may be held against him. In Muftis case, she has been mentioned as a Daddys Girl who is known for dangerous and insidious machinations. She has been promoting separatism as corroborated by several confidential reports filed by (intelligence) agencies The dossier also apparently touts the green colour of party flag as a reflection of its radical origin.

If encouraging people to come out and vote was not absurd enough to be touted as a reason behind invocation of PSA, citing the color of a flag takes the absurdity to another level altogether. Omar Abdullahs sister has challenged the decision of the government to detain him under PSA. Unless the government inexplicably wants to become a laughing stock, it is hard to explain the theatre of the absurd being staged by it.

The slapping of PSA was, in itself, an admission on the governments part that it has no legitimate reason to keep the Abdullahs and Mufti behind detention. The ridiculous charges make it even more glaringly apparent.

If the governments motive behind keeping Abdullah and Mufti under detention is to prevent them from mobilising public opinion, then it has admitted that one of its narratives behind abrogation of Article 370  that it wants to rid the state of its corrupt politics by removing unpopular politicians  was false. Modi government has itself proved the futility of its Kashmir policy.
WASHINGTON - The Trump administration's proposal to decimate the budget for foreign aid and diplomacy met with stiff resistance Monday as lawmakers and aid advocates predicted it would be rejected by Congress.

For the fourth year in a row, the White House put forth a budget that had deep cuts in spending for foreign aid. Particularly hard hit were aid for refugees and conflict victims, contributions to international organizations and programs that foster cross-cultural exchanges.

This year's proposal would allot more than $40 billion for the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development, representing a cut of some 22 percent.

Officials from the State Department and USAID said the budget reflects the administration's belief that other countries and nongovernmental organizations need to donate more to alleviate international crises and take some of the burden off U.S. taxpayers.

Many think tanks would have donations from the U.S. government sharply reduced or eliminated. Small grants for educational and cultural programs would be scrapped. Funds for disaster relief and to help refugees overseas were consolidated into a new International Humanitarian Assistance account - and total funding would drop from $9 billion to $6 billion.

"Even at $6 billion, we are still the largest donor in the humanitarian aid space," said James Richardson, director of U.S. Foreign Assistance Resources at the State Department. "We're really looking for the rest of the world to step up," he added.

But many critics thought the budget cuts were ill-timed, as the world races to react to a number of international crises, from Syria to Yemen to the novel conoravirus outbreak.

"To cut money from the World Health Organization just as the WHO is on the front lines of the conoravirus rattles the nerves," said Peter Yeo, an official of the UN Foundation and the Better World Campaign.

"The foreign affairs cuts are so disproportionate, and so out of sync with congressional views, it's likely to be largely ignored and Congress will start from scratch."

New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, dismissed the budget proposal as "dangerous." Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called it "a waste of the paper it's printed on."

"If this draconian budget were enacted, it would weaken our security and leadership around the world," Engel said in a statement. "That's how we know that this budget is nothing but red meat for the President's political base. Congress will again reject this proposal in resounding bipartisan fashion."

Not every program is slated for cuts.

Support for the Women's Global Development and Prosperity Fund championed by the president's daughter Ivanka Trump doubled, to $200 million.

Military aid remained at $115 million for Ukraine, a country that had its U.S. support withheld last year in what became the subject of President Donald Trump's impeachment hearing. But aid to help Kyiv enforce narcotics laws would drop from $30 million to $13 million.

Tom Hart, head of The ONE Campaign that battles global poverty and disease, praised USAID for including funding for the childhood vaccine alliance known as Gavi, but said in a statement that it was an exception in a budget marked by steep, debilitating cuts.

"This budget is yet another cruel example of the Trump Administration's retreat from the world's poorest," he said. "It's pretty simple, you can't fight disease and lift people out of poverty by gutting programs that are doing just that."
The community around the Chicagoland area comes out, she said. People bring their kids. Its a great place for them to read in public. Students and people that work at the university are excited about it. Some staff talk to other staff and ask Are you reading this because I want to read this. Are you doing Maya Angelou because I want to do Phenomenal Woman. Can you do something else? Everybody wants to get involved.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Hundreds of protesters, including students and civil society members, poured onto the streets in central Delhi on Monday protesting against the amended citizenship law and the National Register of Citizens.

The protesters, carrying placards and banners of all sizes and colours, converged at Mandi House around 11 am and started marching towards Jantar Mantar where they reached around 12.30 pm via Barakhamba Road and Tolstoy Road.

A large number of police and paramilitary personnel walked along with them.

"The protesters do not have permission to take out a march, but as long as they maintain peace, we do not have a problem," a police official said.

The protest call was given by the Welfare Party of India.

The protesters, however, claimed that they had the permission and would march till Jantar Mantar.

Children as young as 10, senior citizens, civil society members and university students filled the streets and ran the length of central Delhi, shouting anti-CAA and anti-government slogans.

Mohammad Shareef, who came here from Kanpur, said his son Mohammad Rais (30) was shot dead by police when while returning after offering namaz.] "On December 20, Rais was returning home after offering namaz.

He used to sell 'papad' and also worked in marriage functions.

During the commotion, Rais started running when the police shot him.

"The people from the locality took him to my house and I rushed him to a hospital. Not even a single person came to my house and asked how we were. Police misbehaved with us. Rais was killed by police when he was returning home after taking his money which he earned at the marriage function," said Shareef.

The protesters carried the photographs of freedom fighters Bhagat Singh and Chandrasekhar Azad and social reformer Savitribai Phule, and demanded that the government revoke the "black law".

ALSO READ | Allahabad HC dismisses plea against notices to anti-CAA protesters

Another victim Aftab Alam's mother said her son did not participate in any protest.

"After the death of his father, my son used to work as a mason. He was shot dead by the police when he went to offer namaz in Kanpur. The incident took place at Babu Purwa area and the bullet hit on his left side of the chest," she said.

The wife of Dr Kafeel Khan, who was in September acquitted of all negligence and corruption charges in the Gorakhpur BRD Hospital tragedy, and brother of Sharjeel Imam, arrested on sedition charges, also participated in the march.

ALSO READ | Tension in Kanpur as police 'tries to remove' anti-CAA protesters from park

Siraj Talib, the national secretary of the Welfare Party of India, "We are protesting against the CAA and the NRC. We have permission, I have spoken to police and we are marching towards Jantar Mantar."

The protesters were raising anti-CAA, anti-government and anti-BJP slogans.

They were also carrying placards with messages, which read 'reject CAA and NRC" and 'we Indians standing against NRC and reject Citizenship Amendment Act'.

Riyasat Malik (20), who works in a private organisation, said that he along with around 80 women, came here from Sunder Nagri to support the anti-CAA protest.

"Just like Shaheen Bagh, scores of women in Sunder Nagri are also sitting in protest against this newly amended law. They got to know about this march yesterday and came here in its support. This would not stop here and the government will need to revoke this law," Malik said.

Abdul Ghaffar (61), who came to join the protest from Ghaziabad, said they want the government to listen to them.

"The government has already cleared its stand after amending the law, but now we want them to listen us as well. We are not fighting with them, they are our leaders and our government also. We want to tell them our grievances," said Ghaffar.
PIERRE | Legislation aimed at stopping physicians from providing puberty blockers and gender confirmation surgery to transgender children under 16 failed to get enough support Monday in a Senate committee.

The Republican-dominated Senate committee voted 5-2 to kill the proposal, likely ensuring the issue won't be considered by the Legislature again this year.

Sen. Helene Duhamel of Rapid City opposed the legislation,while, Sen. Phil Jensen of Rapid City voted for it.

Proponents already had amended the bill to get rid of criminal charges for doctors who provide gender confirmation treatments, including puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgery. But it would have allowed children to sue if they later regretted the treatments.

Conservative lawmakers in nearly a dozen other states, including South Carolina, Florida, Missouri, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky and New Hampshire, are pushing similar proposals. The measure had gained the most traction in South Dakota, where the House recently passed it.

But some Republican senators and Republican Gov. Kristi Noem had expressed concerns and questioned whether the Legislature should be delving into the issue.

LGBT advocates and Democrats argued that the proposal would have stopped children with gender dysphoria from receiving medically necessary health care that improves their mental health. They demonstrated outside the Capitol before Monday's Senate Health and Human Services Committee meeting.

Quinncy Parke, a 17-year-old transgender teenager, testified before the committee and had one word to describe the feeling of seeing the bill die: ecstatic.

It's gone," Parke said. "I don't have to worry about it until next year.

Proponents of the bill maintained that the treatments harm people in the long run.

Rep. Fred Deutsch, a Florence Republican who introduced the bill, said the testimony and debate had accomplished what we set out to do. He said he wanted to raise awareness about potential side effects and doubts that some doctors have about whether the procedures help patients in the long run.

Leading medical authorities, including the Endocrine Society and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, do not recommend gender confirmation surgeries for children. For youths experiencing puberty and older adolescents, the Endocrine Society recommends that a team composed of expert medical and mental health professionals manages treatment, which can include puberty-blocking drugs or hormone therapy.

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Leftists renewed their decades-long attacks on Rush Limbaugh last week as he announced a serious illness and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Leftists celebrate his illness and somehow deny that a non-soldier should receive this civilian award. They deny the worth of his contribution to the nation while castigating his political views. Conservatives try to support the award with reference to Limbaugh's charity work, the size of his audience, or his many years on the air. While the conservatives are correct, both sides miss the point.

In order to understand how important Rush has been to America, we must remember the early 1980s and before. Conservatives such as President Reagan were the subject of relentless attacks in the media, popular culture, and the education establishment. It would be years before the internet, with all of its opportunity for communication and information, became generally available. Cable television was in its infancy. When we wanted to read or hear conservative opinion to counterbalance the prevailing culture, we could read two or three columns in the newspaper every week from writers such as George Will, William Buckley, and William Safire (there were a few others). That was about it. Those columns were all that we had to bolster us as we endured our schoolteachers, professors, television news, sitcoms, movies, magazines, popular music, etc. Those columns had barely enough space to defend President Reagan's programs from the misrepresentations of the evening "news." They certainly were inadequate to respond to the entire weight of popular culture with its daily messages of appeasement, promiscuousness, secularism, and the ever-present demands for government handouts. They were even less capable of keeping up with the daily brainwashing from the public schools and colleges of America.

We discovered any source of information beyond those weekly columns purely by happenstance. I found old, forgotten books on the shelves of libraries. Those books made me understand the emptiness and shallowness of popular culture and its political message. They also showed me that the messages and history "lessons" from school were superficial and politically motivated.

But knowledge has its drawbacks. I felt alone in the midst of popular culture and government education. I had become the main character in some dystopian novel. Almost everyone else appeared to be the dystopian subjects  proceeding mindlessly through life with the help of Soma, while totally depending on Big Brother for knowledge.

I could not know that I was not alone. There were millions of others who were (and are) equally out of step with the government-media industrial complex. The "silent majority" has existed for many decades. But we had no voice in popular culture. We had no connections in Hollywood. We are silenced by speech codes on campus. We had no way of knowing our own strength. Without any representation in popular culture, we were isolated. We were prisoners in solitary confinement. With isolation that thorough, there could be little communication among the prisoners. The information blackout left us with nothing to discuss and no way of identifying our own allies. But in 1988, that isolation ended.

Never had so many people been so ready for one talk show host. When Rush Limbaugh took to the airwaves in 1988, it was as if a dam had burst. Rush's conservatism went beyond mere recitation of Republican talking points. He did more than simply oppose taxes, crime, and deficit spending. He added humor to his message. He discussed his ideas philosophically, displaying a deep understanding of the underpinnings of our beliefs. He remembered things that the establishment wanted to forget. He never forgot a news story or a sound bite. He made it harder for the media "giants" to change their stories at the drop of a hat. He set his arguments to music. He joked and sang where others before him were scared. He showed no fear.

Just as importantly, we quickly learned that others were joining in on the fun. People were talking about Rush. Conservatism was not merely something to be found in old books in a library basement. The dystopian script was disappearing. I was no longer alone (I never really had been). I began to see bumper stickers, coffee mugs, and campaign-style buttons promoting Rush. Friends discussed the show often. I encountered "Rush rooms" in restaurants. "Dan's Bake Sale" exceeded all expectations and received tremendous publicity. Rush had forced his way into popular culture and brought the rest of us with him.

We realized that our beliefs were shared by many and that we had power. Rush was the Voice of America broadcasting through the Iron Curtain. Like the prisoners of the Iron Curtain, we needed these broadcasts for more than mere information. We needed to know that our fellow prisoners knew the truth also. The liberating and unifying effect of these broadcasts sometimes translated into election results that we never dreamed possible. The unity that Rush provided helped stop some of the worst Clinton programs and gave us the momentum that resulted in the historic congressional elections of 1994 that liberated Congress for the first time in four decades. There is nothing so dangerous to a totalitarian as a unified people that know they are not alone.

At least partially because of Rush, socialized medicine was delayed by decades. Millions of children were able to grow up without facing the medical horrors that are common in Europe, Canada, and other socialist countries. Millions of Americans now own guns because the gun control schemes of the 1990s were delayed or reversed. Many other leftist causes face skepticism and doubt because conservatives across the country have the courage and unity to say "no."

While social media and cable television now provide for much of the communication that unifies conservatives, Rush was first. The Rush phenomenon gave us the confidence to use the internet and speak out on the issues that matter. The "dittoheads" of the 1990s became the pajama-wearing amateur journalists that would bedevil Dan Rather, CBS, and the rest of the establishment media in the following decade. The "deplorables" of our most recent election can similarly trace their lineage back to the enthusiasm that began in the early days of Rush.

Whether one agrees with Rush or not, it is undeniable that he has changed our world. In fact, we have changed our own world. But Rush has been the catalyst. Only by recognizing Rush's true contribution can we carry it forward into every form of media that we may yet encounter. Only by remembering what he has done for us can we avoid the isolation that characterizes the victims of every dystopia. The medal that President Trump gave to him is a small price to pay for the contribution he has made to the lives of millions of Americans over many years.
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President Donald Trump hosted the annual Governor's Ball at the White House on Sunday where he praised governor's for their 'tremendous' work this year, but took some of the credit by praising his own leadership.

The president walked into the ball hosted in the East Room of the White House hand-in-hand with First Lady Melania who wore a black sleeveless floor-length gown for the special occasion.

Trump first praised Melania for her preparations for the black-tie event saying, 'I want to thank the First Lady for having done such a beautiful job with the settings and all of the things. She works very hard on these things, so I want to thank her very much.'

He went on to praise the governors who arrived for the event calling the gathering 'an incredible group of people.'

President Donald Trump hosted the annual Governor's Ball at the White House on Sunday where he praised governor's for their 'tremendous' work this year, but claimed part of the credit as the result of his leadership

Trump first praised Melania for her preparations for the black-tie event saying, 'I want to thank the First Lady for having done such a beautiful job with the settings and all of the things. She works very hard on these things, so I want to thank her very much'

The bipartisan annual black tie affair took place in the East Room of the White House in DC

'I know just about all of you, and we argue a little bit, but 90 percent of the time we get along,' Trump said. 'And I just said, "Call the White House, call me anytime you have difficulty, because were all in this together."'

'So I just want to congratulate you on having done, in all cases, a great job. Most of the states, almost everyone, has set a record. Youve had a record  virtually every state,' Trump commended.

'But the fact is youve  youve all  I know you very well. Youve done a tremendous job. Its not easy being governor. And its  you just look at the way our country is doing: Weve never done as well as were doing right now,' he continued.

The president walked into the ball hosted in the East Room of the White House hand-in-hand with First Lady Melania who wore a black sleeveless floor-length gown for the special occasion

The couple put on a united front walking in to the dinner holding hands

'Call the White House, call me anytime you have difficulty, because were all in this together,' Trump told the gathered governor's in his speech

In his speech Trump touted the success of his administration and mentioned recent trade teals with China, Mexico, Canada, and Japan and South Korea, telling the governor's their state's will reap the benefits.

Trump then asked the press to leave the event and proposed that instead of 'small talk' that governors directly approach him with their issues and ideas.

'When they depart, well start asking questions, making statements. You can make  if you have any suggestions, wed love to hear them. If you have any questions, Id love to answer them for you,' he said.

In his speech Trump touted the success of his administration and mentioned recent trade teals with China, Mexico, Canada, and Japan and South Korea, telling the governor's their state's will reap the benefits

Melania clapped for her husband as he wrapped up his opening remarks

Melania Trump shared photos of her preparations for the elaborate dinner on Saturday, posing in front of the carefully decorated tables and dinner settings

Trump and Melania pictured in the East Room before the special event

'Looking forward to hosting members of the @governors_nga & their spouses at the @WhiteHouse Governors Ball tomorrow night. It is an annual tradition to come together for a bipartisan gala to strengthen the friendships between states & their leaders,' Melania posted Saturday

The governors will return to the White House for another session with Trump on Monday.

Trump said he knows just about all the governors who attended.

They included Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat who won a second term last year despite Trumps efforts to engineer his defeat. Also present was Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a moderate Republican who considered challenging Trump for the partys presidential nomination.

Trump is extremely popular with the GOP base. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is close to Trump, scored a seat at the head table with the president and First Lady Melania.

Melania Trump shared photos of her preparations for the elaborate dinner on Saturday, posing in front of the carefully decorated tables and dinner settings.

'Looking forward to hosting members of the @governors_nga & their spouses at the @WhiteHouse Governors Ball tomorrow night. It is an annual tradition to come together for a bipartisan gala to strengthen the friendships between states & their leaders,' she captioned her post.
A murder trial witness has said she recognised a car that was traveling "in an awful hurry" on the night a garda was shot dead during a credit union robbery.

Frances Malone was giving evidence in the trial of Aaron Brady who denies the capital murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe.

She told Lorcan Staines SC for the prosecution that she was driving home with her husband some time after 9pm on January 25, 2013 when she saw two cars coming towards her "very very fast" near the Ballymascanlon roundabout, a short distance from Lordship Credit Union where Det Gda Donohoe was shot dead.

Both cars had their headlights on and although she flashed her lights to tell them to dip they kept shining their full beams. "They were blinding me," she said and she was therefore unable to identify the make or model of either car or their licence plates.

About five minutes later she met another car coming towards her going "very, very hard". She recognised this car as belonging to a man she knows who is aged in his 60s. She knew the car because the man's name was on the personalized number plate and she had seen it "a good many times" before.

She remembered saying to her husband that the owner, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was "in an awful hurry". When she later saw on television that there had been a shooting she wondered if the cars she had seen with their headlights on had anything to do with it.

Aaron Brady

Aaron Brady (28) from New Road, Crossmaglen, Co Armagh has pleaded not guilty to the capital murder of Det Gda Donohoe (41) who was then a member of An Garda Siochana on active duty on January 25, 2013 at Lordship Credit Union, Bellurgan, Co Louth.

Mr Brady has also pleaded not guilty to a charge of robbing approximately 7,000 in cash and assorted cheques on the same date and at the same location.

Mervyn McBride told Mr Staines that he was driving south on the Cortamlat Road in Armagh when he saw a dark-coloured Volkswagen coming towards him fast. About 150 metres after that he saw another car traveling in the same direction also at speed.

The witness agreed with defence counsel Justin McQuade that in a statement to gardai he said the Volkswagen appeared to have an English registration plate.

Farmer Alan McBride was in a shed on the Chaleybeate Road in Armagh between 21.30 and 22.00 on the same date when he saw a black BMW 5-series going towards a spot where a burned out car was later found. The BMW was going "very fast", he said, maybe 60miles per hour (96km/h). Fifteen to twenty minutes later he heard the same car coming back heading in the direction it had come from.

The jury also heard from a number of officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland who searched the area near the Cumsons Road, off the Chaleybeate Road, where a burned out Volkswagen Passat was found.

The trial continues in front of Justice Michael White and a jury of eight men and seven women.
KAMPALA, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Robinah Nabbanja, Uganda's minister of state for health, on Sunday commended the prevention and control measures taken by China to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

"They have already identified some treatments and it's working, and there are those (patients) who have been treated and discharged after recovery," Nabbanja told Xinhua, adding that she believes China has the capability to contain the outbreak from spreading.

She noted that China's isolation of suspected cases and curative care treatment methods are working well to contain the spread of the virus.

"They have banned public transport and public gathering. Those who are sick have been isolated and treated. That is a very positive move and is working well," she said.

The minister said it is "unbelievable" that China can build a 1,000-bed hospital in a record 10 days to treat patients infected with the virus in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, in central China's Hubei Province.

"It's highly commendable," she said. "If they can isolate the infected from those who are free from the virus, then that is a very positive move."

She said that her government has no plan to evacuate Ugandans currently in China, as Chinese authorities have put in place very robust preventative and control measures to combat the transmission and spread of the virus.
Superstar Prabhas and Pooja Hegde's upcoming film Prabhas 20 has already stirred a lot of excitement amongst the masses. Helmed by Radha Krishna Kumar, the intense-love story went on floors last year and is expected to arrive in cinema halls in the second half of this year. The movie is set in the 1970s and Prabhas is apparently playing the role of a fortune-teller.

Apart from Prabhas and Pooja, fans will also get to see Bollywood actress Bhagyashree playing a crucial role in the film. And just when we thought the makers couldn't surprise us anymore, there is a new addition to the cast which will definitely raise some eyebrows. Well, as per the latest buzz, veteran Bollywood star Mithun Chakraborty has been brought on board to the play the antagonist in the much-awaited movie.

Though there has been no official announcement regarding the new addition, we hear that Prabhas is keen on making a film that appeals to a wider section of audience across India and hence is trying to make the cast look more interesting. If that's the case then Mithun Chakraborty's inclusion will definitely help the makers.

Chakraborty, who started his acting career with Bengali film Mrigayaa and ended up winning the National Award for Best Actor as well, made his debut in the Telugu film industry back in 2014 with Gopala Gopala. The film was a remake of the Hindi blockbuster OMG: Oh My God. In the following year, he made his debut in Tamil cinema and then in 2018 he finally acted in his first Kannada movie, The Villain.

Last year, Mithun was seen in The Tashkent Files which was directed by Vivek Agnihotri. While the political thriller courted a lot of controversies, the veteran actor was praised for his performance in the film. And now if he is actually doing Prabhas 20 then we think its the best way for him to make his comeback in the Telugu film industry. Don't you guys agree?

Prabhas And Pooja Hegde Starrer Prabhas 20 To Release In October?

Bhagyashree On Playing Prabhas' Mother: 'There's A Wow Factor That Surrounds My Role'
After doing her signature pinky promise with a line of little girls, but before taking the stage to deliver her stump speech to the crowd assembled in a middle-school gym in Concord, N.H., Elizabeth Warren sat in a butter-yellow classroom to explain what keeps her going.

Persistence has been the defining characteristic of the Massachusetts senators campaign: the battle cry that made her a progressive icon, and the quality that could propel her through a long slog to the Democratic presidential nomination. In person, Warren is still an Energizer Bunny of ideas and optimism, with no hint of alarm at her position in the polls. Her campaign has become a test case for what many well-educated liberals wish to believe: that Democrats are sane, that policy matters, and that if a smart, qualified woman just works hard enough, she can come out on top.

But what happens, I asked, if Warren tells thousands of little girls that a woman can be President, but she doesnt win herself? What does persistence mean without results?

Look, Warren begins. She is quiet for a long moment, leaning forward in her plastic chair with the intensity of someone who wants to make sure she gets this right. We have to show that were willing to take the risk, she says slowly. Because if were not, then women will never win.

Once a front-runner for the Democratic nomination, Warrens campaign is now up against the ropes. She came out of Iowa with a third-place finish behind former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Bernie Sanders after spending nearly a year building a formidable ground game in the state. Shes fallen as low as fifth in the latest polls of New Hampshire, a neighboring state that was expected to give her some New England love. Warren positioned herself as the candidate with big plans, but her plan to win the nomination doesnt seem to be going the way shed hoped. What was she going to do differently?

Story continues

Warren doesnt seem fazed. Youre asking a political strategy question, and its a fair question, but its not why Im in this race, she says. I hope we get this right, around the strategy, but its not what I spend my time thinking about.

Hope Over Fear signs at Elizabeth Warren's Derry GOTV Event at the Tupelo Music Hall in Derry, NH on Feb. 6, 2020. | Tony Luong for TIME

The Warren campaign prides itself on ignoring the horse race, dismissing what it calls the pollercoaster and staying focused on Warrens message of combating corruption in politics and ushering in structural change. Aides argue she has done a better job of consolidating the support of prominent local Democratic elected leaders than her rivals. If anything, Warren seems to be doubling down on her fundamental belief that politics is about policy.

As weve put the plans together in greater detail, shown how we can pay for them, laid out paths for how we can get them adopted, the change that we could create becomes more real to me, every day, Warren says, pausing to press her forefinger and thumb together to emphasize the point. I can see it more clearly. And I can see the impact it would have on the people who need a government on their side. The comeback plan, in other words, is to stick with the plans.

But presidential races arent only about who has the best plans. Narratives are important, and so far the Warren campaign has struggled to project a winning aura. Warrens stump speech is funny and inspirational, but people started streaming out of the gym in Concord before she was done taking questions. One speech in Derry, N.H., last week was full of press and out-of-state political tourists. A source close to the campaign observes that her volunteer turnout has thinned in the last few weeks. Some allies outside the campaign, all but certain Warren will fall short in New Hampshire, are second-guessing her political positioning, worrying shes moved too far left to appeal to moderates. In her effort to catch Bernie, she lost a lot of people who are now with Buttigieg or Klobuchar, says one, adding that rural areas appear to be solidly with Sanders.

Behind the scenes, Warren advisers are girding for a long, drawn-out fight for the nomination. Three sources close to Warrens campaign say that her path forward is a version of slow-and-steady wins the race. If Warren can stay in a consistent second or third place while her opponents rise and fall, especially in big states like California and Texas, then she can accumulate delegates heading into the convention without necessarily racking up big first-place victories, the thinking goes. Hanging out in second place also lets the front-runners beat each other up, while she stays above the fray.

The campaign believes it is well-positioned for a long national fight, having already dispatched more than 1,000 staffers across 31 states, with 80% focused on grassroots organizing, according to a January memo from campaign manager Roger Lau. Unlike some of her rivals, who have been laser-focused on Iowa and New Hampshire, Warren has always taken the long view when it comes to a national campaign. We have the delegate strategy, says communications director Kristen Orthman. Which is how you win a nomination.

But its fair to ask how Warren can win the nomination without piling up some of those first-place finishes soon. Shes sworn off big donors, which means she relies on the grassroots to fund her campaign, and her flagging momentum threatens that cash flow. In the last quarter of 2019, Warren raised just over $21 million, a sizable haul but far short of the $34.5 million raised by Sanders. The campaign recently pulled roughly $375,000 worth of ads in South Carolina and Nevada.

Tony Luong for TIME

Tony Luong for TIME Guests take photos of Elizabeth Warren at her Derry GOTV Event at the Tupelo Music Hall in Derry, NH on Feb. 6, 2020.

Meanwhile, Warrens opponents appear to be surging. On Monday, Sanders is scheduled to host a host a concert with rock band The Strokes, featuring Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Less than an hour south of Warrens speech in Concord on Sunday, Buttigieg drew a crowd of nearly 2,000 people. After a strong debate performance, Klobuchar has surged to third place in the two most recent New Hampshire polls.

But Warrens mood seems no different than it did a few months ago. If anything, she seems even more herself: easy smile, soft voice, clear ideas. Beating expectations, she says, is who she is. Ive been underestimated, counted out, told what I cant do, right until Ive gotten in the fight and actually won it, she says.

She tells me her intensity increases after hearing from people who were rationing insulin because they couldnt afford it, and points to the two billionaires trying to buy the nomination as evidence of a broken political system. Think of what that means for democracy, she says. Democracy, as we understand it, is breaking apart.

Elizabeth Warren speaks at her Derry GOTV Event in Derry, N.H. on Feb. 6, 2020. | Tony Luong for TIME

I asked Warren why Buttigieg, 38, has zoomed ahead in the nominating fight with a thinner resume and airier rhetoric. Warren did a little one-syllable laugh and wiped something under her glasses. Youd have to ask someone else that, she says calmly.

What if Sanders or Buttigieg won the nomination, and then adopted her plans? Are you kidding? Fabulous! she says. I think the question youre asking me is, If the things you want to get done actually get done, will your heart be broken? And the answer is, No! Ill lead the parade!'

I ran for President not because Id been looking at myself in the mirror and saying, Youd make a wonderful President,' Warren continues. But because I believe Ive got the best chance both to beat Donald Trump and to make the changes we need to make, starting in January, 2021.

With that, she bounds out of her seat and hustles out of the classroom towards the stage.
Authorities in Uttarakhand on Monday airlifted a 60-year-old Australian tourist from Pauri Garhwal district to Rishikesh and admitted him to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) after he sustained serious head injuries in a motorcycle crash, officials said.

Dhiraj Singh Garbyal, district magistrate of Pauri Garhwal, who directed the airlift of the tourist identified as Marco Kaspari, said he had come to visit a popular hill station of Khirsu in the district along with a Canadian and an Indian friend.

Garbyal said, The three had come from Rishikesh on Sunday and were returning on Monday. While on the way, Kasparis motorbike skidded off road causing serious injury to his head. His two friends immediately called authorities concerned for help.

Garbyal said when he was informed about the incident, he sensed the seriousness of situation and immediately decided to call a helicopter to airlift him to AIIMS Rishikesh, about 135 km away from Khirsu.

I spoke to the chief minister about it after which a state chopper came within an hour. Kaspari was then airlifted to AIIMS where he is undergoing treatment, said Garbyal.

Harish Thapliyal, public relation officer, AIIMS, said Kaspari had sustained serious head injuries. He has been admitted to the hospitals trauma centre and undergoing necessary tests for treatment.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kalyan Das Kalyan Das covers crime, transport, human rights and central government offices from Bhopal and Indore. ...view detail
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NEW YORK, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sky I.T. Group, a global leader in retail SaaS analytics and insights solutions, announced today its expansion into Europe  with a second headquarters located in London, England. Sky I.T. Group is home to the SKYPAD platform where retailers and brands analyze trends, view and collaborate on the brands' sell-through performance. Following the exponential growth across North America and with 72% of the luxury brands - many of which are HQ in Europe - already subscribed to SKYPAD, creating local presence was inevitable. The move comes in-line with recent expansion efforts that include a new office opening in Paris, France.

As the luxury fashion apparel, footwear, accessories, and beauty industries expand, and the need to react quickly to market trends arises, forward-looking retailers and suppliers consider the data sharing and insights provided through SKYPAD to be imperative to succeed in the marketplace. The SKYPAD platform offers retail data collection, validation, distribution, insights, and reporting for retailers and brands and is currently utilized by 1000+brands, collecting data from 160+ luxury retailers globally.

"The growing number of luxury brands and retail department stores in Europe that have embraced SKYPAD as their go-to platform for improving the collaboration between buyer and seller created the need for local presence not only to support existing subscribers, but also to introduce the SKYPAD SaaS solution to new brands and retailers," said Jay Hakami, CEO of Sky I.T. Group.

Expanding to Europe is a major step in bridging the gap between the luxury European retailers and the brands. Retailers are searching for platforms that will allow their respective brands to receive accurate, consistent, and secure sell-through reporting, and the brands are looking for "best practices" reporting related to their product sell-through in the stores they sell into. SKYPAD offers comprehensive solutions for both. The expansion is a testament to the superior SKYPAD SaaS platform technology and the talented teams that made SKYPAD the global leader in retailer data collection, distribution, and reporting.

The London office will be located at 180 Piccadilly St James's, London UK, +44 (0) 20 7830 9708. The team in place will be dedicated to serving existing SKYPAD subscribers as well as introducing the SKYPAD platform to multi-vendor retailers and brands located in Europe that are looking for insights and trends into their sell channels.

If you are interested in hearing more about SKYPAD and/or Sky I.T. Group's growth plans in Europe visit: http://www.skyitgroup.com

Media Contacts:

5W Public Relations

(212) 999-5585

[email protected]

Jay Hakami

[email protected]

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Kim Oe-sook, then-minister of government legislation, delivers a congratulatory speech during the 1st International Law Forum in April 2019 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The Central Asian country will host the forum again from April 23 to 25, also in Tashkent. / Embassy of Uzbekistan



By Yi Whan-woo



Uzbekistan will host its 2nd International Law Forum from April 23 to 25 in its capital city of Tashkent.



Also called Tashkent Law Spring, the annual gathering, according to the Embassy of Uzbekistan, is "a major professional event in Central Asia in the area of law" with the goals of discussing current trends in international law and tackling related challenges.



Under the theme titled, "Vision of law in the fourth Industrial Revolution," this year's forum will include plenary sessions, panel discussions and classes with global law experts.



A tour of historic sites and a concert will also be a part of the forum.



Among the topics to be discussed are mediation, arbitration, advocacy, corporate governance, securities, intellectual property, public-private partnerships, combating corruption and non-compliance, antimonopoly issues, legal education and science.



The embassy said last week the preparation for the forum has begun among Uzbekistan's diplomatic missions abroad.



The first forum in April 2019 drew 1,100 participants.



They included 250 experts from more than 30 countries, including government officials, diplomats, and experts on international relations and the economy.



From Korea, then-Government Legislation Minister Kim Oe-sook attended and delivered a congratulatory speech.



Visit the forum's official website (tashkentlawspring.uz) for more information.



The forum is one of the country's opening projects for this year being promoted by the embassy.



The Central Asian country will separately host the 1st Tashkent International Investment Forum from March 5 to 6.



Initiated by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and organized by the country's Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, the March forum is expected to draw up to 1,500 businesspeople worldwide.



The embassy hosted a briefing for Korean companies, Feb. 7.



Meanwhile, the two forums will be an occasion to promote the country's booming tourism industry.



A press release on the website for the 2nd International Law Forum reads, "The number of foreigners visiting our country is growing every year."



Citing the U.N. World Tourism Organization, it said Uzbekistan is among the top 20 fastest growing tourism destinations in the world and ranked fourth in the list of countries with the fastest growing tourism markets.



"Worldwide well-known lawyers, local and foreign experts will be able to travel around Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva, Nukus, Tashkent and Ferghana," it said.



It especially referred to the ancient city of Samarkand as "a pearl of not only ours, but of all Eastern countries" for its great monuments. They range from the Imam al-Bukhari Memorial Complex to Ghuri Amir Mausoleum, Registan Square, Bibikhanim Madrasah, Siyab Market and Mirzo Ulugbek Observatory.



The Imam al-Bukhari Memorial Complex where Imam al-Bukhari was buried and one of the most visited shrines of the Muslim population.



Built in the 15th century, Ghuri Amir Mausoleum is noted with its octagonal dome and is seen as a unique work of architecture in Central Asia.



It is dedicated to Ghuri Amir's grandson Muhammad Sultan, who was declared the former's successor.



Registan Square includes Registan Ensemble, an ancient science and education center featuring colorful tassel ornaments and huge domes.



Bibikhonim Madrassah is a high-ceiling, marble-floored mosque built by the decree of Amir Temur between 1399 and 1404.


To the Editor:

When I walked into the Democratic Congressional Forum for NY-24 last October, I had no intention of leaving that night with a decision about who I would support. But by the end of that forum, there was no question about it between my husband and I. Roger Misso was our candidate, and we were wicked excited about his campaign.

Misso is a uniquely versatile candidate with the ability to understand the pains, needs, strengths and weaknesses of our very diverse congressional district. A district that includes rural Upstate New York and the farmlands of Wayne County (where he grew up) but also includes the city of Syracuse (where he lives now). He can speak to the farmers and thus, speak for them, and provide this rural population with honest representation. By contrast, he can also mourn with a community grappling with teen violence and vow to work for inner-city residents because he is quite literally, their neighbor.

Missos experience is proof that he will continue aiding the fight for womens rights. He has consistently challenged the shameful maternal mortality rate of black women in our country (which is anywhere between 2 to 6 times higher than that of white women); and has served as an advocate for sexual assault victims and survivors.

As the product of a modest middle-class family and a Navy veteran, Misso is giving NY-24 a rare opportunity to elect a humble, politically progressive Millennial who wont support tax cuts for billionaires; wont vote for war; and wont vote for/against initiatives that might cause further injury to our most vulnerable communities. I trust him to be a champion in the House for those that dont look like him. That is no small task for a politician.

The most important factor for me when I head to the voting booth boils down to a single concept: Will you use your privilege to advocate for the poor, the sick, the hungry, the disenfranchised, the marginalized? Will you openly talk about the systemic racism that has corrupted nearly every aspect of American life? Roger Misso has, he does, and I know he will when hes elected to Congress.

Sara E. Boutoille

Syracuse

Related: NY 24 candidate: I oppose war with Iran, constitutional erosion that got us here (Commentary)
Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping has appeared among the public for the first time since the coronavirus epidemic started, and said the government would prevent large-scale layoffs amid the outbreak, Chinese state television reported.

The Chinese leader has largely kept out of the spotlight during the outbreak, while Premier Li Keqiang, who has visited Wuhan city where the epidemic started, has taken the lead in government efforts to end the crisis.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, pictured left in a face mask, has his temperature taken. Credit:AP

Xi inspected efforts by community workers in Beijing to contain the virus, visited a local hospital that offers treatment to coronavirus patients and video-chatted with frontline medical staff in Wuhan.

Wearing a surgical mask, Xi had his temperature checked by a community worker and waved to residents in their apartments, according to footage from state broadcaster CCTV.
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Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk does not believe that newly appointed Vice PM is tied with oligarch Akhmetov

Ukraine's Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk gives an interview to Ukrayinska Pravda Ukrainska Pravda

It is impossible to believe in the information about newly appointed vice president and Regional Development Minister Denys Shmyhal, as Ukrayinska Pravda reports citing Ukraine's Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk.

A journalist noted the background of Shmyhal and gossips about his dependence from oligarch Rinat Akhmetov and Hocharuk responded:

"One of the lessons that I have learned is not to believe information spread toward the candidates for some positions. We have the experience, when we get to know that some people pretend or it is planned to appoint a person to a position, this person is vilified. And it is impossible to find out who is right and who is wrong. Moreover, if a person pretends for such a level, it means that he/she, usually, is successful, in other words, has some particular experience".

Honcharuk added that Denys Shmyhal received the offer as he showed himself the best among other chairs of the regional state administrations and the government has experience of work with him fo a few months.

Besides, PM said that the appointment of the vice prime minister on regional development was necessary as this year is crucial in the decentralized issue. Moreover, the economic block with the focus on investments is the priority and soon, the vice-prime minister might be appointed for these issues.

As we reported, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine appointed Denys Shmyhal to the post of Minister for Regional Development of Ukraine on February 4. 278 MPs supported the draft decision #2768.

The same day, the Ukrainian parliament dismissed Alyona Babak from the post of Minister for Regional Development of Ukraine. 226 MPs supported the decision. The ground for the dismissal of Babak was her persona desire.
CONTACT: Pamela D. Wilson 303-810-1816

Email: Inquiry_For_Pamela@pameladwilson.com

Golden, Colorado  February 10, 2020

The Caring Generation - How to Talk to a Parent With Dementia

Golden CO- Caregiving expert Pamela D. Wilson hosts The Caring Generation radio program for caregivers and aging adults this coming Wednesday, February 12th, on the Bold Brave Media Global Network. The program airs live at 9 p.m. EST. The Caring Generation aired initially from 2009 to 2011 on 630 KHOW-AM in Denver, Colorado.

The caregiving topic for this week's program is How to Talk to and Love a Parent With Dementia. Interacting positively with elderly parents diagnosed with dementia is a learned skill. In most care situations, the primary caregiver bears the majority of the responsibility for daily care

Brothers, sisters, family members, and friends may hesitate to visit because they lack the skills or are uncomfortable interacting with a person diagnosed with dementia. This level of discomfort leads to avoidance and distancing in care situations and places stress on family relationships.

The guest for this show is Stephen Post, an expert on positive psychology and compassionate care for persons diagnosed with dementia  persons he calls the deeply forgetful. He is the founder of the Institute for Research on Unlimited Love and an author.

His most recent book is God and Love on Route 80. During the Caring Generation radio program, Stephen will answer the question, "is grandma still there?" Do loved ones with dementia know and recognize family members as the disease progresses?

According to Wilson,

"The main caregiver for a family member with dementia becomes frustrated and unable to understand why family members don't visit or call. This happens most often when family members have not made any effort to seek out information about the stages of caregiving or the progression of memory loss. This distancing results in a lack of insight and an understanding of what happens day-to-day. Sadly, the person with dementia suffers from not seeing loved ones who have difficulty dealing with their emotions about an uncomfortable situation."

In the early stages of dementia, adult children may feel that a parent is purposely repeating actions or forgetting information to drive them crazy. This is not the case.

Advancing memory loss makes it difficult for elderly parents with dementia to remember conversations, appointments, and agreed-upon actions. A parent perceived as stubborn or difficult may be struggling to hold onto the last bit of independence or control they possess.

When interacting with an elderly parent with dementia, it is beneficial when family caregivers change their thinking from "it's all about me and how I feel," to "it's all about learning how to be kind and compassionate with mom or dad." The way of talking to a parent with dementia and interacting must change to the idea of unconditional love or love without limits.

To gain compassion, adult children must look at memory loss as a disease that is taking over the thought process and actions of an elderly parent. The part of a parent's brain that used to be organized and process information is now like a road with a big sinkhole or crack in the middle. Driving from one end of the road to the other is no longer possible. The only way to get from here to there is to take a detour.

The detour is learning new ways to talk and interact with an elderly parent in the language of dementia. The sinkhole or crack in the road is like a disconnect or a gap in the brain. Modifications in words, style, and different approaches are the only way to interact positively and to communicate with elderly parents with dementia.

Much like parents love their children unconditionally, adult children caring for elderly parents with dementia must learn to love and provide care unconditionally. Elderly parents with dementia will need more care as time progress. Child-like needs for full hands-on care toward the end of life become a reality.

The February 12th edition of The Caring Generation gives caregivers positive suggestions for initiating family conversations about how to talk to a parent with dementia. By bringing family members together with visits and helping with conversations, interactions will transition from being uncomfortable to being loving and supportive.

Listeners can follow and download current and past episodes of The Caring Generation radio show on their favorite podcast sites including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Pandora, Podchaser Podcast Addict, I Heart Radio, Spotify, Spreaker, Stitcher, Sound Cloud, and Castbox. The show is also voice-enabled on Amazon's Alexa by saying, "Play The Caring Generation Podcasts on Apple Podcasts."

Make plans to join Pamela D. Wilson, caregiving expert and the host of The Caring Generation radio program for caregivers and aging adults at 6 p.m. Pacific, 7 p.m. Mountain, 8 p.m. Central, and 9 p.m. Eastern every Wednesday night. Replays of the weekly programs are available in podcast format with transcripts on Pamela's website and all major podcast sites. More information is available on Pamela's website.

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Thad Thompson, who is the father of 12-year-old Chase Thompson, is urging the driver to turn him or herself into authorities, saying the action would help Chase and help the family begin the process of forgiving the driver. Over the weekend, Thad Thompson said he is offering a $10,000 reward to anyone who provides police with information that leads to a conviction of the driver, or to the driver if he or she surrenders to police.
Leflair is the newest casualty of the e-commerce race in Vietnam (Source: leflair.vn)

Leflair, a retail website providing premium products in Vietnam, once announced strong ambitions to become the No.1 online destination for brand shopping in Vietnam. However, since then, Vietnams competitive e-commerce landscape has taken its toll on the niche market player, forcing the startup to decide on cease its local business.

In a letter to merchants, Leflair said, The changes in the investment landscape for startups have made Leflair's current business strategy difficult to pursue. Under the capital crunch and requirements to cut costs, we had to make the tough decision to cease our operations in Vietnam. The local high-end online sales market is promising as Vietnamese people rank the third in Asia after China and India in their preference for premium brands.

At the same time, Pierre-Antoine Brun, co-founder of Leflair, explained why many e-commerce sites had to cease operations in Vietnam as they sold similar products to the same customer group, leading to fierce price competition.

Leflair has a journey of about four years doing business in the Vietnamese market up to the time of official announcement of the shutdown. During that period, Lefair served a total of more than 120,000 customers, with the annual net sales reached tens of millions of dollars.

According to ndh.com, over the past four years, Leflair reached the highest average order value (AOV) in the Vietnamese e-commerce market, with its website receiving about 1.6 million visits per month and the company receiving the total investment of $12 million.

However, this investment is dwarfed by the capital mobilised by the giants of the Vietnamese e-commerce market. For instance, Alibaba has poured billions of dollar into Lazada, while Tiki, Sendo, and Shopee have received hundreds of millions of dollars from foreign giants from China, Japan, or Singapore.

Media expert Nguyen Khoa Hong Thanh, deputy director of iSobar Media Company, said that with e-commerce being so fiercely competitive in Vietnam among the "Big Four", investors will have to think carefully whether to invest in smaller platforms. This may be one of the reasons why Leflair was struggling to raise capital.

The difficulty in raising capital is one of the leading reasons why startups, especially in the field of e-commerce, go belly up.

Another example, vuivui.com (the e-commerce website of The Gioi Di Dong) also had to close at the end of November 2018 after a year of operation, also cracking under the heat of the war of attrition waged by the "Big Four".
John Lewis will stock a Dragons' Den-backed make-up brand for men to customers across the country after a trial at its Oxford Street store beat expectations.

The company said demand for War Paint for Men was more than 50 per cent higher than expected when it ran a trial at its flagship site in London last month.

It will stock products including foundation, powder and bronzer at the store permanently, and customers elsewhere will be able to buy the beauty essentials online.

The top seller is an 18 pot of concealer which can be used to cover up spots and blemishes or dark under-eye circles. An in-store exclusive 'daily essentials' kit will also be available, including tinted moisturiser and concealer.

The retailer is also expanding its range of specialist beauty services for men, with treatments such as eyebrow threading for teenage boys now available at its Oxford Street store.

John Lewis will ship Dragons' Den-backed make-up brand War Paint for Men to customers across the country after a trial at its Oxford Street store beat expectations

Charlotte West, a beauty buyer at the department store, said men have been using make-up 'for some time now', so said it would make sense 'to position War Paint as a permanent fixture alongside other male grooming brands and services'.

'Self-care isn't just for women - we know that men want to look and feel great too, which is why we continue to invest in products to help them achieve this', she added.

'We are delighted to have War Paint permanently on board at John Lewis & Partners following its extraordinarily successful trial.'

War Paint founder Daniel Gray said: 'We are finally starting to see men's make-up become the norm and break the stigma that has been around for years.'

The company said demand for War Paint for Men was more than 50 per cent higher than expected when it ran a trial at its flagship site in London (Pictured: Products from the brand)

The brand was founded by Daniel Gray (right), who shot to prominence when he hit the small screen on the BBC's Dragons' Den

Mr Gray shot to prominence when he hit the small screen on the BBC's Dragons' Den, a show where investors bid to support small entrepreneurs.

All five dragons bid for a stake in the business when it appeared on the show, with Mr Gray accepting a joint offer from Tej Lalvani and Peter Jones to invest 70,000 for a 12 per cent stake in the business.

Mr Gray has spoken of founding his business after wearing make-up for 20 years, sometimes pretending it was for someone else when he bought it.

'To walk into a department store currently, make-up is in the women's section, it's at the women's counter. For men to walk into a retail space and try make-up, I feel a lot of men won't have the confidence to do that yet,' he said in an interview with men's magazine GQ last year.

All five dragons bid for a stake in the business when it appeared on the show, with Mr Gray accepting a joint offer from Tej Lalvani and Peter Jones to invest 70,000

John Lewis will stock products including foundation, powder and bronzer at the store permanently (pictured: a War Paint for Men counter at John Lewis), and customers elsewhere will be able to buy the beauty essentials online

John Lewis has now permanently adopted the brand as the retailer continues to add more beauty and grooming services for men to its stores.

In-branch pop-up barbers Murdock and Jack Rabbits have been installed in its Oxford Street and Southampton branches, and customers can also indulge in manicures and personal styling services.

In the last year, John Lewis has opened a dedicated style studio for men in its Southampton shop, a new VIP style service 'The Ultimate Menswear Experience' in his flagship store and a 'walk and talk' style service in select shops.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 00:15:48|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspects the novel coronavirus pneumonia prevention and control work in Beijing, capital of China, on Feb. 10, 2020. Xi visited Anhuali Community, Chaoyang District of Beijing to learn about the epidemic prevention and control at the primary level and the supply of daily necessities. He also extended regards to residents and community workers. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, on Monday stressed resolutely winning the people's war against pneumonia epidemic caused by the novel coronavirus.

Wearing a mask, Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visited a residential community, a hospital and a district center for disease control and prevention in Beijing.

The inspection came at a time when many people outside the epidemic center of Hubei Province resumed work after an extended holiday.

Xi said the situation at the moment remains very serious but expressed confidence that China can certainly obtain a full victory in the fight against the epidemic.

He first went to the Anhuali Community in Chaoyang District to learn about the epidemic prevention and control at the primary level and stressed the role of community in effectively containing the spread of the epidemic.

At Beijing Ditan Hospital, a designated institution treating the novel coronavirus pneumonia, Xi checked the treatment of hospitalized patients at the monitoring center and talked to medical staff on duty via a video link.

Xi called on medical staff to continue to improve the diagnosis and treatment plan, save patients at all costs and reminded them to take good self-protection.

"HEROIC" WUHAN

At the hospital, Xi talked to frontline medical workers in three hospitals in Wuhan receiving infected patients with a telemedicine system, encouraging them to resolutely carry on the fight to defend the city, capital of Hubei.

Xi expressed deep condolences to those who died from the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak and extended sympathy to their bereaved families and stressed that the whole Party, armed forces and people of all ethnic groups in China should stand together with the people of Hubei and Wuhan.

"Wuhan is a heroic city, and people of Hubei and Wuhan are heroic people who have never been crushed by any difficulty and danger in history," Xi said, speaking to officials fighting the epidemic in Hubei in a video-conference.

Noting that Hubei and Wuhan are the top priority for epidemic prevention and control, Xi called for greater efforts in hospital admission, treatment, social management, public communication and unified commanding in the epidemic prevention and control work. He also urged more caring for the frontline medical personnel.

ECONOMIC IMPACT SHORT-LIVED

Leaving the hospital, Xi went to the center for disease control and prevention of Chaoyang District. Xi presided over a meeting and listened to report on the epidemic prevention and control work of Beijing.

Xi highlighted the urgency of putting in place targeted measures to address the rising risk of epidemic spread following the post-festival travel peak, called for efforts to work out more effective treatment plans to reduce the rates of infection and mortality and demanded resolute punishments on illegal activities such as price gouging.

Xi stressed that the fundamentals of China's long-term economic development remain unchanged and the impact of the novel coronavirus epidemic on the economy is short-lived.

He called for greater efforts to minimize the impact of the epidemic on the economy and reach goals and tasks of economic and social development this year. Close attention must be paid to employment and large-scale layoffs should be avoided, he added.

XI THE COMMANDER

Xi is the commander of the people's war against the epidemic.

Over the past few weeks, he has called multiple meetings, heard reports, made important instructions on the prevention and control work and discussed the topic with foreign leaders.

One message is consistent and crystal clear: People always come first. Xi has stressed putting people's lives and health as the top priority.

On Jan. 25, Xi chaired a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and demanded that epidemic prevention and control be taken as the most important task.

In the last week of January, Xi entrusted senior officials to inspect epidemic control work in Wuhan, made instructions to Party organizations, members and officials as well as the military and met with the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

In early February, Xi again chaired a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on epidemic prevention and control and later a high-level meeting on overall law-based governance, requiring strong legal guarantee to epidemic control.

Under Xi's leadership, China has carried out national mobilization, across-the-board deployment and swift responses, adopted the most comprehensive and rigorous prevention and control measures and launched a people's war against the epidemic.

Though the battle remains arduous, especially in Hubei, the number of daily new confirmed cases outside the province has been dropping for six consecutive days since Feb. 4.

In the past week, Xi also discussed epidemic control when he met with Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen in Beijing and spoke over the phone with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and U.S. President Donald Trump respectively.

Xi told King Salman that the strong measures China has taken are not only responsible for the health of the Chinese people, but have also made huge contributions to the world's public safety.

According to statistics of the WHO, the outbreak has affected about two dozens countries but all with limited cases.

"We would have seen many more cases outside China...if it were not for the (Chinese) government's efforts and the progress they have made to protect their own people and the people of the world," Tedros, the WHO chief, said.
Speaking in Brussels at a ceremony marking the 25th Anniversary of Austrias membership in the Partnership for Peace Programme, Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana thanked Austrian Ambassador Elisabeth Kornfeind and Austria for 25 years of close cooperation and partnership.

The Deputy Secretary General also thanked Austria for the long and substantial support to KFOR and for peace in the Western Balkans, as well as for Austrias contribution to NATOs mission in Afghanistan.

Mr. Geoana noted Austrias role in backing strong ties between the EU and NATO and in hosting the OSCE. Thanking Austria for its support to UN peacekeeping operations and the protection of civilians as well as for UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, the Deputy Secretary General said that Austria is helping to keep our continent and our world a safer more secure place to live.

The Deputy Secretary General noted that the Declaration of Neutrality from 1955 is a central part of Austrian identity. He said that it is up to the people and the governments of free and democratic nations to decide the right security relationships for them and stressed that NATO stands firmly for the sovereign right of nations to choose their own path.

He said that the Partnership for Peace Programme has provided a platform for deep cooperation between partners and a clear pathway to membership for those who seek it.

On this 25th anniversary of Austrias participation, I congratulate all who have worked so hard to make our partnership such a success for a quarter of a century. I am sure it will continue for many, many more years to come.
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Linkedin Retno LP Marsudi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 10, 2020 08:30 701 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206375b7e 3 Opinion Retno-Marsudi,Indonesia-Australia,IA-CEPA,foreign-affairs,bilateral-relations Free

Neighbors cannot be choosers is maybe the right expression to reflect the dynamic relations between Indonesia and Australia.

As President Joko Jokowi Widodo arrived in Canberra on Saturday for a two-day visit, we begin to see the two neighboring countries efforts to not only strengthen bilateral ties but also to secure the future of the two great nations.

We, of course, cannot choose who our neighbors are and, in this case, Indonesia is destined to live side by side with Australia. There is no option for both Indonesia and Australia other than identifying areas of mutual interest and seeking deeper relations as closest neighbors.

Australia in particular, is expecting Indonesia to take a leadership role in Southeast Asia, maintain international peace and security and promote global growth and prosperity.

Improvement in their bilateral relations, therefore, only indicates their readiness to assume responsibilities as strong emerging powers. Both sides will grow stronger if they share the burden of leadership in the region and globally.

For that to happen, a strategic partnership counts. Such a partnership will require both sides to build strategic trust. And strategic trust will develop from fostering fundamental principles of mutual respect and respect for ones sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The global landscapes ahead, however, will not be easy. The declining trend of economic growth, unemployment, climate change, financial crisis, disruptive impact of the internet, protectionism and lousy health care will continue to constitute the challenge of the century.

After 70 years, reliable and solid bilateral relations between Indonesia and Australia will be of significant and strategic importance in the future for a number of reasons. First, deepening our common values. The strategic partnership between Indonesia and Australia must continue to promote the values of democracy, pluralism and tolerance.

We continue to witness creeping intolerance and xenophobia around the world. We also keep watching trends in politics of identity on the basis of religion, ethnicity and ideology in many parts of the world, including in our country. This will pose a threat to our common values of democracy, pluralism and tolerance.

As countries with a strong commitment to these shared values, Indonesia and Australia must work shoulder to shoulder in demonstrating and promoting democratic values and moderation. We must tackle together the cause by strengthening people-to-people links at all levels of government, the private sector and among civil society actors.

Those values and partnership will need to trickle down to the collective imagination of both of our societies. Passing down these commitments to democracy, pluralism and tolerance to something much deeper and broader will be a major, intergenerational effort.

Second, it is in our shared interest to protect the common public goods of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. Amid the rise of protectionism, Indonesia and Australia must continue to voice open, free and fair economic principles. Amid the proliferation of a zero-sum game, Indonesia and Australia must continue to promote the win-win paradigm.

The Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership is a perfect example of the two countries strong belief that an open and fair economic system will benefit all parties. This is what Indonesia and ASEAN are trying to achieve through the ASEAN Outlook in the Indo-Pacific, which aims to change rivalry into cooperation and turn a trust deficit into strategic trust.

With strong support of all players in the region, the Indo-Pacific region will become the center for future global economic growth.

And there is no doubt that a robust and more trusting bilateral relationship between Indonesia and Australia will be a significant advantage to the Indo-Pacific region. The recent endorsement of Australia to the ASEAN Outlook in the Indo-Pacific is living proof of what the two nations can bring to the table to realize their common interests in the Indo-Pacific region.

Third, Indonesia and Australia could do more in becoming development partners for the Pacific region. Australia alone could not overcome all development challenges in the region. The impact of climate change and the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals are among the main issues in the Pacific region. Together we could achieve so much more.

Archipelagic in nature, both Indonesia and the Pacific region do not face different challenges. We truly understand that climate change, natural disasters, social equality, education, health and human resource development are real challenges that prevent countries in the Pacific region from prosperity.

Indonesia and Australia should work together as development partners and true friends of the countries in the Pacific region. A closer triangle of cooperation between Indonesia, Australia and Pacific countries will be crucial in the future to address and respond to developmental challenges and to create new centers of growth in the Pacific region.

Indonesia and Australia are not only fated to need each other strategically, but to also become best friends in a more comprehensive way. In the next 30 years when we celebrate our first century of friendship and partnership, we need to always work side by side and work really hard to form the basis of an even stronger partnership.

Such a partnership will not only bring prosperity to our peoples but also contribute to stability, security and prosperity of our region and world.

More than just neighbors, Indonesia and Australia are strategic partners. Deeper cooperation as close neighbors by bringing together comparative advantages of our two regions will be significant modalities for the two countries to work together into the future.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
NORMAL  Illinois State University Police Chief Aaron Woodruff has a collection of bongs and other drug paraphernalia seized during investigations over the last year, but today he and his officers are more likely to find people vaping illegal substances.

The new Illinois law allowing adult use of recreational cannabis has not resulted in many changes on campus.

Woodruff said the campus sees about 19 arrests a month on drug-related charges and he hasnt seen any difference since Illinois changed its laws.

Normal police have issued eight citations for cannabis-related ordinance violations by six adults and two minors. Bloomington police have issued no citations for cannabis-related ordinance violations. No one has been arrested in either city or by the McLean County Sheriff's Office for driving under the influence of cannabis.

McLean County residents with minor cannabis convictions may have their records expunged to clear those charges, but States Attorney Don Knapp said no expungement petitions were filed in January.

Law enforcement

"We haven't had any issues at this point," said McLean County Sheriff Jon Sandage, adding that during the first month of legal weed sales, his department did not issue any citations for cannabis-related violations.

"At this juncture, only four weeks in, it's good that it hasn't had much effect yet," said Bloomington Police Chief Dan Donath. "But we don't have a dispensary here in town or in Normal that is a local supplier for recreational cannabis. I would fully expect in time that we would see more things."

"Eight so far in the course of a month, that would be consistent; that would be about what we would expect," said Normal Police Chief Rick Bleichner. "I wouldn't say it is an alarming trend. Not knowing what to expect from the change in the law, I think that was a pretty reasonable number. There wasn't a huge influx of violations and it wasn't none."

The new Illinois law allows adult residents age 21 or older to possess and consume recreationally up to 30 grams of cannabis flower, 5 grams of concentrates and/or 500 milligrams of THC-infused edibles and other products. Out-of-state and other visitors may have half those amounts.

Cannabis is still illegal under federal law and the federal Drug Free Schools and Communities Act requires schools that receive federal funds, such as ISU, to enforce laws on alcohol and other drugs and have prevention programs.

In addition, under the Illinois Smoke-Free Campus Act, ISU became a smoke- and tobacco-free campus July 1, 2015. Woodruff said vaping  even regular tobacco  is prohibited under that law.

In general, possession of a small amount of marijuana on campus is treated similar to alcohol, said Woodruff. The offender receives a civil citation similar to a parking ticket and can be referred to the Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution Office, he explained.

In January, Normal police made three arrests for driving under the influence of drugs, but cannabis was not the drug involved, Bleichner said.

Among Bloomington police's 23 driving under the influence arrests in January, two involved drugs other than cannabis and one alleged a driver was impaired by a combination of alcohol and drugs other than cannabis, said police spokesman John Fermon.

During a traffic stop in January, Bloomington police alleged seeing cannabis that was not transported in a sealed, odor-proof, child-resistant container, as required by law.

The driver was not cited, but police "took the cannabis and wrote a report that was forwarded to the state's attorney for review," Fermon said.

"Do we write an ordinance violation? Do we arrest somebody? Is it a learning, teaching moment because there are some gray areas?" added Donath. "Smoking in public places  is the front porch a public place; is the back yard a public place?"

Bloomington police also recovered cannabis after arresting four people in January for other alleged crimes, Fermon said.

"It so happened that they had cannabis and that was one of their (alleged) crimes," he said.

Bloomington police found cannabis in the vehicles of two people who were arrested in separate incidents for allegedly driving after their driver's licenses were suspended, Fermon said. One of the drivers was arrested on additional charges of fleeing and eluding a police officer.

More than 30 grams of cannabis were seized after two men were arrested on charges of possessing or manufacturing and selling drugs illegally, said Fermon. One of the men was also arrested on charges of resisting an officer and possession of a loaded firearm without a valid firearm owners identification card.

More than 100 grams of cannabis were recovered after officers responded to a domestic violence incident. No charges were filed or arrests made in connection with the cannabis because someone wanted to turn it over to police, Fermon said.

In December, the Bloomington City Council unanimously approved a $300 fine for a dispensary selling cannabis or anyone furnishing cannabis to minors; a $100 fine or eight hours of community service work for anyone possessing more than 30 grams of cannabis, possessing cannabis under the age 21 or consuming cannabis in public; and a $150 fine for each cannabis plant that is illegally possessed. The law limits five plants for those issued a medical cannabis card.

There are several reasons why Woodruff doesnt expect to see a difference on campus resulting from the new state law.

The majority of our students living on campus, the majority of students we deal with, are under 21, he said, which means purchasing or possessing cannabis is still illegal.

Another factor is the price of cannabis purchased at dispensaries, which Woodruff said is significantly higher than what is sold on the black market.

Expungement

Knapp, the state's attorney, said he anticipates there will be expungements because "we have had a couple private lawyers inform us that they intend to file petitions on behalf of their clients in the near future."

Several paths to expungement are available, including the defendant filing their own petition or a notice from the state through the Prisoner Review Board, Governors Office or Illinois State Police, Knapp said.

Adults who were arrested before June 25, 2019, for a minor cannabis charge, including possession or delivery of 30 grams or less, and had not been arrested for a violent crime, qualify for automatic expungement if the charges were dismissed, vacated or acquitted, according to Illinois Legal Aid Online. Those records will be expunged for the next five years in groups based on arrest date.

The McLean County Public Defenders Office has filed motions to dismiss six cannabis cases that were pending when the new law went into effect Jan. 1.

After an initial review, Knapp said there is no statutory basis to object to the dismissals, but the cases are still pending.

Contact Maria Nagle at (309) 820-3244. Follow her on Twitter: @Pg_Nagle

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A woman has woken from a coma after two months to discover her husband and daughter were killed in the White Island volcano eruption in New Zealand.

Lisa Dallow, 48, from Adelaide, and her husband Gavin, 53, and daughter Zoe, 15, were among a group of tourists on the island 50km off of Whakatane on December 9 when it erupted and sent rocks hurtling through the air.

The mother recently woke in Melbournes The Alfred Hospital and has since been delivered the devastating news.

It took a while for it to sink in and then she just kept saying she cant believe they had died, a family spokeswoman told The Advertiser.

Lisa Dallow (centre) has recently learned of the deaths of her husband Gavin (left) and daughter Zoe (right). Source: AAP

Ms Dallow also recalled the harrowing moment the volcano erupted as dozens of tourists tried to flee.

She remembers it exploding and then telling everyone to run, the spokeswoman said.

She then recalled how rocks were falling everywhere and hitting her on the back.

After thinking emergency services must be en route, her next recollection was waking up in hospital.

When finding out that her husband and daughter had died alongside 19 others, Ms Dallow became really quite emotional about it when she realised how many people had died and she got very upset.

The volcano erupted on December 9 with dozens of tourists on the island. Source: AAP

While missing her husbands funeral at Adelaide Oval last month, Zoes has been delayed in the hope Ms Dallow is well enough to attend.

Ms Dallow, a Santos oil and gas engineer, suffered life-threatening burns to 60 per cent of her body and remains in a serious but stable condition, The Advertiser reported.

There were 14 Australians among the death toll while another 26 were injured by the deadly ash clouds.

Many of the injured are still in hospitals in Australia, New Zealand and the United States recovering from their burns and other injuries.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern previously said official inquiries into the eruption by New Zealand authorities will take up to a year.

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.
Three days after West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar gave his address at the State Legislative Assembly kickstarting the budget session, he claimed on Monday that he was subjected to censorship after media was not allowed to live telecast his speech. Dhankhar raised questions on Monday after state finance minister Amit Mitras budget speech was allowed to be live telecast by television channels.

He took to Twitter and wrote, This is of critical consequence for media. Is this an acceptable expression of ideas? Is it not intolerance of the constitutional head? Is it not a kind of censorship? I am sure the media and public would not be just silent spectators.

Dhankhar further claimed that such actions were a violation of Article 176 and were in sharp deviation to the normal practice. The State Finance Minister Dr Mitra budget speech was live while the address of the Governor under Article 176, an important occasion, in sharp deviation to practice was not allowed live coverage and media was also kept away. Leave to the judgment of the people of the State, he wrote.

When the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was quizzed on Governors remarks of being censored, she said, Please ask the Speaker. It was his decision.

The Opposition MLAs in the Legislative Assembly had raised questions on speakers decision of not allowing media inside the house for the live telecast of the Governors speech on February 7, 2020, during his address beginning the budget session.
Could Every College Campus in America Be Saturated in Prayer on One Day?

NEWS PROVIDED BY

Feb. 10, 2020

MEDIA ADVISORY, Feb. 10, 2020 / Christian Newswire / -- As a young nation, Americans annually set aside a day to pray for the future leaders of our nation attending colleges and universities. This prayer focus faded away for nearly 100 years until a group of college ministers resurrected the day of prayer in 2009.

History was made on February 28, 2019, when every college campus in America was adopted and prayed for on a single day -- the first time this has happened in over 100 years.

On February 27, 2020, we are believing the Lord to do it again.

The Collegiate Day of Prayer (CDOP) seeks to mobilize the body of Christ to adopt every campus in America for a day of united prayer. The goal is to see every college and university in America restored to the purposes of God.

We are asking every Christian to adopt a campus that is close to their heart or home, using an interactive campus map at www.CollegiateDayofPrayer.org/map/

Interactive Prayer Meeting:



On the evening of the Collegiate Day of Prayer (Feb. 27), from 810 p.m. ET, there will be a simulcast interactive prayer meeting from the historic Dwight Chapel on the campus of Yale University. Bob Bakke, veteran broadcast prayer leader, and the CDOP leadership team will give guidance to the evening of prayer for campuses and our nation's future leaders.

Available for interview:



Thai Lam: Director of CDOP/Luke18 Project

Nathan Cole: Marketing Director, CDOP/Chi Alpha

Niko Peele: Director, Ignite Movement

Bob Bakke: Pastor, Veteran Prayer Broadcast Leader

To schedule an interview or participate in carrying the simulcast, contact Jodie Booker: Jbooker@onecry.com or 269-697-2124

For more information and to adopt a campus, please visit www.CollegiateDayofPrayer.org

SOURCE Collegiate Day of Prayer (CDOP)

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Taapsee Pannu's Thappad trailer has become a talking point ever since the makers dropped the video a few weeks ago. It has received a thumbs up not just from the audience but also from Bollywood celebrities. The social drama is being hailed as a much-need film on domestic violence.

Actor-turned politician Smriti Irani too, is all praise for Taapsee Pannu and director Anubhav Sinha after watching the trailer. Admitting she does not agree with their ideologies, Smriti, nevertheless, promised that she will watch the film.

The Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thhi actress took to her Instagram page to praise the film's trailer and wrote, "How many have heard "aurat ko hi adjust karna padta hai"? How many think "ki maar pitai sirf gareeb auraton ke hi pati karte hai"? How many believe "ki educated aadmi kabhi haath nahi uthata"? How many tell their girls their daughter-in-laws "koi baat nahi beta aisa to humare saath bhi hua lekin dekho aaj kitne khush hai"? I might not support the political ideology of the director or may disagree with some actors on some issues but this is a story that I will definitely watch and hope people watch it with their families. It's not ok to hit a woman ... not even a slap ... not even JUST one slap Courtesy: @tseries.official."

Check out her post here.

Thappad revolves around a married woman who decides to walk out of her marriage after getting slapped by her husband in a party.

Earlier, Taapsee was quoted as saying by IANS, "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!"

She further 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!"

Taapsee claimed that she grew up after playing the character. "Amrita ...As an actor, some characters set you free and some suffocate you. This was the latter for me... her righteousness, her maturity to handle every situation, determination deep inside and an infectious calmness on the outside.... she made me grow up," she wrote in an Instagram post.

Directed by Anubhav Sinha, Thappad is slated to release on February 28, 2020.

Taapsee Pannu Feels People Are Trivializing Thappad By Calling It An Answer To Kabir Singh

'Thappad Will Expose The Elephant In The Room': Says Taapsee Pannu, Referring To Domestic Violence
The Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Mensah says he cannot be held responsible for unresolved murder cases in the region.

According to him, the law courts are handling these cases and should be held accountable.

What has been the cause of death of the people who have been killed. Some are family issues. We do not bundle all those ones with other ones that have different causes. Those that were between husband and wife, the cases are in court and I do not control the law court so once the issue gets to the law court it is the court that handles it so if you want to find out why the cases have been unresolved you call the court.

The Minister who is also the head of the Ashanti Regional Security Council further indicated that he cannot be held responsible for the security of residents in the region.

These are things which are not easy to control. We cannot check everybodys house. What we have to do is the general security situation. It is not the responsibility of the Council to fix security problems of families in their homes.

His comments come in the wake of the murder a 37-year-old nurse at Ayoum in the Ashanti Region.

The lifeless body of Ruth Ama Eshun was found at Ayuom near Sewua in the Bosomtwe District of the Ashanti Region, a few meters to her home last week.

Ms. Eshun was last seen by her colleagues leaving the Sewua Health Centre, where she worked as a registered community health nurse, on Monday, February 3rd, 2020.

Aside this incident, there have been other unresolved murder cases in the region.

---citinewsroom
Justice Minister Tsulukiani speaks of new bankruptcy legislation

By Natalia Kochiashvili

The Minister of Justice of Georgia Tea Tsulukiani presented to the media Bankruptcy Legislation and the details of the draft law after the government session this Thursday. As she noted, the new law will replace the insolvency law in Georgia, commonly known as bankruptcy law.The new law is called the Law of Georgia on Rehabilitation and Collective Satisfaction of Creditors, with dozens of accompanying projects in the package, and the main purpose of the reform is to create economically sound legal frameworks so that the company facing the problems can be rehabilitated. According to the justice minister, the goal should not be the bankruptcy of the company, but its survival and protection of the interests of the debtor, as well as the rights of employees and creditors throughout the process.According to her, there are many innovations in this bill, including procedures outside the court. As Tsulukiani said the concept of an insolvency practitioner is introduced into the law and non-professionals are prohibited from participating in the process, though there will be a transitional period for those who work in the field today, though they are not highly qualified. According to the Minister, it will be important that the Ministry of Justice develops an electronic system, which will randomly select one of the practitioners to be in charge of the procedure.According to the Justice Ministers information, the draft law stipulates that before the company is declared insolvent, the institution of a regulated agreement enters, and in the event of a court ruling its the court's power to declare or not to declare payment admissible; if admissible, it should open rehabilitation or bankruptcy regime. The law will also allow conversion between regimes.Tsulukiani said that this bill is important because it will enable reforming the mass of bankruptcy. She noted that the ministry of justice and the ministry of finances took several months to negotiate on these innovations. She also informed, that according to the joint decision, the National Bureau will no longer be involved in the insolvency process, rather, insolvency practitioners will rule the process under court procedures.She also emphasized the compromise of the Ministry of Finance- it is a revolutionary step she said, explaining that the Revenue Service will not become the primary creditor as it is now, but will become a regular one. Tsulukiani noted that all parties involved will have short deadlines for action.Soso Pkhakadze, President of the Business Association of Georgia (BAG) welcomed the changes to the bankruptcy law announced by the government. The businessman said that Georgia's business association was also involved in drafting the legislation and had its own remarks that were taken into account by the authorities.He also noted that the largest association  BAG didnt like the previous legislation and has been pushing for a new bill for months. If adopted, it will bring much good to the economy and business, he added.
Oman Cement set to use waste tyres as fuel

10 February 2020

Oman Cement has signed an agreement with Oman Environment Holding Co for the use of end-of-life tyres as an alternative fuel. The two parties will work together to develop an implementation mechanism to diversify energy sources at the plant from natural gas.



"The agreement will contribute to the national economy and provide business opportunities for small and medium enterprises through the production and transportation of fuel from engineered landfills to the cement factory  where approximately 30,000tpa of expired tyres will be processed," said Salem bin Abdullah Al-Hajri, CEO of Oman Cement Co.



The project is reportedly the first-of-its-kind in the country, according to the Times of Oman.

Published under
VANCOUVERKwitsel Tatel started the chant from the steps of Vancouver City Hall on Sunday.

Shame! yelled Tatel, a Coast Salish matriarch.

...On Canada! a couple of hundred people in the crowd nearby shouted back.

The demonstration was among scenes from across the country in recent days aimed at shaming RCMP officers  and the federal government  over the arrest of pipeline protesters at the Indigenous-led blockade near Houston, B.C.

Theres been an upswell of support for the Wet'suwet'en blockade, one a spokesperson said Sunday has been a long time coming, but whether the protests can sway broad public opinion remains to be seen.

Hereditary chiefs have said they will do everything they can to stop Coastal GasLink from building a gas pipeline through Wetsuweten territory, even if that means breaking a B.C. court injunction.

In Toronto, more than 100 protesters blocked a rail line on Saturday, stopping at least 68 trains between Toronto and Montreal as well as Toronto and Ottawa. The blockade affected more than 14,000 customers, according to Via.

In Regina, a driver plowed through a group of protesters who had formed a blockade on Albert Street Bridge on Saturday. Chants of RCMP stand down and shame can be heard in footage of the incident posted to social media as a driver in a blue car forces their way through a group of people holding protest signs.

In Vancouver, protesters continued to block workers from entering the Port of Vancouver and Deltaport. Indigenous youth camped out on the steps of the Victoria legislature and vowed to stay until the B.C. government started recognizing the authority of Wetsuwetens hereditary chiefs.

Meanwhile, about 50 people are camped out a RCMP-designated access point on Morice West Forest Service Road in Wetsuweten territory, according to Smogelgem, head chief of the Sun house  one of the houses in the Likhtsamisyu clan. RCMP officers had forced them out of their original blockade location, about 23 kilometres up the road, on Saturday.

Mounties have arrested 21 protesters in Wetsuweten territory in recent days, according to B.C. RCMP.

Smogelgem said he is not surprised people across the country are showing their support for the Indigenous-led blockade.

Its something that has been brewing under the social fabric of Canada for a long time. And not just Indigenous people, but non-Indigenous people, too, who are aware of what colonialism is and they understand what colonial violence is, he told the Star.

I think everybody has reached that boiling point.

Coastal GasLink has maintained it has the support of every elected body on its proposed pipeline route, which is meant to supply natural gas to the B.C. coast, where it would be converted to liquefied natural gas for export. The project would span 670 kilometres from Dawson Creek to Kitimat and is expected to create between 2,000 and 2,500 jobs. There are expected to be 16 to 35 permanent jobs during operation.

But within Wetsuweten territory, hereditary chiefs and other members oppose the project, saying they want to protect their traditional hunting, trapping and fishing territory for future generations.

The Wetsuweten nation is comprised of five clans: Gilseyhu, Likhtsamisyu, Laksilyu, Tsayu, Gidimten.

The B.C. government passed Bill 41 last fall, making a commitment to uphold the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. That legislation recognizes both band councils as well as other forms of Indigenous governance.

Then on Dec. 31, B.C Supreme Court Justice Marguerite Church granted Coastal GasLink an injunction against the protesters in Wetsuweten territory.

Smogelgem said the country-wide protests in solidarity with the Wetsuweten present an opportunity for the governments of B.C. and Canada to show that they consider the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as more than just a catch phrase.

But if these disruptions continue this week, as protesters have promised they will, activists might benefit from striking a balance between raising awareness and affecting business as usual, said Shachi Kurl, executive director of Angus Reid Institute.

Its one thing to have a rally in downtown or city hall; its another thing to block a bridge or have trains cancelled. When those situations occur, protest movements have to be very careful, said the pollster.

Surveys on controversial resource projects such as Trans Mountain have indicated that while protests can raise awareness quickly and rally an existing base of supporters, sustained protests may not be as effective, said Kurl.

After a while, it doesnt do much to move the needle in terms of the broad public, she said. Like many energy and resource development projects, youll probably see opinion fall out along the same lines.

Yet, some protesters say the Indigenous-led protest against the Coastal GasLink pipeline speaks to a larger injustice that affects a wide range of people.

Metro Vancouver resident Isabelle Krupp has only slept a handful of hours the past two days as she travelled between the two ports activists have been blocking.

We need a system that can take care of all of us, said the activist. Krupp, who is not Indigenous, said she nonetheless felt compelled to support the Wetsuweten blockade because its the best chance people have of protecting the environment and bringing down what she sees as an unjust economic system.

If working-class people can stand in solidarity with Indigenous struggles, we can win this fight.

With files from Jacques Gallant and Paul Hunter

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One-fifth of new private cars licensed in the first month of the year were electric or hybrid, according to new figures.

The CSO has revealed that alternative fuel vehicles accounted for 20.8% of new private cars licensed in January 2020.

However, the number of new private cars being licensed has dropped from the same period last year.

In January 2020, 20,665 new private cars were licensed, a drop of 7.2% compared with January 2019 - when the figure was 22,279.

The numbers of used private cars licensed also fell in the same period, going from 8,131 in January 2019 to 7,683 in January 2020.

It marks a decrease of 5.5%.

The CSO also revealed the most popular make of new private cars licensed in the first month of the year.

The top five are:

Toyota (3,329)

Hyundai (2,235)

Volkswagen (1,912)

Ford (1,647)

Skoda (1,611)

Together these five car makes represent 51.9% of all new private cars licensed in January 2020.

The CSO found that there was a drop of 5.4% in the number of new goods vehicles licensed in January 2020 bringing the total to 2,544.
Uber is retooling its ride-hailing procedures, trying to insulate itself from having drivers reclassified as employees under AB5, Californias new gig-work law that took effect Jan. 1.

But lawyers said there are big gaps in its approach.

Uber handed drivers more freedom and flexibility, allowing them to see upfront information on ride destinations and estimated fares, as well as to reject trips without penalties. Its letting riders pick favorite drivers for scheduled rides. Its also experimenting at three small California airports with a way for drivers to set prices.

Under AB5 and Dynamex, the 2018 California Supreme Court decision it codifies, workers are presumed to be employees unless they (A) work free from a companys control, (B) do work that is not central to a companys mission, and (C) have independent enterprises doing that type of work.

Ubers revamp addresses only the A part of the ABC test, trying to show that the drivers are free of company control and direction, said John Baum, a partner at San Franciscos Hirschfeld Kraemer who represents management in labor cases.

Hiba Hafiz, assistant professor of law at Boston College, agreed.

The changes wouldnt move the needle ... under the B and C prongs of the ABC test  they really just go to whether or not a court would likely find that Uber does not control and direct the performance of drivers work, she said.

Still, said Tiffanny Brosnan, a lawyer who represents management in labor cases at Snell & Wilmer in Costa Mesa (Orange County), addressing the first prong is still critical when it comes to how federal agencies such as the Department of Labor and the IRS view independent contractors.

For Part C, drivers who work for other services, such as Lyft, DoorDash and Postmates, potentially could be considered to have independent businesses in the same field, Baum said. However, many drivers, especially those who work close to full time, stick with one service because Uber and Lyft incentives are tied to completing a certain number of trips in a fixed time period.

Baum said he could envision Uber changing its business model to require that drivers do similar work for other entities. That might also mean changing its incentives structure.

Brosnan noted that Uber highlighted in a recent blog post that drivers are free to work on other platforms at the same time. Thats because if you have a driver who drives passengers for Uber and Lyft who also delivers food for Postmates, its easier to argue that driver has an independently established business, she said.

That still leaves Part B of the test, which Baum, Hafiz, Brosnan and numerous other lawyers say will be the hardest for Uber to prove.

Its been dubbed the Killer B for good reason, Brosnan said.

Uber said in a statement that its changes are designed to preserve flexible work for tens of thousand of California drivers, adding that the pricing tests would give drivers more control over the rates they charge riders.

Uber maintains that drivers are not central to its core business because it is not a transportation company. Instead it is a technology platform for several different types of digital marketplaces, Tony West, Uber chief legal officer, said in a September media call.

Baum said few would swallow that reasoning.

Everyone views Ubers core business as giving rides, he said. It pairs you with a driver to go from Point A to B.

Hafiz said that Ubers new policies may be an attempt to distance it from the business of rides and more firmly portray it as a business of providing software that matches drivers with riders.

But she thinks the Dynamex precedent would scuttle that argument.

Dynamex was viewed to be in the delivery business because it obtained customers for driver deliveries, set the rate customers were charged, notified drivers where to pick up and deliver packages, tracked the packages, and required drivers to use its tracking and record-keeping system, she said. Uber does all those same things with respect to rides with the slight exception of fares.

Even if Ubers price experiments spread throughout California, Hafiz thinks they wont fly in court. Uber is letting drivers at the test airports either accept its original rate or ask for up to five times more, in increments of 10%, or even ask for less. The result is that drivers will be bidding against one another for rides. Uber has said that it may change this system, and has not committed to rolling it out statewide.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Its a bit of a mischaracterization to say that Uber is allowing drivers to set their own fares, Hafiz said. Theyre merely allowing a multiplier on fares they unilaterally set for certain routes, an experiment they can unilaterally reverse and which they don't deploy in any other setting. The fact that Uber retains this ultimate authority to control fare-setting will be key in a court's analysis.

Baum thinks some of Ubers strategy may be to prepare to defend itself under Borello, the standard that predated Dynamex and is still in place in many instances.

All the professions exempted from AB5 are not automatically granted immunity from reclassification  instead they are subject to the Borello test, a lower hurdle for companies to claim workers are independent contractors.

Although Borello has more criteria than the ABC test, companies dont have to satisfy all its factors. Its an easier test because all the elements are not mandatory as they are in the ABC test, Baum said. Its more about weighing and balancing them.

The most important factor under Borello, he said, is who controls day-to-day work. Some of Ubers ulterior motive in its changed procedures could be to position itself to claim that workers are independent contractors under Borello.

Thats far more likely to be successful than trying to pitch themselves as a completely different company thats not involved in transportation, Baum said. I dont think that passes a common-sense valuative test.

The very fact that Uber had the unilateral ability to tweak its business model underscores why it should be considered an employer under AB5, wrote Nayantara Mehta, strategic partnerships director at the National Employment Law Project, in a blog post.

Its new policies do not change the basics of how Uber exerts control: It sets fares, it takes the commission it wants, and it can take back whatever positive changes it makes when it wants to, she wrote.

The name of her post says it all: Sorry, Uber, youre still covered by AB5.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid
There was something undeniably joyful at the Oscars about Parasites winning sweep. A roar arose from the audience at the Dolby Theater four mezzanines high every time Parasite was mentioned as a nominee. And an even louder roar erupted each time Parasite won: best screenplay, then international, then director and finally best picture.

It was the sound of the Hollywood community feeling elated at its expansive choice for Best Picture  a history-making Korean-language film about class differences and the human frailty that it brilliantly evoked through comedy, pathos and horror. Yes, the motion picture academy seemed to say, it could.

The feeling was vastly unlike the previous year, when the win of Green Book left a pained, politeness in the air, taking the Best Picture Award over the Spanish-language Roma and solidifying a look toward films of the past. This year it felt like the Academy members wanted to fall in love with the social satire Parasite and its exuberant director Bong Joon Ho  and they allowed themselves to do so.

Themes of unity and inclusivity permeated the Oscars evening as a noticeable contrast to the political winds of our era and a country that has been turning inward. The telecast itself was intersectional in a way that felt new. The opening moments had Janelle Monae personifying the extremely-white childrens host and Protestant minister Mr. Rogers, while celebrating the many filmed stories of the year, including movies that werent nominated like Us, Midsommar and Dolemite Is My Name. And Billy Porter brought the full Porter.

Janelle Monae Oscars 2020

Getty

The not-hosting hosting of Steve Martin paired with Chris Rock felt like an organic but conscious choice, as did Kristen Wiig with Maya Rudolph.

Winning speeches like the rambling message of Renee Zellweger put a finger on unity. She cited examples of heroes who unite rather than divide us. And, oh yes, she thanked her immigrant parents.

You equally couldnt miss the message put out by the two female producers of the telecast (another first)  Stephanie Allain and Lynette Howell Taylor  that inclusion was going to be the new normal for Oscar. They sent out a trio of female superheroes  Sigourney Weaver, Brie Captain Marvel Larson and Wonder Woman herself, Gal Gadot  to introduce the best scores of the year. The performance for that segment was led by a female orchestra conductor, and the Oscar ultimately went to Icelandic composer Hildur Gunadottir for Joker, the first woman to win in the category.

Story continues

sigourney weaver gal gadot brie larson

Gunadottir praised director Todd Phillips who listened to me the whole way, and urged other women to Speak up  we need to hear your voices.

But mostly you could not miss the audience leaping to its feet every time Bong Joon Ho was called to the podium and by the end of the night, even he looked practically shell-shocked.

It recalled the year 2017 when Moonlight confounded the expectations that a feel-good movie about Hollywood itself, La La Land, was supposed to win but didnt. Parasite was the movie that should have won, but wasnt going to in the end.

At the Governors Ball after the ceremony, the warm we did it feeling extended among Academy voters eating their Oscar-shaped smoked salmon canapes and tofu small plates. Influential members from producer Mark Johnson to former AMPAS president Sid Ganis said they were thrilled with the outcome. If there was grumbling on the part of the 1917 crew  the movie favored to win Best Picture  I didnt hear it.

Also Read: Oscars 2020: South Korea Jubilant After Historic 'Parasite' Win

Cultural politics aside, Parasite allowed Hollywood to sidestep the internal strife over Netflix versus the major studios. Coming from a small indie studio, Neon, with the backing of a Korean mogul in Miky Lee, Parasite lacked the industry baggage that came with a Netflix nominee, which Roma was.

As for how much of this change will stick remains to be seen. But as the Academy grows year by year by 600 members or so with an emphasis on greater inclusion, its a sign of the times.

Read original story Inside the Oscars, Parasite Points an Elated Hollywood Forward At TheWrap
Disposable e-cigarettes come in flavors such as strawberry, cool mint and mango and are sold under brands such as Puff Bar, Blu, Posh and Stig for $8 to $11 apiece. Open-tank systems and thousands of flavored e-liquids not in pod form  products commonly found in vape shops and in some convenience stores  also are not covered by the ban, which took effect Thursday.
President Donald Trumps fourth budget proposal is the first to recommend fully funding a federal program protecting the Great Lakes.

Trumps $4.8 trillion budget proposal for the 2021 fiscal year includes $320 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a program the president previously tried to cut by 90%. Trumps annual budgets require approval from Congress, which rejected the suggested cuts, and his newest proposal seeks $20 million more for the Great Lakes than legislation approved in the U.S. House last week.

Created in 2010, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funds multi-agency efforts to target threats to the worlds largest surface freshwater resource on Earth. The most recent action plan seeks to clean up toxic substances in Michigan and other states, prevent the spread of invasive species and rebuild natural habitats, among other goals.

Congress allocated $300 million for the GLRI every year since 2014. Trumps budget proposal asks for $320 million, an increase of 6.7%.

Michigans representatives in Congress have strongly defended funding for the GLRI, saying the program provides vital protections for the environment and the states tourism and recreation industries. A 2018 University of Michigan study found every dollar of federal spending on GLRI projects between 2010 and 2016 will produce $3.35 in economic activity.

Trumps three prior attempts to drastically cut funding for the program attracted bipartisan opposition from Michigan lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, who helped change Trumps mind while traveling with the president to a 2019 campaign rally in Grand Rapids.

Good News! The President's FY21 Budget fully funds the #GLRI! This bipartisan program is critical to preserving & protecting the Great Lakes. Last year, @RepJackBergman, @RepMoolenaar, & I discussed the importance of the GLRI w/ POTUS. This budget delivers on his promise to #MI!  Rep. Bill Huizenga (@RepHuizenga) February 10, 2020

"I support the Great Lakes, Trump said on stage later that night. Always have. They are beautiful. They are big, very deep, record deepness, right? And Im going to get, in honor of my friends, full funding of $300 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

The president also highlighted the importance of the Great Lakes during a Jan. 30 visit to an auto parts supplier in Warren. Trump, accompanied by several Michigan House Republicans, said his administration will prevent the spread of Asian carp and other invasive species.

Michigan is a steward of one of our nations most treasured resources, the incredible Great Lakes, Trump said.

Huizenga, a co-chair of the House Great Lakes Task Force, said Trumps newest budget demonstrates a strong commitment to Michigan and the Great Lakes.

Last week, the U.S. House passed bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the GLRI for six years and boost funding annually to reach $475 million by 2026. The legislation awaits approval in the U.S. Senate.

Having the president engage on this critical issue improves the chances for bipartisan legislation to be signed into law that will protect and strengthen the Great Lakes," Huizenga said in a statement. "I want to thank the President and his Administration for working with me to make the preservation of the Great Lakes a national priority.

The program is administered by the Environmental Protection Agency, which recently announced $11 million in funding for grants to support GLRI projects in Michigan.

Trumps budget proposal also requests a $2.4 billion cut to EPA funding, representing a reduction of 26.5%. This includes a $179 million cut to protection activities within specific watersheds while leaving Great Lakes funding intact.

The White House also proposed slashing funds for the EPAs hazardous Superfund program, which cleans up some of the most heavily contaminated sites in the country. Michigan is home to nearly 90 Superfund sites, according to the EPA.

Read more:

U.S. House passes bipartisan boost for Great Lakes funding

Michigan House OKs bills that ban commercial perch fishing on Great Lakes

Boating season at South Haven marinas in jeopardy amid high-water concerns

High water levels force popular Lake Michigan beer festival off beach
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump called Monday for slashing funding for the Superfund hazardous waste program, even as the backlog of clean-ups has grown around the country for lack of money.

The $113 million (U.S.) in Superfund cleanup cuts are part of Trumps proposal for a $2.4-billion, or 26 per cent, cut in overall funding for the Environmental Protection Agency. Thats in line with the presidents vow as a candidate to cut all but little tidbits of the environmental agency in a push to cut regulations he sees as unnecessarily burdensome to business.

Monday marked the fourth year where Trump has called for cuts nearing one-third of the environmental agencys budget. Republicans and Democrats in Congress annually have overridden his proposal, keeping funding for the agencys environmental and public health oversight roughly even.

Other major cuts for the EPA in Trumps latest proposal include eliminating $66 million in funding for the Energy Star program  a popular program that lets consumers compare the energy efficiency of appliances  and for voluntary climate programs.

These programs are not essential to EPAs core mission and can be implemented by the private sector, the budget says.

Trump and his EPA administrators have stressed Superfund cleanups as one of their top environmental priorities.

However, as The Associated Press reported in January, the Trump administration has built up the biggest backlog of unfunded toxic Superfund cleanup projects in at least 15 years, nearly triple the number that were stalled for lack of money in the Obama era, agency figures show.

The four-decade-old Superfund program is meant to tackle some of the most heavily contaminated sites in the U.S., which threaten the residents, wildlife and habitat around the sites with dangerous industry pollutants.

Trumps proposal says the cut reflects that his administration is running the Superfund program more efficiently, and challenges the agency to optimize the use of settlement funds for the cleanup actions at those Superfund sites where a responsible company has been found to pay for the work.
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Police in the UK have been given the power to seize people in danger of spreading coronavirus and force them into isolation in handcuffs, the government announced today.

A new law was hurriedly brought into force after a patient staying at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral reportedly tried to leave before completing the 14-day stay after his return from China.

Government sources said those who returned to the UK on the evacuation flights on January 31 were given a 'very clear choice' and had to sign contracts saying they would remain in isolation for a fortnight.

But a source involved with the Arrowe Park incident said: 'We found we didn't have the necessary enforcement powers to make sure they didn't leave.'

Police will now be able to force people to remain in the units and, if they leave, to arrest them for committing an offence and take them back to the quarantine facility, MailOnline understands.

And they will also be allowed to hunt down and capture people if they 'may be infected or contaminated [and] could present a risk to public health'.

This extraordinary power comes after footage from China showed a team of around a dozen security officials chasing a suspected coronavirus patient through the streets in a bid to catch them.

England today announced its fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth cases of the virus in Brighton  all of the three men and a woman are linked to the fourth patient, who has now been dubbed a 'super-spreader'.

The fourth patient was a businessman who returned to the UK from a conference in Singapore via a ski chalet in France, where other Britons were subsequently taken ill with the virus.

The Department of Health today declared the outbreak a 'serious and imminent' threat to the British public as it announced new powers to fight the spread.

In other developments to the outbreak today:

World Health Organization chief warns coronavirus outbreak could 'only be the tip of the iceberg' amid fears thousands of cases are going missing

Just under a fifth of known cases of the new coronavirus in China may be resulting in death, a new report estimates

The coronavirus can survive on door handles and bus or train poles for up to nine days - more than four times longer than flu, according to research

London's FTSE 100 weakened after Mr Hancock declared the coronavirus outbreak a serious and imminent threat to public health

Nearly 100 people died from coronavirus in China yesterday on the deadliest day of the six-week outbreak so far

Amazon and Sony are the latest companies to pull out of this month's Mobile World Congress, due to be held in Barcelona, because of the coronavirus outbreak

Sixty-six more passengers on a cruise ship in Japan have been diagnosed the killer infection, taking the ship's toll to around 136

Two quarantined patients are seen looking out of a window at the isolation facility in Arrowe Park Hospital, Wirral, Merseyside. Their two weeks of isolation is expected to come to an end on Saturday this week

A member of staff at the County Oak Medical Centre in Brighton has reportedly been diagnosed with the coronavirus today. The surgery is closed because for 'urgent operational health and safety reasons'

The announcement by Matt Hancock (pictured) gives the Government greater powers to fight the spread of the virus, with eight confirmed cases in the UK

A total of five people have now been diagnosed in Brighton. The four new cases have been linked to the first man who was diagnosed there after returning from the Alps

WHAT LEGAL POWERS IS THE UK USING TO HELP TACKLE CORONAVIRUS? The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has declared that the coronavirus outbreak represents a 'serious and imminent threat to public health'. But what does this mean, and how does it affect the response to cases of the virus in the UK? What is the impact of the Government's latest announcement? The DHSC said following its declaration that the risk to the public had not changed, but it was 'strengthening' regulations over safety and to help health professionals. New legal powers mean people with coronavirus can be forcibly quarantined and will not be free to leave, and can be forcibly sent into isolation if they pose a threat. Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside and Kents Hill Park in Milton Keynes, both housing Britons who have returned from Wuhan, the source of the coronavirus outbreak, are now designated 'isolation facilities'. Why was the announcement made now? MailOnline understands the Government's move was in response to one of the Britons who returned from Wuhan attempting to leave isolation at Arrowe Park. This is despite all the Britons who returned on a evacuation flight signing a contract agreeing to a 14-day quarantine period. There were concerns over whether those contracts are legally enforceable, leading to the new regulations. Advertisement

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said of today's new regulation: 'I will do everything in my power to keep people in this country safe.

'We are taking every possible step to control the outbreak of coronavirus. NHS staff and others will now be supported with additional legal powers to keep people safe across the country.

'The transmission of coronavirus would constitute a serious threat  so I am taking action to protect the public and isolate those at risk of spreading the virus.

'Clinical advice has not changed about the risk to the public, which remains moderate. We are taking a belt and braces approach to all necessary precautions to ensure public safety.

'Our infection control procedures are world leading  what I am announcing today further strengthens our response.'

Mr Hancock said that the new measures 'are considered as an effective means of delaying or preventing further transmission of the virus.'

The regulations have been issued under the 1984 Public Health (Control of Disease) Act, which grants the Health Secretary powers to stop illnesses spreading.

They take effect immediately, putting into law the power to capture and detain people who are suspected of having the coronavirus. It is understood that the police will have the power to force people to comply if necessary.

Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside and Kents Hill Park in Milton Keynes are now designated as 'isolation' facilities  it is primarily the people staying in these facilities who will be affected by the new regulation.

A police van is pictured outside of Arrowe Park Hospital this morning, January 10. Accommodation there is being used to quarantine people who were evacuated from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the virus outbreak

A total of 93 people are being held in Arrowe Park in Merseyside in case they caught the coronavirus in China. They are expected to be let out on Thursday this week

More than 40,000 people have been infected with the virus and 910 are confirmed to have died, all but two of them in China

BRIGHTON GP PRACTICE CLOSED AFTER MEMBER OF STAFF CATCHES THE CORONAVIRUS A Brighton GP practice has been closed because a member of staff  thought to be a doctor  has tested positive for the killer coronavirus which has now infected eight people in the UK. It is feared the staff member came into contact with a British 'super spreader', who is believed to have infected at least 11 others on a French ski holiday. Patients at Brighton's County Oak Medical Centre, which said it had shut for 'health and safety reasons', have been urged to ring NHS 111 if they have any concerns. Five new patients  four men and a woman  were diagnosed with the deadly infection in Brighton over the weekend and transferred to specialist hospitals in London to be treated in quarantine for 14 days. All of the patients were 'known contacts' of a businessman from neighbouring Hove, who became the UK's third case last Friday after picking up the virus at a work conference in Singapore. They are all believed to have been staying in the same chalet in Les Contamines-Montjoie, close to Mont Blanc. The six others who have fallen ill since holidaying with the 'super-spreader' include five more Britons being cared for in a French hospital and a father-of-two British expat who flew home to Majorca where he became ill. Advertisement

There are currently 93 UK citizens at Arrowe Park and 105 in Milton Keynes. Another man, who felt ill on a China evacuation flight, is being kept in isolation at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

Nobody who was evacuated from Wuhan is known to have brought the virus back with them  all cases in the UK so far have been among others who travelled to Asia or came into contact with people who did.

As of today at 2pm, a total of 1,114 people have been tested for the coronavirus and 1,106 have been negative, with eight testing positive.

The first 83 Britons evacuated from Wuhan should have completed 14 days in quarantine on Thursday after they landed at RAF Brize Norton on Friday, January 31.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said this morning: 'Our infection control procedures are world leading and the NHS is well prepared to deal with novel coronavirus.

'We are strengthening our regulations so we can keep individuals in supported isolation for their own safety and if public health professionals consider they may be at risk of spreading the virus to other members of the public.

'This measure will rightly make it easier for health professionals to help keep people safe across the country.'

It comes after a British man who caught coronavirus in Singapore appears to be linked to at least seven other confirmed cases in England, France and Spain.

Health officials are not confirming a link or giving detail on his relationship to the other people diagnosed with the illness, but he is reported to be a middle-aged British man and is understood to have been the first UK national to contract the disease.

China's president, Xi Jinping, was filmed on state television visiting a hospital in Beijing while wearing a protective mask today

More than 40,000 people have now caught the killer coronavirus  nearly 99 per cent of the cases have been recorded in China

A person in the city of Wuhan is pictured wearing a plastic bag on their head in a desperate attempt to protect themselves them the virus

A cleaner is pictured in a deserted compound outside of an office building in Beijing today. Chinese businesses have finally started to reopen after a prolonged public holiday put in place to try and stop the virus

A supermarket worker in Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak, is pictured covered head to toe in protective gear

Figures also show 910 people have now died across the world, with all but two deaths recorded in mainland China

What we know about the Britons infected with coronavirus and the patients ill in the UK Cases in the UK and where they are being cared for: York and Newcastle: Two Chinese nationals who became ill while staying at Staycity Aparthotel in York on Wednesday January 29 are being treated at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle. Brighton and London: The third person to be diagnosed in the UK was a businessman from Brighton who caught the infection while on a work trip in Singapore, then became ill in Brighton after travelling home via a chalet at the Les Contamines Montjoie ski resort in the French Alps. He flew back to the UK on Easyjet flight EZS8481 from Geneva to London Gatwick on January 28 and is now being treated at St Thomas' Hospital in London. France and London: A fourth adult, believed to be Dr Catriona Saynor, who was staying at the same chalet in France was diagnosed with the virus on Sunday, February 9, and is being treated at the Royal Free Hospital in London. Brighton and London: Four more people were diagnosed with the coronavirus in Brighton on Monday, February 10. They are thought to be linked to the Brighton businessman and caught the virus in France. They are being treated at the St Thomas' and Royal Free hospitals in London. Total: Eight people British expats and holidaymakers outside the UK Majorca: A British father-of-two who stayed in the French Les Contamines Montjoieski ski resort tested positive after returning to his home in Majorca. His wife and two children are not ill. France: Five British people became infected after coming into contact with the Brighton businessman. They include the French chalet's owner, environmental consultant Bob Saynor, 48, and his nine-year-old son u relatives of the UK case Catriona Saynor. They are all in a French hospital. Japan: A British man on board a cruise ship docked at a port in Japan tested positive for coronavirus, Princess Cruises said. Alan Steele, from Wolverhampton, posted on Facebook that he had been diagnosed with the virus. Believed to be on his honeymoon, Steele said he was not showing any symptoms but was being taken to hospital. Total: Seven people Advertisement

A Department of Health statement said this morning: 'The Secretary of State has made regulations to ensure that the public are protected as far as possible from the transmission of the virus.

'The Secretary of State declares that the incidence or transmission of novel coronavirus constitutes a serious and imminent threat to public health, and the measures outlined in these regulations are considered as an effective means of delaying or preventing further transmission of the virus.'

Mr Hancock has also designated Arrowe Park Hospital in the Wirral, and Kents Hill Park in Milton Keynes, where Britons evacuated from Wuhan have been transferred to, as 'isolation' facilities.

Wuhan and Hubei province, where the virus originated, have also been declared an 'infected area' by the health secretary.

Last week Mr Hancock warned that Britain will be battling for 'months to come' with the number of cases doubling every five days.

He said: 'Currently the number of cases is doubling around every five days and it's clear that the virus will be with us for at least some months to come. This is a marathon, not a sprint.'

He added: 'We've also launched a public information campaign setting out how every member of the public, including members of this House, can help by taking simple steps to minimise the risk to themselves and their families.

'Washing hands, using tissues when you sneeze, just as you would with flu.'

The announcement comes as a British 'super spreader' is feared to have infected at least seven others with the coronavirus, prompting the emergency testing of hundreds of people on his flights, ski break and even his local pub.

The businessman is at the centre of a web of cases stretching across the UK, France and Spain after he apparently contracted the virus during a four-day trip to Singapore for a sales conference for gas analysis company Servomex.

The man in his fifties then jetted from south-east Asia to the Alps to ski in Les Contamines-Montjoie in late January where two more Britons became infected despite the 'super spreader' not having any cold or flu-like symptoms.

Medical workers in heavy-duty protective clothing are pictured at Yokohoma Port in Japan, where more than 100 people have been diagnosed with the infection on-board a cruise liner which is

CORONAVIRUS: WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR What is this virus? The SARS-CoV-2 virus has been identified as a new type of coronavirus. Coronaviruses are a large family of pathogens, most of which cause mild lung infections such as the common cold. But coronaviruses can also be deadly. SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, is caused by a coronavirus and killed hundreds of people in China and Hong Kong in the early 2000s. Can the Wuhan coronavirus kill? Yes  almost 3,000 people have so far died after testing positive for the virus. What are the symptoms? The infection which the virus causes has been named COVID-19. Some people who catch it may not have any symptoms at all, or only very mild ones like a sore throat or a headache. Others may suffer from a fever, cough or trouble breathing. And a small proportion of patients will go on to develop severe infection which can damage the lungs or cause pneumonia, a life-threatening condition which causes swelling and fluid build-up in the lungs. How is it detected? The virus's genetic sequencing was released by scientists in China and countries around the world have used this to create lab tests, which must be carried out to confirm an infection. Delays to these tests, to test results and to people getting to hospitals in China, mean the number of confirmed cases is expected to be just a fraction of the true scale of the outbreak. How did it start and spread? The first cases identified were among people connected to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan. Cases have since been identified around China and are known to have spread from person to person. What are countries doing to prevent the spread? Countries all over the world have banned foreign travellers from crossing their borders if they have been to China within the past two weeks. Many airlines have cancelled or drastically reduced flights to and from mainland China. Is it similar to anything we've ever seen before? Experts have compared it to the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The epidemic started in southern China and killed more than 700 people in mainland China, Hong Kong and elsewhere. SCROLL DOWN OR CLICK HERE TO SEE MAILONLINE'S FULL Q&A ON THE CORONAVIRUS Advertisement

Britain's health authorities have also contacted 183 passengers and six crew on an Easyjet flight then taken by the unnamed man from Geneva to London, warning that they could be infected.

Staff at the pub where the 'super spreader' is a drinker are furious with health chiefs and claim they only found out he was ill after reading it online.

Five workers at The Grenadier in Hove have been told to self-isolate for a fortnight after the gas salesman, in his fifties, went there for a pint on Saturday, February 1.

Public Health England told the Grenadier's employees working on the night he popped in to stay at home for two weeks and said they are warning anyone who could be infected.

But other staff and drinkers there on a busy Saturday evening have claimed they learned of the development on Facebook or via the local paper, the Brighton Argus.

Kelly Fricker wrote on social media: 'My ex-partner, my son and nephew all drink there and my nephew's the chef and they hadn't even heard about it'.

Elsewhere in Brighton, a health centre has been closed after four more cases of coronavirus were linked to the city.

The clinic was closed for urgent operational health and safety reasons. The County Oak Medical Centre closed on Monday morning.

And an East Sussex secondary schoolchild has also been told to stay at home for two week amid fears he came into contact with the so-called 'super spreader'.

Officials have desperately tried to stop further spread with a cross-border hunt for all the hundreds of people he may have had contact with.

Today nine Britons have been confirmed to have the killer virus  five in France, one in Japan, one in Spain and two in the UK. Two others in the UK are ill, but they are believed to be Chinese nationals holidaying in Yorkshire.

More than 900 people have died and 37,000 have become infected since the outbreak began in the Chinese city of Wuhan, which has been placed in lockdown to curb the spread.

More than 100 Britons were placed in quarantine at a three-star hotel in Milton Keynes yesterday after another airlift from Wuhan.

Wearing masks and escorted by health staff in hazmat suits, the group flew from China to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

Public Health England is under pressure to reveal where the so-called 'super spreader' had been and the full extent of the numbers under observation.

The task has been made more difficult because the patient, from Hove in East Sussex, interrupted his return from Singapore to Britain by taking a four-day break in the French Alps.

The super spreader had been at the chalet close to Les Contamines' main ski lifts where five people became ill

Five staff at the Grenadier pub in Hove have been instructed to self-isolate after he visited for two hours on February 1

HOW THE CORONAVIRUS HAS SPREAD OVER TIME The vast majority of coronavirus cases have been in mainland China, but more than 25 other countries and territories have declared infections: Egypt: 1 case, first case February 14

Belgium: 1 case, first case February 4

Spain: 2 case, first case January 31

Sweden: 1 case, first case January 31

Russia: 2 cases, first case January 31

UK: 9 cases, first case January 31

India: 3 cases, first case January 30

Philippines: 3 cases, first case January 30

Italy: 3 cases, first case January 30

Finland: 1 case, first case January 29

United Arab Emirates: 8 cases, first case January 29

Germany: 16 cases, first case Jan 27

Sri Lanka: 1 case, first case Jan 27

Cambodia: 1 case, first case Jan 27

Canada: 7 cases, first case Jan 25

Australia: 15 cases, first case Jan 25

Malaysia: 19 cases, first case Jan 25

France: 11 cases, first case January 24

Nepal: 1 case, first case January 24

Vietnam: 16 cases, first case Jan 24

Singapore: 58 cases, first case January 23

Macau: 10 cases, first case Jan 22

Hong Kong: 53 cases, first case January 22

Taiwan: 18 cases, first case Jan 21

USA: 15 cases, first case January 20

South Korea: 28 cases, first case January 20

Japan: 251 cases, first case January 16

Thailand: 33 cases, first case Jan 13 Advertisement

The middle-aged man contracted the virus during a conference at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Singapore organised by Servomex, a British gas analytics company, more than two weeks ago.

He then travelled to a ski chalet in Les Contamines-Montjoie, near Megeve, from January 24 to 28. He returned to Britain on an Easyjet flight on January 28 but fell ill after arriving in Britain.

An easyJet spokeswoman said: 'EasyJet has been notified by the public health authority that a customer who had recently travelled on one of its flights has since been diagnosed with the coronavirus.

'Public Health England is contacting all passengers who were seated in the vicinity of the customer on flight EZS8481 from Geneva to London Gatwick on 28 January to provide guidance in line with procedures.

'As the customer was not experiencing any symptoms, the risk to others on board the flight is very low.

'We remain in contact with the public health authorities and are following their guidance.

'The health and well-being of our passengers and crew is the airline's highest priority.

'All of the crew who operated have been advised to monitor themselves for a 14-day period since the flight in line with Public Health England advice. Note this happened 12 days ago and none are displaying any symptoms.'

Chief medical officer for England Professor Chris Whitty said the patient, who is being treated at the Royal Free Hospital in London, is 'a known contact of a previously confirmed UK case, and the virus was passed on in France'.

Five staff at the Grenadier pub in Hove have been instructed to self-isolate after he visited for two hours on February 1. A school pupil in the area was also told to self-isolate during the investigation into the man's movements.

A passenger stands at the balcony of the cruise ship Diamond Princess anchored off the Yokohama Port in Japan where another 60 cases have been confirmed

British honeymooner Alan Steel, from Wolverhampton, became the second confirmed UK national to be diagnosed with the lethal disease after catching it on a cruise ship off the coast of Japan (pictured with his wife Wendy - the two were on the cruise on their honeymoon)

Alan Steele (pictured right) was separated from his new wife Wendy (pictured left on board the cruise ship) and taken off the Diamond Princess after learning his test results in Yokohama Bay

Two people wearing face masks walk along a a street in Shanghai today as millions of people in China were returning to work after an extended Lunar New Year break

Five Britons who shared the ski chalet with him were diagnosed over the weekend, and hundreds of residents of the picturesque town are now undergoing tests.

Authorities confirmed yesterday that a fourth case of coronavirus in the UK was also linked to the Hove businessman.

In addition, a British father-of-two who stayed in the ski resort tested positive after returning from the French resort to his home in Majorca.

Scientists have dubbed the Brighton businessman a 'super-spreader' because he has passed the infection on to so many people.

Dr Andrew Freedman an infectious diseases expert at Cardiff University said: 'These four new cases are all contacts of the previously confirmed patient who contracted the infection while at a conference in Singapore.

'Along with several others already identified, they became infected while in France. This is not particularly surprising, but it does appear that the index case has passed on the infection to an unusually large number of contacts. As such, he could be termed a "super-spreader".

'This may occur as result of someone being infectious despite having few or no symptoms, meaning they are unaware they have the infection.

'It can also result from someone coming into close contact with an unusually large number of people or someone carrying a larger than normal quantity of the virus.

'However, of the eight cases identified so far in the UK, six are part of the French cluster and the other two are related to each other.

'There is no evidence of wider transmission in the UK and it does appear that the precautions that have been put in place have been very effective so far.'

The five Britons who caught the virus in the Alps include the chalet's owner, environmental consultant Bob Saynor, 48, and his nine-year-old son.

They are in hospital with three other Britons who were staying at the six-bedroom chalet.

Mr Saynor's two other children and four Britons from another family are being kept in isolation at French hospitals as a precaution. His wife Catriona, a doctor, is reportedly in the UK.

The family is understood to have been living in the village for just three months after moving from Hove themselves, despite having bought the property several years ago. Mrs Saynor had left France by the time the investigation began and is under observation in a UK hospital. It is not clear if she was the fourth case diagnosed in Britain.

Environmental consultant Bob Saynor, 48, and his nine-year-old son have been named locally as being at the centre of the outbreak in the French ski chalet and are being treated in hospital

Mr Saynor's two other children and four Britons from another family are being kept in isolation at French hospitals as a precaution. His wife Catriona, a doctor, is reportedly also infected and being treated at the Royal Free Hospital in London

Workers disinfect closed shops in the city of Wuhan at the centre of the outbreak today, where millions of people remain under quarantine

WHAT IS A SUPER SPREADER? Patients infected with the killer Wuhan coronavirus are thought to infect up to 2.6 people, infectious disease specialists estimate. But some patients pass it on to a disproportionately higher number than that. A person's behaviour may contribute to them becoming a super spreader. Someone who travels a lot has a greater chance of becoming one because they come into contact with many people in a number of countries. International businessmen and women are therefore at risk. This appears to be the case with the British businessman who travelled from Singapore to the French Alps and back to the UK. The unnamed middle-aged man is thought to have infected at least 11 people. Another suspected super spreader in the current outbreak is a man believed to have infected 14 workers at a hospital in Wuhan, China. But in other cases it is not always clear why a person can become a super spreader.

Scientists say some people may 'shed' more of the virus into the environment by coughing or sneezing as their immune system tries to get rid of it. Super spreading is not a new phenomenon. In 2012, a Mers-coronavirus patient returned led to 82 people becoming infected after returning from Saudi Arabia to South Korea. Irish cook Mary Mallon (1869-1938) was dubbed 'Typhoid Mary' after passing the disease to 51 people in the US when she had no symptoms.

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French officials have closed the 95-pupil primary school attended by the Saynors' nine-year-old son, while a 200-pupil school in nearby Saint-Gervais he attended for one day last week will also be shut.

Elsewhere, 60 more people on the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship in the port of Yokohama have tested positive for coronavirus, Japan's health minister has said.

There are now 130 confirmed cases on the ship, with officials previously saying 70 people had the virus among the 3,711 passengers and crew.

More than 3,600 people, including 78 British passport holders, are still in a 14-day quarantine on board the ship.

British honeymooner Alan Steele, who was transferred from the cruise liner to hospital in Japan with coronavirus, was said to be feeling well and in good spirits over the weekend.

In the UK, a University of York student and their relative are still being treated at the Royal Victoria Infirmary infectious diseases centre in Newcastle.

Nearly 100 people died of coronavirus yesterday on the deadliest day of the outbreak so far. The death toll in mainland China rose by 97, taking the number of global fatalities to 910.

Another 3,062 cases were reported in China yesterday - an increase of 15 per cent compared to Saturday which put an end to a series of daily declines.

The latest surge in deaths is a setback to hopes that China's drastic quarantine measures might be working.

The European Union will host an extraordinary meeting of health ministers on Thursday this week, along with a representative form the World Health Organization, to discuss the coronavirus outbreak.

So far, only around 30 cases of the new strain have been detected in Europe but the WHO warns the number of cases outside of China is expected to increase.

'Now is the time to join forces to stop this epidemic,' said European Commissioner Janez Lenarcic.

Last week, German health minister Jens Spahn suggested at a meeting with his French counterpart Agnes Buzyn that Europe stop non-citizens from travelling to the continent after visiting China.

A man is pictured spraying disinfectant on an empty street in Beijing today, February 10

Masked commuters are seen riding a subway train en route to work in Guangzhou, a city in the south of China. People across the country started to return to work today after an extended public holiday

CHEF AT BRIGHTON PUB VISITED BY INFECTED MAN 'FOUND OUT ONLINE' Staff at the pub where Britain's coronavirus 'super spreader' is a drinker are said to be furious with health chiefs and claim they only found out the regular was ill after reading it online. Five workers at The Grenadier in Hove have been instructed to self-isolate for a fortnight after the gas salesman, who is in his fifties, went there for a pint on Saturday February 1. Public Health England told the Grenadier's employees working on the night he popped in to stay at home for two weeks - coronavirus's incubation period - and said they are warning anyone who could be infected. Five staff at the Grenadier pub in Hove have been instructed to self-isolate after he visited for two hours on February 1 But other staff and drinkers there on a busy Saturday evening have claimed they learned of the development on Facebook or via the local paper, the Brighton Argus. Kelly Fricker wrote on social media: 'My ex-partner, my son and nephew all drink there and my nephew's the chef and they hadn't even heard about it'. The businessman is at the centre of a web of cases stretching across the UK, France and Spain after he apparently contracted the virus during a four-day trip to Singapore for a sales conference for gas analysis company Servomex. The man in his fifties then jetted from south-east Asia to the Alps to ski in Les Contamines-Montjoie in late January where five more Britons including a nine-year-old boy became infected despite the 'super spreader' not having any cold or flu-like symptoms. Advertisement

The US has already done this, along with Australia and New Zealand. But for it to work in Europe all 27 EU members would have to agree to the decision together because people can fly into one country then move freely between the others in the Schengen passport-free travel zone.

The rise in China's death toll came as millions of people return to work today after an extended Lunar New Year holiday.

Roads in Beijing and Shanghai had significantly more traffic than in recent days and the city of Guangzhou was resuming normal public transport today.

However, the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai said 60 per cent of its member companies were planning mandatory work-from-home policies.

Businesses abroad have been affected, too  Amazon and Sony today became the latest companies to pull out of Mobile World Congress, scheduled to happen in Barcelona later this month, because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The loss of both companies is another blow to one of the telecom industry's biggest gatherings in Barcelona, which has already seen LG, Ericsson and Nvidia pull out.

The organiser of the event, GSMA, has also banned any visitors from China's Hubei province, of which the capital Wuhan is where the virus originated.

The outbreak also continues to affect the economy  London's FTSE 100 weakened this morning after the UK said the epidemic was a 'serious and imminent threat'.

The drop was consistent with Asian markets, where most indexes were down, after figures showed the coronavirus had killed more than 900 people.

Footballer Dele Alli has apologised to fans for posting a video to Snapchat appearing to mock an Asian man in relation to the coronavirus outbreak.

Alli posted the video on Saturday, where he appeared to film a man of Asian descent, along with the caption 'Corona whatttttt, please listen with volume.'

In the original video, Alli could be seen wearing a mask, while also appearing to feign a look of concern on his face.

He then posted an apology video on Chinese social media site Weibo, saying that it's not a subject that should be joked about.

**Do you know the patient who threatened to leave Arrowe Park? Email ed.riley@mailonline.co.uk**
By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Poverty and corruption remain the main obstacles in Armenias socio-economic situation, President of the Center for Social and Political Studies ("Aspect"), Russian expert Georgy Fedorov has said in an interview with Azernews.

He was commenting on the current situation in Armenias social life.

Poverty and corruption remain the main obstacles in improving the social and economic situation in Armenia. The fight against these problems must be a priority for Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyans government. In addition, one should not forget that Armenias foreign trade relations have a potential to significantly improve the economic situation in the country. In this context, Armenias closer integration with Russia seems to be the most promising option," Fedorov said.

Speaking about expectations of the Western countries of Pashinyans velvet revolution, the expert said that neither the U.S. nor the EU has time for Armenia right now, due to their domestic problems. In this context, he added, the so-called velvet revolution can be justified or not only by the Armenian people.

Fedorov said that Armenian clans are fighting over power, while poverty and social disorder pose an increasing threat to the countrys economy.

The expert said that Pashinyan must initiate a real fight against corruption and poverty in the country, if he wants to justify Armenians peoples trust.

In order not to lose this trust, Pashinyan must initiate a real fight against corruption and poverty in the country," Fedorov noted.
Wife, brother, mother, contract killers and a quack arrested in MP mans murder case

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 10: Four days after the body of a man was found with the head crushed, police in Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh have arrested his wife, mother, elder brother and three others, including two contract killers, a senior official said on Sunday.

The body of Roop Singh (45) was recovered on February 6 from Manjri River near Piplod village, and a probe had zeroed in on his wife Shobha Bai, mother Parvati Bai and elder brother Santosh Rajput, Superintendent of Police Shivdayal Singh said.

"The three confessed to the crime and were arrested. A quack Mukesh and two contract killers Lal Bahadur and Bablu were arrested on the basis of information provided by them," he added.

Shocking UP crime: Two womens bodies found, one burnt; another without clothes, doused with acid

"Shobha was having an illicit relationship with Santosh. Moreover, Roop Singh would routinely create ruckus in the house after consuming liquor. They were also embroiled in a land dispute. They first hired quack Mukesh to administer an injection to kill Roop Singh and promised him Rs 10 lakh. They then paid Lal Bahadur and Bablu who gave him liquor and smashed his head with a stone," he said.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamis announcement to categorize eight Cauvery delta districts as a Special Protected Agricultural Zone, in a move to ensure the states food security has been welcomed by leaders from across party lines but has drawn flak from the principal opposition party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).

The Chief Ministers announcement gains significance as there has been continued opposition to projects like those involving hydrocarbon extraction, including Neduvasal in Pudukottai district. Meant has also come under attack from the opposition parties and fringe outfits for allegedly attempting to bring in projects that would cause irreparable damage to the agricultural land.

The CMs announcement was welcomed by their ally PMKs leader Ramadoss, who welcomed the move, calling it a victory, as it would prevent the desertification of the Cauvery districts. Tamil Nadu Congress Chief K.S. Alagiri also had expressed that the move would benefit the farmers.

DMK MLA and Principal Secretary KN Nehru stated that the announcement regarding the protected agricultural zone was only meant to divert peoples attention from the betrayal of farmers in the delta region. He issued a statement challenging the Chief Minister to adopt a resolution in the Assembly, which would ensure that hydrocarbon exploration projects will be prohibited in the delta region, and cancel the exploration projects awarded to the Vedanta group and ONGC.

The Chief Minister should also withdraw the letter written by Environment Minister K.C. Karuppannan, in which he had stated that public hearings and environmental clearances were not necessary for such projects. After that, he can make the announcement designating the delta region as a protected agricultural zone in the Assembly, the DMK leader said.

The DMK leaders statement called the Chief Ministers announcement a farcical drama, stating that the AIADMK government had approached the Supreme Court against the Madras High Courts direction on a farm loan waiver. If the CM thinks people would forget about the suicide of 13 farmers and the police action against farmers, he is day-dreaming.

The statement also condemned the CMs statement that it was the erstwhile DMK government that had granted permission for hydrocarbon exploration projects.

During an official function on Sunday at Thalaivasal, in his native district Salem, the Chief Minister assured that the State Government would never grant the go-ahead for projects such as hydrocarbon exploration in the delta region.

Farmers in the Cauvery delta region have been opposing the proposed hydrocarbon project of the Central government, which was meant to be executed by Vedanta Limited and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Limited.

In his speech, Palaniswami said that his government was taking the decision to declare the delta region as a protected agricultural zone in recognition of the farmers' concerns and toils. I may be the Chief Minister, but I am a farmer too and would never permit any project that would affect farmers livelihood. This decision is to end the hardships faced by farmers.

He announced that the Cauvery delta regions in Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Pudukottai, Cuddalore, Ariyalur, Karur and Trichy districts would be categorized under a Protected special agriculture zone. The Chief Minister also added that the government would enact special legislation after seeking opinions from legal experts.

Palaniswami also accused senior DMK leader T.R. Baalu, for having chosen to implement the project in Tamil Nadu in 2010. The DMK government in January 2011 signed an MoU with a private firm to drill borewells and conduct explorations for four years in the region, he stated.

The MoU was signed when DMK president M.K. Stalin was the Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. But now the DMK was conducting protests in the region and spreading lies among the public, he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 21:02:22|Editor: huaxia

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CAIRO, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- At least eleven were killed and 10 others injured on Monday when a microbus and a truck collided on Western Desert Road in Upper Egypt's province of Minya, a medical source told Xinhua.

The death toll is likely to grow because some of the wounded are in critical conditions, the source said on condition of anonymity.

The deadly crash was caused by the poor condition of the desert road that sees accidents on a regular basis.

The collision comes days after at least 13 people were killed and seven others wounded in a road accident in the southern province of Aswan.

Road accidents claim thousands of lives every year in Egypt, mostly caused by poor road safety, badly maintained infrastructure and loosely enforced traffic rules.

Some 5,220 road accidents took place in Egypt in the first half of 2019, leaving more than 1,500 killed, according to official statistics.

A comprehensive traffic law designed to crack down on violators and enhance safety is set to be enforced later in 2020.
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.
Digging tunnels is probably among the most toughest engineering projects the ancient people undertook, because it required mastering several sophisticated fields of science including architecture, geodesy, hydraulics, and geology. This makes ancient tunnels fascinating subjects for study.

The Tunnel of Eupalinos, on the Greek island of Samos, is one such example. Built in the 6th century BC, and first described by Herodotus, the Tunnel of Eupalinos was a major engineering milestone because it is one of the earliest known tunnels that was dug from both ends. Using only picks, chisels and hammers, and relying on simple laws of geometry and trigonometry, these ancient engineers accomplished a nearly impossible featmeeting beneath a hill more than two hundred meters tall and nearly half a kilometer from either end.

Photo: denvilles_duo/Flickr

The tunnel was dug under the direction of the Greek engineer, Eupalinos of Megara, who many consider to be the first hydraulic engineer in history. The purpose of the tunnel was to supply the ancient capital of Samos, today called Pythagoreion, with fresh water. The city of Samos had outgrown the capacity of the wells and cisterns within the city's limits, but the main source of fresh water on the island was on the other side of Mount Kastro from the city. It was decided that an aqueduct be built under the mountain to keep it concealed from enemies, who might destroy it and cutoff water supply to the city.

The tunnel was dug from both ends and met beneath Mount Kastros highest point. In order to make sure the two ends met, Eupalinos arranged for the two straight shafts to be dug towards the meeting point at an angle. This way, Eupalinos had only to ensure the shafts were dug at the same level. As long as the two digging teams maintained level, the two shafts would eventually cross each other. Eupalinos was aware that failing to meet would be catastrophic. So he had the shafts dug in a zigzag fashion near the meeting point. Some scholars argue that the tortures zigzag route the tunnel takes through solid rock was not deliberate but the result of a series of errors and corrections. In the final stretches of the digging, the two teams would have been near enough to hear each other through the rock. They would have changed direction as needed, coordinating their digging effort until they met. The sharp turns near the meeting point attest to this theory. The precision was so outstanding that at the meeting point the vertical offset was only 60 centimeters.

The most fascinating thing about the Tunnel of Eupalinos, as Tom M. Apostol writes, iswhen the tunnel was dug, the Greeks had no magnetic compass, no surveying instruments, no topographic maps, nor even much

written mathematics at their disposal. Euclids Elements, the first major compendium of ancient mathematics, was written some 200 years later.

The Tunnel of Eupalinos, however, was neither the first nor the last to be excavated from both ends. The Siloam tunnel in eastern Jerusalem, is older than the Tunnel of Samos by at least a hundred years. It too was dug from both ends, but was much shorter, at 533 meters, than the tunnel in Samos, which was slightly over a kilometer long. Another famous example is the considerably longer Channel Tunnel that was completed in 1994. Even with the full power of modern technology, Channel Tunnel didnt meet exactly in the middle. When the British and French tunneling teams met under the English Channel, the two shafts were misaligned by 3.5 meters. By comparison, Eupalinos used very little mathematics. How he managed to pull off one of the finest engineering achievements of ancient times is a mystery.

Sketch of the tunnels cross section, adapted from the original by Tom M. Apostol.

The tunnel itself is 1,036 meters long, and about 2 meters wide and 2 meters high. Along the length of the tunnel a separate channel was dug to convey water, which increases in depth over the course of the tunnel, from 4 meters deep at the north end to nearly 9 meters at the southern end. Vertical shafts link this channel to the main tunnel roughly every ten meters. Within the channel, water was transported in an open-top terracotta drain.

The tunnel and aqueduct was in use for a thousand years, until it was abandoned in the 7th century CE. The tunnel was included in UNESCOs world cultural heritage list in 1992, but it was only a couple of years ago that the Culture Ministry opened portions of the tunnel to the public.

Photo: orientalizing/Flickr

References:

# Tom M. Apostol, http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/4106/1/Samos.pdf

# Lidar Mag, https://lidarmag.com/2009/04/11/the-tunnel-of-eupalinos/

# Ake Olson, https://www.persee.fr/doc/anata_1018-1946_2012_num_20_1_1323

# Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnel_of_Eupalinos
(TNS)  Middletown Schools work to fire up its STEAM learning for students just got a $25,000 boost.The city schools in recent years have emphasized the science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics or STEAM curricula for its 6,300 students and district officials were recently awarded with a grant from the Middletown Community Foundation.The $25,000 grant, which was presented by foundation officials during a recent Middletown Board of Education meeting, elicited appreciation from the leaders of the Butler County school system.Its truly an honor and humbling to be granted an opportunity to build upon a movement that our students have embraced. The potential impact this has on them will go much further than the four walls of our schools. said School Board President Chris Urso.In a statement released by district officials, they praised the grant, saying it will help the districts efforts in constantly pursuing ways to level the playing field for all learners with additions such as the Middie Meal Machine and AR/VR technology, also granted by the foundation.The partnership of Middletown Community Foundation and Middletown Schools has been well-established with similar goals of strengthening the Middletown community and the district, said officials.Middletown Schools Superintendent Marlon Styles Jr. said we are extremely grateful for the Middletown Community Foundations generous donation.Our mission is to engage each student with challenging and innovative experiences in a supportive environment, propelling them to lifelong success. We are always excited when we see the community invest in our schools. They believe in our students just as much as the district, said Styles.Traci Barnett, Middletown Community Foundation CEO, said the Middletown Community Foundation is a champion for education. When an opportunity arises to help equip and create technology advances for our students, we are definitely going to consider it.Were very proud to be making an impact in our schools as we see this as an investment in our children, said Barnett.
The Taraba State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC), on Monday, fixed Saturday May 16 for the Conduct of Local Government elections.

The Chairman of the Commission, Philip Duwe, disclosed this to journalists in Jalingo, the state capital on Monday.

He said the election was supposed to be conducted in 2019 but could not hold owing to security challenges in the state.

Mr Duwe explained that the budget for the conduct of the polls was approved since 2019.

Today, February 10 the commission wishes to announce the commencement of the process for the conduct of the local government elections into the 16 councils and 168 council wards in the state.

The process will go on within the minimum 90 days notice as required by law and elections will be conducted by May 16, he said.

Mr Duwe appealed to political parties and politicians to play by the rules so as to pave the way for peaceful elections.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the tenure of office of the Executive Chairmen in the state expired several months ago and that Caretaker Committee chairmen are currently holding the offices.

(NAN)
Cities await travel peak amid outbreak

Global Times

By GT staff reporters Source:Global Times Published: 2020/2/10 1:18:39

Shortage of labor, protective devices hinders restart of production

Newly released travel data suggests that work and mass transit will not rebound fully into life on Monday, the date originally set for economic activity to recommence across China and an indication that the novel coronavirus has delayed millions of return trips from the extended Spring Festival holiday.

Chinese observers expressed concerns at the pressure on bigger cities wrought by the traditional travel rush as officials and society itself must try to strike a balance between tackling the virus and resuming production in the world's second-largest economy.

The country's railways delivered 1.27 million passenger trips on Saturday, a plunge of 85.4 percent year-on-year, according to a statement China State Railway Group Co sent to the Global Times on Sunday. The number was estimated to tally 2 million on Sunday, down 82.2 percent.

The figures for railway stations in metropolises including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen all saw a notable fall on Saturday.

Passenger trips out of Beijing West Railway Station, Beijing's main station and one of Asia's largest, shrank 92.1 percent year-on-year to 8,000 on Saturday, while the number of arrivals fell by 74.9 percent year-on-year to 40,000.

Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station, registered a decline of 92.7 percent year-on-year to 10,000 for departures and a drop of 63.3 percent to 58,000 for arrivals.

Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport are expected to welcome about 75,000 arrivals on Sunday, slightly up on the previous day but considerably down from the year before, according to the Shanghai Observer.

Regions across China previously announced that work and production would restart no earlier than Monday.

The data indicated that economic activity will likely only partially resume on Monday, Chinese observers said, amid work health safety anxieties in bigger cities and especially in the manufacturing and service sectors.

Jack Wang, owner of an auto parts factory in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu Province, told the Global Times that his company cannot resume production Monday as scheduled due to the lack of protective items such as masks. His company supplies a leading German carmaker.

"To restart work, we need to provide masks, disinfectant and thermometers. We got the latter two as well as about 200 masks, but this is still far from enough. I don't think we can pass the government inspection for work resumption," Wang said.

Facing employment and rental costs, Wang said he was pinning his hopes on February 17 to resume work and generate income.

It's impossible to work from home for most of the catering industry and other service sectors, Lu Zhengwei, chief economist at Industrial Bank in Shanghai, told the Global Times on Sunday. This suggested biggest impact of the virus outbreak was not the virus itself, but city and road closures, Lu said.

"The most effective stimulus is not about fiscal or monetary easing, but efforts to contain the virus while resuming work in a fast possible manner," Lu said.

Efforts by medical experts and city management professionals ought be underway to work out feasible plans to restart work in a quick yet safe way and so restore economic activity, Lu asserted.

Setting cities in motion

As part of an all-out drive to fight the disease with 813 deaths and 37,287 confirmed infections domestically as of 8pm Sunday, some cities have imposed harsh rules to restrict movement.

Wuxi in East China's Jiangsu Province issued a notice over the weekend that migrant workers from seven provinces with the highest confirmed infections nationwide - Central China's Hubei Province, the epicenter of the virus, East China's Zhejiang, Anhui and Jiangxi provinces, Central China's Henan, Hunan provinces, and South China's Guangdong Province - would all be advised to not return to Wuxi.

Lingering worries appeared to have delayed the return travel rush, Chinese analysts said.

Next week will test city governance as more people return from their hometowns and companies resume work, pressuring officials trying to curb the spread of the new virus.

Of the 10 million people that left Beijing for the Spring Festival holidays, 8 million have not returned, according to Beijing transportation authority data released last week.

"If not managed well, the crowds of mobile people will mean a further rise in the tally of confirmed infections," Tian Yun, vice director of the Beijing Economic Operation Association, told the Global Times on Sunday.

The coronavirus outbreak may peak in the next 10 to 14 days, said Zhong Nanshan, a Chinese respiratory expert and a lead researcher of the novel coronavirus, on February 2.

China's managers of long-distance buses, trains and planes will handle a massive wave of travelers including infected patients who may not always exhibit symptoms.

Resumption of work at labor-intensive industries such as manufacturing presents another challenge.

"How to provide enough protective supplies is of critical importance to ensure operational safety," Tian said. Cities would still "function normally" as companies "serve as pillars to a city's operation," Tian said.

Courier services, medical equipment makers, electricity and water suppliers and supermarkets have basically resumed business, he noted.

"Companies in other industries could sell their stockpiles ahead of the Spring Festival holidays and wait until February 17 to resume production," Tian said.

The delay may incur some losses for private businesses and deal a short term blow to the Chinese economy, he warned. "But our urgent task is to take all means to put the virus under control. Otherwise, the economic losses will be thousands of times more than the current level."

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The U.S. economy seems to be a net positive for President Trump as he campaigns for reelection. Unemployment is low, consumers feel pretty good and their spending is holding up.

But theres a notable weakness in key pockets of the economy: The harm caused by Trumps trade policies. Research firm Panjiva, a division of S&P Global Market Intelligence, calculates that U.S. exports to all countries grew by 6.1% from 2017, before Trump began imposing new tariffs on imports, through the end of 2019, when a broad range of new tariffs were in place. Imports during the same time grew 6.9%.

That sounds like healthy growth in trade. But the numbers for China in particular show a sharp slowdown in trade between the two economic giants, as Trump slapped tariffs on Chinese imports and China retaliated with similar measures on American goods. Exports to China fell 17.9% from 2017 through 2019, while imports from China fell 10.7%. For businesses and regions overexposed to trade with China, thats a tough economic hit.

Is it possible Trumps trade war could hurt swing states enough to flip the 2020 election to the Democrats? To find out, we analyzed Panjiva data for 16 swing states that arent solidly Republican or Democrat and could go either way in 2020. We focused on exports, since those contribute most to economic growth, and used per-capita data to account for population change.

The swing states that took the biggest hit in the Panjiva data are Nevada, Wisconsin and Michigan. Those states endured a net loss of exports overall, and to China in particular from 2017 to 2019. Maine lost exports to China while overall exports were flat. Trump won Michigan and Wisconsin in 2016, and the four states combined account for 34 electoral votes. That could be enough to tilt the 2020 election one way or the other, according to early predictions of the vote total at the University of Virginias Center for Politics.

Graphic by David Foster

The Panjiva data likely understates the harm Trumps tariffs have caused in some states, because of the way some exports are counted. Exports that leave the country on ship via ports are sometimes sold to exporters in a coastal state, then exported from wherever the port is.

Thats why we included Louisiana in the table above. Louisiana is solidly rednot a swing state. But its also where crops and other products from states such as Iowa and Minnesota leave the United States for foreign markets. They show up as exports from Louisiana, not from the originating states. So while the China export numbers for the originating states look pretty good, the China export numbers for Louisiana are terrible, falling 36% from 2017 to 2019. Some of that pain is felt elsewhere.

Story continues

The phase one trade deal trump inked with China in January halts, for now, the escalation in tariffs and other trade barriers between the two countries. China has pledged to buy more U.S. farm goods and other products, while Trump slightly lowered one set of tariffs he imposed in 2019. But tariffs on Chinese imports remain at elevated levels, rising from an average of 3% in 2017 to 19% now. All told, the new Trump tariffs take about $80 billion per year out of the U.S. economy.

Trump is obviously hoping to repair that damage in 2020. But its not clear China will ramp up purchases by the time of the election in November, especially with the disruptive coronavirus worsening. Its also not clear Trump will actually lose votes on account of his trade policies. Voters are mulling it all now.

Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman. Confidential tip line: rickjnewman@yahoo.com. Encrypted communication available. Click here to get Ricks stories by email.

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New Delhi: In the wake of Delhi Universitys Gargi College gate-crashing incident, two members of National Commission of Women (NCW) visited the college on Monday (February 10) to gather first-hand information about the whole episode.

The issue was also raised in the Lok Sabha. Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal said, "It has come to our notice that some outsiders had entered the college, which is not right. The college administration has been asked to look into it," adding "Action will be taken against the culprits."

Meanwhile, the Gargi college principal, Promila Kumar, has apologised for the whole incident.

The incident took place on February 6 when the college had organised its fest. But the incident came to light when several students took to social media to narrate their experiences and alleged that security personnel failed to control the unruly groups.

According to Gargi college students, who were eyewitness, some outsiders entered the college premises without passes around 4.40 pm. Some were in an inebriated condition and others were smoking weed. Some of these were shirtless and were holding vulgar talks.

One of the students told Zee Media that there was an atmosphere of fear in the college, adding "When I was waiting for my friend near the college gate, these people came there and touched my soldier and my waist. By that time representatives of Students Union reached there but they less in numbers."

A team of Delhi Police, however, has reached the Gargi College to check the CCTV footage. On alleged molestation by outsiders, DCP South Atul Thakur told ANI, "We are inquiring into the matter. No complaint has been received so far."

Earlier, some of the students took to Instagram to narrate their unpleasant experiences during the fest at the all-women Gargi College on February 6, alleging that the security personnel did nothing to control the unruly groups.

Many students on the page, 'speakupgargi', blamed the college union and the administration for "failing" to protect students and even demanded the resignation of the college principal.

A student, in an Instagram post, said, "The college fest was a traumatic experience. I was guarded by two male friends at the fest. But unfortunately lost them in the sea of men at the fest. In merely those 10 minutes, I was groped thrice by a group of men and when I realised what had happened, they laughed in my face."

Another student shared on the Instagram page that two women students had panic attacks due to "harassment" they faced.

A first-year student claimed that a group of "five middle-aged, drunk men cornered her and " tried to molest her" and there were men inside the crowd who were smoking weed.

A student, requesting anonymity, told PTI, "The students' union will be taking up the matter with the college administration on Monday. During the fest, the police and bouncers were present and were informed that there was overcrowding but they did not do anything to manage the crowd."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 04:19:07|Editor: yan

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MUSCAT, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Omani-Iranian Business Forum was held in Omani capital Muscat on Monday with participation of businessmen from both countries, discussing the possibility of establishing joint ventures between the two sides.

A statement by Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) said that "31 Iranian businessmen representing some economic sectors ... participated in the meeting which was also attended by a large number of their Omani counterparts."

Vice Chairman of OCCI Rashid bin Amer Al Musalhi pointed out that the trade and investment relations between the two countries improve constantly and the two sides work towards strengthening this relationship in a way that serves the common interests.

"We should intensify efforts to facilitate procedures for investors so that we can achieve real commercial investment cooperation that diversifies income sources," the Omani official said.

Chairman of Iranian Kerman Chamber of Commerce Syed Mahdi Zadah said the bilateral commercial relations represent an opportunity for both sides.

The trade volume between Oman and Iran during the first quarter of 2019 amounted to about 116 million Omani riyals (301 million U.S. dollars) compared with 388 million Omani riyals during the whole year of 2018, according to the data of OCCI.
The UK government is shaping itself to attracting international businesses and investors now that it is out of the EU.

With Brexit done, the United Kingdom plans to announce the location of up to 10 new free ports  scheduled to begin operating in 2021  by the end of this year, the government said.

As the UK develops its own trade policy for the first time in decades after leaving the European Union at the end of January, the government has launched a 10-week consultation setting out its plans for the free ports, also known as free trade zones.

Once the consultation is completed, sea, air and rail ports will be able to bid for free port status.

Freeports will unleash the potential in our proud historic ports, boosting and regenerating communities across the UK, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Rishi Sunak, said in a statement.

They will attract new businesses, spreading jobs, investment and opportunity to towns and cities up and down the country.

Free ports are areas where imported goods can be held or processed free of customs duties before being exported again. They can also be used to import raw materials and make finished goods for export.

The government said it was considering tax measures aimed at increasing investment in infrastructure, construction and machinery in free ports to raise productivity. It could also use tax changes to reduce the costs of hiring workers in free port sites, it said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will announce the UKs first post-Brexit budget on March 11, which his administration has signalled will include a boost in infrastructure spending.

Backed by a pro-enterprise Budget for skills, infrastructure and innovation, business can help kick start a new decade of UK growth and job creation, Carolyn Fairbairn, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry said in a statement on Monday. And it is investment that will enable all regions of the UK to share in rising prosperity.

By boosting spending in northern England and the Midlands, Johnson is looking to reduce regional disparities and reward areas where lifelong Labour supporters backed his Conservatives in the election. The plan will include 40 million pounds ($52m) for 5G wireless networks in rural areas and investment in mass transit, according to a government official on Sunday.

Free ports could be used to trial customs, transport and green technologies before they are adopted more widely across the economy, the government said.

But free ports are not without controversy. The idea has been criticized as a backdoor route for tax evaders. The European Commission said last year that free ports were vulnerable to money laundering or terrorism financing.

Some trade experts say the net benefit of free ports is limited and they often just redistribute economic activity from elsewhere in the country.
The apology was barely more than a whisper, yet its weight reverberated throughout the cavernous sanctuary of New Life Deliverance Tabernacle in South Richmond on Monday before falling sharply upon the hundreds of souls in its presence.

My heart bleeds with yours, Richmond Councilwoman Ellen Robertson said softly to Sharmar Hill Sr. and Shaniqua Allen. The couple were seated just steps away from an open bright blue casket holding their 3-year-old son, Sharmar Hill Jr.

Nestled next to his body in the small casket was a stuffed toy  Catboy  from his favorite cartoon, PJ Masks.

On behalf of the city of Richmond, I extend an apology to you, that your child did not have a safe place to play right in front of their doorstep, Robertson said through tears. I know this pain is something greater than you can ever imagine  no one should lose their child in such a violent way.

Sharmar Hill Jr. was fatally struck by a stray bullet while playing in front of his Hillside Court home about 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1. Police have said they believe two groups of people had been shooting at each other when Sharmar was struck. As of Monday, no charges have been placed in the shooting.
After five years of public debate, Egypt's top court has settled the issue: Cairo University, one of Egypt's oldest higher education institutions, can ban its professors from wearing full-face veils, or niqabs, inside lecture halls. The ban does not apply to the rest of the campus.

The High Administrative Court ruled Jan. 27 that, while a person's choice of attire is among the personal freedoms guaranteed by the constitution, this freedom is not limitless and should not contradict public morals. The court noted that the Regulation of Universities Law doesnt require staff members to don uniforms, but does demand that they abide by university traditions. With its ruling, the court rejected the appeal by some 80 of the schools' teachers who challenged the ban.

The next day, Cairo University media adviser Mahmoud Alam Eddin told CBC News that the niqab ban in lecture halls would be implemented by Feb. 8, the start of the second semester. Professors who don't comply won't be allowed to teach, he added.

Ain Shams University quickly followed suit, with President Mahmoud al-Metiny announcing Feb. 4 that his school would implement a ban immediately.

The controversy arose five years ago when Gaber Nassar, former president of Cairo University, called for the prohibition. Nassar said back then that the veil hinders clear communication with students, especially during academic lectures.

Egyptian parliament members have attempted numerous times to prohibit niqabs.

In 2018, legislator Ghada Ajami proposed a draft law that called for banning all women from wearing the niqab in public places such as restaurants, universities and parks and called for violators to be fined 1,000 Egyptian pounds ($63) or more.

Ajami described the niqab as a source of sedition in society, as it reflects the extremist ideology of ultraconservative movements. She said the ban would help combat terrorism. But after backlash over the proposal, Ajami gave up the effort, acknowledging a ban might cause divisions in the country.

That same year, Mohamed Abu Hamed, another lawmaker, called on the prime minister to ban the full-face veil in state and educational institutions, similar to action taken in Algeria. But many parliamentarians rejected his call, saying it would restrict personal freedom.

Cairo University is not the first institution to succeed in barring its staff from wearing the niqab. Al-Azhar, Egypt's top religious authority, made the call in 2009.

The former grand imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Mohammed Sayyid Tantawi, issued a decision to ban female staff and students from donning the niqab at the university, even in dormitories. Tantawi said the full-face veil is a sign of radicalism and has nothing to do with Islam.

There are supporters and opponents of the ban at Cairo University and in the general public. The Revolutionary Socialists, a movement established in 2011 after the January 25 Revolution, rejected the court's decision.

It said in a statement on Facebook, "We must defend women's right to choose their clothing." The university should pay attention to "factors that actually affect the educational process and the ability of a faculty member to deliver knowledge, not her appearance."

Lawmaker Dalia Youssef hailed the recent ruling and called for extending the ban to include students as well, to help shape Egyptian societys way of thinking.

I asked the minister of higher education [and the Ministry of Health] to issue a decision that applies to all universities," she said by phone on an al-Haya TV talk show Jan. 28. "The matter doesnt require a draft law, as there is already a court ruling.

Shaimaa Mousa, an assistant lecturer in Greek and Latin studies at Cairo University's School of Arts, told Al-Monitor she totally agrees with the ban.

Actually, I am against the niqab, whether in or outside the university. How can I communicate with a person who is fully veiled except for her eyes? Mousa said. The face and body language are among the most important tools of communication."

However, Mousa noted that niqab wearers may find ways to circumvent the ban, as one ultraconservative Muslim recently suggested. Sameh Abdel Hamid, former leader of the Salafist Nour party, said Jan. 28 on Facebook that niqab-wearing staff at Cairo University should instead wear medical masks in lecture halls. He claimed the masks have many benefits, like avoiding the coronavirus. The law will not prevent the use of masks, Abdel Hamid said.
During a Monday morning appearance on ABC's "The View," California Governor Gavin Newsom discussed President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech, the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, his future political ambitions and more.

Newsom was asked about the Democratic presidential race and said there's a "deep anxiety" among Democratic governors that the party could soon be engulfed in a "civil war."

"I was just at the National Governor's Association and this is not comfortable for me to say, but talking to all the governors in the last 48 hours, there's deep anxiety that we're not publicly communicating, around what is potentially emerging as a Bernie Sanders ascendency with the Elizabeth Warren wing of the party," he said. "And the prospects... that [Michael] Bloomberg moves into that and you're at a place of civil war. It's not my point of view per se, but it's the anxiety that is spoken very much universally but not publicly yet."

Sanders has emerged as the Democratic front-runner in recent weeks, and the struggle of former Vice President Joe Biden has opened the door for Bloomberg, who rose to third-place in a new national poll released Monday. Bloomberg is spending millions of dollars on television advertisements in Super Tuesday states such as California.

Newsom said he believes his party's hatred of Trump will be enough to unite them in November, but added, "there is some legitimate anxiety as this thing drags on."

The governor was also asked to respond to Trump attacking the "unaffordable" and "very terrible sanctuary" state of California during his State of the Union speech.

"We are the most un-Trump state in America and we're also the most diverse state in America, 27 percent of our state (is) foreign born," Newsom said. "California is the fifth-largest economy on planet Earth, a nation-state with a population larger than 163 nations prospering with progressive values, proving  not asserting  these principles work at scale. Trump is scared of California."

He went on to state that California is "America's coming attraction," to which co-host Joy Behar said, "I think you sound like America's coming attraction," a remark Newsom laughed off.

You can watch clips of his appearance in the videos above.

Eric Ting is an SFGATE digital reporter. Email: eric.ting@sfgate.com | Twitter:@_ericting
Press Release

February 7, 2020 De Lima belies fictitious testimony of convicted drug lord Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has called the recent testimony of a convicted Chinese drug-lord as "pure concoction" after the government prosecution presented him during a hearing on the trumped-up illegal drug charges filed against her. De Lima's statement came after Peter Co, a Chinese national convicted of the illegal sale and delivery of dangerous drugs, claimed that he and other inmates contributed millions of drug money for De Lima's senatorial campaign. "Peter Co originally said that the funds were for the 2013 elections, but were supposedly delivered when the filing of candidacy for said elections was already over. I never filed any certificate of candidacy for said elections. Everybody knows that," De Lima, who placed 12th in the 2016 Senatorial elections, said. "Ganyan ba katanga ang drug lord na ito na basta-basta na lamang siya nagbibigay ng milyones base sa sabi-sabi ng isa pang drug lord para sa isang kandidatura na hindi naman mangyayari at alam niyang hindi mangyayari?", she said in her recent Dispatch from Crame No. 711. Peter Co is one of the last witnesses to be presented by the Department of Justice (DOJ) at one of the cases lodged under Judge Liezel Aquiatan of the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court, Branch 205. Last Jan. 24, Judge Aquiatan gave the prosecution until this coming May 29 to present all their witnesses in the two cases against De Lima as the hearings spanning almost two years were peppered with resets and delays. In his testimony last Jan. 31, Peter Co claimed that in 2012 - four years before the 2016 elections - De Lima, through another Bilibid inmate Tony Co, allegedly solicited PhP10 million for her senatorial campaign. "As of 2012, running for any elective post was farthest from my mind. I decided to vie for the senatorial post in the 2016 elections only during the second half of 2015. So, how could I have solicited for campaign funds four years back?" De Lima said. "Besides, I would NEVER, never did or do and will never ask or receive any illicit money, drug money or otherwise, from any inmate or anyone," she stressed. De Lima's camp also pointed out that Peter Co has conveniently pointed to Tony Co to be the one who collected illicit funds from other unnamed inmates in NBP. Peter Co alleged that he himself contributed PhP1 million for De Lima's campaign. Tony Co, who was convicted of drug trafficking in 2001, was killed in a prison riot in 2016. "Recall that Tony Co was fatally stabbed in a staged prison riot last Sept. 28, 2016. Also stabbed were Peter Co himself, Vicente Sy, and Jaybee Sebastian. After they were stabbed and allowed to recover by their jailers, they suddenly became then SOJ Aguirre's willing witnesses," De Lima recalled. "We have it from credible sources that these inmates initially refused to testify until they were stabbed. Need I say more?" she added. Peter Co is scheduled for cross examination by De Lima's camp on Feb. 7 who are expected to press the witness on the glaring inconsistencies of his allegations. De Lima, recognized globally as the most prominent political prisoner of the Duterte regime, has been in detention since Feb. 2016 after trumped-up charges based on accounts of persons convicted of heinous crimes and dubious personalities who had grudges against her. Despite being detained for crimes she did not commit, and with the continued persecution against her no less by the President himself and his sycophants, De Lima has continued to advocate for justice, human rights and observance of the rule of law.
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InterSystems is releasing global functionality for its TrakCare unified healthcare information system to screen and support patients with 2019-nCoV, the novel coronavirus infection that originated in Wuhan in China.

The functionality is available to users of the latest editions of TrakCare now, and customers in China and multiple other countries, including the United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates have already begun using it.

The functionality enables clinicians to screen patients for 2019-nCoV, using World Health Organisation (WHO) guidance, and a link to the Wuhan Coronavirus Global Cases tracking app provided by the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering in the US.

Icons will indicate whether screening has been undertaken and the results. There is no generally accepted treatment for 2019-nCoV. However, the WHO is advising hospitals to isolate patients and protect others from infection, and the final element of the new TrakCare functionality will advise clinicians of any steps they should take.

InterSystems keeps a close watch on the worlds healthcare requirements, so it can respond to issues that it can help to address in a timely manner, said Hazem El Oraby, MD, chief medical officer for TrakCare at InterSystems. We are proud to have deployed this quickly for our users.

This is a great example of how TrakCare can be updated in real-time to urgently respond to threats and deployed rapidly to the organisations and clinicians that need it; particularly those using the latest edition of our systems, El Oraby continued.

TrakCare is currently deployed in 27 countries around the globe, including China and throughout the Asia-Oceania region. Last week, TrakCare received a Best in KLAS designation for Global Electronic Medical Records in the Asia/Oceania region.

About InterSystems

InterSystems is the engine behind the worlds most important applications. In healthcare, finance, government, and other sectors where lives and livelihoods are at stake, InterSystems is the power behind what matters. Founded in 1978, InterSystems is a privately held company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts (USA), with offices worldwide, and its software products are used daily by millions of people in more than 80 countries. For more information, visit InterSystems.co.uk.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200209005036/en/
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP)  South Sudan President Salva Kiir on Monday was named the top spoiler of peace in a new award that seeks to shame him and others into taking serious steps to end bloody conflict in the world's youngest country.

Kiir and rival leader Riek Machar are under growing pressure to form a coalition government this month, the significant next step in a fragile peace deal signed in 2018 to end a five-year civil war that killed nearly 400,000 people.

The deadline has been extended twice and the international community is signaling impatience. The upcoming deadline is Feb. 22.

It is for me totally unacceptable that we are still again close to the deadline of a new period that was declared, that there is no agreement on a number of issues," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said over the weekend. Respect your people."

Now a Uganda-based group, Atrocities Watch Africa, is citing Kiir and others for their roles in the conflict that also has displaced at least 2 million people. Many fled to Uganda.

The spoiler of peace award citation accuses Kiir of being unwilling to compromise on major issues needed to form the coalition government. It also asserts that under his command and control, government-backed fighters killed thousands of people and committed atrocities such as looting and razing villages.

Ateny Wek Ateny, a spokesman for South Sudan's presidency, described the award as nonsense."

Dismas Nkunda, a Ugandan activist who established the awards, said he hopes that with these awards the individuals, businesses and other institutions that are derailing the peace process in South Sudan will not continue as usual now that we know them.

Other winners of the awards announced in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, included the Ugandan government, South Sudan's military, an oil consortium and other political and military figures in South Sudan.

The Ugandan government, which has backed Kiir in his efforts to prevent rebels from taking power, is accused of facilitating arms transfers to South Sudan in contravention of a European Union arms embargo. Uganda, which denies any wrongdoing, insists it sent troops and equipment at the request of Kiir's administration as rebels threatened to enter the capital, Juba.

Story continues

The civil war erupted in South Sudan in late 2013, when a rift between Kiir and his deputy, Machar, escalated into fighting often along ethnic lines. Both men have been accused of violating multiple ceasefires.

The regional bloc mediating South Sudan's peace process, IGAD, said in a communique over the weekend that further extension of the deadline to form a coalition government "is neither desirable nor feasible." It said Kiir asked for time to consult and report back on Saturday.

A key issue that remains is the number of states South Sudan should have, with IGAD calling it an internal matter for which a "solution should come only from the South Sudanese people.

___

Maura Ajak in Juba, South Sudan contributed.
Initially it was isolated in 1947 from a monkey in the Zika forest, Uganda and after that in mosquitoes ( Aedes africanus ) in the similar forest in 1948; after that it was found in a human in Nigeria in 1952.

Zika fever is an illness caused by a single-stranded RNA virus called the Zika virus (ZIKV). This virus belongs to the genus Flavivirus, family Flaviviridae, from the Spondweni group.

So one day you develop flu-like symptoms, nothing alarming right? But the next thing you know is that you have severe joint pains and a red, bump-like rash on your body. After a series of tests, you are diagnosed with something known as Zika Fever. The symptoms of Zika disease can resemble mild case of the flu, but it can lead to serious complications such as paralysis.

Zika virus needs a host to infect people, that host is the mosquito. Humans are mainly infected through the bite of an infected mosquito belonging to the Aedes genus, mostly Aedes aegypti found in the tropical regions. When a mosquito bites a person already infected with the Zika virus, the mosquito contracts the virus and gets infected. These infected mosquitoes can spread the viral infection to other people through bites. These are the same mosquitoes which spread chikungunya, dengue, yellow fever, and West Nile virus.

Zika fever is a tropical disease, which is carried from person to person by mosquitoes and has been linked to birth defects in newborns. In Brazil outbreak of microcephaly has been linked to Zika virus. Microcephaly is a neurological condition in which a child is born with a smaller-than-normal sized head and impaired brain development. According to recent reports, Zika virus can be transmitted through sexual intercourse and also through blood transfusion in humans. The Institut Pasteur in French Guiana has sequenced the complete genome of the Zika virus.

The countries currently affected by the virus include, Brazil, South America, Bolivia, Colombia, Paraguay, and other tropical countries. It has recently spread to the United States and in Europe such as Denmark and Switzerland.

Zika fever is caused by a Zika virus transmitted by Aedes species mosquitoes, which usually bite during mid-morning and late afternoon/evening hours. Aedes includes the following species Aedes aegypti, Aedes africanus, Aedes albopictus, Aedes polynesiensis, Aedes unilineatus, Aedes vittatus, and Aedes hensilli.

The mosquitoes lay their eggs in unhygienic and in all stagnant water areas such as flower pots, vases, tree holes, used tyres, open containers, bowels, buckets, etc. They are ferocious daytime biters and stay indoors and outdoors near people.

The clinical manifestations of Zika fever are similar to those of dengue and chikungunya. The incubation period is generally from 3 to 12 days after being bitten by an infected mosquito and acute symptoms typically resolve within 4 to 7 days with no serious complications and very low possibility of hospitalization.

The following symptoms usually occur about two to seven days after the mosquito vector bite:

Mild fever (37. 838.5C)

Exanthema or maculopapular rash, which starts on the face and then spreads throughout the body

Arthralgia (joint pain), mainly of the small joints of the hands and the feet and swelling in the lower limbs.

Myalgia (muscle pain)

Weakness

Conjunctival hyperaemia (redness of the sclera)

Asthenia (post-infection) (lack of energy)

Rarely, retro-orbital pain, gastro-intestinal problems, aphthae (inflammation of the oral mucosa), and pruritus are observed.

Other symptoms such as headache, malaise, diarrhea, vomiting, and dizziness are seen.

It is believed that, but not confirmed that Zika fever can morph into Guillain Barre Syndrome. It is an autoimmune disorder and can cause paralysis, severe pain, loss of bladder control, difficulty breathing, and sometimes death.

Check with a doctor for any of the above mentioned symptoms providing medical history and travel details especially after travel to areas where Zika virus is prevalent.

Zika fever is diagnosed based on the symptoms, travel history, and after exclusion of more serious diseases such as measles, rubella, chikungunya, and dengue (since the symptoms of Zika fever are similar to these diseases).

The healthcare provider may order blood tests to check for Zika virus which can help confirm the diagnosis. Zika virus has been observed in urine up to 10 days after the appearance of the disease. From the fifth day after the onset of fever, serological investigations using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) can be done by identification of Zika-specific IgM antibodies and verification by neutralization, seroconversion or four-fold antibody titer increase of Zika specific antibodies in paired serum samples.

Interpretation of serological results should be done in accordance to the vaccination status and recent exposure to different flaviviral infections.

Currently, there are no vaccines or specific anti-viral treatments available for Zika virus infection.

Symptoms like headache, pain and fever can be treated symptomatically by taking medications such as acetaminophen or paracetamol.

Pruritic rash is treated with some anti-histamines.

Patients are advised to take plenty of rest and keep themselves hydrated by drinking lot of fluids.

Treatment with aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is generally avoided until dengue is ruled out, because of increased risk of hemorrhage as well as the risk of Reye's syndrome after viral infection in children.

If you have Zika viral infection then avoid mosquito bites for first week of illness; because in the first week zika virus is found in the blood and can be transmitted to other people through mosquito bites.

Since no vaccine or prophylactic drug is available yet for Zika fever, personal protection measures against mosquito bites should be undertaken.

Use of mosquito repellents is encouraged particularly when there is highest mosquito activity (mid-morning, late afternoon to twilight).

Drain or discard any sources of stagnant water, which potentially could be mosquito breeding sites, in and around your house.

Keep the domestic water tanks covered at all times.

Use of long-sleeved shirts or t-shirts and long pants

Keep garbage in closed containers and avoid accumulating them.

Seek your doctors advice if you are planning to travel to Zika virus-infected areas. This is mostly applicable to young children, pregnant women and people with immune disorders. You should use personal preventive measures against mosquito bites if you plan to travel to these places.

Drugs Used in Zika Fever

There is no specific treatment against Zika fever.

Treatment is directed mainly to relieve symptoms using antipyretics and analgesics. Acetylsalicylic acid and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are not recommended due to the increased risk of hemorrhage.
Irelands Feb. 7 election has delivered a shock result, with Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein winning the most first-preference votes and beating out two center-right parties that have governed for almost a century.

Sinn Fein, which campaigns for the reunification of the Republic of Ireland and the U.K. region of Northern Ireland, has won 24.5% of first preference votes  an increase of 10.7% from its vote share in 2016.

Fine Gael, the party of current prime minister Leo Varadkar, got 20.9% of the vote, while its traditional rivals Fianna Fail got 22.2%.

Although Sinn Fein won the most votes, its victory is complicated by the partys decision to field around half as many candidates as Fine Gael and Fianna Fail for the 160-seat parliament, and by its support being concentrated in certain areas. At the end of counting Monday evening, Fianna Fail had 38 seats, Sinn Fein had 37, and Fine Gael got 35. The rest of parliament is made up by smaller, mostly leftwing parties, including the Greens on 12 seats.

Before the vote, both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael pledged not to enter into a coalition with Sinn Fein, citing concerns over both its leftwing policy platform and its history as the political arm of the provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), a paramilitary group that waged a violent campaign to end British rule in Northern Ireland in the late 20th century. But Sinn Feins unprecedented success may pressure political leaders to rethink their red lines.

Huge uncertainty remains over who will lead Ireland in what appears to be a new political era. Heres what to know about the result.

Who is Mary Lou McDonald?

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, 50, has been credited as an impressive campaigner by the Irish press. She took over the party in 2018 and represents a generational change from Sinn Feins controversial history, Theresa Reidy, a politics professor at University College Cork told TIME before the vote. The people associated with the conflict and the IRA are no longer there.

Story continues

McDonald is calling for a referendum on reuniting Ireland by 2025. But she also appealed to voters frustration with crises in health care and housing that have formed under successive centrist governments led by Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, promising big public spending increases to deal with both. A popular proposal to reduce the state pension age from 66 to 65  instead of a planned rise to 67 next year  caught both the establishment parties off guard, allowing Sinn Fein to set much of the agenda of the campaign period.

After the first results on Sunday, McDonald told supporters the election had been a revolution in Irish politics. Sinn Fein went to the people and we convinced them in very, very large numbers that we are the alternative, that we are the vehicle for change.

Who voted for Sinn Fein?

An exit poll suggests there was a strong generational divide at this election. Around 32% of 18-34 year olds backed Sinn Fein, and Fianna Fail appears to have done particularly badly among those younger voters.

Sinn Feins support only fell below 20% among over 65s, who favoured Fine Gael and Fianna Fail.

The Green Party also did well with young voters, capturing 14.4% of votes by 18-24 year-olds, according to the exit poll. Overall the environmentalist party got 7.4% of first preference votes  almost three times as much as it got in 2016  putting it in fourth place.

Who will form a government?

The fragmented vote share makes a coalition government a near certainty. But Sinn Feins victory and deep divisions between parties mean negotiations will be fraught, complex and likely take a long time. Even in 2016, when Sinn Fein did not hold such sway in parliament, it took two months after the election for parties to reach a deal that allowed Fine Gael to form a government. Back then, Fine Gael ended up leading a minority coalition, with the main opposition Fianna Fail agreeing to give them tacit support to ensure a stable government during Brexit.

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin had previously said his party would not enter a coalition with Sinn Fein, citing concerns over their policies and shadowy, unelected IRA figures that some claim still hold sway in the partys decisions. But speaking to broadcaster RTE after the election, Martin did not reiterate that claim, saying he was a democrat and would respect the decision of the people. Still, he said there are significant issues on compatibility between Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail.

Varadkar, however, told RTE that his partys position on Sinn Fein has not changed, ruling out a coalition between the two.

On Sunday, McDonald told a crowd in Dublin that Sinn Fein wants a government for the people, ideally with no Fianna Fail or Fine Gael. She said she had begun to reach out to the rest of Irelands parties, mostly small leftwing groups, to explore over the next days whether that is a possibility.

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has said the party wants to talk to everyone before making decisions about its role in any coalition, the Irish Times reports.

What does this mean for Irish reunification?

Sinn Fein has said a referendum on reuniting the Republic of Ireland with Northern Ireland by 2025 would be a prerequisite for entering into coalition with any other party.

While domestic issues like housing and health were likely the key to Sinn Feins election success, the partys focus on reunification has helped bring the issue back into the spotlight  along with Brexit. People arent going to vote for Sinn Fein because they think a united Ireland is imminent but they are sympathetic to the idea, Professor Jonathan Tonge at the Department of Politics at the University of Liverpool told TIME before the election. For many people in the Irish Republic, it is an aspiration at least.

Both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are officially in favor of a United Ireland, but neither appears keen on holding a polla referendum to decide whether Northern Ireland should join the Republic of Irelandin the near future. Varadkar has previously argued it would be divisive and deliver no clear path forward.

Even if a border poll takes place, its unclear if it would be approved in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which would be necessary to start any process of unification.
New Delhi, Feb 10 : Imagine a gently gurgling brook. Now close your eyes and let the magic woven by India's greatest flautist transport you to a never never land. That's the effect that author Sathya Saran's "Breath of Gold" has on you as it unravels the journey of Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, who, if his father had his way, would have become a wrestler in the family's tradition rather than one of the defining musicians of modern times.

"Most Indian classical musicians restrict passing on their knowledge to anyone outside their immediate family, but he teaches anyone who reaches out to him, if he finds they have the aptitude and ability to learn...I have noticed the generous love he gives to his students, not holding back anything as he teaches them. I don't think he gives his family the same degree of love. Though he is very dutiful as a family man, and thinks far ahead for all of us, including his granddaughters," Saran quotes Chaurasia's wife Anuradha as saying.

That just about sums up the essence of the 81-year-old maestro who has mesmerised audiences at home and around the globe with his live performances, composed music for haunting albums like "Call of the Valley" and films like "Chandni", "Darr", "Lamhe and "Silsila" and has been conferred a plethora of awards, including the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honour, and the Sahitya Akademy Award.

The late Carnatic vocalist and multi-instrumentalist M. Balamuralikrishna expressed it rather succinctly when he was moved to remark after attending a solo recital by Chaurasia: "My name is Balamuralikrishna, but you can call me Krishna because he has taken away my flute".

"Perhaps nothing symbolises Hari-ji's personality as perfectly as the instrument he loves. Like the flute, he is simple, with no trappings; close to nature, unchanged by artifice. Like the flute, his quiet humility belies the power that his music holds...the power to move, to create emotion, to build a rapport with all who listen to him play. And like the flute, I have found its player, too, is in his own way, beloved of the gods," writes Saran, the editor of "Femina" magazine for 12 years, in "Breath of Gold" (Penguin/pp 256/Rs 599). This is her seventh book on a diverse variety of subjects.

One telling example of Chaurasia's prowess was his performance at the Nobel Peace Awards ceremony at Oslo in 1998 that was planned to last 30 minutes.

"As he started playing, he quickly moved into jhala (overwhelming of the melodic component by the rhythmic component) and signalled to (daughter-in-law) Pushpanjali (on the tanpura) to sing shlokas in Sanskrit at a slow pace," Saran writes and then quotes Pushpanjali as saying: "In fact, perhaps because I might be a bit nervous, he himself started reciting the shanti slokas with me, then let me continue." "The contrast proved electric; the slow, soft rhythmic recitation set against the fast tempo of the flute left an impression not easily forgotten," Saran writes.

The book begins on a sombre note, on the main lawns of Mumbai's CCI on December 13, 2018, when "his flute would not sing". He was rushed to hospital the next day where three stents were inserted into his heart.

Thereafter, it adopts a rather unusual format - no chapters/heads but sections - as it takes the reader through various stages of Chaurasia's life, ranging from his early days in Allahabad; his first job with AIR in Cuttack, where he also took his first steps as a composer; the years in Bombay when the Shiv-Hari (with Pandit Shivkumar Sharma) partnership took root; his obsession with becoming a student, even at his prime, of Pandit Ravi Shankar's wife Annapurna Devi; his performances abroad, including at the Royal Albert Hall; an invitation from Holland's Queen Beatrix to perform on her birthday as a present from her husband; rock versus raga when he played with Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, his long association with the Rotterdam Conservatory and his creation of a symphony for the Birmingham Royal Ballet...the list is quite endless.

How did this format come about? "In each of my books I try to approach my subject from an unusual angle. To make the reading more exciting and less predictable despite following a chronological format. This book is in small segments. It keeps the pace racy and goes against the supposition that a book about a serious classical musician should be sombre and heavy. I tried to capture Hariji's personality in the format... he has so many facets, and showing them through anecdotes works better than explanations. The format kind of worked out by itself," Saran told IANS in an email interview.

Why is the book narrated in the present tense? "I was looking at his life as if it was a film I was watching. And the present tense made it seem real for me. I hoped it would be the same for readers. They could travel with Hariji through the years. It was something that happened naturally as I started writing. And I let it stay," Saran said.

The conclusion is rather abrupt - Annapurna Devi's death and Chaurasia's tribute to her when the "joyous singing of his flute can be heard right through the night, ushering in the early hours of the morning".

How come this? "Well there is little drama in the life of anyone who in his 80s is still performing so I could not create it. Hariji comes across now as someone grateful to be able to teach and play to audiences across the world despite his health issues and his age. It is like the stillness of a tranquil lake in the moonlight. I brought the book to end on that mood. I am sorry if it seemed a let down - maybe TV dramas hone our expectations towards dramatic endings. This story had no scope for it, thank God," Saran concluded.

(Vishnu Makhijani can be reached at vishnu.makhijani@ians.in)
As Storm Ciara hit the United Kingdom, more than 200 warnings were issued from the Environment Agency. According to reports, sirens were sounded in a few parts of the county of West Yorkshire to warn people of a potential risk of floods. Many residents of Radcliffe, Ramsbottom and Bury were asked to evacuate and leave as the water level of river Irwell swelled up.

While talking to a local media outlet, Bury's councillor, Tamoor Tariq said that the flooding had not taken place, adding that the council was coordinating their plan and were getting sandbags in case of any eventuality. He further added that there is no time frame but there is a strong possibility that it might happen.

Areas around Leeds issued a red flood warning

According to reports, areas around Leeds have already been issued a red flood warning, prompting officials to use sirens to alert the residents. While talking to a local media outlet, one of the residents of Cheshire said that the storm resulted in one of the worst weather conditions, adding at the moment it was not as bad as the 2007 flooding.

He added that the siren warning system was installed after the 2007 flooding because at that time residents did not receive a warning. The resident also said that a few people complained about not being able to go to work because of roads being blocked by fallen trees and floodwater.

Read: Riders In The Storm: Dutch Cyclists Brave Storm Ciara

Read: Windy Race Takes Place Despite Storm Ciara

Environment agency issues warning

One of the warnings by United Kingdom's environment agency stated, "This flood warning remains in force for the River Ure at Milby Island due to heavy rain associated with Storm Ciara. Widespread heavy rain has caused levels to rise on Sunday and overnight into Monday morning, 10/02/2020. River levels are currently around 15.5m at Boroughbridge and are rising slowly. Levels are expected to continue rising until around 09:30 on Monday morning".

"Please take care around flooded areas and do not drive or walk through floodwaters. We are monitoring the situation closely. Our Incident Room is open, and operational staff have been out clearing trash screens. We will update this message in 8 hours or as the situation changes."

Read: Trains, Flights, Ferries Cancelled As Storm Ciara Batters UK

Read: EPL Game, Other Soccer In Europe Postponed Due To Storm
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has opened an investigation into an alleged diversion of N525bn by a former Abia State Governor, Chief Theodore Orji and his son, Chinedum, while serving as the governor of the state.

The EFCC, in a statement on Saturday, February, 8, 2020, said it began the investigation following a petition by a group, Fight Corruption: Save Nigeria Group.

In a petition dated March 17, 2017, filed by Fight Corruption: Save Nigeria Group, the former governor was accused of receiving and diverting various sums of monies meant for the states development.

According to the petition, the monies were N383bn revenue from federal accounts, N55bn excess crude revenue, N2.3bn Sure-P, N1.8bn ecological funds, N10.5bn loan from First Bank of Nigeria through the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Local Government Affairs, N4bn loan from Diamond Bank, N12bn Paris Club refund, N2bn agricultural loan for farmers and N55bn Abia State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (ASOPADEC).

The petitioners alleged that the funds were received by the Abia State government, and nothing commensurate to show for it.

Based on the petition, EFCC commenced investigations and discovered that the former governor, who was a Chief of Staff to the convicted ex-governor Orji Kalu, was the Authorising Officer drawing N500m monthly purportedly as Security Vote, which was converted.

After becoming governor in 2007, he continued to draw the N500m cash monthly from June 2007 to May 2015.

The N500m, investigation revealed, was aside security funds expended on the Nigerian Police, The Nigerian Army, DSS, Navy anti-Kidnapping Squad, anti-robbery Squad, purchase of Security equipment and vehicles for the security agencies.

Investigation was extended to his family members to ascertain the link and their culpability in the alleged fraud.

The ex-governors first son, Chinedum Orji Eyinanya, who is currently Speaker of Abia State House of Assembly, is now a frequent guest at EFCC Headquarters to throw light on his involvement in the fraud. He was with operatives of the Commission last Thursday.

A check on his financial activities revealed that he had about 100 accounts in different banks, with over 80 percent of them still very active. The accounts, which were both corporate and individual, received so much deposit in cash without evidence of job or services rendered.

Fotoworld Industry Limited, with GTBank account number 2022025805 is traced to Chinedum. The company received deposit of $20, 849, 044.21 (Twenty million eight hundred and forty-nine thousand and forty-four dollars, twenty-one cent). Same company with another account number 2022025764 in First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) received a cumulative deposit of N362, 573, 056.50 (Three hundred and sixty-two thousand, five hundred and seventy-three thousand and fifty-six naira, fifty kobo).

Fotoworld has several other accounts with FBN. The accounts and deposits are 2026144229, $84, 000 cash deposit between 2014 and 2015; between 2012 and 2015. Account number 2022025764 housed N342, 573, 056.50, while account number 2022025939 between November 2012 and July 2015 received a deposit of 1, 689, 320.89 Pounds Sterling.

The GTBank account 0039060117 of the same company housed N88, 300, 000 (Eighty-eight billion, three hundred thousand Naira) between February 2009 and July 2014.

Fotoworld Industry Limited, with GTBank account number 2022025805, also traced to Chinedum, received deposit of $20, 849, 044.21 (Twenty million eight hundred and forty-nine thousand and forty-four dollars, twenty-one cent). Same company with account number 2022025764 in First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) received a cumulative deposit of N362, 573, 056.50 (Three hundred and sixty-two thousand five hundred and seventy-three thousand and fifty-six Naira, fifty kobo).

Fotoworld also has several other accounts with FBN. The accounts and deposits are 2026144229 with $84, 000 cash deposit between 2014 and 2015; between 2012 and 2015, account number 2022025764 with the same bank housed N342, 573, 056.50; Account number 2022025939 with the same bank, between November 2012 and July 2015 received a deposit of 1, 689, 320.89 Pounds Sterling.

Exact Construction Limited, equally traced to Chinedum, is believed to have no record of any construction work in the country. Nonetheless, it received humongous deposits in Keystone Bank account. Between October 2008 and February 2015, the company account number 005374800 had deposits of N1, 188, 924, 190.41 (One billion, one hundred and eighty-eight thousand, nine hundred and twenty-four thousand one hundred and ninety Naira, forty-one kobo).

Another deposit of N636, 372, 642.85 (Six hundred and thirty-six thousand, three hundred and seventy-two million, six hundred and forty-two Naira eighty-five kobo) was paid into Exact Construction Limited, Keystone Bank account number 1001538949.

The GTBank account 0039060117 of the same company housed N88, 300, 000 (Eighty-eight billion, three hundred thousand Naira) between February 2009 and July 2014.

FBN account number 2008232908 also received lodgment of N599, 771, 424.25 between January 2011 and June 2016. Account number 200823298 had N731, 135, 357.04 between 2007 and 2016.

Fotofast Industry Limited is another company registered by the first family to siphon the states resources. Several accounts were opened in FBN by the company. The sum of N20, 861, 165.95 was deposited into FBN account number 2014629152 between 2011 and 2017. Between 2011 and 2016, another N223, 929, 515.37 was lodged in Fotofasts account number 2015559102 domiciled in FBN.

Other lodgments in different Fotofast Industry Limited accounts with FBN are account number 2014629152 (N4, 103, 574, 603.59); account number 2015559102 (N223, 929, 515.37). Account number 2005428513 had N1, 719, 939, 006.77 between 2007 and 2015, while account number 2015559102 had N273, 941, 436.47. Between 2011 and 2015, FBN account number 2014668964 received the sum of N64, 898, 657.77.

Fotofast Industry also opened several accounts with GTBank. They include account number 0040777462, which received deposits of N425, 606, 131.71 between 2002 and 2009. Account number 0040777479 received N71, 815, 987 between 2002 and 2008. Account number 0040777486 had N23, 463, 880 between 2008 and 2010, while N158, 499, 815 was deposited in the GTBank account number 0040777493. Another N50 million was lodged in GTBank account number 0039691058.

Orji Chinedum Eyinayas Diamonds (now Access Bank) personal account number 0029937780 in 2011 alone had $47, 726. 64. His personal account number 2014435973 with FBN had N117, 743, 822.01, while his account number 0023390147 with Diamond Bank had $124, 284, 624.18. His FBN account number 2005428506 had N342, 699, 356.36 between 2007 and 2017.

Other personal accounts of the Speaker are the FCMB account number 3237996011 with N384, 914, 501.50 between 2016 and 2019. Another N205, 508, 500 was into FCMB account number 3237996028 between 2016 and 2019.

Another Chinedus FBN account number 2024073408 also received $601, 716.62 between 2013 and 2015. His FBN account number 2014435973 also had N153, 943, 822.01 between 2009 and 2016. Another N153, 000, 000 was deposited in account number 2014435973. His Access bank account number 0023390147 had N178, 389, 547.25 between 2011 and 2019 and another $48, 000 in the same bank account number 0029937780 in 2010.

Cheetah Press Limited is another concern of the ex-governors son. The company with FBN account number 2006413367 had deposits of N1, 083, 731, 890.93 between 2007 and 2017. In Union Bank, the same company had a deposit of N430, 980, 632.18 in account number 0034400341 (This account had consistent cash lodgment to the said amount.)

Cheetahs Standard Chartered account number 000171072 had N42, 009, 795.36 between 2011 and 2016. At GTBank, account number 0107577738 and N241, 059074. 24 were traced to Cheetah Press between 2011 and 2016, and another N966, 041, 454 between 2011 and 2016. In UBA alone, Cheetahs account number 1015210129 had N143, 851, 800 between 2010 and 2018, while account number 1008016040 had N2, 226, 458, 581.35 between 2016 and 2020. Yet another UBA account number 1011361993 had N782, 694, 255.77 between 2007 and 2019.

Travel BETA. COM Ltd., with 3002133811 had $788, 174.22 between 2016 and 2020, while BETA.COM, yet another concern of the Orjis had $788, 174.22 between 2016 and 2020.

Analysis of several other accounts is still ongoing, as at the time of filing this report.
First lady Melania Trump is presented with a bouquet of flowers from Amani, 13, of Mombasa, Kenya, during her visit to the National Institutes of Health to see children at the Children's Inn in Bethesda, Md., Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019, and celebrate Valentine's Day. Read more

The calendar is filled with occasions that call for a flower arrangement (pssst: Valentines Day is almost here). Whether you need a simple-yet-elegant stem or a spectacular bouquet, it pays to choose a shop and the flowers carefully.

Buying a floral arrangement is like buying art. Youll want a shop whose use of color and flower types fits your individual taste. This is even more important if you are spending hundreds of dollars on centerpieces for a wedding or other special event.

Youll also want to evaluate other factors: quality of products, variety, quality of advice, reliability and promptness, and price. Through special arrangement with The Inquirer, you can access Checkbooks ratings of local florists for quality and price free of charge until March 5 at Checkbook.org/inquirer/florists.

If you want an arrangement delivered, seek exotic or unusual flowers, or need advice, your best bet is a retail florist. But if youre willing to pick up blooms yourself, need a typical bouquet, want to arrange the things yourself, or would like to save money, you have other options. Wherever you buy, remember that flower prices are a product of supply and demand. At holiday times, consider buying something less popular. Also consider buying stems and using a vase from home.

Supermarkets and warehouse clubs

Supermarkets, warehouse clubs, and other mass merchandisers count on big-time foot traffic, selling flowers to shoppers who stop in to buy a few things, but leave with a cart full of other stuff. What youll get ranges from basic bunches of carnations to full-service.

Supermarkets and big-box stores offer one big plus: price. Checkbooks shoppers found that supermarket prices averaged about 60 percent lower than those at traditional florists.

Street vendors

Street vendors cater to impulse buyers: Hand over some cash and arrive home a hero. The quality of the flowers can vary a great deal. Many street sellers get their blossoms from the same wholesalers that supply florist shops, but some vendors may be peddling several-day-old flowers. Checkbooks shoppers found street vendors prices averaged about 70 percent lower than those at retail florists.

Florists

Good retail florists can help with any flower-oriented need, plus delivery, wire services and helping with big events such as weddings. Their business models and styles range from wire service-only (with that standard FTD look) to custom shops creating original designs arranged with unusual or exotic flowers in vintage or artistic vases.

Many florists evaluated by Checkbook received high ratings from their surveyed customers, but the ratings for some shops prove that a rose is not a rose: Consumers often lodged complaints about late or missing deliveries; florists showing up with the wrong items; poor-quality products; lousy attitudes; and wire-service arrangements that showed up with fewer (or lower-quality) flowers than ordered.

Checkbooks undercover shoppers also found big price differences among area florists: Some shops charge more than three times as much as their local competitors for the same products. For the Valentine classic  one dozen long-stem red roses  prices ranged from $15 to $72 among local shops, and for stargazer lilies, prices ranged from $2.50 to $10 a stem.

National Networks, Online Options, and Oh Man There Are Now Even Florist Scammers?

If you need to send flowers to someone outside the Delaware Valley area, you have a few choices: ordering directly through a florist in that city; asking a local florist to coordinate things, or turning to a national floral network.

Checkbooks take: Work directly with a retail florist  either located here or where the recipient lives  rather than relying on a national outfit. The best florists keep track of their experiences with florists in other areas and will follow up to make sure your blooms are delivered.

Another good option: Identify and use a good florist in the distant city. By cutting the local store from the transaction, you avoid wire service charges and other fees. Youll also communicate directly with the florist who will assemble and deliver the arrangement. On the other hand, you wont get help from your neighborhood florist or its wire service if there are problems.

Using a national service or an order-taking company means customers have little control over finished product. So its no surprise that many buyers run into problems. A very common one: An order-taking service charges a customer too little money for an arrangement and sends the order to a participating florist, which eventually rejects it. The service then sends the order to a different florist, and again, after several hours, the job is rejected. Sometimes this flower-order merry-go-round continues for days, even weeks. Just as bad, a florist chooses to fill the underpriced order but skimps on flowers. This often happens when an underpriced order is accepted by a disreputable florist willing to take a little money to get rid of old flowers.

No matter whom you hire to arrange your arrangements, pay by credit card. If you run into thorny problems with a florist who is unwilling to make things right, you can contest the charge with your credit card company and at least will get back your money.

_______________________

Delaware Valley Consumers Checkbook magazine and Checkbook.org are a nonprofit organization with a mission to help consumers get the best service and lowest prices.
Thanks to the efforts of a NGO called Skateistan, girls growing up in cities like Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan are learning how to skateboard and finding a rare sense of freedom on the ramp.

In Afghanistan, skateboarding has evolved into more than a just leisurely pastime for the country's youth. It's a community-building force that has become embedded in many kids' daily lives, an incentive to build leadership skills and gain a formal education, an investment in their future and a testament to equal opportunity. In cities like Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif, the sport has taken on these pivotal roles largely thanks to the efforts of Skateistan, a non-profit organization committed to building leadership and community through skateboarding, arts and academics.

Related | Leo Messi Is the G.O.A.T.

The NGO began in 2007 when Australian skateboarder and researcher Oliver Percovich traveled to Kabul to visit a former girlfriend who was working there. He brought three skateboards and immediately noticed how they acted as social equalizers wherever he traveled. The Afghan boys and girls flocked to his unfamiliar wheeled toy with a special fervency, finding freedom with each ride. A community  spanning socioeconomic standing, ethnicity and gender  began to form around this shared interest.



"Skateboarding brought many changes to my life. It made me braver."  Latifa*, 14, Youth Leader, Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan With half of its population under the age of 16, Afghanistan's future depends on the resilience of its youth. But with minimal resources or opportunities, these children and their communities are at a deep disadvantage. Poverty dominates the country. The Taliban years destroyed the educational system, leaving only 13 percent of women with literacy skills. Girls in Afghanistan are also discouraged from participating in sports, further removing them from the public sphere. But skateboarding, which is not considered a sport in Afghanistan, provides girls with the benefits of playing a sport  such as teamwork, exercise and leadership  without the stigma. In 2010, three years after the establishment of Skateistan, 40 percent of skateboarders in Afghanistan were girls. Today over 50 percent of Skateistan students are female, with Afghanistan having the largest percentage of female skateboarders in the world. Related | Lance Armstrong Rides On

Skateistan's first flagship school was built in Kabul, where students develop critical thinking tools and modes for self-expression spending their days in the indoor skatepark, classrooms and gym. Afghanistan's third largest city, Mazar-i-Sharif, is the home of Skateistan's second and biggest skate school (they also have locations in Cambodia and South Africa as well as a headquarters in Berlin). In addition to co-ed programming, both schools provide specific girls-only days with female educators. An interactive curriculum helps them grow and prepare for the future, weaving together subjects like nutrition, the environment, cultural studies, art and human rights.
New Delhi: Four days after some outsiders gatecrashed the annual festival of Gargi College and sexually harassed the students, the police on Monday registered a case of molestation, trespassing, and sexual harassment against unknown persons.

Deputy commissioner of police (south) Atul Kumar Thakur said the first information report (FIR) under sections 452 (trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of Indian Penal Code was registered at the Hauz Khas police station following a complaint from the college principal.

DCP Thakur said besides identifying and nabbing the suspects, investigators will also probe how the outsiders entered the college campus, despite the college administration deploying private security guards to screen students and other visitors at the gate.

Denying allegations that police personnel stood like mute spectators while the drunk intruders groped and dragged girls and performed obscene acts, DCP Thakur said, Nobody informed the security personnel about the sexual harassment or called the police control room. Also, no complaint was filed at the police station regarding the incident till Sunday.

A fact-finding enquiry has also been initiated by additional deputy commissioner of police (south) Gitanjali Khandelwal, who will also be supervising the investigation, he said.

Despite the college giving no prior information about the event to the police, more than 30 security personnel were deployed at the college during the fest besides some others in plain clothes, the DCP said.

A woman inspector, who probed the December 16 gang rape case, has been appointed as the investigating officer and she has already started speaking to the students who were allegedly molested and harassed, he said.

According to the police, around 20 CCTV cameras are installed at the campus. The investigating team has began collecting the video footage of the fest organised on February 6, to ascertain the sequence of events.

We will also examine the college authorities to know how many entry passes were issued and to whom, the screening procedure, and who allowed outsiders entry to the event. We will also investigate whether the intruders were guests possessing valid entry passes or outsiders who illegally entered the college campus, added the DCP.

DCW notice

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has also summoned the college authorities and Delhi Police on Thursday with detailed incident and action taken reports.
The construction industry in Bahrain is likely to play a significant role in tthe country's economic growth in the future, according to a new report by global research and advisory firm Oxford Business Group (OBG).



The report comes amid Bahrains ongoing shift towards a knowledge-based economy against a backdrop of lower oil prices and fiscal reforms.



Marking 15 years of OBGs operations in the kingdom, The Report: Bahrain 2020 looks in detail at the sectors of the economy that are expected to play a leading role in driving new growth as part of broader diversification efforts.



Key among those is the construction industry, which is benefiting from the rollout of several mega-projects for the energy, industry and transport sectors, alongside affordable housing and high-end commercial facilities, stated the report.



OBG also charts the performance of Bahrains manufacturing industry, which is now the second-largest contributor to non-oil GDP, successfully attracting higher levels of FDI.



The report maps out the growth under way in value-added production, with food and the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) segment both gaining momentum, it added.



Long a major driver of non-oil growth, Bahrains banking industry accounts for more than 16% of GDP and has carved a niche as a regional hub.



OBG analyses the measures introduced to ensure it retains its leading position within the GCC, which range from new regulatory reforms to the introduction of financial technologies.



Despite the oil and gas sectors share of GDP falling to 18.1% in mid-2019, the sector continues to play a major role in driving Bahrains economy, said the report.



OBGs report also considers the implications of the major oil and gas find in the Khaleej Al Bahrain basin, which could boost production four-fold.



In addition, it examines the modernisation programme under way at the Sitra refinery, mulling the part it will play in boosting throughput.



The Report: Bahrain 2020 contains a viewpoint by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, together with a detailed sector-by-sector guide for investors.



It also features a wide range of interviews with other high-profile personalities, including: Bahrain Economic Development Board CEO Khalid Humaidan; National Bank of Bahrain CEO Jean-Christophe Durand; Bahrain Petroleum Company CEO Pete Bartlett; Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) CEO Ali al Baqali and Batelco CEO Mikkel Vinter.



Commenting ahead of the launch, OBGs editor-in-chief Oliver Cornock said that while the oil price crash of 2014 had heightened the need for fiscal reforms, the kingdom was well placed to tap investors for a range of initiatives across the sectors of its economy.



"Bahrain benefits from being one of the most diverse economies in the GCC, supported by a well-established financial services industry and robust industrial and manufacturing sectors, stated Cornock.



Having taken steps to balance the budget, the kingdom will now be looking to its big-ticket infrastructure projects and attractive investment climate to drive new growth, he noted.



OBGs managing director (Middle East) Jana Treeck said Bahrains diversification drive had also led to a sharper focus on value-added and downstream activities.



"The kingdoms manufacturing sector is proving to be a major draw for investors, with aluminium, petrochemicals and newer segments, such as FMCGs, all earmarked for growth," stated Treeck.



With FDI levels expected to continue rising, we expect these segments to propel the industry forward and play a key role in job creation, she added.



The Report: Bahrain 2020 marks the culmination of over 12 months of field research by a team of OBG analysts. It has been produced with Zubi & Partners, Attorneys & Legal Consultants, and the Bahrain Bourse.-TradeArabia News Service
Cheese maker Yoav Perry, shows off a wheel of his washed rind Trappist-style cheese outside the old Harbison's Dairies building, where he hopes to open a shop. The building is currently undergoing renovations to turn it into residential and commercial space in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, January 29, 2020. Read more

A good cheese can reflect the nationality of its maker.

Yoav Perrys approach to cheese-making manifests the American melting-pot ideal, blending ingredients and techniques from traditional cheeses around the world to create something original: a bloomy rind cheese with enzymes from a thistle, a blue cheese made with red mold.

Totally crazy stuff you can only do in America, said Perry, of Fishtown, his words lightly accent-spiked, a remnant of his Israeli upbringing. Over in Europe, its tradition, tradition, tradition.

Perry, 46, spoke with quiet fervor about cheese, and his hopes to become the latest food manufacturer to bring his craft to a corridor in Kensington and Fishtown that already includes breweries, coffee companies, and distilleries.

Theres sort of a makers corridor thats happening here, he said. Its almost turning into a little Brooklyn, an artisanal food mecca.

Perrystead Dairy, his first foray into solo cheese production after working as a consultant in the industry for years, received a $126,039 state grant last month that will cover about 85% of the cost of building a creamery to convert milk to cheese. He still needs start-up capital, but wants to produce two cheeses a season, eight annually, starting as soon as this year. He anticipates needing a small workforce, just a few people initially, but hopes to double capacity in his second year.

Perrystead Dairy is expected to process 5,000 pounds of milk weekly, from dairies in Lancaster, Montgomery, and Bucks Counties, according to Perrys grant application. His interest in buying from local farms allowed him to tap into the $5 million-a-year Pennsylvania Dairy Investment Program, which helps farmers shift to making and selling milk products. State Sen. Lawrence Farnese (D., Philadelphia) sponsored Perrys application because the Philadelphia cheese maker would become a new customer for dairy farmers, whove struggled with sinking milk prices and the rising popularity of alternatives such as almond and soy milk.

 READ MORE: Kensington's giant milk bottle gets historic designation

The aim of that program was to turn milk into products more valuable than gallons and half-gallons, Farnese said.

In 2012, Pennsylvania had 7,829 dairy farms. By the beginning of 2019, there were about 1,630 fewer, said Mark ONeill, spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, an industry advocacy organization. Once the fourth-largest dairy-producing state in the country, it is now the seventh.

Among the surviving farms, many have remained in operation by switching to products that dont come from cow udders. They have to find new ways to diversify in order to bring in money to stay in farming, ONeill said.

During a recent interview, Perry stood in front of Kensingtons most recognizable landmark, a 30,000-gallon steel milk bottle rusting on its high perch alongside the elevated Market-Frankford tracks. He had hoped to find a home for his business in the old Harbisons Dairy complex  dating to 1895 and now being converted to apartments and commercial space  but a lease negotiation has stalled. He is committed to basing Perrystead Dairy in the neighborhood, though.

Thats my neighborhood," he said, "and the whole point is to bring back economic development to my neighborhood.

Perry moved to Philadelphia four years ago from New York City, where he couldnt imagine starting a similar business.

In Kensington, he said, there are warehouses, the price is good. Everything we need is here.

Its monthly commercial rental rates for 5,000- to 20,000-square-foot industrial spaces average 93 cents a square foot, according to the market tracking firm CoStar. Similar industrial spaces throughout Brooklyn average $1.96 per square foot, and almost $3 in a hot neighborhood such as Williamsburg.

Kensingtons renaissance began about 20 years ago, when manufacturers and restaurants began taking advantage of the building stock left from an earlier era of thriving businesses.

A dairy, textile mills. ... One of the buildings in that area was a manufacturer of fish tanks, said Kae Anderson, director of economic development for the New Kensington Community Development Corporation. Each of these buildings has a very unique story to it.

One of the first of the new producers was the Philadelphia Brewing Co., which opened in 2001 in a defunct 19th-century brewery, Anderson said. There are now 11 wholesale or distribution food businesses in the area, and eight breweries or distilleries, according to Anderson.

Small businesses need many of the same features as larger manufacturers, such as loading docks and transportation access, she said. The industrial buildings in Fishtown and Kensington offer lots of space, existing infrastructure to receive deliveries and ship product, and access to both I-95 and public transit.

 READ MORE: In Fishtown, a revival built on food and drink

It puts us in a prime location," Anderson said.

The influx of food and drink producers has continued to expand north, to Port Richmond and Harrowgate.

Around Harbisons, laborers renovating the building are just one crew among several at work on the block. Next door to the old dairy, apartments are nearly complete.

Were two blocks from the Berks Station, said Doug Jordan, president of Southwood Properties, an owner of the Harbison building. Your access to Center City is tremendous. Its a 16-minute ride once youre on at Berks to City Hall.

Perry came to cheese as a hobby, he said. While living in New York City, he worked in the tech industry but loved cooking and found the reception to his homemade cheeses so positive that he switched careers. In the last decade, he has owned a company that sold cheese-making tools and ingredients, made a cheese that was on the menu of the tony New York restaurant Eleven Madison Park, and done consulting for cheese producers.

His enthusiasm for his craft is clear, and he has strong opinions on whether he should be called a fromager or a cheese maker. He prefers the latter. The former isnt entirely accurate, because it connotes a cheese merchant, not a creator, he said, and besides, using a word of French origin seems to be a way to borrow prestige from Frances cheese-making culture, rather than respect Americas own success story.

Selling high-end cheeses, he said, is his chance to put a personal, particularly American stamp on a craft he loves.

My expertise is doing stuff that is really out there, he said. It is going to be delicious.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 15:28:35|Editor: huaxia

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COLOMBO, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka is seeking to increase value added-exports of graphene aiming to push graphene exports up to 5 percent of its overall exports this year, local media reported Monday.

CEO of public-private partnership company Ceylon Graphene Technologies (CGT) Manju Gunawardana said that the company hopes to move from raw material exports to production of value-added with a plant in capital Colombo that is set to be commissioned by May.

"This will help us towards intensifying exports, manufacture products like car batteries, computer chips and solar power products for exports," Gunawardana was quoted as saying by state-owned Daily News.

"As graphene is known as the world's latest breakthrough material, the current export revenue could be doubled," Gunawardana said.

CGT, a joint venture between finance institution LOLC Holdings and Sri Lankan Institute of Nanotechnology, was formed in 2018 and currently exports graphene to markets in Japan, the Unites States and India.

Graphene is a carbon allotrope with unique properties which makes it useful in a broad range of industrial applications.

Sri Lanka is the only country in the world that produces commercial quantities of vein graphite that is 98 percent carbon pure.

Sri Lanka produces 300 tons of graphite every month, mainly from three mines in the towns of Bogala, Kahatagaha and Ragedara.

Mining and quarrying activity made up around 2.7 percent of Sri Lanka's GDP in 2017, a share which the government hopes to increase in the coming years.
Could Chong Hing Bank Limited (HKG:1111) be an attractive dividend share to own for the long haul? Investors are often drawn to strong companies with the idea of reinvesting the dividends. Unfortunately, it's common for investors to be enticed in by the seemingly attractive yield, and lose money when the company has to cut its dividend payments.

In this case, Chong Hing Bank likely looks attractive to investors, given its 4.7% dividend yield and a payment history of over ten years. It would not be a surprise to discover that many investors buy it for the dividends. 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.

Explore this interactive chart for our latest analysis on Chong Hing Bank!

SEHK:1111 Historical Dividend Yield, February 10th 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. Comparing dividend payments to a company's net profit after tax is a simple way of reality-checking whether a dividend is sustainable. In the last year, Chong Hing Bank paid out 32% of its profit as dividends. 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.

Consider getting our latest analysis on Chong Hing Bank's financial position here.

Dividend Volatility

Before buying a stock for its income, we want to see if the dividends have been stable in the past, and if the company has a track record of maintaining its dividend. Chong Hing Bank has been paying dividends for a long time, but for the purpose of this analysis, we only examine the past 10 years of payments. Its dividend payments have declined on at least one occasion over the past ten years. During the past ten-year period, the first annual payment was HK$0.20 in 2010, compared to HK$0.58 last year. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 11% a year over that time. The dividends haven't grown at precisely 11% every year, but this is a useful way to average out the historical rate of growth.

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So, its dividends have grown at a rapid rate over this time, but payments have been cut in the past. The stock may still be worth considering as part of a diversified dividend portfolio.

Dividend Growth Potential

With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to evaluate if earnings per share (EPS) are growing - it's not worth taking the risk on a dividend getting cut, unless you might be rewarded with larger dividends in future. Chong Hing Bank has grown its earnings per share at 7.3% per annum over the past five years. Earnings per share have been growing at a credible rate. What's more, the payout ratio is reasonable and provides some protection to the dividend, or even the potential to increase it.

We'd also point out that Chong Hing Bank issued a meaningful number of new shares in the past year. Trying to grow the dividend when issuing new shares reminds us of the ancient Greek tale of Sisyphus - perpetually pushing a boulder uphill. Companies that consistently issue new shares are often suboptimal from a dividend perspective.

Conclusion

To summarise, shareholders should always check that Chong Hing Bank's dividends are affordable, that its dividend payments are relatively stable, and that it has decent prospects for growing its earnings and dividend. Firstly, we like that Chong Hing Bank has a low and conservative payout ratio. Unfortunately, earnings growth has also been mediocre, and the company has cut its dividend at least once in the past. Chong Hing Bank might not be a bad business, but it doesn't show all of the characteristics we look for in a dividend stock.

See if management have their own wealth at stake, by checking insider shareholdings in Chong Hing Bank stock.

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.
: Ways and means to disseminate yoga to larger groups by creating the right infrastructure that can help transmit the practices without dilution were discussed at a meeting got up by the Indian Yoga Association here on Monday.

The role of institutional partnerships, government support and promotion of Yoga as a sport were also discussed at the IYAs's second governing council meeting, held at Isha Yoga Centre on the outskirts.

The meet brought together heads of various institutions and organizations that actively promote the spread of Yoga as a non-religious and scientific tool to enhance human well being, an Isha release said.

Isha founder Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, Dr H R Nagendra, Chancellor, SVYASA Yoga University, Swami Chidanand Saraswati, President, Paramarth Niketan, among others, attended the meeting, chaired by IYA Chairman Baba Ramdev



Sri Sri Ravishankar, Founder, Art of Living participated in the meeting through video conference.

IYA is a self-regulatory body of leading Yoga organizations in India.

The United Nations has declared June 21 as the International Day of Yoga, which is observed in over 175 countries.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi, Feb 10 : Keeping the pressure on the UP government, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi will visit Azamgarh on February 12 to meet anti-CAA activists who were thrashed by the police during a protest in Jauhar Park on Wednesday.

According to sources, she will visit the victims' families and the injured at the hospital.

The police have detained many, slapped sedition charges on 135 people and arrested 20 for anti-CAA stir on Tuesday near Jauhar Park after registration of a case at the Bilariaganj police station.

The FIR had been registered against 35 named and over 100 unidentified people, said a police officer. Tahir Madni of the Ulema Council is among the arrested persons.

Later in the wee hours of Wednesday, the police removed about 200 anti-CAA women activists from Jauhar Park. The police fired tear gas shells and thrashed protesters. It also detained several, including women and children. Many were released later.

Priyanka Gandhi has already visited several victims of such police brutality in western UP, the worst hit by violent protests since December.

She has visited Bijnor, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut and Lucknow, sat on a dharna at India Gate, here, to express solidarity with protesters. The Congress also held a symbolic protest at Rajghat.

As many as two dozen people have been killed during protests in UP.
Four members of the Chinese military have been charged with breaking into the networks of the Equifax credit reporting agency and stealing the personal information of tens of millions of Americans.

The 2017 breach affected roughly 145 million people, with the hackers successfully stealing names, Social Security numbers and other personal information stored in the company's databases.

The Justice Department on Monday blamed China for one of the largest hacks in history.

The four - Wu Zhiyong, Wang Qian, Xu Ke and Liu Lei - are members of the People's Liberation Army, which is an arm of the Chinese military. They remain at large.

Members of the People's Liberation Army Wang Qian (left) and Wu Zhiyong (right) are among four Chinese servicemen who have been charged with hacking Equifax

Xu Ke (left) and Liu Lei (no photo available, right) are among the four people suspected of stealing personal data belonging to 145 million Americans in 2017

Attorney General William Barr on Monday announced the charges against the four Chinese military men in connection to the Equifax data breach

They are also accused of stealing the company's trade secrets.

'This was a deliberate and sweeping intrusion into the private information of the American people,' Attorney General William Barr said at a press conference announcing the charges on Monday.

'Today, we hold PLA hackers accountable for their criminal actions, and we remind the Chinese government that we have the capability to remove the Internet's cloak of anonymity and find the hackers that nation repeatedly deploys against us.'

The criminal charges were filed in federal court in Atlanta where the company is based.

Barr said the hackers spent weeks in the Equifax system, breaking into computer networks, stealing company secrets and personal data.

According to the indictment, the four member of the People Liberation Army's 54th Research Institute 'exploited a vulnerability in the Apache Struts Web Framework software used by Equifaxs online dispute portal. They used this access to conduct reconnaissance of Equifaxs online dispute portal and to obtain login credentials that could be used to further navigate Equifaxs network.

'The defendants spent several weeks running queries to identify Equifaxs database structure and searching for sensitive, personally identifiable information within Equifaxs system. Once they accessed files of interest, the conspirators then stored the stolen information in temporary output files, compressed and divided the files, and ultimately were able to download and exfiltrate the data from Equifaxs network to computers outside the United States.

'In total, the attackers ran approximately 9,000 queries on Equifaxs system, obtaining names, birth dates and social security numbers for nearly half of all American citizens.'

To avoid detection, the hackers routed traffic through 34 servers located in 20 countries 'to obfuscate their true location.'

'This was an organized and remarkably brazen criminal heist of sensitive information of nearly half of all Americans, as well as the hard work and intellectual property of an American company, by a unit of the Chinese military,' Barr said.

The 2017 breach affected roughly 145 million people, with the hackers successfully stealing names, Social Security numbers and other personal information stored in the company's databases

The hackers also used encrypted communication channels within Equifax's network to blend in with normal network activity and deleted compressed files and wiped log files on a daily basis in an effort to eliminate records of their activity.

FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich said there was no evidence yet of the Equifax data having been used, for example to hijack a person's bank account or credit card.

But he added: 'If you get the personal identifying information of people, you can do a lot with that.'

The January 28 indictment includes charges of conspiracy to commit computer fraud, conspiracy to commit economic espionage and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

The scandal sent Equifax into turmoil, leading to the exit of its then-CEO, Richard Smith, and multiple congressional hearings as the companys slowness to disclose the breach and security practices were challenged by lawmakers.

Equifax ultimately agreed to pay up to $700million to settle claims it broke the law during the data breach and to repay harmed consumers.

FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich (center) said there was no evidence yet of the Equifax data having been used to hijack a user's credit card or bank account

In a statement released on Monday, Equifax CEO Mark Begor praised the Justice Department and FBI for their 'tireless efforts' in pursuing those responsible for the cyberattack.

'It is reassuring that our federal law enforcement agencies treat cybercrime  especially state-sponsored crime  with the seriousness it deserves, and that the Justice Department is committed to pursuing those who target U.S. consumers, businesses and our government,' Begor said.

'The attack on Equifax was an attack on US consumers as well as the United States.'

The case comes as the Trump administration has warned against what it sees as the growing political and economic influence of China and efforts by Beijing to collect data on Americans and steal scientific research and innovation.

The case is one of several the Justice Department has brought over the years against members of the PLA.

The Obama administration in 2014 charged five Chinese military hackers with breaking into the networks of major American corporations to siphon trade secrets.

If the previous cases are any indication, there is little to no chance the accused perpetrators of the sweeping Equifax breach would ever be brought to justice by US authorities because the US does not have an extradition agreement with China.
A 5-year-old Guatemalan boy, together with his family is in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody after a routine check-in. Relatives of the boy accused ICE of negligence saying that the 5-year old boy named Mateo was put on a plane to a Texas Detention Center together with his family while Mateo cried and complained about frequent headaches.

According to the family, the boy was suffering from severe head trauma.

However, in a statement released by the Immigration Customs Enforcement, they said that Milda Rodriguez, the mother of the child, did not divulge any information about the health condition of the child at the time of the arrest and the medical examinations of the child revealed no problems at all.

The family said that Mateo fell from a supermarket cart while playing with his 1-year-old brother on Dec. 22. The family decided immediately to consult a doctor in two medical centers two days after the incident because the boy kept on crying due to the pain.

In a report from Telemundo News, they found that the doctors consulted by the family performed MRIs and detected blood in the brain and a fracture in the skull. However, the family said that they were not able to visit a neurologist who specializes in the case of the child because ICE detained them during a routine check-in in January after they missed their immigration hearing way back in November last year for their asylum application.

In a report from NBC News, the mother and with her children were detained in an immigration detention center in Dilley, Texas. While the father of the family was sent to a seperate detention center in California that only houses adult males.

However, in a statement released by ICE, they claim that the aunt of the child never told the government about the present health condition of Mateo nor did she show officials the child's medical report.

Leidy Rojas, the aunt of the child, said: "My sister calls me every day very stressed and worried about what is happening with Mateo. We are very concerned that they are not giving her the medical care she's requesting for the child. With any noise, he covers his ears with his hands and starts screaming because his head hurts a lot."

Meanwhile, ICE told a news outlet that the agency visited the child on Jan. 23 and 27 and did a routine examination with the child and they found out no apparent medical problems. ICE officials added that workers in the center also visit the child.

Moreover, ICE rushed the child to the nearest hospital in San Antonio after the mother told the agency that Mateo has been wetting the bed since the accident. According to ICE, after the MRI was performed it was found that there were no signs of blood in the brain which contradicts the previous medical reports.

After this, the child was discharged from the hospital and joined his family again in the detention center in Texas.

Dr. Amy Cohen, who is closely working with the family, said in a statement that Mateo's treatment is "consistent with other observations of other indifferent treatment" as she has seen in the ICE detention centers which is also the same in the Customs and Border Protection Facilities.

Cohen, a member of Physician for Human Rights which investigates the medical irregularities in the detention centers, told a news outlet that there are serious violations of human rights.

Meanwhile, in the recent report published by ICE in November, CoreCivic, a private company, that manages the detention center where Mateo is being held, is just one of the detention centers across the country that can hold about 1,600 people. The family of Mateo has been in ICE custody for 17 days and under U.S. law, they are not allowed to hold detained families for more than 20 days.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 10

By Elnur Baghishov Trend:

Iran does not intend to threaten any state or nation, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said at a meeting with Iranian army commanders and senior officers, Trend reports referring to the website of Iranian Supreme Leader.

The Islamic Republic of Iran wants to protect the security of the country and prevent threats, Khamenei said.

Khamenei added that Iran should be strong in all areas, especially in the field of defense, in order to avoid threats and war.

The Supreme Leader, who called the sanctions against Iran a criminal act, said that, in turn, it is possible to create many opportunities for the country despite the sanctions.

The opposing side is also trying to prevent Iran from developing with oil-free economy. Therefore, steps must be taken to make the Iranian economy independent of oil revenues, Khamenei said.

The US imposed sanctions on Iran in November 2018. Over the past period, the sanctions' list included Iranian oil exports, more than 700 banks, companies and individuals.
A budget book reveal of a makeover for Air Force One. An end to the annual September spending splurge and its millions spent on lobster tails, crab and tubas. Putting a leash on those beloved bomb-sniffing dog teams at airports.

Those are some of the odds and ends in President Donald Trumps new fiscal 2021 budget request, tucked between deep cuts to domestic spending and safety net programs and other items on the White House wish list. Heres a roundup of this years quirkiest budget nuggets:

Air Force Ones new paint job

A Pentagon budget book that broke down costs of major acquisition programs included a rendering of Air Force One sporting the new red, white and blue paint scheme that Trump revealed to ABC in June. Much like the preview, the image in the budget book showed a plane with a white top, red stripe and dark blue belly.

The Air Force requested $800.9 million for the new Air Force One in fiscal 2021, an increase from the $757.9 million it is spending in fiscal 2020 on the plane.

Beyond merely transporting the president, Air Force One has become the symbol of U.S. executive power overseas. The current light blue paint scheme, which Trump has criticized, dates back to the Kennedy administration. The baby blue doesnt fit with us, he said last year.

Targeting booze, lobster and tubas

The Trump administration wants to end use it or lose it week. Each September, with the fiscal year winding down, federal agencies go on a spending spree to blow their leftover budgets on anything from booze and lobster tails to tubas and golf carts, according to the White House. One of every nine dollars spent on federal contracts is spent during the last week of the fiscal year.

Now the White House says its committing to closely scrutinizing how [the administration] spends money at the end of the fiscal year, and curtailing wasteful and questionable purchases.

Thats one piece of Trumps budgetary plan for cutting federal waste, along with ending duplicative programs and other efforts. In reality, lavish expenditures like seafood and workout machines typically represent a microscopic fraction of government spending.

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Harvest Boxes back from the dead

The White House wont stop trying to make Harvest Boxes happen. Trump is once again reviving the idea of replacing some Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits with monthly deliveries of nonperishable foods like pasta, peanut butter and canned fruit.

Between Harvest Boxes, stricter work requirements and other changes, Trumps budget plan would shrink SNAP spending by $182 billion over the next decade.

The Harvest Box proposal was widely panned by anti-hunger advocates and rejected by lawmakers the last few times the White House rolled it out. But the administration continues to push for the change, chalking it up to innovation and taxpayer savings.

One official suggested that because theres a market for meal kit and grocery delivery services among high-income consumers, its likely to work for low-income families as well.

Going to the dogs again

The White House is renewing its attempts to eliminate TSAs 31 Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response teams, some of which include the agencys beloved bomb-sniffing dogs.

The administration estimates that cutting the VIPR program would save $59 million in annual spending, saying it lacks effective performance measures and demonstrable results.

Congress has repeatedly rejected cutting VIPR teams, which Trumps budgets have called for in the past. Last year, appropriators even bumped funding up so that DHS could sustain an additional 50 canine teams.

CDC cuts despite a coronavirus outbreak

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, key to the governments response to the Wuhan coronavirus and Trumps efforts to end domestic HIV transmissions, would see its budget cut by 18.6 percent. CDCs discretionary budget authority would be reduced by $1.28 billion for fiscal 2021.

Passengers wear masks as they arrive at Manila's international airport, Philippines, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. The government is closely monitoring arrival of passengers as a new coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China has infected hundreds and caused deaths in that area. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

The administration is trying to refocus the agency around responding to crises like the opioid epidemic and halting the spread of infectious diseases. Trumps budget plan would cut CDC funding for chronic disease prevention by 34 percent and consolidate efforts addressing heart disease, diabetes and other conditions into a single block grant for states.

Trump caves on Yucca Mountain

Trump is adopting President Barack Obamas approach to the politically tricky question of where to put the nuclear waste accumulating at power plants around the country.

After promising in his previous three budgets to open the stalled Yucca Mountain facility in Nevada, Trump is now essentially conceding defeat in the face of widespread opposition in a state he hopes to win in November. His budget promises to not stand idly by given the stalemate on Yucca Mountain and to work with states to find a new location.

Giving up on Yucca Mountain could help Trumps political standing in Nevada, and he made clear that the states opposition was behind the reversal. Nevada, I hear you on Yucca Mountain and my Administration will RESPECT you! Trump tweeted last week, previewing the change in his budget.

But abandoning Yucca means nuclear waste will continue to pile up around the country, including in several other key electoral battlegrounds. According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, as of the end of 2018, more than 81,500 metric tons of spent uranium are stored at power plants and defense sites in 35 states, with Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina and Michigan all in the top 10.

Nevada, I hear you on Yucca Mountain and my Administration will RESPECT you! Congress and previous Administrations have long failed to find lasting solutions  my Administration is committed to exploring innovative approaches  Im confident we can get it done!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 6, 2020

A new federal agency just for tobacco

The Trump administration is proposing to set up a new regulatory agency with authority over tobacco products, replacing the FDA as overseer of the industry.

White House domestic policy adviser Joe Grogan last year called tobacco regulation a huge waste of time for FDA and said the agency should be more focused on finding new medicines. But public health advocates and critics of e-cigarettes that appeal to youths say the FDAs role has been defined by Congress and its one of the agencys most important health care missions.

More money for (some) future technologies

Trumps budget goes big on artificial intelligence and other next-generation technologies, for both the Pentagon and civilian uses. But it also proposes to eliminate the arm of the Energy Department that has funded advanced research in technologies like solar, wind, biofuels and batteries.

The cuts show how Trump wants to go big on developing advanced technology  but his administration also has a selective idea about what kind of tech it supports.

Trump still thinks its infrastructure week

Trump promised $1 trillion in infrastructure spending as a candidate (first he doubled Hillary Clintons $275 billion proposal, and then he later doubled that). In 2018, he came out with a $1.5 trillion plan which went nowhere. Last year, he talked infrastructure-happy Democrats up to $2 trillion  then shouted them out of his office when they came back to hammer out details.

Now his budget contains a $1 trillion plan, which is mostly made up of a routine reauthorization of highway and transit programs  except the standard time frame has been doubled to 10 years, and its paid for by a fictitious funding source called contract authority thats more akin to writing a check regardless of whether theres money in the bank to pay for it or not.

Trumps $810 billion, 10-year proposal included within his budget would be a 33 percent increase over the most recent surface transportation bill, which provided $305 billion for highways and transit programs over five years.

Adam Cancryn, Stephanie Beasley, Brianna Ehley, Jacqueline Feldscher, Nick Juliano, Bob King, Leah Nylen, Sarah Owermohle, Nancy Scola, Tanya Snyder and Eric Wolff contributed to this report.
Press Release: Atherton Bikes

Dan, Gee and Rachel Atherton are delighted to confirm that their long time partner and collaborator Continental Tyres will become joint title partner for their 2020 downhill race team. The team will be known as Continental Atherton, or in full, Continental Atherton MTB Race Team.The Athertons will continue to support team-mates Charlie Hatton and Mille Johnset and are pleased to renew all of their 2019 component partnerships.2020 looks set to be a big year for the new Continental Atherton team as they build upon 2019s three World Cup wins aboard their own brand Atherton bikes.Rachel Atherton said Racing our own bikes is one of the best things that ever happened to us but its also hugely challenging. Having Continental step up to support us at this level means a lot, especially as I work to get strong again after my Achilles injury. Having a brand as respected as Continental share our aspirations and back our plans for the future has been a massive boost.In terms of rider line-up there are no surprises this season with Charlie Hatton re-signing to the team for his 3rd season as he continues to challenge for a top ten spot on the World Cup circuit.Charlie said Im stoked to be riding with the team again, I had a few decent results last year, 2nd in National Championships and 1.5 seconds off podium in VDS but I feel I have a lot more in me. I want 2020 to be the year I make that break into the top ten and to know that this team believes I can do that is invaluable. Ive been working on all aspects of my riding this winter, following Gee always pulls you along! Ive been training a lot harder in the gym too so Im a lot stronger, I cant wait to see the results come race day.The team will continue to support Mille Johnset as she takes her place amongst the Womens Elite.Rachel Atherton said Weve been working with Mille since she was about 14 years old, through the Atherton Academy, her graduation to full race team and the Junior World Cups and now as she takes the huge step up into the senior ranks. We all know what a challenge this first season as an Elite can be so were pleased to support her through this phase of her development and excited to see what shell do.In line with the Athertons vision for stability and consistency at this point in the teams development there have been no changes in the teams on-bike partner line-up established in 2019.Dan Atherton said When we started our own bike brand last year we took the decision to work only with brands who would drive product development as hard as we will. These partnerships and the progression that they fuel are a significant part of our vision for the sport so it makes perfect sense that there is on-going commitment on both sides.On the bike we are delighted to continue our work with:FSA ( Drive train)Renishaw ( World leaders in Additive Manufacturing used to create the lugs on our Atherton Bikes)Trickstuff (brakes)Stans No Tubes ( wheels and sealant)Fox SuspensionWTB ( custom saddles)MRP (Chain Devices)Renthal ( Cockpit)Rockguardz ( Mudguards)And Crankbrothers ( pedals)Off the bike we continue our successful relationships with Endura (Clothing), Bell Bike Helmets, Ride Concepts (shoes) our local Welsh start up Kingud ( ecological cleaning products) and the best test ground out there, Dyfi Bike Park. We are pleased to confirm a new partnership with Unior tools for 2020; Unior will kit out our racetruck and our workshop at Team Headquarters with their high quality and ergonomic tools.Red Bull, GoPro and Oakley continue their invaluable support to the riders as we look forward to an awesome season ahead. Catch the team in action at the UCI World Cup Series as well as Sea Otter Festival and selected Crankworx and Red Bull events.Website: https://www.athertonbikes.com
A high-level fact-finding committee was set up in the Gargi College, said Principal Dr Promila Kumar, after students were allegedly molested during a cultural festival at the Delhi Universitys all-women college last week. "We've set up a high-level fact-finding committee to meet with the complainants, eyewitnesses and any other person having relevant information," Kumar told news agency ANI.

The committee will prepare, in a time-bound manner, a report of the complaints about submission to the police, if complainants so desire, added Kumar. The students also have the option of approaching the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) of Gargi College for confidential enquiry, added the Principal.

She further added that the institute will file a report of complaints to the police at the earliest so perpetrators can be brought to justice. "We'll set up a security protocol to ensure such incidents never take place again," added Kumar.

The Delhi Police on Monday registered a case in the matter after receiving a complaint from the college authority. Additional DCP Gitanjali Khandelwal is investigating the entire case. An FIR was filed at the Hauz Khas police station under IPC sections 452 (House-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).

Meanwhile, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has summoned Principal Kumar, asking her to appear before it on February 12 at 2 pm.

The security guards of the college are also being called for investigating in the incident which took place on February 6 inside the college premises. The college has also formed a community to investigate the matter.

The students are accusing the college administration and demanding the resignation of a professor named Sheela Dubey who is alleged of not helping the college students in the matters

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal condemned the incident and said that it is very sad and disappointing incident. This should not be tolerated at all. The culprits should be punished and we should ensure that children studying in college are safe.

The issue was also raised in the parliament and Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal said, "It has come to our notice that some outsiders had entered the college, which is not right. The college administration has been asked to look into it," adding "Action will be taken against the culprits."

The incident came to light when students of Gargi college posted about the assault on social media posts at around 6.30 pm on February 6. According to the posts, packs of drunk men forced their way inside college misbehaved with them and the security personnel failed to control the unruly groups.
Pakistan on Monday said its national nuclear security regime was at par with international standards and guidelines.

The Foreign Office issued a statement on the occasion of the third International Conference on Nuclear Security (ICONS) being organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna on 10-14 February.

The (nuclear security) regime is based on an extensive legislative and regulatory framework governing the security of nuclear materials, radioactive substances, associated facilities and activities, said FO.

It said the security regime was backed by strong institutions and organisations with the requisite authorities, resources and trained manpower for effective implementation.

It said that on the occasion of the third ICONS, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has published a booklet on Pakistan's Nuclear Security Regime. Copies of the booklet were distributed among the participants of the ICONS.

The FO said this step was part of Pakistan's practice to share information on the measures taken to further strengthen nuclear security and to demonstrate the high-level attention that nuclear security continues to receive in Pakistan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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.
KORAT, THAILANDAuthorities killed the gunman near the cold storage refrigerators of the Foodland supermarket in the mall he terrorized during Thailands deadliest mass shooting.

It was just before 9 local time Sunday morning  18 hours after he fired the first shots in a relentless spree that left at least 29 people dead and 58 injured in the city of Korat, north of Bangkok.

Thailands prime minister said the rampage started with a real estate dispute. The gunman was bitter and lugging weapons stolen from a military base. It ended with hundreds of shoppers fleeing for their lives, their shoes slapping on the malls white tile floors as gunshots cracked, leading to a failed police raid, a followup  and finally, the lifeless body of the 32-year-old gunman, dressed in military gear and surrounded by red plastic grocery bins.

My two children are at home with their grandma now, said Viparat Wansaboiy, who was watching a movie at the mall with her husband when the shooting broke out. Luckily they didnt come today.

The mix of bloodshed and the banal has become all too common in the United States, even as it bursts into lands less accustomed to violence like New Zealand and Norway. In a sign of what some psychologists call a contagion, the gunman mimicked other perpetrators of mass shootings by posting messages and video to Facebook, which shut down his account within minutes.

But in a nation where mass killings are still rare despite high levels of gun ownership, the sudden appearance of such grisly horror in a seven-story complex of consumerism has already prompted deeper questions about what happened, the governments response and the underlying forces that led a young man to kill so many who were so innocent.

This will be seen as not just an individual case but as a sign of underlying tensions, said Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watchs Asia division. Its about the fact that people are really getting desperate; the economic situation is really not going well. A lot of people are very unhappy.

Thai officials initially said the man, Sgt. Jakkrapanth Thomma, simply went mad. Later, on Sunday morning, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha suggested that the gunman was enraged over a land problem, citing a dispute about selling a house. It was a conflict, he said, that had been simmering for days and could have been resolved without violence.

Korat, a bustling city of 166,000 between the central plains and Thailands underdeveloped northeast, is supposed to be where people come together. Sitting on the so-called Friendship Highway originally built by the United States in the 1950s, the unassuming city is a strategic hub for both the Thai military, which has several bases in the area, and regional agriculture, with processing plants for rice, sugar cane, sesame and fruit.

Jakkrapanth believed he was owed money. On Saturday, he arrived for a meeting about a payment from a deal with Anong Mitrchan, who was well known for selling real estate to military officers in Korat.

It is unclear whether she was the target of his ire, or whether she did anything wrong. But she was at the centre of a long-running dispute, authorities said, and she was not alone. Her son-in-law, a superior officer from the sergeants command  Col. Anantharot Krasae  was there at her house, along with her business partner, according to Anongs husband.

The soldier shot all three of them. Only the partner survived, with serious wounds.

After the initial surge of violence, a photo of bullets appeared on the soldiers Facebook page. Nobody can escape death, he wrote. Rich from cheating and taking advantage of people  Do they think they can take money to spend in hell?

Jakkrapanth fled, speeding toward a military base where authorities said he shot and killed a third person before stealing a military Humvee and an arsenal of weapons. Firing out the window, he reached the parking lot of the Terminal 21 shopping centre some time after 3 p.m., around the time police received their first call about the shooting at Anongs house.

The mall  a tower of exuberance, with floors dedicated to different parts of the world, from the Caribbean to London, Paris and Hollywood  pulsed with the rhythm of a busy Saturday. Movie theatres were filled. Families, couples, teenagers were all oblivious, crammed into cellphone stores, Toys R Us and the food court.

Then, they heard gunshots. Video taken outside showed people diving for cover as bullets carried across the area. Several people were killed outside the mall, some while walking, others in cars.

It wasnt clear to everyone what was going on. Kul Kaemthong, 53, a cleaner, said she was on a break around 5 p.m. when she first heard people had been shot. Looking out the windows of the fourth-floor food court, she saw a body next to motorcycle, another by a car.

She started running. Then she heard more gunfire.

The sound  one, two, three, then a dozen in rapid succession, also heard in at least one video from the scene  suggested heavy firepower and more than one gun.

Mike Picard, research director for GunPolicy.org, which tracks firearm use around the world, said the images and sounds captured by people at the scene pointed to at least six weapons: one or two handguns, including the shooters personal firearm, three HK33 assault rifles and two larger M60 machine guns.

The gunman, he said, also appears to have been carrying about 1,000 rounds of ammunition. Local news media reported Jakkrapanth was a specialist in long-range sniper fire.

Viparat, 39, and her husband, Somwang Kwangchaithale, 39, were sitting in a movie theatre on the fifth floor of the mall when the lights came on and an emergency announcement came over the loudspeaker around 5:30 p.m. Initially, they stayed in the theatre. Then the malls staff moved them to an office with a locked door. They huddled together there, 100 of them altogether, until around 10 p.m., when the message from authorities landed: They were about to be evacuated.

They told us theyre going to turn the lights off, said Somwang. Stay low and do not make any loud noises.

When they reached the basement, the gunman heard them. He started shooting.

All of the people who gathered at the parking lot started screaming and running for their lives, said Viparat. Rescuers helped us out. Police, rescuers, military, different officers.

By that time, authorities had launched into full operation mode. Shortly after 8 p.m., police declared the gunman a most-wanted person and urged the public to call in tips, presenting a photo that showed him looking bored, with indifferent eyes.

They also started moving large numbers of people out. They urged evacuees to raise their hands and identify themselves. They were wary that the gunman was hiding in the crowd.

Outside, dozens of orange-clad emergency workers set up triage areas, helping victims and the rescued. Relatives and friends of those believed to be trapped in the mall anxiously awaited word of their fate. The stalemate lingered for hours. The entire city seemed to be awake.

At 3 a.m., authorities staged what appeared to be an attempt to capture or kill the gunman. A barrage of gunfire pounded and ricocheted, but authorities had to retreat. An officer had been hit. He later died. One official said he was the last one killed  shy of the gunman.

The final raid occurred as officials seemed to be in lockdown, tense, refusing to answer questions from reporters. Details eventually came out through a video posted to Twitter, with officials confirming what people inside had witnessed. The gunman was dead, his body lying outside a cooler with an open door, near two other bodies  one of them a police officer, another a woman who seemed to be a supermarket employee.

The prime minister, Prayuth, sounded defensive when asked about the operation and why it had taken so long for the siege to end.

Dont you guys understand when there are civilians in the mall? he said. Without evidence, he suggested that the gunman had been troubled for a long time.

We have to look at mental health, he added. I was an army chief before. And we have to acknowledge if they have problems.

But for those who experienced the attack, his mental health mattered far less than the lives of his victims. In the elevator at the Maharaj hospital, a young woman sobbed as she spoke on the phone about a relative on life support.

On Sunday evening, hundreds gathered near the mall for a vigil, lining up to write tributes to the dead and to express support for peace and the living  a ritual as familiar, sadly, as the mass shootings.

The society nowadays has turned into this? said Thusanee Witchartorntakul, 53, a university lecturer, who came to the vigil Sunday night, shedding tears after a night without sleep. Its devastating. My heart cant handle it.

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A Harris County judge on Monday scolded prosecutors she said misrepresented discussions about a man charged in the deaths of three people in a crash.

Judge Genesis Draper hauled Sean Teare, the vehicular crimes chief for the District Attorneys Office, and prosecutor Dan Malik into Criminal Court at Law No. 12 Monday morning to ask who they informed in January about receiving an anonymous tip that Gregory Allen Smith  charged in the deaths of three people during the Feb. 5 crash in Spring was using drugs again.

Authorities say Smith was high on PCP when he drove through two red lights near Antoine Drive and North Sam Houston Parkway and crashed into two cars. Piedad Romero, Diana Soriano-Escobar, and Soriano-Escobars 3-month-old son, Ricardo Daniel Escobar Jr., all died in the wreck after their van caught fire. They were among the five killed in alcohol or drug-related crashes in the past week.

Smith, who faces three counts of intoxication manslaughter stemming from the wreck, was not in court for the hearing. He remains hospitalized at Ben Taub for a broken leg and shoulder pain, Teare said. He is slated Friday to return to court.

RELATED: Suspect in triple fatal wreck remains hospitalized as more charges loom

By then, prosecutors hope to know where Smith was in the 24 hours before the northeast Harris County crash. Smiths lawyer, Bryan Savoy, did not respond to a request for comment.

Smith could well face additional charges to an already lengthy criminal history, Teare said, as investigators look into whether he had permission to drive the car in the crash. Smith and his passenger, Darryl Mitchell-Taylor, 25, were not the registered owners. The owner of the car has been contacted, Teare said.

Mitchell-Taylor is unlikely to face charges in connection to the crash.

At the time of Smiths arrest, he was on bond for another DWI arrest from July. He received a personal recognizance bond with requirements that he submit to random drug testing and not use drugs. He was also facing a separate charge for assaulting a public servant  for which he posted a $10,000 cash bond.

OUT OF CONTROL: Houston is ground zero for drunken and drugged driving

Prosecutors on Friday told the Chronicle they had tried to alert two judges  including Draper  a week before the crash that they had received an anonymous tip Smith was using drugs again. But in Mondays court hearing, Draper said she had not learned about their comments until Feb. 6, the day after the fatal crash, at a hearing on a motion to revoke Smiths bond.

Who is claiming they made me aware of anything [about] the allegations on the 30th or 31st, she said, visibly frustrated. What I want to make clear  because this has been very misrepresented  this court was not given that information until the motion to revoke was filed February 6th.

Under questioning, Malik, the line prosecutor, said hed notified a court employee he needed to speak with Draper about Smith potentially violating his bond conditions, but acknowledged hed never actually spoken to the judge.

Draper said that if prosecutors had concerns, they could have notified her and she could have called Smiths defense attorney in for a hearing, but noted prosecutors had not tried to raise the issue in the days after they received their tip.

If you all have information that you think is relevant to public safety, alert the court, she said. The actual court. Me.

Moments later, Teare asked Draper if she had access or seen copies of Smiths pretrial drug testing.

Draper replied that she had not, and that Teare would have to get that information from Harris County Pretrial Services.

Good luck, she said.
When Benjamin Netanyahu stood on the podium next to Donald Trump and proclaimed the Deal of the Century to be comparable to the 1948 Declaration of Independence, the Israeli prime minister knew there would be strong opposition from the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the Arab League, the European Union and other supporters of the Palestinian cause. He didn't think there would be opposition back home.

Netanyahu knew Trump had his back; and so, he believed, did the Israeli public. Benny Gantz, leader of the Blue and White party, was on board with the plan, along with a plurality of his center-left party supporters. Add Bibi's right wing, orthodox bloc to Gantz's secular, upper middle class liberals and you get a nearly wall-to-wall consensus.

Or so Bibi thought. But this consensus is more fragile than he anticipated.

Most Israelis favor the plan that requires Palestinians to recognize Israel as the Jewish state, drop the dream of millions of fourth generation refugees flooding the country, accept a demilitarized state with shrunken borders, give Israel control over all Jerusalem and accept annexation of the Jordan Valley and West Bank settlements. Even so, it turns out that this is a more complicated sell domestically than Bibi imagined.

The West Bank settlers, an integral part of his Likud bloc, want annexation to begin immediately. In Washington, Netanyahu promised that it would. But on Sunday, U.S. Ambassador David Freedman made clear that things are on hold at least until the March 2 elections. The U.S. wants time to draw a clear map, to allow the Palestinians to make a counter offer and, not least, for Israel to create a functioning coalition government capable of signing the deal.

The incensed settler leaders will not abandon Bibi - they have nowhere else to go - but they could become an opposition faction within the Likud bloc with the power to stymie a Palestinian state, even the most diminished.

Gantz, too, will face internal opposition from a never-Bibi faction whose condition for entering a unity government is that Likud drops Netanyahu. In the best of all worlds, Bibi would step down, but Bibi doesn't live in that world.

Gantz might be tempted to say yes to a Bibi-led coalition following the March 2 elections, but there are powerful voices working against it. One belongs to former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. He has come out against the Trump plan and is holding a joint appearance with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in New York on Tuesday, the day Abbas appears in the U.S. Security Council.

Olmert is not a member of Blue and White, but he is influential with the anti-Bibi wing. He says that the Trump plan is unrealistic, but there is the sense his objection is mostly personal. Back in 2009, when Olmert was indicted on corruption charges, Bibi proclaimed him unfit to continue in office. Olmert resigned and eventually went to prison. Bibi succeeded him as prime minister and has never looked back.

Now Netanyahu is the one under indictment for corruption. Olmert, as prime minister, would have been deliriously happy to get a deal like the one Trump is offering. Now he will be just as happy to undercut Bibi's big achievement.

The plan's biggest obstacle is Avigdor Lieberman, once Netanyahu's gofer and now his nemesis. It was Lieberman's party that brought down the ruling coalition in 2019 and then stalemated two subsequent elections. Recent polls show that Lieberman could do it again next month.

Lieberman, who hates Netanyahu even more than Olmert does, has no problem with the terms of the Trump deal, but he would prefer to implement them and reap the rewards as a senior minister in Prime Minister Gantz's government. Having Bibi watch this, nose pressed against the glass, would be sweet indeed.

But, if the polls hold (and they haven't been changing since the last election) Gantz plus Lieberman (and the small Labor Party) won't have enough raised hands to form a government.

The passive parliamentary support of the Arab joint list Knesset faction could enable a Gantz-Lieberman-Labor coalition over the top. But in the last election campaign, Lieberman called the joint list a traitorous "fifth column" and it is unlikely he will change his mind before the election. Gantz himself has pledged not to accept support from the list.

Such is the dangerously self-defeating pettiness of Israeli politics. The deal of a lifetime has come around for Israel - and it is very possible that there will be no government that can accept it. If the Trump plan fails, it won't because of opposition in Ramallah, Gaza or the U.N. Security Council. It will be because Israel's mainstream political leaders are incapable of overcoming their partisan differences, animosities and personal ambitions for what they all recognize as the good of their country.

- - -

Zev Chafets is a journalist and author of 14 books. He was a senior aide to Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and the founding managing editor of the Jerusalem Report Magazine.
On Tuesday, February 11, at 12.30, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency will host a press conference on the subject: "Secret Documents of the Interior Ministry. Spying on Activists," during which documents, which prove that the strategic investigations department of the police subjects Ukrainian military and patriotic activists to political oppression, will be made public. Participants will include Member of Parliament of Ukraine of the 8th convocation Ihor Lutsenko, who suffered oppression by the police and criminal groups in 2013; parliamentary assistant, leader of the Society of the Future movement, war veteran Yevhen Karas; member of the All-Ukrainian NGO Sokil, veteran of the battalion named after General Kulchytsky of the National Guard of Ukraine Yaroslav Liuty; lawyer of activists who suffered attacks, Miller Law Firm Masi Nayyem (8/5a Reitarska Street). Registration of journalists with press cards on the spot. Additional information by phone: (063) 519 1334.
Don Hand was dejected, dismayed and desperate for what he thought would be a compromise.

Already, hed seen a Texas Methodist minister set his ordination papers ablaze, a protest that prompted another to come out as gay and a group of ministers to demand a more gay-friendly United Methodist Church, just a few years after its 1968 founding.

At the UMCs 1972 national meeting, where delegates tensely debated an official stance on homosexuality, Hand scribbled a half-sentence amendment intended to strike a middle ground. It left intact the resolutions language that all people are equal in the eyes of God, but added that homosexuality was nonetheless incompatible with Christian beliefs.

It passed.

There wasnt a whole lot of heat or anger, Hand, a San Antonio trial attorney and Methodist layman, recalled in an interview this week. It was just a smooth piece of business.

Nearly half a century later, Hands 16-word addition is at the core of a schism that many believe will fracture the nations second-largest Protestant group in May. The proposed divorce, announced last year, follows years of challenges to the so-called incompatibility clause, which more liberal United Methodists say has alienated LGBTQ congregants and ministers.

Those tensions came to a head last year, when UMC leaders put forward five proposed plans that would create anywhere from one to four new global Methodist denominations and, potentially, dissolve the current UMC. Most of the proposals would create new denominations based on ideological views, with traditionalists and progressives going their separate ways 52 years after the UMC was created through a merger.

And while at least one of the proposals is predicated on a desire for reconciliation and grace through separation, many expect a nastier divorce that could entangle local churches in battles over property, theology and parishioners.

This is now coming home to every zip code in America, said Terry Mattingly, a longtime religious commentator and current fellow at University of Mississippis Overby Center. Thats how widespread this is going to be.  Methodism has broken down, and there is no one in Methodism with the power to settle this.

Much of the in-fighting can be traced back to the 1972 meeting at which Hand proffered his amendment. But even before that, there were signs of conflict, said Ashley Dreff, a Methodist historian at High Point University in North Carolina.

Dreff said that the sexual revolution of the 1960s influenced some Methodists to adopt more progressive views on sexuality and other social issues, particularly in coastal cities such as San Francisco.

But those liberal bastions were outliers  the birth of the United Methodist Church came at the tail end of the Civil Rights movement. Interracial marriage had only been legalized a year prior, and explicitly racist or discriminatory laws were still on the books in many states, including Texas.

Dreff described the views on sexuality among more liberal Methodists as "extremely radical" for the time.

And so, after the 1968 merger of the Methodist Church and Evangelical United Brethren Church that created the UMC, Methodists needed to reconcile divergent views on theology, scripture and social issues.

Rather than truly hash out the differences, Dreff said, the UMC opted to uphold theological pluralism, creating with it a big tent and room for wide diversity in opinions and approaches.

It was a temporary  and flawed  fix, Dreff said.

I like to say it is the beauty and the bane of United Methodism because it's beautiful in concept, but it does not work in practice, especially when it comes to sexual ethics, she said. Because when you are creating a sexual ethic within a theologically plural society, someone's going to be left out.

That much became clear to Hand at a 1971 meeting of Texas Methodists. Months earlier, Wil Schaefer, a San Antonio-area minister, had been stripped of his ordination after a regional discipline board found hed had a heterosexual affair.

Incensed, Schaefer walked down the meetings aisle with what at first appeared to be a flaming bouquet. In fact, it was his ordination papers engulfed in flames.

Bishop, here are my credentials! he shouted.

Schaefers display of disobedience motivated another Texas minister to come forward and ask his Methodist brothers to deal publicly with what they have known privately, according to a 2017 paper by Methodist historian Robert Sledge.

Most of the ministers and leaders of the church have known this about me for some five years, Gene Leggett said at the meeting. We have lived by an unspoken agreement of you leave me alone and Ill leave you alone... I am a homosexual.

Like Dreff, Sledge noted that views on sexuality at the time were heavily influenced by social and political issues. The battle cry of the Age of Aquarius was if it fees good, do it! he wrote.

Months later, another meeting of southwestern Methodists was interrupted, this time by a protest from a group of young men calling themselves the Gay Liberation Front.

The group insisted that attendees take up no other business until the issue of homosexuality was settled, according to Sledge. And they brought with them a list of 10 demands. Those included that Methodists accept the authenticity of the gay lifestyle; cease to define gay people by their sexuality alone; acknowledge that oppression of gays is an extension of oppression of women and Third World peoples; and campaign against Texas anti-sodomy laws.

Hand later wrote that he was amazed at the rudeness and display of contempt hed seen. To him, the protests were expressions of entitlement by those who were unwilling to abide by centuries-old standards of Christian morality.

In 1972, Hand and others arrived at the meeting in Atlanta gravely concerned. The agenda called for delegates to vote on various doctrinal statements, including one on human sexuality.

The proposed statement called for more efforts to understand human sexuality, affirmed that sex outside of marriage could be exploitative within as well as outside of marriage, and stated that homosexuals no less than heterosexuals are persons of sacred worth.

Hand took issue with some of the language, which he saw as ambiguous and reflective of the ongoing sexual revolution and thus a serious departure from the teachings of Christian tradition.

He added his compromise, a caveat at the end of the proposals last sentence noting that we do not condone the practice of homosexuality, and consider this practice incompatible with Christian doctrine.

The compromise statement was kind of a papering over of the broader issue, Sledge told the Chronicle. It was a way for traditionalists to accommodate the concerns of the insurgents without sacrificing their convictions.

Since then, the incompatibility clause has been challenged at almost every UMC meeting.

Over the same period, the denominations regional bodies in the United States have continued to clash over discipline, race and gender issues, contrasts so stark that two Duke University sociologists once declared that there were, in reality, seven Methodist churches in America.

These differences may be so potentially divisive that the church, remembering the struggles of the past, prefers to ignore them, the papers authors wrote in 1985. ... Although some of the specific conflicts within Methodism appear on the surface to be over ideology, polity or between racial and cultural groups, the underlying causes may be regional differences.

Those trends persist today, Mattingly noted.

There never was a united Methodist Church  It was always a compromise.

Recent research by Ryan Burge, a professor of religion and political science at Eastern Illinois University, shows that support for gay marriage among United Methodists mirrors broader trends in America. Nearly 80 percent of United Methodist voters under 35 years old support gay marriage, Burge found. Less than half of those older than 76 held similar views. It also found wide variations in support for gay marriage based on region, education and church attendance.

Yet his research also found United Methodists care far less about gay marriage as a voting issue than they do national security, health care of government corruption.

Why is the split coming to a head now? Scott Jones, the resident bishop of the Texas Annual Conference, pointed to two things: The legalization of same-sex marriage in America, and the UMCs expansion in Africa and Asia, where attitudes toward homosexuality and other social issues are typically more conservative.

Thats shifted some power away from more liberal United Methodists.

We have been debating issues about human sexuality since 1972, Jones said. It has always been controversial.

Dreff, the Methodist historian, added that the legalization of same-sex marriage has forced ministers to take a side on the issue -- and risk losing their ministerial credentials.

All of a sudden, they're being asked to perform same sex marriages by their congregants, and are for the first time having to kind of confront how the United Methodist Church understands sexuality, she said.

Dreff agreed that the issue is likely to at least split the UMC. But she doesnt necessarily see that as a bad thing for Methodism, which has a history of schisms dating back to slavery.

Shes choosing to view it with optimism, as potential new life coming into the church that allows it to reach new people in underserved communities that are worthy of love and worthy of affirmation.

Hand, 90, stands by the balance he sought with the incompatibility clause, nearly five decades after he wrote the fateful half-sentence. But he added he doesnt mind if other Methodists see it otherwise.

I think its important that the members be happy, he said this week. And if they cant be happy together, they can divide.

robert.downen@chron.com
Australia's east coast is bracing for even more rainfall this week following a torrential downpour which saw the number of emergency calls surpass that of the bushfire crisis.

An astonishing 16,000 calls were put in to NSW Fire and Rescue in a 48-hour period - more than double the number of calls during the peak of the state's bushfire disaster.

The majority of calls were in regards to fallen trees and powerlines, with some being life-threatening, NSW Fire and Rescue Deputy Commissioner Jeremy Fewtrell said.

The NSW coast copped 'extraordinarily' high amounts of rainfall over the weekend with Sydney recording its heaviest drenching in up to three decades.

Severe thunderstorms are expected to cause havoc to much of NSW and Queensland throughout the week as Tropical Cyclone Uesi moves towards the coast.

A satellite image shows the cyclone has formed in the Coral Sea just north west of Vanuatu and is expected to strengthen in the days ahead as it moves southwards towards New Caledonia tomorrow and Wednesday.

A satellite image shows Cyclone Uesi travelling south to Australia where it could bring waves of up to six metres high

A view of houses in Collaroy on the Northern Beaches where water levels threaten to damage homes

Sea foam whipped up in front of homes along Collaroy on the Northern Beaches on Monday morning

The category 2 storm is not expected to impact the Queensland coast except for large swells.

Falls of up to 30mm are expected in the region throughout Monday and thunderstorms remains a possibility, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

Joel Pippard from Weatherzone told Daily Mail Australia fire ravaged areas in NSW such as Batemans Bay are expected to see rainfall of between 70-100mm on Monday.

'There are quite a lot of thunderstorms going on in the north of the state, those could bring some heavy downpours,' Mr Pippard said.

'In terms of rainfall it won't be bigger than what we've seen but it will be significant.'

Mr Pippard said over the next week there will be thunderstorms to hit NSW and QLD.

The Northern Tablelands in NSW will see around 50mm of rain on Tuesday but the heaviest rainfall will be in the South Coast.

In the oncoming days, the coast stretching from NSW to Victoria will see around 70-100mm of rainfall and the same from Sydney up to Brisbane.

Mr Pippard said Cyclone Eusi was currently in Fijian waters but could hit the coast of Australia by late Thursday or Friday.

A rain map from the Bureau of Meteorology shows just how significant the rain was over the weekend

Almost 80mm of rain has fallen since 9am on Sunday at a rate of 15 to 20mm an hour, with the NSW Central Coast particularly doused by the long-lasting storm (boys pictured playing in floodwater in Sydney on Sunday)

He said Lord Howe Island off the coast of NSW may be directly impacted by the cyclone and the state would see huge swells as a result.

'What the NSW coast will get is some damaging and aggressive surf. So we could see 4-6 metre waves along the coast,' Mr Pippard said.

'It's expected to bring those waves at some point to the entire east coast of Australia.

SYDNEY BATTERED BY RAIN - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW - Sydney has copped over 400mm of rain since Friday - More than 150,000 NSW homes and businesses remain without power - Biggest downpour to hit the NSW coast since 1998 - More than 50 schools in Sydney and the Central Coast are closed on Monday - Sydney ferries are cancelled for Monday - State Emergency Service received 10,000 calls for help on Sunday - 156 people had to be rescued from floodwaters - Evacuation orders issued on Sunday night for residents in Narrabeen, Chipping Norton, Moorebank and Milperra - North Richmond and Windsor along the Hawkesbury River flooded - Flooding continues along the Nepean River at Menangle and Camde - Flood watch for the Upper Cox's River and Mcdonald River Advertisement

'We've seen the worst of the flooding but there still be wet conditions. There may be isolated pockets that may see flash flooding in the Northern Tablelands.'

Over the weekend Sydney was battered with 400mm of rain which forced mass evacuations, leaving 150,000 homes without power.

The storm caused mayhem for commuters on Monday morning with roads blocked, ferries cancelled and trains suffering major delays across the network.

Residents in flood-affected areas from the city's west to the Northern Beaches and the New South Wales Central Coast have been warned not to drive to work as rivers and lagoons overflow.

On Monday morning, the Burea of Meterology issued a severe weather warning for parts of New South Wales.

'SEVERE WEATHER WARNING: for Damaging Winds, Heavy Rain, Abnormally High Tides & Damaging Surf for Illawarra, South Coast and parts Northern Rivers, Mid North Coast, Hunter, Metropolitan, Southern Tablelands and Snowy Mountains Forecast Districts,' BOM tweeted.

An weather warning was also put in place for parts of Queensland where large hailstones can be expected.

'Severe #QldStorm Warning update: area now includes Central Highlands & Coalfields, Capricornia, Maranoa & Warrego, and the Darling Downs and Granite Belt Districts. A risk of heavy rainfall, damaging winds and large hailstones.'

Residents near the Narrabeen Lagoon in northern Sydney evacuated overnight after being told flooding in the area was likely to be worse than the damaging flood of 2016. Pictured: Residents travelling by canoe as floodwater rise in Narrabeen

Marrickville, in Sydney's inner-west, was inundated as parts of NSW were hit with as much as 400mm of rain since Friday

Wahroonga on Sydney's upper north shore received 164mm of rainfall over the course of Sunday alone. The average rainfall for the entire month of February is 117mm.

Wild winds, which grew to speeds of 107km/h off the coast of Sydney, added to the mayhem by uprooting trees and damaging power lines, leaving more than 150,000 homes without power on Sunday night and Monday morning.

Police also responded to reports a car was swept off a causeway in Galston, in Sydney's Hornsby District on Sunday, with fears a passenger was inside the vehicle at the time.

On Sunday the State Emergency Service received 10,000 calls for help.

A motorists makes a risky move by attempting to make their way through murky water after the road began to resemble a river in Sydney

Sydney is bracing the strongest winds in 16 years and the biggest downpour since 1998 which have combined to fell trees, turn roads into rivers, and leave 150,000 without power
In this Oct. 17, 2019, photo, storage tanks are seen at a shale gas well pad in Zelienople, Pa. Read more

In the last decade, unconventional natural gas development has transformed American energy  as well as communities across Pennsylvanias Marcellus Shale region.

Often popularly referred to as fracking, this highly industrialized process is used to extract energy resources from underground geologies such as shale or sandstone.

In Pennsylvania and elsewhere, wells are often drilled a mile or more beneath the ground and a mile or more horizontally along the shale or sandstone. Water, sand, and chemicals are pumped underground at high volume, fracturing the energy-bearing rock, releasing the gas, which then flows to the surface and is then moved through pipelines for processing and consumption in regional, national, and global markets.

Since 2007, more than 10,000 unconventional gas wells have been drilled in Pennsylvania, mostly in the northern and southwestern parts of the state, with peak drilling occurring between 2010 and 2014.

Opponents of fracking have pointed to what they see as unacceptable environmental risks, including fracking fluid spills, methane leaks, disposal of wastewater, and groundwater contamination. Others cite uncertain economic benefits and the perils of boom-bust natural resource economies.

Meanwhile, industry advocates have argued that natural gas development creates needed jobs and economic development, especially in poorer and more rural parts of the state. As it happens, slightly more than a third of the states school districts are rural. Yet nearly two-thirds of the unconventional drilling occurred in those school districts, which also happen to be among the poorest in the state.

These debates have also factored into the campaigns of Democratic candidates in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, with both Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders pledging to ban fracking if elected, largely because of environmental and climate change concerns.

Fracking and schools

As educational researchers at Penn State, we wanted to know how fracking had affected Pennsylvania school district finances. As institutions playing central social, educational, and economic roles to the communities they serve, to what extent has fracking resulted in an economic windfall for schools  and especially since a large proportion of schools with gas wells in their proverbial backyards are rural and economically underresourced?

Adjusting for a host of factors that can impact funding, we found that districts where fracking occurred between 2007 and 2015 had lower per-pupil incomes, real estate values, and property tax revenues. In total, school districts where unconventional drilling had taken place had $1,550.50 less per pupil in 2015 dollars, relative to otherwise similar districts that did not have unconventional drilling.

Although we found a modest increase in state and federal revenues wherever fracking occurred, these increases were not large enough to counterbalance the average negative effects.

Why is this the case?

First, Pennsylvania imposes an impact fee that collects revenue each time a well is drilled, as opposed to a severance tax that collects revenue based on the amount of the energy resource produced.

The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania has estimated that the impact fee revenues are one-third the potential revenues of a severance tax proposed by Gov. Tom Wolf, whose 2015-16 budget proposal was developed with the intention of raising $2 billion for public education.

Second, in Pennsylvania, about 77% of local school district revenues came from property taxes in 2014-15 , with most of the remainder generated from an earned income tax. But property values showed relatively little impact from shale gas development within Pennsylvania.

Gas development in Pennsylvania was sudden and intensive, with a highly mobile labor force comprised largely of non-Pennsylvania workers looking to rent rather than buy housing. While rental prices increased, often several-fold, real estate values overall did not show any dramatic change in association with shale gas development.

Similarly, some residents were able to benefit from gas leasing revenues when wells were drilled on their property, but those revenues dont fall under earned income. As a consequence, they dont contribute toward school revenues.

Economic inequality has risen sharply across the United States since the 1970s, and research strongly suggests that children living in rural communities have been disproportionately affected. Proposals to address poverty often focus on indirect alternatives to helping struggling families like promoting economic growth.

Despite the arguments of gas industry advocates, our work indicates an absence of clear economic benefits to affected school districts. Given research suggesting that school funding can be particularly important for long-term economic opportunities, our research suggests that unconventional drilling may help to maintain and reinforce inequalities across school districts. This is especially the case if school finance mechanisms and natural resource public policies dont take into account what are often the profoundly uneven economic outcomes of natural resource development.

Matthew Gardner Kelly is an assistant professor of education at Pennsylvania State University. Kai A. Schafft is an associate professor of educational leadership and rural sociology at Pennsylvania State University.
ROMULUS, MI -- 34th District Court Judge David Parrott is expected to be arraigned Monday on charges of domestic violence according to multiple reports. According to Fox 2 Detroit, officers were called to a home Parrott shares with his partner in Van Buren Township Saturday night around 7:10 p.m.

While investigating, police spoke to a woman in the home who said she suffered a bump on her head, a cut on her hand and pain in her tailbone after Parrott allegedly assaulted her. Police eventually took Parrott into custody.

WDIV Detroit reports Parrott has been charged by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy with domestic violence assault and battery. He is expected to be arraigned in court Monday afternoon.
Darius Brown believes he was born to help animals, a vision that formed the first time he saw an animal cruelty commercial.

Every time the ASPCA segment aired in 2010, the sensitive 3-year-old boy from Newark was moved to tears.

I would just drop, crying," said Brown, thinking about it now that hes 13.

The love for animals never waned, prompting Brown to merge his calling with his dapper sense of fashion to help dogs across the country.

Brown, a seventh grader at North Star Academy, makes bowties for dogs waiting to be adopted in animal shelters.

He calls the campaign Pawsome Mission. Brown is the awesome one, though, and how he got started in 2017 is a Kleenex moment.

He saw clips of a telethon on Facebook. Dogs from Texas and Puerto Rico were being flown to the New York ASPCA for adoption when Hurricanes Harvey and Irma struck. The footage triggered childhood images of the forgotten dogs and cats in that commercial that made him cry.

I was devastated," he said. I was distraught."

But he could fix it this time. The lightbulb in his 10-year-old thoughts had dogs wearing his bowties. His attractive neckwear would make them irresistible to potential owners and reduce the amount of time they would be in cages.

I realized if I use my passion in making bowties, then it could also help the dogs get adopted faster," Brown said.

Excited about the idea, Brown told his mother after she suggested that he come up with a way to help. Joy listened to her boy as any mother would. He had it all figured out, but mom admits that she didnt get it at first.

How are bowties going to help dogs get adopted?" she remembered thinking.

She was focused on developing his fine motor skills, comprehension and speech delays that were diagnosed when he was 2-years-old. Tying his shoes, holding a pencil and picking up coins were difficult for her kid.

Who knew scissors would lead to this when she had him work on a project with his teenager sister, Dazhai? He adored her and wanted to do everything she did.

Dazhai was making hair bows and Brown, who was 8-years-old at the time, helped cut the fabric. All of that snipping improved his dexterity, but Brown didnt see himself wearing hair bows and wanted to make something else. His sister suggested bowties, since he admired the appearance of professionally dressed men.

The first few were his. Then he started a little business selling his wares to family friends taken with his style.

Mans best friend didnt have to pay after Brown saw the telethon. He donated about 20 ties to the New York ASPCA and wanted to do more when he learned what happens to dogs that dont get adopted.

He lost it," his mother said.

Brown was upset and forever changed.

I dont believe that dogs or any animal deserve to be euthanized," he said. I feel they all should be loved and cared for."

Darius Brown, 13, of Newark holds a dog that is wearing a bowtie he made to help the pooch get adopted.Joy Brown

A lot of folks  about 50,000 or more  connect with his passion. They love pictures of him and dogs wearing bowties on his Instagram page. His Pawsome Mission went viral last June after an animal rights group posted a letter on Reddit from Browns website. It was from President Barak Obama, applauding his community service in 2018.

Rachel Ray found him, too, and so did other national media. So did Points of Light, the national non-profit organization launched by President George W. Bush to support volunteerism. He was the GoFundMe Hero last month and the Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association from China gave him an award.

The best part, though, is right in his Newark backyard.

Prudential Financial, in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), picked him and Isobel Costello, 17, of Andover, as New Jerseys top youth volunteers of 2020 for the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. As honorees, they will each receive $1,000, an engraved silver medallion and an all-expense-paid trip in May to Washington, D.C., where they will meet top honorees from other states.

Naturally, Brown didnt see any of this coming.

I was just doing it from the heart," he said.

This was never about attention. Hes more humbled by it than anything, making him grateful for overcoming his challenges.

Brown no longer has an Individualized Education Plan in school. He tested out last year, working his tail off since kindergarten. Honor roll has his name on it now.

His confidence is soaring, and hes warmed up to the fact that what hes done socially is worth sharing. For the longest time, his mother said, he didnt want anyone to know about the bowties.

He wouldnt let us tell anyone," she said.

Brown said he was embarrassed at first. If someone knew, he thought teasing would follow. Now that he realizes its good a thing, Brown has accepted invitations to speak at luncheons and conferences, encouraging people to give back.

During school breaks, Brown has visited animal shelters in seven states over the past year to deliver bowties. Donations from people touched by his work have made it possible for him to travel and produce 500 pieces for the dogs. He doesnt know how many have led to adoptions, but Brown thinks its a big number.

His creative gift, however, isnt limited to dogs. Brown has made mittens for the Koalas, who suffered burns in the Australia bushfires. Closer to home, he was in New York City Thursday night giving his time for the cause from which all of this started.

Brown walked the runway at the New York Pet Fashion Show wearing a bowtie, carrying a dog that was up for adoption.

The pooch had on the same bowtie, too.

Darius Brown, 13, of Newark holds a dog that is wearing a bowtie he made to help the pooch get adopted.Joy Brown

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Barry Carter may be reached at bcarter@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BarryCarterSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.
Bangladeshi authorities have suspended a high school headmaster who cut the hair of scores of students in an effort to discipline them, sparking protests in a western rural town, officials said Monday. Sekandar Ali, headmaster of Joari High School in Baraigram town, started cutting the boys' hair with barber's scissors on Sunday afternoon, creating panic among the students, local police chief Dilip Kumar Das said. "He randomly ran his scissors on their scalps. He cut hair of around 50 students. Several students said they were injured during the heated moment," he told AFP. The 60-year-old teacher had an "old-school mentality" and wanted to punish the students for keeping undisciplined "long hair", the police chief added. The incident triggered protests in the town. Hundreds of students, parents and locals gathered on the school field to angrily demand action against the headmaster. He was suspended after the students lodged a formal complaint with the town's government administrator. Administrator Anwar Parvez said a three-member committee has been formed to investigate the incident. Physical punishment including caning, squatting, and frog-marching is nothing new to primary and high school students in the conservative nation of 168 million people. In 2011 in the wake of a series of reports of brutal canings of students that led to critical injuries, the government banned all types of physical and mental punishment in the institutions, terming it "cruel, inhuman and humiliating". Rights activists condemned the headmaster's action saying it directly contradicts the government order. "The headmaster has breached both human rights and law by his action," Rezaul Karim, a spokesman for the non-profit Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust, said. If proven guilty by the investigative committee, the headmaster could lose his job and a criminal case may be lodged against him for physically hurting the students. Physical punishment including caning, squatting, and frog-marchingis nothing new to primary and high school students in Bangladesh
Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Monday said the state government was following the guidelines laid down by World Health Organisation and the Centre to tackle the novel coronavirus outbreak and had set up isolation wards in two places.

The 2019-nCoV outbreak in China has put tremendous pressure on medical infrastructure across the world, including India which so far has three reported cases of the infection.

A senior Goa health department official said, currently, one person was in an isolation ward in GMCH for suspected exposure to the virus while 14 others were being monitored outside.

"I don't think there is any fear on coronavirus as far as Goa is concerned. Till date, there is no positive case of coronavirus reported in Goa. We have set up isolation wards at Chicalim (South Goa) and Goa Medical College and Hospital (North Goa)," Rane said.

He said a task force under chief secretary Parimal Rai is in place to oversee measures against the novel coronavirus outbreak, adding that his department was in touch via video- conferencing with health authorities at the Centre and other states.

The death toll in China's coronavirus outbreak has gone up to 908 with 97 new fatalities reported mostly in the worst-affected Hubei province and the confirmed cases of infection crossing 40,000, Chinese health officials said on Monday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hoag's Jeffrey M. Carlton Heart & Vascular Institute recently expanded its ability to manage and treat complex aortic pathology with the launch of the Hoag Clinic for Marfan Syndrome and Related Conditions. Hoag is one of only two hospitals in California to offer these services to the specialized care provided at the Elaine & Robert Matranga Aortic Center, recently named following a generous gift by the couple.

Aortic disease, especially in patients with connective tissue conditions, can lead to arterial rupture or dissection, which kills more than 15,000 people every year. Home to some of the most skilled surgeons, cardiologists and physician specialists, Hoag's comprehensive approach spans from active surveillance to leading-edge treatments such as valve-sparing aortic root replacement, descending thoracic aortic stent grafts or hybrid endovascular approaches. In addition, Hoag offers 24/7 emergency care services for acute aortic emergencies.

Hoag's newest team member, David Liang, M.D., Ph.D., leads the Marfan Syndrome and Related Conditions clinic as the program director. Dr. Liang is a specialist in the rare condition, Marfan syndrome, as well as other related connective tissue conditions. He is internationally recognized as an exceptional physician and dedicated patient advocate, as well as a member of The Marfan Foundation's Professional Advisory Board.

"Patients with Marfan syndrome or a related condition not only need to be closely monitored for aortic disease but also require specialty care in many other areas including orthopedics, physical therapy, pulmonology, pain management, and perinatology," explained Dr. Liang.

Hoag's network of compassionate and highly qualified physicians and nurses offers a multidisciplinary team to provide comprehensive care for rare or complex conditions.

"If you or a loved one is living with a connective tissue condition, you know that finding the care you need can be tough and coordinating between specialists can be tougher. We have created the Hoag Clinic for Marfan Syndrome & Related Conditions to help bring top-level doctors who understand your medical need to Southern California. Simply calling or emailing the center directly, you will be navigated to the right team member," said cardiothoracic surgeon Anthony Caffarelli, M.D., director of Hoag Cardiac Surgery, Elaine & Robert Matranga Aortic Center and the Newkirk Family Endowed Chair in Aortic Care.

"My role is to closely monitor and help patients manage their conditions. Despite active surveillance, many of our patients need to have aortic surgery. Partnering with a great cardiac program and surgical team will be a great service for patients in Southern California and the surrounding areas," said Dr. Liang.

Hoag's commitment to combining compassion with state-of-the-art facilities and superior physician talent has earned the Jeffrey M. Carlton Heart & Vascular Institute at Hoag a leading national reputation. Recently, the Society for Thoracic Surgeons rated Hoag's Cardiac Surgery Program 3 out of 3 stars for both coronary artery bypass grafting and aortic surgery  an achievement reached by only the top 1.8% of programs in the country.

"This partnership speaks volumes about the commitment we have made to our community to expand what we offer to include highly specialized doctors who can provide high-quality care for even the rarest diseases. We are very excited to have Dr. Liang here at Hoag," said Dr. Caffarelli.

Hoag is also collaborating with The Marfan Foundation to connect with leading researchers and community members in combating these conditions to support patients and families. On Saturday, February 29, 2020, Hoag will be the presenting sponsor of The Foundation's Southern California Walk for Victory. The walk brings together connective tissue condition patients from all over Southern California, allowing them to connect and further build a community of support. For more details, visit Marfan.org/WalkSoCal20.

ABOUT HOAG MEMORIAL HOSPITAL PRESBYTERIAN

Hoag is an approximately $1 billion nonprofit, regional health care delivery network in Orange County, California, that treats more than 30,000 inpatients and 450,000 outpatients annually. Hoag consists of two acute-care hospitals  Hoag Hospital Newport Beach, which opened in 1952, and Hoag Hospital Irvine, which opened in 2010  in addition to nine health centers and 14 urgent care centers. Hoag is a designated Magnet hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Hoag offers a comprehensive blend of health care services that includes five institutes providing specialized services in the following areas: cancer, heart and vascular, neurosciences, women's health, and orthopedics through Hoag's affiliate, Hoag Orthopedic Institute , which consists of an orthopedic hospital and two ambulatory surgical centers. Hoag has been named one of the Best Regional Hospitals in the 2019 - 2020 U.S. News & World Report, and Becker's Healthcare named Hoag as one of the 2018 "100 Great Hospitals in America"  a designation Hoag has received five times. For an unprecedented 23 years, residents of Orange County have chosen Hoag as one of the county's best hospitals in a local newspaper survey. Visit www.hoag.org for more information.

SOURCE Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian

Related Links

https://www.hoag.org


WINNEMUCCA, Nev., Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Paramount Gold Nevada Corp. (NYSE American: PZG) (Paramount) (the Company) announced today that Rachel Goldman, CDI.D, has joined the Company as Chief Executive Officer and a director. Paramounts Chairman of the Board, Rudi Fronk, said, The appointment of Ms. Goldman completes the formation of an Executive Leadership Team with the combined skills the Company needs to play a larger role in the US gold mining industry. Mr. Fronk is also Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Seabridge Gold Inc., one of Paramounts largest shareholders.



Paramount has assembled a large base of US gold resources and successfully advanced the highly prospective Grassy Mountain (Grassy) gold project in eastern Oregon through Pre-Feasibility and permitting. In mid-2019, the Company received its Conditional Use Permit from Malheur County to operate the underground mine and more recently the Water Appropriation Permit for the mine and processing facility from the Oregon Water Resource Department. Our next step is to get bigger. We see the potential to grow resources and reserves at our current projects, and when opportunities present themselves, to selectively consolidate and manage smaller gold projects in the US that do not have our established technical, financial expertise and access to capital. Ms. Goldmans wealth of experience in capital markets and the resource industry rounds out the team, noted Fronk.

In effect, we have created a three-person Executive Leadership Team with the ability to build or acquire a larger presence in our industry. The team includes our President and Chief Operating Officer, Glen Van Treek who leads technical services and is responsible for our permitting, exploration and development programs, and our Chief Financial Officer, Carlo Buffone, who is responsible for finance and compliance, said Fronk. This team has the capacity to evaluate, finance and execute projects at a time when gold is moving back into a more central role as a protector of private wealth, added Fronk.

Story continues

Commenting on her appointment, Ms. Goldman stated: I am thrilled to be joining the team at Paramount which has done an exceptional job of managing the permitting process for Oregons first modern gold mine. I look forward to helping the company get the recognition it deserves for what has been accomplished to date, as well as for the tremendous resource potential we have in Nevada, the worlds best mining jurisdiction.

Ms. Goldman brings 20 years of experience in institutional sales, most recently as Managing Director of Institutional Equity Sales for a major Canadian brokerage firm. In this role, she has raised hundreds of millions of dollars primarily for small-cap and natural resource issuers. She has developed close working relationships with more than 100 institutional investors, assisting portfolio managers and analysts to invest in resource equities. We think Rachels understanding of how markets analyze and value resource equities will make an important contribution to forming and executing our corporate strategy, said Fronk.

Current Update

Since acquiring Grassy in 2016, Paramount has focused a majority of its resources and efforts on advancing the project, a wholly-owned world-class gold deposit in Malheur County in eastern Oregon towards production. The Company has officially submitted its Consolidated Permit Application (Application) to the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) to enable the Company to build and operate its proposed, high-grade underground gold mine. The Application is now being reviewed by the DOGAMI and cooperating agencies for completeness. Under Oregon law, the State has 90 days for the completeness review of the Application. When the Application is deemed complete, the State will issue a notice to proceed with the evaluation stage of the process. The State then has 225 days to review the Application, complete environmental and socio-economic assessments, and issue draft permits. Following issuance of draft permits, the DOGAMI has a maximum of 140 days to complete the public process and issue the final permits.

Paramount has received final approval from Malheur County for all the required county permits including the key Conditional Use Permit. At the State level, Paramount has already received the Water Appropriation Permit and acceptance for 19 of the 23 critical baseline data reports, which were included in the Application. We are very confident that our application reflects a proposed mining operation that is environmentally responsible while offering the rural community of Malheur County substantial socio-economic benefits and much needed economic diversification. To date, our mine proposal has received very broad public support within the local community, said Glen Van Treek, Paramounts President.

As reported in June, Paramount has initiated a NI 43-101 Feasibility Study (Feasibility Study) for the Grassy Mountain Project. The Feasibility Study is well underway and being led by Ausenco Engineering Canada Inc. with expected completion in mid-2020. The permits and the Feasibility Study will provide the basis for Paramount to secure project financing for mine construction and operation.

To stay informed of future press releases, subscribe to our E-Alerts Program and to learn more about our projects visit the projects section of our website .

About Paramount Gold Nevada Corp.

Paramount Gold Nevada Corp. is a U.S. based precious metals exploration and development company. Paramounts strategy is to create shareholder value through exploring and developing its mineral properties and to realize this value for its shareholders in three ways: by selling its assets to established producers; entering into joint ventures with producers for construction and operation; or constructing and operating mines for its own account.

Paramount owns 100% of the Grassy Mountain Gold Project which consists of approximately 11,000 acres located on private and BLM land in Malheur County, Oregon. The Grassy Mountain Gold Project contains a gold-silver deposit (100% located on private land) for which results of a positive Pre-Feasibility Study have been released and key permitting milestones accomplished.

Paramount owns a 100% interest in the Sleeper Gold Project located in Northern Nevada, the worlds premier mining jurisdiction. The Sleeper Gold Project, which includes the former producing Sleeper mine, totals 2,322 unpatented mining claims (approximately 60 square miles or 15,500 hectares). The Sleeper gold project is host to a large gold deposit (over 4 million ounces of mineralized material) and the Company has completed and released a positive Preliminary Economic Assessment.

Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements

This release and related documents may include "forward-looking statements" and forward-looking information (collectively, forward-looking statements) pursuant to applicable United States and Canadian securities laws. Paramounts future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans or prospects constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other applicable securities laws. Words such as "believes," "plans," "anticipates," "expects," "estimates" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although these words may not be present in all forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements included in this news release include, without limitation, statements with respect to: statements with respect to future events or future performance; anticipated exploration, development, permitting and other activities on the Grassy Mountain project; the economics of the Grassy Mountain project, including the potential for improving project economics and finding more ore to extend mine life; and mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates. Forward-looking statements are based on the reasonable assumptions, estimates, analyses 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. Management believes that the assumptions and expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things: the conclusions made in the PFS; the quantity and grade of resources included in resource estimates; the accuracy and achievability of projections included in the PFS; Paramounts ability to carry on exploration and development activities, including construction; the timely receipt of required approvals and permits; the price of silver, gold and other metals; prices for key mining supplies, including labor costs and consumables, remaining consistent with current expectations; work meeting expectations and being consistent with estimates and plant, equipment and processes operating as anticipated. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: uncertainties involving interpretation of drilling results; environmental matters; the ability to obtain required permitting; equipment breakdown or disruptions; additional financing requirements; the completion of a definitive feasibility study for the Grassy Mountain project; discrepancies between actual and estimated mineral reserves and mineral resources, between actual and estimated development and operating costs and between estimated and actual production; and the other factors described in Paramounts disclosures as filed with the SEC and the Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta Securities Commissions.

Except as required by applicable law, Paramount disclaims any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this document.

Paramount Gold Nevada Corp.

Rudi Fronk, Chairman of the Board

Christos Theodossiou, Director of Corporate Communications

866-481-2233

Twitter: @ParamountNV
Thirty-four of the 37 people admitted in isolation wards in Maharashtra hospitals for suspected exposure to the novel coronavirus have been discharged after their samples tested negative for the infection, Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Monday.

The samples of these 37 people were sent for testing at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune.

In a release issued on Monday, the state health department said currently two people were in an isolation ward in Pune's Naidu Hospital and one in Sangli district hospital.

It said 23,350 people have been screened at the Mumbai International Airport since January 18, including 166 who arrived in the state from areas affected by the new strain of coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which has wreaked havoc in China.

"Of the 37 persons admitted in isolation facilities in the state on suspicion of coronavirus infection, 34 have been discharged. Last evening (Sunday), a person was admitted to the Naidu Hospital due to minor cold and cough," Tope said.

As per information shared by the state health department, all people coming from China's Wuhan city, the epicentre of the 2019-nCoV outbreak, have been isolated and tested for the virus as per Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare guidelines.

Those coming from affected areas are being monitored for a period of 14 days from arrival, and 72 of these 166 have completed the two-week follow-up, the state government release said.

Minister Tope asked people to contact state control room number 020-26127394 or toll free number 104 in case they had queries on the 2019-nCoV.

The death toll in China's coronavirus outbreak has gone up to 908 with 97 new fatalities reported mostly in the worst-affected Hubei province, Chinese health officials said on Monday.

The confirmed cases of the infection have crossed 40,000, they said.

The 2019-nCoV outbreak in China has put tremendous pressure on medical infrastructure across the world, including India which so far has three reported cases of the infection, all in the southern state of Kerala.

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.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Russia increased measures to combat the new virus first detected in China on Sunday despite only two cases being registered in the country after the outbreak.

Chinese students returning from vacations were placed under quarantine, unable to leave their rooms and served meals by dormitory staff.

Images aired on Russian broadcaster RU-RTR showed Chinese students locked in their dormitories in Primorsky Krai, a region which shares a border with China.

And just as in China, medical masks are in great demand in Russia's Primorsky Krai.

Most of the pharmacies of the region have run out of masks, and those who still have some in stock reportedly raised their prices drastically.

A factory in Sverdlovsk region produces 15,000 masks per shift, but this is still thought to be insufficient compared to demand.

Across Russia, mask production factories are unable to respond to the growing demand as they lack raw material coming from China, which is currently suffering from its own shortage.

A laboratory in the Chelyabinsk region produces isolation boxes designed for quarantining infected patients in both Russia and China.

Despite production lines starting work at 4 am, they are unable to respond to the growing demand.

On Saturday Russia delivered 23 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Wuhan, to help combat the viral outbreak that originated in the central Chinese city.

Russia and Uzbekistan have evacuated hundreds of people from China this week, most of them from Wuhan.

All trains connecting Russia to China and North Korea have been suspended and the Russian land border with China and Mongolia is closed.

Moscow has temporarily stopped issuing work visas to Chinese citizens, and Chinese students who had left for the New Year vacation have been asked not to resume their studies in Russian universities until 1 March.
Outgoing Boral boss Mike Kane says the company is a "better" business today than when he became chief executive in 2012, as he brought forward his departure from the beleaguered building materials giant.

Mr Kane's earlier than expected retirement came on a dramatic day of news from Boral including an update on the impact of financial irregularities in its North American Windows business, a profit warning and the damage to the company from the bushfires.

Boral boss Mike Kane will retire after the company reports its full year results later this year. Credit:Photo: Bradley Kanaris

Bushfires led to the closure of some Boral plants and the company was forced to buy water after some was diverted for firefighting and affected building activity. "That's why we wanted to give the market a heads up. As we turned the corner into the second half it was quite dire," Mr Kane said, adding that the impact worsened as the summer progressed.

The company said it was expecting lower reported EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) across its three divisions and was considering non-core asset divestments.
Slamming Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister over a photograph that portrays him standing close to Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez and Salman Khan at a recent event, BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya said that it shows the real character of Kamal Nath and Congress party.

"Film actors are being called in Indore. Does this country, the farmers, youth need IIFA? Kamal Nath jee needs it," said Vijayvargiya while addressing a gathering here on Monday. He said that the State government has failed to fulfill the promises made to the people.

"It is written 'Kamar'(waist) Nath here instead of Kamal Nath. This shows his character. In India, we consider women like a goddess. But look at the sight, the hand of Chief Minister of this state, where they are going? This is the character of this government and Congress party."

On February 3, the Office of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister had tweeted: "Held a press conference with Salman Khan and Jacqueline Fernandez in Bhopal's Minto Hall on IIFA 2020 which is going to be held in Madhya Pradesh this year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hong Kong: No mask supply, price curb: Gov't

The Government said it currently has no plans to mandatorily curb the supply and price of surgical masks through legislation.

It made the statement in response to media enquiries on the topic tonight, saying that mandatory control could be counterproductive, rather than addressing the problem of inadequate supply.

It noted that given experts' assessment that the virus may last for a period of time and that there are confirmed cases in various countries and regions, the demand for surgical masks has risen sharply, causing difficulties in procurement.

As the supply of surgical masks is tight in the short run, the Government explained that it is more pragmatic to strive to increase supplies and manage the demand.

The Government added that it has adopted a multi-pronged approach to obtain masks and other protective items globally through different channels and means.

These include the Government Logistics Department procuring directly from suppliers, through Hong Kong Economic & Trade Offices referrals and individual sources.

The Government stressed that it prioritises the distribution of such stock in accordance with the risk level.

Priority is given to healthcare workers and personnel providing care and essential services as well as employees handling the public such as those in public transport and emergency and immigration services.

As the Government additionally explores local production prospects, the Correctional Services Department has increased its production volume.

The Government is also maintaining close contact with members of local chambers of commerce and the retail industry and collaborating with Mainland authorities to facilitate clearance to speed up their delivery to the market.

It called on the public to go out less often and reduce social contact in accordance with experts' advice.

Although surgical masks can effectively prevent the spread of virus, people should also exercise good personal hygiene, the Government emphasised.

This story has been published on: 2020-02-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Berlin: Swiss voters have approved by a wide margin a measure that will make it illegal to discriminate against people because of their sexual orientation.

Switzerland's Parliament in late 2018 approved expanding the country's existing anti-discrimination law to make it illegal to publicly denigrate, discriminate or stir up hatred based on a person's sexual orientation.

Opponents of the move insisted it violated people's right to freedom of opinion and gathered enough signatures to force a referendum on the issue. Switzerland holds referendums several times a year that give voters a direct say in policy- making.

Voters on Sunday supported outlawing anti-gay discrimination by a margin of 63.1 per cent to 36.9 per cent, an outcome roughly in line with pre-referendum expectations. Of Switzerland's 26 cantons (states), only three - Appenzell-Innerrhoden, Schwyz and Uri - had majorities vote against it.

Under the measure, operators of restaurants, cinemas and public facilities such as swimming pools will not be able to turn people away because of their sexual orientation.
They have been dating on and off for more than five years.

And Gerard Butler and girlfriend Morgan Brown looked smitten as they arrived at the 92nd annual Academy Awards at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre on Sunday.

The 300 actor, 50, and his glamorous love put on a cosy display as they held hands and posed for photographers.

Smitten: Gerard Butler and girlfriend Morgan Brown looked smitten as they arrived at the 92nd annual Academy Awards at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre on Sunday

Gerard looked handsome in a midnight blue suit with black lapels, worn with a black silk shirt and bow tie as he attended.

The Scottish star wore his brunette locks in a quiffed style and sported a light smattering of stubble.

Morgan showcased her toned figure in a striking scarlet asymmetric gown with elaborate lace detail.

The dress cinched in at her slender waist and featured a daring thigh-split which revealed her honed legs.

Gerard attended the Academy Awards to represent his film How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, which is nominated in the Animated Feature category.

Wow: The 300 actor, 50, and his glamorous love put on a cosy display as they held hands and posed for photographers

The A-lister and the statuesque beauty have been dating on-and-off for more than five years, with their initial joint outing coming in September of 2014 in Malibu, California.

They parted ways in November of 2016, Page Six reported, with a source telling the outlet it was difficult for the 300 actor to remain in a relationship as 'girls throw themselves at him.

'Its hard for him to constantly say, "No. Get away from me. I have a girlfriend,"' the source added.

The Den of Thieves star and Brown were on-and-off in 2017, with a July beach excursion in Tulum, Mexico, followed by a split that fall, People reported.

Dapper: Gerard looked handsome in a midnight blue suit with black lapels, worn with a black silk shirt and bow tie as he attended

But things renewed between Brown and the Scottish star by last October, according to Page Six, describing an intimate dinner between the couple at New York City's Omar at Vaucluse.

While 'Butler had every woman in the room cranking her neck to try to catch his eye,' he was solely focused on Brown, the source said.

The couple was snapped together this past August looking happy at the Los Angeles premiere of his film Angel Has Fallen.

Butler has past been romantically linked to actresses Jennifer Aniston and Madalina Diana Ghenea, French TV host Laurie Cholewa, and reality star Brandi Glanville.

Hollywood's awards season reaches its climax tonight, with a cliffhanger over the top prize after a season marked by dark horses, renewed anguish over diversity, and a South Korean underdog that could snatch victory from the biggest names in show business.

While dark comic book movie Joker goes into the ceremony with a leading 11 nominations, it's the immersive World War One movie 1917 that has emerged as the film to beat in the best picture race after winning a slew of accolades in the last five weeks.

Animated: The star put on an animated display on the red carpet as he posed

Yet a win for 1917 is far from a foregone conclusion, with South Korean social satire Parasite and sentimental favorite Once Upon a Time in Hollywood from Quentin Tarantino also jostling for attention from the 8,000 voters of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Korean-language film Parasite seems certain to take the renamed best international feature Oscar and would make history if the black comedy about haves and have-nots in modern Seoul also takes home the best picture statuette.

Martin Scorsese's mob saga The Irishman seems to have lost momentum despite lavish early praise and a cast that includes Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci. But it has failed to take home major acting or directing awards this season, likely dashing Netflix's best hope so far of picking up its first best picture Oscar.

The best director category, a controversially all-male affair, is equally hard to call according to Oscar pundits, with a lineup featuring Sam Mendes (1917), Scorsese, Todd Phillips (Joker), Tarantino and Bong Joon Ho (Parasite).

Some races appear to be already locked up. Brad Pitt has never won an acting award, but he has charmed awards audiences with his witty speeches and supporting actor performance as a laid-back stunt double in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Joaquin Phoenix has dominated best actor prizes for his terrifying portrayal of an isolated loner in Joker, while Renee Zellweger seems to have locked up best actress for playing an aging Judy Garland in Judy.

A win by Zellweger would defeat Harriet star Cynthia Erivo, the only person of color in the acting lineup that has renewed the #OscarsSoWhite furor despite four years of efforts to diversify the academy's membership.

Taking place without a host for the second year, Oscar organizers have given few details of the ceremony, other than to announce live performances by original song contenders Elton John, Idina Menzel, Randy Newman, Chrissie Metz and Erivo.

Five-time Grammy winner Billie Eilish will also take the stage for what is billed as a special performance that could see her debut her theme song for the upcoming James Bond movie No Time to Die.
File Photo: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, center, presides during the Joint Armed Forces of the Philippines-Philippine National Police (AFP-PNP) Command Conference at the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila, Philippines. (King Rodriguez/Malacanang Presidential Photographers Division via AP)

By Cecilia Yap and Jeff Kearns

President Rodrigo Duterte plans to order the termination of a longstanding military pact with the U.S., the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported, though the U.S. State Department reiterated that relations between the nations remain strong.

The Inquirer report, citing presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo, follows Dutertes threat in January to end the agreement after Washington canceled a visa for a senator who used to lead his drug war.

Such a move could upend the decades-long alliance as Beijing continues its rise as a military power from the contested waters of the South China Sea to nations across Asia. The threat hasnt been officially confirmed by the government. The U.S. has been seeking to reassure allies in Southeast Asia of its commitment to the region.

A State Department official said in an emailed statement on Saturday that the U.S.-Philippine alliance remains a cornerstone of U.S. efforts to promote a free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific region, citing comments by Secretary Michael Pompeo and Pentagon chief Mark Esper on their visits to Manila last year.

The U.S. alliance with the Philippines is its oldest in the region and remains as important as ever, the official said, without directly addressing the Inquirer report.

Duterte has made threats in the past to scale down Manilas security relations with Washington, and hes never followed through, said Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Program at Washington-based Wilson Center. The reality is that the Philippines may seek Chinas economic largess, but theres no substitute for the U.S. defense umbrella.

Since becoming president in 2016, Duterte has repeatedly threatened to break up the Southeast Asian nations alliance with the U.S., while warming ties with China. He previously warned of canceling military agreement with the U.S. due to deferred aid.

Manilas Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin will be instructed to officially inform the U.S. government that the Southeast Asian nation will terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement, Panelo was quoted as saying by the Daily Inquirer. The pact sets the terms for U.S. military personnel operating in the Philippines.

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Yet, Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Saturday that there are no official orders so far to Cabinet officials to notify the U.S. on ending the military agreement. Panelo didnt reply to requests for comments.

Locsin told a Senate hearing on Thursday that terminating the pact will negatively impact defense and economic ties between the two nations.

Esper said in November that the U.S. remains committed to the treaty that binds it to aid the Philippines in case of an armed attack, adding that the pact applies to the South China Sea. He said at a media briefing that American forces are conducting more patrols to signal to China that it intends to maintain freedom in a crucial area for global trade.

Pompeo said last year that the mutual defense treaty with the Philippines would apply if its vessels or planes were attacked in the South China Sea.

 2020 Bloomberg L.P.
With Counting Day for the Delhi Assembly elections on Wednesday, the stakes are high for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The result will not only chart the course for partys role in Delhi politics, but will also be a matter of prestige.

The party could win only three seats in the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections, less than a year after it stormed into power at the Centre when it won a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha with 267 seats. Last year, it bettered that feat, winning 303 seats  including all seven from Delhi  in the Lok Sabha.

Just how important Delhi is to the BJP can be gauged by the aggressive, hyper-local campaign focused on nationalism which was micromanaged by Union home minister Amit Shah.

It is an important election for the party as we have been out of power for 21 years. The fact Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda campaigned in all the assembly segments and micromanaged the election is proof enough how important this election is for the party, said a senior BJP leader, requesting anonymity.

Along with the two top leaders, close to 200 MPs and former and current chief ministers from BJP-ruled states campaigned aggressively for nearly two weeks starting January 23. The party held close to 5,200 rallies, roadshows, public meetings, corner meetings, booth-level meetings in 70 constituencies. Nadda and Shah covered 70 and 60 assembly segments respectively, while the Prime Minister Narendra Modi held two rallies in East and West Delhi in the last leg of campaigning.

In the last four days of campaigning, the BJP deputed its MPs in all the assembly segments and were given the charge of two to three slum clusters where the party is hoping to make a dent in Aam Aadmi Partys (AAPs) support base.

While the BJP started its campaign on the agenda of development and sought public support by pushing for a triple engine government  BJP controls the central government and all three municipalities of Delhi  it later switched to nationalism targeting the protest against the new citizenship law at Shaheen Bagh, and the opposition of encouraging them.

Shah had said, Press the (EVM) with such anger that the current is felt in Shaheen Bagh. BJP MPs Parvesh Verma and Anurag Thakur, who is minister of state in the finance ministry, made inflammatory statements and chanted slogans for which they were banned from campaigning by the Election Commission.

Senior BJP leaders say that the ruling AAPs failure to deliver on its promises was also a key election issue. Nationalism, especially the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), was one of the many issues we had raised. The result will be a statement in AAPs non-performance. It has failed to curb pollution and provide clean drinking water, said Vijay Goel, Rajya Sabha MP and former BJP chief.

BJP leaders dismiss exit polls in Delhi that showed the AAP returning to power with a comfortable majority.

We will get 48 seats and form the next government. Please dont make an excuse and blame the EVMs, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari had tweeted.

On Monday he said, The polling picked up in the second half and exit polls have not factored it in. These exit polls will be proved wrong. We are confident of forming the government.

Delhi BJP in-charge Shyam Jaju, too, said that the party had the support of the middle-class and was successful in making a dent in AAPs support base in unauthorised colonies. When there was an AAP wave, we retained our vote share. This time things are in our favour. The Centres decision to give ownership rights has helped us make a dent in AAPs stronghold, said Jaju.

Biswajit Mohanty, professor of political science at Deshbandhu college and state coordinator for CSDS-Lokniti, said, If the BJP doesnt win this election, it will clearly indicate that people have rejected their hyper-nationalism campaign and how such issues have no place in the political landscape of Delhi. The AAP has kept its campaign focused on development. If AAP wins, then it means people of Delhi are against divisive politics and only want good governance and better quality of life.
Paula Pottle, senior vice president of a bank, attended Shen Yun Performing Arts in Charlotte, North Carolina on Feb. 9, 2020, at the Belk Theater at Blumenthal Performing Arts Center. (NTD Television)

CHARLOTTE, N.C.Gratitude and good fortune: thats the feeling that great art leaves in us, the sense of being enriched, of having become better after seeing it. While many such transcendent artistic experiences are housed in places like the Louvre or Versailles, there is one based in New York that travels the world, delivering exactly that feeling to theatergoers like Paula Pottle of North Carolina, the senior vice president of a bank.

[Shen Yun] was wonderful. Its beautiful. Its visually absolutely stunning. I love how the dancers float on the stage. Its just beautiful. Its a beautiful performance, Pottle said after seeing New York-based Shen Yun at the Belk Theater at Blumenthal Performing Arts Center in Charlotte, North Carolina on Feb. 9, 2020.

Im very lucky I got a chance to see this  and I think the mission is wonderful: to open this door to people who may not have seen or known anything about [true Chinese culture], she added.

Shen Yuns mission is to revive Chinas 5,000 years of civilization through ancient and expressive art forms such as classical Chinese dance, bel canto singing, couture costumes, and more. But the most important aspect of traditional Chinese culture, found in Shen Yun, is its spiritual essence. Shen Yuns roughly 20 short vignettes depict the divinely-inspired culture and even ancient legends about heavenly beings coming to earth and interacting with people.

For Pottle, Shen Yun was a cultural experience that offered delights for the senses and the soul.

The colors, all of the colors of the costumes, its beautiful. And the ancient Chinese stories brought to life. Its just wonderful, she said.

Its beautiful. Its visually absolutely stunning. I love how the dancers float on the stage. Its just beautiful. Its a beautiful performance, she added.

Pottle felt that Shen Yuns content is relevant to todays modern world.

I think there is a lot to be learned from historical or ancient stories for sure, applicable today. I think some of the stories [in Shen Yun] tell you about how good conquers evil, thats for sure. That would be one of the messages, Pottle said.

Follow your heart is another such message Pottle drew from the performance, this time from a specific dance story about a Taoist master and disciple who took a leap of faith. Very, very enjoyable and a wonderful story, Pottle asserted.

Charlotte audience members were treated to a special solo performance in Shen Yun by erhu player Lu Sun. The piece she played is titled Roaming Without a Care. Pottle thoroughly enjoyed this rare opportunity.

Oh, yes, thats fantastic [the erhu], yes, thats great. It was  you hear it, you recognize it, but I have never seen it played live, so it was wonderful, she said.

According to Shen Yuns website, The erhu is incredibly expressive, capable of imitating sounds from chirping birds to neighing horses.  In its lowest and middle range, the erhu is especially stirring and somber, a quality eminently suitable for conveying the grand pageant of Chinas history and the emotions of its people.

Pottles overall impression is that Shen Yun was visually elegant and the music is also wonderful.

I would absolutely recommend it and its a wonderful, wonderful performance. I enjoyed it, she added.

With reporting by NTD Television and Brett Featherstone.

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.
Narration: An anti-government protest broke out in Iran after the downing of the Ukrainian airliner by the Irianian forces, it stood in stark contrast with the massive mourning of Soleimani a few days before. How do the Iranian people really feel?

Negar Mortazavi: Its a very diverse and right now a very polarized country.

Simone Gao: So do you think Iran is on the verge of another revolution that could topple the regime?

Steve Bannon: its not going to happen overnight. But youre seeing a new day dawn.

Narration: Soleimani was killed by American drone strikes, but who had been funding Irans terrorist operations?

Mr. Bannon: To me, the decisive factor there is the Chinese communist party because thats whats essentially keeping them alive.

Ms. Gao: So I think the worry is if the US gets dragged into regime change and nation building again, it wont have enough energy to deal with the CCP challenge.

Mr. Bannon: I will tell you that President Trump will not get into nation building again.

Title: Soleimanis Death: A Dilemma for China

Host: Welcome to Zooming In. Im Simone Gao. Three weeks after a US drone strike killed Qasem Soleimani, the top commander of Irans foreign operations and the Quds Force, the US-Iran tensions are coming to a halt. Irans limited response came in the form of a barrage of missiles fired at U.S. bases in Iraq resulting no Iraqi or American deaths. The missiles were seen as a face-saving act designed to avoid escalation. Yet tensions within Iran have since escalated. Thousands came out to protest the governments shooting down of a commercial airliner. They even called for the removal of the supreme leader. Is Iran on the verge of a revolution? Will America be dragged into another regional war? And what does China stand to benefit and lose from all of these? We explore these questions in todays episode of Zooming In.

Part One: Is Iran on Verge of a Revolution

Narration: On Jan. 11, after three days of denial, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) finally admitted that it had shot down a Ukrainian plane killing all 176 passengers aboard in a disastrous mistake.

Among the passengers killed, 130 held Iranian nationality.

Since January 11, protestors and mourners have poured into the streets and universities of Tehran, as well as several other cities.

Protesters chanted Where is justice? and called for the removal of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (Footage)

The anti-regime protests came in sharp contrast to the helicopter footage that showed huge crowds gathering in Iranian cities to mourn the death of Soleimani.

According to Iranian state TV, a million mourners marched onto the streets, weeping and holding portraits of Soleimani who was seen as a hero that defended Iran during the Iran-Iraq war.

Ironically, this hero was the same man who oversaw the deaths of more than 1,500 anti-regime protesters who demonstrated last November. Security forces including Soleimanis Revolutionary Guards orchestrated the crackdown.

I spoke with Iranian American journalist Negar Mortazavi at a recent Arab Center event in Washington DC to find out how the Iranian people really feel.

Ms. Mortazavi: Well, theres not one view. Its a very diverse and right now a very polarized country of course. Soleimani belonged to the revolutionary guard, which was the hardliners. He was a very controversial figure when it comes to the view of the population. Part of the population is a fan of the core hardline base of the regime and part of the population hates IRGC.

Ms. Gao: What are the proportions?

Ms. Mortazavi: Its hard to say there are no polls, but we know from the past two presidential elections that the majority voted for a moderate president. So there were hardliners running in the election and they didnt win the majority of the vote. But is it an even split? I dont think so. Is it a much bigger difference? Probably not. But again, um, some polling has shown that Qasem Soleimani was a fairly popular figure because as I explained in my talk, he was a commander who fought ISIS, the Islamic state, which was every Iranians nightmare. So not because of his other regional activities in Syria and Iraq, so many atrocities, but because of fighting this big enemy of the Iranian people, his support was beyond just a hardline base, this specific figure. So yes, you, we saw millions of people actually coming to this sheet to, and not only for his memorial, but also to condemn what they see as an aggression or as an escalation from the US that could lead to a potential war.

So there was this anti-war sentiment, also in Iranian street. And then at the same time there were anti government protests in November. And then just right now with the Downing of the civilian plane again by the IRGC was a major disaster, PR disaster, catastrophe, human disaster by the IRGC that people are protesting. So these forces are weighing in. Of course, when you come for the funeral for Qasem Soleimani, you have the safety, you have the security because its pro regime. When youre protesting the hardliners, youre basically risking your life, putting yourself in danger. So were going to see a smaller number that would actually exist. Um, but theres these, you know, competing forces in the country for sure.

Narration: According to media reports, the regime launched a massive effort to mobilize as many people as possible for the funeral (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51015795). It shut down government offices and schools, rallying students and demanding that government officials come out with their families. Free transportation was provided to round up scattered participants across the country.

Host: Steve Bannon was a young naval officer in the late 70s who was sent to Iran during the Iranian hostage crisis. He told me there is definitely a change in terms of how the Iranian people look at America.

Mr. Bannon: Ive been there for a long time. I think heres the huge difference. The most important thing of those protests last week was not simply the burning of the picture of General Soleimani. They had the American flag and they had the flag of Israel that the regime had put down for people to stomp on, painted on the floor as they usually do, and the young millennials avoided it.

They would not step on the American flag. They would not step on the Israeli flag. They said, our problem here thats holding us back from our freedom is not the United States, Its not Donald Trump. It is people like General Soleimani, Its Khamenei, the Supreme leader of the Islamic Republic. It is the Mullahs that have taken away their freedom, just like its the CCP in China. Remember, the Chinese people are the most hardworking, decent people on earth. This is not about the American people versus the Chinese people, this is not even about America versus China. The Chinese Communist Party, the CCP uses China and its people as an instrument for its own self-gratification and the building of its own wealth. So I think youre starting to see the people, whether its in Beirut against Hezbollah, whether its in Hong Kong against the CCP, whether its in Taiwan against the CCP, whether its in Tehran against the Mullahs, youre seeing people, and particularly young people say, I dont want to do this anymore. And I dont want to hear their lies. What I want. I want them gone. I want Liberty, I want freedom. I want the rule of law. And I want capitalism.

Ms. Gao: So do you think Iran is on the verge of another revolution that could topple the regime?

Mr. Bannon: Listen, I think over time. Clearly the brutal repression youre going to see isI think theres 1500 demonstrators that have been killed in the month of November and December. Theres obviously going to be brutal repression like theres brutal repression in Hong Kong, like theres brutal repression in mainland China, in these big cities when anybody tries to get up to protest. So its not going to happen overnight. But youre seeing a new day dawn, right? Youre seeing a new day Dawn.

Bumper: Coming up, is massive military operation, nation building behind us? What is President Trumps Middle East strategy after all?

Part 2: U.S. Policy Towards Iran

Narration: Following Irans admission to accidentally shooting down the commercial jet, angry protesters in Iran were met with tear gas and brutal arrests. (Footage)

While Iranian police denied firing at protesters, social media videos appeared to record gunshots and pools of blood in the streets of Tehran.

President Trump tweeted on Jan. 12, calling on the leaders of Tehran to stop killing protesters.

A day before, Trump also tweeted in both Farsi and English that his administration is closely following the protests.

Ms. Gao: As you said, President Trump tweeted in Farsi and English in support of the protestors saying, Iran, you cannot have a massacre against the protesters and do not shut down your internet. It seems like the president is engaging the Iranian people and also separating the people and the regime. Do you think thats a good move?

Mr. Bannon: I think because he speaksI think just like here in the United States where he had aremember he had a direct connection to working class people in this country that the elites had kind of abandoned and didnt think about anymore. As president Trumps going around and giving those rally speeches where hes just very, right to the heart. He understands this, I think he understands whats going on in Taiwan, I think he understands whats going on in Hong Kong. I think he understands whats going on in Tehran. So I think youll see more of this. I just think Farsi was so unexpected, right? Peoples heads here are blowing up and clearly the Mullahs understand that President Trump is watching this. The leadership in Tehran, these radical Mullahs that have kind of suppressed the people in Iran, and particularly in Tehran ought to understand, president Trump already took out one of your generals with a drone strike. Okay? He was vaporized. And now hes communicating via modern social media directly to the protesters in the streets. They should be very worried.

Ms. Gao: Talking about the potential Iranian retaliation. How do you compare the mindset Ali Khamenei and Osama bin Laden? Would Khamenei be contemplating something like a 911 against America on American soil?

Mr. Bannon: Look, Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world. State-Sponsored terrorism. This is what they are. It was the Mullahs in Tehran that took our 52 hostages in 1979 and kept them for what, a year? Almost a year. Theyre also the ones that take credit for blowing up the Marine barracks in Lebanon in 1983. So theyve been engaged in war with the United States, to take as many casualties as possible for what, 40 some years or almost 50 years. And theyre adamant all the time that Americas the great Satan America is the devil. America has to be destroyed. This is not language Donald Trump or Steve Bannon or other allies of freedom and democracy and the rule of law are saying. This comes from their own lips. The other day they said, America has to be destroyed and that American is the great enemy.

So we always have to be on watch. We had to be on watch with ISIS. But remember, president Trump destroyed the physical caliphate within one year. Mosul, Raqqa, the whole physical caliphate. They had 8 million people enslaved. They had oil fields, had tax revenues, they were recruiting what, 20,000 people a month out of Europebeheading peopleputting Christians in cages like animals and then beheading them. Torturing Muslims that didnt agree with them. And he killed al-Baghdadi with a drone strike. He understands and I think thats why America is on guard. And at the first movement that general Soleimani was planning on something on the embassy And people in your listening audience ought to understand that what Trump said is No more Benghazis. No Benghazis on his watch, and hes also going to be proactive. And if youre on the terror watch list, you better be concerned. Instead of worrying about killing Americans or Europeans or other Muslims in the middle East, you ought to be concerned about your own life because if youre on the terror watch list, president Trump is going to come after you.

Host: Nevertheless, President Trump was heavily criticized for lacking justification to kill Soleimani and risked dragging America once again into a regional war. Will that happen? How does President Trump compare to President Bush when it comes to the Middle East policy? I spoke with retired Air Force Brigadier General Robert Spalding, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, about this. Lets take a listen.

Robert Spalding: I would say the difference between the two is that president Trump is far less likely to want to get entangled in a long conflicts or even to want to use military force. He could have used military force when the Saudis were there or oil fields were bombed by the Iranians. He could have used military force when shipping was attacked in the Persian Gulf by the Iranians. So theres been several times, or even when the U.S. Drone was shot down over international waters in the Persian Gulf, any of those times he would have been justified in using military force you know, to retaliate against Iran. Nevertheless, he chose not to and has been quite measured in his response in terms of using military force as opposed to president Bush, which was obviously, of course he had to deal with nine 11, but also was very willing to use military force and actually quite heavily.

Bumper: Coming up, what are Chinas stakes in the Middle East? Stay tuned.

Part 3: Chinas Dilemma

Narration: Over the past two years, Chinas expansive global ambitions have led to a major foreign policy shift in the Trump administration, who is now focused on the China threat.

Following Soleimanis death, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson urged the US to remain calm and exercise restraint to avoid further escalation of tensions, adding that the stability and peace in the Middle East gulf region should be maintained.

China is Irans top trading partner and was also its largest buyer of crude oil prior to US sanctions on Iranian oil, which took effect in May 2019. Despite US sanctions, China continued to import oil from Iran, though in much smaller volumes.

In recent months, a large share of Iranian oil flowed to China via the UAE (United Arab Emirates) and Malaysia, both of which are popular hubs for ship-to-ship transfers.

China was also offloading Iranian oil from its bonded storage in Dalian, located in the north of the country.

Last September, the Trump administration imposed new sanctions on Chinese entities and individuals transferring oil from Iran in violation of Washingtons embargo.

On Jan 10, prior to the signing of the US-China phase one trade deal, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Fox News that China has effectively cut its state purchases of Iranian crude to zero.

In recent years, Iran has expanded as a trading hub linking East and West, thanks to Chinas Belt & Road Initiative.

Iran finds itself strategically at the center of Chinas geopolitical plans.

During President Xis landmark visit to Tehran in January 2016, China agreed to deepen its strategic relationship with the Islamic Republic over the course of 10 years by raising the level of ChinaIran bilateral trade to $600 billion.

Host: During the past two decades when the U.S. was trapped in the Middle East quagmire, China experienced the greatest expansion economically, politically, and militarily. Via its Belt and Road initiative, the Middle East becomes an important part of Chinas global ambition. Unlike the United States, China exerts its influence through economic means in the region. Where is China in this renewed conflict between America and Iran? And If America once again got tied up in the Middle East war, would that diffuse its energy that should be focused on China? I asked Steve Bannon these questions.

Ms. Gao: So I think the worry is if the US gets dragged into regime change and nation building again, it wont have enough energy to deal with the CCP challenge.

Mr. Bannon: I will tell you that President Trump will not get into nation building again.

Realize that he continues to talk about the $7 trillion that we spent in the middle East already. Hes actually saying that we need to restructure our relationship with Afghanistan. What hes going to do is confront these regimes, particularly where we have the high ground in technology, capital markets, currency and trade, right? (Hell) Use economic and information warfare to really change their behaviors. I dont know if hes so much into regime change as (he is into) dramatic change of their behaviors. That is what youre starting to see. Youre already seeing in the streets of Tehran where the young people are coming and supporting president Trump. The riots that Soleimani, the 1500 that they arrested a few weeks ago or actually killed I think over the last couple of weeks has come from Soleimani and the Republican guard, to put these protests down. So president Trumps very savvy. Thats why he did a drone strike, a surgical drone strike to take out General Soleimani and remember some of the top leadership in the Shiite militias (as well).

So president Trumps not going tohes too savvy and he understands. He does not want an overburden of commitments in the Middle East because hes very focused on whats happening in China.

Host: Trumps intention for Iran is clear: He is not for massive military operations or nation building, but he doesnt mind a regime change either, if thats what the Iranian people want. For the Chinese Communist Party, the US-Iran tension presents a dilemma. It might seem as an opportunity to drive the US attention away from itself. But any dramatic destabilization in the region could potentially jeopardize Chinas expansion scheme. More importantly, Soleimanis elimination is a reality check for the CCP that America is willing and able to remove bad actors to restore order. Thanks for watching Zooming In. Im Simone Gao. See you next time.
Lindsey Graham might not have been supposed to say this. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Yesterday, Senator Lindsey Graham appeared on Face the Nation and blurted out an apparent confession of what, if true, would be a scandal of Nixonian proportions. Graham reported he had spoken with Attorney General William Barr that morning. The Department of Justice is receiving information coming out of the Ukraine from Rudy, he reported, explaining that Barr told me that theyve created a process that Rudy could give information and they would see if its verified.

Graham explained why, in his opinion, this state of affairs is appropriate: Rudy Giuliani is a well-known man. Hes a crime fighter. Hes loyal to the president. Hes a good lawyer. On the contrary, he is describing an arrangement that is not only the appearance of a conflict of interest but a massive abuse on its face.

First, Giuliani is not a government official. He is representing Donald Trump as an individual, a fact he has made perfectly clear. He boasted to the New York Times last May that he was seeking to uncover information will be very, very helpful to my client, and may turn out to be helpful to my government. The distinction between will and may was Rudys open acknowledgement that he was looking out for Trump, not the U.S. government, and that the interests of the two might not be the same. He was even more clear in a letter to Ukrainian President Zelensky, which his former partner, Lev Parnas, produced. The letter stated Giuliani was representing Trump as a private citizen, not as President of the United States:

Photo: House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

So, can any private citizen have their lawyer send allegations to Barr? What is this special process he created to let Rudy supply him with allegations? Is it a 1-800 number, a drop box, or what? Has Barr told the Democratic candidates how the process works so they can have their lawyers feed their own leads to him?

The second problem here is that Giuliani is not only representing a presidential candidate as his personal client. He is working in close contact with foreign partners who have a combination of personal interests and foreign-policy goals that do not line up with U.S. interests. He has not disclosed who is paying him for his work, but he was paid half a million dollars by Parnas, who was in turn paid by Dymtro Firtash, a Russian oligarch whose work tends to advance Russian foreign-policy interests. This raises the strong possibility that Giuliani is effectively a paid backchannel for Russian propaganda, and he now has a special line into the Department of Justice.

Third, Giuliani himself is the reported subject of a criminal investigation. Two of his partners have already been arrested, and the Department of Justice is reportedly pursuing the possibility of charges against Giuliani as well. (He allegedly pursued his own profit-making scheme in Ukraine, and seems to have committed campaign finance violations, by funneling foreign donations to Republican allies.)

Normally, people who are being investigated by the DOJ dont have a special back channel that lets them feed allegations of their own to the attorney general. I am pretty sure that, if the DOJ opened up an investigation of me, and arrested two of my partners as they tried to leave the country with one-way tickets, I couldnt just open up my own back channel to their boss.

Graham defends this on the grounds that Giuliani is a crime fighter, a label Trump himself has used. But there is no crime fighter badge that lets you go into private practice with a bunch of crooks, and have your allegations given special attention by the authorities. Or, at least, there shouldnt be.

Now, just because Graham confessed this gigantic scandal doesnt mean the confession is true. Graham is, um, a complicated figure. He might be lying about what Barr told him, or Barr might have been lying to him.

The Department of Justice refused to comment on Grahams statement, though. This seems like the kind of transparent violation the leading law enforcement agency ought to be able to say is not happening and cannot happen. (If Hillary Clintons ally said in 2016 the attorney general had a special process to let her private lawyer feed dirt on Trump to the Department of Justice, there is a 100 percent chance the department would insist this was false.) That DOJ cannot even deny an obvious abuse is a sign things have gotten pretty far out of hand.

Update: Barr confirmed today that the Department has established an intake process, because it has an obligation to have an open door to anybody. But if it has an obligation to have an open door to anybody, hasnt that open door always existed? Why did Barr have to establish a new one?
Donald Trump's campaign call for all Muslims to be barred from entering the United States has morphed over the past three years into a complex web of travel and immigration restrictions placed, to varying degrees, on 7% of the world's population.

The big picture: While most eyes were on impeachment and Iowa, President Trump recently extended restrictions to six additional countries  widening the ban and ignoring the massive outcry it has created.

Driving the news: The Trump administration recently announced restrictions on permanent immigration for people from Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Eritrea, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania.

While Myanmar has a relatively small Muslim population (4%), the populations of the other five are between 30% Muslim (Tanzania) and 86% (Kyrgyzstan), according to the Pew Research Center.

Unlike previous iterations of Trump's travel ban, the new policy will still allow all short-term travel to the U.S.

It could still have detrimental impacts on families and economies  particularly in Nigeria, as the New York Times reported.

Flashback: Trump first announced a travel ban  labeled by many as a "Muslim ban"  in his first week in office.

It would have barred entry to refugees and immigrants from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen  all Muslim-majority countries.

Mass chaos and large protests followed in airports across the country as refugees and travelers who had just arrived were told to return to their home countries.

The ban was temporarily blocked by a federal court, which began a more than year-long struggle between federal judges and the administration.

In June 2018, the Supreme Court upheld an amended version of Trump's ban.

The final version blocked most immigrants and many travelers from Iran, Libya, Somalia, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen.

It's had a dramatic impact. Between 2017 and 2018, the number of permanent visas given every month to nationals of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen fell by 72%, according to Migration Policy Institute (MPI).

Collectively, those countries are more than 92% Muslim.

Short-term visas granted to Iranians fell from 1,650 per month in FY 2017 to 501 the following year, according to MPI.

The backstory: Trump reacted to the deadly shooting in San Bernardino, Calif. in December 2015 by promoting false stories about Muslims celebrating on 9/11, mocking Hillary Clinton for refusing to use the term "radical Islamic," and then proposing the Muslim ban.

Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.

 Trump on Dec. 7, 2015 at a rally in South Carolina

Trump's proposal was condemned by rivals in both parties but broadly popular with Republican primary voters. He shifted to a call for "extreme vetting" ahead of the general election.

The bottom line: Trump has not blocked all Muslims from entering America  not even close.

But you can draw a straight line from his campaign promise to the immigration policies his administration is now implementing.

Go deeper: The world's Muslims are facing unprecedented repression
NEW YORK (AP)  A gunman was arrested after he ambushed police officers in the Bronx twice in 12 hours, authorities said, wounding two in attacks that brought outrage from officials who blamed the violence on an atmosphere of anti-police rhetoric.

Robert Williams, 45, of the Bronx, was captured after he walked into a police station in the Bronx and started shooting shortly before 8 a.m. Sunday, police said. His shots struck a lieutenant in the arm and narrowly missed other police personnel before he ran out of bullets, lay down and tossed his pistol, officials said.

That attack came just hours after Williams approached a patrol van in the same part of the Bronx and fired at two officers inside, wounding one before escaping on foot, police said.

All of those shot are expected to recover, authorities said.

"It is only by the grace of God and the heroic actions of those inside the building that took him into custody that we are not talking about police officers murdered inside a New York City police precinct, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said at a news conference.

Williams is being charged with attempted murder, criminal weapon possession and resisting arrest, police said in an email late Sunday identifying him as the suspect. He was hospitalized Sunday evening, the Bronx prosecutor's office said. It wasn't clear whether he had an attorney to speak for him.

Williams had been upset since his own son died after being shot in the Bronx, the suspect's grandmother told the New York Post.

He was depressed at times because his son got shot in the street, Mary Williams, 80, told the newspaper. That was his only child.

The officer injured in the first shooting, Paul Stroffolino, was released from the hospital Sunday to applause from colleagues. The officer, a bandage on his neck, gave a thumbs-up.

Shea called Williams a coward" and said he had a long criminal history, including a 2002 shooting and carjacking in which he fired a gun at police. He was paroled from prison in 2017 after an attempted murder conviction, Shea said.

The commissioner also lashed out at criminal justice reform activists who have demonstrated in recent months against excessive force by police, including a large protest in Grand Central Terminal. The protests, he suggested, helped create an anti-police environment.

These things are not unrelated. We had people marching through the streets of New York City recently, Shea said. Words matter. And words affect people's behavior.

Shea didn't offer any evidence that Williams knew of those protests or was influenced by them.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who won office partly on a promise to reform overly aggressive policing of minority communities, also suggested that anti-police sentiment had gotten out of hand.

Anyone who spews hatred at our officers is aiding and abetting this kind of atmosphere; it is not acceptable," de Blasio said. You could protest for whatever you believe in, but you cannot vilely attack those who are here to protect us. It creates this kind of dynamic.

The attacks recalled other unprovoked assaults on police officers sitting in their patrol vehicles.

In 2017, a gunman killed Officer Miosotis Familia as she sat in her patrol vehicle in the Bronx. In 2014, two officers, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, were shot dead in their patrol car in Brooklyn by a man upset about recent police killings of unarmed black men.

The killings of Ramos and Liu had also followed large protests. Some officers blamed de Blasio for expressing solidarity with the demonstrations and turned their backs on the Democrat at the funerals.

Robert Gangi, executive director of the Police Reform Organizing Project advocacy group, said it was irresponsible" for Shea and de Blasio to link the weekend's violence to recent demonstrations, which he said involved activists "protesting in a legitimate fashion."

There is no defense for a lunatic who opens fire on police," Gangi said.

The first attack happened just before 8:30 p.m. Saturday, when the gunman walked up to the van asking the officers for directions and then fired shots, grazing Stroffolino, who was behind the wheel, in the chin and neck and narrowly missing an artery, authorities said.

Stroffolino and his partner for eight years, Brian Hanlon, a friend since middle school, hit the gas to get away. Neither fired a shot.

Police released a photo of the suspect and were combing the city for him when he walked into the police station coordinating the manhunt, strolled to the desk and pulled a gun, authorities said. The wounded lieutenant returned fire but missed, and police personnel dashed out of an adjoining room just in time to avoid the pursuing gunman.

Two security cameras captured video of the chaotic scene.
Being racist towards does not reflect Vanuatu as a Christian country, says the caretaker PM. Photo: Kizzy Kalsakau
On Saturday night and early Sunday morning, a man attempted to kill New York Police Department officers in the Bronx on two separate occasions, 12 hours a part. Now, the police seargants union is blaming the mayor.

At 8:00 p.m., Saturday, the man allegedly asked two NYPD officers in a police van  near the 41st precinct that serves Hunts Point  for directions before shooting into the vehicle. The officer driving the van was hit on his chin and neck. The officers partner, unscaved, then drove them to a nearby hospital. And at 8:00 a.m., Sunday, a gunman opened fire in the 41st precinct, leaving two wounded and one injured, before being apprehended by police officers in the precinct. All of the officers are expected to make full recoveries.

The suspect of both shootings has been identified as Robert Williams, 45, who has a lengthy criminal history and was out on parole for an attempted murder in 2002 that also included a gun battle with police officers. Williams was taken into custody at the 41st precinct and has been charged with attempted murder, criminal possession of a weapon and resisting arrest.

Shortly after the second shooting, President Donald Trump fired off a tweet, saying that Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasios weak leadership is to blame for the NYPD being under assault.

I grew up in New York City and, over many years, got to watch how GREAT NYCs Finest are. Now, because of weak leadership at Governor & Mayor, stand away (water thrown at them) regulations, and lack of support, our wonderful NYC police are under assault. Stop this now!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2020

Last weeks protest against increased policing of the subway system that included some expression of anti-cop sentiments was quickly blamed by de Blasio and Police Commissioner Dermot Shea for inciting anti-police violence. Though no evidence has been uncovered yet that connects Williams to the protest or protest group.

We have people marching in New York City last week and I condemned it and I condemn it right here again today  using profanities against the Police Department, said Shea on Sunday. Everyone should be speaking out against this, and you have to be careful about the words you use, whether its on social media or on written papers or speaking, because words matter and words affect peoples behavior.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, similarly expressed dismay over the weekends events and suggested that protests have fostered negative sentiments toward the NYPD. Anyone who spews hatred at our officers is aiding and abetting this kind of atmosphere. Its not acceptable, said de Blasio. You can protest whatever for whatever you believe in, but you cannot vilely attack those who are here to protect us. It creates this kind of dynamic.

Despite hizzoners show of support, the Sergeants Benevolent Association, one of the NYPDs largest labor unions, quickly declared war on the mayor. You sold the NYPD to the vile creatures, the 1% who hate cops but vote for you, said the SBA. NYPD cops have been assassinated because of you.

Mayor DeBlasio, the members of the NYPD are declaring war on you! We do not respect you, DO NOT visit us in hospitals. You sold the NYPD to the vile creatures, the 1% who hate cops but vote for you. NYPD cops have been assassinated because of you. This isnt over, Game on! https://t.co/XyruPraM9T  SBA (@SBANYPD) February 9, 2020

Though the SBAs response may seem hysterical to those unfamiliar with its fiery Twitter account, this is pretty much how it typically operates.

There have been other shootings of NYPD officers in recent years that have contributed to a contentious atmosphere between cops and civilians. In 2014, NYPD officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were shot while sitting in their police vehicle. Their deaths followed a march against police violence. The man who killed Liu and Ramos did not live in New York, but he had made many anti-officer sentiments on social media, including angry posts about the Eric Garner and Michael Brown cases. And in 2017, NYPD officer Miosotis Familia was shot at her police command post, without any warning.
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.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) walks through Statuary Hall with other senators to the House Chamber for President Donald Trump's State of the Union address in the Capitol in Washington on Feb. 4, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Utah Governor Against Romney Censure as CPAC Explains Move to Disinvite Senator

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said he doesnt support a state lawmakers push to censure Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) because of his vote to convict in President Donald Trumps impeachment trial.

Herbert, a Republican, said he wouldnt have voted to convict Trump on abuse of power, but said its hard to find fault with Romney, saying he votes his conscience.

I would not have voted that way, based on my information, what I know, but far be it for me to tell somebody else what they should vote with their information, Herbert, 72, told the Salt Lake Tribune.

Its hard to find fault with anybody who says, This is my moral code, this is what I believe to be true, and vote according to his conscience. You know, I dont know how you criticize that.

Romney, 72, in his first term as a U.S. senator representing Utah, broke with Republicans last week to vote in favor of one of the two articles of impeachment.

The president asked a foreign government to investigate his political rival, Romney said on the Senate floor in Washington on Feb. 5 before the vote. The presidents purpose was personal and political. Accordingly, the president is guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust.

Romney cited his Mormon faith while explaining his decision.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) speaks on the Senate floor about the impeachment trial against President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Feb. 5, 2020. (Senate Television via AP)

Trump, 73, was acquitted by the Senate on both articles of impeachment. Romneys sole GOP vote against the president provoked widespread ire, including among Utah lawmakers. Republican state Rep. Phil Lyman filed a resolution to censure Romney, claiming Romneys judgment was questionable.

Were not censuring him for voting his conscience. Were censuring him for the positions that hes taken through this whole process, Lyman told the Tribune. And to send a message that we want to have good relationships with the White House, we want to have good relationships with President Trump.

Herbert told the Tribune that he didnt agree with the push to censure Romney.

Why would they censure him for being true to himself and true to his moral code, to his convictions? Herbert said. I think that would be just a mistake to go down that road. Every time we dont agree with somebodys vote or their statement they make, are we going to censure them?

Romney met with some state lawmakers Feb. 6 in a meeting that House Speaker Brad Wilson, a Republican, described as tense. Wilson and Senate President Stuart Adams, another Republican, later filed a resolution announcing support for Trump that didnt include a censure of Romney.

Governor of Utah Gary Herbert speaks at Rose Wagner Theatre in Park City, Utah, on Jan. 25, 2019. (Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)

CPACs Schlapp: Concerns for Romneys Safety

Following Romneys vote, Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Chairman Matt Schlapp said the senator wouldnt be welcome at this years conference.

Schlapp explained during an appearance on the CWs Full Court Press that the decision stemmed from concerns for Romneys safety but said the senator could come as a non-conservative.

We wont credential him as a conservative. I suppose if he wants to come as a non-conservative and debate an issue with us, maybe in the future we would have him come, Schlapp said.

This year, Id actually be afraid for his physical safety, people are so mad at him.

Schlapp said the issue conservatives have with Romney is that he appears to support certain causes and politicians at times that are convenient, but later reverses course.

When he needed a conservative like Donald Trump to endorse him in his Senate primary last time, he wanted him in, Schlapp said.

But then, when he gets the Senate job, he wants to distance himself from Trump. Hes a use em and lose em kind of guy.
Residents of a small Kansas town, where the poverty rate is twice the national average, are being jailed for their unpaid medical bills.

In Coffeyville, Kansas, 26.2 per cent of the more than 9,700 people who live there are below the poverty line compared to the national average of 13.1 per cent.

Because of this issue, some residents like Tres Biggs, have found themselves working two jobs. Neither job offered Tres insurance plans and he was unable to afford health care.

Tres and his wife, Heather, said they fell behind on their son's medical bills after he was diagnosed with leukemia.

Their son, Lane, was five years old at the time of his diagnosis, and at the same time, Heather suffered from seizures and Lyme disease, according to ProPublica.

Tres and his wife, Heather (pictured together), said they fell behind on their son's medical bills after he was diagnosed with leukemia. Tres was arrested after they accumulated more than $70,000 in medical debt

Tres (pictured with his wife) was working two jobs at the time of his arrest. Neither job offered him insurance plans and he was unable to afford health care.

Tres was arrested for the first time in 2008 after Coffeyville Regional Medical Center (pictured) sued him in 2006 for $2,146. That bill stemmed from one of Heather's emergency room visits

'We had so many  multiple health issues in our family at the same time, it put us in a bracket that made insurance unattainable,' Heather told the publication.

'It would have made no sense. We would have had to have not eaten, not had a home.'

Tres was arrested for the first time in 2008 after Coffeyville Regional Medical Center sued him in 2006 for $2,146. That bill stemmed from one of Heather's emergency room visits.

Between both of his jobs, Tres was working 70 hours per week and taking their son to chemotherapy.

In doing all of that, he missed two court appearances over the medical bill. He was then arrested for failing to appear in court. His bail was set at $500.

Over the next few years, the Biggs family was sued multiple times by the hospital until their debt had accrued to more than $70,000 in medical expenses, forcing them to file for bankruptcy.

Crystal Dyke (pictured with her husband) had a similar story. She was arrested when she was four pregnant because she missed hearings involving a $230 radiologist bill

Crystal Dyke had a similar story.

She was arrested when she was four months pregnant because she missed hearings involving a $230 radiologist bill.

Her bail was also set at $500.

According to ProPublica, attorney Michael Hassenplug represents medical providers to collect debt owed.

Hassenplug was partially responsible for the law put in place by local judge, David Casement, after recommending it. Hassenplug uses the law by asking the court to force people with unpaid medical bills to appear in court every three months.

During their appearances, the residents would state that they are too poor to pay in what is called a 'debtors exam'.

If a resident misses two court appearances, Casement issues an arrest warrant for contempt of court. Their bails are set at $500.

In almost every case in Coffeyville, bail money goes to pay attorneys like Hassenplug instead of being returned to defendants once they appear in court.

In addition, if a defendant missed their court appearance without a good reason, then they would be ordered to pay an extra $50 to cover the plaintiff's attorney fees.

According to ProPublica, Judge David Casement (pictured) is a cattle rancher who was appointed a magistrate judge, despite never taking a single course in law. In Kansas, judges dont need a law degree to preside over cases like these

And if they didn't pay, they would be given a two-day sentence.

According to ProPublica, Casement is a cattle rancher who was appointed a magistrate judge, despite never taking a single course in law.

In Kansas, judges dont need a law degree to preside over cases like these.

Nusrat Choudhury, the deputy director of the ACLU, told CBS that this practice 'raises serious constitutional concerns'.

'Whats happening here is a jailhouse shake-down for cash that is the criminalization of private debt.'
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) general secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi on Sunday said that the Hindu community is not synonymous with the BJP and that opposing BJP does not amount to opposing Hindus. Backing him, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Monday has said that the BJP does not "define Hindutva and Hindu community."

'India has still not declared itself as a Hindu Rashtra'

Speaking to ANI, Raut said, "See, Bharatiya Janata Party does not define Hindutva and Hindu community. BJP is a political party, Shiv Sena is a political party. There are many parties and they have their own ideology. Like Pakistan has declared itself an Islamic state but India has still not declared itself as a 'Hindu Rashtra'."

He added, "BJP manifesto does not state that only Hindus can join BJP. India is a massive country and its culture is different. Whatever Bhaiyya Ji has said, he is correct. If BJP or any party thinks that it is more secular or more Hindutva, then it is not like that."

'Opposing BJP does not amount to opposing Hindus'

"Hindu community does not mean BJP, and opposing BJP does not amount to opposing Hindus," news agency ANI quoted Bhaiyyaji Joshi as saying. Bhaiyyaji Joshi further said, "Political fight will continue but it should not be linked to Hindus."

Bhaiyyaji Joshi's comments came in view of the ongoing protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which offers citizenship to people from six communities -- Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians, but not Muslims -- who entered India from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

The RSS, parent organisation of the BJP, has been firm on defending the CAA. Earlier, Bhaiyyaji Joshi had said that the government has passed CAA and the state government has to implement it as under the Constitution, citizenship is a subject of the Centre, and not of the state. "State governments can make laws only on the subjects of the Concurrent List like the Centre makes the law under the Motor Vehicle Act," Bhaiyyaji Joshi had said.

READ | 'Didn't seek moon & stars, kept promise to father': Uddhav justifies BJP split to Raut

READ | RSS leader Bhaiyyaji Joshi: 'Opposing BJP does not mean going against Hindus'

'Sangh has given a position to everyone'

Responding to a question, Joshi said that the people from all communities are welcome to join the Sangh. He said that those who believe in the ideology of the Sangh can join and they would be given "respectable position but not a separate position".

"Sangh has given position to everyone. Whoever wants to come to Sangh they are welcome. We never stopped non-Hindus from joining Sangh. It is true that we have focused on Hindus. But if someone from the Christian community or a Muslim agrees with Sangh's ideology, they can also join it," Joshi added.

READ | Sanjay Raut defends Kejriwal's Hanuman worship; says Delhi CM towers over BJP leaders

READ | Sanjay Raut justifies CM Uddhav's CAA stance; says action against 'anti-nationals' a must

(With agency inputs)
Though such proposals are momentarily politically profitable, they could start a cascade of public-policy dominoes that ends in civil war.

When Australia and New Zealand mandated buy-backs of assault weapons, most gun owners ignored the decrees despite politicians repeatedly ratcheting up their threats. Similar noncompliance to laws requiring surrender or registration of assault weapons has occurred in California, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and elsewhere.

Congress passed an assault-weapons ban in 1994 that lasted for a decade. The original assault-weapons ban protected Americans from being shot with rifles that included features such as grenade launchers, bayonet lugs, or other detailing whose primary impact was to fuel the phobias of gun haters.

Shortly after the 1994 ban was passed, a Washington Post editorial admitted, Assault weapons play a part in only a small percentage of crime. The provision is mainly symbolic; its virtue will be if it turns out to be, as hoped, a stepping stone to broader gun control. Post columnist Charles Krauthammer, in an article headlined, Disarm the Citizenry. But Not Yet, explained the real logic of the ban: Its only real justification is not to reduce crime but to desensitize the public to the regulation of weapons in preparation for their ultimate confiscation. Krauthammer, who was revered by much of the nations mainstream media, trumpeted his support for real steps on gun control including the banning of handguns.

There is not a clear, consistent definition of assault weapon but most politicians are using vague terms that could include more than 10 million firearms. Almost all the ban advocates favor prohibiting rifles built on the AR-15 design. Though these firearms have been endlessly demonized, they are involved in a very small percent of homicides. All types of rifles account for only 3 percent of homicides, and AR-15-style weapons are only a small fraction of the rifle-related homicides.

But that doesnt matter to politicians who are crusading against guns the way Temperance activists crusaded for Prohibition a hundred years ago. Assault-weapons laws resemble hate-speech laws. Hate-speech laws usually begin by targeting a few words that almost no one approves of. Once the system for controlling and punishing hate speech is put into place, there is little or nothing to stop it from expanding to punish more and more types of everyday speech. Similarly, once an assault-weapons law is on the books, there is little to prevent politicians from vastly increasing the number of weapons banned under the law.

Revving up the rhetoric

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Cal.) has been among the most outspoken anti-gun politicians. Swalwell says the government should first offer a buy-back for retroactively banned weapons and then forcibly confiscate them one by one if necessary. Swalwell declares that his mandatory national ban of assault weapons is bold and  it rightly treats gun violence as a life-or-death matter. A Twitter critic summarized Swalwells pitch:

Were not taking anyones legal guns, were just changing the law so the guns are illegal and then we will take them.

When a conservative activist suggested that gun grabbers wanted a war, Swalwell replied,

And it would be a short war, my friend. The government has nukes. Too many of them. But theyre legit.

Swalwell did not specify how many bombs he would be willing to drop to end violence. His anti-gun zealotry made him an instant hero, persuading him to briefly run for the Democratic nomination for president.

Other Democratic candidates have also warned of the grave perils facing anyone who would resist a government-disarmament command. Former Vice President Joe Biden scoffed in September, If you want to protect yourself against the federal government, youre going to need at least an F-15 fighter jet.

But Americans resisting mass gun confiscation will not need to defeat the feds. They would merely need to wait until government agents commit horrific blunders that turn millions more Americans against Washington. That pattern has repeated itself in American history in federal gun crackdowns gone awry.

And if the government attempts seizures?

In clashes between government agents and citizens, weaponry is not destiny. In August 1992, in the initial firefight at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, a camouflaged team of U.S. marshals with submachine guns was routed by a 14-year-old boy with a Ruger Mini-14 and a 25-year-old guy with a 30.06 rifle. False statements by federal officials during and after the siege at the Weavers cabin helped destroy the credibility of the criminal prosecution of the survivors the following year.

In February 1993, an assault by more than 70 federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents was routed by the Branch Davidians near Waco, Texas, despite the ATFs having automatic weapons and being supported by National Guard helicopters flying over the Davidians home. The ATF never sought to peacefully serve a search warrant on David Koresh and his followers. Instead, the agencys code name for the attack was Showtime and local television stations had been alerted ahead of time to cover the glorious assault.

After each of those initial debacles, the FBI came in and made the situation far worse. FBI snipers at Ruby Ridge were given an unconstitutional if you see them, shoot them rule of engagement that resulted in the killing of Vicki Weaver as she stood in her cabin door holding her baby. At Waco, the FBI launched a tank and gas assault that included firing pyrotechnic grenades at the Davidians ramshackle dwelling; the subsequent fire left 80 people dead.

In both cases, the feds were spooked by popular resistance. At Ruby Ridge, the FBI and their law-enforcement allies were becoming encircled by armed private citizens, many of whom opposed the feds. Attorney General Janet Reno declared that the first and foremost reason she approved the final FBI assault at Waco was that law-enforcement agents on the ground concluded that the perimeter had become unstable and posed a risk both to them and to the surrounding homes and farms. Individuals sympathetic to Koresh were threatening to take matters into their own hands to end the stalemate and were at various times reportedly on the way.

Any firearms crackdown will be applauded by politicians and activists who hate gun owners as much as they hate guns if not more. Fair play is irrelevant when officialdom is saving humanity  especially women and children. The same politicians and media outlets who portray practically every privately owned firearm as a school massacre in waiting will scorn the rights of government victims.

Many rural gun owners are as unlikely to surrender their guns as they are to give up their Bibles. Escalating government force will create martyrs that multiply resistance. The British governments heavy-handed repression of all Bostonians for a tea party by a smattering of activists helped turn the 13 colonies against King George. Any vigorous attempt to forcibly commandeer millions of weapons will result in clashes that the government will sometimes lose  especially given the record of police who either freeze up or cower in crisis situations, such as the Parkland School shooting, the Las Vegas Mandalay Hotel carnage, and the Orlando Pulse Nightclub massacre.

Any attempt to enforce widespread gun confiscation will require suspending Americans constitutional right to trial by jury. An Idaho jury found Ruby Ridge defendants not guilty: Government witnesses cause case to collapse, a Washington Post headline later declared. In 1994, a Texas jury rejected charges that Branch Davidians were guilty of murdering federal agents in a verdict the New York Times described as a stunning defeat for the feds. Juries in Montana, for instance, might resist convicting firearms violators the way that Massachusetts juries in the 1850s often refused to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act. Juries would not defer to the assertion of federal agents whom some people viewed as the equivalent of foreign invaders.

The First Amendment could be another gun-grab casualty. During the final day at Waco, the FBI continually broadcast this is not an assault as its tanks collapsed 20 percent of the Davidians home. The videos of the FBI tank assault swayed far more Americans to completely reject not just the federal claims on Waco but to question whether the entire government had far too much power for the safety of American citizens. Almost everybody with a cell phone has a video camera within reach, and film clips of federal agents smashing into homes and assailing defiant citizens would be more incendiary than any presidential tweet. Such optics will prove disastrous unless the government can prevent uploading any such videos to the Internet. If the government seeks to preemptively prevent exposures of its enforcement campaign, then it will lose the support of vast numbers of Americans who are not gun zealots.

Congress and their bureaucratic allies cannot count on local officials to carry out Washingtons commands. Sheriffs in New York state, New Mexico, and Colorado have already publicly refused to enforce what they consider unjust gun laws. The only way to carry out mass seizures of weapons in many parts of the nation would be by declaring martial law. But that would be perilous because many National Guard members might refuse to carry out orders, especially after enforcement efforts killed innocent civilians. Losing the loyalty of the troops would be the final straw to cause confiscation to collapse  but not until vast damage had been done to the government and private citizens. The more force the U.S. government uses, the more certain it is that federal credibility will collapse.

A ban on assault weapons would be only the first domino to fall  the stepping stone, as the Washington Post admitted decades ago. After an assault-weapons ban fails to end shootings, advocates will demand that all semi-automatic firearms be prohibited and confiscated. (The vast majority of rifles sold in recent decades have been semi-automatic.) And if such a ban was proclaimed and still failed to end violence, then politicians would of course have no choice but to confiscate all handguns. Each failed government intervention would provide the pretext for politicians to redouble their repression of Americans.
Ben Baillargeon has been in this position before, with a highly-talented William Wellwood Memorial-winning trotting colt that brings up aspirations of racing on a certain Saturday in August.

Two years ago, that was the case with Alarm Detector. This year, Baillargeon will have HP Royal Theo looking to capture harness racing's Holy Grail. The son of 2013 Hambletonian winner Royalty For Life put together a solid rookie season for owners Claude Hamel and Michel Damphousse, winning three races and banking more than $286,000 to earn him the OBrien Bronze as Canadas Two-Year-Old Trotting Colt of the Year.

One year ago that O'Brien Award winner in the rookie trotting colt division was Ontario-sired Forbidden Trade, who went on to win not only the Hambletonian but the Somebeachsomewhere Horse of the Year Award at the recently-concluded 2019 O'Brien Awards.

Baillargeon noted that HP Royal Theo was prepped in Quebec last year by Jean Tourigny, who cautioned him on the colt's bullish attitude that prompted some breaks in stride. This year, Ben is handling the training down and he feels the colt has matured.

"Most of it was immaturity," the veteran trainer told SC's Rachel Oenema after the O'Briens. "Sometimes he wants to go too fast too quick. Typical two-year-old, they're not all perfect. He's got a little bit of a streak in him, fiery. He wants to go."

He's hoping to have HP Royal Theo qualified by the middle of April. Chances are, however, Baillargeon's other O'Brien Award winner will be lined up behind the gate much sooner. Older trotting horse Musical Rhythm, who was was sidelined due to injury last summer but still captured the 2019 O'Brien Award, has recently trained in the 2:15 range.

"He's the type of horse that won't stand still, he's one-of-a-kind. He wants to be back in action."

Now eight, Musical Rhythm recovered from a life-threatening infection in 2018 -- thanks to the incredible efforts of his trainer and caretaker Sara Baillageon. He not only resumed racing in 2019, but the son of Cantab Hall was a seven-time winner and missed only one cheque in 17 starts en route to earnings of more than $206,000. He put together a six-race win streak that kicked off on April 17 in the preferred trotting ranks at Woodbine Mohawk Park, and equaled the track and Canadian record for older male trotters with a 1:50.4 mile on June 17 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

"It's a blessing just to work with a horse like him," gushed Baillargeon. "Winning an O'Brien is like the cherry on the sundae."

The full interview with Baillargeon and Oenema is available below.

This is the sixth in a series of post-event video interviews with O'Brien Award finalists, sponsored by Horse Racing Alberta.

On Saturday, February 1, Standardbred Canada announced the winners for the 2019 OBrien Award at the 31st edition of the annual OBrien Awards Black Tie Gala held at the Hilton Mississauga / Meadowvale hotel in Mississauga, Ont. The OBrien Awards honour Canadas best in harness racing over the past season and are named in honour of the late Joe OBrien, an outstanding horseman and member of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. The event was covered live on the SC website. The official list of winners is available here, with the official voting results available here.
By PTI

BEIJING: China on Monday appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's letter to President Xi Jinping offering solidarity and assistance to deal with the deadly coronavirus outbreak, saying it "fully demonstrated" New Delhi's friendship with Beijing.

In a letter to Xi, Modi expressed solidarity with the president and people of China over the outbreak of the virus that has claimed over 900 lives in the neighbouring country.

"We thank and appreciate India's support for China's fight against the NCP Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia, the official name for coronavirus," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.

"India's acts of goodwill fully demonstrate its friendship with China," Geng said during an online media briefing while replying to a question on Modi's letter to Xi.

Prime Minister Modi also offered India's assistance to China to face the challenge, besides conveying condolences over the loss of lives due to the outbreak.

The prime minister also conveyed to Xi his appreciation for facilitating evacuation of around 650 Indian citizens from the worst-affected Hubei province last week.

A sizeable number of countries have evacuated their citizens from China and restricted movement of people and goods to and from China.

India too has put restrictions on the movement of people to and from China as part of precautionary measures to contain the spread of the virus.

ALSO READ | PM Modi writes to Xi, offers assistance to China in its fight against coronavirus

"We stand ready to work with India and other members of the international community to jointly tackle fight the epidemic and safeguard regional and global public health security," Geng said.

Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri told the Indian media here on Monday that India was in touch with Chinese officials to find out the immediate requirements to deal with the epidemic.

The death toll in China's coronavirus outbreak has gone up to 908 with 97 new fatalities reported mostly in the worst-affected Hubei province and the confirmed cases of infection crossing 40,000, Chinese health officials said on Monday.

A team of international experts led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) would arrive in China on Monday night to assist the Chinese health officials to contain the spread of coronavirus outbreak.

"I've just been at the airport seeing off members of an advance team for the @WHO-led 2019nCoV international expert mission to China, led by Dr Bruce Aylward, veteran of past public health emergencies," WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a tweet.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 06:27:16|Editor: yan

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LOS ANGELES, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- After "Parasite" made history Sunday night at the 92nd Academy Awards, or Oscars, its distributor Neon became the biggest winner in a studio battle among streaming service companies and traditional film industry moguls.

Neon is a New York-based American film production and distribution company founded in 2017. It braced a successful Oscar season with South Korean movie "Parasite" and "Honeyland" amassing 8 nominations in total and the former winning four awards including Best Picture, becoming the first foreign language film to receive that honor.

Comparing to Neon's four trophies, Sony Pictures and Walt Disney Studios also scored four Academy Awards on Sunday night, but they are less eye-caching.

"Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" from Sony nabbed two awards, Best Supporting Actor (Brad Pitt) and Best Production Design. The studio also tallied Costume Design victory for "Little Women" as well as Best Animated Short Film for "Hair Love."

Walt Disney, who acquired Fox last year, won the Best Animated Feature ("Toy Story 4") while riding 20th Century Fox's two wins for "Ford v Ferrari," including the Film Editing and Sound Editing, and Fox Searchlight's the Best Adapted Screenplay award for "JoJo Rabbit."

Meanwhile, Netflix was the most disappointed studio in the competition. The streaming giant was nominated for a monumental 24 awards, up from 15 last year, but only attached to two winners, "American Factory" who won the Best Documentary Feature and Laura Dern, the Best Supporting Actress for "Marriage Story."

"The Irishman" made by Netflix was arguably the most disappointed film of the year, as the Martin Scorsese feature went in with 10 nominations and left with zero wins.

Warner Bros. was the only other studio to nab multiple wins. "Joker" won the Best Actor and the Original Score.
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nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Here are the stocks that are in news today:

Results Today: ARSS Infrastructure Projects, Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar, Balrampur Chini Mills, Bharat Forge, Capacite Infraprojects, Dwarikesh Sugar Industries, Gail, Grasim Industries, Indiabulls Real Estate, Kalpataru Power Transmission, Motherson Sumi Systems, NDTV, Oil India, Petronet LNG, Rajesh Exports, Triveni Engineering, Ucal Fuel Systems, Union Bank Of India, Voltamp Transformers

Cipla expands womens health portfolio through acquisition of 4 key brands from Wanbury

Om Metals Infraprojects bags Rs 263.11 crores order from government of Madhya Pradesh

J&K Bank board approves raising up to Rs 500 crore via share issue to government

SAIL- Govt to offload 5% stake in company via offer for sale, may rake in Rs 1,000 crore - PTI

Yes Bank: Lender gets shareholders' nod to raise up to Rs 10,000 cr via equity share issuance/convertible securities.

Indiabulls Housing Finance - CRISIL revises long-term rating to AA/stable

Dr Reddy's Laboratories - Curis, Inc. entered into an amendment of its collaboration, license and option agreement with Aurigene Discovery Technologies

Maruti Suzuki - January 2020 production at 1,79,103 against 1,83,064 in January 2019

Ultratech Cement is considering a proposal to raise funds by issuance of NCD aggreagating to rs 250 crore on private placement basis

Mastek to acquire the Middle East business of Evolutionary Systems Arabia FZ LLC

UPL - The Indian Tax authorities visited and conducted search at multiple locations of company's premises in India

PFC board meeting on February 12 to consider a proposal for raising funds

NHPC board has approved the proposal to raise debt upto Rs 1,000 crore during financial year 2019-20

PI Industries board meeting on February 12 to consider raising of funds via QIP

Tata Steel: Q3 consolidated loss at Rs 1,228 cr vs profit of Rs 1,753.1 cr, revenue dips 8.6% to Rs 35,520.4 cr YoY.

Britannia: Q3 profit jumps 23.3% to Rs 369.9 cr, revenue rises 4.9% to Rs 2,982.7 cr YoY.

JK Cement Q3: Consolidated net profit at Rs 124.3 crore versus Rs 39.1 crore, revenue was up 10.8% at Rs 1,471.8 crore versus Rs 1,328.2 crore, YoY

M&M + MVML Q3: Net profit down 72.8% at Rs 380.2 crore versus Rs 1,396 crore, revenue down 6% at Rs 12,120 crore versus Rs 12,892.5 crore, YoY

KEC International: Q3 profit rises 30.7% to Rs 144.9 cr, revenue jumps 16.1% to Rs 3,073.1 cr YoY.

Godfrey Phillips Q3: Net profit up 39.1 percent at Rs 114 crore versus Rs 81.9 crore, revenue up 14.3 percent at Rs 761.3 crore versus Rs 666.8 crore, YoY

NTPC Q3: Net profit up 25.6 percent at Rs 2,995.1 crore versus Rs 2,385 crore, revenue down 2.6 percent at Rs 23,496 crore versus Rs 24,120.4 crore, YoY

UPL Q3: Net profit at Rs 701 crore and revenue at Rs 8,892 crore

Ashoka Buildcon Q3: Net profit at Rs 25.4 crore versus loss of Rs 17.1 crore, revenue down 6.3 percent at Rs 1,280 crore versus Rs 1,366.5 crore, YoY

Whirlpool Q3: Net profit up 23 percent at Rs 76.5 crore versus Rs 62.2 crore, revenue up 4.9 percent at Rs 1,271.2 crore versus Rs 1,211.5 crore, YoY

ACC Q4: Standalone net profit at Rs 269.2 crore versus Rs 730.5 crore, revenue up 4.2% at Rs 4,060.3 crore versus Rs 3,895.4 crore, YoY

Oberoi Realty Q3: Net profit up 7.5 percent at Rs 148.2 crore versus Rs 137.9 crore, revenue down 0.2 percent at Rs 527.4 crore versus Rs 528.6 crore, YoY

SML Isuzu Q3: Net loss of Rs 17.9 crore versus loss of Rs 14.8 crore, revenue at Rs 176.5 crore versus Rs 231.6 crore, YoY

Net Profit down 31.2 percent at Rs 186 crore versus Rs 270.6 crore, revenue down 4.9 percent at Rs 819.1 crore versus Rs 861.6 crore, QoQ
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 14:12:25|Editor: huaxia

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Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki speaks during the opening of the 36th ordinary session of the executive council at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, Feb. 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

It violates the UN resolution and those of the AU and is trampling on the rights of the Palestinian people, Mahamat said, adding that the peace plan is heightening the tensions in the region and beyond.



ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (UN) and the Arab League (AL) on Sunday voiced their rejection of the newly unveiled U.S. peace plan that has sparked growing tensions between Palestine and Isreal.

African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat said the U.S. plan was devised without consulting Palestinians and violates existing AU and UN resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"The case of Palestine is the most flagrant example of the fragility of the international situation. The American-Israeli plan which is called the 'deal of the century' has been prepared out of any consultations and also in the absence of those who are mainly concerned," Mahamat said at the opening of the 33rd AU summit held in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

People participate in a rally to express their rejection of the U.S. peace plan for the Middle East, in Rabat, Morocco, on Feb. 9, 2020. (Photo by Chadi/Xinhua)

It violates the UN resolution and those of the AU and is trampling on the rights of the Palestinian people, he said, adding that the peace plan is heightening the tensions in the region and beyond.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Jan. 28 unveiled his controversial Middle East peace plan for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which would limit the sovereignty of a future Palestinian state.

He outlined the 80-page plan at the White House along with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's "undivided capital," while claiming that the Palestine capital will include areas of East Jerusalem.

The plan, described by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as the "slap of the century," allows Israel to claim sovereignty over certain areas of the occupied West Bank, including Israeli settlements and the Jordan Valley.

A Palestinian protester hurls stones at Israeli soldiers during clashes after a protest against the U.S. Middle East peace plan, in the West Bank city of Hebron, Feb. 2, 2020. (Photo by Mamoun Wazwaz/Xinhua)

Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the AL secretary general, said "the Arab League highly and constantly appreciates the principled position of the AU in support of the Palestinian cause and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to end the Israeli occupation of their territory and their independent state"

"I am confident that Africa will maintain its established commitment in standing with the struggle of the Palestinian people in their rejection of this unjust deal, as was articulated by the Palestinian leadership, the Arab League, the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation and the European Union," said Aboul Gheit.

In response to the U.S. plan, the Palestinian National Authority earlier this month informed Israel and the United States it will "cut all relations" with them.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye who is attending the AU summit here also called on the international community to reject the peace plan.

Palestinian protesters burn tires during clashes with Israeli soldiers after a protest against the U.S. Middle East peace plan, in the West Bank city of Hebron, Jan. 31, 2020. (Photo by Mamoun Wazwaz/Xinhua)

Josep Borrell, the high representative of the European Union (EU) for foreign affairs and security policy, said last week that the U.S. Middle East peace plan has departed from "internationally agreed parameters."

To build a just and lasting peace, the unresolved final status issues, including issues related to borders, the status of Jerusalem, security and the refugee question, must be decided through direct negotiations between both parties, Borrell said in a statement.

"In line with international law and relevant UN Security Council resolutions, the EU does not recognise Israel's sovereignty over the territories occupied since 1967. Steps towards annexation, if implemented, could not pass unchallenged," Borrell said.

Meanwhile, Palestine is seeking a position from the UN Security Council in the wake of Trump's announcement. The U.S. peace plan intends to make illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land a done deal and wants to make Palestinians live under apartheid, Ishtaye said. 
Trouble for Indian auto industry continued as January saw the steepest decline in passenger vehicle sales in the last four months. The Reserve Bank of India relaxed rules for Cash Reserve Ratio to encourage credit disbursed towards autombiles, residential housing, and micro, small and medium enterprises. A week after banning export of all personal protection equipment, as part of India's preparedness to face the coronavirus threat, the government has allowed the export of surgical masks and gloves, except synthetic rubber ones. Read for more top stories from the world of business and economy:

1. Slowdown Blues: Passenger vehicle sales decline 6.2% in January, steepest in four months

A total of 164,793 cars were dispatched to dealerships across the country last month, an 8 per cent decline as compared to same period in 2019. The sale of vans declined 28 per cent to 12,992 units.

2. How Butschek plans to take Tata Motors from No.5 to top 3

Tata Motors is set to continue its product offensive that also now includes a slew of electric vehicles. It has already launched two new cars - the Altroz premium hatchback and the Nexon EV - this calendar year.

3. Union Bank Q3 profit surges to Rs 575 crore, net interest income up 26%

Union Bank's net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, increased 25.7 per cent to Rs 3,134 crore in Q3 FY20, as compared to Rs 2,493 crore in Q3 FY19.

4. RBI offers CRR exemption to banks for lending to auto, housing, MSMEs

Banks are allowed to deduct the equivalent amount of incremental credit disbursed by them as retail loans for automobiles, residential housing, and loans to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

5. Coronavirus scare: Govt tweaks norms to allow export of gloves, surgical masks

Corrective action came on January 8 after DGFT realised that the Harmonised System Codes that came under the export prohibition order included various items meant for general or non-medical uses.
A woman wearing a mask is seen as the country is hit by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Shanghai, China February 10, 2020. (Aly Song/Reuters)

International Health Experts Arrive in China to Help Study Coronavirus

An advance team of experts organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) arrived in China to help efforts against the new coronavirus, the organizations head told reporters on Monday.

The advance team was preparing things for the rest of the team, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference at the organizations headquarters in Geneva. The advance team, led by Canadian doctor Bruce Aylward, departed for China on Sunday.

Tedros couldnt say when the rest of the team would arrive but expressed hope that they would be there as soon as possible.

China had repeatedly pushed off the team despite repeated offers of assistance.

The full team will be made up of 10 to 15 experts but the aim would be 10 to make it as manageable as possible, Tedros said. The team would meet with Chinese counterparts and develop a plan in terms of where to go, what to visit, and which unanswered questions to focus on.

We have fully empowered them, Tedros said when pressed on where the team would go and what it would be doing. We dont want to tell them what to do.

He recounted WHO leaders seeing the team off at the airport, telling them: Youre fully [empowered]. Youre the experts and we want you to tell us what the challenges are.'

Tedros repeatedly declined to give information on the background of team members and none have been named outside of Aylward.

A staff member wearing a protective mask and suit works at a supermarket in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak of a novel coronavirus, in Chinas central Hubei Province, on Feb. 10, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

This is a moment for us to step back and let the scientists do their work and then wait for them to give the answers they come up with, he said.

Some of the proposed team members were American, U.S. officials have said, including experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The federal agency didnt return questions about whether CDC experts were among the advance team or some of the rest of the members.

Scientists still havent pinpointed the origin of the virus, which reportedly began infecting humans in Wuhan in December 2019. Theyre also working on questions surrounding the severity of the virus, the extent of the incubation period, and other details. A paper from Chinese scientists published over the weekend said there were incubation periods of up to 24 days.

We believe that many of the ongoing investigations that are actually being implemented by Chinese scientists are getting those answers, Dr. Mike Ryan, the head of WHOs emergency response division, told reporters. The team on the ground would be focused on supporting those investigations.

The team is there first and foremost to learn. And to understand not only the investigations that have been carried out so far in China, but also to understand the nature of what is one of the largest public health responses in history in China, he said.

WHO officials have repeatedly praised Chinas response to the virus despite widespread questions of the data Chinese officials have been releasing, including the number of deaths and illnesses.
JACKSONVILLE, Florida  A teacher at an elementary school is facing a criminal charge after authorities say she tried to purchase methamphetamine while on the job.

Valerie Lee Prince, who teaches first-graders at Jacksonville Heights Elementary School in the Duval County Public Schools district, was taken into custody when she met with an undercover agent in an attempt to buy an eight ball of meth for $85, First Coast News reports. She has been charged with soliciting to purchase methamphetamine.

According to jacksonville.com, investigators set up the undercover operation after learning that a teacher at the school might be using illegal drugs. Reports say Prince first tried to arrange for the drugs to be delivered to the school.

We did not deliver the drugs to that school, but that brought us great concern, Clay County Sheriffs Department Sgt. Vincent Hall tells Action News Jax. It was a pretty nonchalant request and the indication was that it was no big deal to the suspect.

Prince has been removed by the school district, which is conducting its own investigation, according to jacksonville.com. She had been teaching at the school since the beginning of the 2018 school year. She reportedly admitted to using meth 10 times within the past five to six months.

The situation is disturbing," Lieutenant of Narcotics Domenic Paniccia tells Action News Jax. This is someone that was in charge of kids, first-grade kids, and its something that was a priority to us.

If youd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section.

California man struck, killed by vehicle near Kalahari Resort in Erie County

Ohio youth football coach exposes himself to young child, police say

Youngstown bar shooting leaves 3 people dead

Man critically injured in shooting outside Maple Heights bar, police say

Lake Catholic High School swim coach accused of having sexual contact with student, placed on leave
A British man in coronavirus-hit Wuhan says he was denied access to the last Government-chartered flight back to the UK after failing a temperature check because he was wearing two jackets.

Josh Skarratts said he had worn a hoodie and a jacket to try and comply with hand luggage weight requirements and in preparation for cold weather in the UK.

But when his temperature was taken from underneath his armpits, the reading of 37.5C (99.5F) was deemed too high by officials in the Chinese city.

The comedy club owner said another Briton was turned away for the same reason.

It's quite a difficult pill to swallow when you know the exact reason why you weren't allowed on the plane could have been avoidedJosh Skarratts

Now we are stranded in Wuhan having missed the last plane out of Wuhan and our last means of evacuation, he told Sky News.

Its quite a difficult pill to swallow when you know the exact reason why you werent allowed on the plane could have been avoided.

Mr Skarratts added that he is confident the Foreign Office and the British Embassy will help him and the other Briton to leave Wuhan.

The flight, with more than 200 people on board, including some foreign nationals, arrived at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, shortly before 7.30am on Sunday.

(Joe Giddens/PA)

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it was the second and final flight to be chartered by the Government and had British Government staff and military medics on board.

The passengers on the charter flight have been taken to the Kents Hill Park hotel and conference centre in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, where they will be quarantined for 14 days.
We want to put an end to what we discovered to be highly abusive practice of ABS-CBN benefiting a greedy few at the expense of millions of its loyal subscribers, Mr. Calida said in a statement announcing the move. These practices have gone unnoticed or were disregarded for years.

But critics of Mr. Duterte say he is on the warpath against media entities that have questioned his drug war, which has drawn international condemnation. ABS-CBN, along with the Filipino online news site Rappler, have been at the forefront of critical reporting about the antidrug campaign, which has left nearly 6,000 people dead since Mr. Duterte took office in 2016.

Mr. Calida said the government will prove that ABS-CBN has been broadcasting for a fee, which is beyond the scope of its legislative franchise. He also accused the company of hiding behind what he said was an elaborately crafted corporate veil by allowing foreign investors to take part in its ownership.

He stressed that ABS-CBN abused the privilege granted by the state when it introduced a pay-per-view channel without approval by the governments telecommunications commission.

As he has with ABS-CBN, Mr. Duterte has personally gone after Rappler, arguing that it was partly owned by foreign investors.
The remains of Neolithic immigrants uncovered in modern-day Spain reveal they were brutally executed in a 'xenophobic murderous frenzy' over 7,000 years ago.

An international team of archaeologists excavated a cave in the modern day Spanish Pyrenees and found the mutilated remains of five adults and four children.

The children were aged between three and seven and all nine of the people in the cage had not just been shot with arrows but beaten, even after they had died.

Lead researcher, Kurt W Alt from the University of Basel in Switzerland says the violence was without parallel in Spain or the rest of Europe at that time.

He said it was likely triggered after a series of escalating incidents such as the theft of cattle, land disputes or even the theft of women with one group being part of the first wave of immigrants from what is now the Middle East.

Scroll down for more

View of the Els Trocs cave entrancelocated on the southern slope of a karst hill on the high plateau of Selvaplana

The gruesome discovery was found in the Els Trocs cave which is in the mountain landscape of the Huesca region.

It required painstaking excavation to avoid damaging the fragile ancient remains in what would have been both hunting and farming land.

The remains have been dated to about 5,300 BC, which is when hunter-gatherers were being replaced by farmers.

The cave is in the modern day Spanish municipality of Bisaurri north of Senterada. The victims may have been migrants coming up from what is now the Middle East

Kurt Alt said the adults displayed consistent arrow-shot injuries to the skull but not to the skeleton and the children and adults showed traces of blunt violence to the skull and entire skeleton.

This suggests that the bones they discovered, which were broken and shattered, were first shot then bludgeoned, sometimes after the death of the victim.

The massacre could have been caused by territorial disputes, the theft of cattle or even the theft of women that escalated until they led to slaughter.

Genetic data from the victims found they were in the first wave of immigrants from the Middle East, who spread throughout Europe about 10,000 years ago.

The discovery in the cave documents an early escalation of violence between people of 'conceivably different origins and worldviews', according to the paper.

This could have been between natives and migrants or between economic or social rivals, battling for domination, or settling differences.

'The conflict conveys the impression of a xenophobic action; the type of aggression suggests a clash between enemy groups.'

Cases of fatal arrow-shot injuries from Els Trocs cave site. After the victims were shot with arrows they were then driven into the cave

The researchers studied the genome of the victims of the attack and found that two of them were father and son - a male of about 30 and a boy of about six.

The other three children had different mothers and the genomes haven't been studied to the same detail.

It is likely they were all part of the same cultural group though, possibility farming immigrants coming in to an area dominated by hunter gatherers.

When they were in the cave the victims were then subjected to further attacks with blunt force instruments, some continuing after their death

At the time the victims lived agricultural and agrarian societies were starting to develop and researchers think the victims were immigrants that started farming.

The researchers suggest that the attackers could have been local hunter-gatherers or another group of migrant farmers.

If they were migrants then the attack may have been sparked by a land dispute over farming space.

However, if they were locals then the researchers suggest that they may have viewed the migrants as invaders in their foraging grounds.

Location of the site and the two neighbouring northeastern Spanish provinces of Huesca and Lerida (Lleida) on a topographic map of the Pyrenees (map: ArGIS 10, license of University of Valladolid

The team say that the extraordinary significance of this violent conflict is early evidence of intentional violence in the Neolithic period.

It dates the first events of collective violence against a group to the final phase of the first farming cultures in central Europe at the end of the 5th millennium BC.

'This was a phase of upheaval and change', the authors say.

An unusual feature of this violence is the remote geographical location of the site, away from the early Neolithic migration routes on the Iberian Peninsula, which are located inshore or along the Ebro valley.

Another author on the paper, Joe Ignacio Royo, a local expert, said he wouldn't go as far as to call it a ritual killing.

'It seems that they were wounded with arrows in the vicinity of the cave, and that they were later taken into it,' he told The Olive Press.

Inside the cave the victims where subjected to 'vicious beatings, even after death.'

The attacks were so violent he described them as a kind of 'second execution, a murderous frenzy'.

The research has been published in the Nature journal Scientific Reports.
John Hess, CEO of Hess Corporation, a large U.S.-based independent oil producer, recently told a Houston audience where he's putting the company's money these days: Offshore drilling.

That should strike those who know of Hess Corporation's heavy involvement in the Bakken shale play (in North Dakota) as a bit strange. Hess says the company will "use cash flow from the Bakken to invest in longer-term offshore investments."

Hess told his audience that "key U.S. shale fields are starting to plateau, calling shale 'important but not the next Saudi Arabia.'" Setting aside whether Hess is actually getting investable cash from the Bakken, the constant refrain from the U.S. oil industry has been precisely that shale plays ARE the next Saudi Arabia.

Someone should send a note to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) that maybe it's not all going to work out. If Hess is right about a peak in U.S. shale oil production soon, that peak will come about a decade earlier than the peak forecast by the EIA.

None of this will come as a surprise to geologist David Hughes whose most recent update on U.S. shale oil and natural gas production suggests that not only will Hess be proven generally correct, but that production will fall much farther than the EIA believes in the coming decades. Hughes continues to rate EIA estimates of ultimate recovery from America's shale oil and natural gas fields as "extremely optimistic, and highly unlikely to be realized." Related: Are Oil Markets Overreacting To The Coronavirus?

U.S. shale oil production has been a major driver in the growth of world oil supplies. Last year the United States accounted for 98 percent of global growth in oil production. Since 2008 the number is 73 percent. It's not hard to imagine that a slowdown in U.S. oil production growth or worse yet a decline in overall U.S. production would mean trouble for the entire world.

With 81 percent of global oil production now in decline, even a plateau in U.S. production would likely result in a worldwide decline. The world is simply not prepared for such an eventin part, because agencies such as the EIA are either unable or unwilling to grasp the plain facts and present them to policymakers and the public.

When the real trouble arrives in the oil markets, the EIA and other forecasters will likely just shift their analysis and cite some "impossible to predict" factors that will have led to the stunning reversal of fortune. But those factors are in evidence right now, if only the EIA and others have eyes to see them.

By Kurt Kobb

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Taiwans defence ministry says Chinese fighters and bombers flew close to the island prompting it to respond.

Taiwans air force scrambled armed fighters on Sunday to intercept Chinese jets that flew around the island claimed by Beijing as its own, in a move denounced by Taiwans Defence Ministry as a threat to regional peace and stability.

China has been flying what it calls island encirclement drills since 2016 when Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen took office for the first time.

Beijing believes Tsai, who won re-election last month, wishes to push the islands formal independence. She says Taiwan is an independent country called the Republic of China, its official name.

In a statement, Taiwans Defence Ministry said Chinese J-11 fighters and H-6 bombers flew into the Bashi Channel to the south of Taiwan, then out into the Pacific before heading back to base via the Miyako Strait, located between Japans islands of Miyako and Okinawa, to the northeast of Taiwan.

During this period, the national military appropriately used air reconnaissance aircraft and air defence forces in accordance with combat readiness regulations, it said.

It provided a picture of a Taiwan air force F-16 shadowing one of the Chinese H-6 bombers. Taiwans official Central News Agency said the scrambled F-16s carried live missiles.

The Chinese Communists long-range far-out-at-sea missions have impacted regional security and stability and endanger the peace and welfare shared by all parties in the region, the ministry said.





Chinas Eastern Theatre Command, in a statement late on Sunday carried by the official Peoples Liberation Army Daily, said the aircraft carried out real combat-oriented training.

Taiwan and its island are sacred and inalienable parts of China. The Chinese militarys combat ready patrol was a completely legitimate and necessary action aimed at the current situation in the Taiwan Strait and safeguarding national sovereignty.

Cross-strait tensions

The fly-by came as Taiwans Vice President elect, William Lai, was returning from a visit to the United States, where he attended the high-profile National Prayer Breakfast, at which US President Donald Trump spoke. China has denounced Lais trip.

Relations between Taipei and Beijing have further deteriorated in the past few weeks amid the outbreak of the new coronavirus in China, with Taiwan accusing China of preventing the island from accessing full information from the World Health Organization (WHO) or attending its meetings.

Taiwan is not a WHO member because of Chinas objections. China insists the self-ruled island which is one of the regions most vibrant democracies is merely a Chinese province whose interests in the health body are adequately represented by Beijing.

In a small diplomatic breakthrough for Taiwan, the WHO said Taiwanese experts will participate this week in an online meeting of experts about the virus.

Taiwans Foreign Ministry said this was a good start and it ould strive to take part in more WHO events.

Taiwans WHO troubles last week became another flashpoint in Sino-US ties, with the US ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva telling the agency to deal directly with Taiwans government, drawing a sharp rebuke from China
If you want to track the damage being done to global economic activity and growth by the coronavirus, just keep an eye on commodity prices and declarations of force majeure by Chinese companies. Both are showing increasing signs of the stress.

With one of Chinas major manufacturing centres and transport and logistics hubs locked down and nearly 40,000 people in China already infected, the virus is having an increasingly more chilling effect on economic activity there.

That in turn is flowing through to demand for the raw materials and disrupting the supply chains that feed the worlds largest manufacturing centre.

China's demand for energy could fall by 25 per cent in February. Credit:Getty

Chinese companies and traders have been delaying or cancelling shipments of commodities. Now they are starting to try to use declarations of "force majeure" to walk away from contracts.
OncoMyx Therapeutics is an ASU spinout company founded on the myxoma virus (MYXV) platform. It was great to work with the Skysong Innovations team on this licensing, because they understand not just the patent portfolio but what an inventor and entrepreneur needs to spin out a company and reach the next level.

OncoMyx Therapeutics, an Arizona State University (ASU) spinout and privately-held oncolytic immunotherapy company founded on the myxoma virus (MYXV) platform, has finalized a licensing agreement with Skysong Innovations, ASUs technology transfer organization.

OncoMyx is developing oncolytic immunotherapies to treat cancer, based on the work of Grant McFadden, the director of the Biodesign Institutes Center for Immunotherapy, Vaccines and Virotherapy at ASU. McFaddens team has designed an oncolytic virus to specifically kill cancer cells without harming normal cells.

Professor McFadden and his collaborators have developed a robust oncolytic virus technology, supported by preclinical and clinical research, that we believe could be a new pillar of cancer care, said Steve Potts, co-founder and CEO of OncoMyx. Completing this licensing agreement is an important milestone for advancing this technology into new potentially life-saving treatments for cancer. It was great to work with the Skysong Innovations team on this licensing, because they understand not just the patent portfolio but what an inventor and entrepreneur needs to spin out a company and reach the next level.

In June 2019, OncoMyx completed a $25 million Series A financing, one of the years largest venture investments in Arizona and the most money ever raised by an ASU spinout in its initial funding round. The company is using the proceeds to advance the development of its MYXV platform to the stage when it can begin human clinical trials.

OncoMyx has the potential to become the best-in-class oncolytic virus approach for treating a wide range of cancers, said Augie Cheng, CEO of Skysong Innovations. The company has tremendous IP, experienced leadership, and funding commensurate with the technologys promise. They are a true shining star in the Arizona biotech startup scene.

Overall, companies launched to develop ASUs intellectual property are boosting the states economy. To date, ASU researchers and other entrepreneurs have started more than 140 new companies, which together have attracted almost a billion dollars in outside investments. An independent economic impact analysis completed last year found that, from 2016-2019, Arizonas economy gained a cumulative $575 million in gross state product, $52 million in state and local tax revenues, and 5,842 job-years (equivalent to one person having a job for one full year) as a result of Skysong Innovations venture development activities. The cumulative economic impact of these new companies is projected to reach $1.16 billion by the end of 2022.

About Arizona State University

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. Learn more: http://www.asu.edu

About OncoMyx Therapeutics

OncoMyx Therapeutics, a startup launched from Arizona State University (ASU), develops oncolytic immunotherapies based on the myxoma virus (MYXV) platform to orchestrate an immune response and treat cancer. Successful immuno-oncology (IO) cancer treatment generally requires combination therapy, and oncolytic viruses (OVs) have emerged as a safe and effective IO complement. The companys MYXV platform, spun out from ASU, is poised to be a best-in-class OV approach, and the top OV team has assembled around MYXV to create important new therapeutic options for cancer patients. For more information, please visit http://www.oncomyx.com.

About Skysong Innovations

Skysong Innovations works with ASU researchers to protect and commercialize the intellectual property they create, promoting the ASU research enterprise and enhancing the community ASU serves. Among universities without a medical school, the Milken Institute ranked ASU as sixth best for tech transfer, and in 2018, ASU made the National Academy of Inventors and IP Owners Associations top ten list for U.S. Patents issued. In addition, ASU is consistently among the top performing large universities in annual surveys by the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) for invention disclosures, venture formation, and deal making per $10 million in research expenditures. Skysong Innovations has helped launch more than 140 new spinout companies from ASU, which together have attracted almost a billion dollars in outside investments. Learn more: https://www.skysonginnovations.com/
I am very pleased to be back in Addis for wide-ranging conversations with African leaders and with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission.

Joining me are two members of my senior leadership team  Under-Secretary-General Hannah Tetteh, my Special Representative to the African Union, and Vera Songwe, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa.

Solidarity with the African Union.

Solidarity with the African people, around the continent.

The entire United Nations system is united in our support for African efforts to advance peace, prosperity and human rights across the continent.

And the strategic partnership between the African Union and the United Nations is of enormous importance to the world.

As we saw this morning, our relationship is growing ever stronger and more dynamic, particularly on the Silencing the Guns initiative, human rights, gender equality, climate change and sustainable development in the context of Africas Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda.

In our conversations today we took stock of efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Here, too, we want to build on African successes and advances such as the African Continental Free Trade Area. We need a fair globalization so that Africa no longer suffers from unfair trading and financial rules, subsidies and other policies and market distortions that perpetuate inequality and make it harder for Africa to compete and prosper.

We also discussed the climate crisis. Africa has done the least to cause this emergency yet suffers some of its most devastating consequences. To address those consequences, I continue to press for greater international support for financing, adaptation and resilience across the continent. Global commitment is needed to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, including by the big emitters.

It is essential that the developed world reduces its emissions. It is essential that other big emitters reduce their emissions. Its essential that the developed world strongly supports Africa in adaptation, in building resilience and in the financial requirements that Africa needs to face climate change.

There is also a link between climate change and the unprecedented locust crisis plaguing Ethiopia and East Africa.

Warmer seas mean more cyclones generating the perfect breeding ground for locusts.

Today locust swarms are as big as major cities  and it is getting worse by the day.

The FAO tells us a swarm the size of Paris will consume, in one day, as much food as half the population of France.

I express my deep solidarity with the people and communities affected. The United Nations has issued an urgent appeal for assistance. I ask the international community to respond with speed and generosity to ensure an effective response and control the infestation while we still have the chance.
About 40% of older Americans rely exclusively on Social Security for retirement income, according to recent research from the National Institute on Retirement Security.

It's an attention-grabbing statistic. And one expert in particular, Andrew Biggs, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, finds it hard to believe.

Much of the effort to reform Social Security comes down to numbers. Because the stakes for reform are so high, it's no surprise that researchers are also at odds.

The National Institute on Retirement Security's report specifically looked at respondents or households ages 60 and up who work fewer than 30 hours per week or not at all.

The research is based on 2014 data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation and the Social Security Administration Supplement on Retirement, Pensions and Related Content.

More from Personal Finance:

How to use the one-time do-over for Social Security benefits

Why Social Security is personal for many presidential candidates

How to save for retirement when you're your own boss

But Biggs at the American Enterprise Institute doubts that that many people really only have income from just Social Security.

Their numbers, according to Biggs, are actually much smaller, based on data from the Census Bureau.

"The share of people who only have Social Security is a lot smaller than you think it is," Biggs said."It's not 40%. It's 12%."

Among Biggs' complaints is that the National Institute on Retirement Security skews its data by taking individuals who are age 60 and over, which can include individuals on disability benefits. It also potentially overlooks individuals who are delaying retirement, he said.

Research from other sources, such as from the Census or the Social Security Administration, typically looks at individuals who are 65 and older.
When I put on high jewelry, I felt old. I felt there was a hole in the market for fine jewelry for a young girl like me, she said. What would a girl like me want to wear? Every time I create a piece of jewelry, I ask this.

Certain motifs appealed to her: Body parts, like lips, ears and eyes, based on the Victorian lovers eye that was stitched into garments, so I have an eye on you.

Skulls have been a frequent motif in her work, representing, Ms. Delettrez said, memento mori that says life is short so dont get attached to things. I wanted to subvert that. I love being surrounded by beautiful things.

In 2007, the trendsetting Paris store Colette staged a show of the pieces Ms. Delettrez had made for herself. It was, she said, a huge success. By January 2009, the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris had acquired two of her pieces  the Kiss a Frog ring and the Original Sin bracelet  for its permanent collection.

I decided to get serious, she said. Ms. Delettrez was not trained in goldsmithing, she said, so she had to rely on skilled artisans, eventually developing an atelier of what she described as young artisans under 30 and not fossilized by tradition.
An angry alligator dragged a tourist's tablet underwater after he dangled it overhead to film the animal up close.

The footage was taken in Florianopolis, the capital of southern Brazil's Santa Catarina state, during a wildlife tour.

The clip begins showing tourists leaning over a bridge to look at the group of alligators partially submerged in a pond below.

Left: A tourist dangles his tablet, in waterproof protective casing attached to some string, down to film the animals in Florianopolis, Brazil. Right: the animal snaps at it

One of the onlookers dangles his tablet, which is in waterproof protective casing attached to some string, down to film the animals.

It gets dangerously close to the creatures until one of the reptiles snaps at it - causing the tourist to jerk it back up out of reach.

However the man does not learn his lesson and soon lowers it back down towards the water and its aggressive occupants.

The alligator gets a firmer grip of the tablet and holds it in its mouth for a few seconds before dragging it into the water

This time the alligator gets a firmer grip of the tablet and holds it in its mouth for a few seconds.

It then gets the strength to rip it off the string, pulling it into the water.

A woman can be heard in the background making a shocked noise as the alligator wins the tug of war.
Welcome to episode 59 of The CUInsight Experience podcast with your host Randy Smith, co-founder of CUInsight.com. This episode is brought to you by our friends at CO-OP Financial Services. CO-OP is your trusted payments processing partner whose mission is to drive the credit union movement forward.

Do you know how vital the defense credit unions are to military personnel and their families? Listen in as Anthony Hernandez and I speak about what they do and how they are different from other financial institutions. Tony is the President and CEO of the Defense Credit Union Council, before joining the credit union movement he spent 25 years in the Air Force. As you can imagine, he has some significant leadership knowledge and will share that with us along with what makes the DCUC so unique in the work they are doing for our service members.

Tony speaks about the specific issues they oversee and what he believes all credit unions need to change to stay relevant in todays financial market. Tony shares why he took the position as President and CEO of the Defense Credit Union Council and what he hopes to accomplish in the next year.

What is his leadership style? Tony says that it is a consensus style, but he is also highly adaptive so his style can change depending on which style he needs. He chats about what young leaders need to do better, some of his mentors all through his life, and whom he thinks about when he hears the word success.

Tony gives a different perspective on credit unions and how they work with the military. Listen to this conversation, and you might learn something that you didnt know before. You dont want to miss this episode.

Subscribe on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher

Books mentioned on The CUInsight Experience podcast: Book List

How to find Tony:

Anthony Hernandez, President and CEO of the Defense Credit Union Council

CEO@DCUC.ORG

www.DCUC.org

LinkedIn | Twitter

Show notes from this episode:

Shout-out: to our friends at CO-OP Financial Services, our first sponsor of The CUInsight Experience podcast. Thank you!

Check out all the work Anthony and his team at DCUC are doing in D.C here.

Interested in an upcoming DCUC event? Find out more here.

Tony has some great Community posts that you can find here including his article The Defense Credit Union Difference.

Want to watch the new video Tony talked about? Here you go: DCUC  Why We Do What We Do



Check out the Jauruary Defense Credit Union Alert here.

Article mentioned: Generation X: Americas neglected middle child

Article mentioned: Emerging Technology and Military Considerations

Shout-out: Filene Research Institute

Shout-out: Jennifer Hernandez  Tonys wife who introduced him to credit unions and DCUC.

Shout-out: the DCUC Board of Directors

Shout-out: Jill Nowacki (I love being your +1)

Shout-out: Maria Martinez

Book Mentioned: The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

Shout-out: Arnulfo and Mary Hernandez (dad and mom) and Don and Joyce Powers (the in-laws)

Shout-out: Three teachers from high school: Warren Cupp, Donna McCoskey and Judi McKenzie

Shout-out: Mentors from the military: Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Ingalls, Bob Belchic, Brigadier General Sandra Gregory, General Robin Rand, Colonel Mike Phelps, Maj General Wayne Schatz, Lt General Jerry Martinez, Lt General William Rew, General William Fraser

Shout-out: Dan Berger

Check out The Berger Leadership Blog here.

Shout-out: John Spence

Another guest who swears by Peloton

Shout-out: Tansley Stearns

Movie mentioned: Neat  The Story of Bourbon

Album mentioned: Mannheim Steamroller Fresh Aire

Book mentioned: Leadershock by Greg Hicks

Book mentioned: Lions Dont Need to Roar by D.A Benton

Previous guests mentioned in this episode: Jill Nowacki (episodes 4, 18 & 37), Maria Martinez, Dan Berger, John Spence, Tansley Stearns, Randy Smith

You can find all past episodes of The CUInsight Experience here.

In This Episode:

[01:56]  Tony, welcome to the show!

[02:48]  Tony shares what the Defense Credit Union Council is and how they help our military personnel.

[03:45]  He explains the two primary reasons the DCUC is different from other credit unions.

[05:43]  Tony reads a script that he found that describes what the DCUC does for military families and veterans.

[08:09]  Tony, are there issues specific to defense credit unions that your organization prioritizes?

[11:36]  They speak about the things that need to fundamentally change in the credit unions to keep them relevant in the financial industry.

[14:49]  A year from now, what will you be proud that you accomplished with your organization?

[16:47]  He shares with Randy about the new biometric identification he is excited to announce.

[19:15]  Tony describes why he took the position with the DCUC once he retired from the Air Force.

[22:57]  Did the inspiration for the job change once you transitioned from COO to CEO with the DCUC?

[25:18]  Tony shares his leadership style and tells us it hasnt changed since he became a civilian.

[28:21]  He believes that the credit union landscape will change exponentially with the Gen X generation taking over.

[28:45]  What do you say all the time that your team can repeat word for word?

[31:26]  Tony says that young leaders need to find the one thing that is important to them and achieve that main thing, and narrow your focus.

[33:53]  Tony speaks about having many mentors along the way and gives some examples of what they taught him.

[37:02]  What does a typical day at work look like for Tony? What do you like to do when you have a day off?

[40:11]  Do you remember the first time you got in memorable trouble?

[42:28]  Tony wanted to be a politician when he was young but then took the military path.

[43:36]  If he doesnt work out in the morning, his whole day feels off.

[44:10]  Tony states that he doesnt have any apps that he uses daily.

[45:29]  What is your favorite album of all time?

[47:27]  What book do you think everyone should read?

[52:06]  Tony shares that when he hears the word success, he thinks of his parents and his children.

[53:42]  Tony, do you have any final thoughts or asks for our listeners?
Iran will not "hesitate to strike back when necessary", as it has done before, said the the head of the country's nuclear agency on Monday.

Speaking at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Ali Akbar Salehi accused the US of "inflicting harm" on people across the Middle East.

Salehi also decried the targeted killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani last month in a US airstrike, who he said was Iran's "most instrumental element" in fighting Islamic State.

When US Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette stood behind the podium, he delivered countering remarks and urged Tehran to allow IAEA monitoring of its nuclear facilities.

"It is imperative that Iran provide full and timely cooperation to explain the presence of uranium particles at an undeclared location. As the IAEA has reported, time is of the essence," he said.
The step follows complaints by MPs that naming television channels in their entirety could be used to portray Egypt as a violator of freedom of speech

Egypt's House of Representatives approved on Monday new amendments to Law 8/2015 on terrorist entities.

MPs, led by Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal and Chairman of the Human Rights Committee Alaa Abed, approved removing the words television channels, radio stations and social media accounts from the new amendments to the law.

Bahaaeddin Abu Shoka, head of the Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee which proposed the concerned amendment, also approved the removal.

Abu Shoka argued that the inclusion of television channels and social media accounts was introduced by the committee on with the stipulation they are involved in inciting violence and promoting terrorist activities. But as the inclusion of such media outlets such as television channels, radio stations, and social media accounts could stir up a lot of problems for Egypt in the international media and human rights circles, I approve that these two media outlets be removed from the new amendments to the law, said Abu Shoka.

Abdel-Aal said the final text of amended Article 1 will be: Associations, organisations, groups and institutions which are established by individuals, companies, institutions, gangs and cells or others regardless of their legal or real form will be designated as terrorist as long as they are involved in any way  in Egypt or abroad  in harming citizens, spreading terrorism, and endangering their lives, freedoms, rights and security.

He added that the removal of media outlets, particularly television channels, from the amendments is a win for freedom of speech in Egypt. This is a very sensitive issue as the inclusion of media outlets goes in violation of international standards in this respect and could be exploited by some hostile circles to tarnish the image of Egypt regarding freedom of speech.

Abed said the inclusion of television channels could be used by some hostile international circles to portray Egypt as a violator of freedom of speech and human rights. Therefore, it is recommended that media outlets be removed from the amendment.

Abdel-Aal and Abed, however, indicated that the inclusion of the word companies in the new amendments means that this could also entail television channels and radio stations which incite violence and promote terrorism. We know that the majority of television channels and radio stations are set up in the form of companies and so if these are involved in any terrorist activity they could be listed as terrorist entities, said Abed.

Abu Shoka said the new amendments to the terrorist entities law aim to take a preventive measure targeting the funding of terrorist activities and closing in on terrorist organisations.

Abu Shoka said the amendments also aim to go in line with international conventions and new developments in terrorist crimes in the last four years. The new forms of terrorist crimes are those promoted by media outlets, particularly social media. This is the fourth generation war, said Abu Shoka, adding that the new amendments are also in line with Article 185 of the constitution which obligates the government to invoke all measures necessary to fight terrorist crimes.

Abdel-Aal said the amendments are a preventive measure against terrorist crimes. This law covers the period ahead of convicting an individual or an entity of being a terrorist. If convicted, this individual or entity will be designated by the court as a terrorist, said Abdel-Aal.

The discussion also led to changing the government-drafted amendment of Article 7 of the law. The final draft will be: The membership of individuals designated as terrorist in professional syndicates and boards of public sector companies, sporting clubs and union will be suspended (not lost as originally drafted).

MPs decided to keep the other amendments of Article 7. These state that assets owned directly or indirectly by a terrorist entity will be confiscated. These assets include all forms of property, documents, legal tools, national or foreign currency, financial and commercial securities, tourist cheques, documentary credit, and all returns and profits generated by these and other assets.

The amended Article 7 shall also state that individuals publicly declared terrorist will be banned from exercising any activity, including collecting money, holding meetings or maintaining offices. All forms of terrorism promotion  such as raising terrorist slogans  will be criminalised, states the draft law.

The amendment also states that individuals listed as terrorists will be stripped of their passports and barred from assuming public posts or joining parliament.

MPs, also led by Abed, decided to change Article 6 to give individuals who appeal against a verdict designating them as terrorists the right to use some of their frozen money and assets to meet their living needs such as buying food supplies, housing rents, drugs and medical treatment and other expenses. This is to observe the human rights of these individuals, said Abed.

MPs also decided to add a new paragraph to Article 9, stating that the most essential information on individuals or entities designated as terrorist could be made available to other countries as part of international cooperation.

Parliament also approved in principle a new batch of amendments to the 94/2015 anti-terrorism law that will focus on clamping down on sources of funding for terrorist crimes, and toughening penalties to include execution.

Abdel-Aal said "while we voiced some concerns about the terrorist entities law, we think the amendments of the anti-terrorism law are perfect and represent a necessary tool in clamping down on terrorist crimes."

Article 3 of the law will be amended to widen the scope of the definition of sources for funding terrorist acts.

"The crime of 'funding terrorism' shall take any of the following forms: collecting, obtaining, acquiring, supplying, transferring, and providing money or weapons, ammunition, explosives, equipment, statements, information, or material or others  directly or indirectly  and using any means, including digital or electronic forms, to be used in carrying out terrorist crimes or in providing a safe haven for one terrorist or more."

The amendment will add a new paragraph to the above-mentioned definition to state that sources of funding terrorism shall also include providing a place for training one terrorist or more, giving them weapons or documents in any way or form, as well as offering support and financing in order to help terrorists travel, even if the provider does not have a direct link to the terrorist crime.

Abu Shoka said Article 13 concerning penalties of crimes of funding terrorism will be amended.

"The scope of penalties will be expanded to be imposed on such crimes as helping individuals to travel from their native country to plan, prepare, participate or assist or carry out a terrorist activity in another country," Abu Shoka said.

"Individuals or entities involved in funding any of the above-mentioned forms of terrorist activities shall be sentenced to life in prison, and individuals involved in funding an organisation designated as terrorist or helping it to carry out a terrorist act shall face the death penalty, and they will also be required to pay a fine ranging from EGP 100,000 to EGP 3 million.

Parliament Speaker Abdel-Aal decided to refer the amendments of the laws on terrorist entities and anti-terrorism to the State ouncil to be revised for constitutional and legal terms before voting on them.

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China's Communist Party Faces Public Anger As Coronavirus Toll Rises

February 08, 2020

China's ruling Communist Party faced public anger over the death of a doctor who was threatened by authorities for trying to alert the public about the new coronavirus in December, before the outbreak spread and became a global crisis.

Meanwhile, China early on February 8 said the death toll from the virus in the country surged to 722 with the number of infections rising to 34,546.

The U.S. Embassy in Beijing reported on February 8 that a 60-year-old U.S. citizen diagnosed with the virus had died in the city of Wuhan, while Japan said that a citizen of that country, a man in his 60s, also died from the virus in the city, considered to be the epicenter of the outbreak.

A Reuters count of official statements showed that there have been 320 cases now in 27 countries and regions outside mainland China.



The Chinese government has faced an online uproar over its treatment of doctor Li Wenliang, leading it to strike a conciliatory tone, saying it is sending a team to "fully investigate relevant issues raised by the public."

The 34-year-old Li, an ophthalmologist, contracted the virus while treating patients and later died.

Experts say Li's work as an eye doctor required him to sit very close to patients during examinations, something that may have subjected him to an especially large dose of the virus that made his illness more severe.

He was one of eight medical professionals in Wuhan who tried to warn colleagues and others when the government did not. He had said that police forced him to sign a statement admitting he was spreading falsehoods.

The government-backed Global Times newspaper said Li's treatment was "evidence of local authorities' incompetence to tackle a contagious and deadly virus."

"Wuhan indeed owes Li Wenliang an apology," editor Hu Xilinx said.

The Amnesty International rights watchdog called his death a "tragic reminder" of how China's obsession with stability leads it suppress vital information.

The case brought to light long-standing complaints that Communist Party officials lie about or cover up disease outbreaks, chemical spills, dangerous consumer products, or financial fraud.

In 2003, China was accused of attempting to cover up the SARS outbreak -- a similar virus -- that killed almost 800 people worldwide.

Chinese citizens in the past have been jailed on charges of rumor-mongering or making trouble.

To fight the spread of the virus, China's government has sealed off cities, canceled flights, and closed factories, putting strains on the world's second-largest economy and roiling markets worldwide.

Concerns about the virus remained high outside of China.

President Xi Jinping spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump and urged Washington to "respond reasonably" to the outbreak, echoing complaints that some countries are overreacting by restricting Chinese travelers and those who have visited the country recently.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on February 7 said the United States was prepared to provide up to $100 million to assist China and support coronavirus efforts by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The WHO is seeking $675 million for its coronavirus response through April.

In Japan, three more cases were diagnosed on February 8 among 3,700 passengers and crew on the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship, bringing the total of cases to 61. All aboard the ship remain under 14-day quarantine.

With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/china-communist-anger-doctor- virus-whistleblower-/30423542.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 South African Communist Party (SACP) has called for workers' rights to be fully protected while at the same time pursuing the turnaround of SAA. It describes alleged job cuts that could take place at SAA as part of an attempt by the BRPs to make the airline sustainable as untenable and called for alternatives to be found after meaningful consultation with unions.

While it may seem an untenable position; what few people dont know, is that theres an alternative: Equity Crowdfunding.

What is Equity Crowdfunding?

Equity Crowdfunding is an alternative method of raising capital. It is a way to source money by asking a large number of backers to each invest a relatively small amount and receive equity shares, of the project. It is also an alternative because investors in Equity Crowdfunding dont look into detail at collateral or business plans, but at the ideas and core values of the project.

With equity crowdfunding it is not just about connecting projects and capital, but the subsequent positive effects on labor inclusion, especially among the most vulnerable labor groups.

South African Airways is undisputedly a source of national pride. It is the holder of the highly coveted international Skytrax Best airline in Africa award since 2002. In 2019 it also won the Best airline staff in Africa, Best cabin crew in Africa, Best airline cabin cleanliness in Africa and Best business class lounge in Africa Skytrax awards. It transports almost 10 million passengers per annum and employs 5000+ employees, making economic activity possible and contributing significantly to tourism, and other industries, which in turn aids job creation.

Quoted by Sir Richard Branson:

Its incredible how this new format of fundraising has helped so many businesses find the cash and support they need. We spent many hours at Virgin pleading with banks to extend our overdraft and to loan us more cash to continue to grow companies like Virgin Records and Virgin Atlantic. Had crowdfunding been around when we were launching Virgin businesses in the early days, we definitely would have made use of it. In fact, the first ever (unofficial) Virgin Atlantic flight was actually crowdfunded. It wasnt a slick operation like the crowdfunding platforms around today, but it did the trick.

South African politicians, senior management and board members all appear to have failed to turn the entity around, and so we should consider the wisdom of the crowd to decide whether to rescue SAA or not !

#CrowdfundSAA

About Tabassum Qadir

Tabassum Qadir is the CEO of Uprise.Africa. She is a strategist, innovator and visionary leader who believes in the future of Equity Crowdfunding in South Africa.

She is the former chair of SkywiseAirline that she co-founded as a 100% female-owned low-cost airline in 2014.

She believes in empowering marginalised stakeholders, especially women, and she is a dynamic leader with a background in diversified business operations in Africa.
A Delhi court has awarded life imprisonment to the wife of a restaurant owner and two others for killing him in West Delhi's Moti Nagar area in 2011.

Additional Sessions Judge Samar Vishal awarded life imprisonment to Arvinder Kaur, Sant Saran Nehra and Mridul Dixit for murdering Virender Sachdeva by inflicting about 55 stab injuries on him.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on each of the convicts.

The court had convicted the trio under sections 302 (murder), 201 (disappearance of evidence or giving false information), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Based on a complaint by Sachdeva's wife, a case was registered in the matter.

Kaur had said in her complaint that on the intervening night of September 20 and 21, 2011, she saw two men in her room when she woke up.

One man, who had a pointed object in his hands, was holding her while the other was restraining her husband, the complaint stated.

It further said that one of them hit her head against a wall due to which she fell unconscious. When she regained consciousness, she saw that her husband was lying in a pool of blood.

Thereafter, some of the neighbours heard her cries for help and rescued her, the complaint added.

However, during investigation, police scrutinised Kaur's call records and found that she had planned the murder and arrested her.

Kaur, Nehra and Dixit were arrested on September 23, 2011.

The court said while two brutal robbers had inflicted 55 incised and 19 penetrating injuries to Virender Sachdeva, they left the eye witness that is her wife unharmed, more so when she had lost consciousness and she could have also been killed easily by the robbers.

During the hearing, Additional Public Prosecutor Santosh Kumar told the court that by committing the crime, Kaur has not only shaken the conscience of the society but also committed a serious breach of trust of her husband.

Counsel for the convicts had said that they were falsely implicated in the case.

The couple's 13-year old daughter has been residing with her maternal grandparents since the incident and a case was pending between the maternal and paternal grandparents regarding her guardianship.

The deceased's brother has filed the case for their daughter's guardianship.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 10

By Ilkin Seyfaddini  Trend:

Uzbekistan, together with the Saudi Arabian company ACWA Power, is implementing a project on construction of two combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) with a total capacity of 1250 MW in Syrdarya region, Trend reports referring to the Ministry of Energy of Uzbekistan.

The agreement was reached during negotiations between Minister of Energy of Uzbekistan Alisher Sultanov and the delegation of Saudi Arabia, headed by Board Chairman of ACWA Power Mohammad Abdullah Abunayyan. In the course of the negotiations, the progress of joint projects and the prospects for further cooperation were discussed.

As part of the project, ACWA Power will provide the design, supply and construction of two CCGTs through foreign direct investment in the amount of $1 billion.

The investor uses the latest models of CCGT with an efficiency of more than 60%, with the generation of about 10 billion kWh per year.

Along with this, measures are being taken to sign an agreement with ACWA Power on the construction of a 500 mW wind farm in Navoi region under PPP conditions (the commissioning date is scheduled for 2022).

ACWA Power is a developer, investor, co-owner and operator of a portfolio of 56 electricity and desalination plants. The company carries out activities in 12 countries, including the regions of the Middle East and North Africa, South Africa and Southeast Asia. The companys investment portfolio exceeds $47 billion, and the total production capacity is 31 gW of electricity and 5.3 million cubic meters of desalinated water.
Early in John Bercows term of office as Speaker, there was an almighty row over the fact that he saw fit to lavish 37,000 of taxpayers money on a life-size official portrait of himself (which, admittedly, meant it wasnt all that big).

Many felt the sum to be grostesquely excessive in an era of public-sector austerity.

Last week, at a reception in Speakers House hosted by Bercows successor Sir Lindsay Hoyle, I noticed that this imposing artwork has a large space at the bottom of the frame.

John Bercow, pictured as Speaker of the Commons in 2019, is reeling from allegations of vicious, foot-stamping bullying made by former Black Rod David Leakey. His chances of a peerages 'are now zero', a senior Commons official said

This, I was told, awaits Bercows title and coat of arms which would be forthcoming when, as is customary for ex-Speakers, he slips into an ermine gown and enters the House of Lords. Yet the highly controversial Bercow is reeling from allegations of vicious, foot-stamping bullying made by former Black Rod David Leakey and others, including ex-Commons Clerk Lord Lisvane.

A senior Commons official tells me: His chances of a peerage are now zero.

If we are never treated to the sight (and sound) of Baron Bercow, then the portrait will remain a lasting monument to the fact that he is the first Speaker in centuries not to have joined the Lords.

Bercows successor Sir Lindsay Hoyle is seen during the Prime Minister's Questions on February 5

Well, he always liked to break with Parliamentary convention.

NB: Bercows auto-hagiography, Unspeakable, in which he boasts about his appallingly undemocratic behaviour in attempting to sabotage Brexit, went on sale only last Thursday. Yet Amazon and WHSmith are already selling the 20 tome at a heavily discounted 13.60.

When Farage lit up over the EU

Looking back on his 21 years in the European Parliament, Nigel Farage recalled a sharp letter from the authorities. It said: This is the second time the EU parliament has had to write and warn you about smoking in your office. If this happens again, we will impose a fine which will be deducted from your salary.

Nigel Farage recalled the time he was warned about smoking in his office and the possibility of being handed a fine which would be deducted from his salary. In response, he told the authorities to 'do a monthly standing order'

Farages response? I wrote back and said: Save you the trouble, just do a monthly standing order. I never heard back!

Broadcaster Jeremy Paxman has no time for the ruling class who say that people who voted for Brexit are racist and ignorant.

He told Saga magazine: Its not true. They have told us they dont think much of Jeremy Corbyn or Jo Swinson, or of scaremongering retired diplomats. Wise words, Paxo.

Paymaster General Oliver Dowden, tipped to replace Nicky Morgan as Culture Secretary in this weeks reshuffle, could be a rare ally in the Commons for the beleaguered BBC. The blond ex-PR man boasts that hes the member of Parliament for Albert Square, because the EastEnders set falls within his Hertsmere constituency.

Perhaps hell get a walk-on role as Dirty Dow-den...

General Oliver Dowden (pictured left) is tipped to replace Nicky Morgan as Culture Secretary in this weeks Cabinet reshuffle

Yet more evidence that Jeremy Corbyns Labour is in denial. In literature sent to new members, a timeline lists some of the partys achievements over the past 100 years.

Since 1997, when Tony Blair was elected, just four things have been deemed worthy of celebration.

These are the minimum wage and Human Rights Act, both enacted under Blair (though no mention is made of his three thumping election victories).

The other two? Membership rising above 500,000 under Corbyn after the rules were changed, and the 2017 General Election  which Jezza lost.

As the Glasto masses might howl: Oh, Jeremy Corbyn...

A sartorial cold shoulder

Ex-soap actress-turned-Labour MP Tracy Brabin drew a great deal of attention to herself for wearing a controversial, off-the-shoulder number at the Commons dispatch box. Until then, only people who watched her on Coronation Street knew who she was, sniffs one of her colleagues.

Thankfully, Brabins predecessor as Shadow Culture Secretary, the slimmed-down ex-trencherman Tom Watson, didnt try a similar sartorial stunt.
Green Party candidate Blaithin Gallagher said she is happy with the progress and the votes she achieved in Sligo Leitrim.

Blaithin received 1791 first preference votes, she is happy with that figure and said she will continue to work on it. She was eliminated on the tenth count. She told the paper that despite the national agenda, "climate change didn't feature on the doorsteps of Leitrim."

Ms Gallagher said she worked hard to "get the green message out" and that was even despite being held back by crutches from a recent back surgery. She agreed the party had a "battle with rural Ireland" but she said she resonated with farmers, coming herself from a farming background. She said she knows that farmers are part of the solution and "we are not against rural Ireland, we actually want to pay farmers more, we know that the family farm is the backbone of the country." She said the Green Party wants to consult with farmers, work with them and come up with solutions for climate change.

Blaithin who is the National Co-ordinator of the Green Party said her party will be available to talk with every party about forming a Government and noted "it is arrogant for any party to rule out talking to Sinn Fein - you must listen to the people."

Also read: Pity there wasn't more Drumshanbos - Sean Wynne
City Beautiful now has Sector 13. The UT administration has notified the renaming of Manimajra as Sector 13, along with renaming of certain other colonies and villages as sectors.

As per the notification, apart from Manimajra, Sarangpur Institutional Area will be renamed Sector 12 (West); Dhanas, including Milk Colony and Rehabilitation Colony, as Sector 14 (West); Maloya and Dadumajra as Sector 39 (West); and pocket number 8 below Vikas Marg as Sector 56 (West).

Industrial Area Phase 1 and 2 will be designated as Business and Industrial Park 1 and 2, respectively.

Under the Chandigarh Master Plan-2031, the reference area for planning constitutes 144 square kilometres, including 60 sectors in the sectoral grid as well as the peripheral areas around them.

French architect Le Corbusiers Phase 1 plan was divided into a grid of 30 sectors with Capitol Complex as well as Civic Centre as its focal points, while the Phase 2 layout included Sectors 31 to 47.

Phase 1 comprised 30 low-density sectors spread over 9,000 acres (Sectors 1 to 30) for 1.5 lakh people, whereas Phase 2 consisted of 17 considerably high-density areas (Sectors 31 to 47) spread over an area of 6,000 acres for a population of 3.5 lakh. Thereafter, nine more sectors were added (Sectors 48 to 56).

WHY SECTOR 13?

The residents of Modern Housing Complex (MHC), Shivalik Enclave and Uppal Marble Arc had for long been demanding these areas to be included in the sectoral grid of the city.

Col Gursewak Singh (retd), president, Resident Welfare Association, Modern Housing Complex, said, In February 2019, we again wrote to the UT administrator and adviser to grant the status of Sector 13 to these areas. Administration was not sure about using number 13, so they had offered to rename the area as Sector M.

This, however, was rejected by residents. Residents dont consider number 13 inauspicious. In fact, it will be a fitting tribute to Guru Nanak on his 550th birth anniversary, as he shunned all forms of superstition and propagated true meaning and value of tera (13) in his teachings, Singh said.

ADMN HAD SOUGHT SUGGESTIONS

The administration had issued a public notice seeking objections and suggestions from residents regarding renaming several areas not covered under the sectoral grid. Residents were allowed to submit their suggestions/objections by December 16 to the UT chief architect office at Sector 9. In response, the UT administration had received around 60 objections and suggestions.
Tanks rolled through empty roads in the former rebel town of Saraqeb, near Syria's border with Turkey on Sunday.Last week, Syrian government troops took control of the strategic town, whose streets and squares have become deserted.

Saraqeb is a key town because it sits on the intersection of two major highways.One of them leads to the capital, Damascus, to the north, and another connects to the country's western and eastern regions.

Syria's military vowed on Sunday to keep up its campaign to regain control of the whole country, days after capturing large chunks of territory from the last rebel holdout in northwestern Syria.Russia has heavily backed the Syrian government's offensive.The fighting led to the collapse of a fragile ceasefire that was negotiated with Turkey in 2018.

(Image Credits: AP)
The change is concerning for many brokers and agents who fear their business may not remain viable without the fees they currently charge.

Its a major reversal in fortune, Maurice Grey, who runs the small family business Esra Realty, told the New York Times. Im a third-generation real estate broker. But ask me if my kids will be the fourth generation? I dont think so.

In a statement issued Friday, Real Estate Board of New York & New York State Association of Realtors said they  along with brokerage firms - intend to file a lawsuit Monday (Feb. 10) against the DOS.

We are asking the court to recognize that the Department of State illegally overstepped its role in issuing its new Guidance on rental brokerage commissions, said James Whelan, President of the Real Estate Board of New York. The announcement of this new rule without warning has caused widespread confusion and havoc among dedicated real estate agents and the clients they serve. The sudden decision and the way it was made public was harmful to thousands of hardworking New Yorkers.

Widespread disruption

The lawsuit will state that the DOS has engaged in improper rule making and announced it in such a way as to cause widespread disruption and losses for brokers and landlords.
US, Europe Split Over Terror Threat from Africa

By Jeff Seldin February 08, 2020

Terror groups in Africa are getting more ambitious, increasingly mustering the resources and expertise to make their presence felt across the region with an eye toward wreaking havoc even further afield.

Intelligence assessments from the United States, Western nations and other United Nations member states point to a variety of factors, ranging from a small but critical influx of foreign fighters from Iraq and Syria to the growing profitability of drugs and weapons trafficking.

But sharp differences are emerging about the scope and nature of the threat, with U.S. officials alone publicly raising concerns that some of the African-based terrorists may be able to reach into Europe and the U.S. itself.

"The violent extremist organizations that are on the continent, both in the east and in the west, some of those groups threaten the American homeland today," General Stephen Townsend, the commander of U.S. Africa Command, told U.S. lawmakers during a recent hearing.

"Some of them will potentially be a threat in future," he added, warning, "we cannot take pressure off."

Al-Shabab: 'Our biggest target today is the Americans'

U.S. concerns have been spurred most recently by last month's deadly attack on the Manda Bay Airfield in Kenya, carried out by the Somali-based, al-Qaida affiliated terror group al-Shabab.

The attackers, U.S. officials said, demonstrated a surprising capability, overrunning the airfield's defenses. In the end, three Americans were dead while six aircraft lay in ruins.

U.S. forces in Kenya "were not as prepared there, at Manda Bay, as we needed to be," Townsend admitted.

U.S. officials also point to al-Shabab's own statements, the group's reclusive leader Abu Ubaidah declaring this past November that, "Our biggest target today is the Americans."

Regional or global threat?

But top counterterrorism officials outside of the U.S., while concerned, are not yet convinced that rhetoric or the ability to overrun an air base indicate al-Shabab or other terror groups in Africa are ready to flex their muscles on the global stage.

"In view of its increasing strength and the growing level of complexity of its recent operations, it appears possible that al-Shabab could conduct attacks, including on Western targets, in Eastern Africa," a European Union security official told VOA, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the intelligence. "However, we currently have no specific indications that these groups would focus on mounting attacks in the West itself."

It is an assessment shared, for now, by top United Nations terrorism officials.

"At the moment, there's no evidence of a present threat outside the immediate region," according to Edmund Fitton-Brown, coordinator of the United Nations' Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, which tracks terror groups linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State.

International counterterrorism officials contend groups like al-Shabab remain focused on their home territories. And while they appear increasingly willing to take on Western targets, like the U.S. forces in Kenya or French troops stationed in Mali, the primary goal is to destabilize or collapse the region's fragile governments.

They also say there is also no evidence to suggest al-Shabab or the IS-linked groups are seeking to recruit and direct Westerners to carry out attacks in their home countries.

Officials admit, however, all of this could change.

"We should never be complacent about the external threat posed by armed extremist groups," the EU security official said. "[Islamic State] may instruct its affiliates in other parts of the world to plan attacks in Europe."

As an example of the potential threat, some counterterror officials point to a case involving a suspected al-Qaida terrorist that spanned Africa and East Asia.

In July 2019, authorities arrested a Kenyan national, Cholo Abdi Abdullah, who was taking flying lessons in the Philippines and who was looking to get expedited certification as a pilot.

Philippine police said Abdullah had been a member of al-Qaida since 2012, though they refused to release additional details.

"The very fact that that was even happening suggests an intelligence at work in al-Shabab that is at least looking at those more ambitious international ambitions," said the U.N.'s Fitton-Brown. "It would be right to continue to monitor it."

Threat capabilities

Al-Shabab is also no stranger to looking at aviation as a potential target, having claimed responsibility for a bombing that brought down a Somali airliner in 2016.

"It is very likely that they would have continued to try to develop this external attack capability and could likely leverage expertise from elsewhere in the al-Qaida network to do so," said Emily Estelle, with the American Enterprise Institute's Critical Threats Project.

"There is clearly concern," added Colin Clarke, a senior fellow at the Soufan Center, a global security research group.

Al-Shabab "has improved its ability to build devastating bombs, as evidenced by some of the spectacular attacks the group has launched since late 2017," he said.

Rise of African-based terror groups

Making matters more complicated are the number of African terror groups that seem to be on the rise.

According to the U.S. and U.N. member states, al-Qaida affiliated Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, or JNIM, has emerged as a key threat in West Africa.

Boasting up to 2,000 fighters, mostly based out of Mali, JNIM has been building its financial reserves by taxing smugglers looking for safe passage through Mali. And, increasingly, the group has been displacing government agencies, providing critical services through its own "non-profit" organizations.

There are also growing concerns about the Islamic State affiliate in West Africa, known as IS in the Greater Sahara or ISGS.

Intelligence officials say the group maintains a stronghold in the tri-border area between Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. Its fighters, also, have not been afraid to take on U.S. forces, killing four Americans and five Nigeriens while attacking a patrol in Tongo Tongo, Niger, in October 2017.

Global response

Some countries are recognizing the rising threat and responding.

France, which has taken the lead among Western countries in combating terrorism in the Sahel, recently committed to sending another 600 troops to the region.

The goal, according to a statement by French Defense Minister Florence Parly, is to "step up pressure" on ISGS, which she described as "an elusive, asymmetrical enemy."

Other countries are also mobilizing more troops to fight the terror threats in the Sahel, France saying it has already gotten commitments from Chad and the Czech Republic, and that it expects more nations to increase their commitments as well.

But some analysts warn Africa's terror groups are unlikely to back down because while European countries talk of adding forces, talk in the U.S. has focused on further reducing the American military footprint  or as U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper has described it, "right-sizing" the Pentagon's force posture.

"They (terror groups) are aware of the U.S. discussion on whether to withdraw troops from Africa," said Emily Estelle, with the American Enterprise Institute's Critical Threats Project.

"We need to consider that al-Qaida and its affiliates are attempting to manipulate the U.S. policy response," she added. "This could be an attempt to push the U.S. toward withdrawing troops from West Africa entirely, which would allow al-Qaida's affiliate JNIM to keep solidifying its influence there. The al-Shabab attacks likely have a similar goal for East Africa."

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The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Monday arrested 57-year-old Moosa Halari Munaf Abdul Majid alias Munaf, a resident of Mumbais Dongri who is an accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. He also featured on Indias list of 50 most wanted terrorists.

Majid was arrested from Mumbai International Airport. He was arrested for his involvement in a drug seizure where 35 kilogram of heroin worth 175 crore was seized off Mandvi coast in Gujarat on January 2, said Himanshu Shukla, deputy inspector general of police, Gujarat ATS.

Additional director general Deven Bharati of the Maharashtra ATS, too, confirmed Majids arrest. He was carrying a Pakistani passport when he arrived at the airport.

Majid, a member of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, was number 18 on the list of top 50 wanted terrorists in the dossier that India had sent to Pakistan after the 26/11 terrorist attack. Mumbai crime branch sources said that he had procured three Bajaj scooters with registration number MH04Z261, MH05TC29, MH05TC16 from a dealer named Asgar Ali Tahir Ali Masalawala. Majid had procured the scooters after taking a loan of 70,000 from his friend Rahid Shaikh.

Interestingly, when Majid was asked to repay the loan, he refused stating that the scooters were purchased by the mastermind of 1993 serial blast Tiger Memon, and that Memon had used it for the blasts. Majid had also cautioned his friend to not disclose the details to anyone failing which Tiger Memon would kill him and his family members.

According to CBI notice, one scooter exploded at Zaveri Bazar and two other exploded scooters were recovered from Naigaum cross road in Dadar, Mumbai.

A series of 13 bomb explosions shook Mumbai on March 12, 1993, killing more than 250 people. The coordinated attacks were the most destructive bomb explosions in Indian history which was coordinated by Dawood.
The chief ministers flying squad that had arrested six persons for making fake Aadhaar cards on February 7 has nabbed the absconding seventh accused, an authorised enrolment operator.

Mahender Sen was caught late on Sunday and was sent in four-day police remand on Monday. Sen was working as an Aadhaar enrolment operator with Baroda Rajasthan Kshetriya Gramin Bank in Shahjahanbad, Alwar.

The accused used to take 1,500 from Aadhaar card seekers in lieu of providing them fake identity cards such as driving licence and thus issuing them genuine Aadhaar cards on the basis of their biometric and eye impressions.

They gave 6,000 a day to Mahender Sen, a Rajasthan-based operator, whose thumb impression they had taken on silicon wrapped on rubber thumb to open this authorised account to gain access to Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

The flying squad had seized various gadgets used for making Aadhaar cards from their possession, including an enrolment kit, finger impression machine, eye scanner, 860 blank Aadhaar forms, 89 ready Aadhaar cards and 190 updated Aadhaar cards, besides silicon thumb impression of Sen.

Fake IDs, driving licences, a GPS device, a laptop, internet router, 49 PAN cards and a printer, along with 2 lakh, were also recovered from their possession.

The case had unfolded when acting on a tip-off of CIDs intelligence wing, CMs flying squad zeroed in on some locations in Gurugram around the Republic Day and detected suspicious movements in Chakkarpur area.

A raid at two locations there on Friday night resulted in arrest of one Chitranjan, a resident of Delhis Najafgarh and formerly an enrolment operator with a private bank in Gurugram, who had the silicon thumb impression of Sen.

Among those arrested are Karan Thapa (a native of Jyotinagar, Nepal) and Gurfam Ahmed (who hails from Uttar Pradeshs Bijnaur, but had been living in Delhis Shaheen Bagh).
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 23:28:43|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspects the novel coronavirus pneumonia prevention and control work in Beijing, capital of China, on Feb. 10, 2020. Xi visited Anhuali Community, Chaoyang District of Beijing to learn about the epidemic prevention and control at the primary level and the supply of daily necessities. He also extended regards to residents and community workers. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping on Monday inspected the novel coronavirus pneumonia prevention and control work in Beijing, boosting the faith in national strength and an unconquerable will to win.

Xi's tour came at a time when China's battle against the epidemic has entered a very crucial time. The move has sent a strong message -- when the Chinese leadership focuses its efforts on challenges, it can achieve the goal with strong resolve, decisive measures and, more importantly, the power of the people.

When Beijing residents, community workers and frontline medical staff are talking with Xi, as video footages show, the strength and fortitude of the Chinese nation are shining.

Every life counts. The right to survival and health is the most basic and important human right. Fighting the coronavirus is a battle China must win.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has emphasized on many occasions that the safety of the lives and health of the people is the top priority. During Monday's tour, he reiterated China's confidence in scoring victory in the fight against the epidemic.

Since the outbreak, China has gone all out to fight the disease. The speed, intensity and coverage of China's response have been unprecedented in the world.

Challenges are daunting, but there is no excuse to retreat.

The top leadership has quickly identified shortcomings in preparedness and capabilities, including those in the emergency management system, the national reserve system and reserve efficiency. All these challenges must be and will be overcome in China's characteristic system with a great degree of strength and resilience.

China is also fighting against rumors, prejudices and even racism from some foreign media outlets and politicians. The best response is not empty words, but concrete actions. The national mobilization, selfless efforts of medical workers, the miracle of tackling shortages ranging from hospitals to daily necessities and a mortality rate much lower than that of Ebola, SARS and MERS have given the world hope and gained respect for the Chinese people in this challenging situation.

There are impacts on the economy, especially the service sector, but the fundamentals of China's long-term economic development remain unchanged. China will make economic adjustments to minimize the impact of the epidemic.

Positive signs continue to emerge. New confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus pneumonia outside Hubei Province dropped for six consecutive days by the end of Sunday. Many big farm produce wholesale markets and supermarket chains returned to normal operation on Monday. China's transport networks have seen increasing passenger numbers.

Farsighted policies in industrial, financial, and fiscal sectors have been rolled out. China is paying close attention to employment and preventing large-scale layoffs. As long as the problems are foreseen, there are solutions.

The war continues. Chinese people will only stay stronger. A nation that has battled floods along the Yangtze River in 1998, SARS in 2003, the 8.0-magnitude earthquake in 2008 and many other challenges, will never step back until victory is won.

Victory is not final. It will become a prelude to China's glory on the journey of chasing its dreams.
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 10, 2020 (Xinhua) -- Joaquin Phoenix arrives for the red carpet of the 92nd Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, the United States, Feb. 9, 2020. (Xinhua/Li Ying/IANS) Image Source: IANS News

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 10, 2020 (Xinhua) -- Joaquin Phoenix poses for photos after winning the Best Actor award for "Joker" at the 92nd Academy Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, the United States, Feb. 9, 2020. (Xinhua/Li Ying/IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Los Angeles, Feb 10 : Joaquin Phoenix was clearly quite confident of scooping up the Best Actor Oscar at the 92nd Academy Awards, for his role in "Joker".

Phoenix, who has won Best Actor for the role at every imaginable awards function this year, looked rather relaxed when he arrived at the Oscar with his lady love Rooney Mara.

In an obvious chilled-out mood, the couple did not waste the chance to engage in some random PDA.

Phoenix looked natty in a black tux while Mara opted for a delicate lace cut-out number, reports timesofindia.com.

They held hands as they casually walked down the red carpet and took their time to strike some cosy poses for the shutterbugs. Phoenix even gushed over Mara as she momentarily left him to pose for solo photo-ops, the website adds.

Fans have been loving every moment of it, all through Monday. A few even hailed them as Hollywood's "royal couple".

Latest updates on Oscars 2020
Bernard established M3 in 2014 after starting his career in the insurance space and then moving into retail banking with Laurentian Bank. As such, he already had a good understanding of the financial landscape and knew he could bring a unique perspective to the company. He understood efficiency ratios, what kept lenders up at night and the value in changing the conversation to focus on what the lender needed  and how to translate that into best serving the triumvirate of broker, lender and consumer.

Bernard also knew that an important part of M3s strategic plan would be to bring people to the team from different backgrounds to offer varied perspectives and prepare for the transformation of the mortgage landscape.

We came to the market knowing that the business would shift and change, he says. We wanted to make sure that we were adding the proper levers that we thought the brokers, ourselves and the lenders needed in order to become the best in the country.

Since its inception, M3 has been working to build relationships with key players in the Canadian mortgage industry. One example is its deal with National Bank, which reopened itself to the broker channel almost a year ago through an exclusive partnership with M3. The reason for that, Bernard says, is because M3s MortgageBOSS platform allows applications to flow directly to National Banks adjudication system.

The network was only able to forge this exclusive partnership because Bernard had earned the confidence of National Bank head Louis Vachon that M3 could make good on several key deliverables, such as efficiencies and lower acquisition costs.
Hong Kong: Quarantine implementation smooth

The Government said the implementation of a 14-day compulsory quarantine on people entering Hong Kong from the Mainland starting February 8 has been generally smooth.

It said cross-boundary people flow reduced significantly as expected and that the requirement for people issued with quarantine orders to stay at home will help reduce the spread of the virus in the community.

There were altogether 468 people, including 411 Hong Kong residents and 57 non-residents, being subject to compulsory quarantine yesterday.

Among them, 459 conducted quarantine at homes or hotels while nine others were at accommodations provided by the Government.

From the measures implementation till 7pm today, a total of 918 people, including 814 Hong Kong residents and 104 non-residents, were subject to compulsory quarantine, with only 12 arranged to reside at government facilities.

The Government stressed that self-discipline and community solidarity in fighting against the disease are of utmost importance to the compulsory quarantines implementation, adding that it will ensure that people under compulsory quarantine are staying at home by conducting spot checks and making telephone calls.

Most of the people under compulsory quarantine have co-operated with working staff to confirm that they are staying at their dwelling places through mobile phone communication applications real-time location sharing function.

The Government will keep monitoring and adjusting the monitoring methods having regard to the number of people requiring quarantine and whether they co-operate with the authorities.

About 130 calls for assistance or enquiries have been made to the 37 hotlines set up by the Home Affairs Department and district offices, while the Social Welfare Department assisted 16 people from 10 families yesterday.

The Government stressed that the new measures have not affected freight services to Hong Kong, with more than 1,900 goods vehicle trips arriving yesterday, and there is no need for people to worry about the supply of food and daily necessity goods.

Cross-boundary passenger flow has been substantially reduced as expected, with the total arrivals yesterday at 23,399, a decrease of 76% when compared to the previous days figure. Most of them were Hong Kong residents returning from overseas and international visitors by air.

Yesterday, 1,430 passengers arrived via the two operating land-based control points, Shenzhen Bay and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, a drop of 98% from the previous day and mostly being passengers from Macau to Hong Kong.

As at 7pm, 14,763 people arrived via the Hong Kong International Airport, 270 via Shenzhen Bay and 810 via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge.

The Government said the compulsory quarantines smooth implementation and the substantially reduced cross-boundary passenger flow can help reduce the spread of the disease in the community. However, it is also crucial for the public to be aware of social distancing.

Noting that the coming two weeks are critical, the Government appeals to people to stay united to win the battle against the disease.

In particular, people should stay at home as much as possible and refrain from going to crowded places and pay attention to personal hygiene.

This story has been published on: 2020-02-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Turkey warns of 'Plan B' amid Syria's anti-terror operation in Idlib

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 09 February 2020 4:19 PM

Turkey says it will change tack in northwestern Syrian province of Idlib, where an intensified anti-terror operation is underway by Syrian army against foreign-backed militant outfits, if the deal reached with Russia is violated.

Turkey's Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said, in an interview with the Hurriyet daily that Ankara has made alternative plans for Idlib province if the agreement reached with Russia continues to be violated.

Based on a 2018 deal with Russia, Turkey set up 12 observation posts in Idlib, but Turkish security sources said this week three of them are now being encircled by the Syrian government forces.

"If the agreement continues to be violated, we have Plan B and Plan C," Akar said, adding that, "We on every occasion say do not force us, otherwise our Plan B and Plan C are ready".

The Turkish defense minister warned that "If the Syrian forces are not withdrawn by the end of February, we will take action."

Akar claimed that "Our primary goal is to prevent migration and humanitarian tragedy. We are working to establish a ceasefire as soon as possible and stop the bloodshed."

Since Friday, Ankara has sent hundreds of military vehicles into Idlib province, after Syrian government forces took control of a strategic town close to the provincial capital.

The UK-based so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 1,240 Turkish military vehicles crossed into Idlib in the last week, along with 5,000 soldiers.

Idlib is in the last major enclave of the foreign-backed terrorists fighting against the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The fresh Turkish deployment came as Turkish and Russian officials, whose countries support opposing sides in Syria's nine-year war, met in Ankara to discuss the fighting in the last major terrorist stronghold.

The two sides held three hours of apparently inconclusive talks on Saturday, only agreeing to meet again next week.

Despite the build-up of Turkish troops, the Syrian forces have pressed with their advances in Idlib province, recapturing over 600 square kilometers (230 square miles) of territory, wresting control of dozens of theorist-held towns and villages in recent days, and stressed that they would maintain the anti-terror fight.

Reports said on the eastern flank of the terrorist-held enclave, advancing government forces had seized all but a 2 km stretch of the M5 highway, Syrian's main north-south road which links Syria's two main cities Damascus and Aleppo.

Meanwhile, several Russian troops were killed during attacks launched by militants from Turkey's de-escalation zone in Idlib.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a recent statement that Idlib-based militants had staged "more than 1,000 attacks in the last two weeks of January" from a Turkish-controlled de-escalation zone in the flashpoint province. It stressed that most of the attacks had been conducted by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militant group.

The Syrian army has already regained almost all territories once controlled by terrorists, except portions of Aleppo and large swaths of Idlib, the last stronghold of Takfiri terrorists, particularly the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

The group is a coalition of different factions of al-Qaeda-linked terror outfits largely composed of the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham Takfiri terrorist group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The Syrian government says the Israeli regime and its Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups had been wreaking havoc in the Arab country.

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At la Madeleine, Pate oversaw operations, catering and support functions. Pate led and grew with the quick-casual concept from 12 to 85+ units, where he helped transition the company from a commissary-based concept to a more profitable unit production concept in 2001, as well as moving the company from a corporate based concept to a franchise driven growth company in 2017. As Vice president of the largest franchise of la Madeleine Pate and his team grew the franchise from 25 to over 40 units in just three years with company leading results.

"I am confident that Joe will be instrumental to the growth and continued success of Newk's' restaurant operations with his exceptional track record and deep-rooted knowledge in restaurant leadership," said Chris Newcomb, CEO of Newk's Eatery. "Joe has proven to excel in building and growing cross-functional teams with both corporate and franchise operations, combining strategic, results-driven programs, while also cultivating his passion for great food."

Pate began his food service career at a hometown restaurant in Alvin, Texas and later joined the U.S. Coast Guard where he continued to hone his skills in foodservice at the U.S.C.G. Culinary Specialist Academy. After six years of military service, he returned to the private sector where he ran a privately-owned restaurant and catering company as well as a Houston based Cici's Pizza as franchise district manager; collecting a breadth of experience working with corporate and franchise multi-unit companies, and sole proprietorships.

At Newk's, Pate will oversee both company and franchise operations, as well as catering and operations services. Major initiatives he will lead point on in his new role include performance of new restaurants, food and labor improvement, growth in delivery and catering and restaurant and menu innovation.

"I'm thrilled for the opportunity to join the operations team and bring industry-leading innovation and systems to a brand I truly believe in," said Pate. "My focus is to use my experience and passion for the food and restaurant industry to propel the growth of our people and our restaurants, setting the bar high in growth and operational excellence."

About Newk's Eatery

Newk's Eatery is a fast-casual chain founded on family values and wholesome made from scratch meals. Our Co-Founder Chris "Newk" Newcomb has curated his family's original, wholesome and craveable recipes, as well as new twists on classic favorites, all while providing guests with a generous portion of hospitality.

Newk's takes no shortcuts at all, except in our name. Our kitchen is an open book where we make every meal to order from scratch. We hand prep over 50 fresh ingredients daily for hand-crafted salads, sandwiches and pizzas, and marinate, flame grill or oven-roast our protein in-house, with no fryers or microwaves, ever. We bake delicious treats and signature Dozen-Layer Cakes in our very own bakery.

We offer catering for events, easy online ordering, and fresh salads, sandwiches, soups and delicious treats in our Express Market open-air coolers, so our guests can nourish their bodies and the relationships that matter most to them no matter what the occasion.

Founded in 2004 and based in Jackson, Mississippi, Newk's Eatery currently operates and franchises 120+ restaurants in 16 states and is gaining national attention for its accelerated growth and commitment to make a difference and Feed What Matters in its communities.

Newk's Cares, the philanthropic arm of Newk's Eatery, was founded in 2014 and is committed to supporting early detection and symptom awareness of ovarian cancer to give every woman a fighting chance. To date, Newk's Cares has raised over $1.4M to support Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (OCRA).

In 2019, Newk's Eatery has ranked in Nation's Restaurant News Top 200 Countdown, as well as Restaurant Business' Top 500 Chains. Newk's has also been selected as a Top Food Franchise by Entrepreneur and is ranked among the Best Franchise Deals by QSR.

Media Contact

Hannah Tichacek

972-388-5519

[email protected]

SOURCE Newk's Eatery

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Ottawa shouldn't expect Beijing to do it any favours and free the "two Michaels" in return for medical co-operation fighting the new coronavirus, experts say.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/2/2020 (700 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Experts say Ottawa shouldn't expect Beijing to do it any favours and free Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor in return for medical co-operation on the coronavirus. Kovrig (left) and Spavor are shown in these 2018 images taken from video. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP

Ottawa shouldn't expect Beijing to do it any favours and free the "two Michaels" in return for medical co-operation fighting the new coronavirus, experts say.

China's ambassador to Canada hinted at that last week and Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says he's used every medical discussion with China to raise the plight of the two men.

Champagne told reporters in Ethiopia on Sunday that he's had more access to his Chinese counterparts in recent weeks and he uses the occasions to push for the release of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who have been in Chinese prisons without charge since December 2018.

They were arrested in what is widely seen as retaliation for Canada's decision to arrest Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on an extradition request from the United States.

David Mulroney, a former Canadian ambassador to China, says that while it is good for Champagne to keep pushing, Canada's assistance on the coronavirus simply isn't contingent on what China can do for Canada.

"Anything that opens up the channels of communication is a good thing, and we should use the conversation to raise all of our priorities," he said.

"We don't play games when people are sick, and we shouldn't allow China to play games with us. Freeing the Michaels isn't a favour or quid pro quo; it is what we expect of law-abiding states."

Bessma Momani, an international-affairs expert at the University of Waterloo, says China wants only one thing  Meng released  and so-called health diplomacy will not change that.

"I hope I'm wrong," she said.

"Why would Champagne say that? It's kind of raising hope. So, it makes you wonder," she said. "But at the same time, what would the Chinese get out of doing this? To them, Meng is a really important person ... They don't want to be seen as giving in."

Meng is the daughter of Ren Zhengfei, the founder of Huawei.

Charles Burton, a former Canadian diplomat who has served in Beijing, said the Canadian efforts on the coronavirus might bear fruit.

"China is a gift giving culture. Any gift accepted creates reciprocal obligation in the recipient. So, I judge that China requesting medical aid from Canada could well lead to concessions in the negotiations over the release of Kovrig and Spavor," said Burton, of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute think-tank in Ottawa.

In an exclusive interview with The Canadian Press last week, Cong Peiwu, China's ambassador to Canada, praised the federal government's co-operation in combating the outbreak of the coronavirus and suggested that might useful in repairing the diplomatic rift between their countries.

"Anything that your side has done and will be doing in the next few weeks in our fight against the disease, of course, that's much appreciated, and that's good," Cong said.

"We would like to strengthen this kind of scientific co-operation with the Canadian side. Of course, we are grateful for what Canadians have been doing in sending medical supplies to China. That is also very much appreciated."

Global Affairs Canada said it had shipped about 16 tonnes of personal protective equipment to China, including clothing, face shields, masks, goggles and gloves, in the last week.

Champagne said he believes it is important to keep lines of communication open when dealing with China on "the two Michaels."

"I've been very clear that while we're dealing with the coronavirus with the Chinese authorities that the foremost priority is to bring the Michaels back home. Every time I have a chance to talk to my Chinese counterpart, every time there's a dialogue, obviously we bring that issue (up)," Champagne said Sunday in Addis Ababa.

"The more you talk, the more you can certainly try to build a bridge that is needed in order to strengthen or to restore a relationship."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 10, 2020.

 with files from Mia Rabson in Addis Ababa.
By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Azerbaijans participation in the Davos Forum held on 20-24 January will further strengthen Azerbaijans integration, Malik Ayub Sumbal, geopolitical analyst, commentator and award-winning journalist said in an interview with Azernews.

Sumbal noted that Azerbaijan's active participation in Davos is beneficial for all stakeholders.

Azerbaijan is the leading country in the South Caucasus, has an impressive economic growth and is positioned in an ideal position among the CIS countries.

Sumbal believe that Baku is a good place to open the World Economic Forums regional center as Azerbaijan is the center of many activities and has great potential to attract international attention.

"There are already a number of mega international events taking place in Azerbaijan such as Baku Forum. The WEF regional center would open a new chapter for Azerbaijan and it would be highly beneficial," Sumbal concluded.

Founder of the PolitRUS expert-analytical network Vitaly Arkov said that the Davos Forum is a good additional opportunity, for example, to increase the recognition of the country and its investment potential. At the same time, to focus on the development of direct relations based on their national interests.

Arkov believes that today, the Davos Forum is increasingly replacing the UN General Assembly, all the more so since the influence of the latter on world processes has practically came down to zero, and the resolutions adopted are declarative and almost never implemented.

Arkov however noted that in recent years, the excessive politicization of this event has become increasingly noticeable.

"It is clear that economics and politics are historically inextricably linked, and the former is almost always in the basis of the events of the latter," he added.

As for the bilateral Azerbaijani-Russian ties, Arkov expressed confidence that mediators are not needed in relations.

"Moreover, these relations are at such a high and trusting level (as, by the way, Azerbaijani-Turkish) that Baku played an important role in the reconciliation of Moscow and Ankara after the well-known tragic events on the Syrian-Turkish border with the Russian military aircraft," Arkov said.

He mentioned that at the official level, these relations are called a strategic partnership.

"In my opinion, Azerbaijan and Russia are already allies in many ways, and the peoples of the two countries are connected by strong, long friendship and numerous happy interethnic marriages," he concluded.

Another political scientist from Russia Andrei Nikulin said that Europe seems to be main trading partner of Azerbaijan and Russia, since the EU buys raw materials from both countries and provides the necessary investments, technologies and high-tech products.

Trade and integration between Azerbaijan Russia is similar to Soviet-era chains, where grain, metals, timber and engineering products are coming from Russia, while fruits and vegetables, as well as oil products from Azerbaijan.

Nikulin considers that common past helps trade relations, as well as a powerful Azerbaijani diaspora in Russia.

---

Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
ALTON  The Alton Gas and Electric Co. Powerhouse on Illinois 100, the Great River Road, was among 12 sites added to the National Register of Historic Places during 2019, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) announced Monday.

The honored locations include a replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, a stone wine cellar and three historic districts that, when combined, include more than 60 significant properties. Historic places are added to the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service based on recommendations from the Illinois State Historic Preservation Office, a division of the IDNR.

The Alton Gas and Electric Powerhouse, now Abbott Machine Co., was initially constructed in 1913-1914 as a substation for Keokuk, Iowas hydroelectric system. The power house remains in its original location and the site has not been significantly altered since the power house complex was completed in 1914.

Altons first power plant, at 727 Belle St., was built in 1855 by Alton Gas & Electric Co. It was coal powered. By 1897, the firm had built a new power station at the southwest corner of Piasa and West 6th streets for the power companys owner, Alton Railway and Illuminating Company.

In 1899, Alton Railway Gas & Electric Co. acquired the Alton Railway and Illuminating Co. Alton Railway Gas & Electric became a subsidiary of Alton Light & Traction Co. in 1903. The following year, it merged with Alton, Granite & St. Louis Traction Co., placing the companys utilities under direct management of the Alton Gas & Electric Co.

In 1911, Henry Lewis with the Keokuk Power Co. came to Alton seeking partnerships with power suppliers such as Alton Gas & Electric. Alton was within the direct path of Keokuks hydroelectric system intended to reach St. Louis. By 1911 the city of Alton had signed a contract to receive power via Keokuks system.

In 1912, a newly formed Piasa Power and Light Company announced plans to construct a power house in Alton, and Alton Gas & Electric Company immediately disclosed plans for a power plant 12 times larger than Piasas proposal. The facility supported a 159-foot smokestack that still survives constructed of reinforced concrete and steel. The plants innovative machinery was designed to pump an average of 10 million gallons of water per day from the Mississippi River.

For more than a decade, the plant powered Alton and its neighboring communities industrial, commercial and residential concerns. But by 1928, the plant was no longer considered viable for providing electricity sufficient to support local industry and/or residential customers, both of which expanded rapidly after World War I.

In 1928, the old steam plant under the bluffs as it was called was retired and Altons electrical needs were met via new transmission towers connecting the city with Cahokias coal-powered station. Following a merger of the Union Electric Company and the Mississippi River Power Co., the Alton Gas and Electric Power House became reassigned as an emergency station in 1928.

Union Electric permanently closed the powerhouse in 1937.

Bill Abbott bought the aging building in 1950 and, after an extensive rebuild of the facility, operated a machine shop until 1961 when his son, Bob Abbott, returned from the Air Force. The father-son team founded Abbott Machine Co. which currently works all over the world refurbishing grinding equipment, providing onsite equipment installations, servicing and training.

IDNR officials said what remains of the Alton Gas and Electric Co. power house is a clear testament to Altons early 20th century industrial prominence.

The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of properties that merit special attention and preservation. In general, properties must be more than 50 years old. A listing places no obligations on private property owners but does make properties eligible for some financial incentives.
Gareth Bacon: 149 people were murdered in London in 2019. Yet the Mayor will still not accept responsibility.

Gareth Bacon is the MP for Orpington, the London Assembly member for Bexley and Bromley, and a former leader of the Conservative Group on the London Assembly.

Broken promises are permeating from City Hall. Since 2016, Sadiq Khan has overseen a litany of failures  and on no issue has he failed more than on crime. I say that as someone who has spent over a decade as a London Assembly member, whose job it has been to hold successive mayors to account on all matters within their purview.

From my unique position on the London Assembly, I have seen first hand Khans disinterest in matters regarding the crime emergency  this mayor is more focused on press officers than police officers  and he has an excuse for every occasion.

City Hall is lacking leadership and Londoners are paying the cost of Khan. The absolute priority, and not something which can wait, is restoring safety in London for all communities.

149 people were murdered in London in 2019  does it sound like the Mayor is in control of the situation? That is the highest number of murders in a single year in over a decade. That is 149 individual stories and 149 sets of family, friends and communities devastated.

What rankles with me is the lies that come forth from the Mayor. Khan says that police numbers have been cut heavily. This is just not true  from May 2016 to September 2019, police officer levels are down four per cent. This is an incremental change but the Mayor is in control of the Mets budget: he could give them more funds and finance a recruitment drive.

Increasing the PR operation and bureaucratic machinery at City Hall by 83 million does not feel like the Mayor has a grip on the situation, nor a grip on reality. Where do the priorities lie at City Hall?

A central part of being a London politician is holding the mayor to account. I have done this on the London Assembly and will do so now from the House of Commons. It is no small feat getting successive Mayors to accept responsibility but I can say in every confidence that in Khan we have a Mayor who categorically will not accept fault or learn from his mistakes.

This is a dangerous combination as he has no desire to improve his performance or make proper use of the office which he holds  Khan sees the mayoralty as a springboard to further his personal ambitions.

The job of Mayor of London is an executive one  the Mayor is expected to govern. But Khan has repeatedly shown that he is not interested in governing and making the difficult choices this entails. Instead he prefers to act like an elected opposition spokesman, nursing grievances, shifting blame, and playing to the gallery. This simply isnt good enough.

Luckily for Londoners, they have the chance to reject Khan in May and vote for change. Shaun Bailey is running for Mayor and his platform is built upon his strong plans for fighting crime. Shaun knows what it takes to tackle violent crime; he was a youth worker in west London for over 20 years and saved countless young people from going down a dangerous path.

Broken promises are dangerous for us all and too many have paid the cost of Khan.
New Delhi/Islamabad, Feb 10 : The Director General of Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt Gen Faiz Hameed may soon be ousted as a fallout of the escape of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan from Pakistan Army custody.

Top sources said after IANS on February 7 broke the news story of the escape of Ehsan, the militant who is responsible for terror attacks on Malala Yousufzai and the Peshawar army school, the military came under immense pressure from the public in Pakistan.

The following day, Prime Minister Imran Khan held a one-on-one meeting with Lt Gen Hameed to discuss the case that has triggered outrage in the country.

Even as Ehsan had surrendered in 2017 in mysterious circumstances and was in the military custody for the last three years, Pakistan Army was yet to file a charge-sheet against him.

In an audio recording released last Thursday and shared via an online private messaging platform, Ehsan claimed that he along with his family had managed to escape from the custody of Pakistan Army and intelligence agencies on January 11. He said he was forced to give statements under an agreement between him and Pakistani authorities but he was betrayed. He was referring to the Geo TV news interview in which he had claimed that he was working for India's external intelligence agency RAW.

Ehsanullah escaped from a safe house, a bungalow on Warsak road in Peshawar, where he was detained along with his wife and two daughters. The house is near the same army school which was attacked by the Pakistani Taliban in 2014, killing around 150 children. However, there was no security when he fled the house. Sources had told IANS that the former spokesperson of TTP crossed the border and is now at a safe place in Afghanistan.

"It has been quite embarrassing for the Pakistan Army given the grave charges against Ehsan. They are not able to explain how he was let go. People are asking for heads to roll," a source in Islamabad said.

The Pakistan Army and the civilian administration are now mulling two options to replace DG ISI Lt Gen Hameed. Lt Gen Majid Ehsan Corps Commander Lahore and Lt Gen Nadeem Zaki Manj, director general of Strategic Plans Division Force (SPDF) are the top contenders, sources said.
He added: I do believe workplaces are safer today than they have been historically. Again, thats a longer-term trend, and I believe that employers, regulators and insurers have taken that subject much more seriously in recent years and been more focused on maintaining a safe workplace.

In terms of whats happened on the claims cost side, and maybe severity, there have been great gains made in medical management of claims really driving better outcomes for injured workers, and, consequently, better outcomes financially for insurers. That combined with the declining frequency trend, and you see a general overall decline in loss cost virtually everywhere.

Unlike the wider property / casualty insurance market, which is experiencing quite dramatic hardening - especially in catastrophic property, commercial auto and certain professional services lines  the workers compensation insurance market remains soft. In fact, it has been relatively soft for so long that some people are saying the traditional insurance cycle in workers compensation is dead.

Dirks argues the opposite and remains adamant that the market will turn at some point, albeit not in 2020. Halfway through 2019, EMPLOYERS made the decision to increase rates in California  a move that no-one else has yet gone for. While their renewal business held up, the firm saw a fairly immediate reduction in new business following the rate change, highlighting how competitive and price-sensitive the California market remains, despite EMPLOYERS believing its at an inflection point.

We continue to see a very strong economy in California in terms of payroll growth and new unit growth. Its still a very attractive market for us. We just have a view that pricing got ahead of favorable loss trends, and were just not going to follow that to the bottom, Dirks told Insurance Business.

What could change the market from a soft to a hard market? he asked. There has been more than one instance in my career where that market shift was because California became extremely unattractive. Given its size - California represents nearly 25% of the US workers compensation market  when California goes bad, it can influence the rest of the market. We have a lot of experience and a lot of insight in the state, and we just looked at it and said were not going to follow it to the bottom. Well see if the rest of the market comes to our point of view this year.

Read next: Drilling into the workers comp exposures in dentists and doctors offices

Despite making the move to increase rate in California in 2019, Dirks said he does not expect the national marketplace to harden up any time soon. Loss costs continue to decline in almost all states, meaning rate decreases will likely continue in tandem.

The declining rate environment will still have a significant impact on the industrys top line and to the extent that there are market participants who are focused on maintaining top line with little regard to profitability, that will keep this market soft for a longer period of time  and I think 2020 will look that way, he added. At EMPLOYERS, weve taken the other view, which is that were going to focus on the bottom line, and the top line will be what it is based on the underlying market conditions. Thats why we took the action we did in California.

I would also expect, given what the federal government announced in December, that we will probably see a relatively stable fixed income market in 2020, and since most of the industrys investment balance sheet is tied to fixed income securities, I think well see flat to potentially declining yields for the industry balance sheet. That could have the effect of extending the soft market a little bit longer.
A customer pays her bill in Co.op Mart in HCM City with Momo. - Photo courtesy Momo

Some banks and fintech firms have taken the opportunity to promote the safety of cashless payments, especially after news that the Peoples Bank of China is using ultraviolet light and high-temperature ovens to disinfect incoming cash. The bank also started replacing old notes with newly minted bills on February 4.

Nguyen Ba Diep, CEO of Momo, an e-wallet with more than 12 million users, told Viet Nam News: "Tests have shown cash harbours a wide variety of bacteria which can be transmitted by contact. The coronavirus is spread through normal contact, so cash is likely to be a risky source."

Diep quoted health experts as saying as 90 per cent of people in Viet Nam use cash, banknotes are sources of pathogens and pose a threat to public health.

While ewallets like Moca and Airpay promoted the use of online payments, some banks are following suit and telling their customers to switch to online transactions while the epidemic continues.

On its Facebook page, SeABank told its customers to use electronic banking to check balances, transfer money and pay bills instead of going to the bank.

Ocean Bank told its customers to use the #EasyOceanBankMobile if they did not want to go to a branch.

Le Thi Thanh Hang, deputy director of the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV)'s branch in HCM City, told local media on February 5 that the SBV has boosted the use of non-cash payments for a long time.

She added that passing from hand to hand, the banknotes were definitely not clean, adding: It is advisable to gradually switch to digital payment methods and e-commerce instead of direct exchange with each other using cash during an outbreak.

According to banking experts, Viet Nam, with a population of 97 million people, is a great market for fintech firms, including e-wallets, as more than 80 per cent of the retail market uses cash.

The Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy under the Ministry of Industry and Trade reported an annual growth of 35 per cent in the local fintech sector while the 'e.Economy SEA 2019' report by Google, Temasek Holding and Bain & Co said that digital payments in Southeast Asia are expected to cross $1 trillion by 2025, becoming the payment method for nearly one in two dollars spent in the region.
Shares have started the week on the back foot as the number of cases of the novel coronavirus continues to climb and the full extent of the crisis remains unclear.

The FTSE 100 closed down 0.3 per cent, or 19.82 points, at 7,446.88 as the UK declared the coronavirus an 'imminent threat' to public health'.

Meanwhile, Sajid Javid is under mounting pressure to announce a wholesale review of business rates in next months Budget. CBI director-general Dame Carolyn Fairbairn has written to the Chancellor demanding an overhaul of the hated tax on firms.

In company news, Intu, the shopping centre owner behind Lakeside in Essex, has revealed it is in talks with a major Hong Kong-based retail property investor.

Sweet shops selling Willy Wonka-style dessert creations like bubble waffles and chimney cakes are set to appear across the UK after bosses of new London store Hans & Gretel have revealed plans for a nationwide chain.
A bigger than life advocate for military and veterans affairs and a dedicated community activist in the Mobile region was also a charming curmudgeon who approached his various causes with fierce love according to those who memorialized Navy Capt. Hal Pierce on Monday.

In Pierce, Mobile had its own so-called Sea Lord who did it all, said Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson.

Pierce died at age 87 on Jan. 17.

Captain Hal was everywhere, said Retired Navy Cmdr. Pete Riehm. He was our beloved Sea Lord.

A large crowd of family members, veterans, politicians and admirers celebrated Pierces legacy during a memorial ceremony in the Aircraft Pavilion at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile.

Captain Hal, in his passing, is leaving a gigantic hole in the veterans community, said Retired Army Col. Pat Downing. He can never be replaced.

Pierce, a native of Zion, Ill., came to Mobile in 1974, after being assigned to the region on a recruiting assignment. According to Downing, he loved the Mobile Bay area so much that he decided to stay here the rest of his life.

Pierce, who joined the Navy in the mid-1950s, became involved in a host of military, community and veterans causes and approached most of them with fierce passion, according to family and admirers.

That passion could rub people the wrong way, his daughter Jenny Piece fondly recalled. She said her father approached each cause with fierce love and a spirit of enthusiastic generosity.

He brought that spirit to every room," said Jenny Pierce. The spirit was contagious and we were lucky.

Pierces spirit came across in a sometimes gruff manner that kept some of Mobiles most decorated veterans on their toes, said Downing.

Captain Hal was so proud of being selected Veteran of the Year, that he wore his medallion and if you were a Veteran of the Year and he saw you at an event and you were not wearing your medallion, he chewed you out for being out of uniform, said Downing, a fellow Veteran of the Year recipient. I wasnt coming (to the memorial service) without my medallion on.

Pierce was active in a number of groups that include the Propeller Club of Mobile, the Mobile Navy League, the Alabama Lighthouse Association, Veterans Day Commission and the South Alabama Veterans Council. He was a founder of the Mobile Symphonic Pops Band, which performed during the ceremony.

His more recent duties with the American Legion included overseeing negotiations that led to Post 3s longtime home on Government Street transferring to the 1857 Foundation. The move helped preserve a rundown historic building, which has since been renovated into the new home for the Mystics of Time Mardi Gras society.

He spoke truth to power, said Riehm. He was a beloved character. He was demanding, relentless. But he did it for the right reasons.

Tim Russell, chairman of the 17-member Alabama Battleship Commission, said he believes Pierce will be honored to great distinction but noted that nothing was immediately in the works.

Pierce was a longtime Battleship commissioner.

He was at a commission meeting two months before he died and was sending me messages, you got to this done, said Russell. He said the commission is fundraising to renovate the Battleship with a teak deck, and to eventually construct a new $10 million building that will help the venue expand its displays.

He was right there in our fundraising (project), said Russell.
Tony Lodge is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Policy Studies. Britains Inconvenient Truth  How the UK hides its emissions abroad will be published by the CPS.

This year sees British political leadership centre stage for three major global events. The first was ticked off last month when Brexit got done. The second will be in June for the first Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), with Britain outside the EU and eager to sign new trade deals with some of the worlds fastest growing economies. The third, and potentially the most significant, will be its ability to pull off a new global climate agreement at the COP 26 Glasgow summit in November.

Britain will chair COP 26 with arguably the most ambitious climate change laws and goals in place of any industrialised country. It has already legislated to deliver net zero carbon emissions, by 2050 and bans are being brought forward for petrol and diesel cars by 2035. The messaging here is clear. Britain will lead by example and design, and own the legislative model to deliver this huge change whilst creating green jobs and slashing emissions. The world should watch, follow and copy Britains leadership, shouldnt it?

Before we examine some important flaws in present policies, it is important to acknowledge the huge strides which the UK has made in this area. To date, the UK is ranked seventh out of 61 countries on the climate change performance index, in comparison with the EU 27, which is ranked 22nd.

We reduced emissions by 42 per cent between 1990 and 2018, and the economy has grown by 75 per cent in that period. This was largely achieved by effectively replacing coal with gas and renewables for the generation of electricity, and remains unparalleled with regards to such a titanic shift over a relatively short period.

But while the UK has delivered giant strides at home, it has a growing dirty secret: it is increasingly offshoring and hiding emissions and with it exporting jobs, industry and investment. This is known as carbon leakage and needs to be urgently tackled.

Importantly, the Government has acknowledged this issue for the first time, and is to undertake a Treasury review to better understand how British emissions can be cut without seeing them simply exported elsewhere. A variant on this point, but an important example, are the carbon intensive raw materials which are imported into the UK to supply important industries such as steel. For example, industrial coal supplies are coming in from as far afield as Siberia, Australia, the USA and Colombia. The coal is being railed and shipped tens of thousands of miles; its still the case that you cant make raw steel in Britain without coal.

New Centre for Policy Studies research shows that on a per tonne of coal basis then importing it to industrial customers in Britain from Kuzbass in Siberia  through the port of St Petersburg  emits 569 per cent more in CO2 equivalent emissions than transporting coal mined in Britain. Lower, but still considerable transportation statistics are registered for the USA (235 per cent more) and Colombia (211 per cent) but a significant 625 per cent increase puts a big shadow over Australian coal imports. This is despite new British projects being delayed on local environmental grounds.

Though the UK has almost ended the burning of coal to generate electricity, there is a growing one-way trade in the import of electricity from Europe to keep the lights on. New forthcoming Centre for Policy Studies research will show how Britain is offshoring emissions into Europe where coal plants there are supplying our electricity via undersea interconnector cables. Though the Government now claims Britain is enjoying coal-free electricity periods, that is a play on words and strictly speaking incorrect. Instead we are importing coal and gas generated electricity from the EU, particularly the Netherlands and Germany, and consequently offshoring greenhouse gas emissions into the rest of Europe.

In recent years, Germany has opened new coal plants and doesnt plan to phase them out until 2038. This offshoring in turn undermines the electricity market in Britain as overseas imports dont pay the power and pollution taxes facing British fossil fuel generators. It is a growing sleight of hand, which the Government must address as a priority as it damages energy sector investor confidence and undermines its claim to have sustainable and credible green policies.

This brings us to the need for a wider solution and where British leadership is needed to close these loopholes, end offshoring and support less polluting domestic production where possible  the need to examine a British carbon border.

Britain must now consider targeting particular carbon intensive goods and power supplies which are imported and carry a large transport and transmission footprint. It is here where Britain is increasingly offshoring emissions and consequently jobs, production, investment and growth. Such a policy should look to new carbon border levies based on the carbon intensity of the exporting nations electricity grid. The levies would reduce in line with reductions in that countrys carbon emissions from its energy sector thus delivering global progress.

The EU is already looking at a carbon border but this risks merely insulating, consolidating and prolonging high emissions within the EU unless carbon prices there rise significantly. Global Britain must now take the lead and show how such policies can work to both reduce global emissions, end offshoring whilst delivering growth, investment and jobs at home.
This is the moment a moose picks a fight with a snow-covered swing set. Linda Schwitzke, 57, looked on in amazement as the animal clashed with the children's swing in her sister's backyard in Kenai, Alaska.

The moose attacked the seat, tossing it into the air with its antlers and pawed the ground in a fury as another moose watched the duel in bewilderment.

Linda was resting on her sister's couch when she heard a noise and saw the enormous mammal in a frenzy in the backyard.

She couldn't resist filming the amusing dust up.

"It was attacking the swing," she said.

"It was going mad, so I started videotaping it.

As the moose battled its inanimate rival, the two women worried that the animal may get caught up in the swing set and they would need to call animal control to get it untangled.

"My sister Vicky was running around trying to tape it too," Linda said.

Eventually the moose left the backyard, satisfied that the swing set had been put in its place.
A veteran bankruptcy judge issued a seven-minute tirade Monday against the firm involved in the west Houston fatal explosion last month, implying company officials were selfishly prioritizing their own financial woes over the devastating losses in the community.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Marvin Isgur began by telling a courtroom packed with lawyers for explosion victims that hed rarely been angrier than he was upon seeing the motion filed by attorneys for Watson Grinding & Manufacturing and Watson Valve, which asked that Watson be allowed to swiftly pay off the companys bank loan in a discounted $3 million lump sum with insurance money. The implication of the companys emergency motion, according to the judge, was that Watson executives were putting their own needs ahead of residents harmed in the blast as well as two workers and a local resident who died as a result of the early morning explosion.

The judge spoke in measured tones, but his outrage was apparent to several lawyers whod spent time in his court.

Our community suffered a major tragedy on Jan. 24, 2020. Hundreds of peoples lives have been changed forever by the catastrophe on that day, Isgur said. Today is not the day in which ultimate blame will be placed.

The judge said his vigilant focus would be on people facing life-changing upheaval from the blast: The families who have lost a loved one, who are caring for an injured child, who have lost their homes or had damage to their homes are facing true emergencies.

Isgur said seeking to pay back the bank through an emergency motion amounted to a fundamental violation of victims due process rights. The bank loan was not an emergency, he said.

Isgur then denied the motion.

It will not happen on my watch, he told the court.

After a recess to address unrelated procedural concerns, Jarrod Martin, a lawyer for both Watson entities, told the judge the harm caused by the explosion was absolutely heartbreaking. Martin said Watson takes the concerns you raised very seriously.

The judge set up a committee to represent a broad array of creditors who may have suffered harm in the blast. This group will likely include the families of three men killed as a result of the explosion, injured victims, residents and business owners whose property was damaged as well as insurance companies. The judge also addressed safety issues, requests for inspection of the blast site and the preservation of evidence. He set the next hearing in the case for 3 p.m. Friday.

An emergency motion in a routine hearing

Last week Watson officials filed for bankruptcy and announced the same day that they had dismissed 80 employees.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Watson Grinding files for bankruptcy in wake of deadly Gessner explosion

Initial hearings are often routine, but this case took an odd turn with the companies emergency motion to compromise with Texas Capital Bank, according to Sidney Scheinberg, a Dallas bankruptcy lawyer unaffiliated with the case who reviewed Watsons filings at the request of the Houston Chronicle.

Scheinberg said he wasnt surprised that Isgur had the same reaction to what he saw as a potentially self-serving motion by Watson officials to protect their own needs.

To do that on the first day is kind of appalling especially in front of Judge Isgur, who is going to read every document, Scheinberg said. There may be some judges out here where they would get away with that, but the stupidity on their part that they thought they could get this through with him is astounding.

Scheinberg said the motion was not unethical or wrong, it was just a question of bad timing and having a bit of a tin ear.

It looked like they were trying to help themselves and not anybody else, he said.

Kelli Norfleet, a bankruptcy lawyer at Haynes and Boone LLP, who is not connected to the Watson case and did not attend the hearing, said attorneys in the building continued to discuss Isgurs speech in the hours afterward.

She said it was unusual for lawyers to try to pay off secured creditors on their first day before a judge. She said the lawyers in the Watson case are familiar with Isgur and his outlook on bankruptcies, so they probably didnt go into the motion blindly.

Theyre just trying to do the best for their clients in a bad situation, she said. This seems like a particularly difficult situation.

gabrielle.banks@chron.com
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KALKASKA COUNTY, MI  Multiple people suffered serious, but non-fatal injuries when a group of snowmobiles collided with a trail grooming tractor in Northern Michigan.

At least one of the snowmobilers was pinned between two machines when the crash occurred on Kalkaska Snowmobile Trail 76 along Six Point Road east of West Township Road at 12:21 p.m. on Feb. 8.

According to Kalkaska County Sheriff Patrick Whiteford, the chain-reaction crash occurred when the lead snowmobile crested a hill and was unable to stop before striking the bucket on the front of the tractor, which was actively grooming the trail. The snowmobiler was ejected from the machine.

The second snowmobiler also struck the bucket but was able to get off the snowmobile. Unfortunately, he was struck by a third snowmobiler, which caused him to be pinned between the two machines.

A fourth snowmobile then struck the back of the third snowmobile, officials said. Three of the four riders, who were from Ohio, were transported to Munson Medical Center in Traverse City with injuries.

The fourth was transported to the hospital as a precaution. All four subjects were wearing helmets and speed was a factor in the crash, officials said.

The Kalkaska County Sheriffs Office was assisted at the scene by Michigan State Police, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Garfield Township Fire Department, Fife Lake/Springfield Fire Department, Kalkaska Township Fire Department and Kalkaska EMS.
Ukrainian citizens who have stated their intention to be evacuated from China's Hubei province will be delivered to Kyiv on a special charter flight on February 11, Ukraine's Embassy in China has reported.

"Due to the rapid expansion of the dangerous coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the Hubei province, the Government of Ukraine has decided to evacuate Ukrainian citizens from the said quarantined province to Ukraine. To this end, Ukraine is planning a special charter flight on February 11 on the Kyiv-Wuhan (PRC)-Kyiv route," the report reads.

In this regard, diplomats appealed to Ukrainian citizens, who were included in the evacuation list, with a request to be properly prepared for this.

The diplomatic institution recalled that the evacuees would pass the obligatory 14-day quarantine upon return to Ukraine.

As of February 10, the death toll from the coronavirus infection worldwide has risen to 910. No laboratory-confirmed case of coronavirus has been reported in Ukraine so far.

op
Married paedophiles Gary and Heather Talbot, who photographed themselves naked and abusing a toddler they'd raped, have been sentenced to 24 years between them.

Judge Piers Grant told the abusive husband and wife the "depraved" and "disgusting" offences they carried showed "obvious wickedness and wrongdoing".

The Judge said there actions "will provoke a sense of disgust and even disbelief that anyone could act in this way, particularly towards a child of such tender years."

Gary Talbot, who took the blame for introducing "children to his and Heather's sexual relationship", was sentenced to 12 years for abusing the girl when she was a toddler, with an additional three years imposed for abusing her again when she was aged 13/14.

He will serve seven-and-a-half years in prison, followed by the same period on licence when he is released from jail.

His 59-year-old wife Heather, who at one stage said it was "just a fantasy we carried too far" before claiming it was all to do with her husband and she only "played along", was given a nine-year sentence.

She was told she will spend six years of her sentence in jail, while the remaining three years will be spend on supervised licence.

The couple were also both made the subjects of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order which will remain in place for life, and will also be on the Sex Offenders Register for an indefinite period.

Standing in the dock of Downpatrick Crown Court, sitting in Belfast, neither showed any emotion, not even to acknowledge each other, while just yards behind them, comforted by family and friends, sat their now grown-up victim in the public gallery.

The 60-year-old former schoolbus driver and postman, and his wife are from Kinghill Avenue in the Co Down seaside town of Newcastle.

For 15 years the perverted abuse, internet chats and boasts to other paedophiles remained a secret. That was until October 2017 when police seized their computer equipment, along with a hard-drive from a locked cupboard, opened by a key hidden within the pages of the novel 'Lolita', on their bedside table.

In May last year, the paedophiles admitted the abuse, carried out over a three year period from 2001 to 2003 against the child then aged between 18 months and three years and three months.

Gary Talbot admitted a total of 16 charges including two rapes, gross indecency, indecent assault, and taking and distributing indecent images of the child, and a separate charge of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old teen sometime between July 2012 and July 2014.

His wife admitted ten charges, ranging from aiding and abetting her husband to rape the little girl, taking pictures of her husband doing so, indecently assaulting the child and committing acts of gross indecency.

Last month prosecution QC David McDowell outlined in detail, too graphic to report, the couples' perverted offending, and of their attempts to distance themselves when quizzed by police about their abuse of the youngster, so young she had no memory of what had been done to her.

Mr McDowell said detectives recovered 47 indecent images taken of the toddler, apparently recording three separate instances of abuse, including her being raped, with the couple naked in some. Others showed her dressed in 'sexy' clothing especially bought for the occasion.

When initially questioned Gary Talbot gave 'no comment' answers, even denying having any sexual interest in children, before admitting by his third interview: "It is just the wrong road I have taken".

And while he initially 'disputed' claims of raping the child, until shown "a clear photograph", he finally admitted being 'totally ashamed', although he claimed he only "looked at the image twice in 15 years, but not for sexual gratification".

Talbot later accepted "going through a phrase where he was sexually attracted to children" and it was "around this time when he abused" the toddler, and "it was he who had introduced children to his and Heather's sexual relationship".

It was also his idea to buy clothes to dress-up the child for 'posing', pictured surrounded by pornographic magazines. However, he claimed the youngster had posed with the magazines, "of her own accord".

Talbot also down-played the couple's online chatroom activities, using the names 'Mike and Fiona', claiming he'd been "embellishing for the sake of the chats". Later he confirmed he'd been talking about the toddler and had "shared the indecent images" of her.

His wife Heather also attempted to minimise her role, telling detectives, she was "60 - 70% confident" the images were of the toddler, but denied being "aware of the photograph" of her husband raping the toddler.

While she later commented it was, 'just a fantasy that we carried too far', she corrected herself, saying, 'it was his fantasy, not mine really'," before adding she had just "played along".

Distancing herself further, she claimed the abuse occurred while she was working or shopping, continually denying being present during the rapes. However, she accepted buying more than one outfit for the youngster, and dressing her up, "once or twice, it was no more than that".

Mr McDowell said by her last interview Heather Talbot "repeated her denials" of taking the photographs, claiming the rape pictures were "taken using a tripod and when she dressed the toddler up, she did not think it would go as far as it did".

Defence QC Greg Berry for Gary Talbot said his admissions, which allowed for the identification of his victim were made out of a sense of shame and remorse, sparing their victim having to give evidence, which was all the more demonstrative of his genuine remorse.

Eugene Grant QC, described a remorseful Mrs Talbot as a "reluctant participant" in what had been her husband's fantasies, and "disgusted" with herself that it ever happened, had "blotted it out" by placing it at the "back of her brain."

During today's sentencing, Judge Grant said that after reading a Victim Impact Report, it was obvious the abused has had an impact on her.

Judge Grant said the now 20-year old revealed she doesn't really trust men, feels uncomfortable when she sees men with gelled back hair, suffers from sleep disturbances and has problems concentrating on her college work.

The Judge said she was "extremely vulnerable and quite defenceless" when she was being abused by the Talbots whose criminality against a child was "planned, carefully considered and pre-meditated."

The sentence handed down today reflects the serious and shocking nature of the crimes

After sending the couple to prison, Judge Grant said he hoped the jail terms gave the young woman "some comfort" and added "the court wishes her well in the future."

Welcoming the sentence, Detective Chief Inspector Claire McGuigan said: This was a hugely disturbing and harrowing case of the most awful abuse and I am thankful today that Gary and Heather Talbot have received a significant custodial sentence and will remain in prison for some time.

"The sentence handed down today reflects the serious and shocking nature of the crimes they committed against a young, vulnerable and innocent child.

"It is hard to comprehend the impact their crimes have had on the victim and her family, she said

"I would like to pay tribute to the victim and her family for their courage and commitment in seeing this case through the criminal justice system and they have today, finally achieved justice.

"I hope that others who are suffering sexual abuse or who are aware of sexual crimes taking place are encouraged to come forward and speak with Police. We have specially trained detectives in our Public Protection Branch, and they will treat you sensitively, fairly, with compassion and respect.
London, Feb 10 : The UK government on Monday declared the deadly coronavirus a "serious and imminent threat" to public health, as it announced new powers to fight its spread.

Under the measures, people can now be forcibly quarantined and will not be free to leave, the BBC reported.

In a statement, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Arrowe Park Hospital, on the Wirral, and Kents Hill Park conference centre, in Milton Keynes, have been designated as "isolation" facilities in the UK.

It comes after the Foreign Office chartered two repatriation flights out of the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak.

On Sunday, around 200 British and foreign nationals evacuated on the UK's final rescue flight arrived at RAF Brize Norton.

Evacuees were taken to Kents Hill Park for 14 days of quarantine. Britons evacuated on an earlier flight from Wuhan are currently in quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital.

A Department of Health spokesman said on Monday: "We are strengthening our regulations so we can keep individuals in supported isolation for their own safety and if public health professionals consider they may be at risk of spreading the virus to other members of the public.

"This measure will rightly make it easier for health professionals to help keep people safe across the country." There have been more than 40,000 cases of the virus globally, mostly in China, with four so far in the UK.

The total number of deaths in China is now 908.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
GREEN ISLAND  The driver who hit a group of teenagers as they ran across State Route 787 Saturday night, killing one and injuring three others, was driving with a suspended license, Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said Monday.

The 22-year-old from Troy, whose name has not yet been released, had multiple suspensions of his driver's license, most recently after a drunken driving arrest in June, Apple said. However, the sheriff stressed there was no reason to believe the driver was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash. He said his office is awaiting the results of tests on blood samples taken from the driver.

He said it was too soon to discuss what charges the driver could face.

"It's hard for me to say at this point," he said. "We have to see how the blood work comes back and we're still taking statements from witnesses."

The sheriff's office impounded the vehicle after the crash and investigators will download data from its computer to determine whether speed was a factor. He said investigators plan to scrutinize the driver's cellphone records to determine whether he was distracted when the crash occurred at 11 p.m. Saturday.

Albany County Undersheriff William Rice said the teenagers left a gas station in Cohoes and were walking back to Green Island when they attempted to run across 787 at Tibbits Avenue and were hit. There were six teens in the group and four were struck by the southbound car, he said.

The impact killed a 17-year-old boy. Another 17-year-old boy, who was critically injured, underwent surgery Monday in Albany Medical Center's intensive care unit, Apple said. A 15-year-old girl suffered a fractured leg and is recovering from surgery, he said. A 16-year-old boy suffered a neck injury and broke several bones.

"Unfortunately this is a very tragic accident," Apple said. "Everything that could've went wrong went wrong. The kids crossed when they shouldn't have, this guy was driving when he shouldn't have."

A relative of the critically injured teen, who asked not to be identified, said child's father has been at the hospital since Saturday night, and that there has been an outpouring of support from the Green Island community.

"Everybody has showed up to the hospital to check on these kids and bringing them what they need down there," she said. "That's small towns for you."

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

All the victims attend the Green Island Union Free School District's Heatly School, which was closed Monday so students could speak with counselors. The sheriff's department said the district asked investigators to withhold the identities of the victims until counseling could be completed on Monday. One of the teens who escaped injury also attended Heatly. The other was from Cohoes.

The district said on its Facebook page Monday evening that classes would resume on Tuesday and that counselors would be available for students and staff throughout the day. A candlelight vigil will be held at the school from 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday to support all the students affected by the crash. Doors will open at 5:45 p.m.

Superintendent Kimberly Ross released a written statement about the incident on Sunday but did not take reporters' questions on Monday. Green Island Mayor Ellen McNulty-Ryan meet with Ross on Monday to discuss the community's response.

"It's just a sad time," McNulty-Ryan said.
KHOMEIN, Iran - Near the hometown of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, workers at a small Iranian factory diligently add all 50 stars and 13 red-and-white bars to what are supposed to be U.S. flags, and carefully imprint the blue Star of David on Israeli ones.

Thats even as all their work is destined to go up in flames.

The company Diba Parcham Khomein serves as a major producer for the American and Israeli flags constantly burned at pro-government rallies in the Islamic Republic. Such flag-burnings are a sign of support for Irans embattled clerical rulers and a throwback to the iconic images of the 1979 Islamic Revolution that branded the U.S. Irans greatest foe and the Great Satan.

Another batch of flags is being prepared for the 41st anniversary of the Iranian revolution on Tuesday. The celebrations will take on special symbolic importance amid renewed tensions with Washington after a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad killed Irans top general, Qassem Soleimani, last month.

Yet the factorys owner, like many middle-class Iranians, holds out hopes for better relations between Tehran and the U.S.

I hope there is a day that the flags we produce are presented as a gift, factory owner Abolfazl Khanjani told The Associated Press.

That day, however, has yet to come to Khomein, a city best known as the birthplace of the Islamic Republics founder.

The factory itself is in the nearby suburban village of Heshmatieh, where staffers first dye the blue canton containing the 50 white stars of the American flag on linen before dyeing its seven red stripes.

The flags then hang to dry in the factory. As Iran does not recognize Israel as a country, the factory adds Death to Israel, written in Farsi on those flags, workers said. Iran itself continues to support anti-Israeli militant groups like Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Diba Parcham Khomein produces 1.5 million flags a year, many bearing Islamic phrases for religious and official occasions across the country. The factory also makes Iranian flags and a small number of Iraqi national flags for export.

But on a recent visit by the AP, the American and Israeli flags stood out, each 1.5 metres by 1 metre (59 inches by 39 inches). The factory makes as many as 6,000 American, British and Israeli flags in a year, all destined to be passed onto retailers. Iranian political hard-liners then purchase them for around $2 apiece to be stomped on, torn and ultimately set ablaze.

In recent years, the production of the U.S. flags has been tripled, Khanjani said. What eventually happens to my products is on its end user.

Khanjani, 36, identifies himself as supporting Iranian reformist groups that want to slowly change, and open up, the Islamic Republic. But he acknowledged the anger hard-liners feel toward the U.S. Tensions have particularly been high since President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehrans nuclear deal with world powers in May 2018.

In the time since, regional tensions across the Mideast have steadily worsened, leading to the Jan. 3 U.S. drone strike in Iraq that killed Soleimani as he was leaving Baghdads international airport.

Smiling images of Soleimani and Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ai Khamenei appeared on small Iranian flags in the factory, hanging behind women working at sewing machines on American flags.

Khanjani said burning the American flag offered Iranians a direct way to express their anger at U.S. policies, including the economic sanctions now choking the country.

Does the production of U.S. flags for burning pose any danger to anyone? Does it hurt anyone? My answer is no. It is an insult at worst, he said. But what about the production of weapons, bombs and drones for terror that have been used against our people and our countrys general? Has it not harmed my country?

That was a sentiment shared by Khanjanis sister Azam, who also works at the factory.

The martyrdom of our general was a big torment for us and this year as I sewed every flag, I was excited that they were going to be burned, she said. My feeling is just hatred when I sew them. It does not give me a good feeling.

Parisa Mahmoudi, another worker, said she focused her anger on Trump while working.

I have no problem with the American people but I dislike their president, she said. We have no problem with anyone but do not know why he is hostile with us.

The factory has 40 workers, including 25 women from nearby villages who earn monthly salaries of up to $400. Khanjani declined to offer earnings information for the factory, but said it turns a single-digit profit yearly.

Despite expressing anger at U.S. policies, Khanjani said his factorys decision to supply the flags for burning is a business move, fulfilling a demand from consumers. He showed AP journalists a picture painted by his 8-year-old son, Aria, showing the flags of Iran and the U.S. next to each countrys president.

The caption for the painting reads: The president of the U.S. has shaken the hand of Iranian president and they have become friends.
Christina Emery, chairman of the Chambers Government Relations Committee, presented the 2020 Legislative Agenda titled Attract, Train & Retain to the Chambers Board of Directors on January 23, 2020. At that time, the Board of Directors unanimously voted to adopt the Agenda as presented. The Agenda will be presented to the Connecticut General Assembly at the start of the 2020 Legislative Session. The following are the areas of concern and specific points pertaining to each.

Promote Workforce Development

Provide a framework to attract, train and retain the next generation of workers.

Support policies that address the high cost of living to attract skilled labor, college graduates and young professionals to Northwest CT.

Recognize the importance of Northwest CTs manufacturing sector and foster relationships to allow the industry to thrive in a global climate. Promoting workforce development is at the heart of the sectors commitment to job creation.

Promote Business Growth

Support pro-business policies that encourage growth and attract and retain businesses.

Oppose mandates and regulations that increase both the cost of living and the cost of doing business.

Repeal the indexing of minimum wage after reaching $15/hour.

Support legislation to hold employers harmless for unemployment compensation rates when a replacement worker is dismissed due to permanent employees FML status.

Arts & Culture

Support culture and tourism initiatives in Northwest CT, such as the Warner Theatre, Five Points Gallery and American Mural Project, that serve as economic drivers and generate a return on investment.

Maintain the CT Office of the Arts and encourage a collaboration with the Northwest Connecticut Arts Council.

Economic Hub

Recognize Northwest CTs designation as a micropolitan area. Support Torrington with adequate funding in recognition of the city providing services for many.

Advocate for representation from Northwest Connecticut on the Governors Workforce Council.

Help to leverage the $1.2 M grant from the Charlotte Hungerford Hospital Hartford Healthcare Building Healthier Communities Fund with public and private partnerships in Torrington & Winsted.

Education

Achieve efficiencies in education with mandate relief, minimum budget requirements, and binding arbitration.

Support course offerings and programs by Northwestern Connecticut Community College that are crucial to our region's workforce.

Support ways to reduce financial barriers to college for this regions students.

Improve collaboration among vo-ag and vo-tech schools with local public schools to ensure adequate funding.

Energy & Communications

Support Northwest CTs companies that create fuel cell, wind, solar, bioheat and other alternative energy innovations.

Support a new fiber-optic network for Northwest CT which is critical to the regions economic development, education and safety.

Continue capital and maintenance improvements to increase energy supply, capacity and transmission.

Healthcare

CT hospitals and health systems are important community partners, generating more than 200,000 jobs and contributing over $28 billion to the state and local economies each year. Safeguard their contributions by supporting measures that strengthen these vital organizations.

Adopt policies and practices to assist recruitment and retention of skilled healthcare workers at all levels including primary care and behavioral health, CNAs and RNs to cover the current and projected shortage.

Support community-based mental health services that address the growing demand for treatment, and in particular, measures that effectively counter the opioid crisis.

Transportation

Improve public transit options throughout Northwest CT to help low-income individuals access jobs and educational opportunities that exist beyond the limited bus routes.

Recognize that tolls will impact the cost of doing business in CT; look for alternative ways of lowering costs to maintain highways.



Check out our website at www.nwctchamberofcommerce.org for more Chamber happenings. *This institution is an equal opportunity provider*
(@FahadShabbir)

Chisinau is not yet ready to start exercising a political solution to the conflict with Tiraspol, therefore, authorities will focus on solving current problems, Moldovan President Igor Dodon said on Monday

CHISINAU (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th February, 2020) Chisinau is not yet ready to start exercising a political solution to the conflict with Tiraspol, therefore, authorities will focus on solving current problems, Moldovan President Igor Dodon said on Monday.

"I believe that the problem of Transnistria can be solved and will be solved, once we manage to reach a compromise domestically and internationally. We will focus on solving current problems this year, and when we are ready, we will move on to discuss politics. As of now, we are not ready to resolve political issues," Dodon said at a briefing.

The president explained that autonomy for Transnistria is only one of the possible solutions to the conflict, but the final option should be determined by Chisinau and Tiraspol in the framework of general negotiations.

Transnistria, a region with a predominantly ethnically Russian and Ukrainian population, seceded from the Soviet Republic of Moldova in 1990, fearing its possible reunion with Romania. The secession led to an armed conflict that ended in a ceasefire in July 1992, albeit the diplomatic strife remains unresolved. Moldova insists on offering the region an autonomy status while Transnistria wants international recognition.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer met with Captain America actor Chris Evans in Washington D.C. over the weekend.

Their mission was less about saving the world from a comic-book villain and more about educating people on politics for Evans new website.

She sat down with Captain America -- I mean -- Chris Evans for A Starting Point, which is the website he is launching later this year, said Whitmer spokesperson Tiffany Brown.

Whitmer posted photos from the meeting on Twitter on Monday, saying she had a MARVELous day with the actor.

We had a MARVELous day with @ChrisEvans yesterday! pic.twitter.com/uqhe0CaHzc  Gretchen Whitmer (@gretchenwhitmer) February 10, 2020

Evans, best known for starring as Captain America in the Avengers series of movies, told Wired earlier this year the new website would be a home for one-minute videos of interviews with political figures answering big political questions on topics like immigration, health care and the economy.

The idea is to inform people in an easy-to-digest format and boost civic engagement, according to the article.

Whitmer, a Democrat, is Michigans 49th governor. Her national profile has increased recently after she delivered the Democratic State of the Union response on national television last week.

Related: 5 things to know about Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as she takes the national stage
If he said it once, Micheal Martin said it a thousand times: under no circumstances could Fianna Fail go into government with Sinn Fein.

We all know politicians set red lines during elections that are routinely whitewashed afterwards - but Martin seemed more genuine.

He stuck to his word in the months of negotiations that followed the 2016 election by refusing to work with Sinn Fein or enter government with Fine Gael.

After 27 years in Leinster House, he even turned down the opportunity to be Taoiseach as part of a grand coalition with Enda Kenny.

But within minutes of the polls closing on Saturday night, Fianna Fail strategists were scratching their heads to ask: was it worth it?

The moral high-ground is a dangerous place because often the only way is down. Martin has occupied it for the past four years.

While propping up Fine Gael, he lectured it on its failure to fix the problems in housing and health. And when Sinn Fein scoffed that Leo Varadkar couldn't do it without him, Martin dismissed it.

He promised his TDs and the party membership that people would reward them for providing stability in a world gone mad.

Brexit, he insisted, was reason enough to not collapse the Dail. The party held the line and trusted the man who almost single-handedly rescued it from oblivion.

Perhaps the troops backed him because they know he has more to lose than anyone.

A major reason why Martin wouldn't go into coalition with Fine Gael was that such a merger would open the door for Sinn Fein to be the main party of opposition. But the confidence and supply arrangement ensured that happened anyway.

The image of Fianna Fail deputies sitting on their hands in order to keep embattled ministers in office played poorly - and Sinn Fein has exploited it all the way to the ballot box.

It means Martin has only one move left. If he is to be Taoiseach, he will have to compromise his moral and political compass.

Power is a drug and for so long Fianna Fail was addicted to it. The hangover from the years when 'we all partied' has been heavy. But now it craves it again.

If Martin does decide to do a deal with Sinn Fein or Fine Gael, he will probably be able to bring the party with him - but will dramatically alter his political epitaph.

Yet what choice does he have at this point in his career? He has served as mayor of Cork, held ministerial roles in education, health, enterprise and foreign affairs, and spent the past nine years as leader of the opposition.

His ultimate goal has always been to become Taoiseach. When he was a young aspiring politician in his twenties, he used to talk privately about becoming the "next Jack Lynch". Unless he reaches that peak, Martin will probably be best remembered for introducing the smoking ban. A laudable achievement - but one that he has been boasting about since 2004.

He became party leader in 2011 when Fianna Fail was at its lowest ebb ever.

The economic crash saw the Soldiers of Destiny dragged to their knees by a country that was already theirs. Martin was left with 19 TDs.

In March 2012, he used an ard fheis speech to apologise for wrecking the economy, finally accepting that people weren't buying the 'global recession' excuse.

"We made mistakes. We got things wrong. And we are sorry for that. No equivocation. No half-apology. Just the plain, unvarnished truth," he said.

"Last year the people did what they were right to do - they held us to account. People were angry and they showed it, delivering a historic defeat for us. We fully acknowledge the scale of the defeat."

The apology was a badly needed exercise in clearing the air. Martin went on to promise his supporters he would work "for a deep and real renewal of both our party and of politics as a whole".

By 2016 he identified that while the economy was recovering, society wasn't. Fianna Fail came up with the slogan 'An Ireland for All' and against all the odds came very close to matching Fine Gael.

Significantly, the party did well on transfers, suggesting it had lost much of its toxicity in just one Dail term.

Martin was seen to have beaten Enda Kenny in the TV debates and performed solidly throughout. There was no question that he shouldn't be given a third shot at becoming Taoiseach.

But in the meantime, he used up a lot of goodwill by insisting on confidence and supply "in the national interest". Propping up Fine Gael drew murmurs about Martin's leadership, but they never manifested into revolt.

He continued to rebuild the party, regularly touring the country when the Dail was in recess. And everything seemed to be coming together at the opportune moment.

Having consistently trailed Leo Varadkar, Fianna Fail went to the top of the polls at the start of this year. Everything pointed towards him finally becoming Taoiseach.

However, when the election narrative moved from being about housing and health to a less defined version of 'change', Martin never really stood a chance.

The ex-minister was more 'ghost from the past' than 'alternative for the future'.

Even supporters in his party privately observed over recent weeks that he looked "old" beside Varadkar and Mary Lou McDonald.

Nobody doubted his energy, yet a senior party figure conceded: "He could never be the change candidate."

As Varadkar once said: "He became a TD during the Haughey era, he became a minister during the Ahern era, and he became an expert during the Cowen era. And he's spent the last seven years learning to be the new kid on the block."

The election result will be devastating for the Cork man - but we have seen over the past decade that he can be pragmatic to the point of fault.

On Independent.ie's 'Floating Voter' podcast last week, Martin categorically ruled out a coalition with Fine Gael and said his main objection to Sinn Fein is a moral one.

"I've real issues working with a party that behaves like this and that constantly seeks to justify the murder and mayhem of 40 years.

"I'm tonally on the Seamus Mallon wing of this. The late Seamus Mallon said the biggest failure in Ireland in the last 50 years was the IRA, yet Sinn Fein keep trying to shove down people's throat the narrative that this was all just and great," he said, leaving little wriggle room.

But that was then, and this is now.

Micheal Martin is facing his now-or-never moment.
Renee Zellweger has been sweeping awards season with her performance in Judy.

And the actress won big once again Sunday as she took home the Academy Award for Best Actress.

The Texas born actress thanked several people in her acceptance speech, including her immigrant parents.

She's a winner: Renee Zellweger won big Sunday as she took home the Academy Award for Best Actress

Special shout-out: She thanked several people in her acceptance speech, including her immigrant parents; seen in 2008

The 50-year-old said: '[Thank you to] my immigrant folks who came here with nothing but each other and a belief in the American Dream. How bout this?'

Zellweger has reminded fans that she's a Texas girl throughout awards season, her unexpected southern twang showing up in acceptance speeches.

But the Empire Records star also has some European roots, particularly in Norway and Switzerland.

She told People in 2004: 'My mother came from Norway, and my father was Swiss. My parents both immigrated to America in the 1960s.

Norwegian and Swiss: She revealed in 2004: 'My mother came from Norway, and my father was Swiss. My parents both immigrated to America in the 1960s'; seen in 2004

Where credit's due: The 50-year-old said: '[Thank you to] my immigrant folks who came here with nothing but each other and a belief in the American Dream. How bout this?'

Southern girl: Zellweger has reminded fans that she's a Texas girl throughout awards season, her unexpected southern twang showing up in acceptance speeches

'Because my parents were from someplace else, they provided me with a window out onto the world.'

This revelation of her lineage came after she won her first Oscar, taking home Best Supporting Actress for Cold Mountain that year.

Zellweger thanked her parents in that speech as well: 'And finally, most importantly in my life, my glorious family. My immigrant mom and dad, thank you for never saying, "Don't try."'

First win: This revelation of her lineage came after she won her first Oscar, taking home Best Supporting Actress for Cold Mountain that year

She'd previously received Best Actress nominations in 2003 for Chicago and 2002 for Bridget Jones's Diary.

The Judy star also dedicated this weekend's Oscar win to stage and screen icon Judy Garland, who she portrayed in the film.

She said: 'Ms. Garland, you are certainly among the heroes who unite and define us, and this is certainly for you.'

In her career, Garland won a 'Juvenile Award' at the Oscars in 1940 for her signature performance in the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz, as well the movie Babes in Arms.

Paying tribute: The Judy star also dedicated this weekend's Oscar win to stage and screen icon Judy Garland, who she portrayed in the film

Long overdue: In her career, Garland won a 'Juvenile Award' at the Oscars in 1940, but never won Best Actress

She also received a Best Actress nomination in 1955 for A Star Is Born, as well as a Best Supporting Actress nod in 1962 for Judgment at Nuremberg.

Zellweger noted this in her speech: 'And though Judy Garland did not receive this honor in her time, I am certain that this moment is an extension of the celebration of her legacy that began on our film set.

'And it is also representative of the fact that her legacy of unique exceptionalism and inclusivity and generosity of spirit, it transcends any one artistic achievement.'
Heather Bomar, whose business is based in Oklahoma said, I've always had just kind of long game in mind, never the short game. By taking care of the families that we help, giving them an incredible experience and closing on time with a smooth process, they just continue to come back again and again, Bomar quoted Todd Duncan, saying that if you want to have clients for life, you have to actually stay in touch with them during their life. Thats what Bomar attempts to do.

Bomar ensures that her team is always contacting their pre-qualified borrowers to check in on them and to cheer them on. A couple years ago, Bomar started making videos as a means to communicate with her partners and repeat clients and theyve been received well. In these, she talks about topics revolving around mortgage and real estate as well as productive hacks or life tips and experiences.

Brad LEngle meets or does a video call with 90% of his clients. After the initial meeting with a client, he does a 15-minute follow-up video call. After that video call, he rigorously follows a 13-20-week extreme follow-up outreach. This consists of alternating calls, emails, and texts. He also sometimes sends out notes and gifts. As for his realtors and database, he sends video messages. Each year he holds one or two client appreciation events. And to top that all off, personally calls each of his clients on their birthday. All this effort paid off when he increased his conversion by 5% in just six months.

LEngle said, I dont believe in internet leads, or buying leads, adding, I refuse to pay for anything on Yelp, I just don't think that's the way it goes. I prefer to have a really solid referral from a realtor or someone who knows me. I'm more of a relationship guy, I want to get in and find out what's going on with you and everything else beyond just getting a lead. I find that's a more sustainable business model and more fulfilling, quite frankly, for all the parties involved.

Keep an impeccable track record and reputation

Rob Wishnick says he leads with trust instead of a script.
Experts find how moderate 2019-nCoV infection ends with death

ROC Central News Agency

02/09/2020 05:28 PM

Taipei, Feb. 9 (CNA) Experts have blamed a form of systemic inflammatory response syndrome called "cytokine storm" for killing some novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)-infected patients who were not very sick in the early stage of infection but eventually died of multiple organ failure, according to Chinese media reports.

The epidemic, which started mid-December in Wuhan, in China's Hubei Province, had claimed more than 800 lives in China as of Feb. 8, including Li Wenliang (), a 34-year-old ophthalmologist at Wuhan Central Hospital who tried to issue the first warning about the deadly coronavirus outbreak late last year but was silenced by the Chinese authorities.

Li was confirmed Feb. 1 to have been infected after treating a patient who later tested positive for coronavirus. He died on Friday.

While most victims have been middle-aged, elderly or suffering from chronic disease according to official Chinese data, Li's death, as well as that of a 39-year-old man in Hong Kong, drew media attention as the epidemic has attacked more than 37,000 people in 28 countries around the world.

According to Chinese media reports, Zhong Ming (), a physician at the department of critical care medicine of Zhongshan Hospital in Shanghai, warned that in some novel coronavirus cases, patients who developed only moderate symptoms at the onset of the disease later fell seriously ill and died of multiple organ failure.

He termed the condition a "storm of inflammations"

Once patients are in that situation, "it is very difficult for them to recover," said the doctor who was sent to Wuhan's Jinyintan Hospital soon after the epidemic broke out last year.

The hospital was among the first medical centers in Wuhan to receive and treat novel coronavirus patients and is now one of the main hospitals in the city for severe cases.

Zhou Zheng (), an expert in respiratory medicine at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University in Hunan Province, said one feature of 2019-nCoV infection is that patients can develop moderate symptoms in the first two days of infection but can become seriously ill on the third day or later.

Attributing this to the phenomenon of cytokine storm -- a high level of circulating inflammatory cytokines -- Zhou said the novel coronavirus can stimulate the body's immune system, which can further damage the cells.

"A normal immune system protects, but an over-active immune system can not only damage the lungs but also other organs, including the kidneys, liver and heart," he said.

A recent Lancet publication titled "Clinical Features of Patients Infected with the 2019 Novel Coronavirus in Wuhan, China," also describes the correlation of the cytokine storm and the severity of illness in patients infected with 2019-nCoV.

(By Chou Hui-ying and Elizabeth Hsu)

Enditem/J

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(CNN)  One woman testified that Harvey Weinstein used his hands to sexually assault her as employees sat nearby.

Another woman said the movie mogul raped her at what she thought was a meeting about her aspiring acting career.

A third woman says he cornered her and masturbated during a meeting she thought was about a movie script.

These disturbing allegations were revealed at Weinstein's trial over the past two weeks, and prosecutors argued the harrowing stories showed Weinstein's pattern of predatory behavior. Yet none of their testimony is connected to any of the charges against him.

The charges against Weinstein  of rape, criminal sexual conduct and predatory sexual assault  are independent of these accusations. He has pleaded not guilty and his attorneys have said the incidents were consensual.

The Weinstein jury is not alone in hearing about uncharged accusations. Bill Cosby's trial also featured testimony from five women whose claims were not related to the charges against him. And Cuba Gooding Jr.'s upcoming groping trial will feature two women who will testify about allegations that are not charged.

These "prior bad acts" witnesses are becoming more common in sexual violence trials like those involving Weinstein, Cosby and Gooding, legal experts told CNN. Their rise is one clear example of how the #MeToo movement and its broader impact has changed the American legal system, they said.

It's a powerful change, too. These "prior bad acts" witnesses are important in revealing a specific pattern of behavior, such as how Cosby used pills to incapacitate and then assault women. In sexual assault cases, their testimony can turn a "he said, she said" case into a more convincing "he said, they said" case.

"When you just think of the basic meaning of the #MeToo movement, that's what these women are doing," said Michelle Simpson Tuegel, an attorney who represents victims of sexual assault.

"They're saying 'me too,' and it's so important for the jury to be able to hear about that and I think it's so relevant."

So why are they seemingly becoming more common? It's part of a feedback loop across the many parts of the legal system, said Michelle Madden Dempsey, a law professor at Villanova University's Charles Widger School of Law.

"It's not as if one day in October 2017 people started saying 'Me too' and that changed everything," she said. "It requires this connection between victims being willing to come forward, prosecutors being willing to hear them and take their cases forward, judges being willing to allow the evidence, and jurors being willing to credit the evidence."

More victims are coming forward

One reason courts have used more prior bad acts witnesses is because there are more victims coming forward who are willing to testify in court.

Founded by activist Tarana Burke over a decade ago, "Me, Too" gained global attention in October 2017 after The New York Times reported on scores of accusations against Weinstein, the influential movie producer. Since then, many more have come forward to accuse powerful celebrities, politicians and business leaders of abusing their power to get away with sexual misconduct.

The movement has made people more willing to listen to victims rather than vilify and attack them, Dempsey said.

"Now that people are feeling more supported, more able and empowered to come forward and speak about what their experiences were, and they're not suffering as negative response as they used to, there are quite literally more witnesses available to provide this kind of testimony," said Dempsey.

In the Weinstein trial, the three "prior bad acts" witnesses each say Weinstein used his Hollywood influence to take advantage of them when they were young and hoping to break into the film industry.

One of those women, Dawn Dunning, first spoke out in an interview with The New York Times in October 2017 as part of an initial wave of women coming forward against him.

She testified in his trial last week that Weinstein tried to pressure her into having three-way sex with him. When she declined, he told her, "this is how this industry works," she testified. She also said that Weinstein put his hand underneath her underwear and partially penetrated her vagina as his employees sat in an adjoining room at a hotel.

Dunning is just one of dozens of women who have stood together to accuse Weinstein of sexual misconduct. At the start of his trial, a group of women calling themselves the "Silence Breakers" spoke outside court to offer their support to the testifying women.

"As one of the silence-breakers, I stand in solidarity with the brave survivors who will take the stand against Harvey Weinstein in this trial," said Rosanna Arquette, the actress and director. "While the emotion of the day runs high, I join these other brave women who were also harmed by Harvey Weinstein to say: we aren't going anywhere."

Prosecutors are using their testimony more

Shan Wu, former federal prosecutor and CNN legal analyst, said that prosecutors decide which cases to try in court partly based on how they believe juries will view them.

"Prosecutors are always weighing, 'Is this really a triable case? Am I going to get a conviction on this or not?'" Wu said. "When they think about that, you're always thinking about societal prejudices and what's your impression of things."

More broadly, the #MeToo movement has influenced the American public that makes up these juries to listen more closely to victims. Because of that, prosecutors are more willing to bring these sexual abuse cases to court, creating a feedback loop.

"The breadth of what the prosecutors are willing to consider now is really broadening because of the whole societal sensitivity," Wu said.

James A. Cohen, a Fordham University associate professor of law, said that the #MeToo movement has made prosecutors consider the testimony of witnesses who may not have been included before.

"Prosecutors are prompted to think about things that perhaps in past times they might not have been so quick to go to," said James A. Cohen, a Fordham University associate professor of law. "It is very powerful evidence ... and I think judges have become more accepting of it, which also encourages prosecutors to raise the issue more often."

Judges are allowing more witnesses

The judges' rulings that allowed these prior bad acts witnesses have been vital to their use in recent years.

In general, evidence that the defendant has poor character or has done bad things in the past is not allowed during a trial. The fear is that the jury will be overly influenced by these prior incidents and may ignore the actual evidence of the alleged crime.

"Prior bad acts" evidence is one exception to this rule. It can be used to prove the defendant's "motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, absence of mistake, or lack of accident," according to federal evidence rules.

Judges have a fair amount of discretion to decide what is and what isn't allowed in court as they try to balance the relevance of the testimony against the prejudice to the jury.

That balance appears to have shifted in recent years with the rise of the #MeToo movement.

"Institutions, including the courts and criminal justice, have long not paid enough attention to women coming forward with these issues," Wu said.

"I think that has begun to permeate the consciousness of the judges. I think they are more likely now to rule in favor of allowing that type of history to come in."

"It's a change in how society views the cases, and the judges are human like everyone else in their thinking and also in their training," he said. "They're being trained to be more sensitive to sexual assault victims."

Cheryl Bader, Fordham University Law School clinical associate professor of law, said the trial of Larry Nassar helped show the importance of giving voice to victims. In that trial, young girls and women came forward to speak out about how the gymnastics doctor's sexual abuse had changed their lives.

"Judges do want to give voice to victims," she said. "I think there's a broader recognition of the importance of victims being able to be heard.

"Of course, the judge has to balance that with the rights of the accused."
Sanditon Episode 6 Season 1 Episode 6 Editors Rating 4 stars * * * *  Previous Next  Photo: Simon Ridgway/PBS

Ive decided something: Were going to wipe Sidneys slate clean. Its a new Sidney now. The old Sidney is dead. He died on the way to London, and this new Sidney is like when the Tenth Doctor on Doctor Who had that clone with none of his problems show up and get with Rose. The old Sidney passed the point of no return long ago. New Sidney has all the hallmarks we like in the 19th-Century Fictional Man: quiet amusement. Gruff protectiveness. Subtle sexual tension during period-appropriate dances. Let Old Sidney lie in a ditch somewhere; long live New Sidney.

So Lady Denham isnt dead; they make that clear real quick. She is, however, dying. Like really, clearly dying, however much she denies it. She says her relations are clustered around the bed like bloodhounds, which is a weird comparison to make. Are bloodhounds known to cluster? Surely she means vultures? Maybe one shouldnt judge a dying womans similes, but I definitely do. Shes drinking seawater and basically tells them she wont give them the satisfaction of dying. I hope Im not the only one who was reminded of the old woman in Jenna Maroneys condo building. My heart  its getting stronger every day. The pertinent bit, though, is that she says her solicitor knows exactly where her will is, and shes already settled where all her money is going. Edward and Clara are very concerned.

Im gonna pause right here and argue for the pro-mercenary side. There are a few points to consider. (1) Lady Denham is racist, cruel, controlling, and generally terrible. (2) Edward, Esther, and Clara are all broke. (3) Tom should not be rewarded for being awful at managing money. (4) How many seaside resorts do we actually need in this world?

Esther says to Edward that our aunt is grievously ill, and all you can think about is her fortune, which would be a fair point if Lady Denham had ever said or done anything kind for any of them. DO I NEED TO BRING UP THE PINEAPPLE PARTY AGAIN. Just because someone is biologically related to you doesnt mean you owe them anything. Lady Denham has wielded her power and fortune like a temperamental cudgel, and its a bad look and deserving of no loyalty. Does Edward suck? Yes! But he has nothing else to fall back on (that we know of), so of course hes going to be more concerned about his financial security than about his cruel aunt dying.

Obviously, Edward and Clara go on a frantic search for the will and find it. Lady Denham leaves her entire fortune to Sanditon and the foundation of a donkey stud in my name. I really want to highlight the latter, because Edward whizzes right by it, and it is a majestic codicil. Attention must be paid. He and Clara agree to burn the will and make a blackmail-fueled (by Clara) deal to split the fortune, which they seal by banging it out on the tile floor. This is Sanditon; thats just what you do. At first, I thought Clara was just really turned on by money. She probably still is, but as a bonus, she now blackmails Edward into giving her even more money by threatening to tell Esther they had sex. Edward is stunned that AGAIN Clara is not into his sexual wiles, but instead has manipulated him. This literally happened like four episodes ago, Edward. Come on.

Okay, but Charlotte is in London. Georgiana is in London. Otis is in London. SIDNEY is in London. (Eventually Tom is, too, but no one really cares about Tom.) Charlottes solo quest to the bad CGI slums of London leads to her discovering that Otis has his mail delivered to a tavern in a slum, and no one knows where he or Georgiana are. Then she gets assaulted in an alley, which is a dark, dark turn until, of course, a mysterious stranger saves her (spoiler: its Sidney). This whole business with Otis seems complex, but it boils down to the following: Otis has gambling debts, and the person he owes tricked Georgiana into coming to London, then abducted her, intending to sell her to a caricature of a dissolute member of the bourgeoisie so that man can acquire her heiress wealth. This entire plot is ridiculous; it is RIDICULOUS. I liked this episode a lot overall, what with the rise of New Sidney, but good lord, there is a carriage chase in the middle of the country, and they dont even try to dignify it by making it happen at night, or even dusk. Just grown men yelling at their carriage drivers to go faster in full daylight. Whats the plan, guys? Wait for the other guys horses to tire out?

They get Georgiana back, saving her from marital enslavement and most likely sexual assault. Sidney allows Otis to say good-bye to her. Georgiana has been having a real damn terrible time of it. I hope something good finally happens to her soon.

By the way, that disgusting guy who tried to buy her, and who yells at Sidney, You owe me 1,800? Thats about 158,000 today, or $205,000. And while were on exchange rates, that means when Sidney tells Tom he will lend him 3,000, thats around 260,000, which means Sidney is hella rich.

So, New Sidney and Charlotte. Theyre cute. Fine. Ill accept this Hail Mary attempt at romance with *looks at watch* two episodes left in the series. Sidney apologizes. Hes charming. He actually seems to like her. He tells her not to doubt herself, which, if this were that Old Sidney whos currently dead in a ditch, Id say, Dude, youve spent the last five episodes telling her she sucks, and, as a contributor to her insecurities, you cannot now be like, Get some confidence, lady. But since its New Sidney, wow, what a sweet moment.

Just to hammer home that these two kids are into each other for sure, the episode delivers my favorite moment aside from that donkey-stud thing. Look, I am a sucker for an authors characters showing up peripherally in their other works. It gets me every time. When this woman at the masked ball whos reading a book alone in a room tells Charlotte her name is Susan, I freaked out. For anyone watching this show who somehow isnt familiar with the entire Austen oeuvre, an early work of hers is Lady Susan, recently made into the Kate Beckinsale film Love & Friendship. Lady Susan is pretty morally bankrupt, and therefore very fun to watch. Its DELIGHTFUL that shes there. Her entire purpose is to tell Charlotte shes in love with Sidney, which is an embarrassing cliche sort of moment, but whatever  its Lady Susan. She is allowed.

We end by learning that Sidney is talking to the woman who threw him over for a richer man, and made Old Sidney a withered and angry husk of a human being. But her husband is dead, so??? We shall see what the future holds for Sidney and Charlotte.

Questions for Next Time

 Will Clara and Edward succeed in taking the money away from the donkey stud?

 What are the chances Clara marries Edward for his fortune, poisons him immediately, and moves to the French Riviera? (Like 90 percent?)

 What if they even just did something like give Georgiana a puppy? Thatd be nice, right? Or would they immediately have some unspeakable tragedy befall the puppy, because Georgiana cant have nice things?

 Will anyone ever find Old Sidney in that ditch? RIP Old Sidney.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 10

By Ilhama Isabalayeva - Trend:

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be resolved with the assistance of the OSCE Minsk Group and other international organizations, German observer at the early parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan, Matthias Dornfeld, said at a press conference in Baku, Trend reports.

Matthias Dornfeld wished an early resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

This issue should be resolved with the assistance of international organizations, because the people who lived in Nagorno-Karabakh want to return to their homeland, Dornfeld added.

Dornfeld noted that he also visited a polling station of the Nagorno Karabakh region.

"Most of all, I was touched by the participation of voters from Nagorno Karabakh. They told us about their hard life," the German observer said.

The parliamentary elections of the sixth convocation were held in Azerbaijan on Feb. 9. Some 1,314 candidates were registered within the early parliamentary elections.

The candidacies of 246 people were nominated by 19 political parties, 1,057 were self-nominated, 11 - by initiative groups. Twenty-one percent accounted for female candidates while 79 percent  male candidates.

Throughout the day, 5,573 permanent polling stations operated in 125 constituencies of the country. There were 5,329,460 registered voters.

Some 883 international observers and 77,790 local observers monitored the voting process. Among the local observers, 35,152 were representatives of political parties. International observers represented 58 countries and 59 organizations.

Exit polls were conducted by AJF & Associates Inc. (US) jointly with Citizens' Labor Rights Protection League, the Rey Monitoring Center, and the French OpinionWay Research Institute together with the Human Rights in the XXI Century  Azerbaijan Foundation.
Minister for Better Regulation Kevin Anderson today announced that recruitment is underway for an expert team to deliver on the NSW governments building reform agenda.

Minister Anderson said the recruitment process within the Office of the NSW Building Commissioner will commence with the hiring of a new Transformation Management team.

With a workforce comprising of up to 15 operational staff, the Transformation Management team will be exclusively dedicated to the delivery of the Governments six building reform pillars.

Last year we recruited NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler to overhaul the building and construction industry. Now were at the stage we can build our capacity by hiring experienced professionals to support the Commissioners plan and deliver the reforms efficiently and effectively under his leadership, Mr Anderson said.

In addition to the Transformation Management team, the Minister announced the phased delivery of up to 60 new roles responsible for the implementation and operation of the new auditing, registration and design lodgement functions.

Mr Anderson said, "we are also making progress on the risk ratings tool, which aggregates builder, designer, certifier and developer data to create a risk and compliance profile for each project."

Once the risky players are identified, we will ensure the right staff are in place to assist the Building Commissioner in exercising proposed powers to audit any development, he concluded.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang's Daily Briefing Online on February 10, 2020

2020/02/10

First, I'd like to share some figures with you. According to the latest data this morning from the National Health Commission, between 00:00 and 24:00, February 9, altogether 632 cured and discharged cases were newly reported in China's mainland.

As of 24:00 February 9, a total of 3,281 people have been cured and discharged from hospital in China's mainland.

The daily increase of confirmed cases in China (excluding Hubei) fell 42.8% from 890 (February 3) to 509 (February 8).

Q: In the past few days, senior officials of many countries all expressed support and appreciation for Chinas epidemic control measures in their phone calls with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Some said the epidemic would not have been contained so effectively if it had struck elsewhere. At the same time, we also see concerns over Chinas capacity to control the epidemic and prevent cross-border spread. Do you have a comment?

A: The novel coronavirus Pneumonia (NCP) is a challenge for all human beings, which needs to be tackled jointly by the international community. By taking strong measures, China is not just acting for the sake of its own people, but for people across the world. In this battle against the invisible enemy, we are working around the clock to allow time for global preparedness, fighting on the front lines to contain the virus and setting a new standard for epidemic response.

As WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros put it, it was because of Chinas strong measures and Chinese peoples sacrifice that cross-border spread of the epidemic has been effectively contained. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also commended China for its massive and remarkable efforts to contain the virus propagation. We need to have very strong international cooperation and solidarity and avoid the stigmatization that can sometimes accompany a situation like this.

As we speak, Chinas all-out efforts are continuing with increasing effects. Cured cases have far outstripped fatal ones and the increase in suspected cases has moderated. With the strength of our system which pools national resources, the firm conviction of the entire nation, the past experience in dealing with SARS, and the understanding and support from the international community, China has full confidence and capability to win the fight against the epidemic and jointly uphold regional and global public health security with the international community.

Q: What's the latest on how many foreigners in China are infected? Do you have any more details on the US citizen who died? And how many foreigners who want to be evacuated are still stranded in Wuhan?

A: We have checked with the relevant department. As of 08:00, February 10, 27 foreign citizens in China have been diagnosed with the NCP. Among them, there are three recovered and discharged cases, two deaths and 22 cases under treatment in isolation.

Regarding your second question, as we know, a Chinese American passed away in Wuhan, Hubei at 19:00 on February 6. While medical workers were doing the best to treat the patient in hospital, the Chinese side has also been in contact with the family in China. We offer the deepest condolences over the American nationals passing. We have notified the US through diplomatic channels and will offer necessary assistance to the US side and the bereaved family for follow-up matters.

As to your third question, China attaches great importance to the health and safety of all foreign nationals in Wuhan, Hubei province. We have taken effective measures to timely respond to their reasonable concerns and requests. WHO DG Tedros also stressed many times that flying out in a rush is not recommended, the best way being stay put and enhancing self-protection. We hope that WHOs professional recommendations will be respected. Indeed, for those countries that wish to take home their nationals, China will make relevant arrangements and offer necessary assistance consistent with international practices and our domestic epidemic control measures.

Q: An international team of experts led by the WHO is coming to Beijing to help tackle the outbreak. Do you have any information on if theres any American experts among them?

A: Acting in an open, transparent and responsible way, China has been sharing information and strengthening cooperation with WHO and the international community to jointly safeguard global and regional public health security.

With regard to the WHO expert group, as far as I know, the advance team will arrive in Beijing today to discuss specific arrangements for the China-WHO joint mission. Id like to reiterate that we welcome all foreign experts including those from the US to join. I would refer you to the NHC for more details.

Q: Media reports quote Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as saying on February 8 that Israel is mapping the area including all Israeli settlements and the Jordan Valley which, according to the US Middle East peace plan, will become part of the state of Israel. On the same day, a spokesman for Palestinian President said that the only map that can be accepted as the map of Palestine is the map of the Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital. Whats Chinas comment?

A: China opposes any unilateral actions that might escalate tensions between Palestine and Israel. We call on Israel to act prudently to prevent more tensions in the region.

It is Chinas consistent position that any solution to this issue should be based on international consensus including relevant UN resolutions, the "two-state solution" and the principle of "land for peace. Any agreement should be reached through equal-footed dialogue and negotiation after taking into consideration the view and propositions of main parties concerned, especially Palestine, and the agreement should be conducive to reaching a comprehensive, just and lasting solution of the Palestinian issue at an early date.

Q: The Chinese side recently quoted the Italian ambassador to China as saying that Italy is ready to resume some civil flights as soon as possible. Meanwhile the Italian government denied any plans to change the current status. Can you please provide further update on the situation?

A: After the epidemic broke out, China has taken the most comprehensive and rigorous prevention and control measures, many of which far exceed WHO recommendations and what the International Health Regulations requires. The WHO has repeatedly said that it does not recommend putting travel and trade restrictions on China. We hope that Italy can assess the epidemic situation in an objective, rational and science-based manner, respect the WHOs authoritative and professional recommendations, and refrain from taking excessive measures.

We have also seen that these days, many political figures and friends from all walks of life in Italy have expressed their support to Chinas efforts against the epidemic. The Chinese flights have received permission from the Italian side and brought home the stranded Chinese citizens from Italy. China will continue to enhance its cooperation with the WHO and other countries including Italy in an open and transparent manner to jointly tackle the epidemic and safeguard regional and global health security.

Q: On February 7, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions on Venezuelan state-run airline Conviasa. The US said in a statement that it "will not allow Maduro and his proxies to continue stealing from the Venezuelan people and abusing state-owned assets to advance their own corrupt and destabilizing activities." I wonder if you have any comment?

A: Chinas position on the Venezuela issue is clear and consistent. We as always remain committed to the UN Charter and the basic norms governing international relations and oppose unilateral sanctions and external interference in Venezuelas internal affairs.

Since last year, certain country has escalated sanctions on Venezuela several times, which has seriously affected Venezuelas economy, the Venezuelan peoples livelihood and its foreign relations with other countries, leading to a higher risk of the situation losing control. We urge the certain country to face squarely the humanitarian realities in Venezuela, stop imposing unilateral sanctions or long-arm jurisdictions, and work to create necessary conditions for Venezuela to achieve stable growth and have normal foreign relations with other countries.

Q: Can you share any details about the WHO-led team of international experts visiting China? Where will they visit and how long will they stay? Which experts are part of the group?

A: Acting in an open, transparent and responsible way, China has been sharing information and strengthening cooperation with the WHO and the international community to jointly safeguard global and regional public health security.

With regard to the WHO expert group, as far as I know, the WHO advance team will arrive in Beijing today to discuss specific arrangements for the China-WHO joint mission. We welcome all foreign experts to join. I would refer you to the NHC for more details.

Q: It is reported that the plane carrying 23 tons of medical supplies from the Russian government arrived in Wuhan on February 9. Russian media Rossiyskaya Gazeta today published an editorial titled China and Russia Share Weal and Woe to praise China's fight against the epidemic measures and a full-page ad saying "Stay strong, China! We stand with you!". What is China's comment?

A: On February 9, a large amount of medical supplies including over 2 million masks sent by the Russian government arrived at Wuhan. The supplies have been delivered to the Chinese side.

We also noted the editorial of China and Russia sharing weal and woe published in Rossiyskaya Gazeta. As it said, after the NCP outbreak, Russia has been lending its firm support to China. In a letter to President Xi, President Putin expressed sympathy and highly commended China for its epidemic control measures and their effects. Besides medical supplies, the Russian government also sent experts to work with their Chinese counterparts on epidemic response.

We have received the message "Stay strong, China! We stand with you!" from the Russian government and people. It also demonstrates the high level of our comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination in a new era and the deep bond of mutual assistance between our two countries. China is truly grateful. We will continue to work with Russia for better coordination and cooperation in epidemic control and contribution to regional and global public health security.

Q: Up to now, how many foreigners are among the confirmed cases in China? Can you give us more details?

A: We have checked with the competent authority. As of 08:00, February 10, altogether 27 foreign citizens in China have been diagnosed with the NCP. Among them, there are three recovered and discharged cases, two deaths and 22 cases under treatment in isolation.

Q: Is there any nationwide deadline for opening schools and universities?

A: Id refer you to the competent authorities.

Q: The 36th Ordinary Session of the AU Executive Council issued a communique on February 7, in which the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of AU Member States expressed their solidarity with the Chinese government and people in the efforts to counter spread of the novel coronavirus, and their confidence in Chinas ability to deal with the challenges. I wonder if you have any comment?

A: As you said, the 36th Ordinary Session of the AU Executive Council issued a communique in which the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of AU Member States, in the spirit of the strong strategic partnership existing between AU Member States and China and cognizant of the fraternal historical ties and cooperation between the two sides, expressed their solidarity with the Chinese government and people in the efforts to counter spread of the novel coronavirus, their confidence in Chinas ability to deal with the challenges, and their call for coordination with the various national and international bodies to strengthen cooperation and to cope with its ramifications.

At this crucial juncture, our African friends have given us strong support and showcased our brotherhood through thick and thin. The Ethiopian Students Union in Wuhan wrote an open letter in support of Wuhan and China. Some African students in China volunteered to go to the front-line of this battle against the epidemic or worked at the train stations as volunteers. We believe that through the trial of this epidemic, China-Africa friendship will grow even deeper and the China-Africa community with a shared future will emerge stronger.

Q: The Munich Security Conference will be held from 14th to 16th this month. As I recall, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the meeting last year and can you tell us who will represent China this year? This year's meeting will focus on the direction of global arms control after the US withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. What proposals or propositions will China put forward?

A: We will update you if theres any information on that.

Regarding to the issue of arms control, Ill briefly talk about Chinas principled position on arms control. China is committed to safeguarding global peace, security and stability, and to upholding the international arms control and non-proliferation regime. Our efforts are witnessed by the international community. China stands ready to work with all parties to strengthen communication and coordination within such frameworks as the Conference on Disarmament and the mechanism of five nuclear-weapon states, discuss a wide range of issues concerning global strategic stability, earnestly safeguard multilateralism and multilateral disarmament mechanisms, uphold the international order based on international law, defend the authority and efficacy of existing arms control and non-proliferation legal systems, and make contributions to international peace and security.

Q: You just said that a total of 27 foreigners in China have been confirmed of novel coronavirus pneumonia, of which two have died. One of them I suppose is the American citizen you just mentioned, and which country is the other one from? As I understand, a Japanese man died in Wuhan on February 8. Do you have any information?

A: Of the two fatal cases, one of them was an American citizen and the other was Japanese. I responded to a question related to the US citizen earlier.

As I know, the Japanese national passed away in Wuhan, Hubei on the early morning of February 8. While medical workers were doing the best to treat the patient in hospital, the Chinese side has also been in contact with the family in China. We offer the deepest condolences over the Japanese nationals passing. We have notified Japan through diplomatic channels and will offer necessary assistance to the Japanese side and the bereaved family.

Q: Have Chinese and South Korean governments discussed any adjustments or changes regarding Chinese President Xi Jinping's planned visit to Seoul since the outbreak of the epidemic? Earlier this year, the South Korean government has announced President Xi would visit Seoul in the first half of the year. Have the two governments agreed on the specific date of the visit?

A:The Chinese government is making all-out efforts to fight against NCP. We have been releasing and sharing statistics and information with the international community in an open, transparent and responsible way and taken the utmost comprehensive and strict prevention and control measures. All these have been highly recognized and lauded by the international community.

ROK President Moon Jae-in spoke highly of Chinas efforts. He said that he believed that the epidemic will soon be brought under control and said that the ROK stands ready to assist and cooperate with China. China appreciates the assistance from the ROK government and people. We will strengthen cooperation with the ROK and other members of the international community to jointly fight the epidemic and safeguard global public health security.

China and the ROK, as close neighbors, have been keeping high-level exchanges and political and diplomatic communications. The two sides will continue to make meticulous preparations for the next-stage major diplomatic agenda.

Q: As I understand, the Japanese citizen who passed away was a suspected case. Was he already confirmed of the NCP?

A: I have nothing to update you at the moment.

Q: How many foreign nationals are still in Wuhan? What will happen to those who are not able to be evacuated by their governments?

A: China highly values the health and safety of foreign nationals in Wuhan, Hubei and takes effective measures to address their concerns and needs.

Q: Can you let us know how many enterprises resumed work today? What is the rate of resuming enterprise?

A: Id refer you to the competent authorities.

Q: Could you please tell us the nationalities of those 27 foreigners who have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus pneumonia in China?

A: According to the competent authority, as of 08:00, February 10, altogether 27 foreign citizens in China have been diagnosed with the NCP. Among them, there are three recovered and discharged cases, two deaths (one American and one Japanese) and 22 cases under treatment in isolation. This is all I can offer you at the moment.

Q: Has China received the medical supplies Vietnam sent to China yesterday? How will they be used in the future? As far as we know, one of the confirmed cases in China is a Vietnamese. How is she doing?

A: The medical gloves, masks and protective suits donated by the Vietnamese government have arrived in Wuhan on February 10. Our heartfelt thanks go to all those who provided us with sincere support and help.

As I understand, all the supplies donated by the foreign governments and international organizations are received and handled by the Ministry of Commerce. I refer you to them for more details.

As for your last question, I need to check for more information and get back to you later.

Q: India Prime Minister Narendra Modi has offered India's help and other cooperation in Chinas fight against the coronavirus. He has also condoled the deaths in China due to the virus. Do you have any comments?

A: We thank and appreciate Indias support for Chinas fight against the NCP. Indias acts of goodwill fully demonstrate its peoples friendship with the Chinese people.

We stand ready to work with India and other members of the international community to jointly fight the epidemic and safeguard regional and global public health security.

Q: Last week the MFA spokesperson responded to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article titled China Is the Real Sick Man of Asia. I wonder if you got in contact with the WSJ after that?

A: My colleague last week already made clear Chinas solemn position. We have lodged stern representations with the WSJ.

The WSJ article belittled our efforts to fight against the epidemic. Its editor also headlined the article with a racially discriminatory and sensational title out of no respect for facts and professional ethics. It hurts the feelings of the Chinese people and roused public anger and condemnation.

China asks the WSJ to face squarely the severity of its mistake, make a public apology, and hold the persons involved accountable. However, what the WSJ has been doing since then is nothing but paltering.

China urges WSJ to take our concerns seriously and make a response. We reserve the right to take further measures.
[February 09, 2020] Ad Hoc Group of Constitutional Debtholders Comments on Settlement with Puerto Rico Oversight Board

The Puerto Rico Ad Hoc Group of Constitutional Debtholders issued the following statement commenting on the settlement announced today among creditors and the Puerto Rico Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB). "This agreement is a result of many months of hard work by the representatives of the FOMB, the court-appointed mediation team and the various creditor groups. We believe this settlement positions the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico on a clear path toward emeging from the current Title III proceedings that will result in a significant reduction of the Commonwealth debt burden and restore the island's access to capital markets that is critically important to support the economic recovery of Puerto Rico. This settlement represents meaningful compromises on the part of all parties and is in the best long-term interests of the people of Puerto Rico."



Morrison and Foerster is serving as legal counsel to the group and Perella Weinberg Partners, LP is serving as its financial advisor.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200209005035/en/

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CENTERBROOK - Community Music School will present the fourth annual Taste of Italy fundraiser with a lively game of Italian cheese rolling on Feb. 22 at Angelini Wine in Centerbrook. Event proceeds will benefit scholarships and outreach programs at Community Music School. This event is presented by Guilford Savings Bank and includes fine Italian wines, cheese, antipasto, and a full spread of locally made Italian food. Guests will test their bowling skills with a little friendly competition in a rousing party game of cheese rolling, a tradition in many parts of Italy.

Cheese rolling is an Italian game similar to bowling but with a wheel of Pecorino. Guests are encouraged to join the fun, either on the sidelines or in the middle of the action. Winner takes home the cheese! Tickets are $65 per person and include all food, wine, and game entry. For additional information and to purchase tickets, visit www.cmsct.org/cheese or call CMS at 860-767-0026.

Fundraiser benefits Hearts for Hinka

MIDDLETOWN  Hinkas Cupboard Food Pantry will hold its 2nd annual Pasta Dinner on Saturday, Feb. 15 at Fox Parish Hall, St. Francis Church to benefit Hinkas Cupboard.

Seating begins at 6 p.m. and dinner is served at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 per person. $5 for children, and includes various pasta with spaghetti sauce, meatballs, green salad, bread, coffee, soft drinks and dessert. There will be door prizes and raffles. Each patron will receive a ticket for the door prize drawing with every 2 cans of food brought to the benefit. To purchase or reserve tickets, contact the parish office at 860-347-4684. Tickets will be sold at the door on a first come, first serve basis.

Hinkas Cupboard is open on the last Thursday of each month to anyone who needs food. The Cupboard is open on the last week because that is the time most people have exhausted their food stamps. Annette Silverman founded the Food Pantry that is located in the basement of St. Francis of Assisi Church, 10 Elm Street, Middletown.

Hinkas Cupboard is named after Annette Silvermans mother, Henrietta Ann Dascanio, who was one of six girls in her Polish family. While she was alive, she was an accomplished cook and baker, and worked in HeadStart programs, school cafeterias, and private restaurants. Dasciano also had an open door policy, and always offered food to guests and would help people however she could. It is for that reason Silverman chose her mother as the Cupboards namesake. Silvermans mission statement is simple: Feed the Hungry. No one will ever be turned away. Everyone will be treated with the same dignity and respect.

The monthly cost to restock supplies is between $500 to $600. If non-perishable donations are received, that figure could be less. She has roughly a dozen volunteers: shoppers, sorters, greeters, and one clerical that just does thank you notes. All are volunteers. For more information, visit Hinkas Cupboard on Facebook and on the Church Website.

Breastfeeding education, healthcare seminar set in Porland

PORTLAND  Health care professionals from across the region will attend the annual one-day seminar of breastfeeding education hosted by La Leche League of Connecticut, this year in a new location-the palatial setting of Portlands St. Clements Castle, 1931 Portland-Cobalt Road, Portland. The seminar will be held March 26, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

The featured speaker is Alison Stuebe, MD, president of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina (UNC) and Medical Director of Lactation Services for UNC Healthcare, who leads a team of clinicians developing new approaches to the management of breastfeeding difficulties. Her four presentation topics at the seminar include: Tools for Talking About Breastfeeding; Why Does It Hurt?; Establishing the Fourth Trimester; and Breastfeeding and Postpartum Depression

An additional luncheon talk on breastfeeding rights in Connecticut will be presented by Rebecca Cannon-Klemenz, a representative of the CT Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO), and Kimberly Jacobsen, a civil rights attorney also with CHRO. Both are advocates for breastfeeding rights in places of employment and public accommodations.

While targeted to health professionals, the fee-based seminar is open to the public and all those interested in lactation issues, including volunteers with LLL and other breastfeeding support groups. Attendees are eligible for continuing education credits: CME, CERP, RD, LLL CEU, Nursing Contact Hours.

Online registration closes March 12. As space is limited to a maximum of 250 attendees, early registration is encouraged. When: Thursday, March 26th, 8:00am-4:30pm

Agenda and program details can be found at www.lllct-hps.org/.

Relay for Life committee sets dates

HADDAM/KILLINGWORTH  In June, the 13th edition of The Relay for Life of Haddam-Killingworth was held at the HK High School track and field facility.

As committee membes start organizing for next years event, they acknowledged the entire Haddam-Killingworth community for making the event a success. All are invited to join the Relay for Life on June 27, 2020, noon to 10 p.m.

Meetings are held monthly and are open to all, and continue Feb. 19, March 18, April 22, May 20 and June 24.

All meetings held at Haddam-Killingworth High School, Little City Road, Room C112, 6:30-8 p.m. More information can be found at www.relayforlife.org/hkct

Public health grants available

MIDDLETOWN  The Middletown Health Department is accepting applications for Public Health Block Grant funding from now until February 28th.

The application can be downloaded as a PDF from the following link:

2020-2021 Public Health Block Grant Funding Application (PDF)

Contact Kevin Elak (kevin.elak@middletownct.gov), Public Health Manager for the Middletown Health Department, for more information.
Chowdhury planned to attack Madame Tussauds, the jury was told. (PA Images)

A chicken shop worker who planned attacks at Madame Tussauds and Pride has been convicted of terror offences a year after he was cleared of a sword attack outside Buckingham Palace.

Mohiussunnath Chowdhury was driven by dreams of martyrdom when he planned gun, knife and van attacks at busy London hotspots. An open-top sightseeing bus was also a target.

But the 28-year-old unwittingly told his plans to undercover police posing as like-minded extremists, who had him under surveillance for five months.

Handout file photo issued by Metropolitan Police of a knife, shown at Woolwich Crown Court during Chowdhury's trial. (PA Images)

To prepare for his attacks, Chowdhury would lift weights, practise stabbing and rehearse beheading techniques, as well as booking shooting range training and attempting to secure a real gun, Woolwich Crown Court was told during his trial.

Chowdhury was cleared in December 2018 of slashing police with a sword outside Buckingham Palace while shouting Allahu Akbar, and he later bragged about deceiving that cases jury.

On Monday he was found guilty of engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts, collecting information likely to be useful to someone preparing an act of terrorism and disseminating terrorist publications.

His sister Sneha Chowdhury, 25, cried when she was convicted of one count of failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism and cleared of another count of the same charge.

Chowdhury told his sister its alright as they hugged in the dock. He is due to be sentenced on 13 March while Sneha has been bailed for a report to be prepared.

Chowdhurys defence lawyer Simon Csoka QC argued the university dropout was a pathetic little man who talks and talks but doesnt do and sought attention.

During his trial, Chowdhury dismissed his praise of the Charlie Hebdo shootings in France and the murder of soldier Lee Rigby in London as jihadi banter, and claimed his weapons training arose from his fascination with martial arts and weightlifting.

Sneha Chowdhury was convicted of one count of failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism. (PA Images)

But prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC said Chowdhury wanted to unleash death and suffering on non-Muslims after being influenced by al-Qaeda recruiter Anwar al-Awlaki.

Story continues

Scotland Yards counter-terror commander Richard Smith told reporters Chowdhury wanted to kill and harm as many people as possible.

Chowdhury, who had martyrdom notes on his bedroom door, told an undercover officer: If youre one man and theres a million kuffar [unbelievers], you are free to fight them, if your intentions are clear, youre fighting for the pleasure of Allah.

And if you die thats completely fine, its even more virtuous, you know.

The weapons are a must, these firearms, its a 100% just make sure you have clips, Akhi [brother], you have enough clips, know what Im saying.

He later added during the conversation: It must be an ambush we should be the one doing it first, they shouldnt know whats hit them, yeah, does that make sense?

Chowdhury, of Kirkwood Road, Luton, was arrested three days before the Pride parade last summer.

Sneha was described as loyal, much put-on and long-suffering by the prosecution but also as someone who was aware of all he was saying to her and what it meant.
By Trend

The early parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan were held in very democrati atmosphere, Member of the Slovak National Council, Head of the Slovakia-Azerbaijan Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group Peter Marcek said at a press conference following the elections, Trend reports.

"The elections were well organized, calm, and citizens voted without any obstacles," Marcek said. "The organization was top notch."

The Slovak MP noted that this is his eighth visit to Baku.

"Over the past 10-12 years, Baku has greatly evolved. There are good conditions for business development," the MP added.

The parliamentary elections of the sixth convocation were held in Azerbaijan on Feb. 9. Some 1,314 candidates were registered within the early parliamentary elections.

The candidacies of 246 people were nominated by 19 political parties, 1,057 were self-nominated, 11 - by initiative groups. Twenty-one percent accounted for female candidates while 79 percent  male candidates.

Throughout the day, 5,573 permanent polling stations operated in 125 constituencies of the country.

Some 883 international observers and 77,790 local observers monitored the voting process. Among the local observers, 35,152 were representatives of political parties. International observers represented 58 countries and 59 organizations.

Exit polls were conducted by AJF & Associates Inc. (US) jointly with Citizens' Labor Rights Protection League, the Rey Monitoring Center, and the French OpinionWay Research Institute together with the Human Rights in the XXI Century  Azerbaijan Foundation.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Hong Kong Building Evacuated After Two Coronavirus Cases Confirmed: Officials

Officials in Hong Kong have evacuated a high-rise residential building where two residents contracted coronavirus on separate floors.

Dr. Wong Ka-Hing, the head of the territorys Center for Health Protection, said at a press conference on Tuesday local time that the government is investigating the suspected environmental transmission of the new virus related to two cases in the building, Reuters reported.

Health officials said the evacuation was implemented after a 62-year-old woman in Room 7 on the third floor of Hong Mei House at Cheung Hong Estate became infected, becoming the 42nd case in Hong Kong, according to the South China Morning Post.

A man who lived several floors above her on the 13th floor of the building was also confirmed to have been infected with the virus days earlier, officials said. They said their apartments share the same drainage system added that the system is being investigated as a possible method of transmitting the virus.

As a result, 35 apartments linked to the same drainage system were evacuated, and residents were placed under medical supervision, officials announced, according to the Morning Post.

As the pipeline that transfers feces is connected to the air pipe, its very likely for the virus in the feces to be transmitted through the air fan into the toilet, Yuen Kwok-yung, a virology lecturer at the University of Hong Kong said in the press conference, according to Hong Kong media. But he stressed the transmission route still is not clear.

A woman wearing a mask is seen as the country is hit by an outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus in Shanghai, China, on Feb. 10, 2020. (Aly Song/Reuters)

We consider that there could be a potential risk of infection of the second [person] who lives in this building but we are not sure at the moment [of] the exact route of transmission, Wong said, reported the Hong Kong Free Press. It could be the usual droplet transmission but there is the environmental factor which is [somewhat] unique in these two cases as they live in the same building, so we cannot exclude the possibility.

Wong stated that its not clear how many residents shared the drainage system. Those who showed symptoms will be placed under medical isolation as a precaution, Reuters reported.

The 62-year-old infected woman started coughing on Feb. 3 before she sought help from a doctor several times over several days. She was then taken to Princess Margaret Hospital and was isolated, according to health officials, which said she is now in stable condition.

On Jan. 18 and Jan. 19, the unnamed woman visited nearby Macau, and her son and daughter-in-law who lived with her showed symptoms of the virus as well, according to the Morning Posts account. They were sent to the hospital, while her husband and grandson are being quarantined. Its not clear if the family members were confirmed to have contracted the virus.

Tens of thousands of cases have been reported in mainland China, and it is believed to have first spread around Wuhan and Hubei Province. Dozens of cities around China have been placed under full or partial lockdown, including financial hub Shanghai and capital Beijing.

Social media users and citizen journalists in China, however, suspect that the number of cases and deaths are far higher than officially reported and have blamed the ruling Chinese Communist Party for engaging in a cover-up and censoring reports about the outbreak.

The evacuated building is located in the New Territories district of Tsing Yi.
An occasional wail pierced through the stunned silence of the wintry Sunday night as mortal remains of eight victims of the Mandrajpur bus tragedy were consigned to flames in a mass cremation in Odisha's Dangalpadu village.

They were among the 10 people electrocuted and burned alive after the bus they were travelling in to attend a marriage negotiation ceremony came into contact with a high voltage electric wire on Sunday afternoon.

A wave of shock swept the sleepy village in Ganjam district as people got to know of the tragedy.

Hundreds from Dangalpadu and adjoining villages gathered at the homes of the deceased to comfort the bereaved families.

The biers were taken out of the homes of the victims in a procession as relatives cried inconsolably, while some fought back tears. A sullen crowd joined the procession to the village cremation ground.

"I am heartbroken. It is for the first time in my life that I am seeing eight bodies being cremated together in my village," said K Rameya, an 80-year-old, tears rolling down his furrowed face.

As rituals were performed and pyres were lit, an occasional wail of despair would shoot through the silence broken only by the crackling of the burning wood.

"When my daughter boarded the bus, she was very happy she was going to attend the marriage negotiation ceremony. I cannot believe that she is no more, that I will not see her again," said a distraught Gopal Sahu, whose 12-year-old daughter Santoshini died in the accident.

The daughter of B Laxmi, who was also in the bus, prays for her mother's life. She was severely injured in the accident and referred to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.

"I am praying while she fights for survival," Kunti, her daughter, tells a visiting reporter before quietly closing her eyes and folding her hands in prayer.

Ten people, including six women, were electrocuted and burnt to death while 22 others were injured in the accident.

Another body was taken by the family of the deceased for cremation to Bada Chandanbada, a village close to Dangalpadu, while an 11-year-old boy, who was rushed to SCB Medical College and Hospital in a critical condition, was declared brought dead.

Police was deployed at Dangalpadu to help the bereaved families perform the last rites of the victims, Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Berhampur, Jayant Kumar Mohapatra said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Matt Kauffman, on the right, working with a PhD student Anna Ortega. They are processing a bighorn sheep during captures focused on taking biometrics and installing/replacing GPS tracking collars. Benjamin Kraushaar (all rights reserved, used with permission)

February 9, 2020

Contact: Christy Flemming, 3075485406

Lovell, WY: On February 20, at 6:30 PM, Matthew Kauffman, a University of Wyoming professor and wildlife researcher with the U.S. Geological Survey, will be the second of three speakers in the Earth Day Speaker Series.

The American West harbors vast landscapes still capable of supporting long-distance ungulate migrations. Herds of big game migrate up to 150 miles one-way across rugged landscapes which are important seasonal habitats. Such movements present a conservation challenge because they require animals to cross multiple-use lands, some of which are changing rapidly. As a result, ungulate migration is difficult to manage and conserve. However, recent research on ungulate migrations has enhanced the understanding of the benefits of migration and the threats faced. In particular, detailed movement analyses indicate that mule deer migrate along with spring green-up, a phenomenon referred to as "surfing the green wave". New research is also emerging that helps us to understand the importance of this surfing, how beneficial it is to migrating ungulates, and the factors that influence how well animals are able to surf. Matt Kauffman will discuss this research within the context of the Red Desert to Hoback migration - the world's longest mule deer migration. He will describe how new research, new conservation tools, and new ways of communicating science are bringing people, agencies, and NGOs together to make such journeys easier for migrating ungulates. The scientific developments will be framed within the context of the importance of public and private land management for the maintenance of big game migration corridors.

The last speaker in this three part series will be Douglas Smith, Senior Wildlife Biologist at Yellowstone National Park. He will speak on March 19 at 6:30 PM, discussing the importance of public land to wolves, elk, birds, and other wildlife in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.



The Earth Day celebration will conclude on April 9 with a panel discussion facilitated by David Peck, Editor of the Lovell Chronicle. He will be asking the expert panelists up to ten questions to inspire conversations about the importance of public lands.

Panelists:

John Clayton, a Montana-based nonfiction writer, independent journalist, essayist, historian, and business ghostwriter. Johns books include Natural Rivals, about John Muir and Gifford Pinchot, Wonderlandscape, about Yellowstone National Park, plus The Cowboy Girl, Stories from Montanas Enduring Frontier, and others.

Jeremy Johnston, Buffalo Bill Center of the West, whose Ph.D. dissertation considered Buffalo Bills and Theodore Roosevelts thoughts and actions in developing the Big Horn Basin, as well as their efforts to preserve sections of the Yellowstone region.

Shane Doyle, an enrolled member of the Crow Tribe from Crow Agency, Montana, who holds a Masters degree in Native American Studies from Montana State University, a Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction, and held a post-doctoral appointment in genetics with the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2016.

Holly Sandbo, Northern Rockies Outreach and Engagement Manager for the National Parks Conservation Association. Holly has a degree in Natural Resource Management and a Masters in Education. Prior to her work as a public lands advocate, Holly spent many years in outdoor and science education.

In partnership with the Powell Valley Community Education (PVCE) and through a grant from the Wyoming Humanities Council, a bus will be available to bring participants from Powell for the February, March and April programs. The bus will leave from the Yellowstone Building parking lot at 5:45 PM the evening of the programs. If you are interested in riding the bus, please contact Leslie Bigham at 307-754-6469 to reserve your seat.

PVCE and Bighorn Canyon would like to thank the Wyoming Humanities Council for their support of this program.

For additional information about this program go to the PVCE website at https://nwc.edu/pvce/ or contact Christy Fleming, Chief of Interpretation at Bighorn Canyon, at 307-548-5402.
In a first for South Korea, master-director Bong Joon Ho earned the Academy Award for best original screenplay for his genre-defying "Parasite", while filmmaker Taika Waititi bagged the Oscar in the adapted screenplay category.

A visibly happy Bong went up on the stage and initially managed to say "Thank you, great honour," as the audience cheered and clapped on.

The 50-year-old director, who has been the toast of this awards season surpassing the hurdle of subtitles that come along a non-English film, said writing scripts was a "lonely" process.

"Writing scripts is always such a lonely process. We never write to represent our countries. This is the very first Oscar to South Korea.

"I thank my wife for always being an inspiration, thank all the actors who are here with me today for bringing this film to life," Bong said in his acceptance speech, through his translator Sharon Choi.

As co-writer Han Jin-won thanked his parents for their support and storytellers at Chumro, Bong couldn't help staring lovingly at the Oscar trophy and smiling.

For adapted screenplay too, the Academy recognised the New Zealand-based director Waititi of the satirical anti-war film "Jojo Rabbit". Waititi became the first indigenous person to ever win the Oscar for best adapted screenplay.

An overwhelmed Waititi thanked his mother for introducing him to Christine Leunens's book "Caging Skies", that served as the basis for "Jojo Rabbit".

"Amazing, thank you. I like to thank my mother for being my mother and for giving me the book that I adapted. This wouldn't have existed without you doing that. Thank you to the producers of the film... There are many people I want to thank but won't because I can't remember them.

"This is really great and I dedicate this to all the indigenous kids in the world who want to do art and dance. We are the original storytellers and we can make it here as well," the 44-year-old filmmaker said.

Both "Parasite" and "Jojo Rabbit" had also won the BAFTA award for best adapted screenplay.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Lucknow: Raghuraj Singh, the Minister of State, who has received the records of the UP government from Aligarh, is constantly making headlines with controversial statements. The minister, who earlier talked about giving life to AMU students, has now made another controversial statement about the burqa (hijab) worn by Muslim women. Where he said that many other countries including Sri Lanka have banned the burqa. But it should be banned in our country too. Because this will prevent terrorism.

According to the information received, it has been learned that if you go to the banks wearing a burqa, you will not be able to come on TV. Your face will be hidden. People are wearing burqas in Shaheen Bagh. The burqa chor serves as a means to provide cover to the chakor. The miscreants get cover from this by the terrorists. Therefore the burqa should be banned. He said that there is a government of PM Modi and CM Yogi in UP in the country. That is why I have urged that the burqa should be banned. When the burqa is banned, it will also stop the entry of terrorists.

It is also being said that the terrorists want to enter inside the encounter of women. Yesterday I said this in a program of Brahmin Mahasabha. Where did the burka come from Let us tell you that it came from Arabia. While giving the example of Treta Yuga, she said that in the time of Rama and Laxman ji, when she had cut off the nose and ears of Shurpanakha, she had gone to Arabia and she used to hide herself only by opening her eyes. The practice of burqa started from there.

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AMES, Iowa -- For six months, some of President Trump's most implacable foes have invested great hope in two Republicans -- former Rep. Joe Walsh and former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld -- who are challenging the president for the GOP nomination. Could they do some damage to Trump's re-election prospects?

In the Iowa caucuses, that hope was put to a first test. It failed.

In the state's Republican caucuses -- yes, there were Republican caucuses, and they ran smoothly, unlike the Democratic contest -- the Walsh and Weld candidacies fizzled.

In the end, Trump won 97.15% of the vote, to Walsh's 1.08% and Weld's 1.31%. Others -- write-ins of various people -- totaled 0.47%. It was a striking show of strength for the president.

Beyond that, turnout was high for a year in which an incumbent president is assured of renomination. In 2016, about 180,000 Republican voters turned up for Iowa caucuses. But that was a highly competitive year in which Trump battled Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and a number of other candidates. The last time there was a non-competitive GOP race, that is, a race with an incumbent president, was in 2004, when President George W. Bush was in the White House. That year, about 8,000 Republicans showed up for what were essentially meaningless caucuses.

This year, the turnout was 32,320, an impressive number for an incumbent year.

Delighted state GOP officials owed a lot to the president's decision to make a serious effort in Iowa this caucus season. First, he visited Des Moines and held a rally last Thursday; it was far bigger than any event staged by any Democratic candidate. Then, Trump sent more than 80 surrogates to the state, including his two sons, a slate of Cabinet members, Republican congressmen and GOP governors. Then, the Trump campaign stepped up its social media work in the state.

The reason was not that Trump was afraid of Walsh or Weld. The reason was that Trump was trying to strengthen support in Iowa, a swing state won by Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, so that it will be in the Trump general election win column before Democrats even pick their candidate.

Organizers of the caucus in Ames, home to Iowa State University, hoped that perhaps 100 people would show up. And that was with the participation of one of the campaign's star surrogates, presidential son Donald Trump Jr. As it turned out, 449 people showed up to vote, and another 80 or so came just to watch what was going on.

By and large, the attendees did not merely like the president; they loved the president.

"I think he's doing a great job," said Rod Kern.

"I am thrilled with him," said Paula Anderson.

"Best president we've ever had, outside of Reagan, maybe," said Bob Folkmann.

"I hope people are telling you they are so excited about our president," said Joyce Hoffman. (They were.)

"I'm so on for Trump," said Andrea Hrbek. "I have not loved a Republican president like Trump." Hrbek explained that she voted for Bush, McCain and Romney but today feels a bit embarrassed by each vote. Not so with Trump.

And so on.

At caucuses, representatives of each candidate are supposed to have a little time to tell the audience why they should vote for that candidate. In Ames, Trump Jr. was the star of the show, talking for more than 20 minutes about his father's accomplishments, and also dwelling on the investigations to which Democrats have subjected Trump and his family.

Jeff Ortiz, the co-chair of the Story County GOP, went from table to table, asking people if anyone would like to make remarks on behalf of Walsh or Weld. There were no takers.

In the end, out of 449 votes, Trump received 415, Walsh 20, and Weld 9. There was one write-in each for a disparate group: Vice President Mike Pence, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse and Dispatch writer David French. One person abstained.

In the end, Ortiz was delighted with a turnout more than four times what he originally expected. Yes, that was a display of clout by Trump, but it was also an organizational shot in the arm for the local party.

"It's critical that we get these people to turn out, to sign up for our central committees, to stay involved right up until the end," Ortiz said. "Because there are no guarantees come November."

As good as the result was for the Trump team, it was at best a discouraging outcome for the NeverTrump challenge. In late January, former Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol pleaded on Twitter: "Iowa Republicans: Caucus for Joe Walsh or Bill Weld or uncommitted. You're better than Donald Trump. Don't stoop to support this man so unworthy of your support."

Iowa Republicans ignored the entreaty, and many others that came before it.

Now the campaign is on to New Hampshire. As in Iowa, Trump plans a rally in the state before the primary. Again there will be surrogates, and again there will be stepped-up online campaigning. The result could be another difficult night for the quixotic Republican effort to stop the president.

Byron York is chief political correspondent for The Washington Examiner.

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An unspecified number of Indians were among the nearly 3,000 passengers and crew members on board a cruise ship quarantined off Japan due to diagnosis of coronavirus cases, the Indian Embassy here said on Monday.

Cruise ship Diamond Princess, carrying 3,711 people, arrived at the Japanese coast early last week and was quarantined after a passenger who de-boarded last month in Hong Kong was found to be the carrier of the novel virus on the ship.

Around 60 people tested positive of the virus on Monday, taking the total number of those infected on the ship to 130. Authorities had initially tested nearly 300 people when the ship arrived at the Japanese coast.

Indian Embassy in Tokyo on Monday tweeted the information about the Indians on the ship.

"Many Indian crew & some Indian passengers are on board the cruise ship Diamond Princess quarantined off Japan due to Coronavirus (nCoV)," it tweeted, without giving a specific number of Indians on the ship.

"In this context, any query please contact First Secretary (Consular) @IndianEmbTokyo at fscons.tokyo@mea.gov.in @CPVIndia @MEAIndia @PMOIndia," it said.

Those on the ship have been asked to wear masks and allowed limited access to the open decks as they are advised to remain in the cabins most of the times to contain the spread of the virus, according to media reports.

According to an AFP report, people on board the ship are facing difficulty due to the quarantine measures, particularly those in windowless interior cabins and others who require medication for various chronic conditions.

The Japanese health ministry said Monday that around 600 people on board urgently needed medication, and around half received supplies over the weekend, it said.

The death toll in the coronavirus outbreak in China has gone up to 908 with 97 new fatalities reported mostly in the worst-affected Hubei province and the confirmed cases of infection crossing 40,000.

The coronavirus outbreak originated in central China's Hubei province in December last year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Love is cartoons, tooth-breaking candy hearts and honeymoon suites are clear ways to celebrate Valentines day, but around the globe, youll find some rather unusual practices for sharing your love. Whether its returned or not, however, might determine how much you enjoy them. While Valentines Day seems entirely progressive compared to Lupercalia, matchmaking in Ireland, finding a soulmate in Croatia and even an outlawed public practice in France are just a few of the ways we look forward to expressing our feelings this year.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Regan Vercruysse

In Ireland, its all about whatever gets you down the aisle, I suppose. While some can get an early start on Valentines Day, there are plenty of chances to couple throughout the year. Bachelors Day lands on Leap Day every four years and, traditionally speaking, offers up the opportunity for women to ask men to dance or even to marry them. But for those who need a last-minute chance at matchmaking before cuffing season, theres Lisdoonvarnas Matchmaking Festival that spans the month of September. The small west coast city spends the month listening to music, dancing and meeting with matchmaker Willie Daly. If you arrive before September, stop by the Matchmaker Bar anyway. You never know who you will meet.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia user Seanpu1

Stretching back to the 16th-century, licitars, otherwise known as licitarsko srce, are a gift of love given at weddings and on Valentines Day. The ornately decorated Croatian gingerbread cookies are a similar symbol of love like a bouquet of red roses, but even more sentimental. Theres a mirror affixed to the center of the heart, and as tradition goes, the idea was that the giver would stand behind the recipient. If the recipient saw the reflection of the one giving their heart, then it was a sign they were meant to be.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Haley Finn

Its not what you think. Welsh lovespoons are a long-standing tradition in which sweet treats are just a lead up to intricately carved spoons from a single piece of wood. The carvings highlight the skill of the one who created it and usually mirror Celtic knot designs, though youll see plenty of hearts too.

The French know how to bring style into the day-to-day, and that goes for pairing off-and being rejected-too. During the Valentines Day tradition of une loterie damour, or the lottery of love, men and women stood in their Parisenne windows to call to one another. Those who matched up in their calls partnered. Those who found unrequited love, however, threw a bonfire and tossed images of those who rejected them into the fire while hurling insults. It was certainly one way to make amends for losing hope for the one you love, but it is less than surprising that the French government banned the public practice.



Molly Harris is a freelance journalist. You can often find her on the highway somewhere between Florida and North Carolina or taking life slow in Europe.
Glanbia will pay its member milk suppliers 35.42 cent per litre (cpl) (including VAT) for January creamery milk supplies at 3.6% butterfat and 3.3% protein.

Glanbia Ireland (GI) will pay a base milk price for January of 31 cpl (including VAT) for creamery milk at 3.6% fat and 3.3% protein. This is an increase of 1 cpl from the December base price.

Farmer Members will also receive a 0.42 cpl (including VAT) payment from Glanbia Co-op on all milk supplied this month as their Share of GI Profit. This new payment, which will be adjusted to reflect the constituents of milk supplied, will be paid on all milk supplied by Co-op Members in 2020.

Glanbia Co-op Members will also have the opportunity to participate in the 2020 Trading Bonus Scheme which rewards Glanbia Co-op Members for trading with the business that they majority own, Glanbia Ireland.

An Early Calving Bonus (ECB) of 4cpl (including VAT) will be paid to creamery suppliers for January milk. An Early Calving Bonus of 3cpl (including VAT) will be paid to creamery milk suppliers for all February milk. The ECB replaces the previous Seasonality Scheme.

The Glanbia Ireland base price, Glanbia Co-op Share of GI Profit payment and Early Calving Bonus will be adjusted to reflect the actual constituents of milk delivered by suppliers.

Glanbia Ireland liquid milk suppliers who deliver high quality milk year round receive a bonus of 7.4 cpl (including VAT) on their contracted liquid milk volumes for the six months from October to March. Participants in the Autumn Calving Scheme (ACS) will be paid 8.5 cpl (including VAT) on their contracted November to February volumes. Liquid Milk contract holders and Autumn Calving Scheme participants are not eligible for the Early Calving Bonus.

Glanbia Chairman Martin Keane said: In the marketplace, global milk supply growth continues to be restrained, which has improved market sentiment. However, the impact on dairy markets of the unfortunate Coronavirus outbreak in China will need to be monitored closely over the coming months.

Glanbia Co-op to pay 10.8m Trading Bonus to Members

Meanwhile, Glanbia Co-operative Society has confirmed that a total of 10.8 million will be paid to milk supplier Members of the Co-op this month as part of its 2019 Trading Bonus Scheme.

The Milk Supplier Trading Bonus payment will be made to qualifying Members with their January milk payment and is based on 2019 milk supply volumes.

A total of 3,375 Glanbia Co Members will receive an average Milk Supplier Trading Bonus of 3,205.

Two thirds of Trading Bonus recipients qualified for the top rate bonus payment of 0.75 cpl (plus VAT) on their 2019 milk supply as they spent over 7 cpl with Glanbia Ireland last year.

In the coming weeks, a further 1.4m in 2019 Trading Bonus Scheme payments will issue to Members for the Green Grain Supplier Trading Bonus.

Another 1m of 2019 Trading Bonus Scheme payments will be paid in the summer for the Dried Grain Supplier Trading Bonus.

Non-milk supplier Members will receive 0.5m for Feed Bonuses in the coming weeks under the scheme.



In addition to the 0.42 cpl (including VAT) payment on all milk (outlined above), Members will also have the opportunity to take part in the 2020 Trading Bonus Scheme.

This includes a payment based on the level of trade for milk and grain suppliers. In addition, beef, sheep and pig farmer customers that are Glanbia Co-op Members can qualify for a Feed Bonus on tonnes purchased.

Martin Keane said that the Trading Bonus rewards Glanbia Co-op Members for trading with the business they majority own, Glanbia Ireland.

The new monthly payment of 0.4 cpl on all milk supplied, in addition to the 2020 Trading Bonus Scheme, is an equitable and a more immediate way of sharing the Co-ops portion of GI profit with our active farmer Members.
This was a make or break election for Mary Lou McDonald whose leadership of Sinn Fein was on the line after a series of electoral setbacks.

Today, as she marks exactly two years since her coronation as party leader, she is celebrating her finest hour and preparing, perhaps, to lead Sinn Fein into government for the first time in Ireland.

Arriving amid an unprecedented media scrum at the RDS yesterday evening, she declared: "This is not a transient thing, this is just the beginning."

The events of the last 48 hours are even more remarkable given that for much of the past two years Sinn Fein seemed to be going backwards under her leadership.

First she made a strategic error in pushing - against the views of others in Sinn Fein - to run a candidate in the presidential election who floundered.

Then the party took a hammering in the local and European elections, losing dozens of local authority seats and two of its four MEPs.

Even as recently as last December, Sinn Fein's vote share declined in all but one of the Westminster constituencies in Northern Ireland.

No wonder the party entered this election on the defensive with a risk-averse strategy that was aimed at holding on to as many seats as possible. Days after the election was called it removed its second candidate in Sligo-Leitrim, Chris MacManus, amid fears for the seat of incumbent TD Martin Kenny. Mr Kenny topped the poll yesterday as did dozens of other Sinn Fein candidates across the country with massive surpluses.

Expand Close Sinn Fein supporters react after the exit polls were announced in Cork. Photo: REUTERS/Henry Nicholls / Facebook

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Whatsapp Sinn Fein supporters react after the exit polls were announced in Cork. Photo: REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

Sinn Fein's biggest regret is its failure to run enough candidates to capitalise on the surge, but nonetheless Ms McDonald leads the most popular party in the State.

In an election where voters wanted change she successfully pitched herself and her party as the outsiders who could deliver that change and break the duopoly of Fine Gael, which has led the country for nearly a decade, and Fianna Fail, which sent the country off a cliff a decade ago.

Ms McDonald was born and raised in south Dublin, attended private school at Notre Dame in Churchtown, was educated at Trinity College and used to be a member of Fianna Fail.

In terms of background, she is a world away from her predecessor Gerry Adams and in this election that has made her more palatable to middle Ireland and women voters in particular.

One Sinn Fein member and former party staffer said Ms McDonald's appeal to female voters was one of the striking aspects of this election campaign on the doors. Meanwhile, one Dublin-based EU diplomat described Ms McDonald as "personable and definitely not anti-European".

Quite simply, she has broadened Sinn Fein's appeal among voters in all age categories bar those over 65.

In this election, Sinn Fein let the Civil War parties scrap with each other and instead spoke about solutions to the real crises affecting people's everyday lives. One of the main lessons learned from last May's setback in the local and European elections was a need to be issues-based and solutions-focused - not permanently giving out about everything Fine Gael and Fianna Fail were doing wrong.

The party presented credible spokespeople across a range of portfolios, including Eoin O Broin (housing), Pearse Doherty (finance) and Louise O'Reilly (health). None of them carries the baggage of the likes of Dessie Ellis, the former IRA prisoner, who sang 'Come Out Ye Black and Tans' with his supporters in the RDS yesterday and had to be told by a party press officer to tone it down.

In Mr O Broin voters see a man who was not just giving out about how poor a job Eoghan Murphy was doing but was promising a different way of dealing with the seemingly intractable housing crisis. The party's rent-freeze proposal caught the public's imagination particularly among younger voters getting hammered by monthly rents and unable to even dream of owning a home. Fianna Fail's mixed messaging on the idea and Fine Gael's opposition to the proposal worked against them. That the policy may be flawed and unworkable did not seem to matter among those hungry for a change of tack on housing.

Sinn Fein also called it right on one of the key election issues with its demand for the retirement age to be brought back to 65, leaving the other parties scrambling. Fine Gael and Fianna Fail both had to perform U-turns on their pensions policy in the course of the campaign amid a backlash on the doorsteps. Both parties derided the economic proposals of Sinn Fein, saying the party would introduce over a dozen new taxes that would hit the middle classes and lead to a flight of capital from Ireland. The business lobby group Ibec warned of the "grave" impact of Sinn Fein's policies.

But as RTE's election exit poll shows, the voters were concerned less about tax and the economy and more about housing and health.

Sinn Fein was also likely bolstered by events North of the Border where it finally, after a three-year hiatus, re-entered power-sharing. A Fine Gael source lamented last week how Tanaiste Simon Coveney had done more than most to bring about the return of the Northern institutions. "It doesn't seem fair," the source said. "Sinn Fein is getting all the benefit from it."

Yesterday Mr Coveney saw Sinn Fein's justice spokesman Donnchadh O Laoghaire, who had feared for his seat before the campaign got under way, elected on the first count in Cork South-Central.

Voters also do not appear to have been put off by the questions about the party's handling of the past which emerged in the final days of the campaign. Some within republicanism saw the fact Conor Murphy, once tipped as a Sinn Fein leader, was forced to apologise for comments labelling murder victim Paul Quinn as a criminal as evidence of Ms McDonald flexing her muscles. Chris Donnelly, a political analyst and former Sinn Fein candidate, said: "Mary Lou's decision to effectively call out Conor Murphy for not apologising clearly and decisively all those years ago was striking as it left no room for doubt as to where authority resided within the party."

But this should not be overstated.

In her acceptance speech this day two years ago, Ms McDonald proclaimed "up the rebels" and "tiocfaidh ar la". The use of militant republican language signalled that while there was a new leader there would be no dramatic change in how Sinn Fein dealt with those thorny and troublesome legacy issues.

Its approach to victims of crimes committed in the name of republicanism remains questionable and these victims and their families will not remain silent in the coming weeks and months.

In fact, their voice is likely to grow louder now.

Ms McDonald must handle that better than she did in the final week of the campaign.

There are also many outstanding questions about the party's own ard chomhairle, how it functions and makes decisions. Ms McDonald was unclear as to how exactly it was decided to change Sinn Fein's policy on the special criminal court - and the policy itself remains ambiguous. The party's new Wexford TD Johnny Mythen has openly stated his opposition to the non-jury court.

These matters will all come to a head as the parties squabble over how to form a government. Sinn Fein hopes its large surpluses can bring in a wave of left-wing TDs and put the party in a position to form a minority administration. "We need change, we need a new government, the best outcome is a government without Fine Gael and Fianna Fail. So that's the first thing I want to test, whether or not that is possible," Ms McDonald said last night.

This would appear ambitious in the circumstances but cannot be ruled out. Nor can Micheal Martin performing one of the most astonishing U-turns in Irish political history and forming a government with Sinn Fein be out of the question. He opened the door to that last night as Fine Gael firmly shut it.

But questions linger as to whether Sinn Fein actually wants to be in government. Will it set the bar too high for other parties in the hope that the stalemate triggers another election when it can run more candidates and win even more seats?

Ms McDonald will have to consider all these matters now that she has cemented her position and made history for her party.
"Hes between a rock and a hard place because he cant go out and build infrastructure himself; hes reliant on the state government to approve plans. "He wants to get things built and I support him in that. My message to him and my message to Daniel Andrews is please build the right project, not the one that were going to live to regret in five years." Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews speaking to media about the airport rail link at Sunshine train station last April. Credit:AAP Mr O'Brien's comments come after the private consortium which wants to build and operate the airport rail link offered an extra $2 billion to secure the support of the state and federal governments for a tunnel. Super fund IFM Investors, which leads the AirRail consortium proposing to build a six-kilometre tunnel between the city and Sunshine, has written to Mr Andrews and Mr Morrison offering a "materially higher funding contribution to the project, above the current $5 billion we have proposed".

Loading This takes the total offer to $7 billion, on top of the $10 billion taxpayer contribution that would be split between the state and federal governments. It also blows out the Andrews government's initial estimates that an airport rail link would cost $8 billion to $13 billion. The letter was sent last Thursday, ahead of the state and federal governments making an announcement about the project's design. The Premier and the Prime Minister have vowed to co-operate on the airport rail project. The politicians are considering running airport trains along existing rail lines between the city and Sunshine and through the new $11 billion Metro Tunnel. New tracks would be laid between Tullamarine and Sunshine.

If this option were chosen, it would probably cancel the consortium's market-led proposal to build a new rail tunnel, which the companies claim would involve express trains running to and from the airport every 10 minutes day and night, with trips to take 20 minutes. The consortium, made up of Metro Trains, Southern Cross Station and Melbourne Airport, would charge the state government a negotiated "access payment" every time a Metro or V/Line train used the tunnel. 'My call to Daniel Andrews and the Prime Minister is dont do a half-baked airport rail link and dont sell Victoria out.' Opposition leader Michael O'Brien The fee would be charged in exchange for building, operating and maintaining the tunnel. Senior figures in the Andrews government are understood to be wary of committing to this option, due to concerns about a major piece of Victoria's rail network being controlled by private players.

IFM said it wanted to operate the tunnel over a 40-year concession period but was open to exploring a shorter period. It would hand over the infrastructure and operations back to government "at no additional cost". The consortium insisted it was "not seeking excessive returns, only a fair return commensurate with the risks transferred". An artist's impression of the airport rail link station. Credit:Melbourne Airport The letter also states the company does not wish to constrain other regional or metro services at the expense of more airport trains. "The decision-making on services, pricing and time-tabling would remain entirely with the Victorian government," it reads.

Loading A state government spokeswoman said it was inappropriate to comment on the market-led proposal while a decision on the project was still being made. "We continue to work closely with the federal government on the best design for airport rail  that will get people to and from the airport quickly with minimal interchanges. "All options being assessed for the Airport Rail will stop at Sunshine for connections to Victorias major regional rail lines  Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo." Alan Tudge, the federal Minister for Urban Infrastructure, said the government was working with Victoria on the best design for airport rail.
Proud moment for Batticaloa Toastmasters Club By Chrishanth Nelson View(s): View(s):

Batticaloa Toastmasters Club hosted Inception the charter club officer installation ceremony on January 25 at KiriBojan, Batticaloa. It was a proud moment for Batticaloa Toastmasters as they joined Toastmasters International, the world leader in communication and leadership development where the worldwide membership is more than 358,000 spread among 16,800 clubs operating over 143 countries.

At present, Toastmasters District 82 comprises more than 200 toastmasters clubs across Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu. District Director  District 82, TM Sharma Mahalingam, the Chief Guest, conducted an enlightening awareness session. The Immediate Past District Director, DTM Suganthi Periasamy from Tamil Nadu, India, was the guest of honour of this ceremony.

Many District and Division level officers of Toastmasters fraternity were present including Programme Quality Director  District 82 (A) DTM Noorul Munawwara, and Club Growth Director  District 82 (A), DTM Srianthie Salgado. DTM Yogendraprasath Sathiyaseelan from Pinnacle Advanced Toastmasters Club delivered an inspiring keynote speech on how to achieve the best out of a Toastmasters Club.

Batticaloa Toastmaster Club has 22 members at present, and is the first toastmasters club to be chartered in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. The members are from diverse educational and career backgrounds. The Club conducts its meetings twice a month at ESOFT Metro Campus, Batticaloa.
A day before results, the Delhi BJP on Monday exuded confidence that it would form the government in the city but adopted a cautious approach on plans for celebrations amid exit polls predicting a sweep for the AAP.

Delhi BJP leaders said no special arrangements have been made in advance for celebrations.

Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari asserted that his party will win more than 45 seats in 70-membered assembly and form the government.

"Our confidence is based on a micro analysis of all the seats. The exit polls are rough estimates, I am confident that the BJP will form the government in Delhi with full majority," he said.

The exit poll, aired immediately after voting concluded on Saturday evening, predicted maximum number of seats to the AAP.

Delhi BJP's media relations head Neelkant Bakshi said after an indepth analysis, we have found that the BJP was ahead of the AAP in most of the seats.

"Our own feedback and analysis is contrary to the exit poll results. The exit polls were based on 39 percent votes polled till 3 PM and did not consider votes cast in last three hours.

"The exit polls missed the pulse of the people as they did not consider half of the total 62.59 percent votes polled on Saturday," he said.

Nevertheless, the exit poll results have surely dampened the spirit of the BJP as it has not made any arrangements to celebrate in case of victory on Tuesday.

"I do not think celebrations need elaborate arrangements. Its only that we have decided to wait for the announcement of results this time. Celebrations can be arranged within minutes," said a top party leader.

The mood in the party was different after voting for Lok Sabha polls last year, as exit polls had predicted a sweep by the party. Orders of special 'Motichoor Cake' and 'Kamal Barfi' were made in advance to celebrate party's victory after announcement of results.

The BJP won all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi.

The counting of votes for Delhi Assembly polls will begin from 8 AM on Tuesday and early trends will emerge within couple of hours.

The BJP leaders will keep watch on the counting of votes from the party office on Pant Marg. Tiwari said he will visit the party office in the morning and accompany party leaders after counting of votes starts.

Delhi BJP's media head Ashok Goyal said arrangements have been made for the party leaders and workers as well as mediapersons to follow the counting of votes from party's office at Pant Marg.

"LED screens have been put up and arrangements have also been made for live relays by the channels. Senior party leaders and spokespersons will be available from the morning to comment on the poll results," he said.

The counting agents of the BJP for all the 70 Assembly segments have been briefed by the party leaders and given necessary instructions to be followed on Tuesday, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prosecutors are seeking punishment for General Drymanov at chambers

 RAPSI

13:05 10/02/2020

MOSCOW, February 10 (RAPSI)  Oral arguments of the parties in the case of General Alexander Drymanov, ex-director of the Investigative Committee's Main Investigations Directorate accused of corruption, are to be heard at chambers, RAPSI reports from the Moscow City Court on Monday.

Alongside Drymanov, there are two other defendants in the case over a $1 million bribe; Colonel Alexey Kramarenko and Colonel Mikhail Maksimenko. Neither of the defendants admits guilt.

Investigators believe the defendants received the bribe for mitigation of restrictive measures with respect to a member of an organized gang. The case of two other defendants, Alexander Lamonov and Denis Nikandrov, are heard separately.

Drymanov was arrested in mid-July 2018. He stands charged with receiving two large-scale and especially large-scale bribes. The defendant pleads not guilty and calls the case fabricated.

In March 2018, Drymanov was questioned as a witness in a case against ex-chief of the Investigative Committees Internal Security Directorate Mikhail Maksimenko. On April 20, Maksimenko was found guilty of taking two bribes and received a 13-year prison sentence. Additionally, he was fined 165 million rubles ($2.5 million).
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.
Iconic restaurant chain Sizzler has announced it is closing another of its Australian branches - leaving just nine stores remaining Down Under.

The American-style restaurant known for its buffets and cold salad bars confirmed its store in Rockhampton in central Queensland will serve its last meal on March 1.

The closure in Sizzler's Sunshine State heartland is the latest blow for the chain, which launched more than three decades ago and became a cultural symbol of the 1990s.

The entrance to a Sizzler restaurant in Brisbane's CBD is pictured in 2006. The chain has announced it is closing another of its Australian branches in Rockhampton in central Queensland

Sizzler's parent company Collins Foods Limited said the branch would close for the redevelopment of the Stockland Shopping Centre - where the restaurant is located - but would not reopen after the work was finished.

'Collins Food Limited has confirmed it will close its Rockhampton Sizzler restaurant with the closure coinciding with the redevelopment of the Stockland shopping centre,' a spokesperson said in a statement.

'Sizzler Rockhampton will trade as usual until its last day, Sunday March 1, 2020.

The American-style buffet's Rockhampton restaurant will serve its last meal on March 1

'The announcement relates to Sizzler Rockhampton only and all other Sizzler restaurants remain open for business.'

Sixty-one members of staff are understood to be affected by the closure, news.com.au reported.

In a bid to save the store, Rockhampton resident Rachel Titmarsh has started a petition directed at Collins Food asking them to reconsider the closure.

Rockhampton resident Rachel Titmarsh is starting a campaign to save the central Queensland store

'This is a desperate plea to Collins Foods Limited, please dont leave Rockhampton, please open somewhere else if Stockland are kicking you out,' she wrote on the change.org petition.

Sizzler's latest announcement follows the chain closing four of its stores - Brookside, Toowong, Kogarah and Annerley in Brisbane - in 2017.

The first Sizzler restaurant was opened in California by founders Del & Helen Johnson in 1958.

But it was not until 1985 that it arrived on Australian shores, with its first restaurant Down Under opening in Brisbane's south-side in Annerley.

Over the years, Sizzler built up an arsenal of 25 restaurants across Australia.

The closure comes during a dire time for the country's retail market - with more than 170 stores tipped to close this year.

Household names like Harris Scarfe, Bardot, Roger David, and Napoleon Perdis dropped like flies in the past year with dozens of stores closing resulting in heavy job losses.
ATLANTA - Drivers license applicants who want to exchange a Puerto Rican license for a Georgia license no longer have to take tests or meet other requirements not imposed on other U.S. citizens, according to a lawsuit settlement agreement.

The Georgia Department of Driver Services no longer requires applicants to complete a driving or written test to transfer a valid license if they are at least 18 and meet Georgia residency and proof of identity requirements, according to the terms of the settlement agreement. The agency has also stopped using a Puerto Rico Interview Guide to ask applicants questions meant to prove that they are indeed Puerto Rican.

The settlement was reached in a lawsuit filed in July by Kenneth Caban Gonzalez, who was born in Puerto Rico and applied for a license after moving to southeast Georgia in 2017. It alleged Georgia treated Puerto Ricans differently from other U.S. citizen applicants  forcing them to take tests, seizing their documents for fraud reviews and quizzing them on details about the island.

Accompanied by his lawyers, his fiancee Beatriz Rodriguez, her 6-year-old daughter and their 1-year-old son, Caban Gonzalez got a drivers license Monday morning. After everything hes gone through, he said, it was very emotional and he hopes it will help him find and keep a job.

I want to provide for my family. I want to do what I came to Georgia to do, he said in Spanish during an interview at his lawyers office. I came to Georgia for a better future for me and for my family.

The lawsuit was filed by attorneys with the Southern Center for Human Rights and LatinoJustice PRLDEF.

We appreciate DDSs efforts to end discriminatory policies that treated Puerto Rican applicants like second-class citizens. We trust that these reforms will bring relief and hope to Georgias growing Puerto Rican community, Southern Center attorney Atteeyah Hollie said in a statement.

Caban Gonzalez applied for a drivers license in October 2017 after moving to Hinesville, in southeast Georgia. Department staff kept his Puerto Rico drivers license, his original birth certificate and his Social Security card and told him that he would be notified when to pick them up.

An investigator sent the documents to his supervisor, saying they did not appear to be legitimate. When Caban Gonzalez went to retrieve his documents in November 2017, he was accused of providing false documents and was arrested.

Agency staff learned two weeks later that the verification process it used for Puerto Rican documents was no longer valid and federal authorities confirmed in the summer of 2018 that Caban Gonzalezs documents were legitimate, according to a Georgia Bureau of Investigation report. But the charges against him werent dropped until last March.

The GBI internal affairs investigation, which found deficiencies in investigative procedures and a failure to follow department protocol, was prompted by Caban Gonzalezs lawsuit. The Department of Driver Services fired one manager and demoted another as a result of its findings, according to an agency statement in December.

That statement also detailed changes made as a result of the investigation, many of which are mirrored in the terms of the settlement agreement, which was signed Jan. 31. Those include more transparency and notification surrounding investigations into suspected fraud and a prohibition on the use of the Puerto Rico Interview Guide. The agency also agreed to prominently post its nondiscrimination policy and to provide staff training.

While the agency has already made changes, it has also agreed to propose language to change state regulations to reflect the changes in reciprocity for U.S. territorial drivers licenses.

The license transfer changes outlined in the agreement also apply to applicants from other U.S. territories, including Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.

The state also agreed to pay $40,000 to Caban Gonzalez and $60,000 to his attorneys.

Caban Gonzalezs attorneys said Monday that they were pleasantly surprised by how quickly the Department of Driver Services took action to address the problems raised by the lawsuit. They said they will continue to monitor the situation but are optimistic about the agencys commitment to the changes.
Amelia Pan is at home in Canada while her 2-year-old daughter Cerena is stranded far away in China's Hubei province, epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, being cared for by a distant relative after the girl's father and grand-parents fell ill.

'I am just hanging in there,' Pan, a Canadian citizen originally from China, said in a Skype interview. 'I need to stay strong so I can fight for my family.'

For days now, Pan has been scrambling to get her daughter onto an evacuation flight back to Canada, but it has been complicated.

Cerena's father has contracted the virus so cannot accompany her home on the flight, and Cerena herself ran a fever so needed to undergo checks to make sure she was not infected herself, according to Pan.

In the meantime, Cerena is in a Chinese hospital, separated from her father and being looked after by a cousin of his who agreed to be in hospital with the child.

After traveling to the Hubei Province with her father, Wei Ye (left), Cerena Pan is now trapped in a hospital as her father recovers from coronvirus. Her mother is desperately trying to get the little girl evacuated back to Canada, where she is a citizen

'My daughter is less than 3, and still is wearing diapers, she cannot take care of herself, she needs a lot of help from adults,' said Pan.

Cerena's paternal grandfather caught the virus and died, and her grandmother is also infected.

The family drama began on January 17 when Pan's husband, Wei Ye, received a call from his sister back home in the Chinese city of Yingshan, near Wuhan.

The sister said Ye's father was close to death because of complications from cancer.

At the time, the family had heard of the coronavirus, but did not understand the danger it posed. The next day, Ye flew to China to be with his father, taking his daughter with him. Pan stayed behind in Canada.

By January 26, Pan received word that her father-in-law was infected with the coronavirus.

The next morning, she was told that Ye, and his mother, had a fever. Soon after, it was confirmed Pan's husband and mother-in-law had coronavirus and they were hospitalized.

Cerena was left in the care of a neighbor. But because she was deemed an infection risk, she was put in hospital.

Fortunately, test results came back negative on Saturday. If her temperature stays normal, she should be discharged from the hospital over the weekend, her mother said.

Pan said she is in touch with the Canadian authorities to get Cerena, a Canadian citizen, onto an evacuation flight, and is seeking someone willing to accompany her on a plane that is supposed to leave on Monday.

If this plan works out, Pan will be flying to Trenton, Ontario, to stay in quarantine with her little girl.

Before the outbreak hit, Pan said she had even enjoyed being alone in Canada and briefly free of the burden of parenting.

'But look at the price I paid for the freedom that I enjoyed the first week.'

(Writing by Caroline Pailliez and Christian Lowe Editing by Frances Kerry)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-09 17:06:30|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese businesses tell why they have confidence in the economy while the country continues to fight the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Warning: This article contains spoilers

The Power team pulled a Marvel move and slipped some post-credits footage in after the series finale. In addition to the scene that showed a young Jamie St. Patrick, Tommy Egan (played by Shameless actor Ethan Cutkosky), and Angela Valdes, there were some shots for upcoming offshoots of the main series.

If you kept watching, you saw the clues for the new Power tales and which direction theyll be heading. If you missed it, heres an overview of the four additional books of Power and where those stories will take their leads.

Curtis 50 Cent Jackson and Power creator Courtney Kemp | Brad Barket/Getty Images for STARZ

Power Book II: Ghost

Starring Michael Rainey, Jr. as Tariq St. Patrick, viewers will see the return of the bad son as well as some other familiar faces. Power creator and showrunner Courtney Kemp and 50 Cent already shared that this installment will pick up 48 hours after the events of Powers first chapter, and the clip for Book II reveals that Tashas story will continue from jail and Saxe is back at it.

But fans will also meet Mary J. Bliges Monet character and Method Mans Davis Maclean, an attorney. Each of them is smart but both are caught up in the street life and it has us wondering how  not if  their paths will cross with the St. Patricks. According to 50 Cent, Power Book II will debut in June in Powers original Sunday time slot.

Power Book III: Raising Kanan

50 Cent has been teasing a Kanan Stark spinoff for some time and he finally confirmed during an appearance on Ryan Seacrests podcast that the show is currently in the casting stage. Obviously, this will be a prequel centered around Kanans upbringing and life in the streets before he was sent to prison. We think its safe to assume hell be running around with a young Ghost, Tommy, and Breeze at some stage in the series.

Power Book IV: Influence

Who out there is ready for a Tate spinoff? The image shown for Influence was a stage set up for Tates gubernatorial campaign and whatever political drama is attached to that.

Tate clearly has one foot in the streets and the other in politics, and at the end of episode 14, made some new enemies. Will this connect to Book II? Its unclear, but this one is in the writers room.

Power Book V: Force

While fans arent exactly clamoring for a show about Tariq (at this point the characters taken Dres place as the most reviled), many would love to watch a Tommy spinoff. Vroom vroom went the engine on his Mustang in the shot that announced Power Book V: Force, which is likely to take place on the West Coast.

However, knowing what we know about Tommy Egan, there could still be some storylines tied to New York once this series goes live.

According to Deadline, Starz head Jeffrey Hirsch remarked that Power and Starz are making history with these spinoffs:

In television history, only a select few shows have inspired four consecutive series extensions, launched into active production and development at the same time. These new and exciting chapters will continue the journey of some of Powers most controversial characters while featuring a growing ensemble of complex, distinct characters along with the high-octane drama that set Power in a class of its own.

Books three, four, and five do not yet have release dates, but fans who are willing to stay hitched to the franchise can look forward to Book IIs arrival this summer.
Sacked Imo State governor, Emeka Ihedioha has reacted to the reports making the rounds that Fr Ejike Mbaka called him to apologise over his Supreme Court prophecy.

KanyiDaily recalls that Fr. Mbaka had prophesied on New Year evening that Emeka Ihedioha would be booted out of Imo government house and Hope Uzodinma would replace him.

The prophecy came to pass on Tuesday, January 14, 2020, when the Supreme Court sacked Ihedioha and named Uzodinma as the duly elected Imo governor.

Apparently, reports emerged that Fr Mbaka had a phone conversation where he apologized to Ihedioha for prophesying against him.

However, in a statement by his Spokesman, Chibuike Onyeukwu, Ihedioha denied receiving any phone call from the Spiritual Director of the Adoration Ministry, Enugu. The statement read:

The report falsely attributed a statement to me, alleging that Fr. Mbaka, in the purported phone conversation, pleaded for forgiveness from my boss, over his utterances before and after the Supreme Court judgment of January 14, 2020, on the 2019 Imo State governorship election. I wish to make it clear that there was no such telephone conversation between Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha and Fr. Ejike Mbaka, neither did I author any statement nor speak to anybody pertaining to such. Nigerians and the good people of Imo State are advised to disregard such unfounded propaganda, as it is a known handiwork of enemies who do not wish Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha and the good people of Imo State well. We are not unaware of the desperate efforts to misrepresent His Excellency at this time, but we believe that truth and justice shall prevail sooner than later.

Meanwhile, Father Mbaka Has Revealed The Actual Reason Why Emeka Ihedioha Was Sacked As Imo Governor By Supreme Court
Rosanna Pellegrino, SVP Sales and Business Development at Digital Defense, Inc. Rosanna is a perfect role model for the CRN Channel Chiefs recognition.

Digital Defense, Inc. announced today that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Rosanna Pellegrino, SVP sales and business development at Digital Defense, Inc., to its 2020 list of Channel Chiefs. This annual list recognizes the top vendor executives who continually demonstrate exemplary leadership, influence, innovation, and growth for the IT channel.

Pellegrino brings more than 30 years of experience within IT Security, professional services, product strategy and technology integrations to Digital Defense where she is responsible for all sales and channel development, strategic alliances and global market coverage. Pellegrino joined Digital Defense in 2017 to transform its sales and partner strategy in order to further drive company growth. Prior to Digital Defense, she also led global business development for iSight Partners and RedSeal Networks, establishing technology and go-to-market partnerships with McAfee, Symantec, Palo Alto, Cisco and others.

In addition to the 200% channel sales revenue growth, Rosannas leadership and strategy have been instrumental in helping us cultivate and grow key partnerships. Successful collaborations with leading security brands like Amazon Web Services, Attivo, Cisco, McAfee, Microsoft, Palo Alto, and others are examples of Rosannas success, said Larry Hurtado, CEO of Digital Defense, Inc. The emphasis on driving integrated solutions built to improve information security programs and working with partners to provide value-add to their customers has been a key reason our revenues from partners have contributed so heavily to our own record growth.

Over the last year, Digital Defense has created an easy to do business with channel program that allows partners a path to success. Channel partners get a dedicated account team and technical account managers that can work with customer requests, tools that enable the ability for quick creation of proposals and quotes on the fly, and deal protection (to register new deals for increased margins and on renewals for their customer base).

Visit Digital Defense (Booth #N6378) at the RSA Conference in San Francisco, CA on February 24-28, 2020 to learn more about our channel program.

Goals are to increase joint revenue opportunities, but also ensure that partners are supported and can take advantage of Frontline.Cloud, the companys vulnerability and threat management platform, as well as strategic technology integrations, to provide a holistic solution to their customers. The ability to understand how Frontline fits into an enterprise's ecosystems will allow partners a strategic advantage. They not only will be able to position Frontline, but also how it fits into the overall workflow of the customer environment thus reinforcing their expertise and value to the customer.

When Emtec evaluated Cyber vulnerability management platforms for inclusion in our broad cyber risk management solution portfolio, I was initially drawn to Digital Defense based upon the long-standing track record, technical superiority, and client trust that was built over the past 20 years, said Doug Goodall, managing director at Emtec. When introduced to Rosannas strategy and operational plan for supporting Digital Defenses technology market partners it made my decision even easier. She and her team have been outstanding in their support of our market strategy, serving our mutual clients needs, sales team responsiveness, technical teams collaboration and training, and above all  trust and integrity. Rosanna is a perfect role model for the CRN Channel Chiefs recognition.

CRNs 2020 Channel Chiefs list honors the distinguished leaders who have influenced the IT channel with cutting-edge strategies and partnerships.

The 2020 Channel Chiefs have shown outstanding commitment, an ability to lead, and a passion for progress within the channel through their partner programs. The Channel Chief honorees were chosen by the CRN editorial staff for their dedication, industry prestige, and exceptional accomplishments in driving the channel agenda and evangelizing the importance of channel partnerships.

The IT channel is undergoing constant evolution to meet customer demands and changing business environments, said Bob Skelley, CEO of The Channel Company. CRNs Channel Chiefs work tirelessly, leading the industry forward through superior partner programs and strategies with a focus on helping solution providers transform and grow. Our team here at The Channel Company congratulates these outstanding individuals for their dedication to the channel.

CRNs 2020 Channel Chiefs list will be featured in the February 2020 issue of CRN Magazine and online at http://www.CRN.com/ChannelChiefs.

About Digital Defense

Serving clients across numerous industries, Digital Defenses innovative and leading-edge technology helps organizations safeguard sensitive data and eases the burdens associated with information security. Frontline.Cloud, the original Security SaaS platform, delivers unparalleled accuracy and efficiencies through multiple systems including Frontline Vulnerability Manager (Frontline VM), Frontline Web Application Scanning (Frontline WAS), Frontline Active Threat Sweep (Frontline ATS) and Frontline Pen Test, while SecurED, the companys security awareness training, promotes employees security-minded behavior. The Digital Defense Frontline suite of products, underpinned by patented technology and complemented with superior service and support, are highly-regarded by industry experts, as illustrated by the companys designation as 2018 Global Vulnerability Management Customer Value Leadership Award, #10 ranking in Black Book Market Research's list of Compliance & Risk Management Solutions, five-star review in SC Magazine, and CRN 5-Star rating.

Contact Digital Defense at 888-273-1412; visit http://www.digitaldefense.com, our blog, LinkedIn, or follow @Digital_Defense on Twitter.

About The Channel Company

The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequalled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. http://www.thechannelcompany.com

Follow The Channel Company: Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

 2019. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved.
Turkey has called on it forces in northern Syria to be prepared to mobilize in Idleb and defend the observation points writes Baladi News.

Political and military movements concerned with the situation in Idleb have indicated the features of a wide-scale Turkish military operation that could appear following Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans statement that regime forces would withdraw from the places where there are observation points.

A military source from the opposition National Army told Baladi News: The army has asked all military factions in the Olive Branch and Euphrates Shield and National Front for Liberation areas to be ready and to bring out all heavy weapons at orders from the Turkish army and to send them to Idleb province.

The source said that the preparations would include 6,000 to 7,000 fighters from the Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch areas as a first batch, which would be sent to Idleb province in the coming days, after the deadline given to the regime by the Turkish president to withdraw from the areas which were previously taken in Idleb province.

Since the statement of the Turkish president, his forces have continued bolstering their presence in Idleb province with material and fighters in large numbers, resembling those that entered before the Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch and Peace Spring operations.

Military sources who entered have defensive and offensive qualities, meaning that their presence will not be limited to observation or self-defense, but have the possibility of carrying out an attack.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that discussions with a Russian delegation about Syria, specifically Idleb province, ended without reaching an agreement. It said that the three-hour meeting discussed the steps that could be taken to ensure the ceasefire in Idleb and to propel the political process. It added that the meeting had been headed by Deputy Turkish Foreign Minister Sedat Onal, as well as Putins envoy to Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, from the Russian side, and in the end it was decided that the negotiations would continue into next week.

In this respect, a source told Baladi News that Turkey today sent a strong message to the Russian delegation in Ankara about a number of conditions, most importantly that the regime withdraw from the areas to which they have advanced west of the international highway (Saraqeb  Maarat al-Numan  Khan Sheikhoun) up to Murak.

The source said that the Russians had expressed some simple responses to some of the demands proposed by the Turkish delegation, with talks still ongoing about the other conditions.

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.
(Natural News) The truth about novel coronavirus is starting to trickle its way out of the realm of independent science with new research pointing to strange anomalies in the viruss genetic structure that suggest its more than likely a bioweapon.

Published in the online journal bioRxiv, the study found that novel coronavirus contains key structural proteins from HIV. Entitled, Uncanny similarity of unique inserts in the 2019-nCoV spike protein to HIV-1 gp120 and Gag, the paper identifies four unique insertions in the viruss spike glycoprotein that arent present in any other form of coronavirus, meaning this one is a whole different animal.

The paper goes into further specifics about how these inserts do not appear to be natural, concluding that the engineering of novel coronavirus with these unusual gene sequences is unlikely to be fortuitous in nature, again pointing to its unnatural origin.

Almost nobody knows about this study because the mainstream media is ignoring it and its implications. And independent media outlets like Zero Hedge that have dared to report on it are now being systematically censored from Twitter and other social media platforms for spreading misinformation.

Any suggestion that the coronavirus was engineered as a bioweapon had to be immediately eliminated, writes Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, about the situation.

The prevailing panic by the establishment sought to blame this outbreak on Mother Nature  i.e. bats, snakes, seafood, etc.  rather than the human beings who are playing around with deadly biological weapons that are designed to extinguish human life.

Be sure to watch the below Health Ranger report from Brighteon.com about the coronavirus situation, entitled Coronavirus is BIOLOGICAL WEAPON system designed to destroy America:

Was the release of novel coronavirus an accident or intentional?

Based on the information put forth by Zero Hedge that got the site banned from Twitter, it appears that novel coronavirus is, in fact, a manufactured bioweapon. The question that remains is whether or not it was accidentally or intentionally released.

Dr. Peng Zhou, Ph.D., the scientist who Zero Hedge outed for working with deadly viruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, very well could have been involved with research on this particular virus that potentially went terribly wrong. Or, its possible that it was developed on purpose as a covert bioweapon to unleash havoc on the world.

Keep in mind that the aforementioned paper has since been retracted, meaning someone got to the researchers who published it and pressured them to withdraw it, presumably because it contains too much truth.

Theres obviously much more to the story than were all being told, and yet the corporate media continues to publish lies  or nothing at all  about the true origin of novel coronavirus. Were all expected to just believe the narrative that bats and snakes at a seafood market caused this, case closed.

No doubt the authors of this particular paper have been sufficiently threatened to revise their conclusions, and an update of their original paper will soon be posted that effectively denounces everything they stated in the original paper, Adams contends.

The criminal wing of the science establishment strikes again, of course, and this tactic of threatening scientists with loss of funding, being blacklisted or even physically threatened and killed is not unusual at all.

Time will tell if anything becomes of politically incorrect science like this that lets the cat out of the bag, so to speak. Its apparently too much truth for the general public to handle, so it has to be stifled and buried, at least for now.

To keep up with the latest coronavirus news, be sure to check out Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

bioRxiv.org

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com

Brighteon.com
A man has been arrested after a road rage incident involving a firearm, Toronto police say.

The incident occurred on Friday at around 3:50 p.m. near Kennedy Road and Eglinton Avenue after a pedestrian was nearly struck by a vehicle while walking along the street, police said in a news release.

The driver got into a verbal argument with the pedestrian and brandished a firearm to intimidate the pedestrian before fleeing the scene, police said.

Abdulrahman Banouri, 25, of Toronto, was arrested on Saturday and is facing a total of 24 charges, including uttering threats, unauthorized possession of a motor vehicle and a long list of firearms-related charges.

Police also seized a loaded 9mm Glock pistol, two prohibited magazines and 32 bullets, as well as a quantity of a powdery substance believed to be cocaine.
Global economic research institutes are forecasting that China's economy will grow less than one percent in the first quarter of this year after the hammer blow of the coronavirus outbreak. And when China sneezes, Korea catches cold. During the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome epidemics, Korea's economic growth declined between 0.2 to 0.25 percentage points, and the impact of the coronavirus epidemic will surpass that. Korea's economy grew just two percent in 2019, so it can count itself lucky if it grows more than one percent this year.

Domestic consumption has already begun to shrink. Malls, outdoor markets, restaurants and movie theaters have emptied, while the number of people using the Seoul subway system has declined by more than 15 percent since the break compared to usual numbers. Departments stores such as Lotte and Shinsegae are expected to lose billions of won in revenues, while the number of moviegoers last month fell 28 percent compared to the same period of 2017, when the Lunar New Year holiday also fell in January. Factories are grinding to a halt due to the stoppage of parts supplies from China. Businesses here were already reeling from the anti-corporate policies of the government and could now find themselves facing a major emergency due to the impact of the China shock on manufacturing, consumption and exports.

The government is busy telling people there is no need to be worried about coronavirus, and it is true that panicking helps nobody. But to fight the outbreak effectively, the government must at least resolve basic problems like supplying enough surgical masks. Supplies are still short and prices have gone through the roof. As it reviews its quarantine measures, the government must come up with ways to instill hope among businesses by implementing new economic policies.


Targeting the Narendra Modi government on the issue of economic slowdown and unemployment in the country, Congress workers fried 'Pakodas' in Asansol on Sunday to protest against the Centre.

'Selling Pakodas as a mark of protest'

"We are here to raise our voice against the rising unemployment in the country. We are selling Pakodas as a mark of protest. We are raising our voice against the state and central government as they are responsible for the situation," said Sobik Mukherjee, a Congress worker. They were also seen holding banners "Degree hai, job Nahi" (We have Degrees but no jobs) Another poster read, "Highest unemployment in 45 years."

On Thursday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not talking about the main issue of unemployment and "distracting" people by raising other things from Jawaharlal Nehru to Pakistan.

Hitting back at PM Modi after he replied to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address in Lok Sabha, Gandhi said both the Prime Minister and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman have given long speeches in Parliament but have failed to reply on providing employment to youth.

'Youngsters saw, that the PM could not give a reply'

"All youngsters of this country want that after studies -- school, college university -- they get employment. We asked the Prime Minister repeatedly that you have given a one and a half-hour speech and if for two minutes you can tell the youth about employment and what your government has done about it," he said. "Youngsters saw, that the PM could not give a reply," the former Congress president said while speaking to reporters outside Parliament.

READ | VIRAL: 'I'll never let anything happen to your unemployment,' says PM Modi to Opposition

READ | Would have been good if PM Modi suggested any 'aasan' for unemployed youngsters: Akhilesh

PM Modi takes on Congress

Earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a dig at Congress and stated that he will ensure that the party MPs remain unemployed. Replying in the Lok Sabha on the Motion of Thanks to the President's budget speech, PM Modi said he was thankful to the people of the country in reposing their trust in him to eradicate unemployment.

"Thank you for reposing your trust in me to eliminate unemployment. We will surely do it but what we will not do is we will not let you remain unemployed," said PM Modi. The Prime Minister's rebuttal came after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on him saying the youth would hit the PM with sticks in the next six months if he was unable to address the issue of unemployment in India.

READ | Despite sharp rise in unemployment, Kerala FM Isaac claims GDP saw record 7.2% growth

READ | Ashok Gehlot slams PM Modi for failing to address unemployment in long speech

(With agency inputs)
Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigiegs campaigns formally requested a recanvass of specific precincts in Iowa after last weeks caucuses, setting the stage for a potential recount in the first caucus state.

While a recanvass is just the first step in the process, and we dont expect it to change the current calculations, it is a necessary part of making sure Iowans can trust the final results of the caucus, Sanders senior adviser Jeff Weaver said in a statement. Our volunteers and supporters worked too hard, and too many people participated for the first time to have the results depend on calculations that even the party admits are incorrect."

The moves opened the door to a campaign potentially requesting a recount later. A recount would be a more intensive process that would likely be necessary in order to change the allocation of delegates from the Iowa caucuses. The Iowa Democratic Party said Sunday that Buttigieg would be awarded 14 Iowa delegates to the national convention, while Sanders would win 12.

Separately, the Buttigieg campaign also requested a recanvass, arguing that the former South Bend mayor will retain the lead in state delegate equivalents after any adjustments are made.

In total, our recanvass request would result in a net increase of 14 SDEs, Buttigieg wrote in a letter to state party chair Troy Price, which was obtained by POLITICO. In the letter, Buttigieg wrote that he would ask his request be withdrawn if no other candidate submitted their own recanvass request.

The Buttigieg recanvass request argues that the the number of SDEs awarded from satellite caucus locations was miscalculated and misreported.

The recanvass requests come a day after the Iowa Democratic Party announced that it reviewed apparent mistakes in 92 precincts that were flagged by three candidates: Sanders, Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren. The mistakes addressed some minor reporting errors, but the bigger issue is that the mathematical worksheets used to convert votes into delegates at some precincts contain other apparent errors.

Story continues

The party maintains that it cannot fix such mistakes on precinct worksheets without a recount, an argument Price reiterated at a Monday press conference. A recount would be necessary to alter what those numbers were on the math worksheets, Price said.

It wasnt clear how long the recanvassing process would take. Price said the party will, within the next 48 hours, return its assessment and description of next steps to each respective campaign that made a request, but that does not mean the entire process will wrap up.

Now that we know the scope of the results, now well be able to sit down and figure out exactly how long that will take, and what additional steps come after the recanvass is complete, Price said. At this point, I cant tell you exactly how long this will take, but we should have more information in the next couple of days.

Collectively, the two campaigns asked for a recanvass in 143 precincts, including all of the satellite caucus precincts.

Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaks during a campaign event on Monday in Plymouth, New Hampshire.

Once the recanvass and a subsequent recount are completed in these precincts, we feel confident we will be awarded the extra national delegate our volunteers and grassroots donors earned, Weaver said in the statement.

Separately, The New York Times and other reporters and caucus watchers have flagged problems in the numbers reported on some precinct math worksheets.

The Associated Press still has not called the race in Iowa, citing the close margin between Buttigieg and Sanders in the state delegate equivalent count and the apparent mistakes in some of the data reported by the state party.

Price apologized for the trouble in Iowa and also expressed disappointment that Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez, who has sought to distance himself the fallout. Troy Price was doing his best, but it wasnt enough, Perez said in an interview with The New York Times on Sunday.

Obviously I was very disappointed by the chairmans comments, Price said Monday. Weve got a job to do, and that is to finish up this process. If folks want  theres going to be a time to assign blame, but I will tell you the DNC has been a partner in this process, up to, including after after caucus night.

Holly Otterbein contributed to this report.
The Royal Irish Academy and the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland have jointly announced a new award category which will recognise innovation within talent development in the 2020 US-Ireland Research Innovation Awards.

Since 2015, the US-Ireland Research Innovation Awards have recognised excellence in research innovation, creation, process, and invention by organisations as a result of US Foreign Direct Investment in Ireland.

Exceptional quality

Common to each of the nominated and winning entries for the competition has been the exceptional quality of the talent that each of the participating organisations has demonstrated.

The Innovation in Talent Development Award will focus on how people can impact and be impacted by organisational transformation informed by, or as a result of, innovative research.

Prof Michael Peter Kennedy, President of the RIA

Commenting on the announcement of the new award, Professor Michael Peter Kennedy, president of the Royal Irish Academy, said: Irish higher education institutes and research centres attract and nurture talent within academia and across industry, with research and expertise at the forefront of that work.

For the Academy, this award presents an opportunity to highlight companies that promote innovative approaches to talent development, and to showcase how they benefit from investing in smart people and an inclusive and supportive corporate culture.

Mark Redmond, CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland, said: To remain a globally competitive destination of choice for inward investment, Ireland needs to attract and retain the best and brightest talent.

"US companies and their partners have been at the forefront of innovation, research, and talent development for many years.

"With these awards we recognise that impact on the FDI landscape in Ireland and beyond.

The awards will be presented at AmChams annual dinner on May 22.

The US-Ireland Research Innovation Awards is sponsored by Ulster Bank and KPMG.
Trump Robert Wilkie

Associated Press

Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie is accused of trying to dig up dirt on a House staffer who filed a sexual-assault claim over an incident at a VA facility last year.

The latest allegations came just days after the firing of the VA's deputy secretary, which Wilkie denied had anything to do with the handling of the assault claim.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Days after Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie denied the VA deputy secretary was fired over the handling of a sexual-assault claim last year, Wilkie himself was accused of trying to dig up dirt on the woman veteran who made the claim.

On February 3, VA Deputy Secretary James Byrne was fired just five months after his Senate confirmation over what Wilkie called "loss of confidence in Mr. Byrne's ability to carry out his duties."

The firing came amid a dispute over a sexual-assault claim made by Navy Reserve Lt. Andrea Goldstein, a House Veterans Affairs Committee staffer, who said a man slammed his body into hers and made lewd comments at a VA facility in Washington, DC, in September.

At the National Press Club on Wednesday, Wilkie said it was "categorically not true" that Byrne's firing was related to the Goldstein case and that "there was no disagreement" between them over its handling.

Wilkie said he wished Byrne well and called the former Marine officer "a man of great distinction." When pressed, Wilkie said the firing "was just a question of not jelling with other members of the team, something that happens in business [and] in the military," but did not elaborate on why Byrne wasn't fitting in.

On Friday, however, ProPublica reported that Wilkie had sought damaging information about Goldstein, citing a former senior official with direct knowledge of the matter as saying Wilkie discussed damaging information he gathered about Goldstein and suggested using it to discredit her.

Story continues

Rep. Mark Takano, House Veterans Affairs Committee chairman and Goldstein's boss, asked the VA inspector general to review the allegation against Wilkie after getting information from a senior VA official, according to The Washington Post.

Wilkie and his office denied the allegation in statements to ProPublica and The Post.

The State of the VA

Wilkie's remarks on Wednesday came during his State of the VA address, in which he touted his department's advances and its success in improving service to US military veterans.

Some of the details he shared are below.

41% of women veterans are now part of VA.

Veterans Affairs

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Wilkie said that when he took over as secretary of Veterans Affairs in the first half of 2018, he "was told that only 25% of women veterans were part of the VA family."

But statistics reported on the last day of 2019 showed "41% of all women veterans in this country are now part of the VA," growth he pointed to as a sign the VA is "leading the change in the military culture."

"When my father was first commissioned two months before President Kennedy was inaugurated, less than one-half of 1% of those in uniform were women," Wilkie said.

During the tenure of then-Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, "19% of the force was female," Wilkie said. "For veterans, that means right now 10% of all veterans in the United States are America's fighting women."

Asked again about the Goldstein case, Wilkie returned to the increasing use of the VA by women veterans, saying that 41%, or 780,000 women veterans, was approaching the 48% of male veterans who use VA.

"So we're getting close to parity now. That was unheard of two years ago," he said.

1.7 million more appointments.

Wilkie said the VA had rededicated itself to customer service, which was "our single mission, not dodging scandal after scandal, and the numbers show our success."

"Our wait times, according to organizations like the American Medical Association, are as good or better than any in the private sector. We are seeing more veterans than ever. We completed 1.7 million more appointments in [fiscal year 2019] than we did in FY18, or a record 59.9 million appointments. Ninety percent of our veterans surveyed trust the care that they get at VA."

2.8 million referrals.

hospital

Getty Images

Wilkie on Thursday touted the VA Mission Act, a bipartisan measure passed in 2018 to expand veterans' access to private doctors. (The bill allowing veterans to seek private care outside the VA was passed and signed by President Barack Obama in 2014.)

"In the first six months, we approved nearly 2.8 million referrals to the private sector on behalf of one and a half million veterans," Wilkie said.

"This year, we will implement a provision of the Mission Act that will extend caregiver benefits to veterans from my father's era, Vietnam, and others who served before 1975," Wilkie added.

Lawmakers have expressed concern about the Mission Act.

"Eight months into the new community care program, the VA has not provided  or cannot provide  the number of referrals that have become appointments," Sen. Jon Tester said at a hearing this month, referring to a program launched in June 2019.

Without that information, Tester said, it would be hard to find the program's cost and usage, though VA officials at the hearing said costs should be in line with estimates.

Senators also referenced a VA inspector general report that predicted longer wait times under the Mission Act, which has happened in some parts of the country.

8,000 employees let go.

Trump signed legislation in 2017 making it easier to fire workers at the VA, which has more than 350,000 employees and is the government's second-largest department.

"We brought back accountability," Wilkie said . "More than 8,000 employees have been let go ... for not meeting the performance standards that our veterans expect. There is no record like that in the federal government."

But a report released in October by the VA inspector general found "significant deficiencies" in the accountability office that was set up by the law, including poor leadership, poor training for investigators, and a failure to push out senior leaders who underperformed.

40,000 homeless veterans.

homeless

Carlo Allegri/Reuters

Asked about reaching veterans that the VA has been unable to reach, Wilkie said the current model is working.

"There were hundreds of thousands of homeless veterans just a few years ago," he said. "Today, we're right below 40,000."

In December 2019, the Department of Housing and Urban Development said it had counted 37,085 homeless veterans in a January 2019 tally.

That 2019 total was down 2.1% from 2018, which followed a drop of 5% a year earlier and was a decline of almost 50% from 2009.

HUD Secretary Ben Carson has credited much of the progress to an approach that began under Obama, centering on the HUD-VA Supporting Housing Program, which gives homeless veterans permanent housing and provides a case manager and clinical care services.

1,700 calls a day.

Wilkie said his department is increasing its responsiveness to veterans thinking of taking their own lives.

"Our veteran's crisis line takes 1,700 calls a day, and we physically act on 100 of those calls to get immediate help to veterans and their families," Wilkie said.

Cities have had success eliminating veteran homelessness by working with charities to find and help them, Wilkie said, and he believed such outreach would work to address veteran suicide.

"We cannot address this issue alone. Sixty percent of those 20 veterans a day who take their lives have no contact with us. That is why the "Prevents" task force is so important, and I will recommend to the president that we open up the aperture on the support of charities, local governments, nongovernmental organizations, [and] give them the financial resources that they need to help us find those veterans that we do not see."

Wilkie said he had asked the Alaska Federation of Natives for help with outreach there, where "50% of the veterans ... have no contact with us. They have no contact with any government."

51% decrease in opioid prescriptions.

FILE PHOTO: Cataldo Ambulance medics John Gardner (L) and David Farmer care for a man in his 40's who was found unresponsive after overdosing on an opioid in the Boston suburb of Salem, Massachusetts, U.S., August 9, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo

Reuters

Asked about opioids, Wilkie said overprescribing painkillers was a trend in American medicine, but "VA recognized that crisis, I think, long before the rest of America did."

"We have reduced opioid prescription at VA by 51% in the last few years. We have led the nation in terms of substituting opioids with common household painkillers like aspirin and ibuprofen, aspirin and acetaminophen," Wilkie added.

There was also a cultural element to reducing the VA's use of opioids, he said.

Cultural shifts have also made non-traditional treatments, which would have been seen as "contrary to the ethos of a warrior" by previous generations, more viable now, Wilkie said.

"By us educating and walking veterans through means to address pain and not the brain, I have seen Vietnam veterans, 78-year-olds doing ... music therapy, art therapy," he added. "It a whole-health approach that I believe VA has set the standard for the rest of the country."

"We continue to make sure that only pain medicine that is prescribed is absolutely necessary, and it is the last act that we perform after already exhausting many avenues for pain management."

5G hospitals.

Wilkie also touted the VA's technological advances.

"VA will now have the first 5G hospital in America," he said on February 5. "As I speak, our hospital in Palo Alto is about to become the first 5G-enabled health facility in the world. It should be operational this week."

5G will provide "richer, more detailed, three-dimensional images of patients' anatomy" with resolution "so clear and consistent that will give us reliable means of delivering telesurgery services to veterans across the nation."

"We will have the capacity to allow the VA's best physicians to consult during surgery even if they are not in the same room and are halfway across the country. It will also be a breakthrough for surgeons in the operating room. Imagine a doctor being able to see layers beneath the skin before the first incision is ever made."

1st VA secretary before Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

FILE - In this Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019, file photo, Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. Demand for answers escalated as federal officials promised Friday, Aug. 30, 2019, to conduct a sweeping investigation into suspicious deaths at Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg, W.Va. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

Associated Press

Asked what the VA was doing to help deported veterans, Wilkie said that "goes beyond my purview."

But, he added, the VA has been doing more to reach underserved communities.

"I have spent a great deal of time focusing on Native American and Pacific Island veterans. I'm the first VA secretary to ever testify in front of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee," he said.

"I have visited all of our territories in the Pacific as well as those Freely Associated Compact State countries like Micronesia, Palau, the Marshall Islands, who send their citizens to the armed forces of the United States, trying to get services out to those who serve us."

Native Americans have "highest per capita rate of service of any group, highest award of the two highest medals for valor, the Medal of Honor and then the Distinguished Service Cross," Wilkie added.

"I've been meeting with tribal nation leaders from Alaska all the way down to Oklahoma, and we'll continue that process."

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A transgender North Carolina high school student with a kidney disease is suing his school district. over claims that it discriminated against him by denying him use of the boys bathroom, the Shelby Star reports. The student is reportedly a high school senior with stage 4 kidney disease. identified as John Doe in the lawsuit filed on Jan. 28. The lawsuit names the Cleveland County Board of Education, superintendent and Kings Mountain High School principal as defendants. The student was born a female but began his transition during his freshman year. He and his mother allegedly notified his high school that he identified as male and requested that he use the boys restroom. The suit claims that principal Julie Rikard turned the request down. "Because I am a boy I could not use the girls restroom comfortably and ended up avoiding the restroom for the entirety of the year"
Assad's government, in its drive to retake all the territory it lost to rebels during Syria's long war, has vowed to defeat them in Idlib, a province largely controlled by Islamist militants. The Trump administration has condemned the Syrian offensive and supported Turkey's recent actions in Idlib, even as U.S. officials have fretted about the growing sway of extremist militants in the province.
The Supreme Court Monday said the anti-CAA protestors, who are holding agitation at Shaheen Bagh here since December 15 last year, cannot block public road and create inconvenience for others.

People are entitled to protest but it has to be done in an area identified for agitations and it cannot be done on a public road or park, the apex court said.

A bench comprising Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph issued notices to the Centre, Delhi government and Delhi Police asking them to respond to the pleas seeking removal of protestors from Shaheen Bagh and ensuring smooth traffic flow on the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch.

When the counsel appearing for the petitioners urged the court to pass some direction since there was inconvenience to the public, the bench said, "It cannot be done ex-parte. We will hear the other side."



The top court has posted the matter for further hearing on February 17.

"You cannot block the public roads. There cannot be indefinite period of protest in such an area. If you want to protest, it has to be in an area identified for protest," the bench said.

"There is a law and people have grievance against it. The matter is pending in the court. Despite that some people are protesting. They are entitled to protest," the court said, adding, "It should be done in an area which is designated for protests. You cannot create inconvenience for the people".

The apex court said that protest at Shaheen Bagh has been going on for long but it cannot create inconvenience for others.

"Can you block a public road? You cannot block it. Suppose there is a public park, you cannot hold protest there," the bench said.

At the outset, advocate Amit Sahni, one of the petitioners, said that the question in this matter is about the extent of right to protest.

"Is there anybody present from the government's side? We will issue notice," the bench said.

When advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi, appearing for another petitioner and former BJP MLA Nand Kishore Garg, urged the bench to pass some direction, the apex court said, "If you have waited for over 50 days, wait for some more days."



Advocate Mehmood Pracha told the court that he wants to intervene in the matter on behalf of Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad.

"Do whatever you feel proper," the bench told Pracha.

On February 7, the top court had said it would hear the pleas against the anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh on Monday as it did not want to "influence" the February 8 Delhi assembly elections.

The apex court was hearing an appeal filed by Sahni, who had approached the high court seeking directions to the Delhi Police to ensure smooth traffic flow on the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch, which was blocked by anti-CAA protesters on December 15.

While dealing with Sahni's plea, the high court had asked local authorities to deal with the situation keeping in mind law and order.

Separately, Garg has filed a petition in the apex court seeking directions to the authorities to remove the protestors from Shaheen Bagh.

Restrictions have been imposed on the Kaindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch and the Okhla underpass, which were closed on December 15 last year due to the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

One of the pleas has sought laying down of comprehensive and exhaustive guidelines relating to outright restrictions for holding protests or agitations leading to obstruction of public place.

In his plea, Garg has said that law enforcement machinery was being "held hostage to the whims and fancies of the protesters" who have blocked vehicular and pedestrian movement from the road connecting Delhi to Noida.

State has the duty to protect fundamental rights of citizen who were continuously being harassed by the blockage of arterial road, the plea has said.

"It is disappointing that the state machinery is muted and a silent spectator to 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," the plea said.

In his appeal, Sahni has sought supervision of the situation in Shaheen Bagh, where several women are sitting on protest, by a retired Supreme Court judge or a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court.

Sahni has said in his plea that protests in Shaheen Bagh has inspired similar demonstrations in other cities and to allow it to continue would set a wrong precedent.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(Photo : Screenshot from Official Facebook Page of NASA)

The National Aeronautics and Space Association(NASA) is asking for help from amongst car manufacturers to help design and create a new lunar rover for the Artemis program set in the year 2024.

This is going to be a mission on about landing the next man on the Moon and this time coming with the first woman. In line with this endeavor, they are hoping to use the great minds of car manufacturers to create a more sustainable lunar rover for that mission that can ferry the pair to and from the desired destination, which would be the Lunar Poles.





Read Also: NASA is Launching A Rocket From A Less Heard Facility in Mid-Atlantic This Sunday





Lunar Rover Plans

NASA, although asking for help, has made it clear to the manufacturers that this would be no mere vehicle that has been ever designed before. It has to go above and beyond with its specifications and would deliver and perform flawlessly. This will be one of the two key components that would depend on the mission's success or failure.

It will need to be human-rated, meaning that humans can operate the vehicle, unpressurized as to like an open cabin, and lastly, be equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and gear for communications.





The Artemis Program

Set to be the biggest and most ambitious expedition as of writing. The program will reach for the stars like never before and make the human footprint larger than it was ever before. The Artemis Program will be a series of expeditions in three phases. First will be in 2020, an uncrewed flight to test the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft together. Next up would be on 2022, Artemis II, the first crewed flight test of the Space Launch System Orion, is targeted for launch in 2022. Finally, the one where we actually see if humans can achieve success outside the confines of our earth would be set in 2024. NASA will land astronauts on the Moon by 2024 on the Artemis III mission and about once a year thereafter.

The main goal is to ready humans for the chance of really going to Mars, and this is a vital stepping stone in which they need to pass to achieve said goal. Besides the soon-to-be-designed land rover, the other part of the operation would be to use highly advanced robotics that is fully automated to ferry gear across impassable terrain during the expedition. This is to lessen the load of the astronauts as well as bring vital pieces of equipment and resources back for study.

Read Also: We Can Now See How The Universe Looks Like Using AI

As of now, NASA has only sent about two letters of Requests For Information to different car manufacturers out and for sure would send out more due to the complexity of the project and the diverse opinion of engineers and architects around the world. As this will be the first of many projects that they will have to go through in order for us to live amongst the start, we first have to pull all our resources together to be able to achieve that dream. The faster and more efficient humans got on this living outside mother Earth will definitely not just be a dream anymore, but a reality. First stop, the Moon. Next stop, Mars.

Read Also: Will Lynchburg Be the Start of the Mars Expedition?













 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Beijing: The evacuation of 647 Indians from Hubei, the Chinese province worst hit by the coronavirus outbreak, last week was a complex exercise, which included the listing of hundreds of unregistered Indians, reassuring panicky students about their safety and negotiating hard with Chinese authorities grappling with the most critical medical emergency in decades.

Diplomats in Beijing were discussing reports of new influenza infection in central China soon after the first death related to the outbreak was reported on January 10. By the second week of January, Indian embassy officials in Beijing were dusting off files of registered Indians in Hubei and Wuhan, the capital city of the province.

Hundreds of Indian students, they found out, had by then already left for India for the Chinese New Year holidays.

India issued its first advisory on January 17 for citizens travelling to and from China. Be careful, take precautions, it said.

Alarm bells started ringing in the quiet corridors of the Indian embassy on the evening of January 20 when President Xi Jinping made a public statement on the disease. The recent outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan and other places must be taken seriously, Xi said.

It was about to be. The morning of January 23 was the turning point when Wuhan was locked down stranding hundreds of Indians. They had begun to call the embassy, wanting to be rescued, and some were tweeting desperate calls for evacuation

The embassy realised that Indians needed to be evacuated from the city, the province, which had in a matter of days literally turned into a massive quarantine zone and no one could access it without multiple approvals. Over the next few days, embassy officials worked round-the-clock to list the Indians in Hubei.

It was not easy as it is not mandatory for Indians to register with the embassy or consulates in China. We had to attach a name to the face, and then attached a passport number. We either emailed or called each individual. We assured them, Indian ambassador Vikram Misri told HT.

Word-of-mouth and community groups helped. At the end of the exercise, the total number of Indians still in Hubei was found to be around 680.

After that it was about negotiating with the Chinese government  starting from the foreign ministry in Beijing, then officials in Hubei and Wuhan.

We first made a case [to the Chinese foreign ministry] especially about the young students and their parents in India whose natural desire was to see them back in India, Misri said.

The foreign ministry facilitated the process after it was clear that New Delhi wanted the Indians in Hubei back in India, at least the ones who wanted to. Then the logistics had to be put in place and the next task was to coordinate with university authorities and arranging buses for Indians staying across Hubei to bring them to Wuhan.

Dozens of buses were hired. All the drivers had to be registered with the Wuhan government so that they had the required permission to travel to different cities, many already under lockdown.

The embassy dispatched two diplomats Deepak Padmakumar and M Balakrishnan to Wuhan to coordinate the evacuation on February 1 and 2. Both are now in quarantine in New Delhi.

Compared to the first, the second evacuation process was more complicated as more than 300 Indians had to be brought to Wuhan from different parts of the province. As many as 15 buses were deployed to pick up Indians from 15 locations across Hubei including from cities 300 km to 350 km away; some had to be brought from Enshi, some 520 km away.

At a few places in Hubei, locals forcibly stopped the buses from entering their neighbourhoods, fearing that the infection could spread.

A group of Chinese employees hunched over their phones at the Indian embassy, then did the talking with the locals to persuade them to allow the buses to go through. At least one Indian, however, missed out because a bus could not get through. Most critical was maintaining the integrity of the approval channels, Misri added.

At the Wuhan airport, no tickets were issued to the evacuees, only boarding passes. India had sent out messages to south Asian countries if they wanted their citizens from Hubei and Wuhan to be evacuated. The Maldives said yes and seven Maldivians were evacuated from Wuhan along with the Indians.

Misri said the embassy is in contact with the 80 Indian students who remain in Wuhan. We have assured them of all help and will keep them updated about any further development, he said.
The housing market could witness its fastest recovery on record if the current price growth continues over the next few months, and an analysis by CoreLogic said this likely upswing will ultimately be led by owner-occupiers.

Dwelling prices in Australia have already increased by 6.7% since June 2019, when the national values bottomed out at 8.4% below their peak. This recovery is nothing short of "remarkable", said CoreLogic head of residential research Eliza Owen.

Owen said Australia is likely to witness its full nominal recovery by April if the price growth remains at its 0.9% monthly pace. This return could mark a 10-month recovery period, lower than the average recovery time of 11.7 months.

"This is remarkable when considering the relatively long time it took for the market to bottom out. Most recovery periods match the length of time it takes to go from peak to trough. However, in 2020, the market recovery could be half the length of the downswing," she said.

Also read: Growth "30 years ahead" of prediction

The table below shows the duration of downturns and upturns of Australia's housing market from 1989 to 2017. The longest time it took for the market to recover was during the 2010 downturn  after 19 months of reaching the trough, it took the market around 20 months to fully recover.

Duration of Downswings and Recovery 1989-91 1994-95 2004-05 2008-09 2010-13 2015-16 2017-19 Months to trough 16 10 5 11 19 4 20 Months to recovery 14 16 7 9 20 4 10 Ratio of recovery period to decline 0.88 1.6 1.4 0.82 10.5 1.0 0.5 Source: CoreLogic

Owen said the recovery would likely be shaped by owner-occupiers, who, according to the finance data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, comprise 71.4% of home-loan commitments. Their share of the home-loan market rose significantly compared to the upswing that took place from 2012 to 2017, when owner-occupiers share averaged 59.4% in terms of value.

The entry of millennials in the housing market is one of the reasons behind the boost in the share of owner-occupiers, Owen said.

"Millennial movement through the typical first-home buyer aged cohort is likely to have increased owner-occupier demand over the past 10 years or so. Reduced mortgage rates and the decline of investor participation may have further enabled first-home buyers in the past seven months," Owen said.

Read more: House values up across the board

The participation of investors was affected by some regulations such as the 10% limit on investment-lending growth and the 30% cap on interest-only loans. With the recent easing of these regulations, however, investors have been able to come back to the market, albeit rather slowly, since the upswing last year.

Affordability constraints, however, remain the market's biggest concern. Owen said these concerns might change how buyers tackle the market this year and could ultimately hand over the baton to investors.

"If affordability constraints create more demand in rental markets, the investor cohort could expand in the year to come, off the back of rising rents. This would be amplified as low mortgage rates make property investment more attractive," Owen said.
NEW YORK, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- After dozens of outbreaks of food borne illness incidents over the past four years, Chipotle gave lip service to reforms in their work practices, but the fast-casual restaurant has continued to engage in management practices that lead to abuses of workers that may create food safety risks for consumers, a new study says.

Scores of employees interviewed for the study reported management pressure to work fast without following proper food safety procedures, such as:

One worker being pressured to work while sick, even after the worker vomited part way into his shift;

undercooked chicken being served to a customer because the grill cook out in place had not been properly trained;

workers pressured to work so fast that during lunch and dinner rushes, they often flipped over chopping boards used to cut raw meat, and reused the boards without washing them;

one worker who cooked food had to clean feces off the floor or ceiling of a bathroom multiple times without hazmat suit or adequate protection equipment;

pressure to work without stopping, with no time left to wash their hands for hours on end.

In the report, "The Unsavory Side of 'Food with Integrity,'" (https://myfastfoodstory.org/chipotle-report) workers told researchers that their managers often knew when supposedly independent audits were coming because other managers or field leaders who have undergone inspection often tip them off. Workers reported that managers relax rules outside of inspection periods and tightened up adherence to food safety protocols when inspections are imminent.

"The findings of this report call into question the effectiveness of measures that Chipotle put in place to solve their food safety crises of a few years ago," said Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National Consumer League, which co-authored the report. "If Chipotle executive management and the Food Safety Advisory Council are responsible for making sure that this program is implemented effectively to keep the public safe, they have been asleep at the wheel."

The National Consumers League, America's pioneering consumer advocacy organization which has been representing consumers and workers on marketplace and workplace issues since their founding in 1899, undertook the study after SEIU Local 32BJ brought the organization information from field organizers about what were learning about practices that could affect consumer food safety from Chipotle workers they were supporting in their organizing efforts.

Organizers and researchers spoke to hundreds of workers, then undertook formal interviews with 47 workers at 25 stores in New York City. These interviews and statements form the basis of the report, which also included analysis of a variety of corporate filings, press reports, and other publicly available documents.

"We chose to blow the whistle on these practices and abuses because our Chipotle managers did not listen to us," Jeremy Espinal, a Chipotle worker, said. "It's a pressure-packed workplace where supervisors intimidate you and retaliate against you."

"I am speaking out because I want to make Chipotle a better place to work and a better place for customers to eat," Jahaira Garcia, another Chipotle worker, said. "This job is how I support myself, how I help my father out with expenses at home and how I am able to partly pay for my school fees."

32BJ President Kyle Bragg thanked the National Consumer League for working with the union and thanked the workers for their courage.

"I believe that these workers are Chipotle's best assets," Bragg said. "They can put the integrity back into 'food with integrity.' Give them a voice on the job and they will help Chipotle achieve the lofty ideals of its marketing."

Report findings include:

Managerial pay incentives that promote cutting food safety corners: managers can earn up to an additional 25% of base pay by meeting performance goals that include reducing labor costs, creating a highly pressurized work environment. This bonus program may incentivize managers to meet productivity goals by cutting corners on food safety or by violating worker protection laws.

managers can earn up to an additional 25% of base pay by meeting performance goals that include reducing labor costs, creating a highly pressurized work environment. This bonus program may incentivize managers to meet productivity goals by cutting corners on food safety or by violating worker protection laws. Ineffective store audits: Worker interviews revealed that general managers frequently know when supposedly independent audits are coming because other managers or field leaders who have been inspected often tip them off. Workers reported that managers have relaxed rules following outside of inspection periods and tightened up adherence to food safety protocols when an audit is imminent.

Worker interviews revealed that general managers frequently know when supposedly independent audits are coming because other managers or field leaders who have been inspected often tip them off. Workers reported that managers have relaxed rules following outside of inspection periods and tightened up adherence to food safety protocols when an audit is imminent. Pressure to work sick: New York -based workers reported that managers have pressured crew members to work while sick or retaliated against workers for taking paid sick leave.

-based workers reported that managers have pressured crew members to work while sick or retaliated against workers for taking paid sick leave. Minimal training: Despite the substantial skills needed to safely prepare Chipotle's fresh food menu, many new hires receive minimal training and "learn as they go" from co-workers who may not have received much training themselves.

"The serious health and safety concerns the report brings to light are deeply troubling to me," New York City Council Member Mark Levine said. "As the Chair of the City Council Health Committee, I want to ensure that fast food restaurants are safe for customers and workers alike. The public needs to know more and feel confident that these important city businesses are upholding effective and consistent food safety policies. That is why I'm calling for a public hearing to review and better understand current food safety practices in New York City's fast food restaurants."

Nick Freudenberg, distinguished professor of Public Health at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy and Director of the CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute, discussed Chipotle's history of food borne disease outbreaks.

In 2015 and 2016, Chipotle was rocked by a series of food safety crises that sickened hundreds of customers across the country and included exposure to virulent pathogens like E. coli, salmonella, and norovirus, resulting in vomiting, pain, and in some cases hospitalizations. Despite claiming major food safety reforms instituted in 2016 to recapture consumer confidence, the company continued to have food-borne illness problems in 2017 and 2018, including an Ohio outbreak in which 647 people were sickened.

Despite Chipotle implementing an "enhanced food safety program" in 2016, the City's Department of Health found 260 critical violations at 74 out of 84 restaurants from 2017 to 2019. Critical violations are those most likely to pose "a substantial risk to the public's health" and lead to food-borne illness. The critical violation examples found by health inspectors include food left at dangerous temperatures that allow for the growth of pathogens, practices that allow for the contamination of ready-to-eat foods, evidence of various pests, and stores supervised by managers without a certificate in food protection. Just two weeks ago, the City cited a Chipotle restaurant where they found a crewmember working while "ill with a disease transmissible by food or [an] exposed infected cut or burn on [their] hand."

Worker advocates and community groups were surprised by the findings and expressed support for Chipotle workers:

"Chipotle has not only acted duplicitouslychampioning a mission of integrity and freshness in public while speeding up production and cutting corners behind the counterthe company has created added risks for workers and consumers in the pursuit of profits," said Ana Maria Archila of the Center for Popular Democracy. "Outlined in this report are issues that range from cautionary to alarming. Will Chipotle wait for another outbreak before they take corrective actionor will they take action 'with integrity' now to reduce potential harm?"

"This report is vital to understanding that the exploitation of workers in the food industry does not just impact workers and their families, it impacts everyone, including consumers," Suzanne Adely of the Food Chain Workers Alliance said. "Chipotle and all food service workers deserve fair working conditions. Denying them basic, humane rights like sick days, proper healthy and safe working spaces, cannot be justified. Exploiting food workers for profit does not only harm workers and their families, it harms everyone, including consumers."

"Chipotle is another example of worker safety and consumer safety being undermined together," said Charlene Obernauer of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH). "Chipotle has a legal responsibility to provide a safe and healthy workplace and they need to take the appropriate steps to make this possible."

"This report details how Chipotle's low-road labor standards and incentives for managers to cut corners are endangering the dining public," said Paul Sonn, State Policy Program Director for the National Employment Law Project. "Chipotle needs to recognize that investing in its workforce with stable, quality jobs is essential for delivering a safe and healthy dining experience for its customers."

"We are deeply concerned with the workplace issues, especially that of forced arbitration described by Chipotle workers in this study," Deborah Axt of Make the Road said. "We stand with Chipotle workers, the majority of whom are workers of color and many of whom are from communities like the ones our members are from, in calling for company-wide reforms and a commitment to invest in a stable workforce."

With 175,000 members in 11 states, including 85,000 in New York, 32BJ SEIU is the largest property service workers union in the country

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America's pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org

SOURCE SEIU Local 32BJ

Related Links

https://www.seiu32bj.org


.                  ,      ,   ,     Politico.    700    2014  2020 .,     ,  ,  , ,       ...
At least 200 people have been struck down by norovirus after visiting a Louisiana casino, prompting an investigation by state health officials.

The Department of Health confirmed Thursday that the illnesses reported at L'Auberge Casino in Lake Charles last weekend were norovirus-related. The highly contagious gastrointestinal illness that can cause vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain.

The agency's regional medical director Dr. Lacey Cavanaugh said there were several hundred people at the casino's most recent events. She said the agency has received at least 200 surveys from people self-reporting virus symptoms.

Cavanaugh said people are contagious when they have symptoms and sometimes up to three weeks after the symptoms are gone. It's unclear how the virus initially spread, but Cavanaugh said that doesn't matter at this point.

The Department of Health confirmed Thursday that the illnesses reported at L'Auberge Casino in Lake Charles last weekend were norovirus-related, news outlets reported

'How it started at this point doesn't really matter anymore, because now we are getting transmission within the community,' she said.

'So, however people picked it up in that setting they are now taking it home and spreading it from one family member to another family member to another family member, so that is the real message that we need to get out today.'

To stop the spread, officials said people should stay home, wash their hands thoroughly and disinfect areas with bleach-based household cleaners.

The casino did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Lake Charles is about 200 miles west of New Orleans

The Department of Health said anyone who has become ill with any of the norovirus symptoms should complete a survey online.

The casino did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Lake Charles is about 200 miles west of New Orleans.
The constitution of select committees of the Andhra Pradesh state legislative council to look into two crucial bills pertaining to formation of three capitals for the state is snowballing into a controversy, with the legislature secretariat on Monday rejecting the orders of council chairman Mohd Ahmed Shariff.

An official familiar with the development said legislature secretary P Balakrishnamacharyulu returned the file of the council chairman stating that the orders seeking to constitute the select committees could not be complied with as they were not in tune with the laid down procedures.

The formation of select committees do not fit into the norms under Section 154 of the Business Rules of the legislature as no motion was moved in the council and no opinions of the members was taken as per the procedure, the secretary wrote to the chairman.

Balakrishnamacharyulu refused to comment on the development and the council chairman could not be reached for his reaction.

However, Telugu Desam Party member in the legislative council and one of the members of the select committee Paruchuri Ashok Babu said the legislative secretariat had returned the file and the council chairman was looking into the legal position in this regard.

The chairman has every right to constitute the select committees as per his discretion and he is the ultimate authority. The officials cannot overrule the order. It amounts to breach of privilege and contempt of the House, Ashok Babu said.

He reminded that state advocate general Sriram Subrahmanyam himself had submitted in the high court that the bills were pending with the select committee. How can the government go back from its stand now? the TDP MLC asked.

In the afternoon, the members of the TDP, Bharatiya Janata Party and Progressive Democratic Front met legislature secretary P Balakrishnamacharyulu and demanded that the committees be constituted since the chairman has the discretionary powers to do so.

The two bills  AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020 seeking to constitute three capitals for the state, and the AP Capital Region Development Act (Repeal) Bill were passed in the state assembly on January 20.

However, they were stalled in the legislative council and after a debate, the council chairman referred them to the select committees using his discretionary powers. Subsequently, the Jagan government moved a resolution in the state assembly on January 27 seeking to abolish the legislative council and it was adopted unanimously.

Meanwhile, legisalative council chairman asked the political parties in the council to suggest names for the two select committees to look into two different bills. Except YSRC, the other political parties sent the names of their representatives to the council chairman which announced the formation of committees.

The YSRC, however, has announced that as far as the government is concerned, the legislative council stood abolished. YSRC floor leader in the council and minister Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose and party MLC Ummareddy Venkateshwarlu wrote a letter to the state legislature secretary P Balakrishnamacharyulu stating that the YSRC cannot send its names for the select committee, which was constituted against the rules and without following any procedure.

YSRC leader and advisor (public affairs) to the state government Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said there was no sanctity to the select committee which the legislative council chairman announced without following any rules. Our party doesnt acknowledge the select committee at all. So, how can we suggest the names of our members to the committee that doesnt exist at all? he asked.

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Situation is tense in Uttar Pradeshs Kanpur after the police tried to evict anti-citizenship act protesters from Mohamed Ali Park, in Chananganj area early on Monday morning.

The women-led protest has been continuing there for the last 21 days.

The police said that protesters had agreed to end their agitation on Saturday after assurance by the district administration that cases against them will be withdrawn. But only about three dozen of over a hundred left the park. Others stayed put, said Inspector Chamanganj Ravi Srivastava.

Sources said that at around 3 am, the police forcibly removed the protesters from the park along with all those who had gathered in the last few days. But the women then sat on dharna at the road outside the park. And as the news of police action spread, nearly 500 protesters gathered at the road.

There is heavy police presence in the area.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Pankaj Jaiswal Pankaj Jaiswal is Chief of Bureau, Uttar Pradesh and covers politics. His continued interest in rural, distress, and development journalism, fetched him a handful of prestigious awards and fellowships. Pankaj is a photo-journalist too and tweets at @augustus29lotus ...view detail
According to a new study published by Persistence Market Research (PMR), the global human platelet lysate market is estimated to be valued at US$ 45.8 Mn in 2018 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 3.6% over 20182026, to reach US$ 61.0 Mn by 2026 end. Based on Application, the Clinical Use segment clearly dominates the global Human Platelet Lysate market, with over 93.5% value share in 2017. This segment is expected to grow at 3.7% CAGR over the forecast period of 2018-2026.

Increased emphasis on funding and rise in research centers, product innovation, clinical and staff efficiency, government regulations and user acceptance are the major driving factors fueling the growth of the human platelet lysate market during the forecast period.

Growing awareness levels of blood donation and adoption of advanced blood collection and processing technology in emerging countries is also expected to boost the human platelet lysate market.

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In addition, a large donated blood pool in most of the developed countries is expected to fuel the demand for human platelet lysate (HPL) products over the forecast period. HPL are a convenient alternative to Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) as an in-vitro cell culture growth supplement and are likely to be adopted extensively in the near future for various therapeutic applications.

Moreover, human platelet lysate has emerged as a boom for cell manufacturing in cell- based therapeutics. Further, the rising demand for animal free serum media is anticipated to boost revenue growth of the Human Platelet Lysate market during the forecast period.

The global human platelet lysate market has been segmented on the basis of product, application, end user and region. Globally, Heparin-free Platelet Lysate and Platelet Lysate with Heparin both show lucrative market attractiveness. The Heparin-free Platelet Lysate segment is expected to be slightly more lucrative and is estimated to contribute 50.8% value share in the global human platelet lysate market during the forecast period.

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Among all end users of Human Platelet Lysate products, research and academic institutes are expected to be the most lucrative, given the increasing acceptance of Human Platelet Lysate products by the research fraternity. With nearly 37.7% market share, North America dominated the global Human Platelet Lysate market in 2017, partly due to increasing research and development activities, particularly stem cell and biopharmaceuticals especially in the United States.

Company Profile

Life Science Group Limited

Sclavo Diagnostics International Srl.

Zen-Bio, Inc.

Stemcell Technologies Inc.

Mill Creek Life Sciences Llc.

Cook Medical (Cook Regentec)

Macopharma SA

Compass Biomedical Inc.

Trinova Biochem Gmbh

Merck KGaA

Others.

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Key Research Findings
While some investors are already well versed in financial metrics (hat tip), this article is for those who would like to learn about Return On Equity (ROE) and why it is important. By way of learning-by-doing, we'll look at ROE to gain a better understanding of Bellway p.l.c. (LON:BWY).

Over the last twelve months Bellway has recorded a ROE of 18%. Another way to think of that is that for every 1 worth of equity in the company, it was able to earn 0.18.

See our latest analysis for Bellway

How Do You Calculate ROE?

The formula for ROE is:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations)  Shareholders' Equity

Or for Bellway:

18% = UK539m  UK2.9b (Based on the trailing twelve months to July 2019.)

Most readers would understand what net profit is, but its worth explaining the concept of shareholders equity. It is all earnings retained by the company, plus any capital paid in by shareholders. Shareholders' equity can be calculated by subtracting the total liabilities of the company from the total assets of the company.

What Does ROE Signify?

Return on Equity measures a company's profitability against the profit it has kept for the business (plus any capital injections). The 'return' is the profit over the last twelve months. The higher the ROE, the more profit the company is making. So, all else equal, investors should like a high ROE. Clearly, then, one can use ROE to compare different companies.

Does Bellway Have A Good Return On Equity?

Arguably the easiest way to assess company's ROE is to compare it with the average in its industry. Importantly, this is far from a perfect measure, because companies differ significantly within the same industry classification. As you can see in the graphic below, Bellway has a higher ROE than the average (15%) in the Consumer Durables industry.

LSE:BWY Past Revenue and Net Income, February 10th 2020

That's what I like to see. I usually take a closer look when a company has a better ROE than industry peers. For example, I often check if insiders have been buying shares.

Story continues

How Does Debt Impact Return On Equity?

Virtually all companies need money to invest in the business, to grow profits. That cash can come from issuing shares, retained earnings, or debt. In the case of the first and second options, the ROE will reflect this use of cash, for growth. In the latter case, the use of debt will improve the returns, but will not change the equity. That will make the ROE look better than if no debt was used.

Bellway's Debt And Its 18% ROE

Shareholders will be pleased to learn that Bellway has not one iota of net debt! Its ROE already suggests it is a good business, but the fact it has achieved this -- and doesn't borrowings -- makes it worthy of further consideration, in my view. After all, when a company has a strong balance sheet, it can often find ways to invest in growth, even if it takes some time.

The Bottom Line On ROE

Return on equity is useful for comparing the quality of different businesses. In my book the highest quality companies have high return on equity, despite low debt. If two companies have the same ROE, then I would generally prefer the one with less debt.

Having said that, while ROE is a useful indicator of business quality, you'll have to look at a whole range of factors to determine the right price to buy a stock. It is important to consider other factors, such as future profit growth -- and how much investment is required going forward. So you might want to check this FREE visualization of analyst forecasts for the company.

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.
Manish Anand By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Seeing the dismal turnout in the Delhi Assembly polls till the afternoon on Saturday, the BJP mobilized efforts to get voters to the polling booths in the last three hours. The efforts bore fruit and eventually, the voting percentage inched up to 62.59 per cent.

Sources said panic had set in by Sunday afternoon in the BJP camp amid the low turnout of voters. After the sharp rise in voters turnout post 4 pm, the saffron party is now keeping its fingers crossed. After staring at 30 per cent turnout in the afternoon, the BJP leaders went the whole way to get the voters to the polling booths. The party workers reached out to the voters to cast their votes. Now, it has to be seen that almost 27 per cent votes polled in the last three hours work went to which party, said a senior BJP functionary.

While the voter turnout was about five per cent less than 2015 Assembly elections when the Aam Admi Party (AAP) had swept the polls with 67 of the 70 Assembly seats, the voters improved the tally from the 2019 Lok Sabha elections with two percentage points when the BJP had polled 56 per cent votes, winning all the seven Lok Sabha seats.

The BJP leaders after taking feedback from the Congress counterparts in the city said that some of the big names in the Opposition had also worked hard on the ground to regain the lost turf to revive their political career. Its to be seen whether the claims made by the pundits that the Congress gave a walkover to the AAP in the elections are true or not, for the party leaders have argued that they campaigned hard in their respective Assembly constituencies. Some of the Congress leaders have argued that the AAP will need to take the support of the Congress to form the government, said another BJP functionary. Its hard to say as of now which way the outcome would go. We are keeping our fingers crossed. We have fought hard. With no face to project, the BJP may have had some disadvantage, added the BJP functionary.

Pushing voters to polling booths
The multimillion-dollar Toorak mansion owned by George Calombaris has been put on the market as his hospitality empire faces collapse.

Calombaris paid $4.75 million for the five-bedroom home in McMaster Court at the height of his fame in 2013. A sign asking for "expressions of interest" was put up in front of the property on Monday morning.

Celebrity chef George Calombaris is selling his Toorak home. Credit:Jason South

Sources in the hospitality industry have also told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald that Calombaris' dining group, Made Establishment  which runs 18 restaurants and fast-food outlets  will be placed into voluntary administration on Monday after a crisis meeting to decide the future of the business.

According to sources, senior staff have been told that suppliers and staff will be paid out in any deal.
What the FAQ with obsolete & EOL parts?

Theres an old saying that we like the things we know. The same goes with CPUs and other electronics. We use some specific ASICs or FPGAs for years, cause they just are there. And what to do if they become obsolete and manufacturer decided not to offer them anymore?

DCDs got an answer. Use 1:1 replacement for EOL, which is 100% compatible with an original chip. Both FPGAs and ASICs offer great variety of solutions which can be efficiently and effortlessly utilized in the final design. Heres a FAQ to help you move forward.

Jacek Hanke, DCDs CEO says that the experience his company gained during last 20 years is priceless.  Among 70 different architectures one can easily find obsolete and hard to find discontinued electronic components  he says. Basing on hitherto experience, we can say that:

1:1 replacement for most popular architectures that are no longer available is not an issue

for most popular architectures that are no longer available is not an issue Having it provided as HDL Source code , will make it valid, never obsolete and ready to use with any future technology,

, will make it valid, never obsolete and ready to use with any future technology, industrial IP Cores might be used either as a replacement for an original architecture or as a main CPU in embedded 8/16/32-bit applications ,

, in these obsolete parts a wide set of peripherals can be utilized to enhance functionality

Which CPUs can be replaced?

Every  says Jacek Hanke - among them IP cores equivalent to obsolete chips that cover the following processors:

8-bit Zilog Z80, HC11, MC6802 etc.

16-bit Motorola 68000, 68020 etc.

Zone de Texte: Replacement schemeIntel 8050/80251 etc.

clones of digital signal processors once manufactured by Texas Instruments, Motorola etc.



Replacement scheme





Which companies replaced EOL product and which products?

Among customers who trusted DCD and ordered solutions for obsolete parts one can find e.g. Caterpillar, Siemens, Bombardier, Sagem and dozens of other (NDA). Our R&D designed for these companies e.g. pin to pin compatible Motorolas HC11.

HC11? Sounds interesting?

One of our customers from sunny California sent us an e-mail: We received our first silicon with DCD's soft core "DF6811". We manufactured our silicon in TSMC's 0.18 um, LP process. The results have been excellent with no functional or timing failure.

And what about gate utilization in ASIC and FPGA?

DF6811 design includes: CPU, PORTS, SCI, SPI, COM/CAP, TIMER, WATCHDOG, RTI. Its target library is TSMC 0.25u process. Synthesis results look as follows: when area optimized - 12000 gates 100 MHz and when speed optimized 15700 gates 220 MHz. Power consumption with FULL speed at 100 MHz 25 mW (milli-Watts) 0.25 mW/MHz. Static leakage power is equal to 0.411 uW for the total DF6811 design.

1:1 chip replacement is all that you can do or can I get something more from EOL chip replacement?

DF6811 is actually the most powerful 6811 IP Core in the whole IP market. It has more than 4xfaster architecture over standard 6811, when most other cores have architecture speed rate 1x. So at same clock frequency aforementioned DF6811 Core is 4 times faster and it allows user to reduce the power consumption by using 4 times slower clock or increase the performance by setting the clock at the same level. The same youll get in your design 10 times faster multiplication, 16 times faster division, Program Memory, DATA Memory and external SFRs wait state feature, support for 16MB of Data memory, support for SYNCHRONOUS program (CODE inside synchronous ROM) and DATA memories, two power saving modes: STOP and WAIT, interface for external SFR registers, fully configurable CPU features and DoCD  DCDs on-Chip Debugger



HC11 replacement boards scheme

What about MC6802?

The D6802 is a part of mature DCD IP family of 6811, 6802, 6803 microprocessors, microcontrollers introduced in 2004. The major part of all processors from that family are common for all IPs. Between particular cores there are only small differences. Among companies which successfully implemented IP from this family one can find e.g.: General Electric, Bombardier, Caterpilar, Harris, Siemens. Some of them are using MC6802 in safety applications  like e.g. Bombardier is using it in their railway system since 2009. As an example we can also mention an aircraft company, which search D6802 as a replacement for their safety application. The Core itself has been thoroughly evaluated, tested and most of all  technically approved. Along with an IP we provide the Test bench with set of tests and simulation script, so in tool like ModelSim you need just run single script and selected or all tests will be executed one by one, generation reports whether test passed as expected or if there is any differences between real simulation data and reference response read form file.

OK, lets leave HC11 for a moment. What about other Motorolas CPUs like MC68020 or M68k?

68020 you can implement e.g. in an FPGA (Flash or SRAM). DCDs D68000 is upward compatible to MC68020 but it is not a replacement for 68020. The binary code compiled for 68000 will run on 68020 but binary code compiled for 68020 will not run on 68000. What we offered our customer and what he agreed and implement in his project, was an upgrade of the IP from 68000 to 68020. The development took us 9 months. Final solution has been based on D68000+BDM, which was used as a start point to design D68020.



EOL M68020 chip

Sounds reasonable. And what about original Motorolas 68000?

One of the customers intended to have a compatible IP 68000 processor, compatible instruction and instruction time. Target was a Netlist version dedicated to an FPGA from Microsemi (Microchip) IGLOO2 or PolarFire. Its worth to mention that the aforementioned netlist should be feasible to be included in VHDL project. In the first step customer wanted to verify the perfect compatibility of DCD-SEMIs IP by usind an adapter card to replace an original card, the component 68000 Motorola by a FPGA IGLOO2 with DCDs IP.

How was it working ?

We advise our customer that the D68000 is NOT 100% cycle compatible to MC68000. It is about 20% faster than MC68k! D68000 soft core is binary-compatible with the industry standard 68000 32-bit microcontroller. It has a 16-bit data bus and 24-bit address data bus. It is code-compatible with the MC68008 and is upward code compatible with the MC68010 virtual extensions and the MC68020 32-bit implementation of the architecture. D68000 has improved instructions set which allows execution of a program with higher performance than standard 68000 core. Adjustment to the customer specification took us 8 weeks. His goal wasnt modification or debugging of the existing software because he had not got the source code. The first step was to check that DCDs D68000 IP is completely transparent, thats why customer put a 68000 emulation board, which was an FPGA that integrated DCDs IP instead of the original MC68000 component (that board was pin to pin compatible with MC68000 component). Second step was another FPGA that integrated all the current CPU board with the IP68000. The bus cycles were identical, which was mandatory for the customer. The only difference between DCDs and the obsolete original was that our instructions are faster, which remains a huge advantage. Below one can find the size of the D68000 in Logic Elements of IGLOO2 ( 1LE = 4lut +DFF). Heres a table for it:

Resource Usage Libero Software Release v11.8

Family IGLOO2 Device M2GL010

Type Used Total Percentage 4LUT 8487 12084 70.23 DFF 1401 12084 11.59 RAM64x18 0 22 0.00 RAM1K18 0 21 0.00 MACC 0 22 0.00

Do I understand right, you hardware debugger is available for M68k?

To complement the D68000, has been developed with DoCD-BDM hardware debugger, which provides debugging capability not only for the IP Core, but for the whole SoC system. The debugger is 100% compatible with BDM debug interfaces, working smoothly with its interfaces/cables: Public Domain cable, Macraigor Wiggler and P&E BDM cable. DoCDs also fully supported by standard debugging tools like GNU GD8 debugger, Cosmic ZAP debugger and Tasking debugger. mentioned examples of proprietary IP Cores for EOL / obsolete parts replacement dont include all the cases DCDs been working on. Starting from 1999 till 2020 Polish company engineers mastered hundreds of designs, which replaced discontinued chips. Millions of them have been used 24/7, every day, every year  until now. If youre wondering if the chip you need can be replaced by DCD IP Core, just give us a call, send us an e-mail at info@dcd.pl or leave a message on our website www.dcd.pl
New Delhi: Late legendary actress Sridevi and producer Boney Kapoor's elder daughter Janhvi is one of the most popular star kids around. She is an equally known celebrity on social media, where fans love to check her recent posts and pictures.

She took to Instagram recently and shared pictures from the divine Tirupati Temple, Andhra Pradesh. The actress trekked all the way up from the hill town of Tirumala to reach the famous Tirupati Temple of Lord Venkateswara and seek his blessings.

The actress has visited the Tirupati temple along with her father and sister Khushi Kapoor on previous occasions as well. However, this time she went alone.

Janhvi Kapoor looked beautiful in a white salwar-kameez and carried a yellow Leheriya dupatta. In her pictures, she can be seen sitting on the side of the stairs while walking her way up to the temple. Looks like she decided to take a break in between walk to grab a breath.

On the work front, Janhvi has some interesting projects in her kitty. She will be seen in Karan Johar's 'Dostana 2' with Kartik Aaryan and newcomer Lakshya in lead roles. She also has period drama 'Takht' under Dharma Productions which is a multi-starrer.

Janhvi's ambitious project happens to be 'Gunjan Saxena' biopic which is titled as 'Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl'. It stars her in the titular role of Gunjan, who became the first female and Indian woman airforce pilot in combat along with Srividya Rajan.

It is a biopic tells the story of our country's first Air Force woman officer who went to war.
DOHA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th February, 2020) Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the amir of the State of Qatar, has discussed the situation in Libya in a phone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Qatar news Agency reported.

According to the agency, during their conversation, they touched upon global and regional issues, the attempts of their countries to strengthen security, peace, and stability in the region, as well as the latest developments in Libya.

After the ouster and assassination of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, the country was plunged into a brutal civil war. Today, Libya is divided between two centers of power  an elected parliament in the country's east, supported by the Libyan National Army, led by Khalifa Haftar, and the UN-backed Libyan Government of National Accord in the west, headed by Fayez Sarraj.

On January 19, the international conference on Libya took place in the German capital, counting Russia, the United States, the European Union, Turkey and Egypt among its participants. Both Sarraj and Haftar were present as well, although they failed to have direct talks with each other. The sides agreed on a ceasefire and noninvolvement of third parties in the conflict and offered to create a special commission to monitor the peace process.
Before the Oscars ceremony began Sunday, nominated film stars and other celebrities hit the red carpet.

Regina King, Billy Porter, America Ferrera and Idina Menzel were among the first to arrive at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles just after 2 p.m., ahead of the show's 5 p.m. start time.

RELATED: Oscars live stream: How to watch the 2020 Academy Awards

Together, the four established early trends for the night. Menzel and King donned pink and red-hued dresses  made by J. Mendel and Versace, respectively  while Ferrera opted for a flowy garnet dress with a metallic gold headband, a nod to the "indigenous Lenca tribe of Honduras."

Billy Porter went full metallic, wearing a custom Giles Deacon Couture gold feathered top, a vibrant orange sherbet and pink-colored ball skirt and gold Jimmy Choo shoes.

Some, however, took some liberties with the formal dress code.

Frozen 2s Kristen Anderson-Lopez, for one, went with a different sort of shoewear under her gown: sneakers.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Anderson-Lopez, an award-winning composer lifted her dress to show press her comfortable kicks, shouting to the fan bleachers that its the only way to do the Oscars.

See more arrivals in the above gallery.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGate digital editor. Email: alyssa.pereira@sfgate.com | Twitter: @alyspereira


Maruti banks on Vitara Brezza to make up for lost numbers

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Budget laid foundation to make India $5 trillion economy, says FM Sitharaman

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said the government has enlisted the various provisions in Union Budget 2020 to make India a $5 trillion economy. In the Budget, the Centre has laid the foundation of reviving consumption while ensuring that the government's investment is deployed to build infrastructure leading to a $ 5 trillion economy by 2024-25, Sitharaman said while interacting with trade and industry representatives in Kolkata today.



Coronavirus death toll rises to 908 in China; confirmed cases touch 40,000

The death toll in China due to novel coronavirus epidemic has gone up to 908 and the number of confirmed cases rose over 40,000, Chinese health officials said on Monday. There were 97 deaths and 3,062 new confirmed cases of the lethal infection on Sunday, China's National Health Commission said. Ninety-one deaths were in Hubei province, the epicentre of the epidemic, two in Anhui, and one each in Heilongjiang, Jiangxi, Hainan and Gansu, according to the commission.



Maruti banks on Vitara Brezza to make up for lost numbers

India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India is banking on introduction of petrol variants of existing models such as Vitara Brezza besides exploring more CNG options to make up for lost numbers as it discontinues diesel options while moving to BS-VI emission norms. The company, which last week showcased the petrol version of its popular compact SUV Vitara Brezza that was earlier available only in diesel option, is also gearing up to bring petrol version of its S-Cross model.



Apple penalised $27 million for slowing down old iPhones

France's consumer watchdog said Friday that Apple had agreed to pay 25 million euros ($27.4 million) for failing to tell iPhone users that software updates could slow down older devices. The scandal erupted in December 2017, when the US tech giant admitted that its most recent iOS software was slowing the performance of older telephones whose battery life was deteriorating.



Ease of doing Business: Govt to introduce new e-form to reduce time for starting biz

Continuing efforts to further improve ease of doing business, the government will introduce an integrated electronic form for incorporating new companies from February 15, wherein EPFO and ESIC registration numbers will also be allotted at the same time. The 10 services offered through the new form would help in "saving as many procedures, time and cost for starting a business in India," the ministry said in a public notice.



Samsung gets ready for comeback with premium smartphones in India

Eight years back, Samsung became the leader in the mobile phone industry in India with the roll out of "Galaxy S3" from its Noida facility. Today, as the Indian smartphone market witnessed a modest 8 per cent (Year-on-Year) growth in 2019, the South Korean giant registered declining shipments among the top five brands.



Domestic passenger vehicle sales down 6.2% in Jan; car sales slide 8%: SIAM

Domestic passenger vehicle sales declined 6.2 per cent to 262,714 units in January from 280,091 units in the year-ago month, automobile industry body SIAM said on Monday. Sales of commercial vehicles were down 14.04 per cent to 75,289 units in January, SIAM said.
What do sheep shearers, rehab specialists, ventriloquists, medical transcriptionists, face-paint artists and test proctors have in common?

Theyre among the many kind of workers who are mobilizing online, in public protests, and in letters and visits to lawmakers to say that AB5, Californias controversial new gig work law, is hurting their livelihoods.

This law doesnt just affect Uber drivers and truckers, said Karen Anderson, a freelance writer, editor and photographer. Freelancers Against AB5, a Facebook group Anderson started in November, now has more than 9,000 members who share experiences about losing clients and assignments, being unable to hire assistants, grudgingly becoming employees, or, in some cases, going out of business entirely.

Stories come pouring in every day for professions youd never guess: cancer registrars, hull cleaners, rig welders, Santa Clauses, meeting/event planners, virtual paralegals, pharmacists, Pilates instructors, music therapists for children, Anderson said. Anecdotes from more than 135 diverse occupations are chronicled by the group.

The freelancers activism has already yielded some results. On Thursday, AB5 author Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, said on Twitter that she would seek to remove an annual submission cap for freelance writers and photographers (who are suing over AB5), and will soon propose changes for musicians. Gonzalez, who said shes held hundreds of meetings with affected groups and individuals, promised that more changes are coming soon.

But, she said in an interview, some fears are overblown. If freelancers have a business license  which San Francisco, San Jose and other cities require anyway, mandates that predate AB5  and operate a sole proprietorship, they can rely on the laws provision allowing businesses to work directly for other businesses, she said.

For instance, a bride could hire a makeup artist as an independent contractor, or a charity could hire a freelance harpist to play during a fundraiser.

The laws ABC test is key. Someone can only be an independent contractor if (A) they do work free from the hiring entitys control; (B) they do work outside the scope of the hiring entitys business; and (C) they have an independent business doing that type of work.

So a makeup artist working at a MAC Cosmetics counter, for instance, would need to be an employee because the hiring entity is in the makeup business.

But irate and worried freelancers report seeing gigs vanish. They say out-of-state companies are blackballing Californians. The business-to-business exemption has not helped, some said.

I received cut-off notices from my clients just before Christmas, and have already lost most of my livelihood overnight, Ildiko Santana, a Hungarian-English translator and interpreter, wrote in a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom that she shared with The Chronicle.

Chloe Aftel / Special to The Chronicle 2019

Stephen de Ropp, a documentary cinematographer, said he structured his small business as a corporation to avoid any shadow of a doubt with my clients that I could still freelance.

But it didnt always work. My clients lawyers are so paranoid about the wording of the law that many are not even allowing for business-to-business contracts to be approved with my company, he said in an email. A majority of my business income is in jeopardy.

AB5 and the Dynamex California Supreme Court decision it codifies make it harder for companies to classify workers as independent contractors rather than employees.

These freelancers are feeling understandable pain, but pointing the finger in the wrong direction, said Veena Dubal, a UC Hastings law professor and advocate of AB5. Its not the law (hurting them); its the employers who said they cant do the simple thing of providing unemployment insurance and workers comp, so instead theyll just stop using the freelancers.

But many freelancers reject the pro-AB5 arguments that workers deserve the security and protections of employment and that companies exploit workers by hiring them as freelancers to cut costs. Those on the Facebook group say they make good livings and prefer the freedom to set their own schedules. They feel that employment  if its even offered  is too constraining or impossible for people with disabilities, single moms or those caring for ill family members.

Mary Beth Sasso has taught for three years at an arts center in Santa Rosa as an independent contractor paid $60 an hour.

It was good money, and I loved doing it, she said. To comply with AB5, she said, the center hired her and other teachers as employees, but cut her pay to $23 an hour because of the overhead of benefits and other expenses. The scope of my job hasnt changed, but that doesnt matter, she said.

At tax time, she said shell be limited on the deductions she can take for the employee work. (California companies must reimburse employees for business expenses, however, and the center is now paying self-employment taxes Sasso previously covered herself.) She fears that other teaching clients might drop her entirely.

The AB5 controversy highlights how laws are trying to catch up as the nature of work changes. Gallup says 36% of American workers, or 57 million people, make money through independent jobs  gigs  as either their primary or secondary work, including 29% whose primary endeavor is an alternative work arrangement.

Several Republican state lawmakers have introduced bills this month to roll back all or parts of AB5. The most sweeping is AB1928, which would revert the state to the previous, more-flexible test for employment, called Borello.

Our goal is a full and immediate repeal, said AB1928 author Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin (Placer County), who introduced it as an urgency measure, which means it can go into effect immediately upon enactment. This is an unprecedented situation where a single bill has deprived countless people in our state of their livelihoods. Lets stop the bleeding and then debate what the ultimate form of the law should look like.

Hes open to addressing genuine misclassification cases, he said, but also is seeking a constitutional amendment, ACA19, to reinstate the primacy of the Borello test. Even if the Legislature voted to place that on the ballot, it would not appear until 2022.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

With Democrats holding supermajorities in both the Senate and Assembly, however, the chances of the Republican-backed anti-AB5 bills passing seem slim.

Small theater, dance and music companies are particularly struggling with AB5. Gonzalez proposed that the state create a $20 million fund to help subsidize their compliance, but its unknown whether that will happen.

Becky Davis, board president of Altarena Playhouse in Alameda, is forming a coalition seeking a grace period and separate criteria for performing arts groups.

Most of these organizations were simply not adequately funded to comply with AB5s drastic increase in employment costs on such short notice, she said in an email. These changes are increasing budgets anywhere from 15 to 40 percent to much more (one company cited a 1000% increase in artist fees if they were to reclassify artists as employees). These kinds of increases are devastating for a small-to-medium nonprofit.

Chloe Aftel / Special to The Chronicle

Miriam Lewis, who designs and constructs costumes for theaters as a freelancer during breaks from her job teaching costume design at San Francisco State University, said shes very concerned that small theaters will go out of business.

For me it will be an artistic hit, she said. Ill lose my chance to continue to develop myself artistically, to have my design work seen by people and to participate in the world of arts that I love.

While AB5 has numerous exemptions for professions like doctors, dentists, lawyers, architects, engineers and more, many freelancers say their occupations are so specialized that theyre unlikely to get off the hook.

Kate Munsch / Special to The Chronicle

Renee Dyer, along with her three Arabian horses, Comet, Madonna and Jacki, had a dream gig working part time as the master horse handler for an East Bay nonprofit providing equine therapy for dementia patients.

It was such good work, (but) they just couldnt afford me as an employee once AB5 took effect, she said. They ripped my epaulets off.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid
While the presence of mainstream political parties has not dramatically changed in Limerick, there were high profile casualties in Labour and Fine Gael camps following a surge in support for Sinn Fein, the greens and Independents.

For the first time in decades Limerick City voters have not got Labour TD, after Jan OSullivan was one of the big name fallers as votes were counted at Limerick Racecourse.

It was clear from the first count, early Sunday, that the ground wouldn't suit the former Labour Minister for Education.

OSullivan, who later indicated she would not contest another election, was positioned only marginally ahead of the smaller parties, and, well behind her main political rivals.

[snippet1]977032[/snippet1]

However, from the get-go it was clear Sinn Feins Maurice Quinlivan would be first past the post with tallies indicating he would romp home.

In the end, a humbled Quinlivan, who won his first Dail seat in 2016, doubled his first preference vote to 11,006.

Fianna Fails Willie ODea had to wait for the second count to take the second seat.

It clearly didn't sit well with the perineal poll topper, who had taken the first seat in seven of the last nine general elections.

A disappointed ODea and his supporters were found licking their wounds in Souths pub as he was declared elected at the count centre in Patrickswell.

ODeas first preference vote has dwindled from a record high of 19,000 to 12,999 to 9,198 over the past four elections.

The top two in the city constituency have a history ODea would rather forget. He previously paid compensation to Quinlivan who took a liable action against the Fianna Fail TD over alleged remarks he made to a journalist. The matter led to ODea resigning as Defence Minister, in February 2010.

I was up against a formidable vote getter who we were told could never be removed from his position and weve (Sinn Fein) did that, Mr Quinlivan said.

For the first time since 1981, Fine Gael were without their political heavyweight Michael Noonan, however the partys Kieran ODonnell, who lost his seat in 2016, returned to take the third seat.

And, while, Independent first-time runner Frankie Daly was in contention right up until the final count, it was fellow first-time Dail candidate Cllr Brian Leddin who took the final seat.

It was a historic win for Leddin, whose mother Kathleen is a former Mayor of Limerick and Independent city councillor, as he was elected Limericks first-ever Green TD, after he received 2,351 of OSullivans transfers on Count Nine, Monday.

In the Limerick County constituency, the Sinn Fein surge looked like it would carry Seighin OCeallaigh to a historic second seat for the party, however it was filled in the end by first-time candidate Independent Richard ODonoghue, formerly Fianna Fail.

OCeallaighs spirited performance was at stark odds with his elimination in the local elections last May.

The first two seats were filled by Fianna Fail and Fine Gael stalwarts Niall Collins and Patrick ODonovan respectively.

However ODonovans party mate Tom Neville succumbed to the Sinn Fein surge, loosing his seat which he secured in 2016, after he replaced his father, Dan, on the partys ticket following his retirement.

This story was updated at 6.15pm.
Residents of Shalimar Bagh on Monday said there was a palpable sense of fear, especially among children, who felt vulnerable even in the presence of their parents, as they discussed about the suicide of a 44-year-old man who took the extreme step after allegedly killing his children.

On Sunday, Madhur Malani allegedly killed his daughter and son before ending his life by jumping in front of a Delhi metro train at Haiderpur Badli Mor station.

He used to stay with his wife Rupali, daughter Samiksha (14) and six-year-old son Shraiyans at a rented house in Shalimar Bagh.

The neighbours were in a state of shock when they got to know about the incident.

"My children are fearful and feel unsafe after they got to know that the two children were killed by their father. It's difficult to make them understand about the circumstances under which one took this extreme step. It's important to make them understand so that they feel secured," said one of the neighbours who did not wish to be named.

As they discussed about the tragedy, neighbours remembered Samiksha and Shraiyans as bright children.

"Both the children were very smart and bright. It's hard to believe that they are no more. The two children would always greet us whenever they used to meet. I have been seeing Shraiyans ever since he started going to school. He was cute and talkative," another neighbour said.

According to police, Rupali was not at home when Madhur strangled their children.

The neighbours recalled that Rupali had left for a nearby market at around 3.30 pm while the two children were at home with their father.

At 5 pm, some of the neighbours spotted Madhur leaving the house.

When Rupali returned, she found the house locked. She rushed to get the spare keys of the house and found bodies of her children in two different rooms, the neighbours claimed.

Within minutes, some of the neighbours heard Rupali scream "Madhur ne bacchon ko mar diya" (Madhur killed my children) and immediately reported the matter to police.

No suicide note was recovered, but police claimed that Madhur was depressed since his sandpaper-manufacturing factory was closed some six months ago due to financial crunch leaving him jobless. Madhur's parents had been supporting his family financially since then.

The suicide was reported to the police at 5.40 pm, while the Shalimar Bagh Police station received a call about the killings around 6.50 pm.

The police said they have seized the mobile phone of Madhur and collected the CCTV footage of the locality to ascertain the exact sequence of event.

"We will also be analysing the route taken by Madhur and examine the CCTV footage to ascertain the timing and know who entered the locality to be sure that no outsider was involved in the incident," a senior police officer said.

The Call Detail Record of the deceased would also be analysed, the officer said.

The bodies were handed over to the family after postmortem, police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Democratic presidential contender Pete Buttigieg is seeing increased support from business leaders as he jumps in the polls following a successful showing in the Iowa caucuses.

Dozens of executives who have largely remained on the sidelines during the 2020 election cycle have shown increased interest in Buttigieg's presidential campaign over the past week, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter who declined to be named because these conversations were deemed private.

The increased interest in Buttigieg comes as he tries to position himself as the best option among moderate Democratic candidates for the White House, particularly as former Vice President Joe Biden, once a clear front-runner for the nomination, stumbles in the early stages of the primary race. Buttigieg is also polling strongly among New Hampshire Democrats ahead of the state's primary Tuesday.

One new Buttigieg supporter is former Goldman Sachs partner David Heller, who has spoken with members of Buttigieg's bundler operation and has indicated he will back his campaign, these people said.

Heller, an investor in Peloton and a former minority owner in the Philadelphia 76ers, was a key architect during Barack Obama's fundraising operation during his first run for president in 2008. He helped raise up to $500,000 for Obama's initial campaign for the White House, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

Another who is leaning toward Buttigieg is former National Association of Manufacturers president and CEO Jerry Jasinowski, these people added. Jasinowski endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election and contributed to Obama in 2008.

In the wake of Buttigieg's success in Iowa, the campaign announced it raised more than $2.7 million and attracted more than 22,000 new donors. The addition of some of these business leaders could help Buttigieg gain momentum with fundraisers and have enough cash on hand to successfully compete in the later primary states. He went into 2020 with $14 million on hand, ahead of Biden but behind Sanders. The Iowa Democratic Party allocated the most delegates to Buttigieg in the wake of their caucus debacle last week. The former South Bend, Indiana, mayor acquired 14 delegates, while Sen. Bernie Sanders acquired 12 delegates.
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Danny and Leila Abdallah held the three children they lost in a car crash in their huge hearts on Monday as they wrapped the daughter who survived the carnage in their arms.

The Abdallahs entered Our Lady of Lebanon Co-Cathedral at Harris Park on Monday with daughter Leanna standing between them, a sticking plaster still covering a wound on her face.

The 10-year-old, whose three siblings were killed when an allegedly drunk driver ran into them on a suburban street nine days ago, was heartbroken.

While Mr Abdallah walked into the cathedral singing a hymn, little Leanna needed support during the three-hour triple funeral.

Early in the Mass, Leanna slumped sideways and began sobbing uncontrollably as her father put a soothing arm around her shoulder.

Leila Abdallah holds a candle for her dead daughter Sienna who was killed in a horrific car accident on February 1 along with her brother Antony and sister Angelina. Mrs Abdallah is standing next to her daughter Leanna who survived the crash

Pictures of Antony, Angelina and Sienna Abdallah are held along at their funeral on Monday morning. The three siblings were killed when allegedly drunk driver Samuel William Davidson ploughed into them at Oatlands on February 1

Mr Abdallah comforts his daughter Leanna at the funeral of her brother Antony and sisters Angelina and Sienna on Monday. Leanna sat between her parents during the service and broke down several times

Mrs Abdallah gently brushed hair from her daughter's face and wiped away tears then kissed her forehead as she smiled warmly into her eyes.

The grieving mother said last week Leanna still could not sleep after losing one of her brothers and two sisters.

'Leanna feels miserable,' she said. 'She was crying all last night because she lost three of her siblings. From walking with two siblings, now she's going to be walking alone.'

Antony Abdallah, 13, and his sisters Angelina, 12, and Sienna, 9, were killed when they were run down by an allegedly drunk driver at Oatlands, in Sydney's north-west, on Saturday, February 1.

The children's cousin Veronique Sakr, 11, was also killed and Leanna suffered minor physical injuries.

Another relative of the Abdallah and Sakr families, Charbel Kassas, 11, is still fighting for life in Westmead Children's Hospital. His sister Mabelle, 12, was released from hospital last week.

Mrs Abdallah is comforted at the funeral of her three children. Since their deaths she has preached forgiveness for the driver charged with their manslaughter

A rosary made of blue and pink balloons is released into the sky after the funeral for the three Abdallah children

Antony (far left), 13, Angelina (far right), 12, and Sienna Abdallah (front left), 9, were killed in the horror accident on Saturday night. Danny and Leila Abdallah (back) say they have forgiven the driver of the car, Samuel William Davidson

The seven children were walking on Bettington Road to buy ice creams when a 4WD driven by Samuel William Davidson mounted the kerb and ploughed into the group.

Davidson allegedly recorded a blood alcohol level of 0.15 - three times the legal limit.

The 29-year-old truck driver has been charged with 20 offences including four counts of manslaughter.

Mrs Abdallah has said despite the shattering losses she and her husband have suffered they forgive the man charged with killing three of their six children.

The Abdallahs have repeatedly spoken about love and forgiveness, rather than vengeance or hate.

The couple has regularly returned to the Bennington Road crash site, which has become a shrine, as they try to comprehend the tragedy and the nation stands in awe of their dignity and composure.

There was not a vacant seat in Our Lady of Lebanon Co-Cathedral for the funeral of the three Abdallah children

To the sound of drum beats from students at the King's School and a guard of honour the coffins of the three Abdallah children killed in a horrific car crash are carried into their funeral service

Surviving daughter Leanna, pictured with a sticking plaster on her face covering her own injuries from the crash, arrived holding her mother Leila's hand.

The family had asked mourners to wear white for Monday's service - which they described as a celebration of life - and many of the thousands who attended complied.

Mr Abdallah and some other male members of his family wore a blue suit with a pink shirt to represent the dead girls and boy.

The construction boss's workers were among those to wear white shirts as they locked arms to form a guard of honour outside the cathedral. About 200 were expected and 360 turned up.

'Heads up, shoulders back,' one of Rock Form's employees ordered the workers as the three white hearses passed.

'Doesn't matter what race or religion, we are all one family now.'

Five brave boys from the King's School drummed the hearses into the cathedral's carpark.

Drummers from the King's School led the procession, walking ahead of the three white hearses carrying the coffins

Leila Abdallah kisses a photograph of her dead daughter Sienna during the funeral on Monday morning

The Abdallah family came to the cathedral in three white Bentleys. The coffins and single candles placed on top of each casket during the service were also white.

The rain which has buffeted Sydney and much of the east coast for days held off for the Maronite service which was conducted in English and Arabic.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Prime Minister Scott Morrison's wife Jenny Morrison were among the dignitaries to pack the cathedral and sat side by side.

There was not a spare seat inside the round building and hundreds more mourners overflowed outside.

Students from the King's School and Tara Anglican School for Girls at Parramatta attended, as did hundreds of members of the strong Maronite community and complete strangers who had been touched by the Abdallah family's loss.

Many mourners wore small badges featuring the faces of the three children.

Mrs Abdallah clapped as white doves and balloons in the shape of rosary beads were released into the sky

Danny Abdallah holds the hand of his wife Leila as they farewell their three oldest children at a funeral on Monday

More than a dozen clergy were involved in the service and Monsignor Shora Maree delivered a homily but there were no long personal eulogies to the three children. The Mass was about God and the power of love.

'Danny, you said Jesus is the rock of your family - your words,' Monsignor said as he addressed the dead children's father.

'Leila, you said the words of forgiveness that stunned the world. That doesn't come from something human, it comes from the divine.'

Monsignor Shora said the community had been left asking hard questions: why three children had been taken so young and how one family could bear such a cross. Those answers could come only from Jesus Christ.

'One thing we know, God did not do this,' he said. 'God allows it because it's going to bring his glory through.'

Bishop Antoine-Charbel Tarabay gave brief examples of each child's innate goodness and godliness.

When Antony learnt his family was to move into a new house his first question was the location of the prayer room. He had posted on Instagram: 'Give Jesus your weakness, he will give you his strength'.

Workers from Danny Abdallah's construction company Rock Form link arms as they form a guard of honour at the funeral for their boss's three children

Three hearses head a convoy of white cars involved in the procession as it approaches the church

Sienna, when asked what she would like to do on her eighth birthday, said she wanted to help out at a homeless shelter. Angelina's teacher had told her parents: 'Your daughter, she cares for everyone.'

The congregation was so large that Mr and Mrs Abdallah were unable to personally take condolences. Instead, condolence books were placed at the doors.

The family had asked that in lieu of flowers mourners donated money to the poor, needy and homeless in Lebanon.

At the end of the service the three coffins were carried from the church with framed photographs of Antony, Angelina and Sienna. Mr Abdallah was singing as he followed them out.

White doves were released and a blue and pink rosary made of balloons floated into the sky.

Students from the King's School, which Antony Abdallah attended, comfort each other at the 13-year-old's funeral at Our Lady of Lebanon Co-Cathedral in Harris Park

Students from the Kings School in Parramatta, where Antony was a student in Year 8, stood in a guard of honour as his coffin was brought out of the church

Samuel Davidson, who police will allege had been drinking for 13 hours before the accident, faces up to 25 years in jail for each of the three manslaughter charges. He is in protective custody ahead of his next court date in April.

His father Allan, a former police officer who lost a daughter to cancer, has apologised to the families of his son's alleged victims.

'We're no stranger to grief, we lost a daughter ten years ago, and now effectively, we've lost a son,' he said.

Mr Abdallah has said if anything good was to come from his children's deaths it would be that parents cherished every moment with their daughters and sons.

'All I ask through this is that fathers be fathers, and mothers be mothers,' said.

A service for Veronique Sakr will be held on Tuesday at the chapel of Santa Sabina College at Strathfield.

White doves were released into the sky, as mourners held up large framed photographs of the three Abdallah kids

Antony's classmates comforted each other as they watched his coffin be carried from the church

AN OPEN LETTER FROM DANIEL AND LEILA ABDALLAH On Saturday the 1st of February 2020 at approximately 7.50pm, our entire world came crumbling down with the senseless loss of three of our six children, Antony, Angelina and Sienna. A fourth child was also killed - our cousin Bridget Sakr's daughter, Veronique. To begin to encapsulate or express the heart wrenching pain and sorrow we are experiencing in this time would require endless words of despair. This is an unimaginable tragedy; unfathomable beyond all description. Our children are our reason for living. Bringing them up in accordance with the ways of God, teaching them to love, affording them every opportunity and nurturing them into positive and impacting young men and women was, and is our life's purpose. What is life without your children. How and where do we begin to pick up the pieces so that we may be effective parents to our three remaining angels? We start with forgiveness. We forgive the driver that killed our innocent children. His actions will be met before the earthly and heavenly judge. We have decided, in our hearts to forgive him  for our sake, for the sake of our children and more so for Christ's sake. Our faith in Jesus Christ remains the foundation of our family and we believe it will continue to help us through this difficult time. Each day that passes is a day closer to the day we are reunited with our angels. We will look toward this moment; not backwards at yesterday's pain. As we've tried to make sense of the past week, the world too has been shaken by this mortifying event. It is our hope that through this, all will know that no matter the pain or despair, God will be a safeguard through this dark valley. He is in control, and eternity sits in the palm of His divine hand. Our life here on earth is but a vapour in comparison to His eternal plans, and the purpose God holds for His children. We would like to thank our family, our friends, our community, and so many others from across Australia and the world, for the overwhelming support we have received. We are humbled and strengthened by the outpouring of love from each and every one of you. Please continue to join us in prayer during this time, this is a very heavy cross that we've been chosen to carry, but it is through God's love that we keep going. May the Peace of God through Jesus Christ be with us all, Daniel and Leila Abdallah. Advertisement
Days ahead of the special session of the Puducherry Legislative Assembly, Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi on Monday wrote a letter to Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy stating that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, passed by the Parliament, is applicable to Puducherry as well, which cannot be questioned or deliberated in any manner.

The special Assembly session is likely to take up resolutions including against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

This comes after three MLAs - V Saminthan, KG Shankar and S Selvaganbathy - met Bedi earlier today.

"The three members nominated by the central government to Puducherry Legislative Assembly called on me today and submitted a representation. The MLAs have stated that the ruling party would be bringing a resolution against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act of Government of India in the Puducherry Legislative Assembly, which has been convened on February 12," Bedi said in her letter to Narayanasamy.

Bedi stated in her letter that the MLAs had earlier given a representation to the Speaker of Puducherry Legislative Assembly not to permit any discussion/resolution on CAA as it exceeds the power of Legislative Assembly under Section 18(1) and 18(2) of the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963.

She also outlined that CAA has been passed by both the Houses of Parliament and been assented by President.

Bedi stated that the law passed by Parliament, namely CAA is applicable to Puducherry as well, which cannot be questioned or deliberated in any manner.

"The Legislative power of the Puducherry Legislative Assembly does not extend to discuss or deliberate the subject matter of citizenship, as it falls squarely within the domain of Parliament and central government. Further, the matter of CAA is already under adjudication before Supreme Court. As per the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of Puducherry Legislative Assembly, 1966, resolution of any matter which is under adjudication by a court of law having jurisdiction in any part of India is not admissible under Rule 105" she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
And he did it yet again. After bagging several Best Actor's trophies this year at various award shows, Joaquin Phoenix has won an Oscar too!

AFP

With this, he has become the second person to win Best Actor award for playing Joker. The first one, of course, was Heath Ledger, who posthumously won the Best Supporting Actor award in 2009 for his impeccable performance in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight.



Twitter

As Joaquin Phoenix came up to the stage to accept the award, he gave an emotional and politically charged speech. He also talked about his reputation of for difficult behavior on sets as an actor.

Ive been a scoundrel in my life. Ive been selfish, Ive been cruel at times, hard to work with, he said.

AFP

Im grateful, so many of you in this room have given me a second chance and I think thats when were at our best, when we support each other, not when we cancel each other out for past mistakes, but when we help each other to grow, when we educate each other, when we guide each other toward redemption.



AFP

Whether were talking about gender inequality or racism or queer rights or indigenous rights or animal rights, were talking about the fight against the belief, one nation, one race, one gender or one species has the right to dominate, control and use and exploit another with impunity, he said.



Twitter

I think that weve become very disconnected from the natural world and many of us, what were guilty of is an egocentric world view, the belief that were the center of the universe.





I hope people REALLY listen to this speech. Set your ego aside, and let your heart feel what we all know to be true  #Oscars #JoaquinPhoenix pic.twitter.com/IuHgTfIBsS  Gerren Keith Gaynor (@MrGerrenalist) February 10, 2020

He ended his speech by paying a tribute to his late brother River. He read out the lyrics of a song written by him.

AFP

"When he was 17, my brother wrote this lyric. He said, Run to the rescue with love and peace will follow.

Renee Zellweger, on the other hand, took home the honor for best actress at the 92nd annual Academy Awards. She won the award for her portrayal of the late Judy Garland in the biopic Judy.


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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 10, 2020 14:02 701 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2063972cf 4 Art & Culture Bali-Spirit-Festival,festival,yoga Free

The annual yoga, dance and music festival, the Bali Spirit Festival, is set to return to the Island of the Gods from March 29 to April 5.

As reported by tempo.co, over 140 yoga, dance and music instructors from across the globe will be featured in the event's various scheduled programs.

"The participants will also come [to the venue in Bali Purnati Foundation, Sukawati, Gianyar] from across the globe," added Gianyar Tourism Agency head Anak Aung Gde Putrawan on Sunday.

The activities include yoga, Bali traditional arts, Afro-Brazilian martial art capoeira, ancient-chant-based art kirtan, meditation, sound healing and ecstatic dances, as well as health and nutrition classes, personality development workshops, ayurveda Hindu medicine and weda astrology.

The yoga class is open to all levels, including beginners. The music program, called World Music Nights, will be held every night throughout the festival.

On Sunday, the last day of the event, the 2020 Bali Spirit Festival will end with Community Day, featuring local and international games, organic and vegan foods and shopping opportunities for handicrafts, clothes and jewelry. (kes)
Doctors scan a patient's lungs at a temporary hospital built for patients diagnosed with coronavirus in Wuhan, China. (AP)

A British man who caught the new coronavirus in Singapore is feared to be a super spreader who is linked to seven other confirmed cases in the UK, France and Spain.

Four more patients in England tested positive for the illness on Monday, bringing the total number of cases in the UK to eight.

The four new cases are all understood to be contacts of the businessman, who was diagnosed in Brighton last week and who contracted the virus at a conference in Singapore.

He was the third confirmed case of the coronavirus in the UK and is understood to be the first British person to have contracted the disease.

On Monday, the UK government introduced new powers to deal with the coronavirus and declared it a serious and imminent threat to public health.

Experts have warned that Britain is facing a major outbreak of the disease.

It comes as the death toll in China from the virus rose to 908, with the number of confirmed cases in the country reaching 40,171.

Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, said the British patient is "a known contact of a previously confirmed UK case, and the virus was passed on in France".

MailOnline said the patient is a British businessman in his 50s, whose movements prompted testing of hundreds of people on his flights, an Alpine ski trip and a visit to his local pub.

The man travelled back to the UK on an easyJet flight from Geneva in Switzerland on January 28.

An easyJet spokeswoman said: EasyJet has been notified by the public health authority that a customer who had recently travelled on one of its flights has since been diagnosed with the coronavirus.

Picture: PA

Public Health England is contacting all passengers who were seated in the vicinity of the customer on flight EZS8481 from Geneva to London Gatwick on 28 January to provide guidance in line with procedures.

As the customer was not experiencing any symptoms, the risk to others on board the flight is very low. We remain in contact with the public health authorities and are following their guidance.

Story continues

The airline said crew had been advised to monitor themselves for 14 days since the flight and that none of them are displaying any symptoms.

Read more:

UK facing 'major outbreak' of coronavirus as disease spreads, expert warns

Canadian mum desperate to be reunited with toddler stranded in China's coronavirus epicentre

Brit honeymooner on board quarantined cruise ship confirmed as having coronavirus

He is thought to have been diagnosed in Brighton and was transferred to St Thomas' Hospital in London, where there is an infectious diseases unit, last Thursday.

Five British nationals who tested positive for coronavirus in France were diagnosed after they came into contact with the British national who had recently returned from Singapore.

The four adults and a nine-year-old child, who are not in a serious condition, were staying in the Alpine resort area of Contamines-Montjoie near Mont Blanc.

French officials said the British national who was in Singapore returned on January 24 and stayed for four days in the area in eastern France, before returning to England on January 28.

A British man in Majorca has also tested positive for coronavirus, while his wife and two daughters tested negative.

Workers disinfect closed shop lots following the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China. (AP)

According to the government in the Balearic Islands, the family said they had been in contact with a person who tested positive for coronavirus in France.

Professor Paul Hunter, professor in medicine, University of East Anglia, said: "From today's reports, this new case would appear to be linked to the cluster of cases in the French ski resort which is also linked to the case in Brighton.

"As such, this case is part of the same cluster which is being reported as linked to a British national returning from Singapore.

"Whilst we currently do not know many details about how this new case was linked to others in the cluster, his/her identification does not at this stage indicate wider spread within the UK community.

"If the new individual had been already identified through contact tracing and the person was self-isolating then this should not pose any additional risk.

On Monday, the Department of Health said people with coronavirus can now be forcibly quarantined and will not be free to leave, and can be forcibly sent into isolation if they pose a threat to public health.

A spokesman said: Our infection control procedures are world leading and the NHS is well prepared to deal with novel coronavirus.

We are strengthening our regulations so we can keep individuals in supported isolation for their own safety and if public health professionals consider they may be at risk of spreading the virus to other members of the public.

This measure will rightly make it easier for health professionals to help keep people safe across the country.
Oyo Hotels founder Ritesh Agarwal has recently posted a blog titled 'Jan 2020 - Reflections on the first month of a big year for Oyo'. It has appeared at a time when the start-up is getting rap for large-scale layoffs across its India, China, and US operations. Some 2,000 people have been laid off in India alone as part of the unicorn's supposedly one-time restructuring exercise. In addition, the hotel chain has exited out of nearly 200 cities in India, and about 5 per cent staff in China has been asked to leave.

Although Agarwal, in his blog, has briefly touched upon the exercise, there's more glorifying of the entire restructuring process - quoting a retrenched employee who wants to come back at Oyo if given a chance. Agarwal has not delved into the details of why the right-sizing was important, or if he had made a mistake of growing too fast and spreading too thin.

Agarwal said that he has been kind to the laid-off staff who have been offered an outplacement support by the company. Nearly 69 per cent of the impacted employees have opted for the outplacement support, and Oyo has shared the profiles of some 900 retrenched employees with over 48 companies.

The blog also emphasises on the Oyo's strict standards when it comes to transparency and corporate governance that includes appointing Baja Corporation's Betsy Atkins as independent director, elevating Aditya Ghosh, and bringing in SoftBank's nominee Gerardo I. Lopez to the board. "In the coming days, we will also issue our annual report like we have been doing in the past. While we are under no obligation to share this widely, as an organisation, this is one of the many ways in which we demonstrate our commitment towards building an organisation centred on the highest standards of transparency and corporate governance," Agarwal wrote.

For a start-up battling the credibility issue, the blog tried to cover some ground on the governance front. Oyo's lofty valuation of $10 billion, which is fuelled by a considerable funding from Masayoshi Son-backed SoftBank, has made it the cynosure of all eyes. Oyo's every move - at least in the past two years or so - is actively tracked by global and domestic analysts who, invariably, have raised suspicions (more than conviction) on its promising future.

Also Read: Oyo cuts staff strength by about 2,000, exits 200 cities as part of restructuring

Through the rest of his blog, Agarwal shared some operational numbers and market-wise performance, praised his employees profusely, and tried to bust some myths, including the mention of 80 per cent annual growth in corporate clients in 2009 as against the "misleading and unsubstantiated claims that Oyo's corporate accounts have shrunk."

Surprisingly, the blog doesn't talk about Oyo's biggest chase at the moment - the profitability. It's widely-believed that the start-up's hefty valuation is not supported by the underlying business model, and there are doubts on Oyo's potential to turn a profit anytime soon given the rate at which it's burning cash. The disastrous IPO attempt of WeWork last year has only made it worse for Oyo to alleviate the fears of analysts.

Also Read: Oyo rubbishes reports of large-scale partner loss, and exiting businesses

While there was no need for Agarwal to mention profits (in the blog), but since he felt the need to take stock of the first-month performance, he might as well have shared a tentative plan to put an end to the rising speculations. Last November, for instance, some reports suggested that Oyo aims to turn profitable by 2022 as per a valuation report submitted by the start-up with India's ministry of corporate affairs (MCA). Before that, there were speculations that it would list in the next two-three years. Profitability is crucial for Oyo for two reasons: to do an IPO, and in turn, give exits to a clutch of investors, including the Japanese banks which have recently loaned Agarwal about $2 billion to buy back his shares. A third reason could be possibly to subdue the chatter around its valuation bubble.

For Oyo, which is now part of the curriculum at the Harvard Business School, the time has come to stop beating around the bush. Perhaps, the second-most valuable start-up in India needs to face the troubles head on.
FORREST CITY, Ark.  Two police officers were wounded and a gunman was killed Monday morning in an exchange of gunfire at a Walmart store in eastern Arkansas, authorities said.

Forrest City Police Chief Deon Lee said one of the officers was taken to a hospital about 45 miles (70 kilometers) to the east in Memphis where he was in surgery, and the initial prognosis is hes going to be OK.

The officers responded to the Forrest City Walmart after someone called police to report a man who was making threats and was kind of talking out of his head, Lee said at a news conference Monday afternoon. Arkansas State Police Spokesman Bill Sadler said local authorities have identified the suspect as Bobby Joe Gibbs, 40, of Forrest City, though the state crime lab has yet not confirmed his identity.

Lee identified the injured officers as Lt. Eric Varner and Detective Eugene Watlington. Both are assigned to the criminal investigation department and neither was wearing a bullet-resistant vest, Lee said.

The mayor heaped praise on the officers.

Due to their heroism and quick response, no civilians were injured, Forrest City Mayor Cedric Williams said.

Walmart spokesman Scott Pope said the company was helping with the police investigation. Walmart is based in Bentonville, Arkansas. Once the Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division completes its investigation of the shooting, it will forward the case file to the local prosecutor to review the officers use of deadly force.

Tammy Priddy, 57, works at Simmons Eye Center in the Walmart. She said she was preparing patient records for the day when she heard eight shots. She said she hid under a counter in the lab until the gunshots stopped.

The first two shots kind of startled me, and then a coworker came in and said it was gunfire, Priddy said.

She and a coworker ran from the building and officers outside the Walmart ordered her to get as far away from the building as possible. She was not injured.

I was too afraid to think of anything except to get to safety, she said. We kept our minds straight to where we were safe and we were able to get to safety.

Police formed a perimeter with yellow crime scene tape around the Walmart parking lot after the shooting. Police cars with flashing lights blocked roads to the store. The store was closed and employees were sent home. A small strip mall and two gas stations saw no business Monday afternoon, as they were within the police perimeter.

Mary Martin, who said she was Gibbs aunt, went to the Walmart after she heard about the shooting. She said Gibbs didnt have a job, but had previously worked as a DJ.

He was a good person. He loved his family, she said.

When asked about the description of Gibbs talking out of his head at the store, Martin responded: That doesnt sound like Bobby.

Its not the first time in recent months that a Walmart store has been the scene of a shooting. A man was injured in a shooting at a Walmart in Memphis earlier this month, three people were fatally shot at a Walmart in Duncan, Oklahoma, in November, and a gunman killed 22 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, on Aug. 3.

The retailer came under criticism for having insufficient security at the El Paso store on that day and has since quietly expanded security at all its stores in the city to include an armed off-duty police officer and a security guard.

A spokeswoman for the company said in November that the hiring of off-duty officers in El Paso was not a blanket policy. Its unclear what security measures were in place at the Forrest City store on Monday.

___

Associated Press writers Cedar Attanasio in El Paso, Texas, and Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas, contributed to this report.
MAPHUNGWANE - A girl (16) fractured her leg when a house fell on her while she was preparing to go to school on Friday morning.



The incident happened at Maphungwane area, a rural community located about 20 kilometres south-east of Siteki town.

Andile Maziya, a form I pupil at Mphundle High School, is currently receiving treatment at Good Shepherd Mission Hospital in Siteki, and her fractured right leg has already been covered in a plaster cast.



Andile is relieved after doctors reassured her that she would be able to walk again once she was fully healed.

The Maziya family told this publication that the house which fell on Andile was in a shabby state and that the heavy downpour, which was experienced in most parts of the country last Thursday, made it worse.



The house was made of stick and mud and it is very old. In fact, nobody was sleeping in the house anymore because it is in a bad state. The children were now using the house as a makeshift bathroom, said gogo Duduzile Maziya.



School



Meanwhile, narrating her ordeal, Andile said it was just before 6am, and she was preparing to go to school.

She said she entered the house with a basin full of warm water.



I then decided to go out and when I pulled the door, the entire wall fell on me, knocking me to the ground. Part of the wall fell on my right leg, and I immediately felt excruciating pain, said Andile.

She said she shouted for help and her grandmother and grandfather quickly came to her rescue.



screams



Neighbours also came rushing to the scene as her screams had reverberated across the community, Andile said.

Some community members called 977 paramedics, who promptly arrived but struggled to get to the Maziya homestead due to the bad state of the road.

Hence, community members had to carry Andile with a blanket to where the ambulance was, said a community member who was at the scene.

Andile said she was relieved that her injuries were not severe, adding that she was hoping to return to school soon.



Her grandmother, who was found by her bedside in hospital, also expressed relief that her granddaughter did not sustain fatal injuries.

She mentioned that Andile had one parent as her father passed away some years ago.

She said Andiles mother resided in neighbouring South Africa, adding that she was yet to be informed about the incident.



Assistance



Gogo Duduzile used the opportunity to appeal for financial assistance from the public to pay medical costs.

I have borrowed E70 from a Mobile Money agent, who is a neighbour. However, by the look of things, this money is not going to be enough. She has been admitted and the more time she spends here in hospital, the fees will increase, she lamented.

Meanwhile, the heavy rains caused flooding in some parts of the country, especially in the capital Mbabane.



Two of the capital citys main shopping centres; The New Mall and Swazi Plaza were flooded on Thursday afternoon following the heavy downpour.

Images of vehicles submerged in water and flooded shops were published in this newspaper on Friday.

The flooding has sparked a debate over the efficiency of the capital citys drainage systems and disaster management plan.
DMCC, the worlds flagship free zone and Government of Dubai Authority on commodities trade and enterprise, has signed a strategic membership agreement with Al Khaleej Sugar and Universa Block Chain that sees DMCC Tradeflow support the development of a new sugar trading platform in Dubai.



The platform under development will enable traders to purchase, store, and trade the sugar of Al Khaleej Sugar through smart contracts on a blockchain technology provided by Universa, said a statement.



The DMCC Tradeflow platform will act as the central registry of ownership of the sugar through enforceable warrants to prove existence of reserves, and enable secure and transparent international trade.



Feryal Ahmadi, chief operating officer, DMCC, said: This is an exciting agreement, and DMCC is supportive of any initiative that enhances the transparency, speed and security underpinning commodities trade.



This partnership will come as welcome news to investors, businesses and the international sugar trade as a whole. We are confident that when complete, this new platform will help drive significant international sugar trade volumes through the emirate of Dubai, he said.



The signing ceremony was held during the Dubai Sugar Conference in Dubai on February 10, and attended by Feryal Ahmadi, chief operating officer, DMCC; Jamal Al Ghurair, managing director, Al Khaleej Sugar; and Alexander Borodich, founder and CEO, Universa Blockchain.



Jamal Al Ghurair, managing director, Al Khaleej Sugar, said: As the largest standalone sugar refinery in the world, with capacity to hold more than 1.6 million tonnes of sugar, we are delighted to be able to set up a sugar platform on such a robust and established platform as DMCC Tradeflow.



And as the world leading commodity trading hub, we look forward to working with DMCC to further boost the sugar trade in Dubai, he said.



Establishing a new sugar platform is a perfect example of how blockchain can be used to increase efficiency and transparency on an already secure platform, commented Alexander Borodich, founder and chief executive officer, Universa. It is encouraging to see such a prominent player in global trade implementing the next generation of technology. I look forward to seeing the platform grow with the aid of our fully scalable blockchain platform.



DMCC Tradeflow is an online platform that offers a secure and transparent central registry of ownership for commodities stored in Dubai. The title of stored commodities can be transferred or pledged through DMCC Tradeflows robust legal and Sharia compliant framework. This unique commodities receipt platform addresses the gap in trade finance in the Mena region, by offering enforceable collateral-based trade finance solutions for all participants in the value chain.



DMCC Tradeflow allows physical inventories that are stored in DMCC certified and rated warehouses around the UAE to be converted into electronic negotiable instruments, DMCC Tradeflow Warrants, governed by a strong and transparent regulatory regime and administered by DMCC, it stated.  TradeArabia News Service
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 02/09/2020



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

star Michael Watson is explaining his side of the story when it comes to the alleged sex ultimatum he gave wife Meka Jones , insisting there was a misunderstanding.Michael appeared on Wednesday night's episode of : Unfiltered and watched back a clip in which he and Meka both attended a pool party with the other Season 10 couples but barely acknowledged each other after arguing the night before.Unfiltered host Jamie Otis asked if tension existed between Michael and his wife, and Michael replied, "I would definitely say there's some tension between us.""We're definitely not seeing eye-to-eye at the moment," Michael admitted, "and it's definitely putting a strain on our marriage and how we interact."Michael and Meka had argued over Michael allegedly giving his wife an ultimatum off camera while they were flying on a plane to Panama for their honeymoon.Meka alleged that Michael had said if they didn't consummate their marriage by the end of the honeymoon, he would probably want out of their relationship.Meka firmly stood by what she had heard , but Michael wouldn't confirm or deny on the show what his exact words were.Instead, Michael just insisted he was trying to be direct and straightforward with his wife in their discussion about intimacy in order to avoid problems or confusion in the future.Jamie therefore asked Michael to share his side of the story on Unfiltered, since Meka stuck by hers when she had appeared on an earlier episode of the spinoff."What happened?!" Jamie flat out asked Michael.After letting out an awkward laugh, Michael looked down at the floor and responded, "Umm," before taking a deep breath and sighing."I think for me, it's just we had a misunderstanding of, like, the role that intimacy plays in our marriage. So the conversation got to the point where we just didn't see eye-to-eye," Michael explained."And I didn't feel comfortable at a certain point and she didn't feel comfortable, and so I removed myself from the situation."By removing himself from the situation, Michael slept in a different hotel room than his wife during the first night of their honeymoon. The couple also apparently slept in separate rooms a second night as well."I mean, that's fair enough," Jamie noted. "Do you think it's important that you both work through it?""It's been difficult," Michael admitted, "but we were matched for a reason and I think the experts see something there and I'm not a quitter, so I do want to see it through."Michael was joined by fellow tenth-season grooms Zach Justice and Brandon Reid on Unfiltered, and Brandon offered his opinion on Michael and Meka sleeping in different hotel rooms on their honeymoon."For me, it's tough when you see a couple not really working out early on," Brandon explained. "Because we all want to continue being happily married. We hope that he works through it."After the dispute, Michael took off his wedding ring , saying it was a representation of something he didn't live up to -- meaning his vows as a husband -- and so Meka followed his lead and suggested they should become friends before adding the pressures of romance.In the latest episode of 's tenth season, Michael and Meka attempted to get their relationship back on track by enjoying an excursion in Panama and getting to know each other better.At the end of a very busy day, Michael told his wife he had high hopes for their marriage and really cared about her, and so Meka pulled him in for a genuine hug.In addition to Meka and Michael, 's tenth season also stars Brandon's wife Taylor Dunklin and Zach's wife Mindy Shiben as well as Katie Conrad and Derek Sherman and Jessica Studer and Austin Hurd currently airs on Wednesday nights at 8PM ET/PT on Lifetime.Interested in more news? Join our Married at First Sight Facebook Group
TORONTO - Criminal groups are exploiting fears over the recent novel coronavirus outbreak in an email phishing campaign directed at the global shipping industry, according to a report issued Monday by a California-based cybersecurity firm.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/2/2020 (700 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A woman uses her computer keyboard to type while surfing the internet in North Vancouver, B.C., on December, 19, 2012. A U.S. cyber security company says criminal groups are exploiting fears over the new coronavirus to attack the global shipping industry.California-based Proofpoint says it has detected a new email campaign that uses Microsoft Word attachments designed to trick recipients into installing a type of malware known as AZORult. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

TORONTO - Criminal groups are exploiting fears over the recent novel coronavirus outbreak in an email phishing campaign directed at the global shipping industry, according to a report issued Monday by a California-based cybersecurity firm.

Proofpoint said the new campaign uses emails with bogus Microsoft Word attachments that are designed to install a type of malware known as AZORult.

AZORult has been around since at least 2016 and can be used to install ransomware, which is designed to lock legitimate users out of their computer systems until a ransom is paid.

"In these (coronavirus-related) attacks, we don't see AZORult downloading ransomware currently," Proofpoint said.

"However, because of AZORults configurable nature and past use in conjunction with ransomware that remains a real threat."

Proofpoint didn't provide statistics on how many actual coronavirus-themed malicious emails have been detected or how much damage has been caused by coronavirus-themed malicious emails.

The Canadian government's Centre for Cyber Security said in an email that it was aware of both the AZORult malware and coronavirus-related phishing campaigns but didn't comment specifically on the Proofpoint report.

"Cyber actors tend to use social engineering and topical subjects to lure their targets to click on a malicious link," the centre said.

Its website cyber.gc.ca provides alerts and advice for spotting and dealing with email scams, known as phishing, and more targeted campaigns known as spear-phishing that focus on personal characteristics, interests or lines of work.

"Employees are privy to important and sensitive information, and as a result, often receive malicious emails that are intended to provide cyber intruders access to this information," the agency says.

The RCMP said it is aware of this latest malware threat, but is not aware of any reported victims.

"We always urge caution in handling unsolicited email and we suggest recipients avoid opening attachments or clicking links from unknown senders. If you are a victim of cybercrime, report it to your local police and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre," said spokeswoman Catherine Fortin.

U.S. cybersecurity firm Sophos said last week that it had learned of a scam that used fake emails pretending to be safety instructions from the World Health Organization.

"Fortunately, at least for fluent speakers of English, the criminals have made numerous spelling and grammatical mistakes that act as warning signs that this is not what it seems," Sophos said in a blog post dated Feb. 5.

Proofpoint said in its posting that the narrowly focused campaign it detected seems to originate from Russia and Eastern Europe but there's no evidence linking the actors to a known criminal group.

However, it says the attackers seem to be sophisticated and have targeted industries that are susceptible to shipping disruptions including manufacturing, industrial, finance, transportation, pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies.

"A coronavirus-related shipping supply disruption would negatively impact each of the company types listed above and it's clear these attackers are aware that a major event like coronavirus can have secondary impacts on industries.

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"This awareness demonstrates not just technical sophistication, but economic sophistication as well," Proofpoint said in its article.

Proofpoint advised workers to exercise caution when presented with coronavirus-themed email messages and attachments, as well as links and websites that could be used by criminals as lures.

Meanwhile, health officials in Canada have repeatedly stressed that the coronavirus currently poses a low risk to the public in this country. Seven cases have been identified in Canada, while worldwide, the illness known as 2019-nCoV has sickened more than 37,000 people and killed more than 800, nearly all in China.

Nevertheless, Canadians are being urged to remain vigilant against infection, with medical experts advising good hygiene practices such as washing hands frequently and coughing or sneezing into tissue.

 with a file from Cassandra Szklarski in Toronto

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 10, 2020.
In a first for Luxembourg, business owners in the Central station neighbourhood of the capital have received financial aid from Luxtram due to losses incurred by ongoing tram construction works.

Luxtram is taking over 50% of losses caused during the construction site period. On Thursday, business owners met with Luxtram to discuss the procedure.

Luxtram president Frank Vansteenkiste explained that affected businesses would be able to submit requests year upon year. If they incurred losses in the previous year, they can send in their annual accounting report to the firm and five to six weeks later, they will be compensated.

The roadworks currently taking place are of an exceptional scale, the firm admitted. But the procedure to compensate retailers must be subject to specific criteria, Vansteenkiste highlighted. He pointed out that taxpayer funds would be transferred to business owners.

On the side of the affected retailers, the consensus is that they are relieved and pleased at the gesture, but believe it is 'by far not enough'.

Restaurant owner Gabriel Boisante, a LSAP councillor for the Luxembourg City municipality, pointed out that businesses have lost between 40 and 80 percent of their revenue.

He doubted whether the measure is enough to save businesses, adding that in his own case as well as those of others, it is far from sufficient. Boisante admitted he is lucky to have other businesses, but hopes he will not have to close down his venture in the Gare neighbourhood.

However, other business owners are despondent and will likely have to declare bankruptcy at the end of the year.

Business owners are generally demanding that the work on the tram network take place over two shifts, to speed up the work and finish the construction. They have also praised the fact that work will not stop over the collective leave period, a decision that will certainly accelerate progress on construction.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 11)  Talitay, Maguindanao Mayor Abdulwahab Sabal was gunned down in front of a hotel in Malate, Manila on late Monday.

The victim was about to enter a hotel in Quirino Avenue when he was killed at past 10 pm, said Manila Police District Station 9 commander PLtCol. Samuel Pabonita.

All three of the mayor' companions escaped unscathed.

Initial investigation said that Sabal and his companions came from another hotel in Manila before the incident happened.

The police responded to the crime scene at around 11:30 pm. The suspect was yet to be identified.

Pabonita also said that the hotels glass door was shattered due to the commotion by the victims companions who tried to enter the establishment during the shooting incident.

In 2016, Sabal and his brother Montasir were included in President Rodrigo Dutertes list of politicians who are allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade. This led to Sabal's arrest and inquest proceedings at the Department of Justice.

Sabal, who was then the vice mayor, was also probed for the bombing incident in a night market at Davao City on the same year.
So, youve narrowed your smart speaker choices down to the top two high-end models: the Google Home Max that came to market in late 2017, and the Amazon Echo Studio that came two years later. You have good taste, my friend. These are both very fine speakers even if they dont compete with high-fidelity dumb loudspeakers from the likes of Bowers & Wilkins, Naim, or Bang & Olufsen.

Comparing the Google Home Max and Amazon Echo Studio on seven counts reveals some important differences, and one important similarity, that should help you make up your mind.

Round 1: Audio performance

Even if your sole reason for buying a smart speaker is to control your smart home, youre still buying a speaker. Youll still care what your digital assistant of choice sounds like when it responds to your commands and queries even if you never intend to play music on that speaker. That might matter less with an entry-level smart speaker, but when youre shopping at this level, a smart speakers musicality is its most important attribute.

Google The Google Home Max features a more traditional speaker design than the Amazon Echo Studio.

And on this score, the Google Home Max is better than any smart speaker on the market. While I wouldnt classify it as an audiophile product, its dual 4.5-inch high-excursion woofers and two 0.7-inch dome tweeters driven by six Class D amplifiers deliver exciting audio performances with all types of music.

The Amazon Echo Studio comes in a very close second on this score, however, and thats saying a lot. While its single 5.25-inch woofer is smaller, it delivers only very slightly less bass response. The construction of its enclosure, on the other hand, does little to prevent vibrations from the speaker from being transferred to whatever surface the speaker is resting on, coloring its sound in the process.

Amazon This cutaway illustration shows how the Amazon Echo Studios drivers are configured to deliver 3D audio from tracks encoded with Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio.

Amazon is also unique in its support for 3D audio, via Sonys 360 Reality Audio and Dolby Atmos. But youll need to pony up for a subscription to Amazon Music HD to get it. TechHive contributor and home audio expert Scott Wilkinson has great things to say about Sonys new format played on headphones, but I was less impressed with it as rendered on the Echo Studio.

Both smart speakers can be paired with a matching second speaker for stereo performance, and both can be nodes in a multi-room audio system. But only Amazon offers the option of adding a wireless subwoofer for deep bass reproduction.

But fidelity is more important than thump and sonic tomfoolery in my book, so the Google Home Max wins this round.

Winner: Google Home Max

Round 2: Voice recognition

The primary reason anyone buys a high-end smart speaker is to listen to music. And if youre listening to music on a high-end speaker, youre likely going to play it loud. The conundrum is that the microphones on the speaker need to be able to hear you say the wake word even while the speaker is blasting your favorite tunes. On this score, I found the mics on the Google Home Max to be more capable of hearing me say (or shout, to be fair) Hey, Google while the speaker was pumping music at full volume than the Echo Studio was at hearing me yell Alexa while similarly cranked.

Michael Brown / IDG The Google Home Max has microphones on its right side, which becomes the top side when the speaker is vertically oriented.

At the other end of the spectrum, there are times when you most certainly dont want to raise your voice when asking your smart speaker to do something for youwhen youre in bed with your partner who you dont want to disturb. Amazons Alexa has a whisper mode that lets you speak very softly to an Echo and Alexa will respond in kind. Google Assistants Night Mode will reduce its volume, emit a tone instead of a vocal response, and limit the brightness of its LED indicators; but this only works at defined times on specified days.

In other respects, both speakers have excellent voice recognition. Youll need to decide which of the two advantages described above is more important to you, but Im calling this one a tie.

Winner: Tie

Round 4: Physical controls

Dont underestimate the importance of buttons. Yes, youll use your voice to control a smart speaker 95 percent of the time, but theres nothing better than the sensation of touchat least when youre near the speaker.

Michel Brown / IDG Theres no mystery about what the Amazon Echo Studios controls do.

The Amazon Echo Studio and Google Home Max both have physical controls, but the Echo Studios distinct buttons for volume control are superior to the touch-sensitive slider on the Google Home Max. Pushing buttons delivers reassuring tactile feedback that non-haptic touch-sensitive controls cant match. Id like old-fashioned rotating knobs even more, although they might not be as aesthetically pleasing.

Winner: Amazon Echo Studio

Round 5: Privacy protections

Neither Amazon nor Google are in the vanguard of personal privacy protection. Theres no shortage of horror stories about privacy breaches from both: Amazon admitted that human error led to one Echo user gaining access to more than 1,000 voice recordings made by another Echo user. And Google admitted last year that it had been using paid contractors to listen to audio clips recorded by Google Assistant, including user names, addresses, and other personal information.

Michael Brown / IDG The red ring encircling the Amazon Echo Studio provides unambiguous visual feedback that its mics are muted for privacy.

While each company has made strides to improve its performance on this front, theres no question that putting a smart speaker in your home opens your personal space to a third party.

Both speakers allow you to mute their microphones, but this step is easier to perform on the Echo Studio than it is on the Google Home Max, and Amazons speaker provides the better visual cue that its mics are turned off. To mute the Echo Studios mic, you merely need to tap the button on the left-hand top of the speaker. When you do, the LED light ring encircling the tweeter turns a deep red.

Michael Brown / IDG A row of orange dots isnt the most intuitive indication that the Google Home Maxs microphones are muted for privacy.

To mute the mics on the Google Home Max, youll need to reach around and slide a switch on the back of the speaker. This is not only less convenient, but the speakers visual feedbackfour static orange dots displayed beneath its cloth grillis a much less obvious cue that the speaker isnt listening to you. So, the Amazon Echo Studio wins this roundhowever barely.

Winner: Amazon Echo Studio

Round 6: Smart home ecosystem support

Google is working hard to close the gap on this score, but Amazon maintains a very slight lead in terms of support from third-party smart home device manufacturers. Most ship new products with support for both digital assistants, but nonebarring the Google-owned Nest, perhapsship without supporting at least Alexa.

It also just feels more natural to say Alexa, turn on the light than to say Hey, Google. Turn on the light. Alexa has a personality, where Google Assistant never feels like much more than a cold-hearted robot. That last assessment might be something of a personal bias for meyou might feel differently. Google Assistant runs away with the next category, but Alexa wins this round.

Winner: Amazon Echo Studio

Round 7: General knowledge queries

Theres no contest on this round. Google Assistants hooks into the Google search engine imbue it with a tremendous advantage when youre looking for general information versus needing to play music, turn on a light, lock your door, arm your security system, or get similar tasks done in your smart home.

The two platforms are on an even keel only when you ask very simple questions, for example: How many ounces are in a cup? But in most other respects, even where youd expect Alexa to have a leg upanswering questions about who starred in or directed a movie, for instance, since Amazon owns IMDba Google Home smart speaker beats an Amazon Echo every time.

Winner: Google Home Max

Michael Brown / IDG The Google Home Max (left) has a much smaller footprint when its vertically oriented.

Bottom line: Its a close call, but

Im putting greater weight on this comparisons first round, musical performance, to declare the Google Home Max a superior smart speaker over the Amazon Echo Studio.

Yes, Googles speaker won only two of the seven rounds and tied Amazons high-end speaker in a third. So, yeah, Im putting my thumb on the scale. But if you dont care about a smart speakers audio fidelity, theres really no reason to spend several hundred dollars to buy onepick up an entry-level Nest Home Mini or Amazon Echo Dot, instead.
Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev on Monday urged Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' to take action against the alleged harrasment of students at the all-women Gargi College during a cultural festival.

In a letter to Pokhriyal, Dev said evidence has also come to light that the people responsible for this attack are from a particular ideology which points towards a right-wing mind set.

Over the years there has been politicisation of curriculum, discrimination of ideology and views, and in the past few months institutions have come under attack by people allegedly affiliated with political ideology of the "right-wing that you represent", the Mahila Congress chief said.

The most recent incident in which young girls of Gargi College were assaulted, molested, harassed and traumatised by goons, who barged into their campus during their college fest while security and police watched on, is by far the most abhorrent, she said.

The college administration was not only unable to ensure the safety of its students and those who had come to participate, but it also went as far as to blame the victims for being unable to ensure their own safety, she said.

"The attitude of the administration is extremely disturbing. Such an incident should have caused a furore in the ministry for the sheer dereliction of duty on the part of the administration and the police, but unfortunately it seems that either silence or mere lip service is all we have gotten," she said in the letter.

"But, no action has forthcoming to prevent these incidents or take action against the administration or the authorities, which not only disheartens us but also casts serious aspersions on the independence of the functioning of your ministry," Dev said.

She said the Ministry of Human Resource Development is meant to serve the nation and its youth "so I respectfully implore you to take necessary action in this matter because you are a Minister for all of us, not just of the political party that is currently in power or any particular ideology".

Four days after a group of men broke into the Gargi College and allegedly groped, harassed and molested students, Delhi Police on Monday registered a complaint as hundreds of students protested demanding strict action against the intruders.

The outrage of Gargi students following the attacks during their college festival Reverie on February 6 found wide echo with students from other colleges sharing their anguish, political parties speaking out and the issue being raised in Parliament.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
PLYMOUTH, N.H.  In a perfect world, Susan Stepp, a 73-year-old retiree, would be voting vote for Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren in New Hampshires Democratic presidential primary Tuesday, she says. But that wont be happening.

I am not sure a woman is the best candidate to go up against Trump, Stepp said recently as she stood in the back of a conference room listening to tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang as part of her hunt for the best candidate to challenge the Republican incumbent.

Stepps concern has coursed through the Democratic primary for months, registering in polling, interviews and, now, the first votes cast. In Iowas caucuses last Monday, many Democrats did not prioritize breaking the gender barrier to the Oval Office and they viewed being a woman as a hindrance rather than an advantage in the race.

Only about one-third of Iowa caucusgoers backed a female candidate. Topping the caucus field were two men, former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders,. Women were only slightly more likely than men to back one of the three women in the race, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 3,000 Iowa voters.

Most Iowa Democrats said it was important for a woman to be president in their lifetimes. But many voters, including about half of all women, said a female nominee would have a harder time beating Donald Trump in November.

He will just use that against her, like he did Hillary, Stepp said, looking back to Trumps 2016 race against Hillary Clinton in 2016. He doesnt debate. He just insults. I dont think he would have that same effect if he went up against a strong man. Stepp said she plans to vote for Sanders.

Those perceptions present an undeniable headwind for the women in the race, who have spent months making the case that a woman can win. As they seek success in New Hampshire, both Warren and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar must work to energize voters about the chance to make history and persuade them it is possible this year, in this race against this president.

In 2020, we can and should have a woman for president, Warren said at a CNN town hall this past week, days after taking third in Iowa. Klobuchar came in fifth. The Associated Press has not called a winner in the Iowa caucus because the race is too close to call.

Iowans appeared open to that message. Most Democratic voters in the state, 72%, said they thought it is important for the U.S. to elect a woman president in their lifetimes, and that included roughly two-thirds of men.

But most were resolved to put it off for another election. That was true of men and women. The survey found 34% of women voted for Warren, Klobuchar or the longshot candidacy of Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, compared with 28% of men.

Overall, many Democratic voters thought it would be harder for a woman to beat Trump. About half of women said they thought a female nominee would have a harder time, compared with about 4 in 10 men. Men who harbored that concern were significantly less likely to vote for a woman than a man.

Experts say the findings are in line with traditional patterns in voting by gender  women usually dont coalesce around one of their own. Nobodys going to win an election by unifying women because women are not a unified bloc, said Kathy Dolan, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Theres no evidence that suggests for us that women candidates vote much more for women candidates than men.

Analysts say its no surprise that women express more anxiety about a woman defeating Trump, given that through personal experience, theyre familiar with the barriers of sexism.

Women are more likely to have experienced or observed gender discrimination or sexism, said Jennifer Lawless, a political scientist at the University of Virginia.

Notably, experts said, theres no data showing that women underperform or outperform men in general elections. But Lawless noted that having to fight that perception that a woman cannot win may actually work against the female candidates in this race.

Anytime theyre trying to convince voters that a woman can beat Donald Trump, theyre not talking about health care or foreign affairs, she said.

Warren spent months trying to avoid the gender issue, seeing questions about pervasive sexism in politics as a lose-lose proposition. Either she acknowledged that being a woman created all kinds of challenges because of inherent bias, and appeared to be whining about it, or she said it wasnt a problem and would therefore seem out of touch, she told aides.

But, since the New Year, Warren has shifted her strategy dramatically, taking the issue head on. She raised it directly in asserting that Sanders had suggested a woman couldnt win the White House, and, after they clashed about it during a debate in Iowa, refused to shake his hand on national television.

In the final days before Iowa, Warren began talking about a womans electability. She now repeats at every campaign stop that women have performed better in recent elections than men, underscoring the role of female candidates who helped Democrats retake control of the House in 2018.

The world has changed since 2016, Warren said during a rally this past week in Keene, New Hampshire. Women have been outperforming men in competitive races. Can women win? You bet women can win.

Pushpa Mudan, a 68-year-old retired physician, is one of those anxious women whos sticking to her guns. She attended a Warren rally on Wednesday at a community college in Nashua, New Hampshire.

She said shes seen Warren three times in recent months, and also attended a recent Klobuchar rally, and is still deciding between the two, though shell likely pick Warren in the primary. Mudan said electing a woman as president is a top issue for her, but shes afraid that none will be able to compete with Trump.

I think this country, for considering itself an advanced country, is very far behind the rest of the world by not having a woman at the highest position, she said. Places like Pakistan, Turkey have had a female president. Not here. But the way Trump puts them down, it is hard for any to make it, I think. Its going to be very hard.

__

Associated Press writers Will Weissert and Kathleen Ronayne in Manchester, New Hampshire, contributed to this report.

This story corrects the first name of University of Virginia political scientist Jennifer Lawless.
[February 10, 2020] H.I.G. Bayside Capital Promotes Andrew Scotland to Co-Head of Special Situations Debt in Europe

H.I.G. Bayside Capital ("Bayside"), the distressed debt and special situation affiliate of H.I.G. Capital ("H.I.G."), a leading global private equity investment firm with over 31 billion of equity capital under management, is pleased to announce the promotion of Andrew Scotland to Co-Head of the firm's European special situations debt activities. Andrew will co-head alongside Bayside Managing Director Duncan Priston. Andrew has over twenty-two years of investment banking and distressed investment experience. He previously worked as a Managing Director in RBS's Special Situations Group for more than six years, where he was focused on European distressed investments. Executive Managing Director John Bolduc commented, "Since joining the firm in 2013, Andrew has been instrumental in helping to grow the firm's distressed debt portfolio in Europe. He is an asset to our team, and we are delighted to expand his role within Bayside." Co-Head of Bayside's European special situations debt activities, Duncan Prison, added, "I congratulate Andrew on his well-deserved promotion and am excited about the opportunities his promotion can generate as we continue to execute H.I.G.'s successful Bayside European strategy. I look forward to collaborating more closely with Andrew as Bayside continues playing an important role in the European credit markets." About Bayside Capital Bayside Capital is the special situations affiliate of H.I.G. Capital. Focused on middle market companies, Bayside invests across seveal segments of the primary and secondary debt capital markets with an emphasis on long term returns. With eight offices throughout the U.S. and Europe and over 350 investment professionals to draw upon, Bayside has the experience, resources, and flexibility required to provide capital solutions quickly, and the strategic and operational expertise to help support its investments. For more information, please refer to the Bayside website at www.bayside.com.



About H.I.G. Capital H.I.G. is a leading global private equity and alternative assets investment firm with over 31 billion of equity capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta in the U.S., as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Bogota, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused/ value-added approach:

H.I.G.'s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalizations and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses. H.I.G.'s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. is also a leading CLO manager, through its WhiteHorse family of vehicles, and manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance. H.I.G.'s real estate funds invest in value-added properties, which can benefit from improved asset management practices. Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 300 companies worldwide. The firm's current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of 27 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.higcapital.com. * Based on total capital commitments managed by H.I.G. Capital and affiliates. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200210005405/en/

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Volunteers from the Civil Aid Service wearing protective clothing take part in a chicken cull demonstration as part of an emergency response exercise in Hong Kong on May 21, 2017. (Dale de la Rey/AFP via Getty Images)

China Reports First H5N6 Bird Flu on Poultry Farm in Sichuan

An outbreak of the H5N6 bird flu has been reported by regime officials in Chinas Sichuan province and is separate from the coronavirus outbreak that has prompted lockdowns in other parts of the country.

It is the first H5N6 avian flu detected on a poultry farm after four cases were discovered in swans earlier this year in Xinjiang, Reuters reported.

The ministry said on Sunday night that 1,840 of 2,497 birds died on the farm, reported Reuters. The remainder of the birds were culled to prevent the spread of the virus.

There were no cases of human infection reported by the ministry, according to Taiwan News.

In January, the agricultural ministry said 19 swans were killed by the illness in a reservoir inhabited by about 150 birds, according to Reuters.

H5N6 can cause severe illness in people, but cases are rare even inside mainland China. The regime has reported a total of 24 confirmed cases to the World Health Organization since 2014, including seven people who died, reported Taiwan News, citing WHO data.

Earlier this month, Chinas Hunan Province reported an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu, which also left thousands of birds dead or culled, on a farm.

The countrys ministry of agriculture said on Feb. 2 that 18,000 chickens were culled in Shaoyang, Hunan province. But that came after some 4,500 chickens were sickened and died, amounting to more than half the flock on the farm at the source of the outbreak.

The strain of influenza was the poultry H5N1 subtype of the highly pathogenic bird flu, its statement read. The H5N1 avian flu has killed hundreds of people across the world since 2003, according to data from the WHO (pdf). It comes as the municipal government in Shanghai announced Feb. 10 that 13,000 residential districts in the city are now in seal-off management due to the coronavirus threat, according to the governments Weibo account. Registration is now required for any persons entering and leaving these districts. People returning from Chinese areas severely affected by the virus are required to be put in isolation for 14 days. Officials in Beijing announced similar measures to curb the spreading of coronavirus. One measure involves seal-off management of residential districts and villages. Local residents and locally-registered vehicles can enter residential areas only with proper identification. Non-locals and their vehicles are forbidden from entering. Strict centralized isolation will be enforced and the local public security bureau will step in to enforce the isolation measure for people who fail to comply, the announcement notice said.
Quick-thinking colleagues saved a man's life after he was crushed by a falling tree in he was trying to clear from power lines.

The man in his late 30s was chopping a tree in a cherry picker in Robertson, southwest of Wollongong, after Sunday's huge storm.

Suddenly the tree fell and 'effectively crushed him', giving him major head and chest trauma and sending him into cardiac arrest.

Quick-thinking colleagues saved a man's life after he was crushed by a falling tree in he was trying to clear from power lines

Colleagues lowered him to the ground and began CPR, then used a defibrillator to restart his heart before paramedics arrived.

The man was rushed from Roberson Nature Reserve to Liverpool Hospital by helicopter about 2pm on Monday in critical condition.

Locals said the man was breathing when he was loaded on to the chopper thanks to 'miraculous' work by his colleagues and paramedics.

The man in his late 30s was chopping a tree in a cherry picker in Robertson, southwest of Wollongong, after Sunday's huge storm, and airlifted to hospital

NSW Ambulance Inspector Gavin Wood said the storm made trees hazardous and pleaded with people to be careful.

'Trees and shrubbery around the place is being coming quite dangerous and unstable the drought has dried a lot of the forest and woodlands out,' he said.

'We ask that people be mindful and vigilant.'
A reckless driver has remarkably survived after hurtling off a cliff at 125mph and crashing into the sea.

Pedestrians dived out of the way of the supposedly drugged-up motorist, 26, as he lost control of the Skoda Fabia and whizzed towards the precipice in Son Veri, Nou, Majorca, on Sunday morning.

Despite appearing to smash into rocks and rip chunks off the vehicle while racing across the bumpy clifftops, he flew off the edge with such velocity that pictures show the sunken vehicle shot quite a distance.

Firefighter divers check the wreckage for any more victims after a drugged-up driver hurtled off the cliff in Majorca

Pictures show the spot where the car hurtled off the cliff, appearing to tear chunks off as he raced over the bumpy surface

Pedestrians dived out of the way of the reckless motorist, 26, as he lost control of the Skoda Fabia and whizzed towards the precipice in Son Veri, Nou, Majorca (pictured)

A group of passing cyclists jumped into the water to drag the driver out of the submerged car, and emergency crews were scrambled to the crash site.

The driver, who is from the Spanish island, was injured and rushed to the hospital in Son Espases, where there have been no updates on his condition.

He was arrested and taken into custody, before being charged with a crime against traffic security, reckless driving and driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs - the latter offence he is reported to have admitted, without specifying the drugs.

The unnamed driver claimed he had been travelling alone, but firefighter divers were sent to the wreckage to check for any further victims.

The water is flat calm and the water is shallow, making the Skoda - resting on the sea bed - easily visible to the camera

Photographs show firefighers standing on the cliff overlooking the divers, watching them intently

A video of the rescue operation shows divers kitted up in full scuba gear, rolling backwards off the sponsons of a RIB floating near the sunken car

A video of the operation shows them kitted up in full scuba gear, rolling backwards off the sponsons of a RIB floating near the sunken car.

The water is flat calm and the water is shallow, making the Skoda - resting on the sea bed - easily visible to the camera, which is believed to be attached to a drone.

The pair of divers kick over to the silver vehicle and haul open the car doors and squeeze inside. After quickly sweeping the car, they exit and regroup outside.

Photographs show firefighers standing on the cliff overlooking the divers, watching them intently.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Feb. 09, 2020 | 05:39 PM | MAYFIELD

A man charged with murdering a Mayfield woman almost four years ago has been found guilty.

Ezell Miller was convicted Friday night. A Graves County jury returned the guilty verdict at approximately 8:00 pm.

Miller will spend the rest of his life behind bars without the possibility of parole. Formal sentencing is set for April 14.

Miller is charged with the 2016 fatal shooting of Lauren Alexander. Mayfield police found Alexander inside her West Hale Street home with a gunshot wound. Officers also found Miller at the home.

Alexander was taken to Jackson Purchase Medical Center, then to Skyline Medical Center in Nashville, TN where she later passed away.

Miller was charged with murder, 1st degree burglary, tampering with physical evidence, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and 1st degree wanton endangerment.
Naftogaz of Ukraine continues to sue Russia for lost Crimean assets and will demand $8 billion, including interest, Naftogaz Executive Director Yuriy Vitrenko has said on Facebook.

"This week, we are finalizing preparations for the next submission of documents as part of the arbitration process against the Russian Federation on assets in Crimea. This arbitration process has been going on for several years," Vitrenko wrote.

He noted that the lost assets were estimated to be worth about $8 billion, including interest.

"By the way, Ukraine's prime minister stated in a letter to Naftogaz's supervisory board that agreements with Gazprom were made possible thanks 'to the agreements reached by the political leadership of the state at the interstate level.' If it means believing that such agreements have played a decisive role, it would be good if the country's political leadership has just reached an agreement at the interstate level on Russia paying us compensation for the loss of assets in Crimea (about $8 billion, including interest)," Vitrenko said.

He recalled that the said lawsuit goes beyond the framework of reached agreements on the mutual cancellation of court claims for the purpose of signing a gas transit contract.

"I note that in the arbitration process on assets in Crimea, we are opposed by the state of the Russian Federation, not Gazprom, and therefore this arbitration process is not covered by the settlement agreement with Gazprom, which Naftogaz concluded in December after Gazprom complied with the Stockholm arbitration court's decision to pay us $4.6 billion (plus $400 million as interest on the date of the final settlement) and agreed to extend gas transit," Vitrenko added.

On October 17, 2016, Naftogaz and six of its subsidiaries initiated arbitration proceedings against Russia, demanding compensation for damages.

In August 2017, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague started considering Naftogaz's arbitration application against Russia regarding compensation for assets lost as a result of the 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.

Oral hearings on jurisdiction and responsibility took place at the Peace Palace in The Hague in May 2018.

In March 2019, Naftogaz received a positive opinion in a lawsuit against Russia. The Tribunal acknowledged jurisdiction in the case of lost assets.

op
The North Korean government has virtually no resources for fighting off the deadly Coronavirus. So much so, that the Kim Jong Un regime canceled its most anticipated parade in central Pyongyang on Saturday, to celebrate the 72nd anniversary of the founding of the countrys armed forces.





By James DiGeorgia,

The annual event since Kim Jong Un rose to power on his fathers death has feathered him presiding over the parade that displays the Norths latest missiles and other fearsome weaponry along with a hundred thousand plus goose-stepping soldiers or riding in tanks. This year theres no parade, no bragging about its nuclear warheads or even an unveiling of the countrys new strategic weapon that Kim has vowed to unveil.

North Koreas Rodong Sinmum, officially known as the ruling Workers Party newspaper, went low key with a claim that the countrys armed forces has a record of success combating severe and dangerous difficulties. The annual parade was canceled but no mention was offered for the reason why.

There have been absolutely no reports about the Coronavirus despite the reality that the country has sealed its 880-mile border with China, and its 11-mile border with Russia.

However, fatalities in North Korea are being reported by South Koreas Seoul-based website Daily NK that claims five people had died in the critical northwestern city of Sinuiju, which is the largest Chinese city in the region and a key point for commerce with North Korea despite sanctions. There have been absolutely no estimates of the total number of infections in Sinuiju, much less the entire country.

Daily NK, relies entirely on sources inside North Korea that send reports via Chinese mobile phone networks to the newspapers contacts in China. These sources report that NK authorities had

ordered public health officials in Sinuiju to quickly dispose of the bodies and keep the deaths secret from the public.

According to Daily NK, those who have died from the Coronavirus crossed the porous Yalu River border despite orders to cut off traffic from China. Sources report that one of the first NK infected patients was hospitalized in Sinuiju

with symptoms similar to a cold and was given fever reducers and antibiotics.

but, the patient died as the fever rose. The two more patients died two days later in another hospital in Sinuiju and two more in a nearby town.

North Korea could suffer a Coronavirus epidemic worse than thats sweeping through China and globally because of its shortage of essential medicine and equipment. If the Coronavirus sweeps through the hermit kingdom unchecked, it could undermine its dictators Kims tight-fisted control over his country of 25 million people, most of whom live in poverty, suffer hunger and weakened immune systems.

Bruce Bennett, a long-time analyst at the Rand Corporation in an interview with Bloomberg

Because health conditions and health care in North Korea are so badthey cannot allow the replication process to develop without severe interventionthey have to take drastic steps to keep the virus from spreading fast.

According to Daily NKs the dictatorship to its north, just streamlined a headquarters to coordinate operations and reports marshaling 30,000 workers to combat the epidemic. That alone would prove that North Koreas exposure to the potentially deadly virus is not contained to a small number indicted by the five reported deaths in Sinuiju.

Another indication the North Korean exposure to the coronavirus is a severe problem is a fact that foreigners working in Pyongyang, including those with diplomatic missions or non-governmental organizations, were banned temporarily from venturing outside for shopping.

Further, without mentioning the Coronavirus hospitals and clinics in Pyongyang that do have a supply of the needed supplies and other hospitals serving the elite in the capital and elsewhere are revealing desperation subtly through the state media.

South Korean news agency and the South Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun warned on Saturday  the fate of North Korea was at stake. This echoes the warning of Bennett of the Rand Corporation concern who stressed in his interview...

North Korea lacks a vaccine or medical abilitiesso they have to act by preventing the disease from coming into North Korea.

The point is they must

rapidly contain any leakageexactly what they are trying to do by preventing people-to-people contacts.

Anyone with an understanding of North Korea knows that stopping all traffic between the two authoritarian countries is virtually impossible as long as people move illicitly across the border, carrying on low-level commerce in need to survive an old decrepit system.

Coronavirus Reached Pyongyang, North Koreas Capital

JoongAng Ilbo, one of South Koreas newspapers, cited an anonymous source saying that a woman had been diagnosed in the capital and that all those with whom she had had contact had been quarantined.

Still, North Korea officially has denied any cases of the Coronavirus while at the same time attempting to get people to cooperate in stopping the spread of the disease.

JoongAng Ilbo quoted a North Korean health official, Song In-bom, as having called on North Korean TV for

civil awareness and unity in dealing with the disease while assuring his audience there had so far been no cases.

Evans Revere, a former senior U.S. diplomat who specializes in North Korean issues, was quoted on Saturday as saying

I believe absolutely nothing of what I hear from Pyongyang.

It simply defies credibility that a country with a grossly inadequate public health infrastructure and a malnourished population, a country that depends on China for some 90 percent of its trade, and a country that had until recently opened itself up to a major influx of Chinese tourists to earn foreign exchange has avoided having many victims.

The total closure of the border and other measures Pyongyang has taken reflect a real sense of emergency in the North about the threat.

Revere went on to say

I can't help but think it may also reflect panic if the number of patients is growing.

Another pair of North Korean experts Victor Cha and Marie DuMond of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington in an article in Beyond Parallel, published by CSIS, reported that

the Coronavirus arguably poses a unique threat to North Korea.

The regimes relative isolation from the international community hinders the widespread penetration of many diseases from abroad, they wrote, but the porous nature of the border with China and frequent travel is a clear vector for the virus transmissionIf there are reports of the virus inside of North Korea, we should expect that the virus would spread rapidly, given the states inability to contain a pandemic.

By Now, it May be too Late for North Korea to Stamp Out the Deadly Effects of the Coronavirus!

Chosun Ilbo, South Koreas biggest-selling newspaper, citing anonymous sources

Several suspected Coronavirus infections have occurred in North Korea even though it shut all its borders. The infections most likely spread through porous parts of the border with China that see plenty of smuggling and other clandestine traffic.

Steve Tharp, whos been analyzing North Korean affairs as both an army officer and civilian expert for many years in South Korea, said in Chosun Ilbo

Bottom line, the coronavirus has tightened up sanctions enforcement more than any other measure over the years because the North Koreans are actually self-enforcing the sanctions, against their will, through the tight closing of their borders in order to save the regime from being wiped out by this human pandemic coming.
A rtificial intelligence being used to deliver public services may discriminate against some people, a watchdog warned today.

The Committee on Standards in Public Life, chaired by former MI5 boss Lord Evans, highlighted the risk of bias in machines being used by Whitehall.

It said data bias was a serious concern and called for further work to measure and mitigate the impact of bias to prevent discrimination via algorithm.

Lord Evans added: AI and, in particular, machine learning, will transform the way public-sector organisations make decisions and deliver services.

Public-sector organisations are not sufficiently transparent about their use of AI and it is too difficult to find out where machine learning is currently being used in government.

Healthcare and policing currently have the most developed AI programmes, the committee added.

But it highlighted concerns that algorithmic tools to screen visa applications risked replicating historic bias if officials had previously discriminated against applicants from certain countries.

Similarly, job application AI filters could be discriminatory if data inputted by humans had, for example, in the past favoured men over women.

The UK does not need a new AI regulator but regulators must adapt to the challenges that AI poses to their sectors, added Lord Evans.

He also defended the Governments decision to allow Chinese tech giant Huawei a limited role in Britains 5G network, a move which has angered Donald Trump.
The coronavirus can spread quickly among humans, usually through close person-to-person contact and respiratory droplets. Authorities in Britain and beyond are scrambling to trace the businessmans tracks from the time he caught the virus to when he tested positive in Britain several days later. From Singapore, he reportedly stopped at a French ski resort, boarded a flight, dropped by a pub in his hometown and may have gone to a medical clinic. Authorities are getting in touch with those who may have come into close contact with him.
GEICO is inviting anyone interested to sign up; no prior insurance experience is necessary, and all training and mentorship are provided to new associates upon hiring. Associates will also be given a range of benefits, including a health benefits package, retirement and finance options and continuing education opportunities.

In addition to being a major employer in the region, GEICO is heavily involved in local charity work. A release mentioned that the insurer has been one of the largest contributors to the United Way of Central Georgia  a local social services organization  for the past 14 years. Associates with the company have also been honored for their volunteer work for Bibb County Public Schools and Middle Georgia Community Food Bank.
Christians United for Israel to release documentary exposing rise of anti-Semitism

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Anti-Semitism is on the rise throughout the world and to combat increasing prejudice and persecution Christian United for Israel, the largest pro-Israel organization in the U.S., will be releasing an upcoming documentary, titled Never Again?

Violent anti-Semitism is rising across the country, and people of conscience cannot sit idly by, CUFI founder and Chairman, pastor John Hagee, said in a statement shared with The Christian Post.

Anti-Semites have used the fertile ground of ignorance to grow their malicious ideology. If we are to stem the tide, we must inoculate the next generation against the worlds oldest hatred by empowering them with knowledge and reaching them with a message of unity, he added. If we are to fulfill the promise of Never Again, we cannot allow the memory of the Holocaust to fade.

CUFI released a trailer for the feature-length film just days after Holocaust Remembrance Day when 200 survivors gathered at the Auschwitz Nazi extermination camp to honor and remember their loved ones who perished there from illness and starvation or execution. That same week, the Pew Research Center released a survey that found 45 percent of Americans surveyed were unaware that 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust.

Anti-Semitism is not just a Jewish problem, its everyones problem," Hagee told The Christian Post. "And as Christians, we are mandated by God to stand beside our Jewish brothers and sisters and confront this abomination. Anti-Semitism is evil, and as Christians, we are commanded to fight for good. Anti-Semitism is the personification of darkness and as Christians, we must shine the light. This film brings to Christians a never before seen understanding of anti-Semitism and explains what we as believers can and must do to rid our society of the worlds oldest hatred.

Never Again? will feature commentary from a Holocaust survivor and a former radical Islamist.

Producer Rick Eldridge, CEO of ReelWorks Studios, said viewers will learn about the history of anti-Semitism and come to understand why all of us, regardless of faith or political persuasion, have a responsibility to keep the promise of 'Never Again.'

This is not your parents documentary, CUFI co-executive director Shari Dollinger added in the statement. It meets the audience where they are, engaging them in a modern and cutting-edge manner. If were not to see history repeat itself, we must ensure the next generation learns the lessons of the past.

Never Again? will be showing at 800 theaters nationwide for two nights this fall.
Amid heightened Turkish-Russian tensions in Idlib and a more assertive Iranian posture in the region, Syrian Kurds are said to be silently weighing their options in the event the conflict escalates and are not ruling out the prospect of fighting along with Syrian government forces.

Turkey had appeared rather calm last month when the Syrian army marched on Maaret al-Numan, an offensive that unfolded against the backdrop of a flurry of contacts between diplomats and military and intelligence officials in Moscow. Moreover, Turkish officials let Syrian rebel commanders know that the strategic M4 and M5 highways had to be somehow reopened as they briefed them about the talks with Russia in meetings in the Turkish border cities of Gaziantep and Reyhanli Jan. 15.

Yet when the Syrian army moved on to its next target, Seraqib, in late January, Turkey appeared to be going on a war footing to prevent the fall of the town, which lies on the junction of the M5 and M4 highways. It began sending reinforcements to Idlib, a move that came after Gen. Tod Wolters, the commander of the US European Command, visited Ankara Jan. 30 to discuss the situation in Syria, as shelling by Syrian government forces killed eight Turks, including soldiers and civilian contractors, Feb. 3 near Seraqib. While Ankara urged a return to the cease-fire line behind its 12 observation posts in the region, the Syrian forces took control of nearly 100 locations within a week, heedless of Turkeys intervention threats. With Turkish forces cutting off the eastern approach, they drew an arch from the south to the west to quickly capture Seraqib. As a result, seven Turkish military bases, including three recently established checkpoints, were besieged as of Feb. 8.

Turkey has continued to send reinforcements into Idlib, with hundreds of vehicles crossing the border. Turkish intelligence officials have reportedly held another meeting with some 40 rebel commanders in Reyhanli, telling them negotiations with Russia have failed and they should prepare for the worst. A source who attended the meeting told Reuters the rebels saw Idlib city as a red line.

All those developments in the northwest are reverberating to the east of the Euphrates River, where the Syrian Kurds are silently preparing for possible scenarios. Amid the escalation in Idlib, the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) has mounted attacks in the Tell Abyad and Ras al-Ain areas but failed to pose a serious challenge to the Kurds. The Kurds, meanwhile, are mulling how to take advantage of evolving equilibriums in the event of a broader Russian-Turkish rift.

Turkeys beating of war drums over Idlib has led the Kurds to consider the option of collaborating with the Syrian army in eventual offensives to retake areas to the west of the Euphrates. The focal point of the Kurds is the Afrin region, which Turkey seized in March 2018 as part of efforts to stymie the Kurdish drive for self-rule in Syria on the grounds that it is led by affiliates of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the insurgent group in Turkey that Ankara considers to be a terrorist organization. According to Syrian Kurdish sources contacted by Al-Monitor, the Kurdish sentiment and assessments could be summarized as follows:

The Kurds have learned a good lesson from Operation Peace Spring in October, through which Turkey secured a foothold to the east of the Euphrates. They have reinforced their conviction that placing too much trust in the United States is a mistake, that they should not ignore Russia and that a settlement could be reached only through negotiations with Damascus.

With US forces focused on the oil fields in Rmelan, Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor in the northwest, the notion of opening more room to Russia without severing ties with the United States is being put into practice. There is even talk about offering a new base to Russia, which has already taken over several facilities evacuated by the United States, in a bid to encourage it to press Damascus in favor of the Kurds.

The Kurds could get fresh room to maneuver if a continued escalation in Idlib causes the Russian-Turkish partnership to collapse. They do not rule out the possibility of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) or the Peoples Protection Units backing the government forces if the clashes in Idlib grow into a war between the Syrian army and Turkey. In such an event, new fronts might be opened from Tell Rifaat and Manbij against the Turkish-controlled Euphrates Shield triangle between Azaz, Jarablus and al-Bab, in addition to possible military moves in areas to the east of the Euphrates, where the Turkish military and the SNA are present.

All those prospects, however, depend on Damascus engaging in full-fledged negotiations with the SDF, building on the dialogue that Russia initiated between the two sides after Turkeys Operation Peace Spring, which resulted in the Syrian armys return to certain stretches of the border with Turkey. If the risk of a war in Idlib does not materialize and the Syrian army reaches Afrin, the Kurds might still join the campaign at that point. At present, Russia is tacitly facilitating Kurdish operations against the Turkish-backed groups controlling Afrin.

If the escalation on the ground results in major tensions with Turkey, Russia might end its strategy of letting Turkey safely conduct military operations, including the blinding of air defense systems to the activity of Turkish aircraft, preventing confrontation between the Turkish and Syrian armies, reining in pro-government militia and minimizing the risk of asymmetric responses, as seen in Turkeys Olive Branch and Euphrates Shield operations. The termination of such brake mechanisms, which have functioned thanks to joint coordination centers, might lead to surprise developments anywhere the Turkish military is present.

Alternatively, if Turkey and Russia agree on a new cease-fire line after the reopening of the M4 and M5 highways, Moscow might return to its strategy of paying regard to Turkish concerns on the Kurdish issue. For the Kurds, this would mean going back to the waiting room. The rapid changes in Idlib, however, have weakened the possibility of Russia greenlighting a Turkish offensive on Kobani in return for an Idlib deal, a scenario the Kurds have taken seriously for some time.

Meanwhile, a new aspect is emerging in Irans involvement in Syria, which the Kurds are not very willing to discuss as of yet. Iran had kept a low profile until recently, as the United States used the Iranian presence to justify its stay in Syria and Israel did the same to strike targets on Syrian territory. But since the killing of Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in early January, Iran has vowed to oust US forces from Iraq and Syria as part of a broader revenge strategy, which appears to have brought it to the Idlib and western Aleppo fronts. Along with Hezbollah, pro-Iranian groups such as the Zainabiyoun Brigade, made up of Pakistani Shiites, and the Fatemiyoun Brigade, an Afghan Shiite militia, have taken part in the recent fighting in the region. Moreover, Ali Akbar Velayati, a top adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has vowed that the Syrian government and its allies from the resistance front will go from Idlib to the eastern Euphrates to expel the Americans.

The Iranian strategy closely concerns the Kurds. If the Kurds are to be drawn away from the United States and brought closer to Damascus, then meeting Kurdish demands on a reasonable level is not something Iran would object to. Despite its own Kurdish problem, Iran has been careful in its ties with the Syrian Kurds since the beginning of the Syrian crisis. While Russia sees rapprochement between Ankara and Damascus as a shortcut to closing ongoing fronts and moving on to the reconstruction stage, Iran is irked that Russia has opened too much room to Turkey. Ankaras conditions on the Kurds, meanwhile, are blocking Moscows exit strategy. Tehran, for its part, favors Kurdish alignment with Damascus in a way that would bring further gains to the Syrian government.

Of note, the PKK leadership, based in Iraqs Qandil Mountains, has come to see Damascus as the address of settlement, taking into account the Iranian factor as much as the Russian one.

Yet if the SDF keeps up its partnership with the United States, it could face the risk of the Idlib scenario being repeated to the east of the Euphrates at the expense of the Kurds; hence the significance of Velayatis warning.

With all that said, the main factor defining the present sentiment among the Kurds is their sense of uncertainty. Thus, no one in the Kurdish movement is willing to declare a clear position yet, making do with general assessments.
Feb. 10, 1973, a chilly Saturday afternoon, a flash fire erupted in the cavernous interior of a smaller LNG tank in Bloomfield. Natural gas trapped inside fueled the fire and created a force that ripped the concrete dome from its anchors and sent it crashing onto workers more than 100 feet below. Forty men were killed. The incident stands as the boroughs worst industrial accident ever.

Smoke Billows from the Bloomfield LNG tank tanks after a fire broke out. (Staten Island Advance/Barry Schwarz)

The 600,000-barrel tank in Bloomfield was being repaired when a fire broke out. Natural gas trapped inside the tank fueled the fire and led to the explosion.

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Firefighters work to remove the bodies of the people killed during the LNG tank explosion in Bloomfield in 1973. (Staten Island Advance/Robert Parsons)

Eyewitnesses told the Advance in 1973 that there was hissing sound and a loud noise -- followed by a ring of flame outside the 108-foot-high tank, located near the waterfront about a mile south of the Goethals Bridge.

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New York-Recovering The Dead-Firemen at left carries pine coffin box which was lowered by crane onto surface of sunken chemical storage roof where bodies of 40 workers are being retrieved from beneath the surface and placed into the coffins. (Associated Press)

It was part of the huge tract of land purchased by NASCAR in 2004. The site is not accessible to the public. The tank site was formally demolished in 1993

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A firefighter climbs up a ramp littered with debris - insulation, sheet metal and concrete. (Staten Island Advance/Barry Schwartz)

Outside of the lives of the 40 workers killed, the blast has a lasting legacy on Staten Island: It ultimately brought to a halt the construction of two larger LNG tanks in the Rossville section of Staten Island.

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The interior of the shattered liquified natural gas tank in Bloomfield that exploded killing 40 people. (Staten Island Advance)

The tanks still stand off Arthur Kills road. They have been decommissioned and have been deteriorating for decades.

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Staten Island Advance/Tony Carannante

A pipeline which was located on top of the tank lies mangled on the ground after being blown off in the blast.

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Waiting to find out: Mrs. Anthony Mezzacappa, at left, talks to a policeman about her missing husband, while, at right, Mary Hogan shows her tears over a missing brother (another brother was rescued).

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Associated Press

New York-Grim Work-Firemen are lowered into a Staten Island, New York gas storage tank Sunday as the search continues for victims of an explosion and fire in which authorities said 40 men were feared dead. The blast occurred Saturday afternoon, leaving tons of smoldering debris from the roof of the cone-shaped structure.

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Staten Island Advance/Robert Parsons

Firemen carry a pine box containing the remains of another victim of the explosion through rubble littering the tank floor.

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Staten Island Advance/Tony Carannante

The explosion threw wreckage hundreds of feet in the air and away from the site Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation.

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Staten Island Advance/Robert Parsons

Pipes, once on roof of the tank, were bent out of shape as the dome collapsed.

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New York City Firemen and emergency worker remove a coffin, Sunday, from the lift which is carrying bodies from inside of gas storage tank which exploded Saturday in Staten Island, New York. Some 40 workers are feared dead.

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Staten Island Advance/Frank J. Johns

This photo shows two bodies being lowered in the aftermath of the 1973 explosion of a liquefied natural gas tank in Bloomfield.

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Staten Island Advance/Steve Zaffarano

Texas Eastern LNG tanks in Bloomfield, circa 1980's.

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Staten Island Advance/Frank J. Johns

Jean Auture comforts Natalina Fava during the memorial service for the victims of the Tetco explosion. Both women lost their husbands in the blast.

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Staten Island Advance/Tony Carannante

The debris of the explosion, including pipes and supporting beams, forms an eerie tableau with icicles as sub-freezing temperatures continue at the site of the Bloomfield catastrophe.

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Staten Island Advance/Frank J. Johns

Made widows by the Bloomfield tank explosion, Mrs. Dina Dire, left, Mrs. Anntoinetta Rubino, center, and Mrs Natalina Faua weep during memorial services.

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Staten Island Advance

The arrow marks the site of the LNG tank blast of February 1973, in Bloomfield. A memorial service is held nearby four years later.

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Staten Island Advance

Before the explosion, Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation boasted about being "fanatical about safety" This is how the Bloomfield tanks looked . . . until the disaster of 1973 changed the picture.

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Staten Island Advance/Robert Parsons

"I ran straight down the side of the tank and when I heard the blast, I kept telling myself, 'O God, you're dead,'" John Carroll calmly explained last night as he sat in a wheelchair in St. Vincent Medical Center. Luck had apparently been with the 31-year-old Carroll as he bolted from his work station on the cement roof of the world's largest gas storage tank, ran down the side of its earthen embankment and dropped to the ground as an explosion ripped through the eight-story-high tank, taking the lives of 40 workers, including Carroll's younger brother.

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Firefighters use air hammers to break through the Texas Eastern gas tank's reinforced concrete roof during the search and rescue operation following the explosion.

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Staten Island Advance/Frank J. Johns

Virginia Buonriaggio reads the names of those killed in the explosion as Paul Capotosta, right, of the Richmond Cadets, plays taps.

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Memorial service in church after LNG tank explosion Staten Island Advance

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The Staten Island Advance front page Feb. 11, 1973.
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Kashmir Press Club, a representative body of journalists in Kashmir valley, on Monday accused the police and government in Jammu and Kashmir of not allowing scribes to work freely and cited multiple cases of harassment and summons by police since August 5, 2019 when the erstwhile states special status was revoked.

On Monday, the club convened an urgent meeting two days after two journalists, Naseer Ganai of Outlook magazine and a local journalist Haroon Nabi, were summoned by police on Saturday and questioned for reporting a statement of the banned separatist organisation Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).

In a statement, it said the meeting was convened to discuss physical attacks, threats, intimidation being meted out to the journalists in Kashmir by J&K Police.

ALSO WATCH | Want progress in Srinagar: Ministers message during post-370 outreach

The meeting in which representatives of all journalists associations took part noted with concern that from first day since Article 370 was removed on August 5, the government is not enabling journalists and media to operate freely from the Valley, it said.

This is evident from the prolonged six-month internet shutdown in the region since August 5. As if that was not enough, physical attacks, threats and summons to journalists are being employed by security agencies to intimidate journalists, it said.

Calls to government spokesman Rohit Kansal and Director General of Police Dilbag Singh did not elicit any response.

The press body further said that the harassment and questioning of journalists in Kashmir on flimsy grounds by the J and K Police for their work is a damning verdict on the appalling condition in which media is operating.

The restrictions on internet and forcibly seeking undertakings from news organizations for allowing limited internet access, constant surveillance by police and physical attacks and summons all are the tools designed and aimed to ensure only government-promoted version is heard outside, it said.

It has been now six months that high speed internet was suspended in Kashmir. Last month low speed mobile internet was restored with access to just some 400-500 government approved websites.

Mondays meeting made it clear that journalists are within their rights to report about the happenings from Kashmir impartially and truthfully.

Kashmir Press Club is a representative body of journalists in Kashmir with over 250 members from various associations of editors, reporters, and photo and video journalists.

Besides citing the summons to Ganai and Nabi on Saturday, the body cited seven more cases to support its claims of harassment and attacks on journalists by security forces.

I was asked to reveal email ID from which I had got the statement, the KPC quoted Ganai as saying about the police questioning of JKLF story.

The club said that on December 23, Bashaarat Masood of Indian Express and Safwat Zargar of Scroll were stopped by police at Handwara in north Kashmir while they were on an assignment. They were taken to the office of Superintendent of Police, Handwara. They were questioned about the story and told that by doing the story they are trying to provoke the situation, the KPC said.

On December 17, two journalists, Azaan Javaid (The Print) and Anees Zargar (Newsclick) were beaten up by the police in full public glare in Srinagar while covering a protest. Despite assurances by the police, no action was initiated against the accused cops, the body said.

On November 30, Hakeem Irfan (Economic Times) and Bashaarat Masood (Indian Express) were summoned to Cargo (a former interrogation centre) where they were grilled by police officials for their stories. The duo said that they were asked to reveal their sources and how they managed to get the documents, it said.

The body said that in November, a freelance photojournalist Muzamil Mattoo was beaten in downtown Srinagar while covering Khoje Digar prayers.

On September 1, 2019 senior journalist Peerzada Ashiq who works for The Hindu was summoned to Kothi Bagh Police Station where he was questioned and pressurized to reveal source of his story. I was asked to reveal my sources who shared official data on detentions with the newspaper, the body quoted Ashiq saying.

On August 14, 2019, Irfan Amin Malik was picked up from his residence in Tral and released the next day.

The Kashmir Press Club also asked the government to stop practice of summons and attacks on journalists.

the government should ensure freedom of speech and expression as guaranteed in the Constitution instead of muzzling the press. Viewing media as part of problem in Kashmir and blaming journalists for everything wrong is quite misplaced, it said.

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The fate of the latest oil sands mining project in Alberta may be decided by the estimates of carbon emission from the provinces oil and gas industryand Alberta and the federal government differ on how fast the oil-rich province is approaching its carbon emissions limit.

According to data from the federal Canadian government, as cited by The Globe and Mail, Alberta will reach 87 megatons of emissions this year, while its cap is 100 megatons.

The provincial government of Alberta, however, argues that the emissions in Albertas oil industry are 67-68 megatons, as per Alberta Premier Jason Kenney.

The federal government of Canada is set to decide by the end of this month whether to approve Teck Resources Frontier Projecta truck-and-shovel oil sands mine located between Fort McMurray and Fort Chipewyan in northeast Alberta.

The project, like many other energy projects in Canada in recent years, is polarizing the country. Analysts expect the federal governments decision to seal the fate of the oil sands industry in Canada.

With half the emissions-intensity of the average oil sands projects, Teck Frontier represents the path forward for the world's third-largest oil reserves. It's important that Canada get it right and approve this project, Alberta Premier Kenney said last week.

If the federal government rejects the project, it would send a devastating message to investors, he added.

I think that would be a devastating message to send in terms of investor confidence at a time when we are struggling to attract foreign direct investment to the Canadian economy, Kenney said.

The Frontier project, estimated to be worth US$15.6 billion (C$20.6 billion), is an open oil sands mine that would yield 260,000 bpd at peak production, with its life estimated at 40 years. Yet it must first be approved by the Liberal government that has strict climate change fighting goals. However, according to Teck Resources CEO Don Lindsay, the project may not go through even if the government grants it approval. The problem, he said during an investor conference in Alberta recently, was oil prices, among other things.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
A 45-year-old Conroe man pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of child pornography charges in a Montgomery County court and was sentenced Wednesday to 14 years in prison.

Andrew David Nelson was sentenced to two seven-year sentences by a jury in the 435th District Court. The sentences were imposed consecutively by presiding Judge Patty Maginnis following two days in the punishment phase of Nelsons trial, according to the Montgomery County District Attorneys Office.

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A detective with the Montgomery County Precinct 1 Constables Office found Nelson had been accessing child pornography on his computer since 2012, as shown by prosecutors during the trial.

Without detailing their techniques, authorities said high-tech methods were used to discover a computer was seeking out child pornography. The detective then tracked the activity to Nelsons home, obtained a search warrant and seized his desktop computer, according to the DAs Office.

MAGNOLIA MURDER: Man charged after allegedly disposing of murdered 51-year-olds body

An agent with Homeland Security Investigations found 45 images on Nelsons computer of children, some as young as infants, being sexually abused and exploited. The agent also found evidence the computer was being used to access child pornography since at least 2012. Nelson had been using a software program called Eraser to try and destroy the evidence and using another program to attempt data encryption and bar access without a password. Still, investigators were able to find substantial evidence of Nelsons child pornography consumption on his computer, according to the DAs Office.

This defendant thought that he could use technology to hide his crimes by erasing and encrypting the evidence. We used technology to catch him, said prosecuting Assistant District Attorney Chris Seufert in a statement. The message is clear: if you access images of child exploitation, we will find you no matter how you try to hide.

A psychological expert for the defense conceded in testimony that a six-year history of accessing child pornography indicates sexual interest in children is probable, and though it could be modified, it could not be changed, the District Attorneys Office explained. Prosecutors pointed to the nature of the images, the victims ages and the length of time Nelson accessed child pornography, according to the DAs Office.

Also participating in the investigation into Nelson were the Houston Metro Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, a multi-agency effort against the online exploitation of children, the DAs Office stated.

In Montgomery County, its all hands on deck to turn the tide against this unspeakable crime of child pornography, said District Attorney Brett Ligon.

jose.gonzalez@chron.com

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Dallas, TX , Feb. 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The benefits of todays technology are widely known. It can make life easier, connect people, solve problems, and improve the quality of some lives. In some cases, it can even assist police and prosecutors in solving crimes. But technology also has its limits, which arent always discovered immediately. New technology is often regarded by police, prosecutors, and the general public as a foolproof method of solving crimes. Says Criminal Defence Lawyer Mick Mickelsen.

Time and again, research has shown that previously foolproof technological tools for proving a persons guilt have serious flaws. For example, several cases involving so-called bite mark analysis have resulted in overturned convictions. In one case, a man was sentenced to death for an alleged murder crime, only to be freed 10 years later when experts questioned the accuracy of the bite mark analysis in his murder trial. They also introduced DNA evidence that confirmed his innocence, resulting in his release. In recent years, cell phone location data, which is sometimes called geolocation data or cell-site location data, has been touted by police and investigators as a way of pinpointing an individuals physical location at the time of a crime. The problem is that several reports have shown that cell phone location data is often wrong. Simply put, just because a persons cell phone logs them as being in a specific location at a certain time doesnt mean the person was actually in that location; cell phone location data has been debunked as a foolproof way of proving someone committed a crime.

Cell Phone Data Does Not Pinpoint Your Location Cell phone technology experts have explained how cell phone data works  and how it doesnt work. According to Michael Cherry, the head of a biometrics consulting firm who spoke to The New Yorker magazine, cell phone location data is junk science. Cherry explains that people, including criminal investigators, often believe that a cell phone automatically pings the nearest cell phone tower whenever an individual makes a call from their cell. Based on this evidence, police and investigators often believe they can accurately pinpoint a persons location at the time of an alleged crime. As The New Yorker reports, police make about 1 million cell phone record requests on average each year. In many cases, they are hoping to get access to an individuals cell phone location data. However, this isnt actually how cell phone location data works. In reality, when a person makes a mobile phone call, the cell phone could ping a tower within hundreds of miles from where the person is physically located. As Cherry explains, the process for how a cell phone pings a tower is quite complicated. As soon as someone hits send on their phone, the phone itself emits a radio frequency signal that searches for towers within about a 20-mile radius, and sometimes a smaller radius in congested urban areas. From there, one of possibly hundreds of regional switching centers picks up the call and determines whether to connect it. The process can also vary by carrier. Instead of a single, specific cell phone transmission process across all cell phone service providers, the various providers have their own computer algorithms and proprietary software. This means someone with Verizon calling from the same physical spot as someone with AT&T might end being located hundreds of miles apart.

Danish Authorities Release 32 Prisoners Based on Debunked Cell Phone Location Data In some cases, courts have overturned convictions based on faulty cell phone location data. According to a report from The Guardian, Danish authorities had to release 32 people from prison and halt 40 other prosecutions after new evidence showed that the cell phone location data used in their cases was inaccurate. As an official from Denmarks telecom industry association told The Guardian, cell phone location data is supposed to help facilitate phone calls, not prove someone committed a crime, stating, We should remember: data is created to help deliver telecom services, not to control citizens or for surveillance.

Faulty Location Data Cases in the United States, Unfortunately, the Denmark case isnt an isolated incident. In the United States, a woman was released from prison after nearly 10 years after being wrongfully convicted of a murder based on inaccurate cell phone data location records. In another case, a married couple from Kansas was accused of a whole slew of supposed crimes they didnt commit  all based on a faulty IP address. The problem started when the couple rented a home on a large, rural piece of land. What they didnt realize was that an IP mapping address company had chosen their front yard as the default IP address for dozens of companies. This can sometimes happen when an IP address company doesnt have an exact location for a company. In some cases, they simply choose a random spot in a general area. Over the span of a few years, police repeatedly showed up at the couples home, accusing them of being involve in missing persons cases, computer fraud crimes, attempted suicides, and even child pornography and kidnapping. The couple was accused by police of stealing peoples identities, engaging in tax fraud, and stealing bitcoin. With the help of an internet security researcher, the couple discovered that over 600 million IP addresses defaulted to their property. This meant that police are looking for a possible criminal based on IP address alone were often being directed to the couples front yard. The couple sued the IP mapping company, which later redirected its IP addresses to the middle of a lake.

Increasingly, the State and Federal Courts are charging individuals with crimes that pertain to the internet. Broden & Mickelsen federal and state criminal defense lawyers in Dallas has extensive experience defending individuals charged with computer crimes. Twice the law firm has defended clients accused of hacking in Federal court at trial, and twice the jury returned a verdict of Not Guilty. Read our results for internet crimes in federal cases.





Dallas Computer Criminal Defense Attorneys Broden & Mickelsen Contact Info Defense Lawyers Broden & Mickelsen, LLP 2600 State St Dallas, Texas 75204 (214) 720-9552

Content cited from:

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/what-your-cell-phone-cant-tell-the-police

https://californiainnocenceproject.org/issues-we-face/bite-mark-evidence/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/12/denmark-frees-32-inmates-over-flawed-geolocation-revelations

https://splinternews.com/kansas-couple-who-live-in-a-digital-hell-sue-mapping-co-1793861054









Via KISS PR Story Newswire




















The society nowadays has turned into this? Its devastating. My heart cant handle it.

THUSANEE WITCHARTORNTAKUL, a university lecturer at a vigil in Korat, Thailand, for the victims of a mass shooting that killed more than two dozen people.
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As the floodwaters began to recede in eastern Oregon, rescue efforts gave way to recovery Sunday, and authorities confirmed one woman had been killed.

Search-and-rescue teams on Sunday morning found the body of 62-year-old Janet Tobkin Conley, who went missing from the Bar M Ranch area of Bingham Springs, roughly 30 miles east of Pendleton. Authorities said it appeared she was swept away by floodwaters.

Rescue operations continued Sunday, though abating water levels allowed some to return to their homes and others who might have been evacuated to remain in place.

The Oregon National Guard rescued four people by helicopter in the Mill Creek area on Sunday, officials said, bringing the total number of people rescued to 51, 25 of whom were evacuated by helicopter. The number of rescues as slowed, said Christopher Ingersoll, a spokesperson for the Joint Information Center Umatilla County Sheriffs Office, because weather conditions changed.

"With dry weather over the next couple of days in the forecast, he said, we are expecting that to assist with water receding.

Now, some people who were evacuated are heading home. Nadine McCrindle, central and eastern Oregon executive director for the Red Cross Cascades Region, said Sunday that people are continuing to leave shelters and return home.

That has been a really lovely thing to see, she said

Some of the people who ended up in Red Cross Shelters, she said, were simply cut off from their homes.

One family, McCrindle said, they were out running errands at the time the water started rising so they couldnt get home.

Some people arent so lucky.

A number of homes were destroyed, Ingersoll said, so for some folks, theres no home to go back to.

At River View Mobile Estates in Pendleton, the mud was drying and family members and neighbors were out in force, helping haul away debris. People with hoses were spraying down their homes.

Misty Ross spent Sunday helping the 200 residents living in the Pendleton mobile home park three blocks from the Umatilla River.

We have a great community, not just in the park, but in the town, she said. We had maybe 50 volunteers come out and help all of us clean our homes and save what we could.

She said her home, and nearly all the other 200 homes, sustained damage.

Ross has moved in with her sister, Echo Miller. Miller, she said, brought pizzas for all the volunteers.

Ive lived her there years, said Ross, 40. Nothing like this has ever happened. Ive cried my tears. My place is destroyed. But Im going to come back. Ill fix my place up stick by stick. Faith is about not giving up.

Operations in the area have now turned to assessment and recovery.

Ingersoll said local public works officials are working to clear and assess roads hit by the flooding.

A section of Interstate 84 near Hermiston remained closed in both directions.

McCrindle said the Red Cross was working with other agencies to assess the needs in the community and determine what the short term and long term recovery plans will look like.

We are getting a better understanding of what the local people need, she said. Its not a single strategy.

McCrindle said the biggest need is for financial contributions.

Weve had an outpouring of clothing and personal products, which has been wonderful, she said. But now, money will help the agency buy specific things that people need.

McCrindle urged people in the area who have been affected by the flood to come in and take donations and register for relief. They dont need to have used the Red Cross shelter to register, she said.

McCrindle said they cant say yet how long the recovery process will take.

There are people who have lost their home," she said, "so its going to be a longer recovery rather than a shorter recovery for sure.

Mark Graves contributed to this report.

-- Lizzy Acker

503-221-8052, lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Brad Pitt is an Academy Award winner once again.

Pitt won the Oscar for best supporting actor on Sunday for his role as stuntman Cliff Booth in Quentin Tarantinos Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Pitt thanked Tarantino for casting him in the film. Then he gave a shout out to his co-star, Leonardo DiCaprio.

Leo, Ill ride on your coattails any day, man, Pitt said. The views fantastic.

Pitt dedicated the award to his six children.

Im not one to look back, but this has made me do so. I think of my folks taking me to the drive-in to see Butch and Sundance, loading up my car and moving out here, Gina and Ridley giving me my first shot. All the wonderful people Ive met along the way, to stand here now, once upon a time in Hollywood. Aint that the truth. This is for my kids, who color everything I do. I adore you.

Regina King, who won the award for best supporting actress Oscar at last years ceremony, presented Pitt with his trophy.

Pitt, 56, previously won an Oscar in 2013 as a producer of 12 Years a Slave.

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By Rasana Gasimova

The results of the exit polls in Azerbaijans snap parliamentary elections held on February 9 suggests that the ruling New Azerbaijan party (YAP) has won the victory.

Deputy Prime Minister Ali Ahmadov announced YAPs victory in his Facebook account after the results from the majority of districts were announced on February 9.

I congratulate the members of New Azerbaijan Party with another victory. I heartily congratulate our candidates who won the elections. I would also like to thank our numerous volunteers, who made a huge contribution to our partys great victory. We are very grateful to those who have voted for our party, for our candidates, for our presidents policy, Ahmadov wrote in his post.

Exit polls were conducted by the US-based AJF & Associates Inc. (US) jointly with Citizens' Labor Rights Protection League, the Rey Monitoring Center, and the French Opinion Way Research Institute together with the Human Rights in the XXI Century  Azerbaijan Foundation.

The parliamentary elections of the sixth convocation were held in Azerbaijan on February 9 with the participation of 1,314 candidates. The candidacies of 246 people were nominated by 19 political parties, 1,057 were self-nominated, 11 - by initiative groups. Twenty-one percent accounted for female candidates while 79 percent  male candidates.

During the election day, 5,573 permanent polling stations operated in 125 constituencies of the country. There were 5,329,460 registered voters.

Some 883 international observers and 77,790 local observers monitored the voting process. Among the local observers, 35,152 were representatives of political parties. International observers represented 58 countries and 59 organizations.

The decision to hold snap parliamentary elections came after the parliament asked the president to dissolve it and to reschedule early elections during its session held on December 2.

The parliaments decision to dissolve itself was initiated by the ruling YAP party during the parliaments session on November 28.

The proposal to dissolve the parliament and call for early elections is aimed at supporting the recent personnel reforms implemented by the Azerbaijani president.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia have already congratulated President Ilham Aliyev on the victory of the New Azerbaijan Party.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah's sister on Monday moved the Supreme Court challenging his detention under the Public Safety Act.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for petitioner Sara Abdullah Pilot, mentioned the matter for urgent listing before a bench headed by Justice N V Ramana.

Sibal told the bench that they have filed a habeas corpus petition challenging the detention of Abdullah under the PSA and the matter should be heard this week.

The bench agreed to urgent listing of the matter.

ALSO READ: Omar's 'considerable influence' over people, Mehbooba's pro-separatist stand cited in PSA dossier

In her petition, Pilot has said that there could be no material available to detain a person who has already been detained previously for six months.

"The grounds for the detention order are wholly lacking any material facts or particulars which are imperative for an order of detention," the plea said, adding that the detention order is "illegal".

"It is rare that those who have served the nation as members of Parliaments, Chief Ministers of state, ministers in the union and have also stood by the national aspirations of India are now perceived as a threat to the state," the plea said.

She has stated that the dossier handed over to Abdullah along with order of detention under the PSA contains false and ridiculous material @NewIndianXpress  kanusarda (@sardakanu_TNIE) February 10, 2020

It said that on the intervening night of August 4/5, 2019, Abdullah was put under house arrest.

"It was later learned that Section 107 of Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 was invoked justifying such arrest".

"It is therefore of the utmost importance and of the utmost urgency that this court protects not only the individual's Right to Life and Liberty but also protects the essence of Article 21 which is the cornerstone of Part 3 of the Constitution, a violation of which is anathema to all that a democratic nation stands for," the plea said.

"Finally the order conflates governmental policy with the Indian state, suggesting that any opposition to the former constitute a threat to the later.



ALSO READ: PDP's Naeem Akhtar sixth mainstream leader to be booked under PSA in Kashmir

This is wholly antithetical to a democratic polity and undermines the Indian constitution," the petition said.

The plea has also sought quashing of the February 5 order detaining Abdullah under the PSA.

The grounds of detention against Omar, who was chief minister of the state from 2009-14, state that on the eve of reorganisation of the state he had made attempts to provoke general masses against the revocation of Articles 370 and 35-A.

The grounds also mention his comments on social networking sites to instigate common people against the decisions on Articles 370 and 35-A which had the potential of disturbing public order.

Omar, who has been junior foreign minister and commerce minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led Cabinet in 2000, was served with a three-page dossier in which he was alleged to have made statements in the past which were "subversive" in nature.

The grounds also mention his comments on social networking sites to instigate common people against the decisions on Articles 370 and 35-A which had the potential of disturbing public order.

Restrictions have been put on communication links since August 5 last year.

These were subsequently eased.

Internet is functional at a few places through leased lines.

Mobile internet facility has been made functional but with a speed of 2G with special instructions that it would not be used to access social media sites.
Harland and Wolff has secured a 2m (2.35m) asset backed term debt facility.

Funds raised will be used for working capital purposes, according to a statement from InfraStrata, the company which agreed to buy the Belfast shipyard last year.

The facility is for a period of two years, with the main amount repayable as a lump sum payment at the end of the period.

The loan carries a coupon of 13.2pc per year, payable in equal monthly instalments.

As a guarantee, the lender of the money has a first preference over the assets of Harland.

At the end of the duration of the loan, there will be an exit fee of 4pc payable to the lender.

Belfast-based Whiterock Capital Partners LLP advised Harland on the structuring of this facility.

In addition, the company has restructured 555,555 (653,742) that remains outstanding, and was drawn down as the second tranche, of the 2.2m loan facility with Riverfort Global Opportunities PCC Limited and YA II PN.

InfraStrata will now no longer be required to make a lump sum of 555,555 on 14 February. Instead, a sum of 55,555 of the loan, plus fees and interest of 110,624.98, will be paid to the investors immediately, and the remaining 500,000 will be amortised over a period of 10 months commencing 31 March.

John Wood, interim chairman and CEO of InfraStrata, said: The introduction of this asset-backed debt facility validates our thesis of leveraging physical assets and creating cashflow sources.

This has been possible due to the acquisition of Harlands physical assets, something that we would not have been able to achieve with the companys portfolio of intangible assets.
AN entrepreneur who wants to light up Henley Bridge permanently says it would attract more visitors to the town.

Clive Hemsley also criticised the town council for not saying whether it supported his plans or not.

He was speaking at a public meeting at the town hall which he called to gauge the amount of public support for the idea of having white LED lights attached to the 18th century bridge, which is Grade I listed.

About 60 people attended the meeting on Wednesday evening last week, which was chaired by Mayor Ken Arlett.

Mr Hemsley, who lives in Hart Street, attached strings of LED lights to either side of the bridge without permission in March 2018.

This sparked a public debate about the idea of illuminating the structure permanently before Oxfordshire County Council, the highways authority which owns the bridge, ordered the lights to come down.

More than 2,400 people signed a petition calling for the lights to stay but heritage bodies and supporters opposed them.

The lights were eventually taken down in October. Mr Hemsley, an advertising agency owner and artist, was then refused planning permission by Wokingham Borough Council, which said his suggestion to drill into the mortar surrounding the five arches posed potential harm to the bridge. It also said there was no evidence that the lights would conserve or enhance the bridges architectural value.

Now Mr Hemsley says he has found a type of adhesive fixing that wouldnt damage the stonework.

He told the meeting that he wanted to use LED mood lights, similar to those used to light up many London bridges. These would be attached with cable ties every metre and fastened with a silicon compound. Mr Hemsley says these are cheaper and more energy efficient than the type of lights used to illuminate buildings such as the town hall.

He would require the permission of both Wokingham council and South Oxfordshire District Council, the planning authorities for each side of the Thames, but he has already gained the support of the county council and Henley MP John Howell.

Mr Hemsley said: We have already tested the concept with LED pilot lights. I guarantee that zero screws or nails would be used and this very effective and very tidy method of fixing would result in zero damage in the short- or long-term life of the bridge.

He said he would fund the project, which he estimated would cost tens of thousands of pounds, but needed someone with expertise to help him with the planning process.

I would like a group application to go to all the councils and agencies, he said. I would like someone local, knowledgeable and familiar with planning who can process this new application quickly because its beyond me.

I believe I represent most of the townsfolk who are for the lights. This project is about much more than just giving back to the town. We are a market town competing against other towns and cities for tourism. We want to increase footfall to support our local businesses.

Of course we should be featuring the bridge and our other historic assets. We should be proud of our inheritance, so why are we not showing it off to the world?

He said he would like to change the colour of the lights for special events such as Henley Royal Regatta or the Thames Traditional Boat Festival.

Mr Hemsley said the town council needed to make up its mind on the issue.

He said: I am still bewildered that our town council has continued to sit on the fence.

I say to the council listen to the 2,400 locals who signed the petition 18 months ago, not only for keeping the pilot lights but also who voted for you to work with us. If you cant make a simple decision on this you shouldnt be running the town. A no is better than a nothing answer.

We know and appreciate the unpaid work you all do for Henley but please think outside the box.

Former town councillor Sam Evans, who was in the audience, told Mr Hemsley: I think the town owes you great thanks for the work you have put in.

It seems extraordinary that the town council, who vote on everything else that faces our town, remain silent on this. It would be great to hear our elected representatives express an opinion one way or the other. Councillor Arlett said that only when a planning application had been submitted could the town council express a formal opinion.

Town councillor Will Hamilton said: If the town council get behind it, we can get on with it and I think the bridge would look fantastic.

Many of the people at the meeting said Mr Hemsley should be praised for his generosity and urged the town council to support the plans. Others asked if he had considered a project involving floodlights.

One audience member said: Im not against lighting the bridge, but wouldnt it be better to have floodlights under the arches? It is a listed building and wouldnt this be a better way to appreciate it?

Mr Hemsley said he wanted to use LED lights as they would be reflected in the water as five ovals and floodlights would be much more expensive.

Daniel Bausor, a marketing consultant from Bix, who is working on the Illuminated River project in London, said Mr Hemsley should be applauded for the amount of time he had spent on the initiative.

It is very well thought through, he said. We need to think about the next generation and I think it would be a great asset to the town.

Henley jeweller David Rodger-Sharp said: I think it is a beautiful gift. As a local business owner, anything that increases footfall in the town is most welcome.

Henley Archaeological & Historical Group objected to Mr Hemsleys application last year due to concerns about potential damage to the bridge. Concerns were also raised by Historic England, which said there was no justification or need to light the bridge.

The bridge was opened in 1786 and designated in 1951 for its special architectural and historic interest.

After the meeting, Mr Hemsley told the Henley Standard: Im happy with how it went. There were some positive comments and some negative ones and that was the whole point of having the meeting.
The prime minster of Burkina Faso, Christophe Dabire, has labelled Oranges propose price hike unacceptable.

Earlier this month, Orange notified its customers that it would increase tariffs by 2.04% from 17th February. The increase follows the introduction of the governments 2020 Finance Act, which raises operator revenue tax from 5% to 7%.

In a post on Twitter, Dabire expressed disappointment that Orange had acted without first airing its concerns to his administration, writing: Without a study proving the tax burden on the telecom sector is excessive, the government will not accept any increase linked to the adoption of the finance bill.

Dasmane Traore, head of the consumer interest group Ligue des Consommateurs du Burkina, said this increase is unjustified and shows contempt for consumers  especially as we face issues with poor network quality. He advised customers to boycott Orange if the price hike was implemented.
Jenkintown Road closed from Monday through May
NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy is considering the possibility of filing new lawsuit against PJSC Gazprom with the international arbitration tribunal and the EU antitrust authority, Executive Officer of Naftogaz Ukrainy Yuriy Vitrenko has said on his Facebook page.

He said that currently, the possibility of transferring the gas entry points to the Ukraine-Russia border under current contracts of European companies, the complicacy of gas exports by independent gas producers from Russia, the complicacy of Asian gas transit across Russia and the losses of Naftogaz from Gazprom's participation in debt obligations of RosUkrEnergo.
Moscovites are mystified by a flood of bomb hoaxes forcing the evacuation of courts, schools and malls while authorities appear unable to find the culprits even after months of disruption to public life. The warnings of planted bombs, all of them false, have been sent to numerous Russian cities, but particularly targeted the capital, where around 16 million live and work, with up to 1,000 threats per day. Since late November, more than 1.6 million people have been evacuated from buildings in Moscow, the Interfax news agency said citing sources. Yet, both the authorities and Kremlin-controlled television channels stay mostly clear of the topic. Yulia Olshanskaya, a local government official, said her daughter Maria's school was evacuated "sometimes several times a day" throughout December. "We can't keep count of how many times it's happened," she said. "Sometimes our lessons were cancelled or postponed on those days and they also evacuated people," said 13-year-old Maria Olshanskaya. Another Muscovite, Yulia Grebenchenko, said her daughter's school has been evacuated 13 times since the start of December. "Some parents even hired a dog handler to check the school more quickly because you never know how long the sniffer dog units will take," said the office worker. - Cathedral, metro, swimming pools - The threats are always issued in the same way: a slew of emails are sent from encrypted providers to organisations and companies that according to the law must be inspected or evacuated. No one has totted up the exact cost of the upheaval, but the financial damage from a similar wave of telephone bomb hoaxes in 2017 amounted to millions of dollars, Russian officials said. On a single day, February 5, 1,500 locations were affected including the central Church of Christ the Saviour, some 30 courts, 150 educational institutions, 232 metro stations, more than a dozen clinics, 75 swimming pools and about 50 shopping centres, an "informed source" told the Interfax news agency. "I've just wasted several working hours," said Sergei, an LGBT rights activist, as he waited for sniffer dogs to arrive at Moscow's Basmanny district court on Thursday after everyone had been forced to leave. The authorities have said almost nothing. At the end of January, the FSB security service, the successor to the KGB, and state communications watchdog Roskomnadzor in terse statements announced that two encrypted email providers based abroad had been blocked after being used to send false threats. They did not name suspects or give any leads or motive, nor did they issue any reassurance to the public despite the major disruption. Social media and some media reports have yielded a few more clues. The Telegram messenger account of Saint Petersburg courts has posted scans of messages referring to a shadowy blackmail scheme involving the Bitcoin virtual currency. They include demands for the return of 120 bitcoins ($1.2 million at the current rate) that were allegedly stolen by Russian billionaire Konstantin Malofeyev using the now-defunct WEX cryptocurrency platform. - 'Completely powerless' - This ultra-conservative oligarch -- targeted by Western sanctions and reportedly close to separatist forces in eastern Ukraine and the Russian security service -- has denied any involvement. Experts suggested that authorities are at an impasse, while Kremlin-controlled television largely ignores the bomb hoaxes. "This incident shows the Russian state is completely powerless," said Valery Shiryayev, a former KGB officer who writes on military matters for Novaya Gazeta independent newspaper. "If they discussed this on national TV, people would have even less confidence in the authorities," he told AFP. Even Roskomnadzor admitted that blocking encrypted e-mails only has a limited effect since users can simply use a different provider or a VPN. "It's actually possible that technology is so complex today and offer criminals so many tools that even secret services with the best equipment can't stop them," said Shiryayev. And he warned that the same tactic could be used elsewhere. "Currently this weapon has only been used against Russia... but bear in mind that it could strike anyone." Moscow is the target of thousands of mysterious bomb hoaxes The hoaxes have triggered hundreds of metro station closures Don't watch this space: TV doesn't talk about the hoaxes much
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will on Monday depart Abuja for Nairobi, Kenya, to represent Nigeria at the state funeral for former Kenyan President, Arap Moi.

Mr Osinbajos spokesperson, Laolu Akande, in a statement in Abuja, said the state funeral would come up on Tuesday.

Mr Moi, who died on February 4, aged 95, was the second and longest-serving President of Kenya from 1978 to 2002.

Mr Osinbajo will be joining other African Heads of State and world leaders expected at the occasion scheduled to hold at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi.

READ ALSO:

The vice president will be accompanied on the trip by senior government officials and is expected back in Nigeria on Tuesday.

He will be honoured with a state funeral on February 11, the government said Thursday.

His body will be buried in his home area of Kabarak, 220km northwest of Nairobi.

(NAN)
Delhi Police has sent a notice to Harish Gahlot, brother of a senior AAP leader Kailash Gahlot, to join the investigation in connection with the recovery of 58 cartons of liquor in Najafgarh.

Kailash Gahlot is cabinet minister of the Delhi government.

An FIR was registered on Friday while the notice was sent on Sunday. This notice comes amid the much-awaited results of the Delhi Assembly polls to be announced tomorrow.

In May last year, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had seized assets worth Rs 1.46 crore under section 37A of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) of 1999 belonging to Harish.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Cameo roles in both the MCU and Star Wars franchise, direction/writing credits for the fan-favourite Thor: Ragnarok and indie-film chops with What We Do In The Shadows - everyone loves Taika Waititi, and theres no shortage of reasons for the quirky Zealanders popularity in recent years.

Which is why were all the happier for his first ever Oscar win - the filmmaker bagged a writing award for Best Adapted Screenplay - a well-deserved recognition of his vision with Jojo Rabbit, which he adapted from Christine Leunens 2008 novel, Caging Skies. The book, while an excellent portrait of loss, ideologies and grief - Waititi brought his own unique anti-hate satirical spin on the tale, even casting himself as an imaginary Adolf Hitler.

No doubt the guys talented, but what he did immediately afterwards was downright hilarious. Actor Brie Larson happened to be sitting near Waititis seat, and quickly snagged this sneaky Instagram story of the director trying to find a place to keep his shiny new award.

Taika Waititi putting his oscar under the chair is a mood. #Oscars



 Brie Larson via Instagram Story. pic.twitter.com/rpC5tVOVfT  Brie Larson Online (@blarsononline) February 10, 2020

Unfortunately for the audience, it seems that the Dolby Theatre - venue for the Oscars since 2002 - doesnt quite have a solution to the problem of where to keep your award once youre done earning it. Waititi seems to have taken a cue from airline instructions however - simply stowing his Oscar underneath the seat ahead of him.

Despite this funny moment, the filmmaker took a second during and after his speech to appreciate and highlight indigenous talent in the industry, saying I dedicate this to all the Indigenous kids all over the world who want to do art and dance and write stories.

His win made him the first ever Maori filmmaker to earn an Oscar.

 Reuters

In a similar vein, Waititi returned to the stage to salute last years Governors Awards recipients - making sure to pay homage to Los Angeles original, native American inhabitants.



The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences would like to acknowledge that tonight we have gathered on the ancestral lands of the Tongva, Tataviam and the Chumash, he said onstage at the 92nd Academy Awards on Sunday. We acknowledge them as the first peoples of this land on which our motion picture community lives and works.
Gurugram: Three days after a decomposed and charred body of a 30-year-old tractor driver was found from a well in Bilaspur, the police on Monday arrested his friend for allegedly killing him after a fight over a debt settlement.

The police said the incident took place on the night of February 3 when the victim, Manoj Kumar, and the suspect, Tarachand Sethi, 32, were drinking liquor behind a logistics warehouse near Kalwari.

According to the police, Tarachand had given a loan of 20,000 to Manoj and the latter had been asking for more money so that he could buy a mobile phone from an online marketplace.

Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police (crime), said that a fight broke out between them over the issue and the suspect hit a liquor bottle on the victims neck. Then he bludgeoned his head with stones and after murdering him, threw his body in a well. He took some pieces of wood that they had lit to protect themselves from the cold and threw them in the well to burn the body, said Sangwan.

Manojs brother, Anil Kumar, had filed a police complaint at Bilaspur police station on February 6, stating that his brother had gone to work in Tauru on February 3 morning and had been missing since, the police said. In the police complaint, Anil had said that Tarachand, a resident of Pathreri village, had told him that he and Manoj had consumed liquor near Kalwari in the evening and he had left for his house after that.

On the morning of February 7, the victims shoe was found near the crime spot and some blood stains had led the police to the well, from where his body was recovered.

A police official privy to the investigation, requesting anonymity, said that Tarachand, who works as a security guard, had told the victims wife over phone that he was not aware of her husbands whereabouts after their drinking session.

According to the police, the victims wife informed the police that Tarachand and her husband had met on February 3 evening, following which the police detained him from Pathreri village on Sunday for questioning. Earlier, the suspect tried to mislead the police. But after sustained interrogation, he confessed to the murder, said the police official.

Tarachand was produced in a district court and sent to police custody for three days, the official said.

In another incident, the police on Sunday arrested a 30-year-old financier from Sector 31 for allegedly murdering a man after he expressed inability to repay a loan of 40,000. The police said that the suspect, Lavan Batra, picked up Bunty Hasija in his car on Friday night and after getting Hasija drunk, he had a fight with him.

The assistant commissioner of police said that after the alleged confrontation, Batra dropped Hasija on Madhav Bhavan road in Sector 12 and ran his car over him. He drove the car over his body multiple times and then went to his house. He took some petrol from his motorcycle and returned to Sector 12 road and tried to burn his body. The victims slightly burnt body with head injuries was found on Saturday morning, said Sangwan.

According to the police, after the murder, the suspect did not return to his house and was hiding at multiple locations before he was nabbed from Sector 31. His car, with bloodstains, has been recovered, said the police.
Barcelona manager Quique Setien feels there is room for improvement despite his club registering a win against Real Betis on Monday.

"I really liked the team. There are things we could have done better, but I'm happy. We have come from behind twice," Goal.com quoted Setien as saying.

Barcelona secured a 3-2 win over Real Betis in La Liga. Barcelona are placed on the second spot on the La Liga points table with 49 points, three points behind table-toppers, Real Madrid.

Lionel Messi played a vital role in the victory as the Argentine provided assists for all three of Barcelona's goals.

Setien said although his club is improving, there are certain things Barcelona are missing.

"The team is improving in many things and I am very happy with the performance, the result and everything. We are still missing things, though. You have to enjoy the win because Betis are a great team, who were playing at home," Stien said.

Barcelona will now take on Getafe CF on February 15.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
During his recent visit to Malaysia, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan acknowledged that he had not attended the Kuala Lumpur summit in December last year because of a misconception among some countries close to Pakistan that it would divide the Muslim world.

The OIC is holding a preparatory meeting of its senior officials in Jeddah for the 47th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers. Reportedly, the meeting will not include Kashmir on its agenda  due to Saudi reluctance.

During his recent visit to Malaysia, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan acknowledged that he had not attended the Kuala Lumpur summit in December last year because of a misconception among some countries close to Pakistan that it would divide the Muslim world. He was referring to Saudi Arabia, where he had been invited by the crown prince and persuaded to stay away from an event led by Iran, Qatar, and Turkey, which Riyadh considered a threat to its influence in Muslim nations.

This was not a piece of good news for Pakistan, which is struggling to maintain its balance between two emerging political alliances in the Muslim world. It also hurts Pakistans diplomatic efforts for the Kashmir cause. Pakistans geo-economic and strategic challenges make it difficult for the country to fully cooperate with or annoy either of the two blocs. Pakistan is caught in a dilemma where its heart is in the Malaysian-Turkish bloc, which has been openly supporting Pakistans Kashmir cause, but its mind is with the Saudi-led bloc, which has money and political influence that Pakistan needs for its struggling economy.

Historically, Pakistan has managed its bilateral relations with Iran and Saudi Arabia at a level where it always had some space to manoeuvre. However, increasingly assertive approaches of the emerging ummah blocs, in which Saudi Arabia and Iran are contrastingly placed, have constrained this space for manoeuvre.

And this is happening at a time when Pakistan has a Prime Minister who cannot seem to hold back his sentiments. At the same time, the countrys overall economic and geostrategic situation wont allow him to act as a populist leader.

Populist politics has made inroads in society with relatively more success where middle classes (corporate and services-based) are expanding and heading towards an identity crisis. In such circumstances, a populist leader can afford to say much. Pakistans circumstances require a diplomatic posture that entails a consistent and rational approach. Hence, Pakistan is forced to tread carefully in its ties with the two opposing Muslim blocs, which are exploiting the political, economic, religious, and sectarian tendencies of the Muslim world.

The story of a fragmented Muslim world is not new. Similarly, the efforts of prosperous Muslim nations to build up strategic economic and political influence within Muslim societies also have a history. The use of religious and sectarian branding for this purpose is a lethal tactic used by Saudi Arabia and Iran, deepening the Shia-Sunni divide in Muslim societies.

Now Turkey appears to be attempting to appropriate Hanafi Islam in an effort to become the custodian of this particular school of thought that is followed by a big majority of Muslims. The Turkish religious intelligentsia is evidently promoting the narrative of the supremacy of Hanafi Islam. Qatar is rebranding Salafi Islam while accommodating political Islamists within its geopolitical vision. Iran has its own religious view and also a sense of civilisation, which makes it take pride in its political character.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad takes pride in championing Asian values. He was among the architects of Asian exceptionalism, which had challenged the universal concepts of democracy and human rights in the early 1990s. With Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, he challenged the Western narrative, believing that economic growth and prosperity could be achieved without following the Western model. What does Pakistan have to be proud of? Nukes, a weak economy and a complicated neighbourhood?

Maybe, the leaders of the ummah find it difficult to ignore Pakistan for it has a strong and active military and a big consumer market. Had we had economic and political stability, we would not have needed to indulge in regional proxy wars. Pakistan would have been among the strongest contenders for the leadership of the ummah with an entirely different diplomatic posture. However, this is not an ideal world and Pakistan will have to choose what suits its interests best.

On one side is the Saudi-led bloc, which bailed out Pakistan on several occasions to support its economy and that accommodates a significant number of Pakistani workers. Apart from defence cooperation with Pakistan, Saudi Arabia also has political clout in Washington, Beijing, and New Delhi, which could be useful for Pakistan in times of need. Iran is a neighbour with the potential to provide an uninterrupted supply of power and energy, but there are costs. Malaysia is a new ally of Pakistan. Like Turkey, it has an eye on Pakistans consumer market. Some see in Malaysian diplomatic support for Kashmir an effort to tap into the Pakistani market.

Its easy to define Pakistans choices but harder for the country to make them. Should it embrace the Turkish-Malaysian bloc, or count on its realist understanding of political-economic relations and join the Saudi-led bloc? Alternatively, should it continue treading a tightrope? But whatever choice it makes, it should not come at the cost of its self-esteem and dignity.

By arrangement with Dawn
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Two American troops were killed and six others wounded by an Afghan soldier armed with a machine gun, the US military confirmed Sunday. The deaths come at a sensitive time in the 18-year-old war, with President Donald Trump eager to bring troops home and end the longest conflict in US history. The incident occurred late Saturday at a base in Sherzad district, in Nangarhar province, eastern Afghanistan. "Current reports indicate an individual in an Afghan uniform opened fire on the combined US and Afghan force with a machine gun," US Forces-Afghanistan spokesman Sonny Leggett said in a statement on Sunday. The defence ministry said one Afghan soldier was killed and three local security forces injured during the shooting, and added that an investigation had been launched while vowing to continue fighting "terrorism" with the US. "Incidents such as this fail to have negative effects on the friendship and spirit of cooperation and between the ANDSF and U.S military forces," the ministry said in a statement. Provincial governor Shah Mahmood Meyakhil had earlier said it was not immediately clear if the incident was a deliberate act by an "infiltrator" or an accident. "It was not a clash between the forces. We are investigating," Meyakhil said. Leggett also stressed the cause or motive behind the attack were not immediately known. In a tweet, the US Army's 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) said "several" of its soldiers had been killed or injured during combat operations in Afghanistan. According to Sherzad resident Najeebullah -- who goes by one name -- gunfire could be heard coming from an Afghan security forces base nearby late Saturday followed by immediate air evacuations. "We heard the sounds of gunfire and immediately helicopters landed inside the base and evacuated the casualties," added Najeebullah. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the incident. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid later declined to comment on the incident, saying in a message sent to AFP only that the insurgents were "investigating" the attack. - Trump and the Taliban - Last year was the deadliest for US forces in Afghanistan since combat operations officially finished at the end of 2014, highlighting the challenging security situation that persists. Depending on how one qualifies combat deaths, about 20 American troops were killed in 2019. Since the US-led invasion in October 2001, about 2,400 US troops have been killed in combat in Afghanistan. In December, Taliban infiltrators in the Afghan military killed nine Afghan soldiers in central Afghanistan. In July, an Afghan soldier killed two US troops as they were visiting an Afghan army base in Kandahar. Such insider attacks are sometimes called "green-on-blue" incidents. That came two weeks after another Afghan soldier shot and killed an influential Afghan army colonel while he was conducting a security assessment in Ghazni province. US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has been negotiating with the Taliban for about 18 months for a deal that would see the Pentagon pull thousands of troops from Afghanistan. In return, the Taliban would guarantee the country is not used as a jihadist safe haven. Many are sceptical of the proposed deal and Trump himself declared talks "dead" in September amid continued Taliban violence. Negotiations have since resumed in Qatar.
CHICO, Calif. - Chico Police Officers responded to a robbery at Mountain Mike's Pizza in Chico on Sunday, Feb. 9 at 1 p.m.

Police said a white male suspect armed with a gun had demanded money from an employee. The suspect was given an undisclosed amount of cash.

According to police, the suspect ran off and was last seen running westbound on West 5th Street. The male was further described as being 45-years-old. He was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and khaki pants.

Officials said there were no injuries resulting from this incident.

Anyone with information regarding this robbery is encouraged to contact Chico Police as 530-897-4900.
Ukraine is negotiating three new sites for the disengagement of troops in Donbas.

"Only three [sites] are being prepared. These will be the sites which really have a humanitarian component," Defense Minister of Ukraine Andriy Zahorodniuk said in an interview with Radio Liberty.

It is currently unknown when the new stage of the disengagement of troops will take place as the timeline depends on the Minsk agreements.

The negotiations are underway, the minister added.

According to Zahorodniuk, the three sites are a railway bridge in the area of Stanytsia Luhanska (16km north-east of Luhansk), Novoselivka Druha (36km north-east of Mariupol) and entry-exit checkpoint "Hnutove"(20km north-east of Mariupol). Although the Minister did not rule out that the other party might offer the sites that do not suit Ukraine. In this case, the Ukrainian authorities will refuse.

As reported, on November 9, 2019, the Ukrainian military and Russian-occupation troops started the process of disengagement of forces and hardware at the site No.3 in the area of the villages of Bohdanivka and Petrivske in Donetsk region.

On October 29, 2019, the reciprocal disengagement of forces and hardware at the site No.2 near Zolote-4 locality in Luhansk region was completed.

The disengagement of forces of the Ukrainian army and occupation troops on site No.1 in the area of Stanytsia Luhanska took place in June.

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By Jamie Freed, Tim Hepher and Anshuman Daga

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Organisers scrambled on Sunday to shore up the Singapore Airshow, which is going ahead under a cloud of health and economic concerns after dozens of exhibitors pulled out of Asia's largest aerospace gathering due to coronavirus fears.

Few deals are expected at the biennial event, where health warnings have triggered new safety measures and cast a shadow over airline profits and demand for airplanes.

After years in which the airline industry has become used to weathering external shocks from epidemics to security threats, one of the industry's leading showcases has itself been thrust into the spotlight as the number of deaths in mainland China, where the virus first erupted, rose above 800.

More than 70 exhibitors have pulled out of the Feb. 11-16 show, usually a magnet for planemakers, suppliers and arms buyers due to strong demand for civil jetliners coupled with weapons demand fed by regional power rivalries.

"Based on our assessment of the situation today...we have decided to proceed with the trade and public days," said Tan Kong Hwee, assistant managing director of Singapore's Economic Development Board.

Organisers advised trade visitors to avoid shaking hands and to choose alternative forms of greeting such as bowing or waving hands. The number of public tickets available will be halved.

Singapore on Friday raised its coronavirus alert level and reported more cases not linked to previous infections or travel to China. It advised non-essential large-scale events should be deferred or cancelled, but said the air show would go ahead.

Organisers said they were expecting more than 930 companies from 45 countries and 45,000 trade attendees - down from last time.

In 2018, there were 54,000 trade attendees and 1,062 firms as the event contributed S$343 million ($247 million) to the local economy through hotels and other spending, according to organisers. The show also attracts high-level foreign delegations.

Five delegates privately expressed surprise the show was going ahead, but organisers insisted they had a responsibility to those who wished to attend.

Story continues

"It has grown to such stature and importance it is a very important part of the entire ecosystem of the global aviation industry," said Leck Chet Lam, managing director of Experia Events, partly owned by ST Engneering and government agencies and which manages the show and exhibition site.

SUPERPOWER FLIGHT DISPLAY

This year's depleted gathering comes against the backdrop of slowing passenger growth in Asia, down to 4.2% in 2019 from 7% in 2018 as economies cool their recent expansion, according to the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines.

"Already, there were signs of weakness in the cycle and then coronavirus comes along," said Rob Morris, head consultant at UK-based Ascend by Cirium.

"Given how much bigger China is today as a part of the global economy and the global airline traffic, the potential for impact is clearly much greater than it was for SARS back in the 2000s," Morris said, referring to a 2002/2003 viral outbreak.

The crisis further complicates a challenging picture caused by the 11-month-old grounding of Boeing's 737 MAX, he added. Both Boeing and Airbus have reduced attendance at the show.

Air freight, which feeds a significant proportion of Asian airline revenues, has had its weakest performance since the financial crisis in 2009 amid U.S.-China trade tensions.

This week's show will still feature a rare head-to-head, superpower fighter display from the United States and China.

The United States will fly the F-35B a month after it gave approval for Singapore to purchase up to 12 of the jets.

Manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp has, however, pulled out of show and the Pentagon has reduced its participation.

The announcement of the first appearance of China's People's Liberation Army Air Force aerobatics team, Ba Yi, with J-10 fighters was a last-minute surprise, given Singapore's travel restrictions due to the virus that led 10 Chinese exhibitors to pull out from the show.

($1 = 1.3892 Singapore dollars)

(Reporting by Jamie Freed, Tim Hepher and Anshuman Daga; Additional reporting by Eric M. Johnson, Aradhana Aravindan and John Geddie; Writing by Tim Hepher and Jamie Freed; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
The Karnataka chapter of the governing party is being criticised for threatening anti-CAA and NRC protesters.

New Delhi, India  A tweet posted by Indias governing party has triggered controversy, with the right-wing party accused of mocking a phrase used by anti-citizenship law protesters.

India has witnessed nationwide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) passed by Parliament in December last year in the latest in a string of anti-Muslim policies pushed by the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.

The slogan Kaaghaz Nahi Dikhayenge Hum (we will not show the documents) has reverberated through the more than seven weeks of protests, as a mark of defiance against the planned National Register of Citizens (NRC).

"Kaagaz Nahi Dikayenge Hum" ! ! ! Keep the documents safe, you will need to show them again during #NPR exercise.#DelhiPolls2020 pic.twitter.com/bEojjeKlwI  BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) February 8, 2020

The government says it has yet to decide on the implementation of the NRC, but wants to go ahead with National Population Register (NPR), which critics say is a precursor to the NRC.

Utterly crude

The BJP Karnataka unit on Saturday tweeted a video of burqa-clad Muslim women standing in a queue apparently outside a polling station in the Indian capital New Delhi, to cast their votes, with a caption: Kaagaz Nahi Dikayenge Hum !!!. Keep the documents safe, you will need to show them again during NPR exercise.

The tweet has gained over 31,000 likes and has been retweeted more than 10,000 times with many criticising the right-wing party for threatening protesters.

This is Indias ruling party, a group of extreme nationalists, openly mocking a phrase being used by dissenters and protestors across their nation to resist discriminatory policies. Somebody please remind the BJP that, in a democracy: Dissent in Patriotic. https://t.co/cvwddRohzr  Audrey Truschke (@AudreyTruschke) February 9, 2020

What an utterly crude handle you operate. The language of thugs and goons from the state of Karnataka known for its literary excellence. Disgraceful, one user wrote.

Senior journalist Suhasini Haider tweeted: This taunting and mocking tone towards a minority by the ruling party is not just frightening; it is against everything India stands for.

There is reason to believe that the partys bigoted dog-whistling is the true intent and the union governments denials are not taken seriously even by the party in power itself, said Gazala Wahab, assistant professor at JNUs Centre for the Study of Law and Governance.

This is not the first time the @BJP4Karnataka handle has come under fire for controversial tweets.

Last month, it posted a controversial tweet comparing a student from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) with a gunman who fired at protesters near Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) university in New Delhi.

The tweet had photos of Sharjeel Imam  who is in police custody for making a speech  and the gunman with the caption: Action for Imam and reaction for the gunman, implying the firing was in reaction to Imams speech.

Two recent posts by BJP handles which they had to delete. The nation wants to know why they put these up. Their supporters wish to know why they deleted them. Unless, of course, their social media handles are also operated, like guns at Jamia, by juveniles?! pic.twitter.com/xjjN9Z7AUp  Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) January 31, 2020

The tweet was later deleted after public outcry.

Even some BJP supporters took exception to the tone of the tweet. Not done! Adds to the fear factor! Derails PM Modis pitch. Please be sensible, wrote Amrita Bhinder, a vocal supporter of the BJP and a former member of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha [the BJP youth wing].

Menacingly offensive

Delhi-based activist, Shabnam Hashmi told Al Jazeera that Karnataka BJP is menacingly offensive and it is constantly creating an atmosphere of hate and polarisation.

It seems to say whether you [Muslims] like it or not you will have to show the documents during NPR. Not only Muslims but all marginalised sections will suffer heavily during the NRC process the first step of which begins with NPR, Hashmi said.

Its during the NPR process that doubtful citizens will be marked. They are only fooling the people, she said.

BJP leaders from Karnataka in the past have been accused of whipping up a xenophobic frenzy, with the state government cracking down on undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh.

Last month, hundreds of people were rendered homeless after authorities demolished a slum in the state capital of Bengaluru, also known as the Silicon Valley of India, over rumours it was inhabited by Bangladeshis. It later turned out that all residents were Indian citizens.

Tejasvi Surya, a BJP member of parliament from Karnataka, has been accused of fear-mongering and Islamophobia.

Shaheen Bagh is [a] symbol of Islamic fanaticism in garb of constitutional secularism, he tweeted, referring to the epicentre of anti-CAA protests.

Critics say the citizenship law, which fast-tracks citizenship for non-Muslims from three neighbouring countries, goes against the countrys secular constitution.

The law along with the proposed nationwide NRC has instilled fear among the countrys Muslims, who form nearly 15 percent of Indias 1.3 billion population.

India has witnessed massive protests after the BJP-led government passed the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act in December last year [File: Bilal Kuchay/Al Jazeera]

Nearly 30 people have died in the anti-CAA protests across the country so far.

A similar exercise conducted in the northeastern state of Assam excluded nearly two million people from the citizenship list last year.

The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said no individual will be required to submit any document for the NPR survey, but the tweet by Karnataka BJP says otherwise.

BJP spokesman Nalin Kohli also said the NPR does not require citizenship documents.

The tweet by the Karnataka BJP handle  leads to an unnecessary confusion because the NPR doesnt require any documents and it has been reiterated by the union government on a number of occasions.
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Aussie Home Loans heiress Deborah Symond O'Neil enjoyed a lavish lunchtime baby shower in Sydney on Sunday, tucking into a 'cloud' themed afternoon tea with her closest friends in an upscale venue festooned with flowers, miniature hot air balloons and a wicker basket perfect for capturing photos in.

The 31-year-old daughter of Australian financier John Symond announced her pregnancy on August 14, 2019, almost 18 months after her extravagant wedding to property developer Ned O'Neil shot her into the spotlight in April 2018.

It is the first child for the couple, who met over a decade ago through family friends before realising their father's were old associates - Ned's being super-yacht broker and owner of Rose Bay Marina, Denis O'Neil.

Aussie Home Loans heiress Deborah Symond O'Neil (left) enjoyed a lavish lunchtime baby shower in Sydney on Sunday, tucking into a 'cloud' themed afternoon tea with her closest friends in an upscale venue festooned with flowers (right)

Deborah, who is the owner of high-end leisurewear label Mode Sportif, ensured all eyes were on her by wearing a glamorous white feathered $861 midi-dress from Ganni and a trendy pair of $1,125 silver lace-up stilettos by Gianvito Rossi.

The 38-weeks pregnant businesswoman wore her short blonde hair in loose waves, opting for subtle makeup punctuated with smokey brown eyeshadow and a pair of glittering diamond hoop earrings.

No detail was overlooked by luxury Sydney event planners The Curated Life, who filled every corner of the room with white, blue and gold balloons and covered the table with piles of pale blue hydrangeas and white orchids.

The elaborate flower arrangements were created by award-winning florist Seed Flora, who decorates star-studded fashion shows, Westfield shopping centres and even Sydney Town Hall.

No detail was overlooked by luxury Sydney event planners The Curated Life, who covered the table with piles of pale blue hydrangeas and white orchids and filled every corner of the room with white, blue and gold balloons

It is the first child for the couple, who met over a decade ago through family friends before realising their father's were old associates

Guests were seen picking from plates laden with smoked salmon sandwiches, artisan breads, jam scones and chocolate brownies in Instagram videos from the event.

A white cake emblazoned with a large hot air balloon created by swanky Sydney confectioner Stacy Brewer Cakes was served for dessert.

Fashionistas and influencers made up the guest list, with 'It' girl Nadia Fairfax and blogger-turned-entrepreneur Alyce Tran sharing sweet Instagram photos from the lunch.

While Deborah and Ned have stayed tight lipped about the gender of their first child, speculation is rife that they will welcome a baby boy after the colour scheme of the shower was built around blue.
The controversial rap group Insane Clown Posse is coming to Connecticut.

The group has a show at the Webster Theater in Hartford on June 3 at 7 p.m.

Tickets for the show are available through the promoters website at massconcerts.com.

Insane Clown Posse is a Detroit-based rap duo featuring Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope with a dedicated fan base known as Juggalos.

The group sued the U.S. Justice Department in 2014 over a report that listed its fan base as a dangerous gang which committed assaults and vandalism and on occasion more serious crimes.

Shop for concert tickets here: StubHub, SeatGeek, Ticketmaster.
MONTREAL - An ex-Hasidic Jewish couple who were educated in a private religious school graduated without knowing how to speak French and hardly being able to speak English, a lawyer said Monday at the opening of a trial centring on the Quebec government's responsibility to regulate religious schools.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/2/2020 (700 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Clara Wasserstein, left, and Yochonon Lowen arrive at courthouse in Montreal, Monday, February 10, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

MONTREAL - An ex-Hasidic Jewish couple who were educated in a private religious school graduated without knowing how to speak French and hardly being able to speak English, a lawyer said Monday at the opening of a trial centring on the Quebec government's responsibility to regulate religious schools.

The couple were in Quebec Superior Court on Monday seeking a judgment against the province, which they accuse of failing to ensure they received an adequate education.

Bruce Johnston, a lawyer representing Yochonon Lowen and Clara Wasserstein, told a Montreal courtroom the couple received almost no secular education while attending a school run by the ultra-orthodox Tash community in Boisbriand, north of Montreal.

According to court documents, the plaintiffs were educated in Yiddish at a religious school that did not hold a permit. They never got a single history, geography, science or art class, while Lowen never attended a French class.

"The plaintiffs finished their high school education without knowing about the St. Lawrence River of the theory of evolution," reads the summary of their claim, originally filed in 2016.

Court filings say Lowen and Wasserstein were left unprepared to integrate into Quebec society when they left the community in 2010 and have struggled to find work without recognized high school diplomas.

The couple, who also go by Yohanan and Shifra Lowen, are not seeking damages but want a declaratory judgment against the province and several Boisbriand Hasidic schools in order to "prevent future generations from having to suffer what they suffered", according to court documents.

"These illegal schools still exist and several hundred students attend them, in full view of government authorities," the original 2016 court motion claims.

But on Monday, lawyers representing the province and the Tash community argued that the problems with the students' education have been addressed.

David Banon, a lawyer representing the community, says Tash has complied with tightened provincial legislation and agreements with school boards that have allowed Hasidic families to register as home-schoolers.

The claims in the lawsuit "do not reflect the reality of the Tash community today," Banon said.

A youth protection agency employee told the court that an educational assessment of 320 boys in the community found that 280 were lacking in areas such as math and reading and writing in English.

Marie-Josee Bernier said the agency was first called in 2014 to assess a girls' school and found the students could speak English and received secular education, albeit at a slightly lower level of difficulty than other schools. But a subsequent assessment of the boys found a different story, she said.

Many of the students, who were educated in Yiddish, did not speak enough English to administer the test without an interpreter, and they spoke almost no French. While they could complete simple sums, they did not know higher math.

She told the court many of the boys suffered from educational neglect, meaning their knowledge was "below the minimum of what's needed to be functional and autonomous in Quebec society."

Bernier said situation improved markedly after the families entered into an agreement with the school board to regularize their education. By 2017, less than 100 of the boys were considered educationally "compromised," although their education level remained below others of their own age.

The province has made moves in recent years to address the problem of illegal religious schools.

Bill 144, adopted in 2017, gave the government greater powers to enforce compulsory school attendance and required authorities to create a set of standards for home-schooling. That law was amended by the current administration last year to strengthen measures to ensure compliance and require students to pass standard ministry exams.

Eric Cantin, a lawyer representing the Quebec government, told the court the province "is not playing ostrich" when it comes to the issue of religious schools.

He said that while there have been problems in the past, things have improved greatly in the years since Lowen and Wasserstein attended school.

Abraham Ekstein, the head of a Jewish home-schooling group, told reporters outside the courtroom that since the new provincial legislation, every Hasidic child in Quebec is registered with the government in compliance with the law.

"If you ask me about the term 'illegal religious schools,' those don't exist any more," he said, adding that Montreal's Hasidic community members are productive citizens who work and pay taxes like any other.

The trial is expected to last about two weeks.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb 10, 2020.
/ -- Rio Fizzy Wines, one of India's fun and vivacious range of wines that are delightful to drink, anytime, anywhere, recently launched their debut calendar for 2020. The launch event took place in Mumbai. The 1st edition of the calendar was shot on the beautiful Goan beaches and was nothing but a visual fantasy that captures the fun and energetic vibe of the brand.

Rio Fizzy Wines is a fun, vibrant brand which has become synonymous with party. Rio is about breaking the mould and walking on one's own path. This year they have taken the party to where it's at - The Beaches Of Goa. The Rio girls represent the true essence of the brand, powerful, strong minded while being independent and modern, someone who does not conform to traditional expectations, empowering them to live life to the fullest on their terms. As long as the Rio Girls are around, the party never stops. They unveiled the first look of the calendar in a fashionable manner. The event epitomized to be a night full of glamour with delicious meals and fizzy drinks.

Speaking of the debut edition of the calendar, Ashwin Rodrigues, Founder, Good Drop Wines, said, "The Rio Fizzy Wines Calendar aims to capture the epitome of fun and vivaciousness. It will potentially act as a talent launch pad for models from around the world. Just as the brand name suggests - Rio Fizzy Wines, we wanted the calendar to be fun and full of fizz. The models are young, beautiful and the entire shoot was captured in candid moments. The behind the scene videos will be released soon on our YouTube channel and app as well. We also aim to launch a few more product lines and categories under the same brand name and we can't wait to show the world more."



About Good Drop Wine Cellars



Good Drop Wine Cellars is India's first specialist sparkling wine producer. Wine making commenced in 2010 and a state-of-the-art winery was set up in 2013 at Vinchur Park in Nashik. Powered by equipment imported from Italy, the winery has a sizeable capacity of 12 lakh litres. The three brands Casablanca (sparkling range), Good Earth (still wine range) and the Rio Fizzy Wine range makes Good Earth a versatile wine company with products across different wine segments and price points.

The Casablanca range has: Casablanca Vino Spumante (white sparkling), Casablanca Rose Spumante (rose sparkling).

Good Earth Wines has two segments: the value segment - Blanca (white), Bella (rose),Bleu (red) & the premium reserve wines - Antaraa (red - Cabernet Shiraz), Basso (red -Shiraz), Brio (red - Cabernet Sauvignon)



The Rio Fizzy Wine Range - Rio Spritzers (Rio Cranberry, Rio Lemon & Passion, Rio Orange & Pineapple), Rio Strong range - (Rio Strong - red & Rio Strong Extra Dry - white), Rio Italian range - (Bianco, Rosato, Rosso), Rio Fizzy.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Express News Service

LUCKNOW: Seven Bangladeshi nationals were arrested in UPs Jhansi as they did not have any valid documents for staying in the country, police said on Sunday. Jhansi Senior Superintendent of Police D Pradeep said, As many as seven Bangladeshi nationals were arrested during routine checking near the bus stand in Babina on Friday.

Babina  a cantonment town in Jhansi district stands for British Army Base in North Asia. Those arrested were staying at a hotel near the bus stand and did not have valid documents for staying in India, the SSP said, adding that the seven belong to Dhaka.



For some time, they were in the business of selling fish oil. During routine probe, no criminal cases have been found against them, but they have been booked under the Foreigners Act for illegally staying in India, Pradeep added.



The arrested were identified as Mamoon Sheikh, Milan Sheikh, Aslam Sheikh, Falan Sheikh, Sijer Sheikh, Mukul Sheikh and Monu Vaid, police said.
A gunman was taken into custody Sunday after he ambushed police officers in the Bronx twice in 12 hours, wounding two in attacks that brought outrage from officials who blamed the violence on an atmosphere of anti-police rhetoric, authorities said.

Robert Williams, 45, of the Bronx, was captured after he walked into a police station in the Bronx and started shooting shortly before 8 a.m. Sunday, police said. His shots struck a lieutenant in the arm and narrowly missed other police personnel before he ran out of bullets, lay down and tossed his pistol, officials said.

That attack came just hours after the same man approached a patrol van in the same part of the Bronx and fired at two officers inside, wounding one before escaping on foot, police said.

All of those shot are expected to recover, authorities said.

It is only by the grace of God and the heroic actions of those inside the building that took him into custody that we are not talking about police officers murdered inside a New York City police precinct, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said at a news conference.

Williams is being charged with attempted murder, criminal weapon possession and resisting arrest, police said in an email late Sunday identifying him as the suspect. He was hospitalized Sunday evening, the Bronx prosecutors office said. It wasnt clear whether he had an attorney to speak for him.

Williams had been upset since his own son died after being shot in the Bronx, the suspects grandmother told the New York Post.

He was depressed at times because his son got shot in the street, Mary Williams, 80, told the newspaper. That was his only child.

The officer injured in the first shooting, Paul Stroffolino, was released from the hospital Sunday to applause from colleagues. The officer, a bandage on his neck, gave a thumbs-up.

Shea called Williams a coward and said he had a long criminal history, including a 2002 shooting and carjacking in which he fired a gun at police. He was paroled from prison in 2017 after an attempted murder conviction, Shea said.

The commissioner also lashed out at criminal justice reform activists who have demonstrated in recent months against excessive force by police, including a large protest in Grand Central Terminal. The protests, he suggested, helped create an anti-police environment.

These things are not unrelated. We had people marching through the streets of New York City recently, Shea said. Words matter. And words affect peoples behavior.

Shea didnt offer any evidence that Williams knew of those protests or was influenced by them.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who won office partly on a promise to reform overly aggressive policing of minority communities, also suggested that anti-police sentiment had gotten out of hand.

Anyone who spews hatred at our officers is aiding and abetting this kind of atmosphere; it is not acceptable, de Blasio said. You could protest for whatever you believe in, but you cannot vilely attack those who are here to protect us. It creates this kind of dynamic.

The attacks recalled other unprovoked assaults on police officers sitting in their patrol vehicles.

In 2017, a gunman killed Officer Miosotis Familia as she sat in her patrol vehicle in the Bronx. In 2014, two officers, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, were shot dead in their patrol car in Brooklyn by a man upset about recent police killings of unarmed black men.

The killings of Ramos and Liu had also followed large protests. Some officers blamed de Blasio for expressing solidarity with the demonstrations and turned their backs on the Democrat at the funerals.

Robert Gangi, executive director of the Police Reform Organizing Project advocacy group, said it was irresponsible for Shea and de Blasio to link the weekends violence to recent demonstrations, which he said involved activists protesting in a legitimate fashion.

There is no defense for a lunatic who opens fire on police, Gangi said.

The first attack happened just before 8:30 p.m. Saturday, when the gunman walked up to the van asking the officers for directions and then fired shots, grazing Stroffolino, who was behind the wheel, in the chin and neck and narrowly missing an artery, authorities said.

Stroffolino and his partner for eight years, Brian Hanlon, a friend since middle school, hit the gas to get away. Neither fired a shot.

Police released a photo of the suspect and were combing the city for him when he walked into the police station coordinating the manhunt, strolled to the desk and pulled a gun, authorities said. The wounded lieutenant returned fire but missed, and police personnel dashed out of an adjoining room just in time to avoid the pursuing gunman.

Two security cameras captured video of the chaotic scene.
The clock is ticking.

March 16 is the last day to make what is likely one of the most important business decisions you will make for your farming operation this year.

If you have not already visited your local Farm Service Agency county office to make your election for either the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program and to sign your annual enrollment contract, you should call and make your appointment now.

Many of you are gearing up to head to the field for spring planting, but I cannot stress enough the importance of not letting this deadline get lost in the hectic day-to-day obligations of farm life.

If you fail to enroll for 2019 ARC or PLC, you will be ineligible to receive a payment for the 2019 crop year.

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ARC and PLC provide financial protections to farmers from substantial drops in crop prices or revenues and are vital economic safety nets for most American farms. These programs cover 20 commodities produced in the U.S.

FSA anticipates more than 1.7 million producers will enroll in ARC or PLC -- thats a lot of producers to assist in a short period of time. As of Feb. 3, FSA records in Minnesota show 8,231 farms out of an expected 95,221 farms have completed ARC or PLC enrollment for the 2019 crop year.

Want to maximize your time visiting with FSA? Inquire about deadlines and options for also enrolling in 2020 ARC or PLC and updating PLC payment yields. Our staff will help you make the most out of your visit or set you up with a future appointment to help check FSA programs off your lengthy to-do list.

If youre still unsure about the choice of ARC or PLC, we offer online decision tools to help you determine the best program election for your farming operation. To access these tools, visit www.fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc.

Call FSA today for an appointment. To locate your local FSA office, visit farmers.gov/service-center-locator.

We know that time is money, so make the time to avoid losing the money.
Two young HIV-positive airmen are fighting to stay in the Air Force after they were dismissed on the grounds they were 'unable to reasonably perform' because their condition prevents them from deploying to the U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility.

Under the Trump administration, HIV-positive military members may not enlist or become an officer and Central Command - which governs military operations in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia - prohibits personnel with HIV from deploying without a waiver.

But the anonymous airmen - referred to in lawsuit as Victor Voe and Richard Roe - said they couldn't apply for a waiver as when they were diagnosed during the process of fitness evaluation.

Their lawsuit argues those who contract HIV cannot be dismissed solely on the basis of the condition.

Two HIV-positive airmen are fighting to stay in the Air Force after they were dismissed on the grounds they're 'unable to reasonably perform'

Under the Trump administration, HIV-positive military members may not enlist or become an officer but the men say they present no great risk to others. They take antiretroviral medication and have undetectable HIV but the DOJ said risk is amplified on the battlefield as soldiers often come into contact with blood

It argues on the basis of discrimination, stating that 'our military treats Service members' wounds and illnesses, and, when able, they continue to serve' but service members with HIV 'do not enjoy the same treatment'.

The two anonymous men say in the first-of-its kind lawsuit against the United States Military filed on December 19, 2018, that major advancements in treatment mean they can easily be given appropriate medical care and present no real risk of transmission to others.

They both take antiretroviral medication and have undetectable HIV.

While acknowledging that treatment decreases the risk of transmitting HIV, the DOJ argued that the risk is amplified on the battlefield where soldiers often come into contact with blood.

They initially stated in legal documents that the men were 'unable to reasonably perform' as they wouldn't be able to go where most airmen are expected to go.

An attorney for the airmen argued during a hearing last September that the odds of transmitting HIV in combat are infinitesimal and should not limit their deployment or lead to their discharge.

The Air Force said their condition prevents them from deploying to the U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility

Last month the U.S. District Court judge in Maryland issued a preliminary injunction after finding that the Air Force is working under 'irrational' and 'outdated' policies. It allows them to continue serving before they go to trial in the discrimination case. The DOJ could ask for a rehearing before the full 4th Circuit Court or could appeal the panel's ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court

Last month the U.S. District Court judge in Maryland issued a preliminary injunction after finding that the Air Force is working under 'irrational' and 'outdated' policies.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the injunction will remain in place while the men challenge their discharges at a trial, stating, that 'any understanding of HIV that could justify this ban is outmoded and at odds with current science'.

'Such obsolete understandings cannot justify a ban, even under a deferential standard of review and even according appropriate deference to the militarys professional judgments,' Judge James Wynn Jr. wrote in the unanimous ruling.

Scott Schoettes, counsel and HIV project director at non-profit group Lambda Legal also represents plaintiffs in two other lawsuits that similarly challenge the Pentagon's 'discriminatory discharge policy targeting servicemembers living with HIV' . He said it's a 'pretty scary and difficult time for advancing, and even maintaining the rights of LGBT people'

Despite the major victory for the plaintiffs, the DOJ could ask for a rehearing before the full 4th Circuit Court or could appeal the panel's ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Scott Schoettes, counsel and HIV project director at non-profit group Lambda Legal, thinks its unlikely the DOJ will appeal because it 'doesn't generally happen' after a unanimous decision.

'I'm pretty sure we will end up back down at trial where we get to prove our claims and ensure that the service members can continue to serve,' Schoettes told ABC News.

Schoette - whose non-profit organization represents Voe and Roe - has warned 'there is more fight ahead' for the 1,200 people the Modern Military Association of America estimates live with HIV in the military.

'Our adversary in this case is the military itself and its current leadership, which seems not to be willing to actually accept or grapple with what these changes in the medicine mean for people living with HIV and their ability to serve,' Schoettes told ABC News.

But Schoettes - who also represents plaintiffs in two other lawsuits that similarly challenge the Pentagon's 'discriminatory discharge policy targeting servicemembers living with HIV' said it's a 'pretty scary and difficult time for advancing, and even maintaining the rights of LGBT people'.

Under Barack Obama, the then-Defense Secretary Ashton Carter in June 2016 lifted the Pentagon's ban on transgender people serving openly in the armed forces and said the Pentagon will cover medical costs for uniformed personnel who transition

Last spring the Trump-Pence administration limited the services that transgender military members could do. The policy of excluding trans people from the US military came into effect in April after lengthy federal court battles and injunctions

'We've seen this administration, really through regulation, undermine our rights in so many ways,' he said.

Peter Perkowski, Modern Military Association of America's Legal and Policy Director, said: 'We can blame the Trump administration for the change in culture that has created a situation where the Air Force no longer feels like it needs to support its service members with HIV'

DEPLOY OR GET OUT The 'Retention Determinations for Non-deployable Service Members' policy came into effect October 1, 2018. A decision is made on a case-by-case basis. However airmen must demonstrate four things under the DoD Instruction 1332.45: Medical, dental and physical readiness The ability to execute wartime mission requirements of their specific career field, whether technical, educational or physical An up-to-date Fitness Assessment test A satisfactory level of participant in Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard duties Non-deployable members must be reported every month and if it's determined for 12 months in a row that they have been non-deployable, they will be considered for separation. Advertisement

Last spring the Trump-Pence administration limited the services that transgender military members could do. The policy of excluding trans people from the US military came into effect in April after lengthy federal court battles and injunctions.

Under Barack Obama, the then-Defense Secretary Ashton Carter in June 2016 lifted the Pentagon's ban on transgender people serving openly in the armed forces and said the Pentagon will cover medical costs for uniformed personnel who transition.

But by June 2017, Trump tweeted that transgender people would not be allowed 'to serve in any capacity in the US Military' due to medical costs and the 'disruption' caused.

The current version of the ban prohibits new recruits from transitioning and also allows the military to discharge those currently serving if they do not present as their birth gender.

'We can blame the Trump administration for the change in culture that has created a situation where the Air Force no longer feels like it needs to support its service members with HIV,' Peter Perkowski, Modern Military Association of America's Legal and Policy Director, told ABC News.

'It's not just trans people and it's not just people living with HIV, it's the entire LGBTQ/ HIV community in the military who are under attack. It comes from the top.'

Perkowski - whose organization also reps Roe and Voe - added: 'I think there is still discrimination going on for LGBT people it's just not as overt as it was before. There are pockets of bias. And those are mainly from individuals, but not necessarily from the military itself.

'Right now, people with HIV can't enlist in the military. And if they're an enlisted person, they can't commission as an officer regardless of how qualified they are. So you're stuck as an enlisted person and that obviously affects your ability to get awards and recognitions and promote up the ranks.

'We've seen pilots who were are diagnosed with HIV get grounded as well as doctors and medical practitioners, including mental health practitioners, who were removed from their healthcare jobs after being diagnosed. So I think a case like this would affect those people very significantly.'
GAITHERSBURG, Maryland, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Planet Green Holdings Corp. (the "Company") (NYSE American: PLAG) announced today that the Company has entered into a Share Purchase Agreement with two investors (the "Transaction"). Pursuant to the agreement, the Company will receive gross proceeds of $3,510,000, in exchange for the issuance of an aggregate of 1,350,000 shares of the Company's common stock, representing a purchase price of approximately $2.60 per share. The Transaction will be closed on customary closing conditions of this type of transaction.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "estimate", "plan", "outlook", and "project" and other similar expressions that indicate future events or trends or are not statements of historical matters. These statements are based on our management's current expectations and beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions concerning future events.

Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside of our control and all of which could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date, and we do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements can be found in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available, free of charge, on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.

For more information please contact:

Mr. Daqi Cui

Chief Operating Officer

Phone: 202 891 8907

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Planet Green Holdings Corp.

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10.02.2020 LISTEN

They were coming from all the nooks, crannies and corners to the village center. Men, women, and children. Old, young and the vulnerable. Grim looks accompanied ghastly ones. Drab moods dragged the dim ones. Animosity was pulling annoyance by hand. Peevishness and petulance accompanied each other. Irritation seemed rankled. Aggravation was galled and goaded.

As they gathered in the terrace of the town's Akodi, the Baale was seated on a well rounded peregun, padded with a severally folded navy blue velvet. The occasion did not call for the usual comfort of engraved chair, usually engraved to mimick the throne. The general mood was grumpy and grouchy. The people were griping and grumbling. The atmosphere was acidic and acridic. It was far from being a fun fair. Not when the village was under serious existential threats.

Surrounded by his advisers, who are all titled chiefs, the Baale signaled to Asipa who stepped forward. He was decked in a shoulder -long sleeved jumper on Kembe. His fila was about three and half feet long as it dangled down beyond his shoulder. His facial contort touted flatness. But his body language was incongruous to that facial contort. Brisk. Pumpy. Zippy. He conveyed an innate combustive energy as he prostrated to pay his homage.

He reported to the Baale that he, in consultation with Balogun, had all the entrances to the village manned. He explained that they did not want the village to be a victim of surprise attack from the marauders while in deliberation. The whole gathering hailed the Asipa. The Baale, seemingly satisfied, spoke to praise him too. He expressed personal confidence and the trust of the people in him.

It was the Balogun who stepped forward next. A very diminutive man whose title made him looked like a paradox. His bitsy physiology seemed a deliberate mockery of the office he occupied. For as the Balogun, he was the Field Marshal of the village's army. Easily, he could attract sneering and sardonic outbursts from the untutored. He was the proverbial Koriko ti a f'oju tinrin, ti nfo ni l'oju. No one in the village and its environs dared to mess with him without dire consequences.

He was garbed in a medium sized Gbariye on an appropriately sized Kembe. His Gbariye, sumptuous enough to spare swiftness and balletic enough to brook nimbleness, did nothing to alleviate the paradox of his miniature physiology in relationship to the huge importance of his office. If one had called him A kere koro, Omi ata o se e fi b'oju, one would have been perfectly correct.

As he stepped forward, he removed his Abeti Aja with his right hand and prostrated. He was so flat on the ground that he seemed intent on actually entering the ground to pay his homage to the Baale. He told the Baale that the people were angry. He made it clear that all the cross sections of the village and the environs were riled and they were fed up with what was happening.

He noted that the people of the village and adjunct territories were peace - loving. "We always welcome visitors. We believe in farming and commerce. We cherish the philosophy of live and let live. We are long suffering and patient. We don't rush to judgment. We are always fair and equitable. But we don't like to be ridden roughshod over. Enough is enough," he had said shrieking, with the muscles of his neck spasmodically gesturing enough to be seen by close watchers.

He continued, as he was being applauded, "We don't want war. Nobody does. All we want is to be left alone to live our lives the way we choose. But some people have brought war to our front doors. Our men are being murdered or kidnapped and held to ransome. Our women are being murdered, kidnapped and raped. Our children are afraid to go to schools. People are afraid to go to markets and go to their farms. There is insecurity and tension all over. Eleyi o gbodo ri be ni ilu to l'Oba to n'Ijoye."

The Balogun then added, "We don't want war. We are not interested in any war. But war is on our doorsteps. No matter how much we don't want to fight, we must protect ourselves. We must protect our mothers and wives and daughters. We must protect our vulnerables. We must protect our farms. We must protect our existence. And if this is called war, then so be it. It is the only choice that we have now. The first law of nature is self preservation."

It was the turn of Iyalode to speak to the gathering. Donning a nifty, aro coloured Aso ofi as iro and buba, her Ipele and Gele were an alluring rendition in Osun. The combined colours were said to be an expression of the dour hour in the village. She knelt down to pay her homage and then yika otun, yika osi, cleared her throat and began to speak.

She said she has been hearing murmurs about war. That some people are against fighting a war. "Abiyamo le mi naa. Igiripa meji ati omidan kan lo wa ninu ile mi. Nko fe f'oju sun ekun won. Ki laa wa se bayi o? Se ki gbogbo wa kuku f'owo leran k'ogun ko gbogbo wa lo ni?" (I am a mother too. I have two young men and a daughter. I don't want to cry over their loss. What are we to do now? Should we all stand akimbo and allow everyone of us be swept away by war?), she had asked rhetorically.

She explained that whatever had to be done ought to be done. "If we want peace, fighting those who are murdering our people and raping our women would be an enduring solution. We have to sniff them out and their collaborators, clear them off our our village and its environs. If that is fighting a war, then so be it, nitori a kii f'ina s'ori orule sun," she said as she made to sit down.

Olori Odo was the next to contribute. He was garmented in a jumpy Eshiki and Kembe. He had no fila. He cast himself down on the ground in humility and submission. He wanted to speak in that position but was granted permission to stand on his feet. He observed the needed protocol and went over the miseries that had been the lot of the village since the village had come under incessant attack by heavily armed killer herdsmen.

He spoke about how he had lost two friends and a cousin. He spoke how he had been lucky to mobilize his youthful friends to save his father on the farm, adding that his father was still being nursed by his mother as he spoke. He pointed out that food was becoming scarce as farm products have been continuously and consistently destroyed by the herdsmen. He added that those who had enough to sell were even afraid to come to the market to sell.

He insisted that Bi apa ko ba se e san, ki a ka le ori; bi ko si se e ka l'ori, ki a gee da nu. He told the gathering that it was time to put an end to this season of anomie, that it was better to die free than to live in slavery. He insisted that he would rather eat his pounded yam with oil on the table that to sip palmy, crunched inhumanly, under the table.

He turned around to face his fellow youths and broke into a song:

Ogun o ko wa ri,

Ogun o ko wa ri,

Awa kii s'Eru baba enikookan

Ogun o ko wa ri,

Ogun o ko wa ri,

Awa kii s'Eru omo enikookan

Ogun o ko wa ri,

Ogun o ko wa ri.

The rendition of the song went on as I woke up from the dream, only to be reminded that I had my head rested on an Amotekun pillow.

Remi Oyeyemi.
A passenger stands on a balcony on the 'Diamond Princess' cruise ship, with around 3,600 people quarantined on board due to fears of the new coronavirus, at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama port on February 10, 2020. Around 60 more people on board the quarantined ship moored off Japan have been diagnosed with novel coronavirus, the country's national broadcaster said on February 10, raising the number of infected passengers and crew to around 140. (AFP)

Hyderabad: Indian crew members on the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess have issued an urgent appeal to the government of India to rescue them even as reports emerged that 60 odd more passengers on board the ship have tested positive for the coronavirus on Monday. This takes the total number of coronavirus positives on the ship to nearly 140.

In a video shared on Monday, Binay Kumar Sarkar, a crew member who first took to Facebook days ago explaining the fear that has gripped people on the ship, said, We are very scared. There are more than 60 positive cases today but an official announcement of how many of these are passengers and how many are crew is yet to be made.

Please save us: Indian crew members on #coronavirus-stricken ship #DiamondPrincess make frantic video appeal to PM Modi pic.twitter.com/T1VwWKkLOw  Deccan Chronicle (@DeccanChronicle) February 10, 2020

In a video that also showed some of the other Indian crew members on the ship, he said, I appeal to the prime minister of India to intervene. Urgent segregation is needed of those who are healthy.

He told Deccan Chronicle via a phone message, Please save us. Life is more important than a job.

What is the use of coming to our rescue after things get out of hand, he asked in the video.

The first secretary in the consular division of the Indian embassy in Tokyo told Deccan Chronicle on Monday that there are no Indians among the 70 passengers who tested positive till Sunday.

Today there are some more cases and we are yet to know their identity. We are in touch with the Indians on board through the Foreign Ministry and the Japanese Health Ministry. Some of the passengers are in touch with us directly through email, the official said.

Reports in the Japanese media, quoting that countrys health minister Katsunobu Kato, said the government was considering testing all crew members and passengers on the vessel.

The ship has about 3,700 passengers and crew.

So far only 500 people have been tested, crew member Sarkar said. Right now, only those who are reporting more than 37.5 degrees C of body temperature are being tested. There are 160 Indians among the crew along with 8 Indian passengers, he said in the video.

Meanwhile, in an update, Princess Cruises, the company that operated Diamond Princess, confirmed an additional 66 cases of coronavirus cases as tested by the Japanese Ministry of Health. These cases are from Australia (4), Canada (1), England (1), Japan (45), Philippines (3), Ukraine (1) and USA (11).

We are following guidance from the Japan Ministry of Health on plans for disembarkation protocols to provide medical care for these new cases. Since it is early in the quarantine period of 14-days, it was not unexpected that additional cases would be reported involving individuals who were exposed prior to the start of the quarantine, the company said.

The Japan Ministry of Health has been the lead public health authority defining the testing protocols for all guests and crew on Diamond Princess, the company said.
February 4, 2020 Mike Capps , 812-937-4541 X 107

Thomas Mackie to be Speaker at 2020 Lincoln Day Program



Former director of the Abraham Lincoln Library at Lincoln Memorial University, in Harrogate, Tennessee, Thomas Mackie will be the featured speaker at the annual Lincoln Day program on Sunday, February 9, 2020. Mackie will speak about Lincoln museums and historic sites and their role as shrines to the 16th Presidents memory. The program will begin at 2:00 p.m. (CST) and will be held in the Abraham Lincoln Hall of Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, Lincoln City, Indiana. The 2020 Lincoln Day program will include presentation of the colors by the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, special music, and other ceremonial activities to honor the memory of Abraham Lincoln and his family. Following the indoor program, the traditional pilgrimage to the gravesite of Nancy Hanks Lincoln for a wreath laying ceremony will be held. All are invited to a reception in the Nancy Hanks Lincoln Hall at the conclusion of the program. Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial preserves the Indiana farm where Abraham Lincoln lived for 14 years -- from 1816 to 1830, and the site where his mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, is buried. The Memorial is located eight miles south of Interstate 64 on Indiana Highway 162, adjacent to Lincoln State Park.

For more information, please contact the park office at 812-937-4541.
By Express News Service

KARAIKAL: Nine people have returned from China in past one week after the outbreak of coronavirus. Health Services officials said they are quarantined in their houses and are being monitored.

The families and individuals are under observation and have been asked to stay indoors for 28 days. We are looking for symptoms such as coughing, fever and breathlessness. One girl was coughing. We took samples from her to the lab and the results for coronavirus is negative. We request the Karaikal residents not to panic and be cautious of their health, said K Mohanraj, the deputy director of Health Services (Immunisation).

Among the returnees, two had gone to China for their studies, while one had gone to work. Two other businesmen had taken their families to China. None of them had gone to Wuhan but had been to other places in China. The caretakers of the individuals had been asked to stay away from the returnees, while the two returning nuclear families are at the mercy of their relatives and neighbours for food, essentials and groceries. The officials said that they have been asked to stay indoors for the larger interest of the public.

Nobody has been hospitalised yet for coronavirus in Karaikal. There are medical teams of an auxiliary health nurse and a medical assistant checking for symptoms of corona daily.

After the death of the whistle blowing doctor Li Wenliang in China, health workers in Karaikal are wearing protective masks, aprons and gloves when they check on these nine people.
Arunachal Pradesh Civil Aviation Minister Nakap Nalo has said that compensation has been paid to all those people whose land was acquired for the proposed greenfield airport at Hollongi.

The foundation stone of the Hollongi Airport project was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 9, 2019.

The minister accompanied by the director of the state Civil Aviation department Tamiyo Tatak and other officers visited the project site at Hollongi on Sunday.

The airport would be set up on 676 acres of land.

Nalo said on Sunday he will monitor the work of the airport on a weekly basis. The Arunachal Pradesh government would build the boundary wall, approach road and will also provide electricity to the airport.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Saturday said that the Hollongi greenfield airport project had been awarded to a company and it will be completed within 30-months.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Grassroots womens groups in Lebanon demand more rights and call for recognition of marginalised groups.

Protests in Lebanon are continuing even as a new government under Prime Minister Hassan Diab has been sworn in.

But grassroots womens groups, who were at the forefront of the protests since they started in October, are also calling for the recognition of their rights and other marginalised groups.

Al Jazeeras Sara Khairat reports from Beirut, Lebanon.
The state of Sao Paulo in Brazil today opened a representative office in Dubai, UAE, aimed at growing trade between Brazil's leading industrial centre and the Middle East and North Africa region.



Joao Doria, governor of Sao Paulo and Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, group chairman and CEO of DP World, led a ceremony at Dubai Maritime City attended by CEOs and leaders of fifty Brazilian companies as well as senior government officials.



Exports from Brazil to Arab countries grew by 6.3 per cent year-on-year to reach $12.197 billion in 2019.



Brazilian imports from the region reached a value of $6.99 billion. The Trade Promotion Office will aim to expand the trading relationship between Sao Paulo and the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, including exports of Brazilian products, and to attract investment in Sao Paulos privatisation projects.



Sao Paulo is focusing on expanding its relationship with fast-growing regions. The office in Dubai follows the opening last year of a trade mission in Shanghai. Sao Paulo's trade promotion office will boost the development of Dubai Maritime City as a global hub for marine industries and world trade.



InvestSP, the investment and export promotion agency of Sao Paulo, organised the visit of a Brazilian delegation to Dubai and Abu Dhabi.



"Sao Paulo has excellent investment opportunities in both privatisation and private sector initiatives," said Wilson Mello, president of InvestSP. "The Mena region is already a major importer of Brazilian products, especially from Sao Paulo, so we have assembled a team of businessmen and other representatives from the private sector to strengthen trade further.



We welcome Governor Joao Doria and members of the Sao Paulo state commercial delegation to the UAE. The official inauguration of the office in Dubai ushers in an exciting new chapter in our relations, and the Trade Promotion Office will be a valuable addition to the existing strong ties between the Arab region and Brazil, said Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, group chairman and CEO, DP World.



There was significant growth in trade between Brazil and the UAE as well as with the wider Arab region in 2019. We see great opportunities to expand our trading relationship, benefitting businesses and the people of the UAE and the state of Sao Paulo, added bin Sulayem.



The delegation's visit takes place on February 8-13, including meetings with companies and local investors in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. In addition to the businessmen, the delegation includes secretaries Henrique Meirelles (Treasury), Patricia Ellen (Economic Development), Gustavo Junqueira (Agriculture and Supply), Joao Octaviano (Logistics and Transport), and Julio Serson (International Relations).  TradeArabia News Service
Natasha Lindstrom And Rich Cholodofsky | Tribune-Review, Greensburg, Pa.

A 19-year-old West Mifflin man told police he pulled a gun out Saturday night during a fight with his mother, then during a tussle he shot and killed a friend who was trying to calm the situation, court records show.

Dante Terrell King faces a homicide charge in the death of Anthony Orosco, 21.

About 10:30 p.m. Saturday, police and medics responded to a report of a man shot at a Palmer Lane address in a mobile home park about three miles southwest of Kennywood Park. King lives at the residence with his mother and sister, a criminal complaint shows.

First responders found Orosco had been shot once in the upper chest. Medics took Orosco to UPMC McKeesport hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 11 p.m., the complaint said.

Im sorry

When West Mifflin police arrived, King came out of the home but disregarded commands to take his left hand out of his pants pocket, police wrote in the complaint.

As officials detained King, his mother, Tara Evans, screamed, You killed him, the complaint said.

Im sorry, King replied, according to the complaint.

A few hours later, shortly after 2 a.m., detectives interviewed King at the countys homicide unit.

King told detectives that he and a few friends had been drinking, and one of them threw up on the bathroom floor.

When Tara Evans confronted him about the mess, King said that he felt his mother was disrespecting him after he told her he would clean it up.

At one point, according to King, Evans pulled a mid-sized black or silver gun on him.

King then punched his mother in the face, he told detectives. King called his brother, asking for a ride to leave the home.

King then walked to his room and grabbed what he told detectives was his sisters firearm that had been placed in his room earlier.

Man killed while trying to calm the situation

As King left the room and entered the hallway, Orosco tried to calm the situation, the complaint said. Orosco asked King to give him the gun to de-escalate the situation, but King refused.

King told police that he was not going to give anyone the firearm because he felt they were being aggressive.

Orosco reached for the gun and tried to take it from King, the complaint said. The two men tussled with the gun out in the hallway and into Kings younger sisters bedroom.

They continued to tussle for the gun, and at some point, Kings finger was on the trigger while Anthony had a grip on the barrel, King told detectives.

King said that the gun went off and he shot Anthony.

King said he immediately dropped the gun in shock. He said he did not call 911 but he did try and apply pressure to the wound.

King said he did not leave before police arrived because he needed to own up to what he did.

King is being held in Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh. He is set to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 19.

Allegheny County Police are leading the investigation.

Officials asked anyone with information about the incident to call the countys police tipline at 1-833-255-8477 (1-833-ALL-TIPS). Callers can remain anonymous.
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OLYMPIA (AP)  Washington lawmakers have passed a bill that would change a tax that's supposed to make it easier for the state to pay for the Legislature's promise to make college more affordable.

The Seattle Times reports that initially, the 2019 package planned to use a business-and-occupation tax to pay for a measure making higher education more accessible, starting in the 2020-2021 school year.





. . .
(SOUNDBITE) (English) REPUBLICAN SOUTH CAROLINA SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM SAYING:

"I think questions about the conflict of interest regarding Hunter Biden in the Ukraine need to be asked."

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a strong supporter of President Donald Trump, told CBS Face the Nation Sunday that the U.S. Justice Department is receiving information on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter , from Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

Giuliani was a central figure in the Trump's impeachment by the U.S. House of Representatives.

News of the arrangement surfaced days after the Senate acquitted Trump on those impeachment charges.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) REPUBLICAN SOUTH CAROLINA SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM SAYING:

"So Rudy Giuliani last night said he's got the goods on Hunter Biden. I called the attorney general this morning and Richard Burr, the chairman of the Intel Committee, and they told me take very cautiously anything coming out of the Ukraine against anybody."

Hunter Biden sat on the board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma while Joe Biden, now a Democratic presidential candidate, was vice president.

Two Republican senators - Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson - are also conducting an investigation of U.S. government records to determine whether there was a conflict of interest.

Graham said he would refrain from his own probe of the Bidens and concentrate instead on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court's decision to issue warrants that led to a federal investigation into allegations that Trump's 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia to interfere in the election.

Justice Department officials were not immediately available for comment.
The arrival of the team came the same day China said it had set a new daily record for deaths from the virus. It said 97 people had died the day before.

The overall death toll is now 908 people, which surpasses the toll from the SARS epidemic of 2002-03, according to official data. The number of confirmed infections in the country rose to 40,171, and 3,062 new cases were recorded in the preceding 24 hours, most of them in Hubei Province.

Since W.H.O.s director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, visited Beijing in January, the organization had tried to send a team, but the Chinese government balked. The delay raised questions about Chinas sensitivity to accepting outside help in combating the epidemic.

In a series of posts on Twitter, Dr. Tedros said countries that have seen only a few cases with no direct connection to China could yet see a jump in new infections.

We may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg, he wrote.

He called on all countries to share information about the coronavirus in real time with the organization.

Its a mammal. It eats ants. And it just might be tied to the coronavirus.

In the search for the animal source or sources of the epidemic in China, the latest candidate is the pangolin, an endangered, scaly, ant-eating mammal that is imported in huge numbers to Chinese markets for food and medicine.

The market in pangolins is so large that they are said to be the most trafficked mammals on the planet. All four Asian species are critically endangered, and it is far from clear whether being identified as a viral host would be good or bad for pangolins. It could decrease the trade in the animals, or it could cause a backlash.
(Newser)  William Miller, 17, was in a pickup truck trying to leave the campus of a Florida high school when, amid an argument with a school resource officer and a school discipline assistant, the officera deputy with the Pasco County Sheriff's Officethreatened to shoot the teen. Miller's mom, Nedra Miller, has since obtained bodycam footage of the Dec. 17 incident and posted it to Facebook, where it has gone viral, the Tampa Bay Times reports. "You're gonna get shot you come another f---ing foot closer to me," the deputy says as William attempts to get around the officer and the discipline assistant, who were blocking the exit to the student parking lot. "You run into me, you'll get f---ing shot." Nedra Miller says she told the school in advance her son had an orthodontist appointment that day, but the deputy and the school worker insisted he was truant.

story continues below

He eventually went back to the school but was suspended until Jan. 9, then expelled and sent to an alternative school for students with discipline issues; he's also been barred from events at his old school. Nedra Miller says her son didn't want to interrupt her at work as she'd already given the OK for him to leave. Per the Washington Post, William promised to return with an excuse note. The adults in the video accuse William of cursing and calling the discipline assistant, who's white, the n-word (she herself uses it in the clip, prompting William to call her racist). William isn't heard using any profanity and denies it. The district isn't investigating the incident; the sheriff's office is carrying out an internal investigation, but the deputy is still assigned to the school as there was no criminal complaint. The Millers are appealing William's punishment and want the adults held accountable. (Read more Florida stories.)
The 25-year-old woman lecturer who was set on fire by a stalker in Maharashtra's Wardha district last week died at a hospital in Nagpur on Monday morning, a police official said.

Ankita Pisudde, a resident of Hinganghat town in Wardha, was critical after sustaining 40 per cent burns on February 3 when she was set afire allegedly by one Vikesh Nagrale (27) while she was on the way to her college.

She was undergoing treatment at the Orange City Hospital & Research Centre in Nagpur, located around 840 km from here.

"Doctors at the hospital declared her dead at 6.55 am today," Hinganghat's police inspector Satyaveer Bandiwar said.

Heavy security was deployed in Hinganghat to avoid any law and order problem following her death, he said.

Several locals, mostly women and college students, took out a march in Wardha city last Thursday, demanding death penalty for the accused.

The state government has appointed well-known lawyer Ujjwal Nikam as special public prosecutor in the case.

According to the victim's relatives, Nagrale had been harassing her for quite some time.

He was arrested within hours of the incident and booked under relevant sections.

Nagrale and the woman were friends till two years ago when she severed ties with him due to his "irrational behaviour", the police earlier said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
From left: Dougald McCaughey and brothers Joseph and John McCaig were killed in 1971

Campaigners acting for the families of three young British soldiers murdered in an infamous IRA 'honey trap' are today writing to First Minister Arlene Foster to officially ask for her support for a fresh legacy inquest into the atrocity.

Brothers John and Joseph McCaig, aged just 17 and 18, and their friend Dougald McCaughey (23) were shot dead on a remote road in north Belfast in 1971 after being lured to their deaths by two attractive women they had met in a bar.

The deaths of the Royal Highland Fusiliers - the first off-duty soldiers to be killed by the IRA in the Troubles - sparked a wave of revulsion at the time with mass protests. No one has ever been convicted over the killings.

Three Scottish Soldiers campaign director Kris McGurk told the Belfast Telegraph that his letter to Mrs Foster follows on from a meeting he held with the DUP leader five months ago, at which he says she gave him her backing.

He said: "We met with Arlene Foster on September 4 last year at Stormont and essentially we let her know exactly where we were with things. William Humphrey was there at the meeting, too.

"Arlene Foster gave us her full support and said anything she can do going forward to support the campaign, she will.

"We had just to let her know when we had submitted that request to the Attorney General, so I am writing to Arlene today to let her know that request has been put in and if she can follow up and put her weight behind it."

The request for the legacy inquest that has been made to Northern Ireland's Attorney General John Larkin came after the families gained access to previously unseen police files that they hope could help bring the killers to justice.

The families' legal team has uncovered new evidence which reveals the IRA may have planned the soldiers' murders for days, with up to 10 conspirators involved in the plot.

It also told them the name of one of the women said to be involved in the 'honey trap', whose brother and father were IRA members, and who could be alive and living in England.

It also detailed that one of those suspected of involvement in the murders was a former British paratrooper turned ruthless IRA hitman called Paddy O'Kane, who is now dead.

Only one of the alleged IRA execution team, Anthony 'Dutch' Doherty, has ever been arrested over the killings, but he escaped from prison in 1971.

The Mail On Sunday newspaper last week tracked him down to a terraced house in north Dublin but he angrily refused to answer questions about the murders.

The soldiers' relatives hope a new inquest will produce sufficient evidence to trigger a fresh police inquiry and the eventual extradition of suspects to the UK to face trial.

David McCaughey, Dougald's 52-year-old cousin, said: "This new information finally gives us hope that we will one day have the full truth and see justice for Dougald, John and Joseph.

"We must have an inquest so we can finally have the complete account of what happened and bring the killers who are still alive to the courts. It's been nearly 50 years and it's time we had justice."

The three Royal Highland Fusiliers soldiers had been given the afternoon off and were drinking in Belfast's bars when they were lured to their deaths on March 10, 1971.

They were befriended by a group of Provisional IRA terrorists and two women during a pub crawl which lasted five hours, drinking in the Abercorn, Mooney's and Kelly's Cellars in the city.

The young soldiers were lured away to a remote country road by the women where IRA gunmen were lying in wait. They were killed with gunshots to the back of the head.

The files contain a detailed account of the final hours of the three soldiers and, crucially, say that rather than being an opportunistic crime, the cold-blooded murders had been planned well in advance.

The files reveal that eight days before the brutal killings, the Metropolitan Police received intelligence that the IRA was plotting to murder off-duty soldiers.

The dossiers name two of the alleged plotters as local IRA members Patrick McAdorey (25) and 20-year-old Anthony 'Dutch' Doherty. Both were already wanted for the murders of two RUC officers.

At about 3pm, the three soldiers were spotted in Mooney's Bar where they were drinking with five civilians, including a man with a distinctive 'Van Dyke beard'. That man is believed to be McAdorey.

Also in the bar was former British soldier Patrick O'Kane (35).

After leaving the Parachute Regiment in 1964, O'Kane got a job with the Post Office but he had also joined the IRA.

He would later be linked to the Kingsmill massacre of 10 Protestant workers in 1976 and the Warrenpoint ambush three years later that left 16 members of the Parachute Regiment and two Queen's Own Highlanders dead.

There was widespread outrage at the murders.

The men's commanding officer described the victims as "just boys" and the coroner said the deaths were "one of the vilest crimes ever heard of in living memory".

In Belfast, flags were lowered to half-mast and traffic came to a standstill as workers spilled out of the shipyard and factories to join a crowd of 10,000 at the Cenotaph. Amid the turmoil, a team of Scotland Yard officers tasked with catching the killers quickly identified four key suspects - McAdorey, Doherty, O'Kane and 'Suspect Two'.

The files reveal that they were also told about a Belfast woman seen with the soldiers. Her father and a brother were members of the IRA and she had left Northern Ireland for England soon after the killings.

The new documents also suggest the meeting between the IRA gang and the three fusiliers was no accident.

Doherty was arrested in November 1971 and interrogated at the Girdwood Park Detention Centre.

He confessed his involvement and named McAdorey, O'Kane and Suspect Two as accomplices.

But Doherty escaped from Crumlin Road prison where he was being held and subsequently avoided extradition from the Irish Republic over the murder of the two RUC officers.

McAdorey was killed by security forces in August 1971 after attacking an Army infantry position with an assault rifle.

O'Kane is understood to have admitted to the murders but showed no remorse.

He fled to Co Clare in the Irish Republic where he became a labourer.

Like Hyde Park bombing suspect John Downey, O'Kane was given a controversial 'on-the-run' immunity letter following the Good Friday Agreement.

He died in 2009.

Suspect Two is also believed to be dead.

Kris McGurk added: "We have launched a fresh crowd justice campaign online just to ensure our legal team are funded up to the point we get the inquest granted.

"It went live on Saturday night at 11pm and by yesterday afternoon it had already got over 2,000 in it so the public's really rallying behind this."

Memorials to the three soldiers at White Brae and at Ballysillan in north Belfast have been repeatedly targeted by vandals and thieves.

They have been attacked 27 times since they were installed in 2010 after funding from the Oldpark/Cavehill branch of the Royal British Legion.
Los Angeles, Feb 10 : On a day when Hollywood was gearing up for the annual Oscar gala, actress Melissa Rivers injured her leg in a ski accident The former co-host of "Fashion Police" took to social media and posted details about the mishap.

On February 9, Melissa uploaded a clip of ski patrol assisiting her after she suffered a bad fall. In the video, she can be heard saying: "These are my new friends, ski patrol. This sucks, this sucks." One of the emergency personnel, in return, is seen assuring her, "It could be worse." The only child of late TV host Joan Rivers, in the same Instagram post, additionally shared a photograph from what seemed to be a hospital room, reports aceshowbiz.com. The photo captured her left leg being put in a brace while still sporting a ski boot. As if to emphasise how untimely her injury was, she captioned the post with a face-palm emoji.

One of her followers initially thought it was Melissa's 19-year-old son, Edgar Cooper Endicott, who had hurt himself. She was quick to clarify: "Not Cooper thank God! But me!" Fans wished her speedy recovery.
A group of six out of 15 convicts sentenced to life imprisonment in a 2002 post-Godhra riot case in Gujarat reached Indore in Madhya Pradesh on Monday after being released on bail by the Supreme Court.

These 15 convicts were sentenced to life imprisonment for a massacre in Ode town in Gujarat's Anand district in which 23 people were burnt alive.

The apex court had granted bail to the 15 on January 28 this year on the condition that they stay outside Gujarat and do community service for six hours a week in Indore and Jabalpur in MP.

Vijay Patel (51), Suryakant Patel (50), Dharmesh Patel (41), Jayendra Kumar Patel (64), Dilip Patel (65) and Praveen Patel (61) have reached Indore as per the SC order after completing bail formalities in the trial court in Gujarat, Indore District Legal Assistance Officer Subhash Chaudhary told PTI.

The Supreme Court had also asked the District Legal Services Authority to help these convicts in getting proper employment.

"These convicts have expressed their desire to take farm land on rent in Indore. We are initiating necessary steps to help them in this direction, so that they can earn their livelihood while staying in the city," Chaudhary said.

He added that a plan was being made to send these convicts to temples, gurdwaras and hospitals of the city for community service.

On January 28, the Supreme Court had ordered to split the 15 convicts into two groups, sending one to Indore and the other to Jabalpur, and ordered them to regularly report to police stations in these cities.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The OEC, whose General Assembly will function on the democratic basis of one country, one vote, ensuring accountability to its Member States which will benefit from its support, will also count civil society and academic organisations as Associate Members with limited rights.

The OEC will be established with a wholly-owned financial subsidiary, accountable to the General Assembly, capable of generating funds ethically and sustainably in support of educational reforms. This subsidiary, structurally directed towards investments in socially and ecologically responsible projects in its member states, will eventually fully finance the organisation's operations and provide funds for the OEC to support Member States' education systems with solidarity-based financing.

The OEC is designed with a rational, streamlined structure, follows a strategy of efficient systematic intervention, and puts education at the service of communities, of society and of national development as required by the commitments made in the UDBIE.

The OEC's first Secretary General has been elected with the task of setting up and presiding a Preparatory Committee, which will lay the groundwork for the OEC until the Constitutive Charter of the Organisation enters into force, upon its ratification by a minimum of 10 of the founding State signatories. The Constitutive Charter's entry into force will trigger the convening of the first General Assembly.

All signatories to the UDBIE embrace the four key pillars of balanced and inclusive education: Intraculturalism, Transdisciplinarity, Dialecticism and Contextuality. They commit to applying these principles within their education systems, with the cross-sectoral support of the OEC, based on the contextualised needs of their populations, their national priorities, and the global imperative of sustainable development.

The Education Relief Foundation (ERF) is a Geneva-based not-for-profit and non-governmental organisation which serves to develop, promote and embed a balanced and inclusive education through policy development, capacity building and civil society engagement, amongst other activities.

The ForumBIE 2030 series of conferences began when I ForumBIE 2030 was held at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland in December 2017. In November 2018, II ForumBIE 2030 in Mexico City saw both the launch of the Global Guide of Ethics, Principles, Policies, and Practices in Balanced and Inclusive Education, and the initial signing of the International Call for Balanced and Inclusive Education  the document which called for the preparation of the Universal Declaration of Balanced and Inclusive Education.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1029418/ERF_Logo.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1083623/ERF_Djibouti.jpg

For more information, contact:

Etienne Lacombe-Kishibe, Head of Media and Communications

E: e.kishibe@educationrelief.org | P: 0041 22 920 0859 | M: 0041 79 864 2692

SOURCE The Education Relief Foundation
Since the first cases of a then-unidentified pneumonia were reported in late December, hoaxes, half-truths and flat-out lies have proliferated, mostly through social media. BuzzFeed News for several days kept a running list of misinformation, including wildly inaccurate reports that the death toll in China was 112,000 as of late January (reality: around 80 at the time); claims that Chinese people eating bats were the source of the outbreak (a viral photo of a woman biting a bat was not taken in China); and false suggestions that the virus was lab-engineered as a kind of bioweapon.
The Supreme Court of India (SC), on February 10, issued a notice to the Centre, Delhi government and police over the ongoing sit-in happening at New Delhi's Shaheen Bagh area, against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Expressing concern over the ongoing blockade of the arterial Shaheen Bagh-Kalinidi Kunj stretch in New Delhi, the Supreme Court said that roads cannot be blocked indefinitely.

You cannot block a public road. How can you continue protests at common areas? You cannot block the entire city, the court reportedly observed.

The apex court said that people are entitled to protest and in the process, there must be some area.

The top court has posted the matter for February 17.

SC was hearing a batch of petitions against the protests at Shaheen Bagh. It had earlier deferred its judgment the matter in view of the February 8 Delhi election.

For nearly two months now, hundreds of protesters, mostly women have been staging a 24x7 sit-in the Shaheen Bagh area, against CAA and the proposed pan-India National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The 25-year-old woman lecturer who was set ablaze by a stalker in Maharashtra's Wardha district last week died while undergoing treatment at a hospital here on Monday morning, officials said.

Ankita Pisudde, resident of Hinganghat town in Wardha, had been critical after sustaining 35 to 40 per cent "grade III" burns on February 3 when she was set afire allegedly by one Vikesh Nagrale (27) while she was on way to her college, they said.

She was undergoing treatment at the Nagpur-based Orange City Hospital & Research Centre where doctors declared her dead at 6.55 am on Monday, Hinganghat's police inspector Satyaveer Bandiwar said.

Later, some angry locals threw stones to block a road in Hinganghat when an ambulance carrying the woman's body was about half-a-kilometre away from the victim's native village Daroda, but the police brought the situation under control.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray expressed grief over the woman's death and said "the case would be heard in a fast track court". He urged Hinganghat residents to maintain peace.

Thackeray said his government will study the Disha Act, enacted recently by the Andhra Pradesh government, and try to make laws stricter to prevent such incidents in future.

The Disha Act mandates completion of investigation into cases of sexual offences within seven working days from the time of record and trial within 14 working days from the date of filing the charge sheet.

Pisudde's distraught father said he hoped his daughter would get speedy justice and it would not be delayed like the Nirbhaya gangrape case.

"The accused should also go through the pain that my daughter went through in these seven days. We want justice as soon as possible and it should not be delayed as in the Nirbhaya case," he told reporters outside the hospital.

State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh also said the case trial would be held in a fast track court and a family member of the victim would be given a government job.

The woman sustained deep burn injuries on scalp, face, right upper limb, left hand, upper back, neck and eyes along with severe inhalational injuries, the hospital said in a medical bulletin.

She died of "septicemic shock" after suffering from deep dermal burns along with severe inhalational injuries, respiratory distress and related complications, it said.

Around 4 am on Monday, her oxygen levels deteriorated inspite of ventilator support, coupled with decreasing urine output and reduction in blood pressure, the hospital said.

As part of immediate resuscitation measures, medicines were escalated to maintain the blood pressure and all feasible steps were taken to improve the oxygen levels in blood, but the patient remained "extremely critical", it said.

"Around 6.30 am, she had bradycardia and inspite of prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the patient could not be revived and was declared dead at 6.55 am," it said.

During her treatment, she underwent tracheostomy (creating an opening in neck to place a tube into the windpipe to allow air to enter the lungs), burn dressings, debridement and escharotomies, the hospital informed.

Debridement is a medical procedure to remove dead, damaged or infected tissue, while escharotomy is a surgical procedure used to treat full-thickness (third-degree) circumferential burns.

The woman's family was kept informed about her deteriorating health condition and death, the hospital said, adding that the body was later handed over to police for postmortem and other formalities.

While heavy security was deployed in Hinganghat, some angry locals threw stones to block the road when the ambulance carrying the body was on way to the victim's native village for her last rites.

The local police, however, managed to control the situation and the Rapid Action Force was also deployed in the area, an official said.

"The situation is normal now. All roads to the village are open. The victim's last rites are expected to take place in the evening when her younger brother, who is out of town, reaches the village," Wardha's Superintendent of Police Basavraj Teli told PTI.

Talking to reporters in Mumbai, Home Minister Deshmukh said he spoke to the victim's relatives and assured them that the case would be fast-tracked.

"Efforts were made to save the victim, but we are sorry she could not survive. The state government stands with the victim's family. A government job and all other assistance will be provided to the victim's family," he later tweeted.

State Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat also expressed grief over the victim's demise.

"The state government is trying to award hard punishment to the accused by running the case in a fast track court," he said.

NCP MP Supriya Sule in a tweet said, "This case will be heard in the Fast Track Court and the State Government will ensure that justice is done."



State Women and Child Development Minister Yashomati Thakur called for starting a struggle against such "violent mentality of men".

"I am feeling numb, mute today...the victim's struggle for life is over, let's start a struggle against this violent-manly mentality," she told reporters at Chikhaldara in Amravati.

The government stands with the woman's family in this hour of grief and is taking concrete steps ensure justice to the victim, she added.

State Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil said the public favours death penalty for the accused in such cases, and the judiciary should consider it.

The state government has appointed well-known lawyer Ujjwal Nikam as special public prosecutor in the case.

Several locals, mostly women and students, took out a march in Wardha city last Thursday, demanding death penalty for the accused.

According to the victim's relatives, Nagrale, who was arrested within hours of the incident on February 3, had been harassing her for quite some time.

Nagrale and the woman were friends till two years ago when she severed ties with him due to his "irrational behaviour", the police earlier said.

A special team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Trupti Jadhav will probe the case, the Wardha Police said last week.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(TNS)  Maryland elections officials will no longer require the states largest jurisdictions to use a wireless network to transmit voter information to the state during its upcoming primary and general elections, after the network caused a significant slowdown during voting in the special 7th Congressional District primary, they said Friday.The network, which cost about $2 million in federal funds to set up, was used for the first time Tuesday in Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Howard County.The Maryland Board of Elections said it could return the network to service in the future, but wont require its use in the April 28 primary or in the general election on Nov. 3, when voter turnout is expected to be far larger than Tuesday.Were just making a decision for the 2020 elections. 2022 is two years from now. We see the need and benefit of it, so I would say its not scrapped. Its just been postponed, said Nikki Charlson, the boards deputy administrator. We always hope that every voter has a good voting experience, and when they dont, we take that seriously, and thats what weve done.The network connects tablet-like pollbooks that poll workers use to check in voters, allowing the workers to transmit information to the elections board in real time.There are benefits, really good benefits, for the local boards of elections to get insight into whats happening at their voting locations, Charlson said  including the ability to track turnout in real time, anticipate shortages in paper ballots and remotely spot problems with the pollbooks.If local jurisdictions choose to use the network in the coming elections, the state board will continue to assist them in doing so, Charlson said.The decision not to force the states six largest jurisdictions to use the wireless network won praise from critics who had cited Tuesdays slowdown as fresh evidence the system was poorly conceived and inadequately vetted.Sen. Cheryl Kagan, a Montgomery County Democrat who had introduced emergency legislation in Annapolis that she said would make the network unnecessary, said in a statement Friday that she was relieved the Board of Elections staff members had abandoned their flawed plan.One of the most consequential presidential elections in history is not the time to experiment with wireless devices statewide," Kagan said. Instead, Maryland should avoid installing new wireless technology so as to ensure security of our process and the resulting confidence in the election outcome."Kagan, Montgomery County officials and other critics complained before Tuesday that the network served no purpose, unnecessarily exposed the states election system to possible cyberattacks, and unfairly burdened the jurisdictions. Baltimore City and the counties of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery and Prince Georges all have large Democratic voter bases.Officials at the State Board of Elections disputed those claims, arguing even after the problems Tuesday that the system was secure and would be ready for the larger number of voters this spring and fall.
(Bloomberg) -- Sign up for Next China, a weekly email on where the nation stands now and where it's going next.

The Department of Justice announced charges Monday against four members of Chinas Peoples Liberation Army for the 2017 hack of Equifax Inc., a breach that exposed the personal information of about 145 million Americans.

The announcement by Attorney General William Barr follows an indictment in Atlanta accusing the Chinese military personnel of conspiring with each other to hack into Equifaxs network and stealing sensitive data on nearly half of all U.S. citizens.

This was a deliberate and sweeping intrusion into the private information of the American people, Barr said in a statement. Today, we hold PLA hackers accountable for their criminal actions, and we remind the Chinese government that we have the capability to remove the internets cloak of anonymity and find the hackers that nation repeatedly deploys against us.

Wu Zhiyong, Wang Qian, Xu Ke and Liu Lei, who were members of the PLAs 54th Research Institute, were charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit computer fraud, conspiracy to commit economic espionage and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, authorities said.

They were also charged with two counts of unauthorized access and intentional damage to a protected computer, one count of economic espionage and three counts of wire fraud, according to the Justice Department. Chinese officials disputed the accusations.

The Chinese government, military and relevant personnel never engage in cyber theft of trade secrets, Chinas foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Tuesday.

In an interview with Bloomberg News, Equifax Chief Executive Officer Mark Begor said that having China indicted for this really changes the stakes for all of us.

It definitely raises the bar for all of us on what we need to do to defend the sensitive data that we have, he said. Were in the middle of a very significant technology and security investment because were convinced that these attacks are going to continue. And theyre going to be more difficult to defend, and we want to make sure were positioned so that this doesnt happen again to Equifax.

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The defendants allegedly exploited a vulnerability in the Apache Struts Web Framework software used by Equifaxs online dispute portal. They used the access to obtain login credentials that could be used to further navigate Equifaxs network and spent weeks running queries to identify the companys database structure and searching for personal information, according to the Justice Department.

The hackers ultimately stored the information in temporary output files, compressed and divided the files and downloaded and exfiltrated the data to computers outside the U.S., according to the Justice Department.

In total, the attackers ran approximately 9,000 queries on Equifaxs system, obtaining names, birth dates and social security numbers for nearly half of all American citizens, according to a statement from the Justice Department.

Over the Top

The hackers took steps to evade detection, too, routing traffic through about 34 servers in nearly 20 countries to mask their origin and using encrypted communication channels within Equifaxs network to blend in with normal network activity, authorities aid.

Chinese spying is over the top increasingly dangerous, said Jim Lewis, a senior vice president and director of the Technology Policy Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. The PLA has more personal data on Americans than anyone else.

Its the second time in a week that Barr has raised criticism of Chinas behavior on technology issues. Last week he gave a speech warning of the threats he said are posed by Chinese technology, focusing on Huawei Technologies Co.s 5G networks, and saying the U.S. should consider investing in competitors Nokia Oyj and Ericsson AB.

Unfortunately, the Equifax hack fits a disturbing and unacceptable pattern of state-sponsored computer intrusions and thefts by China and its citizens that have targeted personally identifiable information, trade secrets, and other confidential information, he said.

Equifax announced in September 2017 that hackers accessed data including Social Security numbers, drivers license numbers and addresses.

Hackers gained access to the Equifax network in May 2017 and attacked the company for 76 days, according to a House Oversight Committee report. Equifax noticed red flags in late July, and then in early August contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation, outside counsel and cybersecurity firm Mandiant. The company waited until that September to inform the public of the breach.

The breach attracted scrutiny from lawmakers in Washington and criticism from consumers and banks, igniting a debate about the role credit bureaus play in lending.

(Adds comment from Chinese officials in sixth paragraph.)

--With assistance from Jenny Surane.

To contact the reporters on this story: Alyza Sebenius in Washington at asebenius@bloomberg.net;Chris Strohm in Washington at cstrohm1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrew Martin at amartin146@bloomberg.net, Bill Faries

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

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The central government has nothing to do with the Supreme Courts ruling that states are not bound to provide reservation in appointments and there is no fundamental right to claim quota in promotions, Union minister Thawar Chand Gehlot said in Parliament on Monday amid Opposition uproar.

The Centre was never made a party to the case, nor were we asked to present any declaration. The matter arose due to a decision taken by Uttarkhand government in 2012. There was Congress government in the state at that time, Gehlot said in the Lok Sabha.

Our government is committed towards welfare of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes. We will hold a high-level discussion and decide on future course of action, he added.

The Opposition members shouted slogans and even staged a walkout over Gehlots statement. Congress had earlier accused the government of attempting to snatch away the rights of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).

Raising the issue in the Zero Hour, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that SCs and STs comprise about one-third of the countrys population and the Constitution has given them rights for socio-economic progress. See what has happened, the government is trying to snatch their rights, he said.

BJP members strongly objected to his remarks with Parliamentary Affairs Minister. Whose government was (in Uttarakhand) in 2012? It was of Congress. The government has nothing to with it, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi said.

An attempt is being made by Congress to politicise this sensitive matter. It is a serious issue, Defence minister Rajnath Singh said.

DMK member A Raja alleged that there has been onslaught on the reservation since this government came. He said that the government should go for a review petition or the matter should be brought in the Ninth Schedule of Constitution.

Chirag Paswan, leader of BJP ally Lok Janshakti party (LJP), demanded intervention of the central government on the issue. He said that all laws relating to the welfare of SCs and STs should be put in the Ninth Schedule so that the debate ends and the practice of going to the apex court from time to time stops. He had earlier expressed his partys disagreement on Twitter. The LJP does not agree with this decision of the Supreme Court... the party demands that the Union government take immediate measures to ensure that the reservation provision continues in jobs and promotion in the same they have been so far, he posted on Twitter.

JD(U) national general secretary and spokesperson KC Tyagi said his party would urge the government to bring an Ordinance in the ongoing session of Parliament to ensure that the system of reservations in promotions in government jobs to SCs and STs continues.

Setting aside an Uttarakhand high court ruling quashing a 2012 state government decision to fill up all posts in public services in the state without providing any reservations to SC/STs, the Supreme Court had on Friday said that reservation in promotions for government jobs is not a fundamental right. The top court also said the states cannot be directed to provide promotions to the members of the SC/ST community.

The court reaffirmed the law in this regard, holding that constitutional provisions contained in Article 16 regarding reservation are only enabling provisions, and it is up to the government to decide whether it should provide reservations in exercise of those powers under the Constitution.
Prosecutors seek 16-year prison sentence for ex-Russian top investigator

 RAPSI, Eugeny Varlamov

17:02 10/02/2020

MOSCOW, February 10 (RAPSI)  The prosecution has asked the Moscow City Court to sentence General Alexander Drymanov, ex-director of the Investigative Committee's Main Investigations Directorate, charged with corruption, to 16 years in prison, lawyer Andrey Grivtsov informs RAPSI.

On Monday, prosecutors also asked the court to sentence two other defendants in the case, Colonel Alexey Kramarenko and Colonel Mikhail Maksimenko to 14 and 17 years in prison respectively.

The prosecution also seeks to fine Drymanov 196 million rubles (about $3 million), Kramarenko  195 million rubles ($3 million), and Maksimenko  250 million rubles ($4 million).

Neither of the defendants admits guilt.

The oral arguments of the parties are heard at chambers.

Investigators believe the defendants received the bribe for mitigation of restrictive measures with respect to a member of an organized gang. The case of two other defendants, Alexander Lamonov and Denis Nikandrov, are heard separately.

Drymanov was arrested in mid-July 2018. He stands charged with receiving two large-scale and especially large-scale bribes. The defendant pleads not guilty and calls the case fabricated.
The Indian automotive industry is apprehensive about coronavirus outbreak disrupting component supplies from China, but a clear picture will emerge only in the next few days after factories in the country reopen, said on Monday.

Auto industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said it will be collecting information and data from its members in the next couple of days to understand if there could be disruptions, and to what extent, if there are any.

"It is still slightly early to comment on it. The only thing I can say is that there are apprehensions and everybody is waiting to see as today is the day when China (market) is supposed to open up post their Chinese New Year holidays," Director General Rajesh Menon told reporters here.

He was responding to query on whether the coronavirus outbreak would disrupt supplies from China and, if that happens, how it could affect transition to BS-VI emission norm from BS-IV from April 1.

"We will get clarity on the exact nature of impact and the possible implications. What is clear is that there are apprehensions. To what extent the problem will be, we will come to know in the next few days," Menon reiterated.

When asked if there would be a need for to make a representation to the Supreme Court to extend the BS-VI transition deadline in the wake of possible supply disruption due to coronavirus, Menon said, "It is too early (to comment on that). We have to wait from our member companies to decide on that. In two or three days we will have a better idea."



He said the supply chain in the auto industry ranges from Tier I to Tier II and III suppliers, and information has to come from across.

"We are in touch with member companies and we will see what needs to be done once we have more data in hand," Menon said.

He further said it was too early to assess how much of components come from China would see disruption.

When asked about the problem posed by coronavirus, Maruti Suzuki Managing Director and CEO Kenichi Ayukawa told PTI, "Nobody knows at this moment."



He further said it was unclear at the moment as to how long the outbreak would last and what sort of impact it could have.

"Some people say it is very serious and some people say maybe three months later it will be fine," Ayukawa said, adding that the situation needed to be assessed.

Last week, Tata Motors CEO and Managing Director Guenter Butschek had said that clarity about supply constraints of components from China will only emerge when workers in the coronavirus-hit country rejoin work (expected from Monday).

The company, which imports certain components for both Nexon EV and other traditional models from China, said if the workers don't join work next week, then it could lead to supply issues for not only for Tata Motors but for the entire global

The coronavirus outbreak and subsequent advisories on Chinese travelling into India has had an impact on the attendance of officials from participating companies at the Auto Expo here.

China's largest SUV manufacturer Great Wall Motor (GWM), which announced USD 1 billion in India, stated that its leadership team from the headquarter could not make it here due to the outbreak and the subsequent travel advisories.

China's FAW Group firm automaker Haima Automobile also cancelled its scheduled press conference as top leadership team of the company could not make it to India.
CALGARYThe federal government is launching a new set of consultations with Indigenous groups that will determine if and how they might take part in ownership of the Trans Mountain pipeline and its expansion project, Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced Monday.

Up to 129 communities will be consulted over the next weeks to ensure they have a chance for meaningful economic participation in the Ottawa-owned pipeline, the minister said at an event in Calgary.

This next step will be focused on different models of economic participation such as equity-based or revenue-sharing options and will seek to build momentum toward a widely acceptable option for the groups that were consulting with, he said.

Well also explore whether the participating communities are willing to work together, either through an existing entity or a new one.

Several Indigenous groups have expressed interest in buying a stake in the pipeline but the government hasnt said when it plans to sell it.

As long as Trans Mountain is operated as a commercial enterprise, the industry will be supportive of its sale, said Chris Bloomer, CEO of the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, after listening to the speech.

Anything that facilitates participation meaningfully with First Nations in these projects is a welcome thing. Having a deliberate approach to it, I think, is good, he said.

In his speech, Morneau said he sympathizes with Albertans who have lost jobs because of an economy hit by a capital investment slide and discount prices for oil and gas as export capacity fails to keep up with gains in production.

The novel coronavirus is also having a negative impact on Canadas economy, he said, pointing out oil prices are down by about 15 per cent because of the spread of the illness, a result that hits the West harder than the rest of the country.

A Federal Court of Appeal ruling last week that set aside a challenge of the Trans Mountain expansion project by four B.C. First Nations is important for the western Canadian economy, he said.

The court found that the government had met its duty to consult, thus clearing one of the last major hurdles for construction to continue on the conduit from the Alberta oilsands and refining hub in Edmonton to the B.C. coast.

The federal government will earn a return on its investment when it sells Trans Mountain, Morneau added, despite the release last week of a new construction cost estimate for its expansion of $12.6 billion, an increase of 70 per cent over the previous forecast of $7.4 billion.

We believe this new estimate is realistic and we remain confident that when its the appropriate time to sell, we will see a profit on this investment, Morneau said.

The government expects to earn $500 million a year in taxes from Trans Mountain after the expansion begins operating, he added.

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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...
Americans love a good rags-to-riches tale. We have long touted stories of the American Dream that involve grit, doggedness, and the surmounting of unbelievable odds.

We do this in large part because we want to believe anyone and everyone can "make it." We want to believe that our country makes it possible for all people, no matter their class or background, to become rich and successful.

But things are far more difficult and complex than the average Cinderella story would have you believe. We rarely (if ever) succeed on our own. The American Dream touts a form of individualism that flattens our success stories, making complex truths into narrow, self-serving fantasies.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) hinted at this at a recent committee meeting in the House, noting that "it's a physical impossibility to lift yourself up by a bootstrap, by your shoelaces. It's physically impossible. The whole thing is a joke."

Many were quick to point out, in response, that Ocasio-Cortez is a former bartender now-congresswoman, and thus an exemplar of the old American Dream storyline. But Cortez rebutted this by pointing out that, despite all her hard work, "it would be narcissistic to pretend I 'bootstrapped' it alone & w/o others [sic]."

Many Americans are deeply invested in our national vision of the upwardly mobile underdog. And we do have some stories, throughout our history, of people who "made it" without any help. But to suggest that this is the norm  or even that it's the preferred means of success  would be wrong. Because we don't want American success to be bound to the whims of fate and isolated grit. We want them to have a support system to lean on, no matter where they live or who they are. Tales of tenacious individualism are insufficient to describe what the American Dream should be; we also need stories of people who received a hand up to help them beat the odds.

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In his book Alienated America, Tim Carney argues that civil associations are largely responsible for health and hope in many American towns, and that their deterioration has caused the American Dream to falter (and, in many places, die out altogether). Success in our country has never been exclusively an issue of income or individualism  it is also deeply reliant on community and culture, on the religious and cultural associations that help a place (and everyone in that place) thrive.

I've been thinking about this a lot, because I have spent a good deal of time lately learning more about the lives of my great-grandparents. My great-grandfather was a farmer, my great-grandmother the daughter of immigrants. They had less than five dollars when they moved into their first farmhouse post-marriage, at the beginning of the Great Depression.

My great-great-grandmother gifted some spices to her new daughter-in-law, so she had something to cook with. My great-great-great grandfather offered his grandson some farmland at a cheap price, and gave him his first team of horses. The neighbors surrounding them offered free lumber, a grain drill, hay, and five head of milk cows. They were still extremely sparse years for the couple. But thanks to all the support they received, they made it  despite the economic hardship surrounding them.

But clearly they did not make it on their own. Once they were older and more established, my great-grandparents were very deliberate about giving to other young people who needed a start, a hand up. And so this version of the "American Dream"  a connected, community-oriented system of giving and supporting, helping people in their time of need  was extended to following generations. Our entire rural culture was built on generosity  on "handouts," big and small.

Professor and sociologist Robert Nisbet once warned in his book Quest for Community that liberalism's emphasis on the "discrete individual  autonomous, self-sufficing, and stable"  emancipated man from his communal responsibilities and relationships. Without strong communal ties, only individualism (and its resultant isolation) remain. And that lonely individualism is dangerous  because grit doesn't fix things or help people, not by itself.

This is what I think Ocasio-Cortez is getting at, although she's also specifically defending government programs in her speech and following Twitter thread. There are many extremely harmful barriers to mobility and prosperity in our country, and pluck cannot  by itself  overcome those barriers. Our vision of the American Dream cannot ignore economic inequality, racism, social isolation, cultural breakdown, and the like. A kid growing up in an economically devastated neighborhood does not have the same chances of success as the kid who lives in a wealthy D.C. exurb whose parents went to Yale. And unless we can build up these communities, and foster greater supports and opportunities for the kids who feel "left behind," we will not be able to resurrect the American Dream.

I hate using that term, because it compresses something that is very complex and diverse. There are a lot of Americans whose version of the "American Dream" will not look like a single-family home with a car and a 9-to-5 job, and it would be wrong to measure their success or happiness in that way. There are a lot of Americans who will never make a six-figure salary, or move from the state where they were born, but who will still live happy and fulfilling lives. That's what happened to my great-grandparents. The "American Dream," narrowly understood, is thus a poor descriptor of success or happiness in the United States.

But we do believe that all Americans should have the chance to build a good, stable life for themselves and their families. If that is our version of the "American Dream"  if the term allows for, or even encourages, hand ups and handouts  then I think the term will be less pretentious and saccharine. It might even become attainable again.

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ALI AL-SALEM AIR BASE, KUWAITCanada's troops are eager to get back to work training Iraqi security forces but it won't happen unless Canada is certain of their safety and Iraq invites them to return, Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Monday.

Champagne was in Kuwait with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for a surprise visit to bring greetings and show appreciation for Canada's troops at the Ali Al-salem Air Base. Some of them were relocated there last month as tensions escalated following a targeted U.S. drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad.

"You've all had a volatile few weeks in this part of the world," Trudeau said, speaking to more than 100 Canadian soldiers in "Camp Canada" on the base, about 40 km east of the Iraq border. "It's been a complex start to 2020."

Camp Canada is the centre for Operation Impact, a Canadian Armed Forces mission with operations in Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait and Iraq. About 250 of the 850 Canadians deployed in Operation Impact were part of a United Nations mission in Iraq to train national security forces and build up military education institutions with the goal of preventing the return of the Islamic State group, sometimes referred to as Daesh.

Canada suspended that training and began moving the troops based in Iraq to Kuwait, as unrest and tension grew following the death of Maj.-Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force. The attack also killed Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and led to concerns about Iranian retaliation as well as rioting and protests in Iraq.

Two days after the drone attack, Iraq's parliament passed a resolution asking the government to expel all foreign troops.

Canada's forces began to move to Kuwait just hours before Iran launched missiles at two Iraqi bases, one of them housing Canadians, in retaliation for Soleimani's killing. No Canadians were injured, though 50 Americans suffered concussions and other brain injuries in the attacks.

As some of those relocated troops mingled around him and chatted and posed for photos with the prime minister, Champagne told reporters he has spoken with Salim al-Jabouri, the speaker of the Iraqi parliament, twice in the last few weeks to reiterate to him why Canada had troops in his country. Champagne said he wanted al-Jabouri to understand Canada was there to support Iraq's democratic and economic reforms, at Iraq's request.

The Canadian Armed Forces say some "mission-critical activities such as air sustainment operations" (that is, flights carrying equipment and supplies) have resumed in Iraq already but the remainder of the Joint Task Force Impact troops are still on pause.

Champagne said the ongoing discussion about when they might return to Iraq is a "dynamic" situation.

"What you hear from the troops here is they are quite eager to go back," he said. "They want to help, they want to be going back to their normal duties. But obviously this needs to be done in a safe environment and at the invitation of the host nation, which is Iraq."

The prime ministerial stop in Kuwait comes in the middle of Trudeau's extended trip to Africa, but was kept off the public itinerary until Sunday afternoon for security purposes. Trudeau and Champagne received a classified briefing upon arrival at the base, before Trudeau addressed the troops. He spoke alongside Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri, who is travelling as part of the delegation.

Ujiri gave all the military members Raptors championships T-shirts, though he joked he should have brought sweatshirts because it was an unusually cold day in Kuwait.

Trudeau said as the tensions rose in the Middle East in January, many Canadians needed to be reminded why Canada has soldiers in the region.

"We have been, as a country, essential in the efforts to defeat Daesh," Trudeau said over the roar of jet engines at the air base.

"Essential to the efforts in rebuilding and providing a level of stability for Iraq that will allow us to move forward and not just have a more stable and prosperous region but indeed reduce the impacts of terrorism around the world."

And he told them he was extremely grateful to be able to say thank you in person.

"You represent the very best of who we are as Canadians," he said.

"You step up, you step up every day far from your loved ones, far from your families, because you believe in the values that Canada stands for and you know we need to work hard and, yes, fight to ensure that those values find purchase elsewhere around the world where people want the same kinds of things that we do: safety, security for their families, opportunities to grow up in a peaceful community and country."

Trudeau also met with Kuwait's Prime Minister Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah Monday evening at Bayan Palace, the main palace of the emir of Kuwait.

On Tuesday, Trudeau is to travel to Dakar, Senegal for an official visit. On Friday he will attend a security conference in Munich before returning to Canada on the weekend.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version mistakenly said Canadian troops were moved to Iraq.

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W hen Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald sits down to write her thank-you letters after her partys spectacular performance in Irelands general election, the first name on her list should be Boris Johnsons. The Prime Ministers Brexit deal neutralised Taoiseach Leo Varadkars strongest issue and allowed the election campaign to be dominated by domestic issues such as health, housing and quality of life.

For the first time in more than a century, Sinn Fein won the biggest share of the vote , pushing Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, the parties that have dominated Irish politics for 90 years, into second and third place. The scale of its success took Sinn Fein by surprise and it could have taken the biggest share of the seats too if it had run more candidates in Irelands multi-seat constituencies.

The party captured a mood for change among Irish voters, who have reshaped their parliament in each of the three elections since the economic crash in 2008, but it also had luck on its side.

Boris Johnsons big election victory in December, which saw the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) lose seats, opened the way to the restoration of a power-sharing executive in Northern Ireland last month. Sinn Feins return to government at Stormont with the DUP robbed critics in Dublin of the charge that the party  which does not take its seats at Westminster  shirks responsibility in two of the three parliaments where it is represented.

Brexit has dominated the political discourse in Ireland for the past three years and Varadkars handling of the negotiations won him praise from all sides. But voters in Ireland took to heart Johnsons message that he had got Brexit done and only one per cent said the issue was the most important determining factor in how they voted.

With the threat of a no-deal Brexit and a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic lifted, voters focused instead on domestic issues, voicing their disappointment that Irelands economic recovery has not been matched by improvements in their quality of life. Although the economy is booming, with high growth, low unemployment and huge corporate tax receipts, public services are underfunded and housing is unaffordable.

In a pattern familiar in parts of Britain, high rents make saving to buy a home impossible for many, and little public or affordable housing has been built in recent decades. Sinn Fein offered radical solutions to the housing crisis, including a massive housebuilding programme, a rent freeze and tax credits to help those paying high rents.

The party captured a mood for change among voters in Ireland  but it also had luck on its side

The party proposes to do this without increasing taxes except for the most well-off, while abolishing some personal taxes, including property tax, and maintaining Irelands low corporate tax rate of 12.5 per cent. It also promises big spending increases for health, transport and welfare.

In its manifesto, Sinn Fein says its core political objective is to achieve the reunification of Ireland and it promises to secure referendums on unity on both sides of the border. According to an exit poll, more than half of those who voted in the Irish election favour a referendum on Irish unity.

Under the Good Friday Agreement, Dublin cannot order such a border poll in Northern Ireland and it is for the Secretary of State to determine if there is evidence of a shift in public opinion that suggests a majority wants to leave the United Kingdom. Sinn Fein would order Irish government departments to prepare for unification and would convene a citizens assembly to discuss and plan for unity.

As the votes were being counted on Sunday, the partys finance spokesman Pearse Doherty said a united Ireland could not be simply an extension of the Irish Republic to include the six counties of Northern Ireland.

There is the need for an all-Ireland forum or a citizens assembly that is inclusive so that we can path out what does a new Ireland look like, [and] how we ensure the rights and entitlements, the identity of those who see themselves as British are respected and cherished in that new type of Ireland, he said.

Weve seen what happened in Britain, weve seen with Brexit, where a vote was won or lost, depending on your perspective, with absolutely no planning, no preparation, no discussion of what it meant.

During the election campaign, both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael ruled out sharing power with Sinn Fein, partly on account of the partys relationship with its past. The murder in 2007 of Paul Quinn, a 21 year-old man who was beaten to death after he got into a fight with the son of an IRA commander in South Armagh, became an issue in the campaign and McDonald apologised to Quinns family for Sinn Feins claim that he had been a criminal.

The Dublin parties squeamishness about Sinn Fein smells of hypocrisy to Northern Irish unionists who have no choice but to share power with them if they want to have a government. And in the hours after the election, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin appeared to soften his opposition to any kind of arrangement with Sinn Fein.

It remains unclear if Sinn Fein wants to enter government as a junior coalition partner, and it is likely to take weeks to form a government. But Saturdays election means that the party is likely to be in government in Dublin in the medium term, with the potential to reshape relationships across these islands  for better or worse.
Los Angeles: South Korean Bong Joon Ho won the Best Director Oscar for dark social satire "Parasite" on Sunday, becoming the first person from the Asian nation to win the award.

Bong, 50, beat Hollywood veterans including Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino for his Korean language movie about the violent clash between haves and have-nots in contemporary Seoul.

Bong is known for weaving social themes into stories that play as both comedies and thrillers. His movies include the surreal animal activist movie "Okja," climate change sci-fi drama "Snowpiercer," and serial killer drama "Memories of Murder."

Also Read: Oscars 2020: Brad Pitt wins first Academy Award of his career

"Parasite" is by far his most successful film to date, reaching audiences beyond his home country and winning the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

"I did know that it had its own strength and that it would provide a lot of food for thought for people but I didn`t realize it would be so successful in the US and Japan and France," he said.

"A lot of American audience members have told us that Parasite was very unpredictable and I think that`s what the audience really enjoyed," he told Reuters.

Bong has described the main themes of "Parasite" as "courtesy toward human beings, human dignity."

He began his movie career by co-founding a cinema club on the campus of his university in South Korea in the early 1990s and going on to write and making short films.

He is currently developing a limited television series based on "Parasite" for U.S. cable channel HBO.

This year`s other directing nominees were Martin Scorsese for "The Irishman," Quentin Tarantino for "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," Sam Mendes for "1917," and Todd Phillips for "Joker."
The woman widely seen as German Chancellor Angela Merkel's chosen successor will not lead her crisis-racked CDU party into upcoming elections, a party source told AFP Monday.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, known as AKK, took over from Merkel as CDU chairwoman and presumed shoo-in for chancellor in 2018 but "has now said she will not be a candidate for the chancellery", the source said.

She made the surprise announcement after telling a crunch CDU meeting that the centre-right party had "an unresolved relationship" with the far-right AfD party and the far left.

It comes after an election debacle in the state of Thuringia in which regional CDU lawmakers went rogue and voted in the same camp as MPs from the AfD to oust a far-left state premier.

AKK "will by the summer organise the process to find the (chancellor) candidate, further prepare the party for the future and then give up the leadership", the source said.

The source added that Merkel wanted her to remain as defence minister, the post she has held since July.

Germany's next national elections must take place by autumn next year, although the fractious coalition between the CDU, its Bavarian CSU allies and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) may not hold until then.

The CDU has been in turmoil ever since the Thuringia fiasco, which broke a political taboo in Germany where mainstream parties have always ruled out cooperating with the AfD.

Merkel called the vote in Thuringia "unforgivable" and said the outcome "must be reversed".

While AKK rushed to the scene to try and convince CDU state lawmakers to back new elections, she left after hours of talks without bringing about a clear result, further calling into question her crumbling authority.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the reference to larger bench of the legal questions surrounding entry of women into the Sabarimala temple.

A nine-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde held that the Supreme Court, while exercising its powers under review jurisdiction, is empowered to frame legal questions and refer the same to a larger bench.

The court also reframed questions to be heard by the bench.

The hearing before the nine-judge bench will begin on February 17. One lawyer from each side will make leading arguments, and get one full day to argue. The court will also give two hours each to lawyers to make supplementary arguments.

On November 14, 2019, a five-judge bench which heard the Sabarimala review petitions had framed seven questions to be answered by the larger bench. This included questions on interplay between the freedom of religion under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution and other fundamental rights, particularly right to equality under Article 14, the scope of expression morality or constitutional morality and the extent to which the court can enquire into whether a particular practice is an integral part of the religion or religious denomination.

The court in that judgment had observed that the practices entailing restriction on entry of women in places of worship was not limited to the Sabarimala case, but also arose in respect of three other cases pending before the Supreme Court - one was on entry of Muslim women in a dargah/mosque and the other one on Parsi women marrying to non-Parsi men into the holy fire place of an Agyari. The third case, the court noted, was regarding the practice of female genital mutilation amongst the Dawoodi Bohra community.

The court had said the review petitions can be decided only after the legal questions concerning womens rights vis-a-vis religious practices are settled by a larger bench of not less than seven judges.

The nine-judge bench came to be constituted pursuant to the judgment of the November 14, 2019.

However, various petitioners and the Kerala government had opposed the reference arguing that the jurisdiction vested with Supreme Court while exercising powers of review is very limited. A review bench, it was argued, can only correct errors in the judgement which is being reviewed and it cannot frame legal issues and refer it to a larger bench.

The nine-judge bench had then assembled to settle this issue before proceeding with the hearing. It had heard the matter on February 6 before reserving its order.

The Sabarimala temple, abode of Lord Ayyappa, is one of the busiest pilgrimage sites in South India. Ayyappa devotees believe that the deity has vowed celibacy, what they call naishtika brahmacharya, which is the basis for barring entry of menstruating women into the temple.

The top court, in its 2018 judgement, had struck down Rule 3(b) of the the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Rules, 1965, which was the legal basis for barring entry of women between the ages of 10 and 50 years into Sabarimala.

Subsequently, at least 60 review petitions were filed in the Supreme Court challenging the September 2018 verdict which was heard by the five-judge bench in open court before it delivered its verdict on November 14 last year framing seven questions to be considered by a larger bench.

The review petitions will be decided after the nine-judge bench answers the legal questions referred to it.

The seven questions that the larger bench of SC will consider:

1. What is the scope and ambit of right to freedom of religion under Article 25 of the Constitution of India?

2. What is the inter-play between the rights of persons under Article 25 of the Constitution of India and rights of religious denomination under Article 26 of the Constitution of India?

3. Whether the rights of a religious denomination under Article 26 of the Constitution of India are subject to other provisions of Part III of the Constitution of India apart from public order, morality and health?

4. What is the scope and extent of the word morality under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India and whether it is meant to include Constitutional morality?

5. What is the scope and extent of judicial review with regard to a religious practice as referred to in Article 25 of the Constitution of India?

6. What is the meaning of expression Sections of Hindus occurring in Article 25 (2) (b) of the Constitution of India?

7. Whether a person not belonging to a religious denomination or religious group can question a practice of that religious denomination or religious group by filing a PIL?
Week 6 in review: Galaxy S20 craze intensifies, Poco X2 goes official

We're now less than a week out from the Galaxy S20 series' official announcement on February 11 and the hot stories are completely dominated by the upcoming Samsung flagships and their foldable brother Galaxy Z Flip.

This week we got our fill of Galaxy S20-related stories. Starting off with the US pricing, which breaks down like this - Galaxy S20 is going to be $999, Galaxy S20+ will start at $1,199, Galaxy S20 Ultra at $1,399 - the first pre-orders will start on February 14 with shipments aimed at March 6. If you pre-order a Galaxy S20 in Europe by March 8, you'll get a free pair of Galaxy Buds+ (normally worth 170).

We also saw the Galaxy S20 Ultra and its absolute unit of a camera hump in the wild. It will use Samsung's Nonacell 108MP camera, which will produce 9-in-1 binned 12MP photos. Samsung's new flagships will be able to capture images with all 3 of its cameras simultaneously thanks to Samsung's Quick Take mode.

Finally we saw the Galaxy Z Flip in its first hands-on video.

Moving on from the Galaxy S20 - Xiaomi could make its Mi 10 official in China on February 13 and even start shipping the phone on February 18. Global announcement is set for February 23.

Xiaomi's underling Poco announced its much-anticipated Poco X2 smartphone this week. It's basically a rebranded Redmi K30 and flaunts a 6.67-inch screen with 120Hz refresh rate, a Snapdragon 730G chip and a 64MP camera.

Xiaomi is reportedly working on three Snapdragon 865 phones, two of which will carry 108MP snappers and could even have 100W Super Charge Turbo technology.

Speaking of the Snapdragon 865, Qualcomm shared the first 8K video shot with a device powered by the new flagship chipset.

Finally our most-read article of the week was Yordan's journey with a Huawei Mate 30 Pro without Google Services. Despite his struggle to find what he normally uses on a daily basis with the Mate 30 Pro, he does find a silver lining - the free time he gets because of the missing apps. Still, Yordan's now back on a phone with Google services.

See you in a week!



A week with Huawei Mate 30 Pro: is there life without Google services I was missing a lot of apps, but I found a surprising amount of free time in the process.





Live image of Galaxy S20 Ultra reveals camera setup, Galaxy S20+ pictured too Most of the leaked renders appear to be true - there are four snappers, an LED flash and a mic hole.





First batch of Samsung Galaxy Note20 leaks starts pouring in Apparently, the upcoming Note will have a better high refresh rate panel than the still unannounced Galaxy S20 series.





Xiaomi VP teases zoom camera on Xiaomi Mi 10 with two camera samples Lu Weibing did not name the phone, but the Redmi K30 Pro is unlikely to have similar zoom capabilities.





Qualcomm releases the first 8K video shot with Snapdragon 865 The 8K video was posted on YouTube and recorded landscapes in Arizona back in November.





Galaxy S20 series to support simultaneous shooting with all cameras The new "Quick Take" feature will allow users to experiment with different perspectives on the fly.





New leak suggests February 14 launch for the Xiaomi Mi 10 The Mi 10 Pro should follow closely, with an alleged February 18 sales start.





Samsung confirms Galaxy S20 naming through official website slip-up The upcoming LED case for the device was shortly listed on the company's German website.





OnePlus design patent shows hidden cameras with a rotating cover Four different designs imagine how the camera lens can be hidden from sight (and protected from scratches) by a round rotating cover.





Xiaomi is working on three S865 phones, two of which with 108MP cams The Xiaomi Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro have been officially confirmed to use S865. And so will a new Redmi K30 model, but that's not yet official.





Xiaomi exec details challenges with 100W Super Charge Turbo technology Multiple factors including battery capacity loss and safety need to be considered.





Google promises "something exciting" at Galaxy Unpacked event It could be Google Duo integration or UI customized for Galaxy Z Flip.


DUBLIN (Reuters) - Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein is ready to enter government in Ireland and it would be undemocratic to exclude it, leader Mary Lou McDonald said on Sunday after tallies indicated her party narrowly secured the most votes in a national election. The two centre-right parties that have dominated Irish politics since the formation of the state a century ago, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, have both ruled out sharing power with Sinn Fein, the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army. 'I do not accept the exclusion or talk of excluding our party, a party that represents now a quarter of the electorate and I think that that is fundamentally undemocratic,' McDonald told journalists in Dublin

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein is ready to enter government in Ireland and it would be undemocratic to exclude it, leader Mary Lou McDonald said on Sunday after tallies indicated her party narrowly secured the most votes in a national election.

The two centre-right parties that have dominated Irish politics since the formation of the state a century ago, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, have both ruled out sharing power with Sinn Fein, the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army.

"I do not accept the exclusion or talk of excluding our party, a party that represents now a quarter of the electorate and I think that that is fundamentally undemocratic," McDonald told journalists in Dublin.

(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Writing by Conor Humphries; Editing by Mark Potter)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
ST. JOHNS, N.L.Ottawa and Newfoundland and Labrador say they will rewrite the financial structure of the Muskrat Falls hydro project to shield ratepayers from paying for the megadams cost overruns.

Federal Natural Resources Minister Seamus ORegan and Premier Dwight Ball announced Monday that their two governments would scrap the financial structure agreed upon in past federal-provincial loan agreements, moving to a model that redirects benefits to ratepayers.

Both politicians called the announcement, which was light on dollar figures, a major milestone in easing residents fears that electricity rates will spike sharply when the overbudget dam comes fully online next year.

We are in a far better place today thanks to this comprehensive plan, Ball said.

Ball has said the issue of electricity rates is a top priority for his government, and he has pledged to keep rates near existing levels, but talks with Ottawa have dragged on since April.

A report by the provinces Public Utilities Board released Friday forecast an unprecedented 75 per cent increase in average domestic rates for island residents in 2021 and reported concerns from industrial customers about their ability to remain competitive.

Costs of the Muskrat Falls megadam on Labradors Lower Churchill River have ballooned to more than $12.7 billion since the project was approved in 2012, according to the latest estimate of Crown corporation Nalcor Energy.

The dam is set to produce more power than the province can sell. Its existing financial structure would have left electricity ratepayers on the hook to make up the difference starting in 2021, an issue both governments said Monday has been resolved with the relaunch of financing talks.

Essentially, you wont pay this on your monthly light bills, Ball said.

But details of how the project will meet financing requirements in coming decades to make up the gap in funds are still to be worked out.

Both Ball and ORegan criticized previous governments for sanctioning the poorly planned development and again pledged their commitment to easing the burden on residents.

We promised we would be there to help, and we will be, ORegan said before announcing a relaunch of negotiations around the projects financial structure.

He did not say how much the new setup might cost the federal government, stressing that the new focus will be on the projects long-term sustainability. Theres no single piece of policy ... that can resolve such a large and complicated mess, ORegan said.

The two governments also said they will work toward electrifying federal buildings to reduce an anticipated power surplus in the province.

In the short term, the federal government said it would allow for flexibility in upcoming cash requirements related to debt servicing, allowing deferral of payments if necessary.

Ball said that flexibility was built in to ensure the plan would still be applicable if costs continue to rise before Muskrat Falls is commissioned.

Political opponents criticized Mondays plan as lacking detail.

What I heard talked about was an agreement that in the future, theres going to be an agreement, said Progressive Conservative Leader Ches Crosbie. This was an occasion to reassure people that theres a plan in place to make life here affordable, and I didnt see that happen today.

Others addressed the lingering questions about the projects final cost.

Nalcors latest estimate has remained unchanged since 2017, though the Muskrat Falls project has seen additional delays related to staffing and software issues.

Dennis Browne, the provinces consumer advocate, said the switch to a cost of service model is a significant move that will benefit ratepayers, but he said its impossible to truly restructure the project while its a work in progress. We need to know what the figures are, and we dont have them, he said.

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Facing a rough patch in the face of federal antitrust opposition, Edgewell Personal Care is walking away from its proposed acquisition of Harrys, which notified Shelton-based Edgewell it will sue.

The Federal Trade Commission filed suit last week to block the $1.4 billion merger, arguing New York City-based Harrys has proven an effective foil in getting Edgewell and Procter & Gamble to cut prices on their respective Schick and Gillette razor blades, benefiting consumers.

Were obviously disappointed by the FTCs decision to seek to block the proposed transaction with Harrys and we continue to disagree with the merits of their position, said Edgewell CEO Rod Little, during a Monday morning conference call with investment analysts. That said, given the ongoing uncertainty about the potential outcome and the required investment in resources, time and resulting distraction to our business a continuing legal battle with the FTC would entail, ... we have terminated the merger agreement.

Under the original acquisition agreement, Edgwell was allowed to terminate the deal without penalty, and set out certain conditions under which it would be compelled to oppose any attempt by a government authority to block the merger. Little told analysts on Monday any litigation has no merit that Harrys may file, declining to go into details.

Littles Edgewell team spent more than $5 million last year putting the Harrys deal together, representing only a drop of red ink in a year in which losses totaled $372 million. Edgewell had seen Harrys as one foundation for a turnaround, five years after Edgewell was created in a split from battery giant Energizer Holdings.

In the first three months of its 2020 fiscal year, Edgewell reported a $22 million profit, with sales down slightly from a year ago to $454 million.

Edgewell generates about 60 percent of its sales from its shaving brands that include Schick and Wilkinson Sword, with the company also making blades for sale by other companies under their own brands. Other Edgewell products include Hawaiian Tropic and Banana Boat sun lotions, and Playtex, Carefree and Stayfree feminine care products.

Last year, Edgewell sold its Diaper Genie and Litter Genie disposable product lines to a Canadian company for $123 million.

Besides Gillette and Harrys, other Schick and Wilkinson Sword competitors include Bic, which has its North American headquarters across the street from Edgewell in Shelton; and Unilever with its Dollar Shave Club subscription service. In the market for private label razors manufactured for sale under other companys brands, Edgewell has another major competitor in South Korea-based Dorco.

In his own statement, the deputy director of the FTCs competition bureau called the Edgewell decision good news for consumers nationally.

For years, Edgewell and Procter & Gamble faced little competition on store shelves, and prices rose steadily as a result, stated the FTCs Daniel Francis. The arrival of Harrys into brick-and-mortar retail disrupted that pattern, bringing lower prices and more options to consumers. Allowing Edgewell to bring that disruptor under control by acquiring Harrys would have represented a big step back for competition.

Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman
Sumaiya Rana, daughter of Munawwar Rana, on Sunday said that the cases filed against her by the state government are a badge of honour for her.

She was attending an anti-CAA event at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

"I have said that the Uttar Pradesh police is acting in an autocratic manner and that this will not work. As a result, cases were filed against me and my sister on the next day for alleged violation of section 144," said Rana.

"Yogi Adityanath must be thinking that I have been punished by him through this act. I would say that this is a badge of honour for us. The coming generations will remember us for this," she said.

"The environment in the country is vitriolic and it is suffocating to live in such conditions," she added.

Protests have been going on in various parts of the country against the newly amended citizenship law since December last year.

The CAA grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and if they entered 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.)
Category: Social Sciences

Program Form: Full-Time or Part-Time

Start of Program: September, 1st (Full-Time Students)

Place of Study: Garmisch-Partenkirchen

Duration: 12 Months

Workload: 60 ECTS Credit Points

Course Language: English

Tuition Fees: 11.000  (Discounts for GCMC Alumni)

The Master of Arts in International Security Studies (MISS) is a unique post-graduate program for security professionals offered jointly by the Universitat der Bundeswehr Munchen (UniBwM) and the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies (GCMC). The one-year program is designed to prepare international military and civilian students with some years of professional experience for executive positions in the public and private sector.

MISS participants profit from the particular strengths of the partnering institutions: The program combines university modules taught by the UniBwM professors and selected international faculty with the policy-oriented programs of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, a German-American defense institution where students study alongside other government officials from 110 countries. It provides its students with a comprehensive understanding of international security and connects them to a network of more than 13,000 security professionals around the globe.

Four different study concentrations offer students an opportunity to deepen their understanding and develop professional networks in their specific area of expertise:

The program is designed for full- and part-time studies and can be completed either as a twelve-month course starting in September or by attending modules individually over a duration of two years. The entire program takes place at the Marshall Center in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a mountain resort in Southern Bavaria.
Yemeni forces down Saudi-led spy drone, slam coalition's violation of Sweden deal

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 08 February 2020 6:21 PM

Yemeni army forces, supported by allied fighters from Popular Committees, have intercepted and targeted an unmanned aerial vehicle belonging to the Saudi-led military coalition as it was flying in the skies over the country's western coastal province of Hudaydah.

An unnamed Yemeni military official said Yemeni air defense forces and their allies shot down the drone with a surface-to-air missile as it was on a reconnaissance mission over Kilo 16 district of the province, located around 230 kilometers west of the capital Sana'a, on Saturday evening.

The source then censured the Saudi-led coalition for breaching an agreement reached between the warring sides during a round of UN-sponsored peace negotiations in Sweden in December 2018.

Delegates from the Ansarullah movement and representatives loyal to former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi attended the peace negotiations in Rimbo on the outskirts of the Swedish capital Stockholm. The talks resulted in the announcement of a break-through agreement.

The document included three provisions: a ceasefire along the Hudaydah front and the redeployment of armed forces out of the city and its port; an agreement on prisoner exchange; and a statement of understanding on the southern Yemeni city of Ta'izz.

Back in February, Yemeni army and allied fighters from Popular Committees intercepted and downed a Saudi-led reconnaissance drone while flying over Jabalya area in the al-Tuhayta district of Hudaydah province.

Also on Saturday, a civilian lost his life when Saudi border guards opened indiscriminate fire on residential buildings at al-Raqou area in the Monabbih district of Yemen's mountainous northwestern province of Sa'ada.

Saudi border guards had shot and killed another civilian in the same Yemeni area three days earlier.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of Hadi back to power and crushing Ansarullah.

The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the war has claimed more than 100,000 lives over the past nearly five years.

The UN says over 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.

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Days after few students of Gargi College alleged that some "drunken men"; said to be pro-CAA demonstrators, misbehaved with them inside the campus, the students staged a protest inside the college campus on Monday.

The students of the women's College, affiliated to Delhi University and situated in the South Delhi, had alleged that on February 6, some drunken men reportedly entered college and manhandled the students.

It happened on Day 3 of the annual festival 'Reverie'. The students gathered inside the college against the management, however, soon after the protest started and the number of students reached between 1,500-2,000, a meeting was called with the students.

The students told IANS that they held a meeting with the management.

"We have put our demands before the management. The principal and proctor have asked for an hour. We are now waiting for their response," a student told IANS, adding they are continuing the protest.

The college principal and the proctor remained unavailable for any comments.

Few teachers have also came out in support of the protesting students. Speaking about the incident on February 6, a second-year student said, "Taking advantage of the crowd, the men followed girls everywhere and groped them. They made girls uncomfortable."

The girls said they were manhandled, molested and sexually assaulted. Meanwhile, the National Commission for women has taken cognizance in the matter and a team has also visited the campus to record statement of the students.

Swati Maliwal, the Delhi Commission for Women chief, will also visit the college today.

The matter has reached the Parliament as well with Aam Aadmi Party's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh giving a zero hour notice in the Upper House over the incident.

The Gargi College was established in 1967 and has currently been awarded Grade-'A' by NAAC. It has about 4,000 students on its rolls.
Im strategically positioned to make things happen in Congress, in the nation, in my district, to try to (provide) some of the vital needs my constituents have, said Rush, explaining why hes running again. He said he has proposed legislation that would call for issuing Tasers to police so they dont have to use their guns and to create green jobs in the energy sector. Some of the stuff Im doing right now are things we dreamed about doing in the 60s.
Assam is likely to conduct an exercise to identify the state's indigenous Muslim population and segregate them from illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, even as doubts over the accuracy of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) are yet to be addressed.

As per the plans, the survey will be conducted to identify people of four communities -- Goria, Moria, Desi and Jolah of the tea tribes, considered as indigenous.

Assam Welfare of Minorities Minister Ranjit Dutta has convened a meeting on Tuesday with various organisations of the four communities and other stakeholders to finalise the plan.

"Assam has about 1.3 crore Muslims population, of which around 90 lakh are of Bangladeshi origin. The remaining 40 lakh are from different tribes and they need to be identified," Assam Minority Development Board Chairman Muminul Aowal told PTI.

The indigenous Muslims are deprived of benefits of the government welfare schemes in absence of proper identification, he claimed.

Aowal, who is also the convenor of Janagosthiya Samanway Parishad Asom (JSPA), said the entire rationale behind such an exercise is to give protection to the indigenous people from demographic changes in the state.

"The NRC included lakhs of Bangladeshi-origin people. So, we cannot rely on that. If we do not act now, one day all the indigenous tribes will be wiped out from Assam," he added.

"Once the indigenous tribes are officially recognised, it will be better and easier to work for the development of these people. I, as a representative of these tribes, had in 2015 met the then Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh," Aowal said.

The indigenous groups had urged Singh for such a survey, he said.

When asked how the exercise will be carried out, Aowal said, "We will request the state government to get an approval from the RGI (Registrar General of India). Without the RGI's approval, the findings may not be legally tenable."



The organisations representing the Muslim tribes want the paper works to be completed by March so that the actual fieldwork of enumerating people can begin early next fiscal, he said.

"The entire initiative is of the Minority Department of the state government, but it does not have the required manpower to carry out such a state-wide exercise. That is why it can be conducted through the Revenue Department, which is present at the village-level," Aowal explained.

The NRC, which was published last year under the supervision of the Supreme Court with over 19 lakh exclusions, is being criticised by all sections for the "minimal number" of people left out.

It is being alleged that genuine Indians, mostly Hindus, were left out and many illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, mostly Muslims, were included. The apex court is still hearing a number of petitions on the issue.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A millionaire in California has welcomed a homeless couple into his $4 million mansion to prove that living on the streets isn't "contagious," according to an article by MSN.

The homeless couple was identified as Greg Dunston, a former security guard who got injured on the job, and Marie Mckinzie, a former cashier and certified nurse assistant.

Before Terry McGrath offered them the in-law unit of his mansion in the upper-class Piedmont neighborhood, the couple lived on the streets of Oakland, California for more than a decade.

According to the homeowner, he was touched after reading about their story published in the San Francisco Chronicle last year. They have been living in the estate since February 1, 2019.

Otis Taylor, a journalist for the San Francisco Chronicle, told ABC News, said that when McGrath met Dunston and Mckinzie, he recognized that while they both suffered from disabilities, they "were still engaged with meeting people and they still had love for each other through it all."

According to McGrath, many people have lived in his mansion over the years, including his own children, other relatives and an intern.

However, when the black couple moved in, they faced obstacles as they lived in the neighborhood where the population is almost 72 percent white while only one percent of residents are black, according to data from the US Census.

Some of his neighbors are not happy. McGrath tells of a phone call he recieved.

"I got a call at 9:30 at night on my cellphone -- I thought she was calling about organizing the neighborhood summer block party."

When she mentioned the word 'situation', he thought the neighbor was referencing Marie and Greg. He added, "that was one of the most offensive conversations I've ever had."

There were also several complaints raised with the police, when residents noticed the black couple in the wealthy white area.

"I just pulled into the driveway and there's some strange folks hanging around the house,'' one resident told 911 dispatchers.

Another said: 'I just wanted to notify you that this woman is sitting at Lexford and Hampton ... She's smoking a cigarette -- could be drugs.'

With the numerous complaints, the officers already know how to handle it since McGrath had already coordinated with Piedmont chief of police Jeremy Bowers that Dunston and Mckinzie had moved into his home.

Dunston and Mckinzie said they were happy to leave life on the streets behind.

"I don't want to live on the streets. A lot of people do, but I want to get in," Mckinzie said. "I love to cook a lot so I wanted a kitchen, bed and shower."

"We wanted to do that," Dunston said about moving into McGrath's estate. "There are a lot of people out on the streets but they have no choice."

He added that they "never dreamed or imagined we would be living in Piedmont."

McGrath said Dunston and Mckinzie are now 'family' and that they're welcome to stay in his home for as long as they want.

Meanwhile, BBC News recently reported that there had been some tensions building between the couple and the homeowner one year on from them moving in, as McGrath encouraged them to get paid employment while they sought to volunteer to help others on the streets.

However, it was confirmed that they were only talking about their differences and learning from each other's' experiences.

As California's homelessness crisis continues, acts of kindness like this are crucial. In the entire state, the homeless rate has surged a staggering 16.4 per cent in the past twelve months. This means more than 140,000 California residents are out in the streets without decent shelter which amounts to fifth of the entire homeless population across the US.

In December, California officials announced plans to allocate almost $12 million to clear a mile-long homeless encampment in a popular bike trail housing more than 200 people as it poses a public health emergency after reports of rat-infestation.
After the debacle last week in Iowa and the reporting of the results there, even more people began to speak openly about how anachronistic and antiquated it is for Iowa and its problematic caucuses to continue to have such an outsize influence on the Democratic nominating process.

When CNNs Jake Tapper grilled the Democratic National Committee chairman, Tom Perez, about whether Iowa should remain the first contest, Perez said, Thats the conversation that will absolutely happen after this election cycle.

Its about time. And, it needs to be far more than a conversation. Action must be taken.

First, caucuses are undemocratic anyway, because anyone who cant afford to or is unable to spend hours on one specific day in a gym or hall  the elder, the infirm, the poor, the struggling  is frozen out of the process. And those who can participate are divested of anonymity, so peer pressure and shaming can play an inappropriate role.

Second, Iowa is simply not representative of the Democratic Party in a way that should have so much importance. The Democratic Party is becoming more urban and coastal. Iowa is a relatively rural Midwestern state. The party is also becoming increasingly diverse. Iowa is over 90 percent white.
A man who allegedly hit another man with his car on a road in rural Victoria has been charged with murder.

Police said the 33-year-old man from Drouin was driving on Heads Road at Yannathan in the state's south-east when he allegedly struck a 34-year-old man from Officer.

The man that died at the scene had stopped his car before being struck just after midnight on Tuesday, police say.

The Drouin man will appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
'Both my father and brother are very strong. Their spirit is unbroken,' says Dr Farooq Abdullah's daughter and Omar's sister Safiya Abdullah Khan.

Photograph: Umar Ganie for Rediff.com IMAGE: Safiya Abdullah Khan was detained and subsequently released along with her aunt Suraiya Ali and other women for protesting against the abrogation of Article 370 last October in Srinagar.

"We spent the last week in the hope that my brother would be released," Safiya Abdullah Khan, Farooq Abdullah's daughter and Omar Abdullah's sister, tells Archana Masih/Rediff.com over the phone from Srinagar.

"After six months of detention, we were expecting their release and certainly not expecting the PSA charge to be slapped on him (Omar). It is a shock for all of us."

On Monday morning, February 10, her sister Sara Pilot challenged Omar Abdullah's detention and charges under the stringent Public Safety Act before the Supreme Court.

Under Jammu and Kashmir's Public Safety Act, a person can be detained for three to six months without charge or trial and it can be extended further. The PSA was enforced soon after Omar's six-month preventive detention ended last Thursday, February 6.

Dr Farooq Abdullah, three-time chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and four-time Lok Sabha MP, has been detained under PSA for five months.

Safiya, who lives next door to Dr Abdullah, says visits to her father and brother are limited to blood relatives, some relatives are allowed to visit more than others, after permission is taken from the authorities.

"A few months ago, they both had visitors apart from family. Friends who have applied to see my brother haven't got permission," reveals Safiya. National Conference leaders visited Dr Abdullah and Omar Abdullah in October.

Dr Abdullah has access to a telephone and television and follows the news religiously. He reads the newspapers every day. "He knows what is happening," his daughter says.

IMAGE: Omar Abdullah with his sisters Safiya, Hinna and Sara in a photograph tweeted by Safiya on 'Siblings Day'. Photograph: Kind courtesy Safiya@Twitter

The latest book Dr Abdullah has read is Jairam Ramesh's biography of V K Krishna Menon: A Chequered Brilliance.

"I can see my father every day, but we have pre-arranged timings for my brother. We go three times a week -- at a time," says Safiya, a teacher who is currently on sabbatical to look after her two sons.

Omar is allowed food from home and has been reading a lot, she says.

"How else do you expect someone in solitary confinement to spend his time?" his sister asks.

Omar, a former Union minister and Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, is detained in Hari Niwas. Father and son have not seen each other for six months, she says.

IMAGE: Omar Abdullah's recent picture which was widely circulated.

On her brother's bearded photograph that was circulated widely, she says he had told her at the beginning of his detention that he would only shave once he is released.

The police dossier reportedly cites Omar Abdullah's 'considerable influence' to attract people to vote despite poll boycott calls as among the reasons for the PSA.

The grounds of detention, as reported by the Press Trust of India, state that on the eve of reorganisation of the state Omar had made attempts to provoke the masses against the revocation of Articles 370 and 35-A.

Omar's last tweet was on August 5 before being taken into prevention detention when Article 370 was revoked.

However, the police have neither mentioned any of Omar's social media posts in the dossier nor in the order for the grounds of his detention.

Photograph: Umar Ganie for Rediff.com IMAGE: Dr Farooq Abdullah, second from left, and his wife Molly, with National Conference Lok Sabha MPs Akbar Lone, second from right, and retired Justice Hasnain Masoodi, right, in Srinagar, October 6, 2019.

Dr Farooq Abdullah's detention under PSA was extended for three months in December. He has been under house arrest at his Srinagar home which has been designated a sub jail.

"Since it is a sub-jail, so obviously there is a lot of security," says Safiya.

"He has access to the entire house. Every few days we have snow so it is very cold. He is 83. He is confined to the house, but both he and my brother are very strong. Their spirit is unbroken," says Safiya.

Safiya who was detained along with her aunt Suraiya Ali for participating in a civil society protest at Lal Chowk in Srinagar last October, says the family feels helpless.

"Of course, you feel angry. We live day to day. We tend not to think too much about the road ahead."

On being asked what father-daughter conversations are like when they meet, she says, "No, I can't tell you -- because it is father to daughter na?"

"Obviously, we talk about the situation. It is something uppermost in our minds at the moment. We talk about the way forward and where we can go from here," she adds.

Does he feel he will be released soon?

"I don't think that is something we can even speculate about. We spent the last week in the hope they would be released. We cannot speculate because these people are so unpredictable."

"There are lots of families who are in the position as I am in -- who have their loved ones locked up and are going through what we are."
Hamas lauds West Bank resistance against deal of century, urges unified front

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 09 February 2020 11:11 PM

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has lauded the actions of West Bank Palestinians in rejecting the so-called "deal of the century" and has called for the formation of a united front against the plan.

"We indeed congratulate today our compatriots in the West Bank and Jerusalem al-Quds for their steadfastness and their extraordinary operations which challenged their calculations," said Hamas Spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum in a statement on Sunday.

"We call upon them to intensify their popular resistance efforts by using all possible means in all forms," he added.

The spokesman said that the formation of a unified front and struggle against the so-called deal of the century has become the demand of "all Palestinians".

Last week, Washington unveiled the so-called "deal", recognizing Jerusalem al-Quds as "Israel's undivided capital" and allowing the regime to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank and the Jordan Valley, among other controversial terms.

The move has since prompted much anger and protest across Palestine, with Israeli soldiers being attacked on numerous occasions amid protests in the West Bank.

The Israeli military has sought to respond to heightening tensions in the West Bank and along the Gaza Strip by stepping up its military presence across the territories.

Earlier this week, Israel announced that it is sending additional combat troops to the West Bank. Israel has also launched several strikes against Gaza in the past week.

On Sunday, Israeli planes targeted the central town of Deir al-Balah and Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, according to local reports.

'Israel, US to face consequences'

On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel has started drawing up maps of the occupied West Bank areas that it wants to annex under the "deal of the century".

In his remarks on Sunday, Barhoum slammed Netanyahu's remarks as "the continuation of Israeli-American hostility against the rights of the Palestinian people".

"The consequences of this continued malevolence is upon them," he said.

The spokesman added that Palestine "will forever remain for its people, the true inheritors of this land".

"The Israeli-American duo of evil will not be able to change such a reality despite's its power and dominance," he added.

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Waterfront mansions are in danger of being washed away as Sydney beachside suburbs are inundated in thick sea foam.

Memories of the June 2016 storm have come flooding back for Collaroy residents on Sydney's northern beaches as the weekend-long wild weather continues to batter the coast.

Residents living along the beach between Collaroy and Narrabeen woke on Monday to significant erosion and a massive build up of sea foam with up to 25 metres of sand washed away.

Photos shows waves of a dirty-coloured sea foam coming within metres of beachfront mansions.

Collaroy on Sydney's northern beaches was covered in thick sea foam on Sunday night

A massive build up of white sea foam came within metres of Collaroy homes on Monday

Further beach erosion damage was expected later on Monday morning.

'Basically, the next few hours will be critical,' University of NSW coastal researcher Mitchell Harley told the Sydney Morning Herald.

'After that, the risks will drop significantly.'

He warned another threat of further beach erosion could emerge next weekend.

'Plenty of sea foam going into backyards, but erosion risk dropping. Impact to houses spared, ready to go again for next weekend's forecast massive waves and already eroded beaches,' Dr Harley later posted on Twitter.

The erosion damage already caused could possibly take months to repair.

Collaroy locals on Sydney's northern beaches took to social media on Sunday night to post photos of their suburb being surrounded in sea foam

The sea foam was mid-calf deep in one Collaroy street overlooking the beach.

'It's incredible. I am down at the beach all the time but [have never seen] anything like this,' one resident told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Locals took to social media on Sunday night with photos of Collaroy Surf Club surrounded in sea foam.

'Its a couple of feet thick from the pool to flight deck,' one resident posted on Instagram.

Another added: 'Weird sea foam on the king tide at Collaroy tonight. It was almost as deep as a man and covered the whole foreshore.'

Cars were covered in thick sea foam near Collaroy Beach late Sunday night

Collaroy on Sunday night before streets overlooking the beach were covered in mid-calf deep of sea foam on Monday morning

Experts have warned of further beach forecast for Sydney's northern beaches next weekend

Waves up to six metres high propelled by the gale force winds are threatening to wash away beachside mansions in echoes of the storm that carved 15m off the coastline and wrecked seven Colloroy beachside properties in 2016.

But there are many waves far bigger that could cause significant damage.

'Erosion of the beaches inevitable which could impact properties that are close to the beach,' Weatherzone told Daily Mail Australia on Sunday.

'The swell is huge. There's been 13.9m waves record off Sydney, which is ridiculous.'

Sydney has received a third of its annual rainfall during the last four days as the heaviest rain in 30 years inundated the city.

Aerials views show the significant beach erosion threatening to wash away Collaroy homes
File photo: The cruise ship Diamond Princess is anchored at Yokohama Port for supplies replenished in Yokohama, south of Tokyo. (Image: AP)



The European Union will host an extraordinary meeting of health ministers on Thursday, along with a WHO envoy, to discuss the novel coronavirus outbreak. So far, only around 30 cases of the new strain have been detected in Europe, but the World Health Organisation warns that cases outside China could accelerate.



Health Minister Harsh Vardhan today assured Parliament that India was equipped to deal with the Coronavirus outbreak, 3 cases of which have been found in Kerala. India is taking all preventive measures. We are monitoring and reviewing the situation daily. Till now 1,118 flights have been screened, he said.



Meanwhile, around 60 more people aboard the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship moored off Japan have been diagnosed with novel coronavirus, national broadcaster NHK said Monday, bringing the total number of infected to about 130. Other local media also reported the new cases, but health ministry officials declined to comment.



The Diamond Princess has been in quarantine since arriving off the Japanese coast early last week after the virus was detected in a former passenger who got off the ship last month in Hong Kong.



When the boat arrived off Japan, authorities initially tested nearly 300 people for the virus of the 3,711 on board, gradually evacuating dozens who were infected to local medical facilities.



In recent days, testing has expanded to those with new symptoms or who had close contact with other infected passengers or crew, and several more cases were reported over the weekend.



Those who remain on the ship have been asked to stay inside their cabins and allowed only briefly onto open decks.



The death toll in China due to novel coronavirus epidemic has gone up to 908 and the number of confirmed cases rose over 40,000, Chinese health officials said today. There were 97 deaths and 3,062 new confirmed cases of the lethal infection on Sunday, China's National Health Commission said.



Ninety-one deaths were in Hubei province, the epicentre of the epidemic, two in Anhui, and one each in Heilongjiang, Jiangxi, Hainan and Gansu, according to the commission.



A total of 908 people have died of the disease and 40,171 confirmed cases of the outbreak were reported in 31 provincial-level regions so far, it said.



On Sunday, as many as 3,281 patients have been discharged from hospital after recovery. So far, over 630 people, including 356 in Hubei, have been discharged, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted the commission as saying.



Meanwhile, thousands of people stranded aboard a cruise ship in Hong Kong for five days were allowed to disembark on Sunday after its 1,800 crew tested negative for the deadly new coronavirus.



Health authorities in the semi-autonomous Asian financial hub said the crew and a similar number of passengers had been released from a quarantine imposed because of fears some staff could have contracted the deadly virus on a previous voyage and passed it on.



The World Dream carried three Chinese passengers to Vietnam between January 19 and 24 who were later found to be infected with the SARS-like coronavirus, which has killed more than 900 people in China since it emerged in December.



The government grounded the ship on its arrival in Hong Kong Wednesday while tests were carried out on the crew, but said the passengers need not undergo examination as they had no contact with the three sick holidaymakers on the January trip.
A 24-year-old lecturer who was set ablaze by a stalker near Hinganghat in Wardha district a week ago, succumbed to her injuries here on Monday.

Dr Anup Marar, Director, Orange City Hospital and Research Center told ANI that the patient's condition had been deteriorating from 4 am today with Oxygen saturation getting low.

"The patient was declared dead at 6:55 am today. The probable cause of death was Septicemic shock. Her body has been handed over to police authorities for postmortem," he added.The lecturer was set ablaze allegedly by a jilted lover in Maharashtra's Wardha district near Hinganghat area on February 3.

The unmarried woman had suffered approximately 40 per cent burn injuries and was being treated in a Nagpur-based hospital.

Police Inspector Satyaveer Bhandivar had said, "The incident took place when the woman was heading to her college at around 7 am on Monday (Feb 3) morning. The man threw kerosene on the woman and set her on fire.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Over 635,000 Customer Transactions in Nevada for Fiscal Year Ending January 31, 2020

VANCOUVER, Feb. 10, 2020 /CNW/ - C21 Investments Inc. ("C21" or the "Company") (CSE: CXXI and OTCQB: CXXIF) today released a year-end letter from Sonny L. Newman, President and CEO, to the Company's shareholders. The letter follows below and can also be accessed from the Company's website at www.cxxi.ca. Unless otherwise stated, all currency is in US dollars, and all results are preliminary.

February 10, 2020

Dear Fellow Shareholders,

C21 has just concluded a strong fiscal year on January 31st, with improvements to our operations and strong numbers across the board, including over 635,000 customer transactions in our Nevada dispensaries during the period. We have continued to right-size our operations, integrating our Oregon assets to achieve further efficiencies. This is the work we set out to achieve when I took over in July, and I am proud of the progress we have made. We are launching our Oregon brands into our Nevada dispensaries with considerable success. Since June 2019, Hood Oil has now sold over 100,000 units in Nevada, generating $2.9 million in revenue with a 54% Gross Margin. Last month alone, Hood Oil sold over 15,000 Units generating $445,000 in revenue, the best month-to-date at our dispensaries. In fact, 11 of the top 25 SKUs sold at Silver State Relief were Hood Oil. Silver State now sells twice as many Hood Oil units than all other cartridges combined. Our Phantom Farms' flower has also performed well since its launch in Nevada two weeks ago.

We recently reported revenue of $10.6 million in the third quarter, with $2.2 million of positive Adjusted EBITDA, a 175% increase quarter-over-quarter. Our Q3 Adjusted EBITDA margin of 21% placed us among the top 5 reporting U.S. Operators for the quarter. C21 is one of only a handful of public US Operators with positive operating cash flow. This has allowed us to survive in these difficult market conditions without having to issue any equity financing under my watch.

The Cannabis sector has been hit hard across the board and this market malaise is failing to distinguish and reward those participants, like C21, who have delivered strong economic performance and underlying fundamentals. It has been a particularly difficult nine month stretch for the entire sector, and indeed for our stock. This is frustrating given how well we have executed on our strategy and the gains we have achieved. We believe that with the anticipated legislative changes in the U.S., increased interest in viable U.S. cannabis companies will return, and with this, companies with discipline and focus such as ours, will be rewarded.

We are working with our advisors, Eight Capital & CB1 Capital, to identify the best strategic options to execute our corporate growth plans, as well as increasing financial flexibility in managing our debt. We outlined a number of growth initiatives in our recently updated Investor Presentation - both organic and strategic opportunities, as capital permits. We continue our relentless drive to net profitability as we strive to make the company even stronger, with our shareholders' interests being paramount. It is our sincere hope that you continue to stand with us through these difficult market conditions. I trust this message addresses any concerns you may have at this time.

Sincerely,

Sonny Newman

President & CEO, C21 Investments

The CSE has not accepted responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

About C21 Investments Inc.

C21 Investments is a vertically integrated cannabis company that cultivates, processes, and distributes quality cannabis and hemp-derived consumer products in the United States. The Company is focused on value creation through the disciplined acquisition and integration of core retail, manufacturing, and distribution assets in strategic markets, leveraging industry-leading retail revenues with high-growth potential multi-market branded consumer packaged goods. The Company owns Silver State Relief and Silver State Cultivation in Nevada, and Phantom Farms, Swell Companies, Eco Firma Farms, and Pure Green in Oregon. These brands produce and distribute a broad range of THC and CBD products from cannabis flowers, pre-rolls, cannabis oil, vaporizer cartridges and edibles. Based in Vancouver, Canada , additional information on C21 Investments can be found at www.sedar.com and www.cxxi.ca.

Cautionary Statement:

Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. These statements involve 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 statements. Forward looking statements in this news release and shareholder letter include the calculated year-end customer transactions in Nevada retail operations, the calculated year-end units sold in Nevada retail operations, the calculated units sold and estimated unaudited retail sales performance of Hood Oil (estimated revenue and gross margin) in Nevada retail operations, the impact of the integration of Oregon operations on the performance of the Company, the performance of our Company brands, the likelihood, timing and impact of potential legislative changes in the United States, and the future performance of the Company's share price.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by C21 Investments. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because C21 Investments 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. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, consumer acceptance of the Company's products, the failure to execute on its acquisition and expansion strategies, competitive factors in the industries in which C21 Investments operates, the Company's inability to finance current or future operations, prevailing economic and regulatory conditions, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of C21 Investments. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release represent the Company's expectations as of the date hereof and are subject to change after such date. C21 Investments 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 under applicable securities regulations.

Notice regarding Forward Looking Statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements 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. These statements speak only as of the date of this news release.

SOURCE C21 Investments Inc.

For further information: Media contact: Skyler Pinnick, Chief Marketing Officer and Director, [email protected], +1 833 BUY-CXXI (289-2994)

Related Links

https://www.cxxi.ca/


A High Court judge has ruled an application by a farmer for permission to legally challenge a decision giving Intel Ireland the go-ahead for a 3.6 billion expansion to its facility in Co Kildare must be heard in the presence of the other parties.

Mr Thomas Reid is seeking to legally challenge a decision by An Bord Pleanala made last November to grant the computer chip manufacturing giant planning permission to expand its manufacturing facility at Collinstown, in Leixlip.
India: Hindu extremists beat Christian children during Sunday morning worship

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Hindu extremists in southern India beat Christian children during a worship service before filing a false police complaint against the congregation, according to one worshiper.

Christians in Malasamudra village, Karnataka state had begun worship on Jan. 19 when about 20 radical Hindus came up the stairs to the terrace and began taking photos and videotaping them, Mary Bellary, who along with her husband Hanumanthappa Bellary was hosting the worship, told Morning Star News.

They flashed camera lights at children, and we requested them to please go and not disturb the prayers, she said. But they continued taking pictures, videotaping us and passed comments, saying, Look! Christians gathered here on the terrace to carry out conversions.'"

Bellary and other women tried to stop the Hindu extremists from video recording the 12 children present, but were pushed away. When the Christians asked them to leave, the intruders put their hands on the womens chests and pulled their sarees, tearing them, Bellary said.

They punched my 15-year-old son in his stomach, and other kids also got hurt, she told Morning Star News. They were kicked to the floor and were beaten up on their backs. My uncle and husband tried hard to protect the women and children, but those men were very aggressive and physically stronger than us.

The children just kept looking at us crying for help, she added.

Terrified by the attacks, the Christians did not leave their homes in Gadag District for the rest of the day, according to Bellary.

If we hear that you stepped out of your homes and told anybody about this, we will set your homes on fire and will burn you alive, the assailants reportedly told the Christians.

Later that evening, officers from Gadag Town Police Station told the Christians that the Hindu extremists had filed a complaint against them, she said.

The police officer told us that we had attacked some people during Christian prayers that morning, and that they were injured and hospitalized, she said. After attacking us on Jan. 19 morning, the Hindu extremists got themselves admitted in a hospital and filed a false complaint against us.

Our people were injured, yet we didnt step out of our homes fearing for our lives, and there at the police station our attackers were influencing the police to frame us in cases."

At the police station, an inspector informed the Christians counsel that since police had already received a complaint from the village president  who had led the attack  and his cohorts the previous day, he had no option but to book cases against the Christians.

The inspector added that due to immense pressure from the Hindu extremist mob, he must arrest the Christians who could then be released on bail.

This discussion with police officers and the Hindu extremist leaders went on till 11 p.m., Alliance Defending Freedom-India volunteer Johnson David told Morning Star News. Finally, the leaders had themselves agreed that the Hindu extremist mob had attacked the Christians, and the police effected a compromise that cases will not be booked against either of the parties.

India is ranked 10th on Open Doors 2020 World Watch List of countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. The country was 31st in 2013, but its position has worsened since Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party rose to power in 2014.

Over 1,400 incidents of persecution against Christians in the country have been reported since 2014, according to an initiative of ADF India.

Voice of the Martyrs USA spokesman Todd Nettleton recently told Mission Network News that the Hindu nationalist movement has organized a nationwide network of people to report Christian activity.

They want to have radical Hindu nationalists stationed in every one of Indias villages  watching for Christian activity, watching for the Gospel to be going forward, and then actively trying to strike that down, he said.

While Indian Christians are concerned about the direction their government is going, Nettleton said they are also reporting that God is still at work, and our churches are still growing  in spite of this Hindu nationalist movement, in spite of the power that Prime Minister Modi and his government have.

In an interview with The Christian Post, Pastor Samuel, an indigenous missionary working on the ground in India, revealed that Hindu extremists often wont kill Christians, but they will terrorize and intimidate them, or maim or mutilate them so they cannot live a normal life.

Christians are being targeted by the government; its seeking to halt the growth of Christianity and wipe out the church, Samuel said.

In one instance, Hindu extremists raped the 4-year-old daughter of a pastor in central India because he refused to stop sharing the Gospel, according to Pastor Samuel.

Its increasing day by day, he said. Its so unsafe, even for children.
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10 Feb  Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla recently called for more responsibility on everybody's part in sharing news and spreading awareness about the Coronavirus outbreak.

As reported on Inquirer, the two stars who spoke about the use of social media in circulating information about the epidemic, stated that it is important for everybody to raise awareness about the situation, though stressed that attentiveness is important in doing so.

"The news has to be accurate, so we should think before we post. There are a lot of information being uploaded online about it these days, but you're not always sure if they're true. We should be able to determine which sources are reliable and which ones are fake," said Bernardo.

At the same time, Padilla believes that one needs to always be cautious and do more in strengthening one's own health.

"Let's refrain from going to crowded places and always wear masks. It is also important to wash hands and disinfect," he added.

It is noted that the Philippines has reported three confirmed cases of the Coronavirus at the time of writing, with the first case - a Chinese tourist from Wuhan - no longer showing the symptoms and is set to be discharged.

(Photo Source: Kathryn Bernado Instagram)
Auto component maker National Engineering Industries Ltd (NEIL), a C K Birla group firm, is investingRs 100 crore over the next three years for producing needle roller bearing at its Jaipur facility, according to a top company official.

The company, which is entering the needle roller bearing segment with the help of NTN Corporation's licensed technology, expects sales from the vertical to be around Rs 50 crore in the next year and subsequently scale it up to Rs 100 crore.

"Now that we are entering into this needle roller bearing segment, we have a complete portfolio. This was the only piece missing in the automotive segment. In the needle roller segment, we will be investing about Rs 100 crore specifically in the next three years," National Engineering Industries Ltd (NEIL) Presidentand CEO Rohit Saboo told PTI.

He said the company has an ongoing overall capex plan of Rs 330 crore in three years and the investment in needle roller segment will be a part of it.

When asked about expectations from the new segment, Saboo said, "This year it will be rather small because there will be some trial and testing done. From next year, we are looking at starting from Rs 50 crore and subsequently going up to Rs 100 crore."



The company is setting up the capacity for the new segment at its existing plant in Jaipur, he added.

Needle bearings are smaller than general bearings and have greater load carrying capacity. This allows compact designs and these items are useful for applications which require smaller inertial force such as in an engine crankshaft.

On the overall market conditions, he said, "In the new fiscal people are expecting that upturn will come in the second half of the year, especially around Diwali."



Overall, he said, "We are still bullish that tide will turn very soon, maybe end of the year or early next year and then the requirement will go back again up."As for the company's total sales, Saboo said, "In the ongoing fiscal we are expecting sale of somewhere between Rs 2,050 crore and Rs 2,100 crore. Next year we are expecting a growth of approximately 7 per cent out of which we are hoping that 5 per cent will be the automotive growth.

The rest 2 per cent, he said, would be through wallet share increase industrial segment.

He also said NEIL would look to tap new entrants such as Kia Motors and MG Motors for supplying its products.

"We are either in discussion or will be in discussion with all these people and we will hopefully start engaging with them and developing bearings for them by later part of the year," Saboo added.

When asked if the company will export its needle bearings, he said, "We will be definitely looking at it as most of our export customers are in automotive.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Reckless daredevils are risking their lives to take 'storm selfies' in a bid to achieve social media fame.

Authorities across Britain warned against taking photographs during Storm Ciara after some clambered onto cliffs and sea walls to take extreme weather snaps.

A group of people were seen atop of some rocks in Black Pill, Swansea, as the sea lashed against them with terrifying waves yesterday.

They were caught out by the Mumbles Coastguard Cliff Rescue Team who said: 'This may seem like fun, but it's a good idea. It's why we have highly trained Volunteer Coastguard Teams and Lifeboat Crew on call 24/7 ready to risk their lives to come and get you.'

Some parts of Wales were hit with more than a month and a half's rainfall in just 24 hours and gusts of 90mph as Ciara raged on Sunday.

A couple were also slammed for being 'flood tourists' and posing in front of tall waves in Cape Cornwall, four miles from Land's End.

Families were criticised by commentators for taking their children out along Blackpool promenade as waves lashed the seafront.

A group of people were seen atop of some rocks in Black Pill, Swansea, as the sea lashed against them with terrifying waves yesterday

Families were slammed by commentators for taking their children out along Blackpool promenade as waves lashed the seafront

Storm selfies appeared on social media from parts of Essex, Staffordshire and Porthcawl.

And the hashtags #stormselfie #floodtourist and #respectthewater were trending on Twitter and Instagram.

Storm Ciara, which is being dubbed 'Britain's worst in a century' has claimed one man's life after a tree fell on his car in Hampshire.

Flood defences are lying in tatters in the Calder Valley towns of West Yorkshire after torrential rainfall over the weekend.

Locals have been forced to evacuate their businesses and the ground floor of people's homes were left covered in water and sludge.

The Environment Agency for Yorkshire and the North East wrote: 'Don't be a #floodtourist! Remember to take care on coastal paths and promenades and avoid the temptation to take a #stormselfie #StormCiara.'

A group of friends pose for a 'storm selfie' in West Bay, Dorset yesterday amid blustery gales

Hundreds of flood warnings are still in place across the country, with Met Office weather warnings for rain, wind and snow in place until Wednesday.

Flights, ferries and trains all saw cancellations and delays on Sunday, while drivers faced treacherous conditions with floodwater, fallen trees and other debris closing roads.

Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said: 'While Storm Ciara is clearing away, that doesn't mean we're entering a quieter period of weather.

'It's going to stay very unsettled. We have got colder air coming through the UK and will be feeling a real drop in temperatures, with an increased risk of snow in northern parts of the UK and likely in Scotland.

'There could be up to 20cm on Monday and Tuesday and with strong winds, blizzards aren't out of the question.'

Train passengers are being advised to check with operators before travelling as there are likely to be some cancellations to early trains as

Network Rail engineers work through the night to assess the damage.

The fastest gusts of 97 miles per hour were recorded on the Isle of Wight on Sunday, with 93 miles per hour winds hitting Aberdaron, a village at the tip of the Llyn Peninsula.




Tenzin Rigden works on his Tibetan studies at the Tibetan Sunday School. Local Tibetans are raising funds to try to build their own community center with classrooms. Read more

The local Tibetan community has a dream as big as the Himalayas:

A place of their own.

A two-story center where people can gather for ceremonies and celebrations, with classrooms to teach their children the intricacies of a culture thats rapidly being erased by occupying Chinese forces in Tibet.

That aspiration carries importance beyond the Philadelphia region. Exile communities here and elsewhere feel a duty to keep the traditions and language alive as thousands of monasteries in the homeland are demolished and Chinese replaces Tibetan in speech and writing.

Without a cultural center, said Tsering Jurme, chairman of the centers committee for the nonprofit Tibetan Association of Philadelphia (TAP), theres no place we can call home.

The group is trying to raise $450,000 for a center after the property it rented in Feltonville was sold last year. So far, TAP has raised $136,000, with contributions from nearly every local Tibetan.

Its the tiny diaspora thats now responsible for preservation of the language and culture, a responsibility that those in Philadelphia take very seriously, said Jeffrey Granett, a retired Bryn Mawr cardiologist who serves on the board of the U.S. Tibet Committee, an advocacy organization. I dont know any other way this culture is going to survive. Everyone of goodwill should support them.

Its unclear where the rest of the money might be found. Grants and corporate funding have yet to materialize. TAP is offering to sell naming rights  for parts of the structure, like the library, or for the entire building.

We must build up our fund-raising, said TAP President Thupten Chonyi.

Tibetans here want the new center to promote the ideals of compassion and kindness espoused and exemplified by the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet.

The Beijing government sees loyalty to the Dalai Lama as a threat to its authority, imposed when the Peoples Liberation Army invaded in 1950. Nine years later, the Dalai Lama and thousands of followers escaped, establishing a government-in-exile in Dharamshala, India.

 READ MORE: The Virgin Mary in handcuffs: How a viral image humanizes the immigration debate

Tibet is known as the Roof of the World and the Land of Snows. China asserts a centuries-old claim over the country, which also borders Nepal and India.

Nearly all Tibetans are Buddhists, and that tradition is interwoven with festivals and family life.

The Chinese occupation has led to the imprisonment and death of thousands of Tibetans, and the destruction of more than 6,000 monasteries. China severely restricts freedom of speech, the press, and religion, and people can be thrown in jail just for having a picture of the Dalai Lama.

Almost all the worlds 6.4 million Tibetans live in Tibet, and few are able to leave. Clandestine Tibetan immigration to India has dropped from 2,500 to perhaps 100 a year, which in turn has choked off the flow of new members to communities in the West.

The worldwide exile community consists of only about 130,000 people, with 80,000 or so in India and an estimated 20,000 in North America, statistics show.

Tibet is not just their country of origin but their spiritual home. TAP members will soon gather for Losar, the Tibetan New Year, which this year falls on Feb. 24.

The loss of its rented space forced TAP to stop its Sunday school, central to children learning to read, write, and speak Tibetan, and then restart it on Saturdays, when many parents are at work.

A dozen or more children gathered on a recent Saturday in a rented Unitarian Society of Germantown meeting room. They sang the Tibetan national anthem and "The Star-Spangled Banner, then offered prayers for wisdom and truth before taking up formal studies.

We dont have a classroom. Its a hard thing for us, said school director Dechen Kunsang.

Kunsang envisions a center where members can meet, learn, teach, cook, and worship, and where older members can socialize. All draw encouragement from elders like Lobsang Dhargyal, 87, who helped the Dalai Lama escape in 1959 and has remained a friend. He served in the Tibetan government-in-exile in India and now lives in Glenside.

Tibetans first began immigrating to the United States in the early 1960s, and their numbers grew after Congress granted 1,000 visas to Tibetans in India as part of the Immigration Act of 1990. Family members came, too. Many settled in the New York City and the Washington metro areas, but some came to the Philadelphia region.

 READ MORE: South Jersey migrant family with a cancer-stricken child can stay in the U.S. for treatment

Years ago, when only a handful of families lived here, events were held informally at peoples homes. But now the community stands at about 200 people, and more are arriving from New York, pushed out by high living costs.

Jurme, 47, like many other Tibetans, has never set foot in Tibet. He was born in India to exiled parents. But its his generation, he said, that must keep the ways of Tibet alive.

Our members have decided, Jurme said, we must keep our community together, our culture, our tradition.
[February 10, 2020] SKYPAD Announces Expansion in Europe to Address Growing Demand for Retail SaaS Analytics

NEW YORK, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sky I.T. Group, a global leader in retail SaaS analytics and insights solutions, announced today its expansion into Europe  with a second headquarters located in London, England. Sky I.T. Group is home to the SKYPAD platform where retailers and brands analyze trends, view and collaborate on the brands' sell-through performance. Following the exponential growth across North America and with 72% of the luxury brands - many of which are HQ in Europe - already subscribed to SKYPAD, creating local presence was inevitable. The move comes in-line with recent expansion efforts that include a new office opening in Paris, France. As the luxury fashion apparel, footwear, accessories, and beauty industries expand, and the need to react quickly to market trends arises, forward-looking retailers and suppliers consider the data sharing and insights provided through SKYPAD to be imperative to succeed in the marketplace. The SKYPAD platform offers retail data collection, validation, distribution, insights, and reporting for retailers and brands and is currently utilized by 1000+brands, collecting data from 160+ luxury etailers globally.



"The growing number of luxury brands and retail department stores in Europe that have embraced SKYPAD as their go-to platform for improving the collaboration between buyer and seller created the need for local presence not only to support existing subscribers, but also to introduce the SKYPAD SaaS solution to new brands and retailers," said Jay Hakami, CEO of Sky I.T. Group. Expanding to Europe is a major step in bridging the gap between the luxury European retailers and the brands. Retailers are searching for platforms that will allow their respective brands to receive accurate, consistent, and secure sell-through reporting, and the brands are looking for "best practices" reporting related to their product sell-through in the stores they sell into. SKYPAD offers comprehensive solutions for both. The expansion is a testament to the superior SKYPAD SaaS platform technology and the talented teams that made SKYPAD the global leader in retailer data collection, distribution, and reporting.

The London office will be located at 180 Piccadilly St James's, London UK, +44 (0) 20 7830 9708. The team in place will be dedicated to serving existing SKYPAD subscribers as well as introducing the SKYPAD platform to multi-vendor retailers and brands located in Europe that are looking for insights and trends into their sell channels. If you are interested in hearing more about SKYPAD and/or Sky I.T. Group's growth plans in Europe visit: http://www.skyitgroup.com. For press inquiries contact:

5W Public Relations

(212) 999-5585

[email protected] About Sky I.T. Group

Sky I.T. Group is the home of SKYPAD a leading B2B SaaS platform that connects wholesalers and retailers on a single platform to share, report, and collaborate on in-season product sales/inventory performance, demand, and trends at retail. The SKYPAD user community includes over 2,000 buyers and brands from a variety of categories including Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, LVMH, Kering, Tory Burch, and L'Oreal. Today, SKYPAD reports on over 20+ Billion in sales across 250 retailers and 10,000 stores. For more information, visit www.skyitgroup.com. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1087661/SKYPAD_Logo.jpg

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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The National Congress of American Indians is kicking off a busy week of events here as President Fawn Sharp delivers her first address as the new leader of the largest inter-tribal advocacy organization in the U.S.

Sharp, who also serves as president of the Quinault Nation , will present the State of Indian Nations on Monday morning. The annual address helps NCAI present its priorities, highlight successes and outline challenges facing tribes as they seek to hold the U.S. accountable to its trust and treaty obligations.

"Every single tribal nation across this continent and around this world is full of mighty, unstoppable power," Sharp said last October when she became only the third woman in NCAI's history to win election as the organization's president.

Since NCAI's 76th annual convention, which took place in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Sharp has continued to advocate for some of Indian Country's most pressing needs. Just a couple of weeks ago, she helped lead a large tribal delegation at a critical court hearing , where the ability of tribes to protect their most valuable and vulnerable asset through the Indian Child Welfare Act , came under attack.

Fawn Sharp, president of the National Congress of American Indians and president of the Quinault Nation, stands outside of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, Louisiana, following a hearing on the Indian Child Welfare Act on January 22, 2020. Photo by Indianz.Com (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

"The rights that we are advocating were not given to us by anyone. They were not given to us by Congress, they were not given to us by any state," Sharp said in an interview outside the steps of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, Louisiana.

"It exists by virtue of who we are as Indigenous peoples and tribal nations," Sharp said of tribes and their inherent sovereignty.

The days since the hearing have been busy for Sharp. In addition to addressing the needs of her people on the Quinault Nation in Washington state, she helped the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians , an organization she once led as president, wrap up a successful winter meeting in Portland, Oregon.

The travels put Sharp together with another prominent Native woman leader. Rep. Deb Haaland (D-New Mexico), who is one of the first two Native women in Congress also was in Portland to meet with Northwest tribes.

The pair are sharing the spotlight once again, this time in the nation's capital. Following Sharp's address, Haaland will deliver a response from a Congressional perspective, reprising a role she played last year after her historic rise to the halls of power in D.C.

The State of Indian Nations will be live streamed from the Jack Morton Auditorium on the campus of George Washington University. Sharp is due to begin at 10:30am Eastern, with Haaland's response scheduled around 11am Eastern.

Starting on Tuesday, NCAI begins its executive council winter session . The event is being held at the Capital Hilton, not far from the White House.

If you're attending the National Congress of American Indians next week, here are some additional events taking place in the nation's capital. Feel free to suggest more! Photo of Rep. Deb Haaland (D-NM) from 2019 executive council winter session. @NCAI1944 #DC #SOIN2020 #ECWS2020 pic.twitter.com/hThQeP47Tn  indianz.com (@indianz) February 9, 2020

Tuesday, February 11

Flying While Indian

Hosted by Transportation Security Administration-Will focus on traveling with tribal ID, REAL ID & more. @Tsa



22nd Annual NCAI Leadership Awards Banquet

Honorees include Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota! @LtGovFlanagan #DC #SOIN2020 #ECWS2020 pic.twitter.com/TJSWemrm3t  indianz.com (@indianz) February 9, 2020

Tuesday, February 11

Center for Native American Youth Reception

Celebrate the Center for Native American Youths eighth anniversary and the 2020 class of Champions for Change. @Center4Native



Learn more about this year's class:https://t.co/gdR2pBL51e#DC #SOIN2020 #ECWS2020 pic.twitter.com/DThUXqZSwH  indianz.com (@indianz) February 9, 2020

Wednesday, February 12

Operation Lady Justice

The new federal Task Force on Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives is hosting a tribal listening session.



More on the #MMIP #MMIW task force:https://t.co/IpQkvRcT8z#DC #SOIN2020 #ECWS2020 pic.twitter.com/hDYALPJN55  indianz.com (@indianz) February 9, 2020

Wednesday, February 12

Esther Martinez Reception

Celebrate Esther Martinez Native American Languages Programs Reauthorization Act w/National Alliance to Save Native Languages, National Indian Education Association & National Congress of American Indians!https://t.co/1cF4EPJoQ6  indianz.com (@indianz) February 9, 2020

Thursday, February 13

Federal Communications Commission Leadership Session

FCC Chairman and Commissioners will meet with tribal leaders regarding telecommunication needs & new initiatives to increase broadband deployment on tribal lands. Will be held @fcc headquarters in #DC.  indianz.com (@indianz) February 9, 2020

For details (locations,times) check out the National Congress of American Indians 2020 executive council winter session page. Week kicks off with State of Indian Nations from President Fawn Sharp on Monday!https://t.co/tnOBBoaXp5#DC #SOIN2020 #ECWS2020 @PresFawnSharp @NCAI1944 pic.twitter.com/0nL3F7c6ZG  indianz.com (@indianz) February 9, 2020

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It was long-awaited and this year, it happened finally. The first acting Oscar trophy for Brad Pitt has arrived. He won the best supporting actor award for his remarkable performance in Quentin Tarantinos Once Upon a Timein Hollywood.

Twitter

Before he went up to the stage to receive his Oscar from last year's Best Supporting Actress Regina King, Pitt got a tight hug from his co-star Leonardo DiCaprio.

Twitter

Pitt dedicated his awards to his & Angelina Jolie's kids.

This is for my kids, who color everything I do. I adore you, he said. The actor shares six children with ex-wife Angelina Jolie.

He paid a tribute to Tarantino as he said, You are one of a kind.

He also thanked his co-star DiCaprio, "Ill ride on your coattails any day, man. The view is fantastic.

And then, he got a little emotional too. Appearing to tear up, he said, "I'm a bit gobsmacked".



Twitter

"I'm not one to look back but this has made me do so and I think of my folks taking me to the drive-in. Once upon a time in Hollywood... ain't that the truth."

Apart from Brad Pitt, Laura Dern won her first Academy Award for her performance as the fierce divorce lawyer representing Scarlett Johanssons character in Marriage Story.


Boris Johnson

Geoff Pugh - WPA Pool/Getty Images

Boris Johnson is pushing ahead with plans for a bridge between Northern Ireland and Scotland.

The bridge is reportedly set to be constructed across the largest munitions dump in the world.

One retired offshore engineer described the project as being "as feasible as building a bridge to the moon" adding that "no sane... government" would attempt it.

Sources inside Downing Street confirmed to Business Insider that Johnson remains personally committed to the project despite doubts about its viability.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Boris Johnson is deadly serious about building a bridge connecting Scotland with Northern Ireland, and is preparing to give the project the green light.

The prime minister has previously said a bridge connecting the two countries across the North Channel would be a "very good" idea, despite warnings about cost as well as unexploded bombs in the sea dropped after World War Two.

Now Johnson has instructed civil servants to look at how the project can be delivered, and is awaiting an official assessment on whether it is feasible.

A spokesperson for Johnson said on Monday "work is underway" on the project, adding that: "It's an idea that the prime minister has expressed interest in in the past, and as he said at the time: 'watch this space'."

They added that government officials were carrying out a "proper piece of work" on the proposal.

Downing Street sources confirmed to Business Insider that Johnson remains personally committed to the project despite doubts expressed about its viability both inside and outside government.

'As feasible as building a bridge to the moon'

Oresund bridge

NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Officials reportedly believe the bridge could be based on the Oresund Bridge, which connects the Swedish city of Malmo with Amager, a Danish island near the country's capital, Copenhagen.

Officials working on the plans have produced a route from Larne in Northern Ireland to Portpatrick in Scotland.

Story continues

Reports suggest the proposed construction will be part bridge and part tunnel, in order to deal with unexploded bombs in the water. The Beaufort's Dyke, seven miles off the Scottish coastal village of Portpatrick, is the site of millions of tonnes of rockets, metal drums, and radioactive waste, dumped there following World War Two.

The project is currently estimated to cost around A20 billion. However, costs could spiral due to the need for connecting infrastructure on either side of the bridge.

Prime Minister Johnson first suggested the idea of a bridge across the Irish Sea when he was foreign secretary in 2018. He has revived it since entering Downing Street as part of his plans for major infrastructure projects across the UK.

His proposal was, at the time, branded by one expert as a "thoughtless soundbite" that "no sane contractor or responsible government" would sanction.

Writing to The Sunday Times last year, James Duncan, a retired offshore engineer from Edinburgh, said the idea was "about as feasible as building a bridge to the moon."

"Many long bridges have been built, but none across such a wide, deep and stormy stretch of water," he continued.

"For a great part of the 22-mile route the water is more than 1,000 feet deep. It would require about 30 support towers at least 1,400 feet high to carry the road deck across the deepest part and above the shipping channel. In total the bridge would require 54 towers, of heights never achieved anywhere in the world."

Related: This Dad Built a Two-Story Roller Coaster in His Backyard

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By PTI

BEIJING: India's efforts to evacuate its citizens from the coronavirus-hit Hubei province and its capital Wuhan was a logistical nightmare since the entire operation had to be done in a region sealed from all sides, Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri said on Monday.

As the news of the outbreak began emerging in the middle of January, the Indian Embassy stepped up efforts to locate hundreds of Indians, mainly students, residing hundreds of kilometres apart in Hubei province and Wuhan - the epicentre of the virus outbreak, Misri said.

It was a logistical nightmare as data had to be collected about Indians stranded in the virus-hit areas while many left for home for the Chinese New Year holidays, he told PTI here.

India issued its first travel advisory on January 17 which was followed by more stringent measures including cancellation of visas for Chinese and foreigners travelled to China as the virus grew more virulent.

Misri said the embassy had to first locate the Indian citizens in Hubei province, establish contacts with them, receive their consent for a 14-day quarantine, followed by the most difficult part of the operation - to get approvals from China's central, provincial and local governments as the city and province were locked down from January 23.

Ahead of the first Air India flight on February 1, the mission sent two of its diplomats - Deepak Padma Kumar and M Balakrishnan - to Wuhan by road through Changsha city despite travel bans and fears of the virus.

Then a large number of buses were hired, permits procured in areas under lockdown to transport them to the airport which turned out to be a massive exercise.

The airport was closed from January 23 besides all local transportation.

The operations to get permission to operate buses and send them to 40 odd locations to pick up waiting Indians were coordinated by Acquino Vimal, the deputy ambassador, and Priyanka Sohoni, First Secretary (Political) in the mission.

ALSO READ | Coronavirus: 1,818 flights screened in country so far, says Health Minister Harsh Vardhan

In some areas, roads were dug up to prevent people's movement and entire operation to pick up the students on both the days had to be conducted from the control room in the embassy hundreds of miles away, Misri said.

But 10 Indians could not make it to the flight as they were not allowed by the Chinese immigration officials to board the plane because they had high body temperatures.

Air India's B747 made two flights to Wuhan city - the ground zero of the coronavirus epidemic that has killed more than 900 people, infected 40,000 others and spread to 25 countries, including India, the US and the UK.

In the first flight, 324 Indians were evacuated and another 323 Indians and seven Maldivian citizens were flown back in the second flight.

Sri Lanka and Bangladesh also evacuated their citizens through special flights.

Several hundred Pakistani students are held up still in the virus-hit areas as their government has declined to evacuate them ignoring their pleas.

Misri said that about 80 Indians were still in Hubei and the embassy is in touch with them through e-mail, social media and phone calls.

The embassy has received 28,000 emails and receives about 100 calls a day from Indians who were stranded in Wuhan and Hubei province and has been coordinating with the Chinese officials to ensure proper supplies to them.

About chances of their evacuation, Misri said the embassy is exploring all avenues.
It seems more and more these days, governments are hoping no one will be around to ask hard questions.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/2/2020 (701 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Editorial

It seems more and more these days, governments are hoping no one will be around to ask hard questions.

U.S. President Donald Trump set the tone early in his administration, decrying coverage that wasnt favourable to him as "fake news"  a term that anyone familiar with the Nazis use of lugenpresse ("lying press") in the 1930s would find disturbing. Mr. Trumps casting of the news media as "enemies of the people" is reflected in the fact his current press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, is notable more for not speaking to the White House press corps.

The Poynter Report, an online newsletter dedicated to journalisms role in free society, confirmed on Jan. 8 that it had been 303 days since the last "daily" White House press briefing.

Mr. Trump has also sought to exclude journalists, barring the Guardian, the New York Times, Politico, CNN, BuzzFeed, the BBC and the Daily Mail from an off-camera press briefing in 2017, and more recently excluding CNN from an annual pre-State of the Union speech lunch for news anchors.

The U.S. presidents hostility toward media deemed to be unsympathetic may have inspired British Prime Minister Boris Johnson last week to follow suit.

At a scheduled announcement at 10 Downing St., Mr. Johnsons director of communications refused representatives of some media outlets, including the Independent, Huffington Post and the Daily Mirror, access to a government briefing. When other reporters realized certain outlets were going to be excluded, they walked out in solidarity and the announcement was not made.

The Guardian reported that Mr. Johnson has also banned ministers from appearing on certain networks programs, and hired staff with expertise in film production and photography. He has also introduced self-interview sessions in which he reads pre-screened questions and then answers them.

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If that sounds familiar, it should. Here in Canada, Ontario Premier Doug Ford has produced "interviews"  conducted and recorded on video by his staff, and then made to look like news coverage  since he was on the campaign trail.

In Manitoba, we havent yet seen such tactics employed by the government, but there seems to be an increasing scarcity of access to provincial officials, with requests for interviews routinely answered by refusals to comment or prepared statements.

One might argue the media landscape has changed so much there is less need for journalists to report on what officials are doing or saying. After all, anyone can log onto Twitter and see for themselves. Thats another venue, however, in which Mr. Trump has set a low bar with the near-incessant tweeting of his (apparently unedited) thoughts.

But issuing a prepared video, statement or tweet isnt the same as answering a direct question. And since social media can enable such missives to reach thousands or even millions of people without a single fact being checked, we should all be concerned about the quality of information were getting. As the saying popularized by London preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon suggests: "A lie will travel halfway round the world while truth is pulling its boots on."

The British journalists last week showed they would not be cowed by bully tactics from the government. But access to reliable information requires more than that; it also takes a citizenry willing to read and listen critically, assess the sources of the information theyre consuming, and support a robust, responsible news media.

Otherwise, the necessary hard questions wont just be left unanswered  theyll be left unasked.
C hancellor Sajid Javid faces a revolt by London MPs after plans emerged to hit big homes with a mansion tax and target high earners by slashing tax relief on pension savings.

Both ideas for raising billions of pounds from the better-off were floated by Treasury sources at the weekend ahead of the spring Budget.

MPs said they would impact heavily on London, where higher property values and incomes are seen as a sitting duck for the Exchequer to raise money for spending plans championed by the Prime Minister.

The Conservatives opposed an annual property tax on high-value homes when it was proposed by Labour, saying that it would unfairly penalise Londoners who have no choice but to pay through the nose for their housing.

Sajid Javid in the Commons / via REUTERS

Former Westminster council leader Nickie Aiken, now Conservative MP for Cities of London and Westminster, told BBC radio: I was anti the mansion tax and I shall remain anti the mansion tax.

A Tory MP active on the London Group of backbenchers said: Any form of mansion tax would be damaging for London and would be resisted.

They are probably looking at an extra, higher council tax band, however.

Another London Tory MP said a higher council tax band would require a revaluation of all council tax bands and properties, a mammoth exercise that has been ducked for years.

The long-delayed revaluation could be problematic, said the MP.

The issue of tax relief on pensions has also been raised before. This is unlikely because we already have a problem in the NHS with doctors retiring early.

Pension tax relief could be a simpler, but equally controversial, target for the Chancellor than a mansion tax.

At present people are not taxed on income they put aside for their retirement, meaning that higher rate taxpayers get 40 per cent relief on every pound they save and basic rate taxpayers get 20 per cent relief.

Mr Javid could cap the relief at 20 per cent for all taxpayers.

Solihull Conservative MP Julian Knight said the Chancellor should give basic rate taxpayers a bigger incentive to save for retirement rather than simply penalising the better-off.

Tom McPhail, head of policy at investment firm Hargreaves Lansdown, said scrapping high-rate pension tax relief would be an act of fiscal hooliganism.
by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, February 10, 2020

A group led by MIT engineers and Wall Street analysts is speculating about the sale of Tesla to Google and what it would mean for the technology and the two companies.

Trefis, a data analytics and research company known for answering what-if questions, breaks down the numbers into three parts. For starters, it looks at what Tesla and Google would each gain. Then it lays out a scenario in which Teslas value could rise to $1.5 trillion, boosted by a deal with Google.

The analysis takes into account Googles $1 trillion market cap for a combined entity worth more than $2.5 trillion.

Despite the case Trefis tries to make based on Googles software muscle and large pile of cash, as well as a combined multi-trillion-dollar stock valuation or at least $1.5 trillion, Global Equities Research Managing Director Trip Chowdhry says it is a ridiculous scenario for Google to acquire a company like Tesla, which he calls a technology conglomerate.

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Tesla has created technology using neural network processing units and materials such as an exoskeleton to keep drivers safe in the result of a crash, explains Chowdhry, who has covered Tesla as an analyst for years.

Telsa will become the very first company all on its own to be valuated at $2 trillion, he said, so Google buying Tesla doesnt make sense.

This decade is all about technology conglomerates -- meaning companies that have technology in multiple industries and the ability to fuse them to create completely new products that the world has not yet imagined.

Chowdhry said Google is a search company, although its parent Alphabet has other companies to support it. Waymo, Googles self-driving car project, is on life support, he said. Waymo is based on LiDAR technology, which Chowdhry says is colorblind, so it cannot tell if the traffic light is yellow, red, or green.

Google is running Waymo as a lab experiment and thats not going to add any value to Tesla, he said. Tesla is the new Apple.
Fine Gael's Simon Coveney and Fianna Fail's Michael McGrath have been elected on the eighth count in Cork South Central. Mc Grath was elected without reaching the quota.

Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy has been elected in Kildare North on the third count. She initially topped the poll with 9,808 votes with a final tally of 11,008.

Outgoing Fine Gael Minister Regina Doherty has lost her seat in Meath East, while former Labour leader Joan Burton loses seat in Dublin West

Sinn Feins Matt Carthy has been elected in Cavan-Monaghan.

Fine Gael's Higher Education Minister Mary Mitchell O'Connor has lost her seat in Dun Laoghaire.

Ruth Coppinger of People Before Profit has lost her seat in Dublin West.

Willie O'Dea of Fianna Fail has retained his seat in Limerick city after the second count.

Sorcha Clarke has become the first Sinn Fein TD to be elected in either Longford or Westmeath for over 60 years..

Pearse Doherty and Padraig MacLochlainn of Sinn Fein have been elected on the first count in Donegal.

Solidarity's Richard Boyd Barrett has retained his seat in Dun Laoghaire.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and FF leader Micheal Martin are elected on 5th and 6th counts respectively.

People Before Profit TD Brid Smith has kept her seat in Dublin South Central after the second count

[snippet1]977032[/snippet1]

The Tanaiste Simon Coveney and Fianna Fail's finance spokesperson, Michael McGrath, have been elected in Cork South Central.

The constituency has returned the same representatives it did in 2016 - two Fianna Fail, one Fine Gael and one Sinn Fein.

Mr Coveney had to wait just over seven hours after Sinn Fein's Donnchadh O Laoghaire topped the poll to be elected on the eighth count, after he exceeded the 11,429 quota with 12,170 votes.

Because Mr McGrath, with 10,809 votes, had more votes that the other remaining candidate, Green Party Cork city councillor Lorna Bogue, on 9,179, plus the untransferred surplus, he was deemed to be elected, without reaching the quota, taking the fourth and final seat.

Asked about the prospect of coalition government with Sinn Fein, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said he thought some were jumping the gun following comments he made earlier.

I think people are jumping the gun in terms of interpreting what I said today, as I said one doesnt change ones policies and principles overnight, he said.

Im disappointed that Simon Coveney says Fine Gael wont talk to Sinn Fein. Obviously a misguided effort to wrong foot Fianna Fail. But I thought he was better than that. Incompatible policies fair enough. But has he learned nothing from the DUP? Sinn Fein voters lesser voters?  Gerry Adams (@GerryAdamsSF) February 9, 2020

That said, todays a day to let the election happen, let the election unfold, let people enjoy their elections and so on. In the cold light of day, tomorrow and the day after, we will assess where we are, because I am not taking anything for granted because I know that some people are saying we could be anything from 40 to 46.

"I have been in touch with colleagues, there is a lot now riding on transfers and distributions  places like Wexford and Donegal.

I am very conscious our first priority is to assess how we are doing and how well actually do, well know all that tomorrow.

Asked would he take a call from Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald, Mr Martin said: I think Sinn Fein have already made it clear they dont want to talk to Fianna Fail or Fine Gael, I think all their statements are consistent all day long saying the last thing they want in government is Fianna Fail or Fine Gael, so thats their decision.

Sinn Fein's Matt Carthy has topped the poll in Cavan-Monaghan, ahead of Minister for Business Heather Humphreys.

Mr Carthy was elected with 22.6% of the first preference vote. His surplus will be redistributed tomorrow morning, when it is anticipated his running mate, Pauline Tully, will be elected.

Ms Humphreys received 17.74% of the vote, followed by Ms Tully on 14.08% of the vote.

The final two seats will be likely a contest between Brendan Smith (FF), who got 10.19% of the vote, Niamh Smyth (FF) who is on 7.96%, TP OReilly (FG) who is on 7.1%, and Fianna Fail Senator Robbie Gallagher, on 7.01%.

FG and FF leaders elected on fifth and sixth counts; Healy-Rae and Pa Daley returned in Kerry

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has been elected on the fifth count in Dublin West while former Labour leader Joan Burton has lost her seat.

Mary Mitchell-O'Connor is about to lose her seat  the FF team in Dun Laoghaire are fairly confident that Richard Boyd-Barrett's surplus will narrowly favour Cormac Devlin over her. He had a lead of 20 (twenty!) before RBB's surplus of nearly 4000. #ge2020  Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) February 9, 2020

Mr Varadkar's election follows that of Sinn Fein's Paul Donnely, who took the top spot in the constituency and was elected earlier this evening on the first count.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at Phibblestown Community Centre. Picture: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

Fine Gael tonight have ruled out a number of scenarios in forming a government or cooperating with parties in power.

While Mr Varadkar said his party would not work with Sinn Fein and would not be involved in any "forced marriage" with the party, Tanaiste Simon Coveney tonight has also closed the door on alternative options.

Mr Coveney said Fine Gael would not work in a confidence and supply agreement. Such a deal operated with Fianna Fail supporting the Fine Gael-led government for almost the last four years.

But Mr Coveney told RTE he had seen what had been done to Fianna Fail after working in this arrangement and that his party would not be part of such a process.

Both @LeoVaradkar and @MichealMartinTD have been elected while former Tanaiste Joan Burton has lost her seat #iestaff  Daniel McConnell (@McConnellDaniel) February 9, 2020

This now firmly puts pressure back on Fianna Fail to cobble together a government-if it gets the most seats-either with Sinn Fein or with other smaller parties.

Sinn Fein have said they are open to working with all parties.

Meanwhile, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has been elected on the sixth count in his Cork South Central Constituency.

In Kerry, Michael Healy Rae (Ind) and Pa Daley (SF) have been elected on the first count in Kerry. The biggest loser of the count is expected to be Fianna Fail's John Brassil while Danny Healy-Rae looks on course to retain his seat. Counting has been adjourned and resumes tomorrow at 9am.

Fianna Fail leader Michael Martins immediate reaction after retaining his seat in #Cork South Central #iestaff #GE2020 pic.twitter.com/xJf4jDL96A  Eoin English (@EoinBearla) February 9, 2020

Simon Coveney speaks to the media during the General Election count at the Nemo Rangers GAA club in Cork. Pic: PA.

Tanaiste joins Taoiseach in ruling out Fine Gael coalition with Sinn Fein

The Tanaiste Simon Coveney has again ruled out any coalition with Sinn Fein.

Ive said many times that I just dont believe that the policy platform that Sinn Fein are outlining, and the approach and the policies that Sinn Fein and Fine Gael have committed to are compatible, he said.

I dont think that government would work, I think the Taoiseach described it as a marriage that will be forced rather than one that will work.

I think we have responsibility to follow through on the commitments that we made during this campaign and well do that.

Ive always said our priority is to try and form a government that didnt involve Fianna Fail or Sinn Fein but that clearly  the numbers dont look like thats going to be possible.

He added: "I think in the aftermath of this election the likelihood of our confidence and supply type arrangements, is very unlikely. Fine Gael will either play a constructive role in government or we will be a very active party in opposition.

In Wicklow, Fine Gael's Simon Harris is in second place (12%) behind Sinn Feins John Brady who has been elected on the first count after topping the poll in comprehensive style with more than 17,000 votes (24%), well in excess of the 11,000 quota.

Solidarity-People Before Profit look set to have a disappointing election and possibly only return two or three of its five outgoing TDs.

As the tallies predicted, Richard Boyd Barrett topped the poll in the south Dublin constituency of Dun Laoghaire, while Brid Smith retained her seat in Dublin South Central.

Brid Smith PBP elected 2nd count pic.twitter.com/bEmk84Clsg  RTEdublinSTHCENTRAL (@RTEdubSCENTRAL) February 9, 2020

However, Paul Murphy is battling to hold his seat in Dublin South West, Gino Kenny has conceded defeat in Dublin Mid West, while Ruth Coppinger is in the chase for the last seat in Dublin West.

Ms Smith (People Before Profit - Solidarity) retained her seat on the back of a huge swathe of transfers from Sinn Feins Aengus O Snodaigh, who topped the poll on the first count.

Smith received more than half of O Snodaighs 8,356 surplus in transfers, which saw her take the second of the four seats in the race, in the second count.

Joan Collins (Independents4Change) received 1,747 in transfers, putting her on 4,578 votes and in fifth place.

Minister of State Catherine Byrne (Fine Gael) is in third place in the race on 5,192 vote, 179 ahead of Fianna Fails Catherine Ardagh.

Shane Ross rejects idea he has been punished after he loses his seat

Twice a poll topper and the first TD elected in 2016, Shane Ross lost his seat on the fifth count in Dublin Rathdown, the same count that saw Green Party deputy leader Catherine Martin elected.

Ross said he didnt attribute the result to his performance as Minister for Transport, but rather the volatility of the Rathdown electorate.

Its a very volatile constituency. Dublin Rathdown always has been and its always punished its poll toppers and I was a poll topper last time and the time before.

However, he said he did not feel he had been punished by the electorate for entering into Government with Fine Gael.

I dont think Ive been punished at all.

"I think whats happened is that what the constituents have done is said we want to try something else we want a change from Fine Gael and the Independent Alliance and that is absolutely their entitlement and I accept it fully and I wish my successors a great deal of success.

The alliance had been a very responsible if radical part of the Government he said.

My colleagues and I certainly had an effect on the way government operated and were proud of that.

Peter Casey forecasts another election within months

The former Presidential candidate Peter Casey made a brief appearance at the Donegal count centre in Letterkenny.

He said of course he was disappointed to receive only 1.48 of the first preference votes, and blamed bad timing and restrictions from Facebook for his poor performance, but did not run out standing for election again: Its too early to say. I have no doubt that I will resurrect something, it may not be in politics.

Mr Casey, who also ran in Dublin West, said it only cost 500 to get your name on the ballot, and if had brought peoples attention what he described as the mistakes of Leos government then it was worth it.

He congratulated Sinn Fein and said fair play to the party. I think theyve done a wonderful campaign, they just miscalculated how wonderful they were doing.

Here is the moment Leo Varadkar realised he was not elected on the second count in #DublinWest.



He got 118 transfers. Peter Casey got 213.#GE2020 #GeneralElection @JOEdotie pic.twitter.com/W2SAiuYpuu  Rob O'Hanrahan (@RobOHanrahan) February 9, 2020

They should have put up another 30 candidates and they probably would have got another 20 elected, for this reason I think well probably be back to the polls within two or three months, he said.

But he said he was not optimistic a lasting coalition could be formed.

Its hard to see how anyone can go into a coalition because Fianna Fail have said they wont go with Fine Gael, Fine Gael have said they wont go with Fianna Fail, Sinn Fein have said theyll talk to anybody but everybodys said they wont go with Sinn Fein.

Peter Casey in Donegal today. Pic: North West newspix

Its hard to see how anyone could get a coalition of more than 40, 50, 60 people max and thats well short of the 80 you need for a stable government.

Counting is continuing in Donegal, with the results of the first count expected between 8-9pm this evening.

Independent TD Shane Ross has conceded that he will not retain his seat in Dublin-Rathdown.

My own situation is worse than precarious, says @Shane_RossTD #iestaff  Daniel McConnell (@McConnellDaniel) February 9, 2020

Deputy leader of the Green Party, Catherine Martin, is the first person elected there with Fine Gael's Neale Richmond and Josepha Madigan poised to take the final two seats..

Varadkar rules out coalition with Sinn Fein as Martin hints at possible deal

The Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has opened the door to a possible deal with Sinn Fein despite "significant incompatibility" between their policy platforms.

Mr Martin said: "There is significant incompatibility in terms of the policy platforms between ourselves and Sinn Fein. I would just have to put that marker down now."

Micheal Martin TD speaking to the press at the Cork North and Cork South Central Count Centre at Nemo Rangers GAA Club in Cork. Picture: Dan Linehan

However, he said "the country comes first" and he pointed to the fact the Fianna Fail facilitated the formation of a functioning government after the last general election.

"There is an onus and an obligation on all to ensure that such a functioning government is formed after this," he said.

Varadkar not willing to talk with Sinn Fein about govt formation

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he will not be speaking to Sinn Fein with a view to forming a coalition after the election.

Speaking at his count centre in Dublin, he said his party Fine Gael was not compatible with Sinn Fein.

We are willing to talk to other parties about how we could form a government and give this country a government that can spend the next five years dealing with the problems that we have had to tackle for the past few years.

Asked if he will speak to Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald after she had reportedly reached out to other parties, he said: No, not at this stage anyway.

He added: She has not been in touch with me yet, we would talk on occasion. I understand she has said she is seeking to form a left-wing coalition which does not include Fianna Fail or Fine Gael.

I am not sure that is possible on the numbers so it is going to be a number of weeks before we are in a position to form a government.

Mr Varadkar has said he is not disappointed in his own performance in the election, despite a Sinn Fein candidate being elected ahead of him.

Speaking at the count centre, the Taoiseach said: The results are still coming in from around the country and it seems as though we have a three-party system and three parties getting roughly the same number of seats and that is going to make forming a government quite difficult.

We do not know yet if any of the parties have enough seats to form a majority in the Dail. We have to count the votes and see what the lie of the land is tonight and tomorrow. 

Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar as he arrives for the the General Election count at Phibblestown Community Centre in Dublin. Picture: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

In terms of coalition speculation, I have made my position and the partys position clear during the campaign and we won the votes that we won, based on that decision.

It is an increase on my vote in the past three elections and I topped the poll the last time which was a nice experience. I have been elected four times in a row and I am very grateful for today.

Sinn Fein vows to work with like-minded parties after 'election about change'

Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald's poll-topping performance in Dublin Central was confirmed when she was the first candidate elected with 11,223 votes.

Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald celebrates after being elected at the General Election 2020 Count centre in Dublin. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

Ms McDonald was embraced by supporters as the result was announced inside the RDS count centre in Dublin.

Asked if the result marked a revolution in Irish politics, Ms McDonald replied: Yes, you could call it that for sure.

She said she had been in touch with the Greens, Social Democrats and People Before Profit to discuss the prospect of them joining her party in government.

Sinn Fein President @MaryLouMcDonald tops the poll and is elected on the first count in Dublin Central #iestaff #GE2020 pic.twitter.com/RbB9ePuFej  Elaine Loughlin (@Elaine_Loughlin) February 9, 2020

Its been an election about change, she said.

The extraordinary thing is that it seems that the political establishment  and by that I mean Fianna Fail and Fine Gael  are in a state of denial. They are still not listening to what the people have said.

I want us to have a government for the people. I want us to have ideally a government with no Fianna Fail or Fine Gael in it. I have started the contact with other parties to explore over the next days whether that is a possibility.

I also have to say this, that in any event I do not accept the exclusion  or talk of excluding our party  a party that represents almost a quarter of the electorate.

I think that is fundamentally undemocratic.

'Bad day' for Labour

Labour leader Brendan Howlin conceded it was a bad day for his party.

Mr Howlin was facing calls for his resignation from party supporters online even before ballot boxes were open, given the exit poll showed the party's level of support at below 5%.

The party, which has recorded a worse performance than in 2016, when it lost 30 seats, is set to miss out on several of its key target gains, falling victim to the Sinn Fein surge.

I had hoped to make significant advances, that is not happening, but we are in contention in eight or nine constituencies. I am hoping my comrades across the country will win those final seats and until then, we won't what number will be in the next Parliamentary Labour Party. But it has not been a great day for us, he said.Dismissing criticism of his party's campaign, Mr Howlin said the Labour messaging was bang on.

He called on Sinn Fein to step over the threshold and take the reigns of power.

Sinn Fein's Dessie Elllis celebrates his election with party leader Mary Lou McDonald. Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Speaking at the count centre in Wexford, Mr Howlin conceded it has been a bad day for Labour.

Mr Howlin came second with 9,223 and is expected to be elected in the second or third counts. He was behind Sinn Feins Johnny Mythen who was deemed elected in Wexford with almost 19,000 votes, becoming the partys first TD in the county in 100 years.

Mythen, who lost his lost his seat on the local council just nine months ago, captured 18,717 first preference votes or 24.75% of the total. The quota to be deemed elected was 12,513.

Sinn Fein's Paul Donnelly elected ahead of Taoiseach as party gets first four elected TDs

Sinn Fein's Donnchadh O Laoghaire is the first TD to be elected to the 33rd Dail.

O Laoghaire, was deemed elected on the first count a few minutes ago with just over 14,057 votes. The quota was 11,429.

It's almost double his vote in the 2016 general election.

He comes ahead of Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin who got 11,023 votes.

Tanaiste Simon Coveney got 9,327 just ahead of Fianna Fail's Michael McGrath on 9,236 votes.

Sinn Feins Paul Donnelly has been elected in Dublin West on the first count.

It means Leo Varadkar is the first sitting Taoiseach who hasnt topped the poll in his constituency but he will be elected on the second count.

Paul Donnelly. Picture: Collins

Sinn Fein's Eoin O Broin has been elected in the Dublin Mid-West first count.

He managed to get 11,842 votes in the first count there while his party counterpart Johnny Guirke has also been elected in the first count in Meath West with 12,652 votes.

Padraig MacLochlainn, who is expected to be elected in Donegal, has said that Sinn Fein is deadly serious that we want to be in government and is in a very strong position to negotiate.

Counting is continuing in Donegal, but according to the final tally Mr MacLochlainn and his party colleague Pearse Doherty are both expected be elected on the first count.

Mr MacLochlain said that while his preference would not be for Fianna Fail or Fine Gael to be in this next government, we have to look at the numbers.

He was certain, however, that Sinn Fein will not enter government unless the core components of our manifesto can be delivered. We need to deliver the real change that people need.

Donnchadh O Laoghaire at the count centre in Cork today.

That said, he added, with the numbers of TDs that we seem to be electing I think well be in a very strong position to negotiate for a very strong government platform.

Sinn Fein could increase its Dail seat numbers by between 10 and 15, cementing their place as the third large party in Irish politics.

The extent of the surge has led to early calls from within Fianna Fail for them to open discussions with Mary Lou McDonald's party about government formation.

The first count was in Galway East with no one elected and a raft of first counts is expected over the next hour when we may see the first TD elected to the 33rd Dail

Even though Micheal Martin has ruled out any coalition deal with Sinn Fein, Carlow-Kilkenny TD John McGuinness has said all options must be considered.

Incredibly, in constituencies throughout the country where the party suffered major losses in last year's local elections, Sinn Fein candidates are not only topping the poll, some are coming back with up to two quotas.

Mary Lou McDonald speaks to media at the RDS in Dublin this afternoon. Picture: PA

The party is up on the exit poll with most of the tallies across the country done. At least 37 of the 42 Sinn Fein candidates are in serious contention for a seat.

Ms McDonald has said she is already started talking to other parties about trying to form a government without Fine Gael and Fianna Fail.

Arriving at the RDS count centre Sinn Fein President @MaryLouMcDonald says the party have already spoken to @greenparty_ie @SocDems and Solidarity-PBP about forming a Government without @FineGael and @fiannafailparty #iestaff pic.twitter.com/wxMqG7Bioh  Elaine Loughlin (@Elaine_Loughlin) February 9, 2020

She drew massive cheers as she arrived at the RDS this afternoon to be thronged by dozens of journalists and photographers.

Speaking at the RDS, she said she wants to explore whether such a new Government would be possible.

"I also have consistently said that I will talk to and listen to everybody, I think that is what grown-ups do and that is what democracy demands."

She said it was "not sustainable" for either Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar and Fianna Fail Micheal Martin "to say they will not speak to us, representatives of such a sizeable section of the Irish electorate."

She said she was not shocked by the country-wide surge in support and acknowledged that the party should have fielded more candidates.

It is a big statement of change. This is no longer a two party system. People want a different type of Government.

Her party could return to Leinster House with as many as 37 or 38 seats based on the current tallies.

As an illustration of how strong the swing to Sinn Fein is, final tallies show that Sinn Fein is set to take a Dail seat in Roscommon for the first time in 102 years.

In Cork South Central, Sinn Fein's Donnchadh O Laoighaire ahead of three heavy-hitters in Micheal Martin, Simon Coveney and Michael McGrath

Counting staff at Nemo Rangers GAA club in Cork. Pic: PA

In Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein will be home early with the first two seats through Eoin O Broin and Mark Ward, when such a scenario looked impossible just a few days ago.

To illustrate the disruptive nature of the Sinn Fein surge, the final tally in Dublin Bay North put Denise Mitchell on 30% of first preferences, Fine Gael minister Richard Bruton on 16% and Aodhan O Riordain of Labour on 11%. Ms Mitchell was tipped to lose her seat less than two weeks ago.
(@FahadShabbir)

The UN Security Council draft resolution, submitted jointly by Russia and China and urging easing of sanctions imposed on North Korea, is currently at the negotiating table, but some member states are objecting its proposals, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia has said in an interview with Sputnik

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th February, 2020) The UN Security Council draft resolution, submitted jointly by Russia and China and urging easing of sanctions imposed on North Korea, is currently at the negotiating table, but some member states are objecting its proposals, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia has said in an interview with Sputnik.

"Together with China, we prepared the so-called political resolution on North Korea late last year. It is on the negotiating table, but so far, some of our partners do not want to hear about the relaxation of the sanctions regime for North Korea," Nebenzia said.

Nebenzia added that the purpose of the draft is to encourage the sides to move towards each other and to implement the concept of reciprocal "action for action." According to the diplomat, such an approach is the only way to resume the denuclearization process on the Korean Peninsula.

"However, the United States and its allies still believe that the main tool is the policy of maximum pressure on North Korea. We believe that this is unrealistic and will not help us solve the problem," Nebenzia said.

In December, Russia and China submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council, calling for some of the sanctions on Pyongyang to be lifted; for the now-stalled dialogue between the United States and North Korea to resume; and for the return of six-party talks between Russia, North Korea, South Korea, the US, China and Japan.

Negotiations between the US and North Korea broke down after Pyongyang's delegation abruptly left the talks in Sweden in October, saying that the negotiations were a failure, since Washington had come empty-handed.

In recent months, North Korea has been consistently reminding the US that the year-end deadline set by Pyongyang for Washington to offer concessions in the ongoing denuclearization talks is coming soon. Pyongyang has threatened to change course on the denuclearization process unless the White House offers more acceptable terms to the North Korean leadership. From Noth Korea's point of view, the US has not been responding in good faith to leader Kim Long Un's attempts to settle the issue.
Natalie Portman paid tribute to female directors at the 2020 Oscars [Photo: Getty]

The Oscars red carpet serves as a platform for the big screens starriest names to showcase their fashion know-how to the world and Natalie Portman made sure to make a sartorial statement this year.

The actress used the moment to remind the film industry that female directors were wrongly snubbed at the 92nd ceremony in a Dior cape emblazoned with the names of the women who missed out on nominations.

Natalie Portman made a feminist statement with a bespoke Dior cape [Photo: Getty]

Upon close inspection, the sweeping accessory is embroidered with the following monikers: Greta Gerwig (Little Women), Melina Matsoukas (Queen & Slim), Marielle Heller (A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood), Celine Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire), Mati Diop (Atlantics), Lulu Wang (The Farewell) and Lorene Scafaria (Hustlers).

READ MORE: The best-dressed celebrities on the Oscars 2020 red carpet

I wanted to recognise the women who were not recognised for their incredible work this year in my subtle way, Portman told Los Angeles Times reporter, Amy Kaufman, on the red carpet.

Natalie Portman embroidered her Dior cape with all of the female directors who weren't nominated for #Oscars. Check out her explanation here. pic.twitter.com/kyyo2wVMZf  Amy Kaufman (@AmyKinLA) February 10, 2020

Not a single female director was nominated at the 2020 Academy Awards with Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood), Bong Joon Ho (Parasite), Martin Scorsese (The Irishman) and Sam Mendes (1917) up for the coveted gong.

Although its not the first time Portman has spoken out against the gender discrimination prevalent within the industry.

At the 2018 Academy Awards, the 38-year-old was famously tasked with the job of announcing the winner of the best director.

Calling out film critics for failing to recognise women, she quipped: And now, here are the all-male nominees... before revealing the all-male line-up.

Story continues

So far, the Academy Awards has only ever recognised one female director, Kathryn Bigelow, who won the category back in 2010 for The Hurt Locker.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo Style UK:
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.

Pennsylvania State Sen. Andy Dinniman, a longtime Chester County Democrat and one of the most prominent critics of the Mariner East pipeline system, will not seek reelection this year, his office has announced.

Dinniman, 75, revealed his plans to retire shortly after his wife, Margo, underwent surgery.

For nearly 30 years, as your Chester County commissioner and state senator, I have had the privilege of building a close relationship with the people of Chester County," he said in a statement late last week. This was a very tough decision, especially knowing just how many of you have faithfully and tirelessly supported my work over the years. However, as I sit at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center with my wife, Margo, who is now recovering from surgery, we both came to the sudden realization this was not the time to run again.

Dinniman was elected to the State Senate in 2006 and serves as the ranking Democrat on the Education Committee. But hes best known lately for his criticism of Sunocos Mariner East pipelines, which run through his county.

In the legislature, Dinniman has introduced bills to change pipeline safety regulations. He also brought a formal complaint and emergency petition before the state Public Utility Commission, which halted operation and construction of Mariner pipelines in 2018. A Commonwealth Court panel later ruled Dinniman didnt have standing to bring the challenge and allowed pipeline construction to resume.

Its Sunocos own faulty practices that have caused harm to the whole pipeline process," Dinniman said in a 2018 statement. Theyve amassed more than 200 violations in Pennsylvania, putting the whole pipeline industry in such a position.

The FBI is probing how Gov. Tom Wolfs administration issued permits for the Mariner East project. Wolf has denied knowledge of any wrongdoing. The Chester County district attorney is also leading a probe and in December filed criminal charges against pipeline security personnel.

Dinniman joins more than a dozen other state lawmakers who have announced their retirements from the General Assembly in recent months, most notably House Speaker Mike Turzai (R., Allegheny). Dinniman endorsed Don Vymazal, his director of government relations and policy, to succeed him in the heavily Democratic district.

Before he was a state senator, Dinniman served for 15 years as a Chester County commissioner. He founded an emergency housing shelter and created a program that works with local farms to redistribute surplus produce. He also served on the Downingtown Area school board and taught at West Chester University.

Please know that I will continue to work hard for you until the very last day of my term, he said in the statement.

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.
North America's most well-known supervolcano, Yellowstone, is very popular and it last erupted around 640,000 years ago. The caldera of the supervolcano is measured to be around 34 by 45 miles.

However, this is not the continent's largest volcano anymore. A supervolcano which is 30 times larger than Yellowstone was found in the southwestern Utah town of Enterprise. It is said that the newly found supervolcano is significantly older than Yellowstone.

The geological aspects and landscapes of Southern Utah are now being studied due to its Pine Mountain, Veyo Volcano, which is stemming from Wah Wah Springs, a supervolcano.

In addition, it was estimated that the supervolcano Wah Wah Springs' last explosion was a one-week long eruption that happened around 30 million years ago.

According to Ron Smith, a local scientist, people think that Yellowstone is due to explode again because of the supervolcano's frequent activity.

Smith, a former University Professor in California and now living in Sun River, explained during his lecture at Dixie State University on Monday that, "Yellowstone has gotten a lot of publicity because of the severity of a supervolcano and the effect it would have on the earth. We cannot say that Yellowstone is overdue ... it is probably going to blow again but it could well be 500,000 years from now or a week from Tuesday." This contradicts the beliefs of some locals living near Yellowstone.

Meanwhile, the United States Geological Survey said that the probability of another explosion of the supervolcano Yellowstone in the next thousand years is exceedingly low.

Smith added that Wah Wah Springs released 30 times more ash and debris compared to Yellowstone. He also said that compared to more recent volcanic events it was 5,000 times larger than the eruption in 1980 at Mount St. Helen.

Researchers from Brigham Young University discovered about Wah Wah Springs in 2013. Researchers in the university was able to map out Wah Wah Springs because of its lava flows. They also said that it was very difficult for them to locate the Spring because of the soil erosion, however because of the efforts they made they found the ppring on the border of Utah and Nevada near Enterprise.

Eric Christiansen said in a press release that, "Deposits from the eruption are 13,000 feet thick in some areas of Southern Utah, and its remains can be found as far away as Nebraska," in 2013 he also said, "Imagine the devastation - it would have been catastrophic to anything living within hundreds of miles."

In a report from USA Today, Smith discussed during his lecture the risks that come from a volcanic activity like ash, lahar, climate change, and pyroclastic flow. Smith pointed out that ash, which what most people think when a volcano erupts, is not just like smoke coming from a campfire. This smoke contains tiny prices of rocks and minerals which can damage the lungs if inhaled.

Smith added that, "Volcanic ash is not only dangerous to breathe, but it also produces climate change that has a wide-range effect on human habitation of the earth."
Samples and Database are safe

Amsterdam, The Netherlands  10 February 2020

Esperite N.V. (Euronext: ESP, Esperite) has noticed several articles in the news, online channels and information blogs about a hypothetical loss of umbilical cord blood samples during the transport from Belgium, Switzerland to Poland. Esperite has published since September 26th 2019 a CryoSave section on its website which describes the different steps from the transaction with the Polish partner, Myrisoph and CryoSave to the current status after the transportation of the samples.

Esperite confirms that the inventory system, a sophisticated database was up to date and totally functional when transferred. All the samples in inventory were reported and identified.

Esperite was surprised that none of the two companies, PBKM Famicord and Myrisoph CSG-Bio contacted Esperite in order to discuss this matter. Esperite could have helped PBKM Famicord and Myrisoph CSG-Bio to understand better the structure of the database, its logical and secured organisation, the required procedures and the traceability in place for the samples.

Esperite could have helped them to avoid such a chaos in their communication.

The journalists didnt contact Esperite to verify their information.

Esperite feels sorry for the parents which have been worried by this current situation and confirm offering to PBKM Famicord and Myrisoph CSG-Bio all the needed support in case Esperite is invited to do so.

Esperite believes that PBKM Famicord and Myrisoph CSG-Bio, are now in a beauty contest, using this fortunate confusion to obtain from the clients new agreements on additional storage contracts.

To contact Esperite: info@esperitegroup.com .

ESPERITE N.V is listed at Euronext Amsterdam and Euronext Paris,

Attachment
By Olivia Rose

POLICE chief Trevor Botting said the successful detection and arrest of 530 illegal migrants this year is testament to joint forces resolve to safeguard TCIs territorial waters.





The commissioners comments came after 453 illegal Haitian migrants were captured in TCI waters over the past week.





The latest successful interception and apprehension of the migrants was carried out by the Royal TCI Police Forces Marine Branch in collaboration with the Coastal Radar Station.





According to a police statement, on Monday (February 3) at about 8.15am Marine Branch officers with the assistance of the Coastal Radar Station intercepted a 36 foot wooden vessel powered by two outboard engines about six miles south of Providenciales.





"A total of 210 persons were detained and handed over to immigration officials, the statement said.





Photos and videos of the latest capture were shared on social media. It is believed that about three people may have escaped detention during the operation in the vicinity of South Dock.





An additional 20 people destined for Providenciales were intercepted by the US Coastguard 50 miles south of French Cay through collaboration with the Marine Branch on Friday, January 30.





According to the police, these latest captures have brought the total to 530 for the year.





Commissioner of Police Trevor Botting said: "The successful detection and arrest of 530 subjects is testament to the forces resolve to safeguard our territorial waters, despite many challenges.





"I would like to thank ASP Ennis Grant and his Marine Branch team for their hard work.





"We are also grateful for the support from our immigration and DECR partners, the radar station operators as well as the US Coastguard.





"This collective effort makes a positive difference.





Strategic response

In an invited comment on Thursday (February 6), Premier Sharlene Cartwright Robinson outlined several new initiatives being implemented by the Government to reduce illegal migration.





She said: "The Government is currently working to develop a National Security Unit which is expected to launch later this year as well as the establishment of a Border Protection Agency.





She added that the TCI Government and the Bahamas government have agreed on a new partnership to combat illegal migration and are currently developing a memorandum of understanding to formalise that agreement.





"This initiative to allow the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and TCI Joint Task Force to combine efforts to reduce human trafficking and illegal migration in and around our marine territories, she said.





A few weeks ago, the Government launched the first ever National Security Strategy and appointed a new permanent secretary for the newly established National Security Secretariat.





Cartwright Robinson explained that this strategy, along with a team of trained multisector stakeholders, will assist in efforts of identify the root of the issue of illegal migration.





Work has begun

Speaking during the launch of the long awaited National Security Strategy at the Office of the Premier on January 22, Governor Nigel Dakin said work has also begun with the US Coast Guard and the Bahamian Defence Force to significantly strengthen tri-lateral and bi-lateral cooperation.





The governor acknowledged that while there is much work left to be done, a virtual team that pulls together the Maritime Branch, Radar and Immigration Task Force has started to take root.





He disclosed that a significant investigation into people trafficking  led by the police and drawing on contracted UK police officers - has commenced.





Dakin further revealed that significant funding from the Government to upgrade the radar has also been secured.





Last week in an Instagram post following the successful interception of two sloops, the governor said illegal migrants are not buying a passage across dangerous seas but purchasing the removal of any future attempt of emigrating legally.





"We can only hope that the news is now starting to get to Haiti - not through TCIs words but through TCIs actions - that the chances of getting through are reducing to the point where you are not buying a passage across dangerous seas but you are purchasing the removal of any future attempt, in your lifetime, of emigrating legally.





He urged those in the TCI who have connections to Haiti to discourage anyone from falling victim to traffickers.





"It would be helpful if you could reinforce this message because those you see in the photographs have been played by the people traffickers for fools.





"Theyve been mugged for their money, sold into detention and risked their lives in the process.




CHICAGO, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- PurezaWood, the premium engineered wide plank hardwood flooring company, is opening the doors to its new showroom. This stunning space, located in Lincoln Park, offers prospective buyers a place to view samples of the French Oak flooring. Rejecting the traditional model of small samples, PurezaWood showcases large, 12-foot tall displays of French Oak wide plank flooring samples, enabling clients to envision how these floors would look in their homes.

"Our new showroom allows our clients to visualize what it means to have PurezaWood flooring in their homes," said PurezaWood's owner James Pureza. "We enjoy sharing our knowledge of engineered wide plank flooring with others, from homeowners to trade professionals. And, since we are both the manufacturer and the seller, we skip the middleman mark-ups common to the industry."

In order to maintain their high-quality product, PurezaWood uses genuine French Oak for their floors. Sourced directly from French forests, this wood provides greater durability and beauty.

"Our goal is to offer our clients flooring options for every home, lifestyle and personality. Our new showroom will give clients the opportunity to visualize and interact with our floors, feel the finish and view the quality of our product, something a prospective client cannot experience when looking at flooring online," said Pureza.

PurezaWood also offers a color matching process, so if you fall in love with a floor color not currently offered, you can bring in a sample and PurezaWood will be able to match it with their factory's unique color matching technology.

For more information about the PurezaWood showroom, visit http://purezawood.com or call 773.364.6694. You can also make an appointment for a consultation by calling their office or emailing [email protected].

Media Contact:

James Pureza

773.364.6694

https://purezawood.com

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Appointment

10 February 2020

Guido Kerpel, COO of New Castle Hotels & Resorts, a leading hotel owner, operator and developer, today announced that John Wilson has been promoted to vice president hotel performance. In his new role, Wilson will assume responsibility for the operational performance of the company's seven Canadian hotels and resorts as well as centralized accounting and special projects. Wilson previously was the general manager of the Westin Nova Scotian and served as regional controller.

Wilson joined New Castle in 1996 to help bring the shuttered Nova Scotian Hotel back to life as the first Westin-franchised hotel in the world. Most recently he oversaw a multi-year, $16 million renovation of the hotel including guest rooms, public spaces, a new lobby bar-restaurant and major upgrades to mechanical and life safety systems. When complete, these improvements will increase F&B revenue while significantly reducing energy consumption and cost.

A native of New Brunswick and graduate of St. Mary's University in Halifax, Wilson began his hospitality career as a night auditor with Centennial Hotels. Over 24 years with New Castle he earned multiple promotions and the company's General Manager of the Year Award in 2017.
EAST ST. LOUIS  For nearly 68 years, the building that occupies 2931 State Street in East St. Louis has been a part of the citys landscape.

Hundreds drive past it each day, many not giving a second thought to the work done inside by the 1844th Transportation Company which calls the armory home, transports troops and cargo whenever called upon.

The unit is comprised of men and women not only from the Metro East, but others who travel across the state to be part of this organization.

Our soldiers come from a wide range of cultures, races, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds, said Capt. Theodore J. Tebbe, Commander, 1844th Transportation Company. Outside of their military career, these soldiers are teachers, counselors, carpenters, truck drivers, law enforcement, and mechanics, just to name a few.

The soldiers of the 1844th Transportation Company, nicknamed the Road Warriors, understand how to work as a team and accomplish extraordinary feats, according to Tebbe.

The unit is filled with motivated, highly trained soldiers who are willing to serve their community with little to no notice, Tebbe said. In this past year, the Road Warriors responded to a statewide activation by the state of Illinois and helped civilian agencies conduct flood relief operations along the Mississippi River.

The 1844thTransportation Companys 2nd Lt. Jamie Gunning was responsible for the soldiers activated during flood operations. She oversaw five different teams covering a 250 mile range from Quincy to East Cape Girardeau.

Our primary focus was levy patrol and monitoring and transporting supplies throughout the state to affected areas, Gunning said. We ran support operations out of East St. Louis, Shiloh, Scott Air Force Base, before migrating to Murphysboro.

The activation put the units training and readiness to the test, and they excelled, said Gunning. Collectively, the 45 state-activated Road Warriors logged more than 50,000 miles on their trucks and filled 300,000 sandbags for water retaining walls during the month-long activation.

The 1844th worked alongside the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, county emergency management agencies, the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Coast Guard, according to Tebbe.

Shortly after completing the State Active Duty mission, eight 1844th Transportation Company Soldiers traveled to South Korea to support the 2-130 Infantry Battalion from Marion, Illinois, in conducting a joint exercise with the Republic of Koreas Army. They traveled throughout Seoul and to its north while transporting the infantry soldiers alongside South Korean forces. The drivers conducted realistic drivers training, base and convoy defense, and medical training.

After those soldiers arrived home, 62 soldiers of the 1844th set to participate in Rising Thunder, a joint training exercise between the U.S. Army and the Japan Ground Self Defense Force at the Yakima Training Center, Yakima, Washington. They spent two weeks supporting the 2-130 Infantry Battalion alongside Japanese forces. The soldiers participated in unit-level training that reflected real-world scenarios involving improvised explosive devices, medical evacuations, vehicle recoveries, and reaction to small arms fire in mountainous terrain.

I am incredibly proud of what our Soldiers were able to accomplish this past year. Their preparation and work ethic are impeccable, said Tebbe. We are fortunate to have such quality soldiers and leaders who are willing to make the necessary sacrifices, which are inherent to our organization. I hope that we continue attracting quality individuals from the Metro East and southern Illinois with the drive and discipline to succeed and continue serving our community and nation.

The 1844th Transportation Company is always seeking prospective soldiers. The Army National Guard provides many benefits which include education, health, dental, retirement, and life insurance. Currently, the 1844th Transportation Company has more than 40 soldiers who have used or are using their educational benefits, and even more who have used their military experience to secure jobs and advance within their civilian career field.

For more details, contact Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Cerminn at 618-791-9085 or matthew.j.cerminn.mil@mail.mil
Photo credit: AFP Contributor - Getty Images

From Popular Mechanics

An Airbus commercial was nearly shot down by the air defenders of its own country, Syria.

Syrian forces shot anti-aircraft guns and missiles at the airliner and still missed.

The airliner made an emergency landing at a nearby Russian base, and Russia promptly blamed Israel.

A Syrian airliner with 172 people on board nearly became the latest commercial jetliner shot down by ground fire. The airliner, on approach to Damascus International Airport, was engaged by Syrian military forces and forced to land at a nearby Russian military base. Russia blamed Israel for the incident, but Moscows version of events did not really hold up.

The near-tragedy took place late last week and involved a Cham Wings Airbus A320 commercial jetliner. The airliner was flying between Najaf, Iraq, and Damascus, Syria, when the incident took place. According to The New York Times, Syrian air defense forces directed anti-aircraft gun and missile fire against the Airbus, failing to hit the aircraft. The aircraft diverted to Khmeimim Air Base, Russias main military base in the country.

The near-shootdown is yet another example of civilian aircraft caught in the crosshairs in conflict zones. The incident comes just one month after a civilian airliner, bound for Canada, was shot down by Iranian air defense forces as it departed Tehran. In 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down by Russian backed separatists over Ukraine, killing all 298 people onboard. In 1988, the U.S. Navy guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655, killing 290 people.

The incident isnt the first time Syrian air defense forces bungled their mission. In September 2018, Syrian forces shot down a Russian military plane, killing all 15. Russia has been a key Syrian ally in the country's decade-long civil war, providing armaments and support to the Assad regime.

Russias Ministry of Defense charged that Israel was actually at fault, claiming that four Israeli F-16 fighter jets were using civilian aircraft as cover while conducting air strikes. This is not the first time Russia has made such an accusationMoscow blamed the 2018 shoot down also on Israel. Israel has flown hundreds of air strikes against targets in Syria, but an Israeli expert quoted by the Times states Israel almost certainly warns Russia of impending strikes through official channels. Without the warnings Russian forces might accidentally engage Israeli forces, and vice-versa.

Story continues

The real problem at hand doesnt involve Israel or Russia. The common denominator in both incidents is Syrias incompetent air defense force. Underlining their ineptitude in this case, Syrias gunners attacked a large, easy to hit civilian airlinerand missed. In this case its actually a good thing the Syrian military was as incompetent as it was, but the next airliner may not be so lucky.

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The Massachusetts Department of Correction has urged the denial of injunctive relief to three inmates at a Shirley prison, calling their complaints of not being allowed to contact their attorneys and access legal materials after a lockdown of the facility moot" as the services have been resumed.

At least 40 inmates at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center have alleged they were assaulted in unprovoked attacks by a tactical team at the facility as retaliation for prisoners assaulting correction officers in early January. The dozens of inmates who were allegedly attacked said they were not involved in the assault on the officers.

Prisoners Robert Silva-Prentice, Carl Larocque and Tamik Kirkland filed an emergency motion on Jan. 31 that sought prison staff to let them possess legal paperwork in their cells, provide sufficient time to make attorney phone calls and allow contact visits with their lawyers, according to documents filed by DOC in Suffolk Superior Court. The agency said the services were resumed as early as reasonably possible, though, and that granting the injunction would cause irreparable harm to the DOC.

Due to the nature of DOCs sole maximum security facility, every day presents a possible changing situation, the documents said. No one at DOC wants to limit an inmates access to his attorney or to the courts, even temporarily, but the safety of the inmates, staff, and visitors must always be paramount.

The three prisoners, along with the Committee for Public Counsel Services and the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, filed the motion. The civil action named Secretary of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security Thomas Turco, Commissioner of Correction Carol Mici and Souza-Baranowski Superintendent Steven Kenneway as defendants.

The DOC said attorney visits were suspended for seven days starting Jan. 10 after staff locked down the prison following the attack on the correctional officers. Contact was restricted again Jan. 21 for the day as prisoners were moved throughout the facility due to updated housing risk assessments." The three inmates, as well as all prisoners at the maximum-security facility, have been allowed to meet with their lawyers in person since Jan. 22, the court filings said.

Inmates property, including legal materials, were removed by a tactical team starting Jan. 21 during a search for drugs and weapons but were returned later that month, according to DOCs court documents. The inmate telephone system was also turned off for two weeks beginning Jan. 10.

Four correction officers were injured in the Jan. 10 attack by prisoners who, sources told MassLive, were members of the Latin Kings gang. The facility was then placed on lockdown, and during that time, officials received information that inmates were planning to murder, rape, assault or take hostage DOC staff, according to the agencys court filings.

Twenty-three inmates were identified as combatants," the documents said. To prevent future attacks on DOC staff, several prisoners were transferred to other facilities, the agency said. Inmates were also screened to determine appropriate housing placements, and those with serious disciplinary infractions were moved to seven blocks on the north side of the facility, while prisoners without infraction were housed on the south side.

North side inmates are presently allowed out of their cells a total of two hours and fifteen minutes a day, the agencys court filings said. Inmates time out of the cell are rotated on a 31-day schedule, with different time periods each day, to ensure that each inmate has approximately the same amount of access to the telephones to call their lawyers, family, etc. throughout the month."

Prisoners were never prevented from sending and receiving email or from going to scheduled court hearings according to the agency. In fact, no specific allegations of harm are raised by any of the plaintiffs, the court filings said.

The inmates lawsuit against DOC said that since Jan. 27, north side inmates have not been permitted contact visits with their attorneys.

DOCs document did not address the prisoners assault allegations against the tactical team.

Silva-Prentice, one of the prisoners suing the agency, said around a dozen correction officers entered his cell, beat him and took his legal paperwork, according to his complaint. Dwayne Moore, another inmate, said officers also assaulted him and confiscated his paperwork.

Dozens of prisoners have told lawmakers and inmates rights advocates that they have been tased, punched and even bitten by dogs, according to Victoria Kelleher, one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit. Elizabeth Matos, executive director of the Prisoners Legal Services of Massachusetts, said the alleged unprovoked attacks were a result of the Jan. 10 assault on the correction officers. Several prisoners have tried to commit suicide, she said.
A file photo of a man wearing blue scrubs. A study published by UCSan Diego researchers on Feb. 3, 2020, shows nurses are at a higher risk of suicide than the general population in the United States. (Jonathan Borba/ Pexels)

University of California Program Seeks to Prevent Nurse Suicides

Nurses are at a higher risk than the general population for suicide, according to a nationwide study published Feb. 3.

And University of CaliforniaSan Diego researchers, who conducted the longitudinal study, said a pilot program at the university to help nurses at risk has proven successful and is ready to roll out nationally.

Nurses are on the highest of the burnout scale, said Rachael Accardi, a counselor with the universitys Healer Education Assessment and Referral (HEAR) suicide prevention program. She recalled the story of a male nurse who called her while he was on the verge of shooting himself.

He didnt have any support. He was going through a divorce, she said. The demands of his high-pressure job made it more difficult to cope.

Nurses are exposed to the carnage of fatal accidents, stabbings, and shootings, and they establish relationships with patients who often die. They experience more loss and grief than most people and, as a result, are at an even greater risk of depression, Accardi said.

Nursing shortages, especially in California, have only added to workplace woes. Forty percent of nurses have burnout levels exceeding the norms for health care workers, according to a HEAR program lecture series. Job dissatisfaction among nurses is four times greater than the average for all U.S. workers, and one in five hospital nurses report they intend to leave their jobs within a year.

He suffered from major depression, among other things, Accardi said of the male nurse who called her. My job was to make sure that he felt heard and he felt seen while giving him a few techniques to regulate himself, so that he didnt think suicide was the only option.

How HEAR Helps

HEAR has helped about 500 health workers since its inception in 2009. In 2016, it began screening nurses, trying to catch problems early.

Accardi feels the stigma around depression is lifting as a result.

The number of nurses who continue to meet with us in the HEAR program increases every year. So, at least in my opinion, thats an indication stigma isnt holding them back as much.

HEAR counselors use grounding techniques and mind exercises to help the nurses focus on whats in front of them, rather than dwelling on painful thoughts that could drag them into a downward spiral.

The program also connects the nurses with psychiatrists for continuing therapy.

Our promise is that well bridge that gap, even if there is a waiting list to get in with a therapist, Accardi said. Well see you as many times as it takes to get you one.

Had that male nurse not called HEAR, Accardi said, Im not sure what would have happened.

To watch him on the completely different side of it now is really remarkable, she said.

Dr. Judy Davidson, senior author of the recent UCSan Diego study, said in a statement: 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.

Opioids and Firearms

Female nurses have been at greater risk since 2005 and males since 2011, Davidson said. Unexpectedly, the data does not reflect a rise in suicide, but rather that nurse suicide has been unaddressed for years.

The study, published in the journal Worldviews on Evidence Based-Nursing, found that female nurse suicide rates from 2005 to 2016 were 10 per 100,000, higher than the rate among all U.S. females of 7 per 100,000. The suicide rate among male nurses was 33 per 100,000 for the same period, compared to a rate of 27 per 100,000 among the general male population.

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, co-author Dr. Sidney Zisook said in the release. The use of firearms was most common in male nurses, and rising in female nurses. Given these results, suicide prevention programs are needed.

While overall mortality rates are decreasing in the United States, the suicide rate of 13 per 100,000 people is rising, according to the study.

Warning Signs

Accardi said typical warning signs that someone may be suicidal are mood changes, increased anxiety, depression, impulsive behavior, anger, or even rage. Other red flags include someone giving away their belongings or talking about what it would be like if they didnt exist.

You can see it. Their personality changes, Accardi said. Their whole lives change, their outlook on life becomes kind of meaningless.

As far as she knows, nobody who has participated in the HEAR Program since screenings began has died by suicide, because were so proactive, were catching it earlier.
Beijing: The coronavirus death toll in China has climbed above 1000, as the World Health Organisation cautioned that the spread of cases outside of China could be "the spark that becomes a bigger fire".

Fundraising: Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organisation. Credit:Keystone/AP

Hubei province, the epicentre out the outbreak, reported 103 deaths on Monday - the most in any single day - after 91 deaths on Sunday. But the 2097 new cases was down from the previous day, when there were 2618.

It is not the first time new cases have fallen. Hubei reported 2841 cases on February 7 and 2147 the next day.

There are now more than 42,000 confirmed cases in China as well as 319 cases in 24 other countries, including one death, according to WHO and Chinese health officials.
by Emrys Westacott

In unity is strength! This is one of the foundational maxims repeated by progressive forces everywhere. As history has often demonstrated, though, unity is easier to affirm than to achieve. And the consequences of failing to achieve it can be dire.

Germany 1932

The direst of all dire examples of progressive disunity helping to bring about a horrendous outcome was that which allowed Hitler to attain power in Germany in 1933. Here are the results of the November 1932 general election:

Nazi Party 33.1%

Social Democrat Party 20.4%

Communist Party 16.9%

Catholic Centre Party 12.4%

German National Peoples Party 8.3%

Bavarian Peoples party 3%

The Social Democrats and Communists combined received more votes than Hitlers Nazis. But in the early 1930s, even though the threat posed by the Nazis was becoming increasingly dangerous and apparent, those opposed to them could not form a united front. The Social Democrat leadership viewed communists and fascists as essentially the same, and they chose to support the right-wing Hindenburg government as a lesser evil to (and as a bulwark against) Hitler. The communists labelled the Social Democrats social fascists and also rejected the idea of collaboration against the Nazis. In January 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor. Less than eight weeks later, Germany was a dictatorship. Many of those who couldnt work together to oppose Hitler would soon find themselves suffering and dying together in Nazi concentration camps. Twelve years later, more than seventy million people lay dead, victims of World War II, and much of Europe lay in ruins.

Florida 200

A more recent example of disunity opening the way to disastrous consequences was the US presidential election in 2000. Democrat Al Gore won the popular vote, receiving over half a million more votes nationwide than Republican George W. Bush. But Bush eventually secured victory in the electoral college when the US Supreme Court halted a recount ordered by the Florida Supreme Court, leaving Bush the winner in Florida by 537 votes and hence also in the Electoral College.

Ralph Nader ran that year as the Green Party candidate for president, and in Florida received 97,488 votes. Had Gore received just one percent more of those votes than Bush, he would have become president. Many have blamed Nader for being a spoiler who helped Bush get elected. Nader and his defenders typically make two arguments:

Gore and Bush were as bad as each other. Nader described them as Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Against those who argued that Gore was the lesser of two evils, he said: If they keep settling for the lesser of two evils, at the end of the day theres still evil. Nader didnt cause Gore to lose Florida, or the election. There were many other factors that were responsible, from Bill Clintons philandering (which tarnished his presidency and, by association, Gore) to Gores own weaknesses as a candidate, which resulted in him losing even his home state of Tennessee.

How good are these arguments? Lets consider them in turn.

Without question, there is plenty for progressives to disagree with and be dissatisfied about when considering the political philosophy and policy record of centrist Democrats like Al Gore. Naders criticism of the Democratic leadership for failing to seriously oppose the dominant influence over politics wielded by corporate interests is thoroughly justified. But his view that it would make no difference whether Bush or Gore ended up in the White House is absurd.

Try telling that it made no difference to all those adversely affected by the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq ordered by George W. Bush under the influence of Dick Cheney and co. Exactly how many people died as a result of this illegal act of war is disputed, but even the most conservative estimate put it at over 100,000. In all probability it is much higher. In addition, one should also take into account all the people seriously injured, the grief experienced by the family and friends of those killed, and the long-term regional turmoil that the invasion precipitated or exacerbated, including civil war in Syria, and the displacement of millions who were rendered homeless and impoverished. Al Gore may have his faults. But its a reasonable assumption that he would not have responded to 9/11 by invading Iraq.

Or, to take just one other legacy of the Bush presidency, consider his Supreme Court nominations: John Roberts and Samuel Alito. Nader laments the influence of money in politics. But Roberts and Alito have consistently opposed campaign finance reform. For instance, they helped to provide the 5-4 majority opinion in the Citizens United case that opened the floodgates to unlimited spending by corporations on elections, a ruling which Nader said shreds the fabric of our already weakened democracy by allowing corporations to more completely dominate our corrupted electoral process. Its reasonable to assume that had Gore been president he would not have nominated such ideologically committed conservatives to the Supreme Court.

While campaigning in 2000, Nader indicated several times that he thought it would be better if Bush became president. And he campaigned accordingly. In the last stages of the campaign, he didnt focus on states like New York or California where he could hope to increase his vote without risking Bush a victory. Instead, he campaigned furiously in swing states like Florida.

Nader said that a Bush victory would be like a cold shower for four years that would help the Democratic Party.[1] But this seems to overlook the rather obvious fact that while the cold shower is going onand it lasted eight years, not fourall sorts of harm, much of it very long-term, was done to causes that Nader has championed throughout his life, including consumer protection; environmentalism; and the need for government regulation to curb corporate power.

What about the second argument cited above? It is, of course, perfectly true that there were many causal factors helping to determine the outcome of the election in Florida. But this is true of any event. My car ends up in a ditch. What was the cause? The icy road? The low quality tires? The vehicle design which makes for poor handling and long stopping distances? The deer that ran unexpectedly into the road? The fact that I was driving fast? The fact that I was driving drunk? Answer: all of the above.

Some of the causes cited are environmental conditions; some are triggering events; some are matters for which I may be held responsible. Its perfectly true that if the road hadnt been icy I wouldnt have skidded into the ditch. But its also true that I wouldnt have crashed if I hadnt been driving so fast. How would you respond if I said that the accident was caused by the ice, not by my speed. You would surely, and very reasonably, say that I was trying to evade responsibility. I was aware of the environmental conditions and I should have driven accordingly. Similarly, Nader was fully aware of the electoral situation (the environmental conditions). Claiming that he was not responsible for Bushs victory even though he actively campaigned as if he desired this outcome is analogous to me saying that my speed and my drinking had nothing to do with my crashing.

The election of Trump in 2016

Disunity among progressive forces has also been seen as a crucial factor in bring about the election of Donald Trump in 2016. Although Hilary Clinton received almost three million more votes than Trump nationwide, Trump won in the electoral college. This time Jill Stein was the presidential candidate of the Green Party. Three states in particular were very closely fought and proved decisive.

Pennsylvania: Trump beat Clinton by 44,296. (Green Party: 49,941)

Michigan: Trump beat Clinton by 10,704. (Green Party: 51,463)

Wisconsin: Trump beat Clinton by 22,748. (Green Party: 31,072)

It would be a misrepresentation, I think, to say that Jill Stein was just as responsible for Trumps victory as Nader was for Bushs. Of those who voted Green in Pennsylvania, even if none of them switched their allegiance to Trump, over eighty-nine percent would have had to vote for Clinton for her to win the state. Although one would expect Green voters to view Trump with extreme disfavour, it is likely that many of them take Naders attitude toward the two main parties and vote Green as a way of registering a protest against politics as usual. Nevertheless, one cannot help wondering what Green voters think when they read of Trump withdrawing from the Paris Agreement on climate change, of his appointing Andrew Wheeler, a former energy lobbyist, as head of the EPA, or of his rolling back over ninety federal environmental regulations. A joint statement by several environmentalist groups issued recently declared that Donald Trump has been the worst president for our environment in history.[2] So the question remains: Why would someone inclined to vote Green not think it is worth trying to avoid this outcome?

It has also been argued that Bernie Sanders bears some responsibility for Clintons defeat. Clinton herself recently complained that Sanders should have stopped campaigning for the Democratic nomination sooner than he did, once it became clear that he couldnt win, and that although Sanders eventually endorsed her, some of his supporters continued to attack her and to urge people not to vote for her right up to election day.[3]

It is very difficult to determine with any precision or certainty counterfactual claims such as, If only Sanders had done X, Clinton would have won. (This caveat about counterfactuals obviously applies also to what was said above about the effect of Jill Stein on the 2016 election.) Individuals vote the way they do for many different reasons. It certainly strikes me as strange that more than ten percent of Democrats who voted for the socialist Sanders in the primaries eventually voted for Trump. But the thinking behind voting behaviour is often opaque. Its a mistake to assume that every registered Democrat is somewhat liberal, or that every Sanders supporter is somewhat left-wing.[4] Its also possible that Sanders may have helped energize some Democratic voters and campaigners, thereby helping Clinton.

November 2020

Will a lack of unity among those opposed to Trump lead to him being reelected in 2020? I certainly hope not. At the same time, its hard not to grow anxious as the contest to determine the Democratic candidate heats up. On the whole, so far, the candidates have refrained from slinging too much mud at each other. What so often happens, though, is that as those in the lead get closer to the prize, and as those falling behind grow desperate, the mud thats slung starts being the kind that sticks, giving ammunition to the enemy. The spectacle of disunity itself can also turn voters off.

America in 2020 is not Germany in 1932. But the total subservience of the Republican party to Trump, whose autocratic outlook and naked cynicism are so apparent, has many serious students of political history worried that the US could be about to lurch irreversibly towards author tarianism. Given how high the stakes are, everyone opposed to Trump and what he stands for should obviously make defeating him in November an absolute priority. This should surely outweigh concerns about ideological purity or any desire to register an independent protest.

When a ship is in danger of sinking, its all hands to the pumps. This ought to be the attitude of anyone who recognizes the danger posed by Trump and the current Republican party. Any other attitude is irresponsible. In unity is strength is one good maxim to keep in mind. So, too, is another piece of traditional wisdom: the enemy of the good is the perfect.

[1] Transcript: Ralph Nader on Meet the Press. May 7, 2000.

[2] https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-worst-president-environment-2645034831.html

[3] https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/480990-clinton-sanders-and-supporters-did-not-do-enough-to-unify-party-in-2016

[4] See Robert Wheel, Did Bernie Sanders Cost Hilary Clinton the Presidency? for a lucid discussion of how complicated such questions are.
Reuters

Amazon.com Inc has pulled out of this months Mobile World Congress because of the coronavirus outbreak, in another blow to one of the telecom industrys biggest gatherings which attracts over 100,000 visitors to Barcelona.

Due to the outbreak and continued concerns about the new coronavirus, Amazon will withdraw from exhibiting and participating in Mobile World Congress 2020, the company said in a statement on Sunday.

Amazon had planned a significant presence through its cloud computing arm AWS, which was due to host a full-day conference track on the first day of the event.

(Also read: Coronavirus outbreak FAQ: Face masks, safe meat, tips to stay safe from the deadly airborne infection)

The online retailer is the fourth company to pull out of the annual gathering this week, following South Koreas LG Electronics, Swedish equipment maker Ericsson and US chipmaker Nvidia.

The 24-27 February event will go ahead as planned, the GSMA telecoms industry association, which runs the Congress, confirmed in a statement on Sunday before Amazon said it was pulling out, adding that they would tighten health precautions to guard against the coronavirus outbreak.

No visitors will be allowed to attend from Chinas Hubei province, where the coronavirus outbreak started, while visitors from China must prove they have been outside the country for two weeks prior to the event, GSMA said.

Some 5,000-6,000 visitors typically come from China to the worlds premier telecoms industry gathering, where companies spend millions on stands and hospitality to fill their order books for the year ahead.

Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE have said they will attend, ordering China-based staff to self-isolate ahead of the event to ensure they are free of the illness, and drafting in European staff to cover for those stranded.

China raised the death toll from the outbreak to 811 on Sunday, passing the number killed globally by the SARS epidemic, while total confirmed cases of the illness reached 37,198.

The virus has spread to at least 27 countries and territories, according to a Reuters count based on official reports, infecting more than 330 people outside China. Two deaths have been reported outside mainland China  both of Chinese nationals.

More then two dozen large trade fairs and industry conferences in China and overseas have been postponed or hit by travel curbs and concerns about the spread of the virus, potentially disrupting billions of dollars worth of deals.
Desert locusts have entered Uganda after destroying crops in Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia, confirmed a government minister on February 10. The Prime Minister of Uganda has called for an emergency meeting to address the pest invasion which could heavily affect the food supplies in the country.

Earlier this month, Somalia declared a state of emergency due to the locust invasion and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation described the situation as worst in the last 25 years. FAO has warned that the rising numbers of Desert Locusts present an extremely alarming and unprecedented threat to food security and livelihoods in the Horn of Africa.

FAO said that the situation could worsen with new breeding that will produce more locust infestations in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. "Locust swarms have started laying eggs and another generation of breeding will increase locust numbers. Urgent efforts must be made to stop them from increasing to protect the livelihoods of farmers and livestock holders," Keith Cressman, Senior Locust Forecasting Officer at FAO, said in a statement.

Read: Declare Locust Attack A National Calamity: Rajasthan Minister To PM Modi

$70 million required

The UN agency had said that it requires $70 million, of which they had mobilised $15.5 million till January 30, to support rapid control operations and measures to protect livelihoods and prevent deterioration of the food security situation. FAO Director-General QU Dongyu had warned that the locust upsurge threatens to provoke a humanitarian crisis. QU appealed for urgent funding to tackle the outbreak in order to protect livelihoods and food security and said that the needs will rise if the outbreak spreads to South Sudan and Uganda.

Read: Swarms Of Locusts Spotted In Punjab Villages, Threat Neutralised

The Africa Solidarity Trust Fund (ASTF) has donated $1 million to the FAO to combat one of the most dangerous migratory pests. The ASTF arrived at the decision during a steering committee meeting at FAO headquarters in Rome on February 5. We have a window of opportunity before the next planting season. We must act now. Flexible funding, like that of the ASTF, helps us move fast," said Maria Helena Semedo, FAO's Deputy Director-General for Climate and Natural Resources, in a statement.

Read: Spray Planes Combat The Huge Locust Outbreak In East Africa

Read: Pakistan Declares National Emergency To Battle Locusts

(With agency inputs)
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He was once the world's most feared assassin - a ruthless killing machine known as 'Popeye' who massacred thousands of people for infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar.

But while few Colombians will shed a tear for Jhon Jairo Velasquez, who died in custody last Thursday from cancer, ex-cop Carlos Palau can merely shake his head at the news.

'My dream was to watch someone put a bullet in the back of his head,' admits Palau, a former national police commander in Medellin, the violence-plagued city that Escobar and his vile sidekick turned into their lawless stronghold.

'For a long time I wanted to do it myself to avenge my dead friends. But that's not me: I was a cop, a family man, not a criminal like him.'

Referring to 57-year-old Velasquez as Popeye, his innocuous-sounding gangland nickname, Palau tells DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview: 'Popeye was a human being, there's no doubt he suffered a lot from the cancer.

'I didn't celebrate when I heard the news but I certainly didn't feel any sympathy.

'I felt nothing, only sadness for the victims. Because there are still a lot of questions about his crimes that will never be answered.'

Druglord Pablo Escobar's hitman Jhon Jairo Velasquez, known as 'Popeye', died in custody Thursday of cancer

Carlos Palau, former national police commander in Medellin who worked for the bloque de Busqueda (Search Bloc), tells DailyMail.com, 'I didn't celebrate when I heard the news but I certainly didn't feel any sympathy'

Palau spent years hunting Velasquez in the 1990s (pictured) and witnessed dozens of his friends and colleagues get slaughtered by Velasquez' orchestrated hits

As a former member of the elite police unit known as the bloque de Busqueda (Search Bloc), Palau and his colleagues had the hellish task of bringing down the Medellin Cartel.

He lost countless friends at the hands of Escobar's swaggering thugs, who murdered officers indiscriminately in the streets or kidnapped and tortured them in dingy basements before dissolving their corpses in acid.

The King of Cocaine's reign ended in 1993 when he was cornered on a rooftop and gunned down by the Search Bloc.

But Velasquez admitted to DailyMail.com in a 2017 interview to personally killing 300 people and is accused of orchestrating 3,000 'hits' during his time as Escobar's chief sicario (assassin). He surrendered to authorities before Palau and his men could take him out.

To their disgust, Velasquez was offered an extraordinary plea deal in which he was charged with only one slaying, the 1989 assassination of presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galan, in return for ratting on his cartel henchmen.

He was jailed for just seven years, although the sentence was ultimately increased to 23 years and three months when the government bowed to public outrage.

Released in 2014, Velasquez soon began to trade off his infamy, bragging about his cartel exploits, berating 'corrupt' politicians and writing a memoir which was later turned into a Netflix drama.

He amassed more than 1.2 million YouTube subscribers but was back behind bars by 2017 when he violated his parole by partying with a known drug trafficker.

A year later he was hit with an extortion charge. Velasquez was awaiting trial last December when he was transferred to a hospital to be treated for cancer of the esophagus.

'Popeye' Velasquez (right) killed more than 300 people and ordered the death of 3,000 to enforce Pablo Escobar's (left) reign of terror

Of the 152 cops who graduated from his year in the National Colombian Police academy, Palau only knows of three who survived. Palau weeps as he recognizes names and photos of his fallen colleagues at a memorial museum at Escobar's former Hacienda Napoles estate

Escobar and his vile sidekick Popeye turned Medellin, a violence-plagued city, into their lawless stronghold in the 80s and 90s

Notorious assassin for Pablo Escobar, Jhon 'Popeye' Velasquez, admits to slaying 300 in 2017 interview with DailyMail.com Three years ago DailyMail.com interviewed notorious Medellin Cartel hitman Jhon Jairo Velasquez in Colombia. After the hitman's death this week from cancer senior reporter Ben Ashford recalls the day he came face to face with Pablo Escobar's deadliest assassin: He bragged of killing 300 people and likely slaughtered thousands more as Escobar's bombs and bullets shook the world and brought Colombia to its knees. But in the teeming hillside slums of Medellin, crowds lined the streets to give Jhon Jairo Velasquez the sort of hero's welcome normally reserved for a rock star or famous actor. DailyMail.com accompanied the former hitman known largely by his innocuous sounding nickname, Popeye, as he returned to Escobar's former stronghold of Comuna 13. The rare public foray in 2017 was the first time Velasquez had set foot in the sprawling shanty town on the fringe of Colombia's second city for 25 years. But if the confessed mass-murderer was anxious about the reception he would receive, he need not have worried: Locals soon poured into the streets, taking photos and hailing his arrival with chants of 'El Jefe' (the boss). 'This picture is the best,' boasted Guillermo Lemus, 36, after waiting his turn for a selfie. 'I'm going to put it on Facebook and Instagram. I bet I get loads of likes.' Velasquez made a throat cutting gesture as he posed for another shot with Liliana Andrea Arguelles, 26, showing off a lurid gangland tattoo the length of his right forearm that read 'El general de la mafia'. 'I took a picture with Popeye to send to my dad. He's really pissed. He doesn't want me posing for a picture with a killer,' said Arguelles, a Florida resident visiting family in Medellin. Sympathy for Escobar and his supposed love for the poor lingers on in some of Medellin's most deprived and crime riddled barrios (neighborhoods). It perhaps came as no surprise then that one of the last remaining members of the slain cocaine king's inner circle was feted like a living legend. 'I no longer carry a gun. If you offered me $10million to kill someone I would refuse,' he assured DailyMail.com afterwards in an exclusive face to face interview to coincide with a new Netflix drama about his life. 'Now I'm 100 percent a celebrity. The people here love me, not because I'm a hitman but because I have changed my life. They want to take pictures and shake my hand. 'Women want to sleep with me because I'm Popeye. One girl told me it was her fantasy to have sex on Pablo Escobar's grave - but I refused out of respect for El Patron.' Deeper into the slum, the city's true feelings toward Velasquez  a self-proclaimed 'man of peace' despite spending two decades in prison for murder  became apparent. Two young men, reeking of liquor, started jeering from afar then came within a few feet of the silver-haired former assassin, one pointing furiously in his face. 'You killed our fathers, you murderer. We will put many bullets in you,' they yelled, as bystanders tried anxiously to pull them away. It is the sort of disrespect that would have earned them two tickets to the morgue back in the days when Escobar's Medellin Cartel stalked these narrow, claustrophobic streets. 'There was a time when I would have killed them both - a bullet each to the head,' he told us afterwards, making the shape of a gun with his fingers. 'But now I let it go. Those guys are junkies or drunks. They are not a threat to me.' His words were a chilling reminder that the softly spoken Velasquez was said to have personally murdered 300 people and orchestrated 3,000 deaths. 'It was 257 to be precise,' he told us, as if querying his check in a restaurant. 'The people in the cartel killed 3,000, yes. 'It was my job. I'm a professional assassin. Only a psycho feels pride or pleasure. I only killed when people paid me or to protect my life. 'I killed women, I killed children in car bombs. They were collateral damage. This was a war and innocent people die in wars.' Advertisement

Prison authorities confirmed Thursday the ailing mobster - who has never disputed his involvement in hundreds of murders - had died at the National Cancer Institute in Bogota.

The popularity of Netflix's Narcos show has lead to a booming industry in Pablo Escobar tourism in Medellin, Colombia. Pictured are flowers laid by Escobar's grave

It was a bittersweet moment for Palau, who was a rookie cop in the Colombian capital back in November 1990 when a remote controlled car bomb ripped through a passing police bus.

'I was one of the first officers on the scene because I wanted to find my friends. I entered the bus and saw the first body hanging out of a window,' Palau, 48, recalled.

'In the smoke and chaos I thought this man could still be alive so I picked him up. When I got him out of the bus I could see his head was blown completely off.

'Six more of my friends died that day. I wanted revenge. I asked for a transfer to Medellin and five days later I was there.'

Back then between five and ten officers were being slaughtered each day by Escobar's car bombs and hitmen, all coordinated by Velasquez who regarded police as enemy combatants in a war.

Of the 152 cops who graduated from his year in the National Colombian Police academy, Palau only knows of three who survived.

'Some people say Escobar was a good guy, a Robin Hood who gave to the people, but he was a psycho, a terrorist,' he tells DailyMail.com.

'I couldn't have a girlfriend, I had to cut off my family. Life was not something we could ever take for granted.

'When I said goodbye to my comrades each night we would say ''I hope to see you again''. It was more in hope than expectation.'

Palau, now a married father-of-two, spent nine years living in Rhode Island after the U.S. granted him political asylum in 2000.

Velasquez's most lucrative assignment was the murder of Carlos Mauro Hoyos (legt), the Colombian Attorney General, for which he was paid $1million. He also had one of Escobar's former girlfriend's Wendy Chavarriaga (right) killed after Velasquez began dating her and learned she was leaking information to the DEA

After his release, Valasquez started a touring company, becoming rivals with Palau's touring company. The pair came face to face in 2017 and took this photo together for DailyMail.com. Palau said: 'For me personally it wasn't a bad thing as I had a chance to look him in the eye. I even shook his hand

After beign siezed by the government, Escobar's estate has been turned into a safari theme park. Pictured are what remains of Pablo Escobar's car collection at Hacienda Napoles after they were bombed by the Cali cartel

After the cartel violence subsided he returned to Colombia and founded a tour company, Medellin Paradise Travel, whisking tourists around Escobar's former turf and telling them about the sacrifices of his comrades.

In an astonishing twist, he soon found himself facing competition from a rival tour operator run by a familiar face.

'Popeye was a crazy guy. He started doing his own tours,' Palau recalls.

For those willing to take their life in their hands, Velasquez was charging $350 per day to tour the haunts where he butchered Escobar's enemies, with a free t-shirt thrown in.

Bookings rocketed when Netflix aired a TV version of his 2015 memoir, Surviving Escobar - Alias JJ.

'The guy had so many enemies, there was no way it was safe for tourists to walk around Medellin beside him,' adds Palau.

'Honestly, I blame the government here. They should have placed conditions on him not to talk and do these crazy things when they let him out of jail.

'For me personally it wasn't a bad thing as I had a chance to look him in the eye. I even shook his hand.

'This was a man I wanted to kill for so long but that was like a form a therapy for me, it allowed me to move on and leave the anger behind.

'He thanked me and said, thanks for forgiving and forgetting. But I will never forget, no way.'

For those willing to take their life in their hands, Velasquez was charging $350 per day to tour the haunts where he butchered Escobar's enemies, with a free t-shirt thrown in

Velasquez poses for pictures and selfies with a group of children who all know his signature pose showing off his tattoos that read: 'The general of the mafia'

Fans pose with Velasquez, but Palau issued a warning for those who signed up for the mobster's tours. 'The guy had so many enemies, there was no way it was safe for tourists to walk around Medellin beside him,' he said

After the cartel violence subsided Palau returned to Colombia and founded a tour company, Medellin Paradise Travel, whisking tourists around Escobar's former turf and telling them about the sacrifices of his comrades. Soon after, Velasquez got into the business as direct competition

'Popeye may have thought he was a celebrity but he was a criminal, a terrorist,' Palau says. 'The world is a better place without him'

Born in Yarumal, 70 miles north of Medellin, Velasquez had originally trained as a marine in the Colombian Navy but dropped out at 17 to become a bodyguard for one of Escobar's many mistresses.

Escobar tired of the lover but sensed promise in the fearless young Velasquez, who earned his 'Popeye' nickname because of a protruding chin which he later fixed with surgery.

His first execution was as mundane as it was brutal.

The son of an elderly lady complained to Escobar that she fell while getting off the bus and the driver never helped her.

Velasquez announced himself on the killing scene by coldly pumping two bullets into the back of the driver's head.

Another assignment involved kidnapping one of Escobar's girlfriends, Wendy Chavarriaga, and forcing her to have an abortion.

Remarkably, the pair became an item but when Velasquez learned the woman was leaking information to DEA agents he arranged a romantic rendezvous - then had her shot six times as she sat waiting for him in a restaurant.

By the time the 5ft 7in mobster had climbed the ranks of the Medellin Cartel his body count would include politicians, journalists and rival drug traffickers.

Innocent civilians caught in the line of fire when the bullets started spraying were dismissed as 'collateral damage.'

Velasquez's most lucrative assignment was the murder of Carlos Mauro Hoyos, the Colombian Attorney General, for which he was paid $1million.

He celebrated by buying weapons and swank cars for his team of assassins but always maintained that he barely touched alcohol and never once tried cocaine.

After his release, Velasquez offered only limited remorse for his crimes, likening his killing spree to a general carrying out orders.

Velaquez went on a tour of Comuna 13 in 2017 with DailyMail.com, one of Medellin's most notorious slums and a former Escobar stronghold, and was greeted like a returning hero and taking photos with children

An American bachelor party went on a tour where they posted around Pablo Escobar's grave at the Jardins Montesacro cemetery in 2017

Velasquez claimed on his tour company's website: 'I am repentant and determined to help build the truth for those who lived the reality of the Medellin of the '80s and '90s firsthand'

He insisted that the Search Bloc was every bit as lawless as the cartel, butchering his comrades with drills, cutting of their fingers and throwing them out of helicopters.

He would also deny involvement to his dying day in some of Escobar's bloodiest massacres, including the bombing of Avianca Flight 203 which claimed 110 lives, and the blast at the DAS building in Bogota in which 52 people were killed.

'I am repentant and determined to help build the truth for those who lived the reality of the Medellin of the '80s and '90s firsthand,' he claimed on his website.

'I wake up daily and with the decision to show the scars that make me what I am but do not define what I will be today and tomorrow.'

Behind the scenes however, Colombian authorities suspected 'Popeye' was back to his murderous old tricks: blackmailing the children of slain cartel members into handing over assets and property he felt entitled to.

He was charged in 2018 with extortion and criminal conspiracy but as cancer spread from his throat to his lungs, liver and other organs it became apparent this was one enemy he could never overcome.

'Popeye may have thought he was a celebrity but he was a criminal, a terrorist,' concludes Palau. 'The world is a better place without him.'
SAGINAW, Mich. - Police officers fatally shot a man who stabbed a police dog in the head during a hostage situation at a home in a mid-Michigan city, law enforcement officials said.

Officers in Saginaw were responding to a reported domestic disturbance that became a hostage situation at the house in Saginaw Sunday morning when the shooting happened, Chief Robert Ruth said.

About 15 to 20 minutes after arriving, officers rescued a male hostage from the home, Ruth said. The 48-year-old suspect then stabbed a police dog in the head with a knife, prompting officers to fire on the suspect, killing him, he said.

The man was pronounced deceased at the scene, said Lt. Jim Lang of Michigan State Police, which is investigating the shooting.

Authorities had not released the mans name as of Monday morning.

The police dog, Deebo, was rushed to a veterinary hospital and is expected to survive, Ruth said. He called for thoughts and prayers for the German shepherd, which is trained in tracking and sniffing out narcotics.

We would like everybody to give your thoughts and prayers to Deebo so that he has hopefully a good safe recovery in the future from his injuries, Ruth said.
The TV Chosun's romantic drama "Queen: Love and War" is coming to an end and the casts have expressed a few words to bid farewell to the drama and its viewers. This drama shares about the story of Kang Eun Bo portrayed by Jin Se Yeon, a woman who has a goal of avenging the murder of her twin sister. In order to achieve the get justice for her family, she is requires to join a hard competition to win the heart of King Yi Kyung played by Kim Min Kyu, who is troubled by his unusual and strange dreams.

Actress Jin Se Yeon who portrayed dual character roles as Kang Eun Bo and Kang Eun Ki. The young actress expressed that she doesn't think that she will be able to forget the moments she experienced living as as Eun Bo and she states that she is really thankful for those who loved the drama 'Queen: Love and War' and most especially for those who cheered Eun Bo on. She added that she believes she was able to gain so much love thanks to the efforts combined by many people. She is asking that please do not forget the drama 'Queen: Love and War.'"

Young actor Kim Min Kyu, who portrayed King Yi Kyung shared his thoughts and said that he was happy to be able to portray and act out as such a great character in a great environment with great people and a great project. He felt like it was dream-like and an unforgettable time. In addition, he was able to form new relationships that he will never forget, so he is very thankful. He is sincerely thanked to those who chose to watch and support the drama 'Queen: Love and War.'"

As for Do Sang Woo who portrays the role of Lee Jae Hwa who was trying to target the throne under the disguise of a young man from the countryside, he displayed two contrasting charms. Do Sang Woo expressed that the time they spent shooting in the cold with all the staff, crew, directors and fellow actors remains in his memory. He felt very happy that he was able to create good memories. Also gave his thanks to everyone who loved 'Queen: Love and War.'

Another actor who performed her various sides while acting was Lee Yul Eum. She portrayed the character Jo Young Ji. Her character was a pure, young girl who transformed into a twisted queen. She shared that her experience to film the drama was very enjoyable and will never forget the moments they had fun filming with the great director, screenwriter, and staff. And she continued to plead to Please show 'Queen: Love and War' lots of love until the very end.

The actor who portrayed the role of of Wal, Hanyang's best information broker was Lee Si Eon. He shared that more than anything else, he thinks that the teamwork between the actors of 'Queen: Love and War' was outstanding. They all had a meaningful time as they worked together and learned something new about acting. Also he expressed his gratitude to the the director, screenwriter, actors, staff, and the viewers of who will love 'Queen: Love and War' until the end."

And lastly, the producers of the shoe shared that the The last episode of 'Queen: Love and War' on February 9 has a completely closed conclusion. The production is asking the viewers to please join them to see how the finale of 'Queen: Love and War,' which was made through the great actors' last efforts, will turn out.

The finale is scheduled to air on the 9th of February at 10:50 p.m. KST.
Householders and commuters were warned to brace themselves for Arctic conditions with snow, sleet and freezing temperatures following in the wake of Storm Ciara.

A Status Yellow snow/ice warning is in place for the entire country today and tomorrow with widespread wintry showers and 3cm of snow falling in some areas.

Meanwhile, a Status Orange wind warning has been issued for Atlantic coastal counties until 8pm tonight with gusts of up to 130kmh. The warning covers counties Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, Mayo, Galway, Clare and Kerry.

Met Eireann warned that a combination of spring tides and high seas will result in a significant risk of coastal flooding.

Temperatures today will be around 3C to 6C, but Met Eireann forecaster Matthew Martin warned a significant wind chill will make it feel more like 0C.

"There will be some snow accumulating, primarily in high ground, but other areas could see some snow too," he told the Irish Independent.

"While snow showers may develop anywhere they will occur chiefly in parts of the west and north, with some accumulations possible.

"Some areas can expect probably around 3cm of snow, but we haven't put a number on that yet. The most prominent thing is the wind-chill factor that will make it feel very cold. It will actually be around 3C to 6C, but the wind chill will make it feel more like freezing."

Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Thrill: People watching the large waves at Arklows North Beach, Co Wicklow. Photo: Garry O'Neill Firefighters treat a patient hit by a falling tree in Crumlin A tree on the Killarney to Castlemaine road. Photo: Don MacMonagle / Facebook

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Whatsapp Thrill: People watching the large waves at Arklows North Beach, Co Wicklow. Photo: Garry O'Neill

Motorists were advised by gardai and the Road Safety Authority to exercise caution as driving conditions, particularly during the morning commute, will be challenging in some areas.

The icy snap follows hard on the heels of Storm Ciara as winds of 130kmh caused chaos in coastal areas and parts of the south and west.

In Dublin, a pedestrian was hit by a falling tree in Crumlin at the height of the storm. Luckily, their injuries were not life threatening.

It was one of multiple calls attended by Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) during a hectic 24 hours.

DFB also attended a number of properties in the north inner city where basements flooded from the sheer volume of rainwater dumped by Storm Ciara.

Almost 15,000 homes were without power with the worst hit areas being Clare, Kerry, Galway and Waterford as the storm knocked trees and brought down power lines.

Worst hit by the power cuts were coastal parts of Kerry, Ennis in Clare, Tramore in Waterford and Gort in Galway.

A number of lightning strikes were also reported in Cork though the county escaped the worst of the power disruption. The ESB hoped to have everyone reconnected by this morning.

Storm Ciara also played havoc with sporting and cultural events, with Galway's Capital of Culture opening celebration cancelled.

A Status Orange wind warning from Met Eireann remained in place until lunchtime yesterday, with driving conditions in some areas described as extremely hazardous.

In some exposed coastal areas, gardai urged motorists only to undertake essential journeys.

A number of high-span bridges have been closed amid safety fears, including the recently opened Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge which is part of the New Ross by-pass. It is Ireland's highest and longest bridge.

The Blackwater bridge on the Dublin-Cork motorway outside Fermoy also witnessed dangerous cross-winds.

Flooding

However, greatest concern was focused on the threat posed by flooding.

Heavy rainfall resulted in spot flooding on roads in Roscommon, Waterford, Mayo, Kerry, Cork, Limerick, Dublin, Kildare and Sligo. A number of roads were temporarily closed as a result. Roads were also closed due to fallen trees with council staff nationwide clearing them.

The combination of high tides and wind direction also posed a serious threat of flooding along some coastal areas, particularly in the west and south.

The powerful winds and stormy seas also saw the cancellation of ferry sailings from Rosslare and Dublin.
Gods will: President Donald Trump: Part One By Michael Moriarty

While viewing the extraordinarily powerful British film, Darkest Hour, I realize that America herself is not only under the leadership of the greatest President she has ever had, Donald Trump! The 2020 President of the United States is facing the same, unequivocally intended World War that Prime Minister Winston Churchill faced with World War II! World War III is being waged right now! Almost entirely on American territory! Yes! The, by now, Far Left and unquestionably treasonous Democrat Party of the United States is unrelentingly attempting to impeach President Trump, remove him from office and, potentially, to try and imprison him for impeachable crimes! Meanwhile?! For decades, a long-nurtured and worldwide dream called The New World Order, a concept now fully hatched in the United Nations, and a governing idea to be run by the United Nations, instituting a United Nations sovereignty that supersedes and, yes, erases all other forms of sovereignty, including that of the United States of America! Such a World Government is so near unanimous consent by most of the human race that President Trumps renewal of The Traditional United States of Americathe sovereignty of the U.S. is the target of this Progressive New World Order. Yes! Americas mortal enemy! Why? The United Nations and all in love with a New World Order, they feel, quite emphatically that the Judeo-Christian civilization and its Holy bible  basically America and Israel - are, by now, an easily dismissed minority. An expendable corner of the political universe when compared to the unquestionable authority and power of both the Communist world of China and Putinized Russia, plus the Islamic Worlds domination of the entire Mediterranean and North Africa. Not to mention the Bush Family/Democrat Party Alliance! In fact, a kind of Red Islam or Muslim Communist Alliance exists, purely intended to dominate the United Nations and to, yes, basically eliminate the United States of America. As with World War II and the existence of both Prime Minister Churchill and the willingness of America to defend the World War II Alliance, guess who the rather lonely holdouts from The New World Order are: President Trumps America and the Presidents repeatedly declared and indisputable ally, Israel! The United States, under the increasingly treasonous pressure from both the Democrat Party and the Republican Partys R.I.N.O.S  Republicans In Name Only?! In short, the Bush Family!!! Here is a list of George H. W. Bushs declarations about the certainty of a New World Order, to be run by the United Nations. Its pure American treason, but no one is brave enough to label it such. Of course, President Trump is rather too busy now defending himself against the New World Order, the Democrat Party and renegade Republicans! Far too busy fighting impeachment threats to wage a war he must inevitably wage against an indisputably treasonous coalition of Democrats and Republicans In Name Only, such as both the Bush Family and Senator Mitt Romney. More to come, as this very real and very deadly Second American Civil War is being waged in the United States. Michael Moriarty is a Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning actor who starred in the landmark television series Law and Order from 1990 to 1994. His recent film and TV credits include The Yellow Wallpaper, 12 Hours to Live, Santa Baby and Deadly Skies. Contact Michael at rainbowfamily2008@yahoo.com. He can be found on Twitter at https://twitter.com/@MGMoriarty. Home
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Re: Sales of automatics grew from 1.4% in 2011 to 17.3% in 2019 I'm sure it's going to be at least 50-60% in the coming decade. People have figured out rightly that an automatic transmission is cheaper than a knee replacement surgery. I believe that the figures would've remained rather same until 2014 and then picked up pace from there; after the introduction of the AMT. Now many of you might disagree with me, just because you hate AMTs, but I have to say that it was truly a game-changer. True, it could never satisfy an enthusiast. But for the masses, it was cheap, just as efficient as a manual and much more convenient. The perfect combo every Indian loves. I would say it was the perfect stepping stone. Now that they've felt the convenience, they would be willing to shell out more for a better transmission in their next purchase. Considering the fact that certain AMTs command a premium of around 70k, I don't think it won't create a that big of a sticker shock anymore.



We got our first automatic, an Ignis Zeta Petrol AMT in Feb 2017, replacing our beloved 2010 Ritz VXi. Ignis being the only one that met our specific requirements - a petrol automatic, smaller than Ritz with a good engine and relatively good safety features at a decent price. I had driven Torque converters, CVTs and DSGs before the purchase and to be honest, had such low expectations from it. I didn't even go for a test drive because I knew it wouldn't wow me. But within the first couple of days, I figured out it's secret and since then it had been quite good. Before the purchase, I expected it to be driven quite a lot in manual mode. But to date, it have done close to 18k km, 99.9% of which would've been done in auto mode. It did it's job so well that I recommended my cousin and my friend to go for AMT, instead of manual, when they were upgrading their cars.



Just to be clear, my preference when it comes to automatics is going to align with most of your's interests. Dual clutch> Torque converter> CVT> AMT. Although I still love three pedals, our traffic conditions have become so bad that it is now pointless to keep a manual to have fun during 10% of your drives while suffering the rest of times. And the figures show that most people agree with this. While I don't think Manual Transmission is going to be an endangered species in India, like here in the US any time soon, it will certainly decline. Especially with the advent of EVs. So if you're lucky enough to find open roads during most of your travels, hold on to your manuals. And if you're like the FRIENDS cast who are still stuck in second gear, do your legs a favor and get an automatic. Peace.
By Trend

The International Ocean Institute (IOI) will hold a regional workshop on the Caspian Sea - Sustainable Development and Management in the Caspian Avaza (tourist zone in Turkmenistan) from March 9-20, 2020, Trend reports referring to the Turkmen government.

The seminar will bring together representatives of relevant institutions of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan.

The workshop will be organized with the participation of Caspian Sea Institute and Turkmenistans Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

IOI is a non-governmental organization with the status of a special advisory body of United Nations (UN).

The Institute works closely with UN programs and specialized agencies as follows: the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO), International Maritime Organization (IMO), UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), etc.

The program of the current training includes a wide range of issues directly related to economic, social and environmental aspects of the development of the Caspian littoral states, their cooperation in these areas.

It is expected that audience will familiarize themselves with the main provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which was signed and confirmed by about 160 states and the EU.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Highlights Celebrated director and writer Taika Waititi on Monday highlighted just how bad the MacBook keyboards are.

Waititi slammed the keyboards saying it was a struggle to write on new MacBooks.

Apple a few years ago changed the keyboard technology in MacBooks. But in recent 16-inch MacBook the company again uses the older keyboard technology.

Apple's Monday is going to start on a bad note. At a time when the company is trying to get behind its experiments with the MacBook keyboards this is why the new 16-inch MacBook comes with the older keyboard technology the company faced criticism from Taika Waititi, a celebrated director and writer who won an Oscar for his script of Jojo Rabbit.

After his win at the 92nd Academy Awards, Waititi slammed MacBook keyboards, saying that it was impossible to write something on them. ''Apple needs to fix those keyboards,'' said Taika Waititi, director of Jojo Rabbit.

When asked about the needs of the writers, Waititi addressed the Writers' Guild Association. He said, Apple needs to fix those keyboards. They are impossible to write on. They've gotten worse. It makes me want to go back to PCs.

He even asked from the audience for a show of hands for those who are still using the PC. The bounce back on your fingers is way better on a PC, Waiki continued. ''You know what I am talking about,'' he said. ''Those Apple keyboards are horrendous The writers' guild of America needs to step in and do something.

In case you are wondering about what Waititi is highlighting, let us explain. Apple used to have scissor-style keyboards in MacBook until a few years ago. These were some of the best keyboards ever put in a laptop, and while they were not always the best The Lenovo laptops continue to have top class keyboards typing on a MacBook was a delightful experience compared to typing something on a Windows laptop. This was because the MacBook keyboards used to have a bit of bounce, a hint of resistance and deeper key travel, among other things that typists like.

The keyboard, however, in the new MacBooks started using butterfly-style keyboards. These are keyboards with shallower keys, and while switch to butterfly-style keyboard helped Apple reduce the thickness of the laptop, it also affected the user experience. Most long-time Apple users hated the new keyboards, which also had reliability issues.

Apple finally sort of acknowledged the issue in 2019 when it released the 16-inch MacBook Pro that uses older scissor-style technology in its keyboard. The keyboard in the this new MacBook, as India Today Tech had noted in its review of the MacBook Pro, is much better than keyboard in MacBooks released between 2015 and 2019. This new keyboard is also set to come to the other MacBook models this year.

Unfortunately for Apple, Waititi is suffering now. At the Oscar ceremony, Waititi highlighted that he suffered shoulder problems that and that the MacBooks with butterfly-style keyboards aggravated his problems.

"I've got OOS (a term for repetitive stress injury that writers can suffer) You know what I'm talking about, if you guys are ever writing. And what happens is you open the laptop and you're like this we've just got to fix those keyboards. The WGA needs to step in and actually do something, he told reporters after winning his Oscar.

ALSO READ | WhatsApp dark mode update now available for iOS beta users
Slayton Search Partners, a globally respected leader in retained executive search, is excited to announce that Charles Southwick has been promoted to the position of Senior Vice President & Principal. He will be expanding his efforts, continuing to develop impactful client relationships and recruit key leaders in sectors such as food & beverage, manufacturing, retail, technology, and more.

Slayton is a well-respected leader in search, and its truly an honor to grow my career under this roof, shared Charles. The last six years have been some of the best of my professional life, and I look forward to many more together.

Since joining the firm in 2014, Charles has conducted successful C-level searches for many companies including private equity backed and Fortune 500 organizations. He is known for providing clients with insightful and targeted analyses of candidates strengths and fits for search assignments. Slayton clients consistently recognize his focused and efficient leadership approach to the search process, which makes a positive impact on company culture, revenue growth, and bottom line profits. Prior to joining Slayton, Charles thrived for nearly 10 years with a worldwide search firm where he executed various searches while achieving international recognition.

Through his ability to achieve tangible results for clients and contribute to the Slayton culture, Charles has proven himself more than capable of fulfilling the duties of a Senior role on our team, shared Richard Slayton, Managing Partner & CEO of Slayton Search Partners. He has a bright future ahead of him.

About Slayton Search Partners

Slayton Search Partners https://slaytonsearch.com/ is a top retained executive search firm, serving some of North Americas most recognized companies. Slaytons limit-less approach to executive search has made the firm the first choice of U.S. businesses and organizations who demand the best possible search results. By focusing on a structure that balances the size needed to do the job with the size needed to deliver personal attention and service, Slayton avoids restrictions that limit traditional search firms. This helps transform the relationships with our clients into a limit-less opportunity for high-quality solutions.

Slaytons combination of highly experienced and focused search professionals, coupled with its record for attentive personal service, has made it one of the most highly-respected retained executive search firms in the country.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 10, 2020 16:53 700 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2063a3e9d 1 Business Jiwasraya,Dutch-citizen,AGO Free

More policyholders of ailing state-insurer Asuransi Jiwasraya are demanding the return of the money they had invested in the insurance company, which has been hit by corruption allegations after it failed to pay holders of policies worth Rp 16 trillion (US$1.16 billion) that fell due in December.

Johnny Mahtani, a Dutch national who has been working for 20 years in Indonesia, was among some 50 policyholders who visited the Finance Ministry and Financial Services Authority (OJK) on Thursday to demand restitution of their investments.

The Dutch citizen said he had invested Rp 5 billion of his repatriation funds in Jiwasraya  one of the oldest state insurers in the country  and demanded that his money, along with the promised interest, be returned.

I invested my repatriation funds from the tax amnesty program into the [Jiwasraya] JS Saving Plan product, he said as quoted by kontan.co.id.

Read also: Govt parties scuttle plan to form Jiwasraya inquiry committee

According to the agreement, our funds must be deposited for at least three years. They offered the product based on Bank Indonesias provisions and we could not pick and choose the products, Mahtani said, Jiwasraya was adamant when offering us the JS Saving Plan product because theyre owned by the government.

Mahtani was not the only foreign policyholder who has been affected by the liquidity problems surrounding the insurance company, which drew public attention and clients scrutiny following an announcement in October 2018 that it failed to pay out maturing JS Saving Plan policies worth Rp 802 billion.

South Korean vice president of PT Samsung Electronics Indonesia, Lee Kang Hyun, and 47 other South Korean citizens visited the House of Representatives on Dec. 4 to lodge complaints about the postponement of payments of their maturing policies.

Lee said at that time that he had invested in policies worth Rp 16 billion in Jiwasraya, half of which had been paid back while the remaining Rp 8.2 billion was still with the company.

Since it launched an investigation into Jiwasraya late last year, the Attorney General's Office has named six people suspects of alleged corruption involving the state insurer, which authorities estimated to have caused Rp 13.7 trillion (US$1 billion) in state losses. (mpr)
They were the kind of heroes to emulate and I was encouraged by them as a new kid who moved into that community, he said. It was in high school that I decided history was my thing because I had a teacher who really made me think deeply and challenged a lot of my assumptions, but in a respectful way, so I decided that I would like to follow suit and go into that career.
T he search for people who came into contact with the British super-spreader businessman intensified today after he was linked with four more cases of coronavirus.

The man, from the Hove area, is now thought to have infected at least 10 other people after contracting the virus while at a conference in Singapore last month.

Dr Nick Phin, deputy director, National Infection Service, Public Health England, said: These new cases are all closely linked and were rapidly identified through Public Health Englands comprehensive contact tracing approach and tested quickly.

"Our priority is speaking to those people who have had close and sustained contact with confirmed cases so that we can advise them.

Passengers wear protective masks in Kuala Lumpur / REUTERS

As well as the four new cases linked to him today, the man, the first UK national to contract the disease, unknowingly spread it to five people when he visited the Les Contamines-Montjoie resort in the French Alps prior to returning to the UK.

These include environmental consultant Bob Saynor and his nine-year-old son.

None is said to be in a serious condition.

Another of the five in the Alps travelled to Majorca where he was diagnosed with coronavirus.

The super-spreader was admitted to St Thomas Hospital in Lambeth last Thursday.

Coronavirus: Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined 1 /32 Coronavirus: Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined Cruise ship Diamond Princess is anchored off the shore of Yokohama, south of Tokyo AP Global interest: David Abel, who is on board Diamond Princess with his wife Sally, has been posting updates on social media David Abel Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), officials of the DFA-Philippines in Tokyo with Department of Health team wear protective suits as they prepare for the disembarkation of Filipino crew members on board the Diamond Princess Cruise Ship at Yokohama Port AP A man in a proctective clothing is seen on the sixth deck of cruise ship Diamond Princess in Yokohama via Reuters A woman holds a Japanese flag that reads "shortage of medicine" on the cruise ship Diamond Princess Reuters Passengers disembarking from the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked at Yokohama Port are pictured in Yokohama REUTERS/Kyodo Japan David Abel of the Diamond Princess cruise ship that has been quarantined in Japan. PA David Abel being treated David Abel Workers in protective clothes stand before passengers disembarkating off the Diamond Princess AFP via Getty Images Quarantine operation on the eighth deck of cruise ship Diamond Princess in Yokohama via Reuters An empty general view of Diamond Princess cruise ship PA The Diamond Princess cruise ship, in quarantine due to fears of new COVID-19 coronavirus, is seen at Daikoku pier cruise terminal in Yokohama AFP via Getty Images Sally Abel being treated David Abel/Facebook Men wearing protective gear are seen near the cruise ship Diamond Princess, Reuters The Diamond Princess cruise ship with around 3,700 people on board sits anchored in quarantine off the port of Yokohama after a number of passengers were confirmed to be infected with coronavirus Getty Images An empty general view of Diamond Princess cruise ship PA Medical workers in protective suits lead a passenger tested positive for a new coronavirus from the cruise ship Diamond Princess at Yokohama Port AP Buses carrying passengers who have been under quarantine on a coronavirus-stricken cruise ship off the coast of Japan, the Diamond Princess, leave RAF Boscombe Down in Amesbury Reuters An empty casino on the Diamond Princess cruise ship PA Workers in protective gear are seen on the Japan Coast Guard boats in Yokohama Jiji Press/AFP via Getty Images An empty atrium on the Diamond Princess cruise shi PA Workers in protective gear transfer a person under a blue sheet from the Diamond Princess cruise ship onto a Japan Coast Guard boat in Yokohama Jiji Press/AFP via Getty Images Medical workers in protective suits carry belongings of passengers of the cruise ship Diamond Princess at Yokohama Port AP Cruise ship Diamond Princess is anchored off the shore of Yokohama, south of Tokyo AP

He is also thought to be linked to a patient who was yesterday admitted to the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead.
The verdict was first met with calm, then there was screaming and kicking of furniture, as the convicts realized they would spend a good part of their lives behind bars. For all the defendants and particularly for the leaders, the sentences are heavy. Kevin Bere Bere, Romaric Mandago, Crepin Wakanam (alias Pino Pino), Patrick Gbiako and Yembeline Mbenguia Alpha, the five main leaders of the Anti-balaka vigilante groups in Bangassou (south-east Central African Republic) were each sentenced to hard labour for life.

They would have deserved the death penalty, prosecutor Eric Didier Tambo said in his closing arguments before calling for life imprisonment out of respect for a promise to the international community. The court followed his request in the case of the group leaders, but reduced the sentences requested for the other 23 militiamen, for whom he had called for 20 years in prison. They were instead given 10 years imprisonment or 15 years hard labour for criminal conspiracy, illegal possession of weapons and murder. All of them were ordered to pay substantial sums to the victims as damages. Their property will be confiscated for this purpose.

A few minutes after being heavily sentenced, several prisoners protest and struggle before being transferred to prison.  Gael Grilhot

Sickening abuses

The five Anti-balaka chiefs are the first to have been convicted of both crimes against humanity and war crimes in this unprecedented trial for the Central African Republic. Admittedly, the Bangui Criminal Court has not removed all the grey areas hanging over the crimes committed in Bangassou in 2016 and 2017. But the trial debates, particularly around a meeting on 3 September 2016 with Bangassou authorities (including the sub-prefect) and religious dignitaries, revealed more about how the vigilante groups were created.

This historical and local context was invoked by both prosecution and defence. Failure of the State, past incursions into the region by Seleka rebels and widespread insecurity in the CAR all went to explain the formation of local Anti-balaka self-defence militias, according to the defence. We dont deny that our clients committed sickening abuses, said lawyer Anatole Maitovo in his closing arguments, but they acted as human beings. These groups were not formed to do evil. He also added that these children were at one time seized by madness, and that those who call themselves witnesses or victims also took up arms.

They meant to attack everyone

Civil parties also presented their view. It was the local authorities that allowed the self-defence groups to restart, said lawyer Mathias Morouba, invoking the responsibility of the State. Yes, the Seleka forces  who overthrew President Francois Bozize in March 2013  came. They raped and pillaged. But three years later at the time of the facts alleged in this trial they were no longer there. And the crimes of the militiamen were exceptionally cruel. How many people were cut to pieces? They ate them and became cannibals. They destroyed a whole area [attack on the Muslim quarter on May 3 2017], 723 houses. Morouba also dismissed the argument of religion, noting the Anti-Balakas many Christian as well as Muslim victims. They meant to attack everyone, he insisted.

The extensive Bangassou case file includes photos of the defendants in uniform bearing arms, the logbook of self-proclaimed General Bere Bere and minutes of a meeting with three clergymen. Evidence was provided by the UN mission in the Central African Republic, MINUSCA  a thorough investigation was carried out after four peacekeepers were killed in an attack on one of its convoys in Yongofongo on 8 May 2017  and by human rights organizations. But it was certainly the viewing behind closed doors of film from the defendants cameras that convinced the court. The images included, we were told, those of a pregnant woman who was disembowelled and whose foetus was torn from her womb.

The Bangassou trial will undoubtedly mark history in the CAR for its scope, duration and organization. Through the debates, said prosecutor Tambo at the end of the trial, we have seen that the Anti-balaka were not liberators, they were groups of bandits who took advantage of the absence of the State. I think this sentence will have a deterrent effect. Morouba agrees, saying the civil parties are satisfied with this decision. The Court found all the defendants guilty. The victims have understood that the Court has heard them. All the perpetrators should understand that they will one day be held accountable in court.

Recommended reading Central African Republic: Day of reckoning for Bangassou militia chiefs

Central Africans follow the trial

Tambo welcomes the fact that Central Africans were able to follow the trial, which was broadcast in its entirety on radio and television. But civil parties are concerned that the faces and voices of victims and witnesses were broadcast, while many of those who committed crimes in the Bangassou region have not yet laid down their arms or been arrested. For the prosecutor this is not an issue. The Central African Criminal Procedure Code does not provide for witness and victim protection, he says. The suspects are on the run, they are no longer operating openly in Bangassou. Today, fear has changed sides. They are keeping a low profile. According to Tambo, some of these fugitives will be tried in absentia at the next criminal trial.

The Special Criminal Court (SCC), whose procedural code provides for a mechanism to protect victims, did not request that the case be transferred to it, as the law would have allowed. The proceedings had been initiated before the effective implementation of the SCC, it argued. And regarding the protection of victims, according to its spokesperson Theophile Momokoama, the SCC is not intended to replace the national authorities on these issues but the work we are doing can gradually feed the discussions and push the national authorities to integrate new practices.

Ali Ousmane, president of the Coordination of Muslim Organisations in the Central African Republic and a victim of the events in Bangassou, believes that there are grounds for another trial, this time before the SCC. Most of the victims have not filed a complaint and we are considering doing so before the SCC. There are perpetrators at large who retain the capacity to cause harm. They still have our property. We also want certain local or administrative authorities, who we think are accomplices, to be charged. We have evidence, says Ousmane. We call the acts that have occurred genocide. They wanted to exterminate all the Muslims in Bangassou.
DefExpo 2020 witnesses over 200 MoUs, technology transfers, product launches

The third day of the ongoing defence technology exhibition, DefExpo 2020 witnessed the signing of over 200 partnership agreements, including memorandum of understanding (MoUs), transfer of technology (ToTs) and product launches.

The partnership and collaboration agreements were signed at ceremony tilted `Bandhan, making DefExpo 2020 the most successful such events to be held in India.

Representatives of various defence public sector units (DPSUs), private sector defence manufacturers and foreign companies signed various agreements involving forging and renewing of partnerships for innovative collaboration and transformation of the defence manufacturing in the country.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh described the signing of MoUs as a step in the direction to achieve Prime Ministers $5 billion defence exports target in the next 5 years. Defence PSUs and the Indian defence private industry are better placed today to lead India as the emerging R&D hub of the world, leveraging the sharp minds of Indian youth, the liberalised licensing regime that would surely attract large investments by both Indian and global companies, he stressed.

Among the MoUs signed today, 23 were by Uttar Pradesh government. Chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath said these MoUs envisage Rs50,000 crore investment in the defence corridor setup in the state, that, he said, would generate 3 lakh job opportunities.

Defence Secretary Ajay Kumr said DefExpo 2020 would be remembered for many firsts  including for the signing of largest number of MoUs, ToTs and product launches. Bandhan ceremony witnessed more than 13 product launches, 124 MoUs between DPSUs, private and global defence manufacturing companies.

Sateesh Reddy, defence secretary and chairman of Defence Research and Development Organisation, said it was DRDOs duty to ensure that the Defence Corridor in Uttar Pradesh flourishes. DRDO also signed a technology partnership agreement with the state government for imparting skill training, hand holding and providing guidance in all aspects related to technology. A collaboration cell was already setup in the state to facilitate the process, he said.

He also said a research and development centre would be set up in the state that would act as a catalyst with respect to defence development. Technology transfer was made available at no cost to companies in order to further the defence ecosystem in the country. Further, the patents held by DRDO were given free to Indian companies to further develop technologies that would benefit Indian companies.

The ceremonyalso witnessed a major announcement of issuing Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) certificate fot Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). LUH is designed and developed as a replacement for Cheetah and Chetak helicopters which are currently being operated by Indian Armed forces.

LUH is a new generation helicopter in the 3-ton class incorporating the state-of-the-art technology features which will meet the emerging needs in this class of helicopters in the coming decades.

OFB launched Sharang the 155mm artillery gun with 36 km range and handed over a model to Chief of Army Staff Gen M M Naravane. OFB also launched JVPC Alpha gun with 100 mt range, Light Machine Gun of 800 mt range and UBGL  Under barrel Grenade launcher.

BDL launched Amogha-3 the Anti-Tank Guided Missile. It is a man portable fire and forget missile.

BDL also launched Varunastra  the anti-submarine torpedo, manufactured under the technological guidance of DRDO.

DRDO also signed a Technology Development Contract with Rosoboronexport of Russia for development of high energy materials required in the production of missiles, rockets and guns.

High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL), Pune, signed technology development contract with Rosoboronexport, Russia for development of Advanced Pyrotechnic Ignition Systems.

HEMRL is the DRDO laboratory working in the development of spectrum of these high energy materials.

Director HEMRL KPS Murthy said the agreement would enable advancement in the field of energetic materials and pyrotechnic technology leading to the development of advanced ignition systems. This will meet futuristic requirements of high-performance propulsion systems. He added that the propulsion systems are the power behind the rockets and missiles. This technology development will facilitate design and development of state of art solid rocket motors for upcoming products. These products will be based on compact and energy efficient propulsion systems, he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 22:07:32|Editor: huaxia

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DAMASCUS, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- A total of three civilians were killed on Monday when a car bomb went off in the Afrin city in northern Syria, state news agency SANA reported.

The car bomb went off in a residential area in Afrin, which also led to the wounding of many people, some of whom are in critical condition.

The explosion left damage and property losses, according to SANA.

Turkey and Ankara-backed rebels captured Afrin from the Kurdish-led militias in March of 2018.

Activists have made several reports about the situation in Turkey-controlled areas in northern Syria, saying a state of lawlessness is rampant in that region.
Telecommunications remains the best enabler in expanding the frontiers of financial inclusion in Nigeria, the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Umar Danbatta, has said

According to the NCC on its official Twitter page, Mr Danbatta said this while receiving a team from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the foundations consultants, Glenbrooks Partners, who paid a visit to the commission.

The realisation of the centrality of telecommunication to all aspects of the economy explains NCCs upbeat in identifying access gaps and in instituting processes for the expansion of telecom infrastructure across the country, he said

Mr Danbatta said the infrastructure companies (Infracos) have been licensed by the commission to connect fibre from landing ports to the hinterland of Nigeria, especially the 774 local government areas in Nigeria.

He believes the federal government will take a concrete position soon to enable the Infracos to commence operations because fibre is the real solution to the volume of transactions in the financial services sector.

No access to telecommunications

Mr Danbatta said that 35 million Nigerians have no access to telecommunications services and by implication, they lack access to digital financial services, a condition that undermines financial inclusion.

He said this challenge is caused by inadequacy of both wireless and fibre connectivity infrastructure.

We need to do more investment in both fixed and wireless infrastructure to enable us to reach our target of at least 80 percent level of financial inclusion in about four years, he said.

He said access to telecom services by distant, isolated, unserved and underserved communities will enable more citizens to embrace a digital financial culture.

Mr Danbatta said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued Mobile Money Payment Services license to some mobile network operators to enable them to undertake mobile financial transaction services.

He advocated renewed greater cooperation and collaboration between the banking and telecommunications sectors to harmonise the cost of transactions for financial services in an equitable manner.

A delegate of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Abiodun Jagun,informed Mr Danbatta that the foundation requested for the meeting in other to deepen the extant the partnership between the foundation and the Federal Government of Nigeria to increase citizens access to financial resources.

Ms Jagun said the discussion with the commission is so important because it regulates the telecom sector.

She said understanding the strides made by the commission, as well as the challenges it faces, will help the foundation to know the nature of collaboration and support to offer without distorting or disrupting the market.

Ms Jagun said the beauty of the visit and the discussions are meant to ensure that the philanthropic opportunities offered by BMGF are supportive and complementary to the digital ecosystem.

Financial Inclusion in Nigeria

In 2010, Nigeria made a commitment to reduce the adult financial exclusion rate in the country from 46.3 per cent to 20 per cent by 2020.

To attain this, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) adopted the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) in 2012.

According to the strategys document, the NFIS was built on four strategic areas of agency banking, mobile banking/mobile payments, linkage models and client empowerment.

It also identified four priority areas for guideline and framework development. They include Tiered Know-your-Customer (T-KYC) Regulations, Agent Banking Regulations, National Financial Literacy Strategy, and Consumer Protection.

In its five-year strategy (2019-2024) plan, the Central Bank governor, Godwin Emefiele, said the apex banks ultimate goal is to ensure that a 95 per cent financial inclusion rate is achieved by 2024.
A 24-year-old youth, who had recently returned from Canada, was shot dead outside his house from a point blank range by unidentified assailants, police said here on Monday.

DSP Harkrishan Singh said the crime took place on Sunday night at Butala village in Baba Bakala when Sukhmanpreet Singh returned home from a marriage function and was opening the main door of his house.

The motorcycle-borne assailants escaped from the spot after committing the crime.

Sukhmanpreet's parents immediately shifted him to the Baba Bakala civil hospital where he was declared brought dead by doctors.

The DSP said they had registered a case and were yet to get any clue about the killers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The former head of a charity for the disabled has been jailed for five years for stealing more than 250,000 to buy a holiday home in France and fund a lavish lifestyle.

Patrick McLarry, 71, posed as a 'pillar of the community' while secretly taking money out of the charity's pension scheme to buy a house in an upmarket Hampshire village and pay off his debts.

McLarry, from Bere Alston, Devon, who was awarded an MBE for his work for charity, pleaded guilty to transferring the money from the pension fund of Yateley Industries for the Disabled.

Winchester Crown Court was told that the 71-year-old carried out a sophisticated fraud undertaken over a number of years against vulnerable victims.

Patrick McLarry (pictured with his wife Sandra), 71, posed as a 'pillar of the community' while secretly taking money out of the charity's pension scheme to buy a house in an upmarket Hampshire village and pay off his debts.

McLarry was the well-respected chief executive of Yateley Industries for the Disabled, which aims to encourage each individual to fulfil his or her own potential by providing paid, meaningful employment.

It also provides a pension for workers - but over a period of just one year McLarry syphoned off more than 250,000 into his own bank accounts.

He then used the money to buy a house and a warehouse in south-west France worth 200,000 with the stolen funds.

He also paid off money he owed for the purchase of a pub lease in Portsmouth as well as paid for the deposit on a house in Hartley Wintney, Hampshire.

He tried to cover his tracks by forging documents, lying to TPR investigators about who owned the properties involved and then refusing to hand over vital evidence.

The court has previously heard that McLarry pleaded guilty after gaining confirmation that four charges of money-laundering would be dropped against his 60-year-old wife, Sandra McLarry, who was secretary of the charity.

Winchester Crown Court (pictured) was told that the 71-year-old carried out a sophisticated fraud undertaken over a number of years against vulnerable victims

Sentencing McLarry Judge Andrew Barnett described the fraud as 'an appalling dishonesty and breach of trust'.

He said: 'You quite deliberately and in a very calculating way milked the fund of a considerable amount of money which was spent for your own needs and your wife's, I imagine.'

Linda Matthews, CEO of the charity, said in a statement read to court that the pension scheme faced 'significant difficulties' because of the stolen funds and had led to 'immense stress and anxiety' for the charity's staff and users.

She added: 'The charity was in such a critical state it was days away from potential closure.'

Alex Stein, prosecuting, explained that McLarry carried out the fraud by setting up a new company to manage the pension fund, of which he was one of only two directors and was in the habit of 'rubber-stamping' decisions.

He also set up a third company which used the cover of trading in antiques to transfer the stolen money to France in order to buy the two properties abroad before creating a fictional loss to explain the loss of funds.

He said outside court: 'This was a complex, sophisticated fraud undertaken over a number of years against vulnerable victims.

'Mr McLarry held himself out as a pillar of the community, a legitimate businessman and a man with an MBE.

'It took a persistent and tenacious investigation to uncover one of the most substantial pension frauds prosecuted to date.'

Nicola Parish, of The Pension Regulator (TPR) which brought the prosecution, said: 'McLarry tried every trick in the book to hide his actions and squander the pension pots of those he was responsible for but we were able to uncover the truth and bring him to justice.

'We will now work to seize assets from McLarry so that as much of the money as possible is returned to its rightful owners who will rightly rely on it to deliver their pensions in retirement.'

McLarry was previously convicted of failing to disclose his bank statements to TPR investigators and given a fine which was paid for by the charity.
SARASOTA, Fla., Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Star2Star Communications, provider of the worlds only Full Spectrum Communications Solution, announced today that CRN  , a brand of The Channel Company , has named Michelle Accardi, President and Chief Revenue Officer at Star2Star, to its 2020 list of Channel Chiefs. This annual list recognizes the top vendor executives who continually demonstrate exemplary leadership, influence, innovation, and growth for the IT channel.



CRNs 2020 Channel Chiefs list honors the distinguished leaders who have influenced the IT channel with cutting-edge strategies and partnerships.

The 2020 Channel Chiefs have shown outstanding commitment, an ability to lead, and a passion for progress within the channel through their partner programs. The Channel Chief honorees were chosen by the CRN editorial staff for their dedication, industry prestige, and exceptional accomplishments in driving the channel agenda and evangelizing the importance of channel partnerships.

Michelles expertise spans over 24 years of channel-related roles including product management and technical support, global sales and marketing, digital transformation, operations, and her current role as the President and CRO. She joined Star2Star in 2013 and has led the Star2Star team through various product releases, mergers and partnerships, and industry shifts. Her mission is to inspire and maintain growth for the company and its partners by focusing on the value Star2Star offers through its extensive products and services line.

This is her sixth consecutive year being honored with recognition as a CRN Channel Chief. In 2019, Michelle led Star2Star in a number of new business development projects including partnering with Citrix to offer Star2Stars unique virtual workspace solution, StarDaaS, which offers the only Citrix Ready UCaaS available on the market. She also played a pivotal role in opening new sales opportunities through the CenturyLink Marketplace, championing better pricing strategies, streamlining Partner-Sales Rep engagement, enhancing Partner Marketing tools, and improving the Star2Star Partner Program overall.

I am grateful for this recognition and proud of the progress Star2Star has made in the past year, said Michelle. It is an incredible honor to be recognized for the work I do with a company I love. I look forward to another great year in 2020, which is shaping up to be our best year yet!

This recognition is well-deserved, said David Portnowitz, CMO of Star2Star Communications. She is an incredibly dedicated leader and wonderful colleague. I am not surprised that she continues to be distinguished as a channel leader and I congratulate her for this honor!

The IT channel is undergoing constant evolution to meet customer demands and changing business environments, said Bob Skelley, CEO of The Channel Company. CRNs Channel Chiefs work tirelessly, leading the industry forward through superior partner programs and strategies with a focus on helping solution providers transform and grow. Our team here at The Channel Company congratulates these outstanding individuals for their dedication to the channel.

CRNs 2020 Channel Chiefs list will be featured in the February 2020 issue of CRN Magazine and online at www.CRN.com/ChannelChiefs .

About Star2Star Communications

Star2Star offers unparalleled value, reliability, quality, and scalability. Star2Star unifies business communications including voice, video, fax, mobile, chat, and presence management. Star2Star's award-winning, patented Constellation Network overcomes the reliability and quality limitations of other communications technologies and enables companies to choose the deployment methodology that aligns best with their needs. For businesses who require high-quality voice, redundant networks for continuity, and ultra-reliable communications, Star2Star's StarCloud+ architecture offers the highest guaranteed SLAs in the industry at an affordable price. Businesses with less complexity, who seek the best communications capabilities for their employees and customers, can consider the StarCloud solution the optimal choice.

With a customer retention rate of 99.85%, Star2Star has been recognized by a multitude of leading analysts. Star2Star was named to the Forbes Most Promising Companies list, the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 five times, and the Inc. 500|5000 seven times. The company was also named by IHS as a Top 10 Hosted Business VoIP/UC Provider, ranked in the Frost Radar in the North American Hosted IP Telephony and UCaaS Industry report, and has been in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for UCaaS, Worldwide for the last six years.

Casey OLoughlin

coloughlin@star2star.com




Cervical cancer could be prevented with a single jab, according to new research.

Just one dose of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine reduces the risk of developing the disease by more than a third.

A single measure of the vaccine is as effective as multiple doses, concludes the study.

The ground-breaking new findings have been published in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

Tests were conducted on a sample of 133,082 women and girls, half of whom had been immunised with either one, two or three injections.

Mum told she doesn't have cancer after undergoing chemo and mastectomy Show all 10 1 /10 Mum told she doesn't have cancer after undergoing chemo and mastectomy Mum told she doesn't have cancer after undergoing chemo and mastectomy Sarah Boyle, 28, from Stoke-on-Trent, pictured with her sons, Teddy and Louis. Ms Boyle was told she was wrongly misdiagnosed with breast cancer at Royal Stoke University Hospital after already undergoing extensive chemotherapy, a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. Sarah Boyle/SWNS Mum told she doesn't have cancer after undergoing chemo and mastectomy Sarah Boyle after cancer misdiagnosis and treatment. Sarah Boyle/SWNS Mum told she doesn't have cancer after undergoing chemo and mastectomy Sarah Boyle/SWNS Mum told she doesn't have cancer after undergoing chemo and mastectomy Sarah Boyle/SWNS Mum told she doesn't have cancer after undergoing chemo and mastectomy Sarah Boyle/SWNS Mum told she doesn't have cancer after undergoing chemo and mastectomy Sarah Boyle, 28, with son Louis and husband Steven, 31. Sarah Boyle/SWNS Mum told she doesn't have cancer after undergoing chemo and mastectomy Sarah Boyle/SWNS Mum told she doesn't have cancer after undergoing chemo and mastectomy Sarah Boyle/SWNS Mum told she doesn't have cancer after undergoing chemo and mastectomy Sarah Boyle/SWNS Mum told she doesn't have cancer after undergoing chemo and mastectomy Royal Stoke University Hospital. Sarah Boyle/SWNS

Amongst those aged between 15 and 19 years, those who received one, two or three doses of the HPV vaccine had lower rates of pre-invasive cervical disease than adolescents who were unvaccinated.

Within five years, 2.65 per cent of unvaccinated teenagers of the same age range developed pre-invasive cervical disease, compared with 1.62, 1.99 and 1.86 per cent in the one, two and three-dose groups respectively.

The risk was 36, 28 and 34 percent lower, respectively, for the vaccinated teenagers.

The findings may help to achieve the World Health Organisation (WHOs) goal of eliminating the disease earlier than expected.

Report author Dr Ana Rodriguez, of The University of Texas, said: This study shows the impact of vaccinating at younger ages and its lasting long-term protection against cervical cancer.

It is important to educate parents about the need to vaccinate their children, she said.

Administering a single-dose vaccination campaign would be cheaper and easier than a multi-dose programme.

This could be especially effective for poorer countries who lack access to vaccines, but have the highest incidence of cervical cancer.

Over the past 10 years, schoolgirls across the UK have routinely been given the HPV vaccine when they are 12 or 13.

Cervical cancer is the second most common type of cancer among British women aged 35 and under.

Incidence rates for cervical cancer in the UK are highest amongst women aged 25 to 29, according to Cancer Research.

Recommended 11 of the biggest misconceptions about HPV

HPV lives in the skin around the genitals and can be passed on through sex and other intimate contact, even when using a condom.

The disease is responsible for more than 99 per cent of cervical cancers, as well as causing vaginal, vulval, anal and penile cancers, and genital warts.

According to the NHS, cervical cancer often has no symptoms in its early stages.

However, some of the most common symptoms can include abnormal vaginal bleeding, which can occur during or after sex, in between periods, or new bleeding after you have been through the menopause.

Other symptoms of cervical cancer may include pain and discomfort during sex, unusual or unpleasant vaginal discharge, and pain in your lower back or pelvis.
Eggs and lubricants were hurled at the car of leftist leader Kanhaiya Kumar by some unidentified persons in Jamui town on Monday when he was on way to neighbouring Nawada district to address a rally against CAA-NPR-NRC.

The incident occurred in the morning near a bus stand at Mahisauri chowk under town police station of Jamui when some unknown persons emerged from the crowd and threw eggs and lubricants (commonly known as 'mobil') targeting the vehicle in which the youth leader was travelling, police sources said.

Two Congress MLAs were with Kumar in the car. A few eggs hit the vehicle but since the black glasses of the car's doors were up it did not cause harm to anybody, the sources said.

The convoy carried its forward journey notwithstanding the unpleasant happening.

Jamui police station SHO Subhash Kumar Singh said no formal complaint has been received regarding the incident hence no FIR has been registered.

Kumar, a former president of JNU students union and who unsuccessfully contested as CPI nominee against BJP's firebrand leader Giriraj Singh from Begusarai in Lok Sabha polls last year, is criss-crossing Bihar as part of "Jan Gan Man Yatra" against CAA-NPR-NRC.

Kumar had stayed at circuit house on Sunday night after addressing a rally in Jamui and was on way to Nawada when the episode happened on Monday.

Notably Kumar's convoy was earlier also attacked in Supaul, Saran and Madhepura.

The yatra which began on January 30 last, had a rough start when the West Champaran district police had withdrawn permission for the rally at the eleventh hour.

Later addressing a rally at ITI ground in Nawada,Kumar slammed Narendra Modi government for pursuing politics of religion by bringing "ill-conceived" law like CAA.

The ex-JNUSU's president subsequently went to meet protesters at Bundelabagh who have been sitting on a dharna for past over a month against the contentious new citizenship law.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
People walk past a Victoria's Secret store in Barcelona. John Milner | LightRocket | Getty Images

L Brands is nearing a deal to sell its Victoria's Secret brand to private equity firm Sycamore Partners in a deal that could be announced as soon this week, people familiar with the matter told CNBC. It could not be immediately determined what leadership role L Brands CEO Les Wexner would have in such a deal. Wexner has been under mounting pressure due to his ties to the late sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein. He has also been criticized for the poor performance of the company's Victoria's Secret brand under his watch. L Brands also owns the stronger-performing Bath & Bodyworks personal care shop. CNBC first reported in November that L Brands was exploring a spin-off of Victoria's Secret or a "private investment in public equity." At the time, the company was exploring deals that would keep Wexner in place. The Wall Street Journal in January said Sycamore was weighing a deal to buy Victoria's Secret that could involve Wexner stepping down as CEO. The people, who requested anonymity because the negotiations are still confidential, cautioned terms of the deal are still being negotiated and could still yet fall apart or be delayed. L Brands and Sycamore declined to comment. Shares of L Brands are down nearly 10% over the past year.

For Sycamore, a deal to buy Victoria's Secret would be a bet on a dominant player in the large intimate apparel industry. Bras are a $7.2 billion category, according to NPD. Victoria's Secret, which also sells pajamas, perfumes, and other accessories, had roughly $7.4 billion in sales last year, according to Factset. Sycamore would also be betting that it can reinvigorate the Victoria's Secret brand after it has faced significant upheaval. The retailer has for years faced criticisms of out-of-date focus on sexy styles, while competitors like Third Love prioritized comfort. This November, it canceled its once-annual fashion show as viewership increasingly shunned the provocative show. More recently, the company has faced accusations of professional impropriety. Its former chief marketing officer, Ed Razek, was accused of inappropriate conduct, according to allegations in a recent report by The New York Times. Razek, who stepped down last year, is said to have been close to Wexner. An L Brands spokesperson told The New York Times the company "'is intensely focused' on corporate governance, workplace and compliance practices and that it had "made significant strides." Razek denied the allegations. And Wexner is among the highest-profile executives with ties to Epstein who has yet to remove himself from a public-facing role. Britain's Prince Andrew has said he will "step back from public duties for the foreseeable future" due to controversy over the British royal's past friendship with Epstein. Entrepreneur Joi Ito earlier last year resigned from his role as director of MIT Media Lab and several corporate boards after admitting he took money from Epstein. Wexner said in August he first met Epstein in the mid-1980s through friends who vouched for the financier. Epstein was a trustee of the Wexner Foundation, although Wexner has said Epstein had no executive responsibilities. In a letter to the foundation in August, Wexner said Epstein had misappropriated more than $46 million from Wexner and his family years ago. He only recently provided documents to federal prosecutors about the missing money. He has not explained why he did not pursue charges when he discovered the funds were missing.
YEREVAN.  The prosecution has filed a motion to arrest defendant Mutafyan at the Yerevan court of first instance during the trial in the case of Narek Mutafyan and Sargis Ohanjanyan, supporters of second President Robert Kocharyan of Armenia.

The court is in the consultation room.

The prosecutor noted that Mutafyan, while in freedom, could commit a new crime.

Judge Anna Danibekyan, who presides over Robert Kocharyan's case, is an injured party in this case, but is not attending the hearing.

Vahe Yeprikyan, the lawyer for the defendants, told Armenian News-NEWS.am that such a motion by the prosecutor is groundless and should be denied.

Sargis Ohanjanyan and Narek Mutafyan have been charged with asking Judge Danibekyan questions regarding Kocharyans case and video recording it on the street, which the investigative body assessed as obstruction of justice.

The court of first instance had granted the investigator's motion and ruled that they be arrested.

But the Criminal Court of Appeal had granted their attorneys appeal and ruled that they be released.
ONSTED, MI  The Muth family booked a cruise on Holland Americas Westerdam for sightseeing in the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.

Instead, the Muths, from Onsted, have been stuck at sea, as a majority of ports are denying the ship access due to concerns over the new coronavirus. While nobody on board has tested positive for the virus, there are concerns since the ship departed Feb. 1 from Hong Kong  which has 36 confirmed cases and one death, from the virus, per the Associated Press.

Were a cruise without any destinations, Steve Muth said.

The Holland America cruise is not under quarantine, unlike a Diamond Princess cruise ship thats stuck in the Pacific. More than 130 people have tested positive for the virus on that ship, per multiple news reports.

The only stop the Westerdam made was in Taiwan on Feb. 4. But local authorities forced the ship to leave one day into the two-day stop. All other ports denied the ship entry, per Holland America.

The cruise was supposed to end in Shanghai, China. Just days before embarking, officials changed the ending spot to Yokohama, Japan, in light of the U.S. Center for Disease Control issuing a Level 3 travel warning for China. The country has more than 40,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 900 deaths, per the AP.

From left to right, Steve Muth, Jane Muth, Kate Muth and her boyfriend Erik Deneau pose for a picture. The four are aboard the Holland America's Westerdam cruise ship.

On Feb. 6, Holland America officials learned Japan was going to deny port entry to the cruise.

If we had a ship full of sick people, then it might make sense, Muth said. But theres nobody sick on the ship, and they still dont want to take us.

After scrambling to find a port, officials announced Monday the cruise would end Feb. 13  two days early  in Thailand near Bangkok.

People aboard the ship had their temperatures taken on Monday, Feb. 10, Muth said, to make sure everybody's still healthy.

All 1,455 guests aboard are getting fully refunded for the trip, plus a 100-percent future cruise credit and getting all flights home rebooked or reimbursed, per company officials. The ship has enough fuel and food to make it to the end of the journey, a company spokesman said.

The Muth family has taken cruises before, but never in the Pacific, Muth said. Theyre ready to get off the ship, but Muth said this wont deter them from taking cruises in the future.

People are still trying to take advantage of the ships amenities, Muth said, although the trip wasnt designed for this much time at sea. He credits the cruise line for adapting to the issue.

"We've got the same comedian, going on four days, now," Muth said. "They had the crew actually kick in and do some dancing."

Being held up due to a health scare is ironic, Muth said, as his family decided to take the cruise as a celebration for his improved health. From a broken leg to a cancer scare to an operation on his vertebrae, Muth started returning to better health in recent weeks.

His daughter's graduation from Eastern Michigan University was another reason for the celebratory family trip.

People are making due, and doing as well as they can, Muth said. Its really not that bad. It is a cruise ship, after all.
Katie Holmes and Nina Agdal showed off their wildly different fashion senses at the Zimmerman NYFW show on Monday.

Katie, 41, looked business chic in a velvour coat with tie neck blouse, whereas Nina put on a vibrant display in an artistic mini dress with combat boots.

The ladies looked absolutely fabulous as they took in the newest collection from the Australian designer in the midst of New York Fashion Week.

Double trouble! Katie Holmes and Nina Agdal were contrasting visions of style at the Zimmermann fashion show on Monday

Katie flashed a soft and radiant smile as she posed in loose blue jeans and black heels with a chain purse slung over her shoulders.

She slicked her hair back into a sophisticated updo, allowing her radiant complexion to shine through.

While Katie opted for sophistication, Nina got every head turning in a vibrant dress from the designer's collection.

The dress was made especially playful with it's pleated skit and loose, colorful sleeves.

Style stand out: Agdal worked her magic in an artistic mini dress with black combat boots

Jean-ius! Holmes wore loose high waist jeans by Reformation, contrasting her otherwise business-ready look

Nina wore her glossy brunette tresses down in soft curls, while highlighting her radiant complexion with blush atop her dewy cheeks.

Seems the dress was quite the fan favorite.

In addition to Nina, Devon Windsor sported a nearly identical Zimmermann dress that got heads turning.

She liked it too! In addition to Nina, Devon Windsor sported a nearly identical Zimmermann dress that got heads turning

Unlike Nina's flirty mini, Devon's outfit was a long-sleeve crop top and coordinating maxi skirt that showcased her classic black boots.

The newest collection from the Sydney-based label saw models storming the runway in an array of feminine different frocks, ranging from whimsical to hippie chic.

Among the models working the runway were Candice Swanepoel and Carolyn Murphy.

Zimmermann is the creation of Australian sisters Nicky and Simone Zimmermann, who debuted their collection in 1991.

The label's aesthetic can be described as a mixture of romantic, ethereal, and feminine.

Not here to ruffle any feathers! Among the models working the runway was Candice Swanepoel

Pretty in pink! Carolyn Murphy also hit the runway in a gorgeous and whimsical ensemble

Walk this way! The newest collection from the Sydney-based label saw models storming the runway in an array of feminine different frocks, ranging from whimsical to hippie chic

Pals: InStyle Editor-in-Chief Laura Brown rocked a green jumpsuit while hanging out with Katie Holmes in the front row

All smiles: Devon and Nina beamed while showing off their busy multicolored looks
A high-level North Korean diplomat who defected to South Korea in 2016 will join the latters main opposition party and run in April parliamentary elections, said party officials.

Thae Yong Ho, former minister at the North Korean Embassy in London and the highest-level diplomat to defect, will run as part of the conservative opposition party Liberty Korea Party in a Seoul constituency on 15 April.

Kim Hyong-o, head of a party committee on candidate selections, told local reporters: His courage and decision will give hope to North Korean refugees and other South and North Korean people who are wishing for genuine unification.

If elected, Mr Thae would become the second North Korean defector to win a seat in South Koreas single-chamber National Assembly.

Former North Korean Cho Myung-Chul was the first and served as a representative for a predecessor of the Liberty Korea Party from 2012 to 2016.

Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un rides a horse during snowfall in Mount Paektu in this image released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on 16 October 2019 Reuters Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un visits the newly built Pyongyang Orphans' Primary School on 2 February 2017 AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un inspects a women's company under Unit 5492 of the Korean People's Army in November 2019 AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un inspects the test-fire of intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-14 at an undisclosed location in July 2017 AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un celebrates the successful test-fire of the intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-14 at an undisclosed location in July 2017 AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un inspects a potato at the Samjiyon Potato Factory in North Korea in October 2018 AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un rides a horse through a forest in this image released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on 16 October 2019 EPA Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un inspects a block of frozen fish at a processing facility in North Korea in November 2018 Reuters Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un celebrates the succeful launch of a strategic submarine-launched ballistic missile in August 2016 AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un shakes hands with Donald Trump as they meet for the first time at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore in June 2018 Reuters Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump share a glance as they meet in the Demilitarised Zone in Panmunjon, Korea in June 2019 AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un inspects mushrooms at Pyongyang Mushroom Farm AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un inspects a super-large multiple rocket launcher ahead of a test in September 2019 Reuters Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un inspects an apple farm in South Hwanghae Province in September 2017 AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un inspects an apple farm in South Hwanghae Province in September 2017 AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un inspects dental wares at a newly built factory in June 2017 AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un visits Farm No 1116 in September 2017 AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un visits a motor factory in November 2017 AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un rides a horse during snowfall in Mount Paektu in this image released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on 16 October 2019 AFP/Getty Kim Jong-un: Power in pictures Kim Jong-un inspects the Command of the Strategic Force of the Korean People's Army at an undisclosed location in August 2017 AFP/Getty

Mr Thae went to live in South Korea with his family in 2016 and has been a vocal figure in his criticism of his former countrys authoritarian government.

He is the most senior North Korean diplomat to defect, a rarity among senior officials. Prior to him, the highest-level North Korean to seek asylum in the neighbouring country was Hwan Jang-yop, a senior ruling Workers Party official.

Hwang once tutored premier Kim Jong-Uns father, the late Kim Jong Il, and died in 2010.

Mr Thae told reporters his decision to flee the hermit kingdom was because he didnt want his children to live miserable lives there and he was disappointed in Kim.

When Kim Jong-un first came to power, I was hopeful that he would make reasonable and rational decisions to save North Korea from poverty, but I soon fell into despair watching him purging officials for no proper reasons, he said during his first foreign news conference in 2017.

North Korea was in turn scathing in its criticism of Mr Thae, calling him human scum and accusing him of embezzling government money, leaking confidential secrets and sexually assaulting a child.

Additional reporting by agencies
Workplaces, schools remain deserted in several cities as China works to contain new coronavirus.

Beijing, China  After authorities extended the Lunar New Year holiday by 10 days in an attempt to contain the new coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 900 people and infected more than 40,000, most provinces in China ended the official holiday on Monday.

However, amid concerns of a potential uptick in cases as people return to work, the official ending of the holiday did not lead to the widespread reopening of businesses as the entire country has remained on high alert.

Most companies that can function with staff working remotely have told employees to work from home. Firms that require face time with staff have to obtain permission from local governments in order to reopen their businesses.

In the latest notice issued by the State Council, the government encouraged companies to summon their employees back to work in time-staggered batches, to avoid a bulk of people showing up at the same time.





Anxiously waiting

Angxi Zou, a lawyer who works at a law firm in Chengdu, said his firm had already extended the holiday four times, most recently on Monday, since the beginning of the outbreak.

We were originally supposed to go back to work on January 31, but then it got pushed back to February 3, and then again until February 10, Zou said. And again, yesterday my company told me that the date had been further postponed until February 17.

Zou is not alone. Across China, large companies such as Tencent, the parent company of WeChat, the biggest online messaging app in China, have extended their holiday until February 17 as well.

I have been working from home for a week now, and it looks like Im stuck here for at least another week, Cecilia Young, an app developer at a Shenzhen-based tech company, said.





For employees who have returned to office, minimising the risk of transmitting the virus has been a key priority: Staff are taking turns to go to the canteen, companies are avoiding holding meetings and masks are a must.

We try our best to make sure this virus doesnt get transmitted further, but sometimes you cant help worrying: what if I caught the virus on the subway? Or what if I touched something with the virus on it and then touched my face? said Yuzhu Zhao, a financial analyst who works at a securities company which called its employees back to the office on February 10.

However, the majority of the workforce in China is employed in informal sectors, such as construction. Many of those workers have struggled since their daiy income dried up and are anxiously waiting to return to work.

According to the notice issued by the State Council, only the businesses essential to the welfare of the general population are allowed to reopen. That includes construction work for public institutions, such as hospitals, medical equipment manufacturing factories, and express delivery. As such, the vast majority of the informal sectors and small businesses remain closed.

A night view of a plaza that is normally packed with mall-goers, but now due to the effective lockdown across China, most places are empty [Shawn Yuan/Al Jazeera]

At least a week

Haifeng, a fire equipment manufacturing factory based in Xian, said it had submitted a proposal to reopen the business twice, but that both times it was rejected on the grounds that its staff provide non-essential work in the light of the continuing coronavirus outbreak.

I have about 150 workers in this factory and they were supposed to come back to work a few days ago, but now because of the virus, we probably cant go back to business until at least a week from now, Yuyi Feng, the owner of the factory said.

Schools were also due to welcome back students in recent days, but the epidemic has forced most schools to postpone return dates. In most provinces, Offices of Education have issued notice that schools should delay the start of the new term until March at the earliest. And universities such as Beijing Foreign Studies University have even pushed the return date to May 1.

As the country tries to strike a balance between efforts to contain the outbreak and not substantially impeding the economy development, more megacities in China have introduced limits on peoples movement.

Chengdu, the biggest city in southwest China, announced it would increase movement restrictions and prohibit anyone who does not live in a specific neighbourhood from entering.

Public transport suspended

Chongqing, one of four municipalities directly under central government control, launched a city-wide concentration-like management, including distributing coupon-like stickers to their residents and allowing only one person per household to get out their houses once every other day to get groceries.

Chongqing had already suspended public transport a few days ago, Nick Liu, a Chongqing resident, said. We saw the news of Wuhan being sealed off, but its still quite surreal to see Chongqing taking similar measures, too.

This is getting serious, and Im starting to think maybe the government is not disclosing enough information because these measures are too drastic for the numbers we know, Liu added.

Chongqing and Chengdu are two of the most recent urban centres to join a list of approximately 80 which have put the entire city under effective lockdown.

In addition to restricting the movement of residents, some cities have closed themselves off to arrivals.

Shanghai, the biggest city in China, has asked people who do not have a job in Shanghai to cancel their trips to the city. Wuxi, a highly developed city next to Shanghai that hosts hundreds of thousands of workers from other provinces, announced yesterday that it would turn away any person who comes from any of the seven provinces with the highest number of infections, including Hubei, the epicentre of the outbreak.
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While Queen Elizabeth II actress Olivia Colman hit Hollywood on Sunday night to present the Best Actor gong at the 92nd Academy Awards, her The Crown co-star Emma Corrin was busy shooting New York City scenes for the Netflix show's fourth season.

But Emma remained on home turf to recreate the moment Princess Diana visited the Big Apple in 1989, as the scenes were shot on the streets of Manchester, dressed to replicate Brooklyn.

Emma, 24, looked sensational in a champagne dress with golden beaded detailing - a replica of the Victor Edelstein gown the Princess Of Wales wore to the Brooklyn Academy Of Music on her visit on February 3 of that year.

Regal: The Crown star Emma Corrin [L] was busy shooting New York City scenes for the Netflix show's fourth season on Sunday, emulating Princess Diana's visit in the late 1980s [R]

The top of the gown featured a corset design and the satin skirt swept dramatically to the ground.

Emma's blonde locks were styled slightly longer than when Diana - who died in a car accident in Paris in 1997 - made the visit in 1989.

She sported the same delicate touches of make-up, however, and wore a pair of pearl drop earrings, as Diana did when she attended the Welsh National Opera Gala production of Falstaff.

The Crown scenes saw Emma arriving at the event and waving to the crowds outside, swarmed by security and photographers.

On location: Emma remained on home turf to recreate the moment Princess Diana visited the Big Apple in 1989, as the scenes were shot on the streets of Manchester, dressed to replicate Brooklyn

Chic: Emma, 24, looked sensational in a champagne dress with golden beaded detailing [R] - a replica of the Victor Edelstein gown the Princess Of Wales wore to the Brooklyn Academy Of Music on her visit in 1989 [L]

Manchester or New York? Yellow cabs were seen on the streets as part of the NYC set-up

Royal wave: Emma smiled and waved to the crowds in the streets as part of the scenes

Like for like: The top of the gown featured a corset design and the satin skirt swept dramatically to the ground

Meet and greet: Diana attended the Welsh National Opera Gala production of Falstaff during her visit to New York City

During filming: Manchester was transformed into the streets of the Big Apple as filming took place in the city centre, with the Metrolink being overhauled into the Subway

I saw the sign: Elsewhere, the streets were lined with tables of props and an old fashioned bus could be seen with the words New York on the front. People brandished signs in support - and against - of Princess Diana. This episode is being helmed by director Jessica Hobbs

In the scenes, Diana seemed to be lapping up the attention, twirling around, waving and shooting kind smiles at the adoring public.

Prince Charles - who is played in The Crown currently by Josh O'Connor - was not present for the visit, but the pair were still married at the time. They did not split until 1992, and divorced in 1996.

The night at the opera was a charity gala held in Diana's honour, which drew a black-tie crowd of 860 guests, among them scores of notable New Yorkers.

The princess sat in the royal box, which the New York Times wrote at the time 'was bedecked with swags of purple and red satin and greenery'.

Emulating: Emma's blonde locks were styled slightly longer than when Diana - who died in a car accident in Paris in 1997 - made the visit in 1989. She sported the same delicate touches of make-up, however, and wore a pair of pearl drop earrings, as Diana did

Centre of attention: The Crown scenes saw Emma arriving at the event and waving to the crowds outside, swarmed by security and photographers

In the scenes: Diana seemed to be lapping up the attention, twirling around, waving and shooting kind smiles at the adoring public

In real life: As the event took place, hundreds of protesters took to the streets outside. The crowd protested British rule in Northern Ireland. The demonstrators played bagpipes and chanted 'Princess Di go home'

Best seat in the house: The night at the opera was a charity gala held in Diana's honour, which drew a black-tie crowd of 860 guests, among them scores of notable New Yorkers. The princess sat in the royal box, which the New York Times wrote at the time 'was bedecked with swags of purple and red satin and greenery'

The guests in the box 'played musical chairs... with five taking turns sitting next to the princess while nine others rotated around the box' and the audience stood when the orchestra played God Save The Queen.

The gala was a $1,000-a-ticket affair, which benefited the Brooklyn Academy, and saw luminaries from society, business, publishing and politics in attendance. Donald and then-wife Ivana Trump were in attendance.

It was reported at the time that, due to royal protocol requiring the audience to be seated prior to the arrival of the princess, many of the guests arrived at 5PM, paranoid about not getting to their seats before the curtain was due to go up at 6PM.

Transformation: A Metro entrance, which would have previously featured routes around Manchester, was rebranded as 23 Street Station Subway which linked to Manhattan

Lavish: The gala was a $1,000-a-ticket affair, which benefited the Brooklyn Academy, and saw luminaries from society, business, publishing and politics in attendance

Click flash! Following the performance, Diana went to the World Financial Center for supper in the vaulted glass Winter Garden where she dined on mixed hors d'oeuvres, breast of capon and tricolored sherbet crowned with spun sugar

The New York Times also reported: 'During the opera's intermissions, 200 corporate patrons were invited to one of two receptions and rewarded with a sip of champagne and a closer look at the Princess. Later, they were bombarded with questions from other guests'

Undercover: Emma was protected by an umbrella as the crew filmed in Manchester during the UK's Storm Ciara

Street life: It was back to the 80s for the cast and crew of the The Crown - and the residents of Manchester

As the event took place, hundreds of protesters took to the streets outside. The crowd protested British rule in Northern Ireland. The demonstrators played bagpipes and chanted 'Princess Di go home'.

The New York Times also reported: 'During the opera's intermissions, 200 corporate patrons were invited to one of two receptions and rewarded with a sip of champagne and a closer look at the Princess. Later, they were bombarded with questions from other guests.

'''Nothing much happened,'' Mrs. Farkas said as she drifted out of the reception munching an almond. ''It was basically Princess Diana walking around, looking gorgeous and being welcomed.'''

Following the performance, Diana went to the World Financial Center for supper in the vaulted glass Winter Garden where she dined on mixed hors d'oeuvres, breast of capon and tricolored sherbet crowned with spun sugar.

Centre of attention: The princess' trip to NYC was a three-day stay, and on Saturday Emma had portrayed the moment the Princess of Wales visited the Henry Street Settlement

Cover those road signs! Old-fashioned cars were used to portray the busy New York roads

Across the pond: Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth II actress Olivia Colman hit Hollywood on Sunday night to present the Best Actor gong at the 92nd Academy Awards

The princess' trip to NYC was a three-day stay, and on Saturday Emma had portrayed the moment the Princess of Wales visited the Henry Street Settlement.

In 1987, two years before Diana visited, Henry Street was designated the official provider of AIDS Mental Health Services for the Lower East Side by the Department of Mental Health.

After Diana's night at the opera, she visited the pediatric AIDS unit at Harlem Hospital the next day, before flying home to London.
You are here: China

After 12 hours of continuous driving, seven emergency medical vehicles arrived in Wuhan, along with 60 medical workers from south China's Guangdong Province.







After another six hours, a tent hospital was erected in the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak and began operation.





The small-scale hospital equipped with portable medical devices can meet basic clinic requirements, and "can operate on its own for seven to 10 days without local support," said Zhang Gangqing, leader of the medical team.





According to the provincial health commission, Guangdong has sent over 1,100 medical workers to Hubei since late January.





As of Sunday, incomplete statistics showed that various sectors of Guangdong society have donated money and materials worth nearly 2.5 billion yuan (360 million U.S. dollars), including 14 million masks, 210,000 protective and biohazard suits, 210,000 goggles and over 2.1 million medical gloves.




BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 10

By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:

Nouri Petrochemical Company has fulfilled its production potential by 95% from January 21 through February 4, 2020, in the Pars Special Energy Economic Zone (PSEEZ) in southern Iran's Bushehr province, the companys Managing Director Taqi Sanei said, Trend reports referring to the Iranian Shana News Agency.

During these date, the company's potential production reached 110 percent. Although the company's production forecast was 90% and to this date exceeded 5%, Sanei said.

It is forecasted to achieve 95% of production potential and 105% of production plans by March 21, 2020, the managing director said.

Sixty percent of the products produced by Iran's Nouri Petrochemical Company are exported and 40% sold on the stock exchange. The products are exported to Europe, East and South Asia, the countries of the Persian Gulf and the Indian Peninsula. The company produces 1.2 million tons of paraxylene, benzene and orthoxylene a year and 3.3 million tons of heavy and light hydrocarbons, heavy aromatic, LPG, Pentan, light naphtha. The plant produces over 4.7 million tons of fuel per year, 4.5 million tons of which is gas condensate and is supplied from factories in the South Pars Gas Complex.

It is expected to commission a heavy distillation project with the investment of about $110-120 million. Commissioning of this project will contribute to production of crude low-sulfur fuel oil needed for ships.
She never fails to impress with her classic beauty and style.

And Gemma Arterton looked sensational in a teal satin jumpsuit when attending the Platform Presents Poetry Gala after-party at Isabel in London on Sunday.

The Murder Mystery actress, 34, exuded glamour in the elegant jumpsuit that featured a twist front halterneck which drew attention to her svelte frame and toned limbs.

Gorgeous: Gemma Arterton looked sensational in a satin teal jumpsuit when attending the Platform Presents Poetry Gala after party at Isabel in London on Sunday

She accentuated her pretty features with a dewy make-up palette with cat eyeliner.

The Quantum of Solace star wore her brunette tresses swept away from her face into an effortless up-do with her trademark fringe left loose.

She posed alongside British actress, Alice Eve at the glitzy soiree.

Sophisticated: The Murder Mystery actress, 34, exuded glamour in the elegant jumpsuit that featured a twist front halterneck which drew attention to her svelte frame and toned limbs

Up close: The Quantum of Solace star wore her brunette tresses swept away from her face into an effortless up-do with her trademark fringe left loose

The 38-year-old actress opted for black leather shorts paired with a burgundy button up jacket.

She wore a Chanel bag across her body and kept her blonde tresses in a blunt bob.

The suave Jeremy Irvine, 29, looked his usual dapper self in a classic black polo neck.

Stylish: She posed alongside British actress, Alice Eve. The 38-year-old opted for black leather shorts paired with a burgundy button up jacket

Blonde bombshells: Also there was Glee star Dianna Agron. The 33-year-old stunned in a floor length yellow kimono style robe that featured yellow accents

The War Horse actor was one of the many A List names in attendance at the sophisticated afterparty, which also included Glee star Dianna Agron.

The 33-year-old actress stunned in a floor length yellow kimono style robe that featured yellow accents.

She styled her honey hued tresses into bouncy curls for the event.

At the Isabel Mayfair reception, actors sipped on Veuve Clicquot Champagne and enjoyed an array of Casamigos cocktails throughout the evening including the classic Casamigos Margarita and the Casa Platform Presents.

Hunky: Jeremy Irvine, 29, looked his usual dapper self in a classic black polo neck

Dapper: The War Horse actor was one of the many A List names in attendance at the sophisticated afterparty

Gemma's outing came after she graced the cover of Harper's Bazaar in December.

In an accompanying interview the actress explained that she believes women have been 'pitted against each other' in the film industry because of the 'fewer opportunities' afforded to them.

'I think the film industry has definitely changed for the better  its generally very supportive.

Chic: Actress Fuchsia Sumner, 37, looked edgy in a white ribbed jumper paired with snakeskin boots

'Ive always said, the only reason women are pitted against each other is because they have fewer opportunities, so they feel threatened.

'Theres more opportunity today, and in my experience, when there are lots of women together in a crew or cast, its great.'

The starlet grew up in Gravesend, which she also addressed. She said: 'Its such a taboo to talk about, but I still feel very working-class. Of course, Im not any more  Ive moved up to London and I have nice stuff  but I am in my soul.'

She will soon be seen in action-comedy film The Kings Man - a prequel to Kingsman, starring alongside Ralph Fiennes.
By Trend

The parliamentary elections were held in terms of democracy in Azerbaijan, Member of the observation mission of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), Bulgarian MP Petar Kanev, said.

"This is my third visit to Baku, I arrived to participate as an observer, Kanev added, Trend reports on Feb. 10.

The voters were very interested in these elections despite the cold weather. I was observing the voting process in almost 40 polling stations and saw that the elections were transparent. I congratulate the Azerbaijani people on free and democratic elections."

Member of the BSEC PA observation mission, Georgian MP Ramaz Nikolaishvili also stressed that the mission members were observing the democratic elections on Feb. 9.

The parliamentary elections were held in Azerbaijan on February 9. Some 1,314 candidates were registered within the early parliamentary elections.

The candidacies of 246 people were nominated by 19 political parties, 1,057 were self-nominated, 11 - by initiative groups.

Twenty-one percent accounted for female candidates while 79 percent  male candidates.

As many as 5,426 permanent polling stations operated in 125 constituencies of the country.

Some 883 international observers and 77,790 local observers were monitoring the voting process. Among the local observers, 35,152 were representatives of political parties. International observers represented 58 countries and 59 organizations.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
CHICAGO, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Green Courte Partners, LLC announced today that its fourth investment fund, Green Courte Real Estate Partners IV, LLC and its affiliates ("GCP" or the "Company"), acquired its eleventh senior living community, The Aspens at Mariposa Point, a 202-unit property located in Gilbert, Arizona. GCP, with its wholly owned senior living operator, True Connection Communities ("TCC"), is continuing to build a high-quality portfolio of active adult and independent living communities to meet the growing needs of older Americans seeking an active lifestyle. The newly constructed community was acquired by GCP on January 30, 2020, after being delivered earlier that month. The acquisition will increase the GCP/TCC portfolio to over 1,800 units.

GCP will convert the community from its current active adult offering to a full-service independent living community. With the conversion, GCP will make a number of significant enhancements to the community, including expanding the dining area, modifying the existing kitchen, and adding a third-party-operated home health office. The conversion and enhancements will position the property to be one of the most attractive independent living communities in the Phoenix market.

Matt Pyzyk, Managing Director of Acquisitions at GCP, said, "The Aspens at Mariposa Point is a strong addition to our rapidly growing senior living portfolio and represents our entry into the Phoenix metropolitan market. We were pleased to have the opportunity to acquire this community in an off-market transaction due to our established relationship with the seller."

Jim Pusateri, Chief Executive Officer of TCC and Managing Director at GCP, added, "We are excited to expand our unique model to the rapidly growing Phoenix market. This acquisition will be a perfect platform for us to continue leveraging technology and innovation to provide an exceptional customer experience throughout our senior living portfolio."

About Green Courte Partners, LLC

Green Courte Partners, LLC is a Chicago-based private equity real estate investment firm focused on building industry-leading companies within niche real estate sectors, including near-airport parking facilities, land-lease communities, and active adult/independent senior living properties. The firm combines focused investment strategies with a disciplined approach to transaction execution, operations, and asset management. Green Courte's goal is to invest in high-quality real estate assets that will generate attractive risk-adjusted returns over a long-term holding period. For additional information, please visit Green Courte's website at www.GreenCourtePartners.com

SOURCE Green Courte Partners, LLC

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 02:00:00|Editor: yan

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RAMALLAH, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye announced Monday the Palestinian Authority (PA) will file cases against Israel before the international courts for banning the Palestinians from exporting their agricultural products.

Ishtaye's announcement was made in a press statement after he chaired the weekly cabinet meeting that was held in Ramallah.

"The Israeli measure of banning the Palestinian exports is illegal and causes loss to the Palestinian exporting companies," Ishtaye said.

He added that his government has initiated a series of measures to face the Israeli decision.

"The government notified our ambassadors all over the world to address the world's governments to condemn these measures and exert pressures (on Israel)," said Ishtaye.

The Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture has announced earlier that the decision of Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett to ban Palestinian exports had come into effect on Sunday.

The ministry said that the Israeli decision to ban the exports of vegetables, fruits, dates and olive oil is political and was made in response to the PA decision of banning the imports of Israeli calves.

In response to the Israeli decision of banning the Palestinians from exporting their products, the PA banned the import of Israeli products such as vegetables, fruits, juices, soda and mineral waters.
The 43-player mutual fund industry witnessed inflows of Rs 7,548 crore in equity schemes in January, up 70 percent from December.

According to the data on the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), equity schemes had reported inflows of Rs 4,432 crore in December.

Barring, contra fund category and dividend yield in the equity schemes category, all categories witnessed inflows in the month of January.

In January, the contra fund saw outflows of Rs 735 crore, while dividend yields reported outflows worth Rs 63 crore of outflows.

Within the equity schemes, mid-cap funds category witnessed the highest inflows worth Rs 1,798 crore.

Fund managers attributed the inflows in the mid-cap space to attractive valuations and bottoming concerns in the mid-cap category.

Mid-caps and smallcaps have seen significant price correction in the last 2 years and we are seeing attractive valuations and bottoming of growth concerns in the mid-cap space, said a fund manager from a private fund house.

On the debt funds, credit risk funds continued to suffer with outflows of Rs 1,215 crore in January 2020 as against outflows of Rs 1,191 crore in December 2019.

"Credit default events in NBFCs are taking a toll on the credit risk funds. Investors feel more money will be lost if there is no recovery from the beleaguered companies. So investors are pulling out the money," said a head of fixed income from a private fund house.

The back-to-back downgrade of debt instruments from IL&FS and Dewan Housing Finance (DHFL), Reliance Home Finance by rating agencies has hurt credit risk funds since the troubles surfaced in June 2018.

On the other hand, in the same category, liquid funds that are used by companies to park surplus cash witnessed inflows of Rs 59,682 in January compared to outflows Rs Rs 71,158 crore in December.

Overall, the AUM of industry rose to 27.85 lakh crore in January as against 26.54 lakh crore a month ago.

" While, large-cap flows are steady, the inflows have been mostly in small-cap and mid-cap funds which have been heavily promoted by fund houses on the basis of a reversion trade. This augurs well for retail investor sentiment in the country, " Gaurav Rastogi, Founder & CEO, Kuvera.in.
West versus East, conservatives against liberals, pro-choice and anti-abortion, climate change activists arguing with deniers  in these angry and polarizing times, how can people find common ground?

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/2/2020 (701 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

West versus East, conservatives against liberals, pro-choice and anti-abortion, climate change activists arguing with deniers  in these angry and polarizing times, how can people find common ground?

Former radio personality Larry Updike says one way is to "rediscover what pluralism means, and how it works in practice."

Farmer, op-ed writer and self-described liberal Will Braun thinks people who feel strongly about an issue should try harder to understand those whose views they "think are nuts."

Mediator Sandra Koop said she thinks people could get along better by not "so desperately seeking agreement" that we "overlook a much more important element of understanding."

Updike, Braun and Koop will share their thoughts about dealing with polarization at an event titled Us and Them: How did we become so polarized?, at Canadian Mennonite University.

The event, at 7 p.m. tonight, is part of the universitys Face2Face conversation series.

"So many people today live in their own echo chambers, politically, religiously and in larger society," said Terry Schellenberg, vice-president external at CMU.

"They find it hard to engage in meaningful ways with people who see things differently. More than ever, we all need to listen well, befriending people who see things otherwise, to listen deeply and well."

Schellenberg hopes the event will "spark new conversations, provide new insights and prompt people to look for opportunities to engage others they differ with, not just get angry and decide to take our ball and go to our own playground."

Thats a goal for Braun.

"Ive long been a lefty liberal, but about 15 years ago I just got weary of the anger and self-righteousness I saw in other activists, and in myself," he said.

Seeking to understand people who see things differently from him is not only a valuable endeavour, "Its a transformative spiritual discipline. It softens you, adds a touch of humility, brings you into a realm beyond your own suffocating rightness... there is great creative potential when those people can come together in a healthy way."

Koop has been involved in helping people have difficult conversations in many contexts since the 1990s  religious, political and personal.

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.

"Time and again, I have seen the power of dialogue," she said.

"When we work at building understanding as the primary goal in polarized discourse, we have the potential to transform both the conversation and the relationship regardless of whether we agree or not."

Adds Updike, "We need to rediscover intellectual humility, and a diversity that includes viewpoint diversity."

Face2Face is an initiative of CMU to promote public conversations on issues at the intersection of faith and life. Recent conversations have focused on settler-Indigenous relations, welcoming newcomers, and death and dying.

For more information, call the university at 204-487-3300 or visit www.cmu.ca/face2face.

faith@freepress.mb.ca
Expressing surprise that West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra's budget speech was telecast live but the state governor's address on the inaugural day of the session was not, Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday wondered whether it was some kind of "censorship".

He termed this as "intolerance" to the constitutional head of the state, and expressed confidence that the media will not be a "silent spectator" to the whole episode.

Mitra presented the budget of the Mamata Banerjee government on Monday, while Dhankhar addressed the Assembly at the beginning of the session on Friday.

"State Finance Minister Dr Mitra's budget speech was live while the address of the Governor under Article 176, an important occasion, in sharp deviation to practice was not allowed live coverage and media was also kept away. Leave to judgment of the people of the State !" Dhankhar said on his twitter handle.

He said this is of critical consequence for media.

"Is this acceptable expression of ideas? Is it not intolerance of (sic) the constitutional head ? Is it not a kind of censorship? I am sure the media and public would not be just silent spectators," he said in the micro-blogging site.

The governor averted a showdown by not deviating from the speech prepared by the Trinamool Congress government for his customary address to the Assembly at the beginning of the budget session on Friday.

Dhankhar had earlier said that as the constitutional head of the state, he was within his right to make suggestions and hoped those would be incorporated in his speech.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As the Long Beach Unified School District commits to keeping classes in-person, the city a new testing site opens for LBUSD employees and students only. The city is also ramping up its own testing efforts with a new 3,000-person per...
The largest firework in the world, weighing almost 2,800 pounds, lit the skies over a winter festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, on Saturday.

The firework shell, which measured 62 inches, a little more than five feet in diameter, was set off from a 26-foot tube buried in Emerald Mountain, overlooking the city.

Explosives sent the rocket into the air at a speed of 300 miles-per-hour, rising almost a mile up before exploding to mark the finale of the Night Extravaganza on Howelson Hill, billed as the signature event of the Steamboat Springs Winter Carnival.

The largest firework in the world is seen rising over a winter festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, on Saturday

The firework is seen rising about Steamboat. Its shell, which measured 62 inches, or a little more than five feet in diameter, was set off from a 26-foot tube buried in Emerald Mountain, overlooking the city

Explosives sent the rocket into the air at a speed of 300 miles-per-hour, rising almost a mile up

The initial explosion is seen, marking the finale of the Winter Carnival Night Extravaganza

The firework is seen in full bloom just after peaked above Emerald Mountain

The last of the firework dissipates over Emerald Mountain as an official from the Guinness World Record book was on hand to present Steamboat Fireworks with an official certificate marking the milestone

An official from the Guinness World Record book was on hand to present Steamboat Fireworks, the team behind the fireworks launch, with an official certificate marking the milestone.

'We invested hundreds of hours into this project, and we anticipate that we will enjoy the satisfaction of this success for months to come,' said project manager and financier Tim Borden, in a press release.

Borden accepted the certificate and thanked his team members: Ed MacArthur, Jim Widmann and Eric Krug, who were successful a second time around after a failed launch in 2019.

'They analyzed the data compiled from the group's 2019 failure, and they made a couple of significant changes to the structure of the shell and the lift inside the mortar,' the release says.

An official from Guinness World Records presented a certificate to Tim Borden (center) and his team at Steamboat Fireworks, which was successful the second time around after a failed launch in 2019

A picture of the shell of the largest firework in the world before it was detonated Saturday

The former world record for the largest firework was set in the United Arab Emirates in 2018 with a 2,397-pound shell.

Revellers brought in 2018 with the previous record-holder, which was the centerpiece of New Year celebrations at the time.

Footage from the night showed the 56-inch-wide firework soaring into the sky and exploding into spectacular color above Al Marjan Island.

The former world record for the largest firework was set in the United Arab Emirates in 2018 with a 2,397-pound shell (pictured)

Revellers brought in 2018 with the previous record-holder in the United Arab Emirates, which was the centerpiece of New Year celebrations at the time

The pyrotechnics was entered into the Guinness World Records for the 'largest aerial firework shell', according to GlobalNews.

As the crowd looked on, the record-setting firework slowly made its way into the night sky above the emirate of Ras-al-Khaimah.

After climbing and trailing sparks for 15 seconds, it burst in a flash of brilliant white light to the delight of the spectators far below.

The explosion seemed to hang in the air for a moment, with streams of bright light pointing towards the ground.
The head of Iran's nuclear program said Monday the U.S. killing of a high-ranking Iranian general has weakened the fight against the Islamic State extremist group in the region.

Ali Akbar Salehi told a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna that last month's drone strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani showed the US administration has not yet come to its senses in recognizing the realities on the ground.

Washington targeted Soleimani, who headed Iran's expeditionary Quds Force, saying that he was planning attacks on Americans.

In his role, Soleimani was also critical to efforts to mobilize militias in Iraq to fight the Islamic State group, and Salehi called him the most instrumental element in combating ISIS.

Tehran retaliated for the killing of Soleimani by launching a barrage of missiles on on two Iraqi military bases hosting American troops. There were no fatalities. Salehi reiterated, however, that Iran was prepared to do more.

Be it known as my country strongly retaliated once, it will never hesitate to strike back when necessary, he said.

The U.S. last month added new sanctions on Salehi's Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and on Salehi himself, freezing any assets the director had within U.S. jurisdiction.

In Vienna, U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette focused his remarks on Iran's nuclear program, saying Tehran was still not providing the IAEA with answers about the discovery of uranium particles in a warehouse near the Iranian capital.

We call on Iran to cooperate fully with IAEA in monitoring and inspecting Iran's facilities, and in addressing all of the agency's questions, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
AAP leader Sanjay Singh alleged that EVMs were being taken from polling booths in an unauthorised manner

Hours after most exit polls predicted a comfortable win for the AAP in the 8 February Delhi Assembly elections, the party's leader Sanjay Singh alleged that EVMs were being taken from polling booths in an "unauthorised manner", without the mandatory protection of reserve police.

Singh tweeted two videos showing separate instances of flouting of the rules of transporting EVMs. "Does the reserve (forces) not go with the EVM? This official was caught with an EVM by people at Saraswati Vidya Niketan School in Babarpur Assembly constituency," read the tweet with one of the videos.

In another video, EVMs are being carried across a street, even though the location was not near any strongroom. "The EC should also probe where these EVMs are being taken. There are no centres nearby, another tweet read. The Rajya Sabha MP said that such incidents were reported in Babarpur and Shahdara.

He questioned how EVMs reached the officers when they should have been sealed and taken straight to strongrooms.

          EVM            pic.twitter.com/zQz7Ibaoe7  Sanjay Singh AAP (@SanjayAzadSln) February 8, 2020

Later, Singh told ANI that he, along with other AAP leaders, including deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, Gopal Rai and Prashant Kishor, held a meeting with incumbent Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. He claimed that he received information of poll officials trying to take away the EVM at several places in an unauthorised manner.

However, the Election Commission denied any irregularities in the protocols followed in transporting the EVMs. "All EVMs that were used for the polls have been accounted for. EVMs have been stored safely with police protection in centres and party agents are also allowed to stay outside the centre if they wish," an official told NDTV.

On the day of the election on Saturday, voting had not begun until 10 am at the C10 block booth in Yamuna Vihar due to a technical issue in the EVM. Apart from Yamuna Vihar, the EVM was also not functioning at Sardar Patel Vidyalaya booth number 114 in New Delhi constituency.

After the announcement of exit polls, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari had written on Twitter, Please save this tweet from me. The BJP will form government in the city with 48 seats. Please do not look for excuses and blame the EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines). Meanwhile, Singh suggested that party workers and MLAs are deployed outside strongrooms to ensure that EVMs are not tampered with.

Counting of votes for the 70-seats Delhi Assembly polls will take place on 11 February.
Former one-term Republican congressman and radio host Joe Walsh recently withdrew from running against Trump in the Republican primary. He apparently got the message that his candidacy was dead when the Iowa caucus crowd responded with raucous cheers for Trump to his comment "if you want four more year of the Donald Trump show" and roundly booed his claim that the president "makes every day about himself."

Any birdbrain knows that Trump makes every day about us and the U.S. The only reason he has had to talk about himself is because he's been under constant attack, and Democrats demanded his head. Past Republican presidents likely would not have responded, concluding that it was beneath the dignity of the office. Perhaps. But at some point, you have to fight back, or you'll eventually be ousted. When they called George Bush a liar and accused him of starting a war for oil we never got but would somehow benefit him, he just took it and virtually disappeared. When you don't present your case forcefully, the accusations become the truth, no matter how false.

Republicans are trained to respond like that. When running for office, you are advised not to address outrageous accusations  because it drives more media and public attention to the issue, keeping it in the spotlight. Instead, candidates are supposed to pivot towards what they can do or have done or what one's opponent hasn't done, etc. The tactic of punching back should be deployed only in very rare circumstances. This might have worked in a more chivalrous period of American politics, but once the Democrats shifted to a strategy of relentlessly lobbing mostly false accusations at their competitors, Republicans should have altered their strategy. But they didn't, and, for too long, the Democrats have been cage-fighting while we pretend-fight with our Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em Robots.

Democrats got used to bullying Republicans, and Republicans forgot how to stand up for themselves. That all changed when Trump seismically disrupted the status quo, and Democrats and establishment Republicans went nuts. Democrats lost their stronghold over Republicans, and the Republican establishment didn't know what hit them: they couldn't control someone who burned their playbook and didn't care about perceptions.

Taking the high road is admirable, but if you continue to come up short, you are going to have to find another path if you want to win. The new path forged by Trump is that of punching back with whatever you've got  facts, insults, rumors, truths  and, duh! It's working, and Democrats don't like that. Neither does Joe Walsh or Trump's remaining challenger, former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld.

Walsh labeled Trump a "dictator" and "king" and said he withdrew from the race because the Republican party had become an unbeatable cult of Trump. Walsh couldn't be more wrong. Cultists follow their leaders with blind faith and, like automatons, comport themselves exactly how the cult leader instructs them. Trump, on the contrary, is doing what we want him to do  what we've wanted every Republican president, presidential candidate, and congressperson to do for decades.

That's not a cult; it's literally the definition of a Democratic Republic  we vote for representatives to do what we want them to do. If they don't, we vote for others who will. We are not blindly following a manifesto that Trump drafted in the bowels of his basement, but abiding by a Constitution that has withstood the test of time. Our "Kool-Aid" is the relatively benign patriotism and flag-waving that have been a staple of the American ethos.

Cultists see no faults in their cult leaders. They see them as G-d  omnipotent. Omniscient. Trump-supporters see his weaknesses and faults clearly, and, frankly, he doesn't hide them. He's comfortable in his imperfect skin.

But  and this is what NeverTrumps, Walsh, the entirety of the left wing, and the Democrat Media Complex still do not fully comprehend  the flawless, slick, well dressed, well spoken, polite presidential candidates of the past who repeatedly let us down (like Romney, who...oops, did it again) and saw compromise versus commitment to conservatism as the only way to govern didn't work for the average American anymore. They alienated vast swaths of our broad middle class and allowed the left-wing fifth column to march into our homes, schools, houses of worship, and workplaces and destroy our families and our futures and trample our civil rights.

The intolerance and hate, of which we are daily accused, oozes from the pores of most left-wingers. They call us the most loathsome of names and marginalize us, and we are told to make nice. They try to destroy our president, accuse him of treason, impeach and remove him, tear this country in half for three years, ridicule his supporters, and then we are told to turn the other cheek, call for unity, and move forward. Sometimes.

Other times you have to call people out for what they have done and demand accountability. Trump deftly demonstrated this as they escorted Lt. Col. Vindman out of the White House and recalled that colossal boobenheimer Sondland.

Democrats are experts at fake outrage, fake sincerity, and transferring all of their insincerity and provocation to the Republicans. Take Debbie Dingle dingling around on Fox News, trying to look sincere and wringing her hands, brow furrowed with fake worry about how divided the country is, insisting she is open-minded about working together, and then she does an about-face as she becomes divisive talking about how divisive Trump's non-divisive State of the Union is.

Democrats don't want unity or collaboration. Their messaging post-SOTU and post-acquittal has been It's not over yet, my pretty. Meanwhile, they shredded the Constitution, denying the accused president any due process, and literally shredded the SOTU speech, then promised to continue to investigate, "do oversight," and impeach over and over until they destroy the country, the president, or both. They can't win 2020 on merit, so they have to win with chaos.

Like a kid throwing a tantrum knowing eventually he will get his way as long as he doesn't stop screaming, Democrats will keep it up as long as they think we will cave after enough of us have been broken, bankrupted, and canceled. Trump punched back, making clear we won't capitulate, and that has knocked them so far off their game that they are, as we say in Yiddish, vertutzt.

When another choice emerged (and it could have been anyone, but this time it was Trump) who understood us, understood we'd been shafted and shivved, it didn't matter if he was a smooth talker, a great rhetorician, an experienced politician, or even groomed in the manner we'd become accustomed to.

Trump's entire appeal was I get you, I see what's happened, I see what you want, and I will fight to get you that. I will not be bullied or pushed into compromises for the sake of compromise unless it directly benefits you. I'm not perfect and don't pretend to be. I haven't been consistent in my political beliefs, but I am firmly grounded now. I don't need this job but feel a sense of duty because I see how it can be fixed and no one else seems to get that or be willing to do what has to be done to right this ship. I will work for you every day, and I'm not just saying that like other politicians do  although you will have to take a leap of faith on that. Try me. If I fail to deliver, vote for the next guy.

So we went with Trump, with our eyes wide open. We see clearly who he is and how he lived his life and, so far, how he has fought for us. That doesn't make us cultists. It just means we are discerning voters.

In a way, I think we have made Trump a better man  a man maybe he never realized he could be. Meanwhile, guys like Joe Walsh and Mitt Romney and their newfound pals Bernie Sanders and Adam Schiff will be relics of the past, residing on the ash heap of history...with the rest of the dirtbags.
The president of the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP joined U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, and others on a press conference call today opposing President Trumps nomination of an Alabama judge to a federal appeals court.

The Senate is expected to vote on the confirmation of U.S. District Judge Andrew Brasher to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals this week. Brasher became a district judge last year. The 11th Circuit includes Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.

Alabama NAACP President Benard Simelton, Coons, and others on todays conference call cited positions Brasher supported while working at the Alabama attorney generals office as evidence that he would not protect certain civil rights, including voting rights and abortion rights. Read a letter about their concerns here and at the end of this article.

Brasher was one of the states lawyers who filed a brief in 2013 urging the U.S. Supreme Court to end a requirement under the Voting Rights Act for Alabama to receive approval from the Justice Department before enforcing any changes in election laws. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Shelby County in that case in 2013, effectively ending the pre-clearance requirement for Alabama and other states.

Critics of that decision say it opened the door for laws that place new restrictions on voting rights, like the states photo voter ID law that took effect after the decision.

The state argued in its brief that the pre-clearance requirement was needed when it was imposed in 1965 but that it was not justified decades later.

Brashers critics also took issue with his opposition to a lawsuit filed by people seeking to regain their voting rights after completing their sentences for felonies and his defense of laws passed by the Alabama Legislature that placed restrictions or regulations on abortion.

We depend on our federal courts to enforce the Voting Rights Act, Simelton said. And that doesnt change just because Donald Trump is president. And this is precisely when we need to be more vigilant. Voter suppression is more rampant with each passing day and we are fighting back, and that means protecting our courts also.

Coons, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who questioned Brasher during his confirmation hearing, said stopping the Brasher nomination is a critical moment in continuing the fight against Trumps absolutely uncalled for, unqualified, conservative nominees, who are going to keep moving us to the right and stripping us of our vital protections.

If Brasher is confirmed, it will mark a fast rise through the judicial ranks. Brasher, a graduate of Harvard Law School in 2006, became a U.S. District judge last year after his appointment by Trump.

The NAACP and other groups had previously said the Senate should not consider Trumps judicial appointments while the impeachment case against the president was still pending. The Senate acquitted Trump last week.

Alyssa Pettus, press secretary for U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, said in an email, Senator Shelby is supportive of Judge Brashers confirmation in the Senate and believes he is an esteemed candidate and well-suited for the role.

U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, D-Alabama, did not support Brashers nomination to the District Court.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has also expressed support for Brashers confirmation.

Alabama Republican Party Chair Terry Lathan issued this statement today about the opposition to Brashers confirmation: This is just a bogus excuse from Democrats who once again are spreading falsehoods about voter suppression. If an eligible citizen wants to register and vote they have that right. Liberals and their affiliated groups are terrified of conservatives being appointed to our courts. The fact is Alabama has record breaking voter registration and voter participation in our elections. Thats not voter suppression  thats voter engagement.

Edited at 2:20 p.m. to add missing word in statement from Sen. Shelby. Updated at 3:19 p.m. to say that Sen. Jones opposed Brashers nomination to the District Court.
Japan saw the lowest number of flu patients late-January in roughly 10 years, in part due to preventive measures against the Wuhan coronavirus that has spread throughout the world, authorities said.

The National Institute of Infectious Diseases said that 18 patients per clinic tested positive for common influenza at around 5,000 hospitals and clinics in Japan between Jan. 20 and Jan. 26. This was the lowest number since 6.46 were recorded in a week in 2010.

"The ministry started disclosing the coronavirus outbreak in China since the start of the year and telling people to take preventive measures, including washing hands and wearing surgical masks," said an official at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. "[The decline in the number of influenza patients] may be a reflection that personal hygiene has increased."

Japanese authorities have also been on high alert since early November when the number of flu patients per clinic exceeded one, a month earlier than usual. By late December, the number of patients hit a 10-year-high, the second-highest level reached in the month over the last 10 years.

There were fears then of an outbreak when children returned to school in January but between Dec. 30 and Jan. 5, the number of patients dropped 9.31 from the week before to 13.93, falling far below the warning level of 30.

Based on information provided by pharmacies, the overall number of flu patients in Japan is still declining. However, this is not the case for some prefectures in western Japan. As of late January, the number of flu patients per clinic was 33.83 in Kochi Prefecture and 30.56 in Miyazaki prefecture, breaching the dangerous level.

The picture in the U.S. is also bleaker.

According to data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of patients infected with common flu increased by 4 million in just a week through Jan. 25. More than 19 million in America have fallen ill with the flu so far this winter, including 180,000 who were hospitalized. About 10,000 Americans have died, including 68 children.
Supreme Court today will hear pleas seeking removal of anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protesters from Delhi's Shaheen Bagh area.

Earlier on Friday, the Supreme Court had said that it would take up on Monday the two public interest litigations (PIL) seeking directions to the Central government for laying down guidelines relating to restrictions for holding protests leading to obstruction to public places.

A two-judge bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and also comprising Justice KM Joseph on Friday said that they will take up the matter on February 10.

"We do understand that there is a problem," the apex court had said after advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi said that this court should pass appropriate directions to the concerned authorities as far as the protestors in Shaheen Bagh is concerned.

The PIL, filed by Dr Nand Kishore Garg and Amit Sahni through their lawyer Shashank Deo Sudhi earlier last week, sought appropriate directions to the Centre and others for removal of protesters from Shaheen Bagh near Kalindi Kunj.

It said that people in Shaheen Bagh are illegally protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019, by blocking the common and public road connecting Delhi to Noida.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MADISON  A new version of the bill dealing with the testing of sexual assault kits would also allow some sexual assault victims to bypass other rules and enroll in a voucher school.

The provision would only be for students whose alleged assailant was a pupil or employee at the school the victim was attending.

However, the bill, which also includes provisions directed at illegal immigrants, has received criticism from law enforcement, health care professionals and sexual assault victim advocates and survivors.

According to the Legislative Reference Bureau, under current law, there is no statutory procedure for the collection and processing of sexual assault kits. Assembly Bill 214 creates procedures for transmission, processing and storage of sexual assault kits.

One of the co-sponsors is state Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine.

The competing Assembly Bill 844s two controversial features involve immigration and school choice. It was introduced Feb. 3.

The LRBs analysis of the bill reads in part: Under the bill, if a person under arrest for sexual assault is not a U.S. citizen and is not authorized to be in the United States under federal law, the law enforcement agency must notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In addition, if a person convicted for sexual assault is not a U.S. citizen and is not authorized to be in the United States under federal law, the Wisconsin Department of Justice must notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

AB 844 also includes a provision regarding private schools for sexual assault victims. The LRB writes: Under the bill, a pupil who is a victim of sexual assault may attend a private school participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, the Racine Parental Choice Program, or the statewide parental choice program, regardless of whether the pupil meets the standard eligibility requirements to participate in the parental choice program.

Additionally, the bill provides an alternative application procedure that allows a pupil who is victim of sexual assault to begin attending a private school under a parental choice program at any time during the school year.

For purposes of these provisions, a pupil is a victim of sexual assault if charges are filed for the sexual assault and the person against whom the charges were filed is a pupil or a school district employee.

Opponents decry new bill

Last week, supporters of AB 214, including Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, held a press conference at the State Capitol in Madison to speak out strongly against AB 844 and in favor of AB 214.

Those supporters, who included law enforcement, sexual assault survivors, nurses and victim advocates, called on the Assembly Committee on Health to take up legislation to prevent a backlog of sexual assault kits with AB 214, and reject AB 844.

I believe this is a stall tactic and a political brawl on the playground between rivals which has nothing to do with the victims of DNA backlog, said sexual assault survivor Jacqueline Jaske.

AB 214 was presented last May and has never had a legislative hearing, she said. But AB 844 got there in six days.

All of these messages tell victims that they dont matter, Jaske said.

Six years of awareness of the DNA backlog in Wisconsin, she said. No bill passed, and no rush.

Lt. Nathan Cihler of the Wausau Police Department, a 15-year law enforcement officer, was among several who spoke during the news conference.

He said AB 214 provides the clear and concise direction that would prevent a backlog of rape test kits and hold all parties accountable.

And Ian Henderson of the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault said AB 214, which currently sits in the Assembly Committee on Health, is the culmination of years of work by the attorney generals Sexual Assault Response Team, convened in 2012 and continued by three different attorneys general. He called it profoundly nonpartisan legislation.

Which makes AB 844, and the inclusion of partisan issues like immigration and school choice, so disappointing, Henderson said.

On Friday, Scott Kelly, a spokesman for Wanggaard, said the senator does want AB 214 to pass.

Neubauer said: AB (214) is a great example of bipartisanship done right. It was designed to get right to the heart of an issue and drafted with the input and support of sexual assault advocates and experts from across Wisconsin. It has already passed in the Senate, and was on its way to passage in the Assembly.

She added: AB 844 is a clear attempt to force partisanship into the process, with additional provisions that advocates and victims havent asked for and dont want.

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Italy's first metro line was inaugurated in Rome 65 years ago.

The first underground subway route in Italy - known today as Rome's Metro B - was inaugurated in the capital on 9 February 1955, connecting Termini central train station to the EUR suburb.

The opening ceremony was attended by Italy's then president Luigi Einaudi, with trains carrying 20,000 people an hour departing every four minutes.

Paradoxically, Rome's first metro is called Metro B, even though it was built before Metro A which opened on 16 February 1980, connecting Cinecitta in the suburbs with Ottaviano near St Peter's.

The title of first metro in Italy is held by Metro B even though Naples had a underground railway line known as Metropolitana FS (today called Linea 2) in operation since 1925. However the line did not have the necessary characteristics to be considered a real subway.

Work on Metro B began in the 1930s, during the fascist era, but construction was stalled by the outbreak of world war two, during which the subway tunnels were used as air raid shelters.

Inauguration of Metro B on 9 February 1955

In 1990 the B line was extended from Termini to Rebibbia in the east of the capital, while in 2012 the B1 line opened, branching off from Bologna to the Jonio station which opened in 2015.

After a series of extensions on the A and B lines, work began on the construction of the driverless Metro C in 2006, with the first section, between Pantano and Centocelle, opening in 2014.

Metro C meets Metro A at the S. Giovanni interchange, which opened in 2018, and works are currently underway to connect Metro C with Metro B at the Colosseum.
At first glance, the deployment of cybersecurity measures and the pursuit of innovation might seem mutually exclusive. Strategies to enhance security are aimed at reducing risk, whereas innovation efforts require being open to taking risks.

But enterprises are finding ways to launch innovative new digital business initiatives while taking steps to protect data and other IT assets. By doing so, theyre establishing pathways to new revenue, improved customer experience, and new market opportunities, even as they tighten security requirements, protect systems and data and keep compliant with regulations.

After all, this is the formula for success in todays business environment: Push transformative initiatives that embrace innovative technologies such as the cloud, mobile tech, artificial intelligence, data analytics, and the internet of things (IoT) in a way that ensures the security of valuable systems and data.

To do so, todays enterprises need to find ways to strike a balance between getting out in front of the competition, experimenting with new technologies, bringing proofs of concept to production, and so on, with the more risk-averse practice of ensuring these initiatives are secure.

In some cases, this might involve increasing budget and resources for the security of all systems; in others, it might mean setting aside budget and resources to secure pure innovation plays. Either way, the goal is to be innovative but in a safe, sensible way.

Here are some examples of how companies are attempting to balance innovation and security, either for specific projects or as a general practice.

Deploying new online services while keeping data safe

Higher education institutions need to be concerned about compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a law intended to protect the privacy of student data.

Although compliance has long been a priority, traditional on-premises student information systems and data [were] generally locked down in those systems and files, with little concern about the outside world gaining access, says Bill Balint, CIO at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP).

But with the advent of web-based access to secured systems, the prospect of large-scale security breaches and data exposures made FERPA compliance a much higher priority, Balint says.

The issue has escalated, as higher education has been transformed into much more of a business-like operation, Balint says. Institutions, striving to hit enrollment and student success targets, have increasingly turned to cloud-based, rapid implementation services in areas such as customer relationship management and data analytics solutions, he says.

Such technology, which IUP is accessing via cloud-based subscription services, allows the university to offer innovative services such as helping to create optimized, personalized financial aid packages and customized academic analysis that can help attract and then retain successful students.

But in order to do it, the vendors typically also require [that] loads of sensitive academic and/or financial data about the student be imported into vendor-controlled cloud applications, Balint says. Such activities take some security control away from the institution. Instead, the institution must often take the contractual word of the vendor that the sensitive data will be secured both in transit and at rest.

To ensure that sensitive data is not exposed, the first step IUP took was to consider the security and privacy implications of the cloud-based services and share only data that is core to a tools functionality.

For example, it would be important to share grade information with a vendor whose tool is focused on academic success, Balint says. But social security numbers provide no value, and should not be shared.

Beyond that, IUP requires that all the cloud vendors that it is working with meet industry standards for data privacy and security, via a formal contract and service-level agreements (SLAs).

Very few higher education institutions can obtain the in-house expertise to perform the functions of these providers, but the services they provide are increasingly critical to the viability of many institutions, Balint says. The industry must continue to evolve best practices that protect sensitive and confidential data.

Building security into a new mobile app

In late 2019, the State of Colorado announced the launch of Colorado Digital ID in its myColorado mobile app to transform the way residents interact with state government. The vision of myColorado is to provide state residents with an innovative, secure, and convenient mobile solution through which they can connect with digital identity and government services.

Our goal is to make it easier for residents to conduct business with the state  such as renewing their driver license  by connecting them to services through a central mobile platform, says Deborah Blyth, CISO for the State of Colorado. This eliminates the need to visit a state office, thereby reducing time and transportation costs for residents and ultimately helping achieve customer delight.

Since the public launch in October, more than 30,000 residents have downloaded the myColorado app.

The state government realizes that gaining and maintaining public trust is paramount to ensuring widespread adoption of any product or service offered to residents, Blyth says, and this is best accomplished by ensuring that security is a critical component in application development.

Personal information in myColorado is protected by multi-factor authentication and data encryption for privacy and security throughout the app. In addition, myColorado employs user authentication, validation, and federation on several levels to ensure the identity of the user, Blyth says.

Since the time myColorado was merely an idea, a security architect played an integral part on the app design team, Blyth says. From the projects inception, there was a need to validate the identity of the mobile user to match that user to the appropriate information contained within the state systems.

Other considerations included ensuring ongoing access to the users information with appropriate authentication to prevent unauthorized access, and evaluating and choosing a payment provider to process payments securely.

The development team performed testing to ensure that the mobile app and back-end servers were free from vulnerabilities that could be exploited and therefore lead to sensitive data being exposed. Additional precautions were also taken during the development process to prevent developers from accessing sensitive data, Blyth says.

A key factor in myColorados successful deployment of security features was that all security requirements were agreed upon and incorporated into the app through an iterative process as it was being designed and built, Blyth says.

Having a security architect as an active and equal participant of the innovation team ensured that important security criteria were built in from the beginning, rather than simply viewed as a check-box at the end of the development cycle, she says.

Taking an experimental approach to IT innovation

O.C. Tanner, which offers employee recognition and reward services to customers, is launching projects leveraging newer technologies or methodologies such as AI, 3D printing, and DevOps. In doing so, it follows a number of practices to ensure that data and systems are secure and that privacy is maintained, while at the same time not stifling innovation.

One of the most important is to treat new IT initiatives as guarded, scientific experiments. O.C. Tanner conducts technology trials that are small and that use the companys existing processes and tools, and it isolates these endeavors from entities outside the organization.

If one of our experiments has or creates a vulnerability, our existing processes should find the vulnerability, says Niel Nickolaisen, senior vice president and CIO. But if not, the vulnerability does not put the rest of our world at risk.

Sometimes a vulnerability might cause the company to cancel the experiment or find ways to remediate or bypass the issue. In one case we were experimenting with a new technology, discovered some issues and then worked with the [startup] provider to resolve the issues, Nickolaisen says.

As the experiments pass certain proof points, which vary by the type of technology and experiment, our standards for the production-worthiness of the experiment scale, and so the requirements become more stringent, Nickolaisen says. Before anything is released into our production environments, it must meet our standards  and those standards include security [and] privacy.

In one example, O.C. Tanner was convinced that it had rich enough data that it could provide clients with insights into some of the causes

of employee turnover. To prove this, it needed to use client employee data, which it had to keep secure, in order to build cloud-based AI/machine learning algorithms.

To start small, we anonymized a subset of our client data and did initial proofs of concept in the cloud service, Nickolaisen says. The results were encouraging enough that we felt we should move forward. But, at some point we would need to use actual, not anonymized, data.

As O.C. Tanner scaled the experiment it also evaluated the security and privacy processes of the available cloud AI and machine learning services. In parallel, we worked with our clients so that they could participate in our assessment of the security/privacy practices of the cloud providers, Nickolaisen says. We needed them to be as comfortable as we were with our choices.

Another example involves the DevOps process and tooling the company is using. To ensure that the DevOps process met its security standards but still allowed for rapid deployments, O.C. Tanner wanted to create some type of automation so creators of new services and functionality could self-deploy only changes that were pre-approved.

This required functionality or a tool that we did not have, Nickolaisen says. O.C. Tanner found such a tool, but it was from an early stage startup and therefore presented some risk. We did an experiment with their tool to assess their functionality, he says. When that experiment was successful, we started to apply our production-worthiness standards and identified some security and certification gaps in their product.

O.C. Tanner then worked with the company to resolve the issues before moving into production.

Prioritizing customer experience  and data protection

Worldwide Assurance for Employees of Public Agencies (WAEPA), a provider of group term life insurance, has a goal of surpassing the competition in serving civilian federal employees and retirees, by exceeding their expectations.

As services and digital tools evolve, WAEPA realizes the need to transform and elevate every platform and touchpoint in the user experience, says Brandon Jones, CIO.

Having a strong digital presence is foundational to meeting this vision, Jones says. To enhance its online presence, the organization first conducted a usability study, analyzing the current state of clients

digital experience, conducting usability tests and user interviews, and synthesizing the data to identify trends, patterns, and commonalities across the information collected.

The research and analysis uncovered opportunities for usability improvements, allowing WAEPA to generate a set of findings and recommendations.

Next, WAEPA launched a customer journey mapping effort to

identify the various stages clients and prospects move through during a transaction, what they are expecting at each step, what questions they have at each step, and what they are feeling at each step.

This exercise allowed us to identify the steps our members take to engage with our products and services, as well as the links to other parts of their journeys, opportunities for improvement, and areas where steps should be combined or split, Jones says. By methodically plotting our members steps, we were able to use this exercise as a diagnostic tool.

The WAEPA began building a new website and member portal leveraging findings from the usability study and customer journey mapping. The goals for the new site were to better educate users about products and the application process; improve consistency and ease of use across the site; provide self-service tools and information so users can make informed decisions; and to humanize the experience to help, guide, and reassure online users.

Throughout the effort the protection of client data was a paramount consideration, and security was baked into the new website and supporting infrastructure. The security strategy includes the use of tools such as redundant firewalls, a virtual private network (VPN), protection against spam and phishing, and identity and access management.

By taking these and other steps, WAEPA was able to create a better customer experience for its clients and at the same time deliver a high level of security.
Fans of Dancing With The Stars were left absolutely furious after being denied entry to the live show in Melbourne on Sunday night, despite having tickets.

Some ticket holders flocked to Twitter to share their frustration, with one sarcastically remarking to Channel 10 'great way to treat your fans.'

They complained directly on the network's Twitter account: '100's of unhappy audience members queued up outside who won't get in because you've significantly over subscribed on the tickets.'

'Great way to treat your fans!' Fans of Dancing With The Stars were left absolutely furious after being denied entry to the live show in Melbourne on Sunday night, despite having tickets.(contestant and Ten star Angie Kent is pictured)

Not impressed! One complained directly on the network's Twitter account: '100's of unhappy audience members queued up outside who won't get in because you've significantly over subscribed on the tickets.'

They added hashtags including, 'not happy,' and 'great way to treat your fans.'

One ticket holder shared a picture of the long line of fans queuing outside of the Docklands studio, describing how they had waited at least 'two hours' to get in to no avail.

It's back! The new season of Dancing With The Stars premiered on Sunday

Furious! One ticket holder shared a picture of the long line of fans queuing outside of the Docklands studio, describing how they had waited at least 'two hours' to get in to no avail

'What a bloody shambles!' they wrote.

'Very poor effort by Dancing With The Stars allocating HUNDREDS of tickets too many for tonight. Stood in queue for well over an hour to be turned away. Arrived early and dressed up specially. Nothing but contempt for the audience.'

Channel 10 apologised to the fan on Twitter, and claimed the debacle occurred because of a 'record audience turnout.'

The fan said they appreciated the apology, but still found the whole mishap 'disappointing.'

Look at the queue: Another fan also shared a picture of the extraordinary line snaking around the studio, claiming producers 'over estimated audience no shows.

Apologetic: In a statement to Daily Mail Australia on Monday, Ten said that fans were given 'VIP access for a future episode' and said it was only a 'small number of people turned away'

Another fan also shared a picture of the extraordinary line snaking around the studio, claiming producers 'over estimated audience no shows.'

In a statement to Daily Mail Australia on Monday, Ten said that fans were given 'VIP access for a future episode' and said it was only a 'small number of people turned away.'

A Network 10 spokesperson said: 'We were overwhelmed with the amazing turnout last night as Melbourne audiences enthusiastically welcomed the return of Dancing With The Stars.'

They added: 'Unfortunately a small number of people were turned away due to record audience numbers. They have been offered VIP access for a future episode.'

The new season of the show premiered on Sunday, with the likes of Angie Kent, Beau Ryan, Chloe Lattanzi and Ed Kavalee appearing as contestants.
Gargi college molestation case: Students hold protest; Delhi Police launches probe

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Feb 10: Scores of students of the all-women Gargi College on Monday held a protest against the alleged molestation of students by a group of men who had gatecrashed a cultural festival.

The Delhi Police said it has launched a probe into the incident and is scanning CCTV footage. Police, however, have not received a complaint in this regard, a senior officer said.

Over 100 students held a protest outside the gate of Gargi College on Monday. Students and teachers posted on social media about the incident.

As per their posts, during the college festival, 'Reverie', around 6:30 pm on Sunday , groups of unruly, drunk men mobbed the entrances of the college and forced their way in.

The students alleged that Rapid Action Force and Delhi Police personnel were deployed close to the gate from where the men allegedly entered. "There was a complete lapse of security.

NEWS AT 3 PM, FEB 10th, 2020

My skirt was lifted: Gargi College fest turns ugly, girls allege mass molestation

The students were groped, molested and even assaulted by the men who all appeared to be in their mid-30s. The college had claimed to set up security but I don't think there must have been such an incident in any college campus across the country," a student said on condition of anonymity.

Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal reached the spot to take stock of the situation. Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Atul Kumar Thakur said appropriate action will be taken in the matter. "We have not received a complaint in this regard yet. But we have began a sou-moto enquiry into the incident," the DCP said. Police are scanning footage of CCTV cameras to collect evidence and speaking to students to ascertain facts, he added. The enquiry is being conducted by Additonal DCP (South) Geetanjali Khandelwal, Thakur said.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, February 10, 2020, 14:42 [IST]
Photos Courtesy of CasiCielo/Viceroy

CasiCielo: A New Viceroy Icon Collection Project, Combining Panamanian Green Intelligence And Luxury

Knowledge about Panama is usually conceived in terms of the Canal, the Hat, and the City: but recently, many travelers have discovered a natural, eco-sensitive side. Panama is a country of rainforest and jungle, from living coral reefs and thick mangroves, to the intense colors -- blue, green and red  of quetzal birds, to yellow and red neon frogs, to five of the worlds seven species of sea turtles, to a profusion of flowers. Panama is home to over 10,000 plant types -- and orchids enjoy a special status as the aromatic Holy Ghost Orchid is the Panamanian national flower. Panama is one of the most biologically abundant and diverse places on earth.

And, though Christopher Columbus explored the area in 1502 while searching for the passage to the Pacific, much of Panama remains under-developed, until now.

Illustrative Master Plan Of Bocas de Toro/CasiCielo area.

CasiCielo is a new resort/residential development with a profound eco-sensitive vision, located on an undeveloped peninsula on the archipelago of Bocas del Toro, Panama. It is a hurricane-free climate, dotted with substantial surf areas. Bocas is well-known as the Galapagos of the Caribbean.

CasiCielo, meaning almost heaven, spans 457-acres on Panamas Bocas del Toro, and is launching sales on the first phase of this anticipated resort/residential project, designed with multiple dimensions of green eco-sensitivity. In 2021, Viceroy Hotel & Resorts will launch a a 118-key hotel with 77 branded residences -- all designed by Zurcher Arquitectos, Wimberly Interiors, with an elaborate wellness concept by GOCO Hospitality. The resort is part of Viceroys Icon Collection, representing the award-winning groups sustainable boutique portfolio. Surrounded by jungle and ocean, all virtually untouched, the CasiCielo resort complex is designed to be integrated into its natural surroundings.

Over-water bungalows, a state-of-the-art wellness center, meditation rooms, lookout points, treehouses and other features allow guests to immerse themselves in one of the most awe-inspiring locations of the CasiCielo property  and Bocas del Toro itself. The Viceroy Bocas del Toro is CasiCielos inaugural landmark project and ownership opportunities include beachfront lagoon residences, private villas, and treetop properties.

For the developer Circular Strategy Group, comprised of Miami-based, Panama-raised, Moshe Levi and Panama-based Alfredo Monagas, CasiCielo is a unique vision, with deep Panamanian roots.

Being from Panama, I felt this was a golden opportunity, not only to preserve Bocas and make a positive impact in the region but also introduce a new way for conscious communities to be built, said Moshe Levi, co-developer of CasiCielo. With the infrastructure already in place, CasiCielo essentially serves as a blank canvas that will continue to evolve, while remaining a true haven for those seeking a different, a greener way of life.

And this different, eco-sensitive way of life certainly includes personal wellness, reflecting a unique architectural wellness design for the community.

The Viceroy Resort & Residences is not only about being part of an archipelago of tropical islands in the waters of Bocas del Toros, but it is also about hotel visitors creating within themselves a sort of archipelago of sensations traveling from one ambience to another forming a chain of memories to take back with them, said Josephine Leung, Josephine Leung, Group Director of Design & Development for GOCO Hospitality. It is about the resort and residences co-habiting with nature amongst the tree giants, the toucans and the monkeys, beside a turquoise ocean. We feel this architecture is an expression of experiential islands within that order.

CasiCielo is deepening and strengthening Panamas emergent appeal as an eco-tourism and adventure haven as it is set on an undeveloped peninsula in the archipelago of Bocas del Toro, surrounded by the Caribbean and also, the 45,000-acre protected San San-Pond Sak Natural Reserve.

It is an unusual project, combining a unique Panamanian vision of eco-sensitivity and luxury, with native nature and culture for the first time.

www.casicielo.com

Daytime, Overwater Bunglaow Exterior

Lagoon of CasiCielo with Overwater Bungalows
Sinn Fein tops first preference poll in Irish General Election

Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald has described the Irish general election as something of a revolution in the ballot box. Counting is continuing and the first results have come in, with Sinn Fein winning the most first preference votes. With all first preferences counted, it has 24.5% compared to 22.2% for Fianna Fail and 20.9% for Fine Gael. No one party will win enough seats for an outright majority. Ballot boxes from across the 39 constituencies were opened at 09:00 on Sunday. Many counts have finished for the night and will resume at 10:00 on Monday, but some are continuing. Sinn Fein ran 42 candidates across the 39 multi-seat constituencies, about half that of both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, which will have a knock-on effect on the number of seats it can secure in the 160-seat Dail (Irish parliament) where 80 seats are needed for a majority.  BBC

Deadlock in coalition talks could lead to another election  The Guardian

This could make EU/UK relations more difficult  The Times

Northern Ireland protocol a backdoor to continued Brussels influence, say lawyers  Financial Times

Reshuffle rumours 1) Symonds and Cummings at war

Explosive claims of a falling-out between Boris Johnsons partner Carrie Symonds and his chief adviser Dominic Cummings over the Cabinet reshuffle emerged last night. Well-placed Treasury sources say Miss Symonds is backing ministers who say Mr Cummings aggressive approach towards ministers, officials and journalists is damaging the Prime Minister. The rift has been fuelled by reports that Mr Cummings urged Mr Johnson to fire two ministers with close links to Miss Symonds: Chancellor Sajid Javid and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace. It is understood Mr Johnson has refused to sack Mr Javid in the reshuffle expected this week, but the fate of Mr Wallace is less clear.In addition, Mr Cummings is believed to be planning to fire several Conservative ministerial special advisers, including some with connections to Miss Symonds.  Daily Mail

Crouch and Mordaunt set to return  Daily Express

Leadsom facing the axe for sexism dig  Daily Mail

>Today: ToryDiary: Johnsons reshuffle. If he isnt Thinking Big it should be Kept Small.

Reshuffle rumours 2) Gove tipped to be given greater role

Michael Gove is being tipped to emerge with a beefed up role in Boris Johnsons Cabinet reshuffle. The PM was in his countryside retreat of Chequers at the weekend putting the finishing touches to his government overhaul, expected later this weekThe PMs one time frenemy Mr Gove is being tipped to be the big winner of the shake-up by expanding his empire at the Cabinet Office by overseeing Brexit trade talksMeanwhile, Government insiders also tipped him to take over as boss of the UNs Cop26 climate change summit hosted in Glasgow later this year.  The Sun

Reshuffle rumours 3) Barclay could be put in charge of trade talks

Steve Barclay could be put in charge of negotiating Britains trade deals as part of Boris Johnsons reshuffle. The former Brexit secretary lost his job when his department was closed after Britains departure from the European Union last month. However, he is expected to return as part of the prime ministers shake-up of his top team that was being finalised with aides at Chequers over the weekendBaroness Morgan of Cotes, the culture secretary, is to stand down and Geoffrey Cox, the attorney-general, is also likely to leave. Therese Coffey, the work and pensions secretary, and Esther McVey, the minister of state for housing who attends cabinet, are also in danger, along with Ben Wallace, the defence secretary.  The Times

Javids alleged plans for tax increases risk causing huge losses for savers

Plans for a mansion tax are half-baked and reform of tax relief could lead to huge losses for savers, experts have said of proposed Budget changes revealed by The Telegraph. Sajid Javid, the Chancellor, is reportedly weighing up limiting tax relief on pension contributions to 20pc and introducing a recurring wealth tax on the owners of expensive homes. However, both proposals have come under fire from commentators. George Bull of RSM, the accountancy firm, said: If the Tories introduce a mansion tax they will need to work out how it fits with council tax. Would it replace council tax, which means some of the money raised would have to go to local authorities? Or would you have both, which would be really complicated? The real problem is local authority funding and the answer is not clear. These are really big issues and they need proper consultation. A mansion tax in isolation would be half-baked. Paul Johnson, the director of the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank, said a mansion tax would be very unpopular.  Daily Telegraph

He should be levelling up not levelling down  Christian May, City AM

he is also considering more subsidies to go green

Home owners are to be given subsidies to reduce their carbon footprints under budget plans to help Britain to hit its 2050 net zero target. Under proposals being considered by Sajid Javid, the chancellor, the Treasury is looking at a scheme to share the cost of upgrading homes to reduce carbon emissions. It is part of a drive in Whitehall to carbon-test new policies to ensure that they contribute  or do not negatively affect  the governments pledge to hit the 2050 target. Green proposals under consideration in the budget include extending and possibly increasing subsidies of 3,500 on new electric vehicles that are due to run out next month; paying to make social housing, schools and hospitals meet minimum targets on energy efficiency; and incentives for other households to improve energy efficiency, such as phasing out gas boilers and installing solar panels.  The Times

CBI plea to fix unfair Business Rates  Daily Mail

Councils calls for fiscal devolution  Financial Times

>Today: Tony Lodge on Comment: Britains dirty emissions secret  carbon leakage. Heres what it is and how to tackle it.

Migrant salary threshold to be cut to 25,600

Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel are expected to set out their immigration reforms, including a drop in salary threshold for some migrants, at a cabinet meeting on Friday. Currently, skilled migrants from outside the EU need to have a job offer with a minimum salary of 30,000. The BBC understands ministers plan to lower this threshold to 25,600. Workers from the EU will face the same rules once the transition period for leaving the EU ends on 31 December. Workers earning less might be allowed to make up points elsewhere in order to be granted a visa if they work in a sector with a skills shortage. Points will also be awarded for speaking good English or for having an outstanding educational background.  BBC

Johnson hopes to appease HS2 critics with regional infrastructure projects

Boris Johnson hopes the glut of regional projects being announced over the next two days will appease the 63 Tory backbenchers who have so far gone on record with their opposition to HS2.Alongside the announcement on HS2, Mr Johnson is expected to confirm funding for so-called Northern Powerhouse Rail, which will incorporate a crossrail of the north from Liverpool to Hull and upgrade lines to Newcastle upon Tyne, as well as money for Crossrail 2, a north-south route through London. Additional funds for bus services, on top of the 170m already announced by the Government, will also be part of the package.  Daily Telegraph

Boris must lead the Tories away from their free market comfort zone to rebalance the UK  Nick Timothy, Daily Telegraph

Johnsons high-speed route back to prosperous future  Leo McKinstry, Daily Express

London Overground offers model for UK rail overhaul  Financial Times

Duncan Smith: We will never make Huawei safe

As one successful security software provider said to me, market access is not reciprocal. China doesnt operate anything like the open market the West does. It is impossible to bid in China for the same access as Huawei gets from the UK. Furthermore, Huawei effectively receives support from the Chinese state, which means that it can undercut any commercial fair price offered by a western telco. That puts permanent pressure on Samsung, Fujitsu, Nokia and Ericsson and feeds dependence on Chinese services. I believe that the best course for the Government, given that it has inherited the existing involvement of Huawei, is to plan to clear the firm out of our systems as quickly as possible. Defence of the realm is the Governments number one priority, and this includes cyberspace. There can be no room in our systems for companies such as Huawei.  Iain Duncan Smith, Daily Telegraph

UK 5G concerns a witch-hunt says Chinese ambassador  BBC

Proposals published for ten freeports

The government has launched a consultation on creating up to 10 freeports with special tariff and duty status  an idea ministers argue will fuel growth but critics say could encourage money laundering and other crimes. The government said it was firmly committed to announcing locations this year so that the first could open in 2021. The idea was first raised by Boris Johnson during his campaign to become Conservative leader. It is proposing zones  which do not necessarily have to be located in a port  where no duty is paid on goods until they enter the full UK market, meaning none at all is paid if they are re-exported from the port. Other extra freedoms include duties only being paid on final goods, not on any raw materials that are imported into the area and then processed. Businesses would be exempt from filling out full customs declarations on imported goods.  The Guardian

Labour leadership 1) Starmers campaign accused of hacking Partys database

Labours most senior official was accused yesterday of trying to derail Sir Keir Starmers leadership bid by alleging that his staff had hacked into an internal party database. Jennie Formby, general secretary of Labour and an ally of Jeremy Corbyn, has reported Sir Keirs campaign to Britains data watchdog over claims that it had gained unauthorised access to a list of party members. The move infuriated Labour MPs, who accused pro-Corbyn staff members of dragging the leadership race into the gutter in an attempt to damage Sir Keir, the frontrunner. His supporters described the allegations as utter, utter nonsense and said that the inquiry had begun only after they had raised concerns about the data use of Mr Corbyns preferred successor, Rebecca Long Bailey.  The Times

Starmers mother-in-law dies two weeks after suffering accident  Daily Mail

Labour leadership 2) Nandy sets out plan to tackle anti-semitism

Lisa Nandy has launched a detailed plan for how she would tackle antisemitism in Labour if she becomes party leader, saying it is approaching make-or-break time for many Jewish members as to whether they remain in the partyThe plan calls for an immediate zero-tolerance policy under a new leader, with the party fully implementing, as a minimum, any recommendations from the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which is formally investigating Labour over allegations of antisemitism. Another instant change would be to lower the threshold for suspending members where there are credible accusations of antisemitism, Islamophobia or other forms of racism. Nandy has also pledged to introduce a new and independent complaints processAnother promised element would be transparency.  The Guardian

Bercow complains of conspiracy against him

Former Commons Speaker John Bercow has said there is a conspiracy to keep him out of the House of Lords. He named no names, but said it was blindingly obvious that there was a concerted campaign to prevent him from being given a peerage. Previous Speakers have been ennobled when they retire, entitling them to sit in the House of Lords. The ex-Conservative MP has been accused of bullying by former Commons colleagues, but denies the claims. Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick said the claims must be looked into, but there was no obligation on the Prime Minister to give Mr Bercow a peerage.  BBC

>Yesterday:

Bailey: Voters are tired of Left wing virtue-signalling

Far from your average Tory, the married father-of-two spent months unemployed and years sofa-surfing before, on the encouragement of David Cameron, he went into politics. Boris Johnsons stonking general election result in December may not reflect London politics, but Shaun Bailey is determined to capitalise on what he sees as a vote for progress and a vote for the nation to move forward. If the Tories can win the Midlands and the North, then is the capital now back in its sights? Bailey certainly thinks so, arguing that London will benefit massively from this result because the prime minister can implement policies on issues that matter so much to us: on crime, on housing and on the environment. Bailey insists that Brexit is the least of Londoners worries, with concerns about Khans woeful record on law and order and employment featuring heavily on the doorstep.  Interview with Shaun Bailey, Daily Telegraph

Gareth Bacon on Local Government: 149 people were murdered in London in 2019. Yet the Mayor will still not accept responsibility.

Foges: A soft policy on illegal immigration is false compassion

As long as it uses the elastic definition of an asylum seeker as anyone with a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion and as long as simply setting foot in a rich nation will earn you a good chance of staying, countless economic migrants will use the convention as a passport to the West. The government must campaign hard for reform. Last year we had the horror of 39 migrants found dead in the back of a lorry in Essex. Another tragedy in the Channel is perfectly conceivable  and our best way of averting it is an approach so tough and a message so clear that it dissuades those poor souls from making the journey at all.  Clare Foges, The Times

Biden lashes out at Buttigieg

Joe Biden has stepped up his personal attacks on Pete Buttigieg, the rising star of the Democrats, and other rivals in the party as he tries to rescue his hopes of becoming president of the US. Mr Biden, 77, has made an advert comparing his role as vice-president negotiating the Iran nuclear deal with Mr Buttigiegs more mundane achievements as a city mayor  such as installing lights under bridges, pet chip scanners and new pavements. Were electing a president. What youve done matters, Mr Bidens advert concluded.  The Times

Trump proposes cut in foreign aid  The Times

News in brief
Actor Janhvi Kapoor is on a religious tour, visiting Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. The actor on Sunday shared pictures from her trip to the temple town. While her captions dont reveal much, comments on her pictures suggest, she trekked it all the way to the top of Tirumala town in eastern ghats to make it to the shrine.

The actor took to Instagram to share pictures from the trek. She simply shared rainbow and sunshine emojis. It shows her seated on a raised platform alongside the stairs towards the top of the hill. Wearing a simple white salwar kameez paired with a yellow dupatta, Janhvi sits crossed legged. She is looking away from the camera, is smiling and looking happy.

Commenting on the pictures, a fan wrote: Tirumala by walk.. with a bunch of red emojis. Another fan said in Tirumala followed by heart eyes emojis. A third fan identified the steps and wrote Tirumala Tirupati.

Janhvi Kapoor in Tirupati.

Also read: Priyanka Chopra shares her two throwback Oscars looks as she gives this years ceremony a miss. See pics

The actor put out more pictures as Instagram stories; one picture has her friend and she resting on sofas (she has captioned it as Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh, India), in another picture, we see her from behind entering the sanctum sanctorum and in other pictures from the journey, we see the lush greenery of the Tirumala hills.

On the work front, Janhvi has been shooting for two films -- Karan Johars production Gunjan Saxena The Kargil Girl and Roohi Afzaa. In the former she plays the lead character, Indian Air Force pilot Gunjan Saxena who played a pivotal role in airlifting injured soldiers from Kargil during the 1999. In the second, she reportedly has a double role in what is being dubbed a horror comedy. The film also stars Rajkummar Rao.

She will also be seen in Karan Johars ambitious directorial, Takht, a multi-starrer that also features Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Vicky Kaushal, Bhumi Pednekar and Anil Kapoor. Janhvi, alongwith Kartik Aaryan and newcomer Lakshya were supposed to begin shoot for Dostana 2 but its shoot in Delhi was cancelled in November last year, owing to pollution concerns.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Democratic U.S. Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania says his party needs to do a better job of engaging with rural voters about their challenges, if it hopes to win Pennsylvania and other states in the presidential election.

We cant just be the party of cities and suburbs, Casey said. If we are, were going to lose. You need to be able to get a larger share of those communities and thats going to be a challenge this year and weve got a lot of work to do.

Casey said he endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden because of his character, experience, and plans for the countryand because he thinks Biden has the best chance of winning the Keystone State.

The harsh reality for Democrats is we have to win Pennsylvania in November. The Republicans dont, Casey said. President Trump could be re-elected without Pennsylvania. President Bush did it twice.

Biden finished fourth in the Iowa caucuses, behind former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

Casey said he plans to campaign with Biden in New Hampshire this weekend ahead of that states primary on Tuesday.

Casey spoke during an event in Susquehanna Township, Dauphin County, where he presented a new plan to invest in childrens health care, economic security, education, nutrition, and safety.

He acknowledged it will be a challenge to find support for the plan among his Republican colleagues because of a substantial divide in priorities.

He noted the 2017 tax overhaul bill championed by Republicans dropped the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%.

Every point that they dropped it was $100 billion over ten years, Casey said. Youre making a conscious choice, every time you drop it a point, to take $100 billion of revenue out of the revenue pool that could be dedicated to children.

He proposes raise the rate to 28%, which he says would provide money for many of the programs laid out in the plan.

Casey said he hopes his proposal will be a topic for presidential candidates to debate.
Interethnic violence has broken out again in southeastern Kazakhstan, this time involving ethnic Kazakhs and members of Kazakhstan's Dungan community.

There are various accounts of what sparked the violence between the two groups on February 7 near the town of Kordai in Zhambyl Province.

But as often happens in these situations, the violence was fueled by rumors spread over mobile phones and social media, leaving 10 people dead, dozens injured, and thousands of Dungans fleeing across the border into neighboring Kyrgyzstan.

The Dungans are a predominantly Muslim group who came into Central Asia from China, where they are called Hui.

Dungans are generally considered ethnically Han Chinese but, according to some sources, can trace their origins back more than 1,000 years. According to some sources, Dungans have an Arab-Islamic connection that dates back to the seventh century in the ethnogenesis of the Dungan/Hui. That would make them one of the oldest Muslim peoples in Inner Asia.

The Dungans also have a unique language that is neither Chinese nor Turkic.

Large numbers of Dungans began arriving in Central Asia during the latter half of the 19th century, when Chinese troops put down revolts of non-Chinese peoples in what is now called Xinjiang.

More than 100,000 Dungans now live in Central Asia, concentrated mainly in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

The Dungans adapted to life under the rule of the Russian tsars as well as Soviet domination. They've also adapted to post-Soviet life in independent Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, though they have maintained their culture. Dungans rarely marry outside their own community.

Towns and villages in Kazakhstan like Masanchi -- which bore the brunt of the February 7 violence -- continue to be populated predominantly by Dungans. That made Dungans in Masanchi easy targets for an angry crowd of Kazakhs involved in the area's latest round of violence.

Ethnic Tensions

Southeastern Kazakhstan has also seen clashes involving ethnic Kazakhs and other minorities in recent years.

In March and April 2007, there was fighting between ethnic Kazakhs and Chechens in Malovodnoye, a village in Almaty Province about 100 kilometers east of the Kordai district. That incident started at a billiard hall but quickly spread to involve hundreds of people from both communities.

The Chechens involved were the descendants of people who were forcibly resettled in the area on the orders of Soviet leader Josef Stalin during World War II.

In February 2015, clashes also broke out between members of the country's Kazakh majority and ethnic Tajiks in the predominantly ethnic Tajik village of Bostandyk in Turkestan Province.

Kazakhstan's Turkestan Province is situated immediately to the west of Zhambyl Province. Ethnic Tajiks were moved there by Soviet authorities during the 1950s to augment the region's labor force.

That violence reportedly started after an argument between a young ethnic Tajik man and a purported friend of his, a young ethnic Kazakh man, escalated into a stabbing in which the Kazakh was killed.

After the victim's funeral, a large group of Kazakhs went on a rampage in Bostandyk, setting fire to buildings and cars.

Authorities Overwhelmed

This latest violence in the Kordai district appears to have stemmed from a February 5 "road rage" incident in which an elderly ethnic Kazakh man was purportedly beaten up by an ethnic Dungan driver.

There are conflicting reports about exactly what happened in the road-rage incident and how anger in different communities was fueled by claims being made on social media.

But 48 hours later, a group of ethnic Kazakhs entered the town of Masanchi, triggering street fights in which hunting rifles, iron bars, sticks, and stones were used.

Video of violence in Masanchi posted on social networks attracted more people from neighboring areas to Masanchi and predominantly Dungan villages in the region.

Police were overwhelmed. The violence was only brought under control when special security forces from the Interior Ministry arrived.

The government in Nur-Sultan has blamed local officials for allowing the situation to get out of control. But the nearby violence in 2007 and in 2015 shows that ethnic tensions exist across southeastern Kazakhstan.

Whether people chose to settle in southeastern Kazakhstan or were forced to resettle there, the area is clearly unique and demands special consideration by officials in Nur Sultan.

Yet it seems clear that Kazakh authorities have not paid sufficient attention to the region -- leaving critics to predict that the recent violence in the Kordai district is bound to happen again somewhere in southeastern Kazakhstan.

The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL
A ferocious 209mph gust of wind has been clocked at the summit of a California mountain, potentially setting a new state record.

The blast was captured around 7.45am on Sunday by an instrument at 9,186 feet on Kirkwood Mountain south of Lake Tahoe, said National Weather Service forecaster Alex Hoon.

He and his colleagues at the NWS office in Reno, Nevada, watched in surprise as wind speeds across the crest of the Sierra Nevada hit 150mph and kept rising.

It could take months for state climatologists to verify the record, he added. The previous record was a gust of 199mph at Ward Peak, California, west of Lake Tahoe on November 16, 2017.

Kirkwood Mountain south of Lake Tahoe where the National Weather Service recorded a potential new wind record at around 9,186ft above sea level

National Weather Service data shows wind and gust speeds soaring on Sunday, nearing 200mph

A potential record was set in Kirkwood Mountain. The previous record was a gust of 199mph at Ward Peak west of Lake Tahoe in November 2017

Highest wind speeds recorded around the world The highest non-tornado wind speed ever recorded was in Australia in 1996. An unmanned instrument on Barrow Island recorded a gust of 253mph during Tropical Cyclone Olivia. It took 14 years for the record to be confirmed, but when it finally was it knocked the Mount Washington, New Hampshire, speed off top spot. That record had existed for 64 years after a gust of 231mph was measured in April 1934. It still remains the highest surface wind speed ever recorded by man. Tornado wind speeds are rarely successfully measured due to the violent wind often destroying the instruments. Hurricane Irma had unofficial gusts recorded at 199mph when it ripped through the Caribbean in September 2017 - this highest speed measured on St. Barthelemy. St. Barthelemy was exposed to the eyewall of the Category 5 hurricane which has the most ferocious winds. Meanwhile the highest official gust speed from a hurricane in the US was from the September 1938 Long Island Express, with a 186mph gust at the Blue Hill Observatory in Massachusetts. Advertisement

Hoon said: 'It went up and up. But the way that the winds did ramp up, it looks legitimate. It's an exciting moment for sure.'

To date the highest wind speed not related to tornadoes recorded in the world was in Barrow Island, Australia, in 1996 when an unmanned instrument station recorded a new record of 253 miles per hour during Tropical Cyclone Olivia.

The 6,288ft summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire, had held the world record for the fastest wind gust ever recorded on the surface of the Earth since 1934.

The recording of 231mph that day still holds the fastest wind measured in the US.

More recently Hurricane Irma in 2017 and Hurricane Dorian in 2019 have brought record breaking wind speeds to the Caribbean.

At the time Irma was the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean outside the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. However, Dorian surpassed this record two years later.

Irma achieved one of the longest duration for Category 5 wind speeds ever and maximum gusts were recorded on St. Barthelemy at 199mph.

The weekend storm that caused widespread flooding last week in Washington and Oregon brought a strong cold front to California.

Damage from Hurricane Irma in the Bahamas which caused widespread destruction in September 2017

Damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian on the Great Abaco island town of Marsh Harbour, Bahamas, September 4, 2019

Waves topping five feet were recorded on Lake Tahoe, where air temperatures dipped below freezing.

Powerful winds downed trees and knocked out power to tens of thousands in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The same system dumped hail in parts of greater Los Angeles and snow in mountain areas north and east of the city.

A cold storm moved south through California dumping snow, rain and hail, according to the National Weather Service. Pictured storm clouds over Santa Monica Bay yesterday

Heavy rain fell as stars arrived for the Academy Awards in Hollywood on Sunday.

The red carpet was protected by a tent but the position of some camera crews had them just outside the shelter, sending them scrambling to find tarps and plastic to protect their gear.

Temperatures in LA were in the 50s degrees Fahrenheit (about 13 Celsius).
[February 10, 2020] Piriou Expects to Double Revenues Following Digital Overhaul PARIS, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Infor , a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry, today announced French shipbuilder Piriou has chosen Infor LN software to help transform its global production, repair, and maintenance operations. Piriou, which builds mid-sized boats for private and public use, military and commercial fishing, has decided to implement a modern enterprise resource planning (ERP) software system in a quest to double its revenues over the next five years. Previously, Piriou used an AS/400-based ERP system that offered limited functionalities, only supported the French language and was not user friendly. This inhibited Piriou's growing number of production and servicing operations users at its shipyards in Africa and Vietnam. After a thorough review of eight vendors including IFS, Microsoft and SAP, Piriou chose Infor LN, supported by French systems integrator Helyad. "We've engaged in an ambitious international program to modernize our information systems through the implementation of Infor LN," said Vincent Faujour, CEO of Piriou. "We want to improve the service we provide to our customers, but also the management of our sites and the productivity of our staff. Our key users helped select Infor LN as the closest match to all our requirements. Overall, I feel Infor and Helyad had the closest match in personalities, too  sharing the same values that we hold so dearly as a company. Together, we value commitment, proxiity to our customers, and speaking the same language." Piriou plans a steady roll-out over the coming years, wishing to avoid a "big-bang" deployment approach. Its biggest facility  Chantiers Piriou in Concarneau, Northern France  should be the first site to go live, forecast for 2021. Its other sites in France, Africa and Vietnam will follow. Infor LN is ideally suited to Piriou's complex ordering, production and supply chain processes. Piriou holds no product stocks; it builds ships to customers' unique requirements. Some designs take up to four years to fully scope and test to a customer's requirements. Using Infor LN, Piriou expects to increase its production volume by better optimizing its production and giving users direct visibility to component parts ordering. This will be particularly beneficial to system users in Vietnam, who are faced with increasing complexity when ordering parts through various layers of suppliers or intermediaries, which currently hampers visibility and speed. "In our pursuit of growth over the next five years, we expect to double our revenue. This ambition would have been impossible using our old ERP system," says Jean-Michel Veauvy, CIO of Piriou. "The biggest part of our business is shipbuilding, of course, and we can see how Infor LN will help us double our production output. But the repair and maintenance side is also significant and growing. Infor LN will help us better manage our margins where we need help in keeping close to our customers globally. We anticipate the mobile capabilities of Infor LN will really boost our service teams' effectiveness, as they are often required to work remotely on our customers' fleets of vessels all over the world." "Successful projects are largely due to great teamwork between all parties," said Laurent Jacquemain, VP Southern Europe at Infor. "Although one of our competitors has quite a dominant position in the shipyard industry, we were chosen together with our excellent partner Helyad. Our team of people set out to truly understand and meet Piriou's unique requirements, which, together with our market-leading ERP solution, is a winning combination." About Piriou

Involved in shipbuilding and ship repair since 1965, Piriou specializes in producing medium-sized vessels up to 120 meters in length with high added value through a combination of high-performance engineering and a global network of industrial sites in Europe, Africa and Asia. With over 500 ships built and delivered worldwide, Piriou provides bespoke solutions as well as a complete range of standardized or customized vessels that satisfy the requirements of international ship-owners, whether they be private or public, civilian or military. About Infor

Infor is a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry. With 17,300 employees and over 68,000 customers in more than 170 countries, Infor software is designed for progress. To learn more, please visit www.infor.com. Infor customers include: The top 20 aerospace companies

9 of the top 10 high tech companies

14 of the 25 largest U.S. healthcare delivery networks

19 of the 20 largest U.S. cities

18 of the top 20 automotive suppliers

14 of the top 20 industrial distributors

13 of the top 20 global retailers

4 of the top 5 brewers

17 of the top 20 global banks

9 of the 10 largest global hotel brands

7 of the top 10 global luxury brands For more information:

Richard Moore

Infor PR Manager, EMEA

+44 7976 111 243

richard.moore@infor.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/piriou-expects-to-double-revenues-following-digital-overhaul-301001383.html SOURCE Infor

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 22:19:33|Editor: huaxia

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Liu Yuxi (C), head of the Chinese Mission to the AU, poses for photo with President of Equatorial Guinea Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (R) and the Director-General of UNESCO Audrey Azoulay, after receiving the UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences on behalf of Tu Youyou, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Feb. 10, 2020. Chinese Nobel laureate Tu Youyou has been awarded the UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences for her research into parasitic diseases. (Photo by Michael Tewelde/Xinhua)

ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Nobel laureate Tu Youyou has been awarded the UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences for her research into parasitic diseases.

At ceremony held on Monday as a side event of the ongoing 33rd African Union (AU) summit in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, two other scientists, namely Prof. Cato Laurencin (USA) and Prof. Kevin McGuigan (Ireland) have also been awarded the prize.

As the winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Prof. Tu Youyou of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, discovered an entirely new anti-malarial treatment, artemisinin, which made possible the treatment of thousands of patients in China in the 1980s.

Since the turn of the century, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been recommending artemisinin-based combination therapies as the first-line treatment for malaria; and these combination treatments have saved 6.2 million lives reducing malaria mortality in Africa by 66 percent, and by 71 percent among children under 5 years of age.

Speaking at the awarding ceremony at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Audrey Azoulay, the Director-General of UNESCO, has hailed the contribution of Tu Youyou to lives of humanity.

"Professor Tu has not been able to be with us, who we would like to greet is also an exceptional woman. Her work is revolutionary; she used traditional Chinese remedy at the manuscript of a 12th century in order to provide a new treatment for malaria," the Director-General has noted.

"She is among the ones who have received the Nobel Prize; she has used indigenous knowledge and we are very proud in UNESCO because we have specific program which is very ambitious in order to develop the position of women in sciences," she said.

With its fifth edition now, the UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences rewards outstanding scientific research projects in the life sciences that have led to an improvement in the quality of human life.
Nakhon Ratchasima

As mourning began for the victims of Thailand's worst mass shooting, the country counted its losses: a mother shot dead at the wheel of her car as her son sat beside her, a 13-year-old student gunned down as he was riding his motorbike home, and more than two dozen other people.

Authorities said the attack was carried out by a single gunman  a disgruntled soldier who opened fire on strangers before he was fatally shot Sunday at a shopping mall. Another 58 people were wounded.

The dead were mourned Sunday night in Nakhon Ratchasima, a hub for Thailand's relatively poor and rural northeastern region. More than 1,000 people turned up for the vigil led by Buddhist monks. They lit candles and prayed and chanted in the town square featuring a statue of Thao Suranari, a governor's wife who is revered for leading troops against invaders from Laos two centuries ago.

Officials said the gunman was angry over a financial dispute with his commanding officer. He made Col. Anantarote Krasae his first victim before stealing guns from an army camp and heading to the mall, shooting wildly along the way at people inside and outside the building.

The attacker was identified as Sgt. Maj. Jakrapanth Thomma, who holed himself up in the Terminal 21 Korat, an airport-themed mall filled with colorful Lego sculptures, a merry-go-round and huge replicas of landmarks from around the world.

After most mall employees and shoppers were evacuated, a joint police and military team hunted down the gunman and killed him.

"This incident was unprecedented in Thailand," Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters as he gave a casualty count after visiting the victims in hospitals. By the end of the day, the toll had risen to 29 people killed.

The death toll surpassed Thailand's last major attack on civilians, a 2015 bombing at Bangkok's Erawan Shrine, which killed 20 and was allegedly carried out by human traffickers.

"I hope this is the only one and the last incident and that it never happens again. No one wants this to happen. It could be because of this person's mental health in this particular moment," Prayuth said.

He said he was worried that people inside the mall could be accidentally hit by bullets fired by police, but added, "I have checked, that didn't happen."

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Video taken outside the mall showed people diving for cover as shots rang out. Many were killed outside the mall, some in cars and others while walking.

Survivors and victims' families gathered during the day at the city's hospitals, where they recounted their ordeals.

Cpl. Korakot Ampanngeun was visited by Suwat Liptapanlop, a prominent politician from the area.

"I received an order from my superior to block off the road so that no one could go in the direction" of the gunman, the corporal recalled. "So I was signaling to oncoming traffic, when I turned around and saw him. If I had not, I would not have survived. I tried to run and find somewhere to hide. But I could only take two steps and then I heard the sound  'bang.' My leg just went and I couldn't walk. A good Samaritan helped carry me away."
Rocco Wright, three, died after he was found face down at the bottom of a David Lloyd swimming pool in Leeds

The lifeguard who was on duty when a toddler aged three drowned in a David Lloyd swimming pool was just 17 and had been in his first job for a matter of months before the tragedy.

Rocco Wright died after being found face-down in the pool in Leeds, West Yorkshire in March 2018.

Today William Jayne, now 19, told Wakefield Coroner's Court that he was just 17 years old when he was working that tragic day.

He told the inquest he was given the job, which was his first, towards the end of January 2018 after gaining a lifeguard qualification in August 2017.

He said he spent February 'shadowing' more experienced lifeguards before working independently in March.

The court heard he worked part-time while he was a sixth form student and had completed around seven or eight solo weekends before the incident.

Mr Jayne told the inquest he conducted a headcount at around 9.30am on April 21, just minutes before he heard father Steven Wright's screams for help.

The court heard there were around 38 people in and around the pool when the incident happened, which Mr Jayne told the inquest he considered made the area 'quite busy'.

An inquest into his death at the pool (pictured) began today and is expected to last seven days

He said: 'I was taught to do a headcount every 15 minutes. As soon as I saw what was happening, I dropped my clipboard and ran over.'

He told the court Rocco was being pulled out of the pool by the time he got to him. Mr Jayne said he started CPR on little Rocco before a more experienced swimming teacher took over.

An emotional Mr Jayne told area coroner Jonathan Leach he did not return to work as a lifeguard after the incident.

Rocco Wright (pictured) was just three years old when he died at the David Lloyd leisure centre in Leeds

He said: 'After what happened, I didn't go back straight away, I did some maintenance work just to take my mind off it. I didn't go back to work as a lifeguard.'

He told the inquest he was 'just getting into' his role and had grown in confidence since he first started.

He said: 'At the start, I was quiet and nervous, but I was getting into it and the more I did it, the more confident I got. It was my first ever job.'

He told the inquest he had a good view of the pool area from his chair, which was positioned at the end of the pool.

Loved ones and well-wishers are pictured at the funeral for little Rocco Wright, who drowned in a swimming pool

Heartbroken Mr Wright told the inquest the heart-breaking details of his son's death.

Saying the situation 'could and should' have been prevented, he told of how little Rocco wandered off before he was found face down in the bottom of the main pool in David Lloyd fitness club in Leeds in 2018.

Mr Wright said he had concerns over the safety at the club on the day his 'amazing, joyful' son Rocco died after being in the pool for approximately five minutes.

Rocco Wright, three, went swimming with his four-year-old sister and father Steven at the David Lloyd club in Moortown, Leeds, (pictured, police at the scene) on April 21 2018

Wakefield Coroner's Court heard Rocco had wandered off and was found face down in the 1.2 metre pool before his father dived in to recover him on April 21, 2018.

Paramedics arrived and Rocco was taken to Leeds General Infirmary, where he was tragically pronounced dead the next day after being on a life support machine for 24 hours.

The heart-broken father told the court: 'I did not panic at first because he had a natural fear of water so the last place I thought he'd be would be in the water.

'I looked around the pool and couldn't see him around the poolside. I thought he had gone back to the corridor.

'I saw other dads that I recognised and asked if they had seen Rocco but they said no.

'I was hoping he was going to be in the baby pool as he always preferred in there because it was warmer than the main pool.'

Mr Wright said he started to 'really panic' when he could not see Rocco in the baby pool.

He added: 'I turned round looked in the main pool and that's when I saw him. I just saw an outline at the bottom of the pool and I instantly knew it was Rocco. I dived in and got him out to the side and screamed for help.'

The jury inquest was told Rocco was with his father and four year-old-sister, who was supposed to have her swimming lesson at the club in Moortown, Leeds, West Yorks.

However, his sister's lesson had been cancelled at short notice when an instructor called in sick, which lead to 'confusion' and 'chaos' at the poolside, the court heard.

Mr Wright told the inquest he was stood with both his children at the side of the pool as he tried to find out what was happening.

He said he decided to take both the children off to swim by himself when he realised that Rocco, who was not wearing his life jacket, was no longer standing by his side, leading to the stark discovery.

The court heard how staff and paramedics attempted CPR on Rocco at the poolside, before he was rushed to Leeds General Infirmary.

Mr Wright added: 'We as a family are concerned about the levels of health and safety in the pool on the day of Rocco's death and whether these have been resolved, especially the lifeguard's visibility of the pool area.

'We are absolutely devastated and we don't want this to happen to anyone else. We believe Rocco's death could and should have been prevented.'

The inquest heard Rocco was not a strong swimmer and did not like getting into pools by himself.

Mr Wright said he would generally get into the pool first before coaxing Rocco in and would lift him into the pool.

In a statement read to the court, Rocco's mother Catharine Wright said she was told she had 'unexplained infertility' and the couple's daughter was born through IVF treatment.

She said it was a 'complete shock' when she was told she was told she was pregnant with Rocco.

Paying tribute to her son, she said: 'He was a stereotypical little boy, he was funny and very friendly.

'He never stood still and loved nothing more than pretending to be a superhero, especially Batman.

'He was very close with his sister, they were always play fighting.

'He was the most happy, amazing, joyful little boy you could ever meet. We have been left with a hole that can never be filled.'

Forensic pathologist Dr Kirsten Hope told the court Rocco died of an irreversible brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen due to drowning.

She said Rocco's family wanted to help others after his death and his organs, except his lungs, were donated to save three lives.

A David Lloyd spokesperson said: 'As the inquest gets underway, our thoughts are very much with Roccos family and we would like to express our deepest sympathies at what must be a difficult time. We sincerely hope that these proceedings bring some clarity and help them to find some peace.

'At David Lloyd Leisure, the health and safety of our members and Club teams is always our number one priority and we would never compromise on this. We have always worked closely with the relevant authorities in their investigations and will continue to do so.

'This week is about trying to find answers and we will do all that we can to aid that process.'

The inquest continues.
LONDON  Streets were flooded, flights were canceled, traffic was jammed, power was cut and wind-blown trees blocked roads and rails on Monday as a deadly winter storm raged through western and northern Europe.

Storm Ciara  or Sabine, as the storm is called in German-speaking countries  tore through Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, and Poland, unleashing chaos and killing at least five people, according to reports from news agencies and social media.

Steven Keates, a senior meteorologist in Britains Met Office, the countrys national meteorological service, said on Monday that though storms are common in winter, Storm Ciara is notable because of the very strong and widespread winds.

Its a powerful Atlantic storm, not the strongest weve ever seen, he said by phone. Weve seen higher wind speeds and greater impact, Mr. Keates added, but noted that Storm Ciara has had significant impacts across Britain and really gusty winds.
Sinn Feins political tsunami has led Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin to perform a major U-turn on potential coalition talks.

After a day of high drama, more than 20 Sinn Fein TDs exceeded the quota and were elected on the first count, with at least two Cabinet ministers and several junior ministers losing their seats.

In constituencies across the country, Sinn Fein candidates  including four who lost council seats only last May  topped the poll, with huge surpluses at the expense of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael TDs.

When all 160 seats are filled, Fianna Fail is likely to be the lead party with around 45 seats, Sinn Fein could win 35 to 37 seats, with Fine Gael coming in with 34 seats. However, with Sinn Fein surpluses going in many directions, calling the final seats is very difficult.

The surge in Sinn Fein represents an ending of the two-party system, which has dominated Irish politics for the past century, with the combined Fine Gael-Fianna Fail vote dropping below 50% for only the second time.

Fine Gael received its lowest share of the vote since 1948 taking just 20.9% of first preferences.

Mr Martin, having consistently ruled out any prospect of a deal with Mary Lou McDonalds party, has not ruled out discussions about forming a new government.

Mr Martin warned that forming a government will be very challenging.

We will obviously listen, he said. The people have spoken and there is no greater democrat than I, but, that said, we will not pre-empt the outcome itself because its very clear to us that the destination of the final seats in many constituencies cannot be called now.

I am making the point there is serious incompatibility between ourselves and Sinn Fein. But what is important, is that the country comes first.

There is an onus on all that a functioning government is formed.

Ms McDonald said she has already made moves to form a government without Fine Gael and Fianna Fail.

I want us to have ideally a government with no Fianna Fail or no Fine Gael in it, she said. I have started the contact with other parties to explore over the next few days whether or not that is a possibility.

Weve been in touch with the Greens, with the Social Democrats, with People Before Profit and there are others.

Like I said throughout the campaign, and I meant it when I said it, we need change we need a new government, the best outcome is a government without Fine Gael and Fianna Fail so thats the first thing that I want to test whether or not that is possible.

I also have consistently said that I will talk to and listen to everybody. I think thats what grown-ups do. I think thats what democracy demands.

Hitting out at Micheal Martin and Leo Varadkar, she said: I do not accept the exclusion or talk of excluding our party  a party that represents almost a quarter of the electorate, I think this is fundamentally undemocratic.

Mr Varadkar again ruled out any coalition deal with Sinn Fein or Fianna Fail, while Simon Coveney also ruled out a re-run of the confidence and supply deal.

In a sign of his partys difficulties, Mr Varadkar failed to top the poll as has been the case with all previous Taoisigh and failed to be elected on the first count, coming 4,000 votes behind Sinn Feins Paul Donnelly.

In Cork, Sinn Feins Donnchadh O Laoghaire topped the poll in Cork South Central ahead of Mr Coveney. In Cork North Central, his party colleague, Thomas Gould, swept home on the first count with almost 3,500 votes to spare.

Mr Varadkar said he would not be speaking to Mrs McDonald with a view to forming a coalition, insisting Fine Gael was not compatible with Sinn Fein.

He said: I made my position, and that of Fine Gael, very clear during the election campaign, and we won our votes on that basis. My position hasnt changed.

Nobody can be forced into some sort of forced marriage or forced coalition.

He added that what his party said during the campaign wasnt a tactic or a strategy and that it was what they honestly believed. Therefore, he said, that going into coalition with Sinn Fein was not an option.
Instead, the US presidents budget for 2021 will seek to increase funds for military spending.

United States President Donald Trump will propose on Monday a 21 percent cut in foreign aid and slashes to social safety net programmes in his $4.8 trillion budget proposal for fiscal 2021, according to senior administration officials.

The budget will seek an increase in funds to counter developing economic threats from China and Russia, but will also raise funds by aiming for $2 trillion in savings from mandatory spending programmes in the US. The budget assumes revenues of $3.8 trillion.

Trump, a Republican, sought in his budget proposal last year to slash foreign aid but faced steep resistance from Congress and did not prevail.

The presidents latest blueprint for administration spending proposals is unlikely to be passed by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, particularly in an election year.

Trump, who campaigned for the presidency in 2016 on a promise to build a wall along the US border with Mexico, will seek $2bn in funding for further construction on that project, substantially less than the $8.6bn he requested a year ago. The administration shifted resources to the project from the military last year after Congress refused Trumps request. The White House will not seek further funds from the military for the wall, a senior administration official said.

The budget seeks $1 trillion to fund an infrastructure spending bill that Democrats and Republicans have said is a priority. The two sides are unlikely to agree on any significant legislation this year, though, as the two sides fight for control of the White House and Congress in the November elections.

The budget would raise military spending by 0.3 percent to $740.5bn for the fiscal year 2021, starting on October 1 and propose higher outlays for defence and veterans, administration officials confirmed. But former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen raised concerns about how the foreign aid cuts would affect the US civilian footprint around the world that helps reduce the need for military intervention.

This is a moment when more investment in diplomacy and development is needed not less, he wrote in a letter to top congressional leaders.

Trumps foreign aid proposal seeks $44.1bn in the upcoming fiscal year compared with $55.7bn enacted in fiscal year 2020, an administration official said.

Spending cuts

The White House proposes to slash spending by $4.4 trillion over the next 10 years.

That includes $130bn from changes to Medicare prescription-drug pricing, $292bn from cuts in safety-net programmes  such as work requirements for Medicaid and food stamps  and $70bn from clamping down on eligibility rules for federal disability benefits. Those changes are likely to spur Democrats ire.

The US government ended the fiscal year 2019 with the largest budget deficit in seven years as gains in tax receipts were offset by higher spending and growing debt service payments, the Treasury Department said on Friday.

The budget forecasts $4.6 trillion in deficit reduction over the next 10 years and assumes economic growth will continue at an annual rate of roughly 3 percent for years to come, officials said. Trump has taken credit for the strength of the US economy thanks in part to tax cuts he championed and Congress passed earlier in his term. The budget funds an extension of those cuts over a 10-year period with $1.4 trillion.

Aid to Ukraine would remain at its 2020 levels under the new foreign aid proposal. Trump was acquitted last week of impeachment charges that he withheld aid to Ukraine to spur Kyiv to investigate political rival Joe Biden, a Democratic presidential candidate and former US vice president.

Administration officials told Reuters that Trump would request an increase in funding for the US International Development Finance Corporation to $700m from $150m the previous year.
The president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine L agarde, is warning that a cyber-attack on a major financial institution could trigger a liquidity crisis.

The president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, has warned that a coordinated cyber-attack on major banks could trigger a liquidity crisis.

President Lagarde cited findings of a report by the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) that estimate the global cost of cyber attacks at between $45bn and $654bn.

L agarde warns that operational outages that encrypted or destroyed balance accounts at a major bank could trigger a liquidity crisis.

As an operator of critical infrastructures, the ECB obviously takes such threats very seriously, Lagarde said in France on Wednesday evening.

History shows that liquidity crises can quickly become systemic crises, she added. The ECB is well aware that it has a duty to be prepared and to act pre-emptively.

President Lagarde remarked that global risks are linked, a concept is yearly illustrated in the report published by the World Economic Forum.

Below two eloquent graphs included in the Global Risks Report 2020 that show that the risk of cyber-attack has a high likelihood and a high impact.

The second graph shows the strict link between the risk of cyber attacks and other risks such as Critical infrastructure failure and Social instability Social instability, and Fiscal crises.

At a recent board meeting, the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) warned that cyber warfare represents a major source of risk to the financial system.

Last year, the G7 announced a joint cross-border crisis management exercise on a cyber incident affecting the financial system that it carried out in June 2019, saying that cyber risks were increasing and posed a genuine and growing threat to the stability and integrity of the financial sector. reported the Independent. It was the first exercise of its kind to be by finance ministries, central banks, regulators and financial market authorities. It did not reveal the the G7 asked its Cyber Experts Group to review financial regulation, and to look at whether the impacts could be measured better.

In 2018, the European Central Bank has published the European framework for testing financial sector resilience to cyber attacks.

The framework aims to simulate the effects of cyber attacks on critical systems in the banking industry in the European Union.

The move is the response to the numerous cyberheists that hit the financial industry in the past years, like the attacks against the SWIFT system and the assault against online and mobile services at the Netherlands three top banks.

The framework also includes the involvement of red teams for vulnerability assessments and penetration tests of systems used by companies in the financial sector.

The European Central Bank (ECB) today publishes the European Framework for Threat Intelligence-based Ethical Red Teaming (TIBER-EU), which is the first Europe-wide framework for controlled and bespoke tests against cyber attacks in the financial market. reads the announcement published by the ECB.

The TIBER-EU framework facilitates a harmonised European approach towards intelligence-led tests which mimic the tactics, techniques and procedures of real hackers who can be a genuine threat. TIBER-EU based tests simulate a cyber attack on an entitys critical functions and underlying systems, such as its people, processes and technologies. This helps the entity to assess its protection, detection and response capabilities against potential cyber attacks.

In May 2018, the European Central Bank (ECB) published the European Framework for Threat Intelligence-based Ethical Red Teaming (TIBER-EU), which is the first Europe-wide framework for controlled and bespoke tests against cyber attacks in the financial market.

The main goal for the Framework is to facilitate testing for cross-border entities under oversight of several authorities, it aims to help organizations measure their ability in detecting and responding cyber attacks.

The instructions on how to How to implement the European framework for Threat Intelligence-based Ethical Red Teaming are available here.

In August 2019, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced that threat actors had access for months to the contact information of hundreds of financial industry subscribers to its newsletter.

The good news is that the BIRD website was run on an external server that is separated from the ECB infrastructure, according to the bank neither internal systems nor market-sensitive data were affected.

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs  ECB, cyber security)
Guwahati/IBNS: Amid the National Register of Citizens (NRC) row, the Assam government is planning to conduct a survey to identify the indigenous Muslim population of the state so that they can be segregated from the illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.

The survey will be conducted to identify the people from Goria, Moria, Desi and Jola of the tea tribe community of the state, considered to be indigenous.

The Assam government has called a meeting regarding a socio-economic census of indigenous Muslims of the state  Goria, Moria, Ujani, Deshi, Jola, Maimal, Sayed etc on Feb 11.

Ranjit Kumar Dutta, Minister of Welfare of Minorities and Development, has conveyed the meeting with various organizations of the communities in Guwahati to finalize the plan.

Assam government has taken this initiative at a time when various organizations, political parties including ruling BJP alleged that, a large number of illegal Bangladeshis' names were included in the final NRC which was published on August 31 last year, which excluded over 19 lakh people.

Assam Minority Development Board Chairman Muminul Aowal said that Assam has around 1.30 crore Muslim population and out of them about 90 lakhs are of Bangladeshi origin

Out of 1.30 crore Muslim population, only 40 lakh are from different indigenous Muslim communities. The indigenous Muslims of Assam have faced a lot of problems from the illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. They are deprived of political rights and it also affected their economy, education, cultural rights. Various organizations from Goria, Moria, Desi and Jola of the tea tribe community have demanded the government to take appropriate action to protect them, to give constitutional protection and they are raising their voices since 2008. Now, the state government has a taken an initiative and will conduct a census and we welcome it, Muminul Aowal said.

He further said that the Goria, Moria, Deshi, Jola Muslims are living in Assam since the past few centuries and they are indigenous people of the state.

Muminul Aowal alleged that the NRC process has totally failed after a large number of Bangladeshis' names have been included there.

A large number of local people names were excluded from it and we cant accept this NRC. We want the correct NRC and it is our demand. 13 districts of the state are now dominated by the Bangladeshi Muslims. 28 Muslims MLAs from AIUDF and Congress are now in the Assam assembly and 14 Congress MLAs are from Bangladesh origin and only one from the Assamese Muslim community. The Congress party in Assam has now become a Bangladeshi Muslim party, Muminul Aowal said.

Muminul Aowal, who is also the convenor of Janagosthiya Samanway Parishad Asom (JSPA), said that an initiative for the development of the indigenous Muslims in the state will be taken after completing the census.

The difference between the indigenous Muslims and Bangladeshi Muslims will be cleared after the census. It is necessary to identify the indigenous Muslims, Aowal said.

(By Hemanta Kumar Nath, Guwahati)




MANILA  The Philippine government moved Monday to end the franchise of the countrys leading broadcast network, the latest push by the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte against media outlets that have been critical of his leadership.

The Philippine solicitor general, Jose Calida, lodged a complaint with the countrys highest court, accusing ABS-CBN Corp. and its subsidiary, ABS-CBN Convergence, of violating the operating franchise it was granted by Congress, which is set to expire in March.

We want to put an end to what we discovered to be highly abusive practice of ABS-CBN benefiting a greedy few at the expense of millions of its loyal subscribers, Calida said in a statement announcing the move. These practices have gone unnoticed or were disregarded for years.

But critics of Duterte say he is on the warpath against media entities that have questioned his drug war, which has drawn international condemnation. ABS-CBN, along with Filipino online news site Rappler, have been at the forefront of critical reporting about the antidrug campaign, which has left nearly 6,000 people dead since Duterte took office in 2016.

Calida said the government will prove that ABS-CBN has been broadcasting for a fee, which is beyond the scope of its legislative franchise. He also accused the company of hiding behind what he said was an elaborately crafted corporate veil by allowing foreign investors to take part in its ownership.

As he has with ABS-CBN, Duterte has personally gone after Rappler, arguing that it was partly owned by foreign investors. The attempt to shut down Rappler, however, appears to have fizzled after the news sites foreign investors transferred their shares to their Filipino partners.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines assailed the move against the network.

We must not allow the vindictiveness of one man, no matter how powerful, to run roughshod over the constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of the press and of expression, and the peoples right to know, the union said.

Jason Gutierrez is a New York Times writer.
A 22-year-old man pleaded guilty on Monday to intentionally setting fires to three predominantly black Baptist churches in Louisiana over a 10-day period last year  crimes that set a rural Cajun community on edge.

The man, Holden Matthews, the son of a local sheriffs deputy, pleaded guilty to four federal criminal counts, including three counts of intentional damage to religious property, which is a federal hate crime, and one count of using fire to commit a felony, according to a statement issued by the United States Department of Justice. Later on Monday, he pleaded guilty to six state charges, including aggravated arson of a religious building and three hate crime counts.

He will face 10 to 70 years in prison when he is sentenced on the federal charges on May 22. He will be sentenced on the state charges four days later.

During his plea hearing in United States District Court in Lafayette, La., Mr. Matthews said he had targeted these buildings because of their religious character, according to the statement. Mr. Matthews, an aficionado of black metal, a subgenre of heavy metal, said he was copying similar crimes committed in Norway in the 1990s in an attempt to elevate his status among the black metal community, whose most extreme practitioners engaged in church burning, vandalism and killings.
A college student who Joe Biden called a 'lying, dog-faced pony soldier' after she asked about his poor performance in Iowa has shamed him for 'humiliating' her and said his inability to answer her question shows how extremely poorly he's performing.

Madison Moore, a 21-year-old economics student at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, said on Monday for people to wave off the former vice president's remark as a 'joke' is 'kind of insulting'. Biden later explained he was quoting John Wayne.

Biden asked Moore if she had ever voted in a caucus and she nodded her head yes while attending his campaign event in Hampton, New Hampshire on Sunday night, leading Biden to call her a 'lying, dog-faced pony soldier'.

Moore said: 'It was kind of humiliating to be called a liar on national TV by the former vice president. Instead of answering that question straightforward, his immediate response was to attempt to invalidate me by exposing my inexperience.

'He has been performing extremely poorly in this race and the fact that he couldnt just straight answer my question without bullying or intimidating just exacerbates that fact.'

She added: 'I am 21-year old college student, like what the hell do I know? Who cares who I am or my experience. Just answer the damn question.'

Joe Biden called Mercer University student Madison Moore a 'lying, dog-faced pony soldier' after she asked him a question at his event in Hampton, New Hampshire on Sunday. Moore said: 'It was kind of humiliating to be called a liar on national TV by the former vice president'

Moore said: 'Instead of answering that question straightforward, his immediate response was to attempt to invalidate me by exposing my inexperience'

On Monday, a new Quinnipiac University poll, had Bernie Sanders pulling ahead of Biden, with the Vermont senator getting 25 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary while Biden, 77, was only at 17 percent.

This marks the first time Sanders, 78, has taken the front runner slot in a national poll, as the candidates head into the New Hampshire primary tomorrow following the surprising Iowa results - where Biden came in fourth place.

Moore, who is on Mercer Universitys debate team, attended Biden's event as part of a school trip, reported the Macon Telegraph.

She asked Biden why voters should believe he could win after his poor performance in Iowa.

'So you're arguably the candidate with the greatest advantage in this race,' Moore said, mentioning how Biden has name recognition as the former vice president and didn't have to take time off from the campaign trail for impeachment hearings like the 2020 candidates who serve in the U.S. Senate.

'How do you explain the performance in Iowa and why should the voters believe that you can win the national election?' she asked.

'It's a good question. Number one  Iowa is a Democratic caucus. You ever been to a caucus?' Biden asked the young voter.

She nodded in the affirmative.

'No you haven't. You've a lying dog-faced pony soldier,' Biden said, getting laughs from the crowd.

'You said you were  but now you've got to be honest. Now, I'm gonna be honest with you. It was a little bit confusing in Iowa,' he said.

Moore later explained she only nodded her head yes because she got nervous, but said she felt whether she had been to a caucus or not was irrelevant.

Biden's spokespeople said the line was taken from a scene in a John Wayne movie, where a Native American chief refers to Wayne as a 'lying, dog-faced pony soldier.'

Moore, who is on Mercer Universitys debate team, attended Biden's campaign event as part of a trip for school, reported the Macon Telegraph. She is pictured here giving a speech in a video from 2019

Biden's spokespeople said the line was taken from a scene in a John Wayne movie, where a Native American chief refers to Wayne as a 'lying, dog-faced pony soldier. It appears he was actually referring to the 1952 Tyrone Power film 'Pony Soldier' (right)

Still, Moore said she didn't find it funny, regardless if Biden tried to play it off as a joke.

She added she wasn't expecting for her question to make national headlines, saying: 'If I had expected that I wouldve worn makeup. I wouldve looked a lot cuter.'

Biden has previously used the same phrase and attributed it to a John Wayne movie.

At a 2018 campaign event for Heidi Heitkamp, Biden said of her opponent Kevin Cramer: 'As my brother who loves to use lines from movies, from John Wayne movies, there's a line in a movie, a John Wayne movie where an Indian chief turns to John Wayne and says, ''This is a lying, dog-faced pony soldier.''

It appears Biden may have misquoted John Wayne as it seems he may have been referring to the 1952 Tyrone Power film 'Pony Soldier', which uses the phrase throughout.

Addressing Moore, Biden said: 'But let's assume everything was exactly right in Iowa, the idea that you come in with half the delegates that the leaders come in with in Iowa, does not necessarily say how you're going to win Pennsylvania, how you're going to win Michigan,' he argued, suggesting he'd outperform Sen. Bernie Sanders and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg in the general election swing states.

'I congratulate Pete, I congratulate Bernie,' Biden continued. 'They were really well organized, better organized than we were in Iowa.'

Biden also argued that 'you have to take the first four as one,' Biden said of the first early voting and caucus states: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

'Not a single person has won without overwhelming support from the black community, overwhelming, overwhelming. OK?' Biden said.

'Right now I am far and ahead in the African-American community,' he continued, adding that the final result 'remains to be seen.'

Biden has previously used the same phrase and attributed it to a John Wayne movie. At a 2018 campaign event for Heidi Heitkamp, Biden said of her opponent Kevin Cramer: 'As my brother who loves to use lines from movies, from John Wayne movies, there's a line in a movie, a John Wayne movie where an Indian chief turns to John Wayne and says, ''This is a lying, dog-faced pony soldier''

Biden came in fourth place in the Iowa caucuses  although the state's Democratic Party has not officially declared a winner after the contest was thrown into chaos when the reporting app malfunctioned

Iowa has not yet officially declared the winner, but as the results stand Buttigieg came in No. 1 in the traditional metric - the percentage of delegates earned - while Sanders won the popular vote.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren fell in third place with 18 per cent and Biden in fourth with 15.8 per cent.

Other than Amy Klobuchar, who earned 12.3 per cent in the caucus, no other candidate emerged with more than 1 per cent.

New polling out over the weekend shows Biden in fourth place in New Hampshire, as well  with one particular poll showing him only one point ahead of Klobuchar.

He also downplayed expectations in New Hampshire, which holds the nation's first primary on Tuesday. Biden said he can't be expected to top Sanders, who represents Vermont, or Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, since they're from neighboring states.

'Look, who has won a New Hampshire primary ... if you have somebody running in the two states next door to you?' he asked the crowd.

While in the room, Biden's odd comment was taken in stride.

Once it hit the internet, however, it was ripe for critics to rip.

Donald Trump Jr. saw the back-and-forth and suggested it showed that the 77-year-old Biden was deteriorating.

'Are we stil pretending Joe Biden hasn't lost his marbles?' Trump Jr. tweeted Sunday afternoon. The first son then suggested people 'Google a video of him from 30 years ago and compare it to him now and tell me it's the same person!'

'Long gone,' Trump Jr. said.
The Labour Fund Tamkeen has extended the registration period of the 6th edition of Mashroo3i Youth Business Competition, for the year 2019  2020, due to the high the demand where the applications reached more than 150 application, until February 15, 2020.

This extension is granted to allow a larger segment of the Bahraini youth to join the comprehensive program that will enable them to transform their business ideas into successful entrepreneurial projects.

Mashroo3i Youth Business Competition targets in its 6th edition Bahrainis aged 18 to 35 in teams of 2 to 3 individuals who wish to have their entrepreneurial ideas polished and developed into successful businesses.

The Evaluation Committee of Mashroo3i has begun the process of reviewing the applications received in order to select qualified applicants for the upcoming stages of the program. The competition will conclude by honoring the best 3 projects during the final ceremony.

Moreover, a number of awards will be distributed among the participants including the Feasibility Study of the Year Award, the Business Model Award, the Marketing, Sales & Promotion Award, Most Responsible Business of the Year Award, the Charismatic Entrepreneur of the Year, the Innovation Award, E-Business of the Year Award, Active use of Social Media Award and the Peoples Choice Award.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Ebrahim Mohammed Janahi, Chief Executive of Tamkeen, said: Mashroo3i Youth Business Competition attracts a large segment of ambitious young Bahrainis who intend to pursue entrepreneurial career paths; therefore, this extension aims to allow more individuals with innovative ideas to take part in the program and benefit from key training opportunities that will enable them to actualise their business ideas, and consequently contribute to the growth of the private sector in line with Bahrains Economic Vision 2030.

Launched by Tamkeen to promote the culture of entrepreneurship among youth, Mashroo3i Youth Business Competition is a national platform designed to support and guide participants to learn about the fundamentals of creating successful feasibility studies, porotypes, and assist in converting them into successful business.

Provided that, the national competition celebrates inspiring Bahraini entrepreneurs encouraging innovative and creative ideas. -- Tradearabia News Service
M ost of Tottenham's players were given the rest of the week off following Wednesday's 3-2 win over Southampton in the FA Cup fourth-round replay, and Dele Alli and Ryan Sessegnon were among those to head to Dubai for a few days.

For Jose Mourinho, however, the work never stops and the Spurs boss spent Sunday evening back at Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena , where his side were beaten 3-1 in December, to scout Champions League last-16 opponents RB Leipzig, who drew 0-0 with the Bundesliga champions.

Mourinho was back in London on Monday morning to begin a much-anticipated spell of training, uninterrupted by a mid-week fixture. The Portuguese is conscious of the need to give his players a rest during Spurs' shortened winter-break, so most of the work will be focussed on tactics as the Portuguese looks to continue to get his ideas across to the squad.

Ben Davies, however, will be undertake his own mini-preseason as he looks to get up-to-speed in time to face Aston Villa on Sunday, having returned to training last week after an ankle ligament injury.

Tottenham squad 2019-20 | Injuries, contracts and squad numbers 1 /36 Tottenham squad 2019-20 | Injuries, contracts and squad numbers We run you through Tottenham's squad for the 2019-20 season... Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty I Hugo Lloris Squad Number: 1



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FLINT, MI -- A water consultant hired during the Flint water crisis is seeking to depose former Gov. Rick Snyder and other ex-state officials as part of an ongoing federal lawsuit.

Whether Snyder and others will be questioned under oath still depends on what a judge decides about a protective order requested by the state Attorney Generals Office, however.

Veolia North America is one of many defendants named in a massive federal class action lawsuit filed on behalf of Flint residents and businesses in connection with the water crisis. Snyder and other former state officials are also defendants in the case.

In late 2019 and earlier this year, Veolia sent deposition notices to Snyder, former Department of Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon, former Chief Medical Executive Eden Well and former Treasurer Andy Dillon, according to court records.

In a motion filed Jan. 23 in U.S. District Court Eastern District of Michigan, the state AGs office requested defendants Snyder, Lyon, Wells and Dillon be granted immunity via a protective order.

In rebuttal to this request, Veolia claims state defendants are not entitled to immunity from being deposed."

Though Snyder testified before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform about the Flint water crisis, he has never been deposed in any of the civil lawsuits.

During a telephonic hearing Wednesday, Feb. 5, U.S. District Judge Judith E. Levy said a decision would be postponed until after oral arguments, currently scheduled for Tuesday, March 17.

After the arguments, Levy said the importance of the state officials deposition will be clearer.

The motion by the state requested the court enter a protective order prohibiting state defendant depositions until the threshold question of their qualified immunity is fully resolved, at which time the court would consider the scope of the discovery that will be allowed State Defendants, and at whose expense."

Qualified immunity" states elected officials cannot be held civilly liable for actions they take in the normal course of their job.

Should this protective order be granted, the public officials responsible for the Flint water crisis would not only be free from any charges, but also able to hide behind their so-called immunity to remain completely silent about their wrongful behavior at the time of the crisis, a statement sent by Veolia to MLive-The Flint Journal reads. The mere fact that they ask for a protective order is another example of their cowardice.

The Michigan Attorney Generals Office said it doesnt comment on ongoing litigation.

Veolia, one of the worlds largest utilities companies and a city contractor at the time of the water crisis, said in the statement that states testimony is crucial to a fair trial.

Its a disturbing pattern that should raise real concerns among all people who think the truth should not be covered up," the statement reads. "We welcome a full airing of the facts because the truth will shine a bright light on the failure at many levels of government for what happened in Flint. We know there are some who think they can avoid blaming their friends and allies, and also extract a big payday, if they find a corporate villain to blame. It wont work because the truth -- the facts -- will not support it.

Levy said shes not unsympathetic to the request that the state defendants not be subjected to depositions in this case until the issue of qualified immunity has been resolved by the 6th Circuit and potentially the U.S. Supreme Court.

However, she said deposing state officials is still relevant to the case.

We know that the case is proceeding, we know we have trial dates for bellwether plaintiffs and those trials simply cannot take place without these individuals as witnesses because ... theyre either going to be parties or non-parties -- one or another, Levy said.

Flint residents Luke Waid and Michelle Rodriguez claim in the lawsuit that they were harmed as a consequence of lead and other toxic substances in the city's water supply.

Waid and Rodriguez are seeking to recover monetary damages for gross negligence of the defendants, including various employees of the state and city of Flint.
Antonio Guterres says it is time to mobilise international support to enable Sudan to overcome its challenges.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for Sudan to be removed from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism, as Khartoum slowly returns to the international fold.

It is time to remove Sudan from the list of state supporters of terrorism, and to mobilise massive international support to enable Sudan to overcome its challenges, the UN chief said on Sunday during an address at the annual African Union summit in Addis Ababa.

The US government added Sudan to its list of state sponsors of terrorism in 1993 over allegations that then-President Omar al-Bashirs government was supporting terrorist groups.

The designation makes Sudan technically ineligible for debt relief and financing from the IMF and World Bank.

Washington began a formal process to de-list Sudan in January 2017, but this was put on hold when Sudans mass protests erupted a year ago. The uprising toppled al-Bashir and eventually forced the military into a power-sharing agreement with civilians.

Sudans Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has repeatedly urged the West to end his countrys international pariah status. He says it is the only way to save the nations fragile democratic transition from a plunging economy.

In September, Hamdok said he was expecting a big breakthrough that would lead to removing Sudan from the list and unlocking desperately needed foreign aid.

It was the former regime that supported terrorism and the Sudanese people revolted against it. These sanctions have caused tremendous suffering to our people, Hamdok, who was appointed prime minister in August, said during an address at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in September.

Therefore we call on the United States to remove Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism and to stop punishing the people of Sudan for crimes committed by the former regime, he added.
Manila, Feb 10 : The administration of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday asked the Supreme Court to shut down ABS-CBN, the largest television network in the country.

Solicitor General Jose Calida, the government's chief lawyer, filed a petition not to renew ABS-CBN's franchise, set to expire on March 30 after 25 years of operation, reports Efe news.

The decision to renew the network's franchise rests in Congress' hands, but the Supreme Court, where most of the judges are allies of Duterte, could step in.

In the petition, which he himself filed, Calida says ABS-CBN and its subsidiary, ABS-CBN Convergence, are unlawfully exercising their legislative franchises as it is partially financed by foreign capital, which violates the Philippine law on mass media.

"The media giant hiding behind an 'elaborately crafted corporate veil' has been allowing foreign investors to take part in the ownership of a Philippine mass media entity, in gross violation of the foreign interest restriction of mass media provided under Section 11, Article XVI of the Constitution," Calida said in a statement.

This is the same argument the Duterte administration used in its attempt to revoke Philippine news site Rappler's license to operate two years ago.

Rappler, which is headed by acclaimed journalist Maria Ressa, has several cases pending in the country's courts that many organisations consider attacks on freedom of the press for its critical journalism.

The petition against ABS-CBN comes as no surprise, as Duterte himself had threatened on several occasions in recent months to close the media outlet, which employs 11,000 people.

Duterte, who has often accused ABS-CBN of publishing "unfair" reports about him, urged the company's owners last December to sell the network to Filipino investors or he would shut it down.

Some media suggest the president's enmity with the network began during the 2016 presidential race, when ABS-CBN refused to air his campaign advertisement.

"We must not allow the vindictiveness of one man, no matter how powerful, to run roughshod over the constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of the press and of expression, and the people's right to know," the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines said in a statement.
Globe Telecom has detailed its 5G deployment plans for the Philippines across the next year.

Having launched a fixed-wireless 5G broadband offering in June last year, for 2020 Globe is targeting strategic urban zones, including business districts, across Metro Manila. According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the deployment will begin in the Pasig area.

To support its 5G rollout, the operator  which is the Philippines second largest in terms of subscribers and revenue - has extended a contract with Aviat Networks through to the end of 2024. Under the agreement, Aviat will provide wireless transport solutions across Globes network footprint.

In October 2019, the companies announced the deployment of Aviat's WTM 4800 E-band and multi-band radio platform to support Globe's 5G rollouts. WTM 4800 is the industry's first and only single box, multi-band solution which lowers total cost of ownership (TCO) significantly, compared to alternative multi-band solutions.

Globe has also announced that it will release the 5G-capable Huawei Mate 30 Pro device for its high-end users, as part of its efforts to test the other capabilities of 5G. The operator invested PHP51 billion (USD1 billion) in its network over 2019, increasing its mobile sites by 139% year-on-year. It has detailed plans for a further PHP63 billion investment in 2020, which some of this going towards 5G.
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To say today is a time of transition and even crisis in higher education is not news. A torrent of demographic, economic, technological, and sociological change is washing over the landscape of higher education. When the current floods recede, profound changes will have occurred. As a Christian college and seminary president, I am called to lead and respond well to such unprecedented changes. As we make numerous and weighty decisions, the unrelenting question is, What makes Christian higher education truly Christian?

Obedience to the teachings of Jesus gives Christians a firm foundation for our lives that withstands the storms and floods we encounter. There is no idea more central to the teaching of Jesus than his repeated command to love one another.

For decades, most Christian institutions of higher education have defined their mission in terms of the integration of faith and learning. Tremendous effort has been exerted to bring faith into endeavors like teaching research and service. But could it be possible that the present tumult in our industry now exists to drive Christian educators to integrate learning with something Scripture describes as even more foundational to our lives than faith?

I am increasingly convinced that a new model of Christian higher education is emerging. This new model will have a new core; namely, the integration of love and learning. Indeed, Jesus taught that loving God and your neighbor as yourself, are the greatest commandments.

What comes closest to embodying what I envision as the integration of love and learning, in higher education is personalism, which draws from several belief traditions. Personalism emphasizes the importance and dignity of human individuals. While certain strands of personalism run counter to traditional biblical teachings, many interpretations reinforce and even celebrate what Christians believe; most significantly, that each is created in the image of God.

This new model that integrates love and learning will intentionally orient students to the reality of the imago dei in every individual and motivate them to respond to others with the love of Christ. This new model of Christian higher education simply widens the locus of response to the message of the gospel from the heart and the head to the heart, head and hands.

An applied form of personalism that integrates Christian love and learning can make a difference in the emerging new world of higher education in three important ways.

First, there is a need for new business models that make higher education accessible to all persons. As private colleges, Christian colleges regularly utilize a cost structure that prohibits many from accessing or even considering Christian higher education. Some of the financial gap that currently exists is actual; some of it is perceptual, but both contribute to the daily widening gap. The movement towards tuition free public higher education in some states has further exacerbated this gap.

Even successful philanthropic initiatives struggle to keep pace with the rising costs of education. A close look at giving trends reveals that transformative financial gifts received by institutions do not absolve them of ongoing operational challenges. Innovative and widespread partnering will become necessary to love our neighbor as ourselves in our efforts to fund Christian higher education. Anything short of this will make Christian higher education available to only a select few, excluding the very populations that will shape the latter half of this century.

Second, there is a need to instill hope in a fatherless generation. The most recent U.S. Census reported that approximately 24 million children live in fatherless homes. The National Principals Association reports that 71% of high school dropouts come from fatherless homes. Even for those who make it to college, the graduation rates of certain segments of the American population are nothing short of appalling. From my experience as an educator, it is clear that before we can instill knowledge in these students, we must instill something far more visceral and that is hope.

Student development programs and services are typically administrated by deeply committed professionals who serve effectively. Still, a new model of higher education based in Christian love and personalism will enlist the efforts of every staff and faculty member to engage the labor-intensive work of supporting spiritual and emotional healing. The healing, development and personal transformation of students will be a central value in every endeavor of the institution.

In my opinion, nothing will more effectively differentiate the value of a Christian college education than its capacity to embrace a generation of fatherless students  to love them and to instill hope in them. Unless such a model becomes operational on our campuses, we will continue to see single digit graduation rates among certain student demographics and masses of students leaving colleges, once again feeling abandoned.

Third, there is a need for a model in which service-learning is normative. I am deeply grateful for our many graduates who serve in a wide array of professional fields. But the key word is serve. I am moved by graduates who enter the professional world as missionaries, not as mercenaries.

To ensure that this happens with increasing frequency, this idea of serving must be central to the college experience. My observation is that the opportunity to serve is often experienced by college students as merely something of a change of pace. Service-learning trips and projects are departures from the norm of classes and research projects. However, the integration of love and learning in Christian higher education will develop a model that would profoundly elevate the role of service.

We have long understood that certain proficiencies must be treated as basic competencies of a college education. Critical thinking and writing are among these. A new model of Christian higher education based in love and personalism will include service as a core competency.

Christian college graduates with well-developed, and internalized personal faith can move into neighborhoods and communities and either fit all too well into the status quo, or worse, retreat to enclaves that become isolated and eventually irrelevant. Christian college graduates with well-developed ethic of service based in love will move into neighborhoods and communities and immediately have the kind of impact that their Master said they would. Anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. (John 14:12b). A new model of Christian higher education based in love and personalism will mobilize a new generation to serve a needy world, in the name of Christ.

While some of these tactics are speculative, the needs that prompt my speculation are not. As such, to become a Christian college that applies personalism by integrating love and learning is truly my aspiration for my institution.

For now, we see in a mirror indirectly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Cor. 13 12-13, New English Translation Bible)
A school closed in Les Contamines-Montjoie, near Mont Blanc in the French Alps, where five British nationals including a child tested positive for the coronavirus (Getty)

A British businessman who contracted the coronavirus in Singapore is feared to be a super spreader with a higher ability to infect other people, and appears to be linked to 11 other cases.

After a conference in Singapore, the man, who is in his 50s, travelled to France where he stayed with his family in a ski chalet in the Alpine resort of Les Contamines-Montjoie.

Five people who were in the chalet, including a boy of nine, have tested positive for coronavirus since the man came back to the UK on an easyJet flight.

The man, who is now being treated at St Thomas' Hospital in London, has been linked to six other cases  five of which were announced on Monday.

A man in protective clothing cleans the County Oak Medical Centre GP practice in Brighton after a member of staff contracted coronavirus (Getty)

What is a super spreader?

Medical professionals are as of yet unsure what makes a person a super spreader, which means they have a higher ability to infect other people with a virus they contracted.

It has been suggested some people may "shed" more of the virus into the environment by coughing and sneezing.

Some speculate that the immune system of the person might be so good that the person themselves doesnt feel symptoms so carries on transmitting the disease to others.

In the early 1990s, an Irish woman nicknamed Typhoid Mary infected an estimated 51 people in the US with typhoid but had no symptoms herself.

Read more:

UK facing 'major outbreak' of coronavirus, expert warns

Canadian mum desperate to be reunited with toddler stranded in China's coronavirus epicentre

Brit honeymooner on quarantined cruise ship confirmed as having coronavirus

Someone who travels a lot and has contact with many people  as was the case with the British businessman  could spread the virus to multiple people.

It is possible that they got a higher dose of the virus or were infected with more than one pathogen.

Specialists say identifying these individuals is vital in keeping the spread of virus under control.
A use-of-force consultant hired by defense attorneys offered a strikingly different interpretation of what prosecutors say led up to defendant Jeremy Christian stabbing three unarmed men in the necks on a crowded MAX train in May 2017, killing two of them.

Stephen Yerger testified Monday that the only stabbing victim to survive, Micah Fletcher, was aggressive, confrontational and invaded Christians personal space by moving within 6 to 8 feet of him in the moments before Christian pulled out his knife and used it.

I would point out what Mr. Fletcher did was very inflammatory and was basically pouring gasoline on the fire, said Yerger, a self-employed consultant whose business, 3 Tier Services, is based near Boise.

Yerger said Christian was acting defensively as Taliesin Namkai-Meche and Fletcher confronted him, causing Christian to fear for his safety and possibly even his life.

Stephen Yerger testified about de-escalation techniques during Jeremy Christian's trial on February 10, 2020. Beth Nakamura, The Oregonian/OregonLive/Pool

The eighth day of trial was the first day of Christians defense case after prosecutors finished questioning their witnesses last week.

Among the charges Christian, 37, faces are two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder and three counts of first-degree intimidation, a hate crime. Defense attorneys last week asked the judge to acquit Christian of those crimes because of what they argued was a lack of evidence presented by the prosecution or an improperly worded indictment. The judge declined.

Witnesses have said that on the afternoon of May 26, 2017, Christian ranted on the train for more than five minutes about decapitating people and Jews, Muslims and Christians dying. They said he made statements including (Expletive) Saudi Arabia! and Go home, we need American here!

Two teenage girls, one who is African American and the other who is an immigrant from Somalia and was wearing a hijab, testified they felt Christian was targeting them and moved away from him on the train. Fletcher testified last week that he moved in to tell Christian to stop, but backed off after another passenger who was trying to ease tensions told Fletcher that Christian was just talking.

Witnesses said passengers were yelling at Christian to Shut up! and a short while later, Christian grabbed the phone of Namkai-Meche and threw it on the floor.

Namkai-Meche, according to one witness, had held up his phone as if about to record and said, Youre about to become an internet sensation.

Christian killed Namkai-Meche, 23, and Ricky Best, 53, who was standing behind Namkai-Meche. It doesnt appear from videos shown in court that Best had any interaction with Christian at all.

Yerger said he was basing many of his conclusions from watching multiple videos taken from cellphones and surveillance cameras on the train. Defense attorney Dean Smith asked Yerger to characterize the actions of Namkai-Meche.

At your first glance, it might appear to be harmless, Yerger said. But what he did ... was very confrontational. ... He sat in the chair facing Mr. Christian and put his phone in his face. ... He came to Mr. Christian. Mr. Christian did not come to him.

Yerger described Christian as already agitated.

All youre going to do when someone is in that particular state is youre going to make it worse, Yerger said.

Fletcher testified he wasnt looking directly at Christian and Namkai-Meche at that moment, and Fletcher thought the noise of the phone hitting the floor was the sound of Christian striking Namkai-Meche. Fletcher, who was 21 at the time, immediately stepped toward Christian. Video shows Christian, Namkai-Meche and Fletcher standing face-to-face, chest-to-chest.

The schoolyard standoff is what I call it, Yerger said.

Thats when video shows Christian shoving Fletcher and then Namkai-Meche. Christian was the first to lay hands on either man.

Yerger said although most people would look at that like (its) a provocation, he sees it as Christian feeling outnumbered and trying to defend himself against a disparity of force."

Your natural reaction is to push them away, Yerger said. ... Thats a defensive push."

On video, Christian can be heard and seen yelling at Namkai-Meche and Fletcher to Do something!" or "Do something, (expletive)! over and over. Yerger said that was just talk from a man who felt he was about to be hurt.

Its I dont want to hit you. ... Are you going to hit me? Yerger said.

Yerger said Christian, like others who might find them in a similar situation, had reason to fear he might be seriously injured. Thats especially true for Christian because he has a metal plate in his face that might make him more vulnerable, Yerger said.

If they get hit in the head hard enough they could actually die," Yerger said.

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.

After Christian shoved Namkai-Meche, Fletcher grabbed Christian by the shirt and told him to get off the train.

Now Mr. Fletcher has become the aggressor because he threw Mr. Christian to the ground twice, Yerger said, who later corrected himself to say Christian hit some seats and not the floor.

Prosecutors have said Fletcher pushed or grabbed Christian three times, and video appears to show that.

Christian went on to stab Fletcher, followed by Namkai-Meche and then Best. Yerger said Christian could have perceived Best as a danger because he was standing right behind Namkai-Meche.

You get tunnel vision," Yerger said. "(Christian) could have very easily perceived all three of those people as being a threat.

Although Yerger repeatedly characterized the three men who were stabbed as aggressors or threats, he never described Christian as such during his hour on the witness stand.

In cross-examining Yerger, prosecutor Jeff Howes asked him to define who was the fire in his analogy about Fletcher pouring gasoline on the fire. Yerger wouldnt agree that it was Christian.

Howes also asked whether it made a difference that Namkai-Meches hands were full when Christian stabbed him: His cellphone was in one hand, a food container in the other.

Yerger said that was irrelevant to whether Christian thought Namkai-Meche was a threat because Christian might not have been paying attention to what Namkai-Meche was holding.

The prosecutor asked Yerger to explain why he thought Christian wasnt threatening or warning both men when he yelled Do something, (expletive)! or Oh, you want some? to Fletcher.

Thats the bravado, Yerger said. Calling out, Are you really going to do something here? ... Just because somebodys saying that doesnt mean that somebody has to act on it."

The prosecutor asked Yerger why, after Fletcher pushed Christian and if Christian had been scared for his own safety, would Christian twice exclaim, Hit me again!

'Hit me again in your world is a plausible expression of fear? Howes asked.

It could be, Yerger responded. ... It could be a combination of fear and anger.

When asked by Howes, Yerger agreed that he hadnt listened to any of the 40 witnesses presented by the prosecution or watched a video of the confrontation that shows the encounter play out in slow motion.

Yerger said defense attorneys hadnt asked him to.

You make a lot of assumptions in your testimony, Howes said.

In contrast to last week, when Christian frequently shifted his weight in his chair, shook his head and laughed as witnesses testified, he was still and quiet as Yerger testified.

Christian broke his silence once, when he disagreed with the prosecutors line of questioning. Because it didnt happen, thats why, he called out.

Multnomah County Circuit Judge Cheryl Albrecht told Christian to be quiet. After the jury left the room, she told Christian that this was his last warning. Christian has blurted out statements a few times since opening statements two weeks ago.

The next time, the judge said, youre going to be escorted out and allowed to watch the trial only by closed circuit video in another room.

Christian simply responded, OK.

-- 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.

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A 25-year-old woman lecturer who was set ablaze by a stalker in Maharashtra's Wardha district last week died while undergoing treatment at a hospital here on Monday morning, officials said.

Ankita Pisudde, resident of Hinganghat town in Wardha, had been critical after sustaining 35 to 40 per cent grade III burns on February 3 when she was set afire allegedly by one Vikesh Nagrale (27) while she was on way to her college, they said.

She was undergoing treatment at the Orange City Hospital & Research Centre here, located around 75 km from Wardha.

Doctors at the hospital declared her dead at 6.55 am today, Hinganghat's police inspector Satyaveer Bandiwar said.

The woman sustained deep burn injuries on scalp, face, right upper limb, left hand, upper back, neck and eyes along with severe inhalational injuries, the hospital said in a medical bulletin on Monday.

She died of septicemic shock after suffering from deep dermal burns along with severe inhalational injuries, respiratory distress and related complications, it said.

Around 4 am onMonday,her oxygen levels deteriorated inspite of ventilator support, coupled with decreasing urine output and reduction in blood pressure, the hospital said.

As part of immediate resuscitation measures, medicines were escalated to maintain the blood pressure and all feasible steps were taken to improve the oxygen levels in blood, but the patient remained extremely critical, it said.

Around 6.30 am, she had bradycardia and inspite of prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the patient could not be revived and was declared dead at 6.55 am, it said.

The probable cause of death was septicemic shock, the bulletin added.

During her treatment, she underwent tracheostomy (creating an opening in neck to place a tube into the windpipe to allow air to enter the lungs), burn dressings, debridement and escharotomies, the hospital informed.

Debridement is a medical procedure to remove dead, damaged or infected tissue, while escharotomy is a surgical procedure used to treat full-thickness (third-degree) circumferential burns.

The woman's parents and uncle were kept informed about her deteriorating health condition and death, the hospital said, adding that the body was later handed over to police for postmortem and other formalities.

After the woman's condition deteriorated, the hospital informed about her critical status to Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, Wardha Guardian Minister Sunil Kedar, Nagpur Divisional Commissioner Sanjeev Kumar, Police Commissioner Bhushan Kumar Upadhyay, Wardha Collector Vivek Bhimanwar and Wardha Superintendent of Police Basavraj Teli.

Heavy security was deployed in Hinganghat to avoid any law and order problem following her death, the police said.

Several locals, mostly women and college students, took out a march in Wardha city last Thursday, demanding death penalty for the accused.

Home Minister Deshmukh visited the hospital on Tuesday and announced that the accused's trial would be fast-tracked.

The state government last week flew Navi Mumbai-based National Burns Centre director Sunil Keswani to Nagpur to supervise the woman's treatment.

It has also appointed well-known lawyer Ujjwal Nikam as special public prosecutor in the case.

According to the victim's relatives, Nagrale, who was arrested within hours of the incident on February 3, had been harassing her for quite some time.

Nagrale and the woman were friends till two years ago when she severed ties with him due to his irrational behaviour, the police earlier said.

A special team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Trupti Jadhav will probe the case, the Wardha Police said last week.
- Popular Nollywood actress, Mercy Aigbe, has advised women on marriage, saying it is not an achievement

- Mercy said that African mothers always put their expectation of marriage on their daughter, expecting them to stay in a man's house

- The mother of two who has married twice said that for a marriage to work, it takes the contribution of both parties involved

Popular Nollywood actress and media personality, Mercy Aigbe, has told women in her popular YouTube vlog that marriage is not an achievement.

Among other things she said in the vlog was that the institution is overrated. It should be noted that the single mother of two separated from her husband, Lanre Gentry in 2018.

She spoke about how African mothers are always of the idea that their daughters should remain in a mans house.

Still, on the institution, she said that for marriage to work, the two people involved have to take responsibilities instead of heaping everything on women.

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Our mothers brought us up, as women, to take whatever our partners do to us. They tell us to take it because we want to remain in a mans house. To me, it is not an achievement.

Lets just say as it is marriage is overrated. It takes two people to make it work; its not just about the women. But, everybody keeps heaping all the responsibilities on the woman. That shouldnt be," she said.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that Iyabo Ojo, a popular Nollywood actress and producer, reportedly reacted to the news that Fathia Balogun has got engaged to her boyfriend.

It should be noted that Fathias marriage with Said Balogun broke down in 2006 but was formally annulled in 2014.

News of the Nollywood actress trying out love for the second time has gone viral online as many celebrated her bravery.

Barely days after the announcement of the engagement, Iyabo Ojo, who is known to have had a long feud with Fathia, shared a short humorous video on her Instagram.

Though she never mentioned any name in the said video, the timing and inference drawn from the video could be seen as her response to the engagement news.

In the said video, she laughed hysterically as she said (loosely translated from Yoruba): What is not funny? It is very funny.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better

Must a woman adopt her husbands name after marriage? | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
Separatists captured in Bangem on Election Day Facebook

Seven armed separatists where neutralised in Bangem, Kupe-Muanenguba Division of the South West Region Sunday, February 9, 2020 as they tried to perturb voting at a polling centre in the town.

Security officials say aside the seven killed, others were captured. Five calibre 12 guns, a locally fabricated pistol, a grenade, a pair of rangers, a red beret of the National Gendarmerie, gunpowder and three motorbikes were collected from the armed fighters.

Charms locally called odeshi where destroyed in the attack. The soldiers successfully handled the situation without sustaining any casualties on their side, reports say. It is said to have been the lone incident of the day.

Of the expected 7148 voters in Bangem, the likes of Kupe Muanenguba SDO, Jean Marie Tchakui and Ex-Forestry and Wildlife Minister, Ngole Philip Ngwese cast their ballots in Bangem.

Elung Paul Che, Minister, Assistant Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic voted in Tombel where 19549 voters were expected at the polls. In Nguti, 9101 registered voters were expected to cast their ballots.

In a related development, The Median's reporter, Doh Bertrand Nua, narrowed escaped death as separatists attacked a convoy returning to Yaounde from Mamfe after voting.

The convoy, escorted by the BIR, was attacked at Talangaye, near Nguti, on the Mamfe-Kumba road. Bertrand survived thanks to the bullet-proof casket he wore on his head. The separatists had blocked the road using felled trees. As the BIR guys came down their armoured cars to clear the road using chain saws, the amba gunmen started firing from the bushes. Fortunately, there were no human casualties.

Parliamentary and municipal elections took place in Cameroon this February 9, 2020 amid threats by separatists in the North West and South West Regions. The armed separatists, who seek to make the aforementioned regions an independent country called Ambazonia, imposed a six-day lockdown in a bid to stop the elections from taking place.

The Cameroon Renaissance Movement, CRM pulled out of the race to todays elections hours to the deadline for the submission of candidacy files. They cited the situation in the North West and South West Regions as well as deficiencies in the Electoral Code as reasons for their withdrawal. They went on to call for a nationwide boycott of the said polls.

Elections are however said to have taken place in all the 360 subdivisions of the country.
Dennis Allen, a retired Air Force Officer, has completed his new book Roxbury Rumbles: an intriguing work that details how by a strange set of circumstances, Alonzo secretly films the murder of black businessman, Miles Parker, who is running to unseat Congressman Vincent Moffit. The unidentified assailant is dressed as a policeman, and civil rioting quickly ensues.

According to Allen, "Along the way, Alonzo runs into all kinds of characters, ranging from a savvy bartender, gang members who mark where he lives and follow him around, two dark figures associated with the Moffit campaign, a shady bar owner, a helpful police contact, a determined campaign manager, a grieving widow, a mysterious voice guiding his search, and a beautiful but distant woman who captures Alonzos love."

Published by Page Publishing, Dennis Allen's riveting tale describes how the day after Miles Parker was shot, Vincent Moffit and his colleague, the Reverend Moses Le Treau, publicly accuse the police for the killing and the rioting continues. The Police Chief, of course, denies that any of his officers was the murderer.

Not convinced it was the police, Alonzo is determined to find out who the shooter is in order

to obtain the professional respect he believes he is due. Investigating the crime, Alonzo walks the

tightrope between the gangs, the police, his informants, and his coworkersall of which want a

piece of Alonzo Martinez. Find out if Alonzo Martinez solves the mystery and completes his quest for respect and love or ends up the same way Miles Parker did.

Readers who wish to experience this thrilling work can purchase Roxbury Rumbles at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes Store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708.

About Page Publishing:

Page Publishing is a traditional, full-service publishing house that handles all of the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create  not bogged down with complicated business issues like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and the like. Its roster of authors can leave behind these tedious, complex, and time-consuming issues, and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com.
A proposed change in Medicaid rules could cost Texas hospitals billions of dollars, forcing many to cut services and some rural hospitals to close their doors, health care industry officials said.

The change, aimed at increasing the transparency of how the programs money is spent, narrows the definition of state and local funds that can be used to determine federal matching funds. That, in turn, would reduce federal funding and cost Texas hopsitals an estimated $11 billion a year, industry officials said.

Houston hospitals would lose an estimated $500 million a year, said Tim Ottinger, director of governmental relations at CHI St. Lukes Health.

A drop in funding would mean extreme hardship for many of Texas rural hospitals, which stand to lose some $900 million a year. The Texas Organization for Rural and Community Hospitals (TORCH) found that 46 percent of the states rural hospitals operate at a loss. Over the last decade, 26 rural hospitals have closed in Texas, the highest rate in the nation.

Its unclear how many more rural hospitals could close if the proposed rule goes into effect as written, but it would be devastating to pull so much money from their budgets, said John Henderson, president of TORCH.

A business cant survive, Henderson said. But this isnt just a business, its a service.

Changing the rules

Medicaid, which is jointly funded by state and federal governments, is the health insurance program for the poor. The Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Rule proposed by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) calls on hospitals to share more data publicly about what they do with money received from Medicaid.

But it also redefines public funds, which include money from city, county and state taxes, patient revenues, lease and grant income and miscellaneous revenue sources. The federal government matches what those hospitals generate in public funds in supplemental Medicaid payments

On HoustonChronicle.com: 50,000 Texas children a year lose Medicaid over paperwork. A bill to change that died

Under the proposed rule, public funds would be redefined as state or local funds, meaning hospitals cant count patient revenues. The less money a hospital reports in public funds, the fewer federal Medicaid dollars are available to them.

The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services have not set a date for finalizing the proposed rule. Seema Verma, administrator of CMS, said the rule aims to ensure taxpayer money is well spent.

CMS recognizes the critical importance of supplemental funding to the safety net, she said, but those payments must support value and improve care and the quality of life of our Medicaid beneficiaries.

An analysis from the American Hospital Association and the consulting firm Manatt Health found Medicaid payments to hospitals nationwide would fall between $23 billion to $31 billion annually, or by up to 17 percent of hospital funding.

While the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services said the change would increase transparency, critics said the alterations would cripple Medicaid financing nationwide as health care costs rise.

CMS has provided little to no analysis to justify these policy changes, nor has the agency assessed the impact on providers and the patients they serve, the American Health Care Association, which represents long-term care providers such as assisted living facilities, and American Hospital Association said in a joint statement.

Over 4,000 hospitals, doctors and advocacy groups filed comments by the Feb. 1 public comment deadline, according to the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services.

Urban and suburban hospitals wouldnt see a large number of closures from the proposed rule change, industry officials said. But, experts said, losing that amount of of money would drastically affect their services. For instance, hospitals that offer trauma care may stop treating severe cases or stop taking trauma patients altogether if they dont have the funding to support it, CHI St. Lukes Ottinger said.

Texas Inc.: Get the best of business news sent directly to your inbox

Changes this substantial would cause all hospitals to look at consolidations of services, locations of sites of care, he said.

An ideal rule?

If the definition of public funds were limited to those collected by local and state government, hospitals and legislators might try to implement tax increases to make up the difference  and thats a hard sell in historically tax-averse Texas, health care officials said.

That would leave it to urban hospitals and local districts to shoulder the burden of Medicaid patient and program costs.

As states have shrunk and shrunk their revenue generating capacity and cut their budgets, part of what happens is they start pushing more of Medicaid program outside of the state budget, said Anne Dunkelberg, associate director at the Austin-based Center for Public Policy Priorities.

Local funds, rather than state money, currently provide approximately 60 percent of revenues at Texas hospitals, she said.

The American Hospital Association wants the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services to do away with the proposed rule because of the sizable funding cuts, unclear data reporting requirements and legal concerns that it violated federal rules on issuing regulations.

Others just want the definition of public funds rewritten to avoid funding crises at the state level.

Its pulling the rug out from under everything states like Texas are doing to get to the stated goal of transparency, said Henderson, the president of the rural hospital association.
Buddhist hard-liners in Myanmar threatened the media over their coverage of a pro-military rally in Yangon, demanding that at least two outlets remove reports from their websites about hate speech against State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and the country's religious affairs minister, the news organizations involved said Monday.

About 1,000 nationalists demonstrated in the commercial capital formerly called Rangoon on Sunday to show their support for Myanmars powerful military.

Khit Thit Media and 7 Day News are among the media organizations that have received threats and been subjected to other forms of intimidation for covering the protest, said Tharlon Zaung Htet, editor of Khit Thit Media and a member of the government-sponsored Myanmar Press Council.

The threats received by our news outlets are not just a threat to us, they are a threat to all the media and journalists, he told RFAs Myanmar Service.

In observing their actions, I think they planned it carefully, he added. They came to the 7 Day News office and then went to Khit Thit.

Myanmar National Organization, a civil group, organized the protest near the Sule Pagoda in downtown Yangon, during which Buddhist monks participating in the rally accused Religious Affairs Minister Thura Aung Ko of oppressing the countrys majority religion by favoring non-Buddhists.

They also accused Aung San Suu Kyis administration of proposing constitutional amendments that would reduce the political power of the military, which controls a quarter of the seats in parliament by appointment and wields a crucial veto over proposed charter amendments.

Some Buddhist monks who were part of the protest are known to have participated in the activities of Ma Ba Tha, a hard-line religious organization that authorities forcibly disbanded.

Other protesters carried banners saying No Rohingya in a reference to members of the ethnic minority group that Myanmar views as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, Reuters reported.

A 2017 military-led crackdown targeting the Rohingya left thousands dead and drove more than 740,000 others into neighboring Bangladesh.

News report edits

Nyein Nyein Naing from 7 Day TV said broadcasters had to edit news reports about the protest that were webcast on Sunday.

We have stated in the narration that some of the speakers at the event made speeches that could possibly incite religious riots, so they complained about our coverage, he said.

They actually used hate speech during the event, he said. We all heard it, but we have removed the part about the speeches possibly inciting religious riots.

Some protesters published photos on social media and said they had visited the media outlets to protest against the news reports.

But Kyauk Khae, a nationalist activist who participated in the protest, told RFA that demonstrators did not threaten the media.

Zayar Hlaing, secretary of the Media Ethics and Development Committee of the Myanmar Press Council, questioned the circumstances surrounding the reported threats.

Im wondering if they made threats by saying that the published reports were wrong or if the reporters made mistakes by writing something they didnt actually say, he said.

But if they are issuing threats even though the news media didnt make any mistake in their coverage, then all journalists need to respond in unity and with determination, he added.

Growing tension

Tensions between the military and the government are increasing in the run-up to general elections in November and amid stiff opposition over proposed changes to the 2008 constitution that would weaken the political power of military officers appointed as lawmakers.

In late January, a constitutional amendment committee submitted to parliament bills that contain the proposed changes, including ones that would move oversight of the armed forces from the Defense Services Ministry to the elected president and gradually eliminate all military-appointed lawmakers.

Myanmar is also facing genocide charges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and in two other international courts over atrocities committed during the 2017 crackdown on Rohingya in Rakhine state.

The ICJ, the U.N.s top court, ordered Myanmar in January to take measures to protect Rohingya living inside the country and to preserve evidence of atrocities committed during the campaign of violence.

Myanmar has denied that its military committed any atrocities, justifying the crackdown as a necessary counterinsurgency against Muslim militants who had conducted deadly attacks on police outposts.

Reported by Moe Myint and Phyu Phyu Khine for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 10, 2020) - American Aires Inc. (CSE: WIFI) (the "Company" or "Aires") announces that it has granted 500,000 options to purchase common shares of the Company exercisable at a price of $0.37 per share for a period of five years, to a consultant of the Company pursuant to the Company's stock option plan.

About American Aires Inc.

American Aires is an Ontario based technology company that is focused on the research, development and implementation of innovative technology solutions to allow consumers to safely engage with electronic products of the 21st century. The Company is currently engaged in the business of production, distribution and sales of products intended to protect persons from the harmful effects of electromagnetic emissions, which is produced from electronic devices such as cell phones, Wi-Fi routers, tablets and electronic cars to name a few. The Company has developed a technology that restructures and transforms electromagnetic field haze into a more biologically-compatible form to reduce the harmful effects of electromagnetic radiation. The Company's current principal products are the Air Shield Extreme, Aires Black Crystal, Aires Defender Infinity, Aires Defender Automotive, Air Shield Pro, Air Defender Pro and Air Guardian.

For more information please visit: www.airestech.com

On behalf of the board of directors

Dimitry Serov, President & Chief Executive Officer

Email: dimitry@airestech.com

Phone: (905) 482-4667

Investor Relations:

Samina Deen, Head of Partnerships

Email: samina@airestech.com

Phone: (416) 320-1634

wifi@airestech.com

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds, corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint-ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Certain material assumptions regarding such forward-looking statements may be discussed in this news release and the Company's annual and quarterly management's discussion and analysis filed at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities laws.

No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. The Shares 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. We seek safe harbour.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Not intended for distribution to United States Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of United States Securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52291
Married At First Sight's lesbian bride Tash Herz lacked attraction to TV wife Amanda Micallef during their honeymoon on the show, last week.

But the reality TV star, 31, has clearly found a new partner she can't get enough of.

Last month Tash packed on the PDA with new girlfriend Madison Hewitt while the pair took a stroll together on a Gold Coast beach.

That's cheeky! Married At First Sight's Tash Herz got handsy with new girlfriend Madison Hewitt as they pack on the PDA with a passionate kiss at a beach on the Gold Coast, last month

The tattooed bartender recently debuted her new romance with girlfriend Madison, despite being 'married' to Amanda on the show.

However, Tash appears to have moved on some time ago, as the affectionate display came months after her wedding with Amanda was filmed for Nine in September.

The lovers could not keep their hands off each other while they enjoyed an afternoon stroll along the sand.

To have and to hold: The tattooed bartender recently debuted her new romance with girlfriend Madison, despite being 'married' to Amanda on the show

She's a fan! Showing off her inked-up pins in the casual ensemble, Tash's new girlfriend Madison couldn't help but place her hands on the star's derriere

Pucker up! Tash also placed her hands on the blonde beauty's face as she smooched her passionately over and over

Tash looked as happy as ever as she flaunted her incredible figure in a pair of tiny denim shorts and a semi-sheer black blouse.

She teamed her edgy look with black combat boots.

Showing off her inked-up pins in the casual ensemble, Tash's new girlfriend Madison couldn't help but place her hands on the star's derriere.

Tash also placed her hands on the blonde beauty's face as she smooched her passionately over and over.

Madison also showed off her slender tattooed frame in white shorts, a white singlet crop top and matching jacket.

Stunner: Tash looked as happy as ever as she flaunted her incredible figure in a pair of tiny denim shorts and a semi-sheer black blouse

They're not shy! The lovebirds could not keep their hands off each other as they enjoyed an afternoon stroll along the sand

Tash tied the knot with TV wife Amanda on Tuesday's episode of MAFS, and at first they appeared to be a perfect match.

But while on their honeymoon, Amanda complained about their lack of intimacy and Tash confessed that she wasn't attracted to 34-year-old brunette.

The tattooed bombshell also failed to show up to a planned meeting with Amanda by the pool and instead decided to meditate in her hotel room.

Looking all white! Madison also showed off her slender tattooed frame in white shorts, a white singlet crop top and matching jacket

Romance: Tash appears to have moved on some time ago, as the affectionate display came months after her wedding with Amanda was filmed for Nine in September

According to reports in New Idea magazine this week, the entire MAFS cast have 'all been officially warned' by the show's executive producer, after some broke their contracts before the finale.

The publication claimed the head boss had 'urgent meetings' with the stars of the show after some spoilers were surfacing online.

It comes after three brides were caught with new partners, despite the show only premiering last Monday.

Married At First Sight continues on Monday from 7:30pm on Nine
The staff at a bottle shop in Perth, Australia reportedly used a pallet of beer to barricade three would-be thieves in the cool room. According to international media reports, the three men were seen coming into the Thirsty Camel and were later locked in the cool room as the staff thought that they looking a bit suspicious. The staff immediately took action and placed a pallet of beer in front of the door to block the trio's way out and phoned the police once they were trapped inside.

While speaking to an international media outlet, staff member James said that as soon as the three men came in they knew that they were a bunch of 'weasels'. James further said that the would-be robbers made a beeline for the cool room and once they were inside he and his colleague used a pallet of beer to block them from getting out. The men then quickly knew that there was no way out and started banging against the door until it broke off its hinges, James added.

READ: Maha: 1 Held For Robbery At Actor Nutan's Bungalow In Thane

According to reports, the men later also threw whatever they could at the staff members and took off with nothing. James while speaking to the media outlet said that this was the third time in five weeks that people have tried to steal something from the shop and that is why the staff got inventive with their crackdown on the behaviour. James further said that the earlier burglary has also led to thieves stealing things up to $1,000 worth of products from their store.

Thirsty Camel general manager Niall Burke further told the international media outlet that the staff wasn't scared once the thieves left the store. He also informed that around 10 to 20 cases of beer were broken during the robbery attempt.

READ: Thane Police Cracks Down Robbery Case Of Rs 1.86 Cr, Arrests One From Airoli

Woman gets back at thieves

In another incident, a Colorado woman found a clever way to get back at the thieves after her package got stolen several times. While talking to an international media outlet, Christine Hyatt said that she was left furious after around 20 packages were stolen from her porch. To teach the thieves a lesson she decided to give them a taste of their own medicine as she packed the garbage in the carton boxes.

She reportedly said that she forgot to set trash out for Thanksgiving so she decided to pack fill the empty cartons with all sorts of garbage and wrapped them for the thieves. From food trash to cat litter, Hyatt left the box filled with trash outside her porch. Interestingly, the thieves fell prey to her bait.

READ: A Failed Italian Job: Driver Evades Flaming Highway Robbery

READ: CCTV Footage Shows Robbery That Went Hilariously Wrong, Netizens Die Laughing
[February 10, 2020] RadioMedix and OncoBeta announce exclusive distribution agreement for W/Re-188 generators in U.S. and Canada

Houston, TX, USA, and Garching, Germany, Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RadioMedix, and OncoBeta today announced the execution of an exclusive distribution agreement for the next generation of W/Re-188 generators in the U.S. and Canada.

The OncoBeta Tungsten (Wolfram)-188/Rhenium-188 (W/Re-188) Generators can be used for radiolabeling reactions or directly as a high dose liquid radioactive source. Rhenium-188 (Re-188) is a high energy-emitting radioisotope obtained from the W/Re-188 Generator. Re-188 has shown high efficiency and value for a variety of therapeutic applications in nuclear medicine, oncology, and interventional radiology/cardiology areas. Its advantageous physical properties, its potential low cost, and with a long-lived parent, make this generator an attractive option for clinical use. The high energy of the emission of Re-188 is particularly well suited for the effective penetration in solid tumors as well as skin cancers. Its total radiation dose delivered to tissues is comparable to other radionuclides used in therapy today. RadioMedix is pleased to leverage its know-how and network in the U.S. and Canada to distribute OncoBetas products. A generator-based production of beta emitter Re-188 can be a great additional option for developing new Targeted Radionuclide Therapies against cancer. The chemistry of Re-188 is similar to Tc-99m, the most commonly used radioisotope in Nuclear Medicine. We anticipate the availability of this generator will increase research and development activities based on this radioisotope, said Dr. Ebrahim S. Delpassand, Chairman and CEO of RadioMedix. We at Oncobeta are extremely pleased to initiate this collaboration with such a strong strategic partner such as RadioMedix. This distribution agreement is a key milestone in the implementation of our global strategy to supply the market with high-quality 188 W/ 188Re Generators, said Shannon D. Brown III, CEO and Managing Director of OncoBeta. Our generators are characterized for having high activity concentrations and elution volumes which can be used for radiolabeling or directly as a high dose liquid radioactive source. As the only organization worldwide presently capable of securing supply for 188W/ 188Re Generators, we expect to see a fast increase in demand and interest for projects using Rhenium-188 an look forward to supporting new and exciting market developments.





About RadioMedix

RadioMedix, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company, based in Texas, focused on innovative targeted radiopharmaceuticals for diagnosis, monitoring, and therapy of cancer. The company is commercializing radiopharmaceuticals for PET imaging and targeted alpha and beta-emitter therapy. RadioMedix established research and contract service facilities for academic and industrial partners at two locations: the cGMP Dose Manufacturing and Analytical suites for clinical trials, and the Drug Discovery and Pre-clinical Core Facility in Houston, TX. Also, a new state of art commercial manufacturing facility located in Humble, TX, has been established. To learn more, visit www.radiomedix.com . For more information about this press release, please contact: [email protected]

Follow us on social media: LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/radiomedix-inc-/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RadioMedix-Inc/

About OncoBeta OncoBeta GmbH, with its headquarters located in Garching near Munich, Germany, is a medical device and radiochemical company specializing in the development and commercialization of state-of-the-art, innovative radioisotope therapies and products utilizing Rhenium-188. OncoBeta offers an innovative Skin Cancer Therapy targeting non-melanoma skin cancers and produces Tungsten (Wolfram)-188/Rhenium-188 (W/Re-188) Generators for commercial use. Learn more us at https://www.oncobeta.com

Follow us on social media: LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/oncobeta-gmbh/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OncoBeta/

Forward-looking statements This announcement includes forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of RadioMedix or OncoBetas control and which could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning RadioMedix or OncoBetas plans, objectives, goals, future events, performance, and/or other information that is not historical. All such forward-looking statements are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements and any other cautionary statements which may accompany the forward-looking statements. RadioMedix or OncoBeta undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances after the date made, except as required by law. Attachment OncoBeta Tungsten (Wolfram)-188/Rhenium-188 (W/Re-188) Generator Media Contact Izabela Tworowska PhD CSO, RadioMedix Inc.

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Comparing the Canadian and the American Right  updated to 2020 (Part Three) By Mark Wegierski

The intellectual, cultural, and academic life of Canada is clearly dominated to a greater extent by political correctness than is the case in the United States. Unlike in the U.S., homeschooling is comparatively rare in Canada, there are fewer private schools at the primary and secondary level, and there are very few private, post-secondary institutions. The hundreds of private, more traditional, usually religious-affiliated colleges in the U.S. may allow for the existence of a community of more traditionally-oriented scholars that can have some effect on U.S. politics. Intelligent persons of conservative or traditionalist outlooks are almost completely isolated in Canada, and have almost no hope of achieving the dream of (for example) a tenured academic appointment  or even of finishing a Ph.D. Policies similar to employment equity operate, de jure or de facto, at virtually every Canadian university. These determine admissions (to undergraduate, as well as graduate programs -- and especially to professional programs like law and medicine); the disbursement of scholarships and other aid to students; and the hiring of all academic faculty, librarians, library assistants, and other academic and non-academic support staff. The Canadian media, including the publishing world, is also more hostile to persons of conservative or traditionalist outlooks than is the case in the United States. The so-called alternative media and alternative publishers in Canada usually embrace very left-wing outlooks and are even more hostile to conservatives than the so-called mainstream publishers. So, again, we see the Right being stymied in Canada. Even the sharpest and most reflective persons of conservative or traditionalist outlooks in Canada are highly unlikely to achieve the dream of becoming opinion-columnists in Canadian newspapers, or acclaimed authors with books appearing with credible publishers. Virtually the entire government-subsidized world of CanLit is inimical to conservatism. The atrophy of the broader Right in Canada means that Canadians are cut off from many stimulating intellectual and creative ideas and political options. It also means that any remaining socially conservative instincts of the general populace are untutored, and therefore easily pejoritized as bigotry by the left-liberal elites. Many people go through their entire lives in Canada without ever hearing even one seriously-presented, conservative or traditionalist argument. It could be argued that it is diversity of thought that is the most important, and most Canadians of any cultural or social group will never get beyond the prevalent, politically-correct, dogmas and taboos. Because of the atrophy of traditional religion in Canada, the gay rights and radical feminist agendas have certainly advanced further than is the case in the United States. The birthrate in Canada has also fallen far below replacement level, in marked contrast to the United States, where even the birthrate of non-Hispanic white (to use the official term of the U.S. Census) women is comparatively high. At the same time, Canada has a very high rate of abortion. There is a general climate of social decadence, ill-discipline, and a never-ending war against the so-called authoritarian personality. Many Canadians are to some extent accepting of all these various Canadian syndromes because they are linked to a very generous welfare-state. Apart from the obvious true believers in the left-liberal cadres (most of whom also clearly enjoy very comfortable lives), most ordinary people also tend to fall into line, unwilling to jeopardize their public sector job, or the government subsidy to their business, for the sake of what seem like distant and questionable notions. It should also be pointed out that Canada prides itself on its very generous medical system. The issue of healthcare is growing increasingly salient in Canada, especially with a rapidly-aging population. It seems that many people would be willing to accept virtually anything as far the social and cultural outlooks they are required to profess, if they could be guaranteed high-quality medical care. At the same time, Canada today fails to meet many of the traditional criteria of a state. It fails to properly control its borders, and its armed forces have (until the most recent years) been critically underfunded, to a point of near-atrophy. The federal government under the Chretien Liberals (1993-2003) had been able to achieve a budget surplus owing mainly to the high income tax rates; the 7% Goods and Services Tax (which is levied on virtually all economic activity) (Harper had lowered it to 5%); the reform of Unemployment Insurance (now called Employment Insurance), which significantly cut benefits; the so-called clawback of Old Age Pensions, over a certain, relatively modest income threshold; and the reduction of federal transfer payments for healthcare to the provinces. Considering these facts, the achievement of a federal budget surplus under Prime Minister Chretien and his Finance Minister, Paul Martin Jr. (who was Prime Minister in 2003-2006) is less of a miracle than it might appear. To be continued. Mark Wegierski is a Canadian writer and historical researcher. Home
New Delhi [India], Feb 09 (ANI): All 406 people housed at a quarantine facility of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) here have tested negative for the novel coronavirus infection, the ITBP on Sunday.



"A sampling of all returned from China was done. Samples of all 406 people are found negative of coronavirus," the ITBP said in a statement.

A total of 406 people who returned from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of coronavirus, early this month are being looked after at Chhawla quarantine facility of ITBP by a team of doctors and medical professionals.

There are seven persons from the Maldives and one from Bangladesh among those quarantined at this facility.

"No fresh symptoms were seen today. Food, bed and other basic requirements are being catered to. Sufficient amount of medicines are also kept at the centre. Inmates are playing indoor games available at the ITBP centre, watching news on TV and reading newspapers," the ITBP said in a statement on Sunday.

Teams from the Union Health Ministry are regularly visiting the facility to take stock of the situation and review the arrangements for the people at the facility.

Seven persons who were earlier shifted to city's Safdarjung Hospital as a precautionary measure are also back to the ITBP facility. Periodical checkups are being done as per medical protocol.

"As many as four isolation beds are also kept ready in case of any situation arises. Along with that four critical care life support ambulances are also available at the centre," it added. (ANI)


HAMPTON, N.H. - With Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg battling to win Tuesday's primary here and seize the momentum in a highly unpredictable race, another drama is playing out with serious implications for the other high-profile candidates in the Democrats' once-sprawling field.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is facing the prospect of losing badly in a state neighboring her home of Massachusetts, while Joe Biden's campaign is bracing for another potentially humiliating defeat and, as a result, a new round of anxiety among its top donors and questions about the viability of a former vice president once seen as the Democrats' best hope to defeat President Donald Trump.

The grim question facing Warren and Biden is not whether they can win New Hampshire, according to strategists, but how low they will finish - and what that result would mean for their candidacies.

Two days before voters head to the polls, Biden advisers were already eager to move on, hoping the former vice president would do better with Nevada and South Carolina's more diverse electorate. But there are growing concerns, even inside his campaign, that financial resources are being strained ahead of an upcoming stretch that will get more expensive as the race shifts into a national campaign.

Biden in recent days has retooled his stump speech, focusing on the stories of those he has met on the trail, and growing emotional as he speaks about the 2015 death of his oldest son, Beau.

But at times, he struggled to connect with voters. On Sunday morning, at an oceanside ballroom here, Madison Moore took the microphone and warned the former vice president that the question she was about to ask was going to be a bit mean.

"How do you explain the performance in Iowa, and why should voters believe that you can win the national election?" asked the 21-year-old student at Mercer University in Georgia.

Biden said it was a legitimate question, then he turned the spotlight back on her, asking: "Iowa's a caucus. Have you ever been to a caucus?"

When she indicated yes, he rebuked her: "No, you haven't. You're a lying dog-faced pony soldier."

The phrase was an allusion that Biden had used before, a line in a John Wayne movie.

Biden went on to say that the caucus posed challenges to his campaign, and he conceded that they were less prepared.

"I congratulate Pete, I congratulate Bernie," he said. "They were really well-organized. Better than we were in Iowa."

In a statement released a few hours later, Moore wrote, "I asked Joe Biden a fair question. His immediate response was to question whether I had ever attended a caucus. In my nervousness in the presence of the former Vice President, I nodded yes."

Moore has not been to a caucus, she said. But she also accused Biden of insulting her, writing "in reality, it is totally irrelevant whether I've been to a caucus or not. Joe Biden has been performing incredibly poorly in this race. His inability to answer a simple question from a nobody college student like me only exacerbates that reality."

As the Democratic presidential candidates sprint to the finish ahead of Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, the momentum is clearly behind Sanders and Buttigieg. Public polling suggests that Biden's main competitors in the race for third place are Warren and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who finished third and fifth in Iowa, respectively.

A finish of fourth place or lower by Biden in New Hampshire would also likely give a boost to the campaign of former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg, who has cast himself as the chief "establishment" alternative to Sanders and who is forgoing the early states in favor of the March 3 Super Tuesday contests. Bloomberg has already invested hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising in those states.

Biden has simultaneously sought to play down expectations and ramp up his attacks on his rivals over the weekend. "Now, let's be realistic; I think it's always going to be an uphill fight," he said in an interview on ABC News's "This Week" that was taped Saturday.

Pointing to Sanders and Warren, he added: "When you're running against two people who are neighboring senators, you know the deal. . . . So I think it is an uphill fight, but I think it's a fight we will do well in."

After his Iowa loss put a dent in his campaign's main selling point - his electability - the former vice president has responded by doubling down on his argument that he is the candidate best poised to bring together the diverse parts of the Democratic coalition.

"No one has ever won the nomination without being able to get overwhelming support from the African American community," Biden said on "This Week." "And so far, no one's been doing that but me."

Biden also on Sunday took a swipe at Sanders's health-care plan, saying it was too expensive and would take too long to enact. The senator's biggest problem, Biden argued, was that he wasn't being fully truthful with the American people.

"Look, the one thing I think the public is looking for as much as anything is authenticity," Biden said. "Just tell me the truth. And if you don't know, don't ask me to buy a pig in a poke."

Alan Kessler, a longtime Democratic fundraiser and donor who is one of the Biden campaign's top bundlers, said he was concerned by the distance between Biden and the top two finishers in the Iowa caucuses.

Biden's donors and fundraisers are not expecting him to win in New Hampshire and are managing the expectations of other donors, reminding them that Iowa and New Hampshire are driven by support from mostly white voters and that Biden's strength lies with a more diverse coalition in Nevada and South Carolina.

"The finishing fourth wasn't, to me, as much of a situation as the disparity between him and Mayor Pete and Sanders," Kessler said. "The good thing is, a lot of my compatriots feel the same way, which is: Wait and see. The narrative all along has been Nevada to some degree, and certainly South Carolina."

Donors are "worried and concerned" about Biden's campaign, he said, and are advising the candidate to take a more aggressive approach - advice many of them are giving on donor calls with Biden.

"Things have to change a little bit. He's got to interact with the media in a less scripted way. I think that's happening. He's got to come out swinging - no longer Mr. Nice Guy. If that turns off some voters, so be it," Kessler said.

As Warren and Klobuchar spent their Sunday on the trail wooing voters, they, too, tamped down expectations for New Hampshire.

Warren was largely hewing closely to the stump speech and event format that she's used for the past 13 months. The speech uses her hardscrabble biography to explain how she became interested in the financial woes of the middle class and how she became focused on leveling the playing field for Americans.

Warren's been so unwavering that reporters pressed her repeatedly Sunday on whether she plans on making any changes.

In response to a question from a reporter in Concord about whether the state represents her last stand, Warren replied, "It looks like it is going to be a long battle to the nomination."

"I'm in it for the long haul," she added. "I built a campaign to be in it for the long haul."

Warren demurred when a reporter pointed out that a number of attendees left her Concord town hall early.

"It seemed like to me a pretty enthusiastic crowd," she said.

Warren allies say the field is so fractured and fluid that they believe she still has a chance to do well later in the calendar even if she only musters a third-place finish here. If Biden collapses, his support from minority communities would be up for grabs - and Warren's boosters believe it's unlikely that nonwhite voters will flock to Buttigieg or Klobuchar. Should Sanders prevail in New Hampshire with a big win, they hope Democrats will look for a more unifying candidate who can also fire up the liberal base of the party.

Warren's campaign on Sunday sent an email to supporters, noting that it had set a $2 million fundraising goal last week and "blew right past it."

The email came one day after Klobuchar's campaign sent its own missive to supporters, noting that the senator had raised more than $2 million in the wake of Friday night's Democratic debate.

Klobuchar has been holding as many as five or six campaign events a day; on Sunday, she deployed her husband, John Bessler, on the trail in New Hampshire as well.

Recent polling shows that many New Hampshire voters, such as 59-year-old Ken Meade, remain undecided.

Meade, of Laconia, had previously supported Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and is now torn among Klobuchar, Warren and several others - but he noted that he believes Biden, 77, and Sanders, 78, are both too old to be president.

"When I get to the voting booth, it might just be gut," Meade said after attending Warren's town hall Sunday. "At that moment, who do I think has the best chance of beating Trump?"

- - -

Sonmez reported from Washington, Viser reported from Hampton and Dover, New Hampshire. Annie Linskey in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report.
Filmmakers and actors often complain about how gruelling the awards campaign trail can be, with a seemingly never-ending carousel of film festivals, screenings, press junkets and glad-handing.

But for Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar, the co-directors and life partners behind Oscar-winning documentary American Factory, the last 13 months have proven gruelling in a very different way.

Reichert has had to juggle film commitments while undergoing chemotherapy for terminal cancer, making for a bittersweet awards season.

Honestly, its been very rough, the 73-year-old says, talking by phone from L.A. on the eve of the Oscars. If I didnt have Steve and my daughter when Im back home, I dont even think Id be alive today, let alone could I have gotten through this.

The Ohio-based filmmaker was granted a six-week break from her intensive chemotherapy treatment to attend awards ceremonies in New York and L.A., where American Factory has won trophy after trophy. But the pace has taken its toll.

Very often when we are staying at a fancy hotel and theres some party or some screening, basically Ill stay in bed the whole day, she says. I wont even go out. And then Ill get dressed and go to the party and come home and just lay right back down in bed. Its been like that for months.

And though she praises her Netflix team for their patience  really nice hotels, always sending cars, any kind of support if I have to cancel something  it hasnt diminished the challenge of promoting the film. Its nothing I would ever recommend to anybody, Reichert says, going through awards season on chemo.

This isnt the first time Reichert has faced the illness. Her daughter, Lela, is a survivor of childhood cancer. And Reichert and Bognar spent a tough six years co-directing A Lion in the House, their 2006 documentary that follows kids with leukemia.

Still, she manages to find some gallows humour in her current state of affairs. I have no hair, so that makes it a lot easier getting ready for the Oscars, she jokes. And Steve has no hair either, because he has alopecia, so we look bald as eggs.

The acclaim for American Factory has been richly deserved and long in the works. Having begun filming in 2015, the film documents the culture clash that occurs when a Chinese entrepreneur takes over a shutdown General Motors factory in Dayton, Ohio. The reopening of the factory  as a windshield manufacturing plant  offers a ray of hope to the towns many struggling families.

After the GM plant closed, people lost a lot, Reichert reflects. People lived in their cars. People lived under bridges. Some peoples kids dropped out of college because they had to work to help the family.

The workers optimism at being re-employed proves short-lived, however, as the new plants opposition to unionization; low hourly wages and challenging work conditions soon become apparent. Its a microcosm not just for America, but for working people around the world, says 56-year-old Bognar. The automation threat is not limited to the States. Global capitalism is squeezing working people like never before.

The film premiered at last years Sundance Film Festival, where it won the top directing prize and caught the eye of streaming giant Netflix, along with Higher Ground Productions, the film company set up by former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama.

The directors were naturally stunned when told that the Obamas wanted to acquire their doc to be the launch title for their new film imprint. However, there was some trepidation about attaching the former commander-in-chiefs name to the movie.

We wanted to make a film that was nuanced, fair, thoughtful and not partisan, says Bognar, a film that would be watched by conservatives and progressives. And we were a bit concerned that, by aligning with Higher Ground, maybe that would say, this is a blue film, not a red film. Or its not a purple film.

But in the year since, Netflix has told us that many viewers from small towns and rural communities have watched the film, more so than they expected, he adds. So any kind of concerns we had about appearing partisan seem minor. And we were so grateful to the president and the first lady for wanting to take the film on, because we knew it would be big.

Reichert adds that, beyond championing the film, the Obamas delivered support on a personal level. As Ive been sick, theyve each sent me handwritten letters which, like, really makes my whole week, she says.

The 44th president took to Twitter Sunday night to congratulate the duo for telling such a complex, moving story about the very human consequences of wrenching economic change, adding that he was glad to see two talented and downright good people take home the Oscar for Higher Grounds first release.

And the Oscar win comes after the film received huge acclaim throughout 2019 as it played festivals and streamed on Netflix globally. In Canada, Reichert had a retrospective of her work shown at Torontos Hot Docs festival last spring and, in January, American Factory was named top documentary by the Toronto Film Critics Association. The movie also claims a Canadian connection via its co-producer Yiqian Zhang, who moved from China to Toronto a few years ago and really loves the city, Bognar says.

American Factory offers a sophisticated and chilling vision of the looming challenges facing North Americas working class in the face of automation and globalization. But the good cheer, modesty and graciousness with which Reichert and Bognar have approached awards season has almost certainly played a significant role in their path to Oscar.

Even as she took to the stage to accept her trophy Sunday, Reicherts first words were to praise her sister and brother documentarians, who have risked their lives bringing stories to us about hospitals being bombed in Syria, about Brazil, about Macedonia, she said. We were so proud; we are inspired by you guys.

Her victory, on her fourth appearance at the Oscars, comes 42 years after she was first nominated for 1976s Union Maids, which she co-directed with former partner Jim Klein. The couple were nominated again for 1983s Seeing Red, before Reichert landed her third nomination for 2009 short doc The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant, which she co-directed with Bognar.

After more than five decades spent chronicling the lives and challenges of Midwestern Americas working class, her Academy Award is richly deserved.

As awards season draws to a close, the couple now have a few weeks to catch their breath before heading to Texas for the world premiere of their next film, 9to5: The Story of a Movement, which launches at Austins SXSW Festival before a likely Canadian premiere at Hot Docs in the spring.

The film chronicles the 1970s movement that saw secretaries in Boston form a grassroots collective to fight for change in the workplace, challenging low pay, sexist working conditions and the lack of opportunity for career advancement. The movement really spread like a brush fire across America, Bognar says, as secretaries were finally saying, enough with all the bulls--- they were dealing with from their bosses.

For Reichert, the film will probably be her last.

My cancer is fatal, she says. I know its going to end my life. But in a way, that helps me refocus on whats important. As soon as this whole award season is over and our next film is out in the world, I really just want to do what brings me joy in my life every day.
The Deputy Upper East Regional Minister and Member of Parliament (MP) for Zebilla, Frank Fuseini Adongo, has picked forms to contest the Zebilla New Patriotic Party (NPP) primaries for the third time.

He calls for a campaign devoid of insults and bitterness.

He is facing a contest from Dr. John Kingsley Kurugu, a development worker and Public Health expert, who has picked a nomination form for the Zebilla primary.

In 2012, Frank Fuseini Adongo won the NPP primaries but lost the parliamentary election and in 2016, he won the primaries again and went on to win general election, beating the then incumbent National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP, Cletus Avoka.

At the Zebilla office of the NPP, Mr. Adongo promised a clean campaign devoid of insults and personal attacks and called on all others who desire to contest the primaries to do same so as to keep the party together after the primaries and retain the seat for the NPP in December.

The Zebilla MP believes that he has done so much within his tenure in the area of education, health, water supply and youth development and the effort has placed the NPP in a good position in all sections of the constituency.

He mentioned the construction of classroom blocks in some six communities and an increase in the number of schools under the School Feeding Programme from 21 to 77 through his effort.

Through his share of the Common Fund, he said a total of 320 dual desks had been distributed across the constituency and had attracted some more for kindergartens from GETFund.

During his tenure, the Zebilla District Hospital has been rehabilitated after it was abandoned for close to 10 years, adding that the constituency can boast of two functioning ambulances  one from the MP and the other from the 1 million dollar per constituency initiative.

There is also an ultramodern maternity ward for the Zebilla District Hospital, renovation of the Timonde Health Centre, renovation and donation of medical consumables and mattresses to the Binaba Health Centre and extension of electricity to the Apotdabogo Health Centre.

According to the Zebilla MP, through his effort, many students from the area have had scholarships from GETFund, the Scholarship Secretariat and from his share of the District Assembly Common Fund, over 400 students have been supported to further their education at the tertiary level.

In the area of water provision, the MP noted that a total of 65 boreholes had been drilled in the 34 electoral areas in the constituency aside from the 30 that were drilled by NGO through his negotiations.

Under youth development, the MP said a total of 124 youth had been recruited as teaching and non-teaching staffs.

---Daily Guide
A couple weeks back, I posted about the the Nepal government's new tourism campaign featuring 100 huge yeti statues designed by Ang Tsherin Sherpa to be painted by various artists and placed around Nepal and elsewhere. A delightful idea but as you can see in the video above from January 29, many people were unhappy with how their beloved yeti was depicted. As a result, the government has removed the existing statues and ended the yeti campaign. From Daijiworld:



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.
PARIS, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Inaugural OSIA Advisory Committee meeting in November 2019 brought together private sector companies with senior government stakeholders from Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Uganda. Plans are now in place to accelerate the development and adoption of OSIA across Africa and beyond.

Launched by Secure Identity Alliance (SIA) in 2018, Open Standards Identity APIs (OSIA) is a global initiative aimed at solving the interoperability challenges within the identity sector.

By enabling seamless connectivity between all components of the identity management ecosystem, OSIA achieves interoperability among solutions from different vendors, levels the competitive playing field and enables the secure and controlled flow of data and services.

Sovereignty of technology/partner choice and ownership (and portability) of data when designing, deploying and enhancing national identity systems is critical.

Trusted partnerships with industry partners will remain an important part of building truly open, innovative and future-proofed national identity systems.

The following top priorities for the next 12 months were agreed:

Update and modify current specifications and use cases

Establish an OSIA certification program

Develop an appropriate contractual framework that focuses on assuring data portability, interoperability and seamless exit strategies

Engr. Aliyu Abubakar Aziz, Director General/CEO, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) of Nigeria and Chair of OSIA Advisory Committee, commented: "Irrespective of political, technical or cultural differences, all the governments represented on the OSIA Advisory Committee are focused on working with the industry to find a solution to the problems of interoperability and lock-in. In OSIA we believe we have found it, and we made tremendous progress.Our task is now to raise awareness of OSIA in our home markets to ensure government institutions understand its real-world benefits."

Philippe Barreau, Chair of the Secure Identity Alliance, commented: "This latest meeting, attended by 22 governments and private sector companies, illustrates the incredible momentum OSIA has generated since its launch. As we accelerate into 2020 and beyond, we will continue to have frank and open discussions between the industry and governments to ensure OSIA is continuously improved and implemented for a tangible impact on economies and citizens around the world."

Debora Comparin, Chair of the OSIA Working Group, added: " Back in 2018, we listened and understood the concerns of governments and set out to develop a simple solution based on the core principles of sovereignty, technical neutrality and privacy by design. With API connectivity, OSIA enables the creation of an open interoperable ID ecosystem built with data security and customer consent at its heart."

In addition to governments, the following private sector businesses are represented in the OSIA Workgroup: Coppernic, DERMALOG, Digitech, Gemalto  a Thales Company, Gravity, HID Global, IDEMIA, IN Groupe, Intercede, Laxton, Orange Veridos and VFS.

About OSIA

More information at www.osia.io

Note to Editors:

About the Secure Identity Alliance

Secure Identity Alliance is dedicated to supporting the provision of legal, trusted identity for all, and to drive the development of inclusive digital services necessary for sustainable, worldwide economic growth and prosperity.

We believe legal, trusted identity is the cornerstone of rights protection, social inclusion and digital economic development - and the access point to a wide range of essential public and private services.

We bring together public, private and non-government organizations to foster international collaboration on the issues of legal identity, to help shaping policy and to provide technical and implementation guidance for identity systems.

Its Board Members are Gemalto  a Thales Company, IDEMIA, IN Groupe and Veridos.

For more information on the Secure Identity Alliance, visit: www.secureidentityalliance.org .

Follow the Secure Identity Alliance at @secureidentity1

SOURCE Secure Identity Alliance

Related Links

http://www.secureidentityalliance.org/


It is in the DNA of the BJP and the RSS to try and erase reservations, Congress leader said on Monday and asserted that his party will not allow doing away with quota.

Taking a swipe at Prime Minister and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, he said, "We will not allow reservation to be done away with, no matter how much Modi Ji or dream of it."



Gandhi's attack on the ruling party came over the BJP government of Uttarakhand contending in the Supreme Court that there was no fundamental right to claim reservation in appointments or promotions in public posts, and there was no constitutional duty on the part of the state governments to provide reservations.

"The RSS and the BJP cannot stand the idea that Dalits, tribals and OBCs have reservations," the former Congress president told reporters outside Parliament.



ALSO READ: Parliament LIVE

"They (the RSS and BJP) wake up every morning and this (reservation) irritates them, except it is in our Constitution, and these rights are guaranteed by our Constitution," Gandhi said.

They have attempted to remove reservation in one way or the other, he alleged and cited the examples of destruction of the Ravidas temple and the government's actions on the SC/ST sub-plan.

"You have seen that they are arguing (in court) that it (reservation) is not a fundamental right. So it is their DNA to try and erase it," Gandhi said.

His remarks come after the Supreme Court has held that states are not bound to provide reservation in appointments and there is no fundamental right to claim quota in promotions.

"Reservation is an important part of the Constitution.The main thing is that there is an assault on the Constitution. All institutions are being destroyed, we are not allowed to speak in Parliament and judiciary is pressured. So institutional structures are being destroyed and the main pillars of our Constitution taken down one by one," Gandhi said.

"We will not allow reservation to be done away with no matter how much Modi Ji or dream of it," he said.
Republican George Conway has condemned gaslighting by his wife Kellyanne Conway, over her defence of Donald Trumps decision to fire a national security official who testified at his impeachment trial.

Last week, the White House announced it was firing the USs EU ambassador George Sondland, and that Lt Col Alexander Vindman and his twin brother, were being removed from the national security council

Mr Sondland and Mr Vindman had been called as witnesses by Democrats in the House, and provided testimony under oath that was damaging to the president, who was subsequently impeached by the lower chamber.

The president has defended his decision to act as he did, tweeting over the weekend: Fake News @CNN & MSDNC keep talking about Lt Col. Vindman as though I should think only how wonderful he was.

Actually, I dont know him, never spoke to him, or met him (I dont believe!) but, he was very insubordinate, reported contents of my perfect calls incorrectly, & was given a horrendous report by his superior, the man he reported to, who publicly stated that Vindman had problems with judgement, adhering to the chain of command and leaking information.

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

He added: In other words, OUT.

Among those also defending the presidents actions were White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway, 53, a Trump loyalist who has been a trusted adviser and spokesperson even before he won the 2016 election.

 Donald Trump may discuss hacking of firm at heart of Ukraine scandal with Putin, Kellyanne Conway says

She is also one-half of one of the most unusual relationships in Washington DC, given that she is married to Republican lawyer George Conway, who has become an outspoken critic of Mr Trump.

How the couple navigate their personal and professional lives, is a source of constant fascination to the Beltways chattering classes.

On Monday, Ms Coway appeared on Fox News to defend the presidents decision, saying the Vindman brothers were still employed, but that Alexander Vindmans White House detail was ended and he had returned to work at the department of defence.

This is very typical to have a detailee for a temporary period of time who then returns to what their full-time job is, said Ms Conway.

Raw Story pointed out that among them to reject her argument was 56-year-old George Conway. While he did not mention his wife by name, he tweeted: When @realDonaldTrump says he got rid of Vindman because Vindman reported contents of my perfect calls incorrectly, hes admitting he fired the man for giving truthful testimony that led to Trumps impeachment.

He added: To suggest anything else happened here is pure gaslighting.
I s your outfit even worthy of awards season if theres no hidden message behind it?

At last nights Oscars ceremony, Natalie Portman donned a black and gold Dior Haute Couture outfit embroidered with the names of female directors not nominated for their films, from Greta Gerwig to Lulu Wang.

But Portman isnt the first celebrity to show commitment to a cause on the red carpet. Heres our pick of the top activism moments through the years.

Marlon Brandos Oscar refusal, 1973

Sacheen Littlefeather speaks at the 45th Academy Awards on behalf of Marlon Brando / Bettmann Archive

Marlon Brando didnt even need to make an appearance to deliver his message. Instead, Sacheen Littlefeather, an Apache actress and activist for Native American rights, represented the actor at the 45th Academy Awards to decline the Best Actor gong for his performance in The Godfather. Brando missed the ceremony in protest against the degrading portrayal of Native Americans in Hollywood films.

Ryan Goslings Darfur T-shirt, 2005

Ryan Gosling at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards / Getty Images

The Notebook heartthrob Ryan Gosling appeared on the MTV Movie Awards red carpet alongside his co-star in the film, Rachel McAdams, wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the word Darfur to raise awareness of the violence in Sudan.

Aunjanue Ellis at the NAACP Image Awards, 2016

Aujanue Ellis at the 47th NAACP Image Awards

Quantico actress Aunjanue Ellis made her feelings about Mississippis state flag  which includes the Confederate symbol  clear in the most dramatic of ways at the NAACP Image Awards. Her white gown was printed with the message take it down Mississippi, which she reiterated later that year at the Gracie Awards, where her dress read, President Obama, take it down.

ACLU ribbons, 2017

Elisabeth Moss at the 69th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards / Getty Images

The most-sported awards season accessory of 2017?

A blue ACLU ribbon, which made its way on to the outfits of everyone from Lin-Manuel Miranda to Elisabeth Moss, from the Oscars to the Emmys and the Tonys, to show support for the American Civil Liberties Union, a non-profit organisation that works to protect individual rights and liberties.

Red carpet blackout for Times Up, 2018

The 2018 Golden Globes black out / Getty Images

Black may be a perennially popular choice for awards season, but in 2018 it was a loaded one: stars including Jessica Chastain, Meryl Streep and, yep, Natalie Portman again wore black to the Golden Globes to protest against sexual harassment and raise money for Times Up, a new initiative to fight sexual misconduct in Hollywood.

Protest against gender discrimination at Cannes, 2018

82 women took to the red carpet at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival in protest of the low number of female-directed films / Getty Images

Cate Blanchett, Kristen Stewart and Salma Hayek were among the 82 women who took a stand as part of a red-carpet demonstration against a lack of gender diversity at the Cannes film festival in 2018, which came under fire for failing to showcase more films by female directors.

We are 82 women, representing the number of female directors who have climbed these stairs since the first edition of the Cannes Film Festival in 1946. In the same period, 1,688 male directors have climbed these very same stairs, two-time Oscar winner Blanchett said.

Lena Waithe at the Met Gala, 2019

Kerby Jean-Raymondd and Lena Waithe at the 2019 Met Gala / Getty Images for The Met Museum/
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said that the BJP and the RSS are against reservation and the progress of the Scheduled Castes/Tribes and Other Backward Castes in the country.

"BJP and RSS' ideology is against reservations. They never want SC/STs to progress. They are breaking the institutional structure. I want to tell SCs, STs, OBCs and Dalits that we will never let reservations come to an end no matter how much Modi Ji or Mohan Bhagwat dream of it," Gandhi told reporters here.

The Congress MP said this in reference to the Uttarakhand government's arguments in the Supreme Court, in a matter which dealt with the issue of the state government's duty to provide reservation in promotions for government jobs.

On Friday, the Supreme Court had said that reservation in promotions for government jobs is not a fundamental right, in connection with a case concerning the BJP-ruled Uttarakhand government.

"Reservation pinches their [BJP's] DNA. The real issue is that the RSS and BJP cannot stand the idea that the ST/SCs have been given reservation. The legal counsel on behalf of the Uttarakhand government had put forth these arguments in the court," Gandhi said.

On Sunday, the Congress party had asked the BJP to clear its stand on reservation for Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes (STs and SCs) in government jobs and promotions.

The Congress party also questioned the recent judgement of Supreme Court in which the top court said the state governments are not bound to provide quotas to SCs, STs or OBCs in promotions and jobs in the state government.

"Uttarakhand government has taken a stand that state governments are not bound to provide reservation in promotions. The Centre had earlier went to the Supreme Court to challenge the Delhi High Court's judgement which said that reservations should not apply on promotions. The Centre is still pursuing that case in the Supreme Court," said Congress spokesperson Dr Udit Raj at a press conference here.

"The views of the Centre and the state government are, therefore, contradictory on this. The BJP should, therefore, clarify its stand on reservations to ST/SCs in jobs and promotions," he added.

Congress general secretary Mukul Wasnik said that his party disagrees with the Supreme Court's judgement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
It was a clamorous day at Lok Sabha on Monday as opposition parties targeted the government over recent Supreme Court judgement which rules that states are not legally bound to provide reservation to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in government jobs. In its decision last week on Friday, the top court also stated that individuals do not have a fundamental right to claim reservation in promotions.

The ruling came against an Uttarakhand High Court order. The Supreme Court order irked the opposition parties who demanded discussion on the judgement in both Houses of the Parliament. While the Centre has denied any role in the matter, the opposition has called the Modi government opposed to reservation to backward sections.

Here's a look at what the Supreme Court order says, does the Constitution allow it, and who's saying what:

What did the Supreme Court say on reservation?

A Supreme Court bench of justices L Nageswara Rao and Hemant Gupta ruled that states are not bound to make reservations, nor is reservation in promotions a fundamental right. The top court said that it cannot order state governments to provide reservations.

"In view of the law laid down by this court, there is no doubt that the state government is not bound to make reservations. There is no fundamental right which inheres in an individual to claim reservation in promotions. No mandamus can be issued by the court directing the state government to provide reservations," the bench said in its order.

The state governments can grant reservation to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes at their own discretion, but will have to collect quantifiable data which shows their inadequate representation in public services. The Supreme Court has said that states can grant reservation to certain classes, but "there must be some material on the basis of which the opinion is formed".

The Supreme Court decision came against pleas regarding Uttarakhand government's September 5, 2012 decision to fill up all posts in public services in the state without providing reservations to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The government's decision was challenged in the Uttarakhand High Court, which struck it down

What does the constitution say?

The Supreme Court referred to Article 16 and its clauses 4 and 4A while delivering its judgement in the matter. Article 16 in the Constitution of India refers to equality of opportunity in government jobs.

Article 16 (4) states: "Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State."

Article 16 (4A), which was introduced in 1995, states: "Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for reservation in matters of promotion to any class or classes of posts in the services under the State in favour of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes which, in the opinion of the State, are not adequately represented in the services under the State."

To summarise, the Constitution of India grants state government the power to reserve vacancies for backward sections, and even grant reservation in matters of promotion for posts under it. This can be done if the state believes that the reserved categories are inadequately represented in public services under it.

What is Modi government's stand?

While the opposition is holding the Centre accountable for the Supreme Court order on reservation, the union government has said that it was not a party in this legal battle. Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot told Lok Sabha that the Centre was also not asked to file an affidavit on the issue.

Gehlot also pointed out that the Supreme Court order refers to a Uttarakhand government notification from 2012, when Congress was in power in the state. The Social Justice Minister said that the Centre is studying the subject and will take an appropriate decision.

Meanwhile, Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister and Deputy Leader of House, said in Lok Sabha that the opposition is politicising a sensitive issue.

What is the opposition saying?

Following the Supreme Court order, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the BJP and RSS are trying to erase reservations. "The ideology of the RSS and the BJP is against reservation. The RSS and the BJP cannot stand the idea that Dalits, tribals and OBCs have reservations. They (the RSS and BJP) wake up every morning and this (reservation) irritates them. Except it is in our Constitution, and these rights are guaranteed by our Constitution," Gandhi said while talking to reporters outside the Parliament.

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the BJP government cannot distance itself from the Supreme Court's decision not to make reservations compulsory. "The BJP government of Uttarakhand put forward the argument that was accepted by the Court. BJP must own up to the judgement and tell us if it will reject the declaration of law," Chidambaram said in a series of tweets.

If the BJP does not agree with the decision, let it say so and implement corrective measures, Chidambaram said.

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Two Manitoba bishops are among 71 Anglican, Presbyterian, Lutheran and United Church of Canada leaders and others from across Canada showing support for the Wetsuweten hereditary chiefs protesting the $6-billion, 670-kilometre Coastal GasLink pipeline that will go through their traditional territory.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/2/2020 (700 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two Manitoba bishops are among 71 Anglican, Presbyterian, Lutheran and United Church of Canada leaders and others from across Canada showing support for the Wetsuweten hereditary chiefs protesting the $6-billion, 670-kilometre Coastal GasLink pipeline that will go through their traditional territory.

Both The Right Reverend Geoffrey Woodcroft, Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Rupertsland, and Bishop Susan Johnson, National Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, signed the solidarity statement that calls on the Canadian government and the RCMP "to immediately cease their occupation, arrests, and trespassing on Wetsuweten sovereign territory."

The statement, goes on to note "these unlawful occupations and tactics violate the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples" and violate the wishes of the Wetsuweten Clan Chiefs who "hold sole title to their unceded territory and unanimously do not support the construction of the pipeline."

It goes on to say the pipeline project would mar the landscape, cut down trees, harm migration patterns of animals, and put the entire watershed at risk of a leak and contamination.

"We are deeply concerned about the militarized arrests, pressure and trespassing presence of the RCMP on Wetsuweten sovereign territory," it states, adding this treats "Indigenous peoples like prisoners on their own territory."

The statement concludes by noting the pipeline not only tramples on the rights of Indigenous Nations, but endangers "our collective wellbeing and future."

For Johnson, signing the statement was a way to remind Canadians "we are not living in to the calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, including the commitment to free, prior and informed consent."

Shes also "deeply concerned about climate justice and about responsible resource extraction. The concerns of the Wetsuweten overlap all of these concerns."

For her, using the RCMP is the wrong way to deal with the issue.

"If we are serious about addressing these concerns, then we need to take time to have a real consultation," she said.

By signing the statement, she wants members of her denomination, and other Canadians, to know "we stand with the Wetsuweten people and hold our government accountable for its actions."

As for Woodcroft, one reason he signed it because the Anglican community in Manitoba and northwest Ontario is "well connected" with Indigenous people.

He also sees signing it as a way to promote the Anglican Churchs goal of promoting reconciliation with Indigenous people, and of ensuring treaties are fulfilled.

Concern about climate change, and the future of the planet, is also on his mind.

"I am convinced that Creator, God is calling not only me, but all of goodwill, to get on with providing a better tomorrow for all people," he said.

The church has "always had a voice and a strength to care deeply for Gods creation," he added, concluding that is something "we somehow forget" until situations like this arise. Then "we are called back to exercise love, justice and humbleness."

The Free Press is committed to covering faith in Manitoba. If you appreciate that coverage, help us do more! Your contribution of $10, $25 or more will allow us to deepen our reporting about faith in the province. Thanks! BECOME A FAITH JOURNALISM SUPPORTER Click here to learn more about the project.

Other signers of the statement include The Most Reverend Mark MacDonald, National Anglican Indigenous Archbishop; The Right Reverend Ron Culter, Archbishop of the Anglican Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island; The Right Reverend Andrew Asbil, The Bishop of Toronto; Jennifer Henry, Executive Director, KAIROS; Carragh Erhardt, Justice Ministries, The Presbyterian Church in Canada; Peter Haresnape, General Secretary, Student Christian Movement of Canada; The Reverend Dr. Joanne Mercer, Anglican Parish of Twillingate, Anglican Diocese of Central Newfoundland.

Find the full statement here: https://bit.ly/2uy25MQ.

In addition to the solidarity statement, members of Hope Mennonite Church in Winnipeg signed a petition sent to the Prime Minister to honour the jurisdiction of the Wetsuweten traditional governance and publicly affirm the demands of all five Wetsuweten Clan Chiefs.

In the petition, they also call on Coastal GasLink to vacate the territory of the Wetsuweten; that the Canadian and British Columbia governments uphold their commitments to implement the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; and that the RCMP respect the rights of the hereditary chiefs and refrain from interfering with Wetsuweten law.

Faith@freepress.mb.ca
The Wuhan coronavirus or novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has started to spread in a seafood market in Wuhan China before New Year of 2019 and has since spread to 25 countries and has infected more than 40,000 people. The death toll has surpassed that of the SARS outbreak in 2002-2003, and new developments in the viruss mode of transmission raise alarm worldwide.

Image Credit: Remotevfx.com / Shutterstock

A Chinese official has confirmed that aside from the previously known mode of transmission of the deadly virus, it is possible to spread via aerosol transmission, making it more likely to spread at a faster rate.

Aerosol transmission refers to the mixing of the virus with droplets in the air to form aerosols, which causes infection after inhalation, according to medical experts, Zeng Qun, deputy head of the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau, said in a statement during a daily briefing by the municipal government. As such, we have called on the public to raise their awareness of the prevention and control of the disease caused by family gatherings, Zend added.

Mode of transmission

A pathogens mode of transmission refers to the route or method an infectious microorganism is transferred, moved, or carried from one place to another, before reaching a new host. It can be through direct or indirect contact, airborne, droplet, or vector, and common vehicle, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority reports.

Health experts also report that direct transmission is characterized by the transfer of the pathogen through inhalation of air close to a patient who coughs or sneezes. On the other hand, contact transmission happens when an individual touches an object contaminated with droplets containing the virus. The virus can spread if the person touches his nose, mouth, or eyes.

Aerosol transmission of airborne mode refers to situations where droplets nuclei, which are residue from evaporated droplets or dust particles that contain pathogens or disease-causing microorganisms are suspended in the air for long periods. The microorganisms can survive in the air and outside the body until another host inhales it.

If the coronavirus can be transmitted via aerosols, the rate of infection is faster, and the spread is harder to contain.

However, Feng Luzhao, a Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention researcher said that there is no hard proof that the virus can spread through aerosols. He added that there is no need for the public to panic and the most common mode of transmissions are direct transmission, which is the inhalation of air close to a patient who coughs or sneezes.

Current death toll confirmed cases

As of writing, the coronavirus death toll has surpassed that of the SARS outbreak in 2002-2003. As of February 10, the death toll tops 910, with 97 deaths in just one day in mainland China. Globally total confirmed cases reached 40,554 after an additional 3,085 new cases in 24 hours.

Countries, territories or areas with reported confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV, 10 February 2020

Two deaths were recorded outside mainland China, one in the Philippines and the other from Hong Kong. The United States reports that the first American who has died due to the coronavirus has succumbed to the illness in Jinyintian Hospital in Wuhan.

From 2002 to 2003, the SARS outbreak, which also began in China, has killed 774 people across the globe. Many health experts believe that the high number of deaths and infections are undercounted due to the severe strain of testing facilities. Worldwide, surgical masks and other protective equipment are running low in supply.

Chinese officials have officially named the disease, novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP), which is characterized by the common signs and symptoms of pneumonia. However, the disease may lead to complications, including acute respiratory distress, severe acute respiratory syndrome, and even death. The common signs and symptoms include cough, fever, shortness of breath, and difficulty breathing.

How to prevent coronavirus infection

The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged residents to steer away from large crowds, such as gatherings and parties. Health officials also encourage residents to maintain good ventilation at home through open windows and to prevent infection, they should wash their hands regularly, especially after touching common surfaces, including doorknobs, toilet seats, and dinner tables.
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Odisha government Monday suspended four engineers of two departments for the Ganjam bus tragedy in which 10 people were electrocuted and burnt to death, state Energy Minister D S Mishra said.

The four engineers - two of them from the energy department and another two from the rural development department were charged with dereliction of duty, he said.

Mishra, who was speaking after presiding over a review meeting that analysed reasons of the accident, said those suspended were the Berhampur electrical division junior and assistant engineers and rural development department junior and assistant engineers.

The incident took place on Sunday afternoon when a bus with about 40 passengers on board came in contact with 11 kv live wire in Golanthara in Ganjam district.

He said the bus was about 12 feet high including the luggage carrier atop it. It hit the live wire which was about 11 feet from the ground.

The height of 11 kv wires should be at least 20 ft above the ground. The circle executive engineers will identify the vulnerable spots where wires are hanging below the required level, the minister said and directed officials to ensure that all hanging wires be raised to the standard height.

A special workshop will also be organised to ensure safety measures are followed by all departments concerned, Mishra said.

Meanwhile, a blame game has started between departments as authorities of Southco, the power distribution company in Ganjam district, in a report held the rural development department responsible.

It said the rural development department had converted the rural road to a concrete road almost raising its height by 3-4 ft and reducing ground clearance of the road in 2018.

Commerce and Transport Minister Padmanabha Behera has blamed the electricity department and the bus driver for the mishap. He said a detailed probe is being initiated to ascertain whether the bus had route permit to ply on the rural road.

Meanwhile, the opposition BJP demanded resignation of the energy minister while Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee held the state government responsible for the death of 10 people due to fault of others.

The energy minister should step down on moral grounds, BJP spokesman Golak Mohapatra said.

OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik said, There is no point in one department blaming other. The government as a whole should be held responsible for the death of 10 innocent people.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Kim Jae-heun





LF President & CEO Koo Bon-keul

Retail companies are reorganizing their respective business structures to cope with a rapidly changing ecosystem in the industry.



Expanding concerns over the spread of the coronavirus have brought uncertainties in corporate management, which has led many  including the likes of LF Corporation, LG Household & Health Care and AmorePacific  to either integrate or separate their subsidiaries.



LF Corporation (LF) is strengthening its food and beverage (F&B) business in an effort to transform the firm into a lifestyle company.



In 2007, LF established LF Food to launch a seafood buffet restaurant "Makino Chaya" and Japanese ramen brand "Hakoya." Ten years later, LF Food acquired international food material distributing company "Mono Link" to trade items in both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) sectors.



Established in 2000, Mono Link has been importing international ingredients from various countries including Japan, Thailand and Vietnam. They trade directly with local companies to offer a fair market price while providing free cooking programs for restaurant owners. Its revenue has been growing 30 percent every year, reaching 100 billion won last year.



Mono Link has been operating separately from LF Corporation's other subsidiaries until now, but it will come under one management system starting March 1.



Monolink's online food shopping mall "Mono Kitchen" has also posted a notice stating that it will transfer customers' personal information to LF Food, meaning that the distribution company will join the group congregating LF Food's affiliates.



By streamlining and realigning its business structure, LF is aiming to achieve a "synergy effect" between subsidiaries in various sectors and become the leader in the local F&B sector.



LF has recently acquired Koramco Reits & Trust to enter the field of mortgage loans. It has also merged and acquired 10 firms to advance into the online distribution and cosmetics sectors too. It also bought bakery and coffee shop "Publique" in 2015 and acquired the trademark rights of popular premium burger brand "Kraze" in 2017.



Meanwhile, LF Corporation is planning to separate its three fashion brands; TNGT, Blue Lounge and Il Corso, into independent corporations.



"The three brands run their business mainly on the street, which is quite different from other brands that operate stores at shopping malls. Also, their main target customers are in their 20s and 30s, which requires quick decision-making," an LF Corporation official said.





LG Household and Health Care CEO and Vice Chairman Cha Suk

LG Household & Health Care (LG H&H) and AmorePacific are also reorganizing their business structure to reinforce the efficiency of subsidiaries.



In January, LG H&H has incorporated American health and beauty company New Avon into its U.S. branch. The household and health care company acquired New Avon last year to further expand its business in the American market.



"By incorporating New Avon under our U.S. branch, we can better manage the American firm and reduce business risks and taxation," an LG H&H official said.



LG H&H has also announced that it will put OBM Lab under its managerial system, which supplies raw materials for the company's luxury cosmetics brand "The History of Whoo." The household and health care company hopes this will allow a stable supply of materials and tighten the security of commercial confidentiality.



Since OBM Lab has been providing the raw materials for Whoo and another luxury cosmetic brand "Sooryehan," LG H&H achieve 2 trillion won in sales for the first time as domestic cosmetics company in 2018.


Hundreds of millions of the voracious insects have swept across Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya in what the U.N. has called the worst outbreak in a quarter of a century, with Uganda, Eritrea and Djibouti also affected.

Authorities in those countries are already carrying out aerial spraying of pesticides, but experts say the scale of the infestation is beyond local capacity as desert locusts can travel up to 150 km (95 miles) in a day.

They threaten to increase food shortages in a region where up to 25 million people are reeling from three consecutive years of droughts and floods, say aid agencies.

Keith Cressman, senior locust forecasting officer at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said specially developed prototypes would be tested that can detect swarms via special sensors and adapt their speed and height accordingly.

"Nobody's ever done this with desert locusts before. So we have no proven methodology for using drones for spraying on locusts," said Cressman.

"There are already small atomizer sprayers made for drones. But with locusts, we just don't know how high and how fast to fly."

The swarms - one reportedly measuring 40 km by 60 km - have already devoured tens of thousands of hectares of crops, such as maize, sorghum and teff, and ravaged pasture for livestock.

By June, the fast-breeding locusts could grow by 500 times and move into South Sudan.

The impact on the region's food supply could be enormous - a locust swarm of a square kilometre is able to eat the same amount of food in one day as 35,000 people, says the FAO.

CAN DRONES WORK?

Climate scientists say global warming may be behind the current infestations, which have also hit parts of Iran, India and Pakistan.

Warmer seas have resulted in a rise in the frequency of cyclones in the Indian Ocean. This caused heavy downpours along the Arabian peninsula, creating ideal conditions for locust breeding in the deserts of Oman, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

Researchers are increasingly looking to technology to help provide early warning signs and control locust outbreaks amid fears climate change could bring more cyclones.

Officials in Kenya say drones could play an important role given the limited number of aircraft.

"Every county wants an aircraft, but we have only have five at the moment and they can only be in one location at one time," said David Mwangi, head of plant protection at Kenya's ministry of agriculture.

"We have not used drones before, but I think it's worth testing them as they could help."

Existing drone models are restricted in terms of the volumes they can carry and the distances they can cover due to their size and limited battery life, say entomologists and plant protection researchers.

Another challenge for drone use in such emergencies is the lack of regulation. Many east African countries are still in the early stages of drafting laws, prohibiting usage unless in exceptional circumstances and with strict approvals.

That makes it harder to deploy larger drones, which have petrol-powered engines capable of carrying tanks of up to 1,500 litres and travelling distances of up to 500 km, and often require special approval.

Drones can also be used in the aftermath of an infestation.

"The other use case for drones is in post disaster mapping," said Kush Gadhia from Astral Aerial Solutions, a Kenyan firm that seeks to use drones to address development challenges.

"Governments need to know the extent of the damage afterwards. Combining larger satellite maps with smaller drone maps - which provide higher resolution images - will give more accurate assessments on the extent crop loss and health."

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A middle-school boy got his arm stuck in a school desk this week, resulting in a rescue call to the local fire department.

No one was injured, so don't feel bad if you let out a little laugh.

The incident happened Friday afternoon at Spring View Middle School in Rocklin, California., when the student's arm got stuck in a hole at the top of his desk.

The Rocklin Fire Department tried slipping the boy's arm out with soap and oil, but it wouldn't budge. So authorities had to cut out a section of the desk -- releasing the pressure around the boy's elbow and sliding it out, the department said in a Facebook post. Hooray!

The student, uninjured, was able to return to class, albeit maybe a little embarrassed.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 01:24:57|Editor: yan

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NEW YORK, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- At least three people have been shot at a Walmart in the U.S. state of Arkansas, U.S. media quoted local police as saying.
[February 10, 2020] Powering the future: Smallest all-digital circuit opens doors to 5 nm next-gen semiconductor

TOKYO and YOKOHAMA, Japan, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) and Socionext Inc. have designed the world's smallest all-digital phase-locked loop (PLL). PLLs are critical clocking circuits in virtually all digital applications, and reducing their size and improving their performance is a necessary step to enabling the development of next-generation technologies. New or improved technologies, such as artificial intelligence, 5G cellular communications, and the Internet-of-Things, are expected to bring revolutionary changes in society. But for that to happen, high-performance system-on-a-chip (SoC)a type of integrated circuitdevices are indispensable. A core building block of SoC devices is the phase-locked loop (PLL), a circuit that synchronizes with the frequency of a reference oscillation and outputs a signal with the same or higher frequency. PLLs generate 'clocking signals', whose oscillations act as a metronome that provides a precise timing reference for the harmonious operation of digital devices. For high performance SoC devices to be realized, fabrication processes for semiconductor electronics must become more sophisticated. The smaller the area to implement digital circuitry is, the better the performance of the device. Manufacturers have been racing to develop increasingly smaller semiconductors. 7 nm semiconductors (a massive improvement over their 10 nm predecessor) are already in production, and methods to build 5 nm ones are now being looked at. However, in this endeavor stands a major bottleneck. Existing PLLs require analog components, which are generally bulky and have designs that are difficult to scale down. Scientists at Tokyo Tech and Socionext Inc., led by Prof. Kenichi Okada, have addressed this issue by implementing a 'synthesizable' fractional-N PLL, which only requires digital logic gates, and no bulky analog components, making it easy to adopt in conventional miniaturized integrated circuits. Okada and team used several techniques to decrease the required area, power consumption and jitterunwanted time fluctuations when transmitting digital signalsof their synthesizable PLLs. To decrease area, they employed a ring oscillator, a compact oscillator that can be easily scaled down. To suppress jitter, they reduced the phase noiserandom fluctuations in a signalof this ring oscillator, using 'injection locking'the process of synchronizing an oscillator with an external signal whose frequency (or multiple of it) is close to that of the oscillatorover a wide range of frequencies. The lower phase noise, in turn, reduced power consumption. The design of this synthesizable PLL beats that of all other current state-of-the-art PLLs in many important aspects. It achieves the best jitter performance with the lowest power consumption and smallest area (as can be seen in Figure 1). "The core area is 0.0036 mm2, and the whole PLL is implemented as one layout with a single power supply," remarks Okada. Further, it can be built using standard digital design tools, allowing for its rapid, low-effort, and low-cost production, making it commercially viable. This synthesizable PLL can be easily integrated into the design of all-digital SoCs, and is commercially viable, making it valuable for developing the much sought after 5 nm semiconductor for cutting-edge applications including artificial intelligence, internet of things and many others, where high performance and low power consumption would be the critical requirements. But the contributions of this research go beyond these possibilities. "Our work demonstrates the potential of synthesizable circuits. With the design methodology employed here, other building blocks of SoCs, such as data converters, power management circuits, and wireless transceivers, could be made synthesizable as well. This would greatly boost design productivity and considerably reduce design efforts," explains Okada. Tokyo Tech and Socionext will continue their collaboration in this filed to advance the miniaturization of electronic devices, enabling the realization of newer-generation technologies. This research work was conducted in cooperation with TeraPixel Technologies Inc. Reference







Authors: Bangan Liu1, Yuncheng Zhang1, Junjun Qiu1, Hongye Huang1, Zheng Sun1, Dingxin Xu1, Haosheng Zhang1, Yun Wang1, Jian Pang1, Zheng Li1, Xi Fu1, Atsushi Shirane1, Hitoshi Kurosu2, Yoshinori Nakane2, Shunichiro Masaki2, Kenichi Okada1 Title of original paper: A Fully-Synthesizable Fractional-N Injection-Locked PLL for Digital Clocking with Triangle/Sawtooth Spread-Spectrum Modulation Capability in 5 nm CMOS



Journal: IEEE Solid-State Circuits Letters DOI: 10.1109/LSSC.2020.2967744 Affiliations: 1. Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan 2. Socionext Inc., Yokohama, Japan

Figure 1. Photograph of a chip containing the proposed PLL Contacts

Emiko Kawaguchi

Public Relations Section,

Tokyo Institute of Technology

[email protected]

+81-3-5734-2975 Corporate Planning Office

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The Tanaiste has defended the Fine Gael election strategy which has seen the party lose several high-profile candidates, including the shock loss of a seat in one of its heartlands, Cork South West.

Simon Coveney said the party must learn lessons and respond with more radical thinking to deliver change and improvements at the pace people want.

But he warned of the huge threat facing the economy over the next 12-months against the backdrop of Brexit trade deal negotiations and he said Ireland could see fundamental disruption in the event of a bad deal.

Mr Coveney was speaking after Fine Gael Senator Tim Lombard lost out in the fight for the final seat in Cork South West to Social Democrats Cork county councillor, Holly Cairns, in the early hours of this morning.

It was hoped that Mr Lombard would retain the seat previously held by former Fine Gael junior minister, Jim Daly, who announced last September that he would not be seeking reelection. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said at the time that Fine Gael was the strongest party in that constituency.

But Mr Coveney said the loss of this seat, in particular, came as a real shock.

I was watching that until very late into the morning. I think it was after 3am when that result came through. And to be honest with you, I didn't sleep after it for lots of reasons, he said.

Cork South West is a Fine Gael heartland and Tim Lombard is a very close friend of mine.

[snippet1]977032[/snippet1]

And you know, anybody who is over 2,100 votes ahead of the next person when there's only one person left to be eliminated, that person rightly expects to be elected.

So, it was a real shock and the transfers that came from the Sinn Fein candidate just went in huge numbers to the Social Democrats and, fair dues to her (Ms Cairns). Congratulations on winning the seat.

But I think for the Fine Gael team down there and for Tim Lombard in particular, it's very, very hard to take.

He also defended the partys overall election strategy and its decision to focus more recently on Brexit fallout.

For the first two weeks of the campaign, it was really a conversation around public services and who can deliver them and it was almost a competition between parties as to who could spend the billions needed to fix our health system, to get where we need to be in terms of past the housing crisis, and of course, to get an awful lot more guards on our streets, he said.

And midway through the campaign, I felt it was necessary to inject some reality around Brexit because you can only pay for these public services if you have an economy that's strong enough to do that.

We have a huge threat over the next 12 months to the Irish economy, coming from the Brexit negotiation between the UK and the EU.

If that doesn't work out, if we don't get a trade deal by the end of the year, we could see fundamental disruption to the Irish economy and I felt I had an obligation to introduce that into the discussion.

But the electorate decided not to focus on that. They were focusing on their own stresses and strains, particularly around healthcare and housing and A&E and hospitals and so on, wanting better services.

He said Fine Gael has pumped more than a 1 billion extra into healthcare for each of the last three years, and has added more than 10,000 social houses to the nations public housing stock.

Were moving the country in the right direction but clearly, it's not happening fast enough for people. And there's an impatience," he said.

Fine Gael has been in government for nine years. Much of that time was trying to rebuild an economy from the chaos that Fianna Fail left behind.

But people were no longer interested in context or history. They want public services and they want them now.

Many families, understandably, I think feel under pressure because theyre not seeing changes and improvements to their lives that they expect from a booming economy and certainly Fine Gael has suffered on the back of that.

We recognise that. It's important to be honest in our assessment of what happened.

And I think there's a bit more time to fully assess what happened here, because nobody expected this shift to Sinn Fein to the extent that it happened - not even Sinn Fein themselves.

Something happened in this election that nobody really was expecting. And it is changing the face of Irish politics. There's no doubt about that.

But also, I think it shows the volatility of the Irish electorate - only a few few months ago. In the local elections, Sinn Fein halved their numbers.

They had a really bad European election too and Fine Gael had a very strong election.

In the space of less than a year, we've seen politics turned on its head, and we need to respond to that as a party.

I think one of the things we need to do is we need to respond with more radical thinking in terms of how we deliver the public services that people are demanding.

And we'll do that, you know, again, as a party that is that learns lessons from bad elections and we learn the lessons from this one, and we will come back stronger.
Yesterday, on the final Sunday before the New Hampshire Democratic primary, which is tomorrow, the top four finishers in IowaPete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Joe Bidenall did prominent TV hits. Buttigieg toured the Sunday shows on NBC, CNN, CBS, Fox News, and ABC; Sanders was on all the shows bar ABCs; Biden and Warren did one each. (Amy Klobucharwho finished fifth in Iowa and has been a Sunday-show regularwas absent in person, if not in spirit; her debate performance on Friday, which the pundit class rated as strong, fueled chatter, not for the first time this cycle, about a possible late Klobucharge.) Top-tier candidates fighting for airtime on the eve of a crucial primary is hardly surprising; this year, the inconclusive mess in Iowa only heightened the incentive. In some ways, however, the Sunday show dashand other interactions outside the studiorepresented a striking convergence for candidates who, to this point, have had very different media strategies.

The ubiquity of Buttigieg yesterday was no surprisehis campaign has offered a high level of access to the press. In its early days, Buttigieg gave interview after interview, and succeeded in boosting his low national profile in the process. A CNN town hall, last March, was key in lifting him out of the crowded also-ran category. In the weeks that followed, people began to recognize him in airports; Buttigieg quipped, to Politico, that he was sometimes mistaken for a reporter, since he was on TV so much. He was the first Democratic candidate to go on Fox News Sunday, and has since done multiple town halls on the network, while some of his rivals boycotted it. As Olivia Nuzzi, who wrote a buzzy early profile of Buttigieg for New York, told CNN in April, Nobody else is that accessible right now and I think that really counts for a lot. Even as he surged, Buttigieg kept offering openings to the press, including an on-the-record bus tour modeled on John McCains Straight Talk Express (of David Foster Wallace fame). His top comms adviser, Lis Smith, has become something of a media star in her own righton Twitter, and as the subject of magazine profiles. Last year, Smith told Politico Magazine, of Buttigieg, I want him on everything.

ICYMI: Why did Matt Drudge turn on Donald Trump?

Spokespeople for Sanders are media personalities, too, but their candidate has not always been on everything. As the APs Juana Summers reported last summerin a piece headlined, Bernie Sanders thinks media is unfair, so he created his ownthe Sanders campaign has developed a sophisticated in-house media apparatus as a way of reaching supporters directly, including a web show, called The 99, which Sanders has used to make policy announcements; a podcast, called Hear the Bern, hosted by Briahna Joy Gray, a former editor at The Intercept; and an email newsletter, called Bern Notice, written by another former journalist, David Sirota. Their output has sometimes taken aim at corporate media, and Sanders has echoed such criticisms on the campaign trail. Still, Sanders has not walled himself off. Hes contributed op-eds on his thinking to print outlets, including CJR, and has given network interviews, too. In April, he became the first Democratic candidate to do a Fox town hall, and drew the highest ratings for any such event on any network to that point.

Bidens campaign, by contrast, has often sought to keep out the press. As the Washington Post reported in May, he started out running a limited-exposure campaigna bid, it seemed, to limit his potential for gaffes, and to keep the memory of Joe Biden, Obamas vice president, at the front of voters minds. There were exceptions to Bidens stonewallinginterview rounds with local TV and radio stations, for instance, and an affecting interview with The Atlantic in which he opened up about his childhood stutterbut he skipped a bunch of national media availabilities that almost every other candidate seized. Then, on Saturday, something seemed to change. With his campaign in the doldrums, Biden finally held forth to reporters in New Hampshire; as Mark Z. Barabak, of the LA Times, put it, Biden was was like a dam burst open. Or a shaken soda bottle, uncorked. Aides repeatedly tried to curtail questions, but Biden talked, and talked some more.

Unlike Buttigieg and Sanders, Biden only did one of the Sunday shows yesterdayThis Week With George Stephanopoulos, on ABCbut that, in itself, was a departure; it marked Bidens first Sunday show hit of the campaign so far. Warren was also on This Week yesterday. Unlike Biden, shes run a relatively open campaignlast summer, her aides told Politico that shed done 82 gaggles and 170 interviews to date. Still, as The Hills Amie Parnes noted in October, as 2019 progressed, Warren mostly steered clear of big set-piece interviews. She didnt do a single Sunday show in the whole of the year; her first such appearances were last month, with her campaign, like Bidens, badly in need of a jolt.

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The top four candidates appearances yesterday, then, were rare in their simultaneity. Did the Sunday shows make the most of them? Buttigieg faced some useful questions on raceparticularly as it pertains to drug policy and the criminal-justice systembut his interlocutors also all confronted him with an attack ad that Bidens campaign released over the weekend. (When President Obama called on him, Joe Biden helped lead the passage of the Affordable Care Act and when park-goers called on Pete Buttigieg, he installed decorative lights under bridges.) Buttigiegs political experience, or lack thereof, is fair game, but did every network really need to give Bidens ad free exposure? On ABC, Biden faced questions about his son Hunter, who has become a favored target of Republican smears. On CNN, Jake Tapper asked Sanders to defend a comment hed made in 1974 (Did you go back to my third-grade essay when I was in PS 197 about what I said? Sanders shot back); on CBS, Margaret Brennan asked Sanders if the mess in Iowa had dented public trust in the Democrats ability to govern. (Need it really be said that the Iowa Democratic Party and a putative Sanders administration are not the same thing?)

Candidates sitting down for questions is to be applauded, of course. But its only useful if the questions we ask are sharp. Yesterday, we saw a mixed performance on that front. As New Hampshire passes and the field starts to winnow, well need to bore down harder when those who are left in the race meet the press.

Below, more on the primaries:



Some news from the home front: This week, CJR is launching The Year of Fear, a weekly series of dispatches that will follow the 2020 election in four placesMcKeesport, Pennsylvania; Bowling Green, Virginia; McAllen, Texas; and Macon, Georgiawhere local news has been scaled back. Well publish the first dispatch tomorrow.



Other notable stories:

ICYMI: How the word queer was adopted by the LGBTQ community

Update: This post has been updated to clarify that Mary Ellen Klas writes for the Miami Herald.

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.
A federal judge in Tennessee has awarded a $15 million judgment to a 15-year-old boy who suffered a brain injury at a hospital on the Fort Campbell Army post.

The parents of the boy filed a medical malpractice lawsuit in 2015 alleging that he suffered injuries during his birth at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital at Fort Campbell. He was born at the hospital in 2005.

U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger issued a ruling Jan. 28, finding that the hospital failed to inform the mother, Kelly Wilson, of her choices of delivery and didnt properly monitor the fetus during labor.

My son has waited so long for justice, Wilson said in a release from the Baltimore law firm, Janet, Janet and Suggs, that brought the case. The boy suffers from cerebral palsy and other neurological deficiencies as a result of his brain being deprived of oxygen during labor.

Trauger said in the ruling that if the boy would have been delivered by cesarean section earlier during labor, his injuries might have been avoided.

The U.S. attorneys office in Nashville defended the hospital. A spokesman for the office declined comment on the verdict Wednesday.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Tennessee
The shape of Irelands next government remains uncertain after a historic General Election saw Sinn Fein crash the long-standing domination of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.

While counting will continue through Monday, and the final results remain a way off, it is clear Ireland now has three big players on its political stage.

In a remarkable result, Sinn Fein emerged as the most popular party in the country, securing the most first preference votes and topping the polls in the vast majority of constituencies across the state.

The party received 24.5% of the vote share, Fianna Fail got 22.2% and Fine Gael 20.9%.

Despite that, Fianna Fail remains best placed to secure the most seats, primarily due to Sinn Feins failure to field enough candidates to capitalise on its unexpected surge at the polls.

(PA Graphics)

Of the three, Fine Gael looks like being the big loser, with Taoiseach Leo Varadkars party set to ship several seats.

None of the three will come close to securing enough seats to achieve a majority in the Dail parliament, so thoughts have already turned to the potential make up of a coalition administration.

Smaller parties such as the Greens, Labour, the Social Democrats and Solidarity/People Before Profit, and a sizeable number of independent TDs, may all be courted as the main parties seek junior coalition partners.

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin is greeted by a supporter (Yui Mok/PA)

On Sunday, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin declined the opportunity to repeat his pre-election pledge never to do business with Sinn Fein.

Though he later cautioned observers not to jump the gun in interpreting his remarks as a signal an alliance with the party was in the offing.

Mr Varadkar was more unequivocal in his response, making clear his partys stance on not dealing with Sinn Fein was unchanged.

Thank you. All of you who voted for Sinn Fein. Your vote counted. We are your party. We will now do everything we can to secure a government for the people. We will never leave you behind. We will never let you down. pic.twitter.com/6uCmETLTo3  Mary Lou McDonald (@MaryLouMcDonald) February 9, 2020

Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald said she was willing to talk to all political leaders but expressed a desire to lead a coalition made up of left-leaning parties, without any input from Fianna Fail or Fine Gael, which are both centre-right in outlook.

While it remains unclear whether it will ultimately be part of any future coalition, Sinn Feins performance has undoubtedly sent shockwaves through Irelands political establishment.

The party has been left to rue its decision to run significantly fewer candidates than its two main rivals, 42 compared to Fianna Fails 84 and Fine Gaels 82.

That will see a significant number of Sinn Fein surplus votes being transferred to other parties in the proportional representation contest.

(PA Graphics)

It is a shakedown that could benefit Sinn Fein indirectly, if its surpluses boost the numbers of potential left wing partners in government.

At his count centre in Cork on Sunday, Mr Martin would not rule out working with Sinn Fein or Fine Gael, having definitively refused to countenance either as coalition partners during the campaign.

The Fianna Fail leader, who acknowledged his party looked like being on course to win the most seats, was repeatedly pressed to restate his opposition to a potential Sinn Fein partnership.

While insisting there were significant incompatibility issues in terms of policy, he did not dismiss the suggestion outright.

But he added: Our policies, our positions and principles havent changed overnight or in 24 hours.

In a result emblematic of the Sinn Fein surge, the first seat declared in the election was the partys Donnchadh O Laoghaire, who topped the poll in Cork South Central ahead of Mr Martin.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar with party colleagues (Liam McBurney/PA)

Mr Varadkar was also outpolled by a Sinn Fein candidate in Dublin West, Paul Donnelly, with the Taoiseach only getting over the line after the fifth round of counting.

The Fine Gael leader, whose party is predicting a seat total in the mid to high 30s having entered the campaign with 47, said he would not be speaking to Mrs McDonald with a view to forming a coalition.

My view on this is exactly what I have said during the campaign and what I said during the campaign and what my party said during the campaign wasnt a tactic or a strategy, it was what we honestly believed and for us coalition with Sinn Fein is not an option, he said.

If parties do ultimately stick to their pre-election pledges then it would be extremely difficult for any of the three to form a stable government.

On Sunday, Mrs McDonald branded talk of excluding her party as undemocratic.

She said she had been in touch with the Greens, Social Democrats and People Before Profit to discuss the prospect of them joining her party in government.

Its been an election about change, she said.

The extraordinary thing is that it seems that the political establishment, and by that I mean Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, are in a state of denial.

They are still not listening to what the people have said.

Sinn Fein Leader Mary Lou McDonald is elected (Niall Carson//PA)

I want us to have a government for the people. I want us to have ideally a government with no Fianna Fail or Fine Gael in it.

I have started the contact with other parties to explore over the next days whether that is a possibility.

Asked if the result marked a revolution in Irish politics, Mrs McDonald replied: Yes, you could call it that for sure.

The uncertainty created by the results has even thrown up the possibility of another General Election.

There are 160 seats in the Dail parliament.

The speaker is automatically re-elected, leaving 159 seats up for grabs and 80 the magic number for a majority.

Mr Varadkars last government, a minority Fine Gael-led administration that included several independent TDs, was sustained in power through a historic confidence and supply arrangement with Fianna Fail.

That landmark pact between two parties founded from opposing sides of Irelands civil war of the 1920s took 70 days to negotiate following the inconclusive 2016 general election.

A new confidence and supply deal cannot be ruled out, potentially a reverse of the last one, with Fine Gael supporting a Fianna Fail-led minority.

The fractured vote could even force Irelands two traditional political superpowers to contemplate the once unthinkable, a grand coalition in government together.

Brexit did not feature prominently in an election campaign which was instead dominated by domestic issues like spiralling rental prices, record-breaking homeless numbers, controversy over the state pension age and a struggling health service.
Maricopa County assessor resigns, under prosecution for human trafficking. but the facts may say otherwise By Rachel Alexander

Youve successfully conducted adoptions since 2005. But suddenly, in 2019, prosecutors come after you, claiming you are engaging in human trafficking. What drastically changed over 14 years? This is the nightmare that has happened to Paul Petersen, who until January 7 was the Maricopa County Assessor in Arizona. Petersen was pressured into resigning his position after prosecutors got him indicted for bringing women from the Marshall Islands to the U.S. to give birth, then give their babies up for adoption. The prosecution says its illegal human trafficking. Prosecutors in Arizona, Utah and Arkansas are seeking federal and state charges against him. But what is really going on? The media is only reporting the prosecutions side, leaving out the full picture. The media says its against the law to bring babies for adoption from the Marshall Islands to the U.S. unless it goes through the Central Adoption Authority, which is an entity of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. But they dont bother reporting that this law only applies to babies that are already born; a fetus in the womb doesnt constitute a person under the statute. The media also reports that Petersen told the women to lie to U.S. Customs about the real reason they were entering the country. According to Petersens wife Raquel this is not true. The women generally werent asked their purpose, and not about pregnancy. The federal government is charging Petersen with aiding and abetting the entry of an illegal alien. But the women are allowed to be here without a visa, theyre not illegal immigrants. When Petersen brought them through customs, they were approved. The state of Utah is charging him with sale of a child  but what do you think adoption is? Petersen would fly the women to Phoenix or other locations where they would stay in a home while pregnant. He paid them $1,000 per month and provided them with food, travel and cell phone payments. The women were promised up to $10,000 to allow Petersen to adopt out their babies. The young Marshallese women were eager to come to the U.S. to find a better living for themselves and their babies. Many of them already had family in the U.S. How can you traffic a person if they want to move to the U.S.? The media also falsely claims that the women returned to the Marshall Islands after giving birth. This is not true. Most of them remained in the U.S., and many came back to Petersen with later pregnancies, asking for more assistance with adoption. The mothers looked up to Petersen like a big brother, who they could trust to find a good adoptive family. The mothers would speak up and defend Petersen, but the prosecution has instilled fear in them so they dont dare say anything. Instead, out of hundreds of adoptions Petersen completed, the prosecution found a handful of mothers to speak negatively about him. This is a normal number considering the number of adoptions he conducted. Marshallese women keep texting him asking him to handle new adoptions, but the prosecution has prohibited him from responding. Meanwhile, judges are approving his existing adoptions  if theyre illegal, then why are they getting approved? The women preferred to use the services of Petersen over the services of the Marshallese government. The government wasnt taking care of the women properly, but it still charged the same amount. Petersen is the most successful adoption attorney working with Marshallese women. The government may have resented him taking so much business and filed complaints against him in the U.S. There are accusations that Petersen kept the women in cramped quarters, sometimes with five women sharing one bedroom. This was normal; the Marshallese are more communal and live several to a room. The media said they were cockroach-infested apartments. The truth is, Petersen remodeled the apartments in question, which then became the nicest ones in the area. Bizarrely, Petersen has only been charged with human trafficking in Utah and by the federal government. Arizona prosecutors merely charged him with Medicaid fraud, which the other governments didnt. They say the women werent eligible for Medicaid until they have lived in the state for at least five years. But states cannot have time length residency requirements for urgent medical care. The media isnt explaining the difference between regular Medicaid, which includes prenatal care, and emergency Medicaid, which is for delivery only. The media isnt reporting that Petersen paid for the prenatal care, not the government. If Petersen had violated the law, then why were the emergency Medicare costs of delivery approved for 14 years? Of course, some of the independent contractors working for him may have filled out the wrong forms, having gotten bad advice from the hospitals on how to fill out forms. The hospitals are interested in turning a profit. The media said text messages were found on Petersens county-issued laptop trying to talk some of the women out of reconsidering their adoptions. This is inaccurate. Petersen used FB Messenger on his personal cell phone, not on the county laptop. But since he was logged onto Facebook on his county laptop, prosecutors interpreted this to mean the messages were exchanged there. Facebook Messenger is how the Marshallese women conduct 80% of their communications. Regardless, the county policies restricting personal use on county equipment doesnt apply to elected officials  yet another fact the media left out. The Maricopa County Supervisors placed him on administrative leave after he was indicted, citing his inability to do his job. But the Arizona Attorney Generals Office, which is prosecuting him, issued a report which said he was doing his job at a high level; the assessors work was being done. He had no complaints from higher management. Although he was placed in jail for three weeks, three of the supervisors had been gone longer on vacations than hed been imprisoned. The media claims he threatened the women with eviction. They never bothered to report that this did not come from Petersen. What happened was one of the women was still living in one of his residences after she said she didnt want to give the baby up for adoption, so his assistant told her she needed to move out. The government treated Petersen like a sleazy criminal when law enforcement arrested him. On October 8, authorizes arrested him raided his home. In November, they seized $1.5 million of his assets and froze his bank accounts. This is bizarre considering the government claims the alleged Medicaid fraud cost the agency about half that, $800,000. Without access to his bank accounts, Petersen cant pay to defend himself. He cant do anything with his official residence. He has nothing. Petersen has to get approval from the Arizona Attorney General to sell anything. He is restricted from practicing law. He has four young kids he needs to support. The reality is, most of the population doesnt agree with civil forfeiture. There is currently a bill being considered in the Arizona State Legislature that would restrict civil forfeiture to post-conviction. Petersens co-defendant, Lynwood Jennet, has agreed to testify against him in exchange for a plea agreement. She will go to prison for two to four years and pay nearly $1 million in restitution due to Medicaid fraud. Jennet is Marshallese and acted as an intermediary between Petersen and the birth mothers. Raquel Peterson said she has nothing bad to say about Jennet, she was a close family friend. Shes sadly collateral damage. In addition to human trafficking, charges against Petersen include seven counts of wire fraud, five counts of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Those types of crimes are generally piled on to create the appearance a defendant is a really bad actor. In reality, they are merely process crimes, normal things the defendant was doing in the process of the main crime hes charged with, such as using the telephone. This can be evidence that the prosecution is targeting someone and throwing the book at them in order to conduct a sensational trial and teach others a lesson. One man who adopted three Marshallese babies through the help of Petersen told ABC 15 that he did not believe it was human trafficking. There are no women who have been forced to do anything that they didnt want to do. This isnt anything close to trafficking, in any way shape or form. He declined to be identified. He had nothing but praise for Petersen, It may look bad from the outside, but hes doing them a service or favor by helping them get out of a predicament that they would otherwise not want to be in. It appears that prosecutors criminalized a legitimate business Petersen ran. Lets hope Petersens attorneys are able to get the facts out adequately to the jury so he gets a fair trial. The mainstream media should be ashamed of itself for not reporting the full story. Adoption is a wonderful thing, it should not be criminalized and treated the same as human trafficking. Rachel Alexander and her brother Andrew are co-Editors of Intellectual Conservative. She has been published in the American Spectator, Townhall.com, Fox News, NewsMax, Accuracy in Media, The Americano, ParcBench, Enter Stage Right and other publications.mericano, ParcBench, Enter Stage Right and other publications. Home
The Dublin Rathdown constituency claimed a major scalp when Transport Minister Shane Ross lost the seat he had won in 2016 by topping the poll.

This constituency is renowned for major upsets, previously claiming Alan Shatter, Alex White and Liz O'Donnell.

Mr Ross was gracious in defeat, and congratulated Sinn Fein on its election success.

"I don't think tonight is a time for regret," he said.

"It's a time to congratulate those who are successful. There's obviously been a huge appetite for change. Those who represented that very articulately have been successful.

"I hope they make up a really successful government and they bring about the changes which are necessary.

Expand Close Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy with her grandson Oisin OHalloran / Facebook

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"I'd be fairly sanguine about it, when you get a democratic vote of this sort it's the wish of the people, and if I made mistakes and could have done things differently that's alright. I did what I thought was right all the time and I'm happy to give others the opportunity to do what's right."

Meanwhile, another outgoing Independent minister - Katherine Zappone - is in serious trouble in Dublin South-West as she received 5.5pc of votes on the first count.

Sinn Fein's Sean Crowe topped the polls with nearly 30pc and was elected on the first count with 20,072 votes.

Quota

However, Ms Zappone - who served as Children's Minister - is set to lose her seat and will be hoping for transfer votes to bring her over the quota of 11,261, having received 3,708 - far lower than her votes in 2016, when she totalled 4,463 on the first count, 6.6pc.

The minister attended the count centre yesterday morning but had left by midday.

A second count last night brought her up to 4,141 votes.

Meanwhile, Labour will not enter talks to form the next government after what leader Brendan Howlin described as a "bad day" for the party with former tanaiste and party leader Joan Burton losing her seat.

Ms Burton was out of the running early on in Dublin West amid a surge toward Sinn Fein and the party's Limerick City TD Jan O'Sullivan was also struggling to hold her seat.

However, Labour will be boosted by the expected return of senator Aodhan O Riordain in Dublin Bay North and senator Ged Nash in Louth.

Labour was also on course to hold seats in Cork East, through Sean Sherlock, and Tipperary through former deputy leader Alan Kelly.

In Dublin Fingal, Duncan Smith could hold the seat vacated by the retiring Brendan Ryan. The party was also hopeful councillor Mark Wall could regain Kildare South, held by his father Jack.

Mr Howlin, who is set to hold his seat in Wexford, all but ruled out going into government, with sources saying the party does not have a mandate to do so.

Meanwhile, the Social Democrats hoped to more than double their number of Dail seats, with co-leaders Catherine Murphy and Roisin Shortall holding Kildare North and Dublin North-West respectively.

Numbers

Last night, the party was confident that Gary Gannon would take a seat in Dublin Central, with Cian O'Callaghan on course in Dublin Bay North.

Jennifer Whitmore was also in contention for a seat in Wicklow.

Ms Shortall said she had not spoken to Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, but would be speaking to "all parties".

"Today we are concentrating on just our own numbers and hoping that we will maximise the number of TDs," Ms Shortall said.
The 25-year-old lecturer, who was set afire by a stalker last week in Wardha district of Maharashtra, breathed her last Monday morning while undergoing a treatment.

Ankita Pisudde, resident of Hinganghat town in Wardha, had been critical after sustaining 35 to 40 per cent "grade III" burns on February 3 when she was set afire allegedly by one Vikesh Nagrale (27) while she was on way to her college, the family told news agency PTI.

She was undergoing treatment at the Orange City Hospital & Research Centre here, located around 75 km from Wardha.

"Doctors at the hospital declared her dead at 6.55 am today," Hinganghat's police inspector Satyaveer Bandiwar said.

State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said the case trial would be held in a fast track court and a family member of the victim would be given a government job.



The woman had recieved severe burns on scalp, face, right upper limb, left hand, upper back, neck and eyes along with severe inhalational injuries, the hospital said in a medical bulletin on Monday.

She died of "septicemic shock" after suffering from deep dermal burns along with severe inhalational injuries, respiratory distress and related complications, it said.

The hospital said that early morning today her oxygen levels deteriorated inspite of ventilator support, coupled with decreasing urine output and reduction in blood pressure.



Representational Image

Several locals took out a march in Wardha city last Thursday, demanding death penalty for the accused.

"Efforts were made to save the victim, but we are sorry she could not survive. The state government stands with the victim's family. A government job and all other assistance will be provided to the victim's family," Deshmukh tweeted.

According to the victim's relatives, Nagrale, who was arrested within hours of the incident on February 3, had been harassing her for quite some time.

Nagrale and the woman were friends till two years ago when she severed ties with him due to his "irrational behaviour", the police earlier said.




This past fall, history was made when two NASA astronauts completed the first-ever spacewalk by an all-woman team, what you could say is 'one giant leap for mankind' and, more importantly, womankind. These two astronauts made history only 35 years after the first woman to spacewalk, and now more than any time in our history, women are entering the workforce for careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

According to a report by the National Science Foundation in 2018, women comprise only 28% of the U.S. workforce for scientists and engineers, although they account for half of the college-educated workforce overall. In celebration of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on Tuesday, Feb. 11, Midland Center for the Arts will host Women's STEM Night in the Alden B. Dow Museum of Science & Art. The event will feature hands-on science activities inspired by women scientists from history along with a panel conversation by area women in STEM fields. The arts center invites adult men and women alike, as well as students considering a career in a STEM field, to explore and discover through conversation and interactive activities.
Mirza Mikayilov, the legendary voice of RFE/RLs Azerbaijani Service, died in Munich on January 31, 2020 at the age of 72.

Mikayilov was born in Soviet Azerbaijan in 1947 and emigrated to Israel in 1974, serving briefly in the Israeli Army before joining RFE/RL in Munich in August 1976. He adopted the on-air name Mirza Khazar, and worked as deputy chief editor of the Azerbaijani Service until October 1985. He then worked from 1985 to 1987 as director of the Azerbaijani Service of the Voice of America in Washington D.C. before returning to Munich, and later Prague, to lead RFE/RLs Azerbaijani Service until September 2003.

For many Azeris, Mirza Khazars voice is associated with the countrys struggle for freedom after he broke the news on January 20, 1990 of the deadly crackdown by Soviet troops on pro-independence demonstrators in Baku.Black January, as the day became known, claimed more than 200 lives.

Mirza Khazar continued his journalism after leaving RFE/RL, blogging about political developments on social media platforms. Among his numerous literary pursuits, he translated the Bible, both the New old Old Testaments, into the Azerbaijani language.

A private funeral service was held for Mirza Khazar in Munich on February 4. He is survived by his wife and three children.
Farmgate hogg prices are 21% higher than last year and 26% above their 2015-19 average, according to the latest market commentary from Quality Meat Scotland (QMS).

At 234p/kg at Scottish auctions in early February, prices have also risen 20% above their December 2019 average.

Over the past decade, only once has the increase come close to this  16% in 2011/12  while it was just 3% last year.

This is likely to have been of comfort to store lamb finishers who bought 12% more lambs in autumn 2019 and, at 50 a head, paid average prices 1.2% higher than twelve months before, said Iain Macdonald, Senior Economics Analyst with QMS.

It should be noted here that long-keep hill lambs showed much stronger average price lifts, he added.

According to Mr Macdonald, one factor behind rising finished lamb prices has been an almost unchanged 2019 GB lamb crop, yet early marketing meant that slaughterings rose by 2.3% year-on-year between June and December.

This is indicative of a smaller carryover of hoggs into 2020, with processors competing hard to secure adequate supplies.

Furthermore, a trade rebalancing more than cancelled out the higher volume of domestic production last autumn, meaning that overall market supplies were already tight before slaughter began to fall back in December.

UK import volumes fell sharply in the June to November period, down 27.6% year-on-year, and export volumes increased by 12.6%, said Mr Macdonald.

Trade rebalancing has been a longer-term trend and by 2019 the UK had become a net exporter of sheepmeat in almost every month.

New Zealand has historically been the UKs principal lamb supplier but in the first eleven months of 2019 deliveries fell 24.5% on the year, leaving them 42% below January to November 2014 levels, said Mr Macdonald.

While some of this longer-term decline has been driven by a shrinking New Zealand sheep flock, increased market opportunities in China have resulted in a diversion of New Zealand exports away from Europe in recent years, he commented.

Between 2015/16 and 2018/19, China went from 16% of New Zealand lamb export value and 28% of volumes to 32% in value and 44% in volume.

Meanwhile, the UK went from volume and value shares of 20% down to 11.5% and 12.5% respectively.

Over the same time period, Chinese buyers also began to buy more of the higher quality cuts which would traditionally have found a home in Europe.

Given an estimated 2.4% reduction in the 2019 New Zealand lamb crop and a huge protein deficit in China caused by a sharp fall in Chinese pork production due to African Swine Fever, this trend had been anticipated to continue in 2020, said Mr Macdonald.

However, Chinas coronavirus outbreak has introduced some short-term uncertainty.

According to Mr Macdonald, the New Zealand Farmers Weekly publication has reported significant backlogs at Chinese ports in recent days.

With people tending to eat at home, demand from the Chinese foodservice sector has reportedly plummeted, while the extension of the New Year holidays in China has affected port and customs staff levels.

In response, New Zealand processors have reportedly been investing in cold storage capacity and are more active in trying to secure business opportunities in the rest of the world, including the UK, said Mr Macdonald.

With Easter and Ramadan both in April and the considerable shipping time from New Zealand to Europe, February would be the time for New Zealand processors to consider supplying additional product for these festivals.

How long-lasting the impact of the coronavirus outbreak in China is on the countrys meat imports may therefore have implications for the UK lamb market in the coming weeks, added Mr Macdonald.
Deployments, frequent moves and long training separations - all of them come with their share of stress. Fortunately, the Defense Department offers a variety of free counseling support for married service members and their families. Seeking support, they say, is a sign of strength.

How can marital counseling improve your relationship?

Every military couple experiences and handles stress differently. Not only are deployments themselves stressful, so is the time before and after them. You and your partner might feel sad, irritable, angry or frustrated. You might find yourself picking fights, avoiding difficult discussions or withdrawing altogether. Those feelings are totally normal for military couples throughout the deployment cycle. But thats why counseling support can be invaluable  addressing concerns before they escalate can help alleviate that pressure and make your relationship better.

Understanding the two types of available counseling

No matter why you need it, there are two types of counseling available to service members and military spouses. Non-medical counseling. This type of counseling is designed to help you with everyday concerns, like improving your relationships at home and at work, stress and anger management, adjustment after deployment, parenting and grief and loss issues. Non-medical counseling is usually a short term, problem-solving approach. It can include stress-related trauma therapy or addiction counseling, but no medications will be prescribed.

Medical counseling is designed to assist with long-term issues, such as drug and alcohol abuse, psychological concerns, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, child or spousal abuse, suicidal ideation or other psychological issues that adversely affect a marriage.

Nearly every military installation has a family service or support center, chaplain support, child-development center or other service where spouses can get help, from crisis intervention to counseling, depending on their need. Use the information below to locate the resource thats right for your family.

How to find military non-medical counseling

Non-medical counseling resources, available through Military OneSource and the Military Family Life Consultant program, can help with marital problems before and after they evolve into more serious concerns.

Military OneSource offers service members and their spouses and children free, non-medical counseling. After a short phone screening, a Military OneSource employee will refer a service member or eligible family member to a local, licensed professional counselor for free. The counseling can be done face-to-face, over the phone or online. Its meant to be short term, and covers up to 12 free sessions per issue, per person. For more information call 800-342-9647 or visit Military OneSource.

Military Family Life Consultants (MFLC) are licensed, experienced clinical providers who hold masters or Ph.D. degrees and offer on-base support to service members and their spouses. Like the counselors available through Military OneSource, they provide non-medical, short-term counseling for concerns like anger management or parenting issues. They also refer situations requiring additional psychological health treatment to appropriate behavioral health agencies. But the best thing about MFLCs are their availability. Frequently one MFLC is assigned to each unit, making them easily accessible through just a phone call or by walking into their office. You can contact an MFLC through the appropriate resource at your home installation.

Army Community Services Marine Corps Community Services Navy Fleet and Family Support Centers Airman and Family Readiness Centers

The Defense Center of Excellence (DCoE) focuses on psychological health and traumatic brain injury. Families can contact the DCoE Outreach Center can provide resources to families needing advice through their call center at 866-966-1020 or the Real Warriors live chat.

Relationship and marriage classes and retreats are offered almost everywhere either through your unit, the on-base chaplain or a church or support center outside the gate. The classes might be offered weekly or given as a one-time seminar or weekend retreat. The best way to locate these resources is to contact an on-base chaplain. The chaplain can also tell you about the Marriage Care retreat program (Air Force), Strong Bonds (Army) or CREDO (Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard).

Use medical counseling for longer-term or more complex issues

To receive medical counseling, service members and spouses from each branch of the military -- including National Guard members, reservists and DoD civilian employees who have deployed overseas -- can be evaluated and treated at a military treatment facility (MTF). Military personnel and spouses in need of psychological health care can seek help from a range of providers, depending on their condition.

You can receive up to eight mental health care visits through Tricare without a referral. You can find more information about Tricare covered mental health care here.

The Department of Defense contributed to this report.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 20:19:15|Editor: mingmei

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BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Many big farm produce wholesale markets and supermarket chains returned to normal operation on Monday, an official with the Ministry of Commerce said.

Fifty big wholesale markets of agricultural products supervised by the ministry have opened for business, Zhu Xiaoliang, director of the ministry's market system development department, told an online press conference.

Over 92 percent of more than 7,000 supermarket outlets in 34 large and medium-sized cities across the country have also resumed operation, he said.

The ministry will continue to closely monitor the operation of wholesale markets and commercial outlets to keep track of inventory and price changes and ensure sufficient supplies of daily necessities, Zhu said.

The country has released frozen pork reserves and increased imports to ensure supplies of food and medical gear amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The latest official data showed that the wholesale price of grain edged up 0.2 percent from three weeks ago, while that of eggs fell 9.7 percent during the period.

The wholesale prices of pork, beef and mutton went up 3.5 percent, 0.7 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively, over the past three weeks. While 30 types of vegetables saw prices rise 10.7 percent, six kinds of fruits registered a mild hike of 1.7 percent.

NO PANIC BUYING

Except for fresh meat and some leafy vegetables, most essentials are in abundant supply in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, Zhu said, adding that there was no obvious panic buying in the city.

The two biggest local wholesale markets have reopened for business, with daily transactions exceeding 3,000 tonnes, he added.

As part of its efforts to ensure supplies in the city, the country allocated 2,000 tonnes of frozen pork to Wuhan last week.

The ministry has also built an efficient supply network of daily necessities across nine provinces to strengthen inter-provincial cooperation and coordination.

Since Jan. 23, eight provincial-level regions such as Chongqing and Guangxi have sent over 6,800 tonnes of vegetables, 20 tonnes of edible oil and 200 tonnes of convenience food to the hardest-hit Hubei Province.

More than 4,000 tonnes of donated vegetables have been released in Wuhan since Jan. 29 and an additional 3,500 tonnes can be put on the market soon, Zhu said, while pledging more efforts from the ministry to ensure supplies and stable prices in Wuhan.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 10

Trend:

The statement of the Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan in connection with Armenias aggression was distributed as a document of the General Assembly and the UN Security Council, Trend reports referring to the community.

"We, internally displaced people from the Nagorno-Karabakh region and other occupied Azerbaijani districts, have been suffering from Armenian aggression for about 30 years, the statement added. As a result of the ethnic cleansing policy launched against us in 1988, Armenia occupied one fifth of Azerbaijan's territory. Thus, 700,000 people were driven out of their houses.

Thousands of Azerbaijanis were brutally killed during the occupation, a big number of civilians went missing, the statement said. The genocide against Azerbaijanis in Khojaly city, when 613 civilians, including children were brutally killed by the Armenian armed forces during the night, became a stain on the pages of history as the biggest massacre against Azerbaijanis. We would like to stress that the individuals who committed these crimes still haven't been punished.

In accordance with the document, the world community, including the UN Security Council and the General Assembly, have repeatedly expressed support for the inviolability of the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan, respect for Azerbaijans sovereignty and territorial integrity, recognized the Nagorno-Karabakh region as an integral part of Azerbaijan and the right to return of all Azerbaijani internally displaced people to their lands.

The community states that it supports the peaceful settlement of the conflict, ensuring the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian Armed Forces from Nagorno-Karabakh region and other occupied Azerbaijani territories.

This will create conditions for safe and dignified return of the Azerbaijani internally displaced people to their houses, as well as for restoration and economic development of this region, joint living of the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities in Nagorno-Karabakh on equal rights and non-discrimination, the statement said.

However, it is extremely difficult to prepare for peace amid Armenias undisguised aggression and the policy of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan aimed at the annexation, which is clearly mentioned in his insulting statement (Karabakh is part of Armenia and thats that), the document said. Moreover, Armenia simply refuses to recognize the existence of the Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, its fundamental rights and freedoms.

It is trying hard to hinder contacts between the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of Nagorno-Karabakh, the document said. This forms the basis of Armenias aggressive policy, as a result of which it occupied some Azerbaijani territories and this is another clear evidence of Armenias flagrant disrespect for human rights.

By hindering the return of Azerbaijani IDPs to their houses, trying to artificially change the demographic composition of the population in these territories, as well as taking targeted steps to change economic, social and cultural characteristics of the region, Armenia is implementing a policy aimed at colonizing the occupied territories," the document says.

The community calls on the world not to turn a blind eye to the Armenian aggression lasting 30 years, suffering of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis who have been expelled from the lands of their great-grandfathers, the document said.

"We call on the world community to increase the efforts to ensure the implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions, the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in accordance with the norms and principles of international law reflected in the Helsinki Final Act, within the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan, based on full respect of Azerbaijans sovereignty and territorial integrity," the statement says.

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.
The family of a 38-year-old man fatally shot by an off-duty Richmond police officer during a dispute in a Vallejo parking lot has filed legal claims against both cities, Bay Area civil rights attorney John Burris announced Sunday.

The shooting happened on Nov. 10 when Richmond police Sgt. Virgil Thomas shot Eric Reason, who had confronted him with a gun in the parking lot of a shopping complex on Fairgrounds Drive near the Six Flags Discovery Kingdom amusement park.

Reason, a local rapper, was armed but running away when Thomas believed he posed an immediate threat and opened fire, Vallejo police said shortly after the incident.

The explanation prompted outrage from Reasons family, who filed the claims against the cities of Vallejo and Richmond. A legal claim is a necessary precursor to a lawsuit and often signals an intent to sue.

Burris announced the legal action at a Sunday afternoon news conference, after which demonstrators were set to demand the Solano County district attorneys office criminally charge Thomas and officers in three other fatal Vallejo police shootings.

This case is worthy of criminal prosecution, Burris said of the Reason case. He was running away, and the officer was in a position of safety. That to me is a horrific set of facts.

Burris said Reason was at least 50 feet away when Thomas opened fire. And even though he was off duty, Thomas was defended and protected as a police officer at the scene, Burris said.

Vallejo police released security video last month of the incident that has no audio.

It began around 5:30 p.m. when Reason, a father of six, was driving his minivan away from gas pumps at the strip mall toward a parking spot when Thomas pulled into the parking lot in his personal vehicle.

The drivers briefly stopped while facing each other before Thomas pulled into a parking spot.

Reason then stopped behind Thomas car, rolled down the window and started yelling, before getting out and yelling profanities in Thomas face, Vallejo police said.

Reason returned to his minivan, opened the hood, pulled out a handgun wrapped in a rag and approached Thomas with the firearm, the video showed.

Thats when Vallejo police said Thomas pulled out his own gun and opened fire, shattering a rear window of the minivan as Reason ran out of view of the camera.

Reason fled with the gun in his hand and at some point raised the gun, Vallejo police said in a statement shortly after the incident. Thomas believed Reason posed an immediate threat to himself, his wife in the passenger seat, and patrons of the shopping complex, police said.

Reason died at the scene. Its unclear whether Thomas identified himself as a police officer during the confrontation.

Richmond police are conducting their own internal review of the shooting to determine whether Thomas violated any of the departments policies.

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.

After Burris announcement Sunday, protesters were prepared to gather to remember another man who was shot by police exactly one year ago. Willie McCoy, another local rapper, was shot by six Vallejo police officers who fired 55 rounds as he sat in his car with a gun in his lap at a Taco Bell drive-thru.

McCoy was slumped over at the wheel of a silver Mercedes in the drive-through when police arrived at the scene and surrounded him.

Police released body camera footage of the shooting, showing officers discussing how to open McCoys car door and grab the gun in his lap before dragging him out of the car.

When McCoy started to bend forward and moved his left arm toward his lap, the officers opened fire.

An independent investigator hired by the city of Vallejo found the use of force to be reasonable and necessary.

Burris is also representing McCoys family in a lawsuit against the city of Vallejo.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky
Patna: The Mahavir Temple Trust of Patna on Monday has announced to donate Rs 10 crore to Ram Janmabhoomi Tirtha Kshetra Trust for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya. Former IPS Kishore Kunal has taken he first instalment amount of Rs 2 crores rupees to Ayodhya on behalf of Mahavir Mandir Trust.

Kishore said "I am going to Ayodhya with a cheque of Rs 2 crore as a donation from Mahavir temple in Patna to the proposed Ram temple. We will donate a total Rs 10 crore for it in instalments." Kishore has also sought time from District Magistrate Anuj Jha to hand over the first check.

Secretary of Mahavir Mandir Trust Kishore said that the announcement for the donation of 10 crore rupees was made just after the Supreme court announced the decision in favour of the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya. He also said that Mahavir Trust wants that the sanctum sanctorum of the upcoming Ram temple to be made of gold and Mahavir Mandir Trust is ready to bear all the expenses.

Talking to Zee News, Trustee of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirth Kshetra, Kameshwar Chaupal, said that the Ram Temple is expected to be ready in the next two years by 2022.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be laying the foundation stone of the Ram temple, said Chauplal.

The apex court in its verdict on November 9, 2019, awarded the entire disputed area in Ayodhya to the Hindu side. It directed the Centre to formulate a scheme within three months of the verdict for the construction of the temple. The Central government has allotted 67 acres of land for the construction of the temple.
A few things mark Inspiration Healthcare out as different from the typical AIM-listed healthcare company.

To start with, it is profitable and generating cash. The group is also not discovering new drugs or overseeing clinical research trials. And yet, it has helped hundreds, if not thousands of new-born babies avoid debilitating, life-changing conditions.

Indeed, in its chosen fields of perinatal and neonatal care, the company punches on a par with companies substantially larger including giant medical equipment manufacturers such as Philips and Siemens.

Neonatal care: Inspiration Healthcare developed a new technique of cooling premature babies to reduce the risk of cerebral palsy 15 years ago and sales of the product still account for a healthy chunk of its sales

That might seem a bold assertion for a company that turned over 15million to January 2019, but chief executive Neil Campbell says the company is widely recognised as a pioneer in the neonatal intensive sector.

Much of that respect comes from work undertaken fifteen years ago when based on a research idea it developed a new technique of cooling premature babies to reduce the risk of cerebral palsy.

It was ground-breaking and counter-intuitive at the time but so successful that the UK's medical regulator NICE adopted it as the standard of care within two years of the study being completed.

'One in six babies doesn't develop the symptoms of cerebral palsy because they have been cooled,' says Campbell, himself an acknowledged expert in the field of premature births.

Sales of the cooling product still account for a healthy chunk of Inspiration's sales and have helped it establish a solid and profitable base, but Campbell says the time is now right to spread its wings and become larger.

Neonatal and perinatal care is a crucial part of the life cycle and a market worth anything between $5-7billion.

About 10 per cent of babies born are premature yet Inspiration is one of the few companies anywhere where neonatal care is the main focus.

Often neonatal is part of a larger division, where the main activity is machines that can cost in the hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Pharmaceutical companies, meanwhile, are looking for blockbuster treatments for cancer, autoimmune diseases and diabetes.

For a health service, however, premature births remain one of the largest costs and for children under five it remains the largest cause of fatalities.

Looked at as a cost per patient, neonatal intensive care is the greatest drain on any health service, says Campbell.

In Britain, a baby born three months premature could require between 6-8 weeks in intensive care costing approximately 1,500 per day, followed by a period of supervised care in hospital at around 800 per day.

For each premature birth, that can mean about 75,000 on average for around three months in hospital.

After that, there is potential surgery, home oxygen, aftercare physiotherapy and issues such as sight and hearing impairments, mobility problems and learning difficulties.

For a health service, premature births remain one of the largest costs and for children under five it remains the largest cause of fatalities

The ambition now is for Inspiration to take a larger share of the market through a combination of organic growth, new technology and acquisitions.

On the organic side, Inspiration already sells into 50-70 countries worldwide but as health provision in the third world improves and more money is earmarked for maternity, Inspiration should see a boost for its existing product line.

A contract was recently signed with the Ministry of Health in Sri Lanka for a suite of workstations, for example.

The workstations comprised Inspiration's cerebral function monitor for diagnosing brain injury and its Tecotherm Neo, which is used to cool and warm babies who have suffered from a lack of oxygen at the time of birth.

Campbell is also proud of Inspiration's tradition of bringing in disruptive new technologies and is especially excited about a disruptive technology development currently ongoing with a US university.

Finally, the group is looking for a 'transformational acquisition.

Last year, it strengthened its manufacturing capability in single-use products with the 4million purchase of Viomedex, but it is prepared for something considerably larger.

Profits in the year to January 2019 were 1.2million and in the latest half-year there was a 21 per cent rise in underlying profits to 800,000.

Sales in the current half-year rose 9 per cent to 8.1million but Campbell eventually wants to get annual sales closer to 100million.

That's a substantial move up the leagues, but Inspiration knows its market and what needs to be done to improve the outcome for babies born early.

'Huge numbers are dying not because they are born premature - they just don't get care,' says Campbell.

'It's a very ethical investment in terms of the purpose of the company, which is saving the lives and improve the outcomes of premature babies.'

At 64.5p, Inspiration is valued at 25million.
A case of cheating and forgery has been registered against the former chief executive officer of crisis-hit Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank Limited here, weeks after RBI cap on withdrawal limit triggered panic among depositors.

According to police, the case has been registered based on a complaint by the present CEO officer A Santhosh Kumar against his predecessor Manur Vasudava Maiya.

The bank is in the middle of a crisis following huge non-performing assets and Reserve Bank of India imposed restrictions from collecting deposits, lending loans and making investments.

The apex bank had also last month capped the withdrawal limit to Rs 35,000.

Kumar stated in his complaint that between 2012 and 2018, Maiya had allegedly lent money beyond his jurisdiction to various customers.

"We want stringent action against Maiya for conspiring and betraying the bank," he stated in his complaint. imposed restrictions on depositors from drawing money last month rattled account holders.

They had stormed the bank to get clarity on their investments.

Later, the bank authorities said they were working to sort out the issue.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Burma Yangon Govt Leases $750M of Land to Malaysian Conglomerate

Yangon regional Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein (left) and a representative (right) from BDS company pose for a photo after signing a concession agreement on Feb. 7 in Yangon. / Yangon regional government

YANGONBDS Smart City Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of Berjaya Land Berhad (BLand), one of the largest conglomerates in Malaysia, signed a concession agreement worth nearly $750 million on Friday with the Yangon regional government to develop a housing and mixed-use project in Yangon city, Myanmars commercial hub.

According to a press release, BDS will undertake the project on 74 hectares of land worth an estimated $746.08 million in Yangons Dagon Seikkan Township. The project will include affordable housing, medium-range apartments, high-end condominiums, commercial units, hospitals, schools and community centers.

BDS will own exclusive rights to the land for 50 years, extendable for two additional terms of 10 years each. The company won a tender for the project last May.

The project is expected to roll out in three phases over a period of nine years, according to the company.

According to the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA), the BDS project has not yet been approved by the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC).

In 2017, the Union government announced that regional and state governments would be allowed to approve investments worth up to $5 million. For projects worth more than this, regional and state governments need to solicit approval from the Union level.

According to a government state-owned newspaper, Yangon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein said that the government selected BLand from three companies that submitted proposals.

The director of BLand subsidiary Berjaya HT Eco Co. Ltd, U Kyaw Nay Win, is also the grandson of former military dictator Ne Win. At the signing ceremony on Friday, he sat next to Yangon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein.

U Kyaw Nay Win told the government state-owned newspaper that the project is the very first affordable housing project backed by foreign investment.

He said that the Yangon government will own over 240,000 square meters of floor space for the project.

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Jeremy Hunt called on President Trump to intervene. (PA)

Jeremy Hunt has asked Donald Trump to treat the United Kingdom like an ally and extradite Anne Sacoolas over the death of teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn.

The former foreign secretary said Ms Sacoolas being allowed to avoid justice in the UK is totally and utterly unacceptable.

He called on Mr Trump to act, arguing he did not think Britain would have behaved in that way if it was a British diplomat that had been involved in an accident.

I think it is totally and utterly unacceptable that she is not facing justice in the UK, he told Skys Ridge On Sunday.

Mr Trump has previously refused Britain's attempts to have Ms Sacoolas extradited. (Getty)

And I would just say to the United States Im someone who is the strongest supporter of the special relationship, I think in a very uncertain world the democracies of the world need to stand together, but if were going to be in an alliance we need to treat each other like allies and that is not happening, he added.

And if anyone is questioning that I think we just need to ask what would have happened if the boot had been on the other foot, if a British diplomat had been involved in a road accident in the United States where someone had died and had fled on a private plane back to the UK and was evading justice  I dont think President Trump would stand for that for one second.

And I dont think Britain would have behaved in that way.

Mr Hunt added that the US government should send Anne Sacoolas back.

READ MORE FROM YAHOO NEWS UK:

Mr Dunn died after a crash in Northamptonshire in August which led to Sacoolas leaving for the US under diplomatic immunity.

Extradition proceedings were launched last month, but were turned down by the US government.

Also on Sunday the Mail on Sunday reported that Ms Sacoolas had served as a spy with the CIA.

Story continues

The mother of teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn has criticised the Government following the reports.

Charlotte Charles said she and the rest of Dunns family were full of anger after hearing of Anne Sacoolass alleged past and asked of the British Government, how could they do this to us?

Mrs Charles said the fresh reports in a British newspaper took her back to the early days following her sons death when she claims the Government were trying to kick this all under the carpet.

Responding to the latest reports, Mrs Charles said: How could they do this to us?

We have thrown ourselves into building relationships with the Government despite the terrible way they were treating us.

We believe in giving people a second chance. But I am livid today and my family are full of anger.

Mrs Charles added: How could they keep this from us? This doesnt affect the fact that Anne Sacoolas is coming back, which she is.

But to hear this from them shows that they have not been candid with us at all and takes us back to those terrible days when they were trying to kick this all under the carpet.
Touching upon the draft constitutional amendments during a conversation with reporters today, Chair of the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs of the National Assembly of Armenia Vladimir Vardanyan stated that applying to the Constitutional Court to make amendments to the Constitution is not an imperative.

When asked what will happen if the deputies of the National Assembly apply to the Constitutional Court with regard to the referendum, Vladimir Vardanyan said the following: If 1/5 of the deputies of the National Assembly address the Constitutional Court to challenge the decision of the National Assembly or the decree of the President, the Constitutional Court will be the entity that will decide to suspend this procedure or not.

Nevertheless, the chair of the Committee admitted that if 1/5 of the deputies do apply to the Constitutional Court, the latter has to address the matter.

As reported earlier, the President of Armenia has signed a decree to set the date of the referendum for constitutional amendments on April 5, 2020. The amendments envisage termination of the powers of the members of the Constitutional Court who were elected prior to April 2018. Out of the 9 members of the Court, 7 were elected prior to April 2018.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 20:40:20|Editor: mingmei

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SHANGHAI, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- It was a quiet start for many foreign companies resuming business Monday after an extended Spring Festival holiday due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

Over 20 factories across China under the U.S. agribusiness giant Cargill resumed production, following the instructions of the local governments in a bid to guarantee supply amid the epidemic outbreak. One of its feed plants based in Hubei Province, which is the hardest hit by the disease, has not yet resumed work.

"The health and safety of our employees are of primary consideration, and we strictly apply comprehensive measures to protect our employees, resume production and fight against the epidemic," said Liu Jun, China president of Cargill.

According to Liu, telecommuting solutions based on Internet technologies helped the company a lot in communication. "We can stay efficient with emails, calls and online video chats with communication apps of all kinds," said Liu.

Eighteen of Honeywell's 21 factories in the Chinese mainland have resumed production as of Monday, while 95 percent of the company's office clerks will work from home this week. The company hosted an online meeting Monday with over 3,000 employees joining live through the Internet.

The Ministry of Commerce issued a circular Monday urging local authorities to provide better services for foreign-funded enterprises amid the novel coronavirus outbreak. Efforts should be made to help foreign-funded companies resume production and operation in an orderly manner.

There are some 50,000 foreign-invested companies in Shanghai, according to the Shanghai Association of Foreign Investment. Those manufacturing anti-epidemic materials and daily necessities did not halt their productions, while others are gradually resuming business and production.

Many of the foreign companies have turned to telecommunication to better protect their employees. Jiang Zhuo, an engineer of a Shanghai-based foreign automaker, used to take 18 metro stations from home to work.

"I will work at home for at least one week and be able to stay with my daughter amid the epidemic. I feel fully cared for by the company," Jiang said.

"China has taken decisive and powerful measures to control the epidemic, and we firmly believe that Chinese and Japanese enterprises will work together to tackle the difficulties," said Tatsuo Sugiyama, the regional general manager of the East Asia Region of Nippon Express Co., Ltd.

Liu of Cargill said the current epidemic outbreak will have an impact on his company's business as well as China's society and economy to a certain degree. However, the trade volume will see recovery growth after the epidemic.

"We are prepared in accordance with possible economic fluctuation," Liu said.
Health official: 'Regardless of variant, the protective measures are the same'

local
A former Uber driver has been found guilty of terror offences after planning massacres at busy London tourist hotspots.

Mohiussunnath Chowdhury was convicted at Woolwich Crown Court on Monday more than a year after he was cleared of a samurai sword attack on police outside Buckingham Palace.

The court heard Chowdhury, from Luton, was driven by "dreams of martyrdom" as he planned gun, knife and van onslaughts on targets like Madame Tussauds, the gay Pride parade and an open-top sightseeing bus last year.

But the 28-year-old, who worked in a chicken shop, was caught after unwittingly confiding his plans to undercover police who had him under surveillance during a five-month operation.

Mohiussunnath Chowdhury, 28, from Luton, has been convicted planning a terror attack at busy London tourist hotspots. / Sky News

Police said they believe he tried to stall detectives to buy time for another extremist to commit an atrocity before he realised his fellow conspirator was an undercover officer.

Preparing for his atrocity, Chowdhury lifted weights, practised stabbing and rehearsed beheading techniques, his trial at Woolwich Crown Court heard.

He also booked shooting range training and tried to acquire a real gun.

During his trial Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC said the defendant was "motivated by dreams of martyrdom for the cause of Islam, and inspired by preachers of hate" such as former al-Qaeda spokesman Anwar Al-Awlaki.

An Instagram video showing a handgun which was shown to the jury during the trial of Mohiussunnath Chowdhury at London's Woolwich Crown Court / PA

Mr Atkinson told the court that he had been found not guilty at the Old Bailey of a terror charge after attacking police officers with a sword outside Buckingham Palace in August 2017.

During that incident, two unarmed officers were wounded when they fought to disarm him near the Queen's London residence as Chowdhury shouted repeatedly "Allahu Akbar", which means God is the greatest.

Police Officers Who Fought Chowdhury In Buckingham Palace Attack Speak About The Incident

After being cleared at the Old Bailey in December 2018, he was planning to kill tourists in London by 2019 and his sister Sneha Chowdhury, 25, did nothing to stop him, according to Mr Atkinson.

The prosecutor said Chowdhury had even bragged that he had deceived the jury which had acquitted him at his previous trial.

Sneha Chowdhury leaves after appearing at the first day of her trial at Woolwich Crown Cour / AFP via Getty Images

He remained emotionless as jurors found him guilty of engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts, collecting information likely to be useful to someone preparing an act of terrorism and disseminating terrorist publications.

The second charge related to a document titled 'guidance for doing just terror operations' on his phone which included instructions on how to kill people with knives.

His sister cried as she was convicted of one count of failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism and cleared of another count of the same charge.

Jurors deliberated for eight hours and 39 minutes before returning their verdicts.

Metropolitan Police of PC Midgley, walking away carrying a sword after having assisted in a struggle to disarm Mohiussunnath Chowdhury of the weapon outside Buckingham Palace / PA

The brother and sister hugged in the dock and Chowdhury, dressed in a blue shirt and tie, could be heard whispering: "It's all right."

He will be sentenced by judge Andrew Lees on March 13 while she was bailed for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.

His defence barrister Simon Csoka QC had argued the university drop-out was a "pathetic little man" and an "attention-seeker" who "talks and talks, but doesn't do".

Chowdhury also dismissed his praise of the Charlie Hebdo shootings and the murder of soldier Lee Rigby as "jihadi banter" and said his weapons training came from a fascination with martial arts and weightlifting.

But Mr Atkinson said Chowdhury desired to "unleash death and suffering" on non-Muslims.

A cartoon published on Instagram with a comment from Mohiussunnath Chowdhury, which was shown to the jury during his trial at London's Woolwich Crown Court / PA

The extremist, who had martyrdom notes posted on his bedroom door, had the intention "to kill and harm as many people as possible", Scotland Yard counter terror commander Richard Smith told reporters.

Chowdhury told one undercover officer known only as Mikael he was free to attack one million unbelievers if he was fighting for "the pleasure of Allah" and stressed the importance of an "ambush", saying: "They shouldn't know what hit them", the trial heard.

Metropolitan Police Statement On Mohiussunnath Chowdhury Guilty Conviction

The officer had tried to gain the full trust of Chowdhury by telling him he had a gun and would carry out his own atrocity imminently.

In a secretly taped recording from June last year, Chowdhury can be heard saying: "If you're one man and there's a million kuffar (unbelievers), you are free to fight them, if your intentions are clear, you're fighting for the pleasure of Allah.

"And if you die that's completely fine, it's even more virtuous, you know.

"The weapons are a must, these firearms, it's a 100% ... just make sure you have clips, Akhi ('brother'), you have enough clips, know what I'm saying."

He later added during the conversation: "It must be an ambush ... we should be the one doing it first, they shouldn't know what's hit them, yeah, does that make sense?"

Chowdhury, of Kirkwood Road, Luton, Bedfordshire, was arrested three days before the London Pride parade last summer.
Duke Carrillo, 21, collapsed during the 1.5 mile-run portion of the physical readiness test, the academy said in a release. Those at the scene attempted to resuscitate him. He was rushed to Anne Arundel Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, the release said. His death is under review.




By Jung Min-ho







More than 350,000 people have signed an

calling for the resignation of World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus over his "improper" handling of the coronavirus outbreak.





The petition was initiated by a person using the ID "Osuka Yip" on Jan. 31. The petitioner blamed Ghebreyesus' leadership for the rapid spread of the virus, which has killed more than 900 people and infected nearly 41,000 in 29 countries in the past few weeks.





How and when the virus infected the first person, possibly spreading from an animal, in the Chinese city of Wuhan is still unclear. But when the threat was brought to the attention of China's authorities in December and then the world, Ghebreyesus remained hesitant to declare a global health emergency  until Jan. 31.





"We strongly think Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is not fit for his role as WHO Director-General. We call for the immediate resignation of Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus," the petition says.





"On Jan. 23, 2020, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declines to declare the China virus outbreak as a global health emergency. As we all know, the coronavirus is not treatable at the moment. The number of infected and deaths has risen more than 10 times (infected from 800  close to 10,000) within only five days. Part of it is related to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (who) underestimated the coronavirus."





The petitioner questioned Ghebreyesus' political neutrality, a comment apparently aimed at his

of the Chinese government's efforts.





"A lot of us are really disappointed," the petition says. "We believe (the) WHO is supposed to be politically neutral. Without any investigation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus solely believes in the death and infected numbers that the Chinese government provided them."





The WHO said Sunday its advance team of international experts had left for Beijing to investigate the epidemic, nearly two weeks after Ghebreyesus talked with China's President Xi Jinping in late January.






Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 10)  Communications Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy, AFP Major General Antonio Parlade Jr., and National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. are facing an administrative complaint for "red-tagging" policy research group IBON Foundation.

IBON filed the complaint Monday before the Office of Ombudsman, on what they claim to be the first case of red-tagging ever filed in history against any Filipino government official.

IBON Executive Director Sonny Africa and Board of Trustees Chairperson Bishop Solito Toquero were the co-complainants in the case, asking the Ombudsman to hold Parlade, Badoy, and Esperon accountable for their "malicious abuse of authority and negligent performance of duties as public officials."

"IBON is also asking that they be punished for conduct that is grossly disregardful of the public interest, unprofessional, unjust and insincere, politically biased, unresponsive to the public, distorting nationalism and patriotism, and undemocratic," it said in its release.

The group referred to "slanderous" statements, interviews, articles, and speeches made by Badoy, Parlade, and Esperon in 2019 and in the first weeks of 2020 linking them to the Communist Party of the Philippines.

IBON claimed Badoy and Parlade have maliciously accused in March 2019 the group of "fabricating reports" for the United Nations in relation to an adopted resolution seeking comprehensive details on the human rights situation in the country amid alleged extrajudicial killings under the Duterte administration's anti-drug campaign.

The group added that Esperon accused them of "[radicalizing] students as young as seven years old to eventually become (Communist) cadres" in the same month.

IBON said it repeatedly wrote the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and National Security Council (NSC) to ask for the so-called evidence for the allegations, but both agencies did not respond to these requests.

Just this January, Badoy reiterated these supposed Communist links during an interview in a news program instead of providing further details about the administration's "Duterte Legacy" campaign.

According to Africa, the three have violated The Ombudsman Act of 1989 (Republic Act 6770) and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees (Republic Act 6713) by "abusing their power and authority" as government officials to voice out baseless claims.

"Kung umabot man sa suspension or dismissal ng mga hinainan namin ng complaint, tingin namin deserving sila," Africa said.

[Translation: If this complaint leads to their suspension or dismissal, we think that these officials deserved it.]
CLEVELAND, Ohio - While the latest news on the coronavirus continues to be grim, there was a sliver of good news over the last couple days. Officials report the rate of new infections has begun to stabilize while the cure rate in China has increased.

The death toll from the coronavirus continues to climb with a death toll now greater than that from the SARS outbreak. Additionally, this weekend saw the death of the first American from the virus.

More than 40,000 have been infected by the virus and there are currently 910 confirmed deaths.

Live coronavirus tracker

Coronavirus news in the United States

Nearly two dozen Americans now infected on quarantined cruise ship (ABC News)

Results negative for coronavirus in second Maryland resident tested, health department says (Baltimore Sun)

Crewman dies on ship where dozens tested negative for virus (Patch)

Utah preparing for potential cases (Daily Herald)

Santa Clarita couple blogs from quarantined cruise ship (Los Angeles Times)

Chinese diplomat pushes back against coronavirus rumors from GOP senator (Politico)

Fourth UW student tests negative for coronavirus (KOMO)

Oregon woman with virus doing ok (KOIN)

Scientists: Virus may live up to 9 days on surfaces (Forbes)

Coronavirus news around the world

In this Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, photo released by Xinhua News Agency, doctors scan a patient's lungs at Huoshenshan temporary hospital built for patients diagnosed with coronavirus in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. Mainland China has reported another rise in cases of the new virus after a sharp decline the previous day, while the number of deaths grow over 900, with at least two more outside the country. (Gao Xiang/Xinhua via AP)AP

Volunteers rush to help pets trapped in locked-down Wuhan (NBC News)

Dozens more confirmed infected aboard cruise ship docked near Japan (CNN)

Chinese cities try to flush out coronavirus patients by stopping cough medicine sales (Quartz)

Four more diagnosed with virus in UK (BBC)

LPGA cancels events in Thailand, Singapore amid outbreak (CBS Sports)

Taiwan tries to keep coronavirus out, assert itself against China (Los Angeles Times)

Singapore braces as cases appear in financial hub (Bloomberg)

Amazon pulls out of major Barcelona telecoms conference (Reuters)

Local coronavirus news

An American coronavirus quarantine would look less like the movies and more like watching movies on Netflix (cleveland.com)

Ohio man stuck in China amid coronvirus outbreak (WBNS)

Outbreak has locals concerned about traveling overseas (Fox 8)

Lessons learned from Ebola scare help Ohio health officials with coronavirus (Canton Repository)

Read complete prior coronavirus coverage on cleveland.com
The ruling New Azerbaijan Party, headed by the countrys president Ilham Aliyev, has declared victory in the snap parliamentary election on Sunday. Party vice-chairman Ali Ahmadov said this on Facebook, citing an exit poll conducted by the Arthur J. Finkelstein & Associates, an American center for sociological research.

According to forecasts, the ruling party will receive 65 out of 125 seats in parliament and secure an absolute majority.

According to the Central Election Commission of Azerbaijan, the voter turnout was 47.81 percent.

But the opposition has declared the election was rigged.
Teodorin Obiang, the vice president of oil-rich, yet impoverished Equatorial Guinea was slapped with a 30 million euro fine and had a three-year suspended jail term upheld on Monday for fraudulently amassing wealth in France.

Obiang, 50, who is also the son of Equatorial Guineas President Teodoro Obiang, had appealed his original ill-gotten gains sentence following a trial three years ago. He received the same prison term but the Paris Criminal Court had suspended the 30-million-euro fine.

Every time someone like Teodorin or anyone within the entourage of President Obiang can be brought to justice anywhere, its a good day, says Tutu Alicante, head of EG Justice, a US-based human rights group that champions justice for Equato-Guineans.

Obiangs conviction includes embezzling public funds, misuse of corporate property, and breach of trust. This second trial acquitted him of money laundering and corruption charges.

Paris public prosecutors office had called for a four year custodial sentence, the 30 million euro fine, and for all property seized to date remain confiscated by the state.

Alicante says Obiang will need to pay the fine, but alleges the money will come out of Equatorial Guinea's coffers.

He will dab into the national treasury again and get those millions, he claims.

Today's Paris Court of Appeals verdict also confirmed that all his property had been confiscated. One notable exception is the 101-room Avenue Foch mansion in Paris that is under the jurisdiction of the UN-backed International Court of Justice.

The ICJ is in the process of ruling whether the seizure of the mansion breached a diplomatic relations treaty. Obiangs lawyers have maintained that the Avenue Foch mansion is the location of the Equatorial Guinean embassy in Paris.

We all know that the Equatorial Guinean embassy was in a separate building until this case started, says Alicante, saying that they moved the plaque from that building to the Avenue Foch address just to protect it, to ensure that the French authorities would not confiscate it.

Story continues

This is the same type of abuse of power, abuse of the rule of law that they carry out inside the country, and they want to do it at an international level, he adds.

A number of hearings will take place in The Hague next week on the Avenue Foch mansion issue.

Both Sherpa and Transparency International -- two groups that fight impunity for economic crimes -- filed the complaint against the presidents son, giving a list of art works, luxury cars, and prime real estate in France, luxury items that way exceed how more than half of Equatorial Guineans live below the poverty line.

Coronavirus and Obiang public relations

Last week, President Obiang announced a $2 million donation to China to fight Coronavirus, the deadly disease that has killed nearly 1,000 people.

This is not the first time Equatorial Guinea and China have worked together  China signed a 1.8 billion-euro deal with the central African country for a series of infrastructure projects in 2015.

This is part of Obiangs public relations at an international level: remember the fire in Notre Dame [cathedral in Paris]? He pledged three million euros, says Alicante.

This doesnt surprise us. Were talking about a country in which we still have thousands of people dying of malaria, tuberculosis is one of the big killers in Equatorial Guinea  all these problems that the government is not addressing, he says.

Late last year the International Monetary Fund (IMF) gave the country a 257-million-euro loan, a move that human rights groups said the country did not merit due to corruption.

We have serious issues in the country that still need to be addressed, says Alicante.
A man, along with four of his family members, was arrested on Monday for allegedly setting his wife on fire after giving her triple talaq (divorce) for not meeting dowry demands.

The incident took place in Kheda Tanda village in Azim Nagar area of Rampur Sunday night, said police.

Mohd Arif (the accused) first came to my house and pronounced triple talaq to my daughter. He then returned to his house and set my daughter on fire, said Nazakat, father of Seema, the victim who has been admitted to TMU Medical College in Moradabad with severe burn injuries.

ALSO WATCH | Triple talaq ban not enough, give Muslims quota like Marathas: Owaisi

I came to know that my daughter had been admitted to the hospital only after 3-4 hours, he said.

Arun Kumar, ASP, said: The parents of the victim have filed a complaint, saying that their daughter was burnt by her in-laws after her husband pronounced triple talaq. Five people have been arrested.

The woman with 75% burn injuries is currently undergoing treatment in Moradabad. A police team has been sent to record her statement and further investigations are on, he added.

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New Delhi, Feb 10 : After Rahul Gandhi, now Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi mounted attack on the RSS on Monday after the apex court said in a judgement that there is no fundamental right to claim reservation in promotion and states are not bound to provide reservation in appointments.

Priyanka Gandhi alleged that, "Understand the way BJP wants to scarp reservation. First the RSS makes statement against the reservation policy, then Uttrakhand government appeals to the Supreme Court that reservation is not the fundamental right".

"The UP government also makes mockery of the reservation policy and this is a design from the BJP and the RSS. First, they make the SC/ST law weak and then they go against the principle of equality given in the Constitution," Priyanka said.

Earlier, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on the BJP and the RSS on the issue of quota in promotion in the wake of the Supreme Court verdict.

Rahul Gandhi said the Congress will not let it happen and Modi government is attacking all the institutions in the country, adding that reservation is hurting the BJP and the RSS and they want to finish the system through various means.

"The reservation is hurting the RSS and the BJP. They want to erase it. Every morning when they wake up it irritates them. Whatever the fantasy, the RSS/BJP live in, we will not allow it to happen", The Congress leader said.

"The issue is that the RSS and the BJP cannot live with the idea of Dalits, tribals and OBCs having reservation. This irritates them and they have tried to erase them", he added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may hold talks in Moscow on May 9, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said, noting that Abes participation in Victory Day celebrations is under discussion.



"As far as I know, regarding a meeting between the Japanese and Russian leaders, it will be held on May 9 in Moscow. The issue of the prime ministers participation in the ceremony on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the victory over Germany is currently in the works," he said today at a news conference in Tokyo.



In his New Year greetings to Abe, the Russian leader expressed his confidence that the year of Russian-Japanese interregional and twin-city exchanges would contribute to the rapprochement between the two countries, stressing that he would be glad to see the Japanese prime minister at the celebrations in Moscow on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, TASS recalls.
As Death Toll From Virus Grows, More Chinese Voice Anger

By Xiao Yu February 09, 2020

Three months ago, Wuhan resident Zhang Yi was sitting next to two local Hubei province reporters at a restaurant. He overheard them talking about the Provincial Party Committee secretary, who was upset about a news story. The official told the reporters negative stories would no longer be published.

A month later, a mysterious virus started spreading though Wuhan's residents, causing pneumonia-like symptoms.

In early January, Chinese officials called this new virus "preventable and controllable." They said they had seen "no evidence of person-to-person transmission." Throughout the week of January 11, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission published the same number of confirmed cases: 41.

Those official statements failed to convince Zhang. In his mind, he kept hearing what he'd overheard the reporters talking about in the restaurant.

Zhang talked to VOA right after authorities locked down Wuhan on January 23. That's when the official number of confirmed cases and deaths was 571 in 25 provinces and 17 in Hubei province where Wuhan is the capital. Media reports on Saturday said the toll had topped 800.

"When the epidemic first started, I knew the published statistics were not real," he said.

Zhang could see just how much the lockdown had upset people he knew. "They are relatively furious now. I was warned [by police]  but right now I must speak out. I must speak even if they are going to lock me up. If I don't do it now, I may never get another chance."

On February 3, another Wuhan resident emailed VOA. He identified himself as Ming. Many people in China prefer to use pseudonyms online so they can speak without fear of being identified by authorities.

Ming had just spent five days by his father's bedside in a hospital in Wuhan. That was their last time together.

According to Ming, his father was infected by the new coronavirus in mid-January after he checked in at Wuhan Union Hospital for a routine annual examination scheduled to take several days.

The hospital is one of two dozen designated for coronavirus treatment. After a day or two Wuhan Union, Ming's father began showing coronavirus symptoms and tested positive.

Medical authorities transferred Ming's father to the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital, where he died on January 29.

"It's so miserable that my dad just lost his life like that. It's so tragic," said Ming in a video he posted on YouTube and shared with VOA.

Even though he wasn't supposed to be in the virus ward, Ming was holding his father's hand when he died. What happened next still worries Ming. Employees of the official crematorium whisked the body away.

Ming was told to come and pick up the ashes 15 days later. Ming told VOA he's worried the ashes won't be his father's remains because the crematorium is overwhelmed by the quickly escalating death toll.

"There are many people like me in Wuhan. The virus killed many. I saw people die every day. Many families have fallen apart," a devastated Ming said in the video. "My dad worked hard and contributed to the country for his whole life. Now he is dead, we didn't see his body, we can't hold a memorial service, nobody came for a farewell."

Online comments expressed sympathy for Ming and anger at government officials for their response to the outbreak.

On February 4, Xu Zhangrun, a former law professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, published a long article about the government's response to the coronavirus outbreak. The article, "Furious People No Longer Fear," went viral online before censors removed it.

In the article, Xu said the coronavirus epidemic was causing a nationwide panic. He criticized the authorities' confusion and the time they lost in responding, which caused ordinary people to suffer and China to become "an isolated island in the world."

Xu said the Chinese people's anger "has erupted like volcanos. Furious people are not scared."

This was not Xu's first harsh condemnation of China's leadership. In July 2018, he criticized President Xi Jinping's strongman rule in an article published on the website of the Unirule Institute of Economics, a liberal think tank in Beijing. Tsinghua University suspended Xu in March 2019 and the government closed Unirule in September.

As expected, censors pulled Xu's article on the outbreak. Unexpectedly, screenshots of the article disappeared when shared. Even using WeChat, China's most popular messaging app, the screenshots were not displayed on the receivers' phones.

Outside China, beyond The Great Firewall, many readers hailed the article.

Others spoke of Xu's courage. Some, however, wondered if Xu overestimated "the anger of Chinese people." Or as one reader posted: "As long as it doesn't hurt them directly, most Chinese people just repeat, 'Wuhan, stay strong. China, stay strong,' and go about their lives."

Chu Wu contributed to this report, which originated in VOA's Mandarin service.

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Easter Island society did not collapse prior to European contact and its people continued to build its iconic moai statues for much longer than previously believed, according to a team of researchers including faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York.

The island of Rapa Nui is well-known for its elaborate ritual architecture, particularly its numerous statues (moai) and the monumental platforms that supported them (ahu). A widely-held narrative posits that construction of these monuments ceased sometime around 1600, following a major societal collapse.

"Our research flies in the face of this narrative," said Carl Lipo, an anthropologist at Binghamton University. "We know, of course, that if we are right, we really need to challenge ourselves (and the archaeological record) to validate our arguments. In this case, we thought to look carefully at the tempo of construction events associated with large platforms."

The researchers, led by the University of Oregon's Robert J. DiNapoli, examined radiocarbon dates, relative architectural stratigraphy and ethnohistoric accounts to quantify the onset, rate and end of monument construction as a means of testing the collapse hypothesis.

"Archaeologists assign ages to the archaeological record by getting what are known as radiocarbon dates," said Lipo. "These dates represent the amount of time since some organisms (a bush, tree, etc.) died. Assembling groups of these dates together to look at patterns requires some sophisticated statistical analyses that have only recently been available to archaeologists. In this paper, we use these tools to provide the first-ever look at the history of platform construction on Easter Island."

The researchers found that construction of these statues began soon after colonization and increased rapidly, sometime between the early-14th and mid-15th centuries, with a steady rate of construction events that continued beyond European contact in 1722.

"What we found is that once people started to build monuments shortly after arrival to the island, they continued this construction well into the period after Europeans arrived," said Lipo. "This would not have been the case had there been some pre-contact "collapse" -- indeed, we should have seen all construction stop well before 1722. The lack of such a pattern supports our claims and directly falsifies those who continue to support the 'collapse' account.

"Once Europeans arrive on the island, there are many documented tragic events due to disease, murder, slave raiding and other conflicts," he added. "These events are entirely extrinsic to the islanders and have, undoubtedly, devastating effects. Yet, the Rapa Nui people -- following practices that provided them great stability and success over hundreds of years -- continued their traditions in the face of tremendous odds. The degree to which their cultural heritage was passed on -- and is still present today through language, arts and cultural practices -- is quite notable and impressive. I think this degree of resilience has been overlooked due to the "collapse" narrative, and deserves recognition."

The researchers believe that their model-based approach to test hypotheses regarding the chronology of collapse can be extended to other case studies around the world where similar debates remain difficult to resolve.

Also contributing to this research were Timothy M. Rieth (International Archaeological Research Institute) and Terry Hunt (University of Arizona).

The paper, "A model-based approach to the tempo of collapse: The case of Rapa Nui (Easter Island)," was published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.
Thomas McKillen (56) is the third generation of his family at the helm of their Ballymena business, McKillens, which first started selling shoes in the town but has grown to become a department store offering much more. He lives with his wife Esther and they have two daughters, Rachel and Katie, and their son Johnnie, who now works alongside him as the fourth generation in the family firm.

Q: Tell me about McKillens and how and when it began?

A: It was started in July, 1926 - 94 years ago this coming July - by my grandfather Thomas McKillen, who was known as Tom McKillen and was a farmer's son. He didn't like the smell of farming and he didn't like getting his feet dirty so working on the land wasn't an option. He left school at 14 and had worked for 15 or 16 years at that stage, always in retailing, and it was that drive that made him start his own business, and I'm glad he did.

It started small - he drove to Belfast on a Wednesday to buy from wholesalers and brought it home in the boot of the car. He was very much a people person, as I would be.

Expand Close Staff member Edna Alexander helps customers Nan Scullion and Jane Thompson shop for a new pair of shoes / Facebook

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Whatsapp Staff member Edna Alexander helps customers Nan Scullion and Jane Thompson shop for a new pair of shoes

Q: Is there a family member who dominates the early history of the business?

A: My father Matthew McKillen was there from 1954. He was the drive and the brains behind the thing, a visionary, and I miss that very badly as he passed away in 2018.

He would have travelled the country; he saw the concept of an in-store restaurant and thought that was a great idea and brought that back to Ballymena away back in 1982 when it was an unheard-of thing other than in the like of Harrods.

He called a part of our shop after what Harrods had called it, because he had been in London and he thought this was a great idea - he saw a restaurant in London called the Green Room so he called our restaurant the Fern Room, and that's what it's still called today.

He saw those things but he had the drive and the know-how and the knowledge to bring that to Ballymena, to a small market town in Northern Ireland, and implement that.

He moved it to another location on the same side of the street and then in 1967 - my grandfather was 71 at that point - my father moved it from where it was to its present location and it has grown exponentially since 1967. We bought properties on either side and it now travels from one street right through to the next. Our shop would take up about 24,000 feet, it's a big property.

His idea was: concentrate on your shoes, that's our bread and butter, but you could add in handbags, you could add in luggage, you could add in fashions and add in the restaurant.

We do footwear for all, ladies clothes, children's clothes, accessories, a gift department selling household items and the restaurant.

It was my father who grew that, he had the vision to look beyond by looking at other massive department stores in London and beyond, and he brought that back to Ballymena.

My grandfather was delighted to see the business prospering and he was certainly very proud to see the business developing to what it was.

My father was the only son but there was nobody like Matthew McKillen as far as my grandfather was concerned.

My grandfather loved yarning to people and I'd be like him that way, but Johnnie, my son, he would be like my father, wanting to progress things on and getting things done today.

My father had boundless energy. He'd be working in the shop all day and driving to Cookstown to preach in a mission three or four nights; his evangelical work was a big part of our life.

He had boundless energy, running to visit people in the hospital, sitting on town centre development boards, he just was a bundle of energy.

Expand Close Customer Bill McCluggage with staff member Noel McClintock / Facebook

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Whatsapp Customer Bill McCluggage with staff member Noel McClintock

Q: Tell me about the present generation who are in the shop, and perhaps the next generation who might take over?

A My two daughters, Rachel and Katie, worked in it when they were younger as a part-time job but now as well as myself I have my son Johnnie.

Johnnie didn't want his life mapped out for him so he wanted to go and do teaching, which was fine. But then of his own accord he decided: "No, that's not for me, I want to be in the business". And that was very pleasing.

Each generation has brought extra value and that's the thing. You want to have the core of the business, it's footwear and excellent customer service. That's what happened in 1926 and in 2020 that's still happening and when we reach 100 years it will be the very same.

But each generation also adds another layer onto the business, because they're working in the generation that they are in and that's brilliant. I couldn't do all of those things on my own, it's too big of a store to do that.

Johnnie has a wee boy called Harry, who is 18-months-old, and another baby due in April, so hopefully there will be a few more generations to come. We'll see what happens, watch this space!

Expand Close Thomas McKillen outside the department store that has served Ballymena and the wider Co Antrim area since the 1920s / Facebook

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Whatsapp Thomas McKillen outside the department store that has served Ballymena and the wider Co Antrim area since the 1920s

Q: Have you many long-serving members of staff?

A: We have more than 40 staff and many have been with us for a long time. I always say our biggest asset is our staff.

James Dunlop is 80 now and was with the shop from the age of 14, working for my father from when he left school.

Up to two or three years ago he still would have been in working the odd day and just been a presence there, working well into his 70s.

Another person who has been with us a considerable time is a lady called Arlene McCartney, who has been with us more than 40 years since the age of 17.

Q: Where do your customers come from?

A: We have customers not just from the greater Ballymena area but from all over, especially when it comes to getting school shoes. A lot of planning will go into back-to-school as we would see hundreds of customers coming for that, it's something of a tradition.

Q: How do you guarantee good performance from your staff?

A: It's that magic word, empowerment, and I'm a great believer in that. Rather than it being a pyramid where I'm sitting at a desk and banging a table and telling people what to do, it's more about identifying strengths in your employees and working with those.

For example, if you see a lady who's got a flair for merchandising, she can then develop to dress windows and that becomes her job, she takes control of that, she's able to have an input into what's done.

We have financial incentives as well for staff but I personally believe that when somebody has got pride in the job because it's their job, they will always do that job better.

Expand Close Thomas McKillen's father Matthew McKillen / Facebook

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Q: What has changed over the years about the stock that you sell?

A: The answer to that is really nothing. We are still selling footwear for the family that is up-to-date today. That was true last year, it was true 50 years ago, it will be true hopefully in 10 years' time.

There's nothing that really has changed about our stock. It's how you manage your stock with computer systems and then obviously social media is massive and that has an impact on how you advertise your stock.

Other than that, we have expanded our business to be other than just shoes, except that we are selling shoes that are modern for today as we did every other day.

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Q: Do you think your grandfather and father would be proud of how long the business has been going and is surviving?

A: Yes they would, both of them. I think my grandfather would be amazed at the business now.

My father would probably think it's not being as well run as when he was there, but that was him!

But no, business is a big part of family life. We discussed business at the dinner table; I went to work in the shop after school when I was a boy and my brother did and my sister did. My father did it and my son did it.

I have two daughters. One's a doctor, she worked in the shop when she was training. My father was very family orientated and he was intensely proud that his grandson had decided to not go into teaching but to come into the business, he was very proud of that.

Also then, Christianity is a big part of our life and that also had a play on that pride thing, and that would have had a big impact on that as well. I think they both would be very pleased.

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Q: How have you had to change to keep up with the times?

A: Well, the big thing is obviously modern communication levels and phones and social media and websites and all of those things, that's a big part of today's world.

And my father was always very involved in the local Chamber of Commerce and we were very much encouraged to do that. That has actually developed in Ballymena into something called BID - a Business Improvement District. That was originally an English idea and it became law four or five years ago in Northern Ireland - it's an area of Ballymena which is the BID, and that happens to be the town centre.

Once that is voted on and becomes law, businesses are levied one to one-and-a-half percent of their rateable value so you get a pot of money to spend, and I sit on the board.

We look at everything from marketing to car parking to waste, looking at things that will help retailers and promote the town province-wide and further afield in a way I couldn't do as an independent retailer myself.

That brings people to the town and that BID has been very successful in maintaining Ballymena, because a lot of national high-street names have gone.

Q: What impact does it have when our town's high streets have some empty shops?

A: The high street is getting a big hit nowadays. I'm not involved in politics but sometimes government and no Stormont and all of those kinds of things don't help.

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Q: Ballymena itself has lost a number of large employers with the closure of some factories and business in recent years. Does that have a knock-on effect?

A: It does, it created a big hole as far as spending power was concerned but not everybody that was employed in those businesses lives in Ballymena.

But that had a major impact on the town that is ongoing and maybe not all felt yet.

There were quite a few over the last two or three years that were major hits for the town and that's unfortunate and very sad.

Q: Do generations of the same famillies come to the store?

A: Oh yes, five generations have been coming in here to get school shoes, especially children's shoes, and I will know a lot of the customers to see if not by name.

You go to funerals constantly to people who have been loyal customers over the years and you try and maintain that loyalty.

Q: What does the future hold for McKillens?

A: Hopefully, the future is to stay on Church Street and to consolidate the business, and to move the business into the 21st century of online and social media, but still to maintain the very strong ethos of customer service on the shop floor, giving people exactly the merchandise that they want.

Q: Why do you think McKillens has survived so long?

A: I don't know! I wonder that myself, because you could get smug, but ultimately I think you just need to try to keep doing what you're good at, to never rest on your laurels and come to the point that you think, 'We're it, we've arrived.'

Always look at your business, how you can improve things, and keep working hard.

Quickfire questions

Tea or coffee? Coffee

Online store or bricks and mortar store? Bricks and mortar

Netflix or BBC? BBC

Christmas or Easter? Christmas

Retail hero? My father, Matthew McKillen

Favourite type of shop? Car showroom

Favourite film? The Quiet Man

Favourite book? The Bible

Best piece of advice? Live your life for God
The Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government has constituted a committee, headed by President Roch Marc Christian Kabore of B...





The Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government has constituted a committee, headed by President Roch Marc Christian Kabore of Burkina Faso, to study and make a full report on Nigerias land border closure with her neighbours.





The decision to set up the committee was agreed Sunday night in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at an extraordinary session of ECOWAS leaders convened on the margins of the 33rd AU Summit to discuss the issue and other pressing regional matters.





Nigerias Foreign Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, told journalists after the three-hour closed door session that the meeting attended by President Buhari and chaired by the ECOWAS Chairman,





President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger Republic, also discussed West Africas new single currency, the Eco, and the situation in Guinea Bissau after the presidential election.





On border closure, Onyeama said: The President of Burkina Faso is charged with undertaking a full study of the situation, make a report and then we take it from there.





Asked when the report will be presented to ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, the Nigerian Minister replied: As soon as possible, there are no timelines. But he is supposed to start very quickly, study the situation from all the affected countries and present his report.





On the Eco currency, the Foreign Minister said: Nothing has changed in respect of Nigerias position.





He added that Nigerias position was that the convergence criteria have not been met by majority of the countries, therefore there has to be an extension of time on the take-off of the single currency.




Kolkata, Feb 10 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday expressed sadness over slapping of the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) on former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, saying "they are getting ill-treatment".

"Very sad case, the slapping of PSA on Omar, Mehbooba. I am really sorry for that. I am shocked. They are two very senior politicians. And how they are getting ill-treatment. It's a shame for all of us," Banerjee told media persons here.

The PSA was slapped on Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti on February 7.

The dossier citing grounds for slapping the PSA on Mehbooba Mufti says she is known as hard-headed scheming person and for actions like glorifying militants in her speeches and creating fears among the majority population, based on cheap politics.

The dossier providing grounds for booking Omar Abdullah states that the capacity of the former Chief Minister to influence people for any cause can be gauged from the fact that he was able to convince his electorate to come out and vote in huge numbers even during peak militancy and poll boycotts.
Chairman of Parliament,

Prime Minister,

President of the Collectivite of Saint Martin,

Members of Parliament elect,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning.

And welcome to this oath of office ceremony.

In particular, I herewith extend a special welcome to the fifteen (15) elected parliamentarians seated alphabetically on my left and on my right for whom this ceremony has been organized. Congratulations to each of you with your election to Parliament and to the people of Sint Maarten who you will be representing.

Members of Parliament elect,

On January 9, 2020, we the people of Sint Maarten, went to the polls and exercised our fundamental constitutional right to vote. You  individually and collectively - have, as a result, been entrusted with the mandate to represent the people of Sint Maarten for the next four years.

The trust placed in you, individually and collectively, comes with high expectations. It is a trust placed in you for you to articulate the peoples concerns, champion the peoples causes and pursue the peoples interests with sincerity. In recognition, thereof article 56 of our constitution requires members of Parliament to take a solemn oath or make a solemn promise prior to accepting their function as representatives of the people of Sint Maarten. Taking an oath or making a promise as a representative of the people is, therefore, a serious legal, but also personal and public matter.

Members of Parliament elect,

You will as a result in a few minutes take the oath or make the promise required for holding the office as a representative of the people of Sint Maarten. But before administering the oath I will share some thoughts and words of advice with you.

This year we will be commemorating the tenth (10th) anniversary of Sint Maartens Country status. Our countrys 10th anniversary is also an excellent moment to plan and set our countrys socio-economic agenda for the next 10 years and beyond. Standing at this 10-year mark in our countrys history, I therefore invite and advise you to reflect on the role of parliament in the past ten years and to draw lessons for the future development of our country. To draw lessons, for as the saying goes: Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.

u Lessons about the importance of the role parliament plays or can play in:

a) securing political stability;

b) promoting good and accountable governance; and

c) adopting legislation necessary for the effective governing of our country.

u Lessons which I trust will guide you in the fulfillment of your mandate to protect and improve the wellbeing of the people of Sint Maarten above all else.

During your tenure, as you seek to fulfill your mandate to protect and improve the wellbeing of the people of Sint Maarten, you will face major and consequential choices and decisions. The choices you make will have far reaching consequences for the lives of our people, of our children, our grandchildren and of all of us. Choices which will affect the preparation of our people for the challenges of climate change, technological advancements, ageing and globalization. Your decisions on how to meet these challenges will, among others, affect our economic recovery, our childrens education, our jobs, our health care system, our pension system, our environment, our housing, our payment system and our public finances. One such choice currently before parliament is the handling of the penal procedural code as part of our international commitment to combat money laundering and financing of terrorism. In keeping with your mandate, I advise or rather urge you, individually and collectively, to stand up for Sint Maarten and approve the penal procedure code as your first order of business. Only you, only you can do this. This is urgent and necessary to reduce the risk of being blacklisted by the FATF. Failure to act without further delay is not acceptable.

Members of Parliament elect,

You are, in short, mandated and called upon to stand up for the people of Sint Maarten, to articulate the peoples concerns, to champion the peoples causes and to pursue the peoples interests with sincerity. The oath you are about to take is a reflection and reminder of the seriousness thereof.

In closing I therefore call your attention to the four aspects as stipulated in the oath, which you are about to take.

Accepting the function of parliamentarian through the taking of the oath is:

First, your solemn expression of your commitment to perform your function independently and with integrity. That is that you have not accepted anything from or given anything to anyone in connection with your election as a Member of Parliament;

Second, taking the oath is your pledge of allegiance to the King and the Kingdom Charter;

Third, taking the oath is your sincere pledge or promise to always help to uphold the Constitution of Sint Maarten;

And finally, by taking the oath you unconditionally swear to always dedicate yourself to foster the wellbeing of the people of Sint Maarten.

In taking this solemn oath of office this morning, you agree to accept and commit to carry out the serious responsibilities entrusted to you by the people and for the people. And that you will do so with integrity anchored on our constitutional principles.

Thus, as you take up your office, I trust that you will use the oath as a guide in the performance of your function to promote stable and effective governance towards the protection and improvement of the wellbeing of our people.

With that trust, I hereby wish you strength and wisdom in the fulfillment of your responsibilities along with Gods blessings for and protection of you and our beloved Sint Maarten.

It is with these best wishes for you and our Country that I hereby invite you to take your oath.
Nagpur: A 24-year-old college teacher in Hinganghat town, who was set ablaze by a man in full public view almost a week back, succumbed to her burn injuries on Monday (February 10). The woman lecturer had sustained at least 35%-40% grade III deep dermal burns with respiratory distress, was admitted to a Wardha hospital in a critical condition and was under treatment.

A bulletin released by the hospital at 7.43 am on Monday informed that the victim succumbed to her injuries. She was on ventilator since Friday evening.

Ankita Pisudde, a contributory lecturer and a resident of Daroda village, was a post-graduate in Botony and was completing her B.Ed degree. According to police, she and the accused were friends until two years back before she severed ties with him due to his irritational behaviour. The police arrested the 27-year-old accused Vikesh Nagrale, a married man with a seven-month-old son and said that it was his unrequited love that led to the incident.

"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.

After the incident on Monday, the accused tried to escape but he was nabbed at Butibori industrial suburb in Nagpur within four hours, a police official earlier said. He was booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 326-A (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by use of acid, etc) and sent in police custody till Friday, the police said earlier, after his arrest.

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.
(Newser)  Otters may look cute and cuddly, but should you encounter one, you'll want to give it a wide berth. "If you see one up close, they are so beautiful. But they are vicious. Dont mess with an otter. Id rather barehand catch a bobcat probably than an otter." That's the word from an animal trapper who spoke to WFLA after a teen girl in Florida was attacked by an otter Tuesday morning. Gwyn Ewert, 17, had just let the family dog out in Lakeland when she heard fighting on the back porch. She opened the door and her dog came stumbling back inalong with the otter he had been fighting. Mom Casina Ewert, who had rushed downstairs after hearing the commotion, then took matters into her own handsliterally. "I snatched it by the tail," she says. "And then I held it up like a prize."

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"And the otters going crazy," she continued. "It was like clawing at me and grabbing on to the backs of the furniture in my house." She threw the animal back outside and then tended to her daughter, who had been bitten on the leg. The teen got a rabies shot and a booster; she'd actually gotten one before, when a stray dog bit her in Nicaragua, and discovered during that experience she's allergic to the vaccine. WFLA reports doctors "took precautions" for that reason and the teen is doing fine. So is the family dog, who had just gotten his rabies vaccine days before the attack, but he's quarantined as a precaution. The otter has not been caught, so it's not clear whether it was rabid, but experts say otters typically run from humans, so this one's behavior was odd. "My husbands like Case, you just alligator wrangled an otter in the living room!'" Casina Ewert tells Fox 6. (Read more strange stuff stories.)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 10

By Tamilla Mammadova  Trend:

Azerbaijan has managed to hold parliamentary elections decently, member of the Georgian observers' delegation, Head of HR Management Department of the Georgian Central Election Commission (CEC) Giorgi Kalandarishvili told reporters in Baku, Trend reports.

The Georgian delegation, consisting of five observers, monitored the elections in polling stations of Baku, Kalandarishvili said. We watched the election process, and we didnt notice any outer interference in the electoral process. We monitored the course of the elections until the end. Before the elections, we met with representatives of Azerbaijans CEC. Our delegation congratulates the Azerbaijani people on the decently held elections.

In turn, member of the Georgian delegation, Deputy Chair of the Georgian CEC Giorgi Sharabidze noted that all necessary conditions for the elections were created for observers and voters.

We visited several polling stations of Baku, Sharabidze added. All stations were opened on time, at 8:00 (GMT +4), and all preparatory work was carried out at the highest level.

The deputy chair noted that all the necessary equipment was ready and in fully operational condition.

Both the observers and the voters were provided with all the conditions for the elections, said Sharabidze. The elections were monitored by both local and foreign observers. Everything went at the highest level, there were no violations recorded. Both party representatives and observers had the opportunity to monitor the elections.

The member of the Georgian delegation noted that Azerbaijans CEC has done a decent job, voters and observers followed all the norms and requirements.

Sharabidze added that they made observations at 10 polling stations.

For all this time, we have been observing calm, democratic elections, both members of the commission and voters maintained peaceful atmosphere, the delegation member said.

The parliamentary elections were held in Azerbaijan on February 9. Some 1,314 candidates were registered within the early parliamentary elections. The candidacies of 246 people were nominated by 19 political parties, 1,057 were self-nominated, 11 - by initiative groups.

Twenty-one percent accounted for female candidates while 79 percent  male candidates.

As many as 5,426 permanent polling stations operated in 125 constituencies of the country.

Some 883 international observers and 77,790 local observers were monitoring the voting process. Among the local observers, 35,152 were representatives of political parties. International observers represented 58 countries and 59 organizations.
Chilling footage appearing to show the fin of a great white shark in a murky Sydney lagoon may in fact have been a floating tree branch.

Vision which appeared to show the dorsal fin in the water at Narrabeen went viral on Sunday as low-lying homes in the coastal suburb were flooded during a wild storm.

But locals have since cast doubt on the authenticity of the grainy footage, with one woman claiming the fin was actually a log.

'It was a log. It floated past our house. We thought it was a shark at first,' she said.

Other eagle-eyed viewers questioned why the apparent shark appeared to bob in the water, while some claimed the fin was actually an upside down surfboard.

While great white and bull sharks have previously washed up in floodwaters, the latest sighting is yet to be verified.

Log or great white shark? Grainy footage of a flooded Narrabeen Lagoon has sparked debate

The NSW Department of Primary Industries said it couldn't confirm whether it was a shark from the footage.

'NSWDPI is unable to identify the object in the water as a shark,' a spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia.

'NSWDPI advises ocean goers to be SharkSmart with heavy rain making ocean conditions turbid and murky.'

Photos online appeared to show a shark warning sign erected near the shore at Narrabeen Lagoon on Monday.

Despite the ominous warning, local residents and holidaymakers from a caravan park across the road were seen swimming in the water on Monday.

One group was filmed using a homemade slip and slide to drop into the water, just metres away from where the apparent fin was spotted on Sunday.

The Airbnb host who filmed the footage claimed it was the fin of a great white shark, but others disagreed, saying it was a floating log

It's not the first time a shark has been spotted in the area.

There have been 12 sightings in the Narrabeen/North Narrabeen area in the last four years, according to the Dorsal Watch website dedicated to shark sightings.

Among them was a one metre bull shark reportedly spotted at the entrance of Narrabeen Lagoon in April 2016.

'I saw its dorsal fin chasing a school of what looked like poddy mullet from where I was fishing on the sandbank,' they told the Dorsal Watch website at the time.

The department stated at the time aerial contractors spotted 'a large figure' in deep water near Narrabeen shark nets but were unable to identify it, the website stated.

Fisherman Stephen Burleigh claimed he spotted a shark dragging a duck under the water in the lagoon in 2007.

'There were half a dozen ducks in the water. I saw four of them moving very quickly to the side but the shark got one and dragged it under the water, five metres under,' he told The Sydney Morning Herald at the time.

'I was worried if there were any children in the water. I stepped back and said ''I'm not fishing here any more''.'

The lagoon is opened up to the ocean during heavy rainfall in a bid to reduce the impact of flash flooding on waterfront properties in the suburb.

This shark warning sign in Monash Reserve near the Georges River inundated with water on Monday has been there for more than 20 years

NSW Police raised the alarm further among Sydneysiders on Monday when it shared a photo of shark warning sign spotted in a flooded reserve near the Georges River in city's south-west.

'Monash Reserve, East Hills - Another reason not to enter flood water,' police captioned the photo on its social media accounts.

A NSW Police spokeswoman assured Daily Mail Australia the sign was legitimate.

But many sceptics who commented online saw the funny side and thought it was a joke.

The signage is real and has been there for many years, according to City of Canterbury Bankstown Council.

'Signage indicating the presence of sharks along the Georges River has existed for more than 20 years,' a spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia.

A two metre shark was reportedly spotted in the river in nearby Moorebank in November, 2016, according to Dorsal Watch.

In April 2017, a bull shark was found washed up in the Brisbane suburb of Logan in the aftermath of Cyclone Debbie.

A bull shark was found in a puddle in Townsville, north of where Cyclone Debbie made landfall, in 2017

The dead carcass was spotted several days after North Queensland television journalist found a metre-and-a-half bull shark in a puddle in Ayr near Townsville, just north of where Cyclone Debbie made landfall.

Bull sharks take advantage of floods to move further inland, according to Australian Institute of Marine Science fish and shark biologist Dr Mark Meekan.

'Bull sharks are one of a few sharks that can go completely into fresh waters, so they can sometimes appear in unexpected places,' he told The New Daily in 2017.

'They're attracted to floodwaters because there are often cattle, sheep and domestic animals trapped or dead carcasses washed down in floods, so it provides a nice feeding opportunity for those sharks.

'They also like to pup (breed) where the fresh water meets the salt of the sea. It's a refuge for them away from the other bigger sharks out in the open water.'

In 2011, a shopkeeper spotted a six-foot bull shark swimming in flooded waters near afast food outlet in Goodna, just outside Brisbane 12 miles inland from the sea.
It's been a change election in so many ways, but one certainty we cling to is that were stuck in the same old territory when it comes to the election of women to the Dail.

There were 35 women elected in 2016, hitting record numbers, up 10 from the previous election. Even then, though, our national parliament was well over 80% male.

This time around there were a record number of female candidates who ran, although it was an increase of just two on the 2016 figure, bringing it to 162 candidates. On a plus point, this time around at least one woman ran in every constituency.

However, regardless of gender quotas being in operation, and the geographical spread of female candidates, it looks as if there will be a bare increase of female TDs in the 33rd Dail once all votes are counted, possibly as little as 1%.

There remain a number of all-male constituencies  Dublin Bay South, Limerick City and County, Meath West, Tipperary and Dublin West. In all of the Cork constituencies, Holly Cairns of Social Democrats is the only woman TD, having been elected against the odds, in Cork South West.

But the constituencies of Cork East, North West, South Central and North Central are male bastions. The Labour Party has no female TD now.

In 2016 a woman had been elected to Cork South West for the first time with the election of Fianna Fails Margaret Murphy OMahony.

But she lost that seat this time around. So in this case, one female, albeit of a different political persuasion, replaced another. Other female names to lose out, a number of them high profile, include serving and former ministers.

Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty, in Meath East, former Tanaiste and Labour party leader Joan Burton, Solidarity People Before Profit TD Ruth Coppinger (in the same Dublin West constituency) junior minister Mary Mitchell OConnor in Dun Laoghaire, Labours Jan OSullivan in Limerick City, Fine Gaels Kate OConnell in Dublin Bay South and Catherine Byrne in Dublin South Central, and Fianna Fails Lisa Chambers in Mayo.

There is a positive side in that the big winner of this general election is a woman  Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald. Her party won 37 seats, 13 of those by women candidates, so now has 35% female TDs. Indeed Denise Mitchell in Dublin Bay North won the accolade of being the ultimate election poll topper winning an incredible 21,344 votes in that constituency.

Then you have the Social Democrats with their joint female co-leaders Catherine Murphy and Roisin Shortall. That party had a 57% female election candidate slate.

They steadily and thoroughly went about the business of the campaign and managed to get themselves re-elected, as well as the aforementioned Holly Cairns in Cork South West, Garry Gannon in Dublin Central, and likely Cian OCallaghan in Dublin Bay North and Jennifer Whitmore in Wicklow.

So in that instance, you would have the highly unusual scenario of an Irish political party  albeit a small one  dominated by women.

Crucially it is also a relatively new party. This means that it is keen to attract new people to its fold, and there is an absence of the frequently off-putting factor of history and tradition; not to mention people in the local organisation trying to control who is in and who is out, as happens with the larger parties.

Gender quotas for elections kicked in for the first time in 2016 where 30% of candidates for a party had to be female, or the party faced financial sanction. Women for Election, the not-for-profit organisation which encourages and supports women in Ireland to run for politics, is disappointed at the general election result in gender terms.

Three candidates who just won a seat in Dublin Central behind Mary Lou McDonald.

At the beginning of the campaign chief executive Ciairin de Buis pointed out that Fine Gael just scraped over that gender quota at 30.5%, Fianna Fail at 31%, Labour at 32% and Sinn Fein at 33%.

In the end, Sinn Feins gender figures also ended up being boosted very significantly by its overall success in the election, with only five of its candidates overall failing to make it to the Dail.

In contrast to the other parties, People Before Profit had 38% women candidates and the Green Party 41%. Ciarin de Buis pointed out the larger parties seemed to regard the quota as a target, not the minimum requirement. She said there may have been an inevitably about it given the larger parties did not run a balanced ticket.

Orla OConnor, director of National Womens Council of Ireland, described the general election as a missed opportunity to break that critical barrier of 30% of womens representation in Dail Eireann.

Parties need to develop candidate selection processes that look outside traditional networks like the GAA for example. Claire McGing of the Social Sciences Institute at Maynooth University, who researches women in politics, said more analysis will be needed of the performance of women in the coming days.

However, at first glance she believed the lack of progression in female representation was driven by Sinn Fein, Social Democrats, Green Party gains, being offset by Fine Gael, Fianna Fail, and Labour losses. As in previous elections, she said, women TDs seem to have been disproportionally affected by vote swings.

From 2025, for Irish political parties, the legal requirement to have a gender balance on the election ticket will rise to 40% female.

As of now, the way female candidates appear to be selected and, most importantly, supported, is going to prove a significant struggle for most political parties. Quotas are only a piece of the jigsaw when it comes to getting more women elected to national politics and keeping them there.

This is an issue due to be discussed shortly at the new citizens' assembly on gender equality. Our results over the last few days show that it is a subject that needs addressing.
The U.S. and Japan have increased bilateral drills and scaled them up, but in South Korea joint drills have been suspended or downscaled for fear of agitating North Korea.

The main reason is that Japan has eagerly joined U.S. President Donald Trump's "Indo-Pacific strategy" aimed at containing China, while South Korea has been more cautious. The honeymoon between Washington and Tokyo shows no signs of ending.

According to Japan's 2019 defense white paper, the country's Self-Defense Forces conducted bilateral drills with the U.S. military on a total of 38 occasions for 406 total days from April 2018 to March last year. That was an increase of more than 40 percent from the same period between 2015 and 2016.

"The U.S. and Japan have conducted joint drills more frequently than before probably because of the unstable situation in this region," said Kim Jong-tae at the Korea Defense Diplomacy Association. "But it seems that the U.S. wants to strengthen its alliance with Japan more than with South Korea."

The U.S. and Japan have staged a series of massive joint exercises recently. "Northern Viper" has been going on in various locations including Hokkaido since Jan. 21, with 2,300 U.S. marines from Okinawa and 1,000 Japanese ground troops.

Then on Feb. 4, the U.S. conducted a joint aerial drill with the Japanese Air Force mobilizing 60 warplanes including a B-52 strategic bomber. It took place at Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture, which would be used as a launch base in a war on the Korean Peninsula.

But South Korea and the U.S. have suspended all three major drills carried out annually since the first U.S.-North Korea summit in Singapore in 2018 and are conducting any field training exercises above regimental level separately.


A four-day downpour has caused flooding and powers cuts in wildfire-ravaged parts of Australia.

Emergency services responded to more than 5,000 incidents during a weekend of "wild weather" as the deluge of rain fell over eastern parts of the country.

While the precipitation helped put out deadly wildfires which have been plaguing the region since September, it also caused severe flooding with fallen trees and power cuts.

More than 100,000 homes remain without power across New South Wales and evacuation orders are in place in some areas, the BBC reported.

Rain is also forecast for the rest of the week.

A man struggles with the wind and rain in Sydney / Getty Images

New South Wales Fire and Rescue, Deputy Commissioner Jeremy Fewtrell said: " A huge thank you to all our staff for a massive effort during this weekends wild weather. On Sunday we responded to more than 5000 incidents, making it our busiest day on record ever.

"To put this into perspective this is double some of our busiest bushfire days this season.

"We took more than 16,000 triple zero calls over the weekend, attended more than 200 fires, more than 100 rescues, almost 400 storm related incidents and over 60 HAZMAT incidents.

"This was an incredible effort by all our staff on the ground, in our communications centres and all other support staff."

Experts said it will take some time yet to know to what extent the rainfall has replenished dried-up rivers and quenched parched soil in some inland areas most affected by the three-year drought.

Quentin Grafton, an economics professor and water expert at Australian National University in Canberra, said the rain had broken the drought in some towns but had not fallen evenly across all the affected areas.

At this stage, its very good news, and certainly much more than people could have wished for or expected, he said.

There are some very happy people.

Torrential rain across the east coast of Australia

Mr Grafton added that the drought had badly affected an area of more than 1.5 million square kilometres (580,000 square miles), which is larger than the country of Ethiopia.

He said monitoring on major rivers over the coming days should provide a clearer picture of how much the rain has helped.

While services battled the downpour, others welcomed it.

On Saturday, firefighters declared that the Currowan fire, south of Sydney, was finally out after destroying more than 300 homes and razing 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) over two-and-a-half months.

A severe weather warning is in place for Sydney and most of the NSW coast / Getty Images

This is the most positive news weve had in some time, the New South Wales Rural Fire Service tweeted on Monday.

The recent rainfall has assisted firefighters to put over 30 fires out since Friday. Some of these blazes have been burning for weeks and even months.

In all, Australias wildfires killed at least 33 people and destroyed more than 3,000 homes.

The fires began causing widespread destruction towards the end of 2019, which was both the hottest and driest year in Australias recorded history, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

During the deluge over recent days, coastal areas have experienced some of the heaviest rainfall, which has caused flash flooding in some places. Sydney, the central coast and the Blue Mountains have received up to 16in since Friday, representing some of the heaviest falls in decades.
If Congress sources are to be believed, the party hopes to win some seats provided the minorities voters chose it over the AAP.

New Delhi: A day after voting in the Delhi Assembly elections, the Congress rubbished the exit poll results, most of which predicted little or no change in the party's fortunes from 2015 polls, saying the result on 11 February will "surprise everyone".

Almost all exit polls predicted little change in the fortunes of the Congress, which had ruled the city between 1998 and 2013 but drew a blank in the 2015 polls.

"Let others celebrate the exit poll results. I am confident that the results on 11 February will startle everyone," chief spokesperson of Delhi Congress Mukesh Sharma said.

The party's Delhi unit president Subhash Chopra told reporters that all his party candidates contested with full strength. "There are at least 20 candidates of the Congress who were involved in keen triangular contests. We reject the exit poll results."

Congress contested the Delhi Assembly polls in alliance with the Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD). It fielded candidates on 66 seats leaving four for the RJD.

"We fielded the best candidates on all seats, campaigned sincerely and are positive of good performance," said Sharma who himself contested from Vikaspuri seat.

If Congress sources are to be believed, the party hopes to win some seats provided the minorities voters chose it over the AAP. "There are nearly 10 seats that Congress has a good chance of winning. However, it will depend on how the minorities voters cast their votes," they said.

The final voter turnout in the Delhi polls was 62.59 percent, down from 67.47 percent in 2015 Assembly election, with exit polls predicting an easy win for AAP, which sought to retain power on development plank, against the BJP that ran an aggressive campaign centred around the issues of anti-CAA protests and nationalism.
Hundreds of Jamia Millia Islamia students and residents of nearby areas were on Monday stopped by police from taking out a march to Parliament against the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens, leading to a seven-hour stand off during which scuffles broke out between protesters and security personnel.

All Photographs: Arun Sharma/PTI Photo

The protesters began their march at noon from university's gate number 7, which has seen demonstrations since last two months, barring last Friday and Saturday when the protesters had shifted the venue due to elections.

The police stopped the protesters after they had marched for two kilometres and appealed them not to go further as there was no permission and prohibitory orders had been imposed.

The protesters led by Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC) refused to end their protest and insisted on marching to Parliament, clambering over barricades placed by the police before finally sitting on 'dharna' outside the university.

Several protesters complained of suffocation and a woman fell unconscious as a stampede like situation prevailed when the security personnel resisted attempts by the large group of agitators to push forward. Twenty three people were taken to Al Shifa Hospital for treatment.

By 6 pm, group of students laid siege to the Sukhdev Vihar police station. Some protesters jumped over barricades as police in riot gear tried to stop them. A senior police officer also climbed up the barricade to push back the protesters.

While students alleged they were 'brutally beaten up' by police and few pictures circulated online, eyewitnesses denied any lathi-charge.

The police also refuted the allegations of use of force.

In a statement, it said they 'showed a lot of patience in handling the aggressive Jamia students' who were 'forcing their way through the police barricades and trying to march to Parliament without permission'.

A case has been registered against the 'violent crowd' under relevant sections of law, it said.

A spokesperson of Al Shifa Hospital said, "Three persons, including a woman has been admitted, while about 20 others persons were getting first-aid in the hospital".

"They have sustained injuries in stomach or head, and also internal injuries," he claimed but did not say if the injuries were due to assault or caused due to the stampede like situation.

The injured include both students if Jamia university and local residents,he said.

Jamia Vice Chancellor Najma Akhtar later visited the injured at the hospital.

The fresh protest near Jamia came just 10 days after a student was injured when a man opened fire on a group of agitators triggering an intense stand-off.

Some of the protesters have been detained by the police, officials said.

Nine students were detained and taken to Badarpur police station and were released later," a senior police official said.

The protesters raised anti-police slogans and shouted 'Kagaz Nahi Dikhayenge' (We will not show documents) and 'Jab Nahi Dare Hum Goron Se Toh Kyun Dare Hum Auron Se' (When we did not fear the British, why should we fear others).

"We can keep sitting whole day and raise slogans. They say we do not have permission to march to Parliament. Do people who have flashed guns here and there at protests in the past weeks have permission?" Farzana, a Jamia student, said.

Another burqa-clad protester said, "It has been two months since we are protesting. No one from the government has come to talk to us, so we want to go to talk to them".

"They change their stand daily but we are firm on our stand. We were born here, will die here," said 62-year-old Rasheeda.

During the march, men formed a human chain on either sides of road as women walked ahead, waving the tricolour and raising slogans of 'Halla Bol'.

Jamia Millia Islamia proctor Waseem Ahmed Khan appealed to the students to disperse and not meddle with the police.

"The message has been sent. I request students in the crowd to go back to the university. Respect the law and peacefully go back," he urged the students.

As the protest swelled by the evening, the Sukhdev Vihar Metro Station near the university was closed and opened after an hour.

A separate group of protesters staged agitation outside the metro station prompting police to cordon off the area.

Poice said a case has been registered in connection with the incident under Indian Penal Code Sections 186 (Obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 188 IPC (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 332 (Whoever voluntarily causes hurt to any person being a public servant in the discharge of his duty as such public servant) and damage to public property act.

For five hours, repeated appeals and announcements were made by the police requesting students to not march towards the parliament and scale barricades, they said.

The CAA allows easier citizenship for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Parsis and Jains who came to India from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh before 2015 to escape religious persecution there.

Those opposing the CAA contend that it discriminates on the basis of religion and violates the Constitution. They also allege that the CAA along with the National Register of Citizens is intended to target the Muslim community in the country.

However, the central government has dismissed the allegations, maintaining that the law is intended to give citizenship to the persecuted minorities from the three neighbouring countries and not to take away anyone's citizenship.

Hundreds march to Jantar Mantar against CAA, NRC

Hundreds of protesters, including students and civil society members, poured onto the streets in central Delhi on Monday protesting against the amended citizenship law and the National Register of Citizens.

The protesters, carrying placards and banners of all sizes and colours, converged at Mandi House around 11 am and started marching towards Jantar Mantar where they reached around 12.30 pm via Barakhamba Road and Tolstoy Road.

A large number of police and paramilitary personnel walked along with them.

"The protesters do not have permission to take out a march, but as long as they maintain peace, we do not have a problem," a police official said.

The protest call was given by the Welfare Party of India.

The protesters, however, claimed that they had the permission and would march till Jantar Mantar.

Children as young as 10, senior citizens, civil society members and university students filled the streets and ran the length of central Delhi, shouting anti-CAA and anti-government slogans.

Mohammad Shareef, who came to New Delhi from Kanpur, said his son Mohammad Rais, 30, was shot dead by police when while returning after offering namaz.

"On December 20, Rais was returning home after offering namaz. He used to sell 'papad' and also worked in marriage functions. During the commotion, Rais started running when the police shot him.

"The people from the locality took him to my house and I rushed him to a hospital. Not even a single person came to my house and asked how we were. Police misbehaved with us. Rais was killed by police when he was returning home after taking his money which he earned at the marriage function," said Shareef.

The protesters carried the photographs of freedom fighters Bhagat Singh and Chandrasekhar Azad and social reformer Savitribai Phule, and demanded that the government revoke the 'black law'.

Another victim Aftab Alam's mother said her son did not participate in any protest.

"After the death of his father, my son used to work as a mason. He was shot dead by the police when he went to offer namaz in Kanpur. The incident took place at Babu Purwa area and the bullet hit on his left side of the chest," she said.

The wife of Dr Kafeel Khan, who was in September acquitted of all negligence and corruption charges in the Gorakhpur BRD Hospital tragedy, and brother of Sharjeel Imam, arrested on sedition charges, also participated in the march.

Siraj Talib, the national secretary of the Welfare Party of India, "We are protesting against the CAA and the NRC. We have permission, I have spoken to police and we are marching towards Jantar Mantar."

The protesters were raising anti-CAA, anti-government and anti-Bharatiya Janata Party slogans.

They were also carrying placards with messages, which read 'reject CAA and NRC' and 'we Indians standing against NRC and reject Citizenship Amendment Act'.

Riyasat Malik, 20, who works in a private organisation, said that he along with around 80 women, came here from Sunder Nagri to support the anti-CAA protest.

"Just like Shaheen Bagh, scores of women in Sunder Nagri are also sitting in protest against this newly amended law. They got to know about this march yesterday and came here in its support. This would not stop here and the government will need to revoke this law," Malik said.

Abdul Ghaffar, 61, who came to join the protest from Ghaziabad, said they want the government to listen to them.

"The government has already cleared its stand after amending the law, but now we want them to listen us as well.

"We are not fighting with them, they are our leaders and our government also. We want to tell them our grievances," said Ghaffar.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- So I was wrong. Really wrong. I said on Friday morning that it was unlikely that Pete Buttigiegs rivals on the Democratic debate stage in New Hampshire on Friday night would be eager to attack him. I also predicted that generally we might see relatively few fireworks.

But especially in the first hour (and, to be fair, often in response to moderator questions), it was perhaps the most contentious presidential debate of the cycle. There were plenty of hits on the former South Bend mayor, who claimed victory in the chaotic Iowa caucuses this week.

The most notable punch: Amy Klobuchar attacked Buttigiegs anti-Washington rhetoric, quoting his claim that watching the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump made him want to turn the channel and watch cartoons. Her rejoinder: That insult and others makes you look like a cool newcomer. I dont think thats what people want right now. We have a newcomer in the White House, and look what that got us.

Will it all be enough to slow Buttigiegs momentum in New Hampshire? That depends on the people who were watching  and, especially, on how the media portray the debate and whether (and how) the tone of this coverage changes over the next few days.

I wont predict any of that. But I will say that while Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren all had good moments, this debate belonged to Klobuchar. For once, she hit all her marks, whether attacking one of the others, joking with Bernie Sanders about a bill they had co-sponsored, or  again and again  turning each answer into an attack on Trump.

Klobuchar is the only one to regularly use humor and deploy prepared zingers, such as a riff she has about all the various people Trump blames for his troubles. She had a nice closing about Franklin Roosevelt caring about regular people, and promising that she does, too. She gave a similar bit in a CNN town hall on Thursday night, and the Friday version was far, far better.

Story continues

Will it matter? Unlikely. The Minnesota senator finished fifth in neighboring Iowa, is currently polling in fifth in New Hampshire, and is surely going to use every last dollar she has raised in that state. Realistically, even a strong third place in New Hampshire probably leaves her with too much to do, and, given that shes being outspent, she would need a lot of positive media coverage in the few days before Tuesdays primary to have a chance at that.

As I said, it wasnt as if the leading contenders had bad nights. Buttigieg had a very nice moment when, asked about Hunter Biden, he defended the former vice president. As for Biden, after sleepwalking through the debates first few minutes, he woke up and sounded forceful, especially in asking the audience to stand in appreciation of Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman, the Ukraine scandal witness whom Trump fired earlier in the day.

Sanders gave what I thought was a more controlled performance than usual; Warren was her usual strong self in explaining plan after plan. (Her supporters were complaining on Twitter during the debate that she wasnt getting enough time. They were correct, but she used what she had well.)

Its always hard to predict reactions, but I doubt anyone leaning toward any of these candidates was driven away by how they performed. (Andrew Yang and Tom Steyer were also at the debate and continue to be irrelevant to the nomination process.)

The real loser? ABC News, beginning with George Stephanopoulos. Missing were invitations to discuss public policy  an approach that is most informative to voters and helpful in letting the candidates sort themselves out. Instead, we had gotcha questions about their records with tough follow-ups if they ducked the query. That strategy may be great for a press conference or a one-on-one interview, but its all wrong for a candidate debate.

The weird framing of some policy issues seemed designed to force candidates into tough choices. Appropriate for a high school debate, perhaps, but it turns a presidential debate into a skill contest of who is best at recasting questions to their advantage. The candidates were asked about campaign strategy and tactics. Boring and uninformative.

Over and over, the moderators seemed intent on provoking fights between the candidates. It got so bad that once they had asked each of the candidates on stage to unload on one another, they eventually asked them to attack Michael Bloomberg, who wasnt even there. Again: If candidates want to slam each other, thats their business, not the moderators.

As a result, even in a pretty long debate, fewer topics were covered and in less detail than weve seen previously. I think its time for both political parties to at least consider producing their own debates. My guess is they can find someone who will televise them.

(Disclaimer: Michael Bloomberg is also seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. He is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)

To contact the author of this story: Jonathan Bernstein at jbernstein62@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Katy Roberts at kroberts29@bloomberg.net

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics and policy. He taught political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio and DePauw University and wrote A Plain Blog About Politics.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

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Home Search ICH How Low Can Israelis Go? By Finian Cunningham February 10, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - Not only is Israel bombing neighboring Syria in acts of aggression, the Israeli air force is compounding its criminality by using civilian airliners as cover for their assaults. Thats the assessment from Russias Ministry of Defense which says flight data shows that an air raid by four Israeli F-16 warplanes this week near Damascus deliberately put in danger a civilian airliner with 172 passengers onboard. Russian MOD spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said the Israeli jets effectively hid behind the radar signal of an Airbus A-320 as it approached Damascus international airport in order to launch airstrikes on targets near the Syrian capital. It was only due to the skill of the Syrian air defense operators that the passenger plane was correctly identified and escorted out of the firing line. The aircraft was diverted to a safe landing at the Russian air base at Hmeymim further north at Latakia. Israel has a cynical policy of neither confirming or denying its forces are conducting offensive operations. So, its side of the story remains ambiguous. However, Israeli commanders have admitted previously to carrying out hundreds of airstrikes on Syrian territory over the past two years. Russian military spokesman Konashenkov said what happened this week was a typical ploy used during recent Israeli air raid maneuvers. He said the Israeli air force was knowingly putting civilians in danger as a shield for their offensive operation. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter The implications are appalling. Not only is Israel violating international law and Syrian sovereignty by carrying out acts of aggression with airstrikes, the Jewish state is also using civilian aircraft as de facto hostages in mid-air. It appears that the nefarious calculation at work by the Israelis is that they are betting the Syrian air defense systems will refrain from taking defensive action so as to avoid civilian casualties. The Israelis are thus able to freely launch their illegal airstrikes while using human shields in the air. This is by no means the first time the Israelis have used such a dastardly ploy. Russia claims that in the recent past other civilian airliners have been similarly exploited by Israeli warplanes to enable strikes on Syria. Also, in September 2018, Moscow accused Israel of deliberately putting a Russian reconnaissance plane in danger which led to the death of 15 crew. On that occasion, Israeli F-16s are believed to have knowingly flown behind the radar signal of an IL-20 aircraft as it approached Hmeymim air base and then fired off missiles at Syrian territory. Syrian air defenses mistook the IL-20 for an enemy target and shot down the recon plane with tragic results. Israel denied on that occasion that it was using the Russian spy plane as a decoy. The Israelis sought to blame the Syrians for incompetent defense operations. Moscow, however, was having none of the Israeli excuses and condemned Tel Aviv for sacrificing Russian lives. Russia then responded by upgrading allied Syrian air defenses with the S-300 system. Perhaps that S-300 upgrade was a factor in why the civilian airliner escaped this week from accidental shoot-down by Syrian air defense. In any case, what needs to be called out is the absolute disgraceful behavior of Israel. It has no right to launch airstrikes on Syria in the first place. Countless such attacks have occurred over recent years. Israeli claims about hitting Iranian targets within Syria are null and void and indefensible under international law. Israeli strikes are acts of aggression, plain and simple. As if that it is not bad enough, now we see Israel using civilian airliners in a cowardly and wicked way as a form of protection so that its warplanes can commit their crimes of aggression. If any other state were to do this, the Western media would be heaping endless vilification upon it. Any other state would be globally condemned as a rogue, terrorist pariah. The United Nations would be inundated with resolutions to impose severe sanctions. The double standards with which, say Iran, is treated is dumbfounding. Another astounding hypocrisy is the way Syria is sanctioned left, right and center by the European Union. The war-torn Arab country is unable to import vital medicines because of EU sanctions. Yet the EU does nothing to reprimand Israel for brazen violations of international law. The question of how low can you go? does not just apply to Israel, but also to the Western news media and Israels international political supporters, chiefly the American government. Russia might also rethink its position vis-a-vis Israel the next time Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants a reception in Moscow. Until Israel begins to abide by international law, it should be treated with a cold shoulder. The despicable event this week of endangering a civilian airliner should be seen as the last straw for indulging Israel as if it is a normal state. Finian Cunningham has written extensively on international affairs, with articles published in several languages. He is a Masters graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a scientific editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a career in newspaper journalism. He is also a musician and songwriter. For nearly 20 years, he worked as an editor and writer in major news media organisations, including The Mirror, Irish Times and Independent. This article was published by " Sputnik " - Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here ==See Also== The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Search Information Clearing House === Click Here To Support Information Clearing House Your support has kept ICH free on the Web since 2002. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load.
Actor Brad Pitt, who received his first Oscar during the 92nd Academy Awards, used his acceptance speech to take a snipe at the infamous impeachment trial of President Donald Trump in which former National Security Advisor John Bolton was allowed to testify in the Senate to fast track the proceedings.

The 56-year-old actor picked up an Acadamy Award in the Best Supporting Actor category on Sunday for his role in 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'.

"They told me I only have 45 seconds up here, which is 45 seconds more than the Senate gave John Bolton this week," Pitt quipped.

Democrats wanted Bolton to testify in the senate during the now-concluded trial after a report appeared in the New York Times (NYT) about the damaging claims Bolton allegedly makes about Trump in his forthcoming memoir.

According to NYT, Bolton claims in the book that Trump had said he wanted to withhold millions of dollars in aid to Ukraine until the country announced investigations into his political rivals.

While the White House is working to block publication of some aspects of the book, Trump has maintained the reported claims as untrue.

The trial was centered around a phone call between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. The Senate voted to acquit the president of two articles of impeachment last week after Senate Democrats did not get enough votes to request more witnesses in the trial.

Trump was accused of abusing his power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, who served on the board of a gas company in Ukraine, as Trump withheld USD 391 million in military aid that he later released.

The US President was also accused of subsequently obstructing a congressional probe into his actions.

The Republican Party holds a 53-47 majority in the Senate.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Outgoing Children's Minister Katherine Zappone has announced that she is leaving Irish politics, remarking that she always felt like an accidental politician.

The Independent TD politician conceded that she was disappointed to lose her seat in Dublin South West but is looking at other opportunities now.

The outgoing Children and Youth Affairs minister told reporters: Of course I am disappointed and I am disappointed for my friends, family and colleagues, she said.

Ive always felt that I was a bit of an accidental politician, I was elected to the Seanad nine years ago and I had a wonderful time there.

So I have decided that I will just continue my change work outside of Irish politics.

Its a tough job to discern what is the right thing to do and balancing the various interests but I really do believe that I practiced a form of left politics as a progressive, she said.

When asked if she would move into politics outside of Ireland, she said: I am, as I said, moving forward outside of Irish politics and I spent most of my life in Irish politics and I believe that that experience brought a different perspective and effectiveness.

She added that she feels that TUSLA is now in a much better place compared to when she was appointed Children's Minister in 2016.

She told Independent.ie earlier that it is 'extremely disappointing' that female politicians lost out in this election and failed to secure as many seats as in 2016.

She said after the count took place that perhaps it became a challenge for voters to distinguish her from Fine Gael.

I do think in the earlier period of the campaign, people were willing to distinguish me as an Independent from Fine Gael but as time went on, maybe that didnt transpire as much.

At the same time, I knew what I was doing when I made the decision to negotiate and form a Government with a major political party. I really do believe that as a TD I had the opportunity to bring about more change in government than outside of it.
NEW YORK - Fashion label Namilia deconstructed Asian stereotypes in the porn industry, empowering the demure, submissive woman with bold dominatrix looks worn exclusively by Asian models at Sunday's show, including several Pornhub actors.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/2/2020 (701 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NEW YORK - Fashion label Namilia deconstructed Asian stereotypes in the porn industry, empowering the demure, submissive woman with bold dominatrix looks worn exclusively by Asian models at Sunday's show, including several Pornhub actors.

The Herotica collection shown during New York Fashion Week flipped on its head the traditional, buttoned-up Chinese dress. The gown kept the same silhouette but was done in dominatrix leather with a hand-embroidered electric blue dragon snaking across the front.

The Namilia collection is modeled at Pier 59 Studios during New York Fashion Week on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020 in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Another look featured the same traditional dress on one side of the model, but the other side was stripped down to black leather dominatrix garb.

A short, colorful look folded elaborately around the collar into a Chinese takeout box, complete with long, dripping. crystal ramen noodles and pieces of shrimp with words about male genitalia.

Namilia's message is clear. Women like sex as much as men but are often shamed for it. Porn is typically seen as a man's thing, but women are also interested in porn and sex, but we were just excluded in the past," said one of the designers, Emilia Pfohl.

The Namilia collection is modeled at Pier 59 Studios during New York Fashion Week on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020 in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

The brand reached out to porn stars to help them reframe that narrative.

I don't think motherhood and sexuality are mutually exclusive at all," said Pornhub brand ambassador Asa Akira, a 35-year-old college graduate whose been in the business for a dozen years and gave birth to a son last year.

She walked the show wearing a sexy, black kimono-style bodysuit. When she unfurled her arms, fabric hung dramatically to the floor with a reference to wrecking male genitalia.

Porn star Asa Akira models the Namilia collection at Pier 59 Studios during New York Fashion Week on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020 in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Nothing is off limits for the Berlin-based brand, composed of Pfohl and Nan Li, who met in design school. Their first collection, whose title can't be repeated, featured vagina-empowering references to pop idols including Nicki Minaj, Rihanna and Miley Cyrus.

Paris Hilton opened their show in 2018, and last year's show featured holograms of a crying Leonardo DiCaprio and Justin Bieber prints photo-edited onto Jesus body.

Celebrities including Jennifer Lopez, Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Rihanna, Cardi B and Ellie Goulding have all worn the brand.

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.

The Namilia collection is modeled at Pier 59 Studios during New York Fashion Week on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020 in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

On Sunday, several looks turned models into Transformers, with oversize, clawlike arms inscribed with sexually empowering words. A sculptural neon-green and black look included a riff on the Louis Vuitton pattern, but with dollar signs and male genitalia and large, insect-style wings coming out the back. The designers said it was their take on the Victoria's Secret angel wings, in a way that less objectified women.

The schoolgirl uniform was also turned on its head, with a pink and white monogram on a pleated leather skirt.

When is something part of fashion, what's high culture, what's low culture, what's profane, what's not? And we wanted to take porn into a new context to kind of normalize sex work, prostitution, pornography and put it in a fashion show context, so there's not as much shame and taboo," Li said during a backstage interview.

Their designs are heavily inspired by pop culture, "looking from the outside at American culture" to create a revolutionary new feminist youth culture," said Li, who freelanced for Kanye West's brand Yeezy in the past.

Several streetwear looks included edgy motorcycle race suits in feminine pinks, and sweatshirts with the Pornhub and Herotica label. The brands were also printed on a stylish black velour tracksuit.

My scariest thing before I became a porn star was that people judge me and also fear of what my mom would think," said Marica Hase, a 38-year-old from Japan who also walked in the show. I love porn. I'm a little bit of a naughty girl."
Every year for Valentine's Day, Sam and Jeremy Little throw a scary movie night with more than a dozen of their friends, decorating their house with embellishments that poke fun at the holiday. Those who show up have to follow two rules: Your attire must include sweatpants, and you can't sit next to your significant other if you have one. Read more

Dressed in her finest sweatpants, Sam Little, 36, washes buffalo sauce from her hands after a dinner of wings and chili, and then plops down on her couch in front of a TV. She waits for Stephen Kings It to spread across its 65-inch screen. Jeremy, Littles husband, sits at the other end of the couch, too far to embrace if evil clown Pennywise spawns any fear. But Littles not concerned. She has friends scooted up close on both sides, and another dozen companions taking over a three-tiered, stadium-style seating arrangement set up in the Littles living room.

For the Bensalem couple, this has been Valentines Day for the past decade: a scary movie night shared with many of their favorite people, coupled with unromantic and easy-to-prepare fare. Chicken wings are Littles specialty.

There are two rules  you have to wear sweatpants, and you cant sit next to your significant other if you have one, says Little.

For the Littles, the tradition grew out of a love for throwing parties and watching movies. They screen two films each year. The first is a B-list flick (think Attack of the Killer Donuts or Zombeavers), put on in the background as guests arrive and mingle over wings and homemade broken-heart cookies. The lights go down for the headliner, always a popular horror movie, like A Quiet Place and Final Destination. It should incite fear but include enough corny scenes to encourage a continuous stream of commentary  fueled by plenty of beer.

Its not like were anti-love, but Valentines Day has become this pressurized day where you somehow prove your love to an individual using cards or gifts or dinner, and an anti-Valentines Day party is the opposite, says Little. Theres no pressure when youre relaxing with all of your friends.

Whether in a relationship, forever single, or ready to throw your ex out the window, there are plenty of ways to celebrate Feb. 14 that dont involve navigating crowded restaurants, buying fancy presents, or sitting at home alone.

Screw it: Go out anyway

Casey Alrich, 39, of South Philly, echoes that. All of Alrichs fondest memories of celebrating Cupid involve belting out his favorite Vietnamese love song, Uoc Gi by My Tam, to a room full of friends.

Valentines Day sucks, so I turned to karaoke, says Alrich, who started the tradition back in 2010. I wanted to put something together that was fun for people of any relationship status and also relieve the stress of feeling a little bit lame if youre not out doing something.

Alrich loads up on cheesy Dollar Store decorations, bourbon, and candy hearts, and pulls together around 30 people to fill a private room inside a Chinatown BYOB, rotating the location from year to year. As more friends have kids, hes now strategizing a family-friendly version.

If you dont feel like playing the party planner role, public karaoke sessions make a great option, too. Drop into Yakitori Boy or Tango, and youre bound to find plenty of others singing their hearts out to Beyonces Single Ladies.

Then theres First Person Arts annual Ex-Files storyslam, bringing another, and even bolder, opportunity to take the mic. Here, random audience members share their best and worst real-life stories involving an ex.

John Deary, 33, of Fishtown used his onstage moment to dish about the time he found out his girlfriend was cheating on him.

We went to a drive-in movie theater with a group of friends, and there was a man sitting behind us that I had no idea shed been cheating on me with, says Deary in relaying his first Ex-Files story. He started to cry because of seeing us, and I didnt know what was happening. I was making fun of him on the drive home for crying at the movie, only to find out later I was the butt of the joke.

The event usually sells out. If you want to participate, be ready to throw your name in a bucket once you arrive. Ten people per show are chosen to spill their guts on stage. Winners score a $100 prize and the chance to compete in First Person Arts season finale GrandSlam. Deary, who is cohosting this years Ex-Files, says one of the best parts of the whole event is the instant connection it creates.

Its a 50-50 mix between comedy and just honest storytelling, he says. The stories become a nice reminder that youre not the only person whos dealt with an unfortunate romantic situation.

For the past 30 years, Rittenhouses Irish Pub has hosted a more casual version of Ex-Files. The event, Desperate and Dateless, draws as many as 100, mostly single patrons to the bar every Valentines Day. At its center is Date From Hell, a game where you write down your all-time worst dating experience for a DJ to read aloud. The story that gets the loudest applause wins prizes, like gift certificates and Eagles gear. Its followed by the Dating Game.

Weve had a few successes from that one where people go home together, says general manager Lauren Kim.

A single female contestant creates questions to quiz four male contestants and decide whos most date-worthy. While it doesnt always lead to love, it almost always kindles plenty of audience laughter.

Buy candy (and eat it, too)

But what if you just want candy? Whether single or hitched, you neednt throw out all classic traditions to celebrate anti-Valentines Day. If youre a chocoholic, by all means, eat chocolate. Just consider building a little extra anticipation.

My favorite holiday of the year? February 15 drugstore candy sales, says Alison Cornell, 32, Kensington.

Starting in college, Cornell began shifting her Valentines Day celebrations to the day after, using the occasion to stock up on discounted heart lollipops, pink Hersheys Kisses, and fluffy, heart-adorned slippers.

If I find a little heart plush, Ill buy it, cut it open to stuff with catnip, sew it back up, and give it to my cat, my true Valentine, she says.

Drugs-store-candy-sale day is also how Danielle Lazaroff and her bargain-hunting boyfriend celebrate. As she watches one girlfriend after another post Valentines Day bouquets to Facebook, Lazaroff says shes patiently waiting for her boyfriend to make his annual Feb. 15 trip to CVS.

Its a little insulting, but its funny. On the 15th, I get my sweet revenge when I show off my huge haul of love presents, says Lazaroff, taking in the decadelong tradition with a lighthearted attitude. Were talking about bags and bags of candy, stuffed animals, just so much stuff.

Because he wants it, too, she adds with a laugh.
A 24-year-old paraglider was killed during training in Himachal Pradesh's Bir Billing area, fifth such death in the state since April last year.

A resident of Barot, Akshay died during training on Sunday, police said.

Akshay had taken a paragliding flight from Bir Billing in Kangra district with another pilot, Shyam Lal, they added.

They were learning how to take a tandem flight but Akshay suddenly fell in a forest area, police said.

Shyam Lal immediately landed and informed others about the accident.

When they reached the spot, Akshay was dead.

Police have registered a case and the matter is being investigated.

Earlier, four people--three tourists and a pilot--were killed and two injured in three separate accidents in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu district.

A Kerala tourist, Altho Bachu, and pilot Naresh Kumar died in a paragliding crash near Dobhi village in Naggar area of Kullu on April 7 last year.

Similarly, a tourist from Punjab's Mohali district, Amandeep Singh (23), died and pilot Ranjir Singh injured in the Solang valley of Kullu on May 18.

Arvind B (27) from Chennai was killed and pilot Haru Ram injured in another paragliding accident at Dobhi near Manali in Kullu on November 18.

Two months after Amandeep's death, his father Inderbir Sobti had met Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur at his official residence in Shimla on July 18 and urged him to improve safety facilities at all adventure sport locations to avoid mishaps.

Talking to PTI after meeting the CM, Sobti had rued the absence of "proper emergency medical attention" in his son's final moments.

Sobti told Thakur that all adventure tourism operators must mandatorily provide emergency health and trauma care services.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
"I am the leader of Uthman Danfodio dynasty. I have never seen where in the hundred books that Uthman Danfodio said Nigeria belongs to the Fulani. What he wrote was the role of Islam in leadership, governance etc. He never mentioned of conquering any particular land or claimed ownership of any territory. People make comments that Jihad is to Islamise every country, but I said no. Danfodio never came to Islamise any country, he preached against bad government. That fake write-up was by those who dont want peace in this country and we had denounced that. I am the National Patron of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN). It has been in existence for 44 years. There are two other organisations that I know, but others I dont know. Please verify from us before you put blame on us- Muhammadu S'aad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, February, 2020.

I commend His Eminence the Sultan of Sokoto for attempting to do damage control and douse the tension that was generated in the aftermath of the explosive statement by the Fulani Nationalist Movement (FUNAM).

However I respectfully disagree with him on his assertion that his highly esteemed ancestor and forefather, Uthman Dan Fodio "never conquered or claimed ownership of any land" or that "he did not come to Islamise any country".

I also beg to differ with him on his tacit implication that Miyetti Allah, an organisation that can best be described as the biblical and modern-day "troubler of our collective peace" are respectable and peace-loving.

I believe that given what we have suffered in the hands of the local Janjaweed known as the Fulani herdsmen and murderous terrorist militias who have come under their protective umbrella over the last five years, the opposite is actually the case.

Permit me to focus on Uthman Dan Fodio in this contribution and leave the insidious activities and sinister agenda of Miyetti Allah for another day. The facts are as follows.

In 1804 one of the most savage and bestial wars and bloody jihads in African history was waged against the Hausa Habe Kingdom and people of the area that later became known as "northern Nigeria" by Sheik Uthman Dan Fodio.

He was primarily an Islamic scholar and the spiritual and military leader of the Fulani people who came in their hundreds of thousands from Futa Jalon and Futa Toro in modern-day Guniea to northern Nigeria and established Africa's most powerful and ruthless Islamic Caliphate.

For anyone, no matter how respected or highly placed, to suggest that Dan Fodio was just a scholar and teacher that only wrote books, that never waged war and violent jihad and that never laid claim to and conquered parts of Nigeria is most unfortunate.

Such an assertion can best be described as being, at best, intellectually dishonest and patently false and, at worse, historical revisionism in its most brazen and repugnant form.

The truth is that Dan Fodio and his Fulani army not only indulged in merciless acts of pure barbarity in battle and committed what can only be described as genocide against defenceless and innocent civilian populations but he also imposed his own extreme, hardline, purist, wahhabist and salafist version of Islam on the people of core northern Nigeria with a scimitar and a sword and forcefully imposed Fulani Emirs on them.

The only ethnic nationality that successfully warded him and his Fulani armies off in the north were the strong and proud Kanuris of the El Kanemi dynasty and empire in modern-day Borno state who warned him to steer clear of their territory and he did.

Finally the only race that ever defeated the Fulani in open battle and thereby put a halt and full stop to their attempt to march down South and "dip the Koran in the Atlantic ocean" were the gallant sons of Oduduwa, led primarily by the Ibadan generals and military commanders, who defeated them in battle at Osogbo in 1840 and drove them back north.

They not only defeated them but they also slaughtered and ate their horses and publicly executed their allies and military commanders from Ilorin.

The Fulani have never succeeded in conquering the people of the South West militarily and I make boast to say that they never will.

The recent statement credited to the Fulani Nationalist Movement known as FUNAM who said that every inch of Nigeria belonged to them "from Sokoto to the banks of the Atlantic ocean", that "Nigeria is the only inheritance we have in Africa and anywhere in the world" and that "this was the destiny bestowed on Uthman Dan Fodio which would have been fulfilled since 1816 if not for the obstruction of this great assignment by the British" was simply an accurate and honest reflection of the mindset and ultimate vision of Usman Dan Fodio and other great Fulani leaders and Mahdi's through the ages like Sir Ahmadu Bello and lately President Muhammadu Buhari.

FUNAM went further to say,

"It is no longer time to play the ostrich. Our men are waiting. We are eager to fight. We are boiling with the zeal to actualize our dream; enough of double dealing and ambivalence by FULANI political leaders who unfortunately think the FULANI can only take back what belongs to us through appeasement and elections destined to reflect cultural values antithetical to the preaching of Uthman Dan Fodio".

We ignore and play down these incendiary words at our own peril.

I speak for millions when I say that the indigenous and oppressed people and ethnic nationalities of Nigeria have had enough of these open threats of tyranny and violence and neither are we interested in being vassals and slaves.

Had we listened to Colonel Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu and the Biafrans in 1967, considered their terrible plight and aligned with them during the civil war things would have been very different today and we would not have been subjected to these infantile and provocative insults from the likes of FUNAM.

The bottom line is as follows: we either have a Nigeria where all men, regardless of ethnic nationality or faith, are regarded as being equal before God and the law or we shall have no Nigeria at all. No-one can impose their will on us and neither can anyone intimidate us.

We do not seek war and neither do we relish or endorse any form of violence. We want peaceful co-existence and mutual respect. We want love, prosperity and progress for all and we offer it to those who wish us well and seek to do us no harm.

However if in a moment of madness we are ever attacked we shall stand firm and stand strong. We shall never retreat and neither shall we surrender.

We shall defend our people, we shall defend our land, we shall defend our honor and we shall defend our heritage.

We are not cowards and we shall never bend the knee or bow our heads to the tyranny of foreign invaders who erroneously believe that they were born to rule and that we were born to serve.

Permit me to conclude this contribution with the following.

Given what is going on in our country today and despite the laudable efforts of moderates such as the Sultan of Sokoto to diffuse the tension and reign in the more radical and hardline elements in the ranks of the Fulani I am convinced of two things.

Firstly that the call by many southern and Middle Belt leaders for restructuring is not only outdated but also too little, too late.

Secondly that if care is not taken there is every likelihood that Nigeria will break into two or more pieces within the next five years.

Mark my words and remember them! The only way to prevent this from happening is for these vicious threats of gratutious violence and Fulani adventurism and expansionism to stop and for the oppressors to start seeing the oppressed as equal partners and stakeholders in the Nigerian project. Without that Nigeria is truly finished and will soon be history.

(Femi Fani-Kayode)
Two commandos of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and a Naxal were killed in an encounter in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Monday morning, an official said.

Two other CRPF personnel were injured in the skirmish, he said.

The exchange of fire broke out around 10.30 am at a forest in Irapalli village under Pamed police station limits, located over 400 km from here, when the security forces were out on a counter-insurgency operation, a senior CRPF official said.

"Four personnel of the 204th Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA -an elite unit of CRPF) sustained injuries in the incident. Later, two of them died," he said.

The two injured CRPF personnel included a deputy commandant, he said.

"A Naxal was also gunned down in the gunfight and a weapon was recovered from the spot," the official said.

Reinforcement was rushed to the spot and efforts were underway to evacuate the injured personnel from the forest, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Data analytics by the revenue authorities have detected rampant tax evasion through black market and under-valuing of imports.

The government, however, said it would fine-tune its existing policies to increase outward shipments while also examine the loopholes of revenue leakage in the system.

New Delhi: In a move to strengthen surveillance on evaders and plug revenue leakage in the goods and services tax (GST), the government has enhanced disclosure norms for exporters and importers from next week.

Importers and exporters will have to mandatorily declare GSTIN in documents from February 15 while exporters will need to mention additional information, including district of origin of goods, to the customs department from next Sunday.

The government, however, said it would fine-tune its existing policies to increase outward shipments while also examine the loopholes of revenue leakage in the system.

According to a circular by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), certain cases have come to notice where the importer or exporter did not declare their GSTIN in the bill of entry/shipping bill despite being registered with GSTN.

GSTIN is a 15-digit PAN-based unique identification number allotted to every registered person under GST. While importers have to fill bill of entry with the customs department when importing goods, exporters have to file shipping bill.

"With effect from February 15, 2020, the declaration of GSTIN shall also be mandatory in import/export documents for the importers and exporters registered as GST taxpayers," the circular said.

Data analytics by the revenue authorities have detected rampant tax evasion through black market and under-valuing of imports. It has come to light that although importers are paying GST, they are supplying the goods without bill.

Importers typically pay integrated goods and services tax, or IGST, on goods they bring into the country. This tax is supposed to be set off against the actual GST paid by the final consumer, or claimed as refund. But this is not happening in many cases.

A similar situation has been witnessed on cess charged on luxury and sin goods with companies paying it at the time of imports but not claiming credit or setting it off from final GST paid by consumers.

EY tax partner Abhishek Jain said the requirement to provide GSTIN in bill of entry/shipping bill will help plug GST revenue leakage and ensure that imports/export data is reconciled with GST data.

Further, exporters will also have to furnish details like the state of origin of goods, details of preferential agreements under which the goods are being exported, wherever applicable, and the standard unit quantity code or SQC.

The data will be used for district-level plans for promoting exports as the commerce ministry has initiated a process to prepare a district export plan specific to every state and Union territory to boost exports.

"With effect from February 15, 2020, apart from the data/ information required to be furnished in the present electronic form of electronic integrated declaration mentioned in Regulation 3 of Shipping Bill (Electronic Integrated Declaration and Paperless Processing) Regulations 2019," the circular said.

EY's Jain said the data on district/state of origin of goods will help the government take measures to facilitate and promote exports. "The requirement to provide details of preferential agreements under which goods are exported will help the government track the effectiveness these agreements," he said.

The commerce ministry said a budgetary support would be provided to make outreach at the district level and prepare a plan, which includes strategy to enhance logistics and infrastructure at the district level and better utilisation of the Market Access Initiative (MAI) scheme of the ministry for inviting foreign buyers.

The ministry further said that state and union territories would be assisted in preparing an annual export ranking index of different districts to rank each district on its export competitiveness.
Open source

Ministry for Veteran Affairs, Temporarily Occupied Territories and IDPs plans to impose sanctions against people involved in the detention of Ukrainian sailors in Kerch Strait, as the ministry reported.

The specialists of Veteran Affairs Ministry gathered enough information about people involved in the act of armed aggression at the vessels of Ukraines Navy, which were captured by law enforcers on November 25, 2018, in Kerch Strait. Besides, against the so-called investigators, prosecutors and judges who held politically motivated persecutions, trials over Ukrainian citizens in the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, the message said.

The ministry along with the Crimean Human Rights group prepared a draft regulation on imposing restrictive measures against a few dozens people. It is submitted to profile bodies for agreement.

Then the draft regulation will be submitted for the consideration of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and in the case of adoption by the government, it will become the ground for the adoption of the decision on the sanctions by the National Security and Defense Council.

On September 7, the first stage of the prisoners exchange took place between Kyiv and Moscow in 35 for 35 format.

24 Ukrainian sailors and 11 political prisoners - already ex-political prisoners - captured by Russia over the past five years, returned to Ukraine. Faces of the released Ukrainian sailors, left activist Oleksandr Kolchenko, filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, journalist Roman Sushchenko, Crimean Tatar Edem Bekirov and the rest of former captives were seen in the crowd.
A new article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) reviews evidence that suggests an association between excessive smartphone and social media use and mental distress and suicidality among adolescents. The authors say this should be among the factors considered by clinicians and researchers who work in the field of youth mental health: http://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.190434

The analysis, led by The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), focuses on smartphone use and does not consider online gaming. It contains guidance for physicians, parents and teachers on how to help teens manage smartphone and social media use for a healthy balance between sleep, academic work, social activity, interpersonal relationships and online activity.

"Physicians, teachers and families need to work together with youth to decrease possible harmful effects of smartphones and social media on their relationships, sense of self, sleep, academic performance, and emotional well-being," says lead author Dr. Elia Abi-Jaoude, Staff Psychiatrist, SickKids, and Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario.

Topics discussed in the analysis include:

What are the effects of social media on adolescents' sense of self?

Can social media encourage self-harm?

Does excessive smartphone use affect mental health?

How does social media and smartphone use affect sleep required for mental health?

Are some teens more vulnerable to mental health effects than others?

How can physicians use this information in clinical practice?

"Given the importance of engaging youth in mitigating potential harms from social media, a prohibitionist approach would be counterproductive," write the authors.

"For adolescents today, who have not known a world without social media, digital interactions are the norm, and the potential benefits of online access to productive mental health information -- including media literacy, creativity, self-expression, sense of belonging and civic engagement -- as well as low barriers to resources such as crisis lines and Internet-based talking therapies cannot be discounted."

Suggestions to help teens manage smartphone and social media use include:

Physicians - Recommend teens reduce social media use rather than eradicate it completely. Encourage parents to be part of the conversations.

Parents - Discuss appropriate smartphone use with teenagers to determine together how to reduce risks and set boundaries. Model responsible smartphone use.

Schools - Negotiate developmentally appropriate smartphone use in the context of a relationship built on mutual trust and respect for autonomy.

Resources, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics Family Media Use Plan, a Family Media Toolkit and information from the Center for Humane Technology provide tips on how to develop social media use plans and support youth.

A recent poll from the US indicates that 54% of teens think they spend too much time on their smartphones and about half said they were cutting back on usage.

"Encouragingly, youth are increasingly recognizing the negative impact of social media on their lives and starting to take steps to mitigate it," write the authors.

###

"Smartphones, social media use and youth mental health" is published February 10, 2020.

Podcast permanent link: https://soundcloud.com/cmajpodcasts/190434-ana
Scottish First Minister defended a Brexit Day stunt carried out by the SNP today - after it was revealed the party has been reported to Belgian police by the EU.

The Scottish nationalists projected what Ms Sturgeon said was 'a really positive show of love and solidarity from Scotland to Europe' on the side of the European Commission's Berlaymont headquarters on January 31.

But the Commission confirmed this morning that it had not given permission for the love heart to be beamed onto the face to the office and had therefore informed Brussels' city police.

It was an embarrassing situation for Ms Sturgeon, who was in the Belgian capital today to woo EU leaders and discuss her plans for Scotland's future.

Speaking at the European Policy Centre think tank she said: 'I have not met anybody here today who has been particularly upset or at all upset by it.

Speaking at the European Policy Centre think tank Ms Sturgeon said: 'I have not met anybody here today who has been particularly upset or at all upset by it'

The Scottish nationalists projected what Ms Sturgeon said was 'a really positive show of love and solidarity from Scotland to Europe' on the side of the European Commission's Berlaymont headquarters on January 31

'It's not there first time a message has been projected onto the Berleymont and I'm sure it won't be the last.

'Whether it is the commission building or House of Commons and Big Ben in London or the Scottish Parliamenty in Edinburgh, it is quite a common and well-tried way of sending a message and making a point.

'It was a very strong point of solitary from Scotland to the European Union.'

It came after an SNP MP who won a landmark legal case against Boris Johnson's prorogation of Parliament warned he faces legal action if he blocks a new vote on Scottish independence.

The (SNP) wants a second referendum to be held now that Britain has left the European Union, as a majority north of the border with England wanted to stay in the bloc.

The Prime Minister has refused to transfer powers from London to the devolved government in Edinburgh under the Scotland Act for a new vote to be held.

But home affairs spokeswoman Joanna Cherry suggested the Scottish Parliament should support a non-binding consultative referendum, then let judges decide if it had the power to do so under the legislation.

'Boris Johnson should be put on notice that we have options and we are not afraid to push forward,' She wrote on Twitter on Sunday.

'The balance of legal opinion is that we might well win any court challenge & I don't believe that losing would set us back any further than where we are just now.'

Some 55 percent of Scots voted to remain part of the United Kingdom in 2014, seemingly taking the issue off the table in what was described as a 'once-in-a-generation' decision.

But nationalists argue Brexit represents a material change in Scotland's constitutional arrangements with the UK government in London.
South Africa: Spotlight on private sector's contribution to NDP

The private sectors contribution to the realisation of South Africas social development agenda will come under the spotlight at a high-level roundtable discussion on Tuesday.

As part of accelerating governments implementation of the National Development Plan (NDP) - Vision 2030 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu will participate in a high-level roundtable panel discussion in Cape Town.

Held under the theme, The role that the private sector can play in reimagining social development, the roundtable discussion will bring together business leaders from retail and financial sectors to discuss the contribution of the private sector to the realisation of the social development agenda in South Africa.

The panel discussion, which is organised in partnership with GovChat, is premised on the understanding that the attainment of the goals of the NDP rely on all sectors of society.

The private sector increasingly plays an important role as a key partner in tackling the developmental challenges facing South Africa. The roundtable, therefore, creates an opportunity for leaders of the private sector to engage the Minister and to identify potential areas of collaboration and partnerships with the department, the department said in a statement.

In response to the rapidly changing technological environment, and the need to digitise public services, Zulu will also use the roundtable to officially launch the department on the GovChat platform, which will enable citizens across the country to interact and to report on service delivery related matters at any of the 30 000 government facilities countrywide.

Data collated will provide a real-time, centralised complaints management reporting system (CMS), as well as an early-warning system (EWS), the department said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-02-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
[February 10, 2020] MEDIA ALERT: Alation to Match Donations to Assist in Australian Fire Recovery Efforts

Next week at the annual Gartner Data & Analytics Summit, being held February 17-18, 2020 in Sydney, Australia, Alation, the data catalog company, will offer attendees who visit its booth at the conference (#S2) the opportunity to choose a charity they would like the company to donate $5 AUD to. For every $5 AUD raised, Alation will also match funds for that specific charity. The charities attendees can choose from include the Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors, the Australian Red Cross or the NSW Rural Fire Service. Additionally, Alation customer, Belong, an Australian-based mobile provider, will present in a session at the conference on Tuesday, February 18, 2020 at 3:05pm AET. Belong's senior business intelligence specialist, Angela Fraga, will highlight Alation's award-winning Data Catalog in a session titled "Belong: Creating a Single-Source (News - Alert) of Reference with the Alation Data Catalog," which will be held in the Exhibit Showcase Theater 1 at the conference. Fraga will take attendees through Belong's digital transformation journey as self-service data analytics have become central within the organization and she will discuss how this has accelerated their growth, as well as enabled them to deliver an improved customer experience. She will explain the framework the company has deployed to achieve these results and highlight how the Alation Data Catalog has served as its single source of reference for trusted data and greater collaboration across the company.







WHO: Angela Fraga, senior business intelligence specialist at Belong WHAT: "Belong: Creating a Single-Source of Reference with the Alation Data Catalog" WHEN: February 18, 2020 at 3:05pm AET WHERE: Gartner (News - Alert) Data & Analytics Summit 2020 (Alation booth #S2) International Convention Centre Sydney 14 Darling Dr. Darling Harbour Sydney, NSW 2000

As the first data catalog to market, Alation combines machine learning and human collaboration to help people find, understand, trust and use data so they can remain focused on business outcomes. Schedule a demo of the Alation Data Catalog here.

Visit Alation at booth #S2.

Read about the charities we're supporting at the Gartner Data & Analytics Summit on our blog. About Alation: Alation, the data catalog company, is building a data-fluent world by changing the way people find, understand, trust, use, and reuse data. The first to bring a data catalog to market, Alation combines machine learning and human collaboration to bring confidence to data-driven decisions. More than 170 organizations, including eBay (News - Alert), Exelon, Munich Re and Pfizer, leverage the Alation Data Catalog. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Alation is funded by Costanoa Ventures, DCVC (Data Collective), Harmony Partners, Icon Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and Sapphire Ventures. For more information, visit alation.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200210005105/en/

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Great Armenian poet Razmik Davoyan dies

2 new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh

Deputy PM Matevosyan: About 1,190 subvention programs implemented in Armenia from 2018 to 2021

243 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia MP: It would be right to put pressure on Azerbaijanis to remove their firing positions

Nearly 10,000 people detained in Kazakhstan in connection with riots

Tokayev: CSTO peacekeepers will pull out from Kazakhstan within 10 days

Newspaper: Armenia businessmen pay customs duties to Azerbaijanis to go to Iran

European Parliament speaker David Sassoli dies

Alikhan Smailov appointed Kazakhstan Prime Minister

Newspaper: Health minister makes decision full of contradictions in terms of Covid-related restrictions in Armenia

Newspaper: Armenia authorities once again showed their being unprincipled, worthless, opposition MP says

Germany teacher who had cannibalism fantasies is sentenced to life in prison

Israel's military and other security services undergo largest rearmament in years

Spain PM calls for a debate to consider COVID-19 endemic disease

Flyone Armenia and Pegasus receive permission for Yerevan-Istanbul-Yerevan flights

Pope condemns "baseless" ideological misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines

Arab foreign ministers to visit Beijing

Azerbaijanis stoned an Armenian car on the Stepanakert-Goris road

Armenian FM has a phone call with his Polish counterpart

Macron travels to French Riviera to discuss internal security issues

Artsakh Foreign Ministry: Azerbaijan's aggressive behavior aims to disrupt Russian peacekeepers' activities

US COVID-19 cases reach 60 million

European Parliament President hospitalized due to immune system dysfunction

Washington and Ankara discuss normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey

WHO excludes emergence of deltacron strain

In Karabakh Azerbaijanis shelled tractor

Indian Defense Minister tests positive for COVID-19

US-Russia talks on security guarantees lasting for seven hours already

NEWS.am daily digest: 10.01.22

Pashinyan appoints Hayk Mkrtchyan as Deputy Governor of Kotayk province

Blast in eastern Afghanistan kills nine children

Pashinyan: One of key priorities of Armenia presidency at CSTO is strengthening of crisis response mechanisms

Internet cut off in Kazakhstan

Armenia, Kazakhstan ombudspersons confer on Armenian communitys rights

Armenia, Russia defense ministers discuss Kazakhstan

Turkey defense minister meets with their envoy in process of normalization of Armenia relations

Iranian Foreign Ministry reports progress in Vienna negotiations

Dollar continues going up in Armenia

New attempt by migrants in Belarus to storm Poland border

Skat Airlines resumes Yerevan-Aktau and Aktau-Yerevan flights

New Covid-related restrictions to be introduced in Armenia

Karabakh police: Firefighters also targeted by Azerbaijan shooting (PHOTOS)

Artsakh Defense Army has not fired on Azerbaijan positions

Azerbaijani military are protesting amid military awards deprivation

Azerbaijanis open fire in Nagorno-Karabakh

Karabakh MFA: Events in Kazakhstan are result of actions planned by Turkey

Armenia army General Staff has new deputy chief

Australia to buy US $ 2.5 billion of armored vehicles

Artsakh emergency service: Search for soldiers remains continued during holidays

Kazakh Colonel Nazanov dies after heart attack

Australia begins to vaccinate children aged 5-11 with COVID-19 vaccine

Putin: Peacekeeping contingent to stay in Kazakhstan for a limited period

Armenia 2nd-President Kocharyan v. premier Pashinyan lawsuit court session is closed

Azerbaijan commandos conduct military exercises

Part of the Great Wall of China collapsed due to earthquake

Armenia MP: Turkey, Azerbaijans regional calculations have mixed up

Copper prices decline

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan v. PM Pashinyan lawsuit trial resumes

Gold is getting cheaper

EU is ready to support in addressing Karabakh crisis

126 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Fire in residential building in New York leaves 19 people killed

National Center for Infectious Diseases Yerevan branch employees protesting outside center

Karabakh President: Radical Pan-Turkic circles are actively involved in process in Kazakhstan

Oil is getting more expensive

Mars helicopter Ingenuity preparing for difficult 19th flight

Interior ministry: About 8,000 people detained in Kazakhstan

Earthquake hits Armenia-Azerbaijan border zone

Researchers create substitute for egg whites from fungus

Kazakhstan official information channel removes message about 164 casualties

EC says construction of new nuclear power plants in Europe will require  500 billion in investment

Ghost ship that sank 343 years ago discovered in US

Post-COVID-19 antibodies may attack healthy cells, scientists say

Pope says he was praying for Kazakhstan

Media: 164 people die in Kazakhstan during riots

Peskov: CSTO session does not plan to sign documents yet

Criminal cases launched after bomb threat in Armenian, Belarus embassies in Moscow

Norwegian military surrender panties before demobilization

Iranian MFA says Tehran is ready for talks on downed plane of UIA Ukraine
Ive almost gotten used to seeing an off-duty police officer in an idling squad car when I park at Whole Foods. Inside, a private security guard patrols the aisles. Some businesses along East Central have taken to buzzing in customers one at a time. In one shop I visited recently, big-screen monitors allowed the proprietor to keep watch on his front and back doors.

Such conspicuous security measures are some of the immediate costs to business associated with Albuquerques astonishing crime rate. But there are longer-term costs, too, which are harder to calculate with an accountants precision. These can be approached through demographics.

According to Census Bureau estimates, New Mexico has added a total of just 37,650 residents since 2010, for a 1.8% rate of growth. During the same period, the nation as a whole grew by 6.3%. The other Four Corners states and Texas more than doubled the national average. More people have moved to California since 2010 than live in New Mexico.

The well-documented difficulty of recruiting doctors to practice here is surely both a cause and effect of our flatlining growth. Meanwhile, New Mexico is projected to have the fourth-largest percentage of elderly residents by 2030, according to the states Aging and Long-Term Services Department. The rapid aging of our population is all the more remarkable given the hostility to retirees evidenced by our Social Security tax. Our population is aging swiftly not because old folks are moving in but because young people are moving out.

Those dismal trends dont encourage entrepreneurs looking for a place to start a business or established companies seeking to expand. As with all complex social dynamics, many factors are doubtless involved, but no explanation is complete until it comes to terms with the most dramatic statistics of all, the ones that directly measure the effectiveness of our legal system. According to FBI figures, in 2018 the city of Albuquerques violent crime rate (a composite measure of homicide, serious violent attacks, rape and robbery) was 3.7 times the national average.

By comparison, Denvers violent crime rate was just over half of Albuquerques. Colorados statewide rate hovers near the national average. New Mexico is #2 in the nation. New Mexico is fifth in homicides, Colorado 28th. The two states have much in common but when it comes to personal safety theyre not even similar. One obvious difference between them is their legal systems.

Do an internet search for most dangerous state and see what a reputation New Mexico has built for itself. That reputation goes a long way toward explaining the dismal demographic trends, I think.

Nor do the statistics lie. Ive lived in the same near Heights neighborhood for 30 years and never heard gunshots until a few years ago. Since then, its become a familiar sound, not common but no longer rare. Usually the shots are distant. But two years ago my son and I heard a person being murdered at a shopping center just a few blocks away. It was loud. That murder remains unsolved.

On a different day, a person was shot at a nearby park and staggered up the street before collapsing at the foot of my driveway. EMTs left his sliced-off clothes behind. That shooting didnt make the news, from which I gather the victim survived. And mine is a nice neighborhood.

There are only three ways to move crime statistics significantly. The first is to change the behavior of criminals. If that were easy to do, crime wouldnt be a problem. The second is to change the behavior of potential victims, which is much easier to accomplish. Business investment in security is just one example.

Globally, crime rates began dropping in the mid-1990s as the internet took off. People who stay behind locked doors playing video games and streaming movies, shopping online and getting their meals and groceries delivered, are at minimal risk (except perhaps of repetitive stress injuries). But part of the cost of their increased safety is paid by local businesses, including fees paid by restaurants to those delivery services. Crime affects the bottom line in many ways, not all of them obvious.

The only other method for changing crime statistics is to alter the method of measurement. No one should have been surprised that reported 30% drops in the incidence of various crimes in Albuquerque turned out to be mostly counting errors. Genuine social change rarely happens so abruptly.

Nothing our legal system does has more immediate effect on business than its administration of criminal law. I know from readers that crime is much on everyones mind. This column will return to the subject more frequently in the future.

Joel Jacobsen is an author who recently retired from a 29-year legal career. If there are topics you would like to see covered, please write him at legal.column.tips@gmail.com.
The top court also upheld Centre's directive that anticipatory bail to the accused charged with atrocities against SC/ST will not be provided. Courts can, however, quash FIRs in exceptional circumstances.

The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the amendments made by the Centre in Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCs/STs) (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2018, that rules out any provision for anticipatory bail for a person accused of atrocities against SC/STs.

The amendments were brought to nullify the effects of the 20 March, 2018, judgment of the top court diluting the stringent provisions of the Act.

In the amended SC/ST Act, no preliminary probe by the police would be required for registering a criminal case. No prior approval of appointing authorities for senior police officers is needed to file FIRs in cases of atrocities on SC and ST.

#SupremeCourt upholds Govt's 2018 amendments in the SC/ST Act: * Preliminary enquiry not a must * No prior approval of appointing authority, senior cops reqd before FIRs * Anticipatory bail provision not available * Courts can however quash FIRs in exceptional circumstances  Utkarsh Anand (@utkarsh_aanand) February 10, 2020

The top court also upheld Centre's directive that anticipatory bail to the accused charged with atrocities against SC/STs will not be provided. Courts can, however, quash FIRs in exceptional circumstances.

However, the bench of Justice Arun Mishra, Justice Vineet Saran and Justice Ravindra penned down a separate order, adding a caveat that pre-arrest bail should be granted only in extraordinary situations where refusal of bail would imply miscarriage of justice.

Earlier in October 2019, the apex court bench had given a hint that it will uphold amendments made by the Centre in SC/ST Act to restore immediate arrest and ban anticipatory bail.

"We are not diluting any provisions... these provisions will not be struck down. Law should be as it was... They will be left as it was prior to the judgment on review petition and amendments in the Act," it had observed.

The apex court had also said it will also clarify that police can hold a preliminary probe before taking any action on a complaint under SC/ST Act, in case it is of prima facie view that complaints are false.

The bench had observed that with regard to anticipatory bail, the judgment of the Constitution Bench passed earlier had held that it can be granted in cases where a prima facie case under the SC/ST Act is not made out.

The old provision would be restored stand in the light of the review judgment delivered on 30 September, 2019, the court had remarked.

By 30 September verdict, the apex court's three-judge bench had recalled its 20 March, 2018, order that had diluted the stringent provisions of the SC/ST Act while restoring automatic arrest in such cases.

It had also recalled order on the preliminary probe by the police before the arrest.

By 20 March, 2018 verdict, the two-judge bench of the apex court had held that there will be no automatic arrest on a complaint filed under the Act had also introduced anticipatory bail provision under the Act.

The Centre had filed a review petition before the top court pleading to review its order passed on 20 March, 2018. However, the Centre had made amendments in the Act to overcome the top court's order diluting the provision of arrest under the law.

The amendments provide that no preliminary inquiry would be required for registering a criminal case and an arrest under this law would not be subject to any approval.

A bunch of pleas opposing amendments to the SC/ST Act were filed in the Supreme Court alleging that Parliament had "arbitrarily" decided to amend the law.

With inputs from PTI
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A state senator, former Auburn city councilor, an activist and chair of the Cayuga County Democratic Committee are among the delegates from New York's 24th Congressional District for five of the candidates vying for the party's presidential nomination.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Andrew Yang filed their delegates from New York who would represent them at the Democratic National Convention in July.

Biden's delegates include Dia Carabajal, who recently served as an Auburn city councilor. She is one of seven central New Yorkers chosen to be Biden delegates. She is joined by Diane Dwire, a longtime Democratic Party official who ran for state Assembly in 2016 and 2018, and Onondaga County Legislator Peggy Chase.

The delegates for Warren are a who's who of central New Yorkers. The list includes state Sen. Rachel May, Cayuga County Democratic Chairman Ian Phillips, former Auburn Mayor Melina Carnicelli, Syracuse University professor and activist Thomas Keck and Scott Comegys, an alpaca farmer in Wayne County and Democratic candidate for state Assembly.

Sanders' delegates include Maurice "Mo" Brown, a central New York activist who founded Uplift Syracuse; Prerna Deer, who is vice chair of the town of Manlius Democrats; and Karin Wikoff, a Cayuga County resident.

The candidates' performance in the New York primary, which will be held April 28, will determine how many delegates they get for the convention. New York will award 320 delegates, 184 of which will be based on performance in each of the state's 27 congressional districts.

In the 24th district, there will be seven delegates up for grabs. To receive any delegates, a candidate must get at least 15% of the vote.

The Delegates

Bernie Sanders

Maurice Brown, Kellie Brauchle, Ian MacNeil, Prerna Deer, Gary Weinstein, Karin Wikoff, Leeland Whitted

Joe Biden

Bruce Connor, Margaret "Peggy" Chase, Daniel Farfaglia, Diane Dwire, Bernard B. Washington, Jr., Dia Carabajal, William Scott

Elizabeth Warren

Jerome Camp, Rachel May, Thomas Keck, Colleen Gibbons, Ian Phillips, Melina Carnicelli, Scott Comegys

Pete Buttigieg

John Sullivan, Lisa Sacco, James Monto III, M. Rita Tickle, Phillip Precourt, Ramona Ann McConnell, Paul Lynch

Andrew Yang

Robert Bezy, Ann Remsey, Kenneth Stack, Danielle Flipski, Michael McCarthy, Farah Ibrahim, Nicholas Caruso

Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

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Its barely been a month since Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, announced their shocking decision to leave the fold of the royal family. After two years of trying to find their footing in the restrictive confines of royal life amid the racism that was constantly hurled toward Markle  the duo decided they could no longer continue.

On Jan.8, 2020  the pair announced they would be stepping down as senior members of the royal family to carve out progressive new roles for themselves. Though theyd hoped to represent the queen part-time, things didnt quite work out as planned. Instead, the pair will be financially independent private citizens.

Though this is not exactly what they had hoped, for the Sussexes are reportedly relieved, and ultimately Prince Harry felt like he had no choice. The decision that I have made for my wife and I to step back is not one I made lightly, he said in a speech during a reception for his charity, Sentebale. 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.

Since then, the Sussexes have been hiding out on Vancouver Island. This is what theyve been up to.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are making plans for their future

Though theyve isolated themselves for the now  the Sussexes are actively creating a plan to become financially independent. 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,

It looks like the duo is also trying to decide if it would be logistically possible for them to spend the summer in Los Angeles. Not only would this put them closer to Markles mother, Doria Ragland, it would also provide them with a chance to take major meetings.

Vancouver Island is very quiet and private

Though the paparazzi have snapped a few photos of the Sussexes, theyve mostly been able to keep to themselves. The locals on Vancouver Island respect them and vice-versa. Prior to Megxit and during their Christmas vacation, the pair were able to be out and about on the island without anyone disturbing them.

Horth Hills become a very popular place now. And they jog around, so theyve been seen, Deep Cove Chalet co-owner Bev Koffel said. Its kind of exciting. I hope everything goes fine for them. Theyre breaking away from tradition and I just wish them all the best.

It looks like this is the perfect place for the Sussexes after a whirlwind two years. 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.

Inside Meghan Markle and Prince Harrys daily routine in Canada

Since they are no longer on a rigorous working royal schedule, the Sussexes have become homebodies. They both love to be outside and have been loving it there, a source revealed to People. When theyre not doing yoga or eating in, Harry will pick up sandwiches at a local spot, and Meghan walks her beloved rescue beagle Guy and the couples adopted Labrador. They go for long walks, they do yoga, and Meghan cooks. They are real homebodies who love to chill out with Archie and the dogs.

Still, they will be launching a new charitable entity soon. The pair are already in the process of trademarking, Sussex Royal. These plans take a lot of time, and staff are putting in the legwork to prepare it properly and make sure it delivers on the expectations and the couples ambitions, the insider continued. Its full throttle for them right now. They have a lot happening in 2020, and it will be really exciting to see.
The Congress on Monday alleged that 4.5 lakh toilets under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) in Madhya Pradesh existed only on paper and claimed this was a Rs 540 crore scam perpetrated during the previous Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government.

Hitting back, the BJP dared the Kamal Nath government in the state to order a probe and act against the guilty.

In a statement, Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) media cell chairperson Shobha Oza said a survey found that 4.5 lakh toilets, costing Rs 540 crore, did not even exist.

"These were constructed only on paper and it is certain this figure (of non-existent toilets) will go up after a detailed investigation into the matter," Oza claimed.

She added that the revelation also proved claims made by the Narendra Modi government at the Centre and the previous Chouhan government in the state about Open Defecation Free (ODF) villages were "hollow".

"The period under Chouhan was a dark age for MP. Officials and the government were engaged in rampant corruption under the patronage of Chouhan," Oza said.

On the other hand, the Congress government under chief minister Kamal Nath was taking steps for the welfare of the poor and was taking severe action against mafia elements in different sectors, Oza claimed.

In reply, state BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agarwal said, "The Congress is only making allegations to mislead the people. Instead of making allegations, the Congress government in MP should conduct an inquiry and take action against the guilty.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Houston police are investigating the discovery of a mans body found next to an industrial roadway Monday in southwest Houston.

City of Houston workers were clearing trash on a road called Parcel 3 near the intersection of Hiram Clark Road and Alt. U.S. 90. when they spotted the man's body face-down in a pile of debris. The man appears to have been shot, Houston Police Department homicide detective Brian Evans.
The Supreme Court today said the anti-CAA protesters at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh cannot block public roads and create inconvenience for others. Read more

Here's more top news of the day:

1) No Recession Because People Wear Jackets, Watch Movies, Take Cabs: Politicians Laughable Logic

Reuters

Bharatiya Janata Party MP Virendra Singh Mast added to the list of bizarre comments made by his party leaders to defend the dismal state of economy. The MP from Uttar Pradesh's Ballia claimed, there is no recession in the country as people are still "wearing coats and jackets instead of traditional kurta and dhoti." Read more

2) Kerala Is The Best Performing State For Girls Education, Uttar Pradesh Fares The Worst

Representational Image

The southern Indian state of Kerala continues to perform well on social prosperity indices. According to the data released by the government, Kerala is the best performing state for education of girls. Read more

3) Numbers Don't Lie: As Budget Falls Short Of Expectations, Economic Revival A Distant Dream

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a woeful 5 per cent  far below the expected 7.4 per cent, even as the government emphatically claims to become a $5 trillion economy by 2024. Read more

4) No Country For Women: 25-Year-Old Professor Set Afire By Stalker Dies, Family Seeks Justice

Representational Image

Ankita Pisudde, resident of Hinganghat town in Wardha, had been critical after sustaining 35 to 40 per cent "grade III" burns on February 3 when she was set afire allegedly by one Vikesh Nagrale (27) while she was on way to her college, the family told news agency PTI. Read more

5) Watch: Gargi Students Want Principal's Resignation After Harassment By Drunk Outsiders At Fest

According to eye-witness accounts and posts by students and teachers on social media, during the college festival 'Reverie' around 6:30 pm on Thursday, packs of unruly, drunk men mobbed the entrances of the college in South Delhi and forced their way in. Read more
A group representing nurses trained in Substance Misuse Treatment Services has said some people cant access proper treatment quickly enough because their members have not been given the green light to prescribe drugs like methadone.

The Health Research Board has previously said that in Ireland, where independent nurse prescribing of opioid substitute therapy (OST) is currently not permitted, the rate of drug-related deaths is high at over 3.5 times the European average.

The Irish national drugs strategy Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery, 2017-2025 said the feasibility of nurse prescribing of OST should be explored. Previously, the Department of Health said it would satisfy the strategic objectives of Slaintecare, which include increased access to person-centred and equitable healthcare nationally.

However, no progress has been made towards that aim and the Ireland chapter of the International Nurses Society on Addictions said it needs to be prioritised by the next government.

Peter Kelly, board member of The Ireland chapter of IntNSA, said: If the next government places a value on delivering safe and cost-effective treatment for people who are dependent on drugs then it is imperative that they amend the legislation around nurse prescribing of opiate substitution therapy and that nurse prescribing is fully operationalised in practice.

"Our membership informs us that people who are dependent on drugs are not able to access treatment in a timely manner with waiting lists in some community treatment services between four to six months. This is a very long time for a person with complex needs who is in the middle of an acute crisis.

In some prisons, people are not being initiated onto methadone because community services cannot provide assurances of a place in treatment when they are released.

"This all places vulnerable people at higher risk of further drug use and death. Implementing nurse prescribing of methadone and buprenorphine can address these gaps in provision and will save lives.

"We [IntNSA] estimate that there are at least 20 and possibly up to 40 fully trained and highly competent nurse prescribers working in the addiction field in Ireland, some of whom are already prescribing in a limited way, but unlike in other countries, the legislation here does not allow them to independently prescribe drugs like methadone and buprenorphine. Wasting a safe, valuable and life saving resource like this is without justification.

Irish nurses already working in the area of drug treatment said OST nurse prescribing would be cost-effective, would reduce the risk to high-risk drug users and could open the way to the expansion of nurse-led mobile teams, including prescribers, that could help access marginalised groups.
Nifty50 remained in the negative terrain for the second consecutive session on February 10 as fast-spreading China's coronavirus raised fears over global growth.

The index managed to defend 12,000-mark, but closed below 50-day exponential moving average (which placed around 12,054) and formed a bearish candle on daily charts as closing was far lower than the opening price.

After a consistent fall since the start of February, the volatility increased a bit today. India VIX moved up by 3.35 percent to 14.21 levels.

Experts expect the consolidation to continue and feel the 11,990 (today's intraday low) could be an important level for direction on either side in the coming session.

The Nifty50 after opening flat at 12,102.35 fell sharply as the day progressed and hit an intraday low of 11,990.75 in the morning itself, followed by a bit of recovery in late trade. The index closed 66.90 points down at 12,031.50.

"As per the recent observations, as long as it sustains below the middle Bollinger band it should eventually head towards lower Bollinger band whose value is present around 11,741. Interestingly the said value falls around the bullish gap zone of 11,78311,749 levels registered on February 4," Mazhar Mohammad, Chief Strategist  Technical Research & Trading Advisory, Chartviewindia.in told Moneycontrol.

He said as the twin momentum oscillators also generated a sell signal, Nifty shall once again come under selling pressure if trades below 11,990 levels for at least 30 minutes tomorrow.

In such a scenario breach of 11,950 looks inevitable which shall then facilitate the downside target placed in the zone of 11,78311,749 levels, he added.

"Contrary to this some sideways consolidation can be expected if Nifty manages to close above 12,100 levels. Therefore positional traders are advised to create fresh shorts on breach of 11,950 levels on a closing basis and look for a target of 11,770," Mazhar Mohammad said.

On the options front, maximum Put open interest was seen at 12,000 followed by 11,500 strike while maximum Call open interest was at 12,500 followed by 12,200 strike.

Put writing was seen at 12,000 then 11,700 strike while Call writing was seen at 12,000 followed by 12,200 strike.

Bank Nifty witnessed selling pressure from the initial trades and corrected below 31,000 mark intraday. It negated its higher lows formation after four trading sessions and formed a bearish candle on a daily chart. The index closed at 31,058.20, down 0.46 percent.

"At the current juncture, it is sustaining above the Falling Channel breakout level and 50 DEMA. Supports remain intact at 31,00030,800 zone and sustenance above the support zone may lead to an extension in the ongoing move towards 31,500 then 31,750 levels," Chandan Taparia, Vice President | Analyst-Derivatives at Motilal Oswal Financial Services said.
The participants in an upcoming inquest into the death of Chad Williams, who was killed by Winnipeg police last January, will be determined at a standing hearing in April.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/2/2020 (700 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The participants in an upcoming inquest into the death of Chad Williams, who was killed by Winnipeg police last January, will be determined at a standing hearing in April.

Williams was shot in a West End yard on Jan. 11 after police responded to reports of a man acting suspiciously. After a chase, police said Williams pulled out an unspecified weapon, and three officers fired shots at the 26-year-old.

Chad Williams was shot and killed by police during a confrontation in January 2019. (Facebook)

Emergency crews were called and police attempted to resuscitate Williams, but he died the next morning at the Health Sciences Centre. An autopsy determined he had been shot six times.

Under the provincial Fatality Inquiries Act, the chief medical examiner called an inquest into Williams' death to explore if anything could be done to prevent similar deaths in the future, according to a statement from Manitoba Justice sent out Monday.

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Before the inquest begins, a judge must determine who can participate in the process and will question witnesses. Individuals or groups can apply to be granted standing by contacting the inquest council, Jeanelle Allard, at 204-726-6013 or jeanelle.allard@gov.mb.ca by March 23.

The officers involved in Williams' death were cleared of any wrongdoing in September following an investigation by the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba.

In the IIU report, police provided witness statements saying Williams was armed with a hatchet or axe-like weapon, and that he had refused orders to drop it. Witness officers also said tasers were used, but weren't effective.

"Following a detailed review of this comprehensive investigation, it is my view that the use of lethal force by the subject officers was justified and unavoidable," the IIU's civilian director Zane Tessler wrote in his report.

The standing hearing into Williams' death will take place April 6 at 10 a.m., in courtroom 408 at the Manitoba Law Courts on York Avenue.

ben.waldman@freepress.mb.ca
Istanbul, Turkey -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/10/2020 -- Istanbul, Turkey- Damas Turk Real Estate Company is out to make a difference when it comes to real estate investment in Turkey by providing a professionally-managed channel for all investors. The focus on utilizing the industry's best practices and the global perspective that the company holds has given it a competitive edge in the fast-growing sector. Consequently, these foundational pillars have seen Damas Turk Real Estate Company become the most sought-after real estate company by investors looking for lucrative opportunities.



Speaking about the values and principles that dictate their operations, the company's spokesperson remarked, "Even as the real estate industry in Turkey is booming, as an investor, you need to avoid any potential risks when looking to invest in the nation. While there are hundreds of real estate companies all promising the best solutions, few have the high levels of professionalism and integrity that we maintain. We equally run our operations with lots of seriousness and follow the law to the latter to ensure there is never a loophole through the entire process."



There has never been a better time for individuals who want to invest in Turkey to get onboard, than currently when the real estate prices are still favorable. This has been made simpler by Damas Turk Real Estate Company that has positioned itself as the strategic partner for both local and foreign investors. With market analytics showing a brighter future for the industry, property investments in the country are guaranteed to offer high returns. Damas Turk Real Estate Company further offers double benefits to its clients as it provides properties that are strategically located in high-demand regions.



Talking about the project DS230 in Istanbul, the company's spokesperson said, "As a major city in Turkey, Istanbul continues to attract lots of attention from investors given its strong economy and massive size. Over the past decade, there have been ambitious projects in the city, with the latest one being the DS230. This mega project is still under construction and is a suitable Istanbul property for sale for all investors who want to take advantage of its current low prices. On completion, the project will have 270 apartments, 56 luxury penthouses, and 40 duplex apartments besides including an extensive range of amenities."



It is now possible to get Turkish citizenship by investing in real estate, thanks to a presidential decree and laws that were first implemented in September 2018. Since then, Damas Turk Real Estate Company has been at the forefront of assisting foreign investors in using this channel to become Turkish citizens. The company has an in-house team of legal professionals who are ever available to guide a client to citizenship through property ownership.



About Damas Turk Real Estate Company

Damas Turk Real Estate Company has created a platform for Turks, Arabs, and foreign investors to gain from the current property boom in Turkey by giving them access to an extensive range of properties in the nation.
In Africa, charcoal is ubiquitous as an energy source for cooking, even in urban areas where electricity and gas are available. Yet when Catherine Nabukalu was taking courses on energy as part of her master's degree in environmental studies at Penn, she noticed charcoal was often left out of the conversation about energy sources and their contribution to global carbon emissions.

"We would systematically go through coal, then nuclear, then hydropower, then geothermal, solar, etc.," says Nabukalu, now a project coordinator at the District of Columbia Sustainable Energy Utility. "You become aware that something is missing. Just because you don't have electricity, doesn't mean you don't have energy."

Reto Giere, a professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science, encouraged her to research charcoal as an energy source for her final paper in his course, Energy, Waste, and the Environment. He then helped her get funding to travel to her native Uganda to continue to pursue the topic as an independent project that they conceptualized together. Nabukalu and Giere shared the findings in a paper published in the journal Resources.

"I'm African, and I've used charcoal personally," says Nabukalu. "It's not fun to use, cooking is often not a healthy or enjoyable experience, but it's a big part of the energy mix. It's not the only source, but it's one of them."

As a step toward better understanding the full life cycle of charcoal, from creation to consumption, Nabukalu spent time at a number of sites in Uganda where charcoal is created, traded, sold, and consumed. She observed and interviewed participants at each of these stages and reviewed the literature about charcoal production and use worldwide. Giere and Nabukalu shared some of the key results from this research with Penn Today that shed light on an overlooked source of energy.

Producing charcoal supports a nomadic lifestyle

In the locations Nabukalu visited, people produced charcoal by felling trees, stacking their trunks, and covering them with branches and leaves. A final layer of damp soil serves to keep as much oxygen as possible out when the pile is set alight. In this way, the wood undergoes pyrolysis instead of combustion, leaving behind carbon-dense charcoal.

These kiln installations are created and used only once. "In some cases, this necessitates that the people who use them are nomads," Giere notes.

Indeed, some workers interviewed had moved to northern Uganda from the central region specifically for the opportunity to produce charcoal. "Some were entrepreneurs who moved on their own because they thought the trees were disappearing in the more southern areas," says Nabukalu. "But others were contracted by entrepreneurs that had informal companies to do this work."

Charcoal production takes a serious environmental toll and is difficult to regulate

Despite efforts by the Ugandan government to regulate charcoal production, it takes place by and large on private lands and thus is nearly impossible to suppress. "Partially, it's because the government has limited power on private land, but also there is strong demand for the product," Nabukalu says. Neighboring Tanzania attempted a ban that lasted only a couple of weeks, she found, as prices for charcoal soared on a quickly established black market.

For landowners, allowing charcoal production on their property can be a win-win. They may wish to clear land for agriculture and can invite charcoal producers onto their land, receiving a portion of the proceeds of the product's eventual sale. For the producers, it gives them a source of income without needing to own land.

While this type of small-scale charcoal production doesn't involve clearcutting, it still leads to forest degradation as the felled trees are unlikely to be replaced. Each year, Africa produces 24.5 million metric tons of charcoal, nearly 60% of the world's supply. In addition, much of the supply chain is informal, without any oversight. With traders selling charcoal far from where it is sourced, it is hard to track or quantify how much is actually being produced.

"I think a lot of reports grossly underestimate how much charcoal is being produced and used," Nabukalu says.

Access to alternative energy sources does not eliminate the use of charcoal

Nabukalu knew from personal experience that access to electricity did not obviate charcoal use. "It's a matter of home economics," she says. "When cooking, either you're going to use charcoal which you've already paid for, or you're going to turn on the gas or the electricity, but you don't know how high the bill will be."

In her research she found that Egypt, a country with a diversified mix of modern sources of energy, was still a top producer and importer of charcoal.

That's true not only in Africa but around the world.

"Take a look at Europe: Having wide and reliable access to electricity hasn't stopped usage there," she says, noting that Germany is the world's top charcoal importer. "You could ask," Giere says, "do people in Germany really need to be using it? There it's for a Sunday barbecue as a leisure fuel, whereas in Uganda it's used for daily cooking."

Cooking with charcoal can be dangerous

Nabukalu and Giere note the health impacts of cooking with charcoal, especially when done without proper ventilation.

"Burning biomass of any kind, whether it be firewood or charcoal, in a confined space exposes those nearby to fumes containing gases and particulates," says Giere. "Similarly, producing the charcoal generates vapors during the pyrolysis process, including carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and methane, which all deteriorate air quality in the area surrounding the kilns."

In follow-up work, Hope Elliott, a student in Penn's Master of Science in Applied Geology program, also working with Giere, is analyzing samples of the charcoal Nabukalu collected. In her research, Elliot is determining the chemical makeup of the charcoal and, by extension, the potential health effects of burning it.

###
The Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government is planning to introduce a bill this month in the state assembly to make it mandatory for schools affiliated to national board like the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) to teach Marathi, officials aware of the matter said on Monday.

The state is studying laws enacted by Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, and Kerala making it mandatory for schools affiliated to national boards in these states to teach local languages.

Maharashtras Marathi Language Department will introduce the bill on the first day of the state assemblys budget session on February 24 to implement the mandatory teaching of Marathi from this academic year starting June.

Besides looking into the existing laws of these states [Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, and Kerala], we are also planning to hold brainstorming sessions with stakeholders, including school managements, before introducing the bill, said Marathi Language Department secretary Prajakta Lawangare.

A School Education Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they are making it mandatory to introduce Marathi as one of the two compulsory languages in all schools. Many ICSE and CBSE schools treat Marathi as optional language and the marks scored in this subject are not calculated in final results. It will be introduced from Class 1 and Class 5 simultaneously so that the language is made compulsory over the next five years.

The official said that introducing the proposed law on the first day of the session may be difficult as deliberation with stakeholders and studying its implementation of similar laws in other states may take some time.

Education expert Vasant Kalpande said that the proposed law will help conserve the language but it should be enforced in letter and spirit. In Kerala and Tamil Nadu, 60% and 45% of the students study in English-medium schools, while in Maharashtra, the percentage is 25. This means the percentage of students studying in Marathi-medium schools is more than in English-medium schools. Merely enacting the law would not help, but its implementation is more important. Sometimes, students in English-medium schools find it difficult to score good marks in Marathi and hence they are reluctant to opt for the subject, he said.

Navi Mumbais Bal Bharti Public School principal Ganesh Parameswaran said they would not have any difficulty in implementing the law if it is passed. Barring a few difficulties like rearrangements of lectures and teachers, there would not be any problem in introducing Marathi as a compulsory language. Our school teaches it from Class I, he said.

Tamil Nadu was the first to introduce such legislation in the country in 2006. Other southern states have enacted similar laws over the past few years.

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Rawalpindi, Feb 10 : Bangladesh fast bowler Abu Jayed has been given an official reprimand for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct during the ongoing first Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi.

The pacer was found to have breached code of conduct in the 23rd over of Pakistan's first innings on Day Two wherein Jayed, after dismissing Pakistan captain Azhar Ali, celebrated too close to the batsman, which could have provoked an aggressive response from Azhar.

One demerit point has been added to the disciplinary record of Jayed, for whom it was the first offence in a 24-month period.

The 26-year-old admitted to the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Richie Richardson and, as such, there was no need for a formal hearing. On-field umpires Nigel Llong and Chris Gaffaney, third umpire Marais Erasmus and fourth official Shozab Raza levelled the charges.

Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand, a maximum penalty of 50 per cent of a player's match fee, and one or two demerit points.
Jakarta: Indonesian President Joko Widodo's speech to the Australian Parliament on Monday was a direct challenge to Australia's political leaders, outlining four key areas where the two nations need to work more closely together.

Though Joko's speech lacked the soaring rhetoric of his predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's address 10 years ago, it was ambitious for a stronger Indonesia-Australia relationship, though at times also inconsistent.

The four priorities for the Australia-Indonesia relationship, the President said, were defending democracy and human rights and opposing intolerance, radicalism and identity politics, promoting free trade and fair economic policies, taking the lead as development partners with Pacific states fighting poverty and climate change and working together to protect the environment and achieve sustainability.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese, of course, heaped praise on Indonesia and emphasised its importance to Australia, the opportunities for greater economic cooperation and trade and shared values, including a commitment to democracy.
"Builders in the Mid-Atlantic have come to trust and rely on the Universal Supply name and team for decades," said US LBM Chief Development Officer and Universal Supply President Jeff Umosella. "With the support of the US LBM network, we're excited to bring our combination of superior products and services to building professionals in the Hartford region."

Located at 36 Holly Drive in Newington, Conn., the experienced and professional Universal Supply team is ready to serve the local building community for all of their roofing, siding and specialty product needs. The location is open weekdays from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and can be reached at 860-956-6904.

Since 1965, Universal Supply has been providing customers with the best in specialty building products, including roofing, siding, windows, doors, cabinetry, millwork, fasteners and lumber. Today, Universal operates 19 locations in Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania, serving building professionals across the Mid-Atlantic.

Universal Supply is a division of US LBM, a leading distributor of specialty building materials in the United States. US LBM combines the scale and operational advantages of a national platform with a local go-to-market strategy through its national network of locations across the country.

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Teach Rahul decency and language etiquettes, BJPs advise to Sonia Gandhi

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 10: Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Congress president Sonia Gandhi should send her son Rahul Gandhi to a "political playschool" so that he can learn "decency and language etiquettes".

Naqvi was replying to a question by reporters here in Madhya Pradesh about Congress Lok Sabha member Rahul Gandhi's recent remark that in the next six months, the youth would hit Prime Minister Narendra Modi with sticks if he doesn't address the issue of unemployment in the country.

"The Congress leaders walk around with an axe in their hands and hit their own foot with it every time they get a chance. I want to give an advice to Congress leaders, specially Sonia Gandhi, to send her 'pappuji' to a political playschool so that he can learn the ABCD of politics, dignity, decency and language etiquettes," he said.

Modi doesn't behave like prime minister, says Rahul Gandhi on 'tubelight' barb

Criticising Rahul Gandhi, the minister said, "No one with the right mental balance would talk about hitting a prime minister, who is elected by the public, with sticks."

Asked about the exit polls predicting a comfortable victory for the Aam Aadmi Party in the Delhi Assembly polls, Naqvi said "What should we comment on exit poll trends? Let the results come out".

Elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly were held on Saturday and the results will be declared on February 11. To a query, Naqvi said protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi did not impact the electoral landscape of the nation's capital.

They talk about beating me...': PM Modi rakes up Rahul Gandhi's 'danda' remark at Assam rally

He said that CAA, ban on triple talaq and abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir were issues related to the national interest.

"These issues should not be seen in the context of party politics and results of Delhi Assembly polls," he added.
It took Credit Suisse Group's chairman 19 meetings to woo Tidjane Thiam and one board meeting to say goodbye.

In a matter of hours last week, the Swiss chairman of a Swiss bank put the Swiss back in charge, ousting the French-educated native of the Ivory Coast.

Under-pressure CEO Tidjane Thiam resigned as Credit Suisse chief last week. Credit:Bloomberg

The boardroom showdown in Zurich capped an extraordinary run of public scandal and private feuding at the highest levels of the Swiss bank. It leaves the new leader, Thomas Gottstein, with the task of brokering peace among executives and restive stockholders - some of whom are still calling for Chairman Urs Rohner to follow Thiam out the door.

In the end, the bizarre disclosures that engulfed Credit Suisse under Thiam - executives spied upon, grudges among top managers - proved too much for the bank's board and an establishment that prizes discretion. A stock price that had declined by about 50 per cent during his tenure didn't help either.
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According to authorities, Wheeler was outside his residence in the 600 block of Conservatory Lane about 1:30 p.m. As he entered his vehicle, another vehicle drove by and one of the occupants fired several rounds from a paintball gun at Wheeler. He followed the vehicle to a nearby residence and fired one shot at the vehicle before driving off. The round grazed the head of one of the occupants, whose friends drove him to a hospital where he was treated. He has since recovered, prosecutors said.
All four major teachers unions in Ontario are currently taking job action. Here is a list of their planned strikes and work-to-rule campaigns.

Public Elementary Schools

The union representing Ontarios public elementary school teachers has scheduled rotating strikes for every day of the coming week, including a province-wide strike on Tuesday where all 83,000 members of will walk off their jobs.

The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario said the rolling strikes mean that each school board in the province will strike twice next week  once on Tuesdays province-wide walkout, and again on a designated day of the week.

Public High Schools

Ontarios high school teachers at nine boards will go on a one-day strike on Thursday. Affected districts include Peel, Superior-Greenstone, Greater Essex Country, Avon Maitland, Niagara, Limestone, Renfrew and Huron-Superior Catholic.

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation says members will also continue their work-to-rule campaign, which started in November. That means teachers will not participate in staff meetings outside school hours or provide comments in report cards.

Catholic Schools

The union representing Ontarios English Catholic teachers has announced it will ramp up its administrative job action on Tuesday. The new action means that teachers will only undertake scheduled teaching and supervision duties and wont accept additional work. Teachers will still participate in extracurricular activities and go through with parent-teacher interviews if theyve been scheduled.

Catholic teachers have already stopped preparing report cards, participating in standardized testing or attending Ministry of Education initiatives as part of an effort launched in January.

The Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association says its trying to minimize the effect of the job action on students.

Ontario French Schools

Twelve-thousand members of the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (AEFO) will begin walking off the job once a week, with the first strike planned for Thursday.

AEFO says it will also continue its work-to-rule program, in which members of the union no longer complete some administrative duties.

The union recently met at the bargaining table but negotiations fell apart.
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The global Healthcare Supply Chain Market was appreciated by US$ 1.9 billion in 2018. It is estimated to show a CAGR of 8.7% during the period of forecast. Growing necessity to increase effectiveness, functioning competence and decrease operational charges, essentially by the manufacturers and the suppliers of the healthcare is boosting up the development of the global market for Healthcare Supply Chain. Arrival of mobile-centered and cloud- centered resolutions through the healthcare industry is likewise backing up the development of the market. Furthermore, progressions in machine learning, analytics and arrival of social media and Big Data is additionally estimated to considerably motivate the development of the market for Healthcare Supply Chain.

Speedy growth in the acceptance of GS1 standards and Unique Device Identification (UDI) for the medicinal apparatuses is expected to boost the market during the period of approaching years. GS1 standards confirm an exclusive identification, all over the world. It permit cross-border compatibility of such resolutions. International criterions have considerably enhanced safety of the patient and competences of supply chain in addition to efficiency in the healthcare organization. Application of international criterions, for example barcodes, has helped in fighting against fake medicines. Authentication, traceability and serialization can catch duplicate and illegal serial numbers. As a result, application of GS1 standards have permitted investors to confirm supply chain history for each product.

Growing stress, confronted by the suppliers of healthcare to increase working effectiveness and viability, arrival of cloud-centered solutions, acceptance of the GS1 classification of standards in a number of nation state, and increasing emphasis to restrict the large-scale imitating of medicines in the pharmacological manufacturing are the issues those are motivating the development of the market. The administration of healthcare supply chain is the vital exercise of increasing well-organized approaches of the supply chain to attain functioning competence and traceability even though decreasing functional charges without negotiating with the superiority.

Download PDF to know more details about "Healthcare Supply Chain Market" report 2028.

The effective usage of management solutions of healthcare supply chain demands substantial funds by pharmacies and hospitals. Medium to small sized pharmacies and hospitals discover it problematic to have the funds for such type of arrangements because they have measured financial plan and cannot defend extended phases of repayment. Additionally, the application time of these software solutions may possibly have as lengthy as a number of months. This is a most important unease as the numerous hospitals are not at ease, working for such an extensive days, deprived of their continuing marginal IT backing. The costs of the software updating and maintenance of these solutions are too measured such as a most important feature restricting their extensive implementation because these prices can be additional than the price of the software. The global market of Healthcare Supply Chain can be classified by End Use, Mode of Delivery, Product, and Region. By End Use, it can be classified as Logistics, Healthcare Providers, Distributors, and Healthcare Manufacturers. By Mode of Delivery, it can be classified as Web-based, On-premise Cloud-based. By Product, it can be classified as Hardware, Software and Services.

By Region the global market of Healthcare Supply Chain can be classified as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Central & South America, and Middle East & Africa. North America was responsible for the mainstream share of the income in the market, in 2018. Compulsory carrying out of GS1 criteria and Unique Device Identification (UDI) on pharmacological medicines and medicinal devices, together with an existence of big manufacturing centers, are between the important reasons enhancing the market for healthcare supply chain in North America. Furthermore, continually increasing infrastructure of IT and healthcare and increasing demand for cloud computing is backing considerably to the development of the market. The U.S.A is a profitable market in North America and recorded the biggest share of revenue in 2018. Increasing acceptance of scanning technologies for example as RFID and barcodes by the companies to control fake medicines has assisted the market.

Asia Pacific is expected to be the maximum rewarding market. It expected that it will display the maximum CAGR of 9.7% for the duration of the forecast. This can happen owing to the obtainability of mobile centered healthcare supply chain management solutions, and growing employment of technically progressive solutions in the nations for example, Japan, China and India. Increasing figure of inventiveness by the government to encourage healthcare suppliers and additional healthcare establishments to accept cloud centered software solutions to increase the system of inventory management is likewise estimated to boost the market for Healthcare Supply Chain in Asia Pacific during the period of forecast. Some of the important companies for Healthcare Supply Chain Market are: AmerisourceBergen, Global Healthcare Exchange (GHX), TECSYS, Manhattan Associates and Jabil. Additional notable companies are: Logi-Tag Systems, JDA software, Oracle Corporation, Jump Technologies, McKesson Corporation, In for Inc., SAP.

Access 116 page research report with TOC on "Healthcare Supply Chain Market" available with Radiant Insights, Inc. @ https://www.radiantinsights.com/research/2013-2028-report-on-global-healthcare-supply-chain-market

This report provides detailed historical analysis of global market for Healthcare Supply Chain from 2013-2018, and provides extensive market forecasts from 2019-2028 by region/country and subsectors. It covers the sales volume, price, revenue, gross margin, historical growth and future perspectives in the Healthcare Supply Chain market.

Market Segmentation:

Leading players of Healthcare Supply Chain including:

McKesson



SAP SE



Oracle Corporation



Infor



HighJump



Manhattan Associates



JDA



TECSYS



Kinaxis



BluJay Solutions



Jump Technologies



LogiTag Systems

Market split by Type, can be divided into:

Software



Hardware

Market split by Application, can be divided into:

Manufacturers



Providers



Distributors

Market split by Sales Channel, can be divided into:

Direct Channel



Distribution Channel

Market segment by Region/Country including:

North America ( United States , Canada and Mexico )

( , and )

Europe ( Germany , UK, France , Italy , Russia and Spain etc.)

( , UK, , , and etc.)

Asia-Pacific ( China , Japan , Korea, India , Australia and Southeast Asia etc.)

( , , Korea, , and etc.)

South America Brazil , Argentina , Colombia and Chile etc.)

, , and etc.)

Middle East & Africa ( South Africa , Egypt , Nigeria and Saudi Arabia etc.)

Browse reports of similar category available with Radiant Insights, Inc.:

About Radiant Insights, Inc.:

At Radiant Insights, we work with the aim to reach the highest levels of customer satisfaction. Our representatives strive to understand diverse client requirements and cater to the same with the most innovative and functional solutions.

Contact:

Michelle Thoras.

Corporate Sales Specialist

Radiant Insights, Inc.

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Toll Free: 1-888-928-9744

Email: [email protected]

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Blog: https://radiantinsightsinc.blogspot.com/

SOURCE Radiant Insights, Inc.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday suspended the license of an IndiGo pilot for three months over an incident involving alleged misbehavior with two passengers, including a senior citizen.

The pilot was accused of allegedly verbally abusing and threatening a passenger and her elderly, wheelchair-bound mother on a Chennai-Bengaluru flight.

The incident took place on January 13, 2020, and the airline has issued a statement taking cognizance of the situation and said that necessary action will be taken.

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

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GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (GSK) recall of popular Ranitidine brand Zinetac from the Indian market has not just hit sales, but also forced the company to review its India strategy, including potential sale of its upcoming factory in Vemgal, Karnataka.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2019, GSK took an impairment of Rs 640 crore on its yet to be commissioned plant in Karnataka, where the company has already invested Rs 1,100 crore.

The plant was slated to be GSK's first greenfield pharmaceutical site in the the last 10 years.

GSK said that they had expected 60 percent of capacity to be occupied by the recalled Zinetac at Vemgal plant when it is on full stream. GSK's original plan was to shift the production of high volume products from its Nashik plant struggling with capacity constraints and other contract manufacturers to Vemgal in order to have control over supply chain and get better margins on the product.

Zinetac was one of GSK's core legacy brands that contributed about 7 percent of company's Rs 3,129 crore in FY19. The brand was high volume product growing at 3 percent before recall.

GSK stock had lost around one-fifth of their market value in last six trading sessions on BSE following the announcement of Q3 results on February 3. Shares of GSK on February 10 declined 3.82 percent to end at Rs 1,301.25

Ranitidine recall

GSK had initiated global voluntary recall of Ranitidine in September 2019, following reports of a probable cancer causing impurity called Nnitrosodimethylamine (NDMA).

GSK decided to pull the product from the shelves globally until it completes investigations into the potential source of the NDMA, and is fully confident about the safety of the product.

But the NDMA impurity and subsequent withdrawal of the product has come as a complete bolt from the blue.

The Indian market for Rantidine stood at around Rs 700 crore. The three brands GSKs Zinetac, Aciloc of Cadila Pharmaceuticals and Rantac of JB Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals cornered 98 percent of the market share.

While GSK has pulled out, Cadila and JB Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals continue to sell their Ranitidine brands in the Indian market.

One executive of JB Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals told Moneycontrol that they have inspected their product for any impurities and submitted data to the drug regulator.

The executive said their product is safe and impurities are well below the permissible limits.

The Indian drug regulatory has, however, not given any directive for companies to recall products.

GSK spokesperson said he is aware about others selling Ranitidine products in India but said the recall was a global decision.

"The announcement was quite unexpected as we had built in Vemgal delta in our future earnings," said Centrum in its latest report.

"However, with hindsight we believe the impairment not realised at present could have created further financial burden on the stock going ahead. We have revised our earnings for Zinetac recall and margin delta from Vemgal, translating into earnings revision of 25% in FY21E and have introduced our FY22E," the report added.

GSK is now banking on its new launches Nucala and Meneveo to drivefuture growth in India.
North Korea's internet usage has surged by 300 per cent in the last three years, despite stringent international sanctions put in place by the West.

The majority of North Koreans have either no internet access or are only able to see a limited state-run version of the web, with only the elite able to surf the global net.

Now a new report studying the internet usage of these North Korean leaders throughout 2019 claims Kim Jong-un is presiding over 'a nation run like a criminal syndicate'.

The findings of the report build on previous studies spanning back to 2017 and identify a dramatic shift in how the internet is being utilised in the country.

What was once a mere curiosity used merely by the elite to download films, shop and browse the web has become a key tool in sustaining the country's economy.

It is believed this increase in usage is why North Korea's economy is surviving, and in some sectors thriving, despite the US and its allies cutting off oil supplies.

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Donald Trump promised in 2017 'fire and fury like the world has never seen' against the secretive country following reports North Korea had developed a nuclear weapon and contemplating firing it on the US territory of Guam. But North Korea is using the internet to sustain its economy (file photo)

NORTH KOREA'S HISTORY OF CYBER ATTACKS In November 2014, it launched a cyberattack on Sony following outrage at the controversial film 'The Interview,'where Kim was the focal point for ridicule in a comedic plot. North Korea also tried to brazenly steal nearly $1 billion from the Bangladesh central bank, and then other nations. It also, perhaps most famously, launched the WannaCry code on the NHS which crippled the system's systems for several days. Advertisement

Although the technology is not as sophisticated as that employed by the US National Security Agency (NSA), it is rapidly developing.

One of the main things believed to be propping up the North Korean government, is the mining of cryptocurrency Monera and using a VPN to covertly send and receive money.

And the report finds growing cybercrime expertise has allowed North Korea to develop an internet-based model for circumventing financial controls and sanctions.

North Korea has created a three-pronged model that manipulates the internet for illicit financial gain.

Internet-enabled bank theft, gaining information on nuclear programmes and cyberoperations while simultaneously covering its tracks, and using the internet for day-to-day operations of the government are all providing revenue, the report found.

This model is unique to North Korea, the report claims claims, but is 'easily repeatable'.

It could, the authors of the study claim, become a template for 'other financially isolated nations, such as Venezuela, Iran, or Syria' to circumvent sanctions via the internet.

Donald Trump promised in 2017 'fire and fury like the world has never seen' against the secretive country, following reports North Korea had developed a nuclear weapon and was contemplating firing it on the US territory of Guam.

Since then, incredibly forceful sanctions have been put in place against the nation.

But these appear to have only fuelled North Korea's innovative ways to avoid the sanctions.

The three-headed monster that is North Korea's cyber programme has two major benefits, revenue generation and gaining prohibited skills and knowledge.

It has blossomed due to increased investments in its workers and its infrastructure, including the Russian-routed TransTelekom system which now accounts for around half of the county's traffic.

This works alongside the Chinese pipeline which was for a longtime the only source of internet in the county.

Recorded Future, a US-based group headed up by an ex-NSA analyst, writes in its report that this has been key in transforming the internet from a leisure activity into a tool for the government.

A report studying the internet usage of these North Korean leaders throughout 2019 claims Kim Jong-un (pictured, right) is presiding over 'a nation run like a criminal syndicate' as North Korea uses the web to mine cryptocurrency and a VPN to hide its transactions

Instead of the internet being used the most in late afternoons, evenings and weekends it is now used mostly in office hours.

They write: 'We assess that when combined with the 300 per cent increase in volume of activity, the increased bandwidth and capacity provided by routing an additional /24 subnet through TransTelekom infrastructure, and the recent utilisation of some previously unresolved IP space, that the internet is no longer simply a fascination or leisure activity, but has become a critical tool for North Korean leaders.'

This change in just two years has seen North Korea become more sophisticated in its cyber capabilities.

North Korea has previously been involved in various significant cyber attacks.

In November 2014, it launched a cyberattack on Sony following outrage at the controversial film 'The Interview', in which Kim was the focal point for ridicule in a comedic plot.

North Korea also tried to brazenly steal nearly $1 billion from the Bangladesh central bank, and then other nations.

It also, perhaps most famously, launched the WannaCry ransomware attack, which which crippled the NHS's systems for several days in 2017.

But since these attacks, North Korea has revolutionised its internet usage and is now focusing its efforts on avoiding sanctions designed to crush the country's economy.

Using the cryptocurrency Monero to carry out online transactions allows it to hide sending and receiving addresses, as well as transacted amounts.

This is aided by the creation of its own virtual private network (VPN) which creates a secure tunnel through the internet for safe passing of information.

It has also improved its encryption techniques to protect its data.

And it has also been making use of students sent abroad, mainly to China and India, who learn how to exploit data that could improve its nuclear and missile programs, the New York Times reports.
The accounting watchdog has been urged to investigate KPMG over a 58m accounting scandal at Ted Baker.

The fashion retailer previously warned it had overestimated stock by up to 25m. But this figure rose to 58m last month after an independent review by accountants at Deloitte.

Probe: Critics said the blunder raised 'serious questions' for KPMG, which has audited Ted Baker's books since 2001

Critics said the blunder raised 'serious questions' for KPMG, which has audited Ted Baker's books since 2001.

Both Prem Sikka  a professor of accounting at Sheffield University who advised MPs on audit reform  and House of Commons business committee chairman Rachel Reeves called on the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) to investigate.

Reeves said: 'Serious questions need to be answered about how a huge hole in Ted Baker's balance sheet emerged just months after the auditors signed off the accounts.' Sikka added: 'This is not simply a small error. KPMG had a duty to verify and query the inventory.'

The FRC, Ted Baker and KPMG declined to comment.
DUBLIN, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Prepaid Card Market: Payment Trends, MarketDynamics, and Forecasts 2020 - 2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Despite the dominant trend towards mobile and contactless payments, the prepaid card market remains vibrant and dynamic. In certain parts of the world, physical cards remain the preferred mechanism for payments along with cash. In the United States, prepaid cards remain the preferred choice for the unbanked market segment as well as the market for under the table transactions.



However, the US government is increasingly clamping down on illegal activities with broad measures of investigation and enforcement. Some market segments prefer to use physical cards in certain situations. Surprisingly, the millennial generation has a high affinity towards certain cards, especially designer offerings as they appeal to their sense of style.



There is a robust market for both closed-loop and open-loop prepaid cards. In the case of the former, major merchants leverage prepaid cards as a means of furthering brand identity and driving additional sales such as the gifting market. In addition, the unbanked market often turns to cards as a means of conducting non-cash, debit transactions.



Closed-loop cards are getting increasingly creative in terms of how they position themselves within the overall payments ecosystem. This is an interesting dynamic as the same companies are also pushing hard for next-generation mobile payments and wireless wallet infrastructure.



The move towards a cashless society is substantial, further driving the prepaid card market. However, we see a transition from physical cards (credit and debit) towards completely virtual. This will not happen without continual improvements in identity management, privacy, and security measures.



This report evaluates the major driving factors for prepaid card ownership and usage. The report evaluates usage market segment including demographic profile, card type, and industry vs. government programs. The report assesses retail challenges relative to shopping and related card usage.



The report also analyzes the payments ecosystem including issues related to mobile payments in contrast to physical card usage. The report also provides forecasts for 2020 to 2025 covering all major areas including corporate usage, retail, and government.



Select Report Findings:

Prepaid card demand remains strong for youth, unbanked, and underbanked segments

Stricter anti-money regulations are anticipated in United States paralleling those in EU

paralleling those in EU Virtual prepaid cards are rapidly gaining traction in conjunction with online spending habits

Alternative currencies will be increasingly used in lieu of prepaid cards for certain purchases

Steady growth through 2025 to benefit data services providers and financial intermediaries

Key Topics Covered:



1 Executive Summary



2 Introduction



3 Banking Impacts Payment Flexibility

3.1 The Unbanked and Underbanked Segments

3.2 Payment Models

3.3 Mobile Payment Methods

3.4 Unbanked / Underbanked Population



4 Payments Ecosystem Challenges

4.1 Economic Issues

4.2 Multiple-Nationalities

4.3 Banking Accounts

4.4 Cost Factors

4.5 Security Issues



5 Payments for the Unbanked Segment



6 Retail Challenges Impacting Commerce and Payments

6.1 Retail Demand Depends on the Economy

6.2 Industry Concentration

6.3 Seasonal Cash Flow

6.4 Crime-Related Losses

6.5 Protecting Customer Information

6.6 Trends Affect Demand

6.7 High Worker Turnover

6.8 Changing Buyers Need



7 Online Shopping Challenges and Opportunities

7.1 The Rise of High-Tech Shopping

7.2 Most Vulnerable Products

7.3 Wireless Challenges at the Point of Sale

7.4 Shopping with Smartphone Trends



8 Merchant Strategies

8.1 Embrace rather than Fight against the Current Trend

8.2 Offer Unique Products

8.3 Offer In-Store Reviews

8.4 Focus on Brand

8.5 Enable and Empower In-store Shoppers

8.6 Digitize Your Store and Your Employees



9 Convert Shoppers into Buyers

9.1 Boost Loyalty and Sales

9.2 Personalizing the Shopping Experience

9.3 Analyzing Data

9.4 Figuring Out the Potential of Mobile Devices

9.5 Embracing Social Media



10 Data Solutions to Support the Strategies

10.1 Finding the Easy Data

10.2 Getting at "Hidden Data"

10.3 Mining "Big Data"



11 Strategies for Checkout and Point of Payment

11.1 Keep Form Filling To Bare Minimum

11.2 Organize the Checkout into Stages

11.3 Add Progress Step Links or Back Buttons

11.4 Utilize Familiar Mobile UI Elements

11.5 Enable Guest Checkouts

11.6 Offer Quick Payment Options

11.7 Remove Distractions

11.8 Provide Security Reassurances

11.9 Take Advantage of Geolocation

11.10 Keep It Lightweight



12 Prepaid Cards Market Forecasts 2020 - 2025





For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/d7amw9

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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Interactive map shows worldwide spread of coronavirus

As scientists pin down the origin, governments enact prevention measures and labs look for a cure, news about the outbreak of the novel coronavirus often comes down to two questions: where and how many people are infected?

A new interactive map from University of Washington geographer Bo Zhao aims to answer those questions in real time.

Zhao produced this interactive map of the novel coronavirus, which updates every few hours with data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, the People's Republic of China, and other government agencies, including those in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. By zooming in on various countries - such as China - users can see the numbers of cases, recoveries and deaths, as well as trends over time.

"Mapping is a powerful tool to tell social, cultural and political phenomena," said Zhao, an assistant professor of geography who specializes in the social implications of maps and using innovative methods in mapping. "As a geographer, and in what people call the 'post-truth era,' it's important to weigh in with data sources to show people how things are happening."

The outbreak of the coronavirus, which is believed to have originated in Wuhan, China in December, has been declared a public health emergency by the WHO. Tens of thousands have been infected, and hundreds have died.

Zhao recently produced an online atlas to illustrate the global refugee experience. The coronavirus, he said, is another societal issue that people can gain perspective on by seeing it on a map.

While the Chinese government has been criticized for its response to the crisis, and concerns have arisen about its transparency, Zhao said China's National Health Commission data is the most accurate available for the country.

But the outbreak is not just affecting China or the city of Wuhan, he added. It is a global issue, and that's the perspective users can gain from the map. The numbers on display are important, too, he said, because there are more recoveries than deaths.

"That can give people encouragement," he said.

As more detailed data become available, Zhao plans to add county-level totals from China, and state and provincial totals from the United States and Canada, respectively.

###

For more information, including links to download Zhao's data, contact Zhao at zhaobo@uw.edu or 206-685-3846.

This story has been published on: 2020-02-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Photograph: AP

A young female gray wolf bid goodbye to her family, left home and crossed the state line into California to find love.

That was in January 2018. For the next two years, the wolf known by scientists OR-54 wandered through mountains and pastures, occasionally killing livestock for food.

Related: A rewilding triumph: wolves help to reverse Yellowstone degradation

Along the way, scientists tracked OR-54s movements through a radio transmitter collar.

Twice she went home to her parents in Oregon, perhaps complaining of the lack of dates. She even crossed the state line into Nevada last fall. All the while, she kept walking  an average of 13 miles each day  in search of a mate.

Leaving home is a normal thing for a young wolf, says Amaroq Weiss, a biologist at the environmental not-for-profit Center for Biological Diversity. When wolves get to one and a half or two years old, they are striking out from their birth pack, they are out there looking for mates and territory of their own, says Weiss.

Even within her family, this was a common thing: OR-54s father, OR-7, had looked for a mate in California for years before returning to Oregon to have pups. Oregons wolves originated from the

OR-54s story sadly came to a close this week when she was found dead in Shasta county. Californias fish and wildlife department is doing a necropsy to determine the cause of her death; she was only three years old. OR-54s journey took her further south in California than any other wolf since 1924, when the species was extirpated.

The death is just another instance that highlights the importance of legal protections for wolves

Wolves look for a partner by leaving urine markings and coming back to check them after a little while. Its pee-mail, says Weiss. But the fact that OR-54 never found a mate and settled down gives us info that there arent a lot of wolves in that area.

Gray wolves, once abundant across the US, were almost completely eradicated by a concentrated effort by the government during the 19th and 20th century. While conservation work is being done to bring them back, their numbers remain low  California has documented about 20 wolves since 2011.

Story continues

In an area with a healthy gray wolf population, she would have been trying to pair up in December or January and would have been pregnant in February  Valentines Day actually has its origins in a celebration of wolf fertility, Weiss says. She should have been giving birth to a litter of pups in April. She never found a mate in 2018, 2019, and now shes not going to get to do it, Weiss says. Knowing what theyre after while theyre dispersing, you have this sense of an unfilled future.

Her radio collar linked her with the death of livestock killed in areas she was passing through.

Last fall, the battery on her collar began to die, and the transmissions became more scarce. The data that did come in showed her collar in one spot this winter, not moving. Wildlife officials traced her to the spot, and found her carcass.

The investigation is continuing, so the cause of OR-54s death is not yet known. Weiss says that the life of a wolf is a rough one  in a pack or solo  and there are many reasons a young, healthy wolf could die. She could have been kicked in the head by a deer while hunting. She could have choked on the liver of a raccoon, which happened to a wolf in Yellowstone. She could have been hit by a car. Or she could have been killed by a poacher.

It wouldnt be the first time. Another Oregon wolf in California, OR-59, was found dead in suspicious circumstances in December 2018. The wolf was shot near the small communities of Lookout and Bieber, the wildlife agency said. Just last month, officials announced a $2,500 federal award for any information on the wolfs death.

Related: Freshwater hell: scientists race to save endangered fish from bushfire ash

Gray wolves are covered under both the Federal Endangered Species Act, as well as the California Endangered Species Act, the fish and wildlife department says. We take very seriously any threats to this recovering wolf population. We are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding OR-54s death. We remind the public that killing a wolf is a potential crime and subject to serious penalties including imprisonment.

Weiss says its likely that wolves will continue to push south into territory they havent experienced since the early part of the 20th century. We can expect to see more of this in the future as long as there is a good source population in Oregon, she says.

Weiss adds that this wolfs death is just another instance that highlights the importance of legal protections for wolves, especially early in their recovery. Laws may not stop people, but if they are caught, they face real penalties, she says. No matter what you think of wolves, poaching is just wrong.

 This article was amended on 10 February 2020. An earlier version incorrectly said that the gray wolf had been reintroduced to Oregon in 2011. Oregons wolves originate from the populations reintroduced to Idaho and Yellowstone national park, and from natural populations that emigrated from Canada through Washington state.
Mental illness and addictions take an enormous toll on Oregon families and communities. The Oregon Legislature has an opportunity to address those challenges. Oregon is eligible to receive $62 million in federal funds to support the delivery of comprehensive mental health and addiction treatment services to individuals most in need through Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics. But federal funding is available only if legislators agree to match it with $15 million in state funding. Senate Bill 1552, sponsored by Sen. Arnie Roblan, would provide that $15 million investment.

Behavioral health clinics improve access to mental health, addiction and primary care by supporting innovative clinics. In the first two years of operation, these clinics have served more than 62,000 people, regardless of their ability to pay. Clinics are also helping combat the opioid epidemic by providing medication-assisted treatment, an evidence-based program that is considered the gold standard for treating people with addictions. Behavioral health clinics also alleviate pressure on Oregons overwhelmed state hospitals, taking patients that would otherwise have been sent to the Oregon State Hospital.

Eliminating vital resources for people living with behavioral health conditions is a shortsighted response that will harm our most vulnerable residents.The prescription for Oregon is clear: to meet demand for behavioral health services, the Legislature must pass SB 1552.

Cherryl Ramirez and Heather Jefferis

Cherryl Ramirez is executive director of the Association of Oregon Community Mental Health Programs. Heather Jefferis is executive director of the Oregon Council for Behavioral Health.
In Retrospect: News from the Jan. 13, 1922 and Jan. 12, 1972 Souderton Independent
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Linkedin A. Kurniawan Ulung (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 10, 2020

A popular local shoe company in Jakarta once approached artist Ronald Apriyan, offering a commission to hand paint their shoes.

He was aware he could earn a good living from such a project considering the rising trend of customization in the luxury fashion industry.

The artist, who is based in Yogyakarta, prefers to focus on painting on canvas instead.
Who Were the Samaritan People?

To explain the origins of the Samaritans, we must go back to the days of the kings. After King Solomon ruled over the Israelites  Gods people  the unwise actions of his son Rehoboam in the tenth century BC led to a schism in which the kingdom was split into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, each with its own king.

Both kingdoms devolved into corruption and sin, despite repeated warnings from prophets sent by God. Thus, God warned, they would be overtaken by conquerors. The northern kingdom fared worse than the southern kingdom, with a long line of wicked rulers. It didnt help that the temple, where Gods people were to worship, was located in the southern kingdom.

In 721 B.C., the northern kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians. Many of the people of Israel were led off to Assyria as captives, but some remained in the land and intermarried with foreigners planted there by the Assyrians. These half-Jewish, half-Gentile people became known as the Samaritans.

In 586 B.C., the southern kingdom of Judah fell to the Babylonian Empire once and for all, as the walls of Jerusalem were breached, the temple was destroyed, and the city walls torn down.

Samaritans are first mentioned in the Bible in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah in the 5th century B.C. At this point, Babylon had given way to the Persian Empire. Nehemiah, a Jew, curried favor with the king and was able to return to Jerusalem to rebuild. However, the Samaritans remaining in the land opposed the rebuilding efforts and caused problems for Nehemiah and his fellow workers (Nehemiah 6:1-14). This was the beginning of a long-lasting hatred between Jews and Samaritans.

Photo credit: Getty Images/Andrii Yalanskyi
[Spoiler alert: Theories regarding the end of Season 24 are discussed.]

The Bachelor is known for serious drama, but Peter Webers season might be the wildest yet. From Hannah Brown appearing in the first episode to major backlash among castmembers (and sometimes against Weber himself), its been a wild ride since the first week. And now, Webers starting to fall for a number of women on the show who promise theyre there for the right reasons.

There have been plenty of theories regarding who Weber chooses in the end. But one of the wildest suggests Weber doesnt choose one of the women competing for his heart at all. And Bachelor fans are heading over to the surprising suspected winners Instagram to see what they can find, which is apparently quite a lot of evidence.

Reality Steve said who he believes the frontrunners are

The Bachelor featuring Peter Weber and a few of the contestants | Eric McCandless via Getty Images

Webers getting down to the wire now that only a handful of women are left fighting for his love. And spoilers from Reality Steve suggest he knows who the final two women are, though hes managed to remain tight-lipped about who wins Webers heart overall. The spoiler king noted Madison Prewett and Hannah Ann Sluss are the most likely to be the top two. From there, its anyones guess.

So, why hasnt Reality Steve divulged who wins Webers heart? It turns out he may not know the truth just yet. He wrote on his blog, Not because I dont want to, or not because I dont feel like it, or whatever rabid conspiracy theory you can come up with. The bottom line is I dont have the ending yet, but Im pretty sure theres a good reason why I dont.

He also noted that hes heard multiple endings and he doesnt know which one is the correct one. Since so much remains up in the air, its led fans to believe a wild ending is in store.

Bachelor sleuths believe Peter Weber ends up with the shows producer

Is it possible Weber doesnt find long-lasting partnership with any of the women on his season? It seems thats a popular theory. And now, Bachelor fans are also convinced Weber found love with show producer Julie LaPlaca.

Webers told fans he doesnt think anyone will guess the ending of his season, so this sort of plot twist fits. And CinemaBlend notes Weber and LaPlaca appeared to spend New Years together, and theyre also posting plenty of photos to Instagram that could indicate romance.

As far as Reality Steve is concerned, he doesnt think this theory holds any weight. Gonna make this as simple as possible for every1 since its all I get asked now, Cosmopolitan notes he tweeted. Its garbage, there is absolutely nothing to this, it makes zero sense & people are desperately grasping at straws bc the ending isnt out yet. Hope that clears things up.

Julie LaPlacas Instagram followers think shes giving away the truth

Many are still holding out hope that the Weber-LaPlaca theory could be real, though. And some fans are taking to LaPlacas personal Instagram to find clues.

On Feb. 4, LaPlaca posted a photo of her in Costa Rica  and some of her followers think the view from where the photo is taken proves shes in Webers room.

Thats the perfect view from Peters room. We saw that when Kelsey snuck into see him. I guess he had more than one women sneaking in his room during the show lol, a fan commented.

Another noted, literally looks like the same view we saw when Kelsey went to his room.

LaPlaca posted another photo on Jan. 2 showing her in New York for New Years. Its clear Weber is behind her with his back turned, which had many wondering what was going on.

It is Peter  he was in New York for NYE and is wearing that outfit in his post on January 1st, a follower commented.

And others are begging LaPlaca to set the record straight.

Honestly please tell me these rumours arent true, please just tell everyone your not with Peter, yet another asked on LaPlacas post showing her in Chile.

Well have to stay tuned to see what really happens. And well keep our eyes peeled for more evidence that may suggest LaPlaca and Weber are together now.

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Boris Johnson described the proposal as a "very interesting idea" before adding watch this space. (Getty Images)

Boris Johnson's revived plans to build a 20 billion bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland are possible and will lead to the prosperity of the country, according to experts.

The construction of a bridge/tunnel at the 20-mile gap between Northern Ireland and Scotland has been modelled on the Oresund Bridge, a bridge which runs for five miles across the Oresund strait between Sweden and Denmark.

Ministers are actively looking into the idea, according to Downing Street, with Boris Johnson describing the proposal as a "very interesting idea" before adding watch this space

Ireland's Leo Varadkar has said it was "worth examining", but insisted the UK must pay for it, while Scotlands Nicola Sturgeon said there were "more important priorities".

While some engineering experts branded the proposed plans a "huge risk" because of the potentially live munitions which were dumped in the area shortly after WWII.

Engineers are understood to have come up with the idea of a bridge-tunnel split as a way of dealing with Beaufort's Dyke, the UK's largest offshore dump site for munitions after the Second World War.

A graphic showing the two proposed locations where the bridge would link Scotland and Northern Ireland. (PA graphics)

The big unknown

Alisdar Reisner, the Chief Executive for the Civil Engineering Contractors Association told Yahoo News that if the ambitious proposal were to go ahead it would not only be the "most significant bridge building projects the world has ever seen" but a dangerous endeavour because of what lies beneath the treacherous waters.

"What poses the biggest risk is the World War Two munitions, which is a big unknown, we don't know what condition they are in.

Beaufort's Dyke - a trench between Northern Ireland and Scotland within the Irish Channel- is the UK's largest offshore dump site for conventional and chemical munitions after the Second World War.

The Ministry of Defence says more than one million tons of weapons were jettisoned there, though some are known to have been dumped short of the Dyke in shallow coastal waters.

Story continues

The area has been described as an "undersea ticking time bomb"

In a BBC report from 2004, Michael Fellows, a former Royal Navy diver, says the weapons, jettisoned in the Irish Sea, are "liable to go bang".

The government say that to deal with this issue they have come up with the idea of a bridge-tunnel split.

Ireland's Leo Varadkar said the idea of building a bridge between Northern Ireland and Scotland was "worth examining", but insisted the UK must pay for it". (AP)

Under one version of Mr Johnson's plan, the bridge would run from the Scottish coast over the trench, before becoming a tunnel for the final stretch to Northern Ireland.

But Reisner feels that building in this territory would be extremely dangerous.

"There are tonnes and tonnes of munitions down there and we don't know what will happen if building commences there.

"If I were a betting man, I would say that it won't go ahead, the possible live munitions being the probable reason it won't happen because of the danger and risk, particularly during building.

"The sea they plan to build through is very deep, hundreds of metres deep.

The construction of a bridge/tunnel at the 20-mile gap between Northern Ireland and Scotland has been modelled on the Oresund Bridge, here during construction, which runs for five miles across the Oresund strait between Sweden and Denmark. (AP)

"You've got to build islands to build the bridge on, so the islands would need to be the height of a skyscraper, in what is a pretty treacherous piece of water.

From a structural point of view, it's a great idea

However Wanda Lewis, an expert in structural engineering and professor at the University of Warwick says that any project that would stimulate research into construction methods and possibly new materials is bound to be good and lead to the prosperity of the country.

Structurally it is possible to build something like that, she told Yahoo News.

The cost of building the foundations would be unpredictable but we are talking about a large timescale. The thing we need to talk about cost effectiveness.

It will likely be a cable-fitted structure but the waters are very deep, with high winds.

When asked about the possibility of danger while building the bridge, she said: I doubt that the ammunition is live but concrete is the ideal material to use to encase it.

Its been seventy years since they were dumped there, they would need to conduct an explosion risk assessment.

She pointed out that nuclear reactors are encased in concrete, although doing the same thing with Beaufort's Dyke is not environmentally friendly because it uses up a lot of Co2.

But she says from a structural point of view, that it's a great idea.

Anything that builds a bridge between nations is a good thing.

Anything is possible if you throw enough money at it

Ian Firth, a fellow at the Institution of Civil Engineers, said there were a huge number of technical challenges in Boris Johnsons proposal to link Scotland and Northern Ireland.

But he said anything is possible if you throw enough money at it  and that such a structure could be built within 15 years.

My own feeling is that it ought to be possible because at the end of the day its about money  anything is possible if you throw enough money at it, Mr Firth said.

It has a huge number of technical challenges but thats what us engineers are in the business of solving.

Im a great believer in the possible.
European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi will make a visit to Ukraine on February 11-12 as the first Eastern Partnership country.

"During my visit I will discuss the comprehensive EU support that goes far beyond just financial support and technical assistance. My visit to Ukraine will also feed into our discussions at the upcoming EU Foreign Affairs Council in March," the press service of the European Commission quoted Varhelyi as saying on Monday.

Varhelyi said that "Ukraine is not only a close neighbor of the European Union, but it is also a key partner."

"Ukraine is continuing to make progress with many reforms. But work needs to be continued, especially in the area of the rule of law and fight against corruption  key areas for economic development," he said.

Commissioner Varhelyi also said that the steps taken by Ukraine paved the way to the December 2019 Summit in the framework of the Normandy format, "an essential element that the EU supports to contribute to reach a sustainable and peaceful solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine."

He will meet with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Dmytro Razumkov, Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Honcharuk and members of the government, including Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Dmytro Kuleba and Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko. The Commissioner will also meet with the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Integration of Ukraine with the European Union.

He will participate in a candle laying ceremony to the Heavenly Hundred Memorial and will meet with representatives of civil society organizations as well as representatives of national minorities.

Varhelyi will also sign an agreement for the EU support to e-governance and digital economy, the press service said.
Wellington: A critically injured Kiwi tour guide is regaining the use of her hands after "huge progress" in the two months since the deadly White Island volcano eruption.

Kelsey Waghorn was showing tourists around the New Zealand tourist attraction, also known as Whakaari, on December 9 when it erupted.

Kelsey Waghorn, a White Island tour guide, is recovering from burns she suffered in when the volcano erupted. Credit:Givealittle

The 25-year-old suffered burns to almost half of her body, and has endured multiple grafting procedures to her arms, hands, stomach, legs, lower back and upper thighs.

In an update to her fundraising page, Waghorn said she was "covered in scars and relocated skin, and that's okay with me".
MWC is one of the most important events in the tech industry and this year was expected to be high on AI and 5G.

Other than NVIDIA, Ericsson and LG have also confirmed their absence from the event. (Photo: ANI)

NVIDIA is the latest to join the list of technology companies backing out from this year's Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, over coronavirus concerns.

In an official release, the company announced that it has informed the organisers of MWC 2020, GSMA, that it won't be sending its employees to this year's event over health risks as Spain has also reported its first case of the virus.

MWC is one of the most important events in the tech industry and this year was expected to be high on AI and 5G. Other than NVIDIA, Ericsson and LG have also confirmed their absence from the event.
Rebel Wilson experienced an awkward meeting with Keanu Reeves and his mother, Patricia Taylor, at the Oscars in Los Angeles on Sunday.

The 39-year-old Australian actress was being interviewed by E!'s Ryan Seacrest when Keanu, 55, and his mother made their way over for their interview.

After shaking Keanu's hand hello, a smiling Rebel then moved to shake Patricia's hand, too.

Oops: Rebel Wilson experienced an awkward meeting with Keanu Reeves and his mother, Patricia Taylor at the Oscars in Los Angeles on Sunday

But Patricia seemingly missed her queue, settling for a nod hello instead, leaving Rebel with her hand awkwardly outstretched.

Having soon realised her gaffe, Patricia then went to shake Rebel's hand, without realising the Pitch Perfect star had already moved on from the incident.

Instead, Rebel simply smiled and waved at The Matrix star's mum, prompting an uncomfortable Patricia to look down at the ground.

Shaken: Patricia seemingly missed the queue to shake Rebel's hand, settling for a nod hello instead, and leaving the actress with her hand awkwardly outstretched

That's awkward: Having soon realised her gaffe, Patricia then went to shake Rebel's hand, without realising the Pitch Perfect star had already moved on from the incident

As she walked away, Rebel made one last remark to Keanu, who grinned in response, while Patricia struggled to recover from the awkward interaction.

Keeping her eyes fixed firmly on the ground, Patricia simply stepped up to chat to Ryan, 45, led by her son, who held onto her hand.

Rebel looked every bit the Hollywood starlet in a sequined gold gown, which swept the red carpet.

Golden girl: Rebel looked every bit the Hollywood starlet in a sequined gold gown, which swept the red carpet

The classic Hollywood-inspired dress featured a twist at the waist, showing off her recent weight loss, and sat off one shoulder.

Meanwhile, Keanu looked dashing in a three-piece black tuxedo, which he wore with a black bow tie.

The handsome actor posed for photos with his mum on his arm, with Patricia looking chic in a white pantsuit.
[SPOILERS FOR HOMELAND SEASON 8 EPISODE 1 AND PREVIOUS SEASONS TO FOLLOW]

You cant have Homeland without Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) in the spy game on some level. No matter where shes ended up over the years, shes always returned to the fight before each seasons conclusion.

As the show opens its eighth season on Showtime, thats still the case. After her seven-month stay in Russian custody, Carrie returned to freedom in a disturbed state. Her recovery in a military facility in Germany didnt make everything right.

But that doesnt stop Saul Berenson (Mandy Patinkin) from wanting her back in the field immediately. Despite Carries failed polygraph (the source of the episode title, Deception Indicated) and the objections of some in the CIA, Saul returns his most accomplished agent to the fold right away.

Carrie heads straight to Afghanistan for her new mission

Claire Danes as Carrie in HOMELAND, Deception Indicated | Sifeddine Elamine/SHOWTIME

While a CIA agent could fail a polygraph test for a number of reasons, the gaps in Carries memory prompted real concerns about her compromising sources (i.e., informants) in the field. But Saul decided to take his chances without confirmation either way.

After a quick look at peace talks Saul is attending in Qatar, you quickly realize why the situation is so desperate. Nearly 19 years after the U.S. invaded Afghanistan, the Warner (Beau Bridges) administration wants to get out of the country with as little damage as possible.

However, that requires the cooperation of Taliban leaders and Pakistani leaders Saul and Carrie clashed with in the past (most notably in the embassy massacre of Season Four). Though Saul tries to stay positive, a statement by the Afghani vice president nearly blows up the talks.

Running out of options, Saul brings in Carrie to talk sense into the Veep. Once in Kabul, Carrie realizes multiple forces are working against her. (The bases station chief puts her under surveillance.) But she has a mission from Saul and heads out into the night anyway.

Carrie confronts the possibility she left her contacts for dead

Claire Danes as Carrie walks wuth Andrea Deck as Jenna Bragg in Deception Indicated.|Sifeddine Elamine/SHOWTIME

Though Carrie meets up with a loyal contact willing to help her, she runs into a wall at her first stop on the treacherous road. There, the wife of a man who assisted her in the past acts rudely to her. Then she finds out the man was killed for his work with the CIA.

That bit of information prompts a flashback from Homelands main character. What if the CIA figure in Germany was right? What if shed compromised her source and got him killed? You watch Carrie grapple with the possibility  and struggle with the horror of knowing it could be true.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, Max (Maury Sterling) faces his own peril in order to set up surveillance on the Pakistan-Afghan border. Its unclear why he had to be the one going overseas to do this, but Max has some quality screen-time here.

Finally, after making it past the various landmines en route to her meeting with senior Afghan officials, Carrie gets a shock in the episodes final seconds. Just as shes about to enter the room, Yevgeny (Costa Ronin) exits and gives her a sinister wink.

Once again, Carrie feels horrified she may have revealed secrets during her interrogation in Russia. Then, in the sneak-peek after the episode, we see Carrie pull a gun on U.S. troops in a future episode. Whatever happens, Homeland clearly wont be checking out quietly in 2020.

Also see: Claire Danes: How Much is the Homeland Star Worth?
Moscow court extends house arrest of Calvey, Delpal for 3 months

 Moskva city news agency, Igor Ivanko

18:25 10/02/2020

MOSCOW, February 10 (RAPSI)  The Moscow City Court has extended house arrest of Baring Vostok investment company's founder Michael Calvey and Baring Vostok partner for the financial industry sector Philippe Delpal involved in the 2.5-billion-ruble (about $40 million) embezzlement case until May 13, RAPSI reports from the courtroom on Monday.

In early December, the Moscow City Court denied release of over 7.5 million rubles ($117,000) belonging to Calvey from attachment but overturned the seizure of his flat.

In mid-February 2019, Moscows Basmanny District Court ordered detention of Calvey and five other defendants including Delpal, the companys partners Vagan Abgaryan, Baring Vostok Investment Director Ivan Zyuzin, Maxim Vladimirov and ex- chairman of Vostochny bank board Alexey Kordichev.

On April 11, Moscows Basmanny District Court released Calvey from detention and put him under house arrest. Delpals measure of restrained was changed in October.

According to investigation, Calvey knowing about a 2.5-billion-ruble debt of the First Collector Bureau, a firm under his control, has organized the sale of its shares to Vostochny bank that has led to embezzlement.

The Investigative Committee claims that he committed a crime that could not be classified as business crime because he used a chain of sham companies settling the deal. Moreover, investigators say they have a PricewaterhouseCoopers audit report on the done deal estimating the sold shares at 600,000 rubles, which indicates an instance of fraud.

Calvey denies allegations insisting that the deal was fair as both companies agreed its terms and stood for it, including a person reporting an alleged crime to law enforcement bodies. He noted that a report has been filed with police by a member of Vostochny bank board of directors Sherzod Yusupov. According to Calvey, the real reason of his prosecution is a wide corporate dispute related to the control of the bank by two groups of shareholders: Baring Vostok and stockholders coming from Uniastrum bank, which was reorganized and joined to Vostochny in early 2017.

Baring Vostok company founded by Calvey in 1994 focuses on private equity investments in the CIS and Russia. The company has invested in shares of Yandex, Vkusvill, Tinkoff Bank and other major projects.
Donald Trump's Space Force is preparing to activate its powerful 'Space Fence' radar system that spots and tracks objects orbiting Earth.

The pioneering system, located on the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific, will detect objects in orbit as small as four inches wide that are up to 22,000 miles away.

The Lockhead Martin system is expected to be operational by the spring, but no exact date has yet been announced, although it could be as early as this month, according to reports.

Space Fence will allow the US government to track thousands of objects in low and middle orbit as well as satellites in a geosynchronous orbit.

President Trump unveiled the new logo for the Space Force (pictured) in January. The Lockhead Martin system is expected to be operational by the spring, but no exact date has yet been announced, although it could be as early as this month, according to reports

The pioneering Space Fence system, based on the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific, will detect objects in orbit as small as four inches wide up to 22,000 miles from the surface

The Space Force is the sixth branch of the US armed forces built to work alongside the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.

Its Space Fence is a reboot of a initiative which was shut down in 2013 due to budget cuts.

The original version was only able to track items in low-Earth orbit, but the new iteration is vastly superior.

It works by sending out a fine beam into space, and if an object of sufficient size - around four inches wide - crosses though this beam, it triggers an alert.

It is hoped it will allow the military branch to avoid any collisions between satellites and prevent any crashes between debris and expensive spacecrafts.

'Back in the (early) 60s they didn't have a space debris problem,' says Steve Bruce, vice president of advanced systems at Lockheed Martin.

'They just wanted to figure out if something was flying over the continental US.

'Our system has the ability to be steered electronically. We track (the object) and immediately create an orbit determination.'

The system is also believed to be able to track the movements of other nations' satellites, including Russia and China.

The US Space Force tweeted out this image of a uniform bearing its new official badge in January. US president Donald Trump signed the massive $738billion Defense bill in December 2019 which officially set the ball rolling to establish the Space Force

It will therefore be able to predict when they will be over US land or serving troops abroad.

US president Donald Trump signed the massive $738billion Defense bill in December 2019 which officially set the ball rolling to establish the Space Force.

'With my signature today you will witness the birth of the Space Force,' he said. 'And that will be now officially the sixth branch of the United States armed forces.'

He signed the legislation at Joint Base Andrews - which he dubbed 'America's Airfield' as it houses Air Force One - before he departed to Mar-a-Lago for the Christmas holiday.

The official logo and uniform was revealed in January.
ALI AL-SALEM AIR BASE, Kuwait - Canada's troops are eager to get back to work training Iraqi security forces but it won't happen unless Canada is certain of their safety and Iraq invites them to return, Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Monday.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/2/2020 (700 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stands with Chief of Defence Staff Jonathan Vance visits with Canadian troops at Camp Canada at Ali al Salem Air Base in Kuwait on Monday, Feb. 10, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

ALI AL-SALEM AIR BASE, Kuwait - Canada's troops are eager to get back to work training Iraqi security forces but it won't happen unless Canada is certain of their safety and Iraq invites them to return, Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Monday.

Champagne was in Kuwait with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for a surprise visit to bring greetings and show appreciation for Canada's troops at the Ali Al-salem Air Base. Some of them were relocated there last month as tensions escalated following a targeted U.S. drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad.

"You've all had a volatile few weeks in this part of the world," Trudeau said, speaking to more than 100 Canadian soldiers in "Camp Canada" on the base, about 40 km east of the Iraq border. "It's been a complex start to 2020."

Camp Canada is the centre for Operation Impact, a Canadian Armed Forces mission with operations in Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait and Iraq. About 250 of the 850 Canadians deployed in Operation Impact were part of a NATO mission in Iraq to train national security forces and build up military education institutions with the goal of preventing the return of the Islamic State group, sometimes referred to as Daesh.

Canada suspended that training and began moving the troops based in Iraq to Kuwait, as unrest and tension grew following the death of Maj.-Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force. The attack also killed Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and led to concerns about Iranian retaliation as well as rioting and protests in Iraq.

Two days after the drone attack, Iraq's parliament passed a resolution asking the government to expel all foreign troops.

Canada's forces began to move to Kuwait just hours before Iran launched missiles at two Iraqi bases, one of them housing Canadians, in retaliation for Soleimani's killing. No Canadians were injured, though 50 Americans suffered concussions and other brain injuries in the attacks.

As some of those relocated troops mingled around him and chatted and posed for photos with the prime minister, Champagne told reporters he has spoken with Salim al-Jabouri, the speaker of the Iraqi parliament, twice in the last few weeks to reiterate to him why Canada had troops in his country. Champagne said he wanted al-Jabouri to understand Canada was there to support Iraq's democratic and economic reforms, at Iraq's request.

The Canadian Armed Forces say some "mission-critical activities such as air sustainment operations" (that is, flights carrying equipment and supplies) have resumed in Iraq already but the remainder of the Joint Task Force Impact troops are still on pause.

Champagne said the ongoing discussion about when they might return to Iraq is a "dynamic" situation.

"What you hear from the troops here is they are quite eager to go back," he said. "They want to help, they want to be going back to their normal duties. But obviously this needs to be done in a safe environment and at the invitation of the host nation, which is Iraq."

The prime ministerial stop in Kuwait comes in the middle of Trudeau's extended trip to Africa, but was kept off the public itinerary until Sunday afternoon for security purposes. Trudeau and Champagne received a classified briefing upon arrival at the base, before Trudeau addressed the troops. He spoke alongside Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri, who is travelling as part of the delegation.

Ujiri gave all the military members Raptors championships T-shirts, though he joked he should have brought sweatshirts because it was an unusually cold day in Kuwait.

Trudeau said as the tensions rose in the Middle East in January, many Canadians needed to be reminded why Canada has soldiers in the region.

"We have been, as a country, essential in the efforts to defeat Daesh," Trudeau said over the roar of jet engines at the air base.

"Essential to the efforts in rebuilding and providing a level of stability for Iraq that will allow us to move forward and not just have a more stable and prosperous region but indeed reduce the impacts of terrorism around the world."

And he told them he was extremely grateful to be able to say thank you in person.

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"You represent the very best of who we are as Canadians," he said.

"You step up, you step up every day far from your loved ones, far from your families, because you believe in the values that Canada stands for and you know we need to work hard and, yes, fight to ensure that those values find purchase elsewhere around the world where people want the same kinds of things that we do: safety, security for their families, opportunities to grow up in a peaceful community and country."

Trudeau also met with Kuwait's Prime Minister Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah Monday evening at Bayan Palace, the main palace of the emir of Kuwait.

On Tuesday, Trudeau is to travel to Dakar, Senegal for an official visit. On Friday he will attend a security conference in Munich before returning to Canada on the weekend.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 10, 2020.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version mistakenly said Canadian troops were moved to Iraq and that they were part of a UN mission.
/ -- Muthoot Pappachan Group, popularly known as Muthoot Blue, a diversified conglomerate in the financial services industry, today announced the kick-start of an end-to-end 'Digital Transformation' of its Financial Services business, as a significant part of group-wide business transformation exercise. This transformational journey, aptly branded as Digital Blue, is in partnership with UST Global, a reputed global information technology solutions and services company.

The Digital Blue initiative has been divided under different towers aiming specific outcomes. These towers include IT Infrastructure, all-new Gold Loan platform, new Loan Management System, CRM, Data Warehouse & Analytics; which will all fit into a new enterprise-level architecture. This digital transformation exercise is primarily aimed at easing scalability, building quick and agile decision-making capability, increased productivity and efficiency from business and cost standpoints.

As a comprehensive & complete tech-led transformation, Digital Blue is an intensive & extensive six-year-long journey with the ultimate objective to add wings to Muthoot Blue's Purpose, 'To Transform the Life of the Common-man by improving their Financial Well-being'. With tomorrow's business being technology-driven, digitalization will provide the foundation for sustainable growth, keeping Muthoot Pappachan Group abreast of the rapidly changing environment and staying relevant for the future.

Speaking on the partnership, Mr. Thomas John Muthoot, Chairman and Managing Director, Muthoot Pappachan Group said, "If the unbanked in India were to be a country, it would be the 7th largest country in the world. Real change in the lives of the people in the lower strata of the socio-economic pyramid comes with an improvement in their financial status and hence, Financial Inclusion for more & more of the common man is at the core outcome for us at Muthoot Blue. Digitalization, which helps in detailed, sharp & intimate customer data, in agility, inefficiency, inflexibility and in customer service & experience, therefore, is a key strategic pillar for us. Accordingly, we went with one of the Global Leaders in the tech-business, UST Global and am so very happy to announce the birth of Digital Blue."



Emphasizing on the omnipresent & omnipotent impact of the Digital Blue, Mr. Eugene Koshy, Chief Purpose Officer and the Lead behind the group-wide business transformation exercise of Muthoot Pappachan Group, said, "Our goal of being the preferred financial service provider of choice to the Common Man can only be realized if we digitalize our financial services delivery. Our engagement is such that we are servicing over 100,000 customers every day at 4,200 fully owned branches through 26,000+ employees. Accordingly, we have kept our PURPOSE and our customer at the center of all digital initiatives under this transformation journey. This primarily involves developing a state-of-the-art-infrastructure for cutting edge applications across all our key products and services, which will ensure superior customer service and delight, including all the regulatory compliance as expected from a systemically important NBFC. UST Global was chosen as our partner in this exercise not just because of its global prowess in Technology, but also due to the close alignment & synergy we had in our business culture."



"UST Global and Muthoot Pappachan Group have a common mission - To Transform Lives. Muthoot has been touching and transforming lives of common man by catering to their financial needs. UST Global is into transforming lives using cutting edge technology. When the power of transformation is enhanced with digital technology, the most benefitted is the common man. UST Global with extensive experience in digital transformation across the globe, is fully committed to Muthoot Pappachan Group in helping them to stay ahead in the highly competitive NFBCs market," says Alexander Varghese, Chief Operating Officer, UST Global.

"The state-of-art cloud solutions built around UST's own cloud offerings will accelerate the digital transformation initiatives of Muthoot Pappachan Group. It will add great impetus to Muthoot' s business operations and help them establish a long-lasting relationship with their end customers. Digitalization and IT modernization will pave way not just for stronger customer and user experience but also improve IT security and operations for Muthoot Pappachan Group", added Gilroy Mathew, Vice President, UST Global.

About Muthoot Pappachan Group



Muthoot Pappachan Group (MPG), the much-diversified business conglomerate has been providing solutions, services and expertise to millions of customers across the country in various domains like financial services, automotive, realty, hospitality, IT and alternate energy. Over the years, Muthoot Pappachan Group has grown to become a significant entity in the Indian business landscape. Muthoot Pappachan Group, in fact, is one of the largest employees in the country, across industries, providing employment to over 26,000 people and endeavouring to give them a family-like work environment. The Group's customer-centric approach and innovation in terms of new products that cater to changing customer needs, have helped in gaining the loyalty of innumerable customers, as well as attracting new ones. The Group adopts the latest technology and new ways of catering to the needs of customers, coupled with an uncompromising stand on values, principles and ethics.

Do visit us at www.muthoot.com and at www.muthootblue.com to know more.

About Muthoot Fincorp Ltd.

The flagship company of Muthoot Pappachan Group is one of the largest NBFCs in India with around 3600 branches, pan India. Muthoot Fincorp is a provider of retail finance, predominantly in the form of secured and unsecured loans, to the middle and low-income customer. Decades of customer-centricity, dedicated research and experience with the customers & their families have enabled the Company to provide quick and customized financing options & investment schemes for millions of customers. Muthoot Fincorp is one amongst the largest Gold Loan companies in India. At the same time the Muthoot Fincorp branches offer a diverse mix of retail offerings - including products of its Group companies - catering to the various needs of its customers including MSME Loan products, Affordable Housing Loan, Two-Wheeler Loan, Used-car Loan, Domestic & International Money Transfer, Chits, Foreign Exchange, Insurance Products & Services Wealth Management Services, Affordable Gold Jewellery and so on.

About UST Global



UST Global is a technology partner dedicated to transforming businesses, communities, and the people who live within them. Operating in 25 countries, we deliver future-ready digital transformation strategy services, products, and platforms that create new possibilities and help you imagine what's next in banking and finance, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, semiconductor, technology and media. But what matters most is the deep partnership we forge with you to solve the unique challenges you face today, while preparing you for tomorrow. That's us together. That's UST Global. Visit us at www.UST-Global.com



Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/540539/UST_Global_Logo.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The questioning of the Pakistani nationals had revealed the role of Halari in drug smuggling, the ACP told reporters at Gujarat ATS headquarters here.

Mumbai: The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Monday nabbed one of the main accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, Munaf Halari, while he was in transit at the Mumbai International Airport on a fake Pakistani passport.

ATS officials laid a trap at the airport and apprehended Halari (55) when he was about to continue his journey to Dubai via a plane that had arrived from Nairobi. Halari, a close associate of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahims gang, had arranged for the two-wheelers that were used to load the explosives that wreaked havoc in the congested lanes of south Mumbai.

Halari was on the radar of the Gujarat ATS following the arrest of five Pakistani nationals in January off the Gujarat coast with drugs worth `175 crore in their possession, he said.

The questioning of the Pakistani nationals had revealed the role of Halari in drug smuggling, the ACP told reporters at Gujarat ATS headquarters here.

The probe has revealed that D gang associate Tiger Memon got Halari a Pakistani passport in the name of Anwar Muhammad with the help of Pakistani authorities, said the Gujarat ATS officer.

Though a red-corner notice (RCN) had been issued against him, Halari entered India twice on a Pakistani passport after going into hiding in 1993, he said.

An RCN is a kind of international arrest warrant for fugitives where Interpol requests its member countries to arrest or detain them, he said. Halari last entered India in 2014 from Pakistan through the Wagah-Attari border in Punjab and visited Mumbai, from where he hails, he said.

The Gujarat ATS has seized his Pakistani passport, which was renewed twice by authorities in the neighbouring country, he said. With the help of Memon, Halari then settled in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, where he started a business under his new identity. On the instructions of Memon, he entered into the foodgrain export-import business. However, his main intention behind starting this business was to smuggle explosives and contraband into India, said the ATS officer.

The interrogation of the five Pakistani nationals arrested in January had revealed the consignment belonged to one Haji Hasan of Karachi, who was in touch with Halari, he said.

Hasan had even promised to smuggle explosives into Gujarat through the coast, said the officer. The accused will be produced before a court for remand, he said.
By Bahk Eun-ji



People should not be concerned about going to retail stores and other facilities previously visited by coronavirus patients because they pose no infection risks after undergoing thorough disinfection, according to the health authorities and medical experts Monday.





Customers read a notification of the temporary closure of Lotte Department Store in Myeongdong, Seoul, Sunday, after it was discovered a patient diagnosed with the new coronavirus had recently shopped there. /Yonhap
(Newser)  A dozen people have the new coronavirus inside the US, according to the CDC. But twice that many Americans have fallen ill abroad from one cruise ship alone. These were the people who had the misfortune to board the Diamond Princess, which is now docked in Japan and under quarantine. A total of 135 passengers have tested positive, and 24 of them are Americans, reports CNN. Coverage:

On board: "Imagine being trapped in your bathroom, American Matthew Smith, 57, tells CNBC. The approximately 3,500 passengers must remain in their cabins, though they can leave for the deck if they wish for brief, designated periods during the day. The crew delivers meals, bottled water, towels, etc., to their rooms. Smith and his wife (neither of whom are ill) are actually confined to a larger suite, and thus "have been more comfortable than most on board."

story continues below

Split up: One of the ill Americans is Rebecca Frasure of Oregon, who was transferred to an isolation ward at a Tokyo hospital Friday. Her husband, who is not ill, remains on the locked-down ship. "We're just kind of taking it in stride and FaceTiming and such as we can," Frasure tells ABC News, adding that she would not have known she was sick if she hadn't been tested. "Just never think that something like this is going to happen when you're just on vacation, living life. So, yeah, it was pretty shocking."

One of the ill Americans is Rebecca Frasure of Oregon, who was transferred to an isolation ward at a Tokyo hospital Friday. Her husband, who is not ill, remains on the locked-down ship. "We're just kind of taking it in stride and FaceTiming and such as we can," Frasure tells ABC News, adding that she would not have known she was sick if she hadn't been tested. "Just never think that something like this is going to happen when you're just on vacation, living life. So, yeah, it was pretty shocking." WiFi helps: Another passenger, Young Wo of Hong Kong, tells the South China Morning Post that movies and free internet are helping him and his wife pass the time. Its not too boring, as we can also watch TV and play crossword puzzles delivered to our room." He said they have opted to stay inside even when announcements are made that they can go to the deck. "We just open the balcony doors during the day to get the room ventilated with fresh air."

Another passenger, Young Wo of Hong Kong, tells the South China Morning Post that movies and free internet are helping him and his wife pass the time. Its not too boring, as we can also watch TV and play crossword puzzles delivered to our room." He said they have opted to stay inside even when announcements are made that they can go to the deck. "We just open the balcony doors during the day to get the room ventilated with fresh air." How long? The two-week quarantine is due to be lifted Feb. 19, reports NPR, but anyone who has been in contact with an infected person might have to stay longer. The bad news is that new cases keep emerging66 on Monday alone. The ship, run by Princess Cruises, represents the largest cluster of cases outside China.

The two-week quarantine is due to be lifted Feb. 19, reports NPR, but anyone who has been in contact with an infected person might have to stay longer. The bad news is that new cases keep emerging66 on Monday alone. The ship, run by Princess Cruises, represents the largest cluster of cases outside China. Medicine: About 600 quarantined passengers need different types of medicine, and authorities were scrambling to supply it, reports the AP.

About 600 quarantined passengers need different types of medicine, and authorities were scrambling to supply it, reports the AP. One good thing: All the passengers are getting full refunds, andshould they ever want to get on a boat againa travel credit for another cruise, per NPR.

(On the other side of the world, an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness got another Princess cruise shut down early .)
Trailer:

Narration: One month into the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak,

Mr. Lin: If you look in the Chinese media on the CCTV, youll still see maybe 99% of the reports regarding the outbreak, which is emphasizing how much effort the government is already doing.

Ms. Gao: So whats your assessment of the situation?

Mr. Lin: I think the situation is a lot worse than they realized,

Narration: Wuhan has a Maximum Security Laboratory level 4 lab that could handle the coronavirus, but are such labs really safe?

Ms. Gao: According to you, the nature magazine, SARS virus has been leaked from the Beijing lab multiple times. What does that tell you?

Mr. Trevan: To me it would be indicative that theres a systemic problem there.

Title: Coronavirus Epidemic Underestimated?

Host: Welcome to Zooming In, Im Simone Gao. The Wuhan coronavirus that has spread consternation around the world over the last few weeks has now killed more people in China than the SARS epidemic of 2002-2003. That is, according to the Chinese official record. As the coronavirus reaches 25 countries around the world, and a substantial amount of non-official reports surface from China, the Chinese regime is under scrutiny as to whether it is attempting to distort the true nature of the epidemic. How serious is it after all? Could it evolve into a pandemic? Why has China allowed few outside experts in to study the epidemic? How has the US responded to this global public health emergency? And what impact will it have on the global economy at large? We explore these questions in todays episode of Zooming In.

Narration: Since the coronavirus was first detected in the central city of Wuhan late December 2019, the Chinese CDC claimed it has killed 425 people, with over 20,400 confirmed infections nationwide.

The international health authorities have been largely praising the Chinese authorities for being more transparent in handling the epidemic than they were during the SARS outbreak. But social media and media outside China suggest otherwise.

It is reported by BBC that the Chinese government silenced doctors and medical technicians who posted the Coronavirus discovery in early Jan. They played down the dangers to the public, leaving the citys 11 million residents unaware of the need to protect themselves.

By the time the authorities were galvanized into action on Jan 20, the disease had grown into a formidable threat.

On Jan 23, the government placed Wuhan on total travel lockdown, leaving 6-7 million people, including thousands of foreigners, stranded in a city where the virus is raging and hospitals are overflowing. 5 million people had already left Wu Han before the travel ban. Now Hangzhou, another epicenter with a population of 9 million is also locked down. All of China has implemented travel restrictions of some form or another as of today.

Host: While scientists debate whether the travel restrictions are going to be effective since so many infected people have left Wuhan and China, Chinese authorities have successfully crafted a narrative that praises the governments resolve and ability to conquer the epidemic .

Narration: On Jan 24, a day after the Wuhan lockdown, Chinas state-run media CCTV gave overwhelming coverage to the arrival of 450 the peoples liberation army medical staff who were deployed to the epicenter of the outbreak.

According to the Ministry of National Defense, the personnel were all top specialists, including those who fought against SARS or Ebola.

Wuhan reportedly received a massive delivery of 14,000 hazmat suits, 110,000 pairs of gloves as well as masks and goggles.

Any results from these efforts, however, are difficult to detect. Social media is filled with clips of packed hospitals, corpses lying in hospital lobbies, and Overworked medical staff making desperate pleas online for more medical supplies.

In one quickly deleted video that was posted to Chinese social media site Weibo, independent reporter Fang Bin filmed 8 corpses transported into a van within 5 minutes.

Funeral home workers in Wuhan told the Epoch Times that they had been working 24/7 to cremate bodies.

In another post, one nurse claimed at least 90,000 people had been infected  a figure substantially greater than the officially reported number.

Host: An underlying question for these horrible scenes is: just how big is this epidemic? And do the numbers from the Chinese CDC reflect reality? We have seen some troubling reports.

Narration: The coronavirus was first identified in Wuhan on December 1.

However, according to Reuters, testing kits for the disease were not distributed to some of Wuhans hospitals until about Jan. 20. Before then, samples had to be sent to a laboratory in Beijing for testing, a process that took three to five days to get results.

During that gap, hospitals in the city reduced the number of people under medical observation from 739 to just 82, according to data compiled by Reuters from Wuhan health authorities, and no new cases were reported inside China.

On Jan 27, the Epoch Times reported that in Wuhan, diagnostic kits are only provided to certain qualifying hospitals and in very limited quantities. Medical personnel at these hospitals have said that the number of kits they are supplied is less than 10 percent of what they need to test patients.

Host: By controlling the number of available diagnostic kits, Chinas CDC is able to put an upper limit on the number of confirmed cases reported daily. How big is the epidemic after all? Chinese and American trained microbiologist Lin Xiaoxu, who was also the lab director of the viral disease branch at Walter Reed Army institute of research told me this.

Mr. Lin: So the true situation is always a lot more serious than what the government presented to the world regardless of whether its the number of severe patients or the death number and also suspected cases. In the United States we call it PUI (patient under investigation). So all of these numbers, if you time 10 times the official data, it may be closer to reality.

Bumper: Coming up, has the U.S. been responding adequately?

Part 2: U.S. Response  A Political Embarrassment For The Chinese Regime?

Narration: On January 30, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global public health emergency. The declaration has only been used five times since it was created in 2005.

So far the Wuhan coronavirus has spread from China to over 20 countries, including the United States, France, Japan, Vietnam, and Philippine.

On February 3, a death in Hong Kong marked the second fatality outside mainland China.

Last weekend, US health authorities confirmed the eighth case of coronavirus in the US. The virus was detected in a student from the University of Massachusetts who recently traveled to Wuhan.

On January 29, a plane arrived at March Air Reserve Base, a military base in Southern California, after being flown from Wuhan, carrying 195 U.S. citizens who had been evacuated from the Chinese city.

Most were State Department officials and their families, although some private citizens were included. US health officials said these passengers would be put in quarantine for 14 days.

On the 31st, the Trump administration announced that US citizens who have traveled within the past two weeks to Hubei provincewhose capital city is Wuhanwill also be subject to a mandatory quarantine of up to 14 days.

In addition, the Trump administration issued an executive order to ban all foreign nationals who had traveled to China over the past two weeks from entering the US.

On February 2, a second plane was reportedly on its way to Wuhan, with the mission to bring back to the United States U.S. citizens wishing to leave the city.

The decision came after the CDC warned that health officials were prepared for the possibility that the outbreak could become a pandemic.

Earlier on Monday (Feb 3), Beijing accused the US of fueling panic over the disease with travel restrictions and evacuations.

A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman even blasted the US for doing nothing to help China combat the crisis.

Contrary to her narrative, health secretary Alex Azar had revealed last week that the US had offered to send a team of health experts to China several times, which the Chinese government had rejected until February 2, when they finally accepted the offer.

Host: The Chinese foreign ministry spokespersons hostile remarks, while directed toward the US, were an attempt to avoid political embarrassment, another display of the governments incompetence and habitual dishonesty in reacting to a public health emergency. This mentality is precisely what allowed the disease to gain a tenacious hold. I interviewed Tim Trevan, founder of CHROME Biosafety and Biosecurity Consulting. He was quoted in a 2017 Nature article, where he alluded that the top-down/hierarchical nature of the Chinese institutions might be the root of the problem.

Mr. Trevan: My question was more whether the culture that exists in Chinese government structures and in organizations is structured in a way that can learn to adapt very quickly when the rules dont work. So in complex adaptive systems, you get things called emergent properties. These are things that you cannot forecast.

And so there you have to be able to react to the unexpected very quickly. This means that you need to organize to be able to learn quickly, which means that even the most junior person has to be able to question the decisions and knowledge of the most senior person. And it means that the most senior people have to respect and listen to all the junior people too. So that was the concern that I was stating this, that I think in these sorts of labs, not just in China, but in countries around the world, we need to get a change in management attitude from one of very hierarchical structures where the bosses say this is the only way to do it, to ones where the people doing the work understand how they have to do it safely. And when, when a new knowledge appears, theyre able then to change the system themselves to keep it safe.

Ms. Gao: According to you, the nature magazine, um, SARS virus has been leaked from the Beijing lab multiple times. What does that tell you?

Mr. Trevan: Well, to me that if, if you have a major, um, unintended release of a dangerous pathogen like that several times within the same organization, over a short span of time, to me it would be indicative that theres a systemic problem there. Theres a problem with the system of management and of risk management in that facility. And so I would want to go in there if I were responsible for trying to prevent these, these, future releases of the, the virus, uh, Id want to go in there and study what were the core, what were the underlying causes for why people made the decisions, which led to the actions which led to the release. What were the management structures that made them think that that was the right thing to do that way. So, as I say, it becomes an issue of how you learn about your organization and how you learn about the way you do things.

Narration: Tim also shared his advice on how the situation should be assessed moving forward.

Ms. Gao: When can medical authorities tell which direction this is gonna go?

Mr. Trevan: Well the first indications will be once we understand the full course of the disease, say it takes three weeks from infection to full recovery or say it takes 10 days from initial infection to when youre no longer infectious, when you no longer can pass on the disease to someone else. If we find that over a, say a one week or two week period, the number of people who are progressing from initial infection out of the period from which theyre infectious starts exceeding the number of new cases, then we can believe that weve got it under control. Or at least were going in the right direction. So what well definitely be looking for is what is the rate of new cases. If the rate of new cases such that continues to go up geometrically, then our control measures not working. If it starts to plateau or, or slow down, then we can have some faith that our control measures are working.

Host: Lets hear what Dr. Lin Xiaoxu has to say about this.

Mr. Lin: I think even the Chinese scientists probably have a lot of data in their hands, but they are not allowed to be released to the public. So thats why you see even some of the medical situation, the medical data collected is only released on the scientific report even after the government allowed the situation to be publicized.

Mr. Lin: So some of the information definitely needed to be released earlier to the world. And regarding the different symptoms that people can experience from this virus and mutations that may have occurred and whether the second generation mutations already happened. And would it be more transmissible? Would it be more pathogenic? This information the Chinese doctors will have the first hand information because they are treating so many patients every day, right? So they will be able to see if the virus has more than deadly outcomes. And so I think the Chinese government needs to loosen up their control, loosen their control in the media and also control over the medical situation. The Chinese government should no longer treat public health crisis as a state secret, (but rather as) a fundamental issue. If they always treat it as a state secret, so many true situations will be covered up.

Bumper: Coming up, as China returns from the Lunar New Year break, how will the coronavirus affect the economy at large?

Part 3: Coronavirus Triggers Global Economic Fears

Narration: China returned from its extended Lunar New Year holiday to steep economic losses.

As the Shanghai stock exchange reopened on Feb 3, Chinas benchmark stock index dipped 9% on the first day of trading, its worst opening in almost 13 years.

The Chinese yuan plunged against most of its major currency rivals.

The Peoples Bank of China (PBoC) recently announced that it would inject $174 billion into the economy to protect it from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

The size of the central bank injection, along with other measures, signals policymakers fear of a market crash.

Analysts say the impact of the virus  which has left major cities in full or partial lockdown  could harm growth if it lasts for a prolonged period.

Chinas travel and tourism sectors have already taken a hit over an unusually quiet Spring Festival break, while cinemas were forced to close to try to contain the virus.

Meanwhile, numerous factories have suspended production while companies have instructed employees to work from home.

Foxconn, Toyota, Starbucks, McDonalds, Tesla and Volkswagen are just a few of the corporate giants to have paused operations or shuttered outlets across China.

On February 4, Hyundai, the worlds fifth-largest automaker, said that it was temporarily stopping production lines at its factories in South Korea due to shortage of Chinese parts.

The Hyundai shutdown could portend much more serious disruptions in the complex automobile supply chains.

Global oil prices began to collapse as demand from China shrank. China consumes 13 of every 100 barrels of oil the world produces. As daily Chinese oil demand dropped 20 percent because of diminished transportation and manufacturing, repercussions are felt by the entire oil industry.

Experts say, once the Wuhan coronavirus subsides, it could take as long as 19 months for multiple industries to recover. It is estimated that the global economy will take a hit of at least $40 to $60 billion.

Host: Just how deep will the wounds be on Chinas economy? Economist and China expert Frank Qin told me this.

Frank Qin: The impact of the Wuhan coronavirus on the Chinese economy will be greater than in 2003. In 2003, the Chinese economy was on the rise, China was becoming the worlds factory and Made In China was coming into being. E-commerce in China was fledgling. Now, the Chinese economy is having difficulties. You have the U.S.-China trade war, and a Chinese economic dynamic in which the state flourishes but individuals do not.

Investment of private enterprises has fallen sharply in recent years, and the supply chain has also shifted. All these elements factored together will create a far-reaching impact on the Chinese economy.

The extent to which the epidemic affects the economy depends on a couple of things:

The first is the duration of the epidemic. Liang Zhuowei, Dean of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong stated in a January 27 report that he believes the Wuhan epidemic will peak in April and May, and will start to subside in June and July. This means a negative impact on the economy will exist for the first and second quarters. It will continue through May and June and will start to recover after June.

Second, will this evolve into a nationwide epidemic? At present, it is suspected that the number of people who are infected and the death toll in China are dozens of times higher than officially announced. There are already 36 cities being locked down or partially locked down. 5 million people fled Wuhan before the lockdown on Jan. 22. Their primary destinations were Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Now the Chinese Communist Party faces a dilemma between employment and epidemic control. For economic reasons it cannot extend the Chinese New Year holiday after February 10th. But this also means the epidemic in these large cities will get worse after the holiday is over when people start to move around. Therefore, I predict that by April to May, large cities and in fact most cities in the country will be forced to lock down or partially lock down. This will inevitably affect the economy, hurt consumption and encourage migration of the supply chain.

How big of an impact will it be? Reuters reported that Standard & Poor predicted Chinas GDP would dip 1.2% for the entire year. Other organizations have made similar forecasts. But I believe Chinas GDP will drop down further. I believe the growth rate for the first quarter will only be 2% or lower. The subsequent growth will be even smaller. The decrease in growth for the entire year will be about 1.5%. Considering that last year China largely faked its GDP numbers, I would say the impact of the outbreak on Chinas economy will be more serious than what the outside world imagined.

Host: And when China is hurt, the world bleeds. Overwhelming concerns over the state of the global economy may prove one thing: The international commerce and financial markets have become far more reliant on China than people realize. And with a greatly underestimated number of people infected with the coronavirus, people do not know what to expect. But one thing is for sure, if the epidemic prolongs, China will be forced to disengage with the rest of the world during a period when it needs Western investment the most. Stay tuned for the truth about the coronavirus epidemic in China. Thanks for watching Zooming In. Im Simone Gao. See you next time.

Follow Simone on Twitter: @ZoomingIn_NTD
Men armed with rifles and machetes attacked a police station in Benin ne ar the border with troubled Burkina Faso, raising fears that Islamic extremist violence could be encroaching even further south, officials said.One policeman was killed and another wounded in the attack in the village of Mekrou-Djimdjim at dawn on Sunday and the gunmen then set fire to the building, according to a statement by a police spokesman.

The attack took place near one of the wildlife areas known as W National Park straddling the borders of northern Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger. In the Pendjari National Park further west, two French tourists were kidnapped last May and their guide was killed.Observers have expressed growing fears that Islamic extremist groups could be extending their reach further south.

Islamic militants grabbed hold of the major towns in northern Mali in 2012, only to be dispersed by a French-led military intervention the following year. Since 2015, neighboring Burkina Faso has been beset by jihadist attacks and now there are concerns about the northern regions of Benin, Togo, Ghana and Ivory Coast becoming the next front.

(Image Credits: AP)
From her cubicle in a quiet New Jersey office park, Maryann Hand called voter after voter in Iowa with this public-service appeal:

Your participation is very important because only 500 people have been randomly selected for this survey," she read from a script. Your views will represent many people throughout the state.

But would they? It was the week before the Iowa caucuses, and most people chose not to speak with Hand and her colleagues in the Mount Laurel office of Braun Research, calling on behalf of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. After four evenings they finally got 544 people, with the biggest share  23%  saying they favored Joe Biden.

Yet in the actual caucuses, as organizers sorted out the chaos from a balky vote-counting app, Bidens support appeared lower than that, behind Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders. Did Monmouth (and plenty of other pre-Iowa polls) get it wrong?

Not at all, if you consider what polling really measures.

Polling is not designed to predict what will happen on an election day. It merely provides an estimate of what people are thinking at a given moment before election day, within that range you hear about so often on the news: the margin of error.

Heres how it works.

Its all about the sample

The fundamental math behind sampling has been well-established for centuries, allowing pollsters to get a reliable sense of how a large population of people is thinking by calling just a few hundred of them, provided they were chosen at random.

An explanation would require a blackboard full of equations, but the end result makes intuitive sense. The more people a pollster calls, the higher the chance of getting an accurate result  that is, the narrower the margin of error. If we polled everyone, we would know how everyone felt  a margin of error of zero. But even if we survey just 500 people in a large population, it turns out the margin of error is still fairly narrow. Do the calculations, and the margin for this sample size is plus or minus 4.4 percentage points, using whats called a 95% confidence interval.

That means if you could somehow conduct the poll again and again an infinite number of times  calling a new group of 500 people each time  the result would fall within 4.4 points of the true number on 95% of those occasions.

Heres an example: Lets say that in a group of one million people, the actual level of support for Candidate X is 42%, though of course we dont know that. The first time we poll 500 people, perhaps 41% of them will say they like the candidate. Maybe next time, wed get 43% or 44%, followed by 42% a few times in a row. Over time, most of the results would fall between 38% and 46%. Plot all those points on a graph, and results cluster toward the center, forming a shape called a bell curve.

The more people a pollster calls, the narrower the margin of error. But there are diminishing returns, said Mack C. Shelley II, an Iowa State University professor of political science and statistics. Calling 2,000 people  four times as many  would reduce the margin of error only by half.

Be wary of the horse race trap. In the Monmouth poll, the four candidates with the highest totals  Biden, Sanders, Buttigieg, and Elizabeth Warren  were bunched so closely together that institute director Patrick Murray could not say which was ahead. With a 4.4-point margin of error, a candidate needs to be at least 8.8 points ahead of an opponent for a statistician to say with confidence that he or she was truly in the lead.

The same goes for saying that a candidate has gained from one poll to the next. Unless the percentage changes by a lot, be careful.

Polls were never the precise measures that the media tended to portray them as, Murray said.

As for why the Monmouth poll and other pre-Iowa results did not match the caucuses, Murrays results indicate that many voters made up their minds after the polls were taken (a common occurrence in early-stage primaries, with lots of candidates). Whats more, turnout appeared to be low among voters from some demographic groups.

Weighting matters

Which brings us to weighting. This is a statistical technique a pollster uses to ensure that the demographics in a sample of 500 people mirror those of the population at large.

Lets say that our group of 500 includes 250 women  50%. But if the voting population is actually 51% female, we should have called 255 women. To compensate, the pollster would give a bit more statistical weight to each womans response. Instead of counting as a response from one person, it would count as 1.02 (255 divided by 250).

The key is to do this for the right characteristics  those that tend to be associated with varying levels of support for political views, said Courtney Kennedy, director of survey research at the Pew Research Center in Washington.

If women under age 40 are more likely to vote a certain way, then pollsters need to make sure they account for how many people meet that description. Age, gender, party affiliation, and ethnicity all are commonly used to weight samples. Pollsters also try to identify people who are likely voters, either by asking them or using voting records.

But no one answers the phone

Decades ago, before the advent of caller ID and cell phones, pollsters commonly achieved response rates above 50%. That is, not only did that many people answer the phone, but they also agreed to answer the questions.

These days, pollsters are happy if they succeed with just 5% of the cell-phone users they try to call. And calls to land lines are not much better  generally below 10%.

The solution is simple: Call more people. But once again, there is the question of weighting. It turns out that those few people who do answer phone calls from unfamiliar numbers are more likely to have a college degree. And in 2016, people with college degrees were more likely to favor Hillary Clinton. That meant skewed results for state-level polls that failed to ask about education and weight the results accordingly.

Other pollsters have turned to online surveys, which in theory will work just as well  provided they account for any differences between those who agree to participate and those who do not (or cannot, if they lack internet access).

Asking the right questions

Pollsters sometimes grapple with a perception that they try to steer people with leading questions. With certain policy issues (Do you think a soda tax is a bad idea?), that might be true if the survey is funded by an advocacy group. Dont be afraid to ask.

But the big-name pollsters, such as those with ties to universities and media outlets, are doing their best to play it straight. In addition to using neutral language, they generally rotate the order in which candidates names are presented. Warren might be first one time, Amy Klobuchar the next.

Thats because people who have not yet made up their minds, when forced to make a choice, are slightly more likely to pick the first or last name they hear  not one in the middle, Monmouths Murray said.

How come Ive never been polled?

Again, math. As an example, look at Pennsylvania, which has 8.5 million registered voters.

Even if pollsters were to conduct 50 polls between now and November, calling 500 people each time, that would add up to at most 25,000 voters  even fewer if by some chance anyone was called by multiple polls.

That number represents just three-tenths of 1% of the total number of voters. Most people will not hear from a pollster this year  or if they do, they might not recognize the number and decline to pick up.

But for those who do, the math is solid, and their responses will represent a wide swath of the broader public. As for what happens in November, its anyones guess.
If Republicans in Washington were enthusiastic about Citizens United, they were silent in 2013 after the Supreme Courts decision in Shelby County v. Holder, where that same Republican-appointed majority gutted a critical section of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, clearing the way for new restrictions on voting. Neither McConnell nor the House speaker, John Boehner, had any comment in the wake of the decision, despite the fact that they voted to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act seven years earlier, under President George W. Bush. Boehner had even called it an effective tool in protecting a right that is fundamental to our democracy. In 2015, he would effectively kill a House bill to restore the Voting Rights Act to its former strength.

Since Shelby, Republican lawmakers in states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia have openly suppressed the vote with voter purges, strict ID laws and cuts to voting infrastructure (closing polling places in predominantly Democratic areas like college campuses, for example). While this happened, their counterparts in Washington either looked the other way or actively denounced efforts to protect the vote. The recent Democratic House bill to combat corruption and strengthen voting rights was, McConnell wrote in The Washington Post, a naked attempt to change the rules of American politics to benefit one party.

Lets return to those rival accounts of United States history. If the story of the American republic is the story of democratic decline as much as it is of democratic expansion  if backlash shapes our history as much as progress does  then the current moment is easy to understand. We are living through a period of democratic erosion, in which social and political reaction limits the reach and scope of past democratic victories. In this way of looking at the present, were living through a period of institutional deterioration, during which American government ceases to function in the face of polarization, zero-sum conflict and constitutional hardball.

Republican politicians have been the single most important force behind that erosion, breaking norms, backing suppression and welcoming an endless flood of money into our politics, all to protect themselves and their ideology from the will of the people. Viewed in that light, the acquittal of President Trump  the desperate cover-up in the face of damning evidence  is just another brick on a road Republicans have been paving for years.

It is what you would expect them to do, not because of any fear of the president or personal fealty to him, but because the party sees accountability, whether to voters or to the Constitution itself, as a threat to its interests. If the acquittal of Trump shows us anything, its a Republican Party free of pretense or artifice, ready to embrace its worst self without shame or embarrassment.
State Reps. John M. Rogers, D-Mentor-On-The-Lake, and Jamie Callender, R-Concord Township, recently announced that Lake Metroparks has been awarded a grant totaling $10,843.51 for boating safety education from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Parks and Watercrafts.

Lake Metroparks helps Lake County residents by providing residents with greater opportunities to connect with the outdoors, Rogers said. As an avid boater myself, safety is an integral component to enjoying every day on the water, be it with friends or family.

Meanwhile, Camp Ho Mita Koda in Newbury Township is receiving just shy of $7,000.

Camp Ho Mita Koda is a valuable part of our community and I am very grateful for the funding provided by the Boating Safety Education Grant, state Rep. Diane Grendell, R-Chester Township, said in a statement.

According to a news release, the ODNR Division of Parks and Watercraft is required by state law to provide boating safety education programming, and does so by funding groups at the local level.

These grants are funded through the Waterways Safety fund by a combination of state motor fuel tax, watercraft title and registration fees and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Many constituents throughout Lake County are involved in recreational interests, Callender said. I am thankful to ODNR in providing Lake County with the Boating Safety Education Grant for Lake Metroparks, which will further improve our parks and recreational activities within the region.

State Sen. John Eklund, R-Munson Township, also applauded the funding for continued boating safety education.

Education is key to preventing boating accidents and keeping Ohioans safe on our waterways, he said. I appreciate our local parks commitment to safe and fun experiences while Ohioans enjoy all they have to offer.

With over 100 paddling programs alone, for recreationalists ranging from age 4 to age 90, funds to facilitate various water programs remain critical, said Seth Begeman, chief of outdoor education with Lake Metroparks.

We utilize this grant for many things, including a combination of proper equipment and staff training, Begeman added. It all really helps us, too, because, in one instance, were enhancing our sailing program by replacing 12-foot sailboats, and transporting them back and forth from the beach to the water. Mainly, all we do in regard to water safety is mandated, and thats why were grateful to ODNR for their support.

Under Ohio law, any person born on or after Jan. 1, 1982, has to submit proof they have successfully completed an approved boating safety education course if they are to operate any powered watercraft greater than 10 horsepower, the release stated.

Essentially, it all comes down to help us educate the public, Begeman said. Everything about this grant makes everything we do safer, and we can do a lot of good stuff to make the programs and the boating environment better.

For more information about ODNRs Division of Parks and Watercraft grant programs, visit watercraft.ohiodnr.gov/grants.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping wore a face mask and a surgical gown on a visit to a hospital treating coronavirus patients today.

The Chinese president, who has largely kept out of the public eye since the outbreak began, had his temperature checked as he met doctors at a hospital in Beijing.

He also spoke via video link to medics in Wuhan, the quarantined city at the centre of the outbreak.

China has already imposed drastic quarantine measures but Xi promised today that the government would take more decisive action to contain the virus.

Prepared: Chinese president Xi Jinping wears a face mask and a surgical gown today (pictured) as he visits a hospital in Beijing treating coronavirus patients

Xi Jinping inspects his country's efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak as he visits a hospital in Beijing today

The Chinese leader speaks to health workers at the Beijing hospital today, who were also wearing face masks amid the coronavirus outbreak

Xi, who has called the virus a 'demon', appointed premier Li Keqiang to take the lead on the virus outbreak and it was Li who visited ground zero Wuhan last month.

But the president was back on public view today as he inspected efforts by community workers in Beijing to contain the virus.

China's leader had his temperature taken with an infrared thermometer before waving to nearby residents in their apartments, footage on state media showed.

Vowing to win the battle against the outbreak, Xi said China would take further action to stop the spread of the virus which has killed more than 900 people.

He also declared that China will strive to meet its economic and social targets for the year and make economic adjustments to minimise the impact of the virus.

The outbreak has prompted unprecedented action by the Chinese government, including locking down entire cities and telling hundreds of millions of people to stay indoors.

The sweeping measures turned cities into ghost towns - but there were some signs of normality returning on Monday after the end of an extended New Year break.

Roads in Beijing and Shanghai had significantly more traffic and the southern city of Guangzhou said it would start to resume normal public transport.

Xi also spoke via video link (pictured) to medics in Wuhan, the quarantined city at the centre of the outbreak where the virus is believed to have spread to humans last year

China's leader waved to residents in their apartments as he inspected efforts by community workers in Beijing to contain the virus

The Shanghai government suggested staggered work schedules, avoiding group meals and keeping at least one metre away from colleagues.

Many were encouraged to work from home and some employers simply delayed opening for another week.

State media reported that passenger numbers on the Beijing subway were down by about half on Monday compared to a normal work day.

Large shopping malls in the capital were deserted and many banks closed.

One bank employee in Shanghai was heading to work for a half-day, with other workers due to take over in the afternoon.

The rest of the day he would work from home.

'It makes our work more difficult because we need to access the systems in our office,' he said.

Schools and universities across the country remained shut.

Xi looks at a screen today on a visit to a Beijing community to see how authorities are trying to bring the killer virus under control

China has already imposed drastic quarantine measures but Xi promised today that the government would take more decisive action to contain the virus

The death toll in China rose to 908 yesterday after 97 people died in 24 hours, making Sunday the deadliest day of the outbreak so far.

Another two people have died outside mainland China, one in Hong Kong and one in the Philippines, bringing the global toll to 910.

The toll has overtaken global fatalities in the 2002-03 SARS epidemic, another outbreak which began in China and spread around the world.

Meanwhile in Hong Kong, thousands of people stranded aboard the World Dream cruise ship for five days were allowed to disembark Sunday after its 1,800 crew tested negative for the coronavirus.

But another 66 people aboard the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship moored off Japan have been diagnosed with novel coronavirus, the health ministry said Monday, bringing the total number of known infections to 136.

The Diamond Princess has been in quarantine since arriving off the Japanese coast early last week after the virus was detected in a former passenger who got off the ship last month in Hong Kong.
South Africa: President Ramaphosa lobbies African countries to join APRM

President Cyril Ramaphosa, as the new chairperson of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), has called on more members of the African Union to join the agency.

President Ramaphosa assumed the chairship of the APRM -- a self-assessment and monitoring tool of the continent -- on Saturday.

He also called on existing members to implement the recommendations of their reports.

We must continue to encourage countries that have undergone the review process to implement the recommendations contained in their National Plan of Action.

These recommendations are key in achieving the much needed impact on our continent. Unless they are executed, the reviews will not translate into tangible action at a country level, said the President.

Established in 2003, the APRM is a specialised agency of the AU. It serves as a platform for sharing experiences and reinforcing best practices towards political stability, accelerated economic growth, regional and continental integration, as well as sustainable development. It further seeks to foster change in underlying deficiencies in governance and socioeconomic development processes among member States.

As chairperson, President Ramaphosa shall serve a term of two years, from 2020 to 2022.

The Presidents chairship coincides with his chairship of the AU, which he assumed during the 33rd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

President Ramaphosa assumes the chairship of the APRM at a critical time following the recent expansion of its mandate to include the monitoring of the implementation of Agenda 2063 and the United Nations Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development Goals.

The 32nd Summit resolved that all members reposition the APRM at the centre of continental efforts to deepen democracy and good governance.

Initially established as a mutually agreed instrument to which member States could voluntarily accede, the APRM has 37 members to date.

Accepting the chairship, President Ramaphosa echoed the goal of the assembly to achieve universal accession to the APRM by 2023.

The President further called for more members to join the mechanism in order to jointly pursue innovations that will catalyse the positive transformation of the continent.

The APRM carries out, in fulfilment of its mandate, four types of country reviews. The base review is undertaken once a country joins the APRM. Thereafter, a periodic review is carried out very four years, and member countries may also request a review outside of the mandate review.

The 29th session of the APRM received for the first time targeted reviews, which are commissioned by the APRM. These included targeted reviews on youth unemployment in the Republic of Namibia, fiscal decentralisation in the Republic of Djibouti, and the contribution of tourism to the economy of Zambia.

A country review report was also tabled on the United Arab Republic of Egypt.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-02-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Press Release

February 8, 2020 Gatchalian seeks Senate review of K-12 program Senator Win Gatchalian has filed a resolution seeking an inquiry on the implementation of the "Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013" or the K to 12 Law. According to Gatchalian, the inquiry's findings will craft policy recommendations and complementary laws to ensure the K-12 program's effective implementation. The lawmaker said that the inquiry aims to support the Department of Education's (DepEd) shift of focus from "access" to "quality" education, which is central to its national reform plan "Sulong EduKalidad." "Isang mahalagang reporma ang K-12 sa ating sistema ng edukasyon upang siguruhin ang kahandaan ng ating mga kabataan para sa ating mga industriya. Ngunit nitong mga nakaraang taon, nakita natin ang iba't ibang mga hamong kinakaharap ng programa. Nais natin itong matugunan upang patuloy nating maiangat ang kalidad ng edukasyon sa bansa," said Gatchalian, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture. Part of the challenges hounding K-12 is students' learning outcomes, including the declining National Achievement Test (NAT) scores. In the 2018 NAT, Grade 6 and Grade 10 students garnered mean percentage scores of 37.44 and 44.59 respectively, both fall under the "low mastery" level. The poor NAT performance is also reflected in the 2018 results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a global triennial survey by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development which measures students' proficiency in Reading Comprehension, Science, and Mathematics. The said survey showed that out of 79 countries, the Philippines ranked lowest in Reading Comprehension and second lowest in both Science and Mathematics. Another challenge is how K-12 is living up to its promise of producing employable graduates. A 2018 survey of 500 companies by online portal JobStreet revealed that only 24 percent of employers are willing to hire K-12 graduates. Most employers still prefer candidates with college degrees. Gatchalian added that the inquiry should also look closely at the readiness and capacity of schools to implement the K-12 program, which allows senior high school students to choose specializations such as academic, technical-vocational-livelihood, sports, or arts and design. A quantitative service delivery study conducted by the World Bank shows that teachers were also ill-prepared for senior high school as evidenced by their low performance in terms of knowledge of subject matter using the K to 12 curriculum.
Lagos, Feb 10 : The Nigerian Air Force on Monday said it carried out an air strike and killed several Boko Haram leaders in the restive northeast state of Borno.

Fighter jets obliterated a compound in a settlement where Boko Haram leaders assembled for a meeting on Saturday, Xinhua quoted Nigerian Air Force (NAF) spokesman Ibikunle Daramola's statement.

The operation also destroyed surrounding structures and "neutralised" their Boko Haram occupants, the spokesperson said without specifying the number of Boko Haram fighters killed or injured.

Daramola did not identify the Boko Haram leaders killed in the air strike.
An astonished oyster farmer made an alarming discovery when he spotted a fat black tree burning like a chimney despite 200mm of rain flooding the ground.

Pinnacle Oysters founder Christos Paschalidis found the trunk with the firey heart as he drove to one of his oyster leases at Tomakin, a tiny seaside hamlet on the New South Wales south coast between Batemans Bay and Moruya.

'We've had heaps of rain - I couldn't believe it,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

The fire blazed eerily from the blackened ghost forest that was drenched by so much rain that sheets of water pooled on the ground, clearly seen in the video

'The ground's drenched. It was quite a shock to see it flared up like that.'

The bright orange flames peeked out from a hole in the base of the hollow trunk, glowing ominously against the charred and blackened eucalypt forest.

The fire was burning despite heavy rain falling so that water flooded and pooled on the ground where it could be clearly seen in the video.

'No surprise when you have a hollow tree just like a fire box with a flue,' wrote Simon Harris on Facebook.

Mr Paschalidis, 35, said the burning trunk was behind the Oaks Ranch and Country Club hotel, not far from the Mogo Zoo where more than 200 animals were saved from a fiery death by the dedication of staff who stayed behind and fought the fires.

'They lost a bit of stuff (in the bushfires) but the groundskeeper saved the houses and buildings. They lost some old machinery sheds at the back.'

Oyster farmer Chris Paschalidis showing his lads how to steer the boat in 2018. The father-of-two said they were lucky not to lose the boat in the fires

One of Mr Paschalidis's Pinnacle Oysters. The 35-year-old dad has several leases including on the NSW south coast at Tomakin, a tiny village between Batemans Bay and Moruya

The father-of-two said he had lost some of his oyster farm equipment in the fires including some poles.

'We were pretty lucky, we didn't lose the boat,' he said.

Rural Fire Service spokesman James Morris said several fires were still burning in the Bega Valley and Snowy Valley areas, but that significant rainfall was expected to see them contained or put out over the next 48 hours.

Mr Morris said burning logs could re-ignite bushfires long after the parent fire has been extinguished and the rain has dried.

'There's no time limit, it could be days, weeks, months even in some cases,' he said.

'All it takes is one ember to cross the line,' he said.

Mr Morris said crews of volunteer firefighters, exhausted from months of service, continued to patrol the Bega Valley to put out such fires.

New Year's fires burning on January 2 at the back of an oyster farm at Bateman's Bay. Mr Paschalidis said he lost a few poles but was lucky to escape with most of his gear unharmed
Damen congratulates the Mexican Navy for the flagging and entering into service of their two new dredgers, among which is the Damen Cutter Suction Dredger (CSD) 650 ARM Laguna Morelos (ADR-19). The dredger will undertake various dredging, depth maintenance and land reclamation projects in the Gulf of Mexico; the first project being the dredging of the River Grijalba, assigned to the Mexican Navy by the Mexican Federal Government.

Damen congratulates the Mexican Navy for the flagging and entering into service of their two new dredgers, among which is the Damen Cutter Suction Dredger (CSD) 650 ARM Laguna Morelos (ADR-19). The dredger will undertake various dredging, depth maintenance and land reclamation projects in the Gulf of Mexico; the first project being the dredging of the River Grijalba, assigned to the Mexican Navy by the Mexican Federal Government.

(Picture source: Damen Shipyards )

This is the first Dutch dredger delivered to Mexico in years and we are very proud to be part of that by delivering it to our very valued customer Secretaria de Marina  Armada de Mexico, especially because we know that this dredger will contribute to the growth of the southeastern region of Mexico, says Horacio Delgado, Damen commercial manager for Mexico.

Damens philosophy of standardised shipbuilding of series vessels for stock, meant that the dredger was available when the Mexican Navy placed their order last year. The dredger has been shipped to Mexico as deck cargo, thanks to its modular, dismountable nature, which makes for easy transportation anywhere in the world, by road, rail or sea.

In addition to the dredger itself, Damen is also contracted by the navy to provide additional services including spare parts, consultancy support, simulator and technical assistance.

The Damen CSD650 is so called due to its 650mm pipe diameter. The stationary dredger is capable of pumping some 7,000 m3/h of mixture to depths of up to -18 meters. The dredge pump is located in a separate pump room, isolating the engine, hydraulic and electric installations from the mixture piping.

The CSD650 is the twelfth vessel that Damen has delivered to the Mexican Navy. Previous deliveries include everything from patrol vessels to logistic support ships. The delivery of the ARM Reformador (POLA-101 / SIGMA10514) to the navy is scheduled for the first quarter of 2020.
In Delhi's Gargi College, girls were molested, groped and locked in the washroom by goons on loose in the campus, four days ago during college annual festival.

Twitter

According to eye-witness accounts and posts by students and teachers on social media, during the college festival 'Reverie' around 6:30 pm on Thursday, packs of unruly, drunk men mobbed the entrances of the college in South Delhi and forced their way in.

The authorities are having a meeting after addressing the students for 1.5 hour.



Students are protesting at the premises, asking the Principal to resign. #GargiCollege pic.twitter.com/f06ivUvSCf  Kriti Singh (@kritisingh29) February 10, 2020

On February 10, students of the college gathered in the campus and demanded the resignation of the Acting principal, Promila Kumar.



The authorities are still in the meeting probably with the student council.



There is media presence outside the college gates but do not have the permission to enter.



Meanwhile..#GargiCollege pic.twitter.com/tnm1PkGKZd  Kriti Singh (@kritisingh29) February 10, 2020

Furious students blamed her for not doing enough to stop the hooliganism, and failing to respond to students complaint. The Principal was allegedly been quoted as telling students that if they felt unsafe at the festival, they should not have attended it.

Mass molestation #GargiCollege in the heart of Delhi..Shameful!

The pattern of crime under Modi 2.0 regime hits you on your face and the slogans of Jai Shri Ram seem to be the saviour of these goons.

NO fear of Law . pic.twitter.com/hI6zyqQdCj  SirishaRao (@SirishaRao17) February 10, 2020

The National Commission for Women (NCW) has taken note of the serious charges of a group of drunken men barging into Gargi College on February 6.



Delhi: National Commission for Women (NCW) has taken cognizance of alleged sexual assault on students of Delhi University's Gargi College for women. A team of NCW will visit the college today. pic.twitter.com/9CKXIGlLbP  ANI (@ANI) February 10, 2020

Our principal saying things like "itna unsafe feel hota hai toh mat aaya karo" is exactly how you normalise sexual harrasment and toxic masculinity. This is not how you "empower" a college with all women. Please just fucking resign. #GargiCollege  Nishtha (@Nishtha54055655) February 9, 2020

Now, after hours of protests, Principal of the college, Promila Kumar, has accepted the failure of the administration to tackle the situation. According to sources, a public apology has been issued by the Principal to the students and a police complaint will be filed soon.

the men followed women, catcalled them, and forced them to reveal their names and Instagram ids.When the students tried to approach the principal wrt what was happening on ground, she said that the students shouldnt come to the fest if they felt unsafe.#GargiCollege pic.twitter.com/odbJLrJKog  Nityanandini Rao (@raonitya9) February 9, 2020

Aam Aadmi Party MP, Sanjay Singh, has given a Zero Hour Notice in the Rajya Sabha over the indecent behaviour with students of Gargi College.

Some of the students took to Instagram to narrate their experiences during the fest at Gargi College, and alleged that the security personnel did nothing to control the unruly groups.

"They were not college students. They were at least 30-35-year-old men. Half of them were drunk. We have visuals of these men smoking inside our campus," a student told NDTV.



A student, in an Instagram post, said, "The college fest was a traumatic experience. I was guarded by two male friends at the fest. But unfortunately lost them in the sea of men at the fest. In merely those 10 minutes, I was groped thrice by a group of men and when I realised what had happened, they laughed in my face."
Storm Sabine hits Germany, paralyzes air traffic

According to the German Weather Service, there were major disabilities and failures in rail and air traffic.

Around 180 flights to and from Frankfurt airport were canceled on Sunday, a spokeswoman for airport operator Fraport said, and severe disruptions were expected on the railway as storm Sabine hit Germany.

MORE THAN 350 FLIGHTS WERE CANCELED ACROSS COUNTRY

The Fraport spokeswoman said the number of canceled flights represented about 15% of the around 1,200 planned flights in and out of Frankfurt, Germanys main hub.

She said that around 140 of Mondays scheduled flights had already been canceled, more than a tenth of the total. Travel was also disrupted in the Netherlands and Britain, where the storm has been named Ciara.

Storm Sabine hits Germany, paralyzes air traffic WATCH

Lufthansa, Germanys largest carrier, said it would cancel short- and long-haul flights from Munich airport on Monday until 1200 GMT and 1300 GMT, respectively.

Long-haul flights to Frankfurt so far were not expected to be affected, the airline said.

In a separate statement, Lufthansas budget unit Eurowings said it had suspended flight operations at the airports of Hamburg, Berlin, Hanover, Dortmund, Duesseldorf, Cologne and Stuttgart.

Railway operator Deutsche Bahn [DBN.UL] also warned of severe disruptions and said it would stop long-distance train travel across Germany - Europes biggest economy - from 1700 GMT onwards.
Major-General Mohammad-Ali Jafari, the former commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard shattered the meticulously woven myth of the slain Qods Force Commander Qassem Soleimani as "a nonpartisan figure" by exposing his direct involvement in crackdowns on Iran protesters in 1999 and 2009.

"In the seditions of 1999 and 2009 Haj Qassem was present on the streets to fight the anti-revolutionaries and took measures to control the unrest and riots," Jafari wrote in a rare Twitter post on Sunday and added: "He also used his influence among the elite to enlighten them about political matters amid the dust of these seditions".

What Jafari calls the "1999 sedition" refer to the widespread protests that were sparked by vigilantes' bloody attacks on students peacefully demonstrating on the campus of Tehran University on July 8, 1999 against the closure of a reformist newspaper. One student was killed and many were injured during the attack. At least three more protesters were killed in the following days. Tens of students disappeared after the crackdown on the protesters and more than a thousand were arrested in various cities including Tabriz, Mashhad, Shiraz and Isfahan during the protests.

Soleimani, often referred to as Haj Qassem by his colleagues and supporters, did not openly take sides with any political faction in the past two decades. However, he was one of the signatories of a letter from Guard commanders to reformist President Mohammad Khatami at the height of the 1999 student uprising that effectively threatened a coup against him "if he did not restore order".

The "2009 sedition" is a reference to protests against the highly controversial presidential election results that declared Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Khamenei's favored candidate the winner. The protests known as Iranian Green Movement began on the night of June 12 following the announcement incumbent Ahmadinejad's victory, were heavy-handedly suppressed by security forces.

The government itself admitted to at least 27 fatalities in Tehran alone and for the first time the Internet was shut down in the country and the signals of satellite television channels based outside the country that reported on the protests were heavily jammed.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: Various Kannada organisations, under the banner of Kannada, Karnataka Kendritha Rajakarana, held a protest at Town Hall on Sunday, demanding job reservation for Kannadigas, in private and government sector. Their other major demand was a law from the central government to control and regulate inter-state migration nationwide.

People from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and other places come and take our jobs, including the position of MLAs and corporators. There needs to be a law by the central government to control their migration, said Mohanraj Vadeyar, national president, National Labour Human Rights Anti-Corruption Forum.

We want prominence for Kannadigas. At present, outsiders are coming in and snatching our livelihood  be it private or government sector, said Rajendra Gowda, founder and state president, Akhila Karnataka Rajya Kannadambe Hitharakshana Vedike.

One of their demands was if private companies wish to hire outsiders, they should take permission from the government.
Image: Baker cover photo

In his well-known Southern twang and humor, Jeff Foxworthy often turns crowds into raucous laughter when he offers his ideas on how to detect Southern hicks with his opening line, You might be a redneck if you. As in You might be a redneck if you think the stock market has a fence around it. I borrow his line, not for humor, but for the serious endeavor of detecting a kingdom-mission church: You might be a kingdom-mission church if  I will offer below ten traits of a kingdom-mission church, but first a few other points.

This set of ten themes puts into practice what is written in my book Kingdom Conspiracy. In the book I make a case for what the Bible means when it uses the word kingdom.

Heres the chief conclusion I offer: every time the term kingdom is used in the Old Testament (apart from possibly once) it means a nation or a people governed by a king.

Never, and on this there is not a debate, does it mean salvation or working for justice among the Gentiles. In other words, in the references that most concern us the term kingdom refers to Israel as a nation. When Jesus said the kingdom had drawn near, he meant that kingdom vision of the Old Testaments narrative. So I offered there the briefest definition of kingdom that every Christian can use to get a solid grip on the meaning of term: a kingdom is a people governed by a king.

Because it is a people (and not reducible to an ethic, social or private, nor reducible to the unleashing of Gods redemptive power), the Bible reader is driven to ask for the New Testament: Who is the kingdom people now? The answer is church with church understood not in supersessionist ways (the church replacing and God abandoning Israel) but in expansionist, progressivist ways: the church expands Israel by opening its doors to Gentiles.

In Kingdom Conspiracy, then, I offer five elements to the meaning of kingdom in the Bible and they are these: a kingdom (1) has a king who (2) rules both by way of redemption and governing, and this king rules (3) over a people [Israel, church] through the revelation of (4) the law [Torah, teachings of Jesus and the apostles], and this king rules (5) in a land. All five of these elements are needed to speak biblically about kingdom, and all five are needed to be a kingdom-mission church. Far too many have reduced the kingdom to one element. Some reduce it to the redemptive rule of God in a persons life, in some healing miracle, or even in the influentialist theory (Kuyper, Niebuhr) of participation in culture and state. But others reduce it to law/ethics and then go public with deeds of compassion or social justice. Well and good for both of the important themes in these reductions, but to reduce kingdom to these excludes the central core theme: the people. Which is to say, many erase church from kingdom theology and see kingdom work what is done in the wider world  for the common good. It is good to care about the common good but the common good is not what kingdom means in the Bible. Kingdom is a people, and that people is Israel expanded, the church.

When we equate kingdom with the public sector, we have become Constantinian or Erastian or some other kind of compromise of church and state. If we see that kingdom is a people, and that people is Israel expanded into the church that lives under King Jesus, then immediately kingdom people are not servants of the state, they fight imperialism and colonialism, and they become a cruciform counter cultural community. They become agents of Jesus in the world, for the world and also at times against the world.

Now then, what does kingdom mission look like? I suggest you might be a kingdom-mission people/church if the following ten statements are true of your church, and I realize each of these begs for development. I offer a statement with brief support and clarification.

The cruciform character of King Jesus shapes every major dimension of your church.

The character of a king shapes the character of that kings kingdom, and the character or our king is cruciform. I appeal here to Philippians 2:6-11  Jesus is the one who became a slave unto death to make us kings and queens in the kingdom. We are to live as did our king: as servants for the sake of others.

The church perceives itself as a people redeemed and rescued from the world (sin, self, systemic evil) by King Jesus.

Our king redeems, and the kingdom people is the redeemed people of that king. One can study Matthew 89 or call to mind Mark 10:45 or 14:24, or even the unleashing of redemptive power through the Spirit in Matthew 12:28. But there is a strong redemption theme in the kingdom mission of Jesus: God is redeeming people from their sin, from their diseases, from narcissistic selfishness and from systemic evils.

The church knows at the deepest level that it is governed by King Jesus and not by culture or state.

Here kingdom-mission churches draw a deep line: they are not subservient to the state even if they are good citizens when they should be. Instead, they answer to King Jesus and follow his teachings and cruciform vision and that alone sets their agenda for how to live in this world. Kingdom-mission churches will at times need to challenge the empire.

The church challenges the lordless lords of our cultures and our countries.

Postmodernitys greatest insight, or least one of its enduring legacies, is that it taught us all that each of us is complicit in the ways of the world and state and culture. But kingdom-mission churches develop a hermeneutic of discernment that detects the lordless lords that must be cast down so that King Jesus can rule. I think here of 2 Corinthians 10:4 and Colossians 2:6-7, but also the narrative overthrow of evil in Revelation 1722.

The church embodies, or seeks to embody, the kingdom realities about which Jesus and the Bible speak.

Perhaps the most disappointing element of kingdom chatter today is the complicity of thinking kingdom is the same as the public realm. Since kingdom is a people, and since that people is Israel expanded into the redeemed church, kingdom teachings are to be embodied by kingdom people as a visible witness to the world of the ways of the kingdom.

The church is known above all for loving one another, for loving God, and for loving their neighbors well.

Both Jesus and the apostles made the charter of Christian living loving God and loving others, so kingdom-mission churches are known for being an ocean of love for God and for one another and for all their neighbors. Love, I contend, needs more careful definition than it often has in our culture: it is a rugged commitment of presence, advocacy and direction toward Christlikeness. God loves by making a rugged commitment (covenant) to with us, to be for us and to transform us, and so our love is to be God-like and Christ-like.

The church establishes justice, peace and reconciliation among its own people first and then that kind of justice, peace and reconciliation spill over naturally into the community.

Again, kingdom-mission churches arent just committed to justice in the public sector but seek to embody it especially among one another in the local church fellowship. What we learn there will spill over for the common good as the only way kingdom-mission people know how to live.

The church cannot avoid  because of Gods grace and power at work  being people of good works in the public sector.

What many people today call kingdom is actually called good works in the Bible  both by Jesus in Matthew 5:13-16 and most especially by Peter in 1 Peter 2:11-12 (elsewhere in 1 Peter, too). Good works is what kingdom-mission people do in the public sector and these good works demonstrate the resurrection power of Christ at work in kingdom people.

The church becomes sacred space and kingdom space in your community.

No one can read the Bible and not be struck by the land promise. What does that mean for us today? While many criticize the implicit Gnosticism of Christians in their view of heaven or the spiritual life, I see implicit Gnosticism in the way we talk about church. It is for many only a spiritual reality, but as Christ became incarnate so also the Body of Christ is incarnate: it is a living, breathing, physical reality. A local fellowship is to be sacred space and kingdom space by taking up real space in this world for the kingdom to breathe out redemption.

The church learns that its spiritual disciplines foster this kind of community rather than just personal spiritual formation.

Now a challenge: What spiritual disciplines do we need to focus on in order to form and foster being a kingdom-mission church?
Micheal Martin of Fianna Fail reacts to being elected to the 33rd Dail at the Irish General Election count for the Cork South-Central constituency (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has shocked his party members by performing a spectacular U-turn on his long-standing opposition to working in government with Sinn Fein.

Mr Martin reversed his policy and opened the door to holding coalition talks with Mary Lou McDonald, whose party is surging towards a historic 37 Dail seats.

Asked about a coalition with Sinn Fein, he said: "I'm a democrat," before adding, "I listen to the people, I respect the decision of the people."

Mr Martin's closest advisers said he believed the parties should take time to consider the seismic election result.

"Just because we talk to a party doesn't mean we are going into coalition with them," a source said.

However, senior Fianna Fail TDs publicly rejected their leader's position and insisted they would not break their promise to voters.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar categorically ruled out talking to Sinn Fein about forming a government. Ms McDonald said she would talk to all parties.

However, Fianna Fail's finance spokesperson Michael McGrath said coalition with Sinn Fein was not a "runner" because they were "poles apart" on economic policy.

Expand Close Wave of support: Sinn Fein party leader Mary Lou McDonald celebrates with her supporters after topping the poll in the Dublin Central constituency on the first count in the RDS in Dublin. Photo: BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Wave of support: Sinn Fein party leader Mary Lou McDonald celebrates with her supporters after topping the poll in the Dublin Central constituency on the first count in the RDS in Dublin. Photo: BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images

Fianna Fail's justice spokesperson Jim O'Callaghan also shot down any suggestion of a coalition with Sinn Fein. Mr Martin was questioned at length outside his count centre in Cork and on RTE about his position on Sinn Fein.

Having staunchly ruled out coalition with the party throughout the election campaign, his stance had noticeably softened.

"I've heard the people speak today. The people have voted in number and I respect that," he said.

Mr Martin said "one's policies" and "principles" don't change overnight and said there were still "significant issues" he had with Sinn Fein.

"But as I say over the next number of days we'll tease those out with all concerned."

Mr Martin's advisers last night insisted he was seeking to buy some time so the election results could be considered before talks kick off.

"Everyone needs to reflect and take stock of the election result," a source said.

"No one knew the Shinners would get a vote like that and it has to be taken into account but just because we talk to them it doesn't mean we are going into coalition," the source said.

The senior Fianna Fail figures also said it was their belief that Sinn Fein's preferred option is to remain in opposition. Fianna Fail also believes a coalition government will have to be made up of at least three parties.

Meanwhile, Mr Varadkar said that a coalition between Fine Gael and Sinn Fein is "not an option" and compared such an outcome to a "forced marriage".

Mr Varadkar said Fine Gael's position was clear before the election and insisted that his party had won votes on that basis.

"It wasn't a tactic or a strategy. It's what we honestly believe and for us coalition with Sinn Fein is not an option," he said.

He also warned it could take months to form a government based on the expected General Election result.

Tanaiste Simon Coveney said Fine Gael was still open to forming a grand coalition with Fianna Fail.

However, Mr Coveney said that Fine Gael would not be offering a confidence and supply agreement to any party.

Talks

"We are open to talk to any party but we won't be forming a government with Sinn Fein," he said.

"The country needs a government - Fine Gael will work towards the formation of a government.

"But if we have to go into opposition, then so be it," he said.

During a day of election shocks, Sinn Fein won 29 seats with all first counts completed. Many candidates had substantial surpluses.

Several first-time Sinn Fein candidates were being elected in constituencies all across the country.

For much of the evening, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail had won just one seat each.

Transport Minister Shane Ross was the first high-profile casualty of the election campaign after he conceded in his Dublin Rathdown constituency. Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty lost her seat in Meath East, while junior minister Mary Mitchell O'Connor narrowly lost out in Dun Laoghaire. Children's Minister Katherine Zappone is also in danger of losing her seat.

The Green Party was on course to substantially increase its seats.

However, the Labour Party did not look like it would make a significant impact, while Solidarity-People Before Profit also looked like it could lose seats but candidates may still benefit from Sinn Fein transfers.
Patrick George Zaki, a researcher at the University of Bologna, was arrested at Cairo airport. Seized by security agents, he has been reportedly tortured, and is now in custody, waiting for a hearing. He is a friend of mine, said Mina Thabet; innocent and certainly not a terrorist. Egypt treats every critical voice as a threat.

Cairo (AsiaNews)  Patrick George Zaki, a 27-year-old Egyptian activist, and a researcher at the University of Bologna (Italy), was arrested recently on charges of "terrorism" at a Cairo airport.

Mina Thabet, a Christian and a former leader of the Maspero Youth Union, currently programme manager of the Civil Liberties and Minorities programmes of the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF), spoke to AsiaNews from his London office about the arrest.

What I can tell you is that Patrick is a friend of mine. He was seized by Egyptian authorities even though he is innocent and certainly not a terrorist.

He is a peaceful person, a human rights defender, who was studying in Italy and went home to see his family.

Zaki is a researcher at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), an Egyptian NGO. He has been on leave from the NGO to pursue a masters degree in gender studies at the University of Bologna.

Patrick was reportedly detained at the airport passport control desk on last Friday when a customs agent saw that an arrest warrant had been issued against him and took him to a separate room at the airport.

At the time of his arrest, he was on the phone with family members, who were able to immediately alert the NGO and acquaintances.

The activist was then taken to a location an hour's drive from the airport and locked in an Egyptian secret service building (Amn e-Dawla), the same agency involved in the abduction and death under torture of Italian researcher Giulio Regeni.

Like Regeni, who was found dead on 3 February 2016, Zaki was reportedly beaten and tortured with electric wires (not with a stick, to avoid leaving traces).

According to the EIPR, Zaki was returning to Egypt for a short holiday, when the police took him into custody on the basis of a warrant issued in 2019 of which the activist was unaware.

According to the charge sheet, he is accused of several offences: disseminating false information, undermining the social order, calling for unauthorised protests to overthrow the government, misuse of social media to undermine national security, and propaganda for terrorist groups.

Local sources report that Patrick George Zaki came under suspicion in late September, when the country was placed under high alert in reaction to demonstrations against President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.

At that time, police tightened online media controls, starting with social media through which protest leader, exiled Egyptian businessman Mohamed Ali, was promoting grassroots activism.

I don't remember whether or not he wrote critical texts, but at that time all of us activists or people interested in what was happening in our country expressed our opinion, said Mina Thabet.

Of course, Patrick never supported President al-Sisi, but he is certainly not a terrorist and he is innocent of the charges brought against him. He was taken and attacked for nothing.

Unfortunately, in his view, the Egyptian government considers opinions a matter of national security, and censors in an attempt to to keep al-Sisi in power. Any critical voice is perceived as a threat.

For now, the young man is being held for 15 days at the Mansoura police station in pre-trial detention. He is in a cell with other people. His parents managed to get food and clothes to him.

Judicial sources report that the next hearing is scheduled for 22 February.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 10

By Elchin Mehdiyev  Trend:

The highest voter turnout in the parliamentary elections as of 19:00, Feb.9, was observed in the 1st Sharur-Sadarak constituency with 76,1 percent, Farid Orujov, head of the Elections Information Center of the Azerbaijani Central Election Commission (CEC), told reporters, Trend reports.

He noted that 37,970 out of 29,419 people voted in this constituency.

The most passive constituency was the 17th Yasamal third constituency. Voter turnout in this constituency was 17.84 percent (5,447 out of 30,553 voters)

The parliamentary elections of the sixth convocation were held in Azerbaijan on Feb. 9. Some 1,314 candidates were registered within the early parliamentary elections.

The candidacies of 246 people were nominated by 19 political parties, 1,057 were self-nominated, 11 - by initiative groups. Twenty-one percent accounted for female candidates while 79 percent  male candidates.

Throughout the day, 5,573 permanent polling stations operated in 125 constituencies of the country. There were 5,329,461 registered voters.

Some 883 international observers and 77,790 local observers monitored the voting process. Among the local observers, 35,152 were representatives of political parties. International observers represented 58 countries and 59 organizations.

Exit polls were conducted by AJF & Associates Inc. (US) jointly with Citizens' Labor Rights Protection League, the Rey Monitoring Center, and the French OpinionWay Research Institute together with the Human Rights in the XXI Century  Azerbaijan Foundation.
GENEVA, Feb 9 (Reuters) - An advance team of World Health Organization (WHO) experts has left for Beijing to investigate China's coronavirus epidemic, the Geneva-based agency said on Sunday.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who made a trip to Beijing for talks with President Xi Jinping and Chinese ministers in late January, returned with an agreement on sending an international mission. But it has taken nearly two weeks to get the government's green light on its composition.

"I've just been at the airport seeing off members of an advance team for the @WHO-led #2019nCoV international expert mission to #China, led by Dr Bruce Aylward, veteran of past public health emergencies," Tedros said in a tweet in Geneva.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Pravin Char)
Press Release

February 10, 2020 Villanueva: Data on jobs at POGOs paint grim picture for Filipino labor If legitimate Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGO) companies generated only two jobs for Filipinos out of every 10 available jobs in the sector last year, the trend could even be worse in illegal offshore gaming firms, according to Senator Joel Villanueva. "If legitimate POGO companies in this sector employ few Filipinos, we can only surmise as to how worse it is in illegal POGOs," said Villanueva, chair of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment, and Human Resources Development. "The data we have now is just the tip of the iceberg. It's a grim picture for our labor force." As of December 2019, of the 118,239 workers in POGO establishments, eight out of 10 workers (82.3 percent) are foreigners, and the remaining two workers (17.7 percent) are Filipinos, data from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) showed. This trend exactly presents a clear problem from a labor policy perspective, Villanueva said in a statement. Villanueva said he intends to scrutinize the relevant government data when the Senate labor committee resumes its long-running investigation into the influx of illegal foreign workers on Tuesday, February 11. Of the 10 biggest POGO licensees, six companies have less than five percent Filipinos workers, according to a Pagcor report that Villanueva sought. Meanwhile, Pagcor reported to the labor department that only 153 of the 243 POGO-related establishments (63 percent) hire Filipino workers. Citing reports from the labor department and the immigration bureau respectively, Villanueva also disclosed that more than nine out of 10 foreigners (91.34 percent) carrying alien employment permits (AEP), and over half of the holders of pre-arranged work visa are foreigners working in the POGO industry. Other issues associated with the surge in offshore gaming operations include payment of correct taxes, rise in real estate prices for both residential and commercial property, increase in crimes involving foreign nationals, and even the entry of fugitives who work at POGOs. The unhampered operations of the POGO industry highlight the country's lack of a clear labor immigration policy which Villanueva hopes to flesh out at the Senate labor committee hearing. As chair of the Senate labor committee, Villanueva spearheaded the public hearings into the issue in the 17th Congress after taking notice of a steady rise in reports showing an influx of illegal foreign workers in late 2016. The committee inquiry uncovered a racket at a satellite office of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) where foreigners seeking to have their special work permits expedited pay P5,000 "without receipt" in exchange for the document. Immigration top brass sacked the entire staff of the satellite office, including security guards manning the door, after the investigation established everyone had a hand into the scam. It likewise prompted Villanueva to question the BI's authority to issue work permits, a mandate vested with the Department of Labor and Employment, which has the technical capacity to vet the entry of foreign workers. The senator sought an end to the BI's practice through an introduction of a special provision in its 2019 budget, but it was among the line items vetoed by the President in April last year. Meanwhile, the government organized an inter-agency task force to consolidate data and efforts to stem the rise of illegal foreign workers, and to ensure that POGOs and POGO service providers and their employees pay their correct taxes. Initial estimates of the Department of Finance pegged potential tax collection from the sector ranging from P2.5 to 3 billion a month.
New Delhi: The CBI has taken over the probe into an alleged impersonation of PK Mishra, the principal secretary to the prime minister, by unidentified conmen seeking favours from the regional administrator of Mahe in Puducherry, officials said on Monday.

It is alleged that Aman Sharma, the regional administrator in Mahe, received a call from an unknown number and the caller, claiming to be Mishra, sought some favours for his daughter studying in JIPMER, they said.

The Prime Minister's Office referred the matter to the CBI saying it is a clear case of impersonation, they said.

Nearly two-and-a-half months after receiving a complaint, the agency has registered an FIR against unidentified persons under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy, cheating, etc., they said.
Israeli forces attacked Hamas positions from the air early Monday, the army said, after militants in the Palestinian enclave fired a projectile at the Jewish state.

The "aircraft and fighter jets targeted a number of Hamas terror targets in the southern Gaza Strip," a statement from the Israeli army said, noting a Hamas "training compound and military infrastructures" were included in the attack.

There were no reports from Gaza of casualties or damage.

On Sunday night, a projectile was launched from Gaza at southern Israel, triggering air raid sirens and sending thousands to bomb shelters.

A spokeswoman for the regional council in Shaar Hanegev, just northeast of Gaza, said the projectile apparently hit an open field.

Palestinian attacks have increased since January 28 when US President Donald Trump released his vision for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- a plan firmly rejected by the Palestinian leadership in both the West Bank and Gaza.

It would grant Israel a number of its long-held goals, including full control of disputed Jerusalem and a green light to annex all settlements and other parts of the West Bank.

In exchange the Palestinians would be offered a state in the remaining parts of the West Bank and Gaza.

Palestinians in Gaza, an enclave ruled by the Islamist movement Hamas, have launched rockets, mortar shells and balloons rigged with explosives at southern Israel on a near-daily basis since the plan was unveiled.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The crude oil benchmarks in the Middle East, Dubai and Oman, continued to fall on Monday as demand in Asia slumps as the coronavirus has now claimed more victims, and more quickly, than the SARS outbreak in 2003.

Oman and Dubai futures dropped for a third consecutive trading day, after falling to a nearly year-low last Thursday, due to reduced economic activity and depressed fuel demand in the worlds top oil importer, China.

Asian refiners are not showing any buying interest right now, sour crude oil traders told S&P Global Platts this week.

Due to weak fuel demand and depressed industrial activity, Chinese refinersfrom the biggest refiner in Asia, Sinopec, to the independent refiners in Shandongare cutting refinery runs, while commodity trading houses and oil majors are scrambling to find spot buyers for crude oil outside China.

The slump in the Oman and Dubai prices are indicative of the bearish sentiment in the Middle East crude complex as market participants see the Middle Eastern oil producers feel the pinch from the hit to oil demand in what is typically the key oil demand growth driver.

The slowdown in Chinas industrial activity is causing the worst shock to oil demand in over a decade, Jeff Currie, global head of commodities research at Goldman Sachs, said in an interview on Bloomberg last week.

Saudi Arabia reacted last week to the depressed demand in Asia by slashing its official selling prices (OSPs) to the region for March. Although price cuts were expected, they were deeper than analysts had forecast. Saudi Aramco slashed its OSP for Asia for the Arab Light crude by $0.80 per barrel to a premium of $2.90 over the Oman/Dubai benchmarka deeper cut than a Bloomberg poll of traders had expected. Aramco left only Arab Heavy prices for Asia unchanged, while it raised prices for Europe and cut the prices for the U.S.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
I cant see the country swinging from the chaos and conservatism of the Trump administration to a very liberal candidate such as [Vermont Sen. Bernie] Sanders, said Darby Johnson, 58, of Newmarket, who said she was giving Klobuchar another look after the debate. I just dont think the country is ready to go, boom, boom from one extreme to the other. And I wouldnt want to see that.
Remember that time when it was difficult to imagine anyone other than Leo Varadkar leading Fine Gael? Now its difficult to see him in that leadership position six months from now.

Even if that scenario does not play out, the question has to be asked if he is the best placed person to lead his party in this new landscape.

Its part of his image problem that it is all too easy to imagine him deciding not to stick around if the going gets too tough. Around three years ago, as he geared up to become the new Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar was being spoken about as a gifted communicator, so well able was he to get his message across.

But now with his first general election under his belt we can describe his ability to connect with the voters as unimpressive, and his ability to convince those same people that he actually cares about the issues they care about, ranking somewhere around dismal.

It was always a tough ask for a government party, seeking a third term, to perform well in a general election. But this is exactly what his party colleagues factored in when they elected him, rather than Simon Coveney, as party leader in June 2017.

Behind the scenes they had their own reservations, but after years with a leader seen to perform poorly in media outings, it was judged that Leos sparkle and star factor would be the best asset in terms of keeping those Fine Gael seats when the time came.

It was the days of his fellow leadership contender Simon Coveney being described as the workhorse, with Leo being dubbed the more flattering show pony. There must be a number in the party today who feel they could take a case to take under some sort of the trade descriptions act.

There is a way to go yet in working out the eventual make up of the next Dail, but in terms of delivering what was expected of him Leo Varadkar has been a big disappointment to his party.

He spoke upon being appointed leader as someone who was still evolving as a politician and a person.

Indeed, he changed his position on abortion, for instance, introducing the successful 2018 referendum. From a poor start when discussing gender issues he established the recent Citizens Assembly which has just begun its work looking at gender inequality in Irish society.

So people have been looking at the cut of his jib for the past two and a half years. In that time he has shown a distinct inability to pivot when necessary, and speak to the voters in a manner in which they feel he understands what is bothering them.

This election result showed how much people were looking for change, perhaps voters themselves not yet realising how much until the campaign began.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald had an excellent campaign. Her ability to connect with people on a political and emotional level was evident from footage and reports, and how she presented herself in television debates. All the talk early on concerning her exclusion from TV debates was a major boon and elicited anger from people who would not normally pay much attention to such things.

She had a number of good lines throughout not least one in advance of one of those debates when she said:

Its a strange approach to say they will expose me, given that I am someone who wants to make the population happy and put a roof over their heads.

This in contrast to the Varadkar approach. There was the surprise, mid-campaign acknowledgement that he had a poor ability to show empathy. This is indeed a drawback for a politician at any level, let alone one who has been running the country and was seeking a third term in power for his party.

It was added to by the failure/inability to pick up the signals being sent by the electorate. Previously when he spoke of people who got up early in the morning the conversation centred around tax cuts  in this election they could be seen as commuters who crawled out of bed at 6am each morning, had their kids in the creche not that long after and after a hard slog at work made the long and slow journey home to collect the kids and get them fed and to bed.

In between times they worry about rising rent and the genuine fear that anyone in the extended family might need to interact with the health services.

This is undoubtedly an exceptionally bright man who told us that while he wasnt able to express it, he did care and wanted to make this a better Ireland. But one of the outstanding memories of the campaign was the manner in which he immediately politicised the tragedy of the homeless man on the canal so horribly injured when his tent was lifted with him inside.

It remains incomprehensible that on a day when everyone was appalled on a human level at what had gone on, party politics was Leos go-to position. Even when asked in the weeks afterwards about the tragedy and the mans condition now, he was unconvincing in his answers in terms of actually appearing concerned.

He did manage to get home the message that Fine Gael was responsible for our economic progress, but appeared unable to get to grips with the message from the voters that their concerns were far broader than that.

Even if they were not directly affected by the twin crises of health and housing people were concerned about living in a country where there was such a sense of hopelessness surrounding both.

For too long Fine Gael appeared to show an impatience with the electorate that they were simply not appreciating their stellar efforts in health and housing. The voters gave their opinion on this classic FG arrogance in spades at the ballot boxes on Saturday.

Thats not to say Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin didnt have his own significant problems. He also faces an uncertain future after a failure to find favour with the voters in anything like the numbers he needed. That is an entirely separate analysis.

But Leo Varadkar has travelled a long distance from the electoral poster boy that we once heard would take Fine Gael to great heights.
MEXICO CITY - Conservationists on a Sea Shepherd vessel out to protect the endangered vaquita porpoise came under gun fire in the upper Gulf of California over the weekend by men in small boats.

The confrontation took place Saturday in what is known as the critical zone of an area designated as a refuge for the vaquita because several of the porpoises have been sighted there.

Officials from the Mexican navy, federal police and Mexican environmental protection agency were also onboard the M/V Sharpie.

According to Sea Shepherd, four skiffs known locally as pangas approached the Sharpie and began to chase the vessel at full speed, swerving in front and around the ship.

The captain carried out anti-piracy procedures, including the use of water cannons and other anti-boarding techniques. At least two shots fired from the skiffs landed in the water near the Sea Shepherd vessel, which was not hit during the incident.

Sea Shepherd said no injuries occurred.

This just shows how aggressive the poachers are here. It proves to us that they are armed and that we need to take every panga that we come across seriously, because we have no idea what they are capable of, said Jacqueline Le Duc, Captain of the M/V Sharpie.

Sea Shepherd shared photos and videos of the pursuit online. Mexicos environmental protection agency also acknowledged the incident, while saying it would continue to collaborate with Sea Shepherd in an effort to protect the environment.

The vaquita population has been dramatically reduced by illegal net fishing for the totoaba, whose swim bladders can sell for thousands of dollars in China. Only about a dozen or so of the reclusive porpoises are believed to remain in the gulf, also known as the Sea of Cortez.

The aggressions on Saturday were in the same area in which Sea Shepherd discovered a dead vaquita trapped in a gillnet last March.

Mexicos environmental protection agency said that porpoise was in an advanced state of decay but had deep stabbing wounds as well as slashes consistent with the cutting of nets around the animal.

Sea Shepherd has been working with Mexican authorities in the area for six years, removing the illegal gillnets that threaten the species.

Poachers have resorted to violence in the area before. In January 2019, Sea Shepherd vessel the M/V Farley Mowat was attacked by a mob of over 50 skiffs, who hurled rocks and molotov cocktails at the ship, breaking its windows and setting its hull on fire.

Earlier that same month, Sea Shepherd said poachers ambushed and illegally boarded the Farley Mowat.
In this June 15, 2019, file photo, Tiffany Haddish arrives at the MTV Movie and TV Awards at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif. As a comedian, Haddish sometimes says the darndest things. Now, she's getting kids to do it, too. Haddish is host and executive producer of ABC's "Kids Say the Darndest Things," the latest revival of Art Linkletter's comical interactions with children. Read more

Its been a long winter, and its not over yet. The wind is sharp and the car wont start. Buddy, it sounds like you could use a laugh.

Lucky for you, Philadelphia will play host to some great comedy this spring. You can catch Take My Wife star and Queery host Cameron Esposito at the ever-reliable Good Good Comedy Theatre, spend an evening with legendary humorist David Sedaris at Academy of Music, or laugh your head off at the Liacouras Center when Martin Lawrence takes the stage.

Tim and Eric (Feb. 10, The Met). Ever since their Adult Swim sketch show Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! first aired in 2007, the Temple grads surreal satire has found a wide audience. The duo has helped produce shows like Nathan For You, The Eric Andre Show and Review; now theyre back home with the Mandatory Attendance tour. (215-309-0112, themetphilly.com)

Kyle Kinane (Feb. 14, Union Transfer). Maybe you know Kinane from the Netflix series Love, or his appearances on Conan and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. You might just know his voice; if youve watched Comedy Central since 2011, youve heard Kinane throwing to commercial. But if you havent seen a full set of his stand-up, youre missing out. His 2012 album Whiskey Icarus is a classic, and hes only gotten better. (215-232-2100, utphilly.com)

Sydnee Washington (Feb. 22, Good Good Comedy). The time to see Washington at a smaller venue so you can tell people about it one day is  now. Shes appeared on Broad City, and hosts a stand-up showcase at Brooklyns Knitting Factory, launchpad for comedians like Hannibal Buress. Bonus: She and Marie Faustin will record a their podcast Unofficial Expert live before the show. (215-339-1279, goodgoodcomedy.com)

Yvonne Orji (Feb. 23, Helium Comedy Club). Orji, Issa Raes Insecure costar, recently shot her first movie  Night School, starring Philadelphias own Kevin Hart  but youre going to see a lot more of her soon. Next up: Vacation Friends, a comedy starring John Cena and Lil Rey Howery, and her memoir comes out later this year. (215-496-9001, philadelphia.heliumcomedy.com)

Tiffany Haddish (Feb. 27, Wind Creek Event Center). Haddish had been performing for years before 2017s breakout Girls Trip; since then, shes made up for lost time, starring in eight movies (including the aforementioned Night School). If her recent projects (Tiffany Haddish: Black Mitzvah and Like A Boss) are any indication, her stand-up is as sharp as ever. (610-297-7414, windcreekeventcenter.com)

Bassem Youssef (Feb. 28-29, Punch Line Philly). Its a safe bet that of all the comedians coming to Philadelphia this spring, Youssef is the only former heart surgeon and Egyptian political dissident. Hes also an award-winning documentarian and writer. Youssef, often referred to as the Jon Stewart of the Arab world, also hosts a podcast, Remade in America. (punchlinephilly.com, 215-606-6555)

Paula Poundstone (March 7, Merriam Theater). Poundstone is a living legend. If you dont know her stand-up, maybe you know her from NPR; if not, maybe from her iconic appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, or maybe from her podcast, Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone. If none of it rings a bell, well, get to know her at this show. (215-893-1999, kimmelcenter.org)

Adam Sandler (March 18, PPL Center). It seemed as though there was nothing new to say about the Happy Gilmore, The Water Boy, and Billy Madison star. That is, until his recent performance in dead-serious thriller Uncut Gems. Somehow, even there, Sandler was funny. If Uncut Gems wasnt for you, this show should be a palate cleanser. (610-224-4625, pplcenter.com)

Ilana Glazer (March 21, Merriam Theater). Its shaping up to be a year of firsts for the Broad City cocreator and star. She released her first stand-up special The Planet Is Burning in January, and False Positive  a horror film she cowrote and stars in, alongside Justin Theroux and Pierce Brosnan  is coming soon. Glazer does a bit of everything now, with acting, directing, writing, and producing credits; see her before she adds movie star to the list. (215-893-1999, kimmelcenter.org)

Cameron Esposito (March 27, Good Good Comedy). This is surely the only show on the list that comes with a book: You get a copy of Espositos essay collection with your ticket. Esposito, creator of Take My Wife, never shies away from difficult subjects, and never fails to make it funny. (215-339-1279, goodgoodcomedy.com)

Michelle Wolf (March 27-29, Helium Comedy Club). Not every comedian can claim their jokes created a national news cycle. Wolf probably wont be invited back to the White House Correspondents Dinner, but you can see the Hershey native live here instead. (215-496-9001, philadelphia.heliumcomedy.com )

Tracy Morgan (April 3, Parx Casino). If theres any indication that a comedians show will at least be memorable, there are worse metrics than checking the length of the Controversies section of their Wikipedia page. Luckily, Morgan, of Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock fame, is both memorable and funny. (888-588-7279, parxcasino.com)

Martin Lawrence (April 4, The Liacouras Center). The star of the Bad Boys trilogy, Martin and Big Mommas House comes to Temple Universitys Liacouras Center with Rickey Smiley, Michael Blackson, Donnell Rawlings and Benji Brown in tow. (800-298-4200, liacourascenter.com)

David Sedaris (April 4, Academy of Music). The longtime NPR and New Yorker contributor and beloved essayist comes to Philly this spring. His confessional style presaged what came to be the dominant style of internet writing, but very few have been able to do it with as much grace or humor. Hes still going, too: He released a new book in 2018, and has another coming in 2021. (215-893-1999, kimmelcenter.org)

She The People (April 9-11, Perelman Theater). She The People is one of Second Citys most popular sketch shows, with an all-woman cast: Carisa Barreca, Alex Bellisle, Marla Caceres, Katie Caussin, Carly Heffernan, Maria Randazzo, Rashawn Nadine Scott, Tien Tran, Kimberly Michelle Vaughn, and Lauren Walker. Its outrageous, political and at the Kimmel Center in April. (215-893-1999, kimmelcenter.org)

Jerry Seinfeld (April 11, Borgata). Heard of this guy? The Seinfeld star and cocreator doesnt appear in much these days outside of his Netflix show, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, but he still tours with the best of them. If you really want to see Jerrys range, might we suggest his star-turn in the music video for Vampire Weekends Sunflower? (609-317-1000, theborgata.com)

Brian Posehn (April 16-18, Helium Comedy Club). If theres any argument for the virtues of the internet, its that you can watch Posehns work from HBOs Mr. Show with Bob and David on YouTube. Posehn was hilarious on The Sarah Silverman Program, too, and has popped up in funny show after funny show ever since. (215-496-9001, philadelphia.heliumcomedy.com )

Colin Jost (April 24, Parx Casino). The head Saturday Night Live writer gets to show off his performing chops as anchor of Weekend Update alongside Michel Che, but its rare that Jost appears on his own. Go see the former Harvard Lampoon editor and current Scarlett Johansson fiancee. (888-588-7279, parxcasino.com)

Ben Bailey (May 16, TLA). The Morristown, N.J., native is best known as the host of Cash Cab, his taxi-driving game show where Bailey picks up unsuspecting passengers for a chance to win cash prizes on the way to their destination. But hes a terrifically funny stand-up comedian as well. (215-922-1011, venue.tlaphilly.com)
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has no issue with President Trump's decision to reassign Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman from the National Security Council.

Vindman complied with a congressional subpoena and provided damaging testimony against Trump during the House's impeachment inquiry last year. After Trump was acquitted in a Senate trial, the White House dismissed Vindman from his post in what many consider an attempt to exact revenge. Graham is not among them. During Sunday's edition of Face the Nation on CBS, he said he respects Vindman's military service, but he said he's learned over the last two years that the State Department, Justice Department, and U.S. intelligence agencies have a political agenda and take the "law into their hands" since Trump took office, which he aims to put a stop to.

Graham said people in Vindman's chain of command were "suspicious" of his "political point of view," arguing it's possible he may have been the one to leak the contents of Trump's now-infamous phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the whistleblower whose complaint sparked the impeachment saga. Host Margaret Brennan countered by saying National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien had previously told her he was "confident" no leaks came from within the council.

"Well, I am not," Graham said, bluntly.

.@LindseyGrahamSC on Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman's ouster from the White House: "I think his reassignment was justified. I don't think he could be effective as the NSC." https://t.co/Bu1zxgliQV pic.twitter.com/p1wsI0Sojd  Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) February 9, 2020

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PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- "More lit than Grammys and SNL combined!", says three time Grammy award winning, Lizzo, after her playing an intimate, beachside show for 101.9 THE MIX Chicago listeners. The event was held poolside at the 5-Star Now Amber Puerto Vallarta luxury hotel, hosted by legendary radio personality Eric Ferguson's ("Eric in the Morning Show"). This long running live performance known as "Chips, Dip, and a Mexico Trip", is just one of many MIX events which boasts a live performance roster of a-list talent including Maroon 5, Bruno Mars, AJR, Fall Out Boy, and Bebe Rexha to name a few.

Lizzo's always high-energy set featured her chart-topping hits; "Juice", "Truth Hurts", "Good as Hell", and her new hit "Cuz I Love You". With Lizzo's recent Grammy, Super Bowl, and Saturday Night Live (SNL) appearances under her belt and an upcoming Brit Awards appearance next week, hundreds of her MIX Chicago fans were thrilled Lizzo took the time out for them to see her poolside this morning at Now Amber Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The crowd went wild when Lizzo brought a young fan on stage and gave her a huge hug at the conclusion of her set.

The 101.9 MIX VIP listener poolside party continues tomorrow, Tuesday February 11, 2020, with SHAED, another, major breakthrough artist of 2019, fueled by their massive hit "Trampoline".

For more videos and photos: Lizzo Performance Photos and Video

Facebook, Instagram and Twitter: @ericmorningmix @1019mixchicago

For more information please contact MIX Director of Marketing Dave Karwowski @ 312.213.1019 or [email protected]

About WTMX and Hubbard Radio, LLC.

101.9 THE MIX is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. and is simulcast online at WTMX.COM and through THE MIX mobile app available through the Apple App Store and Google Play. For additional information about THE MIX, please visit www.wtmx.com.

About Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc.

Started in 1923, Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. is an American television and radio-broadcasting corporation based in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota that was started by Stanley E. Hubbard. Hubbard Broadcasting operates radio stations and television stations in nine states. In addition to radio and television broadcast stations, other Hubbard Broadcasting companies include the satellite and cable networks ReelzChannel (launched in 2006) and Ovation TV, F&F Productions and the Hubbard Radio Network, which is used to distribute talk radio content to subscribing radio stations in Minnesota and North Dakota. For additional information on Hubbard Radio, visit www.hubbardradio.com.

Press Contact:

Dave Karwowski, Director of Marketing (WTMX-FM)

312.213.1019

[email protected]

SOURCE Hubbard Radio

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http://www.hubbardradio.com


A Chinese woman wears a protective suit and mask as she waits to cross the intersection of a nearly empty street in Beijing, China on Feb. 8, 2020. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Many Wuhan Coronavirus Patients Still Dont Have Access to Treatment

Residents in Wuhan City, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, are pleading for help as the citys overwhelmed healthcare system cannot accommodate sick patients.

Though authorities freed up almost 10,000 hospital beds in Wuhan, many coronavirus patients have not been able to receive hospital treatment, according to eyewitness accounts. Some were forced to wait in the cold for hours lining up in front of hospitals.

Chinese authorities have reported tens of thousands of infections and over 900 deaths, but expert analysis and first-hand accounts from Wuhan suggest the true number of infections and death toll is far higher than officially reported.

The Epoch Times recently spoke to staff and officials at five Wuhan funeral homes, who reported increases in their intake, suggesting that more people are dying of the disease than officially reported.

Waiting in the Cold

The Rens, a couple living in the Jiangan district of Wuhan, are both diagnosed with the coronavirus. But the husbands condition was more severe.

My husband has had a fever for more than 10 days. We tried all different channels, but they [hospitals and officials] asked us to wait, Mrs. Ren told the Chinese-language Epoch Times on Feb. 8.

The only treatment we receive is one injection in the hospital every day, Mrs. Ren said. We go to the hospital by ourselves. We have to stand for several hours to wait in line.

On Feb. 7 evening, the hospital informed the couple that the husband can be treated at a makeshift hospital set up at the Wuhan International Conference and Exhibition Center. They quickly packed their bags and arrived there.

We waited hours outside the front door. After 1 a.m. on Feb. 8, the staff said my husbands blood oxygen content was too low, and the hospital could not take him in [because they couldnt treat him], Mrs. Ren cried.

Mrs. Ren said that they had heard of poor conditions at the makeshift facilities, but had hoped that they could at least receive some basic treatment.

Both eventually had no choice but to return home.

A laboratory technician working on samples from people to be tested for the new coronavirus at Fire Eye laboratory in Wuhan, China, on Feb. 6, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Buses Picking Up Patients

The Shaos live in the Hankou district of Wuhan. Mr. Shao was diagnosed with the coronavirus on Jan. 29, but could not receive treatment because all hospitals were full.

In the beginning, my husband had mild symptoms. His situation got worse and worse due to the lack of treatment, Mrs. Shao told the Chinese-language Epoch Times on Feb. 8.

On Feb. 7, Mr. Shao was informed that he could finally receive treatment at a hospital and the driver would pick him up from his home.

[The hospital] told us that a driver would pick him up at 4 p.m., and asked him to wait beside the road. But nobody appeared until after 6 p.m. A big bus picked him up, and then picked another 30 patients or so on the way to the hospital, Mrs. Shao said.

At 10 p.m., [my husband] told me that he was still waiting inside the bus because there were several buses [in front of his] full of patients waiting [to be hospitalized], Mrs. Shao said.

Dire Straits

The Zhangs live in Jiangan district in Wuhan. The mother, father, and daughter are infected with the virus.

Hospitals in the area were full and could not accommodate her mother, said Ms. Zhang in an interview with The Epoch Times. However, the Hankou Hospital said it could provide injections for her mothers treatment.

Beginning on Jan. 25, Zhang took her mother to Hankou Hospital by electric bike, as there was no public transportation after the city was under lockdown.

On Feb. 2, the mothers condition deteriorated. As she was too sick to move, the daughter accompanied her as she slept on the bench at the Hankou Hospital, waiting every night.

She passed away on the morning of Feb. 5.

The father and daughter were moved to different quarantine centers on the evening of Feb. 8.

Zhang said many patients cannot be hospitalized due to the lack of space. Their only option is to camp out at the hospitaloften sleeping on the floor due to the large numbers of people waitinghoping for a bed to be freed up, she said.

Mrs. Chen is from Qiaokou district in Wuhan. She told The Epoch Times that in her family of six, only her father has not been infected.

Im racing against time, Mrs. Chen said. She herself is also infected, but she was trying her best to find a hospital bed for her mother, the one in the most severe condition.

Huoshenshan Hospital

The Huoshenshan Hospital was quickly built after the outbreak in order to accommodate the growing numbers of patients. On Feb. 3, it began operations as a facility dedicated to treating patients in critical condition. All working staff are from the Chinese military.

On Feb. 8, an anonymous netizen posted photos, which he claimed to be from the Huoshenshan Hospital, onto the 4Chan social media platform. He said he was a lab technician at the Huoshenshan hospital. In order to prove his identity, he published a photo, where someone in a lab glove is holding a note with the date written on it.

He wrote in his post, The situation is so much worse than you know. Reported deaths of coronavirus are just those of sudden type, not pneumonic.

He said staff move out patients from 200 to 400 rooms every day, but its unclear where the patients are sent to. According to the hospitals design, two patients live in one room.

99% of pneumonic [patients] have left, not to return, he wrote. Fever sudden death near 30%, and no symptom but diagnose 5  10% rate.

His identity and the information in his post could not be independently verified.
Russian airstrikes kill civilians in Syrias Idlib

Turkey announced on Jan. 10 that a new ceasefire in Idlib would start just after midnight on Jan. 12, but the regime and Iran-backed terrorist groups continued their attacks.

Russian and Syrian regime forces carried out airstrikes in northwestern Syrias Idlib de-escalation zone, killing at least 17 civilians, a Syrian civil defense group announced Sunday.

The White Helmets said areas near Idlibs city center and villages were targeted.

ASSADREGIME ATTACKS CONTINUE DESPITE CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT

Turkey is continuing to send reinforcements to the de-escalation zone, with a Turkish convoy including scores of tanks deployed at different points in Idlib.

The Bashar al-Assad regime and its allies have continued intensified air and land attacks on civilian settlements in the zone.

In September 2018, Turkey and Russia agreed to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.

Since then, however, more than 1,800 civilians there have been killed in attacks by regime and Russian forces as the ceasefire continues to be violated.

More than 1.5 million Syrians have moved near the Turkish border due to intense attacks over the past year.

Turkey remains the country with the most refugees in the world, hosting more than 3.7 million migrants since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
A dive search is planned for a Gloucester woman who went missing more than a week ago, authorities said.

Abbie Flynn was last seen around 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 2 after going for a walk near Farrington Avenue, Gloucester Police Chief Edward Conley said in a statement. No foul play is suspected.

The U.S. Coast Guard, the Gloucester and Rockport Harbor Masters and Massachusetts State Police all helped search for the 59-year-old in the many paths and woods near the area where she went missing and along the coastline, the statement said. Authorities are still actively investigating Flynns disappearance, though the search has been suspended.

They have exhausted the ground search, a department spokesperson said. The Mass. State Police dive team is planning a dive search when the weather is a little bit better.

Flynn has brown hair and was last seen possibly wearing a red jacket, police said.
Night curfew timings revised in Bengaluru; Major roads to be closed from 6 pm today till 5 am tomorrow

'Bulli Bai' app case: 21-year-old engineering student detained in Bengaluru; identity yet to be revealed

Karnataka imposes weekend curfew to contain the surge in Covid-19 cases; details here

Crime rate in Bengaluru: Murders and burglary cases dropped in 2021 in Karnataka's capital

75 women forced to dance in revealing outfits rescued from 3 bars in Bengaluru, 15 held

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Bengaluru, Feb 10: The Bengaluru city police on Sunday claimed to have rescued 75 women, who were forced to dance with skimpy clothes in three bars and 14 people were arrested in this connection.

The raids were carried out by Central Crime Branch police following inputs about illegally operating dance bars in Ashoknagar, Kalasipalya and Cottonpet, an official release said.

CCB raid 3 live bands operating illegally in Ashoknagar, Kalasipalya and Cottonpet..75 women rescued..15 accused arrested..  Sandeep Patil IPS (@ips_patil) February 9, 2020

NEWS AT NOON JAN 10th, 2020

Fifteen people who had allegedly confined the 75 women from different states, in these bars and forced them to dance wearing revealing outfits were arrested, they said.

Bizarre! Kerala flat turns into bar, as water taps serve liquor

They also seized Rs 1.24 lakh from the dance bar operators.

The customers present there were also detained. According to Police, confining women and operating dance bars was a violation of trade licence.
Mullin' It Over

The State of Our Union Is Strong

President Donald Trump delivered his third State of the Union address to Congress last week and his message was clear: the state of our union is strong. Despite the sham impeachment and Nancy Pelosi Democrats undermining him at every turn, he remains solely focused on delivering wins for the American people.

Our economy is thriving under President Trump and the effects are evident in Oklahoma. Unemployment rates have fallen and is now, at 3.4 percent, one of the lowest rates in history. Since his election, 41,00 jobs have been created in our state and new business applications are up 18 percent. These successes would not be possible without President Trumps commitment to following through for everyday Americans.

This was my first week back in DC after my son Jims wrestling accident & between the #SOTU & @realDonaldTrump's acquittal, it was a busy one. Thank you for your prayers & understanding as we continue to support Jims recovery. I am blessed to serve the great state of Oklahoma. pic.twitter.com/4FKjsBB1dj  Markwayne Mullin (@RepMullin) February 7, 2020

Our national security has always been one of President Trumps top priorities and he demonstrated that during the speech. He embraces former President Reagans philosophy of peace through strength. Congress has worked with this administration to invest in our military and provide our men and women in uniform the resources they need to keep Americans safe at home and abroad.

We heard the tragic story of Kelli and Gage Hake from Stillwater who were the presidents guests at the address. Kellis husband and Gages dad, Army Staff Sergeant Christopher Hake, was killed while serving his second tour of duty in Iraq. While on patrol, his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb supplied by Iranian terrorist leader Qasem Soleimani. President Trump eliminated this threat so now other American families wont suffer the loss of a loved one at the hands of Soleimani.

We are a nation of laws and Democrats support of open borders must not be overlooked. Thankfully, President Trump continues to put the safety of Americans over politics. There has been tremendous progress in combatting illegal immigration and his plan to tackle sanctuary cities will continue that progress. We can all sleep safer at night knowing that he is working to secure our southern border and standing behind our law enforcement.

I am proud to support our President and his agenda that will move our country forward. From the thriving economy to the renewed strength of our military, I am confident he will continue his record-breaking path and keep Oklahoma, and the rest of our country, great.

Markwayne Mullin, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, was first elected to serve the people of Oklahomas Second Congressional District in November 2012. He is currently serving his fourth term in office. Mullin and his wife Christie have six children. The Mullin family currently resides in Westville, Oklahoma, on the same family farm where Markwayne was raised.

Join the Conversation
A man who broke a beer bottle over the head of a taxi driver has been jailed for nine months.

David Murphy (29) of Belfry Green, Tallaght, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing harm at Slade Road, Saggart, on March 21, 2015.

Judge Pauline Codd sentenced Murphy to three and a half years but suspended the final two years and nine months of the sentence.

Garda Andrew Griffin told Derek Cooney BL, prosecuting, that in the early hours of the morning a taxi man picked up Murphy and a woman from a house in Clondalkin. Murphy was carrying a beer can and a bag containing beer bottles.

The taxi driver drove to Slade Road and asked where Murphy wanted to go. Murphy told him to drive up the street, then asked him to turn back around and suddenly pulled the handbrake of the car.

Murphy took a beer bottle from the bag at his feet and smashed it over the taxi driver's head. He then picked up the remains of the bottle and told him to get out of the car or he would stab him.

The woman and Murphy eventually left the taxi and the driver reported the incident. He did not go to the hospital as he did not want his wife to know about it.

Murphy has 41 previous convictions. These include convictions for assault causing harm, assault on a peace officer, violent disorder, violent behaviour in a garda station and criminal damage.

Sarah-Jane O'Callaghan BL, defending, said her client's family had been homeless for significant portions of his life. She said he is sober, drug free and employed.

Judge Codd said she was taking into consideration Murphy's plea of guilty and his personal circumstances.

She noted that the attack has left the taxi driver more cautious in his work and afraid to work nights. He lost around 800 in earnings because he was out of work for a time after the assault.

The court heard that Murphy failed to engage with a victim awareness course and is deemed to be at a medium risk of re-offending.
Zoos Victoria, a zoo-based conservation organization in Australia, shared photos of some of the threatened native species officials are working to protect. The colorful orange-bellied parrot, for example, could disappear in as little as three years because there arent enough females. Disease is threatening Tasmanian devils, the largest meat-eating marsupial in the world. And Australias recent bush fires have burned the habitats of koalas, one of the most famous animals found only Down Under.
- Mercy Chepkirui graduated from Moi University in 2019 and was hoping to join Kenya School of Law

- Chepkirui was hoping to become an advocate of the High Court to fight for rights of farmers

- Her poor parents only managed to raise KSh 50,000 for her to join the school in February

- Chepkirui is yet to join the school even after she paid KSh 50,000 and is now seeking help to raise the rest of the money

Philanthropic and supportive Kenyans have come out in large numbers to rally behind a university graduate seeking to raise KSh 145,000 to join Kenya School of Law.

When Mercy Chepkirui from Konoin constituency in Bomet county finished her undergraduate studies from Moi University she was hoping to join Kenya School of Law to become an advocate of the High Court.

READ ALSO: Man stuns Kenyans with fake call to Uhuru, Raila during Daniel Moi's body viewing

Mercy Chepkirui (in gowns) during her graduation from Moi University in 2019. Photo: Mercy Chepkirui

Source: Twitter

READ ALSO: Mchina aliyenaswa kwenye video akimtandika Mkenya viboko akamatwa na DCI

However, that dream came to a standstill when she realised she could not raise the required fee of KSh 145,000 to join the school.

Coming from a poor background of peasant farmers, Chepkirui only managed to raise KSh 50,000 and she was supposed to report to school in February 2020.

"I come from a very humble background, my parents are small scale tea farmers experiencing low payments from the KTDA and thus was not able to raise the required full fees in the long run affecting my dream to one day become an advocate of the High Court and Championing for their rights," said Chepkirui.

READ ALSO: Uhuru drives himself to Nyayo stadium to inspect Moi's burial preparations

Left with no option, the law student took to social media narrating her tribulations and appealing to citizens to help her raise the rest of the money.

"I have already paid ksh 50,000 to the school out ksh 145,000. I assure you any investment on me is no loss. Mine is a humble request for your assistance in any viable manner. God bless you," she said.

Chepkirui is yeat to get the money needed to report to school and is seeking help through her M-Pesa number 0790 164 626.

Kenyans on Twitter have since ganged up in appealing for support of the hopeful advocate.

Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly

Source: TUKO.co.ke
Parliamentarians from across party lines have joined hands to support India's efforts to eliminate malaria by 2030.

The group called "Parliamentarians for Malaria Elimination" includes 11 Members of Parliament belonging to different states.BJP lawmaker K J Alphons, coordinator of the group, said, "India is well placed to eliminate malaria by 2030 and we, as Parliamentarians, must play an active role in helping the country achieve that goal. We will work with key stakeholders at the central, state, and district levels to accelerate malaria elimination not just in the states we represent but across the country."

The Parliamentarians are committed in their resolve to raise the profile of the disease and act as the bridge between the government and other stakeholders in this fight.

Successive Indian governments have prioritised malaria control. There was a sustained reduction in malaria mortality during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime. Subsequently in 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government further made a commitment at the East Asia Summit to make India malaria-free by 2030.

Following the high-level commitment, the Framework for Malaria Elimination 2016-2030 and Strategic Plan 2017-22 for Malaria Elimination were also launched. Recently, the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan reaffirmed that malaria elimination is a top priority for the government.

WHO's World Malaria Report 2019 acknowledged India's extraordinary progress in recent years. From more than 800k confirmed cases in 2017, India managed to reduce cases down to just over 400k in 2018.

It is, however, premature to declare victory. India remains one of the countries with the most number of malaria cases globally and real challenges remain. Malaria is fast retreating to hard-to-reach areas in India. People living in tribal belts, forests, mountainous regions, and border districts - who often have the least access to healthcare - are the most vulnerable.

"Malaria is and will continue to be a 'disease of poverty'. We want to build on the commitment made by the Government and ensure this is being translated locally and leaving no one behind." said MP Prabhakar Kore.

Speaking on the importance of collective action, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said that this group believes in "a collective action, beyond political parties and ideologies that will push the needle towards ending malaria for good."The group will advocate for increased investments in malaria elimination, development of specific strategies to reduce malaria burden among vulnerable populations, and increased multisectoral collaboration to end malaria for good.

More lawmakers are expected to join in the alliance in the near future.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
George Calombaris has revealed he is 'personally devastated' his restaurant empire went into voluntary administration.

MAdE Establishment Group announced the decision on Monday afternoon, with 12 of Calombaris' venues to close immediately.

Administrators are set to sell-off most of the celebrity chef's interests, with up to 500 workers at risk of losing their jobs.

The Melbourne-based restaurant empire, founded by Calombaris, operates 18 venues including the Press Club, Gazi and Hellenic Republic.

The former MasterChef host on Monday evening said he was 'gutted' by the decision, less than a year after his multi-million dollar underpayment scandal.

'Although we have all continued to work tirelessly and overcome the many challenges we have recently experienced, it is with deep sadness and regret that today MAdE Establishment has been placed into voluntary administration,' he wrote on social media.

George Calombaris said he's 'personally devastated' after his restaurant empire went into voluntary administration

The former MasterChef took to Instagram on Monday evening to say he was 'devastated' by the decision

'To all my team, I truly regret it has come to this. On a personal note, the last few months have been the most challenging I have ever faced.

'At this time, while personally devastated, I remain thankful to my family, friends, the MAdE team, our loyal and regular customers.

'I am so sorry all our collective efforts have not provided to be enough. I'm gutted that it's come to this.'

The chef went on to ask the public to respect how difficult the announcement has been for him, his family and his staff.

Calombaris' hospitality empire was revealed in July 2019 to have underpaid staff to the tune of $7.8 million.

The wages and superannuation owed to staff by MAdE Establishment was backpaid in 2019.

MAdE Establishment Group made the announcement on Monday afternoon, with 12 of Calombaris' venues to close immediately. Pictured: Hellenic Republic in Brunswick, Melbourne

The Melbourne-based restaurant empire, founded by Calombaris, operates 18 venues including the Press Club, Gazi and Hellenic Republic (pictured)

Calombaris' hospitality empire was revealed in July 2019 to have underpaid staff to the tune of $7.8 million

The Fair Work Ombudsman also hit the company with a $200,000 fine.

At the time, Calombaris told the ABC's 7.30 program: 'We aren't closing our restaurants, we're here.

'And it's my job as their leader to keep pushing forward and keep speaking this message, not shying away from the mistake we made, but also acknowledging that we fixed it.'

'I won't forget that afternoon in 2017 when we sat there with my new business partners after we'd done a full audit for the business and discovered the underpayments.'

The bombshell administration announcement came after the management of MAdE, which is backed by former Swisse CEO Radek Sali, met with creditors on Monday.

'Craig Shepard and Leanne Chesser of KordaMentha restructuring were today appointed Voluntary Administrators of 22 companies in the MAdE Establishment Group,' the advisory and investment firm said in a statement.

'The appointment excludes the [smaller offshoot, yoghurt store] Yo-Chi operations which will continue to trade as usual. All other venues have stopped trading immediately.

'Employees have been paid all outstanding wages and superannuation up to the date of the appointment.

A first meeting of creditors will be next Thursday.

The announcement comes on the same day Calombaris flagged the sale of his mansion in the exclusive Melbourne suburb of Toorak.

The announcement comes on the same day the former MasterChef judge flagged the sale of his mansion (pictured) in the exclusive Melbourne suburb of Toorak

The home boasts five bedrooms, five bathrooms, a pool, in-home gym and a cinema room

Calombaris was a judge and host on the hit Network Ten show MasterChef from 2009 until 2019. Pictured with co-hosts Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston

An 'expressions of interest' sign was seen outside his house on McMaster Court on Monday.

The home boasts five bedrooms, five bathrooms, a pool, in-home gym and a cinema room.

Calomabaris' Toorak house will be sold by real estate group Kay and Burton but no official price has been given.

Just weeks earlier on Australia Day, Calombaris and his wife Natalie Tricarico sold their holiday home on the Mornington Peninsula for $1.01million at auction.
New Delhi: IndiGo on Monday started its Hindi website for customers who want to use it as their language of choice for flight bookings. India had 637 million internet users as of March 2019, with Hindi content consumption witnessing a growth of 94 per cent in 2018-19, the low-cost carrier stated in its press release.

Over the last few years, the consumption and demand for content in regional languages have increased significantly, the airline noted.

IndiGo has around 48 per cent share in the domestic air passenger market.

IndiGo launched the Hindi website to cater to the "customer demand" and will launch the website in other regional languages to "deepen" consumer connect within Indian markets, the press release said.

William Boulter, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo said, ?We are pleased to announce the launch of our website in Hindi language."

"The growing prominence of regional content and customer's demand for accessing the internet in Hindi, has been a key driver for us to include regional outreach as an important part of our consumer connect strategy," he added.
High tides in Venice have been par for the course in recent months, with the lagoon city sustaining significant damage to its buildings, churches and cultural heritage after a particularly destructive episode in November.

Now the water levels have receded and tourists are again able to enjoy the wonders of this unique city without having to wear rubber waders.

As they walk around the city in colourful masks and elaborate costumes for Carnival month, it is difficult to imagine what occurs when the waters rise.

Venetians are certainly accustomed to the water coming up and then going down; they have lived with this all their lives and for centuries.

The Tides Centre in Venice is able to accurately predict the rising levels of the water, and has an extremely efficient method of informing the city's residents which neighbourhoods will go under water and for how long.

November tide 'a perfect storm'

Alvise Papa of the Tides Centre said the 12 November tide was a rare event caused by several factors leading to a perfect storm. It is without question that maintaining this world jewel of a city is no easy matter, and the costs are high.

Venetians deal with the high waters in their stride and as quickly as possible endeavour to clean-up, remove the water and immediately return to going about their lives.

They stress that Venice is safe and clean and that it should be visited not just for a few hours or a just a day but for a longer period so as to fully appreciate what the city has to offer.

As one walks around the narrow alleys, it is as if the high tides never happened.

Clean-up operation driven by volunteers

Residents of Venice and local authorities are very proud of their city and take huge care in ensuring that no garbage is seen lying in the streets or in its canals.

The cleaning operations do not only involve homes and shops flooded by the waters. Another significant and delicate clean-up effort carried out once a month in Venice involves gondolier divers inside the canals, supported by volunteers.

For a number of hours they submerge themselves inside the canal waters as tourists visiting the city watch these strangely equipped divers with special suits bring up all kinds of objects including bottles, cans, tyres, bricks and pieces of iron that fall off transport boats, and much more.

READ ALSO:

Hundreds of kilos of garbage come to the surface from the city's many canals every time these recovery operations occur.

In addition to this, the city council has charged a company called Insula to dig up 30 canals and remove 30,000 cubic meters of mud in this way lowering the canal beds.

There is a dual objective: one is to ensure hygiene and health conditions are maintained and the other is to guarantee the canals can be safely navigated by the boats, said Insula president Nicola Picco, adding the cost of the operation over the past two years has been 5 million euros.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday said the world will take his country seriously once it is economically stable.

He made this comment while lamenting that the world was not taking the Kashmir issue seriously though Pakistan was raking it up at international meetings.

"The world will take Pakistan seriously when we are financially stable," the minister said.

The Pakistan foreign minister conceded that many countries were reluctant to speak on the Kashmir issue and the Citizenship Amendment Act because of their economic interests as India was a big trade market for them.

"The thing is that while everyone speaks of ethics and doing the right thing, their actions are always in line with safeguarding their own economic interests," he said.

Qureshi said his ministry would facilitate other ministries to establish stronger commercial ties with other nations, which would help introduce better trade practices in the country, Dawn reported.

Qureshi said "de-industrialisation" in Pakistan in recent years had led to closing down of many factories.

"The question is about when this process (de-industrialisation) started. If industries are shutting down now, something must have happened in the past few years to have triggered the process," the minister was quoted as saying by the Dawn

He said placing blame or playing politics on the economy would serve no purpose but a solution must be found.

The cash-strapped Pakistan government has been implementing austerity measures to improve the country's finances. In July last year, Pakistan registered a currency reserve of less than USD 8 billion -- enough to cover only 1.7 months of imports.

The International Monetary Fund formally approved a USD 6-billion loan to Pakistan in July 2019, citing "significant" economic challenges. Pakistan has so far received billions in financial aid from friendly countries like China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE during the current fiscal year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Global Nurse Call System Market Research Report: By Type (Buttons, Integrated Communication Systems, Mobile Systems, Intercoms), by Technology (Wired, Wireless), by Application (Medical Emergency, Alarms, Workflow Management), by End Users  Forecast till 2023

Nurse Call System Market Scenario

Global nurse call system market is expected to grow significantly over the forecast period. It is estimated that the global nurse call system market is expected to register a CAGR ~ 9.5 % during the forecast period from 2018 to 2023. Nurse call systems are aimed at alerting the nurses in case of medical emergency situations or when patients need care. These systems are also used to track a patient particularly in assisted living or old age centers or are used to give a signal of a probable situation in case of ambulatory services.

Numerous factors such as growing geriatric population and rising complexity of hospital operations are expected to drive the growth of the market.

Moreover, favorable healthcare investments by government and the rising demand for better technological advancements boosts the growth of the market. However, stringent government regulation and the huge cost of installation may hamper the market growth during the assessment period.

Some of the industry players offer integrated equipment, in which the patient data can easily be stored and retrieved. In February 2015, Rauland Borg Corporation launched a device called AllTouch responder, which offers nurse call system with electronic medical records. The nurse call equipment has evolved over the time owing to better patient monitoring. The staff members can directly communicate with the patients to assist them and provide required care, thereby reducing the need to visit the patient beds for minor requirements. This can eliminate fatigue and increase the workflow efficiency of the attendant.

Get a FREE Sample Copy of Report with Complete TOC @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/5631

Nurse Call System Market Competitive Analysis:

Some of the major companies in the global nurse call system market include Honeywell International Inc., Austco Communication Systems Pty Ltd., Hill-Rom Services Inc., Johnson Controls., Ascom, CSINC, STANLEY Healthcare, AMETEK, Inc., West-Com Nurse Call System, Inc, Cornell Communications, Azure Healthcare, Jeron Electronic Systems Inc., BEC Integrated Solutions, LLC, Vigil Health Solutions Inc., and Systems Technologies.

Nurse Call System Market Segmentation:

The nurse call system market is segmented on type, applications, technology, end users, and region.

Based on the type, the market is segregated into nurse call integrated communication systems, nurse call buttons, nurse call intercoms, nurse call mobile systems, and others.

By technology, the market is segmented into wireless systems and wired systems.

Based on the applications, the market is segmented into alarms, medical emergency, workflow management, and others.

Based on the end users, it is segmented into assisted living centers, hospitals & nursing homes, ambulatory care centers, and others. Of these, hospitals and nursing homes segment is anticipated to be the larger shareholder in the overall market share. The growth of the segment is primarily attributable to the rising number of public as well as private hospitals.

Nurse Call System Market Regional Analysis:

Regionally, the nurse call system market is segmented into the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and Middle East & Africa. Of these, the Americas is anticipated to dominate the market for nurse call system due to faster demand for newer technologies and upgradation of nurse call systems in the region. Additionally, the growing geriatric population and increasing funding for better healthcare infrastructure in the region. In addition to this, the Europe is estimated to hold the second leading position in the market owing to well-developed healthcare industry and investment for increasing number of hospitals.

Asia-Pacific is anticipated to be the fastest growing region in the market due to the developing healthcare facilities in the developing economies and increasing aging population. According to a report published by Silver Eco in October 2017, in Japan, 27.7 people are elderly or aged.

Nurse Call System Industry News:

In 2019, Vocera Communications, Inc. a recognized leader in clinical communication and workflow solutions, today announced that the Ministry of Health and Prevention of the United Arab Emirates plans to standardize care team communication using Vocera technology.

In 2019, Cleveland Clinic London has selected Vocera Communications to use their Vocera Platform to standardize care team communication across the hospital when it opens in 2021.

In 2019, OrbitaASSIST is the latest voice-enabled, artificial intelligence-driven bedside virtual health assistant from Orbita. New bedside AI tool reduces call response time.

Get More Information on Nurse Call System Market Research Report- Forecast to 2023 @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/upcoming-reports/nurse-call-system-market-5631

About Market Research Future:

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.

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Market Research Future

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VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis will be visiting Malta as his first trip outside Italy and Vatican City in 2020 and will try to draw attention to migrants' plight. The Vatican press office made the announcement on Monday and said that the pope would be visiting Malta and Gozo on May 31 and that his schedule would be published at a later date.



The logo and the motto show that the focus will be on migrants at sea. The first shows hands stretched towards the Cross from a ship being tossed about by the waves. The hands represent Christian welcoming of others and assistance to those in need, while the boat is reminiscent of the shipwreck of Apostle Paul on the island of Malta and how the island inhabitants welcomed him and the other survivors of the shipwreck. The motto for the visit is: "They showed us unusual kindness" Acts 28.2. The pope had in two previous general audiences, on January 8 and January 28, spoken of St. Paul's experience in Malta and the theme of the last Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was on hospitality.



In his January 8 audience, Pope Francis had urged all Christians to be sensitive to the plight of the many survivors of shipwrecks that land on Italian coasts, exhausted because this saves us from indifference and a lack of humanity. Pope Francis then praised the Maltese for how they had acted towards St. Paul and noted that migrants undertake dangerous journeys to flee violence, war, and poverty and that many later are subjected to indifference or hostility or are prevented from disembarking in ports. On January 22, Pope Francis noted that migrants are often exploited by criminal traffickers, treated like numbers instead of human beings and as a threat by some governments and are often rejected ''like a wave'' towards the poverty and dangers they had fled.
A sledgehammer and electronic devices worth around 50,000 were recovered from a car which was stopped by gardai a short time after a burglary.

Five men were arrested by gardai attached to Monaghan Garda Station and are expected to appear before a district court this morning.

Gardai were alerted to a burglary at a shop at Church Square in Monaghan town early on Saturday morning.

They arrived at the scene and found the shop front damaged and a large amount of property had been taken.

After a follow-up search, gardai stopped a car on the N2 a short time later, and five men travelling in the car were arrested.

A sledgehammer and all the stolen property from the shop were recovered, including electronic devices with an estimated value of 50,000.

The five men, aged between 19 and 30, were arrested and taken to Monaghan Garda Station where they were detained under Section 4, Criminal Justice Act, 1984.

Excellent

One man was being detained last night at Carrickmacross Garda Station.

Gardai said that a series of follow-up searches had taken place yesterday in Dublin's city centre and in Kildare.

The statement said that investigations are continuing.

Local Independent councillor Paudge Connolly told the Herald that he wanted to commend An Garda Siochana in relation to the incident.

"Excellent work was done by the gardai," he said.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident, gardai in Longford are appealing for information over two separate shooting incidents at a residence in Corboy, Edgeworthstown, Co Longford, last Tuesday at around 10.30pm and on Friday at 12.10pm.

In the first incident, two shots were discharged, and in the second incident, a single shot was discharged.

No injuries were reported in the incidents.

Garda in Granard are asking roads users with dash-cam footage and anyone with information and who may have been in the Corboy area or surrounding area to contact them on 043-668 7667.
When he interviewed for the presidency at Southeast Community College in 2014, Dr. Paul Illich was impressed with the colleges technical and academic transfer programs  and the Board of Governors goal of taking them to the next level.

To define the next level, we spent my first year putting together a five-year institutional strategic plan for transformational changes and improvements that are really taking shape now, Illich said.

Trend analyses, surveys, community forums and other research helped SCC establish and prioritize key initiatives to address the skills gap in Nebraska and to ensure affordable access to higher education.

As a result, theres a comprehensive facilities master plan to replace or renovate buildings and expand technical and academic transfer programs on SCCs three campuses. Beatrice, Lincoln and Milford all are undergoing improvements to meet demand for a skilled workforce and to provide the highest-quality experience for the colleges diverse communities, employers and students, Illich said.
Heading into the 92nd Annual Academy Awards, the biggest storyline was arguably who wouldnt be there: a number of high-profile snubs led some to dust off the old #OscarsSoWhite hashtag, and another year without a single woman nominated in the directing category birthed an SNL sketch spoofing the Oscars love of white male rage and inspired Natalie Portman to walk the red carpet in a cape embroidered with the names of the female directors who failed to earn a nomination.

Natalie Portman embroidered her Dior cape with all of the female directors who weren't nominated for #Oscars . Check out her explanation here. pic.twitter.com/kyyo2wVMZf

It seemed, given all that and the Academys history, that yet another war epic (1917) or Quentin Tarantinos love story to the bygone days of a whiter, male-r Hollywood (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood ) would rule the night. But instead, it was Bong Joon-Hos tale of South Korean class warfare, Parasite, that scooped up the most awards, including Best Picture. While there werent any surprises in the acting categories  Joaquin Phoenix, Renee Zellweger, Brad Pitt and Laura Dern all continued their awards-season domination  it was refreshing to see a deserving underdog come out on top for the nights top prize. Check out the evenings three main takeaways below.

Parasite makes history



Parasites big win wasnt just a nice moment; it was historic. The movie became the first foreign-language film ever to win Best Picture. It also nabbed three other awards  Best Director, Best International Feature and Best Original Screenplay  and director Bong Joon-Ho came dangerously close to tying Walt Disneys record for most individual Oscar wins in a single year, set all the way back in 1954. (Disneys record is four; technically, Best International Feature is awarded to a country, not an individual, so Bongs official individual tally is three.)

Parasites Best Picture win also led to the best moment of the night. After producer Kwak Sin-ae spoke, the Oscars producers cut the mic and lowered the lights, but the crowd of stars  led by Tom Hanks and Charlize Theron  chanted Up! Up! Up! and pressured them to bring the lights back on and allow the Parasite team to finish their speeches.

So great how happy everyone is for the Parasite team Tom Hanks and Charlize Theron leading the chants to let them finish is great. pic.twitter.com/WaCgOhb4UT  Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) February 10, 2020

Bong let executive producer Miky Lee do the talking, having already delivered acceptance speeches for the films other three awards and offering a deeply relatable expression of gratitude: Thank you, I will drink until next morning.

Maybe a host would have been beneficial



This marked the second year in a row that the Oscars went hostless, and this years ceremony was proof that maybe its time to return to the classic format and bring in someone to emcee the evenings proceedings. After Janelle Monae opened the show with a Mr. Rogers tribute and a bunch of dancing Jokers, Steve Martin and Chris Rock  who have both previously hosted  came out to essentially serve as surrogate hosts, delivering jokes about everything from Jeff Bezos and the Iowa caucuses to the Academys lack of diversity.

Chris Rock and Steve Martin are terrific for the opening. The Oscars need a good sense of humor.



#Oscars #Oscars2020

pic.twitter.com/L93S07Rt9P  cameron grant (@icamerongrant) February 10, 2020

But after their shared monologue, Martin and Rock disappeared, begging the question: Why not just let them stay and host the whole thing? Instead, we got a disjointed evening and the confusing phenomenon of presenters showing up with the sole purpose of  introducing other presenters. We could have used a host  or anyone, really  to explain why the Academy trotted out Eminem to perform Lose Yourself 18 years after 8 Mile. Instead, well have to settle for Idina Menzels viral reaction.

Billie Eilish and Idina Menzel is everyone wondering why Eminem is performing at the #Oscars. pic.twitter.com/voginNZgW3  Braddington (@bradwhipple) February 10, 2020

Netflixs losing streak continues



After going two-for-34 at the Golden Globes last month, Netflix had another disappointing evening. Despite leading this years Oscar nominations with 24 nods, the streaming service only managed to take home two awards  Best Supporting Actress for Marriage Storys Laura Dern and Best Documentary Feature for American Factory.

Perhaps most surprising is that Martin Scorseses The Irishman, which Netflix shelled out millions for in a bid to be seen as a serious awards contender, was completely shut out. The notoriously long mafia drama lost out on Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (with both Joe Pesci and Al Pacino nominated in the category), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Visual Effects, Best Costume Design and Best Production Design. Noah Baumbachs Marriage Story, another big get for Netflix, went one for six, losing out in the Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay and Best Original Score categories.

Traditional studios won the night, with Neon, Disney and Sony Pictures each taking home four awards. Universal earned three Oscars, while Warner Bros. tied Netflix with two.

The post The Three Big Takeaways From the 2020 Oscars appeared first on InsideHook.
Economy, Energy and Business Environment Acting Minister Virgil-Daniel Popescu welcomes the European Commission decision regarding the allocation of 53 million euro for the extension programme in Romania of charging stations for low-emissions vehicles.

According to a release of the relevant Ministry sent to AGERPRES, the Economy Minister had a working meeting in Brussels on Monday with Executive Vice-President and Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson and European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton.On the agenda of talks also tackled were topics such as the National Company of Uranium, Complexul Energetic Oltenia, Complexul Energetic Hunedoara, but also the priorities of the European Commission in the Energy area, the European Green Deal and the Just Transition Mechanism, the National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) and other topics of interest.Also part of the delegation headed by the Acting Economy Minister was Secretary of State with the Ministry Niculae Havrilet.The Community Executive approved on Monday a public support scheme, through which Romania will grant 53 million euro for recharging stations of low-emissions vehicles, with the measure respecting the EU norms regarding the state aid.According to the European Commission, the measure will contribute to the reduction of CO2 and other pollutant emissions, without unduly distorting competition on the single market.It is estimated that the scheme, which will have a budget of 53 million euro and cover the 2020 - 2025 period, will boost investment into recharging stations for hybrid and battery-electric vehicles in Romania. This will cover the urban, suburban and rural areas and aims to develops a network of recharging stations on the entire territory of Romania.The scheme is open to all economic operators that meet certain criteria, for instance in respect to equipping with sockets. The beneficiaries will be selected through an open and transparent tender procedure, and the support will be awarded as grants.The Commission concluded that the scheme brings a contribution to EU's objectives related to environment and clime and overcomes any possible distortion of competition and trade exchanges caused by the aid. Based on these reasons, the Commission approved the measure based on the EU norms on state aid.The European Green Deal, presented in December 2019, established the measures to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. In order to achieve neutrality, 90 percent reduction in transport emissions is needed by 2050.
TROIS-RIVIERES, Quebec, Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canada Foundation for Innovation



William Amos, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry (Science) will be at the Cegep de Trois-Rivieres to announce funding for colleges across Canada.

Mr. Amos will be joined by the Canada Foundation for Innovations Vice-President, External Relations and Communications, Pierre Normand.

Following the announcement, media are welcome to join Mr. Amos as he meets with scientists showcasing their research.

Media are asked to arrive at least 15 minutes early.

Date: February 10, 2020

Time: 1:30 p.m. EST

Location: Centre de metallurgie du Quebec

3095, Rue Westinghouse

Parc Industriel Des Hautes-Forges

Trois-Rivieres (Quebec) G9A 5E1

For more information:


GOP senators wanted to stop Trump from firing Ambassador Sondland: Report

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 09 February 2020 2:25 PM

Several Republican senators urged Donald Trump not to fire Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union and a star impeachment witness, but the president moved forward an ousted the top diplomat anyway, according to report.

The senators were wary that removing Sondland, who testified before the House of Representatives as part of the impeachment inquiry against Trump, would unleash a wave of political backlash against the president, the New York Times reported on Saturday.

They cautioned the White House against the move, seen by critics as part of a campaign of revenge against impeachment witnesses, especially since Sondland was reportedly planning to leave his post after the Senate trial.

The GOP senators reportedly contacted White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and legislative affairs director Eric M. Ueland to express their dissent.

A source told CNN that the group included Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Martha McSally of Arizona.

Sondland reportedly rejected the request to resign and insisted the White House would have to fire him if they wanted him out.

Sondland's removal came just hours after Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, another key impeachment witness, was dismissed and escorted out of the White House, where he worked on the National Security Council as an expert on Ukraine.

Vindman's attorney accused the president of a "campaign of intimidation" after Trump called his client "very insubordinate" on Saturday.

The army officer, who received a Purple Heart for wounds suffered in Iraq, was present during a July 25 phone call during which Trump asked his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, to launch an investigation into his political rival Joe Biden.

Subpoenaed by Congress to testify at the House impeachment hearings about the call, Vindman said the president's conduct was "improper."

The testimony by Vindman and others helped build the case against Trump who was impeached by House Democrats for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The president, however, was acquitted by Senate Republicans this week.

Trump defended his decision to oust Vindman in a tweet on Saturday.

An adviser to Trump also said the firings of the impeachment witnesses was meant to send a message that siding against the president will not be tolerated.

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Klobuchar is lucky in another way. No other candidate has worried much about her or seen her as a threat  at least until now. She has been able to go on offense in the debates without getting much pushback in return. As Sanders, Buttigieg and Biden squared off against one another Friday night and since, nobody is spending time or money attacking Klobuchar. That could change, depending on what happens here Tuesday. For now, she has a free ride.
BEIJING  Chinas daily death toll from new virus has topped 100 for first time, with more than 1,000 total deaths recorded, the health ministry announced Tuesday, as the spread of the contagion shows little sign of abating while exacting an ever-rising cost.

Though more offices and stores in China have reopened after the extended Lunar New Year break, many people appear to be staying home. Public health authorities are watching closely to see whether workers returning to cities and business resuming worsens the spread of the virus.

Another 108 deaths were reported over the previous 24 hours, the National Health Commission said in a daily update. That increased the total to 1,016 deaths, well beyond the toll taken by the 2002-2003 outbreak of SARS which comes from the same family of coronaviruses as the current deadly pathogen.

Newly confirmed cases fell to 2,478 from 3,062 the day before, bringing the total to 42,638 on the mainland, some of whom have since been cured and released from hospital. More than 440 cases have been confirmed outside mainland China.

The outbreaks persistence is dimming optimism that the near-quarantine of some 60 million people and other disease-control measures might be working.

Britain, meanwhile, declared the virus a serious and imminent threat to public health and said it would forcibly detain infected people if necessary. France tested scores of children and their parents after five British tourists contracted the virus at a ski resort. The tests came back negative.

The director-general of the World Health Organization said that the agency is still unable to predict where the outbreak is heading but that he believes there is still an opportunity to contain it.

In recent days, we have seen some concerning instances of onward transmission from people with no travel history to China, like the cases reported in France yesterday and the U.K. today, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The detection of the small number of cases could be the spark that becomes a bigger fire, but for now, its only a spark.

In Beijing, there were few signs of activity. The capitals broad avenues were largely free of traffic, and thousands of rental bikes stood in long ranks with hardly a customer. Tourist attractions such as the Forbidden City remained closed, as did schools, and many people worked from home, hoping to avoid crowds.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping, wearing a mask, visited a health center in Beijing. He had his temperature taken and expressed thanks to the health workers. We will most definitely win this peoples war, he said.

Japan said an additional 65 cases were found aboard a cruise ship quarantined in Yokohama, raising the total to 135. Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said the Japanese government was considering testing all 3,700 or so passengers and crew on the Diamond Princess.

Joe McDonald is an Associated Press writer.
She makes me feel selfish for asking, but I really need the help to grow my business and support my family. I get upset that she doesn't "want" to help me when she spends so much time doing things that to me aren't as important as helping her family.
Staff at the Dublin tech recruitment firm Indeed are set to return to work in their offices early next week.

Hundreds of staff had been told to work from home yesterday after it emerged a worker in their Singapore office may have been exposed to the coronavirus.
The research said the fruition of shopping centre investment is evident in the figures (stock photo)

A long-term drop in footfall to Northern Ireland's shopping centres is slowing down thanks to investment in the retail destinations

This was one of the findings in the Springboard January Footfall figures which revealed that a drop of 1.8% in footfall to NI's shopping centres was the most modest since June 2019 when footfall declined by 0.2%. It was the smallest decrease in all UK areas for shopping centre footfall and much lower than the average - 4.5% - over the intervening six months.

Overall footfall in NI during the month of January, which covers footfall on the high street, into shopping centres and retail parks, fell by 3.8% although this compares to an "exceptionally strong comparable" for January 2019, when footfall rose by 3.9%.

Footfall on the high street declined by 4.4%, which was mainly attributed to more consumers visiting shopping centres.

The research said the fruition of shopping centre investment is evident in the figures.

"The gestation period for shopping centre investment can be a long one, but once the chess pieces are finally in place a single owner is often more readily able to deliver meaningful change than a high street."

It added: "This brings some much needed hope for this destination type that has consistently lost shoppers for over two years.

"It seems this is an early sign that regeneration schemes long planned by owners to broaden the offer of malls to incorporate a greater experiential element - particularly in larger malls - are working, and they now better reflect consumers demands. It is likely that this is part of the reason why footfall in Northern Ireland's high streets declined."

Abbey Shopping Centre was one destination benefiting from investment, to the tune of 10m. The cash injection saw the centre attract new Primark and Next stores, a food court, a larger Poundland site as well as a revamped M&S unit.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Monday approved Mahindra & Mahindra's acquisition of majority stake in a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company, which will form a joint venture in the country.

The CCI, in a tweet, said it has approved "formation of JV between Mahindra & Mahindra and Ford Motor and transfer of automotive business of Ford India to the JV".

@CCI_India approves formation of JV between Mahindra & Mahindra and Ford Motor and transfer of automotive business of Ford India to the JV - CCI (@CCI_India) February 10, 2020

In October last year, Mahindra & Mahindra and US-based Ford Motor Company had signed a definitive agreement to create a joint venture in India valued at $275 million (Rs 1,925 crore).

In the joint venture (JV), Mahindra will hold 51 per cent controlling stake while Ford will have the remaining stake of 49 per cent. The new venture would acquire the automotive business of Ford India Pvt Ltd (FIPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Co.

The JV will be operationally managed by Mahindra, and its governance will be equally composed of representatives from Mahindra and Ford. The entity will develop, market and distribute Ford-branded vehicles in India.

Also Read: Mahindra to lead Ford's India operations; new JV to focus on electric vehicles

Under the deal, Ford will transfer its India operations to the joint venture, including its personnel and assembly plants in Chennai and Sanand. The American automaker will retain the Ford engine plant operations in Sanand as well as the Global Business Services unit, Ford Credit and Ford Smart Mobility.

The JV will be responsible for growing the Ford brand in India and exporting its products to Ford entities globally. Ford will continue to own the Ford brand, and its branded vehicles will be distributed through the current Ford India dealer network. Mahindra will continue to own the Mahindra brand and operate its own independent dealer network in India.

By Chitranjan Kumar with PTI inputs
CANTON, Mass., Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- School of Rock and Hard Rock International believe that getting away from the office should be fun and collaborative. In an effort to provide authentic experiences that connect people through the power of music, School of Rock and the iconic hotel brand are teaming up to provide exciting new interactive experiences that will redefine the meeting space as part of Hard Rock's BREAKOUT Meetings offerings

School of Rock will offer several experiences through this program to the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions) community. The guitar aspect will offer group guitar lessons to encourage social sharing and team building tailored specifically to any organization's needs. School of Rock will also provide a band activity where groups can learn various instruments to collectively perform a hit song as a collaborative super band. Karaoke skills can be brought to the stage during a singing activation where attendees will work with a vocal instructor and take the stage to front a live band. School of Rock will work with participating organizations to build completely custom created experiential activations for their events. The School of Rock programming is available at all Hard Rock Hotels around the globe.

"We received tremendous feedback when we first tested this program at Hard Rock in Atlantic City. At the same time, across all our locations, we are seeing a greater demand for our adult programs," said Rob Price, CEO of School of Rock. "It is clear that adults are interested in this type of collaborative creative expression and this partnership with Hard Rock is just one more way in which we are fulfilling our mission to enrich lives through music."

"On the hotel and casino level, we have been utilizing brand programming for years, and now, we are thrilled to announce that we are transitioning those premier experiences over to our meetings and events," stated Danielle Babilino, senior vice president, Global Sales & Marketing for Hard Rock International. "This transition would not be possible without the help of our partners, who have assisted in recreating our unmatched offerings to ensure that they are custom-catered to our friends in the MICE community."

School of Rock provides students of all ages an exciting and engaging learning environment for taking guitar lessons, drum lessons, bass lessons, keyboard lessons and singing lessons. Drawing from all styles of rock and roll, School of Rock students learn theory and techniques via songs from legendary artists such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Frank Zappa. Thanks to the school's performance-based approach, students around the world have gained superior instrumental skills and confidence on the big stage, with some moving on to record deals and larger platforms such as American Idol, The Voice and Broadway.

For more information on School of Rock, please visit www.SchoolofRock.com.

About School of Rock

School of Rock helps aspiring musicians master skills, unleash creativity, and develop the tools they need to thrive in life. Founded as a single school in Philadelphia, Pa. in 1998, School of Rock has become a rapidly growing international franchise with over 300 schools open and in development across nine global markets. Since 2009, School of Rock has grown student count from 4,000 to over 35,000. School of Rock offers a wide variety of music lessons, including guitar lessons, singing lessons and piano lessons.

Follow School of Rock on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SchoolofRockUSA and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SchoolofRockUSA.

For more information on School of Rock visit www.SchoolofRock.com or call 866-695-5515. To learn more about School of Rock franchise opportunities head to http://franchising.schoolofrock.com/

About Hard Rock:

With venues in 76 countries spanning 262 locations that include owned/licensed or managed Hotels, Casinos, Rock Shops and Cafes - Hard Rock International (HRI) is one of the most globally recognized companies. Beginning with an Eric Clapton guitar, Hard Rock owns the world's most valuable collection of music memorabilia at more than 83,000 pieces, which are displayed at its locations around the globe. In 2018, Hard Rock International was recognized as a Forbes Magazine Top Employer for Women and Land Operator of the Year at the Global Gaming Awards. In 2019, Hard Rock International was honored as one of Forbes Magazine's America's Best Large Employers, Forbes Magazine's Top Employers for Women and No. 1 in J.D. Power's 2019 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study among Upper Upscale Hotel Chains. Hard Rock destinations are located in the world's greatest international gateway cities, including its two most successful flagship properties in Florida and home to the world's first Guitar Hotel in South Florida, where its headquarters are located. The brand is owned by HRI parent entity The Seminole Tribe of Florida. For more information on Hard Rock International visit www.hardrock.com or shop.hardrock.com.

SOURCE School of Rock

Related Links

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Linkedin Victor Mambor (The Jakarta Post) Jayapura/Jakarta  Mon, February 10, 2020

A civil servant working for the Papua administration has been accused of committing sexual violence against a female student while in Jakarta last month.

The case emerged when the mother of the victim, a student of a senior high school in Jakarta, filed a report with the South Jakarta Police on Jan. 29.

In her report, the mother said that the alleged perpetrator, identified only by the initials AG, a top official in Papua administration, invited her daughter to a hotel room in Jakarta where the man was staying on Jan. 28 and allegedly drugged the victim before raping her, Piter Ell, a lawyer for the victim's family, said.

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T hanks to surprise wins, stellar performances and show-stopping gowns, the Oscars did not disappoint.

Parasite was the big winner on Sunday night, taking home four awards and making history in the process, while musical offerings from Billie Eilish, nominee (and eventual winner) Sir Elton John and a surprise star turn from Eminem kept the A-list crowd engaged. Well, apart from Martin Scorsese.

But while the red carpet and ceremony were shown live in the UK, plenty of the evening's funniest and juiciest moments didn't make it onto our screens... which is where social media come in.

Here are all the best behind-the-scenes moments you probably missed...

Florence Pugh reminded us that everyone loves a sheet mask

(Instagram/Florence Pugh ) / @florencepugh

Whether youre getting ready for the Oscars or a pals wedding, a sheet mask is the way to go.

Julia Butters brought a sandwich (and her A-game)

The 10-year-old scene stealer featured opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in a section of Once Upon a Time In Hollywood and proving shes definitely wise beyond her years, Butters packed wisely for the Academy Awards.

How? With a sandwich in her handbag, of course.

Taika Waititi found a great place to stash his Academy Award

The writer and director won Best Adapted Screenplay for Jojo Rabbit. Lets just hope he didnt forget where he put it.

Rebel Wilson rubbed the winners

The Cats actress - who poked fun at the Tom Hooper-directed disaster in a skit with James Corden - nabbed pictures with Joaquin Phoenix and Brad Pitt.

Posting on her Story, Wilson also shared a sweet picture of herself and Timothee Chalamet.

Spike Lee watched the Kobe Bryant tribute backstage

(Instagram/Timothee Chalamet) / @tchalamet

Chalamet snapped a poignant picture of Lee, who was wearing a blazer in the LA Lakers colours which had Bryants jersey number on the lapels and back, watching as the In Memoriam section of the show.

Bong Joon Hos reaction to winning is the best thing ever

Ok, so this isnt exactly a behind-the-scenes moment as it took place on stage, but you could easily have missed it during the ceremony.

Parasite made history by taking home four awards and as he was accepting Best Original Screenplay alongside Han Jin Won, Bong was seen quietly taking it all in.

Margot Robbie and her husbands picture perfect snap

Robbie and Tom Ackerley keep PDAs to a minimum but the star shared a super sweet glimpse at their evening on Instagram.

The fab Five hosted Sir Elton Johns annual viewing party

Thanks to the fact he was busy winning an Oscar, Sir Elton was unable to attend his own viewing bash.

In his absence, Queer Eyes Fab Five were in charge of getting the party started - which they obviously did in style.

And Karamo turned presenter

Instagram/Karamo Brown

Karamo Brown, the agony uncle of the group, also scored a job co-hosting red carpet interviews at Vanity Fairs exclusive event.

Having worn a (stunning) yellow suit earlier in the evening, Brown changed into his second outfit of the night, sporting an equalluy fabulous white ensemble.

Having posed up a storm on the red carpet, he set to work hosting it and shared snaps of himself and co-presenter Catt Sadler interviewing Kerry Washington, Reese Witherspoon, and Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.

Kim K went to great lengths to care for her dress

Kim Kardashian's Instagram Stories

Proving life as a celebrity isnt always as glamorous as it seems, Kardashian shared a video of herself awkwardly laying down in her car while on the way to the Vanity Fair bash.

And Mindy Kaling went even further

Mindy Kaling's Instagram Stories Before Presenting the Oscars

Keen not to crease her gown before presenting at the ceremony, Kaling travelled to the Dolby Theatre in one of the least glam ways possible: In a van.

It worked though and after her star turn on stage, the Late Night star also ran into Brad Pitt. All in all, she had a very successful evening.

Kazu Hiro and Charlize Theron celebrated with room service

The Japanese make-up artist was awarded an Oscar for his work on Bombshell.

Skipping the star-studded after-parties, he celebrated the win with Theron and dinner ordered via room service.
Direct flights to the Czech Republic from most Vietnamese airports

From March 29, 2020, Bamboo Airways will officially begin operating the route connecting Vietnam with Prague (Czech Republic) and will become the only airline operating a direct flight connecting the Czech Republic and the ASEAN region.

Truong Phuong Thanh, deputy general director of Bamboo Airways, said that the airline's first route connecting Vietnam to Europe will have two flights per week on Wednesdays and Sundays. The frequency will be increased depending on passenger demand.

The detailed flight schedule (local time) is the following:

Detailed flight schedule

Bamboo Airways also has officially been selling flight tickets in Vietnam from February 5, and from February 10 in overseas markets. Customers interested in purchasing flight tickets can book the ticket by accessing website http://www.bambooairways.com, calling hotline 1900 1166 or visiting all Bamboo Airways' airline ticket agents.

Passengers can buy tickets to depart from all airports in the Bamboo Airways flight network in Vietnam to fly directly to the Czech Republic

Passengers on the direct flights to the Czech Republic will have the opportunity to experience the 5-star-oriented service offered by Bamboo Airways on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. Dubbed as a "5-star hotel in the air", Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner will fully meet the requirements of Bamboo Airways on international flights and bring considerable experience to customers on long and cross-continental routes.

Connecting Southeast Asia with the European Union

Tourists will be travelling on the "5-star hotel in the air"  Boeing Airways 787-9 Dreamliner

According to Airport IS statistics, in 2019, the Vietnamese were the third-largest recognised ethnic group in the Czech Republic with a population of more than 60,000 people. The number of Vietnamese visitors to the Czech Republic has also increased steadily at the rate of over 10 per cent annually. In the first 10 months of 2019, nearly 40,000 Vietnamese tourists travelled to Prague by airlines.

Additionally, the demand for travelling to Vietnam of the Czechs is also high, with the most popular destinations of Czech tourists in Vietnam are the capital Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Vinh city, Danang city, and Nha Trang city. The peak seasons are spring and summer (January, February, March and June, July, August). In the first 10 months of 2019, there were nearly 34,000 Czech tourists to Hanoi and almost 10,000 visitors to Ho Chi Minh City.

In the last two years, Danang city has been attracting the attention of Czech tourists with a sudden increase of more than 400 per cent, from 328 in 2018 to 1,114 in the first 10 months of 2019.

According to the Vietnamese Ambassador to the Czech Republic Ho Minh Tuan, Bamboo Airways' direct flight will not only connect the Czech Republic with Vietnam but also the ASEAN with European countries. "The Hanoi-Prague route operated by Bamboo Airways is the only direct route from the Czech Republic to the ASEAN region, a very dynamic area with more than 600 million people. Therefore, this route aims to connect Vietnam with the Czech Republic and connect Southeast Asia with the European Union," Ambassador Ho Minh Tuan said.
Ross Brawn has admitted he is "very worried" about the struggling British team Williams.

Actually, the Oxfordshire based outfit is one of the most successful teams in Formula 1 history, but Williams slumped badly in 2018 and 2019.

"We are very worried about Williams," F1 sporting boss Brawn told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"They've had some very difficult years and cannot continue like this, because you keep losing sponsors."

Brawn said the situation could start noticeably improving for Williams under the new budget cap rules of 2021.

"I hope the new distribution of money will help them, because Williams is part of the history of Formula 1," he said.

(GMM)
A troubled teenager considered a very high risk of harm to herself and to others is objecting to an application seeking to make her a ward of court.

The High Court heard the 18-year-old would be opposing the petition from Tusla, the Child and Family Agency.

She is currently being detained in a secure special care unit, normally reserved for children.

The court granted orders last December for her continued detention there beyond the age of 18.

Efforts to resolve the teenagers future have been the subject of several hearings in recent months.

She has a personality disorder and was last month charged with sexually assaulting two women and threatening to cause serious harm to a third.

The offences are alleged to have occurred on separate dates in May and June last year at a different secure unit. She was 17 at the time.

If she is declared a ward of court, authorities hope she can be detained at a specialist mental health service in England.

The teenager is legally represented and is seeking an independent assessment from psychiatrist Professor Patricia Casey before the matter is decided by a judge.

In an update today to High Court President Mr Justice Peter Kelly, Barry ODonnell SC, for the applicants, said the teenager had lodged an objection to the wardship petition.

He said she was reasonably stable at present and that the unit appeared to be catering to her needs and her best interests.

Mr ODonnell said Prof Casey had agreed to carry out the examination and his understanding was that this would take place next week.

He told Mr Justice Kelly his side had been asked to consent to an adjournment of petition matters until after that report is received.

In the unusual circumstances of this case, where there is an underlying complexity, we are certainly not objecting to that, he said.

The barrister also told the court a planned assessment of her suitability for treatment at St Andrew's Hospital in Northampton, which was originally due to take place in January, was now scheduled for March 11.

But he said efforts were being made to agitate for an earlier date.

Mr Justice Kelly adjourned the matter until March 27 and continued various orders.

Mr ODonnell told a previous court sitting the level of difficulty in the teenagers case exceeded anything the Irish care system has had to deal with in the past.




The Robbinsville High School Red Cross Club hosted its annual blood drive Sunday.

With a critical blood shortage nationally, the Red Cross Club decided to take action by partnering with the American Red Cross to hold a blood drive.

The blood drive was led by club members Arrshia Kumar, Jaii Pappu, Joelle DelPrete, Saisha Ahluwalia, Sydnie Lui, and Raaha Kumaresan.

Club members greeted volunteers as they came in and managed sign-in. Students also brought in baked goods for blood donors.

The blood drive was the clubs way for students to engage with their community and make a difference.

They collected 25 units of blood, with each unit saving up to three lives, according to the Red Cross.
* China has full confidence and capability to win the battle against the coronavirus outbreak, Chinese Consul General in Los Angeles Zhang Ping said on Friday (February 7), urging the international community to give more understanding and support to China's efforts to prevent and control the epidemic.

* Japan is ready to mobilize the whole country and provide all assistance possible to China in combating the novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) outbreak, heavyweights of the ruling camp said on Friday.

* US administration's decision to increase tariffs on derivative steel and aluminum imports by 25 percent and 10 percent respectively took effect on Saturday. US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation two weeks ago to raise tariffs on derivative steel and aluminum imports to cover nails, staples and other downstream products, calling it "necessary and appropriate."Economists have long argued that such tariffs have hurt the American manufacturing sector and the overall economy, and the latest move has provoked further criticism.

* The 2020 general election in Ireland kicked off at 7:00 a.m. local time (0700 GMT) on Saturday morning as scheduled, with the participation of a record number of female candidates, local media reported.

* Around 239 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are suffering from hunger and malnutrition, a senior official of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Saturday.

* The US embassy in Libya Saturday expressed concern over "contemplated" military action between Libya's UN-backed government and the east-based army.

* The United Nations (UN) Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Saturday called for intensified international efforts to deal with a locust outbreak that has affected large parts of the African continent.

* The United Nations Higher Commission of Refugees (UNHCR) on Friday said that more than 1,000 illegal immigrants have been rescued by the Libyan Coast Guard so far this year. As of February 6, some 1,040 refugees and migrants have been registered as rescued or intercepted at sea by the Libyan Coast Guard and have disembarked in Libya, an increase of 121 percent compared to the same period in 2019, the UNHCR said.

* Iranian Petroleum Ministry on Saturday awarded a deal worth US$1.4 billion to an Iranian energy enterprise to develop two oilfields located at southeast of the country, state TV reported.

* The Syrian government forces captured a strategic town in the south of Aleppo province in northern Syria on Saturday, a war monitor reported. The army forces captured the town of al-Eis, one of the important areas in the army's quest to fully secure the Damascus-Aleppo highway, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights.

* The Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union (APU) on Saturday voiced its rejection of the US Middle East peace plan announced by US President Donald Trump, the state-run Petra news agency reported. The remarks were made during the 30th emergency session of the APU, which convened representatives of 20 Arab countries in Amman, capital of Jordan.

* Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and visiting UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir O. Pedersen discussed latest developments in Syria in Tehran on Saturday, official IRNA news agency reported. In the meeting, Zarif stressed a political solution as the only way out of the crisis in Syria.

* US media reported on Saturday that a firefight had taken place between Afghan and American soldiers in eastern Afghanistan earlier in the day, leading to fatalities on both sides. Citing two Afghan officials, The New York Times said that the shootout had caused the death of five or six American soldiers and six Afghan soldiers.

* The state-owned Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) on Friday said that the suspension of oil exports due to closure of oil fields and ports has caused a loss of more than US$1 billion so far.
Steven Foster, President, Axiom Prepaid Holdings Axiom's white label programs were created to help our clients to put their name and logo on prepaid cards that they can then offer to their own customers. Financial institutions are one of the market segments that are fast adopting the programs and earning loyal customers as result.

When it comes to financial literacy in America, theres good news and theres bad news. On the negative side, research conducted last year by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority found 63 percent of Americans are financially illiterate. Meaning, they lack the basic skills to reconcile their bank accounts, pay their bills on time, pay off debt and plan for the future. The better news is that white label programs offered by organizations like Axiom Prepaid Holdings are helping to remedy the problem. Afterall, prepaid cards are shown to facilitate effective money management.

Our white label programs were created to help our clients to put their name and logo on prepaid cards that they can then offer to their own customers. Financial institutions are one of the market segments that are fast adopting the programs and earning loyal customers as result, explained Steven Foster, president, Axiom.

With white label prepaid card programs, responsible financial institutions are taking leadership roles in helping students, young adults and their parents address the knowledge gaps that are negatively impacting their financial futures, he added. Our Mastercard and Visa prepaid cards are an ideal means of doing that and, at the same time, the financial institutions themselves are improving their brand reputations. All in all, prepaid cards are a win-win for everyone involved.

Prepaid cards help young people gain experience in making transactions at merchants and ATMs, spend tracking and budgeting - while eliminating the risk of overdraws. The cards are typically available via app, eliminating the potential for a lost or stolen card. Peer-to-peer transfers, bill paying, a rewards program and direct deposit round out some of the standard features of a typical prepaid card. Built-in fraud protections also work to the users advantage. And for the financial institutions, not only does their brand get visibility every time a card with their name and logo is swiped or tapped, they reap the long-term revenue return that comes from improved customer retention with parents while at the same time earning a whole new generation of customers.

Axiom designs the cards for the financial institutions it works with, handles all the necessary compliance and regulatory approvals to get the cards to market, and manages all or some of the program administration based on client preference. Its advanced digital platforms comprise administrative portals, API connections and secure encryption for sign-ups, KYC, sponsor banks, call centers and fulfillment centers.

The main mission of our business is to offer prepaid programs that make banking easier for everyone everywhere. So, its very rewarding to see so the positive effects of white label programs in addressing financial literacy, asserted Steve, Urry, Chair, Axiom. From the perspective of Axiom, as an end-to-end payment solutions provider its also great to see our clients that are financial institutions seeing value on the business end too.

About Axiom Prepaid Holdings:

Axiom Prepaid Holdings was born of the desire of two entrepreneurial-minded banking industry veterans to turn the prepaid card model upside down. To make banking simple. To give consumers and businesses around the globe access to innovative, easy-to-use, digitally driven, fun, flexible and secure products and services. Today, Axiom has 9 offices and conducts business in 20 countries. Every day, the Axiom team strives to create 100% turnkey solutions to help cardholders gain economic freedoms and help businesses achieve growth and success. To learn more about Axiom Prepaid Holdings, please visit: http://www.axiompph.com.
Embassy: First US Citizen Dies of Coronavirus in Wuhan

By VOA News February 09, 2020

A U.S. citizen in Wuhan, China, has died from the new coronavirus, officials at the American Embassy in Beijing said Saturday.

The embassy said that the 60-year-old American died Feb. 6 at Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan. A Japanese citizen is also reported to have died in Wuhan of viral pneumonia, likely caused by the coronavirus, although that has not been confirmed.

The United States says it offering up to $100 million to China and other countries affected by the deadly coronavirus to combat its spread, as the death toll rises in China to 722.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made the announcement Friday.

"This commitment  along with the hundreds of millions generously donated by the American private sector  demonstrates strong U.S. leadership in response to the outbreak," he said.

Trump praises Xi

Earlier in the day, U.S. President Donald Trump praised Chinese President Xi Jinping's efforts to combat the coronavirus as Xi faced mounting domestic criticism following the virus-related death of a physician who issued an early warning about the outbreak.

After a Friday telephone conversation with Xi, Trump praised China's response and said Xi was leading "what will be a very successful operation." Trump then continued to applaud Xi on Twitter, describing him as "strong, sharp and powerfully focused."

"Great discipline is taking place in China, as President Xi strongly leads what will be a very successful operation. We are working closely with China to help!" Trump added.

China's official account of Friday's conversation did not include references to Chinese complaints of the Trump administration's reaction to the outbreak that included being the first country to close its diplomatic office in Wuhan and order diplomats to leave the country.

Anger at doctor's death

The death of a Chinese doctor who was censored by Communist Party authorities after warning of a new, then-unidentified virus in December has triggered an outpouring of online anger at party authorities for its tight control on information about the crisis.

Police had accused Dr. Li Wenliang, who died Friday morning local time at Wuhan Central Hospital, of "spreading rumors online" and "severely disrupting social order."

However, Li was widely praised by many, including by China Center for Disease Control chief scientist Zeng Guang.

"A hero who released information about Wuhan's epidemic in the early stage, Dr. Li Wenliang is immortal," Zeng wrote on the Sina Weibo microblog page.

The ruling Communist Party's People's Daily wrote on Twitter, "We deeply mourn the death of Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang ... After all-effort rescue, Li passed away."

In response to the uproar in China over the government's treatment of Li, the Communist Party announced Friday it would send a team to Wuhan  the epicenter of the outbreak  to "fully investigate relevant issues raised by the public."

Rising death toll

Officials in China said the death toll by the end of Friday was 722 while new cases jumped to 31,774. The death toll has now surpassed the number of deaths from the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak in China and Hong Kong.

Chinese President Xi has declared a "people's war" on the coronavirus outbreak, as the death toll grows by the day.

"The whole country has responded with all its strength to respond with the most thorough and strict prevention and control measures, starting a people's war for epidemic prevention and control," China's state-run Xinhua news agency quotes Xi as saying.

The World Health Organization says it is too early to confirm one Chinese official's belief that the outbreak is about to peak.

There are about 150 confirmed cases in at least 23 other countries, including one death in the Philippines  the first outside of China  and one death in Hong Kong.

Cruise ships

Three new cases were confirmed by Japan aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, moored off Japan, raising the total to 64. The 3,700 passengers, who are confined aboard this ship, face a 14-day quarantine. Fourteen days is the virus' incubation period.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said foreign passengers on another ship carrying about 2,000 people will not be allowed to enter Japan. Abe said virus-infected passengers may be on board, while the operator of Holland America's Westerdam denied anyone was infected. The ship is currently near Ishigaki, an island of Okinawa.

About 3,600 passengers are stuck aboard another ship remains off the Hong Kong coast, with three cases on board.

Hong Kong has shut down nearly all land and sea border crossings with the Chinese mainland after more than 2,000 medical workers walked off the job earlier this week. The city announced it would quarantine arrivals from mainland China beginning Saturday.

Taiwan announced Thursday it was banning all international cruise ships from docking at the island. Taiwan is also halting most flights between Taiwan and China, beginning Monday. All direct passenger and freight shipping between the island and China are also being suspended.

A U.S. State Department-charted plane carrying Americans who evacuated from Wuhan landed Friday morning at a military base in Southern California. A second chartered plane with Americans on board was scheduled to arrive at a military base in Northern California later Friday. The returning Americans are being quarantined for 14 days and watched for signs of the illness.

The World Health Organization has declared the coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency and is appealing for $675 million to fight the virus.

WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Friday the world is experiencing a "chronic shortage of personal protective equipment, such as masks and gowns." Ghebreyesus said he was searching for potential solutions.

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Public health officials are under increasing pressure to name a British 'super spreader' of the coronavirus who is thought to have infected at least seven other people in England, France and Spain.

The middle-aged man contracted the virus during a conference at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Singapore organised by Servomex, a British gas analytics company, more than two weeks ago.

He then travelled to a ski chalet in Les Contamines-Montjoie, near Megeve, from January 24 to 28. He returned to Britain on an Easyjet flight on January 28 but fell ill after arriving in Britain, and has been receiving treatment at St Thomas' Hospital in London since last Thursday.

Five Britons who shared the ski chalet with him were diagnosed over the weekend, and hundreds of residents of the picturesque town are now undergoing tests.

The four adults and a nine-year-old child, who are not in a serious condition, were staying in the Alpine resort area of Contamines-Montjoie near Mont Blanc.

Last night, it also emerged that health authorities have contacted 183 passengers and six crew on an Easyjet flight taken by the unnamed man, warning that they could be infected.

An Easyjet spokesman said it had contacted all of the passengers and crew on the infected carrier's flight from Geneva to London Gatwick on January 28.

Five employees at The Grenadier pub in Hove have been instructed to self-isolate after the man visited for two hours on February 1.

A school pupil in the area was also told to self-isolate during the investigation into the man's movements.

The meeting in Singapore was attended by 94 other business people, with participants from Malaysia, South Korea and Britain also diagnosed with coronavirus.

Meanwhile, a British man in Majorca has also tested positive for coronavirus, while his wife and two daughters tested negative.

According to the government in the Balearic Islands, the family said they had been in contact with a person who tested positive for coronavirus in France.

Confirming the fourth UK case on Sunday, chief medical officer for England Professor Chris Whitty said the patient, who is being treated at the Royal Free Hospital in London, is 'a known contact of a previously confirmed UK case, and the virus was passed on in France'.

Environmental consultant Bob Saynor, 48, and his nine-year-old son have been named locally as being at the centre of the outbreak and are being treated in hospital

Mr Saynor's two other children and four Britons from another family are being kept in isolation at French hospitals as a precaution. His wife Catriona, a doctor, is reportedly in the UK

Professor Paul Hunter, professor in medicine, University of East Anglia, said on Sunday: 'From today's reports, this new case would appear to be linked to the cluster of cases in the French ski resort which is also linked to the case in Brighton.

'As such this case is part of the same cluster which is being reported as linked to a British national returning from Singapore.

'Whilst we currently do not know many details about how this new case was linked to others in the cluster, his/her identification does not at this stage indicate wider spread within the UK community.

'If the new individual had been already identified through contact tracing and the person was self-isolating then this should not pose any additional risk.

'Further cases within an already identified cluster are not surprising and do not pose an additional risk to public health providing such contacts are complying with instructions from Public Health England.'

Hundreds have been tested for cononavirus in the town of Les Contamines-Montjoie, near Megeve in the French Alps

The local ambulance service estimated 200 people had been tested by Sunday afternoon

As of 2pm on Sunday, the Department of Health said a total of 795 tests were concluded in the UK, with four testing positive and 791 confirmed negative.

Meanwhile, another plane carrying people evacuated from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan landed at RAF Brize Norton on Sunday morning.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the repatriation flight had brought back 105 British nationals and family members, as well as 95 European nationals and family members.

The passengers were taken to the Kents Hill Park hotel and conference centre in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, where they will be quarantined for 14 days.

Elsewhere, British honeymooner Alan Steele, who was transferred from the cruise liner Diamond Princess to hospital in Japan with coronavirus was said to be feeling well and in good spirits over the weekend.

Two other patients who had recently travelled from China are being treated at the Royal Victoria Infirmary infectious diseases centre in Newcastle.

One is a student at the University of York, while the other is a family member.

The death toll in China from the coronavirus, more than 810, surpasses Sars fatalities in the 2002-2003 outbreak.
Two people suffered serious injuries after being shot early Monday in Worcester, police said.

Around 1 a.m., police were dispatched to the area of Northampton Street for a report of gunshots, police wrote in a statement. Northampton Street is in the Bell Hill neighborhood.

When police got to the scene, they were told that two gunshot victims were taken to the hospital.

Police did not release any more information.

The shooting remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the Worcester Police Detective Bureau at 508-799-8651, send an anonymous text to 274637 TIPWPD or send an anonymous message online at worcesterma.gov/police.
A crash between two school buses in east Georgia sent 22 students to a hospital to be checked Thursday morning, school officials said.

Further details on their conditions werent immediately known.

Social Circle City Schools told news outlets the two buses were involved in a crash on Ga. 11, and that 22 of the students aboard the buses were taken for medical evaluation. School staff members were at the medical facility, Newton Piedmont Hospital, to meet families when they arrived.

Its unclear how many students were on the buses or their ages. The remaining students were taken to school on a separate bus.

Details about the crash werent immediately released and authorities gave no indication whether stormy weather sweeping the state on Thursday had anything to do with it. The Georgia State Patrol is investigating.

Social Circle is in southern Walton County, about 45 miles (70 kilometers) east of Atlanta.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Georgia
ONTONAGON, MI  A suspect has been identified and charged in an Upper Peninsula shooting that injured a 23-year-old Michigan man over the weekend.

24-year-old Cole Wascher of Greenland Township has been charged with assault with intent to murder and felony firearm related to an incident that occurred on Sunday morning, Feb. 9, outside of the village of Ontonagon, according to a news release from the Michigan State Police Wakefield Post. The crimes are punishable by up to life in prison.

The victim, whose name has not been released, alleges that Wascher threatened him with a firearm, police said. When the victim attempted to defend himself, Wascher allegedly shot him. The victim was transported to the Aspirus Ontonagon Hospital where he was later transferred to the Aspirus Wausau Hospital in Wisconsin.

Wascher is held at the Ontonagon County Jail on a $200,000 cash/surety, police said. He was arraigned on Monday, Feb. 10, in the 98th District Court in Ontonagon County on one count of assault with intent to murder, a felony punishable by up to life in prison; felony firearm, punishable by two years in prison, police said.

Waschers probable cause hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 24, and the preliminary examination is scheduled for 10 a.m. on March 2.

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Four days after a group of men broke into the all-women Gargi College and allegedly groped, harassed and molested students, Delhi Police on Monday registered a complaint as hundreds of students protested demanding strict action against the intruders.

The outrage of Gargi students following the attacks during their college festival Reverie on February 6 found wide echo with students from other colleges sharing their anguish, political parties speaking out and the issue being raised in Parliament.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal termed the incident "extremely unfortunate" while Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' said those involved in the act were outsiders and the college administration has been asked to take strict action against them.

The Delhi units of the BJP and the Congress united on a common platform with both asking that the culprits be arrested at the earliest.

Delhi Commission for Women Swati Maliwal also reached the college, in the Siri Fort area in the heart of south Delhi, to take stock of the situation. The DCW issued a notice the college and the Delhi Police for "inaction".

Fighting allegations that the college administration turned a deaf ear to their complaints and did nothing, Gargi College Principal Promila Kumar said a general body meeting was held with the students and the matter amicably resolved.

"The college has filed a police complaint and has also set up an internal inquiry committee to look into the matter and speak to complainants. The police have begun their probe and are collecting footage," she told PTI.

The students alleged that the men, in their 30s and drunk, groped and dragged girls and performed obscene acts, while security and Delhi Police personnel stood by like mute spectators.

Reliving the nightmare of the men gatecrashing into what they considered their safe space, a student said there was complete lapse of security.

"The students were groped, molested and even assaulted by the men. The college claimed to have made security arrangements. I don't think such an incident has taken place on any college campus across the country," she said.

Requesting anonymity, a political science student added that some men jumped over the gates while others jumped over walls.

"They were drunk and went berserk. Some girls ran towards washrooms, but the men followed them and locked them inside," she added.

The students alleged that they were threatened by the intruders, who also made objectionable remarks and used cuss words.

They also claimed that auto drivers, who had parked their vehicles outside the main gate of the college, also entered the campus.

"The college had hired bouncers for security. The security personnel were also standing right there and watching it all. My friend, who was molested, rushed to a security guard and pleaded him for help but he did not move," a student said.

Their ordeal aggravated after the college refused to take cognisance of the incident, the students alleged.

"The next day, on February 7, we took up the matter with teachers and the college management. The management said they had taken note of it. They didn't promise to take any action, after which many students shared their horrific experiences on Instagram," a B.Sc student added.

According to Atul Kumar Thakur, DCP (south), a case has been registered under IPC sections 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).

He said the case will be investigated by Inspector Pratibha Sharma, Crime Against Women Cell of south District.

Police are scanning the footage of CCTV cameras to collect evidence and speaking to students to ascertain facts, the officer said.

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, who raised the issue in the Lok Sabha, said sexual harassment and bullying often takes place in many higher institutions and action should be taken in such incidents.

"What happened in Gargi festival is disgusting! Such festivals are opportunities to celebrate the cultural diversity & talent in Delhi. But the obvious anti-social elements saw this festival as another chance to inflict harassment & violence on students!" said Kejriwal.

Left-group AIDWA alleged that the Citizenship Amendment Act supporters were involved in the "molestation" of students.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Photo: JEENAH MOON/Bloomberg via Getty Images

In many ways, Fairways Upper West Side store is a microcosm of the entire New York City experience: Bubbes threaten to plow you down with their shopping carts if youre in their way. Lox maestros can cut translucent slices of smoked salmon at lightning speed. The maze-like layout seems intentionally designed to confuse shoppers who just want to race in for a box of cereal.

Food-loving New Yorkers have been on edge for weeks, ever since a report emerged that Fairway would close all of its stores. Fairway denied the report, then announced on its own that the company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy and would sell its five Manhattan stores, plus its distribution facility in the Bronx, to Village Super Market Inc., which runs 30 ShopRite supermarkets and three Gourmet Garage stores. Meanwhile, the fate of Fairways stores outside Manhattan remains unknown.

Publicly, the company has tried to downplay the fact that Fairway as the world knows it is essentially going out of business. Privately, employees say the sense of panic is palpable, and they are deeply concerned about their employment status.

The best-case scenario is that we get sold to some company and we get to keep our jobs, an employee at one of the chains suburban stores told me. But I dont know if I am going to have a job in the next few weeks or months  nobody does  and that scares the crap out of me.

Everyone who spoke to Grub Street for this story did so on the condition of anonymity, afraid to jeopardize their already precarious employment. Theres also a bit of understandable paranoia going around: One store manager was told to go home for the day after sharing an article from a national paper about the companys bankruptcy on her private Facebook page. Others say they simply dont believe the company line, pointing to a past instance of corporate deception: When rumors started to circulate that a store in Nanuet would close, Fairway leadership kept denying and denying that we were going to close until a few days before, the manager said. The store did close, last September. Now, the manager says, Theres no trust.

Inside the stores, business continues. Customers keep asking to buy things with the Fairway logo, and are stocking up on their favorite Fairway orange juice and balsamic vinegar. People might be even shopping more since the news came out, trying to support us, a staffer said.

But some vendors, especially the small ones, are concerned that they wont get paid. And employees are swimming in a sea of fear, one told me. In a notice to the State Labor Department, Fairway warned it may lay off up to 2,159 employees.

Making matters even worse, a ransomware attack crippled Fairways internal systems last week. Employees are unable to access their email, phones, or POS systems. Employees must conduct business over text message on their personal cell phones, and emails to concerned vendors keep bouncing back.

If this all feels like deja vu, its because the store has been caught in a downward spiral for quite some time. The New York institution, founded in 1933 as a fruit-and-veggie stand, became a nerve center of the foodie revolution in the 1980s and 1990s, with a legendary cheese counter, whole sides of dry-aging beef, and more varieties of olive oil than anyone could keep straight. I worked at Fairway from 2011 to 2014, first behind the cheese counter and then as the companys copywriter. Like many of my co-workers, I was a fan before I was an employee, enchanted by the dizzying breadth of the goods we sold; the brilliant, passionate quirkiness of the big personalities who held court in the cold room and behind the deli counter; and the no-nonsense New York attitude. It truly was, as the then logo claimed, like no other market.

That changed, one corporate employee tells me, after two of the three original founders sold to Sterling Investment Partners, a private-equity company from Westport, Connecticut. The beginning of the end started in 2007, the employee says. [Sterling] raped and pillaged the company. They opened stores in places they had no business opening, and the urban idiosyncrasies didnt quite translate in Stamford, Connecticut, or Nanuet, New York.

Everyone seems to agree that Sterling was, at best, incompetent, or, at worst, outright evil. They simply siphoned money out of the company and paid themselves, says a source close to the firm, loading the company with an impossible amount of debt. (Bloomberg reports that Fairways directors  a number of them Sterling executives  were paying themselves absurd amounts of money: $12.1 million in 2013, according to the companys 2014 proxy. Sterling co-founder Charles Santoro took down $5.4 million that year.)

They just spent money like drunken sailors, says the corporate staffer, sacrificing the company and the employees whose lifes work was making it something truly special.

Fairway also faced very real challenges. The grocery business is notoriously cutthroat, and while Fairway had been the first to sell many specialty goods, those same products are now found at many other New York grocery stores. Fairway also faced increasingly tough competition as chains like Whole Foods and Trader Joes expanded into the area, while online retailers like Fresh Direct gained traction.

But Fairway messed up the factors it had control over, too. After Sterling left in 2016, the new regime proved equally disastrous. Kenneth Martindale, a director of the board, brought in his close friend Abel Porter to run Fairway as CEO, and another friend, Erwin Koenig, as the executive vice-president of sales and merchandising. Ernie and Kens connection dates back to Pathmark and Rite Aid, and now GNC, a corporate employee told me. Its interesting to see that all three companies have gone bankrupt. Its a pattern; its not an accident.

It was Martindales wife, Sharon Aulicino, who oversaw a $2.5 million rebranding project. Among my former co-workers, Fairways 2018 Place to Go Fooding campaign was especially embarrassing. It was a far cry from the genuine passion for quality ingredients we had once worked hard to source, sell, and celebrate.

Thats the incestuous nature of private-equity groups and the boards of directors, the corporate employee says. Theyre from Pittsburgh; they know nothing about food, nothing about New York, and nothing about the brand. The business may have been doomed anyway, but spending millions of dollars on a marketing campaign that many people felt was tacky certainly didnt help.

And yet, some Fairway staffers still hold on to some measure of optimism. They believe Village Super Market Inc. will continue to operate the Manhattan stores under the Fairway brand, and hopefully they will be able resurrect, or preserve, some of what makes Fairway so beloved. They are, after all, not another private-equity firm; they are grocers who hopefully understand why Fairway is so inextricably linked to New York City.
President Muhammadu Buhari Monday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, reassured Nigerians and the international community of the steadfast commitment of his government to secure the freedom of all children and other victims of abduction by terrorists in the country.

The president renewed the pledge at a High Level Breakfast Dialogue on Stop the War on Children Affected by Armed Conflicts, Dividend of Silencing the Guns, a side event during the 33rd AU Summit.

The programme was co-sponsored by the Governments of Nigeria, Uganda and Norway, the AU Commission and Save the Children.

Speaking on the occasion, President Buhari said:

A number of school girls from Chibok and Dapchi earlier abducted by Boko Haram have regained their freedom.

We commend the gallant efforts of the MultiNational Joint Task Force and the partners in supporting the reintegration of the girls.

Let me categorically reassure you of the steadfast commitment of the Government of Nigeria to ensure the freedom of all kidnapped children from the shackles of Boko Haram.

We will not relent until every child, boy, or girl, every Nigerian adult in custody of Boko Haram, is freed!.

The president urged African countries and stakeholders on the continent to work fervently towards strengthening the protection of children from the six grave violations during armed conflict. The six grave violations are killing and maiming of children, recruitment or use of children as soldiers, sexual violence against children, abduction of children, attacks against schools or hospitals and denial of humanitarian access for children.

President Muhammadu Buhari Monday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

President Buhari expressed concern that these grave violations against children have continued unabated.

It is for this reason that the Nigerian government has severally condemned, and is combating frontally the dreadful activities of terrorist groups like Boko Haram and the so-called Islamic State.

Of course, the severity of these grave violations varies from country to country.

The incidence of a single violation of children rights in any country is an indelible dent on the African consciousness and is to be deplored and condemned, he said.

Reminding AU Member States of their commitments to protecting children affected by armed conflicts in Africa, President Buhari reaffirmed Nigerias commitment to the protection of children in armed conflict zones.

He also used the occasion to outline some concrete measures taken by Nigeria towards tackling the root causes of child soldiers and the misfortune of out-of-school children.

President Muhammadu Buhari Monday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

To stem the tide of out-of-school children Nigeria embarked on an all-inclusive reconstruction of schools vandalized by the ravaging terrorist activities of Boko Haram, while returning children are rehabilitated and reintegrated into society.

Our Nomadic Education policy is also being implemented to reduce the number of out-of-school children. We have also prioritized de-radicalisation and demobilisation of ex-combatant children of Boko Haram insurgents, President Buhari said.

President Muhammadu Buhari Monday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The Nigerian leader also called on the AU Peace and Security Council to energetically champion the strategy to stop the war on children and adopt the Child Protection Architecture within the African Peace and Security Architecture and the Roadmap on Silencing the Guns.

The call to action is now for accountability by all African States to the rights of the children caught up in wars.

Let us stop the war on children. This is a wake-up call for us all to create the enabling environment for rooting out the impact of armed conflicts against our children across the continent, he said.

Garba Shehu

Senior Special Assistant to the President
Before the Oscars ceremony began Sunday, nominated film stars and other celebrities hit the red carpet.

Regina King, Billy Porter, America Ferrera and Idina Menzel were among the first to arrive at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles just after 2 p.m., ahead of the show's 5 p.m. start time.

RELATED: Oscars live stream: How to watch the 2020 Academy Awards

Together, the four established early trends for the night. Menzel and King donned pink and red-hued dresses  made by J. Mendel and Versace, respectively  while Ferrera opted for a flowy garnet dress with a metallic gold headband, a nod to the "indigenous Lenca tribe of Honduras."

Billy Porter went full metallic, wearing a custom Giles Deacon Couture gold feathered top, a vibrant orange sherbet and pink-colored ball skirt and gold Jimmy Choo shoes.

Some, however, took some liberties with the formal dress code.

Frozen 2s Kristen Anderson-Lopez, for one, went with a different sort of shoewear under her gown: sneakers.

Anderson-Lopez, an award-winning composer lifted her dress to show press her comfortable kicks, shouting to the fan bleachers that its the only way to do the Oscars.

See more arrivals in the above gallery.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGate digital editor. Email: alyssa.pereira@sfgate.com | Twitter: @alyspereira


Lauren Marie Young says that after Harvey Weinstein groped her in a Beverly Hills hotel room bathroom in 2013, there was another woman there who did nothing to stop it.

Taking the witness stand at Weinstein's New York City rape trial last week, Young testified that a Mexican model named Claudia Salinas closed the door behind her and the former movie mogul as they went into the bathroom and was standing right there when Young managed to get out.

Young shot Salinas an evil look, and I left as quick as I could without saying anything, Young told the jury.

Salinas, now 38, is expected to offer her own version Monday as the latest defense witness in the fourth week of a trial that could see closing arguments by the end of the week.

She appeared in the 2009 Weinstein-produced film Crossing Over with Harrison Ford.

Weinstein's lawyers have said they also plan to call two friends of the woman he is charged with assaulting: a Hollywood talent agent and a Brazilian actress who lived with the woman in Los Angeles, who were on the March 2013 trip to New York City where she alleges Weinstein raped her at a midtown Manhattan hotel.

The defense witnesses follow more than two weeks of prosecution testimony, including the accounts of six women who say the once-powerful Hollywood boss subjected them to vile sexual behaviour.

Weinstein's lawyers last week used a memory expert, cognitive psychologist Elizabeth Loftus, to try to cement doubts about the women's allegations after cross-examinations that sought to highlight inconsistencies in some of their accounts.

In some cases, the encounters the women were recalling happened a decade or longer ago.

False memories can be experienced with a great deal of detail, a great deal of emotion, even though they're false, she told the jury.

The emotion is not a guarantee you're dealing with an authentic memory. Weinstein's lawyers haven't said whether he will testify.

If he does, he faces the prospect of prosecutors grilling him over the allegations and could give them an opening to bring in more witnesses in an attempt to rebut anything he says.

That is a question that does not have an answer at this point, attorney Arthur Aidala said. We want to see how our defense case goes."



Weinstein is charged with raping a woman in a Manhattan hotel room in March 2013 and forcibly performing oral sex on a different woman in 2006.

Weinstein, 67, has maintained any sexual encounters were consensual.

The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they have been victims of sexual assault, unless they come forward publicly.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A truck driver was injured when suspected Bangladeshi nationals attacked him near the Indo- Bangla border in Meghalaya's West Jaintia Hills district on Monday, police said.

Superintendent of Police, West Jaintia Hills, L Syiem said the truck driver was pulled out of the truck and attacked with daos (big knife) by two suspected Bangladeshi nationals at Tambi village in the early hours of Monday.

"One Morning Bamon was injured and shifted to Dawki primary health centre for treatment after he was attacked by two persons, suspected to be Bangladesh nationals," the SP told PTI.

Syiem said police is carrying out a thorough investigation and the BSF has been alerted on the matter.

On Sunday two youths were attacked by suspected Bangladeshi miscreants at Pyrkan village near the Indo-Bangla border in East Khasi Hills district.

Meanwhile, speaking on the East Khasi Hills district incident, the BSF claimed that the two youths were attacked when they tried to snatch a gecko which the Bangladeshi smugglers were carrying when crossing the border.

"We have identified the attackers and we will write a letter of protest against the illegal act that took place yesterday," the BSF officer said.

Meghalaya shares a 443 km-long border with Bangladesh of which around 100 km is still unfenced.

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





I believe twitter and social media are a force for good. I believe that they are a boon for political and cultural discourse in Korean society.

I believe those who use the platform regularly, particularly the people who constantly to find faults in others, are of the highest ethical standing and have few, if any problems, of their own.

I believe that all the politicians set to contest the National Assembly election in April do so with the best interests of the country at heart and not their own careers. I believe that despite over 30% of them having criminal convictions, the citizens of South Korea have nothing to worry about in terms of corruption or the abuse of power.

I believe that the local Conservative party, with all their head-shaving and fasting, are doing the right thing to win the hearts and minds of the population and ultimately succeed in the next presidential election.

I believe K-Pop is not only revolutionary, it is the very future of music. I believe that it is the height of creativity, self-expression, and the most profound manifestation of musical talent.

I believe that BTS are the most important group in the world today and that without them the music industry would simply fall apart. I believe that any award show that fails to acknowledge this is inherently racist.

I believe that the country choosing to ban Japanese products from its stores while indoctrinating its children with negativity against their closest neighbors will only have positive results in the long-term. I believe that reinforcing this position through education, media, and national holidays shows the real strength of the country.

I believe that we should pay for the sins of our fathers.

I believe that North Korea is a pretty cool place  after all, I saw photos of Pyongyang and there was a subway system, smartphones, and tall buildings. I believe that America has done some terrible things in its history and, therefore, by dint of this the North can't really be "that bad".

I believe that presidents who meet the Kim family in the DPRK do so for the good of the people they govern and not to simply bolster political support and increase their chances of appearing in the annals of history thanks to a series of polished and glossy photos. I believe that these photos are more important than separated families, political prisons, military threat, starvation, or freedom to express one's mind without fear of punishment.

I believe that reading certain books and discussing particular ideas should be a criminal offence in a modern democratic society. I believe, therefore, that the four Korean teachers sentenced to a year in prison for reading and distributing materials about North Korea deserve their punishment.

I believe that restaurants with signs up banning foreigners (or simply "just" Chinese people) are well within their rights to do so. I believe, moreover, that such a reaction is completely normal considering the deadly seriousness of the disease that is now spreading around the world leaving in its wake a trail of wanton destruction.

I believe there are no real or recent historic precedents which would give us cause to worry about grouping people according to their national, ethnic, or political identity.

I believe in the Foucauldian power-based idea of racism in which only the powerful or the majority can be racist, while other people can only be prejudiced at worst. I believe, therefore, that there aren't really any racist people here  except the straight white dudes, obviously.

I believe that the Korean economy is doing great. I believe that the decision to raise the minimum wage over 10% in a single year to make it one of the highest in the OECD has had a truly positive impact on the domestic economy and people's employment.

I believe that the current administration are economic mavericks and that their policies, while not necessarily those an expert would recommend, are destined for success.

I believe that the election of Ulsan Mayor Song Chul-ho was completely above board and that there was nothing untoward in the prosecution of the previous incumbent. I believe that nobody used their power in a manner that would be considered morally or legally unacceptable.

I believe that the rights of sexual minorities are well-respected in the country. I believe that we should expect South Korea to adopt, almost overnight, the wokest of values from the West.

I believe in the world having different cultures which should be respected, but I also believe I am entitled to get angry when cultures do things that are different from what I expect.

I believe denouncing those with whom we disagree socially, culturally, and politically is a good thing and a demonstrable recipe for success.

I believe that the molka spy-cam porn epidemic is being treated seriously at the highest levels  particularly in terms of the sentences being handed down to those who have been found guilty of installing or distributing such criminal content.

I believe American journalists are right: nunchi is the reason why Korean people are so happy  like, all the time!

I believe that suicide isn't really that big a deal here and that it's fine for domestic movies and dramas to continue to end their productions with the characters choosing to end their own lives rather than deal with the situations they face or seek professional help.

I believe I believe these thingsI think?



David Tizzard (datizzard@swu.ac.kr) is an assistant professor at Seoul Women's University. He also presents economic and cultural issues on "Business Now" on TBS eFM (101.3FM) live every Wednesday from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Five Turkish soldiers have died and five were injured during shelling of an observation post in Syrian Idlib, NTV TV reported referring to Turkish Defense Ministry.

A return fire was opened, TV channel reported referring to a statement of the country's Ministry of Defense, RIA Novosti reported.

On February 3, eight Turkish military and civilians were killed in shelling by the Syrian army in Idlib. According to Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan, 76 Syrian soldiers became victims of Turkish response.

Erdogan said earlier he had called on his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to put pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stop the offensive in the Idlib province and withdraw from Turkish observation posts by the end of February, otherwise threatening with a military response.
Over 110 years ago, two sets of my great-grandparents settled one mile apart on the Llano Estacado of Eastern New Mexico, throwing distance from the Texas state line. Their children, grandchildren and now I have all lived on and worked this land that I am proud to call my home. It has always been my hope that my children, who were also born and raised here, and their children will continue to be a part of this land as well.

I remember what agriculture used to look like in Curry County. Corn, sorghum, barley, wheat, alfalfa, cotton, even soybeans and tomatoes. Youll never hear anyone say that farming the High Plains is easy, but, back then, and depending on what plot of land you worked, we did what we needed to to keep the land healthy and survive as a small family farm.

Today, however, it seems as though agriculture means one thing: cattle. The land is used to either grow feed products for cattle, or to house, milk and process cattle directly. No more sorghum, and gone are the tomato fields. This is not meant to be an affront to my dairy and rancher neighbors, but rather to state clearly that the cattle business is the only real viable agricultural business in the area.

In this way, Big Ag has won the battle. Small farmers like me are slowly breathing our last breaths, and those of us who remain are likely without succession plans and, in the worst cases, saddled with enormous debt. Small farmers just dont have many options  and when a business runs out of options, it dies.

However, what we do have is some land and vast knowledge of how to work it, around 300 days of sunshine every year, and a work ethic that doesnt have an off button. Given options, small farmers will succeed. In so doing they will hire local help and support their local communities; its what family farms do.

That is why I, my entire family, and many other small agricultural business people across this state adamantly support the legalization of cannabis in New Mexico. To assume that the fine folks across the rural communities of this great state are against legalization would be a grave mistake.

Theres one aspect of the draft legislation thats especially relevant to the small farmer. Its rare that the little guy gets a fair shake, and Ive never been one to heap praise on politicians, but kudos to the folks who came up with the idea for the integrated microbusiness license and the production microbusiness license. In creating these licenses, and by scaling license fees based on production, the legislation creates a more level competitive field for small growers. It allows small growers the chance to enter the business with minimal capital, in many cases utilizing existing land and infrastructure, and it specifically gives microbusiness licensees  the little guys  more flexibility and privileges than it gives the commercial licensees  the big guys.

So will New Mexico politicians decide to lean on false assumptions, propaganda and fear, and continue to ban the sale of an unprocessed plant that can grow almost anywhere? Or will they decide to walk confidently, yet diligently and with purpose, into a new era by expanding a market that already exists in the state, and in the process give the small N.M. family farmer an option to continue to care for and work their land?

I long ago had a conversation with my grandmother, who for the record had been born in 1898 and was a schoolteacher in Texico and the surrounding area for 63 years, about whether to leave town and go off to college or stay home and work the farm. Being a family of educators who also maintained the farm, she of course pushed the college route. However, what she said has always stayed with me. Go to school and get your degree. Come home and help us here whenever you can, but dont worry about the land. Well be working it and taking care of it, and well make sure its here for you when you want to come back and stay.

Ive always hoped to be able to make that same pledge to my own grandchildren, and with this bold legislation, I just may have the option to do so.
How can Oscars in 2020 not get their balance right?

While the Academy decided to bring back artists like Eminem for a performance, they also introduced us to a star the world NEEDS to know. Say hello to Indian-American rapper Utkarsh Ambudkar, 36, who came on after the surprise, "Loose Yourself" performance to do his own rap. And the world heard him in absolute awe.

Image credit: CNN.

But Ambedkar has been a part of the industry for over 16 years now, so he isn't really a new find but actually a discovery. It was in 2004 when the artist completed his acting program at New York University's Tisch School of Arts. But he wasn't an actor because almost all of his nights in New York were spent in clubs freestyling and battle rapping. Even in his mind, he was more of a rapper than an actor.

And his talent was recognized when he was offered to join the prestigious, Lin Manuel Miranda's improv-rap troupe "Freestyle Love Supreme". And in 2019, he joined the troupe on Broadway.

Image credit: CNN.

But it hasn't been easy for the rap artist. Ambudkar was originally supposed to play the role of Aaron Burr in Miranda's Hamilton but at the time he was a recovering alcoholic, battling his addictions to alcohol and drugs.

Over a few years, Utkarsh Ambudkar has acted in projects like Pitch Perfect, The Next Cut, and The Mindy Project. He has released two albums in 2019 itself and certainly has a lot in store considering his noteworthy performance at Oscars 2020.

Image credit: Utkarsh Ambudkar / Instagram.

On the Oscars stage, Utkarsh Ambudkar was a sincere delight and impressed especially those who didn't know his body of work, check out his full performance below.












BEIRUT - Syrian government news agency SANA said Monday that the Damascus army has advanced in recent hours along the Hama-Aleppo highway in the country's north and is close to taking the last strategic stretch of the road, which has been closed for nearly years due to the conflict.

Syrian media said fighting is underway near the towns southwest of Aleppo along the stretch of road that from Saraqeb, in the region bordering Idlib, leads to the outskirts of the north Syrian metropolis.

Saraqeb was taken by government forces in recent days after a battle that started in December to retake control of Maarrat an Numan, another key city along the Hama-Aleppo highway.


A second group of foreign diplomats, including representatives of European Union (EU) states, is expected to visit Kashmir this week to witness the governments efforts to restore normalcy following the revocation of the regions special status last year.

People familiar with developments said on Monday the group will be comparatively larger than the batch of 15 diplomats that travelled to Kashmir during January 9-10  the first such visit organised by the government since Article 370 of the Constitution was nullified and Jammu and Kashmir split into two union territories.

The contours of the upcoming visit will be similar to the first one, and the diplomats are expected to meet delegations comprising former legislators and ministers, panchayat members and social activists in Srinagar and Jammu.

They will be briefed on security matters, including the situation along the Line of Control (LoC), by officials of the army and security agencies in Srinagar, the people cited above said. There is a possibility the group could also be taken to a few other places in the Kashmir Valley, they added.

Authorities received requests from several foreign missions to visit Kashmir since the 15 diplomats travelled to the region last month, the people said. The second group will have diplomats from several European nations and will include a mix of large and small nations from different regions of the world, said a person who declined to be named.

The group, expected to include diplomats from key EU states such as Germany and France and from Latin American nations, will travel to Kashmir before the weekend. We have been told to remain ready to receive another delegation of envoys after February12. It will be like the previous visit, said an official in Srinagar who didnt want to be identified.

There is a possibility the group will be taken around markets in Srinagar so that the diplomats can see for themselves the situation had improved over the past six months, officials said.

People from villages close to the LoC, including panchayat members, could be among those called in to meet the diplomats, the officials added.

We have not yet received any invitation but we expect we will get an invite like the previous meeting with diplomats. But its an exercise where we have to wait for the envoys for two hours and meet them for 15 minutes and convey them the Kashmir story. This meeting will be the same, said a youth activist who participated in a meeting when the diplomats visited last month.

However, it is unlikely the diplomats will meet leaders of mainstream political parties, including two MPs and Srinagar mayor Junaid Azim Mattu, or detained former chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah.

The government has been encouraged after what were described as successful visits by two Union ministers last month  law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had tea at a stall in north Kashmirs Baramulla town and minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi visited Lal Chowk in Srinagar.

The first group to visit Kashmir included US ambassador Kenneth Juster, and envoys and diplomats from South Korean, Norway, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Fiji, the Maldives, the Philippines, Morocco, Argentina, Peru, Niger, Nigeria, Guyana and Togo.

Though the missions of 27 EU states had made a request for a joint visit to Kashmir, the envoys of some European countries are understood to have agreed to join the upcoming trip.

Their inclusion is significant as external affairs minister S Jaishankar is set to visit Germany to attend the Munich Security Conference during February 15-16, before travelling to Brussels on February 17 for meetings with EU officials. Indias new citizenship law, the situation in Kashmir and Prime Minister Narendra Modis expected participation in the India-EU Summit on March 13 are among the topics that will come up during his interactions.

...
One of the key challenges in achieving Africa's SDGs over the next decade is the ability to mobilise resources to finance them, according to a report

The year 2020 is the beginning of a promising decade for Africa, as economic growth across the continent is expected to continue to outperform that of other regions, with the continent continuing to be home to seven of the worlds 10 fastest-growing economies through the first half of the decade, according to the Foresight Africa Report.

Foresight Africa is a report released by the Africa Growth Initiative (AGI) at Brookings Institute that conducts independent research which helps establish long term strategies for economic growth and strong policies for development in Africa.

The report said that Africa has all the potential to achieve all the sustainable development goals (SDGs), but it faces number of challenges ahead.

One of the key challenges to achieving Africa's SDGs over the next decade is the ability to mobilise resources to finance them, according the report, as sub-Saharan Africa, for instance, will need $574 billion per year until 2030 to finance the SDGs.

"While projected spending in a few countries, such as Botswana or Mauritius, will meet their SDG financing needs, for the vast majority of countries in the region, there is a substantial financing gap totalling $256 billion per year. Meanwhile, the future of official development assistance (ODA), which has been an important source of financing for several countries, is increasingly uncertain as discontent with globalisation and changing political environments are causing governments in many advanced economies to revisit their commitments," reads the report.

Tax revenues are the most important component of domestic resources, and raising them has been at the centre of many domestic reforms and regional and international initiatives.

Indeed, these efforts helped boost non-resource tax revenues from 11 percent of GDP in the early 2000s to 15 percent more recently.

Even so, Africas tax ratios are still among the lowest in the world, largely due to both low taxation capacities, about 20 percent of GDP on average, and to inefficiencies in revenue collection.

Nevertheless, the report said that there is room to raise tax revenues above current levels over the next decade by further strengthening the tax capacity through decreasing informality or broadening the tax base, and by improving governance in revenue collection.

The report highlighted a study conducted by the Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution that shows that tax capacity has already been improving, growing by 2.5 percent between 2000 and 2015.

Even so, assuming the same pace is sustained through 2030, it will generate an additional $44 billion in revenues annually.

The report also said that improving governance around tax revenue collection can help close the gap between current taxes and tax capacity on the continent by raising it with $93 billion a year through 2030.

"If governments, with the cooperation of external partners, curb illicit capital flows successfully, the continent can raise up to 5 percent of GDP per year, what equals to an average of $86 billion annually over the next decade," the report estimated.

On the other hand, developing countries lose 1.3 percent of GDP in tax revenues to companies shifting profits to low-tax locations, meaning that the region will lose an average of $23 billion per year over the next 10 years, the report mentioned.

The report pointed to the international cooperation on taxation of multinational companies as an instrument that can help combat this practice and contribute to the mobilisation of domestic resources, adding that all these efforts are expected to mobilise an additional $246 billion and narrow the regions SDG financing gap substantially to over $10 billion per year.

The report added that strong growth rates will be essential for Africa to achieve the SDGs, expecting that Africa's economic growth will continue to be strong at least through the first half of the decade, with the regions economy expanding at a faster pace than the global economy.

"Seven of the worlds 10 fastest-growing economies will be in the Africa," the report predicted.

It also touched upon the importance of digital transformation for Africa for a complete SDGs achievement, faster economic growth and job creation.

"The World Bank estimates that reaching the African Unions goal of universal and affordable internet coverage will increase GDP growth in Africa by 2 percent per year. Also, the probability of employment, regardless of education level, increases by 6.9 to 13.2 percent when fast internet becomes available, as it facilitates firm entry and boosts productivity and exports. As such, digital technologies offer a unique opportunity for African countries to significantly transform various sectors of their economies," the report said.

However, the report asserted that this will not happen unless Africa addresses its sizeable deficits in digital infrastructure, unveiling that African countries spend about 1.1 percent of GDP on digital investment, while advanced economies spend an average of 3.2 percent. Thus, business-as-usual is not an option, as it will continue to widen the digital divide and drive further marginalisation of Africa.

The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), which came into effect as of January 2020, plays a key role in achieving Africa's SDGs, especially that all Africa has now signed on and 29 countries having ratified it.

"AfCFTA as an investment, economic diversification, and job creation blueprint will shape the future of Africa in the years to come, help meet the SDG targets by 2030, and consolidate progress toward the African Unions Agenda 2063. Indeed, with a combined GDP of over $2.3 trillion and a population of 1.2 billion, of which most are below the age of 30, African countries stand to gain substantially from intra-regional trade," according the report.

It also said that the implementation of the AfCFTA is expected to boost African welfare, GDP, and intra-African trade.

Progress on the finalisation of AfCFTA Phase I negotiations, namely the establishment of the schedules of concession for trade in goods, rules of origin, and specific commitments for trade in services, is encouraging.

Nevertheless, Africa needs to do more than just increase trade in existing commodities to benefit entirely from the AfCFTA, hence the importance of beginning Phase II of negotiations on investment, competition policy, and intellectual property rights. In particular, with an increasingly digitised economy and a store of innovative youth, working on IP registration and protection will be key to harnessing the full potential of the AfCFTA and securing Africas future.

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LAVUMISA  A 14-year-old girl has resorted to using her body to generate money due to poverty.



The real names of the parties implicated in the story are withheld to protect the minors identity because there is an element of abuse.

The minor, who is doing Grade IV in one of the schools in Lavumisa, engages in sexual relations with different men who in turn give her money ranging from E50 to E100 per session.



At the time of the interview, she revealed that the last time she had sex was two days ago with one of the men who lives in the community.

She said she started doing this when she was 13 years old and most of her customers were from her neighbourhood.

She operates during the Nicodemus hours after she has done all her domestic chores and homework

.

When this reporter arrived at *Thobekiles homestead, it was observed that the situation was dire.

The minor lives with her mother, who works about half a kilometre away from their home while her father stays at home due to unemployment.

Due to financial constraints in the family, the situation is dire.



There are two huts in the home; one being the one that shelters the parents and their son, and another which the minor girl sleeps in. The huts are made of thatched grass. There is no electricity or water in the home.

In an interview with the minor, which was done with the consent of her father, she disclosed that she was having sexual relations with different men in the community who then paid her money which she used to buy food for her family.



I was 13 years old when I first started having sex and I was doing Grade II. There was a man who was working at the electricity station and he would stop me along the way each time I passed by the station from school, the minor narrated.



She elaborated that the man invited her to his house one evening and requested her to keep him company.

The minor stated that since he had become a familiar face to her, she accepted the mans invitation and went to his house. Thobekile added that when she got there, the man began to kiss and caress her on her private parts.



panic



She relayed that she started to panic and asked to go but the man insisted that she stays and promised to reward her for being a good girl.

Thobekile stated that the man finally had sexual intercourse with her and gave her a E100 note. She also mentioned that the man took her hat and never returned it.



On another occasion, Thobekile narrated that the same man returned and they had sexual encounters which were returned with E50 and E100 notes depending on how much the man afforded that day.

She said this then became a habit and with each man who approached her, she would expect an amount of money for sexual intercourse. The young girl expressed that she did not enjoy the sessions with the men but she did it to help her family.



When asked if this did not affect her studies in school, the soft-spoken girl said it did not.

She relayed that normally, she came back from school and performed all her domestic chores, such as washing dishes and cleaning the house.

The minor also stated that she would do her homework and then wait for nightfall to meet her clients. She mentioned that she sneaked out of her hut and went to the mens houses.



She said the men would come to her hut and then whisper for her to come through.

Meanwhile, the father said he needed help with his daughter who had become troublesome with men in the community. The neighbours call her at night when we are sleeping and she goes out to have sex with them, the father highlighted.



When asked what steps he had taken as a father to ensure that his daughter got the appropriate help she needed, the father said both him and his wife had once talked to her about her behaviour.



However, he said all these years, they (parents) had not realised that their child was having sex with men for money.



responsibility



It is noteworthy that this is against the Children Protection and Welfare Act of 2012 under duties and responsibilities of parents and guardians.

The Act stipulates that a parent or guardian has a responsibility, whether imposed by law or otherwise, towards the child which includes the responsibility to protect the child from neglect, discrimination, violence, abuse, exploitation, exposure to physical and moral hazards and oppression.



It further stipulates that the parent or guardian has the responsibility to provide good guidance, care, assistance and maintenance for the child to ensure the survival and development of that child. It elaborates that a parent should ensure that during temporary absence, the child shall be cared for by a competent person.



The Act points out that parents shall exercise joint primary responsibility for raising the children, except where the parent or guardian has surrendered those rights and responsibilities in accordance with the law.



It points out that any person who contravenes a provision of this section commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding the monetary jurisdiction of a magistrate or to an appropriate term of imprisonment.

*Not real name to protect minor.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday hinted that the executive capital would be shifted to Visakhapatnam within three to four months.

In an informal chat with a select group of mediapersons, including Deccan Chronicle principal correspondent G. Sampat Samaritan, Chief Minister Reddy justified the decentralisation of administration, saying decentralisation would lead to greater development.

In a freewheeling chat on a plethora of issues for the first time after he took over as Chief Minister, Mr Reddy shared his views on a plethora of subjects. Excerpts.

When is the executive capital moving to Visakhapatnam? How prudent is idea of shifting the capital?

The setting up of an executive capital in Visakhapatnam would be done in another three to four months. The tier II city of Visakhapatnam would quickly to become a tier I city, after which, it can compete with Hyderabad. It is a well thought of decision to ensure equal growth of all regions.

What would be the fate of Amar-avati after this shifting? Farmers who gave away their lands for an integrated capital there are in arms against the move?

We will retain Amaravati as the legislative capital. All Assembly sessions would be held here, so it will witness a natural economic growth in due course of time. No injustice would be done to farmers as we have enhanced the annuity payment to 15 years and farm labourers are being paid Rs 5,000 per month against present Rs 2,000.

Visakhapatnam, the opposition says, is prone to cyclones?

All nine coastal districts, including Guntur and Krishna where the capital city Amaravati was proposed to be developed, are vulnerable to natural calamities, like cyclonic storms. We had witnessed one in Diviseema in Krishna district and the Hudhud in Visakhapatnam  no district is completely immune.

As per the TD governments own estimates, it would cost more than Rs 1 lakh crore to develop Amaravati. With only around 10 per cent of that amount, we can develop Visakhapatnam into a ready capital for our state. We are already paying an annual interest of Rs 500 crore on funds spent on Amaravati so far. Besides, it is the prerogative of the CM and government to locate the capital, keeping administrative convenience in mind. Let us also not forget that BJP had also promised to locate the High Court in Kurnool in its manifesto.

You seem to be on a path of creative destruction as can be seen from the way you have initiated steps to revolutionise education by making English the mandatory medium of instruction in primary education, and opting for reverse tendering of several projects initiated by the previous TD regime, the navaratnalu welfare measures, or the drastic measures to reduce alcohol consumption?

The CM is like a father figure to the state and the people. Failing to develop a state even after having authority to do so is a sin. A CMs vision can make or break a state. I have visualised the future of our young generation for the next 20 years. If our children have to pursue higher studies and find more employment opportunities globally, they need to be thorough with English. We all know that only poor families send their children to government schools and we are determined to teach them English at zero cost.Rs

Similarly, health is of paramount importance to our government. We will increase teaching hospitals from the present 11 to 27 in the next five years. We will supply 510 varieties of medicines having WHO and good manufacturing practice standards to all government hospitals by end of April. Our government will fill all vacant posts in hospitals to provide better healthcare to people. We have already demonstrated that we can save thousands of crores of rupees by opting for reverse tendering of contracts awarded by the previous TD regime, which were marred by corruption. In Polavaram alone, we saved Rs 830 crore.

The opposition says the government is delaying Polavaram in the guise of reverse tendering.

The Polavaram project got stalled because the previous TD regime mishandled its execution. Without constructing a spillway, they rushed to build a coffer dam, which resulted in the rise of water levels leading to inundation of more villages. Our government has issued orders to take up construction of spillway immediately and works are going on in full swing. We are going to complete the Polavaram irrigation project by June, 2021. There may be some delay in the execution of Polavaram power project, maybe by a year or so. Relief and resettlement is estimated to cost us around Rs 33,000 crore but we will implement it as per statute.

How confident are you of implementing your flagship welfare programme of Navaratnalu (nine gems) given the precarious financial position of the state?

You have all been witnessing how committed we are to implementing our poll promises. Some schemes were launched well ahead of schedule of promise made in the manifesto. They will generate economic activity. It is true our financial resources are not good but they are expected to improve, year on year. We will be able to implement all welfare schemes.

The Special Category Status (SCS) would have been of great help to the state. The BJP has time and again said that it is a closed chapter. What is your stand?

Getting SCS to a state can never be a closed chapter. We have been insisting on getting the status persistently. Whenever we meet the Prime Minister, we are raising this issue. Perhaps, I believe that when Centre requires support of MPs from AP in the Parliament on some issues, then we will put more pressure on the centre and use every chance to get such status. We are confident that in due course of time AP will get SCS.
Over 1.97 lakh passengers travelling in 1,818 flights have been screened for novel coronavirus, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Monday as he outlined the steps taken by the government to deal with the virus since its outbreak last month.

New Delhi: Over 1.97 lakh passengers travelling in 1,818 flights have been screened for novel coronavirus, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Monday as he outlined the steps taken by the government to deal with the virus since its outbreak last month.

Issuing a suo motu statement in Lok Sabha, Vardhan also said that screening of passengers has been initiated at 12 major seaports and all minor ports in the country to identify passengers and crew members coming from China and to isolate them in case they are found symptomatic.

"As of today, a total of 1,818 flights have been screened covering a total of 1,97,192 passengers. Teams of specialist doctors were sent to all the airports to ensure effective screening and arrangement for isolation in the attached hospitals," Vardhan said.

Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan in Lok Sabha on Novel Coronavirus: So far 811 deaths have been reported in China. India is taking all preventive measures. We are monitoring and reviewing the situation daily. Till now 1,118 flights have been screened. pic.twitter.com/aIiseda9tx  ANI (@ANI) February 10, 2020

In view of a confirmed case in Nepal, the government has initiated screening at all integrated check posts from Nepal in collaboration with Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Sikkim and Bihar, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Land Port Authorities, the health minister said.

China reported the outbreak of novel coronavirus on 31 December, 2019. As of 9 February, a total of 37,198 confirmed cases and 811 deaths have been reported in China. A total of 354 confirmed cases have been reported outside China from 27 countries (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan).

"In our country, three positive cases have been reported so far from Kerala. All these cases have travel history from Wuhan, China. They have been isolated and are reported to be clinically stable," Vardhan said.

The government has already constituted a GoM headed by the Union health minister to monitor coronavirus. Besides, gram sabhas are being organised in villages adjoining borders with Nepal to create awareness amongst people.

So far, 1,510 samples have been tested of which 1,507 were found negative. Three samples have tested positive and 27 samples are under process.

Vardhan said two special Air India flights were operated between Delhi and Wuhan on 31 January and 1 February that brought back a total of 654 passengers  647 Indian citizens (including two Indian Embassy officials who were on the ground in Wuhan to coordinate the evacuation operation) and seven Maldivian nationals.

"I take this opportunity to thank Air India, its crew and our team of doctors and para medical staff who executed this challenging operation and place on record the appreciation on behalf of this august house for their contribution," he said.

After evacuation, the people are presently undergoing quarantine at special facilities created by Indian Army in Manesar and by Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in Chawla Camp. 10 of the evacuees who were symptomatic have been shifted to isolation. All of them have tested negative for this disease and are stable. All other evacuees are being medically examined on daily basis and are healthy, Vardhan added.

The minister said India has provided support to other countries in tackling the challenge posed by the disease. ICMR has offered to do testing of samples for other South East Asian Region countries.

"Testing of samples from Maldives has already been undertaken. Request from Afghanistan for samples testing has been agreed to. We have agreed to provide technical assistance to Bhutan in managing this infectious disease and screening of passengers also.

Using integrated disease surveillance network, all persons are tracked and the government is following 9,452 passengers across 29 states/UTs.

The state surveillance officers, district surveillance officers and rapid response teams of health professionals under the leadership of state Health Secretaries are monitoring all such people on a daily basis, he said.

Sufficient isolation beds have been made available in tertiary facilities across the country to manage any outbreak.

369 symptomatic travellers have been referred to isolation facility and are being monitored, Vardhan informed the House.
The Department of Justice announced criminal charges against four members of the Chinese military in connection with the 2017 hack of credit monitoring giant Equifax.

The nine-count indictment includes multiple violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, conspiracy to commit economic espionage, economic espionage, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. The four individuals -- Wu Zhiyong, Wang Qian, Xu Ke and Liu Lei  are all listed as members of the People's Liberation Army of China.

The hack -- which took advantage of an unpatched vulnerability in the Apache Struts web application framework used by Equifax -- ultimately resulted in the theft of names, birthdays and Social Security numbers for 145 million Americans, as well as driver's license information for another 10 million.

"This theft not only cost significant financial damage to Equifax, but invaded the privacy of many millions of Americans and impose substantial costs and burdens on them as they had to take measures to protect themselves from identity theft," Attorney General Bill Barr said at a press conference announcing the charges.

According to an indictment filed in the United States Northern District of Georgia, the defendants are accused of using the vulnerability to upload multiple web shells onto Equifax servers in May 2017, and obtaining credentials that allowed them further access to the company's networks. The quartet used encrypted communications and routed their internet traffic through 34 different servers located across 20 countries to mask their work, conducting over 9,000 searches for personally identifiable information before compressing and exfiltrating the data in smaller chunks to avoid detection.

David Bowdich, Deputy Director of the FBI, said the government began its investigation with about 40 IP addresses and "a handful of malicious software programs" as the only leads. From there, investigators used forensic data, including network logs and computer images, malware analysis and other techniques to begin peeling back the layers of anonymity and third-party infrastructure allegedly used by the PLA to cover their tracks.

"We've almost as a county become immune to these breaches," said Bowdich. "You get the notice in the mail or you hear about it in the news [and] think 'well there goes my credit card number, my Social Security number, my bank account information' and you sign up for another year of free credit card monitoring information. We cannot think like that in this country."

Barr and other officials characterized the incident as one of the largest state-sponsored hacks of personal information in history, placing it alongside the 2015 Office of Personnel Management breach, which resulted in the theft of more than 21.5 million current and former federal employees and the hack of the Marriott/Starwood hotel chain's reservation systems, where hundreds of millions of credit card numbers and passports were pilfered.

Equifax was heavily criticized for both the breach and its fallout. The vulnerability used to gain an initial foothold already had a patch available that the company never bothered to use. They also waited months before informing the public, with several officials selling millions of company stock in the interim.

"We are grateful to the Justice Department and the FBI for their tireless efforts in determining that the military arm of China was responsible for the cyberattack on Equifax in 2017," the company said in a statement. "It is reassuring that our federal law enforcement agencies treat cybercrime  especially state-sponsored crime  with the seriousness it deserves, and that the Justice Department is committed to pursuing those who target U.S. consumers, businesses and our government."

Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.) who has sponsored legislation that would impose stricter legal liability penalties on companies who fail to safeguard consumer data, said the indictment "does not detract from the myriad of vulnerabilities and process deficiencies that we saw in Equifax's systems and response to the hack."

"A company in the business of collecting and retaining massive amounts of Americans' sensitive personal information must act with the utmost care  and face any consequences that arise from that failure," said Warner in a statement.

Cybersecurity experts have long suspected that China or another country may have been behind the hack, as the Equifax data has never been found for sale on the dark web, an indication that the perpetrator was not seeking financial gain. U.S. officials said that while they are normally reluctant to charge members of a foreign government's military, incidents like the Equifax hack go far beyond the sort of narrow, targeted intelligence gathering that most countries are willing to accept.

Like other indictments filed against foreign government hackers, the four PLA members charged will likely not see the inside of a U.S. court room anytime soon, but DOJ argues that it can limit their ability to travel and do business internationally. Last year, Chinese Ministry of State Security operative Yanjun Xu was arrested while traveling through Belgium before being charged and extradited to the U.S. on charges of stealing trade secrets.

"We can't take them into custody, try them in a court of law and lock them up, not today anyway," Bowdich said. "But one day these criminals will slip up and when they do, we'll be there."
A category three cyclone is expected to bring more torrential rain to Sydney this week just days after the city copped its heaviest downpour in 30 years.

About 65,000 homes and businesses in the city were still without power on Tuesday morning after 400mm of rain fell on parts of the state on Sunday.

Multiple severe weather warnings issued by the Bureau of Meteorology remain in place on Tuesday morning across NSW - including the Hunter, Illawarra, and south coast regions.

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Waves are pictured lapping the shore near to homes in Collaroy on Sydney's northern beaches on Monday. Sydney's heaviest downpour on 30 years over the weekend could be followed by more misery from tropical cyclone Uesi

As the ferocious weather system gathers over New Caledonia, forecasters are predicting tropical cyclone Uesi could impact the Australian coast

Forecasters are now predicting tropical cyclone Uesi - which is forecast to turn from a category-2 to a category-3 tropical cyclone by Tuesday afternoon - could impact the Australian east coast.

'The system is several days out,' BoM forecaster Gabrielle Woodhouse told Daily Mail Australia.

'But if the system comes west we could see hazardous surf in New South Wales and Lord Howe Island.'

Weatherzone said the dangerous surf could be accompanied by strong winds and more heavy rain - although there are no estimates yet about how much rainfall there will be.

The system is as of Monday night being tracked by authorities in Fiji, and Ms Woodhouse said it is still unclear in which direction the cyclone will head.

'Currently all the information being put out on Uesi by Fiji is that the system will track further south - but where it goes from there is a bigger unknown,' she said.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Centre has said though the storm - even in a weakened state - are on track to head south-westerly to the NSW coast.

People watch rough ocean conditions at Bronte Beach in Sydney on Monday. Cyclone Uesi could bring more hazardous surf and strong winds to Australia's east coast

Map-based projections released by the organisation showed the system gathering pace north-west of New Caledonia before growing in size as it approaches the NSW/ Queensland border.

In the more advanced stages of the cyclone's development, winds could reach speeds of 55 knots - 101km/h.

For reference, wind speeds over the weekend reached 107km/h off the coast of Sydney during the record-breaking deluge.

The average Sydney rainfall for the month of February is 117mm.

Sydney dam levels bounce back after years of crippling drought Dam levels across greater Sydney have risen by more than 20 percentage points amid heavy weekend rainfall, with enough water for as much as 150,000 Olympic-size swimming pools flowing into Warragamba Dam. Sydney, the Central Coast and the Blue Mountains were soaked after receiving between 200mm and 400mm of rain from 9am Friday to 5pm Sunday, with additional rain expected on Monday and through the week. The Bureau of Meteorology suggested on Sunday that Sydney had not experienced such rainfall since before the new millennium. Water NSW data on Monday morning showed that greater Sydney dam levels were at 64.2 per cent, up from 41.9 per cent in seven days. Aerial image of Wivenhoe Dam near Brisbane releasing water from its spillway Warragamba Dam recouped a year's worth of water in one weekend, rising 17.7 percentage points to sit at 60.7 per cent at 10.30am on Monday. Some 360,000 megalitres of water flowed into the dam - almost 150,000 swimming pools. The dam this time last year was 61.4 per cent full. Water NSW in a statement on Sunday said the ash and debris generated by recent bushfires around the Warragamba area would not affect water quality. Two silt curtains are in place to intercept ash run-off. Warragamba Dam supplied Lake Burragorang - the primary reservoir supplying water to the city 'While it is likely some ash and debris has been washed into the upper reaches of the Warragamba system, there is no impact on the water quality being supplied for treatment. Any surface debris is being avoided by extracting water from 30m below the surface as a precaution,' WaterNSW said in a statement. Prospect Dam is more than 90 per cent full, while Woronora Dam to Sydney's south is almost 60 per cent full, jumping 25 percentage points. The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast more severe weather conditions on Monday with heavy rains, strong winds and damaging surf possible along the entirety of the NSW coast and inland southern NSW. Flash flooding remains a possibility in several NSW regions, including Sydney. Advertisement

Map-based projections released by the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre showed the system gathering pace north-west of New Caledonia

The storm caused electricity issues across the city with 150,000 homes and businesses cut off on Sunday night.

By Tuesday morning, Ausgrid still had 59,000 homes and businesses without power.

While Endeavour Energy was scrambling to restore power for 5,000 customers.

The power was restored to homes primarily in Sydney's north, the northern beaches, eastern suburbs, south and south-west, and the Central Coast and Newcastle.

But the electricity company warned some residents could be kept in the dark 'for the next few days as we recover from the storm'.

A number of roads are also closed as crews work to clear debris caused by the storm, those include: Oxford Falls Road at Oxford Falls, North Rocks Road at Parramatta and Henry Lawson Drive between Cheatle Street, East Hills and Picnic Point Road.

The Metro North West Line between Chatswood and Macquarie University has been replaced with buses due to flooding.
At least 150 parents of students studying at the MIT Vishwashanti Gurukul School, Paud road, staged a protest on Monday against fee hike by the school authorities. They also protested against the administrations decision to switch over to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) from the existing Secondary School Certificate (SSC) board. The parents demand a roll back of the fee hike and change of board.

According to the parents, the current fees is Rs 21,000-Rs 25,000 and the authorities have increased the fees to Rs 60,000-Rs 70,000. According to the parents, the decision to increase the fee was taken by the administration without approval from the Parent Teacher Association.

Madhuri Gokhale, principal of the school, said, We are not forcing the students to join the CBSE board as claimed by the parents. Our decision to change the board was communicated to the parents three years ago. We have not received any notice for wrongdoing as claimed by a section of the parents. Those opposing are not even 10 per cent of the school population. We have requested the parents to approach us individually, if they have any financial issues.

We have been opposing the decision as the management is forcing the implementation of the CBSE board. The school has said that the SSC board will cease to exist from April 2 and the future of 1,400 students is at stake. They have also doubled the fees and it becomes difficult for us to pay as most students come from middle or lower middle class background, said Gajendra Patil, whose son studies in Class 4.

Swati Sathe, director, MIT, could not be reached for comments despite repeated attempts.

The school in a meeting held in November 2017 and communicated the decision of change of board to CBSE and the subsequent fee hike to the parents, said school authorities.

The parents alleged that the school authorities, which has affiliation to both CBSE and SSC board, look down upon the SSC board students.

The parents said that they will hold a similar protest again on February 12 along with their children outside the office of the deputy director of education, Pune.

The school in November 2017 suddenly took the decision to implement the CBSE syllabus. How did the state give the school, a No Objection Certificate (NOC), to start the CBSE board, questioned Sanjay Joshi, whose ward is a Class 6 SSC student at the school.

Girish Gurnani, general secretary, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), said that the fee hike in the name of CBSE is unwarranted and students should not be forced to change the board and must be allowed to study in the SSC board.
As the Democratic presidential candidates sprinted into their final full day of campaigning before New Hampshire casts the first votes of the 2020, the wide field of frontrunners swung between preaching party unity and lobbing attacks at each other.

Roughly half of New Hampshire voters are still undecided whom theyll support on Tuesday, and people have been packing school gyms, performing arts centers and even a brewery to listen to candidates and try to make up their minds. New Hampshires lead-off role among the nations primaries has yielded a hyper-focus on the state, with the campaigns splintering into two distinct lanes: the pragmatists who want to win more than anything and the progressives who want to upend the apple cart.

Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Vice President Joe Biden jousted for moderate and centrist voters over who could more credibly claim to be the heir apparent of former President Barack Obama, who remains remarkably popular among Democrats. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren competed for progressive voters who have been enthralled with their arguments of broad, structural change and aggressive federal spending programs. And Sen. Amy Klobuchar seemed to be enjoying a slow climb from afterthought to legitimate option among voters who saw her draw 12% support in Iowas caucuses last week that were the first test of the campaigns organization.

Sanders, who is on a path to win the state as he did in 2016, was a universal target for the candidates barbs in the final weekend in the state, but the sharpest exchanges were between Buttigieg and Biden as they circled each other on the ground and on the air.

Since Buttigiegs strong showing in Iowa last week, Biden has been privately seething about the running comparisons between Buttigieg and Obama, both relative newcomers questioned over their lack of experience who went on to win the delegate count in the Iowa caucuses.

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Biden, who has made his role as Obamas vice presidential pick a central part of his campaign since the start, finally decided to make that grievance part of the public discussion in New Hampshire. After a disappointing showing in Iowa, a weak restart in New Hampshire, retooling his campaign last week and giving veteran media maven Anita Dunn  a veteran of Obamas orbit  the keys to his campaign, Biden has adopted a more aggressive stance ahead of Tuesdays primary. On Saturday, the campaign released a web ad that mocked any comparison between Obamas accomplishments and Buttigiegs record. A Biden aide snarked that more people had watched the clip than live in South Bend.

Pressed by reporters if he was sliding into the same role of spoiler that Hillary Clinton adopted in 2008 as she ran against Obama, Biden seemed frustrated that the press was buying into the Obama-Buttigieg comparison. Oh, come on, man! Biden roared at reporters on Saturday. This guys not a Barack Obama.

Speaking in a school gymnasium a few hours later in Hudson, N.H., the former Vice President once again talked about his time working with the man he simply called Barack. As he did in Iowa, where he placed a distant fourth place, he argued that the Democrats need to nominate someone who can help down-ballot contenders, such as Senate candidates in places like Georgia, Texas and Arizona. Its not enough for the next nominee of the Democratic Party to win and be able to beat Donald Trump. They have to be able to help Senators win and take back Senate seats, Biden said.

Buttigieg, for his part, has been trying to drive a wedge between the link of Obama and his once Vice President. On Sunday, when asked about Bidens comment that he was not a Barack Obama, Buttigieg was at the ready. Hes right. Im not [Obama]. And neither is he, Buttigieg told CNNs State of the Union.

At the same time, on stage in Londonderry, N.H., Buttigieg continued promoting a new brand of politics that unifies the country, wins over Republicans and delivers realistic change. But Buttigieg also understood much of his audience was still shopping for candidates and could tolerate some swings. He took a swing at his rivals by noting he was breaking the mold by not being somebody who has been marinating in Washington for years.

Still, there are signs the contenders recognize they still may need each other to patch things up heading to the nomination convention in Milwaukee. When asked about a potential running mate, Biden did not dismiss Buttigieg as an option. There are at least four people running that in fact are simpatico with where I am, starting with Indiana and starting with other places, Biden said.

The final Emerson College poll, released late Sunday, showed Sanders in the lead with 30%, followed by Buttigieg at 23%, and a three-way tie shaping up for third place among Klobuchar (14%), Warren (11%) and Biden (10%).

Many voters remain sincerely undecided. Tim Horgan attended a Biden rally on Sunday and left uncommitted to any one candidate. I consider myself a moderate, the 34-year-old resident of Manchester, N.H., says. We have to have someone who can appeal to the middle. He is also considering Buttigieg. I have some questions about his experience, he adds.

Its a position many voters find themselves in. The Biden-Buttigieg clash may end up being more significant than the progressive fight between Sanders and Warren because of simple math. In New Hampshire, voters who have declared themselves neither a Democrat nor a Republican can decide the day of the primary to pick up a partisan ballot. That means people who would be considered independent or moderate voters elsewhere can step into the Democratic fray. And, in New Hampshire, a full 42 percent of the electorate fits in this box  bigger than 28 percent that calls itself Democrats.
(Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc. has asked the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to allow it to question President Donald Trump in its lawsuit challenging the loss of a highly lucrative cloud contract.

In a court filing made public on Monday, Amazon asks to question Trump and top Pentagon leaders about their role in the Pentagons Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, cloud contract that was awarded to Microsoft Corp. in October.

Amazon is seeking evidence to show political interference cost the company the cloud deal. Among the leaders Amazon seeks to depose are Trump, former Defense Secretary James Mattis, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Dana Deasy, the Pentagons chief information officer, as well as other individuals involved in the selection process, according to the Jan. 17 filing.

Amazon faces an uphill battle to persuade a judge to order the president to participate in a deposition in this case, procurement experts said.

It is absurd to think that this President, at this point, would sit for a deposition or, for that matter, show respect for the legal system, Steven Schooner, a professor at the George Washington University Law School, said in a statement.

Amazon spokesman Drew Herdener said in a statement the company is seeking the additional evidence to preserve the publics confidence in the procurement process. Rachel VanJohnson, a spokeswoman for the Defense Departments Cloud Computing Program Office, said in a statement the Pentagon strongly opposes Amazons request to depose its senior officials because it would delay implementation of the technology program. The contract is worth up to $10 billion over a decade.

The companys cloud unit, Amazon Web Services, filed a lawsuit in November alleging the Defense Department failed to fairly judge its bid for the JEDI contract because Trump viewed Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos as his political enemy.

Amazons lawsuit chronicles a laundry list of comments and actions by Trump and the Defense Department that it claims show the Pentagon bowed to political pressure when awarding the deal to Microsoft. In one case, Amazon cites claims in a book by Mattis former speechwriter, Guy Snodgrass, that Trump told Mattis in the summer of 2018 to screw Amazon by locking it out of the bid. Mattis has criticized the book.

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Amazon also mentions comments Trump made in July 2019 when he said he was looking very seriously at the cloud-computing contract, citing complaints from Microsoft, Oracle Corp. and International Business Machines Corp.

Amazon Web Services is seeking additional material to present to the judge, including facts not currently known or accessible to AWS demonstrating exactly how President Trumps order to screw Amazon was carried out during the decision-making process, the companys filing said.

Also on Monday, Microsoft filed two separate motions asking the court to dismiss many of Amazons bias allegations and block the company from seeking additional evidence. Microsoft argued in court papers that it had won the JEDI procurement because it submitted a cheaper and technically superior bid and not because of political interference by Trump.

AWS has alleged zero facts-- nothing -- plausibly indicating any DOD official involved in the JEDI procurement, at any level, was actually influenced by the alleged anti-Bezos statements, Microsoft wrote.

The president has long criticized Bezos over everything from the shipping rates his company pays the U.S. Postal Service to his ownership of the Washington Post. In December 2015, Bezos joked on Twitter about wanting to send Trump to space.

Deasy, the Pentagons chief information officer, has said that as far as he knows, no one from the White House reached out to any members of the JEDI cloud contract selection team.

While no law prohibits a president from weighing in on a contract, federal agencies must choose vendors based on the technical criteria outlined in their requests for proposals, not opinions from politicians, according to procurement officials.

In order to win Trumps testimony in this case, Amazon would have to offer evidence that he followed up on his public comments about Amazon with private instructions to the officials running the procurement, said Charles Tiefer, a professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law.

The judge could still grant Amazon permission to obtain more communications between the White House and the Pentagon about the contractwithout giving permission to conduct the depositions, Tiefer said.

Letting a losing bidder depose a sitting president may have not have been seen before, Tiefer said. Yet its far from impossible.

(Updates with Microsoft motion, starting in eleventh paragraph)

--With assistance from Daniel Seiden.

To contact the reporter on this story: Naomi Nix in Washington at nnix1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net, Paula Dwyer

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

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America took in Ilhan Omar and her family after they first escaped tribal and religious warfare in their native country of Somalia and then spent several years in a refugee camp. Once here, Omar's father eventually worked for the government. Omar herself attended public schools, worked at a public institution, and then was elected to one of the highest offices in the land.

Given all those truly inestimable blessings, one would think Omar would feel at least a modicum of gratitude to the United States. Anyone thinking that would be wrong.

A video has emerged of Omar speaking at a Democracy Now! and Rising Majority event held in Washington, D.C. on Friday. The video picks up with Omar talking about American foreign policy. Her point during the four-minute video is that Americans are so selfish that they fail to realize that everything they do has a negative effect on the rest of the world:

Omar begins by acknowledging that most people, when they see refugees, think something bad must have happened to those people in their homeland, leading them to take refuge in America. But we're wrong in thinking that way. Instead, she says, we must ask ourselves, "What American policy made them come over here?" As Omar continues, it's clear that she's not talking about policies that make America a magnet for everyone in the world who seeks success. Instead, she's blaming America for all the world's ills.

Whenever people become refugees because the Earth's climate changes, Omar says it's America's fault:

When you see flooding happening in a country abroad and you are urgently raising money for these lives to be saved, you don't think about, 'How have I contributed to the climate warming that has led to these floodings and these catastrophes that are taking place abroad?

If local foreign wars result in dead civilians, that's America's fault, too. In those cases, we must "think about people who are using the weapons that are created in this country to take the lives of innocent children and women and men abroad."

Even international trade is toxic when America is involved:

She also argued that Americans should worry about jobs going overseas not because that reduces employment opportunities for them, but rather because it means people in countries such as Mexico will be subjected to the exploitative practices of American corporations.

Omar doesn't just bite the hand that feeds her; she gnaws up the arm, sinks her teeth into the jugular, and feasts on the blood. It's easy to come up with theories about her hatred for the land that gave her succor, but the reason doesn't matter. The fact is that she hates this country and is in a position of power and influence to effect change (all negative) in America.

Thankfully, there is an option if people in her district will get out and vote. Dalia al-Aqidi is another Muslim woman who was forced out of her war-torn homeland (in her case, Iraq) and found refuge in America. Al-Aqidi, however, is cut from very different cloth. She loves America. She loves its freedoms and cherishes its institutions.

Al-Aqidi kicked off her campaign with a powerful video showing how important America is to her and how she hopes to serve it in Congress  sitting in the seat that Omar has used to lob attacks against the nation that rescued her:
Chesapeake Energy Corp. and three oilfield service firms were sued by the daughter of a worker who suffered fatal injuries when a Texas oil well exploded in flames last month.

The wrongful death suit seeks at least $1 million from Chesapeake Energy, Forbes Energy Services, Eagle Pressure Control and Halliburton Co. It was filed this week in Harris County District Court by Madison Hendrix, whose father, Brad Hendrix, died in a hospital days after the blast.

Hendrix alleged that Chesapeake, the well owner, and the oilfield service companies were negligent, failed to provide a safe work environment or adequate medical care to the workers.

Chesapeake declined to comment and Eagle Pressure Control did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Forbes Energy Services said it was beyond saddened that three fatalities have been confirmed and offered its deepest sympathy and condolences to families affected by the incident.

Attorneys representing Hendrix did not respond to a request for comment.

Halliburton said it was not performing any services on the rig when the well-control incident occurred. Its well-control unit, Boots & Coots, was hired to handle the post-incident well intervention work, a spokeswoman for the company said.

Brad Hendrix was a well-intervention technical adviser at Eagle Pressure Control, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was one of three workers fatally injured in the Jan. 29 explosion near Deanville, Texas.

A second Eagle Pressure Control employee, Windell Beddingfield, died on the day of the accident, according to an attorney for the family. His mother last week sought a temporary restraining order against Chesapeake to require it to preserve evidence from the blast.

A third victim, identified by local media as Brian Maldonado of San Diego, Texas, died in a hospital over the weekend. A fourth worker was airlifted to a hospital and has not been identified.

The companies and local officials have not officially released the names of victims from the incident.

Employees of Chesapeake, Eagle Pressure Control and Forbes Energy Services were on the site when natural gas leaked from a well during a workover operation and exploded near Deanville, about 75 miles (120 km) east off Austin.

WildHorse Resource Development Corp, which Chesapeake acquired last year, also was named in the lawsuit.
A psychological counselor in Haikou, Hainan Province, answers a phone call about the novel coronavirus outbreak on Saturday. [Xinhua]

Internet plays key role in providing assistance

Lu Lin, a psychological counselor based in Wuhan, Hubei Province, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, was deeply moved by a phone call late last month from a local nurse.

The caller sobbed over the psychological assistance hotline, which Lu and her colleagues had volunteered to operate.

She said that the previous day, three patients had died in the wards she was responsible for.

She added that every day, she had to don protective clothing, which restricts her movements, for at least 10 hours in quarantine wards isolated from the outside world, where sometimes bodies have yet to be removed.

Even worse, some of her colleagues have become infected by the virus.

Ji Minjiao, a nurse from Renji Hospital in Shanghai who has been sent to Wuhan, examines a wall at Wuhan City No. 3 Hospital, where medics write good wishes. [For China Daily]

Psychologists said people from different communities could be affected in view of the rising number of cases nationwide since the end of last month. They may also experience severe emotional distress, trauma and acute mental problems.

Those particularly at risk include front-line medical workers facing tremendous physical and mental stress; frightened patients, who may also be grieving; those suspected of becoming infected who have been placed under quarantine and who may face public criticism; and people who stay in isolation during the observation period who feel lonely and vulnerable.

Many Chinese psychologists at home and overseas are aware of these difficult situations and are providing help, thanks to the internet. They are paying special attention to frontline medical workers racing against time to fight disease and death.

In addition to medical workers based in Wuhan, more than 11,900 doctors and nurses from across the country had arrived in the city and neighboring areas by Feb 9 to provide support.

Liu Hongye, a psychiatrist from Tongji Hospital of Tongji University in Shanghai, said tired doctors and nurses are working longer hours without any breaks for refreshment. Some of them might feel trapped and helpless when there is a shortage of medical supplies and protective clothing.

"They have changed into such clothing and are displaying the utmost professionalism in trying their best to save lives. But, in the final analysis, they're just another group of ordinary people like you and me," Liu said.

Zhang Wenhong, director of the Infectious Disease Department at Shanghai Huashan Hospital, who heads the team of experts battling to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus in the city, said psychological intervention for frontline medical workers and patients under quarantine and treatment must begin immediately.

On January 27, the National Health Commission's disease control bureau issued a guideline, requiring provinces and cities to provide counseling and intervention for those affected by the outbreak.

Lin Zi, deputy chairwoman of the Shanghai Psychological Counseling Association, said international experience showed that setting up a system to tackle a psychological crisis, combining the efforts of public health authorities and professional therapists, is vital.

The combined efforts of both government authorities and the public are also highly important, according to Lin, who has formed a team of about 30 professionals, including 13 based overseas, to provide online support to those who need psychological assistance.

Even before the NHC's guideline was issued, many psychologists had joined efforts to provide help for free. By January 25, Lunar New Year's Day, about 400 of them had begun to provide assistance via phone hotlines, WeChat and other online groups.

Yu Lingna, a psychologist living in Japan, recruited more than 70 of her peers to work online for WeChat groups to provide support for some 300 people requesting help, mainly doctors, nurses and patients confirmed with the virus in cities locked down amid the outbreak.

"Thanks to the internet, we can provide round-the-clock help and we don't need to go to a particular location," Yu said.

A two-hour real-time question-and-answer session with leading counselors will be offered twice a week in the online chat groups. Additional volunteers will answer queries when these sessions are not being staged.

"We hope to assist those seeking help for emotional and acute psychological symptoms, promote mutual links and support between them, give psychological advice and provide support when they feel overwhelmed by the situation," Yu said.

Medics from Shanghai set up a psychological counseling room at Wuhan City No. 3 Hospital. [For China Daily]

Lu, the Wuhan counselor, said that after hearing from a nurse that there was a shortage of protective clothing at the hospital where she works, she told her that it would be put in contact with volunteers organizing donations of protective medical supplies.

"This is a way of providing psychological assistance, letting her know that she will get help and support in various ways," Lu said.

Experts said that commonly recognized processes involved in such counseling include stabilizing a person, acknowledging a crisis, facilitating understanding, encouraging effective coping measures, and recovery or referral procedures.

Medics from Shanghai set up a psychological counseling room at Wuhan City No. 3 Hospital. [For China Daily]

On-site counseling

On January 31, a psychological counseling room was set up at Wuhan City No. 3 Hospital, where the second medical team sent from Shanghai to support efforts to tackle the outbreak in Hubei is working. Two of the team members are psychiatrists, who are providing counseling to local patients, their families and frontline medical workers.

Before the team, comprising 148 doctors and nurses, left Shanghai on January 28, it attended a training session, which dealt with psychological health management.

Outside the counseling room, there is a wall where medics can write good wishes. Therapists are also sharing music and video clips online, which helps relieve stress.

Ge Hui, a volunteer manning the hotline set up by psychologist Lin Zi, answers a call seeking counseling. [For China Daily]

Chen Liangliang, a therapist responsible for the counseling room, said several doctors and nurses had sought help. They said they were tired and worried by patients either dying or whose conditions were worsening. They were also anxious about insufficient protection and of becoming infected with the virus and passing it on to family members.

"In some individual cases, people said they were experiencing exhaustion and difficulty in dealing with interpersonal relationships," said Chen, a chief doctor from Changning District Mental Health Center in Shanghai.

Counselors listened to their accounts and empathized with those seeking help.

"We tried to mentally rejuvenate our comrades-in-arms," Chen said. "We emphasized to them the importance and value of frontline medical work, discussed supportive psychotherapy and tried to help them gradually regain their confidence."

Psychologists suggested that medical professionals "switch off" completely when they are not working and enjoy activities such as listening to music, reading and taking part in sports, as they may face a long battle to contain the outbreak.

Feng Qian, a psychologist, provides counseling to medics. [For China Daily]

However, many doctors and nurses on the frontline are concealing mental health issues and are giving priority to saving patients' lives.

"I heard from some medical workers who said they don't have the time or are not in the mood to accept counseling. They don't want their work rhythm to be disrupted for the time being," Yu said.

(Source: China Daily)
Four more Australians have tested positive for coronavirus on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, taking the total number of infected Australians on board the vessel to 11.

A further 65 cases of the potentially fatal virus were confirmed by the cruise's operator on Monday, taking the total number of cases on the ship to 135.

More than 3700 passengers, including 223 Australians, remain stranded on the ship, which has been docked off the coast of Yokohama for about a week since an elderly man tested positive.

Of the 65 newly announced passengers confirmed to have tested positive, 45 were from Japan, 11 were from the US, four were from Australia, three were from the Philippines, and one was from each of Canada, England and Ukraine.
With tensions high between the United States and Tehran, Iran's attempts to reach out to China have increasingly been put on public display.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has made several trips to China in the past year.

That includes one highly publicized visit Zarif made to Beijing in late December and early January when the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp was assassinated by a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad.

More recently, Zarif has tweeted messages in Chinese to mark the Chinese New Year, to praise Beijing's efforts to control a deadly outbreak of the coronavirus, and to express solidarity and support with the Chinese people.

"Iran stands with China," Zarif wrote in Chinese on February 4 in a tweet that also quoted a verse by 13th-century Persian poet Saadi. "The sons of Adam are limbs of each other, having been created of one essence," Zarif wrote in a Chinese translation of the Persian poet's work. "When the calamity of time affects one limb, the other limbs cannot remain at rest."

In another tweet, Zarif said he'd expressed "gratitude and appreciation" to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi for what Zarif described as "successful measures" to fight the coronavirus.

Zarif referred to the Chinese foreign minister as his "good friend." He also criticized the United States for, in his words, "taking advantage" of the situation.

That remark appeared to refer to controversial comments made by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, who'd suggested that the coronavirus outbreak in China could be positive for the U.S. economy.

"Regardless of adversity, Iran has always stood by the Chinese people," Zarif tweeted on January 23.

In a recent interview with China's Phoenix Television that was posted online and shared widely, Zarif spoke a few words in Chinese to describe what he said was solidarity between Tehran and Beijing.

In another online video, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Musavi spoke Chinese to express support for China during the difficult times the country is facing due to the coronavirus.

Iran also has donated some 3 million surgical masks to China to help combat the spread of the virus.

'Look To The East' Policy

Analysts say Tehran's public diplomacy efforts appear to be an attempt to strengthen the perception that Iran has a "solid international partnership" with China at a time Tehran faces international isolation and pressure.

"My impression is that part of this rhetoric is aimed to show Iran's goodwill towards Chinese authorities. But mainly, it is public-relations activity toward the entire international community," Jacopo Scita, an Al-Sabah doctoral fellow at Durham University, told RFE/RL. "Iran has a great need to show it is not isolated, and, again, these gestures are usually associated with strong international partnerships."

Iran has faced crippling U.S. economic sanctions since 2018, when Washington withdrew from Tehran's 2015 nuclear pact with world powers. Those sanctions include an oil embargo that has denied Tehran its main source of revenue and resulted in a shrinking economy.

Meanwhile, Iran has increasingly promoted its so-called "Look to the East" policy -- to China, as well as Russia -- for trade, support, and international partnerships. But analysts say China has not yet given Tehran the support it seeks.

"Iran hopes to count China, along with Russia, as a partner in the face of growing U.S. pressures to isolate it -- both in helping it bypass sanctions, and in being a political partner in fora like the United Nations," said Dina Esfandiary, a fellow at the Century Foundation think tank in New York.

Esfandiary said that "China has not been as forthcoming as Iran hoped, likely because of its own difficulties with the U.S."

Scita notes that despite China's position as the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, Beijing is unlikely to jeopardize its relationship with the United States in order to build better ties with Iran.

"However, so far Beijing has been Tehran's lifeline against U.S. sanctions," Scita said. "China has been the only major customer that kept buying Iranian oil after the expirations of waivers, while the level of trade between the two countries has decreased but remains tangible."

In fact, Washington has announced sanctions against several Chinese firms in recent months for defying the U.S. sanctions against Iran.

Analyst Esfandiary says Iran and China have been partners "through thick and thin, but the strength of the relationship oscillates depending on each country's relationship with the U.S. and the importance of the country at any given time to the other."

Big Plans, Shrinking Trade

In 2016, Chinese President Xi Jinping became one of the first world leaders to visit Tehran following the completion of the nuclear accord -- a pact that resulted in the lifting of sanctions against Iran in exchange for significant restrictions on its nuclear program aimed at preventing Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.

During the visit, Iranian President Hassan Rohani vowed a "new chapter" in relations between Tehran and Beijing, while promising to increase economic ties worth up to $600 billion within the next 10 years and build a stronger partnership as part of a 25-year plan.

The two countries then signed more than a dozen agreements, covering areas such as the economy, security, and nuclear cooperation. Esfandiary said that "it remains to be seen how much of this actually materializes under U.S. pressure."

Trade between Iran and China has also been significantly impacted by U.S. sanctions.

China relies on the Middle East for its energy supplies. It has condemned the U.S. sanctions and expressed its commitment to the 2015 nuclear deal.

But in a report released in January, China's General Administration of Customs said trade with Iran had dropped during 2019 by about one-third.

Iranian crude-oil exports to China averaged around 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) during the second half of 2019 compared to 400,000 bpd during the first half of the year, according to estimates by energy-sector monitor S&P Global Platts.

In 2018, Iran exported about 650,000 bpd to China, according to S&P Global Platts and shipping sources.

Scita says the economic gridlock Tehran is currently facing makes China "an indispensable partner." But he says that ties between the two countries will depend on Iran's international situation.

"If the path opened by the [nuclear deal] is relaunched, it is very much possible that Sino-Iranian relations will expand and find a new normal beyond the sanctions economy," Scita concluded.
Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of the organization they represent.

1. Triplex reduces cytomegalovirus complications by half and induces immunity in stem cell transplant recipients

Abstract: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M19-2511

URL goes live when the embargo lifts

The novel Triplex vaccine reduced rates of cytomegalovirus (CMV) complications in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT) by half and induced immunity to the virus. No vaccine-associated safety concerns were identified. Findings from a phase 2 randomized clinical trial are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Undergoing HCT heightens risk for complications due to reactivation of latent CMV in recipients positive for the virus. Preemptive therapy can successfully treat CMV reactivation, although antiviral agents have significant side effects. Consequently, there is still an unmet need for a durable approach to suppress both early and late CMV reactivation and its consequences.

Researchers from City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center and two partner cancer centers (Dana-Farber and M.D. Anderson) studied 102 CMV-seropositive HCT recipients at high risk for CMV reactivation to determine the safety and efficacy of Triplex for reducing CMV complications. Participants were randomly assigned to either Triplex or placebo on days 28 and 56 after HCT. At 100 days, the researchers found that reactivation of CMV occurred in 5 Triplex recipients and 10 receiving placebo. In addition, despite having transplant-induced weakened immune systems, patients who received Triplex developed immunity against CMV that was 212 percent higher than those in the placebo group. The recipients reported no vaccine-associated adverse effects and transplant outcomes were similar in both groups. According to the authors, these findings suggest that Triplex is safe and effective for reducing CMV complications in HCT patients.

Media contacts: For an embargoed PDF please contact Lauren Evans at laevans@acponline.org. To speak with the lead author, Don J. Diamond, PhD, please contact Letisia Marquez at lemarquez@coh.org.

2. Adding maraviroc to standard c-ART does not seem to improve clinical outcomes for patients with advanced HIV infection

Abstract: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M19-2133

URLs go live when the embargo lifts

Adding maraviroc to standard combined antiretroviral therapy (c-ART) does not seem to improve clinical outcomes for patients initiating treatment for advanced HIV infection. Findings from a double-blind randomized controlled trial are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

One-third of patients with HIV in resource-rich countries are diagnosed late in the disease. These patients with advanced HIV infection face increased risk for AIDs-defining events and mortality due to opportunistic infections, which may be related to weakened immunity. Maraviroc, an antiretroviral drug with immunologic effects, could benefit such patients.

Researchers from Henri Mondor Hospital, Creteil, France, randomly assigned 416 HIV-positive adults initiating treatment with c-ART for the first time to either C-ART plus placebo or maraviroc for 72 weeks to assess the benefit of adding maraviroc to standard c-ART. The researchers found that among persons diagnosed with advanced HIV infection in 3 European countries, the incidence of severe morbidity was 11.2 per 100 person-years, and adding maraviroc to standard c-ART for these patients had no effect on this. Maraviroc use was associated with higher risk for virologic failure at week 48 but not at week 72. The gain in CD4 T-cell count was similar in both groups throughout the study but increase in CD4-CD8 ratio was lower in the maraviroc group. The authors conclude that maraviroc seems to show no clinical benefit for patients diagnosed with advanced HIV.

Media contacts: For an embargoed PDF or speak with an author please contact Lauren Evans at laevans@acponline.org.

###
For nearly ninety minutes, Americans of all races, ages, ethnicities, and occupations listened to President Trump highlight specific achievements of his first three years in office during his State of the Union address. For nearly ninety minutes, those same Americans watched Speaker Pelosi sit in her chair on the dais, refusing to stand up, refusing to applaud, playing nervously with her dentures, shuffling the speech copy back and forth like she was confused reading a Waffle House menu, while obstinately making faces at her caucus when President Trump spoke. And to top it off, when President Trump closed out his SOTU 2020 speech claiming that American excellence is back; that America is strong once again; she tore up the speech copy like my 4 year-old grandson after he is told he cannot watch another cartoon.

She is classless. She is unworthy and undeserving of the title The Speaker of the House of Representatives. The people of Northern California who elected her should be ashamed. The Congress should censure such classless actions.

So, I ask Ms. Pelosi: What contents of President Trumps SOTU 2020 were so objectionable? Was it any of the numerous economic successes of the country since 2016? Completed trade deals with three world mega-powers? Seventy percent growth in the stock market? Historical low unemployment for nearly every racial or ethnic group? Historic levels of Americans in the workforce? Historical levels of Americans off of welfare-based economics? Historical levels of women entering the workforce and securing new employment? Promises of protections for religious freedoms? Promises to take care of and to celebrate hard working officers and agents of Americas law enforcement agencies state, local, and federal? Promises to take care of Americans first by ending streaming immigration of citizens of other nations with no reasonable asylum claims? Promises to end senseless warfare placing American troops at risk? Promises to protect Americans abroad and at home by eliminating the heads of terrorist organizations responsible for killing thousands?

Or, was it the tributes to American service men and women, both fallen and alive? Tributes to emerging world leaders seeking to bring amazing, history-rich countries from socialist oppression into a modern, successful economic system where individual freedoms are valued and celebrated? Tributes to Americans who faced dire poverty, drug addiction, and homelessness, but who chose to turn their lives around as successful business owners?

Or perhaps she was consumed by a more basic reason as she sat there looking at the failed House Managers, the know-nothing Squad, and 150 other Democrat party sheep (many of whom probably yearn for the Democrat party of just a few years ago), a reason that is nothing more than a pure and utter disdain and hatred of President Trump (and his successes) after three years of wasted and failed efforts to end his presidency without cause or justification?

Ms. Pelosis time in Congress should be over. After years of self-dealing and profiting off of her position, her city is a cesspool of economic waste, homelessness, public drug use, and a sanctuary for illegal immigrants and criminals. As a Northern California homeowner, I have had enough. #PelosiOUT.

caricature by Donkey Hotey
NEW SALEM  Joana Friesz is busy this time of year.

From late January to early February, lambing is underway for the New Salem-area rancher and her family.

Friesz knows her stuff. She grew up with sheep and has raised the animals since 1976, starting with 4-H and FFA projects and building into county and state fairs and national shows throughout the U.S. From winning champion titles to marketing meat and making woolen products, Friesz counts sheep as a lifelong interest.

Her knowhow even landed her a small film role: helping with a shearing scene in "Wooly Boys." The 2004 film about a Badlands sheep rancher is a fun memory for Friesz, though the movie was considered a financial flop. She was to have been paid $100 for her services, but never saw the money, which didn't upset her.

"They had good food and the experience was priceless," she said, recounting the story as ewes and lambs bahed and bleated in her barn.

The Friesz ranch raises three registered breeds of sheep: Corriedales, Lincolns and Border Leicesters. The family also raises Polled Hereford cattle.

Friesz enjoys simply caring for sheep, which she calls "kinda needy" but also personable animals.

"I tell people that's why God made shepherds. Sheep are followers; they're not leaders by any means," said Friesz, who also owns an insurance agency in New Salem.

She and her husband, Duane, have two adult sons, Taylor and Thomas. Thomas and his fiancee, Jaime Lundquist, also are raising club lambs, a breed popular with 4-H kids.

Lambing

Friesz said her sheep usually birth lambs on their own, though her family sorts and monitors the ewes throughout the lambing process, aided by barn cameras to keep an eye on them.

There are dangers to look for, such as signs of a backward birth and the risk of drowning, Friesz said. Twin and triplet births can frequently occur.

Newborn lambs can be susceptible to pneumonia, and large swings in temperature can be dangerous for them, said Margo Kunz, a New Salem-area rancher who also is a veterinarian with Missouri Valley Vet in Bismarck. It's also important for lambs' bedding to be clean, she said.

Friesz's ewes move through areas of a barn during phases of lambing, including an area called "the jugs" where ewes give birth and bond in pens with their lambs, who begin to nurse.

"As soon as the ewe starts cleaning them off, they just have that natural instinct that they need to nurse, so it's kind of a crazy process to see how fast they get going," Friesz said.

Lambs will wean off the ewes after 2 to 3 months, and at 4 to 6 months of age go to market or are sorted for breeding stock and national sales. Club lambs will be sold to Morton County 4-H kids.

Kunz's family also raises sheep, which she said are smaller and easier to handle than cows, and don't eat as much.

But sheep can fall victim to coyotes in pastures. Guard dogs can help ranchers manage sheep. Friesz's lambs won't go out to the pasture.

"In some ways, they're easier and in other ways they're not as easy as cattle," said Curt Stanley, president of the North Dakota Lamb and Wool Producers Association. "During the lambing season, they take a little more care and a little more housing and that kind of stuff."

North Dakota industry

North Dakota has about 600 producers in the sheep industry, but that includes 4-H kids, Stanley said. That's a small percentage of the state's agriculture economy, he said.

But sheep can be a low-cost entry into a livestock enterprise, he added.

"I know a number of young guys with their dad or with another family member, and that's kind of been their little part of the operation that gets them going," Stanley said.

Sheep are "typically profitable," he said, but at a lesser scale.

"The cash flow is positive. It just isn't a lot of cash flow. That's what happens with sheep," Stanley said.

"The resources required in a sheep and lambing operation are going to be definitely less," North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring said. "You're talking about something consuming less overall feed, but definitely per pound, you have a bigger payback."

Goehring said there are about 75,000 sheep and lambs in the state. He has sensed a resurgent interest and appetite for the animal which he attributes to better promotion of lamb, more engagement with chefs and a growing ethnic demand for the meat in coordination with faiths such as Islam.

Sheep also benefit grassland health, Goehring said. They'll eat vegetation other livestock won't, such as leafy spurge, a noxious weed.

'A niche market'

Last June, Friesz acquired her retail license and has worked with butchers in Hazen and Bismarck for processing lamb into meat products.

Tellmann's Market owner Allan Tellmann has two shelves of Friesz's meat products in a freezer at the store in New Salem. He said the lamb meat adds "a little bit of a niche market" or "a little bit of a specialty" to the rural grocery store.

"We like to carry a little bit of that type of thing in the store to bring some people in that otherwise maybe wouldn't come to the store," he said.

His store's display comprises country-style sausage, snack sticks, lamb steaks, lamb chops, lamb roast, lamb liver, ground lamb -- a wide assortment. A lamb is a sheep under a year old. Older sheep are classified as mutton.

"We have a lot of customers surprised to see we have lamb," Tellmann said. His store has carried Friesz's meat products since December.

Friesz said lamb is a lean, healthy meat that has a sweet taste.

'It's amazing what can be made'

Wool adds another layer to the sheep industry. Friesz shears sheep in November and creates a variety of products after the wool is converted to roving, or a rope of washed and brushed wool prepared for spinning or felting.

From her wool she's produced felted soap, dryer balls, bird nesting balls and crafts such as rugs, wall hangings and needle felt sheep, snowmen and angels. She will have decorative pillows for sale this spring. Her products are available locally at Down Home General Store in Bismarck, Susie Q's in Mandan and Northland Insurance Agency in New Salem.

Kunz has purchased wool from Friesz and makes needle felt animals as a hobby. She's made Christmas ornaments and has had requests to replicate people's pets. She recently did a hamster.

Friesz attends wool festivals and events for ideas for wool products, which she said are gaining popularity due to wool's eco-friendly qualities.

"It's just amazing what can be made out of it," Friesz said.

Reach Jack Dura at 701-250-8225 or jack.dura@bismarcktribune.com.

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New Delhi/Beijing, Feb 10 : China on Monday welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's offer of support and help to fight the deadly novel coronavirus outbreak that has killed over 900 and infected around 45,000 people in the Asian gaint.

"India's acts of goodwill fully demonstrate its friendship with China. We thank and appreciate India's support for China's fight against the coronavirus," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said during an online media briefing while replying to a question on Modi's letter to President Xi Jinping.

Modi on Sunday in a letter offered assistance to President Xi in the fight against the ongoing health emergency and offered his condolences at the unfortunate loss of lives due to the outbreak.

Modi had also expressed solidarity with the Chinese President and the people of China in this time of crisis.

In his letter, the Prime Minister had conveyed appreciation for the facilitation provided by the Chinese government for evacuation of around 650 Indian citizens from Wuhan in Hubei province which is the epicentre of the outbreak and has been placed under lockdown for the past several weeks now.

"We stand ready to work with India and other members of the international community to jointly tackle fight the epidemic and safeguard regional and global public health security," Geng said.

Indian Ambassador to China, Vikram Misri on Monday said New Delhi was in touch with Chinese officials to assess the immediate requirements to fight the outbreak.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
It was a heart-rending scene at Dangalpadu village in Ganjam district as the bodies of eight people were consigned to flames together.

They were among the ten persons who were killed after a bus carrying them came in contact with an 11-KV live wire near Mandrajpur on Sunday afternoon.

Another body was taken by the family members of the deceased for cremation to Bada Chandanbada, a nearby village on Sunday night, while an 11-year-old boy who had been sent to SCB Medical College and Hospital in a critical condition, was declared brought dead at the medical facility in Cuttack.

A pall of gloom descended on the sleepy village where a large number of people had gathered to console the family members and relatives of those killed in the accident.

Residents of nearby areas also thronged Dangalapadu to assist the locals in performing the last rites of their near and dear ones on Sunday night.

"For the first time I was witness to such a heartbreaking scene when eight bodies were cremated together at the village cremation ground," said K Rameya, an 80-year-old villager.

The villagers were in a state of shock with many of them suddenly bursting into loud wails and screams.

"When my daughter boarded the bus, she was very happy as she was going to attend the marriage negotiation ceremony of a villager. Now I cannot believe that my daughter is no more," said Gopal Sahu, whose 12-year-old daughter Santoshini died in the accident.

"My mother, B Laxmi, was going to attend the function. She was severely injured in the accident and referred to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.

"I am praying as she is fighting for her survival," said Kunti, B Laxmi's daughter.

Adequate police personnel were deployed in the village to assist the family members of the deceased in performing the last rites, said Sub Divisional Police Officer, Berhampur Sadar, Jayant Kumar Mohapatra.

Ten people, including six women, were electrocuted and burnt to death while 22 injured when their bus came in contact with the power transmission line.

While five persons died on the spot, five others were declared dead at MKCG Medical College and Hospital here and at SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack, Ganjam District Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange and Berhampur Superintendent of Police Pinak Mishra had said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As China's nCoV death toll climbs to 910, 30 Vietnamese returned home from Wuhan, the outbreak's epicenter, Monday morning.

The HVN68 flight, which flew from Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport at 9 p.m. Sunday to deliver Vietnamese aids including medical equipment to Wuhan, arrived in Wuhan at around 1 a.m. (local time) Monday.

It then picked up 30 Vietnamese citizens from the city and landed in Quang Ninh Province's Van Don International Airport at 5:04 a.m.

Vietnamese workers returning from Wuhan (blue) go through medical checks at Van Don airport in Quang Ninh Province, February 10, 2020. Photo by VnExpress.

A separate parking lot was reserved for the plane in the airport, so that its arrival would not affect the airport's general operations, said Pham Ngoc Sau, director of the Van Don International Airport.

Passengers and crew members on the plane underwent body temperature checks and had their luggage disinfected. The latest quarantine details havent been revealed yet.

Under the original plan, those who exhibited symptoms associated with the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) symptoms would be quarantined and brought to the Van Don District Medical Center. The rest would be escorted into the airport's quarantine zone for immigration procedures before being handed over to the provincial Military Command to be brought to another quarantine zone for 14 days.

The Van Don International Airport is the only airport in northern Vietnam to receive Vietnamese coming back from Wuhan per a government order.

Vietnam officially declared the 2019-nCoV outbreak an epidemic on February 1. Out of the 14 confirmed cases so far, three have been discharged from the hospital: a Nha Trang hotel receptionist, a Chinese man from Wuhan, and one of the workers who returned from Wuhan.

The global death toll of the epidemic has reached 910  one each in the Philippines and Hong Kong, and the remaining in mainland China.
- EQT opens office in Sydney to support accelerated efforts in the Asia-Pacific region, with specific focus on Australia and New Zealand

- The Sydney office will be led by Ken Wong, Managing Director and Head of EQT Australia & New Zealand, who has been leading coverage efforts from Singapore and will return home to Sydney as part of the office opening

- EQT currently holds investments in Australian cloud and managed service provider, Nexon Asia Pacific, and has entered into a Scheme Implementation Agreement to acquire 100% of Metlifecare, one of the largest owners and operators of integrated retirement and aged care villages in New Zealand

SYDNEY, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- EQT today announced the opening of an office in Sydney, Australia. The office will be led by Ken Wong, Managing Director and Head of EQT Australia & New Zealand, who was previously based in EQT's Singapore office and will return home to Sydney as part of the office opening. In alignment with EQT's local-with-locals approach, the team will seek to find thematic investment opportunities with the support from EQT's global platform and extensive network.

Ken Wong, Managing Director and Head of EQT Australia & New Zealand commented: "The opening of the Sydney office is a testimony to EQT's commitment to investing in the region. Australia and New Zealand has an abundance of investment opportunities in EQT's core sectors, and we have already started to see that EQT's differentiated approach to active, responsible and growth focused ownership resonate with management teams, founders and corporates."

Thomas von Koch, Deputy Managing Partner and Chairperson of Asia-Pacific at EQT, commented: "EQT is excited to expand into Australia and New Zealand, markets in which EQT's Nordic values and unique governance model are well received. EQT has previously had positive experiences from investing in Australia and are encouraged by the recent traction we're getting in market. We believe that Australia and New Zealand are some of the most interesting markets in the Asia-Pacific region and one where EQT can make a positive impact on portfolio companies as well as local communities. Putting EQT's flag on the ground in Sydney is part of our global expansion strategy and ambition to establish a local presence across the regions EQT invests in. With a local team in Sydney, EQT is well-positioned to stay close to both its portfolio companies and to capture new investment opportunities in the region."

EQT made its first investment in Australia in 2014 following EQT Mid Market's acquisition of I-MED Radiology Network, a leading diagnostic imaging service provider. During EQT's ownership period, I-MED achieved strong organic growth, established multiple new clinics, entered into new hospital contracts, successfully completed a number of value accretive add-on acquisitions and made significant investments into equipment, new technology and people. The business was divested in 2018.

In July 2019, EQT Mid Market Asia III announced its investment in Nexon Asia Pacific, a cloud and managed service provider who helps clients run more efficiently, create better user experiences and explore bigger opportunities. They are a trusted technology partner for mid-market businesses, government agencies and not-for-profit organizations throughout Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.

In December 2019, EQT Infrastructure IV entered into a Scheme Implementation Agreement to acquire 100% of Metlifecare shares by way of a scheme of arrangement. Metlifecare is a leading New Zealand owner and operator of integrated retirement and aged care villages, providing rewarding lifestyles and outstanding care to more than 5,600 New Zealanders. Established in 1984, the business has a portfolio of 25 villages in areas with strong local economies, supportive demographics and high median house prices, located predominantly in New Zealand's upper North Island.

Contact

Ken Wong, Managing Director and Head of Australia & New Zealand, +61 2 9052 4852

Roger Newby, Domestique Consulting, roger@domestiqueconsulting.com.au, +61 401 278 906

EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com

Sydney office address:

EQT Partners Australia Pty Ltd

Level 48, 264 George Street

Sydney, NSW 2000

Australia

About EQT

EQT is a differentiated global investment organization with a 25-year track-record of consistent investment performance across multiple geographies, sectors and strategies. With strong values and a distinct corporate culture, EQT manages and advises funds and vehicles that invest across the world with the mission to generate attractive returns to the fund investors.

EQT's talent base and network allow it to pursue a unique value creation approach and thematic investment strategy, with the aim of future-proo?ng the companies which EQT invests in, creating superior returns and making a positive impact with everything EQT does.

EQT has more than EUR 62 billion in raised capital since inception, currently around EUR 41 billion in assets under management across 19 active funds within three business segments - Private Capital, Real Assets and Credit. EQT is a thought leader within the private markets industry with deep expertise in responsible and long-term ownership, corporate governance, operational excellence, digitalization and sustainability. EQT has offices in 16 countries across Europe, Asia Paci?c and North America with more than 700 employees.

More info: www.eqtgroup.com

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The US Constitution IS the Crisis

A Review of Murray N. Rothbards Conceived in Liberty, Vol. 5

The posthumous release of Murray Rothbards fifth volume of his early American history series, Conceived in Liberty, is a cause of celebration not only for those interested in the countrys constitutional period, but also for the present day as the nation is faced with acute social, economic, and political crises. The fifth volume, The New Republic: 1784-1791, stands with Boston T. Partys 1997 release, Hologram of Liberty, as a grand rebuttal of the cherished notion held by most contemporary scholars, pundits on the Right, and, surprisingly, many libertarians who believe that the US Constitution is some great bulwark in defense of individual liberty and a promoter of economic success.

Volumes 1-4

Rothbards narrative highlights the crucial years after the American Revolution focusing on the events and personalities that led to the calling for, drafting, and eventual promulgation of the Constitution in 1789. Not only does he describe the key factors that led to the creation of the American nation-state, but he gives an insightful account of the machinations which took place in Philadelphia and a trenchant analysis of the document itself which has become, in the eyes of most conservatives, on a par with Holy Writ.

What Might Have Been

While Rothbard writes in a lively and engaging manner, the eventual outcome and triumph of the nationalist forces leaves the reader with a certain sadness. Despite the fears expressed by the Antifederalists that the new government was too powerful and would lead to tyranny, through coercion, threats, lies, bribery, and arm twisting by the politically astute Federalists, the Constitution came into being. Yet, what if it had been the other way around and the forces against it had prevailed?

It is safe to assume that America would have been a far more prosperous and less war-like place. The common held notion that the Constitution was needed to keep peace among the contending states is countered by Rothbard, who points out a number of instances where states settled their differences, most notably Maryland and Virginia as they came to an agreement on the navigation of the Chesapeake Bay. [129-30]

Without a powerful central state to extract resources and manpower, overseas intervention by the country would have been difficult to undertake. Thus, the USs disastrous participation in the two world wars would have been avoided. Furthermore, it would have been extremely unlikely for a Confederation Congress to impose an income tax as the federal government successfully did through a constitutional amendment in 1913.

Nor would the horrific misnamed Civil War ever take place with its immense loss of life and the destruction of the once flourishing Southern civilization. The triumph of the Federal government ended forever states rights in the US and, no doubt, inspired centralizing tendencies throughout the world, most notably in Germany which became unified under Prussian domination.

In a failed attempt in 1786 to enact an impost tax under the Confederation, Abraham Yates, a New York lawyer and prominent Antifederalist, spoke of decentralization as the key to liberty as Rothbard aptly summarizes:

Yates also warned that true republicanism can only be preserved in small states, and keenly pointed out that in the successful Republics of Switzerland and the Netherlands the local provinces retained full control over their finances. A taxing power in Congress would demolish state sovereignty and reduce the states, where the people could keep watch on their representatives, to mere adjuncts of congressional power, and liberty would be gone. [64]

Antifederalists, such as Yates, had a far greater understanding of how liberty and individual rights would be protected than their statist opponents such as Alexander Hamilton and James Madison. The Antifederalists looked to Europe as a model, which, for most of its history, was made up of decentralized political configurations. The Federalists, on the other hand, got much of their inspiration from the Roman Republic and later Empire. There is little question that an America, with the political attributes of a multi-state Europe, would be far less menacing to both its own inhabitants and to the rest of the world than what it has become under the current Federal Leviathan if the Constitution never passed.

Speculation aside, historical reality meant that America would be fundamentally different than it would have been had the Articles of Confederation survived, as Rothbard points out:

The enactment of the Constitution in 1788 drastically changed the course of American history from its natural decentralized and libertarian direction to an omnipresent leviathan that fulfilled all of the Antifederalists fears. [312]

Limited Government Myth

One of the great myths surrounding the American Constitution  which continues within conservative circles to this very day  is that the document limits government power. After reading Rothbard, such a notion can only be considered a fairy tale!

The supposed defects of the Articles of Confederation were adroitly used by the wily nationalists as a cover to hide their real motives. Simply put  the Articles had to be scrapped and a new national government, far more powerful than what had existed under the Articles, had to be created as Rothbard asserts: The nationalists who went into the convention agreed on certain broad objectives, crucial for a new government, all designed to remodel the United States into a country with the British political structure. [145]

In passing the Constitution, the nationalist forces gained almost all they had set out to accomplish  a powerful central state and with it a strong chief executive office, and the destruction of the states as sovereign entities. The supposed checks and balances, so much beloved by Constitution enthusiasts, has proven worthless in checking the central states largesse. Checks and balances exist within the central government and is not offset by any prevailing power, be it the states or citizenry.

There was no reform of the system as it stood, but a new state was erected on the decentralized foundation of the Confederation. Why the idea of the founding fathers as some limited government proponents is a mystery.

The Chief Executive

As it developed, the Presidency has become the most powerful and, thus, the most dangerous office in the world. While its occupants certainly took advantage of situations and created crises themselves over the years, the Presidency, especially in foreign policy, is largely immune from any real oversight either from the legislature or judiciary. This was not by happenstance. From the start, the nationalists envisioned a powerful executive branch, and though the most extreme among the group were eventually thwarted in their desire to recreate a British-style monarchy in America, the final draft of the Constitution granted considerable power to the presidential office.

As they did throughout the Constitutional proceedings, the nationalists cleverly altered the concept of what an executive office in a republic should be, by subtle changes in the wording of the document as Rothbard incisively explains:

[T]he nationalists proceeded to alter . . . and exult the executive in a highly important textual change. Whenever the draft had stated that the president may recommend measures to the Congress, the convention changed may to shall, which provided a ready conduit to the president for wielding effective law-making powers, while the legislature was essentially reduced to a ratification agency of laws proposed by the president. [190-91]

As if this was not bad enough the office was given the ability to create departments within its own domain.

In another fateful change, the president was given the power to create a bureaucracy within the executive by filling all offices not otherwise provided for in the Constitution, in addition to those later created by laws. [191]

The totalitarian federal agencies that plague the daily lives of Americans were not some later innovation by the Progressive movement or New Dealers, but had been provided for within the document itself. The efforts of those opposed to the various social welfare schemes of the past, which have been put into effect through the various Cabinet departments, have been in vain since the power was given to the Presidency and has been taken advantage of by nearly all of its occupants.

Rothbards analysis of the chief executive office is especially pertinent since the nation is once again in the midst of another seemingly endless presidential election cycle. The reason that the office has attracted so many of the worst sort (which is being kind) is because of its power. If elected, the ability to control, regulate, impoverish, and kill not only ones fellow citizen, but peoples across the globe is an immense attraction for sociopaths!

A Coup detat and Counter Revolution

Rothbard makes the compelling case that the Constitution was a counter revolution, which was a betrayal of the ideology that brought about the Revolution:

The Americans were struggling not primarily for independence but for political- economic liberty against the mercantilism of the British Empire. The struggle was waged against taxes, prohibitions, and regulations  a whole failure of repression that the Americans, upheld by an ideology of liberty, had fought and torn asunder. . . . [T]he American Revolution was in essence not so much against Britain as against British Big Government  and specially against an all-powerful central government and a supreme executive. [307]

He continues:

[T]he American Revolution was liberal, democratic, and quasi-anarchistic; for decentralization, free markets, and individual liberty; for natural rights of life, liberty, and property; against monarchy, mercantilism, and especially against strong central government. [307-08]

There was, however, always a conservative element within the revolutionary leadership that admired Great Britain and wanted to replicate it in America. It was only when there was no alternative to British political and economic oppression that they joined with their more liberal-libertarian brethren and decided for independence.

Conservatives did not go away after independence, but would continue to push for an expansion of government under the Articles and finally, after most of their designs were consistently thwarted, did they scheme to impose a powerful central state upon the unsuspecting country.

Yet, they would not have triumphed had a number of key liberal-libertarians of the revolutionary generation moved to the Right during the decade following independence. Rothbard shows why he is the master in power-elite historical analysis in his discussion of this tragic shift, which would spell the death knell to any future politically decentralized America:

[O]ne of the . . . reasons for the defeat of the Antifederalists, though they commanded a majority of the public, was the decimation that had taken place in radical and liberal leadership during the 1780s. A whole galaxy of ex-radicals, ex- decentralists, and ex-libertarians, found in their old age that they could comfortably live in the new Establishment. The list of such defections is impressive, including John Adams, Sam Adams, John Hancock, Benjamin Rush, Thomas Paine, Alexander McDougall, Isaac Sears, and Christopher Gadsden. [308-09]

As the countrys elite became more statist and as political (Shays Rebellion) and economic (a depression) factors played into their hands, conservatives seized the opportunity to erect on America a powerful national government:

It was a bloodless coup detat against an unresisting Confederation Congress. . . . The drive was managed by a corps of brilliant members and representatives of the financial and landed oligarchy. These wealthy merchants and large landowners were joined by the urban artisans of the large cities in their drive to create a strong overriding central government  a supreme government with its own absolute power to tax, regulate commerce, and raise armies. [306]

Conclusion

The Mises Institute and the editor of the book, Patrick Neumann, must be given immense credit for bringing this important piece of scholarship into print. Once read, any notion of the founding fathers as disinterested statesmen who sublimated their own interests and that of their constituents to that of their country will be disavowed. Moreover, The New Republic:1784-1791 is the most important in the series since the grave crises that the nation now faces can be traced to those fateful days in Philadelphia when a powerful central state was created.

Volume Five shows that the problems of Americas past and the ones it now faces are due to the Constitution. The remedy to the present societal ills is not electing the right congressman, or president, but to devolve politically into a multitude of states and jurisdictions. For the future of liberty and economic well-being, this is where efforts should be placed and Murray Rothbards final volume of Conceived in Liberty is essential reading if that long, arduous, but much necessary task is to be undertaken.

Antonius Aquinas@antoniusaquinas

By Antonius Aquinas

http://antoniusaquinas.com

 2020 Copyright Antonius Aquinas - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.

 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.








A former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke (SAN), after his arraignment for Malabu oil deal bribe in the Federal Capital Territory, Abujaon Wednesday. Photos: Olatunji Obasa and Ade Adesomoju

The immediate past Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke (SAN) has been granted bail by a Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday.

He was brought before the court on fresh money laundering charges.

Justice Binta Nyako also granted bail to the second defendant, Aliyu Abubakar.

The judge imposed the same terms and conditions of the bail earlier granted them by Justice Idris Kutigi of the Gwagwalada Division of the Federal High Court in Abuja, on January 30.

Justice Kutigi had granted each of the men N50m bail with a surety, each.

Adopting the same conditions on Monday, Justice Nyako directed that Tue defendants should deposit their passport with the FCT High Court.

Defence lawyers  Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) and Mr. Olalekan Ojo(SAN), who said their clients had already met the bail conditions, pleaded with the court to make a specific order barring the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission from re-arresting them once the release order is served on the commission.

The judge said such order would not be necessary as there would be no basis for their rearrest or continued detention once the courts release order is served.

Adoke and Abubakar had earlier pleaded not guilty to the seven counts of making payments of dollar equivalent of about N600m in violation of money laundering law.

The prosecution, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, alleged that they committed the offences in September 2013.

The judge fixed April 1 and 2 for trial.
Giardiasis is an infection of the small intestine caused by a parasite called Giardia lamblia.

Giardiasis is an infection of the small intestines caused by a parasite called Giardia lamblia. The infection is transmitted via intake of Giardia cysts. These cysts pass on to humans through several ways:

Contaminated water- Drinking water that has been contaminated by human and animal excreta that contain Giardia cysts is the primary source of infection. Improper water filtration techniques increase the risk of giardiasis.

Drinking water that has been contaminated by human and animal excreta that contain cysts is the primary source of infection. Improper water filtration techniques increase the risk of giardiasis. Contaminated food- Eating raw or undercooked meat that has been contaminated with Giardia cysts, food that may have been washed in contaminated water, or is prepared by an infected person can transmit giardiasis.

Eating raw or undercooked meat that has been contaminated with cysts, food that may have been washed in contaminated water, or is prepared by an infected person can transmit giardiasis. Direct person-to-person contact- Exposure to an infected family member, or other infected individuals at day care centers or nursing homes can transmit the infection. Poor sanitation and poor hygiene increases the spread of the protozoan.

Exposure to an infected family member, or other infected individuals at day care centers or nursing homes can transmit the infection. Poor sanitation and poor hygiene increases the spread of the protozoan. Unprotected anal sex

Giardia can cause diarrhea, abdominal cramps, abdominal bloating and nausea. Sometimes, giardiasis may not cause any symptoms.

The doctor usually recommends stool examination for diagnosing giardiasis.

Metronidazole is used effectively to treat giardiasis. It helps kill the parasite and also lowers the risk of transmission of giardiasis to others.
SOLIDARITY WITH RTBU VIC! NO PART-TIME!

On the 30th January, the Australian Rail Tram and Bus Industry Union (RTBU) organised a strike for all tram drivers employed by Yarra Trams between 10 am and 2 pm. At the same time, another rally was organised at 12 pm at Flinders St Station to get word out to the public about the ongoing industrial action against Yarra Trams. This rally was attended by members of the CPA Melbourne branch to express solidarity with members of the Tram and Bus Division of RTBU Victoria.

Kathryn Breakwell RTBU Womens Officer addresses the crowd.

The rally and strike went ahead after Yarra Trams refused to meet with the union the day before. Yarra Trams not only refused to meet with the union, they also tried to stop the strike by claiming it was unprotected industrial action. The rally was attended by other militant unions including maritime, plumbers, transport workers, construction, health and community services, and united workers unions.

The main motive behind industrial action was to stand against Yarra Trams part-time claim. This claim will force mass part-time contracts on workers by increasing part-time cap from four percent to fifteen percent of the workforce. This would include shifts for drivers as short as three hours. If the mass part time went ahead, drivers would lose $7,000 per year which would save Yarra Trams $9.69 million per year. The part-time claim would be particularly bad for new drivers who have to do a minimum of 2,080 hours of work on the job before considered qualified. The current dispute with the privatised Yarra Trams has been going on for ten months. The last EBA with Yarra Trams expired eight months ago.

The push for part time is not a new development. A similar ordeal has been unfolding between the Transport Workers Union (TWU) and Jetstar. Similar to Yarra Trams, Jetstar has been attempting to push its workers onto part time hours. Currently Jetstar workers are making as little as $429 per week. Jetstars insecure work resulted in planned Christmas strikes and the cancellation of numerous Jetstar flights. The Christmas strikes, however, did not go ahead and Jetstar and TWU are now currently negotiating their demands. TWUs demands are a four percent wage increase for baggage handlers and ground staff, at least twelve hours between shifts, and a minimum of thirty hours of guaranteed work. The links between the struggle against Yarra Trams and Jetstar were emphasised throughout the rally, and the Victorian/Tasmanian National President of TWU, John Berger, spoke at the rally to express solidarity from TWU to RTBU.

Yarra Trams are also trying to manipulate their women workers into supporting their mass part-time claim. They say that the claim would benefit women because they would have more time at home to raise their children. This is a disgusting attempt to divide the workers and patronise women of the RTBU who know that parental leave is already covered under Fair Work. Kathryn Breakwell, the RTBU Womens Officer, described Yarra Trams proposition for women as pocket money jobs where women workers are primarily seen as mothers who need a little extra cash for their families. She also mentioned how Yarra Trams has been reluctant in RTBU Womens fight for protections against sexual harassment and sexual violence.

Throughout the rally, there were various appeals made to the Victorian Labor government. Kathryn Breakwell asked where the blue-collared government they had voted for were whenever workers needed their support. Premier Daniel Andrews and Transport Minister Melissa Horne were both called on for action in the dispute. However, both have remained silent on the issue. RTBU Victoria expressed its disappointment that the Transport Minister was not standing side by side with them at the rally.

It is unsurprising that the Labor government has not come to support the workers who voted for them in their dispute with multinationals. The Daniel Andrews government has undertaken various neoliberal policies in the past decade or so. For example, in 2018 the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) fought against the privatisation of the Land Titles and Registry office that was earning $300 million per year. Treasurer Tim Pallas sold it for $2.86 billion to First State Superannuation. In 2016, the Labor government leased the Port of Melbourne to a handful of multinationals for $9.7 billion for the next fifty years.

Victorian Labor have also undertaken Public Private Partnerships such as for the $5.7 billion Victoria De-salination Plant. This deal is between the state government and multinationals Theiss, an Australian mining company, and Degremont, owned by French company Suez. The contract runs for a total of 30 years for $1.8 million per day and a total of approximately $19 billion for Suez and Theiss when the contract runs out. This is paid for through Melbourne Water and funded by the public through our water bills. The two companies, Suez and Theiss, are making a profit from water mismanagement and climate change and we are footing the bill.

Daniel Andrews promised to stop selling public services prior to his re-election in 2019. He said that privatisation has been disastrous for Victorians since the Liberal state government in the 90s, who privatised electricity and the public transport system. Yet now we have Treasurer Tim Pallas wanting to privatise VicRoads.

Yarra Trams is no exception of the privatisation of public services. Yarra Trams is a privately owned by a joint venture between Keolis, a French company, and Downer Rail, an Australian Engineering company, with Keolis owning fifty-one percent of Yarra Trams. Both companies have investments and projects globally. Keolis Downer also own other public transport services in Australia including:

Path Transit in WA

Southlink/LINKSA in SA

Newcastle Transport in NSW

Hornibrook Buslines and G:Link in QLD

These public transport companies no longer exist to serve workers and commuters, but the profit of multinationals. According to RTBU, Yarra Trams has doubled their profits in 2018 to $18 billion. Public Transport Victoria have also announced that in 2020 public transport fares will increase in Melbournes metro areas by 1.7 percent. The cost for a Daily Full Fare travelling around inner Melbourne is now $9.

Both Liberal and Labor governments have benefitted from the selling of public services. Not only is it the public that end up footing the bill for the multinationals, but workers are also suffering under insecure work conditions. RTBUs dispute with Yarra Trams is just another example of workers caught in a fight with multinationals while the governments who sell us out remain silent.
President Donald Trump holds hands with first lady Melania Trump as they take their seats after he spoke at the Governors' Ball on Sunday in the East Room of the White House in Washington. AP photo

US president Donald Trump will propose on Monday a 21 per cent cut in foreign aid and slashes to social safety-net programmes in his $4.8 trillion budget proposal for fiscal 2021, according to senior administration officials.

The budget would spend money to fund infrastructure projects and defence, but would also raise funds by targeting $2 trillion in savings from mandatory spending programs. It assumes revenues around $3.7 trillion.

Trump in his budget proposal last year to slash foreign aid but faced steep resistance from Congress and did not prevail.

The presidents latest blueprint for administration spending proposals is unlikely to be passed by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, particularly in an election year.

Trump, who campaigned for the presidency in 2016 on a promise to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico, will seek $2 billion in funding for further construction on that project, substantially less than the $8.6 billion he requested a year ago.

The administration shifted resources from the military last year after Congress refused Trumps initial wall funding request. The White House will not seek further funds from the military for the wall, a senior administration said.

The budget seeks money to fund a U.S. infrastructure overhaul that both Democrats and Republicans have said is a priority. The two sides are unlikely to agree on any major legislation this year, though, as they fight for control of the White House and Congress in the November elections.

The budget would raise military spending by 0.3% to $740.5 billion for fiscal-year 2021, starting on Oct. 1 and propose higher outlays for defence and veterans, administration officials confirmed.

Spending cuts

The White House proposes to slash spending by $4.4 trillion over 10 years.

In the fiscal-year 2021 budget, that would include $130 billion from changes to prescription-drug pricing for the Medicare program for older Americans, $292 billion from cuts in safety-net programs - such as work requirements for the Medicaid program for the poor, and food stamps - and $70 billion from clamping down on eligibility rules for federal disability benefits. Those changes are likely to spur Democrats ire.

Deficits would remain high but eventually come down.

The U.S. government ended fiscal 2019 with the largest budget deficit in seven years as gains in tax receipts were offset by higher spending and growing debt-service payments, the Treasury department said on Friday.

The budget forecasts $4.6 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years and assumes economic growth will continue at an annual rate of roughly 3 percent for years to come, officials said. Trump has taken credit for the strength of the U.S. economy, thanks in part to tax cuts he championed and Congress passed earlier in his term. The budget funds an extension of those cuts over a 10-year period with $1.4 trillion.

Aid to Ukraine would remain at its 2020 levels under the new foreign aid proposal. Trump was acquitted last week of impeachment charges that he withheld aid to Ukraine to spur Kiev to investigate political rival Joe Biden, a Democratic presidential candidate and former U.S. vice president.

Administration officials told Reuters that Trump would request an increase in funding for the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to $700 million from $150 million the previous year, an effort to counter developing economic threats from China and Russia.

The budget also proposes $1.1 billion for cyber security efforts by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Nabim, the National Association of British and Irish Millers, is launching a campaign to encourage non-bakers to put their ovens on and get baking.

Called the Easy Peasy Baking Campaign, it is designed to prove that baking at home can be simple, quick and cost-effective, with no need for complicated equipment.

The campaign follows a survey conducted by Nabim, which found that 24% of non-bakers said baking took too much time, while 22% didnt bake due to lack of energy, and 19% didnt because it was deemed too difficult. Nabim hopes its campaign will alleviate these barriers.

Consumers are encouraged to join in on social media, and Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages have been set up in order to create a community that shares bakes, recipes and tips. The first month will focus on showing people baking is a great new hobby for 2020.

Nabim will also be sharing recipes on these platforms to help with this. Recipes posted so far include banana bread, chilli & sweetcorn fritters, and savoury muffins.
Sumaiya, while addressing a gathering of anti-CAA protesters in Aligarh on Saturday, accused the Uttar Pradesh police of using 'coercive measures' to crush protests against the amended law

Aligarh: In a provocative remark, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Satish Gautam said social activist Sumaiya Rana, daughter of leading Urdu poet Munawwar Rana, should "go to Pakistan" since she is feeling suffocated in today's India.

The Aligarh MP made the remark while talking to reporters on Sunday.

Sumaiya, while addressing a gathering of anti-CAA protesters in Aligarh on Saturday, accused the Uttar Pradesh police of using "coercive measures" to crush protests against the amended citizenship law and said such measures are "very suffocating" for the people.

"Sumaiya should go to Pakistan since she is feeling suffocated in today's India," Gautam said.

He also warned of action against students who have been protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) since 16 December last year. "There are about 150-odd students who are still holding protests at AMU, while the rest have returned to classes. They have all been identified by the police now and rest assured they will not be in the campus from the next academic year," the BJP MP said.

Despite pressure from local authorities, Sumaiya went ahead and addressed women protesters, who have been staging a sit-in against the CAA for the past 12 days, at the Eidgah complex in Aligarh.

Accompanied by some student leaders from the AMU, the social activist had told the protestors, "We are holding all-women protests which are completely peaceful and which is our democratic right, but as we have seen in Lucknow, the UP police is using coercive measures to crush our protests."

In Lucknow, she said, women's washrooms were locked to break the protest. "Such oppressive methods are very suffocating for the people," she added.

On Sunday, Sumaiya and some AMU student leaders tried to enter the protest site but were denied permission by police. Senior Superintendent of Police, Aligarh, Akash Kulhari on Monday said it is apprehended that some antisocial elements "might try to take advantage of the ongoing protest at the Eidgah".
Patna: Almost a dozen people were left injured after an explosion took place at a house in Patna's Gandhi Maidan area in Bihar on Monday (February 10), said an ANI report. According to initial reports, the blast was so strong that it damaged at least five houses in the area. All the injured have been rushed to Patna Medical College and Hospital and are given medical treatment.

However, it is not cleared on what caused the blast. The authorities have reached the spot and have started the investigation.

"It seems a bomb that had been kept at this house exploded, damaging two houses. Injured people have been shifted to a hospital," Patna police, quoted by news agency ANI, said.

In the meantime, the rescue team and fire brigade officials are at the spot and carrying out the relief work. A huge police force has also arrived at the site of the explosion. The incident has led to a chaotic situation in the area.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has kept insisting that he will never denuclearize, no matter what. But what if China decides that for the current communist dictatorship to survive in North Korea, the nukes must go and, if necessary, the Kim dynasty as well? North Korea is, so far, coping with the shortages the sanctions have caused. The additional stresses caused by dealing with the coronavirus may become too much to handle but so far the Kim dynasty is coping.

The current coronavirus emergency is demonstrating how decrepit North Korean infrastructure and public services have become. At the moment North Koreans are hungrier from lack of food, colder from lack of fuel and more frequently without electricity because over a decade of sanctions have cut maintenance on power plants and distribution systems. Since the early 1990s, when Russia halted decades of economic aid, the government has had to cut back on most public welfare spending. The only exception to all these cuts was the capital; Pyongyang. As a result, the capital and the rest of the country now seem like two different countries. The capital looks very different, with lots of visibly recent construction. The electric supply is the most regular in the country as are supplies of fuel for heating. There are more food and consumer goods available. At the moment the most critical difference is that Pyongyang has a medical system that could handle a coronavirus outbreak. The rest of North Korea would quickly exhaust medical resources and coronavirus victims who would have otherwise survived the virus would be dead. This would mean a lot more popular anger at the Kim dynasty and possibly more disorder than the security forces can handle.

Aware of that risk, the government has taken extraordinary measures to keep coronavirus out of the country. So far the official position is that there have been no confirmed cases in North Korea much less any deaths. Suspected coronavirus victims in the capital are effectively quarantined but in the rest of the country, local officials are on their own with orders to cope as best they can and not report any people coming down with coronavirus or dying from it. Coronavirus symptoms are similar enough to influenza and other similar diseases that can, up to a point, to be blamed for coronavirus infections and deaths. But if the number of people stricken and then dying reaches unusual levels the local population will do the math and realize they have been lied to and abandoned by their government. North Korea leaders are hoping that does not happen because if it does it will have a major crisis on its hands and few resources with which to handle it.

The border with China has been closed for over three weeks and that means bulk imports of food and fuel are not arriving. These are legal imports that China is the major supplier of. North Korea cannot afford to maintain much in the way of food or fuel reserves and what reserves do exist are for the military, in case there is a war or other national emergency. These supplies may already have been released to provincial security forces (soldiers and police) but they wont last long if the Chines border remains closed.

In China, where most of the coronavirus victims and fatalities are, the death toll now exceeds 900 with over 40,000 confirmed infections. South Korea, unlike the north, has ample health care resources do deal with coronavirus. Here have been only 27 confirmed cases of coronavirus in South Korea so far

The South Korean army has about 1,100 soldiers quarantined until they are cleared of any possible coronavirus infection. All these soldiers had visited China, Hong Kong or Macao in the past two weeks and the quarantine was just a precaution often applied to any recent South Korean visitors to China. There have been no coronavirus deaths in South Korea so far.

Incentives

Despite the halt in North Korean coal exports, which used to account for the majority of coal mined, there are shortages in North Korea and productivity at coal mines is declining. The problem is that the mines are much less profitable now because the only market for coal is in North Korea, where prices are set at low levels that allow for little or no profit. Managers of coal mines are responsible for the profitability and with those profits sharply reduced the government responded by dismissing and punishing coal mine managers. The best qualified replacement managers refused to take the job, knowing that there was no way they could generate profits as long as the sanctions and government price controls were still in force. So even less qualified managers get the jobs and the mines are poorly run and are now deteriorating from lack of maintenance and upgrades. This is a process that has occurred in other export dependent industries, with generally the same results.

This damaging government interference with management trying to adapt to new conditions is found in most workplaces. The only exception are the few (but growing) number of operations run by donju (entrepreneurs). These operations have managers largely free of government interference and for that reason, plus more effective management, these firms are much more profitable than their government controlled counterparts. The donju firms also pay their workers a lot more and expect more from them. The government tolerates this because the donju firms are so efficient and profitable. The donju firms pay a lot in taxes and, unofficially, in bribes.

Causes And Effects

Corruption remains a major problem for North Korea and unlike China and South Korea there have been no major efforts to deal with the problem in North Korea. That is one reason why North Korea is such a wreck economically. The global aspect of this can be seen in the international surveys of nations to determine who is clean and who is corrupt. For 2019 North Korea ranked 172nd out of 180 nations in international rankings compared with 176th in 2018. Corruption in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index is measured on a 1 (most corrupt) to 100 (not corrupt) scale. The most corrupt nations (usually Yemen/15, Syria/13, South Sudan/12 and Somalia/9) have a rating of under 15 while the least corrupt (Finland, New Zealand and Denmark) are over 85.

The current Chinese score is 41 (versus 39 in 2018) compared to 30 (30) for Ukraine, 45 (44) for Belarus, 58 (60) for Poland, 80 (81) Germany, 65 (61) for Taiwan, 39 (40) for Turkey, 41 (40) for India, 28 (28) for Russia, 59 (57) for South Korea, 14 (17) for North Korea, 37 (35) for Vietnam, 85 (84) for Singapore, 73 (73) for Japan, 40 (37) for Indonesia, 38 (38) for Sri Lanka, 29 (33) for the Maldives, 34 (34) for the Philippines, 32 (32) for Pakistan, 26 (28) for Bangladesh, 26 (30) for Iran, 16 (15) for Afghanistan, 29 (30) for Burma, 71 (71) for the UAE (United Arab Emirates), 60 (64) for Israel, 69 (75) for the United States, 26 (27) for Nigeria, 44 (43) for South Africa, 20 (18) for Iraq, 39 (40) for Turkey, 53 (49) for Saudi Arabia and 28 (28) for Lebanon.

The North Korean corruption score has improved since 2012 when it was 8. South Korea was 56 in 2012.

The state of living conditions in both Koreas can be measured compared to the rest of the world. The effectiveness of governments and the societies they represent is rated each year in the Human Development Index. The UN has compiled these ratings for 29 years. The index ranks all the world nations in terms of how well they do in terms of life expectancy, education and income. In 2019

South Korea was 22 out of 189 nations and tied with Israel. North Korea was not ranked because sufficient information could not be obtained. Based on conditions of low-ranking nations that could be measured North Korea was at the bottom of the list, perhaps the very bottom.

The rank of other nations puts this into perspective; United States is at 15 (tied with Britain), China 89, Israel 22, Saudi Arabia 36, Iran 65, India 129, Pakistan 152, Afghanistan 179, Bangladesh 135, Russia 49, Venezuela 96, Colombia 79, Mexico 76. Egypt 116, Lebanon 93, Syria 154 and Jordan 103. The top ten nations are Norway, Switzerland, Ireland, Germany, Hong Kong, Australia, Iceland, Sweden, Singapore and Netherlands. The bottom ten are Mozambique at 180th place (there are a lot of ties) followed by Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Mali, Burundi, South Sudan, Chad, Central African Republic and in last place, Niger.

February 9, 2020: In North Korea, the government canceled the big parade in Pyongyang that, each year, celebrates the anniversary of the founding of the military. This year would be the 72nd anniversary and preparations, including bringing thousands of provincials to the capital, were underway. Those travel plans have been canceled, lest any outsiders brought coronavirus to Pyongyang. South Korea media reported that there have already been five coronavirus deaths in the north but the government there is suppressing that news. This cancellation is a major disappointment for Kim Jong Un because this parade was going to stress the loyalty of the military to the Kim dynasty. At the moment that loyalty could use a boost.

February 5, 2020: North Korea banned foreign diplomats from entering the country, as part of their effort to prevent the coronavirus from entering North Korea.

February 2, 2020: There are unofficial reports that at least five people have died from coronavirus in North Korea. The official position is that North Korea has managed to keep the country free of the coronavirus, with only one confirmed case so far. That one case was a North Korean who returned from China and was tested at the border and found to have coronavirus. North Korea has kept the virus out because it normally has little traffic across its borders and these are the most heavily guarded borders on the planet. North Korea has halted all Chinese tourism (a major source of foreign currency) and curbed normal (business and government) travel to China. North Korea is also very poor and in no condition to deal with an outbreak of the new virus. Yet North Korea still has a lot of smugglers operating along the Chinese border and in some coastal areas.

Japan launched another photo-reconnaissance satellite, a new model that will replace one of the seven already in orbit or simply help Japan in its efforts to expand its operational orbital spy satellite count to ten. Up until the 1990s Japan refrained from launching military satellites, but this changed when North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan in 1998. Japan promptly set out to get eight surveillance satellites in orbit by 2006, in order to keep an eye on North Korean nuclear weapons and ballistic missile efforts. This proved impossible to do. For more than two decades now Japan has regularly launched new and improved satellite and managed to keep at least seven photo or radar surveillance satellites in orbit. Japan has long relied on commercial photo satellites, and whatever they could get from the Americans. But for high-resolution shots, on-demand, of North Korea, and electronic eavesdropping from space, they need their own spy satellites. It is believed that the Japanese spy satellites are also being used to watch military developments in China and Russia as well.

February 1, 2020: By U.S. accounting South Korean defense spending (currently $44 billion a year) ranks as ninth largest in the world while North Korea is 74th (spending $1.6 billion).

January 31, 2020: North Korea suspended all train and air traffic with China in an effort to keep the coronavirus out.

January 30, 2020: North Korea declared a state emergency because of coronavirus and effectively shut down imports from China. On January 21st most foreign visitors were banned from entering the country. Medical personnel were sent to all border crossings to check any people coming in for coronavirus. North Korean workers in China were ordered to stay home from work until further notice. North Korea has done this before (2003 and 2014) when there was an epidemic outbreak in China. This prompt action is critical for North Korea where the level of medical care is very low and there are a lot of malnourished people with lower resistance to diseases.

January 27, 2020: American intelligence believes that North Korea is continuing to work on building a reliable, multi-stage ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile). Satellite photos show continuing shipments of items needed to build another missile for testing. So far North Korea has been trying to make the outside world believe that it has a working ICBM. It doesnt, but in 2017 some desperate measures were taken to make it appear they did. Back then North Korea launched what it described as a new ballistic missile, the Hwasong-14. North Korea described the test as successful and proof that North Korea had a working ICBM design. None of that was true. What North Korea did do was launch a two-stage ballistic missile that went higher (over 2,500 kilometers) than an ICBM normally goes (about 1,200 kilometers) but did not have enough momentum to go very far and the second stage (or what was left of it) came down in the ocean 930 kilometers from where it was launched. To be a working ICBM Hwasong-14 would need rocket motors in the first and second stages that could fire longer (carry enough fuel or be efficient and reliable enough) to keep it going at that orbital (where low orbit satellites regularly operate) altitude long enough for a third stage to separate and use a reliable guidance system and re-entry vehicle able to handle the heat of high-speed descent to the surface. North Korea is still missing a lot of key components but managing to keep the media spotlight on the few features that do work and imply that the missing capabilities will appear in due course. Like many North Korean assurances, about their economy, their ability to feed their population and much else, due course actually means; eventually but not yet and maybe never. North Korea knows that this is not a popular subject for the mass media and has been able to get away with this sort of thing for decades.

January 25, 2020: In North Korea leader Kim Jong Un appointed a new Defense Minister, the eighth in eight years. The rapid turnover is due to Kim wanting younger, and more loyal, officers in senior military jobs and heading the Defense Ministry. Early on Kim forcibly retired or even executed senior commanders he was not satisfied with. Now the Defense Ministry job is a test for able and loyal officers that Kim wants to keep promoting. For example, the former Defense Minister created by the new appointment was given the job of Foreign Minister.

January 24, 2020: In Russia, despite earlier claims that they had sent all their North Korean workers home, officials now admit that there are still about a thousand North Korean workers in Russia, mostly because of difficulties in finding transportation for those working in remote areas.

January 22, 2020: North Korea closed its Chinese border in an effort to keep the coronavirus out. This includes Chinese police returning North Korea defectors they have caught. North Koreans working in China have been ordered to remain in their living quarters until further notice, even if Chinese workers are free to work. Not all of China is shut down because of the coronavirus threat and many North Korean workers are in those virus free areas. Similar measures were enforced on the smaller Russian border.

January 21, 2020: The U.S. confirmed that North Korea has failed to comply with the December 22 deadline to bring all foreign workers home. This was mainly about 50,000 North Korean workers in China and 30,000 in Russia who were supposed to be back in North Korea by December 22nd, as per the UN sanctions. Russia had sent home all the North Korean workers officially still in Far East Russia, where there is a labor shortage and cheap North Korean workers have been popular. Many of the departing North Koreas said they expected to return soon and they did with tourist or other deceptive visas. Using various visas and other deceptions China and Russian managed to keep or replace (with other North Koreans) all their North Korean workers. The UN economic sanctions on North Korea called for all North Korean workers employed in other countries (mainly China and Russia) to be sent home by late December. That did not happen in China, which has long been North Koreas major trading partner. China has been allowing more North Korean workers to enter and work, many with no visa at all. Half of the workers pay goes to the North Korean government as tax but the North Korean workers are still making more than they could in North Korea and most of that pay supports family back in North Korea while the exported workers have more food and heat than they would back home. China and Russia are officially supporting the sanctions but are unofficially tolerating all manner of smuggling and sanctions evasion. The end result is that China and Russia cooperated with North Korea to ignore these economic sanctions. North Korea earns about $500 million a year via this exported labor. North Korea has recently sent more security personnel to China to ensure that the North Korean workers do not try to escape from China and North Korean control. The U.S. subsequently put individual sanctions on two China-based but North Korean controlled companies that provided various support (housing and transportation) services for the foreign workers and the security personnel who keep them under control.

January 20, 2020: Russian oil exports to North Korea increased in 2019, from $32 million in 2018 to $42 million in 2019. Imports from North Korea were also up, to $2.31 million from $1.98 million in 2018. North Korea is under more extensive sanctions than Russia but some legal trade is allowed. Russia is also accused of a lot of illegal trade with North Korea.

January 15, 2020: A recent study of Internet censorship concluded that North Korea had the most heavily controlled Internet with China coming in second followed by Russia, Iran, and Turkmenistan.

January 10, 2020: In what has become an annual ritual the government has launched another special effort to curb corruption among those who guard the Chinese border. These troops know they can make a lot of money taking bribes from smugglers and illegal travelers in general. The government has learned, but wont admit officially, that these anti-corruption efforts dont last long and that each year the government has to bring in personnel from different security or intelligence organization to try and impose discipline. This year it is people from the military intelligence agency. These fellows have heard of the corruption and have less security and policing experience than their counterparts in the secret police and are expected to be less effective and more quickly corrupted.

Some forms of corruption get less attention from the government. One example is the growing use of bribes and payments for test answers for the university entrance exams. While South Korea has the highest percentage of adults with a college education, North Korea has a much lower rate and in North Korea having a college degree leads to much better life than most North Koreans can achieve. So well-off families can justify paying a lot of money to get their kids into the best universities.

January 2, 2020: This year North Korea publicized a special round of training for some members of the Worker-Peasant Red Guards. This is a local armed militia with a claimed strength of five million adults (out of a population of 25 million). There is supposed to be several periods of annual training, which consists of gathering local militia members together to confirm membership and issue weapons for training, but rarely for target practice. This year a few units underwent longer training the involved target practice at a rifle range and s brief period of time living outdoors as the militia might have to do in wartime. This was apparently a propaganda effort because there are not enough resources to do this on a large scale. The active-duty troops are complaining that there is not enough food, fuel or ammunition for any training and that more and more of their time is spent on raising their own food or working on non-military construction projects. This, not surprisingly, has led to more corruption among officers, NCOs and civilians who work with the military. This problem has become so widespread and visible that North Korea has launched a well-publicized crackdown.

December 29, 2019: Chinas two major shipbuilders, CSSC and CSIC, merged to create the largest shipbuilder in the world with 310,000 employees. A decade ago there were nearly half a million employees but recessions continued competition from rivals South Korea and Japan forced the change. The new company, CSG (China Shipbuilding Group), as well as the two it merged from, are all state-owned. The merger is actually a return to the situation in 1999 when CSSC and CSIC were created from the then single state-owned shipbuilding operation. This was meant to encourage competition and it worked. Chinese shipbuilders, mainly the two large firms, account for most of the shipbuilding in China and have been striving to overtake their main rival South Korea as the largest shipbuilder in the world in all categories. There are several ways to measure shipbuilder output South Korea is the champion in most of them. Japan was once in first place but now has to settle for third place. South Korea and China have been close competitors for first place since 2012 and to that end, the two largest South Korean shipbuilders also merged in 2019.
B2Holding ASA (OB:B2H), which is in the consumer finance business, and is based in Norway, received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the OB over the last few months, increasing to kr10.15 at one point, and dropping to the lows of kr7.35. 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 B2Holding's current trading price of kr7.35 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 B2Holdings 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 B2Holding

What is B2Holding worth?

According to my relative valuation model, the stock is currently overvalued. In this instance, Ive used the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio given that there is not enough information to reliably forecast the stocks cash flows. I find that B2Holdings ratio of 17.68x is above its peer average of 12.44x, which suggests the stock is overvalued compared to the Consumer Finance industry. But, is there another opportunity to buy low in the future? Given that B2Holdings share is fairly volatile (i.e. its price movements are magnified relative to the rest of the market) this could mean the price can sink lower, giving us another chance to buy in the future. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for share price volatility.

What does the future of B2Holding look like?

OB:B2H Past and Future Earnings, February 10th 2020

Future outlook is an important aspect when youre looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so lets also take a look at the company's future expectations. With profit expected to more than double over the next couple of years, the future seems bright for B2Holding. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.

Story continues

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? B2Hs optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading above its fair value. However, this brings up another question  is now the right time to sell? If you believe B2H should trade below its current price, selling high and buying it back up again when its price falls towards its real value can be profitable. But before you make this decision, take a look at whether its fundamentals have changed.

Are you a potential investor? If youve been keeping an eye on B2H for a while, now may not be the best time to enter into the stock. The price has surpassed its industry peers, which means it is likely that there is no more upside from mispricing. However, the optimistic prospect is encouraging for B2H, which means its worth diving deeper into other factors in order to take advantage of the next price drop.

Price is just the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into what truly matters  the fundamentals  before you make a decision on B2Holding. You can find everything you need to know about B2Holding in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in B2Holding, 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.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 01:15:56|Editor: yan

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SINGAPORE, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat has said that Singapore was committed to building a strong ecosystem so as to support innovation in the aviation industry.

He said on Monday evening at the opening ceremony for the Singapore Airshow 2020 that the ecosystem would be made up of academics, businesses and other partners, locally, with the region, and beyond, to promote research, innovation and enterprise and to encourage the cross-pollination of ideas and translation of ideas into action.

The ecosystem is expected to address issues common to the global aviation industry, such as reducing the environmental impact of aviation and improving travel efficiency.

Heng said that innovation had opened up many possibilities in the aviation sector, as additive manufacturing, big data, and automation were transforming how aircrafts are built, operated and maintained. Meanwhile, innovation had also disrupted business models in ways people would never have imagined.

"In the future, the concept of 'air taxis' or 'urban air mobility' can dramatically change how people travel and how we design our cities, just as how the invention of automobiles created the suburbs," he added.

The Singapore Airshow 2020 will proceed from Feb. 11 to 16. Before declaring open of the biennial event, Heng called on aviation industry insiders to continue to invest in innovation, skills and infrastructure, and to make adjustments to the business plans and step-up the safeguards in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Vincent Chong, Chairman of the airshow organizer Experia Events, said that Singapore Airshow 2020 would have over 930 participating companies from all over the world and 40,000 trade visitors as estimated.
When first traveling to an unknown country, everybody has preconceptions of what they are going to encounter. This has certainly been the case for me, even if I have done a lot of background research on countries that I am traveling to for the first time. Preconceptions can be totally wrong, and are quickly washed away once firsthand experience is obtained. It is human nature to fill in the gaps about the unknown by making assumptions, and oftentimes a person is kicked in the head by reality.

Being a history fanatic, I have carefully studied Germany military history and how the country has been historically organized from a civic standpoint. In my head, I had the perception that Germans were going to be professionally and emotionally cold. While the businesspeople I dealt with were very professional, I was pleasantly surprised by how friendly people were, and what a good time my German counterparts liked to have after work. We ate, drank, told stories, and laughed at funny stories. They were just as interested in the southwestern U.S. as I was in their country.

Likewise, when I traveled to Colombia in the years after the violent drug wars started settling down, I thought that the people might be tight-lipped and suspicious, still in shock and fear of the violence that had beset their country. I found that Colombians are some of the most outgoing and kind people I have ever encountered in my travels. I remember getting lost walking to an appointment and asking a lady for directions. She literally grabbed my arm and walked me two blocks to the correct address, all with a smile and infectious chatter. Unfortunately, I had the opposite experience on a visit to Venezuela, when I assumed that all Latin Americans were talkative and warm. Unfortunately, my visit came a few weeks before an attempted coup and the people were walking around on eggshells, not very inclined to speak to anybody unless necessary  a logical reaction given the uncertainty in the country.

In Costa Rica, I was struck by how down-to-earth the people were. As I was taking a taxi to some meeting, the driver asked me if I wanted to see former president and Nobel Peace prize winner Oscar Arias house, and I said yes. I thought I was going to see a fancy mansion with guards and paparazzi. What I saw in a modest neighborhood was a modest house in which a person could literally walk up to the front door to ring the doorbell. This humbleness and modesty were indicative of the people I encountered in the country.

Before I visited, I perceived Japan as a wealthy society and strictly regimented. I stayed in the tony Roppongi district of Tokyo, with the fancy clubs and shops. In such a ritzy place, I was surprised to see an occasional homeless person wandering the streets. I had the same thought of Switzerland, and was surprised when I took a walk around Zurich and ended up in a park favored by intravenous drug users. Both of these experiences taught me not to idealize an entire society solely based on what I have read. Even the cleanest, safest countries have social issues.

When I was in London the first time, I was dying to try a famous local dish when I was walking near Big Ben, so I found a pub and went in to have a kidney pie. I sat at the counter where I could peek behind the screen in the kitchen, and I saw the cook take the kidney pie out of a frozen paper box container and proceed to microwave it. Even though many foreigners visiting the United Kingdom have stories such as this because the U.K. is not famously known for its local cuisine, I had a great culinary experience in that country, eating everything from savory Indian food to Middle Eastern tre.

During my first visit to Taiwan, I was dying to try the local dishes in Taipei. I had already formed an image in my mind of what constituted Chinese food. I was overwhelmed by the variety of dishes ranging from seafood to chicken-feet soup. I also was completely unaware of how hot certain dishes and soups, spiced with chiles and hot sauces, can be, and I am from New Mexico. I have a picture of myself in a suit and tie, dining on a bowl of soup outside a cafe (that in itself was a bad call as Taiwan can get extremely hot and humid in the summer). Sweat is dripping from my face and it looks like I have been crying.

When I first started traveling extensively throughout Mexico, my perception of Mexican food was the standard tacos, enchiladas, and tamales. Traveling to different parts of the country, I was amazed at the variety of cuisine. I came to love huitlacoche (blue corn fungus) soup, pan de pulque (bread made out of a traditional alcoholic beverage), coyotas (an empanada-like pastry filled with sweets like brown sugar), and my favorite food from Mexico of all, chiles en nogada (poblano chiles stuffed with meat and spices, topped with a walnut cream sauce, onto which pomegranate seeds are sprinkled). I found the cuisine in Mexico to be some of the most diverse I have ever experienced in the world. I also learned that Mexico has diverse climates  I will never again arrive in hot, humid Villahermosa, Tabasco (a southern Mexican state in the middle of lowland jungle), in a suit and tie.

It is by traveling outside the U.S. that wonderful cultures, cuisine, and experiences can be had. This is also the way we can do away with preconceptions that we invent of places that we have not previously visited.

Jerry Pacheco is the executive director of the International Business Accelerator, a nonprofit trade counseling program of the New Mexico Small Business Development Centers Network. He can be reached at 575-589-2200 or at jerry@nmiba.com.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 20:38:19|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Monday that it will closely monitor the impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak on foreign trade and actively help foreign trade firms to resume production.

There is no reason for measures that interfere with international trade yet, said MOC spokesman Gao Feng at a press conference, stressing that China is confident in and capable of winning the battle against the epidemic.

Gao hoped that other countries will join the efforts to facilitate international trade and defeat the epidemic.

The MOC has issued a circular recently to strengthen services and guarantees to foreign-funded enterprises as well as optimize investment promotion and advance the launch of foreign-invested projects.

The competitive edges that make China a magnet for foreign investment remain unchanged, Gao said.

He noted that the MOC will continue to throw its weight behind foreign firms to cope with the epidemic impact and help to tackle their problems in investment, production and operation for the next step.
Twelve students of the Indian Institute Of Mass Communication (IIMC) on Monday claimed that they received a show cause notice and were placed under suspension for organising a public talk on affordable

The notice said there have been "concerted acts of indiscipline" on the part of students within the IIMC campus in spite of repeated counselling by authorities in the administration and even the faculty members.

The protest against hostel fee hike at the Jawaharlal Nehru University had spread to the neighbouring IIMC in December last year, where students protested against the "unaffordable fee structure".

Some IIMC students had staged a strike in the campus against the high tuition fee and "unruly" hostel and mess charges.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
U.S. Rep. Anthony Brindisi asked state regulators today to open an investigation into Spectrums cable and internet failure that left large parts of Upstate New York without service Saturday.

Brindisi told the editorial board of Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard that Spectrum should be required to offer a rebate to its customers in Upstate New York who lost service.

Brindisi, D-Utica, said he was alarmed by the size and duration of the service failure, which affected about 2 million customers in the Northeast from New York to Maine.

Heres what caused 2 million Spectrum customers to lose TV and internet service

Brindisi said he heard from businesses who couldnt process credit card payments due to the internet outage and residents who had no service for six hours.

Spectrum blamed the failure on fiber optic damage at an unspecified location or locations.

Id like to see the Public Service Commission here in New York investigate this matter and see exactly what went wrong and what kind of backups Spectrum has to keep this from happening again, Brindisi said at the editorial board meeting.

When you have monopoly-like control over TV and internet in a congressional district, I think you owe an explanation to the state and (customers) here about what kind of backup you have, Brindisi said.

Spectrum notified customers about the failure by Twitter. Its telephone help line stopped accepting calls after it was overwhelmed by callers during the outage.

Watch Brindisi talk about Spectrum service failure

Brindisi wrote in a letter to PSC Chairman John B. Rhodes today that the outage raised a more serious security issue of redundancy failure that the PSC should investigate. He asked the agency to publicly reports its findings.

Brindisi also asked the PSC to determine if Spectrum violated redundancy mandates in its service agreement with New York, and if fines should be levied against Spectrum.

The first-term congressman has been critical of Spectrum and its parent company, Charter Communications, for poor service and increasing fees for its cable and internet services.

In November, Brindisi unveiled a plan that would force the federal government to examine the companys price hikes and business practices.

Last month, Brindisi asked a federal agency to investigate Spectrums debt collection practices amid complaints from Spectrum customers in Upstate New York who received surprise bills from debt collectors after canceling their service and paying off their balance.

Read more

Spectrum outages end in Northeast, Charter says

Contact Mark Weiner: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751

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The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has honoured former members for their roles in advancing the cause of the Committee.

The Committee presented citations to out-going members including the immediate past Chairman, Dr. Steve Manteaw and Vice-Chairman Dr. Thomas Kojo Stephens and Mr. Joseph Biney Winful whose tenures on the committee have ended.

Presenting the citations during a brief handing over ceremony at the PIAC Secretariat, the incoming Chairman, Mr Noble Wadzah thanked the former members for their invaluable services to the country through PIAC in ensuring that revenues accruing from Ghanas petroleum are managed efficiently for the benefit of all.

In the citation, PIAC commended Dr. Manteaw, for the significant role he played in saving costs when he led the committee to deploy its internal human resources for the production of its statutory reports which hitherto had been produced by external consultants.

Dr Manteaw also led the committee in addressing its accommodation challenge by procuring a new office building.

The citation further commended him for his passion for good governance in the extractive sector and attention to detail.

We note that it was during your tenure as Chair that PIACs accommodation challenge was resolved, with the acquisition of an office complex which has greatly enhanced its work.

Your eye for detail and passion for due process always came in handy in the operations of PIAC, and will be missed.

Dr. Manteaw was appointed a member of PIAC in 2015 representing Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI) and later elected Chairman for two consecutive terms for 2018 and 2019.

Similarly, the immediate past Vice Chairman, Dr. Thomas Kojo Stephens was cited for his immense contribution providing guidance and technical advice as a member of the Technical and tegal Sub-Committees and subsequently, Chair of the Legal Sub-Committee.

As Chair of the Legal Sub-Committee, you were always on hand to lead the review of contracts, agreements and other legal documents brought to your attention. You also offered legal advice and led the expeditious resolution of matters referred to the Sub-Committee..

The committee recognised his professional support to the Chairman and described him as a team player who gave opportunity to all to build capacity.

As team leader, you gave the opportunity to other team members to make presentations at PIAC public fora, thereby ensuring that the capacity of all members on the Committee was enhanced.

Dr. Thomas Stephens was elected Vice Chairman of PIAC in 2018 and served for two terms ending 2019.

PIAC also honoured Mr. Joseph Biney Winful who was Chairman in 2017, for his professional auditing background which influenced the Committees drive to verify revenue and production figures from source documents.

.He was committed to the independent assessment,management and use of Ghanas petroleum revenues .

Mr. Joseph Biney Winful, joined PIAC as a representative of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana in 2015 and the Technical as well as Finance, Administrative and Procurement sub-committees.
Dr Richard Snellgrove was cleared by a jury of prescribing the drugs that killed Matt Roberts

The Alabama doctor acquitted of prescribing the drugs that killed 3 Doors Down guitarist Matt Roberts is facing professional misconduct allegations that 'led to the death of a patient'.

Dr Richard Snellgrove is facing seven serious allegations brought by the Alabama State Board of Medical Examiners which could see him stripped of his license to practice medicine.

The accusations - which are not criminal charges - relate to his conduct between 2006 and 2016 - the year Roberts was found dead of an overdose in a hotel in West Bend, Wisconsin.

One of the charges relates to 'unprofessional conduct that resulted in the death of Patient 1', although it's not clear if this patient was Roberts, according to TMZ.

The other allegations include prescribing controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose, unprofessional conduct, conduct detrimental or harmful to patients, exposing patients to unreasonable risk or harm, and gross/repeated malpractice.

Roberts was a founding member of 3 Doors Down when the rock group began in 1996 on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He co-authored the band's hit song 'Kryptonite,' which in 2001 was nominated for a Grammy award for best rock song.

Roberts, who was 38 when he died, left the band after its 2012 European tour, checking into rehab the same year.

Roberts, who was a founding member of 3 Doors Down, was found dead in August 2016 in a hotel hallway in West Bend, Wisconsin

Roberts (third from right) was a founding member of 3 Doors Down (above) when the rock group began in 1996 on the Mississippi Gulf Coast

Snellgrove had been treating Roberts for several years and was accused of 13 counts of unlawful distribution of drugs and health care fraud in relation to his death.

Prosecutors said Snellgrove prescribed drugs to Roberts even though he knew the guitarist struggled with addiction, but he was cleared by a jury in May 2018.

Snellgrove's lawyer, Dennis Knizley, said during his trial that the physician's actions were reasonable and prosecutors targeted the physician because Roberts was famous.

Knizley said text messages introduced by the defense at trial showed that Roberts was seeking illegal street drugs in addition to medications he got from Snellgrove.

The defense argued that alone showed Roberts' death couldn't be hung on Snellgrove.

'He was obtaining and abusing street drugs at the same time he was obtaining drugs and to a certain degree deceiving Dr. Snellgrove,' Knizley said.

Snellgrove has already voluntarily surrendered his controlled substances certification while the board conducts its investigation.

The Medical Licensing Commission of Alabama has the power to revoke Snellgrove's medical license if it agrees with the board's findings.

The doctor is also still facing a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Roberts's family.
Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation blames the barriers in transport connection and communication between the two countries

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with Moldovan President Igor Dodon at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia January 30, 2019 Reuters

Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, claimed that the Kremlin was ready to exchange ambassadors with Ukraine. Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported that on February 10.

"It seems someone mentioned Zelensky's possible decision to return the ambassadors. We don't mind", Lavrov said.

According to the official, there is a relation between Ukraine and Russia in the areas of transport, humanitarian issues, family relationships, and the economy. He said that putting barriers in transport connections and communication between the two countries was "ill-minded".

Ukraine and Russia recalled their ambassadors for consultations in 2014.

In 2018, the Ukrainian Parliament passed the law that ceased the Agreement on Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation.

Earlier, Lavrov stated that Ukraine creates new obstacles to the exchange of prisoners with Donbas militants. "In Paris, they called on the contact group to agree on lists for the exchange od all established persons. The goal was to exchange "all-for-all", but when they compared the lists all these years, it turned out that not all prisoners were mutually confirmed ... Now a new criterion appeared in the contact group: the established persons - ok, but they are not all procedurally cleaned. This means a new obstacle for people to return home before Christmas and the New Year, the Russian Foreign Minister noted.
The Supreme Court on Monday said people cannot block public road indefinitely and create inconvenience for others but declined to pass an interim direction on pleas for removal of anti-CAA protesters from Shaheen Bagh, the epicentre of demonstrations here for nearly two months.

As it observed that people are entitled to protest but it has to be done in an area identified for agitations and cannot be done on a public road or park, the court also took up the issue of an infant dying on returning home from Shaheen Bagh where his parents had taken him along.

"Can a 4-month-old child be taking part in such (Shaheen Bagh) protests?", the court asked while warning two women lawyers for making "explosive submissions" that children participating in the protests against the Citizenship Amended Act(CAA) are being called names, 'terrorist', 'gaddar' (traitor), 'Pakistani', in school.

The 4-month-old baby had passed away in his sleep on the night of January 30 after returning from Shaheen Bagh.

"Don't make explosive submissions. Please do not make such statements. We do not want people to use this platform to further create problems," said a bench, comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant, when two women advocates--Shahrukh Alam and Nandita Rao--started making submissions.

A bench comprising Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph issued notices to the Centre, Delhi government and Delhi Police asking them to respond to the pleas seeking removal of protesters from Shaheen Bagh and ensuring smooth traffic flow on the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch.

When the counsel appearing for the petitioners urged the court to pass some direction since there was inconvenience to the public, the bench said, "It cannot be done ex-parte. We will hear the other side."



"If you have waited for over 50 days, wait for some more days."



The top court posted the matter for further hearing on February 17.

"You cannot block the public roads. There cannot be indefinite period of protest in such an area. If you want to protest, it has to be in an area identified for protest," the bench said.

"There is a law and people have grievance against it. The matter is pending in the court. Despite that some people are protesting. They are entitled to protest," the court said, adding, "It should be done in an area which is designated for protests. You cannot create inconvenience for the people".

The apex court said the protest at Shaheen Bagh has been going on for long but it cannot create inconvenience for others.

"Can you block a public road? You cannot block it. Suppose there is a public park, you cannot hold protest there," the bench said.

The apex court was hearing an appeal filed by advocate Amit Sahni, who had approached the high court seeking directions to the Delhi Police to ensure smooth traffic flow on the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch, which remains blocked by anti-CAA protesters since December 15.

Besides Sahni, advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi, appearing for former BJP MLA Nand Kishore Garg, also made a plea for some directions for removal of the protesters.

When the bench headed by Justice Bobde said it was taking suo motu cognizance of the letter written by a national bravery award winner Zen Gunratan Sadavarte, seeking that minors be barred from participating in any type of protest and agitation, advocates Shahrukh Alam and Nandita Rao interrupted claiming that children participating in the protest are being called names, 'terrorist', 'gaddar' (traitor), 'Pakistani', in schools.

"They (children) come home crying," the advocates submitted.

The intervention by the advocates did not go down well with the bench, which said: "We will not hear you on this. Don't make such types of irrelevant arguments."



Solicitor General Tushar Mehta opposed them saying, "Can it be a ground for sitting on dharna with a four-month-old child or can they oppose this on the ground that children are being called names like gaddars in school."



The bench asked, "A four-month old infant had gone to protest? But tell us which four-month-old child goes on its own to protest sites."



The bench said the two lawyers were deviating from the main issue of which it has taken cognizance of.

"We are not considering either CAA or NRC. We are not considering the abuses like Pakistani hurled in schools," the bench said.

The bench made it clear that it was not stifling anybody's voice.

"We are not stifling any voice. This is a properly constituted suo motu proceedings by the Supreme Court of India," it added.

"We have the highest respect for motherhood, and highest concern for children. Don't make arguments to raise and create guilt."



"A child has died. Instead of causing more trouble, mothers should back this cause," the bench said.

The lawyers had submitted that "these women (who are sitting at protest site) live in slums and have no option but to take their children along to the protest site".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MUA on call for Storm Ciara related issues

Manx Utilities Authority is reminding the public they are on call to assist residents affected by Storm Ciara disruption.

Earlier today workers were called to help a burst pipe at a water main in Douglas near The Manx Legion, Market Hill.

Staff said they are on standby to help with utility disruptions and that the first point of contact is to call 687687.

You can follow the latest Storm Ciara traffic and travel updates via:

@manx_utilities

@TweetbeatIOM

@iominfra
Late last week, Google announced its plans to launch three new offices in Toronto, Montreal, and Waterloo within a couple of years.

Slated to open in 2022, the offices will be the latest in the multi-national firms push towards expanding its Canadian presence. The company stated that together, these new spaces will be able to accommodate as much as 5,000 employees.

In addition, the tech giant said that it will be inaugurating its first accelerator program in Canada (and its 12th across the world) in Waterloo, Ontario. This will be dedicated to high-potential tech start-ups.
Meanwhile, our efforts to review the economy are ongoing and the ease of doing business has improved as acknowledged by the Global Index on Ease of Doing Business. We have opened up media space to more players under the new dispensation, he said.
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Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Medan, North Sumatra  Mon, February 10, 2020 18:53 700 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2063aaa32 1 National African-swine-fever-in-Indonesia,pig,livestock,pork,Medan,North-Sumatra,Edy-Rahmayadi,agriculture Free

Apriadi Gunawan

The Jakarta Post/Medan, North Sumatra

Hundreds of people staged a peaceful protest in front of the North Sumatra Legislative Council (DPRD) building in Medan on Monday, calling on President Joko Jokowi Widodo to address the thousands of pig deaths caused by African swine fever (ASF) without culling the remaining, healthy animals.

The protestors, who identified themselves as members of the #SaveBabi (#SavePig) movement, said they did not want the pigs to be wiped because of the ASF outbreak, which has killed over 40,000 pigs in the province.

North Sumatra Governor Edy Rahmayadi said last month that he was considering a cull of all pigs in the province as a last-ditch effort to halt the spread of the virus.

Read also: Over 40,000 pigs killed as African swine fever outbreak in N. Sumatra worsens

The movements leader, Boasa Simanjuntak, said pigs played an important cultural and economic role for North Sumatras Batak people, adding that many politicians had obtained their seats by using funds from the sale of pigs.

Dont be hypocritical. We all know that many Batak people are successful because of pigs. Many people have become generals, officials and perhaps even DPRD members [] by selling pigs, Boasa said during the demonstration.

He added that Jokowi should immediately take action to tackle the ASF outbreak, which has caused heavy economic losses among livestock farmers in the province.

We demand that the government immediately intervene to overcome the outbreak, which has caused tens of thousands of pigs to die in North Sumatra.

Hasudungan Siahaan, a protestor representing local community group Horas Bangso Batak, added that the movement was an expression of public unrest over the governments plan to eradicate pigs in North Sumatra and had no political motives.

Responding to the rally, Victor Silaen, chairman of the DPRDs Commission B, assured the protesters that pigs in the province would not be culled as they contribute to the provinces locally generated income (PAD).

Viktor said the North Sumatra DPRD had taken a number of steps to address the outbreak, including summoning regents from the 18 regencies affected by the virus, as well as related agency officials.

He also assured the public that it was safe to eat pork despite the virus.

Go ahead and eat pork; no one who eats pork will contract the disease, he said.

Separately, North Sumatra Food and Livestock Resilience Agency head Azhar Harahap said the provincial administration did not have sufficient funds to deal with the virus.

He explained that no specific funds could be allocated to overcome the outbreak and that his agency had requested funding assistance from the central government.

We have asked the central government for Rp 46 billion [US$3.35 million] to help handle the swine fever outbreak here, Azhar said during a meeting with the DPRD on Monday.

Azhar also asserted that culling all the pigs was not a solution as it would be in conflict with a 2012 government regulation on animal welfare, as well as the principles of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).

The North Sumatra administration will not kill pigs because it will harm the community both economically and culturally, he said.

There is no cure yet for ASF, he added, but the North Sumatra administration had formed a rapid reaction unit to take preventative measures such as spraying disinfectant and cleaning pig pens in order to ensure that healthy pigs do not get infected.

Azhar said the administration was also closely monitoring livestock movement between villages, subdistricts, districts, cities and provinces, and had banned the movement of pigs to and from North Sumatra to prevent the spread of the virus, steps that have already borne fruit.

An average of 302 pigs per day have died from the virus in North Sumatra, which is the lowest amount compared to ASF outbreaks in other countries, Azhar said, adding that the number of dead pigs totaled around 3.6 percent of the total 1.2 million pigs in North Sumatra

The Agriculture Ministry confirmed the existence of the ASF virus in 16 regencies in North Sumatra on Dec. 12 last year and reported the case to the OIE on Dec. 17. (syk)
Sources report several coronavirus infections in North Korea although the isolated country has shut all its borders and banned foreign visitors. The disease now seems to have spread to Pyongyang, where the elite live in dense clusters.

"A North Korean who had returned from China tested positive for coronavirus," a source said last week. "The patient lives in the main area of the capital where the elite is concentrated."

The source added that North Korean health authorities have issued an alert for the outbreak and cordoned the area off.

Another source said a woman who returned from the Chinese city of Qingdao has also tested positive, and those who came into contact with her have been quarantined.


Apple's biggest iPhone maker Foxconn has been given the green light to resume production at a key plant in the eastern central Chinese city of Zhengzhou, after being forced to shut it following the coronavirus outbreak.

However, only 10 percent or 16,000 employees of the factory's workforce has managed to return so far, a source told Reuters.

With the shutdown and lack of hands in the plant, it is predicted that Apple's sales will fall by 10 percent this quarter.

However, the firm has not yet been allowed to restart production in Shenzhen, a southern manufacturing hub, the source said.

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Apple's biggest iPhone maker Foxconn has been given the green light to resume production at a key plant in the eastern central Chinese city of Zhengzhou (pictured), after being forced to shut it following the coronavirus outbreak

The two factories together make up the bulk of Foxconn's assembly lines for Apple's iPhones, and the delays are likely to impact global shipments.

Researcher TrendForce said on Monday it expected global smartphone production to fall by 12 percent to its lowest level in five years in the first three months of 2020 because a virus outbreak in China.

TrendForce said it cut its forecasts for the global smartphone output, expecting Huawei, Apple Inc. and other companies to bear brunt of the market slowdown - Apple is set for a 10 percent drop.

Apple itself gave a wider-than-usual revenue outlook range for the March quarter last month to factor in uncertainty due to the virus that has claimed more than 900 lives and infected over 40,000 people.

An Apple spokeswoman in Shanghai was not immediately available for comment.

About 16,000 people, or under 10 percent of Foxconn's workforce in Zhengzhou have returned to the plant, the source said, adding that company executives were trying very hard to negotiate with authorities to resume production in other parts of China

Apple rival and China's biggest smartphone maker, Huawei, said last week it had resumed production of consumer devices and carrier equipment, and operations were running normally.

About 16,000 people, or under 10 percent of Foxconn's workforce in Zhengzhou have returned to the plant, the source said, adding that company executives were trying very hard to negotiate with authorities to resume production in other parts of China, including Kunshan, in southeastern Jiangsu province.

'Our request to resume production (in Shenzhen) was disapproved. We need to improve our virus control measures for another check,' said the person who declined to be identified because they are not authorised to speak publicly on the matter.

Shenzhen authorities will conduct checks at the plant again later this week, the person said.

Employees in Shenzhen were told not to return to work on Tuesday, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

The coronavirus outbreak - declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization - has disrupted Chinese manufacturing and forced companies such as Hyundai Motor to halt production of cars in some factories.

Some companies including Samsung Electronics limped back to work on Monday but hundreds of factories and stores remain shut across China.

Foxconn, formally Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, said in a statement that employee safety was top priority and that it was working with authorities to meet requirements to resume production across China 'in a staggered and orderly manner'.

Foxconn employees who returned to work on Monday following an extended Lunar New Year holiday have been told to wear masks, undergo temperature checks and adhere to a specified dining system, according to internal memos seen by Reuters.

With the shutdown and lack of hands in the plant, it is predicted that Apple's sales will fall by 10 percent this quarter

Most senior Taiwanese officials have been told to refrain from returning to China and those who needed to do so required approval from Chairman Liu Young-Way, the person said.

Foxconn, which makes devices for global electronics firms, has built its own production lines in the southern province of Guangdong to make masks for its hundreds of thousands of employees, targeting two million masks a day by late February, the memos showed.

The company reported an 11.96 percent drop in its January revenue from a year ago to T$364.6 billion ($12.12 billion), according to a Foxconn filing to the Taiwan stock exchange. It did not give further details.

Foxconn shares fell as much as 2.4 percent in Monday trade, lagging a 0.3 percent decline in the broader market.

They have fallen more than 11 percent since the market reopened following the Lunar New Year break.
Switzerland has voted to criminalise gay hate after a campaign to bring the country in line with much of the rest of Europe.

A referendum on Sunday backed extending legislation protecting people from racist abuse to cover lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people who face prejudice.

Conservative Switzerland does not yet have laws that specifically protect lesbians, gays and bisexuals from discrimination.

Gay rights campaigners are pictured in Bern, Switzerland, as the nation voted to criminalise homophobic discrimination

Parliament passed a law in 2018 to widen the application of anti-racism statutes, so that offenders would face jail for up to three years.

But opponents secured the 50,000 signatures necessary under the system of direct democracy to put to the matter to a vote on Sunday.

Which states and territories DON'T criminalise gay hate? Abkhazia Armenia Artsakh Azerbaijan Belarus Kazakhstan Russia South Ossetia Transnistria Turkey Vatican City Advertisement

Early projections suggest that roughly 62 per cent of voters backed the change, with pollster gfs.bern calling the result.

The projection, which surfaced on social media, has a margin of error of three percentage points.

The government has spoken out in support of the move and supporters' campaign posters featured two pink hearts rubbing up against each other under an umbrella.

Opponents have argued that the change to the law would be an infringement of free speech.

Swiss voters on Sunday also rejected a second initiative calling for at least 10 per cent of new housing to be built by not-for-profit cooperatives in an attempt to reduce the cost of living.

The same pollster projected that only 42 per cent of voters had backed that proposal, again with a margin of error of three points.

It leaves just 11 areas in Europe to not have laws that criminalise homophobic discrimination.

They included the disputed territories of Transnistria, which lies in between Moldova and Ukraien, and South Ossetia, which has Russia bordering its northern stretch and Georgia along its southern stretch.

Abkhazia, a disputed territory to the east of the Black Sea, and Artsakh, a disputed territory the UN considers part of Armenia, also don't criminalise homophobia.
Every February, people present their significant other with chocolate, flowers and cards. Grocery stores and shopping malls are covered in red or pink hearts, and there are a number of drawings of cupid floating around. Children buy packets of Valentines to hand out to friends and classmates, and Mom and Dad get a babysitter so they can enjoy a romantic candlelight dinner at a nice restaurant.Valentines Day has long been a celebration of love. Those who are single on Valentines Day sometimes joke that they are celebrating Singles Awareness Day, whereas those who had a recent breakup often grab either the ice cream or the beer and bury a broken heart in sugar and bad movies. Those without a partner make it a point not to go out to dinner on February 14 because they know that all the restaurants will be full. Valentines Day is so commonly known to be a day of love that few people ever give much thought to its origins. It simply is what it is. Holidays do not appear out of the ether, though. They originate with some memorable event or time in history. So, where did Valentines Day come from?The short answer is that no one is sure. There are a number of different legends that surround the beginning of Valentines Day, but a number of these origin stories surround a Catholic saint named Valentine or Valentinus. So, it is likely that there is at least some truth in the idea that Valentines Day is based on a Catholic martyr named Valentine. The problem is that the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different St. Valentines, and all three of them were martyred.The first St. Valentine that the Catholic Church recognizes is said to have been a priest during the third century. He lived in Rome under the rule of Emperor Claudius II. According to legend, Emperor Claudius II decided that men without families or wives made for better soldiers. As such, marriage was outlawed for men of a certain age. Valentine felt that this was horribly unjust and defied the decree. Valentine continued to act as a priest and performed secret marriage rites for young men. These marriages then allowed young men to escape being drafted into the Roman army. Valentines luck could not last forever, though, and eventually his actions were discovered. Valentine was arrested, and Claudius had him executed.The second St. Valentine was also a Roman Christian who defied the emperor. In this story, Valentine was attempting to convert people to Christianity. In third century Rome, this was a serious crime. Christianity was not welcome in Roman society, and Christians were horribly persecuted. This did not deter Valentine, however, and he continued to gain converts. In addition to trying to convert Romans to Christianity, Valentine would enter prisons and marry the Christians who were held captive there. According to legend, Emperor Claudius II was fond of Valentine and so was willing to turn a blind eye to the other mans activities. Valentine, however, became overconfident and attempted to convert Claudius himself to Christianity. Claudius was enraged and ordered Valentine to renounce his faith on the pain of death. Valentine refused and chose to be martyred instead. Valentine was executed on February 14 outside Flaminian Gate for his crimes.The third St. Valentine that is recognized by the Catholic Church is probably the most famous one. He is also the Valentine that is most closely associated with the sort of love story that is so popular on modern Valentines Day. There are several versions of the legend associated with the third St. Valentine. The first version begins with Valentine helping Christians escape Roman prisons. Christians who were imprisoned were often tortured, and Valentine could not stand to leave them in such conditions. Valentine, however, was caught and thrown in prison himself. While he was held captive, he was visited by the jailors daughter. The two fell in love, but the woman could do nothing to stop Valentines pending execution. The star crossed lovers were doomed. Just before his death, Valentine wrote his love a final letter, and he signed it from your Valentine. This phrase remained popular due to the romantic and tragic connotations, though eventually the tragedy was lost and the phrase became a declaration of love.The second version of this Valentines story begins when a judge named Asterius decided to put Valentines faith to the test. Asterius called Valentine to his home where the judge brought out his daughter who was blind. Asterius told Valentine to restore his daughters sight. If Valentine was successful, the judge vowed to do whatever Valentine wished. Valentine agreed and restored her vision. Asterius was awed. He broke all the idols in his house and fasted for three days before he had all 44 members of his household baptized. Asterius also freed all his Christian prisoners, but Valentine ran afoul of Emperor Claudius and was arrested. The day of his execution, Valentine left a note for Asterius daughter signed your Valentine.While it is uncertain which of these Valentines was the martyr who inspired Valentines Day, it is clear that he was a real person. Archaeologists discovered a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to St. Valentine. Similarly, Pope Gelasius set February 14 as the date for the celebration of St. Valentines martyrdom.St. Valentine was one of the most popular saints during the Middle Ages, and he has continued to influence the modern world. People today send more than 150 million Valentines Day cards in February, and tens of millions of dollars are spent on chocolate, flowers and jewelry meant for significant others. While these may be strange ways to celebrate a day originally dedicated to a saints rather gruesome death, St. Valentine would likely approve. After all, if the legends are to be believed, he risked everything for love. He would approve of a day meant to spread even more love.
ROCHESTER, N.H.  Sen. Bernie Sanders, now the de facto frontrunner in a muddled Democratic primary race, exhorted his supporters Saturday to deliver him a victory in New Hampshire and prepare for the fight beyond.

Im a little nervous, is this old opera house going to stay standing after this event? said Sanders taking the stage in the 112-year-old Rochester Opera House in eastern New Hampshire. Speaking to an estimated crowd of 1,100, Sanders was in good spirits, joking that due to his packed schedule before Tuesdays primary, his remarks would be only two hours.

Over 45 minutes, Sanders mostly stuck to his usual stump speech, focusing on his dream of collective international action against climate change, Medicare for All, pharmaceutical price regulation and criminal justice reform. Although the event was initially billed as a town hall, he did not take questions. Sanders thanked the canvassers going door-to-door, who a few days ago, ringing doorbells at the rate of better than one a second, surpassed their own total of voters contacted from four years ago. He also thanked New Hampshire, which gave him a 22 point margin of victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016, for legitimizing his agenda. He closed with a call reminding supporters that the effort to implement his broad progressive plans would not end with the election.

I am asking a lot of you. Obviously, I am asking for your votes on Tuesday, but I am asking for more than that. I am asking you to work with me after our inauguration, to come back and say, Yes, we are going to stand together, said Sanders, adding, Two days from today will be an enormously important day. If we win here in New Hampshire, and with your help I think we can win, it will make it easier for us to win in Nevada and in South Carolina and in California. You will make it easier for us to win the Democratic nomination and then have the opportunity to soundly defeat the most dangerous president in American history.

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Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks at a town hall campaign event at the Rochester Opera House on Saturday in Rochester, N.H. (Robert F. Bukaty/AP)

The senator didnt name any of his Democratic opponents directly, although he did take two unmistakable shots at former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who polling shows has emerged as his chief rival here. Sanders pointedly said his campaign isnt funded by billionaires, one day after attacking Buttigieg on the debate stage over his wealthy backers. And he claimed victory in last weeks Iowa caucuses on the basis of raw vote totals, while Buttigieg is slightly ahead in the number of delegates awarded  although the complicated and error-ridden process of tabulating votes leaves an exact outcome still in doubt. Even Michael Moore, the filmmaker and left-wing provocateur, who spoke before Sanders at the event, was mostly respectful of the rest of the Democratic field, calling it a good group of human beings.

Sanders has started to broaden his electability pitch. In Friday nights debate, he emphasized his ability to work with Republicans, saying, There were periods when I was in the House of Representatives ... where I passed more bipartisan amendments than any other member of the House. There are ways we can work with the Republicans on issues where we have a common basis. When pressed on whether billing himself as a democratic socialist would hurt his ability to build a broad coalition capable of defeating President Trump, Sanders said, The way you bring people together is by presenting an agenda that works for the working people of this country, not the billionaire class.

Is Sanders the favorite? With former Vice President Joe Biden already conceding defeat in New Hampshire after a fourth-place finish in Iowa, the political prognostication site FiveThirtyEight has given Sanders a 45 percent chance of winning the nomination on the first ballot, the best of any candidate but still far from being a sure thing. (Second place is No one at 24 percent followed by Biden at 20 percent.) The campaign also reloaded the coffers, raising $25 million in January, more than any other Democrat had raised in any entire quarter. The campaign announced that more than $5.5 million of that will go to ad buys in the March 3 Super Tuesday states, including delegate-rich California and Texas.

For Sanders this is a remarkable comeback from where he was six months ago. His poll numbers stalled from the late summer into autumn, and then disaster seemed to strike when he was hospitalized in October with a heart attack, keeping him briefly sidelined and raising questions about whether the 78-year-old candidate would even continue with his second presidential bid. But a strong debate performance followed by perhaps the most high-profile endorsement of the primary thus far  that of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the charismatic New York freshman  reenergized the campaign and started him on his upward trajectory in the polls.

Sanders addresses an estimated crowd of about 1,100 at the Rochester Opera House on Saturday. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The campaign has billed itself as antiestablishment from the beginning, and the Democratic establishment has taken note. On liberal-leaning MSNBC, longtime host Chris Matthews had two separate meltdowns over the last week, having been brought to the edge of tears discussing a potential Sanders victory on Monday and making a strained analogy between Sanderss brand of European-style socialism and Leninist dictatorship as practiced by Fidel Castro in Cuba. I believe if Castro and the Reds had won the Cold War, there would have been executions in Central Park and I might have been one of the ones getting executed, Matthews expostulated (referring to Communism by a slang term from the last century that has more recently come to signify the Republican Party.)

Joy Ann Reid, also an MSNBC anchor, brought a body language expert on her show in January who analyzed Sanderss posture and concluded he was lying when he denied telling Sen. Elizabeth Warren that a woman couldnt win the presidency. Meet the Press host Chuck Todd hosted a panel Friday that warned Sanders against starting a class war against billionaires. This is a stark contrast from much of the 2016 primary when the mainstream media, expecting Sanders to drop out long before the convention, gave him relatively light coverage, a situation his supporters called the Bernie Blackout.

Hillary Clinton, who defeated Sanders for the 2016 Democratic nomination but believes he hurt her chances against Donald Trump by delaying his concession, is still bitter about the race and said of Sanders, Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him. As the former secretary of state has been making the rounds promoting a forthcoming documentary, she has attacked Sanders as incapable of uniting the party.

But when Clintons comments about Sanderss unpopularity were raised on the debate stage Friday night, Biden literally hugged Sanders to show his support, while Sen. Amy Klobuchar talked about how much she liked Bernie and brought up times she had worked with him on legislation. (Klobuchars affection for her Senate colleague, despite their wide ideological differences, is often visible, in stark contrast to her barely disguised loathing of Buttigieg.) Tom Steyer, a member of the billionaire class that Sanders likes to demonize, seems so interested in earning Sanderss friendship that its become a running joke.

Polling confirms those anecdotal observations. In a Morning Consult survey of senators popularity among their constituents released in January, Sanders ranked ahead of all 99 of his peers. Among Democrats nationwide, there is no evidence of his unpopularity. In a recent Economist/YouGov poll, 22 percent of Democrats said they would be disappointed if Sanders were the nominee, putting him squarely in the middle among Biden, Steyer, Buttigieg and Klobuchar. (Warren had the best number, with just 15 percent saying theyd be disappointed if she won.)

This lines up with a CNN poll in which voters were asked if they would be enthusiastic or satisfied with certain candidates winning the nomination. Those results showed Sanders just in front of the other leading candidates, with 77 percent saying theyd be enthusiastic or satisfied with Sanders versus 72 percent for both Warren and Biden. The numbers for those who said they would be dissatisfied or upset were also similar, with 23 percent for Sanders versus 24 for Warren and 26 for Biden. Sanders has also continually led in polling as the most honest candidate.

With the money and volunteers to take the race to convention, the Sanders campaign has high hopes they can take advantage of the division among moderates and lock in a victory on the first ballot, with Tuesdays primary the next big test for the grassroots juggernaut.

_____

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[February 10, 2020] VISIT PHILADELPHIA Taps Digital Billboards in Times Square to Kick-Off Year Long Celebration of Women, Streams Live Reveal to Stakeholders at The Met in Philly

NEW YORK and PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Last week in Times Square, and through the power of streaming and digital out-of-home media (DOOH), VISIT PHILADELPHIA, the region's official tourism marketing organization, teamed with Clear Channel Outdoor (NYSE: CCO), one of the world's leading OOH companies, in an evolution for Greater Philadelphia's tourism marketing industry. Leveraging CCO's interactive, full-motion DOOH screens, VISIT PHILADELPHIA revealed City of Sisterly Love, a new city moniker that kicks off a campaign to strategically target female travelers and invite them to travel, with the other women in their lives, to Greater Philadelphia. The campaign creative was seen by the world through the lens of Times Square and more than 800 hotel and travel luminaries at The Met Philadelphia simultaneously. This new partnership and live activation on DOOH in Times Square, which was timed with National Plan For Vacation Day, underscores VISIT PHILADELPHIA's adoption of innovation and technology to help track the efficiency of its marketing. The organization's leadership teamspearheaded by Jeff Guaracino, president and CEO is leaning into technologies like DOOH and CCO RADAR, the company's industry-leading suite of data-driven solutions for effective planning, amplification and measurement. "People are spending more time than ever away from theirown homesyet, year after year, they're leaving hard-earned vacation time on the table," said Jeff Guaracino, president and CEO, VISIT PHILADELPHIA. "Our challenge is to adapt our marketing strategy in ways that bring our core audiences closer to Philadelphia in meaningful and measurable ways. This partnership with Clear Channel Outdoor allows us to be more visible with our marketing while adapting our messages in real-time based on what's happening in the world."



While the Times Square activation was just the kick-off for VISIT PHILADELPHIA's 2020 campaigns and the announcement of the city's new moniker, the organization will look to partner with CCO leveraging its national and international footprint to reach key audience segments. On January 30, Philadelphia City Council issued a resolution that changed the city's moniker from "The City of Brotherly Love" to "The City of Sisterly Love" for 2020. The change was inspired by VISIT PHILADELPHIA's Sisterly Love campaign that debuted in Times Square last week. Additional marketing initiatives around the campaign will roll out later this year.

A year full of events and programming around art, food, fitness, wine, music and history, including many celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the passage of women's constitutional right to vote, invites all womensisters, cousins, girlfriends and any other group of womento choose Philadelphia as their getaway destination. VISIT PHILADELPHIA is our name and our mission. As the region's official tourism marketing agency, we build Greater Philadelphia's image, drive visitation and boost the economy. On Greater Philadelphia's official visitor website and blog, visitphilly.com and uwishunu.com, visitors can explore things to do, upcoming events, themed itineraries and hotel packages. Compelling photography and videos, interactive maps and detailed visitor information make the sites effective trip- planning tools. Along with Visit Philly social media channels, the online platforms communicate directly with consumers. Travelers can also call and stop into the Independence Visitor Center for additional information and tickets. About Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc.

Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CCO) is one of the world's largest outdoor advertising companies with a diverse portfolio of approximately 450,000 print and digital displays in 31 countries across Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America, reaching millions of people monthly. A growing digital platform includes more than 15,000 digital displays in international markets and more than 1,600 digital displays, including more than 1,300 digital billboards, in the U.S. Learn more about Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. at www.clearchanneloutdoor.com Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/CCOutdoor

Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/CCOutdoorNA View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/visit-philadelphia-taps-digital-billboards-in-times-square-to-kick-off-year-long-celebration-of-women-streams-live-reveal-to-stakeholders-at-the-met-in-philly-301002162.html SOURCE Clear Channel Outdoor

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[February 10, 2020] UAE Unveils USD 500 Million "Consortium for Africa:" Investment and Development for "Turbocharged" New Africa Driven by Youth

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Feb. 10, 2020 /CNW/ -- The UAE'S Consortium for Africa, a new initiative with a committed investment of USD 500 million to help fulfil the vision of a "turbocharged" and connected new Africa, driven by its youth, has been unveiled at the African Union (AU). The UAE Minister for International Cooperation and Director General of Expo 2020 Dubai, Her Excellency Reem Al Hashimy, told members that the Consortium would be a long-term builder of human capital on the continent with two immediate priorities: digitisation and youth. She said the Consortium would align the UAE government and its private sector's commitment to Africa, combining ambition for progress, and resource to support it, into one focused entity to assist development and investment, contributing to an optimistic new future vision for Africa and with Africans. Her Excellency Reem Al Hashimy explained: "More than simply donor or a provider of concessionary loans, the UAE understands that real value lies in the long-term building of human capital. And we are committed to helping deliver the apparatus in which start-ups can thrive, entrepreneurs can lead, and young people can look forward with optimism to a future that is firmly in their control." The focus on digitisation and youth would ensure that "our young and talented populations are not overwhelmed by, but embrace, the opportunities of the future," Her Excellency added. "We have listened closely to what you have told us, as a continent repesented by the African Union, and as nations that make up its member states. And we have heard your call to the UAE: to draw on lessons learned through our own development, and to target the UAE's investment into Africa's digital economy," Her Excellency continued.



The UAE has been an active partner on the continent throughout its 49-year history, investing billions during that time and by 2016 was the second largest investor country in Africa, with support for a wide variety of projects including roads, bridges and ports, schools, clinics and hospitals. The Consortium for Africa would ensure a more consolidated, adaptive and impactful support in the future, said Her Excellency, who was the first UAE Minister to address the AU with a speech to its Executive Council at its headquarters.

Her Excellency also heralded the first participation of the African Union at a World Expo, showcasing the continent's rich history and many achievements within its own pavilion. For the first time in World Expo's 169-year history, every single participating nation  a record-breaking 192  will be represented with an individual pavilion of its own at the World's Greatest Showcase of human brilliance and achievement. Some 25 million visits are expected at the first World Expo in the Middle East, Africa and South Asian region (MEASA). Located in Expo 2020's Opportunity District, the African Union Pavilion will explore the speeches of Africa's great leaders, illustrating just how much the institution has achieved since its inception as the Organisation of African Unity in 1963. Millions of visitors will step in to a colorful, borderless space, where they will discover Africa's vast potential and optimism for the future, reflected in its Agenda 2063 aspirations that address agriculture, transport, science and technology, and health. For six months from 20 October 2020 until 10 April 2021, the UAE will host the world's largest meeting of minds, welcoming creative critical thinkers to a powerful platform that will shape our future and reveal a raft of opportunities to be explored by  and in  African countries. Infographic - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1088299/Expo_2020_Dubai_Consortium_for_Africa.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1088300/HE_Reem_al_Hashimy_AU_Summit.jpg View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/uae-unveils-usd-500-million-consortium-for-africa-investment-and-development-for-turbocharged-new-africa-driven-by-youth-301001959.html SOURCE Expo 2020 Dubai

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[February 10, 2020] Emerson Partners With Belgian Research Group to Prepare Next Generation of Brewers Emerson (News - Alert) (NYSE: EMR), a global technology and engineering company, today announced it is partnering with Ghent University (UGent) and University College Ghent (HOGENT) in Ghent, Belgium, to revamp, automate and modernize a pilot brewery, including providing equipment and support services. The two institutions share a common brewery research group in the Laboratory for Brewing and Fermentation Science and Technology. The laboratory offers hands-on training using the latest digital automation technologies to educate the next-generation workforce, close skills gaps and enable digital transformation throughout the region's brewing industry, where technology is key to keeping pace with the increasing demand for craft beer. The project further expands Emerson's initiative to collaborate with higher education institutions and its commitment with both schools to build a globally competitive craft brewing and brewing industry in Flanders, Belgium and throughout Europe. The students and stakeholders in the region will have access to advanced automation technologies and fermentation sciences expertise, helping build a highly skilled workforce. The newly upgraded pilot brewery, located within the laboratory, will attract and train students, academics and engineering professionals on how to use next-generation automation technologies in a safe, interactive learning environment. "We are focused on helping train the digital workforce of the future while advancing education, innovation and diversity in the brewing industry," said Roel Van Doren, president of Europe for Emerson's Automation Solutions business. "We look forward to a strong and continued partnership with UGent and HOGENT." Once completed, the center will feature elements of Emerson's Plantweb digital ecosystem portolio of industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies used in brewing automation: a DeltaV distributed control system, Micro Motion Coriolis flow meters, Rosemount wireless measurement technology, Fisher control valves, analytics software for calculating conductivity, pH and turbidity, as well as a remote diagnostics that will allow technicians to monitor the system from Emerson's Belgium office in Diegem, 70 kilometers away. UGent and HOGENT are one of more than 350 institutions worldwide, from technical community colleges to four-year university programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels, that Emerson has partnered with to address the skills gap in digital automation technologies. Emerson is dedicated to advancing education, innovation and diversity by collaborating with both industry and educational institutions. For more information on Emerson's solutions for brewing, go to Emerson.com/brewing. About Emerson Emerson (NYSE: EMR), headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), is a global technology and engineering company providing innovative solutions for customers in industrial, commercial and residential markets. Our Automation Solutions business helps process, hybrid and discrete manufacturers maximize production, protect personnel and the environment while optimizing their energy and operating costs. Our Commercial & Residential Solutions business helps ensure human comfort and health, protect food quality and safety, advance energy efficiency and create sustainable infrastructure. For more information visit Emerson.com. Additional resources: Join the Emerson Exchange 365 Community

Connect with Emerson via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200210005032/en/

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If exit polls prove to be correct and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, Arvind Kejriwal, wins another term in the office of Chief Minister of Delhi, his West Bengal counterpart and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee is likely to come to the national capital to attend his swearing-in ceremony.

With all exit polls predicting a clear victory for the AAP, Kejriwal told Banerjee over the phone that he had no doubt about his party trouncing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to secure another five-year-term in power in the National Capital Territory. He also invited Trinamool Congress supremo to attend the ceremony, which will mark the beginning of his third tenure in the office of the Chief Minister of Delhi, sources told the DH in New Delhi on Monday.

Banerjee, according to the sources, conveyed to Kejriwal her willingness to attend the ceremony, of course if she does not have any other pressing engagement on the day the AAP chief would be sworn-in for his third term as Chief Minister of the National Capital Territory.

Kejriwal first took over as Chief Minister of Delhi on December 28, 2013, but resigned on February 14, 2014. He returned to the office on February 14, 2015, after leading the AAP to a landslide victory in the assembly elections. If the exit polls prove to be correct on Tuesday, he may soon take over as Chief Minister for the third term.

The Trinamool Congress supremo is the first Opposition leader whom the AAP chief had talks with over phone after polling for the assembly elections in Delhi concluded on Saturday. He may also call leaders of a few other opposition parties too and invite them to the swearing-in ceremony after the results are officially declared on Tuesday.

Among the political parties opposed to the BJP-led government at the Centre, the AAP and the Trinamool Congress have since long been closely aligned. Banerjee has been meeting Kejriwal during her visits to Delhi.

Banerjee has been a firebrand critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah and her party is struggling to stall the BJP's foray into West Bengal. The Trinamool Congress has been opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which the BJP-led Government brought into force in December 2019. She, however, has been cautiously avoiding to be seen closer to the Congress, even while fighting against the BJP.

Follow the latest Delhi election updates here

When Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Soren was sworn in as Chief Minister in Ranchi on December 30 last, Banerjee joined Rahul Gandhi of the Congress, Sitaram Yechury of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), M K Stalin of the Dravida Munnethra Kazhagam (DMK), Tejashwi Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and several other leaders of the Opposition parties to attend the ceremony. She, however, neither attended, nor sent a representative of the Trinamool Congress to attend the meeting of the Opposition leaders convened by the Congress in New Delhi on January 13. No leader from the AAP also attended the meeting.

Most of the exit polls conducted on Saturday predicted that the AAP will win more than 50 seats in the 70-member-assembly in Delhi. Some of the exit polls predicted a lesser number of seats for the AAP, but none predicted a victory for the BJP, which, according to all, would finish a distant second. Almost all the exit polls predicted that the Congress would continue to remain irrelevant in the political scene of the National Capital Territory.

The BJP leaders, however, dismissed the exit polls predictions and claimed that the party, which leads the Union Government, was well in course to dislodge the AAP from power.
Mary Buckley, IDA Ireland, outlines key findings in the IDAs 2015-19 strategy review.

Investment from the US has always been invaluable for the Irish economy, and the success of foreign direct investment (FDI) over IDA Irelands five-year strategy for 2015 to 2019 clearly underlines that.

The FDI performance over the past five years has been unprecedented and this strong performance will continue into the first half of 2020, said Mary Buckley, executive director, IDA Ireland.

Of particular importance over the past five years has been the regional impact of FDI.

The ambitious target set in our strategy of an increase in investments in every region of 30% to 40% has now been met; 58% of all IDA jobs are now outside of Dublin.

"In this regard, regional development will be core to our new strategy for the period 2020 to 2024.

However, she notes the possibility of significant downside risk in the marketplace over the next five-year period: Those risks emanate from the possibility of an economic correction in key source markets, continued trade tensions, subdued global economic growth  and from domestic challenges related to competitiveness and the carrying capacity of the economy.

We have developed our new strategy to, as far as possible, withstand the challenges of global political and economic uncertainty, she added.

Mary Buckley, IDA Ireland, Executive Director

Our value proposition continues to be strong. We are well positioned as a gateway location to Europe, and are committed members of the EU. We are stable, business-friendly, and supportive.

Talent continues to be an important asset, and being competitive is more important than ever for IDAs client companies to continue to grow and develop.

Today, there are 145,096 people working in over 1,549 FDI companies in Ireland  the highest employment in IDA Irelands 70-year history.

One third of multinational companies in Ireland have been here for 20 years or more, while Apple are celebrating 40 years with over 6,000 employees, and Intel is established 30 years with 4,900 employees in Kildare, Cork, and Shannon.

Pfizer, Analog Devices, Boston Scientific, Eli Lilly, National Pen, and Merit Medical have all been in Ireland for two decades, and others much longer.

This not only reflects the commitment of these companies to Ireland, but also a longevity and resilience that comes from continuous transformation that will be as important as ever in the years ahead with the advent of the future of work, technological change, and the transition to a low-carbon economy.

IDA will continue to support those companies who are in Ireland today to expand and grow, while at the same time working to attract the next generation of world leading companies to Ireland, she added.

Responding to demands of a 21st century economy

In 2019, 88 investments out of 250 came from our existing clients such as Johnson & Johnson, Limerick, Strykers 200m R&D investment in Cork, and Valeos 44m investment in Tuam, Co Galway.

All investments are hard-won, with our existing companies needing to compete against sister sites globally to win investments.

"Therefore, we cannot be complacent about winning FDI. Irelands competitiveness is key to our success.

Irelands success of recent years has been broad-based, with the country enjoying growth across most sectors of the economy.

Indeed, the sectors in which IDA client companies activities are focused  technology, life sciences, business and consumer services, financial services, and engineering  are those which reflect a modern, 21st century economy.

Ireland enjoys a competitive advantage in winning FDI in global business services, high-value manufacturing, and R&D activities. These are likely to remain our priority areas in the years ahead.

The fast pace of technological change is impacting upon all sectors, and there are changes within these sub-sectors  such as Industry 4.0 for high value manufacturing, artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, and fintech.

Irelands national cyber security cluster initiative has been recently established in Cork with the involvement of industry, academia, and Government focuses on the needs of the sector  enhancing innovation and the growth and competitiveness of an ambitious cluster of companies and organisations.

In Limerick, IDA Ireland is collaborating with stakeholders on the development of an advanced manufacturing centre for the manufacturing sector to provide a soft landing for companies as they upskill and test the most appropriate digital technologies and practices for their sites.

Students participating in the pop-up exhibition by Pfizer and Science Gallery during Science Week last November. Pfizer has been one of the most significant investors in Ireland for the past 50 years.

Bank of development land

Having access to development land, buildings, and services is another important asset in the IDA arsenal.

We work closely with the private sector to deliver property solutions nationally and market their commercial properties to our clients.

"However, at the beginning of IDAs Winning strategy in 2015, the private sector was not investing in commercial property in regional locations outside Dublin so our Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation committed 150m to development of a regional property programme including the construction of new buildings.

The regional property programme has proven successful with nine buildings now delivered, and seven occupied or at an advanced stage of lease execution, with US companies like Meissner purchasing a building in Castlebar that will create 150 jobs; Opko acquiring our first completed building in Waterford with 200 jobs; Aerie Pharma leasing a building in Athlone; and Abbott having leased a building in Sligo.

It is important to note that, for every 10 jobs created in an FDI company, and additional eight are created in the wider economy.

"Two buildings are just completed in Dundalk and Waterford and are being actively marketed.

The IDA also have strategic sites that are large land banks usually for heavy utility capital investment companies: For example, US companies such as West Pharma acquired our site in Knock House, Waterford, and Regeneron invested in Raheen Business Park in Limerick, and today employs 800 people.

Regional locations seeing new buildings commence construction this year include Monaghan, Athlone, Dundalk, Carlow, and Sligo.

The presence of over 760 US companies across the country accounts for employment of 160,000, contributing significantly to regional development, with 59% of employment in US companies located outside Dublin.

US companies are very important to the success of Ireland, Mary Buckley says. The US is historically the most important source market for investment into Ireland and, while this continues to be the case, IDAs strategy of source market diversification is proving successful.

In 2019, 63% of investment came from the US; while it remains the engine of jobs growth, the share of total investments from Europe and growth markets is up from 30% in 2014 to 37% in 2019.

In 2019, we opened a new Canadian office in Toronto, and IDA now has pathfinders in the UAE, Turkey and South Africa.

We will continue to review our current markets and progress new markets that have the potential to bring new opportunities for Ireland.

In the imminent post-Brexit environment, Ireland will maintain close relations with the UK as a result of the deep and long-standing linkages between businesses and people  and because the UK will remain our nearest and largest neighbour.

Our economic and political stability, along with a continued commitment to the EU, is a core part of Irelands value proposition to foreign investors.

"As companies seek Brexit solutions that will impose the lowest possible additional costs and the least possible disruption to trade, Ireland offers a base from which to sustain access to the single market, to minimise uncertainty and to grow their business, she points out.

Following the UKs vote to leave the EU, Ireland has performed strongly in Brexit related investments, securing 90 investments with a commitment to 5,500 jobs, primarily in financial services and many have come from the US, such as Bank of America, J P Morgan, Citi and others.
Co-president Kristyn Caserta praised the team at Boston Direct for its consistent efforts throughout the year. "It's gratifying to be able to build on our success quarter over quarter as we continue to achieve results on behalf of the client," she said. "We look forward to continuing the trend well into 2020."

Boston Direct represents one of the most recognizable names in green energy, and provides hands-on, interactive engagement to secure a memorable, satisfying experience for customers.

The professional staff at Boston Direct creates lasting relationships with direct, personalized outreach that prioritizes client objectives.

In addition to a robust management development program that molds leaders who value integrity, teamwork, and competitive spirit, the company is engaged in the community and contributes time and effort to various charitable causes.

Like Boston Direct on Facebook.

About Boston Direct

Headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts, Boston Direct is a leading outsourced sales and marketing firm that specializes in business-to-business and business-to-consumer campaigns. With integrity and professionalism, Boston Direct provides competitive, progressive solutions to clients seeking exponential growth. For more information, call 508-309-4750 or go to https://bostondirectinc.com.

Contact: Kristyn Caserta

508-309-4750

SOURCE Boston Direct
Concurs repetat pentru selectarea unei companii sociologice, care sa efectueze un studiu tematic "Barometrul opiniei publice in domeniul schimbarilor climatice"
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The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday extended thanks to Vietnam and other countries for providing support for China to combat the novel coronavirus epidemic that has hit Wuhan and many nations around the world.

Global Times, a daily tabloid newspaper under the Chinese Communist Party's People's Daily newspaper, reported on the gratitude the same day.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday expressed gratitude to countries, including Russia, Vietnam and those in Africa, for showing their firm support to the Chinese government in combating the novel coronavirus pneumonia and providing medical aid to the epicenter Wuhan, the Global Times said.

Medical gloves, masks and protective outfits donated by the Vietnamese government arrived in Wuhan on Monday, the newspaper quoted Geng Shuang, spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as saying.

Our heartfelt thanks go to all those who provided us with sincere support and help, Geng said.

Vietnam had sent medical supplies and equipment worth US$500,000 to China on a Vietnam Airlines plane earlier on Monday.

On this occasion, the Vietnam Red Cross Society also donated medical supplies worth $100,000 to China.

In related news, Vietnams Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday that ten Vietnamese citizens had been brought back home from Wuhan.

The 30 citizens touched down at Van Don International Airport in Quang Ninh Province, located in northern Vietnam, at 5:04 am on Monday.

They were healthy upon entering Vietnam but they have been taken to quarantine places to monitor their health in the next 14 days, which is the incubation period of the new coronavius, as per regulations on medical care to curb the spread of the pathogen.

The plane has been disinfected and will be grounded for 24 hours to prevent any possible contagion, the ministry noted.

The novel coronavirus first hit Wuhan in Hubei in December 2019.

Chinas National Health Commission said on Monday the death toll rose to 908 and there were 3,062 new confirmed infections across mainland China as of Sunday, bringing the total number so far to 40,171, according to Reuters.

The virus has spread to at least 27 countries and territories, infecting over 330 people.

Vietnam has confirmed 14 cases so far, six of whom have been discharged free of the virus from the hospital.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Chairman of Committee of Building and Other Construction Workers, Labour Department Raghuraj Singh on Monday stoked controversy, while demanding that the Centre and the state government should impose a ban on 'burqa'.

"I demand the state and the Central governments to ban the burqa, as terrorists use the burqa to enter the country. Likewise, in Shaheen Bagh these days most of those wearing burqa is misusing it. Therefore, its usage should be stopped," Singh, who holds a Cabinet rank post in the UP government, told ANI here.

"The burqa is banned in Sri Lanka, China, Japan and America along with many other non-Muslim countries. To end terrorism, burqa must be banned," the senior BJP leader further said.

Not new to controversies, Singh had earlier on January 30 said that "anti-nationals" will be given 'Kutte-Ki-Maut' (die like a dog) and went on to say that the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) can be renamed as 'Hindustan University.'

Addressing a gathering here, Singh said that if they wish, they can change the name of the Aligarh Muslim University to 'Hindustan University' whenever they want to.

"Whosoever is indulged in anti- activities will be given 'Kutte Ki Maut' (die like a dog). The police have been instructed to kill such persons immediately in the encounter," he said.

"I want to say it to the 'mullahs' of the Aligarh Muslim University that whenever we want we will change its name to the Hindustan University," he had said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Delhi police has made adequate arrangements and deployed around 40,000 security personnel, 19,000 home guards and 190 companies of Central Armed Police Forces to ensure smooth conduct of the assembly elections in the national capital on Saturday, officials said.

Polling will begin at 8 am and will end at 6 pm on Saturday. While specific election duties have been given to Delhi Police personnel, the CAPF companies have been deployed to provide security at polling booths and movement of EVMs.

Around 19,000 Home guards from states like Uttarakhand, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh will also assist the local police in providing security at polling booths, the officials said.

A multi-layered security has been put in place at 21 counting centres and 2,689 polling premises, out of which 545 are "critical", they said.

"Delhi Police personnel and para military forces have been deployed at critical booths so that more enforcement and better arrangement can be ensured. Patrolling has also been intensified in those localities," said Sharat Kumar Singha, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Election Cell).

Marked by the BJP aggressively pushing the anti-CAA protests in Shaheen Bagh as a poll issue, the AAP hard selling development and the Congress conspicuous by its near absence, the bitter, often divisive campaign for the Delhi assembly elections ended on Thursday.

Additional forces have also been deployed to bolster the security of EVMs, critical booths and counting centres, he said.

Static surveillance teams and flying squads have been deployed and special checking drives are being conducted in vulnerable areas to check any attempt to influence voters by money or muscle power and other unlawful practices, police said.

"EVM transportation drill has been planned in coordination with polling officials. All necessary measures have also been taken, including from the anti-terror angle in vulnerable areas. Senior officers will closely supervise arrangements at the ground level.

"Thorough area domination will be ensured in sensitive and vulnerable areas, and all precautions will be taken to ensure smooth movement of voters to the booths," a senor police official said.

Pickets on borders have been strengthened to check transportation of illicit liquor and other contraband. All border areas will be kept under strict vigil by regularly coordinating with counterparts of NCR police, he said.

Also, patrolling on boats in the Yamuna river is being done, he added.

According to police, since the enforcement of Model Code of Conduct, 99,210 litres of illicit liquor, with a market value of Rs 2.72 crore and 774.1 kg drugs with a market value of Rs 4.91 crore have already been seized as part of the special drives.

So far, 504 illegal fire-arms and 730 ammunition have been recovered. Besides, 7,397 licensed weapons have also been deposited as a preventive measure, police said.

Action has been taken against 7,820 people under the Excise Act.

While 5,943 persons have been booked under various sections of CRPC, 1,26,095 persons have been booked under DP Act. Besides, 529 cases have been registered under Defacement Act so far, according to the police.

Police have also issued a public appeal to report and share objectionable messages and other social media messages which violate the poll code.

The counting of votes will be taken on February 11.
United States aviation security officials have denied destroying a precious traditional instrument belonging to a Malian musician, responding to an incident that sparked outrage online.

Renowned kora player Ballake Sissoko touched down in Paris on February 4 after flying from New York at the end of a US tour, to find that his instrument had been "completely destroyed".

The traditional West African 21-string lute had been dismantled, with a note left by the agents, in Spanish, reading "intelligent security saves time," according to a post on Sissoko's Facebook page.

"Would US customs have dared to dismantle a Stradivarius?" the post said, referring to a class of fabled violins. "These kinds of custom-made koras are simply impossible to replace," it added.

However, the US Transport Security Administration, which screens luggage for explosives, said in a statement to AFP on Sunday that it played no part in the damage. It added that it knew agents did not search Sissoko's instrument case because "it did not trigger an alarm when it was screened," and was tagged appropriately.

The broken kora generated significant media interest and social media comment around the world this week after Sissoko suggested white musicians would have been treated better.

"This is an unprovoked and sad act of aggression, a reflection of the kind of cultural ignorance and racism that is taking over in so many parts of the world," his Facebook post said.

The musician told AFP on Sunday that his kora was broken by the time he opened his case after landing in Paris, and admitted the airline could have been responsible.

"Maybe the message is too strong and I should have said it differently," Sissoko said. He added, however, that he was shocked and angry that his kora was beyond repair and that whoever was responsible should have respected it.

"I'm not trying to play the media to get money," Sissoko said.

Adding to confusion surrounding the affair, Mali's culture ministry released a statement on Saturday saying it would "do everything legally and diplomatically possible to obtain reparation" for the offence.

But on Sunday it removed the statement from its website and issued another one that denied the earlier release came from the culture ministry, without giving further details.

Mali's Culture Minister N'Diaye Ramatoulaye Diallo told AFP on Sunday that her department's statement on Saturday was simply "fake," without clarifying further.

Sissoko said that he was contacted by the Malian embassy in Paris about the kora incident and that he plans to meet government officials when he is next in Mali.

He added that friends had told him the government appeared to have asked for "reparation" but that he was unaware the statement had been removed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Multi-layer security, 24x7 CCTV surveillance at counting centres, say police, poll officials.

Security personnel stand guard outside the strongroom of a counting centre in Akshardham in New Delhi on Sunday. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Even as multi-layer security arrangements and 24x7 CCTV surveillance have been put in place at counting centres to guard the Electronic Voting Machines, Delhis ruling Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday cited videos to back their claim that efforts were being made to tamper with the machines for the Assembly poll results. Senior party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh tweeted a couple of videos, saying they were of voting machines being taken away illegally.

Refuting to such claims, a senior poll official said tampering the EVMs is impossible. Once the elections are over, the EVMs are sealed and kept in a tight security area. They are only opened on the day of counting.

A senior Delhi Police official said that around 10,000 police personnel including 50 platoons of paramilitary forces are deployed in a three-layer security apparatus to tackle any untoward incident.

The poll official further asserted that the transport and storage of the EVMs are well secured, dismissing the doubts raised by the political parties over movement and alleged tampering of the machines. Earlier a video clip has gone viral, purportedly showing unauthorised transportation of the EVMs.

The entire process of polling and subsequent storage of EVMs in strong-rooms is fool-proof. The EVMs are transported back to the reception centres under proper escort by a contingent of central paramilitary forces and state police, the poll official said.

The complete set of Control Units (CU), Ballot Units (BU) and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) of a particular polling station are supposed to be kept in the same strong room. The room is sealed under double lock in the presence of the candidates or their agents and the observer. Even 24X7 CCTV monitoring is done inside the strong room.

The unused VVPATs and unused EVMs are stored in a separate strong room. Even video and digital photography with date and time recording is done during transport and storage of EVMs.

Police said there are 21 centers except in three districts including the Central district. The district police along with the paramilitary keep a strict vigil. The special branch of police, which is an intelligence wing, gives timely inputs to the ground officials.

Every nook and corner of the EVM strong-room is kept under 24X7 CCTV vigilance and guarded by Central Armed Police Forces personnel. Further, a display of this CCTV feed is provided to representatives of the political parties at a place earmarked for them to camp, police added.

Earlier, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) urged the Election Commission to make arrangements outside the strong room so the party workers can make sure that EVMs in which the votes of Delhi Assembly elections are locked in are not tampered with.
Book Cover Gaineys transformative viewpoint on her role in her own healing will inspire readers to turn to their faith during lifes most challenging moments.

Ann Beckham Gainey was living a normal life until a simple medical procedure triggered a functional breathing disorder that exposed her to consistent pain and difficulty breathing for years. Desperate to find relief, she turned to God with her worries and prayers which began an incredible healing journey that gave Gainey a newfound purpose in her life. Providing a detailed look at her private conversations with God, The God Chair: One Thousand Days of Pain with Purpose explores how His role in her life gave her the will to continue moving forward.

With her relationship with God growing stronger than ever, Gainey discovered the tools to help provide relief for her condition. She details her positive experience at Mayo Clinic, undergoing therapy sessions and using holistic medicine to find relief for her condition. Gaineys transformative viewpoint on her role in her own healing will inspire readers to turn to their faith during lifes most challenging moments.

The focus of this book is to share Gaineys remarkable story and recognize that great things can come from great adversity. Gainey shares how she became more connected to Gods purpose for her through her quest to heal her body and how this experience taught her that life is tough, but God is tougher.

Anns  heart for hurting people adds an extraordinary grace that will touch your heart and give you hope, says Jentezen Franklin, New York Times bestselling author and pastor.

The God Chair: One Thousand Days of Pain with Purpose is a powerful memoir that explores the authors real-life journey to overcome a painful disorder while developing an intimate and purpose-filled relationship with God.

The God Chair: One Thousand Days of Pain with Purpose

By Ann Beckham Gainey

ISBN: 9781973675273 (softcover); 9781973675280 (hardcover); 9781973675266 (electronic)

Available at the Westbow Press Online Bookstore, Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the author

Ann Beckham Gainey taught in public and Christian schools after earning a bachelors in education from Erskine College and a masters in education from Clemson University. Over the years, she has shared her faith as a conference and keynote speaker for numerous local and regional church ministry events. She received recognition for her efforts to help others in Lanier Magazine as one of five inspirational figures honored in 2005 and as Business Woman of the Year in 2006 from the American Business Womans Association - Gainesville, Lanier Chapter. After serving 25 years as the executive director of Choices Pregnancy Care Center, she is enjoying "refirement", her term for retirement, with her husband, Al, her children and grandchildren. She is currently writing a devotional book she hopes to release in the near future. To learn more, please visit https://www.annbgaineyauthor.com/.

Contact:

LAVIDGE  Phoenix

Courtney Vasquez

480-306-7065

cvasquez(at)lavidge(dot)com
Doctors apply treatment to a patient in the intensive care unit at the South Central Hospital in Wuhan on Feb. 4

(Wuhan)  It took only a few minutes for Peng Zhiyong to make a decision that he knew could be highly risky  admitting a patient diagnosed with unknown viral pneumonia.

That was Jan. 6. Peng, the director of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the South Central Hospital of Wuhan University, signed off on accepting the patient into his department. Before that, the person from Huanggang, a city 76 kilometers away from Wuhan in Hubei province, was turned away by several hospitals.

The patients mysterious, infectious pneumonia later proved to be caused by a new strain of coronavirus known as 2019-nCoV. Since December the disease quickly spread from Wuhan to the rest of China and beyond. As of Saturday, confirmed infections of the virus surpassed 35,000 in 25 countries. It is evolving into one of the most dangerous epidemics in the past 20 years.

But in early January, public awareness of the looming epidemic was still limited. Word started circulating among physicians in Wuhan of a rising number of pneumonia patients infected by a virus similar to SARS  a deadly coronavirus that claimed nearly 800 lives in a 2003 outbreak.

As a veteran physician with Ph.D. degrees in anesthesiology and intensive care medicine, Peng was a frontline doctor in Hong Kong 17 years ago during the SARS outbreak. Rich clinical experience gave him an acute sense of the new diseases virulent potential. On Jan. 3, Peng learned that gene sequencing results from BGI Group found that the new virus shares 80% of the genetic code of the SARS virus.

I knew at that time the new virus was likely to be passed through humans, said Peng in a recent interview with Caixin.

After accepting the Huanggang patient Jan. 6, Peng called the hospital president asking to apply stringent quarantine measures in the ICU department. The ward was renovated in accordance with the highest quarantine standards for SARS control with independent air supply, according to Peng.

A doctor wears protection gear to enter the quarantine zone in Wuhans South Central Hospital.

While some colleagues questioned whether the measures were excessive, Peng insisted they were necessary. And he was proved right. The quarantine zone originally had 16 beds. All of them were filled three days after the first patient moved in.

Now the 150-member team of South Central Hospitals ICU department led by Peng has been fighting against the virus for more than a month. All medical workers have given up holidays and worked in shifts to keep the ICU running at full capacity. In the face of shortages of protective gear, doctors and nurses have to reduce food and water consumption while working to avoid leaving the quarantine zone and changing suits.

As the battle on the front lines grinds on, understanding of the new coronavirus is becoming clearer. In the latest edition of its treatment plan, the National Health Commission confirmed that the virus is mainly transmitted through respiratory droplets and contacts. Patients infected show different degrees of symptoms ranging from minor, flu-like symptoms to fever, lung infection, respiratory failure and even multiple organ failures.

Compared with SARS, the new virus often causes minor symptoms at the beginning but is more contagious and can cause infected people to deteriorate faster. The disease usually takes three weeks to escalate to critical condition, medical experts told Caixin.

Many severe patients suffered organ failures of the heart, renal function or circulatory system, said Du Bin, director of the ICU at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital.

We still understand very little about the pathogenesis of the virus and are not clear about the actual cause of the multiple organ failures, said Jiang Li, ICU director at Beijing Xuanwu Hospital who is currently in Wuhan. It makes the rescue and treatment of severe patients a challenge, Jiang said.

The rapid course of the disease means that intensive care professionals are the main force battling the virus. As the epidemic continues unfolding, the number of critical patients is rising rapidly. According to official data as of Thursday, there were 4,821 patients in critical condition, up from 962 from the previous day.

We are racing with death to snatch (the life) of patients, Peng said.

The battlefield

Huang Xiaobo, ICU director at the Sichuan Peoples Hospital, arrived at Wuhan on the night of Jan. 25 in the first wave of physicians to aid Wuhans disease control. He was assigned to the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital the next day, where he encountered a devastating scene.

The Red Cross Hospital is a small, district institution with 400 medical workers and 300 beds. On Jan. 22, the hospital was designated by the Wuhan government as one of the institutions to treat fever patients. After that, it was overwhelmed as more than 700 patients flooded in every day. Ordinary fever patients were mixed with those infected by the coronavirus, and the whole hospital was contaminated, Huang said.

All the beds were occupied, and even the hallway was packed by patients for observation. People only wearing one-time masks came in and out freely, Huang said. A large number of medical workers at the hospital were also infected, he said.

As of Jan. 26, about 60 of the Red Cross Hospitals medical workers had either been diagnosed with the coronavirus or were under observation. The rest of the staff, no matter from which department, were transferred to the respiratory department after a short training. They were like cannon fodder rushing to a battlefield, Huang said.

Following the urging of Huang and his team, the Red Cross Hospital closed for three days to set up clear boundaries between quarantine zone, clean area and buffer zones. Doctors also used the three days to examine all hospitalized patients and separate those infected with coronavirus from those who were not.

On Jan. 28, a second team of medical reinforcements arrived at the Red Cross Hospital. Two days later the hospital reopened to receive new patients.

The Red Cross Hospital was packed with patients Jan. 22.

Racing with death

The case of Li Wenliang, a 34-year-old ophthalmologist in Wuhan, illustrates the rapid deterioration the disease can cause. Li was one of the whistleblowers who first set off alarms about the new virus and was also infected while treating patients. He told Caixin in a telephone interview Jan. 30 that he expected to recover and was determined to return to the fight.

But on Feb. 5, Li told Caixin in a message that his condition worsened. In the early morning of Feb. 7, Li died after an hours-long rescue attempt in the ICU.

It evolves rapidly from good to bad, said Beijing Xuanwu Hospitals Jiang. Sometimes changes come in hours.

Huang from the Sichuan Peoples Hospital also remarked upon the rapid development of the new virus in patients. Unlike flu viruses such as H7N9 and H9N1, which often cause severe symptoms at the beginning, most patients infected with the new coronavirus first show mild symptoms but quickly deteriorate after a certain point, Huang said. Minor symptoms such as low fever and fatigue at early stages also make the new virus more difficult to detect and control.

Peng said it often takes three weeks for patients to develop from minor flu-like symptoms to critical or even fatal conditions.

People with strong immune systems may recover after two weeks, but the elderly and those with basic health issues could worsen to respiratory failure and other organ failures, Peng said. The second week is the watershed.

Among patients with mild symptoms, 15% to 20% seem to worsen in the second week, said Du of the Peking Union Medical College Hospital.

For those whose conditions turn critical, the third week is the fatal test, doctors have observed.

Some get through the third week, but others wont make it, Peng said.

Clinical records show that the average age of infected patients is 56 while those entering the ICU average 66, indicating older people are more vulnerable to the virus.

The new coronavirus attacks peoples immune system, resulting in a drop in lymphocytes, or disease-fighting white blood cells, as well as lung damage and respiratory failure. Some patients suffer multiple organ dysfunction, Peng said.

About one-third of patients I observed showed systemic inflammatory response syndrome that led to multiple organ failure and critical conditions, Peng said. It happened in only two or three days for some patients.

According to medical experts and frontline doctors, 15% to 20% of new coronavirus patients could develop severe conditions, and among them 25% to 30% worsen to critical condition.

There has yet to be a widely agreed mortality rate for the disease. Several ICU doctors estimate that the death rate among patients in critical condition ranges from 10% to 40%, meaning the overall mortality rate may be 0.6% to 1%.

What is more worrisome is the viruss damage to peoples lower respiratory systems, causing serious consequences even after a patient recovers. Peking Unions Du said it could take at least six months for patients to recover heart and lung function.

War of attrition

The mission of ICU doctors is to help patients maintain body functions as long as possible until the virus is exhausted so that the patients immune system can gradually recover, Huang said.

But rescue efforts are sometimes restricted by a lack of equipment, Huang said. The doctor said he witnessed five deaths in the ICU at the Red Cross Hospital since he arrived. Three of them would still have had the chance to survive if a procedure were available thats known as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), which circulates blood through an artificial lung back into the bloodstream, he said. But as a small institution, the Red Cross Hospital doesnt have such equipment.

While more ICU doctors like Huang and Peng have come to Wuhan to rescue patients from the brink of death, Jiang said more efforts should also made at the early stages to prevent mildly ill patients from deteriorating.

What I want to do most at this moment is to solve the problem upstream, to find out patients who are in the process of deterioration and apply treatments for them as early as possible, Jiang said.

Delayed treatment allows many mild patients to deteriorate and miss the best opportunity to recover, the doctor said. It is believed to be the major reason that Wuhan has recorded a much higher than average mortality rate than the rest of the country.

ICU doctors fight hard to rescue critically ill patients from death, but that is a late remedy, Jiang said. The most effective way to tame epidemic is to control the sources of disease, cut off transmission paths and protect vulnerable groups, she said.

I guess none of the three things has been done well, she said. What we are seeing is too late.

It is easier to control the disease before patients condition develops into severe conditions, Peng said. After that, it is much more difficult to cure and would demand more of already-scarce medical resources.

For now, theres no relief in sight for the ICU doctors.

The number of severe patients continues rising, and ICU doctors have to be prepared for a lasting war, said Xi Xiuming, an intensive care medicine professor at Beijing Fuxing Hospital.

Read more about Caixins coverage of the coronavirus epidemic.

Di Ning, Wen Simin, Huang Yuxin, Chen Lijin and Wang Yanyu contributed to this story.

Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com)
He initially denied that it ever happened. That is ridiculous!

Reenita Jackson has been victimized three times:

The night of the assault.

When LeClair stated publicly that he did not do it, that she doesnt remember well.

When the arbitrator told the City of Omaha to give him his job back, a decision by the arbitrator that said that assaulting a woman in a bar is OK.

This guy is the president of the City of Omaha firefighters union and is front and center with all things in the public eye. He cannot remain an effective leader of anything related to the public.

This needs to be a wake-up call for every city employee  everyone, really. These types of things have been happening forever and have gone away with a slap on the wrist. It is not OK to conduct ourselves this way, and it has to stop now.

Thank you for being such a great and strong mayor, Mayor Stothert.

Steve Anderson, Omaha

Moral clarity on Trump action
Reuters

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan paid a visit to Kyiv. At a joint briefing with him, Volodymyr Zelensky instructed the Security Service of Ukraine to deal with supporters of Fethullah Gulen. We tell how the latter became the "enemy" of Erdogan, why Ankara is persecuting the Gulenists and what does the Ukrainian special service have to do with it. And let's start with the person of Gulen himself - a former like-minded person, and now - the main enemy of the Turkish president.

Second person in the country



Fethullah Gulen is a Turkish writer, Islamic preacher, former imam and founder of the Hizmet political movement, also known as Jemaat.

Little is known about the rules of Jemaat - according to some former members, alcohol is prohibited there, certain books, for example, Darwin and Sartre, and all the time should be devoted to service- reading the Koran, studying the works of Gulen. Hizmet members condemn radical Islam and define themselves as adherents of democracy. They advocate interfaith dialogue," RBC writes.

Gulens followers consider him their spiritual leader, and sometimes he is called the second most influential person in Turkey, the BBC reports. The publication emphasizes that Gulen promotes tolerant Islam, which puts altruism, modesty, hard work and education at the forefront.

In 2002, the Gulen movement backed then Prime Minister Erdogan and contributed to the coming to power of his Justice and Development Party.

Subsequently, two like-minded people disagreed and in 2013 Erdogan began to pursue the Hizmet.

In 2014, a Turkish court issued a warrant for the arrest of a preacher, and Erdogan himself accused Gulen of trying to overthrow him, using supporters, including in the press.

Ankara even petitioned for Gulen to be put on the international wanted list, but Interpol did not accept the documents provided by the Turkish authorities, "due to the lack of evidence."

At that time, the founder of Hizmet had lived in the United States for fifteen years - he left his homeland back in 1999, having left for treatment, and since then has been living in solitude in a suburban estate in Pennsylvania.

Military coup

On the night of July 15-16, 2016, a group of soldiers tried to seize power in Turkey, but by the morning the coup was suppressed. As a result of these events, 265 people were killed, about 2 000 were injured.

Erdogan accused Gulen of organizing the coup, after which tens of thousands of civil servants and budget workers including teachers were dismissed, thousands were arrested.

Many of them suffered from suspected ties to the Gulen movement. The founder of Hizmet himself denies any involvement in the failed military coup.

"I strongly condemn the attempted military coup in Turkey. As a person who suffered from numerous military coups over the past five decades, it is especially disappointing to be accused of involvement in such actions. I categorically deny such allegations," Gulen said.

FETO

On June 16, 2016, the criminal court of the small town of Erzincan in Eastern Anatolia recognized the FETO organization as a terrorist and banned its existence on the territory of the country, Novaya Gazeta writes. The court has defined the FETO: "The Fethullah Terrorist Organization."

It is noteworthy that this organization did not officially exist before the court decision.

By the end of the month, the Anadolu Turkish state agency reported that FETO in Ukraine was working in the fields of education, culture and the media.

According to the agency, the organization began operations in the country after the collapse of the USSR. It has allegedly been operating under the cover of the Meridian International School in and its branch in Odesa since 2001. The school offers services in English on a fee basis.

"The leadership is making efforts to educate children of famous politicians and public figures along with the most erudite and successful children. Thus, the Gulen organization is trying to" influence politicians, bureaucrats and entrepreneurs, using them in their own interests," Anadolu wrote.



The Turkish agency named the Ukrainian-Turkish cultural center "Isk" ("Syaivo") operating in Kyiv since 2013 another branch of FETO. The center organizes training courses and competitions in Turkish holds joint events with Meridian schools.

What Zelensky promised

During a joint briefing with Erdogan in Kyiv, the Ukrainian president said that he had instructed the SBU to deal with Gulens supporters. Zelensky said that he was talking about FETO schools, which are in Ukraine.

According to him, this issue has been on the agenda between Ukraine and Turkey for many years.

"Talking on the ban of those organizations that are behind educational institutions in Ukraine. We have been discussing this topic for a long time today, in detail ... Today I received very detailed things, facts, specific names ... I gave all this information to our SBU leadership, which should deal with this issue," Zelensky said.
Mohali The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has submitted before a special court in Mohali that proscribed terrorist organisation Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) has been running a cross-border narco-terror network.

The NIA submitted this while seeking seven-day remand of three accused  Nirmal Singh, Satpal Singh and Hiralal  in a heroin seizure case of 2019.

On Monday, the court had sent the three accused to seven-day NIA custody. While seeking the remand, the NIA said that during investigation, the role of Harmeet Singh alias PhD, who was murdered in Pakistan recently, was the key player of the cross-border narco-terror network.

The accused were arrested with 500gm of Heroin and 1.2-lakh drug money. Three more persons were arrested in December 2019. The NIA took over the case in January 2020.
Malaysias MyCERT issued a security alert to warn of a hacking campaign targeting government officials that was carried out by the China-linked APT40 group.

Malaysias Computer Emergency Response Team (MyCERT) warns of a cyber espionage campaign carried out by the China-linked APT40 group aimed at Malaysian government officials.

The attackers aimed at stealing confidential documents from government systems after having infected them with malware.

 MyCERT observed an increase in number of artifacts and victims involving a campaign against Malaysian Government officials by a specific threat group. reads the alert issued by MyCERT. The group motives is believe to be data theft and exfiltration .

The attackers used spear-phishing messages sent to government officials, they posed as a journalist, an individual from a trade publication, or individuals from a relevant military organization or non-governmental organization (NGO).

The messages contained links to weaponized Office documents stored on Google Drive. Once the documents are opened and the victims have enabled the macros, the dropper is executed.

The attackers exploit the CVE-2014-6352 and CVE-2017-0199 Office vulnerabilities to drop and execute the malware on the victims computer.

The groups operations tend to target government-sponsored projects and take large amounts of information specific to such projects, including proposals, meetings, financial data, shipping information, plans and drawings, and raw data, continues MyCERT.

It is not clear if the attackers have exfiltrated sensitive documents from government officials.

The advisory doesnt explicitly attribute the campaign to the Chinese APT, but references included in the alert p oint to the APT40 hacking group.

The cyber-espionage group tracked as APT40 (aka TEMP.Periscope, TEMP.Jumper, and Leviathan), apparently linked to the Chinese government, is focused on targeting countries important to the countrys Belt and Road Initiative (i.e. Cambodia, Belgium, Germany, Hong Kong, Philippines, Malaysia, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, the United States, and the United Kingdom).

Experts believe that APT40 is a state-sponsored Chinese APT group due to its alignment with Chinese state interests and technical artifacts suggesting the actor is based in China.

The APT40 group has been active since at least 2013 and appears to be focused on supporting naval modernization efforts of the Government of Beijing. Threat actors target engineering, transportation, and defense sectors, experts observed a specific interest in maritime technologies.

The cyberspies also targeted research centres and universities involved in naval research with the intent to access advanced technology to push the growth of the Chinese naval industry.

The list of victims of the APT40 group also includes organizations with operations in Southeast Asia or involved in South China Sea disputes.

In January, a group of anonymous security researchers that calls itself Intrusion Truth has discovered that the APT40 uses 1 3 front compan ies operating in the island of Hainan to recruit hackers.

Intrusion Truth did not associate the group from Hainan with a specific Chinese APT group, but FireEye and Kaspersky researchers believe that the China-linked group is the APT40 (aka TEMP.Periscope, TEMP.Jumper, and Leviathan).

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs  APT40, China)
The book The Black Swan was written by former Wall Street trader Nassim Nicholas Taleb to describe rare, outlier events that cant be predicted beforehand, but that have potentially huge consequences.

The phrase black swan has been used to describe any number of financial events, such as the 1987 stock market crash, and the 2008 financial meltdown in the housing market.

The thing to remember about black swans is that by their very nature, you never know when they are going to pop up. Although the oil markets have been hit by virus-induced demand fears in the past, such events are black swans.

Currently, the spread of coronavirus in China  the worlds largest oil consumer  is a black swan that has the oil markets reeling. Oil fundamentals looked fair a month ago, but now all bets are off. Oil prices have shed nearly 20% in four weeks, but its hard to say where the bottom may be with coronavirus cases still growing.

Citigroup analysts have suggested that the virus could reduce oil demand by 1 million barrels a day (BPD), but this is still clearly a developing situation.

As oil prices fell in January, OPEC was widely expected to debate additional production cuts at its March meeting. However, in the face of the most significant demand destruction the world has seen in more than a decade, the cartel tried (and failed) to get an agreement with Russia on deeper production cuts. Related: Are Oil Markets Overreacting To The Coronavirus?

Jay Park, the CEO of oil company ReconAfrica, emailed me his thoughts on the ultimate impacts, which he believes are mostly already priced in:

- We expect to see a drop in refined fuel demand markets out of China in a matter of days or weeks. A quarter of a million barrels will likely be the ultimate impact, which, all things considered, should be modest. There are five factors that affect oil pricing supply, demand, OPEC, geopolitics, and sentiment. Regarding the coronavirus, this seems to be an issue mostly related to sentiment. Demand concerns and OPEC can compound this situation, and it is something we are monitoring, but any movement right now is being driven mostly by fear. For perspective, were looking at past situations, like the SARS outbreak in 2003, which showed us that the impact from the outbreak was small on demand overall, but the decline in price was significant.

- We see the impact of the virus on price could be about a drop of $5-$10 a barrel in Brent and WTI. I see the coronavirus impact as already priced in, as we have seen WTI go from $63 to $53 and Brent from $68 to $59 this month. There are other bearish factors also at work, such as new production in Guyana, the perception of some weakness in demand overall in the global economy, and a seasonal reduction in demand that normally occurs this time of year. Add the coronavirus, and that becomes another issue we have to be on the lookout for. But lets also bear in mind that similar illness-related price declines have had an impact for a limited period of 2-6 months.

Meanwhile, one of my January predictions was that the price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) wouldnt close below $50/bbl this year. I felt pretty good about that prediction a month ago  before anyone had died from coronavirus  but that prediction is going to fall as fears of Chinese demand destruction grow.

Thats the other thing to remember about black swans  its hard to predict how big the ultimate consequence will be until the event is over. This one seems far from over.

By Robert Rapier

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Union Bank of India (UBI) on Monday said its standalone net profit for December quarter 2019 grew manifold to Rs 574.58 crore due to fall in provisioning for bad loans.

The state-owned lender had clocked a profit of Rs 153.21 crore in October-December 2018.

Income rose to Rs 10,741.21 crore during the latest quarter from Rs 9,572.58 crore in the year-ago period, UBI said in a regulatory filing.

Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) fell to 14.86 per cent (Rs 49,923.58 crore) of gross advances by December-end 2019 from 15.66 per cent (Rs 49,713.34 crore) at the end of the same month in the previous year.

Net NPAs too fell to 6.99 per cent (Rs 21,510.28 crore) from 8.27 per cent (Rs 24,141.64 crore).

Provisioning for bad loans during the quarter also came down to Rs 1,569.90 crore from Rs 2,139.13 crore a year ago, it said.

On consolidated basis, the bank's net profit stood at Rs 554.36 crore during the quarter, up from Rs 182.97 crore in the year-ago period. Income grew to Rs 10,985.23 crore from Rs 9,756.92 crore.

The bank said it restructured 41,086 MSME accounts to the tune of Rs 1,012.39 crore during the quarter.

On merger, it said the bank's board in a meeting held in September 2019 has considered and accorded in-principle approval for amalgamation of Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank into Union Bank of India.

Provision coverage ratio of the bank as on December 31, 2019 is 67.42 per cent, it added.

Union Bank of India stock closed at Rs 50.95 on the BSE, up 4.19 per cent from the previous close.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Venezuela: We are ready!

From 22-24 January, I had the honour of being part of a delegation of six people who travelled from Australia to Caracas, Venezuela where the World Encounter Against Imperialism under the banner For life, sovereignty, and peace took place.

CPA Party President Vinnie Molina with Venezuelan foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza.

Our delegation was made up of social, union, and political party activists. Representatives from Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Perth witnessed a totally different reality from that presented by the mass media. The reality of the right-wing press controlled by US monopolies that misinforms using lies about Venezuela.

We found instead a people that have successfully faced up to economic sanctions imposed under the blockade of the United States. This has been done with support from allies such as Australia and other countries that bend to imperial control. In our few days in Caracas we visited several places; I even had the opportunity to travel on the Caracas subway and talk to people in the streets.

What was evident was that the sanctions are directly impacting on the population through the prevention of the Bolivia and revolutionary Venezuela government buying medicines, food, and other consumer goods needed by the population. The main objective of the sanctions is to create a climate of tension and discontent between the people and government support bases.

However, people are organising locally inventing ways to deal with the crisis. The government does everything it can to try to do the impossible and overcome the sanctions so they can meet the needs of the population.

Visiting people in Caracas we saw first-hand that the great Housing Mission continues to build homes delivering three million houses to the needy. We visited friends living in a complex that used to be an army camp. Commander Chavez turned these lands into communal space and many apartment buildings are still being built on that site to provide a decent roof. People live happily there and organise around neighbourhood committees to care for and improve their homes. When I compare the delivery of three million homes for a disadvantaged population with the target of building five million in the next few years, I think about so many people living homeless without a decent roof in a wealthy developed country like Australia.

The revolutionary government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela delivers to the people housing in the same way it delivers to the health and education sector. The possibilities of access for all have been opened up by the revolution and the people are willing and prepared to defend those gains.

The meeting was opened by Diosdado Cabello, president of the National Constituent Assembly and vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), who invited us to such an important event. The event was attended by more than 1500 national delegates and 403 international delegates from five continents representing more than 70 countries.

Unfortunately, there were many other international delegates who became victims of the imposed blockade and were unable to get their tickets. This was the case for the New Zealand unionist Mike Treen who was hindered in getting a ticket on time by the airline boycott and difficulty of making payments on reservation platforms controlled by large multinationals. Some delegates managed to reach the event at the end or after so they could join some of the special visits that were organised.

During the meeting we learned that the governments of Colombia and the United States were carrying out military exercises against terrorism to coincide with the anti-imperialist meeting. All the difficulties and military exercises were due to the fear that the imperialists and the ruling class feel when the people unite to discuss their problems in order to find a popular solution to the crises that we currently have in the world.

The meeting provided many opportunities for delegates to share their views on the national and international situation. The Australian delegation expressed its condemnation against the financial and commercial blockade, as well as condemning the coercive measures. The delegates made a pledge to write to the government and take other actions requesting that the Australian government rectify its erroneous position on Venezuela and call on the government to recognise the legitimate government presided over by the constitutional president Nicolas Maduro Moros.

23rd January marked one year since Juan Guaido proclaimed himself president of Venezuela and it was a highlight of the trip to experience the passion and witness the great demonstrations of the populations support for President Nicolas Maduro and his government. We witnessed a monumental popular parade where thousands of people took to the streets to listen to President Maduro make a forty-five minute speech from the presidential balcony. In that speech he denounced the blockade, the coercive measures and called on the people to resume the National Assembly in the next parliamentary elections this year as mandated by the Bolivarian Constitution. The peoples response was swift and the shout of We Are Ready sealed their commitment to continue defending the right to peace, sovereignty and life.

In addition, we had the opportunity of meeting with foreign minister Jorge Arreaza who gave a master class on anti-imperialism highlighting how the people must know their enemies to be able to overthrow them. He emphasized Lenins legacy of imperialism as the upper phase of capitalism. He highlighted the importance of taking up again the reading of Lenins thesis to mark the 150th anniversary of his birth saying that it is more relevant now than ever. At that meeting, the Australian delegation took the floor to express our solidarity with the Bolivarian people but also with the families of the three American firefighters who lost their lives fighting forest fires in New South Wales. We condemned the inaction of the Australian government in relation to climate change.

At the end of the meeting that exceeded our expectations of meeting ministers including the foreign affairs minister and meetings with workers and the people in general we had the honour of being at the closing ceremony with the workers president, Nicolas Maduro, who closed the event shouting we are ready and here there are not two presidents and not three parliamentary assemblies. Something that was very clear is that the impostor Guaido is now a relic of the past and a year after his imperial adventure the circus has fallen off and soon the clown will be looking for some other job perhaps with his friends from the north. However, with the more than 600 million dollars stolen from the town that have been given to the Venezuelan opposition, many of them can retire early and move to Miami or another place willing to claim them. A year on the Bolivarian government is stronger than ever next to the people in their civic-military union.

The anti-imperialist meeting gave us the opportunity to discuss fundamental problems such as employment, workers rights, women, youth, native peoples, and the environment and the pressing need for a large global anti-imperialist platform.

The decisions adopted by the Meeting contained in the Final Declaration agreed:

1) To hold an international mobilisation day in support of the Bolivarian Revolution and against neoliberalism on 27th February of the current year. This will be in commemoration of the thirty-one years of the first insurrection in Caracas against neoliberalism.

2) Convene a worldwide mobilisation for peace in Venezuela, in Our America and against the war plans of the United States government in April 2020.

3) Develop an international day of repudiation of the Monroe Doctrine, against the Blockade and other Unilateral Coercive Measures by 28th June 2020.

4) Create before the next Meeting a Coordinating Commission of the delegations present in the First World Meeting Against Imperialism in order to comply with this plan.

The fundamental thing now is that delegates who have returned to their respective countries give or write reports, as well as to begin to organise anti-imperialist platforms in the most unitary way without sectarianism. Australia must be an example of unity in demand of opportunities for all. We must demand sovereignty over Australian soil without US military bases. We must expect that our government will direct its efforts to fight climate change and to build a more just and sustainable society that allows us to save life on the planet. The main thing is to be united to overcome all obstacles.

* National president of the Communist Party of Australia, who lead the Australian delegation during the Anti Imperialist Meeting, Caracas, January 22-24, 2020.
- Moi will be buried next to his late wife's burial ground as he was his wish

- His burial is set for Wednesday, February 12 and the family is expecting more than 30,000 attendees

- Only family members will be allowed to the gravesite which has already been dug ahead of the funeral

- The Kenya Army is currently keeping a close watch of the burial site

With only two days left to the internment of the remains of the late former president Daniel Arap Moi burial, preparations are on top gear in his Kabarnet home, Nakuru county.

Moi's wish was to be laid to rest near his wife the late Lena Moi who passed on in July 2004.

READ ALSO: Moi tried to talk but could not - Mzee's daughter-in-law recounts last moments

Men setting up a tent to host the attendees of Moi's burial slated for Wednesday, February 12. Photo: Ben Kerich.

Source: Original

READ ALSO: Chinese hotel manager captured on camera caning Kenyan employee for being late

TUKO.co.ke has established that plans to give Moi a decent send-off are underway and that his grave is already in place just next to his late wife.

The late former head of state will be accorded a State funeral with all appropriate civilian and full military honours being rendered and observed.

The grave is behind the house where the late president resided and has already been dug and also cemented ready for the D-day Wednesday, February 12.

READ ALSO: Uhuru drives himself to Nyayo stadium to inspect Moi's burial preparations

Mzee Moi will be buried next to his wife Lena Moi. Photo: Ben Kerich.

Source: Original

The Kenya Army is keeping a close watch of the burial site and few people chosen to visit the site.

It has since been said that family members and close relatives will be allowed to the gravesite.

Security has been beefed up at various points within the residence and nobody is allowed into the home unless they have permission from security.

State officials visiting the burial place inspecting the funeral plans. Photo: Ben Kerich.

Source: Original

The funeral will include pallbearers from the military with 19 gun salutes.

State officials have been touring Kabarak to access the ongoing preparations.

Moi died on Tuesday, February 4. Photo:UGC.

Source: UGC

Yesterday Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho said all preparations are done and the State is ready to give Moi a decent send-off.

He said they have prepared for ten heads of state and hundreds of dignitaries.

Kibicho said the ground prepared at Kabarak will host 30,000 people.

Mzee Moi died on Tuesday, February 4 and President Uhuru Kenyatta announced his death in a presidential proclamation.

Story by Ben Kerich, TUKO correspondent

Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly.

Light moments during Moi's farewell: Kenyans excited to enter Parliament for the first time |Tuko TV.

Source: TUKO.co.ke
Mai Phuong, 40, one of the eight workers returning from Wuhan on January 17, wears face mask and sits in a quarantine room at Tam Dao medical center in Vinh Phuc Province. Photo by VnExpress/Tat Dinh.

It was not an easy choice for Mai Phuong, with a husband and two small children at home, but she said yes.

Her affirmative response came during a job interview last October with the Japan-headquartered Nihon Plast Company, when asked if she was willing to train in China for more than two months.

After she agreed, Phuong, 40, became one of the early employees of the company and was one of eight Vietnamese colleagues sent to train in Wuhan City, Hubei Province.

She is still shocked at what has happened since, with the city becoming the epicenter of the new, deadly pneumonia virus (2019-nCoV) outbreak, and even more shocking, she and her colleagues would be at the heart of the epidemic back home.

So far six of her eight colleagues who returned from Wuhan have tested positive and she herself is awaiting results of tests as she remains quarantined.

Her company is located in Vinh Phuc Provinces Binh Xuyen Industrial Park. The company engages in a wide range of activities including manufacturing and processing synthetic resins, die-cast metal molds and machinery, packaging and electrical components for the amusement industry.

After they were recruited, Phuong and five other colleagues flew to Wuhan on November 1 and two others arrived 15 days later. All eight  seven from Vinh Phuc and one from Thanh Hoa  were conversant with Japanese, but had not known each other earlier.

"Wuhan was very cold at that time. Hail and snow fell thinly," Phuong recalled. Its streets were crowded but clean and full of electric bicycles.

The eight Vietnamese employees didn't have much time to go around the city. They were taken to the factory and stayed in the workers dormitory quite far from the center. Two men lived in separate rooms on the first floor, while six women had two rooms on the second floor.

Their work days ran from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. With just two months and too many things to learn, they had to use the weekends to keep learning. During the two months they were there, they visited the supermarket six times to buy fruit and strolled around the park later.

In the factory of about 600 workers, Zhou, a Chinese translator, was their best friend, communicating with them in Japanese.

One day, Zhou told them: "From now on, you must wear face masks to go to the supermarket." He warned the Vietnamese guest workers that Wuhan was "suffering from a pneumonia epidemic."

Masks were part of their daily protective gear, but from that day, the company required disinfection of hands and feet during work and other daily activities. Since Phuong didnt know any Chinese language, all information she could get from the epidemic was from Zhou.

In December, when Wuhans streets were covered white with snow, Phuong went to the supermarket and saw that everyone was wearing face masks.

On January 17, Phuong and her co-workers woke up early in the morning to prepare to leave Wuhan for home. The airport was completely different from when theyd arrived. Airport security officers and health officials checked their body temperature three times  when entering the airport, checking in and before boarding.

"We waited for about two hours to check in, and a lot of people were detained because their body temperature was high," Phuong recalled.

Their group sat in different places on the plane. She doesnt remember her seat number, only that she had a middle seat with Chinese passengers on either side. Since she did not know the language, they could not communicate much.

The eight Vietnamese workers transited at the Guangzhou airport for about two hours.

"Are you not feeling well?" a friendly French couple asked Phuong after they saw her wearing a mask when checking in for flight CZ8315 from Guangzhou to Hanoi.

Phuong said her group had just left from Wuhan where there was a virus outbreak. The couple smiled and wished the group good health.

It was 11a.m. on January 17. When the Vietnamese group went together, all wearing face masks, they drew a lot of attention. Apart from the two French tourists, they didn't talk to anyone else.

At 3 p.m. on January 17, the company's car picked them up at the airport in Hanoi and took them to their office at the Binh Xuyen industrial park. It was only then that they removed their masks.

From the company, they parted to return home for celebrating the Lunar New Year holiday with their families and friends. Five of the women kept in touch via a chat group on Facebook.

"I had a fever, my chest felt tight. I am already hospitalized, Phuong," wrote Thu Trang, 25, a native of Thanh Hoa, on the night of January 24, the Lunar New Years Eve.

Others in the group chat encouraged Trang to remain optimistic and get well soon. Six days later, an ambulance picked Dung, 23, a resident of Binh Xuyen District, one of the six female workers, and took her to the Central Hospital of Tropical Diseases.

Another colleague informed Phuong that Canh, 29, one of the men in the training group, had been hospitalized since January 23.

On January 30, all three workers out of the group of eight returning from Wuhan tested positive for the deadly new coronavirus, becoming the first Vietnamese people to be become infected. The same day, WHO declared the epidemic a global emergency.

Phuong was shocked and automatically isolated herself from her husband and two small children, wearing a mask, as recommended by health ministry.

On February 3, she received news that another two people from the training group had been infected with nCoV. At this time, Phuong and the other two women were mandatorily quarantined at the Tam Dao District health center.

Surprise, surprise

Their friend and interpreter in Wuhan was more than surprised when she heard the news about her Vietnamese colleagues."No one in the factory in China has been infected with the virus," Zhou exclaimed.

When she saw Phuong and others off at the Wuhan airport, Zhou was still eating and talking with them, even drinking water from the same cup as Phuong. All of them exchanged hugs and kisses with her.

Zhou now gets herself updated about Phuongs health situation every day. The companys factory in China has stopped production for nearly a month, though no employee has been infected so far.

"We were very careful, we spent very little time outside and I can't understand our being infected with the virus," Phuong said, almost to herself.

On February 3, Trang's health condition stabilized completely and she became the first nCov-infected patient to be discharged.

"I was weak and thin but I recovered and everyone should be optimistic about being released from the hospital and go home to eat lemon with me," Trang texted to the group, enclosing a picture of a large plate of peeled lemon, something the group favored as one back in Wuhan.

Five days in the quarantine room has passed "as slowly as five months" for Phuong and two other female colleagues waiting for the test results.

On Friday night, the health ministry announced that one of the remaining three workers had tested positive for nCoV and was the 13th case in Vietnam.

Nine of the nation's 14 confirmed infections so far have occurred in Vinh Phuc, three in HCMC and one each in Khanh Hoa and Thanh Hoa.

The global death toll has reached 910, with 908 dying in mainland China, one each in the Philippines and Hong Kong.

*The name of the worker has been changed.
Four members of the Chinese military are facing charges for allegedly breaking into Equifax Inc. systems in 2017 and stealing data connected with Canadians, the U.S. Department of Justice revealed Monday.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/2/2020 (700 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Equifax Inc., offices in Atlanta are shown on July 21, 2012. The U.S. Justice Department says four members of the Chinese military are facing charges for allegedly breaking into Equifax Inc. systems and stealing data connected with Canadians. The charges stem from a 2017 breach that saw the personally identifiable information of at least 19,000 Canadians, hundreds of thousands of Britons and millions of Americans stolen from the credit monitoring company. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Mike Stewart

Four members of the Chinese military are facing charges for allegedly breaking into Equifax Inc. systems in 2017 and stealing data connected with Canadians, the U.S. Department of Justice revealed Monday.

An indictment filed by the department says the breach of the Atlanta-based credit monitoring company's system compromised a "colossal repository of sensitive personally identifiable information."

The breach affected the accounts of at least 19,000 Canadians, hundreds of thousands of Britons and 145 million Americans. The hacked information included names, addresses, social insurance and credit card numbers, usernames, passwords and secret question and answer data.

The four Beijing residents that the indictment alleges were involved in the hacking  Wu Zhiyong, Wang Qian, Xu Ke and Liu Lei  are facing charges of computer fraud, economic espionage and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

The indictment says that over several weeks the group used a software vulnerability and encrypted communication channels to carry out the breach. They allegedly made use of 34 servers located in nearly 20 countries and wiped log files on a daily basis to reduce the likelihood that they would be caught.

"To further disguise their infrastructure, the conspirators obtained access to the servers located outside of China from reseller hosting services, who pursue remote computing services from other providers and then lease those remote compute services to others," the indictment alleges.

"The conspirators attempted to disguise their unauthorized access to Equifax's online dispute portal by using existing encrypted communication channels within Equifax's network to send queries and commands, which allowed them to blend in with normal network activity."

Equifax, the documents said, did not notice the hackers' activity for more than six weeks.

The document also accuses the men of stealing trade secrets from the company.

Equifax reached a US$700 million settlement last year with the U.S. government over the data breach, earmarking most of the funds for consumers impacted by the incident.

Meanwhile, the Canadian privacy commissioner's office released an investigation last year that found Equifax had poor security safeguards, was retaining information too long, had a lack of accountability for Canadians' information and offered limited protection measures offered to affected individuals after the breach.

Asked by The Canadian Press on Monday about potential moves the federal government's public safety ministry and privacy commissioner will make given the new developments, neither outlined any action.

They instead discussed investments in cybersecurity and previous investigations into the incident.

The RCMP said it is maintaining "situational awareness of this investigation and (is) prepared to assist upon request" with an ongoing investigation from the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the U.S. or other international law enforcement partners.

Charles Finlay, the executive director of the Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst organization at Ryerson University in Toronto, called the U.S.'s handling of the situation "aggressive," but said he didn't expect the Canadian government to follow suit.

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"My suspicion is that the Canadian government will likely wait to se how the U.S. proceedings go," he said. "The Equifax breach was much much larger in the U.S. than it was in Canada."

The case is particularly important, he said, because the hackers gained a great deal of information about potential targets and can access more information by leveraging that stolen data. The situation is even more serious because it can involve a state trying to advance their national security interest, he added.

Finlay doesn't think those whose information was exposed can be "made whole again," so he said action like the U.S. is taking is warranted.

"And I think we can expect to see more of this," he said. "It's not a game. People's lives are at a stake and we are now beginning to see governments operate in that way."

With files from The Associated Press.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 10, 2020.
MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI  A woman convicted of animal cruelty after three dead horses were found on her property is back in court after she violated probation by owning animals.

Bobbi Jo VanKoevering, 43, has been charged with violating probation in the felony animal cruelty case. She pleaded no contest to abandonment/cruelty of between four and 10 animals in October 2019. She was sentenced to two months in jail and three years of probation, during which she is not to have any animals where she lives.

On Jan. 13, VanKoeverings probation officer filed a request that she be charged with violating probation by being in possession of animals. Further details were not available.

Authorities who were called by a former roommate of VanKoeverings found the three dead horses on her property in Ravenna, and removed two horses and a calf that were emaciated, the Muskegon County Prosecutors Office said earlier. They discovered no feed for the starving animals other than hay and water buckets that were frozen, according to the prosecutors office.

At the time of VanKoeverings sentencing, Muskegon County Circuit Judge Annette Smedley noted that VanKoevering had called someone to come euthanize one of the starving horses  which that individual did not do  instead of calling 911 to ask for help. That horse ended up surviving.

You did nothing, you did absolutely nothing and let these horses starve, Smedley said.

Furthermore, the judge said that because there were healthy animals on the property, it was obvious that VanKoevering was favoring some over others.

There was food for some and not for others, Smedley said. It was like you have one child you like and one you dont and you choose to take care of one and not the other.

VanKoevering, then using the last name Harris, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor animal neglect in 2006 in a case that resulted in five horses being removed from her custody, according to court records.

VanKoevering told MLive earlier that all the animals involved in both the criminal cases had been dumped on her property.

These were rescue horses that were sick, she said. We tried the best we could.

VanKoevering could not be reached for comment about the alleged probation violation. Smedley set a $10,000 personal recognizance bond in that case.

Read more:

Woman who starved 3 horses to death ordered to jail

Woman charged in horses deaths says they were 'dumped on her property

Woman enters plea in animal cruelty case involving 3 dead horses
The United States is inclined to extend the waiver to Iraq to continue importing electricity and natural gas to Iran, which are vital to Iraqs energy needs, three senior Iraqi officials told Associated Press on Monday.

Even after the U.S. slapped sanctions on Irans energy exports, Iraq continues to import natural gas and electricity from Iran under a special waiver that the United States has regularly extended to Iraq.

Major Iraqi power plants are dependent on Iranian natural gas supply, and Iraq also imports electricity from Iran, as Baghdads power generation is not enough to ensure domestic supply.

The current waiver is set to expire later this week, on February 13. The U.S. Department of State is inclined to extend that waiver for another three months, if Iraq comes up with a plan by the end of this week on how it could cut off its dependence on imports of natural gas from Iran, the Iraqi officialssenior members of the governmenttold AP.

Iraq may have serious problems in securing its energy needs if the United States doesnt extend a waiver for an Iraqi bank to process payments for Iraqs imports of electricity and natural gas from Iran, the head of the Iraqi bank told AFP last month.

Despite the U.S. waiver for energy trade between Iran and Iraq, Iran is unable to use the money Iraq has paid in Iraqi dinars for the energy it imports from Iran. Up to US$5 billion sits in an escrow account at the central bank of Iraq, but Iran cannot touch it because of the U.S. sanctions, Hamid Hosseini, a spokesman for Iranian Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters Association (OPEX) told Iranian news outlet Press-TV two weeks ago. Iran has been cut off from the global SWIFT payment system, and because of this, it hasnt found a way yet to have the money transferred, according to Press-TV.

The deadline for the waiver expiration comes amid strained relations between the United States and Iraq after the U.S. killed Irans top military commander, Qassem Soleimani, in Iraqs capital Baghdad in early January.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Residents in a well-heeled market town aren't reporting drugs crimes to the police - because they are worried it could lower house prices.

Melbourne, in South Derbyshire, has previously been voted one of the best places to live in the UK, and the average home sells for more than 300,000.

The town - birthplace of travel pioneer Thomas Cook - boasts an attractive Georgian marketplace surrounded by bistros, boutiques and art galleries.

Melbourne, in South Derbyshire, has previously been voted one of the best places to live in the UK, and the average home sells for more than 300,000

But some among the 5,000 locals fear property values will drop if the area gains a reputation for illicit substance abuse, it is claimed.

The matter was raised during a community forum meeting on Thursday, where police and councillors spoke to the public.

Sergeant Matt Ladd, of Derbyshire Police, told the gathering: 'The other day we had someone call the police and say that they don't want to call in drug incidents because they think it will make house prices drop.

'That is completely unacceptable and is not true at all - there is no basis on fact.'

Sgt Ladd added drugs were a problem in Melbourne - but insisted locals shouldn't be concerned.

The matter was raised during a community forum meeting on Thursday, where police and councillors spoke to the public

But some among the 5,000 locals fear property values will drop if the area gains a reputation for illicit substance abuse, it is claimed

He added: 'Drug crimes are typically a victim-less offence in these cases. Someone is caught with drugs on them and they are dealt with accordingly.

'None of this should alarm you, but recording more incidents is positive, it sends a message that we are out there and we will stop these people.'

Derbyshire County Councillor Linda Chilton also spoke at the meeting. The Conservative member for Melbourne said: 'Some people are afraid of comeback.

'We do have a drug problem here but I can't force people to come to the police directly.'

People living in the town, which hosts one of Britain's top arts and crafts festivals each September, said they believed homeowners had avoided reporting crimes to the police for several years.

A Derbyshire Police officer, said: 'The other day we had someone call the police and say that they don't want to call in drug incidents because they think it will make house prices drop'

Writing on a Melbourne community Facebook group, Simon Slack said: 'Lightning suspicion by the police if they've only just worked that one out. Obviously the last 15 years went by unnoticed.'

Georgie Tomlinson posted: 'It's long been my suspicion that there are more drugs going on in Melbourne that anyone will admit so it doesn't surprise me!'

And Richard Smith added: 'While not exactly a crime hotspot, I definitely know some people here who would turn a blind eye to criminal activity if they thought it would give the town a bad rep.'

'Melbourne is a lovely place to live, but it does have its share of Hyacinth Bucket types, and this kind of attitude does nobody any good in the long run. It is no good burying your head in the sand.'

Writing on a Melbourne community Facebook, Simon Slack said: 'Lightning suspicion by the police if they've only just worked that one out. Obviously the last 15 years went by unnoticed'

Others jokingly compared the situation to Hot Fuzz, the 2007 black comedy starring Nick Pegg and Simon Frost, in which members of a Neighbourhood Watch Association kill off undesirable residents in order to win a Village of the Year competition.

Melbourne, around eight miles south of Derby, was first recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086 as 'Mileburne', a royal manor. The town's church, known locally as a 'cathedral in miniature', dates back to 1120, and in 1891 Thomas Cook, having made his fortune, built a row of cottages on its High Street for the poor that still exist today.

In a further claim to fame, Melbourne's better-known namesake in Australia takes its title from the town.

In 2013, it was ranked as the 15th best town in the UK to live by the Sunday Times, while South Derbyshire, in which Melbourne is situated, came 12th in the annual Halifax Quality of Life survey last week.
Wait, you were how old when Frozen came out? Photo: Emma McIntyre/VF20/WireImage

We came. We saw. We danced with Chaka Khan. It was yet another star-studded night at the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar party, and the celebrities wrapped up awards season in true Hollywood style: accidentally stepping on a gown and/or having your gown stepped on. Booze was flowing, In-N-Out burgers were passed, and there was even barefoot dancing  all before more shenanigans went down at valet parking. As a cure for your Oscars hangover, heres a glimpse into what you would have seen at the biggest and one of the most exclusive Hollywood parties of the year.

The Couple That In-N-Outs Together

If ScarJo is bummed about not taking home a trophy, it doesnt show. Just before 1 a.m., Oscar nominee Scarlett Johansson and her fiance, Colin Jost, kicked it with one another while sitting and talking under an indoor tree close to one of the partys bars. While he snacked on a lettuce-wrapped In-N-Out cheeseburger, she sipped on a drink, and they basically just chatted like besties. She stood first, and he followed; then when a male guest approached to talk and take a selfie, they politely obliged before walking out of the party holding hands.

The Cool Kids

When Camila Morrone and Hailey Bieber beeline together through a party, you better believe the partygoers around them move. The duo fiercely charged through a crowd with a few other guests in their entourage to sit and chat in a circle in a secluded back lounge area. Just a few minutes later, Timothee Chalamet, who was sipping on red wine, waited for them and followed their lead as the group filed out (with Morrone saying a quick good-bye to Lucy Boynton on the way).

The Powwow of the Night

Picture this: Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix celebrating his victory with chats and laughs outside on the packed back patio in a circle with his partner, Rooney Mara, to his right. Hes in an animated conversation with Billie Eilish, whos directly across from him and part of this small circle. Did everyone know they were friends? Well, they are now. (They do have a lot of awards to bond over.) Just minutes after the group disperses, Josh Gad and Abigail Spencer catch up in the same spot, with Shia LaBeouf mingling just behind them.

Riverdale and Bubbly

Riverdale actresses Lili Reinhart, Camila Mendes, and Madelaine Petsch traveled in a close-knit pack on the dance floor while holding glasses of Champagne. As Bruno Marss 24K Magic played, Reinhart and Mendes bopped around while Petsch had a major fangirl moment with Chrissy Metz, jumping for joy while talking to her. (Antonio Banderas was leaning on the bar next to them but didnt engage.)

Dance-Floor Veteran Chaka Khan

Watching Chaka Khan party is a true delight. After the music icon was posted up alone outside smoking a cigarette  and loving every minute of the alone time  she hit the dance floor, and she hit it hard. Literally kicking off her Sunday shoes, she was barefoot while busting a move to Chics Everybody Dance, then fist-pumping to the Jonas Brothers Sucker.

Valet Hero Zach Braff

In the later hours, while waiting for his car at valet parking along with a few guests, Zach Braff put on an impromptu comedy show. As a valet called out actor Cary Elwes for his car, Braff copped the attendants tone and also yelled Carys name, shouting, I love Cary of Princess Bride. As the valets continued to shout names, Braff threw in O.J. Simpson! to really get a crowd laugh. Meanwhile, Florence Pugh was chuckling in Braffs group and having a cigarette. While waiting, Braff told a female guest that her dress was very pretty and that she looked like a princess. Finally, Braffs car was ready, and when the valet mocked him, yelling, Youre a wonderful actor!, Braff responded, Thank you, sir! Pugh literally cackled along with Braff.

The Wingman MVP

Cynthia Erivo was aggressively escorted through the packed party while Lena Waithe quickly and carefully trailed behind her trying not to step on her dress and repeatedly saying, Sorry, sorry!, under her breath.

A Casual Encounter

As Connie Britton made her way through the party with a glass of almost-gone Champagne in one hand and the train of her dress in the other, she bumped into Charlize Theron by the bar, and the two had a moment while Michael Jacksons Shake Your Body was blasting through the room. Oh my God, I know, I know!, Britton said to Theron, touching her arm. Meanwhile, Finn Wittrock was just one step over, ordering a drink.

Security Denies Rami Malek

Together with his girlfriend, Lucy Boynton, and another Bohemian Rhapsody co-star, Joseph Mazzello, Rami Malek attempted to walk the group out of the party and back through the entrance (i.e., the iconic red carpet). At that point, security wasnt letting anyone exit out that way, and not even Malek, who took home an Oscar last year, was able to sway them. So, out the side exit with everyone else they went.
By Tony Corbo

As the world focuses on the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating impact on public health, the Trump Administration has been busy behind the scenes doubling down on its campaign to deregulate Big Ag. At the same time, it is not providing safeguards to food production workers and government inspectors who are being made to work on the frontlines without frontline employee protections.

The USDA Is Playing Fast and Loose With Meat Inspection Lines During the Coronavirus Outbreak USDAs Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is deregulating inspection in some of the largest pork processing facilities by reducing the number of inspectors assigned to the slaughter line. They turn over critical inspection tasks to untrained company employees, and remove the cap on how fast the line can run. FSIS anticipates that 40 hog slaughter facilities will convert to this method, which is being called the New Swine Inspection System (NSIS). Those 40 facilities process over 92% of all pork in the U.S. Some of the big names in pork processing are pushing for this, such as JBS, Tyson, Smithfield, Clemens, and Quality Pork Processors. In one plant that has been experimenting with the new system, FSIS inspectors have 2.6 seconds to determine whether the company employees have performed their tasks properly. As a consequence, it is not uncommon for hog carcasses to be contaminated with feces, hair, toe nails, and bile to be greenlit for processing into bacon, pork chops, hot dogs, sausage, and other pork products. Three lawsuits to challenge NSIS have been filed by unions representing the plant workers, animal welfare groups, and food safety advocates, including Food & Water Watch and the Center for Food Safety. FSIS hid critical information from the public when it first proposed the frighteningly minimal system. Food & Water Watch was forced to file separate litigation to obtain crucial, undisclosed information which revealed that NSIS would lead to more contaminated pork entering commerce and could lead to an animal disease  to ravage hog herds and/or be transmitted to humans. Plants that wanted to convert to NSIS had until March 30, 2020 to state their intentions. FSIS still refuses to disclose the names of those plants, leaving consumers in the dark.

Meat Companies Are Being Given Almost Full Control Over Their Own Inspection Standards While it is struggling to keep poultry plants properly staffed with inspectors during the pandemic, FSIS has stepped up its approvals of regulatory waivers to chicken slaughter plants that want to increase their maximum line speeds from 140 birds per minute to 175 birds per minute. In the first two weeks of April, FSIS approved 11 such waivers for plants operated by Foster Farms, Tyson Foods (4 plants), and Wayne Farms (6 plants). These plants have all converted to the so-called New Poultry Inspection System (NPIS) in which the number of government inspectors assigned to the slaughter line is reduced and many of their tasks are turned over to company employees. Under traditional inspection, each FSIS inspector is assigned 35 birds per minute to inspect. Under NPIS, there is only one FSIS inspector stationed at the end of the slaughter line. When a plant is granted a line speed waiver, that sole FSIS inspector is expected to examine 3 birds every second  or 175 birds per minute. The waiver process that FSIS uses is done in secret; it is not open to public scrutiny until the FSIS reveals that it has granted the waiver. Since taking office, the Trump USDA has approved 28 new waivers under this process, mostly to the big players in the poultry industry. Inviting everyone to the new game, FSIS is recruiting cattle slaughter plants to deregulate inspection, too. In late March, FSIS approved a waiver through its secret process for a Tyson beef plant in Holcomb, Kansas that slaughters up to 6000 head of cattle per day. The waiver is designed to reduce the number of government inspectors assigned to its slaughter line, increasing its line speed. FSIS has not revealed how fast the line will run with this waiver or how many fewer government inspectors will be on the slaughter line, but we know it wont result in safety for consumers.

Meat Inspection Deregulation Threatens Food Safety All of these deregulatory moves are designed to increase production; they are not being done to improve food safety. They will contribute to expanding the industrial agriculture model by promoting the growth of factory farms. Its even more disconcerting that it is occurring in the middle of a national crisis. As the Trump Administration has stepped on the accelerator to deregulate in recent weeks, there are numerous examples around the country of meat and poultry plants being impacted by the spread of the COVID-19 virus. While the news has been focused on urban areas racked by the pandemic, hot spots have also emerged in rural communities in Colorado, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Iowa, South Dakota, and Nebraska where meatpacking plant workers have contracted the virus while being forced to work, forcing some plants to curtail or cease operations temporarily. In those instances where meatpackers have insisted on continuing with business-as-usual even when their employees have gotten sick, it has pitted public health officials against company officials and even USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue. Plant workers and even government inspectors who work at these plants have not been given adequate personal protective equipment. It is virtually impossible to practice social distancing in these plants because plant workers and government inspectors work side-by-side in slaughter and processing facilities. When workers protested these conditions, Vice President Mike Pence had the audacity to urge the workers to continue to show up and do [their] jobs.
(Photo : Screenshot From Stargazing UK Ltd Facebook Page) Boeing fails

Boeing's Starliner Capsule already failed once because of a timer delay during one of the launch tests and is now experiencing failure once again with the Starliner's parachute. These types of failures need to be resolved before NASA can declare these types of rockets or capsules useful for their astronauts. The safety of the astronauts along with the capability of the rockets go hand-in-hand, but before any rocket can be declared useful, it must first be declared safe.

NASA's technique on development

NASA has been really smart about their budget allocation by working with private companies Boeing and SpaceX to manufacture their needed rockets for space. So far, SpaceX has been able to break through with their Crew Dragon. NASA aims to minimize their costs by having Boeing develop them the CST-100 'Starliner' which is a capsule under the very own Commercial Crew Development. NASA's plan includes two different space vehicles, the Starliner and the Crew Dragon.

Read Also: The Shores of the Mid-Atlantic: NASA's New Rocket Launch Site

Although Boeing's first Orbital Flight Test was a failure for their Starliner, Boeing has to come back somehow and make sure that they push through with quality rockets under a contract with NASA.

SpaceX's Crew Dragon and its successful performance

SpaceX is celebrating the success of the recent orbital flight test and their in-flight abort test, which just goes to show that their very own Crew Dragon is almost ready to go to space! There are a few changes that need to be made regarding the ground test failure, which is already under investigation to make sure that the small leaks and lapses are being worked out.

Other problems with the Starliner include the leaking of the module's toxic fuel, which then resulted in the delay of the OTF by months. This alarming defect negatively reflected on Boeing because of how risky their rockets still are.

Other problems raised by NASA

NASA realizes that they have another problem with Boeing, which can prove to be a critical concern later on. Software from Boeing has recently become quite problematic as this is a fundamental problem. Boeing already has a bad history record when it comes to software crashes like when their Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System or (MCAS), which was the system for the Boeing 737, has already claimed the lives of 346 innocent individuals aboard two separate flights. Clearly, this is something to be addressed before NASA completely before they are ready to send their astronauts aboard a Boeing.

Read Also: BWX and NASA: Will Lynchburg Be the Start of the Mars Expedition?

Another disturbing problem that could be experienced by NASA is the lack of space-to-ground communications, which is of integral importance, especially when astronauts are on board. During the flight's initial stages, shaky communication was already experienced between the Starliner and the control team which was caused by a "high [radio] noise floor," that was pointed out to be the cause of interruption for NASA's Tracking Data and Relay Satellites (TDRS) from connecting with the Starliner.

NASA has big plans, and even though Boeing has been experiencing problems, NASA has not yet given up on them despite the Starlink Capsule's second failure.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Marine Corps end strength will drop by thousands for the first time since it ended a years-long post-war drawdown as the service moves forward with a plan to slash manpower costs to pay for modern equipment and weapons systems.

The Marine Corps wants $46 billion in 2021, almost identical to last year's $45.9 billion request as the Pentagon's topline budget ask for next year remains flat. The request includes plans to drop the force from its authorized 2020 end strength of 186,200 down to 184,100 in 2021.

The manpower reductions are "part of larger reform initiatives aimed at internally generating resources ... to reinvest in modernization and increasing lethality," budget documents state. Moving toward a smaller service is part of a plan to get the Marine Corps to where it needs to be in the next 15 years, the request states.

If approved, the reduction would mark the first time the force has faced personnel cuts since 2016, when the Marine Corps ended a drawdown that cut about 20,000 from the ranks after it bulked up during the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The enlisted force will absorb the brunt of the cut to personnel strength, falling from an authorized 164,688 Marines in 2020 to 162,430. Under the plan, the officer corps would increase by 158 people.

The new 184,100 end strength is scheduled to hold steady through 2025, budget documents state. The size of the Marine Corps Reserve -- which stands at about 38,500 personnel -- will not be affected by the end-strength decrease.

Marines can also expect a 3% pay raise in 2021.

The Marine Corps will continue to focus on investing in special skills needed to meet requirements in an evolving operational environment, the budget request states, "such as those required for special operations, intelligence operations, electronic, information and cyber warfare."

"This is the strategy that supports the sustainment of a more experienced, better trained and more capable force by re-scoping the active Marine Corps end strength and force structure to the capabilities necessary to be appropriately manned, trained and equipped as a naval expeditionary force-in-readiness and prepared to operate inside actively contested maritime space in support of fleet operations," budget documents state.

The Marine Corps is currently undergoing a monthslong force-wide review that will determine the types of military occupational specialties it will need in the future. Commandant Gen. David Berger called force design his No. 1 priority in his planning guidance for the service.

Berger told Military.com last summer that he was considering cuts to the force to pay for upgrades to outdated training ranges and equipment. The service plans to spend $2.9 billion, about 6% of its total request, on new equipment.

Related: New Commandant Says He'd Consider a Smaller Marine Corps as Requirements Change

Big purchases will include more Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, Amphibious Combat Vehicles, High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets.

The budget request also lists several programs the service will ditch because the equipment is "no longer supporting future modernization. That equipment includes phasing out the decades-old Amphibious Assault Vehicle along with the heavy and slow Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles.

The Marine Corps has been replacing AAVs with the new Amphibious Combat Vehicle and MRAPs with Joint Light Tactical Vehicles.

The Marine Corps plans to ramp up its ACV purchases in 2021, with plans to spend about $479 million on 72 vehicles -- 16 more than last year.

The service also wants 752 more JLTVs next year, for a total of $381.7 million. That's a dip from past JLTV purchases, with the Marine Corps buying 1,398 of the vehicles last year for about $556 million and 1,642 for $572.8 million in 2019.

Military.com reported in August that the Marine Corps was boosting the number of JLTVs it planned to buy to 15,000 as it moves to replace the rest of its light fleet of vehicles.

Related: Marine Corps to Increase JLTV Buy to 15,000 to Replace its Humvee Fleet

The Marine Corps is also continuing to invest in new fixed-wing, rotary and tiltrotor aircraft after years of flying its planes, helicopters and MV-22B Ospreys in Iraq and Afghanistan led to serious readiness problems.

The Marine Corps wants to buy 10 F-35C Joint Strike Fighter jets that can operate on aircraft carriers and 10 of the B-variant, which can take off from and land vertically on amphibious assault ships. Last year, it bought 10 F-35Cs and 16 F-35Bs.

The Navy and Marine Corps are working toward a future fleet of 121 F-35Cs by 2025 and 87 F-35Bs.

The service is increasing its KC-130J Hercules purchases in 2021 to five, up from three last year. It wants three more MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, which have been essential for the land-based crisis response units responding to crises across long distance.

The Marine Corps also wants seven new CH-53K heavy-lift helicopters in 2021, which is one more than last year. The service is planning to build up its heavy-lift helo total to 71 CH-53Ks by 2025.

The service has no plans to purchase new unmanned aircraft in 2021. It will invest in developing the Ground Based Anti-Ship Missile that can be used by an artillery battalion on land. The Navy and Marine Corps are both investing in longer range and hypersonic weapons.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.

Read More: Force-Wide Review Could Result in a 'Radically Different' Marine Corps
A former Virginia Tech student is suing the university after he was accused of overseeing a ceremony that violated the schools hazing policy.

Darrien Brown alleges the university denied him due process when administrators suspended him for two semesters for allegedly overseeing a Corps of Cadets blood-pinning ceremony in October. During the ceremony, the sharp ends of military pins are pushed into the chests of cadets. Browns lawsuit describes the ceremony as a Corps tradition.

The Roanoke Times reports that Brown brought the lawsuit last week in federal court. The suit alleges that Brown, a business management major, will lose his military scholarship and ability to join the Army. It calls on Tech to reinstate Brown and expunge his record.

The AP reached out to the Corps of Cadets. Its communication director referred questions to Virginia Tech.

Virginia Tech spokesman Mark Owczarski declined to comment on the lawsuit, but said the school stands by its policies and protocols.

We believe that when all sides of an issue are ultimately heard that our actions will be upheld, Owczarski said in a text.

Browns lawsuit says that a group of cadets gathered on Oct. 18 for a voluntary sophomore integration event. About 21 juniors and seniors led the event, the lawsuit says.

The group performed exercises, went on a hike and had a bonfire, then cadets were given pins, the lawsuit says. It says an unidentified participant later alleged the pinning ceremony event constituted hazing.

The pin involved is a small company pin. It is placed on a persons shirt and tapped. Participation in this ceremony is entirely voluntary, the lawsuit states.

A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday in federal court.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits InsurTech Tech Virginia
A father who sexually abused his daughter for six years and had previously forced her to write a letter withdrawing the allegations has been given an eight-and-a-half-year sentence.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard when she first disclosed the abuse as a nine year old, she was beaten and isolated in a bedroom for several days without access to the bathroom.

Six years later, as a 15-year-old, she disclosed at school what was happening to her and her father forced her to write a letter to the authorities withdrawing the allegations.

The 56-year-old man, who cannot be identified to protect his daughter's identity, was convicted by a jury following a trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court last December of 55 counts of sexual assault of his daughter at the family home on dates between 1995 and 2001. He had denied all charges.

His daughter told the court during the trial that the abuse took place on a very regular basis over the six year period. It began just before she turned nine years old and continued until she was 15.

In her victim impact statement which she read to the court, the woman said the abuse had destroyed her childhood and her survival technique had been to shut down completely.

The fear of telling what was happening kept me in silence, she said, describing how she suffered physical abuse and threats at the hand of her father.

She said the hardest thing had been being beaten and isolated in a bare room after disclosing the abuse when she had done nothing wrong. She said her father had torn her family and her world apart. She described suffering flashbacks and feelings of low self-esteem and worthlessness.

I am saying to my father today, what you did to me was wrong, so very very wrong. No child should have to go through what I went through, the woman said.

She said she had been overwhelmed that the jury had seen through her father's lies and found the process of giving evidence in front of him was emotionally draining and heartbreaking.

I recognise now I have a voice and can and have been heard. I am not keeping my father's secrets any more.

Judge Karen O'Connor told the woman she had demonstrated great courage and strength and it was evident that she was a courageous and strong woman. She wished her the best in her future life.

Judge O'Connor noted in sentencing that the court was bound by the penalty for sexual assault that was in force at the time which was a maximum of five years imprisonment for each offence.

She said the aggravating factors included the breach of trust, the length of time the abuse continued for, the young age of the victim and the ongoing impact it has had on her life.

Judge O'Connor said mitigation was sparse but took into account the man's present circumstances and that he was an enhanced prisoner who worked within the prison.

She imposed four and a half years in relation to the first fifty counts and a consecutive four-year sentence in relation to the final five counts.

The prosecuting garda told Sinead McMullan BL, prosecuting, that the victim's first memory of abuse was her father touching her breast in the bedroom when she was nine years old and her mother walking in.

The woman said there was a conversation between her parents a number of days later and her father said the child was a liar. She was punished and isolated in her bedroom.

The court heard the abuse continued for six years and included touching her breast and genital area under and over her clothes as well as her father forcing her to touch his penis.

The woman said she never said no to her father because she would be beaten.

As a 15-year-old, she disclosed in school what was happening to her. There was an inquiry by the school and social workers and her father left the house in 2001.

Her father later returned to live in the house and forced her to write a letter withdrawing the allegations which was sent to the authorities. A formal complaint regarding the allegations had not been made to the gardai at that stage and she made a statement withdrawing the allegations.

Her father left the family home in 2003 and her mother later died. The woman made a formal complaint to gardai in 2016 and the accused was interviewed by gardai. He denied the allegations.

Michael Bowman SC, defending, said it was correct to commend the woman's dignity and strength through the trial process, but the court must now decide where on the scale the offending lies.

Mr Bowman submitted the offences were at the lower end of the scale. He told the court that there were no further allegations of this kind against his client. He said his client was now registered as a sex offender which would have consequences for him into his future.
India has cleared some consignments of medical gear placed by China to combat the deadly after setting aside export bans on all kinds of personal protection equipment, Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri said here on Monday.

The decision came a day after Prime Minister wrote a letter to President offering solidarity and assistance to deal with the outbreak in China that has claimed over 900 lives.

In the letter to Xi, Modi expressed solidarity with the president and people of China over the outbreak of the virus that has also infected over 40,000 people.

Prime Minister Modi also offered India's assistance to China to face the challenge, besides conveying condolences over the loss of lives due to the outbreak.

On January 31, India banned exports of all kinds of personal protection equipment, including clothing and masks used to protect people from air borne particles.

However, some of the protective clothing and personal protection equipment like masks have been cleared for exports to China setting aside the ban on some of them, Misri said.

The embassy is in touch with the Chinese authorities about the assistance required, Misri told PTI here.

Misri said China has placed big orders to import some of the medical gear required to deal with the attack.

Exports of some of the medical gear has been banned by India, considering India's own requirements as it is also preparing to combat its major outbreak in the country.

A special screening committee of officials is meeting on daily bases to review the restrictions on the export of medical equipment which is in demand as many countries stepped up efforts to prepare to combat the outbreak of the virus in their countries, Misiri said.

Since the outbreak was reported came to limelight, China which had deployed thousands of medical personnel in virus hit Wuhan city and Hubei province has been saying that it needed large consignments of gloves, protection equipment etc for those deployed in the hospitals besides the security personnel.

Such equipment has been exported by Japan, the US and the EU.

India too has delivered a number of boxes of such equipment through the second special Air India flight sent to evacuate 647 Indian nationals held up in Wuhan and Hubei provinces, Misri said.

The death toll in China's coronavirus outbreak has gone up to 908 with 97 new fatalities reported mostly in the worst-affected Hubei province and the confirmed cases of infection crossing 40,000, Chinese health officials said on Monday.

A team of experts led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) is expected in China on Monday to assist the Chinese health officials to contain the spread of coronavirus outbreak.

The WHO has declared the recent novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) epidemic affecting 23 countries as an Public Health Emergency of concern.
YOKOHAMA, Japan  As coronavirus cases rapidly multiply on the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess, the more than 2,500 passengers on board live in effective isolation. They receive meals in their cabins. They keep an officially mandated distance of 6 feet from each other for the few minutes each day when they are allowed on deck for walks.

Below decks, the situation is different. There, hundreds of crew members are eating, living and working elbow to elbow as they try to keep life as comfortable as possible for those above. They line up for simple buffet meals and then sit down together to eat. Bathrooms are shared by up to four people, and cabins often by two.

These conditions have raised fears that a quarantine meant to halt the viruss spread on board, and keep the contagion from expanding on Japans shores, is endangering the health and safety of the crew.

The ship, which is under a two-week quarantine in the port of Yokohama, has become host to the highest concentration of coronavirus cases outside China, the epicenter of the outbreak. The risk to crew members and passengers was dramatically reinforced Monday as Japans health ministry said that an additional 65 people had tested positive for the virus, nearly doubling the total to 135.

Among them, at least 10 crew members have been infected, with five cases announced Sunday and five more Monday. According to employees, the infected crew members identified Sunday had been eating in the mess hall alongside their co-workers.

Unlike the passengers they serve, most of whom come from wealthy nations, the ships employees are overwhelmingly from developing countries like India and the Philippines. They have not received the same global attention as passengers from countries like the United States, Australia and Britain, whose social media posts have been widely read.

In a video posted to Facebook on Monday, Binay Kumar Sarkar, who works in the ships galley preparing meals and washing dishes, asked the Indian government to help get him and his co-workers off the ship before the virus spread further. There are 132 Indians among the crew of more than 1,000.

The ship is like a small city, Sarkar said in a Facebook chat, making it very easy to spread the virus.

In response to emailed questions, a representative of Princess Cruises, which operates the Diamond Princess, said that all crew members are highly trained in safety and public health standards. Without offering specifics, the representative added that the company was implementing processes developed in coordination with public health officials to support the elevated requirements of this situation.

In some ways, the cruise ship quarantine is analogous, albeit with a much smaller pool of people, to the lockdown of Wuhan, China, where the epidemic began. In Wuhan and the surrounding province, Hubei, the authorities have barred close to 50 million people from leaving, and cases there are still rising as family members infect each other.

Similar to the situation in Wuhan, but at a smaller scale, by quarantining the ship, the crew members are being forced to stay together, which increases the likelihood of transmission, said John B. Lynch, an associate professor of infectious diseases at the University of Washington. We have to remember that quarantines protect those outside the quarantine, not those within.

Other experts said supervisors on the ship needed to enforce strict hygiene policies, including frequent hand-washing. Both passengers and crew members should also be keeping distance from others and avoiding congregating, said Dr. Peter Rabinowitz, who is co-director of the University of Washington MetaCenter for Pandemic Preparedness and Global Health Security.

Crew members, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of losing their jobs, said they had been provided with masks, gloves and hand sanitizer, but given little training on how to reduce their chances of infection in a situation of this magnitude.

Like passengers, they have been given thermometers and told to monitor their own temperatures and report back if they develop a fever. They have received no new guidance since the quarantine began a week ago, according to one employee.

Passengers said they were grateful to the crew but also worried that the employees, even though they are wearing protective gear when they enter cabins, might be passing the infection to people isolated inside.

On Monday, passengers were given new masks designed to filter out 95% of airborne particles, as well as packages of alcohol wipes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta also sent a letter to passengers advising them to wear face masks if they shared cabins with other passengers and to avoid sharing personal household items.

Japans health ministry said Monday that so far it had tested 439 people on the ship for the coronavirus. That leaves more than 3,000 who have not been tested, receiving only initial health checks.

Japanese officials have said they do not have the capacity to test everyone on the ship. But on Sunday, the health minister, Katsunobu Kato, said his ministry needed to consider whether it could do so.

In Hong Kong, where another cruise ship, the World Dream, has been held at port, about 1,800 crew members aboard were tested for the coronavirus after authorities said that infected passengers had disembarked Jan. 24 in Guangzhou province, China.

When the ship arrived in Hong Kong last Wednesday on a subsequent journey, health authorities first tested those who had fevers or showed symptoms of the virus. All of those initial tests came back negative, but out of an abundance of caution, Hong Kong health authorities decided to test all crew members.

Experts said authorities should also test everyone on board the Diamond Princess in Yokohama.

It is extremely possible that the infection has been transmitted on the ship, said Harue Okada, a professor of public health at Hakuoh University in Tochigi Prefecture. She added that it was difficult to identify who had been exposed to infected people, including those who came into contact with other people during shore excursions.

Furthermore, as it is assumed that there are asymptomatic but infected people, the virus test is necessary, Okada said.

The cruise ship terminal where the Diamond Princess is docked has been closed to the public. On Monday, a sort of war room had been set up where around a dozen people sat at computers and on phones.

Some of them wore jackets that identified them as members of a psychological support team. The rooms walls were plastered with long strips of butcher paper, where information about the patients and a timeline had been scribbled in thick black marker.

At the port, the daughter of a passenger tried to deliver food and water to her elderly mother, who she said had a fever and was having trouble getting attention from the medical staff.

She feels sick. I hope she can disembark soon, Etsuko Takashima said through tears as she spoke about her mother, Ayako Jinnai, 84. At least, I hope she can get a drip infusion in the medical room on the ship. I dont think her current condition is known to the staff.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Two billionaire siblings allegedly planned to trap their brother "like a rat in a bottle" when they duped him out of his one-third stake of their father's mining company more than three decades ago.

Perth businessman Julian Wright has accused his sister, iron ore heiress Angela Bennett, and his brother Michael Wright (now deceased) of tricking him out of his share in the family's vast fortune by hiding potential earnings of mining tenements and royalty streams.

The family dispute started when the siblings father Peter Wright died in 1985, leaving his three children as the co-executors of his estate which included his company, Wright Prospecting.

In 1987, Julian was paid out $6.8 million by Ms Bennett and Michael for his share in the family company which he alleges his siblings downplayed to be worth between $12 and $15 million.
Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg addresses a news conference after launching his presidential bid in Norfolk, Virginia, U.S., November 25, 2019. Joshua Roberts | Reuters

Mike Bloomberg is the only Democrat to top President Donald Trump in a Gallup poll of small business owners. Fifty-two percent said they favored the former New York mayor in a hypothetical race against Trump, according to the poll by Gallup and payments-tech firm Square. The poll, released Monday, was conducted Jan. 15 to 24, before the Iowa caucuses. The survey asked respondents to indicate how Trump stacks up against seven top Democratic candidates: Bloomberg, former Vice President Joe Biden, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, entrepreneur Andrew Yang and Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

Biden and Trump tied at 50%. Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Yang were at 49% against Trump's 51%, while Warren and Sanders got 48% vs. Trump's 52%. Biden was the top choice for the Democratic nomination among survey participants who planned to vote in the primaries: 22% backed the former vice president. Bloomberg was next with 17%, while Sanders and Warren had 14% and 13%, respectively. But 13% of respondents said they were undecided on their top choice among the seven Democrats.

Trump has high approval
WASHINGTON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Two U.S. service members were killed and six others injured when an individual in an Afghan uniform opened fire on them, the U.S. military said on Saturday.

The incident, which took place in Nangarhar province, occurred after a combined U.S. and Afghan force was returning from a "key-leader engagement," Colonel Sonny Leggett, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement.

"We are still collecting information and the cause or motive behind the attack is unknown at this time," Leggett added. (Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
Explained: What the dossiers on Mehbooba, Omar Abdullah mean

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 10: The government has cited a dossier while slapping the Public Safety Act on two former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti.

The PSA embed the authorities to detain any person who is acting in a manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order and it is known as the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act of 1978.

What the dossier on Omar states:

A dossier prepared by the police on Omar Abdullah says that the capacity of the subject to influence the people for any cause can be gauged from the fact that he was able to convince the electorate to come out and vote in huge numbers even during the peak of militancy and poll boycotts.

Scheming politician, triggering angry protests: Dossiers on Omar, Mehbooba

The dossier accused Abdullah of trying to stoke public anger to trigger violent protests. Despite the fact that the subject has been a mainstream politician, he has been planning activities against the Union of India under the guise of politics. While enjoying the support of gullible masses, he has been successful in execution of such activities, the dossier also says.

In the aftermath of Article 370 being abrogated, Abdullah removed all covers/curtains and while resorting to dirty politics adopted a radical methodology by way of instigating general makes against the policies of the Central Government, the dossier further reads.

The dossier on Mehbooba:

On Mehbooba, the dossier said that the subject is recognised as a hot-headed scheming person known for dangerous and insidious machinations. She has been promoting separatism as corroborated by several confidential reports filed by the intelligence agencies.

The dossier also says that Mehbooba refused to sign a bond stating that she will not talk about the scrapping of Article 370.

Explainer: What is parricide and is the phenomenon on verge in India?

What the Act states:

An individual can be detained if he or she is found to be promoting, propagating or attempting to create feelings of enmity or hatred or disharmony on the grounds of religion, caste, community or race. A person can be detained under PSA if he or she is involved in making preparations or instigating or inciting or provoking people to disrupt public order.

A person shall be informed about the grounds on which the order was made. However, in exceptional circumstances, the authorities can take up to ten days to explain the grounds. However, the act says, nothing in subsection (1) shall require the authority to disclose facts which it considers to be against the public interest to disclose.

The maximum period of detention is 12 months and 24 months. The 12-month detention is for persons acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order or timber smuggling. In case a person is acting in a manner prejudicial to the security of the state, then the detention period is 24 months.
A South Jersey school district will provide grief counseling for students after the death of a 4-year-old boy who accidentally shot himself Friday night.

Lincoln Mack, who police said shot himself with an unsecured gun inside his familys home, attended Pemberton Early Childhood Education Center on Arneys Mt. Road, the Pemberton Township School District said. One of his siblings attends the nearby Alexander Denbo Elementary School.

The district is implementing a comprehensive plan to ensure it provides emotional support for the community, it said in a letter sent to parents.

"The district will continue to provide counseling and support in the upcoming days and weeks to those struggling to process and deal with this event, school officials wrote.

Mack found an unsecured gun in his familys home on Maricopa Trail in Browns Mills and accidentally shot himself, authorities said. EMTs arrived at the house just after 7 p.m. and found Mack with a bullet wound on his cheek. He was pronounced dead at Deborah Hospital about an hour later.

Macks parents and two siblings were home at the time of the shooting, the Burlington County Prosecutors Office said. No criminal charges have been filed.

Grief specialists will be available Monday morning at both schools and parents at each school were notified of counseling services. The district also posted tips on its website for helping children deal with grief, and will hold an emergency staff meeting this week.

All staff will continue to work together through this process as a supportive and caring community, keeping all those affected by this tragedy in our thoughts and prayers," the district said.

Family friend Michael Tamburri created a GoFundMe page for Macks funeral expenses.

Tamburri described Mack as the happiest four-year-old youll ever see" who loved playing with his older brother. He also had a baby sister.

The always smiling Mack had a love for fish that started because his father owns a fish breeding business, Tamburri said. Tamburri last saw Mack about a week ago in the familys fish room, an area of their house that has 55 tanks.

They have a couch in front their biggest fish tank. (Mack) was sitting on it watching the big fish I gave them, Tamburri said. He loved his family, dogs, and fish. (He was) always smiling and happy.

The Burlington County Sheriffs Department gives free gun locks to any county resident 18 or older, according to the county website. The cable gun locks prevent accidental discharges. All firearms should be stored unloaded and locked in a secure location when not in use.

Anyone seeking a gun lock can call the Sheriffs Department Community Services Unit at 609-265-3788.

Avalon Zoppo may be reached at azoppo2@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AvalonZoppo. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
Lake County Democratic Party Chairman James Wieser previously said that with so many candidates in the race, it comes down to name recognition and finance. He called out McDermott, Mrvan and Reardon as candidates that are well known and have (campaign finance) ability.
Fang Ji, a nurse with the Second People's Hospital of Hefei, stands in front of a window of her dormitory to find her home in a neighboring building of her workplace when the night shift is over on February 3. [Xinhua]

A female ICU nurse with the Second People's Hospital of Hefei City in East China's Anhui Province, who has been preoccupied with medical treatment of patients confirmed with the novel coronavirus pneumonia since the onset of the outbreak, has been leaving her two children with their grandparents at home.

Fang Ji, 34, is a member of the hospital's emergency response team. During the Spring Festival holiday, she told her children that she had to stay at her post to fight against the novel coronavirus and couldn't come back for an unknown period.

Fang's two children stand on the balcony of their home on February 3 to find their mother in the building opposite. [Xinhua]

The elder boy, who is only 4, replied that he and his younger brother needed her at home since their father had been away from home for a while on a business trip.

Without any choice, Fang explained to them that they could come to the balcony of their home and find her in the opposite building when they miss her. In fact, their home is located just adjacent to the hospital.

Moreover, Fang told a white lie to them by saying that there is a "magnifier" to help her see them through the window from the workplace.

Since then, the two children have often happily stood on the balcony and tried to make themselves visible to their mother in the hospital through her "magnifier."

Meanwhile, Fang and her colleagues have worked 24-hour shifts in the arduous battle against the novel coronavirus epidemic.

In a recent interview, Fang pledged that she will stick to her workplace and fight together with virus-affected patients until victory in the battle against the novel coronavirus is achieved.

Fang went on to say that she finds time to check the conditions of her two children at home through an Internet camera on her mobile phone during a break because her parents do not know how to make a video call with her through WeChat or other similar mobile apps.

Fang's two children stand on the balcony of their home on February 3 to find their mother in the building opposite. [Xinhua]

Fang Ji dons her protective suit before entering the isolation ward on February 6. [Xinhua]

Fang Ji prepares for work in the isolation ward on February 6. [Xinhua]

Fang Ji views a short video of her two children on her mobile phone at home after a night shift on February 3. [Xinhua]

(Source: Xinhua/Translated and edited by Women of China)
In a landmark ruling last week, the constitutional court in Malawi annulled the 2019 elections citing massive irregularities during the process. The judges ordered new elections within five months. They also highlighted fundamental challenges that have long plagued Malawi's first-past-the-post electoral system.

The lengthy, meticulously detailed and unanimous ruling by a five-judge panel has attracted widespread acclaim within Malawi and abroad. With the exception of one case in Kenya, it is not normal for courts in Africa to annul election results even when there is evidence of massive irregularities. Once results are announced it is often taken for granted that no court would overturn them.

The constitutional court in Malawi observed that:

Given the gravity of  irregularities, the conduct of the Electoral Commission in managing these elections was severely lacking and demonstrated incompetence for failing in multiple dimensions to follow clearly laid out legal processes for such elections.

The court challenge followed numerous protests organised throughout Malawi after the May 2019 election. These played a crucial part in the overall scheme of things. Mass demonstrations held in the past nine months signalled to the judiciary and the international community that Malawi had changed. The clear message was that Malawians were no longer willing to simply accept a fate handed out to them.

Malawi's judiciary deserves to be praised. But the power, agency and influence of the Malawian people cannot be underestimated.

What will be the effect on democracy in Malawi? Relying on the courts alone to resolve political disputes is not a viable alternative to democratic consolidation. President Peter Mutharika and the Malawi Election Commission have unsurprisingly wasted little time in appealing the ruling. The supreme court, to which they have appealed, has the power to overturn decisions of lower courts  including the constitutional court.

The judges of the supreme court will, however, be under great pressure to not quash the detailed legal arguments put forth by the constitutional court.

New round

As the country gears up for new elections, there are reasons to be concerned. The outcome of future elections will not be viewed as more legitimate if the electoral rules remain unchanged. One significant flaw is that the laws do not require a 50+1 majority for victory.

A new round of elections offers an opportunity to strengthen civil and political freedoms. It also promises to ensure greater accountability for those in power in relation to their performance and promises. Ultimately, this could lead to increased responsiveness of the state in delivering public services.

But is there adequate administrative capacity to undertake radical changes at such short notice? What will the Malawi Election Commission do differently now?

The most urgent change that's needed is to ensure that elections don't result in narrow mandates for the winning candidate. Zambia amended its electoral laws a few years ago to ensure that only a candidate who gets more that 50% of the votes is declared winner. Alternatively, a second round is conducted for the top two candidates if none failed to secure more than 50% in the first round.

A similar amendment was submitted to Malawi's parliament but was rejected due to internal party politics. The proposed amendment was derived from a report by the Malawi Special Law Commission on the Review of Electoral Law in 2017.

Other challenges include financing yet another expensive round of elections and ensuring a successful election process without irregularities. This will be difficult to do at such short notice.

All these are reasons to be cautious. Experience elsewhere points to the fact that court judgments, however favourable, don't deliver great democratic outcomes.

The lessons from the re-run of the presidential elections in Kenya in 2017 serve as an illustrative example. After the initial euphoria, the boycott of the subsequent re-run by the opposition proved to be a huge disappointment.

Democratic consolidation

The process of consolidating democracy in Malawi has been fragile.

The capacity to organise successful elections is a key indicator of democracy consolidation. The country held its first democratic poll in 1994. The introduction of democracy resulted in numerous changes in electoral legislation, statutes allowing registration and competition of parties, frequency of national elections, and the freedom of the press.

But Malawi has underperformed in a number of areas.

For example, a survey conducted by Afrobarometer  a pan-African, non-partisan research network that conducts surveys on democracy, governance and economic conditions  shows that trust in the electoral management body fell from 49% in 1999 to 34% in 2019. Public support for elections as a means of choosing leaders has also significantly fallen, from 78% in 2003 to 55% in 2017.

Reliance on courts

The findings of a more recent survey provide useful insights into how Malawians perceive their courts. A large majority of the respondents considered the courts as impartial and trustworthy. They were also of the view that the president must always obey court rulings, even when they believe these are incorrect.

But Malawians were split on whether the losing side in an election should always enjoy the right to challenge its defeat in court.

When the courts are conceived to be the ultimate defenders of democracy, the judicial system risks being burdened with an overload of expectations and trying to satisfy a large number of political interests. The regression of electoral governance over a long period requires constant observation, monitoring and commitment by all stakeholders. These include voters, political parties, media, civil society organisations and international agencies.

When key stakeholders slacken in their duties, they put additional pressure on the courts. Multiple actors  not just the judiciary  must step in to ensure that a young democracy matures and consolidates.

In Malawi, the need right now is to overhaul the model of electoral governance. Reforms should focus on a system that relies less on the judiciary and more on other national and local institutions that can function responsibly and effectively.

Dan Banik receives funding from the Research Council of Norway and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad).

Happy Kayuni receives funding from the Research Council of Norway and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad).

By Dan Banik, Professor of political science and Director of the Oslo SDG Initiative, University of Oslo And

Happy Kayuni, Professor, University of Malawi
Fire service investigation says Kronospan fire caused by natural combustion  Council publish Q&A document including compensation contact

This article is old - Published: Monday, Feb 10th, 2020

Wrexham Council have published a question and answer document following the latest Kronospan fire, that also details the results of a fire service investigation.

The fire last month involved raw timber on the log yard, and required a local primary school to keep pupils indoors days later.

The Council have said, If you live in Chirk or the wider community you will be aware of the fire recently which broke out at the Kronospan factory. Understandably, many residents had concerns during the incident and raised questions with ourselves (Wrexham Council) and Public Health Wales.

Where possible individual questions were answered during and immediately after the incident.

In a Q&A document it is stated, Communicating with residents involved in such an incident is not easy and we will be looking at other avenues of communications in the coming weeks that could be used should there be a similar incident in the future.

The document also states that Kronospan issued its first press statement at 10:25am on the Monday morning, we did not get that nor have they replied to our queries about this fire, or previously regarding other incidents.

The new council update has also been sent to local councillors, the town council, Freedom leisure centre as well as paper copies available at Chirk Library so those not on social media can also get access to the information.

In the Q&A document the conclusion of the Fire Services investigation into the cause of the fire is stated as natural combustion.

It is stated the Councils Public Protection officers, who are responsible for regulating Kronospans environmental permit, including the wood pile areas at the factory, will investigate the circumstances surrounding the fire, with it noted, the investigation will take time to complete and the outcome cannot be speculated on until all the facts are available.

Several questions that were raised at the Town Council Meeting held on the evening of Thursday, January 16th are included:

 Are Public Health Wales going to monitoring the health of individuals exposed to the smoke from the Kronospan Fire?

 What are the short term health effects of being exposed to the smoke from the Kronospan Fire?

 What are the longer term health effects of being exposed to the smoke from the Kronospan Fire?

 Do the chemicals released from burning wet wood cause cancer?

Specific answers to those questions are not given, however there is details of a response to concerns over air quality monitoring, that some have said was installed too late.

The Q&A states: Concerns have been expressed by residents that the response from Multi Agency Partners was slow  air quality monitoring took place 2 days after the fire started which missed the worst of the smoke. Theres also questions raised about the availability of such equipment in North Wales.

Wrexham Council worked as part of a multi agency response to the fire. Agencies included North Wales Fire Service, North Wales Police, Welsh Ambulance Service, BCUHB, Public Health Wales, Natural Resources Wales. Decision in relation to the deployment of the Air Quality Cell was made following discussion with all the above agencies.

Air quality monitoring took place from Wednesday 15 January by Natural Resources Wales and Wrexham CBC has commenced air quality monitoring in Chirk. Wrexham CBC will commit to liaise with Natural Resources Wales and Kronospan with the aim of installing Air Quality Monitoring equipment in Chirk that provides real time monitoring data that can be viewed directly by the community.

There is no timescale given on the commitment of installing new monitoring equipment, or the method the community can view the data, and if that will be in realtime online.

The Chirk Environmental Liaison Group which includes representation from Chirk Town Council, Wrexham County Borough Council, Natural Resources Wales and

Kronospan with the purpose to provide an open dialogue between the community representatives; the operator and the regulating authorities is set to be reviewed due to concerns from the community after the fire.

In a section entitled Compensation it states: Kronospan has written to those in the affected area to ask for their concerns if they have not already done so. We would encourage you to respond to this letter by emailing them on Office23@kronospan.co.uk or by calling 01691 775497 during office hours.
Ireland faced political turmoil on Sunday as an exit poll from the weekends parliamentary election suggested that Sinn Fein, a left-wing party committed to reunification of the island, finished in a virtual dead heat with the two parties that have governed since the country won independence almost a century ago.

While ballot-counting remained underway, the poll indicated that Prime Minister Leo Varadkars centrist Fine Gael party, centrist rival Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein all received about 22% of first preference votes.

The predicted outcome means some type of coalition government is almost inevitable, with Sinn Fein likely to be a central player in the negotiations to form one.

Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Fein party leader said, "Our first preference is to form a new government without Fianna Fail or Fine Gael. That will of course be very much dependent on the numbers. I've already made contact with the Greens, with the Social Democrats, with others, so that's the first option that I want us to explore."

Both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have until now refused to work with Sinn Fein because of its links to the Irish Republican Army.

The centrist parties say Sinn Fein failed to repudiate the IRAs role in the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.

Sinn Fein's leader Mary Lou McDonald meanwhile appeared positive about her party's results in the exit poll, saying it was a sign of "further political change" in the country.

She also told Sky News "Our first preference is to form a new government without Fianna Fail or Fine Gael."

(AP Photo)
PORTLAND, Oregon, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research recently published a report, titled, "Push-to-Talk Over Cellular Market by Component (Equipment, Software, and Services) and Application (Public Safety & Security, Construction, Energy & Utility, Transportation & Logistics, Manufacturing, Government & Defense, Travel & Hospitality, and Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20192026". According to the report, the global push-to-talk over cellular market was $3.17 billion in 2018 and is projected to reach $6.37 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR 9.2% from 2019 to 2026.

Deployment of LTE network, increase in number of Internet users across the world, and the proliferation of mobile devices have boosted the growth of the global push-to-talk over cellular market. However, the presence of latency and gaps in communication hampers the market. On the contrary, deployment of next-generation 5G network is expected to create lucrative opportunities in the near future.

Download Sample Report: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/6308

Equipment segment dominated the market

The equipment segment held the largest share in 2018, contributing to more than three-fifths of the global push-to-talk over cellular market, owing to the ability of push-to-talk over cellular devices that provides collaborative and integrated solutions such as group communications. However, the services segment held the highest CAGR of 11.5% during the forecast period, due to rise in awareness regarding loss of performance and productivity due to lack of communications.

Transportation & logistics segment to manifest the fastest CAGR through 2026

The transportation & logistics segment is projected to register the fastest CAGR of 11.9% during the forecast period, owing to as it helps the companies in communication and handling operations effectively as the flows and volumes are increasing in the logistics industry at a rapid pace. However, the public safety & security segment held the largest share in 2018, accounting for more than one-fourth of the market.

For Purchase Inquiry: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/6308

North America dominated the industry

The global push-to-talk over cellular market across North America held the largest share in 2018, contributing to more than one-third of the market. As LTE coverage in North America has become ubiquitous, push-to-talk over LTE is increasingly prevalent, which means much faster data speeds and much lower network latency. However, the market across the Asia-Pacific region is expected to manifest the fastest CAGR of 10.5% during the forecast period. This is pertaining to high demand in Asia-Pacific-based industries such as transportation & logistics, public safety & security, and construction, owing to rise in infrastructure development activities in the region.

Major market players

AT&T, Inc.

Verizon Communications

Qualcomm Technologies Inc.

Kyocera Corporation

Motorola Solutions Inc.

Mobile Tornado

Bell Canada

Sprint Corporation

Sonim Technologies Inc.

Simoco Wireless Solutions

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Similar Reports:

Mobile Payment Market Expected to Reach $ 4,574 Billion by 2023

Mobile Wallet Market Is Expected To Reach $5,250 Billion By 2020

Mobile Learning Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026

IVR System Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026

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We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

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SYRACUSE, N.Y.  SUNY Upstate Medical University is moving ahead with a long-delayed $158 million construction project thats the focus of an investigation into whether bid documents were falsified.

The project is one of three issues at Upstate under investigation by the offices of the state Inspector General and the Onondaga County District Attorney, according to Melanie Carden, a senior assistant district attorney.
Union minister Smriti Irani has praised director Anubhav Sinha's upcoming film "Thappad", which addresses the issue of domestic violence, saying though her political views might be opposite to his, she would still urge the audiences to watch the movie. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: Union minister Smriti Irani has praised director Anubhav Sinha's upcoming film "Thappad", which addresses the issue of domestic violence, saying though her political views might be opposite to his, she would still urge the audiences to watch the movie.

Irani, a BJP leader and Lok Sabha MP, shared a still from the Taapsee Pannu-starrer on her official Instagram account on Sunday.

"I might not support the political ideology of the director or may disagree with some actors on some issues but this is a story that I will definitely watch and hope people watch it with their families. It's not ok to hit a woman... Not even a slap... Not even just one slap," the minister wrote in the caption.

"Thappad" follows a woman (Pannu) who decides to separate from her husband after he publicly slaps her.

In his response, Sinha, whose past two movies -- "Mulk" and "Article 15" -- were critical success, said he would love to screen the film for Irani.

"Seriously gracious of her! Would love to show her the film," the filmmaker wrote on Twitter on Monday.

The director has been quite vocal in his criticism of the BJP-led central government's Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

"Thappad", which also features Pavail Gulati, Dia Mirza, Ratna Pathak Shah, Tanvi Azmi, Kumud Mishra and Manav Kaul, is scheduled to be released on February 28. PTI RB SHD SHD 02101448 NNNN
[February 10, 2020] Global Amusement Park Market 2020-2024 | Increase in International Tourism Expenditure to Boost Market Growth | Technavio

The amusement park market is expected to grow by USD 19.84 billion during 2020-2024, according to the latest market research report by Technavio. Request a free sample report This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200209005054/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled global amusement park market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) The increase in international tourism is one of the major factors driving the growth of the global amusement park market. Consumers are increasingly spending money on traveling owing to rising disposable income and a shift in their lifestyles. Amusement parks offer expensive and thrilling rides that capture the attention of different demographics. For instance, there is a high demand for 4D rides, giant rides, and challenging roller coasters among baby boomers. Moreover, growing innovations in theme-park rides are likely to increase the visitors to amusement parks, which will drive market growth during the forecast period. 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=IRTNTR40528 As per Technavio, the rise in popularity o IoT-enabled theme parks will have a positive impact on the market and contribute to its growth significantly over the forecast period. This research report also analyzes other significant trends and market drivers that will influence market growth over 2020-2024.



Amusement Park Market: Rise in Popularity of IoT-Enabled Theme Parks The rise in popularity of IoT-enabled theme parks will be one of the critical trends in the global amusement parks market. The operational process of amusement parks is being revolutionized by the use of IoT, which helps in tracking and monitoring all the activities and manage the crowd at the park. Further, the IoT wristband functions as a passport and an entrance ticket for guests and facilitates credit-card transactions. Certain applications of IoT-enabled theme parks also help parents track their children's movement with the help of sensors that are present throughout the park. Such advantages associated with IoT-enabled theme parks will stimulate the growth of the amusement park market during the forecast period.

"Factors such as the rise in number of baby-boomer visitors and increasing investments in high-thrill roller coasters will have a positive impact on the growth of the amusement park market during the forecast period," says a senior analyst at Technavio. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Amusement Park Market: Segmentation Analysis This market research report segments the amusement park market by type (tickets, hospitality, merchandising and others), and geography (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America and South America). The North American region led the amusement park market in 2019, followed by APAC, Europe, South America and MEA. During the forecast period, the North American region is expected to register the highest incremental growth due to factors such as rise in the number of international and local visitors. Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report, such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Request a free sample report Some of the key topics covered in the report include: Type Tickets

Hospitality

Merchandising

Others Geographic segmentation APAC

Europe

MEA

North America

South America Market Drivers Market Challenges Market Trendsendor Landscape Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Competitive scenario About Technavio 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/20200209005054/en/

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by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, February 10, 2020

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has unveiled a revised version of proposed regulations implementing the new state's landmark new privacy law.

Among other changes, the new proposal would narrow the definition of personal information covered by the measure.

The California Consumer Privacy Act, which took effect last month, gives consumers the right to learn what information has been collected about them by companies, have that information deleted, and prevent the sale of that data to third parties.

The bill itself defines personal information as data that could reasonably be linked to individuals -- and mentions data that that can be used for ad targeting, including persistent identifiers, browsing history and IP addresses.

Becerra, who is tasked with developing regulations that to implement the bill, proposed in guidance issued late last week that data should only be considered personal information if it's stored in a way that could reasonably link it to particular individuals or households.

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If a business collects the IP addresses of visitors to its website but does not link the IP address to any particular consumer or household, and could not reasonably link the IP address with a particular consumer or household, then the IP address would not be 'personal information,'" the document says.

That approach contrasts with regulators' position in the European Union, where IP addresses are always considered personal information.

The new guidance could enable ad tech companies to argue that they can't identify consumers based on their IP addresses, and therefore may sell data about those IP addresses -- even if consumers have attempted to opt out of the sale of personal information, according to attorney Tanya Forsheit, chair of the privacy and data security group at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz.

There will be companies that will take this position, she predicts.

The revised proposal also includes a graphic of an optional opt-out button that companies can place on their websites.

If companies use that button, they must place it to the left of a link that states either do not sell my personal information or do not sell my info.

The proposed button -- which resembles a toggle icon -- is widely seen by privacy professionals as confusing when paired with the suggested language, according to Forsheit.

"There's unanimous dislike of this," she says.

The original proposed regulations would have required companies to honor opt-out requests that people make through browsers, plug-ins or privacy settings. The revised proposal also requires companies to honor those requests, but only if consumers affirmatively activate the opt-out mechanism.

In other words, companies wouldn't have to honor do-not-track requests that are set by default.

Any privacy control developed in accordance with these regulations shall clearly communicate or signal that a consumer intends to the opt-out of the sale of personal information, the revised proposal states. The privacy control shall require that the consumer affirmatively select their choice to opt-out and shall not be designed with any pre-selected settings.

The proposed regulations issued late last week replaces a set of proposals issued by Becerra last October. His office is accepting comments through February 25 on the new proposals.
Underlining that respecting the unity and integrity of the country is perhaps the "most important fundamental duty", former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Monday said enough protests have been held on the new citizenship law and that people should not create "two parallel forums" when the SC has already seized the matter.

Addressing students of the Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) here, the former CJI also said that everybody has the right to express views on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), but "the resolution of the issue must be through Constitutional means".

Referring to the protests over the CAA in his home state Assam, the former CJI said there were elements who wanted to harm the integrity of the country, but the student community there called off the violent protests within days, which improved law and order situation overnight.

"Perhaps the most important fundamental duty is the respect of the unity and integrity of the country. There are issues in this, and why hype them. The Citizenship Amendment Act...It is an issue. You may have a view about it, I may have a view about it, and our views may not match. I have the right to express my view, you have the right to express your view. Fine. But the resolution must be through Constitutional means," he said.

Former CJI Gogoi further said the matter (challenge to CAA) is pending before the supreme court. "Trust your judges. They will decide, according to the Constitution," he added.

Several petitions have been filed challenging the constitutional validity of the Act including by RJD leader Manoj Jha, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra and AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi.

"Protests have been held, viewpoints have been expressed. Enough. You cannot have two parallel forums, the Supreme Court and someone else," he said.

On December 18, the apex court had agreed to examine the constitutional validity of the CAA, but refused to stay its operation.

Assam was the first state where protests broke out after the CAA was passed by Parliament in December last year.

The newly amended law seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslim migrants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Jain and Parsi communities who came to the country from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan on or before December 31, 2014.

Referring to students' move to call off the protests in Assam, the former CJI said he had not yet seen such "constructive role" played by students.

"The protests over the CAA were initiated from my state (Assam), because the problem of my state is different than the problems in the rest of the country. I had just retired and reached Guwahati. All of a sudden, there were protests.

"After five days of intense problems, the student community spearheading (the agitations) said we will call off our protests at 5 in the evening. No more protests. The law and order became all right overnight. This is the role of the students," he said.

I am yet to see a more constructive role played by students, the former CJI said.

"The moment they did it (called off the protests), there was no more violence, there was no law and order issues. People were protesting, yes, but without violence. What is the moral of the story? There are elements who want to harm the integrity of the country. And the students solved it. These are the real leaders of the country," he said.

He underlined the need to have a "fearless, independent and working judiciary" in the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
TEL AVIV - Einar, an Israeli Jew who is a pagan priest in the Asatru community, imagines a future in which the paganism of northern Europe is finally recognised as a legitimate religion in the Jewish State, so that its members are no longer forced to practice it on the fringes of society.



"We've already chosen the ideal place for our sanctuary," Einar said.



"It's a wooded area in the Golan Heights. There, immersed in nature, we can celebrate our rites and lift up our offerings to the gods," he said.



Being pagan in a strongly monotheistic society such as Israel isn't a simple thing; there is often immediate incomprehension of those who believe in Nordic mythology.



Adding to the suspicion surrounding Nordic paganism is the widespread belief in Israel that the practice is associated with Nazi ideology.



In order to clear up any misconceptions, Einar decided to feature in a documentary by Italian photographer Dario Sanchez, who has been living in Israel for five years.



"There is no contact between us and neo-Nazi groups," Einar told ANSA.



"They usurped our symbols for their own purposes," he said.



In fact, contrary to ideologies that spread hatred, the Asatru community preaches honesty, tolerance, and respect for the environment.



"The swastika is a symbol of strength and has very ancient origins. It was even reproduced in a mosaic in an old synagogue," Einar said, referring to the Ein Gedi ancient synagogue on the Dead Sea, not far from Masada.



Einar is a professional cook by trade, and his Jewish name is Eliad.



He came to Nordic mythology as an adolescent, after having family difficulties.



Since that time, he has gradually deepened his knowledge and made contacts with others in Israel who practice paganism.



"The Asatru community here has a thousand members. There are 20,000 pagans in Israel overall," Einar said.



Since the community's members can't have a fixed meeting place, they maintain contact through phone messages and periodically gather in places immersed in nature.



There, they make sacrifices to the gods using various animals (cows, chickens, sheep, goats) and then eat the meat.



"The gods fill me with a sense of well-being that I never knew before," Einar said.



Pagans in Israel hope that in the future the Knesset will recognise their religion as legitimate, following the example of Scandinavian countries.



However, for now the members of the community will continue to celebrate their rites in private.



Sanchez, the documentary photographer working on the theme of identities, said he produced his documentary showing Israelis the reality of pagan cults, "not to judge, but to stimulate questions on universal themes".



"It's a vehicle for reflection on the complex and subjective path of building an identity, and the possibility of facing it freely, going beyond the limits of the usual conventions," Sanchez said.(ANSAmed).
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Linkedin Michael Taylor (Thomson Reuters Foundation) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Mon, February 10, 2020 12:03 701 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20638c346 2 SE Asia Indonesia,environment,technology,forest-conservation,gamification,World-Resources-Institute,crowdsourcing Free

An Indonesian crowdsourcing app is tapping into the competitive spirit of its users by creating Pokemon Go-type games to help map land across the sprawling archipelago and protect forests and indigenous people, organizers said recently.

The Urundata application uses publicly available satellite images to create games where users visit an area and then answer simple questions on the type of land they see and what it is being used for  plantations, natural forests or shrub, for instance.

Initially started as a pilot project in April last year in South Sumatra and East Kalimantan provinces  with the help of more than 600 students - the mobile application went nationwide in November and is due to end in March.

"You can choose what kind location you're interested in  it's pretty much a game because you collect scores as you are providing answers," said Ping Yowargana, a coordinator at land project RESTORE+, which launched the app, on Friday.

"People can compete with each other  they can change their statuses from 'volunteer' to 'warrior' of data  and then share on social media," said Vienna-based Yowargana, whose organization is backed by the German government and aims to restore degraded land in Indonesia and Brazil.

Home to the world's third-largest tropical forests, Indonesia is blighted by deforestation, while land conflicts involving developers and indigenous people are common.

But technology is increasingly becoming an essential tool to curb destruction of Indonesia's vast forests, viewed as crucial in the fight against climate change as trees store planet-warming carbon.

Late last year, 10 major palm oil companies teamed up on a new radar system to monitor forests, while Asia's pulp and paper giants also are using technology more.

The Urundata app is supported by the World Resources Institute (WRI), a United States-based environmental think-tank, as well as Nairobi-based research group the World Agroforestry Center and the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF).

In some ways it is "pretty similar to Pokemon Go," said Yowargana. "We try to make it fun."

"It gives a good way for learning things and understanding the landscapes in a way that is very different from a classroom or through Wikipedia pages," he added.

Pinning down on-the-ground details about land seen in satellite images is usually done by researchers or experts and can be labor-intensive and costly, a spokeswoman at WRI Indonesia said.

"The hope is that by crowdsourcing this, instead of having one expert looking... we can do it in a different way that allows many people to look at a similar amount of data," Yowargana said.

To avoid misuse of the app that could skew results, answers from multiple users on the same area of land will be compared to form a consensus, Yowargana added.

Data collected by the Urundata app will be made publicly available on its website.

Backers hope the website will improve land restoration efforts by governments and researchers, enable authorities to better protect forests and indigenous lands, and help companies identify and develop land in a sustainable way.

It will also make more data available for "people who are needing it", including indigenous groups, Yowargana said.

After the Urundata app completes its current mapping project, it may then be used in other efforts, such as looking at the impact of infrastructure or other land use changes.
A man was killed on Monday morning after his motorcycle was hit by a car carrying collegians on Boisar-Tarapur Road in Palghar district, police said.

The five occupants of the car were injured and have been hospitalised, a Palghar police station official said.

"The car was on its way to a college in Boisar when it crashed into the motorcycle of Kamlakar Vavare (35) near Kurgaon village. Vavare died on the spot. The car overturned due to impact injuring all five occupants," he said.

A case under section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of IPC and provisions of Motor Vehicles Act has been registered but no arrests have been made so far, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MAPS of the seabed surrounding the Turks and Caicos Islands have been handed over to the TCI Government to help promote safe maritime trade and a sustainable blue economy.





The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) presented the mapping data on January 28, gathered as part of the UK governments Overseas Territories Seabed Mapping Programme.





The UKHO led the collection of the data through a series of seabed mapping surveys covering over 7,200 kilometres squared of ocean in 2018.





It since hosted a series of workshops to help authorities use the findings to fulfil their international maritime safety obligations under the Safety of Life at Sea Convention, as well as support sustainable development initiatives.





The UKHO will also update nautical charts that support the safe navigation of ships accessing the nations trade and tourism hubs of South Dock and Grand Turk.





In addition, the office has presented officials with other key data sets, including high resolution imagery and the topography of the islands themselves.





These can be used to identify sensitive marine and wetland habitats and reef areas which make up a vital part of the Islands marine environment.





"With this insight, government ministries can support marine and land spatial planning activities that contribute to the development of the local economy in a sustainable manner, a Government press release said on Tuesday (February 4).





It added that the Government is grateful to the UKHO for assisting in this "milestone achievement as it satisfies a requirement for updating of hydrographic data for nautical charting.





"Almost all activity in our oceans, from shipping to monitoring delicate marine environments, depend on accurate seabed mapping data that illustrates the shape and movement of natural underwater features.





"So, for coastal communities like the TCI, the collection of this data is vital to supporting the safety of mariners, generating sustainable economic growth and protecting people from the effects of climate change.





Minister responsible Hon. Ralph Higgs said the timing was "great as it forms a part of the Governments national physical development planning project.





He added that it would not have been possible if not through collaborative relationships developed with UKHO, the Governors Office and the Mapping and Survey Department.





Permanent Secretary Cheryl Ann Jones co-signed the documentation taking ownership of the hydrographic data.





Also at the senior level briefing were Deputy Permanent Secretary Michelle Fulford Gardiner and Henry Wilson, Acting Director of the Maritime and Shipping Department among others.





All work carried out through the UKs programme is coordinated by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and supported by the UKs Conflict, Stability and Security Fund.




A tragic house fire in Mississippi took the lives of a mother and her six children, according to authorities.

They are identified as 33-year-old Brittany Presley and her children: Landen Brookshire, 15; Layne Presley, 13; Lawson Presley, 13; Malcom Presley, 4; and Felicity Presley, 16 months.

The father refused to leave the scene until he knew if his family was deceased, our sister station WAPT reported. He is currently being hospitalized for smoke inhalation.

According to a GoFundMe page, Brittany Presley was a second-grade teacher and her husband, Jake Presley, has a lawn maintenance business.



The fire started around 12:30 a.m. Saturday.

It took about 45 minutes to get the fire under control. The Clinton Fire Department had four engines, a ladder truck, and administrators respond to the fire.

The cause of the fire is unknown at this time, but investigators do not suspect foul play.

The Clinton Fire Department and state fire marshal are investigating the fire.

The Mississippi State fire marshal's office has been called in to lead the investigation as to what started the fire and if the family was unable to escape.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Brittany Presley's employer, Canton Public School District, issued a statement in response to her death.

"Her compassionate heart and giving spirit will forever live on in the hearts of the countless lives she touched," the statement read, in part.

Clinton is located about 10 miles northwest of Jackson, Mississippi.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise money for medical and funeral costs and has raised more than $24,000 as of early Sunday.
Donald Trump was once a Democrat. He was also an Independent. In chronological order, since 1987, he has been registered Republican, Independent, then Democrat, back to Republican, back to Independent, and then back to Republican.

Whatever sparked the change in registrations, we may never know. But one thing is clear: he hasnt always been a Republican  and he may, to this day, not be a Republican. Yes, he won the 2016 election as a Republican. But though his policies largely reflect conservative views, his spending is largely Democratic in nature. He spends money like a person accustomed to having money, while America remains in debt up to her eyeballs, unfortunately.

But back to what he was versus what (and who) he is now. At some point in Donald Trumps life, it would appear he had a heart change, and that change leveled him out, made him more succinct in the direction he was headed. It used to be that he hung with the likes of Hillary Clinton and Harvey Weinstein. He was Hollywood. He was a Playboy. He was unfaithful to his wife, and thereby his family. In many ways, the guy was a scoundrel.

Then you look at the last ten to thirteen years (thereabouts) prior to his election. It would seem theres a lack of dirt to be found during that time period, and then a year or so before he was elected, he came out as a staunch Republican who loves his family, his wife, America and her traditional values, which, like it or not, are Judeo-Christian in nature.

So what changed?

What made Donald Trump who he is today, and why, after flailing around not knowing entirely who he was in the political sense has be come out of the woodwork as a Republican with a love of family values, Christian values, and conservative viewpoints?

One rumor floating around is that at some point, and not that long ago, President Trump accepted Christ as his Savior. If true, that would certainly account for a turn-around. When a person converts to Christianity by confessing their sins, and relying on Christ to save them from eternal damnation, their beliefs, and therefore their demeanor and actions (eventually) change. Some change quicker than others. Every Christians sanctification process is different. Some seem to almost completely change overnight and never look back. For others, the change to Christ-likeness is as slow as a sloth, and painful. They meander along, trip, then fall and bust their face and expose their pride. Then by the grace of God, they get up walk some more, one step forward, one back, two forward, one back. Sanctification, the process of one becoming more like Christ, is a process that at times is fast moving, and at other times, feels like drudgery that can be so discouraging and slow one wonders if they were ever truly converted.

So for drill, lets say the rumors are indeed true and President Trump became a Christian somewhere between five and ten years ago. My question then, mainly directed at other Christians against Trump would be  why are you tearing down a man who is in large part on your side? Is it because at one time, he was a dreadful sinner who had no problem flaunting his sin, enjoying his sin, and bringing others into sin with him? Is it because he doesnt talk as eloquently and kindly as your Pastor? Is it because he cheated on his wife? Is divorced? Is it because hes filthy rich and youre struggling to make ends meet? Is it because hes pals with Paula White, and your understanding is that Paula is a fraud, a wolf in sheeps clothing? Are you embarrassed that anyone who claims to be on the side of Christianity and conservatism could do so whilst being so crass, blunt, and willing to call a spade a spade?

Can we stop one second and look at where we were under Obamas presidency?

Well! At least Obama was the husband of one wife and had his children under control (just like my Pastor!).

True, true. Or at least it appeared that way on the surface. But look at his policies and practices. Perfectly fine with killing babies  with your tax money. Even full term babies. When the Supreme Court stepped out of their legal rights and made gay marriage legal, he celebrated it in a way that was a direct affront to God and His people. Applauded transgenderism and biological boys using the same bathroom as your little girl at school, which then had a domino effect and became acceptable in many public restrooms across the country. Made America unsafe by refusing to call radical Islam and terrorism what it was, even when it happened on our own soil. Never failed to blame the criticism of others toward himself on racism. Resurrected racism and fueled division. Encouraged a total lack of respect for law enforcement. Blamed guns rather than shooters for mass shootings, as an excuse to (eventually) disarm and disable you from protecting your own. Devalued free speech by forcing political correctness on the entire country.

I could go on. But my main question here is: why are Christians fighting a man who is standing up for Life, defending (at least by example) the union of man and woman, not man and man, woman and woman. No, Trump hasnt done anything by way of making gay marriage illegal, but perhaps handing out marriage licenses arent a function the government should be involved in anyway. Remove the need for a license, silence the fight that centers around gay marriage. Additionally, why are Christians fighting a man who has largely defunded Planned Parenthood, built up our military and military personnel by appreciating and honoring them, fought terrorism with decisiveness  and force, when absolutely needed. Surprise! No nuking of other countries or the start of huge World Wars that so many claimed would take place under his leadership. African-American unemployment is low, low, low (odd thing for a racist man to accomplish, right?). Hes battling the opioid crisis. Hes pro-coal. A friend of Israel. Hes keeping out illegal aliens while encouraging legal immigration. He wants prayer and Bibles to be acceptable in our schools.

Again, I could go on.

If you do not see that much evil has been stamped out since Trump took office, you are either blinded by hate, by ungodly piety that says a man who sinned as deeply as Trump could never do a work of God, or you are  well, Democrat. Or socialist Democrat. Or unashamedly socialist. Or communist. Fact is, Trump has accomplished good. He continues to stand up for truth, freedom, and opportunity. And if we as Christians are so disgusted by his language or his past sins, then I fear we arent understanding the Gospel at all.

Honestly, I see this in churches all the time. Christians often prefer their fish to be clean before they catch them. They want non-Christians to come to church, sure, but only if theyre dressed right, smooth and kind talking, courteous, sober, preferably successful in their business endeavors, generous, either single and still a virgin or married to only one person, and on and on the list goes of righteous (or perceived righteous) behaviors.

We want you to become a Christian, but could you please act just like Jesus first? We will be more comfortable if you do.

We want our country better, but could it please happen via a man who acts just like Jesus? It will be more God-honoring.



And we wonder why the world thinks we are stuck up hypocrites.

I cant say with any certainty whether Donald Trump is a Republican, Democrat, Independent, heathen, or Christian. My gut feeling is that hes an Independent, baby Christian, but I say that without any proof whatsoever. Either way, Trump ran as a Republican, and it would seem that this is due to two things:

First, his (possible) growing Christian worldview.

Second, his disdain for the current Democratic party.

Democrats have essentially gone politically insane by hating America, her values, her prosperity, and her influence around the world. And that is what Trump is (rightly) reeling against.

With Trump in office, life is being cherished. God is being lifted up, as well as the fact that men and women are made in His image. And everything previously mentioned above. He is not tearing down our country, but lifting it up by loving it, flaws and all. Those who think a man who doesnt look or act as good as a mature Christian (aka, clean fish!) should not be in political office need to take note. For it is often the ones who are new at something who do it best. Who understand the true battle from the perceived battle. Who have the most passion to make things right, do right, and be right.

Self-righteousness is blinding. And to say that Trump shouldnt be in office because hes deeply flawed is to say that we do not know enough of Gods grace and mercy. The truth is, we are all deeply flawed, sinful, depraved human being  yet we all have an office. The office of homemaking, mothering, fathering, caregiving, policing, nursing, machining, politicizing, pastoring, writing, publishing, cleaning, bookkeeping, teaching, and many many more that require leadership and good character, but are nevertheless performed by imperfect people.

Its time for Christians to consider the possibility that somewhere along the way, Trump had a change of heart. That he is now a man after Gods own heart, as was the adulterer and murderer King David.

Though Trump be deeply flawed, Christians should build him up rather than tear him down. Pray for him, rather than fling insults at him. Accept him, rather than endlessly rebuke his past.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 20:40:20|Editor: huaxia

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ABUJA, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- At least 30 people were killed in an attack by militants in Nigeria' northeastern Borno state, local media reported on Monday.
Travellers due to go through Luxembourg Airport today will require some patience as airlines scramble to reschedule flights.

Luxair announced that all its flights through to 10 am on Monday morning had been cancelled, making the decision due to severe wind gusts that have affected the country since Sunday evening.

The flight cancellations have caused the airline's desks at Luxembourg Airport to be besieged by passengers anxious to find out when they will be travelling.

In the meantime, the Luxairport website showing arrivals and departures is certainly empty. The list of flights reveal that Luxair flights remain cancelled through to 11 am, and Swissair has cancelled its flight to Zurich scheduled for this afternoon at 2.15 pm. Accordingly, the website has seen increased traffic with the news of cancellations, and has considerably slowed down in the process.

On Twitter, Luxairport recommends checking the status of your flight with your airline before travelling to the airport.

Travel alert/Storm: We still have extreme winds today; hence we have delays and many cancellations @luxairport. Please check the status of your flight with your airline directly before making your way to the airport. Thank you.  Luxembourg Airport (@luxairport) February 10, 2020

According to the airport's announcements, the situation should improve by 1 pm on Monday. The airport recommends all travellers continue to monitor the situation.

 RTL  RTL The photos published on this site are subject to copyright and may not be copied, modified, or sold without the prior permission of the owner of the site in question.

More information to come as the day continues. Passengers will likely not be eligible for compensation for any delays or cancellations as EU compensation laws do not hold airlines liable for delays caused by the weather.

A Luxair flight from Porto also had to be diverted to Frankfurt-Hahn after three failed attempts at landing.
H-6 bomber of Chinese PLA Air Force flies near a Taiwan F-16 in this February 10, 2020 handout photo

By Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's air force scrambled for a second day in a row on Monday to intercept Chinese jets that approached the island claimed by Beijing as its own, as tensions between the two took on a potentially dangerous military dimension.

Taiwan's Defence Ministry said Chinese jets, accompanying H-6 bombers, briefly crossed an unofficial mid-line in the Taiwan Strait that separates the two, prompting its air force to rush to intercept and give verbal warnings to leave.

The Chinese aircraft then withdrew to the western side of the line, the ministry added, without identifying the jets.

The H-6s were on a training mission in the Pacific having passed through the Bashi Channel that separates Taiwan from the Philippines, the ministry added and shared a picture of a Taiwan F-16 accompanying one of the H-6 bombers.

China has been flying what it calls "island encirclement" drills on-off since 2016 when Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen first took office. Beijing believes Tsai, who won re-election last month, wishes to push the island's formal independence.

Tsai says Taiwan is an independent country called the Republic of China, its official name.

On Sunday too, Chinese jets, including J-11 fighters, flew into the Bashi Channel then out into the Pacific before heading back to base via the Miyako Strait, located between Japan's islands of Miyako and Okinawa, to the northeast of Taiwan.

According to Taiwan's official Central News Agency, the F-16s scrambled on Sunday carried live missiles.

There was no immediate comment from China on Monday's incident. This is only the second time since 2016 that Taiwan has said that Chinese jets had crossed the strait's median line. Their military aircraft tend to keep to their own sides.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office, though, urged Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) "not to play with fire".

The DPP have been "adopting a stance that increases cross-strait confrontation, intensifying new moves for Taiwan-U.S. collusion, using the opportunity to seek independence and openly carrying out dangerous provocations", it added.

Story continues

China's Eastern Theatre Command described Sunday's fly-by of military's combat ready patrol as a "completely legitimate and necessary action aimed at the current situation in the Taiwan Strait and safeguarding national sovereignty".

TAIWAN-BEIJING TENSIONS

The latest fly-bys came as Taiwan's vice-president elect, William Lai, was returning from a visit to Washington, where he attended the high-profile National Prayer Breakfast, at which U.S. President Donald Trump spoke. China denounced Lai's trip.

Washington is Taipei's most important backer and arms supplier, despite the absence of official diplomatic ties.

China says Taiwan is the most sensitive issue in its relations with the United States.

Relations between the Taipei and Beijing have further soured recently over the coronavirus outbreak, with Taiwan accusing China of preventing the island from accessing full information from the World Health Organization or attending its meetings.

China should focus on controlling the spread of the virus, rather than threatening Taiwan, Tsai said on Monday.

Taiwan's China-policy making Mainland Affairs Council said the island's 23 million people would not bow down to threats.

"In recent years, Communist aircraft and warships have frequented the vicinity of the Taiwan Strait and attempted to use arms to force unification," it said.

"Various provocative acts have seriously damaged the status quo of the Taiwan Strait and have increased regional tensions."

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
GB60, England

John, GW4SKA, BARTG President, reports that members of the British Amateur Radio Teledata Group (BARTG) will be celebrating the club's 'Diamond Jubilee' (60th anniversary of supporting the data modes) with the special callsign GB60ATG until June 30th.

The callsign will be active from different UK countries each week.

Special awards are available for contact with GB60ATG using any data mode.

More information can be found on the BARTG Web site at: http://bartg.org.uk/wp/bartg-diamond-jubilee-award
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald and deputy leader Michelle ONeill, right, in Dublin on February 9. Photo: Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images

Sinn Fein, the once-IRA-affiliated political party dedicated to uniting Ireland and Northern Ireland under one flag, won a historic victory in Irelands national election on Saturday, taking a larger share of the total national vote than any other party. But despite winning the popular vote, the party wont get the most seats in the Dail Eireann, the lower house of Irelands Parliament, because it only contested 42 out of 160 constituencies  and, as of Sunday night, was expected to win 37 of those 42. (Ireland uses a single transferable vote system of proportional representation with ranked-choice voting, so final results take a few days to sort out.)

The surprising results of this election are illustrative of three broader trends: the growth of nationalist and separatist movements in Europe; the erosion of centrist, two-party consensus democracies; and the destabilizing impact of Brexit on the British Isles.

Sinn Fein, which operates in both Ireland and Northern Ireland, is a left-wing, nationalist, populist, republican (in the sense that it favors uniting the Irish people under one republic) party. Its success is particularly stunning as it was once a pariah in Irish politics due to its historical role as the political wing of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, which was responsible for a great deal of violence during the Northern Ireland conflict in the late-20th century. While the party remains tainted by suspicion and scandal surrounding its links to the IRA, Saturdays victory shows that as far as voters are concerned, Sinn Fein is mainstream enough to govern.

In recent years, particularly since Mary Lou McDonald succeeded the long-serving and controversial party leader Gerry Adams in 2018, the party has reformed itself by downplaying its historical militancy and focusing attention on its social-democratic policy agenda. Sinn Fein remains solidly committed to Irish reunification, but McDonalds campaign platform this year focused on social and economic issues like homelessness, rising rents, health-care costs, and hospital waiting lists. Sinn Fein won on Saturday by tapping into popular anger over these issues and focusing that anger on the duopoly of the two mainstream centrist parties, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail.

Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar, the incumbent taoiseach (prime minister), has been leading a minority government propped up by a confidence and supply agreement with Fianna Fail since 2016, and had hung his hopes for victory this year on a track record of solid economic growth and his own adept handling of Brexit. But as we have seen in the U.S., economic growth doesnt pay political dividends when it is unevenly distributed, and voters dont care how much the GDP is up when they or their neighbors are struggling to find good jobs or affordable housing.

McDonald said on Sunday that her party would attempt to form a governing coalition, but she has few available pathways to do so. Irelands smaller left-wing parties will probably not hold enough seats to form a majority of 80 along with Sinn Fein (notwithstanding some significant gains by the Greens), so the only way McDonald can get her party in government is to ally with one of the other major parties: most likely Fianna Fail, which is expected to be the largest party in the new Dail.

Posters featuring McDonald, Varadkar, center, and the Green Partys Eamon Ryan in Dublin a few days before the election. Photo: Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images

Varadkar has repeatedly ruled out joining a coalition with Sinn Fein. Micheal Martin, the leader of Fianna Fail, had said before the election that he would neither form a government with the left-wing republicans nor support another minority government under Fine Gael leadership, but did not rule anything out when asked about his partys plans on Sunday. Fianna Fail members are reportedly divided over whether to partner with Sinn Fein, Fine Gael, or nobody at all.

If no bargain is struck between any two of the three leading parties in the coming weeks, another election must be held. This is eerily reminiscent of the situation in Israel, where neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus right-wing Likud Party or its main rival, the centrist Blue and White movement, has been able to form a majority in the Knesset, and so voters are going to the polls for a third time next month to try again. The U.K. also ended up with a hung Parliament in 2017 when Conservative prime minister Theresa May had to form a minority government with backing from the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland  a move that went on to prove fatal to her Brexit plans.

Indeed, the phenomena of stable two-party systems collapsing, inconclusive national elections, and electorates realigning into new coalitions have been taking place in a number of Western democracies over the past five years. France, Italy, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, and Canada have also held elections in the past three years that resulted in hung parliaments, minority governments, surprise gains by new or fringe parties (particularly right-wing nationalist parties and regional separatist parties), massive losses by mainstream parties, unstable coalitions, or governments led by recently formed or radically rebranded parties. Here in the U.S., were experiencing a major realignment that is stressing the two-party system, transforming the GOP into a white-nationalist authoritarian personality cult and locking the Democrats in an internecine conflict over whether to remain left-of-center liberals or embrace democratic socialism.

In this context, Irelands realignment looks like just another reflection of the international political Zeitgeist. Yet there is something else at play. On the surface, Brexit, and what it means for Irelands future relationship with the U.K., was not the main focus of this election, but it could hardly have been absent from Irish voters minds. Even though Sinn Fein didnt campaign heavily on its signature issue in this election, it is advocating a referendum on Irish reunification within the next five years. The U.K.s departure from the European Union has become part of the Irish nationalists rationale for reunification since the Brexit vote in 2016, as a majority in Northern Ireland voted remain. Those same voters could conceivably rejoin the E.U. (and solve Brexits Irish border problem) by leaving the U.K. and joining a United Ireland.

Whether such a referendum takes place is up to the British government, which will naturally resist it, but the rising tide of Irish nationalism could eventually make it hard for Whitehall to keep saying No, especially if in doing so it risks a return to civil conflict in Northern Ireland. Just as resistance to Brexit has underpinned the success of the Scottish National Party and made a second vote on Scottish independence more likely in the next five years, its no surprise that it could be having the same effect in Ireland. The change Irish voters cast their ballots for on Saturday could turn out to be much bigger than even they themselves imagined.
I know a man. For the purpose of this post, lets call him Paul. Paul apparently knows exactly how America is breaking our homes, and my marriage is a perfect example. I will not give too many details about Paul because I know that people who know him read this blog. Id tell you that Paul is Nigerian, has lived in America for over two decades, has a good job, and is very formally educated. Paul also knows The Boy I was married to.

One day, Paul and I were seated, talking, and he inquired about The Boy. I very happily told him that The Boy and I were no longer married  although I was yet to file for divorce at this time. He asked what happened, and I very confidently told him everything, knowing he would understand. I mean, he was exposed, right?

How America is Breaking Our Homes

To my shock, Paul shook his head and said how tragic it was that America was destroying our [Nigerian] homes. Huh? He went on to explain that women these days are so quick to leave their marriage, that women are no longer patient, that women no longer know how to be married, and that America is apparently the cause of all this. Women come to America and they get involved with the wrong crowd (read: African American women) and they teach our otherwise good women bad, bad things, and our good women call the police for their husbands over little disagreements, and so, yes, America is breaking our homes.

Sir? Did you not hear what I said about The Boy being physically violent and flying juju from Nigeria to my home in America? Did you not hear the part about his mother, The Witch acting like both of us were dragging boyfriend?

RELATED STORY: How My Marriage Ended

Oh, yes, he heard it. But he did not believe in all that juju stuff, he said. And was I sure it was juju anyway? Because it sounded crazy that someone as enlightened as The Boy would bring juju. The Boy was formally educated, I told Paul, but it did not mean he was enlightened. Formal education and enlightenment can be mutually exclusive. But did you tell him not to hit you again? Paul asked. Now, this one made me erupt in a kind of ruckus laghter. Did I tell him not to hit me again, ke? (A) Thats not how this works, and (B) Thats not how this works.

Oh, but it is! Paul argued. You just tell him to stop and hell stop. What I stopped was arguing with Paul because I quickly realized what a waste of my time it was. One of the many things I have learned from this ordeal is the importance of my story and the truth of it. Before I shared my story, I knew that not everyone would believe or support me, and I was perfectly okay with that. A persons lack of belief, support, or understanding does not take anything away from me or my story. I said what I said, and I stand by it. Not everyone is meant to understand it, and thats okay.

On the issue of the juju, Paul tried to make me understand that even if The Boy brought juju, the thing was powerless, and the evidence was in the fact that I was doing even much better than before. I did not have to leave The Boy on account of the juju, Paul said. But when dining with the enemy, Paul reminded me that I needed to dine with a long spoon. My response was, how about I just dont dine with the enemy at all? Why would I want to be married to someone I considered my enemy? And why would I continue to dine with said enemy? It is counter-intuitive and counter-productive to be married to an enemy. Now, those two are definitely mutually exclusive. Youre either a husband or an enemy, but you cannot be both.

Lets dissect this notion that women no longer know how to be married. They are not patient like our mothers and our mothers mothers. Anyone who thinks that a woman who chooses not to be tortured in the name of marriage does not know how to be married is a wild animal who needs to be locked up somewhere and not be allowed to procreate, lest he/she birth more animals to carry on this ludicrous belief.

Marriage is not easy, but it does not have to be as difficult as we make it. The reasons why our mothers stayed in their marriage were because:

A) They did not have a choice. Or they did not know they had a choice.

B) They were completely dependent on their husbands for survival.

C) They cared what people would say if they left their marriage.

D) The men were different. They were assholes, but they were assholes that provided for their family. Todays men are assholes who live off their women and expect their women to be grateful.

Todays women are different. We know we have options, and we know what those options are. We are not dependent on our husbands for survival. We have jobs. We make money. We save money. Sometimes, we even make more than our husbands. If they dont provide for us or our children, we will do it ourselves, and we will do it better and have some change left. I will not make a man feel that he isnt needed, but should-in-case he wants to find out, I will not neglect to show him how much he is not needed. Todays women value their peace.

These are not the rantings of an angry Black woman. I still believe in marriage, and I still want to be married some day. Id like to do the life thing with a man I love who loves me right back. I still love men, especially Black men, and most especially, my Nigerian men. But I dont love them more than I love myself. I dont love marriage more than I love my peace.

My belief in marriage has not waivered. Long before I got married, I believed that marriage was not by force, and that no man born of a woman will suffer me in the name of being my husband. Such a man has not been born. It will never happen. Not to me. He may try, but ultimately, he will be very quickly released from his husbandly duties. Id rather be married happily ever after, but divorce is always an option. I-dont-want-to-do-again is always an option.

Now, more than ever, I simply cannot manage just any type of relationship. I want a relationship that I enjoy being in and one that will make me and my partner thrive. I want a relationship with a man who is not a fool and not as asshole. I want him to be a tall man with a bearded face, long fingers, and twins in his genes. And I want to have a kind of relationship with him that Ada Verastic can look up to and want for herself one day. Is that too much to ask? I dont think so, and I know he exists.

I dont know who needs to hear this, but you need to save yourself.

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United States Attorney General William Barr on Monday confirmed that the US Department of Justice has received information from President Donald Trumps personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani ahead of the November election, but cautioned that any information originating from Ukraine should not be taken at face value.

Barr spoke at a news conference a day after Republican Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham said on the CBS News programme Face the Nation that the department had created a process so that Giuliani could provide information and the department would see if it could be verified.

The Justice Department would not say whether new information from Giuliani meant an investigation had been opened into Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

Barr said accepting information from Giuliani was part of a larger Justice Department intake process in the field that will be used to assess the provenance and credibility of any information about the candidates running in Novembers presidential election.

We have to be very careful with respect to any information coming from the Ukraine, Barr told reporters on Monday. There are a lot of agendas in the Ukraine. There are a lot of crosscurrents, and we cant take anything we receive from the Ukraine at face value.





That is true for all information that comes to the department relating to the Ukraine, including anything Mr. Giuliani might provide, he added.

Democratic impeachment investigators allege Trump attempted to pressure Ukraine into investigating the Bidens for his own political gain, while Republicans have said the Bidens involvement in the country warranted legitimate probing. To date, there is no evidence of wrongdoing by the Bidens.

Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, loomed large over the impeachment investigation and trial. As an unofficial envoy to Ukraine, he faced criticism from those who said his role often blurred the lines of unofficial and official government business as he pushed for the investigations into the Bidens.

Since the inquiry began, Giuliani has publicly touted his own investigation into the Bidens involvement with Ukraine in an attempt to vindicate the president.

The Senate, voting mostly along party lines, acquitted Trump last week on impeachment charges that he had abused his power in pushing for the investigations and then obstructed Congress by prohibiting his administration from cooperating in the investigation.

Awkward position

Giuliani is himself also under scrutiny by federal authorities, meaning the Justice Department could be putting itself in the awkward position of appearing to work with someone it is actively investigating to gather potentially damaging information against one of the presidents political rivals.

Federal prosecutors in New York are investigating Giulianis business dealings, including whether he failed to register as a foreign agent, according to people familiar with the matter.

Although the department acknowledged it is receiving and scrutinising material from Giuliani, the FBIs number two official would not say if that meant a formal investigation into the Bidens had been launched.

I am not going to talk about any investigations as I never would. We do not talk about open investigations, FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich also said on Monday.
DENVER, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Radiology Imaging Associates, PC added 17 physicians and seven employees from Rocky Mountain Radiologists, PC to the RIA practice on January 1, 2020.

"Leaders from RIA and RMR have worked for several months to bring our two practices together," said Andrew Fisher, MD, MBA, member of the RIA Board of Directors, and director of the RIA/RMR integration initiative. "We greatly appreciate the spirit of cooperation from all involved, to speed the integration of people and processes for the benefit of service to our hospital partners and patients. We're thrilled to expand our coverage to SCL Health on the campus of Lutheran Medical Center and several clinics of the SCL Health Medical Group; and among a number of unaffiliated micro sites in Colorado," said Fisher.

Along with 16 sub-specialized physicians in body imaging radiology, breast imaging radiology, musculoskeletal imaging radiology and neuroradiology, RMR has brought two Interventional Radiologists (IR) to join RIA IR physicians, national leaders in the field. RIA now numbers more than 117 radiologists.

"Our combined team is working together at all levels to identify efficiencies and improvements to clinical quality and service delivery that will continue to be the hallmark of the practice," said Brian L. Ravert, MD and former President, RMR and current RIA board member. "Our goal to remain independent and physician-governed has been fulfilled on time," said Ravert.

To learn more about Radiology Imaging Associates, PC and the integration of the RMR practice, contact Dr. Andrew Fisher at 303-725-6228 or [email protected]; or Dr. Brian Ravert at 303-753-1191 or [email protected]; or visit www.riaco.com.

About Radiology Imaging Associates, PC (RIA)

RIA is a leading provider of diagnostic and interventional radiology services in the Mountain West, partnering with primary care physicians and hospitals across Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Hawaii as a patient-centered resource.

Founded in the 1960s, RIA is the recognized leader in imaging quality with sub-specialized radiologists providing services for all major non-university hospital systems in Colorado. The team also provides 24-hour coverage for neuroradiology, body imaging general radiology, and pediatric imaging; and sponsors RIA clinical research trials. For more information, visit www.riaco.com

SOURCE Radiology Imaging Associates, PC

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The Police Command in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), on Monday, rescued four kidnapped victims from a notorious kidnappers den located at Sauni Hills, Lambata, along the boundary between the territory and Niger State.

The commands Police Public Relations Officer, Anjuguri Manzah, a deputy superintendent of police, in a statement, said the victims were rescued following a special operation launched by the command.

He said the victims were rescued after police operatives had dislodged the criminals from their hideout located in a remote mountainous area.

Mr Manzah said the operation was sequel to a distress call received at Gwagwalada Police Division that two persons, a male and a female were kidnapped from their home by some heavily armed persons on February 8.

Following the distress call, police operatives from Gwagwalada Division launched a major onslaught.

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The operation forced the heavily armed kidnappers, who engaged the police rescue team in fierce exchange of gunfire, to abandon their victims at the mountainous terrain used as their hideout before escaping, he said.

He said two of the rescued victims, Umaru Salihu and Mariam Umaru, were kidnapped from their home in Pagada village on February 8.

Mr Manzah said the two other victims Zilkifilu Usman and Usman Shuaibu told the police that they were kidnapped from Niger state on February 2 while on transit.

He commended the vigilantes operating along the axis, who in the spirit of community policing, supported the police during the operation.

(NAN)
Zagorodnyuk says it doesn't change the security situation in Donbas.

Ukraine's Defense Minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk says the disengagement of forces and weapons along the entire contact line in Donbas, the country's east, contradicts the Minsk peace agreements.

Read alsoOSCE SMM: Recent developments in eastern Ukraine positive, but full implementation of ceasefire required

"We've very seriously examined this issue at the Defense Ministry, the General Staff, and other law enforcement agencies, at meetings of the National Security and Defense Council. The main thing was that this, firstly, contradicts the Minsk agreements. The Minsk agreements stipulate that foreign military units should leave Ukraine and illegal armed formations should be disarmed and disbanded. Of course, if old agreements were replaced by new ones, the new ones would take priority, and the new ones could be about the disengagement. But this would actually make any efforts to implement this [security] part of the Minsk agreements more complicated," he said in an interview for RFE/RL's Ukrainian service.

Zagorodnyuk says the disengagement doesn't change the security situation in Donbas.

"Because if the other side has the political will to escalate the conflict  two kilometers will not make any difference. This is not a problem for [enemy] snipers, for sabotage and reconnaissance groups," he added.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the disengagement of troops and weapons of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Russia-led forces near the village of Stanytsia Luhanska took place in June 2019.

Forces and weapons near the town of Zolote were withdrawn on October 29, which was followed by the disengagement of forces near the villages of Bohdanivka and Petrivske on November 9-11.
San Salvador, El Salvador  Thousands of Salvadorans gathered outside the countrys legislative assembly on Sunday as the country faced its most significant constitutional crisis since it signed a peace accord agreement to end a civil war in 1992. Military officers entered the legislative chamber in an unprecedented show of military power by President Nayib Bukele against the countrys legislators in the post-war period.

I support him (the president), said Rosario, 36, who is currently unemployed, outside the legislative assembly Sunday after the president addressed the crowd.

We are just looking to improve the country in every way possible, she added, wishing only to give her first name. But human rights groups say the presidents actions are a smokescreen that threatens the balance of separation of powers in the country.

The crisis started on Thursday night when Bukele called the countrys legislators to an emergency session scheduled for Sunday to approve a $109m loan for the third phase of his security plan, called Plan Control Territorial.

In a news conference, Bukele accused the legislative assembly of using the constitution in ways that did not benefit the Salvadoran people, reiterating a constant theme of his campaign in which he criticised the countrys corrupt politicians and painted himself as an outsider immune to this corruption. He invoked Article 167 of the countrys constitution, which says the president can convene the countrys national assembly extraordinarily when the interests of the Republic demand it.

When invoking this clause, he promised citizens to use the constitution for their benefit. But the decision set off a constitutional crisis as legislators, experts and human rights groups debated whether the situation merited the use of this clause.

Constitutional or unconstitutional?

Legislators challenged the presidents authority to call them to a special session to approve a loan.

At a news conference on Friday, Mario Ponce, the legislative assembly president, said the country is not in a situation of catastrophe so that the Ministerial Council makes an urgent convocation of the legislators.

The military also became involved in the dispute, stoking tensions in a country that lived a 12-year civil war that left more than 75,000 people killed. A UN truth commission found that the military was responsible for the majority of the bloodshed.

The Salvadoran Armed Forces is a professional, apolitical and non-deliberation institution subordinate to the civil power and in consequence, we serve the nation and we will be obedient to the president and general commander of the Armed Forces, said Defence Minister Rene Francis Merino Monroy in a news conference on Saturday during which the press were not allowed to ask questions.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele gestures as he addresses his supporters protesting outside the national congress to push for the approval of funds for a government security plan in San Salvador, El Salvador [Jose Cabezas/Reuters]

Human rights groups were quick to draw parallels to the past. The recent Latin American experience and the history of our country show that acting with intolerance, promoting hate and disrespecting institutions only leads to polarisation and confrontation between brothers, wrote the Central American University, a historic defender of human rights in the country, in a statement.

Celia Medrano, chief programme officer of San Salvador-based human rights organisation Cristosal, said that it is a fallacy that the presidents actions were to protect the security of Salvadorans. Instead, the actions damaged the countrys institutions and she called for a return to the balance of powers in the country.

Supporters of the president say that critics have misrepresented the situation.

For them, its an attack against democracy, but its not like that, said 50-year-old industrial engineer Jose Manuel Munguia. Its totally the opposite. This is not a coup.

Instead, supporters said they believe the presidents actions are for the good of the country. What the president is doing is showing that he is for the people, said 24-year-old teacher Douglas Hernandez. What the president wants is the wellbeing of the people.

Bukele rose to the presidency on promises to rid the country of corrupt politicians and take down gangs that have led El Salvador to consistently have some of the highest murder rates in the world. Soon after taking office in June 2019, Bukele implemented Plan Control Territorial, which targets gang hot spots and has increased military presence in these areas. The country experienced a 28 percent drop in homicides from 2018 to 2019. Bukele was quick to take credit, but analysts question the root of the decrease. Nevertheless, Bukeles approval rating was nearly 90 percent as of December 2019. Citizens perception of the success of Plan Control Territorial could be one reason for this high approval rate.

President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele leaves the national congress after a special session to push for the approval of funds for a government security plan in San Salvador, El Salvador [Victor Pena/Reuters]

Since November, Bukele has been pressuring the legislative assembly to approve the loan for the third part of his security plan, but they have asked for more time to discuss the details and reach a consensus.

We came to pressure the legislators to approve a plan that will help our country, said Alicia Garcia, a 25-year-old stay at home mom from a gang-controlled area about 45 minutes from the capital. Because we are the ones who suffer in the colonias, not the legislators.

The showdown

By 3pm (21:00 GMT) on Sunday, when the legislators were expected to arrive, thousands of Bukele supporters from all over the country had filled the street outside the national assembly, where the road had been closed off to traffic and military officers stood guard.

Inside the legislative assembly, enough legislators did not show up for a quorum to vote on the security plan. Military officers filled the chamber. Now, I think its very clear who has control of the situation, Bukele said.

Outside, Bukele addressed his supporters. He denied the statements from experts and legislators that he had overstepped his presidential power. Where is the unconstitutionality? he asked, to cries of support.

In the crowd were faint cries of Lets enter! but the crowd remained fixated on the president and did not make a move to enter the assembly by force.

Supporters of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele protest outside the national congress to push for the approval of funds for a government security plan in San Salvador, El Salvador [Jose Cabezas/Reuters]

Bukele left and returned for a second speech with clearer instructions: he would give the legislators a week to approve the budget for his security plan. If they refused, he called his supporters back at the same time and place the following Sunday. As of Monday morning, the president of the assembly, Ponce, announced the suspension of Mondays scheduled session to discuss the loan.

The international community called for the president to respect democratic institutions and refrain from using the military to solve problems with legislators. The Salvadoran military should not be used to resolve disputes between the president and congress, said Congressman Eliot Engel, chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee. Civilian differences should be resolved by civilian institutions.

The legislators are disobedient and arrogant, said supporter Rosario. I plan to come back next week.
February 10, 2020

Theres no denying that technology has had an unparalleled impact on the world. And were not just talking about the number of hours spent watching Netflix on your laptop or how easy it is to video chat with someone in another country, but about how technology has transformed various industries. Case in point: the fashion industry. Wayne Shulick is an entrepreneur based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he has a long history of business creation and development in numerous industries and has worked as a consultant, owner, and founder in the clothing, design, and nightlife industries. Thus, Shulick has seen firsthand how technology has played a major role in transforming fashion. From the rise of e-commerce and social media marketing to the invention of new types of wearable technology, there are a number of ways that technological innovation has influenced the industry. And these changes are not going anywhere, in fact they are likely to inform how the industry is run for the foreseeable future.







Wearable Technology

The first way that technology has impacted the fashion industry is through the new products that have come about because of it. According to entrepreneur Wayne Shulick, the trend of wearable technology (otherwise known as clothing or accessories with technological features built in) has been huge in the last decade. Think of items like the Apple (News - Alert) Watch. This device is not only an incredible piece of technology but is also a wearable fashion accessory. In a similar vein to smart watches (i.e. items with the goal of enabling people to check their smartphones less), other wearable fashion such as Bluetooth cocktail rings and tech-embedded jewelry have come onto the market. In order to keep up with the times, its going to be imperative for fashion retailers to partner with various tech brands to continue producing wearable technology that is both stylish and sensible.

The Age of Social Media

As we move into the third decade of the 21st century, there is no denying that we are living in the age of social media, shares Wayne Shulick. This pertains not only to how people interact, but to how consumers buy products and how companies market products to them. Twitter (News - Alert), Facebook, Snapchat, and especially Instagram have all grown to be extremely powerful tools when it comes to influencing consumer behavior and purchasing patterns. In fact, studies have indicated that younger generations who use social media the most, such as the millennial generation and generation Z, consider social media to be the top deciding factor when it comes to making a purchase of clothing. This is part of the reason that Instagram first created shoppable posts, allowing customers to see the prices of clothing items and click a link directly to the webpage on which theyre being sold.

Similarly, Facebook (News - Alert) has created personalized data-driven advertising that allows companies to specifically target their ads at consumers who are most likely to purchase their product. It is also why nearly all new fashion companies have a team dedicated to social media marketing, a subset of which is typically influencer marketing. Instagram influencers have become a highly lucrative industry that fashion companies are taking advantage of in order to promote their new product or collection to their follower base. Lastly, Wayne Shulick asserts that the rise of social media and influencer culture specifically has led to a new wave of fashion models. Many models nowadays are chosen based on their significant social media following versus on their experience in the industry. One of the best examples of this is Kendall Jenner who has become the face of multiple brands due to the success and size of her social media following.

E-Commerce

Another way that technology has revolutionized the fashion industry is through e-commerce. Online shopping isnt going anywhere and in order to survive, fashion retailers need to adapt to it. Wayne Shulick asserts that e-commerce involves not only creating a shoppable website that is user friendly, but also establishing an online presence, creating an app, and of course, developing marketing campaigns for the digital platform. Further, in order to ensure that this new technology-based retail platform is running smoothly, it is essential for retailers to hire an in-house IT team to ensure that your companys IT infrastructure is functioning at all times. Retailers know all too well how a website glitch or crash can result in major profit losses. In terms of how e-commerce has affected the consumer, Wayne Shulick claims that due to the advent of online shopping, making purchases is now hassle-free and more convenient for the consumer. It has almost made it easier than ever before to purchase fashion items from all over the world.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 10)  Four more Filipinos on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship have tested positive for novel coronavirus, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Monday.

It said the tests came out on Sunday. There are now five Filipinos  all crew members  on board the vessel who are infected with the virus. They are now being treated in hospitals in Japan.

"The Embassy is closely coordinating with Japanese authorities, and is in constant communication with the Filipinos still onboard, to provide them all possible assistance," DFA said in a statement.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the first Filipino who tested positive last week is on the "road to recovery."

There are over 3,700 people, including 530 Filipinos, quarantined on board the vessel.

The Japanese government is considering testing all passengers aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship  which remains docked under quarantine off the coast of Yokohama  regardless of whether they are symptomatic. So far, authorities have been prioritizing testing passengers and crew members who feel unwell.

The ship has been quarantined since February 4, after a former passenger tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Since then, 70 new cases have been confirmed and taken off the ship. All guests on board will remain quarantined until February 19.

They were assured of receiving a full refund for the cruise.
This is the horrifying moment a pram with a three-month-old baby inside was sent flying by a speeding drunk driver in Ukraine.

Dashcam footage filmed at a pedestrian crossing showed the driver of a ZAZ Slavuta smashing into the pram in the city of Energodar last Friday.

The baby was rushed to an intensive care unit where doctors said it was a 'miracle' that he had survived.

The driver was arrested and found to be nine times over the alcohol limit, and could face three years in prison.

The clip is filmed from an approaching car which stops at the zebra crossing on a dual carriageway in Energodar.

The baby's mother, wearing a green winter jacket, pushes her pram across the first lane before she suddenly notices the approaching car.

The mother stops just in time to avoid being hit, but the pram is sent spinning through the air before it crashes into a barrier.

The horrified woman rushes over to help her baby while two men including the drunk driver get out of the speeding car in an effort to help her.

The 34-year-old mother Maria Tkachenko told local media: 'The driver ran up to me with apologies and I felt a strong smell of alcohol coming from him.'

The baby was taken to intensive care where he was carefully examined by doctors.

The baby's mother starts to push her pram over the pedestrian crossing, in dashcam footage which was filmed from an approaching car

Impact: The pram (circled) is sent flying after the woman stopped just in time to avoid being hit by the approaching ZAZ Slavuta

The pram (circled) was sent spinning through the air before it crashed into a reservation as the mother looked on in horror

The horrified woman rushed over to help her baby while two men including the drunk driver got out of the speeding car in an effort to help her

A surgeon at the Zaporizhia Regional Children's Hospital, Kostyantyn Markov, told local media: 'It's a miracle that the boy survived and apparently did not receive severe injuries.

'He does not have visible signs of head trauma or bone fractures. His condition is stable. We are monitoring him 24 hours a day.'

Mrs Tkachenko says her baby son will be staying in the hospital until doctors have finished all necessary examinations.

The 39-year-old driver was detained by police and sent for a medical examination.

Medics found 1.85 ppm of alcohol in his blood which is nine times above the limit. The man was arrested and criminal proceedings were initiated.

The suspect faces up to three years in prison if found guilty.

'I do not want him to serve a sentence in prison but I want him to be banned from driving,' the mother said.

The baby in the pram (pictured) was rushed to an intensive care unit where he is expected to recover in what doctors have hailed as a 'miracle'
Ministers sounded defiance today as MPs demanded the cancellation of a deportation flight for foreign offenders.

Home Secretary Priti Patel dismissed the calls from Labour despite accusations that the government has not learned the lessons of the Windrush scandal.

She insisted everyone being deported to Jamaica at 6.30am tomorrow had committed a 'serious offence' and been sentenced to at least a year in jail. In total, their terms - some for crimes such as rape and manslaughter - add up to around 300 years.

Duncan Lewis Solicitors, which is representing 15 people due to be on the plane, has launched a last ditch legal bid to stop it taking off.

In the Commons this afternoon, shadow home secretary Diane Abbott branded the proposed deportations 'double jeopardy' as she said more than 170 MPs had written to the PM.

Home Secretary Priti Patel dismissed the calls for the flight to be cancelled despite accusations from Labour's Diane Abbott that the government has not learned the lessons of the Windrush scandal

MPs clashed after the deportation flight was raised as an urgent question in the House today

She said many of those being removed came to the UK as children and 'have no memory of Jamaica', adding: 'Does the Home Secretary accept that these deportations constitute double jeopardy because the persons have already served an appropriate sentence for their crime.

'And is the Home Secretary aware that over 170 MPs from all political parties have written to the Prime Minister calling for this deportation flight to be halted.'

But Ms Patel said: 'Under the UK Borders Act 2007, a deportation order must be made in respect of foreign criminal activity sentences for a period of 12 months or more in prison.

'And therefore every person on this flight has been convicted of a serious offence and received a custodial sentence of 12 months or more which means that under the Act introduced by the Labour government in 2007, a deportation order must be made.'

Tajay Thompson (pictured as a boy) is one of those facing deportation to Jamaica having served half of a 15-month sentence in 2015 after being convicted of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply at 17

Asking an urgent question in the House, Labour MP David Lammy asked 'when will black lives matter again?'

But Home Office minister Kevin Foster responded: 'We cannot breach the Act and we will not allow foreign nationals who are convicted of the most serious offences including rape and child sexual abuse to remain in Britain.

'Tomorrow's flight is about keeping the public safe. It cannot and should not be conflated with the wrongs suffered by the Windrush generation.'

Earlier, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Rishi Sunak said those being forcibly removed had committed 'very serious offences' and their deportations were 'reasonable'.

The legal challenge calls for the flight to be halted over concerns that detainees are struggling to access legal advice and over the claims made over the criminality of those due to be on board.

Toufique Hossain, director of public law at Duncan Lewis - who is leading the legal challenge, said many of the clients had come to the UK as young children aged between four and 13.

A number of the people due on the flight are thought to have been convicted of drug offences when they were young.

Mr Hossain said: 'We are about to submit court papers to launch a judicial review and have asked for an urgent oral hearing in the High Court this afternoon.'

He said many of the people on the flight have lived in the UK 'for most of their lives' and there needs to be a 'proper overview and consideration' given to how the Home Office approach such individuals.

Mr Sunak said he believed the flight is 'right' and the British public would expect foreign national offenders to be deported.

'Many of these people have committed crimes such as manslaughter, rape, other very serious offences,' the Tory told Sky News.

Tajay Thompson is one of those facing deportation to Jamaica having served half of a 15-month sentence in 2015 after being convicted of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply at 17.

Now 23 and living in south London, he told reporters he has no links to the Caribbean nation which he has only visited twice since coming to the UK aged five.

'I feel like I was born here. Jamaica is not my country,' Mr Thompson said as he insisted he was groomed into a gang as a teenager.

'It's not like I'm a rapist or a murderer, I've made a mistake when I was 17 and it's now going to affect my whole life.'
Washington: The United States has charged four Chinese military hackers in the 2017 breach of the Equifax credit reporting agency that affected nearly 150 million American citizens, Attorney General William Barr said on Monday.

"This was a deliberate and sweeping intrusion into the private information of the American people," Barr said about one of the largest data breaches in US history. The indictment charges four members of the Chinese Liberation Army.

Attorney General William Barr said it was one of the largest data breaches in history. Credit:AP

The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The announcement is the latest in an aggressive campaign by American authorities to root out Chinese espionage operations in the US. Since turning the spotlight on China in 2018, the US has snared a growing group of Chinese government officials, business people, and academics pursuing American secrets.
While all eyes will be on Parasite, the film by director Bong Joon-ho that is nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, another film from South Korea is also making history this weekend in Hollywood.



In the Absence, a 29-minute documentary by director Yi Seung-jun and producer Gary Byung-seok Kam about the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster in South Korea, is nominated for Best Documentary Short Subject, another first for a Korean film.



And while Parasite shines a darkly humorous light on the pervasive sense of inequality in South Korean society, In the Absence revisits one of the most painful events in the country's recent history.



The film starts on April 16, 2014, when a passenger ferry carrying 476 passengers and crew, the MV Sewol, began listing dangerously near Jeju Island before capsizing. More than 300 people would ultimately perish in the disaster, including some 250 students from Danwon High School in Ansan.



The tragedy deeply shook South Korean society, with outrage directed toward the ship's owners, crew and captain -- who abandoned ship with more than half the passengers still on board -- as well as lax regulators and the government's botched handling of the rescue.



Indecisiveness and inaction by the coast guard and other authorities left students trapped aboard the slowly sinking vessel, many of whom had been told to stay put and were awaiting further instructions.













As one passenger who managed to escape says in the film: "The one who was supposed to protect us was absent there."



Also absent in the aftermath of the tragedy were answers to why things went so wrong. The government of then-President Park Geun-hye was widely accused of withholding information, obstructing an independent investigation and even delaying the salvaging of the sunken vessel.



Park's handling of the disaster sparked a backlash that would become one of the key catalysts for the Candlelight Revolution, a protest movement that ultimately led to her impeachment and removal from office in 2017. In 2018, Park was found guilty on charges of abuse of power and coercion and sentenced to 24 years in prison.



The heartbreaking documentary features archival audio and video footage from the disaster and interviews with survivors, rescue divers and family members of the victims. The film previously won first prize in the long form category at the World Press Photo Digital Storytelling Contest. (UPI)
WASHINGTON  Donald Trump promised during his presidential campaign in 2016 that he would wipe out the federal deficit in eight years.

When Trump submitted his fourth proposed budget to Congress on Monday, he abandoned that pledge, as he did in his three previous budget proposals. The new budget proposal sets a 15-year target for eliminating the deficit.

Deficit hawks questioned whether the 15-year target that Trump spelled out is even attainable, arguing the administrations budget relies on optimistic projections for economic growth and unlikely budget cuts to claim $4.6 trillion in deficit reduction.

Frankly, budgeting has become pretty much a joke in this country, where budgets are used as messaging documents and an excuse to trade insults, said Maya MacGuineas, president of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

This years trillion-dollar deficit should cause us to rethink this dynamic, MacGuineas said. The president and Congress should work to agree on national priorities and sound plans to pay for them. Sure, it sounds like a pipe dream, but in the worlds largest economy, it should be a given.

President Donald Trump's budget sets a 15-year goal for eliminating the deficit.

Trumps $4.89 trillion spending plan  the final budget of his first term in office  reads more like a 2020 campaign document than a spending plan that has any realistic chance of becoming law.

It proposes steep cuts in many domestic programs and increases in spending on the military and other programs that will appeal to Trumps base as he campaigns for voters to return him to office for another four years.

The Trump blueprint calls for a 22% cut to the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Developments budgets for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

The Education Department's budget would be slashed by $5.6 billion, or 7.8%. The Environmental Protection Agency's budget would shrink by $2.4 billion, a 26% cut that is sure to meet resistance from Democrats in Congress.

The Energy Department would see an 8.1% cut, while Health and Human Services' budget would be slashed by 10%, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development's budget would shrink by 15.2%.

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Military spending would jump by 0.3%. Homeland Security's budget would rise by $1.6 billion, a 3.2% increase. NASA would see a 12% increase, while Veterans Affairs would get a 14% boost.

While Democrats control the House, Trumps budget stands no chance of winning approval in Congress. White House Budget Director Russ Vought acknowledged as much Monday, saying lawmakers ignored the presidents spending cut proposals for the past three years.

The first three budgets have not moved in our direction, he said.

Vought said the budget reflects Trump's "pro-growth" economic policies while funding "national priorities."

House Democrats signaled they have no plans to go along with Trumps proposals.

The budget is a statement of values, and once again, the president is showing just how little he values the good health, financial security and well-being of hardworking American families, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., chairman of the House Budget Committee, called the spending proposal a destructive and irrational budget.

Congress will stand firm against this presidents broken promises and his disregard for the human cost of his destructive policies, he said.

Overall, Trumps budget will seek $4.4 trillion in savings over a decade  $2 trillion of which would come from savings from entitlements, including $130 billion from changes to Medicare prescription drug pricing.

Democrats said that would amount to a half-a-trillion-dollar cut to Medicare, roughly $900 billion in cuts to Medicaid and a $24 billion cut to Social Security.

Vought insisted Medicare and Medicaid would merely be reformed, not cut. Reducing the cost of health care is not a cut, he said.

Trump made a similar argument, telling governors during a meeting Monday, Were not touching Medicare. ... Were not touching Social Security.

Last month, Trump opened the door to overhauling entitlement programs such as Medicare, saying during a television appearance in Davos, Switzerland, that tremendous growth in the economy would make it easier to restructure such programs.

Entitlement cuts?Trump says he'd 'take a look' at changing entitlements such as Medicare

We will not be touching your Social Security or Medicare in Fiscal 2021 Budget. Only the Democrats will destroy them by destroying our Countrys greatest ever Economy!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 8, 2020

The Trump administration projects economic growth of 3% over the next several years. The economy grew 2.3% in 2019, falling short of Trumps promise of at least 3%, according to data released last month by the Commerce Department.

Trump asks Congress for $2 billion for construction of a wall along the U.S. southern border with Mexico, one of his signature promises from his 2016 presidential campaign. That is less than the $5 billion sought last year in border wall funding, a request that triggered a record-setting, 35-day government shutdown last winter after congressional Democrats refused to approve the money. The $2 billion would build about 82 miles of wall, the latest contribution to the 1,000-mile project.

The administration's request for the Justice Department is 2.3% less than the current year, largely due to a $505 million cut for a prison that is no longer needed because the federal prison population is declining. The administration would also eliminate $244 million in annual funding for a program that reimburses state and local governments for incarcerating undocumented immigrants.

Much of the funding request will be allotted for violent crime prevention, immigration enforcement and human trafficking prosecution, as well as reentry programs under the First Step Act, a sentencing reform law that led to the release of 2,200 nonviolent inmates last year.

Trump proposes spending billions on health care, infrastructure, business loans and internet access in rural America, part of his constituency as he seeks reelection in November.

Among the programs is $25 billion for a new Revitalizing Rural America grant program to help areas with broadband, transportation, water and road and bridge projects; $614 million in funding for water and wastewater grants and loans; and $690 million in loans to finance broadband infrastructure deployment of rural telecommunication facilities.

Money for rural America: Trump budget proposal pitches billions for rural America, a key constituency in 2020

Supporters of the programs Trump looks to cut warned of the consequences of slashing their budgets.

Adm. Michael Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sent a letter warning congressional leaders Friday that cuts to international affairs programs are out of touch with the reality around the world.

This is a moment when more investment in diplomacy and development is needed, not less, Mullen wrote.

The Trump blueprint calls for slashing U.S. spending on global health programs by 34%, which might draw particular ire amid the coronavirus outbreak.

At a time when we are faced with a global health threat with the coronavirus, the Trump administration is doubling down on its efforts to gut the very programs needed to protect American lives, said Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. This is not just shortsighted, its actually dangerous.

He said Congress would work across party lines to come up with a realistic and responsible budget that would not undermine American leadership in the world.

Republican strategist Rick Tyler, a frequent Trump critic, took issue with the administration's budget proposal.

Politically, with its proposed cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security  all programs Trump promised not to touch  its a gift to Democrats," he said.

Contributing: Deirdre Shesgreen, Bart Jansen and Kristine Phillips

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump budget: Latest spending plan reflects campaign priorities
Iran remains committed to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has no intention of quitting the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran's ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali said, adding that

"As far as the JCPOA is concerned, Iran is a participant in this deal and has certain commitments under this deal These five steps which we have made  we have always said that they are reversibleAs of today, we have no intention of quitting the JCPOA", Jalali said during a press conference at the Rossiya Segodnya international news agency.
(Newser)  More heartbreak for the Kercher family: John Kercher, father of murdered British student Meredith Kercher, has died after a suspected hit-and-run near his London home. The 77-year-old journalist and children's book author was found on the sidewalk in Croydon, south London on Jan. 13 with injuries including a broken arm and leg, the Guardian reports. Police announced Friday that he had died on Feb. 1. "We are currently treating the death of this man as unexplained and our thoughts are with his family at this very sad time," said Metropolitan Police spokesman Steve Andrews.

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"Despite thorough inquiries made so far, including speaking to witnesses and examining potential CCTV opportunities, weve not as yet been able to establish how the man came to sustain his injuries," Andrews said, per the Evening Standard. "We are keeping an open mind as to the circumstances of his death, including whether he may have been involved in a collision." Meredith Kercher, 21, was murdered in Perugia, Italy in 2007. She had been sharing an apartment with American student Amanda Knox, who was convicted of the murder in 2009 along with her Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito. They were found not guilty on appeal in 2011, found guilty again in 2014, and finally exonerated in 2015. An Ivorian man, Rudy Guede, is currently serving a prison sentence for the murder. (In 2010, John Kercher said he was furious about Knox becoming a "minor celebrity.")
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Chinese online payment clearinghouse NetsUnion Clearing Corporation reported an increasing number of online transactions during the weeklong Spring Festival holiday.

From Jan. 24 to 30, about 4.92 billion online transactions were processed by the platform, involving 2.73 trillion yuan (about 391.4 billion U.S. dollars).

The number of transactions surged by 11.25 percent year on year while the value marked a 5.76-percent rise, the company said.

To mitigate the impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak, the company announced to waive service charges for merchants in Hubei Province, the hardest-hit region, till the end of the year.

Moreover, non-profit medical institutions and charity organizations involved in the anti-virus campaign nationwide will see their service fees for online transactions reduced or exempted, said the company.

The NetsUnion has also set up a "green channel", which provides round-the-clock service to facilitate the flow of funds related to the fight against the epidemic.
(Alliance News) - Moody's Investors Service on Monday assigned a Ba1 rating to BT Group PLC's proposed EUR500 million capital securities issue.

Moody's gave the issue, due 2080, a negative outlook. The Ba1 rating is two lower than BT's Baa2 senior unsecured and issuer ratings.

"This reflects the deeply subordinated position of the proposed hybrid securities in relation to the existing senior unsecured obligations of BT," Moody's noted.

The credit ratings agency explained that the negative outlook is a reflection of the "continued pressure on BT's top line", which Moody's added will persist over the next two years and could lead to a marginal fall in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation.

The outlook could be boosted should BT deliver cost savings and an improved Ebitda.

Shares in the company closed 0.5% lower at 154.14 pence each in London on Monday.

By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Around 50 people gathered in Nottingham Friday night to pay tribute to Errol Graham, who starved to death after his disability benefits were cut by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

A minutes silence was observed at the start of the hour-long vigil held at Speakers Corner, by the Brian Clough Memorial statue in Nottingham city centre. Friends, family and local community members held placards bearing Errols photograph and condemning the DWPs welfare sanctions that have claimed hundreds of lives.

One of those attending the vigil hold up a placard of Errol Graham reading Errol Graham died June 2018 DWP sanctioned his benefits

Errols death in June 2018 came to public attention last month after determined efforts by family members to oppose the DWPs cover-up. A coroners inquest last year exposed systemic failures by GP services, Nottinghamshire Health Care NHS Foundation Trust (NHCT), Nottingham City Homes and the DWP. But no action has been taken by the DWP to prevent future deaths.

On the day of the vigil, the National Audit Office revealed there have been at least 69 suicides by benefit claimants since 201415. Families have linked many of these deaths to the DWPs demeaning regime of sanctions and Work Capability Assessments (WCAs) aimed at stripping the disabled of any form of income support.

Diana Burton speaking at the vigil

Errols former partner Diana Burton was greeted warmly by the crowd and extended her thanks to the people of Nottingham for their support. No one needs to or should ever have to suffer the pain of a slow death of starvation, she said. I really hope that this system will have a big shake-up and I hope this has an impact on the government and that things will move forward and only get better for this society that we are living in today. Her dignified contribution met with applause.

Some of the people attending the vigil for Errol Graham

A young disability rights activist and poet, Jesse Freeman, performed a piece about her own experiences with austerity, including having been denied benefits four times in seven months due to an error on the DWPs computer system.

She recalled having No gas or electric/Asking other broke folk to borrow me a tenner/Wondering if it will ever get better/One bedroom flat, council estate/But often my sofas occupied by a homeless man, family member or mate 

Doing things that youd thought youd never/That first time at the food bank, feeling ashamed/Wondering how it got this way/But always taking the blame.

Fridays vigil was organised by Nottingham Peoples Assembly Against Austerity, which unites Labour lefts, trade union officials, Greens and representatives of pseudo-left groups including the Socialist Party. They provided a platform for local Labour politicians including Nottingham City Council leader David Mellen to posture as opponents of welfare cuts and austerity.

Mellen told the rally, The benefit system needs to change, and it has proven again and again there is no connection between the DWP and the health service. Its not good enough.

A member of the crowd angrily challenged Mellen, demanding What about the cuts? His question was ignored.

Nottingham Council has enforced 100 million in cuts since 2014, with a further 25 million agreed in 2019. Disability services have been severely affected, with payments to around 862 disabled people slashed in half in 2018 and further cuts to adult social care announced at the start of last year. The Labour Party controls 50 seats on Nottingham City Council, versus 2 Conservatives and 2 independents.

Gary Freeman

Mellen and other Labour councillors who spoke Friday sought to offload responsibility for the cuts wholly onto central government, whitewashing their own role as enforcers of austerity. A Socialist Party member who spoke, Gary Freeman, helped to promote this fraud, condemning Tory cuts while maintaining silence on Labours role in Nottingham and throughout the country.

Socialist Equality Party member Laura Tiernan extended condolences to Errols family on behalf of the SEP. She said that Errols death was an act of social murder, and cited Frederick Engels 1845 study, The Condition of the Working Class in England:

When one individual inflicts bodily injury upon another such that death results, we call the deed manslaughter; when the assailant knew in advance that the injury would be fatal, we call his deed murder. But when society places hundreds of proletarians in such a position that they inevitably meet a too early and an unnatural death, one which is quite as much a death by violence as that by the sword or bullet; when it deprives thousands of the necessaries of life, places them under conditions in which they cannot liveforces them, through the strong arm of the law, to remain in such conditions until that death ensues which is the inevitable consequenceknows that these thousands of victims must perish, and yet permits these conditions to remain, its deed is murder just as surely as the deed of the single individual; disguised, malicious murder, murder against which none can defend himself, which does not seem what it is, because no man sees the murderer, because the death of the victim seems a natural one, since the offence is more one of omission than of commission. But murder it remains.

Social murder was being enforced by definite political forces on behalf of the financial oligarchy, Tiernan said. She condemned Labour-led Nottingham Council for enforcing the Tories cuts, stating, We indict the Labour leadership under Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell who told councils in 2015 

At this point, Peoples Assembly representative and Labour Party member Stewart Halforty tried to stop Tiernan from speaking. He took hold of the loudhailer, saying, This is not an appropriate speech to make.

Tiernan kept hold of the microphone telling Halforty, Its the truth, while workers in the crowd intervened, shouting, What about democracy?

Tiernan continued, They told councils that they had to enforce legal budgets. What does this legality mean for the working class? Whose laws? A young woman shouted out, It means death.

Labour council leader David Mellen (left) and Peoples Assembly representative Stewart Halforty

When they say there is no money for social care, this is a lie, Tiernan said. The 26 richest billionaires in the world own more wealth than the bottom 50 percent of the entire population of this planet.

Tiernan said an estimated 8,000 disability claimants were dying each year after being denied benefits, This is a war against the working class. She concluded by paying tribute to Errols family for speaking out and continuing their fight for justice.

****

After the vigil, WSWS reporters spoke with Yvette, a social care worker who grew up with Errol. When I read the story, I was in tears, because I couldnt believe that in 2018 and 2020 were still in the same shit, just a different date.

Some of those attending the vigil with placards protesting Errol's death included Yvette (right)

I look after people who will never ever work, yet I have to keep sending them for assessments. Theyve all got terrible mental and physical health issuesand none of its their fault. Yet the system doesnt give a damn about any of them. The government doesnt care how old you are, what nationality you are, where you come from, your culture, your religion. They do not care.

Yvettes brother faced a similar situation as Errol after being diagnosed with a brain tumour. After he underwent a 17-hour operation and was left with multiple disabilities, the DWPs assessors said he was fine because he could walk and raise his arm. They stopped all his benefits and a week later he had a stroke  Now hes lost the sight of one eye, hes lost the use of an arm and the use of his leg. If he didnt have me fighting for him, I dont know where hed be today. Its an absolute disgrace.

Growing up in the 1960s and 70s, Errol had come from a tightknit community and Yvette and her brothers knew his family well: His mum looked after me and my brothers as a baby. Because thats what they did in those days. They came over from Jamaicasome went to work, some looked after your kids to enable you to go to work and they shared the pot about. All that we had then has been lost. Theyve made it into some dog-eat-dog struggle, every man and woman for themselves.

The governments Care in the Community programme was a farce, Yvette explained. There isnt any care in the community. Food banks? Why should we have to go to food banks? Why should we? It is an absolute disgrace. Normal folk have got nothing, they cant afford anythingthe rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

They want people to work longer, but people arent making it to 60. Its getting me riled up. Whos got the money and what are they doing with it? And yet us who are poor are giving it to the poor.

Like millions of other families, Yvette said she was forced to make cutbacks, to make dinners last longer, recycle food and Im not even looking at the sell-by date. If it smells okay, its good to go!

Yvette said that deaths from benefit cuts were a deliberate government policy. Theyre very glad this is happening, she said. They like it because then they dont have to shell out. People are not living longer. They are living longer in ill health, theyre not happy, theyre suicidal almost on a daily basis. They dont carethey really dont. And now theyre running up saying, This is Great Britain. No.

Diana Burton

After the vigil, Diana Burton, told the WSWS the vigil really meant a lot to the family.

Diana said of Errols death, Sometimes you cant let yourself think about it, because its just too horrendous. And the worst is, hes not the only one, is he? People have taken their own lives. I was just talking to a chap now, hes got several eviction letters, hes got no money and its clear hes got mental health issues as well. We want a system in place where the benefits arent stopped when theyre in a crisis. Give them an opportunity to respond to phone calls and letters, not just instantly cut off the benefits and leave them.
The new headquarters of Garz & Fricke in Hamburg.

The Garz & Fricke Group takes over Keith & Koep GmbH. This is already the second company purchase within one year.

"With Keith & Koep we perfectly complement our product portfolio. While we supply our customers with human machine interfaces (HMI), application software and complementary products such as payment services, Keith & Koep specializes in System on Modules, i.e. compact plug-in computer modules," explains Matthias Fricke, managing director of Garz & Fricke, creating one of the most important system providers for ARM-based embedded technologies in Europe.

Garz & Fricke takes over all employees and continues the production site in Wuppertal. Volker Keith and Luitger Koep will remain responsible as managing directors of Keith & Koep. Matthias Fricke: "The significantly stronger Research & Development team will enable us to address attractive, larger customers for whom we were previously too small. Volker Keith adds: "In addition, there will be considerable synergy effects in the R&D area, as we are carrying out the basic developments with the same processor architectures of NXP and Linux operating systems".

In March 2019, the Garz & Fricke Group had already acquired the Stuttgart-based e-GITS GmbH, a developer of software applications for HMIs, cloud technologies and IoT. The second takeover within a year will create a group with headquarters in Hamburg and locations in Wuppertal, Stuttgart, Minneapolis, USA and Chennai, India.
Alone (2015)  This one has the most obvious debt to director Alfred Hitchcock, specifically his classic Rear Window: Alone in his apartment in a crowded city, a man looks out his window and witnesses a murder. But Rear Window is nowhere near as bananas as Alone, in which the hero tries to report the crime and gets bashed in the head with a hammer for his troubles, beginning an increasingly harrowing series of adventures. Burning (2018)  When a handsome drifter confesses to a new friend that he loves burning down greenhouses, is he really talking about greenhouses? Or is it code for something else, something that may have to do with the disappearance of a mutual friend? Lee Chang-dong's creepy drama forces us to question the things we think we understand, whether it's in scenes of a man agreeing to feed a cat he never lays eyes on or a budding actor confiding that the secret to pantomiming the eating of a tangerine is not to pretend it exists but to forget that it doesn't. The Chaser (2008)  Warner Bros. once planned to remake this pulse-pounding and oddly funny melodrama but who needs an English-language version when the original is so accomplished? It's a bit like Silence of the Lambs in that it comes down to a battle of wits between a cop and a serial killer who seems to take delight in stringing along the cop. Most of the time, it's hard to tell who's chasing whom in Na Hong-jin's gruesome movie, which gets bloodier and bloodier as its detectives follow one false lead after another.

I Saw the Devil (2010)  Of all the cat-and-mouse games on this list, this is the cat-and-mousiest: A detective keeps capturing and releasing a killer, just to mess with him. The elegant filmmaking of murder auteur Brian De Palma (Carrie) is all over Kim Jee-woon's stylized movie, which is suspenseful, grisly and oddly beautiful. Even the beautiful, mournful score by Mowg recalls Pino Donaggio's work for De Palma. The Handmaiden (2016)  Park took Sarah Waters' bestseller Fingersmith, about one Englishwoman educating another in the art of picking pockets, shifted the action to Korea under Japanese occupation and made it way, way more perverted. When a pickpocket is hired to be a maid to a lady she pretends to worship, the women's psychosexual battle of wits plays out in a setting that is both erotic and gasp-inducingly pretty.

Memories of Murder (2003)  One of the earliest in the recent wave of South Korean movies is also my favorite Bong movie  and, yes, I've seen Parasite. Surprise! It's about a serial killer. The maniac, who preys on young women in a rural area, eludes an in-over-his-head cop (Song Kang-ho again) who keeps finding new people to wrongly suspect. Sad and suspenseful, Memories of Murder is a puzzle that's also about the difficulty of ever getting at the truth. Oasis (2002)  I'm only allowing myself two Lee Chang-dong movies on this list, but his Poetry and Secret Sunshine (the latter starring the ubiquitous Song Kang-ho) are almost as good as this devastating romance, which climaxes with a shivery scene in which a woman with cerebral palsy imagines herself into a world where her disease doesn't confine her. Oldboy (2003)  Maybe you've seen Spike Lee's not-terrible remake starring Josh Brolin? Or maybe you've heard the original is a thriller in which a guy eats a live octopus in front of our eyes? This claustrophobic masterpiece, which won the Grand Prix prize at the Cannes Film Festival, features a guy waking to find himself locked in a tiny room, where he's held prisoner for years. After he finally escapes, he has some questions about why he was imprisoned and who he needs to slaughter in revenge.
The early parliamentary elections on February 9 were held in an atmosphere of mass fraud and flagrant illegality, Azerbaijani opposition said.

Data across the country indicate a definite conclusion - the elections are completely falsified and do not reflect the will of the Azerbaijani people. This is stated in a statement by the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF), contact.az reported.

Video and photo evidence of countless violations and sheer fraud are widespread in the media and social networks.

This irrefutable evidence is enough to invalidate the election results, the statement said.

The NCDF notes that even the very context of the announcement of early elections gives reason to doubt the legitimacy of this process. There were no public discussions about the need for early elections, nor any reasonable reasons for holding them. The government did not provide any rationale for the snap election.

The NCDF also indicates an overstatement of election turnout of up to 50%. Data from independent observers show that turnout was no higher than 10-15%. This is a catastrophically low voter turnout, along with minimal public participation in the campaign itself, which indicates that the vast majority of the population boycotted the election, the statement said.

Taking into account that the election process was not free and unfair from the very beginning, as well as flagrant violations on the elections day, the National Council states that the early elections on February 9 did not reflect the will of the people and were completely falsified.

The NCDF called on the people of Azerbaijan and the international democratic community not to accept or put up with the results of these elections.
Syracuse, N.Y. -- The international board that regulates Lake Ontario levels keeps letting water out at a record pace.

But it just keeps coming back in.

The volume of water released from January 2017 to December 29 was the highest of any 36-month period on record, the International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board said this month.

However, total inflows were also the highest on record, the board said in a news release.

Lake Ontario shorelines residents suffered record flooding in 2017, only to be hit with even worse flooding last year. New York state and residents say the board hasnt done enough to lower levels, giving priority to shipping when it should have been more worried about residents. The state has filed a lawsuit, and a citizens group is preparing one.

The board releases water from the lake into the river via the Moses-Saunders Power Dam at Massena. Water outflows have reached record levels in the past year, but so has rainfall and the level of the Great Lakes. Most of Lake Ontarios water comes over Niagara Falls from Lake Erie; that flow, too, has set records in the past year.

The board initially caught a break with mild winter, which has delayed formation of ice on the St. Lawrence River. When ice is forming, the board must reduce water outflows. The board let more water out than any other January on record.

The warm winter had a downside, though, as heavy precipitation fell in mid-January largely as rain that immediately flowed into the lake. In a typical, colder January, that rain would have been snow instead, which would have melted later.

The lake rose about 6 inches during January, and is now receding slightly. The board predicts the lake will remain average through at least July.

READ MORE

Lake Ontario water level remains high, residents worry about more spring floods

Is climate change to blame for Lake Ontarios alarming water levels?

Heavy Northeast rainstorms getting stronger, more frequent: study
To combat Mediterranean fruit fly, one of the worlds most destructive fruit pests, Morocco has placed an order for 440 million sterile Ceratitis capitata from Argentina, according to El Economista business newspaper.

The sterile fruit flies will be supplied by the Institute of Agricultural Health and Quality of Mendoza (ISCAMEN). The shipments will start in March and continue until May 2021. Ten million flies will be sent to Morocco weekly.

Morocco used to get the sterile medfly from Bio-tech center in Valencia, Spain. The agriculture of the Moroccan Souss-Massa region suffers from the fruit fly.

Its larvae feed on many deciduous, subtropical, and tropical fruits and some vegetables. Although it is a major pest of citrus, often it is a more serious pest of some fruits, such as peach, pear, and apple.

The medfly larvae feed upon the pulp of host fruits, sometimes tunneling through it and eventually reducing the whole to a juicy, inedible mass. Its eradication is extremely difficult and expensive. In addition to reduction of crop yield, infested areas have the additional expense of control measures and costly sorting processes for both fresh and processed fruit and vegetables.

The Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) is an environmentally-friendly insect pest control method involving the mass-rearing and sterilization, using radiation, of a target pest, followed by the systematic area-wide release of the sterile males by air over defined areas, where they mate with wild females resulting in no offspring and a declining pest population.

Irradiation, such as with gamma rays and X-rays, is used to sterilize mass-reared insects so that, while they remain sexually competitive, they cannot produce offspring.

SIT was first developed in the USA and has been used successfully for more than 60 years.
A powerful inquiry on Australia's bushfire crisis will examine the impact of climate change on the nation's ability to prevent, mitigate and respond to natural disasters. The Prime Minister Scott Morrison is finalising the terms of a royal commission into the unprecedented disaster.

Scott Morrison, the prime minister, says Australia must learn the lessons from the bushfire emergency. More than 30 people have been killed in the disaster that began in September, and 3,000 homes have been destroyed. Millions of hectares of land have been scorched.

Morrison says a royal commission, Australia's highest form of inquiry, will examine the impact of global warming on the fires, as well as other factors, including land management.

"These fires have been fueled by one of the worst droughts on record, changes in our climate and a build-up of fuel amongst other factors," Morrison said. "Our summers are getting longer, drier and hotter. That's what climate change does and that requires a new responsiveness, resilience and a reinvigorated focus on adaptation."


The former archbishop is the new prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. Before leaving for Rome, the cardinal greeted the faithful: "It was an honor and a blessing to have known you and to have collaborated with you".

Manila (AsiaNews) - Card. Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle arrives today in the Vatican to take office as prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. The prelate took leave of the Archdiocese of Manila yesterday morning, celebrating a mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and publishing a greeting.

Card. Tagle had served the Catholic community in the capital since 13 October 2011, when Pope Benedict XVI appointed him 32nd archbishop. On December 8, Pope Francis chose him as the third Asian prefect to head the dicastery, once called Propaganda Fide. The Archdiocese of Manila will remain "sede vacante" until the pontiff names the successor to Card. Tagle.

Before leaving for Rome at 10 pm, the cardinal published a greeting to the faithful. "Tonight I say goodbye. Work starts for me this week at the Congregation. It was an honor and blessing to have known you and have collaborated with you. I will always treasure my time with you. You can count on my prayers, Cardinal Tagle said in his farewell message to the faithful of the Archdiocese of Manila.

Please pray for me and my mission as well. Let us pray for docility to the Holy Spirit as we continue our life as an Archdiocese and await the next Archbishop. Stay well and joyful, he wrote, signing Cardinal Chito - as Filipino Catholics affectionately call him.
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 23 (Reuters) - French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday that France had reached an agreement with the United States on the basis for future talks over a global digital tax, at the OECD-level.

"We had long talks this morning with the U.S. Treasury Secretary and the OECD Secretary General, and I am happy to announce to you that we have found an agreement between France and the United States, providing the basis for work on digital taxation at the OECD," Le Maire said at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos.

"It's good news, because it reduces the risk of American sanctions and opens up the prospect of an international solution on digital taxation," he added. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Leigh Thomas)
Jaya hai, Jaya Hai, Jaya Hai, Jaya, Jaya, Jaya Jaya Hai.

Close to a thousand people trailed off the National Anthem, under a huge Indian tricolour. There were tears in some eyes and snot in some noses. It was midnight on December 31, 2019. And on that night, of Delhi's coldest December since 1901, something fundamentally changed for the Indian millennial. As the world streamed shows, and downed pisco sours and sambuca, a brand new Indian millennial had stepped into the ring.

The weeks, specifically the actions that followed and preceded this night, is what this story is about. The last two weeks of December saw a strange set of protestors in Delhi, people who were gathering at Starbucks, discussing where they would meet on Instagram and then later, making Google Sheets to coordinate woolen caps at Shaheen Bagh. And while they were at it, they reclaimed the National Anthem, 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai,' and the Indian flag.

Aaj Kal Ke Bachche

But it wasn't a spontaneous outpouring; the seeds, or rather the signs had been visible all through the second half of December. Ever since an early evening Saturday protest at Jamia, when a girl -- wearing a hijab and a khaki jacket, mouth open in a slogan, an arm piercing the smoggy sky, standing on top of a yellow Delhi police barricade -- gave the protest its first defining image. The very next day, a video showing two hijab-clad girls protecting their male friend from a mindless police lathi charge went viral.

The following two weeks saw huge protests in Delhi; they saw Azaad Maidan filling to the brim in Bombay. It was suddenly as though someone had sparked a match in the middle of a field full of nitrate reels.

Millennials, a generation publicly mocked for showing up for job interviews in chappals, for their smartphone appendages and goldfish rivaling outrage (attention) spans, were proving that they were more than the total of their harshest criticism.

The protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) are even more significant because they've been run, by and large, by millennials, who have been, behaving completely unlike what their chroniclers had pegged them down for. A generation which was believed to be the most selfish the world had seen, was suddenly asking questions on behalf of people they had never seen, or met. They were talking about the Constitution, quoting the preamble and singing Faiz Ahmad Faiz's Hum Dekhenge. But an entire generation didn't get there overnight.

They said millennials outrage about one thing a week and see none of them through; they value drinking plans and vacations above everything else. The reality of that is that Millennials have now been at the center of one of the longest-running protests in Indian history. If the bit about vacations was true, there wouldn't be thousands of people at Jamia on New Year's Eve waving Indian flags and singing Jana Gana Mana.

The smartphone appendages were coming in handy as tools to organise, to discover messaging apps like Fireside -- when the government would pull the plug on the internet, or post on Instagram -- to document stories of being detained by the local police, or create Google Sheets -- to pool resources and organise materials it needed for the protests, and use Facebook -- for organising funds for the families of those arrested or maimed.

On one of these nights in December, lawyers on the streets in front of Daryaganj Police Station in Delhi were yelling out names of those who had been detained by the police; journalists were running to hospitals to not just report but also to chip in. All were millennials -- some elder, some younger, people who in the heat of the moment had somehow spontaneously discovered a larger purpose and their part in it. Those chastised for being armchair experts were for once hands and feet on the ground. They were a hand extended out to someone who had fallen, hands that handed a free banana to a fellow protestor, hands that helped put up a plastic tarp when it rained, hands that in the form of fists pierced December and January nights with their slogans; hands that held up slogans like 'Hindu Hoon Chutiya Nahin' and 'Orange Is The New Black'.

What made the protests, which have run from December 14 to now, truly special is that this generation had been raised on a healthy dose of protests are inconvenient and cause traffic jams. They were told being politically active was a reserve of the 'lumpen elements' and the academic failures. And suddenly, they were gathering together on Instagram and using a word reserved for the communists -- 'revolution'. 'It was so bad' even IIM and Amity and excluded communities like the introverts were there protesting.

The Indian millennial (it's important here to distinguish him and his worldly cousin) had been split between two worlds. One world grew up on binge-watching Unbelievable, Hannah Gatsby and When They See Us. It meant relating to the plight of young children separated from their families and stuck in camps at the US-Mexico borders, being fed on the 'Black Lives Matter' movement and being inspired by Tahrir Square and more recently the Hong Kong protests against China.

The second world required, the world's most connected generation to commute from Delhi to Gurgaon for three hours a day and work in multi nationals, creating Twitter polls. It was never going to work.

So when Jamia happened, these two worlds collided. Signs that things were going to change had been visible from February of 2019. They'd been strengthened in August later that year when Article 370 was scrapped in Kashmir and the valley disconnected from the rest of India. So, to be fair, the Anti-CAA protests were only the straw that broke the camel's back.

In February 2020, a Farmer's march was almost a pilot for what was happening, so were the protests to save Aarey forest in Mumbai. This generation has an innate need to know where its food is coming from and what's going into it. They knew about the farmers in Peru, but not about the ones back home. So when farmers marched from Nasik to Mumbai, millennials with misty eyes tweeted pictures of callused feet, and spoke about elders who had walked at night so that they didn't disturb the traffic and exam-going kids. These were people who grew our food but didn't even make enough to afford new shoes, who lived 200 km out of our biggest metropolitan, but we still knew nothing about it. Suddenly, out of nowhere someone emerged with footwear for these farmers, somewhere else, food magically materialised. And for once it wasn't charity -- it was just a, 'we've got you'. The Maharashtra Farmer whose plight had failed to make it outside lengthy paperwork was suddenly being discussed at Starbucks and Mumbai's college canteens.

Even as early as August 2018, during the Kerala floods, the same generation had shown, it wasn't going to be an armchair warrior, but instead, a generation that was going to weaponise humanity and use being connected as an enabler to drive real change.

There's another thing that turned millennials into the ones that the world rallied around. The protests across the world have largely not exhibited the sort of volatile anger the world usually associates youth with. It's firm, unchanging; it's singing-in-the-streets sort of anger, not the heckling, defacing, violent anger. It's drawing-murals-and-carrying-hilarious-signs-which-refer-to-Game-of-Thrones-and-viral-memes kind of anger. And this wasn't limited to Delhi alone; all the way across the world someone held up my favourite sign at a Climate Change rally 'Save the planet, for at least one of Leo's Girlfriends'.

Not losing your sense of humour has been another one of this generation's rallying cries, as an ode to John Oliver, Haasan Minhaj, and Phoebe Waller-bridge. And this alone was enough to change, or at least kickstart change in the world.

'These kids' also used tropes. Tropes they learnt on the internet to make sure their messages were organically viral. Like their viral counterparts in HK, they made way for ambulances. Like their counterparts in the USA, they made sure the people distributing free food went viral. Like their counterparts in Egypt and HK, they learnt how to sustain and programme a long protest. The protests have followed a script and a formula and it's this that's made them travel and last.

At the core of it though was one clear, simple objective -- it was always going to be empathy over politics. This is why, when people look back at the protests that have happened at Jamia and Carter Road and in Gaya, they'll realise these protests have lasted in spite of not having any public leaders and politicians, front and centre.

Meanwhile, in typical millennial fashion, a generation that had just learnt about Faiz was already making amendments: Hum ne bahut dekha, Ab aap dekhenge (We've seen enough, now it's your turn to see). Faiz would be proud.
Parking tickets are the bane of every drivers life.

Many of us who drive have fallen victim to them at some time or other - and often they are fair. But at times they are downright wrong.

This story is about appealing a parking ticket issued by a private parking company.

The process for appealing a council issued parking ticket differs to that of a private firm and will be covered another time.

The Consumer Fightback column reveals how you can appeal against unfair parking tickets

Phoebes parking ticket nightmare

Phoebe contacted me about the case of an incorrectly issued private parking ticket dating back three years. Phoebes eldest son Finn owned the car and his brother Alex borrowed it in December 2015.

He booked a hotel room for a night in Norwich and paid for a parking bay through bookmybay.com a website run by National Parking Enforcement (NPE).

A few days later Finn received a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) for 60 from NPE. Finn returned the Driver Identification Form naming Alex as the driver and Alex appealed the ticket by emailing the booking and payment evidence. So that was that.

Or it should have been...

On January 2016 Alex received notification that the charge had been correctly applied, Phoebes family ignored it. In May, Finn received a letter from Debt Recovery Plus (DRP) demanding 160. Alex wrote sending his evidence again.

Two weeks later DRP again wrote to Finn demanding 160, Alex again sent his evidence.

Two weeks after that Finn received a demand for 136 from DRP, Alex wrote to NPE. On October 2016, Zenith Collections (the same company as DRP) demanded 80 and NPE was again sent the information.

Out of the blue, in October 2019, three whole years later, Credit Investigation Services (CIS) wrote to Finn demanding 160 and three days later Finn received another letter from NPE demanding 160.

With both her sons, Alex and Finn, out of the country, Phoebe turned to me for help.

After looking at the details, I advised Phoebe to email the whole log and evidence to NPE and the debt collecting agencies. DRP wrote to say that they were no longer processing the data relating to the charge, so had removed it.

However, that was the first debt collector. The second, CIS, sent Finn another letter demanding 160 and threatened to recommend legal action if they didnt receive payment within seven days.

Phoebe's son received a letter demanding 160 and threatening legal action (stock image)

I advised Phoebe to email everyone again. This time she forwarded the emails sent to the owners of NPE and CIS to the office email and also sent printouts by recorded delivery.

Still there was no response from anyone. The rudeness and ignorance shown by these companies towards Phoebe was truly unbelievable.

Next stage in complaint process

I advised Phoebe to contact the International Parking Community (IPC) which administers the Independent Appeals Service; an adjudication service for motorists seeking redress where a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) has been issued by a parking operator who is a member of the IPC's Accredited Operator Scheme.

It took a whole month for the IPC to deal with the issue and on 11 December 2019 it replied to say that the operator apologised for the delay in dealing with the complaint, acknowledged their errors and stated that the transfer of liability was not actioned due to an administrative error.

It did not explain or apologise for ignoring recorded delivery letters sent to the CEO, nor has Phoebe received that apology.

NPE appear to claim that, due to an administrative error, the notification of driver details was not actioned but NPE instructed DPE and Zenith to write to Alex, then when CIS were brought on board NPE had instructed them to write to Finn.

So although the matter had been resolved, we continued to fight. Phoebe wrote to complain again to the IPC on principle and in the hope that it would prevent others being treated this way.

However, despite writing on the 11 December 2019 and chasing, she has not had a reply.

To date IPC has still not received any reply from its member company.

The DVLA allows access to its car owner database for members of the IPC as well as the BPA

Making a subject access request

Whilst we were waiting for IPC to respond I advised Phoebe to undertake a Subject Access Request (SAR). This is a right of access to personal information.

A company must inform you if it has any stored personal information on you and provide copies when you make a SAR. She made an SAR to DRP.

The first response from CIS was written in such poor English that it didnt make sense! And it was backdated to September 2019. Phoebe had requested the information in October 2019 and received the response on 11 November 2019.

This showed that personal details of the vehicle owner had incorrectly been passed to the debt collection company, in breach of the General Data Protection Regulations.

The NPEs response of 5 December 2019 provided the SAR information and also confirmed that the charge had been cancelled.

Lets be clear, it was the SAR that resulted in the dropping of the incorrect charge.

Get help with your problem Helen Dewdney, The Complaining Cow, writes This is Money's Consumer Fight Back column. Helen is the author of best-seller How to Complain: The Essential Consumer Guide to Getting Refunds, Redress and Results! and runs The Complaining Cow blog. Helen can help with your consumer complaints. Rather than do all the work for you, she will empower you to gain refunds, repairs, replacements or improved service by explaining how to complain and get results. Helen Dewdney runs The Complaining Cow site and has written a best-selling book - she is here to help This is Money readers If you have a problem you need help solving, please email experts@thisismoney.co.uk with Consumer Fight Back in the subject line, include a short paragraph about your issue - if we need more details we will get in touch. Find Helen on: Facebook Twitter: @complainingcow Youtube: Helen Dewdney If it is chosen, we will forward your email and process any information you provide to us in accordance with our privacy policy and Helen will contact you with advice on what to write and you can then get the appropriate solution and redress for yourself. If the company fails to act, she will ask them why and what they plan to do.

The parking organisation's response

I attempted to get a statement from the IPC which addressed all issues below. I asked for this several times over a month:

1) Regarding the parking companys lack of contact information, in breach of the IPC Code

2) The inability for anyone to contact NPE or CIS, other than to pay, another clear breach of the rules which continues, despite the new IPC Code

3) Repeated requests for the IPC to contact the company to explain the issues and provide a statement (it seems impossible for anyone to contact them)

4) That Phoebe had contacted the IPC on 11 December 2019 and has still not received a reply, despite chasing twice

The IPC CEO Will Hurley eventually, and after the deadline, replied, not answering any of the issues and leaving consumers with little faith in the IPC Code or anything else!

He said that NPE is required to have an internal appeals process which if rejected can end with the IPC.

He was pleased that the matter had been found in the motorists favour after following the appeals process. This was not correct.

It was the request for the SAR that resulted in the cancellation of the charge before the IPC responded, as follows: Since 2015 processes have evolved and improved. We acknowledge there will always be errors and mistakes.

'What is important is that motorists have the ability to appeal or complain to the car park operators and where the matter is not resolved they have the ability to have the matter escalated.

Pay: Motorists are able to now buy parking tickets online, as opposed to just physical tickets

The CEO offered me a meeting to discuss my concerns but frankly what is the point? He has so far absolutely refused to answer the questions I posed, so why would meeting him be any different?

I asked IPC several times to obtain a statement from NPE, given that it was impossible to contact them, despite the IPCs assurances. They did not do so. I tried with the one email address that is provided for enquiries and predictably got no response.

What about the DVLA?

The DVLA is complicit in the parking shark business. It allows access to its car owner database for members of the IPC and British Parking Association (BPA). This allows companies to write to car owners about alleged debts for parking.

Is this simply a money making exercise for the DVLA?

The latest Which? research shows that the 10 major private parking companies operating in Britain revoked at least 33 per cent of the 14.7million charges they issued in the last four years and that the majority of people pay up after being harassed.

This figure for wrongly applied charges is huge. If the DVLA refused to give out these details, motorists would not be wrongly charged millions of pounds a year.

A spokesperson for the DVLA said that the fees they charge are merely to recover costs and that it has robust procedures in place to ensure data sharing activities comply with data protection law, specifically Regulation 27 of The Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002 allows vehicle keeper details to be disclosed to third parties in various circumstances.

Their statement goes on to say that Local Authorities and Private Landowners would have great difficulty in applying parking restrictions if there was no way of following up alleged breaches.
EUGENE, Ore. -- A woman is asking for the community's help after she says her girlfriend's car was stolen from a parking garage near campus, days after moving to town.

Aleena Robbins is a student at the University of Oregon from California who first moved to Eugene six months ago.

Robbins' girlfriend, also from California moved up to Eugene last week. Robbins said her girlfriend had not even been in Eugene for three days when her car was stolen from the parking garage near 13th and Hilyard Street.

She said her girlfriend parked there after a parking permit mix-up. She says the promised parking spot was filled and they were told they could park in the garage in the meantime and that their car would be safe.

The first level of the garage is retail metered parking space with the others dedicated to PeaceHealth University District hospital staff.

Robbins said she checked on the car often and the day before it went missing she noticed a yellow "X" on the tire. Eugene Police told her this could have been a tactic used by someone to keep track of the car and potentially target it.

"After calling all the other towing companies to no avail (the cop) told us that it could be a common practice for criminals to mark a car to come steal at a later date," said Robbins.

Police told her the 2018 Jeep Wrangler is now worth probably around $25,000, but she says that doesn't compare to the value of what they lost.

The car has California plates with the number 8HRF082.

"We had a lot of personal belongings in there," she began. "Very sentimental things like her grandmother's bracelet who had died. It was still hanging from her rearview mirror."

That and a list of other things such as photo albums and books.

The two still haven't lost faith in the Eugene community and they just hope their neighbors will come through and find the car.
Islamabad: Amid growing pressure to bring back its nationals, mostly students, from coronavirus-hit Hubei province, the Pakistan government has said it is closely monitoring the situation in China and will soon take a decision on their evacuation.

Pakistan came under criticism after it said that Pakistani students should not be evacuated from Wuhan as medical facilities back home do not meet the standards required to treat a patient diagnosed with coronavirus. The Pakistani nationals stuck in areas affected by the novel virus have been making requests to the government on social media platforms to evacuate them.

The matter is being considered at the high level and best possible decision would be taken after considering all possible aspects. Rest assured that we care about you, said Zafar Mirza, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health, on Sunday.

Mirza said that the government has been keenly observing the situation in China, the Dawn newspaper reported.

He said that all options were being explored and the government wanted to maintain a balance on the issue. We have to consider all aspects including situation of the Pakistanis (in China), Chinese regulations and advisories of the World Health Organisation (WHO). All the stakeholders are involved over the issue and we have kept all options open, he said.

Addressing students in China in a tweet, Mirza said, My very dear students in China and your respectable family members, we are intensely discussing the situation at highest level and will make the best decision in view of all factors with reference to devastating coronavirus potential global pandemic.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's Ambassador to China Naghmana Hashmi said that they could not reach the stranded Pakistani students in Wuhan due to the complete lockdown of the city, the capital of Hubei province. Pakistani officials are in contact with their Chinese counterparts in Beijing and Wuhan and will promptly reply to any query by a Pakistani citizen in China, she was quoted as saying by Geo News. However, Pakistani nationals vent out their anger on social media after Mirza's tweet, the Dawn report said.

"Dear sir, if you care about us then please spend at least one day with us in Wuhan, China at least one day please after this we will never say to evacuate us. Please consider my suggestion thanks," a Pakistani national living in Wuhan tweeted. Another Pakistani student tweeted, "It is a humble request not to tweet if you won't change things."

The death toll in China due to the novel coronavirus increased to 908 and the number of confirmed cases surged over 40,000, Chinese health officials said on Monday. Five persons with symptoms of coronavirus were reported from Pakistan on Sunday after they arrived from a flight from China.

There were up to 800 Pakistanis studying in various universities in Wuhan - a city of 11 million people which has been quarantined by the Chinese authorities in an effort to stem the spread of the deadly virus. Earlier, Foreign Office said that there were 28,000 Pakistani students currently in China apart from hundreds of businessmen.
The Oscar ceremony used to command high ground in American culture. This year it proved beyond doubt that it has become a hostage to Twitter. It shrank itself to the size of one of those meaningless 36-hour virtual hissy fits that exists solely in the campus-like enclosed environment that is Twitter. In so doing, Oscar ushered himself further toward the point of total irrelevance.

Every year when the Oscar nominations come out, angry people on Twitter get a bit angrier than usual because this or that sub-group didnt meet this or that benchmark in this or that category. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the near-century of Oscar tradition it represents is now, in cultural terms, a wholly owned subsidiary of Twitter Inc. (ne 2006). Twitter got Kevin Hart fired as Oscar host a couple of years ago, and when other comics names were suggested as replacements, Twitter pointed out that all of them had (like Hart) made rude jokes at the expense of this or that protected class. So the Oscar ceremony went without a host last year, and this.

This year Twitter ruled that the Oscars had sinned in two ways: inadequate representation of blacks (one out of 20 acting nominees) and no women nominated for Best Director. In response, the producers of the ceremony ordered up an evening of cringing and self-flagellation, begging Americas forgiveness for its own members sinful secret-ballot choices.

To sing A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, associated with the extremely white man Fred Rogers, the Oscars rolled out Janelle Monae, who paused in mid-song to say, We celebrate all the women who directed phenomenal films, as the broadcast cut accusingly to Little Women director Greta Gerwig, who didnt get nominated because Little Women is not a phenomenal film. (She was nominated for two Oscars just two years ago by the same group of people for the far better Lady Bird, which tends to undermine any suggestion that the Academy is insufficiently respectful to her). Monae added, Im proud to be standing here as a black, queer artist, and shared the number with Billy Porter, another gay black performer, who was on hand to do a song by the very white Elton John.

Story continues

The Academy torches its mystique and glamour when it comes across, as it did last night, as more like a haunted associate professor in Dockers who is desperate to stave off student ire by assuring the glowering undergraduates that he thinks everything they think, only more so. The Oscars theme was Please dont think were racist, please dont think were racist, interrupted by moments of Please dont think were sexist, please dont think were sexist.

Steve Martin sarcastically noted that, the first year the Oscars were given out, there were no black acting nominees, and this year there was only oneAmazing growth, he said. So what? One in 20 is 5 percent. Last year there were two (10 percent). The year before, four (20 percent). So, over the past three years, the percentage of black nominees (11.7 percent) is almost exactly the black proportion of the population is (12.6 percent). Three years ago there were six black acting nominees, or 30 percent, meaning blacks are overrepresented among acting Oscar nominees over the past four years. Over those past several years, by the way, the Academy has been rushing to offer membership to black film professionals, and as a result, the voting membership has a much larger proportion of voters of color than it did five years ago. If a much more diverse membership didnt award lots of acting nominations to black performers this year, maybe there . . . just werent a lot of great black performances this year.

Yet the Academy cant even consider the possibility that its members put merit above identity politics. I would never consider diversity in matters of art, one prominent voting member, Stephen King, said on Twitter. Only quality. It seems to me that to do otherwise would be wrong. King must have thought that a long history of being an outspoken liberal would save him from the Twitter mob, or that saying something obviously true would not cause undue consternation. But instead, many celebrities took after him, led by Selma director Ava DuVernay, who called him backward and ignorant in a tweet of her own. King backtracked, nonsensically, with a cringe-tweet saying, The most important thing we can do as artists and creative people is make sure everyone has the same fair shot, regardless of sex, color, or orientation. Right now such people are badly under-represented, and not only in the arts. Who does such people refer to? Never mind, the Academy threw itself into representation that was very regardful of sex, color or, orientation, filling up Oscar night by handing the mike to obscure performers such as Anthony Ramos, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Zazie Beetz.

Twitter was the uncredited producer of the show. How else to explain the prominent presence of the third-tier actress Kelly Marie Tran, who is almost completely unknown outside Twitter? In 2017, Twitter debated about how annoying she was and concluded she was very annoying indeed, in a small part in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Other users insisted she was the victim of racism/sexism, because no woman of color can possibly be annoying, ever. Chris Rock and Steve Martin singled out black members in the audience (Mahershala Ali and Cynthia Erivo, whose name Martin mispronounced, igniting a fresh round of Twitter dudgeon during the show) to set up some tired race jokes. Later Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig did a long, grueling bit in which they pretended to be angry about everything, then insisted they werent angry because, they said, they wanted directors to hire them.

Rock and Martin can usually be relied on to tell the truth in jokes, but instead they came off as P.O.W.s who knew exactly what was and was not permitted by their captors. Perhaps they blinked out better jokes in Morse code, but aloud they did things like wonder what was missing from the Best Director category (Vaginas, was Rocks answer). When Rock said, They decided to go hostless this year, and Martin asked, Why is that? Rock replied, Twitter. Alas, there is no joke there.

More from National Review
VALLEJO (BCN)

Vallejo police and the California Highway Patrol are asking for the public's help in locating an at-risk, missing woman early Monday morning.

Stephanie Helmer, 73, was last seen around 1:30 p.m. Sunday in Vallejo, police said. She suffers from a medical condition that may make her disoriented.

Helmer is described as being 5 feet, 4 inches tall, with red hair and brown eyes, weighing around 130 pounds. She is believed to be wearing a black hat, black jacket, blue jeans and gold shoes.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call 911 or Vallejo police at (707) 648-4488.

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.
The Waffle Window | Photo: Randy T./Yelp

Need more waffles in your life?

Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the best affordable waffle spots in Portland, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of where to satisfy your cravings.

1. The Waffle Window

Photo: Loretta C./Yelp

Topping the list is The Waffle Window. Located at 2624 N.E. Alberta St. in Concordia, the spot to score waffles and more is the highest-rated affordable waffle spot in Portland, boasting four stars out of 473 reviews on Yelp.

The Portland-style Liege sugar waffle stop has handmade creations topped with everything from huckleberry jam to bacon.

2. Smaaken Waffle Sandwiches

Photo: Jose M./Yelp

Next up is Mount Tabor's Smaaken Waffle Sandwiches, situated at 5029 S.E. Division St. With four stars out of 144 reviews on Yelp, the food truck and breakfast and brunch spot, serving waffles and more, has proven to be a local favorite for those looking for a cheap option.

The Dutch style waffles are made with organic heirloom varietal wheat from the Willamette Valley.

3. Beulahland

photo: melly m./yelp

Kerns's Beulahland, located at 118 N.E. 28th Ave., is another top choice, with Yelpers giving the budget-friendly bar and breakfast and brunch spot, which offers waffles and more, four stars out of 242 reviews.

The spot has been serving breakfast, lunch and dinner since 1997 and offers everything from breakfast burritos to waffles.

4. Flavour Spot

Photo: Kara H./Yelp

Flavour Spot, a food truck that offers coffee and tea and waffles in Arbor Lodge, is another budget-friendly go-to, with four stars out of 153 Yelp reviews. Head over to 2310 N. Lombard St. to see for yourself.

Yelper Larissa P. wrote, "This place is so good. I've tried multiple items off their menu and everything has been absolutely delicious!"

This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
In a major reshuffle, the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh transferred as many as 52 IPS officers on Monday, as per a state government order.

Of the IPS officers shifted, five officers are additional director general (ADG) rank police officers while there are as many number of inspector generals of police (IGP), who have been shifted from their present post in the administrative exercise on Monday.

The officers transferred also include superintendents of police in as many as 16 districts of the state.

The massive reshuffle has taken place amid speculation in the state secretariat that there may be a change of guard in the police department soon.

ADG, police (SCRB) GP Singh is the ADG, police for anti-naxal operations posted at the police headquarters in Bhopal. Rajesh Chawla, ADG, Homeguard will replace him. Similarly, ADG, police (Administration) Kailash Makwana is now ADG, police (Narcotics). The incumbent officer on the post Ajay Kumar Sharma will replace him.

G Janardhan, ADG, police, Jawaharlal Nehru Police Academy, Sagar will be the ADG, Shahdol range.

The opposition BJP has hit out at the Congress government on the transfers.

State BJP chief spokesperson Deepak Vijayvargiya said, The only work done by the Congress government in its 14 months of rule is massive transfers whether its police or any other department whereas farmers, youth, women or any other section of society is fed up with the Congress governments misrule.

State Congress president media coordinator Narendra Saluja dubbed the BJPs allegations as baseless and said the transfers were effected on administrative ground.
WEST CHESTER  Medical professionals in Chester County are confident that international quarantine procedures are keeping Americans at home safe from coronavirus, and most doctors are taking extra steps to ensure their patients stay safe.

While we are investigating any suspected cases of coronavirus, so far no one in Pennsylvania has tested positive for the virus, said Jeanne Casner, director of the Chester County Health Department. The threat of someone from Chester County being infected with the coronavirus is low, unless you have traveled to China or been in contact with someone from China who has been ill with suspected symptoms of novel coronavirus while symptomatic or confirmed positive.

Around the region and across the nation, the medical community is on high-alert as a precaution to combat the virus from harming the general population of Philadelphia and beyond. Coronavirus is a new ailment that recently sprang from the City of Wuhan, located 500 miles west of Shanghai in China.

Ninety-seven people died from the coronavirus on Sunday, a new daily record since the new coronavirus was first detected in December, as the death toll rose to 908, Chinas National Health Commission said on Monday.

That new total surpasses the toll from the SARS epidemic of 2002-3, according to official data.

Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Rachel Levine said that the threat from 2019 novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) remains low. While there have been 11 confirmed cases in the United States, none were documented within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

In Chicago, a woman in her 60s was diagnosed after she returned from Wuhan on Jan. 13. The CDC said the Chicago woman had transmitted the virus to her husband, who had not traveled to China. But he was in close contact with his wife during a long period of time when she was symptomatic, the Illinois Department of Public Health said.

Other U.S. cases of Wuhan coronavirus include a student at the Boston campus of the University of Massachusetts. In Arizona, officials said, an adult member of the Arizona State University community was infected. And in Washington state, a man in his 30s sought treatment after returning from Wuhan.

Limited impact

There is limited direct impact on people in our area other than the possible need to change or cancel travel plans, said Charleen Faucette, director of infection prevention at Chester County Hospital. However, this is an evolving situation and people should stay informed so they will be aware if things change.

Faucette continued, While there have been no confirmed cases in Pennsylvania to date, out of an abundance of caution to protect our patients and staff, we are following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations for evaluation of patients who may be at risk of developing the 2019 novel coronavirus.

She said Penn Medicine is working closely with leaders of the CDC, the Pennsylvania Department of Health, and local health officials to monitor this evolving situation and are prepared to quickly adjust our procedures as more information about the virus becomes available.

This is a fluid and rapidly changing situation with extensive local and national attention  we are all learning new things every day, said Shafinaz Akhter, assistant clinical professor of medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and director of Antimicrobial Stewardship at Chester County Hospital. The most effective personal interventions are optimizing individual health, including management of chronic diseases and making sure vaccinations are up-to-date.

Proactive Steps

Regional, national and international organizations are taking containment actions to prevent coronavirus from becoming a global crisis. In fact, the situation is not an epidemic in America, officially.

This situation is currently labeled as a public health emergency, Casner said.

We have been monitoring the coronavirus outbreak in China with information from our federal and state partners and are preparing our response teams in the event of an outbreak here, said Casner per proactive steps the Chester County Health Department is taking. We have communicated with clinicians through our health alerts about the potential for coronavirus cases to spread into the United States, and into Pennsylvania, treatment guidelines and collection of lab specimens of potential coronavirus cases.

Pertinent information is also continuously posted on the Chester County Health website as well as on its social media channels.

Casner added, The (Chester County) Health Department in collaboration with the Department of Emergency Services exercise and prepare frequently for a potentially infectious disease outbreak.

There are nationwide efforts to limit travel to and from affected areas, according to Akhter. Locally, prompt recognition, testing, and isolation of patients with concerning clinical presentation and exposure history, Akhter said.

As a large academic health system and a national leader with deep experience preparing for and caring for patients with communicable diseases, Faucette said, Penn Medicine hospitals are always at the ready to respond to global public health issues and collaborate with local, state, and federal health agencies.

Philadelphia Airport

The impact of coronavirus to the Philadelphia region includes modifications of travel plans to and from areas with wide-spread transmission, Akhter said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has expanded the number of airports screening travelers to include the Philadelphia International Airport, Casner said. Philadelphia International Airport is a U.S. Quarantine Station that is a part of a comprehensive national quarantine system that serves to limit the introduction of infectious diseases into the United States and to prevent their spread.

Epidemic fears

The novel coronavirus spread is certainly an outbreak and meets some characteristics of an epidemic, Akhter said. That being said  these are words and definitions and say little about the impact of the illness.

Vince Schaller, a doctor at American Family Care in West Chester, said residents should be proactive about healthy lifestyles during the outbreak.

Here we have a global scare, Schaller said, yet hopes this situation becomes an opportunity to educate the public on best health practices. He continued, Educate on what we really need to better on, like the flu, another virus like the coronavirus. To use any situation like this (with historic significance considering the World Health and CDCs involvement) as an opportunity to allay peoples fears, the science, to make them aware, and educate them. This is a wonderful opportunity to educate.

The symptoms of the coronavirus are resolvable by healthy people. The public needs to know that, Schaller said.

Schaller said, We can actually improve peoples health with influenza by paying attention to coronavirus and explaining the difference.

Flu more dangerous stateside

As we continue to contain the coronavirus through quarantine, said Schaller, who advised people to take key steps if feeling unwell. He said, If youre getting suddenly sick, with high fever, body aches, he advised people to seek medical help sooner rather than later. Additionally, he noted that the CDC has made an identification test of coronavirus available to doctors.

Coronavirus can look like the flu, Schaller said. He added that, as such, it is far more deadly to the sick, the elderly or the young.

Because this is a newly identified illness, there is definitely heightened attention and concern related to coronavirus at this time but, there are no confirmed cases in Pennsylvania, Faucette said. We are seeing thousands of cases of influenza in Pennsylvania and across the U.S. with some cases leading to serious illness. People should always be following steps to keep themselves healthy, perform frequent hand hygiene, and get immunized for influenza to help prevent respiratory infections, now and throughout the year.

Coronavirus is similar to the flu, and even the common cold, as respiratory ailments.

Understandably, the media attention to the novel coronavirus may make influenza seem less significant, Akhter said. However, it is important to know that there are currently 19 million cases of influenza reported in the U.S. this season with 10,000 deaths. In Pennsylvania, we have 45,000 diagnosed influenza cases and over 30 deaths so far. Despite this, vaccination coverage is only 62 percent for children younger than 17 years old and 45 percent for adults over 18 years old.

He added that the influenza vaccination is safe and effective.

Casner said human coronaviruses are spread, just like the flu or a cold, through the air by coughing or sneezing as well as via close personal contact, such as shaking hands or even touching an object or surface that is contaminated.

The flu season is still active and there is a higher risk of getting the flu, Casner said.

Steps to prevent illness

Medical professionals recommend for people to cover any coughs or sneezes using their elbows rather than their hands.

It is also recommended that people should stay at home when not feeling well.

Additionally, people are advised to clean surfaces frequently, including countertops, light switches, cellphones, and other frequently touched items.

Akhter stressed the importance of optimizing general health as a key step to combat illness. This includes taking care of chronic medical conditions including diabetes and hypertension which can lead to immunosuppression if left untreated. Part of this is preventative medical care, including routine vaccinations when indicated.

Akhter advised people to take care when ill. This means following your doctors instructions on medications and follow up, he said. This should include avoiding work or crowded settings and excellent hand hygiene.

Tips to stay healthy

To stay healthy generally during the winter months, and year-round, doctors recommend drinking plenty of water and maintaining healthy hygiene, which includes washing ones hands frequently.

Good hygiene practices such as washing hands, proper hydration, covering your coughs or sneezes with your elbow and not your hands, cleaning frequently touched surfaces, good sleep and healthy foods, said Casner.

Looking ahead

We deeply appreciate the Department of Healths efforts to educate the commonwealth about the very real public health issue coronavirus presents, as well its commitment to combating misinformation about its origins, said Mohan Seshadri, executive director of the Governors Advisory Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs on Feb. 3.

Too often, national security and public health crises have led to the demonization of particular groups of people, Seshadri continued, and we are committed to ensuring that that does not happen here. Our thoughts and prayers are with our fellow Americans and those in China fighting the virus, as well as with our Chinese-American community members worried for their families.

While this is a worrisome public health situation, CDC believes that the immediate health risk from 2019-nCoV to the general American public continues to be low at this time, Casner said.

People should stay informed by monitoring reliable sources like the CDC and other public health websites, Faucette said. They can be assured that local, state, and national public health agencies are monitoring the situation closely and updating guidance as needed. Also, health care facilities across the region are collaborating with these public health partners so we can best inform, protect, and care for members of our communities.

On Feb. 7, the Pennsylvania Medical Society, held a press conference via telephone on novel coronavirus. It confirmed that no one in the commonwealth has been diagnosed with the virus.
Second in a series of three articles

by Robert Locke, RMP, MPM

In the first article on this topic of "protecting the landlord" we established that the first protection for the owner of a rental property was to get the property out of your name into a trust or LLC. Keeping title in your name paints too big a target on your back and a little effort cam shrink that target substantially.

The second step was to never manage in your own name. Always have a property manager (a business) between you and the tenant, even if it's an LLC you set up to do the managing. This is a critical step in the process of protecting any landlord and should never be ignored.

Note: Over our 30 year history of professionally managing rentals we have managed for over 3,000 owners and have never had one them named in a legal action by a tenant. I have personally owned and managed over 150 houses and have never been named in a legal action. Stop managing rentals in your personal name

After these important steps have been taken look to "knowing the law and practicing good property management" to protect yourself from the big risks of landlording. This may raise some eyebrows but trust me when I say the biggest protection for rental property owners is not insurance because insurance does not protect you from most of the risks of being a landlord, but rather following the laws and intelligent management. Most of the risks (expensive fist fights) come from reckless inexperienced managers that don't know what they are doing. It is never the house fire, burst water heater, missing roofs and burst water pipes that creates the risks in landlording. It's the lost rent of an extended vacancy; the lost rent during a strung out eviction; the inability to collect rent while the tenant plays you in court and the costs of skips or abandonment. The big risks of landlording rests in building your management practices out of the law and having good tenant selection practices, aggressive rent collection policies, consistent maintenance responses, strong leases and the commitment to enforcing them consistently. The days of managing a rental by the seat of your pants, making decisions based on the hairs on the back of your neck, intuition, and rules of thumb are long gone.

The courts are filled with brawls between landlords and their tenants and are, for the most part, the result of owners not knowing what they were doing. It astounds me how many small landlords (and licensed managers) I meet who have never read the laws that govern their business.

Here are just a few to make a study of:

Federal and State Discrimination laws

Refuse to rent to someone for the wrong reason and you could go to jail and not collect $200. These laws apply to every landlord not just licensed agents.

Federal fair credit reporting act

Failing to handle their credit information correctly can get you into real trouble with the FTC. Sending the adverse action letter when you turn someone down is mandatory for anyone using credit to make business judgements, including private and licensed landlords.

Federal red flag rules

These laws regulate how you are to protect the privacy issues of your tenants' credit, employment and other information. Better read it closely before you send your HOA their personal information.

Americans with disabilities act

These laws mandate that you adapt the property when needed to accommodate handicapped people and let them have comfort animals even though you do not allow pets.

State landlord tenant laws

Every state has special laws that require landlords to handle certain management issues by the book and generally carry severe penalties when you don't. They address such things as move in/out inspections, holding of security deposits, maintaining habitability, appliance repairs, evictions and so on. These are the laws your state legislature laid out to limit abuses by rogue landlords who try to take advantage of naive tenants.

Many naive landlords think these laws only govern licensed professional landlords. Not so. They govern anyone managing a rental property no matter the rent, location, size or type.

I think the problem of ignoring the law is exaggerated by the mistake rental property owners make thinking that it's just a rental house and not really a business. You would be wrong. The day you convert home sweet home to a rental you change it into a commercial enterprise and as such you become subject a number of laws that judges will use to access your behavior with the tenant and property. Not embracing this reality can cause you a lot of pain and money.

If you're collecting rent, these laws apply to you. To make this worse, judges think the landlord (not the tenant) should know these laws and follow them. Usually it's not the tenant that is doing the abusing but the landlord. Judges are out to protect tenants against cruel or abusive landlords. Their assumption is that wealthy real estate barrons (your title when you're in court) not the tenant, should know what the laws are and structure and manage the property by them. Landlords are expected to know the laws. Tenants are not a protected class, but in court they are the favored class if landlords are abusing them in the eyes of the judge. Manage by the book and put the law on your side.

Protecting your self as a rental property owner is a layering process. Like asset protection it's a lot of little steps you take to build that all important fortress of protection between you and the litigation that comes with owing this type of asset. In the next article we address how insurance can be used to help build this fortress

Protecting Yourself as a Landlord - Part III (2016-04-15 11:18:59) 
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

A 37-year-old man was injured in a shooting in San Francisco's Bayview District on Friday afternoon, police said Monday.

Officers responded at about 12:20 p.m. to the shooting reported on Dukes Court, located off of Cashmere Street, and found shell casings. The victim was taken to a hospital and his injuries are not considered life-threatening, according to police.

No arrest has been made in the shooting and no suspect information was immediately available from San Francisco police.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Police Department's anonymous tip line at (415) 575-4444 or to send a tip by text message to TIP411 with "SFPD" in the message.

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.
[February 10, 2020]

Seven Sophos Executives Named 2020 CRN Channel Chiefs

BURLINGTON, Mass., Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sophos (LSE: SOPH), a global leader in next-generation cybersecurity, today announced that CRN  , a brand of The Channel Company , has named seven Sophos executives to its list of 2020 Channel Chiefs . Sophos is the most recognized IT security vendor on the prestigious list, which honors the channels best leaders for their influence with innovative solutions, strategies and partnerships.

Sophos is leading the industry with the most advanced next-generation cybersecurity solutions that protect against sophisticated cyber threats and aggressive attacks, said Michael Valentine, chief revenue officer at Sophos. Sophos is meeting a critical need for solutions that automate and simplify threat protection, and led by our world-class team, were well positioned to execute on the massive market opportunity ahead of us.



The selected Channel Chiefs include Valentine as well as Kendra Krause, senior vice president of global channels; John Keenan, vice president, Americas; Erin Malone, vice president of North America channel sales; Scott Barlow, vice president of global MSP; Oscar Chavez-Arrieta, vice president, Latin America; and Allison Clarke, director of global channel programs.



Valentine and Krause are also honored on CRNs list of the 50 Most Influential Channel Chiefs for the seventh and fourth consecutive years. This exclusive list recognizes the industrys most elite executives who lead, influence, innovate, and disrupt the IT channel.

The Sophos Partner Program introduces an unbeatable competitive advantage for managed service providers and resellers to expand market opportunities and grow their businesses, said Krause. Were arming partners with the best cybersecurity solutions, technical expertise and deep knowledge of the evolving threat landscape. I accept this award on behalf of our trusted partners, who are on the front lines delivering critical security management services that customers demand.

Sophos is the only security vendor maintaining leadership in network and endpoint security with its powerful next-generation XG Firewall and Intercept X solutions. Sophos comprehensive portfolio is easily managed on Sophos Central , and solutions automatically share information and respond to attacks through Sophos unique Synchronized Security approach. Sophos Managed Threat Response introduces a further evolved approach to proactive security protection, fusing Sophos consistently top-rated endpoint protection and intelligent EDR with a team of security experts for fully-managed threat hunting, detection and response.







The IT channel is undergoing constant evolution to meet customer demands and changing business environments, said Bob Skelley, CEO of The Channel Company. CRNs Channel Chiefs work tirelessly, leading the industry forward through superior partner programs and strategies with a focus on helping solution providers transform and grow. Our team here at The Channel Company congratulates these outstanding individuals for their dedication to the channel.

The 2020 CRN Channel Chiefs list, including the 50 Most Influential Channel Chiefs, is featured online at www.CRN.com/ChannelChiefs and in the February 2020 issue of CRN.

Additional Resources

About Sophos

As a worldwide leader in next-generation cybersecurity, Sophos protects more than 400,000 organizations of all sizes in more than 150 countries from today's most advanced cyberthreats. Powered by SophosLabs - a global threat intelligence and data science team - Sophos' cloud-native and AI-enhanced solutions secure endpoints (laptops, servers and mobile devices) and networks against evolving cybercriminal tactics and techniques, including automated and active-adversary breaches, ransomware, malware, exploits, data exfiltration, phishing, and more. The award-winning Sophos Central cloud-based platform integrates Sophos' entire portfolio of best-of-breed products, from the Intercept X endpoint solution to the XG Firewall, into a single system called Synchronized Security. Sophos products are exclusively available through a global channel of more than 53,000 partners and Managed Service Providers (MSPs). Sophos also makes its innovative commercial technologies available to consumers via Sophos Home . The company is headquartered in Oxford, U.K., and is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol "SOPH. More information is available at www.sophos.com .

About The Channel Company

The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequalled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelcompany.com

Follow The Channel Company: Twitter , LinkedIn and Facebook

Copyright 2019. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved.
A suspect is in custody after a deadly shooting and kidnapping late Sunday night in southeast Houston.

A man was shot to death shortly before midnight at the Normas Plaza Apartments in the 7500 block of Martin Luther King Drive, according to Houston Police Department homicide detective T.A. Andrade. What led to the gunfire remains unclear, Andrade said.

KATY AREA: Auto parts store owner shoots burglary suspect

Moments after the shooting, the suspected gunman kidnapped a woman at the apartments and drove off in a black Nissan Altima, Andrade said. Both the alleged gunman and the woman were found after the Altima was pulled over in the Clear Lake area, Andrade said.

Several witnesses were interviewed by police, Andrade said. The relationship between the three people involved was not immediately clear.

Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 00:19:17|Editor: huaxia

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A patient consults medical workers at "Wuhan Livingroom" in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 8, 2020. The cultural building complex dubbed "Wuhan Livingroom" is a converted hospital to receive patients infected with the novel coronavirus. (Photo by Gao Xiang/Xinhua)

BEIJING, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- China has stepped up efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). Here are the latest developments:

-- The Wuhan-based Tongji Hospital affiliated to the Huazhong University of Science and Technology will provide 800 beds for severe cases of novel coronavirus infection.

-- The possibility of the novel coronavirus transmission by contaminating agricultural products, such as vegetables, meats and fruits, via droplets and contact transmission is low, said an expert with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

-- China's central bank will issue loans totaling 300 billion yuan (about 43 billion U.S. dollars) to policy and commercial banks via its re-lending program Monday as part of measures to finance the control of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

-- The National Development and Reform Commission has unveiled policies to aid small and micro firms to keep enough liquidity to tide over the epidemic via bond issuance. Capital raised via corporate bonds is allowed to pay back or swap project loans used for the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

-- Wuhan authorities will use two days to finish testing all suspected cases of novel coronavirus infection in the city. Wuhan is the epicenter of the virus outbreak in central China's Hubei Province.

-- Hubei authorities have issued 17 favorable policies to support the battle against the epidemic, including tax reductions, subsidies for medical staff working on the front lines and staff working overtime in medical manufacturing companies, vegetable growing companies, cooperatives, farmers, supermarkets and rural markets.

-- Authorities on Sunday started to disinfect the city of Wuhan twice a day to beef up efforts in containing the outbreak of the novel strain of coronavirus.

-- More medical teams are arriving in virus-hit Wuhan to help battle the epidemic.



On Sunday, 214 medical workers from Huashan Hospital of Fudan University in Shanghai and 136 others from Ruijin Hospital of the School of Medicine at Shanghai Jiaotong University came to Wuhan.

On Saturday night, 260 medical workers came to Wuhan from the Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, bringing new medical equipment and supplies. A charter plane of Xiamen Airlines brought 264 medics from Xiamen City, in east China's Fujian Province, and authorities sent 132 medical staff by plane from Wuxi City, in the eastern Jiangsu Province.

Chinese health authorities have dispatched a total of 11,921 medical personnels from across the country to Hubei Province to aid the fight against the novel coronavirus pneumonia, according to the National Health Commission on Sunday.

-- Trade unions in China have provided financial aid of more than 20 million yuan (about 2.9 million U.S. dollars) to help Hubei Province battle the epidemic.

The All-China Federation of Trade Unions also donated 200 tonnes of disinfectants and 20,000 masks.

-- Chinese authorities have reassured producers of key medical supplies that the government would be the ultimate buyer in a move to encourage production to contain the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Such products initially include test kits, medical goggles, medical protective gear and masks, as well as their raw materials, and the list will be adjusted with the development of the epidemic, according to a guideline jointly issued by several ministries.

-- Authorities have begun closed-off management in some residential buildings in Huanggang, one of the cities worst hit by the epidemic in Hubei.

The buildings include those hosting confirmed cases of infection, suspected cases, patients with fever and possible link to the virus, and those who had close contacts with infected patients.

-- The National Health Commission Sunday said it received reports of 2,656 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 89 deaths on Saturday from 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland had reached 37,198 by the end of Saturday and 811 people had died of the disease.

-- A total of 2,649 patients infected with the novel coronavirus had been discharged from hospital after recovery by the end of Saturday, the commission announced Sunday.

-- Central China's Hubei, the hardest-hit province, reported 2,147 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 81 new deaths on Saturday, local health authorities said Sunday. The figure is 694 less compared with the new confirmed cases reported in the previous day.

-- The mortality rate of the virus in Hubei stood at 2.88 percent, with the city of Tianmen and Wuhan having the highest death rates at 5.08 percent and 4.06 percent, respectively.

-- The newly-built Leishenshan Hospital in Wuhan, the second in the city replicating Beijing's SARS treatment model, received on Saturday the first batch of patients infected with the virus. The two makeshift hospitals --Leishenshan (Thunder God Mountain) and Huoshenshan (Fire God Mountain), together can accommodate 2,600 beds.

-- China released an application guide to solicit research and development projects on rapid test kits for the novel coronavirus. The on-site quick testing equipment and reagents should be able to identify confirmed infection among suspected patients within 1.5 hours to help prevent and control the epidemic. Research institutes, universities and enterprises can submit applications to the Ministry of Science and Technology from Feb. 8 to 13. 
On a February afternoon last year, about 150 people gathered in lower Manhattans Foley Square to kick off a campaign to radically transform New Yorks prostitution laws. Cecilia Gentili, a veteranadvocate for the transgender community and former sex worker, strained to be heard over the raucous cheers. It is incredibly, incredibly surreal to have the support of our elected officials for this, she told the crowd. A lineup of state lawmakers  state Sens. Julia Salazar and Jessica Ramos, and Assembly members Richard Gottfried, Dan Quart and Catalina Cruz  stood a few feet away, all openly supportive of the decriminalization of sex work.

The new coalition, Decrim NY, aims to decriminalize, decarcerate and destigmatize the sex trade  in other words, to repeal criminal laws regarding the purchase or sale of sexual services in the state. Its a radical idea, but not entirely unprecedented. New Zealand fully decriminalized sex work in 2003, and two states or territories in Australia have done the same. The World Health Organization, American Civil Liberties Union and Amnesty International are among the high-profile groups that publicly back the policy, citing its potential for reducing the spread of HIV and decreasing violence against sex workers, among other benefits. And Washington, D.C., considered a bill to decriminalize sex work in 2017 (though it has not passed yet, despite being reintroduced in 2019). Thanks in part to a recentprogressive shift in Albany (several of New Yorks newest legislators, including state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi as well as Salazar, ran on platforms that included the decriminalization ofsex work), the once-unimaginable seems closer to reality than ever before: New York couldbecome the first state in the U.S. to decriminalize sex work.

In June, the final month of the 2019 legislative session, Salazar followed through on a campaign pledge by introducing the Stop Violence in the Sex Trades Act, with Ramos and fellow Democratic state Sens. Luis Sepulveda and Robert Jackson joining as co-sponsors. What this bill does is it removes from the criminal code the buying or trading of sex between consenting adults, Salazar explained recently, while leaving in place the portions of the law that address coercion of minors (or) anything to do with minors as well as trafficking and exploitation.

How has New York  a blue state, but one founded on the same Puritan values as the rest of the nation  found itself on the front lines of decriminalizingthe trade of sex for money? Combine millennial and Gen Zs increasing rejection of strict binaries  gay or straight; male or female; slut or virgin  with a burgeoning gig economy in which people patch together all kinds of income sources, and it makes sense that Americans have become steadily more accepting of sex work. In a November 2019 poll of 1,029 voters conducted for Data For Progress, 52% of respondents reported being somewhat or strongly in support of fully decriminalizing sex work. For younger voters ages 18 to 29, support hit 65%. Shifting attitudes, along with widespread calls for criminal justice reform and the evolving discourse around economic disparities, have repositioned sex work from what was once taboo into yet another labor issue: a case of regular people trying to do their jobs.

According to sex workers and their advocates, this newfound enthusiasm among politicians to join in the push for decriminalizationis hardly the result of any one blue wave. Its the outcome of a decadeslong campaign of public outreach and education led by current and former sex workers. Its no easy endeavor to peel back layers of prejudice built up over time, Decrim NY member Jared Trujillo said. But by showing people that sex workers are your neighbors, theyre not these horrid people, the group hopes to speak a language politicians cant ignore: public sentiment.

That work is gradual and grueling. And for that reason, despite the widespread press coverage, the backing of legislators and solid supporter turnout, Decrim NY organizer Nina Luo expressed cautious optimism on the day of the organizations launch. She wouldnt have believed it if someone had told her a couple of years ago that even a handful of legislators would come out to support a full decriminalization bill, but one promising day of public support was just the start. You know, its easy to feel like a win is close when you have electeds with you, she said. We know that theres a lot more work to do.

Luo suspects a decriminalization bill would pass much faster in a watered-down, shitty form, as she put it, perhaps one that simply moved prostitution charges into the civil code. For sex workers, Luo argued, making too many concessions means permitting more of the same harassment and arrests. Instead, she prefers the longer, more difficult route, taking advantage of the movements momentum and using it to build a wider consensus around more sweeping changes.

In 1973, former sex worker Margo St. James founded Coyote, or Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics, the first American organization solely dedicated to securing rights for sex workers. Dubbing themselves a loose union of women (and sometimes, in their brassy humor, a union of loose women), the San Francisco-based group fought to end the stigmatization and criminalization of prostitution by hosting hooker conventions and public education forums. An outspoken feminist, St. James upended the assumption that all sex workers were inherent victims, poking fun at American prudery with cheeky Coyote slogans like The Trick Is Not Getting Caught and My Ass is Mine.

Coyotes efforts kick-started a wave of sex worker community organizing outside of San Francisco. New branches formed across the country during the 1970s, and in 1976, sex worker Jean Powell launched Prostitutes of New York. Following St. James lead, sex work activism focused on repealing anti-prostitution laws. But organizers knew that eliminating the threat of arrest was only one of many necessary steps; eradicating the stigma that made it difficult for sex workers to secure resources, like health care and housing, was just as crucial.

Coyote and its sister organizations didnt make much legislative headway, but they did force once-unmentionable issues into the public sphere. As women secured new rights throughout the 1970s  in 1972, single women won the constitutional right to acquire birth control, and a year later, the U.S. Supreme Court made it illegal to ban abortions with its ruling in Roe v. Wade  sex workers asked: What about bodily autonomy around pornography, prostitution and all other jobs in the sex trade?

Luo suspects decriminalization would pass much faster in a watered-down, "shitty" form. She prefers the longer, more difficult route.

They met fierce opposition, even among avowed supporters of the womens liberation movement. The sex wars of the early 1980s pitted anti-pornography feminists (calling themselves abolitionists) against pro-sex feminists, who supported  and included  sex workers. The self-proclaimedabolitionists argued that pornography and prostitution were a direct result of patriarchal oppression and that all women participating in those trades were victims of exploitation and thus not true laborers with their own agency. Feminist sex workers bristled at the notion that they had no minds or wills of their own.

With the rise of Reaganism in the 1980s and the countrys subsequent conservative turn, the radical right surged, often campaigning specifically against the sexual expression and self-sovereignty of women and LGBTQ people. The AIDS epidemic only increased public squeamishness around sex. While sex worker advocates argued that decriminalization would help prevent the spread of HIV, few agencies or legislators responded.

Throughout the 1990s, gentrification pushed urban streetwalkers away from busy areas, while the rise of internet access drew many of them indoors. The personals sections of message boards and online listing services became lively commerce hubs where sex workers advertised their services. From behind computer screens, sex workers communicated with each other more freely, flagging dangerous johns to avoid and trading safety tips. Some sex workers still solicited outdoors and the trade was still illegal, but the internet created a much-needed safe harbor for many.

In the early 2000s, President George W. Bushs administration presented advocates and organizers with a tricky new obstacle: the label of sex trafficking. Meant to describe the forcible, exploitative push of people into the sex trade, the term was so loosely defined and applied that it swept up consensual sex workers along with it. In the name of rescuing girls and women, Ronald Weitzer, a George Washington University sociologist who is an expert on sex trafficking, said the Bush White House waged a moral crusade against all prostitution.

New York followed the Bush administrations lead in 2013, throwing resources behind an experimental judicial systemintended to pull victims from the clutches of traffickers. Instead of incarcerating people picked up for prostitution, this system  called the Human Trafficking Intervention Courts  funneled them into required counseling sessions. If the defendant attends the mandatory appointments and avoids getting arrested again within six months, the charges (other than a loitering with the intent for prostitution violation, which is never sealable) are expunged from their records.

In 2017, sex work organizers in New York saw a glimmer of possibility when the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform published a landmark report. Celebrated by many for calling for the closing of Rikers Island, the report also recommended movingNew Yorks laws relevant to the exchange of sex for money between consenting adults from the criminal code to the civil summons system  basically, likening a prostitution summons to something more like a parking ticket. While New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio agreed to close Rikers Island within the next 10 years, he reasoned that the second suggestion would make it difficult for officers to identify and rescue sex trafficking victims. Then-New York City Police Department Commissioner James ONeill dismissed the need for any changes. Pointing to the citys overall reduction in prostitution arrests, he said that officially decriminalizing prostitution wasnt necessary. While arrest data provided by the NYPD showed that specific prostitution arrests in New York City dropped 62% from 2016 to 2018, Documented reported a simultaneous major uptick in arrests under a different statute: loitering for the purpose of prostitution  a charge that allows NYPD officers to arrest anyone they believe might be trying to sell sex.

Not long after the commissions report, organizers turned their attention to a more pressing matter: FOSTA-SESTA. A two-part piece of federal legislation, FOSTA (Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act) and SESTA (Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act) aimed to thwart online sex trafficking, specifically through the blocking of adult online advertisements. Holding websites liable for any trafficking that they knowingly allow to take place on their platforms (a technicality advocates for internet freedom argue is too vague), the new legislation made it difficultfor sex workers to operate their businesses and communicate with one another online. Craigslist shuttered its personals section days before the law was signed in April 2018, and the popular personal ads host Backpage.com was seized by federal forces. By winter, Tumblr, a once-popular porn destination, moved to block all adult content. With the mayor unlikely to back the reform recommendations and with FOSTA-SESTAencroaching on sex workers income, activists ramped up the fight at the state level. As Gentili, the former sex worker, put it, her community wasnt about to let lawmakers just fuck with our livelihoods without a fight.

Immediately after FOSTA-SESTA passed the U.S. Senate in March 2018, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who co-sponsored the bill, sent out a celebratory tweet: Survivors and law enforcement now have the tools to seek justice and prevent others from being trafficked online. #TimesUp. Her message spurred an immediate outpouring of angry replies from the sex work community.

Takes some nerve to slap #TimesUp on a policy that will make it dramatically *easier* for predators to abuse sex workers, one critic tweeted. Sex work organizer Liara Roux accused Maloneys bill of making sex workers even more vulnerable without safe access to the discussion boardsand chat rooms where we used to be able to tell (each other) how to avoid violent clients.Another simply asked Maloney, How could you get this so wrong?

For her part, Maloney now says she agrees that equality, rights and protections for those working consensually in the sex trade are long overdue, though her thoughts on decriminalization are less clear. (She expressed being open to gradually moving from a Nordic model, where only buyers are criminalized, toward full decriminalization, though one does not create an obvious pathway to the other.)

When Luo read the outraged reaction to Maloneys FOSTA-SESTA position, she saw an opportunity. I realized, this is the kind of tremendous pain and anger that can mobilize a vote of her out (of office). Luo reached out to her friend Daphne Weinstein, co-chair of the lower Manhattan branch of the New York City chapter of Democratic Socialists of America, the leftist organization whose nationwide membership has exploded from roughly 5,000 to over 40,000 people since late 2016. Through mutual connections in leftist politics, Weinstein helped put Luo in contact with Maloney's primary rival, Suraj Patel. Advised by Luo and others from the sex work community, Patel denounced FOSTA-SESTA, citing harm reduction as the main reason behind his decision. The move garnered attention, and Luo didnt let it go to waste. Flattering coverage for Patel could be found on Bustle and The Daily Beast. In a widely shared op-ed for Vice, Patel called FOSTA-SESTA a continuation of our countrys policies profiting off the mass incarceration of already vulnerable people. He then held a sex worker town hall  reportedly the first one ever hosted by a congressional candidate. As risky as he said it felt to step in the minefield of the FOSTA-SESTA debate, the move helped him build some much-needed name recognition. Better still for Luo, she now had proof that you could even get some good headlines for taking a stand on something as controversial as FOSTA-SESTA  and maybe other policies impacting the sex trade.

In the June 2018 primary, Patel lost to Maloney. Nonetheless, Luo was encouraged. She saw early signs that her electoral strategy could work  if she found the right candidates. Though Luo wasnt a member herself, she knew the DSA was a well of progressive activists and candidates, including one running for state Senate: Julia Salazar. Salazar was challenging an eight-term incumbent, state Sen. Martin Malave Dilan, from the left. Weinstein connected Luo with Salazar, who was seeking to represent Bushwick, Cypress Hills, Williamsburg and Greenpoint in Brooklyn.

Sex workers had tried to help elect allies before, Luo noted, but the community had never seriously coalesced around candidates for public office. As a result, Weitzer said the decriminalization organizers he has studied have historically been unable to get any of their views manifested in policies.

On a Saturday afternoon in July 2018, Salazar met with Luo, who would soonhelp her campaign attract national attention. Walking into SoHos Ground Support cafe with two members of her team, the future state senator was already supportive of the decriminalization of sex work," but unsure of the specifics.

The idea of full decriminalization was discussed relatively little, Salazar recalled, because it seemed a bit premature. Republicans still controlled the state Senate, after all. Instead, the conversation focused on steps to protect sex workers right away, including repealing the loitering for the purpose of prostitution statute. By the end of their 90-minute conversation, Luo had succeeded: Salazar agreed to publicly support sex workers rights in her campaign.

Luo set out to make sure her efforts with Salazars campaign sent a loud message. With Julia, Luo said, the plan was to drive more community engagement to prove that candidates could attract organizers, volunteers and voters based on vocally supporting sex workers rights. Successfully introducing Salazar to the sex work community in the coming months would mark the first step.

By mid-August, Luo had recruitedabout 40 sex workers and allies to canvass in Salazars district, and the first-time activists went door to door specifically talking about sex workers rights. From Luos perspective, itwas a triumph. I think we knocked on, like, 600 doors to an overwhelmingly positive response, she recalled. No one made a weird face, you know? A few weeks later, Salazar easily defeated the Democratic incumbent, then coasted to victory in the November general election.

A couple weeks before taking office, Salazar made an announcement on Twitter: She would be introducing legislation to repeal the harmful loitering for the purpose of prostitution statute. Longtime advocates supported her interest in repealing the law, but pointed out that state Sen. Brad Hoylman had introduced such legislation in the previous session.

A devoted advocate for LGBTQ rights, Hoylman had acted on the loitering statute after The Legal Aid Society and law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP filed a joint class-action lawsuit against New York City and certain named officers of the New York City Police Department in 2016 to repeal the law. When the Manhattan lawmaker read in the suit that the NYPD targeted and profiled transgender women of color, he was moved to draft the first piece of legislation to repeal what he called the classist, racist and profoundly discriminatory loitering law.

While Salazar settled into her new role in Albany, advocates and organizers looked for other decriminalization allies in the state Legislature. During an event celebrating the passage of the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, which banned conversion therapy and discrimination based on gender identity, transgender community members approached Assemblyman Richard Gottfried. The activists primed Gottfried on the next priority in their agenda: the full decriminalization of sex work. We think there needs to be a bill, they told him, and they wanted him to help carry it. Would he do it? A member of the Assembly since 1971, Gottfried said he had believed for decades that the harms associated with sex work were overwhelmingly the result of the illegality of it. He said he would. Two of his colleagues in the Assembly, Dan Quart and Catalina Cruz, signed on as co-sponsors soon after.

Another supporter, first-term state Sen. Jessica Ramos, said standing up for sex workers felt like the right thing to do. I cant say that I had a very good understanding of the experience of sex workers, she said, until they started showing up at her office in Queens and explaining it to her. This pretense that some people have that we are going to get rid of sex work altogether is, I think, false, Ramos said. She looked at her district and thought about the sex workers shed seen walking up and down Roosevelt Avenue her entire life. In the end, she concluded that decriminalizing sex work was about empowering the worker, trusting the worker and hopefully allowing them to create their safe environments in which theyre able to take care of themselves and take care of each other.

That brought the count of legislators willing to push for full decriminalization to five, with a few more signing on later. On Feb. 25, 2019  the day of the Decrim NY launch  Salazar and Ramos published an op-ed in the Daily News announcing their position. While they said they recognized the tremendous public education required to pass such a bill, they believed New York could and should be the first to decriminalize sex work fully.

In early March 2019, protesters took over the steps of New York City Hall for an anti-decriminalization rally. Hosted by the New York Alliance Against the Legalization of Prostitution with a strong presence from the National Organization of Womens New York City chapter, attendees hoisted signs above their headsthat read PIMP FREE NY and Stop Buying Women. Maloney spoke at the rally. Counter-protesters soon arrived, with one captured on video pacing back and forth in front of the steps, holding a neon poster board with the words LISTEN TO SEX WORKERS written in black marker.

Weitzer, the sociologist, said for the most part that mainstream womens advocacy groups are content not to deal with sex work until a specific piece of legislation is introduced. Now that one has, the contentious feminist debate around sex work has reignited, this time causing flare-ups between proponents of decriminalization and supporters of the Nordic model, a policy that punishes patrons for purchasing sex, but not the people selling it (theoretically, at least). Sometimes referred to as the equality model (or wrongly labeled as decriminalization), this approach has already been implemented in Canada, France and Sweden.

Rebecca Zipkin is a senior staff attorney at Sanctuary for Families, a nonprofit serving victims of domestic violence and other gender violence that strongly supports the criminalization of sex buyers, pimps, brothel owners, traffickers, anyone who profits off of the sex trade, while decriminalizing the act of selling sex. We see prostitution as a form of exploitation, Zipkin said, not an individual choice, but (part of) a system that is inextricably linked to sex trafficking.

Many feminist groups, not to mention the worlds most prominent feminist, Gloria Steinem, support this approach. The Nordic model guarantees better treatment of men, women and children in prostitution, Steinem told The Guardianin 2015. If you decriminalize everybody, thats it. And, of course, youve decriminalized the pimps and traffickers. If you follow the Nordic model, you are obligated to offer services and alternatives to the people who are prostituted. You dont arrest them.

"We cannot argue that it's my body and my choice when it comes to abortion, but not sex work." - state Sen. Jessica Ramos

Yetcritics say the Nordic model pushes streetwalkers  already some of the most vulnerable people in the sex trade  into increasingly dangerous situations. Activists and authors Juno Mac and Molly Smith warned in their book Revolting Prostitutes that the model drives sex workers to meet clients in hidden locales far from police surveillance, pushing them to accept more dangerous propositions, such as unprotected sex or appointments with more unpredictable customers, to make up for income lost by regulars scared off by the threat of arrest. A 2016 report from Amnesty International examining the effects of the Nordic model in Oslo backed up those claims. Norwegian social services providers said that the purchasing ban had created a buyers market that left sex workers with little power, while allowing perpetrators of violence against sex workers to act with what they considered to be relative impunity.

Decrim NY members found this ongoing debate to be exasperating. Sex workers often say that they certainly do not support coercion and resent being cast as anti-anti-sex trafficking when criticizing the Nordic model or other modes of criminalization. To Luo, the matter of contention between the two schools of thought is a fundamental disagreement over the role of policing. There is a way of thinking about addressing social issues that relies on the criminal justice system; that believes policing is effective and good for these communities who are largely black, immigrants and undocumented, she said. And thats just not where Decrim NY is.

Though she hasnt changed her policy position, Gentilis own relationship to her history in the sex trade has grown more nuanced over time. I always said, you know, I choose this, I choose to be a sex worker, right? This is my choice. More recently, she has wondered about the meaning of choice in a brutal economy and discriminatory world. How much of a choice is it if its your only choice? A National Center for Transgender Equality report published in 2015 found that 69.5% of transgender people surveyed who engaged in sex work had experienced being denied a job or promotion or being fired because of their gender identity or expression.

Not for nothing, Gentili added, many trans Latina women feel like they have to do sex work because they dont have a way to make a living, a point that also applies to black trans women, a group that comprises a disproportionately high percentage of sex workers.

Ramos said she was a little more surprised by the position of some feminist groups, specifically organizations that have done incredible, monumental work when it comes to protecting a womans right to choose. The Queens lawmaker added, We cannot argue that its my body and my choice when it comes to abortion, but not sex work.

As Luo predicted a year ago at Decrim NYs launch, the coalition succeeded in pushing for the introduction of a full decriminalization bill last year. Also in line with her expectations, its still sitting in committee, a long way from passing. I think were at least a couple of years away from seeing Decrim NYs goals realized, Luo said.

In 2020, public discussion around the issue will be further complicated by state Sen. Liz Kruegers intention (along with Assemblywoman Tremaine Wright) to introduce Nordic model legislation this session.

I firmly believe that to be a progressive is to stand up for less powerful people against systems that exploit them, Krueger said. Johns and pimps are taking advantage of the marginalization and dire economic circumstances of adults and children in the sex trade, adding that she views the industry as fundamentally harmful, dehumanizing, and (it relies on a) coercive business model.

Trujillo said the conclusions that Krueger reached are a combination of misinformation and decent intentions. You can pass the Nordic model, but people often do sex work because they need income to survive, he said, adding that it is a systemic problem the Nordic model isnt equipped to address. (If such a bill passed), all you really get is you drive (the sex trade) further underground and you make people less safe. But you get to pat yourself on the back at the end of the day because you think you did something progressive.

For now, sex work organizers see years of work ahead of them to achieve their goal of the full, statewide decriminalization of consensual sex work. In the meantime, activists focus on the incremental, immediately achievable steps they can work on side by side with some of the staunchest opponents to decriminalization.

Especially early in the session, youre going to see mostly stuff on (the) walking while trans (ban), Luo said. 2019 was really exciting because it brought a lot of activity in New York (around decriminalization). She added: There are a lot of national and local groups all over the country working on this issue now, and were just going to continue to see more conversation. Legislators in New York can be on top of that, or they can fall behind.

Before the sun rises on a January weekday, a bus with around 70 members of the sex work and advocacy community pulls out of Union Square. After two and a half hours heading north on U.S. Route 9, this group will meet with a wide range of legislators in Albany, pushing each of them to co-sponsor a bill to repeal the loitering for the purpose of prostitution statute.

Group leaders distribute purple folders, passing them back from seat to seat. Each one contains detailed itineraries and specific talking points to use with elected officials. With materials in hand, a bus that was humming with friendly chatter moments ago goes quiet as the passengers study. As Albany approaches, Briana Silberberg, a community organizer from the New York City Anti-Violence Project and Decrim NY member, gets on the bus loudspeaker to lay some ground rules. Stick with your group, leave each meeting with a signed asks sheet  and dont bring up the full decriminalization bill to legislators. Getting sidetracked into any expansive discussion beyond the specific walking while trans ban isnt helpful to todays cause. A voice shouts from the back of the bus, Stepping stones! A few minutes later, the driver opens the door and deposits the crowd outside the state Capitol. Folders tucked tightly under their arms, they push against the wind, hustling to make it inside the building where change happens.
Russia's Defense Ministry said Friday that a passenger jetliner in Syria was endangered by Israeli fighter jets that used it as shield while striking the suburbs of Damascus the previous day.

The allegation comes as tensions run high in Syria, where fighting has escalated in the northern province of Idlib.

Syrian government forces, backed by the Russian military, have clashed with Turkish troops that support the opposition there after failing to observe a cease-fire.

A spokesman for the Israeli prime minister did not respond to a request for comment. Israel rarely acknowledges strikes carried out in Syria.

Israel has repeatedly struck Syrian and Iran-linked targets in Syria in recent years and has vowed to push back against increasing Iranian influence in its neighboring country.

The of the alleged near-miss came amid jitters just a month after a Ukrainian passenger plane crashed shortly after take-off from Tehran, killing all 176 people on board.

Iran said the plane was mistakenly shot down by its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

In a statement released Friday, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said the strike was carried around 2 am local time Thursday.

He said that four Israeli F-16 fighter jets used a passenger plane preparing to land in Damascus as cover while they hit the suburbs of Damascus with eight missiles.

Konashenkov didn't name the airline or flight number, saying only that it was an Airbus-320 en route from Tehran with 172 people on board that "came near to entering the zone of a deadly anti-aircraft missile and artillery fire."



He said that thanks to quick action by Syrian flight controllers, the plane was diverted to Russia's Hemeimeem air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia about 215 kilometers (about 135 miles) north of Damascus, where it landed safely.

"Using civilian planes carrying passengers as a cover to block retaliation from the Syrian air defense has become a signature tactic of the Israeli air force," Konashenkov said.

The Associated Press wasn't able to independently verify the Russian claims.

FlightRadar24, a website that provides tracking of air traffic, showed Syrian airline Cham Wings Flight 514 an Airbus320-211 taking off from Najaf at 1:07 a.m. local time Thursday morning.

It can be seen approaching Damascus about an hour later before turning back and diverting its course to the north.

It appears to have landed in or near Hmeimeem a half hour later. Flightradar24 listed the arrival time and destination as unknown.

The airline offered no immediate comment. The US Treasury placed Cham Wings on its sanctions list in 2016 for allegedly transporting militants to Syria to fight on behalf of the Syrian government and for moving weapons and equipment to aid it in the nine-year conflict.

In the statement, the Russian military accused Israel of endangering the "lives of hundreds of innocent civilians."



"Scheduled airline traffic in the Syrian air space, as well as everywhere in the world, takes place on well-known altitude flight levels and is clearly detected by Israel's radar equipment," Konashenkov said.

This is not the first time Russia has blamed Israel for "irresponsible actions" in Syria.

In September 2018, the Defense Ministry said Israeli forces failed to give Moscow enough warning about a strike and put a Russian military Il-20 plane in the line of fire of Syrian anti-missile systems.

The plane was shot down and 15 people on board were killed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The presidency has reacted sharply to the statement by the Northern Elders Forum offering critical evaluation of President Muhammadu Buhari's performance, especially in the area of security.

Special Adviser to President on media and publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, dismissed the forum as little consequential value

Adesina described the statement by th Forum as comments from a quasi-organisation that boasts of no credible membership, and its leader is akin to a general without troops.

He said in a statement that hearing that title, northern elders forum, you would think the body was a conglomeration of true elders. But the truth is that NEF is just Ango Abdullahi, and Ango Abdullahi is NEF.

He noted that before the 2019 presidential election, the 'one-man army' called NEF had shown its antipathy against President Muhammadu Buhari, and its preference for another candidate, yet they all got beaten.

Adesina added that the Northern Elders Forum is merely waving a flag that is at half-mast, adding that President Muhammadu Buhari steadily and steadfastly focuses on the task of retooling Nigeria.
New York City police officers work the scene of a police involved shooting outside the 41st precinct in New York on Feb. 9, 2020. (John Minchillo/AP Photo)

Man Accused of Shooting Bronx Police Officers Charged With Attempted Murder

The man who allegedly shot two New York Police Department officers has been charged with attempted murder, criminal possession of a weapon, and resisting arrest, the New York Post reported.

Suspect Robert Williams was arrested following alleged attacks on officers within 12 hours over the weekend, beginning on the evening of Feb. 8, when he approached a marked NYPD van at East 163rd and Fox streets in Hunts Point and opened fire.

Officer Paul Stroffolino, 31, was hit in the neck and chin in the attack and was taken to hospital but was released on Feb. 9 to applause from his fellow police officers after making a recovery.

Nearly 12 hours after he first shot officers, Williams allegedly walked into the 41st precinct station house just before 8 a.m. on Feb. 9 and opened fire on the desk area, where several police officers in uniform were present.

He then walked into an area near the front of the precinct and fired shots at point-blank range directly at uniformed officers and a civilian police department employee. One male lieutenant was shot through the upper left arm and returned fire toward the suspect but didnt strike him. The suspect was then taken into custody by police after running out of bullets.

The gunman was described as a male between the ages of 20 and 30 with a black hooded sweatshirt and jeans. (NYPD)

Officials said at a press conference on Feb. 9 that Williams had a lengthy violent criminal history and was arrested in 2002 for attempted murder after shooting a person, carjacking a woman, crashing her vehicle, and then getting into a shootout with members of the New York City police department. He was released on parole in 2017.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio also spoke at the press conference, praising the officers for their response to the shooting.

Thank God our officers are alive, and thank God our officers are the caliber of people they are to handle a situation like this, he said.

A Sunday morning, the 41 precinct, which should have been a quiet time, and suddenly an assailant arrives with the intention of assassinating police officers, and opens fire. These officers handled such a horrific situation with heroism, with extraordinary skill.

New York City police officers work the scene of a police involved shooting outside the 41st precinct in New York on Feb. 9, 2020. (John Minchillo/AP Photo)

De Blasio said that while the two injured officers will be OK, this was a premeditated effort to kill those who wear a uniform, and that an attack on police officers is an attack on all of us.

Williamss grandmother, Mary Williams, 80, told New York Daily News that she was shocked to hear he was a suspect in the shootings.

She added that her grandson had been suffering with bouts of depression following the death of his son, Robert Williams Jr., who accidentally killed himself while playing with a friends gun.

That was his only child, so ever since, hes just upset, she said. Hed been worried ever since.

Williams was taken into custody after being injured during his arrest by police at the 41st precinct and is expected to be arraigned Feb. 10 in the Bronx Criminal Court.
Inside the mind of a hacker

BUFFALO, N.Y.  Whether cracking digital security for good or ill, hackers tend to be people who are manipulative, deceitful, exploitative, cynical and insensitive, according to research from the University at Buffalo School of Management.

Recently presented at the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, the study analyzed the psychological profiles of college students in computer science and management to see which personality traits led to three different kinds of computer hacking: white hat, gray hat and black hat.

White hats are the ethical hackers, who help organizations detect and fix their security vulnerabilities. Gray hats are the hacktivists, who hack for ideological reasons, such as attacking a political adversary, a company policy or even a nation-state. And black hat hackers, sometimes called crackers, are motivated by personal gain to breach computer systemsor may just be in it for the thrill of the attack, revenge or notoriety.

Gray hatters oppose authority, black hatters are thrill-seeking and white hattersthe good guystend to be narcissists, says Lawrence Sanders, PhD, professor of management science and systems in the UB School of Management. So even though white hats may be devious and psychopathic, we need them to address nefarious hacking activity.

The researchers surveyed 439 college sophomores and juniors to determine their personality traits, and developed a set of scales to determine the three hat categories, as well as a scale to measure each persons perception of the probability of being caught for violating privacy laws.

Engaging in criminal activity involves a choice where there are consequences and opportunities, and individuals perceive them differently, says Joana Gaia, PhD, clinical assistant professor of management science and systems in the UB School of Management. But, they can be deterred if there is a likelihood of punishmentand the punishment is severe.

The results of the study suggest that security compliance will continue to be a problem, but there are several ways businesses and organizations can reduce the impact or prevent security breaches.

Firms can use monitoring technology and multifactor authentication to prevent unauthorized access to physical and digital spaces, says Gaia. Organizations could use personality traits to evaluate employees as security threats, but that should be approached cautiously for practical, ethical and privacy reasons.

Sanders and Gaia collaborated on the study with University at Buffalo colleagues Bina Ramamurthy, teaching professor of computer science and engineering; Shambhu Upadhyaya, professor of computer science and engineering; UB PhD students Sean Patrick Sanders and Xunyi Wang; and Chul Woo Yoo, assistant professor of information technology and operations management at the Florida Atlantic University College of Business.
Airline growth hit as virus depletes Singapore Airshow China's People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Ba Yi aerobatics team perform an aerial display during a media preview of the Singapore Airshow in Singapore

By Jamie Freed and Tim Hepher

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Asian airlines warned of "drastic" cuts in 2020 growth plans because of the coronavirus crisis, adding gloom to an already depleted Singapore Airshow as more firms dropped out.

Asia's top aerospace event is going ahead. But a purpose-built aero exhibition centre is pockmarked with empty spaces reserved for Chinese companies and others skipping the show because of the outbreak, whose death toll exceeds 900.

Major suppliers Honeywell and Leonardo joined a list of 70 no-shows on Monday amid concerns related to the new coronavirus, which first erupted in China.

Although riddled with hype and pre-packaged announcements, air shows are widely seen as a litmus test of confidence in the aerospace industry and bring together tens of thousands of people to network around cabin mock-ups and arms stalls.

But few deals are expected at the Feb 11-16 Singapore event, where the epidemic has triggered new safety measures and cast a shadow over airline profits and demand for airplanes.

Fresh evidence of the impact emerged on the eve of the show as UK-based consultancy Ascend by Cirium said the number of flights scheduled to operate to, from and within China had dropped by 24% compared with expectations before the crisis.

Worse, the number of flights actually operated was down by half compared with normal seasonal levels as many airlines continued to slash flights below their newly adjusted schedules.

That means Asian airlines are bracing for a turbulent 2020. Cancellations bring costs in lost revenue and ticket rebates.

"All bets are off in terms of traffic forecasts for this year," Andrew Herdman, the director general of the Association for Asia Pacific Airlines, said in an interview.

Before the crisis, the International Air Transport Association, which represents global airlines, saw passenger traffic rising by 4% in 2020 and cargo traffic 2% higher.

"If you look at the schedule cuts and the actual operations they have been cut by 50%, 60%, 70% within China. It is pretty drastic," Herdman said.

Story continues

A key question on delegates' minds is whether the virus will tip the aviation industry into a long-anticipated downturn. So far growth has been resilient to shocks such as the 2003 SARS virus.

"One of the lessons from SARS was that traffic was affected but also that it rebounded in 6-8 months," Randy Tinseth, vice-president of marketing at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said.

LARGE COSTS

Brazil's Embraer is preparing to ride the crisis out.

"I am hopeful that we will see the coronavirus peak in the next 2-3 weeks and then taper off, but until we do on the passenger travel side the impact is profound and immediate," commercial aviation head John Slattery said.

Embraer is attending the show as part of a marketing blitz for its E195-E2 against the Airbus A220. Slattery lamented delays in European Union approval for a tie-up between Embraer and Boeing that echoes Airbus's purchase of the Canadian A220.

The air show's organisers said on Sunday they still expected more than 930 companies from 45 countries and 45,000 trade attendees - down from the 54,000 at the last show in 2018.

The lobbies of major hotels, usually bustling with attendees, were noticeably quiet, however. Privately, some delegates have expressed surprise the show is going ahead after the government advised against large-scale non-essential events.

Organisers say they have a duty to those still wishing to attend a show that has grown in importance over the years.

Reflecting the financial and strategic stakes involved in aerospace, such biennial events are not cheap to organise.

One exhibitor who has planned air shows worldwide said supporting an aircraft flight display would typically cost $1 million or more and big manufacturers could spend $2 million to $5 million in total on a show of this size, including travel.

Cancelling the show would lead to refunds running into tens of millions of dollars, a source at one exhibitor said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Organiser Experia Events, partly owned by ST Engineering and government agencies, charges at least S$1,550 per square metre for space in the show, according to its website.

Experia on Sunday declined to comment on cancellation terms.

(Reporting by Jamie Freed and Tim Hepher. Editing by Gerry Doyle, Louise Heavens and Mark Potter)
CALGARY, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Kineticor Resource Corp. ("Kineticor") is pleased to announce that they have received all major approvals from the Alberta Utilities Commission and Alberta Environment and Parks for the 900 MW Cascade Power Project ("Cascade"). In addition to this significant milestone, Cascade has executed a series of long-term gas supply agreements to support the construction of Cascade, resulting in a highly contracted, construction ready project. The gas supply agreements represent long-term partnerships with high-credit quality, best-in-class gas producers including, but not limited to, Peyto Exploration and Development Corp. and Mitsubishi Corporation's 100% subsidiary, Cutbank Dawson Gas Resources Ltd.

Once complete, Cascade is expected to be the largest and most efficient combined cycle power plant in Alberta, producing approximately 62% less CO 2 equivalent per MWh than existing coal-fired generation, and at least 30% less CO 2 equivalent per MWh than a typical coal-to-gas conversion. Construction is anticipated to begin in Q2 2020, creating over 3 million man-hours of work, with peak onsite employment of over 500 personnel. Once operational, power generated from Cascade will be transmitted through the Alberta power grid creating efficient, reliable and economical electricity for the benefit of present and future generations of Albertans.

Cascade is strategically located in the centre of a prolific gas producing area near Edson, AB and will provide a long-term diversification opportunity for gas producers via a direct end market for their gas. Cascade will connect directly to area gas processing facilities, allowing the facility to minimise gas transportation charges which will provide both Cascade and the gas supply counterparties a relative cost advantage.

Darren Gee, CEO of Peyto Exploration and Development Corp, noted, "Peyto is proud to be part of the transition to clean and reliable electric power generation for Albertans now and for decades to come. The close proximity of our gas producing properties and resulting short transport distance to the Cascade site will minimize overall emissions and provide optimal energy efficiency to what will already be a very efficient power project. We are excited and pleased to work with Kineticor to bring this project forward."

"The Cascade Power Project shows how gas producers and power producers can work together in a mutually beneficial way" Kineticor CEO, Andrew Plaunt explains. "The project not only provides market diversification opportunities for gas producers and cost efficiencies for Cascade, but will also generate efficient baseload power while providing a meaningful reduction in the carbon intensity of the Alberta power grid."

Cascade is being developed by Kineticor Resource Corp. in partnership with OPTrust and Macquarie Capital, which is also acting as debt arranger and sole financial advisor.

About Kineticor

Kineticor is a developer of efficient power projects across Canada with a focus on projects that have an environmental and economic advantage vs the current marketplace. Headquartered in Calgary, AB, Kineticor has numerous projects in various stages of development and operations.

www.kineticor.ca

About OPTrust

With net assets of almost $20 billion, OPTrust invests and manages one of Canada's largest pension funds and administers the OPSEU Pension Plan, a defined benefit plan with almost 95,000 members and retirees. OPTrust was established to give plan members and the Government of Ontario an equal voice in the administration of the Plan and the investment of its assets through joint trusteeship. OPTrust is governed by a 10-member Board of Trustees, five of whom are appointed by OPSEU and five by the Government of Ontario.

www.optrust.com

About Macquarie Capital

Macquarie Capital's capabilities encompass corporate advisory and a full spectrum of capital solutions, including capital raising services from equity, debt and private capital markets and principal investments from Macquarie Capital's balance sheet. Macquarie Capital has invested in and delivered over 22GW of power generation globally and continues to be the number one global infrastructure advisor1.

https://www.macquarie.com/us/corporate/advisory-and-capital-markets/lookbeyond .

1: Inframation by volume and value

SOURCE Kineticor Resource Corp

Related Links

kineticor.ca


Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 21:17:23|Editor: huaxia

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JAKARTA, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian anti-terrorist squad has killed a member of a terrorist cell affiliated with the IS group after he threw a bomb at police personnel, a police officer said here on Monday.

Ibnu Thayyi, who had been chased by the squad in Riau province's district of Palalawan, refused to surrender when he was caught by the squad, spokesman for the National Police Senior Commissioner Argo Yuwono said.

The militant was captured while attempting to escape via a river in Kuala Tolam village, the spokesman revealed.

"When Ibnu was on a canoe, the members of the squad tried to negotiate with him. But when the members of the squad moved toward him, he threw a pipe bomb at the personnel," he said at the police headquarters.

The bomb injured one of the members of the squad, he said.
Workers assemble beds at a field hospital in Vinh Phuc Province, northern Vietnam amidst the nCoV epidemic. Photo by VnExpress/Duc Hien.

Vinh Phuc Province, hub of Vietnams novel coronavirus epidemic, is building a field hospital with 300 beds.

The northern province is home to nine of 14 confirmed nCoV cases in the country. Local authorities said the field hospital will be manned by 200 medical staff.

More than 300 military personnel were deployed Monday morning to set up the field hospital at the College of Culture and Arts in Vinh Yen Town, said Doan Thanh Binh, chief of office of the Vinh Phuc Health Department.

The hospital is located away from residential areas and a convenient place to quarantine patients, he added, but did not mention a completion date.

The province, located 40 km from Hanoi, has also set up a quarantine facility with 200 beds at a military school in the same town.

Meanwhile, Saigon's first field hospital with facilities in two locations to deal with the nCoV infections began operations Monday.

Vinh Phuc is home to nine of the confirmed 14 nCoV infections in Vietnam. Three of them are in HCMC and one each in Khanh Hoa and Thanh Hoa provinces.

Among eight workers returning from China's Wuhan City, where the deadly pneumonia virus broke out, six have tested positive for the virus, and two others are awaiting results. Five of the six are Vinh Phuc residents and the other from the central province of Thanh Hoa.

The eight, employees of Japanese-invested company Nihon Plast Company in Vinh Phuc, returned from Wuhan after being sent there to train for two months.

The mother, sister, cousin and neighbor of one of the five infected workers in Vinh Phuc took the number of infections in the northern province to nine.

Three patients from Vinh Phuc have recovered and were discharged from hospital on Monday.

According to the Vinh Phuc Health Department, 249 locals who previously came in contact with the nine infected patients are now quarantined and under observation.

Vietnam has so far discharged six nCoV patients.

The global death toll has reached 910, with 908 dying in mainland China, and one each in the Philippines and Hong Kong.
YEREVAN.  The court has denied the prosecutions motion to arrest defendant Mutafyan at the Yerevan court of first instance during the trial in the case of Narek Mutafyan and Sargis Ohanjanyan, supporters of second President Robert Kocharyan of Armenia.

As reported earlier, the prosecutor had noted that Mutafyan, while in freedom, could commit a new crime.

Vahe Yeprikyan, the lawyer for the defendants, told Armenian News-NEWS.am that such a motion by the prosecutor is groundless and should be denied.

Sargis Ohanjanyan and Narek Mutafyan have been charged with asking Judge Danibekyan, who presides over Robert Kocharyan's case, questions regarding this case and video recording it on the street, which the investigative body assessed as obstruction of justice.

The court of first instance had granted the investigator's motion and ruled that they be arrested.

But the Criminal Court of Appeal had granted their attorneys appeal and ruled that they be released.
by Vladimir Rozanskij

Masks and powerful amulets against coronavirus are "blessed" and sold online. Proximity of Patriarch Kirill to the victims of the virus in China. A message to Xi Jinping. Shifts for running water in Simferopol. Daily litanic prayers to ask for rain.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - The Orthodox diocese of Smolensk has warned the faithful against those who offer to "bless" masks and powerful amulets against the coronavirus. The community on the border with Belarus has in fact issued a notice for all the inhabitants of the region stating that they are only fraudsters.

In fact, in various parts of Russia the sale of objects and formulas attributed to the shamans of Karelia (in the far north of the country) is spreading, together with a particular species of "miraculous masks" to protect themselves from the epidemic, even touted on the site avito.ru.

The text of the advertisement specifies that for every additional dollar added to the purchase, an even more effective and strong prodigious remedy is obtained, given that the object is also brought to church to be blessed by the Orthodox priest.

The diocese specifies that the belief that the church blessing "expands the area of action" of amulets is outright sacrilege, since it "contradicts the Church's doctrine on holiness and blessings". The statement added that Moscow Patriarch Kirill (Gundjaev) sent a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping expressing the Orthodox Church's closeness and support to all victims of the infection.

The coronavirus is not the only scourge for which the Russians are asking for healings: prayers and intercession rituals are also being said to avoid the environmental catastrophe in Crimea, due to an exceptional drought.

In Simferopol, the capital of the annexed region in 2014, all the reservoirs have dried up, and the authorities have issued a notice that decrees the alternated suspension of the supply of hot and cold running water. The ordinance has sparked heated reactions, especially in view of the tourist season, on which the region's economy is based.

According to Elena Protsenko, mayor of Simferopol, the water reserves would be enough for only about three months, and will still need to be rationed. The main Crimean cities receive water supplies from 14 natural basins and another 8 from the northern Crimean canal. Until 2014, this system was powered for 85% by the waters of the Ukrainian Dnipro river (Dnieper in Russian), which has now been closed to transit, given that the region is "occupied" by the Russians.

Natural sources are not enough to maintain the previous water supply regime, and the reserves accumulated previously are now running out. All this, for now only puts the city of Simferopol in crisis, but the drought is now threatening other areas as well. The inhabitants of the capital are industriously building machinery to heat the water directly in the house, and they stock up on mineral water, wet wipes, dry shampoo and plastic dishes. In times of coronavirus, many are terrified that the lack of running water can lead to spikes in the spread of infections. Several service companies are forced to temporarily close.

Faith groups have appealed to Orthodox priests, making offerings for the celebrations of Moleben, litanic prayers in favor of the rain. On 5-6 February, a sudden change in the climate brought abundant rain and snow (photo 2), which temporarily supplied the reserves in crisis. In part, this change is attributed to the effectiveness of ritual intercessions, which are therefore being urged with increasing intensity.

Metropolitan Lazar (Shvets), administrator of Crimea (photo 1) of the patriarchate of Moscow, has ordered that these Moleben be celebrated every day in all the churches of the region, with the intention of "dispensing water" (nisposlanie vlagi). These prayers are solicited not only by the faithful, but also by the administrators themselves, starting with the president of the Crimean region Sergei Aksenov and the president of the local government Jurij Gonatsjuk.
The Supreme Court on Monday said the anti-CAA protesters at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh cannot block public roads and create inconvenience for others.

The apex court issued notices to the Centre, Delhi government and the police on pleas seeking removal of protesters from Shaheen Bagh.

"There is a law and people have grievance against it. The matter is pending in court. Despite that some people are protesting. They are entitled to protest," a bench comprising justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph said.

"You cannot block the public roads. There cannot be indefinite period of protest in such an area. If you want to protest, it has to be in an area identified for protest," the bench said.

The apex court further said that the protest at Shaheen Bagh has been going on for long but it cannot create inconvenience for others.

The bench said it would not pass any direction without hearing the other side and posted the matter for February 17.

At the outset, advocate Amit Sahni, one of the petitioners in the case, said that the question in this matter is about the extent of right to protest.

"Is there anybody present from the government's side. We will issue notice," the bench said.

When advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi, appearing for another petitioner and former BJP MLA Nand Kishore Garg, urged the bench to pass some direction, the court said, "It can't be done ex-parte".

Advocate Mehmood Pracha told the court that he wants to intervene in the matter on behalf of Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad.

"Do whatever you feel proper," the bench told Pracha.

At the fag end of the hearing, when Sudhi insisted that some directions may be passed as people are facing inconvenience due to the blockade of public roads, the bench said, "If you have waited for over 50 days, wait for some more days.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Exclusive: Trump proposes 21% cut in U.S. foreign aid in budget proposal - officials FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump walks to the Oval Office in Washington

By Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will propose cutting billions of dollars in U.S. foreign aid in his fiscal 2021 budget while seeking an increase in funds to counter developing economic threats from China and Russia, senior administration officials told Reuters.

Trump, a Republican, sought in his budget proposal last year to slash foreign aid but faced steep resistance from Congress and did not prevail.

His latest budget, which will be released on Monday, is a blueprint for his spending proposals that is unlikely, again, to be passed, particularly in an election year.

Trump will seek to make a 21% cut in foreign aid in the proposal, which seeks $44.1 billion (34.21 billion pounds) in the upcoming fiscal year compared with $55.7 billion (43.21 billion pounds) enacted in fiscal year 2020, an administration official said.

Aid to Ukraine would remain at its 2020 levels under the new proposal, the official said. Trump was acquitted last week of impeachment charges that he withheld aid to Ukraine to spur Kiev to investigate political rival Joe Biden, a Democratic presidential candidate and former U.S. vice president.

Administration officials told Reuters that Trump would request an increase in funding for the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to $700 million compared to $150 million the previous year.

The DFC was formed in large part to counter China's growing economic influence. It serves as a development bank that partners with the private sector to provide loans in developing countries. It also serves as an alternative financing option to what the United States sees as predatory practices from China.

U.S. officials want to counter the soft power China has wielded with such loans and help countries avoid what they consider Beijing's debt trap diplomacy in which countries give up control ports, roadways or other major assets when they fund infrastructure projects with Chinese loans that they cannot pay back.

Story continues

"Every country knows the drawbacks of working with autocratic governments," said Adam Boehler, the DFC's chief executive, in an interview, listing poor infrastructure as one consequence developing countries faced. "There are very few countries in this world that wouldn't prefer the American private capital market...That's what we represent."

The increased budget funding would help counter economic threats and was in line with Congress's bipartisan wish the agency would have such resources, he said.

He said part of the agency's money would be oriented to driving 5G technology in developing countries.

The budget also proposes $1.1 billion for cybersecurity efforts by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
Police and ATO at the scene of a security operation in the Cornakinnegar road area of Lurgan on February 9th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Police and ATO at the scene of a security operation in the Cornakinnegar road area of Lurgan on February 9th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Police and ATO at the scene of a security operation in the Cornakinnegar road area of Lurgan on February 9th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Police said two hoaxes were behind security alerts in Portadown and Lurgan.

There was disruption in both Co Armagh towns on Sunday following the discovery of suspicious objects.

One was found in the grounds of a former school in the Cornakinnegar Road area of Lurgan. The other in the Hanover Street area of Portadown.

Army bomb squad officers attended both scenes.

Chief Inspector Jonathan Wilson said: We would like to thank the local communities for their patience. Keeping people safe is of paramount importance.

We are also appealing to anyone with information that could assist our enquiries to call the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference 1058 of 09/02/20.

"Information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime."
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / Photos Getty

Belarus is often called Europes last dictatorship, and its president, Alexander Lukashenko, heads an authoritarian government thats highly reliant on Russia. He also kicked out the U.S. ambassador more than 10 years ago. In other words, its just about the last place you might expect to see a U.S. Secretary of State. And yet, there Mike Pompeo was earlier this month. The question is, why?

The Kremlin sees Belarus, just to the north of Ukraine and on Russias western border, as firmly in its sphere of influence, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has angled to tighten the two states already-tight bondssowing fears that he aims to claim it as part of Russia itself.

For much of the countrys short history, its relationship with the U.S. has been quite bad. The U.S. sanctioned Belarus in 2006 after an election that the State Department called neither free nor fair. And in 2008, the country expelled the U.S. ambassador and capped the number of diplomats allowed there at five.

Then Putin invaded Ukraine. And a delicate diplomatic dance beganone that continued over two American administrations, headed by presidents with extremely different attitudes towards Putin. (The Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request for comment for this story.)

According to multiple current and former U.S. officials, Lukashenko responded to Russias annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by signaling to the U.S. that he wanted closer ties. Michael Carpenter, who worked on Eurasia policy as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense during the Obama administration, told The Daily Beast that Lukashenko sent the message loud and clear when the two of them had a two-hour meeting in March 2016.

We spent almost half of it talking about Ukraine, Carpenter said. It was just very apparent to me at the time that this was a huge preoccupation for him, that he was very worried about the implications of what that meant for his own country.

Story continues

In the years since then, the Belarussians have kept signaling to the U.S. that they want a warmer relationship. And Americans have signaled back. One senior State Department official said Wess Mitchellassistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs from 2017 to 2019made clear to the Belarusians that things could change. The official said Mitchells involvement was like a hinge: If Belarus was serious, he communicated, then the U.S. was serious too. During the Trump administration, a battery of senior officials went to Minsk to meet with officials there, including Mitchell, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale, and then-National Security Advisor John Bolton.

For years, per one former U.S. official, the U.S. government had seen Belarus as a lost cause.

We took for granted that Belarus was going to be frozen in time as a Soviet theme park, the former official saidadding that the last several years proved that assumption wrong.

The appearance in Minsk by Boltona very open Russia hawkwas especially notable.

From my view, Bolton was there precisely to address concerns about Russian aggression, said Jonathan Katz, who oversaw U.S. assistance to Belarus at USAID under the Obama administration.

In 2017 and 2018, there were substantial quiet conversations between U.S. and Belarussian officials, according to two congressional aides familiar with the Trump administrations policy toward the former Soviet republic. They signaled they feared for their own viability as a nation in the face of potential Russian incursions, per the aides. In 2017, Lukashenko invited American officials to observe major Russian military exercises held therea move that impressed the Hill. And in January 2019, the Belarussians lifted a cap on how many American diplomats can work in the country. One State official said they expect the number of diplomats there to double by 2021.

And over the last year, per the Hill aides, Belarussian officials have reached out to Congress about efforts to warm the relationship.

The efforts culminated in a historic visit to Belarus earlier this month by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The State officials said Belaruss state oil company signed a framework agreement with a North Dakota oil trading firm to buy up to 18 million barrels of U.S. oil in 2020. The deal didnt include details and may not come to fruition. But it sent a signal to the Kremlin: Belarus doesnt want Russia to be its one-stop-shop for energy.

The Kremlins response, per the two senior State officials, was predictable: an onslaught of disinformation about the trip and its significance (Netizens Implicate Mike Pompeo in Fresh Anti-Belarus Extortion Scheme Before Historic Minsk Trip, blared one headline on the Kremlin-controlled Sputnik News).

Moscows apparent irritation wasnt surprising. While President Donald Trump and Putin are famously chummy, the Trump administrations policies have often been borderline hostile towards the Kremlin. The Belarus overtures, meanwhile, are of a piece with the administrations national security strategy, which calls for focusing on competition with great powers including Russia and China. The former U.S. official said the Belarus outreach isnt an outlier. Throughout Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and the Balkans, the U.S. is pushing back on Russian influence in similar ways, the official said.

Its not lost on the leaders in Minsk that they potentially in the very near term face a similar type of situation to that Ukraine has faced, Katz said, and I think this is changing the calculation even of an aged authoritarian whos been in power several decades.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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By Denise Zaneza N

News Ghana on

After RPA (Rwandan Patriotic Army) victory in Rwanda in July 1994, two million Rwandans, fled to surrounding countries and the estimated 1.1 million ended up in Congo (Zaire at that time). These refugees settled in camps, in eastern Zaire, where they were looked after by various humanitarian organizations. These camps were home to more than 800,000 refugees, mainly Hutus from Rwanda.

From Oct 1996 to May 1997, The Tutsi dominated RPA troops invaded Zaire backed by Congolese rebels of AFDL. Refugee camps were first to be attacked and massacres were committed costing lives of estimated 6800-8000 refugees in the first few days of those attacks and forced many others back to Rwanda.

It was reported that Refugees who were forced to return to Rwanda, were massacred Hutus in batches of tens, hundreds and sometimes thousands. The major killings of innocent population inside Rwanda occurred Kibeho on 22nd April 1995 where between 4,000 and 8,000 were killed in presence of UN peacekeepers.

In Congo, Refugees who survived early attacks but didnt return to Rwanda fled towards inner Zaire, they were hunted down within Congolese dense forests from East to West and systematically massacred. Mainly who were killed during children, women, elderly and those who were sick.

Several reports and research revealed and describe in detail the heart-wrenching and horrible treatments those fleeing refugees experienced when they were caught by pursuing RPF troops and their allies. Here are some of them.

Infusing syringes of Kerosene into ears. Covering individuals with plastic packs. Gagging with ropes and lines. Spearing ladies and girls with tools. Utilizing agafuni -the RPFs war hammer- to split skulls and spill mind matter out like porridge. Shooting ladies and youngsters in the back. Forcing people to dig their very own graves.

RPF troopers released automatic weapons and rocket-moved projectiles on Kibeho, a dislodging camp having a huge number of Hutus, in April 1995a horrifying assault where 4,000 Hutus are said to have been slaughtered before UN peacekeepers and human rights monitors. (Rever, 2018).

Ladies were additionally tormented and exposed to mutilation, especially sexual, during these slaughters. Children and Grownups were killed indiscriminately, in some cases in especially pitiless ways, with blows from axes or with their head crushed against a divider or tree trunk. Others were reported for burned alive in their homes, alongside their families (OHCHR, 2010, p.329).

Furthermore, several witnesses and survivors confirmed that all the attacks were targeted against Hutu ethnic group regardless of their nationality or gender. Even Congolese Hutus and Burundian Hutu refugees were also stand victim of such atrocities hence proved that it was all against Hutu. Some reports also mentioned that systematic use of barriers by AFDL and RPA allowed them to identify origin of victims and separated them for execution.

Cruelty was brought on to the next level by attacking forces when victims were kept deprived of the humanitarian aid and food by making it impossible for humanitarian agencies to provide any kind of help for the victims.

The identities of leading officers and strategists may have been intentionally hidden by the RPA and ADFL in order to protect those responsible for war crimes. Testimonies taken in reveals that the perpetrators of killings were from ethnic groups of Rwandan Ugandan, Burundian and languages spoken by these perpetrators also backed this evidence.

Since all the incidents and evidences clearly reveals that it was the intent of ADFL to target and eliminate each last member of the Hutu ethnic group.

After looking at existing evidences, research conducted in this matter, previous reports by various organisations including the UN and initial work conducted at the Global Campaign for Human Rights, human rights advocates, survivors and other experts from across the world on 7th October 2019 recognized in a declaration, that all the elements of these killings of Hutu people in Rwanda and in Congo sufficiently constitute a crime of genocide in the line of 1948 genocide convention.

The signatories of the declaration call upon relevant international community to fulfil their obligations under genocide convention including establishment of a suitable justice instruments that will look bring justice to victims, protect survivors that are still being hunted in Congo as well as ensuring that those crimes would never happen again.

There have been continuing efforts to conceal, deny and minimize this crime of genocide committed against Hutus, nevertheless this recent declaration on its recognition will bring it back at the spotlight of national, regional and international communities which should led to appropriate and relevant actions by relevant authorities.

Rwanda cannot build a sustainable future without an honest recognition of its history in full, and appropriately addresses grievances of all sections of its society.

It is also essential to integrate this genocide in collective history of humankind.

The author is the Coordinator of EU and Nordic countries at The Global Campaign for Rwandans Human Rights

www.rwandansrights.org

www.hutugenocide.org
[February 10, 2020] MagnaChip Offers 0.13 micron BCD Process with Enhanced Performance Suitable for Automotive Power Semiconductors

SEOUL, South Korea and SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- MagnaChip Semiconductor Corporation ("MagnaChip") (NYSE: MX), a Korea-based designer and manufacturer of analog and mixed-signal semiconductor products, announced today that it now offers a 0.13 micron BCD process with improved performance to help automotive power semiconductor designers build more competitive products. BCD (Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS) is a process technology that combines three different process technologies onto a single chip: Bipolar for analog signal control and CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) and DMOS (Double Diffused Metal Oxide Semiconductor) for digital signal control and high-power handling, used primarily for power semiconductors. In particular, the process announced today has been certified as Grade-1 under AEC-Q100, a reliability standard for automotive electronics and, therefore, is suitable for diverse automotive power semiconductors -- including motor driver ICs, BMSs (Battery Management Systems) and DC-DC ICs. With the introduction of this process, the company plans to launch targeted marketing activities to attract more automotive semiconductor designers as customers. Driven by the adoption of electric vehicles, the automotive semiconductor sector  including power products  is projected to see considerable growth over the next five years. According to IHS Markit technology research, now a part of Informa Tech, the automotive semiconductor market is forecasted to grow from $42 billion in 2019 to approximately $60 billion in 2023.* The MTP (Multi-Time Programming) IP applied to this newly enhanced 0.13 micron BCD process technology enables a chip to be reprogrammed at least 1000 times, a desirable feature for power semiconductors that require repeatable memory programming, such as motor driver ICs, power management ICs and level shifter ICs. Also, unlike the previous 0.13 micron BCD process technology, which requires additional photo layers to realize MTP IPs, this new 0.13 micron BCD process does not require additional photo layers as a result of IP design optimization. By virtue of no additional layers, MagnaChip's new 0.13 micron BCD process could allow its customers to reduce cost and shorten the "time-to-market." YJ Kim, Chief Executive Officer of MagnaChip, commented: "Along with the rapid growth of the automotive power semiconductor market, demand is rising for foundry technologies with the highest possible reliability and cost competitiveness. Thanks to our BCD know-how and manufacturing expertise, I believe MagnaChip is more than capable to be the leading service provider in the growing automotive power semiconductor market." *Source  IHS Markit technology research, now part of Informa Tech, Pure Play Foundry Market Tracker, 2019. Results are not an endorsement of MagnaChip Semiconductor. Any reliance on these results is at the third-party's own risk. About MagnaChip Semiconductor

MagnaChip is a designer and manufacturer of analog and mixed-signal semiconductor platform solutions for communications, IoT, consumer, industrial and automotive applications. The Company's Standard Products Group and Foundry Services Group provide a broad range of standard products and manufacturing services to customers worldwide. MagnaChip, with about 40 years of operating history, owns a portfolio of approximately 3,000 registered patents and pending applications, and has extensive engineering, design and manufacturing process expertise. For more information, please visit www.magnachip.com.







CONTACTS:









United States (Investor Relations): Bruce Entin Entin Consulting Tel. +1-408-625-1262 [email protected] USA media / industry analysts: Mike Newsom LouVan Communications, Inc. Tel. +1-617-803-5385 [email protected] Korea / Asia media: Chankeun Park Director of Public Relations Tel. +82-2-6903-5223 [email protected]

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/magnachip-offers-0-13-micron-bcd-process-with-enhanced-performance-suitable-for-automotive-power-semiconductors-301001841.html SOURCE MagnaChip Semiconductor Corporation

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Russia will finish construction of the Nord Stream-2 natural gas pipeline in spite of the U.S. sanctions, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin said.

"We are sure that construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline will be finished successfully in spite of the sanction pressure that the U.S. exerts. Russias Foreign Ministry will support that to the maximum possible extent," the diplomat said.



He stressed that inclusion of the sanction articles against the Nord Stream-2 and the Turkish Stream pipelines into the U.S. defense budget for 2020 is direct interference in operations of the European businesses, PRIME reported.



"The goal is not about providing assistance to the European energy security, which is only being strengthened by Russian export gas project. Their goal is to enforce the U.S. liquefied natural as on the European market. It is a blatant example of unfair competition," Pankik added.

Earlier, deputy director of energy policy of the Institute of Energy and Finances, Alexey Belogoriev, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that the deadline for completing the project doesn't depend on only Russia. "The fact is that the Akademik Chersky pipe-laying vessel will not be able to participate in the laying of Nord Stream-2 - it was bought for the Sakhalin-3 project," he said.



This means that Gazprom has only the Fortuna barge. "The question is being solved with the Danish authorities: do they agree to the option of technical escorting Fortuna by other vessels that will ensure its dynamic positioning in the open sea. If the Danish authorities agree, then in May or June Fortuna will be able to begin construction, in this case the remaining section will be finished by the end of the year," Alexey Belogoryev explained.
SEATTLE  Amazon has asked a federal court to let it depose President Trump and Defense Secretary Mark Esper, arguing that hearing from them is essential to determining if they intervened against the internet company when the Pentagon awarded a multibillion-dollar contract to a competitor.

The request, which was unsealed on Monday, escalates a legal battle over a major cloud computing contract to modernize the Pentagons operations, called the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure project, or JEDI. Amazon Web Services, the largest cloud provider, was widely considered the front-runner for the $10 billion contract, but in October, the Defense Department surprised analysts when it awarded the project to Microsoft, the No. 2 provider in the market.

Amazon challenged the decision in December, claiming that Mr. Trump used improper pressure on the Pentagon to prevent Amazon from winning the contract as part of an attempt to harm the companys chief executive, Jeff Bezos. Mr. Trump has criticized Mr. Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post, a publication that has reported aggressively on the Trump administration.

The question is whether the president of the United States should be allowed to use the budget of the D.O.D. to pursue his own personal and political ends, Drew Herdener, an Amazon spokesman, said in a statement.
Ireland officially began its vote count follwing the General Elections that took place on February 8. Exit polls on Sunday suggested a three-way tie between the competing parties, international media reported. Ireland uses a system of proportional representation but also includes preferential voting, meaning that first-choice votes could be shifted to other candidates and translate to a different proportion of seats.

Fine Gael party leading

Exit polls were released as soon as the voting ended at 10pm (local time) on Saturday. The polls showed Prime Minsters Leo Varadkars Fine Gael party with 22.4 per cent of first preference votes, followed by Sinn Fein which won 22.3 per cent while Fianna Fail gained 22.2 per cent. The polls also indicated that a hung parliament was almost inevitable and long political negotiations were ahead.

Read: Delhi Elections 2020: Tariq Anwar Says 'Kejriwal Focused On Congress Party's Vote Bank'

Read: Irish Voters Frustrated By Economy Choose Next Leader

Once a minority party, Sinn Fein which was the political wing of the IRA during the country's freedom struggle against Britain has apparently reshaped its image and become a popular option for young voters who are frustrated with issues such as housing unaffordability. According to the exit polls, the party lead by Mary Lou McDonald could technically form a coalition with other parties though Fine Gael has announced that it will not accept Sinn Fein in any coalition. Even the third leading party Fianna Fail has said the same.

Read: Sinn Fein Surges As Most Popular Party In Irish Election

Read: Political Upheaval In Ireland Amid Close Election

However, many analysts believe that it is possible for two leading parties to work together, international media reported. According to reports, if no political negotiations fail, the fresh election is a possibility. Analysts reportedly said that the vote count by the end of the day would show much larger differences in the votes than the exit polls. However, counting in some constituencies could take up to days. Previously, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail - the two parties that have dominated Irish politics since independence - have shunned Sinn Fein because of its links to the Irish Republican Army.
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has disclosed that government would increase the number of registered taxpayers to at least 16million by the end of this year.

This he says should also impact on the revenue collected from the taxpaying population.

Dr. Bawumia explained that this should be achieved through the transfer of all national ID numbers collated under the various card registrations to Tax Identification Numbers to track people who are yet to be captured under the tax net.

Already, the GRA is working to exceed its revenue target for this year after hitting the mark last year.

Dr. Bawumia made the remarks at the official ceremony to rebrand Barclays Bank Ghana into Absa Ghana Limited.

Currently less than 2 million people are registered to pay taxes but by the end of this year, we will start converting all the national ID numbers into tax identification numbers so you will bring people into the tax net and this is what digitisation is going to allow us to do.

The introduction of a digital license and vehicle registration, online application of passport, paperless port system, online renewal of the National Health Insurance membership have actually curbed the frustrations, the petty bribery and corruption that Ghanaians face in their daily lives when they encounter these institutions.

Many say governments digitization efforts had led to reforms at various agencies.

The introduction of the technology at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority, for instance, has gradually eliminated the ''Goro boys'' which was formerly a problem.

Government intends to introduce more reforms to push its digitization agenda.

---citinewsroom
Carl Voss, Des Moines City Councilman and a precinct chair, shows the app that was used for caucus results reporting on his phone after he unsuccessfully attempted to drop off a caucus results packet from Precinct 55 at the Iowa Democratic Party headquarters February 4, 2020 in Des Moines, Iowa. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Over a year since the first batch of politicians and assorted business types announced their plans to run for the presidency, the candidates running in the Democratic primary will soon get some real results, thanks to the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses. But not too soon: Three full days after Iowans gathered to cast their preference for a primary candidate, delays caused by the Iowa Democratic Partys vote-tallying app have sunk the state into electoral chaos. Below is everything you need to know to understand the results thus far, and the latest reasons for the debacle.

Sanders and Buttigieg request partial recanvas

On Monday, both the Buttigieg and Sanders campaigns officially requested partial recanvasses of the caucus results on Monday. As opposed to a recount, a recanvas entails reviewing the math worksheets from the caucus sites. The Buttigieg campaign wants 66 precincts reviewed, while the Sanders campaign has 28 precincts on its list  though campaign manager Jeff Weaver said that he doesnt expect the recanvas to affect the current counts, but is making the request as the first step in the process of reexamining the numbers.

A Falling Sign of the Times for the IDP

The Iowa Democratic Party suffered a literally symbolic mishap on Monday, when the partys sign fell off the podium chairman Troy Price was standing behind to give his latest updates on the review process.

Prior to that, reports that landed over the weekend detailed the failures to properly plan for and execute the caucus process. As summarized by the New York Times on Sunday:

As disastrous as the 2020 Iowa caucuses have appeared to the public, the failure runs deeper and wider than has previously been known, according to dozens of interviews with those involved. It was a total system breakdown that casts doubt on how a critical contest on the American political calendar has been managed for years.

And on Saturday, the Des Moines Register published an hour-by-hour account of what it was like in the IDPs boiler room as the debacle unfolded  like this segment about the chaos that followed a sudden flood of calls coming into the party:

Those inside the boiler room knew something had gone wrong. About 60 people were staffing phones, but the incoming calls had reached an avalanche by 9 p.m. It didnt subside until hours later. It was hell, said one volunteer.

The volunteers were getting complaints and pranks, including some from supporters of Republican President Donald Trump. Other callers tried to report fake results after the ID and PIN numbers from some precincts were posted in photos on Twitter. Many more callers were journalists seeking information.

The DNC wants a caucus count do-over

It looks like an official count in Iowa is going to be delayed even further: On Thursday, Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez announced that the organization was requesting that the IDP recount the caucus:

Enough is enough. In light of the problems that have emerged in the implementation of the delegate selection plan and in order to assure public confidence in the results, I am calling on the Iowa Democratic Party to immediately begin a recanvass.  Tom Perez (@TomPerez) February 6, 2020

As is the norm with everything in this mess, an audit would be quite complicated, involving a review of worksheets from each caucus site to ensure they were correctly calculated and reported, as well as individuals presidential preference cards, of which there are around 180,000.

All of the official results are now in, but errors have been reported

Finally, on Thursday night, 100 percent of the results were in. But, to add to the chaos that has characterized these caucuses from the start, the New York Times reported that the numbers that have been reported were riddled with inconsistencies  with precinct results that were internally inconsistent, that were missing data or that were not possible under the complex rules of the Iowa caucuses. The mistakes will likely give new life to the wealth of conspiracy theories that had already cropped up since Monday night.

Setting aside the errors  its impossible to know how they might affect one or another candidate  the state-delegate numbers, which cover precincts in all 99 counties, show that Pete Buttigiegs lead over Bernie Sanders in State Delegate Equivalents (SDEs) has shrunk to a tiny margin, while national poll front-runner Joe Biden is still in a distant fourth place.

State-Delegate-Equivalent totals  i.e. the delegate haul

(from 100 percent of precincts in all 99 counties)

Pete Buttigieg: 26.2%  564 SDEs Bernie Sanders: 26.1%  562 SDEs Elizabeth Warren: 18%  387 SDEs Joe Biden: 15.8%  341 SDEs Amy Klobuchar: 12.2%  264 SDEs Andrew Yang: 1%  22 SDEs

On Sunday night, the trusted officials at the Iowa Democratic Party announced that Buttigieg had officially won the most State Delegate Equivalents  though it did not assuage the national party to call off the recount, or convince the AP to call the race in favor of Buttigieg. If the IDPs math is correct, Buttigieg will receive 14 national delegates; Sanders will pick up 12 delegates; Warren will pick up eight delegates; Joe Biden will pick up six delegates; and Amy Klobuchar will earn a single delegate. The winning candidate will need 1,990 delegates out of 3,979 to secure the nomination.

The new numbers throw a wrench into the story that had emerged from Iowa since Monday night. Pete Buttigieg all but declared himself the winner in Iowa early Tuesday morning, and he seemed to have a valid claim to that status  if the metric used was State Delegate Equivalents. But now, thanks in large part to his strength in satellite caucuses  the irregular contests held for people who couldnt make it to the official festivities Monday night  Sanders might equal or top Buttigiegs numbers, while also laying claim to the two different popular-vote counts. Sanderss campaign hopes to keep that idea alive despite the official IDP count: Campaign manager Faiz Shakir announced Sunday that they intended to call for a partial recanvass of results before the deadline on Monday at noon.

Sanders won the first alignment of caucusgoers:

The First Alignment

(from 100 percent of precincts in all 99 counties)

Bernie Sanders: 24.7%  43,671 votes Pete Buttigieg: 21.3%  37,557 votes Elizabeth Warren: 18.6%  32,533 votes Joe Biden: 14.9%  26,384 votes Amy Klobuchar: 12.7%  22,469 votes

Sanders then maintained top position in the realignment, with Buttigieg inching closer.

The Realignment

(from 100 percent of precincts in all 99 counties)

Bernie Sanders: 26.5%  45,826 votes Pete Buttigieg: 25.0%  43,195 votes Elizabeth Warren: 20.3%  34,771 votes Joe Biden: 13.7%  23,691 votes Amy Klobuchar: 12.2%  21,181 votes

Why does Mayor Pete have the higher delegate percentage if Bernie has more votes?

There are two explanations for that: (1) The political process in the United States has been carved into complicated and anti-democratic nominating contests that benefit rural Americans over the electorate at-large, and (2)

Buttigieg has a greater representation of state delegates than Sanders (550 to 547) because the ex-mayor performed better in rural districts, where there are more delegates per caucusgoer.

How the candidates are spinning it

Tonights results not only represent an astonishing victory for our movement, they validate the message of belonging that brought us here. If you believe that a new and better vision can bring about a better day, join us: https://t.co/LWHhgdDDU4 pic.twitter.com/XHrhNQvrZL  Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) February 5, 2020

Im proud to say that the results from Iowa so far show that last night we received more votes in the first and second rounds than any other candidate. Let's keep fighting. Add a donation tonight: https://t.co/WIB6YSZmTj  Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) February 5, 2020

From the beginning, weve been building a powerful grassroots movement, and Im so proud of what weve done. 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. Lets go!  Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) February 4, 2020

What the partial results reveal

Here is the Associated Press initial aerial view of the demographics thus far:

Bernie Sanders got a boost from younger voters. Pete Buttigieg connected with voters who want to dramatically change the political system but view themselves as moderates. Elizabeth Warren drew much of her support from college graduates and women. Joe Biden appealed to older voters who saw a chance to recapture an era before President Donald Trump. And Amy Klobuchar built a coalition of older women and moderates.

Another way to view the (partial) results is what they say about the ideologies at play:

The point @clairecmc just made - that Buttigieg/Biden/Klobuchar are adding up to 56% vs. Sanders/Warren at 43% - is an important one.



2020 Dem voters (even in IA) aren't as liberal as often portrayed, and Buttigieg wouldn't be ahead without Biden/Klobuchar second choice votes.  Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) February 5, 2020

Another salient point:

just massively lucky for biden/warren/sanders that the candidate who won the fresh face lane in IA + NH has not shown significant traction elsewhere. imagine if Iowa numbers were coupled w/ a pulse among nonwhite voters. today, right now, networks would be all obama comparisons  Steadman (@AsteadWesley) February 4, 2020

Saturdays unreleased Selzer poll was pretty close

The spiked Ann Selzer poll:

Sanders 22%

Warren 18%

Buttigieg 16%

Biden 13%



Actual first alignment results (62% reporting):

Sanders 24%

Buttigieg 21%

Warren 19%

Biden 15%



A little low on Buttigieg but for a caucus poll, that's *really* good.  Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) February 4, 2020

Conspiracy theories abound

It should come as no surprise that the aftermath of the Iowa debacle has proved to be fertile ground for anyone looking to discredit the results  or the Democratic Party. Everyone from Sanders-supporting influencers to the Biden campaign to the Trump campaign have been casting shadows over the results.

But as Intelligencers Sarah Jones argued on Tuesday, while Sanders supporters have plenty of good reasons to suspect the Democratic Party of ill will, there is no more compelling explanation for what happened in Iowa than incompetence:

There are other, more realistic culprits, and only one sensible conclusion to reach: The national party is too incompetent to conspire successfully against any candidate. Its overweening reliance on consultants, lack of a cohesive message, and lackluster investment in its state affiliates render it weak and dysfunctional. If Democratic loyalists are looking for someone to blame for the divisive reaction to Iowas failures, they should blame the party itself.

So far, the only clear verdict from Mondays nights election in Iowa is that the states caucus system, and its first-in-the-nation status, already embattled previously, are in profound jeopardy.

A premature victory claim

On Tuesday, as some campaigns released partial internal numbers to bolster claims that they performed well in the state, Pete Buttigieg claimed a kind-of victory, telling a cheering crowd that Iowa has shocked the nation.

He later dialed the rhetoric back a little:

New Buttigieg email to supporters: "While the numbers are being verified, what cant be denied is we made history last night. And were going on to New Hampshire with that victory in our hearts."  Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) February 4, 2020

By Thursday, Sanders had declared victory, justifying the claim with some strong logic:

Question: Mayor Pete's been declaring a win for days now, why should people believe your victory speech over his?



Bernie: Because I got 6,000 more votes, and from where I come from when you get 6,000 more votes that's generally regarded to be the winner #IowaCaucus #NotMeUs pic.twitter.com/Ts6lgS9G4d  People for Bernie (@People4Bernie) February 6, 2020

So what went wrong?

What went wrong Monday night? A vote-tabulating app created by the disconcertingly named tech firm Shadow  which was founded by veterans of Hillary Clintons 2016 campaign  was at the center of the storm. According to reports, caucus workers were meant to download the largely untested app and use it to transmit results to the state Democratic Party. But the app failed for some volunteers, while others didnt use it at all, preferring the time-tested method of phoning in the results  only to be placed on endless hold times. The chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party released a statement on Tuesday morning detailing inconsistencies in the initial vote counting, which he said were due to a coding issue.

NEW from Iowa Democratic Party Chair Troy Price: 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. pic.twitter.com/ogXakCt7f4  Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) February 4, 2020

Nevada Democrats, who are set to hold their caucus on February 22, announced that they would not be using the Shadow app to report their results, which they had previously planned to.

Talked with a Nevada State Democratic Party official just now, who confirmed that Shadow DID develop both apps that the party was planning to use, both the early voting app and Caucus Day apps. Confirmed that the party has terminated its relationship with Shadow since last night.  Megan Messerly (@meganmesserly) February 4, 2020

On Wednesday, ProPublica reported that the calamity could have been worse: Though there was no evidence of hacking, the IowaReporterApp was so insecure that vote totals, passwords and other sensitive information could have been intercepted or even changed.

Trump wins, then wins again

President Trump, who easily won the Republican Iowa caucus Monday night (yes, there was one), took the opportunity to gloat.

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

Meanwhile, Intelligencers Frank Rich hasnt been alone in making the point that the Iowa insanity is but the latest chapter in a rolling Democratic calamity that serves as a gift to Donald Trump.

As Intelligencers Eric Levitz noted Tuesday:

We are 24 hours into the 2020 campaign, and Democrats have already humiliated their party on national TV, alienated their least reliable supporters, demoralized their most earnest activists, and handed Donald Trump several new potent lines of attack. https://t.co/3Ii0NjoUJT  Eric Levitz (@EricLevitz) February 4, 2020

A very normal electoral system is working very well

The Iowa caucuses  in which voters brave the cold to shuffle around in high-school gymnasiums to give a presidential candidate a major primary boost  are known to be a little chaotic. But Polk County is leading the way in terms of inelegant voting solutions:

Buttigieg and Warren tie. Coin toss about to happen pic.twitter.com/fJVqDDN5pS  John Pemble (@johnpemble) February 4, 2020

How do the Iowa caucuses work again?

Dont worry, its a common question. As New Yorks Ed Kilgore graciously explained earlier today, participants at each of the states 1,687 precincts are told to go stand or sit in particular parts of the meeting room corresponding to their preferred candidate. A careful count is made and the numbers are recorded (this year, for the first time, they will be reported statewide as one of three measures of support). A viability threshold is applied to figure out which candidates are eligible to win delegates; for all but the smallest precincts, it will be 15 percent. If Iowans support a candidate who does not break 15 percent support, they can either realign with a viable candidate or just go home; votes will be counted again after the realignment.

The only real winner in Iowa

At one Des Moines precinct tonight, an attendee brought in a concealed bottle of wine, dropped it, and it shattered everywhere pic.twitter.com/qHNMP6NLOH  Iowa Starting Line (@IAStartingLine) February 4, 2020
Just three days after right-wing Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe demanded that the police intervene to break the blockade by 750 locked-out workers at the Federated Cooperatives Ltd. (FCL) refinery in Regina, police intervened last Thursday in a ruthless crackdown on pickets.

In actions reminiscent of a police state, the Regina Police Service, emboldened by Moes vow to enforce the law and the Unifor unions isolation of the workers, set up a checkpoint on a public road leading to a key refinery gate late Thursday. Only fuel truckers on a pre-approved list were allowed to use the road. Locked out workers were refused entry and prohibited from their constitutional right to picket as the police organized the dismantling of a gate blockade and removed warming stations and portable toilets used by workers throughout the dispute. Dozens of fuel tanker trucks were then shepherded by police into the refinery and, throughout Friday, removed millions of liters of gasoline and diesel for distribution to FCL retail outlets.

Workers picketing FDLs Co-op Refinery Complex

Police remained on site after dismantling the blockade. Although they announced picketers could return over the weekend, this was only on condition that they restrict themselves to handing out informational material and refrain from blocking vehicles. In other words, FCL can continue to operate its scabbing operation unhindered.

The workers, who have been locked out since December 5, are fighting against the highly profitable companys attempt to destroy their current defined benefits pension program and slash unionized jobs at the facility.

Beyond Moes full backing for the operation, the polices ability to intervene so brazenly is due to Unifors deliberate efforts from the outset to smother the workers opposition to the pension cuts and conclude a rotten negotiated deal that grants the company virtually everything it wants. Even as Moe threatened a police crackdown last week, Unifor officials sought to throw sand in the eyes of workers by applauding the hard-right premier for waking up and seeking to resolve the dispute by appointing a special mediator. (See: Unifor praises Saskatchewan Premier as he demands police action against locked out refinery workers)

Alongside Unifors pathetic pleas for Moe to impose an independent arbitrator, which would merely serve as another mechanism to impose the companys demands, Unifor President Jerry Dias stated last Wednesday that the union was cooperating with the Premier Moe behind the scenes. We have been in and continue to be in conversation about the mediation process Premier Moe has offered, which is currently our best option to get the company back to the bargaining table and end this dispute, said Dias in a statement published just hours before the police smashed the picket line.

Dias claim is absurd. Since the beginning of the dispute the government has made clear that it fully backs FCLs scab operation and stands ready to intervene if workers mobilize to shut down the refinerys operations.

The police action Thursday night was the culmination of a series of anti-worker interventions last week triggered by Moes provocative comments. It began with police ticketing the automobiles of locked-out workers on picket duty and the forced removal of barriers used to block refinery gates. However, workers quickly reinforced the barriers. Then early Thursday morning, with police connivance, seven trucks ran the blockade and were able to depart with fuel deliveries. Over the course of the week, four more workers and Unifors lead negotiator, Scott Doherty, were arrested on mischief charges. Nineteen peaceful picketers have now been arrested and charged, including Unifor President Jerry Dias.

In addition to receiving the full backing of Moe and the police, FCL management has also found close allies in the capitalist courts. Various injunctions have already imposed outrageous restrictions on picketing and resulted in fines against Unifor of $100,000.

At a court hearing Thursday, FCL asked Justice Neil Robertson to fine Unifor an additional $1 million, with $100,000 to be added for every future day that workers disrupt company supply lines. Lawyers also sought jail terms for the president and vice-president of the local union. No doubt aware that police actions were afoot, the judge did not render an immediate decision.

In Carseland, Alberta, Justice Glenda Campbell issued an injunction to limit picketing at FCLs main regional fuel depot. When workers refused to dismantle their blockade, Campbell, issued an enforcement order allowing the RCMP and court bailiffs to intervene and remove all barriers if the union fails to comply by the end of the weekend.

While Moe, backed by court injunctions, has thrown the full force of the capitalist state against the locked-out workers, Unifor has forced them to fight with their hands tied behind their backs. Last weeks events demonstrated the utter fraud of Dias repeated claims that the union would mobilize solidarity from its 315,000 members across the country. The reality is that such demagogic pledges, designed to appeal to the strong militancy among the refinery workers, served as a smokescreen behind which Dias and Unifor isolated the members of Local 594. After flying in a few hundred union bureaucrats from across the country to set up the blockade January 20, the union made no effort to mobilize its 5,000 members working for Saskatchewans crown corporations, never mind the hundreds of thousands of teachers, education workers, public sector employees, health care workers, and many others facing the same assault on their working conditions across the country.

Many of the locked-out workers showed tremendous sacrifice to enforce the blockade, which managed to largely prevent oil from leaving the complex. As a result, and in conjunction with similar actions at Alberta and Manitoba distribution depots, FCL was forced to limit customer fuel purchases throughout its Western Canada network. By the end of last week, 22 of 35 Co-op gas stations in the Winnipeg area had run dry. Similar closures of fuel outlets were recorded in rural Manitoba, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and in southern Alberta.

However, for Unifor, the blockade was from the outset a maneuver designed to dissipate worker opposition in preparation to impose a sellout deal based on managements terms. One week after its launch, Dias accepted an FCL ultimatum that he abandon any preconditions to the restart of talks, including the proviso that existing workers defined benefits plans not be undermined. Unifor moved swiftly to dismantle the blockade and offer annual savings to the company totaling $20 million during the first day of bargaining. Doherty, after admitting that he proposed that workers pay an unprecedented 6 percent towards their pensions, said he could well be beaten up once the workers learned of his disgusting betrayal. Only after FCL dismissed Unifors concessions and demanded more did the union belatedly reestablish the blockade, after trucks had resupplied the refinery and removed large quantities of gasoline.

Bolstered by Moes police crackdown, FCL management is in no mood to compromise. In remarks following the court injunction in Alberta, FCL CEO Scott Banda bluntly summed up the sentiments of corporate Canada. Until Unifor is compelled to abide by the law, they will be emboldened to act in this way in future disputes everywhere in Canada, Banda, a former candidate for leadership of the provincial New Democrats, arrogantly declared, Blockades as a tactic to get your way  thats a challenge and a precedent we should all, as business owners and leaders of business, be very, very, concerned about. We owe it to every other business to not allow this illegal activity to set a dangerous precedent for all of them.

These statements, the brutal police repression ordered by Moe, and Unifors subservience before the provincial government and capitalist law and order only underscore that refinery workers face a political struggle. If they are to prevail, they must take control of their fight to defend pensions out of the hands of the union bureaucracy by forming an independent action committee and appeal for the broadest possible support from the working class in Saskatchewan, nationally and internationally. The defence of pensions, jobs, and living conditions can only go forward through the building of a mass political movement in struggle against the Moe governments agenda of capitalist austerity, which is supported by the ruling elite, its political parties and all its state institutions, including the pro-capitalist unions.
Trading the news before it happens, or in the lead up to an economic data release, is often viewed as less exciting than the fast-paced environment of trading during or after the release. However, there are many underutilized opportunities that present themselves during this less volatile period that forex traders can hunt for. This article will explain how to identify forex trades in the lead up to a news release or announcement using two specific strategies: pre-release trend following strategy and pre-release calm strategy.

Other articles in this series:

Pre-Release Trend Following Strategy

A pre-release trend following strategy focuses on the short-term trend in the lead up to the news release and requires traders to bring up a daily chart with a 10-day simple moving average (SMA).

Traders are expected to enter the trade before the news, in the direction of the short-term trend; aiming to ride any increased volatility further in the direction of the trend, after the news has been released. Additionally, this strategy works if the news results in a low volatility environment as the market is likely to then continue in the direction of the existing trend.

Traders gravitate towards this strategy when the data to be released is anticipated to be in line with expectations. Data that comes out in line with expectations generally reduces the impact of the release and reduces the potential of the news to disrupt the existing trend.

With this strategy, traders have the opportunity of entering at the start of an accelerating trend in order to capitalize on as much of the advancing market as possible.

The risk when using this strategy arises when the news comes out contrary to expectations which has the potential to send the market in the opposite direction with increased volatility.

The strategy can be implemented using the following steps:

Establish the short - term trend : Use a 10-day moving average to assess whether the market is in a short-term uptrend (price trading above the 10-day SMA) or in a short- term downtrend (price trading below the 10-day SMA) Enter the trade : Enter the trade five minutes before the news release in the direction of the trend Manage risk : Set stops and limits while adhering to a positive risk-to-reward ratio Manage the trade : If the volatility created after the news pushes the market quickly towards the target, traders can consider closing half the position at the target level and moving the stop up to the target level in the event that there is still more momentum in the market.

Recommended by Richard Snow Learn how sentiment is used to reveal trends in the market Get My Guide

Pre-Release Calm Strategy

The pre-release calm strategy looks to trade within a range that develops when the market is relatively quiet leading up to the release. Due to the relative lull in the market, traders often overlook this opportunity and wait to trade after the news when the market is more unpredictable.

The pre-release calm strategy is of a shorter time frame when compared to the pre-release trend strategy, as you enter and exit before the news is released. Since nobody knows for sure what the data is going to show, this strategy suits the more risk averse trader  being in and out of the trade before the data has the opportunity to move the markets in an unfavorable way.

Using a five-minute chart, identify support and resistance levels over the 48 hours prior to the major news release. Often, in the beginning of the month there are central bank rate announcements before the major news release of US non-farm payrolls. This strategy can be implemented in the quiet period in between the announcements and the US non-farm payrolls.

Volume is often light so price will have a tough time pushing through those levels and as a result, the market can often be described as non-directional (trading in a short-term range).

The pre-release calm strategy can be implemented using the following steps:

Adjust chart time frame : Scroll down to the 5-minute chart and observe the 48-hour period before the news release Analyze the 48-hour s prior to release : Identify and draw levels of support and resistance over the 48-hour period to define the short-term range. Time entries : Traders can look to buy at support and short at resistance, placing stops below support and above resistance. Targets for long trades can be set at resistance and targets for short positions can be placed at support.

Trading the News Before the Release: Conclusion

Trading before the news release allows traders to enter the market efficiently and at their price when the market is less volatile. This approach also allows traders the option of trading short term ranges and short-term trends  providing more opportunity to trade.

However, depending on the importance of the news, it is possible for markets to experience significant volatility before the release. When this occurs traders should consider a post-release strategy instead.

Further reading

Trading the News FAQs

Sometimes the market is highly volatile leading up to the release, how should I approach this?

When the market is volatile in the lead up to the release, the above strategies are no longer viable. This underscores the importance of analysing the market before adopting a strategy. In this scenario it may be better for traders to monitor the market after the release, once the market has shown its hand and picked a direction or range to trade in. Learn how to trade forex after the news release.
President is incapable of greatness and must learn to change

US President Donald Trump on Friday ousted two star witnesses only two days after his acquittal in impeachment trial in the Senate for telling the inside story of abusing power by the President during the hearing in the House of Representatives of the US Congress.







Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindmana, a decorated veteran and top Ukraine specialist at the White House's National Security Council (NSC), was almost physically ejected from the White House. And only two hours later, ambassador Gordon Sondland was also fired as US ambassador to the European Union. "Vindman was asked to leave for telling the truth," said his lawyer. And then Sondland was fired apparently as a vindictive reprisal from a highly repulsive Donald Trump although he can't humiliate or mishandle public officers on personal ground.







The President's action clearly violated the rule of law and disregard for American constitutional process. To be a government official, it does mean he has to be unpatriotic! His loyalty to the President should be above his loyalty to the country's Constitution given by the people?





If for telling the truth in the best interest of saving the country's democratic process is punishable then the whole system of government is under attack. American people should do something unitedly, no matter who belongs to which political party. The issue is saving democracy and saving America's greatness.







These two officers are heroes in the cause of the constitutional process. And punishing them is un-American.

President's recalling of senior US ambassador Ms Yuvanovitch from Kiev was clearly victimisation for her honesty in serving the people and exposing what is disgraceful in seeking foreign interference with America's presidential election.







Reports said he removed her to clear the way of bringing pressure on Zelnskeyi to entertain President's personal requests. Vindman's twin brother Yevgeny - a lawyer at the NSC -- was also escorted out of the White House on that occasion in yet another demeaning act. It was also disrespect to the Congress and the Constitution.





White House witnesses were asked to make deposition what they know about the President's misuse of power and made public critical document and e-mails linked to the cover up of the abuse of power. Some did it braving the situation, others were blocked.





The world expected to be respectful to the high position he holds as the President of the USA. Upholding democratic values is what makes great.





Trump's arrogance of power is leading to destroying American values. He has no concern for democratic institutions to function properly.





President Trump has not learned the lesson that America's democracy is a model for democracy world over. It is bad for America and bad for democratic world too to find America like dictator.





Trump's acquittal has freed him from charges for impeachment because of highly divisive party politics. The Republican did not want to lose their President. Actually, there was no trial. The trial was obstructed by the Republican Party's partisan politics. So, there is no glory to be boasted.





His lack of knowledge in diplomacy has isolated him and frustrated American allies. American influence worldwide is a matter of great anxiety now. He is unpredictable about changes essential for peace and living together with other countries.





His anti-Muslim policy has again been confirmed by his love for Israeli prime minister Netanyahu, known as butcher of Palestinians. Netanyahu's aggression on Palestinian state is getting support from President Trump.







Now Netanyahu is leading President Trump for getting a solution of Palestinian crisis. That is enough to show his poor sense of diplomacy. He understands business deals. But America is not a country of business deals.





We say it sadly that President Trump is a threat for peace, and terribly un-American.





We are not against President Trump. We want to see him as great President suitable for a noble country. But he does not show signs of giving up coarseness of his style.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 17:05:49|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspects the novel coronavirus pneumonia prevention and control work in Beijing, capital of China, on Feb. 10, 2020. Xi visited Anhuali Community, Chaoyang District of Beijing to learn about the epidemic prevention and control at the primary level and the supply of daily necessities. He also extended regards to residents and community workers. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, on Monday inspected the novel coronavirus pneumonia prevention and control work in Beijing.

Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visited Anhuali Community, Chaoyang District of Beijing to learn about the epidemic prevention and control at the primary level and the supply of daily necessities. He also extended regards to residents and community workers.
EDWARDSVILLE  The conditions for blacks on campus are improving and yet, in some areas, stagnant, according to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Black Faculty and Staff Association (BFSA) President Lakesha Butler.

Butler, a clinical professor in the School of Pharmacys Department of Pharmacy Practice, was one of several individuals on program during the SIUE State of the Black Union, hosted by the BFSA Feb. 6 in the Morris University Center. The inaugural State of the Black Union included a report of facts and figures, panel discussion, racial caucusing and one-year action plan development session.

The State of the Black Union is an opportunity to understand and acknowledge the challenges, to celebrate the victories and work towards greater campus transformation, said BFSA Board Member J.T. Snipes, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership. I am encouraged, because we are working for the betterment of SIUE, and we are doing good work.

I want to thank those who had the vision for this State of the Black Union  BFSA Vice President for Staff Tarsha Moore and BFSA Board Member Dr. J.T. Snipes, Butler said. Additionally, I would like to thank Chancellor Randy Pembrook for genuinely supporting black faculty, staff and students at SIUE.

As we have our conversation today, I want us to consider where we have come from, and where we need to go, said Pembrook, during the welcome. There are areas where we have made tremendous progress in the organizations that have been formed and the strategic planning that has gone on. There are situations and things in place now that are better than they were two, four or 10 years ago.

I appreciate the work that is going on. Strategic planning is incredibly important. If you dont know where youre going, you wont know if you have arrived, he continued. I also want to thank Prince Wells, Anthony Cheeseboro and Lakesha Butler for their leadership with BFSA, and I recognize what the organization has meant to the campus since Ive been here. From your conversations today, I want to hear your concerns and figure out ways to continue making progress.

Snipes and Tarsha Moore, assistant director in the Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion (CSDI), presented SIUE State of the Black Union, which looked at black figures in such categories of grades, hiring and retention.

A brief look at some statistics:

 There were 255 African Americans who earned degrees in FY18, compared to 244 in FY17.

 There were 43 black faculty in FY18, with two new faculty hires, compared to three new hires in FY17.

 There were 323 black staff in FY18, compared to 307 in FY17.

 There were seven black executive administrators and managers in FY18, compared to three in FY17.

During a panel session, problems with racial equity and challenges for fostering racial inclusion were brought to light. Participants discussed possible solutions to improve hiring practices, tackle a lack of black faculty, increase student connection with allies and boost social justice competency skills within departments.

Proposed solutions included:

 Strategic hiring for faculty and staff

 Strategic planning/transparency/accountability in professional development and advancement

 Innovation grant to incentivize the individuals doing the work

 More contact with and training of middle managers in matters of equity, inclusion and welcoming work spaces

 Mentor and develop student impact scholars

 Racial ally training.

Im looking forward to coming back next year to see the changes and improvements that we will have made this year, Moore said.
Appointment

10 February 2020

Having started his hospitality career as Commis 2 in Damascus Syria in 1996, Rober has since then seen a rapid growth in his career, never forgetting where he comes from and always being true to his roots and passion - providing innovative and high-quality Arabic cuisine to his guests.

As a culinary veteran with more than 20 years' of experience in the United Arab Emirates, Rober's career in Dubai started in 1999 as Demi Chef de Partie, followed by his move to Burj Al Arab the year after, where he received three promotions within a span of six years. In 2012 Rober joined Fairmont The Palm as senior chef de cuisine, spearheading a team of 51 colleagues and overseeing six outlets.

No stranger to the Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, in 2016 Rober was appointed as the Executive Sous Chef in the pre-opening team of Fairmont Fujairah, followed by his promotion to an Executive Chef three years later. One of Rober's greatest achievement in Fujairah was to source fresh oysters from the Dibba Oyster Farm, becoming the UAE's first hotel to use locally sourced oysters, resulting an overwhelming success for the farm.

In his new role, Salloum will oversee Fairmont Ajman's seven food and beverage outlets including the award-winning Turkish restaurant Kiyi and the Italian restaurant, Gioia.
Politburo member and Minister of Public Security To Lam has affirmed that the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security will do its best to further comprehensive cooperation with Lao counterparts to meet demand in the new situation.

Minister of Public Security To Lam (L) and Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith

Minister Lam made the statement at a meeting with Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith in Vientiane on February 10, during which the minister thanked the Lao PM for creating favourable conditions for Vietnamese and Lao ministries of public security to work closely together and jointly fight crimes, contributing to protecting security and order in each country.

He suggested that the two countries should continue offering mutual support in the near future, and hoped that Laos would help Vietnam fulfil its role as ASEAN Chair, ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) Chair and a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council this year.

Lam also informed his host about the outcomes of his talks with the Lao Minister of Public Security.

Thongloun Sisoulith, for his part, expressed his satisfaction about effective coordination between the two ministries over the past years, particularly in anti-crime and personnel training.

He wished that ties between the two public security forces would further grow for the sake of each countrys socio-economic development and external affairs.

At the talks earlier, Minister Lam and his Lao counterpart Vilay Lakhamphong reviewed joint work last year and set orientations to bilateral coordination this year.

Both sides pledged to effectively implement agreements by the two countries leaders this year and the cooperation agreement between the two governments that was adopted at the 42nd meeting of the Vietnam  Laos Inter-governmental Committee.

They will continue facilitating visits by leaders of the two ministries, promptly deal with contingencies and prevent hostile forces from sabotaging security and order in each nation.

Host and guest vowed to enhance information sharing, especially those regarding regional and global issues impacting security and order, as well as fight terrorism, drug trafficking and illegal immigration, and counter the threats of non-traditional security affecting bilateral cooperation.

They will also effectively realise international conventions and agreements to which the two countries are members, conduct negotiations for the signing of an extradition agreement, and offer mutual support at regional and global forums.

The two governments agreements in border areas will be carried out in order to ensure security and order and building a borderline of peace, cooperation and development.

Concluding the talks, the two sides signed a plan to implement 2020 cooperation agreement between the two ministries.

On the occasion, Lam presented Friendship Orders and Medals to 18 officials of the Lao Ministry of Public Security in recognition of their contributions to ties between the two ministries./. VNA
The fact the incident was filmed, in broad daylight, gave it a performative element, Paulsen said. And it could well have been making a cultural or political point. "We respect and acknowledge all forms of expression. There's a lot of conversation within the street and graffiti world about Hosier Lane. It has become fairly commercial these days, with corporates commissioning artworks in the lane. "So many artists in the lane know their work can be there one day and gone the next. And they have provided the space with a whole new canvas." Hosier Lane on Monday morning. Credit:Jason South Others were more critical.

Victorian tourism minister Martin Pakula said the perpetrators were "idiots" who had done it "for their own gratification". "I hope they're caught, I hope they're dealt with," he said. "In terms of Hosier Lane, it is a very dynamic space and I've got no doubt our street artists will be there very soon to paint more wonderful art to redress the ridiculous behaviour of these vandals." Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp told radio station 3AW that unlike the street art which was in Hosier Lane, the paint bombing was self-centred, its damaging and creates no value for anyone. Its vandalism at its worst ... I think it was very intimidating, the way they went about it, it was not the sort of behaviour we will have in the city, she said. Our focus is on making sure the people who have vandalised our city are identified and called to account.

Victoria Police have confirmed they're investigating the "criminal damage incident". "A number of vandals caused extensive damage when they spray-painted over artwork and cobblestones in Hosier Lane," a spokeswoman said. Two Americans visiting Melbourne - Ben and Julia from California and New York - said they had heard Melbourne was "really good for street art" so had popped by to take a look at Hosier Lane. "I would have liked to see what was there before they spray-painted over it," said Ben. "But it's a part of it now and I expect some artists are going to come and cover up what they covered up."

Chase Joslin, an employee of Hosier Lane streetwear shop Culture Kings, said "down here any street art is culture I guess. "But where youre going through and destroying people's art, I dont think its part of the culture," he said. "At the end of the day, it is the artists who want to do it ... What is art these days? It could be anything." Art vandalism has a long history, sometimes committed by vandals intent on simple destruction, other times by artists who consider their act itself to be art. In December, performance artist David Datuna ate a banana taped to a wall at Art Basel in Miami. The banana had just been sold for $120,000 as a symbol of global trade.

The fruit was replaced. Gallery director Lucien Terras said the artwork had not been destroyed: The banana is the idea. Hosier Lane became a street art gallery in 1998 and attracts about 5000 visitors per day, according to the City of Melbourne. It doesn't host the city's most famous street art (that honour belongs to nearby AC/DC Lane with its 2003 stencils by British street artist Banksy) but it has featured a number of noteworthy works, including a paste-up mural by Chinese-Australian activist Badiucao to mark the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre last year. The lane's current tribute to firefighters, a koala with a hose which captured worldwide attention, remains intact at the other end of the lane. The City of Melbourne acknowledges in its 2014 Graffiti Management Plan that protection of street art is not practical because it is not meant to last.
The World Health Organization describes obstructive sleep apnea syndrome as "a clinical disorder marked by frequent pauses in breathing during sleep usually accompanied by loud snoring." Close to one billion people around the world suffer from it, unable to sleep without waking up multiple times every night.



Now a prototype chest patch by Onera Health relies on machine learning and bioimpedence measurements to detect sleep apnea.

Onera Health

According to a July 2019 medical report authored by several physicians and doctors from around the world, an estimated 970 million people suffer from obstructive sleep apnea around the world.



As mentioned above, sleep apnea is caused by uncontrolled pausing in breathing. These pauses cut off the oxygen supply to your body for a few seconds and halt the removal of carbon dioxide. As a result of this, your brain briefly wakes you up, re-opens the airways and re-starts breathing, according to the World Health Organization.

Getting tested for sleep apnea is a cumbersome process right now, usually results in spending a night in a clinic connected to sensors that measure your brain activity, eye movement, and blood oxygen levels. But Onera Health's device patch hopes to make all this history.

The device appears to be tinier than a credit card, described in a study published 20 January in the IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, which measures electrical signals passing through the body (known as bioimpedance) and machine learning algorithms to effectively predict sleep apnea attacks. It's also supposed to be a convenient monitoring of sleep apnea, with a heavy impetus on tracking your breathing.

Several sleep apnea detecting devices are already there in the market, but they aren't very effective. This led researchers a group of researchers felt they could do much better, and their device, called Robin, does so by applying a small current to the body at a known frequency, and measures the resulting voltage at a different location after it passes through the body, according to an IEEE Spectrum report.



The researchers quickly realized that Robin can be used to fairly accurately monitor a wearers breathing. The team used AI and machine learning to the bioimpedance measurements to detect sleep apnea events. Their approach has an accuracy of 73 percent at detecting sleep apnea events among 25 volunteers, which is a pretty good success rate.

The team behind Robin believes their respiratory technique based sleep apnea monitoring can be used to detect and monitor other breathing-based disorders as well.


Merkel risks the life of the CDU

In December 2018, Chancellor Angela Merkel handed over the CDU party chair to Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.

The life-threatening crisis of the CDU is primarily due to one person who has just now clearly shown that she still sees herself as the party chairperson: Chancellor Angela Merkel (65). From South Africa, she told her party to reverse the Thuringia election results.

Angela Merkel created a pseudo-successor to herself  who was not supposed to shine brighter than her and who never had the power and influence to fix the damage that Chancellor Merkel has done within the CDU.

Lesen Sie auch

AKK-Beben in der CDU Wer die Macht nicht nutzt, dem wird sie genommen CDU-Beben in Berlin! Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer verzichtet auf die Kanzlerkandidatur und will bald den CDU-Vorsitz abgeben.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (57), on the other hand, lacked the power instinct necessary for quickly bringing problem cases like the Thuringia provincial ruler Mike Mohring (48) back under control. Under AKK, everybody could do what they want.

Now the CDU is swinging suicidally between the Greens and the AfD, because Merkel as the party leader slept through, ignored, and gave away the two big issues of migration and climate. Instead of shaping the future, the major party CDU is trying to keep up with the Greens and the AfD  without winning back any of the voters it has lost.

Auch Interessant



In the big cities, the Greens are about to become a major party. In Germanys east, its the AfD. At the same time, the CDU is tumbling through the country without leadership. Chancellor Merkel is restricting herself to working on her own personal popularity. She is concerned with shaping her own image for the history books and leaves the party to fend for itself. She doesnt even show up in the election campaigns, because she knows she is no longer wanted there.

Lesen Sie auch Op-Ed by US Ambassador Grenell Palestinians deserve a courageous leadership President Trump's peace plan is an opportunity for Palestinians, Ambassador Richard Grenell writes in an exclusive Op-Ed for BILD.

The AKK debacle has shown: With Angela Merkel in the chancellery, a new beginning for the CDU is not possible  even less so with candidates that are popular in the country, but despised by Merkel.

As long as Merkel is governing, the CDU will not win over new voters. If this comes to pass, the political centre would  following the near-demise of the SPD  finally collapse.

If the Chancellor does not realize this, her legacy could be that she ruined her own party and that, with the AfD and Greens, she created two new major parties. One will then look at the CDU as pitifully and nostalgically as one does today at the SPD.


Electricite de France S.A. (EPA:EDF) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 24% in the last quarter. But if you look at the last five years the returns have not been good. You would have done a lot better buying an index fund, since the stock has dropped 52% in that half decade.

View our latest analysis for Electricite de France

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. 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 five years over which the share price declined, Electricite de France's earnings per share (EPS) dropped by 17% each year. The share price decline of 14% per year isn't as bad as the EPS decline. So the market may previously have expected a drop, or else it expects the situation will improve.

The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

ENXTPA:EDF Past and Future Earnings, February 10th 2020

We're pleased to report that the CEO is remunerated more modestly than most CEOs at similarly capitalized companies. But while CEO remuneration is always worth checking, the really important question is whether the company can grow earnings going forward. Before buying or selling a stock, we always recommend a close examination of historic growth trends, available here..

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 incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. In the case of Electricite de France, it has a TSR of -31% for the last 5 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

Electricite de France shareholders are down 20% for the year (even including dividends) , but the market itself is up 24%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 7.1% 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. 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. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Electricite de France that you should be aware of.

We will like Electricite de France better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on FR 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.






Vietnam government urges localities to act against bird flu



The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has called on local authorities nationwide to take precautions against bird flu, Viet Nam News reported last week.

The request came after the outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza in Hunan Province in China.

Agriculture minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong assessed the risk to Vietnam's 467-million-strong domestic poultry flock to be at a "very dangerous" level given Hunan's close proximity.

He added that the consequences for lax management and quarantine efforts would be "highly complicated," especially as the country has barely recovered from African swine fever.

The first quarter of 2020 is also likely to be humid, creating perfect conditions for poultry diseases.

The ministry asked city and provincial People's Committees to instruct their agriculture and rural development authorities to toughen supervision, investigation and early discovery of all bird flu outbreaks.

Localities were asked to take samples to provide timely warnings and effectively use vaccines against the flu. Some localities were reported to have not focused on vaccinating poultry. In December 2019, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development provided 4.5 million doses of avian influenza vaccine to localities.

Chairs of municipal and provincial People's Committees were told to direct units of the National Steering Committee against Smuggling, Trade Frauds and Counterfeits to deal with illegal transportation of animals and their products, especially birds from abroad.

According to Pham Van ong, head of the Department of Animal Health, an outbreak of H5N6 bird flu was detected in Quang Ninh Province last month: /contents/02-10-2020/4e0b119e-cb48-4e78-b6f9-0c4560ebe6ef-0012.html
Duanes syndrome is a congenital non-progressive form of squint or strabismus. The sideways movement of the eyeball is impaired and the eyelids open and close inappropriately as the eyes turn. The outward movement of the eye away from the nose (abduction) and similarly the inward movement of the eye looking toward the nose (adduction) is defective.

The condition was first recognized by ophthalmologists Jakob Stilling (1887) and Sigmund Turk (1896) but was described in detail by Alexander Duane in 1905 after whom it is named.

Other names used to refer to this disorder include Duane's retraction syndrome (DRS), eye retraction syndrome, congenital retraction syndrome retraction syndrome, and Stilling-Turk-Duane syndrome.

Duanes syndrome may affect one or both eyes, with the left eye involved more often for reasons not known. Duanes syndrome is seen more frequently in females. Most cases are diagnosed by 10 years of age. There is no particular race predilection.

About 10-20% cases are familial and these are more likely to be bilateral than the sporadic form of Duanes syndrome (80%).

It is a rare condition affecting 1 in 10000 persons and accounts for between 1-5% of all squint cases.

To understand what goes wrong in Duanes syndrome, it is important to know how the eye muscles function to move the eye in various directions. There are normally, six muscles on the outside of each eyeball which allow us to move the eye in all directions as needed. These eye muscles are innervated by nerves which control the eye movement.

Normally the muscle that moves the eyeball laterally outward away from the nose is the lateral rectus muscle innervated by the abducent (cranial nerve VI) nerve. The eye muscle that moves the eyeball inward to look at the nose is the medial rectus and it is innervated by the oculomotor (cranial nerve III) nerve.

For normal eye movement to occur, both the muscle and its nerve supply must be intact. The brain sends electrical signals along nerve fibres to the muscles causing eye movement. These nerve fibres and muscles are formed much before we are born.

Duane syndrome is caused by a miswiring of the nerves that supply eye muscles. The abducent nerve that supplies the lateral rectus muscle does not develop, and thus this muscle cannot function properly. However, instead, the muscle gets a twig from the oculomotor nerve which also supplies the medial rectus muscle which has the opposite movement of the lateral rectus muscle.

Therefore when the eye attempts to look sideways, the opposing medial rectus muscle also will be stimulated, thus limiting abduction or outward movement and instead the eye appears to retract into the socket with the eyelids opening and closing inappropriately.

In some cases, which involve both eyes (bilateral DRS), mutation in the CHN1 gene have been noted leading to familial DRS .

have been noted leading to . Exposure to thalidomide of the fetus in early pregnancy (20-26 days) has been shown to be associated with an increased risk of Duanes syndrome.

Duanes is subdivided into three types, which are distinct entities with unique features.

Type 1: Impaired ability of involved eye/eyes to move outward towards the ear, but the ability to move towards the nose is near normal

Type 2: Impaired ability to move inward towards the nose, but the ability to move outward away from the nose is near normal

Type 3: Limited ability of affected eye/eyes to move both inward toward the nose as well as outward away from the nose

Squint: the eyes may be misaligned and point in different directions some or all of the time

Abnormal head position: children often maintain an abnormal head posture or turn their head to keep the eyes aligned or straight

Upshoot or downshoot of eye: when attempting outward movements, the eye may deviate upward or downward

Amblyopia (reduced vision in the affected eye): occurs in a small proportion of cases

Eyelid narrowing: the affected eye may appear smaller than the other eye

Examination of eye movements and visual acuity by the eye specialist will raise the suspicion of the diagnosis. Other tests that may be performed to confirm the diagnosis and determine the residual function of the involved eye muscle. These include

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brainstem  may reveal small or absent abducent nerve nucleus and nerve; the optic, oculomotor and trochlear nerves may also be poorly developed

Electromyography of eye muscle - may demonstrate degree of activity in the lateral rectus muscles ranging from no activity during outward eye movement to essentially equal activity in both outward and inward eye movements.

Goal of treatment is to reduce squint, prevent or reduce abnormal head posturing and prevent vision impairment in the affected eye

Conservative Management

Children diagnosed with Duanes syndrome most often do not require any treatment. They have to be followed up by the eye doctor regularly to check for vision.

Most children will have normal vision, although in some cases, glasses may be prescribed to achieve best vision.

In some children, it may be necessary to use an eye patch over the normal eye to prevent Duanes eye from becoming lazy leading to visual impairments.

leading to visual impairments. Fresnel prisms attached to glasses may be prescribed to avoid abnormal head posturing.

Surgery

Surgical correction may be necessary if the eyes are misaligned even when looking straight, there is significant head turning to see properly, or there is marked upshooting or downshooting of the eyes.

Surgery will improve vision although it will not make the eye movements normal. This is because the main problem is in the signaling from the brain which cannot be modified by surgery.

Sporadic Duanes syndrome cannot be prevented as they occur spontaneously in offspring of normal parents.

However persons with familial DRS wherein other family members are also similarly affected, may be advised to seek genetic counselling to understand the risk of having an affected baby. Prenatal diagnosis is possible for pregnancies at increased risk i.e. if the condition is present in a family member.

Health Tips
Police in the Ashanti Region have picked up one person in connection with the suspected murder of Ruth Ama Eshun, a nurse with the Sewua Health Center.



The cause of the death, which has sparked outrage, is yet to be confirmed by police.



Despite speculation, police are also yet to confirm if the deceased was raped before her death as being alleged by some Ghanaians.



Ruth Ama Eshun, who is a mother of three, was found dead at a secluded area close to her Ayoum new site residence in the Bosomtwi District.



Relatives of Ruth Ama Eshun, who could not trace the whereabouts of the deceased after she closed from work on Monday, February 3, found her lifeless body a day later.



The crime scene in the death of Ruth Eshun, a nurse with the Sewua Health Center, was set ablaze on Saturday adding to the mystery of the tragic incident.



Police sources have however indicated that the fire will not in any way affect investigations into the incident.



According to them, investigators had already carried out a deconstruction of the crime scene; a bush near the home of the victim.

Source: Daily Graphic









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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)

Barr Says DOJ Reviewing Information on Ukraine, Including From Giuliani

Attorney General William Barr confirmed on Feb. 10 that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is currently receiving and evaluating information on Ukraine, including from former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, as part of an intake process, while noting that officials have to be very careful about information coming from that country.

The Justice Department has the obligation to have an open door to anybody who wishes to provide us information that they think is relevant. Barr told reporters. We cant take anything we receive from the Ukraine at face value. For that reason, we had established an intake process in the field, so that any information coming in about Ukraine could be carefully scrutinized by the department.

The procedure would assess the provenance and credibility of any information given to the DOJ, according to Barr.

That is true for all information that comes to the department relating to the Ukraine, Barr added, including anything Mr. Giuliani might provide. Giuliani is currently serving as President Donald Trumps personal lawyer.

A day earlier, the chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), said the Justice Department was reviewing information from Giuliani pertaining to former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden as part of a new process.

[Barr] told me that theyve created a process that Rudy could give information and they would see if its verified, Graham told CBS News Face the Nation program. Rudy Giuliani is a well-known man  hes a good lawyer. But what Im trying to say to the president and anybody else, that the Russians are still up to it. Deterrence is not working.

The news of the arrangement comes after Trump was acquitted on both articles of impeachment, ending the third impeachment trial in U.S. history. Meanwhile, three Republican-led Senate committees are investigating Hunter Bidens business dealings in Ukraine and China.

Trump, during a phone call in July 2019, asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to look into the firing of Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin. Joe Biden has publicly boasted about forcing Shokins ouster by withholding $1 billion in loan guarantees from Ukraine. At the time, Bidens son was receiving as much as $1 million per year to serve on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company under investigation by the prosecutor general.

Documents from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) that were reportedly provided to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), could be particularly illuminating. Public knowledge about Hunter Bidens financial transactions has been limited to financial statements disclosed during the trial of his business partner, Devon Archer, who also served on the board of Burisma. The statements show Archer and Biden receiving more than $83,000 per month from Burisma starting in 2014.

When Graham was asked about his previous comments that Giuliani should come to the Judiciary Committee with any documents from Ukraine, he said the documents should be first looked over by intelligence, and that he doesnt want to become a Republican Christopher Steele. Steele was the former British spy who produced an unverified dossier that was funded by the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee and played a central role in the Russia investigation.

Documents coming out of the Ukraine against any AmericanRepublican or Democratneed to be looked at by the intelligence services, who [have] expertise I dont, Graham said, because Russia is playing us all like a fiddle. And Christopher Steele was played by the Russians. That started the Russian investigation against President Trump.

In a Feb. 10 interview, Joe Biden laughed when asked by CBS This Morning if he was concerned about the Justice Department vetting Giulianis information. Hunter Biden stepped down from Burismas board in April 2019.

No one has said [Hunter Biden] has done anything wrong except the thug, Rudy Giuliani, Biden said on the program. Come on, Rudy Giuliani? A character witness?

The State Department also is going to be questioned as part of the probe into the Bidens, according to Graham.

Were going to ask the State Department, Why didnt you do something about the conflict of interest? When John Kerrys chief of staff was warned about Hunter Bidens conflict on Burisma, what did you do, if anything?

Thats all legitimate, Graham said. Rudy says hes got the goods.

Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report.
President Akufo-Addo has assured the Assembly of Heads of State and Governments of the African Union that the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area will be operational by 31st March, 2020.

Making an intervention on Sunday, 9th February, 2020, during the closed session of the 33rd AU Summit, currently ongoing in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, President Akufo-Addo indicated that Ghana, after being selected as host country for the Secretariat, was directed to work with the AU Commission to ensure an expeditious and efficient process of establishing a permanent Secretariat for the AfCFTA in Accra by 31st March, 2020.

Outlining the activities that being undertaken by Ghana, to this end, the President indicated that the reconfiguration of the Office Premises based on the specific requirements agreed with the AU Commission, including the installation of critical Data and IT Infrastructure facilities, Security Systems, Office Furnishing, and Corporate branding of the AfCFTA Office Complex, has been done.

Secondly, he told the Assembly that the acquisition and furnishing of the residence of the Secretary General of AfCFTA, based on the requirements agreed with the AU Commission has been completed, with the initiation of negotiations with real estate companies for residential accommodation for other AfCFTA staff.

In addition to the finalisation of arrangements of health and educational facilities for AfCFTA management and staff, the President stated that a dedicated booth at the Kotoka International Airport, Accra, to facilitate entry and exit requirements of AfCFTA officials, as well as representatives of Member States, who will be conducting official business with the AfCFTA Secretariat, has been secured.

In addition, the Government of Ghana sponsored six (6) different meetings of the AfCFTA in December 2019, in Accra. Thus far, a total amount of US$3 million has been advanced by the Government of Ghana for the establishment and operationalisation of the AfCFTA Secretariat, President Akufo-Addo added.

The President reiterated Ghanas determination to establish the Secretariat by the end of March 2020, which will be of world class quality, and to help ensure that, by 1st July, 2020, as mandated by the Assembly, the AfCFTA takes off without a hitch.

COMSATS

Earlier on Sunday, President Akufo-Addo held a meeting of Member States of the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS).

With Ghana serving as Chair of COMSATS, the President told Heads of State and representatives of 27 Member States that the purpose of the meeting was to ensure that Member States recommit themselves to the work of COMSATS, and to reposition the Commission to support the collective drive for development, leveraging science, technology and innovation.

In the twenty-five years of its existence, COMSATS has played a lead role in cultivating an enhanced culture of scientific and technological co-operation amongst its Members, through capacity building, education and research and development, he said.

The President continued, The pivotal role science and technology play in development is well acknowledged. Together with innovation, they have become the new currency for development. Science and technology hold the key to finding sustainable economic, social and environmental solutions to the many problems that confront us. And these problems are shared  from Algeria to Zimbabwe, and from Benin to Tanzania, we face common problems.

He was confident that COMSATS is well situated to help foster greater partnerships to advance science and technology for the development of Africa.

With one of the key objectives of Agenda 2063 being to transform Africa into a strategic player in the global economy, President Akufo-Addo was certain that this could be achieved through improved education and application of science and technology in development.

With the meeting serving as a precursor to the General Meeting and the Forum on Science and Technology, which will be held in Accra on the 14th and 15th of April, 2020, President Akufo-Addo urged Member States to join us in Ghana for the General Meeting.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Due to the spread of new coronavirus, EV manufacturer Tesla will slow down its new car delivery in China which was supposed to be handled after the Lunar New Year holiday, according to Tesla global vice president Grace Tao, who replied to a Weibo follower on February 4.

Ms. Tao said Tesla will strive to speed up the delivery after the epidemic infection is mitigated, in a bid to offset the virus-caused slowdown. Thus, it is drawing up relevant plans.

Besides, the coronavirus outbreak has also postponed Tesla's production at the Gigafactory 3. 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.

It took the high-profiled EV manufacturer just 168 working days to go from permits to a completed Shanghai plant, an astounding feat in the eyes of both fans and critics.

On the last day of 2019, the first batch of China-built Model 3 BEVs was handed over to 15 Tesla employees at the Shanghai plant. Only a week later, Tesla formally kicked off the larger-scale delivery of the locally-produced sedans. Besides, the project of the Model Y was launched there at the same time, while the timeline still remained unknown.

Tesla sets a milestone to China's auto industry as the Gigafactory 3 is the country's first car manufacturing plant wholly-owned by a foreign enterprise. Up until now, local authorities have effectively turned on many policy green lights to support the EV marker's China offensive. For instance, the homegrown Model 3 has been exempted from the vehicle purchase tax on NEVs. Additionally, car buyers of the China-made car can enjoy the national NEV subsidy as the model has been listed in the Catalogue of Recommended Models for NEV Popularization and Application issued by the MIIT.

Aside from the policy enticement, Tesla has entered into agreements with lenders in China for a secured term loan facility of up to RMB9 billion, according to a regulatory filing on December 26, 2019.

The lenders are China Construction Bank Corp, Agricultural Bank of China, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, according to the filing.
Patna: A man outside the official residence of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday tried to self-immolate in an attempt to attract the attention of the Chief Minister though he was quickly saved by the security guards on duty and taken away to the Gardanibagh police station.

The man seeking the attention of the Chief Minister was identified as Abhijeet Sharma of Hajipur who said he had been running from pillar to post to seek justice for his young cousins after their mother died of dengue six months ago as a direct result of negligence by doctors and hospitals of Bihar.

"My mausi Archana Devi of Kankarbagh died six months ago due to misdiagnosis and improper treatment by Patna doctors. Since then, I have left no stone unturned in seeking justice for my cousins. I went to police stations and even sought a hearing from the Chief Minister but where I went, I was told to go somewhere else. Finally, I decided that the only way to get the attention of the Chief Minister was to kill myself before his house," Sharma said.

He was rushed to the Gardanibagh hospital for burn injuries and then later taken to the police station where he is expected to face many charges.

Patna District Magistrate Kumar Ravi said if Abhijeet had come to him, he would have definitely listened to his grievances.
Pope Francis will make an official trip to Malta on May 31, the Vatican said Monday, bringing the pontiff to one of the top disembarkation spots for migrants fleeing Libya. The visit, to both the main island of Malta and the archipelago's island of Gozo, is the pontiff's first announced journey for 2020. Malta is on the front line of migration into Europe, situated 95 kilometres (60 miles) south of Sicily and due north of Libya's capital of Tripoli. That makes it a central port of entry into Europe for the increasing numbers of migrants attempting the perilous Mediterranean crossing, fleeing the renewed fighting in Libya. Francis has often spoken up for migrants and has called on the European Union to be more welcoming of those fleeing chaos in their home countries. The Argentine pontiff will meet Malta's new prime minister, Robert Abela, who took office in January promising to strengthen the rule of law there. Malta has been gripped by a widespread allegations of corruption, another global problem regularly addressed in the pope's declarations. Malta's previous prime minister, Joseph Muscat, stepped down as the investigation into the 2017 murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017 implicated some of his closest collaborators. According to Catholic tradition, St. Paul was shipwrecked in the Maltese archipelago on his way to his trial in Rome in the year 60 AD. While no other papal trips have yet been announced for this year, he has been formally invited to visit Iraq, Cyprus, Indonesia and Montenegro. He has also expressed an interest in visiting South Sudan, where he has personally interceded in efforts to end the civil war there. Francis has often spoken up for migrants and has called on the European Union to be more welcoming of those fleeing chaos in their home countries
Photo: Condesa Coffee/Yelp

Looking to try the top bars around?

Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the best affordable bars in Atlanta, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of where to satisfy your cravings.

1. The Local

photo: joe s./yelp

Topping the list is The Local. Located at 758 Ponce De Leon Ave. NE in Virginia Highland, the bar is the highest-rated cheap bar in Atlanta, boasting four stars out of 295 reviews on Yelp.

William C. noted, "The Local is a very cool dive bar and a fun place to have a drink, but I don't get all the hype about the wings."

2. Condesa Coffee

photo: amin r./yelp

Next up is Old Fourth Ward's Condesa Coffee, situated at 480 John Wesley Dobbs Ave., Suite #100. With four stars out of 281 reviews on Yelp, the bar and breakfast and brunch spot, serving coffee and tea and more, has proven to be a local favorite for those looking for an affordable option.

Regarding signature items, "We have an espresso bar, wine bar, coffee cocktails and beer," it writes on Yelp in the section highlighting specialties. "We also have delicious sandwiches and small plates prepared with local and organic ingredients."

3. Righteous Room

photo: lindsey h./yelp

Righteous Room, a bar and traditional American spot in Poncey-Highland, is another budget-friendly go-to, with four stars out of 140 Yelp reviews. Head over to 1051 Ponce De Leon Ave. NE to see for yourself.

Yelper Julie W., who reviewed Righteous Room on Aug. 6, wrote, "This place has been my go-to dive bar! You'll find cheap strong drinks, cheap beer and cheap delicious food."

This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
The coronavirus epidemic in China surpassed a grim milestone Sunday with a death toll that exceeds that of the SARS outbreak 17 years ago, a development that coincided with news that World Health Organisation experts might soon be in the country to help stanch the crisis

Beijing: The coronavirus epidemic in China surpassed a grim milestone Sunday with a death toll that exceeds that of the SARS outbreak 17 years ago, a development that coincided with news that World Health Organisation experts might soon be in the country to help stanch the crisis.

The outbreak has killed at least 908 people in China in the month since the first death was reported in January in Wuhan, the city where the coronavirus emerged in December, apparently in a wholesale food market. Two people have died outside China.

The SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, crisis, which began in southern China in similar circumstances in 2002, ultimately killed 774 people worldwide over the course of several months.

The number of new deaths reported over the previous 24 hours  97  was the highest in China in a single day so far, according to figures announced Sunday by the countrys health commission. The number of infections overall in China now far exceeds that of SARS, rising above 40,100, compared with 8,000 then.

Offers of help from the WHO and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention had languished for weeks, but on Sunday Cui Tiankai, the Chinese ambassador to the United States, said experts from the WHO would be allowed into China very soon.

Hours later WHOs director-general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced on Twitter that an advance team was on its way.

The Chinese governments inability to contain the outbreak has disrupted life across the country and beyond, provoking grief and outrage that the Communist Party state under Xi Jinping has also been scrambling to cauterise. The crisis threatens to disrupt peoples return to work on Monday after an already-extended break for the Lunar New Year.

Most cities, including the capital Beijing, have largely been shut down for two weeks, with residents warned to stay indoors. Most, by all appearances, have done so, creating eerily deserted cityscapes. It remains far from certain that anything like a normal workday will resume in most of the country, though the severity of imposed restrictions varies from city to city.

Some schools have announced they would delay the start of post-holiday schedules, as have many companies. Theatres, museums and other places plan to remain shut through the end of February.

Economists are predicting a significant blow to Chinas economy, which could worsen significantly if businesses and factories struggle to resume functioning. Millions of Chinese away from home are in limbo because of travel restrictions and quarantines imposed after the virus emerged.

The Communist Party is already facing an extraordinary outpouring of public anger over its handling of the epidemic, especially the suppression of information early on that many people and experts believe might have reduced its lethal spread.

The furore crystallised with the death on Friday of Dr Li Wenliang, a 34-year-old ophthalmologist who was reprimanded by his superiors and the police for privately alerting medical school classmates of an outbreak in Wuhans hospitals in late December. He ultimately contracted the coronavirus while treating a woman for glaucoma, not realising that she was infected.

His death inspired Chinese academics, professionals and others to create digital petitions calling for freedom of speech and other changes in how the country is governed, demands that Xis government seems unlikely to ever accept.

Change, and only change, is the best commemoration of Dr Li Wenliang, said a petition that had been signed by 28 academics, lawyers and business figures by Sunday morning. Otherwise, all our outrage and all our tears will end up as bubbles, it said, calling the outbreak a man-made disaster.

Another petition, circulated on the site Matters, urged the government to apologise to Li and other medical workers hauled in by the police for sharing information about the virus. By Sunday, nearly 1,000 people across China had signed it.

The latest coronavirus, like SARS, has spread around the world, though the most severe effects have been on those near where it began in Hubei province. Many doctors believe that deaths and infections have been grossly undercounted because testing facilities at hospitals and laboratories are under severe strain.

Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan, who late last week ordered door-to-door checks for patients in Wuhan, visited Huanggang, a city of seven million people roughly 50 miles downstream, and warned that its capacity for treating patients was worse than in Wuhan, where hospitals have been simply overwhelmed.

Huanggangs medical treatment conditions are relatively weaker than Wuhan, Sun said in remarks shown Sunday night on CCTV, the state television network.

A vast majority of the infections and deaths have come in Hubei province, which has been effectively sealed, with the police restricting access by road, rail and air. The concentration of cases there has given the government greater confidence in imposing the onerous measures on cities in the region.

There have been only two confirmed deaths outside mainland China  one in Hong Kong and one in the Philippines  though from Russia to the United States the spectre of a pandemic has prompted many countries to restrict visitors from China. That has prompted major airlines to slash their flight schedules, with some suspending travel to mainland China and Hong Kong altogether.

In Hong Kong, 3,600 passengers and crew members of a cruise ship were allowed to disembark on Sunday after being held at the dock for four days.

Health officials in the city, a semiautonomous region of China, quarantined the ship, World Dream, in port on Wednesday after eight passengers from the mainland on a previous cruise were found to be infected with the coronavirus. None of the crew members tested positive for the disease, so the quarantine was lifted.

I felt really bored staying in my room, but we know that the quarantine is to keep everyone else in the city safe, Charlotte Chan, a sales executive, said after she disembarked wearing two layers of masks.

Hong Kong has begun requiring anyone who has travelled to the mainland to undergo a two-week quarantine, a measure adopted after significant public pressure and a strike by hospital workers.

Ten new cases confirmed in the territory on Sunday raised questions about how well travel restrictions can protect Hong Kongs seven million residents.

Nine members of a family were infected after sharing a communal hot pot meal last month at a reunion. After a 24-year-old man and his 91-year-old grandmother tested positive for the virus, his parents, aunts and cousins were also found to be infected. Several relatives at the gathering had travelled from Guangdong province on the mainland.

As of Sunday, there have been 36 cases in Hong Kong, but the family cluster has prompted health officials to warn that a community outbreak is probably inevitable despite quarantines.

It can at most delay the spread of the disease, Chuang Shuk-kwan, an official with Hong Kongs health department, said.

In a possible sign of good news, the number of new cases confirmed in China has stabilised in recent days. World Health Organisation officials, though, cautioned against reading too much into the figures, saying that Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province were still in the midst of a very intense outbreak.

The WHO advance team travelling on Sunday was being led by Dr Bruce Aylward, a veteran of the global fight against the 2014 Ebola outbreak.

We are coordinating with the World Health Organisation, Cui, the Chinese ambassador, said on CBS Face the Nation. Im sure that they will be going to China very soon.

Cui declined to say whether a team of experts from the CDC would also be allowed into China. He suggested instead that US experts could be admitted as part of the WHO or as individuals.

American experts are on the list recommended by the WHO, Cui said. Even beyond that, some American experts have come to China already on their own individual basis.

Tedros, the WHO director, has echoed the Chinese governments optimistic assessments, a stance that has drawn criticism as being overly solicitous. He said the measures put in place in Hubei province  the lockdown of entire cities and more than 50 million people  appeared to be paying off, though he warned that outbreaks like this one are unpredictable.

We have to understand it with caution, because it can show stability for a few days and then they can shoot up, he said.

Steven Lee Myers and Karen Zraick c.2020 The New York Times Company
Greece will only grant refugee protection for three years as it struggles to integrate foreigners, the conservative government's migration minister Notis Mitarachi said in remarks published Sunday. Greece last year was the first EU port of entry for migrants and has struggled to manage the influx, with many kept in overcrowded camps on the Aegean Greek islands near the Turkish coast. "The asylum we grant has a duration of three years, it is not indefinite," Mitarachi told To Vima weekly. "If conditions change in a country (of origin), asylum may not be renewed," Mitarachi added. "It is difficult to integrate different populations," he said. More than 36,000 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. Overpopulation in migrant camps on Lesbos and other islands near Turkey has led to an outpouring of anger in recent days among island residents and asylum-seekers. Since the migration crisis erupted in 2015, mainly fuelled by the war in Syria, Greece has granted asylum to around 40,000 people, Mitarachi said. Another 87,000 asylum applications are pending, he added. Repatriation of asylum-seekers whose applications are rejected are to be discussed in an overhaul of EU migration policy next month, the minister said. "Joint return operations will figure prominently in the new European commission proposals expected in March and April," Mitarachi said. The new government has introduced stricter asylum rules, and last month put out a call for a floating barrier in the Aegean to stop migrant boats. The system -- criticised as unethical and impractical by rights groups and 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. Mitarachi on Sunday said the barrier project would be given a "tryout" and implemented only if deemed effective.
Infant mortality is a growing concern in the United States with an average of 22,000 children dying every year before their first birthday. The infant mortality rate is the number of infant death for every 1,000 live birth. In 2017, the infant mortality rate in the US was 5.79 deaths/1,000live births. According to the statistics, Mississippi has the highest infant death rates while Massachusetts has the lowest rate. The two major causes of infant deaths in the US are congenital malformation and sudden infant death syndrome. Other causes include preterm birth, pregnancy complications, and infant injuries such as suffocation. The infant mortality rate varies from one ethnicity to the other. Below is an analysis of the infant mortality rate by ethnicity.

Ethnicities With The Highest Infant Mortality Rates

Black

Infant mortality by race in the United States reveals that more Black babies die before their first birthday than any other race. In 2017, the infant mortality rate for the black babies was 10.97, more than twice the rate among Asian, White, and Hispanic babies and nearly double the national rate. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 7,000 black children died before their first birthday, of which the majority of the children (5.85 deaths/1,000 live births) died within the one week of their birth. Additionally, the mortality rate among children who made it past one month was 3.82. Higher preterm birth rate and low birth weight are the two leading causes of infant mortality rate among Black children. According to the 2017 report, babies born to Black mothers are three times likely to die of preterm related complications as babies born to White women. Socioeconomic status and access to proper nutrition and proper healthcare are also cited as the cause for the disparity in infant mortality rate

American Indian/Alaska Natives

According to the US Department Health and Human Services, the infant mortality rate in American Indian/Alaskan Natives is twice that of non-Hispanic Whites. In 2017, the rate of infant deaths per 1,000 American Indian live birth was 9.21. Available data also reveals that Indian infants are twice likely to die from sudden infant death syndrome as non-Hispanic White. The leading cause of infant death in American Indian babies was congenital malformations, accounting for 16.7 deaths per 1,000 live births. Other major causes of infant deaths were low birthweight and unintentional injuries. Late or no prenatal visits have also contributed to the high infant mortality rate. In 2017, American Indian mother was 2.8 times likely to receive late or no prenatal services compared to White mothers. According to the CDC report, the infant mortality rate was particularly high among mothers aged under 20 years and those aged above 35 years.

Native Hawaiian Or Other Pacific Islanders

Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islanders represent about 0.4% of the US population, out of which about 370,000 reside in Hawaii. Compared to other ethnic groups, Native Hawaiians have higher rates of alcohol consumption, smoking, and obesity. These and other factors have led to a higher infant mortality rate among the ethnic group. While the overall rate of infant deaths for Native Hawaiians is slightly comparable to the White population, disparities still exist. According to the CDC report (2017), infants born of Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders' mother is 60% likely to die as infants born of White mothers. The overall infant mortality rate among the ethnic group was at 7.64 deaths per 1,000 live births. The leading causes of death among Native Hawaiian infants are preterm-related issues, birth defects, and low birth weight. Maternal complication during pregnancy has also resulted in a significant number of infant deaths.

Hispanic

The infant mortality rate is slightly higher among Hispanic Americans compared to White Americans. In 2017, 5.10 infant deaths per 1,000 live births were recorded among infants born of Hispanic mothers. The infant mortality rate ranges from 4 deaths per 1,000 live births in Cuban Americans to 6.5 deaths/1,000 live births for Puerto Ricans. Mexicans recorded an infant death rate of 5.1 while Central and South Americans recorded 4.5 deaths/1,000 live births. According to the CDC report, 70% of Hispanic mothers were likely to receive no or late prenatal services than non-Hispanic Whites. About 1,200 Hispanic infant deaths were caused by congenital malformation or birth defects. Another 764 deaths resulted from low birth weight while maternal complications resulted in 310 deaths. Hispanic mothers aged 40-54 years accounted for the highest infant mortality rate (7.1).

White

White Americans are considered the wealthiest and healthiest ethnic group in the United States. It is, therefore, no surprise that the infant mortality rate among the Whites is the second-lowest in the US. The mortality rate among white infants (4.67) is at least 50% lower than for Blacks. Unique characteristics have been witnessed among white women which may have contributed to the low infant mortality. More proportion of white women attend prenatal care than any other ethnic group. It has also been observed that the majority begin their prenatal visits very early and follow through to the end of their pregnancy. White women have easy access to health care, meaning that chronic diseases that may affect pregnancy are likely to be treated. Infant mortality causes such as sudden infant death syndrome and low birthweight are not common among the white population.

Asian

According to the 2017 population estimates, there are approximately 18 million Asian Americans in the US, representing 5.6% of the population. The largest population of Asian Americans is found in California, New York, Texas, and New Jersey. This ethnic group contends with numerous factors that may threaten their health such as cultural barriers and lack of health insurance. However, the infant mortality rate among Asians is the lowest in the country. According to the CDC, Asian women have a lower infant death rate than the overall population. Only 3.78 Asian infants per 1,000 live births die before their first birthday. The report further indicates that an Asian American infant is 40% more likely to die due to pregnancy-related complications as compared to White infants. The congenital malformation is the largest cause of death among Asian American infants, accounting for 211 deaths in 2017. Low birthweight is the second major cause of death, accounting for 162 deaths.
This article is written for those who want to get better at using price to earnings ratios (P/E ratios). We'll show how you can use Qingdao Holdings International Limited's (HKG:499) P/E ratio to inform your assessment of the investment opportunity. Based on the last twelve months, Qingdao Holdings International's P/E ratio is 22.65. In other words, at today's prices, investors are paying HK$22.65 for every HK$1 in prior year profit.

View our latest analysis for Qingdao Holdings International

How Do I Calculate A Price To Earnings Ratio?

The formula for price to earnings is:

Price to Earnings Ratio = Share Price  Earnings per Share (EPS)

Or for Qingdao Holdings International:

P/E of 22.65 = HKD0.52  HKD0.02 (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 isn't necessarily good or bad, but a high P/E implies relatively high expectations of what a company can achieve in the future.

Does Qingdao Holdings International Have A Relatively High Or Low P/E For Its Industry?

We can get an indication of market expectations by looking at the P/E ratio. As you can see below, Qingdao Holdings International has a much higher P/E than the average company (6.6) in the real estate industry.

SEHK:499 Price Estimation Relative to Market, February 10th 2020

That means that the market expects Qingdao Holdings International will outperform other companies in its industry. Clearly the market expects growth, but it isn't guaranteed. So investors should always consider the P/E ratio alongside other factors, such as whether company directors have been buying shares.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

Earnings growth rates have a big influence on P/E ratios. If earnings are growing quickly, then the 'E' in the equation will increase faster than it would otherwise. Therefore, even if you pay a high multiple of earnings now, that multiple will become lower in the future. So while a stock may look expensive based on past earnings, it could be cheap based on future earnings.

Story continues

In the last year, Qingdao Holdings International grew EPS like Taylor Swift grew her fan base back in 2010; the 202% gain was both fast and well deserved.

Don't Forget: The P/E Does Not Account For Debt or Bank Deposits

The 'Price' in P/E reflects the market capitalization of the company. That means it doesn't take debt or cash into account. Theoretically, a business can improve its earnings (and produce a lower P/E in the future) by investing in growth. That means taking on debt (or spending its cash).

Spending on growth might be good or bad a few years later, but the point is that the P/E ratio does not account for the option (or lack thereof).

Qingdao Holdings International's Balance Sheet

Net debt totals a substantial 132% of Qingdao Holdings International's market cap. If you want to compare its P/E ratio to other companies, you must keep in mind that these debt levels would usually warrant a relatively low P/E.

The Verdict On Qingdao Holdings International's P/E Ratio

Qingdao Holdings International has a P/E of 22.6. That's higher than the average in its market, which is 10.0. Its meaningful level of debt should warrant a lower P/E ratio, but the fast EPS growth is a positive. So despite the debt it is, perhaps, not unreasonable to see a high P/E ratio.

Investors should be looking to buy stocks that the market is wrong about. If the reality for a company is better than it expects, you can make money by buying and holding for the long term. 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.

Of course you might be able to find a better stock than Qingdao Holdings International. So you may wish to see this free collection of other companies that have grown earnings strongly.

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.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 10

Trend:

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has made a statement in connection with the parliamentary elections held on Feb. 9, Trend reports referring to the ministry.

The elections were held in full compliance with the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Electoral Code and the international obligations of Azerbaijan, the statement said. A total of 5,573 polling stations have been set up throughout the country. According to the preliminary data of the Central Election Commission, 47.81 percent of people took part in voting and exercised their voting rights.

As a result of the Armenian aggression, the territories of seven out of 125 electoral districts located in Azerbaijan were fully occupied while the territories of three electoral districts were partially occupied, the statement said. Some 523 polling stations were set up throughout the country to ensure the exercise of the constitutional rights of internally displaced people (IDPs) expelled from these territories.

This was also reflected in the interim report of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Election Observation Mission as of January 29, 2020, the statement said. The IDPs from the occupied Azerbaijani territories, deprived of an opportunity of voting in their native lands, exercised their voting rights in these polling stations arranged specially for them.

The Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan took part in the elections in Khankendi and Shusha constituencies and became the elected representatives of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, the statement said. The Azerbaijani citizens of Armenian origin in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia were invited by the Central Election Commission, as well as by the Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, to participate in the parliamentary elections.

The biggest number of registered candidates in the parliamentary elections up till now  1,314 candidates was involved in the elections and this testifies to the comprehensiveness and fairness of the candidate registration process, as well as the competitive electoral environment, the statement said. The elections were also marked by such moments as a significant increase in the number of registered women candidates compared to the previous elections, ensuring broad pluralism with the representation of candidates from 19 political parties.

The election process was monitored by 883 international observers, who arrived at the invitation of the Azerbaijani side, and about 78,000 local observers, the statement said. At the same time, 199 representatives from 132 foreign media outlets also observed the elections. The absolute majority of both international and local observers confirmed that the elections were free, democratic and transparent. If any election-related shortcomings are recorded, they will be thoroughly investigated.

The parliamentary elections held on February 9, 2020 are another important step in the democratic development of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the statement said.
Crisis-hit NMC Health started the week with a bang after it said it is considering takeover bids from private equity firms.

Shares in the FTSE 100-listed firm, which runs one of the biggest hospital chains in the United Arab Emirates, soared after bosses confirmed they had been approached by KKR and GK Investment with possible offers.

It comes after an attack from an aggressive short-seller, Muddy Waters, sent its stock plummeting in a brutal assault on its accounting practices in December.

Considering offers: FTSE 100-listed NMC Health runs one of the biggest hospital chains in the United Arab Emirates

But another fiasco immediately overshadowed the announcement, with the group revealing its founder had stepped back from the board while a review tried to confirm exactly how many shares he owned.

NMC said the move by Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty, who is worth an estimated 1.2billion, suggested the size of his stake had been incorrectly reported.

Travelex-owner Finablr, which was also founded by Shetty, made a similar announcement  saying the size of several investors' holdings were also in doubt. Finablr's shares rose 9.9 per cent, or 7.1p, to 78.6p.

Since the criticisms were published, NMC's shares have fallen 72 per cent, although they surged 32.3 per cent, or 226.2p, to 926.2p after the interest from private equity emerged yesterday.

Shares in Burford Capital, another of Muddy Waters' targets, fell 2.8 per cent, or 18p, to 619.5p last night, after the short-seller launched another onslaught on the litigation funding firm.

Stock Watch - Clearstar Background screening specialist Clearstar has bagged a contract to provide checks for an unnamed North American firm's virtual ID card programme. The deal will be worth at least 310,000 as it is rolled out this year. It is Clearstar's first contract with a facilities management company. AIM-listed Clearstar's services will just be used at the client's healthcare sites, though it manages 120,000 locations in total across several industries. Shares rose 10.7 per cent, or 5.25p, to 54.25p.

Burford released an update last week on its 2019 trading performance, which Muddy Waters yesterday branded 'abysmal'.

Elsewhere, investors piled into Intu Properties after the shopping centre-owner confirmed it is tapping its largest shareholder Peel Group and a Hong Kong property giant Link Real Estate Investment Trust for cash.

Intu hasn't said how much it is looking to raise by selling new shares  but media reports put the sum at 1billion. This would not be enough to pay down the Lakeside and Trafford Centre owner's entire debt mountain, which reached 4.7billion last summer.

But it would shore up Intu's books after a challenging few years when it has been hit by the collapse of clients  including Debenhams and House of Fraser  and a slew of rent renegotiations as retailers struggle to stay afloat amid rising costs and an exodus of customers to the world of more convenient online shopping.

Shares in Intu rocketed 29.3 per cent, or 3.92p, to 17.32p last night, as its focus on prioritising paying down debt and courting respected investors appeared to be exactly what the City was hoping for.

The FTSE 100 fell 0.27 per cent, or 19.82 points, to close at 7446.88, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 inched into the red, falling 0.03 per cent, or 5.97 points, to 21493.32, as fears about the spread of the deadly coronavirus continued to infect stock markets around the world.

A slew of London-listed companies started off the week with boardroom changes.

Troubled banknote and passport printer De La Rue rose 2.7 per cent, or 3.6p, to close at 137.6p, after it appointed an interim finance boss.

Rob Harding, who De La Rue says has a 'wealth of finance and turnaround experience' has joined from Co-op Insurance.

Ryanair's chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs, who was the architect of the Irish budget airline's 'Always Getting Better' drive to improve customer service, said he will step down in April after six years at the group.

Ryanair's shares fell 2 per cent, or 32 cents, to 15.37  though this was more likely to be following a downturn across the Irish stock market after Sinn Fein declared victory in the Irish election.
The Australian dollar has plunged to lowest point in more than a decade as the coronavirus outbreak sparked fears of a major economic slowdown in China.

The currency sunk to 66.71 US cents late on Monday morning, the weakest it had been since March 2009 at the height of the global financial crisis, which potentially makes overseas holidays and imports more expensive.

ANZ head of foreign exchange Daniel Been said the coronavirus outbreak had sparked fears about economic growth slowing in China, Australia's biggest trading partner.

The Australian dollar has plunged to lowest point in more than a decade as the coronavirus outbreak sparked fears of a major economic slowdown in China. Pictured: Australians in Darwin who have been evacuated from Wuhan

'Uncertainly about Chinese growth is always going to drive uncertainty around risk appetite,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Monday.

'The second biggest economy in the world looking less than certain is never going to be positive for markets.'

A lockdown in the Chinese city of Wuhan is also sparking concerns about how a slowdown in China will affect Australia in the March quarter.

Weaker economic activity in China has the potential to diminish demand for Australian commodities like coal and iron ore.

'The shuttering of manufacturing and other facilities in China, as they impose the lockdowns on cities, is slowing activity and the questions about how long that will take are going to continue to cast a shadow,' Mr Been said.

The currency sunk to 66.71 US cents on Monday morning, the weakest it had been since March 2009 at the height of the global financial crisis, which potentially makes overseas holidays and imports more expensive. Pictured: Australian evacuted from Wuhan arriving at Darwin's Inpex plant

The Australian dollar's plunge occurred after Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe told a parliamentary hearing on Friday the coronavirus was likely to be worse for the Australian economy than the SARS outbreak in China 16 years ago.

Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe told a parliamentary hearing on Friday the coronavirus was likely to be worse for the Australian economy than the SARS outbreak in China 16 years ago

'It is quite likely that the international spillovers will be larger than they were back in 2003 with SARS,' he said.

'Much will depend on the success of the various efforts to control the virus.

'Like everyone around the world, we are watching developments very carefully.'

So far, 811 people in China have died from coronavirus, surpassing the SARS death toll.

Since the outbreak was confirmed in late January, 15 Australians have been diagnosed with the respiratory disease.

Up to 100 Australians still remain in Wuhan after 266 'clinically well' evacuees arrived in Darwin on a chartered Qantas flight on Sunday.

Another 243 Australians who were on the first chartered flight from Wuhan are almost halfway through a 14-day quarantine isolation on Christmas Island after landing on Tuesday.
Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. High 74F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph.

Tonight

A few clouds. Low 51F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.

Tomorrow

Intervals of clouds and sunshine in the morning with more clouds for later in the day. High 74F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph.
Beirut (AFP) - Russian air strikes Monday killed at least five civilians in the last major opposition bastion in northwestern Syria bringing the death toll to 25 in less than 24 hours, a monitor said.

The early morning raids hit a populous village in Aleppo province where battles between Russia-backed regime forces and their opponents have raged for weeks, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The victims include at least one child and a number of internally displaced Syrians, the Britain-based monitor said.

It follows a night of heavy bombardment by Russia and the regime that left at least 20 civilians dead in the neighbouring provinces of Idlib and Aleppo, according to the Observatory.

Since December, Syrian government forces backed by Moscow have pressed a blistering assault against the Idlib region in the country's northwest and recaptured town after town.

The Idlib region, including slivers of neighbouring Aleppo and Latakia provinces, is the last major opposition bastion and dominated by rebels and jihadists.

The violence has killed more than 300 civilians and sent some 586,000 fleeing towards relative safety near the Turkish border.

Some three million people, half of them already displaced by Syria's devastating war, live in the rebel bastion.

Some 50,000 fighters are also in the shrinking pocket, many of them jihadists but the majority allied rebels, according to the Observatory.

On Sunday raids by regime ally Russia left 14 people dead, including nine in the village of Kar Nuran in southwestern Aleppo province, the monitor said.

Syrian air raids with crude barrel bombs also killed four civilians in the Atareb district east of Aleppo, while another died in artillery fire near the city of Jisr Al-Shughur and one in Ketian village in southern Idlib.

Regime and Russian forces have intensified their attacks on Aleppo in recent days as government forces close in on a two-kilometre section of the M5 highway that remains outside of their control.

The key motorway connects Damascus to second city Aleppo and is economically vital to the government after nine-years of war.
LAS VEGAS, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, conservative businessman and former professional wrestler Dan Rodimer announced that he has earned the endorsement of highly successful Las Vegas businessman and reality TV star from the hit show "Pawn Stars," Rick Harrison. Dan Rodimer is running for the 3rd Congressional District of Nevada, one of the most competitive congressional districts in the country.

Today's endorsement comes less than one week after Dan Rodimer received the endorsement of former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt.

Rick Harrison Endorses Dan Rodimer for Congress Pawn Stars' Rick Harrison Endorses Dan Rodimer for Congress at Gold & Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas

"In my business and on my hit show 'Pawn Stars,' I have to have a good eye for what's real, for what's authentic and for what is quality," stated Rick Harrison. "Big Dan Rodimer is all of that. He's real, he's authentic and he will be a great Congressman.

"We can't afford politicians who get elected by saying one thing and then doing the other," Harrison continued. "Nor can we afford politicians that waste our precious time and money on endless partisan bickering and nonsense. When Big Dan Rodimer tells us he'll fight for all of us, fight for our city, fight for our community, fight for our state and fight to protect our freedoms and liberties  I believe him. You should, too. Join me in supporting Big Dan Rodimer for Congress."

(https://youtu.be/thGcTqtLAto)

"We all know Rick Harrison as a big star in the hit show Pawn Stars, but he is much more than a reality TV star," Dan Rodimer stated. "Rick is a hard worker, a businessman, a job provider, and a taxpayer. It's Nevadans like Rick who set an example for all of us. I am proud to have his endorsement."

Rodimer is the only conservative Republican running for the 3rd Congressional District of Nevada, a seat that President Donald J. Trump won in 2016, but is currently held by liberal incumbent Congresswoman Susie Lee, who just recently voted to negate the will of the voters in the 3rd District by voting in support of impeachment. Rick Harrison and Adam Laxalt join other major supporters, such as Linda McMahon, Bernie Marcus, Dana White, along with Forrest and Charlotte Lucas.

For more information on the campaign of Big Dan Rodimer for Congress, you can view his webpage here (https://danrodimer.com/), or you can follow him on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/RodimerForCongress/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/DanRodimer), and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/rodimerforcongress/).

Contact: Ed Gonzalez, Campaign Manager

702-713-3217

[email protected]

SOURCE Rodimer for Congress
Firework record set in Colo.: A massive firework launched over a Colorado ski resort town has set a record for the world's largest aerial firework. The 2,800-pound shell flew 2,200 feet above the Steamboat Springs Winter Carnival before it burst, turning the sky bright red and drawing gasps from the crowd, the Steamboat Pilot & Today reported. Tim Borden of Steamboat Springs headed the team that developed the firework over seven years. Borden first attempted to set the world record last year, but failed when the shell exploded inside the mortar without lifting off the ground, the newspaper reported. Guinness World Records representatives witnessed both attempts. Christina Conlon of Guinness said she verified the shell launched Saturday was the world's largest. The firework was 400 pounds heaver than the previous record-holder, a 2,397-pound explosive launched in the United Arab Emirates in 2018.
Passive investing in an index fund is a good way to ensure your own returns roughly match the overall market. While individual stocks can be big winners, plenty more fail to generate satisfactory returns. For example, the China Zheshang Bank Co., Ltd (HKG:2016) share price is down 11% in the last year. That's well bellow the market return of -1.1%. However, the longer term returns haven't been so bad, with the stock down 5.1% in the last three years. More recently, the share price has dropped a further 8.1% in a month. However, we note the price may have been impacted by the broader market, which is down 4.5% in the same time period.

See our latest analysis for China Zheshang Bank

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 flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.

During the unfortunate twelve months during which the China Zheshang Bank share price fell, it actually saw its earnings per share (EPS) improve by 14%. It could be that the share price was previously over-hyped.

It's fair to say that the share price does not seem to be reflecting the EPS growth. So it's easy to justify a look at some other metrics.

China Zheshang Bank managed to grow revenue over the last year, which is usually a real positive. Since we can't easily explain the share price movement based on these metrics, it might be worth considering how market sentiment has changed towards the stock.

The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

SEHK:2016 Income Statement, February 10th 2020

This free interactive report on China Zheshang Bank's balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

What about the Total Shareholder Return (TSR)?

Story continues

Investors should note that there's a difference between China Zheshang Bank's total shareholder return (TSR) and its share price change, which we've covered above. 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. China Zheshang Bank's TSR of was a loss of 11% for the year. That wasn't as bad as its share price return, because it has paid dividends.

A Different Perspective

China Zheshang Bank shareholders are down 11% for the year, falling short of the market return. Meanwhile, the broader market slid about 1.1%, likely weighing on the stock. Investors are up over three years, booking 1.5% per year, much better than the more recent returns. Sometimes when a good quality long term winner has a weak period, it's turns out to be an opportunity, but you really need to be sure that the quality is there. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand China Zheshang Bank better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for China Zheshang Bank that you should be aware of.

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 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.
"Now I've been, I've been a scoundrel in my life. I've been selfish. I've been cruel at times, hard to work with, and I'm grateful that so many of you in this room have given me a second chance. And I think that's when we're at our best, when we support each other. Not when we cancel each other out for past mistakes, but when we help each other to grow, when we educate each other, when we guide each other toward redemption. That is the best of humanity.
Taking cognisance of the alleged sexual assault by outsiders in Gargi college and demanding action against those, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal issued notices to both the Delhi Police and the college administration on Monday.

The Delhi Police on Monday registered an FIR in connection with the alleged molestation of students during a cultural festival at the all-women Gargi College last week.

The police said they have received a complaint from the college authorities.

A case has been registered at the Hauz Khas police station under IPC Sections 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).

Responding to the incident when an unruly mob of around 35 men, some of whom were reportedly drunk, barged into the campus of the Delhi college, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the government would not tolerate "misbehaviour with our daughters". The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief demanded the "harshest" punishment possible for the culprits.

"Misbehaviour with our daughters in Gargi College is very sad and disappointing. This sort of behaviour will not be tolerated. Culprits should be give the harshest possible punishment and we must ensure that children studying in our colleges feel safe," the chief minister tweeted.

                                            Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 10, 2020

Kejriwal, whose AAP is tipped by exit polls to win a third term, had made safety for women as one of his poll promises.

Earlier on Monday, scores of students of the college held a protest over the incident.

NDTV quoted one of the students as saying, "My friends and I were standing in a group... another friend was taking our photo when a group of three men came and threw money at her and walked away laughing and cheering. When I wanted to report it to the Proctor I really could not... there was no signal in our phones. Something happened to us and we felt so powerless."

The National Commission for Women (NCW) has also sent a team to investigate the incident. NCW chief Rekha Sharma confirmed this on Monday.

"I read on social media that girls were molested and no step taken by the administration. I have sent a team. They wanted to talk to the principal and also to talk to police. I can only react after they talk to them," Sharma said.

Taking cognisance of the alleged sexual assault by outsiders and demanding action against those, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal issued notices to both the Delhi Police and the college administration on Monday.

"We are investigating the matter and issuing notices to the Delhi Police and college administration. Action should be taken against those who did this and those who protected them," Maliwal was quoted as saying on Gargi college incident.

Swati Maliwal, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chief: We are investigating the matter and issuing notices to Delhi Police & college administration. Action should be taken against those who did this and those who protected them. https://t.co/j86ROMak47 pic.twitter.com/6IuUNfZo0o  ANI (@ANI) February 10, 2020

She added, "Delhi Police constables were in Gargi college on duty when all this happened but they stayed quiet." The DCW chief also visited the college.

The incident came to light after some students took to Instagram to narrate their unpleasant experiences during the college fest. Both students and teachers took to social media to narrate the incident.

As per their posts, during the annual college festival, Reverie, around 6.30 pm on 6 February, groups of unruly, drunk men mobbed the entrances of the college and forced their way in.

They alleged that the college management did not take any action even after the students took up the matter with it. The students alleged that Rapid Action Force (RAF) and Delhi Police personnel were deployed close to the gate from where the men allegedly entered.

"There was a complete lapse of security. The students were groped, molested and even assaulted by the men who all appeared to be in their mid-30s. The college had claimed to set up security but, I don't think there must have been such an incident in any college campus across the country," a student said on condition of anonymity.

A political science student, who also did not wish to be named, said, "Some men jumped over the gates, some broke open the gates and some jumped over walls. They were drunk and went berserk."

"Some girls ran towards washrooms. The men followed them and locked them inside," she added.

The students alleged that they were threatened by the intruders, who also made objectionable remarks and used cuss words. They also claimed that auto drivers, who had parked their vehicles outside the main gate of the college, also entered the campus.

"The college had hired bouncers for security. The college security was also standing right there and watching it all. My friend, who was molested, rushed to a security guard and pleaded him for help but he did not move," a BA student said.

The students said they reported the matter to the college management but in vain.

"The next day, on 7 February, we took up the matter with teachers and college management. The management said they had 'taken note' of it. They didn't promise to take any action, after which many students shared their horrific experiences on Instagram," a B.Sc student said.

According to the students, Delhi University colleges have witnessed repeated instances of eve-teasing and sexual harassment during college festivals. However, the university hasn't taken them seriously, which led to the 6 February incident at Gargi College.

With inputs from agencies
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 01:24:57|Editor: yan

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ANKARA, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's army would continue its presence in Syria's Idlib and retaliate when necessary, said the country's Vice President Fuat Oktay on Monday.

Oktay made the statement after five Turkish soldiers were killed and five others wounded in a conflict with the Syrian government forces in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib earlier.

Turkish military "will continue to exist in the region and will give the necessary response to those who disregard international law," Oktay said on his Twitter account.

"We responded to the cowards for many times. Our glorious army will continue to do what it takes," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on his Twitter account.

The attack came following Turkey's deployment of thousands of troops at Idlib's Taftanaz Airport to prevent the Syrian forces' advance in the region.

"A heinous attack occurred today in Idlib, where our military serves, pursuant to our rights under international law, to end the violence and mitigate the humanitarian crisis," Fahrettin Altun, the presidential communications director, said on his Twitter account.

Turkey retaliated against the attack to destroy all enemy targets, Altun said, accusing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of standing against the "international community."

Last week, Turkish Defense Ministry said an attack by the Syrian government forces on Turkish soldiers has killed eight personnel of the army in Idlib. Monday's attack came as Russian and Turkish delegations were holding talks in Turkey's capital Ankara over the escalation of tension in Idlib.
WASHINGTON - Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, has faced a bitter GOP backlash after casting the lone Republican vote for President Donald Trump's impeachment. There have been angry tweets and calls for the party to expel the man it once nominated to lead the country.

On Sunday, one influential conservative went so far as to say he could not be sure of Romney's safety at a major right-wing gathering, alarming some of the Utah senator's defenders and - in some critics' eyes - crossing a line from outrage to threat.

Matt Schlapp, chairman of the Conservative Political Action Conference, made the controversial comments Sunday as he explained why Romney would be excluded from this year's event, set for Feb. 26-29 in nearby National Harbor, Maryland. Schlapp announced last month via tweet that the senator was "formally NOT invited," as Romney took heat for breaking from staunch Republican support of the president to call for witnesses in Trump's impeachment trial.

"We won't credential him as a conservative," Schlapp told Greta Van Susteren on "Full Court Press." "I suppose if he wants to come as a nonconservative and debate an issue with us, maybe in the future we would have him come."

He added, "This year, I would actually be afraid for his physical safety, people are so mad at him."

The suggestion of potential violence stuck out even in an onslaught of criticism of Romney, drawing some rebukes.

"Closer and closer to saying the quiet part loud," tweeted Rick Wilson, a prominent "Never Trump" Republican and media consultant.

"It's hard to believe that we have stooped this low," Romney's Senate colleague Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said on CNN, after calling the Utah politician as "honorable" a person as he had ever met. Manchin, a political moderate, has also been a target of Trump's ire and name-calling ("Joe Munchkin") after defying significant pressure to vote for acquitting the president last week.

Others just marveled.

"This is remarkable," wrote Atlantic writer McKay Coppins, who last fall profiled Romney as "an outspoken dissident in Trump's Republican Party" who found his voice "just in time for the president's impeachment trial."

Schlapp has denied any threatening intent in his Sunday comments, tweeting that he has "no beef [with Romney's] family" and hopes "they have happy healthy lives away from politics." Responding to one man's accusation that he runs a "mob," Schlapp said he has taken his "little girls" and 80-year-old mom to CPAC without any problem.

"I wish Gov Romney no harm I just want him to find a new hobby away from destroying GOP momentum," the conference head said.

Speaking to Van Susteren on Sunday, Schlapp called Romney a "use 'em and lose 'em kind of guy," accusing him of cozying up to Trump when he needed the president's endorsement for reelection and then diverging once he had his Senate seat.

He alleged a similar relationship between Romney and CPAC, which bills itself as "the largest gathering of grassroots conservatives on the planet."

"He said he was going to be an extreme conservative, that he was the most conservative guy in the world, and when he came to CPAC, after 2012, he doesn't want to have anything to do with us," Schlapp said.

Romney did return to CPAC in 2013 to give a speech.

"As someone who just lost the last election, I'm probably not the best person to chart the course for the next election," he said before laying out his advice to fellow conservatives.

Romney has not attended the annual event since, and his plans for this year were not clear. A representative for Romney declined to comment Monday, and CPAC did not immediately respond to an inquiry from The Washington Post.

Scheduled for the end of February, CPAC boasts a speaker lineup of lawmakers, media personalities and right-wing celebrities. Its website touts prominent names ranging from "Godfather of #Brexit" Nigel Farage to Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee.

McDaniel took a less combative tone last week when she broke with Romney, her uncle, on the issue of impeachment.

"This is not the first time I have disagreed with Mitt, and I imagine it will not be the last," McDaniel tweeted.

But elsewhere in the GOP, the reaction to Romney's vote - the first instance of a senator voting to remove his own party's president from office - has been livid.

The Republican National Committee blasted the lawmaker in an email last Wednesday under the subject line "Mitt Romney turns his back on Utah," while Donald Trump Jr. declared on Twitter: "He's now officially a member of the resistance & should be expelled" from the GOP.

Explaining his decision on the Senate floor, Romney anticipated a fierce backlash but framed his vote as a "duty."

"I will tell my children and their children that I did my duty to the best of my ability, believing that my country expected it of me," he said.
Superintendent Andrew Watters has directly appealed to those involved in the murder of Keane Mulready Woods to let the garda know where the remaining parts of his body are.

Speaking on RTEs Crimecall, he said Keane was a 17 year old child from Droghedas southside, who was murdered and dismembered last month.

Some of his body parts were found in two locations in Dublin.

However, gardai are appealing for the remaining parts of his body to be returned to the family so they can bury him.

I wish to strongly appeal to anyone with any information, including those directly involved, to examine their conscience and to come forward with any information to doscover the remaining parts of Keanes body, he stated.

He said the family were traumatised by the incident and have not been helped by the body not being fully recovered.

The family had been allocated a liaison officer with works with them each day.

He said any information would be important.

He outlined the facts, stating that Keane was with family and friends on the day of Sunday January 12 in Beechwood Drive, Drogheda. But he was last seen on Dominicks Bridge later that day.

After that is the issue, he stated, keen that people, especially in the Ballsgrove and Rathmullen area come forward if they saw anything suspicious that night.
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: In a big hazard for not just road traffic safety but also public safety, nearly 50 professional drivers driving cabs, lorries and other rental vehicle services were caught by the Cyberabad traffic police this weekend in a special drunk driving check.

They formed a major segment among those caught. Police rounded up 273 drunk drivers on the intervening nights of February 7 and 8.

Apart from this, there were nearly 47 labourers and 48 IT professionals and businessmen among others caught. More alarmingly, the majority of those caught were found driving two-wheelers recklessly without helmets. Among those on two-wheelers, 203 were in a drunken condition.

Lot of youngsters are driving two-wheelers dangerously in drunken condition on the highways without helmets. This is dangerous for not just them but others, noted Cyberabad traffic police in an official statement, adding that most of them were educated and well aware of rules.

ALSO READ: Highways in all 3 Hyderabad police zones are gateways to death

The routine trend has also established that Madhapur and Kukatpally are red zones with 59 and 53 drunk drivers being caught respectively.
Two horses had a lucky escape in Barnsley after they were pulled from a severely flooded field by firefighters.

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue was called to assess the situation and found the animals trapped with water up to their stomachs.

Water levels continued to rise further so officers donned specialist equipment in order to guide them to safety.

Excellent work from #Adwick and #Edlington firefighters yesterday - helping two horses out of a very sticky situation in #Barnsley! 



A nice tale in and amongst the awful destruction that #StormCiara has caused over the weekend. #NotJustFires pic.twitter.com/LLDVhlEq2s  South Yorkshire Fire (@SYFR) February 10, 2020

The fire service praised the officers involved, tweeting: Excellent work from #Adwick and #Edlington firefighters yesterday  helping two horses out of a very sticky situation in #Barnsley!

A nice tale in and amongst the awful destruction that #StormCiara has caused over the weekend.

Storm Ciara has caused widespread destruction across the UK and emergency services have been called to deal with multiple incidents.

A yellow warning of snow and ice is in force for north west England throughout Monday and Tuesday.
Consuming news in Ghana makes one numb to corruption. So, I was not the least surprised when I finished reading the judgment of the Crown Court at Southwark, UK, on what is now known as the Airbus scandal.

The Crown Court described the actions of Airbus in the judgment as grave in paragraph 5 and emphasized in paragraph 64 that the seriousness of the criminality in this case hardly needs to be spelled out. As is acknowledged on all sides, it was grave.

Airbus sin was that between 1 July 2011 and 1 June 2015 the company failed to prevent persons associated with it from bribing others concerned with the purchase of military transport aircraft by the Government of Ghana

The bribes were intended to obtain or retain business or advantage in the conduct of business for Airbus SE.

Erring on the side of simplicity, the meat of the judgment indicated that a Ghanaian citizen, who is the brother of a formerly highly placed government official, was used by Airbus as a front to induce the government official to buy aircrafts from the company. The government official was referred to as Government Official 1.

The Ghanaian citizen who is a UK national received the money through a company he and other two British nationals founded in Ghana and in the UK with the intent of forwarding the so-called commission to this government official.

The deal went through. The aircrafts were purchased and the matter would not have resurfaced if courts in Britain, US and France had not investigated the grave acts of Airbus.

Analysis about who this government official may be, points a finger to an influential politician in this country. If this person acknowledges involvement in this scandal, the consequences will be damning. Not just political careers and reputations but possibly mouths will cease from being fed.

It is, therefore, not amazing that the spinning machines of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) are grinding hard. But dont be fooled. Regardless of how patchy a situation may be there can never be two truths.

The NPP is taking full advantage of the situation to consolidate its grip on power. The party wants former President John Mahama, the only strong contender of the NPP, to come out and be heard publicly on the issue.

However, the NDC through people such as Joyce Bawa Mogtari and Sammy Gyamfi have categorically indicated that no bribes were paid to any Ghanaian officials and that the grave acts of Airbus were criminal infractions by employees and agents of Airbus and nothing more, respectfully.

But the Judge in her Judgement wrote that Bribery usually involves two sides: those willing to pay a bribe and those willing to take a bribe.

If the Court has established that Airbus paid a bribe then someone took a bribe.

Therefore, how and why Bawa Mogtari claims that Airbus payment of more than 3.5 billion in fines to a criminal conduct did not indicate an admission of guilt beats the mind.

The claim is just farcical and diversionary. Its aim is to create an impression that no wrong was done by any past Ghanaian Government Official.

Indeed, no Ghanaian name was directly mentioned in the judgment. Same was the case for the numerous countries hit by this scandal. But some of these countries such as Sri Lanka and Malaysia have started investigations into the matter to help them find the culprits.

These countries are swiftly ensuring that actions that retrogress their nations are punished regardless of the individuals involved.

That is why this matter presents a unique and golden opportunity for us to make the abnormal normal. The abnormal being that, there has been the notion that certain kinds of people are above the law.

Even though a formal revelation of who Government Official 1 is, has not been made. It is doubtless that this person is a BIG FISH. The prosecution of such a person will not end corruption in this country but Im of the opinion that it will instill some fear in those who flout the laws of the land with impunity and will make the abnormal normal.

It is very important to also know that judgment indicated that a correspondence between the Ghanaian citizen, used as a front by Airbus and a senior Airbus employee, shows that the deal was agreed at all levels and Parliament was expected to rubberstamp.

The levels were Government official 1, Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Finance. What did all these levels know about the deal?

Only proper investigations will unearth the grave infractions done to this nation.
A soldier has been killed in a suicide car bombing that targeted a military barracks in southern Algeria, local media reported. It was the first such attack in the country for several years.

It is not known who was behind the bombing, which happened on Sunday.

According to the defense ministrys statement, the bombing took place in the Bordj Baji Mokhtar region.

The soldier in charge of access managed to stop the suspect vehicle from entering. However the suicide attacker blew up the vehicle, causing the death of the soldier on guard, it added.

Conflict in neighboring Libya and deteriorating security conditions in Mali have contributed to increased militant activity in the Sahara and Sahel areas of North Africa.

Algeria is already wrestling with a major political crisis after a year of mass protests that helped oust the veteran president.

Last week, Algerias president pardoned almost 6,300 prisoners, but scores detained as part of an anti-government protest movement will not benefit from the move.

The pardon came two days after the president issued a similar pardon for almost 3,500 other prisoners.

The measure does not apply to those imprisoned for crimes including terrorism, treason, espionage and corruption.

President Tebboune was elected president on December 12 in a poll marred by an official turnout of less than 40 percent.

Nearly a year after the movement began, Hirak protesters continue to demand systemic reform and the resignation of government officials.
(Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Sunday that he raised the cases of Canadians being detained in Egypt with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. 'We always stand up for Canadians in difficulty around the world', Trudeau told a press briefing in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he is attending an African Union summit. 'Yes I did bring up the consular cases in Egypt with President al-Sisi', he added http://bit.ly/2uvo9aU

(Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Sunday that he raised the cases of Canadians being detained in Egypt with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

"We always stand up for Canadians in difficulty around the world", Trudeau told a press briefing in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he is attending an African Union summit.

"Yes I did bring up the consular cases in Egypt with President al-Sisi", he added http://bit.ly/2uvo9aU.

Canadian engineer Yasser Albaz was arrested at the Cairo airport by Egyptian authorities about a year ago towards the end of his business trip. He has not yet been charged and his family previously told Canadian media http://bit.ly/2vYMOVK they were concerned about his safety.

The detained Canadian's family said last year that his passport was confiscated when he attempted to board his flight to Canada and an Egyptian official told him that his name had been flagged for a probe.

Egypt has faced criticism for its human rights record, especially after mass arrests last year that came after rare protests against Sisi in Cairo and other cities in late September.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Cooney)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Plastics undoubtedly affect our environment  and they are shaping up to be an emerging threat to human health as with every breath and every bite, plastics are entering our bodies  without researchers having a full grasp of the implications.

Micro- and nanoplastic particles permeate the most essential sustenance for human life

Plastic bottles, beads, and wrappings can hardly get into the human body. However, when they start to break down, these large items transform into tiny but scary microplastics, nanoplastics, or even smaller particles that are flooding the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat.

A new study at the University of Newcastle titled How much microplastics are we ingesting? Estimation of the mass of microplastics ingested, commissioned by WWF Singapore, reveals that the consumption of common food and beverages may result in a weekly ingestion of approximately five grams of plastic, depending on consumption habits. In particular, the largest amount of microplastics hit our body through drinking.

The university calculated the average amount of plastic ingested by humans by analysing and synthesising the existing, but limited literature on the topic exists. The results confirm concerns over the large quantity of plastic humans ingest every day.

It also highlights the key ways plastic gets into the body, such as through food and beverages, and indoor and outdoor air. Out of a total of 52 studies that the University of Newcastle included in its calculations, 33 looked at plastic consumption through food and beverages.

Microplastics, defined as plastic particles under 5mm in size, are contaminating the air, food, and water. Primary microplastics are plastics directly released into the environment in the form of small particulates (shower gel micro beads and tyre abrasion, among others) while secondary microplastics are microplastics originating from the degradation of larger particles.

Water is an indispensable resource to human life and drinking water (groundwater, surface water, tap water, and bottled water) is the largest source of plastic ingestion all over the world. Bottled water, peoples choice for healthy, non-contaminated drinking water, is even richer in plastics, containing some 10,000 microplastic particles per litre, twice as much as regular tap water, according to a report by Orb Media.

In Vietnam, bottled-drinks fanatics might be familiar with major brands like Universal Robina Corporations C2 green tea, Red Dragon drinks, or THP Groups Dr. Thanh tea and oolong tea, and Suntory Pepsicos wide range of drinks, that are packed in plastic and can easily be found in any convenient store or supermarket.

The alarm bell is sounding not only over bottled drinks  tea drinkers who prefer costly, silky plastic teabags might get more than they bargained for in each cupful of liquid refreshment.

A team of researchers from McGill University and the Quebec government announced shocking stats that about 11.6 billion microplastic and 3.1 billion nanoplastic particles can leak into water from a single plastic teabag at brewing temperature, thousands of times higher than the amount reported previously in other foods. The teabags in the study appeared to be from the premium category which consumers turn to with more trust than regular tea bags.

Inhalation is estimated to account for a negligible portion of microplastics entering the human body but this may vary heavily depending on the environment. The study surveyed 16 papers focusing on outdoor and indoor air quality. The results showed that indoors are more heavily plastic polluted than outdoors.

Reacting to the concerning statistics, the WWF said that the production of virgin plastic has increased 200-fold since 1950 and has grown at a rate of 4 per cent a year since 2000. If all predicted plastic production capacity is reached, current production could increase by 40 per cent by 2030.

Threats to human health

Going forward, scientists are working to obtain more precise information on pollution from plastic, how it is distributed, and how much is consumed.

The long-term effects on human health of ingesting large quantities of plastic are not clear but studies are underway. However, scientists suspect that the health hazard may be more substantial than currently understood.

Studies have shown that beyond a certain exposure level, inhalation of plastic fibres seems to produce a mild inflammation of the respiratory tract.

In marine animals, higher concentrations of microplastics in their digestive and respiratory system can lead to an early death. Research studies have demonstrated toxicity in vitro to lung cells, the liver, and brain cells.

Some types of plastics carry chemicals and additives with potential effects on human health. Identified health risks are due to the production process of residues, additives, dyes, and pigments found in plastic, some of which have been shown to have an influence on virility, fertility, and increased occurrence of mutations and cancers.

Airborne microplastics may also carry pollutants from the surrounding environment. In urban environments, they may carry polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons  molecules found in coal and tar  and metals.

Studies are underway to better understand the health effects of plastic. A key challenge to research is the overwhelming presence of plastic in our daily life, making it very hard to isolate the effect of a specific exposure pathway from others. The World Health Organization is currently undertaking a review of the health impact of microplastics. VIR

Duong Thanh

Students turn discarded plastic bags into bricks Tonnes of plastic waste, particularly discarded plastic bags threaten our planet with environmental pollution, and by now almost everybody knows it.
New Delhi/IBNS: Days after a bravery award winning child urged Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad Arvind Bobde to give direction against the participation of kids in anti-CAA agitations, the Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to both the Centre and Delhi government over the death of a four-month old child at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh where several women as well as men are protesting against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), media reports said.

Coming down heavily upon the lawyers who was representing the mothers of children sitting in protest, the Supreme Court asked, "Can a four-month-old child go for the protest?"

Mohammed Jahan, 4, had died during the uninterrupted anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh on Jan 30.

A 12-year old bravery award winner named Zen Sadavarte last week wrote a letter to CJI Bobde seeking a directive against the participation of kids in anti-CAA agitations.

The Class 7 student in the letter wrote the incident was a violation of the deceased child's right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Zen, who had received the award in 2019 for guiding 17 people to safety when a fire broke out at Parels Crystal Tower in Mumbai, further said the inclusion of children and infants in the protests amounts to "torture" and "cruelty".

Hundreds of Muslim women and men are camped for more than a month in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, blocking roads, to protest against the contentious CAA which aims to grant citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi but not Muslim refugees who came to Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh before 2015.

The Supreme Court on Monday also issued a notice to both the government and Delhi Police and noted that there can't be any indefinite protests on a public road.

"The protests have gone on for a long time. There can't be an indefinite period of protests in a common area. It might be in an area identified," said the Supreme Court as reported by NDTV.
More than 260,000 homes and businesses in the southeastern United States were without power early Friday after a powerful storm raked the region. At least five people were killed.

North Carolina had the most customers without electricity on Friday, followed by Pennsylsvania, according to poweroutages.us. The outages matched states that were under high wind and winter weather advisories issued by the National Weather Service.

The weather destroyed mobile homes in Mississippi and Alabama, caused mudslides in Tennessee and Kentucky and flooded communities that shoulder waterways across the Appalachian region. School districts canceled classes in state after state as bad weather rolled through.

Many school districts canceled classes on Friday. Up to 8 inches of snow was predicted in West Virginia, while Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency because of heavy rains and extreme flooding. More than 500 people in southwestern Virginia had to be rescued from their homes amid flooding, he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Tennessee Valley Authority warned Friday that people residing near rivers and lakes should prepare for rapidly changing water levels. The TVA was managing rising water behind 49 dams to avert major flooding, but with more rain expected this week, the agency may have to release water downstream, said James Everett, senior manager of the TVAs river forecast center in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Authorities confirmed five storm-related fatalities, in Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee.

One person was killed and another was injured as high winds destroyed two mobile homes near the town of Demopolis, Alabama, the Storm Prediction Center reported. The victim, Anita Rembert, was in one of the homes with her husband, child and two grandchildren, said Kevin McKinney, emergency management director for Marengo County. A man was injured but the children were unhurt, he said.

High winds there left roadsides strewn with plywood, insulation, broken trees and twisted metal. The National Weather Service was checking the site for signs of a tornado.

Weather-related crashes left at least four people dead and numerous authorities pleaded with motorists to avoid driving where they couldnt see the pavement.

A driver died in South Carolina when a tree fell on an SUV near Fort Mill, Highway Patrol Master Trooper Gary Miller said. The drivers name wasnt immediately released.

In North Carolinas Gaston County, Terry Roger Fisher was killed after his pickup truck hydroplaned in heavy rain, plunged down a 25-foot (8-meter) embankment and overturned in a creek, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol said, according to news outlets.

An unidentified man died and two others were injured Thursday when a car hydroplaned in Knoxville, Tennessee, and hit a truck, police said in a news release.

And in Tennessee, 36-year-old teacher Brooke Sampson was killed and four people were injured when a rain-soaked tree fell on a van carrying Sevierville city employees, officials said. The crash, though still under investigation, appeared to have been weather-related according to preliminary information, said Tennessee Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. Bill Miller.

Flooding, meanwhile, forced rescuers to suspend their search for a vehicle missing with a person inside it in north Alabamas Bucks Pocket State Park. The vehicle quickly disappeared Wednesday in waters too dangerous for divers to search.

As the car started shifting because of the water we noticed what appeared to be an arm reaching out, witness Kirkland Follis, who called 911, told WHNT-TV.

___

Associated Press staffers Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee; Becky Yonker in Louisville, Kentucky; John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia; and Jonathan Drew in Raleigh, North Carolina contributed to this report.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Auto Windstorm Flood North Carolina Alabama Virginia Tennessee
Versailles, Ky, Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In 2019, the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) proposed that the year 2020 be designated the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife in honor of the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingales birth. The proposal was approved by the World Health Assembly. In addition to the significance of Florence Nightingales birthday anniversary, the designation was made to help bring awareness of the importance of nurses and midwives in the health and care of populations across the globe. According to the WHO, the world needs 9 million more nurses and midwives if it is to achieve universal health coverage by 2030*. Frontier Nursing University (FNU) is excited to support and participate in this international campaign and to spread awareness of the specific need for more nurses and nurse-midwives in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 700 women die annually in the United States as a result of pregnancy or delivery complications, 67 percent of which were determined to be preventable. More than 5 million U.S. women live in counties that have no hospital offering obstetric care and no obstetric providers. The need for nurses and nurse-midwives is also seen beyond the gaps in maternity care. Rural areas are impacted most significantly by the healthcare shortages, with the number of physicians per 10,000 people averaging 33 in urban areas versus just 13 in rural communities. A shortage of psychiatric mental health care providers has resulted in 96 million Americans having to wait longer than a week for mental health treatment and 46 percent of those seeking this care having to drive more than an hour round-trip for treatment. For 80 years, FNU has been educating and preparing many of these much-needed providers to serve the communities in which they live and work. FNUs mission is to provide accessible nurse-midwifery and nurse practitioner education to prepare competent, entrepreneurial, ethical, and compassionate leaders in primary care to serve all individuals with an emphasis on women and families in diverse, rural, and underserved populations. During the first 50 years of its history, FNU was rooted in its birthplace in the rural mountains of southeastern Kentucky. In 1989, FNU launched its distance-learning model, which enabled FNU to expand its reach across the country. Today, FNU has an enrollment of more than 2,300 students, 73% of whom live in a Healthcare Provider Shortage Area (HPSA) as defined by the Health Resources and Services Administration. Our distance-learning model allows students to continue their education in the same communities in which they live and work, FNU President Dr. Susan Stone, DNSc, CNM, FACNM, FAAN, said, noting that FNU has students and graduates in every state. Students can remain in their local communities and continue to work while attending classes on a flexible schedule. Not only has FNUs reach expanded significantly but so has its range of programs. FNU offers the master of science in nursing degree, doctor of nursing practice degree and post-graduate certificates with specialties including nurse-midwife, family nurse practitioner, womens health care nurse practitioner and psychiatric-mental health care nurse practitioner. In 2018, FNU produced approximately 39 percent of the certified nurse-midwifery graduates in the U.S. Certified nurse-midwives are advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) backed by the American College of Nurse-Midwives. To become a CNM, registered nurses must graduate from a masters or higher-level nurse-midwifery education program accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education (ACME) and pass the national Certified Nurse-Midwife Examination through the American Midwifery Certification Board. All CNMs must hold state licensure. Certified midwives (CM), by comparison, are not required to have a nursing background. One of the important objectives for us this year is to define the role of the certified nurse-midwife and the certified midwife so the public understands the broad scope of services these professionals provide, Dr. Stone said. In recognizing the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, FNU joins the efforts to raise awareness of healthcare shortages in the U.S. and abroad; demonstrate the need for more nurses and nurse-midwives; educate the public of the value of nurses and nurse-midwives in their communities, and advocate for access to quality healthcare for every individual. We are very excited to share the message of the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, Dr. Stone said. Greater awareness of our healthcare disparities and identification of the potential solutions are essential steps in improving the reach and access to healthcare in this country. ###### About Frontier Nursing University: The mission of FNU is to provide accessible nurse-midwifery and nurse practitioner education to prepare competent, entrepreneurial, ethical, and compassionate leaders in primary care to serve all individuals with an emphasis on women and families in diverse, rural, and underserved populations. FNU offers graduate Nurse-Midwifery and Nurse Practitioner distance education programs that can be pursued full- or part-time with the students home community serving as the classroom. Degrees and options offered include Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) or Post-Graduate Certificates. To learn more about FNU and the programs and degrees offered, please visit Frontier.edu. * World Health Organization, Year of the Nurse Midwife, 2020. Accessed 2020/01/27 https://www.who.int/news-room/campaigns/year-of-the-nurse-and-the-midwife-2020  Davis, Nicole L., Ashley N. Smoots, and David A. Goodman. Pregnancy-Related Deaths: Data from 14 U.S. Maternal Mortality Review Committees, 2008-17. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Maternal Mortality Review Committee Data Brief, 2019. https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/maternal-mortality/erase-mm/MMR-Data-Brief_2019-h.pdf  March of Dimes, Nowhere to Go: Maternity Care Deserts Across the U.S. 2018. https://www.marchofdimes.org/materials/Nowhere_to_Go_Final.pdf  March of Dimes, Nowhere to Go: Maternity Care Deserts Across the U.S. 2018. https://www.marchofdimes.org/materials/Nowhere_to_Go_Final.pdf  National Council for Behavioral Health, New Study Reveals Lack of Access as Root Cause for Mental Health Crisis in America. October 10, 2018. https://www.thenationalcouncil.org/press-releases/new-study-reveals-lack-of-access-as-root-cause-for-mental-health-crisis-in-america/

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A 78-year-old Belfast man charged with raping a girl aged 11 has blamed her, a court has been told.

Police claimed the accused showed no remorse for alleged sex offences against a child who lives in the same neighbourhood.

The pensioner cannot be named due to reporting restrictions imposed amid concerns for his safety.

A judge was told death threats posted on an online news site referred to shooting or hanging him if his identity is discovered.

The man appeared before Belfast Magistrates' Court charged with rape and sexual activity with a child under 13.

He also faces a further count of sexual communication with a child.

The alleged offences were committed between May 1, 2019 and February 7, 2020.

Entering the dock in handcuffs and wearing a black bomber jacket, the defendant confirmed he understood the charges against him.

District Judge Fiona Bagnall was told he has made admissions in connection with the case.

But an investigating detective claimed: "He doesn't appear to comprehend the (seriousness) of the acts.

"He has not expressed remorse; he has blamed the injured party. She is an 11-year-old child."

Disputing the police assessment, a defence lawyer insisted his client was aware of the gravity of the allegations.

It was argued that the pensioner could be released on bail because there was no suggestion of targeting random children.

"The police case is this conduct had been cultivated at family events over many years," the lawyer added.

Granting bail to an address approved by the PSNI, Mrs Bagnall banned the accused from contacting anyone under 18.

She also ordered: "He is not to be within 500 metres of any school, playground, leisure centre or facilities visited by children."

A prohibition on identifying the man was imposed after reference was made to the online comments about the case.

The court heard postings had urged people to attend the hearing so that his name could be obtained and shared.

His lawyer contended: "Some of them mentioned hanging and shooting."
The Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations (UN) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva marked the 72nd anniversary of Sri Lankas independence at a solemn ceremony held on 4 February 2020 at the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) premises in Geneva.

The event, attended by a large gathering of members of the Sri Lankan community in Switzerland, commenced with hoisting of the national flag and singing of the national anthem, followed by observing two minutes of silence for patriots who laid down their lives to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka.

Following the lighting of the traditional oil lamp, multi-religious observances were conducted. Ven. Thawalama Dhammika Thero of Geneva International Buddhist Centre, Ven. Halyale Wimalarathana Thero of International Buddhist Foundation and Ven. Karuwalagaswewa Anuruddha Thero of Zurich Buddhist Vihara invoked blessings according to the Buddhist religious tradition. Rev. Uma Shankar Kurukkal conducted the Hindu religious observances while Mr. A.M. Zawahir conducted the Islamic religious observances and Rev. Father Paul Friel along with Rev. Sister Philo Jesudasan conducted the Christian religious observances.

The independence day messages of H.E. the President, the Hon. Prime Minister and the Hon. Minister of Foreign Relations were read out at the ceremony. The welcome address was delivered by Actg.Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva, Ms. Dayani Mendis, while the vote of thanks was delivered by Ambassador Gothami Silva, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the WTO.

The event concluded with a traditional Sri Lankan dinner and Sri Lankan music for the participating community members.

Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka

Geneva



04.02.2020
The government will send another chartered flight to Wuhan, China to evacuate Korean citizens still trapped in the epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic.

Some 701 Koreans were evacuated late last month aboard two chartered flights but the Chinese government did not allow their Chinese dependents to leave. This time, both Koreans and their Chinese spouses will be evacuated.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Sunday, "The first and second flights did not include Chinese citizens, but the Chinese government informed us [on Feb. 5] that it has changed its policy. We're taking applications until Sunday midnight, and some 100 out of 230 Koreans and their Chinese family members have applied for the flight so far."

The new arrivals will also be quarantined here for two weeks. The government is looking for a new location other than the two current temporary shelters in Asan and Jincheon in central Korea.

Health and Welfare Minister Park Neung-hoo said, "We haven't decided on the location but we are considering government-run facilities that are some way from residential areas."

The government also decided to bolster the fine for people who break their self-quarantine from a maximum of W3 million to up to W20 million (US$1=W1,192).

Meanwhile, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Sunday the fourth coronavirus patient here, who had been diagnosed on Jan. 27, has been released from hospital after making a full recovery 14 days later.

Earlier, two other infected patients were released with a clean bill of health. The first took 13 days to make a full recovery and the second 18.

There is currently no cure for the new coronavirus. Patients with severe symptoms are given the AIDS drug Kaletra and other antivirals. Eom Joong-shik at Gachon University Gil Hospital said, "At present, we are focusing on treatment of the symptoms rather than targeting the cause."
The Data Model Projects Team (DMPT) met from 27 to 31 January 2020 at WCO Headquarters in Brussels. The meeting was attended by WCO Members, the private sector and other international organizations.

The meeting was opened by Mr. Pranab Kumar DAS, the Director, of the WCOs Compliance and Facilitation Directorate. Mr. DAS informed the DMPT that the WCO celebrated International Customs Day on Friday 24 Jan 2020 and launched the WCOs Theme for 2020: Customs fostering Sustainability for People, Prosperity and the Planet. Mr. DAS emphasized that the DMPT has important role in supporting the WCO Theme of the year by enlarging the Digital Customs agenda with a greater emphasis on the use of modern technologies, including a high-performance, paperless Single Window environment and a solid IT infrastructure.

Mr. DAS announced that the WCO, with the support of the DMPT, had successfully published the new version of the WCO Data Model, version 3.9.0, on 23 December 2019. This version of the WCO DM included the revised International Maritime Organization Facilitation (IMO-FAL) Derived Information Package (DIP) that is fully in line with the IMO Compendium on Electronic Business. The DIP is useful to facilitate Customs-Maritime digital collaboration in the context of Single Window. The new version of the WCO DM is available at: www.wcoomd.org/DataModel > WCO Data Model eHandbook.

The DMPT elected Ms. Louritha Green of the United States of America (USA) as the new Chairperson. Ms. Green supported by the Conveners of the Focus Groups led the meeting proceedings. Under her leadership, the DMPT discussed the plan to produce a new major version of the WCO DM, version .4.0.0. The DMPT welcomed one members voluntary contribution to take on the role as Product Manager for the new major version of the WCO DM. The DMPT agreed to hold an ad-hoc working session meeting to finalize the planning process in April 2020.

In the context of cooperation with the SAFE Working Group, the DMPT discussed the categorization of Annex II of the SAFE Framework of Standards (FoS) based on Goods Declaration and Cargo Reporting and the need for clarification of the different purposes of Advance Electronic Information (AEI).

In line with the WCO Theme of the year, the DMPT discussed potential cooperation with the Basel Convention Secretariat to develop a paperless process for transboundary movement of waste, in particular plastic and e-waste. The DMPT noted that there were different setups in different Countries on whether Customs has a role in the transboundary movement of waste. Therefore, closer engagement between Customs and competent authorities at a National and International level is needed to move forward with the proposal to develop a collaborative paperless processes in this area.

With regard to the future maintenance of the IMO Compendium on Electronic Business, the DMPT agreed, in principle, to continue supporting the IMO Secretariat in its maintenance process, in particular to support the development and maintenance of IMO datasets that relate to regulatory (Business to Government) processes. In addition, the DMPT discussed and agreed to publish a Customs related standardized Code-List for Ship Store and Crew Effects as WCO Code.

In the context of digital collaboration within Single Window environment, the DMPT received a presentation by the Chair of the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS) Electronic Working Group on the ongoing process to develop paperless solution for food related electronic certification.

During the meeting, the DMPT received 11 Data Maintenance Requests (DMRs) submitted by the Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) and approved 6 of them. In addition, the DMPT discussed the basic principles for transformable electronic message format, standardization for Application Programming Interface (API) and the compliance criteria for the WCO Data Model. Finally, the DMPT received a presentation by the Secretariat on the prototype of the WCO DM Web Portal and repository for My Information Package (MIP).
That problem was solved during the Apollo 15 to 17 missions when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), along with Boeing developed the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LVR). Powered by four electric motors, it allowed astronauts to better explore the moon while also carrying heavy cargo.

Over 50 years ago, the late Neil Armstrong said those famous words when he, along with Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin of Apollo 11, became the first astronauts to ever land on the moon. While they did make history, they also found out that traveling by foot on the moon was quite difficult due to low gravity.

Now, NASA is looking to go back to the moon once more with the 'Artemis' program wherein the goal is to land the next man and first woman on the moon by 2024, as well as "go where man has not gone before" - the lunar South Pole. To do this, NASA recently issued two separate Requests for Information (RFI) wherein they are seeking help from other industries (including automakers) in order to strengthen their own designs for a 'human-rated' lunar terrain vehicle (LTV). This meant that the LTVs can be operated by humans, and have the latest in communication and mobility.

As we return to the Moon with Artemis, were seeking new and innovative approaches that allow us to operate robotically anywhere on the lunar surface and explore more of our nearest neighbor than ever before. We are turning to industry to offer us exciting approaches to leverage existing systems here on Earthincluding law enforcement, military, or recreational vehiclesthat could be modified for use in space to enhance our mobility architecture, said Steven Clarke, Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters.

The space agency wants to increase their mobility on the moon since astronauts wearing spacesuits can only travel for about less than a kilometer. But just like the LVR used during the Apollo missions, the use of an LTV will allow astronauts to travel for 17  25 kilometers while on the moon. This will allow them to perform experiments, explore unchartered territory, as well as gather specimens while on the lunar surface. And, just like the rovers from before, these vehicles must be electrically-powered and unpressurized (open cabin).

With NASA serious about getting back on the moon in a few years' time, perhaps they can get help from Toyota. Last July 2019, the automaker revealed that they will be developing and building a pressurized and manned lunar rover. Working with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the manufacturing of the components will begin this year, while testing will commence at around 2021. A full-scale prototype is planned to be released sometime in 2022 although the fully-working production model is expected to be ready for a future moon mission by 2029.

Maybe Toyota, NASA, and JAXA can all work together in order to make the lunar rover possible at a much earlier date. However, NASA wants an unpressurized rover while Toyota and JAXA signed on for a pressurized vehicle. Perhaps all three parties can agree to a compromise in order for the project to go forward.

Whatever the case may be, we're hoping that NASA's Artemis program will see a new lunar rover head straight to the moon come 2024.
'Our only request to the Indian government is that they should act fast and send a plane to evacuate us as people around us are dying.'

Neha Yadav, a resident of Etah in Uttar Pradesh, arrived in Wuhan, China, on November 3, 2018 after marrying Ashish Yadav, an associate professor at the Wuhan Textile University there.

Calamity struck after the outbreak of coronavirus in Hubei province, the epicentre of the epidemic, where Wuhan is located.

Neha, a PhD student at Wuhan University, and her husband Ashish spoke to Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf from Wuhan and described their uncertain existence as people around them die.

Here is their first person account:

Ashish Yadav:

When the government sent the Air India plane to evacuate Indian citizens, my wife and I could not leave because my wife had minor surgery.

The doctors in China told us she should avoid traveling to India and this operation had nothing to do with the coronavirus.

Moreover, the Indian embassy in Beijing told us an Air India flight would reach Wuhan on February 5 to evacuate more Indians, so we thought we would catch that flight to return to India.

But after back to back Air India flights to Wuhan on January 31, 2020 and February 1, 2020, the airline halted operations to evacuate Indian citizens.

We were told another flight would arrive after 3 days, but that did not happen.

Later, we came to know that another Air India flight would come to Wuhan on February 10 to evacuate us, but that did not happen.

So we are stuck in Wuhan.

At present, the situation is very bad in Wuhan.

Almost 1,000 people have died due to coronavirus. 35,000 people are in severe condition. Another 32,000 people are infected with coronavirus.

The situation in Wuhan is very grim.

We are clueless what the future holds for us.

We are not getting any information about our journey back to India.

WATCH: Neha and Ashish appeal Indian government to help them evacuate from Wuhan

We are continuously calling the Indian embassy in Beijing and tweeting about our plight.

At present, 80 Indians are trapped in Wuhan. All these people came to Wuhan for jobs.

There are no Indian students left in Wuhan, so all of us have said we want to come back to India at our own expense, but still we are not getting any response from the government.

We just want transport to travel from our house which we are not getting.

The Chinese government has locked down Wuhan completely.

No vehicle is moving in the city.

No one is allowed to come out of their buildings.

There are only nine people in my building. We are the only 2 Indians in this building.

IMAGE: Doctors and other team members aboard Air India's 747 aircraft wait to receive Indian students, stranded amid the coronavirus outbreak, at the airport in Wuhan. Photograph: PTI Photo

Neha Ashish Yadav:

We run out of food all the time. It is only now that we got some food as our office dean helped us get some vegetables.

At this moment we have something to eat.

We are not allowed to leave our building. From January 22, we have been locked in our homes.

The police is roaming around and ensuring that no one comes out of their homes.

We talk daily to officials at the Indian embassy, but we have not got any positive response from them about our evacuation yet.

We are in touch with 80 other Indians on WeChat.

We have made a group and updating about everyone's well-being.

Right now, no Indian is infected with coronavirus.

All are well, but we are not allowed to leave this city.

There is no taxi, metro trains, or any kind of transport in Wuhan.

There is a complete lockdown.

The situation is worse than a curfew.

When news broke out about the coronavirus, we were told that this virus affected a human being for 14 days after which a person gets cured.

We never imagined that the situation would become so bad.

Life is looking very bleak at this moment.

Yesterday, there was no flour at our home. We asked for flour on one WeChat group.

The flour arrived, along with a team of 15 people that included doctors and police.

They checked our body temperature and only then left.

I am hearing that more people around my area are getting infected with coronavirus, therefore this is more worrying news for us.

One girl from Andhra Pradesh, Jyoti, is staying alone in a dormitory. She is 22 years old. She was to get married on February 14, but is now stuck in Wuhan.

The only solace is I am in touch with my family. They are worried and wondering when we are going to come back.

They are trying to reach out to India's external affairs ministry so that they can help us get out of Wuhan.

We are tweeting constantly to S Jaishankar (India's external affair minister).

Eighty other Indians are tweeting to him, but there is no response from ther minister.

Our only request to the Indian government is that they should act fast and send a plane to evacuate us as people around us are dying.
Chinese UN envoy refutes US accusations over counter-terrorism in Xinjiang

Global Times

Source:Xinhua Published: 2020/2/8 22:37:56

A Chinese UN envoy on Friday refuted accusations by the United States over China's counter-terrorism efforts in its northwestern region of Xinjiang.

At a Security Council meeting on the threat posed by the Islamic State, Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, said the remarks by the US representative regarding Xinjiang are "unwarranted."

Senior Policy Advisor for US UN Mission Michael Barkin, who addressed the council earlier than Wu, claimed that "Uighurs" (Uygurs) and other Muslims have been "detained in internment camps under the guise of counter-terrorism" in Xinjiang.

He labeled China's counter-terrorism measure as "confinement that is based and imposed on the basis of ethnicity and religion."

Wu said that Barkin's "attacks" are "completely baseless, and represent a wanton interference in China's internal affairs and a brazen attempt to provoke confrontation."

In nature, he said, the issues Xinjiang faces are not about ethnic group or religion or human rights, but rather they are about counter-terrorism.

Recalling the past, Wu said that for some time, Xinjiang suffered frequent terrorist attacks, which seriously jeopardized the lives and property of all ethnic communities and gravely violated human dignity.

"In response, China has taken resolute, law-based measures to combat terrorism and extremism, eliminating to the extent possible the breeding ground and conditions for terrorism and extremism, effectively curbing the trend of rampant terrorist activities and safeguarding citizens' basic rights, including the right to life and development," Wu expounded.

"Those measures have produced good results," he said. "At present, the situation in Xinjiang is largely stable, and local economy continues to grow. People of all ethnic groups live in harmony. The region has been free of terrorist attacks for over three years."

He noted relevant policies and measures against terrorism and extremism in Xinjiang constitute a crucial part of the global counter-terrorism efforts.

The Chinese envoy also rejected the remarks of Britain's representative, who echoed the US stance.

"Regrettably, Britain once again blindly followed the footsteps of the United States and put up unfounded charges against China," Wu said.

He expressed the hope that Britain has "recorded our positions on this matter," urging Britain not to use the Security Council "to make trouble, to spread rumor and to interfere with the internal affairs of China."

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Last weekend, the Israel Defense Forces faced the unusual situation of all its fronts being challenged simultaneously. On the night of Feb. 6, the Syrian media reported a missile assault on western Damascus targets that caused numerous deaths and wounded many people. In the aftermath, the wave of violence that has flooded Israel and the Palestinian territories ever since the Jan. 28 announcement of US President Donald Trumps deal of the century and the annexation declarations has also escalated. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backing down from annexing West Bank territories before the March 2 elections did little to curb the violence.

In addition to these worrisome signs, the region lacks the strong leadership needed to calm the territory. Netanyahu is occupied by the upcoming crucial elections, the Israeli cabinet is barely functioning, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is in the twilight of his rulership and more worried about his legacy than the current situation. Thus, the few remaining stabilizing agents of the region face serious challenges.

The violence that erupted in the territories is not officially sanctioned or organized, but enjoys significant support from the Palestinian Authority leadership in Ramallah. Abbas, despite his statements and threats, has not yet put an end to security cooperation with Israel but personally instructed his security apparatus not to hold back the masses that want to protest the American/Israeli plan, which in Abbas words is intended to "liquidate the Palestinian national project." In the days that have since passed, many acts of violence by Palestinian assailants have been reported. There has been one vehicular attack in Jerusalem in which 12 Golani soldiers were wounded, an attempted shooting of an Israeli border police officer and an attempted shooting of IDF troops as well as the hurling of stones and Molotov cocktails at Israels security forces all over the country.

Simultaneously, explosive balloon attacks from Gaza have intensified and at least five rockets were launched from the Strip at Israel. The balloons, once viewed as a nuisance, have become a growing threat, traversing longer distances into Israel and carrying bigger explosive charges.

But except for the Israeli-Iranian front in Syrian territory, Israel has maintained impressive restraint. Defense Minister Naftali Bennett threatens Hamas, but his words are empty. His actions support Netanyahu's efforts to advance an arrangement with Hamas. At the same time, the IDF is trying hard to contain the violence in the West Bank. The military made a major mistake when it entered the West Bank city of Jenin on Feb. 6 to demolish the home of a Palestinian attacker with a court order to do so. The operation became a battle that continued all night, and there were at least two Palestinian deaths. Israeli military sources have admitted to Al-Monitor that the demolition should have been postponed until quieter days. The West Bank is beginning to burn.

There is still not enough energy for another intifada or a significant round of violence, a senior Israeli security official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. But when Abbas tells his people to go out and protest on the streets, they do what he says. According to the source, the IDF mistakenly killing a Palestinian policeman in Jenin stirred things up even more. The IDF took several steps back in order to let the hostile winds die down and so far, things have not escalated further as of the beginning of this week. Israeli declarations regarding annexation have also died down.

Bennett is in a bind. Not long ago, before being nominated minister of defense, he criticized strongly Netanyahu in his role as defense minister for the IDF's alleged weakness vis-a-vis the Gaza Strip. Bennett demanded real action against Hamas, but his vociferous declarations meant little. Bennett had also attacked Avigdor Liberman when Liberman served as defense minister with the same holy fire regarding the need to restore Israels deterrence and uproot terror. Liberman had also criticized his predecessor Moshe Yaalon for the same inaction. But at least Liberman was honest enough to quit the job when it became clear to him that he was incapable of implementing his Gaza policy.

Now Bennett has reached the same place as his predecessors. His close associates such as Yamina Knesset member Matan Kahana are spreading the word that Bennett is considering military action. Bennett, [IDF Chief Aviv] Kochavi and the rest of the defense forces are considering a significant military operation  but it will take place when the time is right, Kahana told Radio 103FM Live on Feb. 6, but gave no additional details.

The truth is complicated: Bennett is now paying the price for his bluster, along the lines of the well-known Israeli dictum, Things that you see from here, you don't see from there. In other words, when one reaches the position of defense minister, one will understand that the reality is more complicated than it seems, and that launching military attacks must be considered in view of many different elements. Thus, Bennett is giving Netanyahu space to continue the arrangement process with Hamas. He realizes that a flare-up against Hamas now may torpedo annexation work and interfere with Israels continued efforts against the Iranian bases in Syria. For example, a recent assault (for which Israel did not claim responsibility) took place in Damascus that forced a civilian flight approaching the Syrian capitals international airport to take evasive maneuvers to avoid being harmed by Syria's aerial defense while the skies of Damascus were filled with dozens of ground-to-air missiles. The Russians furiously denounced the incident and Israel is trying to keep a low profile.

Therefore, Bennett will be forced to wait patiently with his plans to bring down Hamas, such as smashing the movement in a long-range aerial campaign while evacuating sections of the Israeli population living close to the Gaza fence.

At the moment, Israel is trying to assist Hamas so that one of Israels most problematic fronts will maintain a certain level of calm on the eve of elections. But, in truth, this irritating front is a non-issue when compared to the IDFs other enemies in the new and complex post-Arab Spring Middle East reality.
Flood warnings are in place for rivers in drought-declared Queensland regions west of the dividing range, topped up by torrential rain at the weekend as the water makes its way through the catchments.

Showers were forecast to continue this week after Queensland's south-east also copped a weekend drenching.

Flooding is expected on the Condamine River downstream from Warwick, in the Southern Downs, in coming days after peaking at 4.71 metres in the town on Sunday.

The Bureau of Meteorology warned a major peak in Oakey Creek at Fairview was expected Monday morning, along with a moderate peak at Pratten, 75 kilometres south of Toowoomba.
Judge Armine Meliksetyan of Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction today postponed the trial over Narek Mutafyan and Sargis Ohanjanyan, supporters of second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan.

The attorneys of the accused-on-trial filed a motion with the court to terminate criminal prosecution against Mutafyan and Ohanjanyan, and the prosecutor petitioned to postpone the trial since the existing evidence hasnt been examined.

The court ruled to postpone the trial and set the next trial for March 26.

Sargis Ohanjanyan and Narek Mutafyan have been charged with asking Judge Danibekyan questions regarding Kocharyans case and video recording it on the street, which the investigative body assessed as obstruction of justice.

The court of first instance had granted the investigator's motion and ruled that they be arrested.

But the Criminal Court of Appeal had granted their attorneys appeal and ruled that they be released.
MBABANE  The man who was sentenced to 75 years imprisonment without an option of a fine for a string of robberies, smiled all the way home, after his sentence was reduced to a mere two years of community service.



Community service, also known as community restitution, is a form of punishment intended to benefit the community thats been harmed by an offenders crime. Judges often order offenders to perform community service in addition to or instead of other forms of punishment, such as incarceration, fines, or probation.



Imprisonment



Nhlanhla Father Mdluli was not the only convict to have his sentence reduced to two years of community service, as a similar order was issued for four others who were serving different sentences. Mdluli was sentenced by Magistrate Sindisile Zwane after she found him guilty on 20 counts of robberies, theft and indecent assault.



Instead of serving the 75 years, Judge Sipho Nkosi ordered Mdluli to undertake community service at Nhlangano Clinic for a period of 24 months from 8am to 5pm.



The other convicts who were ordered to undertake community service, were each serving sentences ranging from three to six years imprisonment without an option of a fine. Phila Vilakati and Linda Ndlangamandla were each serving sentences of three years.



Judge Nkosi set aside the sentences of three years and replaced them with community service for each of the convicts. Vilakati was sentenced to undertake a community service Kwaluseni Market near Fundi Dlaminis church from 8am to 5pm for a period of 24 months. Ndlangamandla was directed to do community service at Lavumisa Umphakatsi every Saturday from 8am to 5pm.



Another convict who had his sentence replaced with community service was Mario Ndlovu, who had been sentenced to four years imprisonment without an option of a fine. Judge Nkosi ordered Ndlovu to undertake community service at Luhlangotsini Primary School for a period of 24 months every Saturday from 8am to 5pm.



Sentence



The court also ordered Mzwandile Matsebula to do community service at Hillside Clinic every Saturday from 8pm to 5pm for a period of 24 months. The order directing the convicts to undertake community services, comes after they individually approached the High Court for review of the different sentences that were imposed by the magistrates after they were found guilty.



In his application, Mdluli submitted that around the year 2013, he was arrested by members of the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) and was subsequently charged with 20 counts of robbery, one of indecent assault and that of theft.



He told Judge Nkosi that he subsequently appeared before Senior Magistrate Zwane, who convicted and sentenced him to 75 years imprisonment without an option of a fine. Mdluli told the court that he was currently kept at the Matsapha Maximum Prison.



I noted an appeal against the sentence imposed by the magistrate. While waiting for my appeal, I am desirous of being admitted to bail, submitted Mdluli. He averred that he had prospects of success on his appeal. He contended that another court might find and hold that the cumulative sentence that was imposed by the magistrate was harsh and induced a sense of shock.



I am further advised and verily believe that the trial court erred both in law and in fact by failing to order that some of the sentences should run concurrently when they occurred within a short space of time, submitted Mdluli.

According to Mdluli, the magistrate also erred both in law and in fact by failing to consider the trial when arriving at a proper sentence to be meted out on him. Mdluli was represented by Noncedo Ndlangamandla.



What kind of community service can a judge order?

Judges have a lot of discretion in what community service they can order, but the sentence must bear some relationship to the crime. In general, judges have broad discretion to decide what kind of community service to order for an offender.



As long as the sentence reasonably protects the publics interests and isnt unduly harsh, all different kinds of community service options are available. However, there are a few guidelines that judges must follow when crafting community service sentences.



Community service may be ordered as a stand-alone sentence or as a condition of probation for many types of crimes, and in fact, may be a required condition of punishment for crimes like looting or damaging property. However, community service is typically unavailable for serious offences punishable by death or life imprisonment.



Restitution



The main requirement of any community service sentence is that it benefits the community.

Thus, a judge may order a bank executive who misappropriated bank funds to volunteer for a community organisation and donate funds to that organisation. The judge might choose this sentence as an alternative to a term of imprisonment and in-prison restitution programmes.

This donation of charitable services in a public forum benefits the community in two ways: it serves as a deterrent to other potential offenders, and provides a symbolic (and practical) form of restitution for the harm the defendant caused.



While there are many forms of community service that can benefit the public, there must be a direct connection between that service and the crime. For example, courts have struck down community service sentences that involve public organisations with no ties to the offender or the crime.



Suppose a corporate executive with no substance abuse history is convicted of misappropriating corporate funds for personal use; the judge orders the executive to pay restitution to a community substance abuse facility.

If the defendant challenges the sentence, an appellate court will likely strike it downthats because the rehabilitation facility has no relation to either the offender or the crime. In many instances, judges determine that the community will benefit from a substance-abusing offender entering a rehab programme.



The community will benefit because the judge believes the offender is unlikely to continue to commit crimes with proper substance-abuse treatment.

However, an offenders mere attendance and participation in a treatment programme is usually not enough, standing alone, to meet the for the benefit of the community test.

Typically, judges will also require the offender to do work over and above programme participation. (additional information sourced from community service website)




Today, we'll introduce the concept of the P/E ratio for those who are learning about investing. We'll show how you can use Cameco Corporation's (TSE:CCO) P/E ratio to inform your assessment of the investment opportunity. Looking at earnings over the last twelve months, Cameco has a P/E ratio of 61.08. In other words, at today's prices, investors are paying CA$61.08 for every CA$1 in prior year profit.

Check out our latest analysis for Cameco

How Do I Calculate A Price To Earnings Ratio?

The formula for price to earnings is:

Price to Earnings Ratio = Share Price  Earnings per Share (EPS)

Or for Cameco:

P/E of 61.08 = CAD11.42  CAD0.19 (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2019.)

Is A High P/E Ratio Good?

The higher the P/E ratio, the higher the price tag of a business, relative to its trailing earnings. That isn't necessarily good or bad, but a high P/E implies relatively high expectations of what a company can achieve in the future.

How Does Cameco'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. You can see in the image below that the average P/E (11.4) for companies in the oil and gas industry is a lot lower than Cameco's P/E.

TSX:CCO Price Estimation Relative to Market, February 10th 2020

That means that the market expects Cameco will outperform other companies in its industry. The market is optimistic about the future, but that doesn't guarantee future growth. So investors should always consider the P/E ratio alongside other factors, such as whether company directors have been buying shares.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

Generally speaking the rate of earnings growth has a profound impact on a company's P/E multiple. If earnings are growing quickly, then the 'E' in the equation will increase faster than it would otherwise. That means unless the share price increases, the P/E will reduce in a few years. Then, a lower P/E should attract more buyers, pushing the share price up.

Story continues

Cameco's earnings per share fell by 56% in the last twelve months. But over the longer term (5 years) earnings per share have increased by 5.0%.

Remember: P/E Ratios Don't Consider The Balance Sheet

The 'Price' in P/E reflects the market capitalization of the company. That means it doesn't take debt or cash into account. In theory, a company can lower its future P/E ratio by using cash or debt to invest in growth.

Such spending might be good or bad, overall, but the key point here is that you need to look at debt to understand the P/E ratio in context.

How Does Cameco's Debt Impact Its P/E Ratio?

Since Cameco holds net cash of CA$66m, it can spend on growth, justifying a higher P/E ratio than otherwise.

The Verdict On Cameco's P/E Ratio

With a P/E ratio of 61.1, Cameco is expected to grow earnings very strongly in the years to come. The recent drop in earnings per share might keep value investors away, but the relatively strong balance sheet will allow the company time to invest in growth. Clearly, the high P/E indicates shareholders think it will!

Investors have an opportunity when market expectations about a stock are wrong. As value investor Benjamin Graham famously said, 'In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine. So this free report on the analyst consensus forecasts could help you make a master move on this stock.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a few good candidates. So take a peek at this free list of companies with modest (or no) debt, trading on a P/E below 20.

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.
Auto components maker Bharat Forge on Monday posted a 81.3 per cent decline in consolidated profit at Rs 40.4 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2019.

The company had posted consolidated profit of Rs 216.9 crore in the year-ago period, Bharat Forge said in a filing to BSE.

The consolidated income of the company during October-December quarter dropped to Rs 1,868 crore, from Rs 2,516.6 crore in the year-ago period, the filing said.

Shares of Bharat Forge were trading at Rs 500.80 on the BSE in afternoon trade, down 3.35 per cent from its previous close.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
LOS ANGELES  The long-delayed Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open on Dec. 14, completing a nine-decade quest by the Hollywood establishment to celebrate itself year-round.

Tom Hanks announced the opening date during the 92nd Academy Awards on Sunday night. Its going to be a very big deal, he said. Well see you there.

The museum was initially scheduled to open in 2017 and cost $250 million. Setbacks have included sparring architects, a ballooning budget (now at least $388 million), construction difficulties and the forced departure of the institutions inaugural director, Kerry Brougher, last summer.
Ankara hits more than 100 enemy targets after deadly attack in Idlib, with ruling party spokesperson ruling out retreat.

Ankara, Turkey  An attack by Syrian government forces killed five Turkish soldiers in northwest Syria on Monday, threatening further escalation in the region after another deadly artillery strike last week.

Turkish defence officials said five other troops were wounded in intense shelling in Taftanaz in the northwestern province of Idlib, the last rebel-held stronghold in Syria.

Turkey immediately responded and neutralised more than 100 enemy targets, the defence ministry said in a statement.

A heinous attack occurred today in Idlib, where our military serves, pursuant to our rights under international law, to end the violence and mitigate the humanitarian crisis, Fahrettin Altun, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans communications director, wrote on Twitter.

Turkey retaliated against the attack to destroy all enemy targets and avenging our fallen troops. The war criminal, who ordered todays heinous attack, targeted the entire international community, not just Turkey.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu commented that Ankara had responded to the cowards, adding: Our glorious army will continue to do what is necessary.

Last week, eight Turkish military personnel were killed in a similar attack on Saraqeb, south of Taftanaz. The Turkish response at the time left at least 13 Syrian soldiers dead.

Turkish defence officials said five other troops were wounded in intense shelling in Taftanaz [Omar Haj Kadour/AFP]

Following that attack, Ankara warned Syrian government forces to retreat to lines agreed in a 2018 ceasefire by the end of February. However, Syrias military promised to continue its campaign, which is focused on seizing two highways linking Aleppo to other government-controlled areas.

The most recent attack came as a Russian delegation arrived in Ankara for further talks on fighting in Syria. Russia and Iran support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad while Turkey backs some of the opposition groups that have made Idlib their final stronghold.

Omer Celik, a spokesperson for Turkeys ruling Justice and Development Party, said Erdogan could meet with his counterpart Russian President Vladimir Putin if the talks reached a stalemate.

Negotiations are ongoing with the visiting delegation and, so far, no concrete conclusion has been reached, he said. The Turkish side has made its own concrete position very clear. Negotiations will continue.

Celik added: The Turkish Armed Forces will continue their efforts in Idlib until the regime withdraws.

Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish research programme at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said Turkey would call on Moscow to put pressure on the Syrian government.

Assad regime forces killed 13 Turkish troops in one week alone, he said. Ankara has to punish Assad and Russia has to agree to this, but that doesnt mean Putin will allow Erdogan steamroll Assad completely out of Idlib.

Turkish military convoy drives through the village of Binnish, in Idlib province [Ghaith Alsayed/AP Photo]

Astana process in danger

Murat Aslan, a security analyst at the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research in Ankara, accused Russia of supporting the attacks on Turkish troops while engaging in diplomacy.

The Assad regime is dependent and loyal to Russia and all the attacks by Assad forces are backed by either Iran or Russia, he said.

We know the aircraft that bomb the area are from the Russian side so theres a kind of coordination between the Assad regime and Russia that directly targets Turkish forces and civilians.

On the one hand, the Russians are negotiating with Turkey in Ankara, and on the other, they are pushing on the ground by backing the Assad regime.

Referring to a past agreement between Turkey, Russia and Iran to deliver peace to Syria and establish a post-conflict political solution, Aslan added: The current situation is very tense and the Astana process seem to be in danger because of attacks on the Turkish observation posts.

If these attacks continue the meaning of the Astana process will be lost.

Turkey has established a dozen observation posts in Idlib. These came under pressure when Syrian government forces resumed their offensive in December, and several have been surrounded.

Over the past week, Turkey has sent thousands of troops as well as equipment, including tanks and armoured personnel carriers, into Idlib in an effort to slow the Syrian armys advance, which has sent nearly 700,000 displaced civilians fleeing towards the Turkish border.

Turkey currently hosts 3.6 million Syrians and has closed its borders, saying it cannot accept more [Yahya Nemah/EPA]

Speaking as a meeting of senior security and government officials, including Erdogan, was under way in Ankara, Celik ruled out the possibility of a Turkish retreat.

Our observation points will continue with determination in accordance with the orders given, he said.

There is no possibility of withdrawal from the observation points in any way.

Ali Bakeer, an Ankara-based political analyst and researcher, said Turkey needed to reiterate its demands in Idlib. Remaining in a defensive position without a firm red line and a clear mandate will only make the soldiers and easy target for the Assad regime, he said.

Turkey currently hosts 3.6 million Syrians and has closed its borders, saying it cannot accept more.

Russia does not want Turkey in Idlib any more, thats clear, Aslan said, adding, however, that Turkey wants to keep Idlib because if Idlib is lost to the Assad regime there will be a huge wave of immigrants to the Turkish border.

Turkey does not want to see a humanitarian catastrophe in Idlib.
Illegal wildlife trade (IWT) continues to plague wildlife conservation despite tremendous efforts made to prevent such crimes. After habitat destruction, IWT is the second biggest threat to species survival. Dangerous international criminal networks run IWT that is valued at billions of dollars much like illegal arms and drug trade. To combat this heinous business, enforcement-based and militarised conservation approaches utilizing millions of dollars have been adopted worldwide. Such strategies are usually accompanied by global debates about their effectiveness and potential for negative social repercussions. However, in the absence of adequate data, important questions often go unanswered.

In this article, World Atlas focusses on a scientific study published in December 2019 by researchers from Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, UK. The study has attempted to explore the motivation behind poaching and the results are quite surprising! Kumar Paudel, the lead researcher of the paper speaks with World Atlas on the major findings and potential outcomes of the study. Paudel co-founded Greenhood Nepal, a non-profit organization driven by science that concentrates on human dimensions of nature conservation. He is currently the director of the organization and also a graduate student in conservation leadership at the University of Cambridge.

The Vital Question: Why People Poach?

In countries like Nepal, the law often subjects convicted IWT offenders to lengthy prison sentences and high fines. In recent times, penalties and other enforcements (legal sanctions) for involvement in illegal international trade have also been increased. As per reports, all such tactics have helped curb IWT to a great extent. However, there is still a long way to go. The approach to nip the crime at the bud is also necessary, scientists feel.

The researchers of the present study claim that little data exists on the people involved in IWT. There is a pressing need to investigate what motivates and deters the poachers from engaging in IWT and what are the social impacts of enforcement on their lives. With such questions answered, scientists believe that designing practical strategies to prevent IWT- related crime would become easier.

Kumar Paudel, explains what first triggered him to engage in the study:

I was working in different roles to sensitize people against wildlife poaching and its trade since 2010 in Nepal without knowing what is driving them. I wanted to understand it in detail to make our efforts more effective but I could not find any such report. When I met Dr. Jacob Phelps from Lancaster University, we realized that there is very little information about the people involved in wildlife crime. Then we decided to conduct this study to understand why people participate in poaching and how to deter them in the future.

In The Quest For Truth

Photo: Kumar Paudel interviewing a fisherman in Jhapa, Nepal. Photo by: Kushal Shrestha/Greenhood Nepal

Paudel and his colleagues adopted an innovative approach to look for answers. The study involved interviewing 116 individuals across Nepal who were serving prison sentences after being convicted for IWT-related crimes involving fauna. The interviews were conducted from 2016 to 2017 and involved 7 of the 38 sites that had prisoners who had committed IWT-associated crimes like poaching. 61% of the respondents were imprisoned for their participation in the illegal rhinoceros trade. 56% were poor and 75% of them were from the indigenous communities indicating that the impact of enforcement was potentially not equitable.

Paudel, a Nepali himself, conducted the interviews in the Nepali language. Oral consent of all respondents following established ethical standards were taken before the interviews.

The researchers used the information derived from the interviews to understand the motivations of those implicated for IWT. They also investigated the trade practices and economic status of the respondents.

The Answer: Unsurprising Or Confounding?

Many of the results were not shocking for me as I grew up in the same society and I was following the illegal wildlife trade-related cases very closely for long. However, a few results were surprising, Paudel informs World Atlas.

First, while imprisoned people reported that they knew the trade was illegal, they had also seriously under-estimated the risks and social impacts that it involved. People were participating in wildlife trade opportunistically, and then being hit by very high fines and prison sentences. Second, leading motivations for participating in illegal trade were earning extra money (rather than primary financial need), and because it was easier than other jobs, continues Paudel.

Some of the key findings of the study have been summarised here:

1. Although most respondents reported as "poor," only 10.3% had IWT as their primary occupation before their arrest.

2. Respondents had diverse motives to participate in IWT. 87.9% used it to earn extra money. 37.1% claimed it was a less tiring alternative as work.

3. 93.1% of respondents knew that IWT was illegal. However, only 34.5% were aware that arrest was possible if caught. Most had no idea of the scale of imprisonment and related fines.

4. Nearly 50% of respondents and their families suffered from the negative repercussions of imprisonment. Social impacts like divorces, suicides, loss of prestige, loss of property, etc., were also reported.

Poaching Elsewhere: Global Impact Of The Study

The researchers believe that the study conducted in Nepal provides the necessary motivational and demographic data that will assist in devising strategies that render enforcement actions more effective and equitable.

However, are the key findings of the study relevant in other countries as well?

Interestingly, a similar study conducted in Africa in 2017 echoes with the current findings. Researchers from Houghton College, Houghton, NY, USA, interviewed 173 self-admitted poachers residing in the villages near Tanzanias Ruaha National Park. They also found that while poverty was one of the factors driving poaching, it was not the "only" one. Their study also clearly indicated that poachers are not always the "poorest of the poor" and often harvest bushmeat to supplement their income. Also, the comparison of financial status with neighboring households influenced villagers to poach to increase their wealth.

So, the study in Tanzania, Africa, also confirms that poverty is not the single driving force behind poaching.

What about India, Nepal's immediate neighbor, and home to incredible biodiversity including tigers, elephants, and one-horned rhinoceroses, species that are prized by the IWT industry? How applicable is the study there?

To seek an answer to this question, World Atlas speaks to Dr. Anish Andheria, President, Wildlife Conservation Trust, and one of India's leading wildlife conservationists.

"Organized poaching of mega-fauna such as the tiger, rhinoceros, and elephant has been kept under considerable check since the past decade or so. Nevertheless, the threat from tiger/elephant/rhino poachers can never be eliminated, as Indias protected areas are small-sized, have porous boundaries and are surrounded by a sea of human habitations," says Dr. Andheria.

"While poverty is one of the important drivers, access to wildlife and ease of opportunity play a significant role in driving people to indulge in poaching and hunting activities. Having said this, several species of mammals, birds, reptiles and fish are being hunted across the country, especially outside national parks and sanctuaries, using snares, poison, traps, hunting dogs, or weapons such a catapult, gun, and bow and arrow, either to meet the protein requirements of local communities or to meet the demand of consumers living far away from the forests," continues Dr. Andheria.

Speaking on the significance of Paudel's study in the Indian context, Dr. Andheria says:

"The study from Nepal is an interesting one and finds resonance with the Indian scenario. Groups working to counter IWT in India can use the findings as a good indicator of why poaching and hunting are prevalent in 21st century India, despite such stringent wildlife laws and a fairly good protection mechanism inside Protected Areas."

In Nepal, Novel Alternative Solutions Are Already Onboard

Photo: Prakash Gandharva performing songs about wildlife regulations and the risks of participating in illegal trade in Parsa, Nepal. Photo by: Kumar Paudel/Greenhood Nepal

Keeping in mind the fact that people seem to underestimate the risks of detection and do not understand the scale of sanctions completely, Kumar Paudel and his colleagues have designed programs to ensure improved public awareness about the issue. Paudel believes it will help increase deterrence effects while reducing unintended social harms of enforcement.

So, Paudel and his colleagues have teamed up with a noted local musician to spread the message derived from their study among the public as he mentions below:

We have used this research to develop a public information campaign. We produced songs and music videos designed to raise awareness about wildlife regulations and the risks of participating in illegal trade. The songs use the music of the Gandharva indigenous people, whose traveling musicians are known throughout for their tragic ballads. They were presented live to communities around protected areas of Central Nepal performing these songs late last year, and they were broadcasted through more than 330 community radios across Nepal reaching more than 9 million people. Now, they are available on the social media channels of Greenhood Nepal. Additionally, I am also knocking the door of courts for fair and effective conservation enforcement. The petition is in the supreme court of Nepal now and awaiting the final hearing.

Photo: Prakash Gandharva performing songs about wildlife regulations and the risks of participating in illegal trade in Padampur, Chitwan, Nepal. Photo by: Kumar Paudel

Paudel is also a firm believer that scientific knowledge must not be limited to the scientific world alone but made accessible to the common man. Scientists should not merely wait for decision-makers to implement research-based solutions but must themselves take an active part in the same.

It is well accepted that research papers are rarely read by the non-academic reader though it has important evidence and insights. We cannot solve the conservation problems if policy and programs are far from science. So, scientists should find ways to share their results in simpler ways and undertake interventions to inform conservation policy and actions on the ground instead of focusing on just paper production, says Paudel.

Watch the video and listen to the songs of Greenhood Nepal's awareness campaign against poaching at this link here.
Marco Rubio denounces Wells Fargo for ending school voucher funding over Christian schools views

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Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida has denounced Wells Fargo for withdrawing donations from a state voucher program because some of the schools students are choosing to attend oppose homosexuality and transgender ideology.

Last month, Wells Fargo, along with Fifth Third Bank, withdrew donations to the Step Up for Students program after The Orlando Sentinel reported that some of the schools involved in the program have conservative policies on LGBT issues.

We have reviewed this matter carefully and have decided to no longer support Step Up for Students, said Wells Fargo in a statement, The Hill reported.

All of us at Wells Fargo highly value diversity and inclusion, and we oppose discrimination of any kind.

In an interview with Family Research Council President Tony Perkins earlier this week, Rubio said Wells Fargo and others withdrawing support from the scholarship fund were only hurting the less fortunate with their decisions.

Rubio explained that the scholarship program allows parents to choose which school to send their children to and many of the options are schools without official biblical stances on LGBT issues.

Doing what they did is not going to hurt those schools. Those schools are not going to abandon the Bible over a government program. They existed before this program, said Rubio.

Who they are hurting are low-income kids, because they are not going to be able to go to school and probably not go to a school that doesnt have those policies, by the way.

Rubio said he believed that this was an example of corporate America trying to buy themselves into the good graces of broader society or to cover for major internal problems, such as Well Fargos recent series of scandals.

Wells Fargo and Fifth Third decided to cut ties with the program following an article by Leslie Postal and Annie Martin of The Orlando Sentinel titled Anti-LGBT Florida schools getting school vouchers.

According to The Orlando Sentinel, over 20,800 students received state tuition scholarships that went to 156 private schools where homosexuality was condemned or, at a minimum, unwelcome.

These included holding official stances against homosexuality and transgenderism, having policies that prohibited students from engaging in homosexual conduct among other sexual activities, and refusal to admit openly LGBT students, according to The Orlando Sentinel.

Floridas scholarship programs, often referred to as school vouchers, sent more than $129 million to these religious institutions, they reported.

That means at least 14 percent of Floridas nearly 147,000 scholarship students last year attended private schools where homosexuality was condemned or, at a minimum, unwelcome.

Last month, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, which centers on whether religious schools can qualify for a state tax credit on scholarships.
Gareth Neill of Destination CQ and Clare Maguire of Belfast One at the launch of Belfast Restaurant Week

More than 30 Belfast restaurants are gearing up for the third biannual Restaurant Week.

The event, which has seen participating venues experience a 75% uplift in footfall, generating some 151,000 extra income, will return over the mid-term break from February 17-23.

Among the participating venues are Deanes Meatlocker, Deanes Deli, Coppi and Buba.

Clare Maguire, managing director of Belfast One, said: "We're thrilled to build on two highly successful Belfast Restaurant Week events last year to bring Belfast Restaurant Week back this month."
MANCHESTER, N.H. - Before he strapped on a Mardi Gras mask and tossed beads into the crowd, Democratic strategist James Carville asked a room of moderate voters to imagine an election-night miracle.

"Turn on MSNBC, and you're gonna see Rachel [Maddow], Brian Williams, Ari whatever," Carville said. "They're saying Bernie Sanders and Mayor Pete are locked in first place. Warren's in third. And then: Hey, somebody recheck this: The Michael Bennet numbers are coming in! He's really coming on strong at the end!"

Bennet, a senator from Colorado who has not qualified for the party's televised debates since the summer, is polling between zero and 1% in New Hampshire, the state where he has campaigned the most.

But Joe Biden's fourth-place showing in Iowa, and an ensuing dip in the polls here, has put many centrist voters back on the market, unsure which Democrat could run strongest in a general election - and which one could push past Sanders, whose age and left-wing politics make them nervous about how he'd perform in a general election.

"There was a movement to Biden, thinking that he was the way to stop the Bernie movement," said Will Kanteras, 67, who had hosted house parties for Bennet. "Now there are questions about Biden's viability, so we're getting another look."

Biden, who had struggled here even when seen as the race's front-runner, has been showing signs of a New Hampshire collapse. While events in the primary's final days are often clogged with tourists, Biden has drawn smaller crowds than Sanders, Buttigieg, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. or Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. Bennet's buzzy rally with Carville packed more than 100 people into a downtown restaurant; some had moseyed over from a Biden stop that was a few blocks away and only a little bigger.

The former vice president has looked rattled by his changing fortunes, trading his old criticism of Democratic "circular firing squads" for attacks on Sanders and Buttigieg. At the party dinner, Biden walked away from notes that had been placed on a lectern, ditching his usual talk about electability and optimism to describe what he had seen at a bread line that morning.

"Hundreds and hundreds of people in that bitter cold with nothing, nothing, nothing to look forward to in their mind, just to get a little sustenance," Biden said. "You know, one of the guys walked up to me, and it was so cold, he gave me a skullcap. And I thought to myself, why do I have this skullcap? I gave it to one of the kids! Think about it! New Hampshire! The United States of America! A line that lasted and lasted and lasted with no hope in sight for these people!"

Biden brought the crowd to its feet with a new closing line, evoking the deaths of his wife, first daughter and first son in a series of tragedies: "I've lost a lot in my life, but I'll be damned if I'm going to lose an election to this man."

But his supporters were outnumbered by supporters of Warren, Sanders, Buttigieg, Klobuchar and even former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, whose campaign had purchased more than 800 tickets - another moderate-lane candidate trying to introduce himself to up-for-grabs voters.

"People here are less decided than they were six weeks ago, than they were six months ago, than they were a year ago," Bennet said at a news conference before the dinner. "The principal reason for that is they are concerned about whether the leading candidates can actually beat Donald Trump. I share that concern."

In 2016, when Sanders won the primary in a landslide, 26% of Democratic primary voters said they were "very liberal," while 32% identified either as moderate or conservative. That second number could jump this year, with the state's 415,871 "unaffiliated" voters, free to vote in either party's primary, likelier to choose a dogfight on the Democratic side over a sleepy coronation on the Republican side. And since 2016, Democrats have made gains and conversions among centrist Republicans who worry about their party's direction under President Donald Trump.

Some conservatives are trying to boost that turnout, with an anti-Trump effort affiliated with Bill Kristol making calls to unaffiliated voters, urging them to vote for "a responsible and electable candidate in the Democratic primary."

But even this vote, if organized effectively, could scatter. Kristol told The Washington Post that the effort does not specify any Democrat in particular, leaving it to the voters to navigate the moderate candidate muddle. Jennifer Horn, a former New Hampshire GOP chairwoman who works with the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, said she was not involved in the calls and personally "would like to see the Democrats nominate Amy Klobuchar," who has polled well-behind Buttigieg and Biden.

Both Buttigieg and Klobuchar tell audiences that they're concerned about massive new government spending, a way of wooing independent voters.

"I see what's happening under this president - a $1 trillion deficit - and his allies in Congress do not care," Buttigieg said Sunday in Nashua. "So we have to do something about it."

A defeat in New Hampshire for Sanders would raise questions about his viability going forward, but moderates may be too divided to make that happen. Voters who are deciding between the moderates remain unclear on who could win, or at least come out of their primary with credibility as the anti-Sanders. Some of them said they could support former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg, who will not appear on the ballot here and who looms for whoever does make it to Super Tuesday.

"My idealistic self would like Bernie or Elizabeth, but you've really got to go with somebody who is willing to work with both sides," said Kent Carlson, 57, as he waited for the New Hampshire Democratic Party's pre-primary dinner to begin Saturday night. His own decision, he said, had come down to Buttigieg or Bloomberg, but he's a Massachusetts resident who has to wait a few weeks to vote on Super Tuesday. "I was originally more of a Joe [Biden] supporter, but I'd like somebody a little younger than that."

For now, less than 48 hours before they make a decision, all New Hampshire's moderates know is that Biden is slipping. A tracking poll from CNN and the University of New Hampshire found the percentage of voters here who expect Biden to win the state dropping from 22% before the Iowa caucuses to 9% now.

None of the candidates who voters see as moderates broke out of single digits. To argue that they're on the verge of a breakthrough, they're pointing to atmospherics - the swelling crowds at Buttigieg's rallies, the new crowds and donors for Klobuchar, the tracking polls that appear on nightly news. Klobuchar will tell crowds that she is "surging," while Buttigieg recalls just how scrappy his campaign was when it began, giving the impression of unstoppable, one-way momentum.

Polling, which slightly missed the mark in Iowa, has found Buttigieg far ahead of the other moderates here. Some tracking polls have found last-minute movement toward Klobuchar. While Sanders opponents have already begun spinning a possible win here as a fluke, likely far below his 2016 numbers, none are clearing out of the way. Bennet, who told The Washington Post last month that he was aiming for a top-three finish in New Hampshire, called Carville's support "incredibility validating" and argued that there was time left for him to become the latest alternative for Sanders skeptics.

"We're going to surprise a lot of people," Bennet said, "and it won't take much to surprise them."
1. At least 20 Americans are among those who have been infected with the new coronavirus on a cruise ship quarantined in a Japanese port.

More than 2,500 passengers on board are being kept in effective isolation, eating meals in their cabins and keeping at least six feet from each other during the few minutes each day they are allowed on deck. And the situation is worse for crew members, who live elbow to elbow in cramped quarters.

China had extended its official Lunar New Year holiday by 10 days to help counter the viruss spread. But when the extension ended today, stores and factories remained empty, suggesting it could be weeks  or months  before one of the worlds largest economies is humming again. Above, President Xi Jinping, who has remained conspicuously absent in recent weeks, made a rare public appearance to address the crisis.
The White House will propose a spending plan today that sets up election-year clashes with Congress over proposed cuts to social safety programmes and funding for Donald Trump's proposed border wall - all of which are opposed by House Democrats.

The president's fiscal year 2021 budget blueprint amounts to an election-year messaging document and a map for Mr Trump's second-term priorities, should he secure a second term come November.

The spending plan is expected to be vintage Trump. It advances some campaign promises while contradicting the president himself on some domestic programmes. It ignores a spending agreement with Congress. And it suggests Mr Trump again plans to take billions from a military he says former President Barack Obama underfunded and he has had to "rebuild" and shift those monies to his border barrier project.

Just how much stock to put into the document is murky. Any White House's spending plan is considered mostly a restatement of its policy priorities, since it is Congress that has constitutional authorities to spend taxpayer monies. And Mr Trump has never shown much interest in his budget proposals.

While other presidents have given speeches to explain their spending plans or gotten out of the Beltway to sell the blueprints to voters, Mr Trump has never done so. In fact, in January he appeared to shrug off Washington's annual "budget day" ritual.

"Who the hell cares about the budget?" the president is heard saying to a group of supporters at a January fundraiser, according to a recording of the private event that was obtained by the Washington Post. "We're going to have a country."

The president has not given much weight to facts about his spending plans since taking office. For instance, in January, he tweeted a claim - without supporting evidence - that the "United States just spent Two Trillion Dollars on Military Equipment," adding "we will be sending some of that brand new beautiful equipment their way ... and without hesitation!"

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But one military budget expert, Todd Harrison of the Center for Strategic and International Studies called that contention "not correct." Mr Harrison calculates that of the $2 trillion Mr Trump's administration spent on the military since 2017, "the part of the budget spent on procurement of equipment was $0.42 trillion over that time. If you include [research and development], it comes to $0.68 trillion."

But what Mr Trump cares about very much is his political base.

To that end, a 5 per cent proposed cut to discretionary spending programmes included in the proposal will undoubtedly be met with applause from conservatives who oppose the kinds of safety social net and foreign aid programmes he wants to cut.

Also of interest for his base - and House Democrats - will be a $2bn request for Mr Trump's proposed border wall program. White House officials acknowledge Democrats likely will again block those monies, but are planning to again transfer billions from Pentagon accounts for work on border barrier along the US-Mexico border.

That barrier is widely popular with Mr Trump's political base, and the transfer plan will allow him to case Democrats as in favour of "open borders," forcing him to take money from the military to build the structure.

"See, I say Democrats are lousy politicians because they have lousy policy. Open borders, sanctuary cities," Mr Trump said last week during a raucous "celebration" event at the White House the day after the Senate acquitted him on two articles of impeachment. "They have horrible policy. Who the hell can win?"

But top Democrats on Monday did not wait for the official release of the spending plan to signal much of its contents are dead on arrival.

"The budget is a statement of values and once again the president is showing just how little he values the good health, financial security and well-being of hard-working American families," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

"Year after year, President Trump's budgets have sought to inflict devastating cuts to critical lifelines that millions of Americans rely on," the California Democrat said in a statement. "Less than a week after promising to protect families' health care in his State of the Union address, the president is now brazenly inflicting savage multi-billion-dollar cuts to Medicare and Medicaid -- at the same time that he is fighting in federal court to destroy protections for people with pre-existing conditions and dismantle every other protection and benefit of the Affordable Care Act."

As a candidate, Mr Trump promised to wipe out the national deficit by the time he leaves office. But a senior administration official on Monday described the 2021 proposal as a " budget that balances in 15 years."

The senior administration official also said the proposal calls for "$4.6 trillion in deficit reduction" and "$4.4 trillion in spending reductions."

Among the latter is a proposal to slash foreign aid by 21 per cent. Slashing funding to assist other countries with programmes Washington traditionally has viewed in its own interests almost inevitably will be blocked by lawmakers in both parties.

Even Trump allies, like Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have opposed and reversed such proposals included in Mr Trump's previous spending plans.

Budget experts see bits and pieces of Mr Trump's plan, such as a section defining federal waste and pitching changes to eliminate it, could gain traction on Capitol Hill among members of both parties. But, for the most part, the plan is mostly about his re-election bid than seeing it actually become the law of the land.

"Trump wants to cut Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid in order to fund an even larger defence budget," former Clinton-era Labour Secretary Robert Reich tweeted Monday. "His budget won't become law because Dems control the House."

Read more

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Trump publicly admits he fired White House official as retaliation
Here's the most recent top news you may have missed in San Jose.

Man pulled from Guadalupe River identified

Authorities on Sunday identified the dead body pulled from the Guadalupe River in North San Jose last week.

Read the full story on Mercury News.

San Jose meth sobering services begin March 4

With methamphetamine-related arrests on the rise in San Jose, the city has plans to delegate 10 spaces in the Mission Street Sobering Center specifically to meth users. Along with San Francisco, it will be among the first sobering centers in the country directly addressing meth.

Read the full story on NBC LA.

Smithfield layoffs in San Jose another strike against Bay Area's meatpacking industry

The pork processor is laying off 139 workers effective March 13.

Read the full story on Vegans of the Bay.

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.
Jan. 31

At 6:18 p.m. an officer was dispatched to the station to meet with a resident in regards to an identity theft. The officer met with complainant who stated that an unknown person(s) opened an account using his personal information without his effective consent. A report for identity theft was generated.

Feb. 1

At 3:08 a.m. an officer observed a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed while southbound in the 6600 block of Kirby. A traffic stop was conducted and after further investigation, the driver (Renata Cardoso De Oliveira) was arrested for Driving While Intoxicated.

At 9:01 a.m. an officer was dispatched to the 3700 block of Robinhood in reference to a burglary of a motor vehicle that had already occurred. The complainant said that an unknown subject had entered her unsecured vehicle without consent.

At 2:13 p.m. in regards to a credit card fraud that already occurred. Upon arrival and through investigation, it was discovered an unknown suspect used the victims credit card information to make purchases at various businesses without consent.

Feb. 2

At 4:07 p.m. an officer was dispatched to S. Main and Hwy 90 to pick up an individual with outstanding warrants with the West University Place Municipal Court. The individual (Ronald Chadrick George) was taken into custody and transported to the West University Place Police Department Jail for booking.

At 9:24 p.m. an officer observed a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed while southbound in the 6400 block of Buffalo Speedway. A traffic stop was conducted and after further investigation the driver was arrested for Driving While Intoxicated. While attempting to execute a search warrant and obtain a specimen of the suspect's blood, the suspect became combative and began actively resisting, causing bodily injury to several police officers. The suspect (Youssef Salih Wakil) was additionally charged with Assault of Public Servant and Resisting.

At 10:41 p.m. an officer observed a vehicle traveling northbound at a high rate of speed (44/30 mph) in the 5900 block of Buffalo Speedway, a public roadway. A traffic stop was conducted in the 5200 block of Buffalo Speedway. After further investigation, the officer discovered the driver to be in possession of marijuana. The driver chose to participate in the Misdemeanor Marijuana Diversion Program and was released from the scene.

Feb. 4

At 7:25 a.m. an officer was dispatched to meet an officer with Bellaire Police Department in the 4400 block of Bissonnet to obtain custody of a suspect who has an outstanding warrant with the City of West University Place. The suspect (Aaron Oscar Malone) was taken into custody and transported to the City of West University Place jail for booking.

At 1:59 p.m. an officer was dispatched to the 3000 block of Plumb, in regards to a Burglary of Motor Vehicle, which had already occurred. The victim stated she arrived home and carried some groceries into her home. The victim further stated when she returned back to her vehicle her purse was missing. Information was gathered and a report was generated.

At 3:16 p.m. an officer was dispatched to the station concerning a fraud. It was reported that the complainant fell victim to an online computer fraud. A fraud report was generated.

At 4:04 p.m. an officer was dispatched to the 5600 block of Kirby to speak with a complainant in regards to an assault that already occurred. A report for assault was generated.

At 4:03 p.m. an officer was dispatched to the 3700 block of Albans in regards to a failure to stop and give information minor accident. The victims unoccupied vehicle was struck and the driver of the striking vehicle failed to stop and provide required information. An FSGI report was generated.

At 4:09 p.m. an officer was dispatched to 6700 block of Stella Link in regards to an individual who was attempting to conduct a financial transaction using a fraudulent identification card. The suspect (Felicia Iortoman) taken into custody for Tampering with a Government Document.

At 7:27 p.m. an officer was dispatched to the 3600 block of Rice in reference to items being removed from a parked vehicle without the owner's effective consent. A burglary of a motor vehicle report was generated.

Feb. 6

At 9:29 p.m. an officer was dispatched to 5910 N. West Loop South Freeway Bellaire, TX to meet with Hedwig Village P.D. officer to pick up a male subject in custody with outstanding West University Place warrants. The male subject (Aydin Azad Mammadov) was taken into custody and transported to West University Jail Facility for booking/AFIS.
TERRA NUCLEAR

Last week, the then Resources Minister Matt Canavan announced the site for an international nuclear waste dump on farmland in South Australia. The decision comes after two decades or more of wrangling over where to locate the facility.

The land is at Napandee in Kimba, on the Eyre Peninsula and is owned by a farmer who offered it to the government. He is set to receive compensation well above market value.

The facility has broad community support in Kimba, but I acknowledge there remains opposition, particularly amongst the Barngarla People and their representative group, Canavan said in a press release.

He omits to mention that the Barngarla People were excluded from a local vote on the question.

In addition, the opposition is not confined to the Barngarla People who fear the pollution of their land and waters, as well as the damage to their culture and sacred sites. Environmental and other groups as well as many individuals have not given up. They are determined to fight it to the end.

Denial of Dangers

Just as the government refuses to acknowledge the dangers of inaction over climate change, Canavan plays down the deadly risks associated with radiation; I am satisfied a facility at Napandee will safely and securely manage radioactive waste and that the local community has shown broad community support for the project and economic benefits it will bring.

This is a hollow claim, which he cannot back with practice. How can anyone claim such a facility would be safely and securely managed for thousands or possibly hundreds of thousands of years that it would take for the radioactive material to breakdown?

The minister cannot make any guarantees. In particular, as the plan is to hand the facility over to the private sector to manage, the risks and cover-ups become far more likely and serious.

The minister says the waste will come from Australias historical radioactive waste holdings which are currently spread over more than 100 locations across the country, like science facilities, universities and hospitals.

The facility will be capable of permanently disposing of low-level waste and temporarily storing intermediate level waste for decades (while a separate intermediate level waste disposal facility is developed).

We are supposed to believe him when he says, We will work with traditional owners to protect culture and heritage, and to maximise economic opportunities and outcomes for local Aboriginal communities near the future facility. That would be a first for this government! After all the voice of the Indigenous custodians of the land was not listened to in the selection of the land for the facility.

Short On The Truth

Canavan also claimed the process to find a site began five years ago but it actually dates back to the late 1990s when the Howard Coalition government made moves to find a location for an international dump.

This would house intensely radioactive spent nuclear fuel, high-level radioactive waste, intermediate-level radioactive waste, and unwanted nuclear materials from weapons dismantling.

The dump would be sited in South Australia or Western Australia. A poll of South Australians at the time revealed that ninety-three per cent were opposed to the idea of even a low-level nuclear waste site.

In 2002, the Howard government actually allocated $9.9 million in the budget to build a shallow burial facility where nuclear waste would be stored for the next 300 years. It would be on defence land near Woomera.

It sounded like a case of terra nullius all over again. Indigenous Australians experienced more than enough showers of nuclear dust when near-by Maralinga and Emu Fields were used to test British nuclear weapons. Similar assurances given then were never honoured.

In 2006, Labors Martin Ferguson, supported the concept of an aptly named cradle to grave proposal under which nuclear waste is returned to the country that mined and exported it. It should come as no surprise that Ferguson now heads the resource sectors lobby group, the Minerals Council.

In 2016, it was the run of the Adnyamathanha people to take up the struggle against the siting of nuclear waste dump on their land near South Australias Flinders Ranges. Then Resources Minister Josh Frydenberg, had picked a cattle station near Barndioota, just north of Port Augusta. The land just happened to be co-owned by former Liberal Senator Grant Chapman.

Adnyamathanha Tribal Lands Association CEO Vince Coulthard said he was totally disgusted by the decision; This is our land, we have been here forever, and we will always be here, and we are totally opposed to this dump. Once again, no respect was shown to the tradition custodians of the land.

A royal commission launched by SA Labor Premier Jay Weatherill came up with a proposal that could see Australia take in thirteen per cent of the worlds nuclear waste while offering a fuel leasing mechanism. Under this mechanism, Australia would lease the yellow cake to other countries who would return it in the form of spent fuel for Australia to manage.

Royal Commissioner Kevin Scarce recommended that South Australia import and store international high-level nuclear waste.

In fact, there are calls for countries that mine and sell uranium products to take back the waste. The costings of the royal commission and other proponents of similar systems fail to take into account the long-term costs and risks.

Aboriginal people did not give prior or informed consent to the British nuclear weapons tests that took place at Maralinga; they were not warned that the black rain was laced with plutonium and radioactive fission products, or that the brilliant white flash would blind.

As nuclear weapon countries such the US, Israel, Russia, India, and Pakistan continue to build their nuclear arsenals the question of the disposal of nuclear waste becomes more and more pressing.

Uranium mining and radioactive waste pollute air, soil, and water. Radiation can damage the genetic and reproductive systems of plants, animals and people. All of Australias operating uranium mines have a history of leaks, spills and accidents  and none have been properly rehabilitated.

If the low level storage facility goes ahead in Kimba, it would only be a matter of time before it became a facility storing medium and high level waste creating untold risks for human life, Indigenous culture and heritage, flora and fauna, and agriculture. It must be stopped.
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And to be fair, both stories of adoption are almost too crazy to be true. Felipe had been taken to the court by his single young mom to start the adoption process, only to be immediately given to Noble because she happened to be hanging around the courthouse. Around the same time, little Marcela just appeared on the mogul's property as a foundling. Hopefully a magical one.

These accusations didn't just come from her enemies, but also from the Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo (or Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo), an organization that dedicates itself to reuniting stolen Argentine children with their families. (The organization's chief grandma believed Marcela was her long-lost granddaughter). This was enough for the government to start an investigation and pressure the Noble kids into a DNA test. But Felipe and Marcela, who for some reason didn't want their legitimacy as the heirs to a billion-dollar fortune questioned, refused to cooperate.

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This went on until 2009, when the government passed a law allowing compulsory DNA testing of suspected stolen children. This culminated in a high-speed car chase, with armed police chasing Marcela and Felipe's limo through the streets of Buenos Aires. The police arrested them at gunpoint, and took them back home so they could strip and hand over their clothes for testing. But somehow the siblings vanished, then reappeared wearing ill-fitting clothing with several strands of DNA on it. Suddenly, in 2011, the Noble family allowed for extensive DNA testing of Felipe and Marcela's blood, which turned out to be no match with any of the listed dissident families. With that, the illegitimacy story slowly faded away ... right in time for the two kids to inherit their mother's media empire in 2017. Those Nobles sure have a great sense of timing. Must be something in their blood.

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(Alliance News) - The partners at the Duyung production sharing contract have commissioned a new assessment of the Mako field, they said on Monday.

Coro Energy PLC is currently in the process of buying a 15% stake in Duyung, off the coast of Indonesia, from Empyrean Energy PLC. Following the purchase, which still requires regulatory approval, Coro will have 15% in the project, Empyrean 8.5%, and Conrad Petroleum the rest.

The project is located on the West Natuna Basin, and contains the Mako gas field.

In late 2019, drilling of two wells showed the presence of "well developed, high-quality" reservoirs, the two said. The partners have now asked Gaffney Cline & Associates to compile an updated competent persons report for Mako.

Coro and Empyrean expect an upgrade in the resource size of Mako of around 100 billion cubic feet to 376 billion, they said, following the drilling campaign.

Coro and Empyrean also said the long-stop date for the transfer of the 15% stake to Coro has been extended to June 30, with approval still needed in Indonesia.

Empyrean shares were 3.4% lower in London on Monday at 7.10 pence each, with Coro up 2.8% at 1.28p.

By George Collard; georgecollard@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
AMHERST  A woman, trapped in her vehicle after she lost control and crashed into a utility pole on Bay Road Sunday morning, was taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield for treatment, a fire department official said.

Fire Capt. Stephen Gaughan told the Daily Hampshire Gazette the crash occurred shortly after 10 a.m. in the area of 1000 Bay Road. The vehicle damaged the pole and live wires fell onto the roadway.

The victim  the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle  was conscious after the crash but could not safely be removed from the vehicle until Eversource personnel arrived and shut off power to the downed wires.

Police temporarily closed Bay Road between South East Street and Elf Hill Road while Eversource replaced the pole. Information on the victims injuries was not immediately available.
Former Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, has reacted to the allegation made by Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transportation tha...





Former Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, has reacted to the allegation made by Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transportation that he stole two billion during his time as minister.





Earlier, Rotimi Amaechi had alleged during an interview on Channels Television some time ago and the video of the interview resurfaced online during the weekend. Fani-Kayode however retorted, calling Amaechi sick for accusing him of embezzling the said amount during his time as a Minister.





Amaechi claimed that Fani-Kayode ran away with N2 billion given to him by the then Rivers State government to fix a deplorable Port Harcourt Airport runway. He had said: Fani-Kayode when he was Minister of Aviation, Dr. Peter Odilis government gave him N2 billion to fix the runway. The runway was closed for two years and Fani-Kayode left with the money.





However, Fani-Kayode on Sunday night, while sharing the video on his Twitter page insisted that the airport was re-built and fully paid for by him as Minister.





The former Minister charged those in doubt of his defence to ask Julius Berger construction company for details of the contract.





He maintained that the allegation by the current Minister of Transportation was false, adding that the runway was commissioned shortly after he left office and was opened to public use.





The runway at Port Harcourt Int. Airport was re-built & fully paid for by me when I was Min. of Aviation.





If anyone has any doubts about that they should ask Julius Berger who were the contractors. The runway was commissioned & the airport opened shortly after we left office.





Those who falsely asserted on @channelstv two years ago that I did not build the runway and that I ran away with the 3 billion naira that was used to build it are sick, he tweeted.
Rebecca Gormley has revealed that her romance with Jordan Waobikeze has already come to an end, as they become the latest couple voted out of Love Island.

The beauty queen, 21, met Jordan, 24, just a week over a week before they were seen packing their bags on Monday, after being voted least popular couple by the public.

And Rebecca has admitted that while she and Jordan were hot and heavy at the start, their romantic feelings for one another very quickly fizzled out  and she now regrets not getting to know Jess Gale's would-be love interest Biggs Chris, 27.

Fizzled: Rebecca Gormley has revealed that her romance with Jordan Waobikeze has already come to an end, as they become the latest couple voted out of Love Island

Speaking about the trajectory of her relationship with Londoner Jordan, the Geordie lass said: 'As soon as I saw the guys coming in, Jordan was the first guy I clocked and I thought hes a bit of me.

'When I was asking him what his type was, everything he was saying was literally me. We got on straight away. Everyone was like youre married off and I was like, "Hold on a minute, I am not married off. Its been a couple of days."

'Yes, I kissed him on the first day and things went quick, but I had to take a step back. Because everyone had married us off, I didnt even get a chance to crack on with any of the lads, he didnt get a chance to crack on with any of the other girls.

And they're off: The beauty queen, 21, met Jordan, 24, just a week over a week before they were seen packing their bags on Monday, after being voted least popular couple by the public

Instant connection: Hunky Londoner Jordan entered the Love Island villa during Casa Amor week and immediately hit it off with Geordie lass Rebecca

'I think thats probably why Im in the position Im in now. Everyone wants to still have that excitement, no one wants that excitement to go. You still want things to be fresh and keep you guessing. I felt like after a few days I was just like "Oh, is this it?"

Turning her attention to Glaswegian car-body repair specialist Biggs - who was sent packing at the end of Casa Amor week after Jess decided to couple up with Ched Uzor, part-time model and care worker Rebecca expressed regrets.

'I wish I did chat to them all and find out more about everyone else - like Biggs,' she admitted. 'I loved Biggs. He was mint. His personality is the kind of personality I would go for. I would definitely meet up with him.'

Regret: Rebecca admitted that she regrets not getting to know Biggs Chris, 27, during his stint

Short: Biggs's stint was cut short after Jess Gale opted to couple up with Ched Uzor over him

As for where her relationship with administrator Jordan stands on their exit from the South African villa, Rebecca said: 'I would say just a friendship. In the villa it got to a point where things went to a standstill and I didnt see things progressing.

'It wasnt going anywhere. And I think if you want to be with someone things should be progressing every day, not at a standstill. It became a friendship rather than being in a romantic couple.'

Echoing Rebecca's sentiments, Jordan said of his brief stint on the hit ITV2 show: 'I think the most challenging part was being in a couple that was so great at the start and then started to slow down, while all the couples around us were speeding up.

'That was the hardest part. I was so excited to be lovey dovey, to find that person I could take home to mum and Im not sure thats going to be the case.

Kiss: Rebecca and Jordan raised eyebrows when they were seen quickly getting affectionate

'It started well with Rebecca because we were lusting after each other a bit. Then all of a sudden, we werent spending a lot of time together during the day and the times we were spending together, the conversation wasnt flowing.

'We started off with loads of chemistry then the foundations of a relationship, like common interests and personality traits werent as much of a match as we thought they would be.'

And while romance may not have been on the cards for the photogenic twosome, they admitted that they 'loved' every moment of their experience in the villa - while they also shared their thoughts on the show's remaining couples.

Revealing that Luke Trotman and Siannise Fudge as couple she believes is the most genuine, Rebecca said: 'I want them to win, theyre my favourite couple. Considering I was in a love triangle with them a couple of weeks ago!

Least favourite: Rebecca and Callum were ousted from the Love Island villa after members of the public voted for their favourite couples on the show

'Now Im like, Team Luke and Siannise. Lukes such a cool guy, a funny guy and hes really nice. Him and Siannise together, I love it, theyre so cute together.'

She added: 'And if you want to see Finn, you look for Paige and hes there. If you want to see Paige, you look for Finn and shes there. Theyre just inseparable.'

Sharing his own observations on the couples, Jordan said: 'Paige and Finn are all over each other all the time. To the point where its annoying but cute! They are genuine.

'Luke T and Siannise are extremely tactile, very lovey, they are 100 per cent genuine. She surprised me the most as she didnt budge while he was in Casa Amor.

No thanks: Rebecca was previously partnered with Wallace Wilson but they didn't get along

Snog with a G: She was seen flirting with Connagh Howard, though she didn't couple with him

'I didnt realise they were quite as strong but seeing how she didnt get to know anyone else while he was away, and then seeing them together when he came back, I get it.

'Callum and Molly are the boy and girl version of each other. They get on really well. They are always laughing and you can tell its genuine.'

He continued: 'I knew Shaughna so I knew how invested she was in him. When I saw Callum with Molly, I felt gutted for Shaughna. She handled herself really well. She was a credit to herself.

'I thought it was ballsy from Callum but having spent time with him and Molly, I can see that he did it for a reason.'

Love Island continues on Tuesday at 9pm on ITV2.

Favourite couples: Rebecca and Jordan have revealed Siannise Fudge and Luke Trotman to be among their favourite couples
DOWNIEVILLE, Calif.  The night before his first deadline, Carl Butz, Californias newest newspaper owner, was digging into a bowl of beef stew at the Two Rivers Cafe, the only restaurant open in town.

Tomorrow I have to fill the paper, he said with only mild anxiety. The question is, will it be a four-page paper or a six-page paper?

At 71, Butz is trim, with wire-rimmed glasses and a close-cropped silver beard, and he dresses in flannel shirts and cargo pants. Since his retirement and his wifes death in 2017, he considered traveling  to England or Latvia, or riding the Trans-Siberian Railway. But here he was, a freshly minted newspaper proprietor, having stepped in at the beginning of the year to save The Mountain Messenger, Californias oldest weekly newspaper, from extinction.

The Messenger was founded in 1853. Its most famous scribe was Mark Twain, who once wrote a few stories  with a hangover, the legend goes  while hiding out here from the law.

Newspapers across America, especially in rural areas like here in Sierra County, have been dying at an alarming rate, and Downieville was about to become the latest news desert. The obituaries for the paper had already been written. Don Russell, the hard-drinking, chain-smoking editor with a blunt writing style who had owned and run the paper for nearly three decades, was retiring, and he seemed happy enough for the paper to die with his retirement.

And then one night Butz was watching Citizen Kane on cable and thought, I can do that. He made the deal quickly, paying a price in the four figures, he said, plus the assumption of some debts, without even looking at the books.

Still, Russell, an old friend of Butzs, was a reluctant seller. His position was, its a losing proposition and someone whod want it would be crazy, Butz said. He called me a romantic idealist and a nut case. And thats not a paraphrase, but a direct quote.

For the residents of Downieville  and there are not many; the population is about 300  who for generations counted on The Messenger to arrive every Thursday, through wildfires and power outages and economic booms and busts, Butz has become an unlikely local hero, a savior of a cherished institution.

Thank God for Carl, he stepped in, said Liz Fisher, a former editor of the paper who lives across the street from its office and runs The Sierra County Prospect, an online news site. It was devastating for everybody that we were going to lose The Mountain Messenger.

A cluttered, smoke-filled newsroom

On a recent Wednesday morning, facing his first deadline, Butz was staring down at a blank computer screen in the newspapers cramped two-room office above a beauty salon on Main Street. Butz, a fourth-generation Californian and a former computer programmer and labor economist for the state, readily admitted that he had no idea what he had gotten himself into, and it did not help to learn that the papers publishing software was from the mid-1990s.

One of the first things he said he would do after buying the paper was ban smoking in the office, but next to his keyboard was a package of unfiltered cigarettes and an ashtray.

What is the lead story? Butz asked.

The front page is blank, replied Jill Tahija, the papers only other employee, sitting at an adjacent computer.

Tahija, who has worked at The Messenger for 11 years, might properly be called the managing editor, but on her business cards it says, she who does the work.

Her small black-and-white dog, Ladybug, a Boston terrier-Shih Tzu-Chihuahua mix, bounded around the cluttered newsroom. On every surface were books and trinkets and junk  Civil War histories, annals of the county, dictionaries, empty beer bottles, packages of ramen noodles.

In the archives section are old papers dating to the 1850s, and on the walls are pictures of Twain and some slogans  old saws of newspapering, like If it bleeds, it leads.

Russell, who was on vacation, driving his RV up the coast with his wife, when Butz took over the paper, once told The Los Angeles Times that Twain had written a few unremarkable stories for The Messenger. Russell had read them on microfilm at a library. They were awful, he said. They were just local stories, as I recall, written by a guy with a hangover.

At his computer, Butz was putting together one of his first new features for the paper, a poetry corner. (He selected Thoughts, by Myra Viola Wilds, an African American poet from Kentucky who wrote in the early 20th century.) As Tahija worked on the front page  the next day it would be filled with stories about a local poetry competition, the upcoming census, wildfire prevention and a local supervisors meeting  Butz shifted his focus to finishing his letter to readers.

In it, he explained why he bought the paper. Simply put, he wrote, the horrible thought of this venerable institution folding up and vanishing after 166 years of continuous operation was simply more than I could bear.

The newspaper, he wrote, was something we need in order to know ourselves.

Like losing a friend

Making a newspaper in Downieville is strictly an analog, ink-on-paper affair; there is no website, no social media accounts. It loses a few thousand dollars a year, and relies mostly on publishing legal notices from the county and other government offices, which brings in about $50,000 a year, for the bulk of its revenue. It has about 700 subscribers and a print run of 2,400 copies, just below the countys population.

Im not going to lose a million dollars but I know Im going to have to subsidize some of it, Butz said. My daughter is already aware that her inheritance is shrinking.

Downieville is a remarkably well-preserved old Gold Rush town, perched at a fork in the Yuba River in remote western Sierra County. History is its pitch to tourists, and it has the feel of a back lot for an Old West movie  in its corner saloon, in the one-lane bridges over the Yuba, and in the second-story offices of The Messenger, next to the fire department. (A painted message on the door says it is the oldest volunteer fire department west of the Mississippi.)

With the demise of gold mining and the shuttering of the sawmills that were once an economic engine for the region, Downieville reinvented itself as a destination for mountain biking and fly fishing, with an abundance of Old West charm.

Residents reacted to Butzs last-minute purchase of the paper with a mixture of relief and gratitude.

A real sense of relief, said Lee Adams, a former Sierra County sheriff and a current member of the countys board of supervisors.

The paper was always an important institution, but it had become more so in recent years as Northern California dailies like The Sacramento Bee and The San Francisco Chronicle stopped distributing in the region, and rarely sent reporters to cover Sierra County.

We would have to fall off the face of the earth to make one of those papers on a normal news day, Adams said.

The Messenger is more than just a chronicle of weekly happenings  government meetings, births and deaths, the police blotter, the weather  but also a repository of the countys history. The paper is just a year younger than Sierra County, which was founded in 1852, the year Wells Fargo was established to serve the Gold Rush and the riches being dredged from the river.

When Bill Copren, 76, a local historian and a former county assessor, wrote his masters thesis on the political history of Sierra County in the mid-19th century, he relied on The Messengers archives.

More recently, when officials secured a spot on the National Register of Historic Places for a local school built in the art deco style in 1931, they used the papers archives to confirm the details of how it was built and who paid for it.

The papers closure, Copren said, would have been like losing a friend.

Under Russell, The Messenger had a distinctive attitude and a brusque, straightforward style. He was averse to political correctness and not immune from using curse words in print.

Butz said he did not plan to own the paper for long, and wanted to find a younger person who could take over. He said he was thinking about bringing the paper into the digital age, with a website, and was thinking about turning it into a nonprofit publication, accepting donations and grants to keep it running.

But on a recent Thursday morning, the day after deadline, he was just happy to have his first issue under his belt.

His Thursday routine is now established: He gets up early and drives about an hour and a half to a printing plant in Quincy, California, to pick up the bundles of freshly printed newspapers. On the way, he and Scott McDermid, the papers longtime distribution manager, stop at the Express Coffee Shop for waffles and eggs.

And then, with a truck full of papers, they crisscross the county, past the tall cedars and Douglas firs of the mountains, and across the Sierra Valley, dotted with junipers and cottonwoods, stopping at every shop and gas station, emptying newspaper machines of last weeks edition, collecting money and dropping off fresh bundles of The Messenger.

The story around town is how Butz saved the local newspaper.

But Butz, a still-grieving widower  his wife, Cecilia Kuhn, the drummer in an all-female punk band, Frightwig, died in 2017  sees it another way.

Its saving me, he said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
The Education in Small States Research Group (ESSRG) is currently celebrating 25 years of work with partners in small states worldwide.

A new phase of activity was planned at a team meeting held in the School of Education in January 2020. During this meeting, we reaffirmed commitment to our core issues of environmental uncertainty, climate change and education for sustainable development.

The meeting was combined with a well-attended and insightful Bristol Conversations in Education (BCE) seminar presented by doctoral researcher Aminath Shiyama (Shimmi) on teacher professional development in the Maldives.

Discussions in the meeting focused upon ways in which the ESSRG may do more to contribute to postgraduate and doctoral teaching and research within the School of Education, and to the University of Bristols sustainability and climate change initiatives.

Leon Tikly outlined the potential for research links with the TES4SD project, and Paul Howard-Jones reported on his work with UNESCO  IBE and on educational innovation in the Seychelles.

This relates closely to the ESSRGs long time engagement in supporting research capacity development in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) worldwide; and in engaging with indigenous knowledge and research methodologies in ways that highlight perspectives, epistemologies, and voices from the Global South.

Future meetings and seminars will focus on the development of our UN-accredited Sharp End global network (for details see our website at www.smallstates.net), educational research in other SIDS, maintaining established links with Commonwealth organisations, and proposed collaboration with the Cabot Institute for the Environment and Bristol Poverty Institute ahead of the forthcoming COP26 Meetings scheduled for Glasgow in October 2020.

We are pleased to confirm that Professor Emeritus, Angela Little (UCL) will present our next ESSRG seminar in the BCE Series on the topic of Education in the Isle of Man. This will be held on Wednesday 29th April 2020 and further details will be available soon.

Michael Crossley (Director ESSRG)

Aminath Shiyama (ESSRG Convenor)
Press Release

Further enhancement of Radio Access Network with Nokia 5G technology to enable a wide range of innovative services for Orange consumer and enterprise customers in Slovakia

Deal includes RAN equipment, software, NetAct management solution and automation tools



10 February 2020

Espoo, Finland  Nokia has been selected by Orange Slovensko, the leading operator in Slovakia, to prepare its Radio Access Network for 5G.

This new commercial deal builds on long-term end-to-end network collaboration between Nokia and Orange Slovensko. Nokias technology will boost network capacity, and offer an improved end user experience and new upcoming innovative 5G services to Orange Slovenskos consumer and enterprise customers.

Oranges network in Slovakia will utilize Nokias 5G New Radio (5G NR)-based AirScale hardware and software for the new 5G frequency bands. Nokia will also provide its state-of-the-art NetAct Management System together with advanced automation and efficiency tools. The deal will support Orange Slovensko in the evolution of its recently-modernized AirScale-based 4G network, by activating 5G in existing bands through pure software upgrades.

Federico Colom, CEO of Orange Slovensko, said: For a long time now we have been working with Nokia on new radio technology innovation. This is already bringing several improvements for our customers. With this agreement, we are taking the next step towards launching next-generation mobile services, leveraging our recently modernized 5G-ready Radio Access Network. In the long run, this will give us a significant competitive advantage as we build the network of the future, enabling outstanding customer experience, innovation in mass and enterprise markets, lean and with optimal power consumption.

Tommi Uitto, President Mobile Networks Nokia, said: Our technology will allow Orange Slovensko to smoothly transition towards 5G. This deal builds on our long-standing trusted relationship with Orange and will deliver a superior experience for businesses and consumers alike, allowing them to unlock the future potential of 5G."

Resources:

About Nokia

We create the technology to connect the world. Only Nokia offers a comprehensive portfolio of network equipment, software, services and licensing opportunities across the globe. With our commitment to innovation, driven by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs, we are a leader in the development and deployment of 5G networks.

Our communications service provider customers support more than 6.1 billion subscriptions with our radio networks, and our enterprise customers have deployed over 1,000 industrial networks worldwide. Adhering to the highest ethical standards, we transform how people live, work and communicate. For our latest updates, please visit us online www.nokia.com and follow us on Twitter @nokia.

About Orange Slovensko

Orange is a leader in providing comprehensive telecommunications services and the largest mobile operator in Slovakia. As of 30 September 2019 it had 2.787 milion mobile customers, 192.000 fixed broadband customers and 95.000 digital TV users. Mobile services provides through 2G network covering 99.8% of population in Slovakia, through 3G network with transmission speeds of up to 42 Mbit/s and 4G network with a maximum speed of 300 Mbit/s with combined coverage for almost 99 % of Slovak population. Fixed internet from Orange, whether via fiber optic network, DSL or fixed LTE, is the most accessible internet in Slovakia and has almost 1.7 million households access to it.

Orange Slovakia was awarded as the TOP Employer Award in the Global, Europe and Slovakia category for 2019. According to public research the Orange Foundation is the most trusted company foundation in Slovakia.

The owner of 100 % of the shares of Orange Slovensko is the Orange group.

For more information on the internet and on your mobile www.orange.sk , www.facebook.com/OrangeSlovensko ; www.linkedin.com/company/orangeslovensko/ or to follow us on Twitter: @orange_sk and Instagram: www.instagram.com/orange_svk .

Media Inquiries:

Nokia

Communications

Phone: +358 (0) 10 448 4900

E-mail: press.services@nokia.com


ATLANTA, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cox Media Group ("CMG") today announced it has reached an agreement with Cox Enterprises Inc. ("CEI") for the sale of its Ohio newspapers, the Dayton Daily News, the Springfield News-Sun, and the JournalNews.

The sale follows a recent federal court decision reinstating an old FCC rule that prohibits a single owner from operating both a daily newspaper and a broadcast station in the same market. To comply with that rule, CMG faced cutting the newspapers to non-daily publications or selling them to an owner that would not be encumbered by the antiquated cross-ownership rule. These papers have been established as leading news sources in the communities they serve for more than a century and this transaction is the best possible outcome to ensure they can continue providing uninterrupted news coverage to their readers.

"These newspapers are important assets to the communities they serve, and we are thrilled to have found a partner with a long and successful history of promoting freedom of the press and preserving print journalism," said CMG CEO Kim Guthrie. "CEI shares our belief that a reduced print schedule would negatively impact the papers, our employees and the communities. CEI is the best possible partner for this sale to not only ensure continued daily print publication for the newspapers, but to also keep so many talented people doing what they do bestproviding daily news coverage in our Ohio communities."

"Apollo is committed to strengthening local media. When faced with the unfortunate requirements of an antiquated regulation, we would not accept an outcome that reduced local news coverage for the people of Dayton, Springfield and Butler County. We applaud the FCC for working with us and providing us the flexibility to find a stable, long-term buyer who is committed to providing the citizens of Ohio with award winning journalism," said David Sambur, Co-Lead Partner of Private Equity at Apollo Global Management, Inc.

Rob Rohr will continue his role as Vice President and General Manager in the market leading CMG's broadcast outlets including TV (WHIO-TV), and three radio stations (WHIO, WHKO and WZLR).

"Rob is an experienced operator and an inspiring leader. We are excited that he will continue to lead the CMG team in Ohio," said Guthrie.

Following the sale, the Ohio newspapers will be under the interim operational leadership of Jana Collier, who currently serves as vice president of content at CMG Ohio. Jana, who will serve as interim Executive Editor, is a seasoned media veteran with more than 20 years of experience and started her career with Cox in 2006 as the managing editor of the Dayton Daily News.

"Dayton, Ohio is a big part of the Cox DNA. It's where our family is from and where our company was founded," said Alex Taylor, President and CEO of Cox Enterprises. "So it is with great excitement that we continue publishing these papers as we have for more than 100 years."

The sale of the papers to CEI is expected to close in the coming weeks.

About Cox Media Group

Cox Media Group (CMG) is an industry-leading media company with dominant brands, award-winning content, and exceptional people. CMG provides valuable local content to diverse audiences in the communities in which it serves. The company's operations primarily include 33 high-quality, market-leading television stations in 20 markets, 54 radio stations in 10 markets and numerous multi-platform streaming video and digital platforms. Cox Media Group's portfolio includes primary affiliates of ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and MyNetworkTV, as well as several valuable independent stations. Additionally, Cox Media Group operates the National Advertising Platform businesses of CoxReps and Gamut; and offers a full suite of local and regional advertising services with Local Solutions. For more information about Cox Media Group and its businesses, please visit www.coxmediagroup.com.

About Cox Enterprises

Cox Enterprises is dedicated to building a better future through our leading communications and automotive and media companies. Our major operating subsidiaries include Cox Communications and Cox Automotive, and we are strategically investing in new industries and emerging technologies, with sizeable interests in clean technology and health care. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Cox is a global company with $21 billion in annual revenues and brands that include Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book and Cox Homelife. Founded in 1898 by Ohio Governor James M. Cox, the company is a family-owned business committed to its people, communities and planet. To learn more about Cox, visit coxenterprises.com, view our Sustainability Report at coxcsrreport.com, or follow us on Twitter via @CoxEnterprises or @AlexTaylor_Cox.

For media inquiries regarding Cox Media Group:

Michelle Miguelez, VP, Corporate Communications & Public Affairs

[email protected]

For media inquiries regarding Cox Enterprises:

Sonji Jacobs, AVP Corporate Communications Cox Enterprises Inc.

(678) 645-0738

[email protected]

SOURCE Cox Media Group
At least three people, including two cops, were shot in an active shooting situation at a Walmart store in Forrest City, Arkansas.

WMC reports two Forrest City police officers were shot at the Forrest City Walmart while responding to complaints of a man who was threatening people inside the store, located 50 miles west of Memphis, Tennessee, on Monday morning. St. Francis County Sheriff Bobby May told WHBQ that the man pulled out a gun and shot both officers, including one several times.

The Forrest City police chief told WMC that the suspect was shot inside the store, and died at the scene. The suspect has not yet been identified.

Its unclear how serious the two officers injuries are. WMC reports one was brought to a local hospital and was conscious and talking, while the other was brought to Regional One in Memphis in an unknown condition.

Arkansas State Police and US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting with the investigation, according to CNN. A news conference is scheduled for 2 p.m.

The prayers and thoughts of the ASP (Arkansas State Police) are with the two Forrest City Police Officers that were injured this morning in a shooting at the Walmart store, located in Forrest City, state police said in a statement.

The incident comes six months after a gunman killed 22 people and wounded two dozen more in a shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. Patrick Crusius is facing hate crime charges after allegedly targeted Mexicans in the border city, attempting to scare Hispanics into leaving the United States.
New Delhi, Feb 10 : The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chief Swati Maliwal announced on Monday that the commission will issue notices to Delhi Police and Gargi college administration in the matter of alleged sexual harassment at the campus.

Maliwal visited Gargi college campus on Monday afternoon and talked to some of the students about the incident that took place on February 6, day 3 of the annual festival 'Reverie'.

Later, she told media persons here that, "In Gargi College, the miscreants molested the college girls. Despite being such a serious matter, the police and the college administration present on the spot did not take any action. I have come to meet girls in the college. We are issuing notices to both, Delhi Police and college administration. Those who molested the girls should be arrested immediately." Earlier in the day, National Commission for women also took cognizance of the matter of alleged sexual harassment of girl students in the college campus. A delegation of the NCW visited Gargi college on Monday.

Some of the students of Gargi College on Saturday alleged that some "drunken men" -- said to be pro-CAA demonstrators -- had entered the women's college campus and misbehaved with students.

The incident, the students say, took place a few days ago during Day 3 of the annual festival 'Reverie'. A group of drunken men reportedly entered the college affiliated to Delhi University, and manhandled the students.

"Girls were groped, locked in washrooms, stalked to the nearby Green Park metro, cat-called, eve-teased and misbehaved with during the festival," read the blog of one of the students of Gargi College.

A student requesting anonymity told IANS: "I can't confirm the allegations of molestation but a large group of drunken men had dropped in and manhandled students." A suo motu probe by a senior police officer has been initiated into the alleged manhandling and molestation at the all-girls Gargi College in south Delhi last week, police said on Monday.

"We have initiated suo motu investigations into allegations of molestation and manhandling of students during the annual fest 'Reverie 2020'," Deputy Commissioner of Police Atul Thakur told IANS.

An Additional Deputy Commissioner-rank officer will head the probe into the incident.

The students also staged a protest inside the college campus on Monday demanding action against the accused.
- South African police arrested 87 people for questioning after the death of 9 Lesotho nationals

- The dead people were found lying in the streets in Matholeville, Gauteng

- An ongoing hunt for the killers continue while the suspects are questioned

PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Briefly.co.za News on your News Feed!

Nine people in Matholeville were reportedly stoned to death and police started a manhunt to find those behind the tragic incident.

A few hours after the bodies were found lying in the streets, 87 people were taken in for questioning by the South African Police Force.

Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela summoned police officers from different stations and units within Johannesburg to hunt down the suspects.

READ ALSO: Winning: SA schools win prestigious moot court competition in Poland

The suspects will also be checked for any criminal records. In the meantime, police will continue to search for the killers.

During the night operation, police took in 87 people for questioning and to establish if they are not wanted for any crimes.

As the police continue its investigation, the Provincial Commissioner said that witnesses who come forward will be taken to the witness protection programme for safety.

The victims are believed to be illegal miners killed by their peers - other illegal miners.

No news has been shared about the condition of the 10th victim who survived but was seriously injured.

After Briefly.co.za shared the news, many comments were shared on the incident. Here's what some of our readers had to say:

John Makgojane

"There's no longer peace in SA like before, nowadays people live with anger, depressions & stresses of unemployment. Immediately you make wrong. Unemployed "mbagati" releases their problems killing or abusing somebody. It is hard to live in SA nowadays."

Mmatlou Prudence

"Lesotho people just leave Lesotho and come fight here. No man we need peace not trauma. why did the other group even have to kill the other? This is madness. Imagine finding stoned bodies in the streets. gosh."

Phakamani Cvura Dolwana

"Those Lesotho nationals have been brutalising West Rand ever since, committing felonies but no arrests."

Eugene Mthombeni

"Chaos and disorder...when there's surely no government!"

Tshepiso Masitha

"This is a problem that comes with undocumented foreign nationals because even if they have left their fingerprints at the scene they won't be identified easily because home affairs don't have them on the system."

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
Ben my Chree sailings and London City flights cancelled



Douglas Prom during Storm Ciara - Credit: Alex Lamberton

Tonight and tomorrow's early morning sailings and tonight's London City flights have been cancelled due to Storm Ciara.

The Steam Packet made the announcement just before 5pm, stating that the Master of the Ben my Chree has confirmed that due to the continued adverse weather caused by Storm Ciara, the 7.45 pm sailing from Douglas to Heysham and the 2.15 am return journey are cancelled.

Passengers booked on these sailings can amend their booking online, or contact Reservations on 01624 661661 (IOM) or 08722 992 992 (UK) to make alternative arrangements.

Meanwhile the London City flight arrival into Ronaldsway due at 4.25 pm has been cancelled, which means that the 5.05 pm departure flight is also cancelled.
The Ola app displayed on a smartphone. Mint | Hindustan Times | Getty Images

Indian ride-hailing app Ola has launched in London, where Uber faces the threat of being banned, as it aims to topple the Silicon Valley giant as market leader in the U.K. capital. The company, which shares tech investing juggernaut SoftBank as an investor with Uber, rolls out its taxi-booking service in the city on Monday. The firm's app is similar in many ways to Uber's but has a few safety-focused features it says make it stand out. For instance, when a passenger gets into a car, they have to give a unique four-digit code before the driver can start the trip. It also comes packed with an artificial intelligence-powered system called Guardian, which picks up on deviations in route patterns and gets Ola to check with the driver or customer that "nothing untoward" is happening. "We aspire to be the market leader in London," Simon Smith, Ola's head of international, told CNBC in an interview. "We believe that, with our proposition around quality and safety, offering a great experience not only for customers but drivers as well, there is no reason why we can't be market leader in this market."

The firm has already registered over 25,000 drivers in London, just over half of Uber's 45,000 in the city. It's also partnered with the training unit of U.K. motoring association AA, education firm Pearson and consulting giant Mercer to test its drivers on risk assessment, English speaking and customer service. Ola's arrival in London comes as its key rival, Uber, fights for survival in the city. Local regulator Transport for London (TfL) decided not to renew Uber's license to operate in November, citing a "pattern of failures" that put the safety of its passengers at risk. For now, the company can continuing operating in London as it appeals the decision. According to TfL, drivers were able to game Uber's system to pick up passengers without being authorized. It says they were able to do this by uploading their photos to another driver's account. This happened in at least 14,000 trips and some of the drivers were unlicensed, TfL said. Asked whether Ola's system could be similarly exploited, Smith said he's "confident there won't be an issue," but if there is, it'll contact the regulators to "explain what's happened and what our plan is to rectify it." Its app also has an emergency tool that can be selected to alert Ola, a customer's relatives and the emergency services.

Ola Head of International Simon Smith. Ola
Actors Chris Rock and Steve Martin on Sunday (local time) took a dig at the Oscars for snubbing female directors and artists of colour. As soon as the duo made their way to the stage, they started taking digs at nominated movies in the Best Film category - Joker, Ford v Ferrari and the Irishman, reported The Hollywood Reporter. Both Rock and Martin have previously hosted the Oscars.

Rock went on to label the length of Irishman (three and a half hours) as a first season of a show. Martin and Rock also poked fun at Brad Pitt, Mahershala Ali, Martin Scorsese and Jeff Bezos.

Ali has won two Oscars, but according to Rock, the awards will mean nothing if the former gets pulled over by the police.

Martin took a dig at Bezos, calling him a 'great actor'. Rock, also made cheeky remarks at the Amazon CEO, saying, "When Bezos writes a cheque, the bank bounces. He got divorced and he is still the richest man in the world. He saw Marriage Story and thought it was a comedy."

Earlier in the ceremony, Janelle Monae had taken the stage first, to perform an uptempo number, backed by dancers wearing costumes from nominated and snubbed films like Little Women, Joker, Midsommar and Us. She was then briefly joined by Billy Porter, who sang a few bars of best song nominee Elton John's I'm Still Standing.

Monae later returned to the audience to appreciate the women who directed films this year. "I am so proud to stand here as a black queer woman celebrating telling stories. Happy black history month," Monae said. At the end of her performance, she shouted, "Welcome to the 2020 Oscars".

Follow @htshowbiz for more
RABAT - Marrakesh will host the African Contemporary Dance Biennial from March 23 to 28, featuring the most current choreography on the continent, as part of the 15th edition of the 'On Marche' dance festival.



The dance triennial, which has taken place since 1997, decided to become a biennial, choosing Marrakesh as the host city this year in its new format.



The artistic committee, headed by Taoufiq Izeddiou and Nedjma Hadj Benchelabi, includes eight choreographers and dancers from seven African countries. In addition to conferences and film screenings on the history of African dance, the programme includes open-air performances to showcase the latest talents in the field.



The programme also gives space to 20 young emerging choreographers through its 'Generatione 2020' sector, dedicated to the stars of the future.
ASM: TSX/NYSE American

VANCOUVER, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd. (ASM: TSX/NYSE American, GV6: FSE, "Avino" or "the Company") is pleased to provide the following 2019-year end summary and outlook for 2020 for the Avino Mine.

Avino Mine, San Gonzalo Mine, and The Historic Above Ground Stockpiles

2019 Production Highlights

Silver equivalent production - 2,397,042 oz*

Silver production  958,811 oz

Gold production  6,912 oz

Copper production  4,970,254 lbs

*In 2019, AgEq was calculated using metals prices of $16.20 oz Ag, $1,393 oz Au and $2.96 lb Cu

*During the three months and year ended December 31, 2019, the Company produced 958 and 20,412 AgEq oz, respectively, of zinc by-product concentrate which has been included in the "San Gonzalo" production category.

"The 2019 production was slightly under our internal expectations of between 2.4 and 2.6 million silver equivalent ounces*. With San Gonzalo reaching the end of its current resources in Q4 2019 and mining halted, we ended the year closer to the lower end of expectations. Operationally, we faced a few lost days of production during upgrades to the crusher, labour negotiations due to the transition of work from San Gonzalo, and heavy seasonal rain. On a positive note, we were able to increase throughput in Q3 2019 and improve recoveries during Q3 and Q4, stated David Wolfin, President and CEO. "In December, the Company closed the sale of Bralorne Gold Mines to Talisker Resources Ltd. for total cash and other consideration of close to $29 million, which has improved our financial position. The cost cutting initiatives in place during 2019 served us well, and we will continue to keep costs controlled to maintain financial health which is vital to the Company's continued success. As always, I'd like to thank all Avino personnel for their hard work and contributions made in 2019."

2019 Operational Highlights

The capital expenditures for 2019 were expected to total US$5.0 - $6.0 million and included the construction of a tailings thickener, an expansion to the existing Tailings Storage Facility ("TSF"), metallurgical projects to help improve recovery rates, and underground development at the Avino Mine.

We are pleased that the following 2019 objectives were achieved:

The construction and completion of the tailing's thickener, now in full operation which reduces water content sent to the tailing's facility;

Installation of a geomembrane in the old historic open pit to use for deposition of tailings is now permitted and a portion is ready for use;

Achieved higher mill throughput (2,500 tpd) and increased recoveries;

Achieved higher than expected production from the Historic Above Ground Stockpiles;

During the second quarter of 2019, there was some unplanned downtime due to labour negotiations that arose from the pending closure of the San Gonzalo Mine. The Company would like to reiterate its long-standing and continuing commitment to the community of Avino, and our fair treatment of all mine workers in accordance with Mexican labour laws, with low labour turnover.

Additionally, in July, results of a sampling campaign comprising 52 recent and historic holes that were previously drilled in the hanging-wall revealed significant and consistent metal grades and wide vein widths. This campaign was considered encouraging and has the potential to add mineable tonnage to the pipeline of near-term production.

During the third quarter, the Company closed a bought-deal financing for gross proceeds of C$6.9 million, which was used for further exploration of the Hanging wall area at the Avino Mine, and for further exploration and development activities on the Bralorne Mine property.

AVINO MINE

2020 Outlook

Capital expenditures are expected to total US$7.0 - $8.0 million, and will include the following:

Exploration Budget

During the year, the Company plans to spend $1.5 million drilling 11,500 metres at the Avino mine property and will target the areas of Avino, Avino West, the Santiago Vein and La Potosina. Exploration targets may not be limited to these four areas, and during the year our priority targets may change if geological interpretations on other areas present enhanced opportunity. We plan to provide detailed information on our exploration targets in the coming months.

In addition to the exploration budget, plant improvements have been approved for the following areas:

Dry Stack Tailings

Avino has been exploring the potential of dry stack tailings for its permitted tailings storage facility which we refer to as TSF #2. We continue to explore this potential through operational visits to existing dry stack facilities in the area, as well as requests for quotations from various vendors and suppliers. We have also sourced a contractor familiar with dry stack tailings construction that is well known to the Company. A construction decision could be made in early 2020.

Automation

A number of mill upgrades focused on automation to improve onstream data collection and operator decision making will be implemented during the year. These upgrades have the potential to improve mill availability, throughput, and recovery. After a rigorous vetting process a vendor has been selected and the Company hopes to commence the project early in the year.

Circuit 4 Improvements

Avino made various metallurgical improvements in Circuit 3 during 2019 which significantly improved gold and silver recovery through the use of a new piece of equipment. We will look to make the same improvements in Circuit 4 this year. The equipment has been ordered and is expected on site early in Q2 2020 and operational shortly thereafter.

It is expected that sustaining capital expenditures for 2020 will be US$2.0 - $3.0 million.

Avino's longevity demonstrates a commitment to maintaining our mission, vision and values. As we enter our 52nd year, we are looking forward to a positive and productive 2020 together with the potential continued strengthening of the market and of commodity prices.

BRALORNE GOLD MINE

2019 Highlights

The focus at Bralorne in 2019 was a drilling campaign that comprised two phases. The first phase carried on from Q4 2018 into Q1 2019 targeting underexplored portions of known veins and Phase two from Q1 to Q4 2019 was focused on targeting new discoveries in unexplored portions of the property. The drilling campaigns were funded by flow-through funds that were available to be used by December 31, 2019.

In the final quarter of the year, the Company negotiated the sale of Bralorne Gold Mines to Talisker Resources Ltd. which closed in December, with Avino receiving:

i. A cash consideration of C$8.7 million; ii. The issuance of 12.58 million common shares, comprising 9.9% of the issued and outstanding common shares of Talisker after the close of the transaction iii. The issuance of 6.29 million share purchase warrants exercisable at $0.25 per share until December 13, 2022, provided that if at any time following April 14, 2020 the closing price of Talisker's common shares exceeds $0.35 per share for 20 or more consecutive trading days, then Talisker may accelerate the expiry date of the warrants upon 30 days' notice to the Company; iv. A cash payment of US $2.5 million, contingent of the commencement of commercial production at the Bralorne mine; and v. The transfer of all future restoration and reclamation obligation liabilities to Talisker.

Avino will remain a supportive shareholder while looking forward to the advancement of Talisker's exploration strategy at the Bralorne mine.

In memory  Michael Baybak and Fred Sveinson

During 2019, we sadly lost two important members of the Avino team. In May, long time director Michael Baybak passed away, and in December, Fred Sveinson, who was the Senior Mining Advisor to Bralorne also passed away. These gentlemen bestowed on us their support, wisdom, optimism and positivity. The Company is grateful for the knowledge and wisdom they gave to the team over the years. They are missed.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Avino expects to release the 2019 year-end financial results in late February 2020 and will hold a conference call to discuss the results. Details of the call, including times and contact numbers, will be announced closer to the release date.

Qualified Person(s)

Peter Latta, P.Eng, MBA, VP Technical Services, Avino and Jasman Yee P. Eng, Avino director, both of whom are qualified persons within the context of National Instrument 43-101 have reviewed and approved the technical data in this news release.

About Avino

Avino is a silver and gold producer with a diversified pipeline of gold, silver and base metals properties in Mexico employing close to 350 people. Avino produces from its wholly owned Avino Mine near Durango, Mexico. The Company's gold and silver production remains unhedged. The Company's mission and strategy is to create shareholder value through its focus on profitable organic growth at the historic Avino Property near Durango, Mexico, and the strategic acquisition of mineral exploration and mining properties. We are committed to managing all business activities in an environmentally responsible and cost-effective manner, while contributing to the well-being of the communities in which we operate.

On Behalf of the Board

"David Wolfin"

________________________________

David Wolfin

President & CEO

Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd.

Safe Harbor Statement - This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (together, the "forward looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws and the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but are not limited to, the Company's ability to meet its production guidance, expectations of All-In Sustaining Cash Cost ("AISC"), information on the updated mineral resource estimate for the Company's Avino Property located near Durango in west-central Mexico (the "Property") with an effective date of February 21, 2018, and amended on December 19, 2018, prepared for the Company, and reference to Measured, Indicated, Inferred Resources referred to in this press release. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and the dates of technical reports, as applicable. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the future circumstances, outcomes or results anticipated in or implied by such forward-looking statements will occur or that plans, intentions or expectations upon which the forward-looking statements are based will occur. While we have based these forward-looking statements on our expectations about future events as at the date that such statements were prepared, the statements are not a guarantee that such future events will occur and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors which could cause events or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. No assurance can be given that the Company's Property does not have the amount of the mineral resources indicated in the updated report or that such mineral resources may be economically extracted.

Such factors and assumptions include, among others, the effects of general economic conditions, the price of gold, silver and copper, changing foreign exchange rates and actions by government authorities, uncertainties associated with legal proceedings and negotiations and misjudgments in the course of preparing forward-looking information. In addition, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Known risk factors include risks associated with project development; the need for additional financing; operational risks associated with mining and mineral processing; fluctuations in metal prices; title matters; uncertainties and risks related to carrying on business in foreign countries; environmental liability claims and insurance; reliance on key personnel; the potential for conflicts of interest among certain of our officers, directors or promoters with certain other projects; the absence of dividends; currency fluctuations; competition; dilution; the volatility of the our common share price and volume; tax consequences to U.S. investors; and other risks and uncertainties. Although we have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, 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 forward-looking 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. We are under no obligation to update or alter any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable securities laws.

Cautionary Note Regarding Non-GAAP Measures

This news release includes certain terms or performance measures commonly used in the mining industry that are not defined under International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"), including silver equivalent ounces (AgEq oz) of production. Non-GAAP measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed under IFRS and, therefore, they may not be comparable to similar measures reported by other companies. We believe that, in addition to conventional measures prepared in accordance with IFRS, certain investors use this information to evaluate our performance. The data presented is intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. Readers should also refer to our management's discussion and analysis available under our corporate profile at www.sedar.com or on our website at www.avino.com.

SOURCE Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd.

Related Links

http://www.avino.com/


AFP via Getty Images

Democratic leaders have sought to tamp down Donald Trumps impeachment revenge tour after the president dismissed key witnesses in the investigation from their government posts, while attacking those who voted to convict him last week.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed Mr Trump after he fired Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, a former National Security Council director who testified about the presidents phone call with Ukraine, calling the move a brazen act of retaliation.

President Trump is impeached forever, the House speaker said in a statement. The shameful firing of Colonel Vindman was a clear and brazen act of retaliation that showcases the Presidents fear of the truth."

She added: History will remember Lieutenant Colonel Vindman as an American hero.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also urged 74 inspectors general across the country to investigate all acts of retaliation against whistleblowers who have reported presidential misconduct, writing in a letter: Without the courage of whistleblowers and the role of Inspectors General, the American people may never have known how the President abused his power in the Ukraine scandal.

The impeachment inquiry began after an anonymous whistleblower filed an official complaint about Mr Trumps 25 July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which he asked for the country to launch investigations into one of his 2020 political opponents, Joe Biden.

Several prominent members of Mr Trumps inner circle have since shared posts online allegedly identifying the anonymous whistleblower  including the presidents son, Donald Trump Jr.

Romney hurt some very good Republican Senators, and he was wrong about the Impeachment Hoax. No clue! https://t.co/J6rtaZYYxD  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2020

Mr Trump has meanwhile claimed victory in his impeachment after the Republican-led US Senate voted to acquit him in a 52-48 vote. In an incendiary conference held in the East Room after the vote, Mr Trump lambasted his apparent enemies and described the investigations that plagued his presidency as bulls*** and a series of hoaxes.

Story continues

He also reportedly demanded the ousting of Mr Vindman, who he called very insubordinate during the weekend after the former NSC adviser was escorted from the White House on Friday afternoon.

Gordon Sondland, the former US ambassador to the European Union who also testified against the president and confirmed a quid pro quo existed in the administrations Ukraine dealings, was fired hours after Mr Vindman on Friday.

The president also spent recent days attacking those who voted for his conviction in the Senate, including Democrats in battleground states like West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin and Alabama Senator Doug Jones, as well as Utah Senator Mitt Romney, the sole Republican to break ranks with his party in support of impeachment.

Mr Trump retweeted posts during the weekend claiming the senator stabbed Trump in the back and wrote in his own tweet: Romney hurt some very good Republican Senators, and he was wrong about the Impeachment Hoax. No clue!

The Republican Party has appeared to follow suit when it comes to the presidents attacks against Mr Romney, who became the first senator in history to vote against a president in their own party during an impeachment trial. Mr Romney was banned from the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference, a prominent annual political conference, as the chairman said he would actually be afraid for [Mr Romneys] physical safety if he were to attend the event this year.

"We wont credential him as a conservative, CPAC chairman Matt Schlapp told Full Court Press. "I suppose if he wants to come as a non-conservative and debate an issue with us, maybe in the future we would have him come. This year, Id actually be afraid for his physical safety, people are so mad at him."

He added: "The biggest problem we have with Mitt Romney is not that hes just an individual following his political course. Its the fact that hes lied so continuously to conservatives. Hes a use-em-and-lose-em kind of guy."

Mr Trump also scheduled a rally in New Hampshire the night before the state holds the first-in-the-nation primary, writing in a tweet on Monday that he wanted "to shake up the Dems a little bit", adding: "They have a really boring deal going on."

Read more

Trump carrying out campaign of intimidation after acquittal
Russia is marking the Day of a Diplomatic Worker today. The date was set on October 31, 2002, by the Russian President Vladimir Putin and is celebrated annually on February 10.

The date was chosen upon the discovery of the earliest thus far mention of a Russian diplomatic department in 1549.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent greetings to current and former staff of the Russian Foreign Ministry on their professional holiday, Diplomats Day, according to the statement posted on the Kremlin's website.

The team of Vestnik Kavkaza congratulates the employees and veterans of the Russian Foreign Ministry on their professional holiday.
Lucknow, Feb 10 : The fifth edition of joint military exercise 'Ajeya Warrior 2020' between India and the United Kingdom will be conducted at Salisbury Plains in the UK from February 13 to 26.

According to an official release, the exercise will comprise of 120 soldiers each from the two armies who would be sharing their experiences gained during various counter insurgency and counter terrorist operations in the past.

The aim of the exercise is to conduct company-level joint training with emphasis on counter terrorist operations in urban and semi urban areas. Training on modern weapon systems, equipment and simulator training has also been planned.

In the series of military training exercises undertaken by India with various countries, 'Ajeya Warrior' with United Kingdom is an important exercise in terms of the security challenges faced by both nations in the realm of changing facets of global terrorism.

The exercise is conducted alternatively in UK and India. The exercise displays a bilateral willingness to work jointly and share operating procedures to deal with a situation in a specified operational setting.

'Ajeya Warrior' will promote defence cooperation and enhance inter-operability while sharing experiences between both the armies, the release said.
NEW YORKHe first shot at two police officers in a van after having asked them for directions.

Then, less than 12 hours later, police said, the man entered a precinct in the Bronx and began shooting, hitting one officer and injuring another, while sending others scrambling for cover.

By the end of the rampage Sunday morning, two officers were wounded and a third was injured, and the department was shaken. For some, the shootings echoed previous deadly attacks on officers, including a 2014 assassination of two officers in Brooklyn who were killed as they sat in a patrol car.

This is not a crime gone bad. This is not a liquor store robbery interrupted, said Police Commissioner Dermot Shea on Sunday. This is a premeditated assassination attempt.

The shooting spree touched off a political firestorm about policing in New York, bringing into question the circumstances that allowed the man, whom two police officials identified as Robert Williams, to attack the officers. Williams, 45, has a lengthy criminal history and was out on parole after a conviction for attempted murder, stemming from a 2002 incident where he engaged in a gun battle with officers, police said.

On Twitter, President Donald Trump blamed the governor and the mayor  weak leadership  for being too soft on crime; the officers union blamed Democratic state legislators for enacting changes to several criminal justice laws; and Shea and the mayor blamed activists who had recently protested increased police presence in the subway.

Anyone who spews hatred at our officers is aiding and abetting this kind of atmosphere. Its not acceptable, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. You can protest whatever for whatever you believe in, but you cannot vilely attack those who are here to protect us. It creates this kind of dynamic.

Local officials provided no evidence to support their argument that the recent protests played a role in the rampage, and it is unclear if politics motivated the shooter in any way. Police have not yet determined if Williams, who was paroled in 2017, long before the recent changes to several state criminal justice laws were implemented, was connected to a protest group, one law enforcement official said.

Mary Williams, Williams grandmother, said her grandson has been withdrawn since the death of his only son, Robert Williams Jr., about two years ago.

He had one son. He was 18, he was getting ready to go to college upstate, and somebody shot him in the street and killed him, said Mary Williams, 80. He never got over it.

Robert Williams keeps a white candle lit in his own bedroom to remember his son, and he has his baby picture hanging above his bed, she said. Mary Williams said she believes her grandson started using heavy drugs to cope with his grief: I think that was his downfall.

Police records show that in 2018, Robert Williams, 18, died in a shooting in the Bronx. Mary Williams confirmed that was her great-grandson.

In surveillance video, a man, who police said was Robert Williams, is seen calmly entering the 41st Precinct, which serves the Hunts Point neighbourhood, at around 8 a.m. Sunday. He glanced around and almost immediately opened fire, sending officers and civilian staff scrambling to shield themselves. One bullet struck the arm of a lieutenant, who then returned fire, but missed.

The man paused, appeared to hear returning gunshots, and then lay on the ground, sliding his gun along the floor to officers at the other end of the room.

This coward immediately laid down, but only after he ran out of bullets, Shea said.

Robert Williams was arrested at the precinct without further incident.

Just 12 hours earlier, at around 8 p.m. Saturday, police said, Robert Williams had approached two officers in a marked police vehicle a few blocks from that same station house. The officers had been posted in the neighbourhood because there had been reports of drug dealing and shootings there recently, Shea said.

Robert Williams spoke with the officers and then asked for directions before pulling out a gun and opening fire into the vehicle, police said.

The officer driving the van was struck in the chin and the neck by a bullet that just missed his carotid artery, police said. The officers partner drove him to a nearby hospital. In surveillance video from the shooting, a man can be seen pointing something at the vehicle as it sped away. He then fled.

We are confident that he is the same person who attempted to assassinate our police officers last night, Shea said at a news conference Sunday.

Officers are also questioning a woman, Liza Valdez, in connection to the shootings. Valdez, who according to city records was a civilian employee of the department until 2019, was not considered a suspect, police said.

Valdez returned to her apartment Sunday in tears.

She is a great woman. She is a good mom, she is a good daughter, her mother, Virginia, told reporters. Robert Williams had asked Valdez to drive him to his mothers house Sunday, but on the way had bolted out of the car and into the precinct, her mother said.

Hes her friend, and he lied to her, she said.

Both officers who were shot in the two attacks are expected to make full recoveries, police officials said. A third officer was injured at the precinct, but police did not specify how.

By the grace of God that were not planning a funeral, said Shea.

A 9-mm gun was recovered from Williams at the precinct and will be tested to see if it matches the gun used in Saturdays shooting, Shea said.

According to police officials and court documents, Williams had been convicted of attempted murder after a shooting in 2002. Williams had shot someone, carjacked a woman in trying to flee the scene, wrecked the stolen vehicle and then engaged responding officers in a gun battle, police said. He was released on parole in 2017.

Williams also had a recent encounter with police. The details of that incident remain unclear, but he was charged with resisting arrest and obstruction of government administration, according to court records. He was due in court in the Bronx on Monday.

The commissioner said the unprovoked shooting evoked memories of other attacks on police over the years, including the killings of the two Brooklyn officers, Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos. This hearkens back to some very bad times, he said.

In 2014, Ramos and Liu were sitting in their patrol car when they were shot at point-blank range and killed during an ambush. The suspect then turned the gun on himself, dying by suicide, authorities said. The incident came at a moment when New York and cities across the country were experiencing widespread protests over police brutality.

And in 2017, Officer Miosotis Familia was in a mobile command vehicle in the Bronx when she was assassinated by a gunman.

The attacks in the Bronx occurred just a week after hundreds of demonstrators showed up at Grand Central Terminal to rally against an increased police presence in the subway. In December, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority approved Gov. Andrew M. Cuomos plan to add 500 more officers to patrol the transit system, which has spurred several protests that have led to arrests.

We have people marching in New York City last week, and I condemned it and I condemn it right here again today  using profanities against the Police Department, Shea said Sunday. Everyone should be speaking out against this, and you have to be careful about the words you use whether its on social media or on written papers or speaking, because words matter and words affect peoples behaviour.

Read more about:
A smartphone with the Huawei and 5G network logo is seen on a PC motherboard in this illustration

PARIS (Reuters) - The Chinese embassy in Paris on Sunday urged the French government not to discriminate against Huawei as it selects suppliers for its 5G mobile network, saying it feared the company would face more constraints than rivals.

China's Huawei, a global giant in telecoms network equipment, is the center of an international political storm as the United States seeks to convince countries to ban the company from their mobile networks. Washington says its technology could allow "back doors" for Chinese spying - an allegation denied by Huawei and Beijing.

France is in the early stages of rolling out its next-generation wireless technology, and the government's stance over Huawei's possible role still lacks clarity, according to some telecoms industry trade bodies. Some French media outlets have reported in recent months that the company could face restrictions in several cities.

The Chinese embassy said in a statement on its website that it was "shocked and worried" by such reports, adding that French President Emmanuel Macron and other officials had given repeated assurances that all companies would be treated fairly.

"If, due to security concerns, the French government truly does have to impose constraints on operators, it should establish transparent criteria around this and treat all companies equally," said the embassy. It added that security fears about Huawei were unfounded.

Huawei did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and the French economy ministry declined to comment.

The embassy also said that China had used foreign companies such as Finland's Nokia <NOKIA.HE> and Sweden's Ericsson <ERICb.ST> to equip its own domestic networks.

"We do not wish to see the development of European companies in China affected due to discrimination against Huawei and protectionism in France and other European countries," it said.

France's cybersecurity agency ANSSI, which is scrutinizing equipment from various suppliers, is due to issue its preliminary findings later this month.

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Some telecoms operators have already picked 5G equipment makers, with France's Orange opting for Nokia and Ericsson.

Britain has granted Huawei a limited role in its 5G roll-out, while the European Union has resisted pressure from Washington for an outright ban in its guidance to member states.

The United States suggested in recent days it could consider taking a stake in Nokia and Ericsson to counter Huawei's dominance in 5G technology.

(Reporting by Sarah White, Mathieu Rosemain and Elizabeth Pineau; Editing by Pravin Char)
For nearly three decades, Arnulfo Tovar, 72, saved enough money selling corn on the streets of Pilsen each summer to pay his rent during the winter months. This year it was not enough. He was forced out of his longtime apartment and now pays nearly double the rent in his new one, forcing him to continue selling outside in the cold.
Iran's attempt to jump start and advance its space program has suffered yet another snag, after on Sunday state television confirmed the latest attempt of an Iranian rocket to put a satellite into orbit has failed.

The launch operation at Imam Khomeini Spaceport, about 145 miles southeast Tehran, initially succeeded but then ultimately failed due to the Simorgh or Phoenix rocket's low speed, resulting in the Zafar 1 communications satellite not reaching orbit, according to the AP.

Stage-1 and stage-2 motors of the carrier functioned properly and the satellite was successfully detached from its carrier, but at the end of its path it did not reach the required speed for being put in the orbit, Defense Ministry space program spokesman Ahmad Hosseini said on state TV.

Sunday's failure now makes four recent space launch operations in a row ending in failure , after the attempted launches of the Payam and Doosti satellites failed last year, as well as a launchpad explosion in August. four recent space launch operations in a row ending in failureThis has raised suspicions and accusations by Iran's leaders that Israel or the United States could be behind sabotaging the program.



Last September, Washington imposed sanctions on Iran's space agency, its space research center, as well as an astronautics research institute  given all of these are seen as assisting the development of technology related to Iran's ballistic missiles capability.

The Trump administration has consistently charged that Iran's space program is geared toward advancing its banned ICBMs.

Over the past decade Iran has successfully put several short-lived satellites into orbit, but has been unable to advance beyond this.

Despite yet another embarrassing setback for the program, Iran's Defense Ministry still praised Sunday's launch as remarkable given the progress up to the point of failing to get the satellite into orbit.

By Zerohedge.com

More Top Reads From Safehaven.com:
GODFREY  The RiverBend Growth Association on Monday announced four new members.

 3As Sign Language Interpreting Services in Godfrey is owned by Amanda Pennington who has 18 years of experience serving the deaf and hearing communities from Chicago to Carbondale. She has been in Godfrey since 2012.

The firm provides interpreters for community events such as schools, hospitals, doctors offices and meetings.

I subcontract highly skilled licensed and certified interpreters across the Illinois and Missouri metro-area to facilitate communication and access, she said. 3As builds relatable bridges and serves the community by helping local businesses become more inclusive.

For more details, call 228-388-6221.

 Fitness for the Soul at 4425 Industrial Drive, Alton, is owned by Tabitha Shulte. She started the business May 3, 2010, on the bottom floor of Nautilus and moved eight months later to the room next door. Six months later she again moved within the building.

We now have five rooms and seven massage therapists, Shulte said. Our massage therapists know many modalities and have several certifications and skills including medical massage, advanced medical massage, prenatal massage, eyelash extensions, custom spray tanning, and etc.

For more details call 618-917-4475 or visit fitnessforthesoul.net.

 Russell Cellular at 623 Wesley Drive, Wood River, is managed by Leigh Ann Williford. It is an exclusive Verizon Authorized Retailer specializing in wireless communication services and is one of the nations largest Verizon wireless retailers.

Every employee has an opportunity to contribute, learn, and advance based on merit, said Williford. We are a true team working together to win our customers and drive our organization to greater success. It is our daily commitment to providing the best wireless experience to every customer every time that turns our mission into reality.

 Smoothie King at 317L Home M. Adams Parkway, Alton, is owned and operated by Nathan and Erica Davis. As part of its vision to be an integral part of every health and fitness journey, its menu features 70 smoothies tailored to guests needs.

Having a background in medical sales, Nathan Davis has a passion for healthy living and wanted to combine his love of health and wellness with his professional career. His wife, Erica, has a background as an elementary teacher and fell in love with Smoothie Kings nutritious and tasty product.

The RiverBend Growth Association is the Chamber of Commerce and economic development organization for the 12 communities known as the Riverbend. For more information, visit www.growthassociation.com or call 618-467-2280.
Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in 3 days time. This means that investors who purchase shares on or after the 14th of February will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 10th of March.

Chevron's next dividend payment will be US$1.29 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of US$5.16 per share. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Chevron has a trailing yield of 4.7% on the current share price of $108.94. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.

View our latest analysis for Chevron

Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned in profit, then the dividend could be unsustainable. An unusually high payout ratio of 306% of its profit suggests something is happening other than the usual distribution of profits to shareholders. That said, even highly profitable companies sometimes might not generate enough cash to pay the dividend, which is why we should always check if the dividend is covered by cash flow. Over the last year it paid out 68% of its free cash flow as dividends, within the usual range for most companies.

It's disappointing to see that the dividend was not covered by profits, but cash is more important from a dividend sustainability perspective, and Chevron fortunately did generate enough cash to fund its dividend. Still, if the company repeatedly paid a dividend greater than its profits, we'd be concerned. Very few companies are able to sustainably pay dividends larger than their reported earnings.

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

NYSE:CVX Historical Dividend Yield, February 10th 2020

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

When earnings decline, dividend companies become much harder to analyse and own safely. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. Chevron's earnings per share have plummeted approximately 31% a year over the previous five years.

Story continues

Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Chevron has delivered an average of 7.1% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past ten years of dividend payments. The only way to pay higher dividends when earnings are shrinking is either to pay out a larger percentage of profits, spend cash from the balance sheet, or borrow the money. Chevron is already paying out a high percentage of its income, so without earnings growth, we're doubtful of whether this dividend will grow much in the future.

The Bottom Line

From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Chevron? It's never fun to see a company's earnings per share in retreat. What's more, Chevron is paying out a majority of its earnings and over half its free cash flow. It's hard to say if the business has the financial resources and time to turn things around without cutting the dividend. With the way things are shaping up from a dividend perspective, we'd be inclined to steer clear of Chevron.

Ever wonder what the future holds for Chevron? See what the 13 analysts we track are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow

A common investment mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a list of promising dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.

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.
State Sen. Benjamin F. Kramer (D-Montgomery), who sponsored the original legislation, has introduced a bill this session to bar retail pet stores from online sales of puppies and kittens. That bill is scheduled for a hearing Feb. 27 in the Senate Finance Committee. No other state has such a ban in place.
A French-Iranian academic jailed in Iran in a case that has raised tensions between Paris and Tehran is reportedly very weakened by a hunger strike that she began in late December and refuses to halt.

Fariba Adelkhah, who was detained in June, has been on hunger strike since December 24 in Evin prison in Tehran as she awaits her trial.

"She is very weakened and is finding it hard to keep her balance," the Paris-based support group seeking her release said in a statement.

"Despite calls by us and pressure from the prison and judicial authorities, she has still not stopped her hunger strike."

According to the group, fellow researcher Roland Marchal, who was detained at the same time as Adelkhah, is also dealing with health problems that are being worsened by his incarceration.

Iran says Adelkhah and Marchal are a threat to national security

Both were summoned for separate hearings on February 5 at the Revolutionary Court that is handling the case without their lawyers present.

They are both charged with "colluding to commit acts against national security". Initial espionage charges against Adelkhah have been dropped.

"They consider they are now facing a long judicial procedure without end," the support group said, adding that it appeared a trial should begin before Iran's New Year holidays start on March 20.

Dual national Adelkhah, an expert on Shiite Islam, and East Africa expert Marchal, a French citizen, are both researchers with Sciences Po University in Paris.

Up to a dozen foreign nationals detained in Iran

Iran is holding numerous Western citizens in prison, adding to tensions between Tehran and the West following the unilateral rejection by the US of the 2015 deal on the Iranian nuclear programme.

Australian Kylie Moore-Gilbert of the University of Melbourne is serving a 10-year sentence on espionage charges and British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was jailed for five years.

According to rights groups at least 11 foreign or dual nationals are currently being held in Iranian prisons.
Even a star as big as Brad Pitt gets 'nervous' when it comes to acceptance speeches.

The 56-year-old has swept award's season with his critically acclaimed role in Once Upon a Time In Hollywood and his speeches have lauded nearly as much praise as his acting.

Brad revealed that he puts 'real work' into what he says on stage when he wins and even utilized his famous friends, including Fight Club director David Fincher for help.

The big winner: Even a star as big as Brad Pitt gets 'nervous' when it comes to acceptance speeches and he revealed that he got help from Fight Club director David Fincher for help

'Historically, I've always been really tentative about speeches. They make me nervous,' Brad said in the press room after his big win on Sunday night.

'I know that sounds antithetical, given the profession I've chosen, but that's not necessarily my thing,' he added.

'So this round, I figured if we were going to do this, I'd put some real work into it and try to get comfortable, and this is a result of that. I'm definitely writing.'

Pitt explained that the speeches needed to be written 'from the heart' and he used some of his 'very funny friends' to help.

'Historically, I've always been really tentative about speeches. They make me nervous,' Brad said in the press room after his big win on Sunday night. 'I know that sounds antithetical, given the profession I've chosen, but that's not necessarily my thing'

When he spoke with Variety on the red carpet, the star revealed that comedians Jim Jefferies and Bob Oschack helped him with some of the funnier bits but so did David Fincher.

'My man Fincher, we trade barbs every week,' Brad told Variety.

On Sunday, Pitt took home the Best Supporting Actor Oscar at the 92nd Academy Awards and came through with a sweet speech that he dedicated to his children - Maddox, 18, Pax, 16, Zahara, 15, Shiloh, 13, Vivienne and Knox, 11.

Brad got political at the beginning of his speech, joking that he was told he had 45 seconds to speak on speech, which was more than 'the Senate gave [former national security adviser] John Bolton this week.'

The joke drew cheers and laughter from the audience.

Getting support: When he spoke with Variety on the red carpet, the star revealed that comedians Jim Jefferies and Bob Oschack helped him with some of the funnier bits but so did David Fincher (Pictured with Fincher in 2009)

'My man Fincher, we trade barbs every week,' Brad told Variety; David Fincher directed Pitt in Fight Club

'I'm thinking maybe Quentin does a movie about it, and in the end, the adults do the right thing.' The camera cut to the director, who flashed a smile.

Pitt called the director an 'original' and 'one of a kind', as he thanked him for creating his character Cliff Booth the way he did.

'I'm not one to look back but this has made me do so and I think of my folks taking me to the drive-in to see Butch and Sundance, and loading up my car and moving out here...

'Geena and Ridley giving me my first shot, to all the wonderful people I've met along the way to stand here now. Once upon a time in Hollywood, ain't that the truth!'

Oscar win: Brad got political at the beginning of his speech, joking that he was told he had 45 seconds to speak on speech, which was more than 'the Senate gave [former national security adviser] John Bolton this week'

'This is for my kids, who color everything I do. I adore you!' the actor said, blowing a kiss and heading off stage.

Prior to the Oscars, the Hollywood heartthrob sparked speculation that he had hired help to craft his speeches after delivering a widely-lauded address at the Golden Globes on January 5.

Vulture reported that one speechwriting agency has confirmed that the actor's reps reached out about 'engaging their services' prior to the awards season.

The agency - who wished to remain anonymous - did not reveal whether they reached a deal with star.

At the Globes, his humorous speech made headlines after he specifically thanked his Once Upon A Time co-star Leonard DiCaprio, before making a witty reference to the end of DiCaprio's most famous film - Titanic.

High praise: he 56-year-old has swept award's season with his critically acclaimed role in Once Upon a Time In Hollywood and his speeches have lauded nearly as much praise as his acting

'I would have shared the raft with you,' Pitt quipped.

He also joked about his life in the tabloids, stating: 'I wanted to bring my mom, but any woman I stand next to they say I'm dating. It'd just be awkward!'

At the SAG Awards, Brad was once again in fine form as he collected an award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role.

Looking lovingly at the award, he wisecracked: 'I've got to add this to my Tinder profile'.

He then went on to poke fun at director Quentin Tarantino's penchant for filming the bare feet of famous actresses.

Jokes! At the Globes, he specifically thanked his Once Upon A Time co-star Leonard DiCaprio and joked he 'would have shared the raft' in a witty reference to the end of DiCaprio's most famous film - Titanic

'Quentin has separated more women from their shoes than the TSA,' Pitt joked.

Meanwhile, the actor managed to leave crowds laughing even when he wasn't available to accept one award in person.

The star was absent from the BAFTAs where he won a gong for his role in Once Upon A Time.

Co-star Margot Robbie accepted the statuette on his behalf, and read out a humorous speech purported to have been written by Pitt.

The timely address referenced both Brexit and Megxit and went down well with the British audience.

Too funny: Co-star Margot Robbie accepted the statuette on his behalf at the BAFTAs and read out a humorous speech purported to have been written by Pitt which joked about Brexit and Megxit

'Hey Britain  I heard you just became single, welcome to the club,' Robbie read from Pitt's note.

The actor also couldn't resist also getting in a quip about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, who had recently fled the United Kingdom for North America.

Robbie explained: 'Brad's going to name this award 'Harry' because he's really excited about bringing it back to the States with him.'

Prince William and wife Kate Middleton were seen cackling at the joke from their seats in the theater.
Politicians are human too. It's easy to forget that they are living, breathing beings with feelings, with aspirations and with loved ones. Yet caricatures abound especially when the country is in election mode.

It is all too easy to satirise and to target their worst attributes. The mud is slung even when they are known to us only from the occasional TV appearance. They are variously described as incompetent publicity seekers whose only goal is remaining in office long enough to qualify for a good pension. We see them as lacking 'the vision thing' if their policies differ from ours and we then categorise them into right or left, hard or soft. Nuance is not applied to our perception of politicians.

The low opinion in which politicians are held begs a question. Who would want to work in an environment where your service receivers have such a low opinion of you? Then there is the ever-present question of job insecurity, arising roughly every five years but sometimes arriving suddenly and without warning. This demands that you prove your worth to your constituents with weeks of campaigning during long, dark winter evenings and with no guarantee that you will be successful. The threat of rejection by the voters is real and substantial. Indeed with 159 seats to be filled from more than 500 candidates in this General Election, defeat for most is inevitable.

But loss for some is not unexpected, particularly when they are drawn to politics simply to prove a point, or as a single-issue candidate. They may not even be wannabe politicians. Others have political aspirations but not just yet and are testing the waters for a future run when they have achieved a realistic prospect of being elected.

I do not accept that people commonly enter politics with any egregious motivation. This is a gross oversimplification of their intent. Most who put themselves forward are spurred on by idealism and the interests of the country. To the voter on the street this may not seem obvious, especially when their political leanings differ from ours. Just like many others, I too am guilty of the same stereotyping of their motivations and I have to remind myself that not all will be on a power-grab mission. Being a career politician should not be frowned upon. Rather, it helps build experience and hopefully wisdom to appreciate what is achievable and what is impossible in the world of government.

Many are long-serving, diligent public representatives who serve their constituents by working hard and trying to help those whom they meet in their clinics, much as a doctor would.

It must be heartbreaking for those politicians who, year after year, were elected only to then be unceremoniously rejected. Even during a campaign that is faltering, some refuse to even discuss the possibility with close family members. They continue to use cognitive tricks to convince themselves that on the day the tide will turn and the electorate will be loyal.

For some, there is no hint of loss until the votes are actually coming in. This can lead to shock and dejection.

Jane Roberts, a visiting fellow with the Open University, carried out a qualitative analysis of the impact of this 'sudden death' by interviewing 30 politicians who had lost their seats in 2010 in the UK. Partners were also interviewed where possible. She confirmed the refusal to countenance loss because of the belief that such thoughts would lead to loss. This is not unreasonable because motivating the campaign team, including canvassers, would prove challenging if a candidate believed defeat was likely; so optimism must be the mien.

She also spoke to some who had to appear on television on election night to discuss the outcome. They described how they tried to be confident and carry the discussion through for the party while concealing a set of turbulent emotions ranging from hurt, betrayal, a sense of failure and devastation.

Roberts' work also described the conflict they felt between acknowledging the democratic deal that voters could and should vote out politicians on the one hand with their personal sense of being rejected by the electorate.

Some even left the constituency for a period rather than face the voters on the streets. Although not discussed by her, it is likely that those who are rejected will try to rationalise this as emanating from a rejection of the party's policies rather than a personal rejection, while for others they will feel their ideals and policies are no longer relevant.

Others in the study described sadness at the enforced closure of constituency offices, at the departure from the parliamentary office and at saying goodbye to their team. A few became clinically depressed and I can also attest to this.

There are likely to be poignant moments too, as the defeated candidate looks at the posters after rejection by the electorate. The images, created in optimism, are now in tatters. And there are the financial considerations too. Some, in small parties, or those standing as independents, stand to lose significant amounts of money. Some have to find work elsewhere or indeed create their own.

So as the last of the votes are counted, perhaps we should spare a thought for the losers and if we meet them on the street thank them for their service, even if we vehemently disagree with their politics. We shouldn't 'kick a man when he's down'.

Patricia Casey is consultant psychiatrist in the Mater Hospital, Dublin and professor emeritus at UCD
An MP has urged social media platforms to be "doing more", after suggestions that the Brexit day bomb plot first came to light online.

DUP MP Carla Lockhart made the comments after a Sunday Times article claimed that messages posted on social media had alerted police officers on both sides of the border to the possibility of an imminent dissident republican bomb attack.

A bomb attached to the underside of a lorry in the Silverwood Industrial Estate in Lurgan was found last Tuesday by the PSNI, after searches of more than 400 vehicles.

Dissident republicans from a faction of the Continuity IRA are suspected of planting the device.

It is thought that those behind the plot had attached the explosive device to a lorry which was bound for Scotland on a ferry on January 31.

A search by the PSNI at Belfast Docks that evening came up empty handed.

It was not until a further report on the evening of Monday, February 3 that PSNI officers uncovered the device.

The Sunday Times claimed that gardai in the border region were placed on a state of high alert for a possible attack on the night of Brexit, after an increase in "chatter" among dissident republicans on social media.

James Fitzgerald, an assistant professor in security studies at Dublin City University, told The Sunday Times that such sharing of information online in advance of a planned attack might suggest those behind the plot wanted "a lot of publicity".

"Violent extremist organisations always need to get their message out there," he said.

"If information was purposefully leaked in advance of the attack, it would suggest it was publicity-driven."

DUP MP Carla Lockhart was not aware of the specific role involving social media in this incident, but warned that if this was the case, social media companies needed to do more to tackle it.

"It is a very worrying report and I will certainly be investigating with the PSNI to see if this accurate," she said.

"If it is, we need to be doing more work with the social media companies to ensure this type of activity is not permitted and is controlled by the social media platforms.

"It just brings it back to the thought that it could have been such a serious incident.

"It is alarming to see how elaborate the plot was and any information that people have, they should bring it forward to the PSNI as soon as possible.

"These people deserve to be behind bars and we all need to work together to ensure they feel the full rigours of the law."

The Upper Bann MP also stressed that continued co-operation between the police forces on both sides of the border was necessary.

"It is more important than ever that the two forces on either side of the border work together to disrupt these dissident republican groups," she added.

"There is a very good working relationship between the forces and it is important they develop it and ensure these groupings are brought to task."

The PSNI and Garda were unable to provide a specific comment relating to The Sunday Times report.

A PSNI spokesperson appealed for anyone who was in the area of Silverwood Industrial Estate between 4pm and 10pm on Friday, January 31 and who may have noticed any unusual activity to contact police.
'There are many among us who will feel content and proud if occasion rises for us to hear his name on a flight announcement,' says Nikita Puri.

IMAGE: Standup comic Kunal Kamra, banned by four airlines for heckling television anchor Arnab Goswami. Photograph: Kind courtesy Kunal Kamra/Facebook

Who: It's hard to keep tabs on all the developments in India, but you have to have taken up residence in a cave in, say, Australia if you haven't followed this story.

And it's an unedifying one: Of the extraordinary pace at which four airlines -- Indigo, Air India, SpiceJet and GoAir -- banded to ban comedian Kunal Kamra after a video of him heckling infamous television anchor Arnab Goswami began trending on social media.

This unleashed a tidal wave of memes with parody accounts of auto and bus driver federations lining up to announce they were banning Kamra too, for six months, like the flock of four were doing.

More importantly, the incident also raised the question of whether due process of law was followed before announcing the ban on Kamra.

This development gave social media a new hero, Rohit Mateti, the man who captained the Goswami-Kamra flight and who has written to his airline Indigo's management expressing his discontent at how rules were circumvented to ban someone.

In the strange times that we live, the simple act of wanting to hold the rule book up is now an act of remarkable courage.

What: In a detailed (and politely worded) letter to his bosses, the captain's letter lays bare the fact that due process was effectively dropped out of the plane mid-air sans parachute in the case of Kamra versus Goswami, which morphed into Kamra versus the airline brigade.

Mateti says he was disheartened that his airline had acted solely on the basis of social media posts, with no consultation with the pilot, as the rule book outlines.

The captain may or may not have meant others to read between the lines, but it's impossible not to do so.

'Moving forward, am I to understand that the bar for interpretation of a disruptive passenger is lower/different when it comes to high profile cases?...

I would like a clarification from the airline as this leaves a lot of room for ambiguity,' reads the letter.

The video of Kamra heckling Goswami makes for unattractive viewing, even if one accepts that Kamra was giving Goswami a taste of his own bitter pill.

This is also a 'medicine' that Goswami's reporters use generously: see the face of someone opposing the channel's politics and fly in for a brutal tackle (politicians Shashi Tharoor and Tejashwi Yadav are some who've been caught unawares by Goswami's team).

In times as divisive as these, after nine years of service, Mateti's actions are bound to be read as an act of rebellion, even if they weren't meant to be.

How: The running joke on social media is that the now-famous Indigo's captain might be forced to jump ships, or airlines.

And blessed be the airline that takes on the weight of both Kamra and the captain.

But the fact remains that incidents such as these have now reignited a debate around how long one can work with a company to pay for roti, kapda and makaan if it goes against personal principles.

Good folks on social media are already sending out feelers to reporters in Goswami's Republic who cannot align themselves with their employers's politics anymore.

We agree with the poet Walt Whitman when he writes in O Captain! My Captain! that that particular fearful trip is done.

But that's where our stories diverge.

What our captain, blessed with a strong backbone, needs is solidarity from his crew and passengers as he holds up the rule book.

There are many among us who will feel content and proud if occasion rises for us to hear his name on a flight announcement.
Sinn Feins historic surge in this weekends election has in effect torched the entire Irish political establishment. Overnight, the politics of consensus, compromise, and accommodation with British rule in Northern Ireland that has dominated Irish politics for the last 90 years has, to all intent and purposes, been abandoned.

As a result, the very existence of the Northern Irish state is now more in peril since the aftermath of the 1916 Easter Rebellion.

And terrifyingly, the result has brought the IRAs secretive Army Council close to power in Dublin.

Make no mistake, Sinn Fein  the political party of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands, of Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams, of the bomb and the bullet  is still controlled by sinister shadowy figures from its recent terrorist past.

And it would be in power in Ireland today if only it had been more ambitious and fielded more election candidates.

Sinn Feins historic surge in this weekends election has in effect torched the entire Irish political establishment, writes KEVIN TOOLIS. Pictured: Sinn Fein leaders Mary Lou McDonald (left) and Michelle ONeill

The partys figurehead leader, Mary Lou McDonald, might already have made the call to Downing Street to demand Irish re-unification.

Sinn Fein are now the most popular political party in Ireland, and the only party that has electoral representatives north and south of the border.

The Left-wing republican party took 24.5 per cent of the vote, compared to 22 per cent and 21 per cent respectively for the established parties, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. No one party will have enough seats for a majority, and before the election both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael ruled out forging a coalition with Sinn Fein, citing its IRA past and high tax policies as deterrents.

That was then  yesterday morning brought a new reality. Discussions to form a coalition will be difficult and prolonged, but whatever the exact composition of the future Irish government, this is an election that will re-shape the destiny of these islands forever.

Of course, the result is a thumping personal humiliation for former Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, leader of Fine Gael who, in his efforts to be a power player in Europe over Brexit negotiations, perhaps took his eye off the ball back home for longer than he should.

So how was the old order has been cast aside and how did a reinvigorated Sinn Fein become the engine of change for it?

Of course, the result is a thumping personal humiliation for former Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (centre), leader of Fine Gael who, in his efforts to be a power player in Europe over Brexit negotiations, perhaps took his eye off the ball back home for longer than he should, writes KEVIN TOOLIS

Ireland has the youngest population in the EU and it was younger voters who put their faith in the newly-minted promises of Sinn Fein to solve the problems that beset this age group: a housing crisis, high rents, homelessness, a failing healthcare provision, creaking tax system widely seen to favour political cronies, and inequality in one of Europes best performing economies.

These voters did not grow up haunted by the Troubles; for them Sinn Feins links to the IRA and terrorism belonged to history. They saw, instead, two powerful women  both mothers  at the helm of Sinn Fein: its president Mary Lou McDonald, 50, and her 43-year-old vice-president, Michelle ONeill, who leads Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland.

But for two decades I reported on the bloody carnage of the Troubles, bombs, guns, and the terrible human cost. I wrote a book about the IRA and I spent thousands of hours in the company of IRA gunmen and their leaders.

Never once did I ever hear any regret or doubt about the cost in blood and pain in pursuing the IRAs goal. Irish Republicanism is a faith, not a political philosophy.

The partys figurehead leader, Mary Lou McDonald, might already have made the call to Downing Street to demand Irish re-unification, writes KEVIN TOOLIS

And behind the slick image of change, Sinn Fein today remains very much the party of the paramilitary past. The democratic party of Sinn Fein is still ruled by a reconstituted IRA Army Council based in Belfast known as the Ard Chomairle, and the shadowy IRA figures who control every aspect of policy and rigorously bully and expel anyone, even in their own ranks, who dissents from the leadership line.

This IRA politburo never meets in public, holds press conferences, or even admits to its true identity as the political executive of the IRA. Democratic debate or the usual personal rivalry of a real political party remain utterly foreign to Sinn Feins own internal politics. Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle ONeill might be poster girls for Sinn Fein, but they were appointed by edict to their position and then slavishly endorsed in North Korean-style votes by the party membership.

In a robotic fashion, they continue to parrot a line not that far from the IRA Army Councils view that the 3,700 murders of the Troubles, and innumerable IRA atrocities, are all the fault of the British Government and that the answer to all of Irelands problems is the immediate re-unification of the island.

This rigid Stalinist control from the top, and the demand for unquestioning obedience to the IRAs version of history, had  until this weekend  always hampered Sinn Fein from ever attracting a younger generation of politically able recruits south of the border.

Now, McDonald (and behind the scenes her IRA bosses) will have a key role as either a coalition partner with Fianna Fail, or as kingmaker  and I believe that real power and the prospect of a handful ministerial posts in the next Irish Government, means Sinn Fein is certain to attract more mainstream support that will pull the very centre of Irish politics towards the republican cause.

Even outside government, such a large bloc of Sinn Fein members in the Irish Parliament will effectively deliver a political veto.

On trade, on Brexit, on the border, on the European Union, every future Dublin government will dance to the Sinn Fein tune or risk being seen to betray the will of the Irish people. Or fall from power by a no confidence vote.

And every setback, every political skirmish with Downing Street on Brexit, will be recast into a hostile nationalist agenda towards British rule.

Make no mistake, Sinn Fein  the political party of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands, of Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams (bottom right), of the bomb and the bullet  is still controlled by sinister shadowy figures from its recent terrorist past, writes KEVIN TOOLIS

Nor is Dublin likely to spend so much energy placating the endless demands and insults of the DUP in the North just to keep the fragile political peace at Stormont. Why bother? Sinn Fein does not believe that Northern Ireland should exist as a state in the first place.

In reality as a political party, Sinn Fein only has one agenda  Irish re-unification. And they will now ruthlessly pursue this goal whatever the price.

The first thing on Sinn Feins political agenda is likely to be their demand for a border poll. As Northern Irelands Catholic population has grown, the gap with the Protestant majority has narrowed. There is a possibility that there is already a majority in Northern Ireland for a United Ireland.

But in Dublin government circles, until now, even the possibility of such a poll is viewed as no more than a political stunt designed to provoke violent opposition from loyalists in Northern Ireland and endanger the whole peace process.

All that has changed.

Bolstered what they see as the tide of history at their back, Sinn Fein, using their new found electoral numbers, are unlikely to be deterred whatever the cost in bringing their republican dream into being.

Irelands Troubles are far from over  and the shadow of a gunman is once again the most powerful force in Irish politics.
A 'definitive' list of Australia's worst lollies has divided sweet fans across the country after it resurfaced in a Facebook group.

The controversial list, which was first published by SBS in 2017, ranked 12 of the 'worst' lollies and placed Bananas, Spearmint Leaves, Black Cats, Chicos and Musk Sticks as the five 'worst'.

After it was shared on popular Facebook community 'Old Shops Australia' the list sparked debate, with more than 500 people sharing their own opinions on the controversial topic.

Bananas (pictured above) were titled the worst lolly of all followed by spearmint leaves and the licorice black cats

Poll Which lolly is the worst? Bananas Spearmint Leaves Black Cats Chico's Musk sticks Clinkers Aniseed Rings Wine Gums Candy Teeth Mint Pattie Turkish Delight Green Frogs Which lolly is the worst? Bananas 66 votes

Spearmint Leaves 70 votes

Black Cats 98 votes

Chico's 59 votes

Musk sticks 41 votes

Clinkers 33 votes

Aniseed Rings 151 votes

Wine Gums 40 votes

Candy Teeth 47 votes

Mint Pattie 10 votes

Turkish Delight 62 votes

Green Frogs 26 votes Now share your opinion





'They just listed almost all the best lollies,' one outraged group member wrote.

Some even went as far to describe the list as 'very un-Australian' by listing sweets that reminded people of their childhood.

'I like all the lollies on the list and believe milk bottles are the last to be eaten in a party bag,' another customer said, though milk bottles weren't included in the ranking.

Chico's' inclusion on the list seemed to cause the most outrage among people, with many claiming they were a favourite both during their childhood and now.

'Chico's made the list? But they're so good,' one Facebook user wrote.

'Chico's and black cats are the best.'

And it seems the public are right, with Allen's Lollies spokesperson, Margaret Stuart, previously saying the company could 'never' remove Chico's from stores.

'We could never take them off the market because they really are loved, even though there's a big part of the population that aren't really into them at all,' she said.

And while many disagreed with the Chico's being on the list, most did agree that Bananas are one of the worst sweet options out of the bunch - closely followed by musk sticks.

'Musk sticks are the absolute undisputed champion of the most trash lolly ever invented,' one man wrote.

THE 'WORST' LOLLIES OF ALL TIME 1. Bananas 2. Spearmint Leaves 3. Black Cats 4. Chico's 5. Musk sticks 6. Clinkers 7. Aniseed Rings 8. Wine Gums 9. Candy Teeth 10. Mint Pattie 11. Fry's Turkish Delight 12. Green Frogs Source: SBS Advertisement

The licorice black cats (above) were ranked as number three on the 'worst lollies ever' list

'She needs a musk stick because she is obviously angry for some reason, musk sticks calm you down, legit medical fact,' another hit back.

Another added: 'I'd happily chomp through any of those. Perhaps the writer is a Millennial who has never tasted the originals of these lollies... some of the modern versions of the classics aren't as good as the originals.'

'I had to find my little bucket of lollies to recover after that shocking revelation! (Jaffas, Kool Mints and Fantales).'
Lawmakers seeking to repeal Connecticuts religious exemption from vaccines delivered a strict opening salvo Friday  a proposal that children who are not vaccinated on religious grounds be barred from attending public and private schools beginning next fall.

In the first draft of the contentious bill, legislators call for unvaccinated children  except those who abstain for medical reasons  to be prohibited from attending school beginning in the 2020-21 year.

Public Health Commissioner Renee Coleman-Mitchell had previously suggested the exemption be erased starting Oct. 21, 2021  a full year later  to give parents time to adjust. But lawmakers are pressing for a tighter timetable.

The consensus that has been reached to date is this is a growing problem and the trends are very troublesome, House Majority Leader Matthew Ritter, D-Hartford, said Friday. There are Republicans and Democrats who are united in the notion that Connecticut has to do something or else were going to wake up in three years and have 3,000, 4,000 or 5,000 more kids without vaccinations enrolled in the schools.

In the bill, lawmakers also are directing the Department of Public Health to release school-by-school immunization data on an annual basis. Health Commissioner Renee Coleman-Mitchell published the school-level data for the first time last May. The initial round showed immunization rates for the 2017-18 year.

Coleman-Mitchell initially declined to release a subsequent round of data - for the 2018-19 school year - but was overruled by Gov. Ned Lamont. Data for 2018-19 was released in October, showing there were 134 schools at which fewer than 95 percent of kindergarteners received a measles vaccination. The 95 percent threshold is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to maintain herd immunity.

If passed by the General Assembly, the bill also would establish a board to examine Connecticuts vaccine program and advise the health commissioner. The group would have regular discussions with physicians who are in a position to grant medical exemptions.

Were giving them pretty wide responsibility to look at things like educating practitioners, so [physicians] are in a better position to have communication with families, and then looking at outliers or other issues that may occur as a result of legislation, Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, a co-chair of the Public Health Committee, said Friday.

Lawmakers who participated in a working group that offered input on the issue expressed frustration Friday at what they called a lack of transparency around the bill.

Rep. Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, said despite serving as a member of the group for months, he saw the bill for the first time on Friday.

We had drafts in the working group, but that language was thrown out and we were later told there was all new language, he said. I think it really points to a major problem. Its very disconcerting that these elected officials are turning our open government process into a secret one. Thats why the public doesnt trust us.

Brian Festa, a co-founder of CT Freedom Alliance, which opposes the plan, took issue with several of the bills mandates, including the annual release of school-level data. Festa had filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the disclosure of school-by-school immunization rates.

In one fell swoop, this legislation would obliterate the religious liberties of hundreds of thousands of Connecticut schoolchildren, while simultaneously mandating the Department of Public Health to release confidential immunization information for every public and private school student in the state, he said.

Lawmakers have scheduled a Feb. 19 public hearing on the bill at the states Legislative Office Building.
Egyptian police arrested an activist and researcher who was a vocal critic of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's government, the interior ministry and a human rights group has said.

Patrick George Zaki, 27, was detained at Cairo's international airport after returning from Italy on Friday, according to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a local NGO, where he works as a researcher. He was taken to the prosecutor's office in his home city of Mansoura in the Nile Delta.

Zaki's arrest was the latest in an unprecedented crackdown on dissent waged by El-Sissi in recent years. Thousands have been arrested both secular-leaning activists and Islamist opponents all while rolling back freedoms won after the so-called Arab Spring uprising in 2011.

Zaki had been on leave from the NGO since last August while pursuing a master's degree in gender studies at the University of Bologna, the group said.

The interior ministry, which oversees Egypt's police, said in a brief statement on Sunday that Zaki was being held on a warrant from the prosecution, who ordered him remain in detention pending an investigation.

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said Zaki was being investigated over allegations of spreading false and misuse of social media, as well as claims he called for unauthorized protests.

Egypt outlawed all unauthorised protests in 2013, months after el-Sissi, as defense minister, led the military's removal of the country's first democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi, after his one-year rule proved divisive and sparked massive nationwide protests.

The rights group said the investigation includes allegations of managing a social media account that aims to undermine the social order and public safety, as well as incitement to commit violence and terrorist crimes.

In a separate development, the Egyptian military said militants on Sunday attacked a checkpoint in the restive northern part of the Sinai Peninsula.

The military said at least 15 militants were killed following the attack.

Security officials said that the assault in the town of Sheikh Zuweid killed seven troops and wounded 10 more. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

No group immediately claimed the attack but it bears the hallmarks of an Islamic State affiliate centred in northern Sinai.

Egypt has for years been struggling to contain an Islamic insurgency in the Sinai spearheaded by a local affiliate of the Islamic State group. The militants have also carried out attacks on the mainland.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Taiwan confirms 1st asymptomatic coronavirus infection

ROC Central News Agency

02/09/2020 06:44 PM

Taipei, Feb. 9 (CNA) Taiwan has reported one more case of infection by the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), involving the country's first asymptomatic patient, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 18.

The latest case is that of a man in his 20s, another son of a couple who were diagnosed with 2019-nCoV Thursday after the family transited through Hong Kong Feb. 1 after visiting Italy, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Sunday.

The couple's older son, also in his 20s, tested positive Saturday for coronavirus after developing a cough Jan. 27 in Italy, while his parents started to show symptoms Jan. 26 and Jan. 28, respectively.

The latest confirmed patient is the country's first to be infected with the virus who has not shown any symptoms, although doctors said he has a high viral load.

It is believed the man was exposed to the same origin of the virus -- either the plane, the airport in Hong Kong, or somewhere in Italy -- as his other family members, the CECC noted, adding that it was still unclear whether he is infectious.

Chuang Jen-hsiang (), deputy director-general of Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control and a CECC official, said that 11 of the older son's colleagues who had come into contact with him after he returned to work in Taiwan have been placed in home-quarantine.

The CECC will find the identities of passengers who were seated in the rows behind and in front of the newly confirmed patient. If they are Taiwanese nationals, they will be monitored and if they are foreign, the CECC will inform their countries of the situation, according to Chuang.

Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (), who heads the CECC, said the CECC will discuss with experts on measures to step up screening on people who have had close contact with confirmed patients, including having their samples taken for tests even if they are asymptomatic.

As of Saturday, 71 new suspected cases had been reported in Taiwan, bringing the total number of people suspected of being infected to 1,470, 18 of whom were confirmed and 1,300 of whom have been ruled out, according to the CECC.

The unconfirmed cases are in quarantine, with 98 of them having tested negative but requiring further testing, while the others are still undergoing testing, according to the CECC.

The CECC has advised people to wash their hands frequently with soap and water and to avoid touching their eyes, nose and mouth to protect themselves against the novel coronavirus.

It said the use of face masks by healthy people is not necessary, but added that people with chronic diseases and respiratory symptoms should wear a mask.

(By Chang Ming-hsuan and Evelyn Kao)

Enditem/J



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The Electoral Commission has announced:

The Electoral Commission has made enquiries into issues raised regarding the NZ First Party and the NZ First Foundation and their compliance with the requirements for donations and loans.

Based on the information available, we have formed the view that the NZ First Foundation has received donations which should have been treated as party donations for the NZ First Party.

In the Commissions view, the donations were not properly transmitted to the Party and not disclosed as required by the Electoral Act 1993.

The Commission does not have the investigative powers to form a view about whether this failure to transmit and the non-disclosure means offences have been committed.

These matters have therefore been referred to the New Zealand Police, which have the necessary powers to investigate the knowledge and intent of those involved in fundraising, donating, and reporting donations.

As these matters are now with the Police, the Electoral Commission will not be commenting further.
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. All times below are in Eastern time. Total confirmed cases: More than 42,700

Total deaths: At least 1,013

7:03 pm: Royal Caribbean ends general restriction on China passport holders

The general ban on travelers with Chinese passports that Royal Caribbean put into effect last week was lifted Monday, the company said in a statement. The restriction was put into place, the company said, as multiple ports and governments clamped down on travel for Chinese passport holders. Royal Caribbean said a 15-day restriction remains in effect for any people who have traveled from, to or through China. A ban also remains in place on people who have been in close contact with travelers who journeyed from, through or to China in the past 15 days.  Eudaily

5:18 pm: Death toll in China exceeds 1,000

The death toll in mainland China topped 1,011, according to Chinese state media. One death each has been reported Hong Kong and the Philippines. The number of infections in mainland China reached almost 42,300, bringing the total number of cases across the world to more than 42,700 as of Monday night.  Kopecki

4:48 pm: Coronavirus is a 'black swan' for oil and energy markets

The coronavirus is a "true black swan" for the oil and energy market, and as crude prices continue to move lower the worst may not be over yet, Ned David Research said in a note to clients. Analyst Warren Pies noted that the outbreak has reduced Chinese demand for oil by 2 million to 3 million barrels per day, which means "the oil market is looking down the barrel at no demand growth for the calendar year, and outright demand contraction is now on the table."  Stevens

4:40 pm: XPO Logistics watches for virus impact

XPO Logistics operates 8 million square feet of warehouse space in Asia, including more than 1 million square feet in China alone. However, CEO Bradley Jacobs said the coronavirus outbreak and travel restrictions haven't damped demand for logistics yet. "We have not seen a noticeable impact as of now," Jacobs said, "We are watching it. Anything that slows down the global economy is not good for the transport and logistics industry."  Holland

4:12 pm: China launches coronavirus app to detect whether users have come in 'close contact' with the sick

China has released a mobile app that tracks people and alerts them if they have been in "close contact with someone infected" with the new coronavirus. The "close contact detector" was released Saturday night, according to China's state news agency Xinhua. Users scan a QR code on popular Chinese apps like WeChat and QQ, and submit their name, phone number and government-issued ID number to request information about whether they have been in close contact with anyone infected by the virus. China's National Health Commission defines close contact as someone who has been close to someone who is infected or is suspected of being infected, according to the report. It also includes potential cases, the report says, such as family members, caregivers as well as passengers and crew members who have been on the same train or plane as those suspected of being exposed to the virus.  Feuer

2:50 pm: iPhone manufacturing in China is in limbo

More than a week after shutting down all stores and offices in China, the status of Apple's manufacturing workforce in the country remains murky. Apple supplier Foxconn was approved to resume production in Zhengzhou, a key manufacturing plant in China, Reuters reported Sunday citing an unnamed source with direct knowledge, but so far only 10% of the workforce has returned, or about 16,000 people. Reuters later reported that a Foxconn plant in Shenzhen was approved to resume partial production Tuesday, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.  Feiner

People in face masks in an Apple store during an outbreak of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus, which started in Wuhan in December 2019. Artyom Ivanov | TASS | Getty Images

2:10 pm: First-quarter US GDP may be as low as 1.2% because of coronavirus, but stocks don't seem to care

Concern about the coronavirus is weighing heavily on the outlook for first-quarter growth and some forecasters suggest the equity market is not taking the threat as seriously as the bond market. A CNBC survey of 11 forecasters over the weekend finds first quarter GDP estimates averaging just 1.2%, down nearly a point from the fourth quarter. Economists see a bounce back to 2% growth in the second quarter, depending on the severity of the virus both in China and in other countries. First-quarter forecasts range from a low of 0.4% from UBS to a high of 2% for Action Economics. Deutsche Bank shaved 0.3% off its first quarter number due to the coronavirus effects and 0.4% because of Boeing. "Most of the lost output is expected to be recouped in the back half of the year," the bank wrote in its recent report.  Liesman

2 pm: Automakers resume or prepare to restart car production

Several automakers have reopened or are preparing to restart factories in China after an extended holiday shutdown due to the coronavirus, which is now responsible for more than 900 deaths in the country. Ford Motor resumed vehicle production at its plants in Chongqing and Hangzhou, according to Anderson Chan, a company spokesman. It's unclear when the facilities will resume their full capacity before the shutdown, which started late last month. Tesla, according to Reuters and local media reports, on Monday reopened its Shanghai Gigafactory. Tesla on Jan. 30 said it expected a one to one-and-a-half-week delay in the ramp of its Model 3 sedan as a result of the epidemic. Spokespeople for Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Other automakers such as General Motors and Japan's largest automakers are preparing to restart their China operations in the coming days and weeks, according to officials.  Wayland

An ambulance carrying passengers drives away 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 in Yokohama port on February 10, 2020. Charly Triballeau | AFP | Getty Images

1:35 pm: Gottlieb says screening and fist bumps over handshakes will help protect against coronavirus

Coronavirus is spreading in Hong Kong, Thailand, and Singapore. Community spread is suspected in other nations. Models suggest that for every person who traveled into the U.S. infected with coronavirus, and who was successfully diagnosed and quarantined, maybe three more arrived undetected. It was only toward the end of January that we started to even look for sick travelers. Singapore, where community spread seems to be taking route, has about as many travelers arriving from China as the U.S. does  around 3 million a year. It's understandable that small outbreaks might become evident in that small and dense island nation of 5.7 million before they can be spotted in the U.S. But if one assumes that the virus was also imported into U.S. communities in low numbers in early January, and is now replicating, more cases could emerge.  Gottlieb

1:12 pm: Burger King shutters half its locations in China

Restaurant Brands International, the parent company of Burger King, has temporarily closed about half of its roughly 1,000 locations in China, CEO Jose Cil told Yahoo Finance. "The biggest priority for us is making sure our team members are safe," Cil said. "Their health is of the utmost priority as well as the guests. We are working with local authorities and master franchisees in the markets to make sure we have everything in account." Representatives from RBI were not immediately available for comment.  Feuer

Customers walk into a Burger King restaurant in Shanghai. An American fast food restaurant chain. Alex Tsai | SOPA Images | Getty Images

12:10 pm: Hong Kong evacuates building

Health officials in Hong Kong evacuated a building in Tsing Yi where two residents, who live on different floors, have been confirmed to have coronavirus, director of the Center for Health Protection Dr. Wong Ka-hing said. The government is investigating the suspected environmental transmission, he added. Hong Kong has confirmed 42 cases.  Reuters

11:20 am: Sony pulls out of major trade event

Sony announced that it is the latest company pulling out of the Mobile World Congress, following other tech companies, including Amazon. The conference is scheduled for Feb. 24-27 in Barcelona, Spain. On Sunday, French health authorities confirmed Spain's second case of the new coronavirus. Instead of appearing at the event, Sony said it will hold a video call to announce product news on Feb. 24.  Feuer CORRECTION: This entry has been updated to correct the name of the Mobile World Congress.

10:42 am: Goldman says buy value stocks if coronavirus fears prove to be overblown

For investors who believe the impact of the coronavirus outbreak will be contained, Goldman Sachs said buy the dip in value stocks. Stocks rebounded last week despite lingering fears about the deadly virus, with the S&P 500 pulling off its biggest weekly gain since June. If the concerns about the epidemic turn out to be overblown, stocks with solid dividend growth should outperform, according to David Kostin, Goldman's head of U.S. equity strategy. "Investors who believe the economic consequences of the coronavirus will be limited should increase exposure to cyclicals and value stocks," Kostin said in a research note.  Li

10:34 am: WHO officials say 15% of all patients get pneumonia

The World Health Organization's Dr. Sylvia Briand told reporters the disease produces mild cold symptoms in about 80% of the cases they've seen so far. About 15% of the people who have contracted the virus have ended up with pneumonia, with 3% to 5% of all patients needing intensive care.  Kopecki

Officers in protective gear enter the cruise ship Diamond Princess, where 10 more people were tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday, to transfer a patient to the hospital after the ship arrived at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan February 7, 2020. Kim Kyung-Hoon | Reuters

10:20 am: WHO officials concerned about human transmission in new cases

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said health officials were concerned about new cases confirmed in France on Sunday and in the U.K. on Monday that were transmitted without any travel history to China. "The detection of this small number of cases could be the spark that becomes a bigger fire, but for now it's only a spark," he said during a press conference at the organization's headquarters in Geneva. "Our objective remains containment. We call on all countries to use the window of opportunity we have to prevent a bigger fire."  Lovelace

10:05 am: 'Imagine being trapped in your bathroom'  cruise passenger details quarantine

A California passenger aboard Carnival's Diamond Princess told CNBC it "can be a little bit depressing" when thinking about how much longer he and his wife must remain on the quarantined cruise ship: likely nine more days. Matthew Smith said he is "maintaining his confidence" that he and his wife, Katherine, will not test positive for the new coronavirus and be able to go home after the two-week mandatory quarantine on the cruise ship ends.  Lovelace

Matthew Smith, a passenger on the Diamond Princess cruise ship Source: CNBC

10 am: WHO officials hold press conference

World Health Organization officials are holding a press conference Monday to update the public on the outbreak, which has killed more people than SARS as of this weekend. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, warned Sunday that while the virus has yet to spread widely outside of China, that could accelerate. "The detection of a small number of cases may indicate more widespread transmission in other countries," he said in a tweet, "in short, we may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg." Watch the press conference here.  Kopecki Tweet.

9:42 am: Hundreds of Chinese firms seek billions in loans

More than 300 Chinese companies, including smartphone maker Xiaomi and ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing, are seeking bank loans totaling at least $8.2 billion to soften the impact of the coronavirus, two banking sources told Reuters. The firms were either involved in the control of the epidemic or had been hardest hit, the sources said. Xiaomi, the world's fourth-biggest smartphone maker, is seeking $716.24 million in loans to produce and sell medical equipment including masks and thermometers, according to documents sent to banks in Beijing by the city government's finance bureau that the sources have reviewed.  Feuer

Hospital staff in protective garments walk at a checkpoint to the Hubei province exclusion zone at the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus, February 1, 2020. The banner reads: 'Committed to the fight to prevent and control the epidemic'. Thomas Peter | Reuters

9 am: Inflation in China runs rampant because of the outbreak

Inflation in China hit its highest level in more than eight years last month as the outbreak drove up demand for some consumer goods and shuttered business activity in parts of the country. China's consumer price index rose 5.4% in January, after rising 4.5% in December, according to CEIC. The rise in consumer prices continues a recent acceleration for inflation in China, according to the country's National Bureau of Statistics. Inflation hit 3% in September and then broke above 4% in November. The bureau said in a statement that the increased inflation in January was due to the Lunar New Year holiday, the coronavirus outbreak and a lower price base from last year, according to Reuters.  Pound

8:15 am: WeWork temporarily closes 100 buildings in China

A guest attends the opening ceremony of WeWork Hong Kong flagship location in Hong Kong, China February 23, 2017. Bobby Yip | Reuters

Office-sharing start-up WeWork has temporarily closed 100 buildings in China due to the outbreak, WeWork Executive Chairman Marcelo Claure told CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin on "Squawk Box" on Monday. Claure said no members or employees are infected. "That's a great win," he said. "We're monitoring and working with the Chinese government to make sure we're following the proper guidelines." He also said that "it's an issue" having 100 buildings close with members not having access to them and "just working with emergency personnel."  Feuer, Bursztynsky

6:15 am: China's Xi says the country will definitely win fight against coronavirus

Chinese President Xi Jinping insisted the country will win the fight against the coronavirus outbreak, saying he will adopt more decisive measures to contain the spread. Speaking on state television Monday, Xi said the country would speed up the development of drugs that have relatively good clinical effects against the deadly pneumonia-like virus. Xi's comments come shortly after China's National Health Commission said it had confirmed more than 3,000 new cases and almost 100 deaths as of Sunday night. The world's second-largest economy now has a total of 40,141 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the country, with 908 deaths.

5:45 am: Mongolia suspends coal exports to China until March 2 amid coronavirus outbreak

Mongolia has suspended deliveries of coal across its southern border into China until March 2, Reuters reported Monday, citing the country's National Emergency Commission. The move is designed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, with the commission also recommending the country suspend its Tsagaan Sar Lunar New Year celebrations later this month. Mongolia has not yet reported any cases of the coronavirus.

5 am: UK confirms four new coronavirus cases, bringing the country's total to eight
The launch season is upon us and after Samsung gets done with launching the S20 series, Xiaomi is going to launch its flagship offering for 2020 after a short while. Xiaomi already confirmed the Mi 10 moniker at the Qualcomm Snapdragon Summit last year and now, it is getting ready to launch the phone. Unlike the pompous launch events of yesteryears, Xiaomi will host a simple launch event that will live-streamed, possibly due to the Coronavirus outbreak in China.

There have been a couple of leaks out on the web, with poorly shot photos of the phone in bad lighting and leaked screenshots of the specifications page. However, the current set of leaks gives us a view of stunning design and colour variants in high quality. More specifications are now revealed by Xiaomi itself on Weibo. Hence, if you cannot wait for the Mi 10, the leaks have given out almost everything about these phones.

How does the Mi 10 look?

Based on the leaked posters, Xiaomi is going to take massive inspiration from the Mi CC9 Pro. The front of the phone has bezel-less display design with curved edges on either side. Instead of a notch or a pop-up camera, Xiaomi will stick to a punch-hole cutout for the selfie camera on top of the display. The edges host the regular buttons where they usually are. In fact, the Mi 10 looks very similar to the OnePlus 7 Pro from the front. Similar to that phone, the Mi 10 will also get 90Hz refresh rate as standard.

At the back, the phone has a design similar to the Mi Note 10. There's a quad-camera system at the back, with the main camera being a 108-megapixel camera. The rest of the rear panel is devoid of anything, with no ugly camera bump - thanks Xiaomi for avoiding that trend. The Mi 10 will come in two colours at launch - a teal gradient as well as a new orange gradient.

Another leaked poster suggests that the Mi 10 Pro won't look drastically different from the Mi 10 but its quad-camera system will have two additional sensors sitting in-between the camera lenses.

On the whole, based on the leaks alone, the Mi 10 is a handsome looking phone and will surely stand out from the sea of flagships we are about to see this year. No wonder Xiaomi managed to get 1.5 million registrations for the Mi 10 before its launch.

How powerful will the Mi 10 be?

Turns out quite a lot - the Xiaomi Mi 10 series will be powered by the same Snapdragon 865 chipset that all other high-end Android phones will be using this year. That also means the phone will come with support for 5G as standard, given that the Snapdragon 865 will have the X55 5G modem accompanying it.

Mi 10 poster

Apart from the Snapdragon 865, the Mi 10 will also sport a headlining 108-megapixel main camera. Leaks suggest Xiaomi is using the Samsung ISOCELL Bright HMX sensor for the main camera. Hence, you can expect some great results out of the camera. The phone is also supposed to come with 8K video recording as well as 50X zooming capability. Xiaomi says that the Mi 10 series is going to surprise everyone with its DxOMark score. Tall claims?

Other leaked information includes faster UFS 3.0 storage, LPDDR5 RAM and support for Wi-Fi 6. The Pro version of the phone is also going to come with a 66W fast wired charging system whereas the regular version is getting the 48W fast charging system. The base variant is going to get at least 8GB RAM as well as 128GB storage.

Even the prices for the Mi 10 have also been revealed. The base variant with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage will start at 4200 yuan (approximately Rs 43,000) whereas the other variant with 256GB storage will cost 4500 yuan (approximately Rs 46,000). The top-end variant with 12GB RAM will cost 4900 yuan (almost Rs 50,000).
Lawrence Jackson grew up in eastern Bexar County near China Grove around Joe Louis Drive, when it was farmland owned by African-American men and women.

His uncles would host roping competitions called the Sunday special, where the cowboy with the fastest time won the jackpot rodeo. Jackson recalled sitting with his cousins and watching the roundup that was one of many Old West practices passed down from his ancestors who settled the hardscrabble land.

ENTER TO WIN: Four tickets to Morgan Wallen at the San Antonio Stock & Rodeo Show

They sharpened their roping skills driving herds of cattle. They carved out old homesteads whittled away by time and a wave of new housing. They wore cowboy hats, leather pants, boots and kerchiefs  accessories necessary for the rough terrain and unpredictable weather.

This is where you would see black cowboys, said Jackson, 57. All back there was a country area and woods where we were always riding.

Jackson will share those life lessons and safety practices as one of the participants in an upcoming black Western exhibit sponsored by the San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum.

The free exhibition will explore themes of rodeos, black cowboys and rancher culture Feb. 22 at 430 N. Cherry St. from 10 a.m. to 2 p. m. in honor of Black History Month. Children will be able to sit on Jacksons horse, Cadillac, for photos. Exhibits including saddles, cattle branding irons and cattle brands will be on display at the museum.

Daniel Carde / Contributor

On ExpressNews.com: The Old West comes alive on downtown streets at San Antonios Western Heritage Parade and Cattle Drive

2 1 of 2 Daniel Carde, San Antonio Express-News / Contributor Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Daniel Carde, San Antonio Express-News / Contributor Show More Show Less



Education committee chairwoman Sallie Frederick and her team proposed the rodeo-themed program that is part of SAAACAMs free open house series that takes place at the museum every fourth Saturday of the month.

The nonprofit is seeking volunteers next Saturday at 8 a.m. to help clear an adjacent lot where the cowboys will hold demonstrations. Help is needed to remove dry brush, a trash pile and trim brush from the back fence. Volunteers are asked to wear protective clothing, gloves and eye goggles. Organizers said they also need anyone with additional lawn mowers and string trimmers.

For more information about the cleanup project call 210-724-3350, extension 6 or go to admin@saaacam.org.

African-Americans contributions to western expansion cannot be overlooked or overstated, said La Juana Chambers Lawson, president and chairwoman of the board of directors for SAAACAM.

Now were at a place where we can have a conversation about recognizing the contributions of people that we cant call slaves anymore, she said. You have to call them founding mothers and founding fathers. They were the ones who established the settlements, their labor is how we got here. These people are still here, their descendants are still carving out their place.

According to Smithsonian magazine, historians estimate a quarter of all cowboys were African-American. The Texas State Historical Association said black cowboys, including several prominent figures, have contributed to Texas history since the early 19th century.

Bose Ikard, a respected trail hand, worked for rancher Charles Goodnight whose outfit blazed the Goodnight-Loving trail that ran from Texas to Wyoming. Daniel 80 John Wallace purchased more than 500 cattle and 1,200 acres with savings from riding on cattle drives. William Bill Pickett is renowned for creating bulldogging, a rodeo sport where a cowboy jumps from a horse, grabs a steers horns and twists the animal to the ground.

Recently, Lawson reviewed plans for the exhibit with SAAACAM supporters Maria Williams, Debra Sue Brandon, Charla Hutchens and Big Nate Batson, CEO of the Turning Point Trailriders of San Antonio. Part of the Trailriders charter is educating children about sportsmanship.

Batson grew up in Yazoo City, Miss., where his ancestors passed on lessons that became tradition. He said he grew up in country just like the East Side community.

Daniel Carde, San Antonio Express-News / Contributor

On ExpressNews.com: Conservationists and descendants explore forgotten San Antonio African American cemetery

It was a place where the family members raised their own hogs and crops and nothing was bought. His uncles broke horses just like African-American ranchers who lived on Joe Louis Drive. Batson said many black cowboys involved in the Martin Luther King March often have a rodeo after the event.

Its a tradition from way back, he said. On cattle drives, the black cowboys had to go and catch the cows.

Lawson said her group is honored to share the story of men and women who often are left out of schoolbooks and Hollywood movies.

We think of this history as being dead, she said, but its still very much alive. The conversation only begins after acknowledging that these people existed, and their roots to this land cannot be shaken. We need to celebrate their contributions

Vincent T. Davis is a reporter in the Greater San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | vtdavis@express-news.net | Twitter: @vincentdavis
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  In the end, he only delayed the inevitable.

A repeat felon from Stapleton who sought to get his plea back for criminal firearm possession was denied and sentenced Friday to up to four years in prison.

Nicky Ricks, 47, pleaded guilty last October in state Supreme Court, St. George, to the firearm charge to resolve his case.

In exchange, he had agreed to be sentenced to two to four years behind bars.

Ricks was among 14 suspects arrested in 2018 in a major drug-and-gun takedown.

Ricks and others worked as runners and dealers for drug kingpin Damien Rice, authorities said.

District Attorney Michael E. McMahon said Rice acted as both a wholesaler and retailer of the illicit drugs distributed by his own crew and three other drug rings, which he supplied.

The narcotics consisted of large amounts of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and oxycodone and were sold across Staten Island, authorities said.

Police said the drugs were funneled to Staten Island from Brooklyn, New Jersey and Arizona.

Besides drugs, authorities said they recovered several guns in November 2018 during raids in at least two locations.

Attorney Biju Koshy, who represented Ricks at the plea hearing, said Ricks played a minor role in the drug operation and was never listed as a target in the wiretaps.

Rice was sentenced on Dec. 17 to 16 years in prison after previously pleading guilty to operating as a major narcotics trafficker and to second-degree criminal weapon possession.

Ricks was initially scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 2.

However, Koshy told the court Ricks didnt want to be sentenced under the firearm charge.

Koshy said Ricks was uncertain of his culpability since Rice, in his weapon plea, had taken responsibility for the recovered gun for which both men were charged.

Justice Mario F. Mattei told Ricks under New York state law more than one person can possess an item such as a gun.

Two or more persons are considered to have a gun in their joint constructive possession when they each exercise a level of control over the area where the gun was found, and the control was sufficient to give each of them the ability to use or dispose of the gun.

Mattei told Ricks he had pleaded guilty to the lowest felony charge against him.

The judge said hed review the minutes of the plea hearing and considered giving the defendant back his plea.

At the hearing, Ricks had affirmed that he understood the terms of the plea and was admitting guilt knowingly and voluntarily.

Mattei told Ricks he would go to trial if his plea was vacated and could face significantly more prison time if convicted.

As it turned out, Mattei didnt give back Ricks plea.

The judge sentenced the defendant on Friday to the originally agreed-upon two to four years upstate.

Attorney Michael Cirigliano, who represented Ricks at the sentencing, declined comment on the case.

Ricks has served two prior prison stints, according to online records of the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

In 1995, he was sentenced to 18 months to three years for attempted criminal weapon possession, records said.

Later, in 2003, he was sentenced in an unrelated case to three to six years for attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance.
Delhi Chief Minister on Monday said misbehaviour with women students at Gargi College was "extremely unfortunate" and the accused must be given stringent punishment.

The students of the all-women Gargi College were allegedly molested by a group of men who had gatecrashed a cultural festival on February 6. The incident came to light after some students took to Instagram to narrate their unpleasant experiences during the college fest.

The students, who held a protest on Monday, alleged that the intruders groped and dragged girls and performed obscene acts, while security and police personnel stood there like mute spectators.

"The misbehaviour with our daughters at Gargi College is extremely unfortunate. This cannot be tolerated at all. The culprits should be given stringent punishment. It should be ensured that the children studying in our colleges are safe," Kejriwal said in a tweet.

Delhi Commission For Women chief Swati Maliwal (in green sweater) addresses students during a protest, against the alleged molestation of students by a group of men who had gatecrashed a cultural festival, at Gargi College

His deputy Manish Sisodia also took to Twitter to condemn the incident.

"What happened in Gargi festival is disgusting! Such festivals are opportunities to celebrate the cultural diversity & talent in Delhi. But the obvious anti-social elements saw this festival as another chance to inflict harassment & violence on students!" he said.

Talking to reporters, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said it is shameful that such an incident took place in the capital.

"BJP has 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao', is this the way they (Centre) will save girls. Professors, students are writing on social media. What is the police doing," he asked.

According to the students, the college management did not take any action even after the matter was reported to it on February 7, prompting them to take to social media to narrate their ordeal.

The students alleged that Rapid Action Force and Delhi Police personnel were deployed close to the college gate from where some of the men entered the college, but they did nothing to control the unruly crowd.
According to a search warrant application filed in D.C. Superior Court, a person walking by the residence in August spotted the four kittens and the cat on the lawn. D.C. Animal Care and Control reported that the eyes of the kittens and cat were crusted shut and that two were weak and lethargic.
A young man from Florange rented a Maserati for his wedding day but the joy of riding the expensive car was short-lived. The groom crashed the rental car near the Geric roundabout.

The 25-year-old hoped to make one of the most memorable days of his life even more special by renting a Maserati. He will not, however, drive the car of his dreams on his wedding day after crashing into a dividing wall on rue de Longwy in Thionville.

His blood alcohol levels also exceeded the legal maximum. Police fined the driver, who will also not get back the hefty deposit he had to shell out for the rental car.
The First Avenue music venue in Minneapolis became famous for the 531 stars along its exterior commemorating past performers, including local son Prince who used the location for many scenes in his movie Purple Rain. J. Simonson (2009)

News Release Date: February 7, 2020



Contact: NewsMedia@nps.gov

WASHINGTON  The National Park Service (NPS) today announced the distribution of $52.7 million in historic preservation grants for states, territories, and partnering nations, and $13.7 million in historic preservation grants to 194 tribal historic preservation offices.

Due to funding generated from Outer Continental Shelf oil and lease revenues, we are able to better assist communities and partners throughout America in protecting unique and irreplaceable historic places for future generations, said Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt.

The National Park Service is committed to telling a more complete and diverse story of Americas history. Historic preservation grants like these, with the support of our state, tribal, and local partners, help us reach that goal by preserving our nations significant historic and cultural places, said NPS Deputy Director David Vela.

Administered by the NPS, these funds are appropriated annually by Congress from the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF). Since its inception in 1977, the HPF has provided more than $2 billion in historic preservation grants to states, tribes, local governments, and non-profit organizations. Authorized at $150 million per year, the HPF is supported by Outer Continental Shelf oil lease revenues, not tax dollars, with the intent to mitigate the loss of a non-renewable resource to benefit the preservation of other irreplaceable resources.

Preservation in Action

State and Local Preservation Grants

The HPF grants fund preservation programs at state offices and ensure support of local preservation with a required 10 percent pass through to Certified Local Governments via competitive subgrants. Examples of the diversity of work accomplished with this annual funding include:

In Alaska, the Cape Decision Lighthouse Society used a small grant ($3,497) to create a condition assessment of the Lantern Room at Cape Decision Lighthouse. The final report documented current conditions, as well as preservation recommendations for future work to assist in the preservation of this nautical landmark.

In Minnesota, the City of Minneapolis received a Certified Local Government grant to create an impressive context statement and reconnaissance-level survey of the genres, people, and places in Minneapolis music history from a local and national perspective, including Minneapolis native son Prince. The project helps set the stage for analyzing what properties are the most historically significant and worthy of landmark designation.

Tribal Preservation Grants

The HPF grants fund tribal preservation programs, assists tribes in the preservation of their cultural heritage, and promotes the protection of historically significant sites. Examples of the diversity of work accomplished with this annual funding include:

The Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians in California, and the NPS worked together to identify portions of an archeological site exposed during the "Inn Fire" that burned several acres of land between the Joshua Tree National Park visitor center and the 29 Palms Inn.

The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, in Michigan, worked with Consumers Energy, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, and the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians to address an inadvertent discovery of ancestral remains during construction work in Manistee, MI. The ancestor was repatriated to the Little River Band and a Memorandum of Agreement was developed.

For more information about NPS historic preservation programs and grants, please visit nps.gov/stlpg/.
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On February 5, 2020, immigration authorities at Hong Kong International Airport barred journalist Michael Yon from entering the city, according to news reports and Yon, who spoke to CPJ by telephone from Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Yon, a U.S. citizen, maintains his own online magazine, where he has posted frequent reports on human rights issues and has covered the demonstrations that began in Hong Kong in summer 2019 against a proposed bill that would have allowed for extradition to China. He was in Thailand when he decided to travel to Hong Kong to continue reporting there, he said.

Yon told CPJ that immigration officials said he could take a return flight to Thailand or he could fly to the United States, but would not tell him why he was not allowed to enter Hong Kong. He told CPJ he chose to return to Thailand, afraid that he might be quarantined in the U.S. for having attempted to go to Hong Kong amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Yon said authorities did not search his belongings or question him about his work.

In an email to CPJ, the Hong Kong Immigration Department said it did not comment on individual cases, but handles each case in accordance with the laws and immigration policies.

Yon said that his writing openly favors the Hong Kong demonstrators and criticizes Chinas Communist Party.
We were co workers that didn't get along," Eimear Varian Barry reflects. She's talking about the temporary separation she and her long-term partner Daniel, father of her two daughters and one son, underwent late last year.

When we speak, the couple has just reconciled; Daniel has moved back in, new Ikea wardrobes have been added to the bedroom Varian Barry has recently so lovingly and beautifully refurbished, documented on her Instagram for her thousands of followers.

Varian Barry is one of Ireland's most successful Instagram stars. Ask the 34-year-old Cork woman, who now lives in Surrey, what she does and she will laugh at the notion of whittling it down to one title, and baulk slightly at the term 'influencer', before settling on saying "I document what I love about life."

Varian Barry has been documenting much of her life on Instagram since she became a mother; her eldest daughter is now six. She's a natural communicator. Creating content is easy for her, she says. "This is my purpose." On paper they're not obviously similar, but she reminds me of Marian Keyes. Pure charm, the same effervescent personality. Before all of Instagram jumped on the bandwagon of being authentic, Varian Barry has always been honest and open on social media. It's what makes her stand out so much among all the online blandness.

But it's not easy, putting so much of yourself into your work. She describes the pressure cooker of her and Daniel's life before their temporary split - he is also self-employed, a builder - and the strain that having young children puts on a relationship, something most people who have been in that situation will recognise.

"We love having children," she smiles. "We both get really broody. He's amazing with the kids, he's such a hands-on dad. But it was really hard to have children and for Daniel to be doing his work, self-employed, and for me to be building this."

Varian Barry grew up in Cork city, her father an artist who taught at her secondary school, her mother a writer. There are three daughters; Eimear is the middle child, obviously she says, roaring with laughter. "I want all the attention." As a child she was "the exact same. Very creative, always had a camera in my hand, wouldn't shut up."

Holidays were spent in Kerry. Money was tight. Varian Barry studied photography and film in college in Cork, but always had an eye on getting into radio. Now, she points out the class bias in creative work, and the difference social media makes for those without financial backing or family contacts. "It's really, really hard when you don't have contacts in certain industries. My parents just didn't have any money at the time. When my dad came out of NCAD in the 1970s, there was no path for someone to make a living out of art. These days, I know it gets a lot of flak, but creative people can make a living through social media."

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Ever the self-starter, Eimear eventually took matters into her own hands. On the way home from college one evening, she bought credit for her phone, rang the Yellow Pages and asked to be put through to Cork's Red FM. She was given an internship; producing and presenting work followed, and she left college.

Aged 21 she moved to New York, where she worked in a restaurant and in film production.

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"I was just so lost," she says now of her twenties. She was living in the West Village; it would be easy, she says, to dress those years up in retrospect as glamorous. "No! I was on my friend's couch for two years, there was nothing fabulous about it. I dealt with a lot of shit in New York. I feel like I didn't have spine. Now I definitely have spine, but I don't think anyone feels like that in their twenties. I'm always talking about this on Instagram; I feel like it's okay to be lost. I had nobody at that time in my life who was telling me that it's okay."

After a number of years she left New York for Australia. "I had to get out," she explains with a shudder, recalling how disordered eating was beginning to take over. "I was starving myself. When you're in New York, you see all these skinny, beautiful girls. I probably spent the last six to eight months there starving myself. I would spend a whole evening in a supermarket checking labels. Cancel plans with people because I'd have to eat that night if I went out with them. Really, really bad. I realised I was extremely unhappy. I was like 'I just need nature'. It was such a dark time."

Varian Barry and her sister Doireann moved to Melbourne. "It was supposed to calm me down, but Australia literally made me wilder," she recalls with her infectious laugh. She loved the people, the beaches. Food began to become less problematic. "I was definitely eating more normally. I wasn't starving myself when I was in Australia. I love food, I'm never going to go back to that."

It was in Australia that she first met Daniel. "I was in a hostel, doing this 'eat pray love' thing; 'I'm not drinking, I'm just going to sit here and have my chai tea and read my book, but those hot builders look like they're having so much fun in the corner there'," she smiles. Within half an hour they were sharing a jug of beer; they spent the night together. "Had to, obviously," she deadpans. He didn't leave the next morning, they went for breakfast "and we're stuck to each other ever since".

After moving to England, the couple eventually settled in Surrey, where Daniel's family lives. By then, Varian Barry was pregnant with Saoirse, their first child. Her last job before the baby was born, selling e-cigarettes to retail stores for a fiver an hour, involved her getting up at six to take two trains. Daniel was working as a builder by day, and at night he was in London putting up traffic lights.

"We were surviving," she says grimly. After Saoirse was born, Varian Barry started buying clothes from a local charity shop and selling them online, going up every Friday with a black plastic bag which she would fill and put in the pram before returning home. "That literally paid for the weekly shop." She began posting about her Depop online selling account on Instagram.

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"I don't know what I was doing, photos and talking shit. Talking to everybody, but nobody, if you know what I mean," she says. "I was very reflex, I was used to moving countries and finding my feet. But obviously I must have been finding comfort. Because with social media you have validation, you have attention, you have comfort and you have adoration from your peers. And these are all the most basic things that humans need. So I'm not oblivious to what was happening, looking back at it now. But I don't remember ever being lonely. And I wasn't addicted to my phone."

Eventually, with almost ten thousand followers (she now has almost 95,000) she was invited to a bloggers' meal. A PR who is now a good friend told her she thought she had the potential to do what the other women at the event were doing: earn a living through social media.

Last year, Varian Barry earned 100,000 in profit. She posted about it on Instagram in the context of a caption about Brexit, and how supported she had been by England, a reference to her and Daniel receiving housing benefit. "The minute there was enough money to survive we came off it. The shame of it. I was literally trembling going in asking for the form. I'd be under my breath 'can I just have the housing benefits form'. I had failed in life. I was on benefit. Absolutely failed in life."

Recently, she came across some money-related comments about her on a forum; it's clear they still rankle. "She seems to be spending all his money without even consulting him," the post read.

"I earn more than Daniel," Varian Barry says now. "When I literally couldn't be more honest and clear about what's going on in my life and then to see that about yourself? 'What gave you that impression? That's so funny that you naturally thought it was his money.'"

In a sign of how far she has come, just this week, Varian Barry has signed with Premier Model Management, one of the most prestigious agencies in London. It's exciting, but not without its challenges. Her brand is entirely self-created, work that could not be more personal. Handing over control, at least some of it, is scary. "This is my baby, and this is me, and I've built it very organically, and I'm very protective about it."

These days, she is more protective of herself as well. "I'm very emotional - I wouldn't be able to do what I do for a living if I didn't feel as much as I do. It's a huge blessing and it's a curse, and it's just to be able to manage that." She describes the behaviour of women who are being real on Instagram as "courageous participation".

In the past, there were certain things she might not have talked about. "I'm actually comfortable enough now to take that on, because I know myself now. I'm not scared anymore of what people will think. This is me. I know I'm a good person, I'm sorry if you don't agree with me, that's just life. People are different."

When your work is about putting your life out there, establishing boundaries is both essential and extremely tricky. "It's the most important thing, when your brand is connecting with people. I don't owe anybody who follows me anything."

Varian Barry is confident now in being herself. "I spent my whole life worrying and crippling myself by caring about what people think of me. You have to talk to yourself sometimes as if you were caring for your child: stop being so hard to yourself."

Just over a year ago, after experiencing intense anxiety and paranoia, she began taking an antidepressant. "I was really against putting anything into my body. I was constantly saying 'no I'll do yoga, I'll read a book about how to de-stress'. I was like a train; I wasn't going anywhere but it was this really fast train. I became extremely paranoid for the first time. I couldn't go to Tesco without thinking that something was going to happen to me. The minute I went on the Citalopram, that went from me."

Around this time, she took a step back from social media, she explains. "Like, the brand is me. It's me, and I'm human, and humans are complex, and I had to draw back a lot. I wasn't talking on camera a load, because I was like 'why am I doing this? Why do I feel like I have to share this?' These days, I'll maybe do stuff on camera every few days, but honestly I'll just go by what I'm feeling in that moment. I never feel like I have to get up in the morning and share my every movement. No one actually cares. When I feel something that I really want to document, I do."

Of late, she has been discussing her fears around alcohol online. "I've had personal experience with the dark side of alcohol, and I just had a huge fear of it. I'm not the kind of person who can just go out and have a few drinks. I would literally put myself into a panic attack even at the thought of it. I finally have come to a balance now and a stage where I am like 'you're not going to become an alcoholic, Eimear, if you have a couple of drinks'."

In person, Varian Barry is a bit like Drew Barrymore, that same cherubic beauty. She's honest about the fact that she gets Botox and filler in her lips; she feels it's important to be open if you're creating an aesthetic online, so as not to make others feel bad about these things. But she is quick to make clear that no one has to justify themselves.

"I think it comes naturally in us as women to have to justify ourselves all the time. Do you think if a man got Botox he'd have to explain why he got it?"

She is the kind of person you come away from feeling full of energy, fired by her easy intimacy and enthusiasm. But it must be exhausting too, being Eimear Varian Barry. Everything has to come from her. Over Christmas, she contacted 80 brands about potential collaborations.

She laughingly describes all the hats she wears; until her new signing, she has been her accounts department, her sales department - you name it, she is it. "I'm not like this all the time. You should see me when I wake up. I go as high as I go low. I'm grumpy and I'm a misery to live with sometimes.

"Some mornings, I find motherhood so hard. I'm literally like 'I can't get out of bed. I can't do it today.' And then some mornings I jump out of bed and I'm like 'hi pet, good morning my little darlings'. It's like fairyland here a lot of the time. But then it's like the horror house, where everyone is screaming at each other, people won't go to bed, and I'm just like 'I can't handle the screaming anymore'. It's traumatising," she smiles.

Throughout the temporary separation, when Daniel moved out, her home was a refuge. A cave, she says. He's back now, and they are looking after each other. He drew her a bath when she returned from a trip. There was a date night. But it's more than just the ostentatious stuff. They're being kind to each other, she says, something that can easily get lost in the maelstrom of the early years with children.

"I feel like our relationship had a nervous breakdown. We've gone back to that most basic thing of helping each other. We're still killing each other, it's not fairyland. But it's kindness, it's helping each other. Just being more considerate of each other."

Sometimes, she muses, things need to get very bad before you realise that actually, there is too much of a connection to walk away. "I think we just needed a break from each other. We needed to get away from each other."

It seems that now, they have found their way back.

Influencing Ireland: Our leading Instagrammers

Pippa O'Connor Ormond

@pipsy_pie

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The indisputable queen of Irish Instagram, the former model is now a hugely successful businesswoman, author and designer.

Ingrid Hoey

@ingridhoey

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The stylist counts Laura Whitmore and Amy Huberman among her clients, and is herself one of Ireland's best-dressed women.

Louise Cooney

@louisecooney_

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The fashion, travel and lifestyle blogger now lives in New York, lending her OOTD (outfit of the day) posts the perfect backdrop.

Denise Kenny Byrne

@denisekennypr

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When her husband Ciaran was diagnosed with cancer last year, Kenny Byrne began using her Instagram account to cope with the loneliness and stress. She recently launched her business @theheadplan. Her Zara finds are compulsive viewing.

Rosie Connolly-Quinn

@rosieconxxx

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With one of Ireland's most popular accounts, Connolly-Quinn is an old-school, classic influencer.
A pair of Russian satellites are tailing a multibillion-dollar U.S. spy satellite hundreds of miles above the Earths surface, a top U.S. military commander tells TIME, underscoring a growing threat to Americas dominance in space-based espionage and a potentially costly new chapter in Washingtons decades-long competition with Moscow.

Gen. John Jay Raymond, commander of the newly minted U.S. Space Force, says the Russian spacecraft began maneuvering toward the American satellite shortly after being launched into orbit in November, at times creeping within 100 miles of it. We view this behavior as unusual and disturbing, Raymond says. It has the potential to create a dangerous situation in space. Raymond says the U.S. government has expressed concern to Moscow through diplomatic channels.

The confrontation marks the first time the U.S. military has publicly identified a direct threat to a specific American satellite by an adversary. The incident parallels Russias terrestrial encounters with the U.S. and its allies, including close calls between soldiers, fighter jets and warships around the world. Observers worry that space is now offering a new theater for unintentional escalation of hostilities between the long-time adversaries.

Pentagon, White House and Congressional backers, say the incident demonstrates the need for the Space Force, which President Donald Trump established in December when he signed the National Defense Authorization Act into law. It became the first new military service since the Air Force was created in 1947.

The Space Force, for which the White House is requesting $15 billion in this weeks budget proposal, represents a strategic shift from passively operating and observing satellites to actively defending them. Space warfare doctrine remains a work in progress, but Raymond has spoken about the need to mobilize Space Command against perceived threats because other nations, especially Russia and China, have become increasingly sophisticated at building arsenals of lasers, anti-satellite weapons and state-of-the-art spacecraft designed to render the U.S. deaf, mute and blind in space.

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At the same time, the expansion of military operations in space harks back to another hallmark of the Cold War competition between Washington and Moscow: massive spending on perceived threats, regardless of the cost.

For those monitoring waste, fraud and abuse in the military industrial complex, the Russian maneuver and the Pentagons response also portends a new front in the effort to keep real and potential threats from becoming a budgetary sinkhole. The history of U.S.-Russia military competition is full of examples of perceived threats that require costly responses.

The initial costs of setting up the Space Force are likely a small down payment on an undertaking that could cost tens of billions of dollars in the years to come, says William D. Hartung, director of the arms and security project at the Center for International Policy. The last thing we need is more bureaucracy at the Pentagon, but thats exactly what the Space Force is likely to give us. Creating a separate branch of the armed forces for space also risks militarizing U.S. space policy and promoting ill-advised and dangerous projects that could involve deploying weapons in space.

The Russian embassy did not respond to requests for comment about the allegedly threatening maneuvers by its satellites. The Kremlin has previously stated they are not weapons, but rather inspector spacecraft engaged in an experiment.

U.S. military analysts first noticed something peculiar after Russia launched its spacecraft into orbit November 26 from Plesetsk Cosmodrome aboard a Soyuz rocket. The Russian satellite had been in orbit less than two weeks when, bafflingly, it split in two. As the analysts looked closer, they suspected that a second smaller satellite was somehow birthed from the first one. The way I picture it, in my mind, is like Russian nesting dolls, Raymond says. The second satellite came out of the first satellite.

The maneuver was later confirmed on Dec. 6 when the TASS news agency cited Russias Defense Ministry saying the two had separated. The purpose of the experiment is to continue work on assessing the technical condition of domestic satellites, the statement said.

However, the satellites, identified as Cosmos 2542 and Cosmos 2543, appeared to be carrying out another mission. By mid-January, they were sidling near the American satellite, identified as USA 245, known to space experts as a KH-11.

The U.S. satellite, part of a reconnaissance constellation codenamed Keyhole/CRYSTAL, is operated by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the secretive intelligence agency headquartered in Chantilly Va. Although the NRO refuses to comment on the large school bus-sized satellites, the KH-11s capabilities are often compared by experts in the field to the Hubble Space Telescope. Instead of staring into the vast expanse of space, however, the satellites sensors and cameras are focused into the heart of foreign adversaries top-secret military installations

A KH-11 satellite, known as USA 224, is widely believed by analysts to have taken the image of Irans Imam Khomeini Space Center that President Donald Trump posted to Twitter in August. The photo was so detailed, you could make out the Farsi characters written along the edge of the launchpad. The KH-11 constellation, which consists of four satellites that maintain constant Earth observation, operate in a polar orbit above the rotating Earth, enabling them to cover its entire surface.

Russias curious space activities were first noted on Twitter last week by Michael Thompson, an amateur satellite tracker, who used publicly available data to speculate on what it was up to. The relative orbit is actually pretty cleverly designed, where Cosmos 2542 can observe one side of the KH11 when both satellites first come into sunlight, and by the time they enter eclipse, it has migrated to the other side, Thompson wrote in a series of tweets. This is all circumstantial evidence, but there are a hell of a lot of circumstances that make it look like a known Russian inspection satellite is currently inspecting a known US spy satellite.

President Donald Trump and General John

Raymond says hes concerned because Russia is demonstrating capabilities the U.S. first saw three years ago, when Moscow tested the Russian nesting doll technology. In 2017, they launched a satellite, it launched another satellite, he says. The satellites exhibited characteristics of a weapon system when one of those satellites launched a high-speed projectile into space.

While Raymonds allegation couldnt be verified, the U.S. did raise the issue in 2018, warning about Russias very troubling behavior at the U.N.s Conference on Disarmament that year without providing specifics.

Moscows intent with the current mission remains unknown, but the Russian spacecraft should be capable of capturing high-resolution imagery of the American satellite as it conducts its mission, spying deep into adversaries territory. Its akin to handing over a state-of-the art spy satellite to Russian scientists for forensic analysis.

Brian Weeden, a former Air Force officer and expert in space security at the Secure World Foundation, says the Russian satellites positioning could allow it to determine things like where the KH-11 is pointingand thus what ground targets its taking picture ofas well as the general operating schedule and usage.

Further, if the Russian satellites are outfitted with electronic emissions probes, they could listen for radio frequency signals to try figure out how the KH-11 communicates and even attempt to intercept those communications, which are likely encrypted, says Todd Harrison, director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. There are a lot of things it could be doing, Harrison says. They could simply be practicing on-orbit maneuvers or signaling to the United States that they have this capability.

The Keyhole program is 44 years old and the satellites are widely known to have similar capabilities as the Hubble Telescope. The U.S., China and other nations have already shown the ability to launch spacecraft into close orbit with their own satellites. The Kremlin could be showing the U.S.in a very obvious waythat it has joined the club.

From Raymonds standpoint, however, maneuvering close to a foreign satellite for an inspection is virtually indistinguishable from staging an attack to damage, disrupt or destroy it. Its clear that Russia is developing on-orbit capabilities that seek to exploit our reliance on space-based systems that fuel our American way of life, he says. Raymond wouldnt comment specifically on Russias intentions with the shadowing satellites.

Over the past decade, space weaponry has gone from the stuff of science fiction to reality. A flurry of advancements from the U.S., Russia and China has altered the image of outer space as a peaceful sanctuary and instead stoked fears that an arms race has extended into the heavens.

But even if the Russian satellites are doing the most intrusive things the Pentagon and outside observers imagine, none of them would violate treaties or international law. Absent binding agreements, the incident portends a growing a cat-and-mouse game in space. We prefer space to remain free of conflict, Raymond says. We think that responsible space-faring nations need to have conversations about developing these norms going forward.

It is a historical truth that where humans have ventured, violence has followed. But conflict in space isnt in any nations interest. There are more than 1,000 American satellites circling the planet, enabling everything from commerce, banking, transportation and communications. Russia, China and other developed nations have also grown increasingly dependent on satellites for commercial as well as military purposes, which raise the risks for miscalculation.

The U.S. governments space-based operations are among the most highly technical and classified secrets in its possession. Raymonds willingness to go on the record about the ongoing event provides a glimpse into what military officials see as an increasingly congested and contested environment.

Robert Cardillo, the former director of the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, says space is a messy environment, which without established rules, could turn into the Wild West. An attack on a satellite constellation, such as GPS, which is owned and operated by the U.S. Air Force, could have far-reaching consequences like halting ATM banking transactions or causing a blackout in navigation applications on users smartphones, which occurs billions of times a day around the globe.

The developments hark back to military concept that helped keep the world safe from nuclear apocalypse during the Cold War. Mutual assured destruction (MAD)the military doctrine that posited a nuclear strike from one nation would result in a full-scale counterattack from the otherhelped prevent the U.S. and the Soviet Union from using the massive arsenals they each amassed during decades of armed standoff.

But MAD eventually became backstopped by a series of treaties and open lines of communication designed to avoid accidental escalation of conflict. The U.S., Russia and other nations have yet to establish a similar diplomatic structure for space, and experts warn of the dangers of weaponizing the cosmos without them. Deterrence is something we just havent dealt with, in space Cardillo says. If you make it, you can break it.

With reporting by John Walcott/Washington
A PROPOSAL to install graffiti walls in Henley to deter antisocial behaviour has been branded ghastly.

Deputy Mayor David Eggleton came up with the idea of having a special board at all the towns parks as a means of providing youngsters with a legal space to vent their frustrations.

It comes after a number of incidents at Makins recreation ground and at Freemans Meadow where new equipment was spray painted by vandals.

The town council estimates that its staff spend up to two hours a month in winter and up to eight hours in summer removing graffiti from its property.

Councillor Eggleton told a meeting of the town councils open and green spaces sub-committee on Friday that graffiti boards had been installed elsewhere successfully. He said: I would sooner not go down this route but sometimes you need something to stop this sort of thing.

I have spoken to a couple of people from Woodley, where they used to have lots of graffiti, and they put boards in and around different places. They dont look out of place.

I think by putting these things in you are giving them a place to do it rather than now where they have done bins and all sorts of stuff over the town.

If we can concentrate on one area, it is easier to paint over a board but when you have it on a bin it costs more and theres the time to clean it off. It is about dealing with the problem in an amicable way. Cllr Eggleton, who is chairman of Henley in Bloom, suggested having a board for a trial period and speaking to professional taggers or artists who could give a workshop to children.

But Councillor Will Hamilton said: This will be ghastly. Wherever you put it, it will just cause problems with all kinds of different messages.

A report by Karl Bishop, the councils parks manager, and Becky Walker, the estates manager, said while the idea had some merit, they could not support it.

They said that having the boards could send the wrong signal that graffiti was allowed and provide a legitimate reason for people to carry spray paint.

The report also said the boards could also upset residents and visitors to the parks and there would always be people who thought graffiti was ugly and an unwelcome eyesore, even if it was permitted.

The idea was also opposed by the Thames Valley Police neighbourhood team and the Friends of Freemans Meadow, a residents group.

Mr Bishop told the sub-committee that Cllr Eggleton had his heart in the right place but added: We dont feel this is the way to go.

Councillor Kellie Hinton, who chairs the sub-committee, said that recent incidents of graffiti were partly down to careless workmen leaving spray cans around so they were easily accessible to children.

She said: We certainly have had a problem with graffiti and kids getting hold of spray cans.

They didnt buy spray cans with the intention of doing graffiti. Workmen left their tools around and kids will be kids.

The sub-committee voted against the proposal.
Ukraine has imposed temporary restrictions on and special conditions for the entry of people who stayed in China's Hubei province, where the outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) was first recorded.

This is stated in Cabinet of Ministers ordinance No. 93-r "On measures to prevent the introduction and spread in Ukraine of an acute respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus 2019-nCoV" of February 3, 2020.

The document, in particular, provides for the establishment of a state of increased readiness of a unified state civil defense system to prevent the occurrence of a state-level emergency due to the possible spread of an acute respiratory illness caused by the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

It also imposes "temporary restrictions on and special conditions for the entry of persons who stayed in the Hubei province of the People's Republic of China by isolating them within 14 days at health establishments designated by the Ministry of Health."

In addition, according to the document, an operational headquarters should be set up to prevent the introduction and spread in Ukraine of an acute respiratory illness caused by the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

The ordinance also provides for the approval of the 2020 national plan of anti-epidemic measures for the prevention and spread in Ukraine of an acute respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus 2019-nCoV.

At the same time, according to the national plan, the ministries of foreign affairs, education and science, health and defense were instructed to take measures to postpone the return to Ukraine for education of persons from the People's Republic of China until a separate decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is made.

In addition, the heads of agencies and organizations that organize and make business and tourism trips, cultural exchanges, should inform by February 14 those planning to travel to China about the current epidemic situation and the risks of being infected with the 2019-nCoV coronavirus, as well as about the means of individual protection and prevention and provide guidance on restrictions against travel to China until the situation gets stabilized.

Cases of pneumonia caused by the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) have been reported in China since December 2019.

As of February 10, the death toll from the coronavirus infection worldwide has risen to 910.

The total number of confirmed cases in the world reached 40,536, most of them recorded in China.

At the same time, according to the latest data, 3,281 persons were discharged from hospital after recovery.

China allocated 71.85 billion yuan ($10.26 billion) to fight the coronavirus infection.

op
Guthrie along the Gila River served as a transfer station for freight and ore shipments comprising copper carbonates (azurite and malachite). Established by the Arizona Copper Co., the town was christened after John Guthrie Smith, a Scottish stockholder.

With leaner ores prevalent during the 1890s, treatment necessitated the need to erect more on-site concentrators.

The Detroit Copper Co. successfully operated Arizonas first copper concentrating plant beginning in 1886, processing oxide ore containing 6.5% copper, concentrating it up to 23.8% copper and leaving 3.9% copper in the tailings. It produced up to 5 million pounds of copper a year until 1892, when it was forced to close due to declining copper prices of 10 cents per pound.

Lack of capital necessitated it be sold to Phelps Dodge and Co. by 1897, including the Arizona Central, Copper Mountain, Manganese Blue, Montezuma and Ryerson mines. The added capital from Phelps Dodge heightened production from these mining properties from 7 million pounds of copper upon acquisition to 29 million pounds in 1908.

By the turn of the century, diminishing carbonate-oxide ores necessitated the need for heightened exploration and production of low-grade sulfides in porphyry.

The Arizona Copper Co. rose to this challenge, erecting the 5,000-ton No. 6 concentrator in 1906 to treat the 3% ore (mainly chalcocite) from its primary producing property, the Humboldt Mine. It produced up to 4,500 tons of ore per day.

William Ascarza is an archivist, historian and author of seven books available for purchase online and at select bookstores. These include his latest, In Search of Fortunes: A Look at the History of Arizona Mining, available through M.T. Publishing Co. His other books are Chiricahua Mountains: History and Nature, Southeastern Arizona Mining Towns, Zenith on the Horizon: An Encyclopedic Look at the Tucson Mountains from A to Z, Tucson Mountains, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum with Peggy Larson and Sentinel to the North: Exploring the Tortolita Mountains. Email William Ascarza for a signed copy of his publications at AZMiningHistory@gmail.com
Korea now has its first confirmed coronavirus infections by people who had traveled to a part of China other than Hubei Province, the epicenter of the outbreak. The patients are a husband and wife who returned from a trip to the southern Chinese province of Guangdong from November 2019 to late January this year. All 11 patients here who were infected in China had been living in or visiting Wuhan.

But it was just a matter of time for infections to be reported from other parts of China. As of last week, 26 percent of all confirmed infections in China were reported outside Hubei, with 1,131 in Guangdong, 1,075 in Zhejiang and 1,033 in Hainan. The number of confirmed cases in Guangdong alone is 40 times higher than in Korea, which means the new coronavirus has spread to every corner of the province.

But the government here only bans visitors from Hubei, and even that only since Feb. 4, 15 days after the first infection was reported here and the Chinese government put the whole province into lockdown. The entry ban was both belated and timid for fear of upsetting the Chinese government. Yet the Chinese government itself essentially put 420 million people under house arrest, in some cases using chains to seal their doors. All the Korean government is doing is checking the temperatures of incoming visitors at airports. There are still more than 5,000 arrivals from China every day.

A new confirmed case, a visitor from Wuhan, last week forced the closure of a major department store in downtown Seoul frequented by 100,000 customers a day. President Moon Jae-in claimed that Korea "can overcome this disease." But in order to do that the government needs to be more nimble and decisive.


Australia is set to extend its coronavirus travel ban in a move expected to hammer the education sector and block 100,000 international students from entering the country in time for the start of semester.

The flu-like disease claimed its highest number of fatalities in China so far on Monday, up by 90 to more than 900, with 40,235 infections recorded since the epidemic began. The head of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said as the virus spreads to other countries the figure could be "just the tip of the iceberg".

Government sources confirmed preparations were under way for an extension of the travel ban for all non-Australian residents travelling from China once the current temporary 14-day restriction expires on Saturday.

But there are no plans for a third Qantas flight to evacuate Australians stranded in the centre of the outbreak in China's Hubei province, leaving some feeling abandoned.
Organised by the International Hospitality Council (IHC), London in association with the International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM), YCO 2020 was yet another grand successful edition of the world's biggest culinary competition with participants from 50 countries fighting tooth and nail to win the coveted title. This united platform of young chefs was the perfect example of bonding, friendship and learning together. "More than a competition, YCO is now a global youth platform and launchpad for the culinary superstars of tomorrow," said Dr. Suborno Bose. In times when the world is fraught by political and social issues, the International Young Chef Olympiad is seen as a unified platform of young chefs from around the world, bringing friendship and camaraderie to this competition.

The Glimpses of the grand finals and closing ceremony can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQd_A2XV1P0

Apart from the three winners, YCO 2020 had a long list of special category winners. The Plate Trophy round held between the participants ranked 11 to 20 in the competition, went to Dominic Muollo of New Zealand this year. The Best Dessert Dish in Round 1 went to Ieuan Jones from Wales while the Late Shakuntala Devi Gupta Award for Best Vegetarian Dish Creation in Round 2 went to Eunjeong Jeong of South Korea.

Four Mentor Nominee Awards were given away at the YCO 2020. The winners were judged based on each of the mentor's recommendations written about their respective participants. The awardees were Erik Shahbazyan of Armenia, Kethusegile of Botswana, Egon Euan Le Roux of South Africa and Obidiegwu Anuli of Nigeria. The IHC Best Young Chef Ambassador Awards was another category where participants had to write about themselves, their ambitions about becoming a chef and how they wish to further develop themselves. The four awards in this section went to Giorgia Ceccato of Italy, Samuel Farley of USA, Md Miraj Mia of Bangladesh and Fatima Gomez of Mexico. Based on the hygiene and cleanliness maintained during competition, the participants were marked in the first two rounds. A winner was selected from each city round. Eunjeoung Jeoung from South Korea won the Best Hygienic Practice for the Delhi round, Micaela Da Costa from Portugal won for the Pune round, Savi Rajbahak from Nepal won the Goa round and Mihail Velkov from Switzerland won in the Bangalore round. The Rising Star awards for each city were Claudia Cebria Ros from Spain for Delhi round, Jonathan Larmie from Ghana for the Pune round, Savi Rajbahak from Nepal for the Goa round and Tarran O-Reilly from Ireland for the Bangalore round. The Kitchen Cut Award for best recipe nutritional analysis and costing presentation went to New Zealand, and the entries are judged by Chef John Wood, the founder of Kitchen Cut.

YCO 2020 had the theme of Sustainability, embracing the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals. In keeping with this theme, a special presentation had to be given by the participating countries about Sustainability measures in their own country. Out of the 10 countries who made presentations at the David Foskett auditorium on IIHM Global Campus, Bhutan's Sonam Subba was winner. He was awarded the Green Toque of Sustainability.

YCO 2020 had a brilliant panel of esteemed judges from around the world. Led by Prof David Foskett (MBE), Chairman of the Jury, renowned chefs like Chef Brian Turner (CBE), celebrity TV chef and President of the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts, was chief judge of the competition. Chef Andreas Muller, Programme Director (International Cuisine) at VTC, Hong Kong, was Deputy Chief Judge, Michelin-starred chefs Chris Galvin and John Wood, the Founder and Director of Kitchen Cut were senior judges of the competition among several other iconic culinary professionals from around the world. YCO 2020 felicitated some of these special judges for their outstanding work in the field of culinary arts. The Outstanding Contribution to International Culinary Arts Award went to Chef Brian Turner. Outstanding Contribution to Industry went to Chef Andrew Bennett, Chef Apprenticeship Award went to Chef Stuart Littlejohn, Outstanding Contribution to Culinary Arts was for Chef Henri Brosi, the Award for Dedication to Training and Competition Work went to Chef Stefan Hogan while Outstanding Contribution to Culinary Education went to Chef Andreas Muller.

Besides the competition, the participants from 50 countries along with their mentors and the judges took part in various Food Aid activities, supporting IIHM's initiative to support the UN's Sustainable Goal Number 2 of Zero Hunger. They visited shelters and homes in the Indian cities where they met the boarders and distributed food among them. In Delhi, they visited SPYM Juvenile De-addiction Centre; in Bangalore, the mentors and participants visited Shumangali Seva Ashram while the judges went to Cheshire Homes. In Kolkata, the judges visited the renowned and respected Missionaries of Charity to pay homage to Mother Teresa and see the huge social work that happens through this organisation.

About IIHM



IIHM (International Institute of Hotel Management) is the largest chain of premier hospitality and hotel management schools across India that started its journey in 1994 at Kolkata. IIHM is a part of Indismart Group, the conglomerate that operates the Indismart Hotels. IIHM campuses are located across ten national and international cities with the associate institute IAM-IHM located in Kolkata, Goa and Guwahati. Students passing out of IIHM are armed with an international degree from the University of West London and equipped with global hospitality skills that enable easy placements in any hospitality brand across the world. IIHM is dedicated to its pursuit of excellence in teaching and placements. Real time experience is the key to success in hospitality and that makes the institute popular. In recent years, IIHM has been instrumental in organizing the Young Chef Olympiad, a unique idea and initiative inviting young culinary talents across the world to participate in the biggest cookery reality shows of all times.



The institute has bagged several prestigious awards in the past 24 years. The list includes the Best Education Brand Award from Economic Times consecutively in 2017, 2018 and 2019. It was also featured in Forbes Magazine as Great Indian Institute and Great Place to Study consecutively in the year 2018 and 2019. IIHM was also awarded as one among the World's Greatest Brands & Leaders 2015-16 by URS International (IMEA - Process Reviewer PriceWaterhouseCoopers PL) and also received the Best Institute in Hospitality Education 2017 Award by Assocham from Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Hon'ble Minister of State for HRD (Higher Education), Govt. of India.



For more information, please visit: http://www.iihm.ac.in

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1084107/IIHM_Logo.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1087124/IIHM_YCO_2020.jpg

SOURCE International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM)
A second emergency action plan meeting took place at 4am to take stock of the storm situation. The weather alert has been downgraded to an orange alert this morning at 9 am.

Storm Sabine/Ciara continues to batter Luxembourg and though there are no serious injuries reported, damage continues to be done and the public is encouraged to remain vigilant.

There have been reports of a number of fallen tree on Sunday night, the authorities reported around 180 interventions over the course of Sunday night and Monday morning as well as the closure of 13 sections of road across the country (see list below). Following the Minister of the Interior's emergency meetings, new figures on emergency call-outs have been provided. The Grand Ducal Fire and Rescue Corps was called out around 180 times so far during the storm, with teams from 52 different fire brigades attending to incidents.

All in all, the fallout has been limited to material damage. Broadly, emergency services responded to situations of trees falling over, with three incidents concerning trees falling on cars. The authorities also report that a tree fell on the tram near the University and Coque sports centre at 5 am. The incident caused minor material damage, and the tram has begun operating as normal again.

Red Alert  Domingos Oliveira  Domingos Oliveira  Domingos Oliveira  Domingos Oliveira  Domingos Oliveira The photos published on this site are subject to copyright and may not be copied, modified, or sold without the prior permission of the owner of the site in question.

As of Sunday afternoon, CGDIS has dealt with 1,461 calls to the emergency line. Residents have also been warned that wind gusts will increase over the course of Monday morning and that they should be cautious. Come 9 am, the alert will be downgraded to an orange alert, which will still involve heavy winds.

Shortly before 6am, RTL has learned that Luxair was cancelling all of its flights until 10am due to unprecedented and unsafe winds at Findel.

Classes are also cancelled in a large majority of schools across the country.

Full info: Closures, cancellations, adaptations, and emergency updates here

A byproduct of the storm and the heavy rainfall, which has gone up to 20 to 30 litres per square metre, is that there could be a risk of aquaplaning on streets. The water levels in Luxembourg's streams and rivers are also increasing.

Residents are advised to stay home or only leave their homes if necessary. For all emergencies, contact 112. However, only contact the emergency services in the event of true emergencies.

Until 9 pm on Sunday, there were 215 responses to emergencies, mainly due to fallen trees. CGDIS colonel and operations management centre coordinator Tom Barnig told RTL that no specific region was especially affected.

Aire de Berchem exit open again

At 8.30am, ACL informed us that the Aire de Berchem exit towards Croix de Gasperich had been closed. Debris from a roof was reportedly disrupting traffic in the area. The petrol station was reopened around 10.20 am.

Accidents and road closures

According to the latest police bulletin, just the one road accident was recorded during the night.

The incident took place on the RN08 between Saeul and Hobscheid and caused a minor injury. Hobscheid and Saeul firefighters responded to the scene.

Here is the list of roads closed Monday as of 6am:

CR154 Alzingen  Syren

CR189 Goeblange  Simmerschmelz

CR101 Kopstal  Schoenfels

N8 Saeul  Kraizerbruch

CR176/177 Lausauvage  Hussigny

CR176 Differdange  Roudenhaff

CR118 Consdorf  Mellerdall

CR121 Blumendall  Reulandermillen

N28 Hierheck  Grousbous

N23 Martelange

CR306 Vichten  Grousbous

CR101 Lintgen, route de Fischbach

CR122 Gonderange - Rodenbourg

CR105 Ansembourg - Mariendall

N12 Kopstal - Quatre Vents

CR188 Neihaischen, rue Principale

Neimillen Sandweiler - tree in road and road flooded

Diekirch - Stegen, multiple trees on the road

CR347 Richtung Folkendange, tree on road

Derenbach - Weidingen, tree on road

N25 Woltz - Kautenbach, tree on road

Gonderange - Waldhaff, tree blocking road

Goebelsmuhle -> Dirbach, tree blocking road

CR103 Kehlen - Kopstal, tree on road

N1 Findel - Neudorf, tree on road

Aspelt Krokelshaffstross, flooded

The current red alert status is valid until 9 am, and strong gusts of up to 110 km/h are forecast.

IMPORTANT INFO: Due to the current weather situation, we expect delays and cancellations. Please check the status of your flight with your airline before making your way to the airport. #luxairport pic.twitter.com/XVs51UfN9x  Luxembourg Airport (@luxairport) February 9, 2020

The government has advised the public to monitor developments closely with official sources, www.meteolux.lu, www.infocrise.lu, www.inondations.lu, @infocriseLU, @CGDISlux, as well as the national media.

As experts monitor the ongoing conditions, we ask that all our readers keep safe and remain vigilant.
People are waiting for medical attention at Wuhan Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan, China on Jan. 25, 2020. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

New Coronavirus Cases in China Reveal the Difficulties in Diagnosing the Disease

Chinese media recently reported two coronavirus cases that reveal the challenges in detecting infections among patients who may not exhibit symptoms for several weeks after initial exposure to the virus.

The 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCov) first broke out in Wuhan, located in central Chinas Hubei Province, in early December 2019. At least tens of thousands have been infected within China, with over 900 deaths, though experts say the true numbers are likely higher.

New cases in China show the difficulties in diagnosing patients and preventing patients from spreading it further.

Conflicting Diagnoses

On Feb. 9, the government of Meihekou City in the northeastern province of Jilin issued a public notice explaining an unusual coronavirus case.

Meihekou has a population of roughly 600,000 and is more than 1,250 miles north of the coronavirus epicenter Wuhan.

An unnamed female patient returned to the northern city on Jan. 23 after visiting Wuhan.

On Jan. 27, the patient began to have a fever. An initial diagnosis performed on Jan. 29 came back positive.

But a second diagnosis performed on Jan. 31 revealed that the patient was free of the coronavirus. Due to the unusual results, doctors performed four more diagnoses on her.

The four diagnoses all came back negative, but the patient presented symptoms of the coronavirus.

After analyzing the results, several doctors concluded that the patient was infected with the coronavirus.

According to the notice, the patients is now in stable condition, and could be released from the hospital soon.

Medical workers and security personell stand at a checkpoint as the country is hit by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Anqing, Anhui province, China, on Feb. 6, 2020. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)

No Fever At All

Chinese state-run broadcaster CCTV reported on Feb. 9 that Mr. Yi, from Shehong County within Suining City of Sichuan Province, did not develop a fever after he was infected with the coronavirus.

Yi, 35, and his five-member family live in Wuhan. He started coughing on Jan. 13.

On Jan. 16, the whole family returned to their hometown in Sichuan by train. After arriving at home, Yi and his wife Xiao began to feel unwell. They visited a clinic in their local village. Then, they visited an acupuncture clinic and a small hospital in a nearby town for better treatment.

Because both of them didnt have a fever, doctors thought they had caught a cold and only gave them medicines to treat their coughing. Because they didnt think they were infected with the coronavirus, they visited friends and relatives, participated in big dinners, went shopping, had meals in different restaurants, played badminton with neighbors, and so on.

Chinese officials recently confirmed that the virus can be spread through aerosol transmission, that is, when one inhales very tiny droplets in the air containing the virus.

In February, their neighbor in Sichuan, Mr. Du, began to exhibit symptoms. He was diagnosed with the coronavirus on Feb. 7. The doctors investigated and believe that Yi and Xiao are the only sources that could have transmitted the virus to Du.

That day, Yi and Xiao were placed under quarantine at a local hospital. On Feb. 8, they were diagnosed with the coronavirus. Yis body temperature was still normal.

A laboratory technician working on samples from people to be tested for the new coronavirus at Fire Eye laboratory in Wuhan, China on Feb. 6, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

CT Scan Vs Nucleic Acid Detection

Currently, Chinese authorities recommend using diagnostic kits to confirm infections. Doctors would swab patients throats and run a nucleic acid test to determine whether the genetic sequence in the sample contains the viruss sequence.

But since Feb. 3, some Wuhan doctors have suggested performing CT scans of patients lungs as a more definitive way to diagnose.

Their reasoning is that all diagnosed patients lungs have ground glass opacity, meaning the organ is filled with fluid.

Furthermore, they say CT scan results can come out faster than diagnostic kits. CT scanning machines are also available in most hospitals of Wuhan.

On Feb. 7, Hubei Province began to use CT scan results as a standard to identify confirmed infections, though some experts disagree and say that CT scans can only determine that there is viral pneumonia, but not the coronavirus that caused it.
Ray OConnor looks at the reasons why 55,000 regional jobs were created by IDA-backed companies from 2015-19.

Last year was a very positive one for foreign direct investment  with IDA Ireland having achieved all targets in its Winning: Foreign Direct Investment 2015-2019 strategy.

Numbers directly employed in Irelands multinational sector are at an all time high of 245,096.

Significantly, regional investments increased by 50% over the past five years with more people employed by IDA companies outside Dublin than ever before.

A total of 54,868 jobs were created outside of Dublin over the period, leading to 33,118 additional direct jobs on the ground in regions at the end of this strategy.

In all, 110 investments were won for regions in 2019 with 5,368 net jobs created. Every region hit the five-year strategy targets of a 30% uplift in investment, with the Mid West, Mid East and South East having exceeded 40% of targets.

In the South West region, IDA Ireland achieved an uplift of 37% in FDI investments over the past five years.

Ray O'Connor, IDA Ireland, Business development manager, South West region

We set out in an ambitious strategy to achieve a 30 to 40% uplift in investments for all regional locations outside Dublin, said Ray OConnor, business development manager for the South West region.

We had never done this before as an organisation, but it was a statement of intent in terms of our focus in trying to increase the level of benefits of FDI outside of the major cities, particularly Dublin.

We have achieved that in every region, and here in the South West, covering the counties of Cork and Kerry, IDA Ireland has delivered a 37% overall uplift on investments over our previous strategy.

The successful delivery of FDI across the country and to the South West demonstrates that the IDAs commitment on regional development is working and has delivered jobs on the ground.

The South West has an established and dynamic FDI base, with a strong supporting ecosystem and is currently home to 202 leading global companies employing 42,847 people across all industry sectors from life sciences to financial services, he added.

Cork and Kerry: Strong value proposition

Cork and Kerry have a competitive and strong value proposition for companies  factors that have contributed significantly to the securing of new investments for the region right through the five-year strategy.

The strong existing FDI ecosystem, combined with a dynamic skills base across industry sectors, and the presence of Institutes of Technology in Tralee & Cork and University College Cork means that the region is able to compete successfully for mobile FDI.

The development by the private sector of Grade A office space means that we have the property solutions as an urban centre that are attractive to multi-nationals, said Ray.

In the South West we value the strategic collaboration with key stakeholders across the Region and all of these factors combined help us to deliver FDI on the ground, he added.

2019: A year of significant regional investments

2019 was an excellent year for IDA Ireland with investments secured from global companies in manufacturing and services operations.

In Kerry, JRI America has announced plans to expand its technology centre in Tralee which will double its workforce over the next five years.

DePuy Synthes announced a 36 million investment in ground-breaking new research and development projects at its innovation centre, and Stryker announced a 200m investment in research and development.

RIMES and Click Dimensions established EMEA Services Centres in Cork, while Deutsche Borse Groups post-trade services provider Clearstream officially opened their new offices at Navigation Square in Cork.

IDA Irelands Regional Property Programme delivered seven of eleven planned Advance Building Solutions over the past five years, offering investors attractive turnkey building solutions across Regional locations to address market failure.

Pictured at a previous event on the potential for attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for Cork City Centre. Picture: Diane Cusack

Six of the seven buildings completed are now occupied, and the seventh is being prepared for occupation by FDI clients.

On the development of the industry ecosystem in the South West region, Ray OConnor added: 2019 saw the launch of the IDA Ireland supported Irish Cyber Security Cluster, Cyber Ireland  which represents the needs of the sector and aims to enhance the growth and competitiveness of all the companies and organisations involved.

Based in Cork, this national cluster fosters collaboration and connection between industry, academia, and Government, and ensures that the South West region, and indeed Ireland, is well placed to support and encourage job creation and innovation in this new technology area.

Winning investments for regional locations is a team effort, and competing for and winning new investments of value will continue to remain a strategic priority for IDA Ireland.

IDA-backed investments made in the past five years

2015

Pramerica Systems: Letterkenny, Co Donegal, 330 new jobs over three years with potential for further growth.

Northern Trust: Limerick, 300 new jobs over three years  second jobs announcement by the firm in three years.

Apple: Expansion of its campus in Hollyhill, Cork, adding a new building to provide office space for 1,000 extra workers.

Bausch + Lomb: Unveiled plans to invest 75m in manufacturing capacity in Waterford; an expected 125 additional jobs.

Workday: Unveiled plans for 200 jobs in enterprise cloud applications for finance and HR companies. HQ is in Dublin 7.

Agora Publishing: Establishment of a multilingual contact centre in Portlaw in Waterford, adding 100 jobs.

Bill Bonner of Agora Publishing

2016

HubSpot: Opening Dublin office, plans to hire an extra 320 Dublin-based employees over three years.

OPKO Health: Expansion announced plans to create 200 highly-skilled jobs over five years in Waterford.

Amazon: Unveiled plans for 500 new jobs in Ireland. Data centre technicians, software engineers, and customer support staff over two years at its Dublin facilities.

First Data: Announced the establishment of a research and development centre in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, that will house up to 300 highly- skilled employees.

Wayfair: Online furnishings and decor company unveiled plans to expand its multi-lingual European centre in Galway creating around 160 jobs.

Oracle: Announced 450 new roles and the opening of a new offices in Dublin to accommodate its growth.

2017

Indeed: Announced expansion plans for its Dublin-based EMEA headquarters, adding 500 new employees over the next two years.

Graebel Companies: Unveiled plans for 125 new jobs in EMEA financial shared services centre in Dundalk, Co Louth.

Microsoft: Plans to hire 600 people. Following selection of Dublin for one of four global inside sales centres, 500 new roles were created with immediate effect, with a further 100 created across its existing operations.

Regeneron: A further expansion of its Limerick Industrial Operations and Product Supply (IOPS) bioprocessing campus with an additional 300 jobs and investment of 89.8m bringing the total expected employment to 800 people and total investment to 673.5m.

YapStone: Announced it would invest 41m expanding of its operations in Drogheda, Co Louth, adding 200 new jobs.

Wasdell Group: Unveiled the creation of a pharma packaging, testing and distribution in Dundalk, creating 300 jobs over five years.

2018

Abbott: Plans to expand its manufacturing facility in Donegal, resulting in the creation of around 500 jobs in the next number of years.

Edwards Lifesciences: Unveiled plans to establish a manufacturing facility in Limerick, creating 600 jobs when fully operational. The 160m investment is the companys largest manufacturing investment in the EU. The facility is under construction at the National Technology Park in Limerick.

MSD: Plans for a second manufacturing facility at its existing site in Carlow, with 170 new jobs.

VoxPro: The expansion of its existing facility in Cork into adjacent new offices, resulting in the creation of around 400 new jobs over the next number of years, growing the companys total number of jobs in Ireland to 3,000.

WuXi Biologics: Revealed plans to invest 325m and create 400 jobs over five years in a biologics drug substance plant in Dundalk, Co Louth, which is under construction at present. WuXi Vaccines then announced plans in November 2019 for a 215.5m vaccine production facility on the WuXi Biologics Campus with a further 200 new jobs over five years.

Genesys: Announced the creation of 200 technology jobs over the following three years at the companys new Galway office.

2019

Salesforce: Announced it is to create 1,500 jobs over the next five years and establishing Salesforce Tower, an urban campus of four interconnected buildings on North Wall Quay in Dublins Silicon Docks.

Facebook: Announced plans to hire 1,000 people in 60 teams in Ireland in 2019. The jobs span the engineering, safety, legal, policy, marketing and sales teams.

Johnson & Johnson Vision: Unveiled around 100 jobs and 100m investment in its manufacturing operations in National Technology Park, Plassey, Co Limerick.

JRI America: Tech firm supporting the Japanese Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, announced plans to expand its technology centre in Tralee, Co Kerry, 100 new jobs over five years.

Indeed: Announced the creation of 600 additional roles at its Dublin-based headquarters for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, stemming from its expansion into its new Capital Dock HQ.

Allstate Sales Group: Announced the establishment of two software development and CAD support centres in Waterford and Sligo, creating 100 jobs in each location.
Course Objectives

Developing mutual understanding of U.S., German, international, and participant country approaches to cyber security Enhancing participants ability to comprehend, analyze, and evaluate defense and cyber security issues Cultivating critical and strategic thinking on transnational cyber security challenges Strengthening the foundation for cooperative approaches to shared cyber security challenges

The Marshall Centers iPCSS provides senior government officials with the professional knowledge and capabilities to deal with transnational cyber security challenges. The program is tailored for senior officials responsible for developing or influencing cyber legislation, policies, or practices. It is not a technical program. Participation is open only to serving government officials and is ideal for diplomats, legislators, ministerial staffs, policy-makers, military and law enforcement officers, and other officials involved in cyber security serving throughout the whole of government including:

Ministry of Interior

Ministry of Justice

Ministry of Banking and Finance

Ministry of Emergency Situations

Ministry of Foreign Affairs / Diplomats

Law Enforcement

Ministry of Communications Security and Information

Ministry of Defense (Civilians and Military Officers)

iPCSS contributes to U.S. and German international efforts to work with partner countries and provides education and training so they may build, manage, and sustain comprehensive whole-of-society cyber security programs. iPCSS provides participants with transnational cyber skills while preparing individuals for positions as senior-level cyber security leaders throughout government.
Rebel Wilson is relishing in her epic weight loss.

The Pitch Perfect star showed off her slimmed down waist in a fitted fuchsia dress at Oscars Vanity Fair party in Los Angeles on Sunday evening, following the 92nd Academy Awards.

Her off-the-shoulder gown accentuated the Aussie actress's figure after she dropped several kilos by hitting the gym hard with her personal trainer over the last few months.

Pretty in pink! Rebel Wilson flaunted her slimmed down waist in a fitted fuchsia dress at Oscars Vanity Fair party in Beverly Hills on Sunday evening

Rebel lapped up the attention on the red carpet, posing up a storm and flirting with the cameras.

The Bridesmaids favourite accessorised her old Hollywood style gown with diamond jewels, including glittering earrings and a cuff bracelet.

She carried a silver designer clutch and wore a pair of heels underneath her floor-dusting dress.

All that glitters: The Bridesmaids favourite accessorised her old Hollywood style gown with diamond jewels, including glittering earrings and a cuff bracelet

What's cooking, good looking! Rebel lapped up the attention on the red carpet, posing up a storm and flirting with the cameras

Earlier in the evening at the Oscars, Rebel experienced an awkward meeting with Keanu Reeves and his mother, Patricia Taylor.

She was being interviewed by E!'s Ryan Seacrest when Keanu, 55, and his mother made their way over for their interview.

After shaking Keanu's hand hello, a smiling Rebel then moved to shake Patricia's hand, too.

Hard work is paying off! Rebel has been working out with 'transformation trainer' Jono Castano in Sydney recently, and has shed several kilos. She is pictured on the left at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards, and right, on Sunday night

Gal pal: Rebel attended the party with her good friend, TV host Carly Steel

Heading home:The pair were spotted heading home in a luxury Range Rover

But Patricia seemingly missed her queue, settling for a nod hello instead, leaving Rebel with her hand awkwardly outstretched.

Having soon realised her gaffe, Patricia then went to shake Rebel's hand, without realising Rebel had already moved on from the incident.

Instead, Rebel simply smiled and waved at The Matrix star's mum, prompting an uncomfortable Patricia to look down at the ground.

She's no diva: Rebel picked up the hem of her own dress as she got into the car

As she walked away, Rebel made one last remark to Keanu, who grinned in response, while Patricia struggled to recover from the awkward interaction.

Keeping her eyes fixed firmly on the ground, Patricia simply stepped up to chat to Ryan, 45, led by her son, who held onto her hand.

Rebel looked every bit the Hollywood starlet in a sequined gold gown, which swept the red carpet.

Oops: Earlier in the evening at the Oscars, Rebel experienced an awkward meeting with Keanu Reeves and his mother, Patricia Taylor

Shaken: Patricia seemingly missed the queue to shake Rebel's hand, settling for a nod hello instead, and leaving the actress with her hand awkwardly outstretched

That's awkward: Having soon realised her gaffe, Patricia then went to shake Rebel's hand, without realising the Pitch Perfect star had already moved on from the incident

Golden girl: Rebel looked every bit the Hollywood starlet in a sequined gold gown, which swept the red carpet

The classic Hollywood-inspired dress featured a twist at the waist, showing off her recent weight loss, and sat off one shoulder.

Meanwhile, Keanu looked dashing in a three-piece black tuxedo, which he wore with a black bow tie.

The handsome actor posed for photos with his mum on his arm, with Patricia looking chic in a white pantsuit.
Based in the firm's West Palm Beach office, Guevara focuses her practice on real estate, construction, commercial finance, economic development incentives and project financing, and renewable energy development. She is a member of the McDonald Hopkins Culture, Inclusion and Diversity Committee and serves as a McDonald Hopkins plan trustee.

"Alexa's selection to the LCLD's Fellows program is a worthy honor," said firm president Shawn Riley. "As a member of McDonald Hopkins Culture, Inclusion and Diversity Committee, Alexa plays a key role in guiding our commitment to maintaining, celebrating and promoting the firm's unique culture and providing compelling career opportunities. Now, as an LCLD Fellow, she joins a select group of high-potential attorneys from diverse backgrounds who have been recognized for their potential as leaders in their respective organizations."

According to LCLD President Robert J. Grey, Jr., the LCLD Fellows Program offers participants "a year-long, in-depth program devoted to relationship-building, in-person training, peer-group projects, and extensive contact with LCLD's top leadership and the best teachers in the business."

Founded in 2009, LCLD is a growing organization of more than 320 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners who are personally committed to creating a more diverse and inclusive legal profession. The LCLD Fellows Program, which has trained more than a 1,600 mid-career attorneys since 2011, is one of LCLD's most important initiatives.

For more information, visit www.lcldnet.org.

About McDonald Hopkins

Since 1930, McDonald Hopkins has thrived by building long-lasting relationships with businesses and individuals who share an entrepreneurial spirit. As the business advisory and advocacy law firm celebrates its 90th anniversary in 2020, it has a renewed commitment to providing exceptional client service and insight for the challenges at hand and on the horizon. To learn more, visit mcdonaldhopkins.com.

CONTACT:

David Carducci

McDonald Hopkins LLC

600 Superior Avenue, East, Suite 2100

Cleveland, Ohio 44114

Phone: 216.348.5814

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE McDonald Hopkins

Related Links

http://www.mcdonaldhopkins.com


We created The Silafrica Way as a means to help us optimize the speed and efficiency of our operations, reduce waste, help our employees thrive and grow professionally, and continually ensure the safety and productivity of our physical environments. - Group Executive Director, Akshay Shah

Over the past several years, Silafrica has been steadily building a reputation as an award-winning manufacturer and supplier of plastics and packaging solutions in Africa and exceptional corporate citizen. The company has achieved this distinction by creating a set of guiding principles for all employees, known as The Silafrica Way, representing the culmination of 25 years of hard work.

Every employee and team, as well as executive leadership, are measured against how well they follow The Silafrica Way, which is built on Silafricas five core values of doing the right thing, being authentic, being open to learning and unlearning, keeping it lean and becoming world class together. The Silafrica Way gives employees a common vocabulary and shared practices that help ensure consistent and sustainable results as well as a passion for excellence.

We created The Silafrica Way as a means to help us optimize the speed and efficiency of our operations, reduce waste, help our employees thrive and grow professionally, and continually ensure the safety and productivity of our physical environments, said Silafricas Group Executive Director, Akshay Shah. Having a shared desire to consistently offer world-class performance has made us stronger and better equipped to face virtually any challenge that may come our way.

The components of The Silafrica Way are called Gears, focusing on twenty different types of best practices that help manufacturing companies become better, faster and more competitive through focus on five key areas of enhancing morale and safety, improving quality continuously, reducing costs sustainably, increasing value chain throughput and leveraging technology. Under each focus area, are the individual Gears which are grouped under the following structure:

1. Enhancing Morale and Safety: Cleaning and Organizing, Goals Alignment, Problem Solving, Workplace Discipline

2. Improving Quality Continuously: Quality Assurance, Supplier Development, Plant Maintenance, Zero Monitoring, Multi-Skilling

3. Reducing Costs Sustainably: Waste Elimination, Empowered Employees, Methods Improvement, Efficiency Control, Conserving Resources

4. Increasing Value Chain Throughput: Quick Changeover, Coupled Manufacturing, Planning and Scheduling, Reduce Work-in-Process

5. Leveraging Technology: Information Systems, Manufacturing Technology

The program for each Gear encompasses: a clear definition of the skill, description of best practices, goals to strive for, a visual map showing the steps from introduction/lack of knowledge to providing world-class service, problems that may occur, essential information, key measures and how to make improvements, and a benchmarking based audit checklist. As employees progress through the ascending levels associated with each Gear, there are benefits to the employees and to Silafrica as well. Already, The Silafrica Way has led to greater efficiency and quality in manufacturing, more professionalism and collaboration in the work environment, and greater synergies that save time and money and increase productivity.

# # # #

About Silafrica

Silafrica is an award-winning manufacturer and supplier of plastic and packaging solutions for corporations, consumer packaged goods (CPGs) and consumers alike. With headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, Silafrica has manufacturing hubs in Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia, and serves clients in these countries as well as Uganda, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and others throughout Africa. Its client roster includes leading global and African CPG brands who use packaging applications for primary and secondary consumer and industrial rigid packaging, and secondary flexible industrial packaging. Business sectors served include the fastest growing segments within the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) space such as food, beverage, personal care, home care, the construction space such as paint and chemicals, as well as the general logistics needs of the distribution and supply chains in the agricultural and consumer sectors.

For more information, please visit: http://www.silafrica.com and join the conversation: http://www.linkedin.com/company/silafrica

For additional press information, please contact:

Ed Delia, Delia Associates

E: edelia@delianet.com

T: 908-534-9044
KHOMEIN, Iran  Near the hometown of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, workers at a small Iranian factory diligently add all 50 stars and 13 red-and-white bars to what are supposed to be U.S. flags, and carefully imprint the blue Star of David on Israeli ones.

Thats even as all their work is destined to go up in flames.

The company Diba Parcham Khomein serves as a major producer for the American and Israeli flags constantly burned at pro-government rallies in the Islamic Republic. Such flag-burnings are a sign of support for Irans embattled clerical rulers and a throwback to the iconic images of the 1979 Islamic Revolution that branded the U.S. Irans greatest foe and the Great Satan.

Another batch of flags is being prepared for the 41st anniversary of the Iranian revolution on Tuesday. The celebrations will take on special symbolic importance amid renewed tensions with Washington after a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad killed Irans top general, Qassem Soleimani, last month.

Yet the factorys owner, like many middle-class Iranians, holds out hopes for better relations between Tehran and the U.S.

I hope there is a day that the flags we produce are presented as a gift, factory owner Abolfazl Khanjani told The Associated Press.

That day, however, has yet to come to Khomein, a city best known as the birthplace of the Islamic Republics founder.

The factory itself is in the nearby suburban village of Heshmatieh, where staffers first dye the blue canton containing the 50 white stars of the American flag on linen before dyeing its seven red stripes.

The flags then hang to dry in the factory. As Iran does not recognize Israel as a country, the factory adds Death to Israel, written in Farsi on those flags, workers said. Iran itself continues to support anti-Israeli militant groups like Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Diba Parcham Khomein produces 1.5 million flags a year, many bearing Islamic phrases for religious and official occasions across the country. The factory also makes Iranian flags and a small number of Iraqi national flags for export.

But on a recent visit by the AP, the American and Israeli flags stood out, each 1.5 meters by 1 meter (59 inches by 39 inches). The factory makes as many as 6,000 American, British and Israeli flags in a year, all destined to be passed onto retailers. Iranian political hard-liners then purchase them for around $2 apiece to be stomped on, torn and ultimately set ablaze.

In recent years, the production of the U.S. flags has been tripled, Khanjani said. What eventually happens to my products is on its end user.

Khanjani, 36, identifies himself as supporting Iranian reformist groups that want to slowly change, and open up, the Islamic Republic. But he acknowledged the anger hard-liners feel toward the U.S. Tensions have particularly been high since President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehrans nuclear deal with world powers in May 2018.

In the time since, regional tensions across the Mideast have steadily worsened, leading to the Jan. 3 U.S. drone strike in Iraq that killed Soleimani as he was leaving Baghdads international airport.

Smiling images of Soleimani and Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ai Khamenei appeared on small Iranian flags in the factory, hanging behind women working at sewing machines on American flags.

Khanjani said burning the American flag offered Iranians a direct way to express their anger at U.S. policies, including the economic sanctions now choking the country.

Does the production of U.S. flags for burning pose any danger to anyone? Does it hurt anyone? My answer is no. It is an insult at worst, he said. But what about the production of weapons, bombs and drones for terror that have been used against our people and our countrys general? Has it not harmed my country?

That was a sentiment shared by Khanjanis sister Azam, who also works at the factory.

The martyrdom of our general was a big torment for us and this year as I sewed every flag, I was excited that they were going to be burned, she said. My feeling is just hatred when I sew them. It does not give me a good feeling.

Parisa Mahmoudi, another worker, said she focused her anger on Trump while working.

I have no problem with the American people but I dislike their president, she said. We have no problem with anyone but do not know why he is hostile with us.

The factory has 40 workers, including 25 women from nearby villages who earn monthly salaries of up to $400. Khanjani declined to offer earnings information for the factory, but said it turns a single-digit profit yearly.

Despite expressing anger at U.S. policies, Khanjani said his factorys decision to supply the flags for burning is a business move, fulfilling a demand from consumers. He showed AP journalists a picture painted by his 8-year-old son, Aria, showing the flags of Iran and the U.S. next to each countrys president.

The caption for the painting reads: The president of the U.S. has shaken the hand of Iranian president and they have become friends.
The president of the Students Union Government of Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, Adegboye Olatunji, has been arrested for allegedly aiding cultism and supervising initiation of new members into the cult.

The Ogun State Police spokesperson, Abimbola Oyeyemi, who made this known in a statement on Monday, said the students leader was arrested alongside another accomplice, Olarewaju Taiwo, on Sunday.

The police said the duo were arrested following an information received by police at Ilaro Division from members of the public that some group of people suspected to be cultists were sighted in a bush at Gbogidi area of Ilaro where they were trying to initiate new members into their dreaded group.

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On receiving the information, the DPO Ilaro division, CSP Olayemi Jacob mobilized his patrol team and swiftly moved to the scene where the two suspects were arrested with the assistance of members of the public while others escaped through the bush.

The statement added that the two arrested cultists who are in full regalia of the dreaded black axe cult group have been taken into custody at Ilaro Divisional Headquarters where they are currently being interrogated.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, Kenneth Ebrimson, has ordered the immediate transfer of the suspects to the anti- cultists section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for discreet investigation.
PALM DESERT, Calif., Feb. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- IAB, the national trade association for the digital media and marketing industries, today announced that it has elected Troy Young, President of Hearst Magazines, as Chairman of the trade organization's Board of Directors. Young has served as the board's Vice Chairman since February 2019. New to the board is Kirk McDonald, Chief Business Officer at Xandr, who was elected to serve as the 2020 Vice Chairman, as part of the executive committee.

"My term as IAB's Vice Chairman has been a deeply satisfying experience, and I am honored to have been elected Chairman of our industry's most dynamic, most inclusive trade group," said Young. "In recent years, we've worked hard to unite different parts of the digital ecosystem under one umbrella and we've made significant progress. At this pivotal time of change in our media ecosystem, IAB is the only organization that can bring together such a diverse group of stakeholders and provide the technical leadership the industry needs."

IAB's latest roster of board members features 11 new representatives, including leaders from two major brandsThirdLove Co-Founder and Co-CEO David Spector, and General Motors Global Chief Marketing Officer Deborah Wahl. Their addition brings the board's brand representation to three members, expanding IAB's commitment to addressing the business needs of the thriving direct brand economy.

Joining McDonald, Spector, and Wahl, new members of the IAB Board of Directors are:

Alysia Borsa , Chief Business and Data Officer, Meredith Corporation

, Chief Business and Data Officer, Eric Danetz , Chief Business Officer, AccuWeather

, Chief Business Officer, AccuWeather Tom Fochetta , Vice President, Samsung Ads

, Vice President, Samsung Ads Anneka Gupta , President and Head of Products and Platforms, LiveRamp

, President and Head of Products and Platforms, LiveRamp Jeremy Hlavacek , Chief Revenue Officer, IBM Watson Advertising

, Chief Revenue Officer, IBM Watson Advertising Ryan Mayward , Global Head of Agency Development, Amazon Advertising

, Global Head of Agency Development, Amazon Advertising Prabhakar Raghavan , Senior Vice President, Google

, Senior Vice President, Google Julie Van Ullen , Managing Director, U.S., Rakuten Marketing

"With more than two decades of experience across award-winning agencies and major global publishers, Troy Young offers IAB a unique perspective alongside his extraordinary talent for serving a range of constituencies, from premium publishers, to cutting-edge technology providers, to the world's most vibrant brands," said Randall Rothenberg, CEO, IAB. "In an industry where commerce, media, and advertising are increasingly convergent, the depth and breadth of Troy's experience makes him the perfect person to lead our Board of Directors into the future."

The re-elected and continuing members of the IAB Board of Directors are:

Krishan Bhatia , Executive Vice President, Business Operations and Strategy, NBCUniversal (IAB Executive Committee)

, Executive Vice President, Business Operations and Strategy, NBCUniversal (IAB Executive Committee) Rick Erwin , CEO, ALC

, CEO, ALC Konrad Feldman , Founder and CEO, Quantcast

, Founder and CEO, Quantcast Rita Ferro , President, Disney Advertising Sales, The Walt Disney Company (IAB Executive Committee)

, President, Disney Advertising Sales, The Walt Disney Company (IAB Executive Committee) Gina Garrubbo , President and CEO, National Public Media (IAB Executive Committee)

, President and CEO, National Public Media (IAB Executive Committee) Rajeev Goel , Co-Founder and CEO, PubMatic

, Co-Founder and CEO, PubMatic Jeremi Ann Gorman , Chief Business Officer, Snap, Inc.

, Chief Business Officer, Snap, Inc. Chris Guenther , Senior Vice President and Global Head of Programmatic, News Corp

, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Programmatic, News Corp Steve Horowitz , President, Ziff Davis

, President, Jesse Horwitz , Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Hubble Contacts

, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Hubble Contacts Julie Jacobs , Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Verizon Media

, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Verizon Media Craig Kostelic , Chief Business Officer, Media and Partnerships, Conde Nast

, Chief Business Officer, Media and Partnerships, Conde Nast Katie Kulik , Executive Vice President, Global Digital Sales, ViacomCBS

, Executive Vice President, Global Digital Sales, ViacomCBS Seth Ladetsky, Senior Vice President, Sales and Client Partnerships, WarnerMedia

Danielle Lee , Global Vice President, Partner Solutions, Spotify

, Global Vice President, Partner Solutions, Spotify Jean-Phillippe (JP) Maheu, Vice President, Client Solutions, U.S., Twitter (IAB Executive Committee)

Peter Naylor , Senior Vice President and Head of Advertising Sales, Hulu

, Senior Vice President and Head of Advertising Sales, Hulu Kim Norris , Group Vice President, Digital and Advanced Advertising Sales, Spectrum Reach (IAB Executive Committee)

, Group Vice President, Digital and Advanced Advertising Sales, Spectrum Reach (IAB Executive Committee) Marian Pittman , Executive Vice President, Cox Media Group (IAB Executive Committee)

, Executive Vice President, Cox Media Group (IAB Executive Committee) Penry Price , Vice President, Marketing Solutions, LinkedIn

, Vice President, Marketing Solutions, LinkedIn Joy Robbins , Chief Revenue Officer, The Washington Post

, Chief Revenue Officer, The Washington Post Randall Rothenberg , CEO, IAB (IAB Executive Committee)

, CEO, IAB (IAB Executive Committee) Nada Stirratt , Vice President, North America , Global Business Group, Facebook

, Vice President, , Global Business Group, Facebook Seb Tomich, Global Head of Advertising and Marketing Solutions, The New York Times

John Trimble , Chief Revenue Officer, Pandora

, Chief Revenue Officer, Pandora Rik van der Kooi , Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Advertising (IAB Executive Committee)

, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Advertising (IAB Executive Committee) Troy Young , President, Hearst Magazines (Chairman of the Board  IAB Executive Committee)

, President, Hearst Magazines (Chairman of the Board  IAB Executive Committee) Joe Zawadzki , CEO, MediaMath

Ex-officio members include:

Miranda Dimopoulos , Regional CEO, IAB SEA+India

, Regional CEO, Townsend Feehan, CEO, IAB Europe

Stu Ingis , Partner, Venable LLP (Secretary)

, Partner, Venable LLP (Secretary) Rich LeFurgy , General Partner, Archer Advisors

, General Partner, Archer Advisors David Moore , CEO, BritePool

, CEO, BritePool John Toohey , Vice President, Finance, Cumulus (Treasurer)

The new board slate was released at the 2020 IAB Annual Leadership Meeting at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort and Spa in Palm Desert, CA. For more information about the IAB Board of Directors, please visit iab.com/boardofdirectors.

About IAB

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) empowers the media and marketing industries to thrive in the digital economy. Its membership is comprised of more than 650 leading media companies, brands, and the technology firms responsible for selling, delivering, and optimizing digital ad marketing campaigns. The trade group fields critical research on interactive advertising, while also educating brands, agencies, and the wider business community on the importance of digital marketing. In affiliation with the IAB Tech Lab, IAB develops technical standards and solutions. IAB is committed to professional development and elevating the knowledge, skills, expertise, and diversity of the workforce across the industry. Through the work of its public policy office in Washington, D.C., the trade association advocates for its members and promotes the value of the interactive advertising industry to legislators and policymakers. Founded in 1996, IAB is headquartered in New York City.

SOURCE Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)

Related Links

https://www.iab.com


GCC economies could lose $2 trillion of wealth by 2034, says IMF

The Arab economies in the Gulf region that currently supplies a fifth of global oil and are enjoying the benefits of high oil prices risk losing $2 trillion of their financial wealth within the next 15 years in the face of budget constraints, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

According to an IMF report, oil demand will near peak levels in another 15 years and may start falling sooner than expected, putting a strain on the finances of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, says the IMF report.

IMF projects that some of the richest Gulf Arab states could exhaust their net financial wealth by 2034 as the region becomes a net debtor, and within another decade, their total non-oil wealth would also be exhausted, says the report prepared by a team of Middle East and Central Asia specialists at the Fund.

The report suggests decisive economic reforms, especially by the richest of the oil-producing GCC states in order to arrest a sudden depletion of both oil and non-oil wealth within another decade. Middle Eastern states could exhaust their net financial wealth by 2034 as the region becomes a net debtor, the fund projects.

Within another decade, their total non-oil wealth would also be exhausted, the IMF said in the report prepared by a team of its Middle East and Central Asia specialists as well as the research department.

Countries in the region need to think long-term and strategically because the oil market is changing structurally both from the demand and the supply side, reports cited Jihad Azour, director of the IMFs Middle East and Central Asia Department, as saying in an interview.

He suggested a shift in development plans to spending and job creation from governments to private businesses and the pursuit of more non-oil sources of income, and more quickly.

GCC countries would have to be more aggressive in their pursuit of an economic transformation to preserve their current wealth. "If we stop here, it's not enough," Azour said, adding that international oil companies and producing states have come together to improve energy and find alternative energy sources.

IMF said while Gulf producers like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are developing new industries in preparation for a post-oil era, they're not moving quickly enough to avoid running out of cash.

Despite patchy reforms, they haven't fully offset the drop in oil revenue with spending cuts, leading to deficits that have eroded wealth, according to the report.

Regional governments will likely need to cut spending further, save more and introduce broad-based taxation to make ends meet, the IMF said.

A further decline in oil prices this year, in the face of geopolitical tensions and threats the coronavirus poses to growth, is making that task even harder. Should global oil demand trend downward before those plans take root, the countries would have to cope with their longer-term economic problems even sooner, according to the fund.

"The world's demand for oil is expected to grow more slowly and eventually begin to decline in the next two decades," the IMF said.

Global oil demand is likely to peak around 2041 at about 115 million barrels a day and gradually decline from there, according to the report. While that forecast is firmly in line with most industry estimates, some, including the IMF, see potential for oil use to permanently decline even earlier.

Saudi Aramco, citing forecasts from oil industry consultant IHS Markit Ltd, said in its initial public offering prospectus last year that oil demand could peak around 2035. Improved energy efficiency or the imposition of a carbon tax by governments worldwide could bring oils demand peak forward to as soon as 2030, the IMF said.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait are the biggest producers in the GCC and are all Opec members. Risks differ for the GCC states, which also include Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.

The IMFs outlook offers a broad timeframe in which global oil demand might crest. Revenue may not peak until the middle of the century and Gulf producers could see demand for their oil sustained from other quarters.

Increased use of oil for petrochemicals might help mitigate the slowdown in demand, the IMF said. Even as oil demand peaks, the lower costs of production will allow Gulf states to gain market share over rivals elsewhere.
Death Toll Rises To 10 From Ethnically Fueled Kazakh Clashes

By RFE/RL's Kazakh Service February 09, 2020

Kazakh Deputy Interior Minister Aleksei Kalayichi has raised the death toll to 10 from ethnically fueled violence that erupted in a village in southern Kazakhstan late on February 7 and spread to nearby communities.

The clashes were some of the worst ethnic violence in years in the Zhambyl region, located about 130 kilometers west of Kazakhstan's commercial capital, Almaty, and prompted authorities in the district of Kordai to declare a state of emergency.

It was unclear what sparked the incidents, which mostly appeared to pit ethnic Kazakhs against Dungans, a Muslim group of Chinese origin.

Eight people died at the scene and two more died despite emergency treatment, officials said early on February 9.

Officials said 140 people sought medical treatment in Kazakhstan and two dozen more in neighboring Kyrgyzstan.

Thirty-nine more people reportedly remained hospitalized early on February 9, including three officials who sustained gunshot wounds, according to Kalayichi.

Villagers reportedly attacked each other in groups, and bands of men torched homes, overturned cars, and sent hundreds of people fleeing into nearby Kyrgyzstan.

Dungans make up much of the population in Masanchi, which was the worst-hit village.

Several other outlying villages also reported clashes.

In an unscheduled televised appearance, President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev said he had ordered security agencies to prosecute those spreading hate speech and "provocative rumors and disinformation."

Toqaev called for calm.

Kazakh law enforcement deployed riot police to the area on February 8, hours after the initial fighting.

By February 9, authorities said they believed around 300 people had taken part in the mob violence and they had already launched criminal cases, including for suspected murder.

RFE/RL correspondents reported long lines of police, holding riot shields and truncheons, along roads in the region.

On February 8, groups of mainly ethnic Dungans could be seen lining up along the Kyrgyz side of the border, while on the other side of the border, Dungan people handed out food and offered medical assistance to those coming across.

Footage circulating on social media late on February 7 showed young men, some armed with clubs, marching along the road of a village in the area with buildings on fire. Many of the videos could not be independently verified.

At a press conference in the Kazakh capital, Nur-Sultan, Interior Minister Erlan Turghymbaev said 30 homes, 15 shops, and 20 cars had been damaged in Masanchi, and other villages in the region.

One Kyrgyz source claimed thousands of people had fled across the border into Kyrgyzstan, but that information could not be independently verified by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service.

Kyrgyz authorities were already strengthening border checks in an effort to combat the possible spread of the Wuhan coronavirus that has killed more than 800 people in neighboring China.

With reporting by Interfax

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/death-toll- rises-to-10-from-ethnically-fueled-kazakh -clashes/30424862.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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Strictly champ Kelvin Fletcher appeared strained during a phone call that came just hours after he was seen enjoying a 3.30am nightcap with his Strictly co-star Oti Mabuse.

Married Kelvin, 36, was spotted walking into the Sanctum Soho Hotel in London on Friday alongside his glamorous former pro partner, 29  hours before his wife of five-years unfollowed him on Instagram.

A source exclusively told MailOnline that Kelvin's wife and the mother of his children Liz Marsland unfriended him on the social network after learning of his late night rendezvous with the Strictly cast.

Tense: Strictly star Kelvin Fletcher appeared strained during a phone call that came hours after he was seen enjoying a 3.30am nightcap with his Strictly co-star Oti Mabuse

Liz, who's been at home with the couple's children Marnie, three, and Milo, one, while Kelvin performed on the Strictly tour, was upset after seeing pictures of the soap actor still out drinking at gone 3am.

A source told MailOnline: 'Naturally Liz wasn't happy after finding out Kelvin had been out late drinking with the Strictly lot.

'It wasn't easy for her to see him still out at 3:35am, while she's at home looking after their two young children. Any woman would be upset if they were in the same situation.

'In the heat of the moment she unfollowed him on Instagram, it was just a shock for her to see him out so late.

'But now she's had the chance to speak to Kelvin face-to-face after he came home and they're spending today together, she feels silly for unfollowing him and admits she acted on impulse.'

That was then: In new images, married Kelvin was spotted on the town with his co-star, during which he placed a hand on her back to guide her into the hotel lobby (pictured in October)

Loved up: Kelvin has been married to his childhood sweetheart Liz Marsland for five years and the couple share two children Marnie, three, and Milo, one, together

No longer friends: Kelvin's wife Liz unfollowed him on Instagram hours after she saw he had been partying until the early morning with the Strictly gang, including his ex-pro partner Oti

A source close to Oti told The Mirror of the pair's late night drink on Friday: 'lt was perfectly innocent.

'They wanted to have a few more drinks and the bar was still serving. They are just friends.'

Kelvin shared a snap of his wife and children on Instagram alongside the caption: 'Counting down the days until I'm back home to my family' and tagged Liz in the post  with her unfollowing him hours later.

It isn't the first time that Kelvin and Oti, who's married to dancer Marius Lepure, have been pictured enjoying a drink together.

Last month the Sun on Sunday revealed the pair had been for an intimate catch-up together at Shoreditch's Cirque bar.

A source revealed at the time: 'Oti and Kelvin were in the bar when we arrived at 12am and seemed very close.'

MailOnline has contacted Oti and Kelvin's representatives for comment.

Cosy: A source close to Oti told The Mirror: 'lt was perfectly innocent. They wanted to have a few more drinks and the bar was still serving. They are just friends'

The morning after the night before: Kelvin looked drained as he donned a low-key tracksuit on Sunday after his wife unfollowed him on Instagram over him being out until 03:35am

Champ: Kelvin won the Strictly tour, which has kept him on the road for weeks (pictured with Janette Manara, who he partnered with when Oti skipped dates to film The Greatest Dancer)

Last week, Kelvin shared a brilliant letter from a young fan asking to marry him. Popping the question in a hand-written note, admirer Madison complimented the actor-come-dancer on his 'handsome' looks.

The sweet message read: 'To Kelvin Fletcher. Can I married you you are handsome. Love from Madison'.

Posting a video of the letter, the former Emmerdale star apologised for turning her down, citing his marriage to Liz as the main reason.

'Dear Madison Thank you for your lovely card. Unfortunately, I'm already taken, but if Wonder Woman every gets bored of me, I'll be sure to look you up. Kelvin x #Strictly #StrictlyTour #SCDLive.'

Heading out: Kelvin often performed with Strictly pro Janette Manrara while on tour as Oti completed her judging duties on The Greatest Dancer

On we go: Kelvin uploaded a photo of his wife and children to Instagram, tagging Liz in the picture before she unfriended him

Bob Marley's Is This Love? can be heard playing in the background of the hilarious short clip.

Kelvin and Liz are childhood sweethearts who grew up down the road from one another in Royton, Lancashire, and shared their first kiss at just eight years old. However they officially got together two years after she finished university.

They were engaged in 2015, after Kelvin proposed on the beach during a romantic trip to Wales.

Unimpressed: Before unfollowing Kelvin on Instagram, Liz commented on a snap of her and their children, saying: 'Don't rush back if any of us still look like this!' with an eye roll emoji

Champions: The Emmerdale actor won the Strictly Glitter Ball last year alongside Oti, who's also a judge on The Greatest Dancer

Then they wed exactly one year later in a lavish ceremony reportedly costing 55,000 at London's One Mayfair, with famous guests such as Mark Wright and Michelle Keegan in attendance.

Kelvin has faced much success on this series of Strictly Come Dancing, however it has come at a cost to him and his family.

In a recent interview with Hello, Liz insisted that Kelvin's sizzling Strictly routines 'don't bother me. I'm used to seeing him kiss Britain's sexiest females on Emmerdale.'
LONDON - Two big Japanese companies are the latest to pull out of a major European technology show due to fears over the outbreak of the new coronavirus.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/2/2020 (700 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FILE - In this July 16, 2015, file photo, Chinese women take a selfie outside the Uniqlo flagship store in Beijing. Fast Retailing Co., parent of Uniqlo fashion chain, said it has temporarily closed about half of its 750 outlets in mainland China due to the outbreak of a new virus. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

LONDON - Two big Japanese companies are the latest to pull out of a major European technology show due to fears over the outbreak of the new coronavirus.

Electronics manufacturer Sony and mobile phone carrier NTT DoCoMo said Monday they're scrapping their appearances at Mobile World Congress, the worlds biggest mobile industry trade fair, in Barcelona, Spain, this month.

Sony Corp. will instead launch its latest devices through its YouTube channel on Feb. 24, the first day of the show.

As we place the utmost importance on the safety and well-being of our customers, partners, media and employees, we have taken the difficult decision to withdraw from exhibiting and participating, Sony said.

NTT DoCoMo said that given the expanding impact of the virus, it cancelled out of consideration of safety for staff, visitors and partners.

Amazon said over the weekend that it is withdrawing due to the outbreak and continued concerns about novel coronavirus." The e-commerce giant's cloud computing division, Amazon Web Services, was expected to have a big presence at the show.

Software company Amdocs and telecommunications equipment maker CommScope also backed out Monday.

Organizers and local authorities remained upbeat.

We dont envision any other possibility but the celebration of the Mobile World Congress," Barcelona's deputy mayor, Jaume Collboni, told reporters.

He noted that while the companies that have pulled out are among the show's biggest exhibitors, they're only a handful of the 2,800 taking part.

GSMA, the show organizer, didnt immediately respond to a request for comment, but said Sunday it's moving ahead as planned with the event, and outlined additional health and safety measures. They include banning visitors from Chinas Hubei province, where the outbreak originated; requiring people who have been in China to prove they left at least 14 days earlier; and carrying out temperature screening.

We are contending with a constantly evolving situation that will require fast adaptability, the GSMA said. It had already planned to step up cleaning and disinfecting measures, recommend a no handshake policy and make sure speakers don't use the same microphone.

Swedish equipment maker Ericsson, one of the shows biggest exhibitors, has also dropped out, along with South Korean electronics giant LG and graphics chip maker Nvidia. China's ZTE and handset maker TCL Communication, meanwhile, scaled back by dropping their press conferences.

More than 100,000 people, including 5,000-6,000 from China, typically attend Mobile World Congress and organizers were expecting similar figures this year.

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Meanwhile, the turmoil in China over the virus is disrupting supply chains around the world, with Nissan the latest manufacturer to announce a suspension. It said that due to supply shortages from China, the Nissan Kyushu facility in Japan will stop production on Feb. 14 and Feb. 17.

Hyundai said last week that it was suspending production in South Korea, while Fiat Chrysler said it might have to do the same for a plant in Europe if disruptions continue.

General Motors said Monday it would restart its halted production facilities in China from Feb. 15, though that depends on developments in the outbreak.

The trouble in supply chains was reflected in losses in the container business, estimated at about $350 million a week, according to industry site Maritime Denmark.

___

Aritz Parra in Madrid, Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo, Jan Olsen in Copenhagen and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to this report.
Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg via Getty Images

En espanol | In what was one of the edgiest debates among leading candidates seeking to become the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential nominee, seven hopefuls strongly defended their positions on how best to improve the nation's health care system and criticized their opponents plans.

Friday night's debate was held at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, four days before the Granite State's first-in-the-nation primary.

"How much is it going to cost? former Vice President Joe Biden asked Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders of his Medicare for All plan that would have government administer health care and eliminate private health insurance. It's going to cost more than the entire federal budget we spend now, said Biden, in response to his own question.

Biden continued, saying his own proposal would allow Americans to choose if they wanted to buy into a Medicare system and would also cut prescription drug prices. He said he would pay for his plan in part by raising the capital gains tax.

Sanders responded that Biden was supporting the current dysfunctional system. We are wasting $500 billion a year trying to administer thousands and thousands of plans, Sanders said. What Medicare for All will do is save the average American substantial sums of money."

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar also criticized Sanders plan as not real, saying that two-thirds of the Democrats in the Senate are not on your bill, and it would kick 149 million Americans off of their health care. Klobuchar's approach to health care is similar to Biden's. She said she would build on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with a nonprofit public option. She said the ACA is increasingly popular, so why would we want to blow it up?"

Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg also favors a public option that he calls Medicare for All Who Want It. There is now a majority ready to act to make sure there's no such thing as an uninsured American and no such thing as an unaffordable prescription, Buttigieg said. Just so long as we don't command people to accept a public plan if they don't want to."

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren also favors a Medicare for All solution, although her version would be rolled out over a longer period of time than Sanders plan. I think we need to think about health care differently, she said. That is, 36 million Americans last year could not afford to have a prescription filled  and that includes people who have insurance. Think about that."

Neither businessman Tom Steyer nor entrepreneur Andrew Yang participated in Friday night's health care discussion. Both have said they want to build on the current health care system through public options and by bringing down health care costs.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bold Therapeutics Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel anti-cancer therapies, announced that it has received clearance from Health Canada to initiate a Phase 1b trial of its first-in-class anti-resistance therapeutic, BOLD-100, in combination with FOLFOX for the treatment of gastric, pancreatic, colorectal and bile duct cancers.

Pancreatic Cancer

"Based on compelling preclinical efficacy in combination with a wide range of anti-cancer agents, we are excited about the prospects of BOLD-100 in combination with FOLFOX," said Jim Pankovich, EVP of Clinical Development. "The combination of exciting preclinical data in a range of challenging solid tumor models, including gastric, pancreatic, triple-negative breast, and lung cancers, as well an encouraging safety profile seen in early clinical trials, supports the continued clinical development of BOLD-100. I am hopeful that these results translate into improved outcomes for patients, significantly advancing treatment of these devastating diseases."

Bold Therapeutics Inc., a Canadian federal corporation, was founded in 2018 by a team of biopharma industry veterans to develop and commercialize BOLD-100, a first-in-class anti-resistance therapeutic that appears to significantly enhance the activity of a wide range of other anti-cancer therapies by disabling a critical and previously untargeted resistance, survival and proliferation pathway common across cancers. Based on compelling preclinical and early clinical results, Bold Therapeutics is focusing its development efforts on some of the most challenging cancer indications where existing therapies are largely ineffective, resulting in a significant unmet medical need.

"As Bold Therapeutics' lead investor in its Series A round, we are pleased to see BOLD-100 advance further into the clinic," said Glenn Walthall, Chairman of Bold Therapeutics' Board and Chief Investment Officer of Gaston Capital Partners. "Bold's team continues to execute, and we look forward to the achievement of other key development and commercialization milestones in 2020 and beyond."

"In 2019, the Bold Therapeutics team built a strong foundation for rapid growth and development: raising capital, engaging with potential development partners, completing cGMP manufacturing of BOLD-100, establishing collaborations with leading academic institutions to further elucidate the mechanism of action of BOLD-100, and finalizing a protocol that should efficiently determine safety and preliminary efficacy in the treatment of GI cancers," said E. Russell McAllister, CEO. "I look forward to an exciting, data-driven 2020, with preliminary results from our pioneering Phase 1b trial expected by year-end."

For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.bold-therapeutics.com.

Contact:

E. Russell McAllister, CEO

(604) 262-9899

[email protected]

SOURCE Bold Therapeutics, Inc.
Bengaluru, Feb 10 : Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has invested Rs 42 crore in WorkIndia, India's largest blue collar recruitment platform, the company announced on Monday.

Previous investors of WorkIndia include VC investors such as Beenext Pte Ltd and Asuka Investments, a top hedge fund in Japan.

WorkIndia has 1.5 crore registered job seekers and presence in 763 cities across India.

"The company has created a massive presence in the Indian Blue Collar segment within a short span of time. At Xiaomi, we thrive towards providing innovation for everyone and we see significant future potential in WorkIndia," said Manu Jain, Global Vice President, Xiaomi and Managing Director, Xiaomi India.

With 125 million user events captured every month and dynamic algorithms already in place, WorkIndia is one of the few Indian start-ups that is ready for Artificial Intelligence capability.

"Team WorkIndia thrives on two aspects -- one, extreme innovation and two, the excitement of becoming a global leader in the blue-collar segment. Xiaomi's focus on innovation and the disruption they have brought to the market has clear adjacencies with us," said Kunal Patil and Nilesh Dungarwal, Co-founders at WorkIndia.
THE government says it has no plans to quarantine travellers coming into Zimbabwe from coronavirus-affected China because it is expensive and against World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations.





With the coronavirus showing no signs of abating, having killed 722 people and infecting more than 34 546 others to date, there has been a push for Zimbabwe to join other countries such as India, Australia and Japan who quarantine people coming from China.





Quarantine generally entails keeping a group of people separate and isolated from the general public to stop them from developing a disease which they can spread to others.





The Health ministrys epidemiology and disease control director Portia Manangazira said Zimbabwe will instead practise self-quarantine to establish if people coming from affected countries do not have symptoms of the killer virus.





We have already started self-quarantining. Those under surveillance are advised to do minimal interactions for at least 14 days. Things like going to church and meeting should be avoided for now.





In the event that someone coming straight from Wuhan or other affected countries has shown symptoms of the virus, we will then quarantine them at the hospital. We cannot quarantine all travellers coming from affected areas in one place because its expensive and against World Health Organisation (WHO) regulations, Manangazira said.





Zimbabwe is currently monitoring over 740 people who came into the country from affected areas for symptoms that range from pneumonia, high fever, flu symptoms, shortness of breath and diarrhoea.





Zimbabwe is not among 13 African countries considered top priority and highly vulnerable to the threat of coronavirus by WHO because of their direct links or high volume of travel to China. The countries considered top priority in the African region by WHO are Algeria, Angola, Cote dIvoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.





This comes as the Chinese Embassy in Zimbabwe has issued a consular message discouraging its citizens from travelling to Zimbabwe, while encouraging local authorities to impose a 21 day self-quarantine on individuals who come into the country from China as part of efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus.





Chinas consular minister and deputy ambassador to Zimbabwe Zhao Baogang revealed this in Harare recently after a meeting with the Heath and Child Care minister Obadiah Moyo to give an update on the coronavirus.





Chinas consular minister and deputy ambassador to Zimbabwe Zhao Baogang





Baogang said the Chinese government has called on relevant Zimbabwean authorities to impose a 21-day self-quarantine instead of the usual 14 days on Chinese nationals who come into the country.





The Chinese embassy is working with the ministry of Health to mobilise resources to stop the spread of the coronavirus and the embassy of China has already set up a task force ready to respond in case there is an outbreak.




More than 170 farmlands have been destroyed by bushfires in the Bono East Region, posing a threat to the governments flagship agricultural programmes such as Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJs) and Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD).



In addition, the bushfires have burnt an unspecified number of houses and beehives belonging to some farmers in the region.



The Bono Regional Commander of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), Divisional Officer Grade I (DOI) Mr George Anim Frimpong, disclosed this at the launch of the regional bushfire prevention campaign and inauguration of fire volunteer squads at Atebubu in the Atebubu-Amanten District.



He said the fire incidents were recorded between December 2019 and February 2020 and called for the re-tooling and resourcing of the various rural fire departments of the service and fire volunteers to reduce fire outbreaks in the region.



Launch



The launch brought together hundreds of farmers and fire volunteers drawn from the various farming communities in the region.



It held was on the theme: "My environment, my life: Stop bushfires now."



Mr Frimpong explained that the programme was launched at Atebubu because of the high incidence of bushfires in the area, compared to other districts within the region.



He said the burning of any part of the vegetation, such as farmlands, forests or grasslands, had been identified as one of the greatest threats to the ecological balance of nature and a socio-economic problem stifling economic progress, as investments in food crops and forests were perennially destroyed by fire.



"The cruel, violent, deliberate and unprovoked setting of fires to bushes negatively affect the sustainability of the environment and human life," Mr Frimpong said.



The bushfire prevention campaign, he added, would provide the GNFS the platform to reflect and sensitise the public to the devastating effects of bushfires in the region.



Bushfire laws



He explained that any person who fell foul of bushfire laws would be liable, on conviction, to a fine or term of imprisonment and appealed to the public to desist from interfering in the administration of justice when one was caught by the law, as it defeated the goal of protecting the environment and human lives.



According to him, the laws were meant to be enforced without fear or favour or undue interference from any person or institutions.



Emergency



He declared the bushfire situation in the region as an emergency, saying "if we admit that we are in emergency, then we need to devise preventive and control measures to forestall the situation".



The measures, he said, would include education and enforcement of the relevant laws on bushfires.



Mr Frimpong said available records indicated that bushfires were started by humans, both deliberately and accidentally, explaining that they were caused by the activities of herdsmen, group hunters, unattended fires, indiscriminate disposal of cigarette butts, charcoal burners and the practice of slash and burn agricultural method.



Agriculture



For his part, the Bono East Regional Minister, Mr Kofi Amoakohene, said agriculture was now attractive to the youth and remained the largest employer of the country's labour force and called for necessary measures to be put in place to preserve and protect farmlands, forests and the vegetative cover.



Mr Amoakohene said the wanton destruction of the vegetation by bushfires had impacted negatively on the sustainability of the environment and there was the need for stringent measures to stem the tide.



He, therefore, charged the Regional Command of the GNFS to regularly sensitise the public, especially farmers, herdsmen, palm wine rappers and game hunters, to the devastating effects of bushfires in the region and the need for all well-meaning citizens to get involved in preventing bushfires.



He added that bushfire prevention campaigns had, over the years, provided great opportunities for the GNFS to sensitise the public to the devastating impact of bushfires and that concerted efforts were needed to stop bushfires.

Source: Daily Graphic









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Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 22:14:33|Editor: huaxia

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TOKYO, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Test results showed that 66 additional people on a cruise ship quarantined in Yokohama are infected with the novel coronavirus, the Japanese Health Ministry said Monday.

The newest test results brought the number of confirmed cases in Japan to 162, including 136 on the Diamond Princess cruise ship south of Tokyo.

The ship has been kept in quarantine off the port of Yokohama after a passenger on board from Hong Kong was found to be infected with the pneumonia-causing virus.

The 80-year-old passenger flew to Tokyo in mid-January and boarded the cruise ship in the city on Jan. 20.

On board the cruise ship are 2,666 passengers and 1,045 crew members from 56 countries and regions.

The 66 infected people include 45 Japanese, 11 Americans, four Australians, three Filipinos, one Canadian, one British national and one Ukrainian, according to U.S. company Princess Cruise Lines Ltd., which operates the ship.

The Japanese government said it plans more tests of dozens of elderly people while it carries out investigations into any possible issues with hygiene control on the ship.

"We are considering testing, if possible, all those over 80 years old who are in ill health," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference on Monday.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare also said Monday that it is considering testing all the 3,711 people aboard the ship when the two-week isolation period ends on Feb. 19.

However, Suga said later that it would be difficult to test all passengers and crew.

"We need to properly address the unease and concerns of our citizens," said Japan's Health Minister Katsunobu Kato.

According to local media reports, passengers have been confined to their rooms; however, they were allowed to spend some time on deck under staff monitoring.

The cruise company said Monday that it will offer a full refund to all passengers who were unable to disembark in Yokohama due to the epidemic.

The refund will include the cost of the cruise, hotel accommodation prior to and following the cruise, onshore excursions and services used aboard the ship.

Japan is stepping up efforts to contain the spread of the virus as the number of confirmed cases continues to rise.

The government has been urging the public to remain calm and resist a growing number of social media rumors concerning the outbreak.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said a fifth flight was being arranged to bring home the few remaining Japanese in China's Wuhan and in the rest of Hubei Province.

The charter plane was set to fly this weekend at the earliest and would be the last for the foreseeable future, he added.
Each new Police wing includes constables who are continuing a family tradition. But not many of those traditions extend back to the dawn of modern policing.

Constable Ethan Enright's policing pedigree stretches back seven generations to a great, great, great, great grandfather who was a Peeler  the forebears of todays Metropolitan Police - in the mid-19th century.

And when policing skipped a generation or two, other uniformed services benefited from his familys work.

I grew up with stories about this long family tradition  Im proud to carry it on," says Ethan, who graduated with Wing 332 late last year.

The Peelers take their name from the then-English Home Secretary Robert Peel, whose 1829 Metropolitan Police Act marked the start of a campaign to improve public law.

It introduced the first professional policemen, known as 'Peelers' or 'Bobbies' in England, following similar changes Peel had made in Ireland.

That first uniformed ancestors name is unknown and there are no photographs of him, nor of his son Michael who joined the Canterbury (Kent) constabulary some time around 1880.

However, the next generation leaves a trace. Ethans great great grandfather Albert Munns Senior leaves both a photograph and an ID number  D13 - on the collar of his tunic.

Ethan says joining up was a bit easier in Albert Munns Seniors day. Working as a labourer at the docks in Kent, he went one day to the local police station and asked for a job.

The family story, as told by Ethans mother Theresa, is that he was given a truncheon and told if he could survive and keep the peace for the day he was hired. He did, and he was.

Next to sign up was Ethans great grandfather, Albert G Munns, who also joined the Kent Constabulary.

In 1945 PC Albert G Munns Junior received a Royal Humane Society bravery award for gallantly saving the life of a man who was in imminent danger of drowning in the sea off Fort Promenade, Margate, Kent'.

Albert Junior served until 1974, spending his last few years before retirement as a police mechanic.

Ethan's great great grandfather Albert Munns and great grandfather Albert G Munns.

Then came Ethans grandfather  Peter George Munns. After a stint in the Malayan war he too was accepted into the Kent constabulary. However his dream was to make his mark with Londons Metropolitan Police - he didnt fancy working in the same district as his father.

The Met, however, had other ideas and were not accepting returned servicemen. So Peter George Munns emigrated to Canada, where he worked as an accountant for the Canadian Air Force.

The family returned to England in 1970 and Peter signed up to the Ministry of Defence. Theresa, Ethans mum, worked briefly for the Royal Air Force and his dad for the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

Ethan has now reinvigorated a proud family tradition, albeit in a different country.

Its something I have dreamed about for a long time  and maybe its in my DNA as well as in my mind, Ethan says.

Ethan is serving in Bay of Plenty District.

-Police Ten One Magazine.
Demi Lovato reveals new spider tattoo on the side of their head

Demi Lovato has taken to Instagram to show off their latest tattoo.
SALT LAKE CITY  Officials have re-opened the only road in and out of a Utah ski area east of Salt Lake City that had been closed for days due to multiple avalanches.

Alta Ski Area visitors and employees were required to stay indoors until Saturday, before Little Cottonwood Canyon reopened to traffic.

The Alta and Snowbird resorts had been closed since Wednesday and the rest of the canyon since Thursday.

We get this much snow a lot, said Alta employee Gretchen Wolf. Its just the way the storm came in and the way the weather was created unstable circumstances.

At least three natural avalanches slid across the road on Friday morning, officials said.

Alta spokeswoman Andria Huskinson said the resort reopened Saturday to foot traffic before the road opened that afternoon, allowing people who were stuck to take advantage of the small crowds on the slopes.

Visitor Kathy Ogsbury of Denver said shes missed at least three flights home.

Weve been eating a lot, reading books, more eating, a little drinking, she told KSL-TV. We had fun. Now wed like to get out.

Huskinson said she doesnt remember the last time the lodge was locked down for two days.

John Gleason, spokesman for the Utah Department of Transportation, told The Deseret News the road was covered in places that hadnt seen an avalanche in more than a decade.
What if you passed a law and nobody cared?

Thats where the Texas Ethics Commission finds itself, tasked with ensuring transparency in elections by requiring financial disclosures from campaigns, but left to fend for itself by state officials unwilling to enforce accountability.

Texas sets no limits on how much donors can contribute to candidates in state and legislative races, but lawmakers have required all candidates to at least report who gave what. Its a small requirement, but it is essential in letting voters know whos bankrolling candidates and any special interests they may be beholden to.

To enforce those disclosures, the Legislature has empowered the Texas Ethics Commission  comprised of four members appointed by the governor and two each by the leaders of the Texas House and Senate  to levy fines when candidates fail to detail who gave them what. Sadly, not even that small tool has any edge to it.

An analysis by Hearst Newspapers found little is done to penalize the candidates, lobbyists and political action committees who each year fail to file mandatory campaign finance reports.

Sure, they issue the fines. Just look at the egregious case of state Rep. Ron Reynolds, D-Missouri City, who starting in 2016 didnt file a report for two years. He owes more than $74,000 in fines but has faced little repercussion, continuing to draw his salary and is free to run for re-election this year. While he told the Chronicle that he is in the process of paying his fines, he hasnt yet filed the missing disclosure documents.

As an elected official Reynolds is an outlier, as most of the unpaid fines belong to candidates who lost, lobbyists and PACs, but his experience shows what candidates can get away with thanks to lax enforcement.

Since 2005, the ethics commission has gone to court through the Texas Attorney Generals Office to collect $1.1 million from late filers, $800,000 of which has been written off as uncollectible. While the attorney generals office has said it does all it can to collect, both current Attorney General Ken Paxton and his predecessor, Gov. Greg Abbott, have been dismissive of the commission and shown little interest in its protection.

In 2014, Abbott refused to represent the agency in a lawsuit brought by conservative group Empower Texans, a practice Paxton has continued. The suit questions the commissions legal authority to enforce campaign finance rules, effectively seeking to gut the agency by taking away what little power it has.

Even with such feeble enforcement, the commission is valuable. Its record-keeping, for instance, shows that Paxtons campaign has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Empower Texans and its chairman, Tim Dunn, and that in 2014 when he initially sought office, Paxton secured a million-dollar loan from the group.

Other states, including New York, California and Florida can garnish wages, levy tax liens and hire collection agencies to go after candidates or others who refuse to pay their fines. Unsurprisingly, these states have a high compliance rate. For Texas, the only option is through the civil courts and once the attorney general deems fines uncollectible, the commission has no enforcement power left.

It is unlikely that legislators will give the ethics commission the power it needs to aggressively pursue campaign finance violations and enforce measures that guarantee transparency  theyve had almost 30 years to act and previous proposals have failed as many chafe under the limited status quo  but continuing to do even less that whats required is unacceptable.

Having a toothless commission is already damaging to Texas voters. The states failure to enforce the laws that are on the books only adds insult to injury.
A toddler was reunited with her cherished 'Daddy Doll' - which shows her deployed father and has a recording of his voice - after her mother shared an ardent Facebook plea when it became lost during a flight.

Kenley Britton, 18-months-old, had trouble sleeping at night after her Daddy Doll went missing on Thursday.

Kenley's doll has a picture of her father Brian O'Connor, who is deployed with the U.S. Marine Corps, and plays a recording of his voice saying 'Hi Kenley, I love you' with a push of a button.

Kenley's mother, Arielle Britton, says her daughter pushes the button a lot.

'In the middle of the night when she wakes up, shell play it and it kind of helps calm her down and put her back to sleep,' Arielle told WTOC 11.

Young Kenley Britton (center) misplaced her 'Daddy Doll' - a toy with father Brian O'Connor's (left) face and voice - while traveling with her mother, Arielle Britton (right), on Thursday

Arielle Britton shared this photo of Kenley and her Daddy Doll on Facebook after the toy was lost somewhere between Connecticut and Florida

The pair were traveling down South when they landed in the Savannah/ Hilton Head International Airport, but Kenley's Daddy Doll was nowhere to be found.

Arielle contacted Bradley International Airport, the Savannah/ Hilton Head International Airport and Delta Airlines for help, but no one had run across the special toy.

In a passionate plea to find Kenley's Daddy Doll, Arielle took to Facebook and created a post that morning.

'Hi, Im Kenleys daddy doll. I go everywhere she goes because her dada is deployed,' she wrote.

'We were traveling back home yesterday and I seemed to have gotten lost somewhere between the Hartford Connecticut Airport and the Atlanta airport.

'Im not just any Daddy Dolls, I have a special good night message that Kenleys dada recorded before left, that she listens to every night. I also have red and blue stars on the back.

'Her mom called and reported me missing to both airports and Delta but no one has found me yet.'

Arielle: 'Im not just any Daddy Dolls, I have a special good night message that Kenleys dada recorded before left, that she listens to every night'

The story touched the hearts of thousands of social media users and a nationwide hunt for Kenley's Daddy Doll took off.

The Facebook post got more than 4,000 shares, with commenters continuing the search from Arizona, to South Carolina to Virginia.

The rescue mission began on Twitter when Bay News 9 reporter Angie Angers shared Arielle's post with her 1,500 followers.

Angers wrote: 'Okay Twitter, lets find this little girls doll. This doll is of Kenleys dad, and was lost somewhere between the Hartford, CT and Atlanta, GA airports. She was flying Delta with her mom. It has a recording of her dads voice inside. Have you seen it?'

Angers post garnered more than 8,000 retweets, 7,500 likes and more vows from people to track down Kenley's missing doll.

Actress Kim Rhodes came across Angers' call for action and decided to also share Kenley's story.

'I may know some people who RT,' she wrote.

Angers post garnered more than 8,000 retweets, 7,500 likes and more vows from people to track down Kenley's missing Daddy Doll

Actress Kim Rhodes came across Angers' call for action and decided to also share Kenley's story, saying: 'I may know some people who RT'

Meanwhile, Delta Airlines was doggedly searching for the Daddy Doll and were looking 'high and low' for Kenley's prized possession.

'We've been searching high and low since yesterday. So far no luck, but we're not giving up, Delta Airlines wrote on Twitter.

'Kenley's doll is a one-of-a-kind, just like her dad, and we'll do everything we can to bring him home,' they added.

Delta Airlines assigned two Red Coats to the case, but the employees were already coming together to find the doll.

'Once we had heard that, the Delta people across the system rallied together to locate this doll and because it was so special we didnt feel like mailing it was the right thing to do,' Valeria Zamora and Sheila Jones said.

According to Arielle, Delta went above and beyond during the rescue mission. She said Jeremy, a Delta employee in Hartford, personally called her while he was searching for the doll inside the airport.

The Bradley International Airport also sent Kenley a care package of a plush toy, t-shirts and a handwritten note.

After word of Kenley's missing doll went viral, Delta Airlines joined the search and assigned two employees to the case

Arielle says her daughter, Kenley (pictured), sleeps with her Daddy Doll often and it helps soothe her during the night

Delta Airlines sent Kenley and Arielle a care package, complete with hats, towels, t-shirts and a plush toy

Luckily, the Daddy Doll was discovered in the Savannah/ Hilton Head International Airport perfectly in tact.

In a Twitter post, Delta Airlines said: 'We found your doll, Kenley! He missed you, but don't worry. We're bringing him home.'

Arielle is grateful for Delta's persistent and stunned by the outpouring of support.

'Thank you delta employees, ATL airport and everyone who shared my post in making this happen! He was found on the plane and is making his way back home to Kenley! We cannot thank everyone enough,' Arielle said on Facebook.

'This was truly a crazy experience. I knew that I had a lot of supportive friends and family on my Facebook and thats honestly all that I thought this was gonna be ... but yall took this thing viral,' she added during Facebook Live.

Arielle and Kenley made the drive to the local airport on Saturday, where the Delta Red Coats were waiting to reunite the toddler with her doll.

On Friday, Delta Airlines announced they they found Kenley's Daddy Doll and they would be flying it to the Savannah/ Hilton Head International Airport

Photos from the sweet reunion show Arielle, the Delta Red Coats and a bubbly Kenley holding her Daddy Doll.

Zamora and Jones said they were more than happy to hand deliver Kenley's toy.

'It will mean a lot to her. You know this doll, even if she may have felt a little overwhelmed at the moment, um, having that through the years will mean so much to her,' they said.

'And then, shell be able to sleep tonight. That was her pillow,' they added.

Red Coats Valeria Zamora and Sheila Jones (pictured) personally delivered the missing Daddy Doll to the Britton family on Saturday

Arielle told CNN: [Saturday] night was the first night since we've been home that I didn't have to go in and put her back to sleep in the middle of the night'

Arielle told CNN on Sunday that having Kenley's Daddy Doll back has already helped the young girl.

'Last night was the first night since we've been home that I didn't have to go in and put her back to sleep in the middle of the night,' Arielle said.

She also revealed that Delta Airlines had a backup plan in place to send a recorder to Kenley's father overseas to remake the doll if it couldn't be found.

'Delta went above and beyond what was necessary,' she said.
FRANKFORT  Migration-inspired, avian-themed paintings by Frankfort artist Ellie Harold have been slated for an extended exhibition in the American embassy in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Imtiaz Hafiz, curator of Art in Embassies Program (AIE) of the U.S. State Department notified the artist in early November to request the loan of four oil paintings.

Pick up is scheduled for later this month.

According to Hafiz, the Art in Embassies (AIE) was created to exhibit original artwork by American artists in the residences of the United States Ambassadors worldwide. The ambassadorial residences serve as the center for official state functions overseas and the exhibitions become a part of the ambassadors cultural mission.

Bridget Brink, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service from Michigan, was appointed as ambassador to the Slovak Republic on July 1, 2019.

Harolds oil paintings Autumnal Meetings, Narrative Arc, Liminal Zone and North Woods will be on loan to the embassy in Bratislava for two to three years. Three of the four artworks are from the artists Birds Fly In series that have been inspired by global migration issues.

The birds in these paintings symbolize the human desire for freedom and love," said Harold. "Im thrilled my art has the opportunity to fly across many national borders to be part of this exhibit.

Other large format paintings from the avian-themed series will form the basis for Birds Fly In: A Human Refuge, an experiential art and music installation that will be displayed at the Oliver Art Center in Frankfort on Aug. 7..

I believe art can help resolve human issues such as migration by opening hearts and minds to an intuitive wisdom that transcends divisive beliefs and attitudes, Harold said. Its an honor to have my work recognized by AIE and my privilege that it will serve our country in this way at this time.

Ellie, a past Artist in Residence at Sleeping Bear Dunes and current juror, registered with the AIE about 5 years ago.

Ellie and her husband Roo Davison plan to visit the exhibited paintings in Bratislava in October.
The insurers are: Beneficial Life Insurance, Country Bankers Life Insurance, First Life Financial, Fortune Life Insurance; Manila Bankers Life Insurance, Manulife Philippines, Philippines International Life Insurance, and United Life Assurance. Aside from the insurers, several officials of the NHMFC were also charged for administering the agreements.

The PCC alleged that the agreements, one of which was signed in 1980, has deprived borrowers of the right to choose a carrier to buy mortgage redemption insurance from.

The complaint filed by the PCCs enforcement office said the deals resulted in poor service, unfavourable premium rates, and lack of options to the detriment of the beneficiaries of the MRI coverage.

According to the statement, the investigation began when the NHMFC asked the commission to review its agreements with the insurance pool. The government-owned company had previously tried to terminate the agreement, but faced the threat of being sued by the insurance companies.

If found guilty of violating the Philippines competition law, companies may be made to pay a fine of up to PHP100 million (around US$2 million).
International Information



International Operation Name: Operation RANDOM

International Mission Name: RANDOM

Mandating Organization: Government of Canada

Region Name: Europe

Location: Europe

Mission Date: 11 February 1954 - 27 June 1957

Mission Mandate: To ferry RCAF aircraft to No. 1 RCAF Air Division in Europe.

Canadian Forces (CF) Information (RANDOM))

CF Mission/Operation Notes: With the stand-up of NATO and the emergence of the Cold War, Europe was seen as the next potential battleground, so much so that even the Korean War was seen as a diversion. Canada committed herself to providing 12 squadrons of aircraft as well as ground forces in an effort to deter attacks and defend Western Europe.

The aircraft would be flown to Europe using the North Atlantic ferry route that had been developed during the Second World War by the RAF's Ferry Command. Leaving from Goose Bay or Gander in Newfoundland, aircraft would fly to Greenland, Iceland and on to Scotland and England.

The first aircraft to make the flight were F-86 Sabres, on their way to create No. 1 Canadian Air Division. Under the name Operation LEAP FROG, three squadrons of Sabres would fly the route, trailed by a 426 Squadron North Star carrying servicing personnel. A total of four distinct operations were flown:

Leap Frog I, 1 Wing - 439, 441, May-June 1952

Leap Frog II, 2 Wing - 416, 421, 430 Sqns, September-October 1952

Leap Frog III, 3 Wing - 413, 427, 434 Sqns, March-April 1953

Leap Frog IV, 4 Wing - 414, 422, 444 Sqns, August-September 1953

As the CF-100 proved itself as an all weather night fighter, the decision was made to replace four squadrons of Sabres with four squadrons of Canucks. This would provide NATO with a more capable interception capability, as there was no all-weather or night fighter capability in Europe. The Canucks were flown to Europe under Operation NIMBLE BAT, and again 426 Squadron provided a North Star aircraft to carry support personnel for each stop-over. The timings for each of the four Nimble Bat operations are:

Nimble Bat I, 445 Sqn, Oct-Nov 1956

Nimble Bat II, 423 Sqn, Feb 1957

Nimble Bat III, 440 Sqn, May 1957

Nimble Bat IV, 419 Sqn, Aug 1957

The Canadair Sabre was constantly modified to maintain its edge as one of the best fighters of the era. As new Marks emerged off Canadair's production lines, these aircraft were ferried to Europe to replace the now dated aircraft. At the same time, T-33s for use by the Air Division and as Mutual Aid gifts to NATO members were also ferried across the Atlantic, under the name Operation RANDOM. The first operation began on 11 February 1954, ferrying new Sabre Vs, while the last mission, Random 30 commenced on 24 June 1957, with 24 Sabre Vis and six T-33s. In just over three years of ferrying, No. 1 Overseas Ferry Unit, supported by 426 Squadron, safely delivered more than 800 aircraft overseas.

No. 1 OFU also brought aircraft back to Canada. With the introduction of the Mk VI Sabre, the now surplus Mk Vs were either donated to other NATO members, or brought back to Canada. HMCS Magnificent left the UK with 50 Sabres on 7 Nov 56; while No. 1 OFU completed two ferrying operations from east to west across the North Atlantic - Operations RANDOM WEST I and II, on 17-19 Oct 56 (20 Sabre Vs) and 17-20 Nov 56 (16 Sabre Vs). (These operations were also referred to as REVERSE RANDOM.)

When Belgium purchased 53 Avro CF-100 Canucks, the RCAF delivered them in Operation JUMP MOAT. There were five missions under this op name, with the numbers 3 and 4 also bringing CF-100s to the Air Division and number 5 being solely Air Division aircraft.

JUMP MOAT I, December 1957

JUMP MOAT II, March 1958

JUMP MOAT III, May 1958

JUMP MOAT IV, June 1958

JUMP MOAT V, October 1958

The need to transfer aircraft to Europe did not end with Operation Random. In 1958, the need to ferry T-33s to NATO members under the Mutual Aid agreement produced operation STAR FLIGHT, with eight T-33s going to Greece and 17 T-33s going to Turkey. The aircraft, accompanied by two North Stars from No. 426 Sqn, departed on 9 May and returned to Canada on 22 May.

1959 was to prove a very busy year for ferrying aircraft to Europe. On 9 June, 12 T-33s piloted by members of No. 129 Acceptance and Ferry Flight and escorted by a 426 Squadron North Star departed Goose Bay for No. 4 Wing as part of Operation SILVER DOZEN. They arrived safely at Baden-Sollingen on 15 June. A repeat of this operation was required in August, hence Operation SECOND SILVER DOZEN. This time, No. 129 AFF and No. 426 Sqn delivered 11 T-33s to No. 4 Wing.

In September, Operation WESTERN WEAR ferried 22 T-33s to the Air Division, France, Greece, Portugal and Turkey. Pilots from No. 129 AFF were again accompanied by the familiar North Star from No. 426 Sqn, the operation starting 22 September and being completed with the return to Canada on 9 October. (This op was also referred to in RCAF files as Op Western Way.)

Throughout the 1950s, the RCAF, under the authorization of the Government of Canada, provided aircraft to NATO allies under the Mutual Aid Agreement. In 1959, 19 Beech C-18 Expeditors were provided to France and another 6 to Portugal, flying to these countries under Operation BEECHFLIGHT. This operation started on 20 May and ended 4 June when the six Portuguese aircraft landed in that country. Each aircraft had a pilot and navigator, while a North Star from 426 Squadron carried the 12-man support section.

Operation Western Weft and Western Weal were conducted in 1962, delivering aircraft to France and Greece respectively. On this occasion 40 T-33s and 10 Expeditors were given to France, and 10 T-33s to Greece. This operation was conducted in five separate missions between 17 April and 3 August.

The RCAF also ferried aircraft inside aircraft. As CF-104 Starfighters were coming off the Canadair production line in Montreal, most were transported to Europe to equip No. 1 Air Division. These operations involved putting the CF-104 inside one of the newly acquired C-130 Hercules and flying it over in that manner. These operations, known as RHO DELTA, lasted from 1962 to 1965, ending when the last of the 185 CF-104s had been delivered. (Rho Delta is ancient Greek for 100 -Rho- and 4 - Delta).
Sydney, Feb 10 : Around 100,000 homes remain without power in Sydney on Monday, after the heaviest storm in 30 years lashed Australia's east coast, which has also caused flash flooding.

The Bureau of Meteorology said that over the past four days there has been 391.6 mm of rain, making it the wettest period since February 1990, reports Xinhua news agency.

With flash flooding impacting communities along the Georges River to the South and the Hawkesbury River to the North, along with other low-lying areas across the city, the New South Wales (NSW) State Emergency Service (SES) has responded to approximately 10,000 calls for help and performed at least 150 flood rescues.

In one case, police divers continued to search for a man who is feared dead after his car was swept off a causeway at Galston in the city's north.

Warning motorists not to drive through floodwaters, SES Assistant Commissioner Paul Bailey told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that "it is inherently dangerous to be driving through water".

"There will be areas of water, especially people driving in the Sydney area, driving to work. On those kerbside lanes, there's still lots of water in the areas that hasn't gone away.

"So, we are asking people to be very careful as they drive to work. And this might be one of the days that, if you can work from home, that would be a good way to do it," he added.

Making matters difficult however, is that public transport services across Sydney have gone into meltdown.

"Severe weather conditions have affected roads and transport infrastructure across the state including flooding, trees in overhead wiring and backing tracks, external power supply issues and signal equipment repairs causing extended delays across train lines and many roads," Chief Operations Officer for Transport NSW Howard Collins said in a statement.

"Over the past few months, road and rail infrastructure has been impacted by bushfires and severe storms, and while many services will resume and roads will reopen as weather conditions ease, the road and transport network will take time to recover from the damage caused," Collins added.

A total of 54 schools have also been closed across the Sydney and Central Coast region on Monday.

While the low-pressure system has wreaked havoc on much of the state, the deluge is expected to bring some much-needed relief to agricultural communities who have been locked in the grips of the worst drought on record.

The downpour is also a godsend for firefighting authorities who have been battling the deadly bushfires in the country's history over recent months.

Another positive is that the Warragamba Dam which supplies around 80 per cent of Sydney's drinking water has risen from 43 per cent capacity to 62 per cent.

Last month, residents of the city were forced to comply with tight water restrictions due to the reservoir's rapidly dwindling freshwater supply.

Although the rain has now stopped, more heavy storms are forecast for later this week.
Anger has been stirred by a video that shows regime fighters destroying the graves of opposition fighters in Idleb reports Neda-Sy.

Loyalist websites have circulated a video image showing a group of Assads militias destroying and digging up graves in the areas they have taken in northern Syria as a form of revenge against the areas residents.

Local activists said that the video was filmed in the cemetery of the town of Khan al-Subl south of Idleb, in which a number of armed militia men appear laughing and taking selfies while destroying and digging up the grave of the martyr Muhanna Emad al-Din.

The militias, which are proxies for Russia and Iran, have taken over a number of towns and villages to the south and east of Idleb recently after destroying them and clearing them of civilians.

The militias did not stop at looting the possessions of civilians in these areas, but also killed those residents who could not leave and violated the sanctity of the dead.

Russia has been carrying out its military campaign against northern Syria for about a year, during which time hundreds of civilians have been killed and more than a million and a half civilians have been displaced.

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 Married At First Sight cast have 'all been officially warned' by the show's executive producer it has been claimed, after some broke their contracts before the finale.

New Idea magazine alleges that the head boss had 'urgent meetings' with the stars of the show after some spoilers were posted online.

It comes after three brides were caught with new boyfriends, despite the show only being aired the past week.

'They've all been officially warned': Married At First Sight's executive producer has had crisis talks with the cast to stop them breaking their contracts and ruining the finale (Tash Herz is pictured)

In recent weeks, Hayley Vernon has hinted that she and truck driver 'husband' David Cannon had split.

She has also recently been seen kissing mother-of-two Poppy Jennings and holding hands with bride Vanessa Romito.

According to New Idea, Hayley debuted her new boyfriend Justin Leigh online, while Natasha Spencer teased a new love interest online, a man named Steve.

In recent weeks, Hayley Vernon (pictured) has hinted that she and truck driver 'husband' David Cannon had split. She has also recently been seen kissing mother-of-two Poppy Jennings and holding hands with bride Vanessa Romito

New love? According to New Idea, Hayley debuted her new boyfriend Justin Leigh (pictured) online, while Natasha Spencer teased a new love interest online, a man named Steve

Mikey Pembroke also was reportedly seen partying with two blondes and said in a video: 'Delete me Channel Nine, I don't give a f**k!'

It was reported this week - despite the show only airing for a week - that Natasha, Poppy and Hayley have already moved on from their husbands.

According to Woman's Day, Natasha is dating Steve and it's 'moving fast.'

That was quick! Financial analyst Natasha, 26, is believed to be dating a man named Steve (pictured together), with a friend telling Woman's Day their relationship is 'moving fast'

But in a conflicting report, NW claims she is romantically involved with someone called Andrew, whom she previously 'dated on and off for five years'.

Natasha was also recently spotted meeting up with her ex-boyfriend Eden Dally for coffee in Sydney, but it's understood they are just pals.

The Sydneysider is paired with operations manager Mikey Pembroke, 29, on MAFS.

Over so soon? The Sydneysider is paired with operations manager Mikey Pembroke, 29, (pictured) on MAFS

Woman's Day also published photos of mother-of-two Poppy, 38, kissing a 'mystery man' in her home town of Wollongong recently.

The pictures were supposedly taken last week, which means that her 'marriage' to FIFO worker Luke Eglin, 39, presumably didn't work out.

Meanwhile, Tash Herz recently debuted her new romance with girlfriend Madison Hewitt, despite being 'married' to Amanda Micallef on the show.

Nine declined to comment when contacted by Daily Mail Australia on Monday, in relation to this story.
Latest News CoreLogic data shows new listings on the rise in early 2022 First data of the year suggests supply is already entering back into the market, cooling hot property market

Business NSW calls for support as pandemic bites Staff shortages and customer falls causing severe problems in recovery

Remember those feelings of excitement, achievement and growth when you first started your business? Now, its likely they have become buried among those of isolation, fatigue and ongoing financial stress.

Statistics from the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman show that 97% of Australias economy is made up of small business with no more than twenty employees. Yet more than 60% of these fail within their first three years, and the odds are stacked against those that continue.

This is a real issue and something that only can be addressed when we know what is stacked against us. Here are 5 key challenges for small business owners, like yourself, with advice for how to overcome them.

Working long hours

Running your own small business is a 24/7 activity, which is why its so easy to get stuck on the treadmill. There is always more to do, always another form to fill out, another client to call, always more, more, more. This impacts our home life, especially when we have to tell our partner why we wont make it back for dinner or to kiss the kids goodnight, again.

Its easy to forget that we actually achieve more when we do less. Slowing down, carving out space and time for ourselves and what we enjoy, creating distance from our work helps with perspective. When we have a clearer head, when were not trying so hard, then we create the mental space to solve complex problems and to respond to events instead of reacting to them.

Struggling with finances

Ask any business owner what their biggest stressor is, and the majority will reply, money.

As leader of your company, it is impossible to have all the answers for all the problems, which is why the right support and education is key. Identifying areas for growth, then connecting with the right professionals to fill those gaps will accelerate your success, as well as make you feel supported and confident.

Ask yourself: Who are my tribe (personal and professional), and who will support me to get there? What other education, tools or resources do I need? Who can mentor me from where I am now to where I need to be? Take steps to address those gaps.

Managing staff issues

When you first started your business, it was probably pretty easy. The only person you had to manage was you! Now 90% of your time is likely spent managing the everyday challenges that your team brings into the workplace, as they too are human.

It seems counter-intuitive (They are the problem!), but you cant manage anyone else unless you are managing yourself first. When you dont feel safe, neither do your staff. They are not immune to the fallout from your insecurity, stress and changes. You need to take them along on the journey with you, to connect with them and to keep them aligned with your vision and mission. So managing this issue, starts with managing yourself.

Maintaining health and wellbeing

Research shows that one in five working Australians report experiencing mental illness, with evidence suggesting psychological distress is most acute for sole traders. This is cause for real concern.

There will always be pressure, setbacks and failures running your own show: it will never go away (sorry). This is why it is crucial to be mentally healthy, fit and strong.

Making conscious choices each day about what to eat, when to exercise, and how to switch off from work and on for home is the recipe for success and stamina in small business. Practising gratitude in the morning, meditating, walking in nature and being mindful of your thoughts, feeling and experiences are ways we can interrupt negative patterns and influence positive ones.

Keeping quiet

While you may have people around you all the time, its easy to feel like no one truly gets it. So instead of confiding in those closest to you about challenge, you isolate yourself more and more. This only exacerbates what you are experiencing, as you internalise what is happening.

Your mindset plays a huge role in changing this situation. It helps you move from talking about what you wish for to actually making steps, and asking for the help that will make a difference to your life.

Hence, extending your hand for help is the biggest step towards gaining a sense of control over your environment. Knowing you can change yourself, your business and your life is crucial: not just to survive, but to thrive.

Anastasia Massouras is a leader, facilitator and coach helping small business owners and teams to overcome barriers that prevent growth and success. She is the CEO of Work Happy, which provides wellbeing and employee assistance programs and tailored advice for corporates, as well as the founder and CEO of Pure Insights, a consultancy specialising in mental health intervention. Visit www.anastasiamassouras.com
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will not attend this year's Munich Security Conference, at which Russia will be represented by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, chair of the conference Wolfgang Ischinger told reporters in Berlin on Monday.

The chancellor has taken part in every second conference since 2008, including last year's event, Ischinger said, adding that if this pattern continues he is almost certain that the chancellor will attend this conference in 2021.

The German government will at this year's conference be represented by Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, and Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, he said.

"Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will lead the Russian delegation," Ischinger said.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will also take part in this year's Munich Security Conference, along with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Ischinger said.

The Munich Security Conference was established in 1963 as a forum for NATO member countries and as an international discussion platform, which annually brings together political leaders from all over the world. This year's event will be held from February 14 to February 16 at its traditional venue - the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in the center of Munich.
(Alliance News) - Barrick Gold Corp said Monday has entered into an agreement with Shanta Gold Ltd for disposal of its wholly-owned subsidiary Acacia Exploration Kenya Ltd, which owns the West Kenya exploration project.

Acacia Exploration Kenya is part of Acacia Mining, which was on the London Stock Exchange until its takeover by parent Barrick last year.

The company said the consideration for the disposal will be USD7.0 million in cash, approximately USD7.5m in Shanta shares and a 2% life-of-a mine net smelter return royalty relating to the project. Barrick will become Shanta's fifth-biggest shareholder, with a 6.4% stake.

The Canadian mining company said the project is first of the Acacia Exploration Properties in respect of which Barrick has procured a sale. As a result, the company determined that the best sale price obtainable involved a combination of cash and non-cash consideration.

The company said the sales process to dispose of the other Acacia Exploration Properties remain ongoing and may also involve non-cash consideration.

Earlier on Monday Shanta Gold had announced the purchase of gold project in East Africa.

The project, Shanta said, is one of the highest-grade gold projects in Africa, and gives the company a "major" presence in a geologically rich and under-explored gold region.

The West Kenya project has an inferred mineral resource of 1.2 million ounces of gold, at a grade of 12.6 grams of gold per tonne of ore. It covers 1,161 square metres on the Lake Victoria goldfield in north-western Tanzania and south-western Kenya.

Acacia's North Mara gold mine is nearby, as is South African miner AngloGold Ashanti Ltd's Geita mine.

Shanta said some USD55 million worth of exploration has taken place since 2010 at West Kenya. The Rosterman mine, which is within the West Kenya licence area, produced 259,000 ounces of gold in the past.

"The West Kenya acquisition is significant for Shanta Gold, creating an East African gold mining champion with realisable growth prospects and high asset quality across three attractive gold projects," commented Shanta Chief Executive Eric Zurrin.

"Shanta has successfully operated in East Africa for nearly 20 years and this acquisition is a natural extension in terms of geographic footprint, skillset, size and mining method.

"One of Shanta's competitive advantages is being able to operate long hole open stoping operations more efficiently than its peers which lends itself well to the advancement of the West Kenya project," he added.

Shanta Gold shares closed 2.0% higher in London at 11.25 pence each on Monday. Barrick was 1.5% higher at USD18.46 in New York on Monday afternoon.

By George Collard; georgecollard@alliancenews.com; updated by Loreta Juodagalvyte; loretajuodagalvyte@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Four family members from Delhi were killed while one person was critically injured after their car rammed into a tractor-trolley loaded with wood logs in Nangal area of Saharanpur district in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday night.

The injured is in a critical condition and is undergoing medical treatment here, Dr Kunal Jain, SBD Hospital, told ANI.

"Four family members died on the spot while one is injured. The family resides in Delhi's Rani Bagh area. The incident occurred at around 10:30 pm last night," said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Saharanpur, Dinesh Kumar.

The incident occurred when the family members were returning from a wedding.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Laura Dern accepts the award for best performance by an actress in a supporting role for "Marriage Story" at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Laura Dern has been named Best Supporting Actress at the 92nd Academy Awards for her role in Noah Baumbachs Marriage Story.

Dern, who turned 53 on Sunday, described her first Oscar as the best birthday present ever as she spoke from the stage of the Dolby Theatre.

The win came from Derns third nomination after she previously lost out on Best Actress for Rambling Rose and Best Supporting Actress for Wild.

Read more: Brad Pitt wins Best Supporting Actor

Her performance as divorce lawyer Nora Fanshaw won over Kathy Bates (Richard Jewell), Scarlett Johansson (Jojo Rabbit), Florence Pugh (Little Women) and Margot Robbie (Bombshell).

The Jurassic Park star used her acceptance speech to praise her parents  actors Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd.

Laura Dern and Scarlett Johansson in a still from Marriage Story. (Netflix)

She said: Some say never meet your heroes but I say, if you're really blessed, you get them as your parents.

"I share this with my acting legends, Diane Ladd and Bruce Dern. You got game, I love you."

Both of Derns parents have been nominated for Oscars during the course of their careers.

Read more: Adam Driver walks out of interview after Marriage Story clip

Dern previously won a BAFTA, Golden Globe and SAG Award for her Marriage Story performance, completing a sweep of awards season.

Bruce Dern, Laura Dern and Diane Ladd arrive at the Los Angeles Premiere 'Wild' at AMPAS Goldwyn Theater on November 19, 2014. (Photo by Barry King/FilmMagic)

Marriage Story was nominated for six awards at the Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.

Derns co-stars  Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson  were also nominated, for Best Actor and Best Actress respectively.

Read more: Jurassic World short film lands online

She is set to reprise her role as Dr. Ellie Sattler in the Jurassic Park franchise in the upcoming Jurassic World 3, which will film this year.

The 92nd Academy Awards took place overnight at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
STEPANAKERT.  One application has been submitted so far for the March 31 national elections in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).

Documents on the registration of Ruslan Israyelyan, who is nominated by the Independence Generation party as a candidate for president, are being reviewed at the Artsakh Central Electoral Commission (CEC), the latter informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Some parties had informed about running in the elections on their own, and somewith a bloc, but have not yet submitted any respective documents to the CEC.
The Pastoral Council of Zimbabwes Archdiocese of Harare has rolled out a new Pastoral Plan calling upon all parishes to establish standardised Small Christian Communities (SCCs).

Jesuit Communications  Harare, Zimbabwe

I am a Missionary Disciple in my Small Christian Community

Inspired by the 2019 Extra-Ordinary Mission months theme, Baptised and Sent: the Church of Christ on Mission in the World, the new archdiocesan pastoral plan calls on all the faithful to be registered, belong and active in their Small Christian Communities.

Word of God is central to SCCs

In his foreword, the Archbishop of Harare, Robert Ndlovu urged the new communities to focus on the Word of God, Liturgy, and charity.

I urge you to form and establish standardised Small Christian Communities in all parishes, to foster membership, belonging and active participation of all parishioners and also to make the Word of God, Liturgy, Catechesis and charity the thrust of Small Christian Communities.

The Archdioceses Pastoral Vicar, Fr Kizito Nhundu said, Small Christian Communities are meant to form a family of God, a people whose hearts beat together- sharing life and sharing about God.

Why SCCs?

Small Christian Communities are groups of neighbourhood enclaves who meet regularly, in the home of one of the parishioners. The SCCs as neighbourhood, parish-based communities in either an urban or rural area meet share the Word of God, celebrate their patron saint; meet and help each other during periods of bereavement, sicknesses etc.

They are modelled on the early Church communities: Gatherings of small home-based communities, where sharing of life and faith may occur; a place where members support one another and get to know one another personally.

Family of God: Households of up to 20 families

While the Archdioceses plan recognises the existence of other structures such as blocks, sections, neighbourhood zones and districts, Small Christian Communities are to be limited to ten or fifteen families (households), considering proximity and residential setup.

Once a SCC grows to 20 families, it will be split up to create two SCCs. This will allow for closer interaction.

The smaller, the better, we are forming a family of God, that is, people who are united, who share life, who share about God. So the involvement of all the faithful in the Churchs life is important, said Fr Nhundu.

As a Pastoral Council, we have given guidance to parishes and deaneries; so deaneries will report on progress in March, and we are also on a roll to visit deaneries and parishes to unpack and monitor progress.

Young people in SCCs

During the last two years, the Archdiocese has been focusing on the young people, their faith formation and vocational discernment.

These SCCs will also serve to accompany young people in their journey of faith, so one will no longer be accompanied by their family only, but also by the community.
Schick razor maker Edgewell Personal Care on Monday scrapped its $1.37 billion deal for peer Harry's Inc after the U.S. competition regulator sought to stop the deal.

The Federal Trade Commission earlier this month said it would file a lawsuit to block the acquisition, arguing it would harm competition in the U.S. shaving industry.

"We are disappointed by the FTC's decision and continue to disagree with its position," Chief Executive Officer Rod Little said in a statement.

"Given the inherent uncertainty of a potential trial, the required investment of resources and time ..., we determined that proceeding with our standalone strategy is the best course of action for Edgewell," he said.

The shaving market has long been dominated by Procter & Gamble, which makes Gillette brand razors, and Edgewell, which makes Wilkinson Sword and many private label razors. The market was shaken up by the entry of Harry's and Dollar Shave Club  bought by Unilever in 2016  with their online-focused businesses.

Edgewell said privately owned Harry's intended to pursue litigation against it.
Operation RENAISSANCE is the activation of Contingency Plan (CONPLAN) RENAISSANCE, the Canadian Armed Forces' (CAF) plan for rapid deployment to the scene of a disaster overseas, as directed by the Government of Canada. It provides direction to the CAF in the event of a decision by the Government of Canada to respond to a request from another nation for help.

The plan delivers a rapid CAF response that is flexible enough to make an immediate positive impact at the scene of the disaster, and to continue helping people as the situation develops.
Axa has confirmed earlier reporting that it has agreed to sell its its operations in Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia to Austrias Uniqa Insurance Group.

Axa will sell 100% of its life and savings, property/casualty and pension businesses in Central and Eastern Europe for a total cash consideration of Euro 1,002 million, representing an implied 12.4x 2019E P/E multiple.

The completion of the transaction is expected to result in a positive impact on Axa Groups Solvency II ratio of approximately 2 points. Axa said it does not expect any significant net Income impact from this transaction.

This transaction marks another step in the simplification of Axas footprint.

For Uniqa, the deal represents five million new customers and 800 million in additional premiums in three markets where it says it is already profitable and where it sees potential for growth. The product mix is almost balanced, with 35% in life insurance and 65% in property business.

Uniqa CEO Andreas Brandstetter said Axa companies are an excellent fit with our long-term strategy.

Uniqa Group is one of the leading insurance groups in its core markets of Austria and Central and Eastern Europe. Its 20,000 employees and exclusive sales partners serve 10.1 million customers in 18 countries. Uniqa is the second-largest insurance group in Austria with a market share of more than 21 per cent. Uniqa operates in 15 markets: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine. The group also includes insurance companies in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

Completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of regulatory approvals, and is expected to be finalized by Q4 2020.

Axa Poland offers a full range of Life and Savings (L&S), Property and Casualty (P&C), Pension, and Asset Management products to 3.2 million customers. The company has 1,575 employees and distributes its products through two multichannel networks, dedicated to P&C and L&S. It also benefits from an exclusive and multi-product bancassurance partnership with mBank. In 2018, it was ranked* 6th and 9th in P&C and L&S markets respectively and 6th in the pension market. Revenues* of Axa Poland in 2018 were Euro 585 million.

Axa Czech Republic and Slovakia offers a suite of L&S, P&C and Pension products to 1.6 million retail customers. The company has 527 employees and operates as one integrated platform, under a single management team active in both countries, through three Czech entities with branches in Slovakia. It has a diversified distribution mix consisting of brokers, tied agents and direct distribution channels. In 2018, it was ranked amongst the top 10 players in terms of market share* in P&C, L&S and pension markets in both Czech Republic and Slovakia. Revenues* of Axas operations in Czech Republic and Slovakia in 2018 were Euro 170 million.

Topics Property Casualty
How do you like these numbers?

Five: That's the number of earnings downgrades Boral has fessed up to in just over 19 months.

Two: That's the number of senior personnel sacked for accounting fraud relating to the company's US windows business. (The president of the windows business has been moved into a marketing role so maybe that should read 2.)

Boral CEO Mike Kane will leave his post ahead of schedule. Credit: Louie Douvis

31: That's the expected percentage decline in profit in the 2020 financial year over the previous year.
Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/10/2020 -- Bank payment cards are part of a payment system issued by a bank, to a customer that enables its owner to access the funds in the customer's designated bank accounts, or through a credit account and make payments by electronic funds transfer and access ATMs. Such cards are known by a variety of names including bankcards, MAC, ATM cards, client cards, cash cards or key cards.



Advance Market Analytics released a new market study on Global Bank Payment Cards Market with 100+ market data Tables, Pie Chat, Graphs & Figures spread through Pages and easy to understand detailed analysis. At present, the market is developing its presence. The Research report presents a complete assessment of the Market and contains a future trend, current growth factors, attentive opinions, facts, and industry validated market data. The research study provides estimates for Global Bank Payment Cards Forecast till 2025*.



Some are the key players taken under coverage for this study are Gemalto (Netherlands), Barclays PLC (United Kingdom), Discover Financial Services (United States), American Express (United States), MasterCard (United States), Visa Inc. (United States), IDEMIA (France), Giesecke and Devrient (Germany), Perfect Plastic Printing (United States) and ABCorp (United States)



Free Sample Report + All Related Graphs & Charts @ https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/sample-report/123463-global-bank-payment-cards-market



Important Features that are under offering & key highlights of the report:



1) What all companies are currently profiled in the report?

Following are list of players that are currently profiled in the the report Gemalto (Netherlands), Barclays PLC (United Kingdom), Discover Financial Services (United States), American Express (United States), MasterCard (United States), Visa Inc. (United States), IDEMIA (France), Giesecke and Devrient (Germany), Perfect Plastic Printing (United States) and ABCorp (United States)

** List of companies mentioned may vary in the final report subject to Name Change / Merger etc.



2) Can we add or profiled new company as per our need?

Yes, we can add or profile new company as per client need in the report. Final confirmation to be provided by research team depending upon the difficulty of survey.

** Data availability will be confirmed by research in case of privately held company. Upto 3 players can be added at no added cost.



3) Can we get more level of segmentation to meet our market intelligence objective?

Yes it can be provided, however ETA would vary and final confirmation would be given only after checking data in data repository.



4) Can inclusion of additional Segmentation / Market breakdown is possible?

Yes, inclusion of additional segmentation / Market breakdown is possible subject to data availability and difficulty of survey. However a detailed requirement needs to be shared with our research before giving final confirmation to client.



** Depending upon the requirement the deliverable time and quote will vary.



Enquire for customization in Report @ https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/enquiry-before-buy/123463-global-bank-payment-cards-market

Market Trend

- Rewards Credit Cards Have Proliferated In Recent Years to Drive Usage, Mostly In Developed Economies

- Surged In Contactless Payment Cards

- Debit Card Use At The Point Of Sale Has Grown Dramatically In Recent Years

Market Drivers

- The Rapid Development in Payment Infrastructure Such As POS Terminals and Payment Gateways Worldwide

- The Rising Disposable Income of an Individual Has Boosted the E-Commerce Industry

- The Increased Preference for Payment Cards for Online Shopping

Opportunities

- Emerging Markets Payment Cards Are Expected To Grow Significantly

Restraints

- Lack of Consumer Confidence and Growing Concern around Card Fraud

- The Availability of Alternative Payment Methods Such As E-Wallets



To comprehend Global Bank Payment Cards market dynamics in the world mainly, the worldwide Global Bank Payment Cards market is analyzed across major global regions. AMA also provides customized specific regional and country-level reports for the following areas.



- North America: United States, Canada, and Mexico.

- South & Central America: Argentina, Chile, and Brazil.

- Middle East & Africa: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Turkey, Egypt and South Africa.

- Europe: UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Russia.

- Asia-Pacific: India, China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, and Australia.



Get Reasonable Discount on This Premium Report @ https://www.advancemarketanalytics.com/request-discount/123463-global-bank-payment-cards-market



Major Highlights of TOC:

Chapter One: Market Overview

Chapter Two: Executive Summary ---------- Free of Cost

Chapter Three: Market Dynamics ------ USD400

Market Drivers, Market Challenges, Market Trends, Restraints & Opportunities

Chapter Four: Market Factor Analysis ------ USD400

Supply/Value Chain, Porters Five Forces, PESTEL analysis, Market Entropy, Patent & Trademark Analysis, Bargain Power

Chapter Five: Global Bank Payment Cards, by Market Segmentation and Geography (value, volume**) (2013-2018) ------ USD1400

Global Bank Payment Cards

Type (Credit card, Debit card, Charge card, ATM card, Stored-value card, Fleet card, Others), Application (Personal Use, Business Use), Technologies (Embossing, Magnetic stripe, Smart card, Proximity card, Re-Programmable Magnetic Stripe Card)

Global Bank Payment Cards Region

North America (United States, Canada and Mexico)

Europe (Germany, France, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, Nordic, Others)

Asia-Pacific (Japan, China, Australia, India, Taiwan, South Korea, Middle East & Africa, Others)

Chapter Six: Global Bank Payment Cards - Manufacturers/Players Analysis ------ USD1200

Competitive Landscape, Comparative Market Share Analysis (2017-2018), Peer Group Analysis (2018), BCG Matrix, Company Profile, Product/Service Offering Matrix

Chapter Seven: Global Bank Payment Cards, by Market Segmentation and Region (value, volume**) (2019-2024) ------ USD1400

------ Sections same as Chapter Five ------

Chapter Eight: Company profiles / Competitive Landscape [12 Players] ------ USD1250

Chapter Nine: Methodology/Research Approach, Data Source, Disclaimer

** If applicable



Actual Numbers & In-Depth Analysis, Business opportunities, Market Size Estimation Available in Full Report.

AMA also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research according to clientele objectives. Thanks for reading this article; you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report like North America, Europe or Asia.
In a provocative remark, BJP MP Satish Gautam said social activist Sumaiya Rana, daughter of leading Urdu poet Munawwar Rana, should "go to Pakistan" since she is feeling suffocated in today's India.

The Aligarh MP made the remark while talking to reporters on Sunday.

Sumaiya, while addressing a gathering of anti-CAA protesters in Aligarh on Saturday, accused the Uttar Pradesh police of using "coercive measures" to crush protests against the amended citizenship law and said such measures are "very suffocating" for the people.

"Sumaiya should go to Pakistan since she is feeling suffocated in today's India," Gautam said.

He also warned of action against students who have been protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) since December 16 last year.

"There are about 150-odd students who are still holding protests at AMU, while the rest have returned to classes. They have all been identified by the police now and rest assured they will not be in the campus from the next academic year," the BJP MP said.

Despite pressure from local authorities, Sumaiya went ahead and addressed women protesters, who have been staging a sit-in against the CAA for the past 12 days, at the Eidgah complex in Aligarh.

Accompanied by some student leaders from the AMU, the social activist had told the protestors, "We are holding all-women protests which are completely peaceful and which is our democratic right, but as we have seen in Lucknow, the UP police is using coercive measures to crush our protests."



In Lucknow, she said, women's washrooms were locked to break the protest.

"Such oppressive methods are very suffocating for the people," she added.

On Sunday, Sumaiya and some AMU student leaders tried to enter the protest site but were denied permission by police.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Aligarh, Akash Kulhari on Monday said it is apprehended that some antisocial elements "might try to take advantage of the ongoing protest at the Eidgah".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Poets&Quants, the definitive online publication for business education news, has unveiled MBA Watch, a revolutionary feature for the Poets&Quants MBA-bound community that incorporates smart advice from MBA admissions experts, including launch partner mbaMission, and invites the wider student community to weigh in on the odds of acceptance.



MBA Watch has its roots in Poets&Quants' highly popular Handicapping Your MBA Odds series in which applicants who submit basic profile information have the odds of their success at target schools assessed by HBSGuru.com Founder Sandy Kreisberg and P&Q Founder John A. Byrne.



"We think this is going to be great new service to MBA applicants who want to get into a highly ranked MBA program," Byrne says. "Once you share your background and goals, you can sit back and watch as our readers and our experts provide valuable feedback on your candidacy. They'll assess your odds of getting into your first-choice school and give you specific advice on how to improve your odds and whether you should apply to other schools."



A free service for students, MBA Watch also allows readers to sort profiles from a variety of criteria including first-choice school, the applicant's industry, and the odds estimated by both the experts and the wisdom of the P&Q crowd.



Our debut panel of experts includes several of mbaMission's 25 full-time consultants, Liza Weale of Gatehouse Admissions, P&Q Founder Byrne, HBSGuru.com Founder Kreisberg, and Alex Min of The MBA Exchange.



"MBA Watch is an interactive way to increase your sense of belonging to a community of people who are traveling along with you on the same often anxiety-filled journey to a highly selective MBA program," Byrne says. "And it's an opportunity to share your journey with others who can benefit from knowing who gets in and who doesn't."



Learn more about MBA Watch here.

https://poetsandquants.com/mba-watch/



About Poets&Quants:

Poets&Quants is the leading resource for complete coverage of graduate business education. We feature multiple tools and authoritative content, including: consolidated B-school rankings, news and in-depth features, videos, podcasts, two searchable directories and events, empowering our community with information needed to make decisions along their journey from pre- to post-MBA.



About mbaMission

mbaMission is the world's leading MBA admissions consulting firm and the only one exclusively recommended by Manhattan Prep and Kaplan GMAT. Our dedicated, full-time Senior Consultants work one-on-one with business school candidates to identify and showcase their strongest attributes in their applications.

SOURCE Poets&Quants

Related Links

https://poetsandquants.com/mba-watch


WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Every year, the Trump Administration proposes eliminating funding for important community programs with bipartisan support, and every year Congress rejects it. Once again, the President's budget cuts crucial funding from the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) and the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). David Bradley, CEO of the National Community Action Foundation, which represents the local organizations that run these programs said this:

"The President's budget is cruel. Though the President speaks about making America strong, he cuts the Community Services Block Grant, which provides essential funding to local communities that allow them to break down barriers to opportunity. He cuts the Weatherization Assistance Program, which makes homes safe for sensitive populations like infants and the elderly during cold winters and hot summers. And, he cuts the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program which saves mothers from having to make the choice between heating and eating  a true matter of survival. Congress has continuously demonstrated, on a bipartisan basis, that these three programs are a priority, because they recognize that the character of our nation depends upon the survival and success of our neighbors."

The Community Services Block Grant provides funding to local agencies known as Community Action Agencies that serve 99 percent of the counties in the United States. The use of the flexible funds is determined locally and is based on what the community needs in order to connect low income individuals and families to opportunity. CSBG funded programs assist nearly 16 million people a year.

The Weatherization Assistance Program provides weatherization upgrades to 35,000 homes every year, and by doing so reduces energy costs for low income households, increases energy efficiency of the homes and improves health and safety outcomes for families.

The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program provides assistance with home energy bills, energy crises and weatherization and energy-related minor home repairs. Without LIHEAP, low income seniors and families face utility shut offs that can be deadly.

Since 1981, the National Community Action Foundation has served as the federal advocate for the Community Action network, which is comprised of locally-based anti-poverty organizations and their state and federal partners.

Media Contact:

Tara Clark

Chief of Staff

202-842-2092

[email protected]

SOURCE National Community Action Foundation
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AMMO, Inc. (OTCQB: POWW) (AMMO or the Company), a premier American ammunition and munition components manufacturer and technology leader, will be exhibiting at the Enforce Tac 2020 Conference and Expo (Enforce Tac), which is being held March 4-5, 2020, and participating at the IWA OutdoorClassics Expo (IWA), which is being held March 6-7, 2020. Both events are taking place in Nuremberg, Germany.



Enforce Tac is an industry leading exposition platform, where manufacturers present their latest product developments to the world of law enforcement, military and security personnel. AMMO representatives will be located at Booth G (#12-345) in the USA Pavilion on March 4th and 5th to showcase the Companys innovative product offerings.

Following Enforce Tac, representatives from AMMO will be attending IWA on March 6th and 7th to meet with existing and prospective international customers interested in the companys product portfolio. IWA is a significant international event with approximately 60,000 individuals in attendance, including industry leaders and procurement representatives covering the commercial and retail, as well as military and law enforcement markets.

AMMOs patented and technologically advanced ammunition, including STREAK, AP and HAPI rounds, have continued to generate interest around the globe, said Fred Wagenhals, AMMOs CEO. International military and law enforcement customers increasingly need a consistent supply of ammunition that remains on target with visual identification while not giving away a shooters position. Our offerings meet these exact needs, and the Enforce Tac and IWA expositions provide an excellent platform to showcase these unique products to international customers from the military and law enforcement channels, along with commercial and retail markets.

To schedule a meeting with AMMO at either event, please contact John Flynn ( jflynn@ammoinc.com ; 602-619-8607) or Mark Hanish ( mhanish@ammoinc.com ; 480-338-2460).

About AMMO, Inc.

AMMO was founded in 2016 with a vision to change, innovate and invigorate the complacent munitions industry. The Company designs and manufactures products for a variety of markets, including law enforcement, military, hunting, sport shooting and self-defense. AMMO promotes branded munitions, including its patented STREAK Visual Ammunition, /stelTH/ subsonic munitions, O.W.L. Technologies, and Night OPS (One Precise Shot)  a lead-free frangible tactical line of munitions for self-defense. The Companys corporate offices are headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Manufacturing operations are based in both northern Arizona and Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Jagemann Munition Components is a wholly-owned AMMO subsidiary based in Wisconsin, and is an industry leading brass casing designer and manufacturer supporting the global ammunition industry. For more information please visit: www.ammoinc.com .

Forward Looking Statements

This document contains certain forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements for purposes of federal and state securities laws, including, but not limited to, any projections of earnings, revenue or other financial items; any statements of the plans, strategies, goals and objectives of management for future operations; any statements concerning proposed new products and services or developments thereof; any statements regarding future economic conditions or performance; any statements or belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing.

Forward looking statements may include the words may, could, estimate, intend, continue, believe, expect or anticipate or other similar words, or the negative thereof. These forward-looking statements present our estimates and assumptions only as of the date of this report. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the dates on which they are made. We do not undertake to update forward-looking statements to reflect the impact of circumstances or events that arise after the dates they are made. You should, however, consult further disclosures and risk factors we include in Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Reports filed on Form 8-K.

In our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, references to AMMO, Inc., AMMO, the Company, we, us, our and similar terms refer to AMMO, Inc. and its wholly owned operating subsidiaries The Enlight Group (d/b/a Jagemann Munition Components), SNI, LLC and Ammo Technologies, Inc.

Investor Contact:

Cody Slach

Gateway Investor Relations

Phone: (949) 574-3860

POWW@gatewayir.com
After establishing her career, raising her children and making friends in Athens, Carol Myers said her focus as District 8 commissioner would be pushing for just and equitable policies to help the Athens community.
The hospitals built in Wuhan in just a few days are the work of 7,000 migrant workers, who slaved away 24 hours a day underpaid. And some have become infected.

Hong Kong (AsiaNews/CLB)  The whole world was amazed at the speed (10-13 days) with which two infectious disease hospitals were built in Wuhan.

World public opinion was impressed by the determination of Chinese authorities, but nobody has talked about the hidden heroes who built the two facilities: migrant workers who slaved away around the clock with almost no respite.

We publish here an article by the China Labour Bulletin that highlights the dangers and unfairness to which these workers have been subjected (Photo by the Changjiang Daily: an exhausted worker taking a break).

Several Chinese cities including Zhengzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen have announced plans to build new hospitals in a bid to halt the spread of the coronavirus that originated in Wuhan. Beijing has already started to renovate the Xiaotangshan hospital used in the SARS crisis in 2003.

Just like the two new hospitals in Wuhan, the authorities hope to have these new facilities in place and operational in just over a week.

The speed with which the Huoshenshan (Fire God Mountain) Hospital on the outskirts of Wuhan was completed has earned praise from commentators both inside China and abroad. However, these ultra-high-speed projects have placed a massive strain on construction workers, both in terms of workload and health and safety.

At Huoshenshan, a crew of 7,000 worked around the clock to get the facility up and running by 4 February. Initially, there was not even a shift system in place and everyone worked constantly. One worker said he had been working for ten hours straight with just a short break for lunch since he arrived at the site at 8. am. Eventually, as more workers arrived, construction was organised in two shifts, with construction workers doing 12-hour shifts every day and administrative staff working even longer.

Many of the construction workers at Huoshenshan were rural migrants who were planning to return home for the Lunar New Year holiday but were trapped in Wuhan when the authorities closed off the city on 23 January. Working on the new hospital gave them the chance to earn more money but also contribute to the fight against the coronavirus in Wuhan, they said.

One labour contractor from Henan told Caixin that he could earn double his usual pay by working through the holiday. However, Chinas Labour Law stipulates that labourers working on public holidays should be paid no less than 300 percent of their usual wage.

In addition to excessive working hours and underpayment, workers are also at greater risk of accidents and infection. On the eve of the hospitals opening day, a dozen workers, equipped only with thin masks that offered little protection, could be seen fixing a leaking drainage pipe.

One 56-year-old construction worker who worked at Huoshenshan has already been confirmed as infected with the coronavirus, as have his parents. However, none of them has been able to find a place at any of Wuhans overcrowded hospitals. It is likely that more cases have gone unreported.
The outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has affected Vietnams trade with not only China but also other markets, said Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai.

Trucks carrying goods pass the Tan Thanh border gate in Lang Son province, which borders China

In January, Vietnam posted 19 billion USD in exports, down 15.8 percent from December 2019 and 14.3 percent year on year. The US was the biggest importer of Vietnamese goods in the month, followed by China, the EU, ASEAN, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

Meanwhile, imports also dropped 14.4 percent from the previous month to 19.1 billion USD, according to the Export-Import Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

The declines were partly attributed to complex developments of the 2019-nCoV outbreak, as well as the week-long Lunar New Year holiday.

Pointing out the epidemics impacts on Vietnams trade with not only China but also other countries, Hai used textiles and garments as an example, elaborating that Vietnam is an apparel exporter, but it also imports a large amount of textile and garment materials from China. Therefore, the outbreak has influenced all aspects, from imports and exports and cross-border trade, to domestic trade and industrial production.

Vietnam and China share a long border with many border gates via which a large volume of imports and exports are traded.

The MoIT is keeping a close watch on the nCoV epidemic to assess its impacts on trade. However, despite strict measures being taken to contain the epidemic, the transport of goods to and from Chinese localities is proving difficult.

If the epidemic lingers, the trade volume via border gates between the two countries will be affected, experts noted.

Hai said Vietnams agricultural and aquatic exports still depend much on China, so any fluctuations in this market, regardless of objective or subjective reasons, will greatly influence Vietnams export activities.

Agricultural restructuring towards less quantity and higher quality has yet to be carried out effectively. Besides, it is difficult to find other markets quickly to replace China since the domestic agriculture sector is unable to immediately satisfy new markets food safety and animal and plant quarantine standards, he added.

The MoIT has asked businesses to closely follow the export situation in northern border provinces like Lang Son, Lao Cai, Quang Ninh and Cao Bang to adjust their production and export plans to avoid congestion at border gates and other negative impacts.

Vietnamese firms have also been told to strictly comply with export and origin-related regulations, improve product quality, and adhere to relevant requirements to minimise losses.

However, the ministry said in the long term, it is necessary to restructure agricultural products, boost production and processing connectivity, and strengthen links with domestic distribution networks to avoid overdependence on a single market.

To tackle difficulties at border gates, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on February 5 permitted the continuation of cross-border imports and exports but said anti-nCoV measures must be ensured./.VNA

VN farm produce exporters urged to look at markets other than China Exporters of agricultural products, especially dragon fruit, must improve quality and focus on the domestic and new export markets and reduce their dependence on the Chinese market amid the current epidemic outbreak, experts have said.
A luxury around-the-world cruise scheduled to dock in Singapore next week has been diverted to Western Australia amid coronavirus fears.

Currently docked in Phuket, Thailand, the Queen Mary 2 will sail directly from South East Asia to Fremantle, docking in the Port City on February 18.

Cruise operator Cunard has blamed increasing travel and entry restrictions "impacting ship itineraries and connecting travel" for the move.

The Queen Mary 2 in New York Harbor. Credit: Supplied

The announcement comes as hundreds of Australians remain trapped in three separate quarantined cruise ships in Asia amid fears passengers could spread the deadly virus.
Preschooler Claire Mancuso knows exactly what to say whenever shes offered a snack.

The 4-year-old asks, Are there peanuts in this? before accepting anything.

By now, the question comes to her almost automatically because her life could depend on it.

Her mother, Lauren Tarbox, a San Antonio physician, said the vigilance that she instilled in Claire has helped protect her from accidental exposure to peanuts. But it doesnt do much to calm moms nerves.

When Claire was 18 months old, she had a life-threatening reaction to a peanut butter cup. After eating the candy, she broke out in hives, vomited and started wheezing before being rushed to an emergency room.

Since then, Tarbox quizzes Claire frequently, always worrying about the next time she has a reaction.

Last week, Tarbox learned the Food and Drug Administration had approved Palforzia, the first medication designed to lessen allergic reactions to peanuts.

This will definitely be a game-changer, and it decreases their chances of a severe reaction, said Dr. Lukena Karkhanis of AllergySA, who treats Claire and dozens of other South Texas children with peanut allergies.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio-based company shakes up allergy industry

The practices three locations in San Antonio plan to start offering the new treatment this month.

Another practice, Certified Allergy and Asthma of San Antonio, said its personnel will meet again with Palforzia representatives to learn more about the medication. Officials at the Allergy Institute of San Antonio said they dont have plans to offer the drug.

The oral immunotherapy drug has been approved for patients diagnosed with a peanut allergy between the ages of 4 and 17.

Karkhanis said patients taking the drug will undergo a gradual de-sensitization, with a regimen that requires taking a tiny amount of purified peanut powder over several weeks. Doctors will then determine the size of the dose theyll take daily.

Clinical trials of more than 1,200 patients showed that those who took the drug were better able to tolerate accidental contact with peanuts. The drug targets allergic reactions only to peanuts  no other variety of nut.

Peanut allergies affect an estimated 1 million children in the U.S., said Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDAs Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

Its a condition in which the bodys immune system mistakenly identifies even small amounts of peanut as harmful. Allergic reactions to peanut are often unpredictable and can be fatal.

Only 1 in 5 of children with a peanut allergy will outgrow it.

Because there is no cure, allergic individuals must strictly avoid exposure to prevent severe and potentially life-threatening reactions, Marks said Jan. 31, when the agency announced the approval.

Karkhanis said the treatment will give the parents of her young patients some peace of mind.

However, theyll still need to carry an Epipen injection kit, an emergency treatment for severe allergic reactions, just in case.

Gloria Davis, director of student health services at San Antonio ISD, said each campus keeps at least two Epipens on hand. In a typical school year, three or four students suffer severe reactions to peanuts.

Its very serious, she said. Some reactions may be mild, and some might be life-threatening  and we just cant take that chance.

Davis, who has worked for the district for 25 years, said SAISD  the third largest school district in San Antonio  provides in-service training for its teachers and staff on how to handle severe allergic reactions.

At least 3,000 students have provided documentation from their doctors alerting the school district to their sensitivity to certain foods, medications, insects or seasonal allergies, she said.

Some schools go as far as banning nuts from their campuses.

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Tarbox said this past Halloween, she watched as her 6-year-old son helped weed out the Snickers bars from his little sisters treat bag. She often thinks about what will happen when her daughter goes off to college.

Whatever the price of the new drug, she said, Itll be worth it.

Aimmune Therapeutics, the Brisbane, Calif.-based biopharmaceutical company that developed the drug, said the list price of Palforzia is set at $890 per month.

A spokesperson for the company said the drug maker will offer a patient co-pay program that could reduce a patients out-of-pocket costs to as low as $20 per month.

The company also will offer a patient assistance program, which will provide the drug at no cost for eligible patients who arent covered by either a private insurance plan or a government-sponsored plan, such as Medicaid.

Aimmune is also developing drugs that target egg and tree-nut allergies.

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
Syrian and Turkish forces exchanged fire on Monday in another deadly clash in northwest Syria, where nearly 700,000 people have fled escalating violence in the last major opposition bastion. Turkey, which backs Syrian rebel factions, said five of its troops were killed by Syrian regime fire in Idlib province, and that it had "neutralised" 101 Syrian soldiers in response. It was not possible to verify that claim and neither Syrian state media nor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, immediately reported casualties among Syrian army ranks. The exchange was the second in eight days and took place in the area of Taftanaz, where Turkey recently sent in troops, the Britain-based Observatory said. Regime shelling a week earlier killed eight Turkish soldiers, prompting a deadly response by the Turkish army. The clashes are further straining relations between Damascus and Ankara, while also increasing tension between Russia and Turkey -- the conflict's chief foreign protagonists. Syrian government forces backed by Moscow have pressed a blistering assault against the last major rebel bastion in Syria's northwest for more than two months. Violence in the provinces of Idlib and Aleppo has displaced 689,000 people, said David Swanson, spokesman for the United Nation's humanitarian coordination office, OCHA. "The number of people being displaced in this crisis is now spiralling out of control," he told AFP on Monday. The exodus is one of the largest of the nine-year civil war and risks creating one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes of the conflict. It has sparked alarm from Turkey which already hosts some 3.7 million Syrian refugees and fears another influx. Turkey's defence ministry said the troops targeted on Monday had been sent "as reinforcement to the region with an aim to prevent clashes in Idlib, ensure our border security, and stop migration and human tragedy". The ministry warned that Ankara would respond "in the strongest possible way" to any new attack. In a sign of growing tensions, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday night held a meeting in Ankara with ministers, the army chief of staff and intelligence chief to review the situation in Idlib, local media said. - Turkish reinforcements - Since Friday, large convoys of vehicles carrying commandos, tanks and howitzer artillery pieces have reinforced 12 Turkish military posts in Idlib installed by Ankara under a 2018 deal with Russia to stave off a regime offensive. But the agreement has failed to stop the government's advance, with Turkey saying regime forces have surrounded three of its outposts. Fahrettin Altun, Erdogan's top press aide, wrote on Twitter that "Turkey retaliated against the attack to destroy all enemy targets and (avenge) our fallen troops". Erdogan has given Damascus until the end of the month to retreat from its outposts, and urged Russia to convince the regime to halt its offensive. A Russian delegation has been in Ankara for talks on Idlib since Saturday, with further meetings expected on Monday. The two countries have worked closely together despite supporting opposing sides of the war. - Intensifying bombardment - The escalation between Turkey and Damascus comes as intense bombardment by the Syrian regime and Russia killed 16 civilians including 8 children on Monday in Aleppo and Idlib provinces, the Observatory said. That toll included six children among nine civilians who lost their lives early Monday in Russian raids on the village of Abin Semaan in Aleppo province, it said. Russian-backed regime forces have been waging a fierce offensive in that province to retake a key highway, it said. At the site of the raids, a rescue worker carried a dead girl in a thick blanket, while one of her relatives pleaded for the body, said an AFP correspondent. Volunteers shivering in near-freezing temperatures dug at mounds of rubble, rescuing a dust-covered man and a child who had been trapped beneath. The latest air strikes follow a night of heavy bombardment by Russia and the regime that had already killed at least 20 civilians in both the provinces of Idlib and Aleppo, according to the Observatory. Around half of Idlib province, along with slivers of neighbouring Aleppo and Latakia provinces remain outside government control. Some 50,000 fighters are estimated to be in the shrinking pocket, including many jihadists from the dominant Hayat Tahrir al-Sham alliance but mostly their rebel allies, according to the Observatory. Some three million people, half of them already displaced at least once by violence elsewhere in Syria, live in the area. Rebel fighters have exchanged fire with Syrian regime forces in Idlib province Syrian government forces deployed near the Damascus-Aleppo highway Since Friday, Turkey has sent long convoys to reinforce its observation posts in Syria's Idlib Syrian rescue workers search for survivors following air strikes on the village of Abin Semaan in Aleppo province
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald will rue not having a running mate after she retained her seat with enough surplus votes to help another candidate over the line.

Ms McDonald was elected on the first count in Dublin Central with 11,223 first preferences.

Her surplus of 4,935 represented more than the total number of first preferences won by the next best candidate.

In Dublin South-West, Sinn Fein's Sean Crowe topped the polls with nearly 30pc and was elected on the first count with 20,072 votes, 8,811 over the quota.

Sinn Fein's Dessie Ellis topped the poll in Dublin North-West, exceeding the quota by more than 6,000 votes.

Change

Mr Ellis, who was first elected to the Dail in 2011, said there is "an appetite for change" as he was elected with 14,375 first preferences.

Sinn Fein's Louise O'Reilly was re-elected with close to 25pc of votes in Fingal, pointing to housing as the single biggest reason voters backed her.

Ms O'Reilly, who has been a TD in the constituency since 2016, received 15,792 votes in the north Co Dublin constituency.

It was a landslide victory for Sinn Fein's Aengus O Snod-aigh, who secured a seat for Dublin South-Central on the first count.

Mr O Snodaigh got 17,015 votes with a surplus of 8,356 to be transferred.

He said he regretted Sinn Fein had not run two candidates. The party had taken senator Maire Devine off the ticket to secure a seat.

"Hindsight is a wonderful thing, as I've said before," he said.

When asked if the party should have run more candidates nationally, party leader Ms McDonald said: "I should have had a running mate in my own constituency, that's for sure.

"We could certainly have fielded more candidates, but hindsight is a wonderful thing."

Behind Ms McDonald, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe looked capable of retaining his seat. He had the second-highest number of first preferences with 4,181.

It was a landslide for Sinn Fein in Dublin Mid-West as candidates Eoin O Broin and Mark Ward secured two seats for their party.

Winning a total of 11,842 first preference votes, Mr O Broin said his party was ready for government.

"We've said throughout our campaign that we want to be in government in order to deliver real change on all of the key issues we highlighted," he said.

"But once we start contacting the parties, we'd be looking to discuss with all of them around restoring the pension age to 65, building 100,000 houses, proper investment in universal healthcare and obviously progressing towards a referendum on Irish unity."

His running mate Mr Ward was the only candidate elected in the second count with 9,808 votes.

After the cheers, Mr Ward told the Herald it was "a good day to be a Shinner".

"It's hard to take it all in, but it's clear that the country wants change," he said.

"I think Fianna Fail and Fine Gael never dreamed this day would come, so they must be petrified right now."

With nearly 21,000 first preferences in Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein's Denise Mitchell was assured election on the first count to return to Dail Eireann, with nearly four times the votes she attracted in 2016.

Ms Mitchell's performance left Climate Action Minister Richard Bruton in second place, but very close to the quota and with Fine Gael's share of the overall vote up slightly on 2016.
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald celebrates with her supporters after being elected at the RDS Count centre on February 9, 2020 in Dublin

DUP MP Sammy Wilson has issued a warning after Sinn Fein's election success in the Republic of Ireland, saying they are "useless in government".

Mr Wilson served in the Stormont Executive alongside Sinn Fein as both Finance Minister and Environment Minister from 2008 to 2013.

The DUP's Brexit spokesperson also said that he believed if the party ended up part of a coalition government it could make the UK's Brexit negotiations easier as Sinn Fein's demands could be rejected out of hand by the UK Government.

His party colleague Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said Sinn Fein cannot afford to "mess up" the Stormont institutions after their stunning success at the polls.

Sir Jeffrey urged the party to use their success as a platform to "address concerns and enhance their democratic credentials as a political party".

The pair were speaking after Sinn Fein won the largest number of first preference votes in the Republic's General Election, ahead of the traditional big two parties, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail.

Sinn Fein have had conversations with other parties before they attempt to form a coalition government, but Mr Wilson said the party entering government was still far from certain.

Mr Wilson said that he believed having Sinn Fein in government would "probably make it easier" for the UK Government to reach a Brexit deal.

They are a foreign country, whatever they say about a UK referendum is immaterial

"I'm sure you'll get the usual anti-Brit stuff directed at the Government, but they already dealt with that from Fine Gael and Varadkar."

The South Antrim MP said that he believed any demands for a border poll would fall on deaf ears.

"They are a foreign country, whatever they say about a UK referendum is immaterial. Any demand from the Republic would be seen as an unacceptable intervention," he said.

"No amount of shouting can change the fact that there is no appetite for it.

"Boris Johnson has been very clear that he won't be giving Scotland a referendum so why would he give Northern Ireland one when that would just invite pressure from the Scottish?"

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Mr Wilson said that the Belfast Agreement was clear that a border poll could only be called if it was the will of the people in Northern Ireland.

"There is no evidence of that at all, let's not forget in the last General Election Sinn Fein's vote decreased by 9%," he said.

The veteran DUP MP speculated that Sinn Fein may attempt a joined up approach if in Government both north and south of the border, but said what they could do in Northern Ireland would be limited.

"They are not good partners, we have seen that over a number of years," Mr Wilson said.

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"I'm sure they will try and attempt a joined approach but while they trumpeted radical left-wing policies in the south up here they have to work within the constraints of a budget set by a Conservative Government and with their coalition partners.

"People down south will soon catch on, Sinn Fein are a good party of opposition where they can make all sorts of promises which bears no resemblance to reality, but they are a pretty useless party of government as we have learned over a number of years at Stormont."

We are very clear that there has to be political stability, that is what people want to see

Sir Jeffrey said that Sinn Fein still need to focus on maintaining good relations in Northern Ireland after their success.

"Sinn Fein will understand that if they mess up again in Northern Ireland it will have a negative impact on their support in the Republic," the Lagan Valley MP said.

"They would be foolish to seek the undermining the dealings of good government in Northern Ireland, the people they represent deserve it.

"We are very clear that there has to be political stability, that is what people want to see."

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The DUP Westminster leader urged Sinn Fein to address concerns around the way the party operates.

"We would call on them to use this opportunity to to address these concerns and enhance their democratic credentials as a political party," he said.

Sir Jeffrey said that any talk around a Sinn Fein Foreign Minister was pre-mature given it was still unclear what form the new Irish government would take.

He said the issue would not concern his party as under the Good Friday Agreement the Irish Foreign Minister can not interfere in the domestic affairs of Northern Ireland.

Sir Jeffrey said that the party's electoral success should not be overstated.

"We respect their mandate, but the fact is that less than 25% of people in the Republic voted for them in this election and less than 25% of people in Northern Ireland voted for them in the last General Election," he said.

"Three-quarters of people in Ireland have not voted for Sinn Fein and we shouldn't lose sight of that."

A Sinn Fein spokesperson said: "Jeffrey Donaldson needs to read the latest in a series of polls which shows that more than 57% of people in the south support a referendum on Irish unity within five years."
NEW YORK  Small-business owners have plenty of changes to deal with as 2020 proceeds  higher labor costs for many companies, and some owners will discover that they have to comply with new laws that arent on the books in their own states.

As of Jan. 1, there are higher minimum wages in a quarter of the states, and new federal overtime rules. The IRS has new W-4 forms owners will need to get used to. Plastic bags are on their way out at stores and other businesses in a growing number of places around the country. And California has new laws on freelancers and consumer privacy that can affect out-of-state companies.

A look at a handful of the 2020 changes in federal, state and local laws and regulations:

Minimum wages increase

The minimum wage is higher in 21 states as of Jan. 1, including New York, where the minimum rose Dec. 31. The increases in California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York are steps toward an eventual $15 minimum approved by state legislatures.

Increases are planned later in the year in states including Connecticut, New York, Oregon and Washington, D.C., and some counties and cities are raising their minimums as well.

While many businesses pay hourly workers above the minimum, when theres an increase in the wage, many owners give all their staffers a raise to stay competitive amid a tight labor market.

New overtime rules go into play

The Labor Departments long-awaited revamp of its overtime rules are now in effect, giving an estimated 1.3 million workers a raise. Workers earning under $684 per week or $35,568 must now be paid overtime, up from the previous threshold of $455 per week or $23,660 annually.

Retailers, restaurants and manufacturers are most likely to be affected, with shift supervisors and assistant managers among the positions that must now be paid overtime after 40 hours a week. While all employers are subject to the rules, the higher threshold is likely to have the greatest impact on small companies that lack the revenue cushion that larger businesses have against higher costs.

Employers are expected to limit the hours of some workers so they dont incur overtime, or raise some staffers pay to a level above the threshold, making them exempt from the new rules.

More information about the overtime rules can be found on the Labor Departments website, www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/overtime/2019/index.

New W-4 forms now in use

The IRS has issued new W-4 forms for 2020, changing the way tax is withheld from employees pay. The new forms reflect changes required by the tax law that went into effect in late 2017; they do away with the allowances long used to calculate how much money should be withheld from paychecks. Instead, the new forms use information that can be found on employees tax returns.

Current employees dont need to fill out new W-4 forms, but new staffers or employees who want to change their withholding do need to complete them. The IRS has created a calculator to help small businesses compute withholding for the new forms if they dont use automated payroll software or providers. It can be found on the IRS website, www.irs.gov. Search for new Form W-4.

Plastic bag bans in effect

A number of states, counties and cities, including Albuquerque, have prohibited or restricted businesses from giving customers single-use plastic bags to carry purchases. Albuquerques and Oregons bans went into effect Jan. 1, and Maine, New York state and Vermont have similar prohibitions taking effect later in the year.

There are variations among the laws and some exceptions  in New York, for example, pharmacies are exempt if the purchase is for a prescription drug, and restaurants can give diners bags for takeout food. Some of the laws also require a 5-cent charge if a customer wants a paper bag.

While the laws have been passed out of environmental concerns, small retailers might see a benefit from not having to buy and supply plastic bags. And those that sell reusable shopping tote bags could get a small revenue uptick.

California changes information laws

A new California law gives consumers more control over the personal information companies collect and share with other businesses. While the law aims to exempt very small companies, those that do business with California residents, including out-of-state firms, can find themselves required to comply.

Under the law, companies must be able to tell consumers what information they have and what they do with it. Consumers must have the option to have their information deleted from companies computer systems. Businesses that handle information collected by others  for example, payment processors  can also find themselves subject to the law.

Companies are subject to the law if they have worldwide revenue above $25 million, collect or receive the personal information of 50,000 or more California consumers, households or electronic devices; or those who get at least half their revenue from selling personal information. Small businesses can reach the 50,000 threshold for collecting or receiving information  an individual who has a phone, tablet, PC at home and one at work counts as four users, not one.

A separate law puts strict limits on who can work as an independent contractor or freelancer. The law is aimed at ensuring that workers in the gig economy like Uber and Lyft drivers get the protections that labor laws give employees. It will force business owners to decide whether to hire these workers as employees, even for temporary assignments, or look for help in other states.

The law also affects out-of-state companies if they have been using independent contractors or freelancers in California.

New California laws often find their way to the rest of the country.
Etihad Cargo, the cargo and logistics arm of Etihad Aviation Group, has signed a new partnership agreement for Digital Air Cargo with WebCargo by Freightos, a leading air cargo rates and eBooking platform.



The WebCargo partnership extends Etihad Cargos digital reach to more than 1,700 logistics providers and forwarder customers globally, with the platform serving as an additional strategic channel to avail Etihad Cargo eBookings following the successful launch of Etihad Cargos own portal at www.etihadcargo.com in 2018, which today receives almost 50 per cent of the carriers overall bookings, said a statement from the company.



The WebCargo platform will provide instant Etihad Cargo booking schedules, promotional rates and eBooking, enabling sales and operations teams at forwarders to compare and book air freight in seconds.



Rory Fidler, head of technology and innovation at Etihad Cargo, said: We are pleased to kick-start 2020 with yet another digitalisation milestone. During the past 12 months we have introduced several initiatives to improve our customers experiences and provide the company with greater accessibility and visibility.



Our latest API capabilities will facilitate the roll-out of our product through WebCargo over the next couple of months and they will become a key partner in strengthening our digital connection to forwarders around the world with a special emphasis on European markets, he added.



Manel Galindo, CEO at WebCargo, said: Digital Air Cargo is going to become an industry norm and WebCargo is proud to be leading the movement with innovative industry partners like Etihad Cargo.



WebCargo by Freightos was the first digital air partner for airlines pioneering digitisation, and are committed to making air cargo work better to enable quick agile global trade and delivering a 21st century shipping experience. Its exciting to have Etihad Cargo join us in this endeavour, Galindo added.



Following todays announcement, Etihad Cargos flight schedules and market rates in mainland Europe and the UK will roll out on the WebCargo platform progressively allowing all platform members to review and compare airline offers, whilst instant eBookings functionality will follow in April upon the successful completion of API testing and systems integration.



Markets where eBookings will be enabled first are Spain, France and UK, with a gradual rollout to more markets to ultimately cover all of Europe throughout 2020, it stated.  TradeArabia News Service
What just happened? Mobile World Congress will be a lot quieter this year. Following in the footsteps of several other large companies, Sony and Amazon have become the latest names to withdraw from the tech show over coronavirus fears.

Last week saw LG and Ericsson announce that they wont be at this years event, and while ZTE said it was canceling its press conference, the Chinese firm later confirmed it would have booth space at MWC. News of the withdrawals was unexpected, but Nvidias decision to pull out came as a bigger shock, especially as its a major sponsor of the show.

Now, Sony, a company that traditionally has a huge presence at MWC, has decided that the risks posed by the coronavirus are too high to warrant its attendance. Sony has been closely monitoring the evolving situation following the novel coronavirus outbreak, which was declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization on January 30th, 2020, the company wrote on its website. As we place the utmost importance on the safety and wellbeing of our customers, partners, media and employees, we have taken the difficult decision to withdraw from exhibiting and participating at MWC 2020 in Barcelona, Spain.

Amazon has also pulled out. In a statement to TechCrunch, a spokesperson said: due to the outbreak and continued concerns about novel coronavirus, Amazon will withdraw from exhibiting and participating in Mobile World Congress 2020.

In addition to precautions that include an increased cleaning/disinfecting program and advising attendees to adopt a no-handshaking policy, MWC yesterday announced new measures to reduce the risks from the coronavirus. These include travelers from the Hubei province, where most of the virus-related deaths have occurred, not being permitted into the event. Temperature screening is also being implemented, and attendees will need to self-certify they have not been in contact with anyone infected.

Amid news of the withdrawals, some companies have reaffirmed their plans to attend MWC, including Qualcomm, Lenovo, Motorola, Xiaomi, Vivo, and Honor.

Mobile World Conference takes place between February 24 and 27 in Barcelona, Spain.
BETHESDA, Md.  The days of foreign spies focused just on stealing government secrets are long over. On Monday afternoon, the government agency created to protect the United States against foreign spies unveiled a new strategy that identifies threats from a growing number of groups and countries targeting everything from American elections to industrial secrets.

While Chinas activities remain a major focus for the U.S. government, the new strategy released by the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, a government agency responsible for tracking foreign espionage, notes that Cuba, Iran, North Korea, terrorist groups, hacktivists and others pose increasing danger as well.

Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: NCSC, Getty Images

The 2020-2022 strategy, signed by President Trump on Jan. 7, identifies areas where foreign threat actors could cause serious damage to our national and economic security and where we need to invest attention and resources, wrote William Evanina, the director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, in a letter attached to the strategy.

The top five priorities reflect this broadening focus beyond espionage. They are: protecting critical infrastructure such as energy and financial services; preventing foreign spies from infiltrating supply chains to spy on U.S. systems like the communications sector; stopping rampant theft of U.S. intellectual property; shoring up the defense of U.S. elections from foreign influence; and defending against foreign cyber espionage and attacks.

The strategys focus also mirrors the arrests and indictments pouring out of the Justice Department since former Attorney General Jeff Sessions unveiled his China initiative in November 2018. Those cases are primarily focused on targeting Americans and Chinese nationals who conduct espionage for China, steal American intellectual property, hack into American systems or fail to disclose ties to Chinese institutions like the Thousand Talents program.

During the Justice Departments China Initiative Conference last week, Attorney General William Barr warned against Beijings drive for economic and technological supremacy, which he said poses an unprecedented challenge to the United States.

Story continues

Attorney General William Barr gives the keynote address at the China Initiative Conference in Washington on Feb. 6. (Cliff Owen/AP)

While the strategy names familiar enemies like Russia and China, Evanina and his team sought to shift the focus to defending whats important from an increasingly large and complex array of adversaries, ranging from nation-states to terrorist and criminal groups whose access to technology and new tools has rapidly increased over time.

The National Counterintelligence and Security Center makes several recommendations to begin addressing the weaknesses identified in the report, such as increasing partnerships between the U.S. government and the private sector, and designing new technical countermeasures against the threats.

Additionally, the strategy notes that within the government, adversaries are no longer just interested in targeting agencies with a national security mission, as seen in the 2015 breach of the Office of Personnel Management by China, in which millions of sensitive personnel records were stolen. The National Counterintelligence and Security Center suggests all options should be on the table to respond to such threats.

To meet the increasing challenges posed by foreign intelligence actors, the United States will need to employ whole-of-government counterintelligence and security approaches that effectively integrate offensive and defensive measures and leverage all instruments of American power, the strategy says.

The strategy also alludes to a major unresolved threat in recent years  the unauthorized disclosures of U.S. cyber tools, likely a reference to WikiLeaks publication of the CIAs digital hacking tools, known as Vault 7, as well as the leak of the National Security Agencys cybertools through a still-unidentified person or network of people calling themselves Shadow Brokers.

Those disclosures have sparked increasing debate over whether the U.S. government should withhold information about vulnerabilities in software and hardware it discovers in order to exploit them for espionage or attacks against adversaries. In January, the NSA chose to reveal a dangerous bug in Windows 10 to Microsoft so that the company could fix the problem and protect its customers, but its unclear how many times it has withheld such information.

Speaking to reporters Monday afternoon, Evanina called the report a message to the world: Were on to you.



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Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 04:41:09|Editor: yan

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UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations on Monday urged the international community to take immediate action to help prevent the desert locust catastrophe in the Horn of Africa while countries in the region are in a race against time to tackle a desert locust invasion.

Locust threat in the Horn of Africa "is really, really challenging," UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York.

"There are 30 million people in the affected countries - Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, who are severely food insecure. Now 10 million of those people are in the places affected by the locusts," he said.

"Unless we get a grip of this in the next two or three or four weeks, we're going to have a really, really serious problem," he noted.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recently launched a 76 million-U.S.-dollar appeal to control the locusts' spread. So far, only around 20 million dollars has been received, said the UN humanitarian chief.

He called on the global community to respond quickly, as "there's a very small window."

Swarms crossed into Uganda overnight, and Tanzania and South Sudan are now "on the watch list," Lowcock said earlier in the day while briefing relevant ambassadors about the infestation situation.

"In this region where there is so much suffering and so much vulnerability and fragility, we simply cannot afford another major shock. And that's why we need to act quickly," said Lowcock.

Cyclones are the originators of swarms, Keith Cressman, senior locust forecasting officer of FAO, told reporters.

In the past 10 years there's been an increase in the frequency of cyclones in the Indian Ocean, he said.

The infestation in Kenya is the worst in 70 years, while Somalia and Ethiopia are experiencing their worst outbreaks in 25 years, putting crop production, food security and millions of lives at risk, the United Nations said on its website.

Even before this outbreak, nearly 20 million people faced high levels of food insecurity across the east African region long challenged by periodic droughts and floods, it said.
By Associated Press

RAMALLAH (West Bank): One of the men was hospitalized with kidney failure and 11 broken ribs. Another was nearly unrecognisable to his wife when he was wheeled into a courtroom. A third was stitched up after being attacked by a security dog.

Then the three Palestinians were returned to their Israeli interrogators. They had been swept up in a sprawling manhunt launched after a roadside bomb killed a 17-year-old Israeli girl and wounded her father and brother as they hiked down a spring last August in the occupied West Bank.

The attack raised fears of a sophisticated militant cell that might strike again, and Israeli interrogators appear to have treated it as a ticking time-bomb scenario. Israeli and Palestinian rights groups say there is strong evidence that they tortured several detainees in violation of Israeli and international law.

The allegations against Israel are the most serious to come to light in years, and the rights groups say they point to a loosening of constraints two decades after the Israeli Supreme Court outlawed most forms of torture.

Lawyers and family members of the three main suspects say they were tortured to the point of being hospitalized. Several other Palestinians swept up by Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency said they were threatened, beaten, forced into painful stress positions and denied sleep.

A landmark 1999 Israeli Supreme Court ruling forbids such torture. But the law allows interrogators to defend the use of force when there is the fear of an imminent attack.

Rights groups say interrogators routinely make use of the loophole, knowing they will face few consequences, if any.

The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel says more than 1,200 complaints against the Shin Bet have been filed since 2001, without a single case going to trial. Only one criminal investigation has been launched, over a 2017 case involving alleged rape, and it is still open.

The allegations come at a sensitive time following the release of President Donald Trump's Mideast initiative, which heavily favors Israel and would allow it to annex large parts of the West Bank. The Palestinians have rejected the plan, and sporadic clashes have erupted across the West Bank in recent days.

The Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which has also been accused of torturing prisoners, has responded to the plan by threatening to end its longtime security coordination with Israel, which many Palestinians view as an extension of the occupation. The latest torture allegations could add to the mounting pressure on President Mahmoud Abbas to follow through on those threats.

'Severe torture'

Sahar Francis, the head of the Palestinian Addameer rights group and a lawyer for the suspects, said 44-year-old Samer Arbeed's interrogators beat him for 36 hours, leaving him with kidney failure and 11 broken ribs. He was hospitalized and required a respirator after developing pneumonia. He was released from the hospital after three weeks and returned to Shin Bet custody.

The Shin Bet said at the time that Arbeed did not feel well during interrogation and was taken to a hospital, without elaborating. Israeli media said the Justice Ministry was investigating. The ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

While Arbeed's hospitalization was widely reported at the time, Francis said his alleged co-conspirators, Barghouti and Hanatsheh, were also severely beaten.

Another detainee Walid Hanatsheh's wife, Bayan, said she hardly recognized him when she saw him 60 days after his arrest.

He was brought into court in a wheelchair," she said. He looked very old, his beard was plucked from several places and his eyes were deep inside his head. He was not himself, she said.

Francis shared photos of Hanatsheh she said were taken 10 days after his interrogation. They appeared to show large red bruises on his legs, feet and shoulders.

22-year-old Qassem Barghouti, the third alleged attacker, was bitten in his genitals by a security dog when authorities raided his home near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Francis said.

When he was brought back from the hospital for interrogation, the interrogators hit him on his wounds, she said. At one point during his interrogation, he urinated in his pants because he was not permitted to use the bathroom, she added.

Addameer declined to share medical records detailing the injuries, citing privacy laws.

Rachel Stroumsa, the executive director of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, said the allegations are very credible and line up with the testimony her group has gathered from other detainees over the years.

Somebody who is in good health is arrested and ends up two days later in hospital, incubated, on dialysis, with broken ribs," she said. "Its extraordinarily difficult for me to see how you could give it any other explanation than a severe suspicion of torture.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 19:14:06|Editor: huaxia

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TUNIS, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Tunisia has foiled an illegal immigration attempts to cross the Mediterranean toward the Italian coast, the interior ministry said Monday.

The Tunisian Maritime Guard arrested 107 illegal immigrants of different African nationalities off the southeastern coastal city of Sfax, according to a ministry statement.

"The group of illegal immigrants included two Tunisians and 105 individuals of different African nationalities," the statement said.

They were transferred to the Sfax naval base and handed over to the National Guard in the region for legal procedures.

Illegal immigrants usually choose the Italian island of Lampedusa, only 80 km from the Tunisian coast.
AMD is set to take the fight to NVIDIA later this year with Big Navi, a set of GPUs that will propel it into 4K and UHD high-end gaming. Following the leak of the AMD MI100 yesterday, TechPowerUp has now gotten its hands on the BIOS of AMD's first post-Navi GPU. Do not get your hopes up for it being a consumer card, though.

Working For Notebookcheck Are you a techie who knows how to write? Then join our Team! English native speakers welcome! News Writer (AUS/NZL based) - Details here

TechPowerUp reports that it is received the BIOS of AMD's first post-Navi GPU, a card that may feature up to 1 TB/s memory bandwidth. It is not an example of the "Big Navi" to which AMD alluded at CES 2020, though. On the contrary, TechPowerUp claims that it is essentially a stripped-back Vega chip.

The new leak follows yesterday's, on which we also reported. On the face of things, it appears that these two leaks come from different sources. While yesterday's evidently came from @KOMACHI_ENSAKA, TechPowerUp cites an unnamed source. @KOMACHI_ENSAKA has since explained that it had cooperated with the website, presumably supplying it with the BIOS. However, it had requested that TechPowerUp wait until the announcement of the GPU before publishing details pulled from the BIOS, a request that the website ignored.

Apparently called the Radeon Instinct MI100, the sever accelerator is the first example of AMD's Arcturus architecture. According to TechPowerUp, the card carries the device ID "0x1002 0x738C", which it states confirms that it is an AMD Arcturus chip. The website also reports that the card has 32 GB of HBM2 memory, along with support for Samsung KHA884901X and Hynix H5VR64ESA8H. Combining this with a 1,000 MHz clock speed and a 4,096-bit bus may yield a 1 TB/s memory bandwidth too.

TechPowerUp has also deduced from the BIOS that the GPU has a 1,334 MHz clock speed, with the SoC running at 1,091 MHz. Meanwhile, the 128 Compute Unit (CU) and 8,192 shader unit part reports a 200 W thermal design power (TDP), a value that is far lower than recent high-end AMD GPUs. TechPowerUp speculates that this could either mean that the MI100 is more efficient than past AMD cards, or that it is currently reporting an incorrect TDP.
Exiled former president Evo Morales has been given until Wednesday to prove he is a permanent resident in Bolivia or risk being thrown off the list of Senate candidates for May's general election, the country's supreme electoral court (TSE) said on Monday. The TSE said both Morales's candidacy and that of his Movement for Socialism (MAS) party's presidential candidate, Luis Arce, lack the necessary documentation. The TSE's website says both have until Wednesday to submit it. Morales is currently living in exile in Argentina having fled Bolivia in November after resigning as president following three weeks of protests at his controversial re-election. On Monday he took a flight to Cuba for medical treatment. The left-wing leader initially fled to Mexico following his resignation under pressure from the military, which came after an Organization of American States audit found clear evidence of vote rigging in the October 20 poll won by Morales. In December he moved from Mexico to Argentina, via another short stop in Cuba. Last week, Morales opponents said they would appeal against his registration as a Senate candidate on the grounds that he "doesn't live in the country," conservative senator Oscar Ortiz said. He said the constitution obliges legislature candidates to be living for at least two years in the region they stand for. Even before his exile, Morales lived in La Paz, the seat of government, but his party registered him as a candidate in the central Cochabamba department where MAS enjoys massive support. Presidential candidates must prove permanent residency in Bolivia for five years but Arce also fled to exile in Mexico in December, although he returned in January after he was announced as the top MAS candidate. For political scientist Carlos Cordero, "Morales's hope to stand for the Senate is practically frustrated." One of the eight presidential candidates has been disqualified. The TSE said Ismael Shabib from the Nationalist Democratic Action party of former dictator Hugo Banzer, failed to meet 11 of the 12 candidate requirements. The May 3 general election will see the president, 36 senators and 120 deputies elected.
Yahoo Life Videos

Ireland Baldwin is opening up about her anxiety disorder. The 26-year-old model, who is the daughter of former married couple Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, shared a photo on Instagram of her holding a blood pressure monitoring device, which she said helps her manage a phobia that she has struggled with for a long time.
A misconfiguration in the Elector election day app developed by Likud, the Netanyahus party might have exposed data on over 6.5 million Israelis.

A misconfiguration in an election day app developed by the N etanyahus party L ikud, might have exposed p ersonal details of over 6.5 million Israelis.

The incident was reported by the Verizon Media developer Ran Bar-Zik, and Israeli media ([1], [2], [3], [4]) confirmed the data leak.

Bar-Zik explained that he discovered the huge trove of data while was performing a security audit of the Elector app developed by Elector Software for Likud, the Israeli political party led prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu is actually sending Likud activists into a serious security breach, one of the most serious that has been exposed in recent years in Israel. reads the post published by Calcalist. Because a major security failure in Electors app and system revealed all the Likuds voter data ahead of the upcoming elections: a huge database of voters and containing up-to-date personal information  ID, full name, address, and phone  of close to 6.5 million Israelis with voting rights.

At the time it is not clear if the leaked information was accessed also by unauthorized parties before it was discovered.

Bar-Zik decided to assess the app after privacy critics raised by local media in recent weeks.

The Likud app was designed to allow the partys political supporters to sign up for news and updates during the upcoming Israeli election, on March 2.

The party p ublished the app on the elector.co.il website.

The analysis of the source code of the app revealed the presence of a link to an API endpoint that used to authenticate the sites administrators.

The expert pointed out that the API doesnt require any authentication to be used to query the application are receive the sites administratorss data in cleartext , including their passwords.

Once obtained the credentials, Bar-Zik used them access to the sites backend, including a database that contained the personal details of 6,453,254 Israeli citizens.

The database was an official and up to date copy of Israels voter registration database, which each managed by any party before the election.

The information includes the ID number, full name, full address, fathers name, ballot and voting address and voter ID  information that actually identifies all the senior citizens of Israel. This information was particularly up-to-date and comprehensive. continues the post. Bar Zick himself said that following an apartment move, he updated his address in the Interior Ministry just three weeks ago. His latest address appeared in the uncovered database.

The records in the database included personal details such as full name, phone number, ID card numbers, home addresses, gender, age, and political preferences.

Following the discovery of the data leak, the official website of the Elector app has been taken down.

Pierluigi Paganini

( SecurityAffairs  Elector app, hacking)

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A university in Colorado will offer a cannabis-related degree program with students studying the science and manufacturing of the drug in a 'rigorous' program that has been compared to double-majoring in biology and chemistry.

Colorado State University is expected to launch the Cannabis, Biology and Chemistry program this fall at its Pueblo campus, after receiving approval from the state last Friday.

The program would focus on the science necessary to work in the cannabis field and emphasize natural products and analytical chemistry, while students work out of a lab licensed to grow industrial hemp.

The school's College of Humanities and Social Sciences already offers an undergraduate minor in Cannabis Studies that focuses on cannabis and its social, legal, historical, political, and health-related impact on society.

Colorado university students will be able to study a cannabis-related curriculum similar to double-majoring in biology and chemistry from this fall, after state approval last Friday

Colorado State University's Pueblo campus will split the course into focus on natural products, the genetics of cannabis or other plants, and analytical chemistry, looking at chemical compounds, such as determining what kind of cannabidiol concentration should exist in a product

But that course - similar to ones at Stockton University, New Jersey and SUNY Morrisville, New York - prepares people for social work, public health, and the law.

The new course joins the likes of other four-year programs at Northern Michigan University, and Minot State University in North Dakota which offer bachelors degrees in Medicinal Plant Chemistry.

'It's a rigorous degree geared toward the increasing demand coming about because of the cannabis industry,' College of Science and Mathematics dean David Lehmpuhl told The Denver Post. 'Hemp and marijuana has really come to the forefront in a lot of economic sectors in the country.'

In 2012, Colorado was the first state in the nation to legalize recreational marijuana for private use by people aged 21 or over. Medical cannabis and industrial hemp are also legal in the state.

By the end of last year, total marijuana sales within Colorado passed $7.6billion and the state collected more than $1.2billion in taxes, licenses and fees.

In 2019, Colorado had 2,917 licensed weed businesses, and 41,076 individuals were licensed to work in the industry.

'A lot of the products that people are selling from the cannabis plant, if they can be genetically produced, become more profitable,' Lehmpuhl said about the booming industry.

Students might work with CBD (pictured), officials said, however they won't work with products containing high levels of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana

The curriculum at the university about 115 miles (185 kilometers) south of Denver, will be split into studying natural products and analytical chemistry.

Students will work in a lab setting for both strands of the course.

Natural products coursework looks at the genetics of cannabis or other plants. Students can study the topic alongside additional courses in neurobiology, biochemistry and genetics, university officials said.

The analytical chemistry coursework will enable students to learn about chemical compounds, such as determining what kind of cannabidiol concentration should exist in a product.

Students might work with CBD, officials said, however they won't work with products containing high levels of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

College of Science and Mathematics dean David Lehmpuhl noted: 'Hemp and marijuana has really come to the forefront in a lot of economic sectors in the country'

THC was present in most of the fluid samples collected from the lungs of ill people last year as a mystery illness swept across the states in e-cigarette users. The chemical may act like grease in the lungs, damaging the tiny sacs that fill with air.

In most, if not all, of these cases, what begins as shortness of breath and chest pain progresses to coughing, vomiting, fatigue, diarrhea, fever and weightloss.

Patients with the most severe cases wind up in the hospital with severely damaged lungs that often appear to be infected with pneumonia.

'One of the things that motivated us to develop this program was this industry is sort of developed without oversight and regulation,' Lehmpuhl said. 'I think now its becoming clear when you look at even the recent vaping crisis that occurred that theres a need for having trained scientists in that space.'

The Colorado State University system also has plans to open a new research center on the Fort Collins campus dedicated to studying cannabinoids this spring.

'We're not pro-cannabis or anti-cannabis. What we're about will be the science, and training students to look at that science,' Lehmpuhl said.
A team of scuba divers recorded their efforts to save a giant whale shark that had become caught in a thick piece of rope.

Simone Musumeci and Antonio Di Franca, who run a diving tour agency, had taken a group into the waters off the island of Fuvahmulah, Maldives, in December last year.

It was there that they spotted a whale shark with a thick rope tied across its body before filming their attempts to rescue it.

In the underwater footage, the shark, which appears to be more than 12-feet long, can be seen swimming in the distance.

It has a thick, moss-coloured fishing rope tightly binding its body between its head and its pectoral fins.

The clip then cuts to the group desperately clutching on to the rope as they saw away at it with pen-knives.

Simone Musumeci and Antonio Di Franca, who run a diving tour agency, had taken a group into the waters off the island of Fuvahmulah, Maldives, in December last year.when they spotted the shark

The creature, which appears to be more than 12-feet long, has a thick, moss-coloured fishing rope tightly binding its body between its head and its pectoral fins

The giant fish continues to swim through the water, dragging the scuba divers with it.

The divers persevere nonetheless until they are finally able to cut the rope away around ten minutes later and free the helpless shark.

A series of deep indentations and white marks where the rope had been cutting into the shark's skin can be seen across its back.

The group of divers clutching on to the rope desperately as they saw away at it with pen-knives.

The giant fish continues to swim through the water and drags the scuba divers with it, who persevere nonetheless

The creature beings to swim away as one of the divers reaches out their hand to affectionately touch its fin, which is where the video ends.

The divers held on to the rope and took it back to the surface with them.

Simone, who runs the Macana Maldives tour company, said: 'While the divers were slowly getting back on the boat, our guide Gianluca, who was on board, shouted "whale shark".

'I immediately put my breathing mask back on and looked under the water.

'I saw a majestic animal swimming towards us with a huge rope around its neck.'

It was then that the team decided to dive in and help.

Finally they are able to cut the rope away and free the helpless shark which has left a series of deep indentations and white marks across its back

The creature beings to swim away as one of the divers reaches out their hand to affectionately touch its fin, which is where the video ends

Simone added: 'It took us about ten minutes to free the shark, while it dragged us around as we were holding to the rope, to a depth of around fourteen metres.

'When the rope finally came off, the animal stood still for a moment, as if it realised it was free, then it slowly swam downwards into the depths of the sea.

'A few moments later it appeared again and swam closer to us like it wanted to thank us.

'It was one of the most beautiful experiences of our lives and we will never forget it.'

The divers held on to the thick tangle of fishing rope and took it back to the surface with them

Donatella Moica, marketing and communications director at Macana Maldives, said: 'We wouldn't be able to find out how the shark got caught in the rope.

'Whale sharks travel great distances and it could have happened somewhere far from the Maldives.

'It surely had been dragging the rope for a while considering the marks around its body.'
The cruise ship Diamond Princess is docked at Yokohama Port, near Tokyo, Japan, on Feb. 7, 2020. (Sadayuki Goto/Kyodo News via AP)

Passengers Stranded on Quarantined Japan Cruise Plead for Help From Trump

Two American passengers who are being held on a quarantined cruise ship off the coast of Japan that has seen more than 100 cases of the new coronavirus have asked the White House for help.

Americans Milena Basso and her husband, Gaetano Cerullo, said they are trapped on the Diamond Princess cruise ship off the coast of Japan, near Yokohama. On Monday, Japanese health officials confirmed that 135 people have been sickened with the virus. Of the new cases, 11 are American citizens.

Along with about 3,700 other passengers and crew members, Cerullo and Basso have to stay on the vessel for about two weeks in medical isolation. Speaking in an interview last week, the two said they have been held on the ship since last Tuesday, Feb. 4.

The couple told Fox News that they are physically pretty good but mentally not so great.

We are kind of worried because weve still got two weeks on here assuming that works out in our favor and we still have to get onto American soil, Cerullo told the outlet. And, if Donald Trump could help us in any way

In elaborating, the pair said they are having difficulty getting food and water on the medically isolated vessel.

Cruise ship Diamond Princess is anchored off the shore of Yokohama, south of Tokyo on Feb. 5, 2020. (Hiroko Harima/Kyodo News via AP)

I dont know how many people have been on a cruise, but you can eat a lot of food pretty fast. Once the quarantine happened, what we could eat basically went downhill, said Cerullo. The first day when we asked for two bottles of water it took four hours and the next day we got two cups, he added.

Princess Cruises, the operator of the ship, didnt respond for a request for comment on the couples claims. Carnival Corp., which owns Princess Cruises, also didnt respond for comment.

The couple also said that officials started screening passengers on Monday with an ear thermometer without a disposable tip. Meanwhile, they alleged that the cruise operator has not provided updates in a timely manner, adding that news outlets were receiving information before they did.

So, basically, I know whats going on before they even tell us from our parents at home  and, they update us but its always been very lagged, said Cerullo. Its been vague up until maybe today and has not been as thorough as it should be, Basso said. So, we were a little concerned about that.

Princess Cruises, in a statement on Monday, announced that guests will receive a full refund for the trip, air travel, hotel accommodations, ground transportation, and a number of other services.

Our guests and crew onboard Diamond Princess are the focus of our entire global organization right now and all of our hearts are with each of them, said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises president. In this unprecedented situation, the Japanese Ministry of Health authorities are working with us collaboratively on additional enhancements, approving new procedures as we adapt our process to the unique challenges of this situation.
10.02.2020 LISTEN

The Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Mensah has said his official duties exclude ensuring the security of residents in the region.

The Minister, who is also head of the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council made this comment when quizzed about unresolved murder cases in the region, including the recent incident involving a Nurse at Ayoum.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Mensah stated, These are things which are not easy to control. We cannot check everybodys house. What we have to do is the general security situation. It is not the responsibility of the Council to fix security problems of families in their homes.

Sharing his thoughts on unresolved murder cases in the region, Mr. Mensah said the courts should be held accountable.

What has been the cause of death of the people who have been killed. Some are family issues. We do not bundle all those ones with other ones that have different causes. Those that were between husband and wife, the cases are in court and I do not control the law court so once the issue gets to the law court it is the court that handles it so if you want to find out why the cases have been unresolved you call the court.

His comments come in the wake of the murder a 37-year-old nurse at Ayoum in the Ashanti Region.

The lifeless body of Ruth Ama Eshun was found at Ayuom near Sewua in the Bosomtwe District of the Ashanti Region, a few meters to her home last week.

Ms. Eshun was last seen by her colleagues leaving the Sewua Health Centre, where she worked as a registered community health nurse, on Monday, February 3rd, 2020.

---citinewsroom
A record number of calls for help were made to the State Emergency Service (SES) and NSW Fire and Rescue during the weekend as wild weather ravaged the state's east coast.

Power provider Ausgrid said it was "one of the worst storms on the network in 20 years," as power outages affected more than 200,000 homes.

Fire and Rescue NSW received 16,000 calls for help between 8am Saturday and 8am Monday. It was a record number of calls in a 48-hour period.

"Most of the calls have been as a result of fallen trees, damaged roofs and water leaking into homes," a Fire and Rescue NSW spokesman said. "That has kept us really busy."

The majority of calls came from the inner west, northern Sydney and Sydney CBD.
UPDATED at 2:44 P.M. ET on 2020-02-11

More than 1,100 residents from 20 villages in Myanmars war-torn northern Rakhine state have fled a surge in fighting between government troops and the rebel Arakan Army, a local administrator and a lawmaker said Monday.

The new wave of internally displaced persons (IDPs) comes amid the daily shelling of communities and the restoration of an internet service ban in five townships where the armed conflict has intensified during the past year and the population of displaced has swelled past 100,000 people.

So far, weve got over 1,100 IDPs, said Nyi Nyi, administrator of Buthidaungs Thaykan Kwasone village, adding that the fleeing villagers arrived on Feb. 5-9, a day after the Myanmar Army, Navy, and Air Force launched clearance operations in the area.

The Social Welfare Ministry is providing assistance for 600 IDPs, though we have requested more, he said. The [displaced] have been divided up between the monastery and a village. Were building temporary camps for those who exceed the capacity of the monastery.

The IDPs are from Konedan, Kularchaung, Zeyarmyaing, Oophauk, Thameehla Ywathit, Thameehla Ywa Haung, and Ohnchaung villages in Rathedaung township and from Kyaukpyin Seik and Seikkhu villages in Buthidaung township.

The ministry is providing 3.5 pyi of rice, a measurement unit equal to 2.7 U.S. quarts, per person per month, and officials are collecting donations to build enough temporary camps for the IDPs, Nyi Nyi said.

Aung Thaung Shwe, an ethnic Rakhine lawmaker who represents Buthidaung township in Myanmars lower house of parliament, said the villagers fled because of constant firing of heavy artillery by both the Myanmar Air Force and Navy.

Clashes that have occurred in more than 10 villages in the area have prompted residents to leave since last year, with some seeking safety in nearby villages, he said.

The military has been conducting clearance operations, Aung Thaung Shwe said. They fled when shells exploded in their villages. When the military stop firing the shells, they went back to the village.

Now, internet services are shut down, and the military is firing from both air and navy vessels, so they were terrified and fled, he added.

On Feb. 3, the government reimposed an internet shutdown in four northern Rakhine townships, including Rathedaung and Buthidaung, and in Paletwa township of neighboring Chin state, after partially lifting the block five months ago.

The move came amid escalated hostilities between Myanmar forces and the Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic Rakhine armed group that seeks greater autonomy in the region, which have left dozens of civilians dead and driven about 106,000 from their homes as of January, according to the Rakhine Ethnics Congress, a relief group tallying the number of IDPs.

Four-cuts strategy

AA spokesman Khine Thukha said that armed assaults by Myanmar forces are not in response to clashes, but are based on an assumption that villagers are harboring AA troops in communities along the Mayu River.

They are destroying villages along the Mayu River in Buthidaung and Rathedaung. They are using the four-cuts strategy in their operations, he said in a reference to the Myanmar militarys counterinsurgency tactic designed to deny armed opposition groups access to food, money, information, and recruits.

They assume that when the villagers flee, AA soldiers cannot get food supplies, so they cannot live in the villages, he said.

Khine Thukha pointed to reports that Myanmar soldiers had burned harvested rice paddies in the Mahnyin Taung area, with some damage caused by helicopter fire.

Colonel Win Zaw Oo, spokesman for the Myanmars militarys Western Command responsible for Rakhine state, said that government soldiers are conducting clearance operations in Rathedaung and Buthidaung and that villagers should not provide support to the AA.

If these villages harbor AA troops, they will be caught in the battles, he said.

The latest clash occurred at about 10 a.m. local time Monday along the border of Buthidaung and Rathedaung in an area where AA troops are active and have been attacking vessels in the Mayu River, Win Zaw Oo said.

Were conducting the clearance operations in response to them, he said.

Reported by Waiyan Moe Myint for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
New Orleans firefighters said Monday they will no longer work voluntary overtime and other unscheduled hours beyond their regular shifts, escalating a fight with Mayor LaToya Cantrells administration over a host of labor issues in the department.

In announcing the boycott, firefighters union President Aaron Mischler said that increasing calls for service have stretched firefighters too thin, resulting in more than 90-hour work weeks in some cases when voluntary overtime is factored in.

The boycott won't impact Carnival parades or emergencies, but it could create issues for other large events, such as Carnival balls or springtime festivals that feature outdoor cooking. Firefighters are required to be on site at those events in case there is a fire or other emergency.

Until the city agrees to address the issues that plague our once great organization, we can no longer work (voluntary) unscheduled hours beyond our regular shifts, Mischler said.

Fire Superintendent Tim McConnell said his staff will figure out how to keep the city safe with on-duty firefighters, and he called his department's firefighters the finest in the nation.

While he noted that the city is working to increase staffing levels, he also defended the city's treatment of firefighters and criticized the union's leadership for taking this posture.

Their decision demonstrates a lack of leadership on the part of union-elected officials and that is unfortunate, McConnell said, adding that despite the job action, "we will do what we need to do to keep people safe."

The fight between union officials and Fire Department leaders centers on labor and staffing issues. The union claims the NOFDs roughly 480 rank-and-file firefighters constitute the lowest staffing level in the agencys 128-year history. Mischler said the number of calls for service has increased by roughly 150 percent during the last decade while the NOFD's ranks have simultaneously shrunk by 25 percent.

To cope, many firefighters have volunteered for far longer hours than what is usually a 56- to 72-hour work week, said Doug Shanahan, a firefighter and union spokesman. Mischler said those long hours have mentally and physically taxed firefighters, endangering them as well as the public.

McConnell agreed manpower is lower than is ideal, noting that the department is currently down 60 firefighters from its authorized strength. But he said that there are two recruiting classes this year that should help boost numbers. He also said that while calls for service of various types are up, structure fires are down by more than 50%.

As he's done before, McConnell said the department's size is safe for both the city and its firefighters.

Mischler said that under the boycott, firefighters will continue to work their regular shifts and will also be available to work mandatory overtime during a weather-related disaster or other emergency. Still, the new policy could create headaches.

Firefighters working voluntary overtime help erect and take down barricades for parades. During events at the Saenger Theater, they have been posted outside the exits that are nearest the site of the deadly Hard Rock Hotel collapse across the street.

Events like the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and French Quarter Festival, where food vendors cook outdoors, are required by law to have firefighters on standby. So are New Orleans Pelicans games, which incorporate pyrotechnics for player introductions.

Those standby firefighters usually are on off-duty details.

With firefighters declining to work those details, the city would likely need to pull on-duty personnel from stations across the city, reducing the number of firefighters available to respond to emergencies elsewhere, Mischler said.

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The specifics of the fight between the union and the department involve overtime pay, promotions and the firefighters' pension fund.

Shanahan said firefighters are asking for changes to how their overtime hours are calculated. Currently, firefighters dont get paid their overtime rate until they exceed 212 hours on a 28-day cycle.

They want to be paid their overtime rate after exceeding 96 hours on a 14-day cycle, bringing them more in line with the New Orleans Police Departments policy of paying officers overtime beginning at 85 hours on a 14-day cycle.

Firefighters also say the rates they are paid for off-duty details lag behind those given to members of other first-response agencies in the city. The union seeks an hourly increase of $5 across all ranks.

Other issues involve promotions and pensions.

Union officials argue that the city administration is able to pick and choose whom it can promote, rather than relying on a system primarily based on test scores.

New Orleans firefighters 'unconstitutionally denied promotions' should get them now, court says Fifteen New Orleans firefighters who were passed over for promotion despite high scores on an exam two years ago should be elevated to captain

According to the union, that is the case even after a December 2018 appellate court ruling found that 15 New Orleans firefighters had been unconstitutionally passed over for promotions for what were essentially political reasons, despite civil service rules meant to prevent that scenario.

As for pensions, union officials want a uniform system. Currently, firefighters hired after 2015 must work 40 years to fully collect a pension, while those hired earlier can begin collecting after 30 years. Shanahan said the city had promised to ask the Legislature for permission to make the pensions uniform for all by this year, but didnt deliver.

NOFD captain promotions were illegal, but little can be done now, civil service ruling says The New Orleans Fire Department ran afoul of the state constitution when it promoted dozens of firefighters to the job of captain even though 

Young firefighters have no way to plan or prepare a career path and see no future with the NOFD, Mischler's statement said.

McConnell countered that Cantrell's administration in 2018 authorized a 10 percent, across-the-board raise for firefighters and other city employees, after they went a decade without such an increase. Unfortunately ... union leadership has forgotten, McConnell said.

While the boycott could cause some staffing issues, it's a far cry from the disruptions of some labor actions in the past. In earlier disputes, including one roughly 20 years ago, firefighters staged sick outs where they called in sick en masse.

For example, when about 75 percent of the NOFD called in sick one day in 1999, the city said it prevented a dangerous manpower shortage by requiring other firefighters to work back-to-back shifts, costing the city about $28,000 worth of overtime compensation.

Union leaders and Cantrells administration met Friday in hopes of making progress on the firefighters grievances. Mischler said that meeting was not successful, setting the stage for the boycott announcement.

Note: This post was updated to add comments from McConnell.
Bong Joon Ho accepts the award for best original screenplay for 'Parasite' at the Oscars on Sunday in Los Angeles.
The Bay Area's infamous fog can be merciless when it comes to delaying flights at San Francisco International Airport.

Just ask those arriving on a United Airlines flight from New Delhi, India last Friday morning when fog diverted their 15-hour, SFO-bound flight to Oakland International Airport.

United Flight 105 landed in the East Bay at 6:15 a.m., but passengers said they spent more than four hours sitting on the plane waiting for that airport's customs and immigration halls to open.

At Oakland, Customs and Immigration checkpoints do not open until noon  thats about when the first international flights to OAK (all from Mexico this time of year) arrive.

They wouldnt come in any earlier for us, said Steve Rabin, a Palo Alto resident who was on the flight.

And then a mechanical fault hit the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner jet that had to be checked out by a United mechanic.

One problem: United no longer has staff in Oakland, since it departed there in 2012. A mechanic had to drive across the bridge from SFO to perform the inspection, Rabin said.

RELATED: Why SFO suffers from weather delays more than other airports

Rabin said passengers were finally let off the plane at 11 a.m., when the Oakland checkpoint opened earlier than anticipated.

To make matters worse, the nonstop flight from New Delhi to San Francisco already experienced a 90-minute delay taking off from Delhi at the crack of dawn, according to Rabin. The flight is normally scheduled to depart at 3:50 a.m. local time. (You can track the flight here.)

He said with delays on the ground at either end of his journey, he estimates he spent 20 hours on the airplane (thankfully) seated in business class.

During the delay in Oakland, he said resources on the flight began running low.

Water was being depleted, he said. I felt bad for the flight attendants because they had just worked a 15-hour flight, and it was a tough card to be dealt.

Passengers deplaned and were held in a secure gate area where they were provided food and refreshments while waiting for officials to arrive from SFO to clear them, a United Airlines spokesperson said. Once our passengers were cleared, we arranged for ground transportation to get them to their destinations as quickly as possible.

Rabin took an Uber home  sans his checked luggage, which he said the airline would be delivering to his home.

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Another United 15-hour, long-haul flight from Tel Aviv to SFO diverted to Sacramento Friday morning, also because of the fog. Flight 955 tried to land at SFO, but then diverted to Sacramento just after 6 a.m. It did not take off for SFO again until 10:30 a.m. after a new flight crew was brought in.

Passengers stayed onboard that flight, too, because the U.S. Customs and Immigration checkpoint in Sacramento was not open yet either.

The foggy weather at SFO early Friday morning was rough. At one point, only 14 planes an hour were allowed to land. There was also a runway closure when the foggy weather rolled in, according to United, complicating conditions. During foggy conditions, the number of planes allowed to land normally hovers between 25 and 33, depending on the runway configuration.

Delays impacted nearly every airline and flight. Only 38 percent of arriving flights between 6 a.m. and noon Friday were on time. Everything else was either late, canceled, or were diverted elsewhere.

SFO diversions are relatively common, but Rabin said he'd like better contingency plans in place for future events.

Its not the end of the world, Rabin said. No one was hurt or anything, but it just felt like really poor planning.

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The fragile edifice of the caucuses, which demoralized Democrats in search of a strong nominee to take on President Trump, crumbled under the weight of technology flops, lapses in planning, failed oversight by party officials, poor training, and a breakdown in communication between paid party leaders and volunteers out in the field, who had devoted themselves for months to the nations first nominating contest.

The wider scope of the malfunctions came to light partly because of a new set of reporting requirements, mandated by the Democratic National Committee after allies of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont pushed the national party to demand more transparency following his narrow loss to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Iowa caucuses.

The widespread lack of faith in the Iowa results has shaken many Americans confidence in their electoral system. Mr. Trump has reveled in the meltdown. Democrats have proposed abolishing caucuses and ending Iowas time at the front of the presidential nominating calendar.

Even as party officials scramble to contain the fallout, the full extent of the problems in Iowa is still not known.

An analysis by The New York Times revealed inconsistencies in the reported data for at least one in six of the states precincts. Those errors occurred at every stage of the tabulation process: in recording votes, in calculating and awarding delegates, and in entering the data into the state partys database. Hundreds of state delegate equivalents, the metric the party uses to determine delegates for the national convention, were at stake in these precincts.

The Iowa Democratic Party released a list of 92 precincts on Sunday that it said were flagged as problematic by three presidential candidates  Mr. Sanders; Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind.; and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. That figure is far fewer than the number with inconsistencies captured in the Times review. The Associated Press said it was unable to declare a caucus winner.

Sean Bagniewski, the Democratic chairman of Polk County, which includes Des Moines, blamed state officials for neglecting the hard work of overseeing the caucuses.
The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned the hearing in a petition filed against the Delhi High Court order, which had refused to pass any order for the grant of sanction by the State of NCT of Delhi for trial in the 2016 JNU sedition case.

A bench of the Apex Court, headed by Chief Justice of India S A Bobde, adjourned the matter for a week.

Petitioner Shashank Deo Sudhi has sought a direction to the respondent, GNCT, Delhi to grant immediate sanction in a case titled as State versus Kanhaiya Kumar in the 2016 case registered at Vasant Kunj police station which is being deliberately delayed by the respondent, GNCT, Delhi, by not granting the sanction.

He sought a direction to the respondents, including the GNCT, Delhi, for issuance of guidelines for expeditious prosecutions in respect of all sensitive criminal and corruption-related cases where the allegations are serious in nature and are having widespread ramifications on the community in terms of deterrence.

The lapses of respondents could amount to threat to the rule of law and democratic structure of our country for not having carried out adequate caution and precaution to bring the real culprits to justice in a time-bound manner, the petition stated.

The petitioner also sought a direction that in long-pending cases where the state government had not lived up to the rule of law by not adhering to the solemn oath taken by the lawmakers under Schedule-III of the Constitution of India.

The petitioner sought a direction to the respondent GNCT, Delhi, to constitute a high-powered committee to look into the aspects of delay in the procedural compliances which are leading to inordinate delay in the administrative processes for grant of sanction or other compliances in the criminal cases of the state including the above said criminal case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Tehran, Archbishop Sepuh Sargsyan has declared that the Armenians of Iran, as an integral part of Iranian society, support the Islamic Revolution, reports IRNA.

In his message dedicated to the 41st anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the archbishop stated that the Iranians celebrate the anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution every year and that it was a turning point in history. He also stated that the Armenians of Iran also defended their homeland and fought against Irans enemy during the war that Iraq had imposed on Iran.
DUP leader Arlene Foster has said that Sinn Fein's stunning election success in the Republic of Ireland was down to a "protest vote" from young people.

Mrs Foster said the result was due to domestic issues including health and housing rather than any support for Irish unity.

Sinn Fein recorded the largest share of first preference votes (24.5%) ahead of the Republic's traditional big two parties Fianna Fail (22.2% and Fine Gael (20.9%).

While the republican party are not expected to win the most seats, they are set to play a key role in the forming of the next government in the Irish Republic.

In the wake of the victory Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald said that Irish unity was now closer than ever before

Irish voters were asked as part of the exit poll if they supported a referendum on Irish unity within five years, 57% voted in favour, with 40% against.

Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster First Minister Mrs Foster said that she believed the next government would be formed by Fianna Fail.

The DUP leader said that Irish unity had not been a key issue in the election.

Read More

"It is a huge change, there's no doubt about it, but I think if you look at that exit poll it's very clear that people were upset about domestic issues, they were obviously very upset about the housing crisis that there is in the Republic of Ireland, the health issues that were prominent and to the fore," she said.

Expand Close First Minister Arlene Foster (Liam McBurney/PA) / Facebook

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"What is very clear is that Brexit, which we were told is the issue of a generation, I think was registering at 1% and even on a border poll the height of it is 57% and this is the Republic of Ireland we are talking about.

"I think we should realise that this has been about domestic policy and the fact that it was viewed that the government had failed on those issues and people wanted a change."

It appears that younger voters are going to Sinn Fein because they are looking at them as the party that gives them something different Arlene Foster

Mrs Foster admitted that young voters had not been affected by Sinn Fein's links to the IRA.

"It appears that younger voters are going to Sinn Fein because they are looking at them as the party that gives them something different than Fianna Fail or Fine Gael and that's the reason why they voted for Sinn Fein. It's a protest vote, I think we should recognise that" the First Minister said.

"It will now be up to Fianna Fail it appears to decide who they want to go into government with. Let's be clear, from a Northern Ireland perspective we will have to work with whoever the government is. We will have our own policies here in Northern Ireland of course."

Asked how she would deal with a Sinn Fein Foreign Minister Mrs Foster said that would be "jumping well ahead of ourselves".

"We will of course deal with whoever is the Minister for Foreign Affairs, but we should not forget that the constitutional position of Northern Ireland is within the UK, that's why the person who comes from Dublin is the Minister for Foreign Affairs, because we are in a different jurisdiction," she said.

"When we were in a confidence and supply agreement with the last Conservative Government there was a lot of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth and saying that we weren't focusing on Belfast and we weren't focusing on Northern Ireland so it'll be interesting to see whether that argument runs as well in relation to Sinn Fein."

DUP Westminster leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson told the Nolan Show that the election result was not an endorsement of a border poll as Sinn Fein got less than one quarter of the vote.

"One quarter of the vote is hardly a stunning endorsement of the idea their should be a border poll," the Lagan Valley MP said.

Sir Jeffrey admitted that the result could affect Northern Ireland's relationship with the Republic of Ireland, but said "I don't think this vote itself represents a demand by people in the Republic of Ireland for a border poll".
Mahindra & Mahindra Managing Director and SsangYong Motor Board Chairman Pawan Goenka enters the head office of the Korea Development Bank on Yeouido, Seoul, on Jan. 16. Yonhap



By Nam Hyun-woo



SsangYong Motor's flip-flopping on announcing its 2019 earnings is raising greater doubts on the sustainability of the carmaker, as it postponed scheduled board meetings three times before releasing last year earnings and ended up getting worrisome numbers.

Industry officials said the movement, regarded by many as "very unusual," triggers concern about potential trouble on the board involving SsangYong's largest stakeholder Mahindra & Mahindra, even though SsangYong flatly denied any issues over the delays of the meeting.

According to SsangYong Motor's regulatory filing, the carmaker initially planned to hold a conference call and announce last year's earnings at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 3, but changed the time to 3:30 p.m.

On Feb. 3, the company postponed the investor relations event to Feb. 4, citing changes to its board meeting schedule. On Feb. 4, however, the company changed the time again, also citing a board meeting issue. This time, it did not fix a date.

On Feb. 6, it abruptly issued a statement at 5:34 p.m. that it would hold a conference call at 9:30 a.m., Feb. 7 and held the event without much attention from analysts.

Reportedly, SsangYong held its board meeting late Feb. 6 while one of its four outside directors was absent. SsangYong refused to provide reasons behind its decisions, but flatly denied any allegations on potential setbacks regarding Mahindra. "The board meetings were delayed due to internal issues," a SsangYong Motor official said. "There was no issue related to Mahindra at all."

The company also did not reveal which outside director was absent. Multiple outside directors contacted by The Korea Times also refused to comment on the board meeting.

While the company was maintaining silence over the reason for the delays, multiple industry sources noted that the company appears to have contemplated the timing of dropping its less-than-impressive 2019 earnings over concern that they may affect Mahindra's ongoing negotiations with the South Korean government on winning an aid package.

Last year, SsangYong's sales stood at 3.62 trillion won ($3.05 billion), down 2.2 percent from a year earlier, and its operating loss grew by 339.3 percent year-on-year to reach 281.9 billion won.

This was the biggest operating loss in 10 years. Along with its earnings, the company's financial soundness is deteriorating. By last year, the company's debt to equity ratio jumped to 400.9 percent, up from 283.98 percent at the end of September, meaning the company's sustainability is under question.

To cope with difficulties, Mahindra has been requesting the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) to inject money to salvage SsangYong Motor by promoting the company's sustainability in the future. The deteriorated debt ratio released in the 2019 earnings, however, could lead the KDB to waver from any potential aid to the automaker.

"Based on my knowledge, the KDB is demanding SsangYong present detailed plans on how it will salvage itself from losses, as one of the preconditions for the aid," one of the sources said. "Though it is hard to know what caused the company to postpone its board meetings and earnings announcement, the deteriorated earnings do not help the company's negotiation with the KDB."

Mahindra Managing Director and SsangYong Motor Board Chairman Pawan Goenka visited the KDB and a presidential committee last month to demand the state-run lender provides cash to SsangYong.

During his visit, Goenka said the company needs at least 500 billion won over the next three years for normalization, and Mahindra will inject 230 billion won if there is an aid package from the government.

SsangYong said the company's labor and management are pursuing fundamental improvement in its business and seeking ties with global carmakers to accelerate its normalization, but the company needs funds for R&D projects for new competitive vehicles including electric vehicles.

"Though GM Korea and Renault Samsung are also suffering from poor sales, the situation is getting worse for SsangYong," another industry official said. "GM Korea and Renault Samsung receivesupport from their headquarters, but SsangYong has to do all its development on its own to stay afloat."
NEW HAVEN  A city man was recently arraigned on charges imposed after he allegedly placed several harassing phone calls to attorneys representing the now late Fotis Dulos, according to court records.

Adam Davenport, 31, of Warren Street, was arrested Jan. 29 and charged with second-degree harassment, according to records on file in at Superior Court. He was arraigned Friday.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit by Officer Dylan Carlson, attorneys Norm Pattis and Kevin Smith reported in October that they had received more than 30 calls from a person who seemed to be the same individual, including on October 15, when Pattis allegedly received seven calls between 8:19 and 8:45 p.m. and Smith reported receiving three calls between 8:39 and 8:45 p.m.

Pattis and Smith said they have received threats in the past, but they have not taken them seriously until they received a call stating that Smith is not safe and its going to be real easy man, real easy, Carlson said in the warrant affidavit. Smith advised us that he felt threatened by the recent phone calls, that stated he is not safe.

Smith and Pattis told Carlson they believed the calls were connected to the case of missing New Canaan mother Jennifer Dulos. Fotis Dulos was charged with killing her before taking his own life in January. Fotis Dulos left a note proclaiming his innocence in the case.

In a voicemail to Pattis, the subject specifies the person he is defending is going to jail and that Pattis should go to jail for defending him, according to the warrant affidavit.

Carlson called and spoke to the individual who left the voicemail, who identified himself as Adam Davenport and admitted to making the calls, according to the affidavit.

Davenport stated that he is following the Jennifer Dulos Case and is extremely upset with what is happening and how the case is progressing. Davenport stated he is particularly upset at how Pattis talks about the case to the media and believes he is spreading false information.

The calls on Oct. 15 were intended to get a rise out of Pattis and Smith, Davenport allegedly told Carlson, according to the warrant affidavit.

Davenport stated he did not intend on threatening Pattis or Smith, Carlson said. He told us that the phone calls would cease immediately and he would apologize to Pattis and Smith.

Davenport is next scheduled to appear in court Feb. 21.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
At AssuredPartners, were not just in the insurance business, were in the business of cementing powerful, lasting relationships," stated AssuredPartners President and COO Tom Riley.

AssuredPartners, Inc. is pleased to announce our latest partner, LMC Insurance & Risk Management headquartered in West De Moines, Iowa, to join the national broker team. LMCs operations consist of 290 dedicated employees who will remain under the operational leadership of LMC President and CEO Greg LaMair. The agency is currently ranked #58 on the Business Insurance Top 100 U.S. Brokers list.

LMC Insurance & Risk Management dates back to a founding in 1865 and partners with individuals, business and industry leaders across the nation to provide property casualty insurance, employee benefits, personal lines, financial services and risk management services, stated Greg LaMair. We have a unique alignment with AssuredPartners with our current product lines and geographic office footprint. We also look forward to rapidly expanding our Agricultural Practice area partnering with other AssuredPartners locations countrywide.

AssuredPartners Western Regions President Randy Larsen stated, LMCs operations are a great fit for AssuredPartners and truly round out our existing upper Midwest operations with their 11 office locations. In addition, we are excited to partner with their Agri Business Practice area. LMC is one of the largest Agri Business brokers in the United States and AssuredPartners is excited to build the vertical with knowledge and experience LMC is bringing in this business segment.

At AssuredPartners, were not just in the insurance business, were in the business of cementing powerful, lasting relationships. In finding those relationships there are specific qualities and attributes we are in search of when aligning ourselves with a new partner, stated AssuredPartners President and COO Tom Riley. We are delighted when we find those in such a great operation like LMC. We are looking forward to building a stronger partnership and working openly and honestly to achieve common goals.

For more information on LMC Insurance & Risk Management, please visit: http://www.lmcins.com.
PERKINS TOWNSHIP, Ohio  A 59-year-old California man was killed Sunday night when he was struck by an SUV on a highway near the Kalahari Resort in Erie County, according to the State Highway Patrol.

Dennis Mahutga, of Corning, Calif., was walking across U.S. 250 at the intersection with Kalahari Drive at about 7:14 p.m. when he was hit by a 2013 Buick SUV driven by a 39-year-old woman from Milan, Ohio, troopers say. Mahutga was trying to cross the highway to get to a gas station, according to the patrol. The intersection is at the entrance to Kalahari.

Its unknown if alcohol or drugs were factors in the incident, which remains under investigation. The northbound lanes of U.S. 250 were closed for two hours because of the incident. The woman driving the SUV was not injured.

The Erie County Sheriffs Office, Perkins Township Police Department and Huron Fire Department also responded to the scene.

If youd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section.

Ohio youth football coach exposes himself to young child, police say

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Lake Catholic High School swim coach accused of having sexual contact with student, placed on leave

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REUTERS

The U.S. Justice Department has indicted four members of the Chinese military in connection with one of the biggest data breaches in history, a hack that compromised the data of nearly half of all American citizens.

The credit report giant Equifax had its systems compromised in a 2017 security breach that gave hackers access to information such as Social Security numbers, birth dates, and addresses. In total, the members of the Chinese military are accused of stealing personally identifiable information from 145 million Americans, as well as driving license numbers for ten million and the credit card numbers of around 200,000.

A nine-count indictment unveiled Monday accused four Chinese military members of hacking into the companys computer networks, maintaining unauthorized access to them, and stealing the sensitive data. The four are named as Wu Zhiyong, Wang Qian, Xu Ke, and Liu Leiall of them are said to have carried out the hack as part of the People's Liberation Armys (PLA) 54th Research Institute, a component of the Chinese military.

This was a deliberate and sweeping intrusion into the private information of the American people, Attorney General William Barr said in a statement. This was an organized and remarkably brazen criminal heist of sensitive information of nearly half of all Americans, as well as the hard work and intellectual property of an American company, by a unit of the Chinese military.

Barr added: Unfortunately, the Equifax hack fits a disturbing and unacceptable pattern of state-sponsored computer intrusions and thefts by China and its citizens that have targeted personally identifiable information, trade secrets, and other confidential information.

What remained to be seen was how this might fit into a larger pattern of aggression U.S. officials have attributed to the Chinese military. In 2014, the Obama-era Justice Department indicted five members of the PLA on charges of corporate espionage, specifically intellectual property theft.

Story continues

Fraud is a surface level strategy, Paul Martini, co-founder of network security platform iBoss, told The Daily Beast. "Equifax is a holy grail in terms of the value of information that can be used to reset passwords and grant access to other systems, like power grids, sensitive devices, even military vehicles."

The four Chinese military members are accused of running thousands of queries on Equifaxs systems before gaining access to and downloading millions of pieces of information between May and July 2017. Theyre also accused of stealing valuable trade secret information, including Equifaxs data compilations and the companys database designs.

When it was disclosed, the hack prompted public fury over the company's vulnerability and the mass exposure of customer information, and ultimately led to the resignation of Equifax chief executive Richard Smith.

Ultimately, the company is responsible for its data, as challenging as that can be, Martini said.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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He's got the onerous task of boosting Droghedas flagging retail and business industries, as well as fulfilling some of the many ambitious projects of the LoveDrogheda committee.

But the new Chief Executive of the Drogheda Business Incentive District (BID) Trevor Conollly, is optimistic he can make a positive impact with the help of the local community.

Talking to the Drogheda Independent on only his second day in the role, it is too early to make any promises, and he is concentrating on building the relationships needed to succeed.

Ive spent the last two days meeting as many of the traders as I can, and really get to know what is wanted and needed, says the Monaghan native.

This is a very exciting time for Drogheda, and we have a big opportunity to pull together, and Im looking forward to working with our partners in the local authorities, and build those relationships.

With a background in urban planning, after a stint in the UK and Cavan, Trevor turned around his hometown of Monaghan over a four year period, delivering over 40 projects in that time.

Everything there was town centre focused, and done for the benefit of the town, and every voice had their say, he says.

We had a modest budget to develop the projects and we worked with Retail Excellence Ireland guidelines to create Town Teams, concentrating on retail, hoteliers and tourism, very similar to what Drogheda needs.

Trevor was hired by the local LoveDrogheda team on a five-year contract, and he is aware of the challenges he faces.

The committee has done lots of fantastic work over the last few years to get this over the line, and now is the start of the real work, says Trevor, a father of two young girls, who will commute from Monaghan.

They have a wishlist of around 50 projects and well meet and look now at the operational plan and see whats deliverable. Theres no point in promising this or that immediately, as thats just not realistic yet.

One of his first goals is to start a positive narrative about Drogheda, highlighting all the many advantages the town has.

It is the largest town in the country, with fantastic infrastructure, with close proximity to the motorway and the airport, so we should make the most of what we have, he points out.

Well start allocating budgets and start delivering projects as soon as we can.

Trevor acknowledges the dedicated of the board of the BID, but says nothing will be achieved without the support of the public.

We need the buy-in of the local community, as this is not just for businesses, this is for everyone. he says.

I really hope I can make a difference, but the reality is that 10,000 people are leaving Drogheda every day at 6am and dont come back until 6pm, and they havent a chance to support local business and the challenge is to change that and give them a reason to stay here.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City, Missouri police are investigating after two people were shot Sunday evening. Police responded to the shooting around 5 p.m. near Cypress Ave. and St. John Ave. One of the victim's is reported to have life-threatening injuries. No suspect information has been provided at this time.
Mohammed Nuru has resigned his post as director of San Francisco Public Works, some two weeks after his arrest on fraud charges pitched the city into a widening government corruption scandal.

The resignation preceded an expected dismissal.

Nuru had been on paid administrative leave since he was arrested along with San Francisco restaurateur Nick Bovis on Jan. 28.

City Administrator Naomi Kelly, Nurus supervisor, accepted his resignation Monday morning.

Multiple people with knowledge of the matter confirmed that Nuru was cooperative with the city attorneys offices investigation that launched following Nurus arrest two weeks ago.

Soon after Nuru was arrested, the public and some local officials asked why he couldnt be immediately fired. But California law prohibits employers from firing anyone only because theyve been arrested.

While I understand the desire for him to be fired immediately, its important that we follow all the laws required to terminate a public employee, no matter the circumstances. Before this process had been completed, he submitted his resignation, Mayor London Breed said in a statement. I will continue to support the full independent investigation underway to uncover any improper actions that were taken and recommend reforms to ensure they never happen again.

Nuru will no longer collect his $273,000 annual salary, but the fate of his roughly $91,000-a-year pension isnt yet clear. City law requires that an employee of the city and county of San Francisco be convicted of a crime of moral turpitude before the persons pension can be taken away, and Nurus court case has only barely begun.

In a brief email to Kelly sent over the weekend, Nuru requested paperwork to apply for his full pension.

Nurus resignation marks the end of his decades-long career in and around San Francisco city government, but multiple investigations  by the FBI and a far-reaching internal probe by the city attorney and controllers offices  continue.

In the wake of the charges, a coalition of city supervisors, led by Matt Haney, has called for yet another probe conducted by an outside firm untethered to city government.

Much of whats known so far about Nurus and Bovis alleged schemes came to light when the Justice Department unveiled a 75-page criminal complaint meticulously documenting the findings of an investigation that used undercover officers, wiretaps and confidential sources. Many inside City Hall are wondering whats yet to be uncovered.

On Friday, an official with San Franciscos Department of Building Inspection confirmed reports that the agency had been visited by the FBI and was cooperating with the bureaus investigation.

Breed appointed Alaric Degrafinried interim public works director to steer the department while she looks for a permanent replacement for Nuru. Degrafinried was the city purchaser, overseeing city contracts for most departments, not including Public Works.

Nuru and Bovis, the owner of the now-closed Lefty ODouls restaurants, are accused of concocting several schemes, some of which were allegedly intended to steer city contracts to Bovis. 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.

For years, Nuru ingratiated himself with powerful people, cultivating a reputation as the citys go-to cleanup man and an indefatigable problem-solver for his allies. In years past, when city investigations into his behavior arose, Nuru could count on friends in high places  including mayors and supervisors  to come to his aid.

Mr. Nuru is proud to have worked with so many committed and dedicated people over the years at Public Works, said Ismail Ramsey, Nurus attorney. He was part of a decades-long effort to help strengthen communities and empower city residents, especially disadvantaged youth and marginalized adults striving to rebuild their lives. Under his leadership, the revitalization of the citys infrastructure and buildings ... has created an enduring impact.

Haney said it was good that Nuru resigned.

It shouldnt have taken this long, he added.

On Tuesday, Haney will announce his intent to put a charter amendment on the November ballot meant that would fundamentally restructure Public Works in an effort to increase transparency at the agency and boost its effectiveness.

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.

San Francisco has become infamous for being disgusting. The mess on our streets is connected to the mess in city government, said Haney, who represents some of the most stubbornly filthy neighborhoods in the city, including the Tenderloin and South of Market.

Just over a year into his first term as supervisor, Haney has been a relentless critic of what he sees as Public Works inconsistent and ineffective approaches to street cleaning  issues rooted in the huge amount of power and responsibility conferred on the Public Works director, he said.

The charter amendment has been in the works for months, Haney added, long before the revelations of Nurus alleged self-dealing came to light.

Haneys ballot measure would split Public Works in two, creating an entirely new city agency: the Department of Street Cleaning and Sanitation, which would focus on street and sidewalk cleaning, waste management, illegal dumping, and maintaining public toilets.

The state of the citys streets hurts quality of life; it hurts our economy, and its a public health crisis. Someone should be accountable for that, Haney said.

The rest of Public Works would then handle roles like construction permitting and management, urban forestry and engineering work.

Both departments would also answer to their own oversight commission. The full scope of the commissions responsibilities is still being determined, but Haney said it would provide more oversight of the departments top brass.

Theres been a massive breakdown in accountability, Haney said.

Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dominicfracassa
Islamabad, Feb 10 : Tensions have calmed at Islamabad's famous Red Mosque after an agreement was reached between authorities and cleric Abdul Aziz, who agreed to vacate the premises in exchange for the government's promise to allot him alternative land for an Islamic school.

The mosque was back in the eye of the storm since the police surrounded it, with the cleric and around 250 students holed up inside since Friday in a situation reminiscent of the 2007 conflict at the same mosque that left around 100 dead, reports Efe news.

"The government has agreed to give us alternative land... As a result of the agreement we have called back our 250 girl students from Jamia Hafsa Lal masjid (Red Mosque) and the government has ended its siege," Aziz told Efe news on Monday.

Aziz, who heads eight seminaries with some 5,000 students, started the protest because the government had refused to give him land on the outskirts of the city for the construction of an Islamic school, or madrassa, while also asking him to hand over another center of Islamic studies and to leave the Red Mosque.

The cleric, the former leader of the state-owned mosque, occupied the mosque a couple of weeks ago and on February 5, security forces surrounded the building but failed to prevent some 250 students from joining the cleric inside the next day.

Since then Aziz's demands had increased despite the police cutting off food supplies to the mosque in a bid to force his surrender.

On Sunday Aziz's wife Umme Hasan - the director of the cleric's female madrassas - had told Efe that the government was seeking "blood", and referred to the events of 2007.

In 2007, Aziz launched a violent campaign to impose Sharia Islamic religious law in the country and made threats of suicide attacks if his demands were not met.

That campaign prompted the security forces to storm his headquarters at the mosque after receiving reports of armed militants being present inside - an operation in which around 100 people were killed - after a week of unsuccessful negotiation attempts by the government.

Aziz had been captured trying to escape - disguised as a women in a burqa - after which his followers, most of them students of the madrassa, surrendered to the authorities.

The cleric was released on bail in 2009 after being arrested on multiple charges of inciting hatred, murder and kidnapping.

Over the weekend the police had stopped the media from photographing the mosque, surrounded by security forces, and refused to answer questions about what was happening.
Supplier News

10 February 2020

Egham - Triometric, the leading provider of API intelligence for online travel distributors, today announced that Saltours International, a long established global wholesale tour operator, has selected Trio Express to monitor the performance of its API environment and increase visibility into its product demand and availability.

Trio Express is the Software as a Service (SaaS) version of Triometric's API analytics platform. It monitors the health of an API environment and provides deep analysis and reporting of all search and booking traffic of a company's booking platform. Salvation, Saltours B2B wholesale booking platform, offers an industry leading service of hotel and travel product rates to Saltours' travel partners. Trio Express, delivered as a cloud based service, provides out-of-the-box reports that help hotel distributors to get up and running quickly without the need for hardware investment, or skilled analysts. Trio Express gives users self-service access and alerts to timely operational and business intelligence including any service errors, message errors, latency, search patterns, look-to-book ratios, and real-time inventory availability.

Using Trio Express, Saltours benefits from insights into the performance of Saltour's reservation platform to ensure optimal service. At the same time, Saltours' business users get a deeper understanding of the search request and reply traffic running through its API. With Trio intelligence, Saltours can increase conversion rates and revenue by:

Optimising its API operations

Improving inventory availability management in line with demand patterns

Building strong client partnerships built on real-time insights

Starting with a high-level dashboard view of key performance indicators, Saltour users can drill down to transaction-level details to quickly and easily pinpoint any root causes of poor performance, service issues or gaps in inventory.

"Saltours is committed to continuous investment in technology to ensure that our API and reservation service performs optimally as our product and client portfolio grows" said Imran Salehjee, Group Managing Director at Saltours International. "We look forward to working with Triometric to help us ensure the highest possible quality of service for our clients."

"We are delighted that Saltours' has chosen Trio Express to help them optimise their operations and strengthen client management. Leveraging their XML insights will help them build and grow their travel partnerships" said Matthew Goulden, CEO at Triometric.

About Saltours

Saltours International is a wholesale tour operator and FIT travel services provider, servicing airlines and the B2B travel trade since 1974. The company evolved from a single office in London, to its current network of branch and partner offices stretching across Europe, Middle East, Asia and the Pacific. As a leading wholesale outlet for Inbound and Outbound tourism, Saltours offers a comprehensive range of quality services at unbeatable prices which benefit both individual travelers and groups. These include bookings for hotels and apartments worldwide, transfers, sightseeing, excursions, cruises, car hire and meet & assist services.

www.saltours.travel

About Triometric

Triometric is the leader in API analytics with 20 years' experience working with the world's leading travel distributor and enterprises, helping them meet the challenges and opportunities of today's fragmented distribution landscape using XML analytics. Trio analytics helps customers monitor and manage their complex distribution environment. Actionable insights enables travel companies to optimise their business performance by improving their offers, uncovering opportunities and increasing revenue. Triometric is a privately held company based in the UK. Customers include some of the leaders in the travel industry including Bonotel and Marriott.
She said the owners also tried to find another tenant.

The owners made numerous efforts over the last few months to secure another theatre tenant, but based on movie attendance records, those efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, she stated.

On Monday morning, the location at 1515 Cinema Drive sat with doors locked and movie posters removed from display panels. Neon light fixtures were still on inside, but no one answered a knock on the door.

A U-Haul and other moving vehicles were seen parked on the side of the building.

The closing leaves Statesville without a movie theater. When Jennifer Rabito-Pariseau learned of the cinemas closing she went to Facebook and asked in a comment if she could get any of the leftover popcorn.

She said part of the reason shell miss Marque Cinemas is that it provided a distraction from the real world and imaginative escape.

It brought grand memories to children of excitement before being swallowed into a world where they were fighting bad guys in castles, being rescued by their true love, or traveling the world with nothing but a backpack and a dream, she wrote in a Facebook message.
Some Uber drivers on Monday marched on the office of the Lagos State Vehicle Inspection Services (VIS), protesting the recent clampdown on their operations on Lagos roads.

VIS officials said the drivers must have hackney permit, Lagos State Drivers Institute (LASDRI) certification and that Uber must pay the operator license fee to the state government.

Uber and Taxify offices were closed. When the drivers got to VIOs office in Ojodu, none of the officials came out to talk to them, a Uber driver Adegoke Faloye told The Guardian on Monday.

VIS officials told The Guardian last week that the enforcement of already existing laws guiding the operations of professional drivers in the state began recently.

But a spokesman for Uber in West Africa Efosa Aiyevbomwan said the office was opened on Monday.
HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal said in the Lok Sabha on Monday it has come to the government's notice that "some outsiders" had entered Delhi University's Gargi college where the incident of alleged sexual assault of student took place last week, and added that the college administration has been asked to look into the matter.

"It has come to our notice that some outsiders had entered the college, which is not right. The college administration has been asked to look into it," Pokhriyal said.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police has said that their team is present at Gargi College to check the CCTV footage as part of its probe into the matter of alleged harassment and sexual abuse of female students in the college by a number of unidentified men during their annual cultural fest on February 6.

While speaking to ANI on Monday a woman student had said that over 100 middle-aged men crashed the college gate on February 6 and misbehaved with the women inside the campus.

"The three-day annual college fest began on February 4 and on February 6 over 100 middle-aged men crashed the college gate and came inside where the fest was being held. They started misbehaving with girls. Luckily nothing happened with me but my friends told me that those men groped them and much more," she said.

"I have no idea if those girls have filed an FIR or not. The college principal is also not supporting us. A protest is also being staged in the college and the principal will also be coming here and I think she will be discussing about the incident with us," she added.

Speaking about the incident on Thursday, a second-year student had told ANI that the men who had entered the college groped the girls and made them uncomfortable.

"Taking advantage of the crowd, the men followed girls everywhere and groped them. They made girls uncomfortable and showed us that they have control over us. They derived pleasure from it," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Recruitment company Indeed has told its 1,000 staff in Dublin to work from home over concerns of coronavirus.

It is after family members of an employee were hospitalised and tested for the virus in Singapore.

The employee at the centre of the scare is based in Singapore, but had visited Dublin and Sydney recently.

In an email sent to its Dublin staff, Indeed said that the employee may have been exposed to the virus after their family members visited a facility caring for a coronavirus patient.

Those family members have been hospitalised with pneumonia, and it is still not known whether they have contracted the virus.

Indeed told their employees that the results will take up to 48 hours, and the employee is reportedly feeling fine.

There are no confirmed cases of infection, but as a precaution they have asked all employees in their Singapore, Dublin and Sydney offices to work from home until they receive confirmation.

The Department of Health say there are no confirmed cases of Coronavirus in Ireland and would not comment on individual cases or activation plans other than confirmed cases

This story was updated at 1.10pm
As of 6am on February 10, a total of 82 suspected cases of the coronavirus (nCoV) in Vietnam have been isolated and undergone strict monitoring to prevent the virus from spreading, according to the latest update issued by the Ministry of Health.

The Ministry of Health states that there has so far been 14 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infection cases of the nCoV, including two Chinese people, six Vietnamese nationals who recently returned from Wuhan city in China, five Vietnamese people who had come into close contact with nCoV-infected patients, and one American citizen who had spent some time transiting in Wuhan.

Of the cases, three people have so far been treated and discharged from hospital, whilst the remaining patients are currently being strictly monitored and remain in a stable condition.

At present, there have been 82 suspected cases of the nCoV infection that have been reported with all of the individuals being put into quarantine areas under strict supervision as a means of avoiding the virus from reaching the wider community.

In addition, there have been 517 cases where people have been put into isolation despite being in normal health due to their close contact with the suspected cases.

According to the Health Committee of Hubei Province, China, the number of deaths caused by the nCoV has increased by 91 cases to 871, with the total number of infected cases reaching over 29,600.

Meanwhile, 1,795 people have fully recovered and been discharged from hospital.

Hubei province recorded an additional 2,618 new cases on February 9 , including 1,921 cases in Wuhan city, the centre of the current outbreak.

Of the 91 new deaths recorded in Hubei, a total of 73 have been in Wuhan. The number of global nCoV infections has now passed the 40,000 mark, along with 904 fatalities. VOV

Vietnam localities unhit by nCoV can reopen classes: Ministry Based on the evolution of the epidemic and weather conditions in each locality, each local government should decide whether students should go back to school or take a longer break.
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Linkedin Agustinus Hari (The Jakarta Post) Manado  Mon, February 10, 2020 10:39 701 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20637ded5 1 National North-Sulawesi,coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia,immigration,Chinese-workers,China,quarantine Free

Thirty workers employed by Chinese cement company PT Conch in Lolak district, Bolaang Mongondow regency, North Sulawesi, are being quarantined under the supervision of immigration officials after arriving from China last week as a preventative measure in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak that originated in Wuhan, China.

Kotamobagu immigration office head Joni Rumagit said the workers would be isolated and examined for 14 days after their arrival.

According to procedure, they are prohibited from exiting their room or meeting other employees. All PT Conch employees also have to wear a mask, Joni told The Jakarta Post.

He said the workers had returned to Indonesia after celebrating the Lunar New Year in China. Even though [Conch] is a foreign company, it has to abide by the rules here, he said, emphasizing that the isolation and examination rules applied to everyone without exception.

Bolaang Mongondouw health agency head Erman Paputungan said the department had performed a physical scan of the workers. Their condition is normal so far, but we will keep monitoring them for the next 14 days, he said.

Conch representative Fahwanto Wahyu said that any employee who did not follow the rules during the quarantine would be severely punished.

After arriving at Sam Ratulangi airport in Manado, they were given a health card to help medical workers track their physical condition during the isolation period.

The workers were also sprayed with disinfectants when they arrived at PT Conch, Fahwanto said.



The officers [that sprayed the workers] were given protective clothing, he said, adding that Conch provided a protective mask for the companys other employees to prevent the spread of the virus.

PT Conchs headquarters also doesnt want [a coronavirus outbreak]. PT Conch is free of coronavirus so far, so the public doesnt have to worry, he added.

According to Wahyu, there are currently 121 Chinese citizens working for the company.

As of Monday morning, Indonesia had no confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus. (mfp)
Minister of Economy announces construction of railway station near Kutaisi Airport

By Nika Gamtsemlidze

Natia Turnava, the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development stated that the government has approved a project to connect the Kutaisi airport to the nearby railway.According to the project, the railway station about 1.5 kilometers from the airport will be restored, with special shuttles to the airport. The highway connecting the airport and the railway station will also be rehabilitated.The new terminal is under construction and will be operational in just a few years, and it was very important for us to support these projects, said Turnava.The Kutaisi Airport Railway Station was supposed to open in 2017. Former Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili announced two years ago that the construction of a 3-kilometer-long railway and a station connecting Kutaisi airport had already begun.According to the Georgian government at the time, all new trains traveling from East to West, including the Kutaisi International Airport, would stop a few steps from the terminal via the new railway.On April 3, 2017, Giorgi Kvirikashvili even included a time slot at Kutaisi International Airport, which indicated the number of days remaining before the construction of the new railway station.In July 2019, the Deputy Minister of Economy announced that the new station would no longer be built and that the government would rehabilitate the old one, situated two kilometers away from the airport.In early 2019, Deputy Minister of Economy Akaki Saginashvili said that the report on the construction of the railway at Kutaisi Airport needs to be revised. He was talking about three scenarios.This conclusion needs to be updated because after that conclusion many flights were added to Kutaisi Airport. There are 3 scenarios we could discuss: 1. Rehabilitation of the existing station in Kopitnari, which is 2 Km away from the airport. 2. 700 meters from the terminal we can create a platform, where the current railway is. We could create a walking way or another connection. 3. We could also create a platform near the Airport, it's all in the process of being studied and I hope we'll have an answer in a month, said the deputy minister at the time.Kutaisi International Airport is fully operated by United Airports of Georgia. The airport was rebuilt in 2012 and is the first international airport in the region, offering cost-efficient airline services. The airport is equipped with the highest quality navigation and weather systems have 2,500 m runway and can simultaneously serve up to 600 passengers, receive 2 and depart 3 flights.
President Moon Jae-in applauds with his aides at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday, to congratulate Korean film "Parasite" on winning four awards at this year's Academy Awards. On his Facebook, Moon also wrote, "Winning four Oscars, following the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, is the result of the accumulated efforts of all people who have made films here for the last 100 years." Yonhap



By Do Je-hae



President Moon Jae-in set out to calm rising public fears about the new coronavirus, urging citizens to go about their daily lives and trust the government's crisis management capacity.



"A person's true character is revealed at a moment of crisis and a nation's true capacity can be seen in times of trouble. Based on the world's highest level of quarantine capabilities and accumulated experience, the government has been operating a tighter quarantine network," the President said during a weekly meeting with senior aides at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday.



"As medical professionals have publicly stated, it is not a serious disease and the fatality rate is not high, at least so far in Korea. The nation has an advanced medical system recognized by the world and has excellent medical staff, so the virus can be properly managed and treated. We should be on full alert until the situation is completely resolved. But there is no need to be daunted by excessive anxiety and fear. I urge people to have a calm response to the situation, keep their confidence in our medical system and adhere to the safety rules."



The President's remarks came amid widening concerns that the fears over the coronavirus may have a negative impact on the economy. Fears over infection have resulted in disruptions in people's daily lives, with many avoiding public places such as shopping centers and movie theaters.



"The new coronavirus is dealing an unexpected blow to the economy, causing huge disruptions in exports, tourism, production and consumption. We cannot just wait until the epidemic subsides. The government, business and workers must work together to overcome the crisis," he said.



Moon also vowed more support for businesses that have been hit by the epidemic. "We will come up with customized support measures for each industry sector and speed up funding for small- and medium-sized enterprises."



He also mentioned an additional charter flight to Wuhan to bring back Korean nationals. "To fulfill our responsibility for the safety of the people, the government will once again send a chartered flight to China tomorrow to bring home the remaining South Koreans and their families in Wuhan."



Moon has been increasing his inspections of coronavirus-related facilities. On Sunday, He visited state-run institutions in Chungcheong Province which are housing quarantined Korean nationals who were previously evacuated from Wuhan. His job approval rating has been picking up due to his focus on a swift response to the coronavirus. A survey published Monday showed that 46. 9 percent of respondents thought he was doing a good job, 1.9 percentage points higher than last week.


POTOCARI, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Secretary General of the Muslim World League paid tribute to the victims of the Srebrenica genocide on Sunday, building on his recent trip to Auschwitz to raise awareness about threats to minorities around the world.

On a visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Dr. Mohammed Al-Issa traveled to the Memorial Center in Potocari. The visit to the memorial comes just two weeks after his participation in the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, which made him the most senior Islamic leader ever to visit the camp.

"Today's visit by the Muslim World League sends an important message: We will never allow a repeat of what happened at Srebrenica to anyone, anywhere in the world," said Dr. Al-Issa, who is widely recognized as a global leader in the promotion of moderate Islam and interfaith partnerships.

"This place is a site of sorrow but also resolve for the Muslim world. It reminds us what the forces of hate can do if good people and those in a position of power do nothing to stop them," Dr. Al-Issa said. "We are obliged to protect the memory and truth of the Srebrenica genocide and the mass atrocities against Bosnians in the 1990s, not only among Muslims around the world, but for all of humanity."

Al-Issa was welcomed at the Memorial Center by President of the Steering Board Sefket Hafizovic, Director Emir Suljagic, and representatives of the victims, witnesses, and family members of those who perished in the genocide.

"The Srebrenica Memorial Center is an institution that has an open door for all people who acknowledge the crime of genocide, want to proactively support our programs of education and dissemination of the truth about genocide, and are willing to work with us to prevent the crime of genocide from happening again," Hafizovic said.

"Dr. Al-Issa and the Muslim World League have been leaders in speaking out for the victims of genocide. He has elevated this essential cause so that it's at the heart of inter-religious dialogue, both here in the region, everywhere else in the world."

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1088292/Muslim_World_League_pays_tribute.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/837598/Muslim_World_League__Logo.jpg
SKILLSEDGE, a division of BANKEDGE has collaborated with Jain University, Bengaluru to offer Post Graduate Program (PGP) in Banking and Financial Services.

Jain University (deemed-to-be), is a top ranked university and has over a decade of excellence in delivering higher education across multiple specialisations. The students of the Post Graduate program would undergo a blended form of education on the complete functioning of the Banking & Financial Services sector. This would enable the student to pursue a lucrative career in the high-growth BFSI industry.

The course will not only give exposure to the critical aspects of banking but also prepare the student in terms of personality development and soft skills. The holistic learning environment at BANKEDGE and the face-to-face delivery by the trained tutors, will make the students thorough in their skills and will make them perfectly suited for the corporate working conditions.

SkillsEdge will initially offer courses in Banking and Financial Services and later on add other streams of vocational courses in Digital Marketing, Retail Management, Travel, Tourism & Hospitality and Communications.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Santosh Joshi, CEO- SkillsEdge said, We are delighted to launch PGP courses in association with the prestigious Jain University. We would add more vocational courses like Travel and Tourism, Mass Communication, Retail Management and Digital Marketing in the years to come. We would fulfil the dreams of young graduates in the country to advance in their studies, gain practical and job oriented knowledge and get them placed with reputed Banks and Financial Institutions.
Missing: Stephanie Simpson, 32

A desperate search is under way for a British backpacker missing in New Zealand.

Stephanie Simpson, 32, told friends she was going hiking over the weekend at Mount Aspiring National Park on the South Island.

The alarm was raised when she failed to turn up at her landscaping job on Monday.

A police search including a helicopter found no sign of her.

Heavy rains have caused flooding around the national park where two hikers were found dead in a swollen river on Friday.

It is believed Miss Simpson, who moved to Wanaka last year after traveling Australia, went walking alone.

She told friends she planned to make a four-hour trek to Brewster Hut before heading to the Blue Pools on Saturday.

Friends said she was an experienced hiker.

'She's strong, she's fit, she's capable. She's worked in the outdoors, she knows what she's up to,' on friend told the New Zealand Herald.

'She's a really beautiful, kind-hearted person. She can make friends in an instant, she's awesome. She's just here to tramp and see the country,' the friend added.
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Linkedin Asip Hasani and Ardila Syakriah (The Jakarta Post) Blitar/Jakarta  Mon, February 10, 2020

As face masks in Hong Kong become more expensive and harder to find, Indonesian migrant workers are turning to families and friends at home to send them face masks that have become a necessity to help protect against coronavirus.

A migrant worker from East Java's Blitar, Anis SD, took to a Blitar-community Facebook group to complain about how she was struggling to find face masks and instant food that are fast running out in stores in Hong Kong. She also uploaded a picture of messy shelves at a convenience store in Hong Kong.

"Face masks and instant food, such as noodles, have been scarce in recent days," Anis told The Jakarta Post.

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The leader of the United States Space Force on Monday confirmed reports that a pair of Russian spacecraft have come very close to a U.S. spy satellite, saying that foreign satellites are showing "unusual and disturbing behavior."

"Last November the Russian government launched a satellite that subsequently released a second satellite. These satellites have been actively maneuvering near a U.S. government satellite ... which the Russian government characterized as 'inspector satellites,'" U.S. General John Raymond said in a statement to CNBC.

The extraordinary situation was noted by amateur spacecraft trackers last month, who pointed out that Russian satellite Kosmos 2542 had slowly made its way into the same area in orbit as USA 245  a satellite the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) operates. The NRO is an agency within the Department of Defense and one of the five major U.S. intelligence agencies.

Kosmos 2542 was not initially near USA 245. But, two weeks after launch, the Russian satellite split into two different objects. By the middle of January, Kosmos 2542 and Kosmos 2543 had moved in orbit and were closing in on USA 245. The Russian spacecraft were as close as 300 kilometers from USA 245, in clear view of the U.S. satellite. Additionally, the two Russian objects were able to see multiple sides of USA 245 due to the nature of their orbits  causing satellite trackers to speculate that Kosmos 2542 and Kosmos 2543 were indeed inspecting USA 245.
AMSTERDAM, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ING Bank N.V. (the "Company") announces the launch of its offer to purchase for cash (the "Tender Offer") up to $1 billion aggregate principal amount (the "Maximum Tender Amount") of its 5.800% Subordinated Notes due September 25, 2023 (the "Notes"). The Tender Offer is made upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the offer to purchase dated February 10, 2020 (the "Offer to Purchase"). The Offer to Purchase is available, subject to eligibility confirmation and registration, from the Tender Offer Website: www.dfking.com/ing. Capitalized terms used in this announcement and not otherwise defined have the meanings ascribed to them in the Offer to Purchase.

The Tender Offer will expire at 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on March 9, 2020, unless extended or earlier terminated (such time and date, as the same may be extended, the "Expiration Time"). Holders who validly tender their Notes may withdraw such Notes at any time prior to 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on February 24, 2020 (such time and date, as the same may be extended).

To receive the Total Consideration, which includes an early tender payment of $30.00 per $1,000 principal amount of Notes accepted for purchase pursuant to the Tender Offer (the "Early Tender Payment"), holders must validly tender and not validly withdraw their Notes so that they are received by the information and tender agent prior to 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on February 24, 2020, unless extended (such time, as the same may be extended, the "Early Tender Time"). Holders who validly tender their Notes after the Early Tender Time but whose tenders of Notes are received by the information and tender agent at or prior to the Expiration Time will be eligible to receive only the Tender Offer Consideration, which is an amount equal to the Total Consideration minus the Early Tender Payment.

The following table sets forth certain terms of the Tender Offer:

Title of Notes ISIN/CUSIP Outstanding

Principal

Amount Reference

U.S.

Treasury

Security Bloomberg

Reference

Page Fixed

Spread

(bps)(1) Hypothetical Total

Consideration(1) (2) (3) Early

Tender

Payment(2) Hypothetical

Tender Offer

Consideration(3) 5.800%

Subordinated

Notes due

September

25, 2023

issued by ING

Bank N.V. Regulation

S: USN45780

CT38/

N45780CT3 Rule 144A: US449786A

Y82/

449786AY8 $2,000,000,000 1.500%

U.S.

Treasury

Security

due January

15, 2023 FIT1 65 $1,128.66 $30.00 $1,098.66











(1) The Total Consideration is calculated with reference to the Fixed Spread and includes the Early Tender Payment. (2) Per $1,000 principal amount of Notes validly tendered and received by the information and tender agent prior to the Early Tender Time and accepted for purchase. The Total Consideration, when calculated with reference to the Fixed Spread set out above, already includes the Early Tender Payment. The Tender Offer Consideration for Notes validly tendered and received by the information and tender agent after the Early Tender Time but on or prior to the Expiration Time and accepted for purchase will be the Total Consideration minus the Early Tender Payment. (3) Per $1,000 principal amount of Notes. Hypothetical Total Consideration and Hypothetical Tender Offer Considerations are as of 11:00a.m., New York City time, on February 7, 2020.

The Total Consideration will be calculated at the Tender Price Determination Time at 10:00a.m. (New York City time) on February 25, 2020 in the manner set out in the Offer to Purchase, with reference to the Fixed Spread and includes the Early Tender Payment. The Tender Offer Consideration will be the Total Consideration minus the Early Tender Payment.

In addition to the Tender Offer Consideration or the Total Consideration, as applicable, all holders of Notes accepted for purchase will also receive accrued and unpaid interest on such Notes, rounded to the nearest $0.01 per $1,000 principal amount of Notes, from the last interest payment date up to, but not including, the Early Settlement Date or the Final Settlement Date (each as defined below), as applicable.

The Offeror is offering to purchase up to an aggregate principal amount of $1,000,000,000 of the Notes, subject to the sole discretion of the Offeror to, subject to applicable law, amend the Tender Offer. Notes may be subject to proration if the aggregate principal amount of Notes validly tendered and received by the information and tender agent and not validly withdrawn as of the Early Tender Time or the Expiration Time, as applicable, is greater than the Maximum Tender Amount. Furthermore, Notes tendered at or prior to the Early Tender Time will be accepted for purchase in priority to Notes tendered after the Early Tender Time, and to the extent Notes are tendered at or prior to the Early Tender Time and accepted for purchase pursuant to the Tender Offer, the portion of the Maximum Tender Amount available for the purchase of Notes tendered after the Early Tender Time could be reduced significantly or eliminated altogether.

The Tender Offer is conditioned on the satisfaction of the Conditions (as defined in the Offer to Purchase). The Tender Offer is not subject to a minimum tender condition.

It is expected that payment for Notes tendered at or prior to the Early Tender Time will be made on February 26, 2020 (the "Early Settlement Date"), and payment for Notes tendered after the Early Tender Time but at or prior to the Expiration Time will be made on March 11, 2020 (the "Final Settlement Date").

Subject to applicable law and the terms and conditions of the Offer to Purchase, the Company may terminate the Tender Offer, waive any or all of the Conditions prior to the Expiration Time, extend the Expiration Time or amend the terms of the Tender Offer.

The Company is making the Tender Offer as a way of optimizing ING's capital structure. None of the Company, the dealer managers, or the information and tender agent (nor any director, officer, employee, agent or affiliate of, any such person) makes any recommendation whether holders should tender or refrain from tendering Notes in the Tender Offer. Holders must make their own decision as to whether to tender Notes and, if so, the principal amount of the Notes to tender.

The Company has retained ING Financial Markets LLC, Merrill Lynch International and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC to act as the dealer managers for the Tender Offer and D.F. King & Co., Inc. to act as information and tender agent for the Tender Offer. Questions regarding procedures for tendering Notes may be directed to D.F. King & Co., Inc. at (877) 297-1746 (toll free), +1 (212) 269 5550 (collect) or +44 20 7920 9700 (in London), +852 3953 7208 (in Hong Kong) or by email to [email protected]. Additionally, the tender offer material is available at www.dfking.com/ing. Questions regarding the Tender Offer may be directed to ING Financial Markets LLC at +1 (877) 446-4930 (U.S. toll-free), +1 646 4248972 (U.S. collect) or +44 20 7767 6784 (ING Bank N.V./Europe) or by email to [email protected], Merrill Lynch International at +1 (888) 292 0070 (U.S. toll free), +1 (980) 387 3907 (U.S. collect) or +44 20 7996 5420 (London) or by email to [email protected] and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC at +1 (866) 309-6316 (U.S. toll-free) or +1 (704) 410-4756 (U.S. collect).

This press release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security. No offer, solicitation, or sale will be made in any jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful. The Tender Offer is only being made pursuant to the Offer to Purchase. Holders of the Notes are urged to carefully read the Offer to Purchase before making any decision with respect to the Tender Offer.

The distribution of announcement release in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law. Persons into whose possession this announcement comes are required by each of the Company, the dealer managers and the information and tender agent to inform themselves about and to observe any such restrictions.

Offer and Distribution Restrictions

United Kingdom

The communication of this announcement, the Offer to Purchase and any other documents or materials relating to the Tender Offer is not being made and such documents and/or materials have not been approved by an authorised person for the purposes of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Accordingly, this announcement, the Offer to Purchase and such documents and/or materials are not being distributed to, and must not be passed on to, persons in the United Kingdom other than (i) to those persons in the United Kingdom falling within the definition of investment professionals (as defined in Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Financial Promotion Order")), (ii) to those persons who are within Article 43(2) of the Financial Promotion Order, including existing members and creditors of the Company, (iii) to those persons who are outside the United Kingdom, or (iv) to any other persons to whom it may otherwise lawfully be made under the Financial Promotion Order (all such persons together being referred to as "Relevant Persons") and the transactions contemplated herein will be available only to, and engaged in only with, Relevant Persons. Any person who is not a Relevant Person should not act on or rely on this announcement, the Offer to Purchase or any of its contents.

France

The Tender Offer is not being made, directly or indirectly, to the public in France. None of this announcement, the Offer to Purchase or any other documents or offering materials relating to the Tender Offer, has been or shall be distributed to the public in France and only (i) providers of investment services relating to portfolio management for the account of third parties (personnes fournissant le service d'investissement de gestion de portefeuille pour compte de tiers) and/or (ii) qualified investors (investisseurs qualifies) acting for their own account, other than individuals, all as defined in, and in accordance with, Articles L.411-1, L.411-2 and D.411-1 of the French Code monetaire et financier, are eligible to participate in the Tender Offer. This announcement has not been submitted to the clearance procedures (visa) of the Autorite des marches financiers.

Italy

None of this announcement, the Offer to Purchase or any other document or materials relating to the Tender Offer have been or will be submitted to the clearance procedures of the Commissione Nazionale per le Societa e la Borsa ("CONSOB") pursuant to Italian laws and regulations. The Tender Offer is being carried out in Italy as an exempted offer pursuant to article 101-bis, paragraph 3-bis of the Legislative Decree No. 58 of 24 February 1998, as amended (the "Financial Services Act") and article 35-bis, paragraph 4 of CONSOB Regulation No. 11971 of 14 May 1999, as amended. Holders or beneficial owners of the Notes that are resident and/or located in Italy can tender Notes for purchase in the Tender Offer through authorised persons (such as investment firms, banks or financial intermediaries permitted to conduct such activities in the Republic of Italy in accordance with the Financial Services Act, CONSOB Regulation No. 20307 of 15 February 2018, as amended, and Legislative Decree No. 385 of 1 September 1993, as amended) and in compliance with any other applicable laws and regulations and with any requirements imposed by CONSOB and any other Italian authority.

Each intermediary must comply with the applicable laws and regulations concerning information duties vis-a-vis its clients in connection with the Notes or the Tender Offer.

General

This announcement does not constitute an offer to buy or the solicitation of an offer to sell Notes, and tenders of Notes in the Tender Offer will not be accepted from holders, in any circumstances in which such offer or solicitation is unlawful. In those jurisdictions where the securities, blue sky or other laws require the Tender Offer to be made by a licensed broker or dealer and any of the dealer managers or any of the dealer managers' respective affiliates is such a licensed broker or dealer in any such jurisdiction, the Tender Offer shall be deemed to be made by such dealer manager or affiliate, as the case may be, on behalf of the Company in such jurisdiction.

Forward-Looking Information

This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements which reflect the Company's intent, beliefs or current expectations about the future and can be recognized by the use of words such as "expects," "will," "anticipate," or words of similar meaning. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of any future performance and are necessarily estimates reflecting the best judgment of the senior management of the Company and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements. As a consequence, these forward-looking statements should be considered in light of various important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from estimates or projections contained in the forward-looking statements, which include, without limitation, the risk factors set forth in the Offer to Purchase. The Company cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will be realized, although it believes it has been prudent in its plans and assumptions. Achievement of future results is subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may prove to be inaccurate. Should known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove inaccurate, actual results could vary materially from those anticipated, estimated or projected. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by applicable law.

SOURCE ING Bank N.V.
The technical panel of the OPEC+ group recommended extending the oil production cuts agreed last December to the end of 2020, the current president of OPEC, Algerias oil minister, told media on Sunday. The group last week also recommended deeper cutsof 600,000 bpdto last until the end of Q2.

Countering the potentially positive implications of this news, however, Oil and Gas Middle East quoted Russias Energy Minister Alexander Novak as saying that Moscow needed more time to decide whether it will jump on board. At the time Novak was referring to the deeper cuts.

"[We do] not fully understand the situation and clear forecasts for the development of events in connection with coronavirus," Novak said last week as quoted by the media. "To do this, more time is needed to see how the situation will develop, what [the] impact will be on world markets for oil."

The official added there was still no evidence of a negative impact on Russian oil ands gas exports to China from the coronavirus outbreak.

At the time of writing, it was as of yet uncertain if OPEC+ will even hold another emergency meeting before its originally scheduled one in March because of Russias reluctance to commit to further cuts, Bloomberg reported.



Related: Crashing Copper Prices Spell Trouble For Oil

Meanwhile, Algerias top oil man, Mohamed Arkab, told Reuters The coronavirus epidemic has a negative impact on economic activities, especially on the transport, tourism and industry, in China particularly, and also increasingly in the Asian region and gradually in the world, which should motivate deeper and longer cuts in oil production.

An S&P Global Platts survey found last week OPEC that production in January had fallen by 470,000 bpd from December. Yet this has not been enough to prop up prices so far, even coupled with the news that Libyas oil production is now less than 200,000 bpd, down from 1.2 million bpd at the start of the year, due to the continued oil port blockade.

OPEC and several other oil producers led by Russia last December agreed to extend their production cuts of 1.2 million bpd until the end of March and the then decide on next steps. However, the coronavirus outbreak prompted an emergency meeting, at which OPEC came up with the proposal to deepen the cuts by another 600,000 bpd. As with the previous agreement, Russia will make or break the additional cuts.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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US Mint begins shipping quarters honoring Maya Angelou AP - Mon Jan 10, 6:14PM CST WASHINGTON (AP)  The United States Mint said Monday it has begun shipping quarters featuring the image of poet Maya Angelou, the first coins in its American Women Quarters Program. $SPX : 4,670.29 (-0.14%) $DOWI : 36,068.87 (-0.45%) $IUXX : 15,614.43 (+0.14%)

Cotton Closes Black on Monday Barchart - Mon Jan 10, 4:48PM CST Cotton futures were off their high at the closing bell on Monday, but were still 10 to 40 points in the black. New crop cotton also bounced on Monday, ending the session 40 to 76 points firmer. The Seam... CTH22 : 116.18 (+0.83%) CTK22 : 113.89 (+0.73%) CTZ21 : 111.55s (+0.25%)

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Pradeep Nath of the Visakha Society for Protection and Care of Animals said trawlers were violating the Marine Fisheries Regulation Act by not using the Turtle Excluder Device (TED.

Visakhapatnam: Fishing trawlers are killing thousands of Olive Ridley turtles in the Bay of Bengal, if the carcasses found in Vizag from RK Beach to Rushkonda Beach the last four days are an indication. Three adult turtles were found dead near the INS Kursura Submarine museum on Saturday morning. This is a nesting ground for the turtle and protected by the forest department. Department sources and wildlife conservationists said on an average, the trawlers are killing 5,000 turtles every year.

Mr Pradeep Nath of the Visakha Society for Protection and Care of Animals said trawlers were violating the Marine Fisheries Regulation Act by not using the Turtle Excluder Device (TED. The forest department claims a staff shortage prevents vigilant supervision. Port authorities should slap a fine and not allow them to sail without TED, he said.

The nesting commenced last December and will continue till May. February and March are the peak months for nesting. So far we have found 89 nests along the Vizag beach. Last year there were 800 and this year we are to cross 1,200, Mr Nath told Deccan Chronicle.

Expansion of the shrimp trawling in the eastern Indian Ocean since the mid-1970s has resulted in numerous Olive Ridley deaths. Over 10,000 carcasses a year have been counted on the Orissa coast since 1999, Nath said. The Hudhud cyclone was a blessing in disguise as hatchling success improved as the old sand was replaced with new and non-polluted sand.

While field protection is strong there is the need of simultaneous protection measures of the species. We have decided to increase the hatcheries from three to five to include RK Beach, Lumbini Beach, Jodugu-dullupalem, Peda Nagaya-palem and Tantidi over a span of 60 kms, Nath added.

Despite efforts, fishermen are not opting for the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology designed TED, senior scientist Dr Raghu Prakash R. told DC. It is not strictly implemented for the trawler owners. There is also a lack of incentive to use it.

We are organizing workshops and awareness camps on use of CIFT-designed TED in association with WWF in Visakhapatnam, Machilipatnam and parts of Odisha on February 18 and February 19 this year, Dr Prakash said.
One of the men was hospitalised with kidney failure and 11 broken ribs. Another was nearly unrecognisable to his wife when he was wheeled into a courtroom. A third was stitched up after being attacked by a security dog.

Then the three Palestinians were returned to their Israeli interrogators. They had been swept up in a sprawling manhunt launched after a roadside bomb killed a 17-year-old Israeli girl and wounded her father and brother as they hiked down to a spring last August in the occupied West Bank.

The attack raised fears of a sophisticated militant cell that might strike again, and Israeli interrogators appear to have treated it as a ticking time-bomb scenario.

Israeli and Palestinian rights groups say there is strong evidence that they tortured several detainees in violation of Israeli and international law.

The allegations against Israel are the most serious to come to light in years, and the rights groups say they point to a loosening of constraints two decades after the Israeli Supreme Court outlawed most forms of torture.

Lawyers and family members of the three main suspects say they were tortured to the point of being hospitalised.

Several other Palestinians swept up by Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency say they were threatened, beaten, forced into painful stress positions and denied sleep.

A landmark 1999 Israeli Supreme Court ruling forbids such torture.

But the law allows interrogators to defend the use of force when there is fear of an imminent attack.

Rights groups say interrogators routinely make use of the loophole, knowing they will face few consequences, if any.

The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel says more than 1,200 complaints against the Shin Bet have been filed since 2001, without a single case going to trial.

Only one criminal investigation has been launched, over a 2017 case involving alleged rape, and it is still open.

The allegations come at a sensitive time following the release of President Donald Trump's Mideast initiative, which heavily favors Israel and would allow it to annex large parts of the West Bank.

The Palestinians have rejected the plan, and sporadic clashes have erupted across the West Bank in recent days.

The Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which has also been accused of torturing prisoners, has responded to the plan by threatening to end its longtime security coordination with Israel, which many Palestinians view as an extension of the occupation.

The latest torture allegations could add to the mounting pressure on President Mahmoud Abbas to follow through on those threats.

The Shin Bet launched a massive manhunt after the Aug. 23 bombing killed 17-year-old Rina Shnerb and seriously wounded her father and older brother.

Such bombings, a hallmark of the 2000-2005 Palestinian uprising, have been rare in recent years.

Authorities blamed the attack on the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or PFLP, a leftist political party that has an armed wing.

In the following weeks, security forces arrested dozens of its members suspected militants as well as politicians and student leaders.

The 2.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank live under Israeli military rule, and detainees can be held for months or years without charge under a practice known as administrative detention.

Israel says such measures are needed to prevent attacks without disclosing sensitive intelligence.

The Shin Bet identified 44-year-old Samer Arbeed as the mastermind of the attack and the bombmaker.

It said Qassem Barghouti, 22, took part in the bombing and other attacks, and that Walid Hanatsheh, 51, was a senior commander in the group's armed wing.

The Shin Bet, also known as the Israeli Security Agency, said the interrogations helped foil attacks planned for the near future and led authorities to several weapons caches.

The agency declined to address specific allegations of torture, saying only that interrogations are conducted in accordance with the law and are aimed at protecting the State of Israel and its citizens from terror attacks.

In September, days after his arrest, Arbeed was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

Sahar Francis, the head of the Palestinian Addameer rights group and a lawyer for the suspects, said Arbeed's interrogators beat him for 36 hours, leaving him with kidney failure and 11 broken ribs.

He was hospitalised and required a respirator after developing pneumonia. He was released from the hospital after three weeks and returned to Shin Bet custody.

The Shin Bet said at the time that Arbeed did not feel well during interrogation and was taken to a hospital, without elaborating. Israeli media said the Justice Ministry was investigating.

The ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

While Arbeed's hospitalization was widely reported at the time, Francis said his alleged co-conspirators, Barghouti and Hanatsheh, were also severely beaten.

Hanatsheh's wife, Bayan, said she hardly recognized him when she saw him 60 days after his arrest.

He was brought into court in a wheelchair," she said. He looked very old, his beard was plucked from several places and his eyes were deep inside his head. He was not himself, she said.

Francis shared photos of Hanatsheh she said were taken 10 days after his interrogation. They appeared to show large red bruises on his legs, feet and shoulders.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Cop shooting suspect charged with attempted murder originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

The man who shot a New York City police officer Saturday night and then wounded another during a shooting spree inside a Bronx precinct 12 hours later was arraigned on several charges for what was described as premeditated assassination attempts against cops.

Robert Williams, 45, pleaded not guilty to the criminal counts, including 14 attempted murder charges, for the two incidents and was remanded into custody. Officer Paul Stroffolino was struck in the neck in the Saturday shooting and Lt. Jose Gautreaux was struck in the arm in the precinct incident.

MORE: NYPD cops shot in the Bronx in 2 separate 'assassination' incidents, 1 suspect in custody

Attorney information for Williams was not immediately available.

Gautreaux left Lincoln Hospital on Monday to the cheers and salutes of his fellow NYPD comrades. Stroffolino had a similar crowd of officers cheer him on when he left the hospital Sunday.

"This is a really good day. We were very lucky," Police Commissioner Dermot Shea told reporters at a news conference following Gautreaux's release from the hospital.

PHOTO: A police officer injured in a shooting the previous evening is released at Lincoln Hospital, Feb. 9, 2020, in New York. (John Minchillo/AP, FILE)

Although Shea cited recent anti-police rallies and rhetoric as a factor behind this weekends attacks, which he called assassination attempts, Williams alleged motive was not immediately clear, according to the complaint. Police sources told ABC News he may be holding a grudge against the NYPD over a 2018 DWI arrest where he was allegedly found behind the wheel with PCP, according to the criminal complaint from that incident.

Williams allegedly claimed he was struck with a stun gun during the 2018 arrest and shouted "they tasered me" when officers took him into custody Sunday, according to police sources. While being treated at a hospital after Sunday's arrest, Williams allegedly told one of the officers watching him, "I'm going to shoot you when I get out," according to sources.

Story continues

Shea noted that Williams was arrested in 2002 and convicted on attempted murder charges in an incident that involved a carjacking and shooting with cops. He went on parole in 2017, according to the commissioner.

Williams allegedly walked up to a marked police van around 8 p.m. Saturday and asked for directions before opening fire at Stroffolino, who was in the drivers seat, the complaint said. Stroffolino was struck in the neck and chin and taken to Lincoln Hospital by his partner while Williams escaped.

Around 8 a.m. Sunday, Williams allegedly walked into the 41st Precinct, not too far from the crime scene, and opened fire at officers and a civilian employee, hitting Gautreaux in the arm, according to the complaint. Officers apprehended Williams when he ran out of bullets, Shea said.

A woman who allegedly dropped Williams off at the precinct was questioned by police and released later in the day. She is being treated as a witness, according to police.

PHOTO: New York Police Department Lt. Jose Gautreaux, who was shot in the arm by a gunman who opened fire in a police precinct in the Bronx, is released from Lincoln Hospital, Feb. 10, 2020, in New York. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AP)

The shooting reignited concerns among law enforcement officials and tensions between them and the city's leaders. In a memo to officers obtained by ABC News, Shea asked officers to remain safe and be vigilant.

"I am aware of the dangers you face each and every day you put on that uniform. We have a tough and dangerous job, I appreciate it," the memo read.

MORE: NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio Aims to 'Move Forward Together' With Police Unions

Other NYPD leaders, however, had harsher sentiments, particularly at Mayor Bill de Blasio. The Sergeants Benevolent Association, the union representing 13,000 active and retired NYPD sergeants, tweeted at the mayor Sunday evening, blaming him for the shootings.

"Mayor DeBlasio [sic] the members of the NYPD are declaring war on you!" the tweet said.

Freddi Goldstein, a spokeswoman for de Blasio, dismissed SBA President Edward Mullins and the tweet, calling it "absolutely reprehensible."

"He clearly has forgotten his oath to protect and serve. While he threatens violence, the mayor remains focused on the safety of our officers and communities," she said in a statement.

Shea defended de Blasio Monday afternoon and said Mullins' statement didn't reflect the voice of the NYPD.

"When you look at what the mayor does for this city, hes been extremely supportive of this NYPD," he told reporters at the Monday news conference.

ABCNews' Mark Crudele contributed to this report.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Feb. 10, 2020 | 09:01 AM | MAYFIELD

A shoplifting call led to a Mayfield man's arrest on drug charges.

The Mayfield Police Department received a call on Sunday about a woman and two men who had reportedly shoplifted from a store on Paris Road. Police say the vehicle had left the area before officers arrived.

Police were able to obtain a description of the vehicle and photographs of its occupants. An officer spotted the vehicle in the parking lot of another store on West Farthing Street.

While attempting to detain the occupants in the vehicle, the driver began resisting and a scuffle ensued. Officers located the stolen merchandise from two stores, along with methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

Police arrested 51-year-old Kevin Carr of Mayfield on charges of possession of meth, possession of drug paraphernalia and resisting arrest. Thirty-five-year-old Laura Williams of Mayfield was arrested on two counts of theft by unlawful taking.

Both were lodged in the Graves County Jail.
By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department is receiving information on former Vice President Joe Biden and his businessman son, Hunter Biden, from President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, a top Trump ally in the Senate said on Sunday. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham said Attorney General William Barr told him about the arrangement on Sunday morning and that Justice Department officials were evaluating Giuliani's information to determine whether it is genuine

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department is receiving information on former Vice President Joe Biden and his businessman son, Hunter Biden, from President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, a top Trump ally in the Senate said on Sunday.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham said Attorney General William Barr told him about the arrangement on Sunday morning and that Justice Department officials were evaluating Giuliani's information to determine whether it is genuine.

"The Department of Justice is receiving information coming out of the Ukraine from Rudy. He (Barr) told me that they have created a process that Rudy could give information and they would see if it's verified," Graham told the CBS News program Face the Nation.

Justice Department officials were not immediately available for comment.

News of the arrangement surfaced days after the Senate acquitted Trump on impeachment charges that he abused his power by asking Ukraine to investigate the Bidens.

Trump had based his demands on unfounded allegations of corruption. House investigators alleged that Giuliani pursued damaging information about the Bidens in Ukraine as Trump's personal lawyer.

Hunter Biden sat on the board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma while Joe Biden, now a Democratic presidential candidate, was vice president.

Two Republican senators - Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson - are also conducting an investigation of U.S. government records to determine whether there was a conflict of interest.

Graham said he spoke to Barr and Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr on Sunday, after Giuliani told an interviewer that he had unearthed key evidence from Ukraine.

"They told me: 'Take very cautiously anything coming out of the Ukraine against anybody,'" Graham said.

"Any documents coming out of the Ukraine against any American, Republican or Democrat, need to be looked at by the intelligence services who have expertise - I don't  because Russia is playing us all like a fiddle."

Graham said he would refrain from his own probe of the Bidens and concentrate instead on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court's decision to issue warrants that led to a federal investigation into allegations that Trump's 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia to interfere in the election.

"Here's what I want to tell the president: I'm not going to be the Republican Christopher Steele," Graham said.

Steele is the former British spy who produced a dossier on Trump that the FBI used in its Russia probe. Republicans have condemned the dossier as a sham document filled with Russian propaganda.

(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 03:49:28|Editor: Xiaoxia

Video Player Close

Photo taken on Feb. 9, 2020 shows a bloody footprint at the parking lot of an apartment complex where a shooting took place in Chinatown of Chicago, the United States. One person was arrested after two men were shot to death during a robbery that happened early Sunday morning in Chinatown on the south side of Chicago. (Xinhua/Wang Ping)

CHICAGO, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- One person was arrested after two men were shot to death during a robbery that happened early Sunday morning in Chinatown on the south side of Chicago.

The men, aged 38 and 39, respectively, were standing in the parking lot of an apartment complex at 2:13 a.m. with a 44-year-old woman when someone walked up and tried to rob them, local media quoted Chicago police as saying.

The men resisted, and the suspect fired multiple shots at their heads. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

The woman complied with the robber and was not injured. The robber ran away but was caught shortly, the police said.

As of Sunday noon, two bloody footprints could still be seen in the middle of the parking lot, and the stagnant water around a sewer entrance was tinted with blood.

Several Chinese Americans at the scene told Xinhua they believed both victims were of Chinese origin, without disclosing more information.

The case is still under investigation.
Academy Award winners celebrated Sunday night by using their platforms to talk about politics and other global issues, prompting many viewers to take to Twitter to share what they are calling the 'wokest Oscars ever'.

Joaquin Phoenix who is a passionate vegan, won the coveted Oscar award for Best Actor for his performance in the film Joker.

He used his speech to talk about the artificial insemination of cows and how humans 'exploit' and 'dominate' animals.

Brad Pitt, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, complained about President Trump's impeachment trial.

Sigourney Weaver described 'all women' as 'superheroes', a documentary filmmaker invoked Karl Marx and called for 'workers of the world' to 'unite', Renee Zellweger gushed over the unifying qualities of 'our heroes' and Jojo Rabbit filmmaker Taika Waititi dedicated his award for Best Adapted Screenplay to 'all the Indigenous kids in the world.

And while the crowd at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles applauded their speeches, the millions of viewers at home weren't too impressed.

Joaquin Phoenix (left) and Brad Pitt (right) were two Academy Award winners who celebrated Sunday night by using their platforms to talk about politics and other global issues, prompting many viewers to take to Twitter to share what they are calling the 'wokest Oscars ever'
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 10)  A member of the House of Representatives says no green light has been given about starting discussions on any franchise renewals.

Speaking to CNN Philippines Monday, Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez said, "Unfortunately, there has been no hearing of our bills. There are 11 of us who have filed bills to extend and renew the ABS-CBN franchise. Unfortunately, the leadership of the House has not allowed the Committee on Legislative Franchises to conduct hearings."

Rodriguez said it would be House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano who would decide when the hearings would take place.

"It will be the Speaker who will decide. Because the chairman of the Committee on Franchise will have to ask the Speaker for clearance to proceed... To be straight about it, it is the Speaker's call," he told CNN Philippines News Night.

The committee is waiting for the go signal from the leadership, he said.

"There's no reason why it has not been called. That is why I believe he has to call it immediately, otherwise we abdicate and we lose by default the powers of Congress to decide on franchises. And here is a situation where the Solicitor General has filed an unconstitutional petition which encroaches on the power of Congress," added Rodriguez.

Rodriguez cited Article 12 Section 11 of the Constitution, saying the repeal or cancellation of a franchise because of a violation should be lodged with Congress, as any franchise shall be "subject to amendment, alteration, or repeal by the Congress when the common good so requires."

He also believes the Supreme Court will rule in their favor, saying the petition filed will not be successful as Congress has the "exclusive power" to grant or extend franchises.

Rodriguez, however, said he is confident there will be a hearing regarding the issue. But given how little time is left for the House to discuss the matter, the lawmaker admitted things "don't look bright."

SolGen: Forefeit ABS-CBN franchise

Solicitor General Jose Calida filed a petition before the Supreme Court Monday to revoke the existing franchise of ABS-CBN, saying the TV network has violated rules set by Congress.

The government's lawyer ran to the high court with a "very urgent" motion requesting to cancel ABS-CBN's legislative franchise weeks before it lapses. Calida claimed that the Lopez-owned network committed violations in the terms set by Congress when it approved ABS-CBN's franchise in 1995.

The quo warranto petition was lodged against ABS-CBN Corporation and its subsidiary, ABS-CBN Convergence Inc.

Calida said he wants to put an end to "highly abusive practices of ABS-CBN" which went unnoticed for years. For one, he said the network allowed foreign investors to "take part in the ownership of a Philippine mass media entity" despite being prohibited by the Constitution.

ABS-CBN issued a statement saying they did not violate any law, adding Calida's plea to revoke its existing franchise is "without merit," with the public TV channel insisting that all its business strategies are above board.

"ABS-CBN complies with all pertinent laws governing its franchise and has secured all necessary government and regulatory approvals for its business operations," it added.

In a statement Monday evening, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said it was within Calida's power to file a quo warranto against any franchise holder if there was good reason to believe the franchise was abused.

"One cannot blame Solicitor General Calida for simply performing this legal obligation, as directed of him by the Rules of Court," Panelo said.

Panelo added there was a difference between forfeiting and not granting a franchise, "The former is exercised by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) in accordance with its legal mandate, while the latter is undertaken by Congress pursuant to its legislative powers."

He added Congress should not worry about the OSG encroaching upon their authority.
Hundreds of Jamia Millia Islamia students and residents of nearby Jamia Nagar on Monday refused to end their protest against the CAA and insisted on marching to Parliament, clambering over barricades before finally digging in their heels and sitting on 'dharna' outside the university.

The trouble, which erupted just 10 days after a student was injured when a man opened fire on a group of protesters in Jamia Nagar, began in the afternoon itself when police refused permission for the march and escalated as the day progressed.

Some of the protesters have been detained by the police, officials said.

Despite repeated appeals from the police and the varsity administration, the protesters refused to end their agitation that started following a call by the Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC), an organisation of Jamia students and alumni.

The protesters, including several women, began their march from Jamia's gate no 7 around noon amid heavy deployment of security personnel in and around the university.

The scuffle intensified by 6.00 pm as the students refused to budge and a group of protesters gheraoed the Sukhdev Vihar police station. Some protesters jumped over barricades as police in riot gear tried to stop them.

As the number of people joining the protest swelled by the evening, the Sukhdev Vihar Metro Station near the university was closed.

"Security Update Entry & exit gates of Sukhdev Vihar are closed," the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation tweeted.

The protesters raised anti-police slogans and shouted "Kagaz Nahi Dikhayenge' (We will not show documents) and "Jab Nahi Dare Hum Goron Se Toh Kyun Dare Hum Auron Se" (When we did not fear the British, why should we fear others).

"We can keep sitting whole day and raise slogans. They say we do not have permission to march to Parliament. Do people who have flashed guns here and there at protests in the past weeks have permission?" Farzana, a Jamia student, said.

Another burqa-clad protester said, "It has been two months since we are protesting. No one from the government has come to talk to us, so we want to go to talk to them".

Men formed a human chain on either sides of roads as women walked ahead, waving the tricolour and raising slogans of "Halla Bol".

Jamia Millia Islamia proctor Waseem Ahmed Khan appealed to the students to disperse and not meddle with the police.

"The message has been sent. I request students in the crowd to go back to the university. Respect the law and peacefully go back," he urged the students.

The CAA allows easier citizenship for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Parsis and Jains who came to India from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh before 2015 to escape religious persecution there.

Those opposing the CAA contend that it discriminates on the basis of religion and violates the Constitution. They also allege that the CAA along with the NRC is intended to target the Muslim community in the country.

However, the central government has dismissed the allegations, maintaining that the law is intended to give citizenship to the persecuted minorities from the three neighbouring countries and not to take away anyone's citizenship.

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

FAIRFIELD- On the evening of Feb. 6, evening, State Rep. Brian Farnen hosted his first of many legislative coffee hours in the Fairfield University Bookstore at the Starbucks.

During the meet and greet with interested constituents, Farnen listened to approximately a dozen residents share their concerns on a variety of issues. The issues discussed included the issue of improving Connecticuts transportation and the possibility of tolls on highway bridges, broadband access, the states fiscal health and the need for structural financial reform, Fairfields share of state education dollars, and the states pension obligations to teachers and state employees. Finally, the other item discussed was the issue of mandatory vaccinations.
President Trump will request a major increase to the budget for America's nuclear weapons arsenal, according to people familiar with the budget request the administration will unveil on Monday.

By the numbers: Trump's 2021 budget calls for $28.9 billion for the Pentagon to modernize nuclear delivery systems and $19.8 billion to the National Nuclear Security Administration  a nearly 20% increase over his previous budget request  for "modernizing the nuclear weapons stockpile," according to people familiar with the budget request.

"This includes a range of warhead life extension programs, investments in new scientific tools we need to maintain a safe, effective and reliable nuclear stockpile into the future," said a source familiar, "a major increase for maintenance and upgrade to a long-neglected and aging infrastructure, and funding to restore the nation's capability to develop new nuclear warheads."

Why it matters: Political leaders in America have kept delaying modernizing the three legs of the nuclear triad  land-launched nuclear missiles, nuclear submarines and strategic aircraft. These systems have now aged to the "end of their service lives," said Mackenzie Eaglen, defense budget expert at the American Enterprise Institute.

"We keep putting bandaids over bandaids and now new systems are required," Eaglen added.

Between the lines: There's a lot of bipartisan agreement in defense policy. But Republicans and Democrats tend to diverge when it comes to nuclear forces and arms control agreements.

Democrats tend to instinctively support international arms control agreements, with a goal to set a path to zero nuclear weapons, whereas Republicans tend to be reflexively skeptical of such agreements and supportive of modernizing the U.S. arsenal.

Democrats and liberals often argue that improvements to the U.S. arsenal will make nuclear war more likely. Republicans and conservatives tend to argue that the way to prevent nuclear war is to have a stronger arsenal.

Behind the scenes: President Trump is firmly in the latter camp and has often told his aides that the U.S. needs to have the best nuclear weapons program in the world. He has even privately mused about his desire for the U.S. to grow its arsenal, though that does not appear to be the point of this budget request.

"The president very much believes in nuclear modernization, as reflected by these generous budget increases," said a person familiar with this budget.

The big picture: China has turned the old nuclear calculation upside down. The Cold War-era arms control debate was framed around the U.S. versus the Soviet Union. That bilateral conception of arms control continues to the present day, with the New START Treaty struck between the U.S. and Russia under the Obama administration.

Trump needs to decide, this year, whether to negotiate with Russia to extend the New START agreement, which expires in 2021.

But complicating this picture is a new major power, China, whose officials have said they have no interest in participating in arms control agreements.

Not only that, the Russians and the Chinese are modernizing their nuclear arsenals, while the U.S. is not, Eaglen said. Pakistan and India are growing their arsenals. "The trend lines are moving in opposite directions from the U.S.," she added.

The bottom line: America's nuclear infrastructure is aging, but the project of modernizing the warheads and the missiles is enormously expensive and will take many years. Congress has not shown a capacity to support the spending required so far.
SARASOTA, FL / ACCESSWIRE / February 10, 2020 / Welcome back to our exploration of the ancient practice of yoga and its many variations. In our last piece, yogi Daniele Jarman discussed what defines Hatha yoga, how Bikram and hot yoga have evolved into similar but distinct forms, and what differentiates Ashtanga yoga from Vinyasa. Now, let's look at a few more important styles of this time-honored body-mind practice.

Iyengar

Created in the 1960s by B.K.S. Iyengar, this style of yoga emphasizes precision, careful attention to alignment, and mindful awareness of the body. In order to maximize yoga's benefits, as well as to avoid causing injury or pain through incorrect movement or alignment, students of Iyengar yoga follow a specific sequence of asana or postures. They are encouraged to prioritize correct alignment over-speed or quantity of poses. Each posture is held for a relatively long time compared to other styles of yoga. This is believed to allow the muscles to relax and lengthen, and to strengthen the muscle memory that will help students become more proficient the more they practice.

Another characteristic of this style is the use of props, such as blocks, belts or straps, bolsters, and blankets. These items, in the Iyengar philosophy, can help level the proverbial playing field; they allow beginners, the elderly, people recovering from injury, or anyone who simply lacks the flexibility to perform the same postures as more experienced practitioners.

Yin Yoga

One of the more meditative styles of yoga, Daniele Jarman of Sarasota explains, yin yoga is a fantastic starting point for beginners. Unlike more active types of practice that will leave you drenched with sweat and in definite need of a cool-down, yin yoga is closer to meditation than to Crossfit. Neophytes will hold asanas anywhere from 45 seconds to two whole minutes; more advanced yogis will sometimes stay in a pose for up to five minutes at a stretch. Yin yoga is concerned with the emotional state, with the pursuit of inner silence as one of its main goals. From a physical perspective, yin yoga focuses on the fascia, tendons, and ligaments as much as the muscles or joints in order to improve a person's circulation and range of motion.

Like acupuncture, qi gong, Reiki, and healing touch therapy, yin yoga aims to release and facilitate the movement of blocked energy within the body. This invisible energy is sometimes called qi (or chi); in sanskrit, it's known as prana. When it is blocked within the body or unbalanced, the result is illness, pain, stiffness, lack of mobility, and other physical problems.

Kundalini

The last of the yoga styles that Danielle Jarman of Sarasota will explain in this post is kundalini. One of the oldest incarnations of yoga - some say the very first - kundalini is also concerned with the body's energy, particularly the divine energy that, according to its teachings, resides at the base of one's spine. Through the practice of yoga, we can work to move energy up through the chakras and outward. The result is energy that is freely flowing and balanced, as well as an increase in energetic awareness.

You will learn a lot of new terminology if you get into Kundalini yoga. One term you'll need right off the bat is "kriya." A kriya is an action comprising breathwork, posture, and sounds. In addition to the yoga poses, Kundalini practitioners use mudras, which are hand gestures or positions that activate energy in various parts of the body. Holding your hands in prayer position or namaste is a form of mudra. So is touching thumb to forefinger, and of course, there are many more.

According to Daniele Jarman, sound in the context of a kriya can be a chant, or mantra. These, too, are involved with the flow of energy within and around the body. Yogis use mantras to channel and attract positive energy. There's even some scientific evidence that mantras can cause a chemical reaction in the brain that boosts your mood and overall well-being!

A Yoga Style for Everybody (and Every Body!)

As for Danielle Jarman, when she teaches a class or works with private clients, she draws upon eclectic inspiration from all of these styles of yoga, as well as many others. It may take some time and experimentation, she says, before you discover the right variety, or combination, of yoga that most suits your temperament, physique, spiritual alignment, and goals - but it's a journey that will be well worth it.

CONTACT:

Caroline Hunter

Web Presence, LLC

+1 7865519491

SOURCE: Web Presence, LLC

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/575905/Exploring-The-Different-Styles-of-Yoga-with-Instructor-Daniele-Jarman-of-Sarasota-Part-II
New Delhi, Feb 10 : The Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi (IIIT-D) on Monday signed an MoU with the global education technology company, Extramarks, to promote and encourage research in Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Extramarks, in partnership with IIIT-Delhi will set up a research laboratory in the Computer Science Department, which will be dedicated to the task of creating new breakthroughs in the area of 'AI in Education'.

Speaking about the partnership, Professor Ranjan Bose, Director of IIIT-Delhi, said: "AI has tremendous potential to reform education delivery, making quality education accessible in the remotest parts of the country and the world. This partnership opens the doors of constructive research for our students, who will benefit greatly from the practical experience they will gain from engaging with Extramarks. Together, we hope to lead the revolution in education delivery from the front." Speaking on the occasion, Ritvik Kulshrestha, CEO, Extramarks Education said: "AI is the prime tool which will lead us to futuristic digital learning solutions, best suited to the needs of the current and next generation of students. Extramarks has believed in the power of technology to transform teaching-learning ecosystems, and moulding them to suit the needs of each last individual student.

"Having already successfully implementing AI in our school and app-based learning content, we are now keen to implement futuristic technology which will cause innovative disruptions in education delivery to help students learn in a personalized and independent environment. Our partnership with IIIT-Delhi is a step in the same direction." Giving fillip to fresh ideas and encouraging innovation from young technologists, this collaboration is hopeful of making education delivery more personalized, interactive and effective. Seeds of innovation sown in IIIT-Delhi will find mass-scale manifestation in the technology platforms enabled by Extramarks.

The benefit will accrue to all students, teachers and schools who adopt such futuristic technologies in classrooms as well as home-learning segment.

IIIT-Delhi was created as a State University by an act of the Delhi government (The IIIT Delhi Act, 2007) empowering it to do research and development, and grant degrees.

In a relatively short time, it has earned an excellent reputation in India and abroad for being a centre of quality education and research in IT and interdisciplinary areas.

Established in 2008, the Institute has grown to be recognized as one of the most promising young institutions for education and research in India. The Institute is accredited 'A' grade by NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) and has been accorded 12-B status by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

In recognition of its performance, QS India University Ranking 2020 has ranked IIIT-Delhi 41 and QS BRICS ranking 2019 ranked the institute at 192. NIRF also ranked IIIT-Delhi at number 55 this year.

Extramarks is a leading digital learning company offering K-12 learning solutions covering various curricula and all subjects for in-school and at-home learning.

Besides India, Extramarks has a global presence in South Africa, Indonesia and Middle East countries with an intent to emerge as a global pioneer in personalized learning solutions.

In a very short period Extramarks's at-home-learning solutions have become extremely popular due to its innovative approach of using rich interactive media for concept learning and adaptive learning tools for testing knowledge retention.

Extramarks employs around 4,200 professionals across country with about 60 retail offices pan India.
Lumieres d'Afriques will open at the Standard Bank Gallery in Johannesburg on 21 February 2020. The group exhibition will showcase the work of 54 artists from across the African continent.

Aida Muluneh - Darkness Give Way to Light

Nganga Kabiru - Alternative Solution

Shedding light on African art

Rehema Chachage - ANGUKA (FALL)

Athi Patra Ruga - Miss Azania

Paa Joe - Electric Bulb Noah Mduli - Turning on the Light

The gallery will present 54 unique artworks, each created by an artist from a different African country, under the theme of The Light of Africa.An internationally-renowned project by African Artists for Development (AAD), Lumieres dAfriques was founded in 2015. It is premised on the idea that the 21st century belongs to Africa, while also reflecting on the challenges facing the development of the continent. The exhibition has been touring globally for the past five years.Following the exhibitions inauguration in Paris at the Theatre National de Chaillot, the collection of works has been presented at the Donwahi Foundation for Contemporary Art in Cote dIvoire, the Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire in Senegal, the African Unions headquarters in Ethiopia, the Palace of Nations in Switzerland, EUMESTAT in Germany and, most recently, in the Mohammed VI museum in Morocco.Standard Bank Gallery manager and curator, Dr Same Mdluli, says there is no better time than now for the South African leg of the exhibition.The power of such exhibitions is how they relate to their context in whatever shape, size or format, and across different geographical locales  especially in how they touch on critical socio-political and economic themes.It was therefore the right time and the right place to host such an exhibition, given the kinds of poignant issues it highlights in relation to South Africas current challenges  25 years into its democracy, says Dr Mdluli.Chairperson of the AAD, Gervanne Leridon, explains that since the inception of the touring Pan-African exhibition, it was clear that South Africa would be a destination.Not only does South Africa boast a thriving art scene, but it is a long-standing leader in democratising access to energy. We are especially proud to present Lumieres dAfriques in Johannesburg thanks to the support of Standard Bank and its commitment to supporting African development.In addition to their varying countries of origin, the artists in Lumieres dAfriques traverse a wide range of media  from painted and photographic works, to assemblage, textile and sculptural pieces. Yet they all have been created in response to the issue of energy access across the continent, with a strong Pan-Africanist theme.Participating artists include Franck Ludangi (Angola), Neo Matome (Botswana), Nyaba Ouedraogo (Burkina Faso), Tchale Figueira (Cape Verde), Thakane Lerotholi (Lesotho), Noah Mdluli (Swaziland), Christine Chetty (Seychelles), Doung Anwar Jahangeer (Mauritius), Athi-Patra Ruga (South Africa), Paa Joe (Ghana) and Nolan Oswald Dennis (Zambia) to name a few.Dr Mdluli further highlights the ability of such an exhibition to spark conversation and engagement around issues that affect not only South Africa but the continent as a whole.The theme of access to renewable energy, on the one hand, speaks to Africa being a source of light and inspiration. But there is also the strong Pan-Africanist theme as it relates within and outside of the continent. The benefit of such an exhibition is that it reiterates the importance of having such conversations through artistic expression.Artistic directorJean-Michel Champault adds that As the exhibition travels to one of Africas economic capitals, the time has come for the artists of the African continent and their art to gain recognition as major drivers of change and development.
Prasanta Mazumdar By

Express News Service

GUWAHATI: Close on the heels of Centres signing of historic third Bodo peace accord, Assams Bodo heartland is likely to see the birth of a political party.

It will be midwifed by all four factions of the erstwhile insurgent group National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) which were among the signatories of the accord.

Speculations were rife that they will vie for political space and the speculations got strengthened as they are meeting on February 12. The All Bodo Students Union (ABSU) and the United Bodo Peoples Organisation (UBPO) are the other signatories of the accord. It is still not clear if the ABSU or the UBPO will have any stake in the formation of the party.

The ABSU confirmed the meeting of the NDFB factions would be held in a day or two. The student body said it was obvious the Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF), which rules the autonomous Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), would be nervous over the latest developments.

In the absence of a formidable opposition party, the BPF has been ruling BTC ever since its creation in 2003 in the aftermath of erstwhile rebel group Bodo Liberation Tigers signing of the second Bodo peace accord with the Centre.

With BTC elections scheduled for April this year, the new political party, if at all floated, is likely to throw up a challenge to the BPF which is an ally of the BJP and a constituent of the states BJP-led ruling coalition. The BPF sought to put up a brave face.

I heard the four NDFB factions will meet and that they will float a political party. Every individual or organisation has a democratic right to do so. But even if they form one, they will not be able to unseat the BPF. The new party will not be a factor for us, former rebel leader-turned-BTC chief, Hagrama Mohilary, told journalists.

Assam Minister and BPF leader Pramila Rani Brahma said the BPF would not mind if the party is floated.

Our only appeal to them is that whatever they do, they should keep in mind the interests of all communities living in BTC. We will not create any hurdles for them and they should also not create any for us, she said.

All previous BTC elections were virtual cakewalk for the BPF. Congress and BJP hardly have any base in areas falling under the Council. There are some regional parties there but they could never put up a fight to the BPF. However, the poll scene is likely to change this election around as the NDFB factions enjoy mass support. This was evident in the recent rally in Kokrajhar, organised to celebrate the signing of third Bodo accord, where over 5 lakh people had turned up. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who attended the event, had said it was possibly the countrys biggest political rally post-independence.
BOSTON - A former Boston high school dean in prison for shooting a student he recruited to deal drugs pleaded not guilty Monday to allegations that he worked with fellow gang members from behind bars to try to identify a police informant in his case.

Shaun Harrison, who was known by students at The English High School as Rev, was among more than 60 Latin Kings members charged in December with racketeering, drug and gun crimes.

Harrison lived a double life, painting himself as an anti-violence activist and mentor for troubled teens while hiding his own gang ties and luring students into drugs and violence, authorities have alleged.

He was convicted in 2018 of shooting a 17-year-old student in the back of the head after a dispute over slumping drug sales. The bullet broke the teens jawbone and just missed his carotid artery, and he survived.

Harrison, who insisted hes innocent, is appealing that conviction.

Harrison wore a grey prison jumpsuit during a brief appearance in Boston federal court on Monday. He didnt speak other than to enter his not guilty plea and answer questions about his background from the judge.

His attorney, Joshua Levy, declined to comment after the hearing.

Federal prosecutors, who have charged Harrison with racketeering conspiracy, say he was intent on finding out the identity of a confidential informant in his case so the gang could retaliate against the informant.

In prison phone calls last summer, Harrison told another gang member he would write to him with the name of the person he believed to be the informant because he was worried to speak the informants name over the phone, according to court documents.

Ill let you know his name but I dont want to say anything on the phone, Harrison said.

While Harrisons nickname Rev was emblazoned on his office door at school, his arm was inked with Latin Kings tattoos and his apartment featured a Latin Kings mural on the wall, prosecutors said in court documents.

Harrison, meanwhile, has denied being a gangster and drug dealer.

I am not a gang member. Im the Rev, he told WHDH-TV in 2016. I never lived a double life. I never, never, sold drugs.

Others charged in the massive Latin Kings investigation  dubbed Operation Throne Down  include Michael Cecchetelli, a 40-year-old Springfield, Massachusetts, resident with ties to the Genovese crime family who oversaw the gangs operations from Massachusetts down to Florida.
Abu Dhabi-based Agthia Group, a leading food and beverages company, Dh137 million ($37.3 million) in net profit in the fiscal year ending December 31, 2019, as well as net revenues of Dh 2.04 billion.



The Group posted Agthia grew its revenues by 2 per cent year-on-year on geographic expansion and product category diversification.



The consumer-business contribution to Agthias top-line increased to 56 percent versus 54 percent from the previous year. Agthias 5-gallon Home and Office Delivery (HOD) business in the UAE, food segment along with international operations in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait drove the consumer businesss top-line growth.



On the local front, the companys water portfolio consisting of UAEs popular Al Ain Water, as well as Al Bayan, and Alpin retained market leadership with volume and value shares at 29 and 27 percent, respectively.



With regards to Agthias Agri-business, composed of Grand Mills Flour and Agrivita Animal Feed, the Flour business outperformed despite pulled out subsidy environment, as volumes recorded strong growth in export sales, retail penetration specifically in the Northern Emirates, as well as wheat trading. On the other hand, Animal Feed sales fell short due to lower grain sales and a decrease in demand from small-sized farms.



Dhafer Ayed Al Ahbabi, Agthia chairman, said: Agthias 2019 financial results are a testament to the companys agility in the ability to maintain leading market share and grow revenues against headwinds. This is underscored by Agthias resilience and commitment to uphold and protect shareholder value, as well as our unwavering alignment to the UAEs economic diversification agenda.



Tariq Ahmed Al Wahedi, Agthia Group CEO, said: Our positive revenue growth momentum has been led by diversification of our product portfolio, as well as increasing our geographical footprint in the face of unfavourable external factors.



Agthia continues to demonstrate dominancy in the UAE when it comes to the water segment despite aggressive competitive activity, price promotions, and changing consumer habits which has added pressure to the bottled water category, yet came in favour of the growth in shipped volumes of our 5-gallon HOD business. Our success is also supported by the flour business beating the zero-subsidy competitive environment along with the vigorous performance in the food segment and international markets.



Furthermore, our commitment to cost optimization across the entire organization, better agri-business profitability and one-time Turkey tax credit has reduced the collated impact of the withdrawal of the remaining bakery channel subsidy, de-growth in bottled water category in UAE and bad debt provisioning against longer collection days in international markets, Al Wahedi added.



Agthia Groups total assets stood at Dh 3.1 billion as of 31 December 2019, increasing marginally compared to the same time last year on IFRS 16 implementation.  TradeArabia News Service
MSU junior wildlife, fisheries and aquaculture major Tarin Sule plants an oak tree along Hail State Boulevard Friday as part of the university's Arbor Day observance.
Hester Peirce, Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission last week made a proposal that, if approved, may legalize Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) in the United States

What Happened

ICOs reached peak popularity in 2017. ICOs are akin to a public offering in the cryptocurrency world. These offerings allow companies to sell tokens to investors and raise money.

Peirces plan made public at the International Blockchain Congress in Chicago on Thursday would allow ICO sales as long as they are compliant with specific rules.

Peirce proposed guardrails such as companies would be required to publish information in detail about projects they want to undertake on their websites. ICO team member identities would have to be revealed, as well as project source code, names of financial beneficiaries and transaction histories. Companies would also have to file a notice of documents with SECs Edgar system.

Why It Matters

The SEC has deemed the sale of such tokens in ICOs as an illegal sale of securities. In December 2017, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton released a statement saying, Selling securities generally requires a license, and experience shows that excessive touting in thinly traded and volatile markets can be an indicator of 'scalping,' 'pump and dump' and other manipulations and frauds.

According to Fortune, should Peirces recommendations be adopted the United States would shed its image of being a stifler of innovation. It would also put the country on par with other jurisdictions like Asia and Switzerland.

However, there are concerns that the proposal made by Peirce, also known as crypto mom, could open the floodgates of fraud. Peirce said her proposed guardrails would protect investors while allowing innovation to flourish.

Unscrupulous behavior by technology companies raising money through ICOs was unmasked by Wall Street Journal who found 271 red flags in documents related to 1,450 coin offerings. The newspaper found plagiarized investor documents and fake executive profiles as well as promises of guaranteed returns.

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file photo Global smartphone production in the first quarter of the year may drop to a five-year low due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, a market researcher said on Monday. TrendForce said it expects global smartphone production in the first quarter to decline 12 per cent year-on-year to 275 million units following the coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 900 people in China. "Delayed resumption work and uncertainties in employees' returns will cause the monthly delivery of key components to be postponed, thus affecting the progress of smartphone production," TrendForce said, according to a Yonhap news agency report. Among the top six smartphone vendors, No. 1 player Samsung Electronics Company was expected to produce 71.5 million smartphones in the first quarter, a 3 per cent fall from its initial forecast, according to TrendForce. However, Samsung was projected to suffer less damage from the virus outbreak than other manufacturers since the South Korean tech giant's main production base is in Vietnam, TrendForce said, adding that the company's smartphones account for only 2 per cent of the domestic market in China. Huawei Technologies Co., the world's No. 2 smartphone producer, was expected to produce 42.5 million smartphones in the first quarter, down 15 per cent from TrendForce's previous forecast, while Apple Inc. was projected to see its production going down from 45.5 million to 41 million units over the same period. TrendForce, however, said it doesn't have an "overly pessimistic outlook" towards smartphone production for the whole of 2020. "As long as the outbreak can be controlled and a basic level of demand can be supported by the overall global economy, TrendForce believes that most demand is deferred rather than eliminated," it said.




On Tuesday, 11 February 2020, the NATO Deputy Secretary General, Ambassador Mircea Geoana will travel to Luxembourg.

Ambassador Geoana will have meetings with the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Mr. Francois Bausch, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Jean Asselborn as well as the Mayor of Luxembourg, Ms. Lydie Polfer.

He will also visit the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA).

The Deputy Secretary General will also be meeting with Vice President, Mr. Lars Ostling from the European Investment Bank.

Follow the Deputy Secretary General on Twitter (@Mircea_Geoana). Also follow us at (@NATOPress).
The leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has threatened to go after the children of the Abia State police commissioner, Ene Okon, should there be any killings at the funeral of his parents.

KanyiDaily had reported that Nnamdi Kanus father, Eze Okwu Kanu, who is the traditional ruler of Afara Ukwu Umuahia community in Abia State, and his wife, Ugoeze Sally Kanu, will be buried on February 14, 2020.

Ahead of the burial this week Friday, Abia State Commissioner of Police, Mr Ene Okon said he will not allow IPOB members to participate in the burial.

According to him, if IPOB members were seen anywhere around the burial venue, the police would scatter the burial.

The CP said he had reached out to the traditional prime minister of Afaraukwu, Kanus hometown, to make it clear that the burial would not hold if IPOB members attended or participate in anything during the funeral.

In a swift reaction on his Facebook page, Nnamdi Kanu warned CP Okon to steer clear of his parents burial, threatening to seek vengeance the police children if anyone get killed during the event.

If Inspector Okon and his commanders come to my fathers house to kill anyone on 14th February 2020 at my parents burial, we will hunt down their children, Kanu wrote.

KanyiDaily recalls that CP Eno Okon had also made it clear that police will not spare Nnamdi Kanu if he sets foot in Abia for his parents burial or any other thing for that matter because he was declared wanted.
Samsung took to the Academy Awards to air the commercial of the unannounced Galaxy Z Flip. The Galaxy Z Flip will have a crease. The Galaxy Z Flip may cost nearly 1,500 Euros.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip official unveiling is just around the corner, but it seems like Samsung is very keen to show what it has in store for us. Ahead of the February 11 unveiling, Samsung has aired the commercial of its next foldable phone at this years Academy Awards. It leaves little to the imagination as the company basically showed off the whole phone. The commercial also confirms the colour variants of the Galaxy Z Flip.

Samsung took to the Academy Awards to air the commercial of the unannounced Galaxy Z Flip. It confirms that the foldable phone will have a crease as there is a copy that says You may notice a small crease in the center of the main screen, which is a natural characteristic of the screen. The commercial also gives us our first look at the outside screen, which is tiny. However, it can be used to view time, caller ID and also has sliders for accepting or rejecting a call.

Samsung just showed off the entire Z Flip during its Oscars ad. Small print says screen crease is normal, heh pic.twitter.com/uBesJ0FonT  nilay patel (@reckless) February 10, 2020

According to previous rumours, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip will feature a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED Dynamic screen that supports 1080 x 2636 full HD+ resolution and an aspect ratio of 22:9. It will have an Infinity-O notch as shown in the commercial. The outside screen will be of 1.06-inches. The foldable phone is tipped to be powered by the Snapdragon 855+ chipset, paired with 8GB RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.0 storage. It is rumoured to pack a 3300mAh battery that is likely to support 15W fast charging.

As for the optics, Galaxy Z Flip is seen to sport a dual rear camera setup that is said to have a 12MP primary shooter and a 123-degree f/2.2 aperture 12MP ultrawide sensor. It is tipped to have features like dual pixel autofocus, OIS and 60fps 4K video recording. The punch-hole display could have a 10MP selfie shooter.

The Galaxy Z Flip is said to run Android 10 and come equipped with AKG tuned and Dolby Atmos powered stereo speakers. The rear side of the phone is likely to be covered by Gorilla Glass 6. The foldable phone may cost nearly 1,500 Euros.
The proposed military pay raise for fiscal 2021 in the Defense Department's budget request, released Monday, is 3%, the second-highest pay raise for troops since 2010.

The 3% raise, following 2020's 3.1% bump, ensures that the troops will be "well compensated" and underlines DoD's recognition that military and civilian personnel "are our most valuable resource" in carrying out the 2018 National Defense Strategy to counter China and Russia, according to the Pentagon's budget overview. The total Pentagon budget request for fiscal 2021 totals $705.4 billion, part of a defense spending package with a $740 billion topline.

Related: See the proposed 2021 pay charts.

The overview said the raise is aimed at giving the military a "competitive compensation package" to offset the drain of highly-trained personnel to the civilian sector "even as the Department prioritizes funds toward the NDS."

Related: SecDef to Congress: Let the Pentagon Dump Old Gear to Fund New Weapons

The raise is part of an $8.7 billion increase over the fiscal 2020 budget for wages and benefits, DoD said, and is expected to survive protracted and heated negotiations on the overall budget between Congress and the White House. If passed, the raise would go into effect next Jan. 1.

Although one-tenth of a percentage point below the 3.1% raise in fiscal 2020, the 2021 proposed raised still ranks as the second-highest pay increase since the 3.4% hike in 2010. Other pay increases since 2010 have ranged from 1% to 2.6%.

The bump is also in line with the 2.9% increase for civilian workers indicated by the latest quarterly report on the U.S. Employment Cost Index (ECI), put out by the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That figure does not limit the president, Congress and DoD in the final military pay raise proposal, but has traditionally served as a major factor in the final decision.

Last year's pay raise meant about $815 more a year for junior enlisted troops. For senior enlisted and junior officers, the raise was about $1,500 more. For an O-4 with 12 years of service, the raise meant about $2,800 more.

The 2021 proposed raise would bring with it similar paycheck increases.

However, the latest pay raise could signal the last of the big pay increases as overall defense budgets are expected to enter a phase of leveling off or even declining, as Defense Secretary Mark Esper and other top DoD officials have warned.

"We have to brace ourselves that at best, defense spending will be level" in future years, Esper said last Thursday at the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies.

The requested increase would keep the pay for military personnel in line with increases in the civilian sector and serve to aid retention, said retired Air Force Col. Dan Merry, vice president of government relations at the Military Officers Association of America.

"Whatever the baseline increase" for the military, "it should be no less than that of the civilian population," Merry said.

The raise would send a positive message to troops thinking of making a career of the military, and also to troops retiring next year, Merry said.

Retirement pay is based on the last year of service, and Cost of Living Increases (COLA) increases for retired personnel are then based on the Consumer Price Index, Merry said.

Here are the basic military pay raises going back to 2007, according to the Defense Department:

Jan. 2007: 2.2%

April 2007: 0.5%

2008: 3.5%

2009: 3.9%

2010: 3.4%

2011: 1.4%

2012: 1.6%

2013: 1.7%

2014: 1%

2015: 1%

2016: 1.3%

2017: 2.1%

2018: 2.4%

2019: 2.6%

2020: 3.1%

2021: 3%

-- Richard.Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.

Read More: Special Forces Soldiers Killed in Afghan Firefight ID'd, Promoted
Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi (IIIT-Delhi) has partnered with technology company Extramarks to promote and encourage research in Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Extramarks, in partnership with IIIT-Delhi, will set up a research laboratory in Computer Science Department which will be dedicated to the task of creating new breakthroughs in the area of 'AI in Education', a company release said.

"This partnership opens the doors of constructive research for our students, who will benefit greatly from the practical experience they will gain from engaging with Extramarks. Together, we hope to lead the revolution in delivery from the front," IIIT-Delhi Director Ranjan Bose said.

This collaboration is hopeful of making delivery more personalised, interactive and effective, the release added.

"Having already successfully implemented AI in our school and app-based learning content, we are now keen to implement futuristic technology which will cause innovative disruptions in education delivery to help students learn in a personalized and independent environment. Our partnership with IIIT-Delhi is a step in the same direction," said Ritvik Kulshrestha, CEO, Extramarks Education.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Michael Gove has admitted to years of confusion at Britains borders because of Brexit, with goods checks now inevitable  but a new IT system not ready until 2025.

In a speech to traders, the cabinet office minister laid bare the realities of leaving the single market and customs union after the controversy was avoided during the election campaign.

Warning almost everybody who exports to the EU will face new barriers, Mr Gove highlighted checks on food and goods of animal origin, customs declarations and the need for safety and security certificates.

You have to accept we will need some friction, he told businesses at the London event, adding: We will minimise it, but it is an inevitability of our departure.

The Freight Transport Association raised the alarm after Mr Gove insisted the checks must come in on 1 January 2021, at the end of the transition period  but it would be 2025 before new technology arrived.

We are naturally disappointed that the promise of frictionless trade has been replaced with a promise that trade will be as seamless as possible but not until 2025, said Elizabeth de Jong, its policy director

Traders would have cope with a costly make do and mend approach until then she warned, although few details appeared to have been given.

During his successful election campaign, Boris Johnson was criticised for arguing he would get Brexit done by the end of January, largely ignoring the huge challenges to follow.

Now Mr Gove has acknowledged it is likely to take five years to deliver a smart border, allowing smooth online checks on goods, yet firms must be ready for significant change in under 11 months.

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

He told the event: The UK will be outside the single market and outside the customs union, so we will have to be ready for the customs procedures and regulatory checks that will inevitably follow.

As a result of that we will be in a stronger position, not just to make sure that our economy succeeds outside the European Union but that we are in a position to take advantage of new trading relationships with the rest of the world, he claimed.

The checks will come in if Mr Johnson achieves his aim of a loose Canada-style agreement with the EU  what used to be called a hard Brexit.

Ms de Jong added: Gove put to rest [Chancellor Sajid] Javids assertion that industry had plenty of time to prepare. It is encouraging for industry that he said he does not underestimate what needs to be done.

And Richard Ballantyne, chief executive of the British Ports Association, said: We may not like what we are hearing, but if you get a clear message than you can plan.

The five year wait for a smart border will pose the biggest challenge in the Irish Sea, where the withdrawal agreement made a legal commitment to introduce checks.

The prime minister has repeatedly denied they will be necessary  but the EU warned of sanctions if there was any backsliding.
Foxtel Movies has a Spiderman pop-up channel taking place over the leap year weekend from February 28.

All eight movies screen from Friday February 28 to Sunday March 1 on Foxtel Movies hits (channel 409), and streaming On Demand.

Spider-Man (M) (2002):

When bitten by a genetically modified spider, a nerdy, shy and awkward high school student gains spider-like abilities that he eventually must use to fight evil as a superhero after tragedy befalls his family. Starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and Willem Dafoe.

Spider-Man 2 (M) (2004):

Peter Parker is beset with troubles in his failing personal life as he battles a brilliant scientist named Doctor Otto Octavius. Starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and James Franco.

Spider-Man 3 (M) (2007):

A strange black entity from another world bonds with Peter Parker and causes inner turmoil as he contends with new villains, temptations, and revenge. Starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and James Franco.

The Amazing Spider-Man (M) (2012):

After Peter Parker is bitten by a genetically altered spider, he gains newfound, spider-like powers and ventures out to save the city from machinations of a mysterious reptilian foe. Starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen and Sally Field.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (M) (2014):

When New York is put under siege by Oscorp, it is up to Spider-Man to save the city he swore to protect as well as his loved ones. Starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Jamie Foxx.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (PG) (2018):

Teen Miles Morales becomes Spider-Man of his reality, crossing his path with five counterparts from other dimensions to stop a threat for all realities. Starring Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson and Hailee Steinfeld.

Spider-Man: Homecoming (M) (2017):

Peter Parker balances his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens with his superhero alter-ego Spider-Man, and finds himself on the trail of new menace prowling the skies of New York City. Starring Tom Holland, Michael Keaton and Robert Downey Jnr.

Spider-Man: Far From Home (M) (2019): Premiere

Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man must step up to take on new threats in a world that has changed forever. Starring Tom Holland, Samuel L. Jackson and Jake Gyllenhaal.
By Rasana Gasimova

The statement of the Azerbaijani Community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region related to Armenias military aggression against Azerbaijan has been disseminated as a document of UN General Assembly and Security Council, the community reported in their official website on February 3.

The statement reminded that the people displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh region and other occupied regions have been suffering from Armenian aggression for about 30 years. It was also noted that as a result of the ethnic cleansing policy launched against Azerbaijanis in 1988, Armenia occupied the fifth part of Azerbaijans territory. Meanwhile, over 700,000 Azerbaijanis were driven out of their native lands.

During the occupation of our lands thousands of Azerbaijanis were savagely killed, a number of civilians were lost. The genocide committed in Khojaly city where 613 civilians including women, children and elder people were killed over a night by the Armenian military units went down in history as the largest massacre committed against Azerbaijanis [during the Karabakh war]. We state with regret that the perpetrators of these crimes still havent been punished duly, the statement reads.

It was also noted that the world community including the Security Council and the General Assembly of the United Nations Organization have repeatedly confirmed their respect for inviolability of the internationally recognized borders, as well as sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, their recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh as integral part of Azerbaijan and the rights of all Azerbaijani IDPs to return to their native lands.

The Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno-Karabakh region emphasized that it supports peaceful resolution of the conflict, which will provide an immediate, full, and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and other occupied regions of Azerbaijan, and pave the way for return of Azerbaijani population to their homes and properties with safety and dignity. It will also ensure restoration and the economic development of these territories, and the peaceful co-existence of Armenian and Azerbaijani Communities of Nagorno-Karabakh with equal rights and without any discrimination.

The communitys statement highlights that it is very difficult to prepare for peace against the background of open invasion policy, conducted by Armenia and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyans pro-annexation policy as reflected in his recent controversial statement that Karabakh is Armenia. Period.

Armenia even refuses to accept the existence of the Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno-Karabakh region and to recognize our basic rights and freedoms, and tries to prevent contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian Communities of Nagorno-Karabakh of Azerbaijan by all means. This forms the basis of the invasion policy, conducted by Armenia by occupying Azerbaijans territories and is an obvious proof of Armenias deep disrespect to human rights."

The community stressed that Armenia by hindering the return of Azerbaijani internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their homes and by making attempts to artificially change the demographic composition on these lands and by taking purposeful steps aimed at change of economic, social and cultural peculiarities, conducts the policy targeting development of the occupied territories into a colony.

We appeal to the world community and call upon them not to turn a blind eye on the Armenian aggression that has been going on for 30 years, the sufferings of hundred thousands of Azerbaijanis driven out of their native lands, and to ensure implementation of resolutions of Security Council of the United Nations Organization, the statement reads.

The organization called on the world community to increase their efforts towards the resolution of Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of norms and principles of international law stipulated in Helsinki Final Act, within the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan, on the basis of full respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
About 55 million years ago, a rapidly warming climate decimated marine communities around the world. But according to new research, it was a different story for snails, clams and other mollusks living in the shallow waters along what is now the Gulf Coast of the United States. They were able to survive.

The findings, published on Feb. 7 in Scientific Reports, suggest that mollusks in the region may adapt yet again to the climate change of today.

"Mollusks are sort of unique in this aspect as they are better adapted to cope with high temperatures," said lead author William Foster, an assistant professor at the University College Dublin and former postdoctoral researcher at The University of Texas at Austin Jackson School of Geosciences.

The paper's co-authors are Jackson school Assistant Professor Rowan Martindale, Cornell College Assistant Professor and former Jackson School postdoctoral researcher Drew Muscente, and Jackson School alumna Anna Weiss, who contributed to the research while earning her Ph.D. Coauthors also include an international team of collaborators and amateur Austin paleontologist Christopher Garvie.

The backbone of the research is Garvie's personal collection of Gulf Coast mollusk fossils, which he has collected over the past 30 years. He estimates that his collection includes over a quarter million specimens from sites ranging from Texas to Florida on the Gulf Coast and Florida to New Jersey on the Atlantic Coast.

"Being particular about the details, I kept notes of where I got things and I never threw anything away," Garvie said. "Even if I found 50 of one species, I would keep them all. That turns out to be useful for understanding community evolution and climate change distribution."

Garvie and Foster met at the Jackson School's Non-Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory, the sixth largest paleontological repository in the United States. Garvie's collection contains specimens from the Cretaceous through the Eocene - a time period starting about 66 million years ago and lasting about 32 million years. It provided a great opportunity to study how periods of climate change during that time impacted mollusk communities.

"This research is a prime example of a scientific study that would not have been possible without a citizen scientist and the excellent collections at the Non-Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory," said Martindale.

During the time the research focuses on, the Earth was in a warmer state than it is today, with no large ice sheets covering the poles. Even in this "hot house" state, the period contained multiple temperature spikes that warmed the planet even more. One of these spikes - the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) - occurred about 55 million years ago and is frequently compared to the human-driven climate change happening today. During the PETM, atmospheric carbon dioxide rose rapidly, which in turn caused average global temperatures to rise by 9 to 14 degrees Fahrenheit.

While the PETM led to a decline in coral reef communities and the mass extinction of seafloor dwelling plankton called foraminifera, the Gulf Coast mollusks survived.

"It does highlight that even in events that we think are devastating, there's still a bit of hope from these resilient communities," Martindale said.

The scientists found that some mollusk species did go extinct in the 32 million-year period they studied, however they didn't find any link between those extinctions and temperature spikes, which suggests they were not related to climate change.

While Gulf Coast mollusks made it through the PETM and other temperature spikes unscathed, Foster said that this period of warming may only go so far as an analog for climate change happening today.

The Earth today is in an overall cooler state than it was during the PETM, and temperatures are rising much faster, meaning that mollusks-- along with other life-- may need to make a larger adjustment to their lifestyles in less time.

"The mollusks that live in the Gulf today are adapted to a colder climate, and the lack of impact in our study differs to projected changes because in the Early Cenozoic, global warming was happening in an already hot world," Foster said.

Along with climate change, Foster said that Gulf Coast mollusks are facing additional pressure from modern threats of overfishing, pollution, invasive species and loss of habitat, all which have the potential to drive regional extinctions.

###

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and the Helmholtz Association.
LONGMONT, Colo., Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The potent power of CBG is a hot topic, and American hemp farmers have been anxiously awaiting the release of reliable high-CBG genetics. A partnership between High Grade Hemp Seed and Swiss Cannabinoid is answering demand with the introduction of Matterhorn CBG , a new boutique European CBG-rich cultivar, available now internationally.

Matterhorn CBG Hemp Varietal from High Grade Hemp Seed

While THC and CBD have long been the cannabinoids of focus, researchers and hemp breeders are now teaming up to better understand CBG. Hemp genetics experts are aggressively breeding new strains that deliver high yields of CBG, over other cannabinoids.

One cannabis breeder, Matthias Ghidossi, founder of Swiss Cannabinoid, has been working for years to cultivate his own terpene and cannabinoid-rich crops. Through a science-based approach, he surveyed thousands of varietals, and in 2016 discovered that the varietal of choice should not only be terpene-focused, but also CBG-dominant.

Working with several European geneticists and a Swiss pharmaceutical company on trials, he made a breakthrough and established Matterhorn CBG. This unique varietal was registered under Phylos Galaxy .

"We chose to focus on CBG due to its powerful efficacy in early trials. Over the past few years, more and more research has been conducted to understand the value of CBG. The early results of clinical testing in Europe are creating a lot of excitement in the fields of science and medicine," said Matthias Ghidossi.

Bodhi Urban, CEO of High Grade Hemp Seed, shared, "At High Grade we have focused our breeding program and partnerships to ensure farmers can grow proven, strong and diverse genetics. That's one of the reasons we decided to work with Swiss Cannabinoid as a true genetics partner. Paving the way in CBG has been a logical next step  both in advancing the agricultural industry and also in improving the availability of CBG products to U.S. consumers."

In an effort to empower farmers this growing season and lead the industry as a whole, High Grade will be giving away high-quality CBG genetics to ten licensed hemp farmers in the continental United States.

For complete details and a chance to win, go to matterhornseeds.com .

Winners will be randomly selected and announced at the end of March, 2020.

As we continue in 2020, High Grade is pushing R&D with 20 new terpene crosses and genetics that are focused on CBG and other potential minor cannabinoids. With partnerships with companies like Swiss Cannabinoid, they can ensure their farmers get the best genetics, for superior results.

Matterhorn CBG is a smart choice for smokable flower and farmers concerned with regulatory compliance. Even if you harvest late, CBG strains are compliant. This terpene-focused varietal has a palate of effervescent lemon and lime with skunky notes of hops. When grown properly, Matterhorn delivers reliable compliance with recent USDA interim draft rules for hemp production.

Ready to reserve your Matterhorn seeds or seed starts, or to learn more about the collection, visit HighGradeHempSeed.com .

About High Grade Hemp Seed

HGH Seed, Inc., is a Colorado-based hemp genetics company committed to farming top-quality, consistent strains of hemp. High Grade has been pivotal in the reintroduction of industrial hemp to the global supply chain. CEO Bodhi Urban and the High Grade team introduced foundational strains such as Cherry Wine and Berry Blossom that are the basis of hemp genetics today. The company is known for its proven track record of compliance, high feminization and germination rates, and high cannabinoid levels. To learn more about High Grade, or to inquire about CBG hemp seeds and starts, visit highgradehempseed.com .

About Swiss Cannabinoid

Swiss Cannabinoid is a pioneering company focused on research and development for new genetics of Cannabis Sativa l. In the past several years, the company has been pivotal in the development of new strain lines with low THC content. Today Swiss Cannabinoid collaborates with pharmaceutical companies and key players in the cannabis industry, ranging from North America to Eastern Europe. They are also extending their role across the supply chain and are a key distributor for High Grade in Europe. To learn more, visit swisscannabinoid.ch .

Contact:

Mike Leago

[email protected]

+1 970-946-9956

SOURCE High Grade Hemp Seed
ANN ARBOR, MI  The grassroots campaign to decriminalize magic mushrooms and other psychedelic plants and fungi in Ann Arbor is pressing onward.

Decriminalize Nature Ann Arbor, which is lobbying city officials to take up the issue, is hosting a fundraiser at a downtown bar, featuring live music, a silent auction, raffle, drink specials, free food and special guests.

The event takes place 6-9 p.m. Feb. 20 at Lo-Fi Bar, 220 S. Main St., featuring music from Brennan Andes and Friends.

Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online through Eventbrite via dna2.org.

Organizers expect the event to sell out and are hoping city officials will be among those in attendance.

Items being auctioned include a weekend stay in Boyne City, as well as gifts and gift certificates from the Om of Medicine, Stone Lotus Cannabis Consulting, Awakened Provisions, Four Directions and other local retailers.

DNA2, as the campaign calls itself for short, is campaigning to make entheogenic plants the citys lowest law enforcement and prosecutorial priority.

That includes psilocybin mushrooms, peyote, ayahuasca, mescaline, ibogaine and hundreds of other plants, said DNA2 Executive Director Julie Barron, a local therapist who practices psychedelic-integration therapy.

So far, City Council isnt eager to take up the issue or the groups draft resolution, which is based on similar efforts in Denver, Colorado and Oakland, California.

If council isnt willing to approve the resolution, Barron said recently, she hopes council will at least agree to place a proposal on the ballot to let voters decide.

If council isnt willing to act, she said, her group may collect signatures to place a proposal on the ballot.

Entheogenic plants have been shown to address substance abuse, addiction, recidivism, trauma, post-traumatic stress symptoms, chronic depression, severe anxiety, end-of-life anxiety, grief and cluster headaches, Barron said in a news release. Many members of our community suffer from these issues while also lacking access to healthcare. We feel that decriminalizing these substances will give residents of Ann Arbor more options for dealing with these issues.

In an op-ed in The Michigan Daily this month, the group argued theres an undeniable relationship between the psychedelic experience and environmental awareness  the realization of a fundamental continuity between humanity and nature"  and such awareness is a moral imperative and a necessity for our survival as a species.

Ann Arbor has been a leader on cannabis law reform and other issues and its time to lead once more, said Chuck Ream, a longtime Ann Arbor marijuana activist who is now working with the DNA2 campaign.

Yes, this effort may be symbolic, but that does not make it unimportant, he wrote in a recent email lobbying City Council to take up the groups resolution.

It is extraordinarily important for moving history forward, for therapeutic progress, and for personal freedom.

MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS:

Ann Arbor officials arent eager to sponsor psychedelic mushroom resolution

Ann Arbor launches I voted sticker design contest with $500 top prize

She loves Princess Jasmine. So Make-A-Wish is taking her to Disney World.

Humane Society offers listing service to facilitate pet re-homing without shelters

EMUs LiveYpsi program has helped employees purchase almost 70 homes in 8 years
The citizens who were released under the agreements of Minsk contact group on December 29 turned to Lyudmyla Denisova, as most of them have nowhere to live after their stay in the rehab center expires

Lyudmyla Denisova Open source

The citizens who returned from captivity in Donbas in 2019 ask the government to provide them with a place to live. Lyudmyla Denisova, the Ukrainian Parliamentary Envoy for Human Rights reported that on Facebook.

"I'm getting appeals from citizens who were released December 29 last year, according to the agreements of [Minsk] trilateral contact group that seeks the way to solve the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine", she wrote, explaining that most of them have nowhere to live after their stay in the rehab center expires.

The official added that in early January, workers of her Secretariat gathered full information on the needs of the said citizens. The information about property needs was handed over to the profile ministries.

The Employment Service workers met with the released citizens.

The exchange of captives between Ukraine and the occupied Donbas took place on December 29. 76 Ukrainian citizens, including 12 army servicemen returned home.
The need to gain the upper hand in a conflict has been driving the arms race for as long as wars have existed. Resources that would otherwise have benefited essential facets of the society are diverted towards the creation of the ultimate weapon that will eliminate enemies once and for all. What humanity never seems to realize is that anything that harms another human has the potential to backfire on them with equal intensity. The kind of zeal displayed by heavily militarized nations on earth is what led to the creation of chemical and biological weapons, which have devastating results on the quality of life. The question of whether chemical and biological warfare are a threat in the current century has never been in doubt. Now, more than ever before, humans face the danger of a total wipeout if a full-scale war breaks out, and the adversaries choose to use these weapons.

Chemical Warfare

Chemical warfare refers to the use of poisonous chemical substances as weapons. Chemical weapons, together with biological and nuclear weapons, are categorized as weapons of mass destruction. There has been a total of 70 chemical substances that have at one time been used as weapons. The first time a chemical weapon was deployed in the war was by Germany in 1924 when they released chlorine into the air. Since then, various forms of chemical agents have been refined into devastating killer weapons that have been responsible for untold pain over the years. Some of the most dangerous chemical weapons designed by humans include the following.

VX Nerve agent

The VX is a toxic synthetic compound that is categorized as a nerve agent that quickly shuts down vital body functions. As a result, victims die by asphyxiation within minutes of exposure depending on the amount of dosage. Developed in the UK in 1950, this lethal agent can remain potent on surfaces for days. It is widely believed that the VX agent was used in the Iraq-Iran war of the 1980s. In 2017, Kim Jong Nam, who is the half-brother to the leader of North Korea, was assassinated using the VX chemical agent.

Sarin

Sarin is the most common chemical weapon that has been used in recent conflicts around the world. It is a colorless and odorless liquid that kills within a minute of exposure to lethal doses. When absorbed in small quantities, it wrecks the neurological system rendering it permanently damaged. Discovered in 1938 by German scientists, Sarin has been used in attacks against Kurds in Iraq, where 5,000 civilians died after exposure. The most recent Sarin attack was used in Khan Shaykhun in Syria on April 4th, 2017 after an airstrike by the Syrian government, and more than 100 people died.

Mustard Gas

Mustard gas gained prominence in WWI, where it spread apocalyptic terror after Germany unleashed it in 1917. The gas instantly created blisters on the skin of the enemy forces, blinded others, and killed thousands. Mustard gas was developed in 1915 by Fritz Haber, a Nobel Peace prize winner. The most recent attack involving the gas was in 2016 when Islamic State militias launched a rocket filled with mustard gas at American troops in Iraq.

Phosgene

Phosgene is considered the most dangerous chemical weapon ever invented by mankind. It was first deployed by Germans in 1925 against the British, killing 120 people and severely affecting thousands. John Davy developed phosgene in 1812 by exposing a mixture of chlorine and carbon monoxide to sunlight.

Biological Warfare

Biological warfare involves the use of biological poisons and infectious organisms with the aim of incapacitating or killing humans, animals, or plants. Unlike nuclear and chemical weapons, biological weapons can be engineered to target a single entity without harming others. There are more than 1,200 biological agents potent enough to be utilized as weapons. The first time a conflict witnessed the use of a bioweapon was in the war by the British against American Indians, where smallpox was deployed against the natives. Biowarfare is not just limited to humans, and there are pathogens like fungi that have been engineered to attack plants with diseases. Plant diseases like rice blast, potato blight, eat smut, and cereal rust is evidence of bioweapons used on crops. Attacking crops leads to starvation, which in turn can alter the tide of the war for the ones with the upper hand. Unfortunately, biowarfare is gaining momentum as access to information grows because of the internet. The internet explains how terror groups that appear to be too small to mount any threat can get their hands on formulas that, in another age, would be highly classified and out of reach.

Most Common Biological Weapons

Anthrax has been the most used biological weapon in the last century. Caused by Bacillus anthracis, the disease attacks both humans and animals and is found in soils where they exist in the form of spores. These spores are hard to destroy and can stay dormant for almost 50 years. The botulinum toxin is another dangerous bioweapon agent that can be spread through the air, water, or food. A single gram of the toxin can kill a million people when inhaled. The Japanese used it against the Chinese in the occupation of the Manchurian region. Smallpox almost wiped out humans in the 20th century before vaccinations brought it under control. However, this did not stop humans from experimenting with it to create weapons. Russia is believed to house frozen weaponized smallpox within its borders. Tularemia as a weapon was used against the Germans by the Soviet army in Stalingrad during WWII.

Governments have since researched the tularensis bacterium in their bid to refine its potency as a weapon. The plague was first used on Chinese civilians in the Manchurian region, killing thousands. More research has been conducted with the most successful breakthrough being the creation of a new strain of Yersinia pestis by Russians. Yersinia pestis is resistant to conventional antibiotics. Other pathogens include the Ebola virus, which, fortunately, is hard to turn into a weapon of mass destruction as it requires too much time and resources to culture in large quantities. The Marburg virus has been weaponized before by Soviet-era scientists, although there is no known official record showing its deployment anywhere on earth.

Recent Cases of Biowarfare Attacks

Six terror suspects were nabbed in Manchester, England, for running a ricin laboratory in their apartment with the intention to cause harm. Ricin was also found in a mailroom that served the then US Senate majority leader, Bill Frists. Two people in Minnesota were caught with ricin in 1995 to use it against government officials. In 2001, about 22 people received letters stashed with anthrax powder through their mail addresses, five of them died of anthrax related complications. Three buildings had to be decontaminated, and the whole incident set back the federal government more than $1 billion. In 2014, a laptop belonging to a Tunisian chemistry graduate had a document that detailed the creation of the bubonic plague, with that kind of information in the hands of terrorists, it is only a matter of time before something terrible is unleashed.

Countries with the Largest Chemical and Biological Weapons Stockpiles

Despite signing numerous international treaties against chemical and biological weapons, many countries are still in possession of weapons or are actively developing them in secret as a defensive measure against future enemies. With over 190 members, the BWC has been unable to stamp out the development of these weapons of mass destruction. Only three nations have publicly declared their stockpiles of chemical weapons, and they are the United States, which claims it has 31,000 tons of chemical warfare agents, Russia has claimed to have 40,000 tons, and Iran arguing several hundred tons. Nations like China, Egypt, India, Cuba, and Albania are believed to be secretly developing bio and chemical weapons in protected facilities. There are about 16 countries across the world suspected of having biological weapons.

The Threat Still Exists

The fact that many countries are signatories to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) and other international treaties, there is always a mistrust between countries. There is no way of affirming that countries are adhering to the commitments. The distrust is fueling and accelerating the development of even more lethal chemical and bioweapons. With nuclear weapons getting most of the attention, small groups of terrorists could take advantage of loopholes to acquire and stockpile these weapons, which they can use on innocent civilians. At this point, any hope of nations voluntarily destroying their weapons of mass destruction is impossible. This assertion is bolstered by the fact that every year the most militarized nations on earth keep increasing their military budgets. This begs the question, who is the enemy? America and Russia alone have enough weapons of mass destruction to annihilate all life on the planet, themselves included. The argument made for this standoff is that owning the weapons acts as a deterrent to any global-scale conflict. However, it is nothing but an excuse for the superpowers to maintain control of resources through the use of threats.
The likely impacts of climate change on wildlife reserves in the US has been examined by researchers at the University of Washington.

They looked at 1,460 species of plant and animal in protected areas.

About 14% of the species will suffer if left where they are; just maintaining existing reserves wont ensure their survival.

New, cooler areas need to be set aside, to where vulnerable creatures can move as temperatures rise.

Nor will it be sufficient just to provide such sites. Corridors must be created, along which animals and plants can travel to the new locations.

People around the world are moving on an unprecedented scale. They are fleeing warmer regions mostly, seeking sanctuary in Europe and North America.

The exodus may be politically driven, but the ravages of climate change are often an underlying factor. Much of North Africa is becoming uninhabitable.

What future has Australia as warming accelerates?

Animals, too, are moving. Fish from warmer waters are turning up off Irish coasts.

A hammerhead shark was sighted recently.

There are winners and losers. The outlook is bleak for Irish salmon; fewer are returning to our rivers to spawn.

In a warming Atlantic, their feeding areas are shifting northwards.

Are the longer journeys exposing them to increased risk?

Are salmon from Nordic and Icelandic rivers, with shorter distances to travel, out-competing them for food?

Spratts and sand-eels are also moving house, inducing the seabirds that feed on them to follow suit.

Are the days of our great seabird breeding colonies numbered? Land-based birds, too, are voting with their wings.

The red-necked phalarope, which nested in Mayo, is gone. So is the nightjar.

Ring-ouzels find our mountains too warm for nesting. Fieldfares and redwings, once abundant in the countryside, are much thinner on the ground nowadays.

The murmurations of visiting starlings are less impressive than they were.

Fewer wildfowl and wading birds now spend the winter here.

Some, such as the Bewicks swan, find wintering haunts, rendered habitable by higher temperatures, closer to home.

Global warming fingerprints are everywhere.

On the plus side of the climate change equation, little egrets have set up shop here most successfully.

Cattle egrets, hoopoes, and Cettis warblers may soon do likewise.

Will humpback whales breed in Irish waters?

The Kerry slug hails from the Iberian Peninsula, where conditions are changing. Is southwest Ireland now the stronghold of this remarkable species?

Can existing nature reserves in Europe protect vulnerable species into the future or is alternative accommodation required for creatures likely to go to the wall in a relentlessly warming environment?

Ireland, being an island, has few relocation options.

Birds and fish are free to come and go, but mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and creepy-crawlies are trapped here.

Others, displaced in mainland Europe, cant cross the sea to us unless we transport them.

Alternative sites come at a cost.

However, when everything is considered, protecting some types of climatic refugia may be a relatively inexpensive adaptation strategy, the Washington researchers claim.

Joshua Lawler et al. Planning for climate change through additions to a national protected area network: implications for cost and configuration. Proceeding of the Royal Society B. 2020.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  Christine Wilson, a professor and director of undergraduate programs for Kansas State Universitys agricultural economics department, has been appointed associate dean and director of academic programs for Purdue Universitys College of Agriculture, effective Feb. 17. She will be replacing Marcos Fernandez, who served in that position for the past eight years and is stepping down to join the faculty in the colleges Department of Animal Sciences.

Karen Plaut, the Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture at Purdue, praised the experience and knowledge Wilson brings to this position and her commitment to make sure the student experience is second to none.

Dr. Wilsons professional and academic background and the extensive recognition she has received for her commitment to undergraduate teaching, leadership of academic programs and to students make her an incredible addition to our college, Plaut said. I am excited about the leadership Dr. Wilson will bring to our undergraduate academic programs.

Wilson earned her bachelors degree in agribusiness, and her masters and doctoral degrees in agricultural economics, all from Kansas State University. She began her career in industry, working as a grain market analyst for Koch Industries. She then returned to her alma mater as an extension economist, focusing on farm management and land use value appraisal.

Wilson began her academic career as an assistant professor in Purdues agricultural economics department, where she served from 2001-08. She returned to Kansas State University to serve as assistant dean for academic programs for student services and retention in the college of agriculture, a position she held for seven years.

I am very excited to return to Purdue in this leadership position for the College of Agriculture, Wilson said. I am looking forward to working with Purdues very talented faculty, staff and students to continue the excellence in agriculture academic programs.

Wilson is an award-winning teacher. She received the Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award  More than Ten Years Experience from the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association. She also received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching from Kansas State University, and the David Mugler Outstanding Teaching Award from the Kansas State University Agricultural Alumni Association.

Writer: Maureen Manier, mmanier@purdue.edu

Sources: Karen Plaut, kplaut@purdue.edu

Christine Wilson, wilson1@purdue.edu

PHOTO: Christine Wilson. (Courtesy photo). A publication quality photo is available at https://www.purdue.edu/uns/images/2020/wilson-christine.jpg

Agricultural Communications: 765-494-8415;

Maureen Manier, Department Head, mmanier@purdue.edu

Agriculture News Page
The hottest ticket in town with a notoriously glamorous red carpet, Sunday night's Vanity Fair Oscars after party was packed with stars from the worlds of Hollywood, pop and fashion.

Guests included Kanye West and Kim Kardashian , who told Vanity Fair her vintage Alexander McQueen 'shipwrecked' dress from 2003 was a Christmas gift from her husband.

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Kanye, who arrived in a leather jacket and sunglasses, shared a quick kiss with his wife before they went inside.

Speaking on the red carpet, Kim's sister Kylie Jenner talked about her love for daughter Stormi. She wore a Ralph & Russo sparkling gown with a sheer sculptural element.

"She is my best friend" she said, "she's given me a whole new perspective on life, I feel different it's amazing." When asked if she wants more kids she said, "Of course! I wanna be like my mom, I wanna have like seventeen kids."

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Billy Porter naturally was in it to win it on the VF carpet, wearing an all-purple look. From his large oversized hat to the elbow length gloves and cape, the Pose star brought his usual dose of high fashion drama to the party.

He also carried a statement bag which read, "F**k you pay me!"

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Model Emily Ratajkowski showed off her abs in a white two piece outfit, which featured a bandeau and long skirt.

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Hailey Bieber attended the party solo in a long sheer black gown and told reporters how much she loved Oscar winner Renee Zellweger's white, one-shoulder dress.

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Other guests included Chrissy Teigen and husband John Legend, who posed for cameras together. As they walked away hand in hand, Teigen (who wore a turquoise caped gown) was seen gleefully grinning as Legend led her away.

Reuters

Billie Eilish and her brother/songwriting partner Finneas O'Connell also turned out for the party. The duo had performed earlier that night at the Oscars ceremony, singing a tribute during the In Memoriam segment to remember those who had passed away over the past year.

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Freida Pinto was one of the best dressed on the carpet in an emerald velvet gown with oversized sleeves and a dramatic leg split.

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Sandra Oh, whose cream ballgown turned heads at the start of the night, changed into a silver sequinned dress with a dramatic feathered ombre collar.

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Unsurprisingly, Oscar winners and nominees including Laura Dern and Scarlett Johansson dropped by to celebrate their big night.

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Laura Dern, who has been a fixture on the best dressed list throughout awards season, changed outfits for the VF party - opting for a long black dress with cut outs and a the most in-demand accessory: an Oscar statuette.

Scarlett Johansson changed into a more risque silver gown, which featured a detailed bandeau and a cut out that showed offf her ribcage tattoo. She was joined by her fiance, SNL's Colin Jost.

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Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot changed outfits, choosing a slinky menswear-inspired tuxedo dress covered in sequins. Cats star Rebel Wilson opted for a pink sweetheart-bust gown with ruffled sleeves.

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Meanwhile, Reese Witherspoon was every inch a Southern Belle in a sweet white cocktail dress.

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Sofia Vergara was a complete showstopper in a figure-fitted black and silver gown, which featured a corset detail and trail. She was joined by her husband, Joe Manganiello of Magic Mike, who attended in an all black look.

Jessica Alba was the picture of glamour in a beige and silver gown, which featured a plunging neckline and floor-length hem.

AFP via Getty Images

Proving yet again that they're one of the best dressed couples on the scene, Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade wore complimenting white outfits which featured unusual lace patterns.

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Kerry Washington chose a striking patterned two piece outfit, which featured a top detailed with a round patterned collar and what appear to be hieroglyphics on the skirt.

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Parks and Rec's Rashida Jones kept things simple yet sweet in a simple black gown, which featured a unique strap detail.

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Sarah Silverman brought her distinctive style to the party, wearing a black skater dress, fishnet tights and black combat boots.

Reuters

Tracee Elliss Ross may not have been nominated for an Oscar, but she was dressed like one in a show-stopping gold caped gown.

AFP via Getty Images

Olivia Wilde was sophisticated as ever in a black gown which featured puff sleeves, a deep V-neckline and icy diamond jewellery.attended in a white gown with puff sleeves and diamond earrings.

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Parks and Rec's Aubrey Plaza looked a million miles away from her character April Ludgate, as she wore a white gown with puff sleeves.

Katharine McPhee and her husband David Foster attended together, posing with their arms around one another. The couple were married last year and recently celebrated the wedding of one of Foster's daughters Erin (who works at Bumble).

Mindy Kaling was one of many to orchestrate a quick change, swapping from her bright yellow Oscars dress to a chic navy gown with a silver bust detail.

Her close friend and on-off romantic flame BJ Novak was also seen at the party in a suit.

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Activist Monica Lewinsky attended in a black one shouldered sequinned gown and was seen grinning for the cameras as she hung onto a black clutch.

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Ronan Farrow, one of the journalists who helped expose Harvey Weinstein and set the #MeToo movement in motion, was also seen at the event in a silver suit and pale grey trainers.

PA

The 92nd Academy Awards were held yet again at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and saw stars including Joaquin Phoenix, Laura Dern, Brad Pitt and more win awards for their cinematic achievements.
Court selects measure of restraint in form of own recognizance for Marusia Zvirobiy

Pechersky District Court of Kyiv has selected a measure of restraint in the form of own recognizance for Olena Sambul (Marusia Zvirobiy), a veteran of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) in Donbas, the Pryamiy television channel has reported.

According to the court ruling, Zvirobiy will have to wear an electronic control device (electronic bracelet). The investigator into the case filed a motion for selecting own recognizance as a measure of restraint.

At the same time, the Nash television channel reported that Zvirobiy also has to surrender her foreign passport, wear an electronic bracelet and appear when summoned by the investigator.

The court introduced the measure of restraint until April 9, 2020.

As reported, on November 26, 2019, the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) sent a draft report to the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) on issuing a suspicion notice to a member of the European Solidary faction Sofia Fedyna and Marusia Zvirobiy for threating to murder President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.

The SBI noted that, according to preliminary information, on October 26, 2019, Fedyna and Zvirobiy, while in Lviv, carried out an online broadcast on YouTube video hosting and on Facebook, during which they made threats addressed to Zelensky related to his activities as president.

"It is qualified as a threat of murder against the president of Ukraine (Part 1 of Article 346 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). Threat or violence against a state or public figure which is punishable by deprivation of liberty for a term of up to five years," he said.

At the end of October, Zelensky spoke in raised tones while talking with volunteers in the city of Zolote, Luhansk region. After that, a broadcast was published on Facebook profile of Zvirobiy, as well as on the Facebook page of European Solidary Party faction Fedyna, who commented on Zelensky's trip to Zolote.

In addition to using profanity, Fedyna remarked: "A grenade can accidentally explode there, or there can be shelling."

MP Kachura (Servant of the People faction) filed a complaint with law enforcement bodies against Fedyna and Zvirobiy because of the uncouth statements about Zelensky, and on November 1, 2019, information from Kachura's complaint was entered into the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations.
The Susquehanna Art Museum is getting a name change, sort of.

The Museum, located at 1401 N. Third St., Harrisburg, has been renamed its main gallery the Beverlee and Bill Lehr Gallery, in honor of the couple, who have given and pledged gifts to the museum totaling $500,000, according to a museum press release.

Beverlee and Bill Lehr are the best possible combination of people for an art museum, said Alice Anne Schwab, executive director of the museum, in the release. We are thrilled to name the space most central to our mission  our main exhibit gallery  to permanently recognize their contributions to this museum and the arts.

Bill Lehr has served on the boards of over 30 nonprofit and public-private organizations at regional and national levels. He was the chairman of Capital BlueCross and Senior Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer at Hershey Foods Corporation.

Beverlee Lehr is a sculptor whose ceramic pieces can be seen at the State Museum of Pennsylvania and the Lancaster Museum of Art. A solo exhibition of her work is on display at the New Arts Program in Kutztown through March 1.

In addition, the museum recently unveiled its latest exhibit, Many Visions, Many Versions: Art from Indigenous Communities from India The touring show features more than 35 tapestries, paintings, drawings and scrolls representing the variety of cultural traditions from India. It will be on display at the museum through May 10.
Sinking into the steamy hot springs, the giant rodents of the Izu Shaboten Koen close their eyes as people gather around to take pictures. The noise of cameras and the crowd do not stop the animals from falling asleep in the water.

The creatures are capybaras, the largest rodent in the world.

The five capybaras might not realize they are the main attraction at Izu Shaboten Koen. The zoo is just two hours south of Tokyo by train. Its grounds are home to over 100 different animals and birds, as well as cactus plants from around the world.

Workers expect the zoo will make money from all the people interested in seeing the capybaras this year. It helps that 2020 is the Year of the Rat on the Chinese Zodiac. Capybaras are a close relative of rats.

Masahiro Takeda is a zookeeper at the Izu Shaboten Koen. He says the capybaras are the highlight of the zoo, so the Year of the Rat is a chance to push their popularity up even more.

Were really hoping that this will catch on with people from all over the world visiting Japan, too, he told the Reuters news agency.

About the animals

Capybaras are not native to Japan. They come from the tropical forests of South America. The animals live close to bodies of water, are great swimmers and can stay underwater for up to five minutes. As adults, they can weigh anywhere between 35 and 65 kilograms.

In the wild, capybaras usually live in groups of around 10 to 20. They are known for being calm and friendly with other animals. That is probably why so many creatures like to be with or even sit on them.

Hot baths

The Izu Shaboten Koens winter tradition of giving the capybaras baths every day started almost 40 years ago. One day, a worker was cleaning their enclosure with hot water when he turned around and noticed something: The animals had crowded together and were trying to sit in a warm puddle.

The baths quickly became popular at Izu Shaboten Koen and other zoos across Japan, where the number of capybaras jumped from 126 in 2006 to 422 in 2016.

The popularity of the large rodents in Japan has led to sales of a soft toy and other products called Kapibarasan. And online videos of bathing capybaras have been played hundreds of thousands of times.

At Izu Shaboten Koen, the capybaras eat apples and leaves thrown by their keeper into the hot bath water before they fall asleep. When the capybaras are awake, visitors can wear special mittens to touch and feed the animals.

People who stop for food at the zoos restaurant can order something special: A beef burger with bread in the shape of a capybara. Its eyes and mouth are made of chocolate.

Takeda estimated the zoo has had 20 to 30 percent more winter visitors since it started publicizing the bathing capybaras.

Id only ever seen the capybaras sit in hot springs on TV, so I really wanted to see it in person, said Kayo Kogai, who was a recent visitor to the zoo.

They look so relaxed  I would really like to join them in their bath, Kogais friend Mizuki Aoki added with a laugh.

Im Alice Bryant.

Sakura Murakami reported this story for the Reuters news agency. Alice Bryant adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

rodent  n. a gnawing mammal that includes mice, rats, capybaras and their relatives, who have strong constantly growing front teeth and no canine teeth

attraction  n. something interesting or enjoyable that people want to visit, see, or do

Chinese Zodiac  n. a system based on the moon calendar that assigns an animal and its attributes to each year in a repeating 12-year cycle

highlight  n. the best part of something

bath  n. the act of washing the body usually by sitting or lying in a container filled with water

puddle  n. a small amount of water or mud on the ground

toy  n. something a child plays with

mitten  n. a covering worn over the hand, with a separate area for the thumb

relaxed  adj. calm and free from stress, worry, or anxiety
One system that plays a major role in that is the network of private emissions testing centers (PETCs) in the Philippines. Every car owner knows that they have to visit a PETC to get their cars re-certified as emissions compliant every year after the initial 3-year registration expires, and while it may be a nuisance to some, it's important to ensure that vehicles are within safe and proper operating norms.

Take vehicle emissions for instance. When the government passed the Clean Air Act in 1999, we knew that cars would be the clear target. Vehicle emissions account for a good majority of carbon dioxide emissions in various countries, and finding a way to make sure emissions are within reasonable standards is key.

You have to hand it to us Pinoys: when it comes to finding a creative way to rig a system, there are few that can claim to be better.

But we don't live in an ideal world, and that's why we have these completely faked emissions tests.

In the last couple of months, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) have been revoking the permits of various PETCs nationwide due to reports that they have been submitting doctored results to the Land Transportation Office (LTO). Now there have been questions about the testing methods and equipment and PETCs, as well as the validity of the actual results, but they are privately-owned businesses, and they understandably wanted a better bottom line, which is what likely resulted in these supposed tests.

We asked the DOTr to send us a few of the images that prompted the series of revocations, and most are blatant, if not outright hilarious.

The first image was submitted by a PETC in Pasig City showing a silver 2008 Nissan Grand Livina with its plates attached undergoing testing. The staff member is shown in the image to be conducting the test as supposed proof that the vehicle is actually being tested.

The second image, however, shows the same testing equipment, same technician, and the same car... but the plate has been covered with a piece of paper (or cardboard?) with a very different plate number printed on it. The registration file that was encoded in the data below the images state that it's the plate number for a Hyundai passenger car. We checked the plate with the TXT LTO service, and it's tagged to a pristine blue 2014 Hyundai Eon.

The image above is from the same PETC with the same technician, but this time they're testing a 2003 Honda CR-V. There's nothing unusual about the CR-V in the images submitted to the LTO, until they submitted a second entry.

Just like with the silver Grand Livina standing in for a tiny blue Eon hatchback, the CR-V became a stand in for another vehicle with a different plate number: this time, it's a leased Toyota. Upon checking with LTO, it's a black 2008 Toyota Vios 1.3E.

Another pair of images begins from the same PETC showing a red 1992 Toyota Corolla being tested, nothing unusual to report there.

The image that followed it is the same Corolla, but the plates have been obscured by paper again. The encoded date says it's supposed to be a 2000 Honda. After a quick LTO check, it turns out to be a 2000 Honda Civic in Passion Orange. If the color is original, that means this Corolla was standing in for a EK Civic SiR.

Perhaps the best examples that the DOTr sent us are the images below. Unlike this PETC from Pasig, this PETC from Leyte didn't even bother trying to insert any emissions testing probes into any vehicle. They just relied on the magic of Adobe Photoshop.

They just kept superimposing a poorly cropped photo of one of their staff (presumably) and test equipment onto a picture of the vehicle and sent it off. They did it in a manner reminiscent to someone asking the internet for help with Photoshop; you know, the kind we typically see on BoredPanda.

They even asked the lady to pose differently, but still wearing the exact same clothes. And she wasn't reserved for cars; they used her images too for motorcycles.

These are just two examples of PETCs coming up with a fairly creative -albeit blatantly illegal- way to fake emissions tests certifications. Many PETCs, including these two, have already been suspended by the DOTr. Needless to say, the DOTr and LTO are keeping a closer eye on other PETCs regarding the matter.

While the LTO has had a fairly strong drive against fixers in their different locations in the country, the fixers found a way somewhere else. Yeah, fake it 'til you make it.
Questions on the issues can be submitted ahead of the forum by clicking on the Ask the Candidate box on the League of Women Voters website here.
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Launching himself as the new entrant in the Hindutva space, MNS chief Raj Thackeray on February 9 extended his support to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) even as he demanded the eviction of illegal Pakistani and Bangladeshi "infiltrators" from India.

Addressing a gathering of thousands of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) activists in Mumbai, Thackeray warned of a "befitting reply" to rallies being held against the CAA and the NRC, and said "a morcha will be answered with a morcha, a stone with a stone and a sword with a sword".

In the afternoon, the MNS took out a huge march from Girgaum Chowpatty to Azad Maidan in south Mumbai demanding eviction of illegal Pakistani and Bangladeshi infiltrators. The morcha was culminated at Azad Maidan.

After starting from his home in Dadar's Shivaji Park, Thackeray, wearing a saffron armband, visited famous Siddhivinayak temple in Prabhadevi, accompanied by his wife Sharmila and son Amit.

He joined the "mahamorcha" (mega march) on foot from Hindu Gymkhana and walked till Metro Junction, which is about one km apart, before asked by police officers to travel further in his car because of a huge crowd.

Addressing the gathering at Azad Maidan, the MNS chief said, "Today, anti-CAA and anti-NRC protests were given a befitting reply with this protest rally of the MNS. But let me warn you, next time morchas will be answered with morchas. And if you continue with your drama, stones will be answered with stones and swords with swords".

Thackeray, who had run a vigorous campaign against the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Lok Sabha polls last year, had earlier defended the CAA and the NRC.

Speaking at the rally, Thackeray wondered "opposition" by Muslims to the CAA and the NRC.

"I don't understand why Muslims are protesting against the CAA and the NRC. Who was going to evict those who are living in India since their birth?" he asked.

"...To whom are you (anti-CAA and anti-NRC protesters) trying to show your power, and why?" he said.

Thackeray blamed the ongoing protests against the CAA and the NRC on the "lack of proper understanding" of the issues.

"The CAA gives citizenship to those Hindus who have faced religious atrocities in neighbouring countries (Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and migrated to India)," he said.

"..Do these people (illegal immigrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh) consider my county a 'dharmashala' (charity shelter)?" Thackeray questionned while speaking on the NRC.

He also wondered whether the Union government enacted the CAA and has proposed the NRC as a "ploy to divert the attention of people from the poor financial situation prevailing in the country".

He demanded "strict" implementation of the CAA and the NRC across the country.

In his speech, Thackeray appealed to the Central government to give a "free hand to the police for 48 hours to evict infiltrators from Mumbai, as it is useless to ask the state government".

"The issue of infiltrators is as important as that of drinking water, education and health. Pakistani and Bangaladeshi infiltrators should be thrown out from the country, and there shouldn't be any compromise on the issue," he told the gathering.

Apart from illegal Bangladeshi and Pakistani residents, a large number of Nigerians are also staying in Mira-Bhayandar region near Mumbai, where police also cannot enter their colonies, he said.

Knowing well that his push for the CAA and NRC might create a perception that he was trying to mend fences with the BJP, the MNS chief said, "These days, those who criticise the Union government are being labelled as anti-BJP and those praise it as BJP supporters. Isn't there any middle path?"

The MNS' Hindutva push came nearly two months after the Shiv Sena joined hands with the NCP and Congress to form a government in Maharashtra.

In early January, the MNS president met with former Maharashtra chief minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis.

Days after, he replaced the old striped flag of the MNS and relaunched it in a new saffron avatar with the royal seal of Chhatrapati Shivaji.

Interestingly, eviction of illegal infiltrators has been a stated position of the Bhartiya Janata Party with which the MNS chief has had a love-and-hate relationship, since he turned into a Modi-baiter from being a supporter.

Throughout the day on February 9, police maintained a strict vigil along the route of the march which was joined by MNS activists from Mumbai, its metropolitan region, and other parts of Maharashtra.

On the Azad Maidan dais, the MNS displayed photographs of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Dr Babasaheb Ambedakar, Savitribai Phule, and Thackeray's grandfather late Prabodhankar Thackeray.
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!)
FINAL DECLARATION OF THE WORLD MEETING AGAINST IMPERIALISM

In January, the delegations of the Political Parties and Social Movements, gathered in the city of Caracas, capital of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, on the occasion of the World Meeting against Imperialism. After the deliberations had concluded, the following conclusions were reached:

The future of humanity is in grave danger. Peace on the planet is seriously threatened as a result of the military aggression policy of the US and its allies, as well as the deadly arms race that brings only dividends to large corporations in the military industry. War is the favoured mechanism of imperial expansionism, especially that of the United States, and we observe that dramatically in the most recent regional conflicts that have severely affected the peoples of Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the entire region.

Likewise, the human race suffers the ravages of an economic model that in its suicidal deployment destroys nature by the insatiable obsession to maximise profits. That is precisely the logic of the capitalist system, which not only compromises its functioning but also puts humanity in danger of extinction.

The neoliberal model that implements the globalisation of large corporations under the domination of imperialist states, has made the world economy extremely fragile. Crises are more recurrent, and large financial speculators control the planet. The distribution of wealth generated has imposed a standard of inequality, injustice, and exclusion that affects a growing part of the worlds population. The scourges of poverty and misery affect billions of people like never before in the history of mankind. Undoubtedly, the development of capitalism breeds unsustainable phenomena, from the social, political, and ethical points of view.

To this is added an ethical crisis derived from the prevailing way of life of market economies, where national cultures and human values are buried, in order to impose the consumer society. The cult of the anti-values of capitalism contributes to enhance the crisis of the human condition generated by the current model of coexistence.

Imperialism is in crisis and this makes it much more aggressive, dangerous, and destructive. With the twilight of the unipolar world, American imperialism implements a strategy of global domination. The geopolitical commitment of the White House in the face of the resistance of the peoples and the irruption of emerging powers has been to defend its hegemony, through a neo-colonial policy aimed at taking ownership of natural resources, especially energy resources, controlling markets, and politically dominating nations.

To preserve the current unjust world order, imperialism violates public international law, has turned the world into a great theatre of military operations, develops unilateral coercive measures, imposes extraterritorial laws, attacks multilateralism, violates the sovereignty of nations and suppresses the self-determination of peoples. In its arrogant conception, its borders reach as far as its expansionist interests extend.

In line with this policy, imperialism resorts to military intervention, political destabilization of governments, wars, and economic blockade. Its strategic planning conceives NATO as the global military arm of neoliberalism. In addition, within the framework of its Doctrine of the Unconventional War, terrorist actions, the use of paramilitaries, the prosecution of anti-imperialist leaders, and targeted assassination, are some of the most emblematic actions of a genocidal policy, which puts humanity at risk.

Such practices have been legitimised through the cultural industry of capitalism, big transnational of communication and the use of social media. Likewise, the use of Big Data has become a powerful weapon to modify the behaviour of the population and influence their political decisions.

In the attempt to impose a single thinking, the powerful people of the world manipulate religious beliefs, try to justify the current power relations at the expense of democracy, the imposition of free markets, Eurocentric racism, segregation of minorities, gender oppression, the eugenic nature of the global educational model, among many other factors, that perfectly fit the requirements of the capital dictatorship.

Neoliberal capitalism strengthens the exploitation of the working class, further oppresses women in terms of maximising the profits of large transnational corporations, takes the future away from young people and blurs the identity of indigenous peoples. This shows that the solution to the great problems of todays world requires a new model of human coexistence.

In that context, the multicentric and multipolar world emerges with greater force. The political and economic strengthening of powers such as Russia and China, along with that of other nations, makes an increasingly serious counterweight to the power of American imperialism. Evidently, the heroic resistance in the Middle East, the struggles of the peoples of Latin America, and the Caribbean, have contained and pushed back the plans of imperialism.

Moreover, the experiences of progressive governments around the world are already emerging as an alternative to neoliberalism. An example of this is the Bolivarian Revolution, which is projected as an anti-imperialist referent with enormous popular strength within the framework of the powerful civic-military union and based on the ideology of Liberator Simon Bolivar and Commander Hugo Chavez.

This has provoked the brutal attack by US imperialism against the Venezuelan people, who have squandered dignity and love for the Homeland, ratifying its course towards socialism in numerous electoral processes that support the vigorous participatory democracy existing in this country. Hard days of popular struggle have defeated threats of US military intervention, coup attempts, and terrorist violence.

This example of fighting, alongside that of Nicaragua and Cuba, as well as recent advances in Argentina and Mexico, has allowed the strengthening of anti-imperialist forces and will lead to the strengthening of new regional integration mechanisms (CELAC, ALBA-TPC, PETROCARIBE, etc.). Although in Honduras, Paraguay, Brazil, Ecuador, El Salvador and Bolivia, neo-colonialism has been repositioned as part of the new edition of the Monroe Doctrine, popular struggles continue.

In the rest of the world people also resist, revolt and popular governments exercise their sovereignty. The anti-imperialist union is an uncompromising strategic goal.

In this context, the World Meeting against Imperialism states:

We urge the peoples of the world to fight for life, the preservation of nature and against structural conditions that generate climate change. Likewise, we demand developed nations to work decisively to prevent the destruction of the planet and especially the US to overcome its primitive stance that seeks to ignore the terrible damage that is caused to nature with the current production model based on the accumulation of capital.

We support the demand to build a more just international order that places peoples interests at the forefront and allows the development of social inclusion and justice policies to overcome the enormous social and economic inequalities that prevail among the nations of the world.

We call on the citizens of the world to defend peace, sovereignty of the peoples and join the legitimate struggles for the socioeconomic process on the basis of a broad platform of united struggle against the common enemy, US imperialism.

We reject the implementation of illegal unilateral coercive measures by imperialist powers, since those are criminal policies that affect the peoples. We specially condemn the genocidal policy of economic blockade applied against the nations of the world that exercise their sovereignty.

We reject the militarisation of Our America and specially the presence of military bases of the United States in Latin America and the Caribbean.

We firmly condemn the military invasion and other aggressions committed by imperialism against the peoples of the Middle East. In particular, we reject the violation of the sovereignty of Syria and Iraq, the aggressions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as the vicious assassination of Commander Qasem Soleimani, a martyr of the peoples of the world fighting for freedom.

We demand respect to the sovereignty of Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua, and support the efforts of Nicolas Maduro Moros, Constitutional President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, to maintain peace.

We denounce the attempt orchestrated by the White House to censor the multistate companies TeleSur and HispanTV. This represents an outrage against the freedom of speech of the peoples.

We condemn the coup detat, orchestrated from Washington, against President Evo Morales Ayma. We condemn the violent repression and racism against the people of the Plurinational State of Bolivia.

Likewise, the Global Meeting against Imperialism agrees:

To build a Unitary World Platform organised by continents, regions, sub-regions, and countries in order to confront imperialism. This organisational structure will be shaped according to the characteristics of each territory.

To hold the Continental Meetings against Imperialism in 2020, aiming to form unitary continental, regional and sub-regional platforms articulated on the basis of a common plan of struggle against imperialism.

To call for the Second Global Meeting against Imperialism to be held in Caracas, capital of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in order to define the name of the Unitary World Platform, as well as the articulation of the different continental and regional platforms in a common plan that will unite the struggles of the peoples.

Finally, the Global Meeting against Imperialism agrees to take on the Agenda of Struggles introduced in the First International Meeting of Workers in Solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution, endorsed by the First International Women Congress, by the International Congress of Communes, Social Movements and the Peoples Power, by the First International Meeting of Indigenous People, by the International Congress of Afro-descendants and the International Communication Congress, held in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in 2019, an agenda that includes the following:

To hold an international day of mobilisation in support of the Bolivarian Revolution and against neoliberalism on 27th February, 2020 (Commemoration of the 31st anniversary of the first insurrection in Caracas against neoliberalism).

Call for a world mobilisation for peace in Venezuela, in Our America and against war plans of the Government of the United States for April, 2020.

Develop an international day in rejection to the Monroe Doctrine, against the blockade and other Unilateral Coercive Measures for 28th June, 2020.

To create, until the next Meeting, a Coordinating Commission for the delegations present in the First Global Meeting against Imperialism, aiming to fulfil this plan.

Approved in the City of Caracas, Birthplace of the Liberator Simon Bolivar and Capital of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on 24th January, 2020.
Hindi Version:

Girls and women in New Delhi perform Chilean feminist protest song 'The Rapist Is Youa and demand an end to gender-based violence#therapistisyou #UnVioladorEnTuCamino #India pic.twitter.com/Ne0KSK3FE0  Ruptly (@Ruptly) February 10, 2020







see also a video below from OBR event in Connaught place in Delhi held on 9 Feb 2020: thttps://www.facebook.com/jayashree.velankar/videos/10220892958931800/

Video of another Hindi version sung in Delhi in Nov 2019

Bengali version of The Rapist is You sung in Calcutta

Another version of The Rapist is You sung at a protest site in Calcutta

The Chilean anti rape protest anthem translated and performed in Assamese at queer pride March, Guwahati, Assam [India]

o o o

See the powerful original spanish version from Chile below:

See video of the english version sung in New York below:
JOURNALIST: - Sir, this year Vietnam is going to take charge of the Chair on ASEAN. What do you think about Vietnam's economic competitiveness in the region?

Mr. VU TIEN LOC: - The Standard Chartered Bank's new Trade20 Index looks at 20 countries with promise around the world, and Vietnam ranks No. 6 on the index. But Vietnam is rated just average in the lists introduced by the World Economic Forum and the World Bank, and our technology and work performance is not high either, compared with other countries in the region. Our reform administrative procedures for new companies are just average in ASEAN as well.

What is unique is that the specialized border administrative inspection procedures are still twice as many as the average of ASEAN. The reason is that some specialized administrative import-export inspection procedures have just been changed from pre-inspection to post-inspection, rather than completely eradicating these procedures.

The fact that Vietnam stopped climbing up the global business environment rating in 2019 is a warning that Vietnam could fall behind if there were not any more significant reforms. According to JETROs survey, Japanese companies described Vietnam as their favorite investment place, but they all said the biggest difficulty for their investments in Vietnam were the current administrative procedures.

After much efforts by the Government, relevant ministries, departments and companies during the period 2014-2018, Vietnam jumped 30 places up in the competitiveness rating. That was an impressive result. Basically, however, Vietnams competitiveness is still average in the world, and Vietnam is not even among the top four in ASEAN countries.

- In 2019, the Government introduced strong reforms in reducing administrative procedures and business requirements, but the reforms were not enough. What do you think about this issue?

- I believe there are still areas that badly need reforms in business requirements and administrative formalities. The latest Decree by the National Assembly also requested that the Government continue to reduce and simplify business requirements and administrative formalities for specialized inspection. This means the Government still has to make more effort. In the context of a digital economy and step-by-step construction of an electronic Government, lots of procedures will have to be digitalized in 2020, making it possible for us to move closer to the goal of becoming one of the top four economies with the most favorable business environment among ASEAN countries.

In recent years, businesses have positively responded to Government efforts in making the procedures more and more favorable for businesses. Over the past three years, companies have sent more than 3,000 letters to Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, including responses, opinions and petitions regarding this issue. It has come as good news that the competent agencies have sent back appropriate answers or settled most of the problems. Only around 20% of the problems have not been resolved. Of the 80% problems resolved, 60% of the companies have been satisfied with the solutions, and 40% have not been pleased. This indicates that the companies do not find the agencies solutions quite reliable because the agencies have just given explanations rather than satisfactorily cope with the problems.

It is certainly difficult to solve all the problems as said in the petitions from companies because of binding requirements in applicable legal regulations. This situation requires the concerned agencies to simultaneously solve two problems of discrepancies and conflicts of laws and transparency in laws and their enforcement.

- What do you think the Government should do in 2020 to promote corporate growth?

- I strongly believe that 2020 will see a breakthrough in reforms in policies and administrative procedures, especially ones applicable to companies and business activities. Particularly, specialized inspection must comply with international regulations, with a switch from pre-inspection to post-inspection. If everything goes well, at least 5-7% administrative procedures for specialized inspection will be reduced this year, paving the way for international rules like the ones in developed countries to be applied in Vietnam within the next one or two years.

Under the bill of the revised Corporate Law, companies may request the Government and competent agencies to consider their wishes and expectations. I also hope that the agencies will move from giving explanations to listening to their problems and having dialogues with companies in order to take appropriate measures to help companies satisfactorily settle their problems.

Reality shows that there is a huge gap between listening and solving problems. That is why I really hope we will make great strides in this field this year. It is vital that the relevant agencies adhere strictly to the requirements set forth by the Prime Minister. That is, the agencies are supposed to accompany and provide essential support for businesses, and consider companies losses or responsibilities to be actually those of the agencies.

First and foremost, it is important to satisfactorily solve problems such as discrepancies and conflicts of laws and lack of transparency in legal regulations, because risks for companies will still be huge until all the problems of discrepancies and conflicts of laws and lack of transparency in legal regulations have been resolved thoroughly and convincingly.

- This is the final year for the goal of one million companies operating in accordance with Resolution 35 by the Government. What is your opinion about this goal?

- As far as Resolution 35 is concerned, the Government considers private companies a main force that will help drive economic growth. In fact, the goal of having one million companies by 2020 is very challenging, but not out of reach. I do believe this is quite a reachable goal if we change our idea about household businesses and very small enterprises. I highly value the Governments plan suggesting that five million household businesses be put in the scale of amendments for revised Corporate Law, expected to be approved by the National Assembly in May 2020.

In particular, each household business must be registered with one individual representative. That is, basically, a household business is a company with one owner as generally interpreted by international definition. With regard to the economic and legal concerns as well as practical activities, a private household business must be a registered household business. It is a type of company, but is not considered to be a company yet, even though some household businesses now have even more workers than companies. That is one of the biggest faults of the system of applicable corporate legal regulations.

- Thank you very much.

Translated by Nguyen Gia

Hoang Son (Interviewer)
China's Long March-5B carrier rocket arrived at the Wenchng Space Launch Center in southern China's Hainan Province on Feb. 5 and is scheduled to make its maiden flight, launching the prototype of China's new manned spaceship in April.

The first Long March 5B carrier rocket arrives at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province on Wednesday for prelaunch preparations. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Featuring more powerful carrier rockets, more advanced space station technology and higher scientific application efficiency, the on-orbit construction mission of China's space station is about to be launched. China's manned space program in the space station era is making great strides forward.

The Long March-5B carrier rocket is scheduled to carry out two missions. The first is to participate in in a joint rehearsal with the prototype of the Chinese space station's core module at the Wenchang Space Launch Center, and the second is to launch the the prototype of China's new manned spaceship.

The Long March-5B is a modified version of Long March-5 rocket and will be China's first 1.5-stage large carrier rocket, according to Wang Jue, chief commander of the Long March-5 rocket.

Wang also explained that the Long March-5B carrier rocket is China's first first-stage semi-configuration large carrier rocket, which will be mainly used for the launch of large spacecraft in near-earth orbit, undertaking China's manned space station cabin section and other major space launch tasks.

The rocket is 53.7 meters long, with a diameter of 5 meters and a liftoff weight of 849 tons. It uses pollution-free propellant including liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen and kerosene. It has a carrying capacity of more than 22 tons in near-earth orbit, the largest carrying capacity in near-earth orbit of all Chinese rockets.

On July 19, 2019, with the Tiangong-2 space lab beginning to deorbit and re-enter the Earth's atmosphere, all the tasks of the space laboratory phase of China's manned space project were successfully completed, bringing China into the space station era in an all-round way.

The space station phase mission is faced with many challenges in its bid to achieve leapfrog technological development and the continuous improvement of scientific application efficiency.

According to the plan, China's manned space program will continuously carry out more than 10 missions in under three years, complete the construction and operation of near-earth manned space stations, and build a national space laboratory to carry out large-scale space science and technical experiments and civil space applications.

As China is currently being challenged by epidemic prevention and control work, a relevant member of staff at the China Manned Space Engineering Office said that the project will ensure that the joint rehearsal mission and the first flight mission are smoothly organized and implemented according to the planned schedule, and that the space stations flight mission will be carried out smoothly.
Left-wing party surges in election, after campaign that focused on providing more social housing and better healthcare.

Sinn Fein, the left-wing Irish nationalist party, has won the popular vote in a general election, with the one-time political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) disrupting a duopoly of centre-right parties which have historically controlled the Republic.

Ballot counts on Sunday revealed that after all 39 constituencies across Ireland were tallied, Sinn Fein received 24.5 percent of the first preference vote, almost doubling its share from the last election in 2016.

It outstripped the opposition Fianna Fail party, which won 22.2 percent, as well as incumbent Prime Minister Leo Varadkars governing Fine Gael partys 20.9 percent.

Ireland operates on a single transferable vote system and Sinn Fein ran a slate of just 42 candidates for the 159 seats contested, meaning its strong performance may not result in it becoming the biggest party in Irelands next Parliament.

But its leaders, who campaigned on issues of healthcare and housing, celebrated the surge.

Its official (Sinn Fein) won the election  highest popular vote, tweeted Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald.

Thank you. All of you who voted for Sinn Fein. Your vote counted. We are your party. We will now do everything we can to secure a government for the people. We will never leave you behind. We will never let you down. pic.twitter.com/6uCmETLTo3  Mary Lou McDonald (@MaryLouMcDonald) February 9, 2020

An exit poll put Sinn Fein comfortably ahead with voters aged 18-24 and 25-34, with support at 32 percent in each age bracket.

There was, in the build-up to the election, people saying this is young people who dont remember the Troubles in Northern Ireland and I think we see thats not the case, Dawn Walsh from the University College Dublin told Al Jazeera, referring to the 30-year period of violence and political dispute in which some 3,600 people were killed before a 1998 peace deal.

Its only the much older people who have stuck with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.

Counting is expected to continue on Monday with analysts saying it could take two to three days before full results are known.

Ending the duopoly

Following Irelands 2016 election, it took 70 days before a new minority coalition government was formed under Fine Gael.

Before that vote, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, who have traditionally taken turns in power in the Republic since its 1922 foundation, ruled out a coalition with Sinn Fein.

It seems that we have now a three-party system, said Varadkar at the counting centre for his Dublin West constituency.

That is going to make forming a government quite difficult.

While Fine Gael minister Pascal Donohoe reiterated the partys stance, that it would not work with Sinn Fein, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin did not repeat earlier refusals to consider a coalition with Sinn Fein, saying only that there were significant incompatibilities on policy.

Our policies and our principles have not changed overnight, he said. But what is important is that the country comes first.

Micheal Martin of Fianna Fail reacts to being elected to the 33rd Dail at the Irish General Election count [Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images]

McDonald arrived at the main count centre in the capital to huge fanfare from supporters and was returned to her central Dublin seat on Sunday evening.

This is changing the shape of an old Irish politics. This is not a transient thing, this is just the beginning, she told reporters.

The 50-year-old said Sinn Fein would talk to all parties about forming a government and that others should accept their responsibility to do the same.

I do not accept the exclusion or talk of excluding our party, a party that represents now a quarter of the electorate, and I think that is fundamentally undemocratic, she said.

Sinn Feins ultimate goal is reuniting British-run Northern Ireland with Ireland.

The party has set a condition for any coalition  to immediately prepare a unity referendum that it would push London to hold within five years.

Opponents of Sinn Fein say its high-spending promises and pledge to increase taxes on the wealthy would discourage foreign multinationals that employ one-in-10 Irish workers.

But some parties have praised detailed policies such as a proposed rent freeze and building more social housing to tackle the cost and availability of accommodation, the key election issue.
Diagnosed with Crohns disease at 13, by the time she reached 25, schoolteacher Kelly Owens had given up all hope of living a normal life. The debilitating inflammatory bowel disease affects about 300,000 people in the UK, causing diarrhoea, extreme tiredness, stomach aches and weight loss.

There is no cure, but drugs such as steroids can reduce inflammation, and the condition may be partially relieved by surgery to repair or remove damaged parts of the digestive system.

Over the years, doctors had tried almost two dozen different drugs on Kelly, who says they either didnt work at all or my body would build up antibodies against them and theyd soon stop working.

Kelly Owens, 30, volunteered in 2017 to be a guinea pig in a trial of a revolutionary technique that could offer a new treatment for dozens of diseases, including arthritis, asthma, diabetes and depression

Kelly wasnt just battling the colitis  the inflammation and ulceration of the large intestine  that is the classic manifestation of Crohns. The condition had also triggered inflammatory arthritis that affected all her joints, even her jaw, as well as pyoderma gangrenosum, a skin condition that left her legs covered in agonising ulcers.

Just one steroid, prednisone, gave her any relief. It was the only thing that helped me to function, says Kelly, now 30.

But prednisone reduces the amount of calcium in the blood and soon she was diagnosed with osteoporosis, a condition that weakens bones to the point where they can easily break.

'Miracle' may treat dozens of diseases

Kelly says that by the time she was 25, she was in pretty bad shape. But within three years her condition had improved beyond all recognition, thanks to what she describes as a miracle  a miracle that countless other patients could one day be experiencing.

In 2017, Kelly volunteered to be a guinea pig in a trial of a revolutionary technique that could offer a new treatment for dozens of diseases, including arthritis, asthma, diabetes and depression. That decision has transformed her life.

It works by an electrical implant in the chest which activates the vagus nerve, which runs from the brain to the abdomen

Kelly is one of a handful of people worldwide to benefit from this revolutionary branch of medicine: bioelectronics. She now has a device the size of a matchbox implanted in her chest that sends messages to keep her immune system under control.

For her, it has been life-changing.

Before, I had to think about every movement I made, she says. Now I just have this wonderfully normal life and Im medication-free. I never imagined that 30 years old could feel so young.

Our immune systems keep us healthy by fighting off infection or the effects of injury. But sometimes they go haywire, producing an overreaction that causes diseases including Crohns, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimers and multiple sclerosis.

Diagnosed with Crohns disease at 13, by the time Kelly reached 25, she had given up all hope of living a normal life

Traditionally, drugs have been used to dampen down this response, but companies are now racing to develop what many believe will be a cheaper and more effective alternative, without any of the drugs side-effects.

Their hopes rest on tiny electronic devices implanted in the body to regulate the electrical impulses that control the inflammatory reflex of the immune system.

The father of bioelectronics is Professor Kevin Tracey, a neurosurgeon and inventor, now president and CEO of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in New York.

In 2000, Dr Tracey published a paper in the journal Nature showing that inflammation in rats could be reduced by electronically stimulating the vagus nerve.

This is the longest nerve in the body, running from the base of the brain, then dividing into two before travelling through the neck, chest and abdomen. It works as a conduit for a host of vital functions, including controlling heart rate and body temperature.

Dr Tracey discovered that this nerve also carries information that regulates the immune system and inflammation  and that this inflammatory reflex could be controlled by electrical stimulation. As he told Good Health: We now know that specific nerves control specific molecular targets in the same way that drugs do.

Drugs attach themselves to these targets (via receptor proteins in or on cells) in order to block messages from the body that would otherwise trigger the cell to react in an undesirable way.

Ibuprofen, for example, works by interfering with the chemical messages that trigger inflammation and pain  but most drugs cant be finely targeted and may have side effects.

Side effects and the expense are real barriers, says Dr Tracey. And people forget to take them.

Kelly had seen Dr Tracey being interviewed in 2014 about a new device he had invented to treat inflammatory diseases.

She recalls: He was talking about it in the context of rheumatoid arthritis but I wondered if this could work for me. Kelly contacted Dr Tracey, who advised her that although his device was not then suitable, she should keep checking back as his teams work progressed.

Finally, some hope for Crohn's

In 2012, Kelly married Sean, her childhood sweetheart, and moved from New Jersey to Hawaii, to try to improve her health.

The harsh winters of New Jersey made it that much harder on my inflammatory arthritis, adding to the discomfort I was in, says Kelly. My hope was that Id find some relief in Hawaii, but the weather didnt make much difference.

Her job as a teacher became difficult as the condition continued to worsen. I would really push myself to get through the day, and then I would come home, ice my legs to help with the pain and the ulcerated skin and basically stay on the couch until I had to do it all over again the next day.

After two years, aged 26, she had to quit the job she loved as the colitis was so bad that I lost about 30 lbs in a few weeks. From that point, I was completely debilitated and disabled.

Kelly and Sean, who runs his own carpentry business, returned to New Jersey and, two years later, in 2017, her doctors delivered a bombshell. They told me: Youve been on every drug thats available. From now on, youre going to be on high doses of prednisone, recalls Kelly. I was crushed. Then she remembered Dr Tracey.

She went online and discovered that SetPoint Medical, a company working with Dr Traceys research, had just begun recruiting for a trial to see whether bioelectronic medicine might be effective in treating Crohns.

The hitch was that the trial was being conducted in Amsterdam.

Without even knowing whether shed be accepted on to the trial  she needed tests to find if the ulceration of her bowel was great enough to meet the studys strict inclusion criteria  Kelly and Sean sold everything that wasnt nailed to the floor and went to Holland.

Our family and friends put together a fundraiser for us and we raised $16,000 (12,250).

On June 22, 2017, Kelly underwent a 45-minute operation under general anaesthetic to have the device inserted into her chest. This was connected by a wire to the vagus nerve in her neck.

Two weeks later, they turned it on for the first time and my life improved almost immediately, she says. That night, Kelly forgot to take pain medication because I wasnt in pain for the first time in I cant even remember how long.

A few weeks later, while getting dressed, she noticed her knees, previously swollen like little cantaloupe melons, were now a normal size.

A week after that, she and Sean were running late for an appointment and had to dash up two flights of stairs. Usually it would take me a long time, says Kelly. This day, I got to the top and looked around for Sean. I looked to the bottom of the stairs and he was staring up at me in awe.

Kelly was one of 16 patients with Crohns, all of whom had failed to respond to drug treatment, who were implanted with a vagus nerve stimulation device at one of five European centres in 2017.

In June last year, SetPoint unveiled the results of the trial at the Digestive Disease Week conference in Washington.

At 16 weeks, more than 60 per cent of the patients had logged significant reductions in the effects of the disease, as assessed by the Crohns disease activity index, which measures abdominal pain, well-being and toilet habits.

According to this scale, a reduction of 70 or more points is regarded as clinically meaningful.

Eight of the trial patients, including Kelly, scored improvements of 100 points or more, while four found almost all their symptoms disappeared.

SetPoint has also carried out a pilot study in the U.S. on 14 patients with rheumatoid arthritis using a device, the MicroRegulator, implanted in the neck.

This generates electrical pulses prescribed wirelessly by a doctor through an app. Patients recharge the generator using a wireless charger worn around their neck.

After 12 weeks, five out of ten patients with the device had clinically meaningful improvement in symptoms, with two achieving remission. Not one of the four on sham stimulation showed any improvement. The devices are not yet approved for clinical use, but may offer hope to those with autoimmune diseases.

Waiting list is growing already

How bioelectronics is saving lives Electrical implants were first used in medicine with cardiac pacemakers in patients in the late Fifties. Today implanted pulse generators connected by wires to the brain are used to control motor symptoms of Parkinsons, such as tremors. However, much of the excitement in this new field of bioelectronics is centred on the vagus nerve, the longest nerve in the body, which starts at the base of the brain, then divides into two branches that travel through the neck, chest and into the abdomen, down into the small intestine. Its described as the bodys communication highway  relaying messages from tissues and organs to the brain and vice versa, controlling everything from swallowing to heart rate and digestion, which explain its appeal as a tool in the treatment of diseases. Vagus nerve stimulation is already used to reduce the number and severity of seizures in epilepsy when drugs dont work. It is also used in depression resistant to other therapies. The new approach is revolutionary because it targets inflammation (see main story) and could help a wide range of acute and chronic diseases. Advertisement

I get letters and emails from patients and parents of children who are suffering every day, but, of course, we cant give them devices yet, says Dr Tracey. I answer some of them myself  they bring tears to your eyes. But the demand is so overwhelming that we hired a patient who is now in remission to answer these emails for me.

That patient was Kelly, who now works as director of education and outreach at The Feinstein Institutes. Right now, we have more than 1,000 patients registered, with the whole gamut of inflammatory diseases, who are anxiously awaiting access to bio-electronic medicine, she says.

Dr Tracey says many diseases with inflammatory components may respond to this treatment. Likely candidates include asthma, diabetes and high blood pressure.

This isnt the first time electronic stimulation has been used as a treatment (see box, below left), but this is the first technique that offers so many potential applications  thanks to the discovery by Dr Tracey that stimulating the nerve inhibits the production of a molecule called tumour necrosis factor, which communicates immune responses to cells.

This molecule is one of the key targets of drugs used to treat inflammatory diseases such as Crohns and rheumatoid arthritis.

Electronic stimulation of nerves may have applications beyond controlling the bodys inflammatory responses, as research under way into a treatment for high blood pressure hopes to prove.

A U.S. company, CVRx, has developed a device implanted under the collar bone that uses electrical impulses to activate the bodys baroreceptors  pressure sensors on the main artery and nerve that monitor and control blood flow. The Barostim Neo device causes the brain to relax blood vessels, slow the heart rate and so lower blood pressure.

Perhaps not surprisingly, big names are now rushing to invest in bioelectronics, including Google and General Electric, as well as leading public bodies in the U.S. such as the National Institutes of Health. The British firm GlaxoSmithKline is also supporting more than 30 bioelectronic projects around the world.

In the UK, Qasim Aziz, a professor of neurogastroenterology at Queen Mary, University of London, and medical adviser to the charity Crohns & Colitis UK, is planning a study to examine the potential of bioelectronics for patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

He told Good Health that the Crohns disease trial Kelly was part of, though small, raises the hope that such an intervention could have a promising impact on patients management for chronic and often severe conditions such as Crohns disease.

He added: [Its] an exciting new approach that has the potential to benefit many patients.

Dr Tracey is hopeful that the use of bioelectronic devices for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis could be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in as little as three or four years.

If successful, approval for its use in other conditions could follow.

A spokesperson for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, which is responsible for approving new drugs in the UK, said it does not approve medical devices itself but instead oversees notified bodies authorised to ensure any new device conforms with regulations set out under the Medical Device Regulations 2002.

When they do, they earn a CE mark, which approves the device for use throughout Europe.

Two years on from her procedure, Kelly remains a great advert for the effectiveness of bioelectronic medicine. A colonoscopy carried out after the trial showed that 50 per cent of her once chronically inflamed colon had healed in less than four months.

Im due a further examination this summer, but I continue to feel like a million bucks, she says.

She is, understandably, forever thankful to Dr Tracey.

He and his team put together the puzzle pieces that will change the course of medicine as we know it, she says. Im convinced that this is the new frontier.
Sinn Feins Mary Lou McDonald and Aengus O Snodaigh celebrate with Dessie Ellis (centre) as he is elected for Dublin North-West

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has shocked his party members by performing a spectacular U-turn on his long-standing opposition to working in Government with Sinn Fein.

With counting still under way, he reversed his policy on Sinn Fein and opened the door to holding coalition talks with Mary Lou McDonald.

During a day of election shocks, Sinn Fein stormed to the top of the polls, with many candidates having substantial surpluses. They are predicted to pick up anything up to 38 seats, putting them almost on a par with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.

In Dublin, Sinn Fein swept the boards, with Ms McDonald, Sean Crowe, Louise O'Reilly, Dessie Ellis and Aengus O Snodaigh among those topping the polls in landslide victories which saw a huge surplus of votes being transferred.

Asked about a coalition with Sinn Fein, Mr Martin said: "I'm a democrat. I listen to the people, I respect the decision of the people."

Mr Martin's closest advisers said he believes the parties should take time to consider the seismic election result.

Expand Close Ms McDonald with her supporters at the RDS / Facebook

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Whatsapp Ms McDonald with her supporters at the RDS

"Just because we talk to a party doesn't mean we're going into coalition with them," a source said.

Promise

However, senior Fianna Fail TDs publicly rejected their leader's position and insisted they would not break their promise to voters.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar categorically ruled out talking to Sinn Fein about forming a government. Ms McDonald said she would talk to all parties about coalition.

Expand Close Leo Varadkar has insisted Fine Gael will not go into government with Sinn Fein / Facebook

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Whatsapp Leo Varadkar has insisted Fine Gael will not go into government with Sinn Fein

Last night, Fianna Fail front bench TDs suggested Mr Martin would do anything to become Taoiseach.

"He's desperate now and knows it's his last chance," a senior party source said.

Party's finance spokesperson Michael McGrath said coalition with Sinn Fein was not a "runner" because they are "polls apart" from Fianna Fail on economic policies.

Fianna Fail's justice spokesperson Jim O'Callaghan also shot down any suggestion of coalition with Sinn Fein.

Expand Close Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has opened the door to coalition talks / Facebook

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Whatsapp Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has opened the door to coalition talks

Having ruled out coalition with the party throughout the election campaign, Mr Martin's stance had noticeably softened.

"I've heard the people speak today. The people have voted in numbers and I respect that," he said.

He added that "one's polices and principles don't change overnight", and said there are still "significant issues" he has with Sinn Fein.

"But, as I say, over the next number of days, we'll tease those out with all concerned."

Mr Martin's advisers were insisting he was seeking to buy some time so the election results could be considered before talks kick-off.

"Everyone needs to reflect and take stock of the election result," a source said.

"No one knew the Shinners would get a vote like that, and it has to be taken into account, but just because we talk to them doesn't mean we're going into coalition."

Senior Fianna Fail figures also said it was their belief that Sinn Fein's preferred option is to remain in opposition.

Mr Varadkar said a coalition between Fine Gael and Sinn Fein is "not an option" and compared such an outcome to a "forced marriage".

He said Fine Gael's position on ruling out a government deal with Sinn Fein has not changed since the election, and his party won votes on that basis.

He made the remarks shortly before his election as a TD for Dublin West was confirmed in the constituency's fifth count.

"It wasn't a tactic or a strategy. It's what we honestly believe and for us coalition with Sinn Fein is not an option," he said.

He warned that it could take months to form a government.

Mr Varadkar said he will talk to other parties including Labour, the Social Democrats, the Green Party and Fianna Fail to see if there is a possibility of forming a government.

However, he said it should be a government with a working majority, and he is prepared to go into opposition.

Asked if there was anything about the election he would have done differently, he said: "There's always things you would have done the same and things you would do differently."

Mr Varadkar said his biggest regret was there was not more time to show results in housing.

Tanaiste Simon Coveney said Fine Gael is still open to forming a grand coalition with Fianna Fail. However, he said Fine Gael would not be offering a confidence and supply agreement to any party.

"The country needs a Government - Fine Gael will work towards the formation of a government, but if we have to go into opposition, then so be it," he said.

Transport Minister Shane Ross was the first high-profile casualty of the election campaign after he conceded in his Dublin Rathdown constituency.
tech2 News Staff

Realme Europe recently announced on its Twitter that it will be unveiling its new 5G flagship at the upcoming Mobile World Congress that is scheduled to take place on 24 February in Barcelona. Reportedly, this smartphone is going to be Realme X50 Pro 5G.

The company has now shared a poster on Weibo that it will be launching Realme X50 Pro 5G at on 24 February at MWC 2020.

(Also read: Amazon withdraws from Mobile World Congress 2020 over coronavirus fears)

As per a Weibo post by the company CMO Xu Qi Chase, Realme X50 Pro 5G is likely to be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 865 processor. He shared a screenshot that reveals several specifications of the upcoming smartphone.

It suggests that the smartphone will run on Android 10 with Realme UI on top. It is expected to offer 12 GB RAM with 256 GB storage. Popping up with the model number, RMX2071, Realme X50 Pro 5G is likely to come with NFC and support dual SIM.

The battery and camera details are yet to be revealed.

If we go by the specifications and design of Realme X50 5G that was launched in China recently, Realme 5G Pro 5G might also sport a pill-shaped dual camera setup at the front.

To recall, Realme X50 5G features a 6.57-inch IPS LCD display with a 120 Hz refresh rate, which is the highlight of the smartphone. The display of the device also sports a dual punch-hole selfie camera, which includes a 16 MP sensor and an 8 MP ultrawide sensor. Under the hood, the Realme X50 5G is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G chipset with an integrated 5G modem.

At the rear, the smartphone comes with a 64 MP f/1.8 camera, along with a 12 MP telephoto and an 8 MP ultrawide camera, accompanied by a 2 MP macro setup.

Fuelling the Realme X50 5G is a 4,200 mAh battery, which supports 30 W VOOC 4.0 wired charging. The smartphone runs Android 10-based OS, with the tweaked version of ColorOS 7 on top, which the company calls Realme UI.
Meghan Markle has 'no regrets' quitting the royal family and has been telling her pals she can have it all, a close friend exclusively told DailyMail.com.

'Meghan has no regrets and the sky's the limit. She said [she and Harry] feel like a huge weight has been lifted,' the insider explained.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex recently made a trip to Miami where Prince Harry spoke at a JP Morgan 'billionaire's summit', where the two could have earned up to $1 million for the gig - during which Harry spoke about his mental health and therapy.

Until the jaunt to Florida, the couple had been holed up with their nine-month-old son Archie at a $14 million waterfront Vancouver Island mansion after announcing their bombshell departure news in early January.

'They've been spending quality time together as a family. Meghan has been cooking and making homemade baby food for Archie,' the friend said.

Now with a routine in place, Meghan has been taking the steps to relaunch her career, with the insider adding: 'Meghan said her work with Disney is far from over. The voice over is just the beginning and that there's more collaborations to come.'

Meghan Markle has 'no regrets' quitting the royal family and has been telling her pals she can have it all, a close friend exclusively told DailyMail.com. 'Meghan has no regrets and the sky's the limit. She said [she and Harry] feel like a huge weight has been lifted,' the insider explained

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex recently made a trip to Miami where Prince Harry spoke at a JP Morgan 'billionaire's summit', where the two could have earned up to $1 million for the gig - during which Harry spoke about his mental health and therapy. Pictured: The 1 Hotel South Beach, where the exclusive summit took place on Thursday

It was previously revealed Meghan signed a voice over deal with Disney in return for a donation to the charity Elephants Without Borders.

The deal was made after Prince Harry was caught on film touting his wife's skills to Disney boss Bob Iger at the premiere of The Lion King in London in July 2019.

It seems the couple, who said they wanted to be financially independent when they stepped back from their royal duties, are eager to forge ahead with their new plan.

Their visit to Miami marks the first public appearance Meghan and Harry have made as a couple since their shock announcement.

One insider said the royals were 'smart' to take the gig, adding: '[It was] a very smart move to get in with some of the world's richest people.

'The conference is all about building wealth for future generations, and making the world better for future generations, a topic close to Harry's heart.'

Ronn Torossian, CEO of New York-based PR firm 5W Public Relations, told DailyMail.com he would expect the couple to have made between $500,000 and $1 million from the appearance.

Until the jaunt to Florida, the couple had been holed up with their nine-month-old son Archie at a $14 million waterfront Vancouver Island mansion. 'They've been spending quality time together as a family. Meghan has been cooking and making homemade baby food for Archie,' the friend said

'One would imagine they flew privately from Canada to Miami, had a hotel suite, and hair and makeup artist, which could cost $100,000 to $250,000 in expenses,' he added.

'Harry and Meghan will be the highest-paid speakers that exist on the corporate market.

'I would not be shocked if they earned in excess of $1 million. Over the year their earning power could be unlimited.'

PR executive Simon Huck - who is a friend of the Kardashian family - has already estimated that Meghan alone can make $100 million this year.

With more work on the horizon, Meghan is on the hunt for a manager or agent for future projects - two years after giving up her acting career to marry Harry.

The close friend said the couple can do 'pretty much do everything from their house', and have been 'taking meetings and building up their hand-picked team, which will include her mom as a special advisor.'

DailyMail.com previously revealed Doria Ragland, 63, fully backed her daughter's decision because she was 'really worried about Meghan... and is relieved that her daughter is putting her mental health and well being first.'

The friend added: 'Everything pretty much revolves around Archie right now and Meghan getting back into shape. They have a daily routine of doing yoga and taking long hikes'. Pictured: Meghan heading to yoga in Toronto in 2017

The insider added: 'They've been spending quality time together as a family. Meghan has been cooking and making homemade baby food for Archie'

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been holed up with their eight-month-old son at a $14 million waterfront Vancouver Island mansion (pictured) ever since announcing their bombshell departure news in early January

Now, Meghan feels she can breathe again, the friend explained, adding the royal 'told her inner circle of friends that her soul was being crushed and that the decision to leave was a matter of life or death - meaning the death of her spirit.'

They continued: 'She also felt like she couldn't be the best mother to Archie if she wasn't being her true, authentic self. Something she felt she couldn't be in the royal family confines.

'She said she didn't want Archie picking up on her stress and anxiety. She felt like it was a toxic environment for him because there was too much tension and pent-up frustrations.'

Now relaxing in Canada, Meghan has been cooking and making homemade baby food for Archie, the friend said.

They explained Meghan and Harry have been 'doing what regular families do' since quitting their royal duties.

They said: 'Everything pretty much revolves around Archie right now and Meghan getting back into shape.

'They have a daily routine of doing yoga and taking long hikes.'

The insider said: 'Meghan said her work with Disney is far from over. The voice over is just the beginning and that there's more collaborations to come.' It was previously reported Meghan signed a voice over deal with Disney in return for a donation to the elephant charity Elephants Without Borders. The deal was made months after Prince Harry was caught on film touting his wife's skills to Disney boss Bob Iger at the premiere of The Lion King in London in July 2019

And it doesn't seem that Harry and Meghan 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.

The source told DailyMail.com: 'Meghan has been telling her close friends that this is the best thing that could ever happen to Harry.

'That out of anyone he will flourish the most and that it was her love for him that made this possible.

'Meghan told her friends that there is no rush to move out of the place they've been staying. That they're welcome to live there as long as they like.

'Meghan calls it her happy place and says that in the last couple of months, she's felt more at home than she ever did in the UK.'

They added that Meghan 'felt like she couldn't be the best mother to Archie if she wasn't being her true, authentic self. Something she felt she couldn't be in the royal family confines.

'She said she didn't want Archie picking up on her stress and anxiety. She felt like it was a toxic environment for him because there was too much tension and pent-up frustrations.'
Leveraging CCO's interactive, full-motion DOOH screens, VISIT PHILADELPHIA revealed City of Sisterly Love , a new city moniker that kicks off a campaign to strategically target female travelers and invite them to travel, with the other women in their lives, to Greater Philadelphia. The campaign creative was seen by the world through the lens of Times Square and more than 800 hotel and travel luminaries at The Met Philadelphia simultaneously.

This new partnership and live activation on DOOH in Times Square, which was timed with National Plan For Vacation Day, underscores VISIT PHILADELPHIA's adoption of innovation and technology to help track the efficiency of its marketing. The organization's leadership teamspearheaded by Jeff Guaracino, president and CEO is leaning into technologies like DOOH and CCO RADAR, the company's industry-leading suite of data-driven solutions for effective planning, amplification and measurement.

"People are spending more time than ever away from their own homesyet, year after year, they're leaving hard-earned vacation time on the table," said Jeff Guaracino, president and CEO, VISIT PHILADELPHIA. "Our challenge is to adapt our marketing strategy in ways that bring our core audiences closer to Philadelphia in meaningful and measurable ways. This partnership with Clear Channel Outdoor allows us to be more visible with our marketing while adapting our messages in real-time based on what's happening in the world."

While the Times Square activation was just the kick-off for VISIT PHILADELPHIA's 2020 campaigns and the announcement of the city's new moniker, the organization will look to partner with CCO leveraging its national and international footprint to reach key audience segments.

On January 30, Philadelphia City Council issued a resolution that changed the city's moniker from "The City of Brotherly Love" to "The City of Sisterly Love" for 2020. The change was inspired by VISIT PHILADELPHIA's Sisterly Love campaign that debuted in Times Square last week. Additional marketing initiatives around the campaign will roll out later this year.

A year full of events and programming around art, food, fitness, wine, music and history, including many celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the passage of women's constitutional right to vote, invites all womensisters, cousins, girlfriends and any other group of womento choose Philadelphia as their getaway destination.

VISIT PHILADELPHIA is our name and our mission. As the region's official tourism marketing agency, we build Greater Philadelphia's image, drive visitation and boost the economy.

On Greater Philadelphia's official visitor website and blog, visitphilly.com and uwishunu.com, visitors can explore things to do, upcoming events, themed itineraries and hotel packages. Compelling photography and videos, interactive maps and detailed visitor information make the sites effective trip- planning tools. Along with Visit Philly social media channels, the online platforms communicate directly with consumers. Travelers can also call and stop into the Independence Visitor Center for additional information and tickets.

About Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc.

Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CCO) is one of the world's largest outdoor advertising companies with a diverse portfolio of approximately 450,000 print and digital displays in 31 countries across Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America, reaching millions of people monthly. A growing digital platform includes more than 15,000 digital displays in international markets and more than 1,600 digital displays, including more than 1,300 digital billboards, in the U.S. Learn more about Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. at www.clearchanneloutdoor.com

Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/CCOutdoor

Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/CCOutdoorNA

SOURCE Clear Channel Outdoor

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L eo Varadkar has ruled out forming a Government with Sinn Fein as the rival party looks set to secure historic gains in Saturdays general election.

The first results are coming in after counting began this morning, with early indications suggesting that the nationalist left-wing party could win the popular vote for the first time in a century.

Once a pariah for its links to the IRA, Sinn Fein won almost a quarter of first-preference votes, possibly overtaking the two centrist rivals, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, that have taken turns ruling Ireland for a century.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald celebrates with her supporters / Getty Images

The partys leader Mary Lou McDonald told supporters on Sunday that a revolution had occurred.

The Taoiseach responded to the results from early tallies by admitting Ireland now seems to have a three-party system. That is going to make forming a Government quite difficult, he said.

Meanwhile Fianna Fails leader Micheal Martin failed to rule out entering government with Sinn Fein.

Micheal Martin of Fianna Fail celebrates after his re-election / Getty Images

Mrs McDonald said she was willing to talk to all political leaders but expressed a desire to lead a coalition made up of left-leaning parties, without any input from Fianna Fail or Fine Gael, which are both centre-right in outlook.

While it remains unclear whether it will ultimately be part of any future coalition, Sinn Feins performance has undoubtedly sent shockwaves through Irelands political establishment.

The final declaration of seats remains a long way off, but the first wave of declarations suggest it is set to shatter Irelands long-established two-party system.

Despite topping the polls across the country when first preferences were added up, Sinn Fein is still unlikely to emerge with the most seats.

That is mainly because it ran significantly fewer candidates than its two main rivals, 42 compared to Fianna Fails 84 and Fine Gaels 82.

Voters went to the polls on Saturday / Getty Images

Fianna Fail looks in prime position to return as the largest party with Taoiseach Leo Varadkars Fine Gael braced for the loss of several seats.

Arriving at his count centre in Cork, Mr Martin would not rule out working with Sinn Fein or Fine Gael, having definitively refused to countenance either as coalition partners during the campaign.

The Fianna Fail leader, who said his party looked like being on course to win the most seats, was repeatedly pressed to restate his opposition to a potential Sinn Fein partnership.

While insisting there were significant incompatibility issues in terms of policy, he did not dismiss the suggestion outright.

Our policies, our positions and principles havent changed overnight or in 24 hours, he said.

In a result symbolic of the Sinn Fein surge, the first seat declared in the election was the partys Donnchadh O Laoghaire, who topped the poll in Cork South Central ahead of Mr Martin.

Leader of Ireland's Fianna Fail party Michael Martin and his wife Mary / AFP via Getty Images

Mr Varadkar was also outpolled by a Sinn Fein candidate in Dublin West but was elected after the fifth round of counting.

Mr Martin said: We will obviously listen. The people have spoken and there is no greater democrat than I, but that said we will not pre-empt the outcome itself because its very clear to us that the destination of the final seats in many constituencies cannot be called now.

Mr Varadkar, whose party is predicting a seat total in the mid to high 30s having entered the campaign with 47, struck a different tone as he waited to be elected in the count centre at Phibblestown Community Centre.

He said he would not be speaking to Mrs McDonald with a view to forming a coalition, insisting Fine Gael was not compatible with Sinn Fein.

We are willing to talk to other parties about how we could form a government and give this country a government that can spend the next five years dealing with the problems that we have had to tackle for the past few years, he said.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar celebrates after retaining his seat for Dublin West / PA

If parties do ultimately stick to their pre-election pledges then it would be extremely difficult for any of the three to lead a majority government.

Smaller parties such as the Greens, Labour, the Social Democrats and Solidarity/People Before Profit, and a sizeable number of independent TDs, may all be courted as the main parties seek junior coalition partners.

Arriving at the RDS count centre in Dublin, Mrs McDonald branded talk of excluding her party as undemocratic.

She said she had been in touch with the Greens, Social Democrats and People Before Profit to discuss the prospect of them joining her party in government.

Its been an election about change, she said.

The extraordinary thing is that it seems that the political establishment, and by that I mean Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, are in a state of denial.

They are still not listening to what the people have said.

I want us to have a government for the people. I want us to have ideally a government with no Fianna Fail or Fine Gael in it.

I have started the contact with other parties to explore over the next days whether that is a possibility.

I also have to say this, that in any event I do not accept the exclusion, or talk of excluding our party, a party that represents almost a quarter of the electorate.

I think that is fundamentally undemocratic.

Mary Lou McDonald: Irish General Election has delivered 'historic change'

Asked if the result marked a revolution in Irish politics, Mrs McDonald replied: Yes, you could call it that for sure.

The uncertainty created by the exit poll has even thrown up the possibility of another General Election being necessary.

There are 160 seats in the Dail parliament.

The speaker is automatically re-elected, leaving 159 seats up for grabs and 80 the magic number for a majority.

Vote transfers will be crucial in the proportional representation contest.
Addis Ababa, 10 February 2020 (SPS)  President of Algeria, Abdelmajid Tebboune, has urged the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres to "rapidly" appoint his Personal Envoy and to revive the settlement process in Western Sahara.



"It must be noted with regret that since the resignation of the UN Secretary-General's personal envoy, Horst Kohler, the UN peace process has been on a rocky road. Moreover, a few days ago, I sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General urging him to hasten the appointment of his Personal Envoy and to relaunch the Western Sahara settlement process," said President Tebboune in his address to the 33rd African Union (AU) Summit.



The question of Western Sahara has still not been resolved, despite the fact that "for many years, the United Nations and the Security Council, supported by our continental organization, have been working for the implementation of the settlement plan for the question of Western Sahara based on the inalienable right of the Saharawi people to self-determination," he said.



Moreover, The President of the Republic, emphasized the need for "a solution that guarantees the inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination, through the organization of a free and fair referendum in accordance with the AU and UN relevant resolutions."



In this respect, he reiterated Algeria's attachment to the "immutable nature of the African position in favour of the just Saharawi cause and the completion of the decolonization process in Africa, far from any prevarication manoeuvre and the status quo policy."



Meanwhile, President Tebboune "praised the major achievements and the efficient contribution of the African Union in building peace at the continental and regional levels, through the establishment of institutional frameworks of peace and security mechanisms." (SPS)



062/SPS/APS
ATLANTA (Feb. 10, 2020)  Aminata Toure, former prime minister of Senegal, and Jason J. Carter, chairperson of The Carter Center Board of Trustees, will co-lead the Carter Centers international election observation mission in Guyana.

The Carter Center and my grandfather, President Carter, care deeply about democratic governance in Guyana, Carter said. This election is an important opportunity for all Guyanese to rise above political divisions, respect democratic principles, and move together toward a brighter future. I look forward to returning to Guyana to observe this important election.

Toure said that she is honored to co-lead the mission: We hope the election will help move Guyana forward in the spirit of inclusive governance.

The Carter Center has had a core team and group of long-term observers in Guyana since early January. Carter and Toure will arrive in the days leading up to the election to meet with key stakeholders  including political party candidates, civil society organizations, government officials, and other international election observer missions, before observing polling, counting, and tabulation on March 2.

The Carter Center is observing Guyanas general election at the invitation of the government of Guyana.

Contact: In Atlanta, Soyia Ellison, soyia.ellison@cartercenter.org

In Georgetown, Carlos Valenzuela, Carlos.valenzuela@cartercenter.org

The Carter Center

Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope.

A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in over 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 18:53:04|Editor: mingmei

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Staff members work at a workshop of a semiconductor company in Shanghai, east China, Feb. 10, 2020. Chinese authorities are carefully balancing efforts to control the novel coronavirus epidemic and minimize its impact on the economy as millions of people head back to work Monday after an extended holiday. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)

BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities are carefully balancing efforts to control the novel coronavirus epidemic and minimize its impact on the economy as millions of people head back to work Monday after an extended holiday.

In a circular released over the weekend, the State Council, or China's cabinet, urged efforts to protect workers from getting infected and meanwhile resume production as soon as possible.

Companies providing epidemic control supplies and services such as medical material and daily necessities are among the first groups to resume work and have already begun racing back to full capacity to fight the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The virus was first detected in central China's city of Wuhan in December. Easy to transmit from person to person, it has kept people indoors and led to a sharp increase in demand for protective equipment like masks and goggles.

About 73 percent of the country's mask production capacity had been recovered by Friday, according to Chen Da, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner. For medical masks, the rate has gone up to 87 percent.

Courier companies are also resuming service Monday as they are essential to meet people's daily needs and guarantee the delivery of resources for epidemic control.

Logistics companies are expected to restore over 40 percent of their normal handling capacity by mid-February and continue to increase the capacity according to the development of the epidemic outbreak, according to the State Post Bureau.

For other sectors, production is recommencing in a steady but more gradual manner as both authorities and entrepreneurs are cautious over the novel coronavirus epidemic which has killed 908 and infected more than 40,000 on the Chinese mainland by Sunday.

In Shanghai, the latest official survey showed that more than 80 percent of the local manufacturing companies are willing to resume work, of which about 70 percent have already done so.

Meanwhile, 80 percent of Shanghai's software and information service enterprises have returned to work, and 70 percent of their employees have chosen to work from home using telecommuting and video teleconference services to avoid infection.

Wu Jinzhong, head of eyewear maker Roring Industries in China's southeastern Fujian Province, said only half of his 900 employees would resume work Monday.

"We advised workers outside the province not to rush back, while local employees need to be investigated whether they have traveled out of town in the past two weeks," he said.

Wu said he has also increased spending to prevent the disease, including providing larger workspaces and essential protection materials like face masks.

To support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in work resumption, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has pledged to help with the supply and transportation of raw materials as well as protective gear like masks and body temperature detectors.

Local governments are encouraged to reduce or waive taxes and administrative fees on certain SMEs, increase subsidies to corporate training programs and extend the payment deadline for their electricity and gas bills to back them in harsh times, said the MIIT.

Likewise, local governments are ordered to take measures to help foreign-funded companies resume production and operation in an orderly manner.

Particular support shall go to large foreign investment projects, according to the commerce ministry, which called for coordinated efforts to solve their difficulties and minimize the impacts of the epidemic.

Now with the country heading back to work, many are confident that the potential economic blow brought by the national production halt is expected to be only a short-term, one-off hit against China's solid economic foundation.

The epidemic might disturb economic activities in the first quarter of this year, but the economy is likely to steady shortly after the epidemic is contained, as the unleashing of pent-up demands will make up for previous weak economic performance, said Pan Gongsheng, vice governor of China's central bank.
London, Feb 10 : Worried over their plight in the UK after Brexit, a group of illegal immigrants decided to flee the country in what authorities described as a "very rare and unusual attempt".

French authorities were shocked to discover 33 runaways hiding in a lorry in Calais, France.

The group of 27 men and four women told immigration officials that they "feared how they would be treated after Brexit", the Metro newspaper quoted the Sunday People daily as saying in a report on Sunday.

"They were found in a lorry and told security that they were leaving because they feared how they would be treated post-Brexit," a source said.

"They said they were worried their rights would be curtailed when we are no longer in the EU. Then they were sent back by French authorities in three lots of 11, escorted by police, and taken to immigration centres." As of Sunday night, 31 members of the group were back in the UK and being held at immigration detention centres, the Metro newspaper said.

Under a reciprocal agreement, France is able to return migrants to the UK if they are facing criminal charges or have already applied for asylum here.

It is believed the group made the dangerous journey after sneaking on board a container truck which then boarded a Danish-owned DFDS ferry from Dover.

Immigration officials at Calais discovered them hiding in the container after stopping the lorry at a checkpoint.
WASHINGTON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - The United States has charged four Chinese military hackers in the 2017 breach of the Equifax credit reporting agency that affected nearly 150 million American citizens, Attorney General William Barr said Monday.

"This was one of the largest data breaches in history," Barr said of the theft, which came to light in the summer of 2017. The indictment charges four members of the Chinese Liberation Army, he said.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Lisa Lambert)




Haiti - News : Zapping...





Coronavirus Global Assessment February 10

As of Monday, February 10, 2020, the number of people infected worldwide (laboratory confirmed cases) rose to 40,573 people, an increase of 2,983 cases (300 cases more than the 2,645 cases registered the previous day); 910 dead deaths (+ 11.8%) or 96 more than the day before (814 dead) but less than the increase from the previous day (+12.3%) and 3,497 people recovered or 595 people (+20.5%) more compared to the day before (2,902) and 3.8 times more healing than death compared to 3.56 times the day before.



Collective rape, 4 arrests

On Saturday, 4 armed individuals, including a woman: Jean Baptiste Jean Marie (24), Mackenson Frezin (27), Jhony Concial alias "Kesner" (33) and Marie Lourdes Jean-Baptiste (35) were arrested. They are suspected of involvement in the gang rape of five women in Pignon (North) on February 1, https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29951-haiti-news-zapping.html



Sunrise Airways : Maiden flight Cap-Haitien / Santo-Domingo

This Monday Sunrise Airways inaugurated its new route, Cap-Haitien / Santo-Domingo https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29884-haiti-economy-sunrise-airways-announces-direct-flights-cap-haitien-santo-domingo.html . This flight will take place every Monday and Friday, Departure at 10.35 a.m. from La Isabela Airport (Santo Domingo), for a 50-minute flight with arrival in Cap Haitien and return the same day. Departure at 10:35 (Haitian time). Departure from Cap Haitien, arrival at La Isabella at 12:25 p.m. (Dominican time). From only 329 US dollars. To book : www.sunriseairways.net



FLASH : Project for artistic creation and artistic analysis

The Art Center is implementing a synergy project for artistic creation and artistic analysis in the Caribbean, thanks in particular to the International Fund for Cultural Diversity of UNESCO which aims to create a link between Haiti and places of Caribbean creation, promote the creation of artists from the Caribbean, especially women and strengthen the Haitian cultural sector. For more information on how to file and the conditions for participation, visit Tuesday February 11 at the Art Center at 2:00 p.m.



EDH deprived of subsidy...

Joseph Jouthe, the Minister of Economy and Finance, said this week that he has stopped subsidizing the State-owned company Electricity of Haiti for 3 months and has not paid any Gourde as such. He indicated that agreements could be made so that EDH could obtain loans from a banking institution, loans which will have to be repaid.



Tennis : Naomi Osaka 2nd defeat

Saturday on clay court in Cartagena (South-East of Spain) in the context of the qualifications for the Fed Cup of tennis, the Japanese Naomi Osaka of Haitian origin, after her surprise defeat Friday against the Spanish Sara Sorribes Tormo in 2 sets [6-0, 6-3] https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29977-haiti-news-zapping.html , faced the Spanish Suarez Navarro, suffering a second consecutive defeat in 2 sets [7, 6 -6-2].



HL/ HaitiLibre


















NEW YORK, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Crisis Text Line, a not-for-profit organization that provides free, 24/7 confidential crisis counseling via text, today released its first-ever national report identifying the underlying reasons people in the United States are in crisis. The report, "Everybody Hurts: The State of Mental Health in America," draws on data from more than 129 million messages across 50 states since Crisis Text Line's launch in 2013.

"There's a lot of pain in America, but there are more ways than ever to get support when you need it," said Nancy Lublin, co-founder and CEO of Crisis Text Line. "We released this report because knowing why people ask for help is critical to reaching them before they are in crisis."

Last month, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released 2018 mortality data which includes suicide and drug overdoses. The Everybody Hurts report complements those findings by identifying the key issues that prompt people to reach out for support, as well as the language they use.

"Since day one, Crisis Text Line has implemented data science to analyze the information exchanged in our messages to understand and ultimately prevent crises," said Bob Filbin, Crisis Text Line co-founder and chief data scientist. "This report offers new insights that we hope will help the broader community tackle crises among a population that is often younger, poorer, and more diverse than average."

The report dives into mental health trends both nationally and by state. Insights include:

There's a gap to fill. For 37% of texters, Crisis Text Line was the first time they'd ever reached out for support. And, 68% of texters say they have shared something with a crisis counselor that they have never shared with another human being. Crisis counseling via text is filling a gap in the mental health care system.

For 37% of texters, Crisis Text Line was the first time they'd ever reached out for support. And, 68% of texters say they have shared something with a crisis counselor that they have never shared with another human being. Crisis counseling via text is filling a gap in the mental health care system. Emojis mean danger. Crisis Text Line uses AI to triage texts so it can support people at risk for suicide within seconds. Through machine learning, Crisis Text Line found that when a texter uses the words "acetaminophen," "Ibuprofens" and "800mg," the conversation is more likely to end with our counselors dialing 911 to get emergency medical help to a texter. The data also show that the emoji pill is 4.4 times more likely and the crying face emoji is 1.4 times more likely to end in a life-threatening situation.

Crisis Text Line uses AI to triage texts so it can support people at risk for suicide within seconds. Through machine learning, Crisis Text Line found that when a texter uses the words "acetaminophen," "Ibuprofens" and "800mg," the conversation is more likely to end with our counselors dialing 911 to get emergency medical help to a texter. The data also show that the emoji pill is 4.4 times more likely and the crying face emoji is 1.4 times more likely to end in a life-threatening situation. Mental health trends are regional. People in the West ( Montana , Wyoming , Utah ) send more texts than average about suicide, while people in the South ( Louisiana , Alabama , Mississippi ) send more texts about depression. People on the coasts send more texts about anxiety.

People in the West ( , , ) send more texts than average about suicide, while people in the South ( , , ) send more texts about depression. People on the coasts send more texts about anxiety. The big issues are shared regardless of geography. The issues that most often lead people to reach out for crisis counseling are depression, relationships, anxiety and suicide.

The full report is available at www.crisistextline.org/states.

Text CRISIS to 741741 24 hours a day, seven days a week to be connected to a live, trained crisis counselor.

About Crisis Text Line: Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7, confidential support for people in crisis via text. www.crisistextline.org. Text CRISIS to 741741 to be connected to a live, trained Crisis Counselor. Crisis Counselors complete a 30-hour training and have 24/7 supervision by full-time Crisis Text Line mental health professionals.

Contact(s):

Elly Spinweber Burke

[email protected]

Ashley Womble

[email protected]

SOURCE Crisis Text Line

Related Links

http://www.crisistextline.org


* China raises death toll to 811; 89 new deaths set daily record

* Millions return to work in China on Monday after extended break

* Many businesses to stay shut as economy limps back

* White collar workers to work from home

* For more coverage of the outbreak: https://www.reuters.com/live-events/coronavirus-6-id2921484

By Winni Zhou and Dominique Patton

SHANGHAI/BEIJING, Feb 9 (Reuters) - China raised the death toll from the coronavirus epidemic to 811 on Sunday, passing the number killed globally by the SARS epidemic in 2002/2003 and raising anxiety among people preparing to return to work after an extended Lunar New Year break.

Struggling to contain the spread of the disease, authorities had told businesses to tack up to 10 extra days onto holidays that had been due to finish at the end of January as the rising numbers of dead and infected cast a pall over the country.

Many of China's usually teeming cities have almost become ghost towns during the past two weeks, as the Communist Party rulers ordered virtual lockdowns, cancelled flights, closed factories and kept schools shut.

The sight of an economy regarded as a workshop to the world laid so low has also taken a toll on international financial markets, as shares slumped and investors switched into safe-havens like gold, bonds and the Japanese yen.

Even on Monday, a large number of workplaces will remain closed and many white-collar workers will continue to work from home.

The new deaths on Saturday reached another daily record at 89, data from the National Health Commission showed, pushing the total well over the 774 who died from SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

An American hospitalised in the central city of Wuhan, where the outbreak began, became the first confirmed non-Chinese victim of the disease. A Japanese man who also died there was another suspected victim.

As millions of Chinese prepared to go back to work, the public dismay and mistrust of official numbers was evident on Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter.

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"What's even more frustrating is that these are only the 'official' data," said one user.

"Don't say anything else. We all know we can't purchase masks anywhere, why are we still going back to work?" said a second.

"More than 20,000 doctors and nurses around the country have been sent to Hubei, but why are the numbers still rising?" asked a third.

Of the coronavirus deaths, 81 were in China's central Hubei province, where the virus has infected most people by far. New deaths in Hubei's capital Wuhan saw a rare decline.

New infection cases on Saturday recorded the first drop since Feb. 1, falling back below 3,000 to 2,656 cases. Of those, 2,147 cases were in Hubei province.

The total of confirmed coronavirus cases in China stood at 37,198 cases, the commission data showed.

Joseph Eisenberg, professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan, said it was too early to say whether the epidemic was peaking.

"Even if reported cases might be peaking, we don't know what is happening with unreported cases," he said. "This is especially an issue in some of the more rural areas."

The virus has spread to 27 countries and regions, according to a Reuters count based on official reports, infecting more than 330 people. Two deaths have been reported outside mainland China - in Hong Kong and the Philippines. Both victims were Chinese nationals.

Chinese-ruled Hong Kong introduced a two-week quarantine on Saturday for all people arriving from the mainland, or who have been there during the previous 14 days.

ALARM IN EUROPE, UNITED STATE AND ASIA

The latest patients outside China include five British nationals staying in the same chalet at a ski village in Haute-Savoie in the Alps, French health officials said, raising fears of further infections at a busy period in the ski season.

The five, including a child, had been lodged in the same chalet with a British man believed to have contracted the virus in Singapore. They were not in a serious condition, the officials said.

France issued a new travel advisory for its citizens, saying it did not recommend travelling to China unless there was an "imperative" reason. Italy asked children travelling from China to stay away from school for two weeks voluntarily.

There have been 64 confirmed cased from a cruise ship held in quarantine off Japan.

The small island-state of Singapore has reported 40 cases of coronavirus, putting it among the hardest hit countries, along with Japan, outside of China.

On Friday, the Singapore government raised its response level on the virus to "orange," a level also adopted during SARS and the 2009 outbreak of H1N1 influenza. Singaporeans reacted by clearing out supermarket shelves of rice, noodles and toilet paper. On Sunday, the central bank in the Asian financial hub advised financial institutions to step up precautions for staff.

The government also said it had organised a second evacuation flight for 174 Singaporeans and their family members in Wuhan.

Organisers of the Singapore Airshow 2020 expect this week's event to draw less than half the crowd seen on public days at the last show in 2018. The Pentagon has shrunk the size of its delegation and U.S. defence firms Lockheed Martin Corp and Raytheon Co said they would not attend.

"It's getting worse & more scarier. I fear for my family ,every Singaporean & ppl all over the world.. Cant our government take up more safety precautions," Ramesha Beham asked in a Facebook post. (Reporting by Winni Zhou, Ryan Woo and Dominique Patton in Beijing, Aradhana Aravindan and Jamie Freed in Singapore, and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by Simon Cameron-Moore: Editing by Neil Fullick)
Kellan Lutz's wife Brittany has shared a heartbreaking Instagram post after suffering a stillbirth at six months pregnant, admitting it 'hurts like hell'  especially after her milk came in with no baby to feed.

The wife of the 34-year-old Twilight star revealed last week that they'd tragically lost their unborn baby well into the second trimester, and now they're dealing with the prolonged pain and the aftermath of a stillbirth.

'This has, without a doubt, been the hardest season of my life,' Brittany wrote on Sunday, adding that she misses her daughter and is also 'sore from fighting to survive.'

Awful: Kellan Lutz's wife Brittany has shared a tragic Instagram post about loss after suffering a stillbirth at six months pregnant, admitting it 'hurts like hell'

'This has, without a doubt, been the hardest season of my life,': said the wife of the 34-year-old Twilight star, who revealed only last week that they'd tragically lost their unborn baby

She started off by thanking others for their 'love, support, encouragement, kindness,' saying it's 'been overwhelming in the best way'.

'It also shocking how many of you have been through the same thing. You are all superwomen. To those who have been vulnerable and shared your own experiences with us, we appreciate you letting us into painful chapters of your lives for the sake of showing us we arent alone,' she said.

But, she added, this has been the 'hardest season' of her life.

'My emotions and feelings are slightly all over the place, which is to be expected,' she said. 'Some moments I feel so full of peace and hope and expectancy. And other moments, simply put, it all just hurts like hell.

Touching: Her husband also bought her a bouquet of her favorite flowers, including a single white rose for their daughter  and image of which Brittany shared with the post

'Some moments I feel so full of peace and hope and expectancy. And other moments, simply put, it all just hurts like hell,' she said

'My milk came in last night. My boobs are rocks, leaking, and hurt like heck. It feels like a cruel reminder that I have no baby to feed,' she said.

'I think it is important to try to always operate from a place of positivity, but that doesnt mean you dont acknowledge the other side too.

'We are human after all. We all hurt, bleed, cry. Feeling the negative emotions doesnt make you negative.'

Acknowledging 'the pain,' she said: 'I miss her. A lot.'

She also revealed that her body is producing milk, which is driving home the pain.

'My milk came in last night. My boobs are rocks, leaking, and hurt like heck. It feels like a cruel reminder that I have no baby to feed,' she said.

Plus, she added:`However, she also acknowledged the positives, writing that she's 'still here' and feels 'humbled.'

Of her daughter, Brittany wrote simply: 'I miss her. A lot.'

'I have the greatest husband and family and friends (and all of you who Ive never even met!) who have poured so much back to me that I feel full,' she went on.

Her husband also bought her a bouquet of her favorite flowers, including a single white rose for their daughter  and image of which Brittany shared with the post.

'Even though this is so heavy, I have an unexplainable hope and excitement for the future,' she said.

'Im not ready for another pregnancy right now, (not sure when I will be honestly), but Im excited to heal and move forward and explore this new version of myself.

'This situation didnt make me the person I thought I would become (specifically a mother to a real life baby girl), but it did birth a new version of me. Truthfully Im scared and nervous but at the same time really eager to get to know her.'

Breaking: The couple shared their sad news on Instagram last week

The couple first revealed via Instagram on Thursday that Brittany had suffered a stillbirth.

The actor described the loss as 'taking heartbrokenness to a whole new level' as they each shared a black and white photo of Brittany cradling her baby bump.

A stillbirth occurs when a baby is born dead after 24 weeks of pregnancy. If a baby dies before 24 weeks of pregnancy, it is known as a miscarriage.

Kellan called his wife 'My Wonder Woman' and said it had been 'a crazy rollercoaster of a week with a lot of emotions'.

'Taking heartbrokenness to a whole new level but Grateful for these past 6 months and the journey itself...' he wrote.

'In life we might not get the answers to all of our questions but we will always remain faithful! God will restore. Can't wait to see our baby girl in heaven when God calls us home.'

The couple married in 2017 and had confirmed last November that they were expecting their first child together. They're pictured in Los Angeles in January 2019

In a separate Instagram post from his wife's, Lutz, 34, spoke of his faith and added poignantly: 'Can't wait to see our baby girl in Heaven when God calls us home'

The couple revealed their baby news at Thanksgiving, sharing their excitement with this cute photo on social media

In her own Instagram post, Brittany shared her feelings about losing her baby girl.

She wrote: 'It was my absolute honor and pleasure to be your mom these last 6 months. I did my best and it was an absolute joy seeing your little face all those times on that screen and feeling your tiny kicks.

'I don't know why it happened the way it did, but part of me finds so much peace knowing you never experienced pain or heartache and never will...

'You're in the arms of Jesus now and one day we will get to meet you for real. Until I see you in heaven... your mommy loves you so much.'

Brittany also gave some insight into the traumatic event in which, she suggests, she came close to death herself.

'My incredible doctor and the amazing team at UCLA Medical Center who kept me alive are the real MVPs. And to all of you who donate blood  I have never been more grateful for you. Without you people like me wouldn't be here,' she wrote.

The actor, from North Dakota, found fame as Emmett Cullen in The Twilight Saga films released between 2008 and 2012 (pictured in Breaking Dawn - Part 2 with Nikki Reed)

Reed was quick to send her love and support to her former co-star and his wife

Another Twilight co-star Ashley Greene also posted in the comments section of Lutz's Instagram post to send prayers

She also thanked her 'amazing husband' for being by her side through it all. The couple married in 2017 and revealed in November last year that they were expecting their first child.

Lutz, who's originally from North Dakota, found fame as Emmett Cullen in The Twilight Saga films released between 2008 and 2012.

His franchise co-stars Nikki Reed and Ashley Greene were quick to send their love and support to the actor.

'I'm so so sorry Kel. Our love and hugs are wrapped around both of you during this unimaginable time... we love you,' Reed wrote in the comments section of his Instagram post.

Greene wrote: 'I am so sorry to hear this Kel. I'm inspired by your and Brittany's strength. My heart and prayers are with you guys.'
Somewhere in the darkness, where private thoughts can be snuffed out before spoken out loud, there is a Democrat who understands that President Trump is now legend. After the State of the Union, one woman in Carthage, North Carolina said it clearly: "We need to put a cape on his back, an 'S' on his chest, and call him Superman. No mortal man could take what he has took in the last three years and do what he has done." The entire diner where she was being interviewed exploded in enthusiastic cheers. She seemed to have expressed a feeling that others were feeling, too. Can you hear that John Williams score in your mind? Is it getting louder and louder? I can assure you that the Democrats are beginning to hear its beats. They've dedicated their lives to destroying President Trump one way or another, but in their all-consuming hatred and rage, they misapprehended what they were doing: through their villainy, they created a hero.

You can't have a hero without hardship. If descending a golden escalator conferred greatness, if no adversity were required to prove a man's worth, then "hero" would lose all meaning. It is the struggle of the journey that separates the successful from the heroic. In rejecting the 2016 election results, sabotaging the transition of power, and threatening the president's life and freedom daily, the Democrats have made President Trump Heracles by their own hands. He is the warrior slaying the nine-headed Hydra of the federal government, the swamp-drainer clearing the mass of dung piled high within the bureaucrats' Augean stables, and the defiant spirit who rages against the Democrats, NeverTrump Rump, and Deep State trying to bury him by bringing their three-headed Cerberus back from the gates of hell and mocking the beast in celebration before the assorted media in mourning. Donald Trump won the presidency all by himself, but the Democrats made him legendary, and every labor they throw his way simply adds to his growing mythology. They want him gone; they've made him immortal.

Here is where President Trump's journey differs from Heracles or Achilles or Odysseus, though. Almost all of his State of the Union address immortalized not himself, but the American heroes all around us. He redirected the spotlight away from himself to the wife and son who will always bear the pain of an American soldier's sacrifice for our freedom; to the parents of a devout Christian whose life was stolen, even as she saved the lives of so many others around her; to a man who refuses to let his brother's murder go in vain just because California cares so little for the lives of its own citizens. Like a great storyteller passing our history from one generation to the next, President Trump brought back to life the Tuskegee Airmen from our past and connected them to the Space Force of our future. He honored our military and our law enforcement officers and the men and women who protect our borders, but he also honored the sacrifice of the military family missing a loved one and the struggles of a twenty-one-week-old baby who fought for life, of a drug-addicted American who fought to reclaim life, and of a fourth-grade girl who fights for the right to seek an even better life. He reminded us that friends of freedom are forever rare and that the space between Venezuela's gulags and American liberty is fought by those who exercise their free speech, even while facing a lifetime of threats from those who want to control what can be said and heard.

Throughout his presidency, President Trump has asked his fellow citizens to do two things: (1) remember America's greatness and (2) believe in America's destiny. In the not so distant past, these would have seemed like unremarkable requests. Today, they are shots of adrenaline bolting us awake from a nightmare we never chose. America's enemies have spent so many decades distorting our history and shaming our heroes that we have become a nation of walking wounded, uncertain about who we are as a people or where we want to go. But ours is a magnificent story. A story of sacrifice and hardship and struggle and great perseverance. A story of the underdog who never submits, the bloodied hero who always returns to his feet. A story of dreamers and builders and fighters and winners. A story of freedom. We are being asked to remember all we have accomplished as a people, and once you begin remembering, it becomes easy to see. Our problem has never been too few heroes; our problem has been a culture that blinds us from seeing them standing right beside us. President Trump used his State of the Union address to shine a bright light on who we are. He is indeed a hero, but he is a hero leading a nation of heroes, too. More and more Americans are remembering this truth and beginning to whisper it among themselves. But the thing with whispers is that if you put enough of them together, you get a roar. That may be President Trump's most Herculean feat yet.

The sage lady from Carthage is right to see shades of Superman in the president, but I am reminded of another John Williams score growing in symphonic strength in the background of his journey: Star Wars. When he decided to sacrifice comfort for his countrymen, he became for many "A New Hope." For four long years, we've endured while "The Empire Strikes Back." But if the State of the Union and the president's post-acquittal press conference told us anything, it's that "The Return of the Jedi" has just begun. He said it clearly last week while Speaker Pelosi protested: "The best is yet to come." Best to believe a man who gave America her very own Space Force.

Image: Ninian Reid via Flickr.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/Getty

The starting point for understanding President Donald Trumps doctrine is his long-standing hostility toward foreign commitments. Unlike George W. Bush and Barack Obama, he is not an internationalist who believes that America has a special role in protecting the international order or maintaining international institutions. In Trumps view, there are fewif anyadvantages that America has gained from doing so.

As early as 1987, when he brieflyand for the first timeconsidered running for president, he took out full-page advertisements in which he complained about foreign countries making huge profits while America was protecting their access to international trade routes. He demanded: Make Japan, Saudi-Arabia and other pay Tax these wealthy nations, not America. Nearly thirty years later, he applied the same principle to countering terrorism. In early 2016, he told foreign policy experts that America should always help countries that are threatened by the rise of radical Islam, but added, This has to be a two-way street. They must also be good to us.

Donald Trumps Wildcat Foreign Policy Is Killing the State Department

Not surprisingly, Trump has been skeptical of ideas like nation-building or democracy promotion through which other presidents have sought to remake the world in Americas image. But it would be wrong to conclude that this made him a dove. His strategic thinkingif it can be described as suchis strongly rooted in the notion of an eye for an eye. Trump believes that enemies need to be crushed, and that military power is the rawest, most immediate expression of American strength. With few exceptions, he has supported American wars and interventions, as long as their purpose was clear and they involved no major military, political, or financial commitments.

This has also guided his thinking about terrorism. Other than his views on Islam and immigration, he has never articulated a theory on how people become radicalized or shown any interest in the conflicts or underlying issues that have empowered jihadist groups. His ideas on fighting terrorism are almost entirely coercive, and typically revolve around killing terrorists and showing strength, which he believes is the only way of gaining an opponents respect. The academic Stephen Walt has described this aspect of Trumps doctrine as Cheneyisma reference to the often crude and bellicose views of Bushs vice president, Dick Cheney.

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One of the core elements of Trumps doctrine has been military aggression. In the years following the September 11 attacks, he routinely called on Bush to be tougher and more decisive: Whatever happened to [General] Douglas McArthur, he asked in 2003, He would go and attack. He wouldnt talk. Twelve years later, he applied the same criticism to Obama. According to Trump, the conflict with Islamic State required a quick military solution, which the president was failing to deliver. In November 2015, he claimed that we are not bombing, despite American forces having bombed the groups territory for over a year.

Throughout the election campaign, he rarely mentioned the need for a political settlement in Syria and Iraq, and never expressed any concern about collateral damage. Instead, he constantly demanded that the military be deployed more forcefully. In Trumps mind, bombing the shit out of them was not the first stage of a more sophisticated planit was the plan: You should be killing people, he reportedly told his generals in a meeting about Afghanistan, You dont need a strategy to kill people.

While Trumps foreign policy may have sounded tough, it has made conflicts more likely and efforts to counter terrorism less effective. The hollowing out of the State Department, combined with Trumps idiosyncrasies and the empowerment of know-nothings, such as Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner, has left America incapable of pulling off foreign deals, allowed partners like Saudi Arabia to take advantage, and undermined Americas exceptionalism. Far from being respected, there is little in Trumps foreign policy that has lived up to the promise of making America great again. If anything, it has systematically eroded the structures and foundations on which American power, global leadership, and security had been built.

In the Middle East, the greatest risk is for America to be drawn into a direct military confrontation with Iran. With Israel, Saudi Arabia and other (Sunni) Gulf states urging Trump to take a more confrontational stance, and Iran hawks like Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, Gen. H.R. McMasters successor as National Security Adviser, advocating what, in practice, amounted to a policy of regime change, it has become harder for an inexperienced and administratively weak administration such as Trumps to withstand the resulting pressuresor even anticipate the consequences of its own actions. In the words of Marc Lynch, a Middle East scholar at George Washington University:

[Can people like Trump and Kushner] control all of this and keep it contained? Have they thought through the potential Iranian counter-measures? Have they thought through whether their international allies, the Europeans, will be on board? What will the Russians do? I dont get any real sense that they have done any of these things I have zero confidence in the ability of the administration to maintain a coherent plan. Or to manage the fallout of all of this. They are in way over their heads.

While Trump may be sincere in wanting to reduce Americas military commitments, one of the (unintended) consequences of his approach is to make a larger, region-wide conflict, with heightened sectarian tensions and the mobilization of jihadist proxies on all sides, more likely.

From Bluster: Donald Trumps War on Terror by Peter R. Neumann. Copyright  2020 by Peter R. Neumann and published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

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New Delhi: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani took part in a rally to support the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and termed it a befitting reply to those opposing the new law. "Our rally is a befitting reply to those who are against the Citizenship law and also to the members of the tukde-tukde gang," said Vijay Rupani in Surat on Sunday (February 9).

Talking to media persons, Gujarat Chief Minister said, "We extend our support for the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). This rally is a patriotic rally by the people of the entire state."

The newly enacted law is facing stiff opposition in several parts of the country with some states including Kerala, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Punjab refusing to implement it, while in BJP ruled states, score of people have come in support of the new law.

In Maharashtra, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Sunday questioned anti-CAA protests by Muslims, stating that it is difficult to understand their agitation as the new law not meant for them.

Praising the central government for CAA, Raj Thackeray said: "I do not understand why Muslims are protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act. CAA is not for the Muslims who were born here."

Addressing a mega rally in Mumbai, demanding the ouster of Pakistani-Bangladeshi infiltrators living in the country, the MNS chief asked: "To whom are you showing your strength?"

He said the CAA law made in 1949 during the partition was different from the amended law, adding "I praised the government when they do good things like scrapping of Article 370, construction of Ram Mandir, implementation of CAA among others."

Notably, the CAA grants citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist and Christian refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.

Meanwhile in Kolkata, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's book against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act was sold out six days after it was launched in the International Kolkata Book Fair, according to her publisher.

Titles favouring and opposing the CAA and the proposed nationwide NRC authored by others were also on high demand in the 12-day book fair which concluded on Sunday.

"All the 1,000 copies of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's new title 'Nagarikatta Aatanko' (Fear of Citizenship) were sold out this afternoon. It was launched on February 4 in the book fair," Apu Dey said on behalf of the publishers, Dey's Publishing.

In her book, the TMC supremo talks about the "barbaric uncertainty which has gripped India in the sphere of politics-economy-society everywhere...." The book was sold from the stall of Trinamool Congress mouthpiece 'Jago Bangla', apart from the pavilion of the Dey's Publishing.

(With Agency Inputs)
The banks will need to follow regulatory formalities to protect the interest of minority shareholders. Each bank is required to follow the regulatory norms to protect the interests of minority stakeholders.

The government is expected to notify the merger of 10 public sector banks that it had announced last year to create four big banks this week and the merger process may be completed by April, said a news report.

After the notification process is over, the boards of the banks will give their customary final approval and fix the all-important swap ratio for the mergers, said a report in The Economic Times.

The banks will need to follow regulatory formalities to protect the interest of minority shareholders. Each bank is required to follow the regulatory norms to protect the interests of minority stakeholders, the report said.

All 10 public sector banks (PSBs) will complete the merger process by April.

In December last year, RBI had opined that the country could create some global banking majors if the ongoing mergers of state-owned banks achieve desired impacts of creating stronger and well-capitalised lenders of global scale, reported PTI.

Currently, there is not a single domestic lender in the global top 50 list, which since the 2008 global financial meltdown has been dominated disproportionately by Chinese lenders.

"The merger of PSBs is likely to transform the face of our banking sector with the emergence of stronger, well-capitalised banks aided by cutting-edge technology and state-of-the-art payment systems. Our banks have the potential to become global baking leaders," the Reserve Bank of India said in its annual report on 'trends & progress of banking 2018-19.'

Soon after the merger of its five associates, the SBI had a short stint in the global 50 list with a balance-sheet of around $450 billion, but soon slipped following the massive pile of bad loans in the system, which shrank its balance-sheet.

Govt announces merger of 10 PSBs

In August last year, the government had announced the merger of 10 PSBs into four entities, bringing down their total number to 12 from 27 in 2017, a move aimed at making state-owned lenders to global-sized banks.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that the banks would be provided adequate capital.

Accordingly, Canara Bank will be merged with Syndicate Bank to create the fourth largest PSB with Rs 15.20 lakh crore business.

Union Bank, Andhra Bank, Corporation Bank will be merged to become India's fifth largest public sector bank with Rs 14.59 lakh cr business.

Indian Bank and Allahabad Bank will merge to create 7th largest public sector bank with Rs 8.08 lakh cr business.

Orient Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India will be merged with Punjab National Bank. Bank of India, Central

The Indian Bank will be merged with Allahabad Bank.

Oriental Bank and United Bank will be merged with Punjab National Bank thus becoming the second-largest bank after the merger.

Capital infusion into PSU banks

Sitharaman had also announced tentative amounts of capital infusion in 10 public sector banks.

PNB will get approximately Rs 16,000 crore. Union Bank of India will get Rs 11,700 crore, followed by Bank of Baroda Rs 7,000 cr; Canara Bank Rs 6,500 crore, Indian Bank Rs 2,500 crore.

While Indian Overseas Bank will get Rs 3,800 crore, Central Bank of India will get Rs 3,300 crore and UCO Bank Rs 2,100 crore.

United Bank of India will get approximately Rs 1,600 crore and Punjab and Sind Bank Rs 750 crore. Together these banks will get approximately Rs 55,250 crore.

 With PTI inputs
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 10 : A day after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that his government was willing to take over aided private schools in Kerala, the managements of these institutions on Monday said they too were willing to opt for the arrangement provided they get reasonable rent.

Vijayan had said on Sunday that since the state government was paying salaries to the staff in such schools, it could take over their management and pay rent in lieu to those running these schools.

"There are just 3,047 teachers in the teachers pool (teachers who presently get paid but have little work due to the fall in the number of students in certain private schools), and not 13,255 as mentioned by Finance Minister Thomas Issac in his Budget speech on Friday. If any management is not functioning as per the rules, please take action. We wish the Chief Minister calls us for a meeting to discuss various issues," a statement from the aided school managements read.

In Kerala, educational institutions are either fully managed by the state, or are run by private managements (religious institutions, socio-cultural organisations) though their staff salaries are paid by the state, or are totally managed by private bodies without any government financial support.

Appointments in aided institutions are done by the managements directly, with little control of the state government.

The managements of the aided institutions will meet here on Tuesday to discuss Vijayan's stand.

Meanwhile, Education Minister C. Raveendranath told the media on Monday that what the Chief Minister said was the official position on the matter and he had nothing more to add.
We started recognizing public educators in 1993 to express our appreciation and gratitude for the significant impact they have on our children and in our neighborhoods. Hopefully, these awards can affirm to those who really make a difference in the lives of others that they are valued and needed.

Karen Huntsman and the Huntsman family have announced that nominations for the 2020 Huntsman Education Awards are now open. Every year, the Huntsman Awards Committee encourages students, classroom parents, colleagues and supervisors to nominate the states most talented public teachers, administrators, volunteers or special education teachers. All public schools and districts throughout the state of Utah are invited to participate. Nominations are due Friday, March 20, 2020.

Six teachers (two each from elementary, middle and high schools), three administrators (one each from elementary, middle and high schools), one special education teacher and one volunteer are selected to receive $10,000 each in honor of their direct positive impact on the lives and education of Utah's public school children.

"We started recognizing public educators in 1993 simply to express our appreciation and gratitude for the significant impact they have on our children and in our neighborhoods, says Karen Huntsman. Hopefully, these awards can affirm to those who really make a difference in the lives of others that they are valued and needed. Our public teachers, administrators, and volunteers are true pillars in our communities  and we are honored to celebrate their influence."

To learn more and to submit a nomination, visit https://www.huntsmaneducationawards.com/ and follow them on Facebook.

ABOUT THE HUNTSMAN EDUCATION AWARDS:

Since 1993, the Huntsman Education Awards, previously known as the Huntsman Awards for Excellence in Education, have rewarded bright and capable individuals working in Utahs public schools. By celebrating these individuals, the awards seek to inspire current educators and to rekindle interest in the teaching profession among young people. Every year, eleven winners are selected in recognition of their outstanding contributions to Utahs public school system and each receives a crystal obelisk and $10,000, donated by the Huntsman family.
The critically endangered Great Indian Bustard (GIB) is likely to be included in the global list of top 10 migratory species facing extinction under the UNEP's Convention for Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) of Wild Animals, the ministry announced on Monday.

The step would be taken at the 13th conference of parties (COP 13) to be hosted by India from February 15-22, which will enable range countries to protect and conserve the Great Indian Bustard.

The birds are dying at the rate of 15 per cent annually due to collision with high-voltage power lines. Their present population is nearly 150, reduced by 75 per cent in the last 30 years.

"In this COP, India is proposing three species for inclusion in the CMS Appendix and for concerted action. The three species are Asiatic Elephant, Great Indian Bustard and Bengal Florican. In addition to these, India is also proposing Gangetic Dolphin and Irrawaddy Dolphins for concerted action," a ministry official said.

The theme of COP13 is 'Migratory species connect the planet and we welcome them home' and its mascot is the Great Indian Bustard.

The ministry said, CMS Parties strive towards strictly protecting these species, conserving or restoring the places where they live, mitigating obstacles to migration and controlling other factors that might endanger them.

"The Government of India has been taking necessary actions to protect and conserve migratory marine species. Species that include Dugong, Whale Shark, Marine Turtle (two species), have been identified for preparation of Conservation and Recovery Action Plan," the ministry said.

India is home to several migratory species of wildlife including snow leopard, Amur falcons, bar headed Geese, black necked cranes, marine turtles, dugongs, humpbacked whales among others.

"India has signed non-legally binding MoU with CMS on conservation and management of Siberian Cranes (1998), Marine Turtles (2007), Dugongs (2008) and Raptors (2016)," the official said.

CMS COP 13 will be held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat which will see participation of over 130 countries and 1,800 individuals.

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

The programme of events marking The Queen's 70th year on the throne has been revealed by Buckingham Palace. Instead, it is believed that other members of the Royal Family will take on much of the duties in her place, including Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess Of Cornwall. "But yet, because she has reigned for so long, there is a chance for the nation to celebrate her and she has through her household, and many other people who are taking part, put forward for this weekend events that people can involve themselves in, or ignore, in the true British style, just as they please."
Director Bong Joon-ho may have called the Academy Awards a very local film festival, but on Sunday, he was part of their becoming ever so slightly more international. The Parasite director took to the stage to accept the Best Original Screenplay award with co-writer Han Jin-won, the first Oscar ever for a South Korean film.

Sharon Choi interpreted for the pair. Thank you. Great honor, yeah, said Bong, in English, before switching over to Korean to say that writing a screenplay was a lonely project, not one undertaken on behalf of ones country. At the same time, he noted that his win marked the very first Oscar [given] to South Korea, acknowledging the momentousness of the occasion for South Korean films. He then thanked his wife and the cast of Parasite for bringing his words to life on the screen.

Han also thanked the South Korean film industry, synecdochically referred to as Chungmuro, the name of a neighborhood in Seoul. He said he wanted to share his honor with the storytellers and filmmakers of his native film industry. 2020 was the first year any Korean film was even nominated for an Oscar, with multiple nominations for Parasite and one for the documentary short In the Absence, which lost to Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if Youre a Girl).

Read more in Slate about the Oscars.
Carlos Asencio, the man accused of stabbing his former girlfriend to death last summer at OConnors Restaurant in Worcester, will remain held at Bridgewater State Hospital as his case continues through the court system.

Amanda Dabrowski was meeting members of her book club at the restaurant on July 3 when she excused herself to use the restroom. Authorities say thats when Asencio, who was at the restaurant looking for Dabrowski, attacked her.

After initial appearances in district court, Asencio, of Derry, New Hampshire, was found not competent to stand trial and was sent to Bridgewater State Hospital for further evaluation.

In December, a grand jury indicted Asencio on charges of murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, moving his case to superior court.

Asencio pleaded not guilty to both charges. Judge James G. Reardon ordered Asencio held without bail. Asencio will return to Bridgewater State Hospital. His case is scheduled to return to court on April 6.

Details of the case were not discussed during the arraignment.

Dabrowskis family held hands inside Worcester Superior Court on Monday as Asencio appeared for arraignment.

On the day of the alleged attack, restaurant patrons tried to help Dabrowski, who was stabbed 15 to 20 times, officials said. Four patrons, including Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tim Murray, sprang into action, subduing Asencio until police arrived.

Before the killing, Asencio was staying in an abandoned trailer in Worcester with a couple. Asencio and Lydia Elaine Willey had met at a bus stop and exchanged phone numbers. When Asencio reached out later looking for help, the couple invited him to the trailer.

Asencio kept two bags with him at the trailer, which apparently contained homemade explosives.

About two days after joining the couple at the trailer, Asencio left to go to OConnors, Willey told MassLive last summer.

Dabrowski previously told authorities she believed Asencio attacked her.

Court records and a restraining order filed by Dabrowski in Ayer District Court said she told police that a man wearing a mask used a stun gun on her and began to choke her. She was able to fight him off and shoved him out of an open window before running for help.

She told police, records said, the masked man reminded her of Asencio.

After that incident, authorities filed charges and began searching for Asencio, who apparently had driven to Canada. He took a flight to Cancun, Mexico, hours after the alleged April attack.

Records said Asencio was detained briefly at the Canadian border but had a valid U.S. passport and told authorities he was meeting friends in Cancun.

According to the report Dabrowski filed following the April attack, Dabrowski and Asencio had dated for three months. The two both worked at Bristol-Myers Squibb in Danvers and had degrees in the field of microbiology. Dabrowski told police Asencio had not taken the breakup well.

Related Content:
The Academy Awards brought new recognition - and a cherished honor - to one of Hampshire Colleges successful alums.

Greg Butler claimed an Oscar Sunday for his work in Visual Effects for the film 1917, which he shared with co-winners Guillaume Rocheron and Dominic Tuohy.

The 92nd Oscars were held on Sunday, February 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre at in Hollywood. It was the second Academy Award for Rocheron, who had previously won for Life of Pi, and the first for both Butler and Tuohy.

Butler studied at Hampshire from 1989 to 1993. This is his second Oscar nomination.

The Suffield High School graduate and Connecticut native was nominated for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, a 2011 fantasy film.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the delicate way in which 'invisible visual effects were used to make Sam Mendes World War I drama appear as if it were one uninterrupted take earned the team of 1917 the Oscar.

The visual effects competition was top-shelf with a field of nominees that included Avengers: Endgame, The Lion King and The Irishman.

The movie, 1917 revolves around two British soldiers a dangerous mission to stop a doomed attack by the British 7th Division in World War - one that that would result in a massacre by the Germans. The 7th Division includes one of the soldiers brothers, personalizing and adding urgency to their mission.

Butler, 49, initially planned to study history. He became interested in audiovisual work and film production during a work-study experience.

He graduated in 1993 with a major in film, television and theater design. Butler then moved to California, where his assistant credits included work with The Mask, and Forrest Gump.

During a stint at Tippet Studio, he did effects work on cult favorite Starship Troopers, My Favorite Martian, and Lord of the Rings. He moved up the ladder to a job as technical director, and has also done work in New Zealand, England and Canada.

Butler has always been modest about his rise to the top of his profession. He once told the Hartford Courant he was reluctant about relocating to New Zealand.

My brother said if I didnt go, I was stupid, Butler of brother Jared Butler, a Hollywood screenwriter.

The Oscars were televised live on ABC and in more than 225 countries and territories.
Wood County now has nearly $2 million to demolish single-family homes destroyed during severe flooding of the past.

Nine of those homes are located in the Happy Valley area off West Virginia route 47, which was hit hard by severe flooding during storms of late 2004 and early 2005.

The funding, announced late last week by Sen. Joe Manchin and the governor's office, is provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

It allows for acquisition of flood-prone structures in Happy Valley and Seven Acres.

It comes from a fund approved after the 2016 floods in Southern West Virginia.

The 2004 floods came in the aftermath of heavy rains from Hurricane Ivan, and January, 2005 high water was the result of melting of heavy snowfall.
Bayer and Meiogenix, a biotech company focused on next-generation breeding technologies, announced today a collaboration to advance agricultural research and development by accelerating the development of Meiogenix's proprietary technologies related to plant breeding and genome editing applications. This new research collaboration has the potential to deliver much-needed plant health and nutrition improvements to food crops so farmers can more efficiently and sustainably grow improved plant varieties that deliver the types of foods consumers want.

Plants Genetic Diversity

Farmers need innovative solutions as they face limited natural resources and a changing climate. Access to Meiogenix's proprietary technologies could improve the precision and speed with which our breeders enhance crops, which could ultimately accelerate those solutions for the diverse needs of people and our planet." Jeremy Williams, Head of Plant Biotechnology, Crop Science Research & Development (R&D) at Bayer

Meiogenix's proprietary technologies are used to induce the exchange of genomic regions between chromosomes of plant cells during meiosis, the natural process that generates genetic diversity during plant breeding. Technologies based on meiotic recombination provide commercial crops with access to a broader genetic diversity, including complex traits for improved food quality, plants' resistance to diseases and pests, and higher yield potential. The resulting hybrids and varieties have the potential to deliver value throughout the food chain, from farmers to consumers.

Over the past decade, we have assembled unique know-how, intellectual property portfolio and network of experts to help generate biodiversity and accelerate breeding through modulating meiotic recombination. We are proud to collaborate with Bayer to develop the next generations of crops." Giacomo Bastianelli, Co-founder & CEO of Meiogenix

Agriculture is facing the challenge of adjusting plant physiology to rapid climate, pest and disease changes, as well as preparing the next generation of healthier food. Collaborating on these new breeding technologies will be key to bringing innovative solutions to farmers and consumers." Luc Mathis, strategic advisor of Meiogenix

As part of the project, Meiogenix will collaborate with top academic institutes to advance these technologies in crops.

Bayer offers a wide range of educational materials regarding plant breeding and gene editing technologies on its website.
PHILADELPHIA  Trade wars have a way of pitting very disparate products against each other.

Former Pennsylvania Congressman Lou Barletta warns that tariffs over airplanes could bounce back on antipasto, fuselages could drive up the price of fusilli.

Barletta gathered owners of local Italian food businesses to weigh in on the costs of tariffs imposed last year, and to try to sound the alarm about another potentially more punishing round, all stemming from a dispute about airplanes.

The president is right: punish the bad actors. But Italy isnt one of them. What does pasta have to do with Airbus? said Barletta from the dining room of Gran Caffe LAquila, a cafe and specialty food store in Philadelphias Rittenhouse neighborhood.

The United States and Europe have a long-standing feud over airplanes. Each side has accused the other of unfairly propping up its airplane company through subsidies. Boeing is the American company in question and Airbus is the European one.

In 2019, the World Trade Organization ruled in favor of the U.S. and authorized retaliatory tariffs on imports from the European Union valuing $7.5 billion. Following that announcement, the U.S. Trade Representative issued on a 10% tax on aircrafts, and a 25% tax on certain consumer products in October.

In Italy, table staples like Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano took a hit. (Italian cheesemakers were not pleased.) In the UK, it was single malt scotch.

At Gran Caffe LAquila, local business owners shared fears that the tariffs would escalate. One possibility? Italian food made in more competitive markets could rise up to take the place of Italian-made goods.

Fake parmesan, fake prosciutto, fake mortadella, basically bad copies made in South America  Chinas even doing prosciutto, so God knows, said the cafes owner Ricardo Longo. The consumer is going to get a product which is much worse  and will be paying the same price.

Local business owners at Gran Caffe LAquila Photo by Laura Benshoff | WHYY

Bill DiGiacomo, a Conshohocken-based wholesale distributor of specialty foods, said he stockpiled goods before the last round of tariffs took effect in the fall to keep prices low through the holidays, but has since had to raise them.

Weve essentially increased prices to our customers 12 to 15%, he said, even after businesses eat a portion of the tariff.

If new items are included in the next round of tariffs, or if the amount goes up, it would be potentially devastating, said Giacomo.

Further up the supply chain, producers in Italy are being affected. Italian food retailers the DiBruno Brothers source 60% of their food from that country, and say some manufacturers there are no longer willing to send goods to the United States.

Its not sustainable for them. The people who produce my jams or my honeys or my olive oils. If those items get these tariffs, its going to be costly for them, said Emilio Mignucci.

In this photo taken Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019, Parmigiano Reggiano Parmesan cheese wheels are created in Noceto, near Parma, Italy. U.S. consumers are snapping up Italian Parmesan cheese ahead of an increase in tariffs to take effect next week. The agricultural lobby Coldiretti on Friday, Oct. 11, 2019, said sales of both Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano, aged cheeses defined by their territory of origin, have skyrocketed by 220% since the higher tariffs were announced one week ago. Photo by Antonio Calanni | AP Photo

The Trump Administration is expected to release a list of items considered for another round of tariffs later this month, said Barletta. An early supporter of President Donald Trump, who failed to unseat incumbent U.S. Sen. Bob Casey in 2018, Barletta now chairs the American Italian Food Coalition, a group of more than 450 manufacturers, distributors and trade associations dealing in imported Italian pasta, biscuits and wafers.

In the first round of tariffs, those goods were not taxed, but theyre back on the table for another round.

Experts say these tariffs could point to a new front in the United States ongoing international trade wars. In December, the Trump administration threatened a 100% tariff on sparkling wines in response to Frances digital sales tax, which would have hurt U.S. companies like Facebook, before both sides pulled back. Wines are already taxed under the Airbus tariffs.

Gary Hufbauer, a nonresident senior fellow with the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said cultural products strongly associated with a country are often the ones targeted.

Those kinds of products that are iconic, they are [the] favorite  and I mean favorite  for tariff actions  [because] you get a lot of bang for the buck, he said.

These products get attention, without causing backlash for the politicians that promote tariffs, because the goods tend to be on luxury items, rather than staples.

Pennsylvania is no stranger to the aftershocks of trade wars. Steel tariffs have led to layoffs in Mercer County, and fewer cargo ships coming to ports on the Delaware River.

Residents of the commonwealth have ended up paying $742 million in taxes in 2019 due to trade tensions, nearly double the number from the previous year.

While new deals with China, Canada and Mexico have stabilized some trade relationships, ongoing tensions with Europe mean uncertainty continues.

Amato Berardi, chairman of the National Italian American Political Action Committee, predicted the items taxed could spread to other sectors, and pointed to Italian businesses working in Pennsylvania, like Ferrero Rocher, which has facilities in Central Pennsylvania. Italian car company Fiat owns the farm equipment company New Holland Agriculture, which has a factory in Lancaster.

Members of the European Union have said theyll instate their own tariffs against the U.S. for its illegal subsidies of Boeing in due course.
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The war of words between the founder of Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, Prof. Ishaq Akintola and former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kay...





The war of words between the founder of Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, Prof. Ishaq Akintola and former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode is getting messier as Akintola revealed his ugly encounter with late Chief Remi Ade Fani-Kayode during the 1983 general election.





Ishaq spoke after Fani-Kayode said he was not worthy to mention his fathers name and took him to the cleaners.





Fani-Kayodes comment prompted Ishaq to open his alleged can of worms about his encounter with the late Chief Remi Ade Fani-Kayode.





Akintola, in series of tweets, said Fani-Kayodes father wanted him to compromise the electoral process by not announcing the winner of the election where he was the Federal Electoral Officer for Ife-Ijesha Senatorial District, but he said he resisted him.

Read Akintolas full comment below:





On Sunday, 2nd February, 2020, Femi Fani-Kayode launched series of attacks on me on twitter. I have not responded since because more urgent issues at my workplace kept me busy. I am a salary-earner and I must perform my duty to justify the money I receive.





I believe in the dignity of labour. My job tickles me. I believe in the dignity of labour. My job tickles me. I think I can now spare a few minutes to respond to his tweets. I must however disclose the fact that friends have advised that I ignore him.





They are concerned so that he wont drag me to his level.





Fani-Kayode said his father, Chief Remi Ade Fani-Kayode was my fathers boss. Whats the big deal in that? That was in politics and is that a personal achievement for him? Interestingly enough, his father was not the overall boss. His father also had a boss over and above him.





Isnt that how life is? Coincidentally his fathers boss was also an Akintola. Funny, isnt it? And today I am happy Fani-Kayode is not my own boss so he cant boss me.





Swelling with indignant pride, Fani-Kayode said Ishaq is too small to call that name (his fathers name) & he knows nothing about the history of our people. That is the tragedy of the Nigerian nation: an ex-minister bragging that a professor is too small to mention a name?





What a pity! Can he stand where a professor is professing?





Talking about knowing the history of our people, may I ask what Fani-Kayode knows about that or even about the history of his father? Does Fani-Kayode think he knows everything about his own father? Well, I will share this little personal experience I had with his father.





He asked for it. Let Mr. Too-Big-and-Know-All tell us if he knows about it. I was the Federal Electoral Officer for Ife-Ijesha Senatorial District during the 1983 general elections. It was my duty to announce the result and that was around 2 am in the night.





The venue was the Police barracks, Moore, Ile-Ife and the press was fully present. I took the microphone to start the announcement but suddenly Chief Remi Ade Fani-Kayode (Femi Fani-Kayodes father) came in with several mobile policemen.





He took a seat directly opposite me and told me not to announce any result. I resisted. He asked if I knew him. I answered in the affirmative but I added that duty was duty. I told him he was interfering with the electoral process.





For daring to confront a former deputy premier of the former Western Region, one of his mobile police escorts rushed at me with the butt of his rifle but I stood my ground. The policeman still remained beside me with the butt held threateningly over my head.





I was unperturbed. Surprisingly, all these happened in the full glare of the media. In fairness to Chief Remi Ade Fani-Kayode, he told the policeman to leave me alone. I started announcing the result in his presence and he stood up angrily and left.





The team of mobile policemen followed him. I continued the announcement of results to the end. I would not subvert the will of the people because my father was in a particular party. They have miscalculated if that was why they appointed me as the federal officer.





Islam teaches justice even if it is against your family. My father must have heard the full details next day but he respected my principled stand. He never asked me why I did what I did.





But I was to learn a bitter lesson about Nigerian politics the next day. I took the original copy of the result with me for submission at the FEDECO office in Ibadan. But on getting to Ikire, my car radio started announcing election results.





To my bewilderment, I heard the announcement of the same result which was in my car. I felt utterly frustrated. So it is true that people write fake figures and announce them during elections. That does not imply that Chief Remi Ade Fani-Kayode wrote the result.





Or that he was involved. The party did it. They have specialists for that. Though I still drove to Ibadan to submit the original copy of the result, I was treated like a leper by the FEDECO staff at Agodi. I still felt proud of myself anyway.





Surprisingly, I felt no bitterness towards the ex-deputy premier, Chief Remi Ade Fani-Kayode. I had always admired him anyway and had attended his political rallies on several occasions.





He was a great orator and a bridge-builder. He accommodated all tribes and religions. Unlike his son, Femi Fani-Kayode, there was never any trace of religious bigotry in him. He was, indeed, a great politician.





Now, will it be correct for his son (Femi Fani-Kayode) to say I knew nothing about his father? That incident in Ile-Ife has become part of the history of the political life of Chief Remi Ade Fani-Kayode and his biography will remain incomplete without it.





I stood my ground in front of a former deputy premier and I refused to be intimidated. That is the stuff professors are made of. It is not about any top post or money. It is about principle and dignity. It is about standing up for what is right.





Listen to Fani-Kayode again : He is not fit to kiss my feet or lick my shoes. He is filth. He is the lowest of the low Of course I know that I am not a boot-licker or a court-jester. But for crying out loud! A whole professor is not fit to kiss your feet or lick your shoes?





Hummmmm. See how a politician sees a professor? See what value they attach to education? And this man was a former minister! Thank God he wasnt in charge of education. I hope nobody will ever think of making him a state governor otherwise he will make a mess of that sector.





Fani-Kayode also had the effrontery to call me a fake Muslim scholar who attended some fake Almajiri school in Cairo many years ago. Is that worth any response? I dont mind being called a names anyway. Ive been insulted, abused, misrepresented and misinterpreted several times





It doesnt matter to me anymore. I can take any insult because of Islam. But you should know that something is definitely wrong with anyone who calls the great Al-Azhar University in Cairo a fake almajiri school.





Next, Fani-Kayode boasts of his being educated in Cambridge. Point of correction: it does not matter where one is educated. What matters is the positive values you possess. What services you are able to render to mankind and what you represent.





If Fani-Kayode is the personification of Cambridge, I wont touch that school with a long pole. But I happen to know a few decent and credible Nigerians who graduated from that institution. They are miles apart from Fani-Kayode in morals.





Even Nigerian universities award certificates having found you worthy in character and in learning. I wonder if Cambridge considered the first quality in Fani-Kayodes case.





And now this: When Oduduwa is established we have a place to keep people like him. That reveals the real motive behind the latest brouhaha in the South West. We also know what they plan to do with Muslims. But it is clear that Fani-Kayode can only brag.





Some people are deceived so they think he is very bold. But it is sheer bravado. See how he cowardly omitted the word Republic from his Oduduwa. Smart Alec. We know why Fani-Kayode is making so much noise, pretending to champion the Yoruba cause.





Anyway, the Yoruba people know that he lacks pedigree. He should stop deceiving himself. His eyes are on 2023. He wants to be governor. Any political party that wants to enter one-chance is free to pick him.





But do not say I did not warn you: Muslims in Osun state and Yorubaland in general will have nothing to do with a sworn Muslim-hater. Fani-Kayode has no political value. Will the same Northerners whom he has always disparaged vote for him? Fani-Kayode is an expired politician.




Los Angeles, Feb 10 : South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho has become the second director of a non-English film to win the Oscar for best director.

Alfonso Cuaron had won for "Roma" in 2018.

This year at the 92nd Academy Awards, Bong on Sunday night was honoured for "Parasite". He was up against directors like Quentin Tarantino ("Once Upon a Time in Hollywood"), Todd Phillips ("Joker") and Sam Mendes ("1917"), reports The Guardian.

Bong paid tribute to veteran Hollywood director Martin Scorsese in his speech, saying that when he was young he "carved deep into my heart" a quote by Scorsese: "The most personal is the most creative." He also thanked Tarantino for championing his work: "Quentin, I love you." The best original screenplay Oscar also went to "Parasite".

The movie also won in the international feature film category, defeating other nominees from countries like France and Spain. It was earlier called best foreign language feature.

While collecting his award for best director, he said: "After winning best international feature, I thought I was done for the day. I was ready to relax." "Parasite" revolves around one family who cons their way into the employ of another, much wealthier, family. The film's themes centre around wealth and entitlement, the disappearing middle class and moral relativism in the face of survival.

Latest updates on Oscars 2020

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text


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Fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces militia killed seven civilians in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday, just days after another massacre, local officials and police said.

About 60 ADF fighters carried out the attack at Makeke, killing five men and two women, local official Mapengo Shabani told AFP.

Makeke lies 32 kilometres north of Beni, in Ituri province, near the border with Uganda.

"The attack happened in broad daylight," he added. "These terrorists also pillaged five shops. So far, we have not recorded any missing persons."



This latest attack was first reported by Major Losendjola Morisho, chief of police at the neighbouring town of Mangina. Morisho also reported that another 12 bodies had been discovered near Beni, in the neighbouring province of North Kivu, two days after an ADF attack that killed eight people and left around 20 missing.

"The 12 bodies found today were victims of Friday's ADF attack," Morisho told AFP.

On Friday ADF fighters militia slit the throats of eight people in Mangina commune, prompting hundreds of villagers to flee the area. It was just the latest massacre blamed on the ADF, which has carried out reprisal attacks on civilians in response to a military crackdown that began in October.

Militia violence has wracked eastern DR Congo for years, a legacy of the two Congo Wars in the 1990s, but the ADF has been blamed for most of the recent attacks. The region around Beni, straddling the North Kivu and Ituri provinces, is the epicentre of the ADF campaign.

Activists say more than 300 people have been killed there since October. On January 28, 36 civilians were killed in an attack in Oicha, also in Beni, part of the ADF's revenge attacks on civilians.

The ADF, blamed for the deaths of more than 1,000 civilians in Beni since October 2014, began as an Islamist-rooted rebel group in Uganda that opposed President Yoweri Museveni.

It fell back into eastern DRC in 1995 during the Congo Wars and appears to have halted raids inside Uganda. Its recruits today are of various nationalities.

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

Express News Service

Meet Karin Stoll, Consul General of Germany in Chennai. She is a political scientist, art historian and leader, all-in-one. In a high-profile role in Chennai, this soft-spoken professional juggles it all. Dressed smartly in business attire adorned with a batik silk scarf, she is an epitome of grace and dignity. Shes also a hands-on hard worker, who is passionate about what she does. You can see her keen interest in work and in being a friend to India. Karin is someone with high ideals, someone who wants to make a difference.

We catch up with Consul General Stoll at her office on a typical working weekday. Southeast India is the perfect location for her, with about 130 German companies in Tamil Nadu alone. Some of them are hidden champions, world leaders in what they are producing. In just 18 months, she has achieved a good deal, and her presence is felt not only in the industry, but also in cultural institutions and the government here as well. The key to her success? She loves her job. After only one year, she has requested to do a four-year stint.

Excerpts:

You moved to Chennai after a prior assignment in Delhi. How was that transition, and how has your experience been?

I was the Head of the Economics department in Delhi. Im a political scientist and an art historian, so it was great to be in the capital city with its fabulous architecture. Ive been posted in Pretoria in South Africa, Kampala in Uganda, New Delhi, Rome in Italy and now, Chennai. After Delhi, I was sure I wanted to come to India again, the Southeast of India. So, when the position came up for Consul General, I applied for it. My jurisdiction is Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Together with Hyderabad, this area is one of the power hubs of German industry in India. I came to Chennai with a positive, upbeat mood, and I was pleasantly surprised. Actually, I have adapted pretty well, even to the weather, and a bit of humidity makes you feel better. Of course, I got a warm welcome from my colleagues and my staff at the consulate.

You seem really comfortable here in Chennai.

Relatively speaking, Chennai was a softer landing. I already had connections here, due to my previous role in Delhi, and Id done a fair amount of research. I can unwind here better, and therefore, work more efficiently. If you go to Marina beach or Kapaleeshwarar temple or Mahabalipuram, within one hour, you are somewhere completely different from the hustle and bustle of a big city. I also live at a walking distance from my work, so that really makes it easier.

What is your key agenda here as Consul General?

My key agenda is two-fold. Firstly, it is to be informed better about what we are doing here. German interests and engagements are diverse. Besides Indo-German industry and investments, we have cooperation projects in Coimbatore, our Smart City. We are also supporting Chennai in the field of water and green urban transport.I want to make this strong partnership more recognisable, not only for the Tamil Nadu government, but also for our German institutions here and back home. I believe that the nexus between industry and science is crucial. I want to add more to the profile of German engagement in the Southeast.Of course, I am supported by the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, our agency for academic exchange, DAAD and the well-known Goethe Institute, all with offices in Chennai.
(UPDATED) The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) on Monday, February 10, filed before the Supreme Court a quo warranto petition seeking to revoke the legislative franchise of television network ABS-CBN Corporation.

Solicitor General Jose Calida, in the petition, said the network and its subsidiary ABS-CBN Convergence Inc. have been broadcasting for a fee, which is beyond the scope of its legislative franchise.

"ABS-CBN abused the privilege granted by State when it launched and operated a pay-per-view channel in ABS-CBN TV Plus, the KBO Channel, without prior approval or permit from the National Telecommunications Commission. While it is true that broadcasting is a business, the welfare of the people must not be sacrificed in the pursuit of profit," Calida said in a statement.

The OSG likened the network's violation to that of Rappler when it supposedly issued Philippine Deposit Receipts (PDRs) through ABS-CBN Holdings Corporation to foreigners, violating the constitutional restriction on foreign ownership of mass media.

Under Section 11, Article 16 of the Philippine Constitution, the ownership and management of mass media must only be owned by citizens of the Philippines.

This means that mass media companies operating in the Philippines must be 100 percent Filipino owned because they play an integral role in a nation's economic, political and socio-cultural landscape," Calida said.

"A franchise is a special privilege granted by the State, and should only be restricted to entities which faithfully adhere to our constitution and laws," he concluded.

In a statement, ABS-CBN said all its broadcast offerings have the required regulatory approvals and are not prohibited by (our) franchise.

The PDRs were also evaluated and approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) prior to its public offering.

These are the same instruments used by other broadcast companies to raise capital for the improvement of services, the network added.

Story continues

The networks stake in ABS-CBN Convergence was acquired under the same law and structures that have been utilized by other telecommunications companies.

These are transfers that are approved under the Public Telecommunications Policy Act and are fully compliant with the law, it added.

Some legislators earlier expressed their support for the renewal of the TV networks franchise.

Senator Francis Kiko Pangilinan said the closure of ABS-CBN is a threat to press freedom.

Press freedom is so much important and ABS-CBN is one of the pillars of press freedom in the country, he said in a separate statement.

Senator Joel Villanueva also favored the renewal, saying that thousands of jobs are at stake if the network stops its operations.

"Thousands of jobs are at stake here, It is important that we take the measure up as soon as possible," he said.

Laguna Representative Sol Aragones, a former ABS-CBN reporter who authored a bill renewing the networks franchise for another 25 years, said she was confident that Congress will be able to act on her measure before it adjourns on March 11, 2020.

She noted that there are 11 principal authors of the ABS-CBN franchise bill as well as several co-authors.

Its important to take into consideration the 11,000 employees of ABS-CBN and their families as well as the public who patronizes the network, she said in a statement.

Deputy Speaker Salvador "Doy" Leachon, who filed House Bill 5608 seeking to renew ABS-CBN's franchise, said the revocation of a franchise is a matter within "the exclusive jurisdiction of Congress."

"If quo warranto is ploy or a means to oust us House members from that constitutional mandate, that is procedurally flawed," Leachon said.

"With the vast domain of Congress to inquire into almost all issues including the basis for which quo warranto was filed by Solgen, Congress itself can do that to simplify matters and findings thereon maybe considered whether franchise is legally compliant for renewal," he added.

The Deputy Speaker noted that the Congress must proceed with the hearing on the ABS-CBN application.

In a statement, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) condemned the filing of the quo warranto case against the TV network.

"This proves without a doubt that this government is hellbent on using all its powers to shut down the broadcast network whose franchise renewal, now pending in Congress," the group said.

The group called on the Congress and Supreme Court to prove that they are co-equal branches of government.

"We call on Congress and the Supreme Court to once and for all prove to the people that they are truly, as the Constitution envisions, independent--this not just about ABS-CBN. This is not just about the Philippine media. This is all about whether anyone can or should deprive you, the Filipino people, of your right to know," the group added. (SunStar Philippines)
Burger King has brought back its beloved Halloumi King burger - and it has a limited edition spicy sidekick.

The burger, which was initially released as a limited product last July, has now been made a permanent fixture on the fast food chain's menu.

The original Halloumi King is joined by a new version of the sandwich - the Halloumi Chilli King - which features two fried Cypriot cheese patties in a brioche bun, served with lettuce and a 'zingy chilli sauce'.

This limited-edition spicy version, on sale for 5.79, is only available until May - so foodies need to move quickly if they want to get their hands on one.

Burger King have returned their Halloumi King burger to the menu permanently - and introduced a limited-edition Halloumi Chilli King (pictured)

However, the single and double Halloumi King burgers, priced at 3.99 and 7.49 respectively, are here to stay.

Burger King took to Twitter this afternoon to announce the return of the popular burger, writing: 'IT'S BACK TODAY. TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW.'

The news was met with elation from social media users, who took to the platform to share their excitement.

One tweeted: 'Buzzing @BurgerKingUK have brought back the halloumi burger for good!!! My year made already.'

'Yo @BurgerKingUK! The Burger King halloumi burger is back!!!' wrote another.

Burger King took to Twitter this afternoon to announce the return of the burger, writing: 'IT'S BACK TODAY. TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW'

The news was met with elation from social media users, who took to the platform to share their excitement

And a third simply commented 'YESSSSSSSSSSS' in response to the news.

The three new additions come after the fast food chain revealed a plant-based burger last month.

But the Rebel Whopper, which is made from soy, faced criticism after it emerged the burger is not suitable for vegans or vegetarians because it is cooked on the same grill as the restaurant's beef burgers.

Burger King claimed the burger is aimed at 'flexitarians'  people who eat meat but are cutting down on the animal-based food they eat - but vegans say the chain has 'shot itself in the foot' and called the product a 'missed opportunity'.

In addition, a note on the fast food chain's website informed customers the Halloumi King is cooked 'in the same oil as chicken and fish', also making it unsuitable for vegans or vegetarians.
A Mexico City gang leader was rearrested Saturday just moments after a federal judge ordered his prison release.

Oscar 'El Lunares' Flores, presumed leader of the notorious La Union de Tepito street gang, was walking out of prison when he was met by a unit of Mexico City cops at 4:30pm local time.

Flores had been freed from prison when a judge ruled he had been illegally detained last month.

But a police officer was waiting at the gates and Flores was read his rights and presented with outstanding arrest warrant issued in November outside the Altiplano detention center in Almoloya de Juarez, a municipality in the State of Mexico.

The jail is the same one that Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman escaped from through an underground tunnel in July 2015.

'Do I have to sign it now? Why miss? Can't I wait for my lawyer,' a shocked Flores asked the cop before he was taken away.

El Lunares was wanted for the September kidnapping of a local businessman, who said he was held for over eight hours at a safe house where he was tortured and beaten.

#ULTIMAHORA Agentes de la Fiscalia cumplimentaron una orden de aprehension contra El Lunares, lider de La Union Tepito. Un fuerte dispositivo de seguridad realizo la recaptura ahora por secuestro. pic.twitter.com/warYopE0l4  Politica y Poder (Version Grafica). (@EstratagemasP) February 8, 2020

Oscar 'El Lunares' Flores (right), presumed leader of the notorious La Union de Tepito street gang, was rearrested Saturday afternoon by Mexico City police officers who presented him an outstanding arrested warrant issued in November of his alleged role in a kidnapping

El Lunares reviews an arrest warrant handed to him by a Mexico City police officer Saturday afternoon shortly after he walked out of a maximum security jail in Almoloya de Juarez, a municipality in the State of Mexico

El Lunares and his henchmen allegedly demanded 10,000 Mexican pesos, or $530, for the businessman's freedom in exchange for not murdering him.

They reportedly requested the same amount each of the following months 'so that nothing else would happen to him.'

El Lunares gained his freedom momentarily early Saturday morning at the end of a 12-hour court session.

His attorney presented a video that showed he was detained by Mexican Marines at his home, however the police report that was presented by prosecutors said that Flores was captured by the Mexico City police.

The apprehension took place January 31 in Tolcayuca, a municipality in the central state of Hidalgo.

The judge's ruling also set free Hugo Armando Flores and Erick Estrada, who were arrested with El Lunares.

The judge found that Flores was not driving a Mazda SUV with Estrada and El Lunares on board, as stated on the police report. She also said that declarations brought forth by the cops who signed the police report and allegedly made the arrest had no validity.

On Sunday, morning El Lunares appeared before a Mexico City Superior Court judge via a video conference hearing and learned that the kidnapping charges levied by the Public Ministry were sufficient to keep him behind bars without bail.

El Lunares' defense argued that the arrest warrant did not justify his imprisonment. He is being held that the Reclusorio Norte jail in Mexico City and is due back in court Friday.

Oscar Flores, also known as 'El Lunares', oversees La Union de Tepito, a notorious gang that control street drug sales throughout Mexico's capital

Mexico City police officers lead El Lunares (center) away Saturday afternoon after they arrested him as he walked out of a prison

A convoy of Mexico City police trucks transfer Oscar 'El Lunares' Flores to a prison in the Mexican capital Saturday

El Lunares was arrested January 31

El Lunares has proven to be an elusive figure for authorities seeking his arrest.

Securities forces raided the Mexico City of Tepito back in October and discovered a series of narco labs that led to underground tunnels just days after a street surveillance video captured him at a local funeral service.





At least 900 agents participated in the operation that led to the dismantling of two laboratories used to produce synthetic drugs and the seizure of 50 kilos of chemical precursors were seized during the operation.





Agents discovered 20 kilos of cocaine along with an unspecified amount of money and a weapons cache that included rocket launchers and grenades.





Authorities arrested 31 individuals, but all were released from prison when a judge found that the agents had lied about the evidence they had found.




by Melynda Fuller , February 10, 2020

Troy Young, president of Hearst Magazines, was named chairman of IABs board of directors at the organizations annual leadership meeting in California.

Young was previously the boards vice chairman, a position hes held since February 2019.

Troy Young offers IAB a unique perspective alongside his extraordinary talent for serving a range of constituencies, from premium publishers, to cutting-edge technology providers, to the worlds most vibrant brands, stated Randall Rothenberg, CEO, IAB. In an industry where commerce, media and advertising are increasingly convergent, the depth and breadth of Troys experience makes him the perfect person to lead our Board of Directors into the future.

Kirk McDonald, Chief Business Officer at Xandr, has been elected to the role of vice chairman in 2020.

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The recently announced slate features 11 new representatives to IABs board, including Alysia Borsa, Chief Business and Data Officer at Meredith Corporation, Anneka Gupta, president and head of products and platforms at LiveRamp, and General Motors Global Chief Marketing Officer Deborah Wahl.

Young stated: In recent years, weve worked hard to unite different parts of the digital ecosystem under one umbrella and weve made significant progress. At this pivotal time of change in our media ecosystem, IAB is the only organization that can bring together such a diverse group of stakeholders and provide the technical leadership the industry needs."

Reelected and continuing members to the board of directors include Gina Garrubbo, President-CEO of National Public Media (IAB Executive Committee); Rajeev Goel, cofounder-CEO of PubMatic; Chris Guenther, senior vice president-global head of programmatic at News Corp; Julie Jacobs, executive vice president-general counsel for Verizon Media; Craig Kostelic, Chief Business Officer, Media and Partnerships at Conde Nast; and Joy Robbins, Chief Revenue Officer for The Washington Post, among others.

The full slate of board members is available through the IAB website.



--
Press Release

10 February 2020

The World Travel & Tourism Council's 20th Global Summit will take place this year from 22-23 April in Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico.

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The summit will feature the participation of high-level leaders within the travel and tourism sector, including Chris Nassetta, President and CEO of Hilton; Alex Zozaya, President of Apple Leisure Group; Kim Day, CEO of Denver Airport and Richard Fain, President and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises.

"We are very proud to be able to attract this prestigious global event to Quintana Roo, which will focus the attention of the global tourism leaders towards Cancun and Quintana Roo, as well as the whole country" said Carlos Joaquin Gonzalez, Governor of the State of Quintana Roo. In Quintana Roo, we have the fortune of relying on tourism as one of the key pillars of investment, employment and economic prosperity in coordination with government, businesses and the community. We have positioned ourselves as the leader in international arrivals in Mexico and Latin America."

The event will take place at the Moon Palace Convention Centre and will welcome speakers such as:

- Andy Duncan, CEO, Travelopia

- Brett Tollman, Chief Executive, The Travel Corporation

- Caroline Beteta, President & CEO, Visit California

- Darrell Wade, Co-founder & Chairman, Intrepid Group

- Deepak Ohri, CEO, lebua Hotels & Resorts

- Desiree Bollier, Chair, Value Retail

- Frank R. Rainieri, President & CEO, Grupo Puntacana

- Fred Dixon, President & CEO, NYC & Company

- Friedrich Joussen, CEO, TUI

- Gibran Chapur, Executive Vice President, Palace Resorts

- Greg O'Hara, Founder &, Managing Partner, Certares

- Hiromi Tagawa, Chairman of the Board, JTB Corp

- Jeffrey C. Rutledge, CEO, AIG Travel

- Joan Vila, Executive Chairman, Hotelbeds

- John Sage, CEO & Founder, Accessible Travel Solutions

- John Wasson, President & CEO, ICF

- Julian Balbuena, CEO & Chairman of the board of Directors, Best Day Travel Group

- Keith Barr, CEO, InterContinental Group (IHG)

- Kike Sarasola, President & Founder Room Mate Hotels & BeMate.com

- Kurt Ekert, President & CEO, Carlson Wagonlit Travel

- Michel Taride, Chair, Global Travel & Tourism Partnership (GTTP) Advisory Board

- Paul Griffiths, CEO, Dubai Airports International

- Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman, MSC Cruises

- Robin Ingle, Chairman & CEO, Ingle International

- Ryuhei Maeda, Member of the Board, ANA

- Scott Rosenberger, Global Sector Leader for Transportation, Hospitality & Services, Deloitte & Touche LLP

- Sean Donohue, CEO, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport

- Stephen Colvin, Bloomberg

- Shirley Tan, CEO Rajawali Property Group

Over the next several weeks, WTTC will be celebrating its 30th anniversary whilst also preparing for the 20th Global Summit in Cancun. The theme for this year's summit; "Making a Lasting Difference", will encourage delegates to discuss approaching the world differently, recognising that what has got us to this point, will not work to tackle global challenges and incite positive change for the future.

Gloria Guevara, President & CEO, WTTC, said, "The WTTC Global Summit will be the most important travel and tourism event of 2020, and a fitting recognition of a sector which last year, contributed 10.4% to global GDP and supported 319 million jobs worldwide. The 20th Global Summit will benefit and showcase not only Quintana Roo, but Mexico, and the whole region including US, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean. Cancun is a global icon and I feel honored to host the most important travel and tourism event of the year in my home country. Our summit is the place where the future of our sector is shaped, and we look forward to hearing the insight of so many industry leaders, as we welcome them to our stage."
It took all of ten seconds for the first winner at last nights Oscars to unleash an angry political statement against President Trump.

Frankly, Im only surprised it took that long.

Hollywood despises Trump with a volcanic passion despite many of its own leading lights representing exactly the same kind of ruthless, venal, self-aggrandizing, duplicitous, charlatan, narcissistic and hypocritical character traits they profess to most hate in him.

But shameless hypocrisy and chronic lack of self-awareness seem to go hand in hand with being a movie star these days.

Brad Pitt, whod spent the entire awards season until now making light, fun, self-deprecating speeches, decided it was time to go very serious on us.

Brad Pitt, whod spent the entire awards season until now making light, fun, self-deprecating speeches, decided it was time to go very serious on us at Sunday's Oscars awards

They told me I only had 45 seconds up here, he said, as he received the Best Supporting Actor award, which is 45 seconds more than the Senate gave John Bolton this week.

As the almost exclusively liberal audience cheered, he added: Im thinking maybe Quentin (Tarantino) does a movie about it, and in the end the adults do the right thing.

Sorry, what?

Tarantino movies invariably end with adults doing completely the wrong thing and killing each other in frenzied murderous bloodbaths of extreme violence - including, and the irony is strong here, the one for which Mr Pitt actually got his gong, Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.

Brad doubled down on his impeachment verdict backstage to reporters: I was really disappointed with this week, he said. And I think when gamesmanship trumps doing the right thing, its a sad day and I dont think we should let it slide, and Im very serious about that.

Im sure he is, I just didnt want to hear it.

Ive always liked Brad Pitt. He seems a cool, happy-go-lucky kind of guy who appeals to a broad cross section of people.

So why suddenly alienate half of them with such a pointlessly partisan political interjection?

To borrow his own words, its a sad day and Im very serious about that.

Brads boring descent into Trump-bashing set the tone for what in many ways was the worst Oscars ever, a dreary 3-and-a-half hour snoozefest made awkwardly disjointed by the baffling lack of a host for the second successive year.

The weirdest moment came when Eminem suddenly and inexplicably appeared on stage, to perform a song 18 years after he won an Oscar but didnt turn up to accept it

He was rewarded for all that homophobic ranting with a standing ovation from the Oscars crowd, most of whom have spent the past year loudly proclaiming their LGBTQ ally credentials (the happy, smiling crowd watches his performance)

A good host is the glue for any awards show, holding everything together and ensuring theres a strong narrative arc to the night by reacting to stuff that happens in the same way we all do watching at home.

When you dont have a host, it just all feels a bit weird, especially when the producers fill the hole with endless music acts making it feel more like the Grammys.

The weirdest moment came when Eminem suddenly and inexplicably appeared on stage, to perform a song 18 years after he won an Oscar but didnt turn up to accept it.

My surprise swiftly turned to bemusement.

I thought the Academy had a zero-tolerance policy on anyone performing at the Oscars who has used homophobic slurs?

That, after all, was why comedian Kevin Hart was unceremoniously axed as host two years ago when he refused to apologize for gay jokes he had made nearly a decade earlier  sparking a media furor that directly led to the ridiculous abandonment of any host at all.

Yet here was Eminem prancing about on stage, the same Eminem who has spent the past 20 years using the f-word, in various forms of f*g and f*ggot, in his rap lyrics.

And, naturally, he was rewarded for all that homophobic ranting with a standing ovation from the Oscars crowd, most of whom have spent the past year loudly proclaiming their LGBTQ ally credentials.

Even this didnt grate as much as the most woke speech of the night, delivered by Joaquin Phoenix - a brilliant actor but increasingly, a crashing acceptance speech bore.

Even by his standards, last nights tirade was off the charts.

Even this didnt grate as much as the most woke speech of the night, delivered by Joaquin Phoenix - a brilliant actor but increasingly, a crashing acceptance speech bore

'STOP! he beseeched the audience as they roared his arrival at the podium to receive his deserved Best Actor award. Ive been thinking a lot about some of these distressing issues were facing together

STOP! he beseeched the audience as they roared his arrival at the podium to receive his deserved Best Actor award. Ive been thinking a lot about some of these distressing issues were facing together.

My heart sank.

The most distressing of these issues, it transpired, was humans eating cows milk.

Phoenix, a vegan activist, looked close to tears as he raged: We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and when she gives birth, we steal her baby, even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable. And then we take her milk thats intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal.

I actually burst out laughing when he said this.

Not, as he would doubtless have you believe, because Im a callous b*stard who doesnt care about the plight of calves.

But because of all the things for an actor to lecture the world about, the oppression of cows for their milk is perhaps the most absurd.

Joaquin seems very conflicted when it comes to his personal sacrifices for our greater good.

He admits hes a dreadful environmental hypocrite, using fuel-guzzling planes to fly to climate change marches where he then hectors us about our carbon footprint.

To assuage his guilt though, hes been very keen to point out hes worn the same Stella McCartney tuxedo throughout the awards season to minimize waste and help save the planet. Does he even realize how absurd this sounds to the vast majority of movie-goers who can only afford one tuxedo in their entire lives, if they can afford one at all?

Weve seen the same kind of laughably deluded virtue-signalling at this years awards show dinners, where organizers have loudly and proudly served up plant-based menus to a bunch of people who traveled to the events by private jets, and then took stretch limousines to cover the one-mile journey from their hotels to the venues.

Similar delusion ran deep when documentary maker Julia Reichert, who won an Oscar for Obama-endorsed film American Factory, made a Marxist call to action for workers of the world to unite against income equality.

The preach one thing, do another theme continued with Natalie Portman, who wore a cape with the names of all the female directors who werent nominated for an Oscar

She was also cheered by the highly privileged mega-rich crowd, clad in $100,000 dresses and dripping in equally expensive jewelry, all seemingly oblivious to their own grotesque contribution to this very inequality.

The preach one thing, do another theme continued with Natalie Portman, who wore a cape with the names of all the female directors who werent nominated for an Oscar.

A fine gesture, yet as someone on Twitter soon pointed out, Portmans own production company handsomecharliefilms has only ever hired one female director to make any of its films  and that was Portman herself.

The theme of hard-done-by women dominated proceedings.

All women are superheroes, bellowed Sigourney Weaver, indignantly.

But theyre not.

With all due respect to my opposite gender, some women are awful.

Just as some men, and I realize this will shock and dismay radical feminists, are good people.

The Oscars propagated this hyperbolic pro-women guff all night to mask the fact it still doesnt practice what it preaches and had a male-only director nominee list despite many very good female directors doing very good work in the past year.

Just as it bangs on about diversity yet had a virtually all-white nominee list in every acting category.

So, to atone for that farcical lack of diversity, the Academy ordered a procession of diverse performers like Janelle Monae to proclaim We celebrate all the women who directed phenomenal films! and Im proud to be standing here as a black, queer artist!

It smacked of desperation, of an organisation full of old white male dinosaurs on its voting membership who couldnt care less about delivering on diversity but dont want to be accused of being sexist or racist.

Sadly, I suspect thats why Parasite won Best Picture.

The Academy can now point to a non-English speaking film winning the top award, and several dozen jubilant Koreans wildly celebrating on stage as the show ended, and say: There you go, DIVERSITY!

But at least it threw up the one truly bright light of the night  Parasites brilliantly charismatic director Bong Joon-Ho who declared Im bloody ready to drink all night!

By the end of the worst, wokest Oscars of all time, I shared his sentiment.
PARIS, Feb 8 (Reuters) - France's foreign office on Saturday issued new travel advice for its citizens due to the coronavirus outbreak, saying it did not recommend travelling to China unless there was an "imperative" reason to go.

Until now it had formally discouraged travel to Wuhan, where the virus originated from, and recommended travellers to the rest of China be vigilant and consider putting off trips.

(Reporting by Marine Pennetier, Writing Sarah White; editing by David Evans)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
A woman caucusing for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., sits in the Warren section at the Precinct 68 caucus at the Knapp Center on the Drake University campus as the night of caucusing gets underway in Des Moines, Iowa. After female candidates helped power the Democratic party to retake the House in 2018 the party's women seem only moderately enthusiastic about voting for a woman for president. Read more

PLYMOUTH, N.H.  In a perfect world, Susan Stepp, a 73-year-old retiree, would be voting vote for Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren in New Hampshires Democratic presidential primary Tuesday, she says. But that wont be happening.

I am not sure a woman is the best candidate to go up against Trump, Stepp said recently as she stood in the back of a conference room listening to tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang as part of her hunt for the best candidate to challenge the Republican incumbent.

Stepp's concern has coursed through the Democratic primary for months, registering in polling, interviews and, now, the first votes cast. In Iowa's caucuses last Monday, many Democrats did not prioritize breaking the gender barrier to the Oval Office and they viewed being a woman as a hindrance rather than an advantage in the race.

Only about one-third of Iowa caucusgoers backed a female candidate. Topping the caucus field were two men, former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders,. Women were only slightly more likely than men to back one of the three women in the race, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 3,000 Iowa voters.

Most Iowa Democrats said it was important for a woman to be president in their lifetimes. But many voters, including about half of all women, said a female nominee would have a harder time beating Donald Trump in November.

He will just use that against her, like he did Hillary," Stepp said, looking back to Trump's 2016 race against Hillary Clinton in 2016. "He doesnt debate. He just insults. I dont think he would have that same effect if he went up against a strong man. Stepp said she plans to vote for Sanders.

Those perceptions present an undeniable headwind for the women in the race, who have spent months making the case that a woman can win. As they seek success in New Hampshire, both Warren and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar must work to energize voters about the chance to make history and persuade them it is possible this year, in this race against this president.

In 2020, we can and should have a woman for president," Warren said at a CNN town hall this past week, days after taking third in Iowa. Klobuchar came in fifth. The Associated Press has not called a winner in the Iowa caucus because the race is too close to call.

Iowans appeared open to that message. Most Democratic voters in the state, 72%, said they thought it is important for the U.S. to elect a woman president in their lifetimes, and that included roughly two-thirds of men.

But most were resolved to put it off for another election. That was true of men and women. The survey found 34% of women voted for Warren, Klobuchar or the longshot candidacy of Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, compared with 28% of men.

Overall, many Democratic voters thought it would be harder for a woman to beat Trump. About half of women said they thought a female nominee would have a harder time, compared with about 4 in 10 men. Men who harbored that concern were significantly less likely to vote for a woman than a man.

Experts say the findings are in line with traditional patterns in voting by gender  women usually don't coalesce around one of their own. Nobody's going to win an election by unifying women because women are not a unified bloc, said Kathy Dolan, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. There's no evidence that suggests for us that women candidates vote much more for women candidates than men.

Analysts say it's no surprise that women express more anxiety about a woman defeating Trump, given that through personal experience, they're familiar with the barriers of sexism.

Women are more likely to have experienced or observed gender discrimination or sexism, said Jennifer Lawless, a political scientist at the University of Virginia.

Notably, experts said, there's no data showing that women underperform or outperform men in general elections. But Lawless noted that having to fight that perception that a woman cannot win may actually work against the female candidates in this race.

Anytime they're trying to convince voters that a woman can beat Donald Trump, they're not talking about health care or foreign affairs, she said.

Warren spent months trying to avoid the gender issue, seeing questions about pervasive sexism in politics as a lose-lose proposition. Either she acknowledged that being a woman created all kinds of challenges because of inherent bias, and appeared to be whining about it, or she said it wasnt a problem and would therefore seem out of touch, she told aides.

But, since the New Year, Warren has shifted her strategy dramatically, taking the issue head on. She raised it directly in asserting that Sanders had suggested a woman couldn't win the White House, and, after they clashed about it during a debate in Iowa, refused to shake his hand on national television.

In the final days before Iowa, Warren began talking about a woman's electability. She now repeats at every campaign stop that women have performed better in recent elections than men, underscoring the role of female candidates who helped Democrats retake control of the House in 2018.

The world has changed since 2016," Warren said during a rally this past week in Keene, New Hampshire. Women have been outperforming men in competitive races. Can women win? You bet women can win."

Pushpa Mudan, a 68-year-old retired physician, is one of those anxious women who's sticking to her guns. She attended a Warren rally on Wednesday at a community college in Nashua, New Hampshire.

She said shes seen Warren three times in recent months, and also attended a recent Klobuchar rally, and is still deciding between the two, though shell likely pick Warren in the primary. Mudan said electing a woman as president is a top issue for her, but shes afraid that none will be able to compete with Trump.

I think this country, for considering itself an advanced country, is very far behind the rest of the world by not having a woman at the highest position, she said. Places like Pakistan, Turkey have had a female president. Not here. But the way Trump puts them down, it is hard for any to make it, I think. Its going to be very hard.

Associated Press writers Will Weissert and Kathleen Ronayne in Manchester, New Hampshire, contributed to this article.
US President Donald Trumps deal of the century allegedly embraces some of the principles that the world had adopted decades ago: the creation of a Palestinian state within boundaries based on the 1967 borders; Israel compensating the Palestinians for the annexation of a small part of the West Bank by transferring Israeli territory the same size and of the same quality to the Palestinian state; and a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem. In reality, it does not endorse these principles at all. Rather, it empties these principles of all meaningful content, while conspicuously ignoring other principles, which are no less important, such as the agreement on a solution to the problem of Palestinian refugees. More so. Along with its diplomatic proposals, the Trump plan allegedly offers a detailed list of possibilities for economic development. The problem is that a close reading of these proposals makes it difficult to find any truly generous offers to the Palestinians, especially when compared to the moneys now being sent to the occupied territories by donor nations and through the very existence of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

One would have expected a harsh response to the plan, particularly from the Arab world and the European Union (EU). The extreme caution with which the plan was accepted by these two parties, and even by Moscow, was surprising to everyone. Apparently, the US administration made a concerted diplomatic effort in advance to block an immediate rejection of the plan by the rest of the international community, by saying something along the lines of, Read it carefully before you comment. While some members of the Arab League congratulated the very release of the plan, sometime later, the league adopted a position that rejected the plan. Similarly, Moscow reacted negatively, too, but only a few days after the plan was released. So far, the EUs response has remained cautious and diplomatic.

Josep Borell  the new high representative of the EU for foreign affairs and security policy, and until just a few months ago the Spanish foreign minister  began with a statement that left many surprised. As soon as the deal of the century was released he said, Todays initiative by the United States provides an occasion to re-launch the urgently needed efforts towards a negotiated and viable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Nothing more and nothing less. But even after he studied the Trump plan and realized what it contained, and even after he promised that any steps towards annexation, if implemented, could not pass unchallenged, he reacted very diplomatically, saying Feb. 4 that the US initiative as presented "departs from the internationally agreed parameters," and that the EU would "continue to support all efforts aimed at reviving a political process in line with international law, which ensures equal rights and which is acceptable to both parties."

Borell is no newcomer to the Palestinian-Israeli saga. He is well aware that this is not a plan to encourage dialogue between the parties. Rather, it is dictating terms to the Palestinians, and that even if the Palestinian entity is called a state, it will still have only limited autonomy in all its affairs, including its right to absorb and grant citizenship to immigrants. The fact that the American right has taken the side of the Israeli right does not leave any opening for a renewal of talks between the two parties. On the contrary, it should make that even less likely to happen.

Ever since Trump entered the White House, and after getting bogged down with Brexit and everything resulting from it, Europe has entered a long state of hibernation in everything related to the Middle East. The Middle East Quartet (the United States, Russia, the EU and the United Nations) meets very infrequently, and even when it does meet, it keeps a low profile. Many European leaders came to Israel to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. The event, held under the patronage of Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, certainly was moving. Still, there can be no doubt that it is much easier for European leaders to call for a war against anti-Semitism at home and to promise to promote awareness of the Holocaust in their respective countries, than it is to get involved yet again in the Middle East.

Some European figures, who would like to visit Israel for diplomatic purposes, realize that they wont be granted a meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister and until February 2019 foreign minister, so they prefer not to visit Israel at all. Borells predecessor, Federica Mogherini, has not visited the region for several years now, because every time she tried, she was informed that the prime minister was busy.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who is now considered to be the most prominent political figure in Western Europe, is the only leader to discuss the possibility of a European diplomatic initiative. In 2018, he said that if the Americans continue with their delays, and the Trump plan is not released, it will be necessary to propose an original European plan. The delays continued against the backdrop of Israels repeat elections (in April and September 2019). Now that the American plan has been finally released and all its ineptness has been finally exposed, it is obvious (to the Europeans) that an alternative plan is greatly needed  a plan that would grant the two parties a common basis for negotiations.

Macron understands more than all the others what the real significance of the Trump plan is, with its 15 sovereign Israeli enclaves within the territory of the future Palestinian state, not to mention the audacity of deciding that not a single Palestinian refugee will be allowed to gain citizenship in Israel, or that Israel would decide for the Palestinian government how many Palestinians it would be allowed to absorb in its own country. He realizes that this is nothing more than a provocative proposal by the extreme right, and not an invitation to hold serious talks. He also understands how deceptive the economic vision for the next 10 years is. The real question is whether he will decide to dive into the mire and offer an alternative, or at least a framework that would allow the two parties to go back to the negotiating table after the Israeli March election, following years of total diplomatic disconnect. Macron surely knows that only such an initiative could offer hopes to reach a historic solution to the conflict.

It is reasonable to assume that after this election, Israel will finally have a new government to replace the longest transition government in the countrys history. It is also safe to assume that this will be a national unity government made up of the Blue and White party and the Likud. Such a government would likely be overly cautious, when it comes to acting unilaterally. Also, the veto power granted to each side (typical of a unity government) will be far stronger than each sides ability to initiate new moves.

The Trump plan enables the transfer of Israeli territory with dense Arab populations to the Palestinian entity. It also enables Israel to annex territories that the authors of the plan estimate should not be part of the Palestinian future entity. Thus, it is unlikely that the plan could become the platform of such a unity government. There is no doubt that there it will be necessary for a responsible adult to propose a plan that all the parties can live with, much like the plans of the past, which Trump likes to belittle. It is now Europes turn to do that.
Oliver Wyman, a global leader in management consulting, has strengthened its regional energy sector expertise with the recruitment of Andrew Horncastle and Nadim Haddad as Partners in the Middle East.



Pedro Oliveira, Oliver Wymans Geography Head for the Middle East and Africa (MEA), said: We are delighted to welcome our new Partners who will further strengthen our energy practice in the Middle East and Africa region.



Through specialized industry and functional expertise, Andrew and Nadim will bring nearly 40 years of combined experience to Oliver Wyman, as part of our commitment to the Middle East region whilst contributing to the energy agenda in particular.



Horncastle leads Oliver Wymans MEA Energy Practice and is a member of the MEA Management Committee. He joined Oliver Wyman in late 2019 from Strategy&, where he led the downstream and chemicals activities in the Middle East, as well as the global chemicals practice.



Im proud to lead Oliver Wymans Energy Practice in the region and look forward to working with such a talented group of individuals to support our clients, said Horncastle. The energy sector is witnessing a significant transformation in the region and globally across the integrated value chain. Oliver Wymans energy practice provides support for clients in upstream, downstream and chemicals, utilities and adjacent industries equipped with the latest foresight and practical know-how.



Nadim Haddad joins Oliver Wyman from Strategy& with deep expertise developed in petrochemicals and downstream chemicals, downstream oil and gas and heavy industries



It is a defining moment for the downstream industry as the region is looking more than ever to further capture the value of its hydrocarbon resources. I am excited to join forces with my partners in the Energy practice and support our colleagues at Oliver Wyman to drive results for our clients in this important transitional phase, said Haddad.



Horncastle holds an MBA from Otto Friedrich University in Bamberg, Germany and completed a fellowship program at INSEAD. Meanwhile, Haddad holds an MBA from INSEAD, a Masters Degree in Engineering Management from the University of Southern California and a Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering from the American University of Beirut.  TradeArabia News Service
VeritasKarishma wrote:

broall wrote:

In a learning experiment a researcher ran rats through a maze. Some of the rats were blind, others deaf, others lacked a sense of smell, and others had no sensory deficiencies; yet all the rats learned the task in much the same amount of time. Of the senses other than sight, hearing, and smell, only kinesthesia had not previously been shown to be irrelevant to maze-learning. The researcher concluded on the basis of these facts that kinesthesia, the sensation of bodily movement, is sufficient for maze-learning.



The researchers reasoning is most vulnerable to which one of the following criticisms?





(A) The small differences in proficiency found by the researcher did not appear to fall into a systematic pattern by group.



(B) The possibility that the interaction of kinesthesia with at least one other sense is required for maze-learning cannot be ruled out on the basis of the data above.



(C) It can be determined from the data that rats who are deprived of one of their sources of sensory stimulation become more reliant on kinesthesia than they had been, but the data do not indicate how such a transference takes place.



(D) It can be determined from the data that rats can learn to run mazes by depending on kinesthesia alone, but the possibility that rats respond to nonkinesthetic stimulation is not ruled out.



(E) It can be determined from the data that maze-learning in rats depends on at least two sources of sensory stimulation, one of which is kinesthesia, but which of the remaining sources must also be employed is not determinable.



Source: LSAT

Rats with a sensory deficiency (of sight, hearing or smell) and others with no deficiency learned in same time.Sight, hearing, smell and kinesthesia are relevant to maze learning.Conclusion: Kinesthesia is sufficient for maze learning.Since rats with some deficiency learnt just like rats with no deficiency, the argument says that sight, hearing and smell are not necessary for maze learning, that kinesthesia is sufficient.We need to weaken this.(A) The small differences in proficiency found by the researcher did not appear to fall into a systematic pattern by group.There was no pattern for diff in proficiency. So we cannot say that any one deficiency cause decrease in proficiency.(B) The possibility that the interaction of kinesthesia with at least one other sense is required for maze-learning cannot be ruled out on the basis of the data above.Correct. We cannot rule out the possibility that kinesthesia and at least one other sense (or two) are required for maze learning. Then kinesthesia may not be sufficient. The experiment does not include rats that have just kinesthesia and no other relevant sense. It is possible that at least one other sense is needed along with kinesthesia.(C) It can be determined from the data that rats who are deprived of one of their sources of sensory stimulation become more reliant on kinesthesia than they had been, but the data do not indicate how such a transference takes place.This doesn't weaken our argument that kinesthesia is sufficient for maze learning. It could explain why kinesthesia is sufficient.(D) It can be determined from the data that rats can learn to run mazes by depending on kinesthesia alone, but the possibility that rats respond to nonkinesthetic stimulation is not ruled out.We don't care about nonkinesthetic stimulation. Our argument is this - kinesthesia is sufficient for maze learning. The argument is not concerned with nonkinesthetic stimulation.(E) It can be determined from the data that maze-learning in rats depends on at least two sources of sensory stimulation, one of which is kinesthesia, but which of the remaining sources must also be employed is not determinable.The data does not say that at least two sources of stimulation are needed. It also doesn't say that there is a definitive second source. The data shows that rats with one sense missing perform as we'll as rats with no sense missing. How many of the other senses are used, it doesn't say. The data shows that sight, smell and hearing are not independently necessary. It is possible that kinesthesia is sufficient. It is possible that kinesthesia and one other sense are needed. It is also possible that kinesthesia and two other senses are needed.The argument concludes that kinesthesia alone is sufficient. But it doesn't consider that kinesthesia along with one (or two) other sense might be performing well together. And that is why option (B) is correct.Answer (B)
The widely panned movie musical Cats and four of its stars have been nominated for the Golden Raspberry Awards, or Razzies  Hollywood's annual ritual that lampoons the worst of cinema.

James Corden, Judi Dench, Francesca Hayward and Australian actor Rebel Wilson received Razzie acting nominations for their Cats roles, in which they were costumed in digitally created fur. Oscar-winner Dench was singled out for "looking suspiciously similar to The Cowardly Lion from Wizard of Oz," organisers said in a statement announcing this year's nominees.

Wilson was also nominated for worst actress for her performance in The Hustle alongside her co-star Anne Hathaway.

Rebel Wilson, pictured at Monday's Oscars, has been nominated for two Razzies. Credit:Invision

Overall Cats was given eight Razzie nominations, tying for the lead with Tyler Perry's A Madea Family Funeral, and Sylvester Stallone's Rambo: Last Blood. All three movies are in the running for worst picture, alongside psychological thriller The Fanatic and horror flick The Haunting of Sharon Tate.
KALAMAZOO, MI -- The Kalamazoo County Sheriffs Office will now oversee security at the bus station in downtown Kalamazoo.

A new agreement with the sheriffs office for police services at the Transportation Center was approved at a meeting Monday, Feb. 10, by the Kalamazoo County and Central County transportation authorities.

The new agreement was needed after the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety terminated its contract effective Sunday, Feb. 9, according to the recommendation to the board from Metro Executive Director Sean McBride.

Exactly when deputies will begin patrolling at the center is still under negotiation because the sheriffs office is understaffed and needs to recruit deputies for the positions, McBride said. During the transition, Metro will expand the use of the private security company, Security Plus, McBride said.

Not all details of the agreement are finalized due to the condensed time period and fluidity of the situation," the recommendation said.

Discussions with the sheriffs office began in November for the sheriff to supply two deputies to the transportation center. The hours of coverage have not yet been finalized but would be comparable to what the city provided previously, McBride said.

The term of the drafted agreement runs through Dec. 31, 2022. Metro will pay the sheriffs office no more than $245,000 during the first full year of service. This rate is based on the actual cost attributed to a sheriffs deputy and is the same rate that other jurisdictions, such as Comstock and Oshtemo townships, pay for contracted services, according to the recommendation presented to board members.

The precise monthly rate for the agreement between Metro and the sheriffs office will be determined before the contract is finalized.

On average, the transit system paid $200,000 per year when contracting with Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety for security services, the recommendation said.

Overall, Metro budgeted $267,370 for security services in the 2020 fiscal year budget to cover the police contract and private security services.

Board member Curtis Aardema said Kalamazoo residents already pay taxes to fund emergency response from KDPS, and the dual transportation authorities that oversee Kalamazoo Metro should first be sure a new agreement with the sheriffs office is necessary.

We are duplicating a service that is already there, Aardema said. We need to make sure its a wise use of funds."

Aardema expressed concern that the cost to Metro was only laid out in the contract for the first full year, despite the agreement running through the end of 2022.

Theres an open end that Im not comfortable with," he said.

Aardema asked that the board consider instead a one-year contract with the sheriffs office, though he agreed with a fellow board member that Metros executive team can be trusted to make the right choice in final negotiations, including setting annual payment rates through 2022.

The agreement with the sheriffs office was approved by both authorities without any dissenting votes.

The Kalamazoo County authority was created in 2006 to provide countywide Metro Connect and Metro Share Van services within Kalamazoo County. Central County authority was created in 2014 to manage and operate the services of Metro within the urbanized area.

Sheriff Rick Fuller said the cost to Metro could be raised based on salary increases for the officers.

Jim Pearson, the Portage representative on the central county authority who also serves on the Portage City Council, asked Fuller about his recruitment efforts.

Give us a realistic timeline for when there will be boots at the Transportation Center, Pearson said.

Fuller told the board that his office is recruiting deputies much like other agencies in Michigan who are struggling to find police officers. The Kalamazoo County Sheriffs Office has 11 unfilled positions currently, Fuller said, and the process to get deputies at the center downtown could take six months.

During the transition, Security Plus will be on site from 10 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. Monday through Friday, 1 p.m. through 11 p.m. on Saturdays and 1 p.m. through 7 p.m. on Sundays, the recommendation said.

KDPS will assist the security team with any police, fire or medical needs as necessary.

Also during the meeting, McBride updated the board on changes to the Youth Mobility Fund, which gives Kalamazoo high school students free access to Metro buses. A restriction on the time when students were allowed to ride for free was lifted Monday, Feb. 3. It was originally implemented in December because of behavioral issues and overcapacity at certain times of the day.

Since the restriction was lifted, 1,661 students have used their pass, and Metro has not experienced any behavior issues on the buses or at the transportation center, McBride said. For the month of January, 14,897 students used their pass, bringing the total number of KPS rides since the program started to 116,486.

The Youth Mobility Fund is a partnership between Kalamazoo Public Schools, the city of Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo Metro Transit and the Kalamazoo Public Library. The passes are available to all of the districts about 3,700 high school students, if they complete an opt-in form agreeing to Metros rules.

Previously known by the name Kalamazoo Metro Transit, the public transit system rebranded itself as Metro in January 2018.

Metro continues the work to prepare for the start of the 2020 school year, including working with youth representatives for feedback on improving the program, he said.

Also on MLive:

Behavioral, capacity issues spur changes to free bus program for Kalamazoo students

Unlimited free bus fares offered to Kalamazoo high school students

Kalamazoo Metro asks voters for tax increase on March ballot
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- With tribal leaders in town for a big week of meetings and hearings, President Donald Trump is releasing his fiscal year 2021 budget request, a document that signals his administration's commitment to fulfilling trust and treaty obligations.

For the past three years, the request has made it look as Trump isn't that interested in meeting the needs of the first Americans. He's repeatedly sought cuts to key programs at the Bureau of Indian Affairs , the federal agency with the most responsibilities to tribes and their citizens.

Other agencies haven't fared much better. Indian programs at the Department of Education , the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Environmental Protection Agency are among those that haven taken hits since Trump took office in January 2017.

We have a vision for how we go," President Fawn Sharp of the National Congress of American Indians told key lawmakers at a hearing that examined the U.S. government's many "Broken Promises" last November, "to a path of prosperity."

But in that path there are multiple barriers," Sharp said, pointing to federal policies, such as inadequate funding, that hinder Indian Country.

The only place where Trump hasn't been seeking drastic cuts is at the Indian Health Service . But tribal advocates point out that the agency has never been funded at the level it needs to help improve outcomes and conditions among American Indians and Alaska Natives.

"In 1955, Congress established the Indian Health Service in partial fulfillment of its constitutional obligations for health services," Stacy Bohlen, a citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians who serves as Chief Executive Officer of the National Indian Health Board , said in testimony to Congress. "Yet at no time since the founding of IHS has Congress fully funded health care in Indian Country at the level of need."

The White House Office of Management and Budget typically posts the budget request in the morning. The documents provide a high-level look at the entire government.

Individual agencies will follow with their own budget documents. The Department of the Interior , which includes the BIA, usually updates doi.gov/budget with the latest request.

The Department of Health and Human Services , which includes the IHS, typically posts the request at .hhs.gov/about/budget . IHS documents should be available at ihs.gov/budgetformulation/congressionaljustifications

Trump's request, though, isn't the end of the story. It is up to Congress to appropriate the funds for the BIA, the IHS and other agencies, and members from both parties frequently work together to reverse the president's cuts.

To help make the case, members of the House Committee on Appropriations will be hearing from dozens of tribal, Indian and Native leaders this week. Starting on Tuesday morning, they will hold four sessions of public witness testimony.

House Committee on Appropriations Notices

Mark your calendars! Dozens of Tribal, Indian and Alaska Native leaders are testifying in the nations capital about their fiscal year 2021 budget needs. #FY2021 #Appropriations https://t.co/LDQ6IPsyZR  indianz.com (@indianz) February 9, 2020

Save the date! Dozens of Tribal, Indian and Alaska Native leaders are testifying in the nations capital about their fiscal year 2021 budget needs. #FY2021 #Appropriations https://t.co/JHuw6Drv4V  indianz.com (@indianz) February 9, 2020

Set an alarm! Dozens of Tribal, Indian and Alaska Native leaders are testifying in the nations capital about their fiscal year 2021 budget needs. #FY2021 #Appropriations https://t.co/o8q8CLksis  indianz.com (@indianz) February 9, 2020

Almost there! Dozens of Tribal, Indian and Alaska Native leaders are testifying in the nations capital about their fiscal year 2021 budget needs. #FY2021 #Appropriations https://t.co/QXSZxs3xbd  indianz.com (@indianz) February 9, 2020

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She shared a rather cryptic post amid her ongoing feud with Phillip Schofield after the veteran presenter came out as gay.

Despite the furore, Amanda Holden stepped out in style in a stunning red dress as she continued filming Britain's Got Talent auditions in Manchester on Monday.

The TV judge, 48, looked stunning in a form-fitting Emilia Wickstead midi dress, which featured an off-the-shoulder silhouette.

Red hot: Amanda Holden stepped out in style in a stunning red dress as she continued filming Britain's Got Talent auditions in Manchester on Monday

The Heart Breakfast radio presenter's look featured an on-trend square neckline that accentuated her decolletage.

Flashing a smile for the cameras, she draped a matching scarlet coloured over her shoulders leaving her hotel.

Amanda complemented her look with a pointed pair of nude heels and completed her look with a pair of diamond studs.

She added a radiant palette of make-up, while her blonde tresses were swept into a slicked-back style.

Good company: The TV beauty was in good company as she stepped out as BGT hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly

Getting chic done: The TV judge, 48, looked stunning in a form-fitting Emilia Wickstead midi dress, which boasted an off-the-shoulder silhouette

The TV beauty was in good company as she stepped out as BGT hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly and fellow judge David Walliams also left their accommodation.

Amanda's cheery outing comes a day after she shared a cryptic post on social media.

The Heart radio presenter took to Instagram on Sunday morning to post a video of herself flashing her derriere while at a photoshoot, but it was her choice of caption which drew most interest.

Lying on the floor of a white studio in a plunging silky gown, Amanda playfully kicked her legs in the air.

Outing: Amanda's fellow BGT judge David Walliams tried to go low-key as he left his hotel ahead of auditions

Cryptic: Amanda shared cryptic post to Instagram on Sunday, amid her ongoing feud with Phillip Schofield after the veteran presenter came out as gay

An ITV spokesperson later insisted that Rochelle's casting was a decision made by producers, telling MailOnline: 'Presenter line ups on This Morning change regularly and final decisions on these line ups are made by producers and not the presenters.

'Phillip Schofield is a much loved broadcaster and part of the ITV family. He is a consummate professional and held in high regard at ITV. Amanda is also held in high regard as a judge on one of our biggest shows.'

Open and honest: Schofield has revealed he was 'consumed' by a secret battle with his sexuality for years before finally making the decision to come out as gay on Friday morning

Back in June 2019, When asked on her Heart Breakfast show what she wouldn't want to find inside her home, Amanda said: 'Spiders, flies and Phillip Schofield.'

Speaking on Friday morning, Schofield revealed he was 'consumed' by a secret battle with his sexuality for years before finally making the decision to come out as gay following a series of 'heartbreaking' conversations with his family.

In an emotional statement, shared with millions of Instagram followers, the veteran star, 57, admitted he had suffered 'dark moments, pain and confusion' as he gradually came to terms with his sexual orientation.

Cryptic: The Heart radio presenter posted a video of herself flashing her derriere while at a photoshoot, but it was her choice of caption which drew most interest

Claim: Amanda previously hit out at Schofield amid claims he blocked her from filling in for regular co-host Holly Willoughby while she co-hosted I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

But he revealed the support of his 'incredible' family - wife of 27 years Stephanie and their two children - convinced him to be open and honest about his feelings.

He wrote: 'You never know what's going on in someone's seemingly perfect life, what issues they are struggling with, or the state of their wellbeing - and so you won't know what has been consuming me for the last few years.

With the strength and support of my wife and my daughters, I have been coming to terms with the fact that I am gay.

On-screen chemistry: The coveted role eventually went to former Saturdays star Rochelle Humes

'I have been coming to terms with the fact that I am gay': Phillip's statement in full You never know what's going on in someone's seemingly perfect life, what issues they are struggling with, or the state of their wellbeing - and so you won't know what has been consuming me for the last few years. With the strength and support of my wife and my daughters, I have been coming to terms with the fact that I am gay. This is something that has caused many heart-breaking conversations at home. I have been married to Steph for nearly 27 years, and we have two beautiful grown-up daughters, Molly and Ruby. My family have held me so close: they have tried to cheer me up, to smother me with kindness and love, despite their own confusion. Yet still I can't sleep and there have been some very dark moments. My inner conflict contrasts with an outside world that has changed so very much for the better. Today, quite rightly, being gay is a reason to celebrate and be proud. Yes, I am feeling pain and confusion, but that comes only from the hurt that I am causing to my family. Steph has been incredible - I love her so very much. She is the kindest soul I have ever met. My girls have been astonishing in their love, hugs and encouraging words of comfort. Both mine and Steph's entire families have stunned me with their love, instant acceptance and support. Of course they are worried about Steph but I know they will scoop us both us. My friends are the best, especially Holly, who has been so kind and wise - and who has hugged me as I sobbed on her shoulder. At ITV, I couldn't hope to work with more wonderful, supportive teams. Every day on This Morning, I sit in awe of those we meet who have been brave and open in confronting their truth - so now it's my turn to share mine. This will probably all come as something and I understand, but only by facing this, by being honest, can I hope to find peace in my mind and a way forward. Please be kind, especially to my family. Phillip'. Advertisement

'This is something that has caused many heart-breaking conversations at home. I have been married to Steph for nearly 27 years, and we have two beautiful grown-up daughters, Molly and Ruby.

'My family have held me so close: they have tried to cheer me up, to smother me with kindness and love, despite their own confusion. Yet still I can't sleep and there have been some very dark moments.

'My inner conflict contrasts with an outside world that has changed so very much for the better. Today, quite rightly, being gay is a reason to celebrate and be proud.

Yes, I am feeling pain and confusion, but that comes only from the hurt that I am causing to my family.'

If you would like support on LGBT related-issues, you can contact the LGBT Foundation on 0345 330 3030 or email helpline@lgbt.foundation
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mexican Gold Corp. (the Company or Mexican Gold") (TSXV: MEX) is pleased to announce that it has completed its previously announced continuation (the Continuance) of its incorporation from Ontario to British Columbia and its name change to Mexican Gold Mining Corp.

In connection with the Continuance and name change, the Companys trading symbols of MEX for its common shares (the Shares) listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (the Exchange) and MEX.WT for its share purchase warrants (the Warrants) listed on the Exchange will remain unchanged. The CUSIP number assigned to the Companys Shares following the name change is 592819106 (ISIN: CA5928191066). The CUSIP number assigned to the Companys Warrants following the name change is 592819114 (ISIN: CA5928191140). No action is required to be taken by shareholders with respect to the name change. Outstanding share certificates are not affected by the name change and do not need to be exchanged.

The name change to Mexican Gold Mining Corp. was a result of the Continuation from Ontario to BC. As part of Companys proposed business combination with New Found Gold Corp, previously announced on January 28, 2020, the Company will further change its name to Bonanza King Gold Corp. on closing of the transaction, expected on April 30, 2020.

Trading in the Companys shares will remain halted pending receipt of Exchange approval for the Companys proposed business combination with New Found Gold Corp.

About Mexican Gold Corp.

Mexican Gold Corp. is a Canadian based mineral exploration and development company committed to building long-term value through ongoing discoveries and strategic acquisitions of prospective precious metals and copper projects in the Americas. Mexican Gold is exploring the Las Minas Project, which is located in the core of the Las Minas mining district in Veracruz State, Mexico, and is host to one of the newest, under-explored skarn systems known in Mexico.

For more information, please contact:

Philip ONeill  CEO, President, and Director

E-mail: info@mexicangold.ca

Telephone: (604) 638-1428

Website: www.mexicangold.ca

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.
This is the terrifying moment passengers feared for their lives when their plane repeatedly attempted to land while battling Storm Ciara.

More than 300 passengers were on board the Air Europa flight from Madrid to Amsterdam which took off just after 3pm yesterday.

Footage shows one female passenger screaming in terror as the plane unsuccessfully attempts to reach the tarmac five times.

The pilot eventually decided to turn back to the airport they departed from, where he was able to land the aircraft safely.

Grote paniek aan boord van dit vliegtuig dat wilde landen op Schiphol vanavond. Door de storm lukte dat tot vijf keer toe niet. Het toestel keerde daarom terug naar Madrid. https://t.co/N2jIujC2sR pic.twitter.com/1etiiIIJSB  RTL Nieuws (@RTLnieuws) February 9, 2020

More than 300 passengers were on board the Air Europa flight from Madrid to Amsterdam which took off just after 3pm yesterday with footage showing the panic that spread through the plane

In the video, the dimly-lit plane can be seen jolting up and down with severe turbulence.

One of the female passengers is crying hysterically in the background as she begins to fear for her safety.

The plane continues to shake violently, which prompts the woman to then let out a series of prolonged screams.

They continue to increase in pitch before she can be heard saying 'oh my god' repeatedly.

The video ends shortly afterwards.

The pilot circled the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport five times as it attempted to land while battling Storm Ciara

The flight was eventually forced to return to its origin at Madrid Barajas Airport where it reached the tarmac safely

More than 300 passengers were on board the Air Europa flight which took off just after 3pm yesterday (stock image)

Another passenger later said that some of those on board were sick during the turbulent journey and that items of luggage flew around the cabin.

The plane made five attempts to land at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport before the pilot turned the aircraft around to return to Madrid Barajas.

One of the passengers who had been on board, Mark Haagen, from Kamerik, Netherlands, spoke about the experience after returning to solid ground.

One of the passengers who had been on board, Mark Haagen (right), from Kamerik, Netherlands, spoke about the experience after returning to solid ground

Other passengers on board were sick during the turbulent journey and items of luggage flew around the cabin. Pictured: Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

He told RTLNieuws: 'We made a restart five times at Schiphol but we were unable to land...

'The pilot stopped the landing twice at the very last moment and we took off again at 150 meters above the runway. Really not cool.'

'People screamed and were puking. The turbulence was enormous, everything vibrated and went back and forth. The luggage flew back and forth.'

Mr Haagen also went on to criticise the pilot and crew for their lack of communication during the bumpy attempts to land.

Storm Ciara also caused havoc with those on the ground in the Netherlands. Pictured: Firefighters assessing the damage after a tree fell on to a car as a result of the winds in Rotterdam

Buildings were also damaged with facade panels being blown off a block of flats in Haarlem, Netherlands

A spokeswoman for Air Europa said: 'The Flight UX1093 from Madrid to Amsterdam couldn't land at Amsterdam airport due to bad weather and returned to Madrid.

'Passengers were attended to at all times, accommodated in hotels and alternatives to reach their destinations the day after were managed by our staff.'

Storm Ciara caused havoc with flights across Europe with winds of up to 93mph.

Footage showed several planes dangerously rocking from side-to-side at airports including Manchester, Birmingham and Frankfurt.

Gatwick was the UK's worst affected by the weather with around 300 arrivals and departures cancelled.
After issuing the directive to restrict the circulation of Rs 2,000 notes, senior officials of the PSB reportedly called branch managers to confirm that it was being executed immediately.

A top public sector bank in the country reportedly issued instructions to its senior officials to restrict the circulation of currency notes of Rs 2,000 denomination, said a news report. The officials have been asked not to create panic among customers and told them to receive Rs 2,000 notes from the bank customers.

After issuing the directive to restrict the circulation of Rs 2,000 notes, senior officials of the public sector bank (PSB) reportedly called branch managers to confirm that it was being executed immediately, said a report in Business Insider.

The branch officials were asked to fill only the denominations of Rs 500, Rs 200 and Rs 100 in ATMs and to meet the possible inconvenience arising out the situation, the supply of Rs 100 notes will be increased through currency chests, said the report citing an email of the PSB.

The report, however, did not mention the name of the PSB.

The denomination of Rs 2,000 note was introduced after demonetisation in November 2016.

In October last year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had informed that it had not printed a single banknote of Rs 2,000 denomination in FY20 as it had stopped the printing of the high-value denomination notes temporarily on security grounds.

Experts said that the purpose behind the move to scale down and finally stop the printing of the high-value notes was reportedly an attempt to prevent easy hoarding, which defied the governments initiatives to curb black money flow.

About 3,542.991 million notes of Rs 2,000 denomination were printed during fiscal 2017 and in the next financial year, the number saw a dip as the central bank printed only 111.507 million notes of the same denomination.

In January 2019, the printing of Rs 2,000 banknote had been reduced to the "minimum" by the RBI, a top finance ministry official said.

Soon after the sudden decision to ban old Rs 500/1,000 currency notes by the government, the RBI had come out with the Rs 2,000 currency note along with a new look Rs 500 note as part of its massive remonetisation exercise.

The senior official said the RBI and the government from time to time decide on the quantum of currency to be printed on the basis of money in circulation.

When the Rs 2,000 note was launched, it was decided that the printing would be "scaled down" going forward, since the new high currency value note was meant for meeting the remonetisation need.

"The printing of 2,000 rupee notes has been substantially reduced. It has been decided to limit the printing of 2000 currency notes to a minimum. This is nothing new," the official said.

Recently, a slew of fake note cases has been reported in the country. The National Criminal Records Bureau (NCRB) revealed that 56 percent of all the Rs 2,000 notes seized were fake. This has resulted in a decrease in the production and consequent supply of the denominated notes across the country.

 With PTI inputs
Young Iraqi Assyrian Eyes Future With Mixture of Hope and Dread

Wissam Ablahad, an Assyrian in Iraq. ( ACN) Wissam Ablahad (26) is a Syriac Orthodox young man who lives with his parents and two siblings in the township of Ba'ashiqah, on the Nineveh Plains in northern Iraq. Wissam and his family, like many thousands of Christian families who live on the Nineveh Plains, fled the 2014 ISIS invasion of the region and spent several years living in Erbil, Kurdistan. He spoke with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

Everyone here knows that August 6, 2014, was a dark and painful day in Iraqi Christian history: we were subjected to violence, persecution, and forced displacement at the hands of ISIS. Those who could not escape remained in its grip. My family and I were lucky. We fled, leaving our possessions and money behind. We clung to our faith and asked Jesus for help.

Our first stop was a hosting station in Kurdistan. We stayed there until we could find a more suitable place to live; we later moved to Erbil so I could finish my studies. In 2017, I graduated from the University of Mosul--which had a facility in Erbil--with a degree in Business Administration.

Hope still exists for us. Terrorists were expelled from the Nineveh Plains, so we were able to return to our home despite the damage done to it. In any case, we could not have stayed in Kurdistan, where the cost of living is too high and we could not find steady employment there.

Ba'ashiqah is currently stable, and we have the protection of the Iraqi army and the local police force. But we still feel insecure in many ways. There is no justice or equality for Christians here; unemployment rates are high here, too. And the ISIS occupation has left a legacy of distrust between Christians and Muslims in the region.

I would prefer emigrating today. I'm a university graduate but I am making just $200 a month working in a juice shop. My ambition was to get a government position and to have a chance at a stable job.

The future is unknown and that does frighten me. The country is going through endless conflicts; and the power of militia and the influence of Iran rob Iraq of its sovereignty. We have been persecuted for our faith and will likely continue to be. But we remain attached to our faith at all costs and hope that peace will prevail in the end.

I hope that future generations of Christians can fulfill their responsibility to build a stable Iraqi society, one in which Christians can play a significant role.

Meanwhile, I am grateful for the Church and the various youth programs it runs, teaching the faith as well as basic computer skills and English. That is helping keep hope alive for young Iraqi Christians.
A new study suggests some dinosaurs survived periods of strong volcanic activity about 183 million years ago in what is now South Africa.

Scientists recently described fossil footprints discovered from dinosaurs dating back to the Early Jurassic geologic period.

The footprints were discovered on a present-day farm in South Africas Karoo Basin. During the Early Jurassic period, the area experienced intense volcanic activity, including massive lava flows. The activity may have caused great harm to the local environment and changed the chemistry of the atmosphere.

Fossils examined from the time provide evidence that the volcanic activity caused mass extinctions of many species  both on land and in the oceans. Because there is often a lack of skeletal bones, fossil footprints are sometimes the only evidence that animals were present in an ancient environment.

The footprints are in sandstone found between layers of volcanic rock. Researchers say the fossils show that the prints belonged to at least three different animals that walked near the sandy edge of a stream.

The scientists believe the footprints are proof that some dinosaurs and other animals were able to survive in the area during quieter periods between volcanic explosions.

Geologist Emese Bordy is with South Africas University of Cape Town. She calls such animals Karoo firewalkers. They were among the last animals known to have lived through the periods extreme conditions.

But Bordy also noted, Hot was hot back then, too. So no, they did not walk on the lava.

Bordy said the footprints were from both meat- and plant-eating dinosaurs. One was a relatively small two-legged meat-eating dinosaur. Another was a similarly small four-legged dinosaur that likely ate plants, while the third may have been an early mammal species.

The footprints were found in plant remains and sediment samples from rivers and lakes. Bordy said, For short time periods, the streams were flowing again, the sun was shining, the plants were growing and the animals - among them dinosaurs - were grazing and hunting.

She added: This story helps us change the way we see life in stressful and hostile environments, and thus improves our understanding of the history of life on Earth.

Bordy and other researchers published their findings in the journal PLOS ONE.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from Reuters and PLOS ONE. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

Quiz - Study: Firewalker Dinosaurs Survived South Africas Land of Lava Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

_______________________________________________

Words in This Story

fossil  n. part of an animal or plant from the past that has been preserved in rock

geologic  adj. the study of rocks and the physical processes of the earth

lava  n. hot melted rock that comes out of a volcano

extinction  n. a situation in which a type of animal no longer exists

species  n. a group of animals or plants that are similar and can produce young animals or plants

stream  n. a small river

mammal  n. a kind of animal that feeds milk to its young and that usually has hair or fur covering most of its skin

graze  v. to eat

stressful  adj. something making a person stressed

hostile  adj. unpleasant and not suitable for living or growing
Consolidated record revenue from CLS Nevada of $1.15 million compared to $0.73 million in January 2019 , an increase of 49%.

compared to in , an increase of 49%. Consolidated record gross margin of 52% compared to 39% in January 2019 an increase of 33%.

an increase of 33%. A 136% increase in dispensary customers, from 10,908 (351 average per day) in January 2019 to a record 25,776 (831 average per day) in January 2020 .

to a record 25,776 (831 average per day) in . Installation of a new POS system allowing for increased transactions, more hands-on interaction with our customers and a substantial decrease in customer wait times.

Executed agreements to provide 3rd party wholesale manufacturing at our North Las Vegas, NV facility.

According to Andrew Glashow, President and COO of CLS Holdings, "The month of January represented the best overall month to date for our operating divisions. We continued our positive momentum from CY19 into CY20. While January of 2019 saw a drop-off in revenue after the holiday period, we saw a continued acceleration in revenue and customer growth this January.

The company has made great strides supported by a team of 80 hardworking, dedicated employees in Las Vegas. We anticipate that 2020 will be CLS Nevada's best year and are carefully managing growth while increasing margins and profitability. The month of January 2020 also marked double digit positive gross margin expansion while running ahead of our CLS Nevada operating plan. CLS Nevada continues to be cash flow positive, which facilitates all our growth and capital improvements.

Moving forward in 2020, we expect to see substantial revenue and margin expansion from our newly built conversion and extraction facility in North Las Vegas, NV. We have begun to manufacture for a number of third parties and are creating an entire new line of effect-based products to be launched soon. These products will be unique and differentiated in the Nevada cannabis market".

About CLS Holdings USA, Inc.

CLS Holdings USA, Inc. (CLSH) is a diversified cannabis company that acts as an integrated cannabis producer and retailer through its Oasis Cannabis subsidiaries in Nevada and plans to expand to other states. CLS stands for ''Cannabis Life Sciences,'' in recognition of the Company's patented proprietary method of extracting various cannabinoids from the marijuana plant and converting them into products with a higher level of quality and consistency. The Company's business model includes licensing operations, processing operations, processing facilities, sale of products, brand creation and consulting services.

http://www.clsholdingsinc.com

Twitter: @CLSHusa

About Oasis Cannabis

Oasis Cannabis has operated a cannabis dispensary in the Las Vegas market since dispensaries first opened in Nevada in 2015 and has been recognized as one of the top marijuana retailers in the state. Its location within walking distance to the Las Vegas Strip and Downtown Las Vegas in combination with its delivery service to residents allows it to efficiently serve both locals and tourists in the Las Vegas area. In February 2019, it was named ''Best Dispensary for Pot Pros'' by Desert Companion Magazine. In August 2017, the company commenced wholesale offerings of cannabis in Nevada with the launch of its City Trees brand of cannabis concentrates and cannabis-infused products.

http://oasiscannabis.com

(Images courtesy of Oasis Cannabis Dispensary, 2020. Click for more photos.)

About City Trees

Founded in 2017, City Trees is a Nevada-based cannabis cultivation, production and distribution company. Offering a wide variety of products with consistent results, City Trees is one the fastest growing wholesale companies in the industry. Its products are now available at 44 dispensaries.

https://citytrees.com



(Images courtesy of City Trees, 2020. Click for more photos.)

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains certain ''forward-looking information'' within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and ''forward-looking statements'' as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, the ''forward-looking statements''). These statements relate to anticipated future events, future results of operations or future financial performance, and anticipated growth. In some cases, you can identify forward looking statements by terminology such as ''may,'' ''might,'' ''will,'' ''should,'' ''intends,'' ''expects,'' ''plans,'' ''goals,'' ''projects,'' ''anticipates,'' ''believes,'' ''estimates,'' ''predicts,'' ''potential,'' or ''continue'' or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements are only predictions, are uncertain and involve substantial known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, levels of activity or performance to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity or performance expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. We cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity or performance and we cannot guaranty that the proposed transactions described in this press release will occur. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date that they were made. These cautionary statements should be considered together with any written or oral forward-looking statements that we may issue in the future. Except as required by applicable law, we do not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements to conform these statements to reflect actual results, later events or circumstances or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. See CLS Holdings USA filings with the SEC and on its SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com for additional details.

SOURCE CLS Holdings USA Inc

Related Links

https://www.clsholdingsinc.com/


State-owned on Monday announced cut in its marginal cost of funds-based lending rates (MCLR) by up to 10 basis points, effective February 12.

The reduction will make home, auto and other loans cheaper for new borrowers.

With this reduction, the one-year MCLR has come down to 8.15 per cent per annum from 8.25 per cent, according to a bank statement.

The reduction in MCLR by the bank comes a day after the Reserve Bank of India left the repo rate unchanged at 5.15 per cent but announced long-term repo operation for up to Rs 1 lakh crore, making cost of funds cheaper for

While the one-month MCLR has been reduced by 5 basis points to 7.55 per cent, overnight, three- and six-month rates were down by 10 basis points, it said.

Last week, market leader State Bank of India (SBI) announced 5 basis points (bps) reduction in its MCLR across tenors, effective February 10.

This was the ninth consecutive cut in MCLR by the bank in the current financial year.
The Embassy of Russia in Armenia today hosted a solemn event dedicated to Diplomats Day, which is celebrated in Russia.

Among the attendees were representatives of the diplomatic missions accredited to Armenia, as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Assembly and Government of Armenia.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Armenia Sergey Kopirkin addressed the attendees during the solemn event. Dear colleagues and friends, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the Embassy of the Russian Federation. Russia and all Russian diplomatic missions are celebrating Diplomats Day. Today we are commemorating all the generations of Russian diplomats who have made their contributions to the strengthening of statehood and advocacy of Russia and its people in the international arena. We express special gratitude to the veterans of diplomatic service and proudly remember the colleagues who sacrificed their lives.

By exerting all of its efforts to protect the interests, citizens and compatriots of the country, the Russian Federation and the diplomatic service work very consistently to make sure the world is safer, more democratic and more predictable. I would like to emphasize the close cooperation between Russian and Armenian diplomats in the international arena, the Russian Ambassador emphasized.
China on Monday welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's offer of support and help to fight the deadly novel coronavirus outbreak that has killed over 900 and infected around 45,000 people in the Asian gaint.

"India's acts of goodwill fully demonstrate its friendship with China. We thank and appreciate India's support for China's fight against the coronavirus," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said during an online media briefing while replying to a question on Modi's letter to President Xi Jinping.

Modi on Sunday in a letter offered assistance to President Xi in the fight against the ongoing health emergency and offered his condolences at the unfortunate loss of lives due to the outbreak.

Modi had also expressed solidarity with the Chinese President and the people of China in this time of crisis.

In his letter, the Prime Minister had conveyed appreciation for the facilitation provided by the Chinese government for evacuation of around 650 Indian citizens from Wuhan in Hubei province which is the epicentre of the outbreak and has been placed under lockdown for the past several weeks now.

"We stand ready to work with India and other members of the international community to jointly tackle fight the epidemic and safeguard regional and global public health security," Geng said.

Indian Ambassador to China, Vikram Misri on Monday said New Delhi was in touch with Chinese officials to assess the immediate requirements to fight the outbreak.
South African Wamkele Mene has emerged the first secretary-general of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Mr Menes emergence followed a close contest with Nigerian Cecilia Akintomide for the top job.

It also capped days of intense lobbying by the two countries to win support from other member states of the African Union.

The vote that confirmed Mr Mene came on Monday at the end of the 33rd African Union Summit in Addis Ababa.

Three candidates were initially shortlisted for the position. The third, Faustin Luanga from Democratic Republic of Congo, was soon shoved aside by the diplomatic weight of Nigeria and South Africa.

Following strong indication that Mr Mene had become the favourite to be the first head of the continental-tariff free policy, Nigeria insisted that the position should be up for election and not based on appointment.

Mr Mene, 40, was the lead negotiator for South Africa when AfCFTA was being considered by the 54 countries and territories that make up the continent.

He was also spent years as a chief trade analyst at the World Trade Organisation.

Ghana has already won the secretariat for AfCFTA, and President Nana Akufo-Addo promised the offices would be ready by March 31 in Accra.
Ever Bautista on Sunday stood outside what was left of his Spring Branch business, B&J Texas Lone Star.

Debris was strewn around the shattered glass storefront where he sold new and used tires. It was just yards from Watson Grinding & Manufacturing, where last month a massive propylene explosion killed three people and damaged 450 structures.

Bautista said he feels alone, his livelihood in ruins. The company has not reached out to him, he said, and he does not have insurance.

How am I going to pay my taxes when my entire business was destroyed? Bautista said through a translator to a scrum of news reporters.

Bautista showed up to the site minutes after U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, held a press conference calling for a federal investigation into the amount of propylene used at Watson Grinding  and a deeper look at any other potentially hazardous chemicals stored there. She also called for the company to help neighbors affected by the blast.

Among a list of concerns, Jackson Lee said she wants to know whether the chemicals at the site, at 4525 Gessner, were subject to regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.

In general, the EPA requires a Risk Management Plan for businesses that use certain hazardous chemicals. A plan would require the company to outline the potential effects of a chemical accident and identify the steps the facility is taking to prevent one, according to the agencys website. The Department of Homeland Security also requires its own Risk Assessment Plan for toxic substances.

Houston Fire Chief Sam Pena last week said Watsons storage of propylene did not meet the EPAs threshold for disclosure of hazardous chemicals. Jackson Lee, however, said she wants a more thorough accounting of the amount of propylene and other chemicals at the site.

If EPA regulations should have applied in this case, but the company was in non-compliance, a comprehensive investigation into all EPA regulated substances used by this company at this location is warranted, she said at the press conference.

Jackson Lee said shes planning to explore criminal charges with the Department of Justice and draft a bill that broadens reporting requirements for chemical storage facilities within 500 feet of rural and urban housing.

Since the explosion on Jan. 24, local police, arson investigators and agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have tried to uncover what happened. ATF officials said there was no indication that the explosion was a criminal act. Electrical arcing inside the warehouse appeared to spark propylene that was leaking, likely from a pipe that transported the chemical from a 2,000-gallon storage tank, according to previous reports in the Chronicle.

Harris County sued the company the week after the blast, adding to a number of suits from individual victims. Meanwhile, the city council has been publicly discussing new local requirements for similar businesses, including tightening the threshold for reporting hazardous chemicals and ramping up chemical storage inspections.

The company last week filed for bankruptcy and fired 80 employees. Jackson Lee said she plans to seek an injunction or intervention in the bankruptcy proceeding to find out how the company plans to ease the financial burden for surrounding homeowners.

She also plans to speak with FEMA about assistance for the neighborhood and develop an app to help residents report damage.

Where are the answers for these neighbors? she said, adding that many were not insured for an explosion and some remain in hotels.

Watson Grinding representatives said they could not provide an updated statement by press time. In response to its bankruptcy filing, John Watson, son of the companys founder and the CEO, released a statement saying in part our hearts go out to everyone who has been affected by this tragedy.

The statement continued, We are convinced that the best way to ensure our organization can play a positive role in the long-term recovery of the area is by remaining a viable business. We are a family business and through this reorganization, we intend to save the company and protect and restore the jobs for our dedicated and hardworking team.

Scott Cubbler, president of the Spring Branch North Super Neighborhood, spoke during a light rain at the press conference on behalf of the neighborhood. He said he understands the legal steps the company has taken, but theres been no humanitarian response.

They need to take responsibility for the impact regardless of what that looks like, Cubbler said after the press conference. At the end of the day, were called to be neighbors. Were called to love our neighbors, and what has transpired so far has not been a loving response from those who are responsible for the impact. And frankly, thats not who we are as Houstonians.

julian.gill@chron.com
SANTA FE  Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Monday signed into law a bill that will provide $8 million in emergency funding for statewide U.S. Census preparation efforts.

The first-term Democratic governor said its crucial as many New Mexico residents as possible be counted in the once-per-decade census, which is used to draw political boundary lines and determine federal spending for various programs.

This is our money, said Lujan Grisham, who cited state highway spending as one area that could be impacted by the censuss results.

The $8 million in emergency funding is in addition to $3.5 million that was included in this years $7 billion budget bill. It will be used to launch a statewide public awareness campaign and provide resources to community-based organizations with outreach efforts, among other areas.

The bill, Senate Bill 4, passed both legislative chambers without opposition and took effect immediately upon being signed.

Its just the second bill to be signed into law so far this session. A legislative feed bill that pays for legislative session expenses, including staff salaries, is the other.

Even a 1% undercount of New Mexicos population during the U.S. Census could mean a loss of an estimated $780 million in federal funding over the next decade, according to Finance and Administration Secretary Olivia Padilla-Jackson.

Currently, New Mexico gets roughly $7.8 billion annually in federal dollars from 16 programs, including money for Medicaid, food stamps, early childhood education and road repairs.

That makes New Mexico the third-most reliant state in the nation on federal funding, in terms of percentage of total state revenue, according to a recent Tax Foundation study.

Much census preparation work is already underway, as a state-level census commission created by Lujan Grisham in April is working with immigrant rights groups and tribal representatives to increase participation rates.

Meanwhile, the 2020 census will mark the first time that New Mexico residents  and those of other states  can respond online, though responses can also be entered by mail or by phone. U.S. Census Bureau officials have said that census workers will conduct some in-person interviews, though only as a last resort.

National census day, or the official reference day for census purposes, is April 1, 2020.
The Kashmir Press Club on Monday said security agencies were resorting to threats and intimidation of journalists working in the valley.

The press club held a meeting on Monday where the member associations expressed concern that ever since Article 370 was repealed, the government was not enabling journalists and media to operate freely from the valley.

"This is evident from the prolonged six-month internet shutdown in the region since August 5. As if that was not enough, physical attacks, threats and summons to journalists are being employed by security agencies to intimidate journalists," the Kashmir Press Club (KPC) said in a statement after the meeting.

It said harassment of journalists by police's counter-insurgency centre in Srinagar has become a "routine exercise".

"The harassment and questioning of journalists in Kashmir on flimsy grounds by the J&K Police for their work is in fact a damning verdict on the appalling condition in which the media is operating," it added.

The press club said restrictions on internet and forcibly seeking undertakings from organisations for allowing limited internet access, constant surveillance by police and physical attacks and summons-- are the tools designed and aimed to ensure only government-promoted version is heard outside.

"However, the meeting today made it clear that journalists are within their rights to report about the happenings from Kashmir impartially and truthfully," it added.

The press club cited several instances where journalists were summoned and questioned by police for their reportage in the valley.

The KPC asked the government to stop the practice of summons and attacks on journalists.

"Being the Fourth Estate, the government should ensure freedom of speech and expression as guaranteed in the constitution instead of muzzling the press. Viewing media as part of problem in Kashmir and blaming journalists for everything wrong is quite misplaced," the statement added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Its not only the story of a mid-century woman finding her voice to help other women  and remaining supremely relevant well into the next century. Before becoming the second female Supreme Court justice in 1993, nominated by President Bill Clinton and confirmed by a 96-3 U.S. Senate vote, the justice taught law and then practiced it at the highest levels, arguing a series of cases winning equal legal protection for the sexes. On the court, of course, she has transitioned from a consensus seeker to a leader of the dwindling group of non-conservative jurists.
The Israeli army has hit extremist movement targets in the Strip, including "training bases" and "military infrastructure". Overnight a missile from Gaza fell in southern Israel. The Cogat closes the Allenby border, effectively closing down exports of Palestinian agricultural products abroad. Reyad Attari: "very dangerous" action.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Israeli army forces hit some Hamas targets in Gaza this morning in response to the rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic extremist movement that controls the Strip. Targets include the group's "training bases and military infrastructure". At the moment there is no information about victims or injured.

Overnight a missile was fired from Gaza for southern Israel, ending up in a field without causing damage. In recent days, there had already been episodes of violence between the two fronts, with victims and injuries.

Local sources report that from 28 January, the date of the presentation of the so-called "Deal of the century", there have been missiles, rockets and explosive balloons launched on southern Israel by Hamas on a "daily" basis.

Behind the escalation of tension, the peace plan drawn up by the White House which was welcomed with enthusiasm by Israel, criticized by the Palestinians and a source of doubts and perplexities among the Catholic leaders of Holy Land, who warned it would become the source of more tensions and bloodshed.

Meanwhile, yesterday, the Israeli authorities imposed a ban on Palestinian agricultural exports; a "dangerous" decision according to Palestinian authorities, in the context of a trade war that has been going on for at least five months. "From today - exports of foreign Palestinian agricultural products through the Allenby border will no longer be allowed," said the Israeli Ministry of Defense (Cogat).

It is the only transit channel between Jordan and the West Bank and is under Israeli control. It is used to bring Palestinian goods and products abroad. For Cogat, the measure is a response to last October's Palestinian decision to block imports of calves from Israel. A boycott, they add, that has "seriously damaged livestock farmers".

Palestinian Agriculture Minister Reyad Attari says the blockade imposed by Israel "violates all agreements" between the two fronts and constitutes a "very dangerous action". The Cogat replies that it is ready to withdraw it "when the Palestinian Authority withdraws the harmful decision for the cattle trade with Israel and for the free market".
Ransomware attacks have matured over the years, adopting more stealthy and sophisticated techniques, while at the same time fixing many of the implementation errors that earlier iterations had. Moreover, some attacks are now gaining a new data leak component, which exposes companies to more than the traditional data loss associated with ransomware.

The trends observed over the past year indicate that these attacks are not going away and are likely to increase in frequency.

Shifting targets

Ransomware started out as a consumer threat, representing an aggressive evolution over the scareware attacks that used to trick people into paying fake fines or buying rogue software to fix non-existent issues. While the early campaigns proved profitable for cybercriminal gangs, the consumer ransomware landscape became crowded. As consumer antivirus firms improved their ransomware detection capabilities, casting a wide net to gain as many victims as possible became a less effective technique.

In a report released in August 2019 that looked at the ransomware evolution between Q2 2018 and Q2 2019, security firm Malwarebytes noted that "this once dangerous but recently dormant threat has come back to life in a big way, switching from mass consumer campaigns to highly targeted, artisanal attacks on businesses."

Over the analyzed period, the number of ransomware detections in business environments rose by 365%, while consumer detections declined. That trend continued for the rest of the year, according to Adam Kujawa, director of Malwarebytes Labs. "We're seeing an overall focus on businesses and an increase in all kinds of infection methods," he tells CSO. "A big part of that is that it's easier today to infect a business than it was a few years ago and the EternalBlue and other exploits certainly had something to do with that."

EternalBlue is an exploit for a vulnerability in Microsoft's implementation of the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol that was patched in March 2017 and affected all versions of Windows. It was the primary propagation method through corporate networks for the WannaCry, NotPetya and other ransomware worms that crippled many organizations worldwide during 2017.

"It might not be the sole reason why we see such an increase in business focus for these types of attacks, but I think that what happened with WannaCry and NotPetya revealed the underbelly of enterprise security," Kujawa says. Before that, many people might have assumed that these are big companies, with security teams and it's hard for hackers to break in, but seeing how massive and damaging those attacks were  and not because of misconfigurations, but because of not patching in time  might have convinced more cybercriminals that it's worth going after businesses instead of consumers, he says.
Is Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HE) a good dividend stock? How can we tell? Dividend paying companies with growing earnings can be highly rewarding in the long term. Unfortunately, it's common for investors to be enticed in by the seemingly attractive yield, and lose money when the company has to cut its dividend payments.

While Hawaiian Electric Industries's 2.7% dividend yield is not the highest, we think its lengthy payment history is quite interesting. Some simple research can reduce the risk of buying Hawaiian Electric Industries for its dividend - read on to learn more.

Explore this interactive chart for our latest analysis on Hawaiian Electric Industries!

NYSE:HE Historical Dividend Yield, February 10th 2020

Payout ratios

Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned, 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. In the last year, Hawaiian Electric Industries paid out 69% of its profit as dividends. This is a fairly normal payout ratio among most businesses. It allows a higher dividend to be paid to shareholders, but does limit the capital retained in the business - which could be good or bad.

We also measure dividends paid against a company's levered free cash flow, to see if enough cash was generated to cover the dividend. With a cash payout ratio of 147%, Hawaiian Electric Industries's dividend payments are poorly 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. Hawaiian Electric Industries paid out less in dividends than it reported in profits, but unfortunately it didn't generate enough free cash flow to cover the dividend. Cash is king, as they say, and were Hawaiian Electric Industries to repeatedly pay dividends that aren't well covered by cashflow, we would consider this a warning sign.

Story continues

Is Hawaiian Electric Industries's Balance Sheet Risky?

As Hawaiian Electric Industries has a meaningful amount of debt, we need to check its balance sheet to see if the company might have debt risks. A rough way to check this is with these two simple ratios: a) net debt divided by EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation), and b) net interest cover. Net debt to EBITDA is a measure of a company's total debt. Net interest cover measures the ability to meet interest payments. Essentially we check that a) the company does not have too much debt, and b) that it can afford to pay the interest. With net debt of 3.33 times its EBITDA, investors are starting to take on a meaningful amount of risk, should the business enter a downturn.

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 3.51 times its interest expense, Hawaiian Electric Industries's interest cover is starting to look a bit thin.

Remember, you can always get a snapshot of Hawaiian Electric Industries's latest financial position, by checking our visualisation of its financial health.

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 Hawaiian Electric Industries'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 US$1.24 in 2010, compared to US$1.28 last year. Its dividends have grown at less than 1% per annum over this time frame.

Dividends have grown relatively slowly, which is not great, but some investors may value the relative consistency of the dividend.

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 2.5% a year for the past five years, which is better than seeing them shrink! 2.5% per annum is not a particularly high rate of growth, which we find curious. When a business is not growing, it often makes more sense to pay higher dividends to shareholders rather than retain the cash with no way to utilise it.

Conclusion

Dividend investors should always want to know if a) a company's dividends are affordable, b) if there is a track record of consistent payments, and c) if the dividend is capable of growing. Hawaiian Electric Industries gets a pass on its dividend payout ratio, but it paid out virtually all of its cash flow as dividends. This may just be a one-off, but we'd keep an eye on this. Earnings growth has been limited, but we like that the dividend payments have been fairly consistent. While we're not hugely bearish on it, overall we think there are potentially better dividend stocks than Hawaiian Electric Industries out there.

Companies that are growing earnings tend to be the best dividend stocks over the long term. See what the 6 analysts we track are forecasting for Hawaiian Electric Industries for free with public analyst estimates for the company.

We have also put together a list of global stocks with a market capitalisation above $1bn and yielding more 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.
The Gujarat ATS on Monday arrested three persons from different parts of Kutch district in a Rs 1,500-crore drug smuggling case of 2018 which had links to Pakistan, said officials.

Around 188kg of Pakistan-origin heroin, which landed at the Mandvi coast in Gujarat's Kutch district in August 2018 through the sea route, was sent to Amritsar in Punjab by the accused, they said.

This cache of 188kg contraband, seized in Punjab in January 2019, was part of 500kg heroin worth Rs 1,500 crore which had entered Gujarat from Pakistan through the Mandvi coast in August 2018, said the officials.

Following investigations, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) arrested the trio, Razak Adam Sumra (from Mandvi, Karim Siraj and Sunil Barmase (both from Gandhidham in Kutch district).

The entire drug smuggling racket was busted after the Gujarat ATS seized five kg of heroin in August 2018 and arrested two people.

Initial probe had revealed it was part of a drug consignment which had entered Gujarat from Pakistan through the Mandvi coast and then transported to Punjab and other north Indian states at the behest of key accused Simranjit Singh Sandhu, a resident of Amritsar.

Sandhu was nabbed by Interpol in Italy last month after a Red Corner Notice was issued against him at the request of ATS.

A Red Corner Notice is a kind of international arrest warrant for fugitives where Interpol requests its member countries to arrest or detain them.

"During our investigation, we had suspected that the amount of drugs that landed at Mandvi could be more. In the meanwhile, the Punjab STF seized another 188kg of heroin in January 2019.

"It was revealed that the consignment was loaded in Gandhidham, which led to the arrest of the trio today," said Assistant Commissioner of Police, B H Chavda.

Their interrogation revealed a total of 500kg heroin had entered India by the sea route, he said.

"Out of the 500kg heroin which had landed, around 200kg was initially kept at Mandvi by Sumra, while 300kg was transported to Punjab by Sandhu at that time," said Chavda.

After sometime, Sumra and two others, including Siraj, managed to send the remaining 200kg haul to Punjab in Barmase's truck, he said.

Of this stock, around 188kg was seized by the Punjab police, he said.

"We are probing many other aspects of the case," said Chavda.

Gujarat and Punjab police are still to locate the 300kg heroin sent to the northern state earlier by Sandhu.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
" " The iconic polar bear has fascinated people for millennia. Brad R Lewis Photography - InMyLens.com/Getty Images

Polar bears have captivated humans since the beginning of recorded time. Writings dating back to 57 C.E. in ancient Rome describe flooded amphitheatres where polar bears and seals were pitted against each other (not much of a fight, as it turns out). Kings of ancient Egypt and early Norway were the first to keep polar bears captive, and the fascination with them has held through the centuries [source: Polar Bears International]. A terrifying version of the animal inexplicably shows up on a tropical island in the TV series "Lost." Ad campaigns all over the world feature polar bears to sell everything from bottled water to transportation systems to soda.

A Coca-Cola ad campaign in the 1990s added "adorable" to the polar bear's image. The ads featured a clumsy, animated cub that bridged the natural wariness between polar bears and penguins to share a nice, cold bottle of Coke. Polar bears don't actually have a natural affinity for penguins, as the two don't live in any of the same regions and never see each other. But still, cute is cute.

Advertisement

Polar bears' shocking whiteness, ferocity and sheer size make them icons of purity and power. Males can grow up to 10 feet tall (3 meters) and weigh up to 1,500 pounds (680 kilograms) [source: National Wildlife Federation]. A single bear can take on a 2,500-pound walrus, and hang on to the massive catch with 2-inch claws (5 centimeters). They walk hundreds of miles across ice sheets every winter, following their prey.

In the Arctic, polar bears are at the top of the food chain, and it's not just because of their size. They're so well-adapted to their environment that they experience no change in body temperature at minus 34 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 37 Celsius). However, the incredible survival mechanisms that let them thrive in frigid winters may prove to be their undoing. Because of global warming, winters are getting less cold and polar bears are dying. Some scientists project that if climate trends continue, 30 percent of the current polar bear population will be wiped out by 2050 [source: IUCN].

What's life like for an animal that needs such extreme cold to survive? Let's head to the Arctic and see how polar bears live on the ice.
By Olivia Rose

CANDIDATES of the Progressive National Party (PNP) contesting in the 2020 general elections learned the ins and outs of governance at a seminar held in Grand Turk last week.





The first-ever governance workshop for political candidates and prospective legislators was hosted by the PNP on Friday, January 31, at the Life Centre.





The one day workshop educated candidates on the authority and duties of the senior level functionaries of government, and their relationship to legislators and Cabinet ministers.





It featured several key speakers, including Governor Nigel Dakin, Deputy Governor Anya Williams, Attorney General Rhondalee Braithwaite-Knowles, Permanent Secretary of Finance Athenee Basden, Complaints Commissioner Paul Harvey, Supervisor of Elections Dudley Lewis, former Speaker of the House of Assembly Robert Hall, and Deputy Director of the Integrity Commission, Richard Been.





Leader of the PNP, Washington Misick said the seminar aimed to ensure that "on winning the Government all our members of the House of Assembly are ready from day one to contribute to the effective and efficient running our country in the best interest of its people.





He stressed that it is imperative for candidates to have the knowledge and skills required to effectively lead the TCI into the future.





"Im hearing every day that voters are becoming disillusioned with uninformed politicians who arrive in the House of Assembly or are assigned a ministerial portfolio with no idea of how the Government works.





"This is also reflected in the quality and relevance of the debate in the House of Assembly, Misick added.





Deputy Leader of the PNP, E Jay Saunders, said the seminar was very informative.





"We all learned a lot, especially those of us who are running for the first time.





"I am encouraged by the reception that we got from the people of Grand Turk, who were eager to share their concerns with us, and to hear our plans for reviving the economy of Grand Turk.





On September 18, 2019, the PNP introduced its slate of candidates at the partys headquarters on Airport Road, Providenciales.





The candidates are - Otis Morris (ED1 - Grand Turk North), Pedro Ariza (ED2 - Grand Turk South), John Malcolm (ED3 - South Caicos), Arlington Chuck Musgrove (ED4 - North and Middle Caicos), Akierra Missick (ED5 - Leeward and Long Bay), Matthew Jay Stubbs (ED6 - The Bight), Samuel Been (ED7 - Cheshire Hall), Randy Howell (ED8 - Blue Hills) Rachel Taylor (ED9 - Five Cays) and Dameko Dean (ED10 - Wheeland).





Since then, candidates for ED2, Grand Turk South, Pedro Ariza, and candidate for ED10, Wheeland, Dameko Dean, have decided to step down.





All island at-large candidates are Misick, Saunders, Deputy Leader Josephine Connolly, Jamell Robinson and Shaun Malcolm.





While in Grand Turk, the PNP candidates met with residents at an informal meet and greet event on the evening of Thursday, January 30.





On Saturday, February 1, the candidates met with many residents at their homes, where they received first-hand accounts of the many issues plaguing the island.





Saturdays activities ended with a grill out in the afternoon and early evening.





The visit to the capital was wrapped up with the candidates attending a church service at Salem Baptist on Sunday morning.




U.S. Rep. Anthony Brindisi said Monday he wont support the Democratic presidential campaigns of Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren and warned that it would be exceedingly difficult for either to win in November.

I dont think the people that I represent are looking for a president who supports abolishing private health insurance companies, and I dont either, Brindisi told the editorial board of Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard.
An attorney for A.C. Smith has filed a motion requesting a reconsideration of his clients 14-year sentence citing the unconstitutional conditions in Alabamas prisons which he said would be a violation of the former officers rights.

Dwight Richardson III, who filed a notice Sunday that he'd be representing Smith during the appeals process, also requested an appeal bond for his client.

Smith faced murder charges in the shooting death of Gregory Gunn, who Smith chased, tased and beat in a west Montgomery neighborhood in the early hours of Feb. 25, 2016, before he was fatally shot.

A Dale County jury in November ultimately found Smith guilty of manslaughter, a lesser charge, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years.

Two months after the conviction came the sentencing. Retired Dale County Judge Philip McLauchlin, who presided over the trial, handed down a 14 year prison sentence.

Richardson filed a motion to reconsider Smith's sentence on the basis of an April report from the U.S. Department of Justice that outlined unsafe conditions at Alabama's prisons.

"Given that the United State Department of Justice has found that Alabama's prisons violate the 8th amendment to the United States Constitution, defendant asserts that sentencing him to imprisonment in unconstitutional conditions would be an especially egregious violation of his constitutional rights under the 8th and 14th amendments respectfully," Richardson wrote.

Richardson noted that Smith's status as a former police officer puts him at an enhanced risk in prison. He then requested the sentence be amended to a split with Smith serving less than three years imprisoned and the remainder on probation. Any term of imprisonment less than three years would qualify Smith to serve it in a county jail instead of a state prison.

"Granting Mr. Smith a 14 year split to serve three years in the Dale County Jail would serve the dual purpose of punishment to Mr. Smith, avoid placing Mr. Smith in unconstitutional conditions, ensure Mr. Smith's safety, and would have the added benefit of requiring a term of probation on Mr. Smith which would require for him to be supervised for a period of time upon completion of his sentence," Richardson wrote.

Serving a straight sentence would send Smith to prison, though it also makes him eligible for a bond while his appeal moves through the system. That decision is ultimately up to McLaughlin.

Richardson, in a motion for an appeal bond, points out that Smith had no prior criminal history before the manslaughter conviction, nor has he been a flight risk.

"Essentially, it was shown that the Defendant's did not act with intent, rather his conviction reflects that Defendant was overcome with the heat of passion," Richardson wrote in the motion. "To say that Defendant presents a danger to the community is a fallacy."

During the sentencing hearing, Montgomery County District Attorney Daryl Bailey verbally opposed an appeal bond. His office then filed a written objection.

The motion notes the judge's discretion on the issue, but said granting bond "would not be proper in this case."

"The jury's verdict reflects their finding that the defendant was not justified in killing Mr. Gunn and that he acted intentionally," prosecutor Ben McGough wrote in the filing. "It is simply inappropriate for a person convicted of an intentional and inexcusable killing to remain free on bond after he had been convicted."

McGough cautioned that granting bond for Smith would give the appearance of special treatment for the former officer.

"To allow this defendant the luxury of an appeal bond would demonstrate that there is one set of rules for some convicts and another set for convicted police officers," he wrote. "This defendant should be treated no differently than the thousands of other violent convicted offenders serving time in prison while their appeals are pending."
DUBLIN, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global B2B E-Commerce Marketplaces 2020" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Marketplaces' Share of Global B2B E-Commerce on the Expansion Course Through 2024



B2B E-Commerce marketplaces favored by B2B buyers



According to B2B buyer surveys referenced in the report, E-Commerce marketplaces are the top channels used for corporate purchasing. As these platforms continue to attract more B2B companies, their GMV is projected to expand through 2024, growing faster than overall B2B E-Commerce sales. As a result, B2B E-Commerce marketplaces are expected to increase their market share by a factor of four between 2018 and 2024.

Top two B2B E-Commerce marketplaces



Just like in B2C E-Commerce, Alibaba and Amazon fight for the world's top rank among B2B online selling platforms. Both companies are making significant progress, with Amazon Business achieving an 11-digit figure in annualized sales, and Alibaba managing to gather more than 10 million B2B buyers on its platform. The two companies also continue to expand internationally, adding more countries in 2019.

Key Topics Covered



1. Management Summary



2. Global Developments



B2B E-Commerce Marketplace Trends, February 2020

B2B E-Commerce Sales, in USD trillion, 2018 & 2024f

B2B E-Commerce Sales via Marketplaces, in USD billion, 2018 & 2024f

Marketplaces Share of B2B E-Commerce Sales, in %, 2018 & 2024f

Most Used Purchasing Channels, in % of B2B Buyers, 2018

Breakdown of Most Preferred Purchasing Channels, in % of B2B Buyers, 2018

Top 3 Reasons Why Small Businesses Buy Via Marketplaces, in % of Online Purchasing Decision-Makers At Small Businesses, January 2019

Top 3 Efficiencies For Which Small Businesses Choose Marketplaces, in % of Online Purchasing Decision-Makers, January 2019

Amazon Business: B2B E-Commerce Marketplace Profile, January 2020

Alibaba: B2B E-Commerce Marketplace Profile, January 2020

Mercateo: B2B E-Commerce Marketplace Profile, January 2020

3. Asia-Pacific



3.1. Regional

Overview of Selected B2B E-Commerce Marketplaces and Classifieds, January 2020

3.2. China

B2B E-Commerce Platform Operator Revenues, in CNY billion, 2017 & 2018

Top 6 Companies by B2B E-Commerce Market Share, in %, 2018

3.3. India

Wholesale E-Commerce Marketplaces Revenues, in USD billion, 2018 & 2023f

Awareness of B2B E-Commerce Platforms, by City Types, and Breakdown of Willingness to Use Them in the Future, in % of B2B Buyers, 2019

Top Reasons To Sell Via B2B E-Commerce Platforms, in %, 2019

4. North America



4.1. Regional

Breakdown of Most Preferred Purchasing Channels, in % of B2B Buyers, 2018

Strategies That Manufacturers Plan For Selling Direct to Business Buyers, in % of Manufacturers, 2019

Overview of Selected B2B E-Commerce Marketplaces and Classifieds in North America , January 2020

4.2. USA

Breakdown of Percentage of B2B Purchasing Done on Marketplaces, in % of B2B Buyers, 2019

Marketplaces Used by B2B Buyers to Research and Buy Products, in % of B2B Buyers, August 2019

5. Europe



5.1. Regional

Breakdown of Most Preferred Purchasing Channels, in % of B2B Buyers, 2018

Top Online Channels Used by B2B Companies/Manufacturers to Sell Their Products, in % of B2B Companies/Manufacturers Selling Online, Q1 2019

Overview of Selected B2B E-Commerce Marketplaces and Classifieds in Europe , January 2020

5.2. Germany

Channels Currently Used by Businesses for Purchasing, in % of Businesses, October 2019

Channels That Businesses Expect to be Important for Purchasing in Five Years, in % of Businesses, October 2019

B2B Marketplaces Sold Through, in % of B2B Companies Selling Through Marketplaces, July 2018

6. Latin America



6.1. Regional

Breakdown of Most Preferred Purchasing Channels, in % of B2B Buyers, 2018

Overview of Selected B2B E-Commerce Marketplaces and Classifieds in Latin America , January 2020

6.2. Brazil

Breakdown of B2B E-Commerce Sales by Open Marketplaces and Closed Ecosystems, in BRL trillion, 2018 & 2019e

Top Sectors and Industries by B2B E-Commerce Sales Share, by Closed B2B E-Commerce Ecosystems and Open B2B E-Commerce Marketplaces, in %, 2019e

7. Middle East & Africa



7.1. Regional

Overview of Selected B2B E-Commerce Marketplaces and Classifieds, January 2020

Companies Mentioned



Alibaba Group Holdings

Amazon.com Inc.

B2W Companhia Digital

IndiaMart InterMesh Ltd.

Mercateo AG

Newegg Business Inc.

ThomasNet Inc.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/icajxc

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]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

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SOURCE Research and Markets

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british airways boeing 747

REUTERS/Toby Melville

Storm Ciara saw aircraft flying transatlantic routes on Saturday night perform flights in record times.

Three flights from New York to London performed by UK carriers British Airways and Virgin Atlantic were accomplished in under five hours, beating the previous record.

The current supersonic record for the route is held by British Airways and the Concorde at two hours and 52 minutes while the subsonic record was held by Norwegian Air at just over five hours.

Flights in the US also saw an uptick in tailwinds that brought down flight times on flights heading from west to east.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A faster than normal jet stream formed as a result of Storm Ciara gave numerous aircraft flying transatlantic routes a favorable tailwind, dramatically reducing their flight times, CNN reported.

Some aircraft even surpassed the speed of sound with speeds over 800 miles per hour, though their actual airspeed wasn't enough to break the sound barrier.

On the New York to London route, where flight times average over six hours, the high winds saw a small handful of aircraft traverse the near 3,500-nautical mile route in under five hours. The record-breaking flight times saw not one, but three aircraft surpass Norwegian Air in the top spot.

Among the top performers of the night were UK-based carriers and competitors British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. The UK duo routinely serves the New York-London air route, one of the most popular and profitable in the world, with aircraft ranging from aging Jumbo Jets to the newest aircraft in the sky.

Take a look at the aircraft that were able to fly the New York to London route at speeds that haven't been seen since the Concorde.

Virgin Atlantic flight VS46, the airline's 8:00 p.m. service from New York to London, was able to make the transatlantic crossing in four hours and 59 minutes on Saturday.

Virgin Atlantic Plane in Flight

Nicolas Economou/Getty Images

That's according to data from the flight-tracking website FlightRadar24.

Story continues

The aircraft that operated the service was an Airbus A350-1000 XWB, the newest aircraft in Virgin Atlantic's fleet and Airbus' most technologically advanced aircraft.

The particular aircraft that flew on Saturday had only been delivered to the airline in September 2019, according to planespotters.net, and officially entered service with the airline in December 2019.

Airbus recently used the aircraft to perform an autonomous takeoff where onboard cameras were used to steer the aircraft down the runway before it took to the skies entirely on its own.

Another Virgin Atlantic flight was able to make the journey in under five hours, flight VS4 beat its colleague by two minutes and completing the journey in four hours and 57 minutes.

Virgin Atlantic Plane in Flight

Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images

VS4 is the airline's 6:30 p.m. service from New York to London.

The aircraft was another Airbus A350-1000 XWB and was the second A350 to enter Virgin's fleet when it was delivered in August 2019, according to planespotters.net.

Like most of its A350 colleagues, the aircraft has been faithfully flying between London and New York since September when the aircraft was inducted into passenger service.

In the top spot for the evening was British Airways flight BA112, which was able to fly from New York to London in four hours and 56 minutes.

british airways

Jack Taylor / Getty

The plane had a top ground speed of over 800 miles per hour. The UK flag carrier beat out Virgin Atlantic, both its next nearest competitor in terms of speed on Saturday night and in business, by one minute.

British Airways, however, may have an advantage over its Virgin Atlantic competitor in the form of an additional engine on each wing. BA112, the airline's 6:30 p.m. service to London, was operated by the airline's iconic Boeing 747-400 aircraft, affectionately known as the Queen of the Skies, which has four engines.

Virgin Atlantic responded on Twitter to being bested by British Airways' Jumbo Jet, saying: "It's true that we were narrowly beaten by a BA Boeing 747, however, they had twice the amount of engines and burnt twice as much fuel as Captain Chris in our brand new, fuel-efficient Airbus A350-1000."

The UK flag carrier is not new to setting records on the route, as the airline was an operator of the famed supersonic Concorde. During its tenure, British Airways set the record for the New York-London flight with the Concorde in 1996 at two hours and 52 minutes, which is unlikely to be broken anytime soon no matter how strong the winds of the Atlantic are.

The aircraft operating the flight, registration G-CIVP, was delivered to British Airways in February 1998, according to planespotters.net, two years after the Concorde set the record on the route. British Airways is the sole operator of the Boeing 747 on the London-New York route, with most airlines operating smaller twin-engine aircraft such as the Boeing 777, Boeing 767, Airbus A330, and Airbus A350.

The flights were lucky to land as Storm Ciara and its associated winds were wreaking havoc at airports across the UK.

Gatwick Airport planes

Aviation-images.com/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

London's Heathrow Airport, where the three aircraft landed after their record journey times, was among the worst affected by the storm, The Independent reported. Close to 300 flights were affected at Britain's busiest airport, with flights either delayed, canceled, or diverted to the impacts of the weather.

Some flights departed from their origin airports only to get to the UK and have to turn around and return to where they came. A Scandinavian Airlines flight from Oslo to Manchester, UK reached its destination only to find itself unable to land and had to return to Oslo, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.

Transatlantic flights aren't the only ones aided when strong winds hit.

LAX Day Trip Alaska Airlines

Thomas Pallini/Business Insider

Transcontinental flights are frequently served by tailwinds that reduce their flight times in the eastbound direction. They allow flights from West Coast cities to New York to be accomplished in less than five hours.

Flights heading in the opposite direction, however, could expect some delays.

FILE PHOTO: An American Airlines Airbus A321 plane takes off from Los Angeles International airport (LAX) in Los Angeles, California, U.S. March 28, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Blake

Reuters

For every strong tailwind, however, there is an equally strong headwind that makes flights in the opposite direction longer. To avoid the strong winds, transatlantic flight paths were moved to the north.

Flyers heading from east to west could expect longer than normal flight times in the US on routes such as New York to Los Angeles. While normally flying from the Big Apple to the City of Angeles takes around five hours and 30 minutes, some flights on Sunday such as American Airlines flight AA171 and JetBlue Airways flight B6123 were taking an excess of six hours to fly from coast to coast and flying as far north as Minneapolis to do so.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Young Vietnamese scientists born in the 1980s have found their names on the list of the worlds 106,369 leading scientists for the number of scientific citations and scientific quantitative indicators, according to Scopus Database.

1/ Pham Viet Thanh, a lecturer at the Electrical  Electronics Engineering Faculty of Phenikaa University is one of them. He is also the leader of the research team on the intelligent information system, one of the nine teams approved by the university in 2019.

Pham Viet Thanh





In 2013, after receiving a doctorate from Catania University in Italy, Thanh did not think he would become a researcher, but instead chose marketing.

However, he changed his mind after meeting his university teacher. He came back to the Hanoi University of Science and Technology to work as a lecturer and researcher.



Since 2013, Thanh has published more than 80 articles in prestigious science journals. His articles have a high H-index (an author-level metric that measures the productivity and citation impact of the publications) and high citation index.

Young Vietnamese scientists born in the 1980s have found their names on the list of the worlds 106,369 leading scientists for the number of scientific citations and scientific quantitative indicators, according to Scopus Database.

However, for Thanh, the number of international articles is not the measure that assesses the achievements of a scientist, because the number depends on the spheres the scientist follows.



The young scientist said he wishes to contribute to the creation of young talents and generate a disciplinary environment which allows students to grow during their study and research.



2/ Tran Dinh Phong, Dean of Basic and Applied Sciences at the University of Science and Technology of Hanoi (USTH), was honored to receive the main prize of the Ta Quang Buu Award 2018.



He is the main author of the scientific research work in physics titled Coordination polymer structure and revisited hydrogen evolution catalytic mechanism for amorphous molybdenum sulfide.



Manufacturing artificial leaves capable of converting sunlight and water into hydrogen has attracted the interest of many scientists. The catalyst for this chemical reaction is platinum, a rare and expensive material.



The research by Phong and his co-workers successfully prove the structure and action mechanism of amorphous molybdenum sulfide, an easy-to-make and low-cost material that can replace platinum in the reaction to make H2 clean fuel from water.



3/ In the last 10 years of carrying out scientific research, Le Hoang Son has published 125 research works, including 70 works published in ISI journals, five textbooks and monographs. He has also instructed a high number of fellows and carried out state projects in AI and Knowledge Exploitation.



The research by Son and his team is always conducted with cooperation with scientists in many different fields, such as Earth sciences, health, environment and economics to create significant products for the community.

Thanh Lich

With great achievements in the field of biomedical engineering, Prof Dr Nguyen Thi Hiep has been recognized by ASEAN Scientist as one of the 100 leading Asian scientists in 2019.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 03:03:25|Editor: huaxia

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A Palestinian farmer picks oranges in an orchard in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahia, on Nov. 28, 2019. (Xinhua/Rizek Abdeljawad)

Tit for tat: Israeli authorities Sunday informed Palestinian gov't of its decision to ban all Palestinian agricultural exports through Jordan, a week after Palestinians declared a ban on importing Israeli products such as vegetables, fruits, mineral water and soft drinks.

RAMALLAH, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli authorities on Sunday informed the Palestinian government that all Palestinian agricultural exports have been banned, said the Palestinian Ministry of Economy.

Azmi Abdelrahman, the ministry spokesman, told Xinhua that the decision by Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett to ban all Palestinian agricultural exports through Jordan already came into effect on Feb. 6.

"The Israeli decision was already implemented against our farmers on the Allenby border crossing to Jordan, but we were only officially informed of the ban today," said the spokesman.

The Israeli ban on exports involves Palestinian dates, olive oil and herbs with an annual value of around 100 million U.S. dollars, according to Abdelrahman.

This is the second round of tit-for-tat measures between Palestinians and Israelis as the Palestinian government declared last week a ban on importing Israeli products including vegetables, fruits, mineral water and soft drinks.

The first retaliatory round started with the Palestinian government deciding to ban the import of Israeli calves last September, which was followed by an Israeli ban on Palestinian fresh vegetables and fruits.

"Israel violated almost every article of the Paris Protocol," said Abdelrahman.

"Israel should not be allowed to intervene in the exports between Palestine and Jordan," he added.

Under the Paris Protocol, an economic treaty signed in 1994 to govern the economic relations between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, Palestinians are allowed to use the Israel-controlled ports and border crossings freely and the two sides are bound to regular meetings.

However, the joint economic committee between the two sides stopped meeting in 2000 and Israel has since been taking unilateral steps, said Abdelrahman.

"We have asked for meetings several times, but Israel never accepted," the Palestinian spokesman noted.

Palestinians in the West Bank can only use the Allenby Bridge to travel to Jordan and the rest of the world. 
10.02.2020 LISTEN

The Nigerian Police is still detaining leaders of Ifite -Ogwari town in Ayamelun Council of Anambra State, two weeks after they were arrested after a meeting with Governor Obiano.

The detained leaders include Chief Nwaora Ikeozalla (Deputy President General) and Chief Michael Akamala (Chief Security Officer) of Ifite-Ogwari, respectively. The traditional ruler of the town, HRM Dr A.I. Ofuebe was almost arrested with the other elders at the scene of the meeting with Governor Obiano. Since then, the detained community leaders have been dumped at cells meant for hardened criminals at the CID cell in Awka, Anambra State

A week after their detention, the leader of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria MACBAN, in the South East, Alhaji Gidado Siddiki alleged that youths of Ifite-Ogwari killed four herders and 108 cows between December 20 and January 27, 2020.

Igbo Mandate Congress, IMC, have been following up on the issue since the Miyetti Allah leaders raised alarm last week, at the behest of Igbo leaders, and have interacted with stakeholders in the community, state government, the police and members of the Fulani community. Igbo Mandate Congress has released its preliminary reports to Ohanaeze Ndigbo, PFN, CAN and members of the diplomatic community on the situation at Ifite-Ogwari capable of turning Anambra State into a theatre of war.

Igbo Mandate Congress IMC noted that:

The community leaders of Ifite-Ogwari are being detained at the insistence of leaders of Miyetti Allah in the South East. They justified their two-week incarceration on the mantra that they are still investigating and looking for the killers of the herdsmen and the 108 cows.

The Legal Adviser to the community, Barrister Michael Chukwuemeka, has been denied proper access to the detained elders and that the Deputy President General is in bad state of health.

Top officials of Anambra State Govt told IMC that Governor recently asked the Commissioner of Police to release the elders but the Police declined, insisting that only order from Abuja can effect their release.

Igbo Mandate Congress leaders were told by the Ifite-Ogwari elders that they were living in peace with the Fulanis till a murderous and rapist group entered their midst.

These Murderous groups specialize in destroying peoples farms and brandishing dangerous weapons when challenged by the displaced farmers.

The murderous herders graduated to raping young girls in their farms to the point that young girls do not go to farms again.

The Murderous herders descended on married women who refused to be chased away from farms and raped them repeatedly.

The men, then started escorting their women to farms, and the herders graduated into raping married women in the presence of their husband.

The elders and youth of Ifite-Ogwari made repeated efforts to get the attention of the state government to the tension, and they were repeatedly told to forgive their enemies for the sake of national unity.

They claimed that at no point between December and January, did the youth mobilize against the Fulani, insisting that if such had happened, probably hundreds would have died.

That if anybody ever died, as claimed by Miyetti Allah, it could be as a result of a private clash between an infuriated farmer and a rapist herdsman, and the community was not involved in it.

That the claims by Miyetti Allah leaders that they killed four herders are a subterfuge to attack the community.

That whether Willie Obiano defends them or not, they will not allow rapists to invade their farmlands anymore, and will defend the community against any attack.

That Governor Obiano is insisting that the community pays N38 million naira being compensation for alleged 108 cows and that the community elders have raised some million from communal taxation.

Igbo Mandate Congress in its recommendation, advises the leaders of Miyetti Allah to expunge those murderers and rapists from their midst terrorizing communities around Ayamelum.

Igbo Mandate Congress deems Miyetti Allah actions in Anambra State as triggers for disintegration of Nigeria.. While IMC has been working in concert with Igbo elites and professionals to stem the secessionist tide in the South East since 2014, with great success, including severally calling some youth leaders to order , the Miyetti Allah counterparts are encouraging rapists and murderers in their midst .

Igbo Mandate Congress advises Governor Obiano to stop taxing the Ifite Ogwari community, and pay from state coffers the N38 million naira the Miyetti Allah demanded for the allegedly killed 108 cows. Governor Obiano should also pay N18 milllion naira for the destroyed farmlands and N18 million naira for rehabilitation of families whose daughters and mothers have been senselessly raped since the state failed to protect the community after repeated alarms.

The Nigerian Police should order the release of the community elders detained and pay them compensation for illegal two weeks detention.

The youth of Ifite Ogwari should suspend any planned reaction and allow a solution to be worked out within the next few days by concerned Igbo leaders.

Igbo Mandate Congress is a major stakeholder in Anambra State and expects those concerned to act in the interest of peace

Rev Obinna Akukwe

Director, General, Igbo Mandate Congress.

[email protected]
Nagpur, Feb 10 : Exactly a week after she was set ablaze in public by a jilted suitor, a 24-year old Wardha lecturer breathed her last here on Monday morning, a top medico said.

The victim, who had been set on fire last Monday, passed away at 6.55 a.m. after her condition worsened since Sunday night, said Orange City Hospital & amp; Research Institute Director Dr Anup Marar.

Having suffered extensive burns on her face, head, respiratory system, heart, she remained critical throughout her treatment and was placed on ventilator since 2 days.
 Flash

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on Sunday night was re-elected by a narrow margin as a member of the lower house of the Irish parliament in the country's general election, indicating declining support for his ruling party Fine Gael.



In Ireland, one can not be a prime minister or serve in the cabinet without being elected as a Teachta Dala (TD) in the country's lower house.

The total number of votes Varadkar managed to grasp from his constituency Dublin West was 8,763, only 37 votes more than the minimum required quota for an elected TD, according to figures announced by a returning officer at Dublin West count center late on Sunday night.

More embarrassing is that Varadkar's victory did not come until after five rounds of vote counting whereas a candidate fielded by Sinn Fein party in his constituency got elected in just one round of counting by amassing 12,456 votes, accounting for nearly 29 percent of the total votes of the Dublin West constituency.

Varadkar's narrow escape reflects a drastic change in the country's political landscape, which has surprised not only Varadkar himself, but also many others.

By 4:30 a.m. local time (0430 GMT) on Monday, the official results of the vote count showed that out of the 78 seats filled in the 160-seat Dail, 29 seats went to Sinn Fein while Fine Gael secured only 14 seats, not only much lower than Sinn Fein but also two seats less than Fianna Fail, another major political party in Ireland, which has swapped power with Fine Gael to govern the country since the 1930s.

In sharp contrast with Varadkar and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald easily beat her rivals to become an elected TD by winning nearly 36 percent of the votes from her Dublin Central constituency in the first round of counting.

Martin did not get elected from his Cork South-Central constituency until after six rounds of counting and received less than 20 percent of the votes from his constituency.

The rapidly growing popularity of Sinn Fein among the Irish voters, especially younger voters aged from 18 to 35, is mainly due to the party's promises to combat soaring housing prices and deteriorating public health problems as well as its call for unification between Ireland and Britain's Northern Ireland after Brexit, analysts said here.

Commenting on the performance of Sinn Fein in the election, Varadkar lamented that "it seems that we have now a three-party system."

Nevertheless, he has insisted that his party will not form a coalition with Sinn Fein in the next government.

"You can't force a coalition any more than you can force a marriage," he said while visiting the Dublin West count center on Sunday afternoon, citing Sinn Fein's incompatibility with his party's views.

However, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has softened his position, saying that his party is open to coalition talks with any party.

Though vote counting is still under way, many watchers here said that the final results of the election will basically match with the results of an exit poll released immediately after the conclusion of the election on Saturday night.

The poll showed that Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein were all tied at about a 22-percent support rate in the election.

Political analysts said that the situation in which the three big parties in the country run neck and neck in the election would make the formation of the government very difficult and it could even take a few weeks to see the new government formed.

Some of them even warned that a new general election could be called under the worst scenario in which no coalition government or a minority government can be formed.

According to Irish law, any government to be formed must win the support from half of the members in the Dail.

Sinn Fein has fielded a total of 42 candidates in the general election, which means that the ceiling for the number of its seats in the Dail is capped.

In the last Dail, which was dissolved on Jan. 14, 2020, Sinn Fein held 22 seats, ranking third in the 158-seat Dail, whereas Fine Gael and Fianna Fail held 47 and 45 seats respectively.

The number of seats in the coming Dail has increased from 158 to 160 due to a change in the country's population.

The counting of the votes, which kicked off at 9 a.m. on Sunday, was suspended at about 4:30 a.m. on Monday and will be resumed later in the day.
JB Hi-Fi chief executive Richard Murray says increasing customer reliance on everyday electronics has enabled the ASX-listed company to emerge unscathed from the retail downturn after surprising investors with a bumper half-year earnings result.

"[Technology] is a higher-order purchase in the family home than it was 10 years ago," Mr Murray said. "If you take 'back to school', all my children's homework is accessed on an online portal, the connectivity at home from a study perspective is just a given."

"If their laptop's broken, they literally can't work. And whether we love that or hate that, it's the reality."

Shares in the ASX-listed company soared 13 per cent on Monday after it revealed its revenue for the half-year period had jumped 3.9 per cent to $4 billion, ahead of expectations of a 3.4 per cent increase.
Were leading the way in Facial Recognition for the gaming industry, said Henry Valentino, eConnects CEO.

eConnect, Inc., a Las Vegas-based software company which provides hospitality companies with a platform for actionable information, reinforced by video, will be speaking at the Western Indian Gaming Conference and Trade Show. Henry Valentino, CEO of eConnect, will be presenting on Facial Recognition in the Casino and the Challenges of Cybersecurity.

Were leading the way in Facial Recognition for the gaming industry, said Henry Valentino, eConnects CEO. I am thankful to the California National Indian Gaming Association for giving me the opportunity to speak at their annual conference.

eConnects new Facial Recognition engine enables gaming customers to accurately identify individuals and their activity throughout the casino. This greatly enhances surveillance capabilities, helps them stay in compliance and improve the guest experience.

eConnect is also exhibiting at WIGC which will take place at the Sycuan Resort and Casino, February 10-13, 2020.

About eConnect

eConnect is a cutting-edge technology company that helps improve business performance through data and video intelligence. The company seamlessly integrates digital video surveillance analytics, including facial recognition, with transactional data from point-of-sale (POS), casino systems and other data sources to quickly and directly improve profitability, efficiency and the guest experience. eConnect offers measurable ROI within months of system deployment. The software tools are world-renowned for their ability to discover previously unknown problems, thereby reducing eliminating sources of loss and correcting operational problems. For more information, visit http://www.econnectglobal.com.


A British man managed to pass on the coronavirus to at least 11 other people without ever setting foot in the epicentre of the outbreak in China, in an infectious journey that shows how the deadly virus can spread rapidly around a globalised world.

The adult British citizen, who has not been named publicly, caught the virus while attending a conference in Singapore and then passed it on to several compatriots while on holiday in the French Alps, before finally being diagnosed back in the UK.

Of those infected by the man, five have been hospitalised in France, five in Britain and one other man on the Spanish island of Mallorca.

The man attended a business conference in Singapore from 20-22 January. More than 100 people took part in the conference, including at least one Chinese national from Hubei province, the epicentre of the epidemic that has now left more than 900 dead.

He then travelled on to France to spend some days from January 24-28 at the ski resort of Contamines-Montjoie in the Alps with a group of other British citizens staying in two apartments in the same chalet.

Stricken with fever after his return to the south of England, the man then went to a medical centre in the southeastern town of Brighton where he was diagnosed with the coronavirus.

On February 6 he was transferred to the infectious diseases unit at the hospital of St Thomas in London.

Five other people who had contact with him at the French ski chalet were then confirmed by the British health authorities to be infected.

Some of the staff from The Grenadier pub, which the man went to just before he was hospitalised, have also been placed in isolation. But the pub has stayed open.

A medical centre in Brighton said Monday it had temporarily closed for "an urgent operational health and safety reason".

The BBC and Sky said one of the centre's staff members had tested positive for the virus, although this was not officially confirmed.

Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said on February 8 that five British nationals, including a child, who stayed at the chalet with the man had tested positive. Six other Britons staying in the same chalet were also hospitalised for observation.

"They show no serious signs" of those infected having any threat to their lives, added Buzyn.

Business owners in the Contamines-Montjoie resort have been keen to avoid any exaggerations of the threat as French families prepared to descend on the area for the half-term ski holidays.

Three schools attended by one of the British infected -- the child aged nine -- are closed and 100 have been people tested. All the results have been negative so far. Similar efforts have been made to track down passengers who took a flight from Geneva -- the closest large airport to Contamines-Montjoie -- with the man when he went back to Britain on January 28.

One member of the group he stayed with in France then sought medical help after returning to his home in Mallorca. The contamination took place between January 25 and January 29, according to the Spanish authorities.

The man in Mallorca is "currently in good health. He shows practically no symptom," said Fernando Simon, an official from Spain's health ministry.

The Mallorca man's wife and two daughters aged 10 and 7, who were also hospitalised for tests, have shown no sign of infection.

Experts said that the speed of the transmission showed the potential for the novel coronavirus to become a global pandemic.

"The recent report of transmission to British nationals in France are a worrying but perhaps not unexpected development," said Paul Hunter, Professor in Medicine, University of East Anglia.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Omicron like viral fever, no need to panic: Yogi Adityanath

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UP Election 2022: From which seat should Yogi Adityanath contest? Here's what voters say

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UP Election 2022: BJP panel meet today to decide candidates for first phase

Adityanath wants UP teachers to learn foreign languages, says they can go abroad

India

oi-PTI

Lucknow, Feb 10: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday suggested that teachers in the state should be taught foreign languages so that they can work abroad.

At the same time, he lamented that a large proportion of applicants had failed the recruitment exam for graduate teachers conducted by the UP Basic Education Board, indicating that the system needed more attention.

"The demand for Indian teachers is the highest in the world," the Chief Minister claimed.

He said the country should upgrade the qualifications of its teachers so that they can be sent abroad, "All educational institutions in Uttar Pradesh should identify countries where teachers are needed and the languages spoken there," he said at a seminar at Digvijaynath LT Training College.

He said the identified languages can then be made part of the curriculum for teacher trainees.

Adityanath said 70 per cent of graduate candidates had failed the last Basic Education Board exam last time.

"This shows which way the quality of our education system is going. We have to pay special attention to this," he said at the college named after a former mahant of Gorakhnath Math.

The Chief Minister, who is the current head of the math, also praised mahant Avaidyanath from whom he took over.
The industry bodies in the city Monday lauded West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra for the "balanced approach" in the 2020-21 state Budget.

The state government tabled its last full Budget before the 2021 Assembly elections during the day.

The Bengal Chamber director general Smarajit Purkayastha said "The chamber congratulates (the finance minister) for placing a balanced budget and rates it 7 out of 10".

The chamber said that at a time when the country is passing through hard economic times, the state has placed a comprehensive budget seeking to reduce unemployment and social sector protection together with promoting business and industry.

Bharat Chamber of Commerce president Ramesh Kumar Saraogi called it "A balanced budget with great emphasis on reducing compliance burden, disputes and promotion of self-employment under very challenging circumstances of huge debts".

Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) appreciated the announcement for setting up of 100 new MSME parks across the state in the next three years to generate employment.

"The easy loans scheme of up to Rs two lakh for the unemployed youths to encourage them to do businesses is also a step in the right direction to arrest unemployment through promotion of entrepreneurship," ICC president Mayank Jalan said.

Merchants' Chamber of Commerce president Vivek Gupta said at a time when India's GDP is pegged at 5 per cent, the state's GDP has crossed 10 per cent.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
10.02.2020 LISTEN

The Director of Public Health at Ghana Health Service, Dr. Badu Sarkodie has advised against evacuating Ghanaian students in Wuhan, China, following the outbreak of the coronavirus.

On the Citi Breakfast Show, he noted that this would be in line with some recommendations from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Among other things, WHO recommended that measures be put in place to limit the risk of exportation or importation of the disease between countries.

But WHO also noted that these measures can be implemented without unnecessary restrictions on international travel.

Dr. Sarkodie instead advised that the government provides needed resources to the students in China.

If they have adequate support from the government of Ghana beyond what the government of China is providing here, it would provide them adequate assurance and hope and let them be confident enough to keep staying there.

It will be better they stay there and as much as possible, that is what I will recommend because I agree with the World Health Organisation, he said.

The new coronavirus was first reported in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province and the city of 11 million was later put on lockdown.

The outbreak was declared a global emergency by the WHO on 30 January.

There have been more than 40,000 cases of the virus globally, mostly in China.

The total number of deaths in China alone stands at 908.

But the number of newly-infected people per day is said to have stabilised.

Students desperate for evacuation

Ghanaian students in Wuhan have been calling on the government to evacuate them over the novel coronavirus fears.

But the government insists it will take its time on the matter and weigh its options.

A Ranking Member on the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, also complained about the lack of action from the state on the calls.

The Special Adviser to the President on Health, Dr. Anthony Nsiah Asare, however, stressed that the government will not bow to any pressure.

---citinewsroom
POINTE BLANCHE:--- Another milestone was reached by Port St. Maarten on February 7 when Joshua Johnson signed his contract with the company becoming the first local St. Maarten Maritime Pilot.

Pilots ensure the safe navigation of ships in local waters. They are highly trained experts in ship navigation and pilots are considered the elite of the marine professionals. Pilots board ships entering or exiting the port and navigate them safely in and out avoiding any maritime hazards.

In attendance for the momentous occasion were Port St. Maarten senior management officials, representatives from the Human Resources Department, Chief Pilot Edmond Johnson and Joshuas father Eric Johnson.

Port St. Maarten Management said that Joshua Johnsons journey is a remarkable one that displays determination and perseverance.

We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Pilot Joshua Johnson on his achievements so far in his career development. He has achieved his goal of becoming part of an elite member of maritime professionals in a global industry that has shaped the world that we know today, Port St. Maarten Management said on Sunday.

Pilot Joshua Johnson said on Sunday: The sky is the limit. From a high school dropout at 17 to becoming a Maritime Pilot today at Port St. Maarten, the journey was not easy. There were lots of struggles along the way that could have held me back from achieving my goal.

There were many times that I felt like throwing in the towel, but I pulled through. My journey did not only comprise of struggles, but it has helped in sculpting me into the person I am today. Seeing the world, experiencing different cultures, the long hours and dedication I gave, which I at first did not even know I had, is what made me Joshua Johnson.

My advice to the younger generation is not to conclude that all is lost if high school didnt turn out the way you wanted or expected, and to believe in second chances. I would like to take this opportunity to say a special thank you to Sabrina Jeanvoldemar, Chief Pilot E. Johnson, Senior Pilot T. Romain, my mother Juliana Arrindell and my father Eric Johnson.

Joshua first started out at Port St. Maarten in 2008 when he was hired as a Pilot Boat Deckhand who is responsible for making sure that the pilot gets on and off the boat safely. He worked with the port for two-and-a-half years and then decided to pursue studies in the Netherlands as a Maritime Officer and in Maritime Engineering.

In 2016, Joshua graduated with a Masters License in Maritime Navigation and a license as a Maritime Engineering Officer.

Port St. Maarten sees the training of human resources especially at key Ports of entry essential in order for the country to maintain its hub function within the Northeastern Caribbean.

A well-trained team in Port St. Maartens number one priority as this reflects positively on productivity and efficiency of port operations.

Port St. Maartens ongoing mission is to improve the ports operations excellence platform. This has always been the mantra of Port St. Maarten and is a key component leading to the development of a training outpost.

The training outpost will lead to the certification of persons working in the logistics field such as heavy equipment operators, stevedoring activities, and other port-container related operations, and will also be used as a catalyst to use St. Maarten as a centralized training hub on a regional and international level.
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / February 10, 2020 / Further to its news release dated February 25, 2019, Galway Gold Inc. (GLW.V) ("Galway Gold" or the "Company") announces an update to the status of the Company's arbitration claim against the Republic of Colombia brought under the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement ("FTA") to preserve Galway Gold's rights under the FTA.

Galway Gold contends that Colombia breached its obligations owed to Galway Gold, including specific obligations under the FTA. The claims include Colombia's refusal or failure to compensate the Company for the losses incurred as a consequence of Colombia's prohibition of mining in the paramos (high altitude eco-systems). Galway Gold seeks, among other relief, recovery of the Company's costs incurred in the acquisition and development of its investment in the Reina de Oro mining project, as well as the loss of value suffered.

The proposed presiding arbitrator, Eduardo Siqueiros, has accepted his appointment as Presiding Arbitrator. The other two Arbitrators, Alfredo Bullard and Professor Brigitte Stern, had previously accepted their appointment as Arbitrators. As a result, the Tribunal was constituted on September 25, 2019, and the arbitration proceedings have commenced.

On December 10, 2019, the Arbitral Tribunal issued Procedural Order No. 1, which sets out the procedure for the arbitration. Pursuant to Procedural Order No. 1, the proceeding was bifurcated into two parts. Phase One is all jurisdiction and liability issues, and Phase Two is all damages issues.

Galway Gold Inc. expects to submit its Witness Statements and Claimant's Written Submissions in April 2020.

Further announcements will be made on the status of the arbitration proceedings.

Galway Gold Inc.

Robert Hinchcliffe

1-800-761-2770

www.galwaygoldinc.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This News Release includes certain "forward-looking statements" which are not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe Galway Gold's future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that Galway Gold or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", or "plan". Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although these statements are based on information currently available to Galway Gold, Galway Gold provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with forward-looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, statements related to the termination of the Reina de Oro project, the ability to recover damages with respect to the termination of the Reina de Oro project in any amount or not at all, Galway Gold's objectives, goals or future strategic plans and new corporate opportunities, and the Company's ability to find a viable resource project in Colombia or an alternative mining jurisdiction. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to an inability to recover damages in respect of the termination of the Reina de Oro project, failure to identify a viable resource project, delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, environmental or other project approvals, political risks, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, changes in equity markets, inflation, changes in exchange rates, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in the development of projects, capital and operating costs varying significantly from estimates and the other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, and those risks set out in Galway Gold's public documents filed on SEDAR. Although Galway Gold has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events, or results to differ materially from those described in the 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 forward-looking information will prove to be accurate. The forward-looking information contained herein is presented for the purposes of assisting investors in understanding Galway Gold's plans, objectives, and goals and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Galway Gold does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. 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.

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https://www.accesswire.com/575753/Galway-Gold-Updates-Status-of-Arbitration-to-Recover-Costs-and-Damages-from-the-Colombian-Government-in-Respect-of-the-Reina-de-Oro-Project




The Palestinians have abandoned their request for a vote at the UN Security Council Tuesday on rejecting the US Mideast plan, over a lack of international support, diplomats said. Introduced by Indonesia and Tunisia, the resolution risked not having nine out of 15 votes in its favor, the minimum required for adoption provided there is no veto by a permanent member, the diplomats told AFP. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas is set to take part Tuesday in a session on President Donald Trump's January 28 plan, which paves the way for Israeli annexation of much of the West Bank but also allows for a demilitarized Palestinian state. The sudden Palestinian withdrawal of their request came after the United States -- which enjoys veto power as a permanent member -- proposed a series of amendments that could come for a vote at the session attended by Abbas. In proposals seen by AFP, the United States would significantly alter the text to remove references to 1967 lines being the basis of peace. It would also cut out a line stating that Jewish settlements built in the West Bank since 1967 are illegal, a position taken by virtually every country except the US and Israel. The United States is also seeking to eliminate language that equated East Jerusalem with the occupied West Bank. The Trump plan calls for recognition of the contested holy city as Israel's undivided capital, while establishing a Palestinian capital on its outskirts. While recognizing that the Trump plan "departs from the internationally endorsed terms of reference and parameters," the US wants the resolution to state that the Security Council "welcomes discussion on this proposal to advance the cause of peace." "Discussions are continuing on the text," a diplomat said on condition of anonymity. Other diplomats cast doubt on whether a vote could take place at a later date, considering the wide divergences in positions. Diplomats, however, said they had no reason to think Abbas' appearance would be scrapped.
CAPF Officers Recruitment: Civil services exam planned

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 10: The Centre is planning to change the scheme of the UPSC test for recruitment of entry-level paramilitary forces' officers and merging it with the civil services examination that selects IAS and IPS officers, officials said.

A proposal in this regard is being thought upon, officials privy to the development told PTI, in the backdrop of the Union government last year granting the Organised Group A Service (OGAS) categorisation to Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) that include CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP and SSB.

The organised service tag allows a service to have its own recruitment rules and enhanced avenues for promotion, pay, command and deputation of its officers.

The deliberations are essentially aimed to change the scheme and syllabus of the Central Armed Police Forces (Assistant Commandant) exam that is being conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) since 2003 for recruiting officers to lead these forces deployed in the internal security and border guarding domain of the country, they said.

As the syllabus has "not been reviewed since then", the UPSC wrote to the Union Home Ministry in 2017, seeking its comments in finalising the new scheme and pattern of the exam, according to official documents.

With the Union government granting the OGAS tag to the officers of these forces on the Supreme Court directions last year, it is now being thought upon that this test can be merged with the civil services examination in order to forge a better synergy between all the allied services like the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Police Service (IPS), the Indian Forest Service (IFoS) and others, officials said.

However, the recommendation is under consideration and a final decision is yet to be taken, they added.

A committee of the senior home ministry and CAPF officials that went into the issue of changing the scheme, syllabus and pattern of this exam in December last year, has also suggested inclusion of new subjects like challenges of internal security, ethics and values, they said.

The CAPF service can be mentioned as a separate entity in the UPSC civil services exam notification once a decision to merge the test is taken, officials said.

The annual CAPFs (AC) exam has three-stage evaluation -- a written test, physical efficiency test and an interview.

It usually recruits about 300-400 men and women, as per requirement projected each year, in the age group of 20-25 years for the Central Reserve Police Force, the Border Security Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police force and Sashastra Seema Bal.

CAPF officials have again gone to the court seeking its intervention to ensure them full benefits of the OGAS announced last year and curtailing the tenure of IPS officers in their services up to a certain number and rank.
Currently, the ministry has the electronic form SPICe (Simplified Proforma for Incorporating Company Electronically) and that would be replaced with SPICe+.

New Delhi: Continuing efforts to further improve ease of doing business, the government will introduce an integrated electronic form for incorporating new companies from 15 February, wherein EPFO and ESIC registration numbers will also be allotted at the same time.

The corporate affairs ministry would introduce the form  SPICe+  to offer 10 services.

Currently, the ministry has the electronic form SPICe (Simplified Proforma for Incorporating Company Electronically) and that would be replaced with SPICe+.

The 10 services offered through the new form would help in "saving as many procedures, time and cost for starting a business in India," the ministry said in a public notice.

The labour ministry, department of revenue in the finance ministry and the Maharashtra government would also be offering certain services through the form.

Registration for EPFO (Employees' Provident Fund Organisation) and ESIC (Employees' State Insurance Corporation) would be mandatory for all new companies incorporated from 15 February.

EPFO and ESIC registration numbers would not be separately issued by the respective agencies, the notice said.

Further, registration for profession tax would be compulsory for companies incorporated in Maharashtra from 15 February.

Besides name reservation and incorporation of a company, EPFO and ESIC registration numbers would be issued.

Mandatory issuance of PAN (Permanent Account Number), TAN (Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number), Profession Tax Registration (Maharashtra) and opening of bank account for the company concerned would be done through the form.

Director Identification Number (DIN) and GSTIN, if applied, would also be allotted.

GSTIN is the Goods and Services Tax Identification Number.

The corporate affairs ministry is implementing the Companies Act and all required filings under the law as well as incorporation of companies are made through its portal MCA21.

The new form would be available on this portal.

"All new companies incorporated through SPICe+... would also be mandatory required to apply for opening the company's bank account through the AGILE-PRO linked web form," the notice said.

There are more than 11.5 lakh active registered companies in the country and thousands of companies are getting incorporated every month.

Generally, active companies are those which comply with all regulatory requirements, including timely submission of filings.
Her new movie Birds of Prey may have had a lukewarm debut in the theatres over the weekend.

But Margot Robbie looked like she didn't have a care in the world as she attended the Oscars on Sunday.

The Australian star, who is up for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Bombshell, cuddled up to her husband Tom Ackerley for an intimate Polaroid ahead of walking the red carpet in Hollywood.

Not a care in the world! Margot Robbie cuddled up to husband Tom Ackerley in a stylish strapless dress as they attended the Oscars on Sunday

Chic in Chanel: Margot wore a navy blue Chanel gown from the Spring-Summer 1994 Haute Couture collection

Margot donned a navy blue Chanel dress from the Spring-Summer 1994 Haute Couture collection.

She also accessorised with a Chanel bag and Chanel fine jewelry.

Margot brought back the classic French manicure on the red carpet, and enhanced her flawless complexion with a classic makeup look - a lined eye and ruby red lipstick.

Nailed it: Margot brought back the classic French manicure on the red carpet

Chanel everything; She also accessorised with a Chanel bag and Chanel fine jewelry

Turning heads: She enhanced her flawless complexion with a classic makeup look - a lined eye and ruby red lipstick

Birds of Prey, the DC Comics' Harley Quinn spinoff, made a tepid debut in theaters over the weekend.

The film opened in first place, but below expectations with US$33.3 million made in the US, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), an R-rated Warner Bros. release, arrived in cinemas while Margot is nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in Bombshell and the previous DC film, the $1 billion-grossing Joker, which is up for a leading 11 Oscars.

Lukewarm: Birds of Prey, the DC Comics' Harley Quinn spinoff, made a tepid debut in theaters over the weekend

The numbers: The film opened in first place, but below expectations with US$33.3 million made in the US, according to studio estimates Sunday

Stunning: Margot looked breathtaking in her billowing black gown

Will she win? Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), an R-rated Warner Bros. release, arrived in cinemas while Margot is nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in Bombshell

But despite those lead-ins, Birds of Prey came in for a rocky landing. It had been expected to open around US$50 million.

It fared similarly overseas, grossing an estimated US$48 million from 78 international markets.

Warner Bros. said the coronavirus impacted sales in Asia, though in South Korea, where Birds of Prey made $1.9 million, it came in second to a local release.

Happy days: But despite those lead-ins, Birds of Prey came in for a rocky landing. It had been expected to open around US$50 million

Expectations: Birds of Prey came in for a rocky landing. It had been expected to open around US$50 million

Naughty boy! Little Women star Timothee Chalamet photobombed Margot's 2020 Oscars red carpet photos

I forgive you! Margot didn't mind and gave the handsome star a hug

Laughing it off! Margot couldn't wipe the smile off her face when it happened

Rubbing shoulders: Margot posed for photos with filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, who directed her in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

A vision: She was looking sensational in the stunning gown

Birds of Prey doesn't have a China release scheduled, and Suicide Squad never opened there.

Cinemas in the country, the world's second largest movie market, have shut down amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Birds of Prey, the week's lone new wide release, cost approximately US$100 million to make.

Cathy Yan directs the Suicide Squad spinoff, which Margot also produced. Margot stars as Harley Quinn, the crazed criminal who after splitting with Joker is a solo vigilante. Reviews were mostly favorable, with an 80% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences gave it a B-plus CinemaScore.
Police Say Texas Teen Was Shot Dead After Standing Up To Bully Days Earlier

A 16-year-old Texas teen was shot and killed at the apartment complex where he lived on Feb. 6. He was murdered after standing up to a bully just days before his death, according to officials.

Samuel Reynolds, a sophomore at Arlington High School, was shot outside his home just after 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. He was rushed to hospital but was pronounced dead shortly after.

Officials confirmed that they responded to the scene at the 900 block of Benge Drive and found Reynolds with an apparent gunshot wound.

Arlington Police Lt. Chris Cook said that Reynolds had broken up a fight days earlier but had started having trouble with the bully, who is 15 years old and male, after standing up to him and stopping him from assaulting another student.

Our victim had broken up a fight a few days prior with a smallerwhat he described as a smallerboy that was kind [0f] being picked on and after he broke up the fight he started having some trouble with the suspect, Cook told CBS DFW.

The lieutenant said the juvenile involved was arrested on Thursday without incident and is accused of killing Reynolds. Due to his age, officials cannot release his identity, and it remains unclear whether he will be tried as an adult or child.

Reynoldss death was caught on camera, Cook said, and video footage shows the young boy walking in his apartment complex when the suspect, whod just dropped off groceries in another apartment, walked up, police said.

Within just a matter of a couple of seconds, he pulls out a handgun from the rear part of his pants, Cook said. He points it at the victim and fires one round.

Police said the suspect used a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun, which they have not yet located, and will be prosecuting whoever made it possible for the suspect to obtain the weapon.

Thats something we want an answer for, Cook said. We are sick and tired of children in our community coming in contact with firearms and possessing them and using them.

Arlington Police Chief Will Johnson said the senseless incident was emotionally tough for investigators on Twitter.

This senseless act of gun violence has no place in society and our hometown community. This was an emotionally tough case for responding officers, investigators, and medics. We will direct our attention to how a young teen suspect accessed a firearm used in the offense, he wrote.

Arlington Independent School District, where Reynolds was a student, said it was deeply saddened by the loss of one of its students and asked that the community keep his family, classmates, and teachers in your thoughts.

Dr. Marcelo Cavazos, Superintendent of Schools, Arlington Independent School District, said in a statement that the district is supporting police in their investigation into the young boys tragic death.

It is with great sadness that I share that one of our students at Arlington High School was fatally shot off campus after school today. The Arlington ISD asks that the community keep the family, classmates, and teachers of this student in your thoughts, he said.

The Arlington Police Department is leading the investigation, and the district will support them with any needed information. Out of respect for the family and the minor status of the student, the Arlington ISD will not release the students name this evening.

Cavazos added that student counselors would be on hand for students for as long as they are needed.

The young boys death comes shortly after two Tennessee lawmakers introduced a bill in the state House and the Senate that would allow public college students with concealed carry permits to bring their guns to school campuses for personal safety.

According to the legislation, HB 2102 and SB 2288, registered students at public colleges would be allowed to take a concealed handgun anywhere on property owned by the school, as long as the student has a concealed carry permit and otherwise in compliance with state law.

State Rep. Rush Bricken (R), who is the sponsor of the House version of the bill, told Nashville NewsChannel 5. The most effective way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. This bill applies to law-abiding citizens who are properly trained and permitted.
Eight Collegedale Academy students and three CA alumni joined faculty member Jennifer Marquez and her husband, Dr. Marquez, on a medical mission trip to Colombia over their Christmas break, .



The goals of this trip included providing quality medical care for an underserved population, giving students the opportunity to experience hands-on medical experience and witnessing and ministering to others.



This mission trip offered an amazing chance to help others with the added benefit of experiencing a new culture and country.

Celebrating Christmas by volunteering in a medical clinic was something I will always remember. I became friends with citizens of another country and strengthened my friendship with my own peers. I could definitely see God working in our team and Colombia, said Daniel Kuhlman, senior, class of 2020 and SA president.Prior to leaving for the trip, the CA students spent 10 hours training before going out to serve. Additionally, they also spent three-four hours helping pack all of the medical supplies. The group flew from Atlanta to Cartagena, Colombia on Dec. 21. After settling in for a night of rest, the next day the work began.After an eight-hour bus ride to Guaranda, Sucre, the group set up the clinic to prepare for the busy days ahead. The clinic ran for three days to serve the local citizens. The students took vitals, tested blood glucose levels, performed urinalysis, assisted in procedures and helped in the pharmacy when needed.Students were able to help remove a growth from a middle-school-aged boy. The growth made an impact on his life, as others would tease him. The procedure significantly reduced the abnormality.An older gentleman had a growth removed from under his eye that was impairing his vision. He was so happy that he cried and thanked the students and physicians repeatedly.This is the first mission trip I have ever been to and I am so glad that I was involved. I am interested in medicine and very passionate about helping people. I am surprised at how people reacted so thankfully when we provided them with medical support. I made up my mind to be a good doctor in the future. There are many things I need to learn and there are many people that need help, but through God everything is possible. Also, I made lots of great memories during the trip, said Felicia Ju, sophomore, class of 2022.On the last day of clinic, Christmas day, the team finished about two hours earlier than the other days and headed out to a farm, which they thought looked like it was straight out of National Geographic.

On the 26th of December, the group was back on the bus headed to Cartagena. Once in Cartagena, they visited the old city (almost 500 years old), the fort and a beautiful white sand beach. By Dec. 29, everyone arrived home tired, but happy.



What a blessing it was to provide health care for others; the trip goals were accomplished, said Mrs. Marquez. These kids worked hard and gave up their Christmas to serve others. To say that I am impressed by them is just the start of an essay I could give on them.





The team was made up of these Collegedale Academy students:

Aubrey Farrow, junior, class of 2021

Daelynn Hopkins, junior, class of 2021

Felicia Ju, sophomore, class of 2022

Daniel Kuhlman, senior, class of 2020

Shawn Raza, junior, class of 2021

Giovanni Reed, junior, class of 2021

Bryden Spears, junior, class of 2021

Emma Wilham, junior, class of 2021



The Collegedale Academy students were joined by CA alumni Maison Baldwin, Eric Marquez and Megan Marquez, who all have experience in medical mission trips. Dr. Marquez, family friend Erin Davidson, nurse practitioner Marlee Tevis and pharmaceutical representative Steve Wilham were also pivotal to the needs met in Colombia, officials said.



Megan Marquez summed up the experience on her Instagram post, Best Christmas present ever.
Police said the arrested suspects weren't cooperating with authorities.

Two of three Ukrainian men suspected of stealing the equivalent of US$1.51 million from automated-teller machines (ATMs) operated by a Russian state-owned bank in Bosnia-Herzegovina have been placed in pretrial detention for one month, local media reported over the weekend.

Dmytro Boyko and Oleksandr Zaytsev were arrested on February 2 in Bihac, a city of more than 56,000 inhabitants, RFE/RL's Balkan Service reported.

Read alsoPolice smash 'GozNym' cybercrime network that stole $100 mln  media

A third suspect, Yaroslav Tytarenko, is still at large and entered Hungary the next day, according to Bosnian police.

All three entered Bosnia via Serbia on January 31 and were believed to have been residing in Montenegro and Serbia as well, local police said.

Approximately US$60,000 in local currency was found on the two apprehended suspects who solely targeted ATMs belonging to Sberbank, Russia's largest lender.

Police said the arrested suspects weren't cooperating with authorities and didn't provide details of their actions, which saw them allegedly withdraw the money over a span of 53 hours.

The Russian state-owned bank told the Sarajevo Times that the remaining stolen money was still missing.

RFE/RL learned of the alleged theft last week after speaking to customers who tried using Sberbank ATMs.

Sberbank's in-country network of ATMs is operating normally and money wasn't stolen from any client accounts, Vedran Persic, director of communications and marketing at Sberbank BiH, told RFE/RL.

Computer-hacking tools were used to withdraw the money, Vahidan Djaltur, a permanent court expert on information and communications, told RFE/RL.
RTHK: Sinn Fein surges to lead in Irish voting

A general election surge in support for Sinn Fein, once the political wing of the IRA, on Sunday upset Ireland's traditional two-party grip on power.

Irish officials were counting votes following Saturday's election with an exit poll forecasting Prime Minister Leo Varadkar's incumbent Fine Gael party facing a three-way dead heat.

An Ipsos MRBI survey of around 5,000 voters predicted that centre-right rivals Fine Gael and Fianna Fail and leftists Sinn Fein had each received 22 per cent of first preference votes.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have traditionally taken turns in power.

"It seems that we have now a three party system," said Varadkar at the counting centre for his Dublin West constituency. "That is going to make forming a government quite difficult."

Counting is expected to continue on Monday, with analysts saying it could take two or three days before full results are known.

Varadkar failed to take the first of four seats as the count unfolded, with a Sinn Fein candidate announced as the first new lawmaker in his region.

Varadkar is still expected to take one of the remaining seats once vote transfers are accounted for, but it remains a sharp blow to morale for the premier.

Ireland uses a single transferable vote system to elect multiple deputies from each of the 39 constituencies.

The Irish Times reported 33 of the 159 seats in the Dail, the Republic of Ireland's lower house of parliament, were filled with 23 going to Sinn Fein.

But due to ballot transfers, an overall seat forecast cannot be extrapolated from the exit poll or from the early set of lawmakers elected. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2020-02-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
EDMONTONEdmonton police say the RCMP are reviewing a letter sent by Democracy Watch that expressed concerns over the Alberta governments firing of an elections watchdog who had been investigating the governing United Conservatives.

An Edmonton Police Service letter, released by Democracy Watch on Monday, says the Mounties are reviewing the non-profits concerns around Jason Kenneys cabinet being involved with the firing of Election Commissioner Lorne Gibson in November.

Gibson had been carrying out investigations into allegations of wrongdoing by the United Conservative Party, having levied tens of thousands of dollars in fines already against party faithful. Hed also been probing Kenneys campaign itself for accusations it had solicited donations in kind and improperly signed up party members.

Kenneys government terminated Gibsons contract using a piece of legislation that also folded the election commissioners office into the chief electoral officers jurisdiction. The move was decried by critics, but the UCP defended it as a cost-savings measure and a bid to streamline services. The government estimated it would save about $200,000 annually.

Democracy Watch asked the RCMP, through the Edmonton Police Service, in December, to probe whether the actions had violated the Criminal Code.

The new letter from police, responding to the organizations concerns, is dated Jan. 2, 2020.

The RCMP  is aware of your letter of complaint and will be looking into the matter to determine whether an investigation is warranted, says the letter, sent by Deputy Chief Kevin Brezinski of the Edmonton Police Service.

The (Edmonton Police Service) will not initiate an investigation as this matter falls within the RCMPs mandate.

The non-profit group, which advocates democratic reform, asked that a special prosecutor also oversee any investigation that might be launched.

The Kenney cabinet firing the Election Commissioner was like firing a top police investigator and a judge to try to stop trials, said Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch, in a news release at the time of the original complaint.

Democracy Watchs opinion is that an obstruction of justice investigation is warranted.

In an email to the Star, Justice Ministry spokesperson Jonah Mozeson said that neither the premiers office or the office of the justice minister had been contacted by the RCMP regarding the concerns raised by Democracy Watch.

When asked if a special prosecutor would be appointed should an investigation be launched, Mozeson said he wouldnt indulge speculating on hypotheticals merely because of a letter that acknowledges another letter was forwarded on.

The non-partisan, independent Chief Electoral Officer was abundantly clear that he has full authority to continue or initiate any relevant investigation as he sees fit.

All proceedings before the courts that stemmed from election commissioner investigations are also now part of the Chief Electoral Officers jurisdiction. All staff that were working in the election commissioners office, once a separate investigatory wing for Elections Alberta, are now under Chief Electoral Officer Glen Reslers watch.

The investigations that were carried out by Gibsons office include the kamikaze probe, which has seen about $200,000 in fines levelled against several party faithful, such as former UCP leadership contestant Jeff Callaway, who has been slapped with about $70,000 in fines since allegations surfaced against him in 2018.

Callaway has applied for a judicial review in court over the fines levelled against him and is set to have his case heard in September.

According to documents leaked to the Star, Callaway ran a kamikaze campaign in the 2017 UCP leadership race on behalf of Kenneys campaign team in order to act as a proxy  attacking Kenneys biggest rival, former Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean.

As part of his court filing, the election commissioners investigation findings were available to the Star, and they said Callaway also fuelled his campaign with illicit money from a corporate entity, Agropyron Enterprises Ltd., to the tune of $60,000.

The RCMP has been carrying out a separate investigation into the 2017 UCP leadership race over allegations of identity fraud during the voting process, also levied against Kenneys camp.

In August, the Star revealed the commissioners office had opened an investigation into allegations Kenney and his campaign team may have solicited contributions in kind that amounted to more than $20,000  accusations which, if true, could violate election laws in the province. The alleged events occurred in 2017 and 2018 when Kenney was campaigning, but the party and Kenney himself have denied any wrongdoing.

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A two-act winter storm may bring icy commutes and a blanket of snow to parts of the state over the next couple of days, according to meteorologists.

The first round continues through midday Monday and is expected to cause morning traffic issues in mountain areas, according to the National Weather Service. The second round, however, will likely bring widespread significant snowfall resulting in difficult to severe driving conditions beginning late Monday and into Tuesday.

Were expecting a break in the action Monday afternoon and then a ramp-up in snowfall again Monday night lasting through the day Tuesday as the main winter storm system moves over the state from the Pacific, meteorologist Randall Hergert said.

The NWS expects moderate to heavy snowfall through the western high terrain, northern mountains and along and east of the central mountain chain. Snowfall in the metro area, Hergert said, may be highly variable, with smaller amounts at the Sunport and larger accumulations on the West Side.

Hergert said anyone planning to travel Tuesday should check road conditions at NMroads.com before leaving. A weather briefing issued Sunday warned that the worst travel is expected at the Raton Pass, on I-40 east of Albuquerque and between Grants and Gallup.

If you do plan to head out, bring warm clothing and prepare for the possibility that you might get stuck, he said.

The storm should clear out by Wednesday. Temperatures are expected to warm up by the end of the week, Hergert said.
In his third attempt, the former supervisory Border Patrol agent accused of allegedly stabbing his lover and 1-year-old son to death in 2018 filed a third motion to request that the lead attorney appointed to his case be removed.

READ MORE: Trial delayed until 2021 for ex-Laredo BP agent accused of killing lover, son

Ronald Anthony Burgos-Aviles stands charged with two counts of capital murder in the slaying of Grizelda Hernandez, 27, and their son, Dominic Alexander Hernandez. They were killed in April 2018 near Father Charles M. McNaboe Park in northwest Laredo.

On Jan. 29, Burgos-Aviles filed a third motion to the 49th District Court requesting the reconsideration of Eduardo Pena as his lead attorney because he has continued the ethical, procedural and constitutional violations that undermine (Burgos-Aviles) right to a fair trial.

The motion states that Pena has not visited Burgos-Aviles since September 2019, does not keep him informed of the issues on his case, has not guided him on procedures and has not requested any authorization to make decisions regarding Burgos-Aviles legal rights.

He again and again, has told me he is too busy to visit me and keep me up to date, although his office is a few meters away from the place where I am an inmate, Burgos-Aviles writes. The few times he has offered to go to guide me I have been (left) waiting for him. On several occasions I have asked my family to contact him to request that he visit me and although he indicates that he will do so, as of the date of this motion he has not yet visited me.

Burgos-Aviles further adds that on the Dec. 12 hearing, Pena did not inform or request his authorization to postpone the trial until 2021.

That there has been two years of being confined and waiting for the trial, the motion states. I consider that, just as the court sees it, it has been enough time for the discovery of evidence by my defense and the prosecutor to be completed.

The defendant further writes that he does not feel fairly represented.

Since the days when Attorney Pena and Attorney Martinez had their problems on how to deal with my case, I have solicited Attorney Pena to quit (being) my legal defense lawyer, the motion states.

He adds, Also, I have not seen any actions taken toward my best interest by Attorney Pena. I dont know the reasons and interest of Attorney Pena to stay as my attorney after all my complaints.

Burgos-Aviles requests that Pena be dropped as one of his attorneys and a new certified lawyer be appointed in his place. If the court does not accept the petition, he asks for a written resolution to be issued to request its review, the motion states.

First motion

On April 19, 2019, Burgos-Aviles filed the first motion asking the court to remove Pena as his lead counsel and reinstate his former attorney, Silverio Martinez. The motion was heard during a 10-minute meeting in the judges chambers on April 23.

Pena filed an ex parte motion Jan. 29, 2018 to substitute Martinez for an attorney who is on the list of lawyers qualified to represent defendants facing the death penalty. An ex parte motion is a sealed record filed with no advanced notice. The motion is only discussed between the court and the party that filed it.

After a 30-minute meeting in the judges chambers on March 20, Lopez signed an order granting the substitution of Martinez. Austin attorney William Boggs is listed as Penas second-chair counsel.

In the first motion, Burgos-Aviles states that throughout his time in jail, Pena has kept information from him, avoids meeting him and speaking with him about the case.

READ MORE: Laredo man dead, woman injured after single-vehicle rollover in central Laredo

He went further on in soliciting that attorney (Martinez) be released from my legal defense without asking me whether I was in favor or against that move, Burgos-Aviles motion states. All these situations and more on were (done) behind my back and/or my knowledge.

Burgos-Aviles said Martinez regularly visited him and kept him up to date on his case. He said Martinez was always ready to talk to him and helped to deal with his problems and needs.

That (Pena), without my knowledge and/or opinion, prohibited me from getting spiritual, religious, psychological and family help in violation of my fundamental human rights and my physical and emotional health, the motion states.

Second motion

On May 23, 2019, Burgos-Aviles filed a second motion of reconsideration stating that 49th District Court Judge Joe Lopez said he needed to intervene because he would not allow conflict between attorneys Martinez and Pena to continue. He adds that Lopez told him that he did not have the right to choose the lawyer he wanted, but rather the court did.

Martinez was appointed by the court at the beginning of the case in April 2018. Soon after, Martinez filed a motion with the court asking that Pena be appointed as co-counsel.

... I am concerned that the war between (court)-appointed lawyers to represent me has affected my right to freedom, to a far, rapid trial and adequate legal representation because it occurred at a crucial point in the case, Burgos-Aviles motion states.

His motion reiterates that Pena has not visited or talked to him about details relating to his case. He said that he was not taken into account when the decision to substitute Martinez as co-counsel in the case was made.

In the first instance, the state was the one who assigned me to (Martinez) and our claim arises on the lack of communication I have had (with) Pena, he writes. Since assuming my legal representation, (Pena) (has) not (visited) me or communicates the details related to my case and I was not taken into account when taking the determination to exclude (Martinez) from my legal representation.

He states that since becoming his attorney, Pena has insisted on different ways to reach an agreement of guilt with the prosecution without taking into account that he maintains his innocence.

(Martinez) has always indicated that in my case there are many possibilities of being declared innocent, while (Pena) has no interest in proving my innocence and there is no real trust between client and lawyer, Burgos-Aviles states.

Burgos-Aviles motion states that he was warned that motions should be processed through his attorneys, but he writes that Pena does not visit him or take into account his decisions about his case or his basic needs.

He ends his second motion reiterating the claims he wrote about in his first motion and asks the judge to provide him with appropriate legal representation.

Lopez issued a gag order on the case on August 2018 precluding all parties involved from publicly discussing the case.

READ MORE: Suspected domestic altercation leads to Laredo mans arrest

According to online court records, Pena remains as Burgos-Aviles lead counsel.

Jury selection on the case is scheduled for March 22, 2021 in the 49th District Court.
The inclusion rider is a way to make change project by project, which is not as onerous as trying to change an entire industrys culture. Its also a tool that can be used by big-shot stars who have huge influence over the entire workplace aspect of a film. Kotagal tried to blend a wonky, D.C. approach with a very Hollywood one.
Treasure hunting sounds fascinating not only to the youngsters but also to older people. This concept enhances the imagination for something mysterious or surprising thing to happen. From deep seas to sky-high mountains, every place is buried with hidden secrets. For adventure freaks, we have listed down the undiscovered treasures from around the world.

Top 5 places with real hidden treasures that are yet to be discovered:

1. Nazi Gold Train, Southern Poland

According to a local fable, it is known that there was a train filled with the stolen precious goods. Nazis had underground channels and they directed the train to the Southern part of Poland towards the Owl Mountains which had its underground facility. More than five years ago, two men claimed to have discovered the hidden treasure. However, despite long-time research, the search for previous loots was proven unsuccessful.

2. New Mexico

During the Great Depression, Leon Trabuco and his work partners hid about 16 tons of gold in the desert. According to a report, they assumed that the price of gold might increase during the depression. Therefore, they held the maximum quantity of gold that would make them rich. However, later on, the laws were changed. After the Great Depression, the private ownership of gold was considered illegal. It is known that after this act, Leon Trabuco and his business partner were found dead. But the gold is still buried somewhere in the desert of New Mexico.

3. Rocky Mountains

Forrest Fenn, a renowned art dealer, hid more than a million pounds worth of plunder in the Rocky Mountains. He created mystery by writing a short poem in his memoir to guide people with subtle hints and help them discover the treasure. This created a lot of buzz in 2010 when the memoir got released. According to reports, two people died while searching for the hidden treasure.

Also read: Best Travel Quotes That Make For Really Good Tattoos To Inspire Your Wanderlust

4. Straits of Malacca

Flor de la Mar got caught in the storm while returning from the Malaysian port. The Portuguese ship drowned near the coast of Sumatra and buried about 2 billion pounds worth of previous good with it. Although numerous expeditions have occurred to search the colossal ship and treasure, nothing could be found.

Also read: Places To Visit In Milan & Major Landmarks To Know While Travelling Here

5. Key West

According to reports, various ships and boats were wrecked because of a hurricane. Among them, cargo ships were loaded with gold, silver and other expensive goods. It is known that they were carrying spoils worth $7 million. While 1985 proved to be a great year for Mel Fisher, as the treasure hunter successfully discovered about $500 million worth of the treasure. However, as per the experts, there are several things which are yet to be found.

Also read: Parth Samthaan's Best Vacation Pictures That Will Give You Travel Goals

Also read: Places To Visit In Verona And All The Landmarks To Know While Travelling Here
VANCOUVER, Feb. 10, 2020 /CNW/ - Hannan Metals Limited ("Hannan" or the "Company") (TSXV: HAN) (OTCPK: HANNF) announces it has increased its land under tenure by 27% at the 100% owned San Martin project in north central Peru to 600 square kilometres ("sq km"). The Company also provides an update on the status of further granted mining concessions and announces the commencement of the 2020 exploration and social permitting programs.

Highlights:

Hannan has added 27% additional mining concession applications at the San Martin project in Peru for a total of 88 mining concessions (28 granted) for 66,000 hectares (600 sq km) at San Martin, covering multiple trends within 110 kilometres of combined strike for sedimentary-hosted copper-silver mineralization;

for a total of 88 mining concessions (28 granted) for 66,000 hectares (600 sq km) at San Martin, covering multiple trends within 110 kilometres of combined strike for sedimentary-hosted copper-silver mineralization; A further 3 mining concessions have been granted over the last 4 weeks. A total of 28 mining concessions have now been granted at the Tabalosos (19 concessions), Sacanche (3) and Gera (6) areas at the San Martin project in Peru ;

; Geological field and social permitting teams have commenced their 2020 programs.

Michael Hudson, Hannan's CEO, states, "With our first mover advantage cemented and large tracts of ground secured under tenure and now granted, our field teams are now actively exploring multiple trends within 110 kilometres of combined strike for sedimentary-hosted copper-silver mineralization. We are excited to see what our second field season will discover from this newly identified, basin-scale high-grade copper-silver system. Mission critical for Hannan has always been social permitting, and we have been working hard to inform and engage all stakeholders."

Hannan has staked a total of 88 mining concessions (28 granted) for 66,000 hectares (600 sq km) at San Martin, covering multiple trends within 110 kilometres of combined strike for sedimentary-hosted copper-silver mineralization. The 28 granted mining concessions now cover 20,800 hectares (208 sq km), with an additional 60 mining concessions (45,200 hectares, 452 sq km) remaining under application. Further mining concessions at Sacanche, Gera and Tabalosos are expected to be granted over the coming months in the order in which they were applied. Under Peruvian mining law, a mining concession provides the holder with exclusive rights to undertake exploration (and mining activities subject to additional permitting) within a pre-determined area. The concession provides secure tenure and allows for more advanced social and exploration work programs to be executed including drill permitting.

Exploration and social permitting programs are now underway. Geological field teams are active prospecting, mapping and sampling over Hannan's vast land holding, with the aim to define initial drill targets. Three sociologists have also been working over the last 3 weeks gaining social licence. Further geological teams will be added over the coming months as additional mining concessions are granted and further sign-off is received from local stakeholders. Field work will continue throughout the year.

The San Martin mining concessions cover a newly identified, basin-scale high-grade copper-silver system situated along the foreland region of the eastern Andes Mountains in Peru and neighboring countries. Geologically, these shares similarities with sedimentary copper-silver deposits including the vast Kupferschiefer deposit in Eastern Europe and deposits of the African Copper Belt situated in sub-Saharan Africa, two of the largest copper districts on earth. Hannan recognized the exceptional potential for large copper-silver deposits in this part of Peru and has aggressively staked a commanding position over 600 square kilometres ("sq km") of prospective geology.

About Hannan Metals Limited (TSX.V:HAN) (OTCPK: HANNF)

Hannan Metals Limited is a natural resources and exploration company developing sustainable and ethical resources of metal needed to meet the transition to a low carbon economy. Over the last decade, the team behind Hannan has forged a long and successful record of discovering, financing and advancing mineral projects in Europe and Peru.

Mr. Michael Hudson FAusIMM, Hannan's Chairman and CEO, a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release.

On behalf of the Board,

"Michael Hudson"

Michael Hudson, Chairman & CEO

Forward Looking Statements

Certain information set forth in this news release contains "forward-looking statements", and "forward- looking information" under applicable securities laws. Except for statements of historical fact, certain information contained herein constitutes forward-looking statements, which include the Company's expectations regarding future performance based on current results, expected cash costs based on the Company's current internal expectations, estimates, projections, assumptions and beliefs, which may prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and undue reliance should not be placed on them. Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause the Company's actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any projects of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statement. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: The Company's expectations regarding timing to complete field work and outcome of results, the granting of the claim applications in Peru, community relations, liabilities inherent in mine development and production, geological risks, the financial markets generally, and the ability of the Company to raise additional capital to fund future operations. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by applicable securities laws. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on 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 news

SOURCE Hannan Metals Ltd.

For further information: www.hannanmetals.com, 1305 - 1090 West Georgia St., Vancouver, BC, V6E 3V7, Mariana Bermudez, Corporate Secretary, +1 (604) 685 9316, [email protected]
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 10

By Eldar Janashvili - Trend:

The observer of the mission of representatives of the US public from New York, Coordinator of the Congress of Bukharian Jews in the US and Canada Rafael Nektal told reporters about the impressions received in Azerbaijan at a press conference on the early parliamentary elections in the country, Trend reports.

Rafael Nektal said that when he met with the Jewish community in Azerbaijan, he saw the respect shown by a government to ethnic minorities.

"I was in Baku and Guba, and in both cities it was nice to see both a street and a monument to the national hero of Azerbaijan Albert Agarunov, who was of Jewish descent. I saw how the locals respect the community of mountain Jews in Krasnaya Sloboda, the community of Ashkenazi and Georgian Jews in Baku. I was shocked at how much the bridge of mutual assistance and mutual respect between Muslims and Jews was developed here," Rafael Nektal said.

Rafael Nektal also noted that in addition to the biography of Albert Agarunov, he was also acquainted with the January 20 events and others that shocked the society of Azerbaijan on the path to independence, and understands how consolidated here the society is, drawing parallels with the trials of the Jewish people.

Nektal added that the mission visited various cultural and religious sights of Azerbaijan and was pleased with their stay in the country.

The parliamentary elections of the sixth convocation were held in Azerbaijan on Feb. 9. Some 1,314 candidates were registered within the early parliamentary elections.

The candidacies of 246 people were nominated by 19 political parties, 1,057 were self-nominated, 11 - by initiative groups. Twenty-one percent accounted for female candidates while 79 percent  male candidates.

Throughout the day, 5,573 permanent polling stations operated in 125 constituencies of the country. There were 5,329,461 registered voters.

Some 883 international observers and 77,790 local observers monitored the voting process. Among the local observers, 35,152 were representatives of political parties. International observers represented 58 countries and 59 organizations.

Exit polls were conducted by AJF & Associates Inc. (US) jointly with Citizens' Labor Rights Protection League, the Rey Monitoring Center, and the French OpinionWay Research Institute together with the Human Rights in the XXI Century  Azerbaijan Foundation.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 20:34:19|Editor: huaxia

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Policeman Wu Shengzao (1st L) patrols with his colleagues at the Daxing International Airport in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 1, 2020. (Photo by Peng Ziyang/Xinhua)

China's cabinet urged efforts to protect workers from getting infected and meanwhile resume production as soon as possible.

BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities are carefully balancing efforts to control the novel coronavirus epidemic and minimize its impact on the economy as millions of people head back to work Monday after an extended holiday.

In a circular released over the weekend, the State Council, or China's cabinet, urged efforts to protect workers from getting infected and meanwhile resume production as soon as possible.

Companies providing epidemic control supplies and services such as medical material and daily necessities are among the first groups to resume work and have already begun racing back to full capacity to fight the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The virus was first detected in central China's city of Wuhan in December. Easy to transmit from person to person, it has kept people indoors and led to a sharp increase in demand for protective equipment like masks and goggles.

About 73 percent of the country's mask production capacity had been recovered by Friday, according to Chen Da, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner. For medical masks, the rate has gone up to 87 percent.

Trucks loading medical devices set out for Hubei Province, in Qinhuangdao, north China's Hebei Province, Feb. 5, 2020. Two vehicles carrying ten medical devices donated by a medical system enterprise in Qinhuangdao set out to help hospitals in Xianning City of Hubei fight against novel coronavirus outbreak. (Xinhua/Yang Shiyao)

Courier companies are also resuming service Monday as they are essential to meet people's daily needs and guarantee the delivery of resources for epidemic control.

Logistics companies are expected to restore over 40 percent of their normal handling capacity by mid-February and continue to increase the capacity according to the development of the epidemic outbreak, according to the State Post Bureau.

For other sectors, production is recommencing in a steady but more gradual manner as both authorities and entrepreneurs are cautious over the novel coronavirus epidemic which has killed 908 and infected more than 40,000 on the Chinese mainland by Sunday.

In Shanghai, the latest official survey showed that more than 80 percent of the local manufacturing companies are willing to resume work, of which about 70 percent have already done so.

Meanwhile, 80 percent of Shanghai's software and information service enterprises have returned to work, and 70 percent of their employees have chosen to work from home using telecommuting and video teleconference services to avoid infection.

Wu Jinzhong, head of eyewear maker Roring Industries in China's southeastern Fujian Province, said only half of his 900 employees would resume work Monday.

"We advised workers outside the province not to rush back, while local employees need to be investigated whether they have traveled out of town in the past two weeks," he said.

Wu said he has also increased spending to prevent the disease, including providing larger workspaces and essential protection materials like face masks.

People make protective suits at the workshop of a company in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, Feb. 2, 2020. To help fight the outbreak of pneumonia caused by novel coronavirus, workers of many medical material companies rushed to work ahead of schedule. (Xinhua/Lin Shanchuan)

To support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in work resumption, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has pledged to help with the supply and transportation of raw materials as well as protective gear like masks and body temperature detectors.

Local governments are encouraged to reduce or waive taxes and administrative fees on certain SMEs, increase subsidies to corporate training programs and extend the payment deadline for their electricity and gas bills to back them in harsh times, said the MIIT.

Likewise, local governments are ordered to take measures to help foreign-funded companies resume production and operation in an orderly manner.

Particular support shall go to large foreign investment projects, according to the commerce ministry, which called for coordinated efforts to solve their difficulties and minimize the impacts of the epidemic.

Now with the country heading back to work, many are confident that the potential economic blow brought by the national production halt is expected to be only a short-term, one-off hit against China's solid economic foundation.

The epidemic might disturb economic activities in the first quarter of this year, but the economy is likely to steady shortly after the epidemic is contained, as the unleashing of pent-up demands will make up for previous weak economic performance, said Pan Gongsheng, vice governor of China's central bank. 
Rainbow Donuts | Photo: Di L./Yelp

Need more doughnuts in your life?

Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the top doughnut outlets in Berkeley, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of where to achieve your dreams.

Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions.

1. Dream Fluff Donuts

photo: orsa s./yelp

First on the list is Dream Fluff Donuts. Located at 2637 Ashby Ave. (between College and Benvenue avenues), the spot to score doughnuts, coffee, tea, ice cream and frozen yogurt is the highest-rated doughnut shop in Berkeley, boasting 4.5 stars out of 206 reviews on Yelp.

2. Rainbow Donuts

Photo: di l./Yelp

Next up is Rainbow Donuts, situated at 2025 San Pablo Ave. (between University Avenue and Addison Street). With 4.5 stars out of 189 reviews on Yelp, the bakery, which offers doughnuts and more, has proved to be a local favorite.

3. Milkbomb Ice Cream

Photo: milkbomb ice cream/Yelp

Milkbomb Ice Cream, a spot to score ice cream, frozen yogurt, doughnuts and desserts in Downtown Berkeley, is another much-loved go-to, with 4.5 stars out of 81 Yelp reviews. Head over to 2079 University Ave. (between Milvia Street and Shattuck Avenue) to see for yourself.

This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
A British man who caught coronavirus in Singapore appears to be linked to at least seven other confirmed cases in England, France and Spain.

Health officials are not confirming a link or giving detail on his relationship to the other people diagnosed with the illness, but he is reported to be a middle-aged British man and is understood to have been the first UK national to contract the disease.

There are now four confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK, with this man having been the third to test positive.

The man is thought to have been diagnosed in Brighton and was transferred to St Thomas Hospital in London, where there is an infectious diseases unit, on Thursday afternoon.

Meanwhile, five British nationals who have tested positive in France were diagnosed after they came into contact with a British national who had recently returned from Singapore, the French health ministry said.

The four adults and a nine-year-old child, who are not in a serious condition, were staying in the Alpine resort area of Contamines-Montjoie near Mont Blanc.

French officials said the British national who was in Singapore returned on 24 January and stayed for four days in the area in eastern France, before returning to England on 28 January.

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 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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. 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

A British man in Mallorca has also tested positive for coronavirus, while his wife and two daughters tested negative.

According to the government in the Balearic Islands, the family said they had been in contact with a person who tested positive for coronavirus in France.

Confirming the fourth UK case on Sunday, chief medical officer for England Professor Chris Whitty said the patient, who is being treated at the Royal Free Hospital in London, is a known contact of a previously confirmed UK case, and the virus was passed on in France.

Professor Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, said on Sunday: From todays reports, this new case would appear to be linked to the cluster of cases in the French ski resort which is also linked to the case in Brighton.

As such this case is part of the same cluster which is being reported as linked to a British national returning from Singapore.

Whilst we currently do not know many details about how this new case was linked to others in the cluster, his/her identification does not at this stage indicate wider spread within the UK community.

If the new individual had been already identified through contact tracing and the person was self-isolating then this should not pose any additional risk.

Further cases within an already identified cluster are not surprising and do not pose an additional risk to public health, providing such contacts are complying with instructions from Public Health England.

As of 2pm on Sunday, the Department of Health said a total of 795 tests had been concluded in the UK, with four testing positive and 791 confirmed negative.

Recommended Coronavirus patients in Wuhan look to only themselves for survival

Meanwhile, another plane carrying people evacuated from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan landed at RAF Brize Norton on Sunday morning.

Foreign secretary Dominic Raab said the repatriation flight had brought back 105 British nationals and family members, as well as 95 European nationals and family members.

The passengers were taken to the Kents Hill Park hotel and conference centre in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, where they will be quarantined for 14 days.

Elsewhere, British honeymooner Alan Steele, who was transferred from the cruise liner Diamond Princess to hospital in Japan with coronavirus was said to be feeling well and in good spirits over the weekend.

Two other patients who had recently travelled from China are being treated at the Royal Victoria Infirmary infectious diseases centre in Newcastle.

One is a student at the University of York, while the other is a family member.

The death toll in China from the coronavirus, more than 900, surpasses Sars fatalities in the 2002-2003 outbreak.

Press Association
Balkans: Di Maio visiting region today and tomorrow Foreign minister in Serbia, North Macedonia, Kosovo

(ANSAmed) - BELGRADE, FEBRUARY 10 - Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio will visit the Balkans on Monday and Tuesday, stopping in Serbia, North Macedonia, and Kosovo.



Di Maio will visit Serbia on Monday afternoon and meet with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, followed by Prime Minister Ana Brnabic.



He will then meet with his Serbian counterpart, Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, and the two will hold a joint press conference following the meeting.



The focus of the meetings will be the state of bilateral relations - Italy is one of Serbia's main trade partners and one of the its biggest investors - as well as the prospects for European integration for the Balkan country.



Meetings will also touch on the thorny question of Kosovo, with efforts to facilitate resuming dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, which have been halted for more than a year, as well as the general situation in the region, especially in view of the EU-Western Balkans conference planned for May in Zagreb.



Croatia, which has been a member of the EU since 2013, is currently holding its first ever rotating EU presidency, until the end of June.



In Belgrade, Di Maio also has a meeting planned with the Italian community at the Italian embassy.



On Monday evening, Dacic will hold a dinner in Di Maio's honour.



On Tuesday, Di Maio will travel to Skopje, where he will be received by the president of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski.



He will then meet with Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov, Prime Minister Oliver Spasovski, and Parliament President Talat Xhaferi. Separate meetings are also scheduled with the main majority and opposition political leaders.



On Tuesday afternoon, Di Maio will travel to Kosovo, where he will meet with incoming Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Foreign Minister Glauk Konjufca and Parliament President Vjosa Osmani. He will conclude his tour by meeting with Italian soldiers of KFOR, the NATO mission in Kosovo.(ANSAmed).




[February 10, 2020] AFBA Names General Larry O. Spencer, USAF (Ret.) as its New President General Ralph E. "Ed" Eberhart, USAF (Ret.) to Remain as Chair

The Armed Forces Benefit Association (AFBA) Board of Directors has named General Larry O. Spencer, USAF (Ret.) as its new President (effective March 9, 2020) and member of the Board (effective February 26, 2020). Also, AFBA's affiliate 5Star Life Insurance Company (5Star Life) Board of Directors has appointed General Spencer as a member of its board (effective February 26, 2020). Current AFBA Chair and President General Ralph E. "Ed" Eberhart, USAF (Ret.), will remain the chair of the 650,000 member-strong association. He will also remain Chair of 5Star Life. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200210005717/en/ General Larry O. Spencer, USAF (Ret.) (Photo: Business Wire) "It has been an honor to serve our country's military service members, first responders, and customers of 5Star Life over the past 15 years as President of this association," said General Ed Eberhart, Chair and outgoing President of AFBA. "We are pleased to welcome General Spencer as our new President and are confident that, with our board's continuing dedicated leadership, he will direct AFBA operations with purpose and resolve as we cntinue to fulfill our mission - to serve those who serve this great nation."



General Spencer spent more than 40 years in the Air Force, beginning his career in the enlisted ranks and rising to become a four-star general. General Spencer's last assignment was as the Vice Chief of Staff of the US Air Force where he assisted the Chief of Staff in organizing, training and equipping 690,000 active-duty, Guard, Reserve and civilian forces. After retiring from the Air Force in 2015, General Spencer served as President of the Air Force Association until 2019. General Spencer received his Bachelor of Science Degree in industrial engineering technology from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and has two Master of Science degrees. He currently serves on the boards of Whirlpool Corporation, Triumph Group, Inc., and Haynes International, Inc. "I am pleased to join AFBA and look forward to working with the leadership team to proudly serve our service members, first responders, and their families," said General Spencer. "The Association has a tremendous legacy and I am humbled by the honor of being named President and the opportunity to advance its mission."

General James L. Jones, USMC (Ret.), AFBA's lead independent director, stated, "With exceptional leadership and vision, General Eberhart has been instrumental in making AFBA what it is today. He has led the organization in a strategic growth plan that has revitalized our relevance and mission to those who go in harm's way on behalf of our country. We thank him for his countless contributions as President and all he has done for our members, field representatives, and employees. As Chair, his vision will continue to guide our efforts to protect future generations of service members and first responders. We know that General Spencer's experience and leadership will further those efforts, and we look forward to working with him." About Armed Forces Benefit Association With the support of the General of the Army, Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Armed Forces Benefit Association (AFBA) was established in 1947 in the basement of the Pentagon to ease the strain on military members and their families who, at the time, could not purchase life insurance that would pay a death benefit if the member was killed in combat. Today, headquartered in Alexandria, VA, AFBA continues to honor its mission, in war and peace, promoting the welfare of its members providing death benefits and other benefits to those who serve this great nation, including members of the uniformed services, first responders, government employees, and their families. AFBA has 650,000 members with $40 billion of death benefits in force and has paid nearly $2 billion of death benefits since inception. AFBA death benefits are underwritten by its affiliate, 5Star Life Insurance Company (a Lincoln, Nebraska domiciled company). View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200210005717/en/

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Bijnor, Feb 10 : The Uttar Pradesh agriculture department has issued a high alert in the state about the possibility of locust attacks, especially in western parts of the state.

Bijnor district magistrate Ramakant Pandey said, "We have sounded alert among all farmers, revenue staff and village heads about potential invasion of locust swarms here. Locusts have been wreaking havoc in Punjab, Gujarat, Rajasthan and now Haryana too, which borders west UP." He said that with the onset of the spring season, the weather is conducive to locusts for breeding and reproduction. Locusts thrive and flourish in loam soil. Farmers should regularly plough such type of farmland. If villagers spot swarms of locusts, they should immediately inform the administration, so that appropriate steps could be taken." There has been spurt in locust attacks, called 'tiddi dal' in the local parlance, in Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat and other states recently. Locusts are known to attack healthy crop on farmlands.

All the village heads and farmers in western districts have been alerted about the locust attacks and have been asked to inform the district authorities if they spot locusts in large numbers.

The state government has already issued advisory to all district magistrates, especially districts bordering Haryana where advent of locust swarms was reported.

Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar had recently told Rajya Sabha that 88 per cent of total 1,68,548 hectares of affected farmland witnessed severe crop loss of more than 33 per cent.

Deputy Director, agriculture, JP Chaudhary said, "Farmers can scare away locusts by beating the drum. They can also take insecticide from us and spray it on their crop. Grasshopper (locust) swarms can cause an epidemic if farmers show negligence and do not take measures at earliest. Locusts subsist on green leaves and are able to destroy crops very fast, particularly potato, wheat, mustard and sugarcane crops. In Punjab, fire brigade was used to curb locusts. We can also apply that method here." More than 1.68 lakh hectares of farmland in the country has been affected by locusts with Rajasthan and Gujarat taking the worst hit.
The 'pings' from the metal targets at a gun range ring out as a baby-faced shooter smiles for the camera -- a chilling prelude to the mall massacre by a Thai soldier who shared his prowess as a marksman on social media. But more than a day after he was shot dead following a near 17-hour shooting spree that killed 29 people and left dozens more wounded, the killer -- Jakrapanth Thomma -- remains something of an enigma. The Thai army, powerful yet reliant on conscripts and the projection of discipline, has released few details about the 31-year-old, blaming his meltdown on a "personal dispute" over debt. "He didn't have a bad record, only this time," army spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvaree told AFP. Even Thailand's gossip-prone local media has so far shied away from sharing rumours about him, while Facebook was swift to shut down his account as the shooting unfolded. What is known is the gunman was a Sargeant-Major from Chaiyaphum province with a penchant for posting photos and videos with weapons and combat gear on Facebook -- a social media obsessive with no filter for his love of guns. One photo has the caption "Call of Duty" -- the name of a popular immersive first-person shooter game -- while another is of a revolver with a Buddhist amulet wrapped around it. After graduating from high school, Jakrapanth joined the Surathampitak military camp in the northeastern city of Korat, officially known as Nakhon Ratchasima. - Deadly accuracy - On Saturday he went on a rampage, turning the city into an urban warzone and chronicling the carnage in live Facebook updates that drew comparisons with the 2019 attacks on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. He first stole weapons from the camp's arms depot, killing a soldier as he raided the arsenal -- a place he knew well after working as a squad leader there. During his rampage he appeared to have picked off victims with deadly accuracy, including shots to the head that left some survivors needing brain surgery. To add to the horror of the attack, he live-streamed slivers of it on Facebook where he also mused callously about the fate of his victims. "Damn I got a cramp", he posted. "However no one can avoid death." One of his last posts screams with fury at being wronged. "Getting rich from cheating, taking advantage from others, they must think that money can be spent in hell," he wrote. In an interview with a Thai television station, a man claiming to be a friend said the money at stake must have been substantial to have provoked such rage. Thailand's prime minister said Jakrapanth had psychologically unravelled after believing he had been deprived of a commission related to the sale of a property. "This man had problems, even his friends didn?t know about it," premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha told reporters. But the real motive may have vanished with his life in the basement of the mall on Sunday as commandos closed in after an atrocity without precedent in Thailand. The handout released by the Thai Royal Police's Crime Suppression Department showing a wanted poster for Jakrapanth Thomma Forensics police inspect bullet holes inside the Terminal 21 shopping mall where Jakrapanth went on the rampage The coffins of SWAT team members Trakool Tha-arsa and Petcharat Kamjadpai, who were killed in a mass shooting, are taken to an air base in the Thai northeastern city of Nakhon Ratchasima
Joaquin Phoenix, Renee Zellweger, Laura Dern and Brad Pitt scooped the big acting prizes at the Oscars.

Here is a look at the other winners and losers from the night.

Good night for:

Parasite

Produer Kwak Sin Ae, left, and writer-director Bong Joon-ho (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

The Korean film was the first from the country to be nominated for an Oscar, and ended up leaving with four  including the top prizes of best picture and best director.

Toy Story 4

Josh Cooley, Mark Nielsen and Jonas Rivera with their Best Animated Feature Film Oscar (Jennifer Graylock/PA)

Woody and Buzz Lightyear proved to be a winning combination once again, as the Pixar film scored the animation prize, despite not winning at the Baftas or Golden Globes.

Video of the Day

Hildur Guonadottir

Hildur Guonadottir (Jennifer Graylock/PA)

The Icelandic composer won the Academy Award for her original score for Joker, making her the fourth woman in history to win in the Oscars scoring categories, and the first since 1997.

Bad night for

1917

Roger Deakins with the cinematography prize (Jennifer Graylock/PA)

Sir Sam Mendess First World War epic was widely expected to win the best director and best picture prizes, but was instead recognised for cinematography, visual effects and sound mixing.

The Irishman

Martin Scorsese (Chris Pizzello/AP)

Martin Scorseses widely-praised gangster drama came into the ceremony with 10 nominations, but walked away empty-handed.

Netflix

Laura Dern (Jennifer Graylock/PA)

The Irishman coming up short meant it was a disappointing night for the streaming service. It entered the Oscars with a leading 24 nominations, but walked away with just two statues  for Laura Dern as best supporting actress in Marriage Story, and for the documentary American Factory.
A budget is a moral document, a statement of our values and priorities. On Tuesday, Gov. Tom Wolf released his 2020-21 budget proposal and it demonstrates a deep commitment to a stronger and safer Pennsylvania. His plan invests in the issues I hear about most from my constituents: a high-quality public education for every child, a fair economy that works for all of us, and common-sense reforms to reduce gun violence.

Gov. Wolfs plan makes crucial investments in public education at all levels, beginning with $30 million for early learning programs like Pre-K and Head Start, which will put our children on a path for lifelong success. As a member of the Public Higher Education Funding Commission, I am especially thankful to see Gov. Wolf propose $60 million to increase the size of state tuition grants and $204 million for scholarships for full-time students who attend any of our 14 state universities. However, even with a $100 million increase in the fair funding formula and a $25 million increase for special education, we must do more to fully and fairly fund K-12 schools in Pennsylvania  which ranks 44th in the nation in state share of education funding.

Pennsylvania has the lowest minimum wage allowed by federal law, lower than every neighboring state. Working families are struggling to survive on a wage set a decade ago, and they deserve a fair wage that lifts them out of poverty. Gov. Wolfs plan immediately raises the minimum wage to $12 with annual increases to $15 by 2026. Its also time we pay our teachers their value, because our future rests in their hands. Gov. Wolfs plan lifts the minimum teacher salary from $18,500, which was set in the 1980s, to $45,000.

After the tragic shootings in El Paso and Dayton last summer, I held a town hall to address the rising tide of gun violence, bringing together elected officials, advocates, and community members to discuss sensible reforms that will save lives. Im encouraged that Gov. Wolfs plan shares this commitment to keeping Pennsylvanians safe and includes $6 million to fund evidence-based gun violence prevention programs. This investment will help ensure we and our loved ones can go to school, church, or the store without fear.

With state revenue expected to finish above projections, Gov. Wolfs plan holds the line for taxpayers and does not include any increases in sales or income taxes. This is a responsible but bold plan to grow our economy and improve public education, a budget that reflects our values as Pennsylvanians. This is only a first step and there will be months of negotiations, but I remain committed to supporting a plan that keeps Pennsylvania on a path to prosperity and builds a future worthy of our children.

You can read Gov. Wolfs full plan here.
By Trend

The Italian observation mission was satisfied with the observance of all the requirements of the electoral law at the early parliamentary elections held in Azerbaijan on Feb. 9, Trend reports from a press conference on the elections.

Italian observers noted the special attention that was paid to the observance of the law at polling stations.

Italian observer, Member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies Rossana Boldi said that she was very interested in observing the election process in Azerbaijan.

"We were in the center of Baku and on the periphery, particularly in the vicinity of the capital and in the city of Sumgayit. Members of election commissions equally approached the verification of voters' documents and the use of ultraviolet markings to prevent re-voting," Rossana Boldi said.

The Italian observer noted that it was strictly forbidden to take photographs, as well as approach ballots at polling stations for non-voters.

Moreover, the Italian MP found it interesting that most of the candidates in the polling stations observed by her were independent and self-nominated, as well as the fact that there were many young candidates and women on the list, which indicates a democratic approach to the whole process.

In general, Rossana Boldi concluded that the elections were very active and in full accordance with international standards.

Senator, Deputy Chairman of the Forza Italy party Maria Rizzotti also noted satisfaction with strict adherence to voting rules.

"The list of voters that we saw at polling stations is not used in Italy and we would like to apply this experience along with UV marking," the Italian senator said.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
By Geoffrey Smith

Investing.com -- Gold prices rose again on Monday, back toward their highest levels in a week, after dismal economic data from Europe reinforced demand for haven assets amid discouraging news flow out of China with regard to the coronavirus.

By 11:30 AM ET (1630 GMT), gold futures for delivery on the Comex exchange were up 0.3% at $1,577.45 a troy ounce, while spot gold was up 0.3% at $1,573.80 an ounce.

Silver futures were up 0.7% at $17.79, while platinum futures were down 0.3% at $966.80 an ounce.

Prices were supported by falling bond yields, notably in Europe, where the German 10-Year benchmark yield fell back below -0.40% after the biggest monthly drop in Italian industrial production in nearly 10 years. Similar data from the rest of the euro zone on Friday revived the specter of recession in Germany at the end of last year.

The data didnt have the same effect on Italian government debt because signs of stress in the Italian real economy typically raise doubts about the ability of Italy to service its 2.5 trillion euro debt pile.

Price movements were held in check by consciousness that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is due to start two days of testimony before Congress on Tuesday. The strong dollar also limited gains, as it hit a new four-month high against developed-market peers.

The patchy return to work by Chinese factories after a forcibly-extended New Year holiday has underlined how hard it will be for both production and consumption in the worlds second-largest economy to return to normal.

Reports suggest that workers returning to their workplace from other regions of China are being quarantined so that they can be screened before returning to work. Earlier Monday, Chinese media published an exhaustive study by some of the countrys top virologists that showed the incubation period of the disease could be as much as 24 days, rather than the 14 previously reported.

The death toll from the virus has now topped that for the SARS epidemic, and while official data suggest that the incidence of new cases may have peaked in China, reports of "superspreader" events traced back to Singapore suggest that new cases will continue to grow outside China for some time.

Story continues

In all, the still-solid demand for haven assets among investors meant that gold-backed ETFs received over $1 billion in net inflows last week, according to data compiled by the World Gold Council. Thats down from the inflows seen at the start of the outbreak, but its still a new record for assets under management.

Elsewhere Monday, copper futures were fractionally lower at $2.54 a pound.

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The Supreme Court has said that Article 16(4) and Article 16 (4-A) cannot be used as a basis to claim a fundamental right to reservation in promotions.

States are not legally bound to provide quotas for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in government jobs and individuals have no fundamental right to claim reservations in promotions, the Supreme Court held in a judgment on Friday.

Through its verdict, the apex court upheld the Uttarakhand government's decision taken on 5 September, 2012, to fill positions in government jobs without providing for reservation.

Here is a brief overview of the case:

What the courT said

The court has said that Article 16(4) and Article 16 (4-A) cannot be used as a basis to claim a fundamental right to reservation in promotions. It said, "It is settled law that the state

government cannot be directed to provide reservations for appointment in public posts. Similarly, the State is not bound to make reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in matters of promotions. However, if they wish to exercise their discretion and make such provision, the State has to collect quantifiable data showing inadequacy of representation of that class in public services."

Article 16 of the Constitution pertains to matters of equality of opportunity in matters of public employment, while sub-sections 4 and 4A pertain to reservations to SCs/STs in appointments and reservations in promotions respectively.

Article 16(4) states: "Nothing in this Article shall prevent the state from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the state, is not adequately represented in the services under the State.'

Article 16(4A) states: "Nothing in this Article shall prevent the state from making any provision for reservation in matters of promotion, with consequential seniority, to any class or classes of posts in the services under the state in favour of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes which, in the opinion of the State, are not adequately represented in the services under the State."

The Supreme Court on Friday also noted that the Uttarakhand government's decision to fill in position without providing for reservation was taken in order to comply with an order of the high court in the case of Vinod Prakash Nautiyal vs State of Uttarakhand. The high court's judgment had termed the provision which provided for this reservation [Section 3(7) of the The Uttar Pradesh Public Services Act, 1994] unconstitutional.

The Uttarakhand High Court's judgment, in turn, was based on a more detailed judgment of the Allahabad High Court in the case of Prem Kumar Singh vs State of UP on 4 January, 2011. This judgment had said, "In case the state intends to provide reservation in promotion, it has to undertake an exercise for collecting quantifiable data with respect to backwardness of the class, their inadequate representation in a class or classes of posts in the services under the State..."

Legal background

In 1994, the Uttar Pradesh Public Services (Reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes) Act, 1994 was passed by the (then undivided) state Assembly. The law provides for reservation in public services and posts in favour of persons belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.

Section 3(1) deals with reserving posts for SCs, STs and OBCs and states that 21 percent of vacancies should be reserved for Scheduled Castes, 2 percent for Scheduled Tribes and 27 percent for OBCs. Section 3(7) of the same Act essentially allowed for reservations in promotions. After Uttarakhand was carved out in 2001, the new state also adopted the law, with some modifications in the percentage of vacancies for the three categories.

However, on 5 July, 2012, the provision allowing for reservation in promotion was struck down by the Uttarakhand High Court. The state government's decision to fill vacancies without reservation came after this order.

The decision was challenged in the Supreme Court, and the apex court's verdict on Friday was in response to this case.
Two dining concepts are heading to Houstons CityCentre District, according to a Monday release.

Husband-wife culinary duo chef Junnajet "Jett" Hurapan and pastry chef Jira Hurapan, both formerly of Songkran Thai Kitchen and Blu at Sugar Land Town Square, are set to open Yipeng Thai Dining in March 2020.

The upscale casual concept, named after a lantern festival in northern Thailand, will occupy the nearly 3,500 square-foot space that was previously home to Freedom Supercars. The eatery will offer 60-seats in the main area, plus an additional eight at the chefs table, 28 on the patio and 24 in a private dining space.

The menu will showcase dishes made with fresh seasonal and exotic ingredients, including Chiang Mai grilled spicy sausage with aromatic herbs, roasted chili spices and lemongrass and northern-style braised curry beef short ribs with Thai spices and Chinese broccoli.

The roster of drinks will feature wine, beer and craft cocktails such as the Lemon-Ginger Lantern made with bourbon, hibiscus, fresh ginger and mint, lemon juice and club soda.

Also opening at CityCentre is Jenis Splendid Ice Creams. The 888-square-feet locale, the city's second, will open this summer. The first location, at 375 W. 19th, opened in January.

The Columbus, Ohio-based artisan scoop shop doles out ice cream made without stabilizers and emulsifiers, synthetic flavorings or dyes in unique flavors.

Options include brandied banana creme brulee, lemon and blueberries parfait, goat cheese with red cherries, sweet cream biscuits and peach and Boston cream pie.

CityCentre District spans 47 acres on Houston's Westside. The mixed-use development features office, multifamily and retail space.

Marcy de Luna is a reporter. You can follow her on Twitter @MarcydeLuna and Facebook @MarcydeLuna.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 10

By Eldar Janashvili - Trend:

The Italian observation mission was satisfied with the observance of all the requirements of the electoral law at the early parliamentary elections held in Azerbaijan on Feb. 9, Trend reports from a press conference on the elections.

Italian observers noted the special attention that was paid to the observance of the law at polling stations.

Italian observer, Member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies Rossana Boldi said that she was very interested in observing the election process in Azerbaijan.

"We were in the center of Baku and on the periphery, particularly in the vicinity of the capital and in the city of Sumgayit. Members of election commissions equally approached the verification of voters' documents and the use of ultraviolet markings to prevent re-voting," Rossana Boldi said.

The Italian observer noted that it was strictly forbidden to take photographs, as well as approach ballots at polling stations for non-voters.

Moreover, the Italian MP found it interesting that most of the candidates in the polling stations observed by her were independent and self-nominated, as well as the fact that there were many young candidates and women on the list, which indicates a democratic approach to the whole process.

In general, Rossana Boldi concluded that the elections were very active and in full accordance with international standards.

Senator, Deputy Chairman of the Forza Italy party Maria Rizzotti also noted satisfaction with strict adherence to voting rules.

"The list of voters that we saw at polling stations is not used in Italy and we would like to apply this experience along with UV marking," the Italian senator said.
The hoax letter is just one instance of fearmongering directed at Asian communities that is playing out on social media. An Instagram post by the University of California at Berkeleys health services offered reassurance that anti-Asian xenophobia was a common and normal reaction to concerns about contracting coronavirus (it was deleted after alumni and students voiced outrage). Meanwhile, students across California have reported feeling that fear of the virus made them targets for anti-Asian comments and open hostility.
Inside a shopping mall in Ha Noi after the coronavirus broke out. Retail and logistics are among the sectors that took some hit from the virus outbreak. - Photo vietnamnet.vn

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange ended last week at 940.75 points, a weekly gain of 0.44 per cent.

The benchmark index recovered from a sell-off in the previous week as investors reacted to the possibility of a coronavirus pandemic.

The VN-Index plunged a total of 6.38 per cent between January 30 and February 3. The collapse wiped out the entire growth the benchmark had made during the year.

During the three-day sell-off, the Vietnamese stock market lost a total of US$13.5 billion in market capitalisation.

The worst-hit sectors included mining and energy, transportation and logistics, agriculture and aquaculture, seafood processing, aviation and tourism, retail, and food and beverage.

Banking and financial, technology, retail and real estate were also affected by bad market sentiment.

But the sell-off helped bring stocks to lower price levels and triggered investors to buy in on beliefs for long-term growth at local companies.

Bank stocks made strong gains to lift the market such as Vietcombank (VCB), Vietinbank (CTG), HDBank (HDB), VPBank (VPB) and Sacombank (STB).

Following the banking sector were technology, real estate, mining and energy, seafood processing and agro-aquaculture.

But it is not easy for the VN-Index to advance in the coming week as the growth momentum has weakened and the market sentiment could be dampened easily, according to analysts.

Coronavirus, its development and its impact on the global economy will still be the major concern for investors, traders and market regulators.

Governments have taken some measures to take control of the outbreak caused by coronavirus but this is not the peak of the disease, specialist Nguyen Hong Khanh at Vietnam International Securities Co (VIS) warned.

The market sentiment would rely on the daily news, he said, adding the major concern for investors across Asia now is how and when the virus is contaminated.

The negative developments of the stock market in the last seven trading days after Tet (Lunar New Year) reflected the expectations on the impact the coronavirus may have on the global economy, Nguyen Anh Khoa, specialist at Agribank Securities Co (Agriseco), said.

If there is no good news about whether the disease is totally controlled, risks still persist, he told tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn. The disease may continue in months and it is hard to predict how the market would go.

The VN-Index is widely expected to approach 950 points this week, however, the growth would be bouncy and there will be some struggles, the analysts said.

Aside the developments of the coronavirus, another thing could bother investors is first-quarter earnings reports.

Listed firms are forecast to deliver lower year-on-year earnings reports for the first three months of 2020 as their sales have been dragged down by the coronavirus.

The sectors that could see a downtrend in quarterly corporate earnings include transportation and logistics, agriculture and aquaculture, seafood processing, aviation, tourism, retail, and food and beverage.

The disease has definitely been dragging both Viet Nams economy and stock market, specialist Nguyen The Minh at Yuanta Securities Co said.

The Q1 GDP growth will likely lag behind the first quarter of 2019 as the service, agriculture and trade industries are widely seen the worst-performing, he said.

It may take a long time to restore investors confidence in the local stock market as the developments of the disease is still unpredictable, he said.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Viet Nams 2020 GDP could grow 6.09 per cent if the coronavirus is not controlled within six months and 6.27 per cent if the disease is controlled within the first quarter.

Agriseco analyst Khoa said it is still early to measure the impact of the coronavirus on the global and Vietnamese economies.

But as an open economy and a neighbour to China of which the economy has also been weighed down, the disease's impact are unavoidable to Viet Nam, he said.

Analysts hope that the disease would only weigh on the economy in short term, saying that the decline of local stocks is often an opportunity for investors to look for cheap but high-quality items on the stock market.
The MP for Assin South, Rev Ntim Fordjour still wants an inquiry into the airbus scandal to uncover the identities of the Government Official 1 and Intermediary 5, named as the local accomplices in the international saga after his request to parliament was rejected.



According to him, revealing the identities of those people and finding facts about the Airbus brouhaha will save the country from international ridicule.



We [Ghana] had so many foreigners visiting Ghana recently because of the good name we have. So we must save the name, he said in an interview with NEAT FMs morning show Ghana Montie.



Rev John Ntim Fordjour earlier made the request in a statement he read on the floor of the House urging the House to lift the veil on the said officials whose identity still remains a mystery.



He explained that, such an inquiry remains the only true way of putting the matter to rest.



But his request was turned down by the Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Oquaye.



Speaker Oquaye, in his ruling, said although Parliament had the powers to do so, it would be premature since the President asked the Special Prosecutor to investigate the matter.



He however said the House would still live by investigative powers granted it, and would come into the probe as and when it mattered.





Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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VANCOUVER, British Columbia and KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Solar Alliance Energy Inc. (Solar Alliance or the Company) (TSX-V: SOLR, OTC: SAENF) is pleased to announce it has signed an agreement to build a commercial solar system at Lick Skillet Farm in Tennessee. The project will also include a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant application, which provides significant support for renewable energy projects for agricultural producers. Solar Alliance is proud to be working with Lick Skillet Farm, a multi-generational family business committed to restoring and protecting the environment.



The combination of low cost, renewable solar power and a USDA grant provides an excellent solution for agricultural businesses to lower their operating costs and reinvest the savings into their businesses, said Solar Alliance CEO Myke Clark. Lick Skillet Farm has strategically designed their company to build community. One of their mottos very appropriately is No Margin, No Mission. The addition of solar plays perfectly into a healthier community and builds their margin to help carry out their mission. Lick Skillet Farm is committed to sustainability in its farming practices, and installing solar contributes to that goal. We are pleased we have this opportunity to support such a great organization with such high standards.

In all our operations, we stress environmental stewardship. We finish our animals on lively, bio-diverse pastures rich in organic matter: infiltrating water, sequestering carbon, and supporting a host of buzzing, flying, and hopping wildlife, said Shannon Miller, Lick Skillet farmer. We choose to steward this land with conservation practices, regenerative grazing techniques, appropriate technology, pollinator support, and an eye to future generations that will rely even more heavily on the myriad ecosystem services it provides. Our farm believes that besides producing high quality meat ethically and sustainably, we must educate our community, and be an example of environmental stewardship. We hope others will follow our lead and choose the solar option.

Story continues

The agricultural sector is a growing part of the Solar Alliance business model. In addition to this project, Solar Alliance is also partnering with Whayne Supply, a Caterpillar dealership, on signing an additional six near-term solar systems for agricultural businesses located in Southern Indiana and Kentucky. According to the Kentucky Poultry Federation, there are more than 850 large-scale poultry farms in Kentucky, and together, Solar Alliance and Whayne Supply are targeting them for solar deployment.

Myke Clark, CEO





For more information:







Solar Alliance Sales

(865) 309-4674







Solar Alliance

Myke Clark, CEO

416-848-7744

mclark@solaralliance.com





About Solar Alliance Energy Inc. ( www.solaralliance.com )

Solar Alliance is an energy solutions provider focused on residential, commercial and industrial solar installations. The Company operates in California, Tennessee, North/South Carolina and Kentucky and has an expanding pipeline of solar projects. Since it was founded in 2003, the Company has developed $1 billion of wind and solar projects that provide enough electricity to power 150,000 homes. Our passion is improving life through ingenuity, simplicity and freedom of choice. Solar Alliance reduces or eliminates customers' vulnerability to rising energy costs, offers an environmentally-friendly source of electricity generation, and provides affordable, turnkey clean energy solutions.

Statements in this news release, other than purely historical information, including statements relating to the Company's future plans and objectives or expected results, constitute Forward-looking statements. The words would, will, expected and estimated or other similar words and phrases are intended to identify forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Companys actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different than those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: uncertainties related to the ability to raise sufficient capital, changes in economic conditions or financial markets, litigation, legislative or other judicial, regulatory and political competitive developments and technological or operational difficulties. Consequently, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.

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."
"Can a 4-month-old child be taking part in such (Shaheen Bagh) protests?", the Supreme Court asked on Monday while warning some women lawyers for making "explosive submissions" that children participating in these anti-CAA demonstrations are being called names, 'terrorist', 'gaddar' (traitor), 'Pakistani', in school.

"Don't make explosive submissions. Please do not make such statements. We do not want people to use this platform to further create problems," said a bench, comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant, when two women advocates instantly started making submissions.

When the bench said it was taking suo motu cognizance of the letter written by a national bravery award winner Zen Gunratan Sadavarte, seeking that minors be barred from participating in any type of protest and agitation, the advocates interrupted claiming that children participating in the protest are being called names, 'terrorist', 'gaddar' (traitor), 'Pakistani', in schools.

"They (children) come home crying," they submitted.

The intervention by advocates Shahrukh Alam and Nandita Rao, did not go down well with the bench, which said: "We will not hear you on this. Don't make such types of arguments."



Solicitor General Tushar Mehta opposed them saying, "Can it be a ground for sitting on dharna with a four-month-old child or can they oppose this on the ground that children are being called names like gaddars in school."



The bench asked, "A four-month old infant had gone to protest? But tell us which four-month-old child goes on its own to protest sites."Advocate Alam said she was appearing for mother of two daughters and given that India has ratified UN Conventions on children's right to protest it was not appropriate for the apex court suo motu taking up the matter.

The bench said the two lawyers were deviating from the main issue of which it has taken cognizance of.

"We are not considering either CAA or NRC. We are not considering the abuses like Pakistani hurled in schools," the bench said.

The bench made it clear that it was not stifling anybody's voice.

"We are not stifling any voice. This is a properly constituted suo motu proceedings by the Supreme Court of India," the bench said.

"We have the highest respect for motherhood, and highest concern for children. Don't make arguments to raise and create guilt," the bench said.

"A child has died. Instead of causing more trouble, mothers should back this cause," the bench said.

The lawyers had submitted that "these women (who are sitting at protest site) live in slums and have no option but to take their children along to the protest site".

"The right of children to protest is also recognised under the UN convention...and children are brought along to fairs, jagratas etc where also they could be at a risk of some harm", Alam submitted.

The two women lawyers said they were seeking intervention on behalf of journalist and activist John Dayal and the mother of two children.

The 4-month-old baby had passed away in his sleep on the night of January 30 after returning from Shaheen Bagh where his parents had taken him during the anti-CAA protest.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to de-register more political parties...

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to de-register more political parties to sanitise Nigerias electoral system.





Mr Nwachukwu Eze, the Chairman of Ebonyi Chapter of APC made the call in an interview on Monday in Abakaliki.





Eze said that the de-registration process should continue until the country has a maximum of six political parties to ensure that the electoral space was not unnecessarily congested.





We applaud INEC for doing the needful as such de-registration had been overdue.

We had a situation where few individuals or family members put-up papers and register with INEC but do not exist in states or anywhere in the country.





They do not have offices, membership bases, structures and one person in most cases, is the chairman, secretary and other members of the executive.





INEC has presently decided to sanitise the system and this can be likened to the deleting of unwanted files in a computer for it to have enough storage space, he said.





The chairman said that such de-registration would sanitise the electoral process, especially by eliminating complexities recorded during voting.





This decision will make logos of political parties appear bold on ballot papers and make voters have enough space to thumb-print.





When we have over 90 political parties on a ballot paper, the illiterate voters would be confused on how to thumb-print, he said.





He urged INEC not to be distracted by complaints over the de-registration, advising it to shut its ears.





There is no case of victimisation in the decision as the affected parties know they are not in existence.





A situation where some parties will poll over 10million votes in a general election, while others will not have up to 1, 000 votes in a country of over 120million people is appalling.





INEC has an assemblage of the best lawyers in the country either as staff or consultants and its reputation will make it shun acts that will be subjudice before the court.





There is no order restraining INEC from implementing the decision and it is only when such is obtained that the issue of subjudice will arise, he said.





The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, had on Thursday announced de-registration of 74 political parties for failing to meet Constitutional requirements for them to exist as political parties in the country.
The number of coronavirus patients on a quarantined cruise ship in Japan has nearly doubled to 136 today after another 66 people tested positive.

The latest batch of test results on the Diamond Princess includes 11 US nationals - taking the total of American cruise ship patients to 23.

There are also 45 Japanese nationals, four Australians, three from the Philippines and one each from Canada and Ukraine. One other is unknown.

At least 10 of the infected passengers are crew members, according to the New York Times.

Confirmed virus patients are being moved to hospitals on the mainland with the 2,500 remaining passengers and 1,045 crew members confined to their cabins and quarters back on the ship.

One British tourist, David Abel, reported from his ninth-deck cabin today that 'depression is starting to set in'.

Holidaymakers are likely to face further tests and health authorities are scrambling to deliver medicine requested by passengers, with the ship expected to remain in quarantine in Yokohama until February 19.

One British patient, Alan Steele, was taken off the ship on Friday but said today that he could be discharged as soon as this week if he is declared free of the virus.

Meanwhile another cruise ship, the Westerdam, has said it will finally dock in Thailand after four countries refused entry despite the crew's insistence that there were no virus cases on board.

Japanese military personnel set up a covered walkway next to the Diamond Princess cruise ship today where thousands of people are in quarantine

The Diamond Princess is anchored off the port of Yokohama today with dozens more cases of coronavirus confirmed on board

Japanese health minister Katsunobu Kato said the government was considering testing everyone on board.

That would require them to remain on the ship until results are available, which can take several days.

Japan initially screened all 3,711 passengers and crew last week after an 80-year-old passenger who left the ship in January was confirmed to have the virus.

Nearly 300 people were selected for further tests because they showed symptoms or had contact with known patients, resulting in 61 initial positive tests.

Since then, the tests have expanded to those who had contact with the infected passengers, producing a spiralling number of confirmed cases.

Today the cruise ship operator said another 66 people had been newly diagnosed, while Japanese officials reported 65 positive tests out of 103 samples. The reason for the discrepancy was unclear.

The number of passengers and crew on board is now 3,622, a health ministry official said.

The confirmed virus patients include British honeymooner Alan Steele, who was separated from his wife Wendy and taken to the mainland on Friday.

Today he wrote on Facebook: 'Doctor has given me the set plan of action for my discharge and as long as I pass the tests I will be free on Friday.

'Would have been Thursday but Japan on holiday tomorrow so no one to do the test results.

'Heard bad news on more cases on ship but possible good news is all will now be tested so if you're free of virus they should let you go.'

Tomorrow, February 11, is National Foundation Day in Japan.

Officials in protective suits walk on board the cruise ship Diamond Princess in Yokohama today

Passengers who remain on the Diamond Princess have been asked to stay inside their cabins and allowed only briefly onto open decks.

They have been asked to wear masks and keep a distance from each other when outside, and given thermometers to regularly monitor their temperatures.

British tourist David Abel, who is on board with his wife Sally, said that 'depression is starting to set in' as the lockdown neared its second week.

'Lots of the passengers now are getting a bit of cabin fever,' he said in one of his frequent Facebook updates.

Another passenger, a 43-year-old Hong Kong resident, said he hoped assurances about the effectiveness of quarantine and ventilation on board would prove true.

'I will get nervous if we pass 200 [cases],' he said.

The ship is expected to stay in quarantine until February 19, two weeks after the isolation period began.

The quarantine has made life on board the ship difficult, particularly for those in windowless interior cabins.

The health ministry said today that around 600 people on board urgently needed medication, and around half received supplies over the weekend.

The Diamond Princess has mostly been anchored in Yokohama Bay where workers in protective suits have delivered supplies on smaller boats.

However, it has also returned to the open sea periodically to collect seawater which can be turned into shower or drinking water.

A passenger stands on the balcony on board the Diamond Princess yesterday with guests facing further tests for coronavirus

Members of the Self Defense Forces prepare a truck to connect to the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship

New supplies of wet wipes and heavy-duty filtration face masks were also delivered to the passengers today.

All the passengers have been offered full refunds for the cruise and told they will not incur any charges during the quarantine.

On board the ship, news of the additional infections sparked worry for some, with passenger Yardley Wong voicing fears of 'stress and high anxiety'.

'I need to cry to get off the anxiety,' she said.

Others sat in their cabins watching the Academy Awards, which were broadcast live on Monday morning.

There are 26 confirmed cases of the new virus in Japan apart from those on board the ship.

The global death toll from the virus yesterday rose to 910, all but two of them in China, after 97 people died on the deadliest day of the outbreak so far.

The virus is believed to have emerged in a market selling wild animals in Wuhan last year before spreading across China.
Hanover, N.H.  Following her strong debate performance on Friday night in Manchester, Amy Klobuchar drew solid crowds as she crisscrossed New Hampshire this weekend. She spoke at Dartmouth College a few hours after Pete Buttigieg was there on Saturday, and both candidates drew about the same number of attendees. On Sunday, more than 700 people showed up to see her in Manchester and another 1,100 came out to see her in Nashua, while Buttigieg had a crowd of 1,800 at his lone event in Nashua that same day. The crowds for Joe Biden were much smaller.

The interest in Klobuchar at these events matched the interest in her online, and is borne out in the polls: Two separate tracking surveys conducted after the debate showed her jumping out to third place in New Hampshire. In Suffolks poll, she shot up from 6 percent to 14 percent following the debate, a couple points ahead of both Biden and Elizabeth Warren, while Bernie Sanders led with 27 percent and Buttigieg was in second at 19 percent.

In short, Klobuchar appears to be hitting her stride in New Hampshire, and support for her could continue to grow in the closing hours of the race. Earlier in the campaign, Klobuchars nerves appeared to get the better of her at times on the debate stage, but on the stump this weekend she was at ease. With a smile on her face at Dartmouth, she skillfully differentiated herself from all of her opponents. She recalled that when the ABC debate moderator asked, Do we think a socialist should lead the ticket? I was the only one that raised my hand and said, No, actually I dont. Bernie and I are friends. I appreciate his service, but I dont think he should lead the ticket.

Ive seen Klobuchar deliver her stump speech four times  twice in Iowa and twice in New Hampshire  and she continues to get better each time as she hammers the themes of electability and (relative) moderation. The timing of her jokes has even improved.

I have won every place, every race, every time. I have won all the way down to fourth grade, she said in Manchester. All of her male rivals boast about stuff on the debate stage, so this is my thing.

Story continues

Back then my slogan  which I have since abandoned  was All the way with Amy K., she added to laughter. I dont think thats where we want to go right now.

In Klobuchars thumbnail sketch of her life, she paints a picture of a modest and at times challenging upbringing: Her mother grew up poor in Milwaukee and spent her entire adult life as a second-grade teacher in Minnesota. Her father was an alcoholic journalist, and the two of them split up when she was 15. When her father finally faced the choice of jail or treatment for alcoholism, he chose treatment and was, in his own words, pursued by grace, Klobuchar said. Now 91, he still meets with the Alcoholics Anonymous group at his assisted-living center, but he says its pretty hard to get a drink around here anyway.

She also amused Patriots fans in New Hampshire by telling them that her father wrote a book four decades ago, which is sadly still relevant, titled: Will the Vikings Ever Win the Super Bowl?

Klobuchars ability to get the crowd laughing several times in the course of a stump speech is something you just dont see at events for Sanders, Buttigieg, Warren, or Biden, all of which are generally humorless affairs.

Her charm came across much more than even in debates, Amy Feitelson of Rye, N.H., told me after the Dartmouth event. I like her practical attitude. She added that she settled on Klobuchar after mostly thinking, Who can beat Trump? I think she can pull her own.

Im leaning very strongly toward Amy, said a third-grade teacher named Jess from Hanover, who brought her two young children to the event. I love that she gets stuff done. Shes made working with Republicans part of her platform.

I like Amys bluntness and directness, said Hannah Romer of West Lebanon, who is still trying to make up her mind between Klobuchar and Warren.

Where does Klobuchar go from here? There are simply too many unknowns to predict that with any certainty. But a strong third-place finish tomorrow would likely mean her campaign lives to fight another day. She said over the weekend that she had raised $2.5 million since the debate, and any candidate with a good chance of clearing the 15-percent threshold to win delegates in future contests will have a strong incentive to stay in the race.

But is there a real chance that the Democratic Party will actually want to go all the way with Amy K. as its standard-bearer, or is it more likely that Klobuchars continued candidacy will just split the moderate vote with Buttigieg and help Sanders grow a lead in the race? Its hard to say.

One thing that is clear  and this is something that cant be said of Klobuchars Senate colleagues from New York or California  is that her political stock has risen because of the 2020 presidential campaign. While Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Beto ORourke dropped out before a single vote was cast, Klobuchar is still in the fight and her message is resonating. If you are tired of the extremes in our politics and the noise and the nonsense, you have a home with me, she told the crowd in Manchester on Sunday. The line was greeted with loud applause.

More from National Review
New Delhi: DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran on Monday took up cudgels on behalf of Tamil film actor Vijay who has been subjected to pointed scrutiny by the Income-Tax Department in recent days. Maran lashed out at the income-tax raids conducted against the actor while a superstar like Rajinikanth was given Rs 1 crore relief.

Addressing the house amid an uproar, Maran said: "Vijay was picked up from his shooting location in Tirunelveli for questioning, and the entire film schedule had to be cancelled, which has caused a huge loss to the makers of the movie."

The IT Department served summons on Vijay days after raiding his properties in connection with the declaration of profits of his last film Bigil which has reportedly grossed around Rs 300 crore worldwide. According to the news agency ANI, Vijay has been summoned over charges of tax evasion and his links with financier Anbu Chezhiyan, who is the producer of the film.

The tax authorities are sniffing for what it says are unaccounted transactions between Vijay and Anbu. Vijay has been asked to disclose the actual remuneration he received and the profit he earned from his last release.

Vijay's fans alleged that the government is targetting Vijay, who is said to be poised to make an entry into politics. On social media, fans of Vijay, nicknamed Thalapathy, were thrilled that Maran came out in support of their idol.

Maran's support for Vijay comes in the context of Vijays political ambitions and movies in the recent past being critical of the Centre. In Mersal and Sarkar Vijay played characters who hit out at the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, explicitly condemning demonetisation.

Interesting statement by DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran in Lok Sabha.



Says because of elections next year, Rajinikanth gets relief of Rs 1 crore...But actor Vijay was picked up from shooting spot leading to losses.#DMK #Vijay #Rajinikanth #TNPolitics pic.twitter.com/40zIIuKYtn  Shilpa Nair (@NairShilpa1308) February 10, 2020

The DMK MP also made a pointed reference in his speech in Parliament to the divergent treatment given to Sanskrit and Tamil. The Chennai Central MP triggered the ire of the treasury benches when he made some remarks about Sanskrit, which the chair expunged from the record.

Language is always a live political issue in Tamil Nadu, and Marans distinction between the treatment received by Tamil vis a vis Sanskrit would serve as a signal to the DMKs core Dravidian constituency in the state.

"The government keeps quoting Thirukkural and talk about Tamil but it does not do anything for a classical language like Tamil and spends money on a **** language like Sanskrit," said Maran.
Married At First Sight's Mishel Karen may be the oldest woman on the show at 48, but she certainly rivals the younger brides with her age-defying beauty.

On Monday's episode, the Brisbane teacher revealed she sleeps with a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine each night to maintain her youthful appearance.

But this is just one of several methods Mishel uses to stay looking young.

Age is just a number, baby! Married At First Sight's Mishel Karen may be the oldest woman on the show at 48, but she certainly rivals the younger brides with her age-defying appearance

The reality star, who has two adult children, regularly gets Botox injections, too.

Daily Mail Australia has discovered several pictures of Mishel undergoing the anti-aging treatment in December - possibly to impress her 'husband', Steve Burley.

She also applies Synergie UberZinc to 'prevent winkles' and protect her skin.

Meanwhile, Mishel is a big fan of teeth whitening and regularly shares photos to Instagram of her sparkling smile.

Hmm! On Monday's episode, Mishel revealed she sleeps with a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine each night to maintain her youthful looks

Mishel also enlists the help of a top personal trainer to stay in shape.

Fitness guru Jake Mollenhauer regularly puts Mishel through her paces during workouts in the blistering Queensland sunshine.

While filming MAFS in Sydney for several months last year, Mishel was concerned about gaining weight because she was too busy to train.

As soon as filming wrapped in December, it's understood that she raced back to the gym to tone up again.

Preventative: The reality star, who has two adult children, regularly gets Botox injections, too

Her secret? Daily Mail Australia has discovered several pictures of Mishel undergoing the anti-aging treatment in December - possibly to impress her 'husband', Steve Burley

Blinding: Meanwhile, Mishel is a big fan of teeth whitening and regularly shares photos to Instagram of her sparkling smile

During Monday's episode of Married At First Sight, Mishel was filmed getting into bed while attached to a $1,600 CPAP air ventilator machine.

'I sleep with a CPAP machine and look a little bit like Darth Vader,' she laughed.

'I believe it keeps me youthful, opens up my airways and I get a lot more oxygen while I sleep.'

Married At First Sight continues Tuesday at 7:30pm on Channel Nine

Active lifestyle: Mishel also enlists the help of a top personal trainer to stay in shape
The station draws about 170,000 listeners a week in New Zealand, heavily skewed towards those aged 65 and older, according to the broadcaster. But fans mobilised last week when Radio New Zealand proposed to throw out its classical arms FM station in May, replacing it with a youth radio channel in August. Some 18 jobs would be eliminated, with new roles created at the youth station, RNZ said.  The Guardian
Looming over the City of Torontos proposed capital spending plan, like an infrastructure Godzilla hungry for cash, sits the Gardiner Expressway.

There is no organized push, at the moment, to revisit the bruising political debates of 2015 and 2016 that saw city council vote to rebuild the crumbling crosstown artery and leave elevated sections aloft, including a relocated curve from Cherry St. to the Don Valley Parkway.

But questions and tempers rise every budget season as briefing notes and charts lay bare the enormous cost of fixing the crumbling freeway and building the new hybrid DVP connection. Gardiner costs constrain all other project spending.

The roadway will gobble $2.2 billion of the transportation departments 10-year capital spend. Thats 44 per cent of the total, although the highway carries only about seven per cent of commuters in and out of downtown, according to city figures. The east Gardiner carries only 5,000 cars per hour at peak times.

Eighteen kilometres of freeway, seven of them elevated, will cost taxpayers more than Torontos other 5,379 kilometres of roadway  including the ground-hugging DVP  combined.

The city had to choose between rebuilding the Gardiner and doing everything else, and council chose the Gardiner, Coun. Gord Perks, a frequent budget critic of Mayor John Tory, said of a 2016 vote to proceed with the rebuild and hybrid connection to the DVP.

If your car hits a pothole, or you wait too long for a bus, or theres a leaky roof in your local community centre, thats so we could save two minutes (in commuting time) for people travelling from Scarborough, by rebuilding the Gardiner, he said.

And if you look at the rest of the road budget, right now were about a billion dollars behind on repairs. Within 10 years well be $4 billion behind on repairs. The Gardiner sucks everything up.

Tory in 2015 rallied public support to keep aloft the 2.4-kilometre stretch east of Jarvis St., and reject a city staff recommendation to bring that least-used section down to ground as an eight-lane boulevard with a ramp to the DVP.

Touting a University of Toronto study suggesting the $461-million boulevard option could prolong commutes by 10 minutes at peak times  not the two to three minutes forecasted by city staff  Tory eked out a 24-21 council win.

He then sought compromise with the primarily downtown councillors he had fought. That resulted in a 2016 vote of 36-5 to move the elevated DVP link closer to the railway corridor and bring down the easternmost ramp to Logan Ave.

The hybrid link that freed up developable land without significantly slowing traffic came with a cost, however. In 100-year lifecycle costs  the long-term cost including a future rebuild, is $919 million. Framed as short-term, upfront capital costs, its $718 million.

But those projections were in 2013 dollars, and city staff say they cant yet offer an update. A significant rise could trigger another council debate. But a change in plan, such as reverting to the city staffs proposed boulevard option, would see more money spent on the Jarvis to Cherry section and design work done on the hybrid, lost.

Asked recently if he has any second thoughts about the Gardiner, given the huge competing needs for precious capital dollars, including Toronto Community Housing repairs, Tory said no.

People are going to drive trucks and cars in the city  we hope that fewer of them will do so, and thats why the city is heavily investing in public transit, the mayor said. But lets be real  there are going to be people driving cars and trucks and commerce that has to be done around the city, so were making some investment in road transportation.

I think the Gardiner Expressway, while its a big investment, will prove to be a worthwhile investment when alls said and done.

Councillor Joe Cressy, whose post-council-cut Ward 10 Spadina-Fort York now includes the east Gardiner, called the highway 1950s infrastructure in 21st-century Toronto, where the downtown population is swelling and fewer and fewer people move by vehicle.

More than 60 per cent of rush-hour commuter trips into downtown were people using TTC, regional transit, foot or bike, compared to 36 per cent in vehicles, according to city 2016 figures.

In a growing city, the only solution is to reduce our dependence on cars and to incentivize active public transportation, Cressy said. Rebuilding elevated expressways does the opposite.

Cressy thinks council will revisit the Gardiner at some point, but money already invested in the Gardiner redo will likely deter councillors from considering a radical change of course. Perks says those costs are good money after bad, so council should revisit it as soon as possible.

Ward 2 Etobicoke Centre Coun. Stephen Holyday said Torontonians should see the highway as an asset, not a money pit. Investment over a decade will yield decades more of benefits, he said.

There are a large number of commuters, businesses and visitors who rely on it, and any changes at the east end will have ripple effects down the line, he said. This is money well spent.

Matti Siemiatycki, a U of T associate professor and expert on urban infrastructure, says similar debates rage in cities around the world as 1950s expressways hit the end of their lifecycle.

Predictions of traffic chaos when cities remove expressways, as Seoul did to create a park through the heart of the Korean capital, are often unfounded, he says. But so too were predictions nobody would want to live or work near expressways, as evidenced by growth around the Gardiner.

Since the Gardiner plans seem concrete, Siemiatycki said, perhaps the debate should be over who pays. That leads to a possible revival of Torys 2016 plan to toll the Gardiner and DVP, initially accepted by then-premier Kathleen Wynne, then rejected amid 905-belt opposition.

An estimated 35 per cent of Gardiner users dont live in Toronto and pay nothing for its upkeep.

Were making a 100-year decision today about a piece of infrastructure that may be becoming increasingly obsolete, so theres a debate if it should be the users paying that cost, Siemiatycki said.

If the people who use the Gardiner consider it very beneficial in terms of saved commuting time, there is a fairness argument about paying for that convenience and benefit, both for private users and for freight deliveries.

While Premier Doug Ford, who has accused some councillors of waging a war on the car and who has suburban political support, might be expected to reject tolls, he has supported them in the past. In 2012, Ford, then an Etobicoke councillor who used the freeway daily, proposed helping cover Gardiner repair costs by partnering with the private sector to build a toll lane on the Gardiner alongside busier free lanes.

Id pay the $5 to get downtown every day, Ford told the Globe and Mail in 2012. Id put a (Gardiner) toll road separate. You either get a freebie or a toll.

Correction - Feb. 12, 2020: This article was edited from a previous version that misstated the length of the Gardiner Expressway. As well, the previous version misstated the total combined length of all the other roadways in Toronto.

David Rider is the Star's City Hall bureau chief and a reporter covering city hall and municipal politics. Follow him on Twitter: @dmrider

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Record low prices for liquefied natural gas (LNG) are roiling the global gas market, creating havoc as traders rush to find alternative locations for cargoes with Chinese buyers rejecting shipments amid the coronavirus epidemic. Asian spot prices for LNG have already tumbled to troughs of $3 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) - less than half of what they were at the same time last year. At least one cargo bound for India has already traded below $3/mmBtu, down 30 cents within a week, traders said. Concerns that Chinese companies could back out of contracts because of ...
A private school graduate has been arrested after police allegedly found more than 1000 MDMA capsules hidden in his underwear at a Sydney music festival.

Andrew Huhao, 19, was arrested after a drug dog reacted to him at the Transmission Music Festival at Sydney Olympic Park on Saturday.

He was one of six people charged with drug supply by New South Wales police at the festival.

The University of Sydney student is an aspiring architect and works part time as a wedding DJ, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Private school graduate Andrew Huhao, 19, was allegedly found with 1000 MDMA capsules at the Transmission Music Festival (pictured) on Saturday

Police allege the MDMA capsules were packaged in condoms and hidden in Huahao's pants and underwear.

LSD tabs and a credit card knife were allegedly found in his wallet.

Huhao appeared at Parramatta Bail Court via videolink on Sunday while his family sobbed in the gallery.

The teenager was charged with supplying a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug, possessing a prohibited drug and having a knife in a public place.

Magistrate Les Brennan was urged by the prosecution to refuse bail because the quantity of drugs allegedly implied he was going to supply them to others.

'The prosecutor asks that I refuse bail taking into account the fact the court and community is aware young people are dying at these music festivals because they're taking drugs,' Magistrate Les Brennan said.

'They're not only dying at festivals but throughout our community and a thousand and five capsules could have brought about one or more deaths  or none.'

Partygoers dance in the crowd at the Transmission Music Festival in Sydney at Saturday

The man will return to Burwood Local Court on February 18.

Meanwhile another 19-year-old man was allegedly found with 287 MDMA capsules in a vacuum-sealed package hidden in his underwear along with $100 cash.

He was charged with the same two drug offences and dealing with property proceeds of crime.

A 31-year-old man was also allegedly found with 195 MDMA capsules and $790 cash.

A total of 32 people were processed for drug possession.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 21:09:22|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on Feb. 9, 2020 shows the site of a 5G teleconsultation at Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) General Hospital in Beijing, capital of China. Beijing-based Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) General Hospital carried out 5G teleconsultation services Sunday with Huoshenshan Hospital, a recently built makeshift hospital in Wuhan, to battle the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak. The teleconsultation also marks the launching of the teleconsultation system between the two hospitals. Supported by the 5G network, the system enables doctors in Beijing to establish real-time communications with those in Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus outbreak in central China's Hubei Province. (Photo by Kong Lingzhan/Xinhua)

BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Beijing-based Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) General Hospital carried out 5G teleconsultation services Sunday with Huoshenshan Hospital, a recently built makeshift hospital in Wuhan, to battle the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak.

The teleconsultation also marks the launching of the teleconsultation system between the two hospitals.

Supported by the 5G network, the system enables doctors in Beijing to establish real-time communications with those in Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus outbreak in central China's Hubei Province.

Experts of the Chinese PLA General Hospital will be kept on standby to offer high-quality medical services to patients in Wuhan, the hospital said.
Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg will be in Chattanooga and Nashville on Wednesday to hold rallies marking the start of early voting in the state ahead of the Super Tuesday primary.

This is his third trip to Tennessee since announcing his candidacy in late November.

In late December, Mr. Bloomberg announced his national healthcare policy in Memphis and kicked off the grand opening of the state campaign headquarters in Nashville. He returned to the state on Jan. 10 to open the Knoxville regional field office.

The time, resources and attention Mike gives Tennessee shows his care and focus on Tennessee voters, said Courtney Wheeler, Tennessee state director for Mike Bloomberg 2020. We are glad to see he cares about our voices and are looking forward to giving him another big welcome this week.

His staff said, "The campaigns deep presence in Tennessee is part of Bloombergs campaign to engage voters, win delegates on Super Tuesday, and defeat Donald Trump."

The appearance will be at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center - Entrance C, 200 E. Martin Luther King Blvd.

Doors open at 1:30 p.m. and the estimated start time is 2 p.m.
A BJP leader Monday demanded a ban on burqa, calling it a security threat and provocatively linking it to demon king Ravanas sister Surpanakha.

Burqa should be banned in the country as has been done in several other countries, Raghuraj Singh, who holds a rank equivalent to a minister of state in the Uttar Pradesh government, told reporters.

Singh claimed burqa is not worn in countries like Sri Lanka, China, the US and Canada and said it should be banned in India as terrorists can take advantage of it.

The BJP leader said people are sporting burqas in Delhis Shaheen Bagh protest against the new citizenship law, and added, The burqa helps terrorists, thieves and anti-socials elements to hide behind it. Burqa is a threat to national security and has to be banned to crush terrorism, Singh said.

ALSO WATCH | Suicidal bomb: BJPs Giriraj Singh on babys death at Shaheen Bagh protest

Without citing his source, Singh linked burqa to Surpanakha, the demon who has her face disfigured in Ramayana. According to Singhs version, Surpanakha fled to hide in the Arab desert.

As her nose and ears were chopped, she used a burqa to hide her face, he said, adding it is not necessary for humans.

In Mecca, a shivalinga was set up by Guru Shukracharya, who was the guru of devils, and from there the burqa tradition started, he said.

This is Hindustan and it will be run as per traditions of the Hindus. This is our wish, he said.

Singh, who is part of a cell attached to UP governments labour department, courted controversy earlier by threatening to bury alive Aligarh Muslim University students for raising slogans against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Bharatiya Janata Partys Aligarh unit spokesperson said Singh holds the rank equivalent to a minister of state in the UP government.

Congress leader P L Punia and Aam Aadmi Partys Sanjay Singh condemned Singhs remarks.

BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh, a minister in the UP government, disowned the remarks, saying they reflected Raghurajs Singhs personal opinion.
Manchester City's Premier League game with West Ham was called off due to a severe storm. (AFP/Adrian DENNIS)

Howling winds and driving rain have disrupted transport links with travellers advised only to make journeys if absolutely necessary.

"Due to extreme and escalating weather conditions and in the interests of supporter and staff safety, today's match has been postponed," City said in a statement.

"This decision has been made by Manchester City's Safety Officer following consultation with Club stakeholders and officials at West Ham United."

The women's Six Nations clash between Scotland and England was also postponed.

Saturday's Calcutta Cup clash between Scotland and England's men in Edinburgh had been marred by terrible conditions as England ran out 13-6 winners.

The only other Premier League game of the day went ahead as Sheffield United host Bournemouth.
An artist's depiction of NASA's Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope. The space telescope one of several missions again on the budget chopping block for Trump administration's FY2021 budget proposal.

In the Trump administration's federal budget request for 2021, proposes the cancellation of two NASA telescopes, two Earth science satellites and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) engagement efforts.

Today (Feb. 10), the White House unveiled its NASA budget proposal for the 2021 fiscal year, which requests $25.2 billion in funding, a 12% increase from the year before.

"We are leading the world into a new and dynamic era of spaceflight," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a "State of NASA" presentation to employees. "This is a 21st century budget worthy of 21st century space exploration and one of our strongest budgets in NASA history."

However, despite the funding boost increase, the budget proposal calls for a number of significant programs has been cut or scrapped entirely. The budget request calls for millions of dollars in cuts to the following programs and technologies:

The WFIRST space telescope

NASA proposes the complete termination of the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), an astrophysics mission that has faced previous cuts and been threatened with cancellation . According to the agency, the mission is being canceled because of delays and growing costs with the agency's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)  a project that continues to face difficulties, delays and climbing budget needs.

JWST is currently set to launch in 2021, Bridenstine said today.

"The Administration is not ready to proceed with another multi-billion-dollar space telescope until Webb has been successfully launched and deployed," NASA said in the request .

The agency also cites the cost of WFIRST; its cost was originally slated to come in at under $2 billion, but that has grown to about $3.2 billion to $3.9 billion. "It is not prudent to develop another large space telescope until the Webb telescope, which has grown to $9.7 billion in lifecycle costs, has successfully launched, deployed, and is operational," the agency wrote.

Additionally, "funding both Webb and WFIRST would require redirecting funding from other programs, disrupting the balance of the overall science portfolio," said NASA.

Earth science missions

Two Earth science missions that use Earth-orbiting probes to observe and study our home planet have also been placed on the chopping block. The missions include the ocean-watching PACE satellite (the name's short for Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) and the CLARREO (Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory) Pathfinder. PACE provides data on oceans and particles in the atmosphere. CLARREO Pathfinder demonstrates a technique for making more accurate climate measurements, though "there are no plans for a follow-on mission that would use the technique once it is demonstrated," NASA said.

These two missions have been up for termination for two years in a row now, escaping cancellation in both 2019 and 2020. According to NASA, the cost of the programs is not worth the data they would collect.

Despite this cut, NASA's budget "would continue to support a robust Earth-observing program, including one that sustains existing ocean and climate remote-sensing capabilities," the agency said about the proposed cuts.

A flying telescope

SOFIA flies during the day with the door to its main instrument open. (Image credit: NASA)

With the 2021 budget request, NASA is also proposing to terminate a flying telescope, the SOFIA flying telescope (the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) airborne observatory. The SOFIA mission, which NASA has previously tried to terminate , flies a large telescope on a 747 aircraft.

"The science productivity for this telescope falls short of that expected for a large mission with annual operating costs exceeding $80 million," NASA wrote in explanation of the cancellation. "SOFIA's annual operations budget of more than $80 million is the second most expensive in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Astrophysics program, yet the mission has not delivered high quality data products or science on par with other large science missions."

Future projections of the mission's progress don't demonstrate that it will become that much more productive as high costs (the cost to fly the plane, including expensive jet fuel) continue, NASA explained.

The agency added, "the James Webb Space Telescope, planned to launch in 2021, will provide data that partially mitigates the absence of SOFIA."

STEM engagement

This budget request also proposes the termination of the agency's Office of STEM Engagement, an approximately $120 million cut in total.

According to the request, these cuts will "prioritize NASA funding toward supporting an innovative and sustainable program of exploration with commercial and international partners."

NASA's Office of STEM Engagement "provides grants to colleges and universities as well as informal education institutions such as museums and science centers." In the request, NASA proposes that these funds be redirected "to NASA's core mission of exploration."

The agency claims that the "discontinuation of NASA's education grant programs is unlikely to have a significant impact on overall research and STEM capacity building that would continue to be supported through other means." NASA points to other STEM activities  such as internships and robotics competitions  as education efforts that will continue on at the agency and which are "more closely linked to NASA's mission."

NASA's megarocket upgrade

The Trump administration's budget proposal also eliminates funding for an upgrade to NASA's new Space Launch System megarocket to maximize the amount of payload the rocket will be able to launch for future deep-space missions.

The budget request fully funds NASA's initial version of the Space Launch System, called the Block 1, as well as its deep-space crew capsule, called Orion. However, it cuts $300 million in funding in order to develop the Block 1B, a more powerful version of the rocket slated to launch heavier payloads like habitats and landers to the moon.

Artist's illustration of NASA's Space Launch System megarocket launching the Orion crew capsule. (Image credit: NASA)

"The Administration proposes deferring funding for the Block 1B upgrade, and instead focuses the program on completion of the initial version of the SLS and supporting a reliable SLS and Orion annual flight cadence," White House officials wrote in a cost reduction statement. "Other elements of the Artemis program, including the Lunar Gateway and lunar landers, will be launched on competitively-procured commercial launch vehicles, complementing the crew transportation flights on the SLS. This approach will speed up the timeline for lunar surface exploration and increase the sustainability of the program."

The Trump administration's 2021 NASA budget request still has to be reviewed by Congress before it becomes law. Those reviews by House and Senate lawmakers are expected to begin later this year.

Follow Chelsea Gohd on Twitter @chelsea_gohd . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook .
Bernie Sanders says being pro-choice absolutely essential to being Democrat; critic calls it excommunicating

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Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders stated at a forum in New Hampshire that he believes it is absolutely essential for a Democrat to be pro-choice on abortion.

Speaking at the Our Rights, Our Courts forum in Concord on Saturday, the senator from Vermont was asked by MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle if he believed it was possible to be pro-life and a Democrat.

While acknowledging the existence of a few pro-life Democrats in Congress, Sanders nevertheless concluded, By this time in history, I think when we talk about what a Democrat is, I think being pro-choice is an essential part of that.

In response, Princeton University Professor Robert P. George took to Twitter to denounce Sanders' comments, believing that the candidate was officially excommunicating pro-life Democrats.

So: if you're pro-life you are unacceptable, unwanted, an intruder. Time to go elsewhere, said George.

Nevertheless, George also commended Sanders for showing superiority to his competitors in terms of honesty and forthrightness.

His answer was direct and clear. No oiliness. Sanders is a man of principle--I only wish he had the right principles, he added.

The forum was sponsored by the pro-choice groups Demand Justice, Center for Reproductive Rights, NARAL Pro-Choice America, and All* Above All Action Fund.

In addition to Sanders, seven other Democratic candidates were interviewed at the event: former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, philanthropist Tom Steyer, U.S. Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, businessman Andrew Yang, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick.

Sanders is not the only Democratic candidate being asked about his opinion of pro-life Democrats. At an Iowa town hall event last month, Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats For Life of America, asked Buttigieg about how his campaign would welcome pro-life Democrats.

Well, I respect where you're coming from and I hope to earn your vote. But I'm not going to try to earn your vote by tricking you. I am pro-choice. And I believe that a woman ought to be able to make that decision, responded Buttigieg in part.

The best I can offer is that if we can't agree on where to draw the line, the next best thing we can do is agree on who should draw the line. And in my view, it's the woman who's faced with that decision in her own life.

Day took issue with the response she received from Buttigieg, later writing in a column for USA Today that she believed he did not properly answer her questions.

 instead [Buttigieg] focused on his unyielding support for abortion and did not really seem to want the vote from me or people who share my views," she wrote.

Buttigieg likes to talk about future former Republicans. With his extreme stance on abortion, though, he is doing precisely the opposite: building an army of future former Democrats, disturbed by Trump but forced into a corner.
It was a brazen scheme to steal another company's product, according to a federal criminal complaint.

University of Texas professor Bo Mao, prosecutors say, took proprietary technology from an American Silicon Valley start-up and handed it over to a subsidiary of Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications conglomerate.

But what makes the case against Mao particularly noteworthy is how he was accused of carrying out the theft: By using his status as a university researcher to obtain the circuit board under the guise of academic testing.

Mao, who has pleaded not guilty, is among the latest defendants in a string of U.S. criminal cases alleging Chinese spying in the academic world. In late January, the chairman of Harvard's chemistry department was arrested by FBI agents in his office, charged with lying about a lucrative relationship with a Chinese talent recruitment program. The same day, a former Boston University student was accused of visa fraud after she allegedly failed to disclose her status as a lieutenant in the People's Liberation Army.

America's world class university system has become a soft target in the global espionage war with China, intelligence officials say  and they are pressing universities to do something about it.

"A lot of our ideas, technology, research, innovation is incubated on those university campuses," said Bill Evanina, the top counterintelligence official in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. "That's where the science and technology originates  and that's why it's the most prime place to steal."

Much of this campus spying is never caught, let alone prosecuted, officials say. But in recent months:

A Chinese Harvard-affiliated cancer researcher was caught in December with 21 vials of cells stolen from a laboratory at a Boston hospital.

A Chinese professor conducting sensitive research at the University of Kansas was indicted in August on charges he concealed his ties to a Chinese university.

A Chinese scholar at the University of California, Los Angeles was convicted in June of shipping banned missile technology to his homeland.

A Chinese student at Chicago's Illinois Institute of Technology was charged last year with helping to recruit spies for his country's version of the CIA.

Story continues

"No country poses a greater, more severe or long-term threat to our national security and economic prosperity than China," said Boston's top FBI agent, Joseph Bonavolonta. "China's communist government's goal, simply put, is to replace the U.S. as the world superpower, and they are breaking the law to get there."

In response to what they say is systematic espionage, the FBI and other agencies have been pushing universities and research institutions to tighten up policies governing outside relationships, travel disclosure and conflicts of interest for graduate researchers and professors.

But the government pressure  backed by the leverage of billions in federal grants to universities  has sparked accusations of racial profiling and pushback by college presidents who say they fear that a massive overreaction risks what makes America's university system special.

Bo Mao Attends Court As Chinese Professor Accused of Theft to Help Huawei

"Our greatest strength is our openness," Thomas Rosenbaum, president of the California Institute of Technology, said in an interview. "And if we wind up thwarting the ability of people to exchange ideas, we will not make discoveries."

Columbia University President Lee Bollinger was even more blunt in an op-ed in the Washington Post in August. The headline: "No, I won't start spying on my foreign-born students."

In September, hundreds of scholars, business leaders, politicians, activists and at least two former cabinet secretaries gathered at a Silicon Valley conference designed to highlight what the participants portrayed as a corrosive bias against ethnic Chinese in the United States.

"Today we face a dangerous narrative out there that anyone of Chinese ancestry out there could be a national security threat and should be viewed with more scrutiny and suspicion than others," said Rep. Judy Chu, a Democrat who represents parts of Los Angeles.

At the conference, Temple University physics professor Xiaoxing Xi choked up as he recalled being taken out of his house in handcuffs in front of his children by FBI agents who accused him of spying for China.

Four months later, prosecutors dropped the charges after it became clear the case was based on a misunderstanding of information Xi sent to scientists in China, which turned out to be available on the internet.

"There have been so many cases of wrongful prosecution, of lives ruined because of a rush to judgment," former Washington state Gov. Gary Locke, who served as U.S. ambassador to China and commerce secretary in the Obama administration, said at the conference.

Robert Daly, who directs the Wilson Center's Kissinger Institute on China and the United States, says concerns about broad brush suspicions are valid.

But it's too simplistic, he said, to dismiss the government's approach to Chinese espionage as a product of racism.

While many nations conduct economic espionage against the U.S. he said, China is in unique in the way it seeks to harness its citizens abroad in the service of a national policy explicitly designed to overtake the West in technological supremacy.

Critics "have been saying it's McCarthyism, its Reds under the bed, it's racial profiling," he said. "That danger is inherent in these issues. But they don't negate the security concern. The security concern is real."

A bipartisan November report by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations highlighted China's Thousand Talents Plan, under which China recruits overseas scientists and induces them to sign secret contracts that "violate U.S. research values."

"The contracts include provisions that violate U.S. standards of research integrity, place (Thousand Talents) members in compromising legal and ethical positions, and undermine fundamental U.S. scientific norms of transparency, reciprocity, and integrity," the report says.

In the Boston case announced in late January, Charles M. Lieber, the chair of Harvard's Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, is alleged to have violated federal law by failing to disclose his involvement in China's Thousand Talents Plan to Harvard administrators, who allegedly then passed along false information to the federal government.

Court documents say Lieber was paid more than $1 million by China in exchange for agreeing to publish articles, organize international conferences and apply for patents on behalf of a Chinese university.

Lieber, who has not yet entered a plea, has been placed on administrative leave, Harvard officials said, adding in a statement that the charges were "extremely serious."

Lieber's case shows that China's alleged reach goes beyond Chinese nationals and Chinese-Americans. But the majority of China spying cases involve people of Chinese ancestry, complicating the discussion of the problem.

Daly, a fluent Mandarin speaker who has been studying China for years, said the Chinese government "does attempt to influence American views and gather American intelligence and information through Chinese Americans. You can't ignore that fact because it contains the danger of racial profiling, which it does. You just need to have an open discussion of the dangers."

In July, FBI Director Christopher Wray disclosed that the FBI has nearly 1,000 open investigations into economic espionage and attempted intellectual property theft, nearly all of them leading back to China.

"There is no country that poses a more severe counterintelligence threat to this country right now than China  and I don't say it lightly," Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The FBI doesn't seek those cases out, Evanina said  victims report the thefts. He rejects the idea that the government engages in ethnical or racial profiling.

"We respond to the threat," he said. "We don't racially profile anybody, but the numbers don't lie."

Evanina told NBC News the China spying threat is vastly underappreciated, adding: "The economic espionage threat from China is second to none."

William Evanina, Director of the United States National Counterintelligence and Security Center.

U.S. intelligence agencies assess that America is suffering economic losses of up to half a billion dollars a year from Chinese espionage, he said.

"That's theft of intellectual property and trade secrets, which results in a loss of about $4 ,000 per American family of four after taxes," he added.

A significant portion of that loss comes when Chinese hackers, many backed by the country's intelligence services, siphon valuable information directly from U.S. corporate networks. There also have been many cases of Chinese operatives who embed themselves in U.S. companies to steal secrets.

But in recent years officials have grown increasingly concerned about spying at American universities, home to research that drives future innovation.

Chinese nationals made up about 30 percent of all foreign students in the U.S. and there are about 340,000 of them, according to government data.

The vast majority are there to study and learn, officials say. But if even a tiny portion are stealing research, that can add up to huge losses, they add.

The criminal cases involving alleged campus spying don't generally involve charges of espionage, which are specific to stealing national defense information.

Sometimes the charges can be as simple as concealing a foreign relationship. That's the case against "Franklin" Tao, 47, of Lawrence, Kansas, an associate professor at KU's Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis, who was charged in August with one count of wire fraud and three counts of program fraud.

"Tao is alleged to have defrauded the U.S. government by unlawfully receiving federal grant money at the same time that he was employed and paid by a Chinese research university  a fact that he hid from his university and federal agencies," John Demers, the assistant attorney general for national security, said in a statement. "Any potential conflicts of commitment by a researcher must be disclosed as required by law and university policies."

Tao's lawyer, Peter Zeidenberg, declined to comment, but has argued in court papers that Tao rejected the offer from the Chinese university, so there was no hidden conflict.

Other cases go further. Ji Chaoqun arrived in the U.S. in 2013 on a student visa to study electrical engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. In 2016, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves under a special program for foreigners whose skills are considered vital to the national interest.

According to a federal criminal complaint filed last year, he was also working under the direction of a high-level intelligence officer in China's Ministry of State Security  tasked with providing biographical information on eight individuals for possible recruitment. The targets included Chinese nationals who were working as engineers and scientists for U.S. defense contractors, according to the complaint.

He has pleaded not guilty and his lawyers have moved to dismiss the charges on various legal grounds.

The case of Yi-Chi Shih, an adjunct professor of electrical engineering at UCLA, involves export control laws. Shih faces up to 219 years in federal prison after being convicted over the summer of conspiring to export semiconductor chips with military applications to China.

According to a statement by the Department of Justice, Shih, 64, accessed the unnamed victim company's web portal by posing as a domestic customer, purchased products, and sent them to China. The technology he sent is used in missiles, missile guidance systems, fighter jets, electronic warfare, electronic warfare countermeasures and radar applications, prosecutors said.

Academic leaders argue that these cases are outliers, and that whatever they cost the United States, that loss is outweighed by the benefits of having a university system open to the world's best and brightest.

At science powerhouse Caltech, in Pasadena, California, half the graduate students are international, many of them from China. This is to America's benefit, says Caltech president Rosenbaum.

"The influx of talent to the United States from around the world has been an extraordinary boon to our security, to our economy, to our way of life," he said. "If you look at Americans who won Nobel prizes in the sciences, physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, 40 percent of them have been awarded to Americans who were born outside this country. If you look at the faculty of the California Institute of Technology, 45 percent of our faculty were born outside of America but are now productive American citizens producing knowledge for the benefit of society."

Daly, the China scholar, added: "There's no question that we benefit more than we lose" from Chinese students at American universities. "We have hundreds of thousands of American citizens of Chinese origin who are keeping companies and laboratories and hospitals going with the knowledge they got in American universities. It's profoundly in our interest."

It's important that the FBI remain vigilant, he said, "but the list of demonstrable harms to the United States, of loss of vital information via Chinese scholars, that list is relatively thin compared to the huge benefit we've had from the brain drain from China."

The harm Daly fears may already be occurring. U.S. universities this fall have reported drops, some by as much as 20 percent, in the numbers of Chinese students enrolling.

Jason Zhou of the University of Rochester.

Jason Zhou, a math and computer science major at the University of Rochester, told NBC News he has felt the chill in U.S.-China relations.

He says he was taken aback one day when a student in a driving course asked him an odd question, after he explained that he was from China.

"He was like, 'Do you work for the government?'"

Zhou says what he wants most is to work in tech in America. But he worries he won't be welcome.

"I'm in the center of some ocean, and I have, like, one foot in each boat," he said. And the boat is kind of sailing apart. And I'm basically in a bad situation."
HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency's board of directors today announced that Robin Wiessmann is the new executive director and CEO at the agency. She started in her position at PHFA today.

PHFA is a state-affiliated agency that works to expand affordable housing options for Pennsylvanians. It has a staff of 322 who manage a variety of statewide housing initiatives. Its main program areas address affordable rental housing, homeownership, consumer counseling and education, and foreclosure prevention. Its programs are overseen by a 14-member board, and it's primarily self-funded, receiving only occasional state funding.

"I am honored to have this opportunity to lead PHFA, which does so much good work across the state making sure that people have quality, affordable places to live," said Wiessmann. "During its 47 years of existence the agency has established a stellar reputation for addressing housing needs across Pennsylvania, and I look to continue building on that strong record of accomplishment."

Wiessmann has been secretary at the state Department of Banking and Securities since 2015. During that time she managed the supervision of nearly 200 depository institutions, 24,000 non-depository licensees, and 230,000 securities professionals, advocated for robust cybersecurity awareness internally and by external entities, and strengthened the department's commitment to consumer protection and financial capability efforts through innovative and collaborative programs such as PA $AFE, Successful Reentry, and the Next Generation Banker's Academy.

Under her leadership the department passed landmark legislation overseeing the non-bank mortgage servicing industry, promulgated comprehensive regulations for the securities industry, and advanced principles-based regulation of fintech that was lauded by peer state banking supervisors. Additionally, the department increased its enforcement of unlicensed and unregistered activity leading to fines of more than $13 million and restitution to consumers in excess of $3 million.

From 2007 to 2009, Wiessmann served as the Pennsylvania State Treasurer, during which time she was the primary fiduciary and custodian of $120 billion of state funds. Much earlier in her career, she served as a deputy director of finance for the City of Philadelphia where she managed the city's debt offerings.

Wiessmann was a founding principal and president of Artemis Capital Group, the first women-owned investment banking firm on Wall Street. Prior to co-founding Artemis, she served as a vice president of public finance at Goldman Sachs.

Wiessmann previously served as chairman of a mutual fund board, Vantagepoint Funds Mutual Fund. She chaired the Nominating Committee and served on the Steering Committee and Audit Committee of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, has served on the boards of the International City Managers Retirement Corporation and Met-Pro and Lumesis (a cloud-based financial technology company), as well as the board of the Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy.

Wiessmann has also served as a commissioner on the Delaware River Port Authority, on the Small Business Administration's National Advisory Council, chaired the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency's Financial Advisory Board, and served as vice chair of the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission.

Among her honors, the Women's City Club of New York awarded Wiessmann the Civic Spirit Award in 1996. The National Women Executives in State Government Association awarded her the Breaking the Glass Ceiling Award in 1999. In 2014, Women in Public Finance honored Wiessmann with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her representation of women in the financial industry. In 2019, the Philadelphia Inquirer recognized her contribution to finance with a lifetime achievement award as an Influencer of Finance.

Wiessmann graduated with honors from Lafayette College and received her law degree from Rutgers University. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. She and her husband Kenneth Jarin live in Bucks County and have two grown children, Alexander and Karley.

Brian Hudson was the previous executive director and CEO at PHFA. He retired on Feb. 7 after 45 years at the agency.

About PHFA

The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency works to provide affordable homeownership and rental housing options for older adults, low- and moderate-income families, and people with special housing needs. Through its carefully managed mortgage programs and investments in multifamily housing developments, PHFA also promotes economic development across the state. Since its creation by the legislature in 1972, it has generated nearly $14.6 billion of funding for more than 178,325 single-family home mortgage loans, helped fund the construction of 136,215 rental units, distributed more than $109.2 million to support local housing initiatives, and saved the homes of more than 50,200 families from foreclosure. PHFA programs and operations are funded primarily by the sale of securities and from fees paid by program users, not by public tax dollars. The agency is governed by a 14-member board.

SOURCE Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency

Related Links

http://www.PHFA.org


In view of the Supreme Court verdict on quota in jobs and promotion, Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav on Monday demanded that the BJP government at the Centre brings amendments to the Constitution to make reservation a "fundamental right".

He also dared the government to immediately file a review petition in the Supreme Court against the decision that states are not bound to provide reservation in appointments and there was no fundamental right to claim quota in promotions.

With the Assembly elections in Bihar due later this year, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader sought to build pressure on the Nitish Kumar government, tweeting, "We challenge the NDA government at the Centre to either immediately file a review petition against the Supreme Court order or amend the Constitution in the current session of parliament to make reservation a fundamental right".

"If this does not happen, then we will fight for it right from the streets to Parliament," he added.

The BJP is a partner in the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar.

Coming down heavily on the BJP and its allies, the JD(U) and LJP, Yadav asked Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, LJP's Ram Vilas Paswan and Republic Party of India leader Ramdas Athawale to make their stand clear on the issue.

"Reservation is a constitutional scheme. How will this country move forward if the provisions of the constitution are not followed. Respected leaders Ram Vilas Paswan-ji, Nitish Kumar-ji, Ramdas Athawale-ji, all of you are supporting the BJP which is hell bent on ending the reservation," he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's letter to Chinese president Xi Jinping offering assistance to deal with the deadly coronavirus outbreak is just the latest chapter in a complex 70-year relationship between the two countries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's letter to Chinese president Xi Jinping offering assistance to deal with the deadly coronavirus outbreak is just the latest chapter in a complex 70-year relationship between the two countries.

Looking at the past decade, relations arguably reached their lowest ebb during a 73-day standoff between the armies of the two countries in Doka La in the Sikkim sector of the border in August 2017.

Since then, the freeze has considerably thawed with Modi and Xi Jinping meeting in Chennai's Mamallapuram in October 2019, having bilateral talks in June 2019 at Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, and an informal summit at Wuhan in April 2018.

The letter, offering to help the Chinese and conveying that India stands in solidarity with the people of our neighbouring country, could be just the ticket to make a breakthrough. The Chinese, for their part, have reacted with enthusiasm, saying the letter "fully demonstrated" New Delhi's friendship with Beijing, NDTV reported.

"We thank and appreciate India's support for China's fight against the NCP Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia, the official name for coronavirus," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said. "India's acts of goodwill fully demonstrate its friendship with China," Geng said during an online media briefing while replying to a question on Modi's letter to President Jinping, as per the NDTV report.

While this warm offer from New Delhi and Beijing's effusive praise in return is a good first step, it is important to keep in mind that the "India-China engagement is always accompanied by lofty rhetoric" and given the huge power imbalance between two sides it is unrealistic to expect either a true "reset" in ties or deliverables, as these Firstpost pieces have noted.

But despite these cavaeats, it is entirely possible that the Chinese are ready for a new paradigm. In December 2019, Vice Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui said the simultaneous rise of China and India is the most important historical event in the 21st Century and that the two countries should "break the strange circle" of ups and downs in bilateral ties.

And after all, this is the age of Donald Trump, where transactional diplomacy and a personal touch between Heads of State has become the new normal. "It is possible that we are slowly moving into an era of personal diplomacy where ties between nations are better managed through relation between top leadership instead of structured systems," this Firstpost piece pointed out.

With inputs from PTI
Boris Johnson and members of the National Security Council who voted glibly to allow Huawei Technologies a 35 per cent share in Britain's 5G mobile technology might want to take a look at the indictment just issued by the US Justice Department.

It charges four members of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (CPLA) with responsibility for the biggest hack in history.

The CPLA team allegedly breached the data storage of credit checking agency Equifax, stealing the personal details of 145 million Americans.

In allowing Huawei a 35 per cent share in Britain's 5G mobile technology, the UK has opened a breach with its closest ally, the US, and given a hostile power access to a strategic industry

And before anyone asks what has that got to do with us, it should be remembered that the confidential data of an estimated 700,000 British users of Equifax were hacked too.

As the indictment explains, having gained access to Equifax files, the attackers were able to learn the names, birth dates and social security numbers of nearly half of America's citizens.

The Justice Department describes the breach as a 'brazen criminal heist of sensitive information' and 'intellectual property' of an US company.

Huawei likes to claim that as an independent Chinese company it has nothing to do with the CPLA, the Central Committee, President Xi or anyone else in China's sphere of influence.

As the world has been reminded during the coronavirus crisis, the Beijing government is an autocracy which cannot be trusted with domestic health statistics let alone the sensitive financial data of a rival power.

There are all sorts of reasons why the Johnson government travelled the Huawei route. It wanted to demonstrate that the UK is off to a flying start after leaving the EU by getting a jump on competitors.

It was also under enormous pressure from the mobile operators. Had they looked to competitor-European telecoms engineers, such as Ericsson or Nokia, then the cost would have been 1.5billion higher and the roll-out slower. BT would have been required to rip out existing systems at a heavy price.

UK-owned BT and Vodafone are already under financial pressure. Both have cut dividends and seen share prices drop in a bull market, and wanted the cheapest option.

In allowing Huawei access, the UK has not only opened a breach with its closest ally, the US, but it has given a hostile power access to a strategic industry.

China already is a significant player in our nuclear energy through the financing and technical advice on the Hinkley Point reactor in Somerset, and has a holding in Thames Water.

It remains a contender to take ownership of British Steel in Scunthorpe if French objections can be overcome.

The Government's decision to limit Huawei's role in 5G to 35 per cent of the component is meant to be seen as an assurance there will be no bad behaviour.

In terms of competition law, 35 per cent represents an oligopoly position as a supplier.

The notion that the Chinese will be prevented from listening in to our conversations or access data is a fairy tale. The shocking Equifax criminal abuse offers graphic evidence of the dangers.

Mystery holdings

Any hopes that the ordeal NMC Health investors are in might be over have been quickly shattered.

The idea that the London-quoted United Arab Emirates health provider might be put out of its misery by a bid from American private equity giant KKR is looking a little thin.

BR Shetty, co-chair and founder of the company, has had to step back from the board after he acknowledged his shareholding in the enterprise has been misreported.

The muddle looks to involve not just Shetty but two other cornerstone investors, vice-chairman Khalifa Bin Butti Al Muhairi and Saeed Mohamed Al Qebaisi.

The whole affair exposes the shortcomings of governance and the authorities in Britain.

Joint non-executive chairman Mark Tompkins, veteran of the failed 1970s investment bank Slater Walker, has his work cut out. Where are the City enforcers when we need them?

Film star

Money can't buy you everything.

The big Oscar winner Parasite was the product of low-budget independent film maker and distributor Neon, established just two years ago.

Huge budgets spent by Netflix on The Irishman, Comcast's Universal Studios on 1917 and Sony's Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, in the hope of capturing the biggest prize, were to no avail.

So sad.
Islamabad: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has been summoned by the anti-graft watchdog on February 13 in connection with the transactions of a company where the Bhutto scion is a director, according to a media report on Monday.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has asked Bhutto to also submit records of the Zardari Group from 2008 to 2019 and a list of the board of directors, the Geo News reported.

Bhutto, 31, will be quizzed on the transactions of a company -- JV Opal 225 -- which is a venture between the Zardari Group Pvt. Ltd - and a real-estate business. Bhutto is a director of Zardari Group.

JV Opal did not generate revenue from 2011 to 2013 yet it purchased agriculture lands, commercial and residential properties in Islamabad and Karachi in that period, the Geo News quoted a joint investigation team report as saying.

Investigation officers suspect bribes were paid by the real-estate company to the Sindh government for "favours".

Last year in May, the NAB had also summoned the PPP chairman for alleged "fake bank accounts", which were allegedly used to send billion of rupees out of the country.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 10)  The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed Monday that no Filipino got injured in the shooting incident in a mall in Thailand that killed 29 people.

All nine of the Filipinos who were reported to have been trapped in the mall during the incident were able to escape, and all are confirmed well and safe, the DFA statement read.

A Thai soldier identified as Lieutenant General Thanya Kiatsarn, commander of Thailand's 2nd Army Region, shot dead 29 people and injured 58 others in a crowded mall in the Nakhon Ratchasima province.

The shooting incident transpired from Saturday evening to 9 a.m. Sunday local time, when the gunman was killed by the police following a 12-hour effort to end the rampage.

According to reports, the gunman had an argument with another soldier and shot him dead, also stealing firearms, and then drove straight to the shopping mall.

The Philippine government and the Filipino people are deeply saddened by this incident and offer profound condolences to the Thai people and in particular, to the victims and their loved ones, said DFA.
Farms which become asset innovators in response to shifting government support will put themselves in the 'best position to thrive', according to industry experts.

Farming is entering a period of transformation as it moves away from direct payments to a support system based on public money for public goods.

The Agriculture Bill, which sets out plans for phasing out Basic Payments over a seven-year transition, passed its second reading in the House of Commons on 3 February.

But farms and estates can refine their approach in numerous ways, according to George Chichester, a director in the farming department at Strutt & Parker.

He told delegates at the 2020 Strutt & Parker London Land and Property Briefing that more targeted agricultural production, a focus on natural capital to unlock new public and private investment and diversifying into new enterprises are possible ways.

Mr Chichester said that Basic Payments were an important source of profit for most farm businesses, so businesses would need to change if they want to remain viable.

The loss of direct payments means that there is likely to be a reduction in farming profitability across the board, unless commodity prices rise significantly, he said.

Climate change is one of the key drivers of the changes to policy, with agriculture under growing pressure to reduce emissions, sequester carbon, and protect and enhance all forms of natural capital, he told attendees.

This has sparked debate about the future of land use with experts on climate change calling for a massive increase in tree planting, peatland restoration, and a shift to low-carbon farming practices.

UK farmers will still need to produce food  and lots of it  but do this by targeting the most productive land and parts of fields and focusing on crops which are most in demand in the UK marketplace, rather than those underpinned by export value, said Mr Chichester.

But they will also need to  and many are already in the process of doing this  look at other opportunities to fill the financial gaps created by the shifts in government support and changing policy framework.

Dr Jason Beedell, head of rural research at Strutt & Parker, said as funding is taken away from the Basic Payment Scheme it will be made available to farmers again through ELMS.

However, Strutt & Parker analysis suggests that ELMS is very unlikely to make up for the loss in Basic Payments, he cautioned.

It is also possible there will be a funding gap from 2021 to 2024 as Basic Payments start to taper off, but before ELMS is available to everyone on a national basis.

This makes it ever more important that farms and estates look at growing profits from their other assets, for example through diversification.

Other opportunities to consider include selling carbon credits and other ecosystem services to private businesses who need to offset their own emissions.

Jon Lambert, head of John Clegg & Co, Strutt & Parkers forestry arm, said the market for carbon credits from tree planting was still immature, but had real potential.

Natural capital is a phrase being used on an ever-increasing basis and trees can contribute significantly to this value, locking up carbon, sifting out noxious gases and, if planted in the right places, helping with flood alleviation.

Carbon credits here in the UK are tradeable, but are currently worth relatively little  perhaps 5/t. However, I believe we will see very significant appreciation in the value of carbon storage. It may be an immature market, but it has a long way to go.

John McLarty, national head of planning at Strutt & Parker, said a Planning White Paper was expected next month, which could open up development opportunities for rural landowners, providing another potential source of income.

I think we are going to see a sea change, as the government will want to deliver on its pledges to build one million more homes in the next five years and to deliver significant improvements in critical infrastructure.

The government has already said that the White Paper will seek to make the planning process clearer, more accessible and more certain for all users, pointing to a more positive planning environment.

That could mean a significant improvement for rural landowners in terms of house-building in villages and around towns.
As a part of measures to prevent cases of coronavirus, over 1.97 lakh passengers from 1,818 flights have been screened so far, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan informed the Lok Sabha on Monday.

Making a suo moto statement, he noted that public health implications of the reports that the virus has been found in the faecal samples of infected patients were being worked out.

Dr Vardhan said that 37,198 confirmed cases and 811 deaths have been reported in China till February 9.

"A total of 354 confirmed cases have been reported outside China from 27 countries including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. The number of cases and deaths reported from China is showing an upward trend," he said.

The minister said the screening of passengers was being done since January 18.

It was initially done at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Kochi airports and later expanded to 21 airports.

"Universal thermal screening has been made mandatory for all flights from Singapore and Thailand besides Hong Kong and China. These flights will park at earmarked aero-bridges to facilitate screening," he said.

The minister said that signage has been displayed at prominent places in airports and ports.

"As of today, a total of 1,818 flights have been screened covering a total of 1,97,192 passengers. Teams of specialist doctors were sent to all the airports to ensure effective screening and arrangement for isolation in the attached hospitals," he said.

The minister said the Central government has also provided support to other countries in tackling the challenge posed by the Novel Coronavirus (nCOV) disease and ICMR has offered to do testing of samples for other South-East Asian Region countries.

Testing of samples from the Maldives has already been undertaken and request from Afghanistan for samples testing has been agreed.

"We have agreed to provide technical assistance to Bhutan in managing this infectious disease and screening of passengers also," he said.

The minister said three positive cases have been reported so far from Kerala and all of them have travel history from Wuhan, China.

"They have been isolated and are reported to be clinically stable," he said.

He said the screening of passengers was also being done at 12 major seaports and all minor ports in the country to identify passengers crew coming from China and to isolate them in case they are found symptomatic.

"Regular surveillance has been initiated across the country for all cases having travel history from China and for people having contact with such persons and having fever, cough or breathlessness. Presently, we are following 9452 passengers across 29 states and union territories," he said.

The minister said sufficient isolation beds have been made available in the tertiary facilities across the country and 369 symptomatic travellers have been referred to isolation facility and were being monitored.

Harsh Vardhan said the Institute of Virology, Pune, has established capacity for molecular diagnosis of nCoV.

"Next-generation sequencing is also established. The testing of clinical samples has also been initiated in 11 more laboratories. As of now 1510 samples have been tested and 1507 samples were found negative, 3 samples have tested positive and 27 samples are under process," he said.

The minister said many epidemiological parameters such as incubation period, mode of transmission, subclinical infection, the period of virus shedding were still being researched.

He said once a person is exposed to the infection, it may take about two weeks to develop the illness and the main symptoms of the novel coronavirus disease are fever, cough, and difficulty in breathing.

"There will be radiological evidence indicative of pneumonia. In 10 per cent to 20 per cent of cases, the disease may become severe enough to require ventilatory support. The case fatality is around two per cent," he said.

Referring to human-to-human transmission, he said it spreads through droplets in persons having close contact.

"Public health implications of the reports that the virus has been found in faecal samples of infected patients are being worked out. All suspected or probable cases of nCoV must be treated in isolation with barrier nursing and universal precautions to prevent the further spread of disease," he said.

The minister said that China reported an outbreak of Novel Coronavirus on December 31 last year.

He said the outbreak was initially noticed in a seafood market in Wuhan city in Hubei Province of China in early December 2019 and in a short span has spread to all the provinces of China.

The World Health Organisation has declared this outbreak as a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern" (PHEIC) on January 30.

The minister said the government has made concerted effort to prevent the disease from entering the country and to contain its spread. Existing visas (including eVisa already issued) are no longer valid for any foreign travelling from China.

People having compelling reasons to visit India have been asked to contact the India embassy in Beijing or consulate in Shanghai or Guangzhou.

He said people have been advised to refrain from travelling to China and those going now will be quarantined on return.

The minister also referred to efforts to evacuate the Indian students and other professionals working in Wuhan and neighbouring cities in the Hubei Province.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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China's fast-growing aviation industry is playing its part in facilitating the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

China's civil aviation authorities are active in directing and coordinating the country's airliners and aviation enterprises to join efforts in fighting against the virus, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

Chinese aviation companies are bringing advantages in fast and high-quality transportation, as well as the expanding fleet and networks.

They are active in carrying medical personnel, bringing back stranded Chinese back home from overseas and deliver emergency supplies to the virus-hit regions.

As of Feb. 8, a total of 13 Chinese airliners had sent 72 flights in emergency missions of carrying more than 9,500 medical personnel and 370 tonnes of supplies to support Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in central China's Hubei Province.

The country's major civil aviation players are injecting larger airplanes and adding new routes to ensure the in-time transport of medical team and emergency supplies.

On Feb. 7, Air China, the country's flagship carrier, sent 668 medical personnel and 28 tonnes of emergency medical supplies with two charter flights to Wuhan.

SF Airlines, China's largest air cargo carrier, added multiple domestic and international routes and put into service all models of its all-cargo freighters in response to diversified emergency air transport demands.

The country's burgeoning general aviation sector is also playing unique roles in fighting against the epidemic, thanks to the diversified functions of general aviation vehicles including helicopters, unmanned vehicles and small-and-medium general airplanes.

Various general aviation vehicles demonstrated their skills in delivering emergency supplies, conducting aerial patrol, spraying disinfectant, and carrying out public education, among others.

The general aviation branch of China Air Transport Association asked its member enterprises to make the most of advantages of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in remote-control and flexible flight.

In Hangzhou of east China's Zhejiang Province, UAVs are patrolling over densely-populated communities, reminding citizens to keep physical protection and conducting the automatic body temperature detection.

In Lanzhou of northwest China's Gansu Province, the UAVs are conducting disinfection in hospitals, office buildings, communities and public places, greatly saving the labor and contributing to the epidemic prevention.
Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Monday directed the state government and certain real estate companies to respond to a public interest litigation filed against them by Congress MP A. Revanth Reddy who sought a direction to the state government to take back about 31.35 acres of land at Rayadurg in Serilingampally, Ranga Reddy district, from DLF Rayadurg Developers Private Limited.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A. Abhishek Reddy on Monday issued notices to the Chief Secretary, principal secretaries of industries and commerce and municipal administration departments, vice-chairman of the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corpor-ation Ltd, DLF Ltd, DLF Rayadurg Developers, Acqua Space Developers, and My Home Constructions represented by its managing director Jupalli Rameshwar Rao. All these officials and respondents have to file their response within four weeks.

Mr Revanth Reddy said that the authorities had acted arbitrarily and illegally in parting with the government land in favour of private entities and allowed them to make huge profits at the cost of the state exchequer. If the land parcel was auctioned in the open market, it would have fetched Rs 2,926 crore for the state exchequer. Mr Revanth Reddy said Acqua Space Developers was a wholly-owned entity of My Home Constructions. Rather, it is a shell company of My Home Constructions, the PIL said.

The ultimate beneficiary of the land is My Home Constructions belonging to a person close to ruling party leaders of the state, Mr Revanth Reddy added.

According to the Congress MP, the erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh government had allotted about 424 acres of land to set up an integrated IT Park at Rayadurg in favour of Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (subsequently Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation).

Later, a part of this land, or 31.35 acres, was offered by the TSIIC to developers as per the states information technology policy. One of the applicants was DLF Limited.

In 2014, Aqua Space Developers made a representation to TSIIC for exchange of land transferred in its favour which was given in the name of DLF.

Mr Revanth Reddy has alleged that the authorities acted in violation of the relevant statutory provisions, rules and regulations to benefit private parties.

The hearing was adjourned for four weeks.
The death toll from the 2019-nCoV coronavirus outbreak has exceeded the number of fatalities caused by the 20022003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic, and concerns are growing that the infection is spreading from person-to-person more easily than first suspected.

The SARS coronavirus infected just over 8,000 people and took 774 lives internationally between November 2002 and July 2003, before it was contained. Since 2019-nCoV emerged in early December, it has infected at least 40,350 people and caused 908 deathsall but two in mainland China. Another 89 deaths were reported on Sunday and 2,656 new cases. On Saturday, 3,399 cases were reported. Outside mainland China, there are now 368 confirmed cases.

People wearing masks, walk in a subway station, in Hong Kong [Credit: AP Photo/Kin Cheung]

The vast majority of infections and fatalities are occurring in Hubei province, the epicentre of the epidemic. The virus is believed to have spread from infected bats or snakes to people working or shopping at a live food market in Wuhan, Hubeis capital and the largest city in central China, with a population of 11 million. While transmission was initially only thought to be taking place via close contact to an infected person, researchers now believe there are cases where the virus was transmitted with only fleeting exposure. If this proves to be true, the virus is more likely to continue to spread, both within China and around world.

Yesterday, the Australian Financial Review cited the opinion of Neil Ferguson, an infectious diseases expert at Londons Imperial College, that only 10 percent or less of all infections in China and a quarter in other countries were being detected. Ferguson stated: We think the epidemic is roughly doubling in size every five days. There is limited evidence of it slowing in China.

Authorities across China are nevertheless hoping that the measures taken to stem the spread of 2019-nCoV have been sufficient, as weeks of curtailed transport and the virtual shutdown of most industry is due to end today. Across the country, tens of millions of people will begin returning to work after the Lunar New Year holidays were extended by 10 days.

Since January 22, the government has attempted to prevent movement in or out of Wuhan. Quarantine measures were then extended to all Hubei province, affecting close to 60 million people. Throughout China, transport services have been reduced and virtually all public events and gatherings have been cancelled, or people have stayed away from them.

The social and economic impact has been enormous already. The state-owned English-language Global Times reported that the number of passengers on Chinas train network was down 85.4 percent on Saturday compared with this time last year. The Guardian labelled Chinas major urban centres as ghost cities. Millions of people have been remaining in their homes as much as possible to avoid infection.

The State Council, headed by Premier Li Keqiang, has instructed employers to bring back their workforces in batches and monitor any indications of a spike of infections. Many companies are choosing not reopen today, electing to wait and see what happens elsewhere. Any area where an upsurge in cases occurs is likely to face state-directed industry shutdowns and strict restrictions on travel and public assemblies.

The Chinese Communist Party government and its state media are anxiously seeking to placate the immense public anger over the governments initial attempts in Wuhan and at the national level to conceal that a new coronavirus outbreak was taking place.

Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang, along with seven medical colleagues, was threatened by police for making false comments after they discussed on a blog on December 30 the emergence of a new SARS-like virus. He has become a symbol of the regimes repressive incompetence and indifference to the lives of population. For weeks, provincial and national authorities knew they were dealing with a potential pandemic but issued no public health warnings, under conditions in which millions of people were travelling in and out of Wuhan for the New Year holidays.

Li Wenliang became infected himself while treating patients and died from complications caused by the virus on February 6. His tragic death has provoked an outpouring of grief and outrage on social media platforms. A statement he reportedly made, a healthy society cannot have only one voice, has been widely interpreted as a condemnation of state censorship and repression. A hashtag #WeWantFreedomofSpeech was taken up on Weibothe Chinese equivalent of Twitter.

Comments made before the hashtag and discussion were shut down by censors, included: Article 35 of the Constitutioncitizens have the freedom to speak, publish, march, and protest; You told me that freedom of speech is a legitimate right of citizens, but you never gave me freedom; and We want free speech. I want freedom of speech. We want freedom of protest. Give us back our natural rights.

The demand for freedom of speech and the invocation of the constitution of the Peoples Republic of China was taken up by a group of ten academics in Wuhan. They issued an open letter on February 7 condemning the treatment of Li Wenliang and the other doctors. According to the Financial Times (FT), the letter stated: What the eight doctors have done and said is fully in accordance with the spirit of [the constitution]. The punishment  is therefore unconstitutional and against the public will. The letter concluded with a call on the government to refrain from any measures that limit the freedom of speech.

The FT reported that a separate letter, addressed to the National Peoples Congress, Chinas fig-leaf parliament, was also published on February 7. The authorsa group of leading public intellectuals according to the newspaperstated: We assert, starting today, that no Chinese citizen should be threatened by any state apparatus or political group for his or her speech The state must immediately cease censoring social media and deleting or blocking accounts.

The state-controlled media is allowing some criticism of the handling of the virus and the treatment of Li Wenliang to be published, primarily to channel public anger away from President Xi Jinping and the central regime and on to the Wuhan city and Hubei provincial governments.

An opinion column in todays Global Times asserted: It is indeed regrettable that his [Li Wenliangs] warning was silenced and failed to motivate various authorities to take action, which has partially led to the ongoing nationwide fight against the deadly virus. Wuhan authorities owe Li an apology, and officials in Wuhan and Hubei Province owe an apology to the people of Wuhan and the entire country.

While officials in Wuhan and Hubei appear likely to be made the scapegoats, it is far from clear if that will appease discontent.
New Delhi, Feb 10 : Defence exports in the country have grown seven-fold in the last two years from Rs 1,521.91 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 10,745.77 crore in 2018-19, the government told the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik in a written reply to MP Sambhaji Chhatrapati in Rajya Sabha said that various reforms and steps have been taken to enhance defence exports.

These reforms have provided a big boost to defence exports in recent times.

The authorisation for defence exports in the country has grown seven-fold in the last two years from Rs 1,521.91 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 10,745.77 crore in 2018-19.

In 2017-2018, defence exports were worth Rs 4,682.36 crore. In 2018-2019, they rose to Rs 10,745.77 crore and for 2019-2020 (as on December 31, 2019) it was Rs 5,883.24 crore.

The minister said that the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has notified Department of Defence Production (DDP) as the licencing authority for export items in category six of Special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment and Technologies (SCOMET).

Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for the export of munitions items has been modified and placed on the website of the DDP.

A completely end-to-end online portal for receiving and processing authorisation permission has been developed. The applications submitted on this portal are digitally signed and the authorisation issued is also digitally signed.

In repeat orders of same product to the same entity, consultation process has been done away with and permission is issued immediately. For the repeat order of same product to different entity, the consultation earlier done with all stakeholders is now limited only with Ministry of External Affairs.

The legitimate export of the parts and components of small arms and body armour for civil use are now being permitted after prior consultation with Ministry of External Affairs.

"Powers have been delegated to DRDO, DGOF and CMDs of DPSUs for exploring export opportunities and participation in global tenders," the minister said.

The government has notified the Open General Export Licence (OGEL)- a one-time export licence, which permits the industry to export specified items to specified destinations, enumerated in the OGEL, without seeking export authorisation during the validity of the OGEL.
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Lively literary discussion at the launch of Sith Mal Dam View(s):

Poetry modernism vs traditionalism was the theme for the launch of Sith Mal Dam, written by Lt. Col. Albert Petikiriarachchi at the Gampaha Town Council auditorium on January 11.

The evening began with the blessings of the Maha Sanga, conducted by the Ven. Wettewe Pannarama Nayaka Thera of the Galahitiyawa Sugatha Subhadrarama Temple and Ven. Wedande Jinarathna Nayaka Thera of the Ganemulla Dharma Sri Wardhanarama Temple.

Visiting Consultant Physician of the Gampaha District Hospital, Professor Aruna Munasinghe, who is also well versed in literary matters was the chief guest and in his speech he analysed the Sinhala poem, Oba Koido Amme! and the English poem The Black Queen. The Sinhala poem evoked a sense of nostalgia, he said. Senior lecturer of the Kelaniya University Dr. Priyanwada Wanigasuriya examined the metaphorical language of the poems. She quoted works such as, The RIB, Illusion and the Sinhala poem, Wenasa in which the author had utilised effective figurative language.

A writer of textbooks for the Education Department and now retired, Jagathdewa Soyza, said that the short stories in the anthology are thematically successful. Sandamali Amarathunga, English Literature teacher at the Gampaha Lyceum School captured the audience with her bilingual speech.

A former personal Secretary to the late Sirimavo Bandaranaike, David Athukorala focused on the values of poetry, making the conmparison between modernism and traditionalism.

The author of the Sith Mal Dam anthology, Lt. Col. Albert Petikiriarachchi, remarked that during his time as in the military (37 years), he was able to develop both mind and psyche to due to the guidance of good teachers and friends and by following the Buddhist vision. As a result, he gained inspiration for his literary work. He thanked his beloved wife, Padmini for giving him her undivided support for the past 55 years.

The diverse audience was made up of staff and students of universities, international schools, government schools, Army and Police officers, lawyers, doctors, politicians of the Gampaha District. Compere Lakmali Welagedara extended a happy 80th birthday greeting to the author.

The vote of thanks was given by the pincipal of Parakandeniya Maha Vidyalaya D. J. Kothalawala concluding an enjoyable and informative evening.

-Dr. M.P. Priyanka Dilhani
(SOUND BITE) (English) WHO DIRECTOR-GENERAL, TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, SAYING:

"We should really work hard as one human race to fight this virus before it gets out of control."

The World Health Organization's director-general said on Monday that the spread of the coronavirus to people who had not been to China was "concerning" and could be just "the tip of the iceberg."

(SOUND BITE) (English) WHO DIRECTOR-GENERAL, TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, SAYING:

"In recent days, we have seen some concerning instances of onward transmission from people with no travel history to China. The detection of this small number of cases could be the spark that becomes a bigger fire."

So far, the virus has spread to at least 24 countries and territories, with one death in the Philippines.

In China, there have been more than 40,000 coronavirus cases reported, and more than 3,000 new infections there were confirmed on Sunday.

The World Health Organization also said an advance team of international medical experts had landed in China on Monday to help investigate the outbreak.

(SOUND BITE) (English) WHO HOUSE EMERGENCY PROGRAM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DR. MICHAEL RYAN, SAYING:

"The team is there, first and foremost, to learn and to understand, not only the investigations that have been carried out so far in China, but also to understand the nature of what has been one of the largest public health responses in history... But immediately, obviously understanding better issues around the origin, source of the virus. Issues around the severity of the disease. Answering all of those questions."

Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has largely kept out of the spotlight amid the outbreak, was shown on state television wearing a surgical mask while visiting a northern Beijing neighborhood, where he spoke with residents.

(SOUNDBITE) (English dubbed Mandarin) CHINESE PRESIDENT XI JINPING, SAYING:

"It is a special period, so I would like not to shake hands... We must have confidence. We will definitely overcome this epidemic."

Xi was also shown getting his temperature taken, as he toured one of the hospitals designated for those infected with the virus.

The death toll from the coronavirus rose to more than 900 this week, surpassing that of the SARS epidemic, as 97 more fatalities were recorded on Sunday - the largest number in a single day since the virus was detected in December.
James Corden attends the world premiere of "Cats" at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center on December 16, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Steven Ferdman/Getty Images)

Despite smashing ratings records over Christmas, Gavin and Stacey won't be back any time soon according to James Corden.

The co-creator and star of the series has shared that he and Ruth Jones haven't got plans to make another instalment following on from its cliffhanger Christmas special.

"We have no plans to make another, not at the moment," he shared while being interviewed for ITV's Lorraine while on the Oscar's red carpet.

Read more: Oscars 2020: James Corden and Rebel Wilson wear 'Cats' outfits to present Visual Effects award

"Well have a sit down and think about that at some point but we certainly havent had that discussion yet."

Gavin and Stacey might not be back for more. (BBC)

The comedy became the UK's most-watched scripted show of the decade, with the total amount of viewers taking into account recording and on-demand amounting to 17.1 million.

However, many were left wanting more when it ended on Jones' character Nessa proposing to Corden's Smithy without getting a response.

Uncle Bryn star Rob Brydon has shared he's not too keen on making any more of the smash hit series because he reckons it's better to keep fans "wanting more".

Mathew Horne, Joanna Page, Alison Steadman, Ruth Jones, Laura Aikman, Rob Brydon, Robert Wilfort, Larry Lamb and guest, accepting the Impact Award for "Gavin and Stacey, Christmas Special", pose in the winners room during the National Television Awards 2020. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

He told Heat: "Personally, I would say leave it where it is, with people wanting more. Its always my instinct, and I said that before this special. I was very surprised then to see that they had written it.

Meanwhile, Jones has said that there were "a lot of hurdles to overcome" if the story were to continue due to issues of getting the cast back together as well as meeting with the LA-based Corden to write it.

Speaking to Radio Times she said: "Theres something nice about leaving it hanging in the air and wondering did they ever get married, or didnt they? So, well see.
The European Commission (EC), the executive branch of the European Union (EU), has launched yet another investigation into Qualcomm over potential antitrust practices. The chipmaker revealed in a regulatory filing that the EC is investigating the company for possible anti-competitive tactics relating to its radio frequency front-end (RFFE) chips, which are used in 5G devices.

Along with 5G modem chips and system-on-chips (SoCs), Qualcomm also supplies RFFE chips to device makers. These chips form part of the link between the modem and the phone.

The issue is that the company is trying to persuade phone makers to buy its RFFE chips together with its own modem chips, instead of buying parts from separate vendors and integrating them. The EC is looking to ascertain whether Qualcomm is leveraging its dominant market position in 5G modem chips and engaged in anti-competitive behavior by doing so.

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According to Qualcomm, the EC requested information on December 3, 2019. The company says its in the process of responding to the request. If it is found of any wrongdoing, a fine of up to 10 percent of annual revenue can be imposed. Restrictions may also be placed in its business practices.

It is difficult to predict the outcome of this matter or what remedies, if any, may be imposed by the EC, Qualcomm wrote in the investor filing. We believe that our business practices do not violate EU competition rules.

In its latest earnings report, Qualcomm has said that revenue from the radio frequency chips contributed to a sales forecast that beat analyst expectations. The company has already won contracts to sell RFFE chips to Samsung, Google, and LG. Other major suppliers of radio frequency chips are Broadcom, Skyworks Solutions, and Qorvo.

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EU launches another antitrust investigation into Qualcomm

This is not the first time Qualcomm is facing an antitrust investigation by the European Union. In July last year, the company was fined 242 million for anti-competitive, predatory pricing practices between 2009 and 2011.

The Commission said that Qualcomm sold 3G chips to Huawei and ZTE at below-cost levels in order to force competing supplier Icera out of the market.

Qualcomm was also slapped with a 997 million fine by the EU back in January 2018. The company had allegedly paid Apple billions of dollars to use only its 4G chips between 2011 and 2016. Qualcomm is appealing both the decisions though.

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The chipmaker is battling a competition case in the US as well. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleges that Qualcomm is using anti-competitive tactics in its patent licensing deals.

The company was ordered to stop bundling patent licensing deals with its hardware. It was also asked to provide patent licenses on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms to other companies.

However, Qualcomm launched an appeal and the decision has been stayed by a court. It would not have to comply with the decision until the process is concluded. Arguments are reportedly scheduled for 13 February 2020.
We are excited about this film because it inspires us with a story of how one person can make a difference.

CoNetrix holds a company meeting and dinner annually in February, bringing in all employees, both local and remote, to gather in fellowship and share in success.

In choosing a location for our company dinner, Marvin Crossnoe, CEO of CoNetrix, shared We look for an event venue that inspires our group to feel pride in our location here in Lubbock, and also provides an uplifting experience that we can share together as a single group. Crossnoe went on to say, Our company is very diversified and its important from a cultural standpoint that we provide times to get together to bond as a group.

In February, CoNetrix will visit the Science Spectrum & OMNI Theater to see an IMAX showing of the film Great Bear Rainforest: Land of the Spirit Bear. The film, narrated by Ryan Reynolds features a subspecies of North American black bear that has white fur due to a rare genetic trait. We are excited about this film, says Russ Horn, President for CoNetrix, because it inspires us with a story of how one person can make a difference.

The story of the film centers on the work of Simon Jackson, who at the age of 13 founded the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition to save the endangered white Kermode by preserving its habitat from development. His work was so impactful, he received several honors, including being awarded Queen Elizabeth IIs Diamond Jubilee Medal, being named as one of the 100 Angels of the Earth by UNESCO and, most notably, being honored as one of Time Magazines sixty Heroes for the Planet  one of only six young people selected from around the world. His lifes work was the focus of an internationally televised movie, Spirit Bear: The Simon Jackson Story.

We were inspired by the history behind the film, said Horn, and have invited Simon Jackson to speak at our annual company dinner about how one person can encourage change.

The fact that Mr. Jackson was able to gather a coalition of over six million people over two decades is fascinating, and Im excited to get to hear first-hand his experience in heading that up.

Our people make our company. Each person brings strong initiative, integrity, ambition, and teamwork to create a place where you just love to come to work. Im excited for Mr. Jackson to fly from Canada to share his experience with us.

About CoNetrix: CoNetrix, LLC is a full-service computer networking, software development, and security and compliance firm built on the principles of integrity, innovation, and initiative. CoNetrix has roots dating back to 1977, when it was founded in Lubbock, Texas. We now serve customers across the US, in all 50 states. CoNetrix, LLC is a family of four technology companies, including CoNetrix Security, CoNetrix Technology, Tandem, and nQativ.

CoNetrix Technology offers managed IT services as well as a suite of secure cloud computing offerings marketed as Aspire. CoNetrix Security provides information security consulting and testing to financial institutions. Tandem Security & Compliance Software is online software helping organizations comply with information security requirements and regulations. nQativ offers a suite of accounting software (ERP) modules to companies throughout the United States and Canada.

For more information about CoNetrix, visit https://www.conetrix.com/.

For more information about the film, visit https://greatbearrainforestfilm.com/.

For more information about the Science Spectrum & OMNI Theater, visit https://www.sciencespectrum.org/.

For more information about Simon Jackson and the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition, visit https://ghostbear.org/d-simon-jackson/.
A UK cruise ship is due to dock in Southampton with at least 89 passengers on board who are suffering from diarrhoea, vomiting and fever.

They are believed to have been struck down with norovirus.

The ship, Saga's Spirit of Discovery, is due back in the UK on Wednesday morning. On Saturday, authorities in Gibraltar turned down a berthing request by the ship, which has been cruising around Italy and Spain.

Saga's Spirit of Discovery cruise ship, pictured, which is due to dock in Southampton with at least 89 people on board suffering from diarrhoea, vomiting and fever

The vessel, which has 868 passengers and 513 crew on board, was told to continue its journey back to Southampton without stopping.

A Gibraltar spokesman confirmed: 'As it neared Gibraltar, the cruise ship, Spirit of Discovery, reported that, on board, it had 89 cases of suspected norovirus (diarrhoea, vomiting and fever).

'However, given the current situation, the vessel has been asked to continue to its next port of call, Southampton, without berthing at Gibraltar.'

A Gibraltar government spokesperson stressed that these symptoms are not those of coronavirus.

Norovirus is one of the most common stomach infections in the UK and it is referred to as winter vomiting bug.

Usually, it clears up by itself within 24 to 48 hours. But it can very serious for already frail patients, and can lead to dehydration.

On Saturday, authorities in Gibraltar turned down a berthing request by the Spirit of Discovery, pictured, which has been cruising around Italy and Spain

It's transmitted from person to person by coughing, sneezing and close contact, and can also be caught from touching the same surfaces or food as someone who has it.

A spokesman for Saga Cruises said: 'We have a number of individuals suffering from a gastrointestinal illness on-board Spirit of Discovery, following her recent cruise to Italy.

'Due to the possibility that this could be caused by the winter vomiting bug, the second most frequently reported illness after the common cold, the Port of Gibraltar took the decision not to allow passengers to leave the ship.

'As a result she continued with her journey back to Southampton, which was our next port of call concluding this cruise.

'Our high hygiene standards and well-practised procedures mean that the illness has remained contained. The health of our customers is of paramount importance to us and we shall continue to take all appropriate steps to ensure their well-being.'
Durham, Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FoodLogiQ, the leading SaaS provider of traceability, food safety and supply chain transparency solutions, today announced its third annual user group meeting, reCONNECT 2020, will be held in Raleigh, NC, on March 24 - 26, 2020.

At reCONNECT 2020, FoodLogiQ customers and their suppliers will meet and network with other users of the FoodLogiQ Connect platform while sharing best practices on how they are utilizing the software to advance food safety, traceability and transparency. The agenda will feature a full day of platform training, followed by two consecutive days of large group presentations, topical panel sessions and customer-led discussions.

The keynote speaker for reCONNECT 2020 is food industry expert Hal King, PhD, the Founder and CEO of Public Health Innovations LLC, an ideation and consulting company specializing in innovation for public health interventions designed to prevent disease in the food, manufacturing and healthcare industries. He is a public health professional who has worked in the investigation of foodborne and other diseases (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U. S. Public Health Service), performed funded research on causation of diseases (Emory University School of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases), worked in the prevention of intentional adulteration of foods (U.S. Army Reserves Consequence Management Unit), and worked in the design and implementation of preventive controls for food safety hazards in the food industry. Others scheduled to present include sweetgreen, Hain Celestial, Tyson Foods, Whole Foods Market, Red Lobster, IPC/Subway, Compass Group, and many more.

Over the course of these three days, well have the opportunity to speak face-to-face with our customers who use FoodLogiQ Connect on a daily basis, says Sean OLeary, CEO of FoodLogiQ. These conversations are incredibly valuable to us as we continue to further develop our platform and plan the next steps of its evolution. Plus, customers will have the opportunity to learn from other attendees - both large and small - about their successes, challenges and recommendations on how they are using the platform to their advantage. I believe its going to be a transformational event for FoodLogiQ and its customers.

FoodLogiQ will host reCONNECT 2020 at the Raleigh Marriott City Center in the heart of downtown Raleigh, North Carolina.

About FoodLogiQ

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Analysts say the two countries are worried the assault on the capital will fuel further instability in the region.

When Libyas eastern-based renegade commander Khalifa Haftar in April launched a military offensive to capture the capital, Tripoli, he knew he could count on the support of neighbouring Egypt.

Besides the prospect of winning lucrative reconstruction contracts, the Egyptian governments view of Haftar as a bulwark against the rise of political Islam boded well with its geopolitical interests in the region.

But while Libyas eastern neighbour happily threw its weight behind Haftar, arming and providing the 76-year-olds forces with logistical support, the countries to the west  Algeria and Tunisia  opted for a different strategy.

Though nominally supportive of the internationally-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli, Algeria and Tunisia have throughout Libyas near decade-long conflict maintained strict neutrality and insisted against foreign interference.

Speaking alongside his Tunisian counterpart Kais Saied in Algiers last week, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebbounereiterated the two countries belief that the crisis could only end with a political solution that should come by Libyans themselves and protected from foreign interference and weapons flows.

Tunisia and Algeria want to make a solution for Libya with meetings in Tunisia or Algeria, to start a new stage there by building institutions and holding elections, Tebboune said.

Diplomacy over hard power

For many years, it seemed as though the two countries had avoided dealing with the conflict raging across their eastern border.

Some analysts have pointed to internal tribulations  economic stagnation in Tunisia and a latent political crisis in Algeria  to make sense of their apparent disengagement.

The inability of Tunisian authorities to translate democratic gains achieved following the 2011 overthrow of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali into tangible economic development resulted in major political instability, with 10 administrations having assumed power since.

Meanwhile, Algeria, seen by many as a regional powerbroker, could hardly make its voice heard after former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika suffered a debilitating stroke in 2013 that left him unable to address his people, much less represent his countrys interests internationally.

For Akram Kharief, an Algerian defence analyst, domestic politics goes some way in explaining how Algeria deals with external crises, with instability in Algiers often seen by belligerents in Libya as an opportunity to revise the status quo there.

In February, just as tensions were rising in Algeria amid public discontent over Bouteflikas decision to run for a fifth term in office, Haftar launched a military push to seize much of southern Libyas Fezzan region.

In April, the leader of the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) began his assault on Tripoli, two days after Bouteflika was forced to resign by the military in the face of mass protests.

Ultimately, however, Algerias refusal to engage militarily or lend its support to either of the warring factions is deeply rooted in the countrys political tradition, which has historically prioritised diplomacy, Kharief said.

Algerias position in Libya is quite simple: It recognises the GNA but opposes any recourse to force. It also recognises Haftar who it sees as a stakeholder, he said.

Since 2012, Algerias been working towards a political solution between Libyas different parties and has relied heavily on dialogue between tribes to create a consensus from the bottom up.

That Algerias strategy has failed to win the support of Libyans, Kharief said, is at least in part due to the jostling that has taken place among the half a dozen countries now supplying the warring factions with weapons in violation of a 2011 United Nations arms embargo.

In addition to Egypt, Haftar enjoys the backing of the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Sudan. The UN-brokered GNA for its part is supported by Turkey.

Tripoli a red line

In January, just weeks after Haftar announced a renewed push to seize Tripoli, Tebboune declared the Libyan capital of 2.3 million people a red line no one should cross.

According to Karim Mezran, a senior fellow at the Rafik Hariri Center, this is because Algiers does not think Haftar is capable of overtaking Tripoli.

He [Haftar] can destroy the city. He can inflict a lot of harm and pain but I dont think he has the strength to hold the city, Mezran said.

Crucially, Algerians are concerned that the long battle for Tripoli will fuel instability along the porous, sparsely populated border region.

That could allow armed groups active in the area to regroup and stage attacks on Algerias vital oil installations, as was the case in 2013 when an al-Qaeda affiliated group stormed the Ain Amenas gas plant near the Libyan border, forcing the Algerian military to intervene in an operation that left 39 foreign hostages dead.

Against this background, Algeria has recently engaged in a flurry of diplomatic activity, which recently saw it bring together in Algiers the foreign ministers of Libyas four bordering states aimed at stabilising the war-wracked country.

Tebboune had himself wasted no time in making known his countrys concern with developments in Libya, attending peace talks in the German capital, Berlin, and receiving Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as well as Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed within a month of the inauguration.

Joint security space

Just as important in Algerias threat perception is the risk of further instability in Libya might have on Tunisia.

Algiers and Tunis are closely linked, Kharief, the defence analyst, said. Each includes the other in its security space, hence their convergent views.

Kharief said, Tunisia is more at risk than Algeria because of trade ties and the greater presence of Tunisians in Libya and Libyans in Tunisia.

That was highlighted during a January meeting of Tunisias National Security Council when Saied called for his countrys authorities to step up preparations for an eventual influx of Libyan refugees.

Tourism, a vital sector that represents 8 percent of Tunisias gross domestic product (GDP), took a hard hit after al-Qaeda affiliated gunmen in 2015 stormed a Tunis museum and beach resort in the coastal town of Sousse, killing 60 people.

The events that year led to a 25 percent decrease in the number of visitors and a 35 percent fall in tourism revenue.

Such attacks would also have an impact on Tunisias political scene where the newly elected parliament has to date failed to agree on a government more than four months into its mandate.

If Haftar pushes through and enters Tripoli, it will force many civilians to flee to Tunisia and cause major instability along the border. It will be a nightmare, Mezran said.

Exactly what more the two countries can do to stop the situation from getting worse is rarely discussed, and for good reason.

Algiers and Tunis have made it clear that under no circumstance will they entertain the idea of large-scale involvement of foreign troops in Libya.

Though foreign fighters have reportedly joined the battle for Tripoli, Kharief said no major escalation could take place without Algeria and Tunisia giving the greenlight.

The Algerian military by its sheer force will prevent foreign powers from launching massive operations inside Libya, he said, adding that the two countries would for now have to contend with their geographic advantage to double down on the diplomatic track.
Indeed, it is the people that make the difference between one hotel and the next. Unfortunately, too many hotel companies have become so obsessed with "tech" that their leaders forget to focus on the "touch" part. The hotel tech providers have done an amazing job at pushing what I call the "Millennial Myth," that anyone born after 1980 has no personality, never wants to have human interaction and lives on their phone. While the Strauss-Howe Generational Theory labels like "Baby Boomer" and "Gen Xer" are interesting, no generation is homogeneous. There are already signs of a "tech backlash."

The obsession with copy-catting each other's tech (and also design, amenities, F&B and loyalty programs), will lead to the commoditization of the lodging industry where the only remaining differentiator is the price.

Instead, hotels should obsess on human engagement. Recruit and select staff with high emotional intelligence and people skills. Train empathy, reflective listening and encourage compassion.
Mumbai, Feb 10 : Auto component manufacturer Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd on Monday reported a 38.67 per cent decline in its consolidated net profit on a year-on-year (YoY) basis for the quarter ended December.

Its consolidated net profit for the October-December quarter of 2019-20 stood at Rs 340.32 crore, against Rs 554.99 crore reported during the corresponding period of the last fiscal, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Motherson Sumi's total income during the period under review was Rs 15,739.38 crore, which was 4.8 per cent lower than Rs 16,533.99 crore earned during the third quarter of financial year 2018-19.

Commenting on the performance, Motherson Sumi Chairman Vivek Chaand Sehgal said: "We have intensified our focus on the areas we control. We continue to strengthen our operations at the unit level around the world and bring our greenfield plants to optimum levels." "Thanks to the great spirit and efforts of our teams, we are able to support the OEMs (original equipment manufacturer) in navigating through challenging conditions in certain markets and also in managing our cash flows wisely," he added.

The company's investor presentation said that all business divisions have performed well given the challenging market conditions globally.

Shares of the company slumped following the result declaration. At 3.12 p.m. on Monday, these were trading on the BSE at Rs 123.65 a share, lower Rs 8.65, or 6.54 per cent, than its previous close.
According to a lawsuit filed Wednesday alongside Earth Fares Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, workers found out about the closings and mass layoffs at the same time as the public on Feb. 3.

The defendants violated the WARN Act by failing to give the plaintiffs and other similarly situated employees of the defendants at least 60 days advance written notice of termination, as required by the WARN Act, the complaint states.

A representative for Earth Fare did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News.

Earth Fare operates in 10 states, including the Carolinas, Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Florida, Indiana and Virginia.

It has 13 North Carolina sites, including one each in Greensboro and High Point.

Under the WARN Act, employers are required to give advance notice in cases of qualified plant closings and mass layoffs. In most cases, the law states thats at least 60 days before operations cease.
The year-round service will give guests from Dawson Creek the opportunity to travel conveniently for business and pleasure throughout the WestJet network, where the airline operates more than 1,000 flights per week to more than 72 destinations across the globe from Calgary.

"Providing the opportunity for convenient travel into and out of Calgary will help strengthen Dawson Creek's already vibrant oil and gas, agriculture and tourism industries, many of which have links to Calgary and beyond," said Arved von zur Muehlen, WestJet Chief Commercial Officer. "The value of connecting people, markets and communities is immeasurable and we look forward to bringing Canada's favourite airline to the city this April."

With the addition of Calgary-Dawson Creek service, WestJet Link will now operate five routes between Calgary and Cranbrook, Lethbridge, Lloydminster and Medicine Hat and one between Cranbrook and Vancouver. WestJet Link operations between Calgary and Prince George, B.C., will shift to year-round service on WestJet Encore's 78-seat DHC-8-400 aircraft effective April 26.

"The City of Dawson Creek is pleased to welcome WestJet to our community," said Dale Bumstead, Mayor of the City of Dawson Creek. "Dawson Creek is the hub of economic opportunity in the South Peace Region and WestJet service will further enhance these opportunities by providing our airport with additional destinations. Whether you are working in the area, attending a concert in our world-class event centre or visiting friends and family in the region, this new service will provide an added convenient travel option."

WestJet Link is operated through a capacity purchase agreement with Pacific Coastal Airlines using its fleet of WestJet-branded 34-seat Saab 340B aircraft. Each aircraft includes six seats available in WestJet Premium, offering guests advanced boarding, no-charge for two checked bags and seating at the front of the aircraft.

Dawson Creek is WestJet's 72nd destination out of Calgary, the airline's home and hub. By June 2020, the airline will operate more than 1000 flights per week in peak season out of Calgary International Airport. More Calgarians choose WestJet for their air travel than any other airline.

"This new non-stop flight aboard WestJet will connect recreational and business guests to the beautiful city of Dawson Creek. The new link will also enable more B.C. guests to connect to WestJet's extensive YYC hub. We're excited to collaborate with WestJet Link on continued growth," said Bob Sartor, President and CEO, The Calgary Airport Authority.

Details of WestJet's service between Dawson Creek, B.C. and Calgary:

Route Frequency Departing Arriving Effective Calgary-Dawson Creek Daily 1:15 p.m. 2:19 p.m. April 26, 2020 Dawson Creek-Calgary Daily 2:50 p.m. 5:49 p.m. April 26, 2020

Additional quotes:

"We're excited to begin operating this new daily non-stop service between Calgary and Dawson Creek", says Pacific Coastal Airline's President, Quentin Smith. "The addition of this route to the existing network of WestJet Link operations is indicative of the strong relationship between our two airlines, and the ongoing growth opportunities that exist for Link service."

"At ARC, we are always looking for opportunities to create partnerships and enhance relationships with our stakeholders," said Ron Toly, ARC Resources Ltd. "The new WestJet Link service to Dawson Creek opens up the doors to continued opportunity and growth for all businesses in the BC Peace region area."

"The BC Peace region is poised for continued business growth with projects like TC Energy's Coastal GasLink Pipeline Project," said Kiel Giddens, Public Affairs Manager for TC Energy. "This new WestJet service is a welcome connection that our employees and contractors will be able to take advantage of."

About WestJet

Together with WestJet's regional airlines, WestJet Encore and WestJet Link, we offer scheduled service to more than 110 destinations in North America, Central America, the Caribbean and Europe and to more than 250 destinations in over 20 countries through our airline partnerships. WestJet Vacations offers affordable, flexible vacations to more than 60 destinations and the choice of more than 800 hotels, resorts, condos and villas. Members of the WestJet Rewards program earn WestJet dollars on flights, vacation packages and more. Members use WestJet dollars towards the purchase of flights and vacations packages to any WestJet destination with no blackout periods, and have access to Member Exclusive fares offering deals to WestJet destinations throughout our network and those of our partner airlines.

WestJet is proud to be recognized for three consecutive years as Best Airline in Canada (2017-19) and awarded among travellers' favourite Mid-Sized Airlines in North America (2019). From 2017-2018, WestJet was also awarded among travellers' favourite Mid-Sized and Low-Cost Airlines in North America. The airline was also recognized among the Economy Class winners in North America, 2018. All awards are based on authentic reviews from the travelling public on TripAdvisor, the world's largest travel site. We are one of very few airlines globally that does not commercially overbook.

For more information about everything WestJet, please visit westjet.com .

Recent recognition includes:

2019 Swoop - Start-up Airline of the Year (CAPA 2019 Aviation Awards for Excellence)

2019/2018/2017 Best Airline in Canada (TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice awards for Airlines)

2019 Winner Among Mid-Sized Airlines in North America (TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice awards for Airlines)

2019 Number-One Ranked Canadian Airline Loyalty Program in Member Engagement (Bond Brand Loyalty)

2019/2018 Number-One-Ranked Airline Credit Card in Canada (Rewards Canada)

2018/2017 Winner Among Mid-Sized and Low Cost Airlines  North America (TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice awards for Airlines)

2018 Winner  Economy, North America (TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice awards for Airlines)

2018 North America's Best Low-Cost Airline (Skytrax)

2018/2017/2016 Canada's Most Trusted Airline (Gustavson School of Business at the University of Victoria)

Connect with WestJet on Facebook at facebook.com/westjet

Follow WestJet on Twitter at twitter.com/westjet

Follow WestJet on Instagram instagram.com/westjet/

Subscribe to WestJet on YouTube at youtube.com/westjet

Read the WestJet blog at blog.westjet.com

SOURCE WESTJET, an Alberta Partnership

For further information: Media contacts: To contact WestJet media relations, please email [email protected]

Related Links

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Two days after Goa Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao expressed his dissent against the CAA, Goa BJP General Secretary Narendra Sawaikar retaliated to the archbishop's claims of the act being "divisive and discriminatory".

"Why should Archbishop oppose #CAA? When: 1. SC is hearing & will decide a challenge to the law 2. 14 year catholic girl is fighting for justice in Pakistan 3. Crores of people are supporting CAA. Unfounded opposition," Sawarikar's tweet read.

In the following tweet, he added, "If #CAA is discriminatory for Goa #Archbishop, than Article 30 of Constitution of India is more discriminatory. Don't claim benefits at taxpayers money by claiming minority status! #CAA @Pontifex"

The general secretary further went on to call the statement biased and based on "ifs and buts."

"Archbishop's statement is based on ifs and buts. Without any logic, reasoning & rationale. In fact CAA is not #divisive but the statement is," he added.

The BJP leader, however, said that the citizenship law that any law can be repealed or rescinded by an Act of legislature or by the Court striking it down.

"In present case challenge is already before the SC," he added.

The series of tweets from the minister come after a statement released by the Goa Archbishop on Saturday urging the central government to "immediately and unconditionally revoke the Citizenship Amendment Act and desist from implementing the Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Population Register.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
It is usually estimated that in the Gulf of Guinea, 40% to 60% of the fish caught is caught illegally. The shortfall for countries in the region is colossal. IUU (illegal, unreported and unregulated) fishing is a serious threat to fish stocks and the marine environment. It undermines fisheries management and deprives the populations of coastal states of sources of food and income.

On the other hand, the abundant fishery resources in the area attract contenders from all over the world, ready to cross the oceans to fish off the coast of West Africa.

Finally, increasingly close links are emerging between IUU fishing and maritime piracy. The former "feeds" the latter, and vice versa. At the African Union summit on maritime safety and security and development in Lome, Togo, in late 2016, thirty-one states adopted a charter to combat piracy and IUU fishing.

Following a first level training course held in February 2019, ISMI continues to train fisheries inspectors during this level 2 course which will take place from 10 to 14 February 2020. Some twenty auditors - fisheries inspectors, naval officers, agents of fisheries administrations - from 12 countries of the Gulf of Guinea are expected to attend.

This training is supported by the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire and the French Directorate for Security and Defence Cooperation (DCSD). The course will take place on the campus of the Regional Academy of Marine Science and Technology (ARSTM) in Yopougon, Abidjan.
Hundreds of protesters, including residents of Jamia Nagar and students of the Jamia Millia Islamia university, faced-off with after they were stopped from marching towards Parliament.

Hundreds of Jamia Millia Islamia students and residents of nearby areas were on Monday stopped by police from taking out a march to Parliament against the CAA and NRC, leading to a seven-hour standoff during which scuffles broke out between protesters and security personnel.

Protesters accused the Delhi Police of hitting them in their private parts, according to several media reports. India Today reported that at least 10 Jamia students were admitted to Jamia Health Centre for injuries to their private parts. "More than 10 women students have been hit on their private parts. We have found blunt injuries and some have been hit in a way that we had to shift them to Al Shifa because injuries are serious in nature," the doctors said, as per the report.

Another student said that the cops were beating them below the belt so that the cameras could not capture it. "They were pushing us so hard that we got stuck in stampede four or five times," the student said. She added, "There are women who have been injured in their sensitive parts. I have been hit in the elbow and abdomen. They are hitting us with lathi below the belt so that it didn't come in camera [sic]."

A student told News18 a university student "suffered injuries to her private parts" after being hit by Delhi Police officers while the personnel were trying to stop the anti-Citizenship Act march.

"They were pushing us aside; they had all this gear on. They were saying that they are not using batons, but when we were in the crowd and stranded, they were pushing us and were hitting us below the belt. They were hitting us on our legs. There is a woman student who has been severely injured on her sensitive parts, which is not good. There was also a stampede-like situation, where people got choked and nauseated. That is what happened with me also. I fainted twice. We had no space to breathe," a woman student of Jamia Millia Islamia, who has been admitted to a hospital, said as per the report. At least three students told News18 that they had been hit on their private parts.

The protesters, including Jamia students and alumni, were led by the Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC). They were marching towards Parliament to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The university has been at the epicentre of the resistance against the contentious citizenship law.

Police said the protesters did not have permission to march to the Parliament. The police reportedly lathi-charged the students.

Ahead of the protest, Jamia Millia Islamia chief proctor Waseem Ahmad said, "I request both students and police to deal with the situation in a calm manner. I appeal to students to move back."

Delhi: Jamia Coordination Committee's (JCC) protest march against CAA, NRC, & NPR, from Jamia to Parliament, stopped by security forces near Holy Family Hospital in Okhla. pic.twitter.com/McBArSRDOy  ANI (@ANI) February 10, 2020

Before the scuffle, there was heavy deployment of security personnel, many in riot gear, in and around the university.

The protesters began their march from Jamia's gate no 7, while the police appealed to them to end their march, PTI reported.

The protesters raised slogans such as "kagaz nahi dikhayenge" (we won't show documents)" and "jab nahi dare hum goron se toh kyun dare hum auron se" (when we did not fear the British, then why should we fear others).

Several women also participated in the protest. Many waved the Tricolour and raised slogans of 'halla bol'. Men formed a human chain on either sides of roads as women walked ahead.

"It has been two months since we are protesting. No one from the government has come to talk to us, so we want to go to talk to them," said Zeba Anhad, a protester in a burqa.

A scuffle ensued when policemen tried to halt protesters, with many jumping over barricades.

The CAA allows easier citizenship for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Parsis and Jains who came to India from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh before 2015 to escape religious persecution there. Muslim migrants don't figure on this list.

Those opposing the CAA contend that it discriminates on the basis of religion and violates the Constitution. They also allege that the CAA along with the NRC is intended to target the Muslim community in India.

However, the Centre has dismissed the allegations, maintaining that the law is intended to give citizenship to the persecuted minorities from the three neighbouring countries and not to take away anyone's citizenship.
Representative Image

Kamlendra Kanwar

A full-blown constitutional crisis is on hand, with the Centre and some opposition-ruled states on a collision course on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The Indian version of federalism is on test as heres a case where Parliament have passed the legislation and it was duly signed by the President, while the Opposition was still to get its act together.

If the Congress and its fellow travellers were so sensitive to what the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government was doing, they could have mobilised support for their stand in the Rajya Sabha where the BJP did not have a majority. Instead, they locked the stables only after the horses had bolted.

They now insist that the CAA violates the basic structure of the Constitution and hope that the Act will be struck down by the Supreme Court. The apex court, however, has not taken up the case yet, and has refused to stay the Act in the interim.

Evidently, the judiciary is wary of seeming to be encroaching on the sphere of the legislature and disturbing the balance in the federal structure. The apex court could well have averted the stalemate but it chose to drag its feet.

The critics of the legislation cite the Preamble to the Constitution, which clearly mentions secularism as a guiding principle and Article 14 (which guarantees equality before law and non-discrimination) and avers that since these principles have been violated by the Act, the legislation must be revoked.

The votaries of the legislation, however, point out that the basis of the legislation is the discrimination that non-Muslims, including Hindus, Christians, Parsis, Jains in, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan have faced in these Muslim-majority states so there is no justification for Muslims from these countries to seek shelter in India on grounds of discrimination.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly sought to allay the apprehensions of Indian Muslims that they could face deportation under the new law. However, apprehensive of the BJPs record of dealing with Muslims, many of them are tending to believe the worst.

The BJP at the Centre has sought to encourage fears that the Congress and like-minded parties are being spurred on by Pakistan, which has a stake in destabilising India. Consequently, the focus has shifted to nationalism, which the BJP used to keep its focus on during the campaign for the Delhi elections.

It is difficult to imagine how long the Opposition can sustain the campaign against the CAA. The judiciary too cannot keep the important issue in cold storage indefinitely. An escape route for the Opposition could be to accept the CAA and focus its ire on the National Register for Citizens (NRC). However, right now, the Opposition is clinging on to hope that the apex court would declare the CAA unconstitutional and that they would be able to embarrass the government. On February 10, the Supreme Court observed that the protesters at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi cant block the entire city. It will next hear the matter on February 17.

Passing resolutions against a central law does not absolve states of the responsibility of implementing it. West Bengal, Kerala, Rajasthan, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh would need to appreciate this sooner than later if the federal structure is to be respected.

The federal principle is crucial to the sustenance of the constitutional edifice and any attempt to dilute or erode it must be discouraged. If the CAA is not declared unconstitutional, no state must be allowed to trample over it. There must be a clear stipulation that the Act must be implemented in letter and spirit.

If, however, the apex court strikes down the CAA, the Centre must not devise steps to bring about its backdoor entry. It is important that the issue be resolved one way or another at the earliest. There can hardly be any merit in prolonging the confrontation between the Centre and some states.
New Delhi, Feb 10 : The Centre on Monday told the Lok Sabha that it would take "appropriate steps" following the Supreme Court's ruling on reservation in jobs and promotions for SCs/STs after considering the issue at the highest level.

It also attacked the Congress-led then Uttarakhand government in 2012 for "snatching the rights of deprived sections" through a decision on the matter.

In its verdict on February 7, on appeals that sought reservation for SCs/STs in promotions to Assistant Engineer (Civil) posts in the Uttarakhand Public Works Department, the Supreme Court said that the quotas and reservation in promotions for government jobs is not a fundamental right.

The court said it could not compel the states to provide quotas and that the states could not be forced to make such provisions without data showing an imbalance in representation of certain communities in public services.

Speaking during the ongoing general discussion on the Union Budget for 2020-2021, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot said that the central government was determined to ensure the welfare of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).

Calling the Supreme Court's Friday ruling on the issue as a "very important subject", the Minister said that the government is "considering it at the highest level".

The Minister said neither the Indian government was ever made a party nor asked for an affidavit in the matter.

He clarified that the matter cropped up after the then Uttarakhand government on November 5, 2012, decided not to allow reservations in promotions in the state, which was challenged in court. "There was a Congress government in Uttarakhand in 2012," Thawar Chand Gehlot pointed out.

The Minister's statement comes after the opposition, and even some ruling party allies, attacked the Centre for intervening in the matter.

The Congress lawmakers staged a walkout after they were not allowed to speak following Gehlot's statement.

The apex court last week overturned a 2012 ruling by the Uttarakhand High Court that had directed the state to provide quotas to specified communities.
The Horn of Africa, the Sahel and the Lake Chad basin area are in war; a real war where soldiers and civilians are dying by the dozens, said the head of the African Union on Sunday's opening of the 33rd Summit when underscoring the urgency to follow through on this year's theme of Silencing the Guns across Africa.

Moussa Faki Mahamat began his opening speech to a packed room without mincing his words.

The year that just went by was not a year of much peace nor of harmony in the world. This year is not looking any better, added Mahamat in a direct and heavy tone.

We need to be in constant mobilization of all our energies to undo these tough challenges.

Crisis across the continent

The rise of terrorist groups in numerous regions across Africa and the world is a cancer that is far from being eradicated, added the head of the AU.

Terrorism that has already made its mark across the Sahel, in Mozambique, Tanzania, and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo where the main victims are women and children.

For example, in the Sahel, the number of terrorist-attack casualties has leapt five-fold since 2016, according to a report in January by the UN Special Representative and Head of the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS).

Mahamat added that energy spent on fighting has only held-back the potential of the African continent internationally.

That point was echoed by the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Abdoul Gheit, a guest invited by outgoing Chair of the AU, Egypt's President Abdelfattah al-Sisi.

We share the same aspirations, we face similar challenges, and we know that the process of comprehensive sustainable development cannot be launched in the absence of laying the foundations of security and stability, added Gheit.

But despite the international scope of conflicts across the continent, Sisi noted in his final speech as head of the Chair that the answer must be an African solution to African problems.

Extraordinary Summit

In his first speech as this year's head of the AU, South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa announced an extraordinary summit to be held in May on Silencing the Guns.

Normally the AU holds two summits per year: January and July.

This extraordinary one will be hosted by South Africa in Pretoria.

Women part of the answer

Ramaphosa also noted that achieving such a goal of peace is not attainable without the help of women.

They deserve at the very least 50 percent representation in all structures, he announced to much applause.

We have to find more practical and sustainable ways to empowering the women of our continent so that we move beyond the cliches and the general statements that we pronounce on podiums every time, stressed Ramaphosa.

He added that such a fight against instabilty cannot be done without the help of women, who must be liberated from the shackles of patriarchy, noting that he hopes to see the years of 2020 to 2030 be declared the Decade of African Women's Financial and Economic Inclusion.
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Linkedin Jill Serjeant (Reuters) Los Angeles, United States  Mon, February 10, 2020 09:55 701 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20637a6e9 2 Entertainment Laura-Dern,parasite,Brad-Pitt,Obama,Barack-Obama,Oscar,Oscar-2020,Academy-awards,Winner,Marriage-Story,eminem Free

Brad Pitt and Laura Dern won their first acting Oscars on Sunday, and South Korean movie Parasite got off to what could be a historic night at the Academy Awards ceremony.

Dern took home the Oscar for best supporting actress for her role as a ruthless divorce lawyer in Marriage Story, and dedicated it to her celebrity parents Diane Ladd and Bruce Dern.

"This is the best birthday present ever," said Dern, who will turn 53 on Monday.

Pitt was named best supporting actor for playing a charming stunt double in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood after having collected an armful of trophies earlier this year for the role. It was his first acting Oscar.

"I'm a bit gobsmacked to tell you the truth," said Pitt, who recalled his early days starting out as an unknown actor.

"Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - ain't that the truth?," he said, dedicating the Academy Award to his six children with former wife Angelina Jolie.

Parasite got off to strong start by winning the original screenplay Oscar for a delighted Bong Joon Ho - the first of six potential Academy Awards for the film on Sunday.

The social satire about the wealth gap in South Korea is also seen as a front-runner for the coveted best picture prize, as well as international feature and best director for Bong. No film in a foreign language has ever won best picture at the Oscars.

American Factory, about the decline of jobs in the industrial Midwest from former U.S. President Barack and first lady Michelle Obama's new production company, won for best documentary.

Nazi satire Jojo Rabbit brought a best adapted screenplay Oscar for director, star and writer Taika Waititi.

Read also: Brad Pitt wins supporting actor Oscar for 'Once upon a Time in Hollywood'

Despite again having no formal host, the Oscars ceremony started with a surprise appearance by former hosts Steve Martin and Chris Rock, who delivered a string of barbed jokes about the lack of female directors and people of color among this year's nominees.

"I thought there was something missing this year," said Martin.

"Vaginas?" quipped Rock, to loud applause.

Rock pointed out Cynthia Erivo, who played slavery-era freedom fighter Harriet Tubman in Harriet and who was the only actor of color nominated this year.

"Cynthia did such a great job hiding black people that the academy got her to hide all the black nominees," said Rock.

In another surprise, rapper Eminem took the Oscars stage to perform "Lose Yourself," his 2003 Oscar-winning song from the movie 8 Mile.

The nominees and winners are chosen by the 8,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The coveted best picture prize, to be announced at the end of the three-hour show, is thought to be a three-way race between Parasite, British director Sam Mendes' immersive World War One movie 1917 from Universal Pictures, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino's love letter to show business, from Sony Pictures.

Dark comic book movie Joker from Warner Bros, which has a leading 11 nominations, Netflix divorce drama Marriage Story and the streaming service's mob epic The Irishman, race-car drama Ford v Ferrari from 20th Century Studios, and novel adaptation Little Women from Sony Pictures, round out the competition for the top prize.

Netflix boosted its Hollywood credentials by getting a leading 24 nominations this year. But the coveted best picture Oscar may elude it yet again on Sunday, awards watchers say.
Bong Joon-ho, center, and the cast of "Parasite" arrive for the 92nd annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theater in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Sunday (local time). UPI-Yonhap



By Kwak Yeon-soo



The Oscar-winning South Korean satirical thriller "Parasite" is the latest example of the success of Korean films in Hollywood.



"Parasite" is not the first non-English language film to receive an award at the Oscars  "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" won best foreign language film, best art direction, best original score and best cinematography in 2001. But it is the first Korean-made film to receive the recognition of The Academy.



Director Bong Joon-ho's style of storytelling is considered wildly innovative, unpredictable and extremely entertaining. "Parasite" will lead to a further explosion of interest in Korean cinema that will become clear in years to come, critics said.



Relatable, yet excitingly new



"The film's theme of income inequality hits a chord in the U.S. as elsewhere around the world, but it's difficult to make a popular film about such a dismal and abstract topic," said Christina Klein, an English Department professor at Boston College.



"With Parasite, Bong has achieved the very difficult feat of making an intellectually substantive film that is entertaining to watch."



Klein explained that "Parasite" hits the sweet spot in terms of style as well as content: it is both relatable to American viewers and excitingly new.



Bong has repeatedly shown a long-standing affection for Hollywood cinema, which makes him very familiar with the conventions of American film.



"Bong has also been building his American following for years. His earlier Korean-language films 'Memories of Murder,' 'The Host,' and 'Mother' were released in the U.S.," she said.



"Thus his style of filmmaking is not wholly unfamiliar to Americans. At the same time, Bong's signature style of rapid shifts in tone and mixing of genre elements is very fresh for American viewers."



On the topic of Bong's past works Klein said, "The Host found a substantial theatrical audience, as did Snowpiercer."





Director Bong Joon-ho, winner of the best original screenplay, best international feature film, best director, and best picture awards for "Parasite," poses in the press room during the 92nd Academy Awards at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, California, Sunday (local time). AFP-Yonhap



Reaching a global audience



The market for Asian films in the U.S is changing, which indicates a new level of global reach for Korean cinema. Netflix and other streaming services are making Korean films and TV dramas easily accessible.



For instance, the biggest movie theater in Boston, the 19-screen AMC Loews Boston Common, regularly shows commercial Asian films that do not play in art-house cinemas.









In addition to "Parasite" and the Japanese anime film "Weathering with You," the cinema is currently showing "The Man Standing Next," a drama about the assassination of former president Park Chung-hee.



"If Koreans keep making great movies, I'm cautiously optimistic that more Americans will find their way to them," Klein said.



Another critic expressed that the American film industry will observe this situation with "Parasite" very carefully in the wake of the Oscars.



"With 'Parasite,' Hollywood is encouraging and shouting for Koreans to invest in domestic film productions. Korea has no history of doing that except for inviting American actors to act in Korean films," said Christopher HK Lee, an award-winning filmmaker based in Los Angeles.



"If big companies like CJ start investing in Hollywood films and collaborate with American A-list actors there is strong chance that director Park Chan-Wook and other Korean actors will find more opportunities in the future," he added.



What's next?



The success of "Parasite" is a wonderful moment for Korean cinema as a whole. The film won four categories  best picture, best director, best international feature film and best original screenplay on Sunday, stunning movie fans in Hollywood and the rest of the world.

It feels as if it has been a long time coming to finally see the award bodies in Hollywood taking notice of Bong and more broadly of the Korean film industry.



"Bong has entered an elite of the most revered filmmakers in the world so anything he does make in future will attract an immense amount of interest and will likely garner awards buzz," said Jason Bechervaise, a professor at Korea Soongsil Cyber University in Seoul who wrote a Ph.D. thesis on the work of Bong.



But Klein warned that while "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was a groundbreaking moment and led to the success of similar films, it did not cause an "explosion of interest in world cinema as a whole."



"When 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' won four Oscars in 2001, many people predicted it would open the floodgates to Asian cinema. That didn't quite happen, but Ang Lee's career flourished and he did win best director at the Oscars for 'Brokeback Mountain' in 2006," Klein said.



While some critics have dwelled on the problem that Korean cinema on the world stage is heavily reliant on the auteurs  Bong, Park Chan-wook, Lee Chang-dong, Kim Jee-woon, Hong Sang-soo and Na Hong-jin.  Bechervaise holds an optimistic view saying, "The key is to nurture younger talent."



He explained that a set of unique circumstances  being born in the '60s, going to university in the '80s and making their debuts in the mid-late 90s or in 2000s  have led many of these filmmakers to have successful careers in the film industry, making it difficult for the younger generation of filmmakers to replicate their success.



"Still, this is an incredible moment for the Korean film industry and one that will open further doors in Hollywood not only for filmmakers but also for the talent in the film industry  editors, production designers, composers, actors and so on and so forth," he said.





In this handout photo provided by A.M.P.A.S. the best picture award winners for "Parasite" pose onstage during the 92nd Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California, Sunday. AFP-Yonhap
Their disembodied heads--larger than life--float in the storefront window. Biden. Klobuchar. Sanders. Buttigieg. One day "Chasten Buttigieg came by, and I was chatting with him," says Liz Hitchcock, co-owner of Bookery Manchester. "He said it is just so weird to see my husband's big face in the window."

In Manchester, New Hampshire, the most populous city in the state that hosts the nation's first primary on February 11, local restaurants like the Red Arrow Diner and Chez Vachon welcome Presidential candidates for food and photos every four years. In this election cycle, the Bookery--a newcomer on downtown Elm Street--is arguably the city's most populous way station for presidential hopefuls and their supporters. Some staff have even set up makeshift campaign offices there while waiting for more permanent digs.

Hitchcock and her co-owner and husband, Jeremy, opened the 16-employee independent bookstore and cafe in 2018--about 18 months after selling to Oracle their internet infrastructure company, Dyn, which they'd built in Manchester. The couple hoped such a business would attract more retail to the street. They also wanted to cultivate a spot "where people can have conversations about civics, politics, or education," Hitchcock says. Becoming a campaign hub wasn't in the plans. But then the staffers started showing up.

The first came in April 2019. That was Cole Riel, a state representative and New Hampshire deputy political director for Pete Buttigieg. The Buttigieg campaign didn't yet have an office in Manchester, so Riel worked out of the Bookery's cafe where, among other things, he held hiring meetings. Soon after that, a staffer from Elizabeth Warren's campaign set up temporary shop.

Neither introduced themselves to the Bookery's owners. "But we felt this palpable buzz. There were more and more young people coming in," Hitchcock says. "I started asking them, what's going on?" Once Hitchcock learned who her visitors were, she introduced herself and let them know the store had a conference room in back, available to rent. Several campaigns, including Amy Klobuchar's, have used that space for meetings of up to 20 people.

The Buttigieg and Warren staffers hung around the Bookery for about a month before finding a permanent home. They and others took Hitchcock up on her offer to host candidate talks and meet-and-greets. "We have had Michael Bennet and Pete Buttigieg and Andrew Yang," Hitchcock says. "Marianne Williamson had about 100 people in the store after she had announced the end of her campaign. We have not had Joe Biden. But Jill Biden, his wife, has come in and spoken."

As the candidates headed to New Hampshire after the Iowa Caucus, the Bookery's schedule heated up. Within the first few days, the store hosted a meet-and-greet with Tom Steyer and Buttigieg's debate-watching party. Amy Klobuchar's daughter turned up. Michael Bennet popped in again, this time with a reporter to shoot some video.

"Maybe they've heard about us from their campaigners or volunteers, or maybe they're looking for refuge from the 'ick' we've been getting the past few days," as a result of the botched Iowa Caucus, Hitchcock says. "They shake a few hands and leave. It's nicely casual."

Excited to be part of their city's electoral landscape, the Hitchcocks have promoted the Bookery as a campaign resource. "Would you like to schedule a political visit? We've got you covered!" reads a banner atop the store's website, which links to information on setting up events. All the candidates' books are prominently displayed--although not pushed on customers with signing opportunities. In the window alongside the heads, Hitchcock posts the most recent polls. On primary day, the Bookery plans to give free doughnuts to voters.

The Bookery is also among the only Manchester stores selling "first in the nation" swag, including ski hats and foam fingers, touting New Hampshire's envied position in primary season. Hitchcock says she's heard that other retailers don't go to town on primary merchandise "because they don't want to make this into a circus. So I am trying to keep this within the staunchness of the political realm," she says. "On the other hand, it is just so cool."

In addition, the Hitchcocks' family office, Orbit Group, which is independent of the bookstore, created a website to act as an information hub for events sponsored by the mayor and various groups leading up to the voting. Among the events that Orbit has helped program: trolley tours that start at the Bookery and then visit locations where candidates like John F. Kennedy and Dwight Eisenhower orated in earlier primaries; and a first-in-the-nation trivia contest at a local theater. Tulsi Gabbard showed up for that.

As for the political traffic's effect on sales, the jury is out. Day-over-day food sales are up. So is use of the rental meeting room. Book sales are flat. "We see people coming in from out of town, and we're getting people that come in for the first time," Hitchcock says. "I imagine as people from outside of Manchester learn more about where we are and what we offer, we'll see more economic outcomes for the store."

Not surprisingly, Hitchcock hopes to repeat the experience at the Bookery in 2024 with candidates for both parties. She leans Democrat and her husband leans Republican, so they consider the store bipartisan. (The couple prefer not to publicly support particular candidates.)
Residents of a city in northeastern Thailand were on Monday mourning the victims of the nation's worst mass shooting.

Authorities said the attack was carried out by a single gunman - a disgruntled soldier who opened fire on strangers before he was fatally shot Sunday at a shopping mall in Nakhon Ratchasima city.

At least 29 people were killed and another 58 were wounded.

A makeshift shrine was growing outside Terminal 21 Korat shopping mall, as local residents paid tribute to the victims.

Officials said the gunman was angry over a financial dispute with his commanding officer.

The attacker was identified as Sgt. Maj. Jakrapanth Thomma, who holed himself up in the Terminal 21 Korat, an airport-themed mall filled with colorful Lego sculptures, a merry-go-round and huge replicas of landmarks from around the world.

After most mall employees and shoppers were evacuated, a joint police and military team hunted down the gunman and killed him.
Geoff Percival and Eamon Quinn

Business groups have urged the next government  in whatever form it takes  to translate only their business-friendly election promises into action.

The groups have warned against throwing money at the housing problem and called on politicians to defuse the so-called pensions time bomb, and to safeguard the National Development Plan, which involves billions in spending on public infrastructure over the next 20 years.

They have also warned against increasing taxes in a bid to increase Vat receipts.

Cork Chamber said it seeks a programme for government to boost competitiveness. It also said it will engage across all political parties to ensure that the climate, civic, public transport, infrastructure, and housing foundations are in place to realise Corks full potential.

The Construction Industry Federation (CIF) has called for the next government to translate election promises into building homes and infrastructure but said throwing money at the problem wont solve it.

The last government learned exactly how difficult it is to deliver homes through the current dysfunctional system. This government will face the same challenges and simply throwing money at it will not solve it, the CIF said.

It wants more investment in the National Development Plan  where there is currently a commitment of 116bn. The economy, Brexit and the housing crisis necessitate a strong government in situ as quickly as possible, it said.

Oil exploration companies are still holding out hope that any new government involving Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail will scrap the oil drilling ban announced late last year by outgoing Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

David Horgan, director at Petrel Resources, hoped Sinn Fein would go into pragmatic mode over oil drilling, but said that any three-party coalition involving the Green Party would likely lead to legislation banning new drilling getting into law.

Business lobby group Isme said that any party refusing to defuse the pensions time bomb must be asked hard questions about whether they favour pension payments and increases in social charges.

Isme also said that the softening in Vat receipts should be a warning to the next finance minister that increasing taxes does not guarantee an increase in yield.

It said replacing lower-income earners with higher earners in the Universal Social Charge was unrealistic.

High earners already pay a disproportionate share of tax, at marginal rates of 52%. Increasing these marginal rates will alter worker behaviour, especially among professional women, who will simply reduce their working hours, said Isme head Neil McDonnell.

Ibec last week warned about some election pledges.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Aurescu on Monday had a meeting in Vienna with the Secretary General of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Thomas Greminger, in which context he pleaded for an increased presence of the Romanian experts in leadership positions at the OSCE, informs a release sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) to AGERPRES.

The two officials approached several topics on the agenda of this organisation, including the persisting frozen conflicts in the Black Sea region and the erosion of the conventional arms control regime, and also the necessity of reforming the OSCE.In this context, Bogdau Aurescu reaffirmed the firm support for the efforts made in finding a solution to the crisis in Ukraine, including through the active participation of Romania, with one of the largest of its national contingents, under the Special Monitoring Mission of the OSCE to this country.The Minister also referred to the dynamics of the process of regulation of the Transdniester conflict and pleaded for a balanced approach on the components of the negotiation agenda of the 5+2 format. He reiterated Romania's standpoint, according to which the solution to this conflict must respect the territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova, within its internationally recognized borders, and without affecting its pro-European vector.With respect to the political-military dimension of the organisation, the head of the Romanian diplomacy underscored that the full implementation of the principles and commitments assumed by the participating states represents a means of guaranteeing security and strengthening stability, ensuring military transparency and predictability in the OSCE region. In this respect, he pleaded for the modernisation of the Vienna Document.The Secretary General of the OSCE thanked the Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs for the constant and constructive support of Romania and for our country's involvement in finding solutions to the problems facing the OSCE, as well as for the participation to key missions such as the one in Ukraine.
Iran was sabotaged with an unprecedented cyber attack on the eve of its failed attempt to launch a satellite into orbit, the regime has claimed.

Last night, a rocket launch from Imam Khomeini Spaceport was scuppered due to low speeds which stopped it breaking into orbit.

It was a humiliating blow to Tehran, which the United States believes is developing rocket technology to advance nuclear capabilities.

But hours before the failure, Iran's deputy information minister Hamid Fatah had revealed the country's communications network had been hit with 'the most widespread attack in Iranian history'.

He tweeted: 'Hackers today launched the most widespread attack in Iranian history against the country's infrastructure.

'Millions of origin targeted millions of destinations and are seeking worldwide disruption to Iran's Internet network'.

It is unclear if the hack caused the failure of the rocket launch, which happened at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran's Semnan province, some 145 miles southeast of Tehran.

A Simorgh, or 'Phoenix', rocket could not put the Zafar 1 communications satellite into orbit due to a low speed, state TV reported.

Defence Ministry space program spokesman Ahmad Hosseini said: 'Stage-1 and stage-2 motors of the carrier functioned properly and the satellite was successfully detached from its carrier, but at the end of its path it did not reach the required speed for being put in the orbit.'

Hosseini still sought to portray the failure as a 'remarkable' achievement for its space program.

Previous Simorgh launches of the 80-ton satellite carrier suffered other failures.

An Iranian rocket (launch pictured) failed to put a satellite into orbit on Sunday in the latest setback for a their suspected ballistic missile program

This satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows preparations at a rocket launch pad at the Imam Khomeini Space Center in Iran's Semnan province

In the days leading up to the launch, Iranian officials had been promoting the mission, including the country's Information and Communications Technology Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi.

His quick rise through the Islamic Republic's carefully managed political system already is generating speculation he could be a candidate for Iran's 2021 presidential campaign.

Jahromi acknowledged the unsuccessful launch in a tweet shortly after the news broke on state TV, comparing it to a 'few samples of US launch failures.'

'But We're UNSTOPPABLE! We have more Upcoming Great Iranian Satellites!' Jahromi tweeted in English, including a satellite emoji.

He later tweeted in Farsi that 'sometimes life does not go the way we like it to go.' He added: 'Please do not pay attention to fake news.'

The launch had been planned amid celebrations ahead of the February anniversary of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran routinely unveils technological achievements for its armed forces, its space program and its nuclear efforts during this time.

Satellite images by Colorado-based Maxar Technologies showed the launch tower for the rocket bore massive images of the revolution's leader, the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and the current Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran had spent just under two million euros to build the Zafar 1, Jahromi previously said.

Officials planned for the satellite, whose name means 'victory' in Farsi, to remain in orbit for 18 months before crashing back through the Earth's atmosphere and disintegrating.

Sunday's failure came after two failed launches of the Payam and Doosti satellites last year, as well as a launchpad rocket explosion in August.

A separate fire at the Imam Khomeini Space Center in February 2019 also killed three researchers, authorities said at the time.

The launch happened at 7.15pm local time at Imam Khomeini Spaceport (pictured) in Iran's Semnan province, some 145 miles southeast of Tehran

This satellite image from Maxar Technologies, shows activity at the Imam Khomeini Space Center in Iran's Semnan province

The rocket explosion in August drew even the attention of US President Donald Trump, who later tweeted what appeared to be a classified surveillance image of the launch failure.

The three failures in a row raised suspicion of outside interference in Iran's program, something Trump himself hinted at by tweeting that the US 'was not involved in the catastrophic accident.'

Iran postponed the launch from Saturday, the same day the country faced a major cyberattack.

The US alleges such satellite launches defy a UN Security Council resolution calling on Iran to undertake no activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

American officials, as well as European nations, worry such launches could help Iran develop intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment and the White House did not immediately acknowledge the launch.

Iran, which long has said it does not seek nuclear weapons, maintains its satellite launches and rocket tests do not have a military component.

Tehran also says it has not violated the UN resolution as it only 'called upon' Tehran not to conduct such tests.

Western missile experts have also questioned the US contention that Iran's program could have a dual use for nuclear weapons.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaking during a meeting with members of Iranian air forces in Tehran on Sunday

The rocket explosion in August drew even the attention of US President Donald Trump (pictured yesterday speaking in the East Room of the White House for the Governor's Ball)

Over the past decade, Iran has sent several short-lived satellites into orbit and in 2013 launched a monkey into space.

The launch comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. since Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers in May 2018.

Iran since has begun breaking terms of the deal limiting its enrichment of uranium.

Meanwhile, a series of attacks across the Persian Gulf culminated with a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad killing Iran's Revolutionary Guard general Qassem Soleimani and a retaliatory ballistic missile strike by Iran on Iraqi bases housing American troops earlier this month.

Iran also accidentally shot down a Ukrainian commercial airliner taking off from Tehran amid the tensions, killing all 176 people on board.

Earlier Sunday, Iran unveiled a new ballistic missile.
Des Moines, Iowa

The first signs of trouble came early.

As the smartphone app for reporting the results of the Iowa Democratic caucuses began failing last Monday night, party officials instructed precinct leaders to move to Plan B: calling the results into caucus headquarters, where dozens of volunteers would enter the figures into a secure system.

But when many of those volunteers tried to log on to their computers, they discovered they needed smartphones to retrieve a code, but they had been told not to bring their phones into the "boiler room" in Des Moines.

As a torrent of results were phoned in, it soon became clear that the whole process was melting down.

Volunteers resorted to passing around a spare iPad to log into the system. Melissa Watson, the state party's chief financial officer, who was in charge of the boiler room, did not know how to operate a Google spreadsheet application used to input data, Democratic officials later acknowledged.

Others began telling some precinct leaders to email photographs of their worksheets  the paper forms used to tally results  to a dedicated email address. But for hours, no one monitored the inbox. When it was finally opened Tuesday morning, there were 700 unread emails waiting, with photos that had been sent sideways; volunteers had to to crane their necks to decipher the handwritten forms.

An hour after the caucuses began, the Iowa Democratic Party chairman, Troy Price, huddled in another room with other officials, none of them with a clear strategy to manage the unfolding chaos or answers to share with increasingly exasperated presidential campaigns. A conference call with the campaigns ended with Price hanging up on them, amid accusations that caucus results in Iowa may have been incorrectly reported for decades.

As disastrous as the 2020 Iowa caucuses have appeared to the public, the failure runs deeper and wider than previously known, according to dozens of interviews with those involved. It was a total system breakdown that casts doubt on how a critical contest on the American political calendar has been managed for years.

Until now, the main public villain in the Iowa caucus fiasco has been the reporting app, created by a company called Shadow Inc., along with a "coding issue" in a back-end results reporting system that state party officials blamed for the chaos. But the crackup resulted from failures going back months.

The fragile edifice of the caucuses, which demoralized Democrats in search of a strong nominee to take on President Donald Trump, crumbled under the weight of technology flops, lapses in planning, failed oversight by party officials, poor training, and a breakdown in communication between paid party leaders and volunteers in the field.

The wider scope of the malfunctions came to light partly because of a new set of reporting requirements, mandated by the Democratic National Committee after allies of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont pushed the national party to demand more transparency following his loss to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Iowa caucuses.

The widespread lack of faith in the Iowa results has shaken many Americans' confidence in their electoral system. Democrats have proposed abolishing caucuses and ending Iowa's time at the front of the presidential nominating calendar.

Even as party officials scramble to contain the fallout, the full extent of the problems in Iowa is still not known.

An analysis by The New York Times revealed inconsistencies in the reported data for at least one in six of the state's precincts. Those errors occurred at every stage of the tabulation process: in recording votes, in calculating and awarding delegates, and in entering the data into the state party's database. Hundreds of state delegate equivalents, the metric the party uses to determine delegates for the national convention, were at stake.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

The Iowa Democratic Party released a list of 92 precincts Sunday that it said were flagged as problematic by three presidential candidates  Sanders; Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana; and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. That figure is far fewer than the number with inconsistencies captured in the Times review. The Associated Press said it was unable to declare a caucus winner.

Sean Bagniewski, Democratic chair of Polk County, which includes Des Moines, blamed state officials for neglecting the hard work of overseeing the caucuses.

"It's very easy to slip into the celebrity of the caucuses," Bagniewski said. State party leaders, he said, were distracted by offers to appear on cable TV, hobnob with national Democratic leaders and meet presidential candidates, and did not take their day-to-day duties "seriously from the get-go."

In the aftermath of the disaster, state and national party leaders are pointing fingers at one another. On Sunday, Price, the state party chair, said he was proud of the volunteers who put on the caucuses and that the state party worked with the national committee for months to prepare for them.

"We are conducting a thorough independent review of the process, and it would be irresponsible for us to rush to judgment before that review is complete," he said in a statement.

Tom Perez, chair of the national committee, placed blame directly on the Iowa Democratic Party and Price.

"Troy Price was doing his best, but it wasn't enough," Perez said in an interview with The Times on Sunday, noting that while the national and state parties work in partnership, the Iowa Democratic Party is ultimately responsible for administering its own contest.

The DNC approved Iowa's delegate selection plan, but left the state party to determine on its own how to collect and tabulate caucus results, Perez said.
PHOENIX, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Dogtopia, the nation's fastest-growing pet franchise, is kicking off 2020 with another award after being recognized as Global Franchise's Best Lifestyle Franchise. This recent accolade is priming the Phoenix-based brand for another explosive year as it prepares to debut in 7 new states with an additional 60 daycares slated to open this year.

Each year, the Global Franchise Awards recognizes top companies judged by an independent panel of key industry experts, adhering to the criteria created by the Global Franchise team. Judges select the entry from each category they feel best demonstrates the values that Global Franchise is looking to celebrate.

"We are extremely excited and humbled to earn the winning spot of the Best Lifestyle Franchise this year," said Neil Gill, CEO and President of Dogtopia. "This win can be attributed to the hard work and dedication of our local owners across North America and the highest quality experience they give to both dogs and pet parents. Our Dogtopians work very hard each day and we are excited to receive this award to help fuel our success as we bring Dogtopia's unparalleled dog daycare experience to more communities."

In 2020, Dogtopia will introduce its leading daycare into brand new regions including Oregon, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Las Vegas. Building on 2019's 32% same-store sales growth and real estate advancements including the first Dogtopia @ Work corporate campus in Michigan, the brand is primed and proven to carry on these achievements into 2020. As a tool to carry on this success, Dogtopia is kicking off the new year by implementing their "Top Dog" certification program as a standard within their system to help raise the bar in the entire industry for what it means to be a safe, fun and convenient dog daycare.

"Our Top Dog program is going to help us maintain our high credibility and standard of excellence through our locally owned daycare centers," said Gill. "As we continue to grow, these standards will not only help our brand, but the daycare industry as a whole, giving dogs and pet parents the daycare experiences and peace of mind they deserve. Our same-store sales growth is an indicator of the existing health of our local owners and overall system and we are excited to continue entering new markets."

With more than 130 locations across North America, Dogtopia is the nation's fastest-growing brand in the booming $79B pet industry. At Dogtopia, dogs enjoy an open-play environment with protective rubber flooring to ease joints while promoting safe socialization, exercise and education. Dogtopia's daycare rates are all-inclusive with meals prepared according to each pet parent's request at no extra charge, or pet parents can bring their own food. Dogtopia's webcams also provide pet parents with peace of mind and the ability to check in on their pups when they are away. The Dogtopia family is composed of both single-unit and multi-unit operators, including husband and wife teams, father and daughter/son duos, siblings and many different types of business owners.

About Dogtopia

Founded in 2002, Dogtopia is an early pioneer and innovator in the pet services industry, offering an experience focused on quality of care, safety and transparency in the market. With an emphasis on education, exercise and safe socialization for dogs, pet parents have the assurance of leaving their beloved furry family members in the hands of trained professionals in an environment created with the safety of dogs in mind. For more information, visit www.dogtopia.com.

Media Contact: Rachel Shaykin, Fishman Public Relations, 847-945-1300, [email protected]

SOURCE Dogtopia

Related Links

http://www.dogtopia.com


IndiGo on Monday started its Hindi website for customers who want to use it as their language of choice for flight bookings.

India had 637 million internet users as of March 2019, with Hindi content consumption witnessing a growth of 94 per cent in 2018-19, the low-cost carrier stated in its press release.

Over the last few years, the consumption and demand for content in regional languages have increased significantly, the airline noted.

IndiGo has around 48 per cent share in the domestic air passenger market.

IndiGo launched the Hindi website to cater to the "customer demand"and will launch the website in other regional languages to "deepen" consumer connect within Indian markets, the press release said.

William Boulter, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo said, We are pleased to announce the launch of our website in Hindi language."



"The growing prominence of regional content and customer's demand for accessing the internet in Hindi, has been a key driver for us to include regional outreach as an important part of our consumer connect strategy," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two commandoes of the Central Reserve Police Force's unit CoBRA were killed and two were injured in an exchange of fire with Naxals at Irapalli village of Bijapur district on Monday.

One Naxal was killed in the firing that took place in the Pamed Police Station limit.

The commandoes were from the 204 battalion of the Commando Battalions for Resolute Action battalion (CoBRA).

More details are awaited.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ryanairs chief marketing officer, Kenny Jacobs, is to leave the airline in May.

Hell be the second key senior executive to leave the carrier within a matter of months. Chief operations officer Peter Bellew left in December following an acrimonious High Court battle that saw Ryanair fail in efforts to enforce a one-year non-compete clause. Mr Bellew left to join EasyJet.

Mr Jacobs confirmed to the Irish Independent this morning that he will make his exit after more than six years with the carrier.

He joined Ryanair in January 2014 from Moneysupermarket.com, where he was also chief marketing officer.

Im leaving on very good terms and I just want to do something new, he told the Irish Independent.

Mr Jacobs (46) is understood to have been one of the candidates in the running for chief executive role at Ryanair DAC, which went to Eddie Wilson. Michael OLeary is now Ryanair group chief executive.

Mr Jacobs said he has two young children and will take the summer off before considering his options.

During his time at Ryanair, the carrier transformed its approach to dealing with passengers, grew substantially and also recognised trade unions.

Theres been challenges to deal with as well as good points in the cycle, he said.

Part of life in any kind of role is dealing with those challenges and I think weve learnt from them, Mr Jacobs said. Since I started, the business has doubled in size in traffic and profitability. Thats not all down to me, but I think weve made some very positive changes in the way we sell things, particularly what weve done on digital and on ancillary has boosted a lot of the underlying growth that we have in the airline, increasing demand and load factor.

Its a very different airline now than it was six years ago, added Mr Jacobs.

He said that Mr OLeary did try to persuade him to stay.

I want to do something new, thats the big overarching thing for me, said Mr Jacobs. The next few years here would be doing the same job.

He said he is not intending at this time to take another job in the airline industry.

Id like to do something thats a good challenge, he said. Something heavily digital in a kind of consumer-orientated business would be what I would be looking for. I like the travel industry. I like the retail industry, but Id look at something thats going to float my boat in terms of the nature of the work.

Shares in Ryanair were down 2.1pc in recent trading today.
STOCKHOLM, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

EQT Infrastructure and OMERS acquire Deutsche Glasfaser, the fastest growing provider of gigabit internet connections through fiber-to-the-home ('FTTH') to more than 600,000 households and 5,000 businesses across Germany , creating a more sustainable and inclusive society

Deutsche Glasfaser will be combined with EQT Infrastructure IV portfolio company inexio to form a leading FTTH player in rural Germany . EQT Infrastructure will own 51% in the combined group and OMERS will own 49%

Over the coming years the combined group is committed to invest over EUR 7 billion into the roll-out of fast-speed internet infrastructure in Germany , thereby significantly contributing to the German government's plan to provide nation-wide gigabit convergent internet infrastructure by 2025

The EQT Infrastructure IV fund ("EQT" or "EQT Infrastructure") and OMERS Infrastructure Management Inc. ("OMERS Infrastructure") (acting on behalf of OMERS, one of Canada's largest defined benefit pension plans) today announced the agreement to jointly acquire Deutsche Glasfaser (the "Company") from KKR Infrastructure and Reggeborgh.

Since its establishment by Dutch investor Reggeborgh in 2011, Deutsche Glasfaser invested heavily in fiber infrastructure in underserved rural and sub-urban communities in Germany and today provides high-speed internet access to more than 600,000 households and 5,000 businesses. Deutsche Glasfaser's scalable network, consisting of more than 30,000 kilometers of fiber-optic infrastructure, together with its best-in-class roll-out machine provides a strong platform for continued growth.

Looking ahead, the management team of Deutsche Glasfaser plans to continue the rapid growth of the Company by pursuing a large-scale deployment of FTTH internet access in rural Germany. FTTH is the fastest, most reliable and future-proof internet connectivity solution available and the only technology that will be able to handle the strongly growing internet bandwidth demands of the future.

Deutsche Glasfaser will be combined with EQT Infrastructure IV portfolio company inexio to form a leading FTTH player in rural Germany as well as one of the leading telco companies in Germany. EQT and OMERS Infrastructure as well as Deutsche Glasfaser's and inexio's management teams are convinced that the close collaboration between both companies will accelerate the ramp-up of the FTTH roll-out and create various areas for synergy realization.

Germany is among the countries in Europe with the lowest penetration of FTTH connectivity and will require significant investments over the coming years. Drawing on EQT's and OMERS Infrastructure's vast sector experience and strong financial support, the combined group intends to invest over EUR 7 billion over the coming years to further accelerate the fiber roll-out pace in the country's rural regions. This represents a significant contribution to the German government's plan to provide a nation-wide gigabit convergent internet infrastructure by 2025.

Uwe Nickl, Chief Executive of Deutsche Glasfaser, said: "We are excited to welcome EQT and OMERS as our new owners and we are fully aligned to further develop Germany's digital infrastructure. With the industry experience and financial support from EQT and OMERS, Deutsche Glasfaser is well-positioned to take the next step on our growth journey and accelerate the fiber roll-out across Germany. On top, we as a management team are excited to join forces with inexio, which will help us to combine our highly complementary skill-sets and to further accelerate our growth."

David Zimmer, Chief Executive of inexio, said: "The inexio management team is looking forward to the opportunity of building a leading FTTH provider in Germany with the support of EQT and OMERS, alongside our fellow colleagues at Deutsche Glasfaser."

Matthias Fackler, Partner at EQT Partners, said: "We have followed Deutsche Glasfaser for some time and are impressed with Uwe Nickl's and his management team's commitment to digitizing Germany. EQT has a long history of developing strong fiber companies and looks forward to leveraging this experience, and together with OMERS, contribute to the German government's plan to deliver nationwide gigabit Internet access by 2025. Deutsche Glasfaser and inexio combined will play a vital role in enabling digital inclusion and sustainable economic growth."

Marco Pugliese, Managing Director at OMERS Infrastructure, said: "We are pleased to announce our partnership with EQT to accelerate the fiber roll-out in Germany's rural communities. OMERS is eager to support Deutsche Glasfaser's and inexio's ambitious growth plans. This investment follows OMERS recent investment to deploy FTTH to more than 8 million homes in France and meets OMERS Infrastructure's strong desire to seek exposure to essential digital infrastructure in high quality jurisdictions."

The closing of the transaction is expected in Q2 2020, subject to customary regulatory approval.

With this transaction, EQT Infrastructure IV is expected to be 70-75% invested (including closed and/or signed investments, announced public offers, if applicable, and less any expected syndication).

About EQT

EQT is a differentiated global investment organization with more than EUR 62 billion in raised capital and around EUR 41 billion in assets under management across 19 active funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia and the US with total sales of more than EUR 21 billion and approximately 127,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

EQT Infrastructure owns multiple leading providers of Gigabit fiber infrastructure across Europe, including inexio (Germany), Delta Fiber (Netherlands), IP-Only (Sweden) and Global Connect (Denmark/Norway).

More info: www.eqtgroup.com

Follow EQT on Twitter and LinkedIn

Contact

Matthias Fackler

Partner at EQT Partners

+49-89-25-54-99-0

EQT Press Office

press@eqtpartners.com

+46-8-506-55-334

About OMERS and OMERS Infrastructure

OMERS Infrastructure manages investments globally in infrastructure on behalf of OMERS, the defined benefit pension plan for municipal employees in the Province of Ontario, Canada. Investments are aimed at steady returns to help deliver sustainable, affordable and meaningful pensions to OMERS members.

OMERS diversified portfolio of large-scale infrastructure assets exhibits stability and strong cash flows, in sectors including energy, transportation and government-regulated services. OMERS has employees in Toronto and other major cities across North America, the U.K., Continental Europe, Asia and Australia. OMERS is one of Canada's largest defined benefit pension funds with net assets of C$97 billion.

More info: www.omersinfrastructure.com

About Deutsche Glasfaser

Germany

Germany

More info: www.deutsche-glasfaser.de

About inexio

inexio is a fast-growing provider of broadband connectivity services for retail and business customers in Germany. The Company is well positioned in rural and small-town communities in Southwest and Southern Germany, providing internet access to more than 300,000 households and 6,000 businesses.

More info: www.inexio.net

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/eqt/r/eqt-and-omers-acquire-deutsche-glasfaser--a-leading-provider-of-fiber-optic-internet-access-in-germa,c3031255

The following files are available for download:
Mr. Giuliani would not comment Monday on whether he had shared any information with the Justice Department, but he rejected questions about the credibility of what he had collected. My information checks out 10 ways to Sunday, he wrote in a text message, asserting that he had obtained four or five unquestionably true documents relating to the Bidens work in Ukraine.

More is getting discovered as we speak, he added.

Federal prosecutors outside of Washington are vetting the materials from Mr. Giuliani, a person familiar with the matter said.

This is not the first time that law enforcement officials under the Trump administration have farmed out politically toxic information far from the main Justice Department blocks from the White House. Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions asked John W. Huber, the United States attorney in Utah, to examine allegations by Mr. Trump and his allies about Hillary Clinton. Though Mr. Huber is not known to have closed that years-old inquiry, he has also not filed any charges.

In the past, the Justice Department has distanced itself from Mr. Giuliani. In September, a spokeswoman said that Mr. Barr had not discussed anything relating to Ukraine with Mr. Giuliani.

And a spokesman has said that Brian A. Benczkowski, the assistant attorney general for the departments criminal division, would not have included Mr. Giuliani in an August meeting about a bribery case had he known that federal prosecutors in New York were investigating two of Mr. Giulianis associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman.

Mr. Parnas and Mr. Fruman were charged weeks after the meeting with violating campaign finance laws to try to unlawfully influence politicians, including former Representative Pete Sessions, Republican of Texas.

Mr. Giuliani had worked with the two men last year to collect information about  and advance investigations into  targets of Mr. Trump, including Mr. Biden, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. Mr. Biden was the Obama administrations point man in pushing anti-corruption initiatives in Ukraine.
Ferrara has begun construction of a 1.6 million-square-foot distribution and pack center on 106 acres in DeKalbs ChicagoWest Business Park, and expects to be fully operational by the second quarter of 2021. More than a dozen potential tenants have expressed interest in the 343-acre business park since it was annexed to the city in 2006, but Ferrara is the first to sign on, Nicklas said.
We are in a political crisis, the crux of which is that not enough people believe that we are in a political crisis. Now that Donald Trump has been acquitted in the Senate, and the crystallizing, clarifying emergency of impeachment has dissipated, we are once again left with the content, but not the form, of a political disaster.

The media has its imperative: to inform, and to alert and alarm when necessary. The American people, however, also have their imperative: to go on with their lives as best they can. How, then, does the media express its alarm when it becomes convinced, despite all the powerful deniers, that the country is in crisis?



The panoptical, omnivorous, ceaselessly vigilant quality of the media works beautifully in ordinary times. Hegel once wrote that reading the morning newspaper is the realists morning prayer. One orients ones attitude toward the world either by God or by what the world is. The former gives as much security as the latter, in that one knows how one stands. The news, in other words, clarifies a persons relationship to life, just as religion does.

In a crisis, though, the civic virtues of the media threaten to become liabilities. The wide democratic embrace of events relativizes them. Magnified by social media, the show-stopping intensity with which news organs report a dramatic event, often trying to pump it up into A Representation of Our Time, causes us to lose sight of what is truly significant about what is happening.

Obsessed with harnessing the news cycle since his early days as a real-estate performance artist in New York, Trump understands the precarious dynamic driving the media better than anyone. He didnt have to order the assassination of Qassem Soleimani to distract from impeachment or to discredit it as, suddenly, the commander-in-chief. Any outrage or provocation, or even tweet, would have done the trick. After cameras caught Trump speaking with Vince Vaughn for about 30 seconds at the LSU-Clemson game, you could search for Donald Trump and Vince Vaughn on Google and come up with nearly five million results. The media vigilance that, to some extent, keeps Trump in check also allows him to direct the attention in any direction he chooses.

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We are now about to enter a new phase of cognitive disruption in which the crisis staring us in the face is in stark contrast to the comfort and prosperity of our immediate lives, as well as being just another aspect of the mega-distracting universe of facts and events that the media swirls around us minute by minute.

The instant the Senate acquitted Trumpthat is to say, the instant the Senate gave its blessing to a president putting national security at risk to further his political ambition, and to his success at thwarting every attempt to investigate his actionsthe minute that closure occurred, the media should have interrupted its regularly scheduled business.

The New York Times should have run, across its home and front page, an editorial declaring a national emergency. CNN should have devoted an entire day and night to panels declaring the same. So should have every other liberal, or relatively non-partisan news entity.

Instead the news cycle sank back into its well-worn grooves. By the middle of the day after Trumps acquittal, the Timeswhich has, to be fair, covered Trump with heroic focus and commitmentwas running two articles at the top of its home page about the boondoggle in Iowa, and a piece about the California electoral landscape. (On my mobile app, you had to scroll down through a string of articles to get to one about the acquittal at all.) The editorial page ran a gratifying house editorial saying that under Trump the union is faltering and declaring that the Senate acquittal should ring as an alarm for all Americans. There was a powerful op-ed by the Democratic senator from Ohio, Sherrod Brown, describing how many of his Republican colleagues fearfully confessed to him that they knew Trump was guilty as charged.

On the other side of the Times homepage was a piece about Trumps vitriolic response to the impeachment, one covering a celebration by his staff at a Washington hotel and, of course, a piece about his rivalry with Nancy Pelosi.

The Washington Post homepage was packed with articles about the acquittal, but two of them reduced the event to the personal drama between Trump and Pelosi and Trump and John Roberts. Then it was, a little further down, back to the Democratic presidential field and the primaries; it was as if democracy was still working.

Predictably, the Wall Street Journal ran at the top of its homepage a headline quoting Trump saying that during impeachment he went through hell. That was the only headline having to do with impeachment and the trial.

Throughout the universe of news, there was very little to even imply that the republic was in a fight for its life, aside from articles worrying in general about what an unleashed Trump might now do, articles that had their edge dulled by other articles about the deadly coronavirus and articles wearily detailing the usual parade of daily American horrors, followed by little marching band-like stories of peppy anti-horrors. And, of course, there was the steady flow of the Trump vs. Pelosi match-up. No one escapes the reality TV style.

As Trump Victus et Vindictus crows and gloats before the country and the world with, so it seems, nothing and no one to stop him, what does the media do? When does the regularly scheduled flood of lesser news seem too trivial to return to? Now that democratic institutions have broken down, now that Trump has, even in the eyes of some of his most loyal followers in the senate, clearly violated the constitution, how can the media effectively respond?

Right after Trump was elected, the media spent the next two years, at least, drawing hysterical connections between our moment and fascist Europe. But I dont recall anyone in the media forcefully arguing that what most facilitated Europes fascist revolutions was the cultures distracted, weak-kneed response to the threat all around it. Our media is such a monster of widespread, unfocused, omnivorous attention, where the trivial and the tragic exist comfortably side by side, that we make Germany in the 1920s look like the New Deal. Already the press is full of minute analyses of the impeachment process and the political gamesmanship of both sidesMcConnell the master tactician!thereby missing the blazing forest of our republic for super-clever commentary on, or analysis of, a multitude of trees.

So what should the media response look like? First, every outlet should designate a prominent piece of real estate to the national crisis: on the front page and homepage, as an hour long special every evening, as an entirely new and unique program centered on the national emergency. Ted Koppels Nightline, a nightly show that began as a special series focusing on the Iran hostage crisis, comes to mind. The national crisis should give birth to new venues, new places in old venues, new personalities. The Blitz introduced Edward R. Murrow to the world; Kennedys assassination became identified, in media terms, with Walter Cronkite.

Somewhere there is someone new who will put their face on our American crisis.

Second, the way the media covers the crisis should go beyond Trump since the condition that he grew out of and exploits will persist long after he is gone. Under the rubric of crisis and emergency, there should be coverage of the way this condition has transformed American life. How interesting it would be to take a look at the archives of (dwindling) local newspapers and compare the rhythms of life pre-Trump to our present moment. How revealing to look at culturebestseller lists, big magazine covers, controversial eventsfour years ago and culture now and ask, at every turn, what happened to cause this change? Here is something the media could do with relish: lavish attention on itself as a singular barometer of history.

Finally, before you declare Trump the criminal he is, and ring the alarm alerting people to the abduction of their republic, you have to demonstrate that you are above ideology. You have to begin by admitting that the economy is sailing smoothly through the raging storm of our politics. For all the constant analogies that have been made to Nixon facing impeachment, few commentators have pointed out that the economy in 1974 was in rapid decline. Our economynever mind the hidden factors and likely consequencesis booming. So long as people are doing well materially, or feel that they, or at least the country itself, is prospering, a change in the status quo would be perceived by them as an unwelcome disruption.

And never mind Trumps lack of intelligence, his ignorance and impulsiveness in the realm of foreign policy. America in August 1974, when the articles of impeachment against Nixon were drawn up, was a beaten country, riven by and driven out of Vietnam. Nixons opening to China was several years behind him.

To make their declaration of emergency credible, the media must concede Trumps black magic. We have all been outraged, throughout the process of impeachment, by Republicans in the House and Senate who, in effect, told us it was day when we knew it was night. Let the liberal media not commit the same assault on reality in the eyes of the other side. Reveal your dog in the race, admit to your revulsion against Trump, give him his due, give his followers their due, and then you will be free to focus on the urgent matter at hand: to rid the republic of the most dangerous figure democracy has ever spawned.

That is what a media that is not, as our democracy is, fundamentally broken, should look like in our present moment.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Lee Siegel , a widely published writer on culture and politics, is the author of six books and the recipient of a National Magazine Award for Reviews and Criticism.
US President Donald Trump will propose on Monday a 21% cut in foreign aid and slashes to social safety net programs in his $4.8 trillion budget proposal for fiscal 2021, according to senior administration officials.

The budget will seek an increase in funds to counter developing economic threats from China and Russia, but will also raise funds by targeting $2 trillion (1.55 trillion pounds) in savings from mandatory spending programs in the United States. The budget assumes revenues of $3.8 trillion.

Trump, a Republican, sought in his budget proposal last year to slash foreign aid but faced steep resistance from Congress and did not prevail.

The president's latest blueprint for administration spending proposals is unlikely to be passed by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, particularly in an election year.

Trump, who campaigned for the presidency in 2016 on a promise to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico, will seek $2 billion in funding for further construction on that project, substantially less than the $8.6 billion he requested a year ago. The administration shifted resources to the project from the military last year after Congress refused Trump's request. The White House will not seek further funds from the military for the wall, a senior administration said.

The budget seeks $1 trillion to fund an infrastructure spending bill that both Democrats and Republicans have said is a priority. The two sides are unlikely to agree on any major legislation this year, though, as the two sides fight for control of the White House and Congress in the November elections.

The budget would raise military spending by 0.3% to $740.5 billion for the fiscal year 2021, starting Oct. 1 and propose higher outlays for defense and veterans, administration officials confirmed. But former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen raised concerns about how the foreign aid cuts would affect the U.S. civilian footprint around the world that helps reduce the need for military intervention.

"This is a moment when more investment in diplomacy and development is needed not less," he wrote in a letter to top congressional leaders.

Trump's foreign aid proposal seeks $44.1 billion in the upcoming fiscal year compared with $55.7 billion enacted in fiscal year 2020, an administration official said.

SPENDING CUTS

The White House proposes to slash spending by $4.4 trillion over 10 years.

That includes $130 billion from changes to Medicare prescription-drug pricing, $292 billion from cuts in safety net programs - such as work requirements for Medicaid and food stamps - and $70 billion from clamping down on eligibility rules for federal disability benefits. Those changes are likely to spur Democrats' ire.

The U.S. government ended fiscal year 2019 with the largest budget deficit in seven years as gains in tax receipts were offset by higher spending and growing debt service payments, the Treasury department said on Friday.

The budget forecasts $4.6 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years and assumes economic growth will continue at annual rate of roughly 3 percent for years to come, officials said. Trump has taken credit for the strength of the U.S. economy thanks in part to tax cuts he championed and Congress passed earlier in his term. The budget funds an extension of those cuts over a 10-year period with $1.4 trillion.

Aid to Ukraine would remain at its 2020 levels under the new foreign aid proposal. Trump was acquitted last week of impeachment charges that he withheld aid to Ukraine to spur Kiev to investigate political rival Joe Biden, a Democratic presidential candidate and former U.S. vice president.

Administration officials told Reuters that Trump would request an increase in funding for the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to $700 million from $150 million the previous year.
BLOOMINGTON  Motorists are being warned to plan on slippery road conditions that could impact the Wednesday evening and Thursday morning commutes, with scattered slick spots also possible Wednesday morning.

A Winter Weather Advisory will be in effect from noon Wednesday until noon Thursday for much of Central Illinois, including the counties of McLean, DeWitt, Logan, Macon, Tazewell and Woodford.

After minor snow accumulations Tuesday night, forecasters expect a brief break in the weather Wednesday morning before snow returns Wednesday afternoon.

The National Weather Service office in Lincoln said total snow accumulations of 2 to 4 inches can be expected, with isolated amounts of 5 inches near the Illinois River Valley.

The forecast high for Wednesday is around freezing and areas farther south could see mixed precipitation and ice. A Winter Storm Warning is scheduled to take effect for southeastern Illinois and the St. Louis area on Wednesday morning.

A northeast wind of 10 to 16 mph, gusting to 23 mph, will lead to wind chill temperatures in the teens to low 20s.

Conditions can change quickly and motorists are advised to check www.gettingaroundillinois.com for the latest road conditions.

Looking back at 2019's weather

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Chennai, Feb 10 : Following the search operations at his residence here last week, the Income Tax department has summoned actor Vijay.

According to reports, Vijay has been summoned by IT department here for further explanations.

However, senior IT officials declined to confirm or deny the summons.

Last week, as a part of search operations at AGS Group, the IT department officials had brought Vijay from Neyveli where he was shooting for his next movie.

The IT officials carried out a search operation at his residences here.

Later, in a statement last week, the IT department said Vijay's investment in immovable properties and remuneration received from AGS Group for acting in a film (Bigil) was the focus of the search.

The tax department also claimed to have detected Rs 300 crore hidden income during searches at Anbu Chezhiyan's residence and office located here and in Madurai.

Anbu Chezhiyan is a movie financier and also owns a movie production house.

About 38 premises were searched in Chennai and Madurai. The highlight was seizure of Rs 77 crore unaccounted cash, purportedly belonging to the financier, from hideouts, the IT department said.

Large number of property documents, promissory notes and post-dated cheques collected as collateral security were seized during the search.

"As per the evidence detected during the search, the concealment is likely to exceed Rs 300 crore," it said.

The department also searched the residence of one of the promoters of AGS Group Kalpathi S. Aghoram and a movie distributor who is also into real estate business.

Accounts available at the AGS Group office premises, including evidences of actual receipts and expenses booked and remuneration paid to artistes were being scrutinised.

All documents in original, belonging to the distributor, were recovered from his friend's house, which was being used to stash them.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
It's been more than two and a half years since Equifax (NYSE:EFX) suffered one of the biggest data breaches in history. Yet while investors were quick early on to focus on Equifax's responsibility for the breach, the U.S. Department of Justice just opened a brand new chapter in the story of the breach, its causes, and its consequences.

What the DoJ says happened

The Justice Department announced Monday that an Atlanta-based federal grand jury returned indictments against four Chinese military personnel last week. The indictments charged the four members of the People's Liberation Army with hacking into Equifax's computer systems and stealing both trade secrets and personal data from about 145 million Americans.

According to the DoJ statement announcing the move , the four individuals charged were all members of a military unit called the 54th Research Institute. Among the allegations made in the indictment, these military personnel conspired to hack into systems by exploiting a vulnerability in a piece of software that Equifax used to receive online disputes from customers. They then expanded their access to other parts of Equifax's network infrastructure, running weeks' worth of database queries to understand the way the company structured its data. The military members then accumulated stolen information, stored it temporarily, and eventually downloaded it beyond U.S. borders. As a result of its efforts to break Equifax's database structure, the thieves also took key trade secrets from the company.

Attorney General William Barr didn't pull any punches in his assessment of the nature of the Chinese military move. "This was a deliberate and sweeping intrusion into the private information of the American people," Barr said, arguing that the attack "fits a disturbing and unacceptable pattern of state-sponsored computer intrusions and thefts by China and its citizens."

Will U.S.-China relations cool again?

The news comes as an abrupt about-face in what had appeared to be warming relations between the U.S. and China. With a phase 1 trade deal in the books and further efforts to reduce some of the tariffs that China had imposed, many investors were starting to conclude that they wouldn't have to pay much attention to that part of the geopolitical picture much longer.

Even so, there's reason to be optimistic. There's nothing particularly new about the U.S. accusing Chinese operatives of trying to steal intellectual property and data with the help of the Chinese central government. The Attorney General did do his best to emphasize the limits to the U.S. government's patience. "We remind the Chinese government," Barr said, "that we have the capability to remove the Internet's cloak of anonymity and find the hackers [China] repeatedly deploys against us."

Stock markets certainly didn't seem to be worried about the move, as most major market benchmarks were solidly higher on Monday following the announcement. Equifax shares were down almost 1%, as CEO Mark Begor took the opportunity to go over all the improvements that the credit reporting bureau has made to its systems to defend against future attacks like this. Yet even with vigorous enforcement action by the Department of Justice, it's likely that there'll be still more attacks on personal data in the future -- and some of them might come from the nation with the world's second-largest economy.
In Cameroon, polls closed on Sunday in an election overshadowed by a partial opposition boycott and separatist violence that displaced hundreds of thousands in the region.

The elections were the first in seven years after two postponements and reports indicate a poor turnout.

The main opposition party, the Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC), refused to field a single candidate. The boycott all but guarantees a majority win for Biyas Peoples Democratic Movement.

The other large opposition party, the Social Democratic Front, did not take part in the boycott, raising criticism on the part of the MRC.

The English-speaking regions where there has been violent unrest for several years, clashes were reported in the town of Muyuka and witnesses reported hearing gunfire in the city of Buea and Kuma town.

Earlier in the week, separatist fighters in the Anglophone heartlands ordered a lockdown and some residents fled their homes for fear of possible confrontation between the militants and security forces.

In the past months, the separatist militias have openly targeted candidates standing for the SDF, even though the English-speaking regions have traditionally been a stronghold of the party.

Since the end of 2019, nearly 40 SDF members who expressed interest in running in the elections have been abducted by separatists, who say they wont release them until after the elections.

Three campaign offices have also been burned down.
While scientists wait for details on genetic studies, there is a gaping hole in the more mundane, but equally important, detective work involved in tracking the path of a disease. To be certain of what happened with the new virus, researchers need to know exactly which animals were present in the market in Wuhan which may have been instrumental in the spread of the disease.

The virus was found in people associated with the market, and in the market environment  on surfaces, for instance, or in cages. However, some of the early cases, including what might have been the first reported case, were in people who were not associated with the market. Jon Epstein, vice president for science and outreach at EcoHealth Alliance in New York, said this means the first jump from animals to humans may not have occurred in the marketplace. People may have contracted the disease from animals at another location or earlier, as yet unknown cases may have contracted the disease at the market and passed it on to other people.

Further complicating matters, animals at the Wuhan market seem to have been quickly disposed of, although reports from China were that samples from those animals tested negative for the virus.

Thats the black box we have, what animals were there, what animals involved, said Dr. Epstein.

In previous coronavirus outbreaks, SARS in China in 2003 and MERS in Saudi Arabia in 2012, interviews with people who had contact with animal hosts were essential to finding the source, Dr. Epstein said.
Singaporean experts are developing a vaccine against the deadly coronavirus that has recently plagued China and other countries across the world, with trials expected to start in three months, national media reported on Monday, citing the Health Ministry's chief scientist

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th February, 2020) Singaporean experts are developing a vaccine against the deadly coronavirus that has recently plagued China and other countries across the world, with trials expected to start in three months, national media reported on Monday, citing the Health Ministry's chief scientist.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Singapore stands at 43. Earlier in the day, nation's infectious disease experts gathered to discuss measures to battle the virus' spread.

According to Straits Times, chief health expert Tan Chorh Chuan said after the meeting that the vaccine would be tested on healthy volunteers, who would be monitored for side effects.

With the new strain of the coronavirus having spread across China and to more than 20 countries, health experts across the world are struggling to develop a vaccine. In late January, the Russian upper house speaker, Valentina Matviyenko, announced that Russia and China were jointly working on the matter.

According to the Russian Health Ministry, it will take from eight to 10 months to develop such a vaccine. Some experts believe that several years are needed to do so.
Irked over repeated failures of the Centre and States to file their replies, the Supreme Court on Monday came down heavily and imposed cost of Rs five lakh on them for not complying with its directions to file their affidavits on a PIL seeking setting up of community kitchens across the country.

A bench of Justice N V Ramana, Ajay Rastogi and V Ramasubramanian, during hearing in the morning, said if the Union of India and the States file their affidavit in the next 24 hours then they will have to pay only Rs one-lakh fine, whereas those who still fail to submit it by then will have to pay Rs 5-lakh fine.

The top court said that five states -- Punjab, Nagaland, Karnataka, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand -- and Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar, who have filed their responses on the PIL filed by Arun Dhawan, will not pay any fine.

Advocate Ashima Mandla, appearing for the petitioner said that five months have passed since the apex court had issued notice and except for five states and one union territory, no other states and UTs have filed their response.

She said that 69 per cent of children under the age of five who have lost their lives are due to malnutrition and it is high time that States take steps to set up community kitchens.

Additional Solicitor General Madhavi Divan, appearing for the Centre sought some more time to file response to the PIL.

The bench, however, posted the matter for further hearing on February 17 and asked the Centre and state to file their responses at the earliest with the cost.

The apex court had on October 18 favoured setting up of community kitchens, saying the country needs this kind of system to tackle the problem of hunger.

It had issued notices to the Centre and all states seeking their responses on a PIL seeking directions to all the states and union territories (UTs) to formulate a scheme for community kitchens to combat hunger and malnutrition.

The plea had claimed that many children, under the age of five, die every day due to hunger and malnutrition and this condition was violative of various fundamental rights, including the right to food and life of citizens.

The PIL, filed by social activists Anun Dhawan, Ishann Dhawan and Kunjana Singh, had also sought a direction to the Centre for creating a national food grid for people falling outside the purview of the public distribution scheme.

It had also sought issuance of an order to the National Legal Services Authority (NLSA) for formulating a scheme to mitigate hunger-related deaths.

The plea referred to the state-funded community kitchens being run in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Jharkhand and Delhi that serve meals at subsidised rates in hygienic conditions.

The plea also referred to the concepts of soup kitchen, meal centre, food kitchen or community kitchen, in other countries, where food is offered to the hungry usually for free or sometimes at below-market price.

The petition, filed through advocates Ashima Mandla and Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi, had said that the Centre and its various ministries have initiated and implemented various schemes to combat hunger, malnutrition and the resulting starvation, although in reality, effective implementation of the schemes was "unclear and fairly limited".

The statistics on starvation deaths in the country are unavailable and starvation as the cause of death can only be ascertained upon autopsy after death, the plea said, adding that global agencies report that more than three lakh children die every year in India because of hunger, whereas 38 per cent below the age of five are stunted.

"Implementation of community kitchens funded by state or in association with corporate social responsibility by a public-private partnership (PPP) may be implemented to complement the existing schemes," it said.

The petition also said that a 2010 report by the World Food Programme on the state of food insecurity in India indicates that increasing urban inequality, significant under-investment in urban health and nutrition infrastructure, workforce in casual or contract employment or even less remunerative self-employment, growth of slums and slum population lacking in most basic health and hygiene infrastructure has resulted in a permanent food and nutrition emergency.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Ambala police have arrested the son of a former BJP MLA and three others for the conspiracy to kill a hotelier here on December 6 last year.

Anil Kumar, the son of three-time Ambala City MLA Master Shiv Prashad, and the others were arrested on Sunday evening and produced before a court here on Monday, which remanded them in two-day police custody.

Police said there was a dispute over a property between the hotelier and the accused.

According to police, the accused had hired a contract killer from Ludhiana to kill hotelier Rajesh Kumar.

The shooter, who is yet to be arrested, came on a motorbike from Ludhiana and fired at Rajesh when he was going to his residence here after closing the hotel on December 6 night.

Rajesh had sustained serious injuries and was referred to the PGIMER in Chandigarh.

After the incident, Ambala Superintendent of Police Abhishek Jorwal had handed over the probe to the Crime Investigation Agency of the Haryana Police.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kevin Winter | Getty Images

Eminem performs onstage during the 92nd Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on February 09, 2020 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

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Eminem's surprise Oscars performance

Why did Eminem perform at the Oscars on Sunday? Everyone was surprised, including many of the celebrities in attendance at the 2020 Academy Awards, when Lin-Manuel Miranda introduced Slim Shady to perform "Lose Yourself" from the 2002 movie "8 Mile." The song actually won best original song at the Oscars in 2003, but Em didn't get to perform it that year. "Look, if you had another shot, another opportunity... Thanks for having me... Sorry it took me 18 years to get here," he wrote on Twitter.

Still, the priceless reactions were fun as we all became nostalgic for some of "mom's spaghetti." And Billboard added this: "... Fingers crossed this means the 2021 Academy Awards will bring out Three 6 Mafia for some Hustle & Flow nostalgia."

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Eminem stopped by the #Oscars to perform 'Lose Yourself' and the crowd almost lost it  pic.twitter.com/NaKxpeJG2o  NowThis (@nowthisnews) February 10, 2020

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Look, if you had another shot, another opportunity... Thanks for having me @TheAcademy. Sorry it took me 18 years to get here. pic.twitter.com/CmSw2hmcZo  Marshall Mathers (@Eminem) February 10, 2020

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I got to see my Uncle Elton tonight at the Oscars. Congrats on your win too, Sir! @eltonofficial pic.twitter.com/9HsQHvGzM4  Marshall Mathers (@Eminem) February 10, 2020

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'SNL' highlights

RuPaul hosted "Saturday Night Live" over the weekend with Justin Bieber as the musical guest. "SNL" highlights included "Thirsty Cops," RuPaul reading to children in a library, a drag makeover for Chad (Pete Davidson), and an argument about the rules of charades.

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RuPaul on Fallon

Speaking of RuPaul, he appeared on "The Tonight Show" to play dirty charades with Jimmy Fallon and also chatted about his long career. The segment included some dated jokes about his early drag characters, and a hilarious face from Fallon as RuPaul objected to being called "a drag queen": "I am the queen of drag! I'm going to key your car."

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More Buzz:

Jennifer Tilly to join 'Chucky' TV series ( SF

Adam Sandler jokes about critics, Oscars at Independent Spirit Awards ( RS

Keanu Reeves brings his mom to Oscars ( E!

Long-delayed movie starring Tom Holland, Daisy Ridley coming in 2021 ( SF

Jason Isbell debuts new song, announces album ( RS

Marilyn Monroe TV series in the works ( SF

'Wild Wild West' star Robert Conrad dies at 84 ( AP

Pussycat Dolls release new music video 'React' ( BB

'The Monster Mash' movie in the works ( SF

Rebel Wilson, James Corden mock 'Cats' at Oscars ( E!

Miley Cyrus covers 'Roadhouse Blues' with The Doors' Robby Krieger ( RS

'Thirtysomething' sequel coming to ABC: 'Thirtysomething(else)' ( SF

Green Day casts 'Stranger Things' actor in new music video ( BB

'Gettysburg' actor Kevin Conway dies at 77 ( ET

Maggie Gyllenhaal joins Elvis biopic as Presley's mom ( SF

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Megadeth to perform at St. Joes Amp in Syracuse with Lamb of God https://t.co/49ir9Mf2z1  Geoff Herbert (@deafgeoff) February 10, 2020

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Billy Eichner filming new Judd Apatow movie in Buffalo; extras needed https://t.co/PP4IAIPGSe  Geoff Herbert (@deafgeoff) February 10, 2020

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Backstreet Boys tour dates include 2 Upstate NY concerts https://t.co/iQOfyK00VK  Geoff Herbert (@deafgeoff) February 10, 2020

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 00:57:54|Editor: huaxia

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President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspects the novel coronavirus pneumonia prevention and control work in Beijing, capital of China, on Feb. 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

Xi said the situation at the moment remains very serious but expressed confidence that China can certainly obtain a full victory in the fight against the epidemic.

By Jia Zhao, Xu Lingui, Meng Na

BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, on Monday stressed resolutely winning the people's war against pneumonia epidemic caused by the novel coronavirus.

Wearing a mask, Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visited a residential community, a hospital and a district center for disease control and prevention in Beijing.

The inspection came at a time when many people outside the epidemic center of Hubei Province resumed work after an extended holiday.

Xi said the situation at the moment remains very serious but expressed confidence that China can certainly obtain a full victory in the fight against the epidemic.

President Xi Jinping inspects the novel coronavirus pneumonia prevention and control work in Beijing, capital of China, on Feb. 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

He first went to the Anhuali Community in Chaoyang District to learn about the epidemic prevention and control at the primary level and stressed the role of community in effectively containing the spread of the epidemic.

At Beijing Ditan Hospital, a designated institution treating the novel coronavirus pneumonia, Xi checked the treatment of hospitalized patients at the monitoring center and talked to medical staff on duty via a video link.



Xi called on medical staff to continue to improve the diagnosis and treatment plan, save patients at all costs and reminded them to take good self-protection.

President Xi Jinping talks to medical staff on duty via a video link at Beijing Ditan Hospital in Beijing, capital of China, on Feb. 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

"HEROIC" WUHAN

At the hospital, Xi talked to frontline medical workers in three hospitals in Wuhan receiving infected patients with a telemedicine system, encouraging them to resolutely carry on the fight to defend the city, capital of Hubei.

Xi expressed deep condolences to those who died from the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak and extended sympathy to their bereaved families and stressed that the whole Party, armed forces and people of all ethnic groups in China should stand together with the people of Hubei and Wuhan.

"Wuhan is a heroic city, and people of Hubei and Wuhan are heroic people who have never been crushed by any difficulty and danger in history," Xi said, speaking to officials fighting the epidemic in Hubei in a video-conference.

Noting that Hubei and Wuhan are the top priority for epidemic prevention and control, Xi called for greater efforts in hospital admission, treatment, social management, public communication and unified commanding in the epidemic prevention and control work. He also urged more caring for the frontline medical personnel.

President Xi Jinping inspects the center for disease control and prevention of Chaoyang District in Beijing, capital of China, on Feb. 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Bin)

ECONOMIC IMPACT SHORT-LIVED

Leaving the hospital, Xi went to the center for disease control and prevention of Chaoyang District. Xi presided over a meeting and listened to report on the epidemic prevention and control work of Beijing.

Xi highlighted the urgency of putting in place targeted measures to address the rising risk of epidemic spread following the post-festival travel peak, called for efforts to work out more effective treatment plans to reduce the rates of infection and mortality and demanded resolute punishments on illegal activities such as price gouging.

Xi stressed that the fundamentals of China's long-term economic development remain unchanged and the impact of the novel coronavirus epidemic on the economy is short-lived.

He called for greater efforts to minimize the impact of the epidemic on the economy and reach goals and tasks of economic and social development this year. Close attention must be paid to employment and large-scale layoffs should be avoided, he added.

President Xi Jinping checks the treatment of hospitalized patients at the monitoring center and talks to medical staff on duty via a video link at Beijing Ditan Hospital in Beijing, capital of China, on Feb. 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

XI THE COMMANDER

Xi is the commander of the people's war against the epidemic.

Over the past few weeks, he has called multiple meetings, heard reports, made important instructions on the prevention and control work and discussed the topic with foreign leaders.

One message is consistent and crystal clear: People always come first. Xi has stressed putting people's lives and health as the top priority.

On Jan. 25, Xi chaired a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and demanded that epidemic prevention and control be taken as the most important task.

In the last week of January, Xi entrusted senior officials to inspect epidemic control work in Wuhan, made instructions to Party organizations, members and officials as well as the military and met with the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

In early February, Xi again chaired a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on epidemic prevention and control and later a high-level meeting on overall law-based governance, requiring strong legal guarantee to epidemic control.

Under Xi's leadership, China has carried out national mobilization, across-the-board deployment and swift responses, adopted the most comprehensive and rigorous prevention and control measures and launched a people's war against the epidemic.

Though the battle remains arduous, especially in Hubei, the number of daily new confirmed cases outside the province has been dropping for six consecutive days since Feb. 4.

In the past week, Xi also discussed epidemic control when he met with Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen in Beijing and spoke over the phone with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and U.S. President Donald Trump respectively.

Xi told King Salman that the strong measures China has taken are not only responsible for the health of the Chinese people, but have also made huge contributions to the world's public safety.

According to statistics of the WHO, the outbreak has affected about two dozens countries but all with limited cases.

"We would have seen many more cases outside China...if it were not for the (Chinese) government's efforts and the progress they have made to protect their own people and the people of the world," Tedros, the WHO chief, said. 
JOHN DAVENPORT /SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

The main building at University Hospital was spared after a 2-alarm fire broke out at a construction site at Medical Center early Monday morning.

Fire crews responded to the 4500 block of Medical Drive just before 6 a.m. for flames at the site located right next to the building. Officials with the San Antonio Fire Department said the blaze was contained to an area where they were doing demolition, and that the fire never moved to the main building.
North Africa in focus

ICR Research By

Published 10 February 2020

North Africa is experiencing a turbulent political and economic period. Meanwhile the region seeks to increase the pace of development with cement consumption reaching 100Mt in 2018. Domestically, surplus capacity has translated into a more competitive environment, with many producers increasingly turning to the export market.

The five north African countries of Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia are all middle-income countries with high development needs and a background of ongoing economic and political reform. While the Arab Spring Revolutions of 2010 swept many of the heads of state from power, military-backed rulers are holding onto power, offering stability but also causing resentment in many of these countries. Public companies determine much of the contributions to GDP growth. Structural reform has been a repeated message from leaders in the region and will set the groundwork for long-term recovery and economic growth. This can be seen in Algerias Government Action Plan (adopted in 2017), which aims to consolidate and reduce debt, and Egypts home-grown reform programme that has a US$4.5bn budget to improve the macroeconomic environment.

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Indian Oil's Mathura refinery now produces 100% BS-VI compliant fuels

Indian Oil Corporation has successfully met the challenge of producing automobile fuels complying with BS-VI norms ahead of the deadline for automobiles in the country switching to BS-VI norms as stipulated by the government.

As a major step towards reducing air pollution, in January 2016, Government of India announced its decision to skip the BS-V emissions norms and straight away move from BS-IV to BS-VI norms. The government set 1 April 2020 as the deadline for compliance by all automobiles coming out of factories in the country.

The government also set a deadline for rolling out cleaner (BS-VI compliant) fuel across the National Capital Territory (NCT) by April 2018 and National Capital Region (NCR) by April. 2019.

IOC Mathura Refinery was the first refinery to take up the challenge of meeting the requirement of supplying NCT region with BS-VI compliant fuels (Sulphur - less than 10 ppm) with its existing facilities/and units. IOC ensured supply of BS-VI compliant fuels to NCT and NCR in January' 2018, well ahead of the stipulated date.

Further, in order to upgrade the total production of MS (petrol) and HSD (diesel) produced at Mathura Refinery to meet the most stringent BS-VI norms, some revamp projects were taken up under the Quality Improvement Project (QIP). These included modifications in existing process units, including diesel hydro desulphurisation unit (DHDS) and gasoline hydro desulphurisation unit (Prime-G). Now, IOC Mathura refinery has successfully completed the project jobs and has successfully commissioned the revamped facilities in January'2020.

With the commissioning of these facilities, Mathura refinery is now supplying 100 per cent of its MS (petrol) and HSD (diesel) meeting the BS-VI norms.

It is very important to note that with the change in fuel specifications from BS-IV to BS-VI in MS (petrol) and HSD (diesel) will bring down sulphur by 5 times which is a whopping 80 per cent reduction and would make environment substantially cleaner.

Bharat stage emission standards (BSES) are standards instituted by the Government of India to regulate the emissions of air pollutants from motor vehicles. The standards and the timeline for implementation are set by the Central Pollution Control Board under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Since October 2010, Bharat Stage (BS) III emission norms have been enforced across the country, which allowed sulfur content in MS (petrol) and HSD (diesel) up to 150 ppm (parts per million) and 350 ppm respectively.

Emission norms were further tightened in the subsequent step in the form of BS-IV emission norms, which were made effective from April' 2017. These norms allowed Sulfur in MS (petrol) and HSD (diesel) up to 50 ppm level.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo today called for a Special Election this spring that will include the 50th Senate District in the Syracuse area.

The Special Election will be April 28, the same day as the presidential primary in New York.

John W. Mannion, of Geddes, is vying to fill the 50th District seat being vacated by Sen. Bob Antonacci. Provided photoProvided photo

Democrat John Mannion, a West Genesee school teacher, is running in the April election. Hes already been picked as the designated candidate by the Onondaga County party committee.

Republican Angela Renna, president of Sterling Financial Group in Liverpool, is the GOPs pick to run for the open seat in November. It wasnt immediately clear if she also plans to run in the April race as well. Onondaga County Republican Chairman Tom Dadey has said the party would make a decision about the April race after the governor announced it.

Angela Renna, of Manlius, is a Republican candidate for the 50th District state Senate seat in Central New York.Provided photo

The seat is empty because Bob Antonacci, a Republican, won a judge seat last November after serving in the Senate for less than a year. Antonacci beat Mannion in 2018 by about 2,300 votes, or about 2 percentage points.

The district is like a moat surrounding most of the city of Syracuse. It stretches from DeWitt and Manlius west into the city of Auburn and 4 towns in Cayuga County. In Onondaga County it also include the North Side of Syracuse and the towns of Clay, Lysander, Elbridge, Skaneateles, Van Buren, Otisco, Onondaga, Geddes and Spafford.

Democrats slightly outnumber Republicans in the district. When comparing Democratic and Republican votes in 2018, Mannion got 5,400 more than Antonacci. But Antonacci won the race by picking up more than 10,000 votes on the Conservative and Independence lines.

Cuomo today also called for a Special Election in the 27th Congressional District in the Buffalo area.

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Trinity University history professor Carey Latimore is not likely to make a last stand on any of the controversies brewing amid the Alamos contentious 21st-century makeover.

Instead, he could play a lead role in untangling the nuances that surround the historic mission and battle site, himself having struggled with a painful past tied to slavery, racial prejudice and unspeakable family secrets.

I know my ancestry. I recognize it in all of its warts, in all of its pieces, said Latimore, an associate professor and the universitys history department chair. The American experience is not always the most beautiful experience. But its taking a part of this, and that, and finding and forging a way for someones own identity.

President Donald Trump referenced the beautiful, beautiful Alamo in his State of the Union address last week, where Texas patriots made their last stand. Latimore said the beauty of the Alamo may be its complexity, with an 1836 narrative tied to a chain of successive freedom stories that followed.

History has a way of bringing us together, if we allow it, said Latimore, 44. And thats what I see happening in many ways at the Alamo. Its bringing people together, having different, difficult conversations.

Latimore was tapped last year by leaders of the massive Alamo project to share his research on the peaceful, voluntary desegregation of seven downtown lunch counters that briefly put San Antonio in a national news spotlight in 1960. His report to the nonprofit Alamo Trust has not been publicly released.

Nor has an engineering report on the three historic, state-owned commercial buildings in Alamo Plaza  one of which held one of those lunch counters  that could be razed to build a modern Alamo museum for the $450 million, public-private transformation of the site.

Neither report will make a recommendation whether to demolish or preserve the structures, officials said. But both will help design architects and a six-member Alamo Management Committee decide the fate of the buildings.

Dont talk about them

Its the north and east facades of the 1921 Woolworth Building that preservationists consider a physical symbol of civil rights progress. But Alamo devotees who have long sought a plaza makeover focusing on 1836 have said the opportunity to commemorate the Woolworth lunch counter passed when the store closed in 1997. The building was renovated and now houses two amusement attractions and smaller business storefronts.

On ExpressNews.com: Event marks desegregation milestone, sparks debate

Even if his report doesnt tilt the scales on the Woolworth question, Latimores personal connection to the U.S. slave trade could be critical to one of the Alamo projects eight guiding principles: Embrace the continuum of history to foster understanding and healing.

Carey Harvey Latimore IV grew up on a farm in a rural area of Virginia that is steeped in Civil War history. Before he took an interest in African-American studies in college, he was aware of his mixed racial lineage. Some of his ancestors were enslaved. Others owned slaves.

Latimore recalls stories his grandparents revealed in guarded privacy, saying, These are the names of the people, but please dont talk about them.

I dont know if our language today really takes in the ways that they struggled. Were certain things classified as rape? Yes, he said. I think my ancestors struggled with that over their own identity, and they forged something different. They acknowledged it. But they tried to find ways of not allowing it to completely destroy who they were.

Since he moved to San Antonio about 15 years ago, Latimore has worshipped and become an associate minister at Mt. Zion First Baptist Church. He recalls being influenced by the late Rev. Claude Black, a pastor emeritus there who had been an African-American voice on the City Council in the 1970s.

He was just stunning in that he was always trying to learn, Latimore recalled of Black, who died in 2009. He knew the past but kept up on current events and was always looking forward to the future.

Kress vs. Woolworth

Shortly after his involvement in the Alamo project was announced in the fall, news surfaced that Latimore would lead a new civil rights institute in the historic Kress Building, through an agreement between Trinity and development firm GrayStreet Partners, with help from the city. It might include a replica of a historic lunch counter that was among the seven that desegregated March 16, 1960. Some who have fought to save the Woolworth have viewed the institutes 10-year lease at the Kress Building, about two blocks away on Houston Street, as offering an alternative that threatens any lunch counter interpretation in Alamo Plaza.

But Latimore said the availability of space at the Kress for oral history programs, student exhibits, symposiums and special projects does not mean that African-American history will be shipped down Houston Street.

The story has to be told, at the Alamo museum, of African-Americans in this area. And that story will be told, he said.

Everett Fly, a local landscape architect awarded a 2014 National Humanities Medal for his work identifying historic black communities and landmarks, said hes glad that Latimore, a respected scholar, has been added as a consultant on the Alamo project, even though Latimore has not joined Fly in advocating for preservation of the Woolworth. Fly said he comes from a different discipline that focuses on physical site preservation.

Its important for Texas to have a scholar like him involved in the project, said Fly, who also advocates for inclusion of early black business leaders and ties to civil rights history in the planned 130,000-square-foot Alamo museum. To make our collective presence there known is absolutely critical.

Another stated goal of the Alamo project is to examine the role and influence of slavery in the battle that ended with the death of nearly 200 Texans and Tejanos outnumbered by some 1,600 Mexican troops.

City Councilman Roberto Trevino, who serves on the Alamo Management Committee and has become fast friends with Latimore, said the professor and his institute, set to open as early as June 2021, could help shape the Alamo museums treatment of slavery and other aspects of black history, including the long struggle for freedom in the nearly two centuries since the 1836 battle that defined the site as the Cradle of Texas Liberty.

On ExpressNews.com: Kress Building lunch counter could be reconstructed

Trevino said Latimore sometimes gravitates toward history that is forward-facing and looking into the future.

We can learn from it and help establish things in the future that do heal us, that do empower us with knowledge, empower us with an ability to have a better understanding of one another, Trevino said. I do think this project, as it detangles the complexity of the site, what were doing both physically and metaphorically is providing a clear picture so that we can be honest.

Forge forward

David Lesch, a fellow history professor at Trinity who was the best man at Latimores 2011 wedding, said his friend can bridge gaps in understanding. Latimore uses a call and response style of teaching that he learned in church, asking questions of students in a more democratic learning environment, Lesch said.

He listens extraordinarily well, and he is very perceptive in assessing what he hears and finding relevant ways to help his students and colleagues, Lesch added. He also listens to history. He hears and perceives the nuances and unspoken lines in historical documents in an almost empathetic fashion.

Another colleague, Trinity history professor Lauren Turek, said Latimores work, including a book he wrote on free blacks in antebellum Virginia, is critical for broadening our picture of the complex lives of African-Americans in this era, and our understanding of how free blacks navigated the challenging and violently repressive legal, economic and political systems of their time.

Latimore is a lead member of Trinitys Roots Commission, similar to initiatives at other universities, that is examining the legacy of slavery in the universitys 1869 founding and early years, with plans for a website and discussion forums. He also has extensive knowledge of African-American life in the 1800s and has accumulated a repository of interviews on the 20th-century civil rights movement that is truly unparalleled in the city, Turek said.

Carey has always been an inclusive historian, and this new center will reflect his philosophy, representing in the end not just one ethnic group but also the many ethnicities, languages, religions and heritages that make up San Antonio through the prism of the African-American experience here, she added.

But some people may need to reach outside their silos to remember the Alamo in ways that could help shape the future, Latimore said.

For me, the institute is a way not for us to silo ourselves, but to bridge out a little bit, he said. I think the importance of it is that we find a way to forge forward. And I think thats what were doing.

Scott Huddleston covers Bexar County government and the Alamo for the San Antonio Express-News. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | shuddleston@express-news.net | Twitter: @shuddlestonSA
This was a make or break election for Mary Lou McDonald whose leadership of Sinn Fein was on the line after a series of electoral setbacks.

Today, as she marks exactly two years since her coronation as party leader, she is celebrating her finest hour and preparing, perhaps, to lead Sinn Fein into government for the first time in Ireland.

Arriving amid an unprecedented media scrum at the RDS yesterday evening, she declared: This is not a transient thing, this is just the beginning.

The events of the last 48 hours are even more remarkable given that for much of the past two years Sinn Fein seemed to be going backwards under her leadership.

First she made a strategic error in pushing  against the views of others in Sinn Fein  to run a candidate in the presidential election who floundered.

Then the party took a hammering in the local and European elections losing dozens of local authority seats and two of its four MEPs.

Even as recently as last December, Sinn Feins vote share declined in all but one of the Westminster constituencies in Northern Ireland.

No wonder the party entered this election on the defensive with a risk-averse strategy that was aimed at holding onto as many seats as possible. Days after the election was called it removed its second candidate in Sligo-Leitrim, Chris McManus, amid fears for the seat of incumbent TD Martin Kenny.

Mr Kenny topped the poll yesterday as did dozens of other Sinn Fein candidates across the country with massive surpluses.

Sinn Feins biggest regret is its failure to run enough candidates to capitalise on the surge but nonetheless Ms McDonald leads the most popular party in the State.

In an election where voters wanted change she successfully pitched herself and her party as the outsiders who could deliver that change and break the duopoly of Fine Gael, which has led the country for nearly a decade, and Fianna Fail, which sent the country off a cliff a decade ago.

Ms McDonald was born and raised in south Dublin, attended private school at Notre Dame in Churchtown, was educated at Trinity College and used to be a member of Fianna Fail.

In terms of background, she is a world away from her predecessor Gerry Adams and in this election that has made her more palatable to middle Ireland and women voters in particular.

One Sinn Fein member and former party staffer said Ms McDonalds appeal to female voters was one of the striking aspects of this election campaign on the doors. Meanwhile, one Dublin-based EU diplomat described Ms McDonald as personable and definitely not anti-European.

Quite simply, she has broadened Sinn Feins appeal among voters in all age categories bar those over 65s.

The party presented credible spokespeople across a range of portfolios, including Eoin O Broin (housing), Pearse Doherty (finance) and Louise OReilly (health). None of them carry the baggage of the likes of Dessie Ellis, the former IRA prisoner, who sung Come Out Ye Black and Tans with his supporters in the RDS yesterday and had to be told by a party press officer to tone it down.

In Mr O Broin voters see a man who was not just giving out about how poor a job Eoghan Murphy was doing but was promising a different way of dealing with the seemingly intractable housing crisis. The partys rent freeze proposal caught the publics imagination particularly among younger voters getting hammered by monthly rents and unable to even dream of owning a home. Sinn Fein also called it right on one of the key election issues with its demand for the retirement age to be brought back to 65 leaving the other parties scrambling. Fine Gael and Fianna Fail both had to perform U-turns on their pensions policy in the course of the campaign amid a backlash on the doorsteps. Both parties derided the economic proposals of Sinn Fein, saying the party would introduce over a dozen new taxes that would hit the middle classes and lead to a flight of capital from Ireland. The business lobby group IBEC warned of the grave impact of Sinn Feins policies.

But as RTEs election poll shows the voters were concerned less about tax and the economy and more about housing and health.

Sinn Fein was also likely bolstered by events north of the border where it finally re-entered power-sharing.

Voters also do not appear to have been put off by the questions about the partys handling of the past which emerged in the final days of the campaign. Some within republicanism saw the fact Conor Murphy, once tipped as a Sinn Fein leader, was forced to apologise for comments labelling murder victim Paul Quinn as a criminal as evidence of Ms McDonald flexing her muscles.

Chris Donnelly, a political analyst and former Sinn Fein candidate, said: Mary Lous decision to effectively call out Conor Murphy for not apologising clearly and decisively all those years ago was striking as it left no room for doubt as to where authority resided within the party.

But this should not be overstated. In her acceptance speech this day two years ago, Ms McDonald proclaimed up the rebels and tiocfaidh ar la.

Its approach to victims of crimes committed in the name of republicanism remains questionable and these victims and their families will not remain silent in the coming weeks and months. In fact, their voice is likely to grow louder now.

Ms McDonald must handle that better than she did in the final week of the campaign.

There are also many outstanding questions about the partys own ard chomhairle, how it functions and makes decisions. Ms McDonald was unclear as to how exactly it was decided to change Sinn Feins policy on the special criminal (Diplock-style) court  and the policy itself remains ambiguous. The partys new Wexford TD Johnny Mythen has openly stated his opposition to the non-jury court.

We need change, we need a new government, the best outcome is a government without Fine Gael and Fianna Fail. So thats the first thing I want to test, whether or not that is possible, Ms McDonald said last night.

This would appear ambitious in the circumstances but cannot be ruled out. Nor can Micheal Martin performing one of the most astonishing U-turns in Irish political history and forming a government with Sinn Fein be out of the question. He opened the door to that last night as Fine Gael firmly shut it.

But questions linger as to whether Sinn Fein actually wants to be in government. Will it set the bar too high for other parties in the hope that the stalemate triggers another election when it can run more candidates and win even more seats?

Ms McDonald will have to consider all these matters now that she has cemented her position and made history for her party.
"We havent delivered any materials for the moment because transportation has been delayed due to the coronavirus [situation]," a magnesia producer told Fastmarkets on Friday February 7.

"Currently, most logistic companies havent come back to work [since the extended break for the lunar new year holiday], which [means that there are] fewer freight cars to deliver materials and freight fees are higher than usual," a fluorspar producer said.

"We resumed part of our production recently, but we face difficulties in transporting materials to customers due to there being fewer freight cars for the moment," a lithium producer said. "As for delivering lithium hydroxide, even if freight fees double, it is still hard to find freight cars."

Most Chinese businesses closed on January 24 for the lunar new year holiday. This was scheduled to end on January 30 but has been successively extended to keep businesses closed in an attempt to slow the spread of the infection.

These closures, which were being implemented on a province-by-province basis, now looked likely to disrupt activity until the end of February.

In Henan, fused alumina producers said that companies were going to be closed until February 17.

Workers who return to the province from elsewhere after the extended holiday will not be allowed to return to their factories straight away. They will instead be monitored for symptoms for a further two weeks before they can go back to work.

This meant that many operations were not going to be able to resume production before the end of February.

Given production lead times and shipping distances, no new alumina was likely to arrive in Europe until the end of April.

An alumina and bauxite market source said that "prices are not rising now because [Chinese] people are not working. Once they come back and factories restart, youll see [price increases]."

But the disruptions could be exacerbated by the knock-on effects of the shutdown regime.

"If vessels dont get cargoes right now, shipowners may move them elsewhere," a source said. "This could lead to a shortage of vessels once the situation improves and cargo can make it to ports."

As well as the disruptions within China, the attempts to control the disease have led to restrictions on shipments over land borders.

The northern province of Lang Son in Vietnam has closed its border with China, while another province, Lao Cai, has imposed restrictions on border crossings.

According to a trader, overland cargo to Russia was still being allowed through on trains, but there were no trucking companies available to move cargoes to and from the rail terminals.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 14:58:31|Editor: Xiaoxia

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KABUL, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Four militants of the Haqqani militant group have been arrested during an operation in Afghanistan's eastern Khost province, the command of special forces said Monday.

"The Special Operations Forces arrested four Haqqani network members in Khost. They also seized some amount of weapons and ammunition during the raid," the Afghan National Army Special Operations Corps said in a statement.

The statement said the raid was conducted after a credible intelligence report indicated the presence of the militants in a village and no gunshot occurred during the operation in the province, 150 km southeast of Kabul.

As a Taliban-linked group, the Haqqani network is mostly operating in eastern provinces and capital Kabul, and has been responsible for many high-profile attacks against security forces.

The network, which was designated as a terrorist group by the United States in 2012, has yet to make comments.
It is unfortunate that one suspected poacher was shot dead in Save and two other suspected poachers managed to escape. We were able to recover a rifle that we suspect they were using, a silencer and four rounds of ammunition, said Mr Farawo.
KHOMEIN, Iran  Near the hometown of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, workers at a small Iranian factory diligently add all 50 stars and 13 red-and-white bars to what are supposed to be U.S. flags, and carefully imprint the blue Star of David on Israeli ones.

Thats even as all their work is destined to go up in flames.

The company Diba Parcham Khomein serves as a major producer for the American and Israeli flags constantly burned at pro-government rallies in the Islamic Republic. Such flag-burnings are a sign of support for Irans embattled clerical rulers and a throwback to the indelible images of the 1979 Islamic Revolution that branded the U.S. Irans greatest foe and the Great Satan.

Another batch of flags is being prepared for the 41st anniversary of the Iranian revolution on Tuesday. The celebrations will take on special symbolic importance amid renewed tensions with Washington after a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad killed Irans top general, Qassem Soleimani, last month.

Yet the factorys owner, like many middle-class Iranians, holds out hopes for better relations between Tehran and the U.S.

I hope there is a day that the flags we produce are presented as a gift, said factory owner Abolfazl Khanjani.

That day, however, has yet to come to Khomein, a city best known as the birthplace of the Islamic Republics founder.

The factory itself is in the nearby suburban village of Heshmatieh, where staffers first dye the blue canton containing the 50 white stars of the American flag on linen before dyeing its seven red stripes.

The flags then hang to dry in the factory. The factory adds Death to Israel, written in Farsi, on Israeli flags. Iran itself continues to support anti-Israeli militant groups like Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Diba Parcham Khomein produces 1.5 million flags a year, many bearing Islamic phrases for religious and official occasions across the country. The factory also makes Iranian flags and a small number of Iraqi national flags for export.

But on a recent visit by the Associated Press, the American and Israeli flags stood out. The factory makes as many as 6,000 American, British and Israeli flags in a year, all destined to be passed onto retailers. Iranian political hard-liners then purchase them for around $2 apiece to be stomped on, torn and ultimately set ablaze.

In recent years, the production of the U.S. flags has been tripled, Khanjani said. What eventually happens to my products is on its end user.

Khanjani said burning the American flag offered Iranians a direct way to express their anger at U.S. policies, including the economic sanctions now choking the country.

Nasser Karimi and Mohammad Nasiri are Associated Press writers.
Tension prevailed here after police allegedly tried to remove anti-CAA protesters forcibly from Mohamed Ali Park in the Chamanganj area in the wee hours on Monday.

Continuing their stir, the protesters has accused police of resorting to a lathicharge.

Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Vivek Srivastava said the protesters had agreed to end their agitation on Saturday after assurance by the district administration that cases against them will be withdrawn.

However, many stayed back despite ending their stir after reciting the national anthem with the DM, the ADM added.

He said police then asked the protesters to vacate the park by Sunday night.

Kanpur DM Brahma Deo Ram Tiwari denied reports of any lathicharge on the protesters.

Tiwari said police had been deployed in the area to deal with any untoward situation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
HOUSTON, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Wallis Bank had a stellar year of giving back this past holiday season. Numerous employees took up the opportunity to make donations towards the food banks located in their communities, and together, over 4,600 pounds of food were donated.

Wallis Bank and its employees donated 172 pounds of food to the Atlanta Community Food Bank, 520 pounds of food to the San Antonio Food Bank, 916 pounds of food to the Los Angeles Food Bank, and an astounding 3,018 pounds of food and supplies to the Houston Food Bank. Each generous donation was made during Wallis Bank's Thanksgiving Food Drive for the holiday season.

Every year, over 40 million people in the U.S. experience food insecurity, 16 million of whom are children. Wallis Bank is proud to help those in need during the holiday season and beyond.

About Wallis Bank

Wallis Bank is a full-service community bank dedicated to serving both rural customers as well as large international clients with the highest level of personal service. The Bank was established in 1906 in Wallis, Texas, and holds the unique experience of surviving the Great Depression and both World Wars. Over the years, the company underwent the expansion of additional branches and offices in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. In 2018, Wallis Bank was ranked fifth among the 25 best-performing banks in the U.S. with less than $1 billion in assets by ICBA.

About the Atlanta Community Food Bank

Founded in 1979, the Atlanta Community Food Bank works with over 600 nonprofit partners to provide over 60 million meals to people across the metro Atlanta area. With a slew of volunteers, over 150 staff members, and a 129,000 square foot facility to support donations, the Atlanta Community Food Bank fights back against hunger.

About the San Antonio Food Bank

The San Antonio Food Bank fights hunger by feeding 16 counties in and surrounding the city of San Antonio, Texas. Founded in 1980, the San Antonio Food Bank serves about 58,000 individuals per week. The San Antonio Food Bank reaches out to the community through several initiatives to continue the fight against hunger.

About the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank

The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank was founded in 1973. Today, the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank serves over 300,000 people each month, distributing more than 1 million pounds of food weekly. Since the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank's founding, it has served more than a billion meals to the surrounding community.

About the Houston Food Bank

Established in 1982, the Houston Food Bank serves 18 counties surrounding Houston, Texas. Each year, more than 104 million meals are distributed to people, feeding more than 800,000 people every year. The Houston Food Bank was nationally recognized as Feeding America's Food Bank of the Year in 2015.

Lisa Diaz

Phone: 713.935.3722

Email: [email protected]

Related Links

Wallis Bank

SOURCE Wallis Bank

Related Links

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The Toms River house fire that killed a school librarian and mother of three has been ruled accidental, the Ocean County Prosecutors Office said Monday.

Sara Trahey, a media specialist at Ella G. Clarke School in Lakewood, died Friday in a fire at her residence in the Silverton section of Toms River. She had three young children, ages 2, 7 and 9.

The prosecutors office, which has not identified the fire victim, said the cause of death was smoke inhalation and fire-related injuries. Three children and an adult managed to escape the flames, which were spreading to four surrounding homes, authorities said.

The local teachers union, the Lakewood Education Association, said the family lost all their belongings in the blaze, including their cars. The union organized a district-wide Dress Down Day for Tuesday that students and staff can participate in for $5, with proceeds going to the family.

Mrs. Trahey was an outstanding educator who cared very deeply about the success and wellbeing of each and every one of her students, Lakewood Superintendent Laura A. Winters said in a letter to parents. We will all miss her very much.

Traheys former classmate, Amanda Leissing, said Trahey played soccer with her at Toms River High School South and helped the team win back-to-back state championships in 2001 and 2002.

Leissing called Trahey the true definition of a teammate on and off the field." She was set to be inducted into the Toms River Regional School Districts Athletic Hall of Fame in May, along with her other teammates, Leissing said.

(Trahey was) the sweetest most hardworking woman. Her smile would light up any room she walked into, Leissing said.

A GoFundMe campaign set up for Traheys family has raised nearly $75,000 as of Monday morning.

Sara was loved and respected in the community, and her death has left a hole in our hearts and lives, the fundraiser says.

Grief counselors were being provided Monday at the elementary school to assist students and staff.

Trahey also often volunteered her time for school fundraising events, the Silver Bay Elementary PTO said in a Facebook post. The group said she would be truly missed by the community.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Trahey family during this incredibly difficult time, the PTO said.

Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer called the fire a tragedy.

"Please keep in mind what this family is going through at this time. This is a tragedy that no family should ever have to deal with, Billhimer said in a statement.

Avalon Zoppo may be reached at azoppo2@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AvalonZoppo. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
President Trump speaks during an event at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020.

President Donald Trump's proposed budget would reportedly kill a loan program that assisted automakers such as Ford Motor and Tesla in producing more environmental-friendly vehicles, including Tesla's all-electric Model S.

The proposed cut, according to the 2021 budget proposal, is to the U.S. Energy Department's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, which has distributed more than $8 billion in loans to companies to produce such vehicles, according to the program's website.

Most recently, electric vehicle startup Lordstown Motors, which purchased GM's shuttered Lordstown Assembly plant in Ohio, was in discussion with government leaders about a loan from the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program.

Lordstown Motors, in an emailed statement on Monday to CNBC, said it had not yet applied for the loan. It said the company continues to evaluate its options for financing: "We are continuing conversations with government leaders as we explore our options, but we see it as one of our many options to consider. We will factor this new information into our decision making process, but our business model stands on its own without it."

A spokesperson for the federal program, which awarded its first loan in 2009, did not immediately respond for comment. The budget refers to the program and others as "costly, wasteful, or duplicative programs."
Authorities in northern Thailand began releasing bodies to relatives Monday after security forces cornered and killed a soldier who carried out the country's worst mass shooting in an hourslong siege at a shopping mall.

The soldier killed 29 people starting with his commanding officer in a stunning tragedy that began Saturday and ended Sunday morning when security forces shot dead the heavily armed attacker in Terminal 21 Korat, an airport-themed mall in Nakhon Ratchasima.

The gunman, Sgt. Maj. Jakrapanth Thomma, 31, was infuriated at a land deal brokered by his commander's mother-in-law, as far as authorities have been able to determine. She was another of his victims.

The death toll surpassed Thailand's last major attack on civilians, a 2015 bombing at a shrine in Bangkok killing 20 people that was allegedly carried out by human traffickers in retaliation for a crackdown on their network.

Messages of sympathy for the latest tragedy were sent by several countries. The U.S. Embassy said it stands with the people of Thailand, saddened by tragic events in Nakhon Ratchasima. More than 1,000 people mourned the victims Sunday night in a vigil led by Buddhist monks at the city's town square. They lit candles and chanted.

We are here today to pray in order to send the souls of those who die to heaven, and we ask the spirits to accept those souls. So those souls can be holy, be in heaven with goodness and beauty," said artist Suwanee Natewong.

Many of the 58 wounded are still in bad condition. The Public Health Ministry sent a mental health crisis team to help relatives of the deceased cope with their losses. Survivors and victims' families at the city's hospitals recounted their ordeals.

Cpl. Korakot Ampanngeun said he had been ordered to block a road so no one could go toward the gunman.

So I was signaling to oncoming traffic, when I turned around and saw him. If I had not, I would not have survived, he recalled. "I tried to run and find somewhere to hide. But I could only take two steps and then I heard the sound 'bang.' My leg just went and I couldn't walk. A good Samaritan helped carry me away." High school student Nachote Chotiklang said he was in his mother's car as she passed the gunman's vehicle. The assailant "got out of the car and fired into the window. At that, I ducked down and didn't do anything until I felt that car hit something. It hit a tree." When the teenager was asked what happened to his mother, Nachote shook his head. Another man explained that she had died.

Rachanon Kanchanamethi was riding a motorbike home when the gunman fired at him. The 13-year-old middle school student was his family's only child. His father spoke at the first day of his son's Buddhist funeral.

"I don't want to lose him like this," Nuttawut Kanchanamethi said. "This is too sudden. We had plans for him, growing up. That's all. We didn't impose any expectations on him." Nuttawut paused for a long moment.

"I want to continue taking care of him, but I no longer have that opportunity," he said, breaking into sobs.

The bodies of security personnel began to be flown Monday morning to the capital, Bangkok, for funerals.

Nakhon Ratchasima was not prepared for killing on such a scale. The public hospital's lone forensic doctor is performing autopsies before the bodies are released to families for cremation, but families were told he can only do six per day, so some won't be able to retrieve their loved ones until Tuesday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
They came, they strutted and they demonstrated their right to bare arms.

It seems that every actress from 44-year-old Charlize Theron to 50-year-old Renee Zellweger and the unbelievably lithe 64-year-old Geena Davis decided to snub sleeves  or at least one sleeve  at this year's Oscars in favour of showing off intensely exercised biceps and triceps.

Forget legs that stretch up to your decolletage: this year's status symbol is a pair of sculpted, toned, Michelle Obama tribute arms.

Look-at-Me arms that signal 'I have put the work in, ladies', because, let's be frank, the craze for the most beautiful arms on the red carpet is a look most definitely directed at other women watching.

It seems that every actress from 50-year-old Renee Zellweger (pictured) decided to snub sleeves  or at least one sleeve  at this year's Oscars

A terrifying new trend that throws out the tried-and-tested rule book for middle-aged women everywhere on how much skin they could, and should, safely reveal above the wrist without giving their age away.

No trusty three-quarter-length sleeves here. Or chiffon drapes. This is full on 'arm armour' designed to repel the forces of time. And gravity. Because arms are the one area of the body you just cannot cheat.

While tummies can be invisibly tucked, lines can be frozen and jowls can be lifted, there is no quick arm fix.

For those tempted into achieving this seemingly unachievable party dress look, be prepared to give up most of your daylight hours.

Forget legs that stretch up to your decolletage: this year's Oscars status symbol is a pair of sculpted, toned, tribute arms like Laura Dern, 53

Charlize Theron, 44, showed off intensely exercised biceps and triceps in a black evening gown

Regina King, 49, ensured her lithe arms are on show. No trusty three-quarter-length sleeves here. Or chiffon drapes. This is full on 'arm armour' designed to repel the forces of time

Kate Beckinsal, 46, posed in a red evening gown. According to a Cambridge-based personal trainer, all the Oscar actresses showing off their upper limbs will have working on the muscles deep in the upper arm

Kate Hudson, 40, showed off her arms in a yellow dress. So, if you are not an A-list actress, what can you do to get the look du jour?

Joe Mitton, a Cambridge-based personal trainer specialising in helping those desperate for the upper torso of a goddess, says that in order to get such sculpted arms, you will need to train, train and train some more.

'You can't spot-reduce fat,' he says. According to Joe, all the Oscar actresses showing off their upper limbs in the gorgeous photographs here will have been feeling the pain by working on the muscles deep in the upper arm.

It is, in truth, the only way to achieve that elegant in-and-out shape that naturally drops as women age.

So, if you are not an A-list actress, what can you do to get the look du jour? If this is what the new party look holds for us all, is there anything to be done?

Cynthia Erivo, 33, flaunted her toned arms at the ceremony. No, beautiful as these women are, this is one of the few occasions when, for the rest of us, less is definitely not more

Geena Davis, 64, had her arms on display in a plunging sequin dress. While tummies can be invisibly tucked, lines can be frozen and jowls can be lifted, there is no quick arm fix

Moisturising is always a great leveller and there is no doubt the women on this page have coated themselves with a camera-ready sheen. But  let's be realistic  no potion or lotion is going to tone your arms, whatever it says on the tin.

You could try drastic measures and resort to plastic surgery,

Operations do exist to 'vacuum' out the lumpy bits  but they will leave scars. And if you don't want to be seen in a sleeveless dress with your arms as they are, would you really want to reveal some giveaway marks?

No, beautiful as these women are, this is one of the few occasions when, for the rest of us, less is definitely not more.

Minnie Driver, 50, wore a strapless white dress that showed off her arms. For those tempted into achieving this seemingly unachievable party dress look, be prepared to give up most of your daylight hours
The NHS offers two HPV jabs to 12-to-13 year olds. (Getty)

A single human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine may be enough to protect against cervical cancer, research suggests.

At some point in their life, four in five people catch the sexually-transmitted virus, which is behind 99.7% of cervical-cancer cases.

The NHS offers the first of two jabs against HPV to boys and girls aged 12-to-13.

It typically gives the second dose between six and 12 months later, claiming both are important for protection.

Read more: One in 10 women think the HPV virus is 'dirty'

A study by The University of Texas in Galveston suggests, however, a single jab is as effective as multiple vaccines at preventing pre-invasive cervical disease.

Around 3,100 women develop cervical cancer every year in the UK.

In the US, 13,800 new cases are expected to be diagnosed in 2020.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends boys and girls under 15 receive two HPV vaccine doses.

To uncover whether both are necessary, the scientists looked at more than 133,000 females aged between nine and 26.

Half had not been vaccinated, while the others received Gardasil jabs.

This protect against four strains of HPV - six, 11, 16 and 18.

Types 16 and 18 cause more than 70% of cervical cancers in the UK, while strains six and 11 are behind around 90% of genital warts.

One year after the vaccines - or lack of - the women had a smear test to uncover any pre-cancerous cervical changes.

Results - published in the journal Cancer - revealed that among the 15-to-19 years old who had one, two or even three HPV doses, rates of pre-invasive cervical disease were lower than in those not immunised.

People who start getting vaccinated against HPV after 15 require three doses due to them not responding as well to just two jabs as younger people.

Within five years, 2.65% of the unvaccinated 15-to-19 year olds developed pre-invasive cervical disease, compared to 1.62% who had one jab, 1.99% who had two and 1.86% who had three.

Pre-invasive cervical disease is generally defined as alterations to the cervix that are not yet cancerous, like abnormal cell changes or genital warts.

Story continues

The risk of the condition was 36%, 28% and 34% lower among those who received one, two or three doses of the HPV vaccine, respectively.

Among those under 15 and over 20, the scientists found no significant differences in pre-disease risk between those having one, two or three jabs.

Read more: DIY smear tests could be a 'game changer'

This study shows the impact of vaccinating at younger ages and its lasting long-term protection against cervical cancer, said lead author Dr Ana Rodriguez.

It is important to educate parents about the need to vaccinate their children.

Writing in an accompanying editorial, scientists from the University of Melbourne added: If one dose of HPV vaccine was sufficient for effective protection, HPV vaccine implementation and scale-up would require less logistics...available doses could extend further and the overall cost would be lower.

Another expert welcomed the results, but urged women to stick to the two dose schedule for now.

Standard regimens have already been reduced from three to two doses and it may be possible to reduce further to one dose if additional evidence comes through supporting this change, said Professor Adam Finn, from the University of Bristol.

Given the limited available supplies of vaccine globally and the urgent need to protect girls and young women worldwide against this, the second biggest cancer killer in females after breast cancer - this would be a very positive development.

We are all eagerly waiting for more information on this and the latest study reported here adds further encouragement.

For the moment, though, the best advice is to stick to the recommended two dose schedule to ensure optimal protection.

The HPV vaccine protects against the virus behind 99.7% of cervical-cancer cases. (Getty)

How is cervical cancer detected?

Women in England and Wales are tested for high-risk HPV strains during their smear test, with Scotland and Northern Ireland following suit in the future.

Those carrying the virus then have their cell sample analysed to uncover any changes that may lead to cancer.

Smears have traditionally looked for cell changes, however, testing for the virus is said to be more accurate, preventing almost 500 extra cases of cervical cancer a year.

Women aged between 25 and 64 who are registered with a GP in the UK are invited for a smear every few years.

Around a quarter fail to attend, with uptake at its lowest in England for 19 years.

After the screening, women should get the results within two weeks.

Read more: Urine test could mark the end of smear tests

If abnormal, a woman may be invited for a colposcopy, which looks closer at the cervix.

Some may also have a biopsy of their cervical tissue.

Abnormalities on the cervixs surface are usually removed via a thin wire loop with an electrical current.

The area is sent for tests to determine the extent of the abnormalities.

If cell changes are higher up, a thin straight wire is used.

If abnormal cells remain, lasers or heat may burn away the affected tissue.

Nine in 10 women do not have abnormal cell changes again after the above treatments.
An aerial photo shows the wreckage of a Russian-made Mi-17 Indonesian Army helicopter that crashed in Pegunungan Bintang Regency in Papua province, Feb. 10, 2020.

The Indonesian army has pinpointed the wreckage of a helicopter that went missing in Papua province almost eight months ago with 12 people on board, a general said on Monday, as officials declined to comment on claims that insurgents had shot it down.

The Russian-made Mi-17 helicopter lost contact minutes after takeoff on June 28, 2019 while carrying supplies and troops from Oksibil district in Pegunungan Bintang Regency to Sentani, near the provincial capital Jayapura.

I saw firsthand the location of debris from a height of 12,500 feet, Papuan military commander Maj. Gen. Herman Asaribab said in a statement.

The military, which said the cause of the helicopter crash was not yet known, resumed the search last week after receiving reports that local residents had found the wreckage in Oksop village in Oksibil.

Herman said the military had yet to retrieve the remains of all of the victims  12 military personnel, including five border security forces  because of difficult terrain and changing weather conditions.

Next, we will focus on evacuating the [remains]. Evacuation must be prepared carefully considering the location of debris is on a cliff with an angle of almost 90 degrees, Herman said.

Authorities had deployed more than 1,000 personnel to look for the helicopter.

Maj. Gen. Sisriadi, spokesman of the National Armed Forces, declined to comment on claims by the separatist West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) that it had shot down the helicopter.

We focus on evacuating the fallen warriors first. For the cause, later it can be known when the [helicopter debris] have been collected, Sisriadi told BenarNews.

TPNPB spokesman Sebby Sambon earlier told reporters the group had shot down the helicopter and found its wreckage on Feb. 4.

Sambon also said that the rebels seized weapons found from the crash site.

If the Indonesian security forces come to our area to take away weapons that TPNPB OPM has captured, we are ready to fight, he said.

The Papua region, which makes up the Indonesian half of New Guinea island, was formally incorporated into Indonesia in 1969, after a U.N.-administered ballot known as the Act of Free Choice. Many Papuans and rights groups said the vote was a sham because it involved only 1,000 people.



The region has since been the scene of a low-level separatist insurgency.

News about allegations that security forces had treated the Papuan students harshly and hurled racist abuse at them ignited mass protests, some of which descended into violence that left more than 40 people dead in August and September.
Philippine government lawyers moved on Monday to strip the nation's biggest media group of its franchise in what campaigners branded another attack on press freedom under President

Duterte has repeatedly pledged to stop the broadcast operations of ABS-CBN and expressed anger over its reporting during the 2016 presidential election campaign.

A petition filed with the nation's top court alleges ABS-CBN violated the restriction imposed by the constitution on foreign ownership of mass media by allowing overseas investors to join the company.

"We want to put an end to what we discovered to be highly abusive practices by ABS-CBN," Solicitor-General Jose Calida said in a statement.

"A franchise is a special privilege granted by the state, and should be restricted only to entities which faithfully adhere to our constitution and laws," he added.

Duterte early in his term accused the network, whose franchise expires on March 30, of failing to air his campaign advertisements and not returning the payments.

The president has repeatedly vowed in public speeches to block any new licence, and a proposed law that would give ABS-CBN a 25-year operating permit has gathered dust in Congress since mid-2016.

Duterte taunted the network in a speech in December, telling the owners to sell it.

"ABS-CBN, your contract is about to expire. If I were you, you're better off selling it," Duterte said.

"I will make sure that you will remember this episode of our times forever."



The government has similarly used the same accusation about foreign ownership against news website Rappler, which in 2018 had its licence revoked in a decision currently under appeal.

The website, along with its editor Maria Ressa, has faced a string of legal charges related to its critical reporting.

"It's a clear indication that this government will do everything it can to shut ABS-CBN down," Nonoy Espina, chairman of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, told AFP.

Espina said should the government succeed with the petition it will open doors for similar cases against the media in the future.

"If they shut ABS-CBN down, then that's one big voice lost and it will make it easier for them to start shutting down the other voices that they do not agree with.

(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.)
Abigail Herrera clapped her hands after receiving a $5,000 check.

Im so happy, she said.

She looked more relieved than happy. The last year has been arduous for her family. Theyve been late paying rent and bills.

On a recent Friday morning, Herrera was one of 12 people, all victims of a rental fraud scheme that stretched across three Bay Area counties, who showed up at the Contra Costa County district attorneys office in Richmond to collect an anonymous donation.

They received much-needed financial assistance from someone theyll probably never meet.

The theft of hundreds of dollars when youre poor is debilitating. The bills pile up and you sink deeper and deeper into hope-crushing debt. Some people, like David Villagran and Ana Arenal Ortega, lost more than money after putting down a $1,100 deposit on a fake apartment listing. Their car was repossessed because they couldnt pay the loan.

In November, I wrote about Martha Ochoa getting duped in a rental scam. Readers responded with donations, including a philanthropist who sent her a check for $5,000.

But Ochoa, 36, wasnt the only person scammed by Mercedes Gonzales, 25, of San Pablo, who was indicted on 42 criminal counts in the real estate fraud case. Prosecutors say Gonzales posted her online ads on social media sites such as Facebook Marketplace in Spanish to reach the Latino community, and the leases Gonzales provided were written in English and filled with errors.

One of the places she advertised was a two-bedroom apartment on Bayview Avenue in Richmond for $1,100. Thats the apartment Ochoa, Herrera and Villagran and Ortega thought they were renting.

Jessica Christian / The Chronicle

Gonzales wouldnt let people inside, saying she was worried the people she was evicting would arrive and cause trouble. She ran the con for almost a year until she was arrested in February 2019.

On Tuesday, she pleaded guilty to five counts of rental fraud and one count of grand theft auto. She was sentenced to four years in county jail, but she wont serve all of her time behind bars, according to Scott Alonso, the district attorneys public information officer. He told me Gonzales will spend 12 months in jail and three months at a residential treatment facility. Then shell have almost three years of mandatory supervision, Alonso said.

Ochoa was one of 22 people Gonzales swindled out of money. The philanthropist wanted all of the victims to get their deposits back. In total, the donor gave almost $90,000. It amounts to lifelines for almost two dozen families.

The donors representatives contacted Isabel Serna, a victim advocate in the district attorneys office. The donor sent the checks to Serna to distribute.

Why did stories of people getting fleeced while searching for an affordable place to live resonate with the donor, who made the gifts anonymously?

The donor cares a great deal about helping some of our most vulnerable neighbors to meet basic life needs, a representative of the donor told me. The Chronicle agreed not to name the representative to protect the identity of the donor. As a grateful immigrant, they know some of these challenges and want to help.

Restitution was ordered. But the orders can be extremely difficult to enforce, because people that hustle others out of hard-earned cash typically dont have money to repay their victims. Without the donor, it was unlikely the victims would have gotten their money back.

Ive been here for over 16 years and have never heard of anything like this happening on a case, said Kristina McCosker, the deputy district attorney who prosecuted the case.

Jessica Christian / The Chronicle

As District Attorney Diana Becton handed out the checks, she thanked the victims for showing up to court proceedings.

Thank you being for here and sharing with us the impact that this crime has had on you and the lives of your families, Becton said. What Ive learned from this experience is that theres some really good people in the world, and so we're grateful that the donor has come forward.

Herrera, 30, and her husband, Daniel Miranda, met Gonzales near Kaiser Permanentes Oakland Medical Center on Broadway in Oakland. Gonzales wore scrubs. She looked like the real deal, Miranda 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.

They gave her $3,600. Herrera learned it was a scam on Facebook.

The loss set them back.

Still, to this day, Miranda, 32, said. To this day. We had to get an apartment that we basically cant afford.

They currently pay $2,300 for a three-bedroom apartment in Richmond. That might sound like a deal, because its roughly the cost of an average two-bedroom apartment there, according to Rent Jungle, a real estate tracking website. But the rent doesnt include utilities and other bills, and Miranda, an independent contractor for Lugg, an on-demand moving and furniture delivery company, is the only one working.

For me, its impossible right now working because my daughter. Shes got microtia, Herrera said.

She nodded at 4-year-old Ximena, whom Miranda cradled in his lap. She suffers from a congenital deformity where the external ear is underdeveloped. She cant hear out of her right ear. They dont trust anyone else to take Ximena to her frequent appointments.

She needs me more, Herrera said.

They were $3,200 behind in rent, and their sympathetic landlord allowed them to pay in weekly installments. When I spoke to Miranda last week, he told me they used the donated money to catch up on rent and bills.

At this point right now, were good. Thank God, he said, sounding relieved.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Otis R. Taylor Jr. appears Mondays and Thursdays. Email: otaylor@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @otisrtaylorjr
A shock defeat for the Morrison government has heightened tensions over climate change after angry Nationals defied their leaders to back a Queensland rebel for a key position in Parliament, signalling another spill against Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack.

In a proxy war over the government's direction, Nationals loyal to former party leader Barnaby Joyce gained victory over Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Mr McCormack to elevate one of their group to become Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Llew O'Brien talks with Barnaby Joyce during Question Time, before Mr O'Brien was elected deputy speaker of the House of Representatives. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The election of Queenslander Llew O'Brien to the key post set government MPs against each other amid the backdrop of an internal debate between Liberals who want action on climate change and Nationals who want stronger measures to support coal-fired power stations.

The outcome was a sign of the resistance to deeper cuts to greenhouse gas emissions after The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age revealed a government plan to set a 2050 strategy this year to go beyond its existing reduction targets.
Tulum International Hotel of more than 1,000 rooms approved for construction

Tulum, Q.R.  Another 1,000-plus-room hotel has been given the green light by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) after they approved the environmental request for the construction of the Tulum International Hotel.

The hotel, which is being constructed by the companies Calvia Balear Mexico, S.A. de C.V. and Arotesa Playa, S.A. de C.V., was given the go-ahead by la Secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (Semarnat) to begin building the 1,089-room hotel on the western side of the Federal 307 highway.

The Tulum International Hotel is set for construction in an area outside Tulum known as Ganadera Tankah III. With the approval for construction comes developer approval for a change of land use on 9.9 hectares of forest.

Cibanco is financing the $139 million USD project. The completed hotel will consist of restaurants, swimming pools, bars, kids club, lobby and parking as well as roads, a staff area, service areas and green space.

The hotel complex will be divided into nine three-level buildings with a height of 9.5 meters and consist of 116,579 square meters or 10.5 percent of the property, while the rest will remain as a green area.
After the first model walked out at Brandon Maxwell's Fall 2020 show, loud cheers exploded from a small section of the audience nearby. Guests began turning their heads to see what all the commotion was about.

Related | Christopher John Rogers Is the Heart and Soul NYFW Needs

Turns out all the hollering was led by Lexi Brumback and Gabi Butler, the two stars from Netflix's new show Cheers who were wearing their Navarro College cheerleader uniforms. They encouraged others around them to join in on the clapping and praise, a welcome upbeat relief from fashion's usual stoic guests.

There was another cause for celebration, as well. It was announced that the American Museum of Natural History, which is where Maxwell staged his show (the first ever held in the Hall of North American Mammals), would feature Maxwell's red finale gown for its upcoming exhibition on the nature of color.

As for the clothes, Maxwell continued with the elegant daywear bent he explored last season, as well as the addition of more menswear looks. His fixation on classic American sportswear  luxe suiting, shearling coats, dark indigo denim  was offset by some alluring chiffon evening dresses that flowed and swayed as the models walked.
Bolivia: freedom of expression and thought are not and cannot be synonymous with terrorism and sedition

The International Federation of Journalists and FEPALC publish an open letter to condemn this situation of persecution and violence against journalists and the media in Bolivia. Freedom of expression and thought are not and cannot be synonymous with terrorism and sedition.

OPEN LETTER

BOLIVIA: INSTITUTIONAL VIOLENCE AND ATTACKS ON JOURNALISM

The coup carried out in Bolivia and the consequent campaign of intimidation against local and foreign media are the facts that motivate this open letter.

Bolivia's constitutional order was thrown in to chaos in November 2019 following weeks of violent protests across the country against the re-election of Evo Morales. The former president was forced to resign after losing the support of the armed forces and the police and being exposed to national and international pressures to do so.

Since then, the authorities have waged a campaign of harassment and intimidation against political and trade union leaders as well as journalists and communicators.

Violence against journalists and the media is on the rise. The situation faced by community media is especially critical. Community Media, which is in many cases representative of indigenous communities or local grassroots organizations, are being attacked by state or paramilitary authorities due to their editorial independence.

Radio Kawsachun Cocas transmitter was taken from its station and its offices were set on fire. Another attack took place against Radio Comunidad, which is supported by the Bolivian Confederation of Rural Workers (CSUTCB), and whose director Jose Aramayo was kidnapped.

The same applies to the public media, which has been co-opted by the self-proclaimed government. In both Bolivia TV and the radio station Red Patria Nueva, many of their workers were violently stripped by opposition groups and forced to resign from their jobs. Although they did not accuse the government of being directly responsible, the lack of governmental reaction evidences the origin of these groups.

In addition to this, the self-proclaimed government accepts as valid voices only those media who reproduce their political positions. Thanks to this logic, Latin American networks such as Telesur or the Russian international television channel, Russia Today have been banned.

Given this situation of persecution and violence against journalists and the media, the International Federation of Journalists and the Federation of Journalists of Latin America and the Caribbean reaffirm that freedom of expression and thought are not and cannot be synonymous with terrorism and sedition. On the contrary, they constitute fundamental human rights that must be always guaranteed by every government.

INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF JOURNALISTS (IFJ)

FEDERATION OF JOURNALISTS OF LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN (FEPALC)

Asociacion Nacional de Periodistas del Peru (ANP)

Federacao Nacional de Jornalistas (FENAJ)

Sindicato Nacional de Periodistas (SNP, Panama)

Sindicato Nacional de Periodistas (SNP, Costa Rica)

Asociacion de Prensa Hondurena (APH)

Asociacion de la Prensa Uruguaya (APU)

Asociacion de Periodistas de El Salvador (APES)

Federacion Nacional de Periodistas del Ecuador (FENAPE)

Union de Periodistas,Artes Graficas y Ramas Anx. (UPAGRA, Pto.Rico)

Sindicato Nacional de Redactores de la Prensa (SNRP, Mexico)

Sindicato de Periodistas del Paraguay (SPP)

Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Prensa (SNTP, Rep. Dominicana)

Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Industria de la Prensa (SITINPRES, Honduras)

Sindicato de Prensa de Buenos Aires
Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Choubey on Monday described the Congress and the opposition parties as "patrons" for supporting the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) prote Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, Feb 10 : Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Choubey on Monday described the Congress and the opposition parties as "patrons" for supporting the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) protest and accused them of misleading the minority community.

Speaking to reporters here in Parliament, Choubey said, "I am telling you, they are the patrons. The Congress, the AAP and the opposition parties have brought the rented people on streets who have been holding a protest for a long time." Describing the blocking of the Shaheen Bagh road for over last one and half month, Choubey said, it is "unconstitutional".

Choubey was responding to a question over senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid chanting along with a toddler 'Azadi' slogans at an anti-CAA and NRC protest outside Delhi's Jamia Millia Islamia University on Sunday.

Slamming the protesters in Shaheen Bagh area, the BJP leader said, "Blocking a road is unconstitutional. They (Congress and other opposition parties) don't belive on constitution and they have broken constitution on number of times." "They are misleading the Muslims on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). We have brought the CAA for the migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, who have been facing atrocities there," the Minister added.

Earlier in the day, making a significant observation on Shaheen Bagh protests, the Supreme Court, said "You can't block public roads indefinitely", and the "protests can't continue like this on public places".

The Supreme Court observations came on the petition filed by advocate Amit Sahni seeking directions to the authorities to remove the blockade on the Shaheen Bagh stretch, a main road connecting Kalindi Kunj and Noida.

The top Court has also taken suo motu cognizance on the death of a four-month-old, said how could an infant go to protest at Shaheen Bagh, and also how could mothers support this.

The apex court has taken cognizance of a letter by a 12-yr-old national bravery award winner, who wrote to the Chief Justice following the death of a 4-month-old infant allegedly due to exposure to cold as he was taken to the venue of the anti-CAA protest at Shaheen Bagh.
Parasite became the first non-English language film to win best picture in the 92-year history of the Academy Awards on Sunday night.

Parasite took Hollywoods top prize, along with awards for best director, best international film and best screenplay. Here's our a recap of our live coverage:

9:36 - That's it for me. After 2200 words and four hours later, I am toast. I hope you enjoyed the ride. Now if you'll excuse me, the second season of "Kidding" and the final season of "Homeland" kick off tonight and I have even more TV to watch. Peace out!

9:29 - Someone tried to close the curtain on the "Parasite" group onstage but the crowd wouldn't have it! Tom Hanks is chanting to keep them onstage. Nice!

9:26 - "Parasite" wins! It's the first foreign language film to win best picture. Boon Joon Ho is going to get so hammered tonight.

9:22 - Time for best picture. At this point, it has to be "Parasite."

9:14 - Renee Zellweger wins best actress, no surprise here either.

9:11 - Joaquin Phoenix ended his acceptance speech with a song lyric from his deceased brother River. "Run to the rescue with love and peace will follow." He was choking up as he said it.

9:06: - Joaquin Phoenix wins for "Joker." Jen Mulson called it. My runner up would have been Adam Driver. He was amazing in "Marriage Story," he'll win an Academy Award one day I'm sure.

9:03 - Alright, here we go. Best actor followed by actress and picture. The Academy isn't messing around now.

9:00 - It was John Singleton. He was just so young it slipped my mind. As you might expect, Kirk Douglas was the final person shown.

8:56 - Time for the In Memoriam section. Let's see who I forgot had died in the last year.

8:54 - Bong Joon Ho compliments Martin Scorsese, who gets a standing ovation. It's a touching moment. He also gives some love to Quentin Tarantino, Todd Philips and Sam Mendes.

Bong Joon Ho again mentions, in English, how he will drink until tomorrow morning. He's going to have to wait until he picks up his best picture Oscar first.

8:52 - Bong Joon Ho wins best director! Look out best picture, "Parasite" is coming for you!

8:46 - Elton John and Bernie Taupin win for original song. Elton sang it earlier in the show and considering his age (72) he sounds great. Catchy song too.

8:43 - The original score Oscar goes to "Joker." The score was quite haunting and did a great job of setting the tone, another well deserved win.

8:34 - Time for more Oscars trivia, this is in honor of "The Irishman," which hasn't won anything yet.

Fast Fact #4 - Despite 11 nominations, Steven Spielberg's "The Color Purple" didn't win a single award in 1986. "Out of Africa" with Meryl Streep and Robert Redford was the big Oscar winner that year.

8:27 - No surprise, "Parasite" wins best international feature film. Two BIG awards for "Parasite" so far. Is this foreshadowing a best picture win?

"I'm ready to drink tonight," says the Korean director, in English. "Until the next morning."

You deserve it!

8:23 - Did you know that 20 years ago the Oscars were stolen? It's true. I highly recommend reading this Vanity Fair story that gives all the fascinating details.

8:16 - Makeup and hairstyling should have gone to "Joker" but it goes to "Bombshell." That said, I guess turning Charlize Theron into a duplicate of Megyn Kelly is pretty Oscar worthy.

8:15 - Visual effects goes to "1917." Well deserved, it was a stunning film.

8:06 - Oscar trivia time. This time it's on my favorite topic - fashion.

Fast Fact #3 - In 1996 best actress nominee Sharon Stone ("Casino") skipped the high fashion designers and wore clothes on the red carpet from her own closet. The featured piece was a black mock turtleneck from The Gap.

8:01 - A short segment on the upcoming Academy Museum. I'll only go if there's a place I can hold a real Oscar. Preferably Humphrey Bogart's. In related news it looks like Stephen Colbert has a side hustle.

7:55 - I'd watch "Ford v Ferrari vs Farrell." By the way, "Ford v Ferrari" wins for film editing.

7:53 - Selena Meyer and Ron Burgundy come out to give out the cinematography Oscar to Roger Deakins for "1917." How does he only have TWO Oscars after being nominated 15 times?!? He's the Susan Lucci of cinematographers!

7:40 - Do you know what the difference is between sound editing and sound mixing? That's a serious question. I have no idea. Despite my ignorance, the Oscar for editing goes to my best picture pick, "1917."

7:38 - Sound editing goes to "Ford v Ferrari," I would have giving it to "Rise of the Skywalker" but I'm a bit biased.

7:33 - Eminem (or who guy that sounds like him but doesn't look like him) just crushed the end of a musical montage. He sounded great!

7:28 - "The Bachelor" is one of my many guilty pleasure shows. But this promo parody of "Ghost" is slightly disturbing.

Retweet and tag a friend and one lucky fan just may receive Peter's work of art. https://t.co/Zz2VkdEZ6v  The Bachelor (@BachelorABC) February 10, 2020

7:22 - Time for more Oscar trivia courtesy of my sponsor, Parade Magazine.

Fast Fact #2 - Barbra Streisand ("Funny Girl") tied with Katharine Hepburn ("The Lion in Winter") for the best actress Oscar in 1969, with each receiving 3,030 votes. A tie has never occurred again in the acting category and has only happened five times total.

7:18 - The best supporting actress Oscar goes to Laura Dern. I LOVE Laura Dern but I thought her character in "Marriage Story" was a bit over the top. I thought Florence Pugh was quite good in "Little Women" but maybe the Academy thinks she's too young.

7:16 - When I die I want my life story to be narrated by Mahershala Ali. He's like a young James Earl Jones. I can just hear him saying, "Terry was born a small boy on the mean streets of Liverpool..."

7:14 - "Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl)" wins for best short documentary. I've never seen it but that's a pretty attention getting movie title.

7:12 - Best documentary feature goes to "American Factory." Whenever I see the films nominated in this category I feel guilty that I don't watch enough documentaries. How dare you make me feel guilty for watching Disney Plus everyday!

7:04 - Time for some locally sourced Oscar's trivia. I found it in today's Parade Magazine in the Sunday Gazette. This one seems relevant because this hostless Oscars seems to be zipping by.

Fast fact #1 - The 1959 ceremony ended 20 minutes ahead of schedule, which left Jerry Lewis to entertain the crowd. He cracked jokes, conducted the orchestra and attempted to play the trumpet. At one point Dean Martin came out and grabbed a "leftover" Oscar.

7:00 - Costume design goes to "Little Women." Congrats!

6:57 - "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" wins for production design. Gotta give credit where its due, it was a very authentic looking film.

6:54 - Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig are out to present. Is Amy Poehler okay? I've never seen Poehler and Rudolph not present together at an award show.

6:49 - "The Neighbors Widow" wins for live action short. I'll ask Seth Boster if it was any good.

6:47 - On a related note, Taika Waititi is now a member of the Cool Name All-Stars, joining the likes of Mahershala Ali, Lupita Nyong'o, the previously mentioned Idina Menzel, Timothee Chalamet and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

6:45 - The best adapted screenplay Oscar goes to Taika Waititi. Nice! I loved the film "What we do in the shadows" and the work he did on "Thor: Ragnarok." Now I really want to see "JoJo Rabbit."

6:40 Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won win the best original screenplay Oscar for "Parasite." Well deserved, it easily had the most fascinating story of all the best picture nominees.

6:37 - Kelly Marie Tran just got more screen time at the Oscars than she did during all of "Star Wars: Rise of the Skywalker."

6:29 - Song time. This one from Idina Menzel, whose name John Travolta famously couldn't pronounce (see below). Now's a good time to grab some snacks. According to the Mrs. we have chips. No pizza rolls this year! Someone on staff here is going to get a strongly worded email.

6:26 - "Hair Love" wins for best animated short. I don't watch a lot of short films, let alone animated ones, so if you've seen it let me know what you think.

6:23 - The best animated feature Oscar goes to "Toy Story 4." I'm kind of surprised. "Klaus" seemed to be gaining momentum and for a Pixar film, "Toy Story 4" was a bit underwhelming.

6:18 - When Regina King isn't presenting awards, she's starring in Cadillac commercials during every break. You're getting your weekly Regina dosage in one night!

6:16 - The best supporting Oscar goes to Brad Pitt for his role in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." Even Gazette features writer Jen Mulson called this one in our latest Weekly Top 5 video, and she rarely goes to the movies.

6:12 - Always enjoy how the Oscars starts with a significant award, then takes two hours to get to another important one.

6:08 - Steve Martin and Chris Rock are out to warm up the crowd. They balance each other quite well. Here's my favorite zinger from Rock: "Jeff Bezos is so rich he got divorced and is still the richest man in the world."

6:06 - Great performance by Janelle Monae to start the show. I'm pretty sure there's nothing she can't do.

5:59 - As for "Once Upon a Time.." and "Joker?" To me these were the two most divisive films. Tarantino is a guy most people either adore or hate. I'm somewhat in the middle, sort of. I don't really like a few of his films, others I really enjoy. "Once Upon a Time..." was an interesting movie but as I get older Tarantino's machismo trope gets less appealing.

When it comes to "Joker" I went into it a bit concerned. Several people told me it was disturbing. It was, but not in the way I expected. I think the film says A LOT about how mental health is dealt with in our country. This is something The Gazette addressed throughout 2019.

5:55 - For the record, I really enjoyed all seven films, which is pretty rare for me when it comes to best picture nominees. That said, my degrees of enjoyment varied.

The cinematography in "1917" blew me away. I left the theater wondering how Sam Mendes filmed it. "Parasite" was flat out brilliant. The story was just amazing. I really liked "Marriage Story" but if you've ever been through a divorce it was tough to watch.

The Mrs. and I just saw "Little Women" yesterday. It was a good film but the pacing was a bit slow and the frequent time hopping was somewhat disorienting. I also enjoyed "The Irishman" but it was so dense. I had to watch it in three one hour shifts to get through it.

5:47 - By the way, here are my rankings for the seven best picture nominees I saw.

1. "1917"

2. "Parasite"

3. "Joker"

4. "Marriage Story"

5. "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood"

6. "Little Women"

7. "The Irishman"

5:44 - I've seen all of the best picture nominees except for "JoJo Rabbit" and "Ford v Ferrari." Not because I didn't want to but because they had either limited showtimes available or weren't available to rent.

I keep saying this but once a movie is nominated for an Oscar, every best picture nominee should be rentable. Only one film will win best picture so squeeze every buck out of your movie while it's still relevant. No one is going to be watching "Ford v Ferrari" after tonight.

Welcome to The Gazette's 2020 Academy Awards live blog! I'm your host, pop culture obsessive, Terry Terrones.

I'm here at luxurious Casa de Terrones at the foot of Pikes Peak. Tonight my plus 1 1/2 are my wife, who I refer to as "The Mrs.", and my dog Butters, who treats me like a human pillow. As this is the Oscars, I'm dressed to impress, wearing my finest tuxedo t-shirt, dachshund pajama pants and warmest "Veep" socks. I'm not going to make Good Housekeeping's "Most Talked About Oscar Dresses of All Time" list but at least I made an effort.

During tonight's Academy Awards I'll be providing commentary, some Oscar's trivia and a few photos of some of the strange events that are likely to occur tonight.

Like last year, no one is hosting the Oscars so we won't see Ellen ordering pizza and sharing it with celebrity friends. We also won't get to witness Billy Crystal dressed up as Hannibal Lecter, watch James Franco and Anne Hathaway bumble their way through a monologue or see ageless wonder Rob Lowe "sing" and dance with Snow White. It's 11 1/1 minutes of your life you'll never get back, don't watch it.

That said, this is the Academy Awards so something weird is bound to happen. If you'd like to be part of the conversation, you can comment on this post or you can email me at terry.terrones@gazette.com.

Before we get started, I'd highly recommend reading "The best movies of 2019 that the Oscars missed" from my colleague Seth Boster. He has takes on a few movies I didn't get to see.

If you're a cord cutter and still want to catch the Academy Awards, you watch the Oscars live stream on Twitter right here.

In case anyone thought I was kidding about my wardrobe. On a related note, the fact that you can't edit tweets is extremely dumb.
This week Shilom Media conducted an ad shoot campaign in Jaipur and Delhi which was directed by Lom Harsh. This campaign is for an online education app which will connect people with their dreams and benefits of education.

Shilom Media known for its perfection in work and for socially responsible contents. Shilom Media and Lom harsh had done many projects in past. All of the projects were award winnings.

Shilom Media team have done shoot on various locations in Rajasthan and Delhi with Bollywood Actress Rashmi Mishra, who is known for her work in films like Majaaz, Little boy and Naughty Gang with multiple other works like web series, music videos and TV serials.

Director Lom is known for his award-winning work as writer and director for films like "Yeh Hai India", "Chicken Biryani" and "Chicken Biryani 2". His viral Ads "Main Udna Chahti hu" and "Chal Bandeya" were based on social responsibility and self-empowerment themes which became an instant hit.

Later on, he has been honored as 'Youth Ambassador for Peace' by UPF and UN at Parliament of India in Delhi.

"It was a wonderful experience shooting for my very own production house, concept and theme of this shoot is very unique and creative and I hope our hard work will be appreciated by the audience yet again as they always showed their love for all my previous works. The whole team was very professional and I would like to thank Entire cast and crew for their sleepless efforts," said Indo Australian Director Lom Harsh.

"The whole crew have done their job very professionally, everyone was so disciplined and dedicated to their work, Mohsin Khan on camera, the members of direction team Shahid Khan, Ansh Rathore, Ankit Vyas, Ritik Dadhich, line producer Rocky S Santosh, production designer Faiyaz Khan, casting director Raaj Sharma, costume designer Nandini Chaudhary and her assistants Kanak and Chhavi along with Vinay Singh who is responsible for the art department, Pankaj Sain and Shakil on makeup and hairs completed this shoot perfectly, all have worked so hard day and night to meet the commitments of quality. Actors from Mumbai Delhi and Jaipur were selected," informed executive producer Sanjeev Joshi.

"Yash Singhal, Nirmal Chiraniya and the senior theatre actors from Rajasthan Neeraj Sharma, Rajeev Ankit, Iliyaz Khan, Sikandar Chouhan, Ramshankar ji, Mukesh Bairwa, Hemant Sharma and Vicky Rathore all the actors have given their magnificent performance," added Joshi.

This ad campaign is produced by an online education app and executed by Shilom Media LLP.

"We are equally thrilled and excited for our collaboration with Shilom Media and waiting for the next master piece by director Lom Harsh," said Pawan Kumar, Owner, and MD of this app.

"Shilom Media is an award-winning production house and we are hardcore story tellers, whole team worked so hard to maintain the dignity of my production house that can be seen from casting where they conducted 748 audition for the cast of 24 characters, the whole concept and theme of this ad campaign is very unique and we are hoping that it will hit the nerves of the audience and bring appropriate results for our esteemed client," quoted Shilpa Mittal, co-owner and director of Shilom Media LLP.

Shilom Media is a production house based at Mumbai and Jaipur and specializes in feature films, short films, TV commercials, music videos, viral advertisements, corporate videos, and branding- marketing of companies and films.

This story is provided by Digpu. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Japan's health ministry says six more people on a cruise ship quarantined near Tokyo have tested positive for the new coronavirus, bringing the total number to 70.

Ministry officials told reporters on Sunday that their latest tests on the Diamond Princess covered 57 people, and found that one passenger and five crewmembers have contracted the virus.

They said the passenger is an American woman in her 70s who lives in Hong Kong. The five crewmembers are an Ukrainian man in his 20s, three Philippine men in their 40s and one Philippine woman in her 20s.

Ministry officials said the six people were taken to hospital, but none are seriously ill.

Eight others who felt unwell were also taken to hospital.

The Diamond Princess departed from Yokohama on January 20. An 80-year-old male passenger from Hong Kong tested positive for the virus after he disembarked in his home city.

His case prompted the Japanese government to quarantine more than 3,700 people on board the ship, during its return trip to Yokohama.

Since last Monday, Japanese officials have conducted virus testing on passengers and crewmembers who have symptoms such as fever and coughing or who have had close contact with people showing those symptoms.

The ministry is asking the remaining passengers and crewmembers to stay in their rooms, or other limited areas, for 14 days while health checks are carried out.
By Olivia Rose

HEALTH officials have dismissed rumours of a cruise ship loaded with coronavirus infected passengers headed to the Turks and Caicos Islands.





On Tuesday (February 4), a WhatsApp message purporting to be issued by the Government was widely circulated across the Turks and Caicos Islands.





The message, which stirred panic among residents, read: "Holland America, Koningsdam cruise line estimated to arrive in Grand Turk on the 4th of February at 11pm, reportedly to have over 60 passengers infected with coronavirus.





"Citizens are advised to be cautious and do what is necessary to prevent this virus from affecting the nation.





During an appearance on Radio Turks and Caicos on Tuesday, Minister of Health Hon. Edwin Astwood and a team from his ministry addressed concerns.





The minister categorically denied the communication came from the Government and assured residents that all measures are being taken to ensure the TCI is protected against any threat.





He said: "We understand that persons are concerned but be assured, this is not the case.





He asked the public to stop sending the WhatsApp message.





In a statement on Tuesday, the Environmental Health Department (EHD) said it has stepped up its port health protocols in light of the coronavirus threat.





"As part of the port health protocol, the Environmental Health Department along with the Director of Health Services receives the Maritime Declaration of Health prior to all cruise ships arriving in TCI.





"Upon arrival all ships are met by environmental health officers who receive the updated health declaration prior to passengers disembarking the ships.





The department said a meeting was held with the Grand Turk Cruise Centre last week and again on Monday as part preventative measures being taken by the cruise industry.





Some of the measures being implemented include pre-screening of cruise passengers during check in, increased surveillance and all ships must notify the TCI of any illnesses on board.





The department also debunked the cruise ship rumours.





"Following these standardised procedures, EHD would like to assure the general public, especially the residents of Grand Turk, that ongoing rumours about sick passengers on board a cruise ship bound for Grand Turk are untrue.





"We understand that persons are concerned, however, please note that there are no suspected or confirmed cases of coronavirus within the TCI.





"The Ministry of Health remains committed to ensuring that these our beautiful by nature Turks and Caicos Islands remain coronavirus free.





Last week the World Health Organisation declared the deadly virus a global threat and urged countries around the world to beef up measures to prevent the virus from spreading.





WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaking on January 30 in Geneva said: "The main reason for this declaration is not what is happening in China but what is happening in other countries.





"Stopping the spread of this virus both in China and globally is WHOs highest priority.





The virus which causes patients to cough up blood or go into septic shock in some severe cases emerged last month in Wuhan, China.





According to the WHO the global outbreak includes 98 cases in 18 countries, outside China.





Governments around the world were urged to make their own decisions about whether to close their borders, cancel flights, screen people arriving at airports or take other protective measures.





Coronaviruses are a family of viruses, some of which cause illnesses in humans while others circulate among animals.





In rare cases, animal coronavirus change and infect humans and spread from person to person.





The public is advised to be vigilant and exercise the usual precautions for the prevention of the flu, such as washing hands, coughing into an elbow and using hand sanatiser.




Legendary fund manager Li Lu (who Charlie Munger backed) once said, 'The biggest investment risk is not the volatility of prices, but whether you will suffer a permanent loss of capital. When we think about how risky a company is, we always like to look at its use of debt, since debt overload can lead to ruin. As with many other companies China Dili Group (HKG:1387) makes use of debt. But should shareholders be worried about its use of debt?

Why Does Debt Bring Risk?

Generally speaking, debt only becomes a real problem when a company can't easily pay it off, either by raising capital or with its own cash flow. If things get really bad, the lenders can take control of the business. However, a more common (but still painful) scenario is that it has to raise new equity capital at a low price, thus permanently diluting shareholders. Of course, debt can be an important tool in businesses, particularly capital heavy businesses. The first step when considering a company's debt levels is to consider its cash and debt together.

View our latest analysis for China Dili Group

What Is China Dili Group's Net Debt?

The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that at June 2019 China Dili Group had debt of CN551.2m, up from none in one year. But it also has CN1.46b in cash to offset that, meaning it has CN909.6m net cash.

SEHK:1387 Historical Debt, February 10th 2020

How Strong Is China Dili Group's Balance Sheet?

We can see from the most recent balance sheet that China Dili Group had liabilities of CN1.05b falling due within a year, and liabilities of CN2.32b due beyond that. On the other hand, it had cash of CN1.46b and CN1.32b worth of receivables due within a year. So its liabilities total CN592.8m more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.

Of course, China Dili Group has a market capitalization of CN11.8b, so these liabilities are probably manageable. However, we do think it is worth keeping an eye on its balance sheet strength, as it may change over time. While it does have liabilities worth noting, China Dili Group also has more cash than debt, so we're pretty confident it can manage its debt safely.

Story continues

Although China Dili Group made a loss at the EBIT level, last year, it was also good to see that it generated CN121m in EBIT over the last twelve months. The balance sheet is clearly the area to focus on when you are analysing debt. But you can't view debt in total isolation; since China Dili Group will need earnings to service that debt. So when considering debt, it's definitely worth looking at the earnings trend. Click here for an interactive snapshot.

Finally, while the tax-man may adore accounting profits, lenders only accept cold hard cash. While China Dili Group has net cash on its balance sheet, it's still worth taking a look at its ability to convert earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to free cash flow, to help us understand how quickly it is building (or eroding) that cash balance. Over the most recent year, China Dili Group recorded free cash flow worth 69% of its EBIT, which is around normal, given free cash flow excludes interest and tax. This free cash flow puts the company in a good position to pay down debt, when appropriate.

Summing up

While it is always sensible to look at a company's total liabilities, it is very reassuring that China Dili Group has CN909.6m in net cash. And it impressed us with free cash flow of CN83m, being 69% of its EBIT. So we don't think China Dili Group's use of debt is risky. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet - far from it. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for China Dili Group you should know about.

If, after all that, you're more interested in a fast growing company with a rock-solid balance sheet, then check out our list of net cash growth stocks without delay.

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.
The Road to 270 is a weekly column leading up to the presidential election. Each installment is dedicated to understanding one states political landscape and how that might influence which party will win its electoral votes in 2020. Well do these roughly in order of expected competitiveness, moving toward the most intensely contested battlegrounds as election day nears.

The Road to 270 will be published every Monday. The column is written by Seth Moskowitz, a 270toWin elections and politics contributor. Contact Seth at s.k.moskowitz@gmail.com or on Twitter @skmoskowitz.

California

In the 2018 midterms, Democrats netted 41 House seats and took control of the House of Representatives. They did so in large part by flipping suburban districts across the country that were once safely Republican. No place better illustrates this political realignment than Orange County, California. This county was once a breeding ground for Republicans including Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. In 2018, Democrats flipped four congressional districts in Orange County. The county that Reagan called the place where the good Republicans go to die became ground zero for the 2018 blue wave. Democrats now hold 45 seats in the California House delegation and Republicans hold six.

California, however, wasnt always the Democratic stronghold it is today. From 1952 to 1988 it only voted for one Democratic presidential nominee. Recently, though, demographic changes like those that overwhelmed Republicans in Orange County have pushed California ever deeper into Democratic territory.

Las Californias to the Gold Rush

California was once a part of Las Californias, a Spanish territory that comprised modern day California, Baja California, and Baja California Sur. Spain split up Las Californias and created a new province that comprised modern day California, Utah, Nevada, and pieces of other Western states. The new parcel was passed on to Mexico in 1822 following Mexicos War of Independence and renamed Alta California.

In 1848, two events changed the course of California history. First, Mexico ceded territory, which included Alta California, to the United States following the Mexican-American War. Second, gold was discovered at Sutters Mill. The population exploded  not only with miners hoping to strike it rich, but also entrepreneurs catering to the needs of the new immigrants. The people selling tools, clothing, food, and other supplies were the real money-makers of the time. Perhaps the most famous of these entrepreneurs was Levi Strauss, who added metal rivets to pants and founded the top selling jeans brand in the world.

Statehood and the California Dream

Just two years after becoming an American territory, California became the 31st state. Agriculture spread throughout the state's northern region to feed the massive population growth associated with the Gold Rush. Eventually, agriculture became a career of choice for unsuccessful miners.

Immigration to California continued through the 1800s as promises of economic success and the California Dream pulled in newcomers. The construction of the Transcontinental Railroad that connected Omaha to San Francisco brought in laborers, most of whom were Chinese immigrants. A similar need for agricultural labor attracted workers, largely of Native American, Asian, and Mexican ethnicity and descent.

In the early 20th Century, aqueducts to the dry southern region of the state allowed the development of Los Angeles and San Diego. The states industrial farms and oil fields had an endless thirst for labor and so the population continued to boom. The state was also a destination for devastated farmers escaping the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. By 1940, Californias population had reached nearly seven million; at the time of statehood in 1850, it was less than 100,000.

World War II and a New Economy

Even so, the biggest boom was yet to come. World War II demanded more defense and agricultural production than ever before. Californias labor force made it a natural home for these industries that required difficult work. During the war, California received 10% of U.S. defense spending and accounted for 14% of total American production. From 1940 to 1945, Californias population grew by 30%, about 2.5 million people. After the war, the population continued to climb; people who had moved to the state during the war liked living there. The states natural beauty and pleasant climate prevented a post-war exodus. The state also became a primary entry point and destination for immigrants as the growing defense, manufacturing, automobile, film, and technological industries demanded more labor.

From 1940 to 1970, Californias population grew from seven million to 20 million, eventually overtaking New York as the most populous state. After the war, the state developed its housing, freeways, roads, schools, bridges, and transportation infrastructure to accommodate the population influx. The economic and population boom lasted through most of the 20th Century. During the 1980s, the military and defense industries continued to grow. So too did Silicon Valley, the Northern California tech hub that had originated in the region due to a confluence of an established defense industry ecosystem, Stanford University, and venture capital.

Disaster Strikes

In the 1990s, Californias cycle of growth and prosperity stopped. Drought, fires, earthquakes, mudslides, and other environmental disasters plagued the state. In 1991, according to Republican Governor Pete Wilson, Californias financial situation had deteriorated from a crisis to an emergency. He blamed the Gulf War, recession, and environmental disasters for the states ballooning deficit and precarious finances. The states response was to hike taxes and government spending. Between 1990 and 2008, the states budget grew from $51 billion to $96 billion.

The Great Recession only exacerbated the states financial troubles. Californians who had bought suburban homes outside Los Angeles and San Francisco found themselves deeply in debt. Cities including San Bernardino and Stockton filed for bankruptcy, largely due to generous public employment benefits that had been negotiated by powerful unions.

Economic Powerhouse or Urban Tragedy

Despite the troubles, California has the most powerful economy of any state. If it were its own country, it would be the fifth largest economy in the world. The state has pockets of extreme wealth and extreme poverty. Republicans point to Californias homelessness, crime, and crumbling infrastructure as a result of Democratic leadership and government regulations. But the states booming metropolises and pristine environment are also used as arguments in favor of government regulation and environmentalism.

Early Electoral History (Statehood  1948)

From 1860 through 1928, California voted according to the regional lines drawn by slavery and the Civil War. The state was reliably Republican on the presidential level with exceptions in 1880, 1892, 1912, and 1916. During this era, Californians were also willing to vote for progressive outsiders. In 1912, when Theodore Roosevelt broke from the Republican Party and ran under as a third-party contender, 42% of Californians voted for him. This was Roosevelts second best showing of any state. Again in 1924, 33% of Californians voted for the Progressive Partys candidate, Robert La Follette, while his national average was 17%.

In each election from 1932 to 1944, California voted decisively for Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt and did so by a larger margin the national average. The New Deal was popular in California and helped boost the Depression-ravaged, agriculture-based economy. From 1933 to 1939, the New Deal allocated California the second most money in total and the tenth most per capita of all the states. The New Deal also strengthened Californias unions, an important support system that would help Democrats organize and win future elections. Roosevelts popularity in California helped his Democratic successor, Harry Truman, eke out a 0.44% victory over Republican Thomas Dewey in 1948.

Republican Dominance (1952  1988)

After this stretch of Democratic victories, Republicans would again take hold of California for the next four decades. From 1952 through 1988, only one Democrat  Lyndon Johnson in the landslide of 1964  would be able to win Californias electoral votes. In 1952 and 1956, the moderate Republican, Dwight D. Eisenhower, who ran largely on his experience with international affairs, carried the state. In 1960, 1968, 1972, 1980, and 1984, Californias very own Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan would lead the Republican ticket and carry California. In 1988, however, the states leftward migration became clear when Republican George H.W. Bush won California by less than 4%.

A Turn to Democrats (1992  2004)

Two demographic shifts are responsible for the Democratic ascendancy in California that began in the 1980s and continues to this day. First, as the states economy struggled in the 1990s, blue collar and uneducated whites moved out of the state while college educated whites moved in. This new population was more aligned with the Democratic Partys positions on social issues like same sex marriage and abortion.

The other demographic change is the growth in the Hispanic and Asian populations. These demographics  generally friendly to the Democratic Party  have been growing in California since the 1970s. In 1994, when Republican Governor Pete Wilson ran a campaign supporting Proposition 187 that denied public services to illegal immigrants, California shifted decisively to Democrats. The hardline stance against immigrants was a death knell for California Republicans on the presidential level. Democrats would strap Republicans to Governor Wilsons unpopular stance on immigrants and solidify their support among Hispanics and Asians.

The electoral consequences of these demographic shifts were stark. Democrat Bill Clinton carried California by 13% in both 1992 and 1996. Al Gore won by 11% in 2000, and John Kerry won by 10% in 2004.

Obama and Clinton Nation (2008  2016)

Barack Obamas 24% margin over John McCain in 2008 was the largest Democratic victory since FDRs landslide in 1936. Obama again dominated the state in 2012 with a 23% margin over Mitt Romney. Then, in 2016, Hillary Clinton expanded that margin even further to 30%.

Hillary Clinton received about 900,000 more votes than Barack Obama did in 2012 and Donald Trump received about 350,000 fewer than Mitt Romney. Clinton outperformed Obamas margin in most of the states populous and dense counties including Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Sacramento Counties. Trump, meanwhile, outperformed Mitt Romney in some more rural counties in northern and inland California. The overall shift, however, clearly favored Clinton.

Clintons strong performance in California boosted her national popular vote total but had no effect on the Electoral College. Even though she expanded Obamas margin in California by over 1 million, she received no additional electoral votes. Across the country, Clinton widened the Democratic margin in deep blue states like California and New York while losing narrowly in the swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. This led to a popular vote victory but an Electoral College loss.

Orange County Collapse

While Californians exodus from the GOP did not impact the Electoral College, it does have downballot effects. In the 2018 midterms, Republicans lost seven House seats in California including four  the 39th, 45th, 48th, and 49th districts  based in Orange County. That county, once a Republican stronghold, exemplifies the national trend of educated, suburban white voters realigning behind the Democratic Party.

Californias Current Political Landscape

Californias 55 electoral votes are safely Democratic. Registered Democrats currently outnumber Republicans 44% to 24%, while No Party Preference voters are at 27%.

California is 39% Hispanic/Latino, a population that makes up the plurality of the state. Asians, and Blacks make up 16%, and 7% of the population respectively. Only 37% of Californians are non-Hispanic whites and the key Republican constituency, non-college educated whites, only make up 27% of the state.

While California used to be politically divided between north and south, the current splits are urban vs. rural and coastal vs. inland. As with much of the rest of the country, Californias urban communities vote Democratic and its rural regions lean Republican. California has plenty of liberal cities in the Bay area and Southern California that overpower the conservative, rural regions. Communities on the coast are generally wealthier, more educated, and environmentally-focused whereas inland California is less wealthy, more agrarian, and less college educated.

While California may be uncompetitive in the general presidential election, it is an important date on this years Democratic presidential primary calendar. The state moved its primary from June to March, increasing its influence in the early stages of the primary process. California Democrats are allocated 415 pledged delegates in the primary, meaning that the state could tip the primary results and narrative coming out of Super Tuesday. While the states in-person voters will cast their ballots on Super Tuesday, absentee and mail-in voters have already received their ballots.

The real presidential competition in California will happen in March when California Democrats make their preference for a nominee known. Demographic trends have pushed the state deeper than ever into the Democrats corner, making it a safe state for whichever candidate ultimately wins the nomination.

Looking past 2020, Democratic domination in presidential elections isn't likely to change. However, slower population growth in the past decade means the state may lose a congressional seat - and an electoral vote - after the 2020 Census. If this happens, it will be the first time the Golden State has ever lost representation after a Census.

Next Week: Kentucky
Kahithe Kiiru talks about her job as head of choreography at Bomas of Kenya.

******************************************

The fact that my job is exciting is first and foremost due to the passion I have for it. I love my job and consider myself extremely blessed to be able to work in the performing arts field. I have chosen dance early on in my life and my enthusiasm for building a career in the field has never dropped. On the contrary, the more I grew both on a personal and artistic level, the more it became clear to me what I was put on this Earth to do.

Initially, I chose Kenyan traditional dance out of curiosity and, but as time passed by and I learned more and more, I realised this specialisation would have a permanent impact on my life. And then, things just fell into place.

Today I proudly act as the head choreographer of Bomas Harambee Dancers, Kenyas national dance company, and continuously advocate for the development and promotion of Kenyan dance. Early mornings are not my most productive time of the day. Im a night bird by nature. I had to train myself to wake up by 7 a.m. and kick my day off with a 15-30 minutes personal yoga and/or meditation session. The nature of my job is dynamic, and my daily routine is not always the same. As any dance company, we operate in seasons  during rehearsal season, I will report to work at 8:30 am and either just participate or lead the dance team in our morning workout sessions. After this, we commence rehearsals. But when were off season and focus on performances alone, I may come to work at a later time.

My history with Bomas of Kenya started while I was still a student in Paris. I was doing a masters programme in dance anthropology and my research focus on traditional dances of Kenya brought me to Bomas first in 2011. Since that time I did several internships with the dance company and kept following their programmes even when I was abroad. Once I got a PhD scholarship, I started spending more and more time in Kenya, did extensive research on dance in Kakamega County and in the Coast, and got engaged as a research assistant in various projects. By the time my PhD scholarship was expiring, I had already made up my mind  I was going to settle in Kenya.

As most people, I experience different types of challenges in my work. There are personal challenges, related to my own personal growth; there are institutional challenges that we face as a team; and then there are conceptual challenges, or should I call them societal challenges, that all artists working in the field of performing arts in Kenya face.

On a personal level I think the thing I struggled with most (and at times still struggle with today) is authority  being in charge of a large troupe of artists is not an easy task. I am rather gentle and democratic by nature, so learning how to ensure discipline, when to push them harder, when to punish and how, etc., hasnt been easy for me. I also struggle with taking distance from work, since my passion often results in excessive worry and thats not healthy at all.

I was appointed to my current position to be a vehicle of change, to upgrade our levels of performance, to bring in new original ideas and insights from the international dance scene. Yet, as you can imagine, it is never easy to change entrenched systems and ways of operation. And neither is it easy to change peoples habits and perceptions. That is the essence of my day to day struggle in a state corporation Bomas of Kenya is.

As a team, the Bomas dancers face numerous challenges, many of which are related to the lack of understanding for dance as a profession. We live in a society where art in general hasnt yet been fully recognised as a significant contributor to society nor as a valid professional choice. And the situation with traditional dance, in particular, is even worse. There is this horrid idea that people who chose to dance for a living do so because they had no other choices. The dance sector is still underdeveloped and we still have a lot of advocacy and practical efforts to do.

If I could tell my younger self something, it would be to trust in the process. And to have more patience. Things dont happen overnight, at least not the important ones. And when were young at times we tend to get discouraged somewhere along the way. We also lack the self-confidence to follow our intuition and persist in our efforts. Today I believe that to be one of the most valuable lessons we should teach our kids. Theres a place for each one of us in our beautiful diversity. And if you follow your heart and trust the process, you will find yourself in the most amazing, unimaginable places, doing wondrous thingsthings that you were meant to do. So dont let anyone tell you that your dreams are not valid. They just require time and stubborn effort.

I think the best advice I ever got was to be gentle on myself. I tend to be very self-critical and punish my own self for things I do not necessarily have control of. Someone I admire greatly once told me that self-care and self-forgiveness are indispensable for a happy and fulfilled life. And they were right.Im currently completing a PhD programme in anthropology and writing my thesis on dance heritage in contemporary Kenya. It has been six years in the making now and I cant really say what the initial motivation behind it was. From where I stand now, I guess it was a thirst for knowledge and understanding of the dynamic processes that have affected traditional dances in Kenya throughout history.

I also believe that scientific research validates artistic practice and affirms its significance in society. In the Kenyan context, little has been done to document and promote our dance heritage. And even less to develop and market it to the extent that other countries in this world have done. So, this is about way more than just a paper and a title. I take it as my duty to use the power of academia to preserve and restore our traditional dances and give them the visibility they deserve.

I love books. Im not sure if I can pick a favourite one. I read widely, but have in the past few years been restricted by time and by the burden of my thesis deadline. I read so much in social sciences, that I was forced to reduce fiction to a minimum.

Some of the authors that marked my youth and in a way made me who I am today include classics by Frantz Fanon, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Maya Angelou and Ngugi wa Thiongo. Im also a follower of contemporary African writers such as Chimamanda Adichie, Marie NDiaye, Maryse Conde, Aminatta Forna, Alain Mabanckou, Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor and the late Binyavanga Wainaina.

I have a five-year-old daughter. Shes the light of my world. She pushes me daily to be a better version of myself. Motherhood has been the most rewarding journey and I give thanks every day for her. She also loves music, dance and arts in general. I always admire her strong character and how protective she is of her mummy. My Future is Secure.

Courtesy: Sunday Magazine
ATLANTA, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On Monday, February 10, the Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Georgia), CAIR Legal Defense Fund, and the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund plan to announce the filing of a federal free speech lawsuit against the University System of Georgia, which cancelled a journalist's speaking engagement on a college campus when she refused to sign a state-mandated oath pledging not to boycott the Israeli government.

SEE: Abby Martin Banned From Speaking at US University For Refusing to Sign Pro-Israel Pledge

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1215812853355008000.html

WHAT: Press Conference on Free Speech Lawsuit Against Georgia's 'Israel Boycott' Law

WHEN: Monday Feb. 10, 12:30 p.m.

WHERE: Atlanta. Journalists may call 404-285-9530 or email [email protected] for the address of the press conference.

LIVESTREAM: CAIR Georgia Facebook Page

During the press conference, activist, journalist and filmmaker Abby Martin plans to speak about her experience, while attorneys from CAIR and the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund plan to present details of the federal lawsuit.

In a statement, CAIR-Georgia Executive Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:

"By canceling a journalist's speaking engagement on a college campus because she refused to pledge support for a foreign government, the State of Georgia has blatantly violated the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of speech.

"Just as African-Americans had the right to participate in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and just as anti-apartheid activists had the right to boycott South Africa, journalists like Abby Martin have the right to boycott the Israeli government over its human rights abuses of Palestinians."

"Every American has the constitutional right to engage in political boycotts, and the State of Georgia does not have the right to punish any American for doing so."

Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Executive Director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, stated:

"In 1956, Martin Luther King, Jr. was criminalized for leading a boycott against Jim Crow apartheid in Alabama. Southern states enforced anti-boycott laws to punish and derail civil rights organizing. The Supreme Court eventually made clear that peaceful boycotts are a protected form of political speech and expression.

"Nonetheless, filmmaker and journalist Abby Martin has now been barred by Georgia from contracting to speak on campus because she too advocates a boycott against apartheid, this time the apartheid enforced by the government of Israel against the Palestinian people. Government directives as to what political views a person may or may not advocate contravene fundamental First Amendment rights, are fatal to a free society and must be struck down."

In a statement, CAIR Legal Defense Fund Senior Litigation Attorney Gadeir Abbas said:

"There is no place where free speech is more important than on campus. And this attempt to suppress Abby's views--denying students, academics, and others from hearing her lecture--is as brazen as it is illegal."

"In adopting this anti-BDS law, Georgia has prioritized the policy preferences of a foreign country over the free speech rights of Americans, like Abby, who speak on this state's college campuses."

BACKGROUND

In 2016, Governor Nathan Deal signed into law SB 327 , which requires any person or company that enters into a contract with the State of Georgia worth $1,000 or more to sign a loyalty oath pledging not engage in political boycotts of the Israeli government based on its treatment of Palestinians.

Numerous advocacy groups and state legislators, including then-House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams , opposed the law as a violation of free speech.

Similar measures have been enacted in 25 other states as part of an effort to block the growing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Modeled after the global South African anti-apartheid movement, the BDS movement's stated goal is to pressure the Israeli government to end its occupation of Palestinian territory.

CAIR, the American Civil Liberties Union, and other civil rights organizations have filed free speech lawsuits against anti-BDS laws in Arkansas, Arizona, Maryland, and Texas, where CAIR won a landmark legal victory last year.

SEE: Texas Judge Blocks Law Banning Contractors from Engaging in Boycotts of Israel

SEE: Arizona Lawmakers Running Scared After Anti-Boycott Law Ruled Unconstitutional

The federal court in Texas held that that the state's anti-boycott law "threatens to suppress unpopular ideas" and "manipulate the public debate" on Israel and Palestine "through coercion rather than persuasion." The Court concluded: "This the First Amendment does not allow."

The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, based in Washington, D.C., is a public interest legal organization that has litigated on behalf of political organizations and activists across the country to protect and defend First Amendment rights. For more information go to www.JusticeOnline.org .

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.

La mision de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprension del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.

CONTACT:

CAIR-Georgia Executive Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell , 404-285-9530, [email protected]

, 404-285-9530, CAIR Senior Litigation Attorney Gadeir Abbas, 720-251-0425, [email protected]

Mara Verheyden-Hilliard , PCJF Executive Director, 202-270-3533, [email protected]

SOURCE Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)

Related Links

http://www.cair.com


Foreign arrivals in Iran hits 8 million in 10 months: Tourism Minister

02/10/20

Source: Tehran Times

Some eight million foreign nationals have visited Iran since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2019) despite [U.S.] sanctions and a sharp decline in flights by some foreign airlines, tourism minister has said. "Over the past couple of months, [the tourism sector of] Iran has been suffering from sanctions and decrease in the number of flights by foreign airlines, however, the Islamic Republic has played host to some eight million foreign travelers during the first ten months of the year," Ali-Asghar Mounesan said on Wednesday, IRIB reported.

Mounesan made the remarks in Tehran on the sidelines of a ceremony to inaugurate 472 tourism projects worth 20 trillion rials (about $510 million) through videoconferencing, the report said.



The projects are estimated to generate 4,200 jobs and add 8,700 beds to the country's hotels, hostels, guesthouses and eco-lodges.



Iran was ranked the third fastest growing tourism destination in the globe in 2019, with 27.9 percent growth year on year, according to the latest statistics released by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).



Related news by Iranian daily Kelid:

Ukraine plane crash in Tehran has damaged Iran's tourism industry

In January, Mounesan issued a statement, inviting all travelers and holidaymakers to visit the ancient land, saying that the country-size guesthouse is wholeheartedly ready to receive tourists from around the world.



He emphasized that the Iranian government is trying its best to host incoming tourists by improving tourism infrastructure, offering attractive and pocket-friendly packages, as well as incentives such as visa waivers or 90-day visas on arrival.



Iran welcomed some 7.8 million foreign nationals last year, achieving 52.5 percent increase year on year.



The country expects to reap a bonanza from its numerous tourist spots, including 22 ones that have been placed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Under the 2025 Tourism Vision Plan, the country aims to increase the number of tourist arrivals from 4.8 million in 2014 to 20 million in 2025.


Ceremonies are taking place in Thailand for the victims of a mass shooting that saw a soldier kill 29 people before being shot dead by police.

Some funerals will take place at a temple in Nakhon Ratchasima province, north-east of Bangkok, where the shooting took place, and will be attended by the president of the kings privy council.

Local media reported that a government representative had laid flowers at the funeral of a 13-year-old victim on Sunday.

Over a hundred police officers held a guard of honour at a Bangkok airport on Monday for two special forces officers who were killed by the gunman.

Their funerals will take place at a temple in Bangkok.

Thank you to all police commanders and officers and other departments for working together to the best of your abilities with courage and sacrifice in the face of danger, Police Chief Chakthip Chaijinda said in a Monday statement.

Volunteers, wearing yellow scarves and blue hats  colours that show loyalty to the Thai royal family  lined up on Monday morning before entering a mall in Nakhon Ratchasima city, over 200 kilometres north-east of the capital, to help clear up debris left over from the shooting.

The 32-year-old gunman was holed up for hours in the Terminal 21 mall during the last part of his rampage.

He was shot dead there by police after carrying out what was the countrys worst ever such massacre.

Over a thousand mourners held a vigil for the victims late Sunday and some placed flowers outside Terminal 21.

Nakhon Ratchasima governor Wichien Chantharanothai told a news conference late Sunday that 30 people, including the gunman, were killed, and 58 others were injured.

The gunman was identified as Jakrapanth Thomma, a sergeant.

He embarked on a killing spree targeting soldiers, police, and civilians after stealing heavy weapons and a Humvee from a military base.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said the shooting stemmed from a personal dispute over payment in a home sale deal between the gunman and his commanding officers mother-in-law.

(dpa/NAN)
Veloce Digital Health is working to make pills smarter. The Denver, Colorado company is developing the SmartTab, an ingestible capsule that can be wirelessly controlled via a smartphone to release its contents at precise locations within the gastrointestinal system.

SmartTab CEO Robert Niichel

The idea is that [with] the smart capsule, you will have precision medicine and delivered to a very targeted area, says Robert Niichel, Founder and CEO. This approach, he points out, could reduce drug dosages, adverse effects, and improve patient outcomes.

SmartTab works using several key technological features. The capsule itself is powered by inductive charging. Once swallowed, the capsule is tracked electronically using a small adhesive patch worn on the skin near the target area. When the capsule approaches the desired spot for administration, the contents can be released automatically or by the user by pushing some buttons on the accompanying iPhone app.

Of all the potential drugs that SmartTab could deliver, the company hopes to start with medications for Crohns disease. [Crohns] affects a specific section area within the GI tract, Niichel says. [By] treating just the affected area you can reduce the amount of drug needed, as well as improve patient outcomes, because now you have essentially a laser-targeted delivery.

Beyond Crohns disease, Niichel is quick to point out more potential applications. Longer courses of antibiotics could be delivered using a single capsule that stays in the system for multiple days, releasing a set dose of antibiotics daily. Capsules that stay in the system for longer periods of time could also contain heart attack or epilepsy medications, Niichel says, with medication release triggered during symptom onset. And finally, drugs that are currently delivered as injections could be contained in a capsule, which could dock against the small intestine and deliver the drug painlessly.

In terms of cost, Niichel notes that the capsules are quite inexpensive: You have many drugs out there that cost five, ten, twenty thousand dollars a year, he says. Were talking about the smart capsule being less than a dollar per capsule.

In 2019, SmartTab completed animal pre-clinical studies and demonstrated that the pill could successfully release its contents at the targeted area upon receiving the wireless signal. The next step, says Niichel, is to begin human clinical studies in 2020 towards the goal of FDA approval.

Our vision is that in 10-15 years youll see virtually all capsules and tablets in a pharmacy have some type of an electronic tracking system, delivery, or monitoring system And were the leaders in that space.

Link: SmartTab homepage
Coronavirus Deaths In China Surpass Level Of SARS In 2002-03

February 09, 2020

The number of deaths from the coronavirus in China has surged past 800 people, surpassing the number of fatalities of the SARS outbreak in 2002-03, but overall figures showed a one-day slowing of new cases, raising hopes that it was the first sign of a peaking of the epidemic.

China's National Health Commission on February 9 said the central Hubei Province recorded 89 new deaths on February 8, pushing the total to 811 throughout the country and above the 774 who died from SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

The number of new infections in Hubei Province -- whose capital, Wuhan, is considered the epicenter of the outbreak -- showed a decline in new cases for the first time since February 1.

Officials said 2,656 new cases were identified throughout the country for the day, with 2,147 in Hubei.

Joseph Eisenberg, professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan, told Reuters it was too early to say whether the epidemic was peaking given the uncertainty in reporting procedures.

"Even if reported cases might be peaking, we don't know what is happening with unreported cases. This is especially an issue in some of the more rural areas," he said.

The total of confirmed cases hit 37,198 in mainland China.

The virus has spread to about two dozen countries, but all but two of the deaths have occurred in mainland China. The first U.S. citizen died from the disease, officials said on February 8, identifying him as a 60-year-old man in Wuhan.

The virus broke out at a seafood market in Wuhan that reportedly sold exotic animals for consumption -- similar to the SARS outbreak.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and dpa

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/china- coronavirus-deaths-surpass-sars -toll/30424657.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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Andhra Pradesh: Dwindling catch spurs westward migration of north AP fishermen

February 10,2020 | Source: The Times of India

To reach the shores of the Bay of Bengal, B Laxman must walk only half-a-kilometre from his single-storey house in D Matchylesam village in Srikakulam district. Yet the sea has little to offer the fisherman who migrates with his neighbours to Gujarat every year and spends eight months in a mechanised boat on the Arabian Sea. Migration is mandatory if he is to earn a livelihood. In 1993, when NT Rama Rao was chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh, the government had announced the construction of jetties along the 197-km-long coastline in Srikakulam district. Time passed, the government changed and the state was bifurcated, but the jetties remained only on paper. For the 35,000-odd fishermen in the region, venturing out to sea on a mechanised boat from the shore along their village remained a dream. Over the years, Laxman and other fishermen learnt how to manouevre mechanised boats and migrated to Gujarat, where their skills were in demand.



Owing to a lack of jetties here, we can venture out only on small boats and these small boats cannot be beyond a distance of five km from the coast. Fish population within a five km stretch is low due to overfishing and waste from factories. We are left with no other option but to migrate to states such as Gujarat, and even Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to earn our livelihood, Laxman said. The 18401/18402 Puri-Okha Express reaches Srikakulam Road Station every Sunday at 2.40 pm and departs at 2.42 pm. Every September, Laxman and fishermen from the 104 coastal villages in the district board the train to reach Rajkot. From there, another train takes them to Porbandar, the nearest railway station to the port town of Veraval in western Gujarat.



We have our dedicated sethji (employers who own mechanised boats) who appoint us on a monthly basis. The salary is lucrative. If the catch is good and the sethji is impressed, we get tips in the form of cash, cellphones and jewellery, said C Appa Rao, another fisherman. A new migrant from the region is first appointed as a cook for seven to eight fishermen, before progressing to the status of khalasi, sorting and segregating the catch of the day. Within a few years, he learns how to steer the boat and is appointed as an assistant helmsman, and finally a full-time helmsman. While a cook and a khalasi earn between Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 a month, an assistant helmsman earns Rs 14,000 to Rs 15,000. The tandal or primary helmsman earns between Rs 22,000 to Rs 25,000.



Although a monthly salary is fixed for us we accept the full payment only after eight months. In between, sethji is happy with the catch he offers us tips. Often he directly sends the tips to my family during Sankranti. Gujarat, especially Veraval port, is a golden duck for us, said G Rama Rao, another fisherman. The history of fishermens migration from Srikakulam district goes back to 1982, when G Suryanaranaya, a fisherman from Garamandal Mogdalparu village, went to Gujarat for the first time.



Chintapalli Suryanarayana, an advocate and fisheries activist, recollects how his relative from the same village and employed with the Railways was in Gujarat at the time. He informed Suryanarayana about the prospect of fishing in Gujarat and introduced him to a boat owner at Veraval port. He was employed and returned with a handsome salary after a few months. The next year, he took along some other fishermen to Gujarat with him. Over the years it became a trend, added Chintapalli, who also belongs to a fisherman family.



Migration, however, has brought with it its own set of problems. The hunt for a good catch often takes fishermen as far south as the coast of Karnataka and Kerala. Venturing into the sea adjacent to these states requires care, as the local fishermen dont allow us to dock our boats on show, and if they do, they take away our catch. We are in trouble if we run out of fuel or develop a technical snag, said K Raju.



But it is the area north-west of Okha, known as Pak Jalasandhi among local fishermen, that is especially problematic. The territory of Pakistan begins barely 450 km north-west of Okha and at night when we anchor our boats, we have to be very careful. The boat may drift to Pakistani territory in case of inclement weather. We need to calculate where we drop anchor. Normally, I dont venture north of Dwaraka after sunset, said Laxman, who has been helmsman for over 15 years. Closer home, activists said constructing jetties is not enough, but fishermen need mechanised boats and the money to purchase them. The only solution to this is to implement the deep sea fishing policy in Andhra Pradesh. Under this scheme, fishermen would get 50 per cent subsidy to buy mechanised boats, said Arjilli Dasu, executive director of Fisherfolk Foundation, a community-based organisation for fishermen in Andhra Pradesh.



While the foundation stone for a jetty was recently laid in Srikakulam district, the chief minister has promised to construct more jetties. A draft deep sea fishing policy is ready and needs approval before coming into effect. It might take some more months or years now, added Dasu. Till that time, Laxman and other fishermen from north Andhra have only one road  the Puri-Okha Express from Srikakulam Road Station to Rajkot, and then onwards to Veraval.
NEW HAVEN  A Cheshire man who threatened his then-girlfriend and their infant child, then exchanged gunfire with police, has been sentenced to serve 12 years in prison.

Cameron Pernin, 31, was wounded during the shootout but it was not life-threatening. The Cheshire officers were not injured.

The episode unfolded on June 22, 2018, when Cheshire police received a 911 call at about 7 p.m. from a friend of Pernins then-girlfriend. The caller reported that her friend was actively involved in a domestic dispute and a possible hostage situation with her boyfriend, according to the Cheshire police arrest warrant.

The caller said her friend had been sending her texts and videos of Pernins threatening behavior and that she was barricaded in a room.

According to the caller, her friend told her the argument began with Pernin calling their infant child an expletive and telling the child to choke on a baby bottle. The friend also reported to the caller that Pernin had attempted to grab the baby and the friends cellphone and had sprayed pepper spray into the friends face, according to the warrant.

Shortly before the 911 caller made that call, she called Pernin on his cellphone and asked him if she could come get her friend and the baby out of the house. But Pernin reportedly told her he would release the mother while holding onto the infant. He also reportedly told the caller that the police didnt stand a chance and that he would start shooting when the officers came to the door, the warrant stated.

The 911 caller also told police her friend said Pernin was dressed in riot gear, including a bulletproof vest, as well a gas mask. The friend also said he was armed with gas and a rifle.

Cheshire police immediately dispatched a sergeant and four officers to the condominium where Pernin lived with the then-girlfriend and the child. They established a perimeter around the outside of the residence, the warrant said.

Shortly after police arrived, the woman, carrying the infant, came out of the condominium from the rear porch. Officers directed her to walk toward them to safety.

However, 15 to 30 seconds after the woman came out, Pernin also came outside, stood on the rear porch and began firing his handgun at the officers, according to the warrant. Police officers returned fire and struck Pernin in his hand.

The warrant noted Pernin was wearing a bulletproof vest at the time. After being struck on his hand, he went back inside and barricaded himself.

The girlfriend and her parents, who had arrived at the scene, then phoned Pernin and pleaded with him to surrender. Police desk personnel also called him and asked that he come out and surrender. He did so, about 20 minutes after he had retreated inside.

Pernin was arrested and taken to a hospital for treatment of his wound. The warrant noted that when he surrendered he had a can of pepper spray and a 9 mm handgun holster, but not the gun. Police found the gun on the kitchen counter.

When the victim was interviewed by Cheshire police she said that in the early evening of June 22, she and Pernin got into an argument over the baby crying and how Pernin was not helping with the child. Pernin then went into the basement to call his mother. She followed him down there and he pulled out a can of pepper spray.

According to the warrant, she told police that Pernin began teasing her with it as he waved it toward her and let out a few small bursts. Then he let out a larger burst that she walked into.

At that point she took the infant and their dog up to the a bedroom and put a dresser in front of the door. She then called her mother and Pernins mother to tell them what was happening.

The woman said she had a live feed security feature on her cellphone and so was able to see Pernin putting on his body armor downstairs and then walking upstairs to the bedroom. She said he yelled through the bedroom door that if she called her parents or the police, they would get a bullet in the head.

After that Pernin began pounding on the door and was able to get into the bedroom. He grabbed her arm, bruising and scratching her. Pernin then grabbed her gun and holster that she had holstered on her waistband, the warrant said. (Police said she has a valid pistol permit.)

She knew the gun was fully loaded when he took it from her, the warrant said. She stated she was never so scared for her life. After she began to scream in the hope that someone would hear her, she said, Pernin pointed the gun at her head and at the childs head.

However, eventually Pernin went back downstairs. She said that while holding her baby in her arms, she ran past Pernin and out the rear deck door.

She stated that once on the rear deck, she noticed that a police officer was outside, holding a rifle and was instructing her to run toward him, the warrant said. She stated that as she was running toward the police officer, she heard several rounds of gunfire. She said that because she had her back toward her rear deck, she didnt know who was shooting at whom.

The New Haven states attorneys office contacted the Connecticut State Police to investigate the case, according to the Cheshire police warrant. The state police investigators found 14 spent rifle bullet casings outside the condominium matching the ammunition the Cheshire police officers had in their rifles, the Cheshire police warrant stated.

The warrant said three members of the Cheshire Police Department returned fire after Pernin began shooting at them. They were identified as Sgt. Michael Durkee and Officers Vincent Nastri and Michael Aquillino. They did a walkthrough with state police investigators, showing where they were standing during the exchange of gunfire.

State police recovered two apparent 9 mm projectiles in the direction where Sgt. Durkee and Officer Nastri were standing, the Cheshire police warrant said. All three reported that Pernin shot first at them before they returned fire. The warrant did not say which of the three shot and wounded Pernin.

The warrant noted Pernin was a convicted felon, stemming from his 2008 arrest and conviction for carrying a dangerous weapon. This disqualified him from possessing a handgun.

Cheshire police originally charged Pernin with risk of injury to a child, third-degree assault and first-degree threatening. State police charged him with two counts of first-degree attempted assault and criminal possession of a pistol or revolver.

Instead of going to trial, Pernin entered into a plea agreement, pleading guilty to first-degree reckless endangerment, third-degree assault and two counts of attempted first-degree assault. He had been held in lieu of $750,000 bail since his arrest. Superior Court Judge Patrick J. Clifford imposed a 20-year sentence, to be suspended after Pernin serves 12 years, followed by five years of probation.

randall.beach@hearstmediact.com
Oscars 2020: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood Star Julia Butters Snuck A Turkey Sandwich In Her Purse For This Reason
A new national safety standard for barbecue grill brushes will require a warning label and testing to reduce the risk of wire bristles becoming detached, embedded in food and accidentally ingested.

Over a six-year span ending in January, Health Canada received 59 reports of incidents related to barbecue brushes, including 48 injuries, according to its Consumer Product Safety Program.

Following reports of injuries caused by loose bristles, Health Canada decided in 2017 not to ban sales of the wire bristle brushes.

Instead, the federal regulator worked with the Retail Council of Canada and other groups to come up with a standard for barbecue brushes sold in Canada.

'Sad that there can't be a stop to this'

Bev Smith underwent emergency surgery to remove a 20-centimetre section of her bowel after a metal barbecue brush bristle perforated it in 2017. She said she's disappointed the new standard still allows for wire bristle BBQ brushes.

She maintains Health Canada should have banned the sale of them.

"It's sad that there can't be a stop to this  that there can't be something done so it never happens again," Smith said. "There wouldn't be so many hospital visits. There wouldn't be so many surgeries," Smith said. "And someday somebody ... is going to eventually die from it."

WATCH | Bev Smith was injured after accidentally ingesting a wire bristle:

Retail group pleased

The new standard, which was developed by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA Group), sets out testing parameters for barbecue brushes and outlines warnings that are to accompany brushes that meet the standard.

"This is something that we've been wanting for a while," said Cory Anderson, senior manager of government relations and regulatory affairs for the Retail Council of Canada, which represents more than 45,000 storefronts.

Health Canada

"We are extremely happy that it is now a reality, and retailers will be doing what they can to get these certified brushes on the shelves as soon as possible," Anderson said.

Story continues

"It's in the retailers' best interests to sell safe product," he said, in explaining the rationale for a standard. "They don't want to be selling product that could be bringing harm to their consumers."

Standard is voluntary

But brushes that don't meet the CSA standard, which is voluntary for companies, won't disappear from store shelves overnight.

"There is not technically a cut-off date or a specific date that a retailer would be required to sell a CSA certified barbecue brush," said Anderson, who represented the Retail Council on the technical committee on barbecue brush safety.

"It's definitely more of a gradual thing," said Anderson.

"There is a long process for manufacturers to not only design and produce these brushes, but it has to go through the testing," he said.

"All the testing and the labels have to be produced for each of these brushes. And so that can take up to a year. And then following that, over the next few years, retailers will start stocking these different barbecue brushes for sale in Canada," Anderson explained.

WATCH | Loose bristles fall away from barbecue brush:

'One bristle is all it takes'

Smith, from Red Deer, Alta., says she still suffers from bowel problems, pain, fatigue, nausea and the anxiety that accompanies her symptoms.

"It sure takes a long time for anything to get done, and people are still getting hurt by them. I wonder how many more will be hurt by the time that even comes out?" Smith said.

"One bristle is all it takes, and it still means that there will be people hurt by them. People will still ingest them as long as they fall out of the brushes," she said.

"The old [brushes] are still out here, and people are still buying them."

She has filed a lawsuit in Alberta against the retailer and the distributor of the barbecue brush she used, seeking $2.5 million in damages for things like pain and suffering, and punitive damages.

The Alberta government is also suing jointly in Smith's lawsuit to recover the costs of her health care arising from her injuries.

WATCH | CBC's report on Health Canada's 2017 decision:

Safety awareness

Health Canada said it provided $165,000 between 2018 and 2020 for the development of the safety standard.

"Health Canada will continue its safety awareness campaigns through its social media channels, reminding Canadians to replace metal bristle barbecue brushes every season, to regularly inspect brushes for signs of damage, to inspect grills and barbequed food for loose bristles," a Health Canada spokesperson said by email.

The health department asks anyone who experiences a grill brush incident to report it to Health Canada and the store of purchase.

The CSA Group, which declined an interview, is making copies of the standard available on its website.

New standard for wire bristle brushes

The new standard sets out methods for testing brushes such as:

Mechanically pulling on bristle tufts.

Exposing brushes to heating and cooling.

Exposing brushes to a five per cent concentration salt spray for 48 hours.

Brushes would also be labelled in uppercase letters with the word WARNING in both English and French, along with the text, "Stop using if any bristles are found on the grill. Bristles can get into the food and cause serious injury. Replacement after one year of use is recommended."

A further warning is to appear on a tag or packaging for a brush, indicating instructions for safe use:

"WARNING: Examine the brush prior to each use for loose bristles. Do NOT use if any loose or broken bristles are found. Discard brush immediately. Ensure cooking surface and brush are free of any bristles prior to cooking. Broken bristles can get into the food. Ingestion can cause serious internal injury."

The instructions also include a notice that the brush is not for commercial use.

Got a tip for CBC Manitoba's I-Team to investigate? Email or call the confidential tip line at 204-788-3744.
G Janardhana Rao By

Express News Service

VISAKHAPATNAM: The coronavirus that has created havoc in China has far wider ramifications with tourism suffering the most in Asian countries. The industry has started feeling the pinch as several countries are reporting a drop in tourists. Fear of the virus is so strong that there has been 25 per cent of cancellation of trips by travellers to Thailand, Hongkong, Taiwan, Bali, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia Malaysia and Singapore from various parts of the country, including Visakhapatnam.

The Indian Association of Tour Operators projected a likely loss of Rs 3,600 crore across the country if the inbound travellers continue to cancel their trips. There are about 350 travel agents in the State and about 120 travel agents sell outbound tours. According to sources, the bookings are slow at this moment and if the situation continues, the industry will be very severely affected. The losses could be around Rs 10 crore per month in Andhra Pradesh and it will be Rs 60 crore to Rs 70 crore if situation did not return to normal in the next six months, they said.

Besides, generally February first week is the time when most people plan for holiday trips to these countries from mid April to mid June during summer. However, this time around for the past nine days, there have been no advance bookings. According to sources, nine international flights, containing 190 passengers, take off to Malaysia, Singapore and Abu Dhabi from Vizag International Airport every week.

According to Tours and Travellers Association of Andhra Pradesh president Vijaya Mohan said there was no need for panic for tourists as almost all tourist destinations are safe now as they have taken stringent measures against spread of the virus. Almost all the countries have restricted entry of people from China or those who have a travelled to China after January. "We were able to convince some people to go ahead with their already scheduled travel to Thailand and other countries, but some are cancelling their trips out of sheer fear. All tour operators and associations appealed to these countries to come together to step up measures to build confidence among tourists that their countries were safe and no need for panic," he said.

PS Kumar of travel links told TNIE that they were facing a very grave situation as many people were not willing to undertake foreign jaunt till normalcy is restored. He said students from Vizag studying in Australia were cancelling their travel tickets via Singapore, Bangkok and Malaysia as they dont want touch the airports in these countries. At least 10 tickets were cancelled in one week though they were not paid even cancellation charges, he said and added that some students were preferring to go to Australia via Abu Dhabi and Auckland even the ticket fare for Australia was Rs 85,000 against normal route fare of Rs 50,000.

All ASEAN countries will now be concerned on the decrease in footfalls of tourist to their respective countries and Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia have already released advisories saying that their countries are safe to visit and that they have stopped allowing any Chinese citizens to enter their countries. But the main killer is the fear among travellers, forcing them to shy away or cancelling their travel. All the ASEAN countries will have to work together to remove the fear and assure the tourists on a single platform and how safe it is travel to their destinations, Vijaya Mohan said, adding, in spite of the assurances being given by the respective countries, the fear is bringing in cancellation.

Usually by this time, we see bookings happening for the summer season, but that is not happening.

Panic among tourists such that some even cancelling trips to Nepal citing that it was close to China though there were no cases in Nepal, he said and added that on a single day on Saturday there were cancellation of 10 bookings for Nepal.

There has been no problem for outward tourist and travellers to Europe, Gulf and the United States (US) from India. However, many from these countries are not willing to come to countries in Asia due to fear psychosis, he said.

However, Madhav, manager of a plush city hotel, who returned from Thailand on Sunday said he did not face any problem during his visit though they were little bit scared before venturing to Thailand. However, in Thailand there was no fear of virus as that country had taken strict measures against the coronavirus.

Panic grips tourists across the globe

Panic among tourists such that some even cancelling trips to Nepal citing that it was close to China though there were no cases in Nepal, Vijaya Mohan said and added that on a single day on Saturday there were cancellation of 10 bookings for Nepal
Japan's health minister told reporters Monday that the government is considering conducting virus tests on all passengers and crew members, totaling more than 3,600, before allowing them to get off a cruise ship.

Katsunobu Kato said in Yokohama that health officials have so far found 70 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, including six announced Sunday night, from the Diamond Princess being quarantined in the port of Yokohama, near Tokyo.

Given the limited testing capacity, Kato said officials are seeking help by private labs and medical universities with adequate facilities while they are trying to figure out if such massive tests are feasible.

If blanket tests are conducted at the end of the 14-day quarantine period, everyone has to stay on board until results are available. Kato said five of the six new confirmed cases are crew members assigned to restaurants, bars or housekeeping.

Japanese health authorities are scrambling to deliver medicine requested by over 600 passengers who are running out of their prescriptions, but the progress is slow because of explanation and translation work for foreign passengers, Kato said.
Remember the Microsoft Surface Duo, the Android device with two 5.6-inch screens with a hinge between them? Well, it's out and about.

Microsoft has apparently given pre-release units to developers to work on creating apps for the dual-screened interface and reportedly one of those units was caught on shaky-cam video in a Vancouver train.

The video of the rogue Surface Duo shows off the device running a single app over one of the screens, then two apps running side by side and finally one app running over both screens, something Microsoft calls "extended canvas".

Microsoft hasn't left the Surface Duo to collect dust as a side-project. Just last month it released a toolkit along with an emulator to give us an idea of what Android would be like on a Surface Duo.

You will be able to use apps in window mode, split-screen or a dual view of the same app on both screens.

The device in the video is very much a work in progress. Some of its animations are stuttery and the gesture system seems unresponsive at times. Then there's the question if we'll ever see such a device in the hands of buyers. Only time will tell.

Via
A tearful mother has screamed at the woman accused of catfishing her daughter before her tragic suicide in heated scenes outside court.

Renae Marsden died at The Gap in Sydney's east about six-and-half years ago, on August 5, 2013, following a years-long relationship with Braydon Spiteri.

But an inquest on Monday heard that Spiteri had never existed - and was concocted by her best friend, Camila Zeidan - her former ex-girlfriend who had an 'obsessive' relationship with her.

Ms Zeidan has never been charged over the alleged fraud, outraging Ms Marsden's family who are calling for catfishing - or, luring a lover under a false persona - to be made a criminal offence.

Camilla Zeidan (right) is accused of inventing 'Brayden' to catfish ex-girlfriend Renae (left)

Ms Zeidan tries to shield her face as she leaves the NSW State Coroner's Court where the inquest into Renae's death is taking place

Outside the NSW State Coroner's Court in Sydney, Renae's mother Teresa screamed 'you had seven years, Camila! I trusted you - you came into my home'.

Other family members and friends heckled the accused catfisher. A relative pushed a reporter and fell over during a media scrum.

Ms Zeidan has gone on to marry in the seven years since the ordeal, which Renae's father, Mark, said emphasised how 'gut-wrenching' the situation was.

'We find it beggars believe she hasn't breached any law,' Mr Marsden told Daily Mail Australia.

'She's got on with her life and left a trail of destruction - she's unaccountable for her actions, there's been no repercussions for her whatsoever.'

Ms Marsden said her daughter, who was secretly planning a wedding to Brayden, was in love and she never questioned it.

Renae's mother Teresa (second from left) screamed 'you had seven years, Camila! I trusted you - you came into my home'

Ms Marsden (centre in white top) confronted Ms Zeidan (far left) as she left the courthouse

'At no point did I question if he existed, I really didn't. I thought she was in love with this guy... all she wanted to do was get married and have kids,' she said.

Mr Marsden added: 'The most difficult thing to be told by police is tough luck, there's nothing we can do, she hasn't broken any laws, get on with your lives.'

Ms Zeidan did not comment outside court.

The court on Monday heard that an emotional Renae had shown a work colleague a text message she had received from 'Brayden' the day she died saying: 'I think I need a break and so do you'.

The coroner's court heard further evidence that Camilla had texted her friend Melanie that morning saying 'I'm done Time to move on.'

Melanie replied: 'No just wait, maybe there's a reason.'

Three hours later, Camilla texted Melanie to say: 'It's over'.

The inquest is investigating whether Renae determined Brayden was a fiction, and was being controlled by Camila, prior to her death.

It will also investigate examine if catfishing should become a criminal offence under New South Wales law.

Before the confrontation, the inquest heard Ms Zeidan 'accidentally' deleted their final text exchange before her mate plunged to her death.

Renae received 11,400 messages from a man she knew as 'Brayden' in the lead up to her disappearance, and may have found out he was not real on the day of her death.

Renae's troubling relationship with Ms Zeidan is at the centre of the inquest into her death.

Camilla had an 'obsessive, possessing and unrelenting' relationship with Renae, counsel assisting Sasha Harding told the inquest in her opening address on Monday.

'You are going no where, do you understand?  You kill me, I'll be your ghost,' Camilla once said in an email to Renae.

'You hate me, I'll still love you You hide, I'll hunt you down. You've got no way to escape because only I love you, and I'll have you forever'.

Sergeant Harding told the court their romantic relationship fell apart after school, but Camilla later introduced Renae to her 'ex-boyfriend' Brayden Spiteri - a persona police allege she concocted.

Renae Marsden was a 'happy and bubbly' 20-year-old hairdresser who died in a suspected suicide at The Gap in Sydney's east on August 5, 2013

Renae's (centre) troubling relationship with her ex-girlfriend and close school friend Camilla (right) is at the centre of the inquest into her death

The court heard a series of texts were sent between Renae, Camilla and 'Brayden' in the hours and minutes before she died at The Gap in Sydney.

But Camilla later told Renae's mother she 'accidentally deleted the last messages' exchanged between the pair, 'as she pressed the wrong button', the court heard.

Catfish relationship with 'Brayden'

Brayden could never see Renae in person because he was supposedly serving a prison sentence at Goulburn over a motorbike accident, the inquest heard.

The fake 'former King's School student' had purportedly traded his visitation rights for a shorter sentence. But he could communicate with her endlessly online.

In March 2011, Renae chose her new flame 'Brayden' over her real-life boyfriend, Angus, the court heard.

Sgt Harding said the allegedly fake relationship gave Camilla the 'best of both worlds an intimate relationship with Renae, via Brayden, and [Renae's] renewed friendship'.

Outside court, Renae's parents Mark and Teresa (supported by their other daughter Monique) said 'not a day goes past' without the family of five thinking about Renae

Despite being happy in the months before her disappearance her parents said they think Renae (pictured) was crushed when she received a break-up message from 'Brayden'

Brayden and Renae were 'obsessively in love' and 'Brayden appeared to monitor Renae's every move and question her whereabouts', so much so she had to 'demand the right to have friends.'

Renae sent Brayden sexual photos and she told him how 'dependent' she was on him, Sgt Harding told the court.

He threatened to hurt her friend, Joseph; demanded to know why she changed her Facebook passwords and quizzed her about her male friends.

Police later found 11,400 texts were exchanged between the pair between March 5, 2013 and June 19, 2013.

What the inquest wants to find out is: Did Renae learn that Brayden was a fiction? And did she learn that her school friend Camilla was allegedly responsible for creating Brayden?

Renae's grandfather Giuseppe Costa broke down in tears as the family spoke to the media outside court, along with his wife Anna (right) and Renae's brother Luke (left)

Mr Costa was shattered by the emotional day where the inquest heard details of how Renae killed herself after being catfished

Renae's final texts

Sgt Harding told the court of Renae's final, distressing day alive - August 5, 2013 - where she attended work as a receptionist at StarTrack.

The court heard that Renae told a work colleague she had not heard from Brayden and was planning to call Goulburn jail to hear from him.

Renae left work early to go home. A colleague told police she had become more distressed as she received texts throughout the day.

Renae made a 90 second call to Goulburn jail that afternoon, at 2.44pm. Over the next half an hour Renae and Brayden exchanged 27 text messages, the court heard.

Her mother, Teresa, received a text from Brayden at 2.59pm, telling her to 'sort your daughter out'. The message said she was suicidal.

The court heard Renae told her worried mother: 'Mum, I would never be so stupid.'

She said of Brayden: 'You don't have to worry about him anymore, I finally found out what he's all about. Don't worry mum, it's all over.'

Renae later did her make-up and told her mother she was going to see her workmates for dinner. Her work clothes were laid out on the bed at the time.

Instead she drove to The Gap, described to the court as an infamous suicide hotspot.

The Marsden family (l-r: Monique, Teresa, Mark, and Renae's brothers Luke and Jake) put on a united front outside court

Renae's mother Anna Costa speaks to the media with raw emotion visible in her face. 'I still wait for my granddaughter every Saturday,' she said

The court heard she texted Brayden at 4.40pm, 5.22pm and 5.23pm, plus a further three times at 5.42pm.

Brayden responded at 5.46pm. At 5.47, Renae sent two texts to Brayden, and then her final text to the friend.

At 5.49pm, Teresa received a message from Renae saying: 'I love you so much. I am sorry for everything and the pain I will now cause you'.

At 5.53pm, Renae was seen sitting on the edge of the cliff and throwing an object over, which police believed to be her mobile phone.

Five minutes later, she was last seen climbing down. Her body has never been recovered.

Grieving parents demand justice

Outside court, Renae's parents Mark and Teresa Marsden said 'not a day goes past' without the family of five thinking about Renae.

They were supported by their other daughter Monique, and Renae's grandparents Anna and Giuseppe Costa, who broke down in tears,

Renae's parents leave the inquest after hearing the disturbing details of their daughter's last days

Mark and Teresa Marsden (left and second from left) arrive with friends and family at the inquest at the NSW Coroner's Court in Sydney on Monday

Her tearful grandmother Anna Costa said: 'I still wait for my granddaughter every Saturday.

'She used to come and have dinner with me and lunch with me - she doesn't come anymore and I still wait for her'.

Renae's family want the inquest to result in the law being changed, so 'catfishing' can be made a crime in NSW and hope the person who put their daughter through the ordeal will be brought to justice after the inquest.

'There is no closure for us until we determine the facts surrounding her disappearance, and this won't be resolved until the perpetrator decides or is forced to tell the truth,' Mr Marsden told The Sydney Morning Herald.

'Ultimately we would like to see the perpetrator charged, and that the coroner recommends the laws surrounding catfishing are tightened to make it a criminal offence.'

Her parents believe someone was using photos of a random man and talking to Renae with a fake phone number.

Renae had photos of 'Brayden' in her room and was even fantasising about marrying him. He was last person she messaged on the day of her disappearance.

Before her death the 20-year-old (pictured right with her mother Teresa, left) had received more than 11,000 messages from a man she believed to be 'Brayden'

Her parents, Teresa (pictured right with Renae) and Mark Marsden, believe someone was using photos of a random man and talking to Renae with a fake phone number

Mr Marsden said living with his daughter's suspected suicide has been 'hell'.

'That somebody can do this to your daughter to the point she takes her own life, it is about as wrong as it gets,' he said.

Despite being happy in the months before her disappearance her parents said they think she was crushed when she received a break-up message from 'Brayden'.

The day Renae died she told her mother she didn't need to 'worry about him' because she had 'found out what he is all about'.

She told her parents she was going to dinner with friends, but they never saw her again.

Renae sent a text to her mother telling her she loved her, a text to Brayden and a text to the friend.

Mr and Mrs Marsden believe Renae found out she was being catfished and decided to take her own life.

'My daughter was not depressed. She was anything but,' Mrs Marsden said.

The inquest continues on Tuesday when Ms Zeidan and Melanie are expected to give evidence.

For confidential support call the Lifeline 24-hour crisis support on: 13 11 14

Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800
(Newser)  Ireland faced political turmoil Sunday as an exit poll from the weekends parliamentary election suggested that Sinn Fein, a left-wing party committed to reunification of the island, finished in a virtual dead heat with the two parties that have governed since the country won independence almost a century ago. While ballot counting remained underway, the poll indicated that Prime Minister Leo Varadkars centrist Fine Gael party, centrist rival Fianna Fail, and Sinn Fein all received about 22% of first preference votes, the AP reports. The predicted outcome means some type of coalition government is almost inevitable, with Sinn Fein likely to be a central player in the negotiations to form one.

story continues below

Both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have until now refused to work with Sinn Fein because of its links to the Irish Republican Army. The centrist parties say Sinn Fein failed to repudiate the IRAs role in the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. "The frustration people have felt for a long time with the two-party system, whereby Fine Gael and Fianna Fail handed the baton of power between each otherthat's now over," Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said Sunday, per the BBC. It is still unclear how many seats each party would have in Irelands 160-seat parliament, known as the Dail, because the country uses a proportional representation system known as the single transferable vote.

(Read more Ireland stories.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 17:56:58|Editor: Lu Hui

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BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Many big farm produce wholesale markets and supermarket chains returned to normal operation on Monday, an official with the Ministry of Commerce said.

Fifty big wholesale markets of agricultural products supervised by the ministry have opened for business, Zhu Xiaoliang, director of the ministry's market system development department, told an online press conference.

Over 92 percent of more than 7,000 supermarket outlets in 34 large and medium-sized cities across the country have also resumed operation, he said.

The ministry will continue to closely monitor the operation of wholesale markets and commercial outlets to keep track of inventory and price changes and ensure sufficient supplies of daily necessities, Zhu said.

The country has released frozen pork reserves and increased imports to ensure supplies of food and medical gear amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Except for fresh meat and some leafy vegetables, most essentials are in abundant supply in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, Zhu said, adding that there was no obvious panic buying in the city.

The two biggest local wholesale markets have reopened for business, with daily transactions exceeding 3,000 tonnes, he added.

Over the past week, the country transported 2,000 tonnes of frozen pork to Wuhan, and coordinated with Suning Holdings Group to donate 400 tonnes of vegetables and 36,000 eggs to Hubei, the province hardest hit by the epidemic.
On a chilly January afternoon in Yokohama, a 25-year-old IT company employee said what much of Japan is thinking: "I'm not expecting my salary and the economy to improve much."

The man has only been in his job for a year, following graduate school. But any excitement he might have felt about this new beginning is overshadowed by fears for the future. How, he wonders, will he cover the expenses that inevitably come with marriage, children and looking after aging parents?

Takahide Watanabe, a 58-year-old at a very different point in his career, struck a similarly somber note. "Companies don't give employees a big pay raise because they don't know what will happen next."

A gloom hangs over the country after years of Abenomics -- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's program to get the Japanese economy humming again. To an extent, it worked, powering a streak of expansion that lasted more than seven years. But the economy is believed to have contracted in the October-December period -- the results are due next Monday -- as a result of one-off factors such as typhoon damage and the consumption tax increase on Oct. 1.

This raises fresh questions about the economy's resilience just as Japan's longest-serving leader confronts a new threat: the coronavirus originating in China.

The immediate focus is on consumers' response to the tax increase. Economists expected shoppers would pull back in the last quarter, as households tend to make big purchases before a hike. Still, the levy rose a relatively modest 2 percentage points, to 10% from 8%. Surely, many thought, this would not be enough to send the economy into a contraction.

Yet, despite generous government spending to offset the impact, a QUICK survey of 17 analysts suggests gross domestic product declined 3.9% from the previous quarter on an annualized basis.

Department stores have taken a beating. Sales have dropped for three straight months, including a 5% year-on-year fall in December, according to the Japan Department Stores Association.
CAMEROON, Cameroon - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will reiterate his rejection of the Trump administrations Mideast plan in an address to the U.N. Security Council Tuesday, but members will not be voting on a draft resolution opposing the U.S. proposal.

President Donald Trump unveiled the U.S. initiative for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Jan. 28. It envisions a disjointed Palestinian state that turns over key parts of the West Bank to Israel, siding with Israel on key contentious issues including borders and the status of Jerusalem and Jewish settlements.

Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat denied reports that the draft resolution was pulled because of a lack of support, saying in a statement that the rumour the Palestinians withdrew the resolution is not true and totally baseless.

He said the draft resolution, which initially said the U.S. plan undermined the Palestinian peoples aspirations for independence, is still being discussed and will be put to a vote once those discussions conclude with a formula that represents our positions.

The original draft resolution, co-sponsored by Tunisia and Indonesia and backed by the Palestinians, also said the U.S. plan violates international law and Security Council demands for a two-state solution based on borders before the 1967 Mideast war. It would have expressed the councils determination to examine practical ways and means to secure the full implementation of its relevant resolutions, including enforcement measures under Chapter 7 of the (U.N.) Charter, which can be by military or non-military means.

The resolution had been expected to be put to a vote on Tuesday when Abbas addressed the council. But diplomats said many of its provisions were not acceptable to European members of the council, who support a two-state solution based on pre-1967 borders, and other council members.

After lengthy negotiations and revised drafts through the weekend, and the circulation of a drastically amended text by the United States, the Palestinians decided against putting any draft in blue  a final form for a vote, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the discussions were private.

Erekat said since the resolution hasnt been put in blue, it cannot be said that it was pulled.

The proposed U.S. draft, obtained by The Associated Press, strips a reaffirmation of previous U.N. resolutions and references to pre-1967 borders as well as a condemnation of all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including east Jerusalem, in violation of international humanitarian law and relevant resolutions. A previous draft eliminated the reference to Chapter 7.

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 many of the more than 700,000 Israeli settlers from these areas.

But under terms of the peace vision that Trumps son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner worked on for nearly three years, all Israeli settlers would remain in place, and Israel would retain sovereignty over all of its settlements as well as the strategic Jordan Valley.

Israels U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon called the original draft an anti-U.S. resolution and said if its modified in a constructive way, maybe the council will support it.

He said Abbas should come to the Security Council on Tuesday to present his vision for the future, instead of to reject the U.S. plan.

We look at it as a starting point for negotiations, he said of Trumps plan, adding that Abbas should come to Jerusalem to address the Israeli people and deliver a message of hope, instead of a massage of hate.

After Abbas addresses the Security Council on Tuesday, he will appear at a press conference with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, an opponent of the U.S. plan who was forced to resign a decade ago ahead of a corruption indictment that later sent him to prison for 16 months.

Danon said he thinks its unfortunate ... and shameful that he will be standing with president Abbas, especially this week when we saw attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers and a resolution trying to condemn the U.S., our strongest ally. And I think from a former prime minister we should expect more.

Last week, Kushner, the architect of the U.S. plan, called Olmerts expected appearance with Abbas almost pathetic, accusing him of trying to grab a headline when youre irrelevant.

He added: It comes from a lot of jealousy that they couldnt get it done themselves.

___

Associated Press writer Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West Bank contributed to this report.
Sky News

The instructor held up a drone fitted with cameras to a classroom of cooks, architects and office workers who have taken time out from civilian life in Ukraine to gain soldiering skills. A commander asked the group of about 50 army reservists who would like to learn how to fly the small drone as part of preparations to protect their city - Kyiv - should Russia invade. The man in charge, Colonel Serhiy Grom, an experienced military veteran, said there had been a rise in the number of people wanting to join his battalion over the past year as the threat of a new Russian offensive grew.
Bangladesh: Government grants permission for vannamei pilot farms

February 10,2020 | Source: Seafood Source

The Bangladeshi government has decided to allow two pilot projects to farm vannamei in the country, following several requests from local companies for more than a decade, the New Age reported on 30 January. One project will be undertaken by the non-governmental organization Shushilan in Khulna, and the other by Agri Business Enterprise in Chattogram. The two will be under the supervision of the Department of Fisheries and the Bangladesh Fish Research Institute.



Bangladeshs shrimp exporters have long been asking the government to allow the farming of vannamei in the country to help boost competitiveness. The government, however, was reluctant to make the decision, because green activists claimed that the culture of the species would be harmful for biosecurity. The Department of Fisheries Additional Director General Md Ramzan Ali told the daily the pilot projects will be implemented for one year. Commercial production would be allowed across the country if the pilot projects prove successful.



Hopefully, the piloting will be successful as we will give our full efforts to the projects so that the country can gain more production of shrimps, Ramzan said. Former president of the Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association (BFFEA) Kazi Belayet Hossain said it would take three to four years to go for commercial production of the variety after the pilots.



Another former president of BFFEA, Md Golam Mostafa, said farming of black tiger shrimp, which Bangladesh shrimp sector has focused on, has become less competitive due to high production cost. Meanwhile, the production of vannamei is 20 times higher than that of black tiger shrimp and vannamei now accounts for around 80 percent of shrimp exports in the world, higher than just 10 percent of black tiger shrimp.



Bangladesh has lost its traditional markets in the United States and the European Union as its costly black tiger shrimp has failed to compete against much cheaper but high-yielding hybrid vannamei from Thailand and other countries, according to the Daily Industry. Bangladesh's shrimp exports have declined over the years. During July-December of this 2019-2020 fiscal year, Bangladesh exported shrimp worth USD 215 million (EUR 193.7 million), down 3.6 percent from USD 223 million (EUR 201 million) in the previous period. The country exported 29,500 metric tons (MT) of shrimp worth USD 361 million (EUR 325.3 million) in 2018-2019, much lower than the production of 41,200 MT and value of USD 545 million (EUR 491 million) in 2013-2014.
New Delhi, Feb 10 : Even as an FIR was registered over the molestation and sexual misconduct incidents in Gargi College in south Delhi, Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi has asserted that "masculinity isn't about perverted violence against women" and demanded strict action against the culprits.

"#GargiCollege incidents shouldnt be taken lightly. Boys must strongly oppose it. Masculinity isnt in perverted violence against women but in building a safe & dignified society. Promptest & strictest action must be taken against those involved," Satyarthi tweeted.

Meanwhile, college Principal Dr Promila Kumar said that the management condemned the outrageous incidents on February 6 and had formed a high-level committee to probe the same.

"We are fully committed to the safety and security of the girl students. We have set up the fact-finding committee to meet with eyewitnesses and other persons with required information. The committee will prepare and submit a report in a time-bound manner," she said.

She said that Delhi Police had registered an FIR and its officers had assured of swift action.

Delhi Police Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Geetanjali Khandelwal will lead the probe.

The three-day annual college fest began on February 4. Over 100 outsiders had gatecrashed into the campus on February 6 evening and misbehaved with an unspecified number of girl students and molested them.
The European diplomat will hold a press conference with Prime Minister Honcharuk and sign an agreement for the EU support to E-Governance and Digital Economy.

European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi will travel to Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 11-12, as the first Eastern Partnership country.

"The focus of the visit will be to reiterate continuous EU strong support for Ukraine's ambitious reform agenda, to discuss the state of reforms and the implementation of the Association Agreement as a follow-up to the European Union-Ukraine Association Council held in Brussels at the end of January," the European Commission said in a daily news report on February 10, 2020.

Read alsoCoE: Congress president calls for inclusive consultation in territorial reform process in Ukraine

"Ukraine is not only a close neighbour of the European Union, but it is also a key partner. Ukraine is continuing to make progress with many reforms. But work needs to be continued, especially in the area of the rule of law and fight against corruption  key areas for economic development. The steps taken by Ukraine paved the way to the December 2019 Summit in the framework of the Normandy format, an essential element that the EU supports to contribute to reach a sustainable and peaceful solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine. During my visit, I will discuss the comprehensive EU support that goes far beyond just financial support and technical assistance. My visit to Ukraine will also feed into our discussions at the upcoming EU Foreign Affairs Council in March," Varhelyi said ahead of the visit.

The European diplomat will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Dmytro Razumkov, Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk, and members of the government, including Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Dmytro Kuleba and Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko. The Commissioner will also meet with members of the Parliamentary Committee on Integration of Ukraine with the European Union.

In addition, he will participate in a candle laying ceremony to the Heavenly Hundred Memorial and will meet with representatives of civil society organizations as well as representatives of national minorities.

Varhelyi will also hold a press conference with Prime Minister Honcharuk and sign an agreement for the EU support to E-Governance and Digital Economy.
By Lee Min-hyung





Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance's business tower in southern Seoul / Courtesy of Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance
El presidente @MartinVizcarraC superviso las acciones multisectoriales que realiza el Ejecutivo en la zona afectada por la deflagracion en Villa El Salvador. pic.twitter.com/3mSsYtObif

Presidente @MartinVizcarraC: Permanentemente se recibe informes sobre el avance de la atencion a los ciudadanos afectados en Villa El Salvador. Sin embargo, he querido dialogar directamente con ellos para conocer sus principales requerimientos. pic.twitter.com/bwWWiplMct
A Red Detachment of Women  a medical team consisting of nine female doctors and nurses were sent to Hubei, a central Chinese province severely hit by the novel coronavirus outbreak, to aid epidemic control on Feb.2.

(Photo/Chinanews.com)

The nine doctors and nurses from the Affiliated Hospital of Beihua University (AHBU) are of different ages as well as life experiences, and come from different family backgrounds, but they share the same goal during this trip  to terminate the novel coronavirus and make the country victorious.

Kong Xiangmin, 49, is the oldest in the team. Her husband Hao Dalin was left a heavy task after Kong set off  to take care of Kongs father who suffers from mobility problems. My father-in-law has difficulties walking, so I have to make him food every day.

As a matter of fact, Hao, who is a doctor with the infectious liver disease department at the AHBU, is already shouldering busy tasks at work as his department has been turned into a quarantine ward after the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. However, the man still supports his wife, saying he must make her feel assured on the frontline of the battle.

Six of the nine medical staff come from the respiratory medicine department of the hospital. According to Shi Mei, director of the department, they are the best doctors and nurses of the department.

They are so busy in Hubei that they dont even have the time to answer my calls, Shi said, adding that she still insists that they check in with her every day in the departments chat group after work.

The 27-year-old Zhao Yongcai is the youngest among the nine. Xie Dan, head nurse of the respiratory medicine department, said she was concerned when receiving Zhaos application to go to Hubei as the latter was preparing for a wedding scheduled in July.

Zhaos fiance Li Yao said he fully supports his wife-to-bes decision, adding that they can postpone the wedding ceremony. I just want her to come home safe and sound, Li said.

There is also a nurse in the team whose child is just 20 months old. Before the trip, the nurse, Luan Tingtings husband by the name of Wei Peng, took the child to Luans parents, saying that he can take care of both the child and the elderly there.

Zhao Wenjia, a nurse from the intensive care unit, is also a brave woman. Learning the information that the hospital would offer aid to Hubei, she immediately requested to go to the frontline. Im footloose and fancy-free. Thats what she told her head nurse Wang Xueying.

Before and after work every day in Wuhan, they would remind each other whether they have done a good job in terms of their medical protection work. In off-hours, they never walk out of their quarantine rooms except for the purpose of fetching meals at the door.

Their communications occur exclusively within group chats on WeChat, where they always say that after eliminating the virus, they will definitely go out to try some hot dry noodles  a traditional dish of Wuhan.
Eyewitness News viewers will see a new face on the weather desk weekday mornings at CBS3.

Meteorologist Llarisa Abreu debuted on the stations morning news broadcast Monday, joining CBS3 from San Diegos NBC7, where she was a weekend weather anchor. She worked at that station for about three years, earning an Emmy Award in 2019 for team coverage of wildfires in San Diego, according to an NBC7 biography.

A graduate of Barry University in Miami, Abreu got started in broadcasting at the AccuWeather Network, where she worked between 2014 and 2017, according to her LinkedIn profile. Previously, she had interned at NBC6 in Miami.

Abreus arrival in Philly had been teased by CBS3 anchor Jim Donovan, who featured the new local weather person on a Facebook live chat Friday. There, Abreu discussed her upbringing in North Jersey, saying that being closer to her family was part of her decision to come to Philadelphia.

I was ready to come back closer to home, Abreu said Friday.

So far, it seems like Abreu is being well received by CBS3 viewers  at least by the Collegeville Bakery, which celebrated the meteorologists arrival in the area by putting her name in lights:

Thank you for the warm welcome, Abreu wrote to viewers on Instagram following Mondays broadcast.

Abreu is the latest new face for CBS3s weather broadcast. Her arrival follows the temporary addition of former NBC10 meteorologist Tammie Souza, who is working as an occasional fill-in weatherperson at the network over the next few months.

This week, KYW Newsradio 1060 ended its content partnership with CBS3 in favor of a new one with NBC10 and Telemundo62 that will bring Glenn Hurricane Schwartz and other NBC personalities to its listeners. CBS3, however, will keep its KYW-TV designation.
The father of a student killed during a mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida was not invited to Donald Trump's meeting with families of victims after he shouted down the president at the State of the Union address.

Fred Guttenburg's 14-year-old daughter Jamie was among the 17 people killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on 14 February 2018.

He was briefly detained after interrupting the president during his State of the Union, at which Mr Guttenburg was Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's invited guest, while the president boasted about his Second Amendment protections.

Mr Guttenburg later apologised on Twitter, saying he had "let my emotions get the best of me".

"I simply want to be able to deal with the reality of gun violence and not have to listen to the lies" about the Second Amendment, he said.

Mass shootings in America Show all 8 1 /8 Mass shootings in America Mass shootings in America Camden shootings  1949 Howard Unruh killed 13 people, including three children, during a 12-minute walk through his neighborhood on September 6, 1949, in Camden, New Jersey, when he was 28 years old. The incident became known as the "Walk of Death". Unruh was found to be criminally insane and died in 2009 after a lengthy illness at the age of 88, following 60 years of confinement. Alamy Mass shootings in America University of Texas tower shooting  1966 Charles Whitman killed 17 people and injured 31 others in Austin, Texas. After stabbing his mother and wife the night before, he headed to the University of Texas, where he opened fire on people in the campus and streets from the observation desk. He was shot dead after a policeman and civilian reached the scene. Austin History Center, Austin Public Library Mass shootings in America Easter Sunday Massacre  1975 James Ruppert killd 11 family members in his mother's house, which included his mother, brother and his wife, as well as their eight children. He used a magnum, two handguns and a rifle. Mass shootings in America Wilkes-Barre shootings  1982 Former prison guard, George Banks, shot dead 13 people in Pennsylvania, including five of his own children. AP Photo/Times Leader Mass shootings in America Wah Mee massacre  1983 Three men, Kwan Fai Mak, Wai-Chiu Ng, and Benjamin Ng, killed 13 people who were in Seattle's Wah Mee gambling club. YouTube/KIRO 7 News Mass shootings in America San Ysidro McDonald's massacre  1984 James Huberty killed 21 people and injured 19 others after he walked in a McDonald's in San Diego. He was shot dead by a sniper after 78 minutes of him entering the restaurant. Alamy Mass shootings in America Palm Sunday massacre  1984 Ten people were shot dead from handguns at close range in a New York home. A baby girl was the only survivor after convicted dealer, Christopher Thomas, shot three women, one teenage girl and six children in their Brooklyn home. Thomas was convicted of manslaughter and cleared of murder. He was released from prison after 32 years. Mass shootings in America Edmond post office shooting  1986 Patrick Sherrill, a postal worker at the Edmond post office in Oklahoma, killed 14 co-workers and injured 6 others, before he shot himself. Oklahoma Highway Patrol Collection

This Friday marks two years since 19-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz committed the deadliest school shooting in US history, killing 14 students and three staff members, compelling a massive youth-led movement and March for Our Lives demonstrations across the US urging gun control measures and condemning the National Rifle Association's powerful lobbying efforts and the "thoughts and prayers" offered by conservative lawmakers in the massacre's wake.

The president is scheduled to meet with members of bipartisan organisation Stand with Parkland, which includes several victims' families. The White House said the president "greets Parkland families" in the Oval Office on Monday.

Mr Guttenburg says his family is not part of the group and had only learned about the event through a reporter. He criticised the president's characterisation of the event, which will not include all families of the 17 people killed in the shooting.

He said: "I wish the families well today and I hope that they have a great meeting. My issue with the public schedule remains however as it is not accurate and considering this week is two years since this happened, this should have been handled differently by the White House."

The president's snub follows a vengeful week at the White House, including the ousting of impeachment witnesses Lt Col Alexander Vindman and Gordon Sondland after Mr Trump's acquittal in his senate trial. He also attacked several senators for their "guilty" votes, including Congresswoman Debbie Dingell and her late husband, Congressman John Dingell, as well as Utah Senator Mitt Romney and West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin.
"That is true for all information that comes to the Department relating to the Ukraine including anything that Mr. Giuliani might provide," Barr said.

On Sunday, Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and Trump ally, publicly disclosed that the Justice Department was taking information from Giuliani.

Nadler's letter raised concerns about the process, noting that Giuliani's associates, Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas, were indicted last year on campaign finance charges. Nadler noted that Parnas has urged Barr to recuse himself from the case and accused Barr of being "basically on the team." Nadler asked Barr to response to 11 questions about the arrangement and communications with Giuliani.

"Whether or not you are in league with Mr. Giuliani and his associates, DOJ guidelines and regulations exist to protect you and the Department from even the appearance of a conflict of interest or any impropriety," Nadler wrote. "Given your creation of a new 'intake process' for Mr. Giuliani, it is all the more important that you provide a complete explanation for your decision to sidestep standard Department practice."
Filming Birds of Prey was a family affair for Margot Robbie.

The 29-year-old Australian actress reprised her iconic role of Harley Quinn in the action film, and this time, her real-life brother Lachlan also made an appearance.

Lachlan is a Hollywood stuntman, and on Sunday, he paid tribute to his superstar sister, saying working opposite her in the movie had been a career highlight.

Teaming up: Filming Birds of Prey was a family affair for Margot Robbie. Pictured alongside her brother, Lachlan Robbie, who worked as a stuntman on the movie

'This photo it's one of the highest points in my career,' he wrote on Instagram, sharing a picture of himself and Margot hugging on set in between scenes.

'To work along side you on Birds of Prey and seeing your professionalism and dedication to your craft onset and at home to deliver something for people to enjoy is always motivating.

'To finally work alongside you was one of my high points. Being able to share the experience of your creation and be apart of it. Thank you.'

'To work along side you on Birds of Prey and seeing your professionalism and dedication to your craft onset and at home to deliver something for people to enjoy is always motivating,' Lachlan wrote of Margot (pictured second from right)

He ended his post by joking that his younger sister undoubtedly enjoyed the opportunity to be able to fight with him onscreen.

'Ps I'm sure you enjoyed the ability to spend 6 months beating me up guilt free,' he added.

In addition to Lachlan, Margot also has a sister, Anya, and a younger brother, Cameron, who she's close to.

Keeping it in the family: Last week, Margot attended the BAFTA Awards in London alongside her younger brother, Cameron Robbie, who is also an actor

Last week, she attended the BAFTA Awards in London alongside Cameron, 24, who is also an actor.

The genetically-blessed siblings smiled as they posed together on the red carpet, with Cameron later sharing several photos from the ceremony to Instagram.

In a June 2018 interview with OK! Australia, Cameron spoke fondly of his relationship with his older sister.

Close: In a June 2018 interview with OK! Australia, Cameron spoke fondly of his relationship with his older sister

'We text constantly, and I get to see her a lot on the down-low, which is quite nice. If no one knows she's in town!' he said.

'She's always been a good big sis to me, we love to have a lot of fun. I'm really proud of her.'

Margot was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Bombshell at this year's Oscars, but lost to Laura Dern, 53.

Proud: Lachlan also paid tribute to his sister before 2018's Oscars ceremony, when Margot was nominated for Best Actress for her role in I, Tonya

Lachlan also paid tribute to his sister before 2018's Oscars ceremony, when Margot was nominated for Best Actress for her role in I, Tonya.

'Whatever happens today your name has been cemented in time your skill and ambition far exceeds expectations and you have made us all proud,' he wrote on Instagram at the time.

'We grew up calling out your name in the house but at 11am today your country will be cheering yours from their homes and work places. It's a privilege to be your brother but it's been an honour to watch your success.'
A tractor-trailer truck crash on the Massachusetts Turnpike in Stockbridge took the life of a Wales man, Massachusetts State Police said.

Authorities said the logging truck was westbound at about 7:30 a.m. when it ran off the left side of the highway, crashing into a gully in the median.

Police identified the driver as 73-year-old Roger F. Tetreault of Wales. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section closed the left lane of the highway for almost eight hours as it investigated the incident.

Members of the Commercial Motor Vehicle Enforcement Section, Crime Scene Services, detectives attached to the Berkshire District Attorneys Office, command staff from the Troop B headquarters, and state Department of Transportation also responded to the scene.
The Centre is planing to change the scheme of the UPSC test for recruitment of entry-level paramilitary forces officers and merging it with the civil services examination that selects IAS and IPS officers, officials said. A proposal in this regard is being thought upon, officials privy to the development told PTI, in the backdrop of the Union government last year granting the Organised Group A Service (OGAS) categorisation to Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) that include CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP and SSB.

The organised service tag allows a service to have its own recruitment rules and enhanced avenues for promotion, pay, command and deputation of its officers.

The deliberations are essentially aimed to change the scheme and syllabus of the Central Armed Police Forces (Assistant Commandant) exam that is being conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) since 2003 for recruiting officers to lead these forces deployed in the internal security and border guarding domain of the country, they said.

As the syllabus has not been reviewed since then, the UPSC wrote to the Union Home Ministry in 2017, seeking its comments in finalising the new scheme and pattern of the exam, according to official documents. With the Union government granting the OGAS tag to the officers of these forces on the Supreme Court directions last year, it is now being thought upon that this test can be merged with the civil services examination in order to forge a better synergy between all the allied services like the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Police Service (IPS), the Indian Forest Service (IFoS) and others, officials said.

However, the recommendation is under consideration and a final decision is yet to be taken, they added.

A committee of senior home ministry and CAPF officials that went into the issue of changing the scheme, syllabus and pattern of this exam in December last year, has also suggested inclusion of new subjects like challenges of internal security, ethics and values, they said.

The CAPF service can been mentioned as a separate entity in the UPSC civil services exam notification once a decision to merge the test is taken, officials said.

The annual CAPFs (AC) exam has three-stage evaluation -- a written test, physical efficiency test and an interview. It usually recruits about 300-400 men and women, as per requirement projected each year, in the age group of 20-25 years for the Central Reserve Police Force, the Border Security Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police force and Sashastra Seema Bal.

CAPF officials have again gone to the court seeking its intervention to ensure them full benefits of the OGAS announced last year and curtailing the tenure of IPS officers in their services up to a certain number and rank.
YEREVAN.  A scuffle took place between the police and some local residents in the Malatia-Sebastia district of Yerevan; the people were not allowing demolishing their garages.

The police pushed the residents out of the area.

As reported earlier, these garages are being demolished to build the North-South Highway.
The town of Ingham, in Northern Queesnland, has reached crisis point after hundreds of thousands of fruit bats invaded the place last month. Things have gotten so bad that kids are afraid to go to school anymore, and rescue helicopters cant land at the local hospital.

Flying foxes, also known as fruit bats currently outnumber humans in Ingham by hundreds of thousands. And theyre not the only bat species that decided to make the Australian town their home over the last month. According to local sources, people here have been invaded by four different species of bats, each of which mates at different times, making it really hard for authorities to intervene. To make matters worse, the bats are protected by law, so locals cant take matters into their own hands either.

Photo: Twitter/@chapoisat

It just seems to me that every bat in Australia is now in Ingham, Raymon Jayo, Mayor of Hinchinbrook Council, told A Current Affair. Theres four different species and because they all have young at different times, theres hardly a window of opportunity when we can interact with these bats to try and move them on.

The bat population in Ingham has swollen to an estimated 300,000 in recent weeks, far outnumbering the human population, and they dont seem eager to move on any time soon. Bat tornadoes have become common around town, and so fave fallen trees tore down by the sheer weight of the animals hanging by their branches.

Theyve totally destroyed their existing roost so theyre looking for new country, Mayor Jayo told ABC News. Where they want to go is basically beside all our critical areas  that includes the schools, the hospital, our kindergartens, our preschools. Its beyond a nuisance  the town is at fever pitch.

Many children at Ingham State School are reportedly too scared to go to classes, as a massive colony of bats has made the school grounds their home. Bats are known to carry serious diseases that can be passed on to humans through scratches and bites, and some kids obviously dont want to take any risks.

Unfortunately, there isnt a lot authorities can do, as bats are notoriously difficult to disperse, especially in such large numbers. All anyone can do is sit tight and wait for most of the bats to leave, which some experts estimate will happen in April.

While most of the locals complain about the bat invasion, comparing it with a biblical plague, animal experts warn that bats play a vital role in maintaining the natural balance, and that we as a species would be much worse off without them.



The importance of these animals is completely underrated  without these creatures out there pollinating and creating new life, we may as well pack up and walk away from our ecology, Amanda Wright from North Queensland Wildlife Care said.

A couple of years ago, we wrote about another bat plague in Australia, one that involved thousands of the flying rodents dropping dead around the city of Cairns due to the heatwave.
A soldier with a grudge gunned down 26 people and wounded 57 in Thailand's worst mass shooting before he was fatally shot inside a mall in the country's northeast on Sunday, officials said.

Officials said the soldier was angry over a financial dispute, first killing two people on a military base and then went on a far bloodier rampage Saturday, shooting as he drove to the mall where shoppers fled in terror.

It took police sharpshooters 16 hours to end the crisis.

Authorities said Sgt. Maj. Jakrapanth Thomma was behind the attack in Nakhon Ratchasima, a hub for Thailands relatively poorer and rural northeastern region. Much of the shooting took place at Terminal 21 Korat, an airport-themed mall filled with colorful Lego sculptures, a merry-go-round and huge replicas of landmarks from around the world.

This incident was unprecedented in Thailand, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters as he gave the final tally Sunday morning after visiting the wounded in hospitals.
6 of 15 post-Godhra riot convicts reach Indore after SC order Indore, Feb 10 (PTI) A group of six out of 15 convicts sentenced to life imprisonment in a 2002 post-Godhra riot case in Gujarat reached Indore in Madhya Pradesh on Monday after being released on bail by the Supreme Court.

These 15 convicts were sentenced to life imprisonment for a massacre in Ode town in Gujarats Anand district in which 23 people were burnt alive.

The apex court had granted bail to the 15 on January 28 this year on the condition that they stay outside Gujarat and do community service for six hours a week in Indore and Jabalpur in MP.

Vijay Patel (51), Suryakant Patel (50), Dharmesh Patel (41), Jayendra Kumar Patel (64), Dilip Patel (65) and Praveen Patel (61) have reached Indore as per the SC order after completing bail formalities in the trial court in Gujarat, Indore District Legal Assistance Officer Subhash Chaudhary told PTI.

The Supreme Court had also asked the District Legal Services Authority to help these convicts in getting proper employment.

These convicts have expressed their desire to take farm land on rent in Indore. We are initiating necessary steps to help them in this direction, so that they can earn their livelihood while staying in the city, Chaudhary said.

He added that a plan was being made to send these convicts to temples, gurdwaras and hospitals of the city for community service.

On January 28, the Supreme Court had ordered to split the 15 convicts into two groups, sending one to Indore and the other to Jabalpur, and ordered them to regularly report to police stations in these cities.
Beijing: China reported a rise in new virus cases on Monday, possibly denting optimism that disease control measures might be working, while Japan reported dozens of new cases aboard a quarantined cruise ship.

The mainland death toll rose by 97 to 908. Another 3062 cases were reported in China over the 24 hours to midnight on Sunday, bringing the total number so far to 40,171. That was up 15 per cent from Saturday and broke a string of daily declines.

Japanese health officials said about 60 more cases were found aboard the Diamond Princess in Yokohama, south of Tokyo. That was in addition to 70 cases found earlier among 3711 passengers and crew. Health ministry officials were double-checking the results and could not immediately release the exact figure.

A passenger hangs a banner reading please broadcast this on TV next to a banner (L) reading thank you for reporting this on the Diamond Princess cruise ship at Daikoku Pier, in Yokohama, Japan. Credit:Getty Images

Workers were due to go back to offices and factories around China on Monday as the government eased some restrictions, but many workplaces remained closed.
Mohammed Adoke, Nigerias ex-Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, (SAN), on Monday, said he preferred to be remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre to the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

Mike Ozekhome (SAN), spoke on Adokes behalf shortly after he was arraigned on fresh money laundering charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday.

Adoke was arraigned alongside Aliyu Abubakar, who was accused of paying dollar equivalent of N300m in Adokes account in September 2013 in violation of the Money Laundering Act.



Ozekhome was arguing his clients bail application when he noted that his client was produced in court by the EFCC from the Federal Medical Centre near Jabi, Abuja, where he had been admitted for treatment.

According to Punch, after the defendants took their pleas, the prosecuting counsel, Bala Sanga, urged the court to remand them in the custody of the EFCC pending when their bail applications would be heard and determined.

The defence lawyers immediately noted that they already filed their bail applications and had been responded to by the prosecution.

Ozekhome appealed to the the court to grant bail to Adoke in liberal and affordable terms and conditions, saying that his client would prefer to be remanded in the Kuje Correctional Centre, instead of the custody of the EFCC.

The first defendant voluntarily returned to the country. There is his statement attached to show that he returned to the country voluntarily. He did not run away. We have attached an exhibit to show that he went for his Masters study abroad.

We have deposed to the affidavit about his health conditions. The prosecution themselves brought him to court from the Federal Medical Centre near Jabib in Abuja, this morning. We also plead that he be taken to the Kuje Correction Centre, a euphemism for Kuje prison pending when he meets his bail conditions to avoid the mental psychological strictures he goes through in the custody of the EFCC.

My lord we pray that he be granted bail in liberal and affordable terms and conditions so that he can take care of himself. The law says, come and stand trial, it did not say come and sit trial or come and prostate trial. My lord as you can see, the first defendant who is less than 60 is already bent with age, he said.

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The has announced a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh to anyone who shares information that could help in tracing unidentified accused in the December 15 anti-CAA violence near Jamia Millia Islamia, officials said on Monday.

In an order, the Commissioner Amulya Patnaik declared a "cash reward of Rs 1,00,000, which will come in force with immediate effect and shall stand/remain good till the arrest of the unknown accused persons for anyone who may give any information/clue(s) to trace out the unknown accused persons who are wanted in a case of New Friends Colony and evading their arrest intentionally".

An FIR at New Friends Colony Police Station was registered on December 16 on charges of rioting, arson, unlawful assembly and damage to public property in connection with the violence near Jamia Millia Islamia on December 15.

According to the official order, as and when any information about the accused is received, the same may be sent immediately to DCP (Southeast) or DCP (Crime Branch).

"The Commissioner of Police reserves the right to decide finally by whom the reward has been earned and in what proportion it will be distributed amongst various claimants, in case more than one claimant come forward for the same," it stated.

Protestors had torched four public buses and two police vehicles as they clashed with police in New Friends' Colony near Jamia Millia Islamia during a demonstration against the amended on December 15, leaving nearly 60 people including students, cops and fire fighters injured.

Police used batons and teargas shells to disperse the violent mob, but denied firing at them. Following the arson on roads, police entered the Jamia university campus, where tension prevailed as several persons were detained for alleged involvement in the violence.
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Linkedin Rizal Harahap (The Jakarta Post) Pekanbaru  Mon, February 10, 2020 16:48 701 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2063a2d85 1 National Riau,elephant,death,illness Free

An adult female elephant has been found dead in an industrial forest concession owned by PT Arara Abadi (AA) in Koto Pait Beringin village, Bengkalis regency, Riau.

A resident found the dead elephant, which was estimated to be around 40 years old, on Friday morning and immediately made a report to district staff of PT AA.

The staff promptly went to the site to check on the carcass after receiving the report.

They, however, could not immediately approach as the dead elephant was surrounded by wild animals.

After checking on the carcass, the staff reported their finding to the Riau Natural Resources Conservation Central Agency (BBKSDA Riau).

On Friday [Feb. 7] afternoon, BBKSDA Riau deployed an observation team to examine it. The next day, the medical team carried out a necropsy to discover the cause of the elephants death, BBKSDA Riau head Suharyono, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

The necropsy revealed that the elephant died as a result of gastroenteritis or a chronic digestive problem.

The illness prevented the elephant from digesting food, causing it significant weight loss, he said.

Suharyono determined there were no signs of violence on the carcass.

The elephant was estimated to have died five days prior to being found, he said.

After an anatomy pathology checkup, the carcass was then buried at the site where it was found using PT AA equipment.

The discovery of the dead elephant was the second to have been made within the PT AA area in recent months.

On Nov. 18, 2019, an elephant was found dead in Tasik Serai village, Bengkalis regency. (gis)

Topics : Riau elephant death illness
Apparently Samsung is as tired of all the leaks as we are. The first Unpacked event of 2020 doesnt kick off for another day or so, but Samsung has already gone ahead and taken the wraps off its newest phone. In a surprise TV ad rolling moments after Brad Pitt won his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, Samsung showed off its latest folding Galaxy phone for the first time.

Update 2/10/20: The post has been updated with a new leak about a supposed Thom Browne edition.

The whimsical 15-second ad was set to French swing song Comic Strip by Serge Gainsbourg and features numerous shots of the new phone opening and closing. We didnt learn much that we didnt already know, though we did get to see the tint front display in action, so we know for sure youll be able to answer or dismiss incoming calls. We also got a clear look at the dual camera, as well as the phones purple or black shell.

Samsungs second folding phone will reportedly be called the Galaxy Z Flip, but its unclear whether its a follow-up or a companion to the $2,000 Galaxy Fold. With a smaller screen, this phone is rumored to be significantly cheaper.

Hours later, another semi-official ad broke cover, in the form of a partnership with fashion designer Thom Browne. Leaked by Twitter user Walking Cat (@h0x0d), the cryptic ad for Thomas Browne Edition of the Galaxy Z Flip features a male model walking toward a waterfall that parts after he picks up the special-edition Flip, which has the companys iconic red-white-and-blue stripe down the center of the case. The ad also shows a matching Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Buds, which look to come as a bundle in a special box.

Just last week, Mototola launched its own foldable flip phone in a revival of the iconic RAZR brand, and based on the images in the ad, the two phones have a very similar look. Motorolas phone is already off to a bumpy start, however, after it barely lasted 27,000 folds during CNETs torture test.

The slogan Change the shape of the future appeared just before the end of the ad along with a teaser for Unpacked on February 11. Of note, all of the images shown treated the two screens separately, with the top showing an image and the bottom featuring controls.
Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR), which is in the food business, and is based in United States, received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the NYSE over the last few months, increasing to US$94.15 at one point, and dropping to the lows of US$81.83. 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 Ingredion's current trading price of US$89.94 reflective of the actual value of the mid-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Lets take a look at Ingredions 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 Ingredion

What is Ingredion worth?

Great news for investors  Ingredion is still trading at a fairly cheap price. My valuation model shows that the intrinsic value for the stock is $150.04, but it is currently trading at US$89.94 on the share market, meaning that there is still an opportunity to buy now. Whats more interesting is that, Ingredions 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 Ingredion generate?

NYSE:INGR Past and Future Earnings, February 10th 2020

Future outlook is an important aspect when youre looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. 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. With profit expected to grow by a double-digit 15% in the upcoming year, the short-term outlook is positive for Ingredion. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.

Story continues

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? Since INGR is currently undervalued, it may be a great time to accumulate more of your holdings in the stock. With an optimistic outlook on the horizon, it seems like this growth has not yet been fully factored into the share price. However, there are also other factors such as financial health to consider, which could explain the current undervaluation.

Are you a potential investor? If youve been keeping an eye on INGR for a while, now might be the time to enter the stock. Its prosperous future outlook isnt fully reflected in the current share price yet, which means its not too late to buy INGR. But before you make any investment decisions, consider other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to make a well-informed investment decision.

Price is just the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into what truly matters  the fundamentals  before you make a decision on Ingredion. You can find everything you need to know about Ingredion in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in Ingredion, 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.
Teenager accused in shooting death of his sister

New Braunfels police arrested 17-year-old Zachary Barrera on Sunday in connection with the shooting death of his sister, who was found dead by officers Saturday night at a New Braunfels home, according to authorities.

Police and firefighters responded at 8:30 p.m. to the 600 block of Sumner Circle, where they found 16-year-old Gabrielle Barrera with a gunshot wound from a handgun. She died at the scene, according to police.

No details were available about what led to the shooting. Zachary Barrera was charged with first-degree felony murder and is in Comal County Jail on $250,000 bail.

BEXAR COUNTY JAIL

Inmate claiming exposure to virus is quarantined

A Bexar County Jail inmate who claimed to have possibly been exposed to the novel coronavirus has been quarantined in a special cell out of an abundance of caution, Sheriff Javier Salazar said Sunday.

The 49-year-old man, whom Salazar did not identify, was booked early Sunday on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and assault-family violence. The man was not granted bail.

He told deputies he had been working as a contractor in the days before his arrest and came into contact with people who had been quarantined for coronavirus, Salazar said.

That scenario actually seems pretty unrealistic from what were hearing, the sheriff said. Since the claim was made, we want to make sure that were acting appropriately.

University Health System officials examined the man, and Salazar said its more likely the inmate has the flu or a cold.

Jail officials have isolated him in a negative pressure cell that prevents any contaminated air from spreading to other parts of the building. He will remain there until doctors give him clearance to be moved elsewhere.

Also Sunday, the city of San Antonio said several Bexar County residents, as a precaution, are self-quarantined in their homes after returning from China.

Since Friday, 91 evacuees from China have been quarantined in a hotel at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. No one in Bexar County has been diagnosed with the illness.

Twelve cases of the virus have been reported in the U.S., and more than 40,100 people have been diagnosed globally. The death toll has climbed to more than 900.

Staff reports
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte called on local chief executives Monday, Feb. 10, 2020, to help prevent the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in localities and assured them that the government would do everything to defeat the virus.

In a special meeting with local chief executives at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City, Duterte stressed the local government units role in preventing the spread of the 2019-nCoV that has infected thousands of people in China and other countries, including the Philippines.

As of Feb. 10, the Department of Health (DOH) reported that a total of 314 patients have been placed under investigation for the new virus. The country has three positive cases, with one death.

With no vaccine or specific treatment available to date, Duterte urged local chief executives--governors and municipal and city mayors--to take urgent steps in preventing the spread of this disease in the localities and (provide) immediate care for those who have been afflicted.

I urge all of you to be more proactive in the management of cases, contact tracing, efficient prevention and control, and information dissemination of the coronavirus, he said.

He also reminded officials to follow protocols set by the DOH and to make sure that our people have access to equipment and services that will be of help in preventing the spread of the virus.

Politics aside

He assured officials that if the situation goes out of hand, the government has the money.

Wag kayong mag-alala (Dont worry), may pera si (Finance Secretary Carlos) Dominguez (has money). We have the money, I can assure you and we can defeat this virus, Duterte said.

Duterte also directed officials to actively engage with schools, hospitals and barangay health workers for a more efficient community to avert possible outbreak that could affect the day-to-day lives or our people.

He assured them and the public that the National Government remains on top of the threat.

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Duterte then asked local chief executives to continue to work with the government despite their political affiliations and differences.

As of Monday noon, 261 Patients under Investigation (PUIs) were admitted in various health facilities around the country, while 48 PUIs were discharged but would still be strictly monitored. Some 109 PUIs tested negative, while there are 202 cases pending test results from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM). Of the three 2019-nCoV positive cases, one is still confined, one has been discharged and one died. All three are Chinese nationals.

The total number of PUIs rose to 314 from 284 a day earlier. The number of PUIs in Central Visayas also rose to 20 from 16 during this period.

Testing for virus in Cebu

We are seeing a rapid increase in the transmission rate of the virus globally. In response, DOH has strengthened its capacity in preparation for the possibility of local transmission. All DOH hospitals are equipped to cater to the influx of patients and are following strict infection control protocols to contain the virus, said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.

Meanwhile, it was announced that the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu City would soon be able to test for the 2019-nCoV in Visayas.

This was confirmed by DOH 7 Director Jaime Bernadas in a text message to SunStar Cebu. However, he said the VSMMC laboraty is still being fitted so it can conduct the test.

Aside from the VSMMC, there are four other sub-national laboratories in the country that will be upgraded to enable them to conduct the tests. These are the Baguio General Hospital in Baguio City, the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila, the Lung Center of the Philippines in Quezon City and the Southern Philippine Medical Center in Davao City.

RITM Director Celia Carlos said these labs still had to be equipped in terms of facilities, reagents and to be trained on the protocol and to be given proficiency tests to assess whether they can perform the test properly. Thats the only time they will be allowed to do the actual sample testing.

During a press briefing in Malacanang on Feb. 3, Carlos said only the RITM, the research arm of the DOH, had the capability to test samples taken from suspected cases for the 2019-nCoV.

At the RITM, the waiting time for test results is 48 hours. It costs the institute P15,000 to P20,000 to conduct the test.

As of Sunday, Feb. 9, the DOHs Epidemiology Bureau, together with the Philipine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, had identified all 441 contacts of the first and second cases of the 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease (ARD)

Regarding the third confirmed case, a total of 224, or 56 percent, out of 403 contacts were traced, including co-passengers and individual contacts from hotels and hospitals. Some 147 contacts, or 66 percent, have been interviewed and were placed on home quarantine. Eight symptomatic contacts were categorized as PUIs and were admitted for isolation and monitoring.

During a press conference at the DOH Central Office in Manila on Monday, Health Undersecretary Dr. Rolando Enrique Domingo revealed that the number of 2019-nCoV cases recorded in the last three months surpassed the number of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) recorded in one year.

No conclusive evidence

The stand of the WHO (World Health Organization) is that when Sars happened, it was not recognized directly, he said. It was not sequenced compared to the 2019-nCoV. That is why the timeline is completely different. When we recognized Sars, it was probably after two months. As for n-CoV in the second week we were able to diagnose and identify the cases.

We dont know yet how it would play out in the long term, but what is still clear is that even if we get cases, the fatality rate is less, Domingo said.

The mortality rate of the 2019-nCoV has gone down to two percent compared to Sars mortality of 10 percent.

The DOH also said there is no conclusive evidence yet showing that the 2019-nCoV is an airborne disease.

The WHO said theres nothing conclusive about it and they are still doing research on it. Precaution is still to be taken, but it has not been classified by the WHO as an airborne infection, Domingo said.

He also said the WHO is not using the term highly infectious to describe the disease.

We dont have enough data to say that it is highly infectious than the other diseases. The rate is not as high as other diseases, he said.

Penalties

At the Cebu Provincial Capitol Monday, the Provincial Board passed an ordinance adopting the provisions of Executive Order 5, creating a provincial task force to help prevent the entry and spread of the 2019-nCoV.

The legislation also adopts the memorandum issued by Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, providing guidelines for Cebus local government units on how to enforce home quarantine for Cebuanos arriving from countries with confirmed cases of the 2019-nCoV.

Under the ordinance, the non-disclosure of pertinent facts in the health declaration card and the spread of false information on social media or any form of communication (e.g. chain text messages) on the 2019-nCoV shall be punishable by a fine of P5,000, or imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both.

Violating local government officials and employees, on the other hand, will be meted administrative disciplinary action. (SUNSTAR PHILIPPINES / PR / CTL WITH KFD )
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Three years after launching its first product, the TVS Motor Company - BMW alliance - is gearing up to launch its fourth offering in the premium segment in 2021, a top company official has said.

The new bike will be based on the same vehicle platform that was built by the alliance of TVS Motor Company and BMW. This alliance has already spun off two motorcycles for BMW which the German brand sells through its Motorrad line of showrooms not just in India but in 90 countries, including the US and European markets.

Speaking to analysts K. N. Radhakrishnan, President, CEO & Additional Whole-Time Director - TVS Motor Company, said, With respect to BMW, I think they are extremely happy. The two products are doing extremely well. We have launched our one version (RR310) on that platform, the new one with BS-VI engine was recently launched. And we, possibly next year, will have one more variant of that from TVS Motor Company.

So this is something the new product and upgrade is something we have to constantly look at opportunities and constantly delight the customer, and we will invest behind that, added Radhakrishnan.

Priced at Rs 2.28 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) and sold through a limited network of showrooms, the Apache RR 310 clocked an average of almost 250 units a month during 2019. This is TVSs most expensive and powerful bike till date besides being the Chennai-based companys maiden experiment in the fully-faired category of race bikes.

The Indo-German alliance was formed before the middle of 2013 with the primary objective to target the mid-capacity bike buyers. Since the smallest bike on offer by BMW in India was the F750 GS the company felt the need to have an even small displacement bike to tap into the budget buyer.

The design and development of the BMW bikes, G 310 R and G 310 GS, was done majorly by BMW while the task of producing them was in the hands of TVS at its factory in Tamil Nadu. BMW is exploring other segments where it can offer a similar value proposition but those plans are not fully concrete yet.

TVSs rival Bajaj Auto has two similar alliances for producing mid-capacity bikes. Bajajs partnership with Austrian bike brand KTM produces street and performance bikes under the RC, Duke and Husqvarna brands having up to 400cc engines. Bajaj has also signed an agreement with UKs Triumph Motorcycles for a similar engine capacity range of bikes.

In December TVS Motor Company said it had crossed 50,000 production-milestone for the two BMW bikes in less than two years of starting production at its Hosur-located plant.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 45-year-old man has been charged with crimes, including attempted murder, after a shooting where he allegedly targeted cops in a Bronx police station house  injuring an NYPD lieutenant. Only 12 hours earlier, police believe the same man made an assassination attempt against officers in a marked police van.

Robert Williams, a resident of the 1100 block of Evergreen Avenue in the Bronx, faces charges of attempted murder, criminal possession of a weapon and resisting arrest, according to police.

The first shooting occurred on the 900 block of Simpson Street in the Bronx on 8:27 p.m., according to police, when a man engaged the officers in conversation before pulling out a firearm and shooting at the cops  striking an officer in the neck and chin before they were able to drive off.

The perpetrator fled the scene in an unknown direction.

The officer injured in the shooting, Police Officer Stroffolino, received a warm send off as he was released from the hospital on Sunday.

Less than 12 hours later, Williams allegedly entered the 41st Precinct station house and opened fire, injuring a lieutenant  identified by police as Lt. Jose Gautreaux  who was hit by gunfire in the arm during the ambush.

Gautreaux is expected to fully recover, officials said.

An NYPD spokesman said it is believed by authorities that Williams was the perpetrator in both shootings.

For the second time in less than 12 hours, members of the New York City Police Department have been targeted specifically and shot in attempts to murder the very people who work so hard day and night to keep the people of this city safe, Shea said at a press conference after the incident.

The second shooting was captured on video inside of the station house, and showed the suspect entering the precinct before firing multiple rounds toward the desk area and a second location inside the building, discharging a 9mm pistol directly at uniformed members of service, according to Shea.

The injured lieutenant returned fire but did not strike the suspect, Shea said, but the perpetrator was quickly taken into custody  lying down only after he ran out of bullets."

Shea said Williams had a violent criminal history, and was paroled in 2017 after a shooting incident in the Bronx, a subsequent carjacking and a car crash where he engaged in a gunfight with members of the NYPD in 2002.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who attended both police press conferences directly following each shooting, condemned the attacks.

We have to understand this, as a city, as a nation, our entire society has to understand an attack on a police officer is an attack on all of us," calling the shootings a premeditated effort to kill.

The Police Benevolent Association (PBA) released a statement Sunday following news of the second shooting.

It is a double miracle that we are not preparing for two funerals right now, said Patrick Lynch, PBA president. These targeted attacks are exactly what we have warned against... our elected officials need to start listening to us and working with us  not against us  to fix the deteriorating environment on our streets.

It is not immediately clear if Williams retained a lawyer.
It was great, obviously, when Taika Waititi won an Oscar. It was great when he said kia ora, the universal Maori kindnessvery broadly the aloha of New Zealandfrom the stage. It was great when he tucked his Oscar under the seat in front of him and when he asked the Writers Guild of America to do something about Apple laptop keyboards.

But the most important thing Taika Waititi did at Sundays Oscars didnt have anything to do with his own awards. Introducing the winners of the academys honorary prizes, including the great Native American actor Wes Studi, Waititi began with a quick recognition of the indigenous people upon whose land Hollywood sits on:

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The academy would like to acknowledge that tonight we have gathered on the ancestral lands of the Tongva, the Tataviam, and the Chumash. We acknowledge them as the first peoples of this land on which the motion pictures community lives and works.

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On July 4, 2016, the first day of filming for Thor: Ragnarok, the cast and crew were instructed to report at 7 a.m. to the lot outside Stage 5 of Village Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast of Australia. There, under a glorious winter blue sky, a group of aboriginal dancers from the local tribe, the Bundjalung people, greeted the production in a land acknowledgment ceremony, along with a Maori celebrant who delivered a blessing in te reo Maori, the language of New Zealands indigenous culture. It was Maori culture meeting with the local aboriginal people, the true custodians of that land, coming together with all of us. It was amazing, Chris Hemsworth recalled when I interviewed him for a 2017 profile of Waititi. And I gave a great sigh of relief that Taika arrived with such confidence.

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Given an enormous budget for the first time on Ragnarok, Waititi, whose father is of the Te Whanau-a-Apanui iwi, invited multiple young indigenous filmmakers to shadow experienced crew members on set for monthlong rotations. But he also knew the power of ceremony and ritual in normalizing the notion that even a massive Hollywood production required the permission of the people whose land it was using. Its essentially a blessing, Waititi told me of his opening ceremony. But thats important to me. Such acknowledgments are traditional in the New Zealand film industry. Even something very small, wed do something like that, Waititi continued. In America, theyd never do that. But if I came to America to make a movie, Id make damn sure I knew who was there first.

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That kind of ceremonial acknowledgment has become more commonplace in academic settings in recent years; in film, the Toronto International Film Festival has done it before every screening for two years, and Sundance started at this years festival. The recognition is symbolic, of course, but its an extremely powerful symbol. Its meaningful to address colonialism so overtly in an institutional context, and to have Waititi on the televisions of millions of people around the world saying those words will hopefully resonate for a long time.

Was the declaration an impromptu move by Waititi? I noticed he carefully phrased his statement in such a way to attest to the academys support of the sentiment. Perhaps they agreed to his request, or perhaps hes cleverly made it impossible for them not to support it after the fact. Im very curious if well hear such acknowledgments in years when a Maori guy doesnt win an award. I hope so. I, too, want Apple to fix their keyboards, but I want these kinds of subtle but crucial changes in attitude even more.
Two U.S. troops were killed and six were wounded in an apparent insider attack in Afghanistan according to military officials.

The soldiers were involved in a firefight on Feb. 8 in Sherzad district, Nangarhar province. The wounded service members are receiving medical treatment at a U.S. facility.

Afghanistans defense ministry said one Afghan soldier was also killed and three injured in the assault.

Upon completing a key-leader engagement at the district center, current reports indicate an individual in an Afghan uniform opened fire on the combined U.S. and Afghan force with a machine gun, Army Col. Sonny Leggett, spokesman for U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, said in an emailed statement.

We are still collecting information and the cause or motive behind the attack is unknown at this time. The incident is under investigation, he said.

The Associated Press reported that a member of Nagarhars provincial council said that the gunman was killed, but neither the U.S. military nor the Afghan defense ministry has confirmed to the AP the attackers fate.

Earlier this evening, notifications began going out to the families of members of the 7th Special Forces group killed and wounded in an Afghanistan firefight, the group posted on its Facebook page Saturday night.

Several 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) Soldiers were injured or killed during combat operations in Afghanistan on February 8, 2020. The 7th Special Forces Group Headquarters is poised to support the Service Members and their families during this difficult time, said Col. John W. Sannes, 7th Special Forces Group Commander.

The families of the deceased and wounded are being notified. In accordance with DoD policy, the names of the casualties are being withheld until 24 hours after their next of kin notification is complete.

Officials from Army Special Force Command sent out a media release echoing the comments on the Facebook page, but did not elaborate.

An Afghan defense ministry official, who was not identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media, told the Associated Press that the shooter was an Afghan soldier who had argued with the U.S. forces before opening fire. The official said the shooter was not a Taliban infiltrator, according to AP.

Story continues

Afghanistans elite special operations unit to get CH-47 helicopters

Officials from U.S. Forces-Afghanistan  the headquarters overseeing the U.S. mission in Afghanistan  earlier said that the U.S. and Afghan forces conducting an operation in Nangarhar province were engaged by direct fire on Saturday, according Leggett.

One official told Agence France-Press that the attack happened in the Shirzad district military headquarters and that foreign forces had cordoned off the area.

Several helicopters landed in and departed from the HQ compound taking out casualties. We dont know how many killed or wounded," the official told AFP.

For years Nangarhar province has been a haven for the Islamic State groups faction in Afghanistan. The Taliban also operates in the area.

President Donald Trump reiterated Tuesday in the annual State of the Union speech his desire to bring troops home from Afghanistan and end the wars in the Middle East.

In Afghanistan, the determination and valor of our warfighters has allowed us to make tremendous progress, and peace talks are underway, he said. I am not looking to kill hundreds of thousands of people in Afghanistan, many of them innocent. It is also not our function to serve other nations as a law enforcement agency.

There are roughly 13,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Mark Esper has said the Pentagon may reduce the American footprint in the country to 8,600 with or without a deal with the Taliban.

Peace talks with the Taliban are ongoing, but definitions over reduced violence and a cease-fire continue to bog down the talks. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he wants demonstrable evidence that the Taliban can carry through on their promise to reduce violence in the country, according to the Associated Press.

Reporter Kyle Rempfer contributed to this story. The Associated Press also contributed to this report.

This is a developing story. Please stay with Military Times for updates.
Romania is fully committed in implementing the Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Concerning Strategic Civil Nuclear Cooperation (NCMOU), signed in September 2019, Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu said at the meeting with United States Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette.

According to a Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) release sent to AGERPRES, the respective document "opens common development possibilities of energy capacities of our countries."Aurescu has met Dan Brouillette on Monday, on the sidelines of the International Conference on Nuclear Security 2020 - ICONS, which takes place in Vienna, under the co-presidency of Romania's Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Deputy-Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Panama.Within the talks, also tackled were aspects regarding the strengthening of the Romania - the U.S. Strategic Partnership on the cooperation in the energy and energy security area, with an emphasis on the cooperation in the nuclear energy and natural gas resources exploitation, the MAE release shows.Minister Aurescu welcomed the positive developments within the Partnership for Transatlantic Energy Cooperation (P-TEC) and voiced the satisfaction of the Romanian side for the future co-chair, alongside the U.S., of its Working Group on nuclear Energy, which will gather in Bucharest, in March.

AGERPRES
Fifty people are set to be deported to Jamaica on Tuesday

Campaigners are claiming victory in their fight to stop the deportation of more than 50 people to Jamaica from the UK on Tuesday.

The detainees, who the Home Office says are foreign criminals and are being held at two centres near Heathrow Airport, were due to be flown to the Caribbean island on Tuesday morning.

Earlier on Monday, campaigners lost a High Court ruling but later a Court of Appeal judge, Lady Justice Simler, reached a different decision.

The charity Detention Action claimed the new ruling would affect 56 people but the Home Office said the figure was closer to 30 and has asked the judge to reconsider.

Detention Action argued some detainees at Colnbrooke and Harmondsworth centres still do not have a functioning mobile phone, after issues with a nearby O2 phone mast, and did not have adequate access to legal advice.

Lady Justice Simler ordered the Home Office not to remove anyone "unless satisfied (they) had access to a functioning, non-O2 SIM card on or before 3 February".

Activists also claim some of those facing deportation were as young as 13 when they moved to the UK.

Bella Sankey, director of Detention Action, said: "We are delighted with this landmark decision which is a victory for access to justice, fairness and the rule of law.

"On the basis of this order from our Court of Appeal we do not believe that anyone currently detained at the Heathrow detention centres can be removed on the flight. We understand that this will apply to at least 56 people."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "The planned charter flight to Jamaica is specifically for deporting foreign national offenders. Those detained for removal include people convicted of manslaughter, rape, violent crime and dealing Class-A drugs.

"We are urgently asking the judge to reconsider their ruling and it would be inappropriate to comment further whilst legal proceedings are ongoing."

More than 150 politicians and peers had written to the prime minister calling on him to stop the deportation.

Story continues

Two of the young men who had been set to be deported were convicted of drugs offences as teenagers and say they have no link to Jamaica, having left the country at a young age.

Tajay Thompson, who was convicted of possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply as a 17-year-old, has been given a reprieve.

He served half of a 15-month sentence in 2015 and, now 23, he had told Sky News: "It's not like I'm a rapist or a murderer, I've made a mistake when I was 17 and it's now going to affect my whole life."

Mr Thompson was brought to the UK as a five-year-old and lives with his mother and younger brother in south London.

He has only been to Jamaica twice on holiday since and said: "I feel like I was born here. Jamaica is not my country."

His mother Carline Angus said she feared for her son's safety if he was deported.

She told Sky News: "Sending a person back to Jamaica to live is totally different from going on holiday.

"The minute you reach back home you are a deportee, your life is in jeopardy. You'd be lucky to survive six months there because you became an easy target. So there's no way he can survive. Tajay knows no one there."

Mr Thompson filed a separate legal challenge and is now able to remain in detention in the UK while his lawyers work to keep him here indefinitely.

Akiva Heaven, 22, who served around four years for a drugs offence and was released in May 2018, said: "I've done my sentence already, I've done my crime, done my time as they would say.

"Now, I'm getting a double punishment."

Mr Heaven said he fears for his life if he is forced to return to a place where he has no relatives and no memories.

Nottingham East Labour MP Nadia Whittome organised the letter to Boris Johnson and said deportations should be stopped until a report into the Windrush controversy is released.

She said: "The fact is that many of the individuals in question have lived in the UK since they were children and at least 41 British children are now at risk of losing their fathers through this charter flight.

"The government risks repeating the mistakes of the Windrush scandal unless it cancels this flight and others like it until the Windrush Lessons Learned Review has been published and its recommendations implemented."

Windrush campaigner and Labour MP David Lammy urged the government to reassure MPs that there were no British nationals on the flight.

He added: "People watching see the way that this government holds with such disrespect the contribution of West Indian, Caribbean and black people in this country. When, when will black lives matter again?"

The Windrush generation were named after the ship that brought migrants to the UK from the Caribbean in 1948.

Commonwealth citizens who arrived in the UK before 1973 were automatically granted indefinite leave to remain but many of them were not given any documents to confirm their status.

In recent years, some have been denied access to services, held in detention or removed, despite living legally in the country for decades.

Reacting to Ms Whittome's request last week, Boris Johnson said: "The people of this country will think it right to send back foreign national offenders."

Last year, 29 convicted criminals were deported to Jamaica on the first deportation flight since the Windrush scandal.

The Home Office previously said that under the UK Borders Act 2007, a deportation order must be made where a foreign national has been convicted of an offence and received a custodial sentence of 12 months or more.

Possible exceptions include where this would breach human rights or the UK's obligations under the Refugee Convention.
JACKSON, Miss. - The president of Jackson State University resigned Monday after he was arrested in a prostitution sting in central Mississippi.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/2/2020 (700 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

JACKSON, Miss. - The president of Jackson State University resigned Monday after he was arrested in a prostitution sting in central Mississippi.

William Bynum Jr., 57, was among 17 people arrested during the weekend in the Jackson suburb of Clinton, according to Clinton Police Chief Ford Hayman.

This is a Clinton Police Department handout booking photograph taken the weekend of Feb. 8, 2020, of William Bynum Jr., 57, then president of Jackson State University, after he was arrested in a prostitution sting in Clinton, Miss. Bynum, who was among more than a dozen people arrested during the weekend, resigned immediately Monday morning, Feb. 10, 2020. He is charged with procuring services of a prostitute, false statement of identity and simple possession of marijuana. (Clinton Police Department via AP)

A news release from the Mississippi university system on Monday said Bynum submitted his resignation, and it took effect immediately. Within hours, the governing board for Mississippi's eight public universities met and named another Jackson State administrator, Thomas Hudson, as interim president. Hudson has been special assistant to the president and chief diversity officer.

Bynum was arrested late Saturday or early Sunday and charged with procuring services of a prostitute, false statement of identity and simple possession of marijuana, Hayman said during a news conference Monday.

The people arrested were responding to an online ad for prostitution services, and they were met by an undercover police officer at a chain hotel near Interstate 20, Hayman said.

The chief was asked if Bynum tried to convince police he was someone else.

Without getting into particulars, yes, he was charged with that  providing a false identity, Hayman said.

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Bynum had been president of Jackson State since 2017 after serving four years as president of Mississippi Valley State University.

Among the other people arrested was Shonda McCarthy, director of the Jackson State University art galleries. McCarthy, 46, was charged with procuring services of a prostitute and possession of marijuana while operating a motor vehicle.

The Associated Press left a message Monday with the communications office at Jackson State. The call was not immediately returned. It was also not immediately clear whether either Bynum or McCarthy is represented by an attorney.

Bynum faced protests from some alumni and students when he was first chosen for the Jackson State presidency because he was not among the three initial finalists. The university was having financial problems after overspending by a previous president. Bynum said the university would face three to five years of austerity.

I understand I may not be your choice, Bynum told one angry student in 2017. All I say to you is, watch me work.

A biography of Bynum on the Jackson State University website said his personal and professional motto is, Look back and thank God. Look forward and trust God. Look around and serve God. Look within and find God.
Heston Blumenthal will not be a guest judge on MasterChef Australia this year.

This comes a week after it emerged a restaurant backed by the British celebrity chef had underpaid its staff millions of dollars.

A Channel 10 spokesperson confirmed the news on Monday, telling the Herald Sun: 'Heston has been a longtime member of the MasterChef Australia family, but he will not be appearing in the upcoming season.

'Season 12 of MasterChef Australia is currently in production, and we look forward to showing viewers our amazing new judges and an incredible cast later in the year.'

Gone! Heston Blumenthal (pictured) will not be a guest judge on MasterChef Australia this year

Channel 10 did not provide a reason why Heston won't be featured this year.

Heston is the latest MasterChef regular to be removed from the show, after Channel 10 axed longtime hosts George Calombaris, Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston in 2019.

The program will now be fronted by Jock Zonfrillo, Melissa Leong and Andy Allen.

New lineup: Heston is the latest MasterChef regular to be removed from the show, after Channel 10 axed longtime hosts George Calombaris, Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston in 2019

Liquidation: Dinner by Heston (pictured), which overlooks the Yarra River in Melbourne, appointed provisional liquidators late last year. While Heston was a driving force behind the swanky restaurant's concept, he has no ownership of it

It comes a week after news broke that fine dining restaurant Dinner by Heston owes its workers $4.5million after years of underpayment.

Dinner by Heston is located at the Crown complex in Melbourne and is owned by the company Tipsy Cake.

While Heston was a driving force behind the swanky restaurant's concept, he has no ownership of it.

Termination: Crown Casino is in the process of terminating the restaurant's lease

Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting that he had any interest in the company which underpaid its staff.

The restaurant appointed provisional liquidators late last year, after Tipsy Cake missed its deadline with the Fair Work Ombudsman to pay back millions in underpaid wages owed to staff.

A report found Dinner by Heston's chefs were regularly working 25 hours overtime unpaid, driving their hourly wage well below the award wage, to $15-$17 per hour.

Investigation: An investigation found Dinner by Heston owed staff millions in unpaid wages

Crown Casino is in the process of terminating the restaurant's lease.

It's the latest in a string of Australian restaurants accused of underpaying staff, including George Calombaris' Melbourne-based company MAdE.

George's hospitality empire was revealed in July 2019 to have underpaid staff to the tune of $7.8million.

Another scandal: It's the latest in a string of Australian restaurants accused of underpaying staff, including George Calombaris' Melbourne-based company MAdE

After the announcement, MasterChef viewers called for George to be axed from the Channel 10 show, while Unions NSW started a petition to get him fired.

His decade-long run as a judge on MasterChef came to an abrupt end that same month. His co-hosts, Matt and Gary, were also ousted after contract negotiations stalled.

On Monday, it was announced that MAdE had gone into voluntary administration, with 12 of George's venues to close immediately.
Qatar may become first Persian Gulf Arab state to operate submarines: Report

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 09 February 2020 12:11 PM

Qatar is reportedly expected to acquire submarines from Italy and turn into the first Persian Gulf Arab country to operate those watercrafts.

The American business magazine Forbes reported that a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Italian company Fincantieri, Europe's largest shipbuilder, covers the "supply of cutting-edge naval vessels and submarines" to the Qatari Emiri Navy.

"Qatar may become the first Arab Persian Gulf state to operate submarines," the report said, adding that currently Iran is the only submarine operator in the Persian Gulf.

According to the report, the Qatari submarines, which are likely to be relatively small light ones, may be part of a much larger 5-billion-euro deal with Italy which was agreed in 2017.

The accord, it noted, included a large helicopter carrier, called a Landing Platform Dock (LPD), four warships and two patrol boats as well as shore support and help with a new offshore naval base.

It further said that Saudi Arabia and the UAE, two of Qatar's neighbors embroiled in a diplomatic crisis with Doha, have both stated needs to acquire submarines.

"Qatar has difficult relations these countries so the submarine acquisition could be seen, at least in part, as a response to these moves," the report added.

In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, and the UAE imposed a land, naval and air blockade on import-dependent Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism; an allegation strongly denied by Doha.

The Saudi-led bloc presented Qatar with a list of demands and gave it an ultimatum to comply with them or face consequences. Doha, however, refused to meet the demands and stressed that it would not abandon its independent foreign policy.

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The Russian Defense Ministry slammed Israel on Feb. 7 for what it considered a provocation in the skies over Syria. In the early hours of Feb. 6, while operating from neutral airspace, Israel carried out strikes on Damascus suburbs at a time when a civilian Airbus 320 carrying 172 passengers was preparing to land at the airport in the Syrian capital. The Syrian military enacted its missile defense systems to repel the strikes.

"Only thanks to the prompt actions of dispatchers at Damascus airport and the effective work of the automated system of monitoring air traffic, the Airbus 320 was escorted out of the danger zone and assisted in successfully landing at an aerodrome at the Russian air base Khmeimim," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told reporters Feb. 7.

While Russian authorities said the flight had come from Tehran, Iran, it was later reported that the flight appeared to have traveled from the Iraqi city of Najaf and was operated by the private Syrian airline Cham Wings, which is subject to US sanctions.

Why it matters: Russias Defense Ministry bears a heavy grudge against its Israeli counterpart over the downing of a Russian reconoissance aircraft in September 2018 by the Syrian air defense system. Israeli jets had been carrying out raids on Iranian targets in Syria, and Moscow says the Israelis didn't give the Russian military enough warning, leading to the Russian aircraft being downed in the mixup. At the time, the Russian military considered the Israeli manuevers as dangerous provocations that put the lives of Russian servicemen at risk and eventually led to their deaths.

"The Israeli General Staff's military air operations using passenger jets for cover or [for] blocking of retaliatory fire by Syrian missile systems is becoming a typical trait of the Israeli air force," Konashenkov said, commenting on the latest incident  a clear allusion to the past event that put Russian-Israeli ties to the test.

The new Russian-Israeli spat comes amid a warming up in bilateral relations in the last few weeks. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Israel in late January for the World Holocaust Forum and the the unveiling of a monument to those who perished during the siege of Putins native Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Moscow a few days later while en route from Washington to court Putin on US President Donald Trumps peace deal.

The fine print: Putins visit to Damascus in early January was, among other things, meant to show the significance the airport there will need to play in Syrias restoration and return to normal. In 2019, Bahrains Gulf Air and the United Arab Emirates' Etihad stated their intent to review the possibility of resuming flights to Damascus. Some Russian businesses expressed their own interest in investing in the construction of some terminals. Previous reports suggested that Moscow even asked Israel to halt its strikes on the airport in exchange for limiting the supply of Iranian cargo to Syria via the airport.

Whats next: There are at least two angles from which the Russian reaction can be interpreted. First, the resentment the Russian military expressed in public is most likely aimed at the domestic constituency as well as Syrian and Iranian allies. Other than sending stern warnings, there is little Moscow can do to stop Israeli strikes on its tactical allies without slipping into its own escalations with Israeli forces.

Know more: Stay in the know on the latest regional moves by Russia and Israel with Al-Monitors Russia-Mideast Pulse and Israel Pulse.
Diversified developer and manager GPT Group has increased its focus on the office and logistics sectors with major projects to offset a flat retail market.

Funds from operations (FFO), which is the most accurate measure for real estate investment trusts, was in line with market expectations of $613.7 million, rising 6.8 per cent on the same time last year.

An artist's impression of the planned Cockle Bay Park development in Darling Harbour, Sydney.

GPT's chief executive Bob Johnston said the strong demand for office space, coupled with rising interest in the industrial and warehouse sectors from the e-commerce industry, was helping to offset the sluggish retail sector.

He forecast about a 1 per cent increase in funds from operations for the coming year. The full-year dividend was 26.48, up 4 per cent on the 2018 year.
On our radar: L Brands is said to be close to a deal to sell control of Victorias Secret to the investment firm Sycamore Partners. (Want this in your inbox each morning? Sign up here.)

Where is my money coming from?

Silicon Valley is abuzz over a series of tweets from Chamath Palihapitiya, the venture capitalist and provocateur, suggesting that investment firms and start-ups should look more closely at whos giving them money.

 Referring to investment firms limited partners, or investors, he tweeted: What if the LPs money was stolen by an autocratic leader? What if their family made guns or alcohol or tobacco? What if they believe in Pro-Life vs Pro-Choice or No-Guns vs Ok-Guns?

 The best GPs should know that they can pick their Capital partner and I would encourage them to ask tougher questions of their LPs.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has suspended an IndiGo pilot who not only refused to provide a pre-booked wheelchair to a 75-year-old passenger on a Chennai-Bengaluru flight on January 13 but also threatened to detain the senior citizen and her daughter at the airport.

Aviation regulator DGCA, which has suspended him for three months, said that the pilots behavior was intimidating. The pilot, Captain Jayakrishnan Kadappa, had been taken off duty after the incident pending further inquiry.

The senior citizen, Vijayalakshmi Nair, had been travelling with her daughter Supriya Unni Nair, 50 on flight 6E 806. The next morning the daughter posted a series of tweets recounting her experience, accusing the crew and captain of abusive behaviour. She said that her mother, a diabetes patient, had pre-booked a wheelchair but received no assistance after the flight landed at Bengaluru. When she was explaining to the crew that the ticket mentioned the booking of the wheel chair, the captain came out of the cockpit and accused her of annoying him and his crew.

The pilot tried to stop the ground staff from taking the senior citizen out of the aircraft and threatened to detain them at the airport.

After the incident, the DGCA issued show cause notice to the pilot. The regulator said that Kadappa, who was the Pilot-in-Command (PIC), had misused his authority by intimidating the passengers. The pilot had disregarded the fact that the senior citizen needed a wheelchair and he also insisted on an apology letter from the passengers which further delayed the matter and the passengers were detained for more than one hour after the other passengers had got off the aircraft.

In its report about the investigation, the regulator stated, After examining the reply of the PIC to the letter it was established that the PIC attitude towards the wheelchair bound senior citizen passenger was intimidating, threatening and lacked compassion. His actions led to avoidable detention of the wheelchair bound passenger. His actions led to avoidable detention of the wheelchair bound passenger. He exhibited lack of ability in managing the threat and error situation especially when he was to operate another commercial flight after a short duration.

Kadappa declined to comment on the matter. He will be free to join duties on the completion of three months from the date of the incident.

Nair said, My mother and I deeply appreciate DGCAs action.

IndiGo did not comment on the matter.

Experts from the aviation industry said that it was a rare instance where a pilot has been suspended for threating a passenger. Jitendra Bhargava, former executive director of Air India said, This is one of the rare instances where the regulator has taken action against a pilot for his misconduct. Its also not very often that a pilot interacts (with a passenger) which clearly shows that pilots error. Also, as discipline should be maintained by the airline, the airline should have taken strict action against him, instead of DGCA.

Mohan Ranganathan, former instructor pilot of Boeing B737 and aviation safety consultant said, This is a good step by the DGCA as it will give a clear message to others. During suspension, the pilot does not report to work and also witnesses pay cuts based on individual airline policies.
By Deepak Chopra, MD and Menas Kafatos, PhD

Looking up at the night sky reveals an uncountable richness of stars and galaxies, which gets augmented billions of times over through telescope images from deep space. The cosmos looks to be in no danger of disappearing, but this is just a comforting illusion.

Starting in 1933, with the first intimation that dark matter existedan idea discarded at the time, waiting another 35 years to resurfacethe visible universe has been so undermined by dark matter and energy that it now ranks in size about the same as the cherry atop an ice cream sundae. By current estimates dark matter accounts for 27% of the universe, dark energy for 68%, and everything else in the observable universe a mere 5%.

You might see the situation as a kind of tip of the iceberg, with the bulk of the berg hidden underwater, but the reality is more baffling. No one knows how the hidden bulk of the universe relates to the visible tip. It isnt even credible yet that matter and energy are the right words for it.

This is where a rescue effort was called for, because it is totally unacceptable in science for anything to exist without being physical. Rather strangely, the hero riding to the rescue is information. In 1989 at a talk given at the Santa Fe Institute, the eminent Princeton physicist John Archibald Wheeler declared that every particle in the universe emanates from the information locked inside it.

The term bit had already been coined to describe the most basic unit of information, and Wheeler coined the term it from bit, meaning that any physical thing (it) is actually born from information (bit). But because information isnt physical, the whole rescue effort looked precarious. A cosmos entirely based on information would completely vanish into invisibility, unless

The unless was recently filled in by another physicist, Melvin Vopson at the University of Portsmouth in England, who theorizes that information has mass. This proposal is strongly counterintuitive. Information theory reduces to the mathematics of 1s and zeros, but how could a number have weight, which is how we commonly think of mass? The answer isnt simple, but the decisive link is the notion that when any bit of information is erased, heat is emitted. Heat is energy, and energy is convertible to matter.

The reason that information must be linked to matter and energy is that current science cannot stand on its feet unless everything has a physical basis. Similar efforts have been mounted to give a physical basis to the mind. The two rescue efforts are linked, and as far as mainstream science is concerned, the only acceptable outcome is a cosmos based on physicality, despite the common-sense objection that information and thoughts are nonphysical to begin with.

Lets accept that the cosmos originated either from information or from consciousness. They are the leading contenders in the dispute. It is rare for an argument to be the breakthrough everyone needs instead of the answer to the argument. But in this case the outcome almost doesnt matter. As long as either information or consciousness is the basis of the visible universe, it allows for configurations of dark matter and energy that do not depend on ordinary matter and energy. Instead of trying to understand darkness as if there is something similar in our world, everything can be signified through mathematics, the true language of science

Information derived from computers isnt hard to explain mathematically, since it is already based on zeroes and ones. Consciousness is much harder to reduce to numbers. In your computer any concept that can be logically written out is computable, but there is no computation for love, compassion, imagination, creativity, curiosity, and self-awareness. Artificial intelligence is trying with might and main to make those aspects of human experience computable, but so far the project seems fanciful. If your computer one day announced that it loved you, would anyone fall for it?

As things stand, if you had to bet on which theory, information or consciousness, will win the most favor, information wins hands down, just because it is reducible to numbers. But winning an argument isnt the same as finding out the truth. Humans directly experience the world, including mathematics, though our awareness. Awareness came up with information theory, beginning in the 1940s when the term bit was coined by the father of the digital age, Dr. Claude E. Shannon at Bell Labs.

If human beings created the digital revolution, its pretty hard to turn the tables and say that ones and zeroes created human beings. We are obviously creatures based entirely in consciousness. The only problem with accepting this fact is that mainstream science is stuck on physical models. Either it refuses to grapple with consciousness, or physical theories of mind get mired in impossible claims about how atoms and molecules learned to think

We believe this stuckness will pass, as outlined in our book, You Are the Universe, which aligns with a cadre of theorists who have begun to accept a consciousness-based cosmos. One day the mind will truly value the mind. Cosmic consciousness will become fundamental to creation. In the meantime, the universe will continue to vanish and probably laugh at us while it does.

DEEPAK CHOPRA MD, FACP, founder of The Chopra Foundation, a non-profit entity for research on well-being and humanitarianism, and Chopra Global, a modern-day health company at the intersection of science and spirituality, is a world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine and personal transformation. Chopra is a Clinical Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of California, San Diego and serves as a senior scientist with Gallup Organization. He is the author of over 89 books translated into over forty-three languages, including numerous New York Times bestsellers. His 90th book and national bestseller, Metahuman: Unleashing Your Infinite Potential (Harmony Books), unlocks the secrets to moving beyond our present limitations to access a field of infinite possibilities. TIME magazine has described Dr. Chopra as one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century.

Menas C. Kafatos is the Fletcher Jones Endowed Professor of Computational Physics at Chapman University. Author, physicist and philosopher, he works in quantum mechanics, cosmology, the environment and climate change and extensively on philosophical issues of consciousness, connecting science to metaphysical traditions. Member or candidate of foreign national academies, he holds seminars and workshops for individuals, groups and corporations on the universal principles for well-being and human potential. His doctoral thesis advisor was the renowned M.I.T. professor Philip Morrison who studied under J. Robert Oppenheimer. He has authored 334 articles, is author or editor of 20 books, including The Conscious Universe, Looking In, Seeing Out, Living the Living Presence (in Greek and in Korean), Science, Reality and Everyday Life (in Greek), and is co-author with Deepak Chopra of the NY Times Bestseller You are the Universe (Harmony Books), translated into many languages and at many countries. You can learn more at http://www.menaskafatos.com
ANKARA, Turkey  Turkey said it retaliated Monday after intense shelling by Syrian forces killed five of its soldiers and wounded five others in Syrias northern Idlib province, a marked escalation a week after a similarly deadly clash between the two sides.

The exchange of fire came as a Russian delegation held a second round of talks in the Turkish capital of Ankara to discuss the fighting in Idlib province, which has uprooted more than a half-million people in the past two months. No statement was issued at the end of the talks.

The fighting led to the collapse of a fragile cease-fire brokered by Turkey and Russia in 2018. Turkey supports the Syrian rebels, while Russia heavily backs the Syrian governments campaign to retake the area, which is the last rebel stronghold in Syria.

A U.N. official said the number of people displaced by the violence since Dec. 1 reached nearly 700,000.
CARMIEL, Israel, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Protalix BioTherapeutics, Inc. (NYSE American: PLX) (TASE: PLX), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development, production and commercialization of recombinant therapeutic proteins produced by its proprietary ProCellEx plant cell-based protein expression system, announced today that one-year interim data from the ongoing Phase III BRIDGE clinical trial of the Company's pegunigalsidase alfa (PRX-102) candidate for the treatment of Fabry disease will be presented via a poster presentation at the 16th Annual WORLDSymposium 2020 in Florida.

The Company will also deliver additional data via a poster presentation on the Phase I/II dose-ranging studies of pegunigalsidase alfa for the treatment of Fabry disease, and both a poster and oral presentation on the design of the pivotal Phase III BALANCE clinical trial of pegunigalsidase alfa for the treatment of Fabry disease by David Warnock, M.D., University of Alabama at Birmingham, a principal investigator in the Company's BALANCE trial. The Company has already announced the schedule of the presentations.

The Company's BRIDGE clinical trial is a Phase III open-label single arm switch-over study evaluating the safety and efficacy of pegunigalsidase alfa, 1 mg/kg infused every two weeks, in up to 22 Fabry patients currently treated with agalsidase alfa (Replagal) for at least two years and on a stable dose for at least six months.

The data to be presented via a poster by Dr. Ales Linhart of Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, a principal investigator in the BRIDGE study, suggest that there exists a potential benefit of pegunigalsidase alfa on renal function for Fabry patients previously treated with agalsidase alfa.

"In addition to suggesting a positive safety and tolerability profile of pegunigalsidase alfa, these interim data indicate amelioration of the course of the disease," said Dr. Linhart. "While these results must be confirmed by the long-term data, all of the progressing patients and two-thirds of those in the 'fast progressing' group, to date, achieved the proposed therapeutic goals after switching to pegunigalsidase alfa, demonstrating substantial improvement in disease progression rate."

In previously announced interim data, pegunigalsidase alfa was found to be well tolerated in the study, with all adverse events being transient in nature without sequelae. As of today, the majority of patients who completed the study rolled over to a long-term extension study and continues to receive treatment. The BRIDGE study final results are expected by mid-2020.

Data on the Phase I/II dose ranging studies designed to evaluate the safety, efficacy and pharmacokinetics of pegunigalsidase alfa administered intravenously every other week in adult symptomatic, treatment-naive male and female Fabry patients will be presented in a poster presentation by Prof. Derralynn Hughes of University College London (UK), a principal investigator in the Company's Phase III clinical trial of PRX-102.

"The results of this study demonstrate that pegunigalsidase alfa reaches the affected tissue and reduces the kidney Gb 3 inclusions burden and the Lyso-Gb 3 levels in circulation," said Prof. Hughes. "Further, the high correlation found between the two Fabry disease biomarkers, reduction of kidney Gb 3 inclusions and reduction of plasma Lyso-Gb 3 over six months of treatment, gives additional support to the potential effectiveness of pegunigalsidase alfa in treating Fabry disease."

An oral presentation, to be given by Dr. Warnock, describes the design and methods of the study protocol and the baseline characteristics for approximately 75 patients enrolled at 29 U.S. and European study sites.

The Company's Phase III BALANCE clinical trial is a fully enrolled, randomized, double blind, head-to-head active control study which aims to demonstrate pegunigalsidase alfa's superiority in kidney function over 24 months of treatment as compared to agalsidase beta (Fabrazyme). The study enrolled adult Fabry patients that were previously treated with agalsidase beta with deteriorating renal function, where it is aimed to demonstrate clinical benefit on renal function post-switch to pegunigalsidase alfa versus patients remaining under agalsidase beta.

"The BALANCE study is designed to show pegunigalsidase alfa's solid potential to demonstrate clinical benefit in Fabry patients," said Dr. Warnock. "An improved Fabry treatment remains a significant unmet need for this underserved population, and we look forward to the completion of our study to help address this situation."

Copies of the oral presentation and the posters will be made available on the Company's website under the Presentations tab in the Investors section.

About Fabry Disease

Fabry disease is an X-linked inherited disease that results from deficient activity of the lysosomal GalactosidaseA enzyme resulting in progressive accumulation of abnormal deposits of a fatty substance called globotriaosylceramide (Gb 3 ) in blood vessel walls throughout a person's body. Fabry disease occurs in one person per 40,000. Fabry patients inherit a deficiency of the GalactosidaseA enzyme, which is normally responsible for the breakdown of Gb 3 . The abnormal storage of Gb 3 increases with time and, accordingly, Gb 3 accumulates, primarily in the blood and in the blood vessel walls. The ultimate consequences of Gb 3 deposition range from episodes of pain and impaired peripheral sensation to end-organ failure  particularly of the kidneys, but also of the heart and the cerebrovascular system.

About Pegunigalsidase Alfa

Pegunigalsidase alfa (PRX-102) is an investigational, plant cell culture-expressed, and chemically modified stabilized version of the recombinant GalactosidaseA enzyme. Protein sub-units are covalently bound via chemical cross-linking using short PEG moieties, resulting in a molecule with unique pharmacokinetic parameters. In clinical studies, PRX-102 has been observed to have a circulatory half-life of approximately 80 hours. The Company designed pegunigalsidase alfa to potentially address the continued unmet clinical need in Fabry patients of continuous disease progression, infusion reactions and immunogenicity.

About Protalix BioTherapeutics, Inc.

Protalix is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of recombinant therapeutic proteins expressed through its proprietary plant cell-based expression system, ProCellEx. Protalix was the first company to gain U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of a protein produced through plant cell-based in suspension expression system. Protalix's unique expression system represents a new method for developing recombinant proteins in an industrial-scale manner.

Protalix's first product manufactured by ProCellEx, taliglucerase alfa, was approved for marketing by the FDA in May 2012 and, subsequently, by the regulatory authorities of other countries. Protalix has licensed to Pfizer Inc. the worldwide development and commercialization rights for taliglucerase alfa, excluding Brazil, where Protalix retains full rights.

Protalix's development pipeline consists of proprietary, potentially clinically superior versions of recombinant therapeutic proteins that target established pharmaceutical markets, including the following product candidates: pegunigalsidase alfa, a modified version of the recombinant human GalactosidaseA protein for the treatment of Fabry disease; OPRX-106, an orally-delivered anti-inflammatory treatment; alidornase alfa for the treatment of Cystic Fibrosis; and others. Protalix has partnered with Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A., both in the United States and outside the United States, for the development and commercialization of pegunigalsidase alfa.

Forward-Looking Statements

To the extent that statements in this press release are not strictly historical, all such statements are forward-looking, and are made pursuant to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The terms "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "project," "plan," "should" and "intend," and other words or phrases of similar import are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual future experience and results to differ materially from the statements made. These statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations as to such future outcomes. Drug discovery and development involve a high degree of risk and the final results of a clinical trial may be different than the preliminary findings for the clinical trial. Factors that might cause material differences include, among others: failure or delay in the commencement or completion of our preclinical and clinical trials which may be caused by several factors, including: risks that the FDA will not accept an application for accelerated approval of PRX-102 with the data generated to date or will request additional data or other conditions of our submission of any application for accelerated approval of PRX-102; slower than expected rates of patient recruitment; unforeseen safety issues; determination of dosing issues; lack of effectiveness during clinical trials; inability to monitor patients adequately during or after treatment; and inability or unwillingness of medical investigators and institutional review boards to follow our clinical protocols; the risk that the results of the clinical trials of our product candidates will not support our claims of safety or efficacy, that our product candidates will not have the desired effects or will be associated with undesirable side effects or other unexpected characteristics; risks related to our ability to maintain and manage our relationship with Chiesi Farmaceutici and any other collaborator, distributor or partner; risks related to the amount of our future revenues and expenditures; the risk that despite the FDA's grant of fast track designation for PRX-102, we may not experience a faster development process, review or approval compared to applications considered for approval under conventional FDA procedures; risks related to the FDA's ability to withdraw the fast track designation at any time; our dependence on performance by third party providers of services and supplies, including without limitation, clinical trial services; delays in our preparation and filing of applications for regulatory approval; delays in the approval or potential rejection of any applications we file with the FDA or other health regulatory authorities, and other risks relating to the review process; the inherent risks and uncertainties in developing drug platforms and products of the type we are developing; the impact of development of competing therapies and/or technologies by other companies and institutions; potential product liability risks, and risks of securing adequate levels of product liability and other necessary insurance coverage; and other factors described in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The statements in this press release are valid only as of the date hereof and we disclaim any obligation to update this information, except as may be required by law.

Investor Contact

Chuck Padala, Managing Director

LifeSci Advisors

+1-646-627-8390

[email protected]

Media Contact

Brian Pinkston

LaVoieHealthScience

+1-857-588-3347

[email protected]

SOURCE Protalix BioTherapeutics, Inc.

Related Links

http://protalix.com


As teen depression and suicide have risen generally, the crisis is still greater among gay, bisexual and questioning youth. Read more

The proportion of high school students who identify as a sexual minority  lesbian, gay, bisexual, or questioning (LGBQ)  doubled in the past several years, according to a new study published Monday.

Yet those greater numbers have not necessarily meant they have found greater acceptance or peace. The study, based on data from a federal survey, found that those teens attempted suicide at a rate nearly four times higher than their heterosexual peers.

The research, published in the journal Pediatrics, was based on data from the Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance Survey from 2009 to 2017. The findings were based on survey information from Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, North Dakota, and Rhode Island, the only six states that continuously collected sexual orientation data for all those years.

These new findings, particularly the disproportionate rate of suicide attempts, dramatically point out the need for increased efforts to assist and support these young people, according to the researchers.

Large disparities in suicide attempts persisted even as the percent of students identifying as LGBQ increased. In 2017, more than 20% of LGBQ teens reported attempting suicide in the past year, said lead study author Julia Raifman, an assistant professor with Boston Universitys School of Public Health.

Its critical that health and educational institutions have policies and programs in place to protect and improve LGBQ health, such as medical school curricula and high school health curricula that are inclusive of sexual minority health, Raifman said.

 READ MORE: Teens turning to Tik Tok to talk about mental health

According to the study, 14.3% of U.S. teens identified as a sexual minority in 2017, compared with 7.3% in 2009. Adolescent girls in 2017 were twice as likely as boys to identify as a sexual minority.

The research also found that many more high schoolers are engaging in or at least experimenting with same-sex sexual contact. Their numbers increased from 7.7% of teens in 2009 to a little over 13% in 2017.

The sexual contact numbers were based on data from Delaware, Connecticut, Illinois and Rhode Island, the four states that continuously collected that information from 2009 to 2017.

As troubling as the high rate of suicide attempts for sexual minority teenagers compared to heterosexual kids is, the rate at the beginning of the study period was even worse.

In 2017, a little over 20% of the high schoolers who identified as sexual minorities reported attempting suicide, compared to 26.7% in 2009. The reported suicide attempt rate for heterosexual kids was about 6% for both those years.

 READ MORE: Many parents don't know their kids have contemplated suicide

Our paper indicates that an increasing number of teenagers are identifying as LGBQ and will be affected by anti-LGBQ policies that may elevate these already very high rates of suicide attempts, Raifman said.

Raifman said previous research she was involved in show a correlation between public policies and LGBQ suicide attempts and mental health.

In one 2017 study, Raifman and colleagues found a 7% reduction in suicide attempts in high school students, particularly those identified as sexual minorities, in states that allowed same-sex marriage. A 2018 study led by Raifman found increased mental health distress among sexual minority individuals in states where there had been publicized cases of anti-gay discrimination.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people ages 10 to 24.

In addition to Boston University, the study authors include researchers from Boston Childrens Hospital, Harvard Medical School and the School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Brown Universitys School of Public Health and medical school, along with other hospitals.
Recognized as one of the nation's largest certified public accounting firms, Schneider Downs offers a full spectrum of business consulting services to clients in the Mid-Atlantic region, including technology and cybersecurity consulting, transaction advisory, retirement planning solutions and wealth management. The firm generates nearly $90 million in revenue annually and employs 480 employees across its headquarters in Pittsburgh, PA and office in Columbus, OH.

Schneider Downs recently made the commitment to open an office location in Tysons Corner (McLean), Virginia, to better serve its existing roster of clients in the region. The firm believes it can further expand its client base in the area by focusing on its experience in strategic markets and services.

"We are incredibly bullish on our opportunities in this region," explained Steven D. Thompson, Co-CEO of Schneider Downs. "Steve Wiltse will provide great leadership and experience to help our firm continue to build on the exciting momentum we're experiencing throughout the Mid-Atlantic."

Mr. Wiltse is a veteran of the Washington D.C. business community, and was a founding partner of Argy, Wiltse & Robinson, P.C., previously one of the 100 largest public accounting firms in the nation. In 2012, the company was acquired by a national firm, where Mr. Wiltse worked until his retirement in 2014. He currently serves as a Board Director of FVC Bank, as well as a consultant for government contractors and real estate organizations.

"We are very pleased to leverage the unique blend of professional and regional expertise that Steve can deliver," explained John R. Null, shareholder at Schneider Downs and the firm's market leader for the region. "Steve thoroughly understands our business offerings, and has business friends and contacts throughout the region. We have a great base of valued clients in the region, and Steve will help us expand on that foundation."

For Mr. Wiltse, the opportunity with Schneider Downs represents an opportunity to leverage an entire career's worth of business contacts and experiences.

"Schneider Downs' services and niche industry expertise pair well with this region," Mr. Wiltse said. "There is a great need for insightful advisors who can deliver a full roster of CPA and consulting services with a personal, friendly approach. I look forward to helping tell their story."

Schneider Downs is a Top 60 accounting firm providing tax, audit and business advisory services to public, private and nonprofit companies. The firm offers 80 services from five business units: Assurance and Tax Advisors; Business Advisors; Technology Advisors; Wealth Management Advisors; and Corporate Finance Advisors. With offices in Pittsburgh, Columbus and McLean, Schneider Downs serves clients in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Washington D.C., West Virginia, New York, Maryland and beyond.

CONTACT:

Leigha Pindroh

[email protected]

412-697-5251

SOURCE Schneider Downs

Related Links

www.schneiderdowns.com


Press Release

February 10, 2020 Bong Go reiterates: "PRRD has authority to terminate VFA"; assists fire victims in Manila Senator Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go emphasized on Monday, February 10, that he believes President Rodrigo Duterte has the authority to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States (US). "Hintayin na lang natin ang magiging desisyon ng Pangulo. He has the authority to terminate the VFA since he is the chief architect of Philippine foreign policy," Go said in an ambush interview during his visit to fire victims in Port Area, Manila. Go also expressed his support to the President on what his decision may be, saying "Suportado ko kung ito ang magiging desisyon ng mahal na Pangulo." Go, in a previous interview, said he respects the opinion of other senators who believe that the Senate should first review the termination of the VFA. "Separate branch of government naman po kami, at karapatan po ng bawat senador to express our views, their views," Go said. Asked if he would vote for the Senate resolution asking the President to reconsider his decision, Go answered in a previous interview, "Susunod po ako kung ano 'yung batas. Kung naaayon naman sa ating batas na pwedeng i-terminate ng Presidente ang VFA at kung di na po kailangan ng concurrence ng Congress ay respetuhin dapat po 'yun." "Kapag naman sinabing kailangan munang i-review, rerespetuhin ko rin ito," he added. Asked if he personally agrees with the termination of the country's VFA with the US, Go said that the US senators who meddle in the Philippines' domestic affairs should be taught a lesson. He also asked them to "mind their own business". "Sa totoo lang, dapat bigyan ng leksyon ang mga pakialamerong senador (ng US). Tayo, hindi naman tayo nakikialam sa kanila. Just mind your own business. This is democracy," he said. Go also expressed that the US senators should thoroughly inform themselves of the facts of the case of Senator Leila de Lima, reiterating that there is no persecution in her detention. "Alamin muna nila dapat ano ang nangyari rito. Wala naman pong ginagawang persecution. Merong prosecution upheld by the Supreme Court sa kaso ni de Lima," he said. The Supreme Court, in June of 2018, affirmed its earlier ruling, upholding the legality of the arrest of de Lima over drug charges. Go also stressed that the US senators have no right to interfere in the Philippines' domestic affairs. "Panghihimasok po itong ginagawa nila just to pressure us. Wala po kayong karapatang manghimasok sa aming bansa," he said. Go assists fire victims in Manila Meanwhile, Go gave aid to 1,211 families comprised of 4,255 individuals affected by a fire that razed 200 houses on February 4 at Baseco Compound, Port Area. Aside from relief and financial assistance, Go also offered to provide for the uniforms and various school supplies of the affected students. "May dala po akong konting tulong sa inyo. Sa mga estudyante rin na nandito na nasunugan ng gamit, ako na ang magbibigay ng school supplies para sa inyo," he said. Aside from the assistance provided by Go, the victims also received various forms of government assistance from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) and National Housing Authority (NHA). Local officials were also present during the visit. "'Yung mga national government agencies natin, mayroon din silang ibibigay na tulong sa inyo," he said before enumerating the various types of assistance to be provided by the agencies. Go also explained the concept of the Malasakit Center program to the residents, saying that it aims to cut time, money and effort spent by Filipinos just to seek government financial and medical assistance. With the medical assistance programs coming from the four participating agencies already available in the Malasakit Center, Go also mentioned that the target is to reduce the hospital bills of indigent and poor patients to the lowest possible amount. "Zero balance billing ang target po natin dito," he said. The Senator also extended help to those who need to undergo medical operations. Meanwhile, during the ambush interview, Go was also asked for his comments regarding the quo warranto petition filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida against ABS-CBN. Calida filed the petition before the Supreme Court on Monday to revoke the network's franchise. Go said that the Solicitor General "has a mind of his own" and refused to comment further on the issue. "Hindi ko pa nabasa ang kanyang quo warranto. No further comment muna ako rito. Kung sakaling makarating ito sa Senado, then I will decide," he said. As for the successful repatriation of 32 Filipinos who sought to return to the country from China amid the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Acute Respiratory Disease (2019-nCoV ARD) issue, Go said that he is happy with the preparations undertaken by the health officials and concerned agencies. "Ok naman ang preparasyon natin. Naintindihan naman ng tao after magsalita ng Pangulo at health officials. Maraming naliwanagan," he said. "Sa preparasyon naman sa pagbalik ng overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), nasunod naman ang protocol. Sundin lang natin. Have patience. Kalma lang tayo. 'Wag tayong magpanic para walang madamay. 'Wag tayong mag-spread ng fake news," he added. Go also said that now is the right time for Filipinos to showcase their bayanihan spirit, saying "Magbayanihan tayo. Kaya natin itong lampasan."
You are here: Arts

Chinese-American film director Lulu Wang's comedy drama "The Farewell" won Best Feature award Saturday night at the 35th Film Independent Spirit Awards.

The awards, held in the U.S. coastal city of Santa Monica in Los Angeles County, honor the finest achievements of American independent filmmakers.

The film, written and directed by Wang, stars Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin and Zhao Shuzhen among others. Based in part on Wang's life experiences, the film follows a Chinese-American girl returning to China to say goodbye to her terminally-ill grandmother.

Zhao, who plays the grandmother in "The Farewell," won Best Supporting Female award, while Willem Dafoe won Best Supporting Male award for his role as Thomas Wake in the psychological horror film "The Lighthouse."

Renee Zellweger took home the award for Best Female Lead for her performance in the biographical drama "Judy." Adam Sandler nabbed Best Male Lead award for the crime thriller film "Uncut Gems."

Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie, the directors of "Uncut Gems," took home the prize for Best Director.

South Korean black comedy thriller "Parasite" won Best International Film, while the Best Documentary award went to "American Factory," the first film from former U.S. First Couple Barack and Michelle Obama's Higher Ground Productions.
'There are some encouraging signs.'

'Notice that we have not said 7%-plus, we are keeping it at 6% to 6.5%.'

After presenting his second Economic Survey, Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian spoke with Dilasha Seth and Arup Roychoudhury about the projections in the Budget, the need for enhancing credit in the system, and how the time had come to choose between fiscal prudence and growth.

In the Economic Survey, you have pitched for relaxation of the fiscal deficit target for FY20 to revive growth. What should be the magnitude? Is there an upper limit?

There is always a balancing act between fiscal prudence and spurring growth.

In times like these, it is better to lean on growth. And that's the directional sense that we have given.

The actual magnitude, of course, depends on a lot of different factors.

There is no getting away from the fact that you don't have a benign choice; everything you know you have to make trade-offs and in the trade-off between fiscal prudence and spurring growth in times like these, it is important to actually focus on growth because when your growth increases, your revenues also increase and then, as a result, the fiscal situation also comes under control.

But if you actually end up at this point in time just focusing on fiscal discipline without necessarily worrying about growth, then you may neither get growth nor will you get fiscal prudence in subsequent years.

You have proposed the China model to achieve growth by integrating assembling in India with Make in India. Do you think India will be able to compete with China in that?

While the Chinese have specialised in labour-intensive sectors, we have basically been as good as China in terms of diversifying across product categories.

So in other words, pick a few sectors and just invest intensively in those and develop specialisation, instead of carpet-bombing across many different product categories which is diversification.

So it's clear that the difference in the Chinese performance vis-a-vis India's is primarily because of specialisation or the lack of it.

Besides, trade tensions have been happening between the US and China, as well.

While there is some traction on the deal, it remains that whatever tariffs have been imposed, those will continue.

But a larger point is that many countries like Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Indonesia are now on a declining trend in terms of the benefits that they can derive from exports.

In contrast, India is actually now in a situation where we can still increase and that is why there is an opportunity clearly for us to be able to utilise the window.

But what is really crucial is that we should be focused on the six network sectors where overall trade worldwide stands at close to $8 trillion.

And by getting a share of that, not only India achieves the $5 trillion economy goal, but also creates 40 million well-paying jobs by 2025 and 80 million by 2030.

This is primarily by assembling in India, where we enable import of components, assemble them here using the labour force and export them, and that's a clear-headed strategy that we've actually provided.

IMAGE: 'There is always a balancing act between fiscal prudence and spurring growth. In times like these, it is better to lean on growth,' says Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian. Photograph: Anushree Mascarenhas/Reuters

How confident are you of achieving 6% to 6.5% growth?

There have been a number of steps taken by the government.

There are some encouraging signs. Also, if you look at a business cycle with its peaks and troughs, I think we have reached a trough, and there should be an uptick in growth.

That is what we are budgeting. Notice that we have not said 7%-plus, we are keeping it at 6% to 6.5%.

You spoke about bank credit being subscale given the scale of the economy. How big a concern is that and how do we boost credit, without having another NPA issue?

That's why we have actually talked about the use of technology.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning is an area that I genuinely believe in, and that is why we suggest it to the public sector banking network, so that it has the ability to generate all the data, and actually use that to generate insights.

If you take, for instance, some of the corporate defaults, there were many indicators, whether it's financial statement quality or the nature of transactions.

All these can actually be flagged by using data analytics. Trust me, this is something with a significant potential to be able to enter even for something as simple as geotagging of collateral.

The opportunity to extract patterns actually is enormous.
Treasury yields fell on Monday as investors remain cautious about the deadly coronavirus.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to price, dipped three basis points to around 1.543%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also lower at around 2.015%.

Part of the so-called yield curve inverted again on Monday, with the 10-year yield falling below the three-month Treasury rate of 1.558%, sending a recession signal.

Traders continue to monitor the outbreak of the coronavirus. As of Sunday night, China said a total of 40,171 cases of coronavirus had been confirmed and 908 people had died, while 14 Americans have tested positive for the virus aboard a cruise ship quarantined in Japan. The death toll from the coronavirus has also overtaken that of the SARS outbreak in the early 2000s.
GUYSBOROUGH, N.S.A psychiatrist who saw Lionel Desmond twice before he killed his family and himself in 2017 told an inquiry Monday the former soldier displayed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, but his mental health issues were far more complex than the one diagnosis.

Dr. Ian Slayter, who assessed Desmond during two meetings in the fall of 2016, told the fatality inquiry that the Afghanistan war veteran from rural Nova Scotia also suffered from major depression, a probable traumatic brain injury, possible attention deficit disorder and borderline delusions about his wifes fidelity.

He was complex in terms of having several diagnoses going on at the same time, Slayter told the inquiry, which has held eight days of hearings.

The psychiatrist, who works at the outpatient clinic at St. Marthas Regional Hospital in Antigonish, N.S., said Desmond told him his PTSD symptoms had been subsiding but he said his jealousy toward his wife Shanna and nightmares about infidelity had been getting worse.

Clearly, jealousy was one of the problems, Slayter said. I didnt spend a lot of time going into that .... They seemed irritated with each other.

Slayter said when he first met Desmond during an emergency room visit on Oct. 24, 2016, Shanna was with him and did most of the talking, saying at one point she was not afraid of him, though she confirmed there had been a great deal of marital conflict.

Its clear there had been a lot of arguing, Slayter testified. They were talking about years of that going on .... He would get angry, pound on tables and throw things.

Desmond, who at the time mainly complained about nightmares and lack of sleep, insisted he had never physically abused his wife.

During a followup psychiatric assessment on Dec. 2, 2016, Slayter concluded Desmonds jealousy seemed overemphasized and bordering on delusional, he said.

Slayter said Desmond, 33, also had problems processing information and complained about having difficulty following instructions or long conversations. Those symptoms could have been linked to a possible traumatic brain injury caused by one of three serious falls he had while serving in Afghanistan in 2007, he said.

On Jan. 3, 2017, Desmond used a Soviet-era SKS 7.62 semi-automatic carbine to kill his 52-year-old mother Brenda, his 31-year-old wife and their 10-year-old daughter Aaliya inside the familys mobile home in Upper Big Tracadie, N.S.

Slayter told the inquiry he was worried Desmond was falling through the cracks because he had been receiving care through the federal Veterans Affairs Department when he was living in New Brunswick, but those services stopped when he moved to Nova Scotia.

I thought it could be organized better, he said. He deserved it.

Melissa Grant, a lawyer representing the attorney general of Canada, told Slayter that Desmond had a case manager within Veterans Affairs who was working on finding him the services he needed, but there was some dispute over where he would have to go  Halifax or Cape Breton.

The inquiry has heard that Desmond failed to show up for an appointment with Slayter on Dec. 21, 2016, but on Jan. 3, 2017  the same day as the killings  he booked another appointment for later in the month.

Slayter was the third medical professional to testify that Desmond was articulate, calm, coherent and showed no signs of psychosis or thoughts of suicide or homicide, which is why he was considered a low risk for violence in late 2016 and early 2017.

There were no red flags, Slayter said.

However, he said he was not told about an incident a year earlier in New Brunswick when Desmond threatened suicide and the police were called in.

Slayter said he wanted Desmond to get help from an occupational stress injury clinic and to undergo a specialized neuropsychological assessment, which would examine the extent of his possible brain injury.

But before those services could be arranged, he asked Desmond to obtain his medical records from the Canadian Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs, something Slayter admitted would be difficult for Desmond to accomplish.

Desmond told the psychiatrist he had an upcoming appointment with a Veterans Affairs therapist, but Slayter confirmed he did not exchange information with her.

Tara Miller, who represents Desmonds sister, Chantel, suggested the lack of communication could have been a barrier to Desmonds care.

Youre both essentially working in the same direction but youre in silos .... So we have all of these folks who are trying to help Cpl. Desmond ... and nobodys able to share the information, Miller said.

Slayter agreed.
Each year, The Learning Networks Editorial Contest provides students a platform to write short, evidence-based persuasive essays like the editorials The New York Times publishes every day. Over 10,000 students participate annually.

This year, in recognition of the upheaval caused by the coronavirus pandemic, weve extended our deadline by three weeks, to April 21. We have also updated this webinar to make it more relevant to those teaching and learning from home.

We hope our contest can give your students a chance to think deeply about the issues that matter to them most, and invite them to write in their authentic voices for a real audience. Even if they are not participating in the contest, however, the resources well show you can be woven into any writing curriculum to help students practice the skills of making claims and backing them with reliable evidence and compelling reasoning.

In this 50-minute on-demand webinar, Learning Network editors are joined by Kabby Hong, a guest teacher from Verona, Wisconsin whose students participate in this contest annually. Together we will
The Minister for Inner City and Zongo Development, Mustapha Abdul-Hamid has advised the youth of Addo Teiman Zongo, to refrain from political violence, as Ghana prepares for this years general elections.



Mustapha, who was the special guest of honour at a commissioning and handing-over ceremony of a 3-unit classroom block at Otinibi, on Thursday, February 6, 2020, built by the La Nkwantanang-Madina Assembly expressed concern over how politicians take advantage of Zongo youth to perpetrate electoral violence.



Being an election year, mostly when our politicians want people to use to cause disturbances or election violence, they usually go to the Zongo communities to mobilize them because there is a notion that, Zongo people dont fear anything, he said.



According to him, this year the Zongo youth need to put a stop to those practices because the Zongo people also deserve to go to school which will later give them employment and improve their livelihood.



Politician that will come to you to mobilize Zongo people to go and perpetrate electoral violence should be asked to bring his/her children to lead the demonstration and I believe when we begin to do this, the issues of electoral violence will reduce considerably during elections.



The Minister highlighted on the importance of education to community development.



If there will be an improvement in a family, its from education, so we need to encourage our children to go to school for the development of the family. The government, therefore, is providing the facilities to that effect in line with President Akufo-Addos Free SHS policy to allow more access, he highlighted.



These facilities are very vital in the development process and under the Zongo development fund, we are focused on provision of school buildings and provision of educational materials, which will improve the livelihoods of persons living in Zongo communities.



The Member of Parliament for La Nkwantanang-Madina Constituency, Abu-Bakar Saddique Boniface, recalled, We thank God for this edifice for the Zongo community, because previously where they used to have class was very dusty and if you are put there to learn, you will rather come out with illness due to the dusty nature of the place. But today we have a modern facility that is well furnished.



The MCE of La Nkwantanang-Madina Municipality, Jennifer Dede Afagbedzi threw more light on how the project came about.



I realized the school does not have JHS and the Headmistress also approached me that she doesnt want the children to move to another school just because they dont have JHS, she said.



She added that the Headmistress used to offer her office for the primary six students to continue to JHS 1.



Noting that the school has a great future, she appealed the Zongo Minister to have them in his plans. Adding that the school came 5th out of 51 schools in the municipality, with their first badge of BECE candidates in the 2019 exams.



The 3-unit classroom block that was commissioned and handed over has been fully furnished and fitted with fans and whiteboards, as well as office for the Headmistress and a staff common room.









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 Sri Lankan government is planning to sign bilateral agreements with a number of countries including China, Pakistan and Iraq, aimed at increasing tourist arrivals and to boost the crisis-hit sector, a top official said.

The Cabinet has granted approval to sign the bilateral agreements with China, Pakistan, Estonia and Iraq to promote tourism, while the government expects to enter into agreements with several other countries such as South Africa and Georgia, reports the Daily Financial Times newspaper.

However, Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said the signing of the agreement could be delayed for some time due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China which has caused problems for the global travel industry.

Escalation of the coronavirus crisis could pose a negative impact on the tourism industry. But we are optimistic of signing these agreements as soon as the tourism industry in the world recovers, he told the Daily Financial Times on Sunday.

The Minister pointed out that such agreements would benefit Sri Lanka as well as other countries in the event disasters hit the world.

Sri Lanka has already signed agreements for tourism promotion with 10 countries - India, Thailand, Seychelles, Poland, Tajikistan, Malaysia, Australia, Russia, South Korea and the Philippines.

Accordingly, the implementation of the programmes will be coordinated through a Joint Working Group.

Sri Lankas top tourist markets include India, the UK, China, Australia, Germany, the US, Maldives, France and Canada.

He said the Government also intended to appoint destination marketing agencies based in India, Europe, China, the Middle East, Russia and Ukraine.

In 2019, Sri Lanka received a little over 1.9 million tourists. This year, the new government has aimed to attract 3 million tourists, increasing it to 10 million within five years.
CALGARY - The federal government is launching a new set of consultations with Indigenous groups that will determine if and how they might take part in ownership of the Trans Mountain pipeline and its expansion project, Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced Monday.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/2/2020 (700 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Minister of Finance Bill Morneau speaks at a Economic Club breakfast in Calgary, Monday, Feb. 10, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Todd Korol

CALGARY - The federal government is launching a new set of consultations with Indigenous groups that will determine if and how they might take part in ownership of the Trans Mountain pipeline and its expansion project, Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced Monday.

Up to 129 communities will be consulted over the next weeks to ensure they have a chance for "meaningful economic participation" in the Ottawa-owned pipeline, the minister said at an event in Calgary.

"This next step will be focused on different models of economic participation such as equity-based or revenue-sharing options and will seek to build momentum towards a widely acceptable option for the groups that we're consulting with," he said.

"We'll also explore whether the participating communities are willing to work together, either through an existing entity or a new one."

Several Indigenous groups have expressed interest in buying a stake in the pipeline but the government hasn't said when it plans to sell it.

As long as Trans Mountain is operated as a commercial enterprise, the industry will be supportive of its sale, said Chris Bloomer, CEO of the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, after listening to the speech.

"Anything that facilitates participation meaningfully with First Nations in these projects is a welcome thing. Having a deliberate approach to it, I think, is good," he said.

In his speech, Morneau said he sympathizes with Albertans who have lost jobs because of an economy hit by a capital investment slide and discount prices for oil and gas as export capacity fails to keep up with gains in production.

The novel coronavirus is also having a negative impact on Canada's economy, he said, pointing out oil prices are down by about 15 per cent because of the spread of the illness, a result that hits the West harder than the rest of the country.

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A Federal Court of Appeal ruling last week that set aside a challenge of the Trans Mountain expansion project by four B.C. First Nations is important for the western Canadian economy, he said.

The court found that the government had met its duty to consult, thus clearing one of the last major hurdles for construction to continue on the conduit from the Alberta oilsands and refining hub in Edmonton to the B.C. coast.

The federal government will earn a return on its investment when it sells Trans Mountain, Morneau added, despite the release last week of a new construction cost estimate for its expansion of $12.6 billion, an increase of 70 per cent over the previous forecast of $7.4 billion.

"We believe this new estimate is realistic and we remain confident that when it's the appropriate time to sell, we will see a profit on this investment," Morneau said.

The government expects to earn $500 million a year in taxes from Trans Mountain after the expansion begins operating, he added.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 10, 2020.
For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL  February 10, 2020  Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Walmart Inc. WMT, Intel Corporation INTC, Microsoft Corporation MSFT and Apple Inc. AAPL.

Here are highlights from Fridays Analyst Blog:

4 Stocks to Win Big from Chinas Tariff Relief

Concerns about the coronavirus outbreak and its subsequent impact on businesses certainly dented investors sentiment. But markets got a shot of confidence from signs of progress in the Sino-American trade relationship.

China recently announced that it will trim tariffs on $75 billion worth of U.S. imports by half starting next week. Per Chinas Ministry of Finance, 10% tariffs on some of U.S. commodities would be cut to 5%, while those with 5% tariffs will be trimmed to 2.5% starting Feb 14. Chinas ministry added that in order to promote the healthy and stable development of Sino-U.S. economic and trade relations such a move was taken. Whats more, the ministry suspended tariffs on some of the products required for treating victims of coronavirus.

In fact, on the trade front, the United States and China had signed a preliminary trade deal, indicating a truce in the protracted trade war. President Trump along with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He had called the deal a landmark agreement. The phase-one trade deal cuts U.S. tariffs to 7.5% on about $120 billion China products.

The United States said that China has agreed to increase import of commodities in 2020. China has also agreed to protect U.S. intellectual property rights and has given the assurance of not manipulating its currency. To top it, Trump had said that that the latest trade agreements helped the broader stock market gain. After all, the Trump administrations phase-one trade deal with China did lessen the burden on global economic growth created by trade imbalances, and in turn boosted factory activities.

Story continues

Lest we forget, the United States and China together account for 35% to 40% of the worlds economy, and thus have a significant influence on international growth. And since the negotiations have gone well between the countries, business confidence has improved, driving capital expenditure and in turn the stock market. Trade economist Mary Lovely of the Peterson Institute for International Economics summed up by saying that the U.S.-China phase-one deal is essentially a trade truce, with large state-directed purchases attached. The truce is good news for the U.S. and the world economy.

Thus, the next obvious question is which are the best stocks to buy now given that China-U.S. trade war worries are dissipating? The answer is the same companies that suffered the most when the trade war started.

Walmart

Walmart Inc. engages in the retail and wholesale operations in various formats worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International and Sams Club. The worlds largest retailer should be a clear winner since trade issues have cooled off. After all, almost three-fourths of the merchandise sold in Walmart stores are manufactured in China. And any increase in the prices of goods it imports from China could easily dent Walmarts bottom line.

Walmart is currently gaining from its sturdy comparable store sales (comps) record, which in turn is driven by its constant omnichannel efforts. The company has been posting positive comps in the U.S. division for 21 straight quarters.

The company currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has moved up 1.2% over the past 90 days. The companys expected earnings growth rate for current and next quarter is 2.1% and 2.7%, respectively. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Intel

Intel Corporation provides computing, networking, data storage, and communication solutions worldwide. The company in particular is expected to gain immensely. This is because Intel more or less generates bulk of its revenues from China, and its more than what the semiconductor company makes in the United States.

China, in fact, relies heavily on U.S. chipmakers, while semiconductors make up one of its largest import categories in terms of value. Hopes of abatement in U.S.-China trade tensions provided strength to the chip sector. Nonetheless, Intels leading position in PC market, strength in servers, growing clout in software, IoT & ADAS domains and headway in process technology are positive indicators of growth prospects.

The company currently has a Zacks Rank #2. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has moved 5.7% north over the past 60 days. The companys expected earnings growth rate for current and next quarter is 47.2% and 18.9%, respectively.

Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. Microsoft, in fact, has had a presence in China for the last two decades. Microsofts largest R&D center outside the United States is in China.

The enterprise refresh cycle, new subscription model, Azure and promising new products will continue to generate sizeable cash flows for Microsoft.

The company currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has risen 5.4% over the past 60 days. Its expected earnings growth rate for the current quarter and year is 16.7% and 18.7%, respectively.

Apple

Apple Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The latest trade deal is certainly good news for Apple. After all, the prolonged trade war had slowed down demand for iPhones in China, hampering sales and compelling CEO Tim Cook to slash guidance.

Lest we forget, China is a significant market for iPhone. Apple had shipped 3.2 million iPhones in China last December, up from 2.7 million units shipped in December of 2018. Nevertheless, Apple is currently benefiting from momentum in the Services business, strong adoption of Apple Pay and growing Apple Music subscriber base.

The company currently has a Zacks Rank #2. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has moved up 5.1% over the past 60 days. Its expected earnings growth rate for the current quarter and year is 21.5% and 15.6%, respectively.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 01:19:56|Editor: yan

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GABORONE, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- A 62-year-old Botswana man was killed by a lion last Friday in a village in Central District, police said.

The man was trying to shoot the lion but missed, said Nelson Museke, a police officer from a nearby village of Pandamatenga, on Monday.

The man and five others, who survived by climbing up trees, followed the lion after it had killed one of their cattle.

One of the other men fired a first shot at the lion but failed to kill it, Museke said, adding that the lion attacked the group when the victim fired the second shot but missed the lion.

The victim was snatched by the lion and killed instantly, the officer said.

The lion was later killed by another man in the group.

Botswana's Wildlife Conservation and National Parks Act allows the owner of any property to kill a wild animal that has killed his animal or destroyed his property.
Warren Buffett famously said, 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' It's only natural to consider a company's balance sheet when you examine how risky it is, since debt is often involved when a business collapses. As with many other companies Genting Singapore Limited (SGX:G13) makes use of debt. But the real question is whether this debt is making the company risky.

What Risk Does Debt Bring?

Debt assists a business until the business has trouble paying it off, either with new capital or with free cash flow. Part and parcel of capitalism is the process of 'creative destruction' where failed businesses are mercilessly liquidated by their bankers. However, a more frequent (but still costly) occurrence is where a company must issue shares at bargain-basement prices, permanently diluting shareholders, just to shore up its balance sheet. By replacing dilution, though, debt can be an extremely good tool for businesses that need capital to invest in growth at high rates of return. When we think about a company's use of debt, we first look at cash and debt together.

See our latest analysis for Genting Singapore

What Is Genting Singapore's Debt?

You can click the graphic below for the historical numbers, but it shows that Genting Singapore had S$255.3m of debt in September 2019, down from S$1.03b, one year before. However, its balance sheet shows it holds S$3.68b in cash, so it actually has S$3.42b net cash.

SGX:G13 Historical Debt, February 9th 2020

How Strong Is Genting Singapore's Balance Sheet?

The latest balance sheet data shows that Genting Singapore had liabilities of S$605.4m due within a year, and liabilities of S$535.0m falling due after that. Offsetting this, it had S$3.68b in cash and S$139.3m in receivables that were due within 12 months. So it actually has S$2.68b more liquid assets than total liabilities.

It's good to see that Genting Singapore has plenty of liquidity on its balance sheet, suggesting conservative management of liabilities. Because it has plenty of assets, it is unlikely to have trouble with its lenders. Succinctly put, Genting Singapore boasts net cash, so it's fair to say it does not have a heavy debt load!

Story continues

On the other hand, Genting Singapore's EBIT dived 11%, over the last year. If that rate of decline in earnings continues, the company could find itself in a tight spot. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Genting Singapore's ability to maintain a healthy balance sheet going forward. So if you're focused on the future you can check out this free report showing analyst profit forecasts.

Finally, while the tax-man may adore accounting profits, lenders only accept cold hard cash. While Genting Singapore has net cash on its balance sheet, it's still worth taking a look at its ability to convert earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to free cash flow, to help us understand how quickly it is building (or eroding) that cash balance. Over the last three years, Genting Singapore actually produced more free cash flow than EBIT. There's nothing better than incoming cash when it comes to staying in your lenders' good graces.

Summing up

While it is always sensible to investigate a company's debt, in this case Genting Singapore has S$3.42b in net cash and a decent-looking balance sheet. The cherry on top was that in converted 116% of that EBIT to free cash flow, bringing in S$891m. So we don't think Genting Singapore's use of debt is risky. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet - far from it. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Genting Singapore that you should be aware of.

If, after all that, you're more interested in a fast growing company with a rock-solid balance sheet, then check out our list of net cash growth stocks without delay.

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.
Bijapur: Two CoBRA battalion jawans were killed while six others were injured in an exchange of fire with Naxals at Irapalli village of Bijapur district on Monday. One Naxal was also killed in the encounter that took place in the Pamed Police Station limits.

The slain jawans are Vikash Kumar and Purnanand Sahu. The earlier reports said that two jawans were injured. The number later rose to six.

The commandos were from the 204 Battalion of the Commando Battalions for Resolute Action (CoBRA). (More details are awaited)
NEW YORK, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- eos Products, the beauty brand known for its iconic lip balms, announces the expansion of their SHEA BETTER sustainability program for 2020. In partnership with the Global Shea Alliance (GSA), USAID and their supply chain, eos is committing to making a positive impact on the communities in West Africa from which they source their Shea.

This upcoming year, eos is expanding their pledge with the implementation of multiple projects that will make a larger, even more meaningful impact to their Shea sourcing communities in Ghana, Africa. From building micro-warehouses in eight different communities to co-financing and constructing a modern organic Shea processing center that will allow the surrounding communities the opportunity to work more efficiently, safely and sustainably, eos is committed to finding ways to help women Shea collectors maximize their income opportunities, while protecting the ecosystem.

"We believe in supporting the communities and ecosystems from which we source all of our Shea," said eos Founder & CEO, Jonathan Teller. "We started our SHEA BETTER sustainability program in 2018 by building fuel-efficient stoves for women Shea harvesters in Burkina Faso and saw first hand how we can have a positive influence on the communities."

To date, eos has built fuel-efficient stoves for more than 1,200 women in the shea industry across 25 different villages in Burkina Faso. The improved stoves are safer, more fuel- and water-efficient, and result in a lower carbon footprint. eos also provided business and quality Shea kernel training to the women's cooperatives in Burkina Faso so they can continue to maximize income earning opportunities.

"Our SHEA BETTER sustainability program, in partnership with the Global Shea Alliance, is focused on giving back to the community because we know the Shea trade supplies women harvesters with a meaningful income," said Soyoung Kang, Chief Marketing Officer at eos. "We are also proud to serve as co-chair of the GSA's Sustainability Working Group, whose goal is to govern the development and oversee the implementation of the GSA's sustainability program."

eos recently announced the launch of their SHEA BETTER Hand Creams, which deliver 24-hour hydration with sustainably sourced Shea oil and Shea butter. 15% of sales from every hand cream sold on the eos website will be donated to support the GSA and the sustainability needs of the Shea industry.

To learn more about eos' SHEA BETTER sustainability program, please visit sheabetter.com.

About eos

eos is a leading beauty and skincare brand that originated around a key insight: products should deliver refreshingly awesome moments that transcend daily routines. eos successfully translated that insight to its iconic lip balms, hand creams, and shave creams, all of which are hypoallergenic, dermatologist-tested, gluten-free, and packed with nourishing vitamins and natural skin-conditioning oils. For more information, please visit www.evolutionofsmooth.com.

About the Global Shea Alliance

The GSA is a non-profit industry association with 500 members from 35 countries including women's groups, suppliers, non-profits, producer national associations, affiliate members, brands and retailers. Through public-private partnerships, the GSA promotes industry sustainability, quality practices and standards, and demand for shea in food and cosmetics. For more information please visit: http://www.globalshea.com/

Contact:

Analise Guarino

[email protected]

SOURCE eos Products

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Linkedin Gisela Swaragita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 10, 2020 14:09 701 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2063981d0 1 World Jokowi,Veronica-Koman,West-Papua,Nduga,Canberra Free

President Joko Jokowi Widodo has been urged to discuss human rights violations in West Papua during his visit with Australian government officials in Canberra.

Jokowi is in Australia this week on a bilateral visit.

According to a media release made available to The Jakarta Post, the president has been handed details on West Papuas civilian death toll and political prisoners by activists in a bid to urge an end to the political and humanitarian crisis in the easternmost part of Indonesia.

Our team in Canberra has managed to hand over letters to President Jokowi directly. The letters include names and locations of 57 political prisoners charged with treason and held behind bars in seven cities across Indonesia. We also listed the names and ages of 243 civilians who have died during the Nduga military operation since December 2018, Indonesian human rights lawyer Veronica Koman said.

At the beginning of his first term in 2015, President Jokowi released five West Papuan political prisoners. Indonesians and West Papuans alike saw the move as a new hope for West Papua. But now at the beginning of his second term, there are 57 people awaiting trial for treason, facing life imprisonment. This route will only fuel further conflict, she continued.

Veronica said that the West Papuan governor, regents, church leaders, customary leaders, academics, activists and students have begged President Jokowi to withdraw troops from Nduga regency since December 2018, but the request has been ignored.

She said she hoped that Jokowi would halt the humanitarian crisis in the region as he now had the data, including names of 110 dead children among the 243-person total. (gis)
Sydney, Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Just released, this edition of Paul Budde Communications focus report on Mexico outlines the major developments and key aspects in the telecoms markets.

Click here to access the report : https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Mexico-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses

With a population of approaching 125 million and relatively low broadband and mobile penetration, Mexicos telecom sector retains significant potential for growth. The market is still dominated by the incumbent Telmex and Grupo Televisa, which together retain about two thirds of subscribers. A regulator newly set up in 2013 has enforced measures aimed at removing barriers to foreign investment and at reducing the market share of the dominant operators. These reforms will go far to making Mexicos telecom market more competitive. One result of competitive pressure is the decision of Telefonica Group to exit the Mexican telecoms market, a process which is being undertaken in stages which includes the sale of fibre assets, the migration of mobile subscribers to AT&T Mexicos network and the return of spectrum concessions to the regulator. The Group sold units in Guatemala and El Salvador in March 2019.

In the fixed broadband sector significant changes are underway, with the main cable TV providers Megacable and Grupo Televisa widening their bundled services offerings, and with some important market consolidation. The fibre sector has shown particularly strong growth during the last two years as the key operators expand their network reach beyond the core densely urban areas.

The mobile market also continues to undergo considerable changes in the wake of regulatory efforts to curb the market dominance of Telcel. Although the MVNO segment has only a very small market share it continues to attract investment, and new players enter the market each year. A wholesale mobile network operating in the 700MHz band was set up in 2018 and will reach the vast majority of the population by 2025. Developments in 5G have been slow given the existing capacity of LTE, though the auction of spectrum in the 600MHz band (among the first globally) by late 2020 will stimulate the sector as operators launch services from 2021.

This report provides statistics and analyses on Mexicos fixed-line market, as well as an overview of regulatory developments. The report also reviews the mobile market, including a range of statistical data as well as subscriber forecasts. In addition, the report covers the fixed and mobile broadband sectors, including an assessment of technological and regulatory developments.

Key developments:

Regulator confirms 600MHz auction for end-2020;

Movistar to hand back spectrum concessions as it exits Mexican market;

MNOs prepare to shut down legacy GSM networks;

Regulator rekindles SIM card registration program;

America Movil develops m-payment platform with banks;

Report update includes the regulator's market data report to June 2019, telcos' financial and operating data to Q3 2019, Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

America Movil (Telcel, Telmex), Megacable, Cablemas, Cablevision, Grupo Televisa, Maxcom, Sistemas Interactivos de Telecomunicaciones (SIT), Axtel, Megafon, InterCable, CFE, , AT&T Mexico (Iusacell, Nextel Mexico), Movistar (Telefonica Mexico), Globalstar, Unefon, Virgin Mobile, Weex, Alestra, Maxcom, Marcatel.

Henry Lancaster

January 2020

Table of Contents

Key statistics

Regional Latin America Market Comparison Telecom Maturity Index by tier Market Leaders Market Challengers Market Emergents South America Telecom Maturity Index Central America Telecom Maturity Index TMI versus GDP Mobile and mobile broadband penetration Fixed and mobile broadband penetration

Country overview

Telecommunications market Historical overview Market analysis Telecoms reform

Regulatory environment Regulatory authorities Fixed-line developments Privatisation Deregulation Foreign investment rules Mobile network developments Spectrum auctions Mobile Termination Rates (MTRs) Mobile Number Portability (MNP) Roaming Telecom legislative reform SIM card registration

Mobile market Market analysis Mobile statistics General statistics Mobile infrastructure Digital networks 4G (LTE) 2G Other infrastructure developments Open networks Satellite mobile IoT Mobile data SMS and MMS Mobile broadband Major mobile operators Telcel Movistar AT&T Mexico Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) Mobile content and applications Mobile economy

Fixed-line broadband market Market analysis and statistical overview Government support Municipal broadband Broadband statistics Fixed-line broadband technologies Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) networks Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) network Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) networks Other fixed broadband services

Fixed network operators Introduction Telmex/America Movil Megacable Grupo Televisa

Telecommunications infrastructure Overview of the national telecom network National network infrastructure developments Smart infrastructure Smart grid technology Data centres

Related reports





List of Tables

Table 1  Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities - Mexico  2019 (e)

Table 2  Change in the number of employed in the telecom sector  2011  2019

Table 3  Change in telecom sectors contribution to GDP  2009  2019

Table 4  Share of telecom market revenue by sector  2017- 2018

Table 5  Change in telecom revenue and annual growth  2009 - 2019

Table 6  Development of fixed-line and mobile sector revenue  2015  2018

Table 7  Foreign investment in telecoms  2011  2019

Table 8  Increase in the number of mobile number of portings  2009  2017

Table 9  Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration  2009  2024

Table 10  Change in mobile market share of subscribers by major operator  2009  2019

Table 11  Development of mobile market revenue and investment  2009  2018

Table 12  Development of the number of repaid / postpaid subscribers  2010  2019

Table 13  Change in the proportion of prepaid / postpaid subscribers  2009  2019

Table 14  Distribution of spectrum by band  2020

Table 15  Distribution of spectrum by operator  2020

Table 16  Growth in the number of Movistars LTE subscribers and penetration  2016  2019

Table 17  Decline in SMS traffic  2006  2020

Table 18  Change in the proportion of mobile data traffic by network technology  2015  2019

Table 19  Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration  2009  2024

Table 20  Change in the market share of mobile broadband subscribers by operator  2014  2019

Table 21  Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers by main operator  2013  2019

Table 22  Growth in the number of Telcels subscribers and annual change  2009  2019

Table 23  Development of Telcels churn, monthly minutes of use and ARPU  2008  2019

Table 24  Change in the number of Telcels prepaid and contract subscribers  2016  2019

Table 25  Development of Telcels wireless revenue  2010  2019

Table 26  Growth in the number of Movistars mobile subscribers  2009  2019

Table 27  Movistar minutes of use and ARPU  2008  2019

Table 28  Development of Movistars financial data  2006  2019

Table 29  AT&T Mexico revenue  2015  2019

Table 30  AT&T Mexico ARPU  2018  2019

Table 31  Growth in the number of AT&T Mexicos mobile subscribers  2009  2019

Table 32  MVNO share of the mobile market by subscribers  2014  2018

Table 33  Change in the number of mobile subscribers by main MVNO  2014  2018

Table 34  Change in the proportion of broadband lines by data rates  2014  2019

Table 35  Broadband lines by data rates  2017  2018

Table 36  Growth in the number of fixed-line broadband subscribers and penetration  2009  2024

Table 37  Change in market share of broadband subscribers by operator  2014  2019

Table 38  Change in market share of broadband subscribers by platform  2014  2019

Table 39  Growth in the number of cable modem broadband subscribers  2009  2019

Table 40  Growth in the number of Megacables cable modem subscribers  2009  2019

Table 41  Change in Megacables ARPU  2007  2019

Table 42  Growth in the number of Cablemass cable modem subscribers  2009  2019

Table 43  Change in the number of Televisas RGUs by sector  2016  2019

Table 44  Growth in the number of Cablevisions cable broadband subscribers  2009  2019

Table 45  Decline in the number of DSL broadband subscribers  2009  2020

Table 46  Growth in the number of Infinitums DSL subscribers  2009  2019

Table 47  Growth in the number of FttP broadband subscribers  2013  2019

Table 48  Decline in the number of wireless broadband subscribers  2013  2020

Table 49  Change in the number of satellite broadband subscribers  2013  2019

Table 50  Change in market share of fixed lines by operator  2014  2019

Table 51  Change in the number of Telmexs fixed-line RGUs  2009  2019

Table 52  Decline in the number of Telmexs fixed-line subscribers  2015  2019

Table 53  Development of Telmexs revenue, EBITDA  2011  2019

Table 54  Growth of Megacables revenue by sector  2010  2019

Table 55  Growth in the number of Megacables fixed-line subscribers  2012  2019

Table 56  Decline in Megacables fixed-line ARPU  2012  2019

Table 57  Growth in the number of Televisas telephony subscribers  2016  2019

Table 58  Development of Televisas financial data  2017  2019

Table 59  Change in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity  2009  2024

Table 60  Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate  2000  2009

Table 61  Historic - Proportion of prepaid / postpaid subscribers  2000  2009

Table 62  Historic - DSL broadband subscribers  2001  2009

Table 63  Historic - Mobile market share of subscribers by major operator  2001  2009

Table 64  Historic - Mobile market revenue  2001  2009

Table 65  Historic - Telecom revenue and annual growth  1998 - 2009

Table 66  Historic - Internet users and annual change - 2000  2018

Table 67  Historic - Dial-up internet subscribers  2000  2012

Table 68  Historic - Fixed-line broadband subscribers  2003  2009

Table 69  Historic - Average fixed-line traffic per line 2014  2016

Table 70  Historic - Market share of fixed line traffic by operator  2014  2016

Table 71  Historic - Telecom sector contribution to GDP  2004  2009

Table 72  Historic - cable modem broadband subscribers  2001  2009

Table 73  Historical - Fixed lines in service, annual change and teledensity  1996  2009

Table 74  Historic - Megacable cable modem subscribers  2001  2009

Table 75  Historic - Cablemas cable modem subscribers  2002  2009

Table 76  Historic - Cablemas financial data  2012  2014

Table 77  Telcel Historic - subscribers and annual change  2000  2009

Table 78  Historic - AT&T Mexico subscribers  2000  2009

Table 79  Historic - Movistar subscribers  2001  2009

Table 80  Historic - Infinitum DSL subscribers  2002  2009

Table 81  Historic - Cablevision cable broadband subscribers  2002  2009

List of Charts

Chart 1  Latin America Overall Telecoms Maturity Index

Chart 2  Latin America Telecoms Maturity Index  Market Leaders Category

Chart 3  Latin America Telecoms Maturity Index  Market Challengers Category

Chart 4  Latin America Telecoms Maturity Index  Market Laggards Category

Chart 5  South America Telecoms Maturity Index by country

Chart 6  Central America Telecoms Maturity Index by country

Chart 7  Latin America Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per Capita

Chart 8  South America mobile subscriber penetration versus mobile broadband penetration

Chart 9  Latin America fixed broadband penetration versus mobile broadband penetration

Chart 10  Change in the number of employed in the telecom sector  2011  2019

Chart 11  Change in telecom revenue and annual growth  2009 - 2019

Chart 12  Development of fixed-line and mobile sector revenue  2015  2018

Chart 13  Increase in the number of mobile number of portings  2009  2017

Chart 14  Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration  2009  2024

Chart 15  Change in mobile market share of subscribers by major operator  2009  2019

Chart 16  Development of mobile market revenue and investment  2009  2018

Chart 17  Development of the number of repaid / postpaid subscribers  2010  2019

Chart 18  Change in the proportion of prepaid / postpaid subscribers  2009  2019

Chart 19  Growth in the number of Movistars LTE subscribers and penetration  2016  2019

Chart 20  Change in the proportion of mobile data traffic by network technology  2015  2019

Chart 21  Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration  2009  2024

Chart 22  Change in the market share of mobile broadband subscribers by operator  2014  2019

Chart 23  Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers by main operator  2013  2019

Chart 24  Growth in the number of Telcels subscribers and annual change  2009  2019

Chart 25  Change in the number of Telcels prepaid and contract subscribers  2016  2019

Chart 26  Development of Telcels wireless revenue  2010  2019

Chart 27  Growth in the number of Movistars mobile subscribers  2009  2019

Chart 28  Development of Movistars financial data  2009  2019

Chart 29  Growth in the number of AT&T Mexicos mobile subscribers  2009  2019

Chart 30  MVNO share of the mobile market by subscribers  2014  2018

Chart 31  Change in the number of mobile subscribers by main MVNO  2014  2018

Chart 32  Change in the proportion of broadband lines by data rates  2014  2019

Chart 33  Growth in the number of fixed-line broadband subscribers and penetration  2009  2024

Chart 34  Change in market share of broadband subscribers by operator  2014  2019

Chart 35  Change in market share of broadband subscribers by platform  2014  2019

Chart 36  Growth in the number of cable modem broadband subscribers  2009  2019

Chart 37  Growth in the number of Megacables cable modem subscribers  2009  2019

Chart 38  Change in Megacables ARPU  2007  2019

Chart 39  Growth in the number of Cablemass cable modem subscribers  2009  2019

Chart 40  Change in the number of Televisas RGUs by sector  2016  2019

Chart 41  Growth in the number of Cablevisions cable broadband subscribers  2009  2019

Chart 42  Decline in the number of DSL broadband subscribers  2009  2020

Chart 43  Growth in the number of Infinitums DSL subscribers  2009  2019

Chart 44  Change in market share of fixed lines by operator  2014  2019

Chart 45  Change in the number of Telmexs fixed-line RGUs  2009  2019

Chart 46  Development of Telmexs revenue, EBITDA  2011  2019

Chart 47  Growth of Megacables revenue by sector  2010  2019

Chart 48  Growth in the number of Megacables fixed-line subscribers  2012  2019

Chart 49  Change in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity  2009  2024

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1  Generalised Market Characteristics by Market Segment

Exhibit 2  South America - Key Characteristics of Telecoms Markets by Country

Exhibit 3  Central America - Key Characteristics of Telecoms Markets by Country

Click here to access the report : https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Mexico-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 10

By Ilhama Isabalayeva - Trend:

Parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan were held in conditions of democracy and transparency, Valerijus Simulik, the international observer and head of the Lithuanian-Azerbaijani Interparliamentary Friendship Group, said at a press conference on the results of the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan, Trend reports Feb. 10.

Simulik noted that he had repeatedly been an observer in the elections in Azerbaijan.

We visited 15 polling stations of three constituencies, including the Jojug Marjanli settlement, the observer said. There were not only parties' members, but also independent representatives among the observers.

The head of the interparliamentary friendship group also touched upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Simulik noted that the members of the Lithuanian-Azerbaijani Interparliamentary Friendship Group are well informed about the problem of occupation of Azerbaijani lands. The international observer expressed hope that this problem will find its fair solution, and Azerbaijans territorial integrity will be restored.

The parliamentary elections were held in Azerbaijan on February 9. Some 1,314 candidates were registered within the early parliamentary elections. The candidacies of 246 people were nominated by 19 political parties, 1,057 were self-nominated, 11 - by initiative groups.

Twenty-one percent accounted for female candidates while 79 percent  male candidates.

As many as 5,426 permanent polling stations operated in 125 constituencies of the country.

Some 883 international observers and 77,790 local observers were monitoring the voting process. Among the local observers, 35,152 were representatives of political parties. International observers represented 58 countries and 59 organizations.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 9)  Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said there was no "contradiction nor inconsistency" in the statements made by several government officials regarding the submission of papers to the US about the termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

In a statement released Sunday evening, Panelo said he was only quoting President Rodrigo Duterte and that people were making a fuss over an issue that did not exist.

"This representation was merely quoting the President when he said that he would instruct the Executive Secretary to tell the Department of Foreign Affairs to send a notice of termination to the United States on the VFA. To be clear, this representation did not say that the directive of the President to the Executive Secretary has already been issued or given. The said instruction from the tenor of the President using the future tense is just forthcoming. The President may even directly instruct Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin on the matter. It is much ado about nothing," he said.

He said if no instructions were given, then Medialdea and Lorenzana's statements were true. However, he added it did not mean what he said was not true. "It simply means that the Executive Secretary has yet to receive the directive from the President," he said.

Panelo also said there was no "internal clash" in the Cabinet, adding they were "always in unison with respect to the policies enunciated by the President."

Last Friday, Panelo said that Duterte would order Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro "Teddy Boy" Locsin to have the government's order regarding the VFA termination be sent to the US.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana would later say it was "fake news" and that no order was given to either the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) or Locsin.

"According to (Executive) Sec. (Salvador) Medialdea! None. Nada. Zilch. Awan. Wala! Anggapo," said Lorenzana.

On the conflicting statements, Lorenzana said he would leave it to Panelo, saying, "I think you have to ask them that. As I said I will stay mum from now on. I leave it to Sec Panelo as the spox (spokesperson) to be the outlet of such news."

Duterte threatened he would end the VFA if Washington did not reverse its cancellation of Senator Ronald Bato dela Rosas visa.

Duterte said in a speech in January that he was giving the US government a month to correct the cancellation of Dela Rosas visa.

However, Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon and Senator Panfilo Ping Lacson filed a resolution asking the President to reconsider his decision to terminate the VFA.

Senate Majority Leader Miguel Zubiri cited economic complications if the country unilaterally withdraws from the agreement.

Locsin also said the country would stand to lose around 10 billion in aid, such as military assistance and financial grants from the US, should the termination push through.
A Sydney woman killed herself after the breakdown of a relationship with a man who may have been a fake persona created by an ex-lover, a court has heard.

On the first day of a coronial inquest into the 2013 death of 20-year-old Glenhaven woman Renae Marsden, the court heard allegations that her friend, Camila Zeidan, catfished her when their relationship broke down.

Renae Marsden, 20, was last seen in August 2013 and is thought to have taken her own life.

Catfishing is the practice of seduction through a fake persona.

The pair met in high school in 2008 and were romantically involved, with Ms Marsden telling a school counsellor they had plans, including having children, counsel assisting the Coroner Sasha Harding said.
ANN ARBOR, MI  After a long day with a procedure at C.S. Mott Childrens Hospital, the last thing 10-year-old Emily Calveneau seemed to expect was a party. And certainly not one celebrating a trip to visit her favorite princess at Walt Disney World.

Make-A-Wish Michigan surprised the Lansing resident on Thursday when her pediatric cardiologist Kurt Schumacher shared the news that she, her parents and 5-year-old brother will travel to Florida in early March to meet Princess Jasmine, spend a week park-hopping and doing whatever she wants.

She can even have ice cream for breakfast, Schumacher said.

Calveneau had a dilated cardiomyopathy at birth, a congenital heart defect that led her to get a heart transplant at about 12 weeks old, her mother Amanda said. At the hospital Thursday, doctors checked Emily Calveneaus heart for continuing chamber and artery strength  a procedure Amanda estimates is done annually.

20 Make-A-Wish surprises 10-year-old patient with a trip to Disney

Emily Calveneaus father, John, said the experience is one they wouldnt be able to do without help. Itll be a chance for the children to unleash their childish wonder.

For her, it means a lot, John Calveneau said. Shes always loved princesses and so many characters. For me, itll be nice to see it through the kids eyes. I havent done that in a long time so Im sure its a different experience. For her, its a chance to run around and be a kid. No school, no nothing.

Make-A-Wish granted wishes for 128 children at Mott in 2019, spokeswoman Christy Schulte said. Thirty-two of them were patients of the congenital heart center like Emily Calveneau.

Caretakers and hospital staff surprised Emily Calveneau with a human tunnel before the reveal. Wearing the famous mouse ears, tiaras and Disney enamel pins on some of their lanyards, they cheered when the 10-year-old said she was excited for her trip.

Her first mission, of course, will be to meet Jasmine from Aladdin.

Volunteers and hospital staff also gave her gifts for her trip: a disposable camera, Jasmine dolls, a princess pillowcase and more. But Emilys favorite toy of the party was the Mylar balloon of Jasmine  it kept her attention, bouncing through the air as adults mingled around her.

Schumacher said hes seen Emily Calveneau go through so much with a smile and cheery attitude.

Ive known Emily since she was born. She has faced a tremendous amount of adversity and continues to face things like invasive procedures and things she has to do on a day-to-day basis, but she comes through like this, Schumacher said. She is resilient and sweet and wonderful. I cant think of anybody who deserves something like this more than Emily, just like a lot of the kids we take care of.

MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS:

Saline officials to host listening session in wake of uproar over racist remarks

Zavier Simpson was suspended after wrecking Michigan AD Warde Manuels family car, police report shows

Police identify man killed in hit-and-run crash on UM campus

State Rep. Rebekah Warren says shes owning up to drunken driving incident, wont be bullied into resigning
- Apple Inc. has been fined by French competition and fraud watchdog, DGCCRF, for slowing down older iPhone versions

- The technology company was ordered to pay $27 million for the act which it confirmed in the year 2017

- Apple Inc. has meanwhile confirmed that it has resolved all issues with the watchdog

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

Apple Inc. has been fined 25 million euros or $27 million for intentionally slowing down older versions of iPhones without informing its clients.

Frances competition and fraud watchdog, DGCCRF imposed the fine on the technology firm.

YEN.com.gh understands that Apple, in 2017, confirmed that it intentionally slowed down some models of their phones in a bid to prolong the life of the devices.

READ ALSO: Sudan dissolves its central bank board as South Sudan prepares for its first oil and gas bid

Per a report by citinewsroom.com, the company, however, indicated that it has resolved the issues with the watchdog.

Customers have however argued that Apple slowed down older iPhones in a bid to encourage people to purchase newer models.

For that reason, it released updates for the software of the iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE which smoothed out battery performance.

In other news, the coronavirus has, in recent times, caused havoc in a number of countries in the developed world, and the race for a cure appears to be all that everyone looks forward to.

As health officials brace themselves for the worst, Africa is yet to record a single case of infection.

Information available shows that over 31,000 people have been infected since late December 2019.

Trips between Africa and China grow by the day, and per a report by Bloomberg.com, closer ties between them have increased the rate of exposure to the virus.

YEN.com.gh understands that about 20 African countries have already discussed the possibilities of an outbreak, taking into consideration the general state of medical facilities.

READ ALSO: Mercedez Benz unveils new camper van; photo and details drop

Read the best news on Ghana #1 news app. Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Ghana

President Akufo-Addo is a "wicked old man" - Angry protester fumes | #Yencomgh

Want to be featured on YEN.com.gh? Send us a message on our Facebook page or on Instagram with your stories, photos or videos

Source: YEN.com.gh
Uttar Pradesh Minister Raghuraj Singh ignited a debate after he called for a ban on burqas, stating that it was being used by 'terrorists' to conceal their identity. In demand was made in an apparent reference to protestors against the controversial citizenship act (CAA) in Agra's Shahjamal area. "I would also appeal to the government to ban burqas because terrorists enter our country wearing burqas." Raghuraj Singh claimed burqa is not worn in countries like Sri Lanka, China, the US, and Canada and said it should be banned in India. Without citing his source, Raghuraj Singh, in addition, linked burqa to Surpanakha, the demon who has her face disfigured in Ramayana. According to the BJP leader's version, Surpanakha fled to hide in the Arab desert.

The Uttar Pradesh Minister said, "The system of burqa has come from Arab. They hide their face because Lord Lakshman cut their ears and nose. They wear burqas because they are the descendants of demons. Only the descendants of demons can wear burqa, no ordinary person can wear burqa." The BJP leader said people are sporting burqas in Delhis Shaheen Bagh protest against the new citizenship law, and added, "The burqa helps terrorists, thieves and anti-social elements to hide behind it."

READ| Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi defends 'shoot traitors' & 'shot like dogs' remarks by BJP netas as 'nationalist'

"This is Hindustan and it will be run as per traditions of the Hindus. This is our wish," he said. "Burqa is a threat to national security and has to be banned to crush terrorism," the Minister in Yogi Adityanath's government added. Hours after his controversial statement, Uttar Pradesh BJP issued a show-cause notice to Raghuraj Singh. The showcase notice issued by state BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh said, "The respect of women is of utmost importance for the party organisation. The party cannot give permission to flout party norms and principles."

Raghuraj Singh's 'burn them alive' threat

Previously, Raghuraj Singh had courted controversy after he claimed that those protesting against the Yogi Adityanath government and the BJP-led government over CAA and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) should be 'burnt alive'. Singh used the terms "will bury alive", "will beat you", while speaking about agitators.

He said, "You will take tax money for your university and raise slogans against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi? I will bury you alive," Singh said while addressing a public gathering organized in support of CAA. Reiterating the Center's stand of implementing NRC across the country, he said that people have the right to stay in the country, but "this is not a Dharamshala" implying that outsiders infiltrating illegally will be detained.

(With PTI inputs)

READ| 'Owaisi's DNA will match Jinnah's in a test; his remarks superficial & seditious': BJP MP

READ| Karnataka BJP asks Muslim voters to 'keep papers ready' for NPR
NEW YORK, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- European Wax Center (EWC), a leading beauty focused personal care brand, has selected Crossmedia as its media Agency of Record to help it accelerate growth.

Crossmedia Inc., a New York City-based independent media agency, will rely on its accountable, outcome-based media infrastructure to help EWC reach its strategic goals and objectives.

European Wax Center (EWC), a leading beauty lifestyle brand franchise founded in 2004 by the Coba brothers, offers guests a full suite of waxing services, as well as a proprietary line of beauty products in the skincare, body, and brow categories. The Entrepreneur Franchise 500 ranked company operates a unique franchise business model, and its network includes more than 700 centers across the U.S. Crossmedia is an independent full-service media agency with eight offices in the U.S., Germany, and the U.K. The Crossmedia family of brands generates annual billings exceeding $1 billion and employs more than 550 worldwide. Minority owned in the U.S., Crossmedia earned a top spot on Ad Age's 2020 Best Places to Work list.

Founded in 2004, EWC is a leading beauty lifestyle brand franchise providing guests with a modern environment for comfortable and luxurious waxing experiences at more than 700 centers across 40 states.

EWC's vision is Revealing Beautiful Skin through exceptional services by professionally trained and certified waxing experts. It also offers a proprietary line of beauty products in the skincare, body, and brow categories uniquely positioned to support the waxing process.

EWC relocated its corporate headquarters late last year from Hallandale Beach, Florida to Plano, Texas as part of its accelerated growth plan.

EWC placed 56th in Entrepreneur's 2020 annual Franchise 500, a highly sought-after and highly competitive honor in the franchise industry.

Crossmedia's responsibilities will span communications planning, advanced analytics, and cross-channel media planning and buying.

Crossmedia U.S. Co-Founder and CEO Kamran Asghar expressed excitement to partner with such a dynamic business so well aligned with Crossmedia's passions and values. "We not only share an entrepreneurial spirit but a commitment to fair and inclusive practices," Asghar said.

Crossmedia, because of its diversity, inclusivity, and principled commitment to its employees, recently earned a top spot on Ad Age's 2020 Best Places to Work list.

Chris Kobus, Chief Experience Officer at EWC, said Crossmedia's corporate culture and its own double-digit growth rate make it a good fit for EWC. He said he was also impressed by Crossmedia's data forward, audience-first approach. "Proper measurement and analysis set the foundation for exceptional customer experience," he said. "Without it, a brand will likely fall short with its customers."

About European Wax Center

European Wax Center (EWC), a leading beauty lifestyle brand franchise founded in 2004 by the Coba brothers, offers guests a full suite of waxing services, as well as a proprietary line of beauty products in the skincare, body, and brow categories. EWC provides guests with a modern environment for comfortable and luxurious experiences, which is focused on EWC's vision of Revealing Beautiful Skin through exceptional services by professionally trained and certified waxing experts. So confident in the EWC experience, the first wax is always complimentary (brows, underarms, bikini line for women, and nose, ears, and brows for men). The Entrepreneur Franchise 500 ranked company operates a unique franchise business model, and its network includes more than 700 centers across the U.S. For more, visit www.waxcenter.com.

About Crossmedia

Crossmedia is an independent full-service media agency with eight offices in the U.S., Germany, and the U.K. The Crossmedia family of brands generates annual billings exceeding $1 billion and employs more than 550 worldwide. Founded in Germany in 1997 and in the U.S. in 2000, it is a pioneer in data-led and unbiased media solutions. With its self-imposed and third-party audited Transparency Report introduced in 2007, Crossmedia is the only media agency that operates truly transparently on a global level. Minority owned in the U.S., Crossmedia earned a top spot on Ad Age's 2020 Best Places to Work list. Crossmedia clients include BMW, Mini, Etihad Airways, Lidl, U.S. Bank, Hertz, The Hartford, Nordstrom, New Era Caps, Lululemon, and White Castle. For more, visit xmedia.com.

Mike Farasciano Crossmedia [email protected] 917-292-4424 Meredith Needle Creative Media Marketing [email protected] 212.979.8884

SOURCE Crossmedia
Applies to list its common shares on NYSE

MONTREAL, Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TFI International Inc. (TSX: TFII; OTCQX: TFIFF), a North American leader in the transportation and logistics industry, today announced the launch of a marketed offering of 6,000,000 common shares in the United States and Canada, representing TFI Internationals initial public offering in the United States.

In connection with the initial public offering in the United States, TFI International has applied to list its common shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol TFII. Trading in TFI Internationals shares is expected to commence on the NYSE following the pricing of the offering. TFI Internationals common shares will continue to trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol TFII.

The public offering will be conducted through a syndicate of underwriters led by Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities, J.P. Morgan and Credit Suisse as joint lead book-running managers, with RBC Capital Markets and UBS Investment Bank as joint-bookrunners and Cowen, National Bank of Canada Financial, Stephens Inc., Stifel and Wolfe Capital Markets and Advisory as co-managers. The offering will be priced in the context of the market; the issue price per share and size of the offering will be determined when TFI International enters into an underwriting agreement for the offering.

TFI International expects to use the net proceeds from the offering to reduce the amount outstanding under one of its credit facilities, thereby increasing the amount available under the credit facility for future use by TFI International. TFI International may use the credit facility in the future for working capital and general corporate purposes, including potential acquisitions.

TFI International will also grant the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 900,000 shares, representing 15% of the number of shares to be sold pursuant to the public offering, solely to cover the underwriters over-allocation position, if any, and for market stabilization purposes. The option will be exercisable by the underwriters for a period of 30 days following the closing of the offering.

In connection with the public offering, TFI International has filed a preliminary prospectus supplement to its short form base shelf prospectus dated October 12, 2018. The preliminary prospectus supplement was filed with the securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces of Canada as well as with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as part of a registration statement on Form F-10 under the U.S.-Canada multijurisdictional disclosure system (MJDS).

A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the SEC but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy these securities be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. Completion of the offering will be subject to customary closing conditions.

The public offering will be made in Canada only by means of the base shelf prospectus and prospectus supplement and in the United States only by means of the registration statement, including the base shelf prospectus and prospectus supplement. Such documents contain important information about the offering. A copy of the preliminary prospectus supplement and of the prospectus supplement will be available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov, and a copy of the registration statement is available on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. Copies of the prospectus supplements and the registration statement, when available, may also be obtained from any of the following sources: Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 180 Varick Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10014; BofA Securities, NC1-004-03-43, 200 North College Street, 3rd floor, Charlotte NC 28255-0001, Attention: Prospectus Department, email: dg.prospectus_requests@bofa.com; J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, telephone: (866) 803-9204, email: prospectus-eq_fi@jpmchase.com; and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, Eleven Madison Avenue, 3rd floor, New York, NY 10010, telephone: (800) 221-1037, email: usa.prospectus@credit-suisse.com. Prospective investors should read the prospectus supplements and registration statement before making an investment decision.

No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved the contents of this news release. 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 province, state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such province, state or jurisdiction.

ABOUT TFI INTERNATIONAL

TFI International Inc. is a North American leader in the transportation and logistics industry, operating across the United States, Canada and Mexico through its subsidiaries. TFI International creates value for shareholders by identifying strategic acquisitions and managing a growing network of wholly-owned operating subsidiaries. Under the TFI International umbrella, companies benefit from financial and operational resources to build their businesses and increase their efficiency. TFI International companies service the following segments:

Package and Courier;

Less-Than-Truckload;

Truckload;

Logistics.

TFI International Inc. is publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX:TFII) and the OTCQX marketplace in the U.S. (OTCQX:TFIFF).

CAUTION CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements included in this press release may be forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws, section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and such statements are subject to the safe harbor created by those sections and by the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including statements regarding the proposed public offering, the terms of the proposed public offering and the listing of TFI Internationals common shares on the New York Stock Exchange. This forward-looking information is identified by the use of terms and phrases such as may, might, expect, intend, estimate, anticipate, plan, foresee, believe, to its knowledge, could, design, forecast, goal, hope, intend, likely, predict, project, seek, should, target, will, would or continue, and the negative of these terms and similar terminology, including references to assumptions, although not all forward-looking information contains these terms and phrases. Forward-looking information is based upon a number of assumptions and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond TFI Internationals control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward-looking information. Completion of the proposed public offering and listing on the New York Stock Exchange is subject to numerous factors, many of which are beyond TFI Internationals control, including but not limited to, the failure of customary closing conditions and other important factors disclosed previously and from time to time in TFI Internationals filings with the securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces of Canada and the SEC. The forward-looking information contained in this press release represents TFI Internationals expectations as of the date of this press release (or as of the date they are otherwise stated to be made), and are subject to change after such date. However, TFI International does not undertake to update or amend such forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable law.
A barber offers expert haircuts, a teacher gives lessons in French as a foreign language and participants practise the Chinese art of Tai chi. The scenes at a holiday village on France's balmy Mediterranean coast west of Marseille sound like they could be from any of the all-inclusive vacation camp so popular with tourists. But there is a difference. The guests are not tourists staying at the holiday camp in Carry-le-Rouet of their own free will. They all wear sanitary masks and follow strict rules. And their health is checked repeatedly by a medical team. The over 200 people staying here, including an AFP reporting team, are all people evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan stricken by the coronavirus epidemic that has claimed over 800 lives in China and spread around the world. The AFP team had travelled from Wuhan on the French plane that repatriated the evacuees and then themselves had to obey the quarantine formalities. At the holiday camp, the evacuees have to observe a strict 14-day period of quarantine -- judged to be the incubation time for the virus -- before being allowed contact with the outside world again. Inside, in an ornate hall with blue curtains that normally hosts performances for tourists, one of those repatriated Vincent Lemarie explains to non-French speakers the basics of the language. The adult pupils from China and some from Latin America repeat in chorus the basic words in French to introduce oneself. Not all of those repatriated are French citizens and Lemarie, 48, every morning gives two hours of his free time to those who have ended up in France without ever expecting to. In the afternoon, he turns pupil and takes a class in Chinese. - 'People know what to do' - A few metres from the adults, children evacuated from Wuhan are also writing things down under the gaze of their teacher who is trying to follow the school curriculum. Most of those present at Carry-le-Rouet arrived on January 31 in a first plane and the others on February 2. So far, no one has shown symptoms of the coronavirus, according to the most recent tests. Despite the holiday camp setting, the conditions of the quarantine are strict -- the mask has to be worn, the temperature is taken twice a day and there is a total prohibition on physical contact with the outside world. "People get up and they know what to do to keep busy during the day," said Charles Germain, 38, who started a messaging group so that residents can keep abreast of what is happening at the centre. Germain, who comes from the French Pacific island of New Caledonia and is now apart from his wife who stayed in Wuhan, said the residents had no idea what to expect at the start. Initially "we thought that we would be followed by doctors round the clock". "You could just spend two weeks in your room and you are not going to die. But I think people would get depressed," he said. Germain, a practitioner of Tai chi, said such activities allow the residents "to find again the social connections that we lost while effectively in quarantine in China." The Chinese authorities, in a bid to contain the spread of the virus, have cut Wuhan off from the outside world and those in the French quarantine camp say they already know how confinement feels. In Wuhan, "we had our family links at home but nothing more. We had no contact with the outside world," Germain said. But Germain insists that this is no holiday. "We did not choose to be here," he said, adding that the majority of those in the camp had made a life for themselves in China. They also have no idea when they might go back. - 'Needed contact' - Yann, 55, ran a barber's shop in Wuhan for four years where 70 percent of his clients were foreigners. Suddenly, his life has changed. He recalls with a shudder the boredom and isolation in his Wuhan apartment in the days leading up to the repatriation. The trauma of this period caused him hypertension once he had arrived in France. "When I was still in China I did not recognise the stress that all of this was causing," he said. The quarantine was allowing him to pull himself back together, he added. He has even set up his own barber's salon at the holiday camp; at the start he simply helped out a regular client who was also at the camp but then word of mouth saw the number of customers doubling every day. Now people even need to make an appointment with him and he charges whatever they want to give. There is not much space and the equipment is to say the least basic. There might be a mirror but there is no water for a shampooing: the rules of quarantine mean that hair cannot be washed, every client brings their own brush and Yann disinfects his tools systematically. Carrying out his trade in the holiday village "has really perked me up. I needed contact with people and to create pleasure around my work". This unique experience, with all its ups and downs, ends on Friday when the quarantine ends and the evacuees will leave in different directions and start to build a new life, without knowing when they can go back to China. Many have no idea what will happen to them. Yann the barber thinks he might temporarily be able to work with a friend in the north of France. Charles Germain has one wish -- to get together with everyone over a drink back in Wuhan when the situation allows.
Canada's International Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne (C) leaves a press conference during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 23rd Ministers responsible for Trade Meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, on May 21, 2017. (Kham/AFP via Getty Images)

Second Canadian Plane Lands in Wuhan to Board Evacuees: Foreign Minister

A second Canadian plane has left the quarantined region of Hubei Province, China, this morning to bring home more Canadians who have asked to return from the centre of the Novel Coronavirus outbreak, the federal government says.

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said there was room for about 200 passengers aboard the flight from Wuhan.

The plane is bringing back the last group of Canadians who want to be repatriated, said Champagne, who is travelling with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Africa and the Middle East.

There were 236 Canadians hoping to board the plane from a city that has been under quarantine for weeks as Chinese authorities try to contain the viruss spread, Canadian officials had said Sunday.

Canadian teacher Wayne Duplessis and his family boarded the plane in Wuhan this morning. They had been planning to hunker down in the quarantined city until they realized they were running low on supplies.

It was getting desperate,Duplessis said from the airport while waiting for the flight.

While Duplessis and his 15-year-old son Wyatt are Canadian, his wife, Emily Tjandra, and their older son, Adryan Candra, 38, are Indonesian. The Canadian consulate was able to put a rush on Tjandras and Candras visas so they could stay together as a family.

The family is ecstatic to be coming back and to know that they are safe, Duplessis said.

He described Wuhan as a city in pain.

Its a city I love. I feel great sadness for them.

Champagne said the government is also monitoring the well-being of 285 Canadians quarantined on the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in the Japanese port city of Yokohama, just outside Tokyo, where an eighth Canadian is among those who have recently tested positive for the virus.

The positive test results were confirmed by the Japanese Ministry of Health and it is following the ministrys disembarkation protocols to provide medical care for these new cases, the cruise line said in a release issued early today.

The latest Canadian patient will join seven others who were taken earlier to Japanese hospitals for treatment and monitoring.

Health officials have given another quarantined ship in Hong Kong the all-clear, allowing passengers and crew to disembark.

Meanwhile, Canadas chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, said in a statement Sunday that none of the first 213 evacuees from Wuhan who are quarantined at Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Ontario, have exhibited any symptoms of the virus.

Tam authorized the early release from quarantine of all Canadian Forces personnel involved in the initial flight from Wuhan, as well as a government official who was on board that plane. She also released crew members who travelled with evacuees from Vancouver to CFB Trenton aboard a separate flight, after those evacuees left China on an American plane.

The crew and medical staff did not spend time in Wuhan, followed appropriate infection protocols, including the use of personal protective equipment, and did not have unprotected contact with the passengers who were flown to Canada, Tam said.

Seven cases of the virus have also been diagnosed in Canada, four of them in British Columbia and three in Ontario. Most cases of the new coronavirus are mild, but the respiratory illness can be deadly for some people.

More than 440 cases have been confirmed outside mainland China, including two deaths in Hong Kong and the Philippines.
The Microsoft Surface Duo dual-screen smartphone was spotted in Canada in the hands of an unknown user.

When Microsoft announced its new generation of Surface devices in October 2019, it also announcedto everyones surprisea new smartphone called Surface Duo. As the name suggests, its a dual-screen device that folds out like a book. Even though there are at least nine months to go before Microsoft rolls the Surface Duo out in the market, it was recently spotted in a train in the hands of an unknown user (thought to work for Microsoft) in Vancouver, Canada.

The photos and videos taken by Twitter user Israel Rodriguez reveal that the Surface Duo has a round white dot on the top bezel, which, when compared with todays smartphones, is far from being slim. The white dot could be a temporarily masked front flash. Rodriguezs material also suggests that the Surface Duo does not have any rear cameras. Since its a dual-screen device that can be flipped around, the front camera is expected to double as the rear camera.

This suspicion that the Surface Duo has a camera only on the front side can be confirmed by the teaser video that Microsoft released last year, which also shows a camera-free back panel on the Surface Duo. If that is the case, the Surface Duo will not be a photographers phone. It most likely wont have separate sensors for macro and telephoto photography, the way many flagships these days do. At any rate, well have to wait for a few months before any verifiable information about the device starts flowing in.

On the inside, the Surface Duo is believed to feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chip. Each of the two screens on board is said to measure 5.6 inches diagonally, although their resolution is not known. Microsofts teaser video clearly showed that the device runs Android with support for apps from the Google Play Store, and not Windows 10. Though the Surface Duo runs Android, we can expect Microsoft to layer it with the Microsoft Launcher. You can take a look at that here.
The Commission for Women (NCW) on Monday took cognizance of the alleged sexual assault of students at Delhi University's Gargi College following which a team of the commission reached the institute's campus.

Delhi Police have begun a probe into the matter of alleged harassment and sexual abuse of female students in the college by a number of unidentified men during their annual cultural fest on February 6.

"We are inquiring into the matter. However, we haven't received any complaint so far," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) South, Atul Thakur.

While speaking to ANI on Monday a woman student said that over 100 middle-aged men crashed the college gate on February 6 and misbehaved with the women inside the campus.

"The three-day annual college fest began on February 4 and on February 6 over 100 middle-aged men crashed the college gate and came inside where the fest was being held. They started misbehaving with girls. Luckily nothing happened with me but my friends told me that those men groped them and much more," she said.

"I have no idea if those girls have filed an FIR or not. The college principal is also not supporting us. A protest is also being staged in the college and the principal will also be coming here and I think she will be discussing about the incident with us," she added.

Meanwhile, Congress candidate from Kalkaji constituency Shivani Chopra condemned the incident and arrived at Gargi College earlier today to express solidarity with the students.

"They are not letting me enter the campus. It's a shameful incident. Chief Minister of Delhi should come out and stand in solidarity with the students. In fact, Home Minister Amit Shah should also come out and take cognizance of the law and order situation," she added.

Speaking about the incident on Thursday, a second-year student had told ANI that the men who had entered the college groped the girls and made them uncomfortable.

"Taking advantage of the crowd, the men followed girls everywhere and groped them. They made girls uncomfortable and showed us that they have control over us. They derived pleasure from it," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
'I don't feel like I've a right to say no." That's Lorraine Keane's most basic motivation for the annual trips she has been taking to some of the world's poorest places over the last 10 years. "I did the first one because I kept saying, 'One day, when I have time' And then one day, I did have time, when I left TV3 and decided to take time out with the girls [Lorraine's children, Emelia, now 16, and Romy, now 13]. So I had to put my money where my mouth was."

She has been to Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Haiti, Guatemala, Somalia and more. The day we meet, she is recently back from a trip to Bangladesh with Oxfam, to what is now the largest refugee camp in the world, where nearly one million people, nearly half of them children, live in flimsy, makeshift conditions. Most of them are Rohingya who have fled extreme violence in Myanmar, and desperately hope to one day go home.

There, Lorraine met Naila, "An amazing woman. She lives with her four children in a shelter in the camp. The eldest is 10, the youngest is two, and they've been there over two years now. She told me about her house and her farm back in Myanmar. She and her husband had a lovely house, lots of land; a very successful farm. They had to flee. The house was set on fire. She had four children, and was heavily pregnant with a fifth. Her husband was shot in front of her. The family fled, hid in a forest overnight, and got to a neighbouring village a few days later where she gave birth to a baby girl.

Expand Close Ahassan Mohammad met and married his wife two years ago in the refugee camp, and now they have a one-year-old boy. Ahassan and his wife find it very difficult starting family life far from home / Facebook

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Whatsapp Ahassan Mohammad met and married his wife two years ago in the refugee camp, and now they have a one-year-old boy. Ahassan and his wife find it very difficult starting family life far from home

"They made it to the border with Bangladesh, and there they were caught again, and Naila's 14-year-old son was shot in front of her... I was sitting there, listening to her, sitting on the rough floor of a bamboo shelter, with her kids. Watching their little faces as she told the story, seeing her eldest girl, who's 10, looking at her mum describing how her brother was shot..." Lorraine doesn't finish. She doesn't need to. No one could listen to that and not feel an overwhelming need to act.

And then, she continues, "Naila said, 'Tell the Irish people thank you so much. We feel safe here. We have medical supplies and clean water; my children are being educated.' I'm looking at them, thinking, 'You have so little, and you're thanking me...' I just thought, 'This is so unfair'."

I'm not a bit surprised when she admits, "I dread going over. Every trip. I dread it for weeks in advance. I find it hard, and I get homesick. I pray before, during and after each trip."

To God? "Yes, I do. I've got a pretty strong faith. It's been really helpful. It gives me somebody else, something else, to hand it over to; to pass the load. That sounds really selfish, but since I've had the girls, I've become a total wimp. I was always a softie, but now I'm a total wimp. I'm afraid of heights, I get claustrophobic - stupid things like that. And meeting these people, seeing and hearing what they have to say, I find it really hard. When I come back, it takes me a while to stop thinking about their stories and feeling sad. But pity about me!," she says robustly. "I don't feel like I've a right not to."

Doing what she can

And, she continues, "The rewarding bit is, I know I can help. That makes it a bit ok. When I'm upset, I think, 'Well, at least you can do something about it'. And I can say to Naila and the other people I meet, 'I'll do what I can'."

Expand Close Lorraine with Lizzy Hallinan, who has been working for Oxfam in the camps for almost two years. Supporting women and girls is one of her top priorities / Facebook

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Whatsapp Lorraine with Lizzy Hallinan, who has been working for Oxfam in the camps for almost two years. Supporting women and girls is one of her top priorities

And what Lorraine can do is pretty considerable. For the past couple of years, she has been running Fashion Relief, a fundraising initiative that pulled in 70,000 in its first year, and has since grown even beyond that. "We're into the third year now, and have raised over 200,000. All that money goes to support Oxfam's work worldwide, from long-term development projects, to life-saving emergency response in places like Cox's Bazar, the refugee camp, in Bangladesh."

Fashion Relief began because "Three years ago I came back from a trip and I looked around me. All of us have too much stuff, and some of us have way too much. I looked at my wardrobe, and I had way too much. I was keeping it, thinking I might wear things again, or I've two girls and they might wear it. And then I thought, 'My daughters may not even want it - and if they do, they can go out and work and earn their own money'. If I sell off a massive chunk of my wardrobe, I can raise some money. If I sell a dress that cost 100 for 10, that will feed a family for a week.

"I started talking about it to friends, and they all wanted to be part of it. Irish people are so generous - as soon as they hear you are doing something, they really want to help! I didn't want to set up my own charity because logistically, that is a nightmare, and doesn't make sense. So I approached Oxfam because I like what they do, and they have the shops, so anything I didn't sell at the event could go into the shops and be sold through them."

That first year, Fashion Relief was one day in the RDS. Last year, it was four events: the RDS; City Hall in Cork; in Galway; and a weekend pop-up in Dundrum Town Centre. This year, it will be all that and more. And, this year, as well as Lorraine's friends - including Miriam O'Callaghan, Rob Kearney, Brent Pope, Rosanna Davison, and Mary Kennedy, who have all previously donated - and the many boutiques and designers who have got on board, there is a corporate drive too.

"The Smurfit Kappa Foundation has sponsored big cardboard bins and we deliver them to a place of work and ask every member of staff to donate one pre-loved item. Then we collect the bins. Google took 42 bins," she says, and doesn't flinch when I make a stupid joke about them being filled with normcore jeans and trainers.

Clearly, Lorraine is bringing all the qualities that have made her so successful as a broadcaster to her fundraising. It's a kind of neat balance between glamour and good sense; kindness and efficiency. Exactly the qualities she needed to draw on when she left TV3 10 years ago.

Expand Close Rabia is one of almost a million Rohingya refugees forced to flee Myanmar, now supported by Oxfam in Coxs Bazar / Facebook

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Whatsapp Rabia is one of almost a million Rohingya refugees forced to flee Myanmar, now supported by Oxfam in Coxs Bazar

"The first two years were really daunting," she says of that time. "I was nearly 20 years employed, between AA Roadwatch, RTE and then TV3. I did find that a bit scary. There were hairy moments, and moments where I would have tons of work coming in and I'd say yes to all of it, because I'd be afraid to say no in case they mightn't want me next week. I still do that," she laughs. "I don't say no to anything. But the pros far outweighed the negatives. I could take time off to be with the kids during their holidays, for example. You don't have them for someone else to rear them. Or at least I didn't."

Lorraine is entirely open about the fact that she and husband Peter Devlin wanted more children. "We would have loved to have had more," she says. "My whole life, I've been maternal. I'm the second eldest of seven; I helped rear the younger children. I treated them like they were mine."

But it was not to be. "It was one of those unexplained infertility things - not my fault, not his fault," she says.

Now, "from the work I've done with Cleanmarine around peri-menopause, I believe that it was probably something to do with my hormones. I think that I was 36 or 37 when I started going through peri-menopause. I was irritable, sleeping badly, stressed. But I struggled and suffered in silence. I didn't get hot flushes, but I did get night sweats. And I was so stupid, I thought it was because I was so fit, that my metabolism was working while I was sleeping."

She hoots with laughter. "I didn't want to tell anyone because I was afraid they'd give me a tablet to stop it and I'd get fat. Imagine how ridiculous that was?"

Alas, as a woman, I can imagine only too easily.

"I had no idea that our hormones run our bodies," she continues. "Even though I did biology for the Leaving. If we don't have the right levels, we're screwed - brain, heart, sleep, emotions. I used to skip through any article that mentioned menopause, peri or otherwise, and I had no idea. But also, nobody said to me this is a possibility, not even my female GP."

And so, when she didn't get pregnant, Lorraine turned straight to IVF - something she now thinks was the wrong move. "I would have saved myself a lot of pain, distress, stress, hassle, financial strain, the strain it puts on your own relationship, if I had checked my hormone health," she says.

"I had a problem with my thyroid, and endometriosis. It was kind of pointless, doing IVF. I should have sorted that stuff out first. I'm talking about it now because I want other women to know that from 35 years of age, check your hormones."

She did three cycles of IVF - and is only now comfortable talking about it - and after the first, unsuccessful attempt, decided to leave TV3. "Romy was about two, and I was told, 'There's little chance you're going to conceive with the hours you work and the stress you're under'. So I decided to leave. And I didn't say it at the time, and I really should have, but I just couldn't. It was too personal."

Not only could she not say it, she actively tried to hide it. "I used to go into the clinic for my appointments half an hour before they opened because I didn't want to be seen. Because I was so embarrassed and self-conscious. I'm annoyed with myself when I think back. I'd sit in the waiting room with other people and, god knows they were all in the same situation as me, yet I'd sit with my back to everyone. I'd say, 'Don't call my full name - just call Lorraine.' In fact the first time I went, I gave my name as Elaine Keane. I mean, how ridiculous! Elaine sounds exactly like Lorraine... even if I'd said Elaine Devlin..."

She laughs a lot about this now, but clearly, it was all much less funny at the time. Not least because the IVF didn't work out. "I did two more cycles after I left TV3, and it didn't work. But at least I knew I tried..."

Was she able to 'move on' as that awful phrase goes? "Not really, no," she says, with admirable honesty. "I remember a little moment of hope when I was about 41, and being thrilled with myself. Thinking, 'This is fantastic' and having it all worked out in my head, but it didn't happen.

"But now, with the girls the age they are - 16 and 13 - being busy with work, I'm really happy with where I am. I've always been so blessed to have two healthy babies. That's why it was easy to jump off the career ladder. I knew there would always be other jobs, but I didn't know if there would be more babies, so I needed to spend time with the two I was blessed with."

By then, anyway, she says, "I was miserable. That was the second year I was on Xpose, and I spent a lot of time crying. I was going through IVF, that wasn't working out - I was an emotional wreck. I used to think of my gravestone: 'She was a great worker'; 'She had a fabulous career'." She laughs. "That wasn't what I wanted."

Clearly, she couldn't be happier at her decision. These days, she takes Eltroxin for her thyroid, and Cleanmarine's MenoMin for her hormonal balance, and is, she says, "at a place of acceptance" with her age. "I don't like the idea of ageing," she says truthfully, but agrees there are compensations. "I don't put myself under the pressure I used to before. One of the nice things about aging is I don't sweat the small stuff as much. I don't worry as much about work; those kinds of things. I get to share and help others, I talk about my health, about women's health. I can be myself.

"My TV job, being on the red carpet at events, that wasn't the real me, so it's nice to be able to be myself. I'm in my late 40s and I feel presentable, and think that I look good for my age - god forbid, sexy, even, at times. It'll be the same in my 50s, 60s, even. I think I'll feel nervous going into my 70s," she admits. "That seems to be when a lot of health stuff happens."

No Botox

She looks amazing, with noticeably great skin. In the interests of all of us in our 'late 40s', I quiz her closely about this: what is she getting done? "Nothing invasive," she says. "I've been going to the Monkstown Laser Skin Clinic for almost five years, and up to that point, from my late 20s all the way through my 30s, I had adult acne. Hormonal breakouts. It was desperate, because I was on telly the whole time. Now, my skin has never been better."

This, I am willing to believe.

"No Botox, no fillers," she insists. "It suits some people, and I don't hold it against anyone who does it, but for me, it doesn't work. I use my expressions too much." Instead, she swears by peels and laser. "Like a lot of Irish people, I have rosacea, so I get laser for that about four times a year, and the added bonus is it reduces fine lines and boosts collagen."

She says she has no intention of writing another book - her memoir, Working the Red Carpet was published in 2010. "I hate writing," she says candidly. "I find it so lonely. When I got the first copy of the book, delivered to me at 11pm on a Sunday night, I told them not to bother. I'd written it, and read it so much by then... But it was delivered, and myself and Peter flicked through it, then I threw it on the bed and said, 'Next!' I was so over it; so glad to see the back of it."

But she'd love to do up another house. "I bought my first house when I was 20, a tiny cottage, and I've done up four now." In fact, she and Peter put their Monkstown house on the market last year, with that intention in mind.

"I saw a house around the corner from ours that's half the size, and I want to stay in the area, but I want a smaller house. We've got four floors, and we only live on two. I thought I'd fill the house with children, and I clearly didn't. Two children, two very small dogs, myself and Peter - we do not need that amount of space. And going forward - I don't want to put almost everything I earn into a house that I don't use.

"So we put our house up in May, before Brexit, before the summer - a really silly time." The smaller house she had her eye on got sold before her own did, and so she and Peter took theirs off the market again. "We'll maybe try again in the spring, and if it doesn't sell, we might wait until the kids grow up and leave us. We're in no rush. I don't get attached to houses. It's the people in it that make it a home, but this is the house where our children were born, it will be very hard for me to leave."

Meantime, her love of doing up houses has led to setting up a new business, finished.ie, with a friend. She describes it as "an online directory and marketplace for all things to do with renovating and refurbishing".

Clearly, Lorraine is not someone to sit still. "God, no. I love working," she says. "I hope I keel over while I'm working. I can't be idle. It makes me stressed if I don't feel I have something to do."

There seems to be no fear of that: broadcasting, presenting, public appearances, interiors, Fashion Relief, Oxfam... that's a lot of plates, all spinning efficiently. In fact, the only issue seems to be ever slowing down, something she is well aware of.

"With Fashion Relief, I know I'll have to do this for the rest of my life. There's no exit strategy -I couldn't live with myself!"

See fashionrelief.ie

See oxfamireland.org





Photography by Jeannie O'Brien
Robert E. Berry (Bob) of Lusby, Maryland, 101, passed away on Monday, February 3, 2020.

He was preceded in death by his father Edward P. Berry and his mother Mary S. Sasse and brother Donald Berry and by his beloved wife Mildred in 1989.



He is survived by Linda P. Matthew (Richard), cousin, of Exton, PA, surrogate grandchildren son Jeffrey and son Peter (Jacquelyn) and 4 surrogate great-grandchildren; Talia, Andrew, James, Ryan. He is also survived by his nephew, Lee David Phillips of Newark, Delaware.



Bob was born April 6, 1918 in Wilmington and attended schools through high school. He earned an Associate Degree and certification as a Funeral Home Director. He worked in that field several months in Philadelphia until he was drafted into the Army in 1941.



In January 1943 he attended the Quartermaster Officer Candidate school and graduated as a Graves Registration Officer. He was promoted to 1st Lieutenant and platoon leader of the 3rd platoon 607th Graves Registration company. In June 1944 the 607th company was sent to England to prepare for Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy.



On June 6, 1944 the 3rd platoon landed and began work at a temporary cemetery on Omaha Beach until July 9 they moved their operation to the primary objective now the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. During the next two years the 3rd platoon established and operated cemeteries in various locations in France and adjacent countries.



In January 1946 he was honorably discharged as a Captain. He returned home to Delaware and married Mildred Phillips and resided in Wilmington. In 1949 he was called back to service by the Army due to the Korean Conflict. He became the Commanding Officer of the Central Identification Unit stationed in Japan. He earned the Bronze Star for his work in Japan.



After the end of the conflict, Bob returned to his home in Silver Springs, MD and began work at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, DC and was promoted to Lt. Col. and retiring from the army in February 1965. He remained at Walter Reed in civilian positions until retiring in 1975.



Bob and Mildred moved to their home in Drum Point to enjoy his retirement. Over the years he became a familiar and beloved member of the Drum Point and Lusby community that he dearly loved.



Bob earned many awards during his army career. Included are: World War II Victory medal, Distinguished Unit Citation, European Theater Campaign Ribbon with Bronze Arrowhead, Asiatic-Pacific Theater Campaign ribbon, French Croix De Guerre with Palm, and the Bronze Star Medal.



Services will be held at Arlington National Cemetery. Date to be determined. In lieu of flowers, donations to a veterans charity of your choice, such as the Disabled American Veterans is encouraged. Arrangements by Rausch Funeral Home.
[February 10, 2020] University of Florida Accelerates BioTech Research Innovation with Qumulo

Qumulo, the leading provider of hybrid cloud file storage, announced today that the University of Florida has chosen Qumulo's distributed file system for its scalable capacity, real-time data analytics, and industry-recognized commitment to customer care. The University of Florida's Information Technology division (UFIT) provides proposal support, infrastructure, and consulting services to give researchers a competitive edge. Qumulo's software will enable the UFIT staff to better serve university researchers who are creating, storing, accessing, and managing data related to bioinformatics, genomics, DNA sequencing and oncology research, among other use cases. "We wanted a storage solution that would not only work for UF's faculty but work for our research computing staff as well," said Erik Deumens, scientist and director, UF Information Technology - Research Computing. "Selecting Qumulo takes the guesswork out of our storage management and makes us more efficient when scheduling diagnostic operations. We find the Qumulo system to be rich in features and easy to work with. It is a very cost-effective solution so that we are making the best use of university funds." As demands for more capacity and performance grew on UFIT's legacy system - including the need to better support data analytics and virtualization initiatives - it became apparent that the university's existing storage infrastructure was obsolete. With its real-time analytics, visibility, and ease of use, Qumulo's file storage has given the University of Florida the ability to re-prioritize its efforts and accomplish additional tasks, rather than focusin time on storage maintenance and management.



"Our investment in Qumulo is an investment in our faculty," said Elias G. Eldayrie, vice president and CIO. "We want to enable their research with the best supercomputing environment possible, from the expertise of our staff to the tools needed for highly available storage of their data. Qumulo's data storage solutions help us provide the necessary research ecosystem required for a top-5 university." Qumulo delivers extremely low latency and high-throughput performance to meet the demands of today's high-performance computing workloads in the data center and in the cloud. Qumulo's file storage efficiently manages mixed IO performance for billions of small and large files at petabyte scale to accelerate productivity. Its real-time analytics eliminate data blindness for organizations, helping to save time and money. Qumulo's software is uniquely optimized for both fast reads and writes through built-in hybrid intelligent predictive caching and proactive prefetch, which enables fast reads and identifies read IO patterns to move data to the fastest media proactively.

Resources

? University of Florida Case Study

? Distributed File Storage for High-Performance Computing

? Solution Brief: Distributed File Storage for High-Performance Computing

? Blog Post: Qumulo Distributed File Storage: Purpose-Built to Meet the Demands of High-Performance Computing Environments About Qumulo, Inc.

Qumulo is the leader in enterprise-proven hybrid cloud file storage, providing real-time visibility, scale and control of your data across on-prem and the cloud. Qumulo's real-time analytics enable customers to understand their storage at a granular level, detect bottlenecks and accelerate performance. Built to scale across the data center and cloud, Qumulo's software-defined file system enables programmatic configuration and management of usage, capacity and performance. Qumulo has completely redefined customer success by continuously delighting customers with new capabilities, 100 percent-usable capacity and direct access to experts. For more information, visit www.qumulo.com. Qumulo and the Qumulo logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Qumulo, Inc. All other marks and names herein may be trademarks of other companies. Copyright  2020. All Rights Reserved. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200210005273/en/

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The death toll in China's coronavirus outbreak has gone up to 908 with 97 new fatalities reported mostly in the worst-affected Hubei province and the confirmed cases of infection crossing 40,000, Chinese health officials said on Monday, as a team of international experts led by the WHO is set to arrive in Beijing to help contain the epidemic.

According to China's National Health Commission, 91 deaths were reported in Hubei province, the epicentre of the epidemic, two in Anhui, and one each in Heilongjiang, Jiangxi, Hainan and Gansu.

There were 97 deaths and 3,062 new confirmed cases of the lethal infection on Sunday, it said.

A total of 908 people have died of the disease and 40,171 confirmed cases of the outbreak have been reported in 31 provincial-level regions so far, it said.

Another 4,008 new suspected cases were reported on Sunday. A total of 296 patients became seriously ill, the commission said, adding that 6,484 patients remained in severe condition and 23,589 people were suspected of being infected with the virus.

A total of 3,281 people have been discharged from hospital after recovery, it said.

The commission said 3.99 lakh close contacts had been traced, adding that among them, 29,307 were discharged from medical observation on Sunday, with 1.87 lakh still under medical observation.

By the end of Sunday, 36 confirmed cases, including one death, had been reported in Hong Kong, 10 confirmed cases in Macao and 18 in Taiwan. Overseas, over 300 cases of coronavirus have been reported, including from three from Kerala.

A team of international experts led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) would arrive in China on Monday night to assist the Chinese health officials to contain the spread of coronavirus outbreak.

"I've just been at the airport seeing off members of an advance team for the



@WHO-led 2019nCoV international expert mission to China, led by Dr Bruce Aylward, veteran of past public health emergencies," WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a tweet.

The WHO experts team, led by Aylward, will arrive in Beijing on Monday night, state-run China Daily reported.

After the outbreak, Ghebreyesus visited Beijing last month and held consultations with Chinese health experts and leaders.

Earlier, he said China had agreed to allow the WHO experts team comprising different countries.

Their arrival was expected to boost efforts to contain the virus which is causing havoc in China and many parts of the world, even though the Chinese officials claim the confirmed cases have begun to drop in the last few days.

The WHO said the number of cases of the coronavirus in China was "stabilising", which is "good news".

It, however, cautioned that it was too early to make any predictions about whether the virus might have peaked.

"There has been a stabilisation in the number of cases reported from Hubei," Michael Ryan, head of WHO's Health Emergencies Programme said at a briefing in Geneva.

"We're in a four-day stable period where the number of reported cases hasn't advanced. That's good and may reflect the impact of the control measures that have been put in place," Ryan was quoted as saying.

He added that it was "very early to make any predictions".

Meanwhile, millions of people have started returning to Beijing and other cities in China after the extended holiday of China's New Year.

The holidays, which began on January 24 and were due to end on February 3, has been extended till February 9 as part of its efforts to contain the spread of the virus.

However, the employees of most of the offices have been asked to work from home.

As the biggest reverse migration began, Chinese officials said on Saturday that the cases of the deadly infection had started declining for the first time after weeks of sharp rise.

China's new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus outside Hubei has been dropping for six consecutive days, according to the commission.

A total of 444 new confirmed cases were reported on Sunday outside Hubei, the data showed.

The numbers of new confirmed cases in these provinces during the past days were 890 on Monday, 731 on Tuesday, 707 on Wednesday, 696 on Thursday, 558 on Friday and 509 on Saturday, the commission said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Santa was late coming down the White House chimney, but this week a sack of reelection Christmas presents belatedly arrived under the Trump Christmas tree.

Face it, Christmas was a downer for President Trump and his supporters. The House rammed through two articles of impeachment and promptly skipped town, much like kids leaving a flaming bag of dog poop at someones front door before running away.

There was uncertainty over how long this would drag out, whether there would be witnesses and an ultimate vote for acquittal. There was concern that a last-minute witness would appear, like Julie Swetnick at the Kavanaugh hearings, accusing Trump of participating in a rape train during his phone call with the Ukrainian president.

Last weeks festivities started with Republican strategist Rick Wilson and sidekick stooge Don Lemon on CNN calling 63 million Trump supporters, credulous boomer rubes and laughing uproariously over their cleverness. As a strategy, it was brilliant, but not in their intended way, energizing the Trump base by insulting them.

Then came the Iowa caucuses. The party that wants to nationalize and run healthcare and energy cant count 170,000 votes in a relatively small state and provide prompt results. Wheres the Democrat enthusiasm against the reprobate Trump? In 2008, 240,000 turned out to caucus for the Democrats.

Was this incompetence? If so, then Democrats should not be put in charge of anything larger than a yard sale.

If it was deliberate, they are trying to screw Bernie Sanders out of the nomination again. The Des Moines Register scrapped their pre-caucus poll for sketchy reasons, raising suspicion it reflected a Bernie surge. Their establishment cant have that, pinning their 2020 hopes on a hard-core socialist who honeymooned in the USSR and recently suffered a heart attack.

If the DNC disses the Bernie Bros again, expect fireworks. Aside from literally taking it to the streets, expect many to stay home, vote for Trump, or form a third party, splitting the Democrat vote, ensuring a second Trump term.

Next was impeachment acquittal -- no witnesses and no conviction, despite the efforts of Pierre Delecto, aka Mitt Romney, to channel his inner John McCain, although only as an empty gesture. Giving the middle finger to Trump and his supporters will end his viability as a Republican but ensure frequent appearances as a wise statesman on CNN and MSNBC.

YouTube screen grab

Impeachment, as an unintended consequence, torpedoed Joe Bidens candidacy, bringing into national discussion the Biden Family pattern of corruption. The Treasury Department just handed over documents to several GOP Senate committee chairmen, assisting their probe into Hunter Biden, Burisma, and a web of graft. Democrats impeached Trump for simply asking questions about this corruption.

The Democrat establishments electable mainstream candidate is circling the drain, with a fourth-place finish in Iowa, and upcoming investigations throwing another anchor around Sleepy Joes neck.

Democrats, rather than addressing the problems they were elected to fix, from immigration and drug prices to infrastructure and healthcare, are doubling down, planning on holding more hearings, looking for any reason to file additional articles of impeachment. Good luck running for reelection on nothing more than Orange Man Bad.

A day after impeachment fell flat, President Trump delivered a brilliant State of the Union address. Democrat boorishness and petulance was on full display all evening. Speaker Pelosi began by improperly introducing the President, shuffling papers during his address, mumbling to her imaginary friend while Trump was speaking, refusing to stand or applaud American peace and prosperity, then tearing up her official copy of the speech like a churlish schoolgirl.

Taking their cues from their party leader, Democrat ladies dressed in white. Were they showing solidarity with Virginia Governor Coonman Northam? Perhaps but its still unknown if Northam was the guy in the KKK robes or in blackface. Record low unemployment for women and minorities, rising wages, and a bunch of heartwarming stories in the gallery were not enough to get Democrats to their feet, demonstrating that making America great again is the last thing they are interested in.

Instead, every issue that Democrats have championed and which Trump achieved left Congressional Democrats scowling, smirking, or checking their Twitter feeds on their phones. What an image! The campaign commercials are writing themselves.

What did the great unwashed in flyover country think of the SOTU address? A CBS News poll reported 76 percent overall approval among speech watchers. Worse for Democrats is that 30 percent of Democrats watching the speech approved, and a whopping 82% of those precious independents, courted in every election, approved of what they heard from the President.

What else do the polls say last week? Gallup followed the money and found Americans bullish on the MAGA economy.

59% in U.S. say they are now better off financially than last year.

74% say they will be better off financially in a year.

These viewsalign with President Donald Trump's contention that Americans are doing better under his presidency, and with his use of the economy and job growth as key selling points for his reelection.

Not only the economy but also overall well-being. As Gallup reported this week,

Nine in 10 Americans are satisfied with the way things are going in their personal life, a new high in Gallup's four-decade trend. The latest figure bests the previous high of 88% recorded in 2003.

Does anyone think America wants Breadline Bernie rather than four more years of prosperity and happiness? This weeks jobs report is another boost for Trump. As CNN begrudgingly reported, The US economy added 225,000 jobs in January, beating expectations.

James Carville once said, Its the economy stupid. Only the seriously stupid will vote for candidates promising to tank the economy. Speaking of Carville, after the botched Iowa caucuses, he is scared to death of the November 2020 election. He warns, This party needs to wake up and make sure that we talk about things are relevant to people.

Gallup reported this week that President Trump is at 49 percent approval in their tracking poll, the highest approval rating of his presidency, despite impeachment and a media drumbeat of the walls are closing in on Trump.

Look at their candidates during this great week for Trump. Mayor Pete appears to have won Iowa, but as an unsuccessful mayor of a small city, with little other relevant executive experience, he is still a longshot for the nomination or the White House. Is he a novelty for the woke Democrat party because he is gay? Would he be a presidential candidate if he were a young heterosexual white guy? How did that work out for Beto ORourke or Eric Swalwell?

Another choice is Bernie, promising Soviet or Venezuela style socialism. Elizabeth Warren is a fabrication, based on a string of lies about her past, but agreeing with Bernie on policy. She goes even further promising to allow her Secretary of Education to be selected by a young trans person. What a winning campaign slogan. From Its morning in America again to All the way with trans kids.

Joe Biden, aside from his obvious declining memory and cognition, faces Senate investigations into his family corruption. Michael Bloomberg is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on ads, but may still need to stand on a box, as Trump noted. At 5 7, Bloomberg would be taller than only three past presidents, all from well over a hundred years ago before television and mass media would showcase Trumps 8 inch height advantage.

Ask the former host of one of the most successful reality television shows about branding and optics and how tall looks more presidential than short.

Ending the week, Trump took off the gloves, cleaning house of those conspiring to undermine his presidency by leaking and scheming. The Vindman brothers, instigators of the Ukraine phone call impeachment, have both been "reassigned", escorted out of the White House. EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland was recalled from his post. This is what is meant by draining the swamp.

Trump sent the high browed country club Republicans into a tizzy by calling the Russian collusion hoax bullshit in his post impeachment remarks this week, saying what is obvious to his supporters. At the Democrat debates Friday night, the big question came from George Stephanopoulos, asking if they would be afraid of having a Democrat Socialist on the top of the ticket. Was he referring to just Bernie or the entire field? Only Amy Klobuchar raised her hand. Another electoral gift to President Trump.

Even the Trump-hating Washington Post acknowledges that its been, A bad week for Democrats. Meaning a great week for Trump, perhaps the week when Trump all but assured his reelection. And as Trump himself said, The best is yet to come.

Brian C Joondeph, MD, 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.
A judge appointed to receive a confidential Garda whistleblowing claim was shocked to hear that the details had been read out in the Dail on the same day he took the disclosure, a tribunal has heard.

Retired District Court Judge Patrick McMahon told the Disclosures Tribunal today that he heard on lunchtime radio that his name and details about the disclosure had been read out in the Dail by then-TD Luke 'Ming' Flanagan on May 8, 2014.

Judge McMahon was the Confidential Recipient - to whom gardai made internal complaints - and he had met whistleblower Garda Nicholas Keogh earlier that day.

The Disclosures Tribunal is in its ninth week of hearing evidence into the treatment of whistleblower Garda Keogh, who made a protected disclosure in 2014.

Gda Keogh alleges that a senior member of the Athlone drugs unit, identified to the tribunal as Garda A, was in an improper relationship with a heroin dealer, identified as Ms B.

The tribunal, chaired by Judge Sean Ryan, is investigating if Gda Keogh was targeted, harassed, undermined, or bullied after he made his protected disclosure on 8 May, 2014.

Judge McMahon was appointed Confidential Recipient on 12 April, 2014, replacing Oliver Connolly, and passed his number to every Garda in the country, acting as a conduit between the complainant Garda and the Commissioner and the Garda Inspectorate.

Judge McMahon told the tribunal that, following a phone introduction, he met Gda Keogh on May 8, 2014, in his car in Kinnegad because Gda Keogh wanted to remain confidential and to avoid both Dublin and Athlone.

At the Kinnegad meeting, Gda Keogh gave the retired judge an affidavit of his complaint, dated May 7, 2014, which was then passed to the office of the Garda Commissioner.

Judge McMahon advised Gda Keogh not to talk to anyone else but him, to take copious notes and another meeting was arranged where Gda Keogh handed over a DVD.

Patrick Marrinan SC, for the tribunal, said the DVD was of an interview of another person Gda Keogh interviewed, who we'll not name here.

At lunchtime, after the Kinnegad meeting, Judge McMahon heard on radio that then-Deputy Flanagan had read into the Dail that Gda Keogh had also met with him.

To put it mildly, I was shocked as we had arranged to meet in a car in Kinnegad for confidential reasons, Judge McMahon told Mr Marrinan SC.

When I arrived home, it was announced on the news that Luke 'Ming' Flanagan said he [Gda Keogh] was meeting me.

The next day, Assistant Commissioner Donall O Cualain was appointed to investigate the matter but Gda Keogh later noted in his diary that he was not happy with the appointment, nor with the inclusion of another member.

Gda Keogh expressed a lot of anxiety about it, a lot of anxiety about everything, said the witness, who referenced a huge amount of issues around the gardai at the time, clarifying to Judge Ryan that he referred to Gda Sgt Maurice McCabe's part in the tribunal

Mattias Kelly SC, for Gda Keogh, asked about his client's anxiety.

He was very distressed at the time, very concerned. He was an anxious and bothered young policeman. He was a very personable young Garda, a total gentleman, but I was very sorry for him. I knew about his health problems and addiction that was made very clear at the time by Gda Keogh. I had a lot of sympathy for him and for other members [confidential reporters] I dealt with, who all had anxiety, said Judge McMahon.

Judge McMahon agreed with Mr Kelly when it was put to him that Gda Keogh was trying to do the right thing as he saw it.
The departure hall of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2. (Photo: John Paul Solis / Wiki)

MANILA, Philippines  The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Monday said its officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) have barred entry to a Nigerian national who tried to pass himself as a citizen of Malta by presenting a fake passport.

In a statement, BI travel control and enforcement unit Chief Ma. Timotea Barizo said the foreigner, identified as 30-year-old Onyebuchi Emmanuel Ukeje, was denied entry last February 4 upon his arrival at the NAIA terminal 2.

Barizo said the Nigerian had just arrived from Bangkok, Thailand when he was intercepted by immigration officials. The passenger allegedly presented a Maltese passport and identity card.

But immigration officials grew suspicious over the inconsistencies in Ukejes statements and referred him for a secondary inspection.

The bureau said the passenger later on admitted in the interview his true nationality and how he acquired his bogus travel papers in Malta for US$2,500 from a Maltese citizen of Nigerian descent.

Using his fake passport, he allegedly left Malta in late December and flew to South Africa and Bangkok before proceeding to Manila.

According to Ukeje, he secured the fake documents because he was facing a terrible financial challenge in Malta and wanted to leave to start a new life.

The BIs forensic document laboratory, which examined his travel documents, certified that the Maltese passport he presented is counterfeit.

He was denied entry and was included in our immigration blacklist for using a spurious immigration document which is a blatant violation of our immigration laws, Barizo said.

The immigration bureau reiterated its warning against foreigners who plan on using fake documents to enter the country.

The post BI bars entry to Nigerian with fake passport at NAIA appeared first on UNTV News.
Lebanon: Media say 3 soldiers shot, killed at Syrian border They were searching for criminals

(ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, FEBRUARY 10 - Three Lebanese soldiers were killed and three others were injured in a shooting that took place within the past 24 hours in northeast Lebanon at the Syrian border, Lebanese media said on Monday.



The soldiers were looking for common criminals in an area that is traditionally a refuge for sellers of contraband and car thieves.



Lebanese media said the three soldiers, members of the army's intelligence unit, were killed in the province of Hermel, in the Bekaa Valley.



They were searching for car thieves who take refuge in a border area that the police and army have difficulty controlling.(ANSAmed).




For the first time, a sitting Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) has announced his resignation.

The resignation of Kelvin Charles takes effect at the end of April 2020.
Federal MPs from both major parties have united to call on the Israel government to immediately extradite alleged child abuser Malka Leifer to Australia.

Former ambassador to Israel turned Liberal MP Dave Sharma and Labor MP Josh Burns will on Monday night move a motion in the House of Representatives hitting out at the "numerous attempts to prevent and delay" Ms Leifer's extradition, which was first requested by Australia in 2014.

Labor MP Josh Burns and Liberal MP Dave Sharma have backed alleged child sex abuse victims Nicole Meyer and Dassi Erlich in their call for former Melbourne school principal Malka Leifer to face justice. Credit:AAP

Ms Leifer, 52, faces 74 counts of sexual assault in Victoria related to accusations by three sisters who say they were abused while she was a teacher and principal at the ultra-Orthodox Adass Israel School in Melbourne.

Since extradition proceedings were first brought by Australia more than five years ago, there have been 63 court hearings and the case still has not moved to the formal extradition phase.
TEHRAN, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- A top advisor to Iran's supreme leader said the U.S. forces should leave Iraq and Syria, Tehran Times daily reported Sunday.

The era of U.S. presence in Iraq and Syria has come to an end, Ali Akbar Velayati was quoted as saying at the ceremony commemorating the assassinated senior Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani.

The U.S. soldiers will be expelled from the region "soon," he added.

The U.S. rulers thought in vain that they could overcome the resistance in the region by assassinating Soleimani, the Iranian official noted.

Soleimani, former commander of the Quds Force of Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, was killed in a U.S. airstrike near Baghdad International Airport last month.
Lisa Chambers is among a number of high-profile Fianna Fail TDs now fighting for their seats as counting continues in the election.

However, Micheal Martins party could still return as the largest political party in the next Dail and Fianna Fail have already come under pressure to enter coalition talks with Sinn Fein.

As Sinn Fein candidates topped polls across the country, Mr Martin last night seemed to soften his stance on doing a deal with Mary Lou McDonalds party which he had repeatedly ruled out in advance of polling day.

Fianna Fail, who had supported Fine Gael in Government through the confidence and supply agreement, have failed to make the gains they had hoped for after the unexpected surge in support for Sinn Fein.

They are now projected to take just over 40 seats  roughly the same as the 45 seats they had in the last Dail  as a number of their out-going TDs are now expected not to return to the 33rd Dail.

Ms Chambers, Fianna Fails Brexit spokesperson, was in danger of losing her seat in Mayo after receiving 6,373 first-preference votes.

Fine Gaels Michael Ring and Sinn Feins Rose Conway-Walsh were both elected on the first count in Mayo, with Fianna Fail deputy leader Dara Calleary trailing behind them with 9,163 first-preference votes.

In Wicklow, the partys health spokesman Stephen Donnelly was also clinging on last night. He ran as a Social Democrat in the 2016 election when he topped the poll with 20% of first-preference votes. However, he received just 7% of first-preference votes in Saturdays election and could be pipped at the post by Jennifer Whitmore  the candidate put forward by his former party.

In Kerry, outgoing Fianna Fail TD John Brassil conceded early yesterday afternoon claiming that barring a miracle he would not retain his seat.

However, the party were last night still expected to retain a seat in the constituency with his running mate Norma Foley looking likely to be elected. Tallies had her on 9% with 6,842 first-preferences and Mr Brassil behind her on 7% with 5,421 votes.

Among the other outgoing Fianna Fail TDs who last night were in jeopardy of losing their seats was Eugene Murphy in Roscommon-Galway.

Fianna Fails strategy to put forward Orla Leydon as his running mate appears to have backfired and neither are now expected to be elected.

However, as expected Independent Michael Fitzmaurice topped the poll and was the first TD to be elected in Roscommon-Galway.

There were also doubts over Declan Breathnachs seat in Louth as well as Anne Rabbitte in Galway East.

However, Fianna Fail are expected to make some gains including in Clare where they are now tipped to return two TDs.

They were also in the hunt for three seats in the Laois-Offally constituency as counting continued.

The party went into the election with one secure seat as the Ceann Comhairle is automatically returned to the Dail.

Speaking in the Cork South Central count centre Mr Martin said there is an onus and an obligation on parties to build a functioning government.

I dont want to pre-empt anything, he said but stated that there are still serious policy issues between the parties.

Sinn Feins Donnchadh O Laoghaire topped the poll in the Cork South Central constituency with over 14,000 first-preference votes. Micheal Martin was elected on the sixth count.

Mr Martin said: I think well let things calm down today. Well assess it when the full count is in, and the full number of seats is in. Im a democrat.
The confirmed cases of the deadly novel Coronavirus on the Diamond Princess cruise ship off Japanese coast has now reached 135 after 65 more cases were identified on February 10. The local media reports, quoting Japans Health Ministry, said that the authorities have identified 65 new cases of the deadly virus.

Officials initially tested 300 people out of the 3,711 onboard and gradually evacuated the infected patients to local medical facilities. Japan has now the most number of Coronavirus-infected patients after China, followed by Singapore and Thailand. The remaining people on the cruise have been asked to stay inside their cabins with their masks on and to keep a distance from each other when out on the open deck.

Japan has decided to conduct tests on all passengers before allowing them to get off the cruise. Earlier, Katsunobu Kato, Health Minister of Japan, had informed the reporters that the government is working to make medication and masks available to those infected on board, particularly for passengers those are showing severe chronic or pneumonia-like symptoms.

Read: India Lifts Ban, Clears Some Medial Gear Exports To China To Combat Coronavirus

WHO signs MoU

The World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned that transmission among people with no travel history to China could be the 'tip of the iceberg'. WHO and the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) signed a memorandum of understanding to formalise a strategic collaboration to strengthen diagnosis in resource-poor countries by closing major diagnostic gaps at the country level.

Global health challenges such as the ongoing new #2019nCoV outbreak demonstrates that without these essential elements of health systems, we cannot hope to promote health, keep the world safe, and serve the vulnerable. https://t.co/L81fK8hSZ9  Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) February 10, 2020

Read: Coronavirus: Over 1.97 Lakh Travellers From 1,818 Flights Screened So Far

WHO is also convening a global research and innovation forum to mobilise international action in response to the new coronavirus. The forum will be held on February 11-12 in Geneva which is being organised in collaboration with the Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness.

WHO is playing an important coordinating role by bringing the scientific community together to identify research priorities and accelerate progress, said Ghebreyesus in a statement.

Read: 50k PPE Kits Needed For Doctors Treating Coronavirus Patients, Have 20k In Hand: Centre

Read: Coronavirus Outbreak: 4 New Positive Cases In UK, Total Count Reaches 8

(With Agency Inputs)
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In addition to building a new capital, the government plans to transform four regional cities into major metropolises with the goal of spreading economic activity beyond the busy island of Java and fostering new economic powerhouses, a minister had said.

National Development Planning Minister Suharso Monoarfa said the capital relocation would boost investment in East Kalimantan by 47.7 percent. East Kalimantans regional domestic product is expected to grow by 7.3 percentage points (ppt) and the multiplier effect is expected to contribute an extra 0.6 ppt to nationwide GDP.

Read also: New capital city to contribute little to Indonesia's economic growth: Indef

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Saratoga Springs Police Department

Family Offense: Holly Turcotte, 43, of Corinth was arrested at 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 3 on a warrant at 5 Lake Ave. and was charged with criminal contempt first degree: prior conviction within five years and aggravated family offense: more than one within five years, both felonies.

DWI: Mary Bachner, 62, of Saratoga Springs was arrested at 6:39 p.m. on Feb. 3 on Route 50 and Old Gick Road after being involved in a property damage accident and was charged with driving while intoxicated: first offense, and operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content of .08 percent or more: first offense, both misdemeanors.

Unlicensed Operation: Benjamin Weber, 23, of Saratoga Springs was arrested at 12:32 a.m. on Feb. 2, following a traffic stop on Ballston Avenue and was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle third degree and registration suspension, both misdemeanors.

Petit Larceny: Zanasia Wicks 27, of Ballston Spa was arrested at 3:26 p.m. on Feb. 4 on Route 50 and was charged with petit larceny, a misdemeanor.

Unlicensed Operation: Jordan Blount, 29, of Ballston Spa was arrested at 9:35 p.m. on Feb. 4 following a traffic stop on Ballston Avenue and East West Road and was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle third degree, a misdemeanor.

Unlicensed Operation: Ryan Gillen, 25, of Saratoga Springs was arrested at 2:13 a.m. following a traffic stop on South Broadway and Canfield Street and was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle third degree, a misdemeanor.

DWI, Drug Possession: Sean Richards,. 35, of Amsterdam was arrested at 4:11 a.m. on Feb. 5 following a traffic stop on Regent Street and Lincoln Avenue and was charged with driving while intoxicated: first offense, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle third degree, and criminal possession of a controlled substance, seventh degree, operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content of .08 percent or more: first offense, all misdemeanors; and criminal possession of an assault weapon third degree, and criminal possession of a weapon second degree: loaded firearm other than persons home or business, both felonies.

Obstruction of Governmental Administration: Randy Jones, 52, of Saratoga Springs was arrested at 2:50 p.m. on Feb. 5 on Broadway and was charged with obstruction of governmental administration, a misdemeanor.

Offering a False Instrument for Filing: Kristen Weatherwax, 28, of Saratoga Springs was arrested at 7:25 p.m. on Feb. 5 at 5 Lake Ave. and was charged with welfare fraud fifth degree, a misdemeanor and offering a false instrument for filing first degree with intent to defraud, a felony.

Petit Larceny: Matthew Cahn, 41, of Albany was arrested at 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 5 on Ballston Avenue and was charged with petit larceny, a misdemeanor.

Petit Larceny: Loreal Bass, 39, of Schenectady, was arrested at 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 5 on Ballston Avenue and was charged with petit larceny, a misdemeanor.

Issuing a Bad Check: Scott Solomon, 33, of Saratoga Springs was arrested at 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 6 on a warrant at 5 Lake Avenue and was charged with issuing a bad check with knowledge of insufficient funds, a misdemeanor.

Unlicensed Operation: Marc Skojec, 47, of Malta was arrested at 1:11 a.m. on Feb. 7 following a traffic stop on Route 50 and East Avenue and was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle third degree, a misdemeanor.

DWI: Adam Forshey, 20, of Schenectady was arrested at 1:43 a.m. on February 7 following a traffic stop on Broadway and Lake Avenue and was charged with driving while intoxicated: first offense.

Criminal Mischief: Jeremy Robson, 19, of Ballston Spa was arrested at 2:24 a.m. on Feb. 7 and was charged with criminal mischief: intent to damage property, a misdemeanor.
HOUSTON - A federal judge rejected a request for an emergency stay Monday to require that a 5-year-old Guatemalan boy not be deported before he is seen by a pediatric neurologist, according to advocates for the child.

Lawyers for the childs family plan to appeal Judge Stephen V. Wilsons denial during a Monday hearing in California to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The boys aunt and his advocates say he has severe headaches, complains about hearing normal levels of sound, and suffers other symptoms they trace to his fall from a shopping cart in December. Shortly after he fell, a hospital diagnosed the child with a skull fracture and bleeding around his brain.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has defended the care its given to the 5-year-old, who ICE agents detained in January with his mother, father, and 1-year-old brother in its family detention centre at Dilley, Texas. After multiple check-ups at Dilley, the agency says it took the child to a San Antonio hospital last week after concerns were first raised that he was still having symptoms. That hospital said the childs MRI was normal and there were no signs that he still had bleeding in his skull. He was not taken to a pediatric neurologist

With the mother having been ordered deported by an immigration judge, she and her two children could be flown to Guatemala this week unless a court intervenes. The childrens father was taken to a separate immigration jail in California.

ICE declined to comment Monday and the Department of Justice did not respond to a message.

Amy Maldonado, an immigration attorney working with the family, said she hoped the 9th Circuit would prevent the childs deportation. The familys lawyers have also asked for a court to prevent ICE from trying to immediately deport the family.
One of the astounding things after the 2016 election was the Democrats' failure to engage in self-reflection to understand what they did wrong and figure out how to improve. Instead, they've indulged in a three-and-a-half-year orgy of blaming everything (mostly the Russians) and everybody (mostly Trump) for their election failure. Matt Taibbi, who writes for the Progressive Rolling Stone magazine, is one of the few Progressives who has managed to resist this impulse.

Taibbi consistently looks at the Democrat party with the eye of a man who wishes he could fix it rather than someone who is looking for a scapegoat to relieve the party of responsibility for its failings. In his latest outing, though, Taibbi seems to have given up hope. He's no longer trying to be a reformer; he is, instead, a Cassandra, looking into the future and chronicling what he sees as the inevitable death of the Democrat party. It is a scathing look at the dying convulsions of the world's oldest continuously existing political party.

The article begins with some optimistic Bernie Bros looking forward to the outcome of the Iowa caucuses, something they assume will end in Bernie's favor. All of them, says Taibbi, ended up in Bernie's camp because they felt betrayed by the system and believe that Bernie, betrayed as well, is their political avatar:

Two elements are near-constants in Sanders crowds: life experience with a broken system (Grace told a story of corporate-captured regulators killing an animal rights bill he worked on), and feelings of sympathy for a Senator also seen as getting the short [end of the] stick from establishment cheats.

For these voters, 2020 is about revenge. Every media person who dismissed Bernie, every change in debate rules to aid a New York plutocrat, every story about "troll fighters" aimed at the Bernie campaign  all of them would be destroyed:

Sanders supporters felt sure they'd overcome. With a win, all that invective was just another indication of righteousness. "It just tells me he pisses off the right people," Grace quipped. Then he walked off to catch the victory speech, and all hell broke loose.

The hell Taibbi describes isn't the utter fiasco in Iowa, something that put the lie to the Democrats' claim that they are so skilled in reason and technology that they can and should be made responsible for all decisions, large and small, in America. Iowa was, writes Taibbi a week that "reeked of third-world treachery  from monolithic TV propaganda against the challenger to rumors of foreign intrusion to, finally, a "botched" vote count that felt as legitimate as a Supreme Soviet election."

Worse is the fact that the Democrats have become so politically entrenched that, in this election, they are the reactionaries. Iowa and the "flatulent end of the party's impeachment gambit" revealed to the world that Democrats are "an incompetent lobby for doomed elites, dumb crooks with nothing left to offer but their exit."

Taibbi looks at  and then dismisses  the boring Democrat candidates, all desperately scrambling to distinguish themselves without having the dynamism to gather together more than one or two groups of the Left's intentionally fragmented demographics. Each had a flavor of the week moment, but none could (or can) last.

Meanwhile, on the ground in Iowa, people were met with incomprehensible rules that suggested a plan to muddle things so badly that the winner would be impossible to determine, giving free rein to the party hacks:

What happened over the five days after the caucus was a mind-boggling display of fecklessness and ineptitude. Delay after inexplicable delay halted the process, to the point where it began to feel like the caucus had not really taken place. [snip] No matter what result emerges, it's likely many individual voters will not trust it. [snip] [T]he overall impression was a clown show performance by a political establishment too bored to worry about the appearance of impartiality.

Taibbi's right: the Democrat party is dying, and it's dying because it's in the clutches of power-hungry plutocrats. At some point, those Democrats still open to reason are going to realize that President Trump is the real culmination of the "Occupy Movement." Remember that Obama-era protest against the 1%? The Democrat pooh-bahs are the 1%.

Trump, by taking the regulatory yoke off American necks, and unleashing American energy, innovation, and creativity, has freed the 99%. Contrary to fevered Progressive rhetoric, Trump is not a plutocrat or an oligarch. Instead, he is the answer to the modern Democrat party's plutocracy and oligarchy, one that is seeing a Democrat civil war between Bernie's pure, nationalizing communism on the one end and the Democrat Party elite's fascistic fusion between government and big money on the other.
New Delhi, Feb 10 : The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police (DGP), on a complaint filed by Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra over alleged police atrocities during anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) protests in the state.

The commission has given six weeks time to the UP government to reply to its notice.

"NHRC finds appropriate to direct issuance of notices to the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police UP, calling for detailed and specific reports within six weeks on the allegation mentioned in the complaint," said the letter issued to the UP government on January 29.

"Looking into the gravity and sensitivity of the matter the commission expects that the requisite report shall be sent within the stipulated time without any delay ' said an NHRC statement.

Priyanka Gandhi had moved the NHRC on January 27 accompanied by Rahul Gandhi that police allegedly used brutal force to crush the anti-CAA stir, that has claimed over 22 lives.

The Congress delegation led by Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi had submitted a 538-page memorandum along with 'proof' to the NHRC against the UP Police's 'brutality' against the anti-citizenship law protesters and urged a probe into such cases.

Rahul Gandhi had tweeted: "A delegation of Congress leaders presented the NHRC with evidence of atrocities against citizens of Uttar Pradesh by the state government, which has gone to war against its own people. The NHRC must act decisively to protect the idea of India and the constitutional rights of our citizens. The photographs have also been given along with CDs, there were 23 deaths but no FIR had been registered against the police." Priyanka Gandhi had visited many victims and their families in western UP, which was the worst hit by the violence which broke out in December last year.

She visited Bijnor, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut and Lucknow to meet those at the receiving end of the violence and also joined protesters on a dharna at India Gate here to express solidarity with them. The party also held a symbolic protest at Rajghat.

At least two dozen persons were killed in alleged police firing in Bijnor, Meerut, Kanpur, Firozabad and other places during the protests.
The decision to book former Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti under the Public Safety Act (PSA), which allows for detention up to two years, is ethically questionable, legally flawed, and politically counterproductive. The two leaders were booked under PSA soon after completing six months in preventive detention. Omars father, former CM Farooq Abdullah, is also detained under PSA. Sections of the media have cited a government dossier outlining the charges. If these reports are accurate, Omar Abdullah has been accused of espousing radical ideology, of having the capacity to influence people and encouraging an agitation, and of instigating people against India. Ms Mufti, too, has been reportedly, accused of promoting separatism, and making provocative statements which have led to violence.

The governments approach over the detention of leaders is disconcerting. For one, it violates the spirit of the Constitution. Individual liberty is at the heart of the democratic constitution. The government has shown no tangible evidence which suggests that the Abdullahs or Ms Mufti had done anything to stir violence or seek to break up the Union. Yes, these leaders have been critical of the governments decision to effectively nullify Article 370 in the state and divide it. Yes, they run parties which can organise demonstrations in opposition to these moves. But this is their fundamental right as Indian citizens. If the government truly wants to integrate J&K with the Union, it cannot do so without giving to the citizens in J&K the same rights exercised by Indians elsewhere. It also cannot do so unless democratic activity gets restored, which can truly happen only when these leaders get released.

The move also undermines the Indian States interests. The Abdullahs and Ms Mufti, in the most difficult of times, when the street mood was laced with resentment against Delhi, and when terror groups from Pakistan wreaked havoc, have stood up for the Union. The current charges against them defy common sense  for it is almost an implicit suggestion that their backing of the Constitution and democracy merits punishment. Will this not strengthen those who are against India? The Centre may want to encourage a new force in Kashmirs polity  but it must not happen by curtailing individual rights. Delhi is weakening its own political and diplomatic case on Kashmir.
In below freezing temperatures, the line to see Pete Buttigieg in Nashua, New Hampshire stretched out from the gym doors at Elm Street Middle School. Down the block, the line snaked around the corner, then around yet another corner.

The turnout was a testament to the newfound celebrity of the candidate, a former mayor of a mid-sized city in Indiana who, just a year ago, virtually nobody in America even knew existed.

But they certainly know him now. Just at the start of the 2020 primary process, Mayor Pete  as many like to call him, due to his tongue twister of a last name  has shown that in American politics, no candidate is inevitable.

Instead, a 38-year-old newcomer to national politics can seemingly topple the candidate folks thought was unstoppable, and head into the nation's first primary as a front-runner and candidate just about everyone is talking about. That quick rise in political fortunes does not seem lost on him.

"I know how seriously voters here in New Hampshire take that responsibility, that influence, that thumb on the scale that you've got," Mr Buttigieg told the crowd on Sunday. "In the New Hampshire tradition that had a lot of you in the summer and the fall coming to my events and hearing me out and at the end saying, 'You know, that was pretty good. I think you're in my top seven now.'"

Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Show all 18 1 /18 Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Jessica Canicosa, a precinct captain for Bernie Sanders, waits to greet caucus voters at Liberty High School in Henderson, Nevada REUTERS Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Hotel workers at the Bellagio in Las Vegas get to grips with voting papers during the Nevada caucuses AFP via Getty Images Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures A caricature of Bernie Sanders is projected on to a tree during a rally in Las Vegas EPA Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures A woman waits to have a photo taken with Elizabeth Warren during a town hall meeting in Las Vegas REUTERS Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures The threat of coronavirus and other germ-borne illnesses was on some voters' minds at the Democratic caucuses in Henderson, Nevada Getty Images Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Former vice-president Joe Biden takes a selfie with a voter in Las Vegas ahead of the Nevada caucuses REUTERS Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Amy Klobuchar changes her shoes backstage after giving a speech in Exeter, New Hampshire AFP/Getty Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures A warmly-wrapped-up dog attends an Elizabeth Warren event at Amherst Elementary School in Nashua, New Hampshire AFP/Getty Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Bernie Sanders, who romped to victory in New Hampshire against Hillary Clinton in 2016, talks to the media in Manchester Getty Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Joe Biden was hoping to improve on his poor showing in Iowa in the New Hampshire primary Reuters Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Elizabeth Warren, renowned for giving time to supporters for selfies, works the crowd at the University of New Hampshire in Durham Getty Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Joe Biden takes a selfie with a supporter and his child outside a campaign event in Somersworth, New Hampshire on 5 February Reuters Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders quarrel after a confrontation in a TV debate in which Sanders claimed that Warren was not telling the truth about a conversation in which she claimed he had said a woman could not win the presidency on 14 January AP Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Supporter Pat Provencher listens to Pete Buttigieg in Laconia, New Hampshire on 4 February Getty Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Pete Buttigieg speaks at a campaign event in Concord, New Hampshire while awaiting the results of the Iowa caucus Reuters Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures Elizabeth Warren is presented with a balloon effigy of herself at a campaign event in Nashua, New Hampshire on 5 February Reuters Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures A Trump supporter rides past a rally for Amy Klobuchar in Des Moines, Iowa on 14 January AP Democratic candidates compete on the campaign trail: In pictures A man holds up a sign criticising billionaires in the presidential race in front of Michael Bloomberg in Compton, Califronia. The former New York mayor skipped the first caucus in Iowa and instead campaigned in California on 3 February Reuters

Mr Buttigieg heads into the Tuesday primary on the heels of a strong performance in Iowa, when voters came together last week for the bizarre spectacle that is the state's caucuses.

While the reported results from that contest have been criticised for inconsistencies and muddled reporting that took days before a full account was released publicly, Mr Buttigieg's status as a front-runner out of the state alongside Vermont senator Bernie Sanders is uncontestable  even if he was criticised for seeming to claim victory far too early.

The former midwestern mayor now finds himself ahead of the former vice president, Joe Biden, who once seemed like the obvious choice for moderate Democrats seeking to find a candidate with a vision that can win a Democratic nomination in a cycle marked for a surging progressive sentiment, while avoiding the kinds of policies and labels like "socialist" that some view as a liability for Mr Sanders should he face off against Donald Trump.

Pete Buttigieg poses for selfies with supporters while campaigning at Dover Middle School in New Hampshire (EPA)

"I'm 98 per cent sure that I'm voting for Pete at this point," said Mary Rioux, 42, of Manchester.

Ms Rioux said she made her decision just after the CNN town hall late last week. Still, she said she also likes Amy Klobuchar quite a bit.

Recommended Biden escalates attack on Buttigieg before tepid performance in NH

Mr Buttigieg still faces several notable obstacles on his path to the Democratic nomination. At 38, he is the youngest candidate in the field, a potential liability that is underscored by the fact that his highest elected office sits several rungs down from some of his most prominent opponents.

On Sunday, Mr Buttigieg was introduced by Nashua's mayor and himself recognised that fact, but cast his distance from Washington as a political strength in spite of the brutal attack ads placed by Mr Biden, mockingly comparing his experience as vice-president with the kind of decisions Mayor Pete made in South Bend, like whether to put colourful lights underneath a bridge or whether to change pet chip regulations.

"I'm so glad to have the support of a fellow mayor at a time like this. Remember, mayors have to get things done. You're never gonna hear of a city government shutting down because two parties don't agree. We just have to make sure that the water keeps flowing through your taps so we figure it out," Mr Buttigieg said.

"We need to make Washington look like our best run cities and towns, instead of the other way around," he said.

Still, Jamie Bourgeouis, a 43-year-old Nashua voter, said that Mr Buttigieg seems like a sensible choice heading into 2020. She said he's not quite as progressive as she might like, but that he might do the trick.

"I don't know who I'm voting for yet, but I like Pete," she said. "I'm torn on who to vote for. I want someone who can beat Trump. So, I'll probably go for someone who's a bit away from my personal politics."

Days before the primary, Mr Buttigieg trails Mr Sanders in aggregates of polls, with 21.3 per cent support in the state compared to the Vermont senator's 26.1 per cent. Eight points below that is Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts senator who came in third place in Iowa and is seeking a strong showing in New Hampshire, where she has focused a considerable ground game.

And so, before he can begin counting his chickens, Mr Buttigieg must prove himself in the Granite State, where voters like to tout their sense of independence, and many say they don't really care what Iowa had to say about the candidates  they want folks like Mr Buttigieg to prove they're the right choice again.

 How to pronounce Buttigieg

"I'm just here evaluating," Carl Dubois, a 48-year-old voter from Hudson, New Hampshire, said outside of the event. He said he planned on seeing Mr Biden and Amy Klobuchar before making a final decision. "I wasn't really paying attention to the Iowa caucuses. I don't really engage until New Hampshire."

When will he decide? "Last minute, right when I walk into the polls."
Cead Mile Failte is a new one-hour documentary by Midas productions that assesses the Irish welcome given to people who have arrived here to seek asylum: an exploration of the Direct Provision system as seen through the eyes of those least able to criticise it.

Cead Mile Failte focuses on four individuals fleeing trauma and domestic abuse, who are seeking refuge in Ireland. Through their direct experiences, viewers will acquire an acute understanding of what asylum seekers have had to face and, in the process, gain a truer perspective of the labyrinthine system known as Direct Provision.

Designed in the year 2000 as a temporary, six-month solution to the growing number of applications, Direct Provision now houses over 7,000 asylum seekers in 39 accommodation centres across the Republic, including an estimated 2,000 children.

Adult asylum seekers currently receive bed and board and a weekly allowance of 38.80, while children receive a rate of 29.80 per week. Each of our contributors describes the conditions as akin to living in limbo, because of the nagging uncertainty that hangs over each of their applications.

One key contributor compares the system to life in an open jail, before shaking her head in dismay: Except prisoners know what their release date is. Some asylum seekers have been in the system for years, and their children know no other life other than that of a compound and its canteen.

Also read: Longford and Lanesboro feature in TV documentary on end of peat production

For those who are caught in this indeterminate loop, Cead Mile Failte reveals how their state of mind is affected, and whether living conditions have improved in the accommodation 2 centres since the release of the McMahon Report in 2015.

Notably, too, the documentary looks at the reasons why these four individuals left their countries of origin in the first place and asks what life they yearn for here in Ireland. The key contributors in Cead Mile Failte come from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds; and their experiences of rural and urban accommodation centres differ.

Two arrived from the African continent with children, a third is hoping that, if given permission to stay, she will be able to invite her two children to join her in Ireland (four years after fleeing Zimbabwe).

The documentary, which will be aired on TG4 on Wednesday, February 12, at 9:30pm, features a Longford story related to life in direct provision. It will follow the story of a man called Ovitta, who arrived in Ireland in 2012 as a student from Malawi. Ovitta married an Irish woman before being separated in 2017 and he now lives in an all-male direct provision centre in Richmond court, Longford town.

Despite Ovitta being in the system for over a year, he still waiting on his substantive interview. This interview would help determine the validity of his asylum request.

For me I just want a job. Ovitta told cameras.

I just dont want to sit. I just want my brain to be focused on something.

This documentary tells Ovitta's story and others who are waiting to hear about their asylum application. It looks at the lengths and risks that these four people have undertaken, as well as the family members they have left behind. It shows how difficult it is to survive on a small weekly allowance, and how long they can expect to wait before a decision on their application is made.

This documentary shines a light on an issue that is very much in the public eye, although the actuality of it has been largely ignored. Cead Mile Failte draws comparisons with our own history of emigration, and the importance too of integration. It offers an insight into the plights of thousands of people: people with whom we rarely engage, but who merely wish to make a happier, safer life here.

Wednesday, February 12, 9:30pm on TG4 - Make sure to tune in.
The close relationship between the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak and wildlife had sparked fears over whether pets, such as dogs and cats, can spread the disease. For tens of millions of pet owners in China, how to keep both themselves and their furry friends healthy has become an essential concern.



The World Health Organization (WHO) said in its public advice issued on Jan. 29, that "at present, there is no evidence that companion animals/pets such as dogs or cats can be infected with the new coronavirus."

Jin Yipeng, deputy dean of College of Veterinary Medicine at China Agricultural University, explained that there are hundreds of virus species under the four main sub-groupings of coronaviruses, and each species targets different kinds of animals.

"2019-nCoV significantly differs from those common coronaviruses that can infect dogs and cats. The current findings suggest that humans face no risk of catching coronaviruses in dogs and cats, and 2019-nCoV, in particular, cannot infect pets," Jin said.

As to some experts' suggestion that pets need to be isolated after contact with an infected person, Jin said it doesn't mean pets will contract the new coronavirus and transmit it to other people as intermediate hosts.

"Temporary isolation is needed because pets, like their food, clothes and other life necessities, may become 'movers' of the virus. But after thorough cleaning and disinfection, it is safe to continue raising the pets as normal," he added.

Jin also warned pet owners not to discard their animals for fear of contracting the novel coronavirus. "Discarding pets will not help curb the spread of the new coronavirus, but rather invite other public health problems since abandoned animals could expose humans to other virus and bacteria."

Gong Haohan, chief veterinarian of Loving Pet International Animal Medical Center said he felt deeply distressed when he read the reports of people discarding their pets due to panic.

With more than 10 years of experience in clinical veterinary medicine, Gong said the best way to protect pets during the outbreak is to reduce their outdoor activities as much as possible, and clean them with disinfectant after returning from visits to public areas.

Pet owners also should pay attention to the physical and mental conditions of their animals, and take them to veterinary institutions in a timely manner if they have symptoms such as depression, fever, cough and dyspnea, Gong advised.

According to statistics released by CBNData, in 2018, the number of Chinese households with pets hit almost 100 million and the pet industry was worth over $25 billion. Meanwhile, great changes have taken place in Chinese people's attitude towards animals.

"In the beginning, many people used to regard pets as useful in safeguarding their homes. But nowadays, pets are more likely to become an important family member. Pet owners are more willing to seek and accept professional advice," Gong said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 13:37:21|Editor: Xiaoxia

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VIENTIANE, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Laos recorded a trade deficit of 137 million U.S. dollars in 2019 even though the value of exports exceeded the yearly plan, according to Lao Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

Exports were targeted to hit 5,516 million U.S. dollars but achieved 5,603 million U.S. dollars, while imports were planned to reach 5,775 million U.S. dollars, with 5,740 million U.S. dollars recorded, local daily Vientiane Times reported on Monday.

The country's leading exports include electricity, copper ore, copper and accessories made of copper, wood pulp, camera parts, beverages, rubber, livestock, cassava, mixed gold and gold bars, clothing, bananas, electrical machinery and equipment, fruit and nuts.

The main destinations for exports are Thailand, China, Vietnam, India, Japan, Germany, the United States, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium and Britain, according to the report.

The chief imports are fuel, vehicles other than tractors and motorcycles, iron and steel products, mechanical appliances, insulated wire, cable, electrical machinery and equipment, plastics, bars and steel rods and formed structural steel sections, vehicle parts, and communications equipment.

The main countries supplying these goods are Thailand, China, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea and the United States.

Electricity continues to be Laos' major revenue-generating export. Laos currently exports electricity to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, with Thailand being the largest importer of energy.

Lao government has set a combined trade target of 13,037 million U.S. dollars in 2020, with a deficit of 193 million U.S. dollars.

Exports in 2020 are expected to reach 6,422 million U.S. dollars and imports 6,615 million U.S. dollars, according to a report by the planning and investment sector, which held a meeting in Lao capital Vientiane on Monday.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 10, 2020) - Nano One Materials Corp. (TSXV: NNO) (OTC PINK: NNOMF) (FSE: LBMB), today announced that, pursuant to a 10% over-allotment, the size of its non-brokered private placement that was previously announced on January 30, 2020 and February 5, 2020, is increased by $1,000,000, to a total of up to $11,000,000. The financing will now consist of a total of up to 9,565,217 units (the "Units") at a price of $1.15 per Unit for total gross proceeds of up to $11,000,000.

Each Unit will consist of one common share and one-half of one common share purchase warrant (each whole such warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase an additional common share at a price of $1.60 for a period of 36 months from the closing date. The proceeds of this private placement will be used for corporate development, facilities expansion, technology advancement, and general working capital. In connection with the private placement, the Company may pay finder's fees in cash or securities or a combination of both, as permitted by the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange.

The shares issued pursuant to the private placement will be subject to a hold period under applicable securities laws, which will expire four months plus one day from the date of closing of the private placement. Closing of the private placement is subject to receipt of all necessary corporate and regulatory approvals, including approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Nano One Materials Corp.

Dan Blondal, CEO

For information with respect to Nano One or the contents of this news release, please contact John Lando (President) at (604) 420-2041 or visit the website at www.nanoone.ca.

About Nano One

Nano One Materials Corp has developed patented technology for the low-cost production of high performance lithium ion battery cathode materials used in electric vehicles, energy storage and consumer electronics. The processing technology enables lower cost feedstocks, simplifies production and advances performance for a wide range of cathode materials. Nano One has built a demonstration pilot plant and is partnering with global leaders in the lithium ion battery supply chain, including Pulead, Volkswagen and Saint-Gobain to advance its lithium iron phosphate (LFP), lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) and lithium nickel manganese oxide (LNM) cathode technologies for large growth opportunities in e-mobility and renewable energy storage applications.

Nano One's pilot and partnership activities are being funded with the assistance and support of the Government of Canada through Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) and the Automotive Supplier Innovation Program (ASIP) a program of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED). Nano One also receives financial support from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP). Nano One's mission is to establish its patented technology as a leading platform for the global production of a new generation of battery materials. www.nanoone.ca

Certain information contained herein may constitute "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements related to the private placement, the use of proceeds, size and pricing of the private placement, payment of finder's fees and receipt of requisite corporate and regulatory approvals.. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as 'believe', 'expect', 'anticipate', 'plan', 'intend', 'continue', 'estimate', 'may', 'will', 'should', 'ongoing', or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made and they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, including, without limitation,: the Company's failure to find suitable purchasers for the private placement, the Company's failure to receive all necessary regulatory approvals and management's discretion to reallocate the use of proceeds. 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. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that is incorporated by reference herein, except as required by applicable securities laws.

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 NEWS RELEASE, REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE CANADIAN LAWS, IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES, AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL SECURITIES AND THE COMPANY IS NOT SOLICITING AN OFFER TO BUY THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN. THESE SECURITIES HAVE NOT BEEN 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 U.S. PERSONS UNLESS REGISTERED OR EXEMPT THEREFROM.

NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR THROUGH U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52263
As I have gotten older, I have been enlightened about so many things from honest, genuine, conscience-driven journalists and other Democrats. Of course, to accept what I have learned, I had to check my common sense at the door.

I learned in 2008 that John McCain was a despicable racist who would be a terrible president. Later, I learned how beloved, smart, and honest he was as long as he was trashing Trump. He was deeply respected when he died and had been in high demand by genuine journalists who care about only the truth.

In 2012, as I supported Mitt Romney, I learned that he was deplorable, greedy, and stupid. He even thought Russia was dangerous, and President Obama laughed at him. Now he is the most respected, genuine, God-fearing man of conscience as long as he trashes Trump. He is in great demand by the honest, non-partisan media.

I have learned that Democrats who vote against impeachment aren't respected at all. Mavericks who vote their conscience on the Left must have some ulterior motive.

I have learned that it is OK for the DNC and Hillary to contract out investigations to foreign sources and receive a fictional document to destroy a Republican in an election. The brilliant Congressman Jeffries said that was OK because they paid for it as opposition research.

But it is impeachable for President Trump to comply with the a treaty and ask a foreign country to investigate corruption as we fork out hundreds of millions of dollars.

I've learned that it is OK for the Obama administration, including the Justice Department, State Department, and intelligence agencies, to spy on citizens, lie to the courts, and infiltrate political opponents' campaigns. I thought meddling in elections was bad, but I guess not if you are targeting people the media and other Democrats want to defeat.

I have learned that Adam Schiff and others can lie for years about Russian collusion, the FISA courts, and the whistleblower and make up fictional phone calls, and he will be considered a reliable, honest source by the complicit media. He will be in high demand.

I have learned that the Bidens and Clintons can enrich themselves greatly with funds from foreign countries, and the media will say there is no evidence that anyone did anything wrong.

I have learned that a book called Profiles in Corruption will generate little interest in the media. After all, why would anyone want to look at how politicians like the Bidens, the Sanders family, and others enriched themselves as they pretend to care for the poor? Who would want the media to investigate corruption by political candidates? If the media didn't give a damn about all the laws the Clintons broke as they greatly enriched themselves, why would they care about other corrupt Democrats?

I have learned that it is never OK for a president to have domestic or foreign policies that he believes are good for the country but might benefit himself in the next election. To journalists and the rest of the media, that is abuse of power and impeachable.

But it is OK for Democrats to vote for impeachment, support open borders, give federal dollars to Planned Parenthood as they support abortion on demand, pander for votes by pretending to have free education and other stuff, or seek to destroy fossil fuel companies as they pander for votes. Why isn't the vote for impeachment an impeachable offense, since it is meant to influence the next election?

Is it any wonder there is so much corruption in the U.S today when the media are so willing to ignore corruption and elect politicians if they have a "D" behind their name? In Illinois, the Democrat governor, Democrat House, and Democrat Senate are currently pretending they are focusing like a laser beam on ethics reform. It appears we have a lot of slow learners, because we have had a Democrat speaker for over thirty years, who has been in office for around fifty years, and now he is focused on ethics reform? It is a shame anyone believes them. Here are some simple ethics rules. Don't steal from taxpayers, including having ghost payrollers, and don't take kickbacks in return for votes.

Here are a couple of hints as to whom you shouldn't support for president. Don't support someone who takes massive kickbacks for her personal foundation. Don't support someone who is in charge of Ukraine whose son gets a ghost job at a corrupt company, making millions, and who threatens to cut off a billion dollars if the Ukrainians don't fire a prosecutor. Don't support someone who makes up a fake racial composition to enrich herself, and don't support a socialist who appointed his wife to receive commissions on advertising his campaign buys.

Graphic credit: Needpix.
The "pings" from the metal targets at a gun range ring out as a baby-faced shooter smiles for the camera -- a chilling prelude to the mall massacre by a Thai soldier who shared his prowess as a marksman on social media. But more than a day after he was shot dead following a near 17-hour shooting spree that killed 29 people and left dozens more wounded, the killer -- Jakrapanth Thomma -- remains something of an enigma. The Thai army, powerful yet reliant on conscripts and the projection of discipline, has released few details about the 31-year-old, blaming his meltdown on a "personal dispute" over debt. "He didn't have a bad record, only this time," army spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvaree told AFP. Even Thailand's gossip-prone local media has so far shied away from sharing rumours about him, while Facebook was swift to shut down his account as the shooting unfolded. What is known is the gunman was a Sergeant-Major from Chaiyaphum province with a penchant for posting photos and videos with weapons and combat gear on Facebook -- a social media obsessive with no filter for his love of guns. One photo has the caption "Call of Duty" -- the name of a popular immersive first-person shooter game -- while another is of a revolver with a Buddhist amulet wrapped around it. After graduating from high school, Jakrapanth joined the Surathampitak military camp in the northeastern city of Korat, officially known as Nakhon Ratchasima. - Deadly accuracy - On Saturday he went on a rampage, turning the city into an urban warzone and chronicling the carnage in live Facebook updates that drew comparisons with the 2019 attacks on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. He first stole weapons from the camp's arms depot, killing a soldier as he raided the arsenal -- a place he knew well after working as a squad leader there. During his rampage he appeared to have picked off victims with deadly accuracy, including shots to the head that left some survivors needing brain surgery. To add to the horror of the attack, he live-streamed slivers of it on Facebook where he also mused callously about the fate of his victims. "Damn I got a cramp", he posted. "However, no one can avoid death." One of his last posts screams with fury at being wronged. "Getting rich from cheating, taking advantage from others, they must think that money can be spent in hell," he wrote. In an interview with a Thai television station, a man claiming to be a friend said the money at stake must have been substantial to have provoked such rage. Thailand's prime minister said Jakrapanth had psychologically unravelled after believing he had been deprived of a commission related to the sale of a property. "This man had problems, even his friends didn't know about it," Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-O-Cha told reporters. But the real motive may have vanished with his life in the basement of the mall on Sunday as commandos closed in after an atrocity without precedent in Thailand.
The Iranian regime executed these prisoners, mostly members of the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), in just one summer on the fatwa of regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini. It did not matter the age of the MEK member, whether they were pregnant, or whether they had already served their sentence, all that mattered is the mullahs wanting them dead.

According to Amnesty International, the MEK were given five-minute trials, presided over by a Death Commission, and asked whether they would publically renounce the MEK and prove their allegiance to the regime by walking through fields of landmines planted during the Iran-Iraq war. Those who refused were taken to be executed in secret and en-masse.

The bodies of the MEK were then loaded into trucks and taken to unmarked mass graves. Families were not told for months that their loved one had died and even when they were told, the regime wouldnt issue death certificates and families were unable to conduct Islamic burial rituals because they werent even told where their relative was buried.

The regime has since tried to cover up their crime by bulldozing the graves and building over them. Theyve also forbidden families of the MEK from holding public memorials for their loved ones. As a result, the perpetrators of the massacre have never been punished and many hold high-ranking positions in the regime to this day. This includes:

former Tehran Death Committee member Ebrahim Raisi, who is the current Judiciary Chief and sits on the mullahs Assembly of Experts

former Death Committee member Alireza Avaei, who is the current Justice Minister

former Evin Prison Death Committee member Mostafa Pourmohammadi, who is an advisor to the regimes Judiciary and former Justice Minister. ( He previously said he was proud of killing the MEK.)

The only regime member stripped of his power and put under house arrest was second-in-command Hossein Ali Montazeri, who expressed regret over the massacre of the MEK and said it was a crime so heinous that history would not forgive the regime.

The MEK has repeatedly called on the United Nations to conduct an independent investigation into the Massacre and hold the perpetrators accountable, with an international campaign for justice by the opposition leader Maryam Rajavi gaining more attention for the cause since 2016.

Former Colombian Senator Ingrid Betancourt is one of many prominent people in the Call for Justice Movement.

She said: The only way [to end human rights abuses] is by asking the world to give us what has been taken away from us which is justice. We need to ask the UN to play its role. There is a High Commissioner for human rights in the UN. This is the first step. We need to ask the High Commissioner to begin an independent inquiry to investigate [the 1988 Massacre].
The administrations desire to include China at the nuclear weapons negotiating table is a worthy goal in the long run. But China, with its estimated 290 nuclear warheads, has said it wont join negotiations until both Washington and Moscow, each with a much larger arsenal, get serious about reductions. Right now, demanding China be included looks more like a poison pill for New Start than a genuine attempt to keep the treaty alive. If the administration really cares about bringing in China, then speedy work toward a New Start extension would be a better signal to China about a future negotiation than letting the treaty lapse.
Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his recent "surya namaskar" remarks, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav said it would be good for the unemployed youngsters of the country if the PM could suggest any "aasan" (yoga posture) to them.

Speaking to reporters in Barabanki on his way to Bahraich, Yadav said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about increasing the number of 'surya namaskar' for strengthening his back. It would have been good if he could suggest a similar 'aasan' to unemployed youngsters. Unemployment is rising in the country. The prime minister does not have any time to think over it. At least he could suggest an 'aasan'."

On February 6, Modi took repeated digs at opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi of the Congress, whom he dubbed as a "tubelight", saying it took him 30-40 minutes to respond to his speech in the Lok Sabha.

Without naming Gandhi, the prime minister, in his reply to the discussion on the presidential address, referred to the Congress leader's reported comments about "youngsters beating up Modi with sticks over the lack of jobs", and said he would increase the number of "surya namaskar" so that his back could bear the sticks.

"In 70 years, no Congress leader has become self-sufficient. I heard one leader's manifesto yesterday. He said 'Modi will be beaten up with sticks in six months'. I can imagine that it is not an easy job, so six months will be needed for preparations.

"In these six months, I will do more surya namaskar so that my back is ready for the beating.... I have been subjected to abuses in the last 20 years, I will make myself gaali-proof as also danda-proof," Modi had said.

Referring to the exit polls for the just-concluded Delhi Assembly election which have predicted a victory for the AAP, Yadav said, "The residents of Delhi have rejected the politics of the BJP, which is full of hatred. The BJP, which has suffered defeats in a number of states, will not be able to open its account in the Delhi Assembly election and the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Arvind Kejriwal will once again become the chief minister."

On a proposal to rename Basti, a district in eastern Uttar Pradesh, he said, "This government is an expert only in changing names. The leaders and workers of the SP will inform people about the reality of the BJP."

"The public wants good ambulances, better facilities, fair price to farmers for their produce, but the BJP government has completely failed on these counts," the SP chief added.

Speaking to reporters in Bahraich, Yadav said, "The exit polls for the Delhi Assembly election show that the public has rejected the BJP's politics of casteism, communalism and hatred. The voters of Delhi have given importance to the politics of development and voted for real issues, instead of terrorism and Pakistan.

"I hope that in the coming days, wherever elections are held, people will vote on issues. The (Delhi) poll results on February 11 will see the BJP suffering a historic defeat."

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister reiterated that the SP was completely against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR).

"The BJP is working with a sense of vengeance and harassing even those who are commenting on the social media. The SP is seeing this and such people are being identified. Once we form the government (in Uttar Pradesh), these people will be given a befitting reply, though we will not harass anyone.
Lemon Tree Hotels on Monday said it has signed a license agreement with Bhangeri Durbar Resort Pvt Ltd, for an upcoming Hotel at Nagarkot in Nepal.

The 51-rooms Bhangeri Durbar Resort at Nagarkot will be operated through company's subsidiary and management arm, Carnation Hotels Pvt Ltd, Lemon Tree Hotels said in a regulatory filing.

The hotel project is expected to open by early 2021, it added.

"We are delighted to expand our reach in Nepal with this stunning resort. It is our second signing for a hotel in the country, which we feel holds immense business and tourism potential," Lemon Tree Hotels Deputy MD and Carnation Hotels Director Rattan Keswani said.

It will also add to company's repertoire of hotels internationally, which include its existing hotel in Dubai and upcoming international launches in Thimphu, Bhutan and Kathmandu, Nepal, he added.

Shares of Lemon Tree Hotels were trading at Rs 53.50 per scrip on BSE, down 1.02 per cent from its previous close.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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The U.S. is deploying drones and other technology as it scours for potential rare-earths reserves at home and abroad to wean the nation off its dependence on Chinese imports.

Weve been almost 100% dependent on foreign sources of rare earth elements for industrial applications, Jim Reilly, director of the U.S. Geological Survey, said. Its not only the domestic sources of the resource that we concentrate on. We look for those resources literally across the globe, and then we build collaboration with our partners.

China supplied about 80% of U.S. imports of the minerals used to make missiles, cellphones and wind turbines in the three years ended 2018. That leaves American companies that use rare earths vulnerable to supply shocks as a coronavirus outbreak in the Asian nation disrupts deliveries.

At the height of the trade war between Beijing and Washington, concerns were raised that China may weaponized the critical minerals, cutting supply to the U.S. While the signing of a phase-one deal eased tensions, the Trump administration remains determined to boost domestic output and seek alternative suppliers.

The U.S. is also in search of friendly sources of rare earths overseas that Washington could collaborate with in securing the material, Reilly said in an interview.

The Pentagon is looking for companies that can supply rare earths crucial to weapons systems. Last month, the Air Force Research Laboratory in Ohio called for proposals from firms showing theyre capable of stockpiling a six-month inventory of neodymium iron boron, which makes the worlds most powerful magnets and is used in the Javelin anti-tank missile, Bloomberg Government reported.

In 2019, U.S. rare earth production climbed 44% to 26,000 metric tons from a year earlier, the USGS said in a report Thursday. The entire output was shipped overseas for processing, according to the agency.

Consumption rose 12% to 13,000 tons last year, all of which was met by imports, according to USGS.

Ohio-based Materion Corp. said in December that its teaming up with Canadas Ucore Rare Metals Inc. to bid for a U.S. program to build a rare earth pilot processing plant. Ucore Chief Executive Officer Jim McKenzie said the U.S. Defense Department may fund more rare earth processing plants for weapons development.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Paschal Donohoe has admitted Fine Gael will have to change as the party haemorrhaged support and lost a series of high profile Ministers and TDs across the country.

He insists that change will not come at the top, as he backed Leo Varadkar to lead the party through a new transitional period, despite calls for new leadership from some who lost out in the election.

Former TD Paudie Coffey had called for Varadkar to resign as he said the party should rebuild.

Donohoe said Varadkar has his backing after he was elected in Dublin Central on the final count.

Expand Close Leo Varadkar reacts, next to his partner Matthew Barrett, at a count centre during Ireland's national election, in Citywest, near Dublin, Ireland, February 9, 2020. REUTERS/Lorraine O'Sullivan / Facebook

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Whatsapp Leo Varadkar reacts, next to his partner Matthew Barrett, at a count centre during Ireland's national election, in Citywest, near Dublin, Ireland, February 9, 2020. REUTERS/Lorraine O'Sullivan

I absolutely support Leo Varadkar in his continued leadership of Fine Gael, Donohoe said.

The issues we have to reflect upon as a party and how we respond back, that process will be best led by Leo.

We are a party of the centre, a party which has looked to bring about economic and social change in our country but we recognise in the campaign, and today as I am elected, that for too many that change hasn't been enough.

For some we have become associated with the status quo. We will change that and will change that under Leo Varadkar.

Donohoe said Fine Gael still has ambitions to e in government but only in coalition with like-minded partners.

We are ambitious to play a role in continuing to bring about change in Ireland. That is best served by being in Government. But as we have made clear during the campaign, we will not be changing that stance, that does not go as far as looking to enter government with Sinn Fein.

On the day in which my dear friends and colleagues have got elected and others not, it is inevitable you will hear a diversity of views as to what should happen. But as someone who has been in Leinster House both in Government and in opposition, the way to bring about change is to be in government. But to be in government we have to be in government with parties who feel the same way as we do about our country and the big challenges facing Ireland.

Meanwhile, Fine Gael minister Richard Bruton said the question of Mr Varadkars leadership of Fine Gael did not arise as a result of the General Election.

When it was put to him that some failed candidates were now questioning Mr Varadkars position, he replied: I dont accept that at all. Leo has been an extraordinary Taoiseach. He has led a lot of really important change, constitutional change, economic change, political change. He did some great things.

He said he had revived the party in the past week and very effectively sold the message, that will have a resonance in the future, that if you want a fair society, you need polices as well. Leo articulated that very effectively in the dying days of the campaign.

Mr Bruton said the tide was out on Fine Gael, it was difficult seeing colleagues falling by the wayside. He had been through this before, in 2002 when it was very difficult for the party.

He said after nine years during which he believed Fine Gael  had delivered a lot, but not enough for people, people had taken a view.

It was probably time for Fine Gael to reflect and rethink our policies and develop policies; we believe we can do that, he said.

He said while there was a need for strong Government, there was also a need for a strong and effective and opposition.

Fine Gael Fingal TD Alan Farrell has been re-elected and has also pledged his support to Mr Varadkar in any leadership battle ahead, stating: Leo is a decent man, I have absolute faith in him."

Mr Farrell, who was elected on the 10th county with 10,577 votes, benefited from former health minister, James Reillys transfers, to fight another day.

And when asked if he would support the taoiseach in any leadership fight ahead, Mr Farrell confirmed hed be by Mr Varadkars side.

I would be supportive of the taoiseach, yes, I have known Leo Vardakar for 16 years, Mr Farrell said.

I started out on the Council in 2004 with him, I sat with him for two years until he was elected to the Dail in 2011.

He's a decent man and I have absolute faith in him. This hasn't been a good campaign in terms of the outcome...

I know having spoken to the taoiseach today at length, our offer to go into coalition government still stands and that's a position I share...

I believe if that's in the interest of our country, then I think thats what we should do but if opposition is what beckons when all the votes are counted, then that's where we go.

If we finish third in particular, that's a clear signal from the electorate that they do not want Fine Gael in government and therefore we would go into the opposition benches.

Over a period of years housing and healthcare couldn't meet the expectation of the Irish electorate, as we simply didn't have enough money to invest over a long enough period of time to make gains and progress in those two areas - bearing in mind we only balanced the books for the first time in 2018.

Mr Farrell, who attended the National Show Centre in Swords, north county Dublin, with his family, accepted that the electorate had spoken.

The election is over, the people have made their decision and we are finally getting round to figuring out what they've said.

He said he was happy with the highest quota he had received in "what has been a difficult election for Fine Gael across the country.
Parliament will later this week, take a final decision on three agreements currently before the House in relation to the engineering, procurement and construction of the Pwalugu multi-purpose dam.

The Minority has opposed the deal which amounts to US$993 million on grounds of procedure and value for money.

According to them, the cost of the project is padded.

Last week, the Speaker, Prof. Mike Aaron Ocquaye made additional referrals of the agreement to the Mines and Energy, Agriculture and Works and Housing Committees of the House.

This was after complaints that the deal could not be considered by the Finance Committee only.

The Minority Leader talks about not being able to participate even as we speak today. I will say I trust that will not happen because that will be another boycott approach, which I will not recommend, the Speaker said in his address.

He also urged the legislators to prepare adequately for the debate with the extra time given.

I adjourn this matter to Tuesday [February 11, 2020] for any member who wants to do any research, any analysis or presentation whatsoever to get himself or herself fully prepared, he declared.

The 60-Megawatt facility is expected to cost US$366 million, but together with the irrigation component of the dam, the entire project is estimated at close to US$1 billion.

Pwalugu multipurpose dam needs no renegotiation  Majority Leader

The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, says the Minority's concerns about the cost of the dam project are misplaced as the scope of the work to be done warrants the budgeted amount for the project.

He defended the deal , saying that the estimated amount involved key components such as the acquisition of lands.

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, the Tamale South MP said.

Minority not against Pwalugu dam project, we only want value for money  Muntaka

The Minority in Parliament has stated that it will not approve the construction of the dam if the Majority does not furnish the House with the right details.

According to the Minority MPs, they will not vote for the approval of the deal unless the right thing is done.

Minority Chief Whip and MP for Asawaase, Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, stated that though the project is good, it doesn't offer value for money .

It has to go back to the committee for proper works to be done and value for money has to be considered. We are not opposed to the project. We just have to keep certain principles. The work we do as Members of Parliament largely is supposed to be playing oversight on the Executive. Simply because you say you are going to give me, Hon. Muntaka a car, does not mean I should not be interested in how much you are buying the car, where you are buying the car, what is the price for the car, what is the quality of the vehicle, do we have value for money, he added.

---citinewsroom
In an extraordinary display of political animus, the Clackamas County sheriff and chair of the Board of Commissioners have traded barbed public messages over the state of the countys finances and cutbacks to cope with a shortfall of millions of dollars.

The spirited discord unfolded as Sheriff Craig Roberts is rumored to be considering a run for county chair against his former ally, incumbent county board chairman Jim Bernard.

Roberts late Friday called for a forensic financial analysis of the countys management practices to explain a shortfall for next fiscal year, estimated by county officials to be from $4 million to $8 million.

Roberts sent a letter to Bernard, then followed up with a public statement. He said the county faces a financial crisis and accused officials of a lack of transparency about its the budget-writing process.

While attempting to determine how the county ended up in this situation, I have received inadequate responses that provide little clarity, Roberts said.

He also blasted the boards support for a new courthouse, saying it would likely turn to general fund money for a significant portion of the estimated $230 million project. He accused the board of supporting the project at the cost of county jobs and much-needed services.

The state and county have committed to build the courthouse, but the county is trying to figure out how it will pay for its share. The state has said it will pay up to $95 million toward the project.

Roberts barbed statement prompted Bernard to issue one of his own, saying the countys general fund is not in a crisis.

There is no mismanagement of public funds, Bernard said. The county has balanced its budget year after year, as is required by state law.

Bernard said the county administrator, Gary Schmidt, hired a financial consultant in December to review the practices and operations of the finance department and that the department itself has been reorganized and has begun overhauling its systems and procedures.

County officials said expenses are outpacing property tax revenue but point to the countys triple A bond rating and years of clean audits, including the most recently available in 2017-2018, as a sign of overall fiscal health.

The shortfall expected for the next fiscal year to begin July 1 follows a $12 million shortfall for the current fiscal year that was met with cuts of 3% to 5% in multiple county departments.

Officials attribute the deficit to how recent forecasts were calculated, which used approved budget numbers instead of actual spending.

Property taxes continue to rise at about 4 percent a year. That revenue funds the countys estimated $134 million general fund, which pays for public safety, social services, parks and libraries among other services. All departments were told to submit reduction packages reflecting between 5 and 15 percent cuts for fiscal 2020-2021, though officials say all those cuts may not end up being made.

County officials say revenue hasnt kept pace with the rise in personnel expenses, including employee salaries, Public Employees Retirement System costs and cost-of-living increases.

The public feud comes as Roberts apparently mulls a challenge to Bernard, an idea he has discussed privately in recent weeks.

Roberts was first elected sheriff in 2005 and late last year floated the possibility of retiring in closed-door conversations with the commission. He asked the commission to appoint Undersheriff Angie Brandenburg as his successor. It is unclear what happened after that.

He has not responded to emails from The Oregonian/OregonLive about his plans regarding the Sheriffs Office. He did not respond Monday morning to an email asking if he planned to run for a seat on the commission.

Roberts election committee for sheriff has been largely inactive for months.

One candidate for sheriff announced his plans Monday: Lynn Schoenfeld, 51, of Beavercreek, a veteran patrol sergeant with the Sheriffs Office, said he will retire this month and run. Schoenfeld said he has set up a campaign committee and plans to file the required paperwork with with the Oregon Secretary of State.

Schoenfeld is the only one to enter the race so far, though Brandenburg has privately expressed interest in the post.

Roberts relationship with the board has soured over time.

They clashed over the boards 2018 decision to have a police oversight group review how the Sheriffs Office mishandled a complaint about a veteran detective with a history of ignoring cases, including child sex abuse allegations.

That review by the OIR Group resulted in a scathing evaluation that found Roberts agency repeatedly failed to act on a complaint submitted by one of the detectives supervisors. The consultants said they were struck by the refusal of top officials within the agency to take responsibility publicly for mishandling the complaint against Detective Jeff Green. Green pleaded guilty in 2017 to two misdemeanors for failing to investigate reports of child abuse. He retired in 2015 and died in 2018.

The board expected the consultants to continue working with the Sheriffs Office to monitor resulting reforms, which included changing how the agency carries out internal affairs investigations, but Roberts declined.

It is not the first time Roberts has publicly argued with county officials. He and Clackamas County District Attorney John Foote have a frosty relationship that spilled into view over Roberts handling of the 2010 case of an off-duty sergeant, Jeffrey A. Grahn, who fatally shot two women and wounded a third woman who later died. Grahn killed himself at the scene.

-- Noelle Crombie; ncrombie@oregonian.com; 503-276-7184; @noellecrombie

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #6

Posted on 9 February 2020 by John Hartz

Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week...

Story of the Week...

Australian smoke plume sets records

The recent wildfires in Australia sent one of the largest plumes of smoke higher into the stratosphere than satellites have ever before observed.

January 26, 2020. Image via NASA Earth Observatory.

Bushfires have raged in Victoria and New South Wales since November 2019, yielding startling satellite images of smoke plumes streaming from southeastern Australia on a near daily basis. The images got even more eye-popping in January 2020 when unusually hot weather and strong winds supercharged the fires.

Narrow streams of smoke widened into a thick gray and tan pall that filled the skies on January 4, 2020. Several pyrocumulus clouds rose from the smoke, and the towering clouds functioned like elevators, lifting huge quantities of gas and particles well over 6 miles (10 km) above the surface  high enough to put smoke into the stratosphere.

Australian smoke plume sets records by NASA Earth Observatory/EarthSky, Feb 6, 2020

Toon of the Week...

Coming Soon on SkS...

What psychotherapy can do for the climate and biodiversity crises (Caroline Hickman)

(Caroline Hickman) Climate goes extreme! (John Cook)

(John Cook) Skeptical Science New Research for Week #6, 2020 (Doug Bostrom)

(Doug Bostrom) Community choice aggregation: A brief introduction (Bruce Lieberman)

(Bruce Lieberman) 'What's the best kind of car for the climate?' (Sara Peach)

(Sara Peach) 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #7 (John Hartz)

(John Hartz) 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #7 (John Hartz)

Climate Feedback Claim Review...

Claims of a coming 30-year mini ice age are not supported by science

CLAIM: "Earth about to enter 30-YEAR Mini Ice Age"

SOURCE: CHILL IN THE AIR Earth about to enter 30-YEAR Mini Ice Age with -50C temperatures in coldest regions, scientists warn by Harry Pettit, The SUN (UK),

VERDICT:

KEY TAKEAWAY: Scientists cannot predict whether grand solar minimum, which is a decades-long period of lower solar activity, is coming. But even if one occurred, the consequences for average global temperatures would be minimal. Human-caused greenhouse gas emissions will continue to impact average temperatures much more strongly than solar activity cycles.

Claims of a coming 30-year mini ice age are not supported by science, Edited by Scott Johnson, Climate Feedback, Feb 6, 2020

Poster of the Week...

SkS Week in Review...
Russian doctors have attacked 'highly educated parents' who hire unqualified midwives for home births 'like showbiz stars' after a baby suffered broken legs during a nightmare delivery.

Shocking pictures show the boys blue feet after both his legs were broken when two amateur midwives could not cope with the child in a breech position and initially failed to summon help.

In this disturbing case in Voronezh city, the baby was feet-first and the two women assisting at the birth 'panicked' and delayed before rushing the mother to hospital.

Russian doctors slammed the parents for hiring unqualified midwives for the home birth in Voronezh city, south Russia. The baby's legs were broken when they were pulled

The baby's feet have gone blue after his legs broke when they were pulled during birth. The child got stuck in the breech position as it exited

The unqualified midwives gave the mother a homeopathic remedy when there were problems with the birth, and avoided taking her to hospital until the last moment

They kept trying to yank the baby out by his leg and told the father - named Ivan Z - that they did not want to call an ambulance because they could face 'criminal liability' for acting as unqualified midwives.

Then as the birth became critical, the women forced the mother into the lift and bundled her into their car and drove her and her husband to a maternity hospital. By this time, two legs had come out, said the father.

Hospital spokeswoman Oksana Kozlova said medics faced a crisis but 'saved the lives' of the baby and mother through their prompt action.

'He was born with fractures and other dangerous injuries that occurred because the mother decided to use the services of a private assistant in childbirth instead of going to the hospital,' she said.

Olga Samofalova, chief gynaecologist in the region, warned: 'It is surprising that often home births with pseudo-helpers are chosen not by unenlightened people, but by women with a higher education.'

These parents were 'carried away by beautiful stories from social networks about show business stars', she said.

The mother and baby were rushed to Semiluksky hospital where they were saved

Olga Samofalova, chief gynaecologist in the region, warned against home births and said parents choosing them are often carried away by stories from 'show business stars'

'The reality shows the other side of this choice. After such a natural birth, women end up with severe disabling injuries, massive bleeding, abscesses and necrosis, as a result of which they lose their health, and sometimes their unborn children.

'Fortunately, in this case the doctors saved both the mother and baby. Now they are at home.

'Treatment of the child continues. We wish them good health.'

The child suffered fractures in both legs and oxygen starvation - although he is now in a good condition.

The father said he had believed the midwives - named Valeria and Ekaterina - were qualified when they went to their home delivery classes.

It was known before that the baby was in a breech position and the mother had been given homeopathic remedies to help the baby turn, he said.

Hospital spokesman Oksana Kozilova said that staff were able to save both mother and baby's life, despite the desperate situation, through prompt action

'The baby didn't turn, but until the last moment they believed that this would happen during the delivery,' he said.

He admitted there were no doctors to consult.

'Unfortunately, I had no-one to talk to about it,' he said. 'They were trying to correct the babys position. When the situation got worse, the midwives refused to call an ambulance.'

They were scared of becoming 'criminally liable' for offering a home delivery when they were not qualified, he said.

Despite this they later demanded the couple pay their home delivery service of almost 200.

He said he regretted trusting the amateur midwives.

'Now all these midwives have disappeared, after I warned them that I have a filmed record of the last five hours of delivery,' he said.

'I am very grateful to the doctors of Semiluksky maternity hospital for saving two lives.'
This is Up and Down, where we give a brief thumbs up or thumbs down on the issues from the past week.

Up

Native American activists are working to increase voter turnout in 2020, as well as improve participation in the U.S. census and promote civic participation. North Dakota Native Vote launched its effort last week in Bismarck. The group plans to hire a field director and part-time field organizers on each of the reservations in North Dakota. Its good to see the group continue the momentum from 2018, when voter outreach efforts led to strong turnout in North Dakota tribal communities.

Down

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department has received numerous reports of dead and dying Eurasian collared doves due to a virus. The outbreak could become a greater concern this spring if it continues when mourning doves are migrating north. The department encourages people who have noticed dead birds to remove birdbaths and bird feeders to prevent spreading the virus to other birds.

Up

McKenzie County plans to use drones to help inform decisions about whether to restrict traffic on gravel roads following heavy rains. It would be a new use for drones in North Dakota and could be a valuable tool for guiding local officials to prevent road damage. McKenzie County is the states top oil-producing county, so closing down roads can have big economic consequences. But driving heavy trucks on roads when they're too wet can cause major damage. Grand Forks-based ISight PPV plans to open an office in Watford City and begin using the drones in May.

Down

The State Board of Accountancy violated the North Dakota open meetings law with a special meeting held last November, according to Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem. The board met on Nov. 5 to receive a litigation update in a disciplinary case. The board posted a correct meeting notice at its office, but the version posted on the secretary of states website did not list any topics and listed an incorrect date. The board also failed to fully respond to a request for records from the meeting. The board has since complied with the law, Stenehjem said.

Up

The Bismarck Library Foundation announced last week it surpassed its goal of raising $150,000 for a new Burleigh County Bookmobile. The current library-on-wheels has served communities in Burleigh County since 1975, logging more than 129,000 miles. The Bismarck Veterans Memorial Public Library expects the new bookmobile to be ready this summer. It makes more than 500 stops per year and serves about 9,000 people.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-09 22:39:06|Editor: yan

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NANJING, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Five medical teams with 958 members from east China's Jiangsu Province were sent to the virus-hit Hubei Province on Sunday to support the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus epidemic.

The teams, from cities including Nanjing, Wuxi and Suzhou with two team leaders from the provincial health commission, mainly consist of medical personnel from departments of respiratory, critical care and intensive medicine, as well as clinicians of internal medicine and nursing staff.

They are expected to take over 16 critical care zones in a local hospital together with 11 other medical teams coming from other places across the country.

Jiangsu had previously sent four batches of medical teams to Hubei, mainly in cities of Wuhan and Huangshi, with a total of 480 professionals including doctors, nurses, healthcare experts and testing staff.
A Major in the Nigerian Army, Akeem Oseni, who was among three army personnel jailed on Friday for 10 years over the death of a Lance Corporal, Benjamin Collins, has escaped.

Oseni, whose judgement was delivered by the General Court Martial in Command Mess, Asokoro, Abuja, reportedly told court officials he was going to use the toilet before he escaped.

The Nigerian Army has already launched a manhunt for the officer and sent a signal to all its units and formations to arrest Oseni.

The army signal, which was obtained by our correspondent, stated that the police and the Department of State Services had also been informed about Osenis escape.

Breaking Times had reported that the General Court Martial in Abuja on Friday sentenced Majors Oseni, Ogbemudia Osawe and Second Lieutenant Nuhu Dogary to 10 years imprisonment for torturing Lance Corporal Collins to death.

It had also been reported that the officers moved Collins from a guardroom at Mogadishu Barracks, Abuja, where he was being held, to a bush near Ihejirika Quarters along Abuja-Nyanya Expressway, where he was said to have been assaulted.

Collins had died after the assault, and his corpse was deposited at Asokoro General Hospital mortuary.

The three army personnel were found guilty of manslaughter by the GCM, which comprised the President, Brigs. Gen. G. Umelo; S. Aliyu, A. Edet, Brig. N. Mohammed, Cols. K. Ndamadu, T. Agbor, and I. Tanko.

According to the armys signal obtained on Sunday, the military, police and the DSS are searching for Oseni and have put all units and formations on the alert.

The signal reads, The GCM sitting at Army Headquarters Command Mess, Abuja, delivered a judgment on the case between the Nigerian Army versus Major A.A. Oseni, N/12127; Major O.U. Osawe, N/12004; Captain S.E. Amosu, N/13041; and Second Lieutenant N.B. Dogary, N/16390. The accused officers were charged with manslaughter, punishable under Section 105 of the AFA CAP A20 LFN 2004.

Findings: Captain Amosu, N/13041, was found not guilty and was discharged and acquitted, while Majors Oseni, Osawe and 2Lt Dogary were found guilty and awarded 10 years imprisonment.

However, after pronouncement of judgement, the accused officers marched out of the court premises with Captain K.S. Chime, and proceeded to Captain J.E Akwaraonwus office.

Thereafter, Major Oseni took an excuse from Captain Chime to use the toilet. At about 7pm same day, Major Oseni was nowhere to be found. A thorough search was carried out within and outside the mess premises, but the accused was not found.

Meanwhile, Major Osawe and 2 Lt Dogary are currently under the Special Investigations Bureaus custody pending further action. The Army Headquarters Garrrison has mounted a manhunt for the convicted officer. The Nigeria Police and DSS have also been contacted.
Tom Tugendhat (Niall Carson/PA Images via Getty Images)

A senior Tory MP has suggested the UK government should rein in foreign aid spending, saying: We arent a branch of Oxfam.

Tom Tugendhat, who is the chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee, said foreign aid spending decisions should be made with the prosperity and happiness of Brits in mind.

The UK spends 0.7% of its GDP - about 14bn a year - on foreign aid. This is the most of any G7 country.

Speaking at a conference at the Royal United Services Institute in Westminster on Monday, Tugendhat said the money is taken by force from British taxpayers.

The Tonbridge and Malling MP said: The purpose of foreign aid, like diplomacy and defence, is the prosperity and happiness of the British people by defending the values and encouraging the prosperity of others.

It isnt to be another branch of Oxfam or Save the Children or any other organisation, because they are charities. You choose to give them money or not.

Foreign aid is not the same, it is tax money, money taken by force from the British people. Therefore, responsibility on public spending is different.

He went on: That does not mean it should be used as backchannels into defence contacts. The ODA (official development assistance) rules are good and should be followed.

But they should also be applied in the strategic context that retains prosperity and happiness on these islands.

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Tugendhats remarks come ahead of this weeks launch of the new Integrated Strategic Defence and Security Review, which will include proposals on the UKs overseas aid spending.

The Evening Standard reported this could mean aid will be far more targeted on specific UK strategic interests.

There had previously been speculation Boris Johnson would axe the foreign aid arm of the government - the Department for International Development - and merge it with the Foreign Office. However, the Daily Mail reported last month that the PM had abandoned the plans.

Brexit briefing: 325 days until the end of the transition period
Speaking with Insurance Business, Driver outlined the key focuses of the growth strategy within this division, and identified the role of brokers in encouraging continuous product development.

The division will continue to operate on Allied Worlds Syndicate 2232 platform, he said, with a particular focus on affinity & enhancement programmes, ancillary & commercial auto, and financial institutions & collateral protection.

We will maintain our strategy as a lead market for existing and new business, working with brokers to meet the insurance needs of their clients, he said. Our strategy combines a decisive technical underwriting discipline approach coupled with our commitment to a highly responsive service for our brokers.

Looking to the oncoming year, Driver identified how the regulatory environment is making growth in this division more challenging, and also how the environment serves as an opportunity for craft underwriters with a clear risk appetite to be in a superior position to withstand market changes and provide insureds with the protection they need.

The relationship between carriers, brokers and clients will continue to be central to the success of the market, Driver said. This tripartite relationship will undoubtedly evolve, as each party has to address multiple challenges.

Reciprocal relationships will benefit all parties, he outlined and said that, above all, brokers and clients need to know that their insurance partners will be there for them in the long run.

This will be key to keeping this unique three-way relationship strong in these uncertain and ever-changing times, Driver said.

Looking to the bespoke sector, Driver believes that the demand for tailored insurance solutions has increased in recent years and that more tailoring is needed to continue to offer clients comprehensive insurance coverage and meet their ever-changing needs.

Clients needs are becoming ever more nuanced and each client is different, he said, a personalized approach is needed as one size doesnt fit all.

Driver believes that brokers and clients are inundated with options to provide standard insurance, and although such cover is necessary, insurance products should be employed to help the business-as-usual operations of a company as well as protect the organization itself. Clients do not just require tailored ideas that will help offer the standard insurance coverage they need, Driver highlighted, but also innovative ways to utilize insurance for their benefit.

For Driver and his team, addressing the developing requirements of clients needs has meant crafting coverage for the unique exposures of their clients and working together on every policy they issue to make sure there are no gaps or costly overlaps.

The underlying concept of bespoke products, he said, is to look at insurance from a different perspective. This means investigating what a client does, analyzing the products they design or the services they provide, and then devising insurance products to complement the clients proposition.

Driver believes that working with brokers is essential when it comes to developing bespoke solutions, as the broker is best placed in terms of proximity and knowledge of the clients risk and also of selling that risk to the insurer, so they have all the relevant information to offer the best possible coverage and value.

Our underwriters actively engage with our insurance brokers to encourage and ensure continuous dialogue towards product design and development, he said.

Synergy of purpose is essential for the broker/insurer partnership model to work and both parties must want to ensure there is seamless coverage in place to offer peace of mind to clients. The development of a good reciprocal relationship between insurers and brokers will provide long-term gain to the client, he said and, in his experience, communication and transparency are also required for a strong broker/insurer partnership to flourish.

Insurers and brokers must have a shared understanding of the need to work together to satisfy the needs of each stakeholder, Driver said, while recognizing that, in some instances, flexibility is required to achieve this.
The Dundalk Democrat spoke with Peter Fitzpatrick as he arrived at the count centre just after 8pm this evening. The Independent candidate said he was "very, very happy" with his polling numbers so far and told us how he hopes the "Irish weren't conned in this election" with regards to "budgets and predictions" which he said were "pulled from the sky".

DD: How are you feeling about your results so far today?

PF: Well, in fairness, I kinda knew what was gonna happen. I knew Sinn Fein was going to take two seats. I know that Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are going to get a seat each because they both have running partners and I think their running partners will get them through.

I kinda knew from day one that it was going to be a dog fight between Ged Nash, Mark Dearey and myself. Its just important at this stage to keep ahead of them and whatever chance you have of getting your seat, just keep ahead of the posse.

Imelda Munsters 5000 distribution is going to be very, very important there. Shes a Drogheda candidate and Im just hoping I can minimize the damage there.

DD: So youre feeling positive overall, youre in a good position so far...

PF: If you told me yesterday that I was going to get over 6000 votes Id be delighted. The position Im in at the moment, Im just very, very happy.

The race is not over yet. Weve a long way to go and Im just delighted to be in the race and I still think I have a 50/50 chance of getting my seat back.

DD: Are you hoping your seat will be announced tomorrow?

PF: I was talking to the deciding officer yesterday and she told me she was going to quit this evening at about 10:30pm. The fact that there was 15 candidates in it. Theyre going pretty well here now at the moment. I just cant wait to see how Imelda Munster is turns out. If I can minimize the damage, thats what Im trying to do at the moment.

DD: Do you think that the people sent a message voting for independent candidates such as yourself and more left wing leaning parties such as Sinn Fein? The results were so strong and indicate that people want a change from Fine Gael and Fianna Fail?

I think people wanted a change but I just hope that the people who have promises this change, that theyre going to keep their commitments. In fairness, a lot of these budgets and predictions were kind of pulled from the sky as such. I just hope that the Irish weren't conned in this election.
When Incollingos market in Salem City officially closed its doors two years ago, the city joined the ranks of other parts of New Jersey now known as a food desert. And, despite efforts from city officials to entice a new grocery store to come to town, that status isnt likely to change soon.

The grocery store had served as the anchor tenant in the complex on East Broadway in Salem for years, but since it closed, the nearest location for a supermarket is a Save-a-Lot in Pennsville. While it is a 10-minute drive for people with availability to a vehicle, it is a nearly two-hour walk, according to Google Maps.

The USDA defines a food desert as a location, often in low-income areas, where people do not have access to a supermarket or other food retailers that carry affordable and nutritious food.

Salem falls into this category. According to CensusReporter data, of the 4,811 residents that live in Salem, 14.5% of people in the city are 65 years old or over, making it difficult for those who are not able to easily travel to get fresh groceries. Another 41.3% of people in Salem live below the poverty line, and the median household income is $24,841.

Salem Mayor Charles Washington told NJ Advance Media that as the mayor and a resident of the city, it pains him to see people have transportation issues and other difficulties in trying to find groceries to put on their table.

He said budget stores in the city, like dollar stores, have increased what they offer in their freezers and coolers, but theyve increased prices and offer unhealthy items.

Whenever you look at any food desert, that is the trend," Washington said. "You have parties that take advantage of that. There is obviously not any fresh produce or fresh vegetables for the local residents to consume.

The mayor said he has reached out to several large grocers and has worked with Uplift Solutions, a Westville-based company that works with municipalities that have trouble procuring supermarkets. But so far, theyve have not been able to entice anyone to open up in the city, he said.

The city has also partnered with the Community Collaborative Initiative, a division of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), to find ways to bring a market to Salem.

We have also worked with realtors who brought interested parties to the table who had the financial means to acquire the site, but, then again, the deal just could not be done, said Washington.

Washington is worried Pennsville National Bank, which took over ownership of the 6-acre site in March 2019, will transfer ownership of the property to someone who does not want to bring a grocery store into Salem, keeping the city the food desert. The mayor added he is also concerned the bank would try to tear down a portion of the plaza such as the grocery store to reduce taxes and the footprint.

If you have investors who have the financial means to meet the number that is being asked and the bank is not moving to sell the property, what is it going to take and why is there a reluctance to make that transaction if it is not dollars and cents? Washington asked.

Salem County Freeholder Charles Hassler said the county freeholder board has been seeking ways to remedy the situation.

The best we can do right now is help the city in any way we can, Hassler said. We do understand that there is a need for a grocery store in Salem, and we are trying as best as we can.

Freeholder Mickey Ostrum said the county has reached out to other counties who have been in a similar situation to see if any measures can be taken to bring a business to the area. One solution has been explored.

There has been some talk about co-operative grocery stores that have happened have existed in the past, where the community gets involved, the Freeholder said. That is also an avenue that we would like to explore because we certainly are sensitive to the situation.

Ostrum added there had been discussions of other methods to create a potential stop-gap measure to assist the residents of the city, including making inquiries to nearby supermarkets to potentially offer grocery delivery services.

Most of the supermarket chains are now delivering items within a 10-mile radius, and there are two supermarkets within a 10-mile radius of Salem City, Ostrum said. We are trying to see if they have any innovations available to help alleviate the supermarket shortage for the short run.

NJ Advance Media made repeated attempts to contact Pennsville National Bank for a comment about the situation surrounding the property. Our request for a response was not returned.

Chris Franklin can be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @cfranklinnews or on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 22:25:34|Editor: huaxia

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DAMASCUS, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Tension is on the rise between Turkey and Syria in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib as Russia is trying to defuse the tense situation.

It's no secret that the Russian-backed Syrian army has become fed up with waiting for Turkey to live up to its pledges made in 2018 when Ankara and Moscow agreed that Turkey will disarm the radical rebels in Idlib and push them to fall back from a strategic highway connecting Damascus in the south with Aleppo in the north.

Over the past two months, the Syrian army launched a wide-scale offensive in the southern and eastern countryside of Idlib as well as in the southern countryside of Aleppo in a bid to open the road.

In the process, the army besieged some of the Turkish observation points that were set up in rebel-held areas to observe the short-lived de-escalation zone deal that was also agreed upon between Russia and Turkey.

However, the current military progress by the Syrian army didn't seem to resonate with Turkey, which made a threat a week ago, saying the Syrian army must withdraw from areas near Turkish points.

Over the past week, Turkey sent hundreds of military vehicles and troops into Idlib province.

On Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Turkey has sent 6,000 soldiers and 1,400 military vehicles to the countryside of Aleppo and Idlib over the past few days.

It said that that intense Turkish shelling started against government forces' positions in Idlib to foil the progress of the Syrian army, adding that the Syrian forces have only 2 km to retake the Damascus-Aleppo highway but a Turkish point in the Rashdeen area in Aleppo hindered such progress.

The Britain-based watchdog group said the Syrian army shelled the Taftanaz air base in Idlib, killing five Turkish soldiers.

Other activists said the Turkey-backed rebels, who are largely fighters with the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, received an order to put the military offensive against the Syrian army on hold until Russian-Turkish talks in Ankara come to an end.

Earlier in the day, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said a Russian delegation returned to Turkey on Monday for further talks over rising tensions in Idlib province, after an initial round last week failed to yield results.

Haitham Hassoun, a Syrian military expert and a retired brigadier, told Xinhua that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan may opt to escalate the situation in Idlib because "the Syrian military progress is threatening the Turkish interests in that region as Turkey-backed rebels are losing ground and Turkish military points are also besieged."

Hassoun said Turkey is feeling that it's losing in Syria, noting that "the Turkish side failed to live up to the pledges made in Sochi in 2018 and as a result, the Syrian army is moving forward because it cannot allow for the ultra-radical rebels to be in control of the highway or any other part of Syria."

"The Turkish forces in Syria are forces of occupation... how could Turkey tell the Syrian army where to be or not be... this is aggression and encroachment upon Syria's sovereignty," he said.

He further said that the Turkish failure in implementing the Sochi agreement has rendered this agreement flat.

Bassam Abu Abdullah, a political science lecturer, told Xinhua that the Turkish forces in Syria are still supporting the ultra-radical rebels and have been doing so in Idlib in particular over the past 18 months.

He said that the Turkish reinforcement and observation points aim to throttle the progress of the Syrian army.
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My wife and I had a baby a few months ago. Or, more accurately, she birthed a child while I sat in the corner, contemplating the miracle of reproductive physiology in a vasovagal fugue. In the months leading up to and following that wondrous moment, we found ourselves navigating the labyrinthine complexity of parental leave in graduate medical education.

To start with the positive, we are both residents in the same program and felt nothing but support from our own administration. We had advocates who helped us get an optimal amount of leave under the constraints of what the ACGME will allow.

But therein lies the problem. The ACGME and the various specialty boards (under the umbrella of the ABMS) are particularly restrictive when it comes to the amount of time off a resident can take in a given year and are largely silent on the topic of parental leave. This leaves the door open for wide variation in policies across institutions.

The basics

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) is a federal law that allows eligible employees to take 12 weeks of unpaid leave after having or adopting a child. Eligibility includes having worked for the employer for at least 12 months, which means that interns are not covered. A handful of states have expanded on FMLA and mandate a certain amount of paid leave.

The ACGME requires that institutions provide written information about the hospitals parental leave policy on the day of the interview and as part of the residency contract and that this policy be compliant with local laws. Thats it.

At the same time, specialty boards set limits on the amount of time off residents can take in a given year, generally on the order of four to five weeks, inclusive of vacation time. Program directors can retroactively petition for a limited extension of this leave if they feel the resident has achieved necessary competencies despite the additional absence.

This all amounts to something pretty far from a parental leave policy and instead results in a whole lot of confusion as to what residents are actually allowed to do.

The imperative

There are clear parallels between the issue of parental leave and the limits on resident duty hours. While the Bell Commission grew out of patient safety concerns, the subsequent duty hour reforms eventually were viewed through the lens of resident wellness. Parental leave needs to be considered in light of both of these concerns, with the added consideration of infant health and well-being.

New mothers endure the physical toll of pregnancy, labor, and recovery, and both parents suffer from chronic sleep deprivation on par with any 24-hour call. To assume that these factors dont impact clinical performance is at best naive and at worst negligent.

The associated stress is a tremendous driver of burnout, which disproportionately affects women in medicine. Nearly 40 percent of surgical trainees, for example, reported that they considered leaving residency during or after pregnancy for a host of reasons, including dissatisfaction with leave options.

Many women simply choose to postpone childbearing until after their training years, largely driven by perceived threats to their career paths. When women do become pregnant during residency, they can experience higher rates of certain pregnancy complications, including pre-eclampsia, preterm labor, and fetal growth restriction.

On top of all of this, there are concerns for fetal and infant well-being. As physicians, we are taught the importance of parent-child bonding in the first months of life, but the combination of limited leave and long work hours leaves little room for this among our own trainees.

Solutions

For starters, the ACGME should mandate a minimum amount of guaranteed parental leave, plain and simple. As noted, the void left by not having a policy begets confusion and, in some cases, allows for dangerous working conditions.

There are two common counter-arguments to legislating guaranteed leave:

The first is the impact on training, and progress toward independent practice.

Anyone who has hit the interview trail knows there is reasonable variation in how residents spend their time at different institutions.

Not every rotation is handpicked for its singular educational value, and thats OK. We are both learners and employees. Instead of blindly setting limits on time away, the ACGME and specialty boards should set specific target exposures and milestones. As long as these are attained, leave should not impede someones progress through training.

The second counter-argument pertains to the unfair burden placed on co-residents. Residency scheduling is a zero-sum game; one persons leave is another persons call.

The solution is either to employ physician extenders who can fill gaps or offer overtime pay to residents who are called on to do extra work. The former was done de facto when duty hour restrictions were implemented, and the latter would, for many, turn an undue burden into a welcome opportunity.

Many more arguments, pro and con, can be parsed out here, but I will leave these for another time, and instead will summarize a few recommendations, some of which are my own, others of which have been suggested elsewhere.

Conclusion

The U.S. lags behind many other countries in providing for new parents. The medical community has penned multiple position papers calling on Congress to rectify this disparity. Legislative action may be beyond our control, but at the very least, we can lead by example. Its time we get our own house in order, and theres no better place to start than the most vulnerable among us.

Eric Bressman is an internal medicine chief resident who blogs at Insights on Residency Training, a part of NEJM Journal Watch.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
A coronavirus epidemic will have an inevitable effect on New Zealands economic growth, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday, but added that the impact would be manageable, even though it was too early to say how big it would be.

Travel and work curbs prompted by the outbreak, which has killed more than 900 people mostly in China and sparked a global health emergency, are putting the squeeze on New Zealand firms doing business in the worlds second-biggest economy.

Already we are seeing China reflect in some of their projections that they will have an impact, Ardern said at a news conference.

Because we are seeing a global impact, inevitably we will see an impact here.

New Zealand exporters of meat, dairy, timber and seafood have faced cancellations in China, the countrys biggest trading partner, which accounts for the majority of its sales of food products and in the tourism and services sector.

It was too early to say how big the effects would be, Ardern said, adding that the government is working with the tourism and education sectors, as well as traders, to limit the fallout.

There will be implications for us economically  of that I have no question, she said. It will have an impact on our GDP [gross domestic product] figures.

She added: But it is something we can manage.

The economy grew at an annual rate of 2.9 percent last year, slightly below expectations, as demand was partly hurt by a trade war between the United States and China.

New Zealands central bank is expected to hold rates at record lows of 1 percent at a policy review on Wednesday, but an easing could come soon, prompted in part by the epidemic.

Australian bank Westpac has said New Zealands first-quarter GDP will be 0.6 percent lower than previously thought, due to the virus effects, assuming a two-month ban on travel and one month of disruption in Chinas factories.

New Zealand has had no confirmed cases of infections from the virus.
"Sometimes prison can harden a person," said Edward S., whos held at the Federal Medical Center in Rochester.

But there are few things in the world softer than the fur on a 7-month-old Labrador puppy.

Edward, and nearly two dozen other men in the general population at the FMC, are participants in the Teaching Animals and Inmates Life Skills Program, also known as TAILS.

"This will make you open up, make you smile more," he said.

Edward said participating in the program has given him more patience and increased his sense of responsibility. Taking care of the dogs also gave him more to talk about with his family.

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This is the second group of puppies that have been brought to be trained at FMC to become service dogs. The dogs the men are training will go on to serve people who have limited mobility, lost their hearing, have autism or diabetes, or suffer from seizures.

About half of the men who act as handlers for the dogs this time were participants with the inaugural class of dogs. Among the programs first class of participants was Edward. He wasn't a handler for the second class, but attends and assists with the training sessions when he can. He said taking part in the TAILS program helped him feel more at ease and that it was a therapeutic experience for him.

"You feel good about it," he said. "You feel like you're worth something again."

The program, offered and organized by Can Do Canines, a New Hope-based nonprofit, gives inmates the opportunity to give back to the community through the care and training of the dogs.

"We want to expand the program to allow for more dogs," Warden Steve Kallis said in a written statement. "Our partnership with Can Do Canines has been very collaborative, and they would like to see us expand the program and we are happy to support their mission and vision."

Kaity McGinn, Can Do Canine's prison program coordinator, said the organization would like to expand the program, not just at FMC but at other correctional institutions. The need for service dogs is great, she said, adding the organization has a long list of clients waiting.

"We want, if possible, every dog in our program to go to prison at some point," said McGinn. "It's amazing what these guys can do, even though these handlers are new and they have never formally trained a dog before."

Compared to a volunteer outside the prison setting, the inmates work in a controlled environment with fewer distractions that would take away from training time.

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"The fact that they can get them all the way through that advanced training level three in a year is so huge," she said. "We go week by week and we run through stuff. I teach them how to improve and what to work on and they get there."

Programs exist across the region

The TAILS program at FMC is the smallest of the programs that Can Do Canines runs. In total, the nonprofit works in seven correctional facilities in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Five are puppy training programs and two are weaning programs with puppies and their mothers. The participants at FMC are volunteers. At some of the correctional facilities, program participation is counted as a job and individuals are paid. Other facilities have it so the program counts toward education credits.

For the men at FMC, they must fit training and caring for the dogs into their work schedules. At times, it requires a collaborative effort, not only between the dogs' co-handlers but the other men in the program and in their housing unit.

The goal is to help inmates change their lives. The program instills a sense of responsibility in the men  and they are all men at the FMC  and helps build skills that translate into job potential in the communities where they will return, according to Kasey Odell, internship program coordinator and advanced care level psychologist.

The program is offered at no cost to FMC, as Odell and Sarah Bergman, a recreation therapist, fit the added duties into their existing workload. All of the items required to take care of the dogs  things like leashes, collars, toys, food and veterinary care  are provided by Can Do Canines.

To take part in the program, the men go through a multi-step process. They must apply and are then screened and interviewed. The men must have no recent behavioral incidents and there has to be at least 18 months left on their sentence so they can stay for the entire program, according to Bergman.

"We put a lot of pressure on these guys," Odell said. "We hold them to high expectations. Youre responsible for the success of the program. Not everyone was supportive of the program."

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"They really are under a microscope," Bergman said of the participants.

After 90 days in the program, each human participant undergoes a review with Odell and Bergman to talk about their strengths, as well as things that need work.

' Puppy leave it'

Once the program begins, the men go through an orientation to learn about the work they will be doing and about Can Do Canines. Class meets weekly at FMC, but the men hold training sessions with their dogs multiple times a day.

Last week's class started with warm-up exercises of "puppy leave it." The men would leave a treat for their dog on the ground and get the puppy to leave it. It's an important task, especially considering some of these dogs will eventually be taken to restaurants and tempted by fallen food.

"We're teaching it to become an automatic behavior," McGinn told the men.

Throughout the class, the dogs practiced walking over and ignoring food. And they practiced positioning themselves next to their handlers as though they were standing next to a wheelchair.

The program doesnt just benefit the nearly two dozen men chosen to participate as handlers or observers. Having the dogs on the FMC campus seems to lift the mood of all those who come in contact with them.

"The dogs cheer people up. Everybody needs that lift," Shawn C. said.

The week after the Post Bulletin visited the class, the dogs were scheduled to go out of the FMC for a two-week foster break.

While the men can give the dogs intensive training, the reality of their situation means the dogs arent exposed to many things. That is where the foster breaks come in. Through those, the dogs are able to practice going out in public, being left alone and meeting children for the first time.

More than dogs

For first-time participants, the novelty of dogs in prison was an immediate attraction.

"How many people get to say you have a dog in prison?" Michael N. said. "The more I learned, it made me want to do it more and more."

"I thought it was awesome," Malik said about his first impression of the program.

Shawn said he has had pets all his life and the training program was something that he could take with him after his release. "The benefits are overwhelming," he said.

"Its an awesome experience to be able to be part of something," Andre A. said.

Now in his second time in the program, Andre said hes learned patience and responsibility. Taking part in the program means Andre is no longer just responsible for himself.

"Its not just a job," Andre said. "It creates a new lifestyle in prison."

"Were not just training dogs. We learn a lot ourselves," Shawn said. "We got to do our best."

There are seven dogs in the program at FMC, and each dog has two handlers who divide the work. The men are also housed together. This round of puppies arrived at FMC on Nov. 9. In the few months the labs have been there, they have already made a big impression on their handlers.

"Its a marketable skill that you learn," Malik said. The program inspired him to do research on the effectiveness of training service dogs in prison settings and has also spurred ideas for future employment after his release.

"Being incarcerated a long time, it takes you away from being socially conscious  You grow a hard shell. The attitude you develop is hard," Malik said. "Being part of this program has opened me up, touched my emotions and made me more social."

"I have a history, but I also look forward to the future."

More information about Can Do Canines, its programs and how to become a volunteer foster dog family can be found at www.can-do-canines.org .
The executive chairman of Ifako-Ijaiye Council Area of Lagos State, Apostle Oloruntoba Oke, on Monday, resumed full official duties following amicable resolution of issues that led to his brief exit as directed by the Lagos State House of Assembly, late November, 2019.

Oke, who was warmly welcomed by the council vice chairman, Hon. Usman Hamzat, the Secretary to the LG, Pastor Ayo Jeje; the council Manager, Mr. Adewunmi Ogunbambi and other top officials of the council, was elated by the tumultuous cheers of staff and party faithful that witnessed the occasion.

Meanwhile, the council boss, who met with members of the Exco and Management behind closed doors for few hours, was later conducted round the offices by top officials of the council within the Aina-Ajobo Headquarters of the local government.

The unassuming council boss was all smiles, as he regains his top seat at the local government area office.

Some party faithful,who reacted on his reinstatement notes that Tobas case remains a lesson to many,stating that though he is a good administrator yet the unexpected can happen,so Public office holders need be wary of this.
Senator Bernie Sanders on Monday requested a partial recanvass of the results from the Iowa caucuses after the final numbers showed Sanders in second place

While a recanvass is just the first step in the process and we dont expect it to change the current calculations, it is a necessary part of making sure Iowans can trust the final results of the caucus, read a statement from Jeff Weaver, a senior adviser to Sanders.

The Vermont senator garnered 26.1 percent of the vote, a hair behind former South Bend, Ind. mayor Pete Buttigieg, who received 26.2 percent. Sanders and Buttigieg both declared victory.

The Sanders campaign is quarreling over one delegate, saying Sanders would be awarded one more if errors in the voting count process are corrected. The campaign is asking for a recanvass of 25 precincts and three satellite caucuses.

The caucuses devolved into chaos on Monday of last week as hours passed with few reported results from the state Democratic party, which cited inconsistencies in reporting from local precincts and glitches with the new smartphone app being used to report results. The apps failure led to a slew of additional problems, including tied up phone lines as precinct managers attempted to get through to state party officials to report results.

The botched and delayed results provoked scathing criticism from both Republicans and Democrats. Democratic National Committee Tom Perez called on the Iowa Democratic Party on Friday to immediately begin a recanvass.

Our volunteers and supporters worked too hard, and too many people participated for the first time to have the results depend on calculations that even the party admits are incorrect, Weaver continued. Once the recanvass and a subsequent recount are completed in these precincts, we feel confident we will be awarded the extra national delegate our volunteers and grassroots donors earned.

As the results stood Monday morning, Buttigieg won the caucuses with 14 delegates, Sanders took second with 12 delegates, Senator Elizabeth Warren received eight, former vice president Joe Biden was awarded six, and Senator Amy Klobuchar took just one delegate.

More from National Review
NORWALK  Police said a dispute over napkins at a local pizzeria ended with a Bridgeport woman assaulting an officer.

Police said the incident began around 2:30 p.m. Saturday when Glendaly Guzman, 41, of Bridgeport, began yelling at the owner of Belden Ave Pizza, 14 Belden Ave., about a lack of napkins in the restaurant.

Police said a delivery driver was struck in the face when trying to separate Guzman from the owner.

After the confrontation, Guzman left the restaurant and went down the street to the Wheels bus depot, where police said she became combative when approached by officers. She tried to headbutt one officer and kicked another several times while being handcuffed, police said.

Police said they learned Guzman had an outstanding warrant for her arrest out of Bridgeport.

Once arrested, Guzman was transported to Norwalk Hospital for evaluation and police said she later refused to be fingerprinted.

Guzman was charged with assault on a public safety officer, failure to comply with fingerprinting requirements, breach of peace and failure to respond to a payable violation. She was held on $125,100 bond and given court dates of Feb. 20 and 21.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 14:38:30|Editor: Xiaoxia

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CANBERRA, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has identified Indonesia as a key player in his push to diversify the Australian economy.

Morrison on Monday met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Canberra days after the Indonesian parliament ratified a comprehensive free trade deal between the two countries.

Widodo became the first Indonesian leader to address the Australian parliament since Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono did so in 2010.

"Indonesia and Australia must enforce open, free and fair economic principles. Whilst protectionism is rising, we must continue to advocate the economic openness and fairness," he said.

"I very much believe an open and fair economic system will be beneficial for all.

"As democratic and diverse countries, we must work hard, side by side together, to defend the values of democracy, tolerance and diversity and to look at the clash of civilization."

Prior to his speech, Morrison said that Widodo's visit was "emblematic" of the growing relationship between the neighboring countries.

"Indonesia will see significant growth over the next decade," he told News Corp Australia.

"Resilience is the most important thing you can do in the economy with the economic and strategic situation as it is. Indonesia is a big partner."

The pair on Monday announced a 100-day action plan to implement the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA), which was finalized in March 2019 after eight years of negotiations.

Two-way trade between Australia and Indonesia was worth 17.8 billion Australian dollars (11.8 billion U.S. dollars) in financial year 2018-19.

Indonesia is Australia's 13th-largest trading partner but Simon Birmingham, Australia's trade minister, said that the trade relationship has been "underdone" in the past and Indonesia is set to climb the list following the trade deal.

"This is a win-win agreement where stronger economic ties should also help to facilitate closer security, strategic and people-to-people ties between our two countries," he said in a statement on Sunday night.

"With more than 99 percent of Australia's goods exports set to enter Indonesia either duty free or under improved arrangements, we should have high ambition to see them jump up the list.

"Our trade deals with China, Japan and South Korea have seen exports boom and I am confident we will now see real growth with Indonesia."

Morrison hosted Widodo for an informal dinner on Sunday along with Marise Payne, Australia's foreign minister, and her Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi.

In addition to trade, they also discussed counter-terrorism efforts and Widodo's proposal for visa requirements for Indonesians entering Australia to be relaxed, which, according to News Corp Australia, Morrison is "considering."
Militants killed and wounded seven Egyptian soldiers in restive North Sinai on Sunday, Egypt's military said.

The army said it "foiled" an attack on security facilities, "killing 10 terrorists and destroying a four-wheel drive used by the terrorist elements."



The casualties were of various ranks, including two officers, according to the brief statement posted to the military's Facebook page on Sunday.

Egypt has struggled to contain an insurgency in North Sinai that escalated after the military's 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi following mass protests.

In February 2018, Egyptian security forces launched a nationwide, large-scale operation against militants, mainly focused on North Sinai.

Earlier this month, the Islamic State group claimed it blew up a gas pipeline in Sinai connecting Egypt to Israel. Security sources said the pipeline hit was a domestic one.

More than 840 suspected militants have been killed in the region since February 2018, according to army figures. Some 67 security personnel have also been killed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Jammu, Feb 10 : The dossier providing grounds for booking Omar Abdullah under the PSA states that the capacity of the former Chief Minister to influence people for any cause can be gauged from the fact that he was able to convince his electorate to come out and vote in huge numbers even during peak militancy and poll boycotts.

The dossier, accessed by IANS, citing grounds for Omar's detention states his activities are highly prejudicial to the maintenance of public order and have a significant effect and influence upon the ideology of common people.

The dossier added that Omar has been very vocal against the abolition of Articles 370 and 35 A of the Constitution and also against the bifurcation of erstwhile J&K state.

"The subject has posted many provoking and instigating comments/ideas on social networking sites so as to instigate common people against the decision of Union of India," the dossier states.

The dossier reads that on the eve of the reorganisation of J&K state, in order to secure the support of the common people Omar made attempts to instigate and provoke the general masses against the policies of the Central government especially the decision regarding revocation of Articles 370 and 35 A.

"These attempts, given the political cadre in the region could lead to incidences disturbing public order in the region," the dossier reads.

The dossier states that Omar Abdullah possesses considerable influence over the people and has tremendous potential for diverting the energies of the common people for any cause.

"An overview upon the activities of Omar Abdullah suggests that his ideology is favouring radical thoughts which has also turned into actions," read the dossier.

The dossier states that despite the fact that Omar has been a mainstream politician, he has been planning and projecting his activities against the Union of India under the guise of politics and while enjoying the support of "gullible masses" he has been successful in executing such activities.

"After revocation of Article 370 and 35 A in order to secure support of common people Omar removed all covers and curtains while resorting to his dirty politics has adopted a radical methodology by way of instigating and provoking gullible masses against the policies of the Central government especially the decision regarding revocation of Article 370 and 35-A," the dossier stated.

It said that Omar has been creating an environment of public disorder across Kashmir valley.

"The conduct of subject has resulted in fanning the emotions of general masses against the Union of India by way of instigating public with Twitter posts/Facebook against the unity and integrity of the Nation," it stated.

The dossier stated that Omar on July 2019 while addressing party workers at the residence of his father stated that if Article 370 and 35 A are abrogated we will unite and raise our voice against the Union of India as has already been decided by the National Conference. Besides, he informed the party workers about a series of programmes against the Union of India which his party will undertake.

"It is also learnt through credible sources that Omar impressed upon his party workers who attended the meeting that youth of Sonawar Constituency be informed about the meeting and ask them to be ready for mass agitation if Article 370 is revoked," the dossier stated.

The dossier said the activities of Omar are aimed at raising a voice against the union of India by way of encouraging mass agitation. Thus it can be safely said that Omar by way of influence in Beerwah/Sonwar constituency could get large numbers to protest against the decisions taken by the government of India.

"After the historical decision taken by the Union of India for abrogation of Article 370 and 35-A of Indian constitution the subject has undertaken efforts for stoking public anger so as to cause violent protests, thus affecting public order e.g on 6th August 2019," the dossier stated.

According to the dossier the main aim and objective of Omar Abdullah is to create an atmosphere of fear and chaos, leading to a mass agitation against the Union of India.

The dossier said that Omar was already under preventive detention under section 107 Cr.PC and if released there is serious apprehension that he will mobilize crowds and instigate protests.

(Zafar Iqbal can be contacted at zafar25@gmail.com)
NIMR, a leading manufacturer of combat-proven light- and medium-weight wheeled military vehicles, has welcomed a delegation from the Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI), led by its CEO Dr Andreas Schwer, to its world-class armoured vehicle manufacturing facility in Abu Dhabi, UAE.



The high-level SAMI visit was attended by Johan Steyn, executive vice president, Land Systems; Wael AlSarhan, vice president, Corporate Communication & Support Services; Mohammed S AlHodaib, director, Logistics Vehicles & Industry, Land Systems; and Norah Jumaiah, executive assistant, Corporate Communications & Services Department. Dr Fahad Al Yafei, president  Platforms & Systems, EDGE, was also present for the occasion, said a statement.



The dignitaries conducted a tour of NIMRs facility and were briefed on the companys capabilities, products and service offerings. A number of its light- and medium-weight vehicles were showcased including the JAIS 4x4, AJBAN 440A, AJBAN 447 / 447A, HAFEET 630A, ISV, JAIS 6x6 and its RIV. The AJBAN MK2 Prototype was also on display, it said.



Dr Fahad Al Yafei, president  platforms and systems, EDGE, said: NIMR is a leading manufacturer of light- and medium-weight military vehicles. Its proven experience in producing battle-proven platforms for clients, whilst adhering to the most demanding international standards is evidence of its highly respected reputation.



SAMIs high-profile delegation visit justifies this position, further elevating NIMRs image within the armoured vehicle sector, he said.



Abraham Du Plessis, chief executive officer of NIMR, said: We are honoured to welcome SAMIs Dr Andreas Schwer and his fellow dignitaries to our facility, and to provide them with a first-hand insight into our capabilities.



It was truly a great opportunity to learn more on SAMIs offerings and vision for this division. It is clear that our businesses complement each other very well, and we look forward to building on this relationship in the near future, he added.



NIMR offers complete end-to-end solutions in its area of specialisation, including mission systems integration support. Recognised for their field-tested versatility, ruggedness and performance, the companys vehicles are manufactured at state-of-the-art facilities in compliance with international quality and military standards.



NIMR is part of the Platforms & Systems cluster of EDGE, an advanced technology group for defence and beyond that was inaugurated in November 2019, it stated.  TradeArabia News Service
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar reacts after the announcement of voting results, at a count centre during Ireland's national election, in Citywest, near Dublin, Ireland, February 9, 2020. REUTERS/Lorraine O'Sullivan

TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has said Fine Gael will "do its duty" and lead the Opposition if his party can't form a government.

He made the remarks shortly before his election as a TD for Dublin West was confirmed in the constituency's fifth count.

Mr Varadkar said he will talk to other parties including Labour, the Social Democrats, the Green Party and Fianna Fail to see if there's a possibility of forming a government.

However, he said it should be a government with a working majority and he is prepared to go into Opposition.

Speaking to Sky News he ruled out going into government with Sinn Fein even if it means he will no longer be Taoiseach.

He said: "What matters first and foremost is not me, its the country. Its also the party thereafter.

"If Fine Gael has to do its duty and lead the Opposition well do that.

"And as has always been the case in Irish history if the country needs to turn to a party to pick up the pieces when the experiment goes wrong well be there."

He said in such a scenario he would seek to stay on as Fine Gael leader but added: "That will be a matter for my party.

"I hope theyll keep me but even if they dont Ill stay here and represent the place I grew up, the people who supported me."

Read More

Asked if there was anything about the election he would have done differently

he said: "Theres always things you would have done the same and things you would do differently but I think overall we had a good campaign."

Mr Varadkar said his biggest regret was there wasn't more time to show results in housing.

"We have a housing crisis but just in the last few months weve started to see house prices level off and the number of people homeless going down and rents falling for the first time in seven years.

"I know from experience that people dont really feel that or see that in their own lives until its been happening for a year or two and thats my regret that we didnt have enough time on issues like housing."

He added: "My concern is that a new government will embark on radical or experimental policies in housing that actually might cause us to go backwards again and thats a real worry that I have for the Irish people."

He said he would congratulate Sinn Fein's Mary Lou McDonald but not work with the party in a coalition.

Mr Varadkar said: "Thats a decision I think other parties might make.

"For us I meant what I said during the election. Were a low tax party, theyre a high tax party. We believe in the social market economy, theyre a Marxist party. I just dont see how we could ever form a coalition."

Mr Varadkar had to wait for the fifth count to get elected in Dublin West where Sinn Fein's Paul Donnelly topped the poll.

Former Labour Tanaiste Joan Burton was eliminated in the same count.
DENVER - U.S. immigration officials are asking a federal judge to force Denver to turn over information about three men accused of crimes who are subject to deportation after the city refused to comply with its order to do so.

In a continued escalation of the conflict between federal officials and so-called sanctuary cities, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement filed a complaint in Denver federal court Thursday asking that a judge enforce administrative subpoenas it issued to the Denvers sheriff department last month for information such as addresses, identification and arrest reports on the two Mexican nationals and a Honduran. ICE originally also sought information on a fourth person whom it has since found and arrested so it is not asking the court to require Denver to turn over information in that case.

Accusing ICE of seeking the information for political reasons, Denver said it would not comply with the subpoenas unless a judge determined that they were appropriate.

Denver officials declined to comment on the latest move by ICE on Monday, as did the U.S. Attorneys Office for Colorado, which is representing ICE in court.

According to ICE, all three men have been deported multiple times. One of the men from Mexico was arrested for sexual assault and the other for vehicular homicide. The Honduran man was arrested on domestic violence charges.

Two of the men ICE is currently seeking information on have been released from the jail, and one was still being held. Denver jail officials notified ICE before the two were released. But there was not enough time for ICE agents to get to the jail before they were freed, according to the ICE court filing.

In a letter last week explaining the citys refusal to comply with the subpoenas, Chad Sublet, the attorney for Denvers Department of Safety, said that ICE already had access to the state and federal database to which the city feeds information. He pointed out that ICE had already accessed biometric data like fingerprints about the men that the Denver jail had shared when the men were booked.

However, in its court filing, ICE said the database often does not have updated address information and only very basic information about criminal allegations.
The poetry book would fit readily into any carefully curated home library: matte green cloth cover, gold inlaid title, dark yellow satin ribbon bookmark.

Inside the front cover, a page features a line drawing of the poets profile, captioned with the quote I know words, I have the best words. As a final touch, each $39 book is spritzed with cologne bearing the poets name.

The book: Collected Poems of Donald J. Trump, 2009-2019. (The cologne: Success by Trump.)

Of course, the book isnt really a collection of presidential verse. Its a compendium of tweets, sorted tongue-in-cheek into chapters such as Nocturnes, Amores and Free Verse, then arranged in Person Who Just Discovered Poetry style:

Perhaps

Barack

Obamas

biggest

shortcoming

as President is

he failed

to unite

the country.

--Page 131, in the Realities chapter

The book is the brainchild of Gregory Woodman and Ian Pratt, who run the Portland advertising agency Weller Creative. They created a publishing house just to release the book.

Trump is unlike any other figure in human history to where his actual words are communicated to his audience in a one-to-one direct way, Woodman said. No other president has done it in such a grand scale. The impact of his words is palpable.

But Trumps tweets are at the same time equally temporary, Woodman said.

So Woodman decided to make something physical out of the tweets  to turn them, he said, into art.

The book is by no means the first to put Trumps tweets between covers. The month after the 2016 presidential election, a paperback titled Trump Tweets: A Collection of Donald Trumps Most Outrageous, Offensive, and Deleted Tweets From Trumps Twitter Page showed up on Amazon. Cartoonist Shannon Wheeler followed in 2017 with her book Sh*t My President Says: The Illustrated Tweets of Donald J. Trump. The Daily Beast reported in 2018 on a Texas state Republican delegate, Trisha Hope, who publishes a Just the Tweets series, which she sells at Trump rallies.

But none of those books has the high-end, literary classic look of Woodman and Pratts 385-page book, which includes a glossary and an index. We spent the money, said Woodman, describing the design as the master poet treatment.

Woodman said his idea was for readers to have to reckon with these words rather than simply scroll past them on Twitter. Whats interesting about this project is that Ive quickly learned that my intentions do not matter at all when it comes to this project. People buy it, people love it and people hate it.

As of last week, more than 600 copies had sold, out of a print run of a thousand. We found out recently that most national poetry books dont sell more than 500 copies, which is shocking to us, because we did that pretty easily, Woodman said.

The pair is already planning more books, regardless of how the 2020 presidential election goes. If Trump wins, theyll just put out a Volume Two.

If he loses?

Poems from exile, Woodman said.

awang@oregonian.com; Twitter: @ORAmyW

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is currently looking for a successor to Horst Kohler, former UN Personal Envoy for the Sahara. The UN post has remained vacant since the resignation in May 2019 of former German Pdt Horst Kohler, which halted the informal talks he relaunched in Geneva with the participation of Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and the Polisario Front.

A selection process is under way and I hope to be able to appoint someone as soon as possible, said Mr. Guterres on Thursday in an interview with Jeune Afrique, relayed by The Africa Report.

In this interview the UN Chief also tackled hot issues on the international scene, including the Libyan conflict, terrorism and insecurity in the Sahel.

Mr. Guterres said that the UN remains fully committed to helping the parties find a political solution to the Sahara conflict, a solution that is just, acceptable to all and, above all, that will bring an end to this conflict that has lasted too long.

The Sahara issue, he added, is complex, but I remain convinced that with a strong political will on the part of the parties and the international community, a solution is possible.

In the absence of a UN mediator for the Sahara, Polisario leader Brahim Ghali, last week, had threatened to boycott UN-led operations that do not respect the pillars of the settlement of the Sahrawi problem, saying that the Sahrawi people have been betrayed and that they have lost confidence in the United Nations.

But in reality, the Polisario leaders are disoriented after they suffered lately serious setbacks inflected by Moroccan diplomacy. They have been also deeply affected by the popular demonstrations and sit-ins held in the Tindouf camps.

As their verbal attacks against Morocco and its allies, notably France, went unnoticed, the Polisario leaders are now lashing out at the UN and its Secretary General to justify their diplomatic failures.
If you own shares in Evolution Petroleum Corporation (NYSEMKT:EPM) then it's worth thinking about how it contributes to the volatility of your portfolio, overall. In finance, Beta is a measure of volatility. Modern finance theory considers volatility to be a measure of risk, and there are two main types of price volatility. The first type is company specific volatility. Investors use diversification across uncorrelated stocks to reduce this kind of price volatility across the portfolio. The second sort is caused by the natural volatility of markets, overall. For example, certain macroeconomic events will impact (virtually) all stocks on the market.

Some stocks see their prices move in concert with the market. Others tend towards stronger, gentler or unrelated price movements. Beta is a widely used metric to measure a stock's exposure to market risk (volatility). Before we go on, it's worth noting that Warren Buffett pointed out in his 2014 letter to shareholders that 'volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' Having said that, beta can still be rather useful. The first thing to understand about beta is that the beta of the overall market is one. A stock with a beta below one is either less volatile than the market, or more volatile but not corellated with the overall market. In comparison a stock with a beta of over one tends to be move in a similar direction to the market in the long term, but with greater changes in price.

Check out our latest analysis for Evolution Petroleum

What we can learn from EPM's beta value

Given that it has a beta of 1.22, we can surmise that the Evolution Petroleum share price has been fairly sensitive to market volatility (over the last 5 years). If the past is any guide, we would expect that Evolution Petroleum shares will rise quicker than the markets in times of optimism, but fall faster in times of pessimism. Many would argue that beta is useful in position sizing, but fundamental metrics such as revenue and earnings are more important overall. You can see Evolution Petroleum's revenue and earnings in the image below.

Story continues

AMEX:EPM Income Statement, February 10th 2020

How does EPM's size impact its beta?

Evolution Petroleum is a rather small company. It has a market capitalisation of US$165m, which means it is probably under the radar of most investors. It takes less money to influence the share price of a very small company. This may explain the excess volatility implied by this beta value.

What this means for you:

Since Evolution Petroleum has a reasonably high beta, it's worth considering why it is so heavily influenced by broader market sentiment. For example, it might be a high growth stock or have a lot of operating leverage in its business model. This article aims to educate investors about beta values, but it's well worth looking at important company-specific fundamentals such as Evolution Petroleums financial health and performance track record. I urge you to continue your research by taking a look at the following:

Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for EPMs future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for EPMs outlook. Past Track Record: Has EPM been consistently performing well irrespective of the ups and downs in the market? Go into more detail in the past performance analysis and take a look at the free visual representations of EPM's historicals for more clarity. Other Interesting Stocks: It's worth checking to see how EPM measures up against other companies on valuation. You could start with this free list of prospective options.

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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The nearly 18-hour shooting rampage that killed at least 27 people in Thailand's northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima ended, as the gunman himself was shot dead by security forces on Sunday.

Thai police announced that at 9: 00 a.m. on Sunday, the alleged gunman, Sgt. Maj. Jakrapanth Thomma was shot to death inside Terminal 21 shopping mall.

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha who visited the injured at Nakorn Ratchasima hospital on Sunday, confirmed that 27 people including the shooter died and 57 people have been injured.

The shooting spree began when he shot and killed his commanding officer at a house near the Surathampithak army camp on Saturday afternoon.

Police said Jakrapanth stole a Humvee type vehicle, drove to the camp where he killed at least two Army officers to get access to weapons and ammunition.

As he was heading to the city, he fired at civilians and police along his way.

Local media reported that the gunman was previously engaged in a verbal row with his superior and wanted revenge.

Jakrapanth posted onto social media of several messages, photos and videos along the way to Terminal 21 shopping mall.

As he arrived at the shopping mall around 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, the 32-year-old gunman got out of the vehicle and fired at motorists in the traffic and pedestrians.

One of the selfies on his Facebook page shows a huge flame on the background.

The blaze is believed to be a gas cylinder explosion which was caused by his gunfire.

His Facebook page was taken offline about an hour later.

When Jakhaphan entered the shopping mall, no one can confirm the exact number of people crowded inside doing weekend shopping.

However, throughout the night, hundreds were seen fleeing the building.

Police commandos and soldiers were dispatched to the scene to hunt for a gunman holing up in one of the largest shopping mall in the northeastern city.

Security officers put in efforts in rescuing innocent people who were hiding in behind staircases, refrigerators and storages.

On Saturday, local media reported that Jakhaphan held 16 people with grenades on his body, however, authorities could not confirm the number of the hostages.

Around 100 people escaped from the shopping mall just before midnight.
The Madhya Pradesh government told the high court on Monday that it will soon withdraw the exemption to women and children up to 12 years from wearing helmets on two-wheelers.

This was stated by additional advocate general of Madhya Pradesh Praveen Dubey before a division bench of MP high court in Jabalpur during a hearing on a petition filed by a law student, Himanshu Dixit, in 2019 challenging the relaxation given to women and children up to 12 years from wearing a helmet while riding two-wheelers as is required under the Motor Vehicles Act. Following the petition, the high court had issued notices to the state government in October 2019.

The petitioner had contended that the relaxation given to women and children was violative of the Constitutions Articles 14, 15(1) and 21 and also defeated the purpose for use of helmet that was made mandatory for two- wheeler riders under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

He has said only Sikh community members are exempted from wearing helmet as per a provision in Motor Vehicles Act but at the same time there is a mention in the provision that the state government if wishes so can relax the provision for any group or community. Thats why MP government has given relaxation to the women in the state and also children up to 12 years of age but road accidents do not differentiate between men and women.

The bench comprising chief justice AK Mittal and justice VK Shukla fixed the next date of hearing on March 2.
Northrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/09/2020 -- According to the new market research report "Surface Mount Technology Market by Equipment (Placement, Inspection, Soldering, Screen Printing, Cleaning, Repair & Rework), Application (Consumer Electronics, Automotive, Aerospace & Defense), and Geography - Global Forecast to 2022", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is expected to be valued at USD 5.42 Billion by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 8.9% between 2017 and 2022.



Browse 82 market data Tables and 103 Figures spread through 198 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Surface Mount Technology Market"



Download PDF Brochure:

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The factors driving the growth of the market include the increased demand for miniaturized consumer electronics products and the increasing adoption of electric vehicles.



"Surface mount technology market for inspection equipment expected to grow at the highest rate between 2017 and 2022"



Placement defects can occur both before and after reflow. Thus, inspection equipment plays a vital role in the SMT manufacturing industry. The SMT inspection equipment market is driven by the improving product technology, responsiveness, reliability, and quality of inspection. The increasing need for this equipment in telecom, automotive, consumer electronics, and computing & storage is expected to drive its demand during the forecast period.



"The market for automotive is expected to grow at the second-highest rate during the forecast period"



The demand for SMT devices has increased due to their ability to meet the needs of the critical systems in the automotive industry with zero defects. The number of electric components used in an electric vehicle is more as compared with any conventional fuel combustion vehicle as former has an electric motor, battery, and other complex connections to ensure optimum utilization of power. Owing to the critical role of electrical components in these electrical vehicles, surface mount devices are used as they are lighter in weight, occupy less space, and are safe and durable over a longer period of time.



"North America expected to hold the second-largest share of the surface mount technology market during the forecast period"



There has been an increasing demand for mobile and internet-connected devices, including smartphones and tablets, in North America. The demand for digital video content has also driven the production of a range of high-performance internet-connected devices and other similar technologies, which have further fuelled the growth of the overall semiconductor industry. Various associations such as Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) (U.S.), Surface Mount Technology Association (SMTA) (U.S.), and Electronics Components Industry Association (ECIA) (U.S.) are working toward the advancement and growth of microelectronics and packaging in the U.S. North America is the second-largest market for consumer electronics and one of the largest markets for electric vehicles. This is expected to drive the growth of the surface mount technology market in North America.



Inquiry Before Buy @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=99662691



The major players involved in the surface mount technology market are ASM Assembly Systems GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), CyberOptics Corporation (U.S.), Electro Scientific Industries Inc. (Oregon), Fuji Machine Manufacturing Co., Ltd.(Japan), Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation (Japan), Juki Corporation (Japan), Mycronic AB (Sweden), Nordson Corporation (U.S.), Orbotech Ltd. (Israel), and Viscom AG (Germany).



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Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model  GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve.



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Vocus will invest $10 million in upgrading its fibre infrastructure across the NT as part of the Terabit Territory initiative.

The telco said today it would upgrade the Territorys Internet backbone to 20 terabits per second, with the NT government throwing in $7.9 million as part of the joint project. The NT government said its financial support was contingent on Vocus building a subsea cable route that connected Darwin to Singapore.

The NT government funding will be used to upgrade links from Darwin to Katherine, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs. Vocus has pledged to upgrade its NT links to Adelaide and Queensland. The links to the South Australian and Queensland capitals will be boosted from 10Gbps to 200Gbps.

Vocus said it planned to connect the 2100km North-West Cable System, which runs from Darwin to Port Hedland, to the 4600km Australia-Singapore Cable (ASC), which links Perth to Singapore via Indonesia. Vocus is the sole owner of both the NWCS and ASC as part of its acquisition of Nextgen Networks.

The Terabit Territory is a game-changer for Vocus and the Territory, establishing Darwin as a major new gateway for capacity from Asia to other mainland capital cities, said Vocus Group managing director and CEO Kevin Russell in a statement supplied by the company.

This major upgrade to Vocus fibre infrastructure will deliver a new level of competition in the Territory and substantially increase capacity from Australias north-west to other capital cities.

This is a game-changer for us, opening up the NT as an investment destination for new industries, and a telecommunications gateway between Australia and Asia, the NTs chief minister, Michael Gunner, said in a statement.

This infrastructure will open up the market by providing more competitive pricing to major metropolitan areas  and position Darwin as a market for new technologies such as edge data centres and hyperscale cloud facilities, Russell said.

In addition, the connection to the Vocus-owned ASC will establish the only direct fibre route from Darwin to Asia and provide added redundancy for our network via a major new fibre loop in Australias west.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has returned to his day job, and he must be relieved.

His grim demeanor during President Trumps impeachment trial made plain that he did not enjoy his role in it. As the trial ended, the chief justice said he had attempted to carry out ill-defined responsibilities in an unfamiliar setting during my period of required residency.

He approached the task of presiding over the trial with stoic restraint, no doubt having concluded that doing as little as possible was the best way to try to protect the authority and legitimacy of the Supreme Court in an era of poisonous partisan warfare.

He told the senators that he hoped to see them under happier circumstances, inviting them to visit the court. On his home turf, the chief justice suggested, things were more to his liking.

During Supreme Court arguments, lawyers positions are relentlessly tested by a barrage of questions from the justices. At the impeachment trial, the chief justice read senators questions passed to him on notecards.
Syrian opposition commanders have said a counteroffensive against government forces in the countrys northwest could start at any moment amid escalating tensions in the region.

The warning on Monday came hours after Ankara said five Turkish troops were killed in shelling by the Syrian army in Idlib province, the oppositions last stronghold in the country. The Turkish army retaliated by hitting more than 100 Syrian military targets, according to the Turkish defence ministry.

These developments come as reinforcements of fighters from the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) and the Syrian Liberation Front (SLF) have been sent over the past few days to the front line in western Aleppo and southern Idlib provinces in response to the advances of the Russia-backed Syrian army.

Thousands of Turkish soldiers have also been deployed to observation posts and along the front line, with several convoys with armoured vehicles, battle tanks and artillery entering northwest Syria over the past week.

On Monday morning, Turkish artillery started shelling positions held by Syrian government forces in the city of Saraqeb, western Idlib province, but the attack stopped shortly after.

The operation [against the government forces] was supposed to start at 10am today. However, it was stopped due to the arrival of a Russian delegation to Ankara, said one SNA commander, who asked not to be named, as he was not authorised to discuss the matter.

A delegation from Russia headed by Sergey Vershinin, deputy minister of foreign affairs in charge of Syrian affairs, and Alexander Lavrentiev, the special envoy of the Russian presidency to Syria, is in Ankara for a series of meetings with Turkish officials.

According to the commander, the negotiations failed and currently, the Turkish government is waiting for a visit from James Jeffrey, the US special representative for Syria, before it pushes forward with the operation. Its aim will be to reclaim territories the Syrian government has taken over since December last year.

On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave an ultimatum to the Syrian government to withdraw its forces from Turkeys observation posts in Idlib province. His warning came two days after Syrian government forces targeted a Turkish convoy carrying reinforcements to observation points in territory currently controlled by Damascus. The attack killed seven Turkish soldiers and a contractor, angering Ankara.

The situation escalated on Monday with the attack by Syrian government forces on a new observation point the Turkish army had set up in Taftanaz military base, 15km (9.3 miles) northeast of Idlib city. A further five Turkish troops were wounded in the deadly attack.

Khalid Rahal, another commander of the opposition forces, also confirmed that there have been serious preparations for a military operation led by the Syrian opposition and backed by the Turkish army during the past week.

Given the current situation and in view of the killing of Turkish soldiers and attack on the Turkish convoy [last week], a battle can break out at any moment, he told Al Jazeera.

He said the operation will focus on retaking some areas from the Syrian government in Idlib and Aleppo provinces.

According to Can Kasapoglu, the director of Security and Defense Studies Program at Istanbul-based think-tank EDAM, the deployment of Ankaras forces on the ground and the set-up of new Turkish defence positions, apart from its 12 observation points, point to an imminent military escalation.

Turkey is deliberately escalating the situation militarily to force Russia to broker a ceasefire between the Syrian Arab Army and Turkey because this is the only way in the eyes of Ankara to stop the regime offensive, he told Al Jazeera.

In his view, a military escalation is quite likely but it will be limited in scope and it would aim to stop the advance of the Syrian government.

There can be a counteroffensive, but it would be part of a larger defensive [strategy] for Idlib, he said, adding that a wider operation to retake territory from the Syrian government forces is unlikely given the fact that the Turkish army cannot provide air cover for the opposition forces.

According to Kasapoglu, the aim of the Syrian government is to depopulate opposition-controlled northwest Syria in order to be able to control it. Turkey fears such a development as the more than three million people residing in the area will head to its border with Syria or to the area under its direct military control in northern Aleppo province, Kasapoglu said.

On Monday, the United Nations said that some 700,000 people have been displaced since December in northwest Syria, some 100,000 of them in the past week alone. Humanitarian workers have warned that the situation in the region is worsening and that there are not enough tents and food for the growing number of displaced people.
A Hong Kong property giant is set to join a 1billion fundraising by shopping centres owner Intu, the latter has confirmed today following speculation over the weekend.

Link Real Estate Investment Trust is in talks about joining the cash call alongside property tycoon John Whittaker's Peel Group, which is Intu's biggest shareholder.

Intu, which owns Manchester's Trafford Centre and Lakeside in Essex, wants to kick off the rights issue alongside its annual results at the end of this month.

Raising funds: Intu owns Manchester's Trafford Centre (pictured) and Lakeside in Essex

The company is being weighed down by a 4.7billion debt pile and its shares have plunged by nearly 90 per cent in the past year.

Intu shares jumped to close 29 per cent higher at 17.32p on Monday.

In a short statement, Intu confirmed it was 'engaged in constructive discussions' with shareholders, including Peel Group, Link Real Estate Investment Trust and others.

'The company will make further announcements in due course, as appropriate,' it said.

'There can be no certainty that the equity raise will be implemented nor as to the terms on which any such implementation might occur.'

An equity raise involves issuing new shares to raise extra cash - but this tends to push the current share price down, which could upset current investors.

Landlords have been hammered by a wave of insolvencies as tenants grapple with growing online sales and high business rates.

Intu suffered from several big-name retailers collapsing in the past year, along with others pushing through insolvency plans known as company voluntary arrangements to reduce rents.

Successful retailers, including Hotel Chocolat and Next, have also started demanding their own rent reductions - arguing they should not be penalised with higher bills for being successful.

Investors have been fearful of investing into retail real estate, with the struggling retail sector impacting property prices. But Intu hopes that paying down its debts will help investors flock back to the business.

Intu's Lakeside shopping centre in Essex

Last month, Intu revealed it had sold Spain's largest shopping centre, the Intu Puerto Venecia in Zaragoza, for 405million.

In 2018, a planned merger with rival Hammerson failed. The company, whose estate includes the Bullring in Birmingham and Bicester Village in Oxfordshire, abandoned plans to merge with Intu following a backlash from investors.

In a dramatic U-turn, Hammerson said that the proposed 3.4billion takeover of Intu was not in the best interests of shareholders  after it spent weeks trying to persuade them otherwise.

Then a 2.8billion takeover led by Peel Group collapsed with the suitors blaming 'economic uncertainty and market volatility' for a change of heart.
" " A detail of the Charles M. Russell painting "Big Nose George and the Road Agents." Jonathan Blair/Corbis/Getty Images

Politicians are under a lot of scrutiny in the 21st century: a public servant can hardly attempt to sell a senate seat, or post illicit pictures of themselves on the internet, or even accept millions of dollars in bribes without getting trouble. But during this election season, when making America great again is topping the national to-do list, let's reflect back on a time in American history when a new governor could show up to his inauguration proudly sporting shoes made from a hanged felon whose corpse he skinned himself.

Times sure have changed.

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Back in 1881, an outlaw named George Parrott, also known by the nickname "Big Nose George," was hanged in Rawlins, Wyoming, for trying (and failing) to rob a train and subsequently killing the two lawmen who came after him. Before this incident, Big Nose George  whose nose really was remarkably large  was just a small-time horse thief. But after fleeing to Montana following the murders and botched robbery, he robbed the military convoy of a local merchant who was travelling back east with a bunch of cash.

" " An undated portrait of "Big Nose" George Parrott. Wikimedia Commons

This successful haul saw Parrot get cocky. He returned to the town where the merchant was from, went into a saloon, and started bragging about the robbery and the murders back in Wyoming. This boasting resulted in his capture and return to Wyoming. There he unsuccessfully tried to escape from prison using his pocket knife  apparently you could keep your pocket knife on you while you were in jail in the Wild West  but failed, and was lynched and hanged on a telegraph pole by an angry mob of more than 200 people.

After Parrott's 1881 death, nobody showed up to claim the body, so John Osborne, the doctor who pronounced him dead took his body home for "medical study." He extracted Parrott's brain and gave it to his friend, the surgeon Thomas Maghee, who wanted to study Parrott's "criminal brain." Osborne also sawed off the top portion of Big Nose George's skull and gave it to Lillian Heath, a 15-year-old girl who went on to become Wyoming's first female physician (she reportedly kept it her entire life, using it as an ashtray and a door stop). The bottom portion of Parrott's skull, Osborne put in a barrel with the rest of the bones.

Not one to waste any part of the outlaw's corpse, Osborne then skinned Parrott's body and had a pair of shoes and medical bag made out of the human skin. The bag has never been found. Years later Osborne entered politics and was elected governor of Wyoming. To his 1893 inauguration he wore the shoes that a dozen years earlier had been a man.

Talk about a political statement.

That very footwear is now on display, along with the death mask Osborne cast after Parrott's death  his nose was really big  in the Carbon County Museum in Rawlins, Wyoming.

Now That's Weird The possibility of having shoes made of human skin didn't die out with the Wild West. Even today a company called ][umanLeather will sell you a pair of humanskin shoes, starting at around 18,000 euros (around $27,000).
The window for a political solution between Turkey and Russia over Syrias Idlib is narrowing as the Syrian regime forces push to capture the countrys last rebel-held stronghold has left 13 Turks dead in seven days.

Turkey, meanwhile, is determined to keep its troops on the ground at any cost, even after the Feb. 10 attack by the Syrian regime that killed five Turkish soldiers and wounded five others.

Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, backed by close air support from Russian and Syrian fighter jets, continue their advances toward Idlibs city center through the strategic town of Saraqeb, which fell under regime control last week. Pressing from the north, pro-Iranian militias are also heading toward the province from western Aleppo.

Turkey, for its part, is steadily increasing boots on the ground. As of Feb. 10, it has dispatched an excess of 100 military convoys to the area. In its bid to fortify Idlibs defenses from the south and eastern fronts, this marks Turkeys largest military buildup in the area since 2011. Currently, the number of Turkish soldiers in the area has reached some 9,000, with one armored brigade, two mechanized infantry brigades and a special forces team equipped with several howitzers and rocket launchers.

In response to growing Turkish activity in the region, Assads forces struck a Turkish military post near the northwestern Syrian town of Taftanaz Feb. 10, killing five Turkish soldiers and wounding five others. With this strike, Turkish casualties from Syrian regime attacks reached 13, including the killing of eight Turks Feb. 3 near Saraqeb.

The number of Turkish observation posts under siege by the Syrian regime have also increased to seven with the fall of Tell Touqan, al-Ais and Saraqeb. Turkey had set up 12 military posts in and around Idlib as part of a de-escalation deal between Ankara and Moscow in 2018.

Despite such deadly confrontations, why does Turkey insist on keeping troops in the area? Ankaras strategy is simple: Turkey is increasing its military presence in and around Idlib as coercive diplomacy to force Russia to take action against the Syrian regimes aggression.

Turkey is certain that the Idlib problem will eventually be solved through tough negotiations. Thus, in a bid to protect its interests in other parts of Syria, Ankara is raising the stakes on the ground by increasing troops in an area where it does not control airspace.

Turkey is aiming to achieve two goals with its risky strategy. First, it is trying to force Moscow to set up a new negotiation table for a truce in Idlib. Second, once the table is set, it plans to ask for Russian assurance that the Syrian regime will allow Turkey to maintain its military presence in Afrin as well as the pocket of Jarablus, al-Rai and al-Bab.

The nightmare scenario for Turkey is losing the northern areas that came under its control through its Operation Euphrates Shield in 2017 and Operation Olive Branch in 2018. The Syrian regime might indeed turn to opposition-held Afrin and the Euphrates Shield area after securing Idlibs center.

To convince Russia to sit at a negotiation table for a cease-fire, Turkey has no option but to increase its military presence in Idlib to pressure Moscow at the expense of risking the lives of the Turkish troops.

Tensions between Turkey and Russia escalated last week after a roadside bomb killed four Russian operatives Feb. 1 in northern Idlib, which is controlled by the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army. Furthermore, eight Turkish military personnel were killed in a shelling by the Syrian regime Feb. 3.

A Russian delegation arrived in Ankara Feb. 8 for de-escalation talks, but the attack on a Turkish position in the northwestern Syrian town of Taftanaz came the second day of the talks, dashing hopes of a cease-fire, at least in the short run.

Of note, the presence of four generals from Turkish air and land forces at these meetings indicates the high degree of importance Turkey attaches to military coordination with Russia.

In the first round of talks Feb. 8, the Turkish side reiterated its determination to push back Syrian regime forces if they refused to withdraw from the de-escalation zone in Idlib by the end of February, a deadline set by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Feb. 5.

Ankara is also testing the grounds for a possible new summit between Russia, Iran and Turkey to speed up the political process before Assad's forces reach Idlib's center. Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said, A new round of Astana talks might be held in March, referring to the Syrian talks initiated in the Kazakh capital three years ago.

Yet how President Vladimir Putin will react to Turkeys coercive diplomacy is unclear.

Whether Putin is ready for a face-to-face meeting with his Turkish counterpart is an open question, given the Russian leader's frustration over failing to achieve a rapprochement between Ankara and Damascus after the much trumpeted meeting between Turkish and Syrian spymasters in Moscow Jan. 23.

If Erdogan and Putin meet, Erdogan will probably demand to maintain Turkeys control over the Euphrates Shield area and Afrin in northern Syria in return for withdrawing Turkish troops from south of the strategic M4 and M5 highways.

Ankara is also looking for ways to keep Idlibs center under Syrian opposition control, yet Assad's forces are now only 10 kilometers (some six miles) from their target, the closest distance they have been since 2012. The negotiation table is unlikely to be set up until Damascus reaches its target, while Moscow tries to buy time on its behalf.

Aside from confronting the enemy, the protection of troops has become a challenge without close air support in Idlib. This is particularly true for Turkish troops, as the Assad regime is determined to raise the cost for Turkey.
(Natural News) While the Democrat-aligned mainstream media continues claiming there are Russian spies hiding under rocks ready to disrupt the next American election, serious people who are genuinely concerned about the security of the country are focused on a much bigger, long-term threat: China.

One of those serious people is Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. In a meeting with state governors last week, the former U.S. congressman and CIA director warned that Beijing is attempting to infiltrate state and local governments at virtually every level in an attempt to influence policymaking in a way that is favorable to China.

Its [China] assessed our vulnerabilities, and its decided to exploit our freedoms to gain advantage over us at the federal level, the state level, and the local level, Pompeo said during a Feb. 8 speech at the National Governors Association meeting held in Washington, The Epoch Times reported.

Competition with China is not just a federal issue, Pompeo said. Its happening in your states, with consequences for our foreign policy.

The nations chief diplomat gave a number of examples to support his claims, such as efforts by Chinas Consul General in New York City.

Last month, he sent a letter to the speaker of the legislature in a state Pompeo did not identify in an attempt to urge U.S. officials to avoid engaging in any official contact with Taiwan, such as sending congratulatory messages to the electeds or inviting officials in Taiwan to visit the United States.

Pompeo told attendees the letter, from which he read, demonstrated that a Chinese diplomat in the United States was engaged in an effort to keep a U.S. elected official from engaging in his right to freedom of speech.

China has always considered Taiwan little more than a renegade province that someday should be reunited with the mainland. Beijing has threatened to do so by force if the island democracy were to ever attempt to formally declare independence.

Competition with China is happening inside your state

Nevertheless, China has also long engaged in efforts to diminish Taiwan as a sovereign entity, though it clearly is: It has its own government, separate from the mainland, its own foreign policy, its own military, and its own economy.

Still, China has routinely criticized foreign leaders and governments for treating Taiwan like an equal among other recognized nations or otherwise engaging in friendly relations. China has also blocked Taiwan from joining international organizations like the World Health Organization.

The island does have one major ally: The worlds lone superpower, the United States. And after President Tsai Ing-wen won reelection in a landslide last month, Pompeo, along with scores of U.S. lawmakers, sent her congratulatory messages.

More recently, Taiwans Vice President-elect William Lai visited the U.S. from Feb. 3-8 and took part in the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.

As for Pompeos warning, he also noted that a Communist regime-backed think tank in Beijing produced an assessment last year that ranked U.S. governors as friendly, hardline, or ambiguous regarding how they viewed China.

As such, he urged governors to remain vigilant for any attempts at influence engaged in by China.

Competition with China is happening inside of your state, and it affects our capacity to perform Americas vital national security functions, he said.

He used as an example the Florida Retirement System, which is one of the largest public pension funds in the country. The fund is a major investor in Hikvision, a Chinese manufacturer of surveillance equipment that supplies gear to Chinese authorities in Xinjiang for monitoring Muslim minorities, The Epoch Times reported.

Also, California has invested a portion of its retirement funds in firms that supply the Chinese military.

Dont lose sight of the competition from China thats already present in your state. Lets all rise to the occasion and protect our security, our economy; indeed, all that we hold dear, all of those freedoms, Pompeo said.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

TheNationalSentinel.com
AREA's runway show took place in Harlem on the upper-most corner of Central Park and Fifth Avenue, an address most downtown show-goers aren't accustomed to traveling. But the decision to show at The Africa Center had a special meaning for designers Beckett Fogg and Piotrek Panszczyk.

Related | AREA Dazzles in the Desert

This season, the duo behind one of New York's most captivating labels wanted to form a partnership with the center, which highlights the influence of people of African decent on culture, business and policy. Their first order of business was to collaborate with their Portal Program to bring in students from the New Design High School (where they used to hold their show).

As for the clothes, Fogg and Panszczyk focused on the idea of soft architecture, which is where the several heart motifs come into play  on the hips of iridescent dresses and the shoulders of jacket unitards. (Those, in turn, were inspired by Italian designer Romeo Gigli's famous heart shapes.)

Other elements from past seasons were brought back, such as their famous Preciosa crystal cup chains as head wraps and as fringe enveloping the body. Meanwhile, the quilted leather designs seen throughout were inspired by Japanese costume designer Eiko Ishioka.

Perhaps the most covetable piece to emerge from the collection is a mini crystal foldable chair worn as a crossbody accessory. This was the result of a collaboration with myreality, a new luxury brand co-founded Tyler Billinger and Harry Nuriev, the artist best known for that famous Balenciaga sofa.
A three-month-old boy who miraculously survived a horror crash that killed both his parents has been released from hospital following brain surgery.

Eduardo Rodrigues, 41, and his wife Danielle Bileski, 37, were killed when their Nissan Pathfinder rolled 'five or six times' on the Forest Highway near Bunbury, south of Perth, on January 12.

Three-month-old Rafael, three-year-old Anthony, six-year-old Andre and Mr Rodrigues' parents, in their 60s, were also inside the car.

The couple's oldest son, 15, was not in the car at the time of the accident.

Baby Rafael's parents died in a horror car crash in Bunbury, WA, on January 12 and he was left with bleeding on the brain

Eduardo Rodrigues, 41, and his wife Danielle Bileski, 37, (pictured with two of their sons) were killed when their seven-seater Nissan Pathfinder rolled 'five or six times' on the Forest Highway near Bunbury, south of Perth, on January 12

The three children and two grandparents were taken to hospital for treatment, but little Rafael needed the most care.

He was released from Perth Children's Hospital on January 23, before being admitted to Perth Royal Hospital six days later after high pressure and bleeding was found on his brain.

Rafael was rushed to surgery and was 'feeling good' after the operation on February 3, flashing a huge grin as he was released from hospital on Saturday.

Ms Bileski's brother Matheus told The West Australian the baby was doing well after the operation and was 'a happy boy'.

Images showed the little boy sleeping with a bandage around his head following the surgery, while others showed him smiling at the chance to go home.

A Go Fund Me set up to help the three siblings as they face a life without their parents has already raised an incredible $116,000.

The extended family hope the money will be able to fund the children being raised in Perth, as per their parents' wishes.

Rafael was released from Perth Children's Hospital on January 23 before being admitted to Perth Royal Hospital six days later after high pressure and bleeding was found on his brain (pictured following surgery)

The children are in the care of their grandparents, who have been released from hospital.

Friend Mariana Queiroz, who was driving ahead of the family, described the moment she helplessly watched the fatal crash in her rear-view mirror.

'I remember my husband yelling ''please Mariana, it's them'', but I couldn't think much,' she told 7 News.

She said she saw them through the mirror and was shocked to see the car rolling repeatedly.

The couple pulled over and rushed to the mangled car.

More than 200 showed their support for Eduardo and Danielle's family in a funeral service at at Pinaroo cemetery on January 24

'There was a lot of help there, one lady went inside the car to get the baby and another got Anthony,' she said.

'The older one was screaming a lot, saying "my mum's dead, my mum's dead," and I was like, "No, you have to look at me, stay with me".'

A horror Triple-0 call was made to police as the accident unfolded.

Western Australia Emergency Services Minister Francis Logan was one of the first on the scene and immediately phoned emergency services, WA Today reported.

In the chilling call, Mr Logan could be heard describing the situation as 'horrendous' and suggesting a rescue helicopter.

'There are three people injured quite badly...and possible injuries to a child,' he said.

Mr Rodrigues' parents hope the donations will be able to fund the children being raised in Perth, as per their parents' wishes

'One's got blood on them the other one is sitting down holding her hand and one of the children is holding his stomach.'

'In terms of the ambulance, can you make sure the ambulance gets here as quickly as possible? It could even be a helicopter because these people are very badly injured.'

More than 200 showed their support for the family in a funeral service at at Pinaroo cemetery on January 24.

There was only standing room in the chapel as friends and family came to pay their respects.

Mr and Ms Bileski moved to Perth from Brazil ten years ago.
NEW YORK, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Alzheimer's Foundation of America (AFA) has launched a new chat feature through its Alzheimer's Helpline that allows licensed social workers to provide assistance and support to families affected by Alzheimer's disease and other dementia-related illnesses in 90 different languages.

"Alzheimer's disease doesn't recognize language barriers, ethnic or geographical boundaries: It impacts people from all over the world who speak a wide variety of languages. Families affected by Alzheimer's disease need to be able to access support, regardless of the language they speak. Adding this new feature to our Helpline enables us to break down language barriers and serve a greater number of people," said Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr., AFA's President & CEO.

By clicking on the blue and white "chat" box in the lower right-hand corner of AFA's website, www.alzfdn.org, or by sending a text message from a mobile device to 646-586-5283, individuals can type questions in their native language and send it to the Helpline. The system is translatable for 90 different languages, including Spanish, Chinese, French, German, Russian and Italian. More than 37 million people over the age of 18 living in the United States speak a language other than English, according to 2018 data from the United States Census Bureau.

As an example, someone can ask, "What are some ways to help prevent my family member with Alzheimer's from wandering?" in Spanish, and the system will recognize the foreign language text. The Helpline social worker will then type their response, which is then translated back into Spanish for the user on the other end. Because the translation occurs instantaneously, conversations can be had in real time.

English-language speaking individuals can also utilize the system to have chat conversations with a licensed social worker through the Helpline.

Individuals who have questions about Alzheimer's disease, need caregiver support or would like to be connected with services in their area can visit AFA's website, www.alzfdn.org, and click on the blue chat icon on the lower right-hand side of the page or send a text message to 646-586-5283 to connect with the Helpline. The AFA Helpline is open seven days a week, 9 am to 9 pm (ET) on weekdays and 9 am to 3 pm (ET) on weekends.

SOURCE Alzheimer's Foundation of America

Related Links

http://www.alzfdn.org




By Kim Bo-eun



Uncertainties are growing over Woori Financial Group's privatization plan, due to its falling share price amid a leadership crisis.



The financial authorities last year stated that the Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. (KDIC) would sell its 17.25 percent stake in the financial holding company over three years beginning in 2020.



The state-run agency holds ownership of the banking group, as government funds were poured in to save the lender during the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997. Other shareholders include the National Pension Service (8.37 percent), the employee stock ownership association (6.39 percent) and IMM Private Equity (5.98 percent).



Of the 12.8 trillion won in funds pumped into the bank, 11.1 trillion won has been collected back.



Based on calculations, Woori's price per share needs to be above 13,000 won, for the government to be able to collect the remaining amount at 1997 prices.



Woori's share price stood at 16,000 won Feb. 14, 2019, after the bank's holding company was launched a month earlier, but the price has been on a downward trend over the past year.



The price hovered at around 14,000 won when the financial authorities unveiled the plan to sell its shares in Woori.



But since then the price has dropped considerably over two events  the scandal involving the bank's mis-selling of high-risk investment options that surfaced in August, and the imposition of sanctions on the group's chief Son Tae-seung over the incident.



Woori's share price hit an all-time low of 10,000 won Feb. 3, when the Financial Supervisory Service finalized its punishment of Son.



It remains unclear when the price will rise, as Woori faces a leadership crisis that won't likely be resolved soon.



A KDIC official said, "The share price is not the only factor that is considered, as the government is seeking to swiftly privatize Woori."



But he acknowledged that the latter won't take priority if the price is too low.



"If there is too much of a disparity, the decision to sell shares cannot be made rashly," he said. "As of now there is a lot of uncertainty."



The group had intended for Son to serve a second term as chairman, with the appointment to be finalized at a general shareholders' meeting in March.



But the punitive measures imposed on the group chief by the financial authorities ban him from serving positions in the financial sector for three years.



While the punishment for Son has been finalized by the Financial Services Commission (FSC), it has yet to place sanctions on Woori as a financial institution.



Woori's board said Thursday Son will keep his position until the FSC reaches a decision on these and notifies the group.



In previous cases, most figures in leadership positions who were punished by the financial authorities' sanctions, stepped down.



For Woori, the issue is complicated because the group does not have a replacement for Son.



But Son keeping his position by taking legal action may anger the financial authorities, which the group needs to work with on a number of issues.



These include suspicions the lender faces of mis-selling investment options managed by the troubled Lime Asset Management, which is expected to incur major losses for investors.



The group also needs approval from the authorities in carrying out M&As, which Woori has set as a key task for this year.


Carmen Aguirre, owner of Studio Ashe. | Photo: Meaghan M. Mitchell/Hoodline

By day, Carmen Aguirre works as a San Francisco public defender. Now, she's moonlighting in a new role: as the owner of a Bayview yoga and dance studio, Studio Ashe.

Located at 4734 Third St., Studio Ashe was formerly home to Trifusion Yoga, owned by Armando Luna. While Luna still teaches yoga classes in various businesses and community centers throughout Bayview, the space sat vacant for years until Aguirre decided to take it over.

A Bayview resident for the past two years, Aguirre has worked with clients in the neighborhood for more than a decade. She hopes Studio Ashe will be "another business on the corridor that will heal the community."

Studio Ashe. | Photo: Meaghan M. Mitchell/Hoodline

A trained yoga instructor, Aguirre is originally from San Diego, where she learned the practice from her mother  also an instructor.

But it wasn't until 1991, when she relocated to the Bay Area for law school, that she set dual intentions: to become a public defender and to own a yoga studio.

"Practicing yoga helped me deal with the stress of law school," Aguirre said. After becoming a public defender in 2005, she wanted to share that resource with her clients.

"I meditate with my clients and do breathing exercises," Aguirre said. "95% of my clients were victims of trauma, and I view this technique as a way to physiologically change what is happening in their bodies and calm them."

"So many of the issues addressed in 850 Bryant and the criminal justice system are connected to public health," noted SF Public Defender Manohar Raju. "The more we can focus on diverting resources into public health, the more we have a way to solve some of these issues, and create societal change."

SF Public Defender Manohar Raju. | Photo: Meaghan M. Mitchell/Hoodline

At Studio Ashe, locals will not only have their pick of various yoga formats, like vinyasa, yin and Kemetic, but Zumba and other dance classes as well. Acupuncture and massage services are part of the long-term plan, and Aguirre hopes to keep prices affordable, starting at $15 per class or $50 for a five-class pass. An unlimited monthly membership is currently $100.

Story continues

"As a public defender, I've had a longstanding connection with the Bayview through my clients," Aguirre noted. "This community historically has been deprived of affordable holistic resources."

The studio will have a variety of instructors, allowing Aquirre to balance her time between being an instructor and attorney. At a soft-opening party last week, many of her colleagues dropped in to support her dual passions.

"Sadly, we see the people who typically take advantage of these types of practices are the people with the most privilege," District Attorney Chesa Boudin told Hoodline. "It's beneficial to have an affordable holistic space in the Bayview, a neighborhood that has been culturally and economically marginalized."

Though he's never done yoga before, District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton announced at the event that he plans to take his first class at Studio Ashe.

"I love and appreciate it when someone invests in the Third Street corridor and wants to be here," Walton said. "We need this type of diversity on Third Street  not just with people, but the things we offer. "

District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton (left) and SF District Attorney Chesa Boudin. | Photo: Meaghan M. Mitchell/Hoodline

Aguirre said the community has been supportive of Studio Ashe so far.

"I've had people visit and tell me that they want to stop drinking alcohol or doing drugs," she noted. She also plans to partner with other fitness gurus in the neighborhood, such as Lawanda Dickerson of U3Fit Studio, which neighbors Studio Ashe.

"Lawanda and I talked about ways we could incorporate yoga as part of her services," Aguirre said. "I'm excited to work with her."

Studio Ashe is now offering classes daily, with Aguirre herself teaching two classes per week. Start times run from as early as 7 a.m. to as late as 6:30 p.m. Visit Studio Ashe's website to see the schedule and sign up for classes.
The life of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy and wife Sudha Murty will soon be imitated on the silver screen. Writer-Director-producer duo Ashwiny Iyer-Tiwari and Nitesh Tiwari are in the process of giving the final touches to movie's screenplay. The film will be produced in Murthy's native tongue Kannada besides Tamil and Hindi.

"When we approached Mr Murthy, he wanted us to be accurate and set a deadline for the movie. He did not want a project that was neverending. The sooner the world knows the story, it is better" Iyer-Tiwari told the Economic Times.

Reacting on the project chronicling their lives, Murty enunciated, "I happily watch movies made on the life and achievement of others. Like, for instance, the one on MS Dhoni. But I would feel too shy to talk about or watch a movie on us. But, maybe we cannot escape, that is a fact of life." Movies are not a new experience for Murty. She has made small appearances in Kannada movies such as 'Prarthane', 'Preethi Illada Mele', and 'Uppu, Huli, Khara' before.

Also Read: Narayana Murthy touches Ratan Tata's feet; Twitterati laud 'humble' Infosys co-founder

Murty heads Infosys Foundation and is a prominent philanthropist herself.

Presently, the film-makers are in the process of gathering information from the couple's family and friends, including their son Rohan. They have registered the working name of the film as "Murthy" but are yet to officialise the title or crew, the news daily reported.

"Our focus now is to finish the script. Once it is ready, we will finalise the cast. There are so many good actors, it allows us to expand the canvas," said Iyer-Tiwari.

Also Read: Infosys co-Founder Narayana Murthy recalls incident that made him a "compassionate capitalist"

Iyer-Tiwari has directed Kangana Ranaut-starrer, 'Panga' which is based on a kabaddi champion's return to the pitch following motherhood. The film is currently running in theatres.

In 1981, Sudha Murty pledged her gold to give Rs 10,000 to the Murthys after which they went on to form Infosys in Pune with six co-workers at Patni Computers. They moved their company to Bengaluru later.

Also Read: Narayana Murthy's son Rohan Murty ties the knot with Aparna Krishnan

Also Watch: This is how Sudha Murthy pays respect to her former professor!
The Catholic Bishops of Colombia end their Plenary Assembly in Bogota, presenting their main points of focus in hope that they might help solve some of the difficulties the country is facing.

By Francesca Merlo

The Bishops of Colombia presented their seven main points of focus in a message released at a Press Conference at the end of their 109th Plenary Assembly. These are: to defend and respect life; the need for social dialogue, the realisation of a common project for the country; to effectively support peace processes; to recognise the "very serious evil" of drug trafficking and its human, social, political and economic consequences; to welcome migrants, "our brothers"; and to promote integral ecology.

The Message reads that faced with the decisive, complex and worrying historical moment that the country is experiencing, it is necessary to adopt an attitude of listening, reflection, dialogue, unity and commitment in order to transform every difficulty into an opportunity.

Colombia is currently facing a huge influx of refugees arriving from neighbouring Venezuela. In recent months, people have also taken to the streets to protest the policies of President Ivan Duque's administration, including the alleged support of unpopular economic plans and the perceived lack of government action to counter killings of human rights activists and rein in corruption.

Life

The Church of Colombia, reads the document, insists on the defence and respect for life. The Bishops ask to put an end "to the wave" of violence that "burdens people and communities", because "nothing is achieved neither with weapons nor with the imposition of ideas".

Dialogue

The Bishops believe that, through dialogue, the Church can identify the needs of the population and strengthen relations between the state and civil society.

Peace

They also stress the importance of peace processes and the need to "pay particular attention to the victims and those who have abandoned their weapons and are now seeking complete social reintegration". It is necessary to keep the door of dialogue open and to fight tirelessly for reconciliation", reads the message.

Exploitation and trafficking

The Bishops note that an equal amount of effort is required in order to defeat drug trafficking and all activities related to it and to stop the exploitation of migrants as an "inhuman and unjust" act.

Our Common Home

Finally, with regard to integral ecology, the Bishops highlight "the serious and irreparable damage caused to the work that God has entrusted to man so that it might be a common home". Referring to the October Synod on the Pan-Amazonian region, the Bishops conclude by saying "we must make concrete and visible commitments to this 'biological heart of the planet' and the communities that inhabit it, especially the indigenous peoples.
The manufacturer of a commonly used pesticide that has been linked to brain damage in children will stop making the chemical this year.

Corteva Inc. said Thursday that it will end production of chlorpyrifos by the end of this year. It cited shrinking demand and withering sales for the pesticide.

The decision comes after years of environmental backlash against the agricultural chemical, and moves to ban it in both California and New York.

California banned sales of chlorpyrifos beginning on Thursday after state regulators said it had been linked to health issues in children, including brain damage.

Chlorpyrifos is used on crops including citrus, cotton, grapes and almonds.

Corteva _ which was spun off last year after DuPonts merger with Dow Chemical _ said demand for chlorpyrifos in the U.S. is less than 20% what it was at its peak nearly 30 years ago. The company said it was a business decision to end its production, and it reaffirmed that it believes the product is safe.

Farmers will be able to buy enough chlorpyrifos to use through the end of the year, Corteva said.

Environmental groups applauded the end of Cortevas production of the chemical.

This is a victory for our kids, farmworkers and rural communities nationwide, Jennifer Sass, senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement. After years of pressure and increasing public concern, the end of chlorpyrifos is finally in sight.

The Obama administration moved to ban chlorpyrifos after studies showed health dangers of the pesticide, but the Environmental Protection Agency reversed the ban under the Trump Administration

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Pollution Manufacturing Chemicals
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 01:07:55|Editor: Xiaoxia

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BANGKOK, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Two anti-terrorism policemen who sacrificed their lives to end the mass shooting in Thailand's northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima were received in a royally sponsored bathing ceremony in Bangkok, according to local TV on Monday.

The bodies of Trakul Tha-asa and Petcharat Kamchadphai, both 35, were transported from Nakhon Ratchasima to Bangkok. Their coffins were covered with Thai national flags, with senior officers and guards walking next to the coffins.

Their bodies were later moved to their hometown for funerals.

National police chief Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda on Monday praised on TV the anti-terrorism officers' acts of heroism.

These two officers sacrificed their lives to protect innocent people as the shooter used war weapons that could penetrate body armors, said Chakthip at the honoring ceremony.

The shooting rampage starting from Saturday afternoon killed at least 29 people and injured over 50 others in the Terminal 21 shopping mall, and the gunman himself was shot dead by security forces on Sunday.

All cabinet ministers and officials at Government House are to wear black on Tuesday as Thailand mourns those victims killed in the shooting.

Meanwhile Nakhon Ratchasima Governor Wichian Chantharanothai on Monday said that nine of the injured are in a critical condition, with three still remaining unconscious.
Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia:

Most employees in Hong Kong find their company culture 'weak' as the leaders remain 'out of touch' with what workers truly want.

Hong Kong professionals are most affected by long work hours and ineffective leadership, says a recent study.

"Long hours, poor communication and domineering management emerged as major areas of concern for both companies and employees, reveals a survey conducted by Deacons.

2 in 3 employees have an 'unfavorable' view of the corporate culture of their current employer, says the report 'Empowering the workplace: Modernising corporate culture to position Hong Kong for success'. In contrast, 66% of companies surveyed believe their corporate culture is 'strong' or 'very strong'.

Employers are vastly over-estimating the strength of their corporate culture - but they do recognize its importance in attracting and retaining talent, it said.

Putting culture first

The survey findings underscore the importance of strong corporate culture in supporting businesses as they face these challenges.

However, widespread disillusion among employees exists, with 70% having a neutral to negative view of the culture of the company they work for. One in three employees described the company they work for as having a "weak" or "very weak" corporate culture.

When asked to "best describe" their current workplace culture, 34% of companies say "structured" and almost one in four states ......................

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Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/2/2020 (700 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is a man of his word: hes back.

The movie star, bodybuilder and former governor of California will appear May 5 in Winnipeg, at the RBC Convention Centre, for an event called the Power of Success.

The event, which is billed as a training seminar on, among other things, "sales (and) marketing, negotiating, personal development, business, money, motivation," is part of a multi-city Canadian tour. In addition to Winnipeg, the event will also be held in Edmonton and Montreal.

General admission tickets are $97; the event will run from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Schwarzenegger will be discussing "peak performance," according to the event website.

A request for comment from organizers was not returned prior to deadline Monday.

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Its not the first time Schwarzenegger has been in Winnipeg: he was a keynote speaker at an event in 2011.

Born in Thal, Austria, in 1947, Schwarzenegger rose to prominence as a bodybuilder, winning the Mr. Universe competition for the first time at age 20.

Schwarzenegger emigrated to the U.S. in 1968, with his sights set on Hollywood. After claiming the Mr. Olympia title seven times in a decade, starting in 1970, he retired from professional bodybuilding to focus on his burgeoning acting career.

In the 1980s, he became one of the most famous actors in the world, after he starred in a string of blockbuster films, including The Terminator, Conan the Barbarian and Predator. His films have grossed more than US$3 billion worldwide.

From 2003 to 2011, Schwarzenegger served as governor of California. Since leaving office, hes founded the non-profit R20: Regions of Climate Action, and the University of Southern California Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy.
More than 200 Indian nationals, including passengers and crew members, are among the nearly 3,700 people who are stranded in a quarantined ship in Japan after some of them were tested positive for the Coronavirus.

The cruise liner, Diamond Princess, is currently quarantined near Yokohama port in Japan.

REUTERS

So far 62 people on board have been tested positive for the virus.

With the number of cases going up, the Indians onboard are appealing to the government to rescue them. Binay Kumar Sarkar, a crew member of the Diamond Princess posted a video on Facebook appealing for their rescue.

We are in a grave, dangerous situation. Yesterday, 21 passengers tested positive for coronavirus. Today, the number went up to 62. As many as 41 passengers and two were quarantined just now. There are 160 Indians among the crew members. Panic over coronavirus is growing, he said in the video.

All we want from the Indian government is that we are taken out and kept at an isolated place. Family members are worried. We are scared. We just want to disembark somehow. Please help us, Sarkar added.

Princess Cruises, the operator of this cruise ship, said on Friday evening that the quarantine end date will be February 19, unless there are any other unforeseen developments. Sarkar, however, said they were scared. If I do not speak out, tomorrow I dont know if I will be alive or dead, he said.

REUTERS

The Princess Cruises has confirmed that so far no Indians have been tested positive. As of February 6 at 7.25 pm (local Japan) no Indians have tested positive for coronavirus. The Japanese ministry of health has confirmed this is the last batch to be tested and the quarantine end date will be February 19, unless there are any other unforeseen developments. The Japanese government is also providing our ship and team members additional manpower support, a statement by the cruise said.

REUTERS

Confirming the developments, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the government is closely following it.

Many Indian crew & some Indian passengers are onboard the cruise ship #DiamondPrincess quarantined off Japan due to #Coronavirus. None have tested positive, as per the latest information provided by our Embassy @IndianEmbTokyo. We are closely following the developments.  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) February 7, 2020

"Many Indian crew and some Indian passengers are onboard the cruise ship Diamond Princess quarantined off Japan due to Coronavirus. None have tested positive, as per the latest information provided by our Embassy. We are closely following the developments." Jaishankar tweeted.

The cruise that has 2,666 guests and 1,045 crew members on board has 62 confirmed cases of Coronavirus, making it the biggest number of infection outside mainland China.


The Planetary Society

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Know the cosmos and our place within it.

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Empowering the world's citizens to advance space science and exploration.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 01:20:56|Editor: yan

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TIRANA, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Albanian Ministry of Finance and Economy and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have signed an agreement in which EBRD will provide 50 million U.S. dollars in loan to finance the rehabilitation of roads in Albania, the ministry said on Monday.

The agreement, signed by Finance and Economy Minister Anila Denaj and EBRD Director for Albania Matteo Colangeli, will be implemented by the Albanian Development Fund (ADF) to improve the infrastructure in three local roads in Albania, according to a ministry press release.

Following the signing ceremony, Denaj said the government is committed to fulfilling its priority in increasing access to rural areas, not only by Albanian people and tourists, but also by foreign investors, aiming to increase employment and economic development in these areas.

The objective of the project is to support Albania's economic development and contribute to its internal integration by developing its regional and local road network.

For his part, Colangeli said this investment will help the improvement of local economy.
Vision Engineering, the leading manufacturer of high-quality visual inspection and measurement technologies, will return to the Southern Manufacturing & Electronics show in Farnborough this month, to exhibit some of its brand new technologies and products, including: the TVM, the Deep Reality Viewer (DRV-Z1), LVC400 and new EVO Cam II firmware.

Vision Engineering, who havent attended the Southern Manufacturing show since 2018, will showcase several of its ground-breaking, innovative new products. Amongst them will be the new flagship product, the DRV-Z1, a high-quality digital 3D microscope which enables a user to view High Definition 3D images under magnification without requiring operators to wear goggles or specialist glasses.

Also, Vision Engineering will exhibit the TVM35 with motorized measurement stage, for fast and flexible shop floor measurement. Furthermore, the new LVC400 will be showcased  this is a 3-axis CNC Video Measurement System, with contact measurement capability used for measuring large components or multiple small components quickly, easily and accurately.

Attendants at the Southern Manufacturing & Electronics show will be able to test out all of the above equipment, as well as operate Vision Engineerings new EVO Cam II firmware, which extends the functionality, improves precision quality and increases the flexibility for inspection and measurement tasks when utilising Vision Engineerings EVO Cam II.

Mark Curtis, Managing Director, Vision Engineering comments:
Well I guess its going to be OK to ask foreign governments for election interference now, so we might as well forget about this and concentrate on the election. When more books come out and everyone has to start having to tell the truth, itll be the trickle of truth all through the summer and up to the election. It will not be good for the Republicans. And, as this truth trickles out, it should be a very interesting campaign season.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 10, 2020 17:42 700 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2063a6ca8 1 World coffee,Ganjar-Pranowo,France,French,Armanatha-Christiawan-Nasir,Central-Java,Borobudur-Temple Free

Indonesian Ambassador to France Armanatha Christiawan Nasir has offered Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo an opportunity to open a coffee shop in Paris as he said Parisians interest in coffee products from Central Java was high.

Coffee products from Central Java always attract French people, therefore I offer the Central Java governor the chance to open a coffee shop in Paris so [we] can tap into the potential, he said during a visit to Governor Ganjars official residence in Semarang on Sunday evening, as quoted by Antara.

Besides coffee products, he went on to say, the French are also familiar with the province's popular tourist attraction the Borobudur temple.

A sizable number of French came to Indonesia only to visit Borobudur, he added.

Borobudur has become one of the most popular destinations in France. Now French people are not only familiar with Bali but also Borobudur, and many of them go to the temple, he said.

The visits by French tourists to Central Java have great potential because every August is a month-long holiday in France, he said.

During the month, the French usually travel to many places.

"At the moment, one of the most popular destinations is Borobudur temple. The Central Java administration has to make the best of the potential because French people usually stay a long time during their trips -- between 10 and 20 days," said Armanatha.

The ambassador said his French friends, who had visited Borobudur, were in awe at the area's various tourist attractions. Not only the great temple and interesting cuisine but also unique handicrafts by locals amazed French tourists.

Some of the French tourists even make their annual trip to Borobudur just to enjoy dishes in small stalls near the temple. They say the food is delicious and they crave it. There are also tourists who are amazed by the arts and culture, he said.

In response, Governor Ganjar took seriously the offer to open a coffee shop in Paris. He immediately asked his staff to measure the possibilities.

There are many Central Java products that are in high demand in France, but when [Armanatha] mentioned the popularity of Central Java coffee, I became interested in opening a shop there. We have to put this into action, he said. (gis)




Cargill partner White Dog Labs announces plans on production of fishmeal alternative



White Dog Labs (WDL) announced last week that the district court for Morrison county, Minnesota, has approved its bid to acquire the Central Minnesota Renewables (CMR) plant in Little Falls, Minnesota. The plant, originally an 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. 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 reduce 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, MRE's 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 world's food supply."
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday urged United Liberation Front of Assam (Independent) chief Paresh Baruah to join peace talks with the government and be a part of Indian democracy.

Sonowal made the call to the ULFA (I) chief while addressing a function of 18th Bodoland Day celebration in Kokrajhar district.

The issue of holding talks with the proscribed ULFA- Independent was discussed between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Assam chief minister last week.

Paresh Baruah had recently told a local channel that he was ready for talks if even a "one-line letter" was sent to him by the government, keeping his demand for sovereignty in Assam as an agenda of discussion.

Sonowal said his government had set the goal for an insurgency-free Assam at the time of taking over charge of the state in 2016.

As a result of committed efforts by his government, several path-breaking achievements have been made, he said.

The chief minister sought support from all sections of the society in establishing peace in the state and hailed the insurgent outfits of Bodoland who laid down their arms.

Sonowal termed the recently signed Bodo Peace Accord as a historic step in this direction and said this would not only help in fulfilling the aspirations of Bodo people but also the communities who have been living in areas under the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), an autonomous district council.

Paying tributes to "Bodofa" Upendra Nath Brahma who had led the movement for separate Bodoland in Assam, Sonowal said the Bodo people have set an example with the peace accord which inspired all Indians.

Dispelling apprehensions that the peace accord would hamper the interests of other communities, he clarified that along with the Bodos, all the communities living in the BTC would get equal dignity and opportunity.

This will further take all the communities forward and help in building a more united and peaceful society, Sonowal said, adding that in today's competitive world, everyone will have to work together to take the state forward.

Speaking on the occasion, BTC chief Hagrama Mahilary said celebration of the Bodoland Day is not meant for the Bodos alone but also for all communities living in the BTC.

Pro-peace talk ULFA general secretary Anup Chitia appealed to both the government and ULFA(I) supremo Paresh Baruah to come forward for talks for the better interest of the people of Assam.

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

BEIJING: India has cleared some consignments of medical gear placed by China to combat the deadly coronavirus after setting aside export bans on all kinds of personal protection equipment, Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri said here on Monday.

The decision came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote a letter to President Xi Jinping offering solidarity and assistance to deal with the coronavirus outbreak in China that has claimed over 900 lives.

In the letter to Xi, Modi expressed solidarity with the president and people of China over the outbreak of the virus that has also infected over 40,000 people.

Prime Minister Modi also offered India's assistance to China to face the challenge, besides conveying condolences over the loss of lives due to the outbreak.

On January 31, India banned exports of all kinds of personal protection equipment, including clothing and masks used to protect people from air borne particles.

ALSO READ | China praises PM Modi's letter to Xi Jinping on coronavirus assistance

However, some of the protective clothing and personal protection equipment like masks have been cleared for exports to China setting aside the ban on some of them, Misri said.

The embassy is in touch with the Chinese authorities about the assistance required, Misri told PTI here.

Misri said China has placed big orders to import some of the medical gear required to deal with the coronavirus attack.

Exports of some of the medical gear has been banned by India, considering India's own requirements as it is also preparing to combat its major outbreak in the country.

A special screening committee of officials is meeting on daily bases to review the restrictions on the export of medical equipment which is in demand as many countries stepped up efforts to prepare to combat the outbreak of the virus in their countries, Misiri said.

Since the outbreak was reported came to limelight, China which had deployed thousands of medical personnel in virus hit Wuhan city and Hubei province has been saying that it needed large consignments of gloves, protection equipment etc for those deployed in the hospitals besides the security personnel.

Such equipment has been exported by Japan, the US and the EU.

India too has delivered a number of boxes of such equipment through the second special Air India flight sent to evacuate 647 Indian nationals held up in Wuhan and Hubei provinces, Misri said.

The death toll in China's coronavirus outbreak has gone up to 908 with 97 new fatalities reported mostly in the worst-affected Hubei province and the confirmed cases of infection crossing 40,000, Chinese health officials said on Monday.

A team of international experts led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) is expected in China on Monday to assist the Chinese health officials to contain the spread of coronavirus outbreak.

The WHO has declared the recent novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) epidemic affecting 23 countries as an International Public Health Emergency of international concern.
London, Feb 10 : Storm Ciara, named the "storm of the century", has slammed the UK as gale winds and heavy rain have triggered tornado warnings and blackouts, shut highway and grounded flights.

The Met Office on Sunday night issued several National Severe Weather Warnings for strong winds travelling up to 144 km per hour throughout the weekend, including an Amber warning for much of England and Wales, reports Xinhua news agency.

Storm Ciara also brought about heavy rains and widespread travel chaos, with passengers travelling on Sunday and Monday morning being urged to check for updates beforehand.

In Lancashire, the fire chief warned people not to travel unless "absolutely necessary" while floods ripped through towns and disrupted motorways.

Meanwhile, a severe flood warning has been issued for river Nidd in North Yorkshire.

Weather warnings had been issued across the country for Sunday with huge waves crashing into the coastline and at least 35,000 homes being left without power, the Evening Standard newspaper reported.

The M11 highway had been shut in both directions in Cambridgeshire amid fears an airport hangar's damaged roof will be blown onto the lanes.

The highway is closed at Duxford airfield, which is also home to IWM Duxford, between junctions 9 and 10.

The extreme weather also saw parts of the country lashed with rain, with Wet Sleddale Reservoir in northwest England's Lake District national park recording 151.8 mm rainfall in the 24 hours up to 8 a.m. on Sunday -- the same amount they would receive in a month.

Travellers leaving Gatwick airport in London are facing 41 delays and one cancellation, while Heathrow has 37 flight delays and further three cancellations.

"We are experiencing very high winds today and this is causing some delays and cancellations to flights. Passengers are advised to allow plenty of time to get to the airport and check the status of their flight with their airline," said the Gatwick airport on its website.

Flights were also disrupted in and out of Glasgow, Manchester and Liverpool airports.
February 10, as a result of artillery shelling by the forces of the Bashar al-Assad regime in the Idlib region, five Turkish soldiers were killed and five more were injured. Anadolu news agency reports with reference to the Ministry of National Defense of Turkey.

The ministry said that the Syrian army attacked the Turkish observation post in northern Syria. After that, the Turkish army responded with fire on Syrian military targets.

It is also reported that this is already the second attack of the Syrian government forces in a week, which led to the death of the Turkish military in Idlib province. Turkish President Recep Erdogan said that by the end of February, Syrian forces would be pleased to leave the positions located next to the Turkish observation posts in Idlib, threatening to otherwise launch an offensive in the area. Note that the Turkish posts were created in accordance with the 2017 agreement between Russia, Turkey, and Iran.

In addition, Erdogan accused Russia of violating agreements on the de-escalation of hostilities in the region.

As we reported before, Russian combat aviation delivered an airstrike on the hospital and residential quarters in Syria. The tragedy took place in Ariha village. 11 people, including a child, died in the nighttime attack; another 60 were wounded, Anadolu Agency wrote.
Yves here. One consideration that slightly ameliorates the downside scenario in this post is that China really has no other way of contending with a serious contagion like the coronavirus, whether it rises to a pandemic level or not, than quarantine and other methods to enforce greatly increased social distance. China has a woefully tiny modern health system relative to advanced economies, and still relies heavily on traditional medicine.

From an article sent by Troy P in Baldings World:

Delivery of high quality effective medical care and public health solutions in China suffers from a variety of problems. One of the most challenging is low levels of human capital in health care systems. According to one study, China has only 60,000 general practitioners or one per roughly 23,000 people. By comparison, in the United States there are 1,500 people per general practitioner. If all things were equal, this would mean Beijing one of the largest cities in the world would have fewer than 1,000 general practitioners. Nor are many medical professionals well trained. In community health centers, less than one fourth of doctors have a bachelors degree. Even as recently as a decade ago, only 67% of Chinese doctors had only been educated up to the junior college level, hardly enough under any reasonable standard to be a highly qualified medical professional. The human capital deficiencies are compounded by government priorities. Buoyed by nationalistic support from Chairman Xi Jinping to traditional Chinese medicine, it occupies the second largest market share of the retail drug market behind chemical pharmaceuticals 29% to 43%. Leaving aside the weak evidence of traditional Chinese medicine efficacy in clinical trials, it diverts enormous resources from mainline medical service delivery and research at the altar of nationalistic sentiment. Addressing major public health challenges are better targets for public spending than boosting nationalist fervor. Then oddly enough, health centers might be the only construction market in China to have missed out in the past decade. In 2009, China had 917,000 health institutions but by 2018 this number had only increased to 997,000 increasing roughly 1% a year. What has been happening however is a concentration of larger hospitals who are responsible for majority of growth in visits, bed space, and new institutions. This has led to wildly divergent health services. Primary level hospitals, the smallest hospitals in smaller towns, have bed occupancy rates of 57% while third level hospitals, which are the biggest and most advanced in bigger cities, register 98% in 2018 and 102% in 2014. In other words, in cities like Wuhan, hospitals the primary center of care for corona were already stretched beyond the breaking point.

These facts confirm our reaction when China rushed to construct a new hospital in Wuhan: so what? If you cant staff it, what are you accomplishing? We had assumed it would be difficult to impossible to get qualified personnel (doctors with expertise in pulmonary ailments) to come to Wuhan even before we learned of the scarcity of medical personnel in general in China. Is the new hospital for show or merely to isolate people known to be sick? My understanding is that another constraint in any medical system, and it is bound to be much worse in China, is that the best hope of saving a severely ill coronavirus victim is to put them on a respiratorequipment not in great supply even in Western hospitals.

By David Llewellyn-Smith, Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacifics leading geo-politics and economics portal. Originally published at Macrobusiness

First the latest update from Beijing:

At 04:00 on February 8th, 31 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps reported that 2656 confirmed cases (2147 cases in Hubei) were newly added, 87 severe cases (52 cases in Hubei) were newly added, and There were 89 deaths (81 in Hubei, 2 in Henan, 1 each in Hebei, Heilongjiang, Anhui, Shandong, Hunan, and Guangxi), and 3,916 suspected new cases (2067 in Hubei). On the same day, 600 new patients were discharged from hospital (324 in Hubei), and 31,124 close contacts were lifted from medical observation. As of 24:00 on February 8, according to reports from 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, there were 33,738 confirmed cases (including 6,188 severe cases), and a total of 2,649 discharged patients were cured (Heilongjiang reduced one) A total of 811 deaths have been reported, 37,198 confirmed cases have been reported (1 in each of Shanxi, Heilongjiang, Henan, and Hainan), and there are currently 28,942 suspected cases. A total of 371,905 close contacts were traced, and 188,183 close contacts were still in medical observation. A total of 53 confirmed cases were reported in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan: 26 in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (1 death), 10 in the Macao Special Administrative Region (1 in cured and discharged), and 17 in Taiwan (1 in cured and discharged).

And the charts:

The most important news on the weekend was that Guangzhou (13m people) and Chengdu added draconian restrictions to their populaces and Apple assembly partner, Foxconn, was forced to close for another week.

Its become impossible to track how many Chinese are now locked down. Most of the country to one degree or another. Some are reporting 400m. That is plausible.

The upside is that the shutdown appears, for now, to have slowed the virus spread in China. Thats great news. If you believe it.

The problem is, there are very good reasons to not do so. The epicenter of the outbreak in Hubei is clearly massively worse than is being made out. The number of deaths and other marginal indicators suggests 10x worse, via Bloomie:

The new coronavirus may have infected at least 1 in 20 people in Wuhan, the Chinese city at the epicenter of the global outbreak, by the time it peaks in coming weeks, according to scientists modeling its spread. The typically bustling megacity, where the so-called 2010-nCoV virus emerged late last year, has been in lockdown since Jan. 23, restricting the movement of 11 million people. Trends in reported cases in Wuhan so far broadly support the mathematical modeling the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is using to predict the epidemics transmission dynamics.

Thats half a million people infected

That discrepancy is indicating something else very important for the political response to the virus.

Whats Good for the CCP

The question is, what path is best for the CCP? Lets not delude ourselves into thinking any other question matters, whether that of the Chinese public interest or our own. The CCP will do what best secures its power base amid one of the greatest threats to its rule since Tianenman Square.

At the moment it is caught between the need to defeat the virus and the vast ecomic damage being done by doing so. To date, it has managed this binary by lying about the severity of the virus and controlling the media narrative while deploying immense containment shutdowns. But with each passing day the economic damage makes this more difficult, right down to the basics of supplying food to 1.3bn people. Its surely impossible for the CCP to sustain full lockdown for much longer without doing itself serious political harm.

It is probably true that the shutdown has limited the virus spread in wider China if not Hubei. But going back to work isnt going to do that. And the virus is a long way from being eliminated.

This raises the prospect that, as virus containment and the economy come into greater conflict, the CCP may decide that its own best interest is served by letting the virus spread worldwide. Why? Becasue at least then it can throw its hands up and say we did our best but this virus is beyond all human intervention. An excuse that may wash with the Chinese people.

If so, it will allow its containment effort at home to slip while lying about it succeeding, and put a lot of pressure upon other nations to open their borders.

The Good of Other Nations

There is a problem if thats the way the CCP is going. Most pointedly, Chinese authorites have inadvertently illustrated how best to combat the spread of the virus.

In Hubei, where authorities hid the truth and allowed the virus to spread, the mortality rate is massively higher than elsewhere. There are many reasons for this, not least being the outbreak began earlier and it has more cases. But perhaps the most important is that, once out, the virus proved virulent enough to overwhelm its public health system. Without proper treatment, the mortality rate skyrockets.

In short, the first order response for all nations is draconian quarantining of any outbreak so that any given health system can manage the outbreak at a pace it can cope with. If you allow the virus to spread unchecked even for a few weeks then it threatens a mass casualty event as it overwhelms response capacity.

Thus any government that opens up to China too early will find itself at risk of another outbreak, with the risk of higher deaths, versus the economic need to restore connections. Getting this balance wrong will trigger politically fatal allegations of killing citizens.

But any kind of ongoing isolation of China by other nations threatens the CCP. So it will ramp up pressure to release global clamps on its economy, and governments everywhere will find themslves caught between between Scylla and Charybdis.

The mind really begins to boggle when we consider the virus will likely get loose in less developed nations. There is some hope that it will not spread as fast in warmer climates but not enough to stop it. That could throw up an endless sequence of economic shutdowns applied piecemeal across the world as different governments respond.

It also raises the greater prospect of mutations and further pandamic waves.

The Upshot

There are no good outcomes. China has slowed but not contained the virus. It is very contagious and sending people back to work will bring it back on, jeoparding the CCP. Keeping them at home will jeopardise it even sooner.

The CCP is attempting to lie its way out of the conundrum. Other nations will be caught in the web. If so, nCoV will very likely spread globally, leading to a rolling shock of shutdowns all over the place.

Our base case is now a rolling shutdown in China for three-to-six months, rolling shutdown of contained outbreaks globally, with worse cases in EMs. This will hammer the global economy into recession and risk all kinds of financial contagion.

The upside risk case is no longer a SARS repeat. That hope is dead. It is that China contains the virus outside of Hubei over another few months as it incremantally opens up and stimulates wildly. This still delivers material damage to the global economy with a lighter recession held back by sporadic outbreaks of nCoV.

The downside risk case remains global pandemic and depression.
ANKARA, Turkey - Turkey said it retaliated Monday after intense shelling by Syrian forces killed five of its soldiers and wounded five others in Syrias northern Idlib province, a marked escalation a week after a similarly deadly clash between the two sides.

The exchange of fire came as a Russian delegation held a second round of talks in the Turkish capital of Ankara to discuss the fighting in Idlib province, which has uprooted more than a half-million people in the past two months. No statement was issued at the end of the talks.

The fighting led to the collapse of a fragile cease-fire brokered by Turkey and Russia in 2018. Turkey supports the Syrian rebels, while Russia heavily backs the Syrian governments campaign to retake the area, which is the last rebel stronghold in Syria.

A U.N. official said the number of people displaced by the violence since Dec. 1 reached nearly 700,000, up from 600,000.

Thats more than 100,000 people in just over a week, said U.N. regional spokesman David Swanson.

This could well prove to be the largest number of people displaced in a single period since the Syrian crisis began almost nine years ago, Swanson said, reiterating the call for an immediate truce.

T he U.N. remains deeply alarmed about the safety and protection of over 3 million civilians in Idlib and surrounding areas, over half of whom are internally displaced, as reports of airstrikes and shellings continue in Syria, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said in New York.

At least 49 civilians were killed between Feb. 1-5, with at least 186 civilians killed in January, he said.

Most of the displaced are living in open-air shelters and temporary homes in rain, snow and freezing temperatures near the Turkish border. Half of the displaced are believed to be children.

Food, shelter, water and sanitation, hygiene, health, education and protection assistance are all urgent priorities, Haq said, with the humanitarian community seeking $336 million to help 800,000 people in northwestern Syria for six months.

The fighting has led Turkey to send hundreds of military vehicles and troops into Idlib province in the past week, bringing both countries forces into direct confrontation, a rarity in the Syrian conflict.

Eight Turkish military and civilian personnel and 13 Syrian soldiers were killed in a clash in the province last week. Turkey has warned Syria to retreat to cease-fire lines that were agreed in 2018.

The Turkish Defence Ministry said its five troops that were killed and those who were wounded were reinforcements that had been sent to Idlib.

Our fire support vehicles immediately fired on the targets with intensity and the necessary response was given, the ministry said. The statement did not say where the attack took place but news reports said it was at Taftanaz, where Turkish troops were allegedly trying to set up a base.

A later statement said the retaliation was in line with Turkeys rules of engagement and its right to self-defence.

At least 115 Syrian positions were targeted in the retaliatory strikes, the ministry said, adding that more than 100 Syrian forces were neutralized. In addition, three tanks and two artillery positions were destroyed, while a helicopter was hit, the ministry said. The claim could not be independently verified.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition monitoring group, gave a higher casualty toll, reporting six Turkish soldiers were killed and seven were wounded in the Syrian shelling at the Taftanaz air base. It added that four Syrian rebels were killed in the shelling.

Omer Celik, the spokesman for Turkeys ruling-party, said it was out of the question for the Turkish troops to vacate the observation posts in Idlib, adding that Turkey would continue to respond to systematic Syrian government attacks

Celik also said Turkish troops would continue trying to ensure that Syrian government forces withdraw to previous positions.

The Turkish will carry out the necessary work to ensure that the (Syrian) regime retreat from the line it has violated with the aggression, Celik said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkish and Russian delegations exchanged proposals over Idlib at a first meeting Saturday in Ankara.

The Russian team returned to Ankara on Monday from a visit to Jordan and held talks with Ibrahim Kalin, a top aide to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

During the meeting, Kalin emphasized the need for the attacks against Turkish soldiers and the observation to be stopped, according to a statement from his office, carried by state-run Anadolu Agency.

Syrias military has vowed to continue its campaign.

An early morning airstrike on the village of Ibbin in a rebel-held region of Aleppo province near Idlib killed nine people, including six children, according to activists from the Observatory and the Step news agency, an activist collective. At least 10 people were wounded.

The Syrian governments campaign appears aimed at securing a strategic highway in rebel-controlled territory for now, rather than seizing the entire province and its densely populated capital, Idlib.

The government-controlled Syrian Central Military Media released a map of the area of fighting showing that Syrian troops only have 15 kilometres (9 miles) left from seizing full control of the strategic highway, known as the M5. The highway links the national capital of Damascus with the countrys north, which has for years been divided between government and opposition forces.

Meanwhile, a car bomb in a Syrian town controlled by Turkey-backed opposition fighters killed at least four people and wounded 15, the Anadolu Agency reported.

The attack was the latest in a series of explosions in Turkish-controlled regions that have killed and wounded scores of people. Turkey has blamed the Syrian Kurdish militia, known as the Peoples Protection Units.

The bomb went off on a main street in the town of Afrin, which Turkey took control of following a military incursion in 2018, Anadolu reported. It said some of the wounded were in serious condition, adding that the death toll was likely to rise.

The Turkish offensive has aimed at pushing Kurdish fighters away from the border. Those Kurdish fighters had been key U.S. allies in the fight against the Islamic State group. Turkey considers the Syrian Kurdish fighters terrorists linked to a Kurdish insurgency within Turkey.

___

Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Sarah El Deeb in Beirut and Edith M. Lederer in New York contributed.
Joe Biden did the weird Joe Biden thing to the young lady in Hampton, New Hampshire who asked him an honest question about his poor performance in the Iowa caucuses. He acknowledged it was a good question. He asked her if she had ever attended a caucus. Relevance to her question? Not entirely apparent. When the young lady answered in the affirmative, Biden called her a lyin dog-faced pony soldier (video below).

It could have been worse. He might have jabbed her in the chest.

He might have gone easy on her; he might have told her to vote for one of his opponents in the New Hampshire primary.

He might have simply answered her question.

Instead, from somewhere in the windmills of his mind, he called her a liar, I think.

Having slept on it overnight, I wondered where the heck that came from. The Washington Post reports that Biden drew it from John Wayne in the film Hondo. The Post also asserts that Bidens insult was jocular. As the headline has it: Biden jokingly calls voter who asked about Iowa a lying dog-faced pony soldier. . Something tells me that the powers that be at the Post seek to cushion Bidens descent.

Checking around online, I note that other outlets have gone deeper in their search for the source of the insult:

Biden has used the line before and Reuters reported that hes said its a reference to the 1953 John Wayne movie Hondo. A search of the script revealed a few references to pony soldiers and lying, but not together nor with the dog-faced portion. Some on social media suggested Biden may have been referencing Pony Soldier, a 1952 film that starred Tyrone Power and not John Wayne. However, according to Slate, the line as Biden used it never appeared in that film either.

The quote above comes from the Huffpost report under a headline that signals a view of Bidens descent that is somewhat more in tune with the weirdness than the Posts: Lying Dog-Faced What??? Joe Biden Mystifies With Bonkers Joke Insult At Voter.

In the spirit of scholarship, the search for sources continues.
Bahraich : , Feb 10 (IANS) A Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) trooper was arrested in Uttar Pradesh for allegedly abducting two businessmen.

Superintendent of Police Gaurav Grover said that SSB jawan Rajesh Kumar, posted at SSB Battalion in Mohanlalganj, Lucknow, was arrested on Sunday.

He, along with three others, had abducted two businessmen from a roadside eatery in Motipur on late Saturday night.

Rajesh Kumar allegedly beat up the businessmen after holding them hostage and asked them to give ransom for their release.

Later, a police team rescued the businessmen and arrested Rajesh Kumar. His three associates are absconding.

Further investigations in the case are underway.
Boulder, Colo., USA: In Australia, the onset of human occupation (about 65,000 years?) and dispersion across the continent are the subjects of intense debate and are critical to understanding global human migration routes. A lack of ceramic artifacts and permanent structures has resulted in a scarcity of dateable archaeological sites older than about 10,000 years.

Existing age constraints are derived largely from radiocarbon dating of charcoal and/or optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of quartz grains in rock shelter sediments, and there is a need for independent age constraints to test more controversial ages. In southeastern Australia, only six sites (located in Tasmania, New South Wales, and South Australia) older than 30,000 years are considered definitively dated by 14C and/or OSL methods, with ages spanning 37,000-50,000 years.

The strong oral traditions of Australian Aboriginal peoples have enabled perpetuation of ecological knowledge across many generations and can likely provide additional archeological insights. Some surviving traditions allude to different geological events, such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and meteorite impacts. It has been proposed that some of these traditions may have been transmitted for thousands of years.

The Newer Volcanic Province of southeastern Australia contains over 400 basaltic eruption centers, a number of which are thought to have erupted within the last 100,000 years, although precise ages remain elusive for most. Technological improvements over the last decade have firmly established applicability of the 40Ar/39Ar dating technique (which relies on the natural radioactive decay of 40K in minerals) to archeological timescales, enabling many of these younger volcanoes to be dated by this method.

Rare reported occurrences of archaeological evidence beneath volcanic ash deposits and lava flows, and the longevity of Aboriginal oral histories, presents an opportunity for novel investigation into the timing of human occupation of this region. In particular, oral traditions surrounding the Budj Bim Volcanic Complex (previously Mount Eccles) in western Victoria have been interpreted to reference volcanic activity.

This new study published in Geology presents a new 40Ar/39Ar eruption age of 36,900  3,100 thousand years for the Budj Bim Volcanic Complex and an age of 36,800  3,800 thousand years for the nearby Tower Hill Volcanic Complex; the latter is of archaeological significance due to the historical discovery of a stone axe from a sequence of volcanic ash deposits.

These ages fall within the range of 14C and OSL ages reported for the six earliest known occupation sites in southeastern Australia. The age of Tower Hill directly represents the minimum age for human presence in Victoria. If oral traditions surrounding Budj Bim do indeed reference volcanic activity, this could mean that these are some of the longest-lived oral traditions in the world.

###

FEATURED ARTICLE

Early human occupation of southeastern Australia: New insights from 40Ar/39Ar dating of young volcanoes

Erin L. Matchan, David Phillips, Fred Jourdan, and Korien Oostingh. CONTACT author: Erin Matchan, erin.matchan@unimelb.edu.au. Paper URL: https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article/doi/10.1130/G47166.1/581018/Early-human-occupation-of-southeastern-Australia

GEOLOGY articles are online at http://geology.geoscienceworld.org/content/early/recent. Representatives of the media may obtain complimentary articles by contacting Kea Giles at the e-mail address above. Please discuss articles of interest with the authors before publishing stories on their work, and please make reference to GEOLOGY in articles published. Non-media requests for articles may be directed to GSA Sales and Service, gsaservice@geosociety.org.

https://www.geosociety.org
South Korean businessmen and civic group members hold a press conference in Seoul, Monday, urging the government to reopen the Gaeseong Industrial Complex. / Yonhap



By Kang Seung-woo



South Korean businessmen who ran factories at the now-shuttered joint industrial complex in North Korea's border city of Gaeseong urged the government Monday to reopen the facility immediately.



The Gaeseong Industrial Complex (GIC), established in 2004, was abruptly shut down by the Park Geun-hye administration, Feb. 10, 2016, in retaliation for the North's fourth nuclear test, Jan. 6, and long-range missile launches, Feb. 7, that year. A total of 124 South Korean companies operated facilities there employing 54,000 North Korean workers. The conservative government decided the hard currency earned through the "joint venture" was used to fund the North's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.



"It has been four years since the shutdown of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, which was the last remaining symbol of inter-Korean economic cooperation. During the period, military tensions on the Korean Peninsula have escalated, while companies operating there and their affiliates have been hit very hard financially," the Corporate Association of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex (CAGIC) said during a press conference jointly held in central Seoul with the civic group Pan-National Movement for the Resumption of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex and Mount Geumgang Tourism.



"As the government expressed its determination to expand inter-Korean cooperation and exchanges at the beginning of the year, it needs to come up with detailed measures, and the first step should be to declare the resumption of the facility's operations and allow businessmen to visit there for preparations."



The press conference took place as the Moon Jae-in administration is seeking to expand inter-Korean cooperation and exchanges this year to "facilitate" nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington. Along with allowing individual tourists from the South to the North, its plans include reopening the GIC.



"The government believes the reopening of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex is absolutely necessary to move toward peace on the Korean Peninsula. Now we plan to create an atmosphere positive about it in cooperation with the international community," Unification Ministry spokesman Yoh Sang-key said in a briefing earlier in the day.



Participants in the press conference also denounced the United States that they claim was being negative about inter-Korean cooperation.



Regarding the tourism and Gaeseong reopening, the U.S. government has expressed concerns that they may violate international sanctions imposed because of the North's nuclear and missile programs. When President Moon unveiled his inter-Korean plan last month, U.S. Ambassador to Korea Harry Harris said Seoul should hold prior consultations with Washington to avoid "misunderstandings" related to sanctions.



"Last year, three inter-Korean summits took place, raising expectations that reopening the industrial zone and the suspended Mount Geumgang tourism could be feasible in the near future. However, the U.S. found fault with everything regarding inter-Korean affairs, and the South dragged its feet on them, being extremely cautious about the U.S. government's response," CAGIC said.



"North Korea policy is an issue for South Korea to decide on its own. If the U.S. really wants peace and prosperity on the peninsula, it should give full support rather than interfering."



The press conference coincided with South Korea and the U.S. holding "working group" talks to coordinate policy on the North. The Kim Jong-un regime criticizes the meeting as the U.S. attempting to ruin inter-Korean projects.


The unavailability of boulders is the major challenge in going ahead with that technology.

CHENNAI: After successfully testing the efficacy of the technology of groyne fields since 2007 along the Kerala and North Chennai coastline to fight sea erosion, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) has developed an eco-friendly system using geotextiles to save seashore.

The system, geotextile-wrapped over geo cell, developed with the fund offered by the Kerala government, has reached the final stage, Dr. V. Sundar, professor, department of ocean engineering, IIT-M told this newspaper.

We hope we would be able to introduce it on the ground in a year. The system works with a dual structure: one is the geotube that will be laid on the updrift side and the second, a geo textile structure that replaces the conventional seawall in the down drift side, Dr Sundar said.

The geotube will act as a shock absorber by reducing the power of the waves. Ultimately, the system brings down the power of the high waves during the monsoon season that would cause sever damages to the life and property of coastal people.

He said the IIT team pursued the project after Kerala government accepted its proposal a couple of years ago and the allocated the fund for the same.

We are is waiting for the release of the final instalment of the fund from the Kerala government to test the technology on the ground.

The system is eco-friendly and cost effective compared to conventional rocky seawalls, he said. The sizable boulders are unavailable and that was why we thought about the geo textiles, he said. Geotextiles are strong enough to withstand the pressure of waves. It's the real alternate for the rocky seawalls.

It may be recalled that the IITM team, under Dr. Sundar, has successfully tested groyne field technology laying down as many as 25 structures in as many as 20 shorelines in Kerala since 2007.

We are satisfied with the performance and it helped save many villages in Kerala.

The unavailability of boulders is the major challenge in going ahead with that technology. Therefore we were forced to look for the alternative, he said.

According to Dr Sundar, IITM has done a review study on the implemented groyne fields in the coast of Kerala in around 20 locations.

Based on a detailed review, it is found that groyne fields in 12 out of the 20 locations are in good state and functioning very effectively and have recovered lot of beaches. Though the remaining fields are comparatively less effective in recovering beach, they have controlled erosion to an acceptable limit, he pointed out.
One protester was killed on Monday in Iraq's southern city of Nasiriyah after university security guards opened fire on demonstrators trying to block the campus entrance, medical sources told AFP.

Desperate to keep up their anti-government movement, which appears to be fading after more than four months, a group of protesters had briefly shut down several campuses in the city.

More than 540 Iraqis have been killed in protest-related violence since the rallies erupted, according to a recent toll by the Iraqi Human Rights Commission.

Last week, Iraq's interior minister ordered reinforcements to deploy at schools, universities and public offices to ensure they re-open in full after prolonged sit-ins by protesters.

Their rallies demanding the ouster of the entire governing class broke out in October and have mainly relied on civil disobedience tactics to put pressure on authorities, which have however resisted any profound reforms.

As schools and roads reopen, the numbers in protest squares across the country have dwindled but students have sought to maintain momentum with regular marches. They have opposed the nomination of Mohammad Allawi as Iraq's new premier, slamming the two-time communications minister as too close to the political elite they have been demonstrating against for months.

Allawi has until March 2 to form a government, which will have to be approved by a parliamentary vote.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 10

Trend:

As a part of the visit to the United Arab Emirates, delegation of the State Committee on Work with Diaspora (SCWD) met with the Azerbaijanis living in Dubai, the largest city in the UAE.

The meeting was held at the Consulate of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Dubai with the participation of dozens of out compatriots.

The meeting began with our national anthem, then a video clip on the activities of the State Committee on Work with Diaspora was demonstrated.

Chairman of the State Committee Fuad Muradov informed the participants about the activities of the Committee, implemented projects- establishment of Coordination Councils in different countries of the world, Summer Camps of Diaspora Youth, founding of Azerbaijani houses and weekend Karabakh schools and other important projects.

The delegation and participants exchanged views, especially on the proposals and problems of Azerbaijanis living in Dubai during the meeting. Our compatriots emphasized the importance of opening an Azerbaijani school in the city where they live, organizing language courses or their online teaching.

It was noted that the visit of the leadership and staff of the Committee to Dubai is very important for bringing together our compatriots here and it is necessary that these visits be regular.

Azerbaijanis, who hold various positions in Dubai, said that such meetings would play an unreplaceable role in terms of getting to know and helping young people here.

The issue of establishment a Coordination Council of Azerbaijanis living in Dubai in the future was also discussed and inclination of compatriots for organizing here attracted attention.

Consul General of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Dubai Javidan Huseynov highly appreciated the meeting with the Azerbaijanis living in Dubai and emphasized that such meetings play a peerless role in promoting Azerbaijan and organizing of our compatriots.
Winter Session: Opposition to take out march protest against suspension of 12 MPs today

Opposition MPs in both Houses march in protest from Gandhi statue to Vijay Chowk

Explained: How Opposition, BJP allies cornered govt over SC order on SC/ST quota

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Feb 10: Several political parties, including some NDA allies, cornered the government on the Supreme Court ruling that said state governments were not bound to provide reservations in jobs and promotions.

Congress leader and former party president Rahul Gandhi on Monday lashed out at the BJP-RSS and said that they are against the reservation.

The Congress leader also said that erasing the reservation for the SC/ST/OBC and Dalits were in the DNA of RSS and BJP. "I want to tell SC/ST/OBC and Dalits that we will never let reservations come to an end no matter how much Modi Ji or Mohan Bhagwat dream of it," he said.

The political uproar was caused after the apex court recently ruled that the states are not bound to provide reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in appointments and there is no fundamental right to claim quota in promotions.

However, the government accused the Congress of "politicising the sensitive issue" while the LJP, an NDA constituent, said the Centre should immediately interfere in the matter and put the subject of quota in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution so that no one moves the apex court on these issues.

Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot clarified that the Centre was not asked to file an affidavit in the matter, and said the issue is being discussed in the government at the "highest level" and it will take "appropriate steps" in the matter.

As soon as the Question Hour started, opposition members led by Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury sought to raise the issue in Lok Sabha. He was also joined by members from other parties, including the DMK.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi urged Speaker Om Birla to expunge remarks made by opposition members against the government. Birla said he would look into the issue.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said that in 2012 there was a Congress government in Uttarakhand and they took a decision on the matter.

"In the matter, the central government has no role. Our government is committed for reservation," Meghwal said.

BJP ally, Lok Janshakti Party also joined the opposition when the party leader Chirag Paswan said, "I request the central government to strengthen the reservation system. We cannot even discuss the issue of ending reservation."

The Ninth Schedule of the Constitution is where the government parks laws which it thinks should be beyond judicial review. It bars the courts, including the Supreme Court, from striking down laws on the ground that it violates fundamental rights.

Other opposition leaders who expressed their concern over the SC order, included Supriya Sule (NCP), Kalyan Banerjee (TMC), Ritesh Pandey (BSP), Anupriya Patel (Apna Dal), E T Mohammed Basheer (IUML) and CPI (M) member A M Ariff.

The sentiments were echoed in Rajya Sabha where Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and other members demanded that the government file a review petition in the SC, and walked out of the House over its "unsatisfactory" response.

It is a "serious" issue and the entire country is concerned about it, LJP leader and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said.

"There is no need to worry. The Modi government will protect and will do whatever best possible to protect the interest of SCs and STs," Paswan, a Dalit leader, said.

Later, the Congress accused Gehlot of misleading Lok Sabha on the issue and said it would move a privilege motion against him.

The Congress also said it would stage protests and agitations at district level on the issue in the coming weeks to "expose" the Modi government's "conspiracy to end reservation" for STs/SCs and Other Backward Classes.

Congress general secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal said it is a clear agenda of the BJP to curtail reservation for SCs/STs and backwards and alleged that the RSS has been "sabotaging" reservation to these oppressed sections for years.

Meanwhile, DMK President M K Stalin alleged that the policy of providing reservation was facing peril ever since the BJP assumed office at the Centre.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also attacked the BJP over the apex court order and alleged that the ruling party was weakening the equal rights given to Dalits and tribals by the Constitution.

with PTI inputs
Vietnam exported 560,000 tonnes of rice in January 2020, earning US$270.3 million, an increase of 12 per cent in volume and 39 per cent in value month-on-month, according to the General Department of Customs.

Viet Nam posted strong growth in rice exports in January.

Exports rose by 28.1 per cent in volume and 38.4 per cent in value year-on-year.

Since the start of the winter-spring rice crop, domestic prices have remained stable while export volume has surged. Before the Tet festival, local businesses contracts to ship rice to the Philippines and Malaysia due to more competitive prices than other countries.

FOB (free on board) prices stand between $340 and $350 per tonne for five-per-cent-broken rice, falling $10-$20 for 15-per-cent broken rice and 25-per-cent broken rice.

This year, the Philippines is expected to maintain its import volume, while the African market is forecast to purchase 1 million tonnes, followed by Malaysia at 500,000 tonnes.

The nation also exports from 300,000 to 400,000 tonnes to Cuba each year, while Iraq buys about 300,000 tonnes. China plans to buy 400,000 tonnes of local rice every year.

Bui Thi Thanh Tam, general director of the Northern Food Corporation, said five years ago, China was the largest market for local rice but now Viet Nam had expanded its export markets. This meant the coronavirus epidemic would not take a big hit on Viet Nam's rice exports.

Do Ha Nam, vice chairman of the Viet Nam Food Association, said China would continue to tighten rice imports this year, so the rice import quota from Viet Nam would stay the same as last year.

However, Viet Nam has a chance to boost its rice exports to Japan this year because it wants to diversify its rice import sources by seeking other suppliers from countries that have signed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), including Viet Nam. At present, Japan depends on US rice supplies.

The Import-Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade also said, besides allocating a quota of 20,000 tonnes of rice to all members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) this year, South Korea had given a quota of 55,112 tonnes of rice for Viet Nam, according to a multilateral agreement between South Korea and five WTO partners, including Australia, the US, China and Thailand.

To take this export opportunity, local exporters were looking for more information about the Korean market and the tariff quota mechanism to develop their production and business plans.

Nam said this year, Viet Nam was forecast to export the same volume as 2019 or a slight increase.

However, drought and saline intrusion were likely to reduce rice output this year.

In addition, prices were also expected to decline due to lower demand on the world market, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Many countries have been restructuring their agriculture sectors to move towards self-sufficiency.

Meanwhile, Viet Nam now faces difficulties finding new rice markets.

Last year, Viet Nam experienced a fall in rice export value of 10 per cent to $2.76 billion but a surge of 3 per cent in export volume to nearly 6.3 million tonnes. The main reason was falling global prices.

The Philippines was the largest export market for Vietnamese rice with a value of $885 million, a year-on-year rise of 92.58 per cent, according to the General Department of Customs.

Markets with strong growth in rice export value included Senegal (98 per cent), Ivory Coast (78.6 per cent), Taiwan (31 per cent), Hong Kong (28.3 per cent) and Tanzania (26.6 per cent).

Viet Nams rice has been exported to 150 countries and territories around the world.  VNS



182 rice traders certified as eligible for rice exports The Ministry of Industry and Trade has granted 47 certificates of eligibility to rice export businesses over the past year, lifting the number of rice exporters to 182 traders.
Syrian army gains control of 600 sq.km., several towns, villages in Aleppo, Idlib: Statement

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 09 February 2020 2:45 PM

Syrian government forces, backed by allied fighters from popular defense groups, have made significant advances against foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants in the northwestern provinces of Aleppo and Idlib.

In a statement released by the official news agency SANA on Sunday, Syria's General Command of the Army and Armed Forces announced that troops making territorial gains in the eastern countryside of Idlib have linked up with their counterparts advancing in southern Aleppo at one crossing point, establishing full control over a number of towns and strategic hills and nearly 600 square kilometers of land.

The statement enumerated some of the liberated towns and villages as Khan al-Sabil, Jobas, al-Nayrab, Tell Mardikh, Kafr Amim, Afes, Saraqib, Tell al-Tabariz, Maharem, Zummar, al-Eis, Tell Touqan, Khan Tuman, Khalsa, Zitan and al-Rayyan.

It went on to say that Syrian forces keep safeguarding national sovereignty and public dignity, eliminating the dangers of terrorist groups.

The statement highlighted that attempts by sponsors of terrorism to stop the collapse within the ranks of terror groups operating inside Syria will not succeed.

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."

The Syrian army declared the start of an offensive against 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 province of Aleppo and the west-central province of Hama, were supposed to pull out heavy arms by October 17, 2018.

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A young Houston man was ambushed and killed Sunday afternoon after leaving a convenience store in Sunnyside.

The victim had just left the Scott Food Store in the 8200 block of Scott Street around 4:30 p.m., according to Houston Police Department homicide detective Justin Brown. The man was driving away from the store when another car pulled up and ambushed him with gunfire, Brown said.

MORE FROM JAY R. JORDAN: Man dead, woman kidnapped after altercation at SE Houston apartment

The man was shot twice and crashed into the grassy median dividing Scott Street. Paramedics rushed him to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where he died in surgery, Brown said.

What led to the gunfire is unclear. Brown said detectives need the publics help in identifying the gunman.

Anyone with information is urged to call HPDs Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Houston Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477).

Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com
Employees will be paid all entitlements owed, the administrators said. The gates outside the Jimmy Grants outlet in Fitzroy - one of seven across Melbourne - were padlocked on Monday. Devastated chef Matt Wilkinson said he would fight to keep the doors of Crofter Dining in Brunswick open after relaunching on the site of the former Hellenic Republic just last month. "To be honest, I feel like Ive been winded, like I've been punched in the gut by the big kid at school," Wilkinson said. Matt Wilkinson desperately wants to keep the doors of Crofter open. Credit:Simon Schluter

Earlier on Monday, a sign asking for "expressions of interest" was put up in front of Calombaris' multimillion-dollar Toorak mansion. Sources said the former MasterChef star was thinking about relocating to Greece after the insolvency process is completed. Celebrity chef George Calombaris is selling his Toorak home. Credit:Jason South Calombaris paid $4.75 million for the five-bedroom home in McMaster Court at the height of his fame in 2013. The decision to sell the family house comes after he listed his Safety Beach weekender on the Mornington Peninsula for sale last year. His property portfolio also includes a $2.2 million home in Arthurs Seat on the peninsula.

To be honest, I feel like Ive been winded, like I've been punched in the gut by the big kid at school. Chef Matt Wilkinson In recent months, Made Establishment had embarked on a major rebranding exercise as Calombaris stepped back as the figurehead of four high-profile venues within the group. It came after the restaurant group was ordered to make a large contrition payment as part of an unprecedented deal with the Fair Work Ombudsman, for underpaying $7.83 million in wages to 515 current and former employees. All former and current staff were reimbursed. In December, Hellenic Hotel in Williamstown was relaunched as Hotel Argentina, while Hellenic Kew transformed into an Italian restaurant, Vita. Craig Shepard from KordaMentha said the rebranding was unable to turn the business around "despite strong reviews".

Loading "Other factors were generally difficult trading conditions in the hospitality industry in recent years due to the expansion of the on-demand economy via services such as UberEats and Deliveroo, increasing costs, fierce industry competition and changes in consumer tastes to favour cheaper mid-tier dining options," Mr Shepard said in a statement. Mr Shepard said the administrators would seek alternative operators for the venues. If his offer is accepted, Wilkinson hopes he can reopen Crofter Dining as early as Friday. He intends to close the doors for several days to allow for liquor licences and other administration to be transferred.

Wilkinson has told his staff he intends to hire them back. In the meantime, he has secured them work at friends' businesses. "I've worked so hard to get it this far. I havent seen my kids for the last month, or had a day off since December 30. I'm not giving up without a fight," he said. Hellenic Brighton was the last business still under Calombaris' creative control. Calombaris' flagship fine dining establishment, Press Club, became Elektra Dining in October under star chef Reuben Davis. When contacted for comment on Monday, Davis said he could not say if he had plans to make an offer. Simon Hartley, the owner of CBD stalwart Becco, was recruited in January to manage Made's former Hellenic Kew, now called Vita Italian.

Loading He considered the 200 seat premises a large risk to investors in the current restaurant climate. "Its such a big space, its such a big risk at a time like this," Hartley said. "Ive still really enjoyed the process of working [at Vita], and Im hoping to offer employment to some of the team." Carlton pub, The Lincoln, threw open its doors on Monday morning for staff from all Made venues to meet and commiserate over beers.
In a letter to Xi, Modi expressed solidarity with the president and people of China over the coronavirus outbreak that has claimed over 900 lives in the neighbouring country

Beijing: China on Monday appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's letter to President Xi Jinping offering solidarity and assistance to deal with the deadly coronavirus outbreak, saying it "fully demonstrated" New Delhi's friendship with Beijing.

In a letter to Xi, Modi expressed solidarity with the president and people of China over the outbreak of the virus that has claimed over 900 lives in the neighbouring country.

"We thank and appreciate India's support for China's fight against the NCP Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia, the official name for coronavirus," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said. "India's acts of goodwill fully demonstrate its friendship with China," Geng said during an online media briefing while replying to a question on Modi's letter to Xi.

Modi also offered India's assistance to China to face the challenge, besides conveying condolences over the loss of lives due to the outbreak. The prime minister also conveyed to Xi his appreciation for facilitating evacuation of around 650 Indian citizens from the worst-affected Hubei province last week.

A sizeable number of countries have evacuated their citizens from China and restricted movement of people and goods to and from China. India too has put restrictions on the movement of people to and from China as part of precautionary measures to contain the spread of the virus.

"We stand ready to work with India and other members of the international community to jointly tackle fight the epidemic and safeguard regional and global public health security," Geng said.

Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri told the Indian media in Beijing on Monday that India was in touch with Chinese officials to find out the immediate requirements to deal with the epidemic.

The death toll in China's coronavirus outbreak has gone up to 908 with 97 new fatalities reported mostly in the worst-affected Hubei province and the confirmed cases of infection crossing 40,000, Chinese health officials said on Monday.

A team of international experts led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) would arrive in China on Monday night to assist the Chinese health officials to contain the spread of coronavirus outbreak.

"I've just been at the airport seeing off members of an advance team for the WHO-led 2019nCoV international expert mission to China, led by Dr Bruce Aylward, veteran of past public health emergencies," WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a tweet.
FEBRUARY 10, 2020  Southwest Research Institute, The University of Texas at San Antonio and Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute have received an $18 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defenses Defense Threat Reduction Agency to collaboratively develop a protective vaccine against Francisella tularensis, the bacterium that causes tularemia. The researchers goal is to develop a vaccine formulation that protects humans for up to one year.

Francisella tularensis is generally found in infected animals, such as rabbits, which is why the disease is also known as rabbit fever. While human infections are infrequent, those that do occur are difficult to diagnose because they are rarely seen and recognized by clinicians.

Aerosolized Francisella, however, is highly infectious and is classified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control as a Category A biothreat agent. When introduced into the lungs, 10 to 50 Francisella tularensis organisms have the potential to cause a tularemia infection that can be fatal. As a result, the bacterium has previously been developed as an aerosolized bioweapon and is considered a threat to national security.

Infectious diseases are a very real threat to the security and well-being of our nation and the world, said UTSA President Taylor Eighmy. The vaccine development project underway to protect our military against tularemia infections is another example of how UTSAs knowledge enterprise is collaborating with partners of the highest caliber to improve human health in San Antonio and globally.

No tularemia vaccine is currently available to protect the U.S. population. A previous vaccine developed in the former Soviet Union is not approved for use in the U.S. due to questions about its safety and stability.

There is an urgent need to develop a tularemia vaccine that is safe, effective and supported by sufficient data to be approved by the FDA, said Joe McDonough, SwRIs director of pharmaceuticals and bioengineering. By combining SwRIs medical countermeasure development and formulation development experience with Dr. Kloses and UTSAs innovation, we will provide a much-needed solution to a critical problem.

The research that led to the SwRI-UTSA-Lovelace collaboration began at UTSA. Karl Klose, now the Robert J. Kleberg Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg College of Sciences Professor, began researching Francisella tularensis in 2001 to better understand how these bacteria cause disease.

Klose, who also studies Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium that causes cholera, is the director of the South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, where nearly two dozen UTSA researchers are studying infectious diseases such as chlamydia, valley fever, Lyme disease, malaria to develop new diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines to reduce the threat that infectious organisms pose to humans.

As Klose and his research team began to better understand Francisella tularensis, they turned their attention to developing a safe and effective vaccine candidate to protect against tularemia infection. They ultimately decided to develop the vaccine from Francisella novicida, a closely related bacterium that is benign for humans.

In the laboratory, Klose and his colleagues created Fn-iglD, a genetically modified Francisella novicida strain lacking a gene required for Francisella to cause disease. With funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense, the UTSA researchers demonstrated that the Fn-iglD vaccine has the ability to protect against airborne Francisella exposure in animal models.

The tularemia work underway at the UTSA South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases reflects our aggressive approach to tackling complex health issues and reinforcing our trajectory toward Carnegie R1 designation and recognition as a National Research University Fund institution, said Bernard Arulanandam, UTSA Vice President for Research, Economic Development, and Knowledge Enterprise.

The SwRI-UTSA-Lovelace contract funded by the DoD will allow the researchers to advance those efforts and prepare the vaccine for human clinical trials. Work will include improving vaccine stability through encapsulation with nanoparticles and enhancing the duration of immunity by optimizing a slow release formulation.

A leading applied science institution, SwRI is serving as the Principal Investigator for the DoD contract. The non-profit research and development organization has a rich history in advancing and supporting commercialization of drug and formulation technology to improve patient health care. Its scientists offer vast expertise in micro- and nanoencapsulation technologies that solve complex drug delivery problems and accelerate drug discovery and development. SwRI has also developed and licensed multiple technologies to fight infectious disease, reduce pain and treat addiction, mitochondrial poisoning and cancer.

 Learn more about the South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the research programs underway at UTSA in microbiology and immunology.

 Learn more about SwRIs pharmaceutical testing laboratories.

Once SwRI and UTSA optimize the vaccine, Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, a not-for-profit research organization specializing in the research and development of respiratory disease treatments, will conduct advanced testing using more complex scientific models to ensure the efficacy and safety of the vaccine.

Oftentimes in science, you discover something interesting but never see your discovery get to the point that it impacts society, said Klose. This is something we discovered in our laboratory, right here in San Antonio, that is now moving one step closer to having a practical outcome of protecting humans against a biothreat. It is really exciting and we couldnt do it without SwRI and Lovelace, who specialize in formulations, encapsulation and testing. Our close collaboration is enabling all of this to move forward.

The $18 million tularemia contract is a significant accomplishment for the Vaccine Development Center of San Antonio. Founded in 2012 by UTSA, SwRI, Texas Biomedical Research Institute and UT Health San Antonio, the center leverages the strength, expertise and assets of San Antonios four leading research institutions to identify and develop promising vaccine candidates to promote public health.

This program exemplifies the progress that happens when institutions are brought together through partnerships like the Vaccine Development Center of San Antonio, said Dr. McDonough.
UW Launches Womens Employee Network

The University of Wyoming Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is launching a Womens Employee Network (E-Net) in addition to the other employee network groups launched in fall 2019.

Jennifer Chavez, director of enterprise information technology infrastructure and security, will serve as the Womens E-Net team leader, and Tara Evans, general counsel, will serve as the champion for this group.

E-Nets, also known as Employee Resource Groups and synonymous with Affinity Groups, are voluntary, employee-led groups whose memberships are typically based on specific demographic groups. They are dedicated to a diverse and inclusive environment that align with the mission, values and goals of an organization.

The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI) considers the E-Nets to be an integral component for diverse and underrepresented employee recruitment and retention. The ODEI and the Subcommittee on Recruitment and Retention of the Council on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion selected demographic groups with social identities that align with the mission and goals of the ODEI. Although the E-Nets are community specific, they acknowledge and make room for multiple social identities to collaborate and partner inclusively and broadly.

The E-Nets are open to all faculty and staff, full time or part time. The ODEI requests employees have social identities that align with the E-Nets they join. Sign-ups are open all year long. Email diversity@uwyo.edu or call 766-6672 for more information.

The E-Nets launched during 2019-2020 are Asian and Pacific Islander E-Net; African American and Black E-Net; Latinx and Hispanic E-Net; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer+ (LGBTQ+) E-Net; and Native American and Indigenous People E-Net. For more information on the E-Nets, click here.
HAMEL  A vehicle restoration company recently helped NASCAR driver, Ryan Blaney, build and auction off a 1974 Ford Bronco for a world-record price in the fight against Alzheimers disease.

Gateway Bronco now holds a world record title for selling the Bronco for $650,000 at a Barrett Jackson auction last month.

When Ryans agent approached us about his idea we talked it over for a bit and when we realized we could do it, we dove into it, Seth Burgett, owner of Gateway Bronco, said.

He explained that his Hamel-based company specializes in consumer-centric design, which was applied to Blaneys car.

For Burgett, finding the right car body, the right interior and the right overall look was imperative and included a long discussion with Blaney.

We flew out with my film crew to Charlotte (North Carolina) to meet with Ryan in his shop to go over what color and items he wanted to include, Burgett said. We interviewed his mom and dad as well to get a better idea of what the story behind each decision was.

Gateway Bronco was able to find the right body in Kansas and began to get to work and complete the project.

Blaney comes from a long line of professional racers with his father. His dad, Dave Blaney, is a former NASCAR driver and his grandfather, Lou Blaney, is considered a modified dirt track legend.

When Ryan Blaney was a teenager his grandfather passed away, but not before suffering from complications of Alzheimers. It was the mixture of a driving legend and role model that gave Blaney the idea to build a Bronco in his grandfathers honor and donate all proceeds to the Alzheimers Association.

The donation was made in honor of Lou by the Ryan Blaney Family Foundation. The vice president of communications for the Alzheimers Association of Greater Missouri, Peggy Killian, addressed the gift in a statement to the foundation.

We are so grateful to the Ryan Blaney Family Foundation for this significant contribution and for their ongoing efforts to raise awareness and funds to end Alzheimers. And, hats off to Gateway Bronco for an awesome custom build, the statement read.

A spokesperson for the Alzheimers Association of Greater Missouri, Jacob Simburger, explained that the donation will be spread throughout all of the association, not just the Greater Missouri chapter.

There is no cure that has been found yet and we not only help fund that research but we personally help those affected, he said. Donations help fund various programs, meetings to inform the public, support groups, a hotline and other ways.

Family is an important part of life for Burgett, too.

Shop manager, Sean Schwagler, said the family business is built for family.

One story I hear a lot is how he (Burgett) took his daughter on a cross-country road trip in a Bronco, Sean Schwagler, shop manager, said.

Gateway Bronco started when Burgett sought to build a custom Bronco but couldnt find anyone around that was proficient in doing the job. So he decided to do it himself.

Three years later, Burgett has 22 employees, a fully-outfitted facility and is on the verge of his hundredth restored Bronco.

Focus is power, Burgett said. We could spread out from working with Broncos but we want to be focused. We know exactly where to start when it comes to painting a tailgate but we wouldnt if we went away from only Broncos.

For anyone wishing to learn more about the Alzheimers Association as well as to learn more about local events and fundraisers, visit https://www.alz.org/.

For anyone wanting to learn more about Gateway Bronco, visit https://www.gatewaybronco.com/.
By PTI

KOLKATA: Taking a leaf out of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's book on pro-people schemes, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday announced free electricity for consumers with quarterly consumption up to 75 units.

Announcing the budget in state Assembly, state finance minister Amit Mitra also announced 'Bandhu Prakalpa' scheme for SC category and 'Jai Johar' for the ST community under which a monthly pension of Rs 1000 will be given to people belonging to these communities who are above 60 years.

Earlier, Banerjee held a cabinet meeting ahead of the presentation of the Budget 2020-21 in the state assembly on Monday. She urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the union government to work together with opposition parties and refrain from the "politics of vendetta" to revive the economy.

"Everybody should work together to improve the economic condition. If needed Prime Minister Narendra Modi should speak to the opposition parties," the TMC supremo said at a post-budget press conference.

The budget is the last full budget before the crucial 2021 state assembly polls.

Banerjee referred to the recent comments by RBI on the state of the economy and said the union government should look after it, instead of being busy in the politics of hatred.

"Whatever RBI is saying is a sensitive matter. The union government should look after the economy, instead of being busy in the politics of hatred. The prime minister should take everybody along, if needed hold discussions with opposition parties," Banerjee said, while urging the union government to refrain from the "politics of vendetta".

The Union government nowadays does not consult states before taking any decision, Banerjee alleged.

The state Budget presented today is a pro-people budget keeping in mind the needs of the people, she asserted.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 10)  The World Health Organization has declared the new coronavirus as a global health emergency, with over 40,000 cases listed around the world in just a span of weeks.

As of Monday, the 2019-nCoV outbreak has killed over 900 peoplemajority of them in Chinaand the list shows no signs of stopping.

The new virus has since spread to at least 27 countries and territories outside of mainland China, the world's most populous country.

So what happens next in this phenomenon?

Vanish-- or part of life?

At present, health authorities have presented two possible scenarios for the outbreak of the respiratory illness.

The virus will either die downor it may become a part of our normal, everyday lives.

One scenario is this will go on, eventually will go to normal, former Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit, known as the countrys Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome czar during the time of the epidemic, told CNN Philippines The Source on Monday.

But the vaccine will be developed, and then they're going to then use the vaccine to immunize the population against coronavirus and novel coronavirus. That scenario is that this coronavirus becomes part of our way of life," he said.

Dayrit added that nCoV may disappearor it may become just part of the viruses that infect us, and vaccines will be developed. It will become part of our regular pathogens that infect people."

Researchers and scientists around the worldincluding in China and the United Statesare racing against time to develop a vaccine against the virus.

While the vaccines coverage remains unclear as of the moment, global authorities said the product will first cater to health workers who have been exposed to infected patients.

More contagious?

The World Health Organization earlier said the case fatality rate of the coronavirus went down, but some officialsincluding Dayritsaid the mysterious respiratory illness appears to be more contagious than the 2003 SARS epidemic.

This can be attributed to transportation and economic development, Dayrit noted.

Well it looks like this novel coronavirus is much more contagious, and it spreads very quickly. I think that's one of the main distinctions between these two viruses, the former Health official said.

For example in China now, there are high-speed trains going to all other places of China. And then there are of course all of these airplanes that travel to and from China so that has been a very very big factor in the spread of this epidemic.

Dayrit, however, advised the public not to panicas there is no reported case of local transmission of the virus in the Philippines.

READ: How to protect yourself from coronavirus

The Philippine government, upon President Rodrigo Dutertes directive, has imposed temporary travel restrictions to and from mainland China, Macau, and Hong Kong. The ban states that foreign travelers are not allowed to enter the country if they arrive directly from those areas or have been there in the past 14 days.

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 Health Department, meanwhile, clarified that Taiwan is also part of the directive-- as the nation is considered by WHO as part of China.
Coalition MPs are fighting once again over whether taxpayers should support new coal-fired power generation as former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull labelled the push for coal as "nuts".

The Morrison government's bitter divide over climate policy again re-emerged on Monday morning as Mr Turnbull visited Canberra to hear Indonesian President Joko Widodo address Parliament.

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull takes a selfie with President of Indonesia Joko Widodo during a lunch hosted by Prime Minister Scott Morrison at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Queensland Nationals George Christensen and Matt Canavan, key players in an attempted coup against Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack last week, hit back at Liberal MPs who have questioned government support for new coal-fired power stations.

Liberal MPs Trent Zimmerman and Dave Sharma had led the charge on Monday morning on behalf of a group of Liberals pushing for stronger action on climate change by saying they opposed taxpayer support for a new coal-fired generator.
Three Vietnamese workers who tested positive for new coronavirus infection after returning from a training trip in Wuhan were released from hospital Monday.

Three patients infected with nCoV hold bouquets as they pose with doctors at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi before being discharged, February 10, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Le Chi.

The patients - two women, aged 23 and 29, and a 30-year-old man - all hail from Vinh Phuc Province, 40 km from Hanoi. They were among the eight workers of Japan-based Nihon Plast Company sent to Wuhan City, the center of the new, deadly pneumonia virus (2019-nCoV) outbreak, last November. They returned to Vietnam on January 17.

The trio was treated at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi. After 14 days in isolation, all patients showed no fever, coughing and breathing complications. Subsequent testing via RT-PCR revealed they were free of the new coronavirus.

Currently, their health remains stable, doctors confirmed.

The 23-year-old woman from Binh Xuyen Town, Vinh Phuc, commenced work one day after returning from Wuhan. Over the next 10 days, she came into close contact with many family members. On January 25, the patient suffered high fever and coughing, and was taken to hospital where she was confirmed positive for 2019-nCoV. She is the first coronavirus case in Vinh Phuc and has infected four others, including relatives.

The 29-year-old woman from Binh Xuyen lived in a dormitory in Wuhan with seven others. One day after returning home, she also commenced work before travelling home to celebrate the Lunar New Year on January 23. The patient's family are currently isolated at a local health center for observation following exposure.

During her stay at home, the patient showed no signs of fever, coughing or shortness of breath. She only experienced a dry cough on January 27, but no fever. On January 31, she was hospitalized and tested positive for 2019-nCoV.

One of the three patients during hospitalization at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy.

The 30-year-old man from Tam Dao District visited many supermarkets across Wuhan during training, staying in a dormitory with seven others. On January 23, after returning home, he joined a company party attended by 13 colleagues.

The patient started showing symptoms of fever on January 26. Three days later, he suffered from coughing fits, and was hospitalized on February 1, testing positive for 2019-nCoV. He stopped coughing and having fever on February 6.

The country had confirmed 14 cases of nCoV infection as of Sunday morning, with nine in Vinh Phuc, three in HCMC and one each in Khanh Hoa and Thanh Hoa. Among eight workers returning from Wuhan, six tested positive for the virus, and two others are awaiting results.

Vietnam has so far discharged six patients from hospital after doctors declared them free of the new coronavirus.

Earlier, Nguyen Thi Thu Trang, 25, a native of Thanh Hoa Province in north central Vietnam, one of the eight Vietnamese workers returning from Wuhan, Le Thi Thu Ha, a 25-year-old hotel receptionist in Nha Trang, and Chinese man Li Zichao, 28, had recovered and been discharged from hospital.

According to Vinh Phuc's health department, 249 locals who previously came in contact with the nine infected patients are now quarantined and under observation.

Doan Thanh Binh, chief of the provincial health department, said local authorities ordered construction of two field hospitals, ready to cope with the coronavirus outbreak as the province was hardest hit by the epidemic.

The two hospitals will be established with approximately 200 beds.

Vietnam's government declared the novel coronavirus an epidemic on February 1. All provinces and cities across the country have since announced school breaks until next Sunday, awaiting further notice.

The global death toll has reached 910, with 908 dying in mainland China, and one each in the Philippines and Hong Kong.
By Finian Cunningham

February 10, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - The double-debacle of President Trumps impeachment and the Democratic Partys presidential candidate race shows the limit of an American article of faith: that its democracy is founded on the principle of we the people.

We the people is more an aspiration, even a myth, rather than the existing reality. The reality is that citizens votes are not the primary driver of democratic rule. The nature of ruling power is determined by the elites: the tiny minority of ruling class that comprises super-rich political donors, corporate executives, Wall Street banks and highly concentrated news media.

America is not a democracy  at least not yet anyway  despite nearly 244 years of history as a modern state. It is a plutocracy run by an oligarchy. Such an observation is not a radical criticism. Former President Jimmy Carter came to the same conclusion. So did a study conducted by researchers from the prestigious US universities, Princeton and Northwestern.

Thus, the four-year exercise of citizens voting for president or members of Congress is more accurately a selection, not an election.

The selection being made, largely, by the ruling elites and the mass media controlled by a handful of corporations. Before a candidates name gets on the ballot paper, theres a huge filtering process which whittles down the final list presented to voters for their nominal X. Big-money donors (billions of dollars), as well as withering and warping media coverage, usually determines who gets selected for voters to choose.

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The election of Donald Trump to the presidency in 2016 was something of an upset for the usual process. His then-Democratic rival Hillary Clinton was supposed to be the winner back then, as preconceived by the US elite. A populist insurgency against the establishment politics favouring the outsider Trump overturned the usual predetermined outcome. Trumps personal wealth also helped him ride out the selection process which would have weeded out a financially disadvantaged candidate.

Like him or loathe him, Trump got elected. But ever since he took office more than three years ago, the ruling elite has never accepted the democratic result. The never-ending but now defunct scandal of alleged Russia collusion was meant to oust Trump from the White House.

That didnt work, so the recent impeachment circus was then invoked as the next means to eject Trump. This constitutes, in effect, a soft coup against the electoral rights of the citizens who voted for Trump in 2016. They dared to vote the wrong way, according to the ruling oligarchy, which favoured Clinton.

Trump has been acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate of impeachment charges concerning his communications with the Ukrainian president. Nevertheless, most of his presidency has been dominated by relentless political and media efforts to abort his presidency and the democratic process which managed to somehow get him into office against the usual odds determined by the elite.

We see this same elitist selection process at work in the current contest among Democratic candidates for their partys 2020 presidential nomination.

The anti-war candidate Tulsi Gabbard is being denied equal media coverage by the corporate media which prefers someone more centrist like former Vice President Joe Biden. Despite a strong showing in some polls, Gabbards supporters accuse CNN of gagging the Hawaii congresswoman by not permitting her participation in televised town-hall debates.

Tulsi is calling out a stitch-up by the Democratic Party leadership. She accuses Tom Perez, the chair of the Democratic National Convention, of kowtowing to billionaires by not allowing more radical contenders to have a fair crack at the presidential nomination.

Bernie Sanders, an avowed socialist candidate, is surging ahead in the polls among ordinary Democratic Party voters due to his policies of ending billionaire tax privileges and introducing free education and healthcare for all citizens. Yet, by and large, the US media are hostile to Bernie and his policies. CNN has even run dirty tricks to portray the 78-year-old Vermont senator as sexist or too old. This is while it gives endless favourable coverage to Joe Biden whose mental faculties have been lacklustre or worse.

This week, Biden demeaned a female student who asked him tough questions about why he failed to gain votes in the recent Iowa caucuses. Snarky Biden called her dog-faced. CNN played down his verbal abuse by saying thats a pretty normal thing to say  for Joe Biden.

Can you imagine the hue and cry if, say, Sanders had said that?

On Bernie Sanders, CNN editorialised this week: History suggests Sanders is unelectable socialism has never established a foothold in American politics. It added that the Washingtons elite fear his budget-busting plans for revolution will scare moderates away in November [presidential election]. And if Sanders is nominated, Donald Trump will delight in branding him a Fidel Castro-loving radical antithetical to the US mainstream.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Feb. 10, 2020 | 01:21 PM | MAYFIELD

A Mayfield man was arrested Sunday on burglary and assault charges.

The Mayfield Police Department says officers responded to the emergency room at Jackson Purchase Medical Center in reference to an assault that had taken place around 1:00 am. A woman told police that she had been assaulted by her ex-boyfriend.

Police said 41-year-old Kenneth Benjamin came into the woman's home, saying he had to use the bathroom, then began assaulting her. The woman sustained severe injuries as a result of the assault.

Benjamin was arrested and lodged in the Graves County Jail. He's charged with 2nd degree burglary and 4th degree assault.
Coronavirus has led many of the world's biggest tech companies to pull out of MWC, one of the highlights of the industry's year.

The Mobile World Congress event usually plays host to the unveiling of major firm's products for the year. Most of the biggest technology companies show off their new phones, and set the tone for the rest of the year.

This year, however, a flurry of companies have pulled out citing safety concerns around the spread of coronavirus. The companies all say it would not be possible for them to take part safely in the event, given the vast numbers of people arriving from around the world.

Amazon, LG, Ericsson, Sony and Nvidia have withdrawn from participating in the convention. Others such as TCL have restricted their presence, offering only limited meetings.

Those who are still attending the event will have to go through safety checks such as quarantines and temperature checks.

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

As part of a range of new health measures around the event in response to the outbreak, MWC organisers GSMA has banned visitors from China's Hubei province  where the virus is believed to have originated.

MWC attendees who have recently been to China will also be asked to confirm they have been outside the country for 14 days prior to the convention.

Organisers have also confirmed that temperature screening will be in place during the trade show and it is encouraging those attending to adopt a "no-handshake" policy.

The GSMA has maintained that the event will go ahead as planned.

According to GSMA figures, as many as 6,000 people from China would be expected to attend, as part of over 100,000 visitors.

There have been more than 40,000 cases of the virus globally, mostly in China, while the death toll in China now stands at 908.

"The GSMA knows that the coronavirus has created disruption, in particular for exhibitors and attendees from around the world, including the 5-6,000 (5-6%) who have historically attended from China," the organisers said in a statement.

"Our sympathy goes to all those affected. We are grateful for the preventative measures our Chinese exhibitors have put in place, notably ZTE and Huawei.

"Today, the GSMA is moving ahead as planned and will host MWC Barcelona 24-27 February 2020. While the GSMA confirm some large exhibitors have decided not to come to the show this year with others still contemplating next steps, we remain more than 2,800 exhibitors strong."

MWC is one of the biggest events in the world of technology. It regularly serves as the time of the year where companies unveil their biggest news in the world of phones, with last year seeing the launch of flagship folding handsets from companies like Samsung.

Additional reporting by agencies
The Government of Bihar, NEC Corporation and NEC Technologies India (NEC) announced a collaboration in the area of preventive healthcare services.

This collaboration is aimed at promoting the health and wellness of citizens in the state of Bihar, India, by offering a periodic, home-visit health check, and encouraging citizens to change their lifestyle habits to mitigate the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes.

For the first part of this project, the Government of Bihar and NEC will conduct a pilot trial from 10th February to 5th April 2020. During the period, Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA), appointed by the Government of Bihar, will provide a complimentary door to door health check for the approximately 5,000 citizens who are participating in this pilot on a voluntary basis.

In this pilot, the ASHAs will collect details such as the height, weight, waist measurement and living habits of residents in Bihar. Based on the results, ASHAs will provide health advice and, where necessary, arrange for a consultation with an Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) for further examination.

NEC will develop and provide a health application capable of showing each citizens health status and providing advice according to the data recorded by ASHAs. NEC will also provide android tablet devices, network connection, measuring equipment and training for the ASHAs and ANMs for the duration of this pilot.

This collaboration helps to promote the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established by the United Nations, particularly Goal 3, aiming to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

Mr. Mangal Pandey, Health Minister of Bihar, said, We are working to expand healthcare services for our people across the state. In this endeavor, NEC has come forward to carry out health check-ups and create awareness for preventive healthcare practice. I am confident, such initiatives will benefit the people of Bihar and help create a healthier society.

Mr. Teruyuki Nakajima, General Manager, Corporate Business Incubation Division, NEC Corporation, said, Im honored to have a strong relationship with the Government of Bihar in the area of healthcare services. I sincerely hope this partnership will mark another important step for NEC in enhancing the quality of life for Indian citizens with our technologies.

Mr. Piyush Sinha, Deputy Managing Director, NEC Technologies India, said, As a leading provider of technology solutions, we are delighted to collaborate with the Government of Bihar to provide health services at the home. Through this partnership, we hope to bring a positive change towards healthcare in the state, unlock new opportunities for community health workers and bring additional value to citizens.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the amendment to the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by which Parliament had restored the stringent provisions of the law which were watered down by the court by its March 2018 judgment.

Upholding the amendments to the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act brought in to neutralise the dilution of the stringent provisions by the Supreme Courts 2018 ruling, a bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Vineet Saran said that in cases where no prima facie materials exist warranting arrest in a complaint, the court has the inherent power to direct pre-arrest bail.

Speaking for the bench, Justice Mishra said that a preliminary inquiry is permissible only in certain circumstances and if the complaint does not make out a prima facie case for applicability of the act, the bar created by Section 18 and Section 18A(i) shall not apply.

Justice Mishra added that a court can, in exceptional cases, exercise powers under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for quashing cases to prevent misuse of provisions on settled parameters....

Justice S. Ravindra Bhat, while agreeing with Justice Mishra, said: Any interference with the provisions of the Act, particularly with respect to the amendments precluding preliminary enquiry, or provisions which remove the bar against arrest of public servants accused of offences punishable under the Act, would not be a positive step.

On the issue of the SC/ST law being used to level false allegations, Justice Bhat said: It is important to keep oneself reminded that while sometimes (perhaps mostly in urban areas) false accusations are made, those are not necessarily reflective of the prevailing and widespread social prejudices against members of these oppressed classes.

Recalling the journey the law has undertaken over the years and the fears of its misuse, Justice Bhat said: All these considerations far outweigh the petitioners concern that innocent individuals would be subjected to what are described as arbitrary processes of investigation and legal proceedings, without adequate safeguards. He said that the right to a trial with all safeguards are available to those accused of committing offences under the Act and they remain unchanged by the amendment.

The court said this while declining a challenge to the amendment to the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, by which Parliament had restored the stringent provisions of the law, including bar on anticipatory bail, which were watered down by the court by its March 2018 judgment. The 2018 judgment had led to widespread protests across the country, which had turned violent in some places.

The verdict came on a batch of PILs challenging the validity of the SC/ST Amendment Act of 2018, which was brought to nullify the effect of the apex court s 2018 ruling, which had diluted the provisions of the stringent Act.
No, the Concorde hasnt made a triumphant return.

But a British Airways flight from New York to London this weekend clocked in at less than five hours, the fastest time by a subsonic jetliner for that particular trans-Atlantic route.

Flight 112, a Boeing 747, reached a top speed of 825 miles per hour over the North Atlantic, according to Flightradar24, a flight-tracking platform. The flight left Kennedy International Airport at 6:47 p.m. on Saturday and arrived at Heathrow Airport at 4:43 a.m. on Sunday, a flight time of four hours and 56 minutes. The average flight time on that British Airways route during the past 30 days was six hours and 13 minutes, according to Flightradar24.

Two Virgin Atlantic flights from J.F.K. to Heathrow the same night also made it in five hours or less.

The speed of sound is about 767 m.p.h. but, because the flight had the help of a strong tail wind, it was not considered supersonic like the retired Concorde, said Jay Spenser, a co-author of 747: Creating the Worlds First Jumbo Jet and Other Adventures From a Life in Aviation.
More than 30 travel firms -- including TripAdvisor and Expedia -- complained on Monday to the EU's powerful anti-trust authority that search giant Google is unfairly trying to encroach on their business.

In a letter Google is once again being accused of using the overwhelming dominance of its search engine to launch and promote its own services to the detriment of existing players.

The letter, addressed to EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager and published on an association website, lands just two days before Google is to plead an appeal at an EU court in a similar case involving Google Shopping.

"We are currently witnessing an attempt by Google to expand its dominance in the market for (search) into the separate markets for vacation rental intermediation services," said the letter.

This is done by Google "favouring its own service in general search results," added the letter, which was first reported by the Financial Times.

In a separate document seen by AFP, a Germany-based signatory formally lodged an official complaint to the EU, which is under no obligation to look into the case. The European Commission confirmed the receipt of the letter but refused any further comment.

At stake in the case are the many websites and platforms that catalogue holiday homes for European vacation-goers and link them to homeowners.

The signatories -- which also include holiday home associations from Germany, Spain and France -- complained that related Google searches now promote a "visually rich" and specific result that aggregates and duplicates their own services.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Agartala/Aizawl, Feb 10 : Tripura government has cancelled 67,000 fake ration cards involving 2.81 lakh people, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said.

"After the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) government came to power in March 2018, over 67,000 fake ration cards were revoked. These forged ration cards were issued during the previous (Left Front) government," the Chief Minister said here on Sunday night while addressing an official function.

Tripura Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Monoj Kanti Deb said: "After the computerisation of the Public Distribution System (PDS), over 67,000 fake ration cards were identified. Around 2,81,000 people were involved with these bogus ration cards." The Food Minister told IANS that of the 2,81,000 people, who are involved with the false ration cards, a large number of them might be of Bangladeshi nationals.

"Despite thorough inquiry, there was no trace of majority of 2,81,000 people against whom various commodities were issued through the PDS," the minister said.

He said that the state government had recently started supply of pulses (Masoor Dal) through the PDS at a much discounted rate.

Earlier, rice, flour, sugar, salt and kerosene are being distributed though the PDS at an inexpensive rate.

Tripura Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department's Secretary Debasis Basu said that "With Aadhaar number seeding, the 'End-to-End Computerisation of the Public Distribution System (PDS)' has been completed in Tripura in 2018.

"Tripura is the first state in northeast India to complete the digitalisation of the entire system of the PDS. The Central government has also appreciated the achievement of the Tripura government in completion of the digitalisation," Basu told IANS.

He said that Tripura currently has 9,08,212 ration cards involving 36,86,216 people under 18,010 ration shops across the state.

The official said that under the National Food Security Act, 2013, and Supreme Court's direction, computerisation of the entire PDS process is mandatory.

"As part of the system, all food offices, godowns, fair price shops and related systems have been digitalised by utilising the Common Application Software developed by the National Informatics Centre under the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology," he added.

Basu said: "For maintaining transparency and quick services, the digitalisation of PDS is very useful." To curb the frauds and scams in the PDS, the Mizoram government has also done the digitalisation of the rationing management under the Centre's "End to End Computerisation of PDS Operation Scheme".

An official of Mizoram's Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department said in Aizawl that, the digitalisation of the PDS had introduced in almost in all the 1,420 fair price shops across the state.

"With new system in place, bogus ration cards, fake number of people and other scams were identified and unearthed," the official said adding that the new system would also ensure transparency in the PDS, reduce wastage and contain unfair disposal of the surpluses.

"With 'Aadhaar' number seeding, the end-to-end computerisation of the PDS would ensure transparency at various levels of the essential supply system." The "End to End Computerisation of PDS Operation Scheme" is a joint initiative of the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and the National Informatics Centre and is being introduced in all the states and union territories across the country.
[February 10, 2020] New AI Technology From Arm Delivers Unprecedented On-Device Intelligence for IoT

Today, Arm announced significant additions to its artificial intelligence (AI) platform, including new machine learning (ML) IP, the Arm Cortex-M55 processor and Arm Ethos-U55 NPU, the industry's first microNPU (Neural Processing Unit) for Cortex-M, designed to deliver a combined 480x leap in ML performance to microcontrollers. The new IP and supporting unified toolchain enable AI hardware and software developers with more ways to innovate as a result of unprecedented levels of on-device ML processing for billions of small, power-constrained IoT and embedded devices. "Enabling AI everywhere requires device makers and developers to deliver machine learning locally on billions, and ultimately trillions of devices," said Dipti Vachani, senior vice president and general manager, Automotive and IoT Line of Business, Arm. "With these additions to our AI platform, no device is left behind as on-device ML on the tiniest devices will be the new normal, unleashing the potential of AI securely across a vast range of life-changing applications." As the IoT intersects with AI advancements and the rollout of 5G, more on-device intelligence means that smaller, cost-sensitive devices can be smarter and more capable while benefiting from greater privacy and reliability due to less reliance on the cloud or internet. By delivering this intelligence on microcontrollers designed securely from the ground up, Arm is reducing silicon and development costs and speeding up time to market for product manufacturers looking to efficiently enhance digital signal processing (DSP) and ML capabilities on-device. Arm Cortex-M55: Arm's most AI-capable Cortex-M processor Cortex-M processors have become the computing platform of choice for developers, with Arm partners shipping more than 50 billion chips based on Cortex-M into a vast range of customer applications. With the addition of the Cortex-M55, Arm is offering its most AI-capable Cortex-M processor ever and the first based on the Armv8.1-M architecture with Arm Helium vector processing technology for significantly enhanced, energy-efficient DSP and ML performance. Cortex-M55 delivers up to a 15x uplift in ML performance and a 5x uplift in DSP performance, with greater efficiency, compared to previous Cortex-M generations. Additionally, Arm Cutom Instructions will be available to extend processor capabilities for specific workload optimization, a new feature for Cortex-M processors.



Ethos-U55: Arm's first microNPU for Cortex-M For even more demanding ML systems, the Cortex-M55 can be easily paired with the Ethos-U55, Arm's first microNPU, together delivering a combined 480x increase in ML performance over existing Cortex-M processors. ?

The Ethos-U55 is highly configurable and specifically designed to accelerate ML inference in area-constrained embedded and IoT devices. Its advanced compression techniques save power and reduce ML model sizes significantly to enable execution of neural networks that previously only ran on larger systems. Simplified software brings secure AI within reach of all developers Arm understands the developer experience is fundamental to enabling the AI revolution. For this reason, Cortex-M55 and Ethos-U55 are fully supported by Arm's industry leading Cortex-M software toolchain. This ensures a unified development flow for traditional, DSP and ML workloads - while specific integration and optimizations for leading machine learning frameworks, starting with TensorFlow Lite Micro, will ensure that developers have a seamless experience and get the best performance from any Cortex-M and Ethos-U55 configuration. Arm believes security should never be an afterthought and is critical for IoT to scale. To ensure the most secure designs and provide a seamless route to PSA Certified products, these processors and the accompanying Corstone reference design work with Arm TrustZone to ensure security can be more easily incorporated into the complete system-on-chip. Empowering the ecosystem The new Cortex-M CPU and the Ethos microNPU underline Arm's commitment to empower silicon designers and device manufacturers with the agility to innovate on the Arm architecture at even the smallest endpoints, igniting a new wave of creativity and innovation for the IoT. This technology is receiving widespread industry support from ecosystem partners, including Amazon, Alif Semiconductor, Bestechnic, Cypress, Dolby, Google, NXP, Samsung, STMicroelectronics (News - Alert) and more. Read more about how it will bring AI to billions more in this blog from Dipti Vachani, senior vice president and general manager, Automotive and IoT Line of Business, Arm. More technical details on Cortex-M55 can be found here and on Ethos-U55 here. Supporting partner quotes can be found here. ENDS About Arm

Arm technology is at the heart of a computing and connectivity revolution that is transforming the way people live and businesses operate. Our advanced, energy-efficient processor designs have enabled intelligent computing in more than 150 billion chips and our technologies now securely power products from the sensor to the smartphone and the supercomputer. In combination with our IoT device, connectivity and data management platform, we are also enabling customers with powerful and actionable business insights that are generating new value from their connected devices and data. Together with 1,000+ technology partners we are at the forefront of designing, securing and managing all areas of compute from the chip to the cloud. All information is provided "as is" and without warranty or representation. This document may be shared freely, attributed and unmodified. Arm is a registered trademark of Arm Limited (or its subsidiaries). All brands or product names are the property of their respective holders.  1995-2019 Arm Group. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200210005346/en/

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Research groups from Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin and the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) are joining forces with other Berlin-based partners. Pooling their experience and outstanding expertise in the field of mass spectrometry, they will form a new 'Forschungskern' or 'research core'. The aim of the MSTARS consortium is to further develop current technology for clinical application and for the detection and classification of treatment resistance. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) will provide approximately 5.7 million in funding for a minimum of three years.

For many years, comprehensive genetic analysis was considered the method of choice in our attempts to better understand diseases such as cancer and provide patients with increasingly personalized treatment options. It was a successful approach which resulted in a myriad of new, targeted forms of treatment. "However, it was known from an early stage that the course of a disease is not solely determined by our genes," explains one of the project's four coequal coordinators, Prof. Dr. Ulrich Keilholz, Director of the Charite Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCCC). "Instead, it is often determined by the extent to which these genes are translated into proteins, how the resulting proteins interact with one another, and how the disease affects our metabolism. Mass spectrometry enables us to identify and quantify biomolecules quickly and comprehensively. We will therefore use this technology to better understand the interplay of disease-relevant cell components and, by doing so, improve precision medicine, i.e. our ability to tailor treatments to the individual patient."

The MSTARS consortium's other three coordinators are Prof. Dr. Matthias Selbach, Group Leader of the MDC's Proteome Dynamics Lab, Prof. Dr. Markus Ralser, Director of Charite's Institute of Biochemistry, and Prof. Dr. Frederick Klauschen of Charite's Institute of Pathology. The project's research partners include numerous other experts from Charite and the MDC, as well as scientists from the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin and the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics. "By establishing this new research core, we are gathering all Berlin-based expertise in the fields of mass spectrometry, patient care and data analysis, and placing it under one roof," says Prof. Selbach. "Combining the skills and experience of the various institutions and disciplines with Charite's extensive clinical expertise will enable us to further develop mass spectrometry-based technologies and apply them in clinical practice."

"A major aim in this regard is to make mass spectrometry-based methods even more robust and reproducible," reflects Prof. Ralser and adds: "In order for this technology to improve patient care, we also need to be able to analyze large numbers of samples within a short time. To achieve this, we will build capacity and develop standardized procedures for all processes, from sampling through to data management."

The infrastructure which the consortium is planning to develop will be suitable for carrying out analyses on a vast array of disorders. The consortium's research groups will start by studying treatment resistance in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. "The modern treatment strategies available for these patients mainly target specific genetically-determined dysfunctions present in an individual patient's cancerous tissue," explains Prof. Klauschen. "For reasons which remain unexplained, these treatments will work very well in some patients but show no effect in other people with the same genetic makeup. We want to study patients' tissue samples using mass spectrometry to distinguish these groups of patients and make it easier to decide whether or not a particular treatment should be used in a specific patient." Doing so will require the analysis of vast quantities of data. Therefore, the researchers will also be using artificial intelligence-based approaches.

The MSTARS (Multimodal Clinical Mass Spectrometry to Target Treatment Resistance) project is being funded under a special BMBF funding program, which focuses on establishing research cores dedicated to mass spectrometry in systems medicine ('Forschungskerne fur Massenspektrometrie in der Systemmedizin'). MSTARS is one of a total of four such BMBF-funded consortia. Other research cores will be developed in Heidelberg, Mainz and Munich. Funding has been awarded for an initial period of three years. An interim review after two and a half years will determine whether project funding is to be extended for a further three years. The projects will be launched on 1 March 2020.

###

Mass spectrometry

Mass spectrometry is an analytical technique used to measure the mass of molecules and atoms. The substance to be analyzed is first converted into gas-phase molecules which are subsequently converted into ions. Once accelerated to high velocity by an electrical field, these ions are then sorted by the mass spectrometer system's analyzer and separated according to their mass/charge ratios. The resulting mass spectrum provides information on a substance's molecular composition. Mass spectrometry is suitable for the identification, characterization and quantification of a myriad of biomolecules such as proteins, metabolites, sugars and fats, all of which behave differently depending on the precise clinical picture which manifests in a particular patient.

Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin

Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin is one of the largest university hospitals in Europe, boasting approximately 100 departments and institutes spread across 4 separate campuses. The hospital offers a total of 3,001 beds and, in 2018, treated 152,693 in- and day case patients, in addition to 692,920 outpatients. At Charite, the areas of research, teaching and medical care are closely interlinked. With approximately 18,000 members of staff employed across its group of companies, Charite is one of the largest employers in Berlin. More than 4,500 of its employees work in the field of nursing, and around 4,300 in research and medical care. In 2018, Charite recorded a turnover of more than 1.8 billion, and set a new record by securing more than 170.9 million in external funding. Charite's Medical Faculty is one of the largest in Germany, educating and training more than 7,500 medical and dentistry students. Charite also offers 619 training positions across 9 different health care professions. http://www.charite.de

The Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC)

The Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC) was founded in Berlin in 1992. It is named for the German-American physicist Max Delbruck, who was awarded the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine. The MDC's mission is to study molecular mechanisms in order to understand the origins of disease and thus be able to diagnose, prevent and fight it better and more effectively. In these efforts the MDC cooperates with the Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin and the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) as well as with national partners such as the German Center for Cardiovascular Research and numerous international research institutions. More than 1,600 staff and guests from nearly 60 countries work at the MDC, just under 1,300 of them in scientific research. The MDC is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (90 percent) and the State of Berlin (10 percent), and is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers. http://www.mdc-berlin.de
VETERAN Dublin criminal Martin The Viper Foley has reached the end of the road in his quest to avoid paying a 740,000 tax bill after losing a Supreme Court appeal against the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) over a 1990s income tax bill.

The Viper had previously tried to have the matter quashed by the Court of Appeal who ruled against him last November.

Foley then lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, who came back in favour of the CAB last Friday.

In his initial defence against the tax bill, Foley claimed he had been taken by surprise, was left in an almost impossible situation and the CAB had failed to explain why it took 11 years to bring the judgment application.

notorious

Foley (66) is one of Irelands most notorious criminals, who has survived four attacks on his life and suffered around 14 bullet wounds.

He later set up a debt recovery business called Viper Debt Recovery And Repossession Services Limited where he offered his services in collecting debts for clients.

He will now have to pay a CAB tax and interest bill, which has ballooned to over 738,000 for the years 1993/94 and 1999/2000.

The Viper was hit with a tax bill of 218,000 for the years 1993/94 and 1999/2000.

He made payments totalling 40,000, reducing the bill to 178,000. In February 2002, he brought an appeal against the assessment, which was rejected.

However, the bill ballooned because of interest and penalties on the unpaid sum over more than 11 years.

The Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court have ruled he had no case and dismissed his appeals.

In its ruling the Supreme Court judges said it was the courts opinion that the appeal proposed by Foly was clearly not sustainable.

It said Foley could not argue there was a delay in proceedings. It said the proceedings were issued on March 8 2013 and the motion for judgement followed on September 26 the same year.

Hence, there was no delay which could be relied upon to invoke the courts jurisdiction, the ruling said.

Leave to appeal the ruling of the Supreme Court was refused, meaning Foley has reached the end of the road and has nowhere left to go to argue his case.

Another veteran criminal, John Gilligan, previously attempted to avoid losing assets by appealing court decisions made against him to the Supreme Court.

In battles that took twenty years Gilligan tried to delay and frustrate the CAB in their efforts to seize his properties before he eventually ran out of legal road in 2017

The CAB fought for more than 20 years to strip the crime boss of his properties on the basis that they were bought with the proceeds of crime.

The decision of the Supreme Court allowed CAB to seize a bungalow beside the previously seized Jessbrook equestrian centre, a former family home in Corduff Avenue in Blanchardstown, Dublin, and another house in Willsbrook View in Lucan, Dublin.

The CAB commented at the time that Gilligans failure to stop it seizing his assets, despite him exhausting every legal avenue available, should send a message to people who earn money through crime that the CAB wins in the end.
New Delhi, Feb 10 : Another group of envoys from different geographical regions will visit Jammu and Kashmir later this week.

Official sources said that since the last visit of envoys to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir last month, the government has received several requests from diplomats from around the world for a visit.

Sources said that US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster, who was part of the group of 15 envoys that visited J&K in January, had given a positive review of the situation in Kashmir following the revocation of special status to J&K on August 5, 2019, by the Narendra Modi-led government.

Government officials in New Delhi said that they will announce the details of the upcoming visit of another group of envoys soon.
Oscars 2020 started and ended with pleasant surprises. One of them was when Lin-Manuel Miranda came to the stage and introduced a song medley at the 92nd Academy Awards. At first, it only appeared to be a long compilation of songs in features or otherwise that have had an impact in cinema, but then Eminem appeared on stage.

Eminem's performance of Lose Yourself came as unexpected as the standing ovation from the crowd in the end. Even the Academy Awards crowd was as confused as the ones sitting at home and enjoying the show.

Many took to social media to appreciate the performance while others rehashed the reactions captured on screen by the camera. Take a look:

Look, if you had another shot, another opportunity... Thanks for having me @TheAcademy. Sorry it took me 18 years to get here. pic.twitter.com/CmSw2hmcZo  Marshall Mathers (@Eminem) February 10, 2020

wait what is happening  Bilge Ebiri (@BilgeEbiri) February 10, 2020

oscars where even the rappers are white  J. Escobedo Shepherd (@jawnita) February 10, 2020

Does ABC know that the Grammys already exist or  Caroline Darya Framke (@carolineframke) February 10, 2020

A collection of crowd shots from Eminem's performance  pic.twitter.com/ygw1Jlkgpc  Isaac (@WorldofIsaac) February 10, 2020

Martin Scorsese and his daughter reacting to Eminem.



You're welcome. pic.twitter.com/n4eMXf7DfZ  Steven Santos (@stevensantos) February 10, 2020

I guess for Eminem this opportunity actually comes twice in a lifetime  elan gale (@theyearofelan) February 10, 2020

Eminem surprise at the Oscars is MAJOUR !!  Peter Rosenberg (@Rosenbergradio) February 10, 2020

Cutting to Martin Scorsese during the Eminem musical number is automatically next years best short film winner.  Eric Vespe (@EricVespe) February 10, 2020

The Academy Awards, took place on Sunday night, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California. Some of the biggest winners at the ceremony were Bong Joon ho for Parasite as Best Director, Picture, International Feature Film and Adapted Screenplay. Brad Pitt and Laura Dern for supportive actors, and Joaquin Phoenix and Renee Zellweger for Best Lead.

Oscars 2020: Full Winners List, Parasite Leads With 4 Wins At 92nd Academy Awards

Oscars 2020 Live: Parasite, Renee Zellweger And Joaquin Phoenix Win Major Categories
Ankara, Feb 11 : Turkey has urged Russia to fulfil its responsibilities in the Astana process that aimed at a cease-fire in Idlib province of Syria, the Turkish presidential spokesperson said.

A visiting Russian delegation held the first round of talks with Turkish government on Saturday and continued discussions over the recent escalation of tensions in Idlib on Monday, Xinhua reported.

Following meetings at the Turkish Foreign Ministry, the Russian delegation also met with Turkey's presidential aide and spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin.

The latest situation in Idlib has been discussed, said a written statement released by Kalin's office.

The military attack carried out by the Syrian government forces at Turkish observation points was strongly condemned, said the statement, adding that the Turkish military would respond within the framework of the right of self-defence against the attack.

An attack by the Syrian government forces killed five Turkish soldiers and injured five others in Idlib on Monday while talks between Turkish and Russian delegations were ongoing. A previous Syrian government attack on Turkish soldiers killed eight personnel of the army in Idlib last week.

Turkey has stressed to Russia that the attack against the Turkish soldiers was unacceptable, and that the Turkish army has responded in the hardest manner and will continue to retaliate, said the statement.

Turkey emphasised the need to stop these attacks which were contrary to the spirit of the Astana deal and violated the Sochi consensus, and Russia, one of the guarantors of the agreement, should fulfil its responsibility, it added.

Ankara expressed its determination to respond and take every kind of measures against attacks which aim at harming the political process, said the statement.

Over the past two months, the Syrian army launched a wide-scale offensive in the southern and eastern countryside of Idlib as well as in the southern countryside of Aleppo Province in a bid to open the Damascus-Aleppo strategic highway that connects the country's south with its north.

In the process, the army besieged some of the Turkish observation points that were set up in rebel-held areas to observe a short-lived de-escalation zone deal agreed upon between Russia and Turkey.

The Syrian shelling targeted Taftanaz Air Base in Idlib countryside as Turkey was amassing forces and started shelling Syrian forces as part of Ankara's plan to launch a wide-scale offensive to hinder the progress of the Syrian army in Idlib.
Donald Trump is holding a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire Monday night, and claimed he is hosting the event because he wants to rattle Democrats ahead of the state's primary election.

'Will be in Manchester, New Hampshire, tonight for a big Rally,' Trump previewed on Twitter Monday morning. 'Want to shake up the Dems a little bit - they have a really boring deal going on.'

'Still waiting for the Iowa results, votes were fried. Big crowds in Manchester!' he continued, referring to the first-in-the-nation caucuses, which were held in Iowa last Monday.

The rally will take place at Southern New Hampshire University's arena just one day before New Hampshire holds the nation's first primary elections Tuesday night.

Donald Trump said he's holding a New Hampshire rally because he wants to 'shake up the Dems a little bit'

The president will hold a reelection rally in Manchester the night before the New Hampshire primary elections as candidates continue to campaign

He also predicted in another tweet that the media won't cover the attendance of his Keep American Great rally  and he predicted there would be 'big crowds'

The president has also mocked the fiasco in Iowa, where results were delayed for almost a week. He also held rally in Des Moines, Iowa right before the first-in-the-nation caucuses

New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley said Trump is 'desperate' to win back New Hampshire after barely losing to Hillary Clinton in 2016. 'His ego can't stand the idea of something going on and he's not in the middle of it,' Buckley told reporters Monday morning

The chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party said Trump is turning his attention to the first primary election because he is 'desperate' to turn New Hampshire red in November after losing the state in 2016.

'It's obvious Trump and the RNC are desperate to put New Hampshire back in play after losing by 3,000 votes in 2016,' Ray Buckley said on a call with reporters Monday ahead of the president's rally.

In 2016, Trump won the Republican primary in New Hampshire in a landslide with 35.5 per cent  and the second place Republican was John Kasich, who earned only 15.8 per cent.

But in the 2016 primary elections he lost the state to Hillary Clinton by only .3 per cent, which translates to about 3,000 votes.

Trump has been combatting Democrats campaigning on the primary trail as caucuses and elections get underway.

He hosted a reelection campaign rally in Des Moines, Iowa three days before the first-in-the-nation caucuses took place there  he has scheduled back-to-back rallies in Phoenix, Arizona and Colorado Springs, Colorado both in the days before the Nevada caucuses and one on the same night as the Democrats' ninth primary debate.

He also bashed the media in another tweet Monday morning, claiming the 'fake news' won't talk about the turnout at his rally later that night.

'Hope the Fake News, which never discusses it, is talking about the big crowds forming for my New Hampshire Rally tonight. They won't!' he asserted.

'His ego can't stand the idea of something going on and he's not in the middle of it,' Buckley said during the Monday morning call.

Trump has boasted Iowa as a win for his reelection campaign, where  even though he faces virtually no primary competition  he emerged with 97 per cent in the caucus.

The Democratic caucus, on the other hand, was thrown into chaos after an app that was intended to be used for reporting results malfunctioned.

Instead the Iowa Democratic Party had to results to paper and call-in reporting and manual tabulations, which delayed the party announcing an official winner for nearly a week  although with 100 per cent of precincts reporting, Pete Buttigieg was shown as the victor with only .1 per cent more than Bernie Sanders.

Buttigieg is the youngest candidate at 38-years-old and Sanders the eldest at 78.

On Sunday night, the state's party finally released Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was the winner and had earned the most delegates.

Trump also touted his approval rating, claiming it was at an all-time high due to the impeachement proceedings

He also insisted that the Democratic Party would move even further to the left in the next elections, but that the House would turn back red

Sanders' campaign is calling for a recanvass, which would have state party officials double check the results.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez extended the deadline for a candidate to request a recanvass after he said he realized there could be human error in the results reporting.

He even demanded a recanvass himself last week after the nation went days without knowing the final results and reports indicate errors likely due to the paper reports and manual math.

'Enough is enough,' Perez tweeted Thursday afternoon.

'In light of the problems that have emerged in the implementation of the delegate selection plan and in order to assure public confidence in the results, I am calling on the Iowa Democratic Party to immediately begin a recanvass,' he continued.

Trump has mocked the fiasco, claiming that if Democrats can't even run the Iowa caucuses they won't be able to run the country. He has also blamed Russia, suggesting they attempted to interfere in the election by hacking the app  a claim the IDP has vehemently denied.

While touting his own poll numbers, which he says were boosted by the impeachment proceedings, Trump claimed the Democratic Party would shift dramatically to the left in this years' elections.

'Because of how badly they did with the Impeachment Hoax, AOC will primary Cryin' Chuck Schumer, and win, and Jerry Nadler has a good chance of losing to his far left primary opponent!' Trump predicted.

'It is all getting quite interesting. Pelosi will lose the House, AGAIN!' he said, claiming the Republicans would win the House giving him the trifecta of control.

'My poll numbers great (sic),' he added.

He posted on Twitter his approval ratings overall and among Republicans: '95% Approval Rating in the Republican Party, a Record! 53% overall (plus add 9 points?).'

'Corrupt Democrat politicians have brought me to highest polling numbers ever with the Impeachment Hoax. Thank you Nancy!' he said, attributing his high approval ratings to impeachment.

The caucuses were hotly contested after an app malfunction resorted the state to paper reporting. Buttigieg emerged the victor with 26.2 per cent to Sanders' 26.1 per cent. The Sanders campaign is requesting a recanvass

The Iowa Democratic Party finally announced Sunday night that Pete Buttigieg (right) earned the most amount of delegates in earning just .1 per cent more than Bernie Sanders (left). Both candidates will gold split-screen rallies Monday night across New Hampshire as Trump rallies in Manchester

While Trump entertains loyal supporters in Manchester, Sanders and Buttigieg will hold counter-programming split-screen rallies in other New Hampshire cities.

Sanders' campaign rally in Durham  about 40 miles from Trump's rally location  will feature progressive Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

And Buttigieg will rally about 30 miles away from Trump Monday night in Exeter.

As the two top candidates in Iowa, and the two polling best in New Hampshire, Tuesday night's election will likely come down to Sanders and Buttigieg.

The close race in Iowa caused Sanders, and others, to launch attacks against breakout star Buttigieg as they headed to New Hampshire.

During several campaign events and at the eighth Democratic primary debate Friday night at Saint Anselm College, Sanders bashed the former small-town mayor for accepting donations from billionaires.

'Unlike some of the folks up here I don't have 40 billionaires, Pete, contributing to my campaign coming from the pharmaceutical industry, coming from Wall Street and all the big money interest,' Sanders said on-stage at the debate, taking a hit at the Iowa caucus victor.

'If we want to change American, you're not going to do it by electing candidates who are going out to rich people's homes begging for money,' Sanders said.

But Buttigieg defended himself, claiming Democrats should use all the resources they can accrue to take on Trump in November.

'We are going into the fight of our lives,' he said, citing how much money the Trump reelection campaign is bringing in. 'We need to go into that fight with everything we've got.'

During a breakfast event in Manchester Monday morning, Sanders continued to attack his top competitor, but this time, didn't name Buttigieg. 'Unlike some of my opponents, I don't have contributions from the CEOs of the pharmaceutical industry, from Wall Street,' Sanders told supporters

In the last few days, Sanders has let up naming his competitors when attacking them, and instead alludes to why his colleagues are lesser-equipped to serve as president or beat Trump.

During a breakfast event in Manchester Monday morning, Sanders

'Unlike some of my opponents, I don't have contributions from the CEOs of the pharmaceutical industry, from Wall Street,' Sanders said.

'We don't want their money, we need their money,' he asserted, adding that he has the strongest campaign to beat Trump because he was built up by grassroots organizers and donors.

But Sanders also attempted to unite the party by pinning all the blame on a common enemy: Donald Trump.

'I know not everybody agrees with everything I say, but I think what we can agree about is that we cannot continue having a president who is a pathological liar. We cannot continue having a president who is a bully, who is a racist, who is a sexist, who is a homophobe, a xenophobe,' he lamented.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 10, 2020) - Orestone Mining Corp. (TSXV: ORS) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has filed an amended Notice of Work (NOW) application with the BC Ministry of Energy Mines and Petroleum Resources for an additional 26 drill hole sites at its Captain gold-copper porphyry property located in north central British Columbia. The additional drill hole sites will target 18 magnetic anomalies located on the east and west flanks of a central magnetic diorite intrusive; 16 holes are planned to test 11 anomalies on the west and 10 holes to test 7 anomalies on the east.

Previous drilling on two of the eastern anomalies in 2012 and 2019 intersected three intervals of 90 to 164 metres in length of highly altered volcanics and alkaline porphyry dykes with values averaging 0.30 g/t gold and 0.06 % copper. In Hole C12-05 intervals of 6.1 and 9.1 metres adjacent to the porphyry dykes encountered higher grades of 4.45 and 6.46 g/t gold with 0.51 and 0.27% copper respectively.

The alteration and alkaline intrusives encountered in drilling are very similar to alteration and mineralization at the Mt. Milligan Mine 30 km to the North. The Mt. Milligan mine hosts 1.8 Billion pounds of copper and 4.7 Million ounces of gold in proven and probable reserves of 447,562,000t grading 0.3g/t gold and 0.186% copper*. One of the western magnetic high anomalies on the Captain property measures up to 2000-2500 metres in strike length and 500 metres in width and is similar in areal extent to the Mt. Milligan Mine and will be the first priority for drilling.

There are nine target areas with strong magnetic anomalies outlined at the Captain project with only two drill tested to date (see website for maps). These magnetic anomalies are also associated with moderate IP chargeability anomalies from 10-15mV/v and are potentially related to mineralized monzonite porphyries.

The 100% owned Captain project hosts a gold-copper porphyry system measuring 5 x 9 kilometres which encompasses a cluster of targets 41 kilometres north of Fort St. James, B.C. and 30 kms south of the Mt. Milligan copper-gold Mine. The project features relatively flat terrain, moderate tree cover and an extensive network of logging and Forest Service roads suitable for exploration year around. The drill area is covered by 20-100 metres of glacial till overburden. The Company currently has permits in place for 21 drill hole sites and 17 kilometres of Induced Polarization survey lines.

Additional information will be released as it becomes available. To stay informed of the latest corporate activities please click here to provide consent and receive news, updates and important information as we move our projects forward.

Gary Nordin PGeo, BC, a director of the Company has reviewed the technical information contained in this news release and has visited the project.

Orestone Mining Corp. is a Canadian based company that owns a 100% percent interest in the Captain gold-copper project located approximately 30 kilometres south of the Mt. Milligan Mine in British Columbia and has an option to purchase a 100% interest in the Resguardo copper project in Region III Chile. For more information please visit: www.orestone.ca

ON BEHALF OF ORESTONE MINING CORP.

"David Hottman"

CEO

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 news release has been prepared by management and no regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

*As per the Centerra Gold website 2020.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52262
Climate experts gather in Venice to discuss Med changes 10/2-13/2 from MedECC network of over 600 scientists

(ANSAmed) - VENICE, FEBRUARY 10 - From Monday, February 10, until February 13, the Venice International University (VIU) will be hosting a key event on climate change in the Mediterranean area. It will be hosting the event for the first time, at its campus on the San Servolo island.



Ten researchers from the Mediterranean Experts on Climate and Environmental Changes (MedECC) editorial committee will be taking part.



The MedECC is a group of international experts that will be producing the final version of the First Mediterranean Assessment Report (MAR1), the first report focusing on risks associated with climate change and the environment in Mediterranean countries. MedECC is an international network of over 600 scientists making their skills available to provide accurate information on climate change in the Mediterranean area, a region where forecasts based on climate change models show an extent of the phenomena that surpasses global trends in terms of factors such as sea temperatures and levels (Venice, especially), in a similar manner to the mechanisms adopted at the global level by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).



MedECC's aim is to develop a solid assessment of environmental risks in the Mediterranean area on the basis of available research, as well as to promote the adoption of regional scientific policies by governments. MAR1 was drawn up by 85 scholars from 20 countries around the world, similar to what happens for IPCC reports. Its contents will then go before governments in order for them to implement the findings into their policies to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The governments in question are member states of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), an intergovernmental organization that brings together the countries of the European Union and 15 from North Africa, the Middle East, and south-eastern Europe. Among the board and editorial committee of the Mar1 are Venice International University director Carlo Giupponi, who teaches environmental economics at the Ca' Foscari university; Piero Lionello, who teachers at the University of Salerno; and Andrea Toreti from the ISPRA Joint Research Centre.



MedECC interacts with and is supported by numerous national and local institutions, both public and private, that deal with issues related to climate change. Among them - in additino to the UfM - are Plan Bleu, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, the University of Aix-Marseille, and the Principality of Monaco.



(ANSAmed).




DELPHI, Ind. (WLFI)  Three years after Abigail Williams and Liberty German were killed walking the Delphi Historic Trails, the community is keeping the faith. Even though there are more questions than answers, some have hope in things unseen.

Not many Carroll County residents want to remember Feb. 13, 2017, but they simply can't forget it.

Delphi United Methodist Church

A new sketch, video and more audio of who police believe is the suspect in the Delphi double homicide was released on April 22, 2019. Provided by Indiana State Police A new sketch, video and more audio of who police believe is the suspect in the Delphi double homicide was released on April 22, 2019. Provided by Indiana State Police Delphi United Methodist Church

"In the true sense of the word, evil was perpetuated on our community," said longtime Carroll County resident Ed Selvidge.

Selvidge searched for Abby and Libby. In fact, when they were found, he gave the official death notification. He's Carroll County's police chaplain.

"This community, no matter what denomination or what belief system they may profess, they've come together in one purpose; to support one another," said Selvidge.

Following the girls' killings, the church became united. In the midst of tragedy, the Delphi faith community provided hope.

"You saw more people in church, you saw more people making outreach to the church, but practically what I saw more of was the connections and the conversations when you're out in the community," said Delphi United Methodist Church Senior Pastor Todd Ladd .

Now three years later, the conversations have shifted to confusion and anger. Why have police not found the killer yet? That's a question Ladd doesn't have the answer to, but he says scripture may.

"All throughout scripture, you notice people who had challenges," said Ladd. "Often times, those answers don't come in the next day, the next week, or even the next year. My prayer is that the person who did this will be going somewhere and making a confession. It would be something that would be totally unpredictable, and not scripted by anything else that we know of. In other words, only something that is supernatural."

"This is the hardest thing in the world to say. I hope we, as a community, will find a way to forgive this person," said Selvidge.

He knows that will take faith, but that's something Delphi has plenty of.

"We have a new normal here," explained Selvidge. "We're suspicious, we're not as trusting and we're certainly more compassionate with one another."

"Have we returned to the basic things that we do? Have we returned to regular ministry? Sure," said Ladd. "Will we ever be the same? Absolutely not. I believe that justice will come, whether it is this side of eternity or the other side of eternity. Regardless, I believe that will come. I'm particularly hoping, it is this side of eternity."

Delphi United Methodist Church is hosting a prayer vigil this Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m. The family also asks that you bring food and pet items for a donation.

Indiana State Police say 50,000 tips have come in so far, and they are continuing to go through old and new tips daily. Anyone with information in the killings should call 844-459-5786 or email abbyandlibbytip@casoshrf.com with any information.

For our complete coverage of the Delphi Homicides from the past three years, click here.

Tuesday on News 18 This Morning, it's been a tough three years for Kelsi German. Libby's sister, like investigators, is looking for clues to find the man who killed the girls. We will show you her recent change that may help prevent future tragedies.
SPRINGFIELD  A 61-year-old city man is under court-ordered psychological care after being charged with arson in connection with a fire at a vacant home that injured a firefighter.

A blaze broke out at 347-349 Walnut St. around 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 5, according to a Springfield Fire Department spokesman.

Pedro Delafuente, of Belmont Avenue, was arrested the next day. He was captured on a nearby surveillance camera entering and exiting the property, according to court records. Investigators say they believe he doused a pair of socks and other items with gasoline, setting the two-story house on fire.

A firefighter suffered a serious ankle injury while fighting the fire and has been unable to return to work, Springfield Fire Capt. Drew Piemonte said Monday.

Delafuente appeared in Springfield District Court on Monday, when a judge ordered him committed for 20 days to a mental health facility in Boston.

According to a police report, Delafuente set the fire three days after his car was towed to a service station across the street from the abandoned home. The owner of Mascaros Service Station told police he recognized Delafuente as being a homeless man who frequented the area years before.

The station owner said Delafuente arrived at his business two hours before the blaze broke out to retrieve his car. It had been in an impound yard there, the owner told police.

The conversation was about getting the proper title for the motor vehicle, a police report reads.

The owner eventually gave Delafuente a ride to a gas station on Locust Street, which the owner believed was near Delafuentes apartment.

Surveillance video from the gas station shows Delafuente buying $7 of gasoline and walking away carrying an unknown item, according to the police narrative. Mascaros video cameras captured Delafuente walking into the vacant house with a bag and walking out without one, it adds.

An accelerant-sniffing dog named Bijou located several items that smelled like gasoline amid the fire debris, the report says  including a yellow container, socks, melted clothing and three disposable lighters.

Delafuente met with police the following day and admitted to having been at the service station, the gas station and the vacant home the day before, according to the reports. Bijou then alerted to Delafuentes work boots and he was arrested.
Journalist says her speaking invitation at a Georgia university was cancelled after she refused to sign anti-BDS pledge.

United States civil rights groups announced on Monday that they filed a lawsuit against a public university in the US state of Georgia, after the school cancelled a speaking engagement of a journalist who refused to sign a pledge to not boycott the Israeli government.

In a news conference, officials from the Georgia Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Georgia), the CAIR Legal Defense Fund and the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund said they filed a free speech lawsuit after Georgia Southern University canceled a talk by Abby Martin, a journalist and rights activist, over her refusal to sign an oath that she would not engage in a boycott of Israel.

Martin says she was invited as a keynote speaker at a media conference in Georgia Southern University on February 28.

As the conference date approached I was told that I must sign a contract pledging to not participate in boycotts against Israel, Martin said during Mondays news conference.

Knowing that this was a violation against my constitutional right to free speech and right to protest, I informed them that I could not sign such a contract. I was then cancelled as the speaker from the conference, she said.

Martin said that although she has been a vocal advocate of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for years, it was not the topic of her speech.

I was scheduled to give a talk as a journalist about media and media literacy, she said.

Organisers earlier announced that the conference had been cancelled without providing an explanation. Officials at the university were not immediately available for comment.

In 2016, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed into law a bill requiring any person or company entering with the state of Georgia into a contract worth $1,000 or more to sign a pledge not to engage in political boycott of the Israeli government.

Similar measures have been enacted in at least 28 other states across the US, according to Palestine Legal, a US-based legal aid group.

All these laws are designed to punish people who participate in the boycott of the Israeli government over its human rights abuses against the Palestinian people and coerce others into not joining the boycott, Edward Mitchell, CAIR-Georgia Executive Director, said during the news conference on Monday.

This law is blatantly unconstitutional, he said.

In July, the US House of Representatives passed a resolution opposing the BDS movement. The move followed a similar bill that passed in the Senate, allowing states or local governments to refuse to do business with companies or individuals that boycott Israel.

Critics say such measures violate the right to free speech guaranteed under the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects individuals right to participate in boycotts as a form of peaceful, political protest.

Boycotts are fundamentally a protected free speech right, said Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, executive director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund.

A political boycott is the ability of people to come together  to send a political message to another entity that they are not going to buy or trade or use their services because they believe that entity is participating in a violation of civil rights and human rights, Verheyden-Hilliard said during the news conference.

The BDS movement was launched in 2005 by Palestinian activists as an effort to exert international pressure on Israel over its policies in the occupied Palestinian territories. Supporters say the effort is similar to the anti-apartheid campaign mounted against South Africa in the 1980s and the US civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s.

Anti-BDS advocates say the movement is anti-Semitic and seeks to delegitimise the state of Israel.

Israel has occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip since 1967, in a move that the United Nations and much of the international community consider a violation of international law.

The administration of US President Donald Trump, who took office in 2017, has taken a series of measures that have emboldened Israels right-wing government, including recognising Jerusalem as Israels capital and no longer viewing Israeli settlements in occupied territory as inconsistent with international law.
UPDATE 11:15 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 13 - Authorities have identified the man who was struck and killed by a train in Redding on Sunday.

Investigators said 39-year-old Robert Alan Bacon of Redding was killed by a train near Lake Boulevard in Redding on Feb. 9.

The incident remains under investigation by the Redding Police Department and Shasta County Coroners Office.

---

REDDING, Calif. - Redding police responded to a report of a man being struck and killed by a train early Sunday morning.

According to police, the incident occurred Sunday, Feb 9 at 8:30 a.m. and took place directly underneath Lake Boulevard.

Police say the Union Pacific train was heading southbound, it then came around a curve and the man was seen sitting on the railroad tracks.

The train was unable to stop and the man was struck and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The man is currently unidentified at this time and police are investigating.
VANCOUVER, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Strategic Resources Inc. (TSXV:SR) (the "Company" or "Strategic") announces that it has successfully applied for Reservations over the Mustavaara mine area in Finland. The Company has also signed a definitive agreement with the bankruptcy estate of Ferrovan Oy ("Ferrovan") to acquire all of the intellectual property, core samples and storage facilities associated with Mustavaara for 150,000. Closing of the agreement will be subject to certain conditions, with the main condition being the granting of fully valid Reservations from the Finnish mining authority, Tukes. Strategic expects that this should occur in or around the second quarter of this year.

Scott Hicks, CEO commented, "We view this as a unique opportunity to acquire a large-scale brownfields historical resource and a project that was taken to a Pre-Feasibility Study level in 2012. Mustavaara has the potential to supply a growing vanadium redox battery market as well as provide substantial benefits to the Finnish economy. The team looks forward to building out our portfolio of assets in Finland over the coming years."

Mustavaara Project Description

Mustavaara is a large vanadium-iron-titanium deposit, which was mined by the Finnish state company Rautaruukki Oy between 1976 and 1985. The Project is located in the Municipality of Taivalkoski, 75km southwest of the city of Kuusamo. The vanadium produced from Mustavaara and the nearby Otanmaki deposit accounted for approximately 10% of the world vanadium production at that time. Mining was suspended due to adverse market conditions and the processing facilities were dismantled in 2001.

Ferrovan commissioned Poyry Finland Oy to complete a Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS") for the project in 2011. The resulting 2012 PFS outlined a project that would have a concentrator near site and a smelting plant located close to the coast in the city of Raahe.

The PFS was based on a reserve of 97 million tonnes at 13.8% magnetite and 0.91% vanadium in concentrate in the Probable reserve category. Prior work indicated that the magnetite content could be upgraded by a factor of six as a result of the concentrating process. Consequently, the vanadium grade could also be enhanced significantly from 0.2% vanadium to 0.9% vanadium (equivalent to 1.65% V2O5). This resource is now considered historical.

Post Closing Work Plan

Strategic plans on commissioning a National Instrument 43-101 compliant resource estimate for the project based on existing drilling completed to date, surface checks and detailed re-sampling work. Post the completion of the resource estimate, Strategic plans to undertake an economic study that reflects current market prices and cost estimates.

Cautionary Historic Resource Description

The above historical information includes estimates of the quantity, grade, and metal content of the Mustavaara deposit that Strategic has not verified as a current mineral resource, and which was prepared before Strategic entered into an agreement to acquire an interest in the Mustavaara property. Strategic considers the historical estimate to be relevant given that the report was done relatively recently and considers the estimate to be reliable given the status of the authors of the estimate. Neither Strategic nor any qualified person engaged by Strategic has done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource; and Strategic is not treating the historical estimate as a current mineral resource.

Qualified Persons

Leo Hathaway, P.Geo., Vice President of Strategic and the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects for the Mustavaara Project has reviewed, verified and approved all disclosure of scientific or technical information made by Strategic herein, including disclosure of a mineral resource, and the general contents of this news release.

About Strategic Resources

Strategic Resources Inc. (TSXV:SR) is a Vancouver, Canada based mineral exploration and development company that is focused on vanadium projects in Finland and Peru. The Company continues to evaluate new opportunities that are related to the electrification of the economy.

Further details are available on the Company's website at https://strategic-res.com/.

To follow future news releases, please sign up at https://strategic-res.com/contact/.

STRATEGIC RESOURCES INC.



Signed: "Scott Hicks"



Scott Hicks, CEO

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.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements and information herein, including all statements that are not historical facts, contain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements or information include but are not limited to statements or information with respect to completing a National Instrument 43-101 compliant resource, undertaking an economic study on Mustavaara and the completion of the agreement. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements or information can be identified by the use of words such as "will", "should" or variations of those words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" or "should" be taken, occur or be achieved. There is no assurance Strategic will be successful in completing any of the transactions on the terms outlined above, or at all.

SOURCE Strategic Resources Inc.

Related Links

https://strategic-res.com


 Close Brexit briefing: How long until the end of the transition period?

Boris Johnsons spokesman said government officials have begun a proper piece of work examining the potential for a bridge linking Scotland and Northern Ireland. The proposal was immediately criticised as ludicrous, crazy and a vanity project by opposition politicians.

The prime minister is also facing a backlash from Conservative MPs as he prepares to give the go-ahead to the controversial HS2 rail project, and mulls over a possible mansion tax on the owners of expensive homes to help fund a public spending boost.

It comes as Sir Keir Starmers team claimed factional dirty tricks were behind allegations of membership database hacking after the Labour Party reported his campaign. Up to 40 MPs are thought to be considering quitting the party if Rebecca Long-Bailey succeeds Jeremy Corbyn.

This liveblog has now closed
Witnesses who spoke to "Teacher's Pet" journalist Hedley Thomas have been scrapped from a week of Local Court hearings against accused murderer Chris Dawson over concerns of contaminated evidence.

Mr Dawson, 71, was on Monday due to face a five-day committal hearing before Downing Centre magistrate Jacqueline Trad to determine whether he will face a Supreme Court trial over the death of his wife Lynette in 1982. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder.

Chris Dawson arrives at Downing Centre Local Court on Monday. Credit:Getty Images

"The Teacher's Pet", a high-profile podcast by Mr Thomas, a reporter at The Australian newspaper, was widely credited for re-opening the cold case of Lynette Dawsons disappearance. But it has also complicated the criminal proceedings since the former teacher was arrested at his Queensland home in December 2018.

The court was set to begin hearing from several Crown witnesses before Mr Dawson's barrister, Phillip Boulten, SC, applied to suppress certain details of the proceedings, saying there were concerns about the contamination of evidence of people who had interacted with Mr Thomas.
Your good deed for the day--whether lending a hand to a stranger or giving up your seat on the subway--may prompt others to see you as a good and trustworthy person, but not always. In certain circumstances, it may do just the opposite.

New research published in Psychological Science, the flagship journal of the Association for Psychological Science, suggests that someone who helps a total stranger is generally viewed as morally better and more trustworthy than someone who helps a family member. But this is true only if the helper did not have to choose between those options.

Through a series of five online experiments, a team of psychology researchers from Boston College and Harvard University recruited more than 1,300 volunteers and asked them to evaluate several "Good Samaritan" scenarios. The goal was to determine if familial obligations factor into people's everyday judgments of moral character, and if so, in what way.

In each of these scenarios, the researchers manipulated one specific element: whether the person being helped was a stranger or, alternatively, was distantly related to the person lending a hand. The good deeds presented in the tests were basic courtesies, like helping someone move into a new apartment. They did not require extreme physical or financial sacrifice.

In one series of tests, participants read scenarios in which only one person--either a stranger or kin--could be helped. People who helped a stranger were judged as more morally good and more trustworthy than people who helped an equally deserving family member.

"In these cases, we found that perceptions of a helper's moral character clearly changed based on whether their help was directed at a family member," said Ryan McManus, a second-year PhD student at Boston College and lead author on the paper. Additional members of the research team included Liane Young, an associate professor of psychology at Boston College, and Max Kleiman-Weiner, a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University.

"All things being equal, people who helped a stranger were judged to be more moral and more trustworthy than people who helped a family member," said McManus.

In a second series of tests, participants were faced with similar scenarios, except for one difference: The helper had to choose between helping either a stranger or a family member. Helping one meant forgoing help to the other.

The addition of this either/or choice reversed the outcome. Participants judged that people who chose to help a stranger over a family member were less morally good and less trustworthy than people who opted to help a family member.

"What struck us was how clearly participants' judgments changed when they viewed these acts of kindness through the lens of choice between kin and strangers," said McManus.

The researchers think these seemingly contradictory character judgments are actually connected by a single principle: familial obligation.

This same concept carried over into a third series of tests in which people simply chose to offer no help at all, (e.g., preferring to play videogames rather than help a neighbor move into a new apartment). In these cases, people who ignored the needs of a stranger were judged less critically than people who withheld help from a family member.

"The take-home message from this work is that, from a third-party perspective, the way that we think about others' moral character depends on who their helpful, or unhelpful, behavior is directed at," concluded McManus.

The team plans to continue their investigations by examining the role of obligations in judgment when comparing closely related family members to more distant relations.

###

APS is the leading international organization dedicated to advancing scientific psychology across disciplinary and geographic borders. Our members provide a richer understanding of the world through their research, teaching, and application of psychological science. We are passionate about supporting psychological scientists in these pursuits, which we do by sharing cutting-edge research across all areas of the field through our journals and conventions; promoting the integration of scientific perspectives within psychological science and with related disciplines; fostering global connections among our members; engaging the public with our research to promote broader understanding and awareness of psychological science; and advocating for increased support for psychological science in the public policy arena.

Psychological Science, the flagship journal of the Association for Psychological Science, is the leading peer-reviewed journal publishing empirical research spanning the entire spectrum of the science of psychology. For a copy of this article, "What We Owe to Family: The Impact of Special Obligations on Moral Judgment" and access to other research in Psychological Science, contact news@psychologicalscience.org.

All data for this research have been made publicly available via the Open Science Framework. All materials are given in the article itself. This article has received the badges for Preregistration, Open Data, and Open Materials.
MANILA Philippines  The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Sunday (February 9) successfully repatriated 30 Filipinos from Wuhan City, China, the epicenter of the outbreak of 2019 novel Coronavirus Acute Respiratory Disease (2019-nCoV ARD).

The Filipino repatriates, who flew from China through a chartered flight, included 29 adults and an infant.

They were assisted by the repatriating team composed of two members from the Philippine Consulate General in Shanghai, three members from the DFA Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (OUMWA), and five medical team members from the Department of Health (DOH).

From the plane, the Filipinos were escorted into their dedicated buses and transported to the Athletes Village in New Clark City in Tarlac for their 14-day quarantine period.

The repatriates heeded the DFAs call on January 28 to return home to the Philippines amid the outbreak of 2019-nCoV ARD.

The Chinese government cooperated with Philippine representatives to provide them with the necessary exit passes to be able to leave while the risk of novel coronavirus infection remains high in Wuhan.

As of this writing, China has reported more than 40,235 confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV ARD infection with death toll reaching 910 worldwide, according to Chinese state media China Global.

The post Quarantine period begins for 30 Pinoy repatriates from Wuhan City, China appeared first on UNTV News.
Coming out of a primary, you end up having a nominee who has more support, and the primary itself probably hasnt been as vicious and bitter as you might have seen otherwise, he said.

FairVote also says ranked-choice voting can increase turnout, open up the political playing field and mitigate the power of money in politics.

Vicki Hiatt, the chairwoman of the Kansas Democratic Party, said she expected higher turnout in this years presidential primary in the state. She added that people were happy they would be able to cast their ballot without strategizing about electability.

Sometimes theyre voting for the lesser of two evils, she said. So most people have said to me: This is great. Now I can vote for who I really want.

Critics of ranked choice say it can upend electoral politics in unpredictable ways, cost money or dampen turnout. And in some states and cities where ranked choice has come up for a vote, opponents argued that the cause was supported by dark money or other outside funding.

In 2018, Paul LePage, a Republican governor of Maine who had won two terms in office without a majority, called ranked-choice voting the most horrific thing in the world and questioned its constitutionality. Republicans in Maine are still fighting it today.

And in New York in November, members of the N.A.A.C.P. and the City Councils Black, Latino and Asian Caucus spoke out against ranked-choice voting. They were partly worried that it could hurt candidates of color, and that a more complicated ballot could reduce turnout.
According to him, the government will build strategic cooperation with Deutsche Bahn

Ukraines Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk said in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda that Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia) would not be handed over to anyone for concession or privatization.

"Neither concession nor privatization, that is, Ukrzaliznytsia should not be transferred to the possession of anyone. We have no such plans. We have plans to build a strategic partnership with Deutsche Bahn for many reasons. Ukrzaliznytsia is one of the largest Ukrainian companies with hundreds, thousands of people who work there," the PM said.

He also added that the involvement of German experts, coordinated by Deutsche Bahn, is under the governments consideration. As of now, the Memorandum envisages the first phase of consultation.

As we reported earlier, Ukrzaliznytsia JSC, German national railway operator Deutsche Bahn, and DB Engineering & Consulting signed a memorandum of understanding regarding a strategic partnership for the development of Ukrainian railway system, Interfax informed.

"We emphasized that within the framework of our cooperation, we will primarily focus on consulting ... And we are confident that our cooperation will be successful," Ronald Pofall, member of the Deutsche Bahn Infrastructure Management Board, stated this.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Robert L. Bixby, executive director of The Concord Coalition, issued the following statement about the President's Fiscal Year 2021 budget proposal:

What the president's budget does best is illustrate how deep the fiscal ditch has become over the past three years and how difficult it will be to get out of it without putting everything on the table.

It is instructive to compare past Trump Administration budgets with this year's. In the president's first budget, his Office of Management and Budget (OMB) projected a deficit of $456 billion (2 percent of GDP) in 2021. His latest budget projects a deficit of $966 billion (4.1 percent of GDP) in 2021. The rapidly deteriorating change comes from about $300 billion less in projected revenues and $200 billion more in projected spending.

A goal of reducing the debt-to-GDP ratio is sound and the Administration's targeted level (66 percent in 2030) is not beyond possibility if a concerted effort is made. That effort, however, would require bipartisan participation, which the lopsided nature of the deficit reduction proposed in this budget is not aimed to produce. Even with rosy economic assumptions and proposed spending discipline that flies in the face of recent experience, the president's budget would still be in deficit over the next 10 years.

A copy of this media release can be found here: https://www.concordcoalition.org/press-release/deep-ditch

The Concord Coalition is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to fiscal responsibility. Since 1992, Concord has worked to educate the public about the causes and consequences of the federal deficit and debt, and to develop realistic solutions for sustainable budgets. For more fiscal news and analysis, visit concordcoalition.org and follow us on Twitter: @ConcordC

SOURCE The Concord Coalition

Related Links

http://www.concordcoalition.org


A strong winter storm has battered northern Europe with hurricane-force winds and heavy rains, disrupting travel across Germany and prompting authorities in some regions to close schools as a precaution.

In the area around the small town of Kaiserbach, in the southwest state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, a tree crashed into a parked caravan, blocking nearby roads.There were no reports of any injuries.

Utility companies were also scrambling to restore power to some 50,000 homes in northern Bavaria early on Monday.Train travel across Europe's biggest economy was also severely disrupted, leaving many commuters unable to get to work.

Deutsche Bahn said Monday it was slowly resuming long-distance rail services in the north of the country but warned travelers to expect further disruptions. Airlines canceled hundreds of flights from German airports.

The storm, which was dubbed Sabine in Germany, also led to school closures in several cities and regions, including Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia state, where several people were injured by falling branches and toppling trees.Meteorologists expect gusts up to 140 kilometers per hour (87 miles per hour) in mountainous areas of southern Germany later on Monday.

(Image Credits: AP)
Entering through old wooden double doors emblazoned with a brand in each center, you might think you were entering a Texas roadhouse.

But this is no honky-tonk.

Despite the cowboy boots and jeans worn by many inside, this is a place of worship, where instead of classic country songs lamenting lost loves, the music praises Jesus.

Theres no line dancing or beer drinking. Instead, there are families praying and singing.

Cowboy churches are Christian churches that embrace the cowboy culture, including western-style places of worship and its motifs. Services usually are held in refurbished barns, baptisms typically are performed in stock tanks, and collections commonly are taken in cowboy hats or boots.

A large number of attendees are real life cowboys and cowgirls easily spotted by their muddy boots, jingling spurs and sweat-stained hats. While some arent clothed in western wear and chose to wear current fashions, the attire remains casual.

Area residents probably have heard about cowboy churches during the annual San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, where a cowboy church service is held every Sunday inside the grounds auction barn. Where such services are more of a traveling ministry, established cowboy churches hold services year-round and operate much like any other church, with congregants, fellowship gatherings and Bible study groups.

One thing that makes cowboy churches different, say its members, are its casual environments.

Cowboy churches strive to remove as many of the barriers as possible in more traditional church settings and offer a more relaxed atmosphere where everyone is welcome, said Todd Mitchell, executive director of the American Federation of Cowboy Churches.

The Waxahachie-based group is a non-profit organization that helps its affiliates develop new and expand existing cowboy churches through training and other resources.

Mitchell said its affiliates have grown from one church 18 years ago to 184 churches last year. That increase reflects the growth seen at some cowboy churches the federation has assisted.

The non-denominational Ridin the River Cowboy Fellowship in Bandera started 10 years ago with three people meeting on a front porch.

When we moved to our new church in December 2016, our fellowship had an average of 179 attendees each Sunday, Pastor Jeff Bishop said, adding membership has grown steadily in recent years.

In 2017, typical attendance at Sunday morning services was at 258, and in 2018 it grew to 347. Last year, it grew to 404.

This increase in attendance allows us to get the Word of God to more people who really need it, Bishop said.

Hes especially proud that his church is bolstering its relationship with young members. A few years ago, the church had two or three people attending its weekly youth services. Now that number is up to 70, Bishop said.

To accommodate the growth of its members, Ridin the River built a larger sanctuary last year that seats an additional 200 worshipers.

Another area cowboy church also is expanding its facilities.

Steve Gross, pastor at Kendall County Cowboy Church in Boerne, said interest in his church has increased since construction on a new building began last year.

Since we started putting the building together, we have been getting a lot of calls and a lot of visitors, Gross said, though he thinks much of the interest is due to down-to-earth preaching and singing, not buildings. There is no pretentiousness in the cowboy church.

The church, established in 2011, is affiliated with the Baptist faith. Its new facility is being built as funds become available to avoid additional debt, according to its website.

Mitchell agrees that the growth of cowboy churches is likely rooted in their casual environment that allows attendees to come as they are, both in attitude and dress.

Our cowboy churches are filled with people from all backgrounds, income levels and interests, Mitchell said.

Several members at area cowboy churches say the main reason theyve chosen to attend a cowboy church is because of the non-judgmental atmosphere that is welcoming to all.

We make sure that every new person who walks through the doors knows that everyone here truly displays Gods love for one another, said Jerry Bardon, who leads the group of greeters at Ridin the River.

Some churchgoers said the environment at a cowboy church is like that of a family reunion.

Rachel Irving attends Ridin the River with her husband, who visited the church before she did.

I love it, she said. I just felt right at home.

Some practices at cowboy churches are not found in denominational churches.

We have no offering plates, Bishop said.

Instead, financial support can be given by dropping a donation in an old cowboy boot by the door.

In keeping with such western culture, many cowboy churches use rodeos and other such events as means of outreach and fellowship.

Cowboy Fellowship of Atascosa County in Jourdanton has an arena ministry that uses monthly rodeo arena events to spread its message of Christian faith outside the church. Ridin the River offers a real cowboy breakfast the third Sunday of the month as a regular gathering for congregants and to welcome new members.

The meals, Bishop said, are cooked the cattle drive way in cast iron skillets.

We fill your belly with a great meal and feed your soul with Gods Word, he said.

The websites of other cowboy churches listed in the directory of the American Federation of Cowboy Churches boast trail rides, camping and rodeo events as ways of ministering.

Its all about breaking down barriers that keep people from hearing the word of God, Bishop said.

Terry Arnold is a freelance writer in San Antonio.
Nearly two years ago, Beth Bugdaycay, the co-founder and designer of the New York jewelry brand Foundrae, purchased six jewel-toned glass seals enclosed in a velvet box no larger than the palm of her hand. She added the seals, made in the style of the Scottish modeler James Tassie around the turn of the 19th century, to her already extensive collection, which has often served as inspiration for the engraved medallions, rings and earrings that make up her four-year-old line. I started to think of this secondary meaning of the word  a seal not as a stamp but as a guarantee or a promise, she says. To me, the jewelry pieces are promises we make to ourselves about what we want or where were going. In this case, her vintage find gave rise to a small collection of 18-karat gold symbols suspended within gemstones like garnet and rose quartz. But it also led Bugdaycay in an entirely new direction: housewares.

This month, Foundrae launches a 15-piece collection of carafes, shakers and tumblers rendered in richly colored glass, from citrine to aquamarine, and engraved with various emblems, many of which relate to the classical elements: Earth is represented with an outline of mountaintops; ether, which Bugdaycay describes as the element of the spirit, with an image of a circle made up of keys. The tumblers, meanwhile, are marked with animals, including a rabbit meant to signify abundant love and a ram meant to embody perseverance. After a long search, Bugdaycay found the right producer while on vacation in the Turkish beach town of Cesme, where in a small shop she discovered a heavy glass carafe with hand-engraved florals. It was by the Istanbul-based artist Feleksan Onar, who was born on Turkeys Aegean coast in an area where glassmaking dates back to the Roman Empire, and who was eager to collaborate. The resulting pieces come with corresponding coasters explaining each symbol. The one accompanying a tumbler with a seal of a horse cites William Ernest Henleys 1875 poem Invictus: I am the master of my fate,/I am the captain of my soul.
RICHARDSON, TX / ACCESSWIRE / February 10, 2020 / Optex Systems Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB:OPXS), a leading manufacturer of precision optical sighting systems for domestic and worldwide military and commercial applications, announced financial highlights for its first quarter of the 2020 fiscal year, which ended December 29, 2019.

Danny Schoening, CEO of Optex Systems Holdings, Inc., commented, "As mentioned in our Annual Shareholder Letter, our first quarter is typically the lowest of the year due to reduced production days and decreased government interactions during the holiday season. That said, solicitations and contract activity is high, supporting the continued government military spending. Our market position continues to be the strongest in our company history and we continue to see a strong path towards increases in revenue, gross margin, and earnings over the balance of the year."

Schoening continued "Based on our current backlog delivery projections, we are anticipating the highest revenue growth during the second half of the current fiscal year as we begin shipping in late March of this year against our 2018 Improved Commander Weapon Station (ICWS) contract award."

Our three-month period ending December 29, 2019 was consistent with the prior year three-month period revenue, with slight improvements in gross margin and operating income on changes in product mix. Our backlog as of December 29, 2019 was $22.0 million, a decrease of (10.6%) from the $24.6 million reported as of September 29, 2019. We attribute the decreased backlog to timing of customer orders and contract awards which typically ramp up during the second through fourth fiscal quarters. In January 2020, Optex announced an order for $1.1 million and two new Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) type contract awards for periscopes for a combined total of up to $5.9 million over a five-year period. IDIQ contract awards are reflected in backlog only to the extent that individual task orders have been released by the customer pursuant to contract pricing and agreed delivery schedules. We are expecting releases against these new contracts as well as our other existing IDIQ contracts in the near term.

Our key performance measures for the three months ended December 29, 2019 and December 30, 2018 are summarized below.

Three months ended

(Thousands)

Metric December 29, 2019 December 30, 2018 % Change Revenue $ 5,887 $ 5,891 0.0 Gross Margin $ 1,467 $ 1,443 1.7 Gross Margin % 24.9 % 24.5 % 1.6 Operating Income $ 718 $ 700 2.6 (Loss) Gain on Change Fair Value of Warrants $ (1,251 ) $ 1,385 (190.3 ) Net (Loss) Income Applicable to Common Shareholders $ (679 ) $ 1,354 (150.1 ) Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) $ 810 $ 829 (2.3 )

Three months ended

(millions) December 29, 2019 December 30, 2018 % Change Backlog as of period end $ 22.0 $ 24.6 (10.6 )

We use adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, gains/losses on changes in fair values, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) as an additional measure for evaluating the performance of our business as "net income" includes the significant impact of non-cash valuation gains and losses on warrant liabilities, noncash compensation expenses related to equity stock issuances, as well as depreciation, amortization, interest expenses and federal income taxes. We believe that adjusted EBITDA is a meaningful indicator of our operating performance because it permits period-over-period comparisons of our ongoing core operations before certain excluded items. Adjusted EBITDA is a financial measure not required by, or presented in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP").

The table below summarizes our three-month operating results for periods ended December 29, 2019 and December 30, 2018, in terms of both the GAAP net income measure and the non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA measure. We believe that including both measures provides measures that are useful in evaluating our financial results across periods.

(Thousands) Three months ended December 29, 2019 December 30, 2018 Net (Loss) Income - GAAP $ (679 ) $ 2,025 Add: Loss (Gain) on Change in Fair Value of Warrants 1,251 (1,385 ) Federal Income Tax (Benefit) Expense 141 54 Depreciation 66 85 Stock Compensation 26 36 Royalty License Amortization - 8 Interest Expense 5 6 Adjusted EBITDA - Non-GAAP $ 810 $ 829

Highlights of the unaudited Condensed Consolidated and Segment Results of Operations have been prepared in accordance with GAAP. These financial highlights do not include all information and disclosures required in the consolidated financial statements and footnotes, and should be read in conjunction with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 29, 2019 filed with the SEC on December 16, 2019 and Form 10-Q for the three months ended December 29, 2019 filed with the SEC on February 10, 2020.

Optex Systems Holdings, Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

(Unaudited)

(Thousands, except share and per share data) Three months ended December 29, 2019 December 30, 2018 Revenue $ 5,887 $ 5,891 Cost of Sales 4,420 4,448 Gross Margin 1,467 1,443 General and Administrative Expense 749 743 Operating Income 718 700 (Loss) Gain on Change in Fair Value of Warrants (1,251 ) 1,385 Interest Expense (5 ) (6 ) Other (Expense) Income (1,256) 1,379 (Loss) Income Before Taxes (538) 2,079 Income Tax Expense, net $ 141 $ 54 Net (Loss) Income $ (679) $ 2,025 Deemed dividends on participating securities - (671 ) Net (loss) income applicable to common shareholders $ (679) $ 1,354 Basic (loss) income per share $ (0.08) $ 0.16 Weighted Average Common Shares Outstanding - basic 8,436,422 8,333,353 Diluted (loss) income per share $ (0.08) $ 0.16 Weighted Average Common Shares Outstanding - diluted 8,436,422 8,494,242

The accompanying notes in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended December 29, 2019 filed with the SEC on February 10, 2020 are an integral part of these financial statements.

Optex Systems Holdings, Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(Thousands, except share and per share data) December 29,2019 September 29, 2019 (Unaudited) ASSETS Cash and Cash Equivalents $ 1,683 $ 1,068 Accounts Receivable, Net 2,689 3,066 Inventory, Net 10,656 10,535 Prepaid Expenses 208 348 Current Assets 15,236 15,017 Property and Equipment, Net 1,065 1,102 Other Assets Deferred Tax Asset 1,341 1,414 Right-of-use Asset 1,715 - Security Deposits 23 23 Other Assets 3,079 1,437 Total Assets $ 19,380 $ 17,556 LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY Current Liabilities Accounts Payable $ 1,279 $ 1,833 Operating Lease Liability 549 - Accrued Expenses 795 1,180 Accrued Warranty Costs 75 46 Customer Advance Deposits - 3 Credit Facility 600 250 Current Liabilities 3,298 3,312 Operating Lease Liability - Long Term 1,240 - Warrant Liability 3,287 2,036 Total Liabilities 7,825 5,348 Commitments and Contingencies Stockholders' Equity Common Stock - ($0.001 par, 2,000,000,000 authorized, 8,436,422 shares issued and outstanding) 8 8 Additional Paid in capital 26,160 26,134 Accumulated Deficit (14,613 ) (13,934 ) Stockholders' Equity 11,555 12,208 Total Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity $ 19,380 $ 17,556

The accompanying notes in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended December 29, 2019 filed with the SEC on February 10, 2020 are an integral part of these financial statements.

ABOUT OPTEX SYSTEMS

Optex, which was founded in 1987, is a Richardson, Texas based ISO 9001:2015 certified concern, which manufactures optical sighting systems and assemblies, primarily for Department of Defense (DOD) applications. Its products are installed on various types of U.S. military land vehicles, such as the Abrams and Bradley fighting vehicles, Light Armored and Armored Security Vehicles, and have been selected for installation on the Stryker family of vehicles. Optex also manufactures and delivers numerous periscope configurations, rifle and surveillance sights, and night vision optical assemblies. Optex delivers its products both directly to the military services and to prime contractors. For additional information, please visit the Company's website at www.optexsys.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including those relating to the products and services described herein. You can identify these statements by the use of the words "may," "will," "could," "should," "would," "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "continue," "estimate," "project," "intend," "likely," "forecast," "probable," and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, continued funding of defense programs and military spending, the timing of such funding, general economic and business conditions, including unforeseen weakness in the Company's markets, effects of continued geopolitical unrest and regional conflicts, competition, changes in technology and methods of marketing, delays in completing engineering and manufacturing programs, changes in customer order patterns, changes in product mix, continued success in technological advances and delivering technological innovations, changes in the U.S. Government's interpretation of federal procurement rules and regulations, changes in spending due to policy changes in any new federal presidential administration, market acceptance of the Company's products, shortages in components, production delays due to performance quality issues with outsourced components, inability to fully realize the expected benefits from acquisitions and restructurings or delays in realizing such benefits, challenges in integrating acquired businesses and achieving anticipated synergies, changes to export regulations, increases in tax rates, changes to generally accepted accounting principles, difficulties in retaining key employees and customers, unanticipated costs under fixed-price service and system integration engagements, changes in the market for microcap stocks regardless of growth and value and various other factors beyond our control.

You must carefully consider any such statement and should understand that many factors could cause actual results to differ from the Company's forward-looking statements. These factors include inaccurate assumptions and a broad variety of other risks and uncertainties, including some that are known and some that are not. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual future results may vary materially. The Company does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement. You should carefully evaluate such statements in light of factors described in the Company's filings with the SEC, especially on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K. In various filings the Company has identified important factors that could cause actual results to differ from expected or historic results. You should understand that it is not possible to predict or identify all such factors. Consequently, you should not consider any such list to be a complete list of all potential risks or uncertainties.

Contact:

IR@optexsys.com

1-972-764-5718

SOURCE: Optex Systems Holdings, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/575909/Optex-Systems-Holdings-Inc-Announces-First-Quarter-of-Fiscal-Year-2020-Financial-Highlights
BERLIN - Chancellor Angela Merkel's heir apparent shook up German politics Monday by declaring she would step down as the governing party's leader and not run for chancellor, fueling uncertainty in the country seen as Europe's anchor of stability amid Brexit and pressure from the far right.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/2/2020 (701 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In this Friday, Feb. 7, 2020 photo Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, chairwoman of the German Christian Democratic Union (CDU), adresses the media during a press conference at the party's headquarters in Berlin, Germany. Angela Merkel's designated successor will quit her role as head of the Germany's strongest party and won't stand for the chancellorship following a debacle in a regional election. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

BERLIN - Chancellor Angela Merkel's heir apparent shook up German politics Monday by declaring she would step down as the governing party's leader and not run for chancellor, fueling uncertainty in the country seen as Europe's anchor of stability amid Brexit and pressure from the far right.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, whose flagging support dropped further after regional Christian Democratic Union lawmakers ignored the party's instructions, told senior CDU members she won't seek the chancellorship in next year's election. The surprise decision upended Merkel's plan to hand Kramp-Karrenbauer the reins after leading Germany for more than 15 years.

I took note of this decision with the utmost respect, but I also say that I regret it, Merkel told reporters, thanking Kramp-Karrenbauer for her work and for agreeing to stay on until a new party leader is chosen. Kramp-Karrenbauer plans to remain in her role as Germany's defence minister.

The announcement followed days of in-fighting within the party over the election of a governor in the state of Thuringia. Christian Democratic Union legislators there voted with the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) last week to oust a left-wing incumbent.

In this Friday, Dec. 7, 2018 photo then newly elected CDU chairwoman Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, center, is flanked by the defeated candidates Jens Spahn, left, and Friedrich Merz, right, as she waves during the party convention of the Christian Democratic Party CDU in Hamburg, Germany. Angela Merkel's designated successor will quit her role as head of the Germany's strongest party and won't stand for the chancellorship following a debacle in a regional election. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

The CDU representatives not only defied Kramp-Karrenbauer's advance appeals and undermined her leadership, but broke what is widely regarded as a taboo in post-war German politics around co-operating with extremist parties.

The AfD stands against everything we as the CDU represent, Kramp-Karrenbauer told reporters Monday in Berlin.

Manfred Weber, a German member of the European Union parliament who leads a centre-right bloc in the EU legislature, told daily newspaper Welt that the situation in Thuringia reflected a Europe that is in a phase of growing instability; politics is becoming more serious.

In general. it is a sign of growing instability among the parties of the middle all across Europe. The parties of the middle must draw their red line to those with radical right tendencies,"Weber said. "This approach from Kramp-Karrenbauer was and is correct.

Merkel has said she will not run for a fifth term in Germany's next general election, which is now scheduled for fall 2021. But any shift to the right by the Christian Democrats could trigger a breakup of Merkel's federal coalition with the centre-left Social Democrats and increase the chances of an early national election.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and CDU party chairwoman and Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, left, attend a party's board meeting at the headquarters in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Feb. 10, 2020. Angela Merkel's designated successor Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer will quit her role as head of the Germany's strongest party in summer and won't stand for the chancellorship.(AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

If it's up to me, it won't have any effect on the stability of the grand coalition, Kramp-Karrenbauer said after announcing her planned withdrawal.

Florian Hense, an analyst at Hamburg-based private bank Berenberg, said the Social Democrats would have little to gain from provoking early elections.

But leading figures in Merkel's party expressed concerns about fallout from the announcement.

Peter Altmaier, Germany's economy minister and a close Merkel ally, said the Christian Democrats were in an unusually serious situation.

Recent polls had Merkel's conservative block at about 28% support nationally, followed by the left-leaning Greens at about 22%. The Social Democrats are struggling with only about 14% support, about the same as the far-right Alternative for Germany.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel listens to Hungary's Prime Minister Victor Orban during a joint statement prior to a meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Feb. 10, 2020. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Among the names currently being bandied around as future CDU party leaders are Health Minister Jens Spahn and Friedrich Merz, who were beaten to the leadership by Kramp-Karrenbauer in 2018. Armin Laschet, the governor of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, is also being mentioned as a possible contender.

While Spahn and Laschet are considered centrists, Merz has tried to appeal to the conservative wing of the party that has flirted with the far-right Alternative for Germany. A lawyer once tipped to lead the party in the early 2000s, Merz was sidelined by Merkel before she became chancellor in 2005.

Bavarian governor Markus Soeder, the leader of the Christian Social Union, the Bavarian-only sister party to Merkel's CDU, is also the focus of some speculation.

Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters in Berlin that she stood by her decision not to run for a fifth term in 2021, despite the latest development.

The Alternative for Germany welcomed Kramp-Karrenbauer's resignation, as did Germany's former domestic intelligence head, Hans-Georg Maassen, a vocal figure on the right of Merkel's party since his ouster as Germany's spy chief in 2018.

Alternative for Germany has established itself as a powerful far-right force since its founding in 2013, taking double-digit shares of the vote in regional and national elections. Its success has complicated Germany's political tradition of governing with multi-party coalitions, as most of its rivals have ruled out working with Alternative for Germany.

The far-right party has successfully wielded populist tactics, emphasizing national self-interest and immigration controls while tolerating anti-Semitism and historical revisionism among its members.

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Alternative for Germany's leader in the state of Thuringia, Bjoern Hoecke, has in the past marched alongside far-right extremists and called for a 180-turn in the way the country commemorates its Nazi past.

Kramp-Karrenbauer insisted that any Christian Democrats who believe their party can find common ground with AfD should ask themselves whether they can remain members of the CDU.

Germany's foreign minister said on Twitter it was important for all parties to take a crystal clear position against far-right extremism.

Whoever becomes the new chairman of the CDU needs to ensure that the party remains a reliable partner, Heiko Maas, a member of the Social Democrats, tweeted. This means the party must draw a line between itself and far-right extremists at all levels.

___

David Rising contributed to this report.
Forty health care workers were infected with the novel coronavirus at a single Wuhan hospital in January. Thus, this stresses the risks to those at the frontlines of the growing epidemic.

The team of medical professionals says that they may have contracted the illness at their hospital from around 40 percent of the patients they have treated with the new coronavirus. The staff works at a Wuhan University hospital in the Chinese city at the heart of the outbreak.

A patient in the surgical department was concluded to have spread the disease to 10 health care workers, according to the paper that was authored by doctors at the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University. This was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) on Friday.

This highlighted the high level of danger within hospitals during the first phase of the epidemic. Apart from this,17 patients who were hospitalized for other reasons were also diagnosed with the coronavirus.

A total of 138 patients caught the virus in a period spanning Jan 1 to Jan 28, with hospital-associated transmission accounting for 41 percent of all cases.

Among the cases were 57 people who were medical staff or patients initially hospitalized for other reasons.

This was hours following the death of the Chinese doctor raising the alarm about the possibility of dying from pathogen from coronavirus. This struck an outpouring of grief and anger over a worsening crisis that has now killed more than 630 people.

Also read: Li Wenliang, Coronavirus Doctor Dies Amidst Mixed Reports Causing Public Anger

The medical team published their findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Friday. In the 40 infected health care workers in the JAMA study, 31 worked on general wards, seven in the emergency department, and two in the ICU.

The late Dr. Li Wenliang, 34, talked about the new coronavirus to colleagues on December 30 in Wuhan but was later among several people summoned by the police for spreading rumors. This person acquired the disease while treating a patient.

Aside from having symptoms such as high fever and a sense of fatigue, the researchers revealed that 10 percent of the patients either had atypical symptoms such as diarrhea or complained of nausea.

It was a difficult undertaking to screen patients with symptoms not previously associated with the virus. It was estimated that each patient infects on average 2.2 others.

According to Michael Head, a global health expert at the University of Southampton in a comment to the UK's Science Media Centre, some patients are likely to be far more infectious than others and this creates further difficulties in managing their cases.

Hospital staff are overworked and lack enough protective gear, the deputy governor of Hubei province admitted Thursday.

An important feature of the novel coronavirus is the rapid human-to-human transmission among people in close contact, the team said.

The global death toll for the new virus in China has overtaken the 2002-3 SARS epidemic, which also began in the country that killed 774 people worldwide.

The number of confirmed infections rose to 37,198, said China's National Health Commission.

Eighty-nine deaths and 2,656 new cases surfaced in the preceding 24 hours.

Related Article: H5N1 Bird Flu Hits China Amidst Coronavirus Outbreak

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 10

Trend:

Azerbaijan closely follows the ongoing worldwide trends in nuclear security, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said at the third International Conference on Nuclear Security: Sustaining and Strengthening Efforts (ICONS 2020) organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Trend reports Feb. 10.

The minister noted that Azerbaijan supports existing nuclear security initiatives and pays special attention to the international multilateral mechanisms in this area.

Sharing international communitys concerns about nuclear security issues, especially regarding proliferation of nuclear weapons, Azerbaijan ratified Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) after regaining its independence and actively supported extension of the Treaty indefinitely in 1995, Mammadyarov added. We remain concerned about existing and emerging nuclear security threats and committed to addressing them.

International cooperation has always been at the center of our efforts in the field of nuclear security and safety, said the minister. We believe that the progress achieved in this area strengthens peace and security and promotes confidence. Azerbaijan has developed a successful cooperation with IAEA on various aspects of nuclear security. We are ready to deepen existing fruitful collaboration.

Within the IAEA Technical Cooperation Program, in 2015, the Republic of Azerbaijan and IAEA signed a Country Program Framework document for 2015-2020, which establishes a basis for national projects in the area of improvement of the regulatory and legislative infrastructure, capabilities in radiation safety, security of nuclear materials, radioactive waste management, as well as in radiation monitoring and control of border and customs check points, Mammadyarov noted.

Azerbaijan also welcomes the efforts of the United Nations for strengthening nuclear security, said the minister. In this regard, ensuring full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1540 and subsequent resolutions plays an important role in prevention of proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, as well as their means of delivery.

Nuclear security is fundamental in the management of nuclear technologies and in applications where nuclear or other radioactive materials can be used or transported, Mammadyarov added. In this regard, necessary efforts are being made in Azerbaijan to strengthen the protection and control of such materials.

We continue working on legislation on control over radiation security, said the minister. Azerbaijan has already adopted normative acts and regulations strictly banning import of nuclear and radiation wastes into the country. With the assistance of the IAEA, the laws and other legislative acts of Azerbaijan concerning registration and control of nuclear and radioactive materials are brought into compliance with international standards.

Azerbaijan has joined the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism and Convention on Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) and also ratified the Amendment to this Convention, Mammadyarov noted.

Azerbaijan attaches great importance to maintaining and further strengthening nuclear security, added the minister. Especially, in the face of persistent threat of radical extremism and terrorism in the region and due to our geographic location, we attach the utmost importance to the prevention of use of our territory as a transit route for illicit nuclear trafficking.

However, due to the continued occupation of about twenty percent of our territory by Armenia, we are unable to provide proper control along a substantial part of our borders, Mammadyarov said. This situation offers favorable conditions for illegal activities, including for nuclear smuggling and nuclear terrorism.

In conclusion, I would like to once again stress that Azerbaijan is committed to continue cooperation with international organizations and our partners in strengthening nuclear security in the region and around the world and reducing threats emanating from illicit trafficking in nuclear and radioactive materials and counts on support and cooperation of the IAEA in this matter, the minister added.

Reiterating the importance of this Conference in promoting nuclear security worldwide, Azerbaijan supports the Ministerial Declaration of International Conference on Nuclear Security: Sustaining and Strengthening Efforts, Mammadyarov noted.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 10) The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is studying the possibility of imposing penalties against arriving airline passengers who place wrong information on their Philippine entry cards.

Ports Operations Division Chief Grifton Medina told CNN Philippines The Source those travelers found guilty of doing so may face possible cases in the future including for obstruction of justice.

Perhaps meron ngayon kasi (there would be right now because) it would take a long time for us of course we're trying to promote public safety, public health... I think we're going to look at it (possible penalties), Medina said in the interview Monday.

Hindi naman siya public document. But I mean, it could be obstruction of justice... kasi nag-iinvestigate kami, persons under investigation. Kung nagsisinungaling ka doon, pinahihirapan mo yung gobyerno na malaman kung sino yung mga kasama (ng confirmed cases), at maaaring maging PUI, he added.

[Translation: It's not a public document, but I mean, it could be obstruction of justice. Because we are investigating, there are persons under investigation. If you lie there, youre making it difficult for the government to track those who came in contact with the confirmed cases, who may become PUIs.]

Local health and airline authorities have kicked off the search for individuals who may have come in contact with the Philippines confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus all involving Chinese nationals.

In its latest update, the Health Department said it placed 42 people close contacts of the coronavirus-positive patients under observation after showing flu-like symptoms. They are part of the 284 patients under watch for possible infection of the respiratory illness.

The Philippine government, upon President Rodrigo Dutertes directive, has imposed temporary travel restrictions to and from mainland China, Macau, and Hong Kong. The ban states that foreign tourists are not allowed to enter the country if they have been to mainland China, where the 2019-nCoV outbreak started, and the two other areas, in the past 14 days.

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.

Over 900 people have been killed by the new virus as of Monday morning, CNN reported. The coronavirus has since spread to at least 27 countries and territories outside China, with over 40,000 cases reported globally as of publishing.
A rts Council England has shown a serious disregard for women in its new 10-year strategy, according to a group of high-powered female industry figures. In a letter to ACE chairman Nicholas Serota, the December Group  a collective of women working in theatre  claims ACEs strategy fails to address the endemic inequality faced by women in the arts.

The December Group, which includes Maureen Beattie, who is the president of acting union Equity, and Jennifer Tuckett, director of University Women in the Arts, met with Serota in 2018 during a consultation. But now, in a letter sent on February 7 and reported in The Stage, it has accused ACE of missing a vital opportunity to set out a strategy to achieve 50/50 representation.

Women are under-represented, particularly in theatre  with a two-to-one male-female ratio from boards to actors  despite making up the majority of audiences. Jennifer Tuckett told The Londoner: Its important other under-represented groups are mentioned but women seem to have been missed out.

Although the challenges facing women are mentioned in Serotas foreword, explicit points about gender equality do not feature in the main document. Tuckett added: We have been having meetings to advocate for women over the past year and we were really surprised to see women were mentioned in the introduction but not in the body.

Stella Duffy, founder of Fun Palaces where over 80 per cent of community-run cultural engagement is routinely led by women, largely in poorer areas, said: For too long the artists and those leading the arts in England have been white, male, middle class, able-bodied. Arts Council Englands new strategy seems hopeful in that it acknowledges the need for all of us to be part of creating culture as well as consuming it.

The ACE told The Londoner it recognised the need for representation in culture and said more details on this will be in our delivery plan, published later this year. We and others will be watching like a hawk.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's nod to Milton Keynes

American politician and activist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

How prophetic was Yes Minister? In one episode of the Eighties comedy, Sir Desmond complains to Humphrey about his struggles to keep up with economic ideas: Ive only got as far as Milton Keynes. When Humphrey corrects him  Maynard Keynes  he replies: Im sure theres a Milton Keynes. Yes, Humphrey sighs, there is. Fast forward to 2020, over the weekend Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, rising star of the Democrats, revealed shed been reading about Milton Keynes, a famous economist. Life imitating art.

--

Cinematographer Roger Deakins who won an Oscar for 1917 told The Londoner in Hollywood he hopes the film will spark awareness. Its not a history lesson, he said, but [director] Sam Mendes and I hope it creates some interest in the First World War. President Truman once said, There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know.

--

The Londoners eye is caught by a recent job listing for a restorer of upholstery at Windsor Home Park. The advert asks for extensive experience in upholstery and soft furnishings conservation and restoration. Perhaps the sofas have been getting a good kicking of late 

All in good rhyme: poetry is cool at gala reading night

Actors and poets gave readings at last nights Platform Presents Poetry Gala, directed by Gemma Arterton at The Savoy hotel. Guests retired to Isabel, Mayfair, for a riotous after-party. Actor Rhys Ifans, who read a poem by Murray Lachlan Young, told The Londoner: I love the culinary use of words, where you hear and often taste the words when its spoken correctly in the right moment. Delectable.

The events founders, actor Gala Gordon and producer Isabella Macpherson, told us that without literary arts we would be smaller, meaner, poorer, stupider. Macpherson added: One of the reasons its becoming so fashionable is that its such a short form of storytelling thats so powerful and hard-hitting. Poet Lionheart was in a direct mood, confirming: Poetry is cool.

Earlier in the weekend, Game Of Thrones star Emilia Clarke made a splash at the Gommie exhibition in Messums London.

SW1A

Deputy Labour leader hopeful Dawn Butler has put the boot into the Tory Home Secretary, telling The Gryphon: Youve got these privileged white men and Priti Patel, whos a disgrace saying racism doesnt exist in British society. Its more harmful to talk about racism existing than racism itself. How and when did that become OK? Patel, is the first woman of colour to hold the position. We look forward to her response.

--

Tobias Ellwood, MP for Bournemouth East, is nothing if not a champion of his constituency. Yesterday at the height of Storm Ciara he trilled: Bournemouth beach huts are half-price today! Great deal  amazing experience. Not just a fine weather friend.

--

Are tensions creeping into Boris Johnsons post-election honeymoon? As rumours of tax rises swirl ahead of the budget, senior Tory MP Julian Knight thunders: Taxes at levels not seen for decades, we need cuts not increases. Get the popcorn.

Seymour: acting was an impossible dream

British-American actress, Jane Seymour (Photo by Ben A. Pruchnie/Getty Images)

Jane Seymour never imagined growing up that she would become an actor  because of a speech impediment that made her pronounce her Rs as Ws. [I] had to go to school earlier than everybody else and roll my Rs for half an hour until I got it right, the London-born actor and former Bond girl told Australian media. I was born with flat feet and I had a speech impediment so tell me that I would ever dance with the biggest ballet company in the world and that I would ever become an actor  I wouldve absolutely said it was impossible. The moral of the tale  disregard your limitations.

Quote of the day

'Last year was the best night of my husbands life  and Ive given birth three times'
President Donald Trump wants to raise NASA's budget to $25.2 billion for the fiscal year beginning in October, an increase of 12% over the current year's funding.

Nearly half of that total would fund activities directed toward getting humans first to the moon, then to Mars. The budget request includes $3.3 billion for human lunar landers, part of NASA's Artemis program that aims for a lunar landing in 2024. The new documents also cut several long-targeted programs and introduce a new mission that would study ice on Mars.

These details come from materials released today (Feb. 10) by NASA and the White House Office of Management and Budget. The materials are part of the administration's overall budget request, an annual submission to Congress that lays out the president's vision for the federal government and begins the budgeting process. NASA's full materials packet is available here .

"This is a 21-century budget worthy of 21st-century space exploration and one of the strongest NASA budgets in history," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said during a State of NASA event unveiling the budget. "If the president's support for NASA wasn't clear before, it sure is now." Under Trump, NASA's annual budget has increased from about $19 billion during his first year to $22 billion for the fiscal year that began in October, according to The Washington Post .

However, all these details come with a major caveat: The president's budget request is just that, a request. NASA's funding comes directly from Congress, which is not obligated to match the request in any way. That said, here's what we know about what the administration wants to do beginning in October.

Related: In photos: President Donald Trump and NASA

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine discusses the agency's Fiscal Year 2021 budget request at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi on Feb. 10, 2020. (Image credit: NASA TV)

A boost for the moon and Mars

This year's is the first budget request released since Vice President Mike Pence announced the acceleration of NASA's moon landing goal to 2024, a change that occurred in March 2019 and prompted an amendment to Trump's original budget request for the current fiscal year. For months, Congress has been pushing Bridenstine for details about the total estimated cost of the Artemis program and an initial schedule for milestones within that program, but he has deferred, pointing the representatives to the budgeting process .

NASA's full document package released today marks the first such information, sort of. Most of the information provided in the budget request documents looks at the entire human exploration program or the entire moon-to-Mars program, rather than isolating the Artemis program.

For example, a table pools funding across different departments that is allocated to the moon-to-Mars program. According to that material , the program has been allotted $8.8 billion for the current year. Fiscal year 2021 would require $12.4 billion, 2022 would require $13.3 billion, 2023 would require $15.8 billion, 2024 would require $15.3 billion, and 2025 would require $13.5 billion.

Including the money that was used last year, that program's budget plans total $87.66 billion over seven years, or an average of $12.5 billion per year. According to another NASA document released today , the administration estimates that overall NASA budgets will range from $25 billion to $29 billion through fiscal year 2025.

"NASA's top-priority mission is to return American astronauts to the moon by 2024 and build a sustainable presence on the lunar surface as the first step on a journey that will take America to Mars," the NASA section of an Office of Management and Budget document outlining the administration's overall 2021 budget request read. "The budget redirects funds from lower-priority programs to fulfill the presidents promise to get Americans back to the moon."

However, the new documents do offer new details about the timing of Artemis program flights. The first mission, an uncrewed test flight, is currently marked as under review but targeting a 2021 launch. That would mark a delay from current hopes to fly it this year, but not an unexpected one .

The crewed test flight would occur in 2022, with the first crewed lunar landing mission slated for 2024. The budget request documents then plan for one crewed mission each year from 2025 to 2030. All of these missions would fly as humans continue to live and work in orbit, with ongoing commercial cargo and crew flights supporting that presence.

The budget request supports NASA's massive Space Launch System rocket as a backbone for deep-space exploration but postpones funding the "Block 1B" upgrade required for larger missions. That decision, the budget request said, arose because Block 1B isn't necessary for a human lunar landing.

Congress has not displayed much enthusiasm for several of the president's space priorities, particularly the Artemis program. The Senate and House committees that have NASA in their purview have released authorization bills  which represent big-picture priorities, not the allotment of money  neither of which require the 2024 landing deadline. The legislature has tended to favor prioritizing Mars exploration more directly and applying a more conservative timeline to the moon landing.

Science stays pretty steady

The science section of NASA is allotted about $800 million less for 2021 according to the president's budget request than Congress appropriated in the current year. None of the subsequent years would match the 2020 science appropriations either.

Robotic exploration of Mars is explicitly supported in the summary document, as is the Mars Sample Return mission that NASA would like to follow its Mars 2020 rover to bring pieces of the Red Planet into Earth's laboratories. In addition, the Office of Management and Budget document introduces a new Mars Ice Mapper mission that could help NASA prioritize landing sites for astronauts.

Nevertheless, the Mars subset of the budget would shrink under the administration's new request. Most of that reduction reflects the end of construction on the Mars 2020 rover mission; as of this month, NASA is preparing to ship the spacecraft to Florida in preparation for launch in July.

Several high-profile science missions retained fairly consistent funding, including the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission to test planetary-defense techniques against potentially hazardous asteroids, the Psyche mission to visit a metal-rich asteroid and the Hubble Space Telescope.

One notable increase in the budget request is the funding line for Dragonfly, which NASA selected in June 2019 . The president has requested $96 million for that program in 2021, with two or three times that in each subsequent year through 2025.

The 2021 budget request would also reduce funding for the Jupiter Europa program, presumably the Europa Clipper mission , fairly significantly  from nearly $600 million in Congress's 2020 appropriations to just $400 million requested for next year. NASA did not detail a cause for that change. That mission has been stuck in a tug of war between Congress and NASA over whether it should launch on NASA's SLS rocket or on a cheaper, commercial rocket.

Several Earth science missions scheduled to launch in 2022 are also listed at noticeably lower requested funding for 2021 compared to 2020 allotments; it's unclear whether those differences represent progress toward launch or a reduction in funding. The same pattern also holds with Lucy, a mission destined to visit several asteroids and also slated for launch in 2022.

Familiar NASA budget cuts return

Other missions were even less lucky. The budget request cuts several NASA projects that Trump's budget requests have targeted for several years, including the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) airplane-mounted instrument, the Office of STEM Engagement and the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), currently planned to launch in the mid-2020s. The Office of STEM Engagement and WFIRST have both been canceled by the president's budget request and reinstated by Congress on multiple occasions.

The same is true of two Earth science missions also eliminated in the president's 2021 budget request: the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission and the Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) Pathfinder. NASA announced earlier this month that it had selected SpaceX to launch the PACE mission, in 2022 .

The Trump administration has repeatedly attempted to eliminate the PACE, CLARREO Pathfinder and WFIRST space telescope missions over the years. The flying SOFIA telescope, a joint project with the German Aerospace Center (DLR), similarly faced cancellation in the 2015 budget request of President Barack Obama's administration.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 5:20 p.m. with additional details about the president's budget request for NASA.
Letting the Kerala operatives return from Afghanistan will just help ISIS realise its real plan

Anti citizenship law protest being crushed: Noted Urdu poet

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Aligarh, Feb 10: Noted Urdu poet Munnawar Rana's daughter Sumaiyaa has alleged police high-handedness in "crushing the anti-citizenship law protest" at Eidgah here.

Addressing women protesters who have been agitating against the new citizenship law since the past 22 days, she said on Saturday, "We are holding all-women protest which is totally peaceful and is our democratic right.

"But as we have seen in Lucknow, the Uttar Pradesh Police is using coercive measures to crush our protest. Even women washrooms were blocked in Lucknow where protestors were sitting, to break the protest," Sumaiyaa, who was accompanied by student leaders from the Aligarh Muslim University, said.

Many women have been protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act at the Eidgah complex here with the police booking 250 of them recently for unlawful assembly.

Mumbai Uber driver takes passenger to cops after overhearing chat on anti-CAA protests

According to reports, many Eidgah protesters have also been served notices, warning them that their properties would be attached if they continued with their agitation.

SSP Akash Kulhari said "anti-social" elements may try to take advantage of the ongoing protest at the Eidgah.

Meanwhile, the police have put up barricades surrounding the Eidgah, restricting men from entering the enclosure, where women are sitting on protest.
On Friday afternoon, Wayne State University Press fired three longtime senior employees who were part of its five-member management team: editor-in-chief Annie Martin; editorial/design/production manager Kristin Harpster; and marketing/sales manager Emily Nowak. The three, who collectively had approximately 54 years experience at WSUP, were called into a meeting, informed that they were dismissed effective immediately, and then escorted from the building on Wayne State Universitys urban campus in Midtown Detroit by campus police.

In response to PW's query, WSUP interim director Tara Reeser would only confirm that the employees had been "separated" from the press and from the university, adding, "I can tell you that the Press is moving forward and we absolutely intend to continue to meet our commitments to authors, readers, supporters, and all others involved with the WSU Press."

In a statement she sent Friday afternoon to the press 17-member editorial board that was made available to PW, Reeser disclosed that management changes were made at WSUP after careful and deep consideration at every level. WSU remains committed to [WSUP]s mission and continued success. The statement concluded that WSUP will be committed and open to new ideas and have deeper community connectivity that will help build an even stronger, more innovative reputation among the nations university presses.

Eleven employees remain at WSUP, including two members of the senior management team. Reeser, previously WSUP journals manager, replaced Kathryn Wildfong in October as interim director. Wildfong retired in July after working for the press for 33 years, the last two as interim director. Previously, the press director reported to WSUs provost; about a month after Reeser was named director, WSUP was placed under the control of its library system. Reeser now reports to WSU Library System dean Jon Cawthorne.

The press launched in 1941 with a single title, A Workbook for Reading German. Since its solidly academic beginnings, WSUP has made significant inroads into the trade market: 35%40% of its annual output of approximately 35-40 frontlist releases is trade titles. The press publishes books under the WSUP imprint, as well as primarily trade titles under the Painted Turtle and Great Lakes Books Series imprints. It also publishes the Made in Michigan serious of regional titles.

Bruce Joshua Miller of Miller Trade Book Marketing, who serves as WSUPs sales rep in the Midwest, publicly announced the news of the firings on Twitter Friday afternoon and also sent an email to the press that was made available to PW in which he stated, Despite any denials, the business of the press-the ongoing promotion of current and back list titles, and the publishing of new books--has essentially shut down. You cannot throw the editor-in-chief, the production manager and the marketing manager into the street and continue as if nothing happened.

In a letter to authors obtained by the Detroit News, Reeser is quoted by the newspaper as stating in it that the press "will very soon hire for four critical positions" including editor-in-chief.

A half-dozen sources, some of them employed at WSU or formerly employed there, as well as several outside observers belonging to the academic publishing community, spoke to PW over the weekend. Most of them, requesting anonymity, blamed Cawthorne for the firings. More than one source said that Cawthorne had openly criticized the fired employees for the press inability to hire a new permanent director after all three finalists for the role declined to take the position.

Wildfong, the retired interim director, praised the three fired employees and described them as the heart of the press who did amazing work. Wildfong confirmed that Cawthorne had complained to her and to others that the culture of the press had turned off the [recent job] candidates.

That narrative is wrong, Wildfong said, I fear for the future of the press. My worry is that its a first step to close the press or to change the press as we know it, and to bring it more under the control of the library.

Adding fuel to the speculation by some to whom PW spoke that the firings are a prelude to the transformation of the press into a digital publishing operation, the WSU Library System manages a program called the Publishing House, the goal of which is to make academic scholarship available through open access publishing. It also is developing a platform to support online open access publishing called Vega. Cawthorne, who came to WSU in 2017 from West Virginia University where he served as dean of libraries, is a passionate advocate for digital publishing. At WVU, he promoted both digital publishing and open access scholarship by establishing the WVU Digital Publishing institute.

Cawthorne did not respond to PW's requests for an interview but Matthew Lockwood, WSU director of communications stated in an email to PW: "The university remains fully committed to the press and it will continue to operate and publish books as it has for more than 75 years. The press has contracts with authors through 2022, and there are no plans to reduce or slow down its publishing schedule."

UPDATE (2/11): Close to 60 WSUP authors and Jane Ferreyra, the last permanent director of the press (2002-2017) signed a letter that was sent to WSUs administration yesterday, condemning the university provost and "library governance" for the firings of the three WSUP employees. Complaining that it has left a gutted press staffed with people without editorial and publishing expertise, which undermines the ability of the press to operate and severely damages its reputation, and it has violated the authors' trust, the letter demands that the decision be reversed and Martin, Harpster, and Nowaks immediate reinstatement.

UPDATE (2/17): Wayne State University's Communications Office disputes that the three employees were informed of their dismissal in the WSUP offices and denies that campus police escorted the three from the premises . In response to PW's queries, Jennifer McManus, the attorney retained by the three fired employees, wrote: "The women were fired in the Deans office in the library. They were watched as they left and were not allowed back into the Press offices. Library security was in the Press office."
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 10, 2020) -Blue Star Gold Corp. ("Blue Star" or the "Company") is pleased to report the Company has completed the acquisition of the Ulu Gold Property (the "Ulu") from Mandalay Resources Corp. ("Mandalay"). Supplementing its high-grade gold resources, the Ulu includes a substantial inventory of capital equipment, a Weatherhaven camp with shop and a 1,200 m long airstrip. The mineral rights in the form of a Crown mining lease were transferred on January 7, 2020 to Blue Star. The Kitikmeot Inuit Association (the "KitIA") agreed on October 1, 2019 to transfer surface access in the form of a land use licence, and on September 10, 2019 the Nunavut Water Board ("NWB") authorized the assignment of the Ulu Water Licence 2BM-ULU1520 to Blue Star.

Through the final steps in the Ulu acquisition process, Blue Star has:

Paid to Mandalay the final payment of $450,000 in cash upon transmittal of the Ulu mining lease to Blue Star Gold;

Arranged for an arm's length third party to purchase Mandalay's 5,000,000 Blue Star shares;

Posted remediation security required by the KitIA and the NWB in the amounts of $750,000 and $1,685,542 respectively;

Assumed future reclamation and monitoring obligations associated with Ulu in a manner satisfactory to the KitIA and the NWB; and,

Received from Mandalay the transfer of $1,685,542 that was released by the Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada respecting Mandalay's remediation account for the Ulu in relation to the water licence.

The Ulu Gold Property is located approximately 50 km north of the Arctic Circle in the Kitikmeot region of western Nunavut. The site of the future deep-water port at Grays Bay is 100 km to the north of the lease and the proposed route corridor for the all-weather Grays Bay road passes in close proximity to Ulu. The Property consists of the renewable 21-year Mining Lease No: 3563 with an expiry date of Nov 18, 2038 and covers an area of approximately 947 ha. The lease hosts an advanced gold project that between 1989 and 2012 saw significant exploration and development. The past work includes approximately 1.7 km of underground development and approximately 405 diamond drill holes that produced 97,820 m of core. Supplementing the exploration data, metallurgical testing by Blue Star on the Flood Zone gold mineralization has shown that gold is recoverable in amounts greater than 90% by gravity, flotation and cyanidation.



Figure 1: Blue Star's gold occurrences and resource zones located within the Ulu Gold Property and the Hood River Concessions.



To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2421/52277_6a0d232f44a9a9b5_002full.jpg

The Company filed on SEDAR its Ulu mineral resource in July 2015 (see Table One). Using a gold cut-off grade of 4 grams per tonne ("g/t"), the overall resources were reported as 2.50 million ("M") tonnes grading 7.53 g/t Au for 605,000 gold ounces in the Measured and Indicated Categories and 1.26M tonnes at a grade of 5.57 g/t Au for 226,000 gold ounces in the Inferred Category. The Flood Zone contains the bulk of the Ulu gold resource and is open on-strike and at depth. The deepest intersection of mineable width is 14.9 g/t Au over 7.7 m in BHP's drill hole, 90VD-75, at 610 m below surface.







Figure 2: Blue Star's detailed plan of the +5 km-long Robb Trend gold occurrences within the Ulu Gold Property and the north-western part of the Hood River concessions.



To view an enhanced version of this Figure 2 , please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2421/52277_6a0d232f44a9a9b5_004full.jpg

Stephen Wilkinson, the Company's CEO and President commented, "With the Ulu transaction complete, Blue Star has advanced beyond junior explorer status. The entire Blue Star team is reinvigorated by this event, seeing the path forward to our targeted gold operations. Our Company now possesses assets with tangible value in the form of its measured and indicated gold resources supplemented by the infrastructure, capital equipment and Ulu's significant database. We intend to be working as soon as practical to begin our 2020 programs of remediation at Ulu and exploration on both Ulu as well as Hood River where we believe there should be another gold trend similar to the Robb Trend."

Table One: The Company filed its technical report, titled "Technical Report on the Ulu Gold Property, Nunavut, Canada" dated July 10, 2015 from which the table of resources was taken. Gary Giroux, P.Eng. of Giroux Consulting Inc., Bob Singh, P.Geo. of North Face Software Ltd. and Paul Cowley, P.Geo. of Buena Tierra Developments Ltd., are Qualified Persons as defined in NI 43-101 and were responsible for the preparation of the Technical Report.

hellohello234: Form 18-K - Filed by newsfilecorp.com

Classification Gold Tonnage Gold Grade Gold Contained Cut-off (g/t) Tonnes g/t Oz Flood Zone Measured > 4.0 1,000,000 8.48 272,000 Indicated > 4.0 1,500,000 6.90 333,000 Measured & Indicated > 4.0 2,500,000 7.53 605,000 Inferred > 4.0 891,000 5.57 160,000 Gnu Zone Inferred > 4.0 370,000 5.57 66,000 Total Flood and Gnu Zones Measured & Indicated > 4.0 2,500,000 7.53 605,000 Inferred > 4.0 1,261,000 5.57 226,000

Notes to the Resource Estimate

Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of mineral resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues. Confidence in the estimate of Inferred Mineral Resources is insufficient to allow the meaningful application of technical and economic parameters. There is no guarantee that all or any part of a mineral resource can or will be converted into a mineral reserve. The mineral resources in this estimate were calculated using the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM"), CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by CIM Council. The reliability and accuracy of downhole surveys in 188 of 313 drill holes in the resource area are in question due to their lack of proper measurements. For these holes, the QPs have imposed an average demonstrated predictability of drill hole deflection that are present in holes on the property that do have proper downhole measurements. In the opinion of the QPs, this is a more reasonable assumption than assuming straight line drill holes. The following parameters were used to derive the cut-off: CA$100/t mining costs, CA$25/t processing costs and CA$10/t G&A; transporting gravity and flotation concentrate to the Lupin to produce dore with a CA$25/t transport cost; CA$1500/oz gold price; process recoveries of 90%, smelter payables of Au at 96% and refining charges of Au CA$12/oz.

Qualified Person

Warren Robb P.Geo. a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101"), has reviewed and approved the geological information contained in this news release.

About Blue Star Gold Corp.

Blue Star is a Vancouver-based gold and silver company focused on exploration and development within Nunavut, Canada. The Company through its subsidiary, Inukshuk Exploration Inc., owns the highly prospective 8,015 ha Hood River gold concessions located contiguous with the Ulu mining lease. Inukshuk acquired its interest in the Hood River property through a renewable, 20-year Mineral Exploration Agreement with Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated ("NTI") which holds subsurface title to Inuit Owned Lands ("IOL"). The Hood River property located within the CO-20 IOL parcel is administered by the NTI through the HOODRIVER-001 MEA signed between Inukshuk and NTI dated June 01, 2013. Blue Star has recently acquired the Ulu Gold Property, an advanced gold and silver project and with regulatory approvals has completed the transmittal of the mining lease and assignment of the permits and licenses. Together with the Hood River concessions, Blue Star controls nearly 10,000 ha of perspective mineral claims within which the Company has identified more than 40 gold occurrences.

Blue Star has 129.6 million shares outstanding and is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange with the symbol: BAU and on the Frankfurt Exchange with the symbol: 5WP. For information on the Company and its projects, please visit our website: www.bluestargold.ca.

For further information, please contact:

Stephen Wilkinson, President and CEO

Telephone: +1 778-379-1433

Email: info@bluestargold.ca

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.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND INFORMATION

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as: "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "goal," "seek," "believe," "project," "estimate," "expect," "strategy," "future," "likely," "may," "should," "will" and similar references to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements include, among others, statements we make regarding prospective income and revenues, anticipated levels of capital expenditures for fiscal year, expectations of the effect on our financial condition of claims, litigation, environmental costs, contingent liabilities and governmental and regulatory investigations and proceedings, and estimates of mineral resources and reserves on our properties.

Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, 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 and many of which are outside of our control. Our actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, the following: economic and financial conditions, including volatility in interest and exchange rates, commodity and equity prices and the value of financial assets, strategic actions, including acquisitions and dispositions and our success in integrating acquired businesses/our success in integrating the Ulu Gold Property into our operations, developments and changes in laws and regulations, including increased regulation of the mining industry through legislative action and revised rules and standards applied by the regulatory bodies in Nunavut, changes in the price of fuel and other key materials and disruptions in supply chains for these materials, closures or slowdowns and changes in labour costs and labour difficulties, including stoppages affecting either our operations or our suppliers' abilities to deliver goods and services to us, as well as natural events such as severe weather, fires, floods and earthquakes or man-made or other disruptions of our equipment, and inaccuracies in estimates of mineral resources and/or reserves on our mineral properties.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52277
China on Monday appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's letter to President Xi Jinping offering solidarity and assistance to deal with the deadly coronavirus outbreak, saying it "fully demonstrated" New Delhi's friendship with Beijing.

In a letter to Xi, Modi expressed solidarity with the president and people of China over the outbreak of the virus that has claimed over 900 lives in the neighbouring country.

"We thank and appreciate India's support for China's fight against the NCP Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia, the official name for coronavirus," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.

"India's acts of goodwill fully demonstrate its friendship with China," Geng said during an online media briefing while replying to a question on Modi's letter to Xi.

Prime Minister Modi also offered India's assistance to China to face the challenge, besides conveying condolences over the loss of lives due to the outbreak.

The prime minister also conveyed to Xi his appreciation for facilitating evacuation of around 650 Indian citizens from the worst-affected Hubei province last week.

A sizeable number of countries have evacuated their citizens from China and restricted movement of people and goods to and from China.

India too has put restrictions on the movement of people to and from China as part of precautionary measures to contain the spread of the virus.

"We stand ready to work with India and other members of the international community to jointly tackle fight the epidemic and safeguard regional and global public health security," Geng said.

Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri told the Indian media in Beijing on Monday that India was in touch with Chinese officials to find out the immediate requirements to deal with the epidemic.

The death toll in China's coronavirus outbreak has gone up to 908 with 97 new fatalities reported mostly in the worst-affected Hubei province and the confirmed cases of infection crossing 40,000, Chinese health officials said on Monday.

A team of international experts led by the World Health Organisation would arrive in China on Monday night to assist the Chinese health officials to contain the spread of coronavirus outbreak.

"I've just been at the airport seeing off members of an advance team for the @WHO-led 2019nCoV international expert mission to China, led by Dr Bruce Aylward, veteran of past public health emergencies," WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a tweet.
Fine Gael and Sinn Fein should go into Government together, according to incoming Laois Offaly Fianna Fail TD Sean Fleming.

That was his opinion of the possible Government formation options after the General Election. Mr Fleming felt Fianna Fail should go into opposition

"My personal prefered option, but I will have to listen and talk to people, is to have Fine Gael and Sinn Fein in Government and have Fianna Fail lead the opposition," he said.

He said the door has not been closed anywhere on the formation of Government and the people had

"I'm saying Sinn Fein have a mandate and they are entitled to have that mandate reflected in Government," he said.

He declined to comment on the possible formation of an SF / FF Government.

"Sinn Fein now need to put into practice a lot of what they have been talking about. I don't know what Fianna Fail is going to do. It requires a special Ard Fheis for Fianna Fail to go into coalition.

"The party will make the decision at the end of the day and whatever the majority decision is I will accept that but my preferred view would be that we haven't benefitted from keeping a Government in power for the last few years and I don't think we should be doing that again, " he said.

He said he was delighted that Fianna Fail had retained its two seats in the constituency and with the highest vote of any political party the two counties.

"Laois Offaly would be one of the smaller number of constituencies in the country where we have held two seats so that is a good result for us. We would all have wished for the third seat but it didn't happen the figures weren't there. There is a crest of the wave coming behind Sinn Fein," he said.

Dep Fleming said there were a number of reasons for the increase in the Sinn Fein support.

"One is that Fine Gael for the last few years but we would have kept them in Government. I think the lesson there is that we kept them in for too long and as a result, we got overly associated in the public mind with Fine Gael and people felt that putting Fianna Fail in government didn't reflect an adequate change the electorate were looking for so they went elsewhere," he said.

He said Fianna Fail was "probably right" to support a government being formed after 2016 and stayed in power because of the importance of Brexit.

"However, I will say this, I met thousands of people in the last three and a half and I can say this, categorically, not one person ever mentioned Brexit. Not one ever. It wasn't an issue with people to keep the Government in place over Brexit and they probably felt we shouldn't have kept Fine Gael in for so long," he said.

Dep Fleming also set out his views on possible failings in the Fianna Fail strategy.

"The Fianna Fail campaign in Laois Offaly was utterly impeccable. We didn't say a bad word about anybody. We cast no slur on nobody. So locally the campaign was as good as the campaign can be," he said.

As for the national situation, he said he was focused on campaigning on the ground but he did

"The two main parties Fianna Fail and Fine Gael spent too much time criticising Sinn Fein and that can be counter-productive. The Irish people like an underdog and they don't like the bigger parties having a go to the extent that they did. Definitely I think it was overdone," he said.

He also commented on his party's grasp of the issue which could have forced voters to change.

"I felt I had a good grasp on the specific issues affecting the people in my constituency but at a national level our campaign was a bit general and it wasn't focused on the specifics...Our overall national manifestos were a little bit vague and not specific enough," he said.

He did not have a firm view on how Micheal Martin led the Fianna Fail campaign as he was canvassing every night and saw no news or the debates.
Contrary to the message of history never fading, Bodiam Castle might seem run-down to a modern-day civilian. Of course, apart from the moss and ruins, the windows dotted around the periphery seem more inviting to intruders than defensive, which makes one wonder why theyre placed the way they are. The moss-laden walls make the castle blend into its forested background so the majestic fortress becomes difficult to see. If a modern intruder were to try to get into the castle, they might have a hard time finding it.

The 50-meter length of Bodiams walls is small compared to newer castles, and the chemin de ronde  the top of the walls connecting the battlements  may seem redundant on that scale, but in the context of the 1300s, they were crucial for defense. However, the corridors were not constructed with precision, and time has taken its toll on them, leaving many in ruins. Similarly, the many rooms varying in size and shape could have undermined the stability of the castle.

The quadrangular shape of the castle fits the stereotype of all castles having four equidistant walls with a single tower in each corner, but in fact this design has proved itself by standing through the centuries.

It seems that Dalyngrigge was more interested in long-term functionality than aesthetics, which has kept Bodiam Castle standing to the present day. It piques my interest in the reasons for medieval castles being depicted as quadrangular in shape; in actuality, not many are. This building has given me more appreciation for simple design. It has shown that historic sites can remain in our memories forever.

We Set the Dark on Fire: Fighting Reality in a Fictional World by Luana Cimiotti

Imagine you cant tell anyone where youre from  getting arrested, tortured, even killed, if you do. Imagine isolating yourself, fearing to share too much of your identity. Having to give up yourself to be someone you know youre not supposed to be. To live a life that, according to the law, you dont deserve to live.

Daniela, the protagonist in Tehlor Kay Mejias first novel, We Set the Dark on Fire, goes through this every day. After graduating from the countrys most prestigious school, Daniela is sent off into a forced, polyamorous marriage with her worst enemy and a condescending husband. Her efforts to accept the state of affairs are reversed when a mysterious man comes into her life and makes Daniela realize that she cant and doesnt want to silently put up with her circumstances. For the first time, she stops striving to fulfill others expectations, but instead, fights for her own dream to live in a world where we can survive without forgetting who we are (252).

Being both fantasy and dystopian fiction, one wouldnt dare to imagine how close to reality the story is. It seems truly miraculous how Mejia sheds new light on current topics, like walls, borders, same-sex love, and inequality by projecting these issues into a story that any teen interested in philosophy and politics would enjoy. Most of all, the author wants to raise awareness about the discrimination in society and the threat of its normalization. The readers find inspiration to stick up for their beliefs through the perspective of Daniela, a very powerful and resilient girl, who often struggles with her identity, but slowly finds a voice. During her process of self-discovery, the third-person narrative takes the reader along and paints vivid pictures in ones mind throughout the whole story. Despite the detailed setting, the writing style does not involve redundant descriptions, leaving room for the readers own creativity. The characters are compelling, for their motives remain mysterious until the very end. Daniela isnt sure who to trust, so oftentimes, I found myself sharing the thrill of discovering a characters intentions along with her. Throughout the story, the lines between good and evil blur, keeping the reader under a spell as they follow the many twists of the novel.
An Garda Siochana in partnership with BT Ireland, Eir Ireland, Sky Ireland, Tesco Mobile, Three Ireland and Vodafone Ireland have today signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will block access to websites containing child sexual abuse material.

The purpose of preventing access to such pages is to protect consumers, including children, from viewing documented child sexual abuse material, and to prevent the further exploitation of children who have already been abused and photographed/filmed.



The Garda Blocking Initiative is a voluntary scheme under which Irish Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and An Garda Siochana collaborate to block access to illegal child sexual abuse material (CSAM).



The Garda Blocking Initiative was introduced in November 2014 with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between An Garda Siochana and the Internet Service Provider UPC (now Virgin Media) regarding the blocking of child abuse material.



Under the Blocking Initiative, the Garda National Protective Services Bureau (GNPSB) provides each Internet Service Provider with an updated list of suspect domain names. This is a list of websites that have been verified by Interpol to contain the most severe child sexual abuse material.



Speaking at todays launch Detective Chief Superintendent Declan Daly, Garda National Protective Services Bureau (GNPSB), said: "Child Abuse Material on the internet is an exploitative and demeaning crime. It is a child abuse offence, which has pathways to the contact offending of children.



"The continued introduction of blocking child abuse imagery in Ireland, protects children in our communities by reducing demand, it increases their protection and facilitates a concentration of policing resources towards those who seek to harm children online. I welcome the signing of these MOUs today and renew An Garda Siochanas commitment to working with industry to protecting children and preventing access to this material.



Blocking of online child abuse material is carried out worldwide to prevent people from gaining access to child sexual abuse material. It is not a complete solution to restricting access to such material; however its aim is to deter individuals who are in danger of accessing child abuse material, either deliberately or accidentally.



Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) have played a pivotal role in co-ordinating the ISPs in their endeavours to reach this point today.



Torlach Denihan of Ibec, said: "Telecommunications Industry Ireland, the Ibec group representing the telecoms sector, welcomes the signing today by its members of the memorandum of understanding with An Garda Siochana to block websites containing child abuse material. This builds on current practice and reflects the partnership approach to this issue involving industry, An Garda Siochana and the Department of Justice and Equality.

Interpol "Worst of list (IWOL) contains domains that provide the most severe child sexual abuse material available on the open web and there are currently 1,857 websites on the IWOL list that are blocked worldwide.



The new initiative will now apply to approximately 96% of internet users in the country.
RALEIGH, N.C., Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The fastest-growing population in America are the baby boomers. Currently, 14.5% of the nation's population is age 65+.

Mako Medical Laboratories

By the year 2029, the national population of those age 65+ will be 20%. The federal government passed the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (PAMA) which required significant changes to how Medicare pays for clinical diagnostic laboratory tests under the Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS). The financial impact for clinical laboratories began in 2016 with annual cuts of 10% for the first three years and 15% for the next three years.

Due to the drastic multi-year cuts to Medicare rates, senior care facilities' access to timely testing is severely jeopardized. This will lead to a void in the marketplace as many providers shift their focus away from skilled nursing and assisted living facilities.

Mako Medical Laboratories has launched an effort to make sure no senior is left behind. Mako Medical Laboratories has built statewide logistics and mobile phlebotomy teams to fill the void created by PAMA cuts. Nolan McBride, Mako Medical Laboratories Senior Care Executive, stated, "Mako Medical goes where others are not willing to go. We service all patients and we will not let our senior care communities suffer due to reimbursement and regulatory changes. We have especially made a focus to build coverage in the rural markets." McBride's passion for filling the gaps of healthcare come from a long family history of medical providers. His grandfather served the rural communities of North Carolina and South Carolina. "Healthcare and service are in my blood. We at Mako Medical just want to serve and fill those gaps."

Filling those gaps is just one piece of the puzzle. Getting the patient specimens from rural communities back to the Mako Medical laboratories, then timely running those patient specimens and returning a result same day is an entirely additive level of complexity. Steve Hoover, Mako Medical Laboratories Vice President of Laboratory Operations, said "Many of the senior care patients have critical results that require immediate turnaround times. Our job is to make sure the results get back immediately so the medical providers can treat those patients. The absolute last thing we want is for a patient to end up in the hospital due to subpar laboratory services." Hoover continued to explain the in-depth nature of the senior care laboratory space. With over 20 years of experience, he has seen a lot. "It amazes me how these patients are left with substandard care in America. When I joined Mako Medical, I knew we had to fill this gap. With our technology, logistics and phlebotomy infrastructure, and executive focus, we are completely changing the way laboratory medicine is given to our seniors."

Mako Medical Laboratories currently is expanding throughout the Southeast with a full network of mobile phlebotomists and logistics couriers to prepare for the needs of these patients.

Mako Medical Laboratories is a full-service reference laboratory with full-scale logistics, laboratory, pharmacy, and phlebotomy operations. Mako Medical is known for its extensive community service and for hiring military veterans.

Contact: [email protected]

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Delhi Election Results 2020 Live Counting and Updates: The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has won 62 seats while the BJP has won eight seats in the 70-member Delhi Assembly. The counting of the votes has concluded.

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The Election Commission announced that counting will begin at 8 am at 21 counting centres. "We have set up 21 centres for counting of votes, wherein there will be a dedicated hall for every constituency. The counting will start at 8 am on 11 February," Ranbir Singh told ANI.

Readers can also follow in-depth coverage of Delhis polling, exit polls and results on Firstpost , apart from watching the happenings of the day through the Live TV option.

The counting of votes and results on individual seats will be declared live on Election Commission of India websites - eciresults.nic.in , eci.gov.in and results.eci.gov.in . Additionally, updates are also expected on ECs Twitter account.

The Aam Aadmi Party will storm back to power for another term in the Delhi Assembly elections, exit polls unanimously predicted on Saturday. The exit poll forecasts also said that while the BJP may improve its tally marginally from the previous election, the Congress is staring at another rout. While some polls predicted that the AAP will win a two-thirds majority, others predicted that it may get more than three-fourth of the seats.

Reports said that the Aam Aadmi Party has deployed 10 volunteers at each strongroom across the National Capital to avoid any mishandling of the EVMs ahead of the counting on Tuesday. A strong room is the place where the EVMs are kept for the time after the polling is done and before counting takes place. This time, the Election Commission has established 21 such heavy security locations to store the EVMs.

The final voter turnout in the Delhi polls was 62.59 per cent, senior officials said on Sunday.

The inner-most security layer, near the strong rooms, is that of the paramilitary, followed by armed policemen and then police personnel forming the outermost layer, he added. Tight security arrangements have also been put in place at various centres across the national capital.

"We are all geared up for the counting tomorrow and elaborate security arrangements have been put in place. The exercise will be carried out as per the laid-down procedures of the Election Commission," he said.

Strong rooms spread across the city storing the EVMs are being heavily guarded, with a "three-layer security ring", Delhi CEO Ranbir Singh told PTI.

Only two of the 70 constituencies in Delhi recorded a higher turnout in 2020 compared to the 2015 Assembly elections: Matia Mahal and Ballimaran in Old Delhi with 70.38 percent turnout and 71.6 percent respectively.

The counting centre at Commonwealth Games Village has been set up as a model centre with state-of-the-art facilities.

The Krishna Nagar Assembly constituency lies in the East Delhi district. The seat is a prestige battle for BJP as it is home to Union minister Harsh Vardhan. He won the seat five consecutive times between 1995 and 2015.

Anil Goel of BJP is leading in the early morning trends, giving BJP a good start at the beginning of the counting process, News18 reported. The seat, once considered a BJP stronghold, is witnessing a fierce battle between the BJP, AAP and Congress. 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.

Latest trends suggest that the Aam Aadmi Party is leading in seven seats. BJP, meanwhile, is ahead in 5 seats including Ghonda, Dwarka and Krishna Nagar. Readers can follow constituency wise result at a glance here as well.

In these elections too, he ran an acerbic candidate polarising votes on the basis of CAA and NRC.

Model Town, part of the Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha constituency, is a largely affluent area. However, it also has a significant population living in slums.

The former Karawal Nagar MLA has been in the media glare ever since he rebelled against the party in May 2017, accusing chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and health minister Satyendar Jain of corruption. As a result, he was sacked as a minister and suspended from the partys primary membership. Recently, he came under fire for his tweet comparing 8 February (the day of voting) to an India versus Pakistan match. The Election Commission later imposed a 48-hour campaign ban on him.

Kapil Mishra, the controversial AAP leader who defected to the BJP in 2019, is leading from Model Town Assembly constituency.

Aam Aadmi Party candidate Amanatullah Khan is leading from the Okhla constituency. Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Nagar, the epicentre of anti-CAA protest falls under the Okhla constituency.

Bagga is also known for several other offline antics too. In April 2016, he reached the NIT campus in Srinagar to hoist the tricolour. However, he was detained by the police. Recently, during the Lok Sabha polls, he was arrested in Kolkata, where he had gone to support the then-BJP president Amit Shah following violence during his roadshow. Watch Live updates and analysis here .

Bagga is a well-known figure among Hindutva supporters on social media, where he enjoys a huge following for his rabble-rousing antics and trolling of BJP critics. He first came in the limelight in 2011, when he and along with another aide assaulted noted Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan over his comment on Kashmir.

BJP's controversial spokesperson Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga is making his poll debut from the Sikh-dominated Hari Nagar Assembly constituency. Bagga is giving a fight to Rajkumari Dhillon of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Surendra Sethia of the Congress.

Aam Aadmi Party is the leading party in Delhi Assembly Election on 30 seats, barely six seats away from the half-way mark. However, the party appears to be trailing in 13 of the seats it had won previoulsy in 2015, mainly ceding those grounds to the BJP.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is leading from the New Delhi constituency. The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress have both nominated first-timers from the constituency. Interestingly, the BJP candidate against Kejriwal had promised to quit electoral politics if he loses against Kejriwal.

Would CEC and Hon Supreme Court please have a fresh look on EVM voting in India? We are the largest Democracy in the World, we can't allow some Unscrupulous People to Hack Results and steal the Mandate of 1.3 Billion People. No Machine which has a Chip is Tamper Proof. Also please do for a moment think, why no Developed Country uses EVM? - Digvijaya Singh said in a series of tweets.

To silence all such People you please agree to hand over the printed Ballot Paper to the Voter and let him put it in a separate sealed Ballot Box. Now count the Ballots in the randomly selected 5 Ballot Boxes of each Assembly Segment. If they match the Votes in the Counting Unit. Declare the result. If they don't match then count the Ballots of all Polling Booths in the Assembly. It would convince every one and save time also as this has been the consistent arguement of CEC in favour of EVM.

My request to CEC is simple. Instead of dropping the printed ballot paper in the box after 7 seconds visual, hand it over to the Voter and let him drop it in a separate Ballot Box. Now as you have decided to count printed ballot papers in 5 randomly selected EVMs in every Assembly Segment and check with the votes in the counting unit. It was done in 2019 LS Polls and found to match completely. So far so good. But still questions are being raised.

Counting of votes has halted at three places, Shakur Basti, Adarsh Nagar and Model Town, in North Delhi, reports CNN-News18.

In Ambedkar Nagar, Khushi Ram of the BJP and Yaduraj Chaudhary of the Congress are also in the fray to wrest the seat from the AAP

Counting of votes is yet to begin at Deoli Nagar and Ambedkar Nagar constituencies due to the absence of the Returning Officer. In Deoli Nagar, this year, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has renominated Prakash Jarwal - a key accused in the 2018 assault against the Delhi chief secretary - for the seat, who will be taking on BJPs Arvind Kumar and Congress Arvinder Singh.

The Congress party has finally managed to make its way to the ballots. The grand old party's Harun Yusuf is leading in Ballimaran constituency. Former Delhi minister and five-time MLA, veteran Congressman Haroon Yusuf had contested from his pocket borough of Ballimaran for the seventh consecutive time.

The BJP is now leading from the seat where Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Nagar are located. These were the places which became an epicentre of anti-CAA protests

After securing an initial lead from Kalkaji, Atishi is now trailing behind Dharamveer Singh of BJP. Congress' Shivani Chopra is trailing at a distant third.

Election Commission Data indicates that the voter share between Aam Aadmi Party and Bharatiya Janata Party is at a razor thin margin. The poll panel said that 46.5 percent votes were polled in BJP's favour, while AAP recieved 47.7 percent votes.

Bagga is also known for several other offline antics too. In April 2016, he reached the NIT campus in Srinagar to hoist the tricolour. However, he was detained by the police. Recently, during the Lok Sabha polls, he was arrested in Kolkata, where he had gone to support the then-BJP president Amit Shah following violence during his roadshow.

Bagga is a well-known figure among Hindutva supporters on social media, where he enjoys a huge following for his rabble-rousing antics and trolling of BJP critics. He first came in the limelight in 2011, when he and along with another aide assaulted noted Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan over his comment on Kashmir.

BJP's controversial spokesperson Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga is making his poll debut from the Sikh-dominated Hari Nagar Assembly constituency. Bagga is giving a fight to Rajkumari Dhillon of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Surendra Sethia of the Congress. The margin remains very slender, and right now Bagga is trailing by less than 60 votes from the seat.

The Punjabi Hindu and Sikh communities are influential in this constituency, which is a residential and commercial area. The area itself came into existence after the Partition of 1947.

News18 reported that no trends are coming in from Rajouri Garden seat where AAP has nominated Dhanwati Chandela to fight the poll, while the BJP fielded Ramesh Khanna. The Congress,on the other hand, has given the ticket to Sikh, Amandeep Singh Sudan. The incumbent MLA from this seat is Manjinder Singh Sirsa of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), an ally of the BJP. However, this time, the constituency will elect a new MLA.

Two rounds of counting are complete and on many seats the difference between the leading candidate and the trailing one is quite narrow. However, it is already evident that even if AAP retains mandate in Delhi, the BJP has taken the fight to AAP with Congress emerging as an inconsequential force. This belies exit poll claims that AAP will sweep Delhi again. Interestingly, the BJP seems to be leading in areas around Shaheen Bagh, which would indicate that continued inconvenience has found expression in the ballot box. At this stage, the trend indicates that Shaheen Bagh was indeed a consequential poll issue.

AAP's Amanatullah Khan has reversed BJP's lead from Okhla constituency. Okhla has been the hotbed of anti-CAA protests in national capital.

Deputy CM Manish Sisodia in Patparganj, while Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan, who was trailing for some time, is now ahead of BJP's Brahan Singh and Congress' Parvez Hashmi.

While Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has maintained a lead in New Delhi, minister Gopal Rai is leading in Babarpur and Raghav Chadha in Rajinder Nagar.

Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said that trends indicate that there is a gap between the votes for AAP and BJP, but the party remains hopeful as there is time remaining in the counting to conclude. "Whatever the outcome, being the state chief I am responsible," he said.

"Everyone knew that Aam Aadmi Party will return to power for the third time. The victory of AAP against the BJP and its communal agenda is significant," he told ANI.

Even as the Congress has failed to secure a lead in any constituency so far, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury welcomed the apparent victory of AAP.

Trends by the Election Commission showed AAP in the lead in 52 seats, with BJP leading in 18 seats and Congress in none.

There are several constituencies where trends are flipping constantly and the race remains neck and neck. AAP's Amanatullah Khan has finally regained his initial lead in Okhla, while Atishi has fallen behind BJP's Dharmendra Singh in Kalkaji. AAP is also ahead in Shakur Basti.

Delhi Assembly Speaker and Aam Aadmi Party leader Ram Niwas Goel is trailing from Shahdara. The ruling AAP has fielded sitting MLA Ram Niwas Goyal, while Sanjay Goyal will fight the election on BJP's ticket. Congress is trusting it's three-time MLA Narendra Nath.

Since the beginning of 2019, Lamba was embroiled in a bitter spat with the AAP top brass over several issues. From opposing the resolution to withdraw the Bharat Ratna to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, refusing to campaign for the party in the Lok Sabha elections to seeking accountability from the party after its humiliating loss, Lamba had several run-ins with the party bosses. In September 2019, she finally quit the party citing continuing disrespect for her and joined the Congress party.

Lamba had a two-decade-long association with the Congress party before she switched over to the newly formed Aam Aadmi Party in December 2014 but later changed back to the Congress side. After joining the AAP, she was given the ticket to contest from Chandni Chowk, which she won by a margin of over 18,000 votes.

Alka Lamba, who made a Ghar Wapsi into the Congress after five years, is trailing massively from Chandni Chowk constituency and risks forfeiting her deposit if her vote percentage doesn't pick up in the subsequent rounds. She has merely secured 404 votes while the leading Aam Aadmi Party candidate is much ahead with 12,667. AAP's vote share in this seat is a whopping 93 percent.

Raghav Chadha, the treasurer and spokesperson of AAP, is leading from Rajinder Nagar constituency by a good margin of 6,500 votes. BJP's Sardar RP Singh is his closest contender.

"The common people have decided they will choose either BJP or AAP. It's a vote for the development agenda. The entire government, along with all its entire machinery, had been deployed in Delhi to win this election. From PM to grassroots workers, it's been a fight between a giant and a pygmy and the pygmy has won," he said.

The Congress party was not leading on any of the 70 constituencies, according to latest trends.

The Delhi Assembly election was a fight between "a giant and a pygmy" and the AAP is winning it despite the NDA government using all its might to wrest power in the national capital, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said on Tuesday. As trends indicated that the Aam Aadmi Party was leading on 56 seats and the BJP on 14, Chowdhury said the people of Delhi voted for development.

The constituency shows a clear preference for AAP among Muslim voters, who reportedly form around 40 percent of the electorate.

In Matia Mahal, which also saw violence and arson, AAPs Shoiab Iqbal is ahead. In the last assembly elections, the seat was won by Asim Ahmed Khan of the AAP by a margin of 26,096 votes. Asim Ahmed Khan defeated INC candidate (Shoaib Iqbal). This time, the major contest is between AAPs Shoaib Iqbal and BJPs Ravinder Gupta. The Congress has fielded Mirza Javed Ali.

"Thank you Delhi for standing up to protect the soul of India!" tweeted election strategist Prashant Kishor. Kishor's political consultancy firm Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) had backed AAP in Delhi polls. Kishor, who was recently expelled from JD(U), is credited for helping the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) win an absolute majority in the 2014 general elections. However, in 2017, he was roped in by the Grand Old Party for the Punjab Assembly elections and since then he has gone on to curate campaigns of several BJP rivals.

AAP's education policy strategist, Atishi is trailing by less than 20 votes in Kalkaji. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is trailing by over 2,000 votes in Patparganj, while Raghav Chadha is maintaining a slim lead over his nearest contender.

Addressing workers and volunteers at the party headquarters in Delhi, AAP's Sanjay Singh said: "People of Delhi have handed over a huge majority to their son. We are headed for a landslide. As of now, we are leading in 58 seats, but the number is set to rise. Your son was called a terrorist. Arvind Kejriwal was pained by it. It was said it's an India Pakistan match. Hindustan jeet Gaya!"

"We put in our best effort. May be we could not convince Delhi's public. In internal discussions we will be able to understand where we lacked," Gautam Gambhi said, conceding defeat to the Aam Aadmi Party. He also said that this was not the time to talk negatively about his own party but to rather congratulate AAP on their victory. He claimed that the incumbent government earned an edge by promising freebies to the voters.

Lt-Governor Anil Baijal has dissolved the Delhi Assembly. AAP is leading on 56 seats while BJP is ahead on 14 seats. However, final numbers could vary a little as counting is still underway in all constituencies.

Meanwhile, Tajinder Bagga concedes defeat on behalf of the BJP. He says, "We respect the people's mandate. I would like to thanks all the people of my constituency and will always stand for them whether I win or lose. I would like to congratulate AAP."

The BJP is leading on 13 seats as of now, while it had won just 3 seats in the previous election. The saffron party made gains on Bawana, Krishna Nagar, Karawal Nagar, Kirari, Shahdara, Tri Nagar, Ghonda, Patparganj, Rohtas Nagar, and Shalimar Bagh among other seats. As per recent trends, BJP has held on to Mustafabad, where sitting MLA Jagdish Pradhan is leading by over 25,000 votes, and Vishwas Nagar, where OP Sharma is leading by over 9,000 votes. After trailing in Rohini for the past hour, BJPs Vijender Gupta is ahead by 2000 votes.

AAP's Amanatullah Khan is set to win Okhla with a margin of close to 65,000 votes. As of now, according to Election Commission, he has secured a lead of 64532 votes against his closest rival, BJP Braham Singh. Khan said, Dilli ki janta ne aaj BJP aur Amit Shah ji ko current lagane ka kaam kiya hai, ye kaam ki jeet huyi hai aur nafrat ki haar. Maine nahi, janta ne record( his lead margin) toda hai. "Today the people of Delhi have given an electric shock to BJP and Amit Shah. This win is for the development planl, and the mandate is a defeat of politics of hate," Khan told ANI

AAP's Raghav Chadha is set to win the Rajinder Nagar constituency with a margin of more than 18,000 votes. As of 12:40 pm, the latest trends of on the Election Commission's website show Chada was leading with 38,481, while BJP's RP Singh trails behind with 21,089 votes. Currently, the AAP was leading by 17,392 from this seat. The Election Commission has not yet officially called out the results by News18 reports that Chadha has taken an unassailable lead over his nearest rival.

Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath also said the party was already aware of the Congress' fate. "We were already aware of it. The question is - what happened to BJP which was making big claims?"

Congress' performance has been beyond dismal these elections. Delhi Congress chief Subhash Chopra blamed the polarisation politics of BJP and AAP for the party's debacle in the elections. "I take responsibility for the party's performance, we will analyse the factors behind this. Reason for the drop in our vote percentage is politics of polarization by both BJP and AAP."

Amid celebrations in AAP quarters after trends show Arvind Kejriwal is set to return as the Delhi chief minister for the third consecutive time, Congress leader Chidambaram tweeted, "AAP won, bluff and bluster lost. The people of Delhi, who are from all parts of India, have defeated the polarising, divisive and dangerous agenda of the BJP. I salute the people of Delhi who have set an example to other states that will hold their elections in 2021 and 2022."

Initially, Sisodia trailed for hours, but his vote count picked up slowly in the second half. Sisodia has been the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi since February 2015 and holds the portfolios of Education, Finance, Planning, Tourism, Land & Building, Piping, Motor Services, Women & Child, Art, Culture and Languages portfolios in the Government of Delhi.

Delhi Education Minister and senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia is leading by 656 votes from Patparganj constituency. He is a tough fight with BJP's Ravinder Singh Negi, who was leading from the seat till a while back. After 12 rounds of counting, Sisodia's margin of votes is gradually expanding and has risen to 2,196.

Atishi, Aam Aadmi Party's star campaigner, wins the Kalkaji seat by a margin of 7,337, as per latest data released by the Election Commission. She has secured 50.92 percent votes from her constituency, News18 reports. A former advisor to the Delhi government on education, Atishi is an educator, activist turned politician from Delhi. She is the member of the Political Affairs Committee of the AAP and will contest MLA elections for the first time this year.

After the margin of votes increased to 3,514, Sisodia flashed the victory sign. Meanwhile, Arvind Kejriwal is set to address volunteers and media at ITO party Office at 3.30pm.

After a tough tussle with BJP's Ravinder Singh Negi, Delhi Deputy chief minister and Education Minister Manish Sisodia won with a decisive lead from Patparganj constituency. "We worked like Delhi's son," says Sisodia after emerging victorious is the Delhi assembly elections.

Earlier, Pawar had tweeted, "Congratulations to Shri. Arvind Kejariwal ji and Aam Admi Party workers for achieving a 'Sweeping Victory' in the Delhi Assembly Polls!"

Congratulating the AAP government in Delhi for a "sweeping victory", veteran politician and NCP chief Sharad Pawar said, "I don't think BJP's series of defeat will stop soon."

As reporters asked Sisodia to comment on Shaheen Bagh, he said, "BJP tried to do politics of hate, but I'm happy that people did not get divided. Victory is important. Nationalism means a government that works on progress and delhi has proved that. It is victory of education."

BJP's Tajinder Singh Bagga tweeted and congratulated Arvind Kejriwal and AAP for the victory in Delhi elections as BJP stares at a massive defeat in the Union Territory. The results show that AAP's strategy of choosing developmental agenda over divisiveness seems to have been paid off.

Earlier, reports had said that Kejriwal will address the media and party workers at 3.30 pm today.

According to News18, after a clear victory in the Delhi polls, Aam Aadmi Party has planned a road show from AAP headquarters to the Hanuman temple. More details are awaited.

Congratulations AAP, tweeted Yogendra Yadav after trends clearly gave advantage AAP early in the day. The former AAP member said that it was a "well deserved victory in the face of dirty tricks of the regime and a docile EC. Congratulations to people of Delhi for defeating the most vitriolic campaign of communal hatred in recent times and stopping it from becoming a national template."

AAP's winning candidate from Rajinder Nagar, Raghav Chadha said, "People of Delhi have proven that Delhi's son Arvind Kejriwal isn't a terrorist but a true patriot. He's working for nation building, the work he's doing is what constitutes patriotism. What BJP is doing, isn't patriotism."

AAP's sitting MLA Jarnail Singh wins West Delhi's Tilak Nagar seat against BJP's Rajiv Babbar. Singh won his constituency with a massive margin of 22,620 votes, according to latest EC data.

Congratulating Arvind Kejriwal on AAP's thumping victory in Delhi elections, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray reportedly said, "people have shown that the country will be run by 'Jan Ki Baat', not 'Mann Ki Baat'. BJP called Kejriwal a terrorist but couldn't defeat him."

As trends show at least 62 seats for the AAP, so far, Atishi won the Kalkaji seat, Manish Sisodia secured Patparganj seat, Raghav Chadha won the Rajinder Nagar seat and Jarnail Singh retained the Tilak Nagar seat.

"Thanks for trusting your son," Kejriwal further added. "It's a victory for all the families who have benefitted from improved health and education." Kejriwal said that Delhi has chosen "kaam ki rajneeti". "This is Delhi's message. Vote for mohalla clinics. Vote for 24x7 electricity. Votes for roads, development, education and healthcare. This is what Delhi's votes mean," said Kejriwal.

In a short and quick address to party workers and media from the AAP headquarters, Arvind Kejriwal, who is set to return as the Delhi CM for the third time, congratulated the people of Delhi for the massive sweep and said that this is an era which will mark the start of new politics. "This new politics based of education, health and development will usher in a new era for India," Kejriwal said.

Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari on Tuesday congratulated the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on their win in the Delhi Assemly election as the trends showed a clear lead for the Arvind Kejriwal party. He said that the BJP will respect the people's mandate.

AAP leader Atishi, who won the Kalkaji seat in the Delhi Assembly polls on Tuesday, thanked the electorate for the win and for "voting for the politics of development."

He also thanked the BJP workers for their efforts in the election campaign.

He added that the saffron party, who, as of 4.13 pm has won one seat according to the Election Commission website and is leading in six others in the 70-member Assembly, "will prominently raise every issue related to the development".

BJP president JP Nadda, congratulating Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal for the party's win of a second consecutive term as the ruling party in Delhi, said that the BJP will fulfill the role of being a "constructive" Opposition party in the Delhi Assembly.

The party is currently leading in 48 other seats, while the BJP is leading in 6.

According to the Election Commission website, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has won 15 seats and the BJP has registered a win in one seat so far. Early trends indicated that AAP, the incumbent ruling party is retain power in Delhi.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Imran Hussain has defeated the BJP's candidate Lata in the Ballimaran constituency by a margin of over 35,000 votes.

The constituency, which is included in the North East Delhi Parliamentary constituency, saw several incidents of violence during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in December.

Abdul Rehman of the Aam Aadmi Party defeated the BJP's Kaushal Kumar Mishra to win the the Seelampur constituency.

According to the Election Commission website, Khan has won 80.88 percent of the votes counted so far.

AAP leader Amanatullah Khan defeated the BJP candidate Braham Singh in the Okhla constituency. An epicentre of the two-months-long protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Shaheen Bagh and the Jamia Millia Islamia university are part of this constituency.

The BJP candidate Om Prakash Sharma has defeated the AAP's Deepak Singla by a margin of more than 16,000 votes, reports said. This is the first win the saffron party has registered in the Delhi Assembly election.

Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari, after conceding defeat to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which has currently won 26 seats and is leading in 37 more in the 70-member Assembly, said that the saffron party doesn't indulge in "politics of hate" but focusses on the "politics of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas'".

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has won 26 seats and is leading in 37 more in the 70-member Delhi Assembly, while the BJP has now won two seats and is leading in five others, according to the Election Commission website.

He also called on his supporters to boycott Deepika Padukone-starrer Chappak after the Hindi film actor visited the JNU campus in solidarity with the students who were protesting against the police brutality on anti-CAA protesters.

Bagga has come under fire on Twitter several times for his abusive language and promotion of fake news. He was recently reprimanded by Twitterati for sharing a doctored video of the anti-CAA/anti-NRC protests at Gateway of India in Mumbai.

First-time candidate, BJP's Tajinder Singh Bagga has lost in the Hari Nagar constituency to the AAP candidate Raj Kumari Dhillon, who won by a margin of over 20,000 votes, according to the Election Commission website.

Sisodia, who was appointed as the deputy chief minister, is credited with changing the face of the public education system in the National Capital.

AAP leader Manish Sisodia, who was one of the first registered wins for the party in the Delhi Assembly election result on Tuesday, tweeted his thanks to the electorate and said that the people had "honoured" the work the party had done since 2015.

BJP candidate from the Hari Nagar constituency, Tajinder Singh Bagga conceded defeat and said, "I will open free self-defense coaching centre for girls in Hari Nagar Vidhanasabha in the next 30 days."

"We couldn't perform well, we'll evaluate this. Sometimes we get discouraged when results are not as per our expectations but I would like to tell our workers to not be disheartened...Compared to 2015 our winning percentage has increased," he said.

Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari, addressing a press conference after conceding defeat to the AAP in the Delhi Assembly election, said that the saffron party has improved its winning percentage since 2015.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidates Saurabh Bharadwaj, Rajesh Rishi, and Shiv Charan Goel have won the Greater Kailash, Janakpuri, and Moti Nagar seats respectively. The range of the win margins are from 60,000 votes to 67,000 votes.

Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal has reached the Hanuman temple in the Cannaught Place area of Delhi after a landslide win in the Assembly eelction, of which results were declared on Tuesday. The temple visit is the culmination of a victory road show after the Election Commission website showed a victory for the AAP in 34 seats.

Meanwhile, the BJP has won three seats. Candidates of the saffron party. Om Prakash Sharma, Vijender Singh, and Jitendera Mahajan won from the Vishwas Nagar, Rohini, and Rohtas Nagar respectively.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has won 34 seats and is leading in 29 more seats, according to the Election Commission website.

The Aam Aadmi Party has won 37 seats and is leading in 25 more.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday tweeted a congratulatory message to the winning Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) after trends and results showed that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party was slated to win a third consecutive term in power in the National Capital.

Fears of the Congress not having a credible face, after the death of its three-time chief minister Dikshit last July, and ceding its vote bank to the Aam Aadmi Party came true with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party capturing the space once occupied by the grand old party.

The party, which ruled Delhi for 15 consecutive years under Sheila Dikshit, on Tuesday stared at the prospect of scoring a duck for the second consecutive time in the Assembly elections and being reduced to a fringe player in the National Capital's politics.

The Congress's performance touched a record low in the Delhi Assembly election as the party bagged less than 5 percent of the total votes polled and 63 of its candidates lost their deposits.

The BJP's candidate Ramvir Singh Bidhuri has taken a lead over Ram Singh Netaji of the AAP in the Badarpur constituency. The margin is of nearly 2,000 votes.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, his wife Sunita Kejriwal and party leader Manish Sisodia on Tuesday offered prayers at the Hanuman temple in Connaught Place.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, after offering prayers at Hanuman Temple in Connaught Place after a landslide victory for the party in Delhi, said, "Hanuman ji sabka bhala karenge (Hanuman will bless everyone)."

In contrast, the incumbent AAP has maintained its far lead on the BJP with wins in 46 seats and is leading in 16 more.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which secured a lead in only eight seats in the 70-member Delhi Assembly as results of the election started pouring in on Tuesday, has won six of them, according to the Election Commission website.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal responded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's tweet congratulating him for the landslide victory of the AAP in the Delhi Assembly polls and said that he was looking forward to working "closely" with the Centre.

Talking to reporters here about the Delhi poll outcome, Vijayvargiya said, "The issue was about freebies. Kejriwal will say from where the issue of development came into the elections? Freebies announced, especially during the last six months, in Delhi have had an impact on these elections."

BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Tuesday said "freebies" given out by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led to its massive victory in the Delhi Assembly polls. The BJP is headed for a crushing defeat at the hands of the ruling AAP in the Delhi polls with trends showing the Arvind Kejriwal-led party well on its way to win more than 60 seats in the 70-member Legislative Assembly.

Congratulating Arvind Kejriwal on the AAP's win in the Delhi Assembly election, MNM chief Kamal Haasan said that the Delhi voters have "shown the way" by voting for the AAP.

The highest margin of votes between candidates is for the Burari constituency, according to the Election Commission website. AAP candidate Sanjeev Jha is leading over the BJP candidate Shailendra Kumar with 87,824 votes.

While the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has won 52 seats and is leading in 10, the BJP has won six seats and is leading in two more seats. Meanwhile, the final declaration of results for 10 seats are pending.

Jaiveer Shergill, a national spokesperson of the Congress party, said that in light of the drubbing the party faced in the Delhi Assembly election, party leaders should not "justify own defeat, or find happiness in the BJP's defeat".

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal has won the New Delhi consituency with a margin of 31,583 votes over the BJP's Sunil Kumar Yadav. The Congress' Romesh Sabharwal, who is a first-time candidate, doesn't feature in the list on the Election Commssion's website.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has won all the 10 constituencies in the West Delhi district. This includes the Dwarka, Madipur, Rajouri Garden, Hari Nagar, Tilak Nagar, Janakpuri, Vikaspuri, Uttam Nagar, Matiala and Najafgarh seats.

She was quoted by The Indian Express as saying, "Delhi people have given me a gift, could not have asked for a better gift. There was anxiety, several ups and downs were going on. We trusted our work. Delhi has made 'kaam' (work) victorious. Fight politics positively."

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal's wife Sunita who celebrated her birthday today said the Delhi election result, which showed a landslide victory for the AAP, was the best birthday gift.

"I take the responsibility for the debacle of the party in Delhi Assembly Polls. I had less time, but still I put all my efforts. I have never seen such politics in Delhi ever, where voters got influenced by the advertisements done by AAP and voted for it," he was quoted by ANI as saying.

"I take moral responsibility for the party's debacle and have resigned," he told PTI. He said it is up to the party high command to take a decision on his resignation.

The Congress drew a blank for the second time in a row and reduced its vote share from 9.7 percent in 2015 to 4.27 percent this time.

Congress leader Subhash Chopra has tendered his resignation as the Delhi Congress chief on Tuesday evening after the party received a drubbing in the Delhi Assembly election.

Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has secured a win in 55 seats of the 70-member Delhi Assembly and is leading in seven others, the Election Commission's website said. While the party's tally is likely to be 62, which is five less than its 2015 tally, it has already cemented a comfortable majority.

On being asked if he considered stepping down after the BJP's defeat in the assembly polls, he said, "It is an internal party matter. I will let you know if anything like that happens."

After the BJP's poor show in the Delhi Assembly polls, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari on Tuesday said his future role in the party is an internal matter. Tiwari, who led the Delhi BJP through its impressive victories in civic body polls in 2017 and Lok Sabha elections last year, failed to pass the test of fire as his party suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) managing to win just eight of the 70 Assembly seats.

Some BJP leaders believe the defeat was mainly contributed by the "hyper-nationalist pitch" of the poll campaign that focused on the anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh and also lack of any answer to Kejriwal government's freebies including power and water supply and free rides to women in public transport buses.

However, the increase did not materialise in sufficient number of seats to bring the party back to power after a gap of over two decades. The party managed to win eight seats, registering a slight increase from the three it had bagged in 2015.

The BJP's voteshare in the Delhi Assembly election showed an increase as of 9.15 pm on Tuesday, from 32.19 percent in 2015 to 38.5 percent as the results came in.The incumbent AAP won a landslide majority in the 2020 polls, with 58 seats in their kitty.

News18 quoted Arvind Kejriwal as saying, "Kaam ki rajneeti bhari padi (The politics of work overshadowed everything). We will decide the swearing in date and inform everyone soon."

ANI has reported that Arvind Kejriwal will hold a meeting with the newly elected party MLAs at his residence on Wednesday.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has won 62 seats while the BJP has won eight seats in the 70-member Delhi Assembly. The counting of the votes has concluded.

The two BJP MLAs  Vijender Gupta from Rohini and OP Sharma from Vishwas Nagar  retained their seats with comfortable margins of over 12,000 and over 16,000 votes respectively. Anil Kumar Bajpai, former AAP MLA from Gandhi Nagar, retained his seat not from AAP but BJP.

As many as 44 sitting MLAs including two from the BJP retained their seats in the high-stakes Delhi Assembly elections.

AAP's Pawan Sharma also kept his Adarsh Nagar seat, defeating BJP's Raj Kumar Bhatia by over 1,500 votes. Ambedkar Nagar, a reserved constituency, was retained by AAP's Ajay Dutt by a margin of over 28,000 votes.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, saying that the Delhi Assembly election result had been less-than-perfect for the Congress  which failed to win even one seat, stated that it was a consolation that the BJP's "divisive politics" had been "repudiated".

Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has secured a win in 55 seats of the 70-member Delhi Assembly and is leading in seven others, the Election Commission's website said. While the party's tally is likely to be 62, which is five less than its 2015 tally, it has already cemented a comfortable majority.

On being asked if he considered stepping down after the BJP's defeat in the assembly polls, he said, "It is an internal party matter. I will let you know if anything like that happens."

After the BJP's poor show in the Delhi Assembly polls, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari on Tuesday said his future role in the party is an internal matter. Tiwari, who led the Delhi BJP through its impressive victories in civic body polls in 2017 and Lok Sabha elections last year, failed to pass the test of fire as his party suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) managing to win just eight of the 70 Assembly seats.

Some BJP leaders believe the defeat was mainly contributed by the "hyper-nationalist pitch" of the poll campaign that focused on the anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh and also lack of any answer to Kejriwal government's freebies including power and water supply and free rides to women in public transport buses.

However, the increase did not materialise in sufficient number of seats to bring the party back to power after a gap of over two decades. The party managed to win eight seats, registering a slight increase from the three it had bagged in 2015.

The BJP's voteshare in the Delhi Assembly election showed an increase as of 9.15 pm on Tuesday, from 32.19 percent in 2015 to 38.5 percent as the results came in.The incumbent AAP won a landslide majority in the 2020 polls, with 58 seats in their kitty.

Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal - Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and winning candidate from New Delhi assembly constituency, receives his winning certificate from the Returning Officer. #DelhiResults pic.twitter.com/b4m0kli1kr

News18 quoted Arvind Kejriwal as saying, "Kaam ki rajneeti bhari padi (The politics of work overshadowed everything). We will decide the swearing in date and inform everyone soon."

ANI has reported that Arvind Kejriwal will hold a meeting with the newly elected party MLAs at his residence on Wednesday.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has won 62 seats while the BJP has won eight seats in the 70-member Delhi Assembly. The counting of the votes has concluded.

The two BJP MLAs  Vijender Gupta from Rohini and OP Sharma from Vishwas Nagar  retained their seats with comfortable margins of over 12,000 and over 16,000 votes respectively. Anil Kumar Bajpai, former AAP MLA from Gandhi Nagar, retained his seat not from AAP but BJP.

As many as 44 sitting MLAs including two from the BJP retained their seats in the high-stakes Delhi Assembly elections.

AAP's Pawan Sharma also kept his Adarsh Nagar seat, defeating BJP's Raj Kumar Bhatia by over 1,500 votes. Ambedkar Nagar, a reserved constituency, was retained by AAP's Ajay Dutt by a margin of over 28,000 votes.

The Delhi results are disappointing for @INCIndia but there are consolations: the BJPs divisive politics has been repudiated w/their rout; AAPs development message is what has prevailed over identity politics; &8 months after sweeping the LS polls the winners have been rebuked

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, saying that the Delhi Assembly election result had been less-than-perfect for the Congress  which failed to win even one seat, stated that it was a consolation that the BJP's "divisive politics" had been "repudiated".

Delhi Election Results 2020 Counting Latest Updates: The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has won 62 seats while the BJP has won eight seats in the 70-member Delhi Assembly. The counting of the votes has concluded.

News18 quoted Arvind Kejriwal as saying, "Kaam ki rajneeti bhari padi (The politics of work overshadowed everything). We will decide the swearing in date and inform everyone soon."

Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has secured a win in 55 seats of the 70-member Delhi Assembly and is leading in seven others, the Election Commission's website said. While the party's tally is likely to be 62, which is five less than its 2015 tally, it has already cemented a comfortable majority.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal has won the New Delhi consituency with a margin of 31,583 votes over the BJP's Sunil Kumar Yadav. The Congress' Romesh Sabharwal, who is a first-time candidate, doesn't feature in the list on the Election Commssion's website.

While the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has won 52 seats and is leading in 10, the BJP has won six seats and is leading in two more seats. Meanwhile, the final declaration of results for 10 seats are pending.

The highest margin of votes between candidates is for the Burari constituency, according to the Election Commission website. AAP candidate Sanjeev Jha is leading over the BJP candidate Shailendra Kumar with 87,824 votes.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal responded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's tweet congratulating him for the landslide victory of the AAP in the Delhi Assembly polls and said that he was looking forward to working "closely" with the Centre.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday congratulated AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal for the landslide victory in the Delhi Assembly election.

The AAP has crossed the halfway mark with a win in 36 seats in the 70-member Delhi Assembly. The party has won 36 seats and is leading in 29 more seats, according to the Election Commission website.

Meanwhile, the BJP has won three seats. Candidates of the saffron party, Om Prakash Sharma, Vijender Singh, and Jitendera Mahajan won from the Vishwas Nagar, Rohini, and Rohtas Nagar respectively.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidates Saurabh Bharadwaj, Rajesh Rishi, and Shiv Charan Goel have won the Greater Kailash, Janakpuri, and Moti Nagar seats respectively. The range of the win margins are from 60,000 votes to 67,000 votes.

AAP leader Amanatullah Khan defeated the BJP candidate Braham Singh in the Okhla constituency. An epicentre of the two-months-long protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Shaheen Bagh, is part of this constituency.

Abdul Rehman of the Aam Aadmi Party defeated the BJP's Kaushal Kumar Mishra to win the the Seelampur constituency.

The constituency, which is included in the North East Delhi Parliamentary constituency, saw several incidents of violence during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in December.

According to the Election Commission website, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has won 15 seats and the BJP has registered a win in one seat so far. Early trends indicated that AAP, the incumbent ruling party is retain power in Delhi.

The party is currently leading in 48 other seats, while the BJP is leading in 6.

In a short and quick address to party workers and media from the AAP headquarters, Arvind Kejriwal, who is set to return as the Delhi CM for the third time, congratulated the people of Delhi for the massive sweep and said that this is an era which will mark the start of new politics. "This new politics based of education, health and development will usher in a new era for India," Kejriwal said. "Thanks for trusting your son," Kejriwal further added. "It's a victory for all the families who have benefitted from improved health and education." Kejriwal said that Delhi has chosen "kaam ki rajneeti". "This is Delhi's message. Vote for mohalla clinics. Vote for 24x7 electricity. Votes for roads, development, education and healthcare. This is what Delhi's votes mean," said Kejriwal.

Congratulations AAP, tweeted Yogendra Yadav after trends clearly gave advantage AAP early in the day. The former AAP member said that it was a "well deserved victory in the face of dirty tricks of the regime and a docile EC. Congratulations to people of Delhi for defeating the most vitriolic campaign of communal hatred in recent times and stopping it from becoming a national template."

Atishi, Aam Aadmi Party's star campaigner, wins the Kalkaji seat by a margin of 7,337, as per latest data released by the Election Commission. She has secured 50.92 percent votes from her constituency, News18 reports. After the margin of votes increased to 3,514, Sisodia flashed the victory sign. Meanwhile, Arvind Kejriwal is set to address volunteers and media at ITO party Office at 3.30pm.

After 12 rounds of counting, Sisodia's margin of votes is gradually expanding and has risen to 2,196. Initially, Sisodia trailed for hours, but his vote count picked up slowly in the second half. Sisodia has been the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi since February 2015 and holds the portfolios of Education, Finance, Planning, Tourism, Land & Building, Piping, Motor Services, Women & Child, Art, Culture and Languages portfolios in the Government of Delhi.

Lt-Governor Anil Baijal has dissolved the Delhi Assembly. AAP is leading on 56 seats while BJP is ahead on 14 seats. Counting still underway in all constituencies.

Political parties have started reacting to Delhi results which show AAP poised to return to power. Mamata Banerjee called up Kejriwal, while Pinarayi Vijayan and Kamal Nath tweeted.

Addressing workers and volunteers at the party headquarters in Delhi, AAP's Sanjay Singh said: "People of Delhi have handed over a huge majority to their son. We are headed for a landslide. As of now, we are leading in 58 seats, but the number is set to rise. Your son was called a terrorist. Arvind Kejriwal was pained by it. It was said it's an India Pakistan match. Hindustan jeet Gaya!"

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which was earlier leading in as many as 24 constituencies, is now only ahead at 14 seats. However, the party has managed to lock several key faces from AAP in a closely fought battle.

Trends by the Election Commission showed AAP in the lead in 52 seats, with BJP leading in 18 seats. Even as the Congress has failed to secure a lead in any constituency so far, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury welcomed the apparent victory of AAP. "Everyone knew that Aam Aadmi Party will return to power for the third time. The victory of AAP against the BJP and its communal agenda is significant," he told ANI.

After securing an initial lead from Kalkaji, Atishi is now trailing behind Dharamveer Singh of BJP. Congress' Shivani Chopra is trailing at a distant third. Also, the BJP is now leading from the seat where Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Nagar are located. These were the places which became an epicentre of anti-CAA protests

Counting has been halted at Shakur Basti, Model Town, Adarsh Nagar due to a technical glitch.

Aam Aadmi Party is leading on eight seats so far, while the BJP is ahead on five. The Congress is meanwhile, yet to open its account.

Counting of votes have begun. Reports said that the Aam Aadmi Party has deployed 10 volunteers at each strongroom across the National Capital to avoid any mishandling of the EVMs ahead of the counting on Tuesday.

The three-cornered fight between Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress will come to a conclusion when counting of votes cast in the Delhi Assembly elections is held on Tuesday (11 February).

The Election Commission announced that counting will begin at 8 am at 21 counting centres. "We have set up 21 centres for counting of votes, wherein there will be a dedicated hall for every constituency. The counting will start at 8 am on 11 February," Ranbir Singh told ANI.

The counting of votes and results on individual seats will be declared live on Election Commission of India websites  eciresults.nic.in, eci.gov.in and results.eci.gov.in. Additionally, updates are also expected on ECs Twitter account.

Readers can also follow in-depth coverage of Delhis polling, exit polls and results on Firstpost, apart from watching the happenings of the day through the Live TV option.

The National Capital saw a voter turnout of 62.59 percent this time. As compared to the 67.12 percent polling recorded in 2015, with the highest voting recorded in Ballimaran (71.6 percent) and lowest in Delhi Cantonment (45.4 percent).

These elections also saw novel steps being taken by the Election Commission to enhance voter participation. While senior citizens had the option to be picked up from their residence and be taken to the polling booths, digital voter slips containing QR code were introduced in 11 constituencies.

Most exit polls have predicted a comfortable win for the Arvind Kejriwal-led party in the 8 February elections held across the 70 Assembly constituencies in the National Capital. Under the leadership of Kejriwal, AAP had secured a win in 67 seats in the 2015 Assembly polls, while the BJP had won only three seats.

The Congress won no seats in the 2015 polls, facing a shocking defeat after having held Delhi for 15 years before that.

Exit polls predict victory for AAP

Most pollsters predicted that AAP will return to power, but without the massive margins witnessed in 2015. According to India Today-My Axis exit poll, AAP may also surpass its 2015 tally of 67 seats. It has predicted 59-68 seats for the Arvind Kejriwal-led party, 2-11 seats for BJP and a rout for the Congress.

According to the C-Voter ABP News exit poll, the AAP will win 49 to 63 seats in Delhi while the BJP is predicted to win 5 to 19 seats. Congress is poised to get 0-4 seats. The Jan Ki Baat-Republic TV exit poll has predicted 48-61 seats for AAP, 9-21 for the BJP and 0-1 for the Congress.

AAP alleges EVM tampering, BJP exudes confidence

AAP said it would deploy its volunteers outside the 30 strong rooms where EVMs have been kept, a move aimed at keeping a tight vigil on the machines till the counting day. The announcement came after party leader Sanjay Singh alleged, while sharing videos on his Twitter account, that EVMs were being moved in an unauthorised manner after polling concluded on Saturday.

The videos shared by him asked why EVMs were being moved without the mandatory cover of reserve police forces and how the machines were taken out of a vehicle at a location that was not near a strong room. The Election Commission denied these allegations.

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari expressed confidence that the saffron party will emerge victorious in the Assembly polls. BJP candidate from New Delhi Assembly constituency Sunil Yadav exuded confidence about defeating Kejriwal. "I guarantee my victory and Kejriwal's defeat. If result proved otherwise, I will not contest any elections again in my life," Yadav said.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 10

Trend:

Snap parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan were held on February 9, reads the statement issued by the New Azerbaijan Party, Trend reports.

The conclusion of numerous international and local observers after the election proves that the election process was free, democratic and transparent, in full compliance with the countrys laws. The presence of 1314 candidates in the elections indicates that running for the MP mandate took place in conditions of high competition, reads the statement.

The New Azerbaijan Party, which participated in the elections with the motto "For a Stronger Azerbaijan," was able to conduct a comprehensive election campaign with candidates registered in 123 constituencies. The great personal authority of the chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev among the people, the impressive results of his policy, the rapid development of the country's economy, the well-being of the population, the increasingly strengthening international position of Azerbaijan, the successfully ongoing large-scale reforms were the main points referred to the New Azerbaijan Party in these elections.

It is worth noting that numerous party members and volunteers made a significant contribution to the successful implementation of the election campaign of the New Azerbaijan Party, which joined the elections with worthy candidates who won great respect among people due to their personal qualities.

Statements made by a number of well-known international sociological centers (exit-polls) after the election process indicate that the New Azerbaijan Party has achieved significant success in early parliamentary elections.

The New Azerbaijan Party monitored the election process through its thousands of observers. According to their data, some of the candidates who participated in the elections and their supporters attempted to undermine the voting process, trying to cast a shadow on democratic and free elections by various provocations.

The New Azerbaijan Party expresses deep gratitude to the citizens who voted for the partys candidates, and, as a result, the policy of the President of Azerbaijan, and expresses confidence that the new composition of the parliament will make a valuable contribution to the reforms in our country, reads the statement.
HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' on Monday said outsiders were behind the alleged molestation of students at an all-women college in Delhi and the administration of the institute has been told to take action.

Replying to a question of Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi in Lok Sabha, Pokhriyal said the government was aware of the incident at Gargi College, a reputed institute in the national capital.

"Those who were involved in the incident were outsiders and not students. It was not a good incident. The college administration has been told to take action in the incident," he said during Question Hour.

Gogoi said sexual harassment and bullying often takes place in many higher institutions and action should be taken in such incidents.

He also said a group of men allegedly molested the students after gatecrashing Gargi College during a festival.

Reports said the incident came to light when some of the students took to Instagram to narrate their unpleasant experiences during the fest at the college on February 6 and alleged that security personnel did nothing to control the unruly groups.

Replying to another question, the Union Minister said there has been a decreasing trend in dropout rate in higher institutions like IITs and IIMs over the last five years.

"This has been achieved by taking a number of corrective measures to minimise the dropout which include appointment of advisor to monitor the academic progress of students and peer assisted learning," Pokhriyal said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Marketing, LO Jobs; VA, Compliance Products; Credit Study and Underwriting Shifts

The U.S. is divided up into regions. Have you ever noticed that we say, Out West or Back East  a holdover from centuries ago. Its never, Back West or Out East. Historically, new housing nationwide led to more local shopping, and thus higher local sales tax revenues. But due to online shopping, that relationship has lessened. Warehouse banks usually operate nationwide, and I received this short question: Rob, do you know of any warehouse lenders out there that dont require audited financials? Are you kidding? Every reputable warehouse bank requires year-end audited financials (despite 2019 being long ago) along with monthly (or quarterly) financials (aka, interims) signed by an officer of the company. There are a handful of captive warehouse providers that are also investors that require the funded loan be sold to them, but watch their pricing and terms.



Lender Products and Services

For those who would like to learn more about Johnston Thomass team of mortgage banking attorneys and how their firm can assist your company with its compliance and other industry related legal needs, Mr. Brody will be in attendance with his colleagues and is scheduled to speak at TMCs upcoming Winter Conference in New Orleans, between February 16-18. However, if your company is not yet a member of TMC, Mr. Brody and his colleagues will also be attending the MBAs upcoming Legal Issues and Regulatory Compliance Conference in New York, between May 3-6.

Join us and learn to market new VA mortgage opportunities in 2020! The recently implemented Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019 has provided new mortgage benefits for jumbo borrowers, active duty Purple Heart recipients and more. As a leading VA lender, Freedom Mortgage Wholesales No Down Payment VA Jumbo program enables eligible jumbo borrowers to exceed published FHFA county loan limits without a down payment requirement! No jumbo overlays or loan limits! Sign up for 2020 VA Mortgage Marketing training on 2/10 and 2/21.

Mr. Cooper Wholesale will be at the Texas Mortgage Roundup in San Antonio on February 11th. Stop by booth #124 and hear about all of our great offerings and new technology coming soon. If you are unable to attend please connect with us at https://www.mrcooper.com/wholesale

A New Era in Talent Acquisition! Your pipeline is the lifeblood of your recruiting efforts. You need to stay in front of prospects, up-to-date and on-track to reach your goals. Model Matchs Talent Management Suite provides your team with the tools needed to stay hyper-focused, and your team united in one central, collaborative space. Build healthy pipelines of qualified candidates across your entire footprint with Market Insights or partner with Team Hammerhouse to experience a revolutionary partnership that drives success through strategically deployed resources, collaboration, and accountability tools. Connect with our team to see how Model Match can help you transform your recruiting efforts.



Credit and Program Changes

This decade has seen a widening income gap and a homeownership gap. As loan officers everywhere know, leases are more predominant than mortgages in cities across the nation, and part of the reason is the credit rating of the potential borrower.

The House has approved a bill that would require credit reporting agencies to delete derogatory information more promptly and to boost consumers' ability to dispute information they deem inaccurate. The bill would also give the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau greater authority to ensure the accuracy of credit scores and to outlaw some methods of calculation.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago undertook a study to identify geographic patterns in the locations of subprime-scored households across Midwest zip codes. LOs know that differences in credit scores and other attributes across neighborhoods are likely to affect the overall supply and nature of lending and investment in those places, as individuals with subprime scores face higher borrowing costs and may be unable to obtain bank credit, leading to use of more costly alternative financial products that have fewer consumer protections.

Credit scores also affect access to other products and services, such as cell phone contracts, employment, and housing. Households are classified as subprime (less than 620), near prime (620 to 760), or prime (above 760) based on the highest risk score in the household. Subprime households are more highly concentrated in urban centers, and include a much higher non-white share of the population, weaker labor market outcomes, lower educational attainment, and higher housing vacancy rates. Suburban areas tend to have very few subprime households in comparison.

The distribution of zip codes by percent subprime and population density suggests that the most subprime places tend to be densely populated urban areas, while the least subprime places are a mix of urban, suburban, and rural areas. Mean household income is much lower in the most subprime neighborhoods than in the least subprime neighborhoods, roughly $42,000 versus $102,000. The unemployment rate in subprime neighborhoods is also much higher, at 10.8 percent on average, versus 6.6 percent overall, and just 4.2 percent in the least subprime neighborhoods. The share of black households in zip codes with the highest concentration of subprime-scored households is 31 percent, but only 5.7 percent in the next-highest quartile. In the most subprime quartile, only 18.7 percent of adults have a bachelors degree, compared to 45 percent in the first quartile.

There are also noteworthy differences in housing market characteristics, including higher vacancy rates, lower homeownership rates, and older housing stock in the most subprime zip codes. Additionally, the most subprime neighborhoods are less likely to have credit card accounts or mortgage debt, as these lines of credit are likely not even an option. This means households in the most subprime zip codes borrow smaller amounts than households in less subprime zip codes.

This study highlights an important challenge confronting policymakers and the private market: namely, the creditworthiness of households is intertwined with economic adversity at the neighborhood level. Neighborhoods with a greater share of subprime-scored households exhibit more signs of economic adversity and lower levels of credit use compared to neighborhoods where the distribution of credit scores skews higher. Private market lending volume was substantially higher in neighborhoods with higher income and greater share of white residents. Because the flow of credit and investment has major implications for the economic vitality of communities, enforcing existing policies and applying creative solutions to strengthen fair and sustainable lending to disadvantaged neighborhoods are important goals for policy. Additional policy concerns may arise if there is a self-reinforcing mechanism of hardship for households whose lower credit scores may have already played some role in neighborhood selection.

Of course borrowers want to borrow and lenders want to lend. Lets take a random look at who is doing what, program-wise. (Lenders can always visit www.mortgageelements.com to check on wholesalers.) Similar to A-paper lenders and subprime lenders fighting over the middle ground in 2007, non-QM is becoming more commoditized like every other loan where price is now a significant factor in choosing where to send loans, and more mainstream where exceptions are the norm.

Athas Capital Group will finance non-warrantable condominiums up to an 80% LTV and no HOA questionnaire required.

Plazas Solutions Non-QM program allows for a flat 50% expense ratio for loans qualified using business bank statements. Borrowers with expenses less than 50% may still qualify using the 3rd party expense statement, or P&L options. The borrower P&L option has been retired. Please note that businesses with high expense factors are not eligible for the Fixed Expense Factor. The housing payment history requirements have been updated to provide guidance for qualifying borrowers without a recent housing payment history.

Land Home Financial Services offers one-year income documentation on its Alpine Jumbo Product. Other highlights include 620 Minimum FICO, 80% Maximum Loan-to-Value (LTV); 75% LTV on Cash Out, Up to 50% Debt-to-Income (DTI), Up to $2,000,000 Loan Amount at 70% LTV; $1,500,000 Loan Amount at 80% LTV, Both Wage Earners and Self Employed, Owner Occupied, 2nd Home, & Investment and I/O Available.

HomeXpress has new and improved underwriting guidelines on its Bank Statement Loan Programs.

Among other programs, ACC Mortgage offers an ITIN program.



Capital Markets

U.S. Treasuries ended last weeks volatile week rallying again as global growth concerns emanating from China drove markets in a risk-off mode. The Fed said the corona virus epidemic presents a new risk to the U.S. economic outlook, warning of disruptions to global markets. Its also triggering more onerous travel restrictions and allegations of discrimination. That meant a stronger than expected January payrolls report (though perhaps not the 500k downward revision for all of 2019) was largely ignored. It would seem to me that markets are presently numb to news about the coronavirus, though the 10-year did end Friday -7 bps to 1.58 percent.

Unfortunately Fridays jobs report was overshadowed, despite adding 225k jobs when the figure was expected to be 164k. Joel Kan, the MBAs AVP of Economic and Industry Forecasting, observed, Last months increase in construction employment (44,000 jobs) was a positive development for housing, as the homebuilding sector has been challenged by labor shortages and high costs. Wages firmed in January, a welcome sign for households looking to buy a home this spring.

Capital markets folks tuned in to the large swings in dollar rolls led by the UMBS30 3 percent and 4 percent and GNII 3.5 percent rolls, which caused large swings in G2/UMBS swaps with the UMBS 3.5 percent fly as much as 12 ticks cheaper before recovering into the close. The bid to the 3 percent and 4 percent rolls was even more surprising, with FN30 speeds slowing, but less than expected, while 15s were slowed less than half of what was expected as GNIIs slowed a little more.

This weeks calendar highlights are likely to be the Quarterly Refunding, tomorrow through Thursday, as well as Fed Chair Powells testimony on the Monetary Policy Report before the House tomorrow and Senate on Wednesday. Other first tier economic releases include CPI on Thursday with retail sales, industrial production / capacity utilization, business inventories and Michigan sentiment on Friday. In mortgages the NY Desk is conducting a GNII FedTrade operation tomorrow when they purchase up to $429 million 3 percent and 3.5 percent, and will release a new FedTrade schedule as well as the four-week MBS reinvestment on Friday afternoon when many industry folks will have likely already headed for the exits ahead of the long weekend.

Today sees an extremely light calendar, beginning later this morning with remarks from Fed Governor Bowman. The only economic release today is the January Employment Trends Index, which comes before Philadelphia Fed President Harker closes the calendar with remarks this afternoon. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices roughly unchanged and the 10-year yielding 1.56 percent.

Jobs and Transitions

First Continental Mortgage, LTD. (FCM) is seeking to fulfill the position of Marketing Manager (MM). FCM is an independently owned mortgage banker headquartered in Houston, TX for the last 27 years with operations in Texas, Colorado, and Washington. The MM will develop and implement marketing strategies for our builder mortgage partnerships. The MM will work directly with FCM management to establish, enhance, and execute marketing processes and to build overall brand awareness for the business. The MM will promote the development of relevant, timely and measurable marketing initiatives for key objectives of the company. For a full description of this opening and to submit your resume, FCM Careers.

New American Funding has taken the biggest step yet in its market expansion growth in Arizona and Texas. With the hiring of Sean Casey as the new SVP of Retail Sales for Arizona and Texas, the company has put unprecedented focus on building elite teams of Loan Originators to uniquely serve customers regional loan needs in these territories. Sean has spearheaded massive year-to-year growth throughout his career. In his previous position as a Retail Division Manager, Casey helped drive growth of 5596 units for $1.7 billion in loan volume for 2017 to 6087 units and $1.9 billion in loan volume for 2019. Sean displays the exceptional leadership and strong background we targeted to help fuel our expansive growth efforts, said Jon Reed, EVP of Retail Sales for New American Funding. Having held many key positions across multiple channelsincluding managing call centers as well as distributive retail, Sean is uniquely positioned to lead and succeed in this role.

Congratulations to Leora Ruzin, CMB, who was recently named the new Managing Editor for Mortgage Women Magazine. She takes over for Kristin Messerli, who successfully ran the magazine for three years. Leora is currently looking for new contributors, and can be contacted here for article ideas.

Nations Lending announced the addition of Doug Opdycke as VP of Sales Recruitment to lead Nations recruiting team at corporate headquarters in the Cleveland, Ohio area as well as supporting branch development within the company's 83 existing locations across the U.S. Nations broke the $2 billion mark in loan volume in 2019.

Congratulations to Ginger Wilcox whom Home Point Financial announced is its new, and first, Chief Experience Officer (CXO) to work across the organization to drive innovation and accelerate the company's already considerable growth.
The Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, has called on the World Bank to respect Africa human rights values.



The World Bank should dissociate itself from some of this modern re-interpretation of human rights, for example on gay rights, he asserted.



According to the Speaker, the practice of tying aid to the recognition of gay rights and marriages in Africa was unhealthy.



He said if African countries did not want to embrace gay rights, the group must respect that and stop linking such issues to aid assistance and economic development.



Courtesy call



Receiving the World Bank Country Director, Mr Pierre Frank Laporte, in his office during a courtesy call, Prof. Oquaye said: These are some of the issues that concern us deeply and we want that we rather emphasise the many problems we need to tackle.



The call was to allow Mr Laporte, who was accompanied by other officials from the group, to introduce himself to the Speaker and the leadership of Parliament.



Conditions



Prof. Oquaye commended the World Bank for its work at enhancing anti-corruption, good governance, transparency and human rights in Africa through the economic conditionalities of the group.



Those conditionalities, he said, were strong measures that had enabled Ghana to satisfy the requirements for economic assistance towards political pluralism, democracy and good governance.



He said in a bid to halt Ghanas dependence on aid, the President conceptualised the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda to make Ghana self-reliant.



Ghanas economic relationship should not be one of perpetual dependence but one that enables us to stand on our own feet, he said.



Review economic order



The Speaker urged the World Bank and its allies to review the world economy to ensure a relationship that empowered developing nations to compete favourably on the world market.



He noted that the old economic paradigm, which allows European countries to use Africa as a ready market to push down their goods, continued to affect Africas infant industries, and cited the difficulties programmes such as One-district, One-factory faced due to cheap products that are dumped in our countries due to the global economic order.



You know that no country can develop without a certain amount of protective measures for local industries, but that is the burden under which Africa is suffering now, he said.



Support for Ghana



Responding to the concerns raised by the Speaker, Mr Laporte said the objective of the group was to support efforts to eliminate extreme poverty across the globe, especially in Africa.



He indicated that the group was supporting many projects in Ghana, such as water and sanitation, as well as infrastructure, to curb rural and urban poverty and inequality.

Source: Daily Graphic









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A former friend of Jessica Mann, a key accuser in the Harvey Weinstein rape trial, said on the stand that Ms. Mann had described Mr. Weinstein as her spiritual soul mate and that she had never said he had raped her.

The friend, Talita Maia, testified on Monday as a witness for the defense in an effort to discredit Ms. Manns testimony that Mr. Weinstein, the famous Hollywood producer, attacked her at a hotel in Manhattan in 2013.

A second woman, Claudia Salinas, also took the stand for the defense, denying allegations that in 2012 she had helped trap a model and aspiring actress, Lauren Young, in a Los Angeles hotel bathroom, where Mr. Weinstein allegedly assaulted her.

Monday was the first time jurors heard from Ms. Maia and Ms. Salinas, who were mentioned numerous times during the trial when the accusers gave vivid descriptions of alleged sexual attacks, but who were not called to testify for the prosecutions case. Instead, in what appeared to be a serious setback for prosecutors, Ms. Maia and Ms. Salinass statements supported the defenses claim that the encounters with Mr. Weinstein were either consensual and transactional, or that the women had misremembered what happened.
Apparel and made-ups exporters are facing "acute" liquidity problem as their huge amount of funds are blocked under a rebate scheme for state levies and an export incentive programme, an exporters' body flagged on Monday.

The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) said that around Rs 6,000 crore of duty refund claims have not been disbursed under the Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) and the Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS) from March 7 last year and August 1, 2019, respectively.

The RSCTL scheme was not implemented in the entire 2019 and MEIS also stopped from August last year for apparel and made-ups sectors, President Sharad Kumar Saraf said in a statement.

"This is a fatal blow to the apparels and made-ups industry, which is one of the largest employment generation industry particularly supporting the women workers," he said.

Saraf said that no funds have been disbursed since the announcement of the RoSCTL scheme from March 7 last year and the MEIS from August 1, 2019.

"This amount itself is nearly Rs 6,000 crore. Most of the apparel exporters are from MSME sector and some of them are already in the process of closure and default," he added.

He said that exporters of these products were surprised to see a gazette notification dated January 14 this year by the textiles ministry announcing one-time additional ad-hoc incentive of 1 per cent to offset difference between MEIS and RoSCTL from March 7, 2019, to December 31, 2019.

"This is completely contradictory to what was already announced by the government and factored by the industry to maintain their competitiveness in view of fierce competition. Many of them have paid statutory taxes also on RoSCTL and MEIS benefits," he said.

The president said it is very "unfortunate" that the commitments are being "ignored".

To make the matter worst, Saraf said the directorate general of foreign trade is now demanding the refund of MEIS paid between March 7, 2019, and July 31, 2019.

"This is not only unfair but also legally untenable because the policy once announced cannot be changed retrospectively," he said.

He said that the government must honour the commitment made to the exporters.

"We are already fast losing our business to other countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Bangladesh. The industry would have grown at least by 15 per cent due to China US trade war and now due to deadly virus in China," he said.

He urged the government to intervene to address the issue of exporters.
Bazaar Corporate Radar | Feb 22, 2021, 12:00 AM IST

Bazaar Corporate Radar

Bazaar Corporate Radar is your window into the minds of top CEOs, Boardrooms, global economists, fund managers and sector analysts. If it?s making news, you?ll find it on Bazaar Corporate Radar.
An 18-year-old Maurice Street man was charged with possession of a controlled substance. He was given a $300 ticket.

A 41-year-old Bridgeport woman was charged with assault on a public safety officer, failure to comply with fingerprinting requirements, breach of peace and failure to respond to a payable violation. She was held on $125,100 bond and given court dates of Feb. 20 and 21.

A 64-year-old West Norwalk Road woman was charged with permitting a dog to roam at large and possession of a vicious dog. She was issued a $334 ticket.

An 18-year-old Sable Street man was charged with using a motor vehicle without permission, operating a vehicle without a license and breach of peace. He was given a court date of Feb. 10.

A 25-year-old New York man was charged with sixth-degree larceny. He was given a court date of Feb. 17.

Feb. 7

A 32-year-old Commerce Street woman was charged with second-degree failure to appear. She was held on $500 bond and given a court date of Feb. 17.

Feb. 6

A 48-year-old New Canaan woman was charged with traveling too fast for conditions and driving under the influence. She was held on $1,000 bond and given a court date of Feb. 19.

A 21-year-old New York man was charged with second-degree failure to appear. He was held on $500 bond and given a court date of Feb. 19.

A 33-year-old Martin Luther King Jr. Drive man was charged with sixth-degree larceny. He was given a court date of Feb. 10.

A 58-year-old Yarmouth Road woman was charged with driving under the influence. She was held on $100 bond and given a court date of Feb. 19.

A 48-year-old Westport woman was charged with second-degree failure to appear. She was held on $500 bond and given a court date of Feb. 19.

A 19-year-old Hillwood Place man was charged with driving under suspension and traveling too fast for conditions. He was given a court date of Feb. 19.
Delano woman is the one to know for food, clothing, a bit of faith
'In the US, the economic cycle has been on an uptick since 2008. It's a 10-year economic cycle; the odds are it will go in the reverse direction. We should be cautious about that.'

Photograph: PTI Photo

HCL Technologies, which reported its third quarter results recently, said its pipeline is at a 'historic peak' in spite of some client-specific delays.

The company said it exceeded its $10-billion annualised revenue run rate during the quarter.

It raised its annual revenue growth forecast to 16.5-17 per cent, from 15-17 per cent, in constant currency terms.

Chief Executive Officer C Vijaykumar spoke to Neha Alawadhi after the Q3 results about what gives HCL Tech the confidence to continue its strong showing.

How does 2020 look overall for HCL Tech, with some clients putting spending decisions on hold? What are the key sectors where you expect spending to be higher?

The pipeline is very strong.

We are quite confident of the conversion rates.

As we speak, we are booking large deals.

I am positive. Some segments will be weak, some strong.

Europe looks strong to us. Manufacturing, retail, and consumer packaged goods look strong; other verticals seem all right.

We're cautious about financial services because in European banks, there is some decline in spending.

Among the areas which you see as strong, is the business more core services or digital?

Today, almost all deals are about providers taking over a legacy landscape and modernising it.

While some call it digital, we call it Mode-2 (digital and new-age business) only when the transformation happens.

The deals have a mix of both -- maybe 70 per cent will be tech and managing the traditional landscape; modernisation will be the rest 30 per cent.

In terms of deal sizes and client spending, what sort of trends do you see in 2020?

In 2019, we had a lot of large deals.

We had billion-dollar deals, I don't see that, but still quite large, in the $200-500-million range.

There is marginal increase in spending.

But within this spending, the digital component is possibly growing at double the rate of traditional components.

The US is entering an election year. How do you see that impacting business?

I think it's a little early to call that out.

Even if you see in 2016, the impact of elections happened towards the last quarter, and after the new government was elected.

I would wait for a couple of quarters to look at that.

The US is also going through its own set of issues...

In the US, the economic cycle has been on an uptick since 2008.

It's a 10-year economic cycle; the odds are it will go in the reverse direction.

We should be cautious about that.

You recently acquired Sankalp Semiconductor, and you have a large presence in the semiconductor space, which is seeing an impact due to the US-China situation. Is that a cause for worry?

It's (Sankalp) a small company.

Semiconductor is a strong space for us.

Because of US-China, some impact was there, but I think it has cooled off somewhat.

It should only be positive (now).

The localisation rate in the US for you is in the 67-per cent range. Wipro is operating at about 70 per cent. Is there scope for you to scale up localisation?

There may not be because we also need people who have enough experience in the offshore model.

For some senior talent, we will continue to depend on getting visas for Indian employees and employees in other countries.

The special economic zone (SEZ) sunset clause is approaching in March. Will you continue to push for its extensions through the industry association route or on your own?

The Indian government has not extended it, and March is just two months away.

Everyone is trying to build more SEZ capacity before the sunset clause; so are we.

We will continue to push for the extension of SEZ benefits.

In Europe too, a lot is going on politically. How does that affect your overall business?

Europe, especially if you look at Germany and France, is a lot more open to using external global providers like us, which, I believe, will do very well for us.

Now you have Australia and Singapore contributing a lot more...

Yes, and we will add more geographies.

We will expand in Canada, France, West Asia, where we have reasonable presence and will continue to expand in South Africa as well.
New Delhi, Feb 10 : The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the constitutional validity of the SC/ST Amendment Act 2018 and emphasised that citizens should foster fraternity among all sections of the community without reducing it to a ritualistic formality.

Citing marginalisation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the apex court said, "It is to address problems of a segmented society that express provisions of the Constitution that give effect to the idea of fraternity have been framed." A Bench, headed by Justice Arun Mishra, said before registering an FIR under the Act it was not mandatory to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the matter, and also senior officials' approval was not required. "The right to a trial with all attendant safeguards is available to accused of committing offences under the Act; they remain unchanged by the amendment's enactment," the court observed.

Justice Ravindra Bhat, other judge on the Bench, said citizens should treat each other with equality.

Justice Bhat emphasised that the liberal use of anticipatory bail would run contrary to the intention of Parliament. "I consider such stringent terms, otherwise contrary to the philosophy of bail, absolutely essential, because a liberal use of the power to grant pre-arrest bail would defeat the intention of Parliament," he said.

The apex court noted the courts could grant anticipatory bail only in cases where prima facie was not made out. It took into account the 2016 reports, which claimed 422,799 crimes against SCs and 81,332 against STs were reported between 2006 and 2016.

"It's important to keep oneself reminded that while sometimes (perhaps mostly in urban areas) false accusations are made, those are not necessarily reflective of the prevailing and widespread social prejudices against members of these oppressed classes," it said.

The court also weighed the expanded definition of 'atrocity' through amendment in 2016, which lists pernicious practices (under Section 3), including forcing eating of inedible matter, dumping of excreta near homes or in the neighbourhood of members of such communities and several other forms of humiliation, which they get subjected to.

"All these considerations far outweigh the petitioners' concern that innocent individuals would be subjected to, what are described as, arbitrary processes of investigation and legal proceedings, without adequate safeguards," it observed.

In January 2019, the apex court had refused to stay the 2018 amendments to the SC/ST Act that restored the provision that no anticipatory bail be granted to the accused in offence lodged under this law.

The court in its 2018 verdict took note of misuse of the stringent SC/ST law in targeting private individuals and government officials. The court had ruled there should not be any immediate arrest after a complaint was lodged under the law.

The decision triggered violent protest across the country. To mitigate this ruling, in August 2018, Parliament passed a Bill to over-run this verdict. The Centre then filed a petition seeking review of the 2018 verdict.

In October 2019, the top court restored the position of the law to its 2018 verdict by recalling two directions -- no absolute bar on grant of anticipatory bail, and no need for preliminary inquiry before arrest of an individual under the Act.

A PIL was filed against this judgement. The recent verdict has come on this PIL.

The 2018 amendments had ruled out any provision for anticipatory bail in connection with atrocities against SC/STs notwithstanding any court order. Therefore, the aspect of preliminary inquiry was not mandatory for lodging a case followed by arrest, which does not require any approval.
[February 10, 2020] PanShi's Tian Ning Attends Davos Forum and Talks About RockySaaS

On January 21-24, the 50th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting and Davos Forum was held in Davos, Switzerland. Tian Ning, Chairman and CEO of Panshi Group, was invited to attend the meeting. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200210005402/en/ Tian Ning, Chairman and CEO of Panshi Group, was interviewed by the media at the Davos Forum (Photo: Business Wire) With the theme of "Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World", the forum brings together global elites again, focus on the current situation and future direction of the world economy, and discuss strategies for promoting glbal development. 57 heads of state from 117 countries and nearly 3,000 world business and political leaders participated the meeting. Tian Ning spoke at the forum on the theme of new global economy and talked about the future of RockySaaS.



Tian Ning pointed out that the size of China's digital economy in 2019 is 31.3 trillion yuan, accounting for 34.8% of GDP. The digital economy represented by the Internet has become a new engine of China's economic growth. China's new economy industry is developed and accounts for a relatively large portion of the world. For example, e-commerce, games, animation, etc. have established a complete industrial chain. Tian Ning introduced that around the core technology of big data, Panshi RockySaaS has 8 core cloud products including e-commerce, CRM, marketing, credit, social, OA HR, and finance, and is positioned to help SMEs transform and upgrade.

Since the rise of the SaaS (News - Alert) wave, companies in the US SaaS market, such as Salesforce, Workday, ServiceNow, and Zendesk, have been far ahead in the world, while Chinese companies have not slowed down. Panshi RockySaaS is actively moving towards becoming an industry benchmark with its high-quality integration capabilities, unique vision and keen sense of industry. In November 2019, Panshi RockySaaS ushered in the acquisition of Digital Key Technology and Qingliu Technology, and became the major shareholders of the two companies with 65% equity and 55% equity respectively. Digital Key Technology and Qingliu Technology are industry leaders in their respective fields. Panshi RockySaaS reached a strong alliance after acquiring two companies. At present, RockySaaS has accelerated its overseas deployment, using its own super SaaS platform to provide transformation and upgrade services for global SMEs, helping global SMEs to expand global markets, shaping global brands and serving global consumers. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200210005402/en/

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Pennsylvania has joined a growing list of states suing leading e-cigarette maker Juul Labs, whose sleek vape pens and cartridges in fruit, dessert, and candy flavors have been blamed for contributing to a sharp rise in e-cigarette use among teenagers and adolescents.

The lawsuit, filed Monday by Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, alleges that Juul misled consumers about the health risks and addictive power of its nicotine vaping pods and improperly marketed the products to youths.

The lawsuit seeks a statewide ban on all Juul products, including tobacco-flavored ones. If the court does not grant a full ban, the state wants to ban all of Juuls flavored, menthol, and high-nicotine vaping products except those that are tobacco-flavored.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration this month forbade the sale of flavored vaping pods nationwide. Over the last two years, Juul has phased out sales of flavored pods, except for those with menthol and tobacco flavors.

Juul knowingly targeted young people with tactics similar to the tobacco companies playbook," Shapiro said in a statement. "There is no proof these e-cigarettes are safe and until there is, we need to get Juul products off shelves and out of the hands of young people.

Juul has said that adults are its target audience and that it does not aim to attract underage customers.

While we have not yet reviewed the complaint, we remain focused on resetting the vapor category in the U.S. and earning the trust of society by working cooperatively with attorneys general, regulators, public health officials, and other stakeholders to combat underage use and convert adult smokers from combustible cigarettes," said Austin Finan, a spokesman for Juul, in a statement.

Last year, the company ceased all major digital, print and television advertising, and said it would not lobby Congress over a federal ban on flavored e-cigarettes.

Pennsylvanias lawsuit and similar suits in New York, Massachusetts, California and other states follow a surge of vaping-related lung illnesses and deaths that cast a spotlight on the sharp rise in vaping among teenagers. Bucks and Montgomery Counties have also sued.

Vaping-related lung illnesses spiked over the summer and have been declining in recent months. As of Jan. 21, a total of 2,711 people have been hospitalized, and 60 have died, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC found a strong link between the illnesses and vitamin E acetate, an additive in some vaping products containing THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.

That ingredient has not been found in nicotine vaping pods, such as those sold by Juul. But the outbreak of illnesses drew attention to vapings rising popularity among young adults. More than a third of the cases involved patients between ages 18 and 25.

While combustible cigarette smoking rates have declined, nicotine vaping rates more than doubled among high schoolers between 2017 and 2019, with about a third of high school seniors reporting that they have vaped within the last 30 days, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuses 2019 Monitoring the Future Survey. The annual report surveys 42,500 students in grades 8, 10, and 12 at 400 public and private schools across the country.

Marijuana vaping has also risen dramatically among teenagers.

In response to teen vaping trends, many states and cities have pursued legislation to restrict e-cigarette sales.

Philadelphia is rolling out a ban on the sale of flavored vaping pods and those with high levels of nicotine at stores that teens and children are allowed to enter, such as 7-Eleven and Wawa, as well as smaller retailers.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy in January signed into law a state-wide ban on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes.

The FDA ban took effect Feb. 6. It affects one-time use cartridges in fruit, candy and mint flavors, which are available at convenience stores and have been popular among teens. The ban does not apply to menthol and tobacco flavors or tank-based vaping systems sold at specialty vape shops.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has called for his country and Australia to combat climate change and spur development in the Pacific in a historic address to Australian Parliament.

Fresh from the Indonesian Parliament voting to approve a landmark free trade agreement with Australia, Mr Joko said the two countries needed to avoid the "zero-sum game" of protectionism.

He also vowed to stand with Australia in fighting against identity politics to avoid a "clash of civilisations".

Mr Joko's address to Parliament on Monday - the second for an Indonesian leader - came shortly after he and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison committed to reassessing stringent entry requirements for Indonesians wanting to travel to Australia.
The husband of Keelin Shanley has spoken about the courage and strength his late wife showed facing her illness.

The broadcaster died peacefully on Saturday, nine years after first being diagnosed with breast cancer.

Her husband, Conor Ferguson, said her family was by her side. "It was sunny, just before the storm rolled in and she looked happy and she looked very peaceful. You just have to let that be enough, I suppose, and not get tied up too much in regrets.," he said. "I'm not sure that will come but at the moment you're in a bubble of love and support."

Throughout her diagnosis and illness, Shanley had remained stoic and positive. "Her approach to life was 'just keep going'... so even like when they told us on Thursday that pretty much it was the end of the line she accepted that.

"She wasn't trying to find some type of therapy and possibilities. She trusted her oncologist - we both did. If he said this was it, then that was it. We didn't realise how quickly it was going to be. It was very peaceful in the end."

He said his wife 'led from the front', and that he "and the kids followed her lead. Her attitude was to get on without it and see what is out there".

He also spoke of the incredible strength his two children have shown adding it was a trait they had inherited from their mother.

"The kids are doing really well. It was just them, me, and her at the end and they were incredibly strong. Everyone keeps saying it. Certainly they are their mother's children. I don't know if I qualified as having the strength that she had," he told the Irish Daily Star.

Last year, Ms Shanley had travelled to Washington DC in America to participate in a new stem cell therapy programme.

"We got onto a trial treatment in America in the summer. We went over to apply for it and she is a US citizen. She was born in the States. So she was kind of technically eligible... and they tested her and put her on the programme.

"The therapy is they grow your own cells, they profligate them out of your body and then put them back in when you go back over but we didn't get to go back over because her illness just went a bit too fast for them".

Ms Shanley continued her treatments with the help and guidance of her oncologist at Saint Vincent's Hospital. He said she remained extremely positive while living with the illness.

"The thing about that was she was always ambitious and when it came to having cancer, she was still ambitious. She was a very positive person and once there was some hope no matter how slender, that was enough for her to go 'Okay, well all is not lost yet.' She had it in 2011 and had a mastectomy and was cured. She was cancer free for several years and then it just came back."

Mr Ferguson said despite receiving the all-clear, Ms Shanley believed the cancer could potentially return. "She was declared cancer free for years and had her annual checks and was grand so we were kind of lulled into a false sense of security.

"It was just a bit of a kick in the teeth that it came back and she kind of knew," he said. "She knows a lot about health. She covered a lot of this on Morning Ireland and the Sean o'Rourke show. She knew once she was told it was stage four that her days were numbered but she struggled on."

Mr Ferguson said renovating their family home in Dun Laoghaire and taking walks by the sea had taken her mind off her illness.

He said that at times, when her chemotherapy appeared to have been working, she even contemplated going back to the newsroom.

"So over time something good happens, we'd go 'well maybe we would ride this now for a while'. She always though 'maybe there will be something'. In particular, with the election coming up, she thought there might be something she could do but equally she felt 'Well do i need to bring the stress on myself?' She liked the idea but it wasn't to be, largely because RTE were kind of saying 'no you stay and be with your family. Don't push yourself."

He said RTE was very supportive of his late wife throughout her illness. "They have been incredible supportive, in particular Hilary, who she reported to in the newsroom.

"She has been just amazing because obviously everything else that was going on in RTE, it was very difficult to managing her absence. She went in at one point and she just became too ill on the job. That was pretty much the end of it."

Mr Ferguson said he is still in a state of shock and coming to terms with the loss of his wife.

"It is very hard to be grieving in this moment. My heart is full and overflowing at times," he said.

"There has been so much respect for her as well. I suppose I am in a state of shock. It was very emotional yesterday but some of the emotions were kind of nice. I suppose the love you get to have in that moment, and the love that has come in from all point through social media and the piece on the news, it makes it feel like more of a good life. She felt she had lived a good life and she felt lucky."
Former Prime Minister and Chairman of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Puspa Kamal Dahal on Monday inaugurated a school building constructed with India's assistance in the central district of Nuwakot.

Aiselubhume Secondary School, affiliated to the National Examination Board, Government of Nepal, was established in 1990. The school provides quality to nearly 637 students.

The school building, consisting of two separate academic blocks along with separate sanitation facilities for boys and girls, was built with Indian government's grant of NPR 39.57 million as part of its post-earthquake reconstruction in the Himalayan nation.

The project was implemented by the Central Level Project Implementation Unit of the Ministry of of the Government of Nepal.

The newly built infrastructure is expected to boost the learning environment of students.

Minister of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Barsaman Pun and First Secretary, Earthquake Reconstruction, the Embassy of India, Shuchita Kishore were also present during the inaugural ceremony.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Yogi Adityanath government has distanced itself from the statement given by UP minister Raghuraj Singh that burqas should be banned.

UP government spokesman and minister Siddhartha Nath Singh said that the minister's statements reflected his personal views.

"It is certainly not the views of the government. We believe that everyone should have the freedom to choose their clothes. As for the minister, I feel he should exercise restraint is making such statements," Singh said.

Meanwhile, several women protesters at the Clock Tower, on Monday, said that the minister's statements reflected the mentality of his party.

"If the burqa is unacceptable, why is the BJP sending its supporters in burqa to anti-CAA protest sites. Why did BJP worker Gunjan Kapoor wear a burqa to Shaheen Bagh?" asked a protester.

The minister had said that burqas were being used by 'terrorists' to conceal their identity, apparently in reference to protests by women protesting against CAA in the Shahjamal area in Agra.

The minister had further explained that wearing a burqa started in Arabian countries and is not an Indian custom. He added India should ban its use and pointed out that even Sri Lanka had banned it after a series of bomb blasts ripped the country last year, leaving many dead and injuring scores of people.

This is not the first time when the minister has made a controversial statement. He had earlier said people raising slogans against Prime Minster Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath "would be buried alive". He had said this while addressing a rally in Aligarh to create awareness about the CAA.

He had also said that anti-national elements will 'die a dog's death'.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  David Purpura, a Purdue University associate professor of human development and family studies, is working with colleagues in Belgium to better understand how language affects math development. He soon will do the same in South Africa.

Linda Nie spent six months at two internationally recognized research facilities in other countries.

Neither of the two could have done this work without the Fulbright Global Scholar awards. The same goes for six others on Purdues faculty, who received Fulbright U.S. Scholar awards.

Purdue has eight Fulbright Scholars for 2019-20. That has earned Purdue a place on the Chronicle of Higher Educations annual list of Top Producers of Fulbright U.S. Scholars and Students, 2019-20.

The eight faculty Fulbrights are the most ever Purdue has had in one academic year. In 2018-19, Purdue had five recipients.

Purdue is proud not just to have made this list, but also of the work and research conducted by the faculty members who were selected this year as Fulbright Scholars, said Jay Akridge, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Diversity. Fulbright Scholar Awards are highly competitive academic awards that are often found on any major research universitys list of highly prestigious awards.

The Fulbright Program was created to increase mutual understanding between the U.S. and other countries. Through primary funding from the U.S. Congress appropriated to the U.S. Department of States Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, scholars are able to further their research in foreign lands significant to their work.

Many faculty speak of their Fulbright experiences as life-changing in the very best sense, said Christopher Lukasik, associate professor of English and American studies and provost fellow for Fulbright faculty awards. They return to the U.S. better informed to speak to students who not only are entering into a global economy, but also belong to a generation that must confront a series of challenges - global in scale - from climate change and immigration to food security and renewable energy.

For Purpura, it was not only a chance to help children develop their math skills. It also provided him an opportunity to work with peers and gain experiences he could use to enhance his teaching and research.

The Fulbright experience provides us with opportunities to build international collaborative networks, get exposed to other theoretical perspectives and methods of graduate training, and expand the work that we're doing to be more internationally relevant, he said.

Having faculty who have had the Fulbright experience can make Purdue more attractive to both undergraduate and graduate students because Fulbright scholars can bring their international experiences directly into the classroom through a more global perspective on research topics. For example, for me, it has helped me to better understand U.S. context specific to aspects of educational development that may not be internationally universal. We're also able to support and promote Fulbright, as well as study abroad programs, more generally, to our students and help them see these as realistic and exciting options for their advancement.

Nie used her award to expand her research in an area that required synchrotron facilities not offered at Purdue. She spent four months at the DESY Research Center at Hamburg, Germany, and two months at the Pohang (South Korea) Accelerator Laboratory.

It was a very exciting and rewarding experience, culturally and research wise, Nie said.

Both Nie and Purpura said the support they received from Purdue was key in their successful applications.

Lukasik, himself a two-time Fulbright recipient, talks with faculty members from across all disciplines during the application process about research opportunities, goals and what to expect when a faculty member is accepted into the program. He also explains many of Purdues policies that can assist faculty during their Fulbright experience.

Also receiving Fulbrights were:

Erica Carlson, 150th Anniversary Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Department of Physics and Astronomy, College of Science. Her project is called Electronic Fractals in Strongly Correlated Quantum Materials. She is currently conducting research at the Laboratoire de Physique et dEtude des Materiaux at the LEcole Superieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris.

Wendy Kline, the Dema G. Seelye Chair in the History of Medicine, Department of History, College of Liberals Arts. She researched The LSD Block and the Therapeutic Alliance: The Rise and Fall of Psychedelic Medicine in the UK and was hosted by the University of Birmingham.

Phillip Sanger, professor of engineering technology, School of Engineering Technology, Purdue Polytechnic Institute. who is currently at the Kazan National Research Technological University in Russia. His project is titled Project Management Innovation Curriculum and Multi-Cultural Team Dynamics.

Lori Hoagland and Michael Gribskov are currently at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, in Bogota, Colombia. Hoagland, associate professor of horticulture, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, College of Agriculture, calls her project A Participatory Approach to Conserving Soil Biodiversity and Promoting Sustainable Agricultural Development in Colombia. Gribskov, professor of biological sciences, Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science, will explore Genomics and Metagenomics in Colombia.

Nana Gletsu Miller, formerly an associate professor of nutrition science, Department of Nutrition Science, College of Health and Human Sciences, and now with Indiana University. She is doing her research at the University College of Dublin in Ireland.

Purdues expanding interest and success in the program speaks to the commitment of the university and to the facultys interest in global research and international teaching, Lukasik said.

Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has given over 390,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists and professionals of all backgrounds and fields the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas, and contribute to finding solutions to important international problems.

Fulbright is active in more than 160 countries worldwide and partners with participating governments, host institutions, corporations and foundations in foreign countries and in the U.S. Many of these organizations also provide direct and indirect support. ECA sponsors the Fulbright program, and several nonprofit, cooperative partners implement and support the program on the bureaus behalf. For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit eca.state.gov/fulbright.

Writer: Matthew Oates, 765-496-2571, oatesw@purdue.edu, @mo_oates

Sources: Chris Lukasik, 765-494-6002, clukasik@purdue.edu

Linda Nie, 765-494-2625, hnie@purdue.edu

David Purpura, 765-494-2947, purpura@purdue.edu

Related release:

Purdue breaks its record with faculty Fulbright Scholars (May 3, 2019)
We could see the momentum shrinking on a daily basis. It seems that another minor correction is possible where the market may retrace itself to 12,000, Gaurav Garg, Head of Research at CapitalVia Global Research - Investment Advisor, said in an interview with Moneycontrols Kshitij Anand.

Edited excerpt:

Q) What a week it has been for Indian markets. The momentum reversed in just 4 trading sessions. Do you think the momentum is likely to continue? And, could Nifty hit 12400 in February series?

A) Yes, the Budgets short-term impact is over as the Nifty index regained its fair value after losing up to 300 points in the light of Union Budget 2020.

We can expect more upside amid crude price and strong Rupee that helped Nifty recoup losses. Also, positive sentiments on the street prevailed across the global markets despite virus breakout in China and other affected countries also helped.

As the week closed, we could see the momentum shrinking on a daily basis. It seems that another minor correction is possible where the market may retrace itself to 12,000.

The Nifty50 may attain the level of 12,400 in February fueled by new volume along with short covering move.

A) The Nifty closed above the psychological mark of 12,000 with a weekly gain of 3.64 percent. For the coming week, the Nifty50 is likely to take support at 12,000, but 12,180 would be a stiff resistance level, and more buying strength would be observed only if the index breaks this level.

A) Traders will keep their keen eyes Delhis assembly elections, results to be declared on 11 February. Globally, uncertainty over Coronavirus outbreak would drive global markets, any good news may cheer global indices.

Final lag of Q3 results are ready to be announced, in the coming week earning of BPCL, Coal India, Nestle, Grasim are lined up.

A) The stocks which have witnessed resistance level breakout in this week and are holding themselves above their important EMAs are Radico Khaitan, REC, L&T Finance Holdings, and Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services. We can see a bullish movement for these stocks ahead.

Whereas Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. witnessed trend line breakout in its daily chart and Q3 earnings are yet to be announced. All the above stocks seem to hold the potential to generate good returns in the coming few weeks.

A) Midcap space has outperformed the Benchmark Indices significantly by generating up to 4.73 percent in the very first week of February in comparison to Nifty50 which generated up to 3.64 percent.

Midcap and small cap seem to have begun a Bull Run which can be expected to lead the rally and has the potential to generate return up to 5 percent in this remaining month.

The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are his own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
Another Taiwanese tests positive for novel coronavirus

ROC Central News Agency

02/08/2020 07:25 PM

Taipei, Feb. 8 (CNA) Another Taiwanese has tested positive for the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) after a recent trip overseas, bringing the total number of confirmed cases of the respiratory virus in Taiwan to 17, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Saturday.

The latest confirmed case is that of a man in his 20s, one of the sons of a couple who were confirmed to be infected with 2019-nCoV two days earlier after the family transited through Hong Kong from Taiwan Jan. 22 for a vacation in Italy, said Chuang Jen-hsiang (), deputy-director of Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control.

The young man developed a cough on Jan. 27 in Italy, while his parents also started to show symptoms on Jan. 26 and Jan. 28, respectively, Chuang said.

It is believed that the family caught the virus while on one of their flights, but it was not clear on which segment of their trip they were infected, Chuang said.

When the son returned to work in Taiwan, he claimed to have worn face masks, but 11 of his colleagues will still be asked to self-quarantine themselves at home, Chuang said.

He was reported to be in stable condition with only mild symptoms and no fever, Chuang said, adding that the hospital he has been admitted to is working with relevant health units to contact individuals he might have had contact with.

On Friday, 64 new suspected cases of the novel coronavirus had been reported in Taiwan, bringing the total number to 1,399, according to the CECC. Infection has been ruled out in 1,258 of those cases.

The 2019-nCoV, which started in the Chinese city of Wuhan last December, has resulted in more than 34,000 infections and over 700 deaths, mostly in China, as of Saturday.

Last week, the World Health Organization declared the virus a global health emergency

(By William Yen)

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 10, 2020 19:55 700 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2063ac6f0 1 World Jokowi,Australia,Indonesia,bilateral-cooperation,diplomatic-relations,Scott-Morrison Free

President Joko Jokowi Widodo has once again dropped a pop-culture reference in one of his speeches, this time, mentioning the blockbuster Avengers franchise while conveying his vision for Indonesia-Australia relations before the Australian Parliament on Wednesday.

Jokowi spoke about the need for Indonesia and Australia  which are celebrating 70 years of diplomatic relations  to strengthen their collaboration for the next three decades, particularly amid the rise of global uncertainties and economic slowdown.

The President cited various global problems that Indonesia and Australia should tackle together as democracies and close neighbors, ranging from climate change and intolerance to poverty and trade protectionism.

Collaboration between Indonesia and Australia amid the rising global uncertainties can be illustrated by Avengers: Endgame, Jokowi said in his speech, which he delivered in Indonesian.

When positive forces unite, [like when] the Avengers assemble, then the common enemy can be defeated.

Jokowi proposed four priority focuses for Indonesia and Australia to work on together before they commemorate a century of diplomatic ties in 2050 when Jokowi said the two countries would be big players in both the region and the world.

The focuses are for Jakarta and Canberra to continue advocating values of democracy and diversity; promote open, free and fair economic cooperation; collaborate to become partners of development in the Pacific region; and work together to preserve the environment and for sustainable development.

First, [we must end] intolerance, stop xenophobia, stop radicalism and stop terrorism, Jokowi said.

The President also denounced identity politics, which he described as a threat to the quality of democracy, and called for the two countries to strengthen win-win economic cooperation.

If Indonesia and Australia work together and collaborate, we can overcome intolerance, protectionism as well as threats of poverty and climate change.

This was not the first time Jokowi had referenced a TV or movie in his speech, particularly one from the Marvel universe.

When addressing the World Economic Forum (WEF) on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Vietnam in September 2018, Jokowi compared the state of the worlds economy to another Avengers movie, by saying that the ongoing trade wars must not become an Infinity War.

He also used the popular TV series Game of Thrones to describe the escalating tensions caused by global trade disputes during the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group Annual Meetings in Bali in October 2018.

Jokowi, who is currently on his fourth visit to Australia since taking office, has become the second Indonesian president in history to address the Australian Parliament, following in the footsteps of his predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who delivered his remarks there in 2010.

Speaking prior to Jokowi, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison also expressed his vision for the two countries, especially following the ratification of the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA).

By continuing to work together, we can build the region resilient and make our people safer and our economies stronger, Morrison said.

The House of Representatives ratified last week the highly-anticipated IA-CEPA, which is designed to significantly cut tariffs on commodity exports between the two countries while offering various investment privileges. (mpr)
''Air India's privatisation is acceptable as long as its control does not pass on to a foreign entity,' says A K Bhattacharya.

The Union government's decision to invite preliminary bids for the sale of 100 per cent equity of the State-owned airline, Air India, raises several issues, whose implications for economic policy in the country need to be fully understood.

There is no doubt that the release of the Preliminary Information Memorandum for the sale of shares in Air India shows Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi's commitment to the idea of privatisation.

But what kind of privatisation has Mr Modi chosen for Air India?

There is a mistaken notion that Mr Modi, by deciding to privatise Air India, has adopted a bold stance in the face of doubts and questions raised on this issue by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

The RSS, a Hindu nationalist organisation providing ideological sustenance to the Bharatiya Janata Party, has always opposed the privatisation of Air India.

But it is important to remember that its opposition is highly nuanced.

The RSS is principally against the idea of foreign ownership of India's national airline.

Its chief, Mohan Bhagwat, was reported to have said at a public meeting that it was not advisable to allow more than 49 per cent of Air India's ownership to be controlled by a foreign company.

Even Germany did not allow more than 49 per cent foreign equity in its airline, Mr Bhagwat was reported to have stated in support of his arguments.

Now, take a closer look at the PIM on Air India privatisation, which was released recently, and the foreign direct investment policy that governs the civil aviation sector.

Foreign airlines or foreign investors can invest only up to 49 per cent in Air India.

In addition, the policy stipulates that substantial ownership and effective control of Air India will always be vested in Indian nationals.

This policy was announced in January 2018 and there has been no change in this, even though proposals to relax this norm have been under the government's consideration.

Not without reason did Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announce in her Budget on July 5, 2019, that the 'government will examine suggestions of further opening up of FDI in aviation, media (animation, visual effects, gaming and comics) and insurance sectors in consultation with all stakeholders'.

The FDI guidelines for all these sectors mentioned in the Budget have been suitably amended in the last few months, except aviation.

The Modi government's message is clear.

Air India's privatisation is acceptable as long as its control does not pass on to a foreign entity.

Compared to the failed attempt at Air India divestment in 2018, the latest PIM has introduced many relaxations.

The share of equity to be sold earlier was 76 per cent and now it is 100 per cent.

Earlier, the net worth for eligible bidders was Rs 5,000 crore, and now it is Rs 3,000 crore.

The lock-in period for the acquirer was three years in the earlier round of bidding, and now it is only one year.

Similarly, earlier the acquirer was not allowed to merge its business with that of Air India, and now such a merger is allowed.

But there is no relaxation in the policy on FDI in Air India.

This is the RSS impact on the government's economic policy.

Those who believe that Mr Modi has taken on the RSS by selling 100 per cent of Air India are completely mistaken.

The Modi government has accepted the RSS view that Air India's ownership should not be transferred to a foreign national.

Thus, privatisation is acceptable and Air India's ownership could change.

But its management and ownership control would always vest with an Indian company or an Indian national.

A foreign entity or a foreign airline could hold only up to 49 per cent equity in Air India even after privatisation.

Which foreign airline will agree to invest in Air India without having management control of the airline?

It is another way of saying no to a foreign airline.

It is also a form of swadeshi privatisation, where the new private owner would always be an Indian national.

A similar approach may have influenced a key provision in the PIM on how Air India's bilateral flying rights and code-share arrangements would be dealt with after its privatisation.

The PIM notes that existing bilateral flying rights and code-share arrangements would vest with Air India for six months after privatisation.

Any decision on how those rights and arrangements would be distributed will be decided in accordance with the relevant rules and regulations of the government.

Ideally, bilateral flying rights should belong to the Union government.

These should be unequivocally returned to the government after Air India ceases to be a State-owned airline.

The government should be free to decide on offering these rights to the airline it chooses.

There is no reason why such issues should be left unresolved even after six months of the change in Air India's ownership.

A company that buys Air India will obviously want to retain those lucrative flying rights.

It would appear that the government is more inclined to let Air India retain these bilateral flying rights even after its privatisation.

That consideration might have influenced its decision to shut out foreign airlines from gaining substantial ownership and effective control of Air India.

It is possible that these issues may be decided once the preliminary round of bidding is over.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has clarified that the government is still open to tweaking the terms of Air India's sale at a later stage.

Not all bidders may like such a possibility.

Prospects of a revision or refinement of terms after the bids are submitted can lead to uncertainty and it may even become controversial.

The sale of India's national airline can hardly afford them.
Canadas military wants Justin Trudeau to ban Huawei Technologies Co. from the nations fifth-generation wireless networks, according to the Globe and Mail.

Senior military officials including Canadas top soldier have told the government they believe allowing the Chinese company a role in 5G would threaten national security, the newspaper reported Monday, citing an unnamed official familiar with the matter.

Donald Trump has been pushing allies to shut the Shenzhen-based tech giant out, citing concerns its gear could be vulnerable to Chinese spies. American officials have warned the U.S. might be forced to hold back secret intelligence from Canada if the prime minister gives Huawei a role, despite the companys repeated denials it poses a security risk.

Canada is the only member of the so-called Five Eyes network of intelligence-sharing nations that has yet to decide what to do with Huawei. Australia and New Zealand followed the U.S. lead in banning it, but U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnsons government opted for a mixed approach in a Jan. 28 decision that disappointed the White House.

Looming large over Trudeaus decision is the case of Meng Wanzhou, Huaweis chief financial officer. Her arrest in Vancouver at the end of 2018 on a U.S. extradition request plunged the northern nations relations with China into their darkest period in a half century. Beijing locked up two Canadians and halted key agricultural imports in the months that followed.

The rift with China contributed to a 16 per cent plunge in exports to the Asian powerhouse last year, the largest drop in data going back to 1997.

Trudeaus public safety minister said last month the government is studying the U.K. decision. An outright ban could compel companies like BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. to rip out existing Huawei equipment to accommodate a new supplier, the Globe and Mail reported.
The 33rd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Governments of the African Union has appointed President Akufo-Addo as Champion of the African Union Financial Institutions.



The decision of the Assembly was made on Monday, 10th February, 2020, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by the Chairperson of the AU, His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa.



The creation of African Union Financial Institutions is one of the flagship projects of Agenda 2063, aiming at accelerating integration and socio-economic development of the continent.



The agreed timeframes in the first 10-Year Plan of Agenda 2063 were for the African Investment Bank and Pan African Stock Exchange to be established by 2016; the African Monetary Fund by 2018; and the African Central Bank and Single African Currency by 2034.



Whilst thanking the Assembly for the honour of the appointment, President Akufo-Addo stated that the establishment of the AU Financial Institutions has always been at the centre of our agenda for continental integration, and that is why, over the years, we have adopted a treaty and several legal instruments to that effect.



Currently, only twenty-two (22) Member States have signed the African Investment Bank (AIB) charter, with only 6 ratifications obtained, whilst twelve (12) countries have signed the African Monetary Fund charter, with only one (1) ratification.



At least, nine (9) more countries are needed to ratify the AIB charter for it to enter into force, and, in the case of the African Monetary Fund, fourteen (14) ratifications.



The task to ensure these are done will be one of my immediate priorities. I will see to it that Ghana ratifies these charters promptly upon my return to Accra, the President said.



He continued, the establishment of the African Union Financial Institutions is critical for not only enhancing resource mobilization on the continent, but also for providing the necessary impetus for growth and jobs creation. Their establishment are crucial for the effective implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and for achieving Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. Financing our own development agenda remains our primary goal, and will require bold commitments from us.



Amongst others, President Akufo-Addo pledged to ensure the prompt ratification of the various charters establishing the Financial Institutions; help take, under the direction of the Assembly, all necessary steps to facilitate the creation of the continental financial architecture essential for the realisation of AU Agenda 2063 and the integration process of the continent; and work with the host countries, i.e. the Republic of Cameroon for the African Monetary Fund, the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the African Central Bank, and Libya for the African Investment Bank towards their establishments.













Background

The Article 19 of the Constitutive Act of the African Union provides for the creation of three institutions namely the African Central Bank, the African Monetary Fund and the African Investment Bank.



Furthermore, in January 2006, in Khartoum, Sudan, the Commission was requested by the Assembly of the African Union (Assembly/AU/Dec.109), to conduct a feasibility study on the creation of a Pan-African Stock Exchange (PASE). The three financial institutions and the PASE, constitute the African Union Financial Institutions (AUFIs).



In January 2005, the Assembly decided, in Abuja, Nigeria, decision No. Assembly/AU/Dec.64 (IV), that the African Central Bank should be located in West Africa, the African Investment Bank in North Africa, and the African Monetary Fund in Central Africa.



Following this decision, the Northern Region decided that the African Investment Bank should be located in Libya, the Central Region designated Cameroon as the host country of the African Monetary Fund, while the Western Region designated the Federal Republic of Nigeria as the host country for the African Central Bank.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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New Delhi, Feb 10 : The Supreme Court's last week verdict on reservation in jobs and promotions for SCs and STs created pandemonium in the Lok Sabha on Monday with entire opposition blaming the Centre for "snatching" the rights of the backward community and the government hitting back by accusing opponents of spreading rumour.

Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury raised the issue during Zero Hour attacking the government on what he said "snatching the rights of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes" and that they are "talking about Manuwad instead of nationalism".

"There has been discrimination against the SCs and STs for centuries. After Independence, the government decided to give them rights. What happened to this government this time? Why the government is trying to take away the rights of SCs and STs," Chowdhury asked.

Chowdhury had also raised the issue during the Question Hour but then he was not allowed to take up the matter.

Rejecting the allegation of the Congress, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said, "It was the Supreme Court's judgment and the government has nothing to do with that." Joshi alleged that it was the Congress government in 2012 when the matter came in the court.

BJP's ally Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) also raised the issue in the Lok Sabha with its leader Chirag Paswan saying "reservation is the constitutional right of SCs and STs", and our party "dismisses the February 7 verdict of the Supreme Court" which says that reservation is not the fundamental right of the community.

"I request the government to consider the matter and put the SC/ST reservation under 9th Schedule of the Constitution so that the matters related to it being raised from time to time should stop permanently." DMK's A. Raja hit out at the government, saying "since it has come into power there has been onslaught on the rights of SCs/STs and suggested for a review petition and bringing the law in the 9th Schedule.

Janata Dal (United) leader Rajiv Ranjan said there should not be a politics on the issue when the whole house has similar opinion for the rights of SCs/STs and that "rumour" is being spread on Supreme Court's ruling by the opposition.

Bahujan Samajwadi Party's Ritesh Pandey attacked the government calling it anti-Dalits.

Calling the Supreme Court's verdict "unfortunate", Apna Dal's Anupriya Patel demanded central government's quick interference in the apex court's ruling to protect the rights of deprived sections of the society and that "there should be a representative of SCs/STs in the top court".

Nationalist Congress Party's MP Supriya Sule requested the government to intervene into the matter while Communist Party of India (Marxist) demanded that the government should file a review petition in the court.

Meanwhile, Deputy Leader of House Rajnath Singh informed that the government has nothing to do with the matter because the decision was taken by the Supreme Court.

In its verdict delivered on February 7 (Friday) on appeals on reservations for SC/ST community members in promotions to Assistant Engineer (Civil) posts in the Public Works Department of the Uttarakhand government, the Supreme Court said that the quotas and reservations for promotions for government jobs is not a fundamental right.

The top court said it could not compel states to provide quotas and states could not be forced to make such provisions without data showing imbalance in representation of certain communities in public service. The apex court overturned a 2012 ruling by the Uttarakhand High Court which directed the state to provide quotas to specified communities.
Criminal justice activists in New York lashed out at Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Dermot Shea for linking weekend attacks on officers in the Bronx to protests the city leaders said helped create a hostile, anti-police atmosphere.

Robert Williams, 45, is accused of shooting an officer in a police van late Saturday, then walking into a precinct headquarters Sunday morning and opening fire again. Williams was taken into custody at the scene; one officer was wounded in each incident.

The shootings took place a week after the latest in a series of protests when hundreds of demonstrators overwhelmed a section of Grand Central Terminal during the peak of the evening rush hour. They were protesting transit fares and increased police presence in subways. Some scuffles resulted, and several arrests were made.

These things are not unrelated," Shea said Sunday. "We've had people marching through the streets of New York City recently. Words matter and affect peoples behavior."

De Blasio said people who spew hatred at police are "aiding and abetting this kind of atmosphere."

You could protest for whatever you believe in, but you cannot vilely attack those who are here to protect us," de Blasio said. "It creates this kind of dynamic.

The Sergeants Benevolent Association, which claims a membership of 13,000 active and retired NYPD sergeants, tweeted that Shea was "100% correct" but blasted de Blasio, who has supported some efforts to curb aggressive policing.

"Mayor de Blasio, the members of the NYPD are declaring war on you!" The SBA tweeted. "We do not respect you, DO NOT visit us in hospitals. You sold the NYPD to the vile creatures, the 1% who hate cops but vote for you. NYPD cops have been assassinated because of you. This isnt over, Game on!"

Robert Gangi, who heads the Police Reform Organizing Project, called the accusations by de Blasio and Shea irresponsible, noting that police revealed no connection between Williams and the protests.

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There is no defense for a "lunatic" who shoots at police officers, Gangi said, but he described the protests against police as legitimate.

"For the many NYers who fear, loathe, & distrust #NYPD, its based on all too substantive reasons: daily targeting, harassment, & harm inflicted by cops on poor people of color," Gangi tweeted. "Until that changes, until pols in power like deB take steps to end it, anger & protests will continue."

2 New York officers shot in 'assassination attempts': Trump rips mayor

Protest organizers include a group called Decolonize This Place, which advocates for free transit and removal of police from the transit system among other things.

"Linking the right to protest and to take direct action with unassociated and random acts of violence is a well-worn and gratuitous tactic long used by authorities to suppress dissident speech," the group said in a statement on Twitter. "The mayor, at least, should pretend to know better."

Shea said Williams was released from prison in 2017 after serving time for an attempted murder conviction in a shooting in 2002. In that case, the suspect carjacked a vehicle, crashed it, then engaged police in a shootout before being taken into custody, Shea said.

Williams faces charges of attempted murder, criminal weapon possession and resisting arrest. He was hospitalized Sunday evening for undisclosed reasons, the Bronx prosecutors office said.

The officer shot Saturday night, Paul Stroffolino, was released Sunday from Lincoln Hospital to cheers from dozens of well-wishing fellow cops. Lt. Jose Gautreaux, the other officer shot, drew a similar ovation when he was released Monday.

Contributing: The Associated Press

A police officer injured in a shooting is released at Lincoln Hospital on Feb. 9, 2020, in the Bronx.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Police shootings: NYPD protesters say don't blame us for attacks
The president and First Lady Melania Trump will travel to New Delhi and Ahmedabad during the visit.

United States President Donald Trump will pay a state visit to India on February 24 and 25 and travel to New Delhi and Ahmedabad, it was announced on Tuesday, with both governments highlighting that his maiden trip would further bolster the strategic ties and the enduring friendship between the peoples of the two countries.

President Trump will be accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump and they will visit India on February 2425, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said.

In New Delhi, the ministry of external affairs said President Trump and his wife would pay a state visit to India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The announcement from Washington and New Delhi came after Trump and Modi held a telephonic talk over the weekend, Grisham said.

"During a phone call over the weekend, President Trump and Prime Minister Modi agreed the trip would further strengthen the India-US strategic partnership and highlight the strong and enduring bonds between the American and Indian people," she said.

The President and the First Lady will travel to New Delhi and Ahmedabad, which is in Prime Minister Modi's home State of Gujarat and played an important role in Mahatma Gandhi's life and leadership of the Indian independence movement, the White House said in a statement.

Trump's predecessor Barack Obama travelled to India in 2010 and 2015.

This will be President Trump's first visit to India, the ministry of external affairs said.

During the visit, President Trump and the First Lady will attend official engagements in New Delhi and Ahmedabad, Gujarat, and interact with a wide cross-section of Indian society, it said.

"The global strategic partnership between India and the U.S. is based on trust, shared values, mutual respect and understanding, and marked by warmth and friendship between the peoples of the two countries," it said.

The relationship has further evolved under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi and President Trump, with "significant progress" in all areas including trade, defence, counter-terrorism, energy, coordination on regional and global issues as well as people-to-people ties, the statement noted.

"The visit will provide an opportunity for the two leaders to review progress in bilateral ties and further strengthen our strategic partnership," the statement added.

Prime Minister Modi and President Trump met last on September 24 on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session in New York, their fourth meeting since Modi returned to power for a second term in May last year.

The meeting between Trump and Modi in New York came two days after they met on September 22 in Houston and shared the stage at the 'Howdy, Modi!' rally and addressed an audience of over 50,000 Indian-Americans.

The announcement on Trump's visit to India came hours after the US State Department said it has approved the sale of an Integrated Air Defence Weapon System to India for an estimated cost of USD 1.9 billion.

The Trump Administration has notified to the US Congress of its determination to sell India the Integrated Air Defence Weapon System, the Defence Security Cooperation Agency said on Monday.

The entire system is estimated to cost USD 1.867 billion, the State Department told the Congress in a notification. It also said the IADWS would help India to modernise its armed forces and to expand its existing air defence architecture to counter threats posed by air attacks.

Reacting to the announcement on Trump's maiden India visit, leading Indian-American community and business leaders welcomed the decision by the US President.

"President Trump's trip to India is timely in view of the bilateral trade issues that need to be resolved and in light of the collaborations between the US and India in various realms," M R Rangaswami, Indian-American philanthropist and head of Indiaspora, said.

Describing it as a significant visit, Mukesh Aghi, president of the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum, noted that the last three American presidents had made trips to India.

"It's essential to send a message to the region that India is a significant partner and the president values that," Aghi said.

India has a role to play not only in its immediate neighbourhood, but also in making sure that the South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific region is part of the international global order, he said.

The India trip will be Trump's second overseas visit this year, after a two-day visit to Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 13:19:19|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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An election officer counts the votes in Yaounde, Cameroon, Feb. 9, 2020. Polling at Cameroon legislative and municipal elections ended at 6 p.m. local time (1700 GMT) on Sunday, with authorities expressing satisfaction with the conduct of the polls, despite threats from armed separatists in the country's restive English-speaking regions. (Photo by Jean Pierre Kepseu/Xinhua)

YAOUNDE, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Polling at Cameroon legislative and municipal elections ended at 6 p.m. local time (1700 GMT) on Sunday, with authorities expressing satisfaction with the conduct of the polls, despite threats from armed separatists in the country's restive English-speaking regions.

The polls were marked by "calm, order and discipline," Essousse Erik, director general of national electoral body Elections Cameroon (Elecam), told a press conference in the capital Yaounde on Sunday evening.

"No major incident likely to disturb conduct of the polls was reported nationwide. There was sufficient electoral material in all polling stations, and all the local polling commissions with conducting the twin elections performed their tasks," Erik said.

Voter turnout was "massive" in the English-speaking southwest and northwest regions where armed separatists had vowed to interrupt the elections, Cameroon's Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji told reporters.

"At the close of the polls, it is clear that the boycott calls made by ill-intentioned political parties and terrorists did not have any impact on the population," he said, referring to separatists in the Anglophone regions as terrorists.

At least two armed separatists were killed Sunday in the northwest region as they tried to disrupt the vote, security sources told Xinhua under condition of anonymity, adding that a security member was also killed in the northwest region by separatists in a different incident.

However, separatists claimed on social media that five soldiers were killed in coordinated attacks in the two crisis-hit regions.

"Terrorists are reduced to social media propaganda and manipulation to influence weak minds," the minister said.

Sunday's vote was also boycotted by opposition leader Maurice Kamto and his Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM), citing insecurity in the English-speaking regions and "biased" electoral code.

The CRM has a single representative in the current National Assembly, which has 180 seats, with 148 of them occupied by the ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement.

After casting his ballots at a polling station in Yaounde, Cameroonian President Paul Biya called on Cameroonians to vote, "contrary to calls for boycott by some small political parties," Biya told reporters.

Over 6,800,000 voters were registered for Sunday's polling, including more than 970,000 from the English-speaking regions, representing 14 percent of the total registered electoral population. The offical final turnout has not yet been published by Elecam.

Originally scheduled for 2018, the polling was postponed twice, largely over security concerns in the English-speaking regions, according to local observers.




Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa

The Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, has reacted after people condemned him for showing off his four wives and 27 children on the floor of the chamber, warning that it was against his private life.

According to Punch, Ado-Doguwa, who said he was allowed as an adherent of Islam to marry that number of wives, nothing that it was a common thing in the northern part of the country dominated by Muslim Hausa and Fulani.

Ado-Doguwa said his father, who died in 2019 at 86, was survived by over 40 children, one of whom was a four-year-old.

Ado-Doguwa, who was in the National Assembly between 1992 and 1993 in the botched Third Republic, has been a member of the House since 1999, representing Tudun-Wada/Doguwa Federal Constituency of Kano State.

On January 29, 2020, Ado-Doguwa was among the six new members who were sworn in after winning reruns declared by courts.

The ceremony had become dramatic when Ado-Doguwa had spent about one hour to thank the leadership and members of the House, the All Progressives Congress and his four wives and 27 children, some of whom were in the chamber.

The announcement by the lawmaker had generated cheers and applause from the audience.

The Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, who interjected the lawmaker, had said he wanted to be sure if the Majority Leader actually said 27 children and still counting. The comment also generated laughter in the chamber.

Ado-Doguwa later apologised to Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State for having four wives when the governor only had one.

Speaking with the leadership of the House Press Corps, Ado-Doguwa said, My father left behind over 40 kids. He died only last year. Amongst the children he left, one of them is less than four years old. An 86-year-old man left a child of less than four years old for me and Im catering for him by the grace of God.

As far as Im concerned, as a Muslim, it is not I who caters for them, God caters for everyone, He only uses human beings as agents. And Im glad that God is using me as His agent to feed my entire family, to train them and take them to good schools which Im doing. And catering for my family does not in any way deprive me of the privilege to also cater for the downtrodden in the society, and that is the secret of my coming to the House day-in-day-out.

He also said If anybody from the South looks at me somehow, because that (having more wives and children) is not part of their tradition, Id understand. But Id be more disappointed if a Fulani, Hausa or a Kanuri girl will look at what I did with any sense of disdain. And if not that Im also a member of the fourth estate of the realm by extension, the first thing I would do was to take it up with Daily Trust for allowing a lady, a columnist, to come and attack my personality, make reference to my name openly. Not because Im Leader of the House but as a person, Im entitled to the privacy of my family life. As a person, thats embarrassing. This is my position. And I want to warn everyone. Everyone!

My wives are respected women, they are proud of me and Im proud of them in their collective entity. And if there is any trouble, do you think I could force them to come to the floor of the House? And one thing you dont know: right from 1992 when I got married and successfully got the remaining three, all of these women have been my wives; Ive never divorced anyone of them.

If you like, I can give you records of so many VIPs who divorced their wives. I married from my locality, from respected families among my people in my constituency. I know their families and they know mine before we came together as man and wives.

The lawmaker described his wives as legitimate, indigenous and not imported.

He said, Im not only disappointed, Im disenchanted by the kind of reactions I received especially on social media on the day of my swearing-in, simply because I brought my four wives with me on the floor of the House and I told the House that these people, these women are here to respect the institution of the House.

These are my legitimate wives; everybody knows them, starting from Abuja down to my village. And Im a Muslim; not only a Muslim, Im a proud Muslim, practising Islam. And the most fundamental pillars of every faithful person in Islam is what they said Prophet Muhammad should be your watchword, the Prophet should be your role model. Every proud Muslim places Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as his role model in actions and in thoughts. So, as a proud Muslim, marrying four wives is in all ramifications, copying the practice of Muhammad (PBUH).

Im allowed by my religion to marry four wives. Im allowed by my religion to marry and generate, to produce and reproduce. So, if there is anything that can now be subject of ridicule, subject of reactions, write-ups in pages of papers and, unfortunately, sometimes by Muslims, no one of my wives was embarrassed, no one of my kids was embarrassed.

He further said, As a good Muslim that I am, I tell you that Im proud of my family; Im proud of marrying four wives; Im proud these four wives are not even imported. We have a lot of people here who call themselves VIPs and who went out to import wives. My wives are indigenous wives; not only are they indigenous, they are my village people, all four of them are from Doguwa Local Government Area. So, I cannot be a subject of embarrassment unnecessarily.

So, I want you guys (journalists) to take this out as widely as possible. This is my reaction. And Ill not take it lightly. And if I have the opportunity, God willing, Ill continue to count my kids.
Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough took steps to enhance communication during natural disasters and named his Chief of Staff Jason Millsaps as executive director of the countys Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

According to Keough, who has the statutory responsibility to over see homeland security and emergency management, Millsaps will take on the executive director of the OHSEM in addition to his duties as chief of staff. The OHSEM staff will report to Millsaps.

The number one priority in fulfilling this responsibility is to ensure that the citizens of Montgomery County are safe and protected from harm in either a natural or manmade disaster, Keough said. I have worked with Jason for over six years and have observed his abilities in both daily responsibilities and during several recent storm events.

Millsaps, who pay will go from about $110,000 to $125,000, said he is looking forward to his new role and working with the current staff.

Before, during and after any threat or natural disaster, this office is utilized in many ways, Millsaps explained. Either through planning for threats either man-made or natural that could bring harm to the citizens of Montgomery County or working in collaboration with our local, state and federal agencies to assist in their response to those threats, this office will strive to foster in a new level of communication with all stakeholders and the public to help everyone be prepared and informed. I thank Judge Keough for his confidence in my ability to better help him in his statutory role relating to all things homeland security and emergency management.

Keough added making the appointment will help the county better serve it citizens during any weather or other events.

Having just completed my first year as county judge where I witnessed firsthand the impact of two natural disasters upon the county, I am excited for the future as this change will enhance the line of communication between my office, the public, our first responders, and elected officials, he said. We have one of the best emergency management offices in the state and this addition will ensure our continual rise in leadership throughout Texas.

cdominguez@hcnonline.com
If you own shares in China Distance Education Holdings Limited (NYSE:DL) then it's worth thinking about how it contributes to the volatility of your portfolio, overall. In finance, Beta is a measure of volatility. Volatility is considered to be a measure of risk in modern finance theory. Investors may think of volatility as falling into two main categories. The first category is company specific volatility. This can be dealt with by limiting your exposure to any particular stock. The second type is the broader market volatility, which you cannot diversify away, since it arises from macroeconomic factors which directly affects all the stocks on the market.

Some stocks are more sensitive to general market forces than others. Beta is a widely used metric to measure a stock's exposure to market risk (volatility). Before we go on, it's worth noting that Warren Buffett pointed out in his 2014 letter to shareholders that 'volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' Having said that, beta can still be rather useful. The first thing to understand about beta is that the beta of the overall market is one. Any stock with a beta of greater than one is considered more volatile than the market, while those with a beta below one are either less volatile or poorly correlated with the market.

See our latest analysis for China Distance Education Holdings

What does DL's beta value mean to investors?

Looking at the last five years, China Distance Education Holdings has a beta of 1.26. The fact that this is well above 1 indicates that its share price movements have shown sensitivity to overall market volatility. If the past is any guide, we would expect that China Distance Education Holdings shares will rise quicker than the markets in times of optimism, but fall faster in times of pessimism. Beta is worth considering, but it's also important to consider whether China Distance Education Holdings is growing earnings and revenue. You can take a look for yourself, below.

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NYSE:DL Income Statement, February 10th 2020

Does DL's size influence the expected beta?

With a market capitalisation of US$295m, China Distance Education Holdings is a very small company by global standards. It is quite likely to be unknown to most investors. It has a relatively high beta, suggesting it is fairly actively traded for a company of its size. Because it takes less capital to move the share price of a small company like this, when a stock this size is actively traded it is quite often more sensitive to market volatility than similar large companies.

What this means for you:

Since China Distance Education Holdings has a reasonably high beta, it's worth considering why it is so heavily influenced by broader market sentiment. For example, it might be a high growth stock or have a lot of operating leverage in its business model. In order to fully understand whether DL is a good investment for you, we also need to consider important company-specific fundamentals such as China Distance Education Holdingss financial health and performance track record. I urge you to continue your research by taking a look at the following:

Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for DLs future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for DLs outlook. Past Track Record: Has DL been consistently performing well irrespective of the ups and downs in the market? Go into more detail in the past performance analysis and take a look at the free visual representations of DL's historicals for more clarity. Other Interesting Stocks: It's worth checking to see how DL measures up against other companies on valuation. You could start with this free list of prospective options.

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.
Lawyers for the Minister for Justice require time to consider Ian Baileys objections to being extradited to France for the murder of filmmaker Sophie Toscan du Plantier, the High Court has been told.

It is the third time French authorities have sought Mr Baileys surrender in relation to the death of Ms du Plantier, whose badly beaten body was found outside her holiday home in Schull in December 1996.

The 62-year-old Englishman, with an address at The Prairie, Liscaha, Schull, west Cork, was convicted of the Frenchwomans murder in his absence in a Paris court last summer. The three-judge Cour dAssises in Paris accordingly imposed a 25-year prison sentence on him in his absence.

Mr Bailey, who denies any involvement in the mother-of-ones death, was arrested on foot of a European Arrest Warrant in December. He did not attend the French court and had no legal representation in the proceedings, which he has described as a farce.

Counsel for Mr Bailey, Ronan Munro SC, told the High Court today that his client had recently sworn an affidavit setting out his objections to being surrendered.

Mr Munro said the affidavit raised certain factual matters, particularly in relation to Mr Baileys health, which lawyers for the Justice Minister required time to consider. He assured Mr Justice Donald Binchy that progress was being made in the case.

Mr Bailey was remanded on continuing bail to February 24 next, when a date for hearing is expected to be fixed.

On the last occasion, Mr Munro said his points of objection were based on his clients fundamental rights and that the authorities previous two extradition attempts were relevant.

The Supreme Court refused to extradite Mr Bailey in 2012 holding that surrender was prohibited because the alleged offence was committed outside French territory and Irish law did not at the time allow prosecution for the same offence when committed outside its territory by a non-Irish citizen.

Counsel for the Minister for Justice, Robert Barron SC, has told the court that the two previous extradition attempts were unsuccessful but in the intervening period, Mr Bailey had been convicted of the Frenchwomans voluntary homicide and there had been a change in the law.

Mr Barron said that provisions introduced in the 2019 Criminal Law (Extraterritorial Jurisdiction) Act could raise two possible interpretations of the Supreme Courts majority finding on extraterritoriality in 2012.

The second French extradition request in respect of My Bailey was dismissed as an abuse of process by the High Court in 2017, with Mr Justice Tony Hunt holding that the unique features of the case justified termination of the proceedings.

Mr Justice Hunt said Irelands Director of Public Prosecutions had concluded long ago that there is no basis for either (a) charge or trial on this matter in this jurisdiction, and unusually, a comprehensive statement of reasons for this prosecutorial decision came into the public domain during the previous Supreme Court case.
Married At First Sight's Ivan Sarakula and Aleksandra Markovic looked very much the loved-up couple as they arrived at Nova FM's studios in Sydney on Monday.

Ivan, 30 and Aleksandra, 26, whose wedding took place in early September, were all smiles as they walked hand-in-hand to the network's headquarters.

After the interview at Nova, the couple visited KIIS FM's studios where they revealed the reason why they aren't wearing their wedding bands.

Still going strong! Married At First Sight's Ivan Sarakula (right) and Aleksandra Markovic (left) held hands as they arrived for an interview at Nova FM in Sydney on Monday

Ivan and Aleksandra tied the knot in a non-legal binding ceremony on Sunday night's episode of Married At First Sight.

Radio host Jackie O Henderson questioned why the pair weren't wearing their wedding rings.

'The first thing I noticed is [you have] no wedding bands... [they are not on] the right hand,' she explained.

Ivan said: 'In Ukrainian culture [we wear it on the opposite hand].

Style: Aleksandra cut a stylish figure in jeans, a beige coloured shirt and a pair of black heel boots while Ivan wore jeans and black T-shirt

'[Yes] in our culture it's the right hand,' Aleksandra agreed. 'Mine is also Gucci [ring], I changed it.'

For their media rounds, Aleksandra cut a stylish figure in jeans, a beige coloured shirt and a pair of black heel boots.

The beauty accessorised her ensemble with a Gucci belt, which retails for $500, and held a $1920 Louis Vuitton handbag.

She styled her long blonde locks in waves and wore a neutral palette of makeup for the interview.

Meanwhile, Ivan also looked stylish in jeans, black T-shirt as well as a dark blue jacket and white sneakers.

Glamorous: Aleksandra styled her long blonde locks in waves and wore a neutral palette of makeup for the interview

'In our culture it's the right hand': After the interview, the couple visited KIIS FM's studios, where they revealed that in their culture, they wear their wedding bands on their right hand

The pair married in Sydney, but the Serbian beauty admitted that she initially had her doubts about her groom.

'He's so opposite to what I generally go for, it's crazy. I never really go for light coloured hair, a clean shaven face or someone skinny,' she said.

'But he's got this beautiful smile, and he's so comfortable. I feel at ease when I am standing next to him. He seems like a really nice person.'
Officers in Alabama shot and killed a suspect during a domestic-related call early Monday morning, according to news reports.

One person died but no officers were injured in the shooting in Marshall County, Assistant Chief Deputy Steve Guthrie told news outlets.

The Marshall County Sheriff's Office said in a social media post that its deputies and officers with Albertville, Boaz and Douglas police departments were involved in the shooting just outside Albertville.

The State Bureau of Investigation was on the scene Monday morning. The sheriffs office said more information would be released later in the day.
They worked together on the hit films The Wolf of Wall Street and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

And at the Oscars on Sunday, Margot Robbie and Leonardo DiCaprio looked rather flirty as they reunited.

The pair shared an embrace as they walked past each other on the red carpet, as her British husband Tom Ackerley trailed behind and sweetly watched on.

Margot Robbie and Leonardo DiCaprio reunited at the Oscars: Wolf of Wall Street and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood co-stars embraced on the red carpet on Sunday, as her husband Tom Ackerley trailed behind and sweetly watched on

At the coveted event, Margot, 29, stunned in a navy blue Chanel dress from the Spring-Summer 1994 Haute Couture collection.

She also accessorised with a Chanel bag and Chanel fine jewellery.

The blonde beauty wore her short locks in neat curls and enhanced her flawless complexion with a classic makeup look - a lined eye and ruby red lipstick.

Friends: She and Leonardo, 45, who looked dapper in a suit, appeared thrilled to see each other. Her husband Tom is pictured behind the star

Catching up: The pair shared a hug and a kiss on the cheek

Old mates: Leo and Margot worked together on 2019's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and The Wolf of Wall Street back in 2013

She and Leonardo, 45, who looked dapper in a suit, appeared thrilled to see each other.

The pair shared a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

As Margot made her way down the red carpet, Tom paced shortly behind her, as she posed for photographs and greeted friends and acquaintances.

Letting her shine! As Margot made her way down the red carpet, Tom paced shortly behind her, as she posed for photographs and greeted friends and acquaintances

Leo and Margot worked together on 2019's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and The Wolf of Wall Street back in 2013.

The pair played husband and wife in The Wolf of Wall Street.

Margot previously told Grazia about some of the racy naked scenes in the film, saying it was 'intimidating' at first.

Remember that? Leo and Margot worked together on 2019's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and The Wolf of Wall Street back in 2013. The pair played husband and wife in The Wolf of Wall Street

Candid: Margot previously told Grazia about some of the racy naked scenes in the film, saying it was 'intimidating' at first

'It was intimidating leading up to it knowing that I had to do it but when you get to the day, it's your job and the sooner you get it done the sooner you can get your clothes back on,' Margot said.

'Everyone is really great about it and approaches it very professionally, making it as easy and comfortable as they can.'

She also gushed about working with Leo, saying: 'He's an incredible actor, everyone knows that, but he's also a really awesome down to earth person so it was a really lovely experience.'

Margot met husband Tom in 2014 on the set of Suite Francaise, with the pair marrying in Byron Bay, Australia, back in December 2016.
Opposition is not Leo Varadkar's first choice. He's spent two years in the Department of the Taoiseach and he likes it there. Government came easy to the country's youngest ever leader and he is not of a mind to give it up so quickly. He would be very reluctant to give up the State dinners with international dignitaries, the late night summits in Brussels and the personal relationships with world leaders.

Politicians don't get into politics to sit on Opposition benches. Well, most of them don't. Some do seem to be happy to spend their careers there. Varadkar, Simon Coveney and Paschal Donohoe are not like that. They have their feet under their ministerial desks and won't be rushing to leave.

As one senior Fine Gael source said on Saturday night: "We'll have 40-plus seats, Fianna Fail will also and Sinn Fein maybe a few less.

"We're in Government Buildings and unless Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail do a deal, how do they get us out?" the source asked.

So that's the attitude: Fine Gael is in power and more than happy to stay there if the numbers stack up.

Some Fine Gaelers also believe Micheal Martin was in fact batting his eyelids at them last night rather than Sinn Fein when he was questioned about coalitions. Martin's strident opposition to working with Sinn Fein certainly softened yesterday.

But senior Fine Gael figures believe his ideological objection to the former political front of the Provisional IRA has not changed. Instead, they believe he is paving the way to a grand coalition with Fine Gael which lots of Fianna Fail TDs would be happy to stomach.

Fine Gael believes Martin is putting the prospect of a Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein government in the ether to give him a stronger hand during coalitions talks.

Last night, those close to Martin were tight-lipped about his intentions.

Meanwhile, Varadkar's team was insisting there was no way in hell he would lead Fine Gael into coalition with Sinn Fein.

At his local count centre, Varadkar said any mandate Fine Gael received is based on promising voters he would not share power with Mary Lou McDonald. He plans to stick to this promise.

Fianna Fail may use a similar excuse after a couple of weeks of talks with the other parties.

Varadkar is still open to talking to Fianna Fail but if that doesn't work out he will seek to lead Fine Gael in opposition.

If Martin chooses Sinn Fein, Varadkar will be happy to lead Fine Gael from opposition benches. It is very unlikely there would be a heave against him. There will certainly be rumblings about his leadership and the campaign Fine Gael ran.

But he has ensured all his leadership rivals were centrally involved in the election. Donohoe was Fine Gael's director of elections and Simon Coveney appeared beside Varadkar in nearly every leaflet and poster.

Varadkar thinks ahead and around corners. He has no intention of giving up power just yet.

Some in his camp even suggested Michael Noonan's intervention during the campaign which saw the former finance minister announce that Paschal Donohoe was his preferred candidate for the Fine Gael leadership could play into Varadkar's hands. "If you were really Machiavellian you could summarise that was a warning shot to anyone who thinks that Coveney would automatically succeed Leo," the source said.

Last night, one minister who is expected to keep their seat insisted Varadkar would be allowed to remain as leader no matter where the party is sitting in the Dail.

Fine Gael TDs were even relishing the idea of being the opposition to a Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein government.

"Certain TDs would not have to canvass in the next election if the two of them went into power together," one TD said.

Varadkar would fit naturally into opposition too. He made his name on the opposition benches after being elected in 2004.

He enjoyed the freedom of being able to say what he liked. He regularly caused controversy and made headlines with his comments and policy propositions. It wasn't always positive but he certainly carved out a reputation of being an outspoken TD.

He compared Bertie Ahern's cash flow problems to that of drug dealers and attacked former Fine Gael party leader Garrett FitzGerald for being boring.

He apologised for the latter, not the former.

Five years on the other side of the Dail chamber could do Fine Gael a world of good in terms of public support. Especially with Brexit on the horizon and all that could mean for our fragile economy.

After all, we are told Sinn Fein is determined to scare any foreign investment out of the country when we need it more than ever.

Sitting back and watching Fianna Fail grapple with Sinn Fein in government could also be the break Fine Gael needs after nine years in power.

Varadkar and his supporters did not give Enda Kenny much of a chance to rebuild the party after the 2016 General Election - and he was Taoiseach at the time.

But granted, Kenny had led Fine Gael for 13 years.

Those who you would expect to be sharpening their knives are keeping their cards close to their chest for now.

Those who lose their seats will be disappointed with the leadership. But most of those expected to miss the quota are intrinsically linked to Varadkar.

They voted for him in the leadership contest and supported his election campaign strategy.

There were very few who didn't back him for the top job and those who did were rewarded with ministries.

The coming days will be filled with back-channel communications between all the parties and Independents.

We could see a series of special ard fheiseanna being held to give leaders cover for opening talks with each other. Final deals may also have to be put to the party memberships.

Varadkar's political career was not dead last night but it certainly has plateaued. He will be disappointed he won fewer seats than Kenny did four years ago.

He will be determined to remain in government but not at any cost.

In Opposition, Fine Gael will be hopeful that a Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein government would not last long and Varadkar will lead them into a subsequent election.

It's all to play for over the coming days and there are still a lot of twists and turns left in the Varadkar story.
Donald Trump has been swiftly condemned after praising countries like China for having a powerful death penalty to combat illegal drug dealing, saying he doesn't believe the US "is ready" to adopt a similar process.

Human rights activists slammed the presidents comments after he addressed the nations governors in a wide-ranging speech at the White House on Monday and said he was impressed by the way China handles its drug cases.

Criminal in China for drugs by the way means thats serious. Theyre getting a maximum penalty, Mr Trump said. And you know what the maximum penalty is in China for that, and it goes very quickly.

He added: Its interesting, where you have Singapore they have very little drug problem, where you have China they have very little drug problem. States with a very powerful death penalty on drug dealers dont have a drug problem.

Garry Kasparov, chairman of the Human Rights Foundation, described the presidents latest comments as the classic authoritarian line in a tweet.

Give the murderers badges and give the thieves cabinet posts, then say crime is solved, he wrote.

The chairman added: And a fair trial in a dictatorship is an oxymoron.

New Jersey Democrat Bill Pascrell Jr also predicted that not a single Republican in Congress will say a word in objection to the presidents comments.

Mr Trump appeared to be casually saying our criminal justice system should more closely resemble ruthless dictatorships like the Chinese communist party, the congressman said.

Ben Rhodes, a former White House adviser under Barack Obama, also wrote in a tweet: Maybe we should pay attention to the fact that Trump consistently praises the efficiency of totalitarian systems.

Mr Trump has previously heaped praise on China for its severe laws surrounding drug offences, saying during a March 2018 rally: The only way to solve the drug problem is through toughness.

This is the classic authoritarian line. Give the murderers badges and give the thieves cabinet posts, then say crime is solved. And a fair trial in a dictatorship is an oxymoron. https://t.co/wrxmiBkLI0  Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) February 10, 2020

When I was in China and other places, by the way, I said, Mr President, do you have a drug problem? Mr Trump said. No, no, no, we do not. I said, Huh. Big country, 1.4 billion people, right. Not much of a drug problem. I said what do you attribute that to? Well, the death penalty."

Story continues

Countries like China and Singapore have both been declared human rights abusers over their execution policies for drug dealers, while organisations like Amnesty International have estimated thousands of executions occur each year as a result of the measures.

Mr Trump formally requested in a 2018 memo that federal prosecutors consider the death penalty for anyone dealing in extremely large quantities of drugs.

A 2017 review of incarceration rates nationwide conducted by the Open Philanthropy Project stated: Tougher sentences hardly deter crime, and that while imprisoning people temporarily stops them from committing crime outside prison walls, it also tends to increase their criminality after release.

Read more

CPAC bans Romney fearing for his physical safety as Trump slams vote
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Herzing University has announced the appointment of Sarah Higgins as president of its Birmingham campus, where the university is locally known for its nursing, healthcare and paramedic/EMT programs.

Higgins has more than 13 years of higher education experience and will lead initiatives focused on student experience, retention and graduation outcomes. She will also ensure that Herzing is a valuable partner to healthcare providers and other businesses and organizations throughout the region.

"Collaborating with local employers to address their greatest workforce needs is beneficial to our students and employers, as well as the entire community," Higgins said. "I'm excited to continue Herzing's long history of connecting students with rewarding careers in and around Birmingham."

Prior to joining Herzing, Higgins served as a communications and marketing leader at two universities. She has developed and implemented strategic initiatives to increase enrollment, improve student retention and outcomes, and invigorate alumni engagement while building and nurturing university partnerships.

"Sarah is a community-minded leader who fully embraces our mission and vision of helping individuals reach their full potential while achieving success in school, work and in their communities," said Herzing University President Renee Herzing. "She will focus on ensuring our students get the support and resources they need to launch and advance their careers."

Higgins earned a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communication from Arizona State University as well as an MBA from the University of Northern Alabama and a Master of Arts in Educational Administration from University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif.

Herzing is a transfer-friendly university offering year-round study. The Birmingham campus has degree programs in nursing, healthcare, public safety, technology and business. Students learn in a modern facility with state-of-the-industry labs, career-focused curriculum and supportive faculty and staff.

For more information, visit the Birmingham campus at 280 West Valley Avenue during business hours or call 205-791-5860.

About Herzing University

Herzing University is an accredited, private nonprofit institution with nine campuses across seven states, a continuing education division and an online division. Founded in Milwaukee in 1965, more than 30,000 students have graduated from the University's career-focused and flexible master's, bachelor's, and associate degree, diploma and continuing education programs. Fields of study span nursing, healthcare, technology, business and public safety. From 2013 through 2020, U.S. News & World Report has continually recognized Herzing University as having some of the best online programs nationally. Herzing University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission; www.hlcommission.org or (800) 621-7440. More information about Herzing University is available at www.herzing.edu.

Contact:

Candice Hudson

312-661-1050

[email protected]

SOURCE Herzing University

Related Links

https://www.herzing.edu


LAS VEGAS, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The reviews are in and Capriotti's Sandwich Shop is coming out on top when it comes to plant-based eating. After several months of testing, Capriotti's announced today that it is unveiling its new, highly-regarded, plant-based sandwich in its restaurants across the country. The world's first Impossible Cheese Steak sandwich is now available at participating locations nationwide, bringing the brand's award-winning Cheese Steak sandwich to more fans than ever before.

Capriotti's began testing the Impossible Cheese Steak at select locations in Las Vegas in November of 2019. The new sandwich was an instant hit, garnering rave reviews from both vegetarians and flexitarians alike, turning even the biggest meat-loving Cheese Steak fans into plant-eating addicts. Developed in partnership with Impossible Foods, the sandwich expands on Capriotti's already impressive vegetarian menu, bringing the delight of a classic cheese steak to an even wider audience. With fan-favorite ingredients like melted cheese, fried onions and peppers piled on perfectly cooked, 100 percent plant-based protein, guests can enjoy a sandwich just as fresh and delicious as the original.

"No one should have to sacrifice taste just to eat plant-based. Capriotti's is so excited to bring our new Impossible Cheese Steak to diners across the country," said CEO Ashley Morris. "It's essential to us that we have flavorful, satisfying options for all guests. This addition to our menu will continue to open those doors to plant-based diners, while also appealing to our meat-loving fans. I am confident this sandwich is by far the best tasting and highest quality Impossible entree in the fast-casual space."

Along with launching the Impossible Cheese Steak Sandwich, Capriotti's will also be rolling out an Impossible Meatball Sandwich later this spring. These plant-based options will join the brand's other vegetarian options, the Veggie Chicken Cheese Steak, Veggie Turkey and Veggie Cole Turkey sandwiches. Customers will be able to order the sandwiches both in-store and online.

With 100 locations across the nation, Capriotti's is most famous for its 40-year nightly tradition of slow-roasting whole, all-natural turkeys in-house and hand-shredding them each morning to feature in a variety of fan-favorite subs. This includes The Bobbie, the CAPastrami, made with hot pastrami, the Cole Turkey, and the original Cheese Steak.

For more information about Capriotti's or to find an Impossible Cheesesteak near you, please visit https://www.capriottis.com/.

About Capriotti's Sandwich Shop

Founded in 1976, Capriotti's Sandwich Shop is an award-winning national franchised restaurant chain that remains true to its 40-year tradition of slow-roasting whole, all-natural turkeys in-house every day. Capriotti's cold, grilled and vegetarian subs, cheese steaks and salads are available at more than 100 locations across the United States. Capriotti's signature sub, The Bobbie, was voted "The Greatest Sandwich in America" by thousands of readers across the country, as reported by AOL.com. Capriotti's fans can also download the CAPAddicts Rewards app for iOS and Android, where they can earn and redeem rewards. Capriotti's plans to grow to over 500 locations by 2025, and was listed amongst the Franchise Times 200+ listing for 2018. For more information, visit capriottis.com. Like Capriotti's on Facebook, follow on Twitter or Instagram.

About Impossible Foods

Based in California's Silicon Valley, Impossible Foods makes delicious, nutritious meat and dairy products directly from plants  with a much smaller environmental footprint than meat from animals. The privately held company was founded in 2011 by Patrick O. Brown, M.D., Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry at Stanford University and a former Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. Investors include Khosla Ventures, Bill Gates, Google Ventures, Horizons Ventures, UBS, Viking Global Investors, Temasek, Sailing Capital, and Open Philanthropy Project.

Contact: Lindsey Lambert, Fishman Public Relations, [email protected] or 847-945-1300

SOURCE Capriotti's Sandwich Shop

Related Links

http://www.capriottis.com


Could you help take strides for a Parkinsons cure ?

This article is old - Published: Monday, Feb 10th, 2020

People across Wales are being asked to sign up to, or organise, a local Walk for Parkinsons event and stride towards a Parkinsons cure by funding groundbreaking research.

This month, charity Parkinsons UK has launched its annual Walk for Parkinsons fundraiser. All the money raised from the walks will go towards the charitys vital work to change the lives of everyone affected by the condition. Parkinsons is what happens when the brain cells that make dopamine start to die. There are over 40 symptoms, from tremor and pain to anxiety. Some are treatable, but the drugs can have serious side effects. It gets worse over time and theres no cure. Yet.

Walks taking place in Wales include Snowdon, Gwynedd (09 May), Cardiff, South Glamorgan (16 May), Swansea, West Glamorgan (27 June) and Conwy (13 September). The walks suit a range of ages, abilities and fitness levels, so theres something for everyone.

Parkinsons is the fastest growing neurological condition in the world, and currently there is no cure. An estimated 145,000 people across the UK are living with Parkinsons, including 7,595 people in Wales. There are over 40 symptoms of Parkinsons including loss of mobility, tremor, pain and depression, and every hour two more people are diagnosed.

Parkinsons UK is the largest charitable funder of Parkinsons research in Europe, and over the past 50 years have invested 93 million into researching Parkinsons and treatments. The charity is accelerating breakthroughs in research, and the money raised from Walk for Parkinsons will take Parkinsons UK a step closer to finding a cure.

Sian Lloyd, TV broadcaster and Parkinsons UK supporter, is calling on people to sign up to a walk near them. Sians mum died last year after living with Parkinsons for ten years.

She said: Parkinsons had a devastating effect on my mum so I am passionate about finding a cure and raising awareness of this awful condition. By taking part in Parkinsons UKs Walk for Parkinsons, youre walking for breakthroughs in research that can change the lives of everyone affected. So please sign up to a walk in Wales, every step takes us closer to a cure.

To sign up to a walk near you, or perhaps organise one in the local area please visit: parkinsons.org.uk/get-involved/walk-parkinsons


Sean Davis of Enterprise Ireland looks at the success of Irish firms employing 106,000 people in the US.

Exports from Ireland to the US now stand at a value of 3.7 billion, a figure that is confidently expected to rise, says Sean Davis, Enterprise Irelands regional director for North America.

Over the last four years exports from this country to the US have grown steadily  in fact, over the last three years alone, exports from Ireland to the US have grown by a very steady 11% annually.

With more than 900 Irish companies exporting to the US and with some 600 firms deployed all over the continent, Irish foreign direct investment into the US is worth an eye-watering $146 billion  making us the ninth largest source of FDI into the United States of America.

This figure is quite staggering for a country of this size, observes Davis, who points out that this figure represents Irish-origin or indigenous companies which are deploying resources and facilities into the USD.

These figures come from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, a fact which further serves to underline the validity of our success in the USA, he said.

What that means, in real terms, is that there are Irish companies located in all 50 states and employing 106,000 people in the US.

Sean Davis, Enterprise Ireland

It goes without saying then that the international relationship between both countries, is, as he puts it, very much a win-win for both sides.

Given the uncertainty which remains around Brexit, there is a necessity for Irish companies to deploy into major international markets, specifically the USA.

To put it in context, the US economy is worth in the region of $22 trillion.

Davis puts it in context: The economy of the State of California alone is equivalent to the UK economy.

"Texas is equivalent to Canada and New York is equivalent to South Korea  and that in a nutshell explains why Irish companies really need to deploy to the USA.

If you look at the US economy only 30% of its GDP is exported, so 70% of their GDP is generated in the country, he remarked.

Davis, who has mostly lived in the USA since about the mid-1990s, says the sheer economic size of the US market is the single biggest reason why Irish firms should think about deploying there.

It takes as long to get to New York from Ireland as it does to go from New York to San Francisco, he says. And, in this context, he has a word of warning.

Vital advice on companies entering the US market

Irish companies who are considering exporting to the USA must be extremely focused and strategic in their approach.

You have to pick the geography that makes sense. It should be a geo-centric location within a reasonable proximity to a large number of potential customers, he advises, adding that any business that tries to go coast-to-coast in terms of exports will quickly find the experiencing wearing thin: If you try to go coast to coast it will wear you out financially and physically and it will wear out your bank balance too.

The USA is such a vast economy and such a vast country that if youre planning to deploy there, it must be done in a very strategic and targeted way.

Effort and investment should be put into plenty of advance research, he counsels, adding that Enterprise Irelands up-to-the-minute online market research tool should be the very first port of call for Enterprise Ireland companies considering exporting to the USA for the first time.

This plays a key part in giving companies the opportunity to validate any assumptions they may have about their market opportunities in the US  or not as the case may be.

On the ground, Enterprise Ireland, as Davis explains, basically spans all the major industry sectors apart from food, which is, of course, the responsibility of Bord Bia: We have 36 people on the team here and we have offices in New York, Boston, Austin, Chicago and San Francisco and Seattle.

Second Enterprise Ireland office opening in Canada

Enterprise Ireland is opening its second office in Montreal, Canada, within the next six to eight weeks.

Its a big presence, Sean Davis acknowledges, but theres a well-thought-out strategy behind it.

There has been a very significant expansion over the last few years because of Brexit realities, he said.

One Enterprise Ireland strategy has been to offer its client companies market diversification opportunities in the US.

The USA is actually the second largest single market for Enterprise Ireland clients companies after the UK, Sean said.

Weve spent the past three years preparing companies for this. Our view is that any work spent on developing alternative market opportunities is time well spent.

The key point is realising the simple truth that  for most companies  having all their eggs in one basket is not a good idea.

Thus, it has been a key focus for Enterprise Ireland to offer market diversification opportunities.

And, of course, the USA is also very important to the Irish business sector because of its sheer accessibility in terms of the number of direct flights from Ireland to cities like New York, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, LA, Seattle, Philadelphia, Orlando and Miami.

What you have is a multiple airlines crossing the Atlantic on a daily basis to major hub airports  and there is also transfer capability into anywhere in the country, Davis points out.

That is hugely important form the point of view of people travelling across the Atlantic  that connectivity is a really significant factor, he says, adding that companies which have notched up significant successes in the USA in the past include the IT solution firm Teamwork, from Cork, which has offices in Boston and Modular Automation, a Co Clare company with a base in Florida.

Educated workforce

On another note, as he points out, from an economic impact perspective, Irish higher education institutes attract large numbers of US students to study here  Enterprise Ireland runs the Education in Ireland programme in the US which promotes Ireland as a desirable study destination.

Outside all of this, its interesting to know that on any given day, week or month, Enterprise Ireland is working actively with 500 Irish companies who are exporting to the USA.

Thats a figure that we plan to grow significantly as part of our diversification strategy, says Sean Davis, who is clearly a man who loves his job.

When we work with companies here, whether theyre just coming in to the US market, or are very established, were re always looking for ways to impact these companies positively and to help them scale up and grow  its extremely gratifying!
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Libyan minister of foreign affairs of the government of national accord, Mohamed Taher Siala, Monday reaffirmed "Libyas commitment to honour all treaties and agreements to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons and massive destruction weapons"
The Supreme Court on Monday said people cannot block public road indefinitely and create inconvenience for others but declined to pass an interim direction on pleas for removal of anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protesters from Shaheen Bagh, the epicentre of demonstrations here for nearly two months.

IMAGE: Muslim women offer namaz on a road near the site of the ongoing protest against Citizenship Amendment Act at Shaheen Bagh in New Delhi. Photograph: Kamal Singh/PTI Photo

As it observed that people are entitled to protest but it has to be done in an area identified for agitations and cannot be done on a public road or park, the court also took up the issue of an infant dying on returning home from Shaheen Bagh where his parents had taken him along.

"Can a four-month-old child be taking part in such (Shaheen Bagh) protests?" the court asked while warning two women lawyers for making 'explosive submissions' that children participating in the protests against the CAA are being called names, 'terrorist', 'gaddar' (traitor), 'Pakistani', in school.

The four-month-old baby had passed away in his sleep on the night of January 30 after returning from Shaheen Bagh.

"Don't make explosive submissions. Please do not make such statements. We do not want people to use this platform to further create problems," said a bench, comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant, when two women advocates -- Shahrukh Alam and Nandita Rao -- started making submissions.

A bench comprising Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph issued notices to the Centre, Delhi government and Delhi Police asking them to respond to the pleas seeking removal of protesters from Shaheen Bagh and ensuring smooth traffic flow on the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch.

When the counsel appearing for the petitioners urged the court to pass some direction since there was inconvenience to the public, the bench said, "It cannot be done ex parte. We will hear the other side."

"If you have waited for over 50 days, wait for some more days."

The top court posted the matter for further hearing on February 17.

"You cannot block the public roads. There cannot be indefinite period of protest in such an area. If you want to protest, it has to be in an area identified for protest," the bench said.

"There is a law and people have grievance against it. The matter is pending in the court. Despite that some people are protesting. They are entitled to protest," the court said, adding, "It should be done in an area which is designated for protests. You cannot create inconvenience for the people."

The apex court said the protest at Shaheen Bagh has been going on for long but it cannot create inconvenience for others.

"Can you block a public road? You cannot block it. Suppose there is a public park, you cannot hold protest there," the bench said.

The apex court was hearing an appeal filed by advocate Amit Sahni, who had approached the high court seeking directions to the Delhi Police to ensure smooth traffic flow on the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch, which remains blocked by anti-CAA protesters since December 15.

Besides Sahni, advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi, appearing for former Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Nand Kishore Garg, also made a plea for some directions for removal of the protesters.

When the bench headed by Justice Bobde said it was taking suo motu cognisance of the letter written by a national bravery award winner Zen Gunratan Sadavarte, seeking that minors be barred from participating in any type of protest and agitation, advocates Shahrukh Alam and Nandita Rao interrupted claiming that children participating in the protest are being called names, 'terrorist', 'gaddar' (traitor), 'Pakistani', in schools.

"They (children) come home crying," the advocates submitted.

The intervention by the advocates did not go down well with the bench, which said: "We will not hear you on this. Don't make such types of irrelevant arguments."

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta opposed them saying, "Can it be a ground for sitting on dharna with a four-month-old child or can they oppose this on the ground that children are being called names like gaddars in school."

The bench asked, "A four-month old infant had gone to protest? But tell us which four-month-old child goes on its own to protest sites."

The bench said the two lawyers were deviating from the main issue of which it has taken cognizance of.

"We are not considering either CAA or NRC. We are not considering the abuses like Pakistani hurled in schools," the bench said.

The bench made it clear that it was not stifling anybody's voice.

"We are not stifling any voice. This is a properly constituted suo motu proceedings by the Supreme Court of India," it added.

"We have the highest respect for motherhood, and highest concern for children. Don't make arguments to raise and create guilt."

"A child has died. Instead of causing more trouble, mothers should back this cause," the bench said.

The lawyers had submitted that "these women (who are sitting at protest site) live in slums and have no option but to take their children along to the protest site".
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 21:50:29|Editor: huaxia

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PARIS, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- High winds ripped through the northern and eastern regions of France on Sunday night and Monday morning, causing several casualties and thousands of homes to lose power, according to local media reports.

Eleven people were injured after Storm Ciara with gusts of more than 130 kilometers per hour had hit the Atlantic coast of France, according to local broadcaster Europe 1.

Pictures published on social media showed that trees had crashed down and roofs of buildings had been blown off by Ciara, dubbed as a "strong winter storm." The powerful winds had caused problems across the country's railway network after fallen power lines and trees blocked the tracks, the report said.

The storm also affected air traffic. About 50 flights to and from Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport were canceled on Sunday, while another Paris airport, Beauvais, had suspended all traffic until Monday morning. Shipping movements between the Port of Calais and Britain's Port of Dover were suspended "until further notice," according to the report.

Some 90,000 homes were without power after the overnight storm lashed the regions of Bretagne, Normandie, Hauts-de-France, Grand Est and Ile-de-France.

The national weather agency Meteo France on Monday warned that strong winds may hit many areas in the north and west of France, placing 13 departments on orange alert, the second highest alert on the agency's scale. The agency urged residents to be vigilant. Winds are expected to reach up to 160 kilometers per hour in these regions and large waves may hit the country's coastal areas until Tuesday evening.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 09:52:54|Editor: huaxia

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In China's battle against the coronavirus outbreak, President Xi Jinping has been personally directing and making arrangements. Watch what the Chinese leader has done in the fight against the virus. #FightVirus
Millions of NHS patients risk being identified through medical data which is sold to US pharmaceutical giants, experts claim.

Patient data from Britains GP surgeries and hospitals is routinely sold to international drug companies for millions.

The information is anonymised first with names taken out, but senior NHS officials have warned that patients can still be identified.

They claim there is evidence that organisations which have bought the data have already traced back to individual patients whose medical histories were of most interest.

The information is anonymised first with names taken out, but senior NHS officials have warned that patients can still be identified (file image)

Professor Eerke Boiten, director of the Cyber Technology Institute at De Montfort University in Leicester, said: It is not anonymous. If it is rich medical data about individuals then the richer that data is, the easier it is for people who are experts to reconstruct it and re-identify individuals.

Privacy campaigner Phil Booth, of the group medConfidential, believes the public is being betrayed.

Removing or obscuring a few obvious identifiers, like someones name or NHS number from the data, doesnt make their medical history anonymous, he told the Observer yesterday.

Indeed, the unique combination of medical events that makes individuals health data so ripe for exploitation is precisely what makes it so identifiable. Your medical record is like a fingerprint of your whole life. Patients must know how their data is used, and by who.

Access to NHS patient records is increasingly sought by researchers and drug firms because they contain a unique data set of 55million patients from birth to death (file image)

Alleging their data is anonymous when it isnt, then selling it to drugs and tech companies  or, through intermediaries, to heaven knows who  is a gross betrayal of trust.

People who are rightly concerned about such guile and lack of respect have every right to opt out if they want their own and their familys medical information kept confidential and for their own care.

Access to NHS patient records is increasingly sought by researchers and drug firms because they contain a unique data set of 55million patients from birth to death.

In other countries the data is scattered around several different institutions, making it harder to collate in large volumes.

As part of any post-Brexit trade agreement, the US wants unrestricted access to patient data, which last year was given an estimated value of almost 10billion by professional services firm EY.

Licences to buy data are issued by the Clinical Practice Research Datalink, which is part of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

A MHRA spokesman insisted that the information sold was anonymised in accordance with the Information Commissioners Office anonymisation code of practice.

If NHS patients do not wish their data to be used for this kind of research, they currently have to actively opt out of the system by asking their GP.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 20:11:14|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- The State Council, China's cabinet, announced the appointment and removal of officials on Monday.

Liu Huanxin was appointed vice minister of agriculture and rural affairs, and Yu Xinrong was removed from the post, said a statement from the State Council.

Zhou Xuewen and Liu Wei were appointed vice ministers of emergency management. Zhou was also named vice minister of water resources. Fu Jianhua and Ye Jianchun no longer serve as vice ministers of emergency management.

Zhou Huiguo became the deputy head of the National Intellectual Property Administration. He no longer serves as deputy head of the National Administration of State Secrets Protection.

Qiu Yong and Mo Zeyao were appointed deputy heads of the China Academy of Engineering Physics and Lai Xinchun was named chief engineer of the academy. He Yingbo is no longer deputy head of the academy and Long Xinping is no longer chief engineer of the academy.

Niu Zhijun took the post of deputy head of the China Geological Survey and no longer serves as deputy head of the China Earthquake Administration.

Wang Kun became the deputy head of the China Earthquake Administration and no longer holds the position of deputy head of the China Geological Survey.

Wang Yiming was removed from the post of deputy director of the Development Research Center of the State Council.

Tian Yulong no longer serves as deputy head of the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence.

Zhang Xin no longer holds the position of deputy head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.
Emma Corrin looked well and truly in character as she filmed scenes for The Crown as Princess Diana in Manchester on Monday.

The actress, 24, was the spitting image of the late Princess as she shot a scene where Diana visited an AIDS centre in New York City.

Emma inhabited Diana's signature sense of style for the scene, donning a brightly patterned hounds tooth skirt suit.

Filming: Emma Corrin, 24, looked well and truly in character as she filmed scenes for The Crown as Princess Diana in Manchester on Monday

The garment also consisted of a tailored jacket with green lapels and yellow and pink detailing.

The TV star added height to her frame with a pair of white ankle straps as she filmed the scene where she was seen waving to the crowds.

Emma was also sporting Diana's signature voluminous blow dried hair style, complete with a pair of statement stud earrings and light touches of make-up.

Crowds of extras waved British and American flags for the scene as Emma arrived at the centre in a swanky black Cadillac.

Lookalike: The actress was the spitting image of the late Princess as she shot a scene where Diana visited an AIDS centre (Diana pictured, right, in 1993)

In April 1987, Princess Diana shook hands with a gay man who was dying of AIDS.

The People's Princess touched the unnamed man without wearing gloves, challenging the previously believed notion the disease could be passed via skin-to-skin contact.

She was quoted as saying: 'HIV does not make people dangerous to know.

'You can shake their hands and give them a hug. Heaven knows they need it'.

At the time, Princess Diana was opening the UK's first unit that exclusively cared for HIV/AIDS patients at London Middlesex Hospital.

Fashion: Emma inhabited Diana's signature sense of style for the scene, donning a brightly patterned hounds tooth skirt suit

Princess Diana was famously the first member of the Royal Family to touch someone with AIDS.

The People's Princess would also regularly visit the Lighthouse, both with the media present and without.

According to Dr Rosemary Gillespie, chief executive of the HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust: 'London Lighthouse offered residential and day care for men, women and children living with HIV and AIDS, and provided a refuge and respite to people marginalised and abandoned because of their diagnosis'.

Princess Diana was also a patron of the National AIDS Trust at the time of her death in 1997.
A Queensland doctor allegedly used dead patients to defraud Medicare out of more than $350,000.

Tony Mufutau Oluwatoyin Bakare is accused of making thousands of false claims between 2014 and 2017.

The doctor allegedly defrauded more than $350,000 from Medicare. Credit:Peter Braig

On the opening day of his Brisbane District Court trial on Monday, a federal government investigator said she had been tasked with looking into claims made using the GP's unique provider number.

A spreadsheet shown to the jury displayed more than 7500 rows of claims on dates she said patients were either known to be dead or Bakare was overseas.
A chilling photo has emerged of the moment a 'dream vacation turned into a nightmare' for two American tourists in New Zealand.

Ivy Kohn Reed and Rick Reed were buried in volcanic ash and toxic gases when the volcano erupted on White Island on December 9.

The last photo they took before the eruption shows the two with big smiles on their faces, blissfully unaware of the tragedy about to unfold.

Ivy Kohn Reed shared the image on a GoFundme page to help raise money for the cost of their medical bills after miraculously surviving the disaster.

The last photo of Ivy Kohn Reed and Rick Reed before the White Island volcano eruption shows the two with big smiles on their faces, blissfully unaware of the tragedy about to unfold

'This is the last picture taken of us before our lives changed forever. Approximately 15 minutes after this was taken, the White Island Volcano erupted, burying us in hot volcanic ash and toxic gases,' she wrote.

The couple spent almost eight weeks in a New Zealand hospital receiving critical care treatment after the eruption.

Rick has three separate operations after suffering burns to 30 per cent of his body, including his hands, legs and face.

Rick Reed (pictured, right) recovers in a New Zealand hospital bed after getting ankle grafts

While Ivy had two surgeries for burns to 20 per cent of her body, including her hands, face and right leg.

The two also received skin grafts for various parts of their body.

Ms Kohn Reed said they're now back in the United States, and expressed gratitude for the support from family and friends as they continue their long road to recovery.

Rick Reed and Ivy Kohn Reed were on a boat heading to a jetty on the island when the volcano erupted on White Island

'We have returned home! This is happy news we wanted to share, but it is also scary, as we figure out what we can and cant do,' she wrote.

'The next year will be the hardest of our lives while we try to rehab and regain as much functionality as possible.'

The couple were on a tour heading towards a jetty on the island when the volcano erupted, killing 21 people.
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has many times affirmed that Vietnam has no intention of devaluing the local currency to gain advantages in trade with its partners.

Vietnam is one of 10 countries named in the watchlist for currency manipulation, according to the report on the macroeconomic and forex policies of the USs largest trade partners released by the US Treasury Department on January 14, 2020.





Soon after the information was released, SBV made a timely response by issuing a notice to explain and analyze the reasons which led to the US decision.



In the US report dated May 2019, Vietnam for the first time was named among nine countries that needed supervision for currency manipulation, because it met two criteria  surplus in bilateral trade with the US and surplus in current balance.



The May 2019 report showed that the countries in the watchlist will continue to be monitored in the next two reviews. Vietnam was still in the watchlist of the January 2020 report, though Vietnam only meets one criterion  the trade surplus.

The May 2019 report showed that the countries in the watchlist will continue to be monitored in the next two reviews. Vietnam was still in the watchlist of the January 2020 report, though Vietnam only meets one criterion  the trade surplus.

Regarding the current balance surplus, the figure has dropped to 1.7 percent of GDP, lower than the level of 2 percent set by the US. Meanwhile, the intervened net purchase of foreign currencies in the forex market is just 0.8 percent of GDP, lower than the 2 percent set by the US.



SBV stressed that it made an intervention in the forex market in two ways, with both net purchases and net sales.



A high-ranking official of SBV said the central bank had positive working sessions with the US to clarify the issues put forward by the US. However, dealing with the bilateral trade surplus of $47 billion is the job of several parties, not just the SBV.



The adjustment of the current balance surplus and the two-way intervention in the forex market were made by SBV in the monetary policy management. Meanwhile, solving the problem of bilateral trade surplus requires the coordination of many ministries and branches.



If Vietnam is seen as a currency manipulator, it will bear a negative impact.



The governments report in the latest briefing showed that Vietnams GDP had reached $266 billion by the end of 2019 and the import/export turnover had for the first time exceeded $500 billion.



With such a trade turnover, the import value of one week and one month has increased significantly. The forex reserves, therefore, also need to increase. Vietnam needs to develop the forex reserves and stabilize the exchange rate in a flexible way to lay a foundation for a sustainable macroeconomy and high-quality growth.

Mai Lan

Vietnam faces exchange rate risks when importing electricity Vietnam plans to buy more electricity from neighbouring countries, but a big loss of VND3.09 trillion is pending.
A Presbyterian minister has opened up about his struggle with depression, and told how his two adopted children later brought such joy to his life.

Reverend Peter Lyle had to take a year off as minister of Ballyholme Presbyterian Church to deal with his mental health.

He believes there is still a stigma around mental illness, and urges anyone in that situation to seek professional help as soon as possible.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, he said: "My depression was a health condition no different to breaking my arm, but if I had broken my arm people would have seen the bandage and sympathised with me.

"However, there is no bandage around depression, but some people find it hard to understand why the person with depression cannot seem to cope."

In a recent article for the Presbyterian Herald he outlined his awareness of the attitudes to mental health.

He wrote: "The fact that I have had second thoughts about writing this article is testament to the stigma that still exists around mental health issues. Those who will read this are my family, those who sit with me on Presbytery and committee meetings in Assembly building, or for whom I am their minister.

"That bothers me because for all the progress made, mental health issues are still perceived by many as personal weakness or an inability to cope with what's on your plate. This is all the more sobering as, for me, it all happened a decade ago and subsequently I have encouraged people to speak up about their struggles rather than to hide them away."

Peter Lyle (52) joined Ballyholme as their minister in 2002 and for the first seven years everything seemed normal. Then he visited Thailand with colleagues of the Presbyterian Overseas Board and came back with a very nasty infection.

"I felt absolutely shattered and after that things began to unravel. I was off for several months. Our doctor advised my wife Heather and me to take a holiday. We went to the north of England and I recall being in Manchester city centre. On the way out we were passing Manchester United's ground at Old Trafford and I asked Heather if she would like a tour of the place. To my surprise she agreed. I am actually a Chelsea fan, and that was the year when we were beaten in Moscow by Manchester United in the Champions League.

"I mentioned this to the tour guide and he gave me some light-hearted banter. Instead of seeing the joke, I began to think: 'I am supporting the wrong team, I should have supported Man United'. And I had this sinking feeling.

"I knew that these questions I was asking myself were silly but those kind of thoughts persisted.

"As we were driving in the beautiful hills outside Manchester, the scenery was wonderful but sadly my thoughts were dark.

"I could not stop thinking to myself: 'What is the point of anything? What is the point of my life?'. The darkness and the negativity were very powerful and these kind of thoughts kept recurring to me with increasing frequency.

"Back home after our holiday the same kind of thoughts persisted.

"I kept asking questions like: 'Does God really answer prayers?'. This was difficult for me because as a Christian and a minister I was preaching about hope, redemption and renewal.

"Of course there are great challenges in the life of a minister, dealing with bereavement and illness and other issues facing members of his congregation, but that kind of stress is probably no worse than that of other people who have stressful jobs."

Peter said his congregation were most helpful: "It was not their fault. They were fantastic and very understanding.

"However, I eventually reached a crunch point and it was clear that I could not continue."

A Presbyterian Church Commission took over the running of Ballyholme while Mr Lyle went on sick leave.

"My wife Heather was brilliant in every way and we talked and talked. Eventually I realised that I needed professional help and that was a breakthrough.

"Heather sourced HealthLink 360 in Edinburgh, which was used by the Presbyterian Overseas Board, and she and I went there for a one-day assessment of my condition.

"I thought: 'How has it come to this, that I am seeing psychiatrists, and taking these tablets?'. I said to myself: 'There is no way that they are going to sort this out in one session'. But I found that very quickly they were helping me to get to the heart of the matter.

"One of the issues which emerged was the fact that we were childless. So, after Edinburgh we went for infertility counselling, and this led to seeing a psychiatrist in Holywood. Later on we adopted two lovely Thai children at different times - Kim who is 16 and Zoe who is seven. They have brought so much light into our lives."

Peter also started cognitive therapy and later took a course in grief counselling.

"The Holywood psychiatrist was amazingly helpful and I learned so much from her at our regular sessions. Eventually things started to get better and I returned to my full-time ministry at Ballyholme."

He added: "In my first Sunday service when I was back I told the congregation: 'I feel like a new man! It seems almost as if the events of the previous year had not happened'."

Thus far there has been no reoccurrence of Peter's depression.

"I still have to keep an eye on myself and if I feel that I am entering a difficult period I take the measures to deal with that.

"Recently I availed of a one-year sabbatical from the Church and I travelled extensively in the Far East. My faith also helped me to get through the depression, though I am more aware of this in retrospect than I was at the time.

"I also believe that good can come out from such a dark struggle, and this certainly happened in our case.

"I am happy to talk and to write about my experience in the hope that I can help others who are in a similar situation.

"I know that there is a temptation for people to talk about their depression and their feelings with their family and close friends, but I would also urge them to seek professional help.

"That was a turning point for me. Some people tell me that I am showing courage in telling my story in public this way, but in my opinion the real courage comes in when people admit they have a problem and when they seek professional help.

"If they begin to see and feel that things are not right, that's when they should seek help."
The Supreme Court on Monday sought response from the Rajasthan government on a plea seeking probe into the death of over 100 infants at a hospital in Kota recently.

A bench comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant issued a notice to the state government on a plea filed by noted doctor K K Aggarwal and social worker B Mishra seeking probe into the death of new-born babies due to lack of equipment at a government hospital in Kota.

Over 100 infants had died in the Kota hospital recently.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
RAQQA, Syria  Independent civil society organizations operating in the city of Raqqa in northern Syria launched the Nahnou Ahlouha (We Are Here) campaign to involve women in political and civil life and empower them to eradicate extremist thought that the Islamic State (IS) spread and imposed on the city under its control for three years. The campaign, which kicked off in late December 2019, aims to raise awareness among women and rehabilitate them regularly through various cultural activities and dialogue sessions about the constitution and civil action.

The House of Citizenship organization in Raqqa participates in womens activism and is among the organizations participating in the campaign calling on women and girls to discuss their opinions about civil and political life through dialogue.

Yamam Abdul Ghani, a trainer at the House of Citizenship, told Al-Monitor the status women in northeastern Syria earned after the end of IS' rule and their role in executive councils, among others, indicates recognition of their significant presence and right to be active on several levels.

When IS occupied Raqqa in January 2014, it intervened in the educational system before the Syrian Democratic Forces expelled it with the support of the US-led international coalition in October 2017.

Mariam, a woman in her early 50s who lives in Raqqa and refused to reveal her full name, told Al-Monitor that after IS took control of her city, her eldest daughter, 15, and her other daughter, 13, were already enrolled in the citys public school. She said, My two daughters wore their uniform, like their peers. IS banned the blue uniform and the governmental textbooks and imposed a black uniform. It was then that my daughters decided not to go to school anymore.

Campaign activists who spoke to Al-Monitor said the campaign implemented several cultural and social events and training workshops aimed at highlighting the activities of civil society organizations in Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor, reflecting the cultural, social and artistic image of the area and showing photos and paintings that depict cultural elements and traditional costumes of Raqqa citizens. During the workshops, political discussions related to the war in Syria were held, as well as dialogue sessions with experts regarding drafting the constitution and protecting employees in these nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations that have no political affiliations.

Mowafak al-Zein, a painter who participated in the campaign by painting on the city walls, told Al-Monitor his paintings constitute a practical call for Syrian society to defend peoples rights to their squares and streets and to regain the real image of society, which IS had tarnished when ruling the area.

The campaign photos on social media  which many Syrians in different cities and countries reacted to  depicted traditional clothing of Raqqa citizens, social traditions, and the lives of inhabitants of the countryside and modest eastern areas. A large painting on one of the walls of a street in Raqqa showed a woman wearing a loose dress, local headscarf and gold bracelets, and handwashing her clothes. On another wall, a man playing the rebab was drawn. A third painting showed a man, his wife and their son clad in traditional clothing famous among citizens of the Syrian Al-Jazira area.

The war raging in Syria for nine years did not destroy the lives of Raqqas citizens; indeed, they are working hard to restore normal life in their city.

Raqqa citizen Zeina Jassem, whose brother was abducted by IS five years ago (his fate remains unknown), told Al-Monitor, Raqqa remains ours. We are its rightful citizens. The shadow of darkness that armed organizations had cast on us is starting to fade, and the destruction is gradually ending. Wall paintings that reflect Raqqas heritage are filling the streets with cultural elements of Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor. Society and buildings in these two cities and the towns and villages connected to them were ravaged under IS rule.

IS not only occupied houses, buildings and farms, but it also tightened the noose on other forms of life in the two cities and on squares and streets, trying to obfuscate their identities and alter the way men and women dress.

Hamza al-Mulla, organizer of workshops at the House of Citizenship, told Al-Monitor the organization concluded on Jan. 18 the dayslong Voice of Civil Society in the Constitution workshop. He noted international decisions linked to the Syrian crisis were discussed, in addition to the structure of the Syrian Constitutional Committee. They also discussed civil society recommendations and propositions about the work of the constitutional committee so that it represents the aspirations of the Syrian people. Mulla said the campaigns third and last workshop was held Feb. 2.
Experts at various airports have so far screened 1,818 flights, covering a total of 1,97,192 passengers, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan informed Lok Sabha on Monday as he spoke on steps taken by the government to deal with Novel Coronavirus.

He also said that screening of passengers has been initiated at 12 major seaports and all minor ports in the country to identify passengers and crew coming from China and to isolate them in case they are found symptomatic.

"Teams of specialist doctors were sent to all airports to ensure effective screening and arrangement for isolation in attached hospitals.

As of today, a total of 1818 flights have been screened covering a total of 1,97,192 passengers," he said.

In view of a confirmed case in Nepal, the government has initiated screening at all integrated check posts from Nepal in collaboration with Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Sikkim and Bihar, Seema Shastra Bal (SSB) and Land Port Authorities, the health minister said.

Gram Sabhas have been organised in villages adjoining borders with Nepal to create awareness amongst people about the disease and precautions to be taken.

Using integrated disease surveillance network, all persons are tracked and the government is following 9452 passengers across 29 states/UTs.

The state surveillance officers, district surveillance officers and rapid response teams of health professionals under the leadership of state Health Secretaries are monitoring all such people on a daily basis, he said.

Sufficient isolation beds have been made available in tertiary facilities across the country to manage any outbreak.

Three hundred and sixty nine symptomatic travellers have been referred to isolation facility and are being monitored, he informed the House.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
AEON Mall, the largest trade centre in Long Bien district, which usually draws in visitors from all accross Hanoi and surrounding locations like Hung Yen, Hai Duong, Bac Ninh, was also empty during the weekend because of the epidemic At CGV cinema at Vincom Ba Trieu, only one ticket booth was opened, while all ticket booths and the food counters were overloaded every weekend before
Update 2-11th Feb 2020: While many brands are pulling out of MWC 2020, Xiaomi has confirmed that it is attending the event and will introduce their new range of smartphones and smart hardware. On the other hand, MediaTek has announced that it is not attending MWC this time due to coronavirus concerns.

To all Mi fans, users, partners and media friends, Xiaomi will attend #MWC2020 Barcelona as planned. In order to align with personal and product safety measures during MWC, Xiaomi is committed to following all recommended guidelines. Thank you. #NoMiWithoutYou pic.twitter.com/LKjHPXWOai  Xiaomi #First108MPPentaCam (@Xiaomi) February 11, 2020





Update-11th Feb 2020: Intel and Vivo have confirmed that they are withdrawing from the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2020 event due to coronavirus concerns. Vivos new Apex 2020 wont be announced at MWC this year and the company will announce revised plans soon.

Intel spokesperson in a statement said:

The safety and wellbeing of all our employees and partners is our top priority, and we have withdrawn from this years Mobile World Congress out of an abundance of caution. We are grateful to the GSMA for their understanding and look forward to attending and supporting future Mobile World Congress events.

Earlier: Novel coronavirus outbreak has impacted a lot of people in China and at the same time, it has impacted major launch events including the upcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2020 which is set to begin from 24th February. Recently, LG cancelled its MWC event and following that, now Sony, NVIDIA, and Amazon have withdrawn from MWC 2020.

Sony has officially issued a statement that they are withdrawing from Mobile World Congress 2020 following the novel coronavirus outbreak. While Sony is not hosting its event in Barcelona, it is instead hosting its press conference online on Feb 24, 1:00 PM (IST) via the official Xperia YouTube channel to share exciting product news.

Similarly, NVIDIA and Amazon are not attending the Mobile World Congress and have issued an official statement regarding the same. While the Mobile World Congress is just a few weeks away, it is to be seen if other companies pull out of the event as well.

GSMA has also issued a statement and has listed additional safety measures being put in place which includes

All travellers from the Hubei province will not be permitted access to the event

All travellers who have been in China will need to demonstrate proof they have been outside of China 14 days prior to the event (passport stamp, health certificate)

Temperature screening will be implemented

Attendees will need to self-certify they have not been in contact with anyone infected.

Sonys statement:

Sony has been closely monitoring the evolving situation following the novel coronavirus outbreak, which was declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization on January 30th, 2020. As we place the utmost importance on the safety and wellbeing of our customers, partners, media and employees, we have taken the difficult decision to withdraw from exhibiting and participating at MWC 2020 in Barcelona, Spain. The Sony press conference will now instead take place at the scheduled time of 8:30am (CET) on February 24, 2020 as a video via our official Xperia YouTube channel to share our exciting product news.

NVIDIAs statement:

Weve informed GSMA, the organizers of MWC Barcelona, that we wont be sending our employees to this years event. Given public health risks around the coronavirus, ensuring the safety of our colleagues, partners and customers is our highest concern. MWC Barcelona is one of the worlds most important technology conferences. Weve been looking forward to sharing our work in AI, 5G and vRAN with the industry. We regret not attending, but believe this is the right decision. Were grateful for GSMAs leadership and continued efforts to ensure the safety of all attendees.

Amazons statement:

Due to the outbreak and continued concerns about novel coronavirus, Amazon will withdraw from exhibiting and participating in Mobile World Congress 2020, scheduled for Feb. 24-27 in Barcelona, Spain.

Source 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
He catches on easily to new skills, sounds knowledgeable even with limited information, stays on topic without sounding stilted, impresses small groups on short acquaintance (which is important for fundraising), thinks quickly on his feet and manages to be upbeat even when tired. In conversation, he is not overly warm, but comes across as genuinely attentive and remarkably self-possessed. Buttigieg is far better at running for president in his first try than former vice president Joe Biden is in his third.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 01:25:57|Editor: yan

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ZAGREB, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic announced his candidacy here on Monday for the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) president who will be elected on March 15.

Plenkovic has been leading the HDZ since July 2016 when he was elected as the new president with no other candidate standing in the internal party elections. This year he will have a strong opponent, Miro Kovac, former Croatian foreign minister.

For the first time, the internal party elections for the president, deputy president, and four vice-presidents of the party are organized on the principle "one member, one vote", and 220,000 party members will be able to participate.

Since Plenkovic took over the HDZ and, a few months later, became the Prime Minister, the conservative party has moved closer to the center-right. He formed the ruling coalition with the social-liberal party, Croatian People's Party, which was not accepted well among more conservative wing in the HDZ.

Miro Kovac recently said that the HDZ needs a change because they had experienced two major setbacks in the European and presidential elections.

On Sunday, one of the prominent party members and current deputy HDZ president, Milijan Brkic, expressed support for Kovac and his team in the upcoming elections.
10.02.2020 LISTEN

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, February 09, 2020 - African leaders are putting women front and center of efforts to drive the continents economic growth through a game-changing fund that invests in women fund managers and also provides technical assistance.

The launch of the African Women Leadership Fund (AWLF) will provide capital to both first time and experienced fund managers in support of UN Sustainable Development Goals 5 (Gender Equality) and 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and African Union Agenda 2063.

The ground-breaking partnership formally signed at the weekend in Addis Ababa between the United Nations Economic Commission of Africa (ECA) and Standard Bank Group, will be transformational in breaking down structural barriers to inclusive investing in Africa.

Over $20 million was raised for the fund on Saturday that has a current goal of $100 million. President Paul Kagame of Rwanda was instrumental in leading the way, pledging $500,000. Senegals President Macky Sall committed $500,000. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa also pledged to contribute to the fund. The private sector participants pledged the rest.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada pledged $10 million to the African Union to boost gender parity. Norway Prime Minister Erna Solberg pledged $8 million to AU initiatives. A portion of these resources will be earmarked for the womens initiative.

Among the world leaders who witnessed the official launch of this innovative impact investment fund were UN Secretary-General, Antonio Gutteres, African Union Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde. Former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was also in attendance, as were a number of former African heads of state.

We are turning the tables and making women the decision-makers of investable money in Africa. We want women to be on the supply side of money, not only on the demand side, said Dr. Vera Songwe, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of ECA. A key goal of the fund is to empower women financial leaders who will drive economic growth, job creation, and create prosperity.

In Africa women-owned funds and businesses struggle due largely to lack of successful fundraising, insufficient exposure to systems and procedures, and lack of track records, among others. They also contend with gender-based social expectation, resistance to women in leadership roles and lack of a support network. The fund will empower Africas women by giving them access to financial resources and investment management expertise.

Sola David-Borha, Chief Executive of Africa Regions at Standard Bank Group, says the fund aligns with the Banks purpose to drive Africas growth and presents an opportunity for Standard Bank to leverage our footprint and expertise on the continent, and the relevant experience of our asset management arms, Melville Douglas and STANLIB Multi-Managers, to build Africas economies. Africa is our home, we drive her growth.

Women fund managers will receive a deployment of capital, and subsequently invest in majority female-owned businesses. Even though the fund is sector agnostic, priority sectors will be education, manufacturing, healthcare, clean energy and agriculture. Additionally, technical assistance for fund managers and entrepreneurs will be offered through the initiative. This ranges from building capacity, direct mentoring to leveraging technology in health and education.

Songwe emphasized The goal here is to give women-led financial investment activities a huge injection of jet fuel to bear out the proven positive correlation between gender balance, higher financial returns and developmental impact.

In his remarks, Secretary-General Gutteres said, power is not usually given, it must be taken.
Finance Ministry in this budget proposed to abolish Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT). With the abolition of DDT, people with income up to Rs 5 lakh will not have to pay tax on dividend income.

The proposal aims to tax dividend in hand of recipients; earlier, the tax was levied on companies issuing dividends.

Hemant Sood, Managing Director, Findoc Financial Services Group shared his views on the impact of the Government's move.

The government's decision to abolish DDT coupled with the exemption of sovereign funds from any kind of tax for their investments in infrastructure is a big move by the government. While the reaction of capital markets over the abolition of Dividend Distribution Tax ("DDT") has been either muted or negative, but it apparently led to a blood bath on the D-Street. In the longer run, the announcement will be lead to positivity in the market.

The abolition of DDT will help more inflow from Pension funds. These funds have historically preferred infrastructure projects, but in India, the post-tax return of this infrastructure was low due to double taxation.

In their home country, they have been unable to claim any exemption under DTAA (Double Tax Avoidance Agreement), thereby reducing this asset attractiveness. Now with the abolition of DDT, this dampener has been removed and existing infrastructure which is profitable will see increased flow of funds.

Abolition of Dividend Distribution Tax will also further help the existing investors in infrastructure projects to unlock value as these investors will be able to sell their existing projects to the foreign funds who are looking at annuity income.

Another clear winner will be dividend schemes of Mutual Funds. Many NRIs/OCI living in USA/UK preferred not to invest in mutual funds due to double taxation. These mutual funds will see an increase in fund flow in their dividend schemes.

To conclude, this move to abolish DDT by the Finance Minister will indeed lead to an increase in the attractiveness of Dividend-paying companies to domestic and overseas investors. This will also increase the attractiveness of REIT for foreign investors and may put the infra sector of the country back in the race.

While every budget has some losers and some winners, Budget 2020 has also seen some clear winners and interpretative disappointments. Infrastructure and foreign investors seem to be clear winners in this budget.

This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Linkedin Tian Ying (Bloomberg) Beijing, China  Mon, February 10, 2020 17:50 700 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2063a762b 2 Business coronavirus,coronavirus-mask-rush,face-mask,China,Wuhan-coronavirus,manufacturing,factory,plant,production,Foxconn,iPhone,automakers Free

A shortage of face masks has prompted Chinese companies from car manufacturers to energy providers to start making their own to help fight the coronavirus.

Auto companies including BYD Co. have reconfigured production lines to churn out masks that can help block particles and germs, with petroleum giant Sinopec and iPhone assembler Foxconn joining the fray. Some are also dabbling in disinfectant and goggles.

While China is the worlds biggest manufacturer, its current production capacity of almost 15 million masks a day isnt enough in the current crisis. The quick switch from one product to another underscores Chinas strength as a manufacturing powerhouse and highlights the urgency with which companies are trying to stop the deadly virus from paralyzing operations.

China has declared a peoples war against the most serious virus outbreak in decades thats led to more than 900 fatalities. At stake is also the countrys economy, as companies struggle to resume production after a national Lunar New Years holiday that was extended to help contain the virus. Without proper safety measures such as masks, companies risk the outbreak spreading among employees.

While China made more than 5 billion face masks on the mainland last year  about half the worlds output  theres still a shortage as the number of infections soars. Local governments including the municipal authority of Beijing have banned civil servants from wearing the N95-type masks urgently needed in hospitals.

SAIC-GM-Wuling, a General Motors Co. venture in China, said it built up 14 production lines with a daily capacity of 1.7 million masks and put out its first batch on Sunday. Warren Buffett-backed BYD said itll start mass-producing masks before Feb. 17 with capacity rising to 5 million -- and 50,000 bottles of disinfectant liquid -- a day by the end of the month.

The company known for its electric vehicles and batteries will supply the first batches to drivers of buses, taxis, and ride-hailing cars, as well as volunteers and staff at airports and airlines. It will also provide products to its own workers, a company official said.

Foxconn began making masks on Feb. 5 for its 1 million employees, saying daily production is expected to reach 2 million pieces by the end of the month. Truckmaker Shaanxi Automobile Group Co. started making goggles on Sunday and is capable of producing more than 3,000 a day, according to local media reports.

Sinopec, or China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., said on Friday it has obtained mask-making equipment and was setting up 11 production lines. Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., which makes cars with Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co., said it is looking into manufacturing masks as well as equipment for mask production.
Story Highlights 90% of small-business owners are paying attention to the 2020 campaign

69% say their business benefited from the 2017 tax law

Bloomberg is only Democrat to edge out Trump among small-business owners

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Small-business owners are highly engaged in the 2020 presidential election campaign, as 60% say they are paying "a lot" and 30% "some" attention to it. With near unanimity, they say they are likely to vote in the general election. Sixty percent approve of the job that Donald Trump is doing as president, and 52% think their business would be better off if he is reelected. They are somewhat less likely to say they would be better off if the Democratic nominee wins the election (41%).

These findings are from a Jan. 15-24 nationwide Square/Gallup online survey of small-business owners with annual revenues between $50,000 and $25 million.

Most small-business owners rate the financial condition of their business positively -- 56% say it is "excellent" and 38% "good" -- and 69% report that their business benefited from the 2017 tax reform law. More than seven in 10 say they reinvested over one-quarter of the savings that resulted from the tax law in their business.

Yet, other policies have had a less positive effect. Seventy percent of small-business owners say the cost of healthcare has had "a lot of" or "some" impact on their ability to hire and retain employees, and half say the same of changes to U.S. immigration policies since 2017.

In Election Year, Top Public Policy Concern Is Taxes

Among a list of six public policy issues, taxes receive the most mentions: 32% of small-business owners say taxes are the greatest impediments to their business operations in this election year. Government regulations (21%), healthcare (20%) and U.S. trade tariffs (15%) are second-tier obstacles, and climate change (7%) and immigration (5%) are at the bottom of the list.

Taxes Top List of Small-Business Owners' Public Policy Obstacles Which of the following issues presents the greatest challenge to your business operations? Small-business owners % Taxes 32 Government regulations 21 Healthcare 20 U.S. trade tariffs 15 Climate change 7 Immigration 5 Square/Gallup, Jan. 15-24, 2020

Asked which party would do a better job of handling these six issues, small-business owners are more likely to favor the Republican Party for taxes, immigration and tariffs, and the Democratic Party for healthcare and climate change. Owners are closely divided between the two parties on government regulations.

Small-Business Owners' Views of Party Better Able to Handle Top Issues Regardless of how you usually vote, which party do you think would do a better job of dealing with each of the following issues as they pertain to your business? Republican Party Democratic Party % % Taxes 60 40 Immigration 55 45 U.S. trade tariffs 52 48 Government regulations 51 49 Healthcare 48 52 Climate change 44 56 Square/Gallup, Jan. 15-24, 2020

Election 2020 Match-Ups Show Strength for Bloomberg

Among those who say they plan to vote in a Democratic primary or caucus, 22% of small-business owners say they will support Joe Biden, while 17% say Michael Bloomberg, 14% Bernie Sanders and 13% Elizabeth Warren. Thirteen percent are undecided, and fewer than 10% plan to support Andrew Yang, Pete Buttigieg or Amy Klobuchar.

Small-Business Owners' Preferences for Democratic Nomination Which of these candidates are you most likely to support for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020? Small-business owners % Joe Biden 22 Michael Bloomberg 17 Bernie Sanders 14 Elizabeth Warren 13 Andrew Yang 8 Pete Buttigieg 7 Amy Klobuchar 6 Undecided 13 Asked of those who said they plan to vote in a Democratic primary or caucus Square/Gallup Jan. 15-24, 2020

Though trailing Biden overall, Bloomberg does especially well among independent and Republican small-business owners who plan to vote in a Democratic nominating contest in their state.

Turning to November, even though they are more likely to identify as Republicans (40%) than Democrats (33%) or independents (26%), small-business owners are closely divided as to whom they say they would support in the general election.

In seven hypothetical head-to-head matchups, no more than four percentage points separate Trump from each potential Democratic nominee. Bloomberg is the only Democratic candidate who edges out Trump.

Small-Business Owners' General-Election Preferences If the November 2020 general election for president was held today, please tell me which candidate you would vote for in each of the following potential matchups. Small-business owners % Donald Trump 48 Michael Bloomberg 52 Donald Trump 50 Joe Biden 50 Donald Trump 51 Pete Buttigieg 49 Donald Trump 51 Amy Klobuchar 49 Donald Trump 51 Andrew Yang 49 Donald Trump 52 Bernie Sanders 48 Donald Trump 52 Elizabeth Warren 48 Square/Gallup, Jan. 15-24, 2020

Bottom Line

There are more than 30 million small businesses in the U.S., and this constituency is an important one for any presidential candidate to win over. Most small-business owners indicate they have benefited from Trump's 2017 tax law and report that their businesses are in good financial condition today, which would seem to be a positive sign for Trump.

They are paying a lot of attention to the 2020 presidential election, and most plan to vote. But while their approval of the president is high, smaller percentages support him in general-election matchups with seven potential Democratic nominees. The Democratic presidential candidate with the most crossover appeal to Republican and independent small-business owners is Bloomberg, who, like Trump, has a business background. Bloomberg also gives Trump the toughest test in the head-to-head matchups.

View complete question responses and trends (PDF download).
On Presidents Day 2019, as I was heading home from keynoting the all-employee celebration for KALSEE Credit Union in Michigan, I jotted down two simple questions: How many members and employees actually appear in photos on CU websites? Does it matter?

Those 15 words launched a year-long journey of discovery called the Credit Union Photography Project, arguably the largest research effort of its kind in the history of our movement.

CUPP united a small group of volunteers from across our industry who were so motivated to find the answers that they sacrificed their free time to classify 54,597 photographs on 1,596 credit union websites:

They are the real heroes of CUPP. I cant thank them enough for making it possible.

CUPP was encouraged and guided by Amanda Elkins, Liz Garster, and Tara Kochansky of TwoScore, and James Robert Lay of Digital Growth Institute.

Andrea Dose and Jodi Allen (Iowa Credit Union League), Eileen Burden (Kentucky Credit Union League), and Jose Ortiz (Ohio Credit Union League) graciously let me share some of the early CUPP research findings during my sessions for their respective conferences.

In a few short hours, CUNAs Kristin Ryan assembled a master list of all US credit unions  complete with asset sizes, location, and website  into a 33,780-cell file so perfect that it should be in the Spreadsheet Hall of Fame (totally not a thing but should be). Her belief in the goals of the project saved it from languishing in a forgotten page of an old Moleskine notebook. Thank you, my friend, for your servants heart.

Robbie Young of CUInsight patiently accommodated my requests to use photos from my library for my articles, which probably put me in CUInsights High-Maintenance Community Writer Hall of Fame (totally not a thing but should be).

Finally, Im grateful to all of you who made the first piece in this stock photo series one of CUInsights Top 10 Marketing Posts in 2019.

That story had blunt answers to the first question I posed: 70% of all photos on the credit union websites studied were stock, nearly 84% of those sites dont have a single image of an actual member, and real employees appear in barely 12% of photos.

Does it matter? Yes. Some agree. Others dont. Both perspectives are defended by compelling arguments.

For me, it comes down to one final question: what do we love more  our members, or their money?

In our photos, well find our answer.
Capital city auctions kicked off strongly over the weekend after the extended holiday season break. Sydney's success rate sat at 80 percent, with Melbourne close behind on 75 percent. Volumes were higher across all markets with the exception of Adelaide where the number of auctions held was lower, and Canberra where activity remained steady, CoreLogic said. Sydney was the busiest auction market with 428 auctions. There were 401 Melbourne homes taken to auction.

Kevin Brogan, at CoreLogic, is tipping continued price growth after clearance rates and home values picked towards the end of 2019.

The weekend results suggest that knocks to consumer confidence from bushfires and the coronavirus crisis are not impacting the residential auction market.

There were 205 Sydney results captured with 165 sold, according to CoreLogic.

There were 246 Melbourne results captured with 185 sold.

The highest confirmed residential sale in Sydney was 5 Trouve Street, Lane Cove, a four bedroom, two bathroom house which sold for $3,165,000 through Belle.

The 530 sqm building block cost $892,000 in 2008.

There was a $3.35 million pre-auction sale of 14 Bennett Street, Curl Curl through McGrath.

The five bedroom, three bathroom house, built in 2012, came with initial $2.9 million price guidance.

There were more expensive listings in Mosman and Northbridge that failed to find buyers.

Sydney auction numbers will increase again next weekend with over 500 homes set to go under the hammer.

Cooley Auctions auctioneer Damien Cooley told Domain the average number of Sydney auction registered bidders was six, well up on last year.

The highest known number of bidders was at Wentworthville, in Sydneys west, where Ray White Parramatta agents and brothers Amit and Ritesh Nayak attracted 43 registered bidders to 53 Dorothy Street, a four bedroom home that sold for $1.460 million under the hammer.

"The Sydney weekend auction hasnt missed a beat roaring into 2020 with yet another boomtime auction clearance rate - taking off where it left off in 2019," Dr Andrew Wilson from My Housing Market.
Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Seema Verma listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington March 22, 2017. Verma unveiled a Trump administration Medicaid deal for states in January 2020: more control over health care spending on certain low-income residents if they agree to a limit on how much the feds kick in. Read more

Medicaid is a longstanding partnership between states and the federal government to provide care to the poorest and sickest among us. A pair of proposals from Washington threaten to upset this joint commitment and fray the nations perilously thin safety net for vulnerable patients.

Together, these proposals stand to trigger an erosion of the impressive gains weve made for patients across our country and region this past decade.

Unlike Medicare, a program that primarily supports older Americans, Medicaid covers low-income Americans of all ages. In January, the White House unveiled a plan called Healthy Adult Opportunity thats a thinly disguised effort to redraw Medicaid financing as a block grant plan. That would allow states to request caps on funding for adults covered by the Affordable Care Acts Medicaid expansion. The plan would also potentially curtail health benefits and drugs available to some patients.

This effort comes on the heels of the proposed Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Rule, which seeks to limit the ways states finance their share of Medicaid, which is crucial to the programs survival. If adopted, the rule could reduce Medicaid program funding by as much as $49 billion annually.

These two plans represent a return to bad policy that would chip away at medical care for the nations most vulnerable citizens and further stress the precarious operations of many hospitals. Depending on how quickly the administration moves, and engagement from individual states, these proposals could be implemented later this year.

In Pennsylvania, Governor Tom Wolf has rejected the block grant offer. But lets consider what the impact would be under a governor who supports this plan. Medicaid covers 33 percent of all Pennsylvania births, and 13 percent of senior citizens get health care through the program. It provides support to nearly half of our states residents living with disabilities, including the care that helps them live independently.

Research shows that Medicaid beneficiaries are more likely than those without insurance to access lifesaving preventive care like mammograms and vaccinations, and to have a place to obtain routine primary care. A raft of data demonstrates that kids who are eligible for Medicaid get a better start in life than those who go without health insurance  they miss fewer days of school due to illnesses and injury, do better in school, and are more likely to graduate from high school and college and earn more as adults.

Following the expansion of Pennsylvania Medicaid made possible by the Affordable Care Act, weve seen our states uninsured rate drop to historic lows. We know when patients have access to insurance, it both strengthens our economy and improves health outcomes.

Medicaid is also a crucial support for our states hospitals, especially those which care primarily for poor and underserved populations. Medicaid reimbursement for care provided to these patients is notoriously low, and more cuts to the program will strain those hospitals beyond repair.

Consider the current state of hospital finances across the Commonwealth. Many facilities that care primarily for publicly insured patients are struggling. Last year, the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) reported that 66 hospitals  39 percent of the states general acute care hospitals  posted negative aggregate operating margins in 2018, up from 30 percent two years prior.

This trend foretells the failure of hospitals. We have watched it happen across our region for 20 years. The Episcopal Hospital, Northeastern, Albert Einstein Southern Division, Graduate Hospital, Metropolitan Hospital, and most recently, Hahnemann University Hospital, have all shut down acute care operations in Philadelphia. Rural hospitals are in trouble, too, with fixed overhead expenses that reimbursement for a limited patient population cant cover. In a state without a public hospital system, the remaining hospitals commit to filling the gap in spite of reimbursement shortfalls.

Philadelphia is fortunate to have a robust health care community fueled by individuals who are passionate and creative about providing care in settings from trauma centers to church basement clinics, from doctors offices to mobile health screening vans. Here and elsewhere, our collective ability to serve patients who live in poverty is directly linked to a healthy Medicaid program. Weakening that program would have dire consequences.

Kevin B. Mahoney is CEO of the University of Pennsylvania Health System.
Well, the big Samsung event is happening tomorrow but the company decided to give everyone a sneak peek at what to expect with a full-blown Galaxy Z Flip commercial which aired during the Oscar Awards ceremony last night.

The short ad gives us a full look at the phone from multiple angles with a focus on the devices camera and video chat capabilities. Throughout the video, the Z Flip is mostly seated at a 90-degree angle which emphasizes the adapted UI elements which display content on the top half of the screen and controls on the bottom.

Samsung clearly acknowledges the crease in the middle of the main screen as one of the fine prints during the ad states: the crease at the center of the main screen is a natural characteristic of the screen. We also get a glimpse of the secondary 1-inch notification screen which is in fact a color panel and can display caller IDs alongside other notifications, time and date.

In addition, the ad showed Google Duo running on the Galaxy Z Flip which suggests the Korean manufacturer is bringing native Duo support to its devices. Last week, Google teased an announcement of its own scheduled to take place during Samsungs Unpacked event and the new ad all but confirms its centered around the Duo integration.

Samsung is excepted to integrate Duo in its own native Messaging app and is rumored to be working on a new form of video messaging which takes advantage of RCS (rich communication services) on supported carriers.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 10

By Huseyn Safarov  Trend:

The Azerbaijani parliamentary elections were held and organized in accordance with international standards of democratic elections, Member of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine parliament) of the 9th convocation Marian Bogdanovich Zablotskyi said.

Zablotskyi made the remark in Baku, Trend reports on Feb. 10.

The parliamentary elections were held on February 9 in accordance with OSCE and CE commitments and standards, as well as the Azerbaijani national legislation and the rules and procedures developed by the Azerbaijani Central Election Commission (CEC), member of the Verkhovna Rada added.

Zablotskyi stressed that all conditions were created for the free expression of the will of citizens at the polling stations.

Members of precinct election commissions and public observers at the polling stations represented various political parties and public organizations or were independent representatives, member of the Verkhovna Rada added. In general, the observer group of the GUAM PA has no major remarks on the electoral process and the activity of the CEC.

The elections were held smoothly and can be regarded as free and fair, Zablotskyi said.

The parliamentary elections were held in Azerbaijan on February 9. Some 1,314 candidates were registered within the early parliamentary elections.

The candidacies of 246 people were nominated by 19 political parties, 1,057 were self-nominated, 11 - by initiative groups.

Twenty-one percent accounted for female candidates while 79 percent  male candidates.

As many as 5,426 permanent polling stations operated in 125 constituencies of the country.

Some 883 international observers and 77,790 local observers were monitoring the voting process. Among the local observers, 35,152 were representatives of political parties. International observers represented 58 countries and 59 organizations.
China's Wuhan city - the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus outbreak, has carried out tests on 10.59 million people, almost 99 per cent of its population, and for the remaining others it would be completed by Tuesday, a ruling Communist Party of China official said on Monday.

So far 10.59 million people of about 11 million population have been tested, the city's Party secretary Ma Guoqiang was quoted as saying by state-run People's Daily.

As of afternoon on Monday, 1,499 confirmed patients in critical condition who were not admitted for treatment before February 8 have now been hospitalised, Ma said.

"Though we've made every effort on accelerating the virus tests, we still have not completed the tests for all suspected patients so far, and we are trying to achieve that by tomorrow," Ma said.

The tests of the Wuhan population is regarded crucial as the majority of the 909 deaths are from the city and Hubei province.

Earlier, the Mayor of the city said five million people left the city to travel within China and abroad before the New Year holiday on January 24.

China is trying to trace all the people from Wuhan in a bid to contain the virus which is growing in its virulence spreading within China and abroad.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Millionaire businessman and former corporate raider Sir Ron Brierley is expected to plead not guilty to charges of possessing hundreds of thousands of child abuse images and videos and "typed stories" about "the rape of children".

Sir Ron appeared at the Downing Centre Local Court on Monday using a cane for his first court appearance, less than two months after he was arrested at Sydney International Airport.

Sir Ron Brierley leaves the Downing Centre on Monday. Credit:Ben Rushton

The 82-year-old was detained by Australian Border Force officials while attempting to board an early morning flight from Sydney to Fiji in December. Detectives seized his carry-on bags, laptop and electronic storage units and allegedly discovered more than 200,000 images and 512 videos.

He was subsequently charged with six counts of possessing child exploitation material.
The son of Equatorial Guinea's leader was handed a 30-million-euro fine by a Paris court Monday on top of a suspended jail term for using public money to fund a jet-set lifestyle in Europe.

Teodorin Obiang, the son of Equatorial Guinea's leader Teodoro Obiang Nguema, had been convicted in 2017 of embezzlement.



He had been handed a three-year jail term as well as the $32.9 million fine, with both sentences suspended.



Obiang, who is also vice president, challenged the penalty only to have the Paris appeals court return a heavier sentence on Monday by removing the suspended provision from the fine.



The notorious playboy fond of fast cars and Michael Jackson memorabilia was not in court for the ruling.



Obiang, 50, was put on trial on charges of using money plundered from his country's state coffers to fund a jet-set lifestyle in France, where he bought a six-storey mansion in an ultra-posh part of the capital.



The judges in his initial trial, which he did not attend, had ruled that his 107-million-euro mansion -- which boasts a hammam, a disco and gold-plated taps -- should be confiscated, along with other assets.



The case, initiated by anti-corruption NGOs, is one of three involving families of African leaders which campaigners hope signals a new willingness of French authorities to tackle money laundering.



Paris has long been a favoured destination for the ill-gotten gains of wealthy figures linked to political leaders in Africa, particularly in France's former colonies.



When investigators first raided the home, they hired trucks to haul away a fleet of Bugattis, Ferraris, a Rolls-Royce Phantom and other cars as evidence.



Obiang was agriculture and forestry minister before being promoted by his father to vice president, putting him in pole position to succeed him as leader when the post becomes vacant.



Africa's only Spanish-speaking nation, Equatorial Guinea is the continent's third-biggest oil producer but more than half of its 1.2 million population live below the poverty line.



It is regularly accused by human rights reports of corruption, repressive laws, extrajudicial killings and torture.



President Obiang has ruled with an iron fist for four decades.



He overthrew his uncle Francisco Macias Nguema in a bloody coup in August 1979 and became president a few months later.



He has since seen off at least half a dozen assassination or coup attempts.



The latest of them, in December 2017, reportedly involved a group of men from Chad, Central African Republic and Sudan.



(AFP)
SpendEdge has been monitoring the global tax advisory services market and the market is poised to experience spend growth of over USD 10 billion between 2019-2024 at a CAGR of more than 9% during the forecast period. Request Free Sample Pages.

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Read the 139-page research report with TOC and LOE on "The Global Tax Advisory 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."

The current business landscape is marked with the rapid diversification of business modules by different industries. This will compel tax authorities to create new taxation regulations to bring the new business modules under their radar. This business phenomenon is expected to contribute to demand growth in the global tax advisory services market to a significant extent. The extensive adoption of blockchain-based payment methodologies such as cryptocurrency to enable faster B2B payments will result in the consequent introduction of taxation rules and guidelines by regulatory agencies. This will drive the demand for specialized taxation advisory services during the forecast period.

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Insights into the supply market

The markets in North America, APAC, and Europe are highly mature. This is driving the tax advisory service providers in these regions to increase their investments in technologies such as AI, RPA, and data analytics to improve the efficiency of services, provide value-additions, and differentiate their offerings from their global competitors.



Though regional tax advisory service providers do not have advantages such as economies of scale, technological capabilities, and brand value, they have expertise in the regional regulatory and legal nuances pertaining to tax advisory services. The cost advantage offered by these service providers is making them preferable, particularly to small buyers with operations limited to specific regions.

Insights into category management strategies that will help buyers to address their procurement complexities

Select service providers based on their portfolio of services

Buyers are advised to select service providers who have a wide portfolio of services pertaining to finance and tax-related activities, as this will allow the former to rationalize their supply base. Some services sought by buyers are tax strategy planning, risk advisory, and financial planning and analysis.

Assess service providers' pricing models

It is recommended that buyers partner with service providers who are willing to engage on the basis of pricing models suitable for specific requirements. Buyers prefer different pricing models based on the length of the engagement and volume of requirements. For instance, hourly billing is best suited for short-term engagements, while the upfront retainer model is the best fit for long-term engagements in the tax advisory services market.

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 tax advisory services market.

Some of the key topics covered in this report are:

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Oil sank again as OPEC+ backed away from an emergency meeting.

OPECs Joint Technical Committee (JTC) recommended extending the current production cuts through the end of the year while adding an additional 600,000 bpd in reductions.

Russia hesitated last week, before signaling some support for additional cuts. Still, nothing has yet been confirmed or approved. OPEC+ had raised expectations of an emergency meeting, rumored to take place as soon as this week, but now it looks like nothing will occur before the previously scheduled meeting in March.

Nevertheless, the odds of deeper cuts materializing remain relatively high. But oil traders do not seem to care. The announced decision by OPECs JTC to recommend further action has done nothing for oil prices. WTI dipped below $50 per barrel on Monday.

Meanwhile, warring factions in Libya have resumed negotiations in Geneva, which could lead to a restart of oil flows. Over 1 million barrels of additional oil per day from Libya could possibly push the Brent price towards the $50 per barrel mark in the short term, Commerzbank wrote in a note on Monday. That said, we expect the oil price to stabilise in the medium term if OPEC+ agrees on the additional production cuts.

Others were more bullish. JBC Energy noted that Chinese oil demand has collapsed, but that the effect could be temporary. Because of that, additional cuts from OPEC+, and the extension of the agreement through the end of 2020, could over-tighten the market. Although this can still change if there are signs that attempts to curb the spread of the disease are failing, and potentially further largescale quarantines are implemented, if the recommendations of the JTC are adopted and carried through, we risk a return to the extremely tight physical crude picture we have only recently left behind, JBC Energy wrote in a report. Related: Are Oil Markets Overreacting To The Coronavirus?

Moreover, any cuts taken in March will take several weeks before they materialize in the market, which, again, could occur after the worst of the coronavirus has already passed.

Meanwhile, it isnt just oil dragged down into a bear market. The crisis for gas is arguably worse.

On Monday, Nymex prices for March delivery fell below $1.80/MMBtu, a price that is ravaging the U.S. shale gas industry. But the gas glut is not just isolated to the U.S.  it is now a global phenomenon. LNG prices have fallen below $3/MMBtu in Asia. In Europe, gas inventories are extraordinarily high for the time of year.

Chinas Cnooc is trying to wriggle out of LNG purchasing agreements, declaring force majeure on several LNG cargoes late last week. LNG suppliers, including Shell and Total SA, rejected the declaration.

With demand plunging, our tanks are topping. And workers are getting exhausted waiting for colleagues to return from holiday to relieve them, an executive at an LNG terminal in northern China told Reuters.

The market for LNG was already weak, according to Ira Joseph, global head of power and gas analytics at S&P Global Platts. The coronavirus could keep JKM prices (spot LNG in Asia) at $3/MMBtu for longer.

Honestly speaking, if I have one wish for free, please send me an ice blizzard for the gas prices, Rainer Seele, CEO of Austrian energy company OMV, said on CNBC last week.

Related: Oil Demand Under Siege As Airlines Cancel Over 50,000 Flights

The hit to the global economy from the outbreak will exceed that of SARS in 2003, according to IHS Markit. China was a much smaller economy at the start of the century. Now China is the worlds second-largest economy and its largest source of growth  China accounted for nearly 40 percent of global growth last year.

The concern remains that the wider markets have yet to reflect the full impact of the disruption, said Saxo Bank commodity strategist Ole Hansen, according to Reuters.

With China being the worlds most dominant consumer of raw materials, the impact continues to be felt strongly across key commodities and the world is facing the biggest demand shock since the 2009 global financial crisis.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 00:22:49|Editor: yan

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GUANGZHOU, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-eight spoon-billed sandpipers, known officially as Eurynorhynchus pygmeus, a critically endangered bird species, had been spotted and in south China's Guangdong Province, local authorities said Monday.

These small waders were discovered on the coastal mudflat of Zhanjiang City during a global survey carried out between Jan. 17-19 on the winter activities of spoon-billed sandpipers and black-faced spoonbills, according to an announcement made by the provincial department of forestry.

The survey recorded a total of 48 spoon-billed sandpipers in China. The species was classified as "critically endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.
by Wang Zhicheng

Official figures: 909 dead; 40235 confirmed cases; 23589 suspected cases. Sars deaths have been overtaken. The shortage of medical supplies continues. Millions of Chinese are returning to work today. In Beijing health checks for all those who return to the city. New WHO visit to China. Guo Wengui estimates 50,000 virus deaths; 1.5 million infected.

Beijing (AsiaNews) - The death toll from the coronavirus epidemic continues to rise. At 10 this morning their number was 909: the figure has now exceeded the total number of deaths for Sars (813 deaths in 2002-2003).

On the same day yesterday there were 97 deaths, the highest increase of the whole period. Confirmed cases of infection rose to 40235; suspected ones to 23589; 3283 have been successfully treated.

However, many are casting doubt on the veracity of official figures: there are "few" confirmed cases because there is a lack of test kits to verify the disease. In the same way, there is a shortage of medical material (masks, protective suits, glasses, ...) which slows down the work of doctors and nurses.

Today work is starting again all over China, except in Hubei, the epicenter of the infection. The New Year's holiday had been extended by a week due to the epidemic, and to avoid contact between people.

To prevent the virus from spreading further, the return to work of millions of people is subject to alerts and checks. The authorities say that everything must take place in an "orderly manner".

In Beijing, for example, it has been established that all people returning to the capital are examined to verify that they are not infected. According to state media, 50% of the people who usually flock to the stations traveled this morning on the Metro.

Yesterday evening, the WHO (World Health Organization) sent an international team to China to help coordinate a response to the epidemic in the country and worldwide.

Days ago, WHO director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned against fake news that is spreading about the virus. But the sobriety with which the Chinese government gives information on the epidemic and the silence held at the beginning is not instilling confidence.

Yesterday, Guo Wengui, a tycoon self-exiled in the US to escape charges of corruption at home, said he had direct news from Wuhan that the death toll is at least 50,000 and that over 1.5 million Chinese are infected. The government, according to Guo, burns the corpses to hide the true extent of the epidemic crisis.
Words and Photos: Samantha Saskia Dugon

We're all so used to seeing Vink on a Gambler but he's signed with Bellingham-based Transition for the foreseeable future. He's already looking right at home with his Ohlins equipped TR11

Transition TR11 Details

Frame: Transition TR11, Medium

Shock: Ohlins

Fork: Ohlins

Wheels: Hope Pro 4, chrome with Hope Fortress 30mm rims, matte grey decals

Tires: Schwalbe Magic Mary, approximately 36psi

Drivetrain: SB1 Singlespeed kit, Hope Evo Cranks with 36t narrow wide chainring

Brakes: Hope V4, 203mm rotors front and rear, chrome

Cockpit: Hope Direct Mount stem, Signature Vink bars with 48mm high rise and 9 degree back sweep fitted with signature Reverse Vink grips.

Pedals: Hope F20

Saddle Reverse components saddle and seatpost



For Darkfest Im running Ohlins suspension front and rear. Ohlins gives me specific tunes, just a lot firmer and slower rebound, just to be able to deal with the big impacts on the big jumps. Slow rebound to not get bucked in the takeoffs or when I case a jump and get bucked. I've got an SB1 singlespeed kit on for Darkfest, I dont always run that, for example when I ride bike park I usually just run the Hope cassette with a SRAM 7-speed derailleur.  Nico Vink

Hope's F20 Pedals Hope V4 brakes to cope with the super-high speeds at the Darkfest course.

For years weve been just kind of guessing speeds, angles and everything and now we're just starting to measure more, to have more knowledge and a reference to go to when we're building more stuff in the future to have the exact speeds and angles and height. I just do a couple of runs with the speedo just to see how fast we're going on what jumps, it's a great way to gauge what we need to do for new builds in the future.  Nico Vink

Ohlins set up Vink's suspension for him with a custom tune so he's actually not 100% sure of his pressures or spring weight. What he does know is that it works perfectly fine on Darkfest's huge hits. Cockpit complete with a Jordie Lunn sticker

Forever - Jordie Lunn

Kaos in full-flamingo mode. South African dust is till on the chainring from the morning's sends.

I love the new bike, it's got a rad pink paintjob, what more could I want?  Kaos Seagrave

Canyon Sender Details

Frame: Canyon Sender

Shock: Fox Float X2, max volume spacers, 300psi

Fork: Fox 40, max volume spacers, 80psi

Wheels: DT Swiss: 240 hub and 511 rim, 27.5" front and rear, Peatys valves

Tires: Schwalbe Magic Mary custom G-Up tires

Drivetrain: Shimano Saint

Brakes: Shimano Saint

Cockpit: Renthal 45mm stem and Renthal Fatbar cut to 760mm, 31.8mm clamp, Ergon GD1 grips

Pedals: Crankbrothers Stamp large

Saddle Ergon SMD2

Mudguard MarshGuard

It's so sick to be here and ride with the Fest boys, it's a big hype watching everyone sending it!  Kaos Seagrave

Schwalbe Magic Mary G-Up with pink Peaty's valves. Kaos normally runs about 26psi in his tires.

The chainstay is slammed into the short setting with 27.5" wheels front and rear for Darkfest. DT Swiss 240 hub

The G-Up Crew decals are custom for Kaos

You couldn't miss this bike from any angle It's even complete with matching MarshGuard mudguard

YT Tues Details

Frame: YT Tues CF Pro Race, Small

Shock: Fox Float X2, either 3 or 4 tokens with 260 psi

Fork: Fox Factory 40, 6 tokens with 85psi

Wheels: Spank Vibracore 350

Tires: MSC Hotseat 2.40, 36psi

Drivetrain: SB1 Singlespeed kit with 13t sprocket

Brakes: Front: Sram Code SC, Rear: Magura HC3

Cockpit: Spank M4 Stem, Spank Vibrocore Spike 800mm, 15mm rise, Sensus Grips

Pedals: Spank Oozy

Mudguard All Mountain Style mudguard with Happy Riding collab design



It's such a dream to be here! I've been dreaming about this for like 3 years, I just told Sam (Reynolds) that one day I want to be there and it looks like he was pretty stoked to have me here for this year's Darkfest. I'm enjoying every second and trying to be smart and not hurt myself so I can ride all day.  Bienvenido Aguado

Bienve has custom top tube graphics on his Tues

Spank Vibrocore 350 Wheels All Mountain Style, Happy Ridings Mudguard

Bienve's frame may not have survived Ramage but his custom link did and made it onto his latest build. MSC Hotseat Tires

Are there any other words to describe Nico Vink other than 'all-round mountain biking legend'? Well, we had a chat with the legend himself at Darkfest and, despite already being over here for a month building the course with Sam Reynolds and Clemens Kaudela, he's still hyped to be here and hitting the jumps all day, every day.One of the interesting things we came across on Vink's bike was his speedometer, usually a piece of kit that you'd see mounted on a road bike, yet here was one mounted on a bike belonging to one of freerides biggest riders, check out why below.After his first taste of the Fest Series events last year at Loosefest, Kaos Seagrave is back for more, but this time in sunny South Africa for Darkfest 2020. His first event since the FMD's move from Transition to Canyon frames and he's started off with a bang with a fluro pink custom frame. This is a standard Sender, not the prototype we've seen teased around the internet, but there are still plenty of cool details to check out here.As Spanish rider Bienvenido Aguado makes his debut appearance at a fest series event, we got the low down on his YT Tues CF Pro and what his experience of Darkfest has been so far.New bike and first Darkfest, its a big year for Norwegian downhiller Brage Vestavik. Back aboard a GT Fury for 2020, we caught up with him in Stellenbosch to check out his new rig and see how hes getting on with the course.

How was it arriving in Stellenbosch for the first time?

Just being in South Africa is pretty cool! Its a pretty mad place, I didnt think Id be able to come here so Im thrilled to be here. It took 28 hours and 3 planes, but worth it for sure! We then had the first session straight off the plane and straight into it that was pretty crazy!  Brage Vestavik

Brage and his fresh GT Fury only 3 rides old Fox 40s maxed out on the front with a Burgtec cockpit coupled with a Shimano Saint drivetrain

Do you have any goals for this year's course?

I would say my main goal is to just get through the course, I will be pretty stoked just to do some riding with these boys and flow through the jumps.  Brage Vestavik

SDG Patriot Sensus I-Beam saddle with SDG Alloy I-Beam Seatpost Crankbrothers Stamp 7 pedals

Is there anything on the track that you find particularly intimidating?

The last two jumps are pretty scary, the Rocket Launchers. Ive been thinking a lot about them, seeing videos of them being built and I was pretty stoked to have gotten through them, I think its the biggest hit Ive ever done. You're going so fast into it and the lip is so steep, it feels like youre going up off of a wall, but yeah, its probably the sickest feeling Ive ever had on a bike.  Brage Vestavik

Back on Burgtec with the Burgtec Bartender Pro Grips

What did it feel like when you got the invite to come?
Even those with close ties to the President of the United States can't wiggle out of doing their civic duty.

On Monday morning, Donald Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump reported for jury duty in New York City, turning up at criminal court in Manhattan.

The 37-year-old dressed down for what is sure to be a long day of sitting around waiting, wearing a black coat over a gray top, black jeans, and sneakers.

Her duty: On Monday morning, Donald Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump reported for jury duty in New York City

Just a regular New Yorker: Lara was photographed inside one of Manhattan's courthouses this morning, and seemed to be in good spirits despite the day ahead

All smiles: Unless she is dismissed early, she will be expected to return for up to two more days for selection

Lara was photographed inside one of Manhattan's courthouses this morning, and seemed to be in good spirits despite the day ahead.

It appears to be Lara's first day reporting for jury duty, meaning that she'll spend today awaiting be called in for jury selection and possibly being questioned to be a juror in an upcoming case.

Unless she is dismissed early, she will be expected to return for up to two more days for selection  and could be required to return for even longer if she is picked for a trial.

But Lara looked prepared to do her part, grinning at a photographer who snapped her photo inside the courthouse.

She was snapped just after 10 a.m. wearing her coat inside. Though jury duty in New York starts at 9 a.m., it's unclear if Lara was stepping out of the jury holding room for an early break or had just arrived an hour late.

Chill: The 37-year-old dressed down for what is sure to be a long day of sitting around waiting, wearing a black coat over a gray top, black jeans, and sneakers

Baby: She held onto her iPhone, flashing a peek at her phone wallpaper: an image of her almost-six-month-old daughter Carolina

She also held onto her iPhone, flashing a peek at her phone wallpaper: an image of her almost-six-month-old daughter Carolina.

She and her husband Eric Trump also have a son, three-year-old Luke.

Lara's jury duty comes less than a week after her father-in-law faced his own impeachment trial and was acquitted by the Senate.

Though Lara hasn't spoken out about the results, she has been a fierce defender of her father-in-law and is campaigning for him for reelection.

She is set to hold a rally in Aurora, Colorado on February 19, the day before Trump has one in Colorado Springs.

She also attended the State of the Union last week, traveling down to Washington, D.C. to catch the address with her husband, brother-in-law Don Jr. and his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle, sister-in-law Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, and sister-in-law Tiffany and her boyfriend Michael Boulos.

Part of the crew: Lara Trump is a common fixture on the 2020 Trump campaign trail and is listed as an advisor on the president's campaign

Buys lady: Last week, she recorded video at the State of the Union in Washington D.C.

All over the place: After D.C., she headed back to New York and then down to Florida for a weekend away

It's been a very busy week for Lara, who was in the capital early last week for the address but quickly headed back home to New York.

There, she was photographed out with her son Luke taking a chilly trip to Central Park.

Over the weekend, however, the family seems to have flown south to Florida, with Lara sharing a snap from West Palm Beach.

In the image, she's seen walking away from the camera, barefoot in the sand, while Luke holds her hand and walks beside her.

But it wasn't a long weekend away, and she's arrived back in New York in time for her Monday morning jury duty.
The spread of the deadly Coronavirus has spawned a disturbing new trend in many cities across - racism against Asians, The viral spread of misinformation and the mainstream media's framing of it as a 'Chinese disease', has made people assume things they shouldn't.

The virus has now turned up in over a dozen other countries, including France, Japan, South Korean, Australia and the United States. While public health officials look to contain the crisis, racism and xenophobia have widely spread across the world.



It's the deluge of facts and figures on pages like Wikipedia (i.e. crowd-sourced information) which has also played a huge role in fueling hate incidents toward Asians around the world, in connection with the novel coronavirus.

According to a Wired report, the 'Wikipedia page on coronavirus had existed since 2013, the article about the 201920 Wuhan coronavirus outbreak was created on January 5, 2020', and it has 'more than 6,500 edits by over 1,200 editors'.

At the helm of this fast-spreading virus are Asians who are feeling increasingly vulnerable. From anti-Chinese, and anti-immigrant memes to many looking at any Asian wearing a mask with suspicion, things have been getting out of hand.

On platforms like TikTok, the common joke is how white people are now overly suspicious of any Asian person they see, and it's the Asians themselves are slamming this prejudice by posting ironic videos.

#1

#2





#3





Sam Phan, a masters student at the University of Manchester, wrote in the Guardian, 'This week, my ethnicity has made me feel like I was part of a threatening and diseased mass. To see me as someone who carries the virus just because of my race is, well, just racist'.

As an east Asian I cant help but feel more and more uncomfortable, added Phan, a British citizen. On the bus to work last week, as I sat down, the man next to me immediately scrambled to gather his stuff and stood up to avoid sitting next to me.



As of 6 pm on Tuesday, the entrance to a seafood restaurant in downtown Seoul bore a sign that read, in red Chinese characters, No Chinese allowed. That same day, union of food delivery workers asked to be excused from making deliveries to areas with a large Chinese population pic.twitter.com/tSE0Z7wwhk  Klaus (@Kakapolka) January 29, 202

Another more disturbing example of hatred is a public advisory (now deleted) pushed out by the University of California Berkeley Health Services, which tried to comfort students and faculty who might be experiencing xenophobic thoughts and reactions, by saying it was normal!

Confused and honestly very angry about this Instagram post from an official @UCBerkeley Instagram account.



When is xenophobia ever a normal reaction? pic.twitter.com/hH4AgQKluM  Adrienne Shih (@adrienneshih) January 30, 2020

According to a Guardian report, in the UK, some Chinese immigrants say wearing a mask makes them a target for hate.

Stereotypes of Asians as submissive and non-aggressive make them a target that people think they can make fun of and laugh at. Ive seen posts saying Chinese people are dirty, disgusting, uneducated, we deserved the virus because of our weird food habits, Jex Wang, a Chinese-Australian DJ and writer, told The Guardian.

What's even more worrying is that racism is taking place not only in the West but within China itself. It's now a stigma the people of Wuhan find themselves unable to shake off. The outbreak has fueled resentment and discrimination against people from Wuhan. Some have become outcasts in their own country, shunned by hotels, neighbors etc.

Amid the increasing cases of xenophobia and the historic trend of blaming the victim population (China) for the disease, it must be mentioned that not all Chinese or Asians carry the virus; people do not deserve to be ostracized and discriminated against simply because they're Asian.
Implementing the Minister of Information and Communications' call to combat against nCoV, many enterprises and organizationsare making use of their technology strength to effectively cooperate with health organizations in the nation.

Information about nCoV appears on mobile apps.

Accordingly, several domestic telecommunications giants are continuously sending informative messages to their mobile phone subscribers.

They also produce short instructional clips for propaganda purposes on popular social networks and communications channels in Vietnam like Facebook, Zalo, YouTube, and Lotus or the hotline 1022 of Da Nang City.

Simple new tabs are added on their official websites so that users can conveniently access trustworthy information about the disease spread, protection methods, and healthcare support.

Significantly, the timely handling of people distributing misleading information about nCoV status in Vietnam lately has been greatly appreciated.

Technology companies have helped the local authorities in Da Nang City, An Giang Province, and Vinh Long Province to identify and then heavily fine three people for providing wrong information on social networks about the nCoV epidemic in the nation.

Similarly, in Ho Chi Minh City, the Department of Information and Communications has asked three celebrities, Dam Vinh Hung, Cat Phuong, and Ngo Thanh Van, to explain their inaccurate information on social networks about the nCoV outbreak. They are preparing documents to fine other 14 people with similar activities.

Technology enterprises are now cooperating with the Ministry of Health to upgrade the formal e-portal for this epidemic.

Viettel has finished installing 21 live stations at 21 major hospitals nationwide to ensure effective operation tasks. This has allowed the professional support among doctors in different regions of the country in the treatment.

Mobile phone service providers like VinaPhone, MobiFone, and Viettel offer the free-of-charge hotline 19003228 of the Ministry of Health especially for addressing issues of nCoV outbreak.

When this line is overloaded, another one operated by Viettel, the 19009095, was activated to share the burden immediately.

MobiFone provides free-of-data-charge access to the website www.moh.gov.vn so that citizens can obtain precise information about the epidemic.

FPT Group shared that they are now actively collaborating with related health agencies to develop a consultation Chatbot for automatic answering questions about the nCoV outbreak (protection methods, signs of disease, quantity of patients, locations of disease hot spots) while aiding schools to teach students online via VioEdu in the extended school break because of nCoV.

General Director of VNPT-IT Ngo Dien Hy shared that his company offers the free e-learning program for distance teaching and learning in case of possible prolonged school breaks.

It is also researching other technologies to help teachers and learners in knowledge transfer in this special time.

Minister Hung asked that technology businesses apply proper methods to analyze big data in order to deliver appropriate reports about the disease and propose effective solutions to improve disease fighting performance. SGGP

Thanh Tam

Government enlists tech companies in Coronavirus fight Minister of Information and Communications, Nguyen Manh Hung has called on all organizations and companies in the information and communications sector to join the efforts to combat the coronavirus, especially propaganda efforts.
Six men charged with conspiring to murder Patrick "Patsy" Hutch appeared in the Special Criminal Court this morning.

The books of evidence were served on each of the men and Mr Justice Tony Hunt remanded each of them in custody to appear again on March 9.

State solicitor Ciara Vibien, for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) also told the judge that the prosecution are at an advanced stage in terms of disclosure to the defence.

Michael Burns (43), of no fixed abode, Ciaran ODriscoll (24), with an address at Avondale House, Cumberland Street, Dublin 1, Patrick Curtis (38) and his brother Stephen Curtis (32), both of Bellmans Walk, Seville Place, Dublin 1, Mohammed Smew (27), with an address at Milners Square, Shanowen Road, Santry, Dublin 9 and Mark Capper (21) of Cappagh Green, Finglas, Dublin 11, are all charged with conspiring with one or more persons to commit a serious offence, to wit, the murder of Patrick Hutch within the State between February 1, 2018 and March 10, 2018, both dates inclusive.

Mr Smew appeared in court on his own while Mr Burns, Mr ODriscoll and the Curtis brothers appeared together later. Mr Capper then appeared on his own later again.

Each of the six men are also charged with participating in activities intending to facilitate the commission of a serious offence by a criminal organisation or any of its members, namely the murder of Mr Hutch within the State between February 1, 2018 and February 28, 2018, both dates inclusive.

The six accused are also charged with conspiring with one or more persons to commit a serious offence, to wit, the murder of a person unknown within the State on the same occasion.

Patrick Curtis and Mr Burns are also facing charges of directing the activities of a criminal organisation between February 1, 2018 and March 10, 2018.

Mr Burns is further accused of possession of a firearm silencer/suppressor and five rounds of 9mm parabellum calibre ammunition in such circumstances as to give rise to a reasonable inference that he had not got them in his possession for a lawful purpose on March 10, 2018 at Meile An Ri Road, Balgaddy, Clondalkin, Dublin 22.

Mr Capper is also charged with participating in activities being reckless as to whether such participation would facilitate the commission of a serious offence by that criminal organisation or any of its members, to wit: the murder of Patrick Hutch, also between February 1st, 2018 and March 10th, 2018, both dates inclusive.

In addition, Mr Capper is charged with participating in activities being reckless as to whether such participation would facilitate the commission of a serious offence by that criminal organisation or any of its members, to wit: the murder of a person unknown, between February 1st, 2018 and March 10th, 2018.
As the Democratic primaries kick-off, most Americans are talking about politics  including at work.

According to a recent Glassdoor poll of over 1,200 employed adults, 57% of workers say they have talked about politics while on the job  despite 60% saying they "believe discussing politics at work is unacceptable."

Women were more likely than men to say talking politics is unacceptable; 66% of women said it was unacceptable, compared to 54% of men.

This disdain for political talk among workers appears to stem from fears that it will negatively impact their careers. Overall, 60% of employees said they believe discussing politics at work could negatively impact their career opportunities. People between the ages of 18 and 34 (63%) and Democrats (62%) were more likely to have this concern than Republicans (58%).

And they may have good reason for being worried. Political speech can get you lawfully fired.

"Private employers can fire you at will," Lata Nott, executive director of the First Amendment Center, told CNBC Make It.

According to Nott, the company's reasoning for firing an employee cannot infringe on their civil rights, but that doesn't include chatting about politics in a way a hiring manager may deem inappropriate. "Title VII protects your age, national origin, race, ethnic background, gender, religious beliefs and pregnancy status from discrimination, but it does not explicitly protect political speech at work."

Over a quarter of people (28%) said a co-worker has tried to persuade them to change their political party preference in the past year.

Republicans (24%) were slightly more likely than Democrats (23%) to say that they would not want to work with a co-worker who plans to vote for a presidential candidate they don't like.
China recently discovered how astroturfing, creating fake grassroots support, loses its impact when the deception aspect is revealed. A recent example (late January 2020) occurred outside a western Canada (Vancouver) courthouse as demonstrators assembled to protest efforts to extradite a Chinese telecommunications executive. This was a big deal in China because this defendant worked for Huawei, the largest telecom company in China and the world. A crowd gathered carrying signs demanding the release of the Huawei executive. One sign even made reference to a pair of Canadian diplomats arrested in China and charged with espionage. That was relevant because the diplomats were actually taken as hostages to pressure the Canadian government to release the Huawei executive. Soon after the demonstrators began their protest things took a turn for the bizarre.

When reporters went to interview some of the demonstrators it was discovered that the demonstrators didnt know they were demonstrators. The sign carrying group had been hired as background performers for a music video and were paid a hundred dollars each for two hours of work. The background performers were not happy to find out they had actually been hired for astroturfing. This form of Information Warfare has been increasingly used because its a relatively cheap way to get some favorable publicity, especially if the astroturfing stunt goes viral on the Internet and becomes a news event. This only works, of course, if the audiences dont know its astroturfing, especially before the event is even concluded.

Astroturfing has been around for a long time but the current version is made possible by mass media and short news cycles. That means you only have to be convincing for a few hours, or a few days at most, before you are found out. At that point, it does not matter much if the astroturf angle is uncovered because the original event has already become old, and no longer featured, news. The freshest newsworthy events tend to fade quickly and competitive news organizations always have something new queued up to keep the audience turned in.

Mass media, and the possibility of astroturfing, is a relatively recent (mid-19th century) development. The industrial revolution made newspapers cheap enough to attract a mass audience. Printing photos in the newspaper required additional technology that did not arrive until the late 19th century. This was immensely popular and suddenly newspapers needed lots of attention grabbing photos, which could be published more quickly and had more impact than drawings. Astroturfing came out of that but became an even more common activity once newsreels (short video news films) became possible and popular in the early 20th century and lasted until the 1960s when they were replaced by TV news. At that point, there was a larger, and growing, demand for a video that would attract lots of TV viewers. In the early 21st century the appearance of the World Wide Web made astroturfing events even more useful. But for an astroturfing event to work, the illusion of veracity (faked) had to be maintained. Usually it is, at least initially. Thats what really matters because the useful life of a news video is short. Failed, by exposure of the deception, astroturfing tends to last longer in the public eye because it is relatively rare for such an event to be exposed immediately.

The Chinese government is a major user of astroturfing, especially because China is still a communist police state where unauthorized astroturfing can get you imprisoned, or worse. In most of the Western world, there are no such risks. The Vancouver astroturf fail was all about the United States accusing Huawei of financial crimes and seeking to prosecute Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. Her 2018 arrest in Canada, at the request of the United States, led to a legal and public relations effort to prevent Meng from being extradited to the United States for trial.

Meng Wanzhou is the 47 years old daughter of a former Chinese army officer who was one of the founders of Huawei. Meng was arrested while at a Canadian airport transferring to a connecting flight. The Americans have been investigating Huawei for illegally exporting smartphones to Iran and engaging in bank fraud to enable Iran to facilitate foreign trade despite American sanctions against it. Meng Wanzhou, the Huawei CFO (Chief Financial Officer) will be extradited to the U.S. for prosecution if Meng is unable to get a Canadian court to rule against the extradition request.

Canadian leaders insist that the law will be strictly observed and justice done. Her lawyers are trying to delay the extradition but her father recently said that he expects his daughter to be convicted and go to jail. The Canadian court decision is expected by mid-2020.

One aspect of Huawei that does not help Meng Wanzhou is that the firm has close ties with the Chinese military and government intel agencies, while many Western nations are refusing to use any Huawei equipment in their networks because of the potential for current or future hidden features in Huawei gear that facilitates Chinese espionage or military operations in general. Many victims of Huawei dirty tricks have gone public with the details since it is safe to do so with Huawei and the Chinese government on the defensive. Huawei has ordered production cuts as foreign customers realize that importing Huawei is, at least for the moment, not a wise business decision.
English Spanish

MONTREAL, Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Saputo Inc. (Saputo or the Company) (TSX: SAP) pledges to accelerate its global climate, water and waste performance. Today, the Company is proud to announce clear targets and a formal commitment to make significant and sustainable progress by 2025. This represents another strong step in the Companys journey to create shared value for its stakeholders through the Saputo Promise, its approach to social, environmental and economic performance.

More specifically, Saputo commits to:

Saputo expects to deliver on these tangible goals with targeted initiatives focusing on renewable electricity, resource conservation and sustainable packaging. The Company will allocate additional resources to support the execution of this global action plan, including a three-year investment of CDN$50 million. Also, Saputo has established a governance framework to foster Company-wide accountability and ownership, with Carl Colizza, President and Chief Operating Officer (North America), serving as its Executive Champion.

Moreover, Saputo has updated its Environmental Policy to reflect and uphold its 2025 goals and its long-term commitment to pursue environmentally responsible business practices.

Looking ahead, Saputo will extend efforts to its supply chain to further assist in helping address industry-wide environmental considerations.

Saputo intends to pursue its growth as a world-class dairy processor, while striving to minimize the environmental impacts of its activities. To learn more, visit www.saputo.com/our-promise/environment .

About Saputo

Saputo produces, markets, and distributes a wide array of dairy products of the utmost quality, including cheese, fluid milk, extended shelf-life milk and cream products, cultured products and dairy ingredients. Saputo is one of the top ten dairy processors in the world, a leading cheese manufacturer and fluid milk and cream processor in Canada, the top dairy processor in Australia and the second largest in Argentina. In the USA, Saputo ranks among the top three cheese producers and is one of the largest producers of extended shelf-life and cultured dairy products. In the United Kingdom, Saputo is the largest manufacturer of branded cheese and a top manufacturer of dairy spreads. Our products are sold in several countries under well-known brand names such as Saputo, Alexis de Portneuf, Armstrong, Cathedral City, Clover, COON, Cracker Barrel*, Dairyland, DairyStar, Devondale, Friendship Dairies, Frigo Cheese Heads, Joyya, La Paulina, Liddells, Milk2Go/Laits Go, Montchevre, Murray Goulburn Ingredients, Neilson, Nutrilait, Scotsburn*, South Cape, Stella, Sungold, Tasmanian Heritage, Treasure Cave and Woolwich Goat Dairy. Saputo Inc. is a publicly traded company and its shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "SAP".

*Trademark used under licence.

CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements relating to the Companys targets, commitments and goals related to the environmental impact of its activities and its climate, water and waste performance, including the Companys ability to achieve these targets, commitments and goals while pursuing its growth as a world-class dairy processor and the measures to be taken and investments to be made by the Company to achieve such targets, commitments and goals. The words pledge to, expect, commit, intend, will, plan or target, or the negative of these terms or variations of them, the use of conditional or future tense or words and expressions of similar nature, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are based, among other things, on Saputos current assumptions, expectations, estimates, objectives, plans, business strategy and intentions regarding its environmental performance, its sustainability efforts, the effectiveness of its environmental and sustainability initiatives, its financial performance, the economic, industry, competitive and regulatory environments in which it operates, or which could affect its activities.

By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to a number of inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from the conclusion, forecast or projection stated in such forward-looking statements. As a result, the Company cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statements will materialize, and the Company warns readers that these forward-looking statements are not fact or guarantees of future performance in any way. Assumptions, expectations and estimates made in the preparation of forward-looking statements and risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations are discussed in the Companys materials filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities and available on SEDAR under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com, including in the Risks and Uncertainties section of the Managements Discussion and Analysis dated June 6, 2019, and also include the following: the Companys ability to access and implement all technology necessary to achieve its targets, commitments and goals, the development and performance of technology and technological innovations and the future use and development of technology and associated expected future results and environmental regulation.

Media Inquiries

+1 (514) 328-3141 / +1 (866) 648-5902

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4df88fb7-1870-47ae-af6c-aa039f295adb
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio  Three people were killed and two were wounded early Sunday morning in a shooting at a bar on the citys north side.

WKBN Channel 27 reports that police have a suspect in the shooting at Brothers of Power Classic Cars Club, but they continue to investigate whether more than one gunman was involved. The three fatalities were men in their 30s, police tell WKBN.

Reports of gunfire were called in to police just before 4 a.m. Sunday, the Associated Press reports. One of the victims was found dead in a vehicle outside the bar. WKBN reports some of the victims were taken to Mercy Health Hospital in private vehicles, while others were taken by ambulance.

The identities of the men killed have not been released. The two people wounded in the shooting are in stable condition, WKBN reports.

The AP reports police are still investigating the shooting and trying to determine a motive. WKBN reports that police say the crime scene was chaotic and that some witnesses were trying to leave before police could speak to them.

If youd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section.

Man critically injured in shooting outside Maple Heights bar, police say

Lake Catholic High School swim coach accused of having sexual contact with student, placed on leave

Police investigating after shots fired at Cleveland apartment in citys Hough neighborhood

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GATE 2020 expected Cut off and answer key release date



The Indian Institute of Delhi (IIT) is expected to release the answer keys of the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) 2020 next week. All the candidates who appeared for the GATE 2020 examination on February 1, 2, 8 and 9 can check the answer keys on the official website, the link for which is gate.iitd.ac.in . The GATE 2020 was held for 25 subjects. Further, the GATE examination was conducted in Computer Based Test (CBT) mode. As per reports, the GATE 2020 answer keys are expected to be released by February 20.



According to the official notice, qualifying in GATE 2020 is a mandatory requirement for seeking admission and/or financial assistance to: (i) Master's programmes and direct Doctoral programmes in Engineering/Technology/Architecture and (ii) Doctoral programmes in relevant branches of Science, in the institutions supported by the MHRD and other Government agencies. Even in some colleges and institutions, which admit students without MHRD scholarship/assistantship, the GATE qualification is mandatory. Further, many Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) have been using the GATE score in their recruitment process.



Paper-wise expected cut-offs:-

-GATE 2020 Civil Engineering: The cut-off in the GATE 2020 paper for the Civil Engineering branch is expected to around 28-30.



-GATE 2020 Computer Science: The cut-off in the GATE 2020 paper for the Computer Science branch is expected to around 25.



-GATE 2020 Electrical Engineering 2020: The cut-off for the EE branch is expected to range between 24-26.



-GATE 2020 Mechanical Engineering 2020: As per the feedback of aspirants who have appeared for the exam, the cutoff will reduce as compared to last year. Read More...


(Bloomberg) -- China warned France against treating Huawei Technologies Co. differently from European competitors when it comes to future 5G network equipment contracts, as the U.S. mounts a campaign to keep the Chinese tech giant at bay.

In a lengthy statement issued on Sunday on its website, the Chinese embassy in Paris urged France to establish transparent criteria and treat all companies in a similar way, referring to telecom equipment makers.

It also warned that a difference in treatment based on the country of origin would be considered blatant discrimination and disguised protectionism.

The statement also carried a veiled warning.

We do not wish to see the development in China of Finlands Nokia Oyj and Swedens Ericsson AB being impacted because of discrimination and protectionism against Huawei by France and other European countries, the embassy said.

Why 5G Mobile Is Arriving With a Subplot of Espionage: QuickTake

The statement comes as France prepares to auction off 5G spectrum in April. Frances main carrier, Orange SA, has already announced it would leave Huawei out of its 5G network and work instead with Nokia and Ericsson.

But two other French carriers whove been reliant on Huawei for their 4G networks, Altice Europe NVs SFR and Bouygues SAs telecom unit, have yet to name their 5G partners.

The U.S. has been pressuring European allies to ban Huawei over fears that Chinas government may be able to access its systems for spying. Huawei and Beijing officials deny theres any such risk.

Huaweis 5G equipment are totally safe and have never presented any backdoor lapses, the statement from the embassy added.

The U.K. government has faced a backlash from some senior lawmakers in its own party following a decision last month to let Huawei play a limited role in its 5G networks. That prompted one of Chinas top diplomats in Britain to call their opposition a witch hunt in an interview with the BBC on Sunday.

Story continues

President Donald Trump has privately castigated Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo didnt rule out the possibility that the episode could hurt post-Brexit trade talks between the countries.

(Adds Chinese ambassador comment in penultimate paragraph.)

--With assistance from Thomas Seal.

To contact the reporter on this story: Angelina Rascouet in Paris at arascouet1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Thomas Pfeiffer at tpfeiffer3@bloomberg.net, Jennifer Ryan, Anne Pollak

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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Kim Kardashian hit the Vanity Fair Oscars party with her little sister Kylie Jenner on Sunday night.

The bombshell siblings battled it out for best dressed curves at the 26th annual event at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday night.

They joined a host of A-list stars including Sofia Vergara, Jessica Alba and Emily Ratajkowski flaunted their fashions on the grey carpet.

Sibling revelry: Kim Kardashian hit the Vanity Fair Oscars party with her little sister Kylie Jenner in LA on Sunday night

Curves ahead: The sisters competed for best dressed curves as they posed up a storm

Kim turned heads in the 2003 Alexander McQueen Shipwrecked Oyster Gown. The deconstructed cream frock featured a gauzy ruffle skirt and sheer bodice. Little strips of fabric hung down the skirt, offering an elegantly undone edge.

The Skims stunner styled her hair with the wet-look that she's grown so fond of over the years. She played up her eyes with smoky shadow and lush lashes. The star's bronzed body glistened courtesy of a layer of shimmer.

Kim was joined by husband Kanye, who donned a slick leather jacket without a shirt beneath. Leather pants and suede boots tied things together.

And though it was well past sunset, the rapper/clothing designer topped his ensemble off with sunglasses.

Sisters in style: The siblings stole the spotlight at the star-studded after party in their very glam gowns

Power couple: Kim and Kanye struck a pose while arriving at the Vanity Fair soiree

PDA: The power couple shared a kiss on the red carpet, looking more loved up than ever

Bound 2: Kim and Kayne brought the drama as they posed together

Best tressed: The Skims stunner styled her hair with the wet-look that she's grown so fond of over the years

Feeling social: Kim showed off her outfit on Instagram ahead of the even

Kylie amplified her already bombshell curves wearing a glittering gunmetal Ralph & Russo gown with two stiff curves of tulle framing her hips and chest.

Her strapless dress hugged every inch of her body, further exaggerating her hourglass figure. The makeup mogul kept her accessories simple, rocking a stunning cocktail ring on each hand.

Though often fond of outrageous hairstyles, Kylie kept things sleek for the party, styling her raven locks smoothly and with a center part.

Setting the curve: Kylie amplified her already bombshell curves wearing a glittering gunmetal Ralph & Russo gown with two stiff curves of tulle framing her hips and chest

Rings and things: The makeup mogul kept her accessories simple, rocking a stunning cocktail ring on each hand

Making an entrance: Kylie worked her best poses as she slowly sauntered into the party in her skin-tight dress

She continued the classic approach for her makeup, teaming contoured cheeks with a nude pout.

While Kylie looked like a 10 on the red carpet, she admitted the dress was less than practical via Instagram.

'Couldnt really sit in this but it was worth it,' the youngest Kardashian/Jenner sister captioned her post.

The post included a photo of Kylie being driven to the party, keeping her body rigid and hovering above her seat, unable to fully sit down.

Beauty is pain: 'Couldnt really sit in this but it was worth it,' the youngest Kardashian/Jenner sister captioned her post

Strike a pose! The photogenic pair cosied up for a few photos together, joining forces

Double trouble! It was hard to tell which sister was best dressed as they made their grand arrival

Silver stunner: Inside, the sisters caught up with Nicky Hilton, who dazzled in a pleated silver gown which was full of Grecian vibes

Quick change: Kylie changed into a figure-hugging red dress by Vivienne Westwood Couture set off with silver chain necklace

Tactile: Kanye couldn't keep his hands off his wife as the pair put on a loved up display together

Passionate pair: Kim and Kanye couldn't resist puckering up for everyone to see

Stunning: Kim showed off her sensational curves in the intricate, textured dress

Inside, sisters Kim and Kylie caught up with family friend Nicky Hilton, who dazzled in a pleated silver gown which was full of Grecian vibes.

The Kardashian/Jenner girls weren't the only people wowing the red carpet.

Sofia Vergara looked effortlessly glamorous wearing a studded gown adorned with thousands of sparkling rhinestones.

The structured number featured a corset top and a silver belt to hug her waist before draping down into a mermaid style lace bottom.

Sparkling star: Sofia Vergara was dressed to impress in a beaded strapless gown as she joined Jessica Alba and Emily Ratajkowski for the 26th Vanity Fair Oscar Party at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday night

Love: The 47-year-old actress sparkled in a form-fitting dress at the star-studded soiree with husband Joe Manganiello by her side

Best dressed: Sofia looked effortlessly glamorous wearing a studded gown adorned with thousands of sparkling rhinestones

Blessed: Jessica Alba joined in on the sparkling memo wearing a nude dress with ornate rhinestone detailing

Model behavior: Emily, 28, left little to the imagination wearing a small white top to match a tailored skirt

Abs for days: The model and actress dared to be different in her revealing ensemble

Keeping it simple: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (left and right) and Emma Roberts (centre) sported all-black looks

Putting on a playful display: Vanessa Hudgens (left) and Zoey Deutsch (right) added some drama to the red carpet

Quinn Murphy makeup created a flawless glam for the Modern Family star using Kiss NY Professional cosmetics and Naturopathica skincare.

Emily Ratajkowski, 28, left little to the imagination wearing a small white top to match a tailored skirt.

Joe looked dapper alongside his wife wearing a black tuxedo with a matching bow tie and shoes.

Jessica Alba joined in on the sparkling memo wearing a nude dress with ornate rhinestone detailing and her muscular arms were perfectly bronzed to match the golden tones running vertically down her frame.

Just the two of us: Jessica and husband Cash Warren left their three children at home for a night out together while Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade stepped out without their adorable little girl, Kaavia James

Perfection: A sparkling silver belt was wrapped around her waist and gave structure to her incredibly detailed dress, which she paired with towering heels

Queen: Kerry Washington wore an immaculate beaded two piece which appeared to feature ancient Egyptian drawings

Gabrielle Union simply stunned in a white sheer dress adorned with delicate floral appliques.

A sparkling silver belt was wrapped around her waist and gave structure to her incredibly detailed dress, which she paired with towering heels.

Not one to miss out on a fashion moment, Dwyane matched his leading lady wearing a sheer lace blazer in a similar fabric as Gabrielle's.

Chrissy Teigen looked flawless in a sheer teal number with a braided cape resting across her shoulders and draping down to her legs.

Rainbow hued: Lucy Boynton was joined by Rami Malek at the event, putting on a dazzling display

Winner: Renee Zellweger excitedly posed with her Oscar after picking up the Best Actress prize for Judy

Elegant: The beauty displayed her elegant physique in a one-shoulder dress with sequin detailing

Her EGOT-winning husband, John Legend, was dressed in a classic black tux paired with a white button down and black bow tie.

Katharine McPhee Foster donned a tight lilac dress with cut-outs along her hips lined with glittering rhinestones.

The Waitress star was joined by her musician husband, David Foster, who looked handsome in a black bow tie to complement his classic tuxedo.

Elizabeth Banks brought a pop of color to the carpet wearing a bright red gown with a plunging neckline and impressive skirt.

Always stylish: Chrissy Teigen looked flawless in a sheer teal number with a braided cape resting across her shoulders and draping down to her legs

Wow: Chrissy looked seriously sensational in her teal dress, ensuring she was centre of attention at the event

Silver siren: Katharine McPhee Foster donned a tight lilac dress with cut-outs along her hips lined with glittering rhinestones

Newlyweds: The Waitress star was joined by her musician husband, David Foster, who looked handsome in a black bow tie to complement his classic tuxedo

Red hot! Elizabeth Banks brought a pop of color to the carpet wearing a bright red gown with a plunging neckline and impressive skirt

Scarlet siren: The Pitch Perfect star put on a glamorous display as she arrived at the event

Power couple: Sarah Paulson rocked sequins with her lady love Holland Taylor, while Leslie Mann shined in a glittery gown with husband Judd Apatow

She stayed with her color theme wearing a pair of strappy heels and styled her short platinum tresses in loose waves which hit just above her shoulders.

Sarah Paulson rocked a black sequin gown while her lady love, Holland Taylor, looked stylish in a black velvet suit with hot pink details.

Leslie Mann also took note to wear something that sparkled as she stepped out in a purple-hued gown with husband Judd Apatow by her side.

Ron Howard found the perfect date for the star-studded affair as he walked alongside daughter Bryce Dallas Howard.

Bringing the sunshine: Kate Hudson looked incredible in a mustard yellow gown with sequin embellished embroidery created by Vivienne Westwood Couture

Gorgeous: The Almost Famous star accessorised with gold pieces including a clutch bag and peep-toe heels

Legs for days: Hailey Bieber looked incredible in a seriously sexy black lace dress with a lingerie inspired bodice

A-list arrivals: Reese Witherspoon looked super cute in a simple white number with stud detailing

Fringe detailing: Charlize Theron looked incredible in her tasseled dress with an asymmetric cut

Ravishing red: Kate Beckinsale looked lovely in a bright red dress with intricate beading and sequins

Touch of bling: The look was enhanced with silver earring and a black manicure for added drama

Ink mad: Scarlett Johansson was showcasing her tattoo collection in her cut-out champagne gown

Work it: Minnie Driver flaunted her fit physique in a strapless white gown, which was hemmed below her knees to reveal a pair of silver heels

Minnie Driver flaunted her fit physique in a strapless white gown, which was hemmed below her knees to reveal a pair of silver heels.

Olivia Wilde sported a black gown with a plunging neckline and billowing sleeves to match her flowing skirt.

Tracee Ellis Ross did not disappoint in an ornate golden gown with long, caped sleeves to match her sequined number.

Glittering: Heidi Klum commanded attention as she party-hopped onto the Vanity Fair bash

Eye-catching: Alessandra Ambrosio was hard to miss in her hot pink dress complete with black train

Caped gown: Zoey Deutch looked incredible in her baby blue silk number, looking like she'd just stepped out of a fairytale

Gilded to the nines: Tracee Ellis Ross did not disappoint in an ornate golden gown with long, caped sleeves to match her sequined number

Bliss: Judith Light stunned in a backless white gown with long, beaded sleeves and matching satin heels, while Catherine O'Hara stood out from the crowd wearing a colorful print gown perfectly suitable for her Schitt's Creek character, Moira Rose

Legend: Joan Collins looked snazzy in a silver sheath which included unique sheer black sleeves sewn just above her elbows

Bridal chic: Winnie Harlow looked incredible in a voluminous dress with sheer lace detailing from Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood

Joining forces: Connie Britton kept things simple in a structured black gown with shoulder detailing

Red carpet couples: James Corden attended with his wife Julia Carey (left) while Scarlett Johansson was joined by her fiance Colin Jost (right)

Strike a pose: Billy Porter put on a dapper display in a funky purple ensemble complete with an elaborate cape

Bold and bright: Riverdale's Lili Reinhart and Madelaine Petsch (left) put on a dazzling display, while Sophia Hutchins and Caitlyn Jenner attended together (right)

Megan Mullally glimmered in an ombre dress which started with pink beading along her shoulders and transformed into a golden gown toward the bottom.

Director Ava DuVernay went for an emerald ensemble with a thick diamond studded belt wrapped around her waist.

Judith Light stunned in a backless white gown with long, beaded sleeves and matching satin heels.

Catherine O'Hara stood out from the crowd wearing a colorful print gown perfectly suitable for her Schitt's Creek character, Moira Rose.

All eyes on her: Mindy Kaling stunned in a royal purple gown with a touch of bling sewn into the sweetheart neckline to match her massive watch

Joan Collins looked snazzy in a silver sheath which included unique sheer black sleeves sewn just above her elbows.

Mindy Kaling stunned in a royal purple gown with a touch of bling sewn into the sweetheart neckline to match her massive watch.

Nikki Hilton channeled Grecian vibes wearing a shiny silver dress with floral appliques around her straps.

Amanda Peet mixed patterns with a black dress featuring a blue floral pattern and interesting fishnet sleeves and a collar.

Hot metal: Salma Hayek dazzled in a blue sequinned dress, set off with a pair of metallic shoes

Vision: Cynthia Erivo was the picture of elegance in a purple silk dress with sequinned teal detailing

Living it up: Tiffany Haddish and Brad Pitt caught up inside the party (left), while Joaquin Phoenix brought his mother Arlyn along as his date

In conversation: Brad was spotted chatting to actress and director Elizabeth inside the event
Pothole Agenda This Week

Pothole peril: Thousands of complaints in KCMO; city to address problem KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas City, Missouri, is looking to improve the way it addresses potholes. This year alone, the city has received 1,666 complaints about potholes compared to 1,254 this time last year.

Kansas Keeps Count

Kansas voters moving away from caucuses for presidential primary OVERLAND PARK, KS (KCTV) - The many issues seen at this year's Iowa caucuses have voters wondering if there's a better way of doing things, including Democrats in Kansas who just announced their own primary election changes. The Kansas Democratic Party runs the state primaries, but that is about the offices only similarity between Kansas and Iowa this year.

Local School Ruckus

Parents, students upset after Platte County High School discontinues flexible learning program PLATTE CITY, Mo. -- Some parents and students say they are frustrated and confused after learning Platte County High School will discontinue their flexible personalized learning program (FPL). The innovative learning tool combines courses, allows extra learning time, and a break from the traditional 7-hour block courses.

Show-Me Medical Drama

Missouri rep: Thousands of kids taken off Medicaid were likely eligible for benefits CLOSE Rep. David Wood, R-Versailles. (Photo: Tim Bommel) A Missouri lawmaker who oversees the state's Medicaid budget says thousands of children recently removed from the rolls were likely still eligible for coverage. In recent public comments, Rep.

Kelly Defies Convention

Kelly Brook, 40, doesn't care about never having kids or getting married Kelly Brook has opened up on her new outlook on life as she celebrates turning 40. The former model says she doesn't care if she never has kids or gets married, and she's taken the pressure off herself. Kelly, who now presents a show on Heart radio, has been in a relationship with Jeremy Parisi for the last four years.

Mayo Pete Spreads It On

Iowa officially gives Buttigieg the largest delegate count, followed closely by Sanders The Iowa Democratic Party on Sunday allocated delegates based on the results of last week's Iowa caucuses, giving former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg the largest delegate count, followed closely by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. NBC News has not called a winner in the first-in-the-nation contest, and the NBC News Decision Desk is not making any independent delegate allocations at this time.

Veep Talks Trash

Biden jokingly calls woman at campaign event 'a lying dog faced pony soldier' Former Vice President Joe Biden Joe Biden Biden says Buttigieg is 'not a Barack Obama' on NH campaign trail Bloomberg meets with Democratic governors Mayors come to Buttigieg's defense over Biden ad MORE joked that a woman at a New Hampshire campaign event is a "lying dog-faced pony soldier" in response to a question about his performance in the Iowa caucuses.

Prez Trump Slashes & Burns

Trump budget would cut $4.4T in spending, boosting defense while slashing safety nets, foreign aid The White House on Sunday unveiled a $4.8 trillion budget proposal that would slash spending dramatically on foreign aid and social safety nets, while including $2 billion for a southern border wall and substantially boosting funding to NASA, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Homeland Security.

War Continues . . .

2 U.S. troops killed, 6 wounded in attack in Afghanistan Two U.S. troops were killed and six others wounded in an attack Saturday in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, a military official said. U.S. and Afghan forces were conducting a joint operation when an individual wearing an Afghan uniform opened fire on the service members using a machine gun, according to Col.

Rock Chalk Movie Night

KU professor reflects one year after Oscar win LAWRENCE, Kan. - It's a moment Kevin Willmott will never forget. On Feb. 24, 2019, the KU professor and screenwriter won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for "BlacKkKlansman". He won along with writer/director Spike Lee. "You kind of get the feeling of how fortunate you are that this happened to you," Willmott said.

Local Legend Endures

Remembering Derrick Thomas, 20 years later Derrick Thomas was in a car accident on January 23, 2000. More than two weeks later he was gone. DT passed away on February 8, 2000. 20 years later, we remember him...

Kansas City Social Club

Let the Good Times Roll at St. John's Catholic Club Sometimes you want to go... Where everybody knows your name... And they're always glad you came... You want to be where you can see... The troubles are all the same... You want to be where everybody knows your name... - Cheers, written by Gary Partnoy and Judy Hart To hear Jaime Clark tell it, the only problem with St.

Before the work week starts we take a moment of pause to share this collection of pop culture, community news and all manner of informative links.And this is thefor tonight . . .
HOUSTON, Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tokio Marine HCC today responded to S&P Global Ratings change in its financial strength ratings to A+ from AA- for its core insurance company subsidiaries.



As indicated in S&Ps announcement, with the closing of the acquisition of Privilege Underwriters, Inc. and its subsidiaries by Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc. through HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. (Tokio Marine HCC), S&P now views Tokio Marine HCC as Core to the Tokio Marine Group. Therefore, Tokio Marine HCCs financial strength ratings for its core insurance company subsidiaries were equalized with those of its parent. The outlook for these ratings is Positive, reflecting the outlook for the parent and the potential for a ratings upgrade if Japans sovereign rating is raised. As further indicated by S&P, our financial risk profile and competitive position remain very strong. We believe our increased collaboration within the Tokio Marine Group provides us with additional growth opportunities, said Susan Rivera, Tokio Marine HCCs Chief Executive Officer.

The A+ financial strength ratings apply to the following insurance company subsidiaries:

Houston Casualty Company

Avemco Insurance Company

U.S. Specialty Insurance Company

HCC Life Insurance Company

American Contractors Indemnity Company

United States Surety Company

HCC International Insurance Company PLC

Tokio Marine Europe S.A.

HCC Reinsurance Company Limited

S&P Global Ratings maintained the A- issuer credit rating for HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. and the CreditWatch Negative, which they expect to resolve within 30 days.

Tokio Marine HCC is a member of the Tokio Marine Group, a premier global company founded in 1879 with a market capitalization of $38 billion as of September 30, 2019. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Tokio Marine HCC is a leading specialty insurance group with offices in the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom and Continental Europe. Tokio Marine HCCs major domestic insurance companies have financial strength ratings of A+ (Strong) from S&P Global Ratings, A++ (Superior) from A.M. Best, and AA- (Very Strong) from Fitch Ratings; its major international insurance companies have financial strength ratings of A+ (Strong) from S&P Global Ratings. Tokio Marine HCC is the marketing name used to describe the affiliated companies under the common ownership of HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc., a Delaware-incorporated insurance holding company. For more information about Tokio Marine HCC, please visit www.tokiomarinehcc.com.
Shares of Hong Kong-listed restaurants tumbled on Monday, with Chinese hotpot chain operators such as Haidilao and Xiabuxiabu leading declines, as concerns over coronavirus blunted investor confidence.

Haidilao, which is listed in Hong Kong, dropped 4.84% by the market close on Monday  after plunging more than 7% earlier in the session. Another Chinese hotpot restaurant chain operator, Xiabuxiabu Catering Management, also plummeted 7.05%.

Other Hong Kong-listed restaurant operators also saw declines. Tsui Wah Holdings fell 2.44% while Cafe De Coral dropped 1.82% and Fairwood Holdings shed 0.73%.

Hotel operators saw losses too, with Far East Consortium sliding 2.09% and Langham Hospitality Invesments declining 1.96%.

The moves came after the South China Morning Post reported Sunday that nine members of the same Hong Kong family contracted the coronavirus after sharing a hotpot and barbecue meal at a restaurant called the Lento Party Room, which has no known connection to Haidilao.

Analysts who spoke to CNBC on Monday said the sharp downward movement in Haidilao's stock was likely related to those reports.

"In general, restaurant business during virus outbreak suffers," Hao Hong, head of research at BOCOM International, told CNBC in an email. "In the Guangdong province, 97% of restaurant businesses reported greater than 50% drop in revenue and 1/3 reported zero revenue."

"The situation is grave," he said. "Haidilao, despite being a strong company in the sector, is suffering along."
Police have shot at a man who allegedly charged at officers with a machete in Frankston.

Police were called to Ashleigh Avenue and found the man, believed to be aged in his 30s, just before 9pm on Sunday.

The man then allegedly charged at the officers with what is believed to be a machete.

One of the officers responded by shooting at the man, but he was not hit.

Police then capsicum sprayed and arrested the man, who was taken to hospital for assessment.
FLINT, MI -- After a competitive hiring process, Rex Vernon has been selected to be the next Michigan School for the Deaf principal.

Since 2008, Vernon has served as both an elementary and middle school teacher at the school. He will officially begin his new position Monday, Feb. 23, according to a Friday, Feb. 7 news release by the Michigan Department of Education.

Vernon is proficient in American Sign Language, a child of deaf adults and has served on curriculum committees, school improvement teams and multiple other committees, according to the release. He holds a masters degree in school principalship and a bachelor of arts degree in special education and deaf education.

Parents concerned about Michigan School for the Deafs principal hiring process

In June 2019, a meeting was scheduled by the state to address the principal position the day after several people held a protest over the transparency of the process.

Angela Horne, a life skills teacher at the MSD High School, was selected to serve as the schools interim principal for no more than a year. Horne filled the roll while the state was in the process of hiring a full-time replacement following the resignation of Natalie Grupido in April.

Parents brought up issues with the appointment of Horne and concerns over criteria used by the state to determine ASL proficiency.

The process leading to the hiring of Vernon included a public meet and greet of candidates, a performance demonstration, an evaluation of candidates education and experience and two rounds of interviews that were open to the public, according to the release. Staff, students, parents, alumni and community members had an opportunity to cast a ballot for their choice of candidate.

The interview panel included members of the MSD staff, administration, alumni, the Gallaudet Universitys Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center, the Michigan Department of Educations Office of Special Education and Human Resource Department and the Michigan Department of Civil Rights Division on Deaf, Deaf Blind and Hard of Hearing.

Michigan School for the Deaf hires interim principal; parents, students raise concerns
Delhi Assembly Election Results 2020: After voting for Delhi Assembly Elections ended on February 8, counting of votes will be held on February 11 (Tuesday). Overall, Delhi polls witnessed 62.59 per cent voting, around 5 per cent less than the 2015 Assembly polls. The highest voting of 71.6 per cent was reported from the Ballimaran Assembly constituency, while the lowest turnout was in Delhi cantonment, which reported 45.4 per cent voting. The ruling AAP has sought to retain power on development agenda, while the main opposition BJP ran an aggressive campaign centred around issues of anti-CAA protests and nationalism.

Also read: Delhi Election Results 2020 Live Updates: Counting of votes to begin at 8 AM amid tight security

According to India Today-Axis My India survey, the Arvind Kejriwal-led party is expected to win 59-68 seats in the Delhi Assembly elections 2020. The BJP will once again remain a distant second with only 2-11 seats. The exit poll predicted that about 48 per cent voters shifted from the BJP to AAP since General Election 2019. The 48 per cent voters comprise a large chunk of the lower and lower-middle-class, segment, the survey said.

Other exit polls, conducted by Times Now-IPSOS, Republic-Jan Ki Baat, ABP News, NEWSx and TV9 Bharatvarsh, also predicted that AAP is likely to secure over two-thirds majority in Delhi Assembly Elections 2020. Almost, every exit poll signalled that Kejriwal remained the most preferred choice as the Chief Minister of Delhi.

Also Read: Delhi Election Results 2020: Date, vote counting time, FAQs, exit poll results

Also Read: Delhi Election Results: How and when to watch results; live streaming on AajTak, India Today

The progress of vote counting can be tracked live across various platforms offered by the Election Commission of India. The counting of votes and results on individual seats will be declared live on Election Commission of India websites - eciresults.nic.in, eci.gov.in and results.eci.gov.in.

Voters can check how the vote counting for their constituency is going, or even how the candidates are faring at a certain point of time. They can even check party-wise seat tally, vote share and more via the Election Commission web portals mentioned above.

You can also follow BusinessToday.In for latest updates from Delhi election vote counting.

Delhi Election Results: Counting time

Counting of votes will start around 8 am on Tuesday. The Election Commission has set up around 21 centres for counting of votes. "We have set up 21 centres for counting of votes, wherein there will be a dedicated hall for every constituency. The counting will start at 8 am on February 11," Delhi's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ranbir Singh told ANI.

Delhi Election Results: When will trends start coming in?

Trends on the Delhi Assembly elections will start coming in soon after the counting starts around 8 am. Readers can log on to BusinessToday.In to catch all the latest updates on the Delhi Election results. You can also go to IndiaToday.In or Aaj Tak for early trends on the polls.

Delhi is the fourth state to go to polls after the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand were the other three states, where Vidhan Sabha elections took place post-2019 general election. All of them were previously ruled by the BJP, but the BJP is presently in power only in Haryana, that too with the help of the Jannayak Janata Party.

In the last Delhi assembly election in 2015, the AAP won 67 of the 70 seats, with a total vote-share of 54 per cent. It's projected to rise to 56 per cent in 2020. The BJP is projected to secure a vote-share of 35 per cent, up from 32 per cent in the 2015 Delhi Assembly vote.
The question that remains uppermost in the mind of the people around the world is whether China would really climb to the ultimate height of world dominance , replacing USA and what would be the consequence for the world, in case this would happen.









by N.S.Venkataraman





There is no difference of opinion anywhere in the world that China is steadily surging towards world super power status. China has the second largest army in the world and in the case of several chemicals and other products, China meets around 50% of the world demand. China has consolidated itself in the technological, scientific and industrial front by successfully attracting several multinational companies from western countries and Japan to invest in China and share the technology practices with Chinese companies by way of joint venture. In the process, the technological and engineering expertise of China has considerably augmented.









There is certainly some sort of fear and apprehension amongst western countries particularly USA , about the challenges that China may pose to the USA and many other countries by its rapidly gaining fire power. This is the basic reason why the trade war between USA and China has happened with no one knowing as to whether this would end any time soon.





China has not concealed its expansionist intentions and desire to dominate the world in all respects. Towards this end, it has been working out its strategies by trying to gain control over other regions by extending loans and financial and technical collaborations and investing in other countries particularly in developing countries in Asia and Africa. The OBOR scheme (One Belt One Road) launched by China is clearly aimed at gaining super power status , out beating other countries.





The present government of China is known to have no commitment to ethical and moral values and in the concept of fairness in dealing with other countries. Todays so called communist government in China is conspicuous by its self centred attitude and lack of care about what the world thinks about China, so long as its objectives would be met.





Chinas aggression and occupation of Tibet around six decades back has clearly disturbed the conscience of the world. But, China does not care about the world opinion about the way it has occupied Tibet. But , no country dares to challenge in view of Chinas huge economic and military strength and trade opportunities that it provides.





The question that remains uppermost in the mind of the people around the world is whether China would really climb to the ultimate height of world dominance , replacing USA and what would be the consequence for the world, in case this would happen.





There are no dearth of critics of China particularly in western countries and they are watching Chinas activities very closely and predict Chinas doom repeatedly , which have been proved to be false. The present spread of Coronavirus in China is being talked about by critics as an event, that could disturb the confidence of China and slow down its progress. Certainly, this would not happen , as the determined and dictatorial Chinese government would ensure that the cause of the virus would be identified and remedial steps would be initiated, to restore normal public health conditions. China now certainly has the scientific and technological capability to do so , without any support from other countries.





In such scenario of all round strength possessed by China, is there any possibility of China going down in the near future?





This may well happen, as Chinese government has been governing the country in a way , as if the individual Chinese citizen is simply a soulless automaton without any views and preferences and they would continue to behave like a robot. Certainly, China has not learnt from the experience of erstwhile Soviet Union and East European countries, where democratic spirit of the people inevitably asserted itself and resulted in over throwing the vice like grip of dictatorial communist governments in those regions. Symptoms of this happening in China are already evident.





The massive uprising demanding freedom in Tiananmen square cannot be forgotten as a non event. China is reported to have arrested and killed large number of Chinese people to quell the protest . Certainly, China has not learnt any lessons from the Tiananmen square uprising.





At present , the Ughur (Muslims) issue in China is still persisting, inspite of Chinas aggressive methods to suppress the dissenters and deny their religious freedom.





China is now having a huge problem in Hong Kong due to the protest by locals against Chinese domination and dictatorial approach. The cry of people of Hong Kong for independent Hong Kong is now being heard . China is unable to control the situation in Hong Kong , as it is hesitant to use its traditional method of suppressing the freedom movement.





The latest warning signal is the rare public fury in China after death of whistle blower who was sentenced by police . China tried to control the narrative but has failed.





The negative aspect of Chinas governance today is the suppression of individual freedom of the people and based on this policy approach China is being governed . The question is whether suppression of freedom for individual citizen can be a permanent situation in any country. History has shown that it has never happened and sooner or later , the demand for freedom would gain upper hand and the dictatorial regimes would be thrown out. This could well happen in China in near future.





Gradually, social media in China is becoming more assertive and courageous and to what extent can Chinese government control the social media remains to be seen.





If China were not to restore the freedom to the citizens in a democratic way, there is certainly the possibility of Chinese government facing unrest and the elected Chinese government feeling threatened and such scenario would destabilize the country for sometime. Then, a new China would emerge with different perspective and attitude, as it happened in erstwhile Soviet Union.





The leaders of the present Chinese government do not appear to have the wisdom to understand that denial of freedom is a method that go against the craving and nature of human beings for personal freedom.





It is likely that present Chinese government would not be able to restore the freedom to the people, as it would mean proper election and it would result in removal of the present leadership of China.





One can clearly see a situation in China sooner or later , perhaps, sooner than later, that China would weaken from within, due to dictatorial practices and oppressive governance of the present Chinese leadership.
The Dartmouth Green is white with snow and decorated with a giant sea-monster snowman when Bernie Sanders arrives to greet a rowdy group of supporters at the Hanover Inn across the street. The fans create a half-circle around him and at one point start chanting his name. But Sanders isnt content to bask in the cheers.



We need a large turnout here on Tuesday, Sanders tells them. My plea to you is, on Tuesday, come out and vote. Bring your friends, your family, and everybody else. We need a large voter turnout.

Its good to be Sanders right now. He won the popular vote in Iowa and seems poised to win New Hampshires first-in-the-nation primary on Tuesday as well. While the moderates in the race skirmish with one another, Sandersthe new national front-runner for the Democratic presidential nominationis coasting toward victory here, with no anti-Sanders ads on the air.

But Sanders has spent the last several days trekking around New Hampshire trying to get voters to show up at the polls. Despite his strong showing in Iowa, there were a few troubling signs. The Vermont Senator has been making the case that he will be able to expand the electorate and get new voters out to the polls to carry him to the nomination. Over and over, he said he will win if turnout is high, and lose if its low. Yet in Iowa, turnout for the 2020 caucuses was approximately 176,000 people  a number in line with 2016 and a far cry from the 2008 record of 240,000, which Democrats hoped to exceed.

Sanders acknowledges the turnout in Iowa was a concern to him. I would have liked to have seen a higher turnout, and I think I can probably speak for every other candidate, he said at a press conference last week. I think all of us probably could have done a better job in bringing out our supporters, he noted at the Feb. 7 Democratic debate in Manchester. Both times he pointed to the fact that there had been an increase in young caucus-goers as a sign of optimism.

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But Iowas relatively disappointing turnout could be a symptom of a bigger problem, such as burnout among Democrats after three years of fighting President Donald Trump every step of the way. For Sanders, a candidate whose strategy has revolved around high voter participation, depressed turnout nationwide would be a significant obstacle.

Iowa was a mixed bag in other ways. Sanders excelled with young voters and in big cities, and defied the caricature of his supporters by attracting nonwhite Democrats. At the same time, he was outpaced by South Bend, Ind., Pete Buttigieg in suburbs and smaller towns and lost ground to Buttigieg in the final popular vote selection. The latter statistic suggests that while Sanders may have the largest bloc of devoted supporters, he isnt making inroads with others as much as he might like.

Bernie Sanders speaks at his Politics and Eggs event in Manchester, N.H. | Tony Luong for TIME

Which is why Sanders, despite his position of strength, still has something to prove in New Hampshire, where he won in 2016 by 22 points. Traveling across the snow-blanketed state, I met plenty of Sanders supporters who think he can win the nomination without changing his message. But some voters who liked Sanders thought he could do a better job explaining his proposals. I think that would win people over some more, says Naaborko Sackeyfio-Lenoch, an associate professor of African history at Dartmouth. Sackeyfio-Lenoch voted for Sanders in 2016 and plans to vote for him again on Tuesday, but she attended the Hanover event in hopes of hearing more specifics.

Some voters here have raised questions about Sanders sweeping policy proposals, such as how he would pay for his Medicare For All plan. Medicare for All is a big one for me, like how is this going to happen? says Amalia Mimi Rhines, 30, of Claremont, N.H., who attended a Sanders town hall there on Sunday but is leaning toward voting for Sen. Elizabeth Warren. When I hear Warren talk, Im like, yes. And when I hear Bernie, I have a lot of questions. Rhines thinks if Sanders becomes the nominee, hes going to have to show a willingness to adjust some of his massive plans for voters who are not as familiar with him or come from a more conservative part of the country.

Sanders allies dismiss such concerns. At least one of Sanders surrogates says turnout in Iowa was depressed by several senators absence from the trail during Trumps impeachment trial. When you dont have candidates on the ground, Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan said, that affects things.

For now, Sanders seems to be worrying most about Buttigieg. Hes spent the week since the Iowa caucuses attacking the former mayor, zeroing in on his wealthy donors. Buttigieg has also returned fire. On Saturday night, both were among several presidential candidates who took the stage at the McIntyre-Shaheen 100 club dinner in Manchester, where prominent Democrats sat at tables surrounding the stage at ground level while thousands of the candidates supporters sat in the arenas seats above them cheering on their respective candidates. With a president this divisive, we cannot risk dividing Americans  further, saying that you must either be for a revolution or you must be for the status quo, Buttigieg said, as the Sanders supporters erupted in booing.

At a canvass launch in Dover earlier that Saturday, Sanders gave an exaggerated impersonation of an establishment Democrat asking, how do we stop Bernie Sanders and his movement? The audience laughed. Well they aint gonna stop it, he said to applause.


Additional reporting by Press Association

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has been elected on the sixth count in Cork South Central with 11,505 votes, 76 over the quota.

Counting is continuing, with Fianna Fail's finance spokesperson, Michael McGrath, on 9,775 votes, and Tanaiste Simon Coveney, on 9,720.

Both are on course to hold their seats.

Lorna Bogue of the Green Party has performed very strongly, with 7,184 votes.

Mr Martin laughed when asked by a reporter if he was talking to the next Taoiseach.

He responded: Who knows, we have to wait for a good few days yet Id say because there are a lot of counts, some counts will be adjourned this evening.

Weve all got to wait for all the counts to be in, the destination of those last seats because the respective strengths of parties is going to be a key determinant in terms of what follows.

But look, weve done very well in Cork South Central given the storm that was blowing today, two seats, 35% of the vote, Michael and myself coming in well. I want to thank the people of Cork South Central because it is always a great privilege when people put so much trust in you and so many people vote for you. I appreciate that, I respect that, I dont take it for granted and I pledge to work extremely hard on behalf of the people of Cork South Central.
Moroccan-Ethiopian cooperation roadmap was reviewed at a meeting Monday in Addis Ababa between Head of the Moroccan Government, Saad Dine El Othmani, and Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed.

The talks, held on the sidelines of the 33rd ordinary summit of the African Union, provided an opportunity to highlight the good relations between the two countries, and discuss means to speed up the pace of implementing joint projects, Othmani told reporters in Addis Ababa.

The two countries seek to strengthen their relations, particularly in the economic field, he pointed out, recalling that several joint projects are underway while others are planned.

The Moroccan official also stressed the need for the two countries to diversify their economic cooperation, particularly in the areas of fertilizers, agriculture and renewable energy.

The two countries are linked by numerous agreements signed on the occasion of His Majesty King Mohammed VIs visit to Ethiopia in 2016, he said.

So we have a roadmap to develop our relations in several areas, he said.
Last week, Michigans governor gave the Democrats response to President Trumps State of the Union address. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer focused her remarks on Democratic accomplishments at the state level.

On Sunday, she expanded on her speech in an interview with Yahoo Finances Rick Newman  and she had some choice words for the field looking to replace the president.

When I watch the debate and people run down the rabbit hole on one particular issue that isn't salient to people at their dinner tables, she said, they're missing an opportunity to connect with people in the focus on things that really are going to improve people's lives.

Trump carried Michigan in 2016 by just over 10,000 votes, among almost 5 million cast. Whitmer swept into office in 2018 with a nearly 10-point victory to put the Michigan statehouse back into Democratic hands.

The governors comments pointed to a divide between some for her gubernatorial colleagues, who gathered this weekend for the annual National Governors Association winter meeting in Washington, D.C., and the 2020 presidential campaigns. Several governors made runs for the White House but failed to gain traction. Only former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick remains in the field and he generally polls below 1%.

Gretchen Whitmer ran for Governor as a friend of the auto industry. She toured the 2019 The North American International Auto Show in Detroit in 2019 (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)

We're governors, we're partial to people who run things, other executives, said Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo in another interview with Yahoo Finance. Raimondo has thrown her support behind Mike Bloomberg and organized a meeting this weekend between the former New York City Mayor and her colleagues on the sidelines of the event.

A focus on infrastructure

One of the biggest topics during the weekends events was infrastructure. It came up again and again in interview after interview and from the stage. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo even joked during a panel with Speaker Nancy Pelosi that they needed a new word. "That word doesn't have the appeal we need to seduce all our partners," he said.

Story continues

Infrastructure was never discussed in Fridays presidential debate, according to a transcript.

I ran on fixing the damn roads, and I didn't coin the phrase because it was poll tested, says Whitmer. That's just how everyone talks about our roads.

Part of the challenge for the 2020 field in talking about the issue might be the price tag and the need for additional taxes. Whitmer is hoping to get a new gas tax instituted in her state to pay for improvements but she has run into resistance.

People are very suspicious that when you send dollars to our state capitals, they don't actually get to the problem they're supposed to solve, she said.

Mulling their choices

Democrats control 24 governorships around the country and, by and large, have stayed out of the presidential race thus far.

Raimondo has endorsed Bloomberg. Joe Biden has gained the endorsements of governors in New York, Delaware, and Connecticut. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar has gained the support of her home state governor, Tim Walz.

Three current or former governors ran for president last year before dropping out: Steve Bullock of Montana, John Hickenlooper of Colorado, and Jay Inslee of Washington. None of the three have chosen to endorse.

Whitmer, likewise, has not picked a candidates and didnt sound focused on the race. Yahoo Finance asked different governors a series of questions. One key question was: whats the number one thing you need from Washington?

Whitmer had a very specific answer that had nothing to do with the 2020 race.

I think we need investment to protect the Great Lakes, she said, adding, the Soo Locks is one aspect of ensuring that our Great Lakes are able to be such an important part of our national security, and our ability to move steel and iron.

Ben Werschkul is a producer for Yahoo Finance in Washington, DC.

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British stars took the red carpet by storm at the 92nd annual Academy Awards at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre on Sunday.

And Florence Pugh, Cynthia Erivo and Olivia Colman led the glamorous UK celebrities making style statements at the glittering conclusion of awards season.

Florence, 24, who was nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category for her role in Little Women but missed out to Marriage Story's Laura Dern, dazzled in a quirky teal tiered ballgown as she arrived.

British invasion: Florence Pugh, Cynthia Erivo and Olivia Colman led the glamorous UK celebrities making style statements at the 92nd Academy Awards at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre on Sunday

The Louis Vuitton gown teased a glimpse of her decolletage, boasted spaghetti straps and cinched in at her slender waist with a satin belt.

The Oxford-born beauty's dress featured an elaborate tiered skirt which flowed into a train, with Florence pairing this with matching stiletto sandals.

Her ombre tresses were styled in a chic updo by celebrity hairstylist Peter Lux, who used Dove Hair products and GHD tools to create the stunning style.

Meanwhile she acessorised with a silver choker necklace and smoky make-up courtesy of beauty pro Alex Babsky, who used Pat McGrath Labs products to create Florence's look for the evening, including the brand's Skin Fetish: Sublime Perfection Foundation and the newly-launched Skin Fetish: Sublime Perfection Concealer.

For Florence's eyes, Alex turned to the Mothership VII: Divine Rose Palette, while on the lips, the make-up artist used the PermaGel Ultra Lip pencil in Bare Rose to define the lips, before adding a slick of the MatteTrance Lipstick in Femme Bot as a finishing touch.

2019 Best Actress winner Olivia Colman debuted her new icy blonde cropped haircut as she made an extremely glamorous arrival onto the red carpet.

Shimmer: Florence, 24, who is nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category for her role in Little Women, dazzled in a quirky teal tiered ballgown by Louis Vuitton as she arrived

Spotlight: Florence couldn't contain her joy as she arrived at the awards, ahead of the star-studded ceremony

OMG! Florence couldn't contain her excitement as she greeted double Oscar nominee Scarlett Johannsson at the awards

Good to see you: The actresses, who will battle it out in the Best Supporting Actress category, looked delighted to see one another

Proud moments: Florence's date to the awards was her mother Deborah, who looked sensational in a black strapless gown

Beaming: The pair appeared in great spirits as they engaged in a TV interview with ABC, before Florence joined Saoirse Ronan in the audience (R)

Brit glory? Florence has received her first Oscar nomination for her performance as Amy in Greta Gerwig's adaptation of Little Women

Happy days: Florence's boyfriend Zach Braff was on hand to support his girlfriend

The Favourite actress Olivia, 46, oozed confidence as she displayed her lightened locks, while wowing in a navy blue velvet gown with a flowing train.

The Crown star looked suitably regal in the stylish gown which boasted quirky cut-outs across the shoulders and striking blue panels down the sides.

The gown featured a striking white, blue and black train, adding extra drama to the look.

The star opted for smoky shadow, fluttery lashes and a slick of rose lipstick, while accessorising with jade earrings.

Transformed: 2019 Best Actress winner Olivia Colman debuted her new icy blonde cropped haircut as she made an extremely glamorous arrival onto the red carpet

Change: The star looked stunning as she debuted her new locks, one year after winning the Best Actress Oscar for The Favourite (R)

Banter: Olivia laughed out loud as she arrived at the awards, where she is set to present the Best Actor gong

Fashion finesse: Olivia showed off her award-worthy outfit as she posed up for snappers

The Royal Wave: Olivia waved at fans as she made her way into the star-studded ceremony

British Nigerian actress Cynthia Erivo, 33, who was nominated for Best Actress for Harriet but narrowly missed the prize to Renee Zellweger, looked incredible in a cross strapped white and silver ballgown, which she said made her feel like a 'goddess.'

The stunning asymmetric gown revealed her cleavage with its keyhole detail with a silver chain panel running across the bust of the gown.

The gown also featured a showstopping billowing full skirt, with the star accessorising with dazzling diamond earrings.

Breathtaking: British Nigerian actress Cynthia Erivo, 33, who was nominated for Best Actress for Harriet, looked incredible in a cross strapped white and silver ballgown, which she said made her feel like a 'goddess'

Regal: The star looked breathtaking in the beautiful ballgown as she had her moment for the world's press

Yeah! The star shrieked with excitement as she celebrated her nomination for the critically-acclaimed film

Dazzling: Cynthia looked sensational as she confidently posed in the striking gown

Wow-factor! Later into the evening, the musician and actress took to the stage for a soulful rendition of Stand Up

Nominee: Cynthia plays Harriet Tubman, the 19th-century abolitionist and American icon in the critically acclaimed film

1917 director Sam Mendes made a dapper display as he arrived at the awards with his stunning wife Alison Balsom.

The star, 54, who is hoping to pick up his first Oscar since his Best Director gong for 2000's American Beauty opted for a classic suit and bow tie, while Alison wowed in a canary yellow grecian-inspired dress.

Sam said he was more nervous about attending the BAFTAs last week than being at the Oscars.

'Winning at home in front of a home crowd was exciting and nerve wracking' he told the Daily Mail's Baz Bamigboye.

His night? Director Sam Mendes, whose film 1917 is up for 10 awards, looked delighted as he posed with beautiful wife Alison Balsom

Iconic: Mendes, 54, last won an Oscar in 2000, picking up the Best Director gong for American Beauty

1917 stars: George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman posed up on the red carpet ahead of the ceremony

Stars: George and Dean Charles play Lance Corporal William 'Will' Schofield and Lance Corporal Tom Blake in the Sam Mendes directed drama - they said it was 'spiffing and bonkers' to be at the awards

Playful: The actors said it was 'spiffing and bonkers' to be attending the ceremony

Epic: 1917 is set at the height of World War One in the spring of 1917 and follows British corporals Blake and Schofield who are sent on a suicide mission across No Man's Land to warn comrades about a looming ambush by the Germans

'If we're lucky enough to win the Oscar, it will be the cherry on the top'.

He was joined by 1917 lead actors George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman on the red carpet.

George and Dean Charles play Lance Corporal William 'Will' Schofield and Lance Corporal Tom Blake in the Sam Mendes directed drama.

Irish actress Saoirse Ronan, 25, who is nominated for Best Actress for her role as Jo March in Little Women, displayed her stellar sense of style for the event as she donned a black and lavender layered gown with a plunging neckline.

Glow: Irish actress Saoirse Ronan, 25, displayed her stellar sense of style for the event as she donned a black and lavender layered gown with a plunging neckline

Chic: The garment also featured a flared embellishment along the waist with a pleated detail while the flowing purple train featured a patterned design

Good to see you: Saoirse embraced Little Women director Greta Gerwig, who missed out on a Best Director nomination

The garment also featured a flared embellishment along the waist with a pleated detail while the flowing purple train featured a patterned design.

Posing up a storm on the red carpet, Saoirse styled her blonde locks into an elegant updo for the evening.

Welsh actor Jonathan Pryce, 72, is also nominated for his first Academy Award for his role as Pope Francis in The Two Popes.

Dapper display: Best Actor nominee Jonathan Pryce - who stars in the Two Popes - walked the red carpet with Kate Fahy

Moment: The star looked suave as he walked the red carpet at the glittering awards

Double nomination: Welsh actor Jonathan Pryce, 72, is also nominated for his first Academy Award for his role as Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio in The Two Popes while Anthony Hopkins is recogised in the Best Supporting Actor category

The star opted for a classic black suit, white shirt and bow tie as he attended with his stunning wife Kate Fahy, who wowed in a black velvet dress.

He faces off against multiple-award winner Joaquin Phoenix for Joker, Leonardo DiCaprio for Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Adam Driver for Marriage Story and Antonio Banderas for Pain & Glory.

Speaking on the red carpet to Baz, Jonathan said he was ;delighted to find that the Oscars arent as crazy in real life.

He said: 'Its my first time here When I've watched on television in the past it looked like bedlam but its not bedlam.

Smitten: 2019 Best Actor winner Rami Malek returned to the Oscars with his girlfriend and Bohemian Rhapsody co-star Lucy Boynton

PDA: The couple looked happier than ever as they posed in their glamorous outfits

He remarked that he feels at home because he has worked in the past with the likes of screen legends Al Pacino and a Robert De Niro who were attendees at the ceremony.

Fellow Welsh icon Anthony Hopkins, 82, will be hoping to pick up his second Oscar for his role as Pope Benedict XVI in the film, for which he is recognised in the Best Supporting Actor category.

He will battle Brad Pitt (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood), Tom Hanks (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), Al Pacino, The Irishman and Joe Pesci (The Irishman.)

Lucy Boynton and Rami Malek looked happier than ever as they joined a host of stars at the awards.

British actress Lucy, 26, stunned in a floaty monochrome number as she joined her dapper beau, 38, on the red carpet.

Lucy exuded glamour in a chic black and white top which featured quirky checked puff sleeves and a sweet peter pan collar.

Glamour: Lucy looked ethereal in a tiered black gown with a Peter Pan collar as she walked the red carpet

Happy couple: Lucy and Rami proved their love is stronger than ever as they posed up

The eye-catching top included pleating at the front while it was also adorned with pearlescent button detailing.

The Sing Street actress paired the number with a billowing tiered black skirt, which perfectly cinched her in at the waist.

Her blonde tresses were styled into chic waves complete with pearl hair pins running down a side parting.

While she further upped her glam with a sleek layer of make-up which was accentuated with a bold red lip.

Lucy was joined by her boyfriend Rami, who cut a very smart figure in an all-black outfit.

The star, who bagged the best actor award at the 2019 ceremony, donned a black tuxedo jacket, paired with a matching shirt, bow tie and trousers.

The couple appeared relaxed in each other's company as they wrapped their arms around each other while posing for snaps.

Stateside success: The Late, Late Show host James Corden looked delighted as he posed with stunning wife Julia Carey

Look of love: James smiled at his gorgeous wife as they chatted on the red carpet

PDA: Julia looked incredible in a dove grey lace gown with a plunging neckline and an extravagant skirt

James Corden put on a loved-up display with his wife Julia Carey as they walked the red carpet at the awards.

The comedian, 41, looked dapper for the star-studded occasion in a black blazer with matching trousers and bow tie along with a crisp white shirt.

Julia displayed her stellar sense of style as she walked the red carpet in a breathtaking pale blue gown with a plunging neckline.

The garment featured a detailed lace embellishment along with a sheer detail while a dramatic train added further glamour to her look.

Couple: Gerard Butler and girlfriend Morgan Brown looked in love as they arrived at the awards

Cinching her waist with a blue ribbon belt, Julia styled her blonde locks into an updo for the evening.

Gazing lovingly at her husband, she completed her look for the awards show with a pair of diamond earrings.

The Oscars have seen Brit stars nominated in all six major categories - Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Picture and Best Director.

Florence Pugh has received her first Oscar nomination for her performance as Amy in Greta Gerwig's adaptation of Little Women.

I see you: Gerard put on an animated display as he playfully mugged for the camera on the red carpet

Dance: The star looked handsome as he pulled off some dance moves during the photocall

Excitement: The star looked over the moon to be attending the awards with his stunning partner

The Oxford-born actress is up against the likes of Laura Dern for Marriage Story, Scarlett Johansson for Jojo Rabbit, Margot Robbie for Bombshell and Kathy Bates for Richard Jewell.

Cynthia Erivo is nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress for the film Harriet, in which she plays Harriet Tubman, the 19th-century abolitionist and American icon.

British Nigerian Cynthia, 33, who hails from Stockwell, London, will battle it out with awards-season favourite Renee Zellweger for Judy, Saoirse Ronan for Little Women, Charlize Theron for Bombshell and Scarlett Johansson for Marriage Story.

Wow factor: Irish Outlander actress Caitriona Balfe looked incredible in a pink tulle gown with dramatic flared skirt

Cynthia is the only person of color in the acting lineup that has renewed the #OscarsSoWhite furore despite four years of efforts to diversify the academy's membership.

Cynthia's attendance proved to be a surprise for some after she refused to attend the BAFTAs last week, following the huge controversy around the awards' lack of diversity in its nominations.

Joker goes into the ceremony with a leading 11 nominations, it's the immersive British World War One movie 1917 that has emerged as the film to beat in the best picture race after winning a slew of accolades in the last five weeks.

The best director category, a controversially all-male affair, is equally hard to call according to Oscar pundits, with a lineup featuring British director Sam Mendes (1917), Martin Scorsese (The Irishman), Todd Phillips (Joker), Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood) and Bong Joon Ho (Parasite).

Mendes, 54, last picked up the Best Director gong in 2000 for American Beauty.

1917 has received 10 nominations including in the revered Best Picture category.

The film is based in part on an account told to director Sam Mendes by his paternal grandfather Alfred Mendes, a Great War message carrier.

Next generation: French British actor Roman Griffin Davis (L) and British actor Archie Yates, who star in JoJo Rabbit, put on a playful display on the red carpet

It's set at the height of World War One in the spring of 1917 and follows British corporals Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) and Schofield (George MacKay)

The men are sent on a suicide mission across No Man's Land to warn comrades about a looming ambush by the Germans

The two-hour movie was shot all in one take, allowing the audience to travel alongside Blake and Schofield on their trek through the war-torn region.

Elton John and songwriting partner Bernie Taupin are nominated in the Best Original Song category for Rocketman song (I'm Gonna) Love Me Again

Acclaimed: For Sama director Edward Watts posed with wife Olivia Scarlett-Watts. For Sama is nominated in the Documentary Feature category

Symbol: Both Edward and Olivia wore badges emblazoned with the phrase 'Stop Bombing Hospitals @actionforsama

Yet a win for 1917 is far from a foregone conclusion, with South Korean social satire Parasite and sentimental favorite Once Upon a Time in Hollywood from Quentin Tarantino also jostling for attention from the 8,000 voters of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

British director Edward Watts is nominated alongside Waad Al-Kateab in the Documentary Feature category for For Sama.

The Channel 4 documentary For Sama, which tells the tale of a child born in Aleppo and documents the life of Waad al Kateab raising her daughter, now four, in a country ravaged by civil war.

The harrowing film has already picked up the best documentary award at the BAFTAs.

Hollywood's awards season reaches its climax tonight, with a cliffhanger over the top prize after a season marked by dark horses, renewed anguish over diversity, and a South Korean underdog that could snatch victory from the biggest names in show business.

Star: Game Of Thrones star Alfie Allen looked handsome in a black suit and bow tie as he walked the red carpet

Korean-language film Parasite seems certain to take the renamed best international feature Oscar and would make history if the black comedy about haves and have-nots in modern Seoul also takes home the best picture statuette.

Martin Scorsese's mob saga The Irishman seems to have lost momentum despite lavish early praise and a cast that includes Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci. But it has failed to take home major acting or directing awards this season, likely dashing Netflix's best hope so far of picking up its first best picture Oscar.

Some races appear to be already locked up. Brad Pitt has never won an acting award, but he has charmed awards audiences with his witty speeches and supporting actor performance as a laid-back stunt double in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Joaquin Phoenix has dominated best actor prizes for his terrifying portrayal of an isolated loner in Joker, while Renee Zellweger seems to have locked up best actress for playing an aging Judy Garland in Judy.

Taking place without a host for the second year, Oscar organizers have given few details of the ceremony, other than to announce live performances by original song contenders Elton John, Idina Menzel, Randy Newman, Chrissie Metz and Erivo.

Five-time Grammy winner Billie Eilish will also take the stage for what is billed as a special performance that could see her debut her theme song for the upcoming James Bond movie No Time to Die.
Steven A Cohen, founder of Point72. (Steve Marcus/Reuters)

Hedge fund billionaire Steven A Cohen has reduced the size of his investment in troubled UK challenger bank Metro Bank (MTRO.L) yet again.

Filings show Cohen sold shares in the bank last week through his holding company, CPV Holdings. The transaction reduced Cohens holding in Metro from 5.8% to 4.9%.

Shares in Metro Bank had been trading lower on the day and were down 3.1% shortly after the share sale filings were made public.

It marks the third time Cohen has sold shares in recent times and will see him fall down the share register, dropping from the second to fourth biggest investor in the bank.

A spokesperson for Cohens investment company Point72 declined to comment. Metro Bank declined to comment.

Read more: Metro Bank founder steps down with immediate effect as chairman

American Cohen held as much as 10% of shares in Metro Bank at his peak and was a the biggest backer of a 375m ($483m) cash call made by the lender last year. However, Cohen has sold down his stake as problems have continued at Metro Bank.

Metros share price has collapsed more than 90% over the last 18 months. The company admitted in January 2019 it had misclassified loans, leaving it short of cash. The scandal pushed the bank into the red and led to the exit of both Metros founder and chief executive.

While a revised strategy is on the way, we see a challenging outlook likely to require a long period of restructuring, and for the bank to be loss-making for the foreseeable future, analysts at Barclays wrote in a note sent to clients last month.

Cohen is one of the worlds most famous hedge fund billionaires. He founded SAC Capital and built it into one of New Yorks most successful funds, before pleading guilty to insider trading charges in 2013. The regulator brought a civil case against Cohen, who accepted a two-year ban from managing money as part of a settlement. Forbes estimates that Cohen is worth $13.7bn (10.64bn), making him the worlds 35th richest person.
The U.S. Coast Guard unloaded approximately $338 million worth of confiscated cocaine in San Diego on Monday.

At least eight operations from mid-November to mid-January involving other federal law enforcement agencies disrupted deliveries in the eastern Pacific Ocean totaling 20,000 pounds, the Coast Guard said.

The Coast Guard released dramatic aerial surveillance video showing boats being pursued and boarded at sea.

'The fight against drug cartels in the Eastern Pacific Ocean requires unity of effort in all phases from detection, monitoring and interdictions, to criminal prosecutions of these cases by U.S. Attorneys in districts within Florida and Texas,' the Coast Guard said in a statement.

The shipments smuggled by international cartels was intercepted by the four crews of four cutters. The seized cocaine was offloaded from the cutter Munro at the Naval Base San Diego on Monday morning.

The Coast Guard offloaded Monday in San Diego almost $338 million in confiscated cocaine that was seized from mid-November to mid-January

Federal law enforcement agencies combating international drug cartels were aided by the U.S. Coast Guard in intercepting at least 20,000 pounds of cocaine in eight operations that took place in the eastern Pacific Ocean

Of the eight operations in the eastern Pacific Ocean that stopped the shipment of cocaine to the United States, the cutter Thetis, based out of Key West, Florida, was responsible for two cases seizing 6,830 pounds of cocaine

The cutter Thetis, based out of Key West, Florida, was responsible for two cases seizing 6,830 pounds of cocaine.

The Munro, homeported in Alameda, California, intercepted three vessels attempting to introduce 6,680 pounds to the shores of the United States.

The Portsmouth, Virginia-based cutter Tampa participated in intercepting two deliveries containing 4,270 pounds of cocaine. The cutter Resolute, out of St. Petersburg, Florida, confiscated 1,951 pounds in one operation.

At least $569 million worth of cocaine and marijuana was intercepted off of 14 drug smuggling vessels off the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America from May 2019 to July 2019

In 2019, the U.S. Coast Guard was also involved in the confiscation of more than 39,000 pounds of cocaine and 933 pounds of marijuana between May and July in the eastern Pacific Ocean

The Coast Guard says the campaign against drug cartels involves numerous U.S. agencies as well as the Navy.

'These interdictions were in support of Campaign Martillo, a regional initiative targeting illicit trafficking that threatens security and prosperity at the national, regional, and international levels.'

The cutter Munro offloaded more than $569 million worth of cocaine and marijuana seized in the eastern Pacific Ocean between May and July.

Three Coast Guard cutters stopped 14 drug smuggling vessels off the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America, seizing more than 39,000 pounds of cocaine and 933 pounds of marijuana.
More mna was the slogan printed on Social Democrat councillor Holly Cairns badges as she and her campaigners pounded the pavements and by-roads around Cork South Wests extensive sprawl.

And its lucky they did, because Ms Cairns, 30, is now the only female Dail representative elected from Cork  the largest county and the second-largest city in the country.

Despite a 30% gender quota, female representation is looking disappointingly low in the 33rd Dail, with many high-profile female candidates losing their seats  although Mary Lou McDonald bucked the trend, sweeping her party to unprecedented success.

The Social Democrats reached beyond the gender quota, however, choosing more female candidates than any other party, and their elected representatives reflect that choice, with four women elected nationwide at the time of going to press.

First-time Dail candidate Ms Cairns made history by claiming the third seat in the Fine Gael heartland of Cork South West  breaking the partys hold on the constituency for the first time since it was formed in 1961.

She beat Fine Gael senator Tim Lombard to the seat in the constituency that contains the homeland of party icon, pro-Treaty revolutionary, and politician Michael Collins.

Ms Cairns was first mobilised politically during the abortion rights campaign which, in May 2018, culminated in a landslide referendum result in favour of legalising abortion in Ireland.

She said that, despite two-thirds of her constituency voting for repeal, two of the three TDs of the time  Independent Michael Collins and Fianna Fails Margaret Murphy-OMahony  opposed even holding a referendum on the issue at all.

It made Ms Cairns realised there was space for a progressive vote in a historically conservative constituency.

We were repeatedly told that we couldnt do it, she says. People said oh thats a Fine Gael seat, or thats a Fianna Fail seat. But I thought: No, theyre all Cork South West seats.

We need young women to get involved in politics. We call it representation for a reason, if we have all-male representation, then more than 50% of us are not being represented in that one way.

The three main players in this constituency [Collins, Fianna Fails Christopher OSullivan, and Fine Gael senator Tim Lombard] were right-wing men, and we knew that there were enough people who would like something more progressive  not necessarily in terms of gender, but in terms of stance.

For example, those three main players would not have represented more than two-thirds of the constituency in the last referendum.

"So I felt like there was a seat here for a new candidate. But we didnt know if we could reach those voters in the three weeks of the snap election.

It just goes to show that that assumption that were all conservative by default in rural Ireland is not true. Many people were delighted to vote for change.

Despite a successful campaign, Ms Cairns says casual sexism plagued her to such an extent that she is reluctant to be pictured with her boyfriend, fellow newly elected TD to the Dail, Fianna Fails OSullivan, who is also mayor of Co Cork.

The campaign really showed the casual sexism in politics, she says. In media coverage, I was reduced to his girlfriend. In the RTE summary of our constituency, everyone had their titles, so it would be Senator Lombard, Deputy Collins, Councillor Paul Hayes, County Mayor Christopher OSullivan, and his girlfriend Holly Cairns.

I was the only without my title. Consistently. Its really frustrating, to be honest.

Now she is looking forward to working with OSullivan and Collins. She is also aiming to affect change with her party colleagues.

When you look at how much Catherine [Murphy] and Roisin [Shortall] did as a duo  things like the Parental Leave Bill  its really exciting to think of what we can do with more TDs. Were building a viable alternative for people who want change, she says.

She believes that change involves changing politics at a fundamental level.

The Social Democrats stand on a policy of transparency, says Ms Cairns. Increasing transparency is something Ive been working really hard on in the council. And its clear to me, as someone new to politics, that theres a lot of work to be done.

For example, the Social Democrats are the only party with an anti-corruption policy. It should be standard to have things like an independent watchdog for Government.

On a personal level, Ms Cairns, a farmer and her partys spokeswoman on agriculture, is motivated by climate action.

I think the biggest injustice facing us now is climate change, she says. The debates around it have been frustrating, things like pitting farmers against environmentalists.

I dont know any farmers who want to damage the environment. We just need to change that narrative and that debate and come up with intelligent solutions.

"We have to make changes, but they cant fall unfairly on rural Ireland or low-income households, and we just need some more joined-up thinking rather than divisive debate.

Ms Cairns is also in favour of gender quotas for local elections.

Since the foundation of the State, weve been apparently trying to engage more women in politics, and its not working, she says. Quotas are a blunt instrument, but how long do we have to wait?

Ciairin de Buis, CEO of Women for Election, agrees, saying that gender quotas must be introduced to boost female participation in local government, and that parties must start recruiting more female candidates now if they hope to meet the 40% gender quota set to be in place by 2023.

The number of women in the Dail has been increasing  achingly slowly, but steadily. The first Dail in 1918 saw just one woman  Constance Markievicz  elected, representing 0.9% of parliament.

By 2011, that number had increased to 25 out of 166 seats (15.1%) and with the introduction of the 30% gender quota in 2016, that number grew again to 35 out of 158 (22.1% of parliament  Independents are exempt from the quota).

And although the 33rd Dail will still look largely male, this is the first time every constituency fielded a female candidate in a general election.

The larger parties seem to regard the gender quota legislation as a providing a target rather than the minimum that it actually is  for them to access their full funding, says Ms de Buis.

They need to cop on to that. Women are over half the electorate now.

The quota is clearly working, because in the previous election in 2016, the first time that 30% threshold was there for parties, most of them met it, whereas previously they ran significantly fewer women on the slate.

The quota will increase to 40% in 2023 and some of the parties need to be tackling that now to ensure that they have candidates ready to run. It will be a huge challenge if they dont start recruiting now.

In order to do that, she says, parties need to go out and ask women to run.

If you look to the smaller parties like the Social Democrats and the Green Party, they have been asking women to run. Why havent the larger parties?

Ms de Buis says she did not expect a huge increase in female TDs once she knew how many female candidates had entered by the close of nominations.

If women are not on the ticket, theyre not going to be in the Dail, she says.

It might sound obvious, but they cant win a seat if theyre not on the ballot paper.

And if parties are running 30% or just above 30%, gender balance will not be reflected in their representation.

Some high-profile women have lost their seats. You couldnt help but have empathy with them.

But weve also seen women elected who werent necessarily expected to win. Mairead Farrell, who lost her seat in the local elections last year, is romping home in Galway.

And Holly Cairns, who people were giving an outside chance to, has showed again how important it is for women to stand. She is now the only female TD representing Cork.

Her election also shows how important it is for people to vote down the ballot paper, because it was transfers right down the ballot paper that got her elected.

This election was all about change. There seems to be this huge shift in the political landscape, but there hasnt been any significant change in the number of women.

That needs to change.
South Africa: Committee requests report on Hammanskraal water quality

Tshwane Municipality and the Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Department have been instructed to provide quarterly reports on the intervention to resolve Hammanskraal water quality challenges.

The directive came from the Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation during the visit in Hammanskraal last Friday, where the committee members raised concerns on the lack of progress in dealing with water quality challenges in the area.

The committee visited the area as a follow-up to their visit in August 2019.

The committee was informed that the City of Tshwane has only now signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ekurhuleni Water Care Company (ERWAT) to assist with the operation of the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Committee chairperson Machwene Semenya said it is unacceptable that five months after the committees visit, the signing of the MoU only took place last Thursday.

She said while the committee is cognisant of the laborious bureaucratic process within local government, it remains unacceptable that the intervention process is moving at snails pace.

This slow process is undermining the objective of finding a lasting solution to the current challenges and to supply the people of Hammanskraal with quality drinking water. The intervention must be rapid and deliver adequate results, but this has not been the case, Semenya said.

The committee also raised concern that a contract to start phase 1 of the expansion of the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Plant has been cancelled, despite being signed off in October 2019.

Call for consequence management



The committee has called for consequence management for those who were part of the bid evaluation committee for the appointment of the contractor, who is now deemed incapable of delivering the work.

While the committee welcomed the fact that the City of Tshwane acted swiftly to cancel a contract with a contractor that is unable to deliver on work to limit substandard work, Semenya said it is concerning that the bid evaluation committee was unable to detect deficiencies at evaluation stage.

She emphasised that a thorough investigation must be done with adequate consequence management at the completion of the investigation.

The committee has also called for the ramping up of the implementation of plans to ensure that the challenges are resolved.

This includes finalising a service level agreement with ERWAT and Magalies Water, using the reprioritised Urban Settlement Development Grant to deliver infrastructure development programmes, and strengthening monitoring and evaluation to ensure value for money for any investment made.

Use of water tankers prone to corruption

Meanwhile, the committee has reiterated its call to limit the use of water tankers, as the practice is susceptible to corruption.

There is an urgent need to implement infrastructure programmes to limit overreliance on tankers that are not sustainable and are expensive, Semenya said.

The committee has called for the employment of skilled professionals to operate the City of Tshwanes wastewater treatment plant so that when the intervention ends, there will be adequate skills transfer from ERWAT to permanently employed city officials.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-02-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Richie Fredericks two loves, the chaos of the kitchen and the beauty of sign language, both have their origins with his family  including a mother who fled Communism and two siblings who graduated from the Illinois School for the Deaf.

The 31-year-old Frederick is well-known locally as the head chef at Lonzerottis in Jacksonville, but probably less well-known is the story of how he got there and what made him what he is today.

My mother claims that it was the lack of being able to cook on her part that gave me the desire to cook, Frederick said. My mom came from Poland, pretty impoverished, where she was given ration tickets to get bread or bring eggs or milk home. So growing up she never had an abundance of food, much less a chance to cook much of anything.

Fredericks mother, Barbara, was smuggled out of Poland by a friend and eventually made her way to the United States, where she settled in Chicago and met her husband, Paul, while the two were riding on public transportation. Barbara wanted to learn English and Paul wanted to learn German, which his future wife spoke, and the two of them hit it off. But Paul came from a large American family, for which a lot of the recipes involved doing things with canned food.

I remember being young and at the store and things would just look interesting to me, and I would ask my parents if I could try it, Richie Frederick said. I remember pulling a chair up to an old ceramic stove in our house in Chicago and pulling things out of the fridge and making breakfast for my brother and sister in the morning, all at a very young age.

Richies older brother, Christopher, and younger sister, Monica, had both been born deaf because the RH factors in the mothers and childrens blood did not match up properly, Frederick said. By some miracle Richie is not deaf, but because of his siblings, the hearing-impaired world has been a part of his entire life, including in 2000, when Richies older brother enrolled in the Illinois School for the Deaf in Jacksonville.

After a number of trips between Chicago and Jacksonville, and with his sister about to start at ISD, Fredericks parents decided to move to Jacksonville. They bought a large home on West College Avenue across the street from ISD and transformed the six-apartment structure into a single-family home.

Frederick attended junior and senior high school in Jacksonville and worked at several local restaurants while he was in school. Frederick graduated from Chicagos Washburne Culinary School in 2006 and three years later returned to Jacksonville, where he worked as a chef at several places, including Muggsys, before taking his position at Lonzerottis.

I really do have an appreciation for how small Jacksonville is. You get to know all of your customers over the years, Frederick said. I know one customer likes the tail piece of a salmon, and a family has a daughter who has a birthday every day because you never know what she is going to request from the cook.

Frederick has also found joy in being able to communicate with the people he has met through ISD, many of whom are now his restaurant customers.

Its great for them to have a hearing person that really knows the language. They can talk to me without having to dumb it down, they can express themselves, Frederick said. Sign language is such a beautiful language. Its so much expression, its not word for word. There are so many variables, for instance, to express how you like something. You can like something, or you can love it, or you can drool over it. It really is beautiful.

Beauty is something Frederick appreciates as an artist - he has done paintings and drawings all of his life  but he considers food to be his main artistic medium, and hes constantly trying to challenge himself. But its something that can be a double-edged sword.

As my wife Kerris will tell you, I ruin things for myself, Frederick said. If I make scratch biscuits at home and gravy from local pork and I just go really all-out, by the time I get done eating it, every biscuits and gravy that I eat from then on I have ruined for myself.

Frederick also has an appreciation for the chaotic choreography that his chosen profession entails.

It takes sometimes the whole week to get ready mentally for that party on Friday or Saturday thats going to be 50 people and you know youre going to be doing 200 things at once, Frederick said. You have 10 burners going in front of you, some with eight or nine ingredients apiece that go in a certain order at certain levels, deglazing things with wine and finishing it with cream. Its definitely a rush, and sometimes after a really busy night you have to take time to wind down.

So how can he possibly get all of those food orders prepared and served in the proper amount of time?

You look at a long ticket that has 20 things and there are 20 sides that go with that, you know what to start first, because of the limited amount of time you have, Frederick said. You start your well-done steaks and your more cooked pork chops and then you get your salmon going, then you might start dropping pasta the last two minutes. Theres another cook and a grill cook, a salad guy, and its like a maestro with an orchestra just to keep everybody with the same tune in mind where everything will come up at the same time.

Frederick uses locally produced ingredients as much as possible in his dishes, everything from fresh vegetables to Mennonite pork to beefalo, a cross between a beef cow and buffalo that he featured during Lonzerottis Beefalo Week recently. Frederick is glad the Jacksonville community has embraced these new, locally centered traditions.

I consider myself more local than some of the locals here, Frederick said. Through the restaurant business the past 11 years and cooking for everyone, I have just became friends with everybody.

.

If you have a suggestion about someone who should be profiled, send their name and any contact information available to communitynews@myjournalcourier.com.
Ector County Sheriff's Office

A 17-year-old male was arrested in Lubbock over the weekend in connection with a shooting death that occurred at Parkway Inn in Odessa last month.

Jonathan Payen Sanchez was arrested by the U.S. Marshal Service and Lubbock Police Department, according to a press release from the Odessa Police Department.
Shanghai makes wearing masks mandatory in public places

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 09:26, February 09, 2020

SHANGHAI, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai now requires all residents to wear facial masks and cooperate with body temperature checkups in public places, according to a notice issued on Saturday.

The notice issued by the city government said people must wear masks and take body temperature checks when entering public places including airports, train stations, bus and metro stations, hospitals, shopping malls and supermarkets.

The rules take effect on Saturday and will last until the city inactivates the level one public health emergency response.

The Shanghai police on Saturday also published a case in which a 44-year-old man was given administrative detention after refusing to wear a mask and trying forcibly to enter a metro station on Friday.

Shanghai activated the level one public health emergency response to fight the novel coronavirus epidemic on January 24.

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After learning that the Pippins family of Fort Worth, Texas had lost everything in a fire, Mattress Firm surprised them with a home makeover including new mattresses, furniture, appliances and home decor, just in time for the holidays. Mattress Firm also made over and refurnished the apartment of a former foster child in Phoenix named Madalyn, who recently lost her 3-month-old child due to heart complications and wanted to refresh her space to create room for happier memories. Also, the company is donating $1,000 each to 10 additional nominees to assist with furnishing their homes, including household items, decor and groceries.

"Ticket to Dream is thrilled to work with Mattress Firm to create a fresh start for youth that have aged out of foster care. The struggles foster youth face when aging out are staggering. Homelessness, unemployment and feelings of inadequacy run rampant," said Gina Davis, president and executive director of Ticket to Dream. "With Mattress Firm's donation, we are making over the apartments of two former foster youth and their children so they can feel more at home. We're also helping 10 aged-out foster youth purchase $1,000 in apartment essentials. We're overjoyed to bring these gifts of hope to youth who have seen too many hardships."

The remaining funds will be distributed to Ticket to Dream Foundation's Take Flight Program, which focuses on empowering foster youth for the future. The donation will help with three categories of support within the Take Flight Program: housing/emergency support, graduation/college support programs and life/job skills training programs. The Take Flight Program supports youth through grants that boost access to transitional housing, assistance in school and training programs to help them succeed. Mattress Firm Foster Kids is a program of the Ticket to Dream Foundation.

Mattress Firm believes that a good night's sleep can help foster kids, and all kids, be successful. Through Mattress Firm Foster Kids, the company aims to bring a better night's sleep to the youth who need it most through bed donations and annual in-store donation drives collecting pajamas, bedtime books and bedtime toys in communities nationwide. With the help of Ticket to Dream, Mattress Firm partners with nonprofit foster care organizations across the country to ensure donations stay in the communities in which they were gifted.

"Everyone deserves a place to lay their head at night," said Sunni Goodman, VP of communications and customer experience at Mattress Firm and a Ticket to Dream board member. "Transitioning from teenage years to adulthood can be tough. For former foster youth, it can be even more difficult because they aren't always given the tools they need to succeed. By helping them create a space that feels like home and encourages restorative rest and relaxation, we hope that it fuels future success."

To learn more about Mattress Firm Foster Kids and how to get involved, visit www.mattressfirmfosterkids.org.

About Mattress Firm

Since 1986, Mattress Firm has made it easy to get a great night's sleep by providing our customers an expertly curated collection of quality mattresses from the best brands. Today, with more than 2,500 neighborhood stores, we strive to become America's most trusted authority on sleep by placing our customer at the center of everything we do. Our experts help more than three million people a year find the right solution for their sleep needs. Our selection of mattresses and bedding accessories include leading brands such as Serta, Simmons, Tempur-Pedic, tulo, Sleepy's, Chattam & Wells and Purple. Committed to serving our communities, the Mattress Firm Foster Kids program, in partnership with the Ticket to Dream Foundation, hosts three collection drives a year in communities nationwide to help foster children get better sleep so they can shape a better future. For more information, visit www.mattressfirm.com.

About Ticket to Dream

The Ticket to Dream Foundation is a non-profit dedicated to providing hope and opportunity to foster children across the nation, so they can just be kids. Reaching over 170,000 foster kids, Ticket to Dream joins forces with companies, communities and hundreds of non-profit partners to ensure foster children have everyday essentials, access to extracurricular activities, fun childhood experiences, and support services that ensure future success into adulthood. For more information, please visit www.tickettodream.org.

SOURCE Mattress Firm

Related Links

http://www.mattressfirm.com


Two MLAs sat on a dharna in the well of the Rajasthan Assembly on Monday, triggering a rebuke from the Speaker who said there is a view that legislators should be disqualified for such action.

MLA Sanyam Lodha had entered the well of the House in protest over the police probe in the murder case of Pankaj Suthar, who was killed in Sirohi's Pindwara on January 21.

Lodha was joined by Pindwara BJP legislator Samaram Garasiya.

Speaker C P Joshi said entering the well of the House was a wrong tradition.

"There is a right to put views in a democracy but entering into the well (of the House) is a wrong tradition. There is a discussion in the entire country to disqualify those who enter the well. There is a rule in Chhattisgarh assembly that members who enter the well are considered out of the House for that day," the Speaker said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Saigon Securities Incorporated (SSI) has released a report naming nine business fields believed to bear the biggest negative impact from the nCoV outbreak.

In recent years, Vietnam has been strengthening international trade with the high ratio of total import/export value to GDP of 196.6 percent. Any interruption made by important suppliers like China could be challenges to Vietnams economic growth.





Vietnam has closed some border gates to China, including Lao Cai and Lang Son, until February 8, which means restriction in trade between Vietnam and China.



Vietnam has tightened the granting of visas to travelers from the coronavirus stricken areas. The import/exports of farm produce and tourism activities will bear adverse impacts, at least for the short term.



SSI believes that the GDP growth in Q1 will be affected and the government will need supporting factors to make the economy recover in the second half of the year obtain the targeted 6.8 percent GDP growth rate for the year.

Vietnam has tightened the granting of visas to travelers from the coronavirus stricken areas. The import/exports of farm produce and tourism activities will bear adverse impacts, at least for the short term.

There are nine business fields which will bear negative influences from nCoV.

Textiles and garments



Chinese GDP growth slowdown will cause negative impact on the consumption level in the long term.



Vietnams businesses would suffer also because many Chinese textile factories close the door in January and February. China is a major material supplier to Vietnam.



Retail



The number of people going to retail points to do shopping will decrease as people dont want to go to public places to avoid the possibility of getting infected with coronavirus. They tend to buy more essential goods that protect health such as medicine rather than technology products.



People may not go to traditional markets, but do online shopping to protect themselves in the nCoV period.



Seafood



The seafood exports to China may decrease because the demand will be affected by the epidemic. Besides, the long Tet holiday may affect the export turnover in Q1.



Beer



The demand will decrease considerably as people avoid going to public places. The industry also bears influences from the Decree 100 which took effect on January 1, 2020.



Oil and gas



The oil price may decrease because of weakened demand from China, the economy which has been seriously affected by coronavirus.



Securities



Securities investors are concerned about the spread of the epidemic. However, if it is controlled, the market will recover strongly.



Seaport and transport



As exports to China are affected, this will also affect the transport of goods via seaports.



Airport services



Chinese passengers accounted for 40 percent of total passengers in Vietnam in 2019 and the figure will decrease in the short term.



Aviation



All airlines will suffer from the nCoV outbreak because travel demand has decreased.

Kim Chi

Some universities, schools to remain closed until Feb 16 due to coronavirus emergency A number of universities and schools in several provinces and cities will extend their closure until February 16 amid an ongoing public health emergency caused by the novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 10, 2020) - Metals Creek Resources Corp. (TSXV: MEK) (OTC: MCREF) ("Metals Creek" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company has received a $20,000 option payment for the Tilt Cove option from Anaconda Mining Inc. on the 6th of February, 2020.

Under the revised terms of the Tilt Cove Agreement, to maintain the Option with respect to the Licenses in full force, ANX shall pay to MCR the following amounts:

On the Effective Date (November 7, 2016) - $20,000 in cash by wire transfer and 50,000 Consideration Shares (see definition below); (Paid)





On the first anniversary of the Effective Date - $40,000 in cash by wire transfer and 100,000 Consideration Shares; (Paid)





On the second anniversary of the Effective Date - $60,000 in cash by wire transfer and 150,000 Consideration Shares; (Paid)





On the third anniversary of the Effective Date - $20,000 in cash and 100,000 Consideration Shares; (Paid)





On or before February 6, 2020 - $20,000 in cash; (Paid)





On or before May 6, 2020 - $20,000 in cash; and





On or before August 6, 2020 - $20,000 in cash.

To further maintain the Option in full force with respect to the Licenses, Anaconda shall fund Expenditures with respect to the Licenses aggregating a minimum of $150,000 at any time or times during the Option Period.

All other terms of the agreement remain unchanged.

About Metals Creek Resources Corp.

Metals Creek Resources Corp. is a junior exploration company incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario, is a reporting issuer in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario, and has its common shares listed for trading on the Exchange under the symbol "MEK". Metals Creek has earned a 50% interest in the Ogden Gold Property from Newmont Goldcorp, including the former Naybob Gold mine, located 6 km south of Timmins, Ontario and has an 8 km strike length of the prolific Porcupine-Destor Fault (P-DF). In addition, Metals Creek has recently signed an agreement with Newmont Goldcorp, where Metals Creek can earn a 100% interest in the past producing Dona Lake Gold Project in the Pickle Lake Ming District of Ontario.

Metals Creek also has multiple quality projects available for option which can be viewed on the Company's website. Parties interested in seeking more information about properties available for option can contact the Company at the number below. Additional information concerning the Company is contained in documents filed by the Company with securities regulators, available under its profile at www.sedar.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.

Alexander (Sandy) Stares, President and CEO

Metals Creek Resources Corp.

Telephone: (709)-256-6060

Fax: (709)-256-6061

Email: astares@metalscreek.com

MetalsCreek.com

Twitter.com/MetalsCreekRes

Facebook.com/MetalsCreek

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52280
By PTI

ALIGARH: In a provocative remark, BJP MP Satish Gautam said social activist Sumaiya Rana, daughter of leading Urdu poet Munawwar Rana, should "go to Pakistan" since she is feeling suffocated in today's India.

The Aligarh MP made the remark while talking to reporters on Sunday.

Sumaiya, while addressing a gathering of anti-CAA protesters in Aligarh on Saturday, accused the Uttar Pradesh police of using "coercive measures" to crush protests against the amended citizenship law and said such measures are "very suffocating" for the people.

"Sumaiya should go to Pakistan since she is feeling suffocated in today's India," Gautam said.

He also warned of action against students who have been protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) since December 16 last year.

"There are about 150-odd students who are still holding protests at AMU, while the rest have returned to classes. They have all been identified by the police now and rest assured they will not be in the campus from the next academic year," the BJP MP said.

Despite pressure from local authorities, Sumaiya went ahead and addressed women protesters, who have been staging a sit-in against the CAA for the past 12 days, at the Eidgah complex in Aligarh.

Accompanied by some student leaders from the AMU, the social activist had told the protestors, "We are holding all-women protests which are completely peaceful and which is our democratic right, but as we have seen in Lucknow, the UP police is using coercive measures to crush our protests."

In Lucknow, she said, women's washrooms were locked to break the protest.

"Such oppressive methods are very suffocating for the people," she added.

On Sunday, Sumaiya and some AMU student leaders tried to enter the protest site but were denied permission by police.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Aligarh, Akash Kulhari on Monday said it is apprehended that some antisocial elements "might try to take advantage of the ongoing protest at the Eidgah".
Two New Hampshire Democratic primary polls released ahead of Tuesdays vote show Senator Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) surging to third place and overtaking former frontrunners Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren.

The latest Boston Globe/Suffolk University poll released Sunday showed Klobuchar coming in third with 13.6 percent of the vote, nearly a two-point lead over Biden and Warren, who were neck-and-neck for fourth with 11.8 and 11.6 percent of the vote, respectively.

Klobuchar reacted to the news on Twitter, saying that we are surging! following the polls release.

ANOTHER ONE! Two polls tonight have us in 3rd place at 14% in New Hampshire. We are surging!https://t.co/aQ1jlsdkl0 pic.twitter.com/ilL6nn5VKC  Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) February 10, 2020

The last Emerson College poll before the primary vote found Klobuchar again in third with 14 percent, gaining a point while both Biden and Warren lost a point.

Klobuchar continues to move up, but she still trails the top two candidates by a significant margin, Spencer Kimball, Director of Emerson College Polling, said on the results. Warren and Biden could still get as high as third but todays data had them going in the wrong direction.

New Hampshire voters have cited Klobuchars practical attitude, her willingness to work with Republicans, and her bluntness and directness as strengths.

Klobuchar went after Buttigieg at the states debate on Friday, criticizing him for being a newcomer running to unseat the newcomer in the White House.

Biden polled consistently in first place for much of last year, before Warren overtook him as part of a more broad October surge which saw her polling near the top of the primary field. But according to 538s New Hampshire polling average, both candidates have declined since November, while Senator Bernie Sanders and former South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg have overtaken the top two spots following strong showings in the Iowa primaries last week.

Story continues

A Suffolk poll from last week showed that Buttigieg had gained 16 points overnight among Bidens key base of voters over 65.

Biden has pleaded with voters in New Hampshire after his slump in Iowa. I need your help. I am asking for your help. Look me over, Biden told a rally in Nashua, N.H. on Tuesday. Like my mother said, hope springs eternal. We are not giving up; we are not giving up.

More from National Review
Jeremy Corbyn.

An ex-Labour MP has said it could be 2035 before the party is back in power following its election disaster under Jeremy Corbyn.

Mike Gapes, who was one of Corbyns sharpest critics before quitting Labour last year, said the party is facing an even longer spell out of government than it did between 1979 and 1997. It was last in power in 2010.

Gapes, speaking to Yahoo News UK during a conference at the Royal United Services Institute in Westminster on Monday, claimed the next leader may have to commit up to 15 years in order to make Labour electable again.

The former Ilford South MP, who lost his seat as a Change UK candidate in Decembers election, said: Obviously Im not in the Labour Party right now, but Im a very close observer of whats going on at the moment. I just hope it can turn it round, and it may take 10 or 15 years, sadly.

Mike Gapes pictured in April last year (Claire Doherty/In Pictures via Getty Images Images)

I was there with Neil Kinnock after Michael Foot was defeated in 1983. It took him nine years to get us back to the verge of winning the election [in 1992] and it was another five years until John Smith and Tony Blair inherited the work Neil Kinnock had done.

I think the next Labour leader could be facing a similar challenge, except this time its even worse. In those days the general secretary of the party, and national executive of the party, werent completely in the hands of the far-left.

Gapes, who jokingly referred to himself as a recovering politician, went on: Whoever becomes Labour leader, assuming they are committed to getting rid of the Corbyn legacy, will have a major task to make the Labour Party electable.

Gapes (back, right) was part of the ill-fated Change UK after quitting Labour (Stefan Rousseau/PA Images via Getty Images)

Labour will need a dedicated, committed leader who is prepared to put in not five years, but 10 or maybe even longer to transform the party. Whether the membership of the party will elect such a leader, Im not sure.

Gapes was among a group of Labour MPs who dramatically quit the party in February last year in protest against Corbyns leadership.

Read more from Yahoo News UK

Story continues

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With a group of ex-Tory MPs, they founded Change UK, which flopped in the subsequent European elections and saw many of its members either become independents or join the Liberal Democrats.

Gapes was one of just three candidates who fought Decembers general election under the Change UK banner - and was promptly ousted by Labour from the seat he had held since 1992.

Brexit briefing: 325 days until the end of the transition period
I would like to ask not to identify President of the Venice Commission Gianni Buquicchios personal statements with the Venice Commission. This is very important. The statements by the co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe are the statements of that very institution, but in Buquicchios case, this isnt so. This is what deputy of the My Step faction of the National Assembly of Armenia and author of the decision on termination of the powers of the president and 6 judges of the Constitutional Court Vahagn Hovakimyan told 1in.am.

In essence, the deputy of the My Step faction has questioned the impartiality of the President of the Venice Commission and has justified this by saying that the former authorities of Armenia had conferred an order to Gianni Buquicchio with expensive diamonds on it.

I would like to remind that in 2009, Serzh Sargsyan gave Gianni Buquicchio a very expensive gift. The diamonds on that special order given with different evaluations are very costly. I would like to say that Gianni Buquicchio is a person, a European official who received rather interesting gifts from the former authorities. Lets just record this and move on. Gianni Buquicchio is the head of an advisory body. We take notice of his statements, but what is important for us is the advancement of our state and observance of our Constitution, the ruling partys deputy said.

In 2009, Gianni Buquicchio was conferred an Order of Honor for promoting Armenias European integration and contributing to the implementation of legal reforms in Armenia, but on behalf of the Republic of Armenia, not third President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan.
A Chinese mother granted an emergency visa to visit her son on life support in Melbourne spent the night by his bedside before his life support was switched off on Monday morning.

Xiao Li, 22, had been in Royal Melbourne Hospital with critical brain injuries since his car and a truck collided near Melbourne on January 27.

Xiao Li's mother will be allowed to take his body back to China with her.

His mother, Xing Lang Ren, was blocked from seeing Mr Li in hospital because of the coronavirus travel ban in place until at least February 15, until the Australian government announced on Friday it would allow her immediate entry in what was the first exemption to the ban.

Ms Ren arrived in Melbourne on Sunday morning before going to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where she spent time with her son during his final hours.
Concordia University announced Monday it will close this spring after 115 years in operation.

The private, nonprofit Lutheran universitys Board of Regents voted last Friday to cease operations at the end of its spring semester. The universitys 24-acre campus is expected to eventually go up for sale.

The closure reflects the difficult times facing colleges. Shrinking enrollment has taken a financial toll on many universities across the country. Concordia is the third Portland-area private college to shut down since 2018 -- Marylhurst in Lake Oswego and the Oregon School of Art and Craft shut their doors permanently, unable to compete in these leaner times.

Tom Ries, who took the post of interim president in early January, said Concordias enrollment plummeted from more than 8,000 four years ago to around 5,000 currently. He said the university has a significant debt load and faced significantly higher costs in the coming year.

The shutdown came suddenly. Just last Tuesday, Concordia staged a flashy event that raised $355,000 for its an innovative program with Portland Public Schools. The first some staff and faculty heard anything about a shutdown was when it was announced to them at 9 a.m. Monday. Students got the word an hour later.

The fate of Concordias law school in Boise is unclear. Concordia is looking for a partner to help operate the school going forward.

The boards decision is a result of years of mounting financial challenges and the changing educational landscape, said Liz Loulan, a Concordia spokeswoman.

The Board made this decision to prioritize the well-being of students, faculty and staff and fulfill its fiduciary obligations, Concordia said in a statement. "In the Boards best judgment, a thoughtful and orderly closure process offers the best possible outcome for all affected parties.

Michael Fuller, a Portland consumer protection attorney, said late in the day that he intended to file a class action lawsuit on behalf of Concordia students.

The school has been in cost-cutting mode for some time. Last February, Concordia decided to fold its English, history, chemistry, global studies and community psychology programs.

Concordia was not cheap. Current tuition is about $31,000. Food and housing would typically push the ultimate price tag to $44,078, according to National Center for Education Statistics. Nearly 5,900 students attended Concordia in 2018, according to its website. The university said its in talks to provide students the chance to continue their education elsewhere.

The university faculty includes 63 full-time and 172 part-time instructors.

Driving online enrollment

Concordia hired HotChalk, Inc., a technology company, to help it grow enrollment and revenue. HotChalk attempted to do that in part by building a new online education operation.

Online instruction was the pivotal force that propelled Concordias rise to one of the nations largest providers of Master of Education degrees. But it was a spendy relationship, both financially and otherwise. Concordia paid HotChalk more than $59 million in 2016 and another $30 million in 2017, according to its tax returns.

In 2015, the U.S. Department of Education alleged Concordia illegally outsourced some of its online programs to HotChalk. A $1 million agreement was reached to settle the claim while denying wrongdoing.

Nevertheless, the Concordia-Hotchalk partnership remains intact, Ries said, despite the universitys plummeting enrollment.

In their 2018 annual report, university officials claimed $113.2 million in revenues  down from $143.3 million in fiscal year 2015  with the majority of dollars coming in from tuition and fees.

The universitys strategic plan, called Vision 2024, stressed that officials would continue to expand its physical campuses and ensure good stewardship of its resources and long-term mission viability while safeguarding a strong value for return on student investment in their education.

For several years, Concordia seemed determined to grow. it launched a major capital improvements campaign juggling several facility and housing projects. In 2017, the university helped coordinate the renovation of Portlands Faubion Elementary School and provided the land plus $15.5 million to help build the new 135,000-square-foot school, according to the university.

Over the past few years, Concordia also built a new, 34-unit apartment building for graduate and married students in the hip Alberta Arts District, and launched a renovation of the universitys weight room and track facilities.

Small colleges struggling

Colleges in general are becoming more reliant on tuition revenue as public money shrinks. Private schools, which dont receive any public dollars, typically count on tuition to provide 90% of their revenue.

So enrollment declines of any size quickly take a toll.

College enrollment is declining for several reasons, economic, demographic and otherwise. In the same way that enrollment increases during recession, it tends to decrease in boom times. The current red-hot job market has made it easier for college-age people to dump the college plan.

Theres also a demographic problem, said Dr. Lesley Hallick, president at Pacific University in Forest Grove. The classic target market for colleges -- the just-graduated 18-year-old -- is shrinking, Hallick said.

Concerns over mounting college debt is the third factor.

Wim Wiewel, president of Lewis & Clark College, said private schools with strong reputations and endowments will survive. But he said, no school can afford to stand still.

Lewis & Clark is considering adding new programs to attract students in data science, entrepreneurship and health studies. The education experience at private colleges is generally of high quality simply because class sizes are generally smaller, he argues. Lewis & Clarks student faculty ratio is 12-1, half the number of Oregon public colleges.

But thats not cheap, Wiewel said. So you need that brand strength and endowments to make it work. Schools that dont have those assets are going to experience some difficulty.

The surviving colleges are eyeing Concordias 5,000 students hungrily. By Monday afternoon, George Fox University had put together a package of incentives for Concordia students who transfer to the Newberg school, including a $5,000 grant and waived application fees.

I thought it was a cruel April Fools joke when I read the news," said Rob Felton, George Fox spokesman. Most colleges are doing some belt tightening these days, but I havent talked to anyone who wasnt shocked by this.

-- Jeff Manning; jmanning@oregonian.com, 503-294-7606

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Politicians and other officials might be relatively more resistant to marijuana legalization in the central U.S. states, but it seems to be a different story with the people who live there. Sales of medical cannabis in Arkansas hit $10 million in the first six weeks of this year, according to state data cited by Marijuana Business Daily.

That figure was higher than expected. A spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration said, "[w]hile there was some uncertainty regarding sustained strong sales in 2020, the numbers we receive daily show that sales are not only strong but continue to significantly expand."

After people voted to legalize medical marijuana in a ballot initiative in late 2016, the first medical pot dispensaries opened for business in May 2019. Recreational sale and consumption remains illegal at present, and unlike in other states, it has not been decriminalized. This is typical in the region; none of the six states bordering Arkansas have legalized recreational cannabis. Two -- Tennessee and Mississippi -- prohibit all forms of the drug.

In Arkansas, individuals must qualify for treatment and be in possession of a marijuana ID card in order to be permitted to buy cannabis. Purchases have to be made at licensed dispensaries.

The state's Medical Marijuana Commission currently lists 32 active dispensaries, divided into eight zones. A subsidiary of Grassroots, apparently soon to be absorbed into acquirer Curaleaf (OTC:CURLF), operates one. Harvest Health & Recreation (OTC:HRVSF) also has a retail presence in the state.

Neither Curaleaf nor Harvest has yet commented on the Arkansas sales figure. High-profile marijuana stock Curaleaf fell by over 4% in Friday trading, while Harvest's shares slumped by 1%.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 10) Taiwan is included in the temporary travel ban imposed by the Philippines, the Department of Health clarified on Monday.

Health spokesperson Eric Domingo said Taiwan is considered by the World Health Organization as part of China. The East Asia giant and its special administrative regions Hong Kong and Macau are included in the travel ban issued by the Philippines to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus.

He said the Taiwan travel ban was implemented late last week and not part of the initial order issued by President Rodrigo Duterte on February 2. Duterte earlier banned the entry of foreign nationals coming directly from China, Hong Kong, and Macau or those with travel history to those areas in the last 14 days.

The national government also issued a temporary stop to Filipinos wishing to fly to China, Hong Kong, and Macau. The inclusion of Taiwan in the travel ban means travel is also restricted for Filipinos going to the self-administered island that China considers as its province.

"If you look at the WHO map and the number of cases that they have, Taiwan is included in China. Since we have a temporary travel restriction and ban on China, then Taiwan is included... It is enforced now," he said in a media briefing.

The restrictions only apply to incoming foreign travelers, and not Filipino citizens and holders of permanent resident-visas issued by the Philippines. He said foreign nationals from Taiwan have been turned away since February 7.

Domingo added Taiwan officials are asking the Philippine government to reconsider its inclusion in the ban. He said the inter-agency task force will meet this week to discuss the issue.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said 10,000 financial assistance will be given to Filipinos affected by the travel ban. He said there are 120,000 documented overseas Filipino workers in Taiwan; this excludes undocumented workers.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A newly released AARP poll finds that an overwhelming majority of Nevada women voters age 50 plan to turn out in force this year, with 82% of Democrats definitely planning to participate in the state's caucus next week. The survey, conducted by The Harris Poll, shows that women 50-plus are most concerned about health care, followed by other prominent issues such as immigration (31%), terrorism and national security (24%). Women 50-plus are more likely to blame drug companies charging too much for medication as most responsible for rising health care costs (47%).

"History shows 50-plus women voters make a difference, and this year they could decide the outcome in Nevada and races across the country," said Nancy LeaMond, AARP EVP and Chief Advocacy & Engagement Officer. "Polling shows that health care is the defining issue for this key group of voters and candidates ignore the concerns of this constituency at their peril."

"Nevada women over 50 are a powerful voice and engaged voter base," Maria Moore, AARP Nevada State Director said. "This poll underscores the importance of these issues to an important and growing voter group in the Silver State. Those running for office would be wise to understand where these votes stand and how they'll impact the future of our state."

This survey was conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of AARP from December 5 to December 25, 2019, among 1,001 age 50-plus, registered women voters in Nevada.

Additional findings from the survey include:

A significant majority (76%) give elected officials a grade of D or F on dealing with the cost of health care and prescription drugs.

50-plus women voters in Nevada are most likely to blame drug companies charging too much for medication (47%) as most responsible for rising health care costs.

are most likely to blame drug companies charging too much for medication (47%) as most responsible for rising health care costs. One-third (33%) say they can't afford to pay for their health care and skipped medical care because it was too expensive.

Nearly a quarter (24%) have rationed prescription medications due to high costs.

The Nevada poll is the fourth in AARP's "She's the Difference" series, which is running throughout the 2020 election cycle. The series explores the priorities and concerns of women voters ages 50 and older  a key demographic that will likely determine the outcome of races across the country.

A national poll released last month, the first in this series, found that 95% of women over 50 plan to vote in the 2020 general election, and nearly 7 in 10 have not decided who they will vote for. Other polls include surveys of Iowa and New Hampshire voters.

This survey was conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of AARP from December 5 to December 25, 2019, among 1,001 age 50-plus, registered women voters in Nevada. The data from phone and online interviews were combined and weighted to reflect known demographics. The data are weighted to the population of female Nevada residents age 50-plus using population benchmarks from the Census Bureau's March 2019 Current Population Survey and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2017 National Health Interview Survey. Weighting by education, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, marital status, household income, employment status, and landline/cell phone usage bring these data into line with the actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online to ensure representativeness among the online respondents. For telephone respondents, number of phone lines, recent phonelessness, and number of adults in the household were also included to account for probability of selection. In keeping with standards set by the American Association for Public Opinion Research, The Harris Poll does not estimate margin of error for this representative sample.

About AARP

AARP is the nation's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With a nationwide presence and nearly 38 million members, AARP strengthens communities and advocates for what matters most to families: health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. AARP also produces the nation's largest circulation publications: AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org or follow @AARP and @AARPadvocates on social media.

About AARP Nevada

AARP Nevada staff and volunteers help more than 340,000 Silver State members with Real Possibilities for living their best lives. We offer news, information and resources on the issues that matter most to you. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org/nv or follow us on Twitter @aarpnv and on Facebook.com/AARPNV.

SOURCE AARP Nevada

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http://www.aarp.org/nv


Following the current medical emergency in China, the National Union of Ghana Students-China (NUGS China) has issued an update to its members in China and all Ghanaians resident in China and Ghana.



The Coronavirus epidemic, likely to be declared a pandemic soon, has caused anxieties especially among families of students and Ghanaians living in China.



It is estimated that about 6,400 Ghanaian students are studying in China making Ghana the highest African country with students in the country.



Aside the above, there are about 400 Ghanaians, including students in Hubei province, the epicentre of this global medical emergency.



Chinas Hubei province houses Wuhan; the city that recorded the first case and other cities such as Yichang, Siyang, Jingzhou, Huanggang and Xiangyin.



According to the release signed by the President of NUGS China, Mr. Felix Gyawu Addo and the Secretary-General, Mr. Bekoe Bernard Boamah, no Ghanaian has been affected by the virus and most universities in Chinas Hubei province including Wuhan and other cities are providing access to basic necessities like food, water and nose masks.



The notice also mentioned that a committee has been tasked to cater for the provision of nose masks and hand sanitizers to all NUGS-China members.



Commenting on the support received so far, the statement said The Embassy Officials led by H.E. Edward Boateng, the National Executive Committee of NUGS-China and the Executives of HUBEI Province have had closed-door meetings since January 31. These meetings (Every 48 hours) have been towards the possible evacuation of Ghanaians in Wuhan and Hubei Province and finding short term solutions to the problems of Ghanaians there.



Among the short-term initiatives made by the Embassy and NUGS China include the provision of funds to procure protective items such as nose masks and sanitizers and constant communication with Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry, city authorities and school administration to provide basic necessities like food.



Last week, Ghanas Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration through Ghanas Embassy in China gave NUGS China RMB50,000 for safety supplies (nose masks and sanitizers). RMB30,000 of the amount was given to NUGS members in Hubei province (the province where Wuhan is located) and RMB20,000 was designated to all other NUGS China members outside of Hubei province.



Students in Wuhan chapter have also received specific donations from the Embassy and NUGS-China in addition to a personal donation from the Ambassador, Edward Boateng. The purpose of this financial support is for protective supplies but since some schools provide students these needs, the students may decide to use it for other pressing needs such as food.



In addition to monies, the services of a Clinical Psychologist has been sought for Ghanaians in Chinas Hubei Province who may be going through psychological trauma and stress in these times. These short-term initiatives are in anticipation of a possible evacuation of Ghanaians located in Hubei province.



The statement mentioned the possibility of securing an airline to fly the distance and acceptance by a third country to allow for refuelling as some of the challenges inhibiting the long-term solution of evacuation. Despite the challenges, the students located in Hubei have maintained that their desire is to be evacuated to Ghana to return to their families.



Communication and engagement is key in such emergency situations and therefore the National Executive Committee of NUGS China, Chapter Executives of NUGS in the cities located in Hubei and Embassy officials have created a wechat group (instant messaging platform) where real-time discussions and information is shared to aid instant decision making based on insights and experiences.



Through technology, a coronavirus report centre has also been initiated by NUGS China to receive real-time complaints and challenges being faced by students during this period. It is believed that these multiple communication platforms will aid in the dissemination of information, monitoring of Ghanaians and the provision of assistance.

Source: Timothy Karikari, Contributor









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The Pakistan army was involved in a total of 3,479 ceasefire violations along the Jammu and Kashmir border in 2019, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday.

In a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, he said 13 Indian Army personnel and two soldiers of the Border Security Force (BSF) were killed in action in 2019 due to ceasefire violations (CFVs) and cross border firing (CBF).

"Very often terrorists attempting to carry out reconnaissance to facilitate infiltration also become casualties and these are then depicted as civilian casualties to portray India's action as being aggressive," Singh said.

Such portrayal is done to draw the attention of international media to CFVs and CBF, and divert the attention from the support provided to terrorists, who are trained by Pakistan in POJK (Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir) and its other areas, the minister said.

Appropriate retaliation to the CFVs, as required, has been carried out by the Indian Army or BSF, he said.

"In addition, all violations of ceasefire are taken up with Pakistan authorities at the appropriate level through the established mechanism of hotlines, flag meetings as well as weekly talks between the Directorate Generals of Military Operations of the two countries," Singh stated.

"The BSF, too, holds talks at various levels with its counterpart viz Pakistan Rangers," the minister mentioned.

Diplomatically, India has repeatedly emphasised, including at the highest level, the need for Pakistan to uphold the sanctity of the Line of Control and the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir as per its obligations emanating from the Shimla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration, Singh stated.

In January, February and March, there were 216, 251 and 275 CFVs, respectively by Pakistan along the Jammu and Kashmir border, the minister stated.

In October, November and December, there were 398, 333 and 393 CFVs, respectively by the neighbouring country along the border, he added.

At 190, the lowest number of CFVs in 2019, were observed in the month of June, according to the statistics presented by the defence minister in Rajya Sabha.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Christians sharing love of Jesus in coronavirus hot zone; death toll rises to over 800

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UPDATE: 12 AM, FEB. 9: By Sunday morning, deaths from the coronavirus reached 811, surpassing SARS, and the number of confirmed infections rose to 37,198, most of them in Hubei province, according to Chinese officials.

As the death toll from the coronavirus reaches 724 and the number of confirmed cases rises to 34,546, Christians in China  where the illness originated  are distributing masks and sharing the love of Christ on the streets in the city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.

While fear and insecurity have gripped the 11 million residents of Wuhan, a city in Chinas Hubei province, Christians there have been out on the streets giving out masks and sharing the love of Jesus and the hope the Gospel brings, according to Christian Broadcasting Networks Asia correspondent Lucille Talusan.

They're very courageous, she was quoted as saying. They give out masks and they say that they are Christians and they share the love of Christ and point to Jesus to bring hope to them and their families and the whole of China. ... This is really a break-through.

The coronavirus originated in Wuhan about two months ago and can lead to respiratory illnesses which are fatal in some cases. While at least 724 people have died from the disease and 34,546 people have been confirmed to have the illness, the actual numbers are believed to be much higher, according to Bloomberg.

Earlier during the week, a Chinese pastor living Wuhan, identified only as A Wuhan Pastor, wrote to the international faith community, urging them to pray and revealing that fellow pastors from around the world had been reaching out.

It is readily apparent that we are facing a test of our faith, the pastor wrote. The situation is so critical, yet [we are] trusting in the Lords promises, that his thoughts toward us are of peace, and not evil (Jeremiah. 29:11), and that he allows for a time of testing, not to destroy us, but to establish us.

He continued, Therefore, Christians are not only to suffer with the people of this city, but we have a responsibility to pray for those in this city who are fearful, and to bring to them the peace of Christ.  [When] disaster strikes us, it is but a form of Gods love. Spoken for today, Wuhans pestilence cannot separate us from the love of Christ; this love is in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The coronavirus, which causes a respiratory infection with mild to severe flu-like symptoms, has spread to at least two dozen countries, including the United States with about a dozen confirmed cases.

Even as hospitals in the U.S. are gearing up to handle the potential spread of coronavirus, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday that the U.S. is ready to spend $100 million to help China and other affected countries. The U.S. this week also helped ship to China 17.8 tons of donated supplies, Pompeo added.

What has compounded the situation in the U.S. is the ongoing flu season. Were talking about the possibility of a double flu pandemic, Dr. Eric Toner, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said, according to The New York Times.

One reason for worry is that many of the vital medical supplies and medications are made in China, and some hospitals in the U.S. have said they are critically low on respirator masks, The Times reported, quoting a source from Premier Inc., which secures medical supplies and equipment on behalf of hospitals and health systems.

China also supplies much of the raw ingredients needed for penicillin, ibuprofen and even aspirin.

Last week, as the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency, persecution watchdog group International Christian Concern noted Chinas Christian communitys efforts to provide hope and refuge to those suffering.

A video shared by Father Francis Liu from the Chinese Christian Fellowship of Righteousness showed that encouraging sermons were being broadcast to their communities through speakers placed on balconies. According to ICC, a Christian rode his bike to a pharmacy where people gathered and played a sermon through a portable speaker.

Another video circulated on social media showed Christians distributing face masks and Gospel pamphlets to passersby on the streets as a sermon plays in the background.

Additionally, Christians from other provinces have offered their homes to host people fleeing from Hubei province who face housing discrimination.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th February, 2020) Sudan's transitional government is ready to resume talks with Russia on economic agreements, but no details have been discussed so far, Sudan's Culture and Information Minister Faisal Mohamed Saleh told Sputnik.

"A big theme for our discussions is investment and trade relations. I think they will be beneficial for both sides. The current government has nothing against the resumption of talks in order to develop relations and open possibilities for investments," the minister said, adding, however, that the transitional government "has not yet discussed the details" of economic agreements already reached with Russia.

In late August of last year, Sudan established the Sovereign Council, officially dissolving the previously ruling Transitional Military Council, which came to power after former President Omar Bashir was overthrown. After power was transferred to the Sovereign Council, it appointed Abdalla Hamdok as prime minister and head of the transitional government.

Sudan's Culture and Information Minister told Sputnik that the country's transitional government wants to develop ties with Russia and hopes for "very positive" relations.
Four Australians are among 65 newly-confirmed coronavirus cases aboard a quarantined cruise ship docked at Yokohama, Japanese authorities have confirmed.

The new cases aboard the Diamond Princess are in addition to 70 cases previously announced aboard the luxury ship, bringing the total number of cases from the vessel to 135.

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman said the department is urgently seeking advice from Japanese authorities on new cases among Australians on the ship.

None of the 266 people in quarantine in Darwin after being evacuated from the coronavirus epicentre in China have shown any signs of the respiratory infection, medical authorities say.

Japanese military personnel set up a covered walkway next to the Diamond Princess cruise ship today where thousands of people are in quarantine

Four Australians are among more than 65 newly-confirmed coronavirus cases aboard a quarantined cruise ship docked at Yokohama, Japanese authorities have confirmed

Five of the 15 confirmed Australian cases of coronavirus have been cleared, the government says, as it reassured those living near the Darwin evacuation centre that they are not at risk.

Local health officials confirmed that among the new infections were 45 Japanese nationals, 11 Americans, four Australians, three from the Philippines and one each from Canada and Ukraine.

The announcement last week that the Australians would be quarantined at a disused mining village near Darwin sparked anger among local parents, with the evacuees housed less than one kilometre from the Good Shepherd Lutheran College in Howard Springs.

While one mother said she would keep her teenage son home for at least the 14 days of the quarantine, Australia's deputy chief medical officer Paul Kelly said if he had children at the school, 'I would have no hesitation in my kids going to school today.'

The new cases aboard the Diamond Princess are in addition to 70 cases previously announced aboard the luxury ship, bringing the total number of cases from the vessel to 135. Officials in protective suits walk on board the cruise ship Diamond Princess in Yokohama today

The Northern Territory's Acting Chief Health Officer Dianne Stephens spoke at the school on Monday to reassure parents and said there was a lot of misinformation.

That included reports in China that the virus could be spread by airborne transmission, which has sparked fears schoolchildren could end up catching it from mosquitoes.

'We have investigated that at a national level, we have reached in to Chinese authorities and it is a misuse of the word airborne,' she told reporters.

'There has been no evidence of infection amongst any of those cohorts here or in Christmas Island, who are nearly halfway through their quarantine period

'It is definitely a droplet borne disease. If I am within one metre and I sneeze and cough on you and I have the novel coronavirus, then you are at risk of getting infected.'

Face masks help prevent droplet infection, she said.

Prof Stephens said it was unfortunate the community and school were not consulted about the quarantining but said the decision would not have been Face masks if it threatened anyone's safety.

A girl suspected of having coronavirus on far more remote Christmas Island, where a previous planeload of Australians was sent last week, has also tested negative.

A passenger stands on the balcony on board the Diamond Princess yesterday with guests facing further tests for coronavirus

The evacuees, including 92 children, at the Manigurr-ma Village at Howard Springs, were tired but in good spirits, said Abigail Trewin, a director with the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre.

They were receiving daily health checks and had been separated into smaller groups to prevent the virus spreading if anyone did have it, she said.

'The kids are super excited to be home on Aussie soil; there have been repeated thankyous for bringing people home, which is lovely to hear,' she said.

The number of cases worldwide has reached more than 40,500 while more than 900 people have died from the virus, mainly in Wuhan where the outbreak began.

The virus is believed to have emerged in a market selling wild animals in Wuhan last year before spreading across China.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 03:54:28|Editor: yan

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JERUSALEM, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- A rocket fired by militants in the Gaza Strip hit southern Israel on Sunday night amidst rising tensions in the region over Washington's Mideast peace plan.

The Israeli military issued a statement saying "one projectile was launched from Gaza towards Israeli territory," adding it fell in an open field.

The rocket triggered sirens in the city of Sderot and the area surrounding the besieged Palestinian enclave.

No casualties or damage were immediately reported.

The fire came a day after Israeli tanks targeted two Hamas posts in the northern Gaza Strip after a launch of a rocket was identified.

The violence comes amidst escalated tensions in the region over U.S. President Donald Trump's recently announced peace plan, which was rejected by the Palestinians.
Background

Readers may remember(an avid builder and zealous defender of IP rights) from any number of previous reported cases. EasyGroup owns a family of "easy-" brands, including the relevant brand in this case: easyJet.The Defendants operate an airline called "", which flies domestic routes in Colombia only. Why, then, was the English court involved? In 2018, easyfly agreed to acquire five turboprop aircraft from, a manufacturer based in France (and a joint venture between Airbus SE and Leonardo SpA). This led to several alleged acts of trade mark infringement: (i) a press release announcing the purchase (and containing a quote from Snr Avila, President of easyfly) was published on ATR's website and made available in hard copy at the Farnborough (UK) air show (this was allegedly approved by easyfly); and (ii) easyfly's logo (below) was applied to the aircraft and the aircraft were flown through EU airspace during test flights and on their way to Colombia. EasyGroup argued that ATR was jointly liable with the defendants for these alleged infringements, and therefore sought to add ATR to the action (the claim against easyfly began in early 2018).EasyGroup alleged three further acts of infringement against easyfly only: (iii) allowing consumers in the EU to buy easyfly tickets; (iv) direct email marketing to EU-based consumers who provided their email addresses to easyfly; and (v) targeting of the easyfly.com.co website (which is in Spanish) at EU-based consumers.EasyGroup initially was granted permission to serve proceedings out of the jurisdiction on easyfly in February 2018. Due to alleged deficiencies in easyGroup's application, easyfly applied to have such permission set aside, the claim struck out or proceedings transferred to the IPEC.As easyfly is based in Colombia, easyGroup required the court's permission to serve proceedings out of the jurisdiction. The requirements for permission to be granted are: (a) there is a serious issue to be tried on the merits; (b) there is a good arguable case that the claim falls within one or more of the jurisdictional gateways ; and (c) England (and Wales) is the most appropriate forum for the dispute. Regarding (b) and (c), EasyGroup's claim was based on both UK and EU trade marks. The English court was the natural place to hear a claim regarding UK marks. It also had jurisdiction to hear a claim regarding EU trade marks under the jurisdictional "cascade" contained in, because easyGroup is domiciled in the UK (and therefore the court would have jurisdiction to grant pan-EU relief under Article 126(1)(a) EUTMR).The key debate, therefore, was whether there was a serious issue to be tried in relation to the alleged acts of infringement (i) to (v); more specifically whether one or more of the acts arguably targeted consumers in the UK and/or EU (the authorities are clear that mere accessibility, which may attract "", is not sufficient).EasyGroup relied on several factors to support its allegation of targeting, including the fact that "easy" is not a Spanish word (together with easyfly's partly-orange branding); the fact the majority of easyJet customers are based in the UK/EU (and that many of them speak Spanish or have access to online translators); an English-language Facebook page; acceptance of international credit card payments; provision of an international dialling code (which may have been used by EU-based customers); and one instance of alleged actual confusion.Easyfly argued that the fact it is a domestic airline and therefore that its services are only performed in Colombia gave easyfly a defence to infringement. The judge was unconvinced. The key question is whether the alleged infringer uses the allegedly infringing signin the UK/EU. This is a broader concept that the location where the goods or, particularly, services are supplied. The example given by easyGroup's counsel and repeated by the judge is a good one: a business selling trekking holidays in the Himalayas to consumers in the UK under the sign "North Face"; this would, presumably, infringe trade marks for THE NORTH FACE registered in the UK/EU.Although there was some debate regarding the underlying facts of the alleged infringements, the judge was prepared to find on the above basis that there was a serious issue to be tried in respect of all five alleged acts of infringement. Regarding passing off, easyfly argued that easyfly's actions might (at most) cause "" among consumers, not misrepresentation/deception. The judge disagreed (again, there was a serious issue to be tried) but did suggest that some elements of easyGroup's claim might be ambitious.None of this mattered, though. EasyGroup originally applied for permission from the court to serve proceedings on easyfly out of the jurisdiction without notice to easyfly. Therefore, easyGroup had a duty of full and frank disclosure. The witness statement from easyGroup's solicitor in support of the application failed to disclose a number of matters. These omissions were not serious, but the statement also gave the impression that easyfly might be offering flights between the EU and Colombia (which was not the case); failed specifically to draw the judge's attention to an exhibited letter from easyfly's Colombian lawyers which contradicted this impression; and similarly failed to draw attention to easyfly's explicit denial of marketing towards the EU.These latter three issues were serious. Combined with easyGroup's failure to articulate clearly the grounds on which it alleged that easyfly targeted the UK/EU, these failings were enough for the judge to rule that easyGroup had fallen short of the standard of full and frank disclosure. The consequence? The order for permission to serve out of the jurisdiction was set aside (and easyGroup therefore would have to re-apply for permission at a later date).The order to set aside killed the proceedings and made it impossible to join ATR. Nevertheless, Nugee J took out a judicial insurance policy and went on to consider the position of ATR.After some debate, it was agreed that the question of whether the court should give permission to join ATR would be determined by the same standard as service on any out-of-jurisdiction defendant i.e. factors (a) to (c) above. As a reminder, ATR was potentially on the hook for (i) the press release; and (ii) aircraft branding.Unlike easyfly, ATR is domiciled in the EU and, therefore, under Article 125 EUTMR easyGroup had the choice of suing ATR in its Member State of domicile (France) or in the Member State in which the act of infringement occurred (Article 125(5)). In respect of the aircraft branding, the Member States overflown were France and Spain, and so (despite easyGroup's counsel's valiant attempts to steer the court away from theEUTMR jurisdictional provisions and towards Brussels Recast) the English court had no jurisdiction over ATR. Although, in principle, the English court would have jurisdiction in respect of the press release made available at Farnborough, the judge held that the 15 or so copies of the press release wereand there was no threat to republish so, if he had to decide the point (which he did not given the set-aside), he would not have given permission to join ATR to proceedings. Finally, easyGroup's attempt to join ATR via a claim for conspiracy failed: there were no relevant agreements between easyfly and ATR concluded in England, and any damage suffered by easyGroup would have been suffered in France or Spain, and not in England.Above all else, this judgment shows that the concept of "targeting" is broad and flexible. When and if there is a judgment on the merits, it will be interesting to see how many of the allegedly infringing acts are found to be infringing [this GuestKat will place a bet now on (iv) and (v), but not (i)-(iii)].In the meantime, the procedural history of this case serves as a reminder that a decent/arguable case on the merits will not overcome those pesky procedural and jurisdictional rules, at least as far as the English court is concerned. A failure to comply with the duty of full and frank disclosure that accompanies a without notice application is particularly egregious, but it is also interesting that easyGroup joined the growing number of parties who have tried (without success) to carve around the inconvenient strictures of the jurisdictional cascade under the EUTMR.As an aside, in its argument that easyfly targeted the UK/EU, easyGroup relied on an earlier judgment of a Colombian court in a trade mark infringement claim brought by easyfly against easyGroup and easyJet (the court found that easyfly was aware of easyJet's existence at the time of registering the easyfly brand in Colombia). Given what has followed, perhaps it would have been better for easyfly not to poke this particular bear, even on easyfly's home ground...
Whiplash is a common term used to describe neck sprain or neck strain, which is a type of injury affecting the soft tissues of the neck, such as the muscles ligaments and tendons.

Whiplash is caused by an unusual force that brings about sudden forward-backward movement of the neck, beyond the normal range of motion. It occurs when the head moves forward or backward in a jerking motion and this causes a strain in the muscles and ligaments of the neck, resulting in whiplash.

Whiplash most commonly occurs in those who have suffered a motor vehicle accident. The speed of the vehicle is not a deciding factor as a speed of even 15 miles /hour can cause whiplash in the occupants. Other causes include accidental falls, assault or mishaps during sporting activities. Repetitive stress to the neck, as caused by holding the telephone to the ear for too long or child abuse involving shaking a child are also reasons to bring about symptoms of whiplash in a person.

Each year, in the USA alone, 5,000 whiplash injuries result in quadriplegia, that is, paralysis of all four limbs. However, after a year of the injury only 1 in 5 patients remain symptomatic.

Symptoms

Whiplash symptoms may not manifest themselves in some people until 24 hours after the trauma was initiated. In most individuals, the symptoms manifest within the first few days of the accident or assault.

Common symptoms include-

Neck stiffness/swelling/pain

Shoulder pain

Headache

Difficulty in chewing

Dizziness /fatigue

Difficulty in focusing

Lower back ache

Muscle spasm in the front and back of the neck

Numbness /pain in the arm

Sleep disturbances

Tinnitus /nerve irritation

Whiplash-associated disorders sometimes include damage to the brain too.

Diagnosis

As an emergency treatment, a collar may be placed around the patients neck to restrict movement in order to control pain and further injuries.

Once the doctor examines the patient, an X-ray may be advised. If it is normal, then the patient may not need to wear the collar any more. But if the x-ray shows abnormality, then an imaging study such as CT scan or MRI, may be advised as x-rays are inadequate to reveal soft tissue injuries.

Treatment

If you suspect whiplash injuries, consult your GP who will carry out primary exams on you and, if the need be, direct you to a specialist.

If it is a soft tissue injury directed at the muscles, tendons or ligaments, then the symptoms may not be of a serious nature. In such cases, home care may be carried out, which involves methods that are mostly aimed at alleviating pain. Application of ice or cold packs to the affected area for 15-20 min is likely to reduce pain and swelling. This needs to be repeated every hour for the first two to three days. Along with this, pain medications such as ibuprofen and naproxen, and muscle relaxants, as prescribed by the doctor, may be taken.

Whiplash treatment in the past included wearing a collar. This trend, which has since been discontinued, has been replaced by ice treatment for the initial 24 hours, followed by gentle movement of the neck.

If the symptoms are more severe, then doctors might prescribe a range of medications including narcotic pain relaxants, NSAIDS, muscle relaxants and benzodiazepine medications, involving valium. Neck injuries linked to bone or spinal cord damage may demand surgical intervention. Physical therapy with range of motion exercises, muscle strengthening or electrical stimulation may also be advised by the doctor, depending upon the severity.

It is important for the patient to take care not to indulge in stressful activities and to limit head motion until pain and the muscle tightness go away.

Follow-up care may be required depending upon the severity of the injuries. This may include, home exercises, physical therapy or a visit to your specialist.
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

In his state of the city address in early January, Mayor Tim Keller announced that Albuquerque is seeking to suspend outside monitoring of about a quarter of the requirements laid out in the settlement agreement implementing police reforms. Instead the city is seeking to have the Albuquerque Police Department assess whether its following the requirements itself.

But the city has yet to file a self-assessment plan laying out how exactly it will monitor itself, so a hearing scheduled for Tuesday in federal court before U.S. District Judge James Browning will not address the issue.

Instead it is scheduled to be heard at another hearing later in the month.

Although the city initially said it planned to file the self-assessment plan prior to Tuesdays hearing, Gilbert Gallegos, an APD spokesman, said it has been delayed. He said the city has provided several drafts to the Department of Justice and to independent monitor James Ginger  who is overseeing the reforms  and it has incorporated their feedback and answered their questions. The city expects to file its plan soon.

The hearing on the motion was moved in part to allow more time for the court, amici (parties who are not part of the court case but who provide information) and public to review the self-assessment plan, Gallegos said. And in part to allow sufficient time for the parties to both conduct the public hearing and have a full hearing on the motion to move paragraphs into sustained compliance and suspended monitoring.

Raising questions

However, some interested parties say the request is premature and the city will still need a lot of outside help.

With respect to any future self-assessment plan, it is vital that it includes close supervision of its implementation by the independent monitor, wrote Peter Cubra, an attorney involved in a federal lawsuit against the city involving the county jail. This is essential because the Citys Compliance Bureau and almost all of its staff are novices with respect to their core functions; to gather data, determine its reliability, analyze the data correctly, identify problem areas and the causes thereof and to help guide program personnel to conceptualize and implement effective corrective actions.

For the past several years, the city has been working its way through the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) implementing changes to policies, training and ways of operating in the police department. The reforms came about after a DOJ investigation concluded in 2014 that APD had a pattern and practice of using excessive force.

In November, for the first time, monitor Ginger determined the city has achieved 100% primary compliance in all of the paragraphs in the settlement agreement  meaning all of the policies they need to implement have been implemented.

Addressing misconceptions

In an interview late last month, Albuquerques Chief Administrative Officer Sarita Nair and APD Cmdr. Cori Lowe of the Accountability and Oversight Division laid out the broad strokes of the citys proposal and the misconceptions that came along with the initial announcement.

I think there has been some confusion because the short hand has been moving these out of the CASA, Nair said. Were not getting out of doing those things. Were not even getting out of making sure we do those things.

Instead the motion is asking for APD to be able to self-assess the 67 paragraphs it has had full compliance on for the past two years. The motion says APD will provide the self-assessment reports to the court every six months and the monitor will still be able to look over everything they do to ensure its complete and fair.

The paragraphs in question deal with everything from the establishment and operation of a Mental Health Response Advisory Committee to field officer recruitment and training to the management of the departments Special Operations Division, which includes SWAT, the bomb squad and the K-9 unit.

Over the past year the compliance bureau began auditing some aspects of the settlement agreement requirements internally.

Lowe said they started looking at whether officers were turning on their lapel cameras and uploading videos by the end of the next shift. According to the scorecards, which were provided to the Journal in response to an Inspection of Public Records Act, the area commands were 70% to 80% compliant in the first couple of months and then increased to being 88%-94% compliant by August.

Lowe said by the end the officers were complying about 93% of the time, which is still short of the 95% required to be in operational compliance.

We have some areas we need to work on which were continuing to do, Lowe said. Were trying to figure out ways to do that. A lot of times its not them just not doing their job its our systems training and our policies, so were improving all those areas to improve compliance.

Eventually, the goal is for the monitor to be able to leave and for APD to audit all of the paragraphs in the settlement agreement by itself.

By doing this incrementally we can learn a lot more, Lowe said. We can improve before we start bringing all of these paragraphs out and trying to do it on our own we can do it in smaller pieces to be able to get it more solid.

The citys first contract with Ginger  for $4,032,652 for the first four years  expired in January 2019 and an additional 12 months was added for $1,602,063.

Nair said it is too early to know how the plan to self assess will affect Gingers contract moving forward. The contract will need to be re-negotiated soon.

Cautiously optimistic

APD Forward, a coalition of organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico and other nonprofits, did not take a formal position on the citys proposal to self-monitor some requirements.

Rachel Biggs, the policy director for Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless and a member of APD Forward, said the coalitions outlook is cautiously optimistic.

We do see this as a real test of the citys ability to adequately self monitor in a way thats transparent to the community after the DOJ leaves, she said.

Biggs said the biggest concern is that without the monitors regularly released reports  published about twice a year  the community will no longer have a way to keep tabs on the police departments progress.

We still have some questions, Biggs said. I think the city has made suggestions that that will be the case. But until we see the actual self-assessment plan and what that looks like and how that will be used moving forward, were waiting to see how well respond to it.

In a letter submitted to the court, attorney Antonio Moe Maestas wrote that the group he represents called the Community Coalition acknowledges the city has made significant progress in policy development but it does not believe the city is able to reliably self-assess yet.

He pointed to the recent monitor report that faulted supervisors for frequently failing to hold their officers accountable as well as the fact that the city has still not provided its 2018 or 2019 Use of Force Report and some important requirements in the agreement have not moved beyond the creation of a policy.

The non-compliance in those areas indicates that transformative change has not been attained and raises concerns about the Citys readiness to undertake self-assessment on any parts of the CASA, Maestas wrote.

Public hearing

A hearing on the status of the police reform effort will be held in the U.S. District Court on Tuesday, Feb. 11, before Judge James Browning.

Motion to move CASA paragraphs into sustained compliance or suspended monitoring by Albuquerque Journal on Scribd
Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

Lucknow: The BJP leaders seem to have an uncanny penchant for courting controversy through their statements. While Raghuraj Singh, chairman, Labour and Employment Board, kicked up a row by demanding to ban the burqa in the country, BJP MP from Aligarh Satish Gautam suggested a social activist to go to Pakistan if feeling stifled.

On the other, BJPs Ballia MP Virendra Singh Mast refused that the country was passing through economic recession. He claimed that the nature of clothes people wore indicated that there was no economic crisis in the country.

He said people would have worn dhoti-kurta had the nation been reeling under recession. According to sources, while addressing a gathering to clear doubts over amended Citizenship Act, Raghuraj Singh who enjoys the status of Minister of State, said that terrorists used to wear burqas to conceal their identity and also weapon underneath in an apparent reference to anti-CAA protests underway in the Shahjamal area in Agra.

ALSO READ | BJP issues show-cause notice to UP cabinet minister Raghuraj Singh

He further explained that wearing a burqa was a tradition started in Arabian countries and is not an Indian custom. He added even Sri Lanka had banned it after a series of bomb blasts ripped the country last year, leaving many dead and injuring scores of people.

This is not the first time, Singh has made a controversial statement in Aligarh earlier saying those raising slogans against PM Modi and UP CM Yogi Adityanath "would be buried alive". Similarly, another Aligarh leader and BJP MP Satish Gautam, who had created flutter in 2018 by demanding removal of Mohammad Ali Jinnahs portrait from AMU, kicked up yet another row by asking social activist Sumaiya Rana, daughter of leading Urdu poet Munawwar Rana, to "go to Pakistan" since she was feeling suffocated in India of today.

Sumaiya, while addressing a gathering of anti-CAA protesters in Aligarh on Saturday, had allegedly accused the UP cops of using "coercive measures" to crush protests against the amended citizenship law and said such measures were "very suffocating" for the people. On the other, BJP MP Virendra Singh mast, originally a farmer leader, refused to acknowledge that the country was passing through a phase of economic recession.

Mast, while addressing a gathering at an event in Ballia, claimed that world might be in the grip of recession but India would not be impacted by it as its rural and agricultural economy was strong enough. He linked his logic with the nature of attire Indians were donning. "Had there been recession, we would have come here wearing dhoti and kurta and not coats and jackets.

Had there been recession we would not have purchased clothes, pants and payjamas," Mast said. He had claimed that Indias economy had a crucial rural indicator which was strong enough. "India is a country of villages and not just metros. Banking reports say that in banks, most of the money deposited is that of villagers," he said.
Heavy rain could cause landslips and bring down trees in fire-hit towns in East Gippsland, with some areas expected to get as much as 80 millimetres on Monday.

Most areas in the region are expected to receive between 20 millimetres to 50 millimetres of rain, including Mallacoota, Cann River, Chandlers Creek and Combienbar.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for heavy rain in East Gippsland. Credit:Bureau of Meteorology

But the Bureau of Meteorology has warned some areas could get as much as 80 millimetres with flash flooding predicted, especially in the high country near the NSW border.

The rain, which will be heaviest in the afternoon, is part of the extreme system that has stretched down the entire NSW coastline and brought heavy flooding to Sydney.
NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand -- A soldier angry over a property deal gone sour killed at least 29 people and wounded 57 in a rampage that spanned four locations in and around the northeastern Thai city of Nakhon Ratchasima before he was shot dead early Sunday.

Most of the victims were at the citys Terminal 21 shopping center, where the shooter held out against an overnight siege with an assault rifle and ammunition stolen from his army base.

Police named him as 32-year-old soldier Jakrapanth Thomma. He initially posted written messages on Facebook during the attack before his account was shut down by the company.

It was a personal conflict...over a house deal, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters on Sunday from Nakhon Ratchasima after traveling there to meet wounded survivors.

Prayuth added that the conflict was with a relative of the soldiers commanding officer.

Thailands worst mass shooting prompted soul searching in the southeast Asian country of 69 million, where the army has long styled itself as the protector of the nation and dominated politics for decades either overtly or from behind the scenes.

Prayuth, a former military ruler, came in for criticism over his handling of the incident after he waved and smiled during a visit to the scene and made a heart gesture with his fingers. The hashtag #RIPPrayuth was trending on Thai social media.

If you have a heart like kind Thais, you should respect relatives of the deceased with a calm and mournful manner, commented Jirayu Houngsub, an opposition member of parliament.

At a morgue in Nakhon Ratchasima, the family of 13-year-old Ratchanon Karnchanamethee sobbed as they identified his body.

Hes my only son. He hasnt even had dinner, said his father, Natthawut Karnchanamethee. I allowed him to do anything he wanted to. I never set expectations for him. I only wanted him to be a good person.

Led by police and soldiers, hundreds of shoppers fled the mall during the 12-hour standoff. Crouching low, they escaped in small groups, dazed and exhausted. At one point, armed forces emerged at a run carrying small children.

It was frightening because I could hear the occasional gunshot...we waited a long time for the police to come and help us, many hours, said Suvanarat Jirattanasakul, 27, her voice trembling.

Another survivor told local Amarin TV that the shooter was aiming for the heads and said his colleague died on the scene.

He was shooting everywhere and his shots were very precise, said the man, identified as Diaw.

The provinces governor, Wichien Chantaranochai, on Sunday night said a total of 29 people had been killed and 57 were wounded.

Also known by the historical name Korat, Nakhon Ratchasima has a population of about 250,000. It is close to a national park popular for its wild elephants but the relatively poor northeastern region is one of the less visited areas for Thailands tens of millions of tourists.

Stolen arsenal

CCTV footage from inside the mall posted on social media showed the gunman dressed in black and wearing a mask, his gun slung over his shoulder with no sign of other people around.

According to local media, Jakrapanth worked at an army base close to Nakhon Ratchasima, which is about 250 km (155 miles) from the capital Bangkok.

He was a sharp shooter and took many special courses on carrying out attacks, including planning ambushes, army sources said. Thai media reported he often posted photos of weapons on social media.

The killings began at around 3 p.m. (0800 GMT) on Saturday when the soldier opened fire in a house before moving to an army camp and then driving to the mall in a stolen Humvee.

The soldiers commanding officer was one of the people reported killed before the soldier moved on to the shopping mall and began shooting.

At some point during the day, the soldier raided the army camps weapons storage to arm himself, said Lt. General Thanya Kiatsarn, Commander of the Second Area Command.

He attacked the guard to the weapon arsenal, who later died, and he stole an official jeep and an HK33 gun and an amount of ammunition to do what he did, Thanya said.

Spend the money in hell

Hours before he began shooting on Saturday, Jakrapanth had posted on his Facebook account denouncing greedy people.

Rich from cheating. Taking advantage of other people. Do they think they can spend the money in hell? read one post in Thai.

He later posted written updates during the attack.

Death is inevitable for everyone, he wrote. Later, he complained about his fingers cramping and asked Should I give up? before the account was no longer available.

Hours after the mall siege began, Facebook said it had removed the suspects account.

There is no place on Facebook for people who commit this kind of atrocity, nor do we allow people to praise or support this attack, a Facebook representative said in a statement.

Major shootings are rare in Thailand other than in the far south, where a decades-old insurgency persists.
The Sri Lankan government is reportedly planning to sign bilateral agreements with a number of countries including China, Pakistan and Iraq, to increase tourist arrivals in a bid to boost the crisis-hit sector. According to international media reports, the Cabinet has approved to sign the bilateral agreements to promote tourism. The government has also said that they expect to enter into agreements with several other countries such as South Africa and Georgia.

The Sri Lankan Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga further pointed out that such agreements would benefit Sri Lanka as well as other countries. According to reports, Sri Lanka has already signed agreements for tourism promotion with 10 countries including India, Thailand, Seychelles, Poland, Tajikistan, Malaysia, Australia, Russia, South Korea and the Philippines. Its top tourist market also includes India, UK, China, Australia, Germany, the US, Maldives, France and Canada.

READ: Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa Commends Namami Gange Programme

READ: PM Modi Holds Bilateral Talks With Sri Lankan Counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa

Ranatunga, while speaking to a media outlet, said that the government intends to appoint destination marketing agencies based in India, Europe, China, the Middle East, Russia and Ukraine. Back in 2019, Sri Lanka reportedly also received a little over 1.9 million tourists and this year the government aims to attract three million tourists. The Sri Lankan government also further aims to scale it up to 10 million within five years.

Coronavirus affects global tourism

However, as per media reports, Ranatunga said that the signing of the recent agreement could be delayed for some time due to the unprecedented outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China. He reportedly said that the escalation of the coronavirus crisis could pose a negative impact on the tourism industry but he further added that the Sri Lankan government is optimistic of signing these agreements as soon as the tourism industry in the world recovers.

Coronavirus has also thrown the travel industry into chaos, threatening billions of dollars in losses while keeping millions of travellers at home. Reportedly, hotel rooms in China are largely empty and with many tourists cancelling travel to Asia while many are taking a wait-and-see approach. Asia, which attracts 75% of Lunar New Year travellers, has also seen a decline even though the Chinese New Year is one of China's major travel periods. Destinations further from the outbreak are also feeling the loss of Chinese tourists as many countries have banned visitors from mainland China.

READ: Hope Sri Lanka Will Fulfil Aspirations Of Tamil People: Modi After Talks With SL PM

READ: Modi Holds Talks With Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa
Thats the quest of some dancers in American Contemporary Ballet as they try to recreate Astaires routines. Although Astaires style  the nimble and quick footwork and weightless slides  is not technical, re-creating his dancing for the stage requires a high level of musicality and nuance  and leaves some dancers feeling like imposters.  Los Angeles Times
Washington/New Delhi, Feb 10 : The US will ink a deal of Integrated Air Defence Weapon System (IADWS) at an estimated cost of $1.867 billion with India.

The US state department on Monday made a "determination approving a possible foreign military sale to India".

The US Defence Security Cooperation Agency had informed the US Congress about the decision to sale the defence weapon system on February 7.

The proposed sale of the equipment and support system will not alter the basic military balance in the region, the US government said in the context of neighbouring enemy countries.

It stated: "India has requested to buy an Integrated Air Defense Weapon System (IADWS) comprising five components which are AN/MPQ-64Fl Sentinel radar systems; 118 AMRAAM AIM-120C-7/C-8 missiles; 3 AMRAAM Guidance Sections; 4 AMRAAM Control Sections; and 134 Stinger FIM-92L missiles." The US stated that India had requested to include 32 M4A1 rifles; 40,320 M855 5.56 mm cartridges; Fire Distribution Centers (FDC) and Handheld Remote Terminals.

The deal also includes Electrical Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) sensor systems; AMRAAM Non-Developmental Item-Airborne Instrumentation Units (NDIAAIU); Multi-spectral Targeting System-Model A (MTS-A); Canister Launchers (CN); High Mobility Launchers (HML) and Dual Mount Stinger (DMS) Air Defence Systems.

The US will also sell Vehicle Mounted Stinger Rapid Ranger Air Defence Systems; communications equipment; tool kits; test equipment; range and test programmes; support equipment; prime movers; generators; technical documentation; computer based training equipment; training equipment; training towers; ammunition storage; training and maintenance facilities; infrastructure improvements; US government and contractor technical support, engineering and logistics support services; warranty services; Systems and Integration Checkout (SICO); field office support and other related elements of logistics and programme support.

The total estimated cost is $1.867 billion.

"This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security of the US by helping to strengthen the US-India strategic relationship and to improve the security of a major defensive partner, which continues to be an important force for political stability, peace and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific and South Asia region," the US government stated.

India intends to use these defence articles and services to modernise its armed forces, and to expand its existing air defence architecture to counter threats posed by air attacks.

This will contribute to India's military goal to update its capability while further enhancing greater interoperability between India and the US.

Around 60 US government or contractor representatives will travel to India for a period of six weeks wherein they will be involved in activities that include de-processing, fielding, training and technical and logistics support.
The California State University system and Cal State San Marcos agreed to pay $240,000 to settle a lawsuit challenging their refusal to use student fees to fund a pro-life speaker on campus, according to a newspaper report Wednesday.

University officials also agreed to change their policy to make sure that future funding decisions are viewpoint neutral and do not discriminate against particular causes, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Cal State San Marcos student Nathan Apodaca sued the school and its Associated Students Inc. auxiliary in 2017 after he and his anti-abortion group Students for Life were denied a $500 grant to host Mike Adams, a well-known pro-life speaker.

As part of the settlement, all 23 Cal State campuses will be alerted that applicable student association funds for speech events may not be based on the approval or disapproval of an organizations or an associations viewpoint.

Neither the Chancellors Office or Cal State San Marcos responded to requests from the newspaper for comment about the settlement.

The agreement, which assigns no blame to either party in the litigation, also calls for CSU to pay $3,000 in damages to the Students for Life chapter at CSU San Marcos. Associated Students agreed to pay $300 to Apodaca to cover past fees paid by the student.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits California Education Universities
A team of archaeologists from the state archaeological department has rushed to East Burdwan district in south Bengal after a villager stumbled upon an underground tunnel while digging the soil to build a house.

The tunnel made of bricks measures around four feet deep and 10 feet long. Archaeologists after seeing the picture of the tunnel said that it could be around 200 - 300 year old.

The discovery, however, triggered much curiosity among the villagers who thought that the tunnel could lead to a secret chamber where treasure could be hidden.

The tunnel was found by a villager Jiarul Mullick on Saturday. He had employed some labourers who were digging the soil. It was Mullicks property and he wanted to build a house. But while the digging was going on, suddenly a portion of the plot caved in revealing the tunnel, said Pranab Kumar Banerjee, inspector of the Bhatar police station.

The area was cordoned off and the district administration was informed. The state archaeology department was also informed.

It is too early to say anything. We have to examine the tunnel to know how old it is. If necessary further excavation will be carried out, said an official from the archaeology department.

Even though archaeologists have earlier found items dating back to the second millenium BC from Burdwan district, the tunnel they say appears to be around 200 - 300 years old.

Prima facie the tunnel seems to be dating back to the 17th - 18th century AD. It needs to be thoroughly examined, said G Sengupta, former director general of the Archaelogical Survey of India.
Crews with Washington County Roads will close lanes on Northwest Cornelius Pass Road at its intersection with Germantown Road, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Thursday, Feb. 10-13. Drivers should expect delays.

This is the first move in a larger project that will add safety features to the Germantown, Cornelius Pass and Old Cornelius Pass roads intersections. The county has yet to designate a traffic signal location, but that is part of the overall plan.

Proposed changes to the intersections of Cornelius Pass, Old Cornelius Pass and Germantown roads.

Cornelius Pass and Germantown roads meet at an unsignalized "T" intersection in northern Washington County. The county believes traffic volumes, speed, and unusual intersection geometry contribute to crashes in this area.

Construction is scheduled through late May. Read more about the project here: bit.ly/CPGintersection

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GRESHAM 9 a.m.: Injury crash on Southeast Stark Street near Hale Avenue in Gresham.

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OREGON CITY 8:25 a.m.: Crash on OR 213 near Meyers Road, across from Clackamas Community College.

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SOUTHEAST PORTLAND 7:51 a.m.: Hit-and-run crash reported on Southeast Division Street at 60th Avenue.

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WEST SALEM 7:30 a.m.: A crash on the west end of the Center Street Bridge has traffic in west Salem backed up for miles. Expect delays.

#pdxtraffic West #Salem is a complete clog due to a crash near the Center St. Bridge. Expect delays heading into downtown. pic.twitter.com/jOKy6IAEcX  PDX Traffic Alerts (@TrafficPortland) February 10, 2020

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SOUTHWEST PORTLAND 7:11 a.m.: Crash on I-5 northbound prior to the Terwilliger curves has the left lane blocked.

Update 7:34 a.m.: Moved to shoulder.

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Northeast Arata Road in Wood Village has reopened to two-way traffic between Wood Village Boulevard and 238th Drive. Some aspects of the project cannot be completed until the weather improves. Road work is on break in the area until later this spring.

Arata Road paving map Wood Village

In Vancouver, crews will close one lane of northbound Interstate 5 near the 78th Street ramp 6 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Thursday, Feb. 10-13 for electrical work. Watch for slowing.

Check back throughout the morning for the latest commuting updates and follow us on Twitter: @trafficportland
A DEVELOPING, breaking story since January, the novel coronavirus pandemic continues to put the Filipino people in fear. The world seems to be plagued by the home-grown virus that came from Wuhan, China, placing flights to and fro the country of origin banned temporarily for non-Filipinos.

On the other hand, the Filipinos in general were impressed on how prompt the Chinese government was in addressing the issue. The country was able to build a hospital for those who were tested positive on the virus for a short period of time. Caveat, China condeveloped an empty lot for a hospital building that is set to open in May. (This means that they did not start from scratch.)

The worlds second largest economy put Wuhan in lockdown. Russia, one of Chinas allies closed its borders, too! The virus puts the world under threat as the virus can be acquired via close contact. Countries prepared their quarantine facilities and tightened their airport security. Now, how would this probably affect other countries economies?

As China is said to be one of the greatest exporters on electrical machinery, furniture, and other plastic products, this means that it is a challenge for those countries who are relying on Chinas goods, like South Koreas Hyundai, which relies on Chinas car components. The said carmaker reportedly looked for a new supplier. Aside from this, we should also take into consideration those multinational companies (MNCs) that temporarily suspended their operations, those fast food chains, coffee shops and clothing stores.

When countries temporarily ban sea and air travels from China, this may also mean that those cargo ships carrying those goods and products are included.

For those developed countries that are already stable and organized like Australia, to face this challenge might not be a total burden for them considering their advanced healthcare system. However, if we look at Timor Leste, the country is said to have asked Indonesia to quarantine 17 of its citizens, but was then rejected. This, therefore, means that to face the current health issue is an additional state expense for quarantine facilities.

The Philippines might expropriate private facilities and buildings and convert them into quarantine centers for people suspected of contracting the virus. This is apparently a step towards combating the virus that has started to infiltrate the country. There have been talks about using the drug facilities in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija, which is apparently donated by none other than a Chinese philanthropist to help address the need for space for patients to be treated and tested.

There have been many actions taken in the midst of this epidemic and we believe that this will only be temporary as many countries are now working on how to properly combat the virus. The preemptive measures in terms of treatment are well on their way, and hopefully, it will not create much impact on the Philippine economy because if it would, that might result to financial crisis which the Filipino people could not afford to happen.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 04:31:08|Editor: yan

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UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Increased shelling and airstrikes in Idlib and surrounding areas have made the United Nations deeply alarmed over the safety and protection of more than 3 million civilians in the region, most of whom already are displaced, a UN spokesman said on Monday.

"The UN Human Rights Office verified that at least 49 civilians, including 14 women and 17 children, were killed in incidents between Feb. 1 and 5," said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

In January, the same office said at least 186 civilians, including 33 women, 37 boys and 30 girls, were killed.

Since Dec. 1, about 689,000 civilians have been displaced due to the hostilities, around 80 percent of them women and children. This constitutes an increase of over 100,000 civilians in less than a week, Haq said.

Over the weekend, rain and snow and freezing temperatures across northwest Syria worsened the already harsh conditions for internally displaced people and host communities, he said. Among the worst affected are those sheltered in camps, informal settlements or unfinished buildings.

The spokesman said food, shelter, water and sanitation, hygiene, health, education and protection assistance are all urgent priorities.

The humanitarian community is planning to face the needs of up to 800,000 people in northwest Syria over six months, he said. The requirements cost up to 336 million U.S. dollars.
The Louisiana Department of Public Health is investigating an outbreak of the norovirus linked to a Lake Charles casino.

As many as 200 people in Calcasieu and Vernon Parishes were sickened after visits to LAuberge Casino in the last two weeks, according to KIRO-7. No matter the source, the highly contagious gastrointestinal illness is now being spread person-to-person, health officials said.

People with norovirus can easily spread the illness from the moment they begin experiencing symptoms to several days after they recover, said Dr. Frank Welch, immunization director for the Louisiana Department of Health. Some people can continue to spread norovirus for up to three weeks. There are no medications to prevent norovirus, which is why frequent handwashing is your best protection.

In a statement, the casino referred people to the health department website, adding: LAuberge Lake Charles has stringent sanitation procedures in place. In addition, we are reminding guests and team members to regularly wash their hands and take other health safety precautions."

Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, headache, body aches, fatigue and fever.

People with symptoms are asked to stay home from school or work; wash their hands frequently with soap and water; and disinfect surfaces. People are contagious for up to three weeks after symptoms are gone.
I nvestor confidence in central London offices has been given a boost since Boris Johnsons election victory, with over 500 million of deals agreed last month, new research showed on Monday.

Property agent Avison Young said 293 million of City purchases were done in January, and 218 million in the West End. That was up from 162 million and 95 million respectively a year ago.

Among the sales was Royal London Asset Management paying close to 68 million for a block let to multiple companies close to Moorgate station.

Jamie Olley in Avison Youngs central London team said: Investor sentiment remains strong, evidenced by significant overseas and domestic capital targeting London.

He added: "Occupational demand is still very strong. That is attractive to a number of buyers.
Hong Kong: Hospital services to be adjusted

The Hospital Authority announced plans to gradually adjust non-emergency and non-essential services at public hospitals to focus manpower and resources on the challenge of the epidemic.

Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, the authoritys Chief Manager (Cluster Performance) Dr Ian Cheung said the next few weeks will be the most critical time for combating the novel coronavirus.

Dr Cheung explained that service curtailment can reduce the flow of people in hospitals, reduce the risk of cross infection and allow healthcare staff to focus on the epidemic and strengthen infection control measures.

The specialist outpatient clinics (SOPCs) of public hospital will gradually reduce the services. For instance, Ear, Nose & Throat specialty will provide consultations only to post operation follow up and cancer cases required surveillance.

SOPCs will contact patients with stable condition and mild illnesses to reschedule the appointments and arrange drug refills.

Emergency surgery services will be maintained. Elective surgeries will be postponed except for essential surgeries for cancer treatment.

Appointments for non-emergency and routine clinical examinations such as endoscopy and gastroscopy will also be rescheduled.

At the same time, the authority is also discussing various Public-Private Partnership Programmes with several private hospitals.

Public hospital patients will be diverted to private hospitals and receive treatment at current fees charged by public hospitals. Initial agreement has been reached on neonatal jaundice treatment.

Dr Cheung hopes the public will understand the need for such service adjustment arrangements and apologised to affected patients.

This story has been published on: 2020-02-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Feb. 10

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

Guychgeldi Baygeldiyev has been appointed the chairman of Turkmenistan's State Oil Concern Turkmenoil (Turkmennebit), Trend reports with reference to the relevant decree of the Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.

About 10 million tons of oil are extracted in Turkmenistan every year, the main producer being Turkmenneft. Burren Energy (branch of Eni), Mitro, Dragon Oil, and Petronas, are among the foreign companies involved in extraction of oil in Turkmenistan.

It was reported earlier that due to assurance of the availability of proven natural gas reserves for many years, the major part of exploration is currently focused on the search for oil fields, especially in the Miocene deposits in the south-western parts of the country, and Jurassic-Cretaceous sediments in the central regions of the country.

According to local geologists, almost the entire land area of Turkmenistan is considered as promising for hydrocarbons. Moreover, the potential of the subsoil is estimated to a depth of seven kilometers.
The previous Russian government's work has been commended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, it would be inappropriate to talk about an overhaul of the former governments decisions, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

His statement came in response to a question regarding the Russian Ministry of Education and Sciences recent reversal of an order for international cooperation, approved by the previous Cabinet of Ministers.



"This question is completely inappropriate, I think it would be impossible and counterproductive to answer it," the spokesman said.

Peskov recalled that the outcomes of the work of former Russian PM Dmitry Medvedevs "government have been commended by President Putin many times."

"Medvedevs government achieved some significant results, and the current government is not starting anew," TASS cited the spokesman as saying.
Four more families have claimed their babies would not have died if they had been given better care by NHS hospital in East Kent.

Reid Shaw, Freddie White, Harriet Gittos and Fletcher Aiken all died at hospitals run by the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust between August 2014 and November 2019.

Their parents have repeatedly slammed maternity services at the scandal-hit sites, but only two families have received apologies, with one case 'still under investigation' and health bosses denying errors in the fourth.

It comes after a probe was launched into 26 baby deaths across East Kent after a coroner ruled Harry Richford's death at just one-week-old in November 2017 was 'wholly avoidable'.

He died at the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (QEQM) Hospital in Margate.

Helen Gittos's baby Harriet died at the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital in Margate

A BBC investigation previously found at least seven preventable baby deaths may have occurred at the trust since 2016.

The BBC found Helen Gittos waited more than an hour to be seen at the QEQM after she had gone into labour.

Following a traumatic birth with her son two years before, Ms Gittos and her partner Andy Hudson checked out the labour facilities at the QEQM and did not think it was safe.

So she had a home birth nearby after the hospital rejected her request to give birth at its midwife-led unit because her firstborn was by Caesarean.

Ms Gittos was taken to the QEQM after a slow labour and gave birth to baby Harriet, who was in a poor condition and died eight days later.

Medics told her Harriet died because she had refused to have appropriate medical treatment.

She told the BBC: 'We at no stage declined any medical intervention whatsoever.'

Kirsty King said staff failed to believe she was in labour as she was only 28 weeks pregnant with baby Fletcher Aiken who later died

East Kent Hospitals said: 'We accept. that we could have done more to respond to Dr Gittos' wishes and help her labour in a calm, low-risk environment as much as possible.'

IVF baby Freddie White - who was a twin - died in April 2016 and the trust has accepted his death could have been avoided.

His mother Nicola Grimmett was 35 weeks pregnant when a doctor found her babies had twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, a serious condition where one fetus is getting more blood from the placenta than the other.

She did not see a consultant until two days later, and it took a further day to give her a C-section - and little Freddie could not be revived.

His family insist he would have lived had he been delivered sooner.

A trust spokeswoman said: 'We accept that Freddie's death might have been avoided had we acted differently and we wholeheartedly apologise for this.'

The trust has launched an investigation into the November 2019 death of Reid Andrew Shaw.

His mother Kirsty Stead had twice reported reduced movement, and she called midwives in the early hours the day before her due date after Reid began moving excessively and she was in severe pain.

Ms Stead said she was told to take paracetamol and go to sleep.

It comes after an probe was launched into 26 baby deaths across East Kent after a coroner ruled Harry Richford's death (pictured with his mother Sarah and father Tom) at just one-week-old in November 2017 was 'wholly avoidable'

Later that day she rang the QEQM saying she had not felt Reid move for hours and after being asked to come in, hospital staff said her son had died.

The hospital said it did not have a record of Ms Stead's initial call and there was a possibility the staff member who took her call had been looking after another patient at the same time - and not checked her medical notes.

She believes baby Reid would have survived had she been told to go into hospital sooner.

She told the BBC: 'Things just went downhill and spiralled out of control so quickly that it's hard to actually think that it's real, because it's all like a muddled up dream and not a nice one.'

The trust said: 'We have started a thorough investigation into the care that Kirsty and Reid were given.'

Kirsty King says medics at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford did not believe she was in labour because she was just 28 weeks pregnant with her son Fletcher Aiken in August 2017.

He was born by emergency C-section but managed to begin breathing on his own two days later - despite still being weak.

Staff said Fletcher would be fit to go home around a month later as he needed to put on more weight.

But he became ill at nine days old and died four days later - and Ms King says medics failed to spot a fungal infection he had developed.

Last week Harry's father Tom Richford (pictured with Harry's mother Sarah) read a statement outside County Hall in Maidstone and said the trust had failed to learn from this and previous similar cases

He began suffering multiple seizures daily and doctors said they thought Fletcher had an unspecified genetic condition.

Fletcher's heartbroken family say he would have been given correct antibiotics from birth had he been born at another hospital.

Ms King told the BBC: 'We'll never know if he'd been given the anti-fungal medication, would he ever have got it [the infection]. It just has such a horrific effect on everyone.'

The trust said of Fletcher's case: 'There was no evidence of any omissions in care. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman is currently investigating the family's complaint.'

The trust has previously admitted that it has 'not always provided the right standard of care' in its maternity services.

Last week, former health secretary Jeremy Hunt called for an inquiry into the safety of maternity services following developments in East Kent and the baby deaths scandal at the Shrewsbury And Telford Hospital Trust.

In a statement, East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust said: 'We are deeply saddened by the stories of families who have suffered the death of a much-loved baby, and we are extremely sorry for their loss.'

It said 'significant changes' had been made to maternity care since it commissioned an independent review in 2015.

A board sub-committee has been set up to 'ensure we are complying with national safety standards' and so that the recommendations from the Harry Richford inquest are implemented 'fully and swiftly'.
The Irishman (Netflix)

Netflix set its own Oscars record in 2020, earning 24 nominations  the most for any single studio this year.

However, the streaming service scored just two wins in total on the night: the Obama-produced American Factory won best Documentary Feature and Laura Dern won Best Supporting Actress for Marriage Story.

The streaming studio also set its own unwanted record: Martin Scorseses The Irishman became one of the most overlooked films in Academy Awards history.

With zero wins from 10 nominations, the mob drama joins Scorseses Gangs Of New York, the Coen Brothers True Grit and David O Russells American Hustle in the rankings of most nods without wins.

Read more: Shock win for Parasite

The most-snubbed films of all time are Steven Spielbergs The Colour Purple in 1986 and 1977s The Turning Point, starring Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft. Both films received 11 Oscar nominations but no wins.

Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro catch up with their The Irishman director at the Oscars. (Arturo Holmes via Getty Images)

Scorseses film, starring Robert De Niro in the title role, came out of the gate as an early Oscar contender, but it failed to maintain its momentum that had initially propelled it to 10 nominations.

It was in the running for:

Best Picture  Lost to Parasite

Best Director  Lost to Parasite

Best Supporting Actor twice for Al Pacino and Joe Pesci  Lost to Brad Pitt, Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood

Adapted Screenplay  Lost to Taika Waititi, Jojo Rabbit

Production Design  Lost to Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood

Cinematography  Lost to 1917

Costume Design  Lost to Little Women

Film Editing  Lost to Ford v Ferrari (Le Mans 66)

Visual Effects  Lost to 1917

Scorseses only Oscar win remains Best Director for The Departed in 2007. That crime thriller, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg, won four Academy Awards in total.
However, Superintendent Scott Miller told those gathered that in the last few years the State of Indiana made it illegal to punish students for their parents failure to pay fees. That includes denying access to transcripts if the student changes schools, their diplomas or tickets to events such as a prom, Miller said.
The Pentagon is setting up quarantines at 11 additional quarantines on military bases in anticipation of an influx of US citizens returning from China and in need of monitoring for coronavirus.

So far, 12 people in the US have been diagnosed with coronavirus and the Pentagon had previously agreed to house 1,000 people in 14-day quarantines.

Now, with five planes having returned to the US with evacuees from Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, the number of people detained under quarantine is approaching that originally agreed upon number.

Pentagon officials Thursday designated new facilities near airports in Hawaii, Illinois, Texas, California, Georgia, New York, Washington, Washington, DC, New Jersey and Michigan to house additional travelers.

Hospital officials, too, are worried about bed space with the flu season in full swing and the threat of coronavirus cases looming.

Georgia's Dobbins ARB (pictured) will serve as one of 11 additional quarantine facilities designated by the Department of Defense

The last of the scheduled evacuation flights from Wuhan landed last week, and passengers were received by medical staff to transport them to quarantine

Naval Base Kitsap (pictured) in Washington, will now be a quarantine location for travelers who fly into Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

PENTAGON OPENS 11 MORE QUARANTINES NEAR AIRPORTS WHERE FLIGHTS ARE REROUTED FROM CHINA

New quarantine centers will be opened at:

JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii (HNL)

Great Lakes Training Center Navy Base, Illinois (ORD)

Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base, Texas (DFW)

March ARB, California (LAX)

Travis AFB, California (SFO)

Dobbins ARB, Georgia (ATL)

Fort Hamilton, New York (JFK)

Naval Base Kitsap, Washington (SEA)

Joint Base Anacostia, Washington DC (IAD)

Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey (EWR)

Fort Custer Training Center, Michigan (DTW)

The additional quarantine locations were added at the request of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which also announced Friday that the White House was prepared to commit $110 million to the global fight against coronavirus.

Over the weekend, China saw its deadliest day for coronavirus patients yet, with nearly 100 fatalities in a single 24-hour period.

And on Saturday, the first American to die of coronavirus - a 60-year-old person - was reported from Wuhan.

At least 800 Americans evacuated from Wuhan are currently under federally mandated quarantines.

Quarantines had already been set up by the Department of Defense at Fort Carson in Colorado, Travis Air Force Base and Marine Corps Station Miramar in California.

A hotel on Travis Air Force Base (pictured) has already become the two-week home of a number of evacuees from Wuhan

So far, that State Department has not scheduled any additional flights to evacuate Americans from Wuhan.

However, officials expect a slow trickle of passengers returning from other locations who have been to the Hubei Province - where Wuhan is located - within the past two weeks to continue.

No cases of coronavirus have thus far been confirmed from any of the US quarantine locations.

On two cruise ships, on the other hand, the virus has spread with alarming speed among quarantined passengers. There are now more than 66 cases confirmed on the Diamond Princess, currently docked in Japan.

Among the ship 3,700 ship passengers, 45 Japanese people, three people from the Philippines, four from Australia, one from each Canada and Ukraine and 11 Americans have all been infected.

HOSPITAL BEDS ARE ALREADY FULL AS OFFICIALS PLAN FOR 'SURGE CAPACITY' AND CONSERVE MASKS

While US health officials continue to reassure Americans that coronavirus is not spreading in communities in the US - the only two cases of human-to-human transmission are among husband-and-wife pairs - hospitals are bracing themselves.

This year has already been a relatively bad one for flu, meaning hospital beds are filling up fast.

Northwell Health's 23 New York hospitals are 'full or very full,' Dr Mark Jarrett, chief quality officer for the group, told DailyMail.com.

'Usually at this time of year we see that level of occupancy, but it's significant knowing that we have to be concerned if we need surge capacity if this [coronavirus] really takes hold in the United States.'

Dr Jarrett estimates that out of 6,200 beds, 6,200 are full on average, as some locations may have empty beds, but others have multiple patients facing 24- to 48-hour waiting periods in emergency rooms before beds become available for them.

No cases have been confirmed in New York so far and Dr Jarrett is takes a measured view of coronavirus. For most people, he says, the virus won't be any more serious than other viral respiratory illnesses.

But that doesn't mean he's letting his guard down that there may be cease.

'I think it's something to be concerned about because of global travel - and regular travel - between places, so i think we're at more risk than we would've been 50 years ago,' he says.

In Wuhan, medical staff are working in full ICUs to care for coronavirus patients in isolation. So far, the virus is not spreading in the US, but hospitals are already at capacity with flu patients and bracing for a potential influx of patients of the new virus that's sickened 12 Americans

'We're not really seeing it spread within the US at this point, we've been lucky, not enough cases have occurred with human-to-human transmission.

'But once that starts occurring locally - if it does - it will probably spread just like it did in China.'

Northwell, like most hospitals, has contingency plans for surge capacity, but the spread of a new virus in tandem with the regular flu could pose a steep challenge to the system.

Hospitals like Dr Jarrett's could be forced to reopen floors closed for construction, tap other facilities, and start isolating patients in 'cohorts' rather than by themselves.

In addition to space, hospitals could be strained for supplies.

So far, Dr Jarrett says his hospitals are 'good on supplies' like masks and other personal protective gear, but he's looking warily to the future.

'I'd say I'm cautiously concerned,' he says.

Already, Northwell staff have been briefed on how to safely reuse their masks depending on the illnesses of the patients they've seen.

He adds that the longer coronavirus can be kept at bay from becoming a pandemic, the better, as that will give suppliers a chance to ramp up production of masks and other sanitary and protective gear.

Dr Jarrett has his concerns, but isn't yet terribly afraid of the virus which seems to have a low mortality rate, but also cautions that it's too soon to tell what coronavirus will do.

Over the weekend, deaths from the infection surpassed those from the 2003 outbreak of another coronavirus that caused severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), but he says that doesn't mean this outbreak will ultimately be any worse - or less devastating.

'SARS was controllable, it eventually petered out,' he says.

'What we don't know is if this is a virus that will peter out or just continue to spread in the community and be impossible to just completely shut out.'

In the latter case, the world could end up with another annual epidemic that co-occurs with flu season.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 04:05:07|Editor: yan

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CAIRO, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Egypt and Germany's giant Wintershall DEA signed on Monday a deal to explore oil and natural gas in the Nile Delta, with a minimum investment of 43 million U.S. dollars, said Egypt's Petroleum Ministry.

Under the deal, the German company will explore oil and gas in the East Damanhour Bloc in the Nile Delta in north of Cairo, said a statement by the ministry.

The minimum investment is 43 million dollars to drill eight wells, with a signature grant of 11 million dollars, according to the statement.

The deal brings the number of petroleum deals that Egypt has signed with investors in the past four years to 61, with a minimum investment of about 6 billion dollars.

Egypt aims to become a regional hub for the trade of oil and liquefied natural gas after major discoveries were made in recent years, including the Zohr gas field in the Mediterranean which holds an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of gas.
PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is investigating potential consumer class action claims on behalf of owners and lessees of Toyota RAV4 Hybrid vehicles, Model Years 2019-2020.

Owners and lessees of Toyota RAV4 Hybrid Vehicles, Model Years 2019-2020, are encouraged to contact Kehoe Law Firm, P.C., Michael Yarnoff, Esq., (215) 792-6676, Ext. 804, [email protected], [email protected], to learn more about the Firm's investigation or potential legal claims.

Recently, a class action lawsuit was filed against Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. and Toyota Motor North America, Inc. for alleged sales of 2019-2020 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid vehicles with defective fuel tanks. Allegedly, Model year 2019 and 2020 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid vehicles "contain a defect that prevents the gas tank from being filled to capacity." According to the lawsuit, "Toyota advertises the RAV4 Hybrid as having a 14.5 gallon tank. However, a flaw in the fuel system routinely prevents the [Model Year 2019 and 2020 Toyota RAV Hybrid vehicles] from accepting more than 10 gallons of gas, often times far less, before the pump is triggered to prematurely shut off, even when the low fuel light is illuminated . . .."

According to the class action lawsuit, "[t]he Fuel Tank Defect effectively reduces the usable tank capacity of these hybrid SUV's to 10 gallons or less, drastically reducing their driving range, a major selling point and for which customers pay a premium." According to the lawsuit, "Toyota advertises [Model year 2019 and 2020 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid vehicles] as having a 14.5 gallon tank that averages 41/38/40 mpg," . . . and "[a] vehicle advertised as having a 14.5 gallon tank and as getting 40 mpg has a driving range of 580 miles."

Importantly, the lawsuit alleges that "[a]s a result of the Fuel Tank Defect, owners and lessees are not obtaining the fuel tank capacity or the driving range promised by Toyota, for which they pay a premium."

Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is a multidisciplinary, plaintiffside law firm dedicated to protecting investors and consumers from corporate fraud, negligence, and other wrongdoing. Driven by a strong and principled sense of social responsibility and obtaining justice for the aggrieved, Kehoe Law Firm represent plaintiffs seeking to recover investment losses resulting from corporate wrongdoing or malfeasance, those harmed by anticompetitive practices, and consumers victimized by fraud, false claims, deception or data breaches.

This notice may constitute attorney advertising.

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DMARC360, a Bahraini technology startup, known for being the regions first and only cloud-based Email intelligence platform, had won the Cloud-Solutions Vendor of the Year award at the Smart SMB Summit and Awards 2020.

The summit, held at the Gulf Hotel, Bahrain focused on digital transformation and its impact on the business dynamics in the current market as well as recognising companies with transformational technologies that are changing the way businesses function. Industry experts, panelists, and speakers all gathered under one roof to discuss various topics including AI, Fintech, security, and digital transformation.

This is such an honour and a blessing for 2020. Weve made it our mission to serve a global clientele, in addition to having a cloud-based platform, we also hosted it within specific countries to comply with global data regulations. - Abdullah Mirza, Director of Growth & Strategy, DMARC360.

DMARC360 had won the Cloud-solution Vendor of the Year year award for their multilingual platform which provides email monitoring, analysis, DMARC implementation, and support services. Apart from the Smart SMB Award, they had also won the Bahrain Tech Award and a finalist at the AWS startup challenge in 2019.

With a clear mission to eliminate email spoofing and enhance email security, DMARC360 had partnered with the Global Cyber Alliance (GCA) last year to spread awareness on a global scale. Additionally, DMARC360 regularly promotes awareness through training & workshop sessions in partnership with the Bahrain Insititute of Banking and Finance (BIBF) as well as short explainer videos on its youtube channel in both English and Arabic. -- Tradearabia News Service
February 10, 2020, Toronto, Canada - Three finalists were announced today for the Creating Hope in Conflict: A Humanitarian Grand Challenge Transition to Scale program. The Grand Challenge--supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands--calls on innovators around the world to submit ideas to save and improve the lives of the most-vulnerable and hardest-to-reach people affected by humanitarian crises caused by conflict.

The finalists, selected from 111 applicants, will receive a total of $3.7 million from the Humanitarian Grand Challenge. Each finalist identified solutions that will provide humanitarian assistance to help the most vulnerable and hardest to reach people affected by conflict.

The finalists are: Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, Field Ready, and Hala Systems.

Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team: Missing Maps in Africa's Great Lakes region

Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) is an international team dedicated to humanitarian action and community development through open mapping. With millions of people living in unmapped areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Western Uganda, the HOT team will be mapping the region to provide accurate maps to help healthcare workers in their tracking, treatment, and prevention of Ebola.

With funding from the Humanitarian Grand Challenge, HOT, through a partnership with Maxar, will deploy machine-learning-based algorithms to create 160,000 km of detailed maps of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Western Uganda, creating a single information data source that captures the homes of 4.1 million people - a valuable resource for all humanitarian agencies working in these two countries. HOT will also work with affected communities on the ground to map every village of the affected area in person, using local language names.

Since 2014, HOT's Missing Maps innovation has supported responses to 50 humanitarian crises, across over 20 countries, and have added an area home to 70 million people onto detailed maps.

Project Location: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda

Field Ready: Making essential items Field Ready

Conflict-affected populations and the aid workers that serve them do not have exactly what they need where and when they need it. Relief supplies and other essential items are too often unavailable or trapped in slow and expensive supply chains. As a result, lives are lost and suffering goes unaddressed. Field Ready is localizing the manufacturing and repair of essential relief and reconstruction items and equipment using various technologies and local resources. This networked and distributed way of working cuts across sectors and increases local resilience.

With funding from the Humanitarian Grand Challenge, Field Ready will increase and expand their catalogues of available parts and devices in Syria, service additional hospitals in Syria, and strengthen long-term sustainability through key partnerships and commercialization efforts.

Project Location: Syria

Hala Systems: Scaling Operations in Syria: An early warning system to save lives

Hala Systems (Hala) uses technology to save lives in conflict zones, counter disinformation, and support accountability efforts. Its focus to date has been largely civilian protection against the threat of airstrikes in Syria through Sentry Syria, an early warning system against airstrikes. The System provides an average of 7-10 minutes of warning to more than two million people. Additionally, data collected by Sentry constitutes the most complete record of the air war in Western Syria outside of a classified environment.

Sentry Syria uses trained civilian observers on the ground, strategically placed sensing devices, and artificial intelligence to identify and predict airstrikes. Once the data has been compiled, Sentry then alerts civilians of incoming airstrikes, using social media, radio stations, and physical air raid sirens. While it saves lives, it also documents evidence of attacks, and counters disinformation with credible ground truth in real time.

With funding from the Humanitarian Grand Challenge, Hala will refine and expand the reach and predictive capabilities of its life-saving technology.

Project Location: Syria

###

For more information on Creating Hope in Conflict: A Humanitarian Grand Challenge, visit: HumanitarianGrandChallenge.org

For more information, please contact:

Zeba Tasci

Associate Communications Officer, Humanitarian Grand Challenge

zeba.tasci@humanitariangrandchallenge.org

647.328.2021

About the Humanitarian Grand Challenge

Creating Hope in Conflict: A Humanitarian Grand Challenge is a partnership of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, with support from Grand Challenges Canada.

About USAID

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is the world's premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results. USAID's work advances U.S. national security and economic prosperity, demonstrates American generosity, and promotes a path to recipient self-reliance and resilience.

About DFID

The Department for International Development (DFID) leads the UK's work to end extreme poverty. DFID are tackling the global challenges of our time including poverty and disease, mass migration, insecurity and conflict. Its work is building a safer, healthier, more prosperous world for people in developing countries and in the UK too.

About the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands works to improve living conditions in poor, vulnerable countries and encouraging self-reliance. It tries to tackle global challenges, such as poverty and food scarcity, climate change and epidemics. In developing countries, the Ministry works on issues such as economic resilience, better healthcare, food security and clean drinking water.

About Grand Challenges Canada

One of the largest impact-first investors in Canada, Grand Challenges Canada has funded over 1,100 innovations championed by innovators in more than 95 countries since 2011. Grand Challenges Canada estimates that these innovations have the potential to save up to 1.6 million lives and improve up to 35 million lives by 2030.
Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg locked horns in their fight for the US Democratic presidential nomination Sunday as they scrambled for votes with just two days to go before New Hampshire's closely-watched primary.

The 78-year-old Vermont senator and the 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana came top of the first contest in Iowa -- marred by messy confusion about the result -- giving each momentum as Democrats seek a candidate to take on Donald Trump in November.

Sanders, a leftist who won the New Hampshire primary by a landslide in 2016, led in four polls released Sunday, each of which had the moderate Buttigieg in second followed by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and then former vice president Joe Biden.

"I think we have an excellent chance to win," Sanders told CNN as he started a final push on the ground in the small northeastern state.

With the primary season underway in earnest, earlier collegiality among Democrats has fallen away.

"I am running against a candidate, Pete Buttigieg, among others, who has raised contributions from more than 40 billionaires," Sanders told CNN.

"Our support is coming from the working class of this country." His campaign, based heavily on small donors, says it raised $25 million last month.

Buttigieg, appearing separately on CNN, turned aside the billionaire charge, quipping, "Well, Bernie's pretty rich, and I would happily accept a contribution from him."



Turning serious, he said he was "building the movement that is going to defeat Donald Trump," boosted by donations from some two million people.

Both Buttigieg and Biden -- whose status as national frontrunner for the nomination was shaken by taking fourth-place in Iowa's caucuses -- said it would be much harder for the party to defeat Donald Trump in November if Sanders is its flag-bearer.

Sanders' positions at the very left of the American spectrum, with expansive programs like extending the Medicare program to all Americans, have been seized on by Trump, who told an interviewer last week, "I think he's a communist."



Buttigieg said it would be "a lot harder" for the party to win with Sanders than a more moderate candidate. And Biden told ABC that it would be "incredibly more difficult" to win under Sanders.

But Sanders has shrugged off the criticism that he is too radical to beat Trump, pointing to his enthusiastic support among young voters.

The president, fresh from being acquitted at his Senate impeachment trial, will hold a large rally in New Hampshire for his devoted supporters on Monday as he seeks to overshadow the Democratic primary on Tuesday.

As Buttigieg has risen from practical anonymity, he has faced criticism -- including in a cutting ad by the Biden camp -- for his lack of national experience and his supposed difficulty connecting with black voters, a key demographic.

"He's not been able to unify the African-American community," Biden said, adding that the eventual nominee would have to perform well in states far more diverse than predominantly white Iowa and New Hampshire.

Buttigieg responded on ABC that "I'll have to work to earn that vote, just as I did in South Bend. I was returned to office by a multiracial coalition."



After listening to Buttigieg at a rally in Nashua, New Hampshire on Sunday, Katie Morgan, 20, told AFP that he was "interesting and smart." But she added, "I personally prefer a candidate with a little more experience."



In Iowa, Buttigieg won 14 delegates and Sanders 12 delegates to take to the Democratic convention that will choose which candidate will take on Trump -- though the Iowa count is still mired in disputes.

Recent history shows it is near-impossible for a Democrat to win the party's nomination without placing in the top two in Iowa or New Hampshire.

The results shape candidates' images and media narratives, just as voters nationwide are beginning to focus on the race.

Both Biden and Warren said they could be the exception to that rule.

After New Hampshire, the candidates turn to Nevada on February 22, and South Carolina on February 29, both more diverse states.

"If we win here in New Hampshire, we're going to set the pace to win Nevada, South Carolina and California," Sanders told a raucous rally in Keene, New Hampshire on Sunday evening after being introduced by actor Tim Robbins.

"Our campaign is off to a great start."



Also in the race is billionaire and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has spent a record $260 million of his personal fortune on his campaign.

He is skipping the first four nominating contests, focusing instead on Super Tuesday on March 3 when 14 states vote.

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

10 February 2020

IHG Hotels & Resorts (IHG), one of the world's leading hotel companies, recently hosted the hit television show "Modern Family" in the "City of Love" while filming on-location in Paris for the show's farewell season.



Crowne Plaza Paris - Republique, a global flagship hotel showcasing a host of distinctive brand features, served as a key filming location for the special Valentine's Day episode, entitled "Paris," which included scenes with many of the series' principal characters.



Filming locations at Crowne Plaza Paris - Republique included the facade of the hotel exterior, the reception desk and the courtyard terrace, as well as the brand's new signature Plaza Workspace - collection of modern spaces for work, collaboration and celebration. The episode will air in the U.S. and Canada on Wednesday, Feb. 12, and can also be viewed the next day on ABC.com, the ABC app and Hulu. Check local listings for details on timing and channel information. It will air in additional global markets later in 2020.





Claire Bennett, Global Chief Marketing Officer, IHG, said: "It's hard to believe we're saying 'good-bye' to one of my favorite television families! Hosting and filming with the Modern Family team in Paris was unforgettable for us. This celebrity filled final season will also be unforgettable for Modern Family fans around the world - which is why it was such a great opportunity for IHG Hotels & Resorts to get involved. From hosting the cast and crew, to filming at one of our flagship Crowne Plaza hotels, we were thrilled to welcome the Pritchett-Dunphy-Tucker clan to our IHG family of hotels."

In addition to Crowne Plaza Paris - Republique, cast and crew were guests at InterContinental Le Grand - Paris and Hotel Indigo Paris - Opera.
He appeared in court Saturday morning and ordered held in lieu of $50,000 bail. He was released early Saturday night. A new court date has not yet been publicly posted.
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Linkedin Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 10, 2020

Indonesia is hoping its 70-year-old ties with Australia will only grow stronger after ratifying a trade deal that will bring the two major Asia-Pacific economies closer.

President Joko Jokowi Widodo arrived in Canberra on Saturday evening for his fourth state visit to Indonesia's southern neighbor, where he is scheduled to address the Australian parliament, meet high-ranking Australian government officials and attend the Indonesia-Australia business roundtable.

Jokowi is slated to meet his Australian counterpart, Scott Morrison, for an annual leaders meeting on Monday, where the two leaders are expected to discuss the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) and launch a 2020-2024 plan of action that will serve as a guideline for the trade deal.

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FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Red Sox left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez will attend his arbitration hearing in Arizona on Wednesday, he said Monday at JetBlue Park.

Rodriguez, who is Bostons last unsigned arbitration-eligible player, will face off against the team to determine his 2020 salary. When the sides exchanged figures last month, Rodriguez filed at $8.975 million and the Red Sox filed at $8.3 million.

Ive got to fly there tomorrow to Arizona and see whats going to happen, Rodriguez said. Thats all that Ive got right now.

Boston settled with outfielder Andrew Benintendi over the weekend, avoiding arbitration with a two-year, $10 million deal. The clubs other eight arbitration-eligible players reached deals in January.

Rodriguez didnt sound confident about bridging the gap before the hearing despite a minimal difference ($675k).

Ive got to go tomorrow, he said. The hearing is Wednesday. Well see what happens after that.

If the sides dont settle, Rodriguez will be the first Sox player to go to a hearing since Mookie Betts in 2018. Boston had zero hearings last year.
Editors note: This is the second part of The Saga of St. Johns in an ongoing series about historic houses of worship under threat of erasure in Jersey City and Hudson County.

The first funereal image from 1960  a casket held up by solemn-faced honor guards, the newly installed rector of St. Johns Episcopal Church, the Rev. Robert W. Castle, following them tranquilly, rigidly, in deep reflection and repose  is as corporeal and present-tense as the church ruin I stand in front of now, in 2020, at Summit and Gardner avenues, on a cloud-covered, pre-snowfall January morning in Jersey City.

More archival images  all black-and-white, stereoscopic, three-dimensional  become manifested in my mind and meet me head-on at the triple-portaled porch of the deserted, crumbling stone church.

BELLCOTE OVER SUMMIT AVENUE

The casket, aflow with flowers, is angled high as pallbearers enter a dark anteroom. A great sanctus bell rings from its bellcote above the main Summit Avenue doors. Wind, whipping and fierce, fades out as main double-doors are shut and sealed for the private service. Footsteps echo across the surface of encaustic floor tiles, return, and vanish into near-indecipherable ceiling peaks.

A few people  close kin, career-long acquaintances, former apprentices  occupy long pews to mourn, in soft, illusory light, Irving Underhill, the famed 19th- and 20th-century New York City photographer and dynastic resident of Bergen Hill, the Victorian-era neighborhood where St. Johns was erected between 1869 and 1871.

A side chapel inside the church drips with candles and Tiffany lancets marked with the Underhill surname. Requiem organ music plays for the deceased across the aisles. Shrines are en massed and ranked with idolic carvings. Cushioned kneelers are indented with the weight of the past prayerful. Massive tables, ossuaries, and prie-dieux fill impenetrable alcoves and chancel limits.

Reliquaries shine somberly behind tall stalls.

The Rev. Castle, St. Johns new rectoriate, presides on that 16th day of November. His face is elegiac, young, barely beyond 30, yet his voice is already filled with the wisdom and burden of legacies. It is intoned, perhaps unknown to him, with intense inner courage, moral propensity and civic prophecy  traits of strength and sanctity that would, nearly 50 years later, uplift embattled preservationists and inject hope into an urban monument under threat of erasure.

CLOSING DENOMINATIONAL DOORS

The Rev. Castle, laying to rest the last of the Underhills, must have sensed the end of a congregational era, a profound closing of denominational doors.

Born and raised in the West Bergen area of the city and educated at Yales divinity school, the cleric is certainly aware of St. Johns noble stature in local lore and appreciates each pioneers lofty place in parish archives. He is, undoubtedly, well informed about St. Johns founding in 1868 inside the nearby Library Hall  now the Library Hall Lofts but primordially the seat of government for Bergen City, a small residential hamlet hemmed in by hills and cliffs before consolidation, in 1870-1871, with the rest of what would become Jersey City  at Summit Avenue, Garfield Avenue, and Ivy Place as a progressive episcopal parish purposed with providing free pews to all.

Eyes on fire, he surely has heard about the civic-driven efforts of early church leaders like the Revs. E.L. Stoddard and George D. Hadley, true preachers of conscience and stalwarts in their turn-of-the-century time. Standing with fists pounding on the lectern of St. Johns  where Castle was assigned in 1960 in an only-one-chance attempt to save, as doicesan leaders described it, a dying parish  Castle, blood rushing, must have felt the first jolt of a new era of civic unrest and urban rioting, peaceful protests descending into police-provoked violence, and distant wars and atrocities of humankind.

Driven as if by birth to action, he might even, at that moment of mourning, presage his own prominent role in the coming tumult and, over eight action-packed years of tenure, somehow find friendship, peace, and love in the citys long-battered minority communities.

32 St. John's Episcopal Church in Jersey City

OUT OF THE GATE

Castles years at St. Johns are, as these archival photographs expose, explosive, innovative, necessary for the period.

His term takes off with fierce anti-racial bias speeches and loud chastisements of elected officials. To the annoyance of the Newark Diocese, he takes his sermons to the sidewalk and infiltrates neighborhoods overburdened for years by sweeping neglect. The responsible are identified, called out, held to account. They become the central topic of his homilies, heard clearly in the neighborhood  and the local press  through St. Johns slammed-open doors.

He finds, on his walks, decayed and decrepit tenement lanes and labyrinths. At the outskirts of the Bergen Hill, Lafayette, South Bergen and Greenville neighborhoods, he beholds factory buildings idled, vacated and vandalized down to their shells and superstructures. He stands in front of metal-gate-shuttered storefronts, engaging residents young and old  African-American, Puerto-Rican, Christian, Muslim. He recognizes that the citys main streets and hidden roads are pocketed more with empty lots than public parks. Children barely have a place to play. Trash is piled and packed down at the curb, against buildings. Suitable housing stock is almost nowhere to be found.

The Episcopal priest, looking toward New York Citys intense and dramatic faith activism, calls out Jersey Citys leaders on issues of inequality in housing and education, devastating gang violence, forceful arrests, unfair incarcerations and a troubling lack of basic services for the disregarded and the marginalized. He clashes famously with Mayor Thomas J. Whelan and quickly becomes his most potent nemesis and source of scorn. Heads of departments, unaccustomed to disclosure and discourse from local clergy, scramble to avoid the rector and his growing citizen constituency. Police chiefs criticize what they perceive to be his over-the-top tactics of sit-ins, street-blockings, and, as witnessed on one occasion in 1964, garbage-dumping at the steps of City Hall, an act that results in his first arrest.

One year after the next, right into the age of national and international risings and revolutions, the Rev. Castle lifts up his parish and transforms it into what it had been meant to be since 1868: a center for cultural richness, social support and political activism. Local clergymen become collaborators in his civil rights campaigns and crusades. Broadening his reach and widening his heart, he joins the front of the lines in Washington, D.C., Selma, Alabama, and Harlem.

When the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. appears at Metropolitan A.M.E. Church in Jersey City, the Rev. Castle is front and center in the audience to hear what will be some of the Nobel Prize recipients final implorations for the rights of every citizen.

A CHURCH TO BE LOST

But there are prices to be paid  and, in the end, a church to be lost.

Physically and emotionally burned out by seemingly around-the-clock protestations and preaching duties, and with the responsibilities that come with a growing family, the Rev. Castle quits St. Johns in 1968, leaving behind a stronger community church, a parish with influence and impact. Young African-American men and women  burgeoning musicians, emerging playwrights, impassioned members of the Black Panthers  can call his church their one true home and haven.

St. Johns, after him, will, he trusts, falter and come close to dying no more.

He becomes a roving minister, administering to other parishes in nearby and distant cities, places in need of a bare-knuckled preacher, no matter how worn down. Not long after, he moves to the northern boundary of Vermont, near Canada, settling into an environment foreign to his urban soul, filled with a calmness and spirituality quite unlike anything he has ever known. It lasts long, this new life, this new terrain and milieu detached from the Summit Avenue church now rendered to memory.

But the 1980s come calling and revive his hunger for social righteousness. St. Marys Episcopal Church in the Manhattanville section of Manhattan is his new parish, his second chapter. It does not take long to get deep under the skin of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Invigorated, he challenges diocesan officials at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. Arrests are made.

The Rev. Castle has perhaps never felt more alive. St. Marys is his redemption, the church he can never abandon no matter the wear-and-tear.

Only an aging body forces him into permanent retirement. That, and a surprise second career as a film actor, thanks in part to his cousin Jonathan Demme, famous for Hollywood pictures like The Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia and, the directors personal favorite, Cousin Bobby, a feature-length documentary about Castles movie-worthy legacies at St. Johns and St. Marys.

Born in 1929, Castle died in 2012, at age 83, at his home in Holland, Vermont.

PRECIOUS BONES

These library-kept images, with their virtual hiss-and-pop sounds and high-fidelity voices, vanish as soon as I step back and cross Summit Avenue to get a wider view of this Jersey City landmark of social and civil rights, this architectural monument made memorable by the people who gave it rise and purpose. Precious bones  blue basalt blocks, sandstone lintels and arches, cast iron columns, wrought-iron railings  radiate from without and within with the reverends visage of rage and devotion, his last protest against the ruination that is, in our time, St. Johns.

Editors note: John Gomez, a life-long Jersey City resident, is the founder of the non-profit Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy. A newly-appointed member of the New Jersey State Review Board for Historic Sites , he holds a master of science in historic preservation from Columbia University and teaches urban architecture at St. Peters University. Email him at preservationtv@gmail.com.

NEXT: The third and final installment of The Saga of St. Johns

Previous articles in the series:

The Saga of St. Johns, Part 1: History floods back with exhibit of stained-glass masterpieces

Erasure on Avenue E

Heritage in the crosshairs: Historic Jersey City church demolished
The Congress leader also rubbished the exit poll predictions that his party will fail to open account in the national capital.

New Delhi: A day after the exit polls predicted that the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will return to power with an impressive victory in the Delhi Assembly election, senior Congress leader P.C. Chacko, on being asked about the possibility of Congress-AAP alliance, said that every decision depends on the outcome of the election result.

It (Congress-AAP alliance) depends on the election results, which will come on February 11. There is no point in guessing. Once the outcome is there only then can we think about it or discuss it. It is too early now, Mr Chacko said.

The Congress leader also rubbished the exit poll predictions that his party will fail to open account in the national capital.

Congress had failed to win even a single seat in the 2015 Assembly polls even after ruling the city for 15 consecutive years.

Mr Chacko said: The Delhi Assembly election exit poll has predicted that Congress will be seen to be reduced to zero. However, the exit poll results are not always correct as was visible during the election results in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. I think Congress is likely to do better than what surveys predict.

The Congress leader, who is also the partys in-charge of Delhi affairs, said: If the poll prediction can be perfect then we dont need an election. We have faced such exit polls in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. I am not denying that these conclusions may not be always right, but I feel that this exit poll may not be very correct.

Congress is likely to do better than what these surveys are saying. I am not saying that we will get a majority, but our position may be better, he added.

In response to Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwaris claim that BJP will win 48 seats in the national capital, Mr Chacko said, BJP won seven parliamentary seats, which means more than 50 per cent votes, in the last Lok Sabha election. Why is Manoj Tiwari saying that the party will win 48 seats?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was campaigning, Union home minister Amit Shah was doing roadshows, 200 MPs were deputed to stay in jhuggis, and money was being spent like water. However, BJP is still commenting that out of 70 they will get 40 seats. This means that BJP is going down and they are admitting it. Manoj Tiwaris claim is an admission of the weakness of BJP, he added.
Delhi High Court on Monday issued a notice to the Health Ministry on a public suit seeking directions to concerned authorities to impose a ban over advertising, promotion, and sponsorship of any tobacco product in any form.

The public suit also seeks direction to the concerned authorities to constitute a special investigation team headed by independent officials to investigate alleged illegalities being committed by the company manufacturing product "Chaini Khaini".

A Division Bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar also warned that it will impose cost against Health Ministry, if the ministry failed to file reply by the next date of hearing on March 11. The court has also asked NCPCR, DCPCR, Delhi Government and tobacco company to file reply on the petition.

According to petitioner and social worker Dipesh Jha, the respondent company is a leading tobacco manufacturing company under MAHAK Group. The said Company inter alia manufactures and markets tobacco product popularly called 'Khaini'under the brand 'Chaini Khaini'. The petitioner said that the company isinvolved in a series of illegal activities including surrogate advertisement which violates Article 13 of WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) ratified by India on February 5, 2004, and Section 5 of the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003.

The petitioner's advocate Gaurav Kumar and Vaibhav Gupta told the court that children under the age of fourteen years working with the respondent company for manufacturing, packaging, selling and advertising tobacco product under the brand name of 'Chaini Khaini'. The petitioner advocate requested the court to direct the concerned authorities for safeguarding the fundamental rights of children of tender age working in manufacturing units of the tobacco company and to implement proper rehabilitatory measures.

The petitioner said that the company advertises the product 'Chaini Khaini' in such a manner which gives an impression to the general masses that it is a herbal product which is beneficial to their health. The company has also not put any statutory warning or such photos on the pouch of the product.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(Photo : henry perks / Unsplash) (Photo : Screenshot From Activated Adventures Facebook Page) Google Maps

An interesting story has just emerged as a man from Minneapolis has fallen into the frozen river on a Sunday morning, Feb. 9, and he blames Google Maps for this misfortune. The man reportedly fell into the Mississippi River at around 3:00 a.m. near a very familiar Stone Arch Bridge, reported by WCCO.

The official report was given by the man

Interestingly, it was the Minneapolis Fire Department who was able to bring this man from the river and responded to his misfortune. The man blamed Google Maps for directing him to cross the river. The fire department then stated that Google Maps clearly meant crossing the bridge and not walking across the river.

Read Also: Google Maps Hack: Simon Weckert's Stunt Shows How the App Works[VIDEO]

Who is to blame?

Well, even though the man did not really follow common sense, Google Maps' technical specifications were also off point, but this is a peculiar case of man versus machine. At the end of the day, Google Maps is just an application, which means that it is still subject to organic faults and lapses. This is normal with every application because of the lapses of technology when it comes to the physical world and the world over the phone.

The recent headlines of Google Maps

Google Maps has just recently experienced an awkward headline after an artist dragged 99 phones through the street, causing Google Maps to read it as a traffic jam. This story just recently went viral and has made Google Maps' authenticity questionable. This was a trick to test how Google Maps would respond to this bizarre movement of phones, and as the artist expected, Google Maps interpreted the data wrongly. Although this was corrected with a passing of a single phone moving at normal automobile speed, the temporary traffic jam was still very much highlighted.

The man on following Google Maps

This is quite a lapse of judgment in the situation of the man who found himself in the river for completely trusting Google Maps instead of his very own sense of sight. It is rather peculiar that the man did not pay intense attention to his movement but instead put his complete trust on Google Maps, which led him into the river. This case has been quite humorous for some as it is just another bizarre "what-on-earth" happened type of event.

The creation of apps and their usefulness

Apps are not necessarily created to substitute human capabilities but rather enhance them. Certain apps were created as navigation enhancers like Google Maps and others to store data and files like Google Drive and so many other apps out there that were created with the intent of improvement and not a replacement.

Read Also: Google Drive Down: Users Flooded Twitter With Complaints; Reliability of Google Questioned

Recently, self-driving cars have been the trend of some high-end places replacing the need for a physical driver, but this highly depends on the development of the location as well if it is technologically compatible. Some parts of Mississippi have not yet been properly mapped out by Google Maps, which may have caused the man to fall into the river.





 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
by Shafique Khokhar

The building became public property 72 years ago, during the partition of India and Pakistan. For the local Church, the authorities decision is a very positive gesture. It is a great example of religious harmony, and shows a positive picture of Pakistan to its minorities, Catholic activist says.

Quetta (AsiaNews)  Pakistani authorities have returned an old Hindu temple to the Hindu community in Zhob, a district located 337 kilometres north-east of Quetta (capital of Balochistan).

Built in the 19th century, the temple became public property 72 years ago; for three decades until last year, it served as a school.

The ceremony with which the provincial administration returned it to 60 local Hindu families took place on 6 February in the presence of religious leaders, politicians and minority representatives.

The guests of honour included Maulana Allah Dad Kakar, khatib of the main mosque in Zhob and high representative of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI) Islamic party. The local deputy commissioner, Saleem Taha, and some Hindu elders were also present.

Kakar handed over the keys to the temple to Saleem Jan, president of the local Hindu community (Hindu Panchayat). During the unveiling of a commemorative plaque, the latter expressed the satisfaction of his community, highlighting its good relations with Muslim neighbours.

In our area, he said, Muslims and Hindus share joys and sorrows, celebrating their religious holidays together.

Jan explained to those present that his co-religionists were forced to use a mud building as a temple with a high risk of collapse.

The deputy commissioner noted the restitution of the temple is a major gesture for several reasons.

Given the widespread belief that the province of Balochistan is unstable and dangerous, especially for religious minorities, "this event shows a different side of the story, one of peace and solidarity, Saleem Taha explained.

The school, he went to say, was installed in the temple following the departure of the Hindu population for India during the partition of 1947.

"Yet, the beauty of dialogue and interfaith harmony found expression in the decision of local residents to keep the original structure of the place of worship intact," he added.

For the local Church, the restitution of the temple to the community to which it belongs "is a very positive gesture".

It shows and promotes the idea that we are all Pakistani, said Fr Saleh Diego, vicar general and member of the National Commission for Interreligious Dialogue of the Archdiocese of Karachi, on behalf of Card Joseph Coutts.

The clergyman congratulated the Hindus of Zhob and the government for its decision.

For Kashif Anthony, a member of the commission and of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Pakistan, the ceremony was an important and historic moment, not only for Hindus but for the whole country.

It is a great example of religious harmony, he added, and shows a positive picture of Pakistan to its minorities.
10.02.2020 LISTEN

The Africa Education Watch has described as arbitrary, archaic and contradictory the decision by the Ghana Education Service (GES) to expel seven female students from Ejisuman Senior High School boarding house over alleged misconduct on social media.

The management of Ejisuman Senior High School have sacked seven of their female students from the boarding facility for bringing the name of the school into disrepute.

The seven students were behind a video that had gone viral in which they were seen advising their fellow girls to give in to sexual demands of men.

Apart from the embarrassment, their conducts has brought to the school, management of the school, in their letter written to suspend the seven students said the girls had breached three school rules.

The rules, as stated in the letter dated February 6, 2020 and titled Expulsion from Boarding House, said the students had used unauthorized gadget [mobile phone] to dent the image of the school.

The other grounds stated in the letter which was addressed to the Regional Director of the Ghana Education Service said the students had intentionally uploaded the video on social media where unprintable words that border on sex were spewed.

In a statement signed by the Executive Director, Kofi Asare, punishing girls by sacking them from boarding school only places them in hostels without any parental or school control.

The statement indicated that it exposes them to further delinquency and harm from society.

According to the statement, a positive discipline strategy must reform offending students rather than expose them to even higher levels of delinquency and truancy.

Read full statement below:

10th February, 2020

Expulsion Of Seven (7) Girls From Boarding House In Ejisuman Senior High School

Our attention has been drawn to a letter from the management of Ejisuman SHS indicating the expelling of seven (7) of its female students from boarding school for social media misconduct. We note that, in as much as it is important to sanction students when they breach the rules of conduct in school as a way of instilling discipline and deterring others, the GES must not lose sight of the fact that, most of these decisions may be arbitrary, archaic and contradictory.

Ghanaian children have the right to education duly captured in law. At the continental level, the Right to Education is enshrined in Article 17 of the African Charter of Human and Peoples Rights which states that every individual shall have the right to education, cascading to Article 32 of the 1992 Ghanaian Constitution, the Education Act (Act 778) and the Childrens Act, (Act 560). The GES has a mandate to groom students to become literates, numerates and responsible adults. In fulfilling this mandate, secondary schools have the responsibility to teach, mentor and discipline students when they break school rules. It is heart-warming that the GES now has a positive discipline policy. However, the use of de-boardinization as a tool for positive discipline has far outlived its relevance. Since the 1990s, it has ended up making students even more truant than reforming them. According to section 2 of Ghanas Children Act, ...the best the interest of the child shall be the primary consideration by any court, person, institution or other body in any matter concerned with a child. Punishing girls by sacking them from boarding school only place them in hostels without any parental or school control. This exposes them to further delinquency and harm from society. A positive discipline strategy must reform offending students rather than expose them to even higher levels of delinquency and truancy. It is time the GES takes a second look at de-boardinization as a form of punishment for barding students and adopt progressive sanctions that actually reform offending students. Les not throw the baby away with the bath water. The Ejisuman SHS action and many other similar previous actions need revision. We call for public discourse by all stakeholders, especially Parent Teacher Associations and the media on this matter.

Kofi Asare Executive DirectorAfrica Education Watch109 Avenue E, Kofi Annan Ave. North Legon.Tel. 0209977899

www.africaeducationwatch.org
Sinn Feins president has urged the EU to adopt a pro-Irish unification position.

Mary Lou McDonald, who could be Irelands new premier after a landmark electoral breakthrough, said the bloc should take a positive approach to unity.

I think the European Union needs to take a stand in respect of Ireland in the same way that it supported the reunification of Germany, she said.

In the same way that it has a position on Cyprus, for example, and a positive approach to the reunification of that country.

I think Ireland is no different.

In an interview with BBC Newsnight, she said: I think it would be correct for our allies, for our friends, for anybody who cares about his country and our people, it is plain to see that partition and division has been a disaster and that reunification, reconciliation and good relationships with our next-door neighbours is the way forward.

Earlier, former Irish premier Bertie Ahern said a border poll was inevitable following Sinn Feins electoral success.

Ms McDonalds first General Election as leader of the republican party on Saturday saw the party romp home with huge gains across the state, and in constituencies where they had never had a representative.

Due to the historic shift, focus has turned to the question of a united Ireland, a long-held aim of Sinn Fein, and the basis for its programme for government.

M Ahern, the former taoiseach and Fianna Fail leader, said on Monday, as counting continued across the state: I think a border poll is inevitable.

If you ask me when that is, I think its probably five years off at least.

A Sinn Fein poster calling for Irish unity on the N3 road outside Co Cavan near the border with Northern Ireland (Brian Lawless/PA)

I think the Sinn Fein position is it should be held within five years.

So lets say we are talking about it being five years off, I do not think you are going to get the circumstances where it would become a condition of government that it has to be held in the short term.

Story continues

But it will be inevitable over this decade.

On BBC Radio 4s World At One he warned against rushing towards a poll on reunification before extensive preparatory work had been completed.

It can only be done when the preparation is done, when the case is made, when it has been well explained, when people know the outcome, he said.

To try and push it or rush it, which some people will probably try to do, would be a grave mistake.

Sinn Fein has gained the most first preference votes in Irelands 2020 election held on Saturday, however a united Ireland and Brexit did not feature as major voting issues.

Domestic crises in the health and housing sector are widely accepted as the two main drivers behind the shift in Irish politics.

Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Sinn Feins Michelle ONeill said on Monday it was a good day when asked about her partys electoral successes.

We have provided solutions in terms of the health crisis and the housing crisis so we will want to work with others to establish a programme for government that reflects how we can deliver upon those promises, she said.

People take part in an Irish unity march as they cross the Lifford Bridge, from Donegal, which marks the border between Strabane in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, and Lifford in County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland (Niall Carson/PA)

But obviously we are Irish republicans, there is no secret of that, and clearly we will have asks in terms of the republican project, clearly we will have asks in terms of the kind of society we want to build.

At the end of the day, we have said there should be a unity referendum within five years so thats the position we will take into negotiations.

Ms ONeill added she absolutely feels this election has pushed Irish reunification closer.

We have said things are going in this direction for some time, I think for a number of reasons not least the fact that the unionist majority, the very basis on which this northern state was founded, is gone and has been gone over the last number of elections.

But I think this is a seismic election shift in the 26 counties, Sinn Fein are the largest party in the 26 counties, I think that is significant in itself.

The Sinn Fein leader set about trying to form a left-coalition government on Monday, contacting smaller progressive parties and independents, however even if all were on board, she is likely to still fall shy of the 80 seats needed to form a government and could be forced to look to one of the traditional parties, Fine Gael or Fianna Fail, for assistance.

Fianna Fail, likely to hold the most seats in the Irish parliament after the votes have been counted, has sent mixed messages over whether or not it would be willing to work with Sinn Fein, with some representatives saying the coalition is inevitable while others say the two partys policies are untenable together.
YEREVAN.  The prosecutor's office did not confirm the indictments for the second time in the criminal case involving National Assembly (NA) former Speaker Ara Babloyan and NA former Deputy Chief of Staff Arsen Babayan. The Public Relations Division of the Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia informed this to Armenian News-NEWS.am today.

The respective statement notes that the actions of the accused were not properly qualified, and therefore a decision was made to commute the charge and to file new charges against them.

At present, Babloyan is accused of usurping the powers of the Constitutional Court with a group of officials, as well as committing official fraud.

Currently Babayan is charged with assisting Babloyan usurping the powers of the Constitutional Court with a group of officials, as well as committing official fraud.




Financial release

10 February 2020

Aeroports de Paris SA

Good performance of all the activities, stability of the dividend

and preparation of the future growth

Groupe ADP 2019 full-year results1

Groupe ADP traffic's: including traffic from Istanbul Ataturk in 2018 and 2019, until 6 April 2019, date of the termination of commercial flights at this airport, Group's traffic is down by -16.7% 2 3 compared to 2018. Excluding Istanbul Ataturk's traffic in 2018 and 2019, 2019 Group's traffic increasing by +2.3% 3 compared to 2018, at 218 million passengers

Paris Aeroport traffic (Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly): +2.5% at 108 million passengers

Good performance of consolidated revenues (4,700 million), driven by the growth of aviation activities in Paris, retail activities dynamism in Paris, the impact of the full consolidation in Groupe ADP's accounts of Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire and Relay@ADP 4 since April 2019, and of Airport International Group (AIG) since April 2018. Revenue per passenger 5 of airside shops increased by 7.3% at 19.7

EBITDA 6 at 1,772 million, up by 92 million (+5.5%) notably thanks to TAV Airports' growth and to the full consolidation of Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire, Relay@ADP and AIG

Operating income from ordinary activities 7 at 1,094 million, down by 29 million

Net result attributable to the Group at 588 million, down by 22 million (-3.5%)

(in millions of euro  unless otherwise stated) 2019 2018 2019/2018 Revenue(1)(2) 4,700 4,007 +693m +17.3% EBITDA(1)(2) 1,772 1,680 +92m +5.5% Operating income from ordinary activities (1)(2) 1,094 1,123 -29m -2.6% Net result attributable to the Group (1)(2) 588 610 -22m -3.5% Paris Sales/PAX () 19.7 18.4 +7.3%

The figures take into account the full consolidation of Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire and of Relay@ADP results since April 2019, and AIG results since April 2018 Revenue and operating expenses of TAV Istanbul for 2018 and 2019 are presented on a separate line on the income statement as "net income from discontinued activities", in accordance with the IFRS 5 standard. Therefore, consolidated revenue, EBITDA and operating income of the Group don't take into account the activity of Istanbul Ataturk airport in 2018 and 2019 anymore. Furthermore, the line "net income from discontinued activities" includes as well the profit following the announcement by Turkish authorities of the compensation due to TAV Airports for the early closure of Ataturk airport, after taxes and the impact of corresponding assets disposal (for 31M before elimination of non-controlling interests)(see the press release from 26 December 2019)

Story continues

Groupe ADP 2020 forecasts

Traffic at Paris Aeroport: traffic growth assumption between +2% and +2.5% in 2020 compared to 2019

Traffic for TAV Airports: traffic growth assumption between +3% and +5% in 2020 compared to 2019 excluding Istanbul Ataturk

2020 consolidated Group EBITDA 8 9 10 11 : increase between +3.5% and +5.5% in 2020 compared to 2019

2020 Consolidated EBITDA 10 11 excluding the full consolidation of TAV Airports and AIG 10 11 : increase between +3% and +4.5% in 2020 compared to 2019

Proposed dividend12 of 3.70 per share for 2019, stable compared to 2018

Augustin de Romanet, Chairman and CEO of Aeroports de Paris SA  Groupe ADP, stated:

"2019 has been impacted by the early closure of Ataturk airport in Turkey in early April. Groupe ADP welcomes that the Turkish government kept its commitments by compensating the loss of profit due to the early termination of this concession. Total Groupe ADP traffic stood at 234.5 million passengers for 2019, down by 16.7% compared to 2018. Nevertheless, excluding Ataturk airport traffic between January and early April 2019, Group traffic grew by +2.3% compared to 2018. In 2019, the revenue grew by more than 17%, at 4,700 million and the EBITDA by 5.5% at 1,772 million due to a good performance of all the activities and a control over expenses. The net result attributable to the Group is 588 million, in slight decrease. It will be proposed a dividend of 3.70 euros per share, stable compared to 2018, at the next General Meeting".

[1] This press release presents the consolidated results approved by the Board of Directors of 10 February 2020 and examined by the Audit committee on 6 February 2020. Audit procedures have been carried out and the audit report relating to the certification of Aeroports de Paris consolidated financial statements is still in the process of being issued. Following financial statements are projects of financial statements

2 Unless otherwise stated, percentages are comparing 2019 data with 2018 comparable data

3 Passenger traffic data from airports operated by TAV Airports are taken into account at 100% according to their financial communication, including Istanbul Ataturk traffic until 6 April 2019 (16Mpax). Following the acquisition of a 49%-stake in Antalya airport, traffic of this airport is 100%-included since January 2018 for the need of the analysis, while TAV Airports only has included Antalya traffic since May 2018

4 In April 2019, Groupe ADP reviewed its links with Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire, Relay@ADP and MZLZ-TRGOVINA D.o.o (Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire Croatia) and considers exercising exclusive control on these entities since then. Booked until this date under the equity method, these companies are fully consolidated since April 2019

5 Sales in airside shops divided by the number of departing passengers (Sales/PAX)

6 Revenues and other ordinary income reduced by operating consumables and expenses from ordinary activities excluding depreciation and amortization of tangible and intangible assets

7 Until 31st December 2018, the Group disclosed the share of profit or loss in associates and joint ventures on two separate lines "Share of profit or loss in associates and joint ventures from operating activities" and "Share of profit or loss in associates and joint ventures from non-operating activities". For non-materiality reasons, the Group discloses since 1st January 2019 the share of profit or loss in associates and joint ventures on one single line included within the operating income

8 2020 TAV Airports' EBITDA guidance, underlying to the 2020 Group's EBITDA guidance, is built on the following exchange rate assumptions: EUR/TRY=6.87, EUR/US =1.12

9 The IFRS 5 standard "Non-current assets held for sale and discontinued operations" is applying to TAV Istanbul's activities as of the termination of activities at Istanbul Ataturk airport on 6 April 2019 (see the press release from 8 April 2019). The revenue and operating expenses of TAV Istanbul for 2018 and 2019 are therefore presented on a separate line on the income statement titled "net income from discontinued activities". Consolidated revenue, EBITDA and operating income of the Group don't take into account the activity of Istanbul Ataturk airport anymore. Furthermore, the line "net income from discontinued activities" includes as well the profit following the announcement by Turkish authorities of the compensation due to TAV Airports for the early closure of Ataturk airport, after taxes and the impact of corresponding assets disposal (for 31M before elimination of non-controlling interests)(see the press release from 26 December 2019)

10 Takes into account since 1st April 2019 the introduction of the mechanism charging Aeroports de Paris 6% of the costs hitherto fully covered by the airport tax, in accordance with Article 179 of Law No. 2018-1317 of 28 December 2018 of finance

11 Excluding the potential effect on ADP's accounts of the transfer by the state of the majority of ADP's capital (in accordance with the provisions of the PACTE law)

12 Subject to the approval of the 2020 General Meeting of the Shareholders approving 2019 accounts





Groupe ADP's 2019 full year results





2019 consolidated accounts

(in millions of euros) 2019(1)(2) 2018(1)(2) 2019/2018(1)(2)) Revenue 4,700 4,007 +17.3% EBITDA 1,772 1,680 +5.5% EBITDA / Revenue 37.7% 41.9% -4.2pts Operating income from ordinary activities 1,094 1,123 -2.6% Operating income from ordinary activities / Revenue 23.3% 28.0% -4.7pts Operating income 1,081 1,121 -3.5% Financial result -206 -232 -11.2% Net income from discontinued activities(2) 55 103 - 46.1% Net income attributable to the Group 588 610 -3.5%

The figures take into account the full consolidation of Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire and of Relay@ADP results since April 2019, and AIG results since April 2018 Revenue and operating expenses of TAV Istanbul for 2018 and 2019 are presented on a separate line on the income statement as "net income from discontinued activities", in accordance with the IFRS 5 standard. Therefore, consolidated revenue, EBITDA and operating income of the Group don't take into account the activity of Istanbul Ataturk airport in 2018 and 2019 anymore. Furthermore, the line "net income from discontinued activities" includes as well the profit following the announcement by Turkish authorities of the compensation due to TAV Airports for the early closure of Ataturk airport, after taxes and the impact of corresponding assets disposal (for 31M before elimination of non-controlling interests)(see the press release from 26 December 2019)

The application of the IFRS 16 standard "Leases" as of 1st January 2019, had the following impacts on the income statement:

group EBITDA improvement of 14 million (cancellation of rents previously included in "external services and charges");

right of use amortization expense for 11 million;

financial expenses for 5 million.

Revenue

(in millions of euros) 2019(1)(2) 2018(1)(2) 2019/2018(1)(2) Revenue 4,700 4,007 +17.3% Aviation 1,929 1,890 +2.1% Retail and services 1,505 1,000 N/A of which Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire 628 - N/A of which Relay@ADP 78 - N/A Real estate 274 265 +3.3% International and airport developments 1,081 941 +14.9% of which TAV Airports 746 695 +7.5% of which AIG 250 175 +43.2% Other activities 168 156 +7.9% Inter-sector eliminations - 257 - 245 +5.1%

The figures take into account the full consolidation of Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire and of Relay@ADP results since April 2019, and AIG results since April 2018 Revenue and operating expenses of TAV Istanbul for 2018 and 2019 are presented on a separate line on the income statement as "net income from discontinued activities", in accordance with the IFRS 5 standard. Therefore, consolidated revenue, EBITDA and operating income of the Group don't take into account the activity of Istanbul Ataturk airport in 2018 and 2019 anymore. Furthermore, the line "net income from discontinued activities" includes as well the profit following the announcement by Turkish authorities of the compensation due to TAV Airports for the early closure of Ataturk airport, after taxes and the impact of corresponding assets disposal (for 31M before elimination of non-controlling interests)(see the press release from 26 December 2019)

Over 2019, Groupe ADP consolidated revenue stood at 4,700 million, up by 693 million, mainly thanks to:

The growth in airport fees in Paris Aeroport (+4.1%, at 1,160 million), driven by the passenger traffic dynamics (+2.5%);

The full consolidation of Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire and Relay@ADP since April 2019 which contribute to consolidated revenue up to 719 million, of which 706 million in Paris (before elimination of fees received by Aeroports de Paris S.A. for 261 million);

The revenue growth of AIG by 75 million of which 53 million are linked to AIG full consolidation since April 2018 (corresponding to Q1 2019 revenue) and 22 million over the period from April to December driven by the dynamism of international traffic (+6.0%);

The increase by 7.5% of TAV Airports' revenue(1) at 51 million, driven by the growth in international traffic in Turkey.

The amount of inter-sector eliminations stood at -257 million over 2019 vs. -245 million over 2018.

1 The IFRS 5 standard "Non-current assets held for sale and discontinued operations" is applying to TAV Istanbul's activities as of the termination of activities at Istanbul Ataturk airport on 6 April 2019 (see the press release from 8 April 2019). The revenue and operating expenses of TAV Istanbul for 2018 and 2019 are therefore presented on a separate line on the income statement titled "net income from discontinued activities". Consolidated revenue, EBITDA and operating income of the Group don't take into account the activity of Istanbul Ataturk airport in 2018 and 2019 anymore. Furthermore, the line "net income from discontinued activities" includes as well the profit following the announcement by Turkish authorities of the compensation due to TAV Airports for the early closure of Ataturk airport, after taxes and the impact of corresponding assets disposal (for 31M before elimination of non-controlling interests)(see the press release from 26 December 2019)

EBITDA

(in millions of euros) 2019(1)(2) 2018(1)(2) 2019/2018 (1)(2) Revenue 4,700 4,007 +693m Operating expenses -2,985 -2,438 -547m Consumables -520 -195 -325m External services -1,150 -1,018 -132m Employee benefit costs -930 -861 -68m Taxes other than income taxes -316 -263 -53m Other operating expenses -70 -100 +31m Other incomes and expenses 57 111 -54m EBITDA 1,772 1,680 +92m EBITDA/Revenue 37.7% 41.9% -4.2pts

The figures take into account the full consolidation of Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire and of Relay@ADP results since April 2019, and AIG results since April 2018 Revenue and operating expenses of TAV Istanbul for 2018 and 2019 are presented on a separate line on the income statement as "net income from discontinued activities", in accordance with the IFRS 5 standard. Therefore, consolidated revenue, EBITDA and operating income of the Group don't take into account the activity of Istanbul Ataturk airport in 2018 and 2019 anymore. Furthermore, the line "net income from discontinued activities" includes as well the profit following the announcement by Turkish authorities of the compensation due to TAV Airports for the early closure of Ataturk airport, after taxes and the impact of corresponding assets disposal (for 31M before elimination of non-controlling interests)(see the press release from 26 December 2019)

Group operating expenses stood at 2,985 million over 2019, up by 547 million, due to:

the increase in operating expenses of TAV Airports for 28 million;

the increase in operating expenses of AIG mainly linked to the full consolidation of this subsidiary since April 2018 (37 million in Q1 2019);

the increase in operating expenses excluding TAV Airports and AIG from 1,877 million to 2,345 million, following :

the full consolidation since April 2019 of Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire for 385 million and Relay@ADP for 40 million;

the increase in operating expenses of the parent company, Aeroports de Paris (+3,9%)1

Excluding operating expenses linked to Societe du Grand Paris, to CDG Express, to the multi-year endowment for ADP's foundation accounted for in accordance to IFRS standards as a one-off in 2019 (neutral to the Group's EBITDA) and to taxes (see below), the operating expenses of Aeroports de Paris increased by +1.8% over 2019;

The distribution of operating expenses is as follows:

Consumables are up by 325 million at 520 million, following the full consolidation of Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire in April 2019 amounting to 252 million, and the works on the project of Societe du Grand Paris, which are subject to a compensation (EBITDA neutral);

The cost related to external services stood at 1,150 million. Excluding full consolidation of TAV Airports and AIG, these expenses rise by 57 million to 852 million (+7.1%), due to a greater appeal to external providers linked to the traffic increase over the year, as well as studies and research expenses for the CDG Express project;

Employee benefit costs are up by 68 million and stood at 930 million, due notably to the employee benefit costs accounted for as a result of the full consolidation of Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire for 72 million and to the increase in employee benefits costs for 27million, partly offset by a reversal in retirement benefits commitments for 41 million following the modification by the PACTE law of defined benefit schemes (L137-11 scheme, known as "Article 39");

Taxes other than income taxes are up by 53 million and stood at 316 million. This increase was essentially due to a revision in calculation basis for the 2018 and 2019 property taxes for 25 million and to an unfavorable base effect compared to the 2018 linked to the positive outcome of litigations in 2018 for 19 million;

Other operating expenses are down by 30 million and stood at 70 million following the accounting of losses in 2018 of irrecoverable receivables linked to international activities (EBITDA neutral);

Other income and expenses represented a net product of 57 million, down by 54 million, notably due to the accounting of receivables depreciations for 20 million after the bankruptcies of the airlines Aigle Azur and XL Airways and to an unfavorable base effect following provision reversals on irrecoverable receivables related linked to international activities in 2018 (EBITDA neutral).

Over 2019, consolidated EBITDA stood at 1,772 million. The consolidated gross margin2 rate was 37.7%, down by 4.2 points or 38.3% excluding TAV Airports and AIG down by 5 points, mainly due to the full consolidation of Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire and Relay@ADP.

1 Consumables, employee benefit excluding employee benefit obligations and profit sharing, and taxes other than income taxes

2 EBITDA / Revenue

Excluding TAV Airports and AIG full consolidation, and excluding Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire and Relay@ADP full consolidation, EBITDA stood at 1,392 million, up by 2.4%. The gross margin rate associated was 42.9%, almost stable compared to 2018 (down by 0.4 points).

This slight decrease is fully explained by the implementation, since 1st of April 2019, of the user fees disposal on revenues linked to the revenue from airport safety and security services introduced in the article 179 of Law No. 2018-1317 of 28 December 2018 of finance and that is charging Aeroports de Paris of 6% of the costs hitherto fully covered by the airport tax (i.e. 23 million): the negative effect on the 2019's gross margin rate is indeed around -0.4 point.

Net result attributable to the Group

(in millions of euros) 2019(1)(2) 2018(1)(2) 2019/2018 (1)(2) EBITDA 1,772 1,680 +5.5% Amortization & Depreciation -768 -638 +20.4% Share of profit or loss in associates and joint ventures 90 81 +11.9% Operating income from ordinary activities 1,094 1,123 -2.6% Other operating income and expenses -13 -2 N/A Operating income 1,081 1,121 -3.5% Financial income -206 -232 -11.2% Income before tax 875 889 -1.9% Income taxes -293 -297 -1.1% Net income from continuing operations 582 592 -1.7% Net income from discontinued operations 55 103 -46.1% Net income 637 695 -8.3% Net income attributable to non-controlling interests +49 +85 -42.7% Net income attributable to the Group 588 610 -3.5%

The figures take into account the full consolidation of Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire and of Relay@ADP results since April 2019, and AIG results since April 2018 Revenue and operating expenses of TAV Istanbul for 2018 and 2019 are presented on a separate line on the income statement as "net income from discontinued activities", in accordance with the IFRS 5 standard. Therefore, consolidated revenue, EBITDA and operating income of the Group don't take into account the activity of Istanbul Ataturk airport in 2018 and 2019 anymore. Furthermore, the line "net income from discontinued activities" includes as well the profit following the announcement by Turkish authorities of the compensation due to TAV Airports for the early closure of Ataturk airport, after taxes and the impact of corresponding assets disposal (for 31M before elimination of non-controlling interests)(see the press release from 26 December 2019)

Operating income from ordinary activities stood at 1,094 million, down by 29 million, notably due to:

the increase of amortizations at Paris (+36 million), TAV Airports (+38 million) and AIG (+17 million) and amortizations linked to the full consolidation of Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire and of Relay@ADP (+38 million of amortizations);

an unfavorable base effect of -23 million due to the accounting of the capital gains on the revaluation of the interest already held in AIG in 2018;

the impact of results from companies consolidated under the equity method of TAV Airports for -16 million;

EBITDA improvement for 92 million;

reevaluation at fair value of the share of the interest previously detained at the takeover date of Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire and Relay@ADP for an amount of 43 million1.

However, these effects are partly offset by:

Operating income stood at 1,081 million, down by 40 million, linked to the decrease of Operating income from ordinary activities and to the revaluation of Hub One Mobility's goodwill in the group's accounts.

Financial result stood at -206 million, improving by 26 million due to a lack of international provision in 2018 and due to TAV Airports financial result improvement.

Net financial debt of Groupe ADP stood at 5,254 million as of 31 December 2019, vs. 4,942 million as of 31 December 2018. The net debt excluding TAV Airports and AIG stood at 4,305 million.

On 18 June 2019, Aeroports de Paris has issued a 15-year bond for the total amount of 800 million, with a fixed rate (1.125% yearly).

Income tax expense stood at 293 million over 2019.

1 In accordance with the IFRS 3 standard "Business combination", shares previously detained are reevaluated at a fair value with result at the takeover date, i.e. 11 April 2019

Net income from discontinued operations stood at 55 million over 2019, vs. 103 million over 2018, following the application of IFRS 5 standard "Non-current assets held for sale and discontinued operations" to the activities of TAV Istanbul. In 2019, net income from discontinued operations (before elimination of non-controlling interests) corresponds to:

- 24 million linked to TAV Istanbul activities from 1 January 2019 to 6 April 2019, date on which commercial flights of Istanbul Ataturk were transferred to the new Istanbul airport;

- 31 million of profit following the announcement by Turkish authorities of the compensation due to TAV Airports for the early closure of Istanbul Ataturk airport, after taxes and the impact of corresponding assets disposal (see the press release from 26 December 2019).

The net income stood at 637 million over 2019.

Net income from non-controlling interests stood at 49 million, down by 36 million, notably due to the decrease of TAV Airports net result (-35 million).

Taking into account all these items, the net result attributable to the Group is down by 22 million, at 588 million. After elimination of non-controlling interests, the decrease of the net result of discontinued activities at TAV Istanbul (-22 million) explains entirely the decline of the net result attributable to the Group.

Analysis by segment

Aviation  Parisian Platforms

(in millions of euros) 2019 2018 2019/2018 Revenue 1,929 1,890 +2.1% Airport fees 1,160 1,114 +4.1% Passenger fees 726 695 +4.5% Landing fees 262 254 +3.0% Parking fees 172 165 +4.1% Ancillary fees 250 239 +4.9% Revenue from airport safety and security services 482 499 -3.3% Other income 37 38 -4.3% EBITDA 611 603 +1.4% Operating income from ordinary activities 283 307 -8.0% EBITDA / Revenue 31.7 % 31.9 % -0.2pts Operating income from ordinary activities / Revenue 14.7 % 16.3 % -1.6pts

Over 2019, aviation segment revenue, which includes only Parisian activities, was up by 2.1% at 1,929 million.

Revenue from airport fees (passenger fees, landing fees and aircraft parking fees) was up by 4.1%, at 1,160 million over 2019, benefiting from the growth in passenger traffic (+2.5%) and the increase in tariffs. As a reminder, tariffs (excluding PRM1 fees) have increased by 1.0% as of 1st April 2019 for Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. These fees (excluding PRM1 fees) will rise by +1.595% as of 1st April 2020 on these two platforms.

Ancillary fees were up by 4.9%, at 250 million, notably due to PRM1 fees (+6.2%, i.e. 3.8 million) and to the income linked to checks-in (+4.6%, i.e. 4.1 million), linked to the traffic increase.

Revenue from airport safety and security services was down at 482 million, due to the implementation of a disposal provided for in the finance law for 2019 and applied since April 2019 (-23 million). As a reminder, since 1st April 2019, this disposal is introduced in the article 179 of Law No. 2018-1317 of 28 December 2018 of finance and is charging Aeroports de Paris of 6% of the costs hitherto fully covered by the airport tax.

Other income which mostly consists of re-invoicing the French Air Navigation Services Division, leasing associated with the use of terminals and other works services made for third parties. They are down at 37 million.

EBITDA was up by +1.4%, at 611 million. The gross margin rate decreased by 0.2 points and stood at 31.7%.

Excluding user fees effect on revenue linked to airport security and safety services implemented on 1st April 2019, and excluding receivables impairment related to the bankruptcies of Aigle Azur and XL Airways (20 million), the EBITDA would be up by 44 million and the margin rate would have increased by 2 points, at 33.9%.

The operating income from ordinary activities was down by -8.0%, at 283 million over 2019, due to the increase in amortizations linked with the investment plan acceleration in 2019 and notably the commissioning of the Orly junction and the Hall 1 extension in Paris-Orly.

1 Persons with reduced mobility

Retail and services  Parisian platforms

(in millions of euros) 2019 2018 2019/2018 Revenue 1,505 1,000 +50.6% Retail activities 970 490 N/A Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire 628 N/A N/A Relay@ADP 78 N/A N/A Other Shops and Bars and restaurants 166 N/A N/A Advertising 57 55 +4.1% Other products 41 49 -15.6% Car parks and access roads 172 173 -0.9% Industrial services revenue 140 129 +8.6% Rental income 145 149 -2.8% Other income 78 58 +34.3% EBITDA 638 580 +10.1% Share in associates and joint ventures from operating activities 41 2 N/A Operating income from ordinary activities 513 458 +12.1% EBITDA / Revenue 42.4% 58.0% -15.6pts Operating income from ordinary activities / Revenue 34.1% 45.8% -11.7pts

Over 2019, revenue from Retail and services, which includes only Parisian activities, was up by 50.6%, at 1,505 million.

Revenue from retail activities consists in rents received from airside and landside shops, bars and restaurants, banking and foreign exchange activities, and car rental companies, as well as revenue from advertising. Since the takeover of Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire and Relay@ADP in April 2019, this revenue notably includes realized revenue in retail areas operated by these two societies in public and reserved areas, and for Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire the revenue linked to affiliate commission1 activities and revenue received from tax refund service delivery. For information, the rents related to activities operated by Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire and Relay@ADP previously collected by Aeroports de Paris S.A. are now subject to an inter segments elimination since the modification of the applicable consolidation method. The amount of these eliminations stands at 261 million over the period from April to December 2019.

Over 2019, retail activities revenue stood at 970 million, due to:

Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire full consolidation since April 2019, of which the revenue stood at 628 million. In full year, the revenue of Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire progressed in line with the Core Business 2 performance at +6.8%, linked to the growth in traffic and in revenue per passenger (favorable scope effects linked to new shops opening with walkthroughs 2E Hall L and Orly-3). Fashion 3 increased a bit less by +6.2% prejudiced by works of the terminal 2E Hall L.

Relay@ADP full consolidation since April 2019, of which for the revenue stood at 78 million;

Rents from other shops and bar and restaurants for 166 million;

Other products of retail activities, in which are included foreign exchange and tax refund activities, decreased by 15.6%, at 41 million. The previous contract linked foreign exchange and tax refund activities and was apportioned to Travelex. Indeed, at the expiration of the previous contract, foreign exchange activities and tax refund were separated in order to improve the quality of service and to better meet with customers' specific expectations. As of now, Cash Paris Tax Refund, a joint-venture formed by two operators, Global Blue and Planet Payment, operates tax refund activities and Travelex remains as foreign exchange operator. The separation of the two activities triggered a decrease of the average rental rate on these activities, but should otherwise lead to a better reinvestment of the refunded tax amount into airside shops and bars & restaurants. The observed decrease over the year 2019 is therefore linked to this transition period and the implementation of this new scheme.

1 Affiliate-commission is a distribution method by which Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire sells products belonging to a principal (e.g. a fashion brand) on its behalf and under its brand. In return, Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire receives the payment of a commission calculated on the realized revenue of the sales points. Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire occupies the sales areas but does not own the goods it offers for sale by its staff

2 Alcohol, tobacco, perfume, cosmetics and gastronomy

3 Fashion, leatherwork, shoes

Revenue from car parks was down by 0.9% and stood at 172 million.

Revenue from industrial services (supply of electricity and water) was up by 8.6%, at 140 million.

Rental revenue (leasing of spaces within terminals) were down by 2.8%, at 145 million.

Other revenue (mainly consisting in internal services) increased by 34.3%, at 78 million, notably due to an increase of 21 million linked to the re-invoicing of works for the Societe du Grand Paris project.

EBITDA of the segment was up by +10.1%, at 638 million, notably following the Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire and Relay@ADP full consolidation (+5.6%, at 612 million excluding these two entities' full consolidation). The gross margin rate was down (-15.6 points) at 42.4%. Excluding Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire and Relay@ADP full consolidation, gross margin rate of the segment stood at 58.5%, up by 0.5 point.

The share of profit from operating associates stood at 41 million, due to the reevaluation at fair value of the share of the interest previously detained at the takeover date of Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire and Relay@ADP for an amount of 43 million.

Operating income from ordinary activities increased by 12.1%, at 513 million.



Real estate  Parisian platforms

(in millions of euros) 2019 2018 2019/2018 Revenue 274 265 +3.3% External revenue 228 218 +4.6% Land 117 110 +6.4% Buildings 69 66 +4.5% Others 42 42 +0.2% Internal revenue 46 47 -2.1% EBITDA 169 148 +14.8% Share in associates and joint ventures from operating activities 1 3 -61.1% Operating income from ordinary activities 122 102 +20.4% EBITDA / Revenue 61.8% 55.6% +6.2pts Operating income from ordinary activities / Revenue 44.6% 38.3% +6.3pts

Over 2019, real estate revenue, which includes only Parisian activities, was up by 3.3%, at 274 million.

External revenue1 was up by 4.6%, at 228 million, mainly driven by new contracts.

EBITDA of the segment was up by 14.8%, at 169 million, due to the increase of external revenue and products generated following the sale of lands for 7 million.

Share in associates and joint ventures from operating activities stood at 1 million.

As a consequence, operating income from ordinary activities increased by 20 million, at 122 million.

1 Generated with third parties (outside the Group)

International and airports developments

(in millions of euros) 2019(1)(2) 2018(1)(2) 2019/2018(1)(2) Revenue 1,081 941 +14.9% ADP International 321 246 +30.5% Of which AIG 250 175 +43.2% Of which ADP Ingenierie 57 58 -1.2% TAV Airports 746 695 +7.5% Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire Croatie 13 - N/A EBITDA 326 304 +7.1% Share of profit or loss in associates and joint ventures 48 76 -34.8% Operating income from ordinary activities 164 223 -26.5% EBITDA / Revenue 30.2% 32.4% -2.2pts Operating income from ordinary activities / Revenue 15.2% 23.8% -8.6pts

Data takes into account the full consolidation of AIG's results since April 2018, of Merchant Aviation since August 2018 and of MZLZ-TRGOVINA D.o.o (Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire Croatia) since April 2019 Revenue and operating expenses of TAV Istanbul for 2018 and 2019 are presented on a separate line on the income statement as "net income from discontinued activities", in accordance with the IFRS 5 standard. Therefore, consolidated revenue, EBITDA and operating income of the Group don't take into account the activity of Istanbul Ataturk airport in 2018 and 2019 anymore. Furthermore, the line "net income from discontinued activities" includes as well the profit following the announcement by Turkish authorities of the compensation due to TAV Airports for the early closure of Ataturk airport, after taxes and the impact of corresponding assets disposal (for 31M before elimination of non-controlling interests)(see the press release from 26 December 2019)

Over 2019, revenue from International and airport developments stood at 1,081 million, up by 14.9% compared to 2018 due to:

AIG 's results full consolidation since April 2018: 53 million revenue in Q1 2019, and 22 million of revenue increase over the period from April to December 2019 compared to April to December 2018, driven by the international traffic dynamics (+6.0%);

Full consolidation of Societe de Distribution Aeroportuaire Croatia since April 2019, of which the revenue stands at 13 million;

Revenue increase for TAV Airports for 51 million, at 746 million, is mainly explained by: TAV OS (company specialized in airport lounges management) for 19 million, due to the full-year effect on operations at Muscat airport and to the acquisition in January 2019 of the company Gestio Serveis Trade Center, specialized in VIP lounges management in airports (fully consolidated in TAV Airports' accounts), offsetting the decrease in activity linked to the termination of Istanbul Ataturk in April 2019; Havas (company specialized in ground handling) for +30 million, due to a favorable traffic mix; TAV Tunisia (company operating the Monastir and Enfidha airports concessions) for +9 million with a traffic growth of +22.1% having a favorable impact on the product of aviation fees; TAV Izmir for +7 million and TAV Bodrum for +5 million, resulting from the international traffic increase in these airports and the revenue growth in duty free shops for these two airports.



The good performances from these TAV Airports' subsidiaries allowed to offset the revenue decrease of the subsidiary BTA (company specialized in bars and restaurants) for -26 million. BTA endured the termination of Istanbul Ataturk but started activities in Paris-Orly and Muscat airports.

Revenue of ADP Ingenierie is down by 1.2% and stood at 57 million. As of 31 December 2019, ADP Ingenierie's backlog stood at 79 million (vs. 75M as of 31 December 2018).

TAV Airports' EBITDA increased by 3.4%, at 277million linked to the increase in revenue (+7.5%), despite the increase in employee benefit costs for 27 million (+13.5%) and the increase of expenses linked to new operations and the full consolidation of Gestio Serveis Trade Center.

EBITDA of the segment increased by 7.1%, at 326 million, mainly due to AIG full consolidation since April 2018 (+23 million in total: 16 million of EBITDA in Q1 2019 and 7 million following the EBITDA increase over the period from April to December 2019 compared to April to December 2018) and the increase of EBITDA of TAV Airports for 9 million, offsetting the negative contribution of ADP Ingenierie to the EBITDA of the segment.

Share of profit from operating associates stood at 48 million over 2019, registering a strong decrease compared to 2018, mainly due:

an unfavorable base effect due to the accounting of the capital gain on the revalorization of shares already owned in AIG for 23 million over 2018;

the equity accounting impact of TAV Airports for -16 million (of which ATU for 13 million notably following the termination of Istanbul Ataturk airport).

Operating income from ordinary activities of the segment is down by 26.5% and stands at 164 million in 2019, due to the decrease of the share of profit from operating associates and the increase in amortizations of TAV Airports for 38 million.

Other activities

(in millions of euros) 2019 2018 2019/2018 Products 168 156 +7.9% Hub One 152 155 -1.9% EBITDA 29 46 -36.1% Operating income from ordinary activities 13 34 -58.5% EBITDA / Revenue 17.8% 30.1% -12.3pts Operating income from ordinary activities / Revenue 8.4% 21.7% -13.4pts

Over 2019, other activities segment revenue increased by 7.9%, at 168 million, due to re-invoicing on realized surveys for the CDG Express project for 8 million (almost neutral in EBITDA).

Hub One saw its revenue decreasing by 1.9%, at 152 million.

EBITDA of the segment stood at 30 million, down by 17 million, notably linked to a faster pace over 2018 than over 2019 in works on the CDG Express project.

The operating income from ordinary activities of the segment was down by 21 million and stood at 14 million.

Highlights of the period since the publication of the 2019 9-month revenue, on 23 October 2019

Change in passenger traffic over 2019

u Group traffic :

Group traffic

(million passengers) Group traffic @100% (mpax) Groupe ADP

stake(1) Stake-weighted traffic

(mpax)(2) 2019 / 2018 change(3) Paris Aeroport (CDG+ORY) 108.0 @100% 108.0 +2.5% Zagreb 3.4 @20.8% 0.7 +3.0% Jeddah-Hajj 6.7 @5% 0.3 -7.6% Amman 8.9 @51% 8.9 (@100%) +5.9% Mauritius 3.9 @10% 0.4 +0.6% Conakry 0.6 @29% 0.2 +12.3% Santiago de Chile 24.6 @45% 11.1 +5.7% Madagascar 1.3 @35% 0.4 +8.4% Antalya - TAV Airports 35.7 @23.1% 35.7 (@100%) +12.6% Ankara Esenboga - TAV Airports 13.7 @46.1%(4) 13.7 (@100%) -18.2% Izmir - TAV Airports 12.4 @46.1%(4) 12.4 (@100%) -7.6% Other airports TAV Airports(5) 27.3 @46.1%(4) 27.3 (@100%) +4.6% TOTAL GROUP (excl. Ataturk) 243.1 218.4 +2.3% Istanbul Ataturk - TAV Airports 16.1 @46.1%(4) 16.1 (@100%) N/A TOTAL GROUP (incl. Ataturk) 259.2 234.5 -16.7% (1)Direct or indirect

(2) Total traffic is calculated using the following method: traffic at the airports that are fully integrated is recognized at 100%, while the traffic from the other airports is accounted for pro rata to Groupe ADPs percentage holding. Traffic in TAV Airports' airports is taken into account at 100% in accordance with TAV Airports' financial communication practices

(3) Change in 2019 traffic as compared to 2018. For TAV Airports, change in traffic in 2019 vs 2018 is calculated on a comparable basis and includes traffic on Antalya Airports since January 2018

(4) Share of TAV Airports detained by Groupe ADP

(5) Turkey (Milas-Bodrum & Gazipasa), Croatia (Zagreb), Saudi Arabia (Medinah), Tunisia (Monastir & Enfidha), Georgia (Tbilissi & Batumi), and Macedonia (Skopje & Ohrid)



u Paris Aeroport traffic

Over 2019, traffic at Paris Aeroport grew by +2.5% with a total of 108 million of passengers welcomed, of which 76.2 million at Paris-Charles de Gaulle (+5.4%) and 31.9 million at Paris-Orly (-3.8%). The decrease in traffic at Paris-Orly is notably due to the movement limitations induced by the closure for work of Orly's main runway (closed on July 28th and reopened since December 2nd) as well as to the effects of the bankruptcy of the airline Aigle Azur, which ceased its activities as from the evening of Friday, September 6.

Geographical breakdown is as follows:

International traffic (excluding Europe) was up (+3.7%), due to a growth in the following destinations: North America (+7.3%), Latin America (+6.1%), the French Overseas Territories (+5.5%), Africa (+1.5%), Middle East (+1.4%), Asia-Pacific (+1.1%);

European traffic (excluding France) was up by 2.5%;

Traffic within France was down by -0.3%.

Geographic split

Paris Aeroport 2019 / 2018 change Share of total traffic France -0.3% 15.0% Europe +2.5% 43.8% Other international +3.7% 41.3% Of which Africa +1.5% 11.3% North America +7.3% 10.9% Latin American +6.1% 3.1% Middle East +1.4% 5.2% Asia-Pacific +1.1% 6.4% French Overseas Territories +5.5% 4.4% Total Paris Aeroport +2.5% 100.0%

The number of connecting passengers increased by 7.4%. The connecting rate stood at 22.7%, up by 1.0 points compared to 2018. The load factor was up by 0.9 points, at 86.5%. The number of air traffic movements (716,524) was up by 0.9%.

Discussions by TAV Airports for the acquisition of Almaty International Airport in Kazakhstan

The consortium formed by TAV Airports (of which Groupe ADP owns 46.12% of the capital) and VPE Capital, has started discussions with the owner of Almaty International Airport in Kazakhstan regarding the potential acquisition of this asset, which may be achieved in the upcoming weeks / months.

The airport of Almaty, Kazakhstan's economic capital, is the biggest airport in Central Asia: it welcomed approximately 6 million passengers in 2018, half of which were from international routes. Kazakhstan, the biggest landlocked country in the world with 2.7 million square km, is the driver of economic growth in the region, and stands for 60% of Central Asia's GDP.

This operation fits into Groupe ADP and TAV Airports' development strategy in Central Asia.

Groupe ADP gets a new organization to optimize its performance and expansion and makes new appointments

To keep on and enhance its value creation strategy, Groupe ADP implements a new integrated organization for the entire group, with the creation of two news departments, the identification of ten business lines and a strengthening of the operational links between Groupe ADP and TAV Airports.

Groupe ADP wishes to continue the expansion of the Parisian Airports and to seize new international opportunities to build a sustainable global airport leader. Its ambition is that International activities will contribute between 35% and 40% to the group's EBIT by 2025 (vs 27.4% in 2018). In the same time, TAV Airports aims to keep to expand its activities both in Turkey and in other countries.

It implies for Groupe ADP to boost development while ensuring its financial strength. This strategy is based on an industrial vision and involves a better integration of TAV Airports and Airport International Group into the group, in order to foster operational synergies, optimize resources and create maneuvering margins to continue the development of the entire group.

With this in mind, Groupe ADP adapts its organization with four components:

the setting up of a global Development Department, which will gather all the prospection teams dedicated of the group. This department will be in charge of all the development projects, including non-airport developments and those of service subsidiaries (BTA, specialized in catering; ATU focused in duty free retail, etc.);

the setting up of a global Operations Department, whose competencies will be extended at international level. It will be notably in charge of the animation of managers of airports platforms in France and abroad;

the setting up of 10 "group" sectors business lines each one around skills family systematically taking into account the expertise related to innovation and sustainable development. These business lines will operate in a matrix mode with hierarchical connections, but also functional ones. They will therefore contribute to the group's synergies development;

finally, the setting up of a new coordination body focused on development and performance. Groupe ADP and TAV Airports' executive committees remain unchanged, and a new "Development and Performance Committee" is created, gathering 8 members belonging of both companies.

Augustin de Romanet, Chairman and CEO of Aeroports de Paris SA - Groupe ADP, made the appointments of the two managers of the departments thus created:

Starting the 2 January 2020:

Fernando ECHEGARAY is appointed Deputy Executive Officer, in charge of Operations Groupe ADP, member of the Executive Committee. He joined Groupe ADP in June 2017 and held previously the job of CEO of ADP International.

Xavier HURSTEL is appointed Deputy Executive Officer of Groupe ADP, in charge to coordinate the development operations of Groupe ADP, member of the Executive Committee.

Groupe ADP welcomes the announcement by Turkish authorities of the compensation due to TAV Airports for the early closure of Ataturk airport

TAV Istanbul had the right to operate, in application of a contract of lease signed with the National Airports Authority (DHMI), the national and international airport of Ataturk, the car park and the general aviation terminal for 15 and a half years, from 03/07/2005 at 00:01 to 02/01/2021 at 24:00 hours. Following a decision by the Turkish authorities, all commercial flights were transferred to the new Istanbul airport from 6 April 2019 at 02:00 am.

By official letter sent to TAV Airports by the DHMI, the DHMI had declared that it would compensate to TAV Airports the loss of profit that could result from the opening of the New Istanbul Airport before the end of the contract on 3 January 2021 and that independent accounting firms may be consulted on the calculation of the total amount of profit losses. After many months of exchanges on the calculation of this compensation and joint expert opinions by international accounting firms, a proposal of compensation of an amount of 389 million euros was made and agreed by TAV Airports. This receivable being paid in part in 2020 and for the remaining in 2021, a receivable has been recognized for the discounted amount of the compensation, i.e 385 million. This income is offset by the removal of operating rights and other assets of TAV Istanbul which were included in the assets side of the consolidated balance sheet, the balance corresponding to an income net of taxes and before elimination of non-controlling interests of 31 million.

The global impact on the result presented on the line "Net result from discontinued activities" stands at 55 million and includes the net income from the activity of TAV Istanbul until 6 April 2019 as well as the income net of taxes realized under the early closure of the activity. The effect on the net result attributable to the Group due to the discontinued activities stands at 26 million.

Events having occurred since 31 December 2019

Approval of the 2020 airport fees

In December 2019, Aeroports de Paris filled its request for the approval of the 2020-2021 airport fees pricing period, which is the last pricing period under the 2016-2020 Economic Regulation Agreement. The request for approval has been declared complete on the same day by the Transport Regulation Authority (ART) which now replaces the ISA (Independent Supervisory Authority) as from now.

Aeroports de Paris submitted to the ART's approval the yearly pricing evolution of the following fees:

+1.595% for Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly airports;

+2.02% for Paris-Le Bourget airport.

By decree n2020-001 of 9 January 2020, the ART has approved the airport fees pricing applicable to Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly and Paris-Le Bourget airports as of 1st April 2020, subject to modification in the cap of the price discount on the fee per passenger for its base on Origin/Destination passengers from 3.29 million to 5.29 million.

Dividend payment policy

The Board of Directors approved, on 10 February 2020, the social and consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2019. During this meeting, it decided to propose to the vote of the next Annual Shareholders General Meeting, to be held on 12 May 2020, the payment of a dividend of 3.70 per share for 2019. It is specified that an interim dividend of 0.70 per share has been paid out on 10 December 2019. Subject to the approval of the Annual General Meeting, the ex-dividend date would be on 10 June 2019, and payment would be made on 8 June 2020. This dividend corresponds to a payout ratio of 62% of the 2019 net income attributable to the Group.

Forecasts

2020 Forecasts





2020 forecasts Traffic growth assumption Traffic growth assumption for Paris Aeroport: increase between +2% and +2.5% in 2020 vs 2019



Traffic growth assumption for TAV Airports between +3% and +5% between 2020 and 2019, calculated without Istanbul Ataturk in 2019 Consolidated EBIDTA











Consolidated Group EBITDA growth 2020(1)(2)(3)(4) between +3.5% and +5.5% compared to 2019



Consolidated EBITDA growth excluding TAV AIRPORTS and AIG(3)(4) between +3% and +4.5% compared to 2019 Dividend Proposed dividend(5) of 3.70 per share for 2019, stable compared to 2018

(1) TAV Airports' EBITDA guidance for 2020, underlying Group's EBITDA guidance, is built on the assumption of the following exchange rate assumptions: EUR/TRY = 6.87 ; EUR/USD =1.12

(2) The IFRS 5 standard "Non-current assets held for sale and discontinued operations" is applying to TAV Istanbul's activities as of the termination of activities at Istanbul Ataturk airport on 6 April 2019 (see the press release from 8 April 2019). The revenue and operating expenses of TAV Istanbul for 2018 and 2019 are therefore presented on a separate line on the income statement titled "net income from discontinued activities". Consolidated revenue, EBITDA and operating income of the Group don't take into account the activity of Istanbul Ataturk airport anymore. Furthermore, the line "net income from discontinued activities" includes as well the profit following the announcement by Turkish authorities of the compensation due to TAV Airports for the early closure of Ataturk airport, after taxes and the impact of corresponding assets disposal (for 31M before elimination of non-controlling interests)(see the press release from 26 December 2019)

(3) Takes into account the introduction, since 1st April 2019, of the mechanism charging Aeroports de Paris 6% of the costs hitherto fully covered by the airport tax, in accordance with Article 179 of Law No. 2018-1317 of 28 December 2018 of finance

(4) Excluding potential effects on ADPs accounts related the sell by the State of the majority of ADPs capital (according to the PACTE law provisions)

(5) Subject to the approval of the General Meeting of the Shareholder approving the 2019 accounts

The achievement of these forecasts are subject to the assumption of traffic growth in Paris Aeroport and the good run of TAV Airports' strategy.

2016-2020 Period guidance's revision

Groupe ADP 2016-2020 targets, as announced on 14 February 2019 are partially revised and have to be understood independently from the effect of the full consolidation of TAV Airports and AIG. Groupe ADP will continue to present a consolidated EBITDA excluding the effect of the full consolidation of TAV Airports and AIG in order to follow the EBITDA target.





2016-2020 targets as revised on

14 February 2019 2016-2020 targets on 10 February 2020 Traffic Yearly increase between 2.8% and 3.2% on average between 2016 and 2020, of which international traffic between +3.6% and 4%



Unchanged Consolidated EBITDA 2020 between 2014 and 2020e Increase between +30% and +40%



Unchanged ROCE of the regulated scope (1) Level between 5.6% and 5.8% in 2020e



Unchanged Operational expenditures over the regulated scope (in constant euros) Decrease between 10% and 15% between 2015 and 2020 Unchanged Parent company operating expenses (2) Limit the growth of operating expenses to a level around 2.2% in average per year between 2015 and 2020 Unchanged Dividend Maintained pay-out of 60% of NRAG 2019 Unchanged Sales/PAX 23 in full year after infrastructure projects delivery Revised: delaying of the target from 2020 to 2021



23 in fully year after infrastructure projects delivery in 2021 (delivery of the junction of terminal 1 at Paris-CDG in 2021) Real estate Growth in external rents (excluding re-invoicing and indexation) from real estate : between 10% to 15% between 2014 and 2020e Unchanged Quality of service Overall ACI/ASQ rating of 4 in full year after infrastructure projects delivery Revised: delaying of the target from 2020 to 2021



Overall ACI/ASQ 4 in full year after infrastructure projects delivery in 2021 (delivery of the junction of terminal 1 at Paris-CDG in 2021) Extra-financial notation (3) Assumption of 86/100 in 2020 Unchanged

(1) Return on capital employed computed as operating income of the regulated scope after normative taxes on societies compared with the regulated assets scope

(2) Excluding SGP

(3 Extra-financial notation: ADP and its subsidiaries at 100 %

Forecasts presented here-above are based on data, assumptions and estimates considered as reasonable by the management of the Groupe.

Agenda

u Tuesday 11 February 2020: Analysts meeting at 11:00 am (CET)

Listening live:

From France: +33 (0)1 70 72 25 50

From other countries: +44 (0)33 0336 9125

Confirmation code: 2744638

Webcasting of the analysts meeting on our website by clicking on the link for the webcast and the presentation: finance.groupeadp.fr

Next traffic figures publication : Thursday 13 February 2020: January 2020 traffic figures

Next financial results publication: Thursday 23 April 2020: First quarter 2020 revenue

General Meeting of Shareholders: Tuesday 12 May 2020



Disclaimer

This press release does not constitute an offer to purchase financial securities within the United States or in any other country.

Forward-looking disclosures (including, if so, forecasts and objectives) are included in this press release. These forward-looking disclosures are based on data, assumptions and estimates deemed reasonable at the diffusion date of the present document but could be unprecise and are, either way, subject to risks. There are uncertainties about the realization of predicted events and the achievements of forecasted results. Detailed information about these potential risks and uncertainties that might trigger differences between considered results and obtained results are available in the registration document filed with the French financial markets authority on 23 April 2019 under D-19-0373, retrievable online on the AMF website www.amf-france.org or Aeroports de Paris website www.parisaeroports.fr .

Aeroports de Paris do not commit and shall not update forecasted information contained in the document to reflect facts and posterior circumstances to the presentation date.

Investor Relations

Audrey Arnoux: + 33 1 74 25 70 64  invest@adp.fr

Press

Lola Bourget: + 33 1 74 25 23 23

Investor Relations: Audrey Arnoux, Head of Investor Relations +33 1 74 25 70 64 - invest@adp.fr

Press contact: Lola Bourget, Head of Medias and Reputation Department +33 1 74 25 23 23

Groupe ADP develops and manages airports, including Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly and Paris-Le Bourget. In 2019, the group handled through its brand Paris Aeroport more than 108 million passengers and 2.2 million metric tons of freight and mail at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly, and more than 110 million passengers in airports abroad. Boasting an exceptional geographic location and a major catchment area, the Group is pursuing its strategy of adapting and modernizing its terminal facilities and upgrading quality of services; the group also intends to develop its retail and real estate businesses. In 2019, group revenue stood at 4,700 million and net income at 588 million.

Registered office: 1 rue de France  93290 Tremblay en France, France. A public limited company (Societe Anonyme) with share capital of 296,881,806. Registered in the Bobigny Trade and Company Register under no. 552 016 628.

groupeadp.fr





Appendix 1: 2018 restated financial statements

Restatement of 2018 financial statements for comparison with 20191

As a reminder, in accordance with IFRS 5 standard " Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations", Group ADP discloses a single amount in the statement of comprehensive income on the line net income from discontinued operations, all components2 that have been disposed by the Group (shutdown of operations) or which are classified as held for sale, and :

- which represents a separate major line of business or geographical area of operations;

- are part of a single coordinated plan to dispose of a separate major line of business or geographical area of operations; or

- if it is a subsidiary acquired exclusively with a view to resale.

For discontinued operations, this reclassification applies at the date the activity has been disposed.

In order to facilitate the reading and understanding of the Group's performance in 2019 compared to 2018, restated financial statements for 2018 have been prepared and are as follows:

2018 restated income statement

(in millions of euros) FY2018 as published FY2018 restated Revenue 4,478 4,007 EBITDA 1,961 1,680 Share in associates 81 81 Operating income from ordinary activities 1,238 1,123 Operating income 1,236 1,121 Financial income (206) (232) Income before tax 1,030 889 Income tax expense (335) (297) Net results from continuing activities 695 592 Net results from discontinued activities - 103 Net income 695 695 Net income attributable to the Group 610 610

1 See press release of 14 February 2019 available on www.parisaeroport.fr. These figures cancels and replace the figures related to the Istanbul Ataturk's pro forma restatement of the press release of 14 February 2019.

2 By component is meant an element that comprises operations and cash flows that can be clearly distinguished, operationally and for financial reporting purposes, from the rest of the entity.

2018 restated comprehensive income

(in millions of euros) FY2018 published FY2018 restated Net income 695 695 Recyclable elements to the consolidated income statement 22 22 Including share of other comprehensive income linked to discontinued activities - (6) Non-recyclable elements to the consolidated income statement (15) (15) Including actuarial gains/losses in benefit obligations linked to discontinued activities - (1) Total comprehensive income for the period 702 702 attributable to non-controlling interests 81 81 attributable to the Group 621 621

2018 restated statement of cash flows

(in millions of euros) FY2018 published FY2018 restated Operating income 1,236 1,121 Operating cash flow before change in working capital and tax 1,836 1,576 Change in working capital (3) (44) Cash flows from operating activities 1,552 1,551 including impact of discontinued activities - 234 Cash flows from investing activities (1,636) (1,636) including impact of discontinued activities - (1) Cash flows from financing activities 227 227 including impact of discontinued activities - (83) Change in cash and cash equivalents 145 145 Net cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the period 1,910 1,910 Net cash and cash equivalents at end of the period 2,055 2,055 of which Cash and cash equivalents 2,056 2,056 of which Bank overdrafts (1) (1)

Appendix 2: 2019 consolidated financial statements

2019 consolidated income statement

(in millions of euros) FY2019 FY2018* Revenue 4,700 4,007 Other operating income 80 57 Employee benefit costs (520) (195) Other operating expenses (930) (861) Other operating expenses (1,535) (1,382) Net allowances to provisions and Impairment of receivables (23) 54 EBITDA 1,772 1,680 EBITDA/Revenue 37.7% 41.9% Amortization and impairment of tangible and intangible assets (768) (638) Share of profit or loss in associates and joint ventures from operating activities 90 81 Operating income from ordinary activities 1,094 1,123 Other operating income and expenses (13) (2) Operating income 1,081 1,121 Financial income 99 71 Financial expenses (305) (303) Financial income (206) (232) Income before tax 875 889 Income tax expense (293) (297) Net income from continuing activities 582 592 Net results from discontinued activities 55 103 Net income 637 695 Net income attributable to the Group 588 610 Net income attributable to non-controlling interests 49 85 Basic earnings per share (in ) Diluted earnings per share (in ) 5.95 6.16 Earnings per share from continuing activities attributable to the Group 5.95 6.16 Basic earnings per share (in ) Diluted earnings per share (in ) 5.69 5.68

*Restated accounts as described in the notes 2.2 & 12 of the 2019 consolidated financial statements

Consolidated balance sheet as of 31 December 2019

(in millions of euros) As of 31/12/2019 As of 31/12/2018 Intangible assets 3,304 3,560 Tangible assets 7,930 7,272 Investment property 510 509 Investments in associates 1,019 1,146 Other non-current financial assets 682 403 Deferred tax assets 37 - Non-current assets 13,482 12,890 Inventories 94 38 Contract assets 3 9 Trade receivables 609 628 Other receivables and prepaid expenses 382 239 Other current financial assets 176 201 Current tax assets 65 6 Cash and cash equivalents 1,982 2,056 Current assets 3,310 3,177 Total assets 16,793 16,067





(in millions of euros) As of 31/12/2019 As of 31/12/2018 Share capital 297 297 Share premium 543 543 Retained earnings 4,341 4,096 Other equity items (149) (86) Shareholders' equity - Group share 5,032 4,850 Non-controlling interests 975 951 Shareholders' equity 6,007 5,801 Non-current debt 6,077 5,970 Provisions for employee benefit obligations (more than one year) 511 484 Other non-current provisions 47 39 Deferred tax liabilities 371 383 Other non-current liabilities 798 780 Non-current liabilities 7,804 7,656 Contract liabilities 2 6 Trade payables 679 590 Other debts and deferred income 812 793 Current debt 1,362 1,159 Provisions for employee benefit obligations (less than one year) 14 9 Other current provisions 5 16 Current tax liabilities 107 37 Current liabilities 2,982 2,610 Total equity and liabilities 16,793 16,067

2019 consolidated statement of cash flows

(in millions of euros) FY2019 FY2018* Operating income 1,081 1,121 Depreciation, amortization and impairment losses (excluding current assets) 619 519 Net gains on disposals (53) (64) Operating cash flow before change in working capital and tax 1,647 1,576 Change in working capital 145 (44) Tax expenses (321) (215) Cash flow from discontinued activities 82 234 Cash flows from operating activities 1,553 1,551 Purchase of property, plant, equipment and intangible assets (1,203) (1,077) Change in debt and advances on asset acquisitions - 50 Acquisitions of subsidiaries and investments (net of cash acquired) (35) (630) Change in other financial assets - 1 Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment (102) (20) Dividends received 19 2 Cash flow from discontinued activities 173 39 Cash flows from investing activities - (1) Capital grants received in the period (1,148) (1,636) Revenue from issue of shares or other equity instruments 4 3 Net purchase/disposal of treasury shares (366) (342) Dividends paid to shareholders of the parent company (79) (65) Dividends paid to non-controlling interests in the subsidiaries 877 1 064 Proceeds from long-term debt (749) (254) Repayment of long-term debt (10) - Change in other financial liabilities (2) 66 Interest paid (209) (179) Interest received 43 17 Cash flows from discontinued activities 2 (83) Cash flows from financing activities (489) 227 Impact of currency fluctuations 1 3 Change in cash and cash equivalents (82) 145 Net cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the period 2,055 1,910 Net cash and cash equivalents at end of the period 1 973 2,055 of which Cash and cash equivalents 1,982 2,056 of which Bank overdrafts (9) (1)

*Restated accounts as described in the notes 2.2 & 12 of the 2019 consolidated financial statements











Other incomes and expenses

Attachments
Indiabulls Real Estate (IBREL) on Monday reported a 75.69 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 49.27 crore for the quarter ended December 2019, mainly due to higher expenses.

The company had reported a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 202.4 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal, it said in a BSE filing.

Total income for the period under review increased marginally by 2.33 per cent to Rs 1317.7 crore as compared to Rs 1,287.59 crore in Q3 FY2019.

Total expenses of the company during the quarter increased 20 per cent to Rs 1201.28 crore from Rs 1,001.32 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal.

"Of the total expenses, Rs 79.88 crore mentioned in other expenses include an impairment of on account of recoverability of certain financial assets," it said.

During the quarter, the company sold its entire stake in Century, which indirectly owns Hanover Square property in London, and another subsidiary IPMT, UK, to Clivedale Overseas, an entiry owned by the promoter of IBREL for Rs 1836.93 crore or GBP 200 million.

IBREL also executed definitive transaction agreement with Blackstone Group to divest its 100 per cent stake in its subsidiary Maraina Infrstructure.

During the quarter, it also sold one of the commercial asset/development at Mumbai to Blackstone for a consideration of Rs 675 crore, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa reportedly visited Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, Bihar on Monday during his official visit. Rajapaksa, who is in India for a five-day visit, arrived in Bihar earlier in the day, suggested reports. On Sunday, Rajapaksa offered prayers at Sarnath Buddhist Temple during his visit to Varanasi.

The Prime Minister of Sri Lanka reportedly held delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi where the two discussed expanding the co-operation between the two nations to combat terrorism. They also focused on promoting joint economic projects within the country.

Always a pleasure meeting my friend PM @narendramodi and exchanging views on global, regional and bilateral issues of mutual importance for our nations. The discussions focused on rethinking our strategic approach in security, economic, social and cultural sectors. pic.twitter.com/8qTGeIQWfo  Mahinda Rajapaksa (@PresRajapaksa) February 8, 2020

Read 'Ganga Our Cultural Lifeline, Glad You Spent Time There', Tweets Modi On Rajapaksa's Visit

Read Modi Holds Talks With Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa

Rajapaksa received ceremonial welcome

According to the reports, Rajapaksa landed in the New Delhi on February 7. His visit shortly follows the visit made by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in November. He met with the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

The Sri Lankan PM received a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in the presence of President Ram Nath Kovind, confirmed reports. The Sri Lankan Prime Ministers office had released the official statement on Twitter elaborating on the purpose of Rajapaksas visit. The statement said that the Sri Lankan PM would focus on subjects like defense and maritime security cooperation, politics, trade, development, culture, and tourism in his bilateral talks with PM Modi. PM Modi had expressed joy at Rajapaksas decision to come to India as the first country for an official visit after he resumed office as the PM of Sri Lanka in November 2019.

"During todays talks, PresRajapaksa and I were able to exchange views on bilateral and global issues. Matters relating to fighting terrorism and boosting security cooperation featured prominently in our discussions. We also discussed progress on joint economic projects in SL," PM's official twitter handle.

PM Modi emphasized that the two countries would hold substantial bilateral dialogue and exchange views on some key global issues, boosting security co-operation, so the bond between the two nations could be made even stronger.

India is delighted to welcome @PresRajapaksa! It is a matter of joy for us that he has chosen India for his first visit after assuming the PMs office.



We had wide ranging talks on multiple subjects that will further cement India-Sri Lanka friendship. pic.twitter.com/lI2FRtMfLf  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 8, 2020

Read Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa Embarks On 4-day State Visit To India

Read Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa Commends Namami Gange Programme
Here are some things that happen at Elizabeth Warren events: Warren sprints onstage, much tinier and slighter than she appears on television, to Dolly Parton singing "9 to 5." She shares that she was her parents' late-in-life baby, and her mother never stopped referring to her as "the surprise." She talks about her first marriage, and then she jokes that it's never good when you have to number your marriages. She tells a story about a toaster, and the toaster becomes a metaphor for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which she helped create, and the CFBP becomes a metaphor for how things can change, but only if you are willing to believe they can change.
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf responded on Sunday to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's decision to sue his department after it blocked New Yorkers from Trusted Traveler Programs.

DHS's decision is a response to a law, which took effect in December, allowing any person over the age of 16 to apply for a drivers license regardless of U.S. citizenship status. Part of that law also prohibited the state's Department of Motor Vehicles from giving records to federal immigration agents.

DHS SUSPENDS GLOBAL ENTRY FOR NEW YORK RESIDENTS -- HERES HOW MANY COULD BE AFFECTED

"This has nothing to do with the law that they passed regarding providing driver's licenses to illegal aliens," Wolf said on "Sunday Morning Futures." That's dangerous, but that's separate from what we did this week. New York is the only state  that bears repeating, the only state  that restricts [Customs and Border Protection] access to their DMV data across the board, not only for immigration purposes, but for law enforcement purposes."

On Thursday, DHS retaliated, saying it would no longer allow New Yorkers to enroll, or renew their membership in, certain federal programs that make it easier for people traveling internationally to get through border security, including Global Entry.

The ouster is expected to affect at least 175,000 New Yorkers now enrolled in the programs, who will be kicked out as their permits expire, plus around 30,000 commercial truck drivers enrolled in a program that eases their crossings into the U.S. from Canada.

"If New York wants to restore this access, then we're happy to continue to process these applications," Wolf said on Sunday.

"My job is to make sure that this program maintains its integrity so that individuals in New York are processed and evaluated the same as individuals in Michigan, Minnesota or California, and right now, because New York took this action, the department had to respond," he said.

Story continues

Several other states have similar policies of allowing unauthorized immigrants to get driver's licenses, but New York is the only state that bans the sharing of motor vehicle records with immigration agents, Department of Homeland Security officials said.

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President Trump has been singling out New York in recent months for especially harsh criticism over so-called "sanctuary" policies for immigrants.

The president assailed New York City officials in his State of the Union address over its policy of not turning over some criminal defendants wanted for immigration violations. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also recently sent subpoenas to law enforcement in Denver and New York seeking information on immigrants they hope to deport.

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FOX Business' Ann Schmidt and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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S amsung is gearing up for its first big launch of the year with its annual Galaxy Unpacked event set to take place in San Francisco tomorrow.

The Korean tech giant is expected to reveal its new Galaxy S20 range, which will include bigger, flashier screens as well as some exciting new camera tech.

But there will be another trick up Samsung's sleeve during the Unpacked event. The company is expected to unveil its new folding phone, which it debuted in a surprise advert during the 2020 Oscars ceremony last night.

The ad featured the new flip phone, thought to be named the Galaxy Z Flip, in black and purple. It showcased the clamshell folding design of the phone, as well as ways to use it including answering video calls on the device and playing music.

Heres what we know so far...

Samsung folding phone: the Galaxy Z Flip?

Theres a few potential names circling for the new Samsung folding phone including the Galaxy Z Flip and a possible code-name of Galaxy Bloom.

Given that the new phone is sporting a clamshell design, similar to the updated Motorola Razr which launched last year, going with Flip in the name is probably the most likely.

Samsung didn't confirm a name in the advert on Sunday night, choosing to end the clip with the slogan, "Change the shape of the future."

Leaked images of how the new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip folding phone will look, courtesy of Evan Blass / Evan Blass / @evleaks

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip: design

If last years Galaxy Fold looked like an iPad Mini when open, the new Galaxy Z Flip looks like an old-school flip phone except this time the inside is made of an ultra-thin glass screen that bends in half.

The benefits of using thin glass instead of plastic means that hopefully, the Z Flip wont run into the problems the Fold had, such as a major crease in the middle of the screen, defective hinges and consistent screen flickering. However, its likely there will be a plastic screen protector over the top to ensure the display doesnt get scratched.

Ben Geskin posted a leaked hands-on video to Twitter over the weekend which demonstrates how the phone looks when its open and shut.

When folded shut, the Z Flip should be easier to slip into your pocket, unlike the Galaxy Fold. It will have a 1.06-inch OLED display on the front, and will open up to a 6.7-inch full ultra HD+ screen. Samsungs S20+ is expected to have a 6.-7inch screen, whilst the S20+ Ultra could have a 6.9-inch screen so being able to fold it up and carry it around in a compact form is certainly beneficial.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip: cameras

It appears that Samsung is keeping things rather simple when it comes to the cameras on the new folding phone. Its likely that Z Flip will have two 12-megapixel cameras on the back of the one  one wide-angle lens and one ultra-wide angle lens. Then, when the phone is opened up, there will be a punch-hole camera on the front, which should be about 10-megapixels.

In comparison, leaked renders of the Galaxy S20 point to it having four lenses on the back of the phone. A mere two camera lenses are a lot easier to contend with.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip: specs

Inside the new Samsung folding phone, it is expected to be powered by a Snapdragon 855+ chip which promises better speeds and performance. By comparison, the new Motorola Razr will ship with a mid-range Snapdragon 710 chip which wont be able to handle some of the more demanding multitasking and AI capabilities that the flagship phones can.

If youre weighing up which one to buy, the power of the phone is certainly something to take into consideration.

In addition, the phone is predicted to have a 3,300mAh battery which offers reverse wireless charging, and it will have a capacitive fingerprint sensor on the side.

Interestingly, the new folding phone will not support 5G. Samsung has been a big proponent of 5G tech, releasing five different 5G phones last year and selling 6.7 million versions of these devices throughout 2019. Therefore its puzzling that the company has decided to leave out the 5G factor when it comes to the Galaxy Z Flip.

The folding phone will run Android 10 with Samsungs One UI 2 skin on top.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip: release date and price

Samsung is expected to announce the Galaxy Z Flip at its Unpacked event next week on Tuesday, February 11 and it could be on sale as early as February 14 according to WinFuture.
Kotak Mutual Fund has decided to merge three of its schemes. Kotak US Equity Fund (KUEF) and Kotak World Gold (KWG) will be clubbed with the Kotak Global Emerging Market (KGEM) fund. The merger will be effective from February 26. Given that the merger will result in a fund that differs in its objectives from those of the individual schemes, investors may need to take stock and make changes to their portfolios.

KUEF (Asset size: Rs 13.38 crore) acts as a feeder to a fund that invests in US stocks; similarly, KGEM (Rs 34.2 crore) too is a feeder that invests indirectly in emerging market shares. KWG (Rs 49.6 crore) invests in stocks of gold mining companies indirectly, again acting as a feeder fund. On February 26, unitholders of KUEF and KWG will be allotted units of KGEM.

Why the merger?

Lakshmi Iyer, CIO-debt & head-products, Kotak AMC says, Both the categories are thematic and hence investor demand for these funds is quite cyclical in nature. The decision to merge these funds is more from a consolidation perspective than being suggestive of any view of the respective asset classes.

Kunal Valia, a Mumbai based independent investment analyst said, Globally as well, funds with smaller assets under management are either wound up or merged.

Investors in the merging schemes will be given an exit option without any exit load till February 25. Exiting is not mandatory. However, you will be liable to pay taxes on capital gains, if any.

What should investors do?

KGEM will offer investors exposure to stocks of emerging markets. The present portfolio of the scheme includes units of Signature Emerging Markets Fund and ishares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF as of December, 2019. The fund has delivered 7.88 per cent returns annually over the last three years. HSBC Global Emerging Markets Fund delivered 8.49 per cent over the same period.

If you are an existing investor in the merging schemes, you will not have exposure to US stocks and gold miners shares. If you invested in these schemes for taking exposure to these themes, then it is time to shift to other funds offering such avenues.

KGEM fund is more diversified as it has many geographies as opposed to a single country fund, says Iyer. Investors tend to invest in global fund of funds also as a currency play and not just for asset class considerations, which can been still achieved by investing in KGEM, she added.

However, investors must be aware of the changing risk-return profile of their investments. For investors in merging schemes, especially in KUE, the risk-return profile changes drastically, says Ravi Kumar, founder of Bengaluru based Gaining Ground Investment Services.

When you invest in shares of companies listed in the US, you are exposed to many businesses based on emerging technologies, one of the better regulated markets, and favourable rupee-dollar exchange rates. However, as you move to emerging markets in search of high growth, you are exposed to currency, geo-political and growth risks associated with many countries. Investors should be compensated with high returns for the extra risk they are taking. Investing in emerging market stocks would be suitable for those with above-average risk appetites.

Ravi Kumar recommends investing up to 10 per cent of your equity portfolio in US equities and 8 to 10 per cent in emerging market shares. If you do not have any overseas stocks exposure, you should remain invested in KGEM, he says.
From Cosmopolitan

Prince Harry has allegedly hooked himself up with some luxe hair treatments that might inspire you to do the same.

Apparently the treatments are hella expensive, in case you were wondering!

Today in thirsty royal news that's making the rounds on the internets, sources are claiming that Prince Harry has undergone thickening hair treatment at somewhere fancy-sounding called Philip Kingsley Trichological Clinic in London.

Photo credit: WPA Pool - Getty Images

Harrys visit caused a real stir," a source told The Sun. This company is so prestigious. Its one of the best places in the world. Its got a whole range of different treatment plans. The richest, most famous and well-connected use it. The meeting with Harry went well. It would be very expensive. Its the place to go in London and its right in the heart of Mayfair.

Look, let's all take this with a grain of salt (the only person who really knows what's up with Prince Harry's hair is Prince Freakin' Harry!), but either way it's nice to hear our dude is living his best life and treating himself in the wake of all the insane drama going down in the royal family.

As a reminder, Harry and Duchess Meghan Markle just packed their bags and moved to Canada with their son Archie, where they'll live a much more private life while seeking financial independence. That said, the couple are still very much a part of the royal family, and will reportedly be returning to England at the Queen's request for the Commonwealth Service on March 9. Stay tuned!

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Islamabad, Feb 10 : Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has been summoned to court by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on February 13 in relation to the company JV Opal 255, a media report said on Monday.

Bilawal Bhutto has been directed to bring the records for the Zardari Group for 2008 through 2019 as well as a list of the Board of Directors of the company, The Nation reported.

On May 29 last year, the PPP chairman was summoned by the court to record his statement in a money laundering case. He was also called on May 17 in relation to the Park Lane case.
Selbyville, Delaware, Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --



According to latest report Automotive Switch Market by Vehicle Type (PCV, LCV, HCV, Two Wheelers), Product (Push Button, Rocker Switches, Rotary Switches, Toggle Switches, Multi-Function Switches), Application (Indicator System Switches, HVAC, EMS Switches, Electronic System Switches), Regional Outlook, Competitive Market Share & Forecast 2026, by Global Market Insights, Inc., the market valuation of automotive switches will reach $16 billion by 2026.

The automotive switch market growth is attributed to growing adoption of automotive switches to support several integrated functionalities in modern vehicles. The proliferation in the demand for HCVs and LCVs, which deploy a multitude of automotive switches to offer enhanced functionalities, will create a positive impact on the overall market demand. Automotive switches enable OEMs to implement several features such as Bluetooth, telematics, infotainment systems, and driver assistance technologies into their vehicles.

Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/834

The two-wheelers segment will witness a growth rate of over 3% from 2020 to 2026 driven by increasing uptake of automotive switches in two-wheelers for easy accessibility. The vulnerability of two-wheelers to environmental conditions such as rain and dust has pressurized enterprises in developing rugged and waterproof automotive switches, which offer short-circuit prevention and reduce any heat build-up. With the increasing demand for electric scooters and premium electric bikes, the two-wheelers segment is expected to witness a steady growth during the forecast timespan.

The Engine Management System (EMS) switches segment held over 15% automotive switch market share in 2019 and is set to exhibit around 4% CAGR till 2026. This is attributed to extensive uptake of switches for controlling several vehicle functionalities, such as door light, parking sensors, brake light, coolant temperature gauge, reversing light, radiator fan, and oil pressure gauge. EMS switches can withstand high temperatures and offer extremely accurate sensitivity, causing a rapid deployment of these switches in electric & hybrid vehicles.

APAC automotive switch market is poised to register 4% growth during the forecast period due to growing demand for advanced vehicle technologies in the region. Countries including India, Japan, and China are witnessing a widescale adoption of ADAS, infotainment system, and other safety systems. Another factor driving the market growth in the region is the increasing popularity of electric vehicles. These vehicles make heavy use of automotive switches owing to addition of multiple electronic systems. Automotive switch manufacturers are focusing on gaining a competitive edge by strengthening their export activities to automobile OEMs.

Make an Inquiry for purchasing this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/834

Some major findings of the automotive switch market report include:

The increasing adoption of IoT in the automotive sector, such as connected cars and Vehicle-to-Anything (V2X) communications, will drive the demand for automotive switches to regulate the functioning of these on-board systems.

Enterprises are investing heftily for the development of advanced automotive switches including haptic and tactile feedback technologies.

With the rising adoption of electric vehicles across the globe, the addition of new electronic components will augment the demand for automotive switches .

. Technological advancements in vehicle fleet management systems such as onboard remote assistance, vehicle tracking, and telematics will proliferate the growth of the LCV segment.

Rocker switches can handle large current capacities and are increasingly being deployed for operating multiple circuits through a single control switch such as power door locks, window defoggers, and heated seats.

Some of the key players operating in the automotive switch market include Alps Electric, C&K Components, Inc, COBO S.p.A., Continental AG, Delphi Technologies, GSK InTek Co., Ltd., Hella KGaA Hueck & Co., Leopold Kostal, Marquardt GmbH, Omron Corporation, Panasonic Corporation, Preh GmbH, Robert Bosch GmbH, Standard Motor Products, Tokai Rika Co., Ltd., Toyodenso, Valeo, Vimercati SpA, and ZF Friedrichshafen AG.

Automotive switch providers are focusing on developing innovative products and improving their existing product portfolio to gain a competitive edge.





Table of Contents (ToC) of the report:

Chapter 3 Automotive Switch Market Insights

3.1 Industry Segmentation

3.2 Industry landscape, 2015-2026

3.2.1 Global automotive industry landscape, 2015-2026

3.2.2 Global automotive production statistics, 2015-2018

3.3 Industry ecosystem analysis

3.3.1 Research & development

3.3.2 Component supplier

3.3.3 Manufacturers

3.3.4 Distribution channel analysis

3.3.5 Vendor matrix

3.4 Technology & innovation landscape

3.4.1 Haptic sensor technology

3.4.1.1 Touch screen switch panel

3.5 Regulatory Landscape

3.5.1 International Standards

3.5.1.1 ISO 7588-2:1998

3.5.1.2 ISO 9001

3.5.1.3 IEC 60068

3.5.1.4 ISO/TS 16949

3.5.1.5 ISO 26262

3.5.2 North America

3.5.2.1 CSA Mark

3.5.2.2 SAE J 1211-2012 (SAE J1211-2012)

3.5.2.3 SAE AS 5553C-2019

3.5.2.4 NAFTA

3.5.3 Europe

3.5.3.1 Directive 2007/46/EC

3.5.3.2 CE Marking

3.5.3.3 Motor Vehicle Framework Directive 2007/46/EC

3.5.3.4 Directive 2012/19/EU

3.5.3.5 IATF 16949

3.5.4 Asia Pacific

3.5.4.1 CCC mark

3.5.4.2 QC/T 198-2014

3.5.4.3 Australian design rules

3.5.5 Latin America

3.5.5.1 Route 2030

3.5.6 MEA

3.5.6.1 UAE Vehicle Control System Standard

3.6 Industry impact forces

3.6.1 Growth drivers

3.6.2 Industry Pitfalls

3.7 Growth potential analysis

3.8 Porters Analysis

3.9 Competitive landscape

3.9.1 Company market share analysis

3.9.2 Other players

3.9.3 Strategy dashboard

3.10 PESTLE Analysis

Browse Complete Table of Contents (ToC) @

https://www.gminsights.com/toc/detail/automotive-switch-market





About Global Market Insights

Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.
The Australian share market finished session lower on Monday, 10 February 2020, as investors continued to lock in profits following the downturn on Wall Street on Friday while keeping a close watch on the development of the novel coronavirus outbreak. At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index declined 10.05 points, or 0.14%, to 7,012.53, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 13.44 points, or 0.19%, to 7,107.99.

Selling hit the market from the outset, with sentiment soured by a Wall Street downturn Friday after the U. S. Federal Reserve, in its congressional report, cited the fallout from the spreading coronavirus outbreak chiefly in China as a possible economic risk.

Toward noon, stocks cut losses thanks to buybacks induced by Chinese shares' resilience. But trading turned lackluster in the afternoon due to a dearth of fresh incentives.

Shares in the building materials firm Boral tumbled 10.7% after the company announced its chief executive Mike Cain will step down after the release of the company's full year results.

BHP Billiton weakened 1% on the back of falling commodity prices and uncertainty over the outlook for Chinese demand.

Oil prices fell to a 13 month low after Russia said it will need more time to decide if OPEC and allied producers should cut production in response to the slowing activity associated with the coronavirus. OPEC+, as the group is referred to, is suggesting a production cut of a further ~600k barrels per day, bringing the total supply cuts to approximately 2.7% of global supply. Oilsearch (OSH) shares ended at $6.36, down 4 cents or 0.6%.

CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6695 after touching an earlier low of $0.6656.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Warren allies say that the field is so fractured and fluid that they believe she still has a chance to do well later in the calendar even if she only musters a third-place finish here. If Biden collapses, his support from minority communities would be up for grabs  and Warrens boosters believe its unlikely that nonwhite voters will flock to Buttigieg or Klobuchar. Should Sanders prevail in New Hampshire with a big win, they hope Democrats will look for a more unifying candidate who can also fire up the liberal base of the party.
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. -- A material from a rare earth element, tellurium, could produce the world's smallest transistor, thanks to an Army-funded project.

Computer chips use billions of tiny switches called transistors to process information. The more transistors on a chip, the faster the computer.

A project at Purdue University in collaboration with Michigan Technological University, Washington University in St. Louis, and the University of Texas at Dallas, found that the material, shaped like a one-dimensional DNA helix, encapsulated in a nanotube made of boron nitride, could build a field-effect transistor with a diameter of two nanometers. Transistors on the market are made of bulkier silicon and range between 10 and 20 nanometers in scale.

"This research reveals more about a promising material that could achieve faster computing with very low power consumption using these tiny transistors," said Joe Qiu, program manager for the Army Research Office, an element of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command's Army Research Laboratory, which funded this work. "That technology would have important applications for the Army."

The Army-funded research is published in the journal Nature Electronics. The Army is focused on integration, speed and precision to ensure the Army's capability development process is adaptable and flexible enough to keep pace with the rate of technology change.

"This tellurium material is really unique. It builds a functional transistor with the potential to be the smallest in the world," said Dr. Peide Ye, Purdue's Richard J. and Mary Jo Schwartz Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

One way to shrink field-effect transistors, the kind found in most electronic devices, is to build the gates that surround thinner nanowires. These nanowires are protected within nanotubes.

Ye and his team worked to make tellurium as small as a single atomic chain and then build transistors with these atomic chains or ultrathin nanowires.

They started off growing one-dimensional chains of tellurium atoms, and were surprised to find that the atoms in these one-dimensional chains wiggle. These wiggles were made visible through transmission electron microscopy imaging performed at the University of Texas at Dallas and at Purdue.

"Silicon atoms look straight, but these tellurium atoms are like a snake. This is a very original kind of structure," Ye said.

The wiggles were the atoms strongly bonding to each other in pairs to form DNA-like helical chains, then stacking through weak forces called van der Waals interactions to form a tellurium crystal.

These van der Waals interactions set apart tellurium as a more effective material for single atomic chains or one-dimensional nanowires compared with others because it's easier to fit into a nanotube, Ye said.

Because the opening of a nanotube cannot be any smaller than the size of an atom, tellurium helices of atoms could achieve smaller nanowires and, therefore, smaller transistors.

The researchers successfully built a transistor with a tellurium nanowire encapsulated in a boron nitride nanotube. A high-quality boron nitride nanotube effectively insulates tellurium, making it possible to build a transistor.

"Next, the researchers will optimize the device to further improve its performance, and demonstrate a highly efficient functional electronic circuit using these tiny transistors, potentially through collaboration with ARL researchers," Qiu said.

###

In addition to the Army Research Office, the National Science Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency partly funded the work.

The CCDC Army Research Laboratory is an element of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command. As the Army's corporate research laboratory, ARL discovers, innovates and transitions science and technology to ensure dominant strategic land power. Through collaboration across the command's core technical competencies, CCDC leads in the discovery, development and delivery of the technology-based capabilities required to make Soldiers more lethal to win our nation's wars and come home safely. CCDC is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Futures Command.
(Natural News) Deep in the middle of the Northern Atlantic Ocean lies an underwater mountain that, at its highest, rises to be nearly 2,300 feet below the surface. This mountain, known as the Atlantis Massif, after the fabled city that sunk into the ocean, is filled with underwater chimneys that spew minerals and hot water into the ocean. This area in the Atlantis Massif thats filled with hydrothermal vents is known as the Lost City, and it is filled with life. Scientists now believe that what fuels the creation of life in the Lost City might also be fueling life somewhere else in the universe.

Many of the minerals found in the Lost City are formed by a process known as serpentinization. When the green rock that makes up part of the Earths mantle, olivine, is exposed to water, it reacts with waters hydrogen and oxygen molecules. This reaction releases high-energy hydrogen gas which then becomes great fuel for the underwater microbes that litter the Lost City. This means that where serpentinization occurs, microbial activity skyrockets.

Its the closest you can come to a free lunch in the universe, said William Brazelton, biologist from the University of Utah, in an interview. You make a rock wet and you get food.

Exploring the Lost City

Brazelton and several colleagues explored the Lost City themselves. They were led by Gretchen L. Fruh-Green, senior scientist for the Institute of Mineralogy and Petrology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. Fruh-Green, Brazelton and their colleagues wanted to figure out what makes the Lost City a haven for microbial activity. (Related: Underwater geology: Scientists have discovered that ocean currents create avalanches, rivers and other seafloor infrastructure changes.)

According to Brazelton, the microbial activity in the Lost City is unique compared to other sites on Earth where serpentinization occurs because of its richness in life, but its not really clear why thats the case. To help them answer their questions, they sent a remotely operated vehicle (which they named Jason) to dive into the Atlantis Massif and investigate the microbiological processes that make the Lost City tick.

Jasons role was to collect samples that can help the scientists better understand how serpentinization fuels life and which microbial organisms are most affected by it. Brazelton said that its very likely that one or two key species help the rest of the underwater microbes survive.

Jason brought back samples which Fruh-Green, Brazelton and their colleagues immediately analyzed. They found that the rocks were filled with microbes. It was estimated that there were anywhere between 10 to a thousand cells per cubic centimeter of rock. Their investigations are ongoing, and in the future Fruh-Green states that she would like to test the range of metabolisms supported by reactions between fluid and rock in the subseafloor biosphere.

Hydrothermal activity outside of Earth

More research needs to be done in this unique underwater biome specifically because Fruh-Green, Brazelton and their colleagues were unable to recreate the conditions for life in a lab setting. The Lost City has areas where both temperature and pH levels are incredibly high. According to the results of their lab tests, these conditions should be poisonous to any lifeforms. And yet, these exact same conditions seem to be perfect for the underwater denizens of the Lost City.

These conditions are present in other areas outside of Earth. Since the discovery of hydrothermal vents in the 1970s, astrobiologists have been searching the Solar System for evidence that these deep sea chimneys also exist in other celestial bodies because these meant that planets that dont have great access to sunlight could still theoretically have life.

This means that planets and moons, like Saturns sixth largest moon Enceladus, which potentially has hydrothermal activity going on in its oceans, may be harboring extraterrestrial microbial activity.

Sources include:

LiveScience.com

Eos.org
Rome (AsiaNews) - Yesterday, as in recent weeks, many Catholics in China were unable to attend mass and receive the sacraments. For the third Sunday after the lunar new year, because of the coronavirus epidemic, families are forced to stay at home in self-imposed isolation. In many areas, the government and police do not allow anyone to leave the house to avoid the spread of the virus.

The bishops of the various dioceses gave pastoral indications to replace the Sunday precept with ceremonies and prayers to be held at home. As can be seen from some photos - received by the Mandarin program of Radio Veritas - the different families have made efforts to prepare altars, put the Bible at the center for reading, adorned with flowers and candles, bowing for the adoration of the cross.

Following the indications of their pastors and in the absence of priests, the faithful also gather on weekdays to recite the rosary and the chaplet of Mercy, asking God to save China from the epidemic. Some bishops also advised the faithful to make at least one day of fasting per week as an invocation and supplication to the Lord for mercy on China.

Thanks to the internet, on computers or smart phones, some faithful gather around a table and follow the mass broadcast by some TV channels.

All of us - says a priest - are forced to stay indoors. So let's continue to pray for China."
Asaduddin Owaisi and others will have to show all the papers as required by the government else he will be beaten with shoes, said BJP MLA Sangeet Som on Monday.

"I want to tell Owaisi that all his statements of 'will not show the papers, shoot us in the heart' are of no use. 'Kagaz bhi dikhaenge aur jute bhi khaenge' (you will have to show the papers or get beaten by shoes). If you have to live in the country, you will have to show the papers which the government asks," Som told ANI here.

This was in reaction to an earlier statement by the AIMIM leader, made during a speech at a public meet in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh on Sunday.

Reiterating his 'will not show the papers' statement, he said that the government cannot force the Muslims to leave the country.

"All I have is this country. I will never leave this country and I will not show my papers. If it comes to showing papers, we will come forward and ask you to shoot us in our hearts. In our hearts is the love for India which you (government) can never understand," Owaisi said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Now completing its first year of sales, Ondule Wines has proven to be a viable newcomer to the robust $40.2 billion California wine industry.

The new Napa Valley-based label has been awarded the prestigious 2019 Silver Medal by the Tasting Alliance's San Francisco International Wine Competition (SFIWC) and a Bronze Medal at the 2020 SF Chronicle Competition. The Silver Medal recognizes wine that is outstanding in its category, showing "refinement, finesse, and complexity."

The Ondule story is classic yet atypical in the world of California winemaking, which is dominated by 3,900 family-owned, multigenerational wineries. In 1946, patriarch Jack Bernstein founded Oak Paper, a leading corrugated manufacturer. Over the years, a key area of expansion included supplying shipping materials for the exploding wine industry in California.

Eventually, Oak Paper spawned Acorn Paper Products and Acorn West in Northern California which today produces and distributes the boxes and eco-friendly pressed pulp for 80% of the California wine industry's needs. For four generations, the family has played an under-stated, but key role in the vibrant wine business.

The family's passion for good wine, coupled with a deep love of all things Californian, inspired Jack's grandson, David Weissberg (now CEO of Acorn), to jump into the wine biz and create his own family label. Weissberg, his son Jake and cousin, Randy Seff established Ondule Wines. As a nod to their legacy, the name Ondule is French for corrugated. They hired the talented winemaker Jason Holman (a protege of the esteemed John Kongsgaard) to create a custom crush that appealed to their love of big, bold reds.

Ondule's award-winning first vintage is a full-bodied 2013 Napa Bordeaux inspired blend made in the old-world style using organically grown, new world grapes from the Coombsville AVA. 2013 is arguably Napa's finest year for Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.

The decision to follow their passion and create fine wine has paid off. Ondule, which is currently being self-distributed and sold in California, is becoming known as the next great premium juice in a crowded wine landscape. Some of the prestigious places now carrying Ondule include Waldorf-Astoria (Jean Georges), Pelican Hill Resort, Craig's Restaurant, Alexander's Steakhouse, Angelini Osteria and more.

Early in 2020, the Ondule family will release its second wine, the 2014 Esme. Like its predecessor, Esme's elegant blend confirms that the Weissberg/Seff family may be new to winemaking but sincere in their determination to bring timeless, first-rate wine to Californians.

Weissberg says, "For decades my family provided packaging and protection for the beautiful bottles of our customers, allowing us a peek into the world of winemakers and wines. We got into this knowing that our competitors would be some of California's great vintners, but we were eager to introduce our own distinctive wine. These acknowledgments affirm that we're on the right track."

"We've gone from cardboard to Cabernet!" jokes Weissberg.

SOURCE Ondule Wines

Related Links

http://www.ondulewines.com


UNHCR Malaysia News  UNHCR Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur, (UNHCR)  UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency organized a two-day workshop on judicial engagement to discuss legal issues and the protection needs for refugees in Malaysia. This is the first collaboration between UNHCR and the Judiciary of Malaysia, held at the end of 2019.

This workshop was held following interest from several Sessions Court Judges and Magistrates to have focused discussions on refugee issues in Malaysia, said Thomas Albrecht, Representative of UNHCR Malaysia.

What we hope is that sessions like this will inspire participants to advocate for better protection of refugees in Malaysia through judicial activism.

The workshop was attended by Chief Registrar of the Federal Court, Tuan Ahmad Terrrirudin bin Mohd Salleh, the Director of Training and Judicial Capacity Division, Puan Arleen Binti Ramly, and Sessions Judges and Magistrates.

By continuing the work with UNHCR, we hope to establish a mutually beneficial collaboration in that the officers who dispense justice will continue to understand the emerging and evolving legal and social problems associated with refugees, said Tuan Ahmad Terrrirudin bin Mohd Salleh, Chief Registrar of the Federal Court.

The Judicial Engagement Workshop allowed for dialogue between the members of the Judiciary and UNHCR regarding UNHCRs refugee mandate and its activities in Malaysia, which include UNHCRs process of refugee verification, as well as refugee protection topics such as immigration detention and alternatives to detention.

Participants were also provided access to UNHCRs refugee centre to observe and understand UNHCRs registration and status determination processes.

Malaysia currently hosts approximately 178,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, mainly from Myanmar and other countries such as Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Somalia, and Syria.

The workshop overall was well-received by the participants, with many expressing appreciation for the information received, the rich discussions, as well as the exposure to the complexities in refugee protection.

UNHCR plans to continue its work with the Judiciary of Malaysia on refugee-related matters, including to conduct similar workshops for other members of the Judiciary in the near future.
U.S. Intelligence Community leaders have a stark message: Enemies have breached the ramparts.

In addition to ransom attacks and election interference is potential devastation national leaders describe in plain language: Foreign nations have penetrated our critical infrastructure and threaten our national security.

American utilities cant find the implanted malware in generation, transmission and distribution systems. Most state regulatory authorities, which oversee distribution of electricity, natural gas and water, have neither the capability nor necessary security clearances for meaningful contribution. The result is vulnerability we refuse to confront.

Weve been warned. The Department of Homeland Security, in July 2018, reported hundreds of Russian military intelligence infiltrations of power plant control rooms and parts of the electricity grid. The Director of National Intelligence in his January 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment stated that adversary nation state capabilities include activities to collect intelligence and target our critical infrastructure to hold it at risk. A former National Security Agency leader describes extensive malware implantations in electricity transmission.

Some states are paying attention. Connecticut has conducted three extensive annual reviews including its large electricity and natural gas operations. Utilities have invested in cybersecurity capacity and augmented in-house talent with former intelligence officers and nationally recognized cybersecurity consultants conducting penetration tests. They have not found operational malware implantations.

What gives? Intelligence officials explain that detecting nation state malware implantations takes sophisticated know-how and access to sensitive, top-secret sources and methods. At the same time, they say that they must keep that intelligence close hold to protect the sources and methods. So, they cannot grant a large number of utilities full security clearances and find it understandably compromising to help 200 or so generators, transmitters and distributors to find the penetrations.

The logic is rational but circular, leaving the nation aware of and not acting to defend against cyber penetration.

There are industry organizations making efforts to rally their members and constructively probe the consequences of cyber compromise. The Electric Subsector Coordinating Council seeks to tie utility CEOs with federal authorities to prepare for and respond to critical infrastructure disasters. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation and utilities participate in biennial Gridex exercises to raise awareness of cyber attack consequences. Still, these organizations, our utilities and our states connect only tangentially to our national security apparatus.

A sense of security derived from thinking that at least were woke to the capabilities of Russia and China is foolhardy. The United States and Iran have used cyber weaponry against each other, with Iran attacking U.S. financial institutions, the Sands Casino in Nevada and critical infrastructure  a dam in New York. North Korea and cyber mercenaries are entering the arena. Offense is profoundly easier than defense in cyber warfare.

Until states and utilities are productively brought into the tent to share intelligence and craft a coordinated national counteroffensive, a few practical steps are necessary.

One is to make clear to penetrators that to pull the trigger and cripple us with critical infrastructure shutdown would be considered an act of war, met with significant consequences including the possibility of massive retaliation.

A second is to strengthen vital utility services to key government operations and military bases to enhance mission assurance and preserve the ability to strike back. National security facilities in Washington, D.C., northern Virginia and Maryland are obvious priorities.

The third is to make sure that states understand the devastation and panic that would ensue without electricity and potable water. Some national authorities are rightfully worried, noting that most states have no clue about what they would face in a cyber shutdown. States do not rehearse realistic drills addressing the consequences of outages lasting more than a month. They need to do so.

More basically, the federal government, the Intelligence Community and our 50 states cannot act like separate stovepipes when it comes to critical services and cyber aggression. The states must be robustly included in national security planning, recognizing their exclusive responsibilities for overseeing essential services and their strategic roles in managing emergency response. Without federal help, states and utilities working in good faith cannot root out the infections. They need training and practiced responses to public utility shutdowns.

We cant continue this shadow dance with top-level intelligence officials warning of penetration that could bring our country to its knees with no consequent action, remediation or legislation. Weapons invented tend to be used at some point; we are on notice that cyber weaponry is planted within our vital public services.

Lets not try to demonstrate once again how strong America can be after disaster strikes. Lets hear the message and address the danger with appropriate defenses that include our states and utilities.

Arthur House was Director of Communications for the Director of National Intelligence. He subsequently chaired Connecticuts public utilities commission and served as Connecticuts Chief Cybersecurity Risk Officer under Governor Malloy.
By Trend

Adherence to the principles of transparency, democratic organization, as well as strict adherence to laws was noted at all polling stations during the early parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan, the head of the delegation from Russia's Federation Council (upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia) Lilia Gumerova told Trend.

"I would like to note that from the first days we have observed a proper organization of the electoral process of the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan," Gumerova said.

Gumerava noted that the Russian observers visited 11 polling stations in three constituencies.

"Proper work was done all around. We saw high professionalism of the chairmen of the precinct election commissions. Firstly, many of them have been working for several years, thanks to which we observed a clear knowledge of the law and a friendly attitude towards voters," she said.

Gumerova added that according to the experience of observing voting outside Baku, the election process in other regions and cities was not inferior to the capital.

"We noted the great interest of international observers, as well as local political parties. The chairmen of the commissions answered questions very comprehensively. A large number of observers from different countries and organizations should be noted: representatives of 58 countries and 59 international organizations attended the elections, while the total number of observers was more than 8,000," the Russian observer said.

"Yesterday we also got acquainted with the results of the turnout and it was over 47 percent. A similar indicator is relevant for many countries. Outside the capital, the turnout is usually higher, but in the city it was progressive and with each passing hour the number of metropolitan voters began to grow rapidly. The peak was at 14:15, according to our observations," Gumerova said.

According to Gumerova, there was no excessive excitement and politicization, which is also a sign of stability.

"Young individuals accounted for most of the candidates. In one of the constituencies, four out of 12 candidates were under 30 years old. Ordinary citizens are sympathetic to young candidates. We also consider this a positive factor," Lilia Gumerova said.

"The newly formed parliament will base its work on the foundation of certain stability, but at the same time it will attract young parliamentarians with new progressive ideas," the Russian observer added.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
South Korea's president Moon Jae-in has been pictured smiling gleefully after being told Parasite has won four Oscars.

Clapping as he is surrounded by top secretaries at a meeting in Seoul, the country's capital, he heralded the victory as instilling 'pride and courage' in the nation.

Black comedy thriller Parasite, which tells the story of a poor family pretending to be unrelated and highly qualified individuals in order to get employed by a rich family, scooped the gongs for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Screenplay.

South Korea's President Moon Jae-in smiles and claps at a meeting in Seoul, the country's capital, as he heralds the film's achievements as instilling 'pride and courage' in the nation

South Korean director Bong Joon Ho's drama Parasite competed for both best picture and best international feature, as well as two other awards

Speaking in Seoul, Mr Jae-in said the victory by the film's cast and crew will help the people 'come together to weather difficulties'.

'I am very pleased to see a Korean film shoulder to shoulder with those of other countries,' he added.

South Korean social media erupted in celebration on Monday after the dark comedy 'Parasite' became the first non-English language movie to win the Best Picture award.

Director Bong Joon-ho's film vaulted over what he once called the 'one-inch tall barrier of subtitles' to capture international attention like no previous South Korean movie.

Bong's win for Best Original Screenplay was the first Oscar for South Korea's large film industry.

But as the night continued, the film also came out on top of increasingly prestigious categories, including International Feature Film award, Best Director for Bong, and the top award, Best Picture.

Oscar history: The South Korean drama Parasite made Oscar history on Sunday night, becoming the first foreign language film ever to win Best Picture at the 92nd Oscars

Critical hit: The film has been a critical hit since hitting theatres in November, with a whopping 99 per cent Rotten Tomatoes rating from 393 reviews

'I'm ready to drink tonight,' Bong joked, after thanking the cast and staff during his acceptance speech for the International Feature Film award.

Executive producer Kwak Sin-ae said she was 'speechless' after the film won Best Picture.

'Parasite' had also snagged nominations for best production design and best film editing, and had already collected several other international film awards.

A satirical take on the vast gap between the rich and poor in South Korea, the movie came as South Korea grapples with the divide between 'dirt spoons' - those born to low-income families who have all but given up on social mobility - and 'gold spoons', as those from better-off families are known.

Although South Korea's film industry is one of the largest in the world, the Korean-language 'Parasite' made unprecedented waves in international markets.

Park family: The poor Kim family begin to infiltrate the lives of the Park family in the film, first as the children becoming tutors for their daughter, and later with the Kim matriarch and patriarch working for the Park's as well

Rich house: 'Because the story is about the poor family infiltrating and creeping into the rich house, it seems very obvious that Parasite refers to the poor family, and I think that's why the marketing team was a little hesitant,' Bong said in an interview

After the nominations were announced in January, Bong said he saw it as a sign that language is no longer a stumbling block for global success.

'I was so proud as a Korean to hear that a South Korean film defeated so many famous foreign films,' said Chung Su-yoon, a Seoul resident who watched 'Parasite' just two hours before the Oscars.

Pop culture critic Kim Hern-sik said the deeper messages of 'Parasite' allowed it to resonate with people around the world.

'Just like BTS had a popular appeal by casting the problems the youth go through everywhere in the world, 'Parasite' gained global understanding by demonstrating the issue of the gap between the rich and poor,' Kim said, referring to the K-pop group that has found wide success in the United States and around the world despite Korean-language lyrics.

One clip making the rounds on South Korean social media mocked a reporter who asked Bong why he shot the film in Korean.

'She should've asked Scorsese or Tarantino why they shot their own movies in English,' one commenter said, referencing other directors who were nominated.

Latching on: The film shows how both families serve as 'parasites' in different ways, with the Park's latching onto the Kim's wealth and the Park's exploiting the Kim's for cheap labour

Own experience: The filmmaker largely found inspiration for Parasite in his own experiences in his 20s, when he worked as a tutor for a wealthy family

Another popular clip on South Korean social media was a slow-motion shot of the cast enjoying the night on the red carpet, cheering the stars and wishing them the best of luck.

U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris tweeted, 'we are doing a watch party at the embassy eating jjapaguri', referring to the noodle dish the rich family enjoys in the movie.

The movie's distributor, CJ ENM, said it was a 'historic moment' that will go down in Korean film history.

'Over the past year, we have realised that the status of Korean films has dramatically increased thanks to 'Parasite',' the company said in a statement.

Hashtags Parasite and Director Bong Joon Ho were the most trending on Twitter South Korea, while the movie name was the most searched on the local Naver web portal after the victories.

Some South Koreans called the win a 'national celebration'.

'Global audiences will watch the movie and say that 'South Korea can also do it,' said Kim Chan-dong, a pastor who watched 'Parasite' on its second day in theatres.

'The movie frankly portrayed the story of people in hardships, arousing deep sympathy from people.'
Humans have been on this planet for only 200,000 years, and yet their impact on the planet is so great. Human activity has already set in motion the process of the sixth mass extinction. Unlike the other five mass extinctions, the sixth mass extinction is driven solely by human beings. For the first time in the long history of planet Earth, a living species is behind the decline of life. In the last 500 million years, it is estimated that life on Earth has experienced five major mass extinctions. Mass extinction describes an event where there is a rapid and widespread decline in the biodiversity on the planet. It takes place when the extinction rate increases with respect to the speciation rate. Ninety-nine percent of all organisms that ever existed on Earth are now extinct due to these extinction events.

The Five Mass Extinctions

The first major mass extinction event happened 444 million years ago, and it led to the end of the Ordovician era. About 86% of then existing species, mostly marine life, since plants had not yet appeared, were lost after a severe ice age gripped the planet. The second event took place 375 million years ago, ending the Late Devonian era. About 75% of all living species were annihilated. The culprit behind the event is believed to have been land plants that were emerging for the first time. It is speculated that the advent of plant life triggered a massive algal bloom that sucked out oxygen from oceans suffocating marine life. The third mass extinction event went down about 251 million years ago, bringing down the curtains on the Permian era. Regarded as the most severe mass extinction, over 96% of living species were erased after a cataclysmic volcanic eruption in the Siberian region that released enormous volumes of carbon dioxide into the air creating a greenhouse effect that acidified oceans and emitted hydrogen sulfide into the atmosphere. Life was set back 300 million years, and it is a miracle it recovered. The end of the Triassic era 200 million years ago was the 4th mass extinction event. About 80% of existing animal and plant species went extinct, and the cause of the event has never been established. The last and the most recent mass extinction event is the most significant as it ushered in the age of mammals and eventually, the era of humans.

About 66 million years ago, an asteroid struck the planet in the Yucatan region of Mexico, setting off a series of disastrous events that wiped out 76% of all living species that existed in that era, among them were the dinosaurs. The current period is called the Holocene, and there are sufficient reasons and proof to support a consensus that the 6th mass extinction is already unfolding. They include the following.

The Sixth Mass Extinction Is Under Way: Signals That Prove So

Insects are dying off faster than ever

If there is one indicator of a healthy ecosystem that supports life anywhere on the planet, then that would be the presence of insects. The responsible for more than just vital roles like pollination, which is the source of all food crops. Bees and butterflies, for instance, are declining in numbers, and these spells doom for life on the planet as they are the most active pollinators in the wild. Insects double up as food for birds, fish, reptiles, and mammals. Currently, 40% of insect species on earth are on the quick decline at the rate of 2.5% a year. If the trend maintains that pace, there will not be any insects left by the year 2119.

Animal and plant extinction

Editorial credit: Izzul Ahmad / Shutterstock.com

Planet earth experiences extinction at a much faster rate than before. Human activities have fast-tracked extinction speeds to blinding levels that are threatening the very fabric of life on the planet. Between 1900 and now, more than 500 species of animals and plants have gone extinct, and a million more are currently on the brink of being wiped out completely. The most worrying part of all is that even the species that are yet to be discovered and documented are also getting wiped out even before they are discovered.

Destruction of the Amazon

The Amazon rainforest is the most vital vegetation cover on earth that is often described as the lungs of the planet. It is home to over 10 million known species of plants and animals, and that is barely scratching the surface. Illegal logging of this vital forest is extremely dangerous because once the Amazon is gone, then life on the planet will cease to exist shortly after that. In the past 50 years alone, 17% of the Amazon has been cleared for farming and settlement.

Invasive species

When the Burmese python, native to the Asian continent, was accidentally introduced to Florida, the most unexpected thing happened. They multiplied and thrived in the semi-arid climate and eventually started feeding on the native species that could not match up to their size and strength. There are more than 30,000 Burmese pythons in Florida today, and they have driven other species like birds and alligators to the brink of total collapse. Invasive species are responsible for a third of extinctions that have taken place since 1500AD.

Climate change

Climate change is the biggest proof that another extinction event is cooking up. With the tropics getting hotter and the poles getting warmer, the delicate marine species are dying out faster than they can reproduce. The melting of the glaciers has had severe effects on life on earth. It will result in disruptions in the food chain, causing massive destructive changes from the largest animal on the planet to the microscopic level organisms. Greenland has lost 400 billion tons of ice in the last eight years leading to the rise of sea levels in the oceans. These changes are destroying habitats along the coastlines.

Increase in the frequency of natural disasters

One of the things that make planet earth unique is how everything is connected. Natural disasters like typhoons, tornadoes, floods, and famine, among others, have become more frequent and more severe. Human beings tipped that balance by speeding up climate change, which has now led to the occurrence of severe natural calamities, the likes of which have never been seen before.

Disappearance of coral reefs

Coral reefs are the rainforests of the marine world that single-handedly sustain more than 25% of all life forms in marine ecosystems, although they cover less than 1% of the oceanic floor. More than 4,000 species of fish live in coral reefs around the world. That, however, is shifting as climate change wreaks havoc on coral reefs. Coral reefs are delicately sensitive even to the slightest rise in temperatures, and they are dying out in the oceans. With coral reefs are hundreds of marine species disappearing, never to be recovered again.

Shrinking habitats

Fifty years from now, close to 1,700 species of amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals will lose 30% to 50% of their natural habitat to humans whose population is projected to increase by another 2 billion by 2070. Habitat loss always weighs heavily on animal species, and many of them are already under pressure of extinction.

Tectonic Displacements and volcanic eruptions

Our planet Earth has never ceased moving or reshaping itself, and just like it was the case with the other mass extinctions, tectonic forces are playing a role in the destruction of life across the planet. Earthquakes have increased as fault lines, and fractures in the earths crust continue to widen. Huge volcanic eruptions release massive carbon and dust into the atmosphere that accelerates the greenhouse effect.

Humans are unrelenting

Despite being equipped with the intellectual ability to turn things around, humans are at the forefront of hastening mass extinction on our planet. Unavoidable natural disasters caused the previous five mass extinctions. The sixth one, however, is being solely driven by human activities. Deforestation and pollution have become the hallmarks of the human era, and in the process, they are taking all life down with them way ahead of schedule.

Can The Sixth Mass Extinction Be Stopped?

The fact that the current mass extinction is, by large, driven by humans gives hope that it can be reversed in time before it is too late. Among the changes that need to be implemented include the growing of enough food to feed the 7 billion people and an extra 3 billion by 2070 without having to clear forests to create farms. Ultimately ending the hunting and killing of wild animals and plants for meaningless, short-lived profits to give them the chance to restore their lost numbers. Cutting down on the use of carbon-based fuels and switching to green energy options like solar to reduce our carbon footprint. Governments around the world can do the most by collectively passing protective laws on all animal and plant species, laws that carry heavy and costly penalties for people and corporations that defy the protocols. Setting up breeding programs to bring up numbers of the most critically endangered animals and plants is another robust move that gives control back to nature.
The government on Monday asserted in Parliament that it is "committed" to reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs and promised "appropriate steps", after the Opposition raised the Supreme Court ruling in the Uttarakhand case and accused the Centre of "failing" to defend the quota system.

Opposition members tried to corner the government in both the Houses over the Supreme Court decision that states are not bound to provide reserved seats for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Class in appointments and promotions.

But the government made it clear that it was never a party to the case which is related to a 2012 order of the previous Congress Government in Uttarakhand, and accused the opposition party of politicising the issue.

Besides opposition members, several MPs from the ruling NDA also underscored their objections to the apex court's decision, prompting interventions from a number of Union ministers including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

"This is my charge that the Congress is politicising the sensitive issue," Singh, who is deputy leader of the House, said.

Making almost identical statements in both the Houses, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot said the court order pertains to a 2012 decision of the then Congress government in Uttarakhand.

The Centre, he added, was neither a party to the case nor was it asked to file any affidavit, and hence it cannot be blamed for the development.

The central government is "committed" and "dedicated" to reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs, he said, adding that the issue is being discussed in the government at the "highest level" and it will take "appropriate steps" in the matter.

"Our government is dedicated and committed for the welfare of SCs, STs and other backward castes," he said.

In Rajya Sabha, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and other members demanded that a review petition be filed by the Centre.

Dissatisfied with the minister's response, opposition members in both the Houses walked out.

Earlier, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale said in Rajya Sabha that the apex court's decision was "unjust" and the reservation subject should be brought under the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution.

It is a "serious" issue and the entire country is concerned about it, NDA ally LJP and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said in the upper house.

"There is not need to worry. The Modi government will protect and will do whatever best possible to protect the interest of SCs and STs," Paswan, a dalit leader, said.

He said the reservation issue should be brought under the Ninth Schedule of Constitution and pitched for reservation for the community in judiciary also.

As soon as the Question Hour started, Opposition members in Lok Sabha led by Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury sought to raise the issue. He was also joined by members from other parties, including the DMK.

However, Speaker Om Birla told them that the matter can be raised during the Zero Hour, saying that the Question Hour was "important".

When one of the members remarked that the Constitution itself was under threat, the Speaker said, the Constitution was not under threat but the dignity of the House was.

The Speaker also emphasised that he does not want to stop any member or minister from raising issues but that the Question Hour was important.

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.

In the lower house, Congress leader Chowdhury and Kalyan Banerjee (TMC) targeted the government, saying there has been an onslaught on SC and ST reservation since the Modi government came to power.

Chirag Paswan of LJP, an NDA constituent, said the government should immediately interfere in the matter and put the reservation subject in the Ninth Schedule so that no one approaches the Supreme Court on these issues.

There is a view that issues in the Ninth schedule are ring-fenced from judicial review.

He said the order of the court and the behaviour of opposition on the matter is impacting a big population of the country.

"I request the central government to strengthen the reservation system. We cannot even discuss the issue of ending reservation," Paswan said.

Kalyan Banerjee (TMC) said the Constitution provides that reservation is a constitutional and fundamental right.

A Raja (DMK) said there are reasons to believe that the government is not in favour of reservation.

"I urge the central government that they should file a review petition on this and also put the subject in the ninth schedule," Raja said.

Rajiv Ranjan (JD-U) said it is a "very sensitive" issue and the House has one view on it.

"No should happen on this matter," he said adding the government has taken several steps for the community.

Ritesh Pandey (BSP) allged the central government is against SC/ST and dalits.

Anupriya Patel (Apna Dal) said, "I want to register my objection and disagreement with the Supreme Court order and this is very unfortunate also".

She said one of the reasons for such orders are low representation of SC/ST and OBCs in judiciary.

"The government should immediately intervene in the matter," she said.

E T Mohammed Basheer (IUML) said the government cannot be a silent spectator on the matter.

CPI (M) member A M Ariff said the government should file a review petition on this.

Supriya Sule (NCP) said the government should immediately address the matter.

"We need action, We don't need only words," she added.

After the minister's statement in Rajya Sabha, Azad said it is a serious issue as it concerns about one-fourth of the country's population.

"Immediately, a cabinet meeting should be called and take a decision to file a review petition," Azad said.

Satish Chandra Misra (BSP) said, "When the matter comes before cabinet, you should also add promotion in judiciary."



Members of DMK, TRS and Left parties urged the government to review the matter.

When the minister rose to respond to the queries, he repeatedly said the government is considering the matter and will take appropriate step after due discussion.

Unsatisfied with the reply, the Opposition parties barring the Shiv Sena walked out of the upper house.

After they walked out, senior BJP leader Bhupinder Yadav said the reservation system is safe and that the House should work with unity.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Kolkata book fair in 2021 will be dedicated to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, while Bangladesh will be the focus country, it was announced as this edition of the mega event concluded amid much fanfare.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is the daughter of Rahman, will inaugurate the 45th International Kolkata Book Fair to be held in the last week of January next year, said the neighbouring country's cultural affairs minister K M Khalid.

Publishers and Booksellers Guild president Tridib Chatterjee said 2021 Kolkata book fair wants to honour the 'Father of Bangladesh' on the occasion of his birth centenary, besides commemorating the deep-rooted ties between the two nations.

This year, over 25 lakh people visited the 12-day fair that saw the sale of books worth around Rs 23 crore from over 600 stalls till Sunday evening, Chatterjee said.

"This was a world record for any book fair by any yardstick," he claimed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A former Christian Brother has pleaded guilty to historical sexual assault charges dating back to his time working at a South Melbourne orphanage in the early 1970s.

At the County Court in Melbourne on Monday, Rex Francis Elmer, 75, pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawfully and indecently assaulting boys under the age of 16.

Rex Francis Elmer after an earlier court appearance. Credit:AAP/Daniel Pockett

At the time of the abuse, Elmer was working at St Vincent's Boys Home, a South Melbourne residential facility for wards of the state.

The 75-year-old admitted to assaulting a boy between January 1, 1971 and December 31, 1972.
One of the winners in the budget request is NASA, which would receive a boost of $2.6 billion, or about 12 percent, as the agency continues to put together the Artemis moon program. Trump is asking for $3.4 billion for the development of lunar landers, rovers and precursor robotic missions. The administration has vowed to land the first woman and next man on the moon by 2024.
Hilary Barry N stamped herself as the favourite in the George 'Red' Owens Memorial series for pacing fillies and mares while winning the quickest of three first-round divisions on Sunday (Feb. 9) at Miami Valley Raceway.

Heavily-favoured Hilary Barry N, a four-year-old New Zealand bred daughter of Bettors Delight, glided over Miami Valleys damp five-eighths mile oval in 1:56.1 for driver John DeLong to easily defeat Crowntimerockette and Vinecancruise without an anxious moment. Trainer Trent Stohler also owns the winner who looked every bit the part of a 1-9 favourite, paying just $2.10 to win.

Big Bad Mosa captured a split of the Owens Memorial in 1:57.1 over Jazzie Babe and Rockinattheryman. Ronnie Roberts trains the winning sophomore filly by Ohio stallion Big Bad John for owner Watson Stable of Illinois. Trace Tetrick steered the $3.60 winner.

Pray The Rosary was the other winner, besting Lookintomyeyes and Model Number Five in 1:59.1. Driver Luke Ebersole found a seam in deep stretch to gain the nose victory, the third win in five tries for the three-year-old daughter of Art Official. Robert Boggs owns the winner, who kicked back $6.80 to her backers at the betting windows.

The late closer is limited to non-winners of two pari-mutuel races or $20,000 lifetime and attracted 27 nominations.

Racing resumes Monday afternoon (Feb. 10) at Miami Valley when four $6,000 divisions go for the second elimination round of the Survivor Series for $5,000 male claiming pacers. Plus three $10,000 first-round divisions of the Omar Hiteman Memorial series for non-winners of two or $20,000 lifetime colt and gelding pacers will go to gate.

Tuesdays action at Miami Valley will feature a $24,000 Open Trot, second-round eliminations in the Survivor Series for $5,000 claiming mares, and three second-round splits in the Robert J. Brown Memorial series for non-winners of two or $20,000 lifetime trotters.

(Miami Valley Raceway)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 20:34:19|Editor: huaxia

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To curb the spread of novel coronavirus pneumonia, over half of China's provincial-level regions have paired up with all the cities in Hubei, following central government's "pairing-up support for Hubei" policy.

by Xinhua writers Cao Bin, Zhang Yujie, Zhao Yufei, Yang Jing and Cheng Di

WUHAN, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- "Pairing-up support for Hubei!" -- China has stepped up its fight against the novel coronavirus as it released a plan for over half of China's provincial-level regions to aid cities in Hubei, where the epicenter city of Wuhan is located.

As of Sunday, Hubei had reported 29,631 confirmed cases. Besides Wuhan with over 16,000 patients, five cities in the province have seen more than 1,000 confirmed cases, and the rest see climbing figures.

Aid for those smaller cities, which face increasing challenges but with limited resources, remains urgent.

According to the plan, the other provincial-level regions have paired up with all 15 cities and Shennongjia forest district (with Wuhan excluded) across Hubei. Besides a massive influx of medical staff and equipment, supplies have poured in as well.

Medical team members hold banners meaning "Triumph" before leaving for Hubei Province at Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, Feb. 9, 2020. (Xinhua/Han Chuanhao)

The National Health Commission on Sunday said a total of 11,921 medical personnel from almost all the provincial-level regions have been dispatched to Hubei to aid the epidemic fight.

As of Sunday, Huanggang near the provincial capital of Wuhan had reported 2,252 confirmed cases and 45 deaths. According to the health commission of central China's Hunan Province, two batches of 274 medical members have begun working there.

Zeng Puhua, vice president of the affiliated hospital of the Hunan Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, has been working around the clock in the SARS treatment-model hospital of Huanggang since late January.

"The daily number of confirmed cases remains high here. The medical staff change shifts every six hours, and each doctor is in charge of seven to 10 patients," Zeng said.

"Previous clinical experience has proven that traditional Chinese medicine plays an active and effective role in the treatment of pneumonia-related epidemics," Zeng said.

Three patients receiving integrated treatment of traditional Chinese and Western medicine were discharged on Feb. 7.

Members of the fourth medical team of Shanxi and their colleagues cheer for each other before leaving for Hubei Province at Wusu International Airport in Taiyuan, capital of north China's Shanxi Province, Feb. 9, 2020. (Xinhua/Chai Ting)

After 12 hours of continuous driving, seven emergency medical vehicles arrived in Wuhan, along with 60 medical workers from south China's Guangdong Province. Six hours later, a tent hospital was erected and began operation.

The small-scale hospital equipped with portable medical devices can perform basic clinical functions and "can operate on its own for seven to 10 days without local support," said Zhang Gangqing, leader of the medical team.

Meanwhile, four batches of medical staff totaling 318 critical care and respiratory specialists from southwest China's Chongqing Municipality have been summoned and sent to the cities of Wuhan and Xiaogan since late January, according to the local health commission.

Four medical vans covering outpatient services, special examinations, drugs and devices, and power supply have been sent as well, said Xing Dianguo with the commission.

"More medical staff will be dispatched to our pairing-up city soon," Xing said.

A medical team member (L) of the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University says goodbye to her family member via mobile phone at Changsha South Railway Station in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, Feb. 8, 2020. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai)

On Sunday, 2,500 kg of fresh navel oranges harvested in Chongqing's Fengjie County arrived in Wuhan. The vitamin-rich oranges will be given out to frontline medical staff, said Xiao Gongxun, director of Fengjie's orange industry development center.

Xiao said the batch of fruit worth 250,000 yuan (about 36,000 U.S. dollars) was donated by 11 growers and dealers, and picked, cleaned and packaged within two days thanks to local volunteer farmers and residents wanting to help.

Southwest China's Yunnan Province has mobilized its major vegetable and fruit farms.

"Everyone on the farm basically depends on the Wuhan market. Now it's going through difficulties, and we want to send our love," said Sheng Guilin, owner of an eggplant farm in the city of Mengzi.

Besides eggplants, the farm purchased seven other types of vegetables. With the help of volunteer farmers and local residents, over 40 tonnes of fresh vegetables have arrived in Wuhan so far.

In the meantime, 22 tonnes of bananas, donated by all the 93 households in a village under Hekou County, were collected and sent to Hubei. Among the donors, 47 are registered impoverished households.

The residents of Miandian Township under Jianshui County also loaded trucks with over 100 tonnes of onions within just half a day, before transporting the crops to the city of Huangshi near Wuhan.

The Yunnan agricultural department said it has increased staff members to step up approval and inspection processes and enhance vegetable allocation and transportation to Hubei.



Members of a medical team attend a ceremony before leaving for Hubei Province in Haikou, south China's Hainan province, Feb. 3, 2020. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)

Pairing-up assistance plays an important role in China's development. The pairing of developed and underdeveloped, disaster-hit and other areas is almost ubiquitous in China. Under such a framework, capital, skilled workers and all sorts of resources have been channeled to the country's vast western regions including Tibet and Xinjiang, to help the reconstruction of quake-stricken areas in Sichuan, and the anti-poverty campaigns across China.

This ability to "concentrate resources to solve major problems," as Chinese often describe it, is a notable advantage of China's socialist system that has helped the country overcome major challenges over the past decades.

(Yue Wenwan, Dong Xiaohong, Zhang Yuqi, Shuai Cai, Liu Fangqiang, Ding Le, Pan Qiang, Xiang Dingjie, Liu Fangzhou, Luo Xin, Zhou Huimin, Yan Xiangling also contributed to the story.)

(Video reporters: Pan Xu, Wu Xinsheng, Meng Jing, Ma Xiaodong, Tian Jianchuan, Zheng Mengyu, Min Zuntao, Liu Bin, Li Xiaobo, Liu Meizi, Qin Guanghua; video editor: Liu Yuting) 
(Bloomberg) -- Uber Technologies Inc. failed to persuade a judge to shield its drivers from Californias gig-worker protection law while the company challenges the landmark measure in court.A federal judge in Los Angles rejected a request by Uber and Postmates Inc. to temporarily block enforcement of Assembly Bill 5, which aims to convert gig-economy workers from independent contractors to employees with benefits. Uber and Postmates didnt ask the judge to shield other companies from the law.

U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee had signaled during a Feb. 7 hearing that she would deny the preliminary injunction sought by Uber and Postmates.

Gee concluded in an order posted Monday that the public interest weighs in favor of permitting the state to enforce this legislation, while acknowledging the companies claim that it poses irreparable harm for them.

The status of drivers for the companies is critical to the companies business models, and is also of keen interest to potential investors. Postmates said last February that it had filed confidentially for an initial public offering. Since then, the company hasnt moved ahead publicly with an IPO.

Ubers $8.1 billion IPO in May was the largest of the year in the U.S. Its shares have sunk 11% since then. Lyft Inc., which raised $2.34 billion in March, has fallen 25% from its offer price.

In the next phase of the case the companies will try to convince Gee that A.B. 5 violates guarantees of equal protection under the federal and state constitutions. But the judge said in her ruling its unlikely that Uber and Postmates will prevail on the merits of their claims.California Attorney General Xavier Becerra argued the constitutional claims will fail because the state legislature has a prerogative to stop the gig economys exploitation of workers.

State legislators had the opportunity to expand benefits for hundreds of thousands of independent workers in California, a step Uber has been advocating for and one that other states already have taken, Uber said in a statement. Instead, they passed A.B. 5 using a biased and overtly political process that ignored the voices of the workers most affected by the law and granted preferential treatment to an arbitrary group of industries.

Story continues

Postmates said the ruling is a disappointment for a pair of workers who joined the companies in filing the suit to protect their flexibility and income.

As witnessed by truckers, freelance journalists, and countless other occupations, A.B. 5 is undercutting workers across the economy, and Postmates remains committed to the modernization of worker classification and worker protections, the company said in an email.

Becerras office said its pleased with the ruling and will continue to defend laws that are designed to protect workers and ensure fair labor and business practices.

As multiple court battles play out, gig companies are working on other fronts to rein in the law. Uber, Lyft, Postmates, Instacart and DoorDash have pledged $110 million for a ballot measure to change A.B. 5.Signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom in September, A.B. 5 says workers can generally only be considered contractors if they perform duties outside the usual course of a companys business. Uber filed its suit Dec. 30, two days before A.B. 5 took effect.The case is Olson v. State of California, 2:19-cv-10956, U.S. District Court, Central District of California (Los Angeles).

(Updates with Postmates comment in 10th paragraph)

To contact the reporters on this story: Joel Rosenblatt in San Francisco at jrosenblatt@bloomberg.net;Josh Eidelson in Palo Alto at jeidelson@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Peter Blumberg

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

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Can you believe its been more than 30 years since many of us found ourselves singing the catchy words, Dont Worry, Be Happy? It was 1988 when that lilting, uplifting tune by Bobby McFerrin perched atop the Billboard Hot 100 list for two weeks.

Then, six years later, we were singing Hakuna Matata, the memorable little song from the original animated Disney film, The Lion King. Remember? It means no worries, for the rest of your days. Its our problem-free philosophy, Hakuna Matata!

Perhaps just mentioning these simple, infectious musical ditties has caused them to again dance around your mind. To this day, when I offer an apology for an oversight  like running a bit late for an appointment or failing to send a promised email  Ill hear the other person respond, No worries.

Ah, if it were only that simple: Dont worry, be happy! No worries  Hakuna Matata! Because when worries set it, we want to shout, Thats easy for you to say! We do worry, dont we? Sometimes, a lot.

We worry that it might rain; we worry that it wont. We worry about not having enough money; if we have enough money, we worry well lose it. We worry about getting sick, losing our jobs, the car breaking down, or growing old. We worry about what people think of us; we worry if people dont think about us. We even worry if we dont have anything to worry about, certain something will emerge to worry about. We just dont know what it is. And that worries us.

This is a universal human problem, and hardly a new one. Jesus Christ devoted considerable time talking about the futility of worry in His sermon on the mount:



Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?... Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?... But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6:25-34).

Another time, Jesus was explaining how worry can prevent responding positively to the Gospels life-changing message. In His parable of the sower, He described one such category of folks: The one that received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful (Matthew 13:22).

Can you imagine settling down somewhere, surrounded by thorns? This was the metaphor Jesus used. Whenever we allow worries to overwhelm us  and I admit, Ive been guilty of this at times  were treading into thorny territory.

Recently I read about something called a friendship bench. It was introduced in Zimbabwe, a war-torn, economically depressed African nation where despair has been rampant. The idea was for people beset by hopelessness to visit a friendship bench where trained elderly women would listen to them.

The concept spawned the Friendship Bench Project, dedicated to establishing places where troubled individuals can engage in a warm conversation with someone who cares. They can now be found in London, England, New York City, and other parts of the world.

It's definitely sounds like a good way to at least provide encouragement for people who find themselves at wits end in dealing with their lifes circumstances. But did you know God already has a friendship bench for us? In Hebrews 4:16 were admonished, Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Through prayer, God waits eagerly to hear from us: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).

This doesnt mean we shouldnt be concerned about our lives. We oversee our children so they dont run out into busy streets. We create budgets for handling our finances wisely. We make sure our vehicles are properly maintained. But as Jesus said, needless worry can choke all the joy and peace out of our lives.

So the next time worry starts consuming our thinking, lets boldly approach the Lords throne of grace, His friendship bench: Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7).



* * *
TORONTO - Premier Doug Ford's government said it is considering allowing cannabis lounges and cafes as it moves toward an open market for pot in the province, and is asking the public to weigh in on the proposal.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/2/2020 (700 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A woman smokes a marijuana joint at a "Wake and Bake" legalized marijuana event in Toronto on October 17, 2018. Ontario is considering allowing cannabis lounges and cafes as it moves toward an open cannabis market. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

TORONTO - Premier Doug Ford's government said it is considering allowing cannabis lounges and cafes as it moves toward an open market for pot in the province, and is asking the public to weigh in on the proposal.

The government said Monday it will consult on the possibility of so-called "consumption venues" as well as special occasion permits that would apply to outdoor festivals and concerts.

In a posting on its regulatory registry, which closes March 10, the government said it wants to hear from the public before committing to any direction, and gave no timeline to make changes.

"We are asking Ontarians to share their feedback as we explore certain expanded cannabis-related business opportunities as part of our responsible approach to protecting families and communities," Attorney General Doug Downey said in a statement. "What we hear from the public and expert groups will help to inform possible next steps."

The Progressive Conservative government has said its ultimate goal is an open cannabis market, but a supply shortage forced it to start with a limited lottery system for retail licences shortly after marijuana was legalized in 2018.

In December, the province announced it was doing away with the controversial lottery system that was criticized as a cumbersome process preventing the province from staying competitive.

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario said it has received more than 700 applications for retail operator licences since the system was scrapped on Jan. 1.

Downey said allowing greater competition in the retail sector will help combat the black market.

"Ontario continues to take a responsible approach to cannabis retail sales across Ontario, allowing private sector businesses to build a safe and convenient retail system to combat the illegal market while keeping our kids and communities safe," he said Monday.

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Robyn Rabinovich, a business strategy lead at strategy firm Hill+Knowlton who advises cannabis sector clients, said the proposal could legitimately help the Tories advance their goal of combating the black market by giving consumers another option to buy legal cannabis.

"There's a lot of opportunities for businesses like cafes and restaurants to start making steps into the cannabis industry," she said. "This could ensure it's done in a regulated and safe way."

Rabinovich said special occasion permits would give the government a chance to further regulate cannabis use in some public spaces and acknowledge the reality of post-legalization Ontario.

"If you're at a music festival and you look around, it's clear that cannabis is being consumed," she said. "If they were to organize it and regulate it, it may not be in the presence of minors or be causing any harm to others at the event."

Ontario's previous Liberal government was exploring the idea of cannabis consumption lounges in 2018, announcing consultations just months before it was defeated in the most recent provincial election.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 10, 2020.
San Francisco held an annual grand parade Saturday to ring in the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Rat, with tens of thousands of residents and visitors showing up for the U.S. city's century-old tradition of the Chinese community.

The 2020 Lunar New Year parade, hosted by the San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce, greatly entertained the spectators who packed both sides of the streets downtown to watch glistening floats adorned with auspicious signs, flowers, twinkling stars, legendary gods in traditional Chinese culture, as well as lovely cartoons such as the zodiac Rat for this year.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Chinese Consul General in San Francisco Wang Donghua attended the event, the biggest parade to celebrate the Lunar New Year outside of Asia, which started in the 1860s.

Participants from hundreds of organizations from the Bay Area, including art troupes, Chinese Kung Fu groups, school bands, government agencies and businesses sang and danced along a 3.2-km route starting from the city's financial area of Market Street to the destination in Chinatown, where Breed and Wang ignited two 200,000-firecracker rolls that brought the procession to a climactic end amid thundering explosions of firecrackers.

Alfred Drees, a San Francisco native, told Xinhua that he had been out for the Chinese parade 17 times, and his last celebration of the Year of the Rat was in 1996, which left him with a vivid and unforgettable impression.

Ken Spiegelman, who recently moved from New York to California, said it was the first time for him to watch the parade in San Francisco.

"I've never seen the parade in San Francisco, and this one is much bigger than the one in Manhattan. It was always a lot of fun," he said.
At Least 3 People Shot at Walmart Supercenter in Arkansas: Police

Police in Arkansas said a shooting at a Walmart in Forrest City left at least three people injured, according to reports.

Forrest City Police spokesperson Chastity Boyd told The Associated Press that three were shot in the Walmart. Its not clear if the shooter was among those who were shot or if the person was detained.

Forrest Citys police chief told WMC-TV that two officers were shot and the suspect was killed. Other reports said three people were shot and didnt elaborate.

Authorities are working to secure the scene, according to the AP report.

One woman who was inside the Walmart during the incident told KATV that she heard about a dozen gunshots at around 10:30 a.m. local time.

Im scared, said Kim Bery, who works at a store near the Walmart. She told AP that she saw a significant police presence at the Walmart, and she noted that employees were evacuated to the parking lot.

Forrest City is located 45 miles west of Memphis, Tennessee, and around 85 miles east of Little Rock, the state capital.

Last year, a gunman killed around two dozen people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. Patrick Crusius, 21, was charged earlier this month with federal hate crimes in the Aug. 3 shooting, reported CBS News.

People in our nation have the right to go to a store on a Saturday morning without fear that they will be shot and killed because of who they are, or where theyre from, Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division said in announcing the charges.

After the shooting last year, Walmart came under scrutiny by critics for insufficient security at its stores.
Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant on Monday hit out at Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navanirman Sena (MNS) over their changing policies. Taking to Twitter, the Congress leader asserted that the party's stance and flags are bound to change if "politics turns into business." According to him, the BJP has taken over MNS. However, he said that they will fail.

If politics becomes business then stands, flags & languages r bound to change. If personal profit defines political stand then even protest march or provocative speech will hv no value. Bjp has taken MNS engine on rent for "Religious hate Express" but engine will fail again.  Sachin Sawant   (@sachin_inc) February 9, 2020

MNS launches new 'Saffron' Flag

Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), launched its new 'Saffron' party flag on January 23. The flag has 'Raj Mudra' (stamps) which were used during Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's rule. While addressing a rally at NESCO Centre in Mumbai last month, he had asserted to the party workers that "Do not use this flag during elections. Raj Mudra is an inspiration. It should not be disrespected in any way."

Read: As non-BJP states pass anti-CAA resolutions, Gujarat CM Rupani enacts 'befitting reply'

MNS' pro-NRC rally

Recently, the MNS party carried out a pro-NRC rally where thousands of MNS supporters waved its saffron flag while marching from Girgaum Chowpatty to Azad Maidan. They had put up posters that said 'infiltrators are not my brothers and sisters' and 'India is not for Pakistani and Bangladeshi infiltrators'. Thackeray who gained fame for his party's 'Marathi manoos' stance, has now taken a larger national stance against migration. At his Maha Adhiveshan rally on January 23, Raj Thackeray had accepted that there could be a debate on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) but he chose to focus on the 'remove infiltrators' pitch.

Read: Raj Thackeray backs CAA at MNS rally, questions why admit Muslims from Pakistan?

Backing the CAA, the MNS chief had said that the minorities in the three countries who were being persecuted were Hindus. Quashing the need to accept Muslims being persecuted in Pakistan, he stated that 'India is not anyone's Dharamshala'.

Read: Union Minister Ramdas Athawale urges CM Uddhav Thackeray to implement CAA in Maharashtra

Read: 'Degree hai, job nahi': Congress workers fry Pakoda to protest against unemployment in WB
The 35-year-old man found dead Sunday night with his four-year-old daughter at Rattlesnake Point conservation area in Milton was embroiled in a long-standing and acrimonious custody dispute with his ex-wife and was facing the prospect of having his custody further reduced next week, according to court documents shared by the girls mother and stepfather.

She was so innocent, so sweet, Dr. Jennifer Kagan said of her daughter, Keira, whose body was found with her fathers at the base of the escarpment with injuries police described as being consistent with a fall.

Halton Regional Police said Monday they were considering all possibilities. The homicide unit is investigating.

Police said the homicide unit is routinely called in to investigate all deaths involving children under the age of five.

Police have not released the identity of the man, but court documents show Keiras father to be Robin Allan McLean Brown, who had mostly represented himself in a years-long custody battle with Kagan.

Kagan and her husband, Philip Viater, said Monday they believe Brown killed Keira and himself, and that the justice system failed their daughter.

Viater said this was Keiras last weekend with Brown before a scheduled court appearance on Feb. 20, when Browns access to his daughter was possibly going to be reviewed.

A recent court decision in the long-running dispute refers to an allegation made by Browns partner against Viater, that Viater was abusing Keira. Viater said those allegations were baseless.

The bitter and protracted custody battle between Brown, an engineer who ran his own business, and Kagan, a palliative care doctor at Brampton Civic Hospital, has dragged on for more than three years and now fills 18 bankers boxes, according to one of Kagans affidavits, in which she lamented that it could continue until Keira was an adult, given Mr. Browns unwillingness to cease conflict and modify his behaviour.

Judges have criticized both sides for not getting along better. To describe the parties ongoing parenting of Keira as high conflict is to dramatically understate the reality that their child is enduring, a judge said in one hearing.

One shocking allegation considered valid by a judge in 2018 after hearing evidence from both sides occurred when Kagan and Brown were still married and, during a fight, Brown tried to shove a dead mouse into Kagans mouth. Kagan also alleges in court documents that Brown was abusive to her during their marriage. A judge said Kagans evidence of abuse  aside from the mouse allegation  was not compelling.

Brown, who represented himself, was found in that 2018 judgment to have lied repeatedly to the court, including submitting forged documents and misrepresenting his income.

Court systems do not anticipate this level of duplicity, a judge said in one ruling.

Kagan previously tried to have Browns custody reduced in 2017, but was unsuccessful. Justice Gray found Brown had a propensity for lying and was aggressive and somewhat bullying to Kagan and others. Gray ruled not to limit Keiras overnight visits with her father.

I do not think (Brown)s conduct disentitles him to overnight visits, or limits their frequency or number, Gray wrote.  I am of the view that there is no risk to Keira. She has been with her father for eight hours per day, three days per week for almost two years, and has had overnight visits. She has no fear of her father. There is no evidence of any abuse.

Viater said theres no good reason Brown would have been hiking at Rattlesnake Point with Keira, particularly given Sundays inclement weather. It was not a typical activity for them, he said.

I believe he jumped and took her with him, he said, adding that he had previously raised concerns about Keiras safety.

Viater is a family law lawyer who on a few occasions represented Kagan in the dispute, but he is not her primary lawyer.

He said the justice system failed Keira. The judges were too lenient and despite the warnings they continued to give chance after chance after chance.

Speaking from her home on Monday afternoon, Kagan described her daughter as an absolute angel, who loved princesses and dressing up. She wanted to be glam, Kagan said. High heels, dressing up and doing her hair were among Keiras favourite things.

She had so much life and joie de vivre, really just a happy kid, Kagan said, adding that Keira was so excited when her eight-month-old baby brother arrived. She was just over the moon.

A post-mortem examination will be conducted, police said. They are asking anyone who was at the conservation area on Sunday between 2 p.m. and 11 p.m., and saw someone, to contact the homicide units tip line at 905-825-4776.

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An unidentified teenager in Arlington, Texas, pulled out a handgun Thursday and shot dead Samuel Reynolds, 16, who had stopped the shooter from bullying a smaller boy a few days earlier, police say. "After he broke up the fight, he started having trouble with the suspect," Arlington Police Lt. Christopher Cook said in a news conference Friday. The boy with the gun was between 13 and 15 years old and lived in the same apartment complex as Reynolds, NBC News reports.

Police say they have video of the entire incident from security cameras in the apartment complex. "He pulls out a handgun from the rear part of his pants he was wearing, points it at the victim and fires one round," Cook said. The gunman is being charged with murder.

"This senseless act of gun violence has no place in society and our hometown community," said Arlington Police Chief Will Johnson. "We will direct our attention to how a young teen suspect accessed a firearm used in the offense."

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Timber companies and conservation groups have agreed to stand down from their divisive and potentially expensive ballot measure fight over Oregons logging rules, striking a compromise that sets the stage for the biggest changes to Oregons logging practices in decades.

The agreement, a copy of which was obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive, calls for state lawmakers to immediately pass tighter restrictions on aerial herbicide spraying, which legislators punted in 2015. The new restrictions would quintuple the size of no-spray buffers around homes and schools, widen them around streams and require logging companies to provide one-day notice to neighbors before helicopters start spraying.

If that passes, both the timber companies and environmental groups agreed to halt efforts to push dueling ballot measures in November.

I would describe this as historic, unprecedented and extraordinary, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, who helped broker the deal, told The Oregonian/OregonLive. The commitment is very clear and the agreement frankly brings both sides together. This is a paradigm shift.

Thirteen timber companies and 13 environmental groups signed the compromise, which calls for a groundbreaking negotiation that could remake forestry on private land in Oregon. Over the next 18 months, timber companies and green groups would work in mediated meetings toward developing a conservation blueprint to ensure logging practices on private industrial timberlands allow salmon and other species to come back from the brink of extinction.

That would give logging companies protection from litigation if their actions harm an endangered species in exchange for solid conservation commitments.

The negotiations, governed by a long list of ground rules, would aim to develop new rules for the 2022 legislative session and begin the process of seeking needed federal approval.

Brown said she expected the process to result in a significant rewrite" of the Oregon Forest Practices Act, the states logging rules. She said she was confident the aerial spraying legislation would pass during the Legislatures month-long short session and pledged her commitment to shepherding the longer-term deal to fruition.

No one thought this could be done, Brown said. And we are making it happen because people are tired of the endless wars at the ballot and in the courtroom.

There is no guarantee the legislation will pass or the talks will succeed. But the agreement is a step toward resolving the conflicts over logging rules that have played out at the Board of Forestry, the Legislature and in courts for decades and soon on the November ballot. Signatories included timber companies like Weyerhaeuser, Hampton Lumber and Roseburg Forest Products, and environmental groups including Oregon Wild, the Wild Salmon Center and Beyond Toxics.

While Oregon in 1971 became the first state in the nation to adopt comprehensive logging rules, the state has since fallen far behind its neighbors. Today, the states logging rules are the West Coasts weakest, allowing timber companies to cut more aggressively than in California and Washington.

Frustrated by legislative inaction in a state where timber gives more to lawmakers than anywhere else, environmental groups led by Oregon Wild pushed three ballot initiatives this year to tighten aerial herbicide spraying rules, increase forest stream buffers, prohibit logging in steep landslide-prone areas and prohibit conflicts of interest for state forestry board appointees.

Timber companies quickly punched back. The Oregon Forest & Industries Council proposed initiatives that would have expanded industry control over the states forest regulator, the Oregon Department of Forestry, while amending the state constitution to require compensation for any landowner financially affected by any land-use change. The constitutional change held the power to remake Oregons land-use system.

But both sides blinked. Timber companies approached Browns office to negotiate a compromise. The hastily negotiated deal announced Monday offers more certainty for both the timber industry and environmental community than leaving their differences to be decided by voters. It still leaves an uncertain path toward the larger deal, one that will require people who are deeply distrustful of each other to negotiate in good faith.

Greg Miller, a retired Weyerhaeuser executive speaking on behalf of the timber companies, said the deal signaled a new era of cooperation and transparency" while calling for forest policy to continue to rely on the best available science.

"We are hopeful that we have found a pathway forward that meets those expectations and sets Oregon up for the most comprehensive, forward-thinking forest policy in the nation, Miller said in a statement.

Environmental groups also lauded the deal. Bob Van Dyk, Oregon policy director at the Wild Salmon Center, called it a critical step toward modernizing Oregons forest rules."

Its our collective duty to make sure that a healthy timber industry doesnt come at the expense of fish, wildlife, and public health, Van Dyk said.

The changes to aerial spraying are a significant initial concession from the timber industry, which helped kill a similar proposal in 2015. Companies use helicopter sprays to help kill the plants that compete for sunlight with seedlings replanted after clearcuts. More than 800,000 pounds of herbicides were sprayed on forestland in 2008, the last year Oregon required amounts to be reported.

The practice comes with risks. Aerial spraying can allow toxic chemicals like glyphosate, 2,4-D and atrazine to drift long distances or get into waterways that serve as drinking water sources. Twenty Curry County residents complained of illnesses in 2013 after a helicopter pilot flew over their neighborhood while spraying herbicides on clear cuts, misting homes in his path.

Oregons timber industry has long known it was vulnerable if aerial spraying restrictions went to the ballot. Voters in Lincoln County approved an aerial spray ban in 2017, despite being outspent 20-to-one. (The ban was subsequently overturned in court.)

The industry polled 500 likely voters in the other coastal counties in 2018 and found them very susceptible to the idea of banning aerial pesticide spraying -- despite the voters widespread support of logging.

A two-page memo obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive and Oregon Public Broadcasting, summarizing an internal May 2018 poll, shows that polling found voters with family members employed in the timber industry opposed helicopter spraying at the same rate as voters overall.

Even when given context about why the chemicals were used, the polling showed, between 55 and 57 percent of likely voters still thought it put the environment at risk and spread harmful chemicals through the air and water, compared to about 33 percent who thought it was good, necessary to help young trees grow.

While coastal communities are more conservative than the rest of Oregon, the poll noted, those voters chose protecting the environment over creating local jobs.

One of the ballot measures backed by the environmental groups would have established a 500-foot aerial spraying buffer on all waters in the state. Timber companies worried that would be an effective ban on all aerial spraying in many areas. The legislation doesnt go that far. But it does increase setbacks for sprays near homes and schools to 300 feet (from 60), establishes stricter setbacks on drinking water intakes and boosts the minimum buffer on streams with fish from 60 feet to 75.

It would also establish 50-foot aerial spraying buffers on all headwater streams -- waterways that dont have fish but that feed into streams and rivers that do. Those headwater streams comprise a majority of Oregons stream network. No buffers exist for them currently.

A copy of the agreement between the timber industry and environmental groups is here.

-- Rob Davis and Ted Sickinger

rdavis@oregonian.com, tsickinger@oregonian.com

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
On This Day British Troops' Bloodiest Crackdown on Anti-Colonial Protestors in Myanmar

The Martyrs Mausoleum was built at Tha Kywe Kone, Chan Mya Tharsi Township, Mandalay.

YANGONOn this day 81 years ago, the colonial government of British Burma carried out its bloodiest crackdown against anti-colonial protestors, killing 17 people in Mandalay, the last royal capital of the country.

Over 20,000 people took part in the protest, shouting slogans against the British governments disrespect for Buddhism and calling for students rights to be respected and for a boycott of British and Indian goods.

British army troops ordered the crowds to disperse, saying the protestors had not sought prior permission for a protest march. When protesters defied the order, the British troops rained bullets down on them from the city wall at the corner of 26 B Street and the citys moat.

Among those killed were seven Buddhist monks and an 8th grade student. More than 200,000 people attended their funerals. Later, civilians bought a land plot and built a peoples martyrs mausoleum for them. The bloody crackdown was followed by the impeachment of Dr. Ba Maws coalition government in the parliament.

The British and Indian lawmakers in the parliament whose interests had been harmed by the instability in the country voted to overthrow Dr. Ba Maws government. Six days after the deadly incident, Dr. Ba Maw and his government were forced to step down.

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Mumbai: Munaf Halari Moosa, an absconding accused in the March 12, 1993 Mumbai serial blasts who was arrested by Gujarat ATS from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai on Feb 10, 2020. (File Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Mumbai: Munaf Halari Moosa, an absconding accused in the March 12, 1993 Mumbai serial blasts who was arrested by Gujarat ATS from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai on Feb 10, 2020. (File Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Mumbai, Feb 10 : The Gujarat ATS early on Monday arrested March 12, 1993 Mumbai serial blasts absconding accused Munaf Halari Moosa from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport here, officials said.

Evading the law since nearly 27 years, Moosa had been on the Gujarat ATS' wanted list for a drug smuggling racket since the past couple of years after a huge consignment of narcotics worth around Rs 15 billion was caught last year.

Following a tip-off that he was planning to leave India to go to Dubai, a Gujarat ATS team lay in wait for him and arrested him at the CSMIA.

In a statement, Gujarat ATS DSP K.K. Patel said that they have recovered a Pakistani passport from Moosa.

After the serial blasts - which left some 260 people dead, Moosa had sneaked out of the country and was reportedly holed up in South Africa.

The sources said that Moosa is believed to be linked with the Iqbal Mirchi-led international drug syndicate, and further investigations are underway.

Incidentally, the name of Moosa is mentioned as a "co-conspirator" in the first remand application filed by the Mumbai Police after the serial blasts, along with other accused and wanted fugitives, for procuring three Bajaj Chetak scooters.

These scooters, laden with the deadly RDX and timers, were planted in different locations like Kalbadevi, Zaveri Bazaar and Juhu Centaur Hotel where they were ultimately exploded, killing scores of people, said the remand plea after the probe by the L.T. Marg Police Station then.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 15:13:34|Editor: huaxia

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A Helping Hand: Russia donates 13.2 tonnes of medical supplies to help fight the novel #coronavirus in China's Hubei.
Dr. W. Gifford-Jones, M.D., is a graduate of the University of Toronto and the Harvard Medical School. He trained in general surgery at the Strong Memorial Hospital, University of Rochester, Montreal General Hospital, McGill University and in gynecology at Harvard. He has also been a general practitioner, ships surgeon and hotel doctor. His weekly medical column is published by 70 Canadian newspapers and 12 in the U.S. He is the author of 10 books. Sign up for medical tips at docgiff.com. For comments, info@docgiff.com.
JERUSALEM, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Israel's Delek Group said on Sunday its Ithaca subsidiary had signed a non-binding deal with an investment firm to establish a new infrastructure company for Ithaca's North Sea operations.

Ithaca in late 2019 bought Chevron's North Sea oil and gas fields for $2 billion.

Under the deal, which is subject to diligence on both sides, a joint venture between Ithaca and the investment firm will purchase two of Ithaca's production platforms at an estimated value of $875 million, although the amount could rise above $1 billion, Delek said.

Delek, which plans to spin off Ithaca in a London share offering this year, did not name the investment firm, but a source close to the deal told Reuters it was BlackRock.

BlackRock was not immediately available to comment.

Ithaca will hold 40% of the new infrastructure company, while the investment firm will own 60%.

Delek said the parties planned to examine adding additional assets in the future beyond those purchased from Ithaca.

Delek CEO Idan Vales also said Ithaca should make earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $900 million to $1 billion in 2020. (Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by Mark Potter)
This past week many Democrats began saying publicly what they have been agonizing about privately: Its entirely possible Donald Trump could win reelection.

The odds are increasing that his opponent will end up being viewed as more extreme than Trump. If its a race between mean and crazy, I fear mean wins hands down, one former Democratic congressman told me. As a young voter, I saw Tricky Dick Nixon demolish a George McGovern who was tagged as being in favor of acid, amnesty, and abortion.

Thats not all that Democrats have to worry about. Trumps outre behavior has led many Democrats to obsess about him, overreact to every perceived outrage, and distract them to the point that theyve allowed socialists and woke progressives to capture much of the partys policy agenda.

We spend too much time chasing whatever foolishness Trump throws out there, and hes masterful at it, Cornell Belcher, a veteran Democratic pollster, told the Washington Post. For example, Trump couldnt have asked for a better overreaction to his State of the Union message than Speaker Nancy Pelosis dramatically tearing up the speech on national TV, standing on the podium right after he finished speaking.

Former Obama aide Van Jones told CNN that Trumps reality-show-style State of the Union speech was effective and a big wake-up call for Democrats. Trump highlighted key issues that would resonate among blacks, Van Jones noted, including record-low unemployment, signing criminal-justice reform into law, and providing more federal backing for historically black colleges and universities.

During the Super Bowl, the presidents campaign committee paid for an ad featuring Alice Marie Johnson, a 64-year-old black woman who was freed after Trump commuted her prison sentence for a nonviolent drug offense. In the ad, she hugs her family, thanks Trump, and shouts Hallelujah!

Jones and other Democrats point out that while Trump remains deeply unpopular with most minority voters, even a small decrease in Democratic margins in minority communities can have large political ripples. Trump won only 8 percent of black voters in 2016 and only 31 percent of Latino voters. But both showings improved on Mitt Romneys numbers and helped Trump carry key states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan, where enthusiasm for the Democratic ticket in inner-city neighborhoods declined.

Story continues

According to Oval Office visitors, Trump privately chortles at the extent to which he lives rent-free in the heads of his opponents, thus discombobulating them. A new book entitled A Very Stable Genius recounts that former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, now a fierce Trump critic, once witnessed a classic over-the-top Trump riff in the Oval Office. Scaramucci then reportedly asked the president, Are you an act? Scaramucci says that Trump replied, Im a total act, and I dont understand why people dont get it.

Those Democrats who cant resist falling for Trumps trolling are reacting to him exactly as he would wish. Trump sends liberals over the edge in rage, and while theyre not looking, the socialists like Bernie Sanders are stealing their party out from under them, former GOP congressman Dana Rohrabacher told me.

Liberal satirist Bill Maher, who hosts a comedy show on HBO, says that Trumps behavior is increasingly viewed as acceptable. Every time hes just this horrible jerk people say, Yeah, but thats part and parcel of being a strong leader and getting things done.

Maher, a donor to Democratic causes, says his party is in danger of ceding the election to Trump if it drifts too far to the left on economics and politically correct social policies.

Trump Derangement Syndrome may be so deeply imbedded in the Democratic Party that it cant be successfully treated. But the first step would be for Democrats to take Trump at his word. He is not evil  he is more of a total act who tramples social norms and sacred cows with equal abandon. Opposing him is fine, but acting as if hes a dictator tilts the rhetorical playing field toward him.

Instead, Democrats might compete with Trump by recognizing that hes the P. T. Barnum of American politics. In short, Trump is a brilliant self-promoter who often knows exactly what hes doing and changes course constantly to match what he thinks audiences want to hear  much as Barnum used to switch out circus acts between towns on his tour.

The way to beat a master showman isnt by running a crazy candidate against him. It may involve running someone who can at least compete with him in the showman department.

More from National Review
Sinai militants kill seven Egyptian soldiers: army



Cairo, Feb 9 (AFP) Feb 09, 2020



Seven Egyptian soldiers were killed in a militant attack on security facilities in restive North Sinai on Sunday, Egypt's military said.

The army said it "foiled" the attack, "killing 10 terrorists and destroying a four-wheel drive used by the terrorist elements."

The slain soldiers were of various ranks, according to the brief statement posted to the military's Facebook page on Sunday.

Egypt has struggled to contain an insurgency in North Sinai that escalated after the military's 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi following mass protests.

In February 2018, Egyptian security forces launched a nationwide, large-scale operation against militants, mainly focused on North Sinai.

Earlier this month, the Islamic State group claimed it blew up a gas pipeline in Sinai connecting Egypt to Israel. Security sources said the pipeline hit was a domestic one.

More than 840 suspected militants have been killed in the region since February 2018, according to army figures. Some 67 security personnel have also been killed.

ff/cm
In June 2019, state Sen. Julia Salazar proposed the first piece of legislation in New York history to completely decriminalize sex work.

If this bill  developed in consultation with sex worker advocacy organizations and progressive legal groups  becomes law, it will no longer be a crime for consenting adults to exchange sex for money in New York. Nor will it be illegal to manage, promote sex workers or support them in their work  as long the business relationship is voluntary. Child prostitution and human trafficking would remain illegal, as would soliciting sex in a school zone.

While this would remove a number of sources of harm to sex workers, it would leave a system that is ripe for capitalist exploitation by mostly male business owners and risk turning New York into a sex tourism mecca.

Instead, learning the lessons of other states and countries that have experimented with decriminalizing sex work, the bill should be amended or supplemented with strict regulations that would determine the contours of a safe, decriminalized sex market that empowers sex workers and lets them keep the proceeds of their labor.

Women overwhelmingly bear the brunt of criminalization: 98% of the 1,413 people charged with prostitution-related offenses in New York City over a one-year period were cisgender or transgender women, according to a recent study.

Salazar said that the objective is to protect sex workers from criminalization, trafficking and exploitation. The best way to address those problems comprehensively is to decriminalize sex work, Salazar said in an interview with City & State. What that means as far as our bill is removing anything in the criminal code that is related to prostitution.

There are a number of reasons why decriminalization would help sex workers. The illegality of sex work puts sex workers at risk. They cant go to the police for help if a client beats or robs them. In fact, many sex workers report being victimized by the police. Women who have been sexually trafficked may continue working against their will because theyre afraid of being charged as prostitutes. A criminal record from sex work can make it harder to leave the industry and pursue employment or education. Finally, sex workers could organize and advocate for themselves more effectively if they didnt fear being arrested.

Salazar and her supporters are clear: They want decriminalization rather than legalization. Decriminalization means removing criminal and civil penalties for sex work. The sex industry would be subject to the generally applicable laws, but there would be no sex work-specific regulatory framework.

By contrast, legalization means decriminalization and implementing sex industry-specific regulations. The regulatory frameworks at play are as diverse as the jurisdictions that have legalized sex work. Regulations might call for licensing and inspections, impose limits on when or where sex work can take place, or guarantee certain rights and protections specific to sex workers. For example, prostitution is legal in parts of Nevada, but its not an unrestricted free market. Legal sex work is limited to registered sex workers operating out of licensed brothels in counties that have a population of less than 700,000, and those counties must also allow the practice.

Salazar and her allies oppose regulations because they worry that it will become a kind of shadow criminalization in which sex workers are penalized for failing to follow the regulations, rather than for selling sex per se. Legalization that establishes licensing or regulations is often harmful and exclusionary to the people who are most vulnerable in the sex industry, Salazar said.

The state senator has a point. Nevadas legalized brothels do nothing to help sex workers on the streets of Las Vegas, most of whom couldnt get a job at the Moonlite Bunny Ranch even if they wanted to. One of the biggest problems facing New York is the fate of undocumented sex workers. A Nevada-like system wouldnt help people who arent legally allowed to work.

Nevadas illicit sex industry dwarfs its brothel industry. Chuck Muth, government affairs counsel for the Nevada Brothel Association, estimates that there are about 300 women working out of legal brothels on any given day. State officials estimate there are 30,000 full-service sex workers in Las Vegas alone, where prostitution remains illegal. Sex workers who ply their trade outside of a brothel still face arrest and prosecution. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department made more than 2,700 prostitution arrests in 2016.

Legalization does not necessarily empower women. In Nevada, sex workers have to submit to the stringent rules of a brothel if they want to sell sex legally. Women are usually confined to the brothel for weeks or months at a time, even when theyre not working. Theyre forced to pay for their rent and food at rates set by the brothel owner, and required to hand over a large chunk of their earnings to the house. The women are independent contractors. Theres no sex workers union and no collective bargaining. While all of Nevadas brothel-based sex workers are women, 13 of the states 15 brothel owners are men, according to Muth.

If Salazar's bill becomes law, what's to stop a Times Square strip club owner from blacklisting dancers who refuse to expand their job description to include intercourse?

And theres a risk that the wrong kind of regulations empower management over employees in other ways. Heavily regulated industries tend to favor big businesses that have the wherewithal to navigate complex regulatory frameworks. Licenses and attorneys fees alone can cost tens of thousands of dollars. In Germany, the trend has been toward large brothels with low-cost, high-volume business models, including all-you-can-fuck package deals that instill a sense of entitlement in the clients and exhaustion in the sex workers. German corporate brothels have repeatedly been caughttrafficking people. Why would they resort to trafficking if sex work is legal? Brothels traffic women for the same reason farmers exploit undocumented migrants: because the jobs are so bad that many people wont do them.

While the existing regulatory schemes sound bad, it could be worse if there were no limits at all. If all the laws against prostitution were simply wiped off the books, we could start seeing sex work hedge funds that specialize in investing in New York sex-based businesses, just like weve seen cannabis hedge funds crop up as more states decriminalize marijuana.

If Salazars bill becomes law, whats to stop a Times Square strip club owner from announcing that, from now on, his establishment is offering much more than lap dances in the VIP room? Can he blacklist dancers who refuse to expand their job description to include intercourse? Salazars bill would amend the multiple dwelling law that currently prohibits brothels. Could New York see megabrothels like the 12-story Pascha in Cologne, Germany? Do we want to deal with an influx of boorish sex tourists, like the ones who have exhausted the patience of famously tolerant Amsterdam? How about losing housing units not only to Airbnb but to pop-up brothels?

Former sex crimes prosecutors Alexi Ashe Meyers and Rebecca Zipkin wrote in City Limits that full-scale decriminalization means allowing pimping, brothel-owning, and the buying of sexual services to become big business in New York City, at the expense of some of the most marginalized members of our community.

Salazar, who frequently speaks to the exploitation of workers in the legal economy, acknowledged this risk. There is definitely a risk of sex workers being exploited  whether its venture capitalists, corporate business owners or just by a boss who isnt legally accountable to the employee, Salazar said. Thats the risk that we are concerned about with legalization.

So New York needs a law that both legalizes sex work and prevents exploitative corporate dominance of the sex industry. Not a heavy-handed regime like Nevadas that primarily benefits wealthy brothel owners, but a flexible, locally crafted set of regulations that serves the needs of New Yorks sex workers.

New Zealands regulatory framework provides a model. New Zealand didnt just strike out the laws against prostitution and hope for the best; it actively planned what kind of legal sex industry it wanted to have.

For example, the nations historic Prostitution Reform Act required licenses for larger brothels and mandated safer sex practices. However, New Zealands law also carved out a zone free of red tape for ordinary sex workers: Up to four women can work together out of the same premises, with no need for a license, provided that each controls her own income.

Legalizing commercial sex raises thorny issues about consent, which must be anticipated and addressed. New Zealands law codifies a sex workers right not to perform unwanted sex acts and that a sex worker can still change her mind even after she and a client agree to a particular sex act. The client cant force himself on her and claim she consented because she initially agreed to it. The law also guarantees that no one will lose public benefits for refusing to take a job in the sex industry. Its also a crime to force someone to engage in sex work, not just by force or the threat of force, but also by withholding drugs or threatening to accuse someone of being in the country illegally.

New York should definitely include those kinds of provisions as well.

However, New Zealands system is far from perfect. Decriminalization allowed investors with capital to form large brothels that compete mercilessly with independent sex workers on price and the range of sexual services offered.

Sabrinna Valisce was a sex worker in New Zealand during prohibition and after decriminalization. She has since become an anti-decriminalization activist. Her grim first-person account of the degrading conditions in large corporate brothels provides a blueprint of what New Yorks regulatory framework should seek to avoid. According to her, corporate brothel workers are independent contractors who pay for the privilege of using the facility, but they are also micromanaged in their demeanor and self-presentation with an endless series of fines for infractions ranging from heels that are too short to running behind schedule. Sex workers are constantly pressured to perform sex acts outside their comfort zone, she recalled. The profit motive rules all.

New Yorks regulations should be crafted in consultation with sex workers and public policy experts. A first step would be to eliminate the laws against prostitution and loitering for the purpose of prostitution, but leave in place the law that criminalizes profiting from another persons prostitution. This change would give sex workers the freedom to negotiate paid sex with consenting adults, but keep out third parties who want to profit from their labor and prevent the creation of corporate brothels.

A later step might be to usher in a legal structure for sex worker-owned cooperatives. The state Legislature should legalize brothels only if they are owned by the people who provide the sex. The law should include safeguards to make sure that every sex worker retains control over her own rates and working conditions, and membership should be open to all, regardless of immigration status. The law would not force sex workers to operate out of cooperative brothels  but the benefits, including security and profit-sharing, would be attractive to many.

Nevadas brothels are a $50 million-a-year business. New Yorks legal sex trade would likely be worth many times that amount. The majority of that wealth should go to the women who do the work, not the rich investors of some sex work hedge fund. Making sex work a well-paid occupation would sever the link between trafficking and prostitution. Sex work should not become another crappy McJob.

If New York is to decriminalize or legalize sex work, it should be based on a model that keeps big business out of the sex industry and safeguards the dignity and independence of sex workers.
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This story originally ran May 1, 2019. It has since been awarded the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Americans 

dislike abstraction in their daily lives.

are slow workers and have fat fingers.

live in a culture where children are showered with encouragement, leading to overconfidence.

These are just some of the beliefs about Americans that Chinese supervisors hilariously and alarmingly feed to their Chinese workers. The odd thing is that those briefings arent taking place in China but in the American heartland: Dayton, Ohio.

Related: Alibaba's Billionaire Founder Jack Ma Says Companies Forcing Staff to Work Overtime Are 'Foolish'

So begins American Factory, the intriguing new Tribeca Film Festival documentary (and upcoming Netflix offering) which had its New York premiere on April 26 and was one of five festival films curated by four New York-based film critics.

The story: In 2015, Cao Dewang, chairman of Fuyao Glass America, arrived in Dayton to check out the construction and hiring progress for the U.S. branch of his world-leading automobile-glass company, on the site of a shuttered GM plant. He was attempting to do the seemingly impossible: put Chinese workers to work alongside American workers and meld their two dramatically different cultures.

As filmmakers Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert show, even well-meaning Chairman Cao seemed a tad gob-smacked two years into his bold experiment.

Here, after all, were American workers insisting on limiting themselves to an eight-hour workday; holding an election to consider inviting in the UAW union; and pressuring the company for a rigorously safe factory environment (1,200-degree glass furnaces and the very breakable product they produce being dangerous to human health.)

Are the struggles revealed in the film cause for alarm for American entrepreneurs working with or considering partnering with the Chinese companies? Were not making a promotional film to promote working with China or not working with China, Steven Bognar told Entrepreneur following last weeks screening and Q&A.

Were not trying to make a scary movie," Bognar continued. "Were trying to make a movie about how hard it is. It wasnt easy when the Japanese set up factories here, either, but there are ways you can build bridges or decide not to build bridges."

In the film, executive-produced by Jeff Skoll, Participant Media's founder (and eBay's first president), we view an initially hopeful scene: Hundreds of workers are being promised new jobs, having been laid off by GM in 2008 ( a devastating event which Bognar and Reichert chronicled in their Oscar-nominated film The Last Truck).

In 2015, this sudden new influx of jobs, designed to revive that Rust Belt city from its long economic nightmare, are far better than those at the Payless distribution center or at McDonald's. That's why new energy and optimism abound at first in this Ohio city, which once had more automobile manufacturing than any metropolis outside Detroit.

No wonder Chairman Cao wants to document his great project: "The important thing is how this will change the American view of China," Cao says in the film.

Bognar-Reichert were natural choices to be the filmmakers, but they insisted on and got editorial control. "He's kind of a maverick," Reichert said of the chairman during the Q&A. "It wasn't as though many American CEOs would allow filmmakers to be in their plant for three years." GM, she commented dryly, had allowed the filmmakers into its former Dayton plant for a grand total of 20 minutes.

Bognar echoed this upbeat view of Cao, saying "He believes in transparency." That is apropos for a glass manufacturer but it also allowed for amazing insights into the lives of the workers the filmmakers profiled during the factory's first three years. Among them were:

Wong He, a 20-year veteran furnace engineer at Fuyao China who has been brought to Dayton for a difficult two years away from his young family. In Dayton, he lives with four other Chinese men. During the day he's so attuned to working that his "lunch" consists of a packet of Twinkies.

Rob Haerr, a furnace supervisor who invites his Chinese co-workers to his country home for an American Thanksgiving, where the men dine on turkey, try out Haerr's Harley and practice target-shooting using his twin revolvers.

Jill Lamantia, a forklift operator, who was economically felled by the 2008 layoff and recession, but is able, thanks to her new Fuyao job, to move out of her sister's basement. Delight turns to disenchantment, however; and Lamantia becomes a union supporter and is fired for it.

John Crane, a safety manager at Fuyao who grows frustrated at the safety issues at Fuyao and at being forced to lie to Fuyao's automotive company clients. He eventually resigns.

Image Credit: Fuyao Glass America | Facebook

Culture clash among workers

Things quickly went south at the Dayton plant. "All the Chinese workers were so loyal to the company," Lulu Men, a Chinese field producer for the film, said during the Q&A. "They had this culture of having been trained to dedicate their lives to the company. The difference is, Chinese culture is all about unity, and the American [culture] is about individuality. So I think that made a huge difference, and a culture clash."

Serious injuries proliferated. OSHA fines were levied. American supervisors were replaced by Chinese. The American workers complained about being forced to train off the clock and about their wages -- pre-treatment inspector Shawnea Rosser tells the filmmakers she used to make $29-plus an hour at GM; at Fuyao, she says, her wage is $12.84.

The Chinese workers also complain; their American workers are heading home after eight hours while they work 10 and 12 hours and come in weekends, they say. "I think they are hostile to the Chinese," Chairman Cao tells his board members, noting a $40 million loss in the plant's first months of operation.

Another overall difference: "Workers in China are given orders, and they tackle them," Reichert says in the film's production notes. "Here in the U.S., workers want to know why they're being asked to do something; they also expect there will be some praise."

More happily, the film chronicles a big Chinese New Year's party at Fuyao's Chinese headquarters in Fujian Province, to which about a dozen U.S. supervisors are invited. These scenes in the film are somewhat comic to Western eyes: big-bellied Midwestern white men towering over their Chinese bosses. Chinese workers lining up for their morning check-in, in military formation, and singing out motivational company slogans ("To stand still is to fall back.")

Meanwhile, the party itself is an over-the-top three hours of garish costumes, fervent songs about the company's "blessings" and even a wedding of five employee-couples. "We're one big planet. A world somewhat divided but one," a teary-eyed U.S. supervisor says to the camera late in the alcohol-fueled evening.

But back in Dayton, there is no partying. Workers are unhappy ("Everybody is upset in their own language and everybody just walks away," Lamantia, the forklift operator, says.) The workers set an election to try to bring the union in.

The company, for its part, is not amused, spending $1.25 million to hire the Labor Relations Institute (its motto: "Winning NLRB elections for almost four decades") to dissuade a "yes" vote. Ultimately, the union is rejected, 868-444, but its supporters are fired -- an illegal action in the United States, Reichert says, but hardly an uncommon one.

The film ends with flows of workers, Americans and Chinese alike, entering and leaving their shifts. Added in are voiceovers by workers -- with comments like, "We're never going to make that kind of [GM] money again," versus, "I believe in the American Dream; we can't give up on that."

Back in China, Chairman Cao is also filmed, making the extraordinary statement that when he looks back on his life's journey from intense poverty and the Cultural Revolution to today's capitalism, he asks himself, "Am I a criminal or a contributor?"

Related: China Blocks Microsoft's Bing, Despite Offering Censored Search

"One thing we tried to do is not root this film in Midwestern unease about China," Bognar said at the Q&A. "I think China is a miracle in many ways: Millions of people are no longer in poverty because of this amazing last 30 years. So we hope this movie sparks conversations and gets people talking about these issues, with the hope that they'll focus on people, whether they're Chinese or American.

"Is this global hypercapitalism sustainable?" Bognar continued, repeating the question he asked himself throughout production. "And what is the impact on the environment and working people?"

Related:

Academy Award-Winning Documentary Examines a Chinese Factory in the Heart of America

Five Facts Every Businessman Should Know About China

How Indian Startups Are Grabbing A Larger Slice of Chinese Investments



Copyright 2020 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
Outstanding issues on the Max must be addressed.

The indicator light is just one of several issues that Boeing is still trying to resolve. Another major sticking point is whether Boeing needs to separate wire bundles that could, in rare circumstances, cause a short circuit and possibly lead to a catastrophic failure.

Boeing is evaluating the issue and publicly says it will turn its analysis over to the F.A.A. and allow the regulator to make a decision. Privately, the company is making the case that the bundles do not need to be separated, according to two people familiar with the matter. Some F.A.A. officials and European regulators, however, made it clear to Boeing that it must have a persuasive argument for not separating the wires.

Regarding wire bundles, we continue to perform the appropriate analysis, including lab testing, fleet data assessment and third-party reviews, Boeing said in a statement on Thursday. It would be premature to speculate as to whether this analysis will lead to any design changes.

Boeing is also still working with Collins Aerospace, one of its major subcontractors, to fix lingering issues with updates to the computers that control MCAS, the software that contributed to both crashes. Changes to the software have introduced new complications, such as the issue with the indicator light. Another irregularity, related to the software that monitors the plane as it powers up, is also being worked through.

When Boeing is convinced that all these issues are resolved, it will hand the updated software over to the F.A.A., which will issue what is known as a type inspection authorization memo. Once that is issued, the F.A.A. can conduct its certification flights.
Miriam O'Callaghan has told of her grief following the passing of her dear friend and colleague Keelin Shanley.

Mother-of-two Ms Shanley died peacefully on Saturday nine years after first being diagnosed with breast cancer.

Ms O'Callaghan was among the many of Ms Shanley's friends and workmates on the front line for RTE's election coverage yesterday.

She spoke of the difficulty in carrying on with her work so soon after Ms Shanley's death, aged 51.

"I loved Keelin - she was the most beautiful person, inside and out," Ms O'Callaghan told the Irish Independent.

"Kind, fun, warm, loyal - just the most wonderful colleague and friend you could ever hope to have.

"As a journalist, she was truly exceptional - the broadness of her range, her ability to communicate with anyone from every walk of life, her care, concern and interest for the most marginalised in our society, - three of her 'Prime Time' investigations won many awards - and above all else, her extraordinary empathy.

"I wasn't able to talk about her on Saturday as I was too upset, and even yesterday when people in our election studio were paying tribute to her, I had to just say I loved her as I was starting to cry.

"Life is just too cruel sometimes.

"I am brokenhearted for her precious [husband] Conor, [and children] Ben and Lucy."

A photo of Ms Shanley was placed on her desk in RTE along with candles as colleagues remembered her.

On what could well be the busiest day of the year for the media, it was apt that Ms Shanley's work ethic as a journalist was echoed time and again as tributes continued to pour in yesterday.

It was her love for life and care-free personality that colleagues were reminded of.

"If Keelin was here, she would be loving every minute of it," Rachael English said.

"Not only was she a compassionate journalist, she was an intelligent, honest journalist and as importantly as that she was a wonderful, warm, funny colleague.

"She was just a joy to work with, she always was.

"I spent a little time working with Keelin on 'Morning Ireland' and you were always happy to see her there because not only was she great at her job, she could be a real divil as well. She was just the best fun."

A book of condolences was opened yesterday in RTE, where colleagues, among others, came to pay their own tributes to the journalist.

Ms Shanley won multiple awards, three Iftas, as she reported on 'Prime Time' for more than 10 years.

She reported from a number of developing countries for the 'Far Away Up Close' strand.

These included documentaries on the plight of child soldiers in the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda and the rebuilding of Liberia.

Sean O'Rourke remembered a time before that, when as a pair of younger journalists they worked together on radio.

Mr O'Rourke described the oddity of working on such a busy day with "a cloud over the whole day".

"She was as sweet as she was sharp," he said.

"I had the good fortune to work with her initially 25 or more years ago.

"She was always wonderful to work with, a great presence in the studio, a great voice.

"We miss her and we will miss her and continue to miss her, my absolute sympathy and condolences to all of her family and friends.

"The show goes on on election day, but there is a cloud over the whole day.

"Keelin Shanley, a wonderful colleague, may she rest in peace."

Ms Shanley grew up in Monkstown, Co Dublin, and studied biochemistry at Trinity College.

She worked for a period as a researcher before her career in broadcasting, which began with stints as a news reporter for Radio France International and CNN World Report.

The longest period in her working life, however, was spent at RTE.

Her last position there was as anchor of the 'Six One News' on RTE One. She was appointed in the position in 2018, alongside co-anchor Caitriona Perry.

Ms Perry paid tribute to her colleague on social media, saying: "It was my tremendous privilege to have been Keelin's co-anchor but more importantly to have been her friend.

"She was a superstar - an exceptional journalist, a generous colleague, and just so much fun. My heart is broken but my thoughts are with her beloved family."

Ms Shanley is survived by her husband Conor and two children, Ben and Lucy.

Also paying his respects, Jon Williams, managing director of RTE News and Current Affairs, reflected on her positivity despite her cancer diagnosis.

He said: "The fact that [Keelin] presented our flagship 'Six One News' while dealing with cancer is inspirational in itself and so typical of her determination to live life to the full."

He described how Ms Shanley had "worked through chemo and treatment" when first diagnosed in 2011 on polling day.

"When it returned, she did so again - defying pain to present 'Six One', determined to live life to the full, until no longer possible to do so," Mr Williams said.

He added that the presenter had a smile which "could light up a room" and said she had battled the disease "with the same equanimity and good humour [she] brought to everything else".

RTE director-general Dee Forbes said: "Everybody at RTE is deeply saddened by the passing of our colleague and friend."
The president of Indonesia spoke to Australia's Parliament in Canberra on Monday, urging a closer partnership between their nations as their shared democratic values are threatened by uncertain global economics.

President Joko Widodo was addressing a rare joint-sitting of the Australian Parliament during the first visit to the country by an Indonesian leader since Susilo Bambang Yuhhoyono in 2010.

Indonesian and Australian officials had earlier signed documents supporting bilateral free trade that deepens wide-ranging links between the near-neighbours, as the Australian government attempts to reduce its heavy economic reliance on China.

Widodo said his country of 270 million people was forecast to become the world' s fourth-largest economy by 2050 with the world's third-largest middle class.

The world could also face more uncertainties by then with greater challenges to geopolitics and geo-economics, Widodo said.

Indonesia is Australia's closest neighbour after Papua New Guinea. But the two countries rank as only each other's 13th most important partner in terms of bilateral trade.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who underscored the importance of the bilateral relationship by making Jakarta the destination of his first overseas trip as a national leader in 2018, thanked Widodo for sending 40 members of the armed forces to aid in New South Wales state's bushfires and floods. They are now responding to widespread flooding in southeast Australia.

Morrison said the multifaceted free trade deal, which will take effect early this year, would be mutually beneficial for both countries.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The NYPD is seeking the publics assistance in locating a 16-year-old girl from Concord.

Kashmere Wright-Ortiz, 16, was last seen at her Steuben Street home at approximately 11:21 p.m. on Feb. 7, according to police.

Wright-Ortiz is described by police as being 5 feet 5 inches tall and 150 pounds. She was last seen wearing all dark clothing.

The NYPD provided a photo of Wright-Ortiz.

A police source previously said that Wright-Ortiz has run away multiple times before.

Anyone with information in regard to the missing 16-year-old is asked to call the NYPDs Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, on Twitter @NYPDTips.

All calls are strictly confidential.
The Donald Trump administration is using Palestinian security aid as leverage in a gambit to convince Congress to fund its recently unveiled Middle East peace plan.

The State Departments 2021 budget request, released today, would zero out all aid for the West Bank and Gaza for the first time since President Trump took office. Trump first eliminated Palestinian economic and humanitarian aid in 2018, but the 2021 budget request would condition the remaining security assistance on $200 million in funding for his Israeli-Palestinian peace initiative, dubbed the Diplomatic Progress Fund.

Instead of directly funding Palestinian security aid, the budget designates $25 million within the Diplomatic Progress Fund as security assistance. The document notes that the security aid can be used to support critical diplomatic efforts that may emerge in the future, such as progress on a plan for Middle East peace.

Congress rebuffed the State Departments $175 million funding request for the Diplomatic Progress Fund last year. Instead lawmakers opted to restore $150 million in Palestinian aid, including $75 million in security assistance.

The news site Axios reported last year that Trump rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus request to restore Palestinian security aid, arguing that Israel should fork over the cash itself. Israel favors the security aid as it helps the Palestinian Authority crack down on Hamas and the Islamic Jihad in the West Bank.

Any US assistance provided to help Palestinians at this time would undercut the support of [Trumps] attempt to drag them into supporting his peace plan, said Andrew Miller, the deputy director at the Project on Middle East Democracy who oversaw Israeli military issues in the Barack Obama White House. This is purely punitive, purely an effort at conditioning Palestinian behavior, and that takes precedence over any perceived security needs as articulated by his close partner [Israel].

In addition to tying the $25 million in aid to Trumps peace plan, the State Department is asking for $10 million less than it did in its 2020 budget request. And even if Congress reverses course and opts to fund the Trump peace plan this year, the State Department does not intend to spend the full $25 million in the West Bank and Gaza.

This years budget request would expand the scope of the proposed Diplomatic Progress Fund beyond Israel and Palestine. Specifically, the document states that the $25 million in security funding could also be used for progress on Central America migration, agreement to resume security assistance in the West Bank, political transition in Venezuela, or other policy priorities.

"The [fiscal year] 2021 budget request provides the flexibility for the [State] Department and USAID to respond to new opportunities arising from progress in diplomatic and peace efforts around the world, including, in principle, between the Israelis and Palestinians, a State Department spokesperson told Al-Monitor.

Further complicating matters is the fact that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has threatened to end security cooperation with Israel if the Knesset moves forward with the West Bank annexation proposals laid out in Trumps peace plans. CIA Director Gina Haspel secretly traveled to the West Bank earlier this month to discuss the plans potential impact on Israeli-Palestinian security coordination. The security cooperation that the US assistance facilitates is broadly unpopular with the general Palestinian public.

Netanyahu announced Saturday that Israel has started mapping out an annexation plan in line with the Trump proposal, which would allow Israel to retain all its settlements and expand its control over the entire Jordan Valley.

While Republicans have lined up behind the Trump peace plan, they have also joined Democrats in overwhelmingly rejecting the presidents repeated proposals to cut foreign aid. In December, Congress severely curtailed Trumps ability to reprogram foreign assistance  a technique the president first used to end Palestinian humanitarian and economic aid in 2018.

Undeterred, the State Department is still seeking a 21% cut in foreign aid this year, which comprises approximately 1% of the federal budget.

Still, some analysts note that the Trump administration is becoming more creative as it attempts to sell its more unpopular proposals to Congress by tying them to programs favored on Capitol Hill  such as Palestinian security aid.

Theyre looking for clever ways to strengthen their hand in other priority areas, said Miller. Its obvious theyre learning to a certain degree.
Other Democratic insiders have tried to paint the Sanders complaints as politically expedient. Along with other candidates, they say, the Sanders campaign supported a change to the debate rules in December that would have allowed candidates to qualify with either polling or donors, as part of an effort to allow Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) to join the Jan. 14 debate. That change, which Perez did not accept, would also have cleared the path for Bloomberg.
The Protein Data Bank archive, which contains more than 160,000 3D structures for proteins, DNA, and RNA, this month released a new Coronavirus protease structure following the recent coronavirus outbreak, an ongoing viral epidemic primarily affecting mainland China that now threatens to spread to populations in other parts of the world.

The structure, the topic of the PDB's current 'Molecule of the Month' feature, is a high-resolution crystal structure of 2019-nCoV coronavirus 3CL hydrolase (Mpro) as determined by Zihe Rao and Haitao Yang's research team at ShanghaiTech University. Rapid public release of this structure of the main protease of the virus, known within the archive as PDB 6lu7, will enable research on this newly-recognized human pathogen. More details from the PDB can be found here.

The PDB archive is jointly managed by the Worldwide Protein Data Bank partnership, involving data centers in the United States, Europe and Asia. U.S. operations are led by the RCSB Protein Data Bank at Rutgers, the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at UC San Diego, and UC San Francisco. PDB data provide a starting point for structure-guided drug discovery.

Such viruses have increasingly become a danger to world health, given the increase in global travel, according to the PDB release. Particularly virulent forms have emerged from their natural animal hosts and pose a threat to human communities. In 2003, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus emerged in China from bat populations, moving to civets and finally to humans. Ten years later, the MERS virus also emerged from bats, transferring in the Middle East to dromedary camels and then to humans.

While the latest entry is currently the only public-domain 3D structure from this specific coronavirus, the PDB archive also contains structures of the corresponding enzyme from other coronaviruses. The 2003 outbreak of the closely-related SARS virus led to the first 3D structures, and today there are more than 200 PDB structures of SARS proteins.

Function follows form in biology. Open access to PDB data ensures that rapid access to rigorously validated and expertly curated 3D structure information contributes broadly to research and education in fundamental biology, biomedicine, bioenergy, and biotechnology." Stephen K. Burley, physician-scientist and director of the RCSB Protein Data Bank and faculty member at Rutgers University and UC San Diego-SDSC

The coronavirus 3CL hydrolase (Mpro) enzyme, also known as the main protease, is essential for proteolytic maturation of the virus. It is thought to be a promising target for discovery of small-molecule drugs that would inhibit cleavage of the viral polyprotein and prevent spread of the infection.

Comparison of the protein sequence of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus 3CL hydrolase (Mpro) against the PDB archive identified 95 PDB proteins with at least 90% sequence identity.

Furthermore, these related protein structures contain approximately 30 distinct small molecule inhibitors, which could guide discovery of new drugs. Of particular significance for drug discovery is the very high amino acid sequence identity (96%) between the 2019-nCoV coronavirus 3CL hydrolase (Mpro) and the SARS virus main protease (PDB 1q2w). Summary data about these closely-related PDB structures are available (CSV) to help researchers more easily find this information.

In addition, the PDB houses 3D structure data for more than 20 unique SARS proteins represented in more than 200 PDB structures, including a second viral protease, the RNA polymerase, the viral spike protein, a viral RNA, and other proteins (CSV).

"Coronavirus main proteases represent attractive targets for drug discovery and development. 3D structure information freely available from the PDB includes small chemicals bound tightly to the enzyme active site (the business end of the main protease), confirming that they are druggable targets," explained Burley. "Some of these structures provide starting points for structure-guided drug discovery of protease inhibitors with drug-like properties suitable for preclinical testing. We hope that this new structure, and those from SARS and MERS, will help researchers and clinicians address the 2019-nCoV coronavirus global public health emergency."

Reproducible and scalable structural bioinformatics

Scientists face time-consuming barriers when applying structural bioinformatics analysis, including complex software setups, non-interoperable data formats, and lack of documentation, all which make it difficult to reproduce results and reuse software pipelines. A further challenge is the ever-growing size of datasets that need to be analyzed.

To address these challenges, SDSC's Structural Bioinformatics Laboratory, directed by Peter Rose, is developing a suite of reusable, scalable software components called MMTF-PySpark, using three key technologies: its parallel distributed processing framework provides scalable computing; the MacroMolecular Transmission Format (MMTF), a new binary and compressed representation of Macromolecular structures, which enables high-performance processing of PDB structures.

"The use of MMTF-PySpark could easily shave off a year of a graduate student's or postdoc's work in Structural Bioinformatics," said Rose. "We bank on contributions from the community to develop and share an eco-system of interoperable tools."
The Grand Duchy lags only behind Malta, Cyprus, and Greece.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Jean Asselborn took stock of Luxembourg's asylum policies at a press conference this Monday morning. 4,047 individuals applied for international protection - the number is decreasing compared to previous years.

 Didier Weber / RTL Tele Letzebuerg

A quarter of all asylum seekers are from Eritrea. Syrians represented the second highest percentage of asylum seekers. A total of 653 people successfully obtained refugee status in Luxembourg. Most of them are Syrians.

88 applications were rejected either because the country of origin was not considered dangerous or because the initial application was not made in Luxembourg. A total of 207 individuals were denied international protection status under the normal procedure. 100 were refused under accelerated procedure and 90 under fast-track procedure.

There were 79 forced returns in 2018 and 131 in 2019. 36 unaccompanied minors applied for international protection in 2019. 64 applicants had stated they were minors even though they were 18 or older.
Winner: Mary Lou McDonald celebrates with her supporters after she was elected on the first count of the Dublin Central constituency at the RDS yesterday. Photo: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

FORMER Taoiseach Bertie Ahern believes Mary Lou McDonald has the right to first call on the make up of the next government.

He said Sinn Fein has the right to try put together a government minus Fianna Fail or Fine Gael.

Mr Ahern said the centre parties dont have the numbers so that plan is not going to happen.

The ex-Fianna Fail leader said the options facing Leo Varadkar and Micheal Martin are now limited by the fact that nobody will want a fresh confidence and supply arrangement.

Confidence and supply is fairly dead, he said.

But Mr Ahern told RTEs Today with Sean ORourke that coalitions once thought impossible are now on the table.

While the situation facing the leaders of the two traditional parties are very difficult," he believes they find a way forward.

Everyone is saying this is earth-shattering.. but fundamental changes have had to happen in the past

Either one of two things happen and I think people will work to form a government because they wont want another election, Mr Ahern said.
While no candidates have officially announced, the presumed front-runners include two figures who challenged Kramp-Karrenbauer for the leadership post last time. Friedrich Merz  who last week said he would quit his board position at BlackRock to focus on politics  and Health Minister Jens Spahn both say the party needs to take a hard line on immigration and generally track right in the face of declining support for centrists and the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD).
Turkey says five of its soldiers have been killed and five others wounded as a result of shelling by Syrian government forces in Syria's northern province of Idlib.



The Defense Ministry said on February 10 that Turkish artillery immediately responded to the attack, destroying targets.



A war monitor reported that six Turkish soldiers were killed and seven were wounded when Syrian government forces shelled the Taftanaz air base. Four Syrian rebels were also killed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.



The clashes come as a Russian delegation arrived in the Turkish capital, Ankara, for talks over rising tensions in Idlib, the last rebel stronghold in Syria.



A Russia-backed offensive by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces in Idlib and the neighboring Aleppo Province has displaced nearly 700,000 people since December, according to the UN.



Russia and Ankara, which supports rebel groups in Syria, have agreed to work toward de-escalating the fighting in Idlib and creating a demilitarized zone, but the fighting has continued.



Eight Turkish military and civilian personnel and 13 Syrian soldiers were reported killed in an exchange of fire in Idlib last week.

Based on reporting by AP and AFP
New Delhi, Feb 10 : The students of Gargi College have said that this was not the first time they faced harassment during their college fest but similar incidents took place last year too during the fest.

Recalling the last year's incident, a third year student told IANS that even then, there was no action from the college administration.

Another student claimed that last year the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) was dissolved and there was no platform to raise the issue.

"This is not the first time that such an incident has happened during the college fest. Similar instances of molestation and abuse happened in 2019 as well," recalled a student.

Another student said they have been demanding proper security but "instead we were told that it was us who want to have these fests and so we should bear the consequences as well." The students of the women's college, affiliated to Delhi University and situated in the south campus, alleged that on February 6 some drunken men reportedly entered college and manhandled the students. It happened on Day 3 of the annual festival 'Reverie'.

The angry students of the women's college protested against the administration on Monday inside the campus demanding action.

"The college should have learnt from the 2019 incident. That was a hint that they should have ensured security this time. But instead, things went out of hand and even more girls were harassed this time," said another second year student.

Recalling the evening of February 6, the students said they were stuck in the constantly increasing mob for about 40-60 minutes.

"We were constantly being touched by the men in the crowd. They were not students from other colleges but middle-aged drunk men. A number of girls were harassed. I too was assaulted by three men. They stood around me and were touching me. I was finding it difficult to breathe or move," recalled a 21-year-old student.

The protesting students held a meeting with the Principal and the Proctor on Monday but they are yet to get any response from the administration.

The students said they will continue the protest until they get any satisfactory response from the administration.

Meanwhile, both the National Commission of Women (NCW) and Delhi Commission of Women (DCW) visited the college campus on Monday and met the students.
After a challenging year that included thousands of canceled flights due to the Boeing 737 Max grounding, Southwest Airlines has shared some positive news.

The Dallas-based air carrier will share $667 million from its 2019 income with employees, a record high in the company's 46-year profitsharing history, it announced in a press release.
This won't hurt Ukraine's interests, as the volume of the aid for this country will remain the same

U.S. leader Donald Trump stands for cutting down the size of assistance supplied to other countries by 21 percent, Reuters wrote.

"Trump will seek to make a 21% cut in foreign aid in the proposal, which seeks $44.1 billion in the upcoming fiscal year compared with $55.7 billion enacted in the fiscal year 2020", as White House official said.

According to him, the aid supplied to Ukraine would remain the same as it was in 2020, despite the new offer.

At the same time, Trump is apparently managing to get the funds to counter the growing economic threats by Russia and China. The U.S. leader would "request an increase in funding for the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to $700 million compared to $150 million the previous year," the interlocutor said as quoted.

According to the outlet, the DFC "was formed in large part to counter Chinas growing economic influence. It serves as a development bank that partners with the private sector to provide loans in developing countries. It also serves as an alternative financing option to what the United States sees as predatory practices from China."
Last Tuesday, in explaining her vote to acquit Donald Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, Sen. Susan Collins suggested that the president had learned a pretty big lesson simply from being impeached and that he would be much more cautious about engaging in similar behavior again. By Friday, Trump had issued a series of firings of public officials who had testified against the president during the impeachment inquiry, demonstrating his takeaway from impeachment: He can use the powers of his office to do whatever he wants. Having gotten away with abuses of power again and again, Trump is now unleashed to continue to corruptly use the powers of his office without consequence. He has already begun to show what that will look like over the remainder of his presidency.

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In legal escapades outside of the realm of impeachment, for instance, Trump and his administration have internalized the lesson that if no one will stop you, theres no reason to stop. Less than two years ago, the Supreme Court upheld the third iteration of the presidents ban on entry by nationals of several Muslim-majority countries (the travel ban). By upholding the ban, the court made clear that it would not stop the president from incorporating his bigotry into official immigration policy. Since then, the president has dramatically expanded the scope of the travel ban to other countries with substantial Muslim populations and has enacted several other immigration restrictions that disproportionately disadvantage nonwhite immigrants. After receiving a pass on xenophobia, the president has continued to do it again and again. Last week, he expanded the entry ban to cover five additional countries (Nigeria, Kyrgyzstan, Sudan, Eritrea, and Myanmar) with substantial Muslim populations. In one of those countries (Myanmar), a group of Muslims (the Rohingya) are fleeing religious persecution and genocide. The president had previously said, according to the New York Times, that Nigerians should go back to their huts.

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With respect to impeachment, several senators came close to admitting that their impeachment votes signify that they are unwilling to stop the president from abusing his office. Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee explained his vote against calling witnesses in almost exactly those terms. The senator claimed that there was no point in hearing from additional witnesses because he had already concluded that the president engaged in the conduct he was accused of. (The House has maintained that the president corruptly threatened to withhold financial assistance to Ukraine to get Ukraine to announce an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden.) The senator explained that, in his final analysis, the presidents conduct mattered less than the Senates ability to continue to confirm more conservative judges and the risk that a Democrat would win the presidency.

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That reasoning obviously invites the president to do the same thingor worseagain and he wasted no time in retaliating against impeachment witnesses Lt. Col. Alex Vindman and Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland. If Republicans senators and their constituents value conservative judges and tax breaks for the wealthy more than holding a president accountable for wrongdoing, then the president will just keep doing wrong.

Again, it is not just the Senate that has failed to curb the presidents worst impulses and told the president that he can get away with even more than hes already done. As a candidate, Trump had promised to ban Muslims from entering the United States. After his election, the president immediately suspended entry from several Muslim-majority countries without so much as informing, much less consulting, any relevant agencies. And his advisers admitted that the travel ban was an effort to make a Muslim ban that looked (somewhat) more legal. The Supreme Court ultimately blessed that effort in 2018 under a 54 vote that split along ideological lines.

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The five conservative justices, much like the Republican senators, said they didnt care. In fact, the justices, like the Republican senators, acknowledged that the entry ban may very well have been motivated by anti-Muslim animus. But they claimed that, in light of the presidents expansive powers over immigration, the court would uphold the entry ban so long as someone could think that the ban had a valid purpose (such as protecting national security) even if the ban actually had an illegitimate one (such as targeting Muslims). And, the court continued, a person could think the presidents entry ban had a valid purpose because the ban did not apply to all of the worlds Muslims, among other reasons.

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Again, it does not take a genius to see how that decision signals that the court is unwilling to stop the president from making policy based on bigoted, thinly veiled Islamophobia or racism. The president received the message and has run with it. His expanded travel ban clearly targets countries based on race and religion. The odds of this Supreme Court reversing course and stopping him this time is virtually nil.

Indeed, the administration apparently felt so emboldened by the courts earlier ruling that its expanded entry ban largely abandoned the original pretense of the rationale for the earlier entry ban. Previously, the administration stated it was responding to information sharing deficiencies in some countries. The administration now suggests it is trying to restrict immigration: Officials stated they are suspending entry from Nigeria because some Nigerians overstay their visas.

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The administration has created other immigration restrictions that likewise disadvantage nonwhite immigrants. They have refused to process asylum applications from Central American migrants who did not apply for asylum in other countries they passed through on their way to the United States. They have tried to prohibit asylum applications from people who enter the United States outside of ports of entry. And they have authorized immigration officials to refuse to admit immigrants who might ever use public benefits (even temporarily). The Supreme Court approved this last effort just two weeks ago, again through a 54 decision split along ideological lines.

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With the Senates blessing, the president will continue to corruptly abuse the powers of his office to undermine elections and our rule of lawand, as demonstrated by the Friday Night Massacre, he will do so in even more aggressive and ostentatious ways. With the courts blessing, the president will expand his racist, xenophobic, and anti-Muslim immigration practices with little limit to what he may try to enact.

Neither the Senate nor the Supreme Court has been willing to stand up to the president for abusing the powers of his office for personal benefit or to stoke bigotry for partisan ends. By failing to do so, they have encouraged Trump to abuse his powers even more. It is unclear what, if anything, can stop him now.
Barr said Monday that the Justice Department had an obligation to have an open door to anybody who wishes to provide us information that they think is relevant, though he said he told Graham: We have to be very careful with respect to any information coming from the Ukraine. There are a lot of agendas in the Ukraine. There are a lot of crosscurrents, and we cant take anything we receive from the Ukraine at face value.
The human trafficking convictions of a New Jersey man who brought physically abused and drug-addicted prostitutes into Lancaster County were backed by a state Superior Court panel Monday.

The decision means 39-year-old Dominic O. Roach of Sicklerville will keep serving an 18- to 36-year prison sentence.

Roachs downfall came via an investigation by Detective Christopher Jones of the East Lampeter Township police, Judge Alice Beck Dubow noted in the state courts opinion.

Dubow wrote that Jones got a tip that someone was transporting prostitutes from New Jersey into the county. He set up two sting operations in October and November 2017 through ads on the hookup site Basckpage.

The prostitutes  identified by Dubow as the victims in the case - were arrested after discussing prices for sex acts with cops who were posing as clients. Dubow cited Jones observation that one of the women was in very, very rough shape and was unhealthily thin with sunken eyes, pale skin and an infected cut.

Police said Roach was arrested after he tried to flee with a woman investigators identified as an accomplice.

Jones probe showed Roach drove the women from Camden to Pennsylvania daily, where they engaged in sex acts with up to 10 clients per day. Roach kept half of their earnings, minus the cost of cocaine and heroin he gave them for their own use and to sell to customers, police said.

They said Roach controlled the schedules of the women. When one woman tried to contact a john on her own, Roach took away her cell phone and ordered his female accomplice to punch her, Dubow wrote.

She cited investigators claims that Roach tried to coerce the accomplice into changing her story after she told police about the operation. A county jury convicted Roach of seven criminal charges in September 2018, including involuntary servitude, trafficking in individuals, conspiracy and promoting prostitution.

Dubow rejected Roachs argument on appeal that he wasnt given an opportunity to confront a prosecution witness during his trial. That witness, who would have told the jury about the behavior of human trafficking victims, was never called to testify, so Roachs right to confront his accusers was not breached, the judge found.

Also, she rejected Roachs claim that his prison term is too harsh because the county judge who sentenced him didnt consider his history of substance abuse, his troubled childhood or what Roach insisted was the minimal impact his crimes had on the lives of the victims.
The world is facing a chronic shortage of gowns, masks, gloves and other protective equipment in the fight against a spreading coronavirus epidemic

The world is facing a chronic shortage of gowns, masks, gloves and other protective equipment in the fight against a spreading coronavirus epidemic, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

The U.N. agency has been sending testing kits, masks, gloves, respirators and gowns to every region, Tedros told the WHO Executive Board in Geneva.

However the world is facing a chronic shortage of personnel protective equipment, as you might imagine.

This afternoon I will be speaking to the pandemic supply chain network to identify the bottlenecks and find solutions and push (for) fairness in distribution of equipment, he said..

For the last two days there had been fewer reported infections in China, which is good news, but we caution against reading too much into that. The numbers could go up again, he said.

During its technical briefing for member states, there was discussion about naming the virus - which emerged in a seafood market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late December.

WHO has already assigned an interim name of 2019-nCOV (novel coronavirus) acute respiratory disease.

We thought it very important that we provide an interim name so no location was associated with the name. Im sure you have seen many media reports that are still calling this, using the name Wuhan or using China, WHO epidemiologist Maria van Kerkhove told the board.

We wanted to ensure that there was no stigma associated with this virus, and so weve put out this interim name, she said.

Dr. Mike Ryan, WHOs top emergency expert, said: I think the bigger point here is to ensure that some of the actions, some of the reactions internationally, it is the responsibility of us all to ensure there is no stigma associated with this disease.

The unnecessary, unhelpful profiling of individuals based on ethnicity is utterly and completely unacceptable and it needs to stop. Governments have a responsibility to communicate with their populations on this, Ryan told the board.

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MANCHESTER, N.H. - Eager to put on a show of force in a general election battleground state, President Donald Trump tried to rattle Democrats on Monday with a rally in New Hampshire on the eve of the states first-in-the-nation primaries.

Trump, on a high after his acquittal last week on impeachment charges, boasted about the nations strong economy, tore into his possible general election foes and launched an assault on the Democrats who tried to remove him from office, calling the episode a pathetic partisan crusade.

Our good Republicans in the United States Senate voted to reject the outrageous partisan impeachment hoax and to issue a full, complete and absolute total acquittal, Trump told a crowd that roared and cheered throughout his speech. And it wasnt even close.

Trumps rally comes a day before New Hampshire Democrats head to the polls following the disastrous Iowa caucuses that failed to produce a clear-cut winner to take Trump on in November. Trump mocked the lingering uncertainty over the outcome of the partys kickoff caucuses, where the results are still under dispute.

Does anyone know who won Iowa? he asked the crowd. I dont know.

Before leaving Washington, Trump said he had planned the rally to rattle Democrats and demonstrate his strength in the state before the primary vote.

Want to shake up the Dems a little bit  they have a really boring deal going on, Trump tweeted. Still waiting for the Iowa results, votes were fried. Big crowds in Manchester!

Advisers hoped that Secret Service moves in downtown Manchester to secure the area for the presidents arrival would also make it harder for Democratic candidates and their supporters to transverse the states largest city in the hours before the primarys first votes are cast, according to Trump campaign officials not authorized to discuss internal deliberations publicly.

Trumps tried-and-true counter-programming tactic aims to divert attention from Democratic debates and other major moments, keep him in the spotlight and build supporters enthusiasm in the months before Election Day.

At Mondays rally, Trump continued to celebrate the Senates acquittal decision, lacing into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her performance during his State of the Union address last week.

I had somebody behind me who was mumbling terribly, mumbling, mumbling, Trump complained, calling it very distracting, very distracting. He did not make mention of how, at the address conclusion, Pelosi tore up her copy of the speech.

Trumps remarks prompted the crowd to break into the same Lock her up!! chant that his supporters directed at Hillary Clinton four years ago.

It wasnt the only return feature from his 2016 rallies. In a nod to the longtime supporters who have returned to his rallies again, Trump returned to one of his greatest, if rarest hits, delivering a spoken-word performance of  The Snake, a dark 1960s song he has used as an allegory to warn of what he sees as the dangers of illegal immigrants and refugees allowed into the United States.

Though his campaign isnt presenting the same show of force as last week, when dozens of Trumps surrogates flooded Iowa, it made its presence known in New Hampshire. In addition to Vice-President Mike Pence and Ivanka Trump, the presidents daughter and senior adviser, Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and Rand Paul, House Republican Whip Steve Scalise and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu were set to campaign on his behalf.

The marquee event was held in front of a sold-out crowd of thousands at a downtown Manchester arena, and Trump made sure viewers at home knew it.

We have more in this arena and outside of this arena than all of the other candidates, meaning the Democrats, put together and multiplied times five, he boasted.

Images of bundled-up supporters camped outside the SNHU Arena also broke through the news coverage of the Democratic primary. As Air Force One touched down in New Hampshire, a stream of TrumpWorld luminaries  including Pence and Donald Trump Jr.  preceded the president to the stage.

New Hampshire has always loomed large in Trumps political lore as the first nominating contest he won during 2016s heated Republican primaries. He was about to take the stage at a rally in Manchester that October when news broke that the FBI was re-opening its investigation into Democrat Hillary Clintons emails, breathing new life into his then-struggling campaign. And it was the site of the penultimate rally of the 2016 contest  an extravagant send-off just hours before a post-midnight rally in Michigan.

Though Trump narrowly lost New Hampshire in the general election four years ago, his team believes it is one of the few states, along with Minnesota and perhaps New Mexico, that could flip to red in November.

We are going to win New Hampshire in a landslide, Trump predicted, insisting that registered Democratic voters are leaving their party to join our movement.

Democrats in the state had a different view.

Its obvious that Trump and the RNC are desperate to put New Hampshire in play after losing the state by 3,000 votes in 2016. But well make sure that Granite Staters know that he has broken his promises to his state and he will lose here again in November, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley told reporters.

The president relished the idea of dominating the stage in New Hampshire and stealing some of the media oxygen from the Democrats. At least for now, similar counter-programming rallies have not been planned for the next two nominating states, Nevada and South Carolina.

Trump has not hesitated to try to influence the Democrats nominating process. At the rally, he urged New Hampshire independents who support him  people are allowed to vote in either partys primary  to instead back the weakest Democratic candidate Tuesday. He also again trafficked in the unfounded conspiracy theory that buses of illegal voters travelled in from Massachusetts in 2016 to deprive him of a New Hampshire victory.

Moreover, he and his advisers frequently huddle to map out strategy against possible general election foes and the president has in recent weeks tried to bolster the candidacy of Sen. Bernie Sanders, the most liberal candidate in the Democratic field and the opponent the White House, at least for now, most wishes to face.

With the Iowa results in question, Trump tried to foster divides among Democrats that could weaken party unity going into November.

They are doing it do you again, Bernie, they are doing it to you again, Trump said in another nod to 2016, when Sanders lost the presidential nomination to Clinton.

The president has also unleashed a series of attacks on Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is not competing in New Hampshire. And it was Trumps effort to have Ukraine investigate former Vice-President Joe Biden that led to his impeachment.

___

Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Aamer Madhani in Washington and Holly Ramer in Manchester contributed to this report.
Brand Dubai, the creative arm of the Government of Dubai Media Office, announced that it is partnering with the Roads and Transport Authority, RTA, to launch a project to creatively revitalise parking spaces in key areas of Dubai.



The project supports Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, His Highnes Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoums vision of transforming the city into an open-air museum that enhances the citys aesthetic environment, said the statement from Brand Dubai.



Executed in collaboration with six Emirati and expatriate artists, the project is part of Brand Dubais efforts to enhance the creative ambience of public spaces in Dubai and initiate new connections with the community through art.



Around 100 parking meters in Jumeirah, Dubai Media City and Al Mustaqbal Street have been enlivened with 15 artworks inspired by the themes of diversity and tolerance, it stated.



Director of marketing and corporate communications Rowdah Al Mehrizi said: "The RTA is pleased to combine its strengths with Brand Dubai to implement a new project that will help reinvigorate the environment around parking spaces."



"We are committed to supporting the vision to convert Dubai into an open-air museum that enhances the happiness and well-being of the people of the city. We are keen to work with other organisations in Dubai to enrich the creative atmosphere that Dubai offers to both residents and visitors," she stated.



"Through this project we seek to artistically transform parking spaces so that the public can engage with these areas in new meaningful ways," she added.



Shaima Al Suwaidi, city branding manager at Brand Dubai, said the project, implemented in partnership with RTA, was consistent with its objective of infusing a new creative vitality into Dubai's urban environment, further enhancing its status as one of the worlds most cosmopolitan cities.



"We seek to create unique artistic experiences that make public spaces in Dubai more vibrant and engaging. The project is also part of our efforts to use art to forge a positive identity for various neighbourhoods in our city," stated Al Suwaidi.



"We believe such projects can play an instrumental role in inspiring innovation and broadening peoples perspectives, while also attracting new visitors and investment into our city," said the top official.



The parking meters project is part of the #DubaiSpeaksToYou initiative, which aims to create unique aesthetic experiences for people as part of converting the city into a canvas for art and creativity, she added.



Fatma Al Mulla, project manager of the parking meters project, said: "We have brought together a group of Emirati and expatriate artists to create a series of art experiences that will highlight Dubais vision for an inclusive society."



These include Reem Al Marri, Issa Al Noaimi, and Sheikha Fekri. Dubai-based expatriate artists taking part in the project include Ari Puguh, Dina Sami and Rosanna Lamo-Villanueva.



The experiences have been curated to transport residents and visitors from everyday life into the realm of imagination and beauty. The artworks feature motifs and icons that celebrate Dubais multicultural character, and its identity and values, she added.-TradeArabia News Service
UW Research Supports New Approach to Mine Reclamation

UW graduate student Kurt Fleisher stands on undisturbed land north of Rock Springs that was part of a study showing that new reclamation techniques are more effective in restoring lands disturbed by surface mining. (Kristina Hufford Photo)

A new approach to reclaiming lands disturbed by surface mining is having the desired result of improving ecosystem diversity, including restoration of foundation species such as sagebrush, according to a study by University of Wyoming researchers.

The study by Associate Professor Kristina Hufford and graduate student Kurt Fleisher, in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, looked at former uranium and coal mine sites in central and southwest Wyoming reclaimed under the Wyoming Department of Environmental Qualitys (DEQ) Abandoned Mine Land (AML) program. The research was published recently in the Journal of Environmental Management.

We found that the areas reclaimed using the new techniques, called geomorphic reclamation, had greater species diversity and improved plant community structure when compared with areas reclaimed using traditional practices, Hufford says. There is strong evidence that geomorphic reclamation may be a better candidate than traditional reclamation to restore foundation species such as sagebrush in Wyoming.

Traditional reclamation techniques generally have created landscapes with uniform topography and linear slopes, sometimes resulting in problems with erosion, as well as less-than-desired revegetation. Geomorphic reclamation is a relatively novel approach intended to mimic the topography of nearby undisturbed lands, with a wide variety of terrain that is stable and less susceptible to erosion.

DEQs AML Division used both traditional and geomorphic techniques in reclaiming a former uranium mine in the Gas Hills of Fremont County and a former coal mine north of Rock Springs in Sweetwater County. The seeding of those sites was completed in 2007 and 2009, respectively. With funding from DEQ, the UW scientists examined the sites in the summers of 2017 and 2018 to compare plant growth.

Land reclaimed using geomorphic techniques blends in with undisturbed terrain in the Gas Hills of Fremont County. (DEQ Photo)

While geomorphic techniques didnt result in landscapes exactly matching undisturbed rangeland at either site, the researchers found that geomorphic reclamation was more successful than traditional reclamation from several perspectives.

Most significantly, there was more plant diversity and species richness, including larger numbers of shrubs such as sagebrush and rabbitbrush. These native species are of particular importance to sage grouse, pronghorn and other wildlife species.

The results of geomorphic reclamation for shrub recovery may have benefits for species that depend upon sagebrush, Hufford says.

The researchers did find that geomorphic reclamation was more successful at the Gas Hills site than the site north of Rock Springs. They say that could be a result of climate differences between the two locations; the fact that the Gas Hills seeding took place two years earlier; and the fact that more native topsoil was used at the Gas Hills site.

A meandering drainage that helps prevent erosion is one of the features of land reclaimed using geomorphic techniques in the Gas Hills. (DEQ Photo)

They also suggest that seed mixtures could be adjusted to include more native plant species and come closer to matching vegetation on surrounding undisturbed rangelands.

Still, the researchers wrote, Our results suggest geomorphic reclamation may improve plant community diversity and wildlife habitat as a practical method for landscape-level restoration in post-mining sites.

The issue has particular relevance for Wyoming, where nearly 90,000 acres have been disturbed by surface mining and many more have been permitted for future mining.

More information on geomorphic reclamation and the AML project is available in this video from DEQ: http://deq.wyoming.gov/aml/videos/aml-geomorphic-reclamation/?no_redirect=true.
Professional shooters have taken to the skies over Victoria's High Country to cull feral animals who are making it hard for native plants and animals to recover from this summers disastrous bushfires.

A helicopter with shooters on boardtook off on Monday afternoon and will spend this week targeting animals around Mount Buffalo. The hunters will then move on to other alpine spots around Mount Hotham and the Bogong High Country.

The aerial shooting operation is focusing on introduced animals including deer, feral pigs and goats, which can wreak havoc on native vegetation.

The shooters will also target foxes and feral cats, which can have a devastating impact on native animals  particularly after a bushfire when the prey species are more likely to be exposed from loss of habitat and vulnerable to predators.
India's top engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro (L&T) said its Power Transmission and Distribution Business unit has won a key contract to build a 380-kV substation in Saudi Arabia along with an associated 230-kV cable network and establishment of two Transmission Line corridors.



Also, L&T has clinched a new order from a major client in the Middle East region for the construction of EHV (extra high voltage) overhead lines.



In addition to the Middle East contracts, the Indian engineering conglomerate has also secured major orders from prestigious clients in the Philippines and also local contracts.



In the Philippines, L&T was awarded the contract to build a 500-kV substation, in association with a prominent local player, that will cater to the growing demand for electricity in the metropolitan area of Manila.



On the domestic front, the business has won an order in the western state of Gujarat for the construction of a 765kV Double Circuit Transmission Line that will help transmit power from renewable energy sources, said the statement from L&T.



It also bagged another order in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh for building a 20MW floater solar power project at a reservoir of NTPCs Auraiya Gas Power Plant, it added.-TradeArabia News Service
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 10, 2020 11:41 701 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2063826c9 1 National Joko-Widodo,Jokowi,Canberra,Australia,capital-relocation,IA-CEPA,Indonesia-Australia Free

President Joko Jokowi Widodo plodded through winds and rain during a visit to Mount Ainslie in Canberra, Australia, on Sunday, to study the development of the neighboring countrys capital city amid Indonesias own plans to build a new capital.

Jokowi said he wanted to understand what it took to develop a capital city such as Canberra as his government went ahead with a plan to relocate the nations capital from Jakarta to East Kalimantan.

I asked the governor a lot of questions, as well as Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and National Capital Authority CEO Sally Barnes  we want to have a complete picture of what it takes to develop Canberra, how to [construct a capital] from scratch, Jokowi said in a statement issued by the Presidential Palace on Sunday.

He visited the hill on the sidelines of an official presidential trip following the recent ratification of the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) by Indonesia's House of Representatives.

Presiden @jokowi meninjau Mount Ainslie, di Canberra, Australia, Minggu (9/2). Di Mount Ainslie, dapat terlihat Kota Canberra secara keseluruhan. Presiden ingin mendapat bayangan tata kota & manajemen Kota Canberra. Nantinya, yg baik akan diambil untuk pembangunan ibu kota baru. pic.twitter.com/8Xy9FSfnuR  Sekretariat Kabinet (@setkabgoid) February 9, 2020

Jokowi said he was impressed by spatial planning in Canberra  a city constructed in 1913 with a population of 400,000.

We saw that the spatial planning was very good. Well study the positive aspects to improve the development of our new capital  both in terms of management and planning. We noticed that there were no administrative buildings that were more than seven stories high. But areas that are far away from the seat of the government allow [the construction of skyscrapers]; its a very good [policy], he said.

He went on to reiterate the governments commitment to the relocation of Indonesias capital to East Kalimantan. The research phase of the relocation began five years ago and a design competition also commenced a year ago, he said.

We have made a decision; all theres left to do is wait for a new law courtesy of the House of Representatives. Once the law is established, we will commence land clearing, as well as the construction of basic infrastructure. I think thats what well be doing, he said.

Jokowi previously announced in August last year that the province's North Penajam Paser and Kutai Kertanegara regencies would host the country's new capital, replacing the overpopulated and sinking Jakarta. (rfa)
Coal imports in November rose 8.6 per cent from a year earlier to 21.83 million tonnes.

Imports of thermal coal - used mainly for electricity generation - rose 12.3 per cent from a year ago to 17.65 million tonnes.

New Delhi: Indias coal imports in November rose 8.6 per cent from a year earlier to 21.83 million tonnes, government data showed, following three straight months of decline.

Imports of thermal coal - used mainly for electricity generation - rose 12.3 per cent from a year ago to 17.65 million tonnes, whereas coking coal shipments to India fell 5 per cent from a year earlier to 4.18 million tonnes, data from the Ministry of Coal showed.

Indias thermal coal imports fell from August to October, their longest sustained fall in over two years, due to a broader economic slowdown that stifled demand from industrial consumers.
BETHESDA, Md., Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Agilious LLC (Agilious) is the first organization in the United States to offer Agile Finance training accredited by the International Consortium for Agile (ICAgile). The course explores financial management in agile environments and works to identify the roles and processes that must be supported to breakdown silos and enable organizational agility.

This certification is part of a specialized journey within ICAgile's Business Agility track and is aimed at people in organizational functions focusing on the allocation and use of funds irrespective of their industry. Participants will come away ready to implement new ways of thinking and working in the finance, accounting and procurement areas. Successful completion of the course will also result in the achievement of a knowledge-based certification, designating each participant as an ICAgile Certified Professional in Agile Finance (ICP-FIN).

Manjit Singh, President of Agilious, stated, "We are excited to receive ICAgile's accreditation for Agile Finance. We are eager to serve Agile professionals in finance, technology, project management and in leadership roles throughout the U.S. to enhance their interest in learning about Agile methods and practices. Agilious' services are designed to meet the needs of organizations who want to improve their business agility."

"We are excited for Agilious to bring the Agile Finance course to the United States," added ICAgile's Director of Agile Learning, Christina Hartikainen. "As the world of work continues to evolve, more organizations are embracing Business Agility. The Agile Finance course is an important step on a Business Agility-focused learning journey."

Based in the Washington D.C. metro area, Agilious has helped hundreds of enterprises and several thousand professionals get trained, acquire certifications, and up skill their employees. A leading training provider in disciplines such as Scrum, SAFe, Agile Project Management, Agile Business Analysis, and Agile Facilitation among others, Agilious specializes where technologies and best practices are changing rapidly and demand for qualified candidates significantly exceeds supply. Agilious' agile training courses are designed and taught by industry experts.

Prospective participants can learn more about the course, including Agilious' upcoming classes in McClean, VA and San Diego, CA at http://bit.ly/agiliousfinance

About Agilious

Agilious is a highly specialized Agile technology consulting firm with deep expertise in enabling people and organizations to perform at their highest agility. As passionate practitioners, we bring over 19 years of real-world Agile and Lean experience to empower our clients to eliminate waste, create a culture of continuous improvement, and delight their customers by delivering value at an extraordinary pace. Learn more at: www.agilious.com

About ICAgile

Founded in 2010, ICAgile is a leading global agile accreditation and certification body that helps organizations design learning experiences that cultivate an agile mindset and enable sustainable organizational agility. ICAgile's approach is not tied to any specific agile methodology, thus giving people the flexibility to blend flavors in a way that make sense for their reality. Learn more at icagile.com.

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Two unidentified persons opened fire at a student here on Monday, leaving her injured, police said.

The incident happened in Infocity police station area when the woman, a student of a private fashion designing college, was standing at the roadside with a male companion, a police officer said.

The man accompanying the injured woman claimed there was no provocation from their side, the officer said.

He said the assailants suddenly opened fire and fled from the spot on their motorbike, the officer said.

The woman, who hails from Balasore district, sustained bullet injuries on her thighs and was admitted to a private hospital, he said.

Commissioner of Police, Sudhasu Sarangi said, "The injured woman was not the target of the assailants. She had nothing to do with the incident. She is out of danger and is being treated."



Sarangi that the accused persons have been identified and their motive behind the firing known but the investigation is still in the preliminary stage.

Meanwhile, the Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Commissionerate of Police has sanctioned Rs 25,000 for the treatment of the woman.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Upcoming political events in the Bay Area:

WEDNESDAY

All the Presidents Women: Monique El-Faizy, co-author of new book on the history of President Trumps relationship with women, in conversation with California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis. Free. 6 p.m., Book Passage bookstore, Ferry Building, San Francisco. More information is here.

THURSDAY

Responsible conservatism: Political analyst William Kristol on whether American conservatism has a future. Free. 7 p.m., Cubberley Auditorium, 485 Lasuen Mall, Stanford University. More information is here.

FRIDAY

Coronavirus and racism: A socialist analysis and discussion of the coronavirus and anti-China racism. Hosted by the San Francisco Party for Socialism and Liberation. $3-$10. 7 p.m, 2969 Mission St., San Francisco. More information is here.

SATURDAY

Rep. Pramila Jayapal: Washington state congresswoman and Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair in conversation at the Commonwealth Club. $30 for nommembers, $10 for students. 1 p.m., 110 Embarcadero, San Francisco. More information is here.

SUNDAY

Rep. Pramila Jayapal: Washington state congresswoman and Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair in conversation at Mannys. $15. 2 p.m., 3092 16th St., San Francisco. More information is here.

Fighting climate change: Muriel MacDonald, community mobilizer and Sunrise Movement leadership team member, shares her experiences of fighting for systemic change. Sponsored by KindSF. Free. 6 p.m., The Center SF, 548 Fillmore St., San Francisco. More information is here.

MONDAY

Conor Dougherty: Author reads from his new book, Golden Gates: Fighting for Housing in America, and talks with journalist Nellie Bowles. Free. 7 p.m., East Bay Booksellers, 5433 College Ave., Oakland. More information is here.

FEB. 19

Iran Reframed: A Talk by Narges Bajoghli, assistant professor of Middle East studies at Johns Hopkins University and an anthropologist, filmmaker and writer. Free. 4 p.m., Room 587, Humanities Building, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Ave., San Francisco. More information is here.

Watch party: For the Democratic presidential debate, hosted by TechEquity Collaborative. Free. 5 p.m., Starline Social Club, 2236 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. More information is here.

Watch party: For the Democratic presidential debate. $10. 5 p.m., Mannys, 3092 16th St., San Francisco. More information is here.

Conor Dougherty: Author discusses his new book, Golden Gates: Fighting for Housing in America, with journalist Angie Coiro. $7. 7:30 p.m., Keplers Books, 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park. More information is here.

FEB. 20

Primary ballot explainer: An overview and conversation of key housing and workforce and labor ballot measures on the March 3 primary ballot, hosted by TechEquity Collaborative. Free. Online, 344 Thomas L. Berkley Way, Oakland. More information is here.

Disinformation and democracy: A forum on the threats to democratic elections from digital disinformation. Panelists include Irina Raicu, director of internet ethics at Markkula Center; Alex Stamos, former chief security officer at Facebook and director of the Stanford Internet Observatory; and Subramaniam Vincent, director of journalism and media ethics at Markkula Center. $10. 6 p.m., Computer History Museum, 1401 North Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View. More information is here.

Polarization and the Constitution: Is the Constitution part of the problem in political polarization rather than the solution, and if it is, what can we do about it? A conversation with Paul Pierson, political science professor at UC Berkeley. Free. 6:30 p.m., Salesforce Tower, 415 Mission St., San Francisco. More information is here.

FEB. 21

Rep. Barbara Lee town hall: East Bay Democrat holds a town hall meeting, focused on expanding and protecting voting rights, Black History Month and the census. 6 p.m., Beth Eden Baptist Church, Family Life Center, 1183 10th St., Oakland. More information is here.

FEB. 22

Oscar Lopez Rivera: Puerto Rican independence activist, long imprisoned by the U.S. government for alleged connection to paramilitary actions, discusses his organizing activities as the island tries to recover from 2018 hurricanes. $15 in advance, $20 at the door. 5:30 p.m., La Pena Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. More information is here.

Compassion in divisive times: A talk with Dr. Pilar Jennings, psychoanalyst and Buddhist teacher, on practicing the healing arts of Buddhist psychology during a time of social, racial and political divisiveness. $5. 5:30 p.m., S.F. Zen Center Conference Center, 308 Page St., San Francisco. More information is here.

FEB. 23

Dismantling racism: Screening of the documentary film When They See Us, followed by discussion groups focused on building bridges for the purpose of dismantling white supremacy and racism. Hosted by San Francisco Black and Jewish Unity Group. Free. 1 p.m., Calvary Presbyterian Church, 2515 Fillmore St., San Francisco. More information is here.

Oscar Lopez Rivera: Puerto Rican independence activist, long imprisoned by the U.S. government for alleged connection to paramilitary actions, discusses his organizing activities as the island tries to recover from 2018 hurricanes. $20. 1 p.m., Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, 2868 Mission St., San Francisco. More information is here.

FEB. 25

Watch party: For the Democratic presidential debate. $10. 5 p.m., Mannys, 3092 16th St., San Francisco. More information is here.

On Common Ground: KQED-FMs Sasha Khokha leads a discussion about how we find common ground in an age of extreme disunity. Panelists include emotional education expert Michele Borba; social psychologist Heike Winterheld and artist Shawn Lani, co-curators of the Exploratoriums Middle Ground exhibition; Make America Dinner Again co-founder Tria Chang; and Stanford political scientist Jonathan Rodden. Free. 7 p.m., Pier 15, the Embarcadero, San Francisco. More information is here.

FEB. 26

W. Kamau Bell: Political comedian teams up with Mother Jones to talk about the 2020 election. $15. 7 p.m., Berkeley Repertory Theater, 2015 Addison St., Berkeley. More information is here.

FEB. 27

E.J. Dionne Jr.: Washington Post columnist on how progressives and moderates can unite to win 2020 elections. $25 for non-Commonwealth Club members, $10 for students. Noon, 110 Embarcadero, San Francisco. More information is here. Second event, a benefit for KPFA-FM, at 7:30 p.m. $12 in advance, $15 at the door. Berkeley Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St., Berkeley. More information is here.

MARCH 1

Rep. Jackie Speier: Peninsula Democrat in conversation for KQED-FMs Live on Stage With Michael Krasny. $25. 5 p.m., Osher Marin Jewish Community Center, Hoytt Theater, 200 North San Pedro Road, San Rafael. More information is here.

MARCH 3

Super Tuesday watch party: For primary returns from California and 13 other states. Free. 5 p.m., IGS Library, 109 Moses Hall, UC Berkeley. More information is here.

MARCH 4

Gender issues and political identity: Rose McDermott, international relations professor at Brown University, discusses gender issues and leaders emotional manipulation of political identity. $5. 7 p.m., 518 Valencia St., San Francisco. More information is here.

MARCH 5

Rahm Emanuel: Former Chicago mayor and Barack Obama adviser on how mayors run the world. $40 for non-Commonwealth Club members, $15 for students. 6:30 p.m., 110 Embarcadero, San Francisco. More information is here.

MARCH 6

Facebook: Author Steve Levy discusses his new book, Facebook: The Inside Story. Benefit for KPFA-FM. $12 advance, $15 at the door. 7:30 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, 2407 Dana St., Berkeley. More information is here.

MARCH 17

American Jews and Israel: Former Knesset member Yossi Beilin, chairman of the Geneva Initiative, on the relationship between Israelis and American Jews today and where we go from here. Hosted by Center for Jewish Peoplehood. $18 in advance, $25 at the door. 7 p.m., Osher Marin JCCs Hoytt Theater, 200 North San Pedro Road, San Rafael. More information is here.

Dan Pfeiffer: Pod Save America podcast co-host on A Plan to Make America a Democracy Again. $27 for non-Commonwealth Club members, $8 for students. 7 p.m., Oshman Family JCCs Schultz Cultural Hall, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto. More information is here.

MARCH 21

Robert Reich: UC Berkeley public policy professor and former U.S. labor secretary talks politics and his new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It. $32 for non-Commonwealth Club members, $9 for students. 7 p.m., 5001 Great America Parkway, Santa Clara Convention Center Theater, Santa Clara. More information is here.

Noam Chomsky: Political activist and social critic on What Hope for Palestine-and Beyond? The World After 2020. Introduced by Daniel Ellsberg; musical performance by Naima Shalhoub and Excentrik. $29-$99. 7:30 p.m., Sidney Goldstein Theatre, 275 Hayes St., San Francisco. More information is here.

MARCH 27

Jesse Wegman: Journalist and editor discusses his new book on the electoral college, Let the People Pick the President. $7. 7:30 p.m., Keplers Books, 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park. More information is here.

To list an event, please email Politics Editor Trapper Byrne at tbyrne@sfchronicle.com.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has issued a show-cause notice to its leader Raghuraj Singh for "indulging in activities which violate the policies of the party, and issuing indecent statements".

Raghuraj Singh, who holds a cabinet rank post in the Uttar Pradesh government, stoked a controversy after he demanded that the Centre and the state government should impose a ban on 'burqa'.

"I demand the state and the central governments to ban the burqa, as terrorists use the burqa to enter the country. Likewise, in Shaheen Bagh these days most of those wearing burqa are misusing it. Therefore, its usage should be stopped," Singh, who holds a cabinet rank post in the UP government, told ANI here.

"The burqa is banned in Sri Lanka, China, Japan and America along with many other non-Muslim countries. To end terrorism, burqa must be banned," the senior BJP leader had said.

Not new to controversies, Singh had earlier on January 30 said that "anti-nationals" will be given 'kutte ki maut' (killed mercilessly) and went on to say that the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) can be renamed as 'Hindustan University'.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amid the unprecedented outbreak of novel coronavirus, Lijian Zhao, Deputy Director General, Information Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China said that there are 40,171 confirmed cases in China as of February 9. The death toll of the virus has spiked to 908 with 6484 severe cases. Zhao also said that 3281 individuals who were infected with coronavirus have been cured.

Furthermore, 399487 people have been traced and 187518 have also been taken under observation. Zhao has said that since February 1, the number of cured cases surpassed the fatalities, and now it is 'thrice larger'.

Update: As of 9 Feb, 40171 confirmed cases (908 fatalities, 3281 cured, 6484 severe cases), 23589 suspected cases were reported by China. 399487 people are traced, 187518 are under observation. On 1 Feb, number of cured cases overtaken that of fatalities, now it's thrice larger.  Lijian Zhao  (@zlj517) February 10, 2020

Read - Netizens Amazed As China Uses Robots To Deliver Food To Coronavirus Affected Patients

Zhao slammed Pompeo

Zhao also slammed the United States Secretary of States, Mike Pompeo who according to him is 'trying to drive a wedge between Central Asia and China'. Pompeo reportedly told the local media during his trip to Kazakhstan where he noted the 'long-border' the country shares with China which is also the epicentre of the outbreak of the deadly virus.

Pompeo also warned the Kazakh officials about the Chinese investment and influence and urged the Central Asian nation along with others to join US in demanding an end to China's repression to the minorities.

Read - Coronavirus Death Toll Rises To 908; WHO Sends Team To China

According to Zhao, China has been diligent regarding its fight with the coronavirus and Pompeo has been a 'fanatic' to 'smear' the nation. The Deputy Director General further said that US Secretary of States has 'outshined' almost all his predecessors in the same regard.

Zhao said, "While China has been going all out in the fight against the NCP, Mike Pompeo whisked through Central Asia trying to drive a wedge between Central Asia & China. He has been a fanatic to smear China, outshining almost all his predecessors in this regard."

Earlier, Pompeo had also urged Kazakhstan to join Washington in mounting pressure on China over the matter of Uighur Muslims. While speaking to Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi, Pompeo raised the issue of Muslim minorities in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang just across the Kazakh border.

Read - Coronavirus Outbreak: 60 New Cases Identified On Cruise Ship Off Japan Coast

Read - Nine Members Of Same Family Confirmed With Coronavirus After Sharing Hotpot Meal
Although we have achieved mastery over the prevention of infections, been able to eradicate many diseases and assumed technology-assisted procedures with modern medicine, there is a need for large-scale nationalisation of healthcare services. There must be an integrative medicine model of healthcare, emphasis on preventive and promotive components, and incentivization of healthy family concept, said Dr. B.N. Gangadhar, Padma Shri recipient and Director, National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), in his keynote address at Ayusmat 2020, the healthcare summit at IIM Bangalore, here today.

Aysumat 2020 was organized by the students of the General Management Programme for Healthcare Executives (GMHE) at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB).

The theme of the event was Disruptive Innovation  The Future Landscape of Healthcare, which brought together health innovators, investors, and healthcare providers. It rendered a useful platform for participants  healthcare experts, start-ups, investors, and technology innovators  across the ecosphere to network, meet funders when they also learned from the industrys best and shared their ideas on creating better healthcare outcomes. The focus at the event was on three key areas: Innovation, Investment, and Adoption.

The summit had a panel on Disruptive Innovation in Healthcare, comprising Dr. Dhruv Joshi, Co-founder at Cloudphysician, Dr. Arjun Kalyanpur, Director and Founder at Teleradiology Solutions, Prasad Kompalli, Co-founder and CEO at Mfine, and Dr .Vishnu Vardhan, COO at DayToDay Health. The discussion was moderated by Prof. Shankar Venkatagiri, Programme Director, GMHE.

Speakers at the summit included Dr. Sharan Patil, Chairman, Sparsh Hospitals, Dr. Vidur Mahajan, Head of R&D, Centre for Advanced Research in Imaging, Neurosciences & Genomics, Dr. Arjun Arunachalam, Founder and CEO at Voxelgrids Innovations Pvt. Ltd., Kishalay Ray, Vice President at Sharp Business Systems (India) Pvt Ltd, and Sakthivel Selvaraj, Director of Health Economics, Financing and Policy at Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI).

Healthcare managers of the future will be quasi-informaticians, remarked Dr. Vidur Mahajan, while addressing the audience on Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare at the summit. AI is simply a tool, albeit a powerful and highly accessible one. As AI is percolating into all aspects  preventive and population health, diagnostics, and therapeutics  of healthcare, we are still in the early days due to some fundamental issues like implications of AI, and the technical, ethical and legal consequences. For deploying AI, probably a parallel IT stack would be required. Success will come from technologies that affect the iron triangle with the apexes of Cost, Quality and Access that must be taken care of, he explained.

A panel discussion on Ecosystem for New Ventures in Healthcare comprised Vishal Bali, Executive Chairman, Asia Healthcare Holdings & Co-founder, Medwell Ventures, Dr. Aniruddha Malpani, Angel Investor, Malpani Ventures, and Hrishikesh Datar, Founder & CEO, Vakilsearch. Prof. Srivardhini Jha, from the Entrepreneurship area at IIMB, moderated the discussion.
A doctor who engaged in an elaborate fraud in seeking to obtain employment here, including claiming to have worked for a non-existent Dublin hospital and providing false references, has been struck off the medical register.

He cannot apply for registration for another ten years, High Court president Mr Justice Peter Kelly also ordered.

The judge said on Monday there was "every reason" for making the orders as Dr Idowu Adeyemi Adeboro had engaged in "breath-taking dishonesty on an elaborate scale".

He had claimed a work history at hospitals which did not exist and had provided bogus references, one from an English doctor who does not exist and another from a US doctor who does exist but who gave evidence he had never met Dr Adeboro, the judge said.

Dr Adeboro had demonstrated no insight into his conduct, he added.

He agreed with the Medical Council the orders sought by it under the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 were proportionate and necessary to ensure public safety and protect the reputation of the profession.

At an earlier court hearing, held in camera, Dr Adeboro was suspended from the register pending further order.

He was registered here in July 2017 but has never worked here and had told the Council he has never been to Ireland.

On Monday, J.P McDowell, solicitor for the Council, told the judge Dr Adeboro, with an address at Apsledene, Gravesend, UK, is a native of Nigeria who holds a Spanish passport and who qualified in medicine in Romania.

Mr McDowell said an investigation was initiated, leading to a hearing before a Fitness to Practice Committee (FTPC), after a recruitment agency made a complaint in April 2018 arising from it having become suspicious about the authenticity of references relating to the doctor and about a work history on his CV when he applied for first registration in May 2017.

The FTPC found various allegations were proven, including that, around March 22nd 2018, the doctor incorporated and/or registered or caused to be incorporated/registered a limited company under the name "Saint Emmanuel Hospital European Medical Center Healthcare Ltd", with a registered addresses at Harcourt Street, Dublin, in order to create and/or support a false employment history as a medical practitioner when there was no such hospital operating from that address.

It was also proven he had submitted, or caused/allowed to be submitted, a cv to Niche Jobs Ltd and/or Cowley Brown Recruitment in which he represented he was a resident medical officer in emergency and/or general medicine at "St Emmanuel Hospital European Medical Centre, Dublin," from August 1 2017 "to present" when that was not true.

It was proven he had represented he was a junior doctor in emergency medicine at "SMHG Hospital Standard Medical Healthcare Group, London, UK", between December 1 2016 and July 30 2017 when that was not true and there was no such UK hospital.

It was further proven the CV represented he was a clinical fellow engaging in an "attachment/observership" at the "Cancer Institute of Florida, Weston, Florida" from September 1 2016 to November 28 2016 when that was not true.

It was also proven he had provided false references purporting to be from consultants at the UK and Florida units.

The FTPC also found proven allegations, when seeking registration here in May 2017, he provided various valid documents purportedly notarised by a firm of notaries in England when he knew, or ought to have known, the firm had not notarised the documents.

Dr Adeboro did not attend the inquiry and was not represented.

The FTPC concluded his conduct amounted to professional misconduct at the most serious end of the spectrum and the "prolonged pattern of dishonesty" was "disturbing and incompatible with being a registered medical practitioner".

The Medical Council concurred and agreed with the Committee Dr Adeboro's registration should be cancelled. The Council further decided he should be prohibited for ten years from applying to register here.
Four people have been confirmed dead after a small plane crashed in Gordon County, Georgia, possibly amid snowy conditions.

Just before 2 p.m. on Saturday, the Federal Aviation Administration released a statement saying that a Cessna Citation had disappeared from radar about 50 miles north of Atlanta. They estimated it had been in the vicinity of Gordon or Cherokee County when it had vanished around 10:10 a.m.

It had taken off from Atlanta Regional Airport-Falcon Field in Peachtree City, Ga., just before 10 a.m.

The wreckage of the plane was discovered around noon Saturday in Gordon County by one of the many civilians who had volunteered to help the Gordon County Sheriff's Office in their search.

The Sheriff's Office said there was no sign of survivors.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators were at the scene.

"Reports from around 10 a.m. EST Saturday morning from the Tom B. David Field Airport just south of Calhoun showed snow falling with visibility between three-quarters a mile and a mile. This snow had started falling around 8:15 a.m. according to the reports from the airport," AccuWeather Meteorologist Alyson Hoegg said.

Reports from Peachtree City-Falcon Field Airport showed rain was falling at 10 a.m., meteorologist Hoegg added.
BAYONNE, N.J. - Four passengers who were taken to a hospital for evaluation after their cruise ship arrived in New Jersey tested negative for coronavirus.

Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement that personnel with the Centers for Disease Control allowed the four passengers to be discharged from the hospital Saturday.

Three of the four people stayed in a cabin together and were diagnosed with the flu. The other person stayed in a separate cabin and did not have any symptoms.

Murphy said New Jersey has no confirmed cases of the new virus, which has sickened more than 20,000 and killed more than 900, mostly in China.
Photograph: Michael Reynolds/EPA

Senator Lindsey Graham has said Department of Justice officials have created a process enabling Rudy Giuliani to provide them with information from Ukraine, for further investigation.

Graham, a top ally of Donald Trump who was part of the successful vote to acquit him in his impeachment trial last week, cautioned that this information from the presidents personal lawyer could be Russian propaganda.

The Department of Justice is receiving information coming out of the Ukraine from Rudy, Graham said, explaining that the US attorney general, William Barr, told me that theyve created a process that Rudy could give information and they would see if its verified.

Giuliani was deeply implicated in Trumps efforts to get Ukrainian officials to help his 2020 re-election bid  the matter at the heart of the impeachment trial. Trump was impeached in the Democratic-led House after withholding military assistance, as well as a White House meeting, while calling for Ukraine announcing investigations into potential 2020 rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

Related: After Trump's acquittal: new revelations will continue to trickle in

Trump also wanted Ukraine to announce an investigation into the conspiracy theory that Ukrainian actors, not Russians, meddled in the 2016 election.

Almost immediately after Trump was acquitted by the Republican-led Senate last week, Republicans returned to investigating the unsubstantiated corruption allegations against the Bidens. There is no evidence of wrongdoing.

Rudy Giuliani is a well-known man. Hes a crime fighter. Hes loyal to the president, Graham also said. Hes a good lawyer. But what Im trying to say  to the president and anybody else  that the Russians are still up to it.

In Grahams interview on CBSs Face the Nation, he revealed that his conversation with Barr took place earlier on Sunday morning. He also spoke with the Senate intelligence committee chair, Richard Burr. Both told me: Take very cautiously anything coming out of the Ukraine against anybody.

Story continues

After talking to the attorney general and the intelligence chairman that any documents coming out of the Ukraine against any American, Republican or Democrat, need to be looked at by the intelligence services, who has expertise I dont, because Russia is playing us all like a fiddle.

Graham said no when asked if the justice department had been ordered to investigate the Bidens.

Graham also said the possibility of conflicts of interest involving the Bidens should be examined, but once again emphasized caution, saying: When it comes to documents coming out of the Ukraine, to Republicans and Democrats, be very cautious turning  anything over you got over to the intel community.

Im telling Rudy, you think you got the goods? Dont give it to me, because what do we know? We know that the Russian disinformation campaign was used against President Trump, Graham also said. They hacked into the DNC system. Not the Ukrainians, and theyre on the ground all over the world trying to affect democracy all over the world.

Whos paying Rudy Giuliani? host Margaret Brennan asked.

 I dont know, Graham said. Heres my message to Rudy: if youve got something coming from the Ukraine, turn it over to the intelligence people, the Department of Justice, to any Democrat.

Giuliani did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On Twitter this morning, Giuliani alluded to two smoking gun documents in a post urging people to subscribe to his podcast.
PR-Inside.com: 2020-02-10 14:30:24

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 10, 2020 / PowerBand Solutions Inc. (TSXV:PBX)(OTCQB:PWWBF)(Frankfurt:1ZVA) ("PowerBand", "PBX" or the "Company") has reached an agreement with London-based Citation Capital Management ("Citation") to assist in raising extensive funding options for loans and leases to be approved through PowerBand's leasing operations in the United States.The agreement advances PowerBand's goal to aggregate $1-billion in credit facilities, to provide consumers and dealers simple access to loans or leases on vehicles acquired when they use PowerBand's cloud-based transaction platform."This is another milestone in PowerBand's strategy to meet our goal of aggregating $1-billion in credit facilities that will be available to consumers and dealers using our powerful and convenient transaction platform," said CEO Kelly Jennings. "PowerBand intends to remove unnecessary middlemen from the sales, leasing and auctioning experience in the automotive sector. The acquisition of a vehicle should be as simple as ordering items on Amazon, with the net result of uberizing the sales experience." UK-based Citation Capital Management is an independent investment advisory and corporate finance company. Its registered office is located in London, England, and Citation has a worldwide network of strategic financial partners.The PowerBand cloud-based transaction system transforms the buying, selling, leasing and auctioning of cars and trucks for thousands of consumers and dealers by removing unnecessary middlemen, to benefit consumers, dealers and other stakeholders. Vehicle leases can be approved in seconds.Added Jennings: "Whether it's for vehicle loans, leases or auctions, PowerBand and its partners are providing a consumer-friendly process for the acquisition of a vehicle. With our seamless, transparent solutions - working with the dealer network and commercial fleet companies - we are eliminating unnecessary middlemen to benefit all the major stakeholders in the sales process." PowerBand is already strategically positioned in the U.S. automotive market after acquiring a majority share of MUSA Auto Finance, LLC ("MUSA") in July, 2019.Founded in 2016, MUSA's innovative transaction platform modernized the new and pre-owned vehicle leasing experience, providing dealers and consumers with the most advanced leasing options in the industry. The technology takes an 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.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 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.
VI250, Australian Special Event

Members of the Cairns Amateur Radio Club (Cairns, Far North Queensland) will activate the special event call-sign VI250COOK between May 1st and August 31st.

Activity is to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Captain James Cook sailing up the east coast of Australia from what is now Sydney to what is now Cooktown in Far North Queensland. This historic trip is being replicated by the Australian Maritime Museum's replica of his ship, the Endeavour

(https://www.sea.museum/)

(https://www.sea.museum/whats-on/events/sail-the-endeavour).

They will be sharing availability of this distinctive callsign with various other Australian amateur radio clubs as the Endeavour calls into their cities or passes by on its voyage, culminating with the Cairns Amateur Radio Club operating from both Cairns and Cooktown.

For more details and a published on-air schedule (once confirmed), see QRZ.com.
Pierre Chahine, a native of France, has been working in the pastry industry for almost 25 years.

He has worked in four-star hotels, including the Hotel Concorde la Fayette Paris, and has been trained by different chefs at the pastry schools LEcole Lenotre Paris and Ecole de Boulangerie et de Patisserie de Paris.

He also has specialized training experience in pastry from Ecole Gastronomique Bellouet Conseil.

Now, he is taking on a new challenge: Delice Macarons in downtown Cranford.

Chahine opened his own pastry shop at 19 Eastman St. in early January 2020, much further than his adopted hometown of Paris. The idea of locating to New Jersey, however, was encouraged by members of his family.

Macrarons at Delice Macarons in Cranford, February, 6, 2020 Mel Ibarra | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

I used to visit Cranford because I have my two sisters-in-law live there and they told me about how much this town had the potential to create a pastry shop, Chahine said.

Chahine said that they contacted the Downtown Director of Cranford, Gabe Bailer, to help find the perfect location for their pastry shop.

This area is very good, Chahine said. The people are so nice, so supportive, and they appreciate our work. We are so happy to be here.

Chahine and his partner, Raja Iqdeimat, worked to make Delice Macarons an inviting space that serves up a variety of French pastries, sandwiches and coffee.

My partner Raja Iqdeimat has an interesting background in finance carriers and we got the idea to build, or create, Delice Macarons, he said.

Macaroons are not the only pastry Chahine and Iqdeimat create and sell  one of the menu items at Delice Macarons is a dark chocolate mousse and brownie sponge cake that includes crunchy hazelnut and delicate strands of gold leaf on the top called the Le Delice, a subtle nod to the name of their pastry shop.

To do this kind of work, you have to be, as we say in France, gourmand, you have to be crazy about sweets, and if you're not like that, you cannot create pastries, Chahine said. You have to have this passion.

Chahine said he loves experimenting with flavors and ingredients to create an explosion in your mouth.

I always try to do my best to try crazy things, he said. You have to be motivated to do something really different and you look to the face of the people when they take the first bite and you want them to say wow.

That wow factor in his creations is exactly why Chahine became a pastry chef in the first place  he loves making his customers happy.

I became a pastry chef because I love making people happy, Chahine said. Its wonderful to see their smiles after taking a bite of one of our pastries. This job involves a lot of hard work but I love it. I have a true passion for pastry and Im so happy to share that with the community.

Although Chahine said his personal favorite flavor is the dark chocolate, several other macaroon flavors and pastries, including the Le Delice, can be purchased at Delice Macarons in Cranford.
By John J. Metzler





NEW YORK  In a stunningly positive speech before Congress, President Donald Trump delivered the annual State of the Union address before a deeply divided nation.



While the president outlined a long upbeat list of economic achievements and trade deals, amounting to what was called a "Blue Collar Boom," Trump added, "In just three short years, we have shattered the mentality of American decline, and we have rejected the downsizing of America's destiny."



Later in a tawdry and theatrical touch, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Trump's Democrat rival, defiantly tore up her copy of the speech. Pelosi's pique was planned to grab headlines from the address and to fuel the bitter partisan divide. She did not succeed. Veteran New York Post columnist Michael Goodwin opined, "Pelosi shamed herself at Trump's State of the Union Address."



Now just imagine if Republican Speaker Paul Ryan had reacted this way to an Obama speech?



Nonetheless, faithfully following the turgid script of the long-running impeachment soap opera, the State of the Union memorably came in the closing hours before Trump's Senate trial acquittal. George Washington University constitutional law scholar Prof. Jonathan Turley called this impeachment process "a historic blunder."



Melodramatic tones of the State of the Union aside, the speech set a measured but triumphant stage set for applause breaks. President Trump recited his positive mantra of 7 million new jobs creating the lowest unemployment rates in half a century. Happily, African-American, Hispanic-American and Asian-American unemployment rates have reached the lowest levels in history.



Importantly, many of the jobs are in manufacturing, where over a half million positions have been created. As the president quipped, "Companies are not leaving; they are coming back."



He presented a list of renegotiated free but fair trade agreements such as the U.S.-Mexica-Canada Agreement (USMCA), an updated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico. The deal has strong backing of U.S. unions. Now before anyone shrugs this off, think of the U.S. economy a decade ago!



Significantly, the president supported the freedom agenda in our hemisphere from Cuba to Nicaragua and Venezuela. In an amazing American gesture of support, embattled Venezuelan President Juan Guaido was in the Capitol audience!



President Trump extolled, "The United States is leading a 59-nation diplomatic coalition against the socialist dictator of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro. Maduro is an illegitimate ruler, a tyrant who brutalizes his people  Here this evening is a man who carries with him the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of all Venezuelans. Joining us in the gallery is the true and legitimate President of Venezuela, Juan Guaido. Mr. President, please take this message back to your homeland. All Americans are united with the Venezuelan people in their righteous struggle for freedom!"



Trump underscored, "Socialism destroys nations. But always remember, freedom unifies the soul." So very true.



Alluding to the once divisive defense spending disputes within NATO, the president added without mentioning any specific countries, "We are also finally getting our allies to help pay their fair share. I have raised contributions from the other NATO members by more than $400 billion, and the number of allies meeting their minimum obligations has more than doubled."



On terrorism, "Three years ago, the barbarians of ISIS held over 20,000 square miles of territory in Iraq and Syria. Today, the ISIS territorial caliphate has been 100 percent destroyed, and the founder and leader of ISIS, the bloodthirsty killer Al?Baghdadi, is dead!"



Interestingly, Trump offered an olive branch to Iran. "In recent months, we have seen proud Iranians raise their voices against their oppressive rulers. The Iranian regime must abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons, stop spreading terror, death, and destruction, and start working for the good of its own people. "



But he stressed, "Because of our powerful sanctions, the Iranian economy is doing very poorly. We can help them make it very good in a short period of time, but perhaps they are too proud or too foolish to ask for that help. We are here. Let's see which road they choose. It's totally up to them."



Significantly, there was no mention of nuclear armed North Korea nor the immensely important American ties including the Mutual Security Treaty with our ally and partner South Korea.



Typically, State of the Unions addresses are more about the domestic audience, and this year, a political campaign event at that. This after all remains the Washington way.





John J. Metzler (jjmcolumn@earthlink.net) is a United Nations correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He is the author of "Divided Dynamism  The Diplomacy of Separated Nations: Germany, Korea, China."


Its ridiculous, Robinson said one recent morning, strolling through Snowdens Ridge, which is one of a cluster of low-income rental properties in Silver Spring. She pointed out cigarette butts strewn on the front steps of other apartments in the complex, along the stone pathways and across the parking lot. As of mid-January, there is only one sign indicating that smoking is prohibited, located at the entrance to the laundry room.
"I am the leader of Uthman Danfodio dynasty. I have never seen where in the hundred books that Uthman Danfodio said Nigeria belongs to the Fulani. What he wrote was the role of Islam in leadership, governance etc. He never mentioned of conquering any particular land or claimed ownership of any territory. People make comments that Jihad is to Islamise every country, but I said no. Danfodio never came to Islamise any country, he preached against bad government. That fake write-up was by those who dont want peace in this country and we had denounced that. I am the National Patron of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN). It has been in existence for 44 years. There are two other organisations that I know, but others I dont know. Please verify from us before you put blame on us- Muhammadu S'aad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, February, 2020.

I commend His Eminence the Sultan of Sokoto for attempting to do damage control and douse the tension that was generated in the aftermath of the explosive statement by the Fulani Nationalist Movement (FUNAM).

However I respectfully disagree with him on his assertion that his highly esteemed ancestor and forefather, Uthman Dan Fodio "never conquered or claimed ownership of any land" or that "he did not come to Islamise any country".

I also beg to differ with him on his tacit implication that Miyetti Allah, an organisation that can best be described as the biblical and modern-day "troubler of our collective peace" are respectable and peace-loving.

I believe that given what we have suffered in the hands of the local Janjaweed known as the Fulani herdsmen and murderous terrorist militias who have come under their protective umbrella over the last five years, the opposite is actually the case.

Permit me to focus on Uthman Dan Fodio in this contribution and leave the insidious activities and sinister agenda of Miyetti Allah for another day. The facts are as follows.

In 1804 one of the most savage and bestial wars and bloody jihads in African history was waged against the Hausa Habe Kingdom and people of the area that later became known as "northern Nigeria" by Sheik Uthman Dan Fodio.

He was primarily an Islamic scholar and the spiritual and military leader of the Fulani people who came in their hundreds of thousands from Futa Jalon and Futa Toro in modern-day Guniea to northern Nigeria and established Africa's most powerful and ruthless Islamic Caliphate.

For anyone, no matter how respected or highly placed, to suggest that Dan Fodio was just a scholar and teacher that only wrote books, that never waged war and violent jihad and that never laid claim to and conquered parts of Nigeria is most unfortunate.

Such an assertion can best be described as being, at best, intellectually dishonest and patently false and, at worse, historical revisionism in its most brazen and repugnant form.

The truth is that Dan Fodio and his Fulani army not only indulged in merciless acts of pure barbarity in battle and committed what can only be described as genocide against defenceless and innocent civilian populations but he also imposed his own extreme, hardline, purist, wahhabist and salafist version of Islam on the people of core northern Nigeria with a scimitar and a sword and forcefully imposed Fulani Emirs on them.

The only ethnic nationality that successfully warded him and his Fulani armies off in the north were the strong and proud Kanuris of the El Kanemi dynasty and empire in modern-day Borno state who warned him to steer clear of their territory and he did.

Finally the only race that ever defeated the Fulani in open battle and thereby put a halt and full stop to their attempt to march down South and "dip the Koran in the Atlantic ocean" were the gallant sons of Oduduwa, led primarily by the Ibadan generals and military commanders, who defeated them in battle at Osogbo in 1840 and drove them back north.

They not only defeated them but they also slaughtered and ate their horses and publicly executed their allies and military commanders from Ilorin.

The Fulani have never succeeded in conquering the people of the South West militarily and I make boast to say that they never will.

The recent statement credited to the Fulani Nationalist Movement known as FUNAM who said that every inch of Nigeria belonged to them "from Sokoto to the banks of the Atlantic ocean", that "Nigeria is the only inheritance we have in Africa and anywhere in the world" and that "this was the destiny bestowed on Uthman Dan Fodio which would have been fulfilled since 1816 if not for the obstruction of this great assignment by the British" was simply an accurate and honest reflection of the mindset and ultimate vision of Usman Dan Fodio and other great Fulani leaders and Mahdi's through the ages like Sir Ahmadu Bello and lately President Muhammadu Buhari.

FUNAM went further to say,

"It is no longer time to play the ostrich. Our men are waiting. We are eager to fight. We are boiling with the zeal to actualize our dream; enough of double dealing and ambivalence by FULANI political leaders who unfortunately think the FULANI can only take back what belongs to us through appeasement and elections destined to reflect cultural values antithetical to the preaching of Uthman Dan Fodio".

We ignore and play down these incendiary words at our own peril.

I speak for millions when I say that the indigenous and oppressed people and ethnic nationalities of Nigeria have had enough of these open threats of tyranny and violence and neither are we interested in being vassals and slaves.

Had we listened to Colonel Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu and the Biafrans in 1967, considered their terrible plight and aligned with them during the civil war things would have been very different today and we would not have been subjected to these infantile and provocative insults from the likes of FUNAM.

The bottom line is as follows: we either have a Nigeria where all men, regardless of ethnic nationality or faith, are regarded as being equal before God and the law or we shall have no Nigeria at all. No-one can impose their will on us and neither can anyone intimidate us.

We do not seek war and neither do we relish or endorse any form of violence. We want peaceful co-existence and mutual respect. We want love, prosperity and progress for all and we offer it to those who wish us well and seek to do us no harm.

However if in a moment of madness we are ever attacked we shall stand firm and stand strong. We shall never retreat and neither shall we surrender.

We shall defend our people, we shall defend our land, we shall defend our honor and we shall defend our heritage.

We are not cowards and we shall never bend the knee or bow our heads to the tyranny of foreign invaders who erroneously believe that they were born to rule and that we were born to serve.

Permit me to conclude this contribution with the following.

Given what is going on in our country today and despite the laudable efforts of moderates such as the Sultan of Sokoto to diffuse the tension and reign in the more radical and hardline elements in the ranks of the Fulani I am convinced of two things.

Firstly that the call by many southern and Middle Belt leaders for restructuring is not only outdated but also too little, too late.

Secondly that if care is not taken there is every likelihood that Nigeria will break into two or more pieces within the next five years.

Mark my words and remember them! The only way to prevent this from happening is for these vicious threats of gratutious violence and Fulani adventurism and expansionism to stop and for the oppressors to start seeing the oppressed as equal partners and stakeholders in the Nigerian project. Without that Nigeria is truly finished and will soon be history.
Of course not.

The new results indicated that Buttigieg was the delegate winner after the party updated data from 55 precincts. But errors in the result tabulations have led news outlets, including The New York Times, to hold back from calling the race. And Sanderss campaign said it would push for a partial recanvass of the results.

We knew cleaning up the messy caucus results would be hard. We just didnt realize it might actually be illegal.

Iowa party officials are taking a second look at the results from 95 precincts  about 5 percent of the statewide total  after The Times last week uncovered miscalculated and misreported results on the paperwork of various caucus leaders.

But the Iowa Democratic Partys lawyer, Shayla McCormally, said that correcting erroneous math on the worksheets that caucus-site leaders used to record their results would threaten the integrity of the process and could inject personal opinion into things, according to an email from the state partys chairman, Troy Price.

The worksheets themselves are considered a legal record of the caucus, so altering them after they have been certified by the party would be a crime.
The Oneida County Health Department is monitoring a person who recently returned from China for potential exposure to coronavirus.

Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente says the person is not currently showing symptoms, but will still be monitored for the next two weeks.

"Just the fact that someone returns from China, have to be monitored for a period of 14 days to see if anything has occurred or is occurring regarding the virus. Right now, we are monitoring; but there are no symptoms. Its been a couple days so we'll have to see what transpires, but right now, there's no level of concern at that point," said Picente.

He says the county has protocols in place for situations like this, including quarantine measures if a contagious virus in confirmed.

On Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said there aren't any confirmed cases of coronavirus in New York. The state has tested 22 people for the virus, with all tests returning negative.

The coronavirus has killed more than 800 people in China, even more than the SARS epidemic.

More than 360 cases have been confirmed outside of China.
Beijing: The number of people who died of coronavirus in China has increased to 813 on Sunday, February 9, 2020. 91 people are reported dead on Sunday. The number of deaths due to coronavirus has exceeded the deaths due to the SARS virus about 20 years ago. SARS virus spread in 2003 and its patients were found in more than two dozen countries. Due to this, 774 people died. There were 2656 new cases of corona and in this way, the number of patients suffering from coronavirus increased to 37287.

Angry public raised this demand on death of the doctor who warned of Coronavirus

People in China are ready to return to work: It is also being said that people are ready to return to work in China after spending a long holiday in the Lunar New Year. Every year the Lunar New Year holidays were over by the end of January, but this time, in view of the epidemic, the Chinese government itself requested to extend the holidays.

Flour prices rise in Pakistan, PM Imran took big step to give relief to the public

Silence in many cities due to factory and school closures and flight restrictions: For a long time, many cities in China, including Beijing and Shanghai, have started appearing in Bhutia due to the closure of factory and schools and the ban on flights. Beijing's stock market also appears completely desolate. Here the functioning has completely reduced. Investors are investing in gold, bonds, and the Japanese yen.

Corona virus: Bangladesh released 171 of its citizens in China

Employees will work from home till 21 February: According to the information received, a large number of offices and schools will remain closed on Monday and employees will work from home. China has put on hold plans to resume production from Foxconn Technology Co Ltd, a supplier of phone maker Apple. Not only this, gaming company Tensen Holding Limited said on Sunday, February 9, 2020, that it has asked its employees to work from home till 21 February 2020. Schools in Hubei province will remain closed until March 1. In many other provinces, the school will remain closed till the end of February.

UN said this to deal with the outbreak of locusts
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - At a time when states are debating the removal of Confederate monuments, Maryland unveiled bronze statues of famed abolitionists Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass during a ceremony Monday night in the Maryland State House.

The life-sized statues were dedicated during a special joint session of the Maryland General Assembly in the Old House Chamber, the room where slavery was abolished in the state in 1864.

A mark of true greatness is shining light on a system of oppression and having the courage to change it, House Speaker Adrienne Jones, the states first black and first female House speaker, said in prepared remarks. The statues are a reminder that our laws arent always right or just. But theres always room for improvement.

While the commissioning of the statues was put in motion more than three years ago, their arrival coincides with new leadership in the state legislature. This is Jones first session as speaker, and the first new Senate president in more than three decades was elected by senators last month.

The statues, dedicated during Black History Month, were made to show Tubman and Douglass as they would have appeared in age and dress in 1864.

Both Tubman and Douglass were born on Marylands Eastern Shore. Tubman escaped from slavery to become a leading abolitionist who helped slaves escape through the Underground Railroad. Douglass also escaped slavery, and he went on to become an author, speaker, abolitionist and supporter of womens rights. His autobiography, published in 1845, was a bestseller that helped fuel the abolitionist movement.

The statues arent the only recent examples of the state taking steps to reflect its rich black history.

Last month, a portrait of a former black female lawmaker replaced one of a white governor who had been on the wall for 115 years. The painting of Verda Welcome, who was elected to the state Senate in 1962, is the first portrait of a black person to adorn the Marylands Senate walls.

Maryland also has removed painful reminders of its past in recent years.

In 2017, the state removed a statue of Roger B. Taney, the U.S. Supreme Court justice and Maryland native who wrote the 1857 Dred Scott decision that upheld slavery and denied citizenship to African Americans.

State officials voted to remove the Taney statue days after a woman was killed in Charlottesville, Virginia. Heather Heyer, 32, was killed when a man rammed his car through the crowd of people who were there to condemn hundreds of white nationalists who were protesting the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

The state of Virginia continues to have some of the countrys most prominent displays of Confederate monuments in its capital city of Richmond. But in December a large bronze sculpture of a young black man in a hoodie astride a horse was permanently installed on the lawn of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The Rumours of War sculpture was previously on display in Times Square and is artist Kehinde Wileys response to Confederate monuments in the U.S. and the South in particular.
Upholding the November 14, 2019 reference order by a five-judge constitution bench, Chief Justice S. A. Bobde heading the nine-judge constitution bench said, We hold that this court can refer questions of law to a larger bench in a review petition. The issue focuses on the right of women under Article 14 and the essential religious practices under Article 25 and 16.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court will commence from February 17 the hearing on issues relating to gender justice vis-a-vis essential religious practices. It held on Monday that a five-judge bench, in a limited review jurisdiction, could refer to a larger bench the question of law germane to the issue before the court.

Upholding the November 14, 2019 reference order by a five-judge constitution bench, Chief Justice S. A. Bobde heading the nine-judge constitution bench said, We hold that this court can refer questions of law to a larger bench in a review petition. The issue focuses on the right of women under Article 14 and the essential religious practices under Article 25 and 16.

The hearing is likely to last for three weeks, as the court has given seven days each to both the sides, with Solicitor General Tushar Mehta given a days time to make submissions on behalf of the central government. Kerala government too would get separate time to address the court. However, the court accepted that the time schedule is not cast in a rigid frame but would be flexible. However, the court expected the counsel to stick to the schedule and complete the arguments.
More than 1,000 Kazakh nationals have crossed from Kyrgyzstan into neighboring Kazakhstan, following reports of interethnic clashes that erupted two days earlier in a cluster of five Kazakh villages, forcing many residents to flee.



Kyrgyz officials told RFE/RL that, after the ethnic violence erupted between Kazakhs and Dungans, a Muslim group of Chinese origin, in which 10 people died, border guards recorded approximately 4,500 entries from Kazakhstan.



RFE/RL couldn't verify how many Kazakhs returning to their country had initially crossed into Kyrgyzstan as a result of the violence.



Thirty-four Kazakhs were accepted into Kyrgyz hospitals on February 8-9, with 13 still receiving treatment. An additional five Kazakhs remained under medical and psychological observation and were reported to be in stable condition.



Another 39 were reported to be still hospitalized in Kazakhstan as of February 9, including three officials who sustained gunshot wounds.



Clashes started on February 7 in the Zhambyl region, located about 130 kilometers west of Kazakhstan's commercial capital, Almaty, and prompted authorities in the district of Korday to declare a state of emergency.



Villagers reportedly attacked each other in groups, and bands of men torched homes, overturned cars, and sent hundreds of people fleeing into nearby Kyrgyzstan.



While visiting the affected district on February 9, Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Berdibek Saparbaev promised residents of the villages that their damaged homes would be rebuilt.



"We ask you not to give in to provocation. All the houses that were destroyed, we will restore them, we will help families," Saparbaev said. "Our experts are working to assess the damage. Once again, we appeal to everyone, tell your relatives who have left, who are now in Kyrgyzstan with their relatives -- they must return."

Kazakhstans deputy health minister, Kamalzhan Nadyrov, visited to Kyrgyzstan on February 9 to meet the injured in two hospitals, including one in the capital, Bishkek, after which eight hospitalized Kazakhs were transported to Almaty.



Most of the Kazakhs who entered the neighboring Central Asian country were women, children, and senior citizens, Kyrgyzstan's border guard service said.



Residents in neighboring Kyrgyz villages reportedly greeted the fleeing Kazakhs with hot meals and offered shelter.



In an unscheduled televised appearance, President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev said he had ordered security agencies to prosecute those spreading hate speech and "provocative rumors and disinformation."



Kazakh law enforcement deployed riot police to the area on February 8, hours after the initial fighting.



By February 9, authorities said they believed around 300 people had taken part in the mob violence and they had already launched criminal cases, including for suspected murder.



RFE/RL correspondents reported long lines of police, holding riot shields and truncheons, along roads in the region.



On February 8, groups of mainly ethnic Dungans could be seen lining up along the Kyrgyz side of the border, while on the other side of the frontier, Dungan people handed out food and offered medical assistance to those coming across.



Footage circulating on social media late on February 7 showed young men, some armed with clubs, marching along the road of a village in the area with buildings on fire. Many of the videos could not be independently verified.



At a news conference in the Kazakh capital, Nur-Sultan, Interior Minister Erlan Turghymbaev said 30 homes, 15 shops, and 20 cars had been damaged in Masanchi, and other villages in the region.
Five Turkish troops were killed and five wounded in shelling by the Russian-backed Syrian regime today as the Turkish and Russian delegations were in talks in Ankara to wind down the clashes in Idlib.

Why it matters: The escalation indicates the Russian-Turkish talks that began on Feb. 8 have failed to produce concrete results other than maintaining the appearance of cooperation.

The number of Turkish casualties in the recent Idlib escalation had risen to 13 by the latest attack after Syrian artillery fire hit the Turkish troops positions in the northwestern Syrian town of Taftanaz on Jan. 10, killing at least five Turkish soldiers and wounding five others.

Turkey immediately retaliated against the attack with intense fire, the Turkish Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Eight Turkish military personnel were killed in shelling by the Syrian regime on Feb. 3.

Turkey continues to send reinforcements to the area, and the number of Turkish troops on the ground has reached some 9,000.

In the first round of the Russia-Turkey talks on Feb. 8, the Turkish side, led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal, reiterated its determination to push back forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad if they refused to withdraw from the de-escalation zone in Idlib by the end of February. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had set the deadline on Feb. 5, adding that otherwise, Turkey would take matters into its own hands.

Russian-backed Syrian government forces rapid push to capture the last rebel stronghold in Syria roiled the relations between Russia and Turkey over the past week.

Erdogan had publicly rebuked Moscows support for the Syrian government after eight Turkish military personnel were killed in shelling by the Syrian regime on Feb. 3. The Russians, in turn, accused Turkey of having failed to fulfill its commitment to remove fighters designated as terrorists from the ranks of its allied rebels and from in and around Idlib.

The rare public display of mutual grievances led many to question whether the rift would affect cooperation between the two countries in a variety of areas, ranging from gas to the arms trade.

Despite such speculation, Ankara moved quickly to tone down its rhetoric after a phone conversation between Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Feb. 4.

The perpetrator of the attacks in Idlib is the Syrian regime, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Feb. 6. Why should we have a conflict with Russia over this?

Whats next: It remains unclear whether the recent casualties will reignite the tension between Ankara and Moscow.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry announced on Feb. 8 that the talks would continue in the coming days. The Russian delegation is represented by special envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin and Defense Ministry officials, the statement said.

Know more: Read Diego Cupolos article on Erdogans Feb. 3 visit to Ukraine, which was laden with symbolism aimed at Russia. Also, see Semih Idizs latest take on how fraying Turkish-Russian ties might force Erdogan to mend ties with the West.
File image

The Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India (MMTC), along with the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED), has been carrying out a distress sale of yellow onions imported from Turkey at a price of Rs 10 per kg to state governments and others.

According to a Business Line report, onions sold at the rate of Rs 1,780 per quintal (100 kg) in the Lasalgaon onion market, which is conventionally considered the bench for deciding onion rates in India, on February 9.

The MMTC reportedly sold 375 tonnes of the Turkish onion at an as is where is basis on February 5. The report noted that it meant the seller would not give any guarantee for the quality of the onions being sold.

The Turkish onions have been holed up at a Container Freight Station (CFS), close to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) port in Navi Mumbai. MMTC, which had bought the consignment from the Centre, had told bidders to wait till 5.30 pm on February 10 until the bids are closed.

A NAFED official told the paper that a whopping 10,000 tonnes of the imported bulbs, that arrived nearly a month ago, are now available at the CFS for state government buyers.

Onion prices saw an unprecedented rise after excess rains ravaged the cash crop plantations in Maharashtras Nashik, which has the largest area for the cultivation of onions in the country, and fears of a possible dearth of the essential vegetable in the market spiked prices.

The increase started mid-August and peaked in mid-December. Rates touched Rs 8,625 per quintal in wholesale markets. In big-city retail markets, the price of the bulbs sky-rocketed to Rs 150 and even Rs 170 per kg at times. The prices started only stabilising only after January, following a steady supply of onions in the market.

The report noted that by the time the Centre directed the MMTC to start importing onions on its behalf, domestic produce had already started pouring into the market, leaving the two state-run agencies with a huge cache of onions, some of which might well be rotting by now.
VANCOUVER, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - IsoEnergy Ltd. (" IsoEnergy " or the " Company ") ( TSXV: ISO;OTCQX: ISENF ) is pleased to report two new intersections of strong radioactivity in initial drill holes of the winter drilling program at the Hurricane zone. The Hurricane zone is a new discovery of high-grade uranium mineralization on the Company's 100% owned Larocque East property (the " Property ") in the Eastern Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan (Figure 1).

Highlights:

Drill hole LE20-34 intersected 8.5m of uranium mineralization (>500CPS on the RS-125 hand-held spectrometer, the "RS-125"), including 2.0m of massive to semi-massive pitchblende measuring >65,000CPS ( off-scale on the RS-125). This is the most significant and strongest mineralization drilled to date on the property.

of uranium mineralization (>500CPS on the RS-125 hand-held spectrometer, the "RS-125"), including measuring >65,000CPS ( on the RS-125). This is the most significant and strongest mineralization drilled to date on the property. Drill hole LE20-32A also intersected 8.5m of uranium mineralization (>500CPS RS-125), including 1.5m of massive to semi-massive pitchblende measuring >65,000CPS ( off-scale on the RS-125).

of uranium mineralization (>500CPS RS-125), including measuring >65,000CPS ( on the RS-125). The two drill holes are located on the west end of the Hurricane zone, approximately 75m apart.

apart. Geochemical assays are expected within four weeks.

The Company remains well-funded with over C$6 million in the treasury.

Craig Parry, Chief Executive Officer commented: "I want to congratulate our technical team and particularly our field crew for safely and efficiently delivering outstanding drill results early in this drilling program. Holes LE20-34 and LE20-32A include thick intercepts of off-scale mineralization confirming these as our best drill results to date and we eagerly await the assay results. These great drill results come at a promising time for the sector as the market fundamentals for uranium move towards a phase of higher prices."

Steve Blower, Vice President of Exploration commented: "It is gratifying to see these substantial thicknesses of strong pitchblende mineralization in the drill core from Drill 1 early in our winter program. The results bode well for additional drill holes in this campaign, particularly on the western side of the Hurricane zone. I'm also encouraged by the alteration, structure and elevated radioactivity that we're seeing at Drill 2, well east of the current Hurricane zone footprint."

Drill Hole LE20-34 (Drill 1)

Drill hole LE20-34 was completed as a 25m step-out along-strike to the west of drill hole LE20-30, which was the first drill hole of this winter 2020 campaign (see news release dated February 4, 2020). LE20-34 intersected strongly altered sandstone before intersecting 8.5m of uranium mineralization >500CPS (RS-125) from 326.0 to 334.5m (Figures 2 and 3). The interval includes a substantial 2.0m interval of semi-massive to massive black and brown pitchblende that is off-scale on the RS-125 (>65,000CPS). Mineralization straddles the sub-Athabasca unconformity and is shown in a core photo in Figure 4. Table 1 summarizes the uranium mineralization intersected to date in the current program.

Drill Hole LE20-32A (Drill 1)

The objective of drill hole LE20-32A was to test a 50m along-strike gap between 2019 mineralized drill holes LE19-09 (4.5m @ 4.2% U 3 O 8 , 1.1% Ni, 0.8% Co) and LE19-12 (8.5m @ 3.2% U 3 O 8 , 2.1% Ni, 0.2% Co). Drill hole LE20-32A intersected strongly altered sandstone before intersecting 8.5m of uranium mineralization >500CPS (RS-125) from 329.5-338.0m (Figures 2 and 5). Similar to LE20-34, the interval includes 1.5m of semi-massive to massive black pitchblende that is off-scale on the RS-125 (>65,000CPS). Figure 6 is a core photo showing the mineralized interval.

Drill Holes LE20-31 and LE20-33 (Drill 2)

Encouraging initial results have been received from Drill 2, 200m east of the current Hurricane zone footprint. A newly recognized graphitic structural zone was observed in core from drill hole LE20-31, which is likely responsible for the alteration and radioactivity observed in the summer of 2019 in drill hole LE19-26. This new structural zone sits north of the Hurricane zone trend and is interpreted to be the west end of a strongly graphitic, highly prospective corridor that stretches several kilometres to the east. Drill hole LE20-33 targeted the new structure at the unconformity but likely overshot the zone, despite intersecting strong sandstone alteration and elevated radioactivity just above the unconformity. Drilling continues on this section.

Next Steps

Drill 1 will remain on the west end of the Hurricane zone, continuing to test the current footprint of the zone and extending the mineralization to the property boundary and to the north and south where it remains open. Assay results from drill holes LE20-32A and LE20-34 are expected within four weeks. Drill 2 will continue to evaluate the potential to expand the zone to the east. Further results of this 20-hole program will be reported periodically throughout the winter drill season.

The Larocque East Property and the Hurricane Zone

The 100% owned Larocque East property consists of 20 mineral claims totaling 8,371 ha and is not encumbered by any royalties or other interests. Larocque East is immediately adjacent to the north end of IsoEnergy's Geiger property and is 35 km northwest of Orano Canada's McClean Lake uranium mine and mill.

Along with other target areas, the Property covers a 15-kilometre-long northeast extension of the Larocque Lake conductor system; a trend of graphitic metasedimentary basement rocks that is associated with significant uranium mineralization at the Hurricane zone, and in several occurrences on Cameco Corp.'s neighbouring property to the southwest of Larocque East. The Hurricane zone was discovered in July, 2018 and was followed up with a 12-hole drilling campaign in the winter of 2019 and a recently completed 17-hole summer 2019 drilling campaign. Dimensions are currently 550m along-strike, 40m wide and up to 10m thick. The zone is open for expansion along-strike and on most sections. Mineralization is polymetallic and commonly straddles the sub-Athabasca unconformity 320 m below surface. Previous to these results, the best intersection to date was 5.4% U 3 O 8 over 7.0m in drill hole LE19-16A. Drilling at Cameco Corp.'s Larocque Lake zone on the neighbouring property to the southwest has returned historical intersections of up to 29.9% U 3 O 8 over 7.0 m in drill hole Q22-040. Like the nearby Geiger property, Larocque East is located adjacent to the Wollaston-Mudjatik transition zone - a major crustal suture related to most of the uranium deposits in the eastern Athabasca Basin. Importantly, the sandstone cover on the Property is thin, ranging between 140 m and 330 m in previous drilling. In addition to the Hurricane zone discovery, four historical drill holes have intersected weak uranium mineralization at other locations on the Property to date.

Table 1  2020 Larocque East Drilling Results

Hole-ID From (m) To (m) Length (m) Orientation Radioactivity1,2 (CPS) Chemical Assays Location







(Azm/Dip)

U 3 O 8 (%) Ni (%) Co (%)

LE20-303 329.5 335.0 5.5 180/-80 >500 Pending



Section 4460E incl. 331.0 331.5 0.5

>10,000 Pending





and 332.0 333.5 1.5

>20,000 Pending





LE20-31 No significant mineralization 180/-60







Section 5185E LE20-32A 329.5 338.0 8.5 180/-80 >500 Pending



Section 4510E incl. 334.5 337.0 2.5

>20,000 Pending





incl. 335.0 336.5 1.5

Off-scale4 Pending





LE20-33 No significant mineralization 000/-90







Section 5185E LE20-34 326.0 334.5 8.5 180/-80 >500 Pending



Section 4435E incl. 328.0 333.0 5.0

>20,000 Pending





incl. 329.5 331.5 2.0

Off-scale4 Pending







Notes: 1. Radioactivity is total gamma from drill core measured with an RS-125 hand-held spectrometer

2. Measurements of total gamma on drill core are an indication of uranium content, but may not correlate with chemical assays

3. Radioactivity previously disclosed

4. Off-scale radioactivity is defined as exceeding 65,536 cps, the maximum measurable by an RS-125 spectrometer

Qualified Person Statement

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release was prepared by Andy Carmichael, P.Geo., IsoEnergy's Senior Geologist, who is a "Qualified Person" (as defined in NI 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects). Mr. Carmichael has verified the data disclosed. All radioactivity measurements reported herein are total gamma from an RS-125 hand-held spectrometer. As mineralized drill holes at the Hurricane zone are oriented very steeply (-80 to -90 degrees) into a zone of mineralization that is interpreted to be horizontal, the true thickness of the intersections is expected to be greater than or equal to 90% of the core lengths. This news release refers to properties other than those in which the Company has an interest. Mineralization on those other properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization on the Company's properties. All chemical analyses are completed for the Company by SRC Geoanalytical Laboratories in Saskatoon, SK. For additional information regarding the Company's Larocque East Project, including its quality assurance and quality control procedures, please see the Technical Report dated effective May 15, 2019 on the Company's profile at www.sedar.com.

About IsoEnergy

IsoEnergy is a well-funded uranium exploration and development company with a portfolio of prospective projects in the eastern Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan, Canada. The Company recently discovered the high-grade Hurricane Zone of uranium mineralization on its 100% owned Larocque East property in the Eastern Athabasca Basin. IsoEnergy is led by a Board and Management team with a track record of success in uranium exploration, development and operations. The Company was founded and is supported by the team at its major shareholder, NexGen Energy Ltd.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulations 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.

This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of any securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The securities referenced herein have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), and such securities may not be offered or sold within the United States absent registration under the U.S. Securities Act or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements thereunder.

Forward-Looking Information

The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. "Forward-looking information" includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including, without limitation, planned exploration activities. Generally, but not always, forward-looking information and statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or the negative connotation thereof or 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" or the negative connotation thereof.

Such forward-looking information and statements are based on numerous assumptions, including among others, that the results of planned exploration activities are as anticipated, the price of uranium, the anticipated cost of planned exploration activities, that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner, that financing will be available if and when needed and on reasonable terms, that third party contractors, equipment and supplies and governmental and other approvals required to conduct the Company's planned exploration activities will be available on reasonable terms and in a timely manner. Although the assumptions made by the Company in providing forward-looking information or making forward-looking statements are considered reasonable by management at the time, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be accurate.

Forward-looking information and statements also involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual events or results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future events or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking information or statements, including, among others: negative operating cash flow and dependence on third party financing, uncertainty of additional financing, no known mineral reserves or resources, the limited operating history of the Company, the influence of a large shareholder, alternative sources of energy and uranium prices, aboriginal title and consultation issues, reliance on key management and other personnel, actual results of exploration activities being different than anticipated, changes in exploration programs based upon results, availability of third party contractors, availability of equipment and supplies, failure of equipment to operate as anticipated; accidents, effects of weather and other natural phenomena and other risks associated with the mineral exploration industry, environmental risks, changes in laws and regulations, community relations and delays in obtaining governmental or other approvals.

Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking information or implied by 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 forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or reissue forward-looking information as a result of new information or events except as required by applicable securities laws

SOURCE IsoEnergy Ltd.

Related Links

www.isoenergy.ca


By PTI

AHMEDABAD: An accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts was arrested from the airport in Maharashtra's capital on Monday by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), a senior official said.

He was on the radar of Gujarat ATS since last year in connection with a drug-smuggling racket.

The accused, Munaf Halari Moosa, was arrested from the Mumbai international airport on Monday morning upon his arrival from abroad, a Gujarat ATS official said.

Moosa is an accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts in which around 260 people were killed and more than 700 were injured, he said.

After the blasts, he fled the country and was hiding in South Africa, the official said.

He was under the ATS lens for his alleged role in the landing of drugs worth Rs 900 crore on the Gujarat coast last year, he said.

"The Gujarat ATS is probing his role in the drugs case," the official added.
The owners of the Dinner by Heston restaurant in Melbourne have directly blamed Crown Resorts for its role in an underpayment scandal at the high-end eatery, saying the casino company was more than simply a landlord, it was a "partner" in the failed business.

The restaurant, which is fronted by world-renowned chef Heston Blumenthal, will not trade beyond this Friday night after it went into provisional liquidation owing employees in excess of $4 million from underpayment and more than $400,000 in entitlements. It is expected to be put into liquidation by the Federal Court this week.

The Heston Blumenthal-fronted restaurant is set to close this week Credit:Wayne Taylor

The British-based arm of Dinner by Heston, a company called Tipsy Cake, released a statement to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald saying Crown was significantly involved in the underpayment scandal that has led to the imminent demise of the restaurant, and ignored attempts to address the problem. Crown disputes the claims.

As a foreign company, Tipsy relied from the outset on the advice given by advisers in Australia and our partner Crown Melbourne, who were responsible for advising on the staff remuneration blueprint for the restaurant, a Tipsy Cake spokesperson said.
WHY IS ABQ GETTING DARKER BY THE DAY? That question comes from David Vogel, who says in a recent email, Ive been noticing the steady erosion of the citys ability to maintain the street lights in our community.

Among many outages spotted on his informal street light inventory, David cites:

 During a drive heading west on Central Avenue from Tramway to University one night recently, I counted at least 109 street lights that were out of order. Sometimes an entire block or two had no lights on either side of the street. Even many of the new lights that were installed with the ART project are no longer working.

 I also noticed that the neon archway over Central Avenue in Nob Hill was mostly out of order.

David says, This is not a new phenomenon. Its a problem that has been steadily getting worse over the last two years, despite calls to the city hot line and being assured the problem would be resolved. The common response from the responsible department is that many of the citys street lights are maintained by an outside contractor, seeming to suggest that the problem is not the citys responsibility. Of course that certainly is not the case.  This is a critical safety issue for both pedestrians and drivers that the folks at City Hall do not seem to be taking seriously, despite the problem being called to their attention for some time. The dark streets also provide the perfect petri-dish environment for breeding crime.

CITY AND PNM WORKING TO BRIGHTEN THINGS UP: For answers we turn to the light experts at Public Service Company of New Mexico. Sara Yingling, who handles corporate communications, says some of the lights are out because they are being converted to LED, others are not being repaired because they are being replaced, and still others were vandalized or simply went out, and crews are in the process of getting them back on. But she emphasizes the city of Albuquerque and PNM work diligently together to keep the street lights in Albuquerque operating properly.

 The street lights on Central Avenue are partly owned by the city of Albuquerque and partly owned by PNM. The street lights from Louisiana Boulevard west to Coors Boulevard along Central are owned by the city. Approximately 900 street lights on this stretch of Central are in the process of being converted to LED. These street lights were not in the original conversion inventory because street light poles were being replaced during the ART project and many street lights were added. Citelum is now in the process of adding LED fixtures to all 900 street lights starting at Coors and going east to Louisiana. We have converted approximately 100 lights so far and will finish this project by early spring. In the meantime, we are not repairing any street lights in that group that are out in order to maximize resources and move more quickly on the conversion.

As for Louisiana to Tramway, PNM does maintain these lights. We have had a few of them reported out recently. When a PNM crew was sent to repair them, the crew reported some had been vandalized and the base covers and some of the connections that powered the lights were missing. PNM crews repaired the connections, but for some reason the vandals have targeted the base covers repeatedly. We havent had much of the wire stolen recently, just the connections and the base covers.

 The Nob Hill Arch at Girard center-section neon has malfunctioned and (the citys) Department of Municipal Development has notified the citys Public Art Program. They are in the process of working with a local company to have the neon repaired.

And while Yingling says Citelum and DMD routinely patrol the city in search of street lights that have failed, she adds that often PNM does not know if a streetlight is out unless customers report them.

And so if, like David, things seems extra dark to you, you can report a street light outage to the city by calling 311 or using the One ABQ app, or to PNM by logging on to www.pnm.com/streetlights, calling 888-DIAL-PNM (1-888-342-5766) or chatting live with a customer service representative on the PNM website.

And for all reports, Yingling advises it is especially helpful to have an exact address to pinpoint the light or at least be as specific as possible.

Editorial page editor DVal Westphal tackles commuter issues for the Metro area on Mondays. Reach her at 823-3858; dwestphal@abqjournal.com; or 7777 Jefferson NE, Albuquerque, N.M., 87109.
An Igbo socio-cultural and political organization, Imeobi Igbo Forum has warned the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu against attending the burial of his parents in Afaraukwu community, Umuahia, Abia State.

KanyiDaily had reported that Nnamdi Kanus father, Eze Okwu Kanu, who is the traditional ruler of Afara Ukwu Umuahia community in Abia State, and his wife, Ugoeze Sally Kanu, will be buried on Friday, February 14, 2020.

While addressing newsmen in Onitsha, Anambra State, the National Chairman of the Igbo forum, Chief Mike Ikegulu-Onugha, stated that, Kanu should steer clear of the burial arena until all the issues are resolved.

He should wait until the coast is clear for him to come back. The dead must be buried whether Nnamdi is around or not. If he comes home, it is an opportunity for those who are looking for him to get him. We should not wait until he returns before the dead is buried. Left for me, the government of the federation should allow him to come and bury his parents. I wish he will come and bury his parents the way I did mine. However, rather than come and get involved in all sorts of trouble and military things and all sorts of issues, it is better for him to keep off. The Federal Government should forgive a freedom fighter who is asking for a democratic/judicial means of independence. I see no harm in him, the President should pardon him to come back.

The forum National chairman while sympathising with the family of Nnamdi Kanu over the demise of their parents, urged them to take heart.

in all struggles, stories like this comes up. These are stories that will be told better in life. His parents died in the struggle, let us not mince words about it. The struggle has taken toll on them, he stated further.

Meanwhile, Nnamdi Kanu has threatened to go after the children of the Abia State police commissioner, Ene Okon, should there be any killings at his parents burial.

This is after CP Ene Okon had threatened to mobilize police to scatter the burial if IPOB members were seen anywhere around the burial venue.

The commissioner also made it clear that police will not spare Nnamdi Kanu if he sets foot in Abia for his parents burial or any other thing for that matter because he was declared wanted.
KANAZAWA, Japan, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers at Kanazawa University report in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology a promising novel approach for a combined treatment of the most common type of lung cancer and associated secondary cancers in the central nervous system. The approach lies in combining two cancer drugs, with one compensating for a resistance side effect of the other.

In 20  40% of patients with cancer, metastasis (the development of secondary tumors) in the central nervous system (CNS) occurs. CNS metastatis impacts negatively on a patient's quality of life, and is associated with a poor health prognosis. In a form of cancer known as ALK-rearranged non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), CNS metastatis is known to persist when drugs targeting primary tumors are used. Now, Seiji Yano from Kanazawa University and colleagues have investigated the origins for the resistence to such drugs, and tested a new therapeutic strategy on a mouse model.

The researchers looked at the drug alectinib. Although used in standard treatments for advanced ALK-rearranged NSCLC, approximately 20  30% of patients treated with alectinib develop CNS metastatis, which is attributed to acquired resistance to the drug.

By treating mice first injected with tumor cells with alectinib daily for 16 weeks, the scientists obtained a mouse model displaying alectinib resistance. By biochemical analyses of the mouse brains, Yano and colleagues were able to link the resistance to the activation of a protein known as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). This activation is, in turn, a result of an increase in production of amphiregulin (AREG), a protein that binds to EGFR and in doing so 'activates' it.

Based on this insight, the researchers tested the effect of administering drugs used for inhibiting the action of EGFR in combination with alectinib treatment. The experiments showed that a combination treatment of alctinib with either erlotinib or osimertinib  two existing EGFR-inibiting drugs  prevented the progression of CNS metastasis, controlling the condition for over 30 days.

The scientists conclude that the combined use of alectinib and EGFR-inhibitors could overcome alectinib resistance in the mouse model of leptomeningeal carcinomatosis (LMC), a particular type of CNS metastasis. Quoting Yano and colleagues: "Our findings may provide rationale for clinical trials to investigate the effects of novel therapies dual-targeting ALK and EGFR in ALK-rearranged NSCLC with alectinib-resistant LMC."

Background

Non-small-cell lung cancer

Non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) and small-cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) are the two types of lung cancer. 85% of all lung cancers are of the NSCLC type. NSCLCs are less sensitive to chemotherapy than SCLCs, making drug treatment of the highest importance.

Alectinib is a drug used for treating NSCLC, with good efficiency. However, 20-30% of patients taking the drug develop secondary cancer in the central nervous system (CNS), which is associated with an acquired resistance to alectinib. Seiji Yano from Kanazawa University and colleagues have now made progress towards a novel therapy against this resistance: a combination of alectinib with other drugs.

Epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors

The drugs that Yano and colleagues tested in combination with alectinib on a mouse model were of a type known as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors, including osimertinib and erlotinib. Both are being used as medication for treating NSCLC. The former was approved in 2017 as cancer treatment by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Commission. Yano and colleagues obtained results showing that EGFR inhibitors counteract resistance to alectinib and have therefore potential in novel therapies for NSCLC and secondary cancers in the CNS.

Reference

Sachiko Arai, Shinji Takeuchi, Koji Fukuda, Hirokazu Taniguchi, Akihiro Nishiyama, Azusa Tanimoto, Miyako Satouchi, Kaname Yamashita, Koshiro Ohtsubo, Shigeki Nanjo, Toru Kumagai, Ryohei Katayama, Makoto Nishio, Mei-mei Zheng, Yi-Long Wu, Hiroshi Nishihara, Takushi Yamamoto, Mitsutoshi Nakada, and Seiji Yano. Osimertinib overcomes alectinib resistance caused by amphiregulin in a leptomeningeal carcinomatosis model of ALK-rearranged lung cancer, Journal of Thoracic Oncology, published online on January 21, 2020.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jtho.2020.01.001

URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1556086420300228

About Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI)

https://nanolsi.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/en/

Nano Life Science Institute (NanoLSI), Kanazawa University is a research center established in 2017 as part of the World Premier International Research Center Initiative of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The objective of this initiative is to form world-tier research centers. NanoLSI combines the foremost knowledge of bio-scanning probe microscopy to establish 'nano-endoscopic techniques' to directly image, analyze, and manipulate biomolecules for insights into mechanisms governing life phenomena such as diseases.

About Kanazawa University

http://www.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/e/

As the leading comprehensive university on the Sea of Japan coast, Kanazawa University has contributed greatly to higher education and academic research in Japan since it was founded in 1949. The University has three colleges and 17 schools offering courses in subjects that include medicine, computer engineering, and humanities.

The University is located on the coast of the Sea of Japan in Kanazawa  a city rich in history and culture. The city of Kanazawa has a highly respected intellectual profile since the time of the fiefdom (1598-1867). Kanazawa University is divided into two main campuses: Kakuma and Takaramachi for its approximately 10,200 students including 600 from overseas.

Further information

Hiroe Yoneda

Vice Director of Public Affairs

WPI Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI)

Kanazawa University

Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa 920-1192, Japan

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +81-(76)-234-4550

SOURCE Kanazawa University
Two healthcare workers have been diagnosed with coronavirus, Public Health England has said, as a GP surgery was closed after it was linked to a UK case of the illness.

County Oak Medical Centre in Brighton - where one of the healthcare workers is reported to be based - has been temporarily shut, with a person in protective clothing seen cleaning the premises on Monday.

Brackley Medical Centre in Northamptonshire says it has also closed "due to a potential coronavirus incident" but insists it does not have a confirmed case.

It was revealed on Monday that four more patients in England have been diagnosed with the coronavirus - including the two healthcare workers - bringing the total number of cases in the UK to eight.

The four people infected are all understood to have come into contact with a businessman who contracted the virus at a conference in Singapore and was diagnosed in Brighton last week.

Eleven Britons with coronavirus in total are thought to have contracted it from the man, prompting fears he could be a so-called "superspreader".

The UK government has declared that the coronavirus is a "serious and imminent threat to public health" - with new legal powers announced on Monday allowing people with the virus to be forcibly quarantined.

It is understood that the decision came after one of the Britons who returned from Wuhan in China - the source of the coronavirus outbreak - attempted to leave isolation at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside.

In other developments:

The Department of Health said the four people in the UK who have been newly diagnosed with the coronavirus contracted the illness in France.

They are being treated at specialist infection centres at St Thomas' and the Royal Free hospitals in London.

Public Health England's emeritus medical director Paul Cosford told Sky News that the new UK coronavirus cases were "not a surprise" because of their links to an existing case.

Story continues

He said: "I'm sure we can expect to see some more cases. Our hope is by the intensive action we're taking at the moment, that we can avoid any further spread from these cases."

However, the World Health Organization has warned that the spread of coronavirus to people who have no travel history to China could be "the spark that becomes a bigger fire".

Director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "In recent days we have seen some concerning instances of onward transmission from people with no travel history to China, like the cases reported in France and the UK.

"The detection of this small number of cases could be the spark that becomes a bigger fire. But for now, it's only a spark.

"Our objective remains containment. We call on all countries to use the window of opportunity we have to prevent a bigger fire."

The WHO has identified 168 labs around the world with the right technology to diagnose the virus - and has sent testing kits to places including Ethiopia, Iran, Uganda and Zambia.

Public Health England medical director Yvonne Doyle said the latest UK cases of coronavirus are "all closely linked to one another".

She added: "Our priority has been to speak to those who have close and sustained contact with confirmed cases, so we can advise them on what they can do to limit the spread of the virus.

"Two of these new cases are healthcare workers and as soon as they were identified, we advised them to self-isolate in order to keep patient contact to a minimum.

"We are now working urgently to identify all patients and other healthcare workers who may have come into close contact, and at this stage we believe this to be a relatively small number."

British Airways says it has cancelled all its flights to Beijing and Shanghai until 31 March in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, while flights from the two Chinese cities have been cancelled until 1 April.

Meanwhile, St Mary's Independent School in Southampton told Sky News it has been temporarily closed over coronavirus fears.

In a statement, St Mary's said it would remain shut for the next two days "due to a potential risk of coronavirus reported by members of the school community who have become ill, having recently travelled to the region affected".

It added: "The school will undertake an enhanced clean following advice from Public Health England."

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Fifteen people linked to the UK have been diagnosed with the coronavirus.

In addition to the eight cases being treated in the UK, French authorities said on Sunday that five Britons, including a nine-year-old child, had been diagnosed with the disease.

They had been staying in the same chalet in the French Alps as the British businessman who contracted it in Singapore, and are not in a serious condition in hospital in France, authorities said.

A British man also tested positive for coronavirus in Majorca after he had stayed in the same Alps ski resort.

Meanwhile, Alan Steele, who was on honeymooning with his wife on the Diamond Princess cruise liner, was diagnosed while the luxury ship was quarantined off the coast of Japan.

Scientists in China have found the new coronavirus can have an incubation period of up to 24 days after analysing data on more than 1,000 patients from 552 hospitals across the country.

They discovered the median incubation period was three days but ranged from zero to 24 days.

Currently, the World Health Organisation estimates the incubation period to be up to 14 days.
South Africa: AU champions women empowerment in 2020

South Africas agenda during its African Union (AU) chairship will focus on womens financial and economic inclusion, gender-based violence and accountability to global gender commitments.

AU Chair President Cyril Ramaphosa outlined the countrys focus on women at the High-Level Breakfast Meeting on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The meeting took place on Saturday ahead of the 33rd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where President Ramaphosa assumed chairship.

As 2020 marks the final year of the commitment made in Agenda 2063 of ensuring 50% of womens representation in decision-making, President Ramaphosa called on Heads of State to make catalytic change at national level that will have multiplier effects on the continent.

For example, to attain womens financial inclusion and economic empowerment, we must look beyond micro-finance solutions and invest in solutions that target the full range of constraints that women face in growing their businesses, the President said.

He further called on member States to actively participate in the Beijing + 25 World Conference on Women celebrations, such as the Gender Equality Forums, as well as global and regional sessions taking place. South Africa will host a session in July 2020.

We propose a 5-point Action Plan that will be accompanied by a detailed programme.

We will invite member States to declare the years 2020  2030 as the Decade of African Womens Financial and Economic Inclusion - with goals and targets, said the President.

In addition, President Ramaphosa says the Union will also ask all member States to commit to preferential public procurement legislation requiring 30% of all government procurement go to women owned businesses, and adopt an annual monitoring framework for the same.

We will ask Heads of States commit to lead from the front, and redouble efforts to end gender-based violence, he said.

Member States, through the AU, will be asked to endorse holding an Africa conference on violence and sexual harassment, leading to an AU convention on violence against women.

We will ask the member States to repeal all discriminatory laws by December 2026. We will advocate for All AU Member States to commit to ratify the ILO Convention on Sexual Harassment by December 2020.

We will encourage all AU Member States to commit to gender parity in national cabinets and gender equal parliaments by 2030, said the President.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-02-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
[February 10, 2020] BitGo Expands Global Presence With Regulated Custody in Switzerland and Germany

BitGo, the leader in digital asset financial services, announced today that the company is expanding its global presence with new custodial entities in Switzerland and Germany. BitGo's Swiss entity BitGo GmbH is a member of the Financial Services Standards Association (VQF), supervised by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). BitGo's German entity, BitGo Deutschland GmbH, is currently providing custody services in Germany and will apply for regulatory approval when the application window opens in November 2020. BitGo introduced the first regulated custodian purpose-built for digital assets in 2018 when it launched BitGo Trust Company in the United States and has seen strong adoption. Now, with these two new companies in Switzerland and Germany, BitGo clients can select the jurisdiction that is the best fit for their business. "We saw a lot of demand in Europe last year and it was clear that clients there needed to be able to work with European based firms that were reulated within specific jurisdictions," said Mike Belshe, CEO, BitGo. "Switzerland and Germany have both become important European centers for digital assets as well as for forward-thinking regulatory frameworks. Regulatory compliance is a prerequisite for our clients, and we have been impressed with the understanding and support of Swiss and German regulators."



BitGo provides institutional clients with a comprehensive set of security, custody, and liquidity services for digital assets. BitGo clients are responsible for other parties' assets, often operating in a fiduciary capacity, and that requires the highest levels of security and regulatory compliance. Built on BitGo's pioneering multi-signature security, BitGo's custody offerings are purpose-built for securing today's digital assets. BitGo is focused on regulatory compliance corporate governance and was the first firm to announce SOC 2 Type 2 certification from a leading audit firm. About BitGo

BitGo is the leader in digital asset financial services, providing institutional investors with security, custody, and liquidity solutions. BitGo processes over 20% of all global Bitcoin transactions, and supports over 250 coins and tokens. BitGo's customer base includes the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges and spans more than 50 countries. In 2018, it launched BitGo Trust Company, the first qualified custodian purpose-built for storing digital assets. BitGo is backed by Craft Ventures, Digital Currency Group, DRW, Galaxy Digital Ventures, Goldman Sachs, Redpoint Ventures, and Valor Equity Partners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200210005029/en/

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New Delhi: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) addressed a huge rally in Mumbai. During this time, he lashed out at the people opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) - National Citizenship Register (NRC). Raj Thackeray said that citizenship amendment laws are not for Muslims who are born in India. Then by opposing it, to who are they showing their strength.

Tension increased between US and Iran, Iran shows ballistic missile Raad-500

In fact, on Sunday, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) took out a huge front against Muslim infiltrators from Pakistan and Bangladesh. It turned into a rally at Azad Maidan. A large number of workers arrived in this. According to media reports, he said after the rally, the MNS rally gave a fitting reply to the people protesting against CAA and NRC. But next time only Morcha will respond with Morcha. If this drama continues in this way, the stones will be answered with stones and the sword will be answered by the sword.

Coronavirus wreaks havoc in China, death toll reaches 813

Recently the MNS started a campaign against the infiltrators, MNS demanded that they are expelled from the country, describing these people as intruders of the country. Political analysts believe that Raj Thackeray has started taking back the politics of Hindutva, which seems to be going away.

New immigration policy may be announced in Britain this week, many countries including India will benefit
Washington, Feb 10 : The US has charged four Chinese military officers over the huge cyber-attack on credit rating giant Equifax.

More than 147 million Americans were affected in 2017 when hackers stole sensitive personal data, including names and addresses, BBC reported.

Some UK and Canadian customers were also affected.

Announcing the indictments, Attorney General William Barr called the hack "one of the largest data breaches in history".

According to court documents, the four are allegedly members of the People's Liberation Army's 54th Research Institute, a component of the Chinese military.

They spent weeks in the company's system, breaking into security networks and stealing personal data, the documents said.

The group are also charged with stealing trade secrets including data compilation and database designs.

Equifax said hackers accessed the information between mid-May and the end of July 2017 when the company discovered the breach. The credit rating firm holds data on more than 820 million consumers as well as information on 91 million businesses.

In a statement Barr said: "This was a deliberate and sweeping intrusion into the private information of the American people.

"Today we hold PLA hackers accountable for their criminal actions, and we remind the Chinese government that we have the capability to remove the Internet's cloak of anonymity and find the hackers that nation repeatedly deploys against us." China has not yet commented on the charges.
A U.S. House panel will hold a hearing Tuesday on autonomous vehicles as lawmakers try to hammer out legislation to advance self-driving cars.

An Energy and Commerce subcommittee overseeing automotive issues will hear from officials of trade groups representing automakers and tech companies, as well as safety advocates and a San Francisco transit official.

Congress has worked for four years on legislation that would remove regulatory barriers but has not reached agreement. Last summer, a bipartisan group of lawmakers released sections of a draft self-driving car bill for discussion.

The bills that have been under consideration would clear the way for automakers and tech firms to deploy tens of thousands of self-driving vehicles without human controls on U.S. roads if they could demonstrate the vehicles were at least as safe as human-driven vehicles. They would also bar states from setting performance standards for self-driving cars.

Manufacturers of autonomous vehicles and semi-autonomous technologies are working to transform the way we travel, and we must ensure that these technologies are rigorously tested and properly deployed with necessary safety oversight and accountability, said Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone and Representative Jan Schakowsky, the subcommittee chair.

The committee confirmed witnesses will include John Bozzella, who heads an auto trade association representing General Motors Co., Toyota Motor Corp., Volkswagen AG and others; Gary Shapiro, who heads the Consumer Technology Association, and Jeff Tumlin, director of transportation at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. Significant self-driving car testing is occurring in San Francisco and the surrounding area.

One key hurdle to approval has been concerns raised by trial lawyers that legislation could preempt lawsuits against self-driving cars that did not perform properly.

Daniel Hinkle, who is state affairs counsel at the American Association of Justice, which represents plaintiffs attorneys, will testify.

On Thursday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gave permission for autonomous vehicle startup Nuro Inc to deploy up to 5,000 low-speed electric delivery vehicles without human controls like mirrors, the first time the agency temporarily waived safety rules to allow deployment of self-driving vehicles.

Supporters of legislation say Congress must act because the existing rules assume a human driver is in control, hindering widescale deployment.

After an Uber test vehicle was involved in the first death caused by a self-driving car, the National Transportation Safety Board urged NHTSA to require testing operators of self-driving vehicles to submit a safety self-assessment. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Topics Legislation Auto Personal Auto Autonomous Vehicles
By Laman Ismayilova

With its fascinating exhibits, Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum never ceases to amaze art lovers.

The museum actively cooperates with international partners and implements multiple cultural project aimed at promotion of Azerbaijan's carpet weaving art. The cooperation with the Hermitage Museum is another important step in this direction.

A memorandum of understanding has been recently signed between the National Carpet Museum and the Hermitage Museum.

The signing ceremony was attended by museums directors Shirin Melikova and Mikhail Piotrovsky.

The document reflects the intentions of the parties on the development and expansion of bilateral relations and cultural cooperation in the field of spreading knowledge about the history, culture and traditions of the two countries.

The sides plan to conduct research work, exchange information and experience in the field of museum business, including storage and restoration of exhibits, and implement joint exhibition projects.

The memorandum provides catalogue of Azerbaijani carpets stored in the Hermitage Museum, clarification of their labels and annotations in terms of indicating Azerbaijan as their place of manufacture, as well as the organization of a joint exhibition of two museums in November 2020, as part of the IX St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum.

Special place will be taken by work to improve the conditions of access to cultural property for people with special needs.

The project "Pazyryk carpet is one of such programs. The project unites the experience of the two museums in this area. Moreover, it is also planned to present replicas of Pazyryk carpets for visually impaired people.

The project will be based on a special weaving method developed at the National Carpet Museum, which combines piled and pileless carpet weaving techniques.

Each exhibit will be accompanied by Braille text and a tiflocom commentary (a laconic description of an object.

The first inter-museum project will be coordinated by the director of the National Carpet Museum Shirin Melikova and the head of the Hermitage's Laboratory for Scientific Restoration of Precious Metals Igor Malkiel.

This is the second joint project of two museums. At the invitation of the National Carpet Museum Igor Malkiel held a training in last year. The event discussed conservation of the museum's jewelry collection and inclusive programs.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
A British man managed to pass on the coronavirus to at least 11 other people without ever setting foot in the epicentre of the outbreak in China, in an infectious journey that shows how the deadly virus can spread rapidly around a globalised world. The adult British citizen, who has not been named publicly, caught the virus while attending a conference in Singapore and then passed it on to several compatriots while on holiday in the French Alps, before finally being diagnosed back in the UK. Of those infected by the man, five have been hospitalised in France, five in Britain and one other man on the Spanish island of Mallorca. How did he pass on the new coronavirus so rapidly in so many different places? - Singapore - The man attended a business conference in Singapore from 20-22 January. More than 100 people took part in the conference, including at least one Chinese national from Hubei province, the epicentre of the epidemic that has now left more than 900 dead. - Haute-Savoie, French Alps - He then travelled on to France to spend some days from January 24-28 at the ski resort of Contamines-Montjoie in the Alps with a group of other British citizens staying in two apartments in the same chalet. - Brighton, England - Stricken with fever after his return to the south of England, the man then went to a medical centre in the southeastern town of Brighton where he was diagnosed with the coronavirus. On February 6 he was transferred to the infectious diseases unit at the hospital of St Thomas in London. Five other people who had contact with him at the French ski chalet were then confirmed by the British health authorities to be infected. Some of the staff from The Grenadier pub, which the man went to just before he was hospitalised, have also been placed in isolation. But the pub has stayed open. A medical centre in Brighton said Monday it had temporarily closed for "an urgent operational health and safety reason". The BBC and Sky News said one of the centre's staff members had tested positive for the virus, although this was not officially confirmed. - Paris - Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said on February 8 that five British nationals, including a child, who stayed at the chalet with the man had tested positive. Six other Britons staying in the same chalet were also hospitalised for observation. "They show no serious signs" of those infected having any threat to their lives, added Buzyn. Business owners in the Contamines-Montjoie resort have been keen to avoid any exaggerations of the threat as French families prepared to descend on the area for the half-term ski holidays. Three schools attended by one of the British infected -- the child aged nine -- are closed and 100 have been people tested. All the results have been negative so far. Similar efforts have been made to track down passengers who took a flight from Geneva -- the closest large airport to Contamines-Montjoie -- with the man when he went back to Britain on January 28. - Mallorca, Spain - One member of the group he stayed with in France then sought medical help after returning to his home in Mallorca. The contamination took place between January 25 and January 29, according to the Spanish authorities. The man in Mallorca is "currently in good health. He shows practically no symptom," said Fernando Simon, an official from Spain's health ministry. The Mallorca man's wife and two daughters aged 10 and 7, who were also hospitalised for tests, have shown no sign of infection. - Speed of spread spurs fears - Experts said that the speed of the transmission showed the potential for the novel coronavirus to become a global pandemic. "The recent report of transmission to British nationals in France are a worrying but perhaps not unexpected development," said Paul Hunter, Professor in Medicine, University of East Anglia. "This reinforces the fact that transmission is no longer restricted to China. It is still too early to know when and if the epidemic will become pandemic and whether we will see start to see sustained person to person transmission in Europe." The resort of Contamines-Montjoie in the French Alps, where the British man travelled in late January The journey of a British man who contaminated several members of his family and friends after a business trip to Singapore A medical worker cleans the floor of a pharmacy attached to a medical centre in Brighton, English The centre where coronavirus took place in the French Alps resort of Contamines-Montjoie
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is battling Russian-backed rebels in the east. Hes trying to zigzag around Donald Trumps impeachment drama. Even what should pass for good news, the countrys flourishing economy, has a catch: The stronger Ukraines economic growth, the more an obscure debt derivative could punch a hole in its finances.

The source of that trouble is a financial instrument that Ukraine granted in 2015 as it teetered on default. To compensate creditors who agreed to write off part of the countrys debt, the government granted so-called GDP warrants that promise future payoffs tied to the countrys annual gross domestic product growth. Think of GDP warrants as a bit like stocks. Instead of owning a piece of a company, investors own a share of the countrys economic expansion. The stronger the upturn, the higher the payout.

What seemed like a good idea then is now a looming headache for Zelenskiy, a former TV comedian who entered politics formally just a year ago. During the restructuring handled under the previous government, the result of an International Monetary Fund bailout, Kyiv convinced bondholders to write off $3.2 billion in exchange for the warrants. As the instruments pay out over the next few decades, Ukraine could end up paying out much more than it saved by restructuring.

Although the total amounts are modest compared with, say, the U.S. national debt, the impact on Ukraine could be significant. The government doesnt have to pay any returns on the securities when real GDP growth is slower than 3% a year. It will make a small payout for growth from 3% to 4%. The big action comes when annual growth exceeds 4%. For example, in a year where the pace of expansions reaches 6%, Ukraine will be on the hook to pay as much as 40 on each warrant, which would cost about $1 billion.

Thats hardly a long shot: Ukraine has achieved annual growth of at least 6% five times since the beginning of the millennium, and its government is targeting medium-term growth of as much as 7%. Based on those projections, the government estimates its cumulative obligations for the warrants could exceed $10 billion by maturity in 2040. For investors, theres a promise of big payoffs from the warrants, which trade at about $1 each. For someone buying them at that price, a year of 6% annual GDP growth would translate into a 40% return.

Zelenskiys government may have a bit of breathing room, because the restructuring agreement caps payout amounts until 2025. Next year is the first year Ukraine has to pay out on the securities, and it may need to come up with as much as $100 million for investors. Government officials have already said theyre looking at ways to minimize the liability before the first payments are made. Some investors anticipate the government will offer to buy back the warrants or exchange them for bonds.

Ukraines financial rebound has surprised many investors. The hryvnia lost more than half of its value in an economic crisis after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and Kremlin-backed rebels launched an insurgency in the countrys east. With its industry shattered, in 2015 the countrys pro-European Union leadership entered the IMF program that retired 20% of its external debt in exchange for the warrants.

Four years later, investors have piled in. Ukraines currency and foreign bonds handed them the highest returns among all emerging markets in 2019, according to the Bloomberg Barclays Index.

Theres a danger those gains could offer an illusion of security to Zelenskiy, whose grasp of economics has been the brunt of ridicule in his own government. The president understands exchange-rate changes only when theyre explained to him using the price of his New Years potato-and-mayonnaise salad, Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk quipped, according to a recording later made public.

GDP warrants have been a part of other big sovereign debt restructurings, but with mixed results. Argentina offered similar notes to creditors who were burned by the countrys $95 billion default two decades ago. Plans to buy them back, saving as much as $9.4 billion, were scrapped in 2017 after the country decided to instead use proceeds to roll over maturing debt. The warrants have since fallen to about a sixth of their value at the time.

Greece, too, offered GDP warrants in its 2012 restructuring. Theyve been trading at less than half their issue price for the last five years. The Greek instruments, unlike Ukraines, were structured to put a lid on future payouts for blockbuster growth and show little sign of generating a payout.

Its not easy to say how well Ukraine and its creditors understood these instruments, researchers Stephen Park from the University of Connecticut and Tim Samples at the University of Georgia, who have studied the warrants, wrote in an email. To be fair, they added, the recurring challenge with these deals is that theyre struck when confidence in the country is at a nadir. Its easy to say that Ukraine is losing really bad here, Samples says, but thats because all we see is the payouts and not whether the government gained important goodwill with creditors in 2015 by promising a share of growth down the road.

Many of the warrants recipients havent waited around. Franklin Templeton bond chief Michael Hasenstab led the group of creditors negotiating the 2015 deal. He held a significant chunk of Ukraines debt during the restructuring. But he wound down his holdings of the GDP warrants and exited in mid-2019.

Other members of the bondholder committee, including BTG Pactual Europe, T. Rowe Price Associates, and TCW Investment Management, have probably exited, or sold and then rebuilt, their positions, according to holdings data compiled by Bloomberg. (They all declined to comment.)

If Zelenskiy hopes to sweep the warrants off the market from the new investors that have snapped them up, itll cost him. The securities, after tripling in price from their initial value of about 33could easily trade at 130, the fair value estimated by Citigroup Inc. analysts.

Says David Nietlispach, a Zurich-based money manager at Pala Assets, who owns the notes: If they want to buy the bonds back, they will have to pay a very, very high price.

Read the original text at Bloomberg.
In context: Microsoft officially ended Windows 7s extended support for non-paying customers on January 14, but the company had to push out another free update a week laterand it might be forced to do it again. Many users of the venerable OS have complained that theyre unable to shut down or restart their computers due to an unknown bug.

In late January, it was discovered that one of Microsofts final free updates was causing wallpaper problems for some users, showing an image as black when set to stretch. The company was forced to issue a free fix, but a more serious problem has appeared.

Over the last couple of days, users on Reddit, Twitter, and Microsofts forums have all reported their Windows 7 machines suddenly wont shut down or reboot; instead, the PCs show a message that reads: "you don't have permission to shut down this computer."

Bleeping Computer has listed some workarounds for the problem, including hitting CTL+ALT+DEL and clicking the red icon in the lower right-hand corner of the screen, creating new admin accounts, and running the Group Policy Editor from the command line to force permissions.

While its unclear what has caused the issue, some say the recent Adobe update is to blame, and that disabling "Adobe Genuine Monitor Service," "Adobe Genuine Software Integrity Service," and "Adobe Update" services will fix the problem.

In a statement to Bleeping Computer, Microsoft said: We are aware of some Windows 7 customers reporting that they are unable to shut down without first logging off and are actively investigating

Assuming this is a bug within Windows, Microsoft will likely push out another free update to address the problem.

Its been almost a month since Windows 7 support ended, and companies are having to pay the high prices for extended security updates. The German government is one customerit has to hand over around $886,000 after failing to upgrade to Windows 10 in time.
Residents of Wollongong, south of Sydney, are being warned to evacuate as rising floodwaters from torrential rain threaten to cut off roads.

The NSW State Emergency Service issued a 'prepare to leave' warning late Monday morning, giving residents in the coastal city and nearby low-lying areas just two hours to pack up and go.

'As a result of rising floodwaters residents within the areas listed below should prepare to evacuate within the next 2 hours,' The SES said.

A warning is in place for areas near Lake Illawarra including Jettys By The Lake Lifestyle Village, Oaklands Lifestyle Village, South Pacific Park Village, Oasis Resort and Caravan Park.

The SES warned roads access will be cut if floodwaters reach above 1.5m.

A car is seen under floodwater at Marrickville in Sydney on Sunday after the massive downpour over the weekend

The Sydney basin has seen the heaviest rainfall in about 20 years in the past few days as communities were hammered by an East Coast Low that also brought strong winds. Pictured: Flooded roads in Narrabeen in Sydney's Northern Beaches

Meanwhile, evacuations are underway in Moorebank, Chipping Norton and Milperra.

A severe weather warning was issued on Sunday for the entire coast of NSW, and remains in place as heavy rains, strong winds and dangerous surf conditions predicted for Monday.

The Bureau of Meteorology warned of 'life-threatening flash flooding' in the Hunter region, the Central Coast, greater Sydney, Illawarra and the Blue Mountains.

The Sydney basin was pummelled over the weekend with the heaviest rainfall in up to two decades as Harbour City communities fell prey to an east coast low that also brought strong winds.

Sydney, the Central Coast and the Blue Mountains were soaked after receiving between 200mm and 400mm of rain from 9am Friday to 5pm Sunday.

A man leaves his car after it failed to start while sitting in floodwater in Sydney on Sunday

Marrickville, in Sydney's inner-west, was inundated as parts of NSW were hit with as much as 400mm of rain since Friday

Four people were hospitalised on Sunday afternoon after a tree fell on their car in the Sydney CBD, and a 16-year-old boy was treated for broken ribs after being trapped between debris in the Hunter's Allyn River.

A car was also reportedly swept away in Galston on Sunday afternoon, but police have no evidence anyone was inside the vehicle.

There was relief on Monday when floodwaters along major rivers appeared to peak overnight. However moderate flooding has persisted at North Richmond and Windsor along the Hawkesbury River, as well as Menangle on the Nepean.

Water from the Georges River was also inundating Milperra and Liverpool in western Sydney early on Monday, the NSW State Emergency Service said.

River levels at Milperra are now higher than during the 1988 flood and major flooding is impacting other areas such as Warwick Farm and Chipping Norton.

Residents near the Narrabeen Lagoon in northern Sydney evacuated overnight after warnings of significant flooding.

The NSW SES has responded to about 10,000 calls for help and carried out multiple rescues of people trapped by rising rivers and floodwaters.

'People need to be reminded - if you can't see the road, don't drive across it,' NSW Emergency Services Minister David Elliott told the Seven Network.

The weather has also caused major disruptions to Sydney's public transport system and road networks, with commuters told to check timetables and travel apps before setting out on Monday morning.
WASHINGTON -- The Solar Orbiter mission will use a U.S. Naval Research Laboratory-designed and -built heliospheric camera, known as SoloHI, to provide unique perspectives and unprecedented views of the Sun's North and South poles. The spacecraft, a NASA and European Space Agency collaboration, launched aboard an Atlas V rocket at Cape Canaveral, Florida, Feb. 9.

A number of other solar missions are currently studying the Sun's impact on Earth. Those spacecraft, however, travel in the same plane Earth orbits the Sun while the Solar Orbiter circles at an angle off this ecliptic plane to provide views of each pole.

"The magnetic field at the Sun's poles are controlling the overall magnetic structure of the interplanetary magnetic field. We're just embedded in the Sun's magnetic field," said NRL astrophysicist Robin Colaninno. "When solar storms occur, that's the Earth's magnetic field interacting with the Sun's magnetic field. That's what generates aurora borealis and similar events that have a great deal of effect here on Earth."

An aurora is a light show caused by collisions between electrically charged particles released from the Sun that enter the Earth's atmosphere and collide with gases such as oxygen and nitrogen. The Northern and Southern Hemispheres light up around the magnetic poles.

Researchers can use SoloHI and the other nine instruments on Solar Orbiter to examine phenomena on the Sun like never before since the spacecraft looks down at the Sun, instead of viewing it from the side.

"We see an event at one point in the solar atmosphere. The question has always been, 'does that instability occur in isolation or does it impact other regions as well,'" said SoloHI principal investigator Russ Howard. "Now, we will have a view of this whole region. If something goes off in one area, we'll be able to see it propagating through the atmosphere."

Solar Orbiter seeks to resolve the physics of the stream of charged particles from the Sun. SoloHI will image the variable solar wind as it leaves the Sun, and as it hits the spacecraft and heads to Earth.

"We know that the interplanetary medium is filled with charged dust, but all the space weather models ignore this dust," said Howard. "Solar Orbiter is putting the focus back on the processes that are involved in transporting material from the Sun to Earth."

For the next seven years, scientists will look to Solar Orbiter to supplement results from other missions for a comprehensive look at this huge volume of space. Refined forecasts of solar storms, and other Sun-related disturbances, will improve satellite communications and spacecraft operations in the solar system.

###

About the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory

NRL is a scientific and engineering command dedicated to research that drives innovative advances for the Navy and Marine Corps from the seafloor to space and in the information domain. NRL headquarters is located in Washington, D.C., with major field sites in Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, Key West, Florida, and Monterey, California, and employs approximately 2,500 civilian scientists, engineers and support personnel.
Attorney General William Barr says the Justice Department has set up an 'intake process' to review information out of Ukraine  and confirmed that it was taking information from the president's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.

Barr made the comments a day after Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Sunday the Justice Department was getting information through Giuliani about Ukraine  just days after the Senate voted to acquit President Trump of abuse of power for his efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate the Bidens.

Giuliani is gathering in Ukraine about the presidents Democratic rival Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, who held a lucrative post on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.

But even as he confirmed the department he oversees would be fielding information from Giuliani, Barr cautioned that federal officials have 'to be very careful' with information coming from Ukraine.

The attorney generals comments at an unrelated news conference in Washington come a day after Graham said Barr told him the department had 'created a process that Rudy could give information and they would see if it's verified.'

'The DOJ has the obligation to have an open door to anybody who wishes to provide us information that they think is relevant,' Barr said.

Attorney General William Barr calls on a reporter during a news conference, at the Justice Department in Washington. Four members of the Chinese military have been charged with breaking into the networks of the Equifax credit reporting agency and stealing the personal information of tens of millions of Americans, the Justice Department said Monday, blaming Beijing for one of the largest hacks in history. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

'But as I did say to Senator Graham, we have to be very careful with respect to any information coming from the Ukraine. There are a lot of agendas in the Ukraine, a lot of cross currents. And we can't take anything we received from Ukraine at face value.'

Two of Giuliani's associates who aided his work in Ukraine, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, have been indicted for alleged campaign finance violations. Giuliani himself is reportedly under federal investigation.

His work in Ukraine featured prominently in the arguments put forward in the Trump impeachment, which Democratic managers argued amounted to cheating in an election by trying to induce foreign election interference.

Lindsey Graham told CBS 'Face the Nation' the Justice Department was getting information from Giuliani that he obtained from Ukraine.

Rudy Giuliani and his indicted associate Lev Parnas worked to obtain information out of Ukraine about the Bidens

Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York and U.S. President Donald Trumps personal lawyer, second left, arrives with his associate Lev Parnas, left, before a state funeral service for former President George H.W. Bush at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018

Barr has been a loyal defender of Trump and the powers of his office

On Sunday, Graham, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, told CBS 'Face the Nation' the Justice Department was getting information from Giuliani that he obtained from Ukraine.

'The Department of Justice is receiving information coming out of the Ukraine from Rudy. He (Barr) told me that they have created a process that Rudy could give information and they would see if it's verified,' Graham said.

Graham added: 'Rudy Giuliani is a well-known man. Hes a crime fighter. Hes loyal to the president. Hes a good lawyer.'

His comment followed news in the hours after Trump's Senate acquittal that two GOP senators, Charles Grassley and Ron Johnson, wrote the Secret Service seeking information on Hunter Biden about his travels with his father and any use of government aircraft.

Collectively, the actions by the three Republican senators reveal that Trump's allies in the Capitol are picking up his call to investigate the Bidens  which the president cast as a 'favor' when he asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy to carry out an investigation.

The prospect that Giuliani is providing potentially damaging information about one of the presidents political rivals to the Justice Department while Giuliani is under federal investigation is likely to deepen criticism from Democrats that Barr acts more like the presidents personal lawyer than the attorney general.

Federal prosecutors in New York are investigating Giulianis business dealings, including whether he failed to register as a foreign agent, according to people familiar with the matter. They were not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Giuliani also was a main character in Trumps impeachment, which centered on Trumps dealings with Ukraines president and whether he abused his office by seeking an investigation into the Bidens.

Giuliani, a former New York City mayor who often appears in rambling television interviews as a vocal defender of the president, has been pushing unsubstantiated corruption allegations against Biden. Speaking to Fox News on Sunday, Giuliani said he has a document that relates to Bidens son, Hunter, along with a memo allegedly from a Democratic Party official documenting communications with a reporter.

The Democratic-controlled House voted to impeach Trump, alleging abuse of power and obstruction of Congress for pressing Ukraine to investigate the Bidens, while delaying delivery of nearly $400 million in congressionally-approved security assistance for the Eastern European nation. Hunter Biden served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company while his father managed the U.S. governments Ukraine portfolio under President Barack Obama.

Trump was acquitted earlier this month by the Republican-led Senate.

Barr said the Justice Department had established a process to collect information about Ukraine from Giuliani and others and that it would be carefully scrutinized but left a news conference without taking any additional questions about the process.

'We had established an intake process in the field so that any information coming in about Ukraine could be carefully scrutinized by the department and its intelligence community partners, so that we could assess its provenance and its credibility,' Barr said. 'And that is true for all information that comes to the department relating to the Ukraine, including anything Mr. Giuliani might provide.'

FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich said the agency was 'taking information as we would in any case' and that federal agents would 'will evaluate it appropriately.'

Bowdich would not answer when asked whether Joe or Hunter Biden were under investigation by the FBI.

The president mentioned Barr in his July 25 call to the president of Ukraine, although DOJ said Barr was not involved in any of Giuliani's dealings there.
She landed a late-night shift at the Hayes Hotel in Woodlawn, originally built for the 1893 Columbian Exposition and since closed, but there were a lot of pimps and hustlers and I didnt go for that too much, she laughed. She said she passed the exam to work for the U.S. Postal Service but at that point was in the thrall of all the tips she got waiting tables.
Many African Americans made education a high priority after the Civil War. National Museum of African American History and Culture

Ill never forget a students response when I asked during a middle school social studies class what they knew about black history: Martin Luther King freed the slaves.

Martin Luther King Jr. was born in 1929, more than six decades after the time of enslavement. To me, this comment underscored how closely Americans associate black history with slavery.

While shocked, I knew this mistaken belief reflected the lack of time, depth and breadth schools devote to black history. Most students get limited information and context about what African Americans have experienced since our ancestors arrived here four centuries ago. Without independent study, most adults arent up to speed either.

For instance, what do you know about Reconstruction?

Im excited about new resources for teaching children, and everyone else, more about the history of slavery through The New York Times 1619 Project. But based on my experience teaching social studies and my current work preparing social studies educators, I also consider understanding what happened during the Reconstruction essential for exploring black power, resilience and excellence.

Reconstruction amendments

As most students do learn, the U.S. gained three constitutional amendments that extended civil and political rights to newly freed African Americans following the Civil War.

The 13th, ratified in 1865, banned slavery and involuntary servitude except for the punishment of a crime.

The 14th, ratified three years later, granted citizenship and equal protection under the law to all people born in the United States, as well as naturalized citizens  including all previously enslaved individuals.

Then, the 15th Amendment asserted that neither the federal government nor state governments could deny voting rights to any male citizen.

The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the 15th Amendment on Feb. 3, 1870. The anniversary is a good opportunity to learn about how the amendment was supposed to guarantee that the right to vote could not be denied based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

African American politicians

What few history and social studies classes explore is how these changes to the Constitution made it possible for African American men to use their newfound political power to gain representation.

Hiram Rhodes Revels, the first African American senator, represented Mississippi in 1870 after the states Senate elected him. He was among the 16 black men from seven southern states who served in Congress during Reconstruction.

Revels and his colleagues were only part of the story. All told, about 2,000 African Americans held public office at some level of government during Reconstruction.

White supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan also formed following the Civil War. These terrorist groups engaged in violence and other racist tactics to intimidate African Americans, people of color, black voters and legislators. They thus made the accomplishments of African American politicians even more impressive as they served as public officials under the constant threat of racial violence.

The first African American members of Congress were elected after the Civil War. Currier and Ives via the Library of Congress

Black activist women

African American women technically gained the right to vote in 1920, when the 19th Amendment passed. However, their constitutional right was limited in many states due to discriminatory laws.

Mary Church Terrell, an educator, fought for the rights of women of color. National Archives Docs Teach collection

Many black women were activists and womens suffrage movement leaders. Through public speaking, prolific writing and developing organizations dedicated to racial and and gender equality, they fought for equal rights and dignity for all.

Among the black women who were activists during Reconstruction were the five Rollins sisters of South Carolina, who fought for female voting rights; Maria Stewart, an outspoken abolitionist before the Civil War and suffragist once it ended; and Mary Ann Shadd Cary, the first black woman in North America to edit and publish a newspaper, one of the first black female lawyers in the country and an advocate for granting women the right to vote.

Other women of color who played key roles in the suffrage movement included Ida B. Wells, the journalist and civil rights advocate who raised awareness of lynching, and Mary Church Terrell, founder of the National Association of Colored Women.

Higher education

Before the Civil War, many states made teaching enslaved individuals to read a crime. Education quickly became a top priority for black Americans once slavery ended.

While northern, largely white philanthropists and missionary groups and the U.S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, better known as the Freedmens Bureau, did help create new educational opportunities, the African American public schools established after the Civil War ended were largely built and staffed by the black community.

Many new institutions of higher education, now called Historically Black Colleges and Universities or HBCUs, began to operate during Reconstruction.

These schools trained black people to become teachers and ministers, doctors and nurses. They also prepared African Americans for careers in industrial and agricultural fields.

Morehouse graduates from the class of 2013 celebrated in the rain when President Obama delivered their commencement address. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

Historical experiences

Storytelling, multimedia experiences and trips to historic sites and creative museums help get people of any age interested in learning about history.

Depending on where you live, you may want to embark on a family outing or school field trip.

The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia has a new permanent exhibit on the Civil War and Reconstruction.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opened in Washington, D.C. in 2017, contains artifacts from the Reconstruction era. Its also making the records of the Freedmens Bureau, including the names of formerly enslaved individuals following the Civil War, available online.

Another option is the Reconstruction Era National Historic Park in Beaufort County, South Carolina.

In addition, the organization Teaching for Change curates a booklist on Reconstruction for middle and high school students. And the Zinn Education Project Teach Reconstruction Campaign offers a variety of resources including readings, primary sources and even lesson plans.

Henry Louis Gates Jr.s documentary series delves into the history of what happened in America after the Civil War.

An incomplete transition

As the renowned black scholar W.E.B. DuBois observed, racist laws and violent tactics in many states actively limited black freedom.

The slave went free; stood for a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery, he explained.

This was by no means voluntary. Intimidated and threatened by black enfranchisement and excellence in the era of Reconstruction, white supremacists attempted to enforce subordination through violence, such as lynching; and in systemic ways through Jim Crow laws. African Americans continued to assert their civil and constitutional rights as activists, politicians, business owners, teachers and farmers in the midst of white supremacist backlash.

With the latest voter suppression efforts restricting access to the ballot box for voters of color and the resurgence of racist violence and vitriol today, DuBois words sound eerily familiar. At the same time its reassuring to recall how quickly formerly enslaved African Americans made their way to schoolhouses and public offices.

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In this file photo taken on April 15, 2019 former chief minister of Jammu & Kashmir Omar Abdullah speaks during an election campaign in Srinagar. (AFP)

Srinagar: The dossier compiled against Omar Abdullah, on the basis of which he was detained under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) last week, accuses him of being a popular politician who adopted a radical methodology and who removed his cover and resorted to dirty politics after the Centre abrogated Article 370 and split the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir into two union territories on August 5, 2019.

The dossier justifies Abdullahs detention for instigating general masses against the policies of the central government.

Prior to being booked under the PSA, Abdullah had spent six months in preventive custody under Section 107 of the Criminal Procedure Code. He was among hundreds of politicians and activists taken into preventive custody to prevent a backlash to the August 5, 2019 moves.

The dossier says he is being detained on the basis of his popularity among the people and his tweets against the revocation of Article 370. The subject is a popular figure among masses and has tremendous potential for diverting the energy of common people for any cause, it says, adding An overview of the activities of the subject suggests that the ideology of the subject is favouring radical thoughts, which he has also turned into action.

Elaborating on Abdullahs great influence on the people, the dossier refers to his electoral victories, and says he got the people to come out and vote for him even at the height of militancy and the separatist movement and even amid a poll boycott by militants.

It reads, The capacity of the subject to influence people for any cause can be gauged from the fact that he was able to convince his electorate to come out and vote in huge numbers even during the peak of militancy and poll boycott.

Referring to Omar Abdullahs tweets opposing the abrogation of Article 370, the dossier says he instigated people on the micro-blogging site against the unity and integrity of the nation. It further accuses him of using politics as a cover for planning activities against the Union government: Despite the fact that the subject has been a mainstream politician, he has been planning his activities against the Union of India in the guise of politics. And while enjoying the support of gullible masses, he has been successful in execution of such activities.

A separate dossier based on which Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has been detained under the PSA mentions public remarks she allegedly made against the Army and her pro-militant tweets and attempts to collaborate with separatists. It says there were confidential reports suggesting that she was collaborating with the separatists.

It also refers to her calling for dignity to militants after death and accusing the Army of using chemical weapons against them. The dossier also mentions her tweets opposing the Triple Talaq law passed by the BJP-led Union government and the critical remarks she made over the lynching of Muslims in the country. The dossier against her also mentions her stiff opposition to the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A.

While calling her a vocal voice against the Centres move reading down these Constitutional provisions, it says Mehbooba Mufti had even said that tampering with Article 35A would be akin to lighting a powder keg and that it would engulf the hands making such an attempt. It also refers to her speech in which she had cautioned that no one will be left in J&K to unfurl the tricolour if Article 370 goes.

Apart from Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, the authorities have booked four other senior mainstream leaders including National Conference president and three-time chief minister Farooq Abdullah, former ministers Naeem Akhtar (PDP) and Ali Muhammad Sagar (NC) and former senior vice-president of the PDP and Muftis maternal uncle Muhammad Sartaj Madni under the PSA.

Under the PSA introduced in J&K in 1978, a person can be detained for a period of two years without the authorities seeking a formal trial. In 2012, the state legislature amended the law by relaxing some of its strict provisions. In the case of first-time offenders or individuals who act against the security of the state for the very first time, the detention period for such individuals was reduced from two years to six months. However, the option of extending the term of detention to two years was kept open, if there is no improvement in the conduct of the detainee.
JOHANNESBURG - EDITORS NOTE: To mark the 30th anniversary of Nelson Mandelas release from prison, a key event in ending South Africas brutal apartheid system of racial oppression, AP is republishing its coverage of Feb. 11, 1990.

___

Nelson Mandelawalked through a prison gate to freedom Sunday, setting set off joyous celebrations and violent clashes as blacks nationwide welcomed their leader back from 27 years in jail.

Comrades and fellow South Africans, I greet you all in the name of peace, democracy and freedom for all, Mandela told tens of thousands of cheering supporters who thronged outside City Hall at twilight, many getting their first look at the African National Congress leader.

But he emphatically reaffirmed his commitment to the ANCs guerrilla campaign and called for increased pressure to end white-minority domination - the same cause that resulted in his life sentence on charges of plotting against the government. He also reiterated that talks with the government cannot begin until it lifts the state of emergency.

I stand here before you not as a prophet, but as a humble servant of you the people, said the white-haired Mandela, who looked much more an elder statesman in his suit and tie than a guerrilla leader.

Today, the majority of South Africans, black and white, recognize that apartheid has no future. It has to be ended by our decisive mass action, he said in a rousing half-hour speech frequently interrupted by roars of Viva!

We have waited too long for our freedom.

Violence broke out about the same time Mandelas motorcade arrived in Cape Town from Victor Verster prison and delayed his speech. Police said a black looter was shot to death by officers, and first aid workers said more than 100 people were injured when riot police fired shotguns after groups of black youths smashed shop windows in the city centre.

Some youths retaliated by hurling bottles at the officers. Hundreds of terrified people waiting to hear Mandela ran for cover as police fired blasts of shotgun pellets.

Clashes between police and celebrating blacks were reported in at least two other areas, including the tribal homeland of Ciskei, where hospital officials said police shot three people to death and wounded 20.

In Natal Province, where ANC supporters have been feuding with a more conservative black group, police said 12 blacks were killed in factional fighting Sunday. It was a harsh reminder of the bitter feuds involving black factions who disagree on the best way to fight for equality.

Elsewhere, hundreds of thousands of blacks danced and jogged through the streets of big cities and impoverished townships, rejoicing at Mandelas freedom.

Very good news, very good news, President Bush said after Mandelas release. Bush said he telephoned Mandela, told him all Americans were rejoicing at his release and invited him to the White House.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, speaking at a church service outside Cape Town shortly before Mandela was released, commended the South African government for making a courageous step but said the pillars of apartheid remain in place.

A thunderous cheer went up as the man who was the worlds most famous prisoner walked hand-in-hand with his wife, Winnie, through the gate of Victor Verster prison in Paarl, 35 miles from Cape Town.

Under a brilliant blue sky, the Mandelas gave clenched-fist salutes to the hundreds of supporters who had waited for hours outside, many of them waving green, gold and black ANC flags and wearing T-shirts emblazoned with a youthful image of Mandela.

Mandela appeared solemn and dignified as he and Winnie walked to a white BMW sedan and climbed in. He broke into a broad smile as the car set off slowly in a police-escorted motorcade.

The decision to free Mandela, after a prolonged international campaign on his behalf, was announced Saturday by President F.W. de Klerk. Eight days earlier, de Klerk stunned the nation by lifting a 30-year ban on the ANC and announcing other reforms aimed at clearing the way for black-white negotiations.

De Klerk, who spoke at length Saturday on Mandelas release, stayed out of the public eye Sunday. Anton Pretorius, a de Klerk spokesman, said the president planned to comment on Mandelas release later in the week.

Government television, however, broadcast live Mandelas exit from prison and later showed most of the ANC leaders speech.

His elderly appearance probably shocked many South Africans, the majority of whom were born after Mandela was last seen publicly in 1964.

Mandela has clearly lost weight since the 1960s; both his face and his body are leaner than when he was a sturdily built boxer decades ago. At 71, his face is creased with two thick lines that frame his strong, confident smile.

Mandela in his speech called de Klerk a man of integrity who had gone further than any previous National Party leader in accommodating black political aspirations.

But he said further steps - including the lifting of the state of emergency and release of all political prisoners - must be taken before talks can begin. The ANC shares these demands.

Mandela was the last well-known political prisoner in South Africa. Six of his ANC colleagues who had been imprisoned for more than 25 years, including Walter Sisulu, were released in October.

In the mid-1980s, Mandela rejected offers to go free in exchange for a renunciation of violence. De Klerk abandoned this condition, although he said after meeting Mandela on Friday night that he believed the black leader was committed to peaceful solutions.

Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda, one of the South African governments harshest critics, urged the ANC to suspend guerrilla actions in the wake of Mandelas release.

But Mandela told the Cape Town crowd the ANC resorted to violence in 1961 as a defensive action against the violence of apartheid, and added, The factors which necessitated the armed struggle still exist today.

We have no options but to continue, he said.

He urged whites to join us in the safety of a new South Africa. The freedom movement is a political home for you, too.

Mandela, whose imprisonment included years of hard labour on windswept Robben Island in Cape Towns harbour, told his family: Your pain and suffering was far greater than my own.

___

This story from 1990 was written by Greg Myre, who at that time was an AP correspondent in South Africa.
The trial pays for the drugs, but not the CT scans she needs every six weeks at $9,000 each, or the infusion or doctors appointments. Even with a health plan that she thinks is fair, she faces a $2,800 deductible for herself and her teenage son. (The premiums would double if she included her husband, Chris, so he is on a health plan with a larger deductible through his job as a horse farms maintenance technician.) And at the start of each year, she dreads her plans $4,400 out-of-pocket maximum. Together, Barrell and her husband, who recently had knee surgery, have racked up about $37,000 so far for the expenses their insurance is not covering.
South Africa: Infrastructure to pave the way for Africa's development

South Africa, as chair of the African Union (AU), will champion infrastructure development as the key to unlock economic development and industrialisation on the continent.

This, as the continent collectively strives to meet its industrialisation goals and the build the Africa envisaged in the AU Agenda 2063 under the theme, The Africa we want.

In a bid to drive infrastructure development, President Ramaphosa, as AU chair, says South Africa will play an active role in driving the Presidential Infrastructure Championing Initiative (PICI).

Country leaders of PICI include Algeria, Benin, Cote DIvoire, Egypt, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sudan as the latest country to join PICI in 2020.

President Ramaphosa made the remarks as he assumed chairship of the AU during the 33rd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, over the weekend.

The African Development Bank estimates that Africas infrastructure needs some USD 130 billion to USD 170 billion a year.

We need more dams, power plants, fibre optic cables and ports. But we also need more social infrastructure like roads, schools, public housing and clinics.

As all developing countries, we cannot sate our continents infrastructure hunger with our limited resources, and it goes without saying that this presents a major investment opportunity for our respective countries, said the President.

According to the African Development Bank (AfDB), the financing gap is between USD 68 billion and USD 108 billion.

This means we must think creatively and expansively about how we can close this gap.

We also must be open to various financing models, such as public-private partnerships, commercial loans, development funding, and sovereign bonds, said the President.

Infrastructure development in the continent will also provide fertile ground for the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.

The implementation of this seminal agreement will boost intra-Africa trade, reignite industrialisation, and pave the way for the meaningful integration of Africa into global value chains and the global economy.

This is a milestone in the continental integration project, with Africa destined to become the biggest common market in the world.

Ours is a continent on the rise. Consider for example that last year, 17 African countries grew by 3% to 5%, and 20 countries grew by 5% and above. Six of the fastest growing economies in the world are in Africa.

Foreign direct investments (FDI) to Africa grew at 11% last year, far exceeding the 4% growth in Asia, even as FDI declined by 13% globally and by 23% in developed economies, said the President.

Large infrastructure projects in the pipeline being driven by PICI include the Trans-Maghreb Highway in North Africa; the North-South Road, Rail and Related Infrastructure Corridor connecting extensive parts of Southern Africa, as well as the Central Corridor and the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway.

South Africa champions the North-South Corridor/Rail Project and has over the years convened a number of PICI Heads of State Breakfasts and luncheons as a precursor to the Heads of State Government Orientation Committee Infrastructure Subcommittee.

South Africa, together with PICI countries, remains committed to ensuring PICI is central to the success of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement, as well to the AUs Agenda 2063.

The decisions we make now at the AU, and over the next few years, will have an extraordinary and enduring impact on our own fortunes as well as those of ordinary people on the continent, said the President.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-02-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Chinese authorities in Tibet have cracked down on online discussions of the rising number of infections from Chinas coronavirus, detaining seven people in Tibets Chamdo prefecture on charges of spreading rumors and misinformation, according to state media and other sources.



One of those detained, a resident of Chamdos Gonjo (Gongjue in Chinese) county identified by the name Chen, had posted a comment online on Jan. 29 saying that people from mainland China were arriving in secret in the county, causing panic among Chamdo netizens, the Peoples Daily said on Feb. 5.



Public security officers immediately clarified the situation and took Chen into custody, sentencing him to a period of 10 days detention and a fine of 500 yuan (U.S. $72 approx.) the Peoples Daily said, without saying whether Chen was an ethnic Tibetan or a Han Chinese.



Meanwhile, a man identified by the name Tse was detained in Chamdos Tengchen (Dingqing) county for posting a message on the popular WeChat social media platform asking readers to recite a particular prayer 10 times and send the request on to 10 other people to guard against infection.



The Tengchen County Public Security Bureau punished the man with a term of administrative detention of seven days, according to the law, the Peoples Daily said.



The posting of information and remarks online must comply with relevant laws and regulations, the countys Public Security Bureau warned in a notice quoted by the state-controlled paper, urging netizens not to create rumors, believe rumors, or spread rumors, and to create a clean and harmonious cyberspace.



Speaking to RFAs Tibetan Service, a Chamdo resident confirmed the papers report, saying, Seven people have been detained for allegedly spreading disinformation.



Numbers continue to rise



Meanwhile, the number of confirmed coronavirus infections in Tibetan-populated areas of China rose over the weekend, state media said, with a total of 23 cases now reported in Sichuans Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, and six in Gansus Kanlho Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.



One infection has also been confirmed in Sichuans Ngaba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, three in the Tsojang Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of neighboring Qinghai province, and 15 in Qinghais provincial capital Xining.



On Feb. 5, a tea-shop owner in Tibets regional capital Lhasa was discovered to have opened his shop in defiance of a Jan. 28 government order closing all discos, cyber cafes, tea shops, and movie theaters, a source in Lhasa told RFA, adding that the owner was fined according to law for violating the government ban.



Tibetan monks are meanwhile working to curb the spread of the virus, collecting donations at the Labrang monastery in Gansus Sangchu (Xiahe) county and distributing thousands of face masks in Kardzes Tawu (Daofu) county, already hard-hit by the infections spread.



This is the least we can do in service to the people living in Tawu, one monk from the Shedrup Tenphel Choeling monastery said, quoted by the Beijing-based Tibetan writer Woeser on her Facebook page.



We can only hope that we can be of some help in preventing [the further spread of] this epidemic, the monk said.



Reported by RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul and Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney.
A male superhero traditionally dominates a superhero-themed with film. However, for the "Birds of Prey" actress Rosie Perez, her new movie flips a traditional male superhero story and she sees this in the role she played.

Perez a veteran Puerto Rican actress who was born and raised in New York said: "I think the film epitomizes what is going on right now in society. Renee Montoya is a woman who is extremely capable, more capable than her fellow officers, and yet she is underestimated, passed over and disrespected. But she still shows up to work and produces every single day; she cares about what she does and keeps telling men to get out of her way. And that's a powerful statement for women everywhere."

Perez also said that DC movies like "Wonder Woman" inspired her because of authenticity. She added that her character in the new DC movie "Birds of Prey" reflects who she is today; imperfect, and these value have shaped her perspectives on and off-screen.

In an interview with NBC News, she said: "I responded to Wonder Woman because she was a genuine and authentic human being who also happened to be a Wonder Woman but even stronger than that, I love that my character in 'Birds of Prey' is not a perfect person. She throws her girlfriend under the bus for the greater good and I think that makes a really powerful story because we are women, we are not perfect, and we still have to power through."

Perez is not only a well-known actress, but she is also known for her active participation in society. She is a supporter of various humanitarian activities and very outspoken when it comes to social issues. She was appointed by former U.S. President Barrack Obama back in 2010 to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA). She also delivered humanitarian aid to Puerto Rico when the island was hit by the hurricane. Perez remains very outspoken about the island's needs.

Meanwhile, when the actress was asked about her real-life superheroes, she said that it's her fellow Puerto Ricans who wake up every day to demand to get justice on the island.

"Many people didn't get and still need help on the island. And I'm awestruck and inspired by the residents of Puerto Rico. They overthrew the government," she is referring to the protests last year that overthrew the governor following the controversial leaked chats and she also added that Puerto Ricans demanded justice and they got it.

Meanwhile, Perez who started her career in Spike Lee's award-winning classic "Do the Right Thing" in 1989, admitted the fact that Hollywood still has a long way to go when it comes to getting things right as well as inclusivity.

"A lot of times I still have to say 'no' to roles because they are so derogatory to Latinos and Latinas that it blows my mind. And it's weird how people are not aware of how insulting that could be," the actress said. In comparison, she said that the movie "Birds of Prey" is pushing for more inclusivity.

Perez said: "This film is very diverse. Not only ethnically, but also in age and gender. And I'm proud to be part of this project cause in Hollywood that's not always the case."
UW in the News

State, national and international media frequently feature the University of Wyoming and members of its community in stories. Here is a summary of some of the recent coverage:

The Los Angeles Times interviewed UW economist Rob Godby for a story focusing on mines that are still operating despite the downturn in the coal industry. Godby says Wyoming facilities, built relatively recently, have access to the Powder River Basins cheaper coal, meaning companies can continue to operate them for relatively less expense.

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 by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The Casper Star-Tribune (CS-T) interviewed Godby, who said he is not surprised by the latest forecast.

The CS-T also interviewed Godby for an article that focused on the Powder River Basins coal production, which fell nearly 14 percent last quarter compared to the same period the year before. Those were the lowest production totals for the region in more than two decades. U.S. News & World Report published a similar article.

UW is among Great Values annual list of Americas 50 Most Underrated Colleges. The website, which bills itself in helping students get the most bang for their buck, cited UWs low costs and generous financial aid opportunities.

We The People reported that U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Lisa Murkowski introduced a bill calling for strengthening the enforcement of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Shepard was a UW student murdered 20 years ago. The new bill would clarify the laws language related to the motives of people charged with hate crimes.

UW management and marketing Professor Mark Peterson says Wyoming residents support energy policies that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to The CS-T. Peterson developed a survey that will be presented to the states Public Service Commission about Wyomingites energy preferences.

Wind River Radio Network listed area UW students beginning the transition from student to professional. UWs release noted that UW College of Education students start their 16-week student-teaching experience this semester. The Powell Tribune and SweetwaterNOW also published UWs release listing their respective county students.

UW researchers and their colleagues had their study cited in a Money Magazine article regarding how citizens can still make additional money even though they are not homeowners. Any money renters have left over, instead of paying a mortgage, can be used as an investment in stocks and bonds, according to the study.

KGWN TV highlighted the 17 nonformal foreign language classes offered through UWs World Language and Culture Program, created by UW doctoral student Dilnoza Khasilova.

Matt Kauffman, from the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at UW, will discuss his mule deer migration research later this month at Lovells Bighorn Canyon Visitor Center, reported The Billings Gazette.

Sheridan Media published UWs release noting that a new client that is searching for solutions to ending human trafficking in Wyoming and nationwide is housed in UWs Wyoming Technology Business Center (WTBC). The Alliance for Freedom, Restoration and Justice has been in business for nearly a year at the WTBC.

Science Loves Art, a new UW program, will bring science to life via art that reaches throughout the state, according to an article on Hits 106s website. UWs release noted that the program is part of the five-year, $20 million grant from EPSCoR (Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research).

The Laramie Boomerang previewed the UW Department of Theatre and Dances opening spring production of Eurydice. The production will be staged this week.

UW law Professor Sam Kalen commented in Wyoming Public Radios piece on the Trump administrations look at removing environmental review requirements from public land-use plans.

The Gillette News Record noted that UW is researching a prototype of a ceramic turbine blade that will increase gas turbine engine efficiency with 3D-printed parts. The turbine blade, which will have built-in cooling channels, is part of a $1 million grant.

UW and other American institutions have reached out to help in organizing the first Global Conference on Environment and Sustainability in Kathmandu this fall, according to Nepals My Republica.

Honolulu Civil Beat, an investigative news website, interviewed UW Extension Educator Caitlin Youngquist for a story on how plastic is getting into Hawaiis soil. Youngquist said plastic pollution is a growing issue for the composting industry.

UWs Engineers Without Borders student group completed a series of projects for The Cottage, which accepts clothing donations at St. Matthews Cathedral in Laramie. UW club members helped redesign the thrift store to make it more inviting and to make use of available space, reported The Boomerang.
By Dr. Jeffrey I. Kim





I attended the 2020 Mont Pelerin Society (MPS) special meeting held from Jan. 15 to 17 at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University.



The MPS was created in 1947 at a conference organized by Friedrich Hayek, who used it as a forum to facilitate an exchange of ideas between like-minded scholars in the hope of strengthening the principles and practice of a free society and to study the workings, virtues, and defects of market-oriented economic systems.



The January meeting was orchestrated by MPS President John B. Taylor who is currently a distinguished professor of financial economics at Stanford University. The 2020 MPS Hoover meeting was special in many respects. The main theme was "From the Past to the Future: Ideas and Actions for a Free Society."



The theme implies that in the previous years, a lot of new ideas and theories prevailed but now is the time to take action to improve free market capitalism and living conditions for society.



Another special feature of the meeting is that exactly 40 years ago in 1980, the MPS general meeting was held in the same place at Stanford. At that time Milton Friedman organized it.



This year several eminent scholars and former statesmen were invited as keynote speakers. Among them were former Secretary of State and Treasury George Shultz, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Brazilian Minister of Economy Paulo Guedes.



George Shultz, 99, was still strong and healthy, and delivered a well-thought-out speech that touched the heart of the audience. He was a very good friend of Friedman when the two professors were teaching at the University Chicago in the 1960s.



He said he had learned a song from Milton and started singing that song, "A fact without a theory  is like a ship without a sail  a fact without a theory is as sad as sad can be." He said that the Chicago people liked both theory creation and fact finding.



During the Hoover meeting, I took care of one session as the moderator and speaker. I have been associating with the MPS for more than 15 years and now I am serving the MPS as a board member. Our session title was "Taking Ideas to Action: Making the Case for Freedom."



I gave a short video presentation to the audience. It was the binding of five short pieces of Friedman's lectures: (1) There is no such thing as a free lunch; (2) With a 100 percent of inheritance tax, society collapses; (3) You can only tax the people not the company; (4) Equal pay for equal work fails because of differences in individual capability and ambition; and (5) The society that puts equality before freedom will end up with neither. The society that puts freedom before equality will end up with a great measure of both.



Professor Friedman used to be very enthusiastic in lecturing. He was extremely articulate and very skillful in persuading the people. When the video show was over, a lot of attendees gave a big applause toward the large screen in front.



There were some voices worrying about the future of capitalism. A significant number of people on earth are suffering from absolute poverty and the problem of income inequality is getting severer.



One of the speakers, a distinguished professor, Russell Roberts of the Hoover Institution pleaded that the MPS people should make more efforts to find measures to take care of the low-income people. Some attendees responded by saying that if the low-income people get more opportunities to extend their formal education and obtain higher skills, that will be the road to "warm" capitalism.



Every time I meet with the members of the MPS, they always praise the Korean people for their economic success and high living standard. They know there are many nations richer than South Korea but their living standard is much lower than ours.



This means that the government's welfare policy has not been so bad comparatively. Income inequality in absolute terms is not so bad. But the issue at hand is what will happen to us in the future. If we waste our resources today, we will all be poorer tomorrow. There will be no "free lunch."





Dr. Jeffrey I. Kim (ickim@skku.ac.kr), former foreign investment ombudsman, is a professor emeritus at Sungkyunkwan University. He earned a Ph.D. in economics at the University of Chicago and taught at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and the American University, Washington, D.C.


 Flash

Speakers at the 33rd session of the African Union (AU) summit that opened on Sunday in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, voiced views on development, peace and security and economic empowerment of women in Africa.

In his opening remarks, Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the AU commission, noted that both manmade and natural disasters are challenging livelihoods of Africans, underlining on the need to have solidarity and strengthened efforts to address them and build on positive achievements.

Stating that the year 2019 has been with challenges of both manmade and natural ones in the world, in general, and Africa in particular, the Chairperson underlined on the need to constantly mobilize all energies in order to take up those challenges.

Reiterating that persistent terrorism and instabilities due to conflicts in different parts of the continent, in which civilians and uniformed personnel die every week while children are away from schools, Mahamat called for solidarity with countries in those regions, including the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, and the Lake Chad Basin.

"This deficit of active solidarity is one of the fragilities of our systems of resistance and our overall capacity of continental resilience. I strongly wish that this African solidarity be the spearhead of the international support of our partners in the world," Mahamat said.

"Our countries have made significant efforts in order to respond to the various challenges and demands. These efforts must be maintained and strengthened in order to avoid that our youth could take the perils path of immigration or to seek refuge in the terrorist doctrines," he noted.

In his capacity of the incoming chair of AU, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa noted that Africans should take the opportunity created with the African continental free trade area (AfCFTA) to spur industrialization, and thereby achieve Africa's aspiration of integration and prosperity.

"The African Continental Free Trade Area that we adopted last year will enable us to work together through intra-Africa trade as it will re-ignite industrialization and pave the way for Africa's integration into the global economy as a player of considerable weight and scale."

"It is the realization of the dream of our fore parents to see the rich resource of our continent being marshalled for the collective benefit of all Africans," Ramaphosa has noted.

He has also urged fulfilling of responsibility by African leaders towards realizing the aspirations of development, peace and integrity on the continent.

In his opening remarks, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres dwelt upon three areas including addressing poverty, climate change, and also silencing the guns.

The Secretary General has noted significant improvements in living standards, including access to quality education, health care services, food security, basic social services and infrastructure.

"But, progress remains slow and uneven when it comes to eradicating poverty and ending exclusion," Guterres said.

The Secretary General has also underlined on the need that peace, social cohesion and sustainable development requires women's contribution and leadership.

Reiterating that women have an essential role in conflict prevention and political transition, Guterres called for stepping up efforts to ensure effective the effective implementation of the women, peace and security agenda in Africa and beyond.
After a weekend spent trading blows, leftist frontrunner Bernie Sanders and his youthful challenger Pete Buttigieg were barnstorming New Hampshire Monday in a frantic final push for Democratic votes in the state's decisive White House primary. Eager to upstage the Democrats, President Donald Trump has summoned his supporters to an election eve rally of his own in Manchester, New Hampshire, promising "big crowds." "Want to shake up the Dems a little bit - they have a really boring deal going on," he tweeted. Tuesday's New Hampshire vote looms as a decisive test for Democrats hoping to challenge Trump in November, especially for former vice president Joe Biden and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren whose campaigns appear to have hit a wall. Sanders, the 78-year-old senator from neighboring Vermont, appeared to have an unassailable lead in the state, whose primary he won by a landslide in 2016. The RealClearPolitics polling average showed him at 28.8 percent on the eve of the vote. His moderate rival Buttigieg, the 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was second with 22.3 percent. On Sunday, he was proclaimed the winner of last week's Iowa caucuses, but an array of problems in that lead-off nominating contest undercut his narrow victory over Sanders. As the frontrunners did battle, a late surge lifted Amy Klobuchar's fortunes, with two new polls showing the senator from Minnesota vaulting past heavyweights Biden and Warren to notch up 14 percent support. Recent history shows it is near-impossible for a Democrat to win the party's nomination without placing in the top two in Iowa or New Hampshire -- and in a sign of the high stakes the race has been growing more acrimonious by the day. "Unlike other campaigns, we don't have billionaires giving huge amounts of money," Sanders told supporters in New Hampshire on Sunday night -- in a jab at Buttigieg who he has branded the candidate of Wall Street. His campaign, based heavily on small donors, says it raised $25 million last month. Buttigieg pushed right back at Sanders on Sunday, quipping, "Well, Bernie's pretty rich, and I would happily accept a contribution from him." Turning serious, he said he was "building the movement that is going to defeat Donald Trump," boosted by donations from some two million people. - 'Incredibly more difficult' - Both Buttigieg and Biden -- whose status as national frontrunner for the nomination was shaken by taking fourth-place in Iowa's caucuses -- said it would be much harder for the party to defeat Trump with Sanders, a socialist. The senator's position at the very left of the American spectrum -- with programs like extending the Medicare program to all Americans -- have been seized on by the president, who told an interviewer last week, "I think he's a communist." Buttigieg said it would be "a lot harder" for the party to win with Sanders than a more moderate candidate, with Biden similarly telling ABC it would be "incredibly more difficult". But the senator has shrugged off criticism he is too radical to beat Trump, pointing to his enthusiastic support among young voters. - Buttigieg on the up - As Buttigieg has risen from practical anonymity, he has faced criticism -- including in a cutting weekend ad by the Biden camp -- for his lack of national experience and his supposed difficulty connecting with black voters, a key demographic. "He's not been able to unify the African-American community," Biden said, adding the eventual nominee would have to perform well in states far more diverse than predominantly white Iowa and New Hampshire. After listening to Buttigieg at a rally in Nashua, New Hampshire on Sunday, Katie Morgan, 20, told AFP that he was "interesting and smart." But she added, "I personally prefer a candidate with a little more experience." Biden's campaign was further shaken Sunday when a young woman attending his campaign event asked him about his poor performance at Iowa. In a widely shared exchange on social media, Biden asked college student Madison Moore if she had attended a caucus. When she nodded, he replied: "No, you haven't. You're a lying, dog-faced pony soldier." Although his campaign said it was a joke inspired by a John Wayne movie, the remark sparked consternation -- capping a week of bad news for the erstwhile favorite of the Democratic race. Also in competition is billionaire and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has spent a record $260 million of his personal fortune on his campaign. He is skipping the first four nominating contests, focusing instead on Super Tuesday on March 3 when 14 states vote. burs-jm/ec Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg came top of the first contest in Iowa, giving each important momentum US Democratic primaries and caucuses Supporters of US Presidential Candidate Senator Bernie Sanders cheer and wave campaign signs as they await his arrival at a campaign rally at Keene State College in Keene, New Hampshire on February 9, 2020. Democratic presidential hopefuls (L-R) Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren Democratic presidential candidate and former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg holds a "Get Out the Vote" rally in Nashua, New Hampshire February 9, 2020 People line up in the rain and icy weather outside the Sothern New Hampshire University arena hours ahead of President Donald Trump's rally in Manchester, New Hampshire on February 10, 2020
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge is doing just fine after the dust settled from Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussexs recent exit from the royal family. According to one royal expert, Kate is proving herself very valuable to the queen these days.

Kate Middleton | Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images

Prince Harry and Meghan left the royal family behind

After suffering in the spotlight, Prince Harry and Meghan decided to give it all up, with Queen Elizabeth signing off on their plan to leave the royal family. The couple gave up their HRH titles and any public funding and headed to Canada with their son Archie.

When the details were finalized, the queen issued a statement that supported their move, noting in part: I recognise the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life.

Kate is crushing it these days

Kate had already been stepping up her game in the family, showing off a more confident side, and basically winning over every royal fan.

At the 2020 BAFTAs, Kate seemed especially happy and relaxed as she rubbed elbows with celebrities like Renee Zellweger and Joaquin Phoenix

Body language expert Judi James believes that Kate is in a power position, telling The Mirror: It has been a perfect storm for the Royal Family lately but Kate has now taken on the biggest power position in the entire Firm.

Shes the new matriarch because while the Queen is strong, shes getting older and needs that kind of support from someone she can trust, James added.

Kate has become more comfortable with her role over the years and her confidence is allowing the duchess and Prince William to transition to a real power couple mode, James explained. Its ironic, as thats the path Harry and Meghan were meant to take, but Kate looks incredibly at ease in this new role.

The queen is delighted with Kate

Kate is reportedly winning over the queen these days, too. Shes been supporting William and acting as a mediator during all the recent arguments, James shared. By playing out these complicated roles so perfectly, she has proved herself to be the royals big savior.

The queen is delighted with her, according to royal expert and author Ingrid Seward, who explained, The Queen is very reliant on Kate because shes so stable  and shes simply untouchable in everything she does at the moment.

Kate is showing off a style upgrade

With this additional confidence and exposure, Seward believes the duchess is showing off a new sense of style as her popularity has increased.

She used to be so careful, wearing little dresses and nude heels with everything, but shes much less mumsy these days, Seward shared. Having everyone say shes wonderful seems to have made her braver.

James added that fans have noticed a visible change with Kate, sharing: In the past, Kate always made a conscious attempt to look slightly bland, probably to avoid attracting too much press attention.

But she and William are in a more relaxed place now so we see Kate with fabulous clothes instead of her slightly dowdy outfits, she noted. There has been a visible change in her. Perhaps shes realized that people like her for herself, not just because shes married to William.
By Trend

Parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan were held in accordance with international standards in Azerbaijan, Shaimardan Nurumov, member of the Committee for Economic Reform and Regional Development of the Mazhilis of the Kazakh parliament, said.

Nurumov made the remark in Baku at the press-conference, Trend reports on Feb. 10.

"We visited over 10 polling stations where we saw that the electoral process has been organized well, member of the committee said. The work was carried out strictly in accordance with international requirements and we do not have any remarks."

Nurumov also stressed the number of voters.

"We observed a big number of voters in polling stations, member of the committee said. Despite the bad weather conditions, the voters were in positive mood, which means that Azerbaijanis are happy with life in the country and are confident in the future."

Nurumov is pleased that the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan were fair, successful and were held in accordance with international standards.

"We talked to citizens, representatives of other parties and they did not have any complaints, Nurumov added. Everything was carried out smoothly."

The parliamentary elections were held in Azerbaijan on February 9. Some 1,314 candidates were registered within the early parliamentary elections. The candidacies of 246 people were nominated by 19 political parties, 1,057 were self-nominated, 11 - by initiative groups.

Twenty-one percent accounted for female candidates while 79 percent  male candidates.

As many as 5,426 permanent polling stations operated in 125 constituencies of the country.

Some 883 international observers and 77,790 local observers were monitoring the voting process. Among the local observers, 35,152 were representatives of political parties. International observers represented 58 countries and 59 organizations.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
[February 10, 2020] Servpac Announces Data Center And Disaster Recovery Office In Hawaii

HONOLULU, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Servpac Inc., Hawaii's Largest Independent Telecom Provider, announces a new data center in Mililani Tech Park. Known as MTP, the new data center facility offers state-of-the-art colocation, disaster recovery, and other interconnection services available to new and existing customers. The new facility helps businesses grow their data capacity and enable global businesses to expand operations to Hawaii. This 30,000 sq. ft facility is located in Mililani Tech Park in Central Oahu. The Tier 4 design data center delivers a 2N redundant critical power and cooling system for guaranteed 99.999% uptime. This is a carrier-neutral facility with multiple fiber entrances, offering access to multiple providers and Servpac's fiber optic network. Located 10 miles inland and 850 feet above sea level, the data center offers an ideal location for business continuity and disaster recovery. This facility will expand Servpac's offerings to the Hawaii market by providing customers a secure and reliable infrastructure to support their needs. "The opening of this data center marks a major milestone for Servpac's commitment towards local businesses," said Richard Zheng, Preident and Founder of Servpac. "As a local company, we plan to invest 30 million dollars in the next five years towards building this state-of-the-art telecom and managed network ecosystem for businesses in Hawaii."



The data center offers Disaster Recovery offices with 100 hot desks and 20 private suites, available on-demand for local businesses with back-up power. On-site amenities include a lounge room, kitchen, and conference rooms with 24x7 access. The Mililani location offers access for local businesses needing immediate protection from disruptive events such as hurricanes, tsunamis, and power outages. Located on a 5-acre lot, the facility offers expansion space based on customer demand. "We're capable of building 150,000 sq. ft of colocation and disaster recovery space for customers," said Zheng. "Our facility will be the largest data center in Hawaii, offering world-class infrastructure and the best solutions for local businesses."

About Servpac Servpac, headquartered in Honolulu, is Hawaii's largest CLEC (competitive local exchange carrier) providing integrated telecom, managed IT and data center solutions for Hawaii businesses. Established in 2004, Servpac offers data center colocation, fiber connectivity, private Cloud hosting, VoIP phones, and managed network for businesses - all supported by a dedicated fiber network and 24x7x365 customer support. For more information, please visit www.servpac.com . Contact:

Cory D'Orazio

808-237-5139

[email protected] View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/servpac-announces-data-center-and-disaster-recovery-office-in-hawaii-301001230.html SOURCE Servpac Inc.

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Representatives from five BIMSTEC countries will attend the three-day 'Disaster Management Exercise, 2020' that will start here from Tuesday.

"Five member countries namely Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Nepal will participate in the exercise. However, Bhutan and Thailand are not participating in the exercise," NDRF chief S N Pradhan and OSDMA MD P K Jena told reporters here on Monday.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will inaugurate the event here Tuesday, while Union Minister of State for Home Nityananda Rai will launch the field training exercise on February 12 at Ramchandi Beach in Puri district, they said.

The three-day long exercise will consist of inaugural session and table top exercise (TTx) on collapsed structure in Bhubaneswar.

The field training exercise (FTx) on acquatic disaster response with focus on cultural heritage sites to be held at Ramnchandi beach followed by proceeding of disaster management exercise and policy meeting of NDMA/NDMOs among the teams of participating nations on February 13, they said.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is hosting the '2nd BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise-2020' with the theme "A cultural heritage site that suffers severe damage in the earthquake and flooding or storm" at Bhubaneswar and Puri.

The objective of the exercise is to test the existing emergency procedures for notification, preparedness and emergency response, during a major earthquake and flood scenarios. This exercise will also provide an opportunity to enhance the coordination and cooperation involving multi- agency operations in an earthquake, flooding and storm surge, they said.

Asked about the selection of Odisha as its venue, Pradhan said: "Odisha has been selected in view of the states experience and success in tackling disasters in the past and also because it has a number of heritage sites".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Budget has relaxed a few safe harbour rules that aim to make it easier for fund managers overseeing offshore India-focused funds to relocate to the country.

There were no big-bang measures for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in the Budget. Here are a few hits and misses:

Hits

Dividend distribution tax (DDT): The tax rate for dividend in the hands of FPIs will be 20 per cent, plus surcharge and cess. India's treaties with certain countries provide for a lower rate of tax on dividends, and FPIs may be able to lower their India tax bill if they are eligible to claim the treaty benefits and meet requirements under the domestic GAAR (General Anti-Avoidance Rules) and MLI (Multilateral Instruments), a framework that aims to prevent base erosion and profit shifting.

Foreign shareholders will be entitled to take the benefit of lower withholding tax under the tax treaty, subject to the principal purpose test being satisfied, said Saumil Shah, partner, Dhruva Advisors.

With the DDT (dividend distribution tax) being replaced by shareholder taxation, the treaty rate would be available to foreign investors.

"For example, the Mauritius and Singapore treaties provide for a 5 per cent tax rate on dividends if holding in Indian companies is at least 10-25 per cent of the paid-up share capital. Else it is 15 per cent, said Sunil Gidwani, partner, Nangia Andersen.

FPIs, however, may choose to claim credit for the taxes paid in India against their home country taxes and not claim lower rates under the treaty to the extent their home country tax on dividend is equal to or higher than 20 per cent.

According to Hiten Kotak, leader of M&A tax at PwC India, the DDT was as an additional cost for repatriation of dividends from Indian companies and this made acquisition of holding companies or investment in Indian operating entities by foreign companies expensive.

Sunset clause extension: The Budget has extended the concession rate of tax to be paid by FPIs on the interest they earn on rupee-denominated bonds issued by Indian firms and government securities.

The concessional tax rate is 5 per cent on the interest paid provided for under Section 194LD of the I-T Act.

This has been extended until June 30, 2023.

The government had introduced the lower tax rate in 2013 after a crash in the rupee led to a flight of foreign money.

These were applicable on interest payable until May 31, 2015.

Record FPI inflows in the debt segment in 2014 prompted the Centre to extend these concessions twice in subsequent years.

Experts believe the lower tax rate is a significant contributor towards making Indias debt market attractive to overseas investors.

The concessional rate has also helped reduce borrowing costs for the government and firms.

Bond limits: Certain specified categories of government securities will be opened fully for non-resident investors.

The limit for FPI in corporate bonds, currently at 9 per cent of outstanding stock, will be increased to 15 per cent of the outstanding stock of corporate bonds.

Misses

Indirect transfer provisions: The Budget has clarified that Category-II FPIs will be subject to indirect transfer provisions.

Earlier these provisions were applicable to unregulated funds falling under Category-III and it was expected that they would now apply to Category-II after the regulator merged three categories into two last year. FPIs from Mauritius, Cayman Islands, Cyprus, and British Virgin Islands may be at a disadvantage as most of these funds are classified as Category-II.

In 2012, the government had amended the domestic law to provide that gains from transfer of shares or interest in an entity outside India would be taxable in India if such shares or interest derived their value (directly or indirectly) substantially from assets located in India. These provisions were referred to as indirect transfer provisions.

Safe harbour norms: The Budget has relaxed a few safe harbour rules that aim to make it easier for fund managers overseeing offshore India-focused funds to relocate to the country.

One of the onerous requirements for such funds was that the aggregate investment, directly or indirectly, by persons resident in India should not exceed 5 per cent of the corpus of the fund.

The Budget has now proposed that an Indian fund manager's investment for the first three years not exceeding Rs 25 crore will not be counted towards above 5 per cent cap.

While this is relaxation, it does not resolve the problem of identifying Indian residents in case of investments made through omnibus investments via distributors or prime brokers at offshore level, said Gidwani.

The offshore fund can now achieve the corpus of Rs 100 crore within a year of getting incorporated, instead of six months earlier.
MANSFIELD, Mass., Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- inTEST Corporation (NYSE American: INTT), a global supplier of precision-engineered solutions for use in manufacturing and testing across a wide range of markets including automotive, defense/aerospace, energy, industrial, semiconductor and telecommunications, today announced the appointment of KL Wong as Southeast Asia Sales Manager for the inTEST EMS business unit. In this role, KL will be based in Penang Malaysia and will be responsible for building and driving EMS overall sales efforts in a vital region, as the Company continues to serve a broader base of global customers. KL brings over 25 years of technical sales experience to inTEST, holding senior roles in sales, account development, technical design, operations and business development.



inTESTs EMS segment provides solutions to complete ATE test cells in semiconductor applications. EMS products leverage the power of inTESTs precision engineering in the design and manufacture of the mechanical and electrical systems that enable automated test systems and device handling equipment to connect with accuracy, repeatability and safety with industry best ease of operation.

EMS General Manager, Mark Bradford, commented, I am excited to have KL on board to manage our South East Asia Sales team. We look forward to using KLs extensive knowledge and experience to reinforce the strong relationships we have with valued customers in the region.

Prior to joining inTEST, KL played key roles in technical sales and support for companies across a wide range of technology segments, predominantly high-tech semiconductor products. Companies he has worked for include Henkel, Xcerra, JDSUs Optical Communications Division, Kulicke & Soffas Test Division, Cadence Design Systems, FCI, Berg Electronics, Harris Semiconductor and Intel Corporation. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from National University of Malaysia and earned an MBA and a Ph.D. from the University of Science Malaysia.
DUARTE, Calif. -- Patients who underwent a stem cell transplant and received the Triplex vaccine to prevent a type of herpes virus - cytomegalovirus (CMV) - from duplicating out of control were 50% less likely to develop health complications related to the virus than patients who did not take Triplex, according to a City of Hope-led study published today in Annals of Internal Medicine.

The phase 2 randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial, which took place at City of Hope, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and MD Anderson Cancer Center, is the first time a viral anti-CMV vaccine has been tested in patients. The trial enrolled 102 people who underwent an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT), which can cure blood cancers such as lymphoma and leukemia. Half of the patients were randomly assigned to receive Triplex, developed by City of Hope scientists to enhance CMV-specific T cells, create immunity in patients against CMV and prevent it from causing such severe complications as pneumonia, gastroenteritis and retinitis.

In the trial, patients who received at least the first of two planned injections of Triplex on day 28 and day 56 after HSCT had 50% fewer CMV complications (virus reactivation, antiviral treatment and disease) through day 100 (primary endpoint) than those who received the placebo. There were five subjects with CMV complications in the vaccine arm versus 10 in the placebo arm.

In addition, patients who received Triplex developed immunity against CMV that was 212% higher than those in the placebo group. Prior to undergoing a transplant, patients received high-dose chemotherapy to obliterate the hematopoietic system, which produces blood and is part of the immune system. Despite having weakened immune systems, patients who received Triplex developed immunity against CMV, and the immunity endured a year after the trial took place.

"It is unprecedented that we can measure the response to the vaccine so early after the transplant procedure," said Don J. Diamond, Ph.D., City of Hope professor in the Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation and the study's senior author. "That is significant because we believe that immunity is the key to controlling CMV's negative effects."

Furthermore, the number of patients who developed serious health problems in both groups was low. No Triplex-related infections or deaths occurred in the study.

"Our study represents hope for transplant patients who already have weakened immune systems and can develop serious, life-threatening CMV-related complications," Diamond said. "Triplex spurs immunity in patients and prevents CMV-related complications from occurring in stem cell patients. Our vaccine has the potential to become yet another powerful therapy for transplant recipients who are fighting for a cure."

Triplex could also eventually be used in patients who receive solid organ transplants.

One finding that needs further examination is patients who received high-dose steroids to prevent graft- versus-host disease (GVHD) did not have as strong of a response to the vaccine as patients who did not take steroids.

"Steroids are the standard treatment for GVHD but we are looking at other ways to overcome or avoid steroids," Diamond added.

One trial underway at City of Hope vaccinates the patient's donor with Triplex. That could provide the patient with earlier and greater immunity against CMV, which is particularly important for patients undergoing high-risk transplants in which they have a haploidentical donor (a half-matched bone marrow donor.)

Ryotaro Nakamura, M.D., director of City of Hope's Center for Stem Cell Transplantation, served as the overall principal investigator of the trial, and Ibrahim Aldoss, M.D., assistant clinical professor in the Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, was City of Hope's site principal investigator.

Over half of adults by the age of 40 have been infected with CMV, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While symptoms of the virus do not show up in healthy individuals because the immune system is able to fight off CMV infection, it can cause severe, life-threatening disease in those with weakened immune systems such as transplant patients.

Triplex is a best-in-class, universal recombinant viral vector vaccine that can be given without restrictions to all eligible transplant recipients and/or their donors, scientifically called modified vaccinia Ankara, engineered to induce a robust and durable virus-specific T cell response to three immuno-dominant proteins linked to CMV complications in stem cell transplant recipients.

###

The National Cancer Institute has supported this research with grant funding since 2007.

About City of Hope

City of Hope is an independent biomedical research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases. Founded in 1913, City of Hope is a leader in bone marrow transplantation and immunotherapy such as CAR T cell therapy. City of Hope's translational research and personalized treatment protocols advance care throughout the world. Human synthetic insulin and numerous breakthrough cancer drugs are based on technology developed at the institution. A National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, City of Hope is the highest ranked cancer hospital in the West, according to U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals: Specialty Ranking. Its main campus is located near Los Angeles, with additional locations throughout Southern California. For more information about City of Hope, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.
MIAMI, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY

STATE OF ILLINOIS

SUMMARY NOTICE OF (I) PROPOSED CLASS ACTION

SETTLEMENT; (II) SETTLEMENT FAIRNESS HEARING; AND

(III) MOTION FOR ATTORNEYS' FEES AND LITIGATION EXPENSES

TO: All persons and entities who held a Limited Partnership Interest in: (i) the LJM Preservation and Growth Fund, L.P.; (ii) the Asset Class I Series of LJM Fund, L.P.; or (iii) the PFC-LJM Fund, L.P. as of February 6, 2018

PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY. YOUR RIGHTS WILL BE AFFECTED BY A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT PENDING IN THIS COURT.

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED, pursuant to the Illinois Rules of Civil Procedure and an Order of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, that the Plaintiffs and LJM Partners, Ltd. ("LJM"), Anthony Caine ("Caine"), Kathryn McBride, Anish Parvataneni, Arjuna Ariathurai, Lauren C. Savino, Pacific Futures and Capital, LLC, J. Scott Sykora, James E. Dickinson, Bryan Thurston, and Chun Liu ("LJM Defendants") in Lundgren-Wiedinmyer, et al. v. LJM Partners, Ltd., et al., Case No. 18-CH-10712 ("Action") have reached a proposed settlement of the Action. The Settlement does not include any cash for distribution to Class Members. Instead, the Settlement provides that one of the Defendants, Anthony Caine, will provide an assignment of 20% of any monies he recovers in a current lawsuit brought by Defendant LJM Partners, Ltd. alleging the manipulation of the VIX ("VIX Manipulation Case"). The Settlement also provides for a payment of $175,000, of which the attorneys will be seeking court approval of $100,000 in fees and expenses, $40,000 in incentive payments for the Class Representatives, and $35,000 to pay notice costs. If the Settlement is approved, it will resolve all claims against the LJM Defendants in the Action.

A hearing will be held on June 3, 2020, at 11:00 a.m., before the Honorable Raymond Mitchell at Courtroom 2601 of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, 50 W. Washington Street, Chicago, IL 60602, to determine: (1) whether the proposed Settlement should be approved as fair, reasonable, and adequate; (2) whether the Action should be dismissed with prejudice against the LJM Defendants, and the Releases specified and described in the Settlement Agreement should be approved; (3) whether Class Counsel's motion for an award of attorneys' fees and expenses in the amount of $100,000 from the Settlement Fund should be approved; (4) whether Class Counsel's motion for an incentive award for Class Representatives in the amount of $5,000 for each of them (for a total of $40,000) should be approved; and (5) any other matter related to the Settlement that the Court deems appropriate.

If you are a member of the Settlement Class, your rights will be affected by the pending Action and the Settlement. If you have not yet received the Long-Form Notice, you may obtain copies of this document by contacting the Settlement Administrator at: Lundgren-Wiedinmyer LJM Funds State Action, c/o A.B. Data, Ltd., P.O. Box 173095, Milwaukee, WI 53217, (877) 212-3362. Copies of the Long-Form Notice can also be downloaded from the website maintained by the Settlement Administrator, www.LJMPartnersStateLitigation.com.

If additional funds are recovered by LJM Partners, Ltd. from the VIX Manipulation Case, a claims process will be commenced in this Action. Therefore, if you are a Settlement Class Member, and do not exclude yourself, you should retain any and all records of your ownership and transactions in: (i) the LJM Preservation and Growth Fund, L.P.; (ii) the Asset Class I Series of LJM Fund, L.P.; or (iii) the PFC-LJM Fund, L.P.

If you are a member of the Settlement Class and wish to exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you must submit a request for exclusion so that it is received no later than March 25, 2020, in accordance with the instructions set forth in the Long-Form Notice. If you properly exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you will not be bound by any judgments or orders entered by the Court in the Action and you will not be able to participate in any future potential recovery from the Assignment.

Any objections to the proposed Settlement, Class Counsel's motion for attorneys' fees and reimbursement of expenses, or Class Counsel's request for incentive awards for the Class Representatives must be filed with the Court and delivered to Class Counsel such that they are received no later than May 11, 2020, in accordance with the instructions set forth in the Long-Form Notice.

If you have questions regarding this Summary Notice, please do not contact the Court. All questions about this Notice, the proposed Settlement, or your eligibility to participate in the Settlement should be directed to Class Counsel or the Settlement Administrator.

Requests for the Long-Form Notice should be made to: Lundgren-Wiedinmyer LJM Funds State Action, c/o A.B. Data, Ltd., P.O. Box 173095, Milwaukee, WI 53217; (877) 212-3362 toll-free; or [email protected].

Inquiries, other than requests for the Long-Form Notice, should be made to Class Counsel: Michael E. Criden, Esq., Criden & Love, P.A., 7301 S.W. 57th Court, Suite 515, South Miami, FL 33143; (305) 357-9000; [email protected].

Dated: February 10, 2020 By Order of the Court

SOURCE Criden & Love, P.A.
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The festival is being held on the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Bahrain Film Club

The Bahrain Film Festival announced this week that Egyptian star actress Laila Eloui will head the jury of the feature film competition for the first run of the event taking place in March.

The festival, organised by the Bahrain Film Club, told Reuters they selected the 58-year-old actress "due to her extensive experience in the cinema field as well as her experience in leading jury committees in international Gulf and Arab festivals."

The jury will also includes Saudi actor Ibrahim Al-Hassawi and Bahraini critic Amin Saleh.

The festival, which will also hold competitions for student films and documentaries, is being held on the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Bahrain Film Club.

Born in 1962, Eloui has starred in over 70 films, sharing the screen with almost all of the most famous Egyptian actors like Adel Imam, Ahmed Zaki and Farid Shawky under the helm of dozens of directors including the great Youssef Chahine.

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture

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Everything not bolted to the floor and ceiling of the Qantas aircraft used to carry Australians out of Wuhan will be destroyed for the safety of future passengers.

The second evacuation plane landed in Darwin, Northern Territory, on Sunday with 266 'clinically well' passengers on board after a day-long stopover in Hong Kong.

A further 243 Australians who were on the first rescue flight from Wuhan are almost halfway through a 14-day quarantine on Christmas Island after landing on Tuesday.

Although no passengers showed signs of the deadly virus, Qantas took extreme measures to quarantine the Boeing 747-400 after the Tuesday flight.

The Qantas flight left the Chinese coronavirus epicentre of Wuhan early Sunday morning

'Rubbish and items in the cabin like pillows, blankets, magazines and headphones were removed and disposed of through quarantine. These items were replaced with brand new items,' a Qantas spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia.

'The entire aircraft cabin was sprayed twice with hospital-grade disinfectant which kills the coronavirus.'

'This includes all seats, floors, arm rests, tray tables, overhead luggage bins and walls.'

During the flight, the air in the cabin was replaced every three-to-five minutes with HEPA filters - also used in hospital operating theatres.

All filters were destroyed after the flight and refitted with new ones.

The rigorous cleaning process will be repeated for the items on board the Sunday flight.

Passengers wear protective face masks as they arrive from Shenzhen to Hong Kong

The spokeswoman said the cleaning efforts went above and beyond the policies introduced after the SARS crisis in 2003 for planes returning from affected areas.

More than 90 children were among the evacuees who arrived on Sunday.

After undergoing four health screenings that confirmed all passengers were 'physically well', they were sent to the Manigurr-ma Village, a former mining camp at Howard Springs, 30km from Darwin.

Evacuees who arrived in Darwin on Sunday (pictured) were transported to Howard Springs, where they will spend the next fortnight in quarantine

The evacuees were initially expected to be quarantined on Christmas Island but were redirected to Darwin because the island facility was unable to accommodate another couple of hundred people.

Up to 100 Australians still remain in Wuhan.

There are growing calls for the federal government to put on a third evacuation flight after many of those trapped missed out on selection for the Sunday flight.
DALLAS, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS

DALLAS DIVISION













IN RE FORTERRA INC. SECURITIES

Case No. 3:18-cv-01957-X LITIGATION







Hon. Brantley Starr













SUMMARY NOTICE OF (I) PENDENCY OF CLASS ACTION, CERTIFICATION OF SETTLEMENT CLASS, AND PROPOSED SETTLEMENT; (II) SETTLEMENT FAIRNESS HEARING; AND (III) MOTION FOR AN AWARD OF ATTORNEYS' FEES

AND REIMBURSEMENT OF LITIGATION EXPENSES

TO: All persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired Forterra common stock between Forterra's Initial Public Offering on October 19, 2016 and August 14, 2017, inclusive, and/or who purchased or acquired stock pursuant to and/or traceable to the Registration Statement issued in connection with Forterra's Initial Public Offering and were damaged thereby (the "Settlement Class"):

PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY, YOUR RIGHTS WILL BE AFFECTED BY A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT PENDING IN THIS COURT.

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED, pursuant to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and an Order of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, that the above-captioned litigation (the "Action") has been certified as a class action on behalf of the Settlement Class for the purpose of settlement only, except for certain persons and entities who are excluded from the Settlement Class by definition as set forth in the full Notice of (I) Pendency of Class Action, Certification of Settlement Class, and Proposed Settlement; (II) Settlement Fairness Hearing; and (III) Motion for an Award of Attorneys' Fees and Reimbursement of Litigation Expenses (the "Notice").

YOU ARE ALSO NOTIFIED that Plaintiffs in the Action have reached a proposed settlement of the Action for $5,500,000 in cash (the "Settlement"), that, if approved, will resolve all claims in the Action.

A hearing will be held on April 29, 2020 at 10:00 a.m., before the Honorable Brantley Starr at the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, United States Courthouse, Courtroom 1310, 1100 Commerce Street, Dallas, TX 75242, to determine (i) whether the proposed Settlement should be approved as fair, reasonable, and adequate; (ii) whether the Action should be dismissed with prejudice against Defendants, and the Releases specified and described in the Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement dated November 4, 2019 (and in the Notice) should be granted; (iii) whether the proposed Plan of Allocation should be approved as fair and reasonable; and (iv) whether Lead Counsel's application for an award of attorneys' fees and reimbursement of expenses should be approved.

If you are a member of the Settlement Class, your rights will be affected by the pending Action and the Settlement, and you may be entitled to share in the Settlement Fund. The Notice and Proof of Claim and Release Form ("Claim Form"), can be downloaded from the website maintained by the Claims Administrator, www.ForterraSecuritiesLitigation.com . You may also obtain copies of the Notice and Claim Form by contacting the Claims Administrator at In re Forterra Inc. Securities Litigation, c/o Epiq, P.O. Box 4655, Portland, OR 97208-4655, (844) 412-0823.

If you are a member of the Settlement Class, in order to be eligible to receive a payment under the proposed Settlement, you must submit a Claim Form online or postmarked no later than June 5, 2020. If you are a Settlement Class Member and do not submit a proper Claim Form, you will not be eligible to share in the distribution of the net proceeds of the Settlement but you will nevertheless be bound by any judgments or orders entered by the Court in the Action.

If you are a member of the Settlement Class and wish to exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you must submit a request for exclusion such that it is received no later than April 8, 2020, in accordance with the instructions set forth in the Notice. If you properly exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you will not be bound by any judgments or orders entered by the Court in the Action and you will not be eligible to share in the proceeds of the Settlement.

Any objections to the proposed Settlement, the proposed Plan of Allocation, or Lead Counsel's motion for attorneys' fees and reimbursement of expenses, must be filed with the Court and delivered to Lead Counsel and Defendants' Counsel such that they are received no later than April 8, 2020, in accordance with the instructions set forth in the Notice.

Please do not contact the Court, the Clerk's office, Forterra, or its counsel regarding this notice. All questions about this notice, the proposed Settlement, or your eligibility to participate in the Settlement should be directed to Lead Counsel or the Claims Administrator.

Inquiries, other than requests for the Notice and Claim Form, should be made to Lead Counsel:

GLANCY PRONGAY & MURRAY LLP

Joshua L. Crowell, Esq.

1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100

Los Angeles, CA 90067

(310) 201-9150

[email protected]

Requests for the Notice and Claim Form should be made to:

In re Forterra Inc. Securities Litigation

c/o Epiq

P.O. Box 4655

Portland, OR 97208-4655

(844) 412-0823

www.ForterraSecuritiesLitigation.com

DATED: February 10, 2020

BY ORDER OF THE COURT

United States District Court

for the Northern District of Texas

SOURCE Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP

Related Links

http://www.ForterraSecuritiesLitigation.com


IPC Honors TTM Technologies, Continental Automotive with Corporate Recognition Awards Published: 10 February 2020 by Chelsey Drysdale by Chelsey Drysdale

BANNOCKBURN, IL  IPC bestowed its highest corporate honors on two IPC member companies: TTM Technologies and Continental Automotive.

At IPC Apex Expo last week, the Peter Sarmanian Corporate Recognition Award was presented to TTM Technologies, and the Stan Plzak Corporate Recognition Award was presented to Continental Automotive.

The Peter Samarian Corporate Recognition award, named for a former IPC board chairman, recognizes an IPC-member company in the PCB industry that has supported IPC through participation in technical and management programs, while providing leadership for the industry.

Nearly 70 of TTMs staff participate in approximately 120 technical committees, ranging from flexible circuits and fabrication processes to conflict minerals and IP standards. Nearly 1,200 staff have earned CIT, CIS, CID, CID+, and EMS certifications across all TTM locations.

Named for former IPC board chairman and founding member of the IPC Electronics Manufacturing Services Industry Management Council, the IPC Stan Plzak Corporate Recognition Award honors an IPC-member company in the electronics assembly industry that actively contributes to the industry, while supporting IPC technical and/or management programs.

More than two dozen Continental Automotive employees lend their time and talent on dozens of standards development committees, dedicated to topics ranging from automotive electronics to press-fit technology and lead-free. The companys staff has amassed more than 400 certifications.

Numerous staff have been honored with awards for their standards contributions; two have earned an IPC Rising Star Award, and Dr. Robert Feuerstein, director and head of manufacturing technology at the Regensberg, Germany facility, serves on IPCs board.
Passengers disembark a cruise in Hong Kong after the ship sat at the dock for four days. Photo: Anthony Kwan/Getty Images

On Sunday, the director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, urged all countries to step up efforts to prepare for the international spread of coronavirus and encouraged leaders to share information about the outbreak in real time with the U.N.s agency for public health. While pushing for donors to hit the fundraising goal of $675 million, Adhanom, Ethiopias former minister of health, provided a disconcerting perspective: Though he reiterated his call for calm, he also stated that the current level of the viruss outbreak may only be  the tip of the iceberg.

Thereve been some concerning instances of onward #2019nCoV spread from people with no travel history to . The detection of a small number of cases may indicate more widespread transmission in other countries; in short, we may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg.  Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) February 9, 2020

On Sunday, deaths from the coronavirus in China  where infections were first reported in the city of Wuhan in late December  surpassed the total from the SARS outbreak of 20023. To date, the Wuhan coronavirus has killed 908, while the death toll of SARS, which is a strain within the same family of viruses, reached 774 worldwide. According to Chinas National Health Commission, there are currently 40,171 confirmed cases of the virus. Outside China, only two people have died from infection: one in Hong Kong and one in the Philippines. On Saturday, American officials confirmed that a U.S. citizen in Wuhan died from coronavirus.

Over the weekend, multiple reports from cruises under quarantine dominated the press surrounding the virus. In New Jersey, four Chinese passengers were cleared of Wuhan coronavirus after arriving in the U.S. with flulike symptoms. And while other cruises were denied entry into Guam, the Philippines, and Hong Kong, a ship owned by Princess Cruises, the Diamond Princess, was quarantined off the coast of Japan. Health officials have confirmed that a total of 70 passengers on the cruise have been infected with coronavirus, including 14 Americans. The Diamond Princess will remain under quarantine for a total of 14 days, until Wednesday, February 19. Some 3,700 passengers are on the ship, including 428 Americans.

Responding to a report that five British citizens contracted coronavirus while on a ski trip to the French alpine resort of Les Contamines-Montjoie, Foreign Policy senior editor James Palmer forwarded an idea that complements the WHO heads suggestion that the global health crisis could worsen: Notice how the coronavirus cases were seeing abroad are in the settings of the rich, such as cruise ships and ski resorts and business conferences? That probably means cases are going undetected among the poor.
Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

The family of 19-year old British motorcyclist Harry Dunn, who was killed in England last summer after colliding with a Volvo SUV driven by American Anne Sacoolas, are demanding to know if their sons alleged killer was a spy.

Sacoolas has been described as a spy wife because of her husbands job on the Royal Air Force Croughton intelligence base in rural England where she and her family were based when the accident occurred. But British media have now reported that she also had a CIA background and that she may have outranked her husband in the intelligence community.

Grieving Parents Ambushed by Trump, Who Had Teens Killer Waiting at White House

New reports now suggest that Sacoolas is being protected by the U.S. State Dept. because of her own potential intelligence background, not her husbands. She was whisked out of the country after initially cooperating with British police over the accident, in which she is accused of driving her Volvo SUV on the wrong side of the road straight into Dunns Kawasaki motorcyle.

U.S. government sources told the Mail on Sunday that Sacoolas was not active in the UK, though one security source added, you never really leave the CIA. (Sacoolas lawyers did not respond to requests for comment from the The Daily Beast.)

In December, the British Crown Prosecution Service charged Sacoolas with causing Dunns death by dangerous driving. Dunns family have been fighting to extradite Sacoolas to face charges in the U.K., but the State Dept. has stood firm in their refusal to turn her over.

President Donald Trump even arranged a secret meeting between the family and Sacoolas last year when they were in the U.S. to drum up attention to the case in an attempt to work things out on U.S. soil. The family instead said they felt ambushed and refused to meet her anywhere but on British soil.

Charlotte Charles, Dunns mother, said she and her family are full of anger over the way they have been treated by the British government, who they now believe was complicit in keeping Sacoolas safe from prosecution.

Story continues

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had previously been applauded for taking up the matter directly with Trump, but now the Dunn family members have criticized him for allegedly working to protect the alleged former spy as a favor to the Trump administration.

How could they do this to us? Dunns mother Charles said Sunday. We have thrown ourselves into building relationships with the government despite the terrible way they were treating us. We believe in giving people a second chance. But I am livid today and my family are full of anger.

Charles also told the Mail on Sunday that things were beginning to fall into place.

We have also found it impossible to figure out why the U.S. administration has behaved in the lawless way it has in harbouring Anne Sacoolas, Charles said. But no one is above the law. Whether or not you are a CIA officer, a diplomat or anyone else, the Vienna Convention states that you must abide by and respect the rules and regulations of the host country.

Family spokesman Radd Seiger confirmed to The Daily Beast that he has asked the British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to open an investigation into why they were not told that Sacoolas may have had a past as a CIA officer.

Seiger said in a statement Sunday that it was high time that the nation can see with full transparency whether or not the government prioritized protecting the identity of the Sacoolas family over the welfare and rights of Harrys family.

The family now questions who knew of Sacoolas alleged status and whether they are really working to extradite her as foreign service staff have suggested. Still to this day, the family have seen no evidence that the UK did indeed raise any such objections, Seiger said. And indeed fear that they waved her off at the airport.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 05:36:34|Editor: huaxia

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Police vehicles are seen near the site where a gunman opened fire in The Bronx of New York, the United States, on Feb. 9, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Jiangang)

Two NYPD officers were shot in two targeted attacks, within hours of one another, by the same gunman. The suspect has been taken into custody and the two injured policemen are expected to recover.

NEW YORK, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- A policeman was shot Sunday morning in the New York borough of The Bronx shortly after two other police officers were assaulted in the same area, in targeted attacks by the same gunman, local media reported.

In the first attack on Saturday night, one of the two police officers was injured when a gunman fired into their patrol van. In the second assault on Sunday morning, another policeman was shot when the gunman entered a police station and opened fire.

The two incidents took place within hours of one another.

Both of the injured policemen are expected to recover, and the gunman who opened fire in the police station has been taken into custody, according to local officials.

Police vehicles are seen near the site where a gunman opened fire in The Bronx of New York, the United States, on Feb. 9, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Jiangang)

New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea was quoted by media as saying the officer at the wheel of the patrol van Saturday night was grazed in the chin and neck, but his carotid artery narrowly avoided injury.

The officers had been stationed in the neighborhood because of recent drug activity and violence, Shea said.

The officer shot in the police station is in stable condition, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted Sunday morning.

"An attack on our NYPD officers is an attack on ALL New Yorkers," tweeted the mayor, adding that "this despicable hatred is an attempt to divide our city and undermine our safety. We cannot and will not let that happen." 
DETROIT, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Lower-middle-market private equity firm Huron Capital today announced that its platform company Ronnoco Beverage Solutions ("Ronnoco"), a manufacturer and distributor of premium quality coffee, tea and related products, has acquired Trident Beverage ("Trident"), a provider of high quality beverages and dispensing products for a variety of foodservice establishments.

Ronnoco, an ExecFactor initiative, has increased its industry reach to 43 states with the addition of nine acquisitions since Huron Capital invested in the company eight years ago. Trident's line of fruit juices and frozen beverage equipment provide Ronnoco with an opportunity to gain a deeper market penetration in some categories and new opportunities in other areas.

"The acquisition of Trident Beverage adds both complementary and related product lines to Ronnoco's current beverage portfolio, making it a strong strategic fit," said Terry McDaniel, CEO of Ronnoco Beverage Solutions. "We are incredibly enthused to welcome John, Patrick and their dedicated team to company as we jointly work to advance our mission for continued growth and innovative expansion."

Houston-based Trident Beverage has a prominent presence in the K-12, convenience and foodservice markets. Product offerings include Juice Alive and JavAlive as well as hot, cold and frozen dispensing equipment and services.

Trident President John Walker and Vice President Patrick Walker will continue to run the business, providing leadership and expertise to ensure continued quality of their beverages and service.

"We are pleased to unite fronts with a company that is so aligned with our larger priorities," Walker said. "Together, our extended line of complementary product offerings and service areas creates natural opportunities for expansion across the combined platform."

Huron Capital made a commitment when it acquired Ronnoco in 2012 to help the company grow and write the next chapter in a history that dates back to 1904.

"We're proud of the talent and growth Ronnoco has been able to achieve over the last eight years," said Huron Capital Partner Matt Hare. "We believe the addition of Trident will help Ronnoco continue to increase market share and provide our partners with a one-stop, full line of beverage solutions."

About Huron Capital

Based in Detroit, Huron Capital is an operationally focused private equity firm with a long history of growing lower middle-market companies through our proprietary ExecFactor buy-and-build investment model. We prefer complex situations where we can help companies reach their full potential by combining our operational approach, substantial capital base, and transaction experience with seasoned operating executives. Celebrating its twentieth anniversary in 2019, Huron Capital has raised over $1.8 billion in capital through six committed private equity funds and invested in over 190 companies, and our portfolio companies have employed over 11,000 people throughout North America. The Huron Capital buy-and-build investment model includes equity recapitalizations, family succession transactions, market-entry strategies, corporate carve-outs, and management buyouts of companies having revenues up to $200 million. Huron Capital targets both control and non-control equity stakes in fundamentally-sound companies that can benefit from the firm's operational approach to creating value. Huron Capital's sector focus includes business services, consumer products & services and specialty industrials. For more information, please visit: www.huroncapital.com

About Ronnoco Beverage Solutions

Ronnoco roasts, blends, grinds, packages and distributes premium-quality coffee and teas under six primary brands: Ronnoco, Seattle Roast, Wild Horse Creek, Henderson, Coffee House and Camellia. The company provides a variety of other beverages, such as cappuccino, hot chocolate, and smoothies, and coffee-related products and equipment, including cups, flavoring syrups and condiments. Ronnoco supplies its products directly to its customers, as well as through a network of third-party distributors throughout more than 43 states. For more information, please visit: www.ronnoco.com.

About Trident Beverage

Trident Beverage was created in 2004 with the goal of providing a healthy selection of beverage and dispenser options to wellness oriented foodservice establishments. Successfully servicing thousands of schools, day cares, restaurants, bars and other food venues throughout the United States, Trident prides themselves on their high-quality beverage offerings and customer service. For more information, please visit: www.buybsg.com.

Certain information herein may contain forward-looking statements which are provided to assist the reader in understanding the beliefs and opinions with respect to future opportunities as perceived by Huron Capital and others quoted herein. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and undue reliance should not be placed on them. Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual performance in future periods to differ materially from any projections or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The issuer of these statements undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or estimates or opinions should change except as may be required by applicable securities laws.

Contact:

Brent Snavely, Director

Lambert & Co.

(313) 309-9516

[email protected]

SOURCE Huron Capital

Related Links

http://www.huroncapital.com


Even when a business is losing money, it's possible for shareholders to make money if they buy a good business at the right price. For example, biotech and mining exploration companies often lose money for years before finding success with a new treatment or mineral discovery. But while history lauds those rare successes, those that fail are often forgotten; who remembers Pets.com?

Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether AnteoTech (ASX:ADO) shareholders should be worried about its cash burn. For the purpose of this article, we'll define cash burn as the amount of cash the company is spending each year to fund its growth (also called its negative free cash flow). First, we'll determine its cash runway by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves.

View our latest analysis for AnteoTech

When Might AnteoTech Run Out Of Money?

You can calculate a company's cash runway by dividing the amount of cash it has by the rate at which it is spending that cash. In June 2019, AnteoTech had AU$4.3m in cash, and was debt-free. In the last year, its cash burn was AU$2.4m. So it had a cash runway of approximately 21 months from June 2019. That's not too bad, but it's fair to say the end of the cash runway is in sight, unless cash burn reduces drastically. The image below shows how its cash balance has been changing over the last few years.

ASX:ADO Historical Debt, February 9th 2020

How Is AnteoTech's Cash Burn Changing Over Time?

Whilst it's great to see that AnteoTech has already begun generating revenue from operations, last year it only produced AU$150k, so we don't think it is generating significant revenue, at this point. As a result, we think it's a bit early to focus on the revenue growth, so we'll limit ourselves to looking at how the cash burn is changing over time. Even though it doesn't get us excited, the 49% reduction in cash burn year on year does suggest the company can continue operating for quite some time. AnteoTech makes us a little nervous due to its lack of substantial operating revenue. So we'd generally prefer stocks from this list of stocks that have analysts forecasting growth.

Story continues

How Easily Can AnteoTech Raise Cash?

Even though it has reduced its cash burn recently, shareholders should still consider how easy it would be for AnteoTech to raise more cash in the future. Issuing new shares, or taking on debt, are the most common ways for a listed company to raise more money for its business. One of the main advantages held by publicly listed companies is that they can sell shares to investors to raise cash to fund growth. We can compare a company's cash burn to its market capitalisation to get a sense for how many new shares a company would have to issue to fund one year's operations.

Since it has a market capitalisation of AU$46m, AnteoTech's AU$2.4m in cash burn equates to about 5.2% of its market value. That's a low proportion, so we figure the company would be able to raise more cash to fund growth, with a little dilution, or even to simply borrow some money.

So, Should We Worry About AnteoTech's Cash Burn?

As you can probably tell by now, we're not too worried about AnteoTech's cash burn. In particular, we think its cash burn relative to its market cap stands out as evidence that the company is well on top of its spending. And even though its cash runway wasn't quite as impressive, it was still a positive. Based on the factors mentioned in this article, we think its cash burn situation warrants some attention from shareholders, but we don't think they should be worried. For us, it's always important to consider risks around cash burn rates. But investors should look at a whole range of factors when researching a new stock. For example, it could be interesting to see how much the AnteoTech CEO receives in total remuneration.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies insiders are buying, and this list of stocks growth stocks (according to analyst forecasts)

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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Africa is facing its first plague of locusts since 1989 as a huge swarm that has devastated Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia sweeps into Uganda.

Border officials sounded the alarm as the insects, which have already decimated food supplies across much of the Horn of Africa, were spotted crossing into the Karamoja border region in the north east of the country.

It comes as the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warned of an emerging humanitarian crisis last month as the estimated 360 billion insects munch their way through tonnes of much-needed crops. Somalia declared a state of emergency this month due to the loss of vital crops.

The swarm of locusts, which is estimated to number some 360 billion, reached the Karamoja border region, northeastern Uganda. Pictured above is a ranger surrounded by the locusts in Nasuulu, north Kenya, where crops have been decimated

The swarm began in east Ethiopia and central Somalia last year before the insects spread across Ethiopia and into Kenya. (Pictured: Locusts hopping across the ground like ants in Somalia on February 5)

Kenyan authorities have deployed pesticides, sprayed from planes, in a desperate attempt to control the swarm. This plane was pictured in Nasuulu, north Kenya, on February 1

The locust swarm began in east Ethiopia and central Somalia before spreading down into Kenya and now entering northeastern Uganda (pictured above)

The locust swarm has prompted the UN to warn of an emerging humanitarian crisis across the Horn of Africa. These locusts are pictured on a rock near Garowe in Puntland, Somalia, on February 5

The United Nations is to test drones equipped with mapping sensors and atomizers to spray pesticides in a bid to save crops.

Aerial spraying of pesticides is already being carried out in many areas, but experts say the scale of the infestation is beyond local capacity as desert locusts can travel up to 150 km (95 miles) in a day.

Keith Cressman, the FAO's senior locust swarm forecaster, said specially developed prototypes would be tested that can detect swarms via special sensors and adapt their speed and height accordingly.

He said: 'Nobody's ever done this with desert locusts before.'

Officials in Kenya say drones could play an important role given the limited number of aircraft.

'Every county wants an aircraft, but we only have five at the moment and they can only be in one location at one time,' said David Mwangi, head of plant protection at Kenya's ministry of agriculture.

'We have not used drones before, but I think it's worth testing them as they could help.'

In Somalia, tackling the problem is made even harder as large areas are under threat, or held by, the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group. That makes it difficult or impossible to conduct the aerial spraying of the locusts that experts say is the only effective control.

The United Nations (UN) Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Saturday called for more help from the rest of the world.

He said: 'The UN has issued an urgent appeal for assistance. I ask the international community to respond with speed and generosity to ensure an effective response and control the infestation while we still have the chance.'

The swarm of desert locusts, which usually live solitary lives until a combination of conditions promotes breeding and leads them to form massive swarms, began in eastern Ethiopia and central Somalia last year before spreading through both countries and travelling down to Kenya.

Africa's last major locust plague swept through the region in 1987 to 89. Pictured above is a group of adult locusts, as shown by their wings, in Nasuulu, north Kenya, on February 1

Juvenile locusts pictured swarming over a tree near Garowe, Puntaland, Somalia, on February 4. The next swarm of locusts is expected to appear in April when the juveniles reach adulthood

Kenya and Somalia have both deployed pesticides in a desperate attempt to control locust numbers and kill off juveniles, which are expected to develop into winged adults and cause a second swarm in April this year.

Kenyan authorities have sent planes to spray pesticides over areas in the north of the country while, in Somalia, pesticide workers have been pictured wearing protective suits as they spray the insects.

The FAO says the current invasion is known as an 'upsurge' - when an entire region is affected - however, if it gets worse and cannot be contained, over a year or more, it would become what is known as a 'plague' of locusts.

There have been six major desert locust plagues in the 1900s, the last of which was in 1987-89. The last major upsurge was in 2005.

The swarm has been declared the worst to hit Kenya for 70 years, and the worst to affect Ethiopia and Somalia for 25 years, and could grow 500 times bigger by June when the next generation hatches this month.

Somalia has also deployed pesticides to help it tackle the crisis. These locust-control workers are pictured in Puntland

Incredible pictures show the scale of the worst outbreak of desert locusts in Kenya in 70 years as hundreds of millions of the insects leave helpless farmer heartbroken (pictured in Katitika village, Kitui county, on January 24)

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations director-general Qu Dongyu called for urgent funding to help it provide security for the region at the end of January, after already using $15.4million of the $76million it had requested to tackle the emerging crisis.

The next generation of desert locusts, a million of which can eat enough food for 35,000 people in just one day, are expected to be ready to swarm in April, which coincides with the planting season.

Speaking at an informal briefing in Rome last month, Ms Dongyu warned: 'I hope we can work hard day and night so people do not lose their crops. Timing and location is crucial.'

The FAO's deputy director-general for climate and natural resources, Maria Semedo, warned that countries need to act 'immediately' because 'locusts don't wait. They will come and they will destroy.

'We need to tackle the emergency but we need to think about livelihoods and the long-term.'

The organisation estimated that as many as 12 million people are coping with severe acute food insecurity and many rely on agriculture for their survival.

Their locust information service describes the current situation as 'extremely alarming' and likely to be further exacerbated by new infestations.

The creatures (pictured in Katitika village, Kenya, on January 24) have invaded the East African country from Somalia and Ethiopia, destroying farmland and threatening an already vulnerable region with devastating hunger

Ndunda Makanga, who spent hours Friday trying to chase the locusts from his farm, said: 'Even cows are wondering what is happening. Corn, sorghum, cowpeas, they have eaten everything.' Pictured: The insects in Katitika village

When rains arrive in March and bring new vegetation across much of the region, the numbers of the fast-breeding locusts could grow 500 times before drier weather in June curbs their spread, the United Nations says

A farmer walks through swarms of desert locusts feeding on her crops, in Katitika village, Kitui county

Farmer Theophilus Mwendwa tries to chase away a swarm of desert locusts in the bush near Enziu, Kitui County, 200km east of the capital Nairobi

The locust swarms had increased significantly over the past month in across 13 Kenyan counties including Isiolo, Samburu, Wajir, Garissa, Tana River, Marsabit, Laikipia, Mandera, Kitui, Baringo, Meru, Embu and Turkana.

These same counties have experienced devastating droughts and floods in recent years and over three million people there have been facing extreme levels of food insecurity.

The swarms are destroying pasture for livestock, which will likely devastate the upcoming planting season.

In Somalia, tens of thousands of hectares of land have been affected in Somaliland, Puntland and Galmudug (Mudug), as mature swarms hit the Garbahare area near the Kenyan border.

Locusts are also reported to be travelling south to Somalia's Gedo region leaving a trail of destroyed farms.

Operations are underway in the northeast (Puntland) to control the swarms that continue to move towards the central and southern areas.

About $54million is needed to step up aerial pesticide spraying, the only effective way to combat them, the UN says. Pictured: Near Enziu, Kitui County

A desert locust sits on a tree branch in Katitika village, Kitui county, Kenya. Even a small swarm of the insects can consume enough food for 35,000 people in a single day, said Jens Laerke of the UN humanitarian office in Geneva

Insecurity in some of these parts is hampering efforts to survey and control the infestations.

Oxfam is part of a network of local partner organisations that is monitoring how much further damage the locusts will cause to local food crops.

'We are making plans that include providing cash assistance to people most-in-need, particularly small-holder farmers and pastoralists, so they are able to buy food and fodder for their livestock,' said Zigomo.

The UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) estimates that Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia need $70million between them to tackle the plague.

Oxfam is calling on donors to fund this response immediately, in order to avoid more people falling hungry and using up whatever assets they have to buy food.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday slammed the government over the implementation of the citizenship laws. Addressing an anti-CAA rally at Exhibition Ground in Andhra Pradesh's Kurnool, Owaisi alleged that the BJP is lying about the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population of Register (NPR).

He said, " There is no difference between NPR and NRC. If NPR happens, then the NRC will happen. The government is lying that NPR and NRC are different. They are two sides of the same coin." He further slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah and said, "Modi had said in Ram Lila Maidan that the NRC will not be implemented till now. Later, in the Parliament, I had asked Amit Shah if NRC will be implemented or not. He had assured that it will come."

He added, "Whoever raises their voice against CAA, NPR, NRC is a true follower of Gandhiji, Ambedkar, Netaji Bose."

On the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)

According to Owaisi, failure to stop CAA, NRC and NPR will make India a theocratic Hindu state and render Muslims as second class citizens. He said, "For the first time in Parliament's history, a law was made on the basis of religion. This country doesn't just belong to Hindus or Muslims or Christians; it is a union of all the faiths and beliefs."

Read: 'Only Kejriwal now; wait & watch soon Owaisi will read Hanuman Chalisa': Yogi Adityanath

NPR dates announced

MoS for Home Nityanand Rai on Wednesday announced that the Centre had decided to prepare and update the population register from April to September 2020, throughout the country except for Assam. He announced that the NPR will be carried out along with House listing for the Census.

The MoS also clarified that the NPR will not require the person to submit any documentation. "No document is to be collected during the updation of NPR," he said. He also stated that the requirement for the Aadhaar number under the National Population Register (NPR) is voluntary.

Read: Muslim body urges Shaheen Bagh women to call off protests: 'Govt assured no NRC for now'

Nationwide protests against Citizenship laws

Protests against the Citizenship laws, which fast-tracks Indian citizenship for non-Muslim minorities from three neighbouring countries, have flared since December last year. The mood in the national capital has been tense since violence erupted in the Jamia Millia Islamia University on an earlier occasion. The protests spread nationwide following that.

Prime Minister Narendra Modis government has said that the law is required to help persecuted minorities who came to India before December 31, 2014, from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. But protesters insist the law discriminates against the countrys Muslim minority and violates Indias Constitution.

Read: MoS Nityanand Rai says NPR exercise to be carried out from April to September 2020

Read: Subramanian Swamy turns gaze at Asaduddin Owaisi, suggests new name for 'communal' AIMIM
As Shawbekehs English improved, she was able to talk more and more about her family, like how her husband, Hussam, had taken a job with the valet parking service at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital. Or her two oldest daughters, Batoul and Muna, who are studying at Northeastern Illinois University and the University of Illinois at Chicago, respectively. Or her son, Osama, who attends Ridgewood High School, near the familys home in Harwood Heights. Or her youngest daughter, Mjad, who is in elementary school.
Education freedom is about going to the best school for your child. Even the best school, as ranked by statistics and averages, isnt the best fit for every child. Each of the 50,000 kids waiting for a new opportunity in Pennsylvania has different needs and goals, let alone the millions of students across America stuck in a school that isnt right for them, Morabito said in an email.
Poor security worsened mall mass shooting toll: PM

BANGKOK: Following Nakhon Ratchasimas shooting rampage, which left 30 people dead, including the gunman, and 57 others injured, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Sunday ordered a review of security measures at the militarys armouries.

deathdisastersmilitarypolice

By Bangkok Post

Monday 10 February 2020, 09:47AM

Thousands of local people lit candles and pray for people killed in the shooting rampage in Muang district of Nakhon Ratchasima province on Sunday night. Photo: Prasit Tangprasert / Bangkok Post

All I can say is if we had fully followed [the standard security procedure], we would have been able to mitigate the degree of violence [in this incident], said Gen Prayut after a briefing on the weekends shooting spree.

Even if we insisted we had completely followed a proper security procedure, the question is what more could we have done to improve the efficiency of security measures? he said.

For example, Gen Prayut said, that the weapons were taken by the gunman after he shot and killed the officer guarding the armoury was cause for concern.

Commandos on Sunday killed Sgt Maj 1st Class Jakrapanth Thomma after he carried out a shooting rampage in Nakhon Ratchasima that left 30 of his victims dead, police said.

They said Jakrapanth had been killed at the Terminal 21 shopping mall in the northeastern province where the gunman, who earlier took hostages, was holed up for 17 hours.

Commandos from elite Thai police units killed the gunman, a police spokesman added, after an operation involving hundreds of security personnel.

National police chief Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda and Pol Lt Gen Poonsap Prasertsak, chief of the Provincial Police Region 3, confirmed on Sunday that the rogue soldier had been killed.

Army chief Gen Apirat Kongsompong, however, said a key mistake that could have led to the weapons being stolen was that Jakrapanth knew the people at the armoury very well and they would have not have expected untoward behaviour from him.

Gen Apirat said an urgent order has been sent out to all army units to adopt stricter security measures including that the bolt carriers of the guns in guard post armouries are removed and kept separately by the chief of the guard post.

Also under the same set of new measures, bullets and machine guns will also no longer be stored at any guard post, said Gen Apirat.

Meanwhile, Gen Prayut responded to questions asking what took authorities so long to end the stand-off delay by suggesting that the hostages and number of bystanders at the scene had forced the police to act cautiously to prevent further loss of innocent lives.

As for the motive behind the rampage, Gen Prayut said he had learned from investigators that it was a personal conflict involving a dispute over a house sale involving a relative of Jakrapanths commanding officer, which arose three days before the shooting incident.

They would never have thought the dispute would result in this extreme violence because he [the gunman] was normally not evil. But what he has just done is wholly evil, said Gen Prayut.

Panitan Wattanayagorn, chief of the prime ministers advisory committee on security affairs, said Thailand needed to learn lessons from this shooting spree and take on board the experiences of other countries that have suffered similar tragedies.

Among the areas that will draw scrutiny are public security standards, especially in communities and shopping malls, and weapons control, he said.

Hours before the attack began on Saturday, the gunman posted on Facebook, denouncing greedy people who took advantage of others and asking, Do they think they can spend the money in hell? He broadcast much of the spree on Facebook Live as well as posting frequent updates to his account which charted the attack from the army barracks in the city to the mall. Some observers are unhappy he was able to exploit the Facebook platform to draw publicity for five hours before the social media giant pulled him off air.

The bloodshed began on Saturday afternoon when Jakrapanth shot three people  among them at least one soldier  at a senior officers house and then at the nearby army barracks, before driving an army vehicle to the town centre.

There the gunman used weapons stolen from the military arsenal to unleash carnage in the town centre.

Read original story here.
Kang-ho Song, Hye-jin Jang, Woo-sik Choi, So-dam Park in the movie "Parasite." Source: Parasite

In "Parasite," the South Korean thriller that took home four Oscars Sunday night, including the award for best picture, the tension between rich and poor is on full display, juxtaposing the luxury and abundance of the haves with the hardship and squalor of the have-nots. It's a theme that translates well to the U.S.  and which may well decide the trajectory of the 2020 presidential election. America's wealth divide  a measure of the country's wealth held by the most affluent compared with the rest of the population  has grown substantially over the past few decades. While the top echelon has recovered since the 2008 financial crisis, the middle class hasn't enjoyed that same fortune, according to researchers at the Brookings Institution. Income inequality in the U.S. is higher than in other advanced economies, according to the Pew Research Center.

This is all despite a stock market that's been on its longest winning streak in history and a labor market that's seen more job creation than any in the post-World War II era. "I think 'Parasite' as a theme is really resonant in our elections and our economy," said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, a consumer advocacy group. "There's always been a divide, but it hasn't always been an abyss," Court said. "It hasn't always been the Mariana Trench. It's never been this bad." The share of total U.S. income, such as wages, among the wealthy has grown markedly in the past three decades. The top 10% of Americans made half the country's pre-tax household income in 2016, up from 42% in 1989, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. That means the rest of the country lost an equivalent share.

Wealth inequality has shifted even more starkly. The 400 wealthiest Americans  people like Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates  are now richer than the 150 million adults in the bottom 60% of the wealth distribution, according to a paper published last year by Gabriel Zucman, an economist at the University of California at Berkeley. The 400 richest Americans are worth a record $2.96 trillion, according to Forbes. In 1989, the top 10% of Americans owned roughly two-thirds of U.S. wealth, as measured by things like savings, 401(k) plans and real estate, subtracted by debts such as mortgages and student loans. As of 2016, that share had grown substantially, to 77%, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

There's always been a divide, but it hasn't always been an abyss. It hasn't always been the Mariana Trench. Jamie Court president of Consumer Watchdog

Meanwhile, the bottom 50% of Americans  63 million families  saw their share of total wealth decrease to 1% from 3% over that period. Their average wealth decreased from about $21,000 to $16,000. One in 10 families had a negative net worth, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis found. Almost 40% of Americans wouldn't be able to cover an unexpected $400 expense using cash or savings, according to the Federal Reserve Board. More from Personal Finance

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Some retirees get by on just Social Security. Experts disagree on how many "The United States is a rich country, but it is becoming one in which a very small number of citizens own most of the wealth, and from which both younger Americans and the broad middle class are failing to benefit," according to a Brookings Institution report authored by researchers Isabel Sawhill and Christopher Pulliam. Candidates vying for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2020 election are leveraging the divide to guide their respective agendas and appeal to low- and middle-income Americans. Many candidates have proposed increasing taxes on the wealthy  via a wealth tax, higher income taxes and an expanded estate tax, for example  to help fund programs such as expanded health care, universal child care and student loan forgiveness.
Rights groups and researchers have welcomed Thailand's decision to cancel a Beijing-backed project to dredge and blow open a shallow and rocky stretch of the Mekong River along the Thai-Lao border.

The move is a rare victory for groups and communities fighting to save southeast Asia's most important river from overdevelopment.

Beijing's plan  endorsed by Laos, Myanmar and Thailand in 2000  was to make the stretch of rapids navigable for larger cargo ships hoping to ply the Mekong between China's landlocked Yunnan province and the busy trade routes of the South China Sea. Rights groups and local communities feared it would destroy critical fish habitat and their way of life.

Thai government spokeswoman Trisulee Trisaranakul said the cabinet scrapped the plan Tuesday.

"The reasons is ...China does not support the project anymore and it affects the people of Thailand, because Thai people do not want to make it happen," she told VOA.

Pianporn Deetes, Thailand campaign director for International Rivers, which advocates for sustainable riverine management, called it "a momentous win for the Mekong."

A boat motors down a rocky stretch of the Mekong River in northern Laos in November 2019. (Zsombor Peter/VOA)

Were the project to move forward, it "would transform the river from a life-giving watershed [in] to an industrial corridor where transnational corporations profit at a staggering cost to local livelihoods and biodiversity, rivaled only by the Amazon," she said in a statement.

"But this weeks decision by the Thai cabinet serves as a disruption to the reckless rush to transform and capitalize on the rich resources of the Mekong River. It provides some hope that another future is still possible  one that fully accounts for the Mekongs vital ecological, social and cultural values."

Critics of the project say the rapids are a breeding ground of the critically endangered, and aptly named, Mekong giant catfish, which can grow up to 3 meters in length and weigh in at 300 kilograms. They also are worried that transforming the scenic waterway into a busy shipping lane would kill off the tourism that helps sustain many communities along its banks.

Pianporn gives much of the credit for the Thai government's about face to a pair of grassroots campaign collectives  the Chiang Khong Conservation Group and the Thai Mekong Peoples Network  for putting up a stiff and sustained fight with both the Thai government and project developer the China Communications Construction Company.

FILE - Sightseers play on a sandbar in the Mekong River in Nakhon Phanom province, northeastern Thailand, Dec. 4, 2019.

Chiang Khong's Niwat Roykaew said many locals at first doubted the use of taking on such formidable foes, according to the International Rivers statement.

But this proves that we can do it, with evidence-based campaigns. At last this project is officially canceled," he said.

Although China had quietly backed away from the project about a year ago, cutting off funding for further feasibility studies, the Thai cabinet's decision Tuesday was the "final nail in the coffin," Brian Eyler, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Stimson Center, who heads the research group's Mekong Policy Project, told VOA.

"The local community activists in northern Thailand should be commended for their tenacity and tirelessness. Wins like this don't often happen in the Mekong," he said.

But Eyler said the activists also were lucky their concerns dovetailed with those of the Thai military, ever wary of China's regular armed patrols of the Mekong well past its own border.

"In this instance Thailand's justifiable security concerns lined up with the very justifiable concerns of well-organized community groups, and the project was canceled  regardless of what others in Thailand thought toward the benefits of more commerce on the Mekong," he said.

Thailand's reverse course on a Beijing-backed project is rare. But China's ever-expanding infrastructure push across the region has been hitting resistance or running aground elsewhere as well.

Since Malaysia's voters booted a coterie of corruption-mired leaders from office in mid-2018, the new government has scaled back the size and cost of Beijing-backed projects for a port and railway that threatened to drown a country already swimming in debt. In Myanmar, China's bid to build the Myitsone hydropower dam has met strong resistance from locals and has been on hold since the country's military government embarked on democratic reforms in 2011.

"In countries where local people impacted negatively by these projects can take action to voice concerns and push for a better deal or a postponement or cancellation, we do see Chinese companies responding by increasing standards or transparency or foregoing projects," Eyler said. "This, however, is not happening in countries like Laos or Cambodia where civil society and impacted stakeholders rarely have a voice."

China already has straddled its stretch of the river with 11 hydropower dams, while Laos and Cambodia are either operating, building or planning at least as many more with funding from China, Thailand and Vietnam. Researchers have warned of the river's ecological collapse if they all get built.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 03:15:26|Editor: huaxia

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Syrian soldiers are seen in the town of al-Eis in the southern countryside of Aleppo province on Feb. 9, 2020. (Xinhua/Str)



The Syrian army launched a series of military operations in Syria's northern provinces of Idlib and Aleppo over the past few days, ending in the seizure of 600 square km of areas in the region.

DAMASCUS, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army said on Sunday that it has captured 600 square km of areas over the past few days in the countryside region of Idlib and Aleppo provinces in northern Syria.

Dozens of villages and towns as well as hills were captured over the past few days, according to an army statement.

The military campaign has targeted the "terrorist groups which upped their aggression against civilians and residential areas," said the statement.

The Syrian government, backed by its ally Russia, has kept up a military offensive in Idlib and the southern Aleppo countryside over the past two months, aiming to secure the strategic Damascus-Aleppo highway that runs along the rebel-controlled territory. 
[February 10, 2020] UK Gambling Companies Can Navigate Upcoming Credit Card Ban Effectively With Easy Payment Gateway

LONDON, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The UK's ban on credit card use in online gaming, which comes into effect on April 14, has put the gambling industry in check. In this context, Easy Payment Gateway, payment and fraud management services aggregator, recommends these businesses look for payment alternatives with the objective of retaining customers and continue growing their market share. "If the announcement of the British Government's decision has already caused losses in the shares of large gambling companies, the imminent entry of the ban and the uncertainty as to whether debit cards will be affected shows the need to find alternatives to help them overcome this situation," says Gibraltarian Alex Capurro, founder of Easy Payment Gateway. Thus, the company remids of the importance of online gaming sites evaluating the range of options they offer: the more possibilities the user has to make deposits into their accounts and make refunds of their winnings, the more opportunities there will be to maximize the conversion ratio and, therefore, to retain and build customer loyalty.



The Easy Payment Gateway platform has 240 payment methods, fraud management, kyc, etc. enabled - of which 190 are alternatives - encompassing 35 bank card processors worldwide. This means, in the words of Alex Capurro, "More opportunities for potential customers to find the payment method that best suits their tastes and needs." The company showed all the possibilities its technology offers at ICE London, which was held on 4, 5 and 6 February. In addition, it is important that, in parallel, a process is articulated that is agile and intuitive, in which the user does not have to go navigating through different windows, since this can cause a certain distrust and abandonment on the part of the potential consumer. "The faster and easier the payment is for the client, the more possibility this business will have to make them loyal," points out Capurro. "In addition, gambling customers tend to be very recurrent, so it is essential to facilitate payment, especially for those who are more trusting."

The Easy Payment Gateway platform is easily integrated into the website itself and allows for the development of regular customer lists, known as whitelists, so that customers are spared the verification process and can access payment directly, providing a better user experience.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Shiv Sena's student wing Yuva Sena's north India chief Honey Mahajan has been injured after he was allegedly shot at by an unidentified person in Gurdaspur on Monday.

He has been referred to a hospital in Amritsar.

An acquaintance of Mahajan, who was accompanying him, has died on spot.

More details are awaited.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bangkok, Feb 10 : Bollywood actress Sunny Leone received three honours at the 13th Edition of Asian Business & Social Forum in Thailand.

Sunny, who was accompanied by her husband Daniel Weber to Thailand, was feted with the Asia One Women empowerment Award, 40 under 40, Influential Asian Award and India's Fastest Growing Brand award for her cosmetic line StarStruck.

The actress said: "My cosmetic line is a reflection of me, and my team and we have worked really hard to get every aspect of it right .The award completely belongs to the team StarStruck and Daniel that has got the brand global recognition." The event was graced by prominent diplomats where she was bestowed with the profilic awards.

On the acting front, Sunny will next be seen in "Koka Kola".

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The CPC Partnership is jointly developed and builds on existing efforts in Peru to prosecute and punish perpetrators of child trafficking, identify child trafficking victims and coordinate the provision of comprehensive protective services, and prevent child trafficking from occurring. It is the first partnership of its kind in the region.

In support of this historic partnership, the U.S. Government initially awarded US$5 million to implementing partners Centro Yanapanakusun and the International Labour Organization (ILO) , and its sub-recipients Capital Humano y Social Alternativo (CHS) and Instituto de Defensa Legal to conduct activities in Metropolitan Lima, Cusco Region, and Loreto Region.
Petronet LNG Ltd, India's biggest liquefied natural gas importer, on Monday reported highest ever quarterly net profit of Rs 675 crore in the third quarter ended December on back of processing higher volumes of gas.

Net profit in October-December at Rs 675 crore was 17 per cent higher than Rs 565 crore net profit in the same period a year ago, Petronet Managing Director & CEO Prabhat Singh told reporters here.

Petronet processed 233 trillion British thermal units (TBtus) of LNG in the quarter as compared to 202 TBtus in Q3 of 2018-19. Its flagship Dahej import facility in Gujarat operated at around 100 per cent of its nameplate capacity and processed 222 TBtus of LNG, up from 197 TBtus a year back, he said.

"The significant increase in profit year to date is due to higher volumes processed owing to commercial efficacy and better efficiency in operations," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The officers responded to the Walmart after someone called police to report a man who was making threats and was kind of talking out of his head Lee said at a news conference Monday afternoon. Arkansas State Police Spokesman Bill Sadler said local authorities have identified the suspect as Bobby Joe Gibbs, 40, of Forrest City, though the state crime lab has yet not confirmed his identity.
The Milagro theater companys latest production floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee.

En el Tiempo de Las Mariposas (In the Time of the Butterflies), playwright Caridad Svichs adaptation of Julia Alvarezs 1994 historical novel of the same title, tells the story of the Mirabel sisters, venerated figures in the Dominican Republic for their roles in defying the three-decade dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. Three of the sisters  Minerva, Patria and Maria Teresa  were killed in 1960 on their way to visit their imprisoned husbands, also their comrades in the resistance. The deaths of the Butterflies, as the sisters called themselves, are widely seen as sparking outrage that led to Trujillos 1961 assassination.

Like the novel, the production runs along two timelines: the 1940s and 50s, during which Minerva, Patria, Maria Teresa and a fourth sister, Dede, grow from privileged girlhood into politically conscious adulthood, and 1994, when a Dominican American writer visits Dede to learn more about her family. The dialogue is entirely in Spanish, with two screens providing English supertitles.

Under Christy Drogoschs strong direction, the Oregon premiere of En el Tiempo de Las Mariposas highlights the complex interplay of the political and the personal. Minerva (Yesenia Lopez), unwavering in her contempt for the regime, rejects Trujillos lascivious attentions and then finds herself blamed for her fathers subsequent torture. Patria (Paulina Jaeger), the most devout among the Catholic sisters, wonders if her faith can coexist with love and activism. Maria Teresa (Evangel McVicker), nicknamed Mate, bridles at being constantly brushed aside as the youngest, no matter the context. Dede (played as a young woman by Siumara Samayoa and as an older one by Ana Pardo in an impressive professional stage debut) loves her sisters, but shes also inclined to agree with the man she eventually marries, who frowns on sticking out ones neck to any degree.

A single set decorated with flowers and featuring female mannequins draped in white fabric, pink garlands and white lights, beautifully designed by Sophya Vidal, serves as a unifying backdrop for the sisters conversations and Dedes recollections with the writer (Yolanda Porter).

Strengths: En el Tiempo de Las Mariposas centers womens voices with a cast that defines ensemble work, conveying passion and conviction for family and country in every scene.

The lone male cast member, Carlos Manzano, is a chameleon, disappearing into his roles as a suave radio DJ, a staunch revolutionary, a menacing Trujillo, and the driver who takes the sisters to see their husbands.

Lighting designer Dug Martells work stands out in a chilling sequence depicting Minerva and Maria Teresas imprisonment.

Weaknesses: Audience members who use the English supertitles may occasionally have to look away from the action to read the screens, which are placed to the sides of the set rather than above the center (choose your seats accordingly). On opening night, the translation sometimes lagged or seemed out of sync with the dialogue.

Takeaway: Viva la revolucion!

En el Tiempo de Las Mariposas

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday through Feb. 29.

Where: Milagro, 525 S.E. Stark St., Portland.

Tickets: $20-$29, milagro.org or 503-236-7253.
Mahindra & Mahindra reported 84.74% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 199.94 crore on 4.29% fall in total income to Rs 25644.35 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018.

Britannia Industries reported 23.92% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 372.63 crore on 5.02% rise in total income to Rs 3048.16 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018. During this phase of sluggish demand, the company continued to invest in enhancing brand equity through focused product campaigns.

Cipla said it has acquired 4 brands CPink, CDense, Productiv and Folinine, from Wanbury to further strengthen its presence in women's health. The nutraceutical products, to be sold under the 4 umbrella brands, would address various health needs for conditions arising due to nutritional deficiencies or insufficiencies

Tata Steel reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 1084.62 crore against a net profit of Rs 2283.98 crore on 9.40% fall in total income to Rs 35,655.77 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018. Tata Steel Standalone developed 20 new products with applications ranging in automotive, consumer durables, tube manufacturing and construction; of these; 8 products were successfully commercialized.

NTPC reported 22.37% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 3179.06 crore on 5.16% rise in total income to Rs 27,635.39 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018.

Dr Reddy's said Curis, a biotechnology firm focusing on the development of innovative therapeutics for cancer treatment, has entered into an amendment of its collaboration, license and option agreement with Aurigene, a subsidiary of Dr Reddy's.

Yes Bank received shareholders' approval to increase authorised share capital to Rs 1,100 crore from Rs 800 crore.

Shareholders also approved raising up to Rs 10,000 crore via issuance of equity shares or other convertible securities. Last week, the bank had appointed global investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and two domestic entities to execute its fundraising plans of $2 billion.

Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) said the company and JSC Rosoboronexport signed an MoU during the ongoing DefExpo 2020. The MoU envisages export of spares and services to friendly countries for which license has been given to HAL. The scope will include Su-30 MKI, AL 31 FP engine, RD33 engines, accessories etc.

Ashok Leyland said the company, along with other investors, has entered into a Supplemental Share Purchase Agreement with Everfin Holdings, shareholder of Hinduja Leyland Finance to acquire 7% stake at Rs 119 per share.

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The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary candidate for Awutu Senya East constituency, Phyllis Naa Koryo Okunnor together with the constituency Chairman, Stephen Ofosu Agyare and other executives joined the St. John the Baptist Catholic Church at Kasoa as special guests on the occasion of the churchs 20th anniversary since its consecration and 5th anniversary as a parish.



Phyllis Naa Koryo Okunnor who is also a member of the church when called upon to speak, exhorted the congregants not to take the peace the country is enjoying for granted in the lead up to the December 7th general elections.



She called on Ghanaians, Religious bodies, civil society organizations emphasizing on the youth not to allow themselves to be used by politicians to foment trouble before, during and after the December 7th polls.



Affectionately called "The Woman" NaaKoryoo noted that the high level of insecurity, nepotism and corruption are the banes of the current economic hardships across the country.



In her speech, she noted that, Ghana in general and the Awutu Senya East Constituency in particular is bedeviled with insecurity, sanitation and healthcare delivery issues because we made a wrong choice in the 2016 general elections.



She added that Ghanaians, for that matter the good people of the Awutu Senya East Constituency will have the opportunity to correct the wrongs on December 7th to elect President John Dramani Mahama and Phyllis Naa Koryo Okunor as president and Member of Parliament respectively.



She highlighted some developmental projects the NDC government executed in the constituency and called out the government for failing to take care of basic needs like sanitation.



The PC urged the congregation to participate in contributing to the "People's Manifesto" of the NDC, because it aims at involving all.



She pledged her support for the church and asked them to make the right decision at the December polls.



The Catholic Archbishop of Central region, Palmer Buckle expressed the churches gratitude towards the candidate's call and pleaded with Ghanaians to eschew politics of insult in the upcoming elections.













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As a child, my unattainable object of desire was a giant Derwent pencil set. I knew that if I could just get my hands on one of those big boxes, my whole life would be more colourful. It took four decades, but last Christmas I finally scratched that itch and bought myself a set of 36 Derwents. I pored over those creatively-named pencils, wondering whod first come up with Blue Violet Lake and Golden Brown.

Over the New Year, as my TV screen filled with images of bushfire-menaced towns, I had a new language to describe what I was seeing. Walls of flame in Straw Yellow. Skies stained Orange Chrome. Fireys faces streaked with Gunmetal. Trees and animals charred Ivory Black. These were the colours of climate horror.

Sian Prior.

Another youthful longing of mine was to tour New Zealand in a campervan. In early January I left my smoky hometown and travelled to the South Island. For the next two weeks I motored past rivers tinted Kingfisher Blue by glaciated rock particles. I hiked through rainforests under towering trees of Mineral Green. On the mountain drive from Lake Wanaka to Queenstown I marvelled at the technicolour lupins lining the road, every shade from Rose Pink to Imperial Purple.

But there was no escaping evidence of the climate horror. The white tip of New Zealands highest peak, Aoraki/Mount Cook, was dusted with Brown Ochre thanks to ash blown over from Australias bushfires. Hiking to the foot of the Franz Josef Glacier, I discovered that this vast expanse of Chinese White ice has been shrinking rapidly as New Zealands average temperatures have been rising.
Three decades after anti-apartheid leader was released from prison, how has life changed for South Africans?

February 11, 1990, was the day millions of black South Africans had been waiting decades for.

On that cloudless Sunday afternoon, Nelson Mandela walked out of Victor Verster Prison flanked by his wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, his right hand raised and fist clenched. A sea of excited supporters held back by police had lined up, all trying to get a glimpse of their just-freed leader who had spent 27 years in prison for fighting against the countrys discriminatory apartheid system of racial segregation.

Tens of thousands more descended on the streets of Cape Town to be part of the historic day. Across the world, millions were glued to their television sets.

Mandela was finally a free man and, at that moment, South Africa changed forever.

Four years later, having guided the country through a dramatic transition that marked the end of apartheid, Mandela became South Africas first black president.

The inspirational and globally revered leader stepped down after serving one term as head of state and officially retired from public life in 2004. He died at the age of 95 on December 5, 2013.

Thirty years from the day Mandela was freed, where does South Africa stand?

Political freedoms

Since the end of white minority rule in 1994, South Africa has held six peaceful democratic elections  all free and fair and all won by Mandelas party, the African National Congress (ANC).

The political change the country has witnessed  is unprecedented. It cannot be underestimated, Dale McKinley, a political analyst, told Al Jazeera.

Political space has opened up and gone are the days where people were arrested for expressing their political views.

The country also has one of the most vibrant media landscapes on the continent, with media watchdog Reporters without Borders ranking South Africa 31st out of 180 countries in its 2019 global press freedom index.

Economic boom, poverty gap

South Africa is the continents most industrialised country, with its gross domestic product (GDP) rising from $139.8bn in 1994 to $368.9bn in 2018, according to the World Bank.

The record growth the country witnessed after apartheid was partly due to the boom in global commodity prices. On average, the economy grew about 3 percent every year, economist Azar Jamine told Al Jazeera.

The transition to democracy also enabled South Africa to begin borrowing funds for infrastructure projects from international financial institutions  which had refused to do business with the country in the final years of apartheid.

But, in recent years, the economy has been hit by a slump amid high unemployment and dips in key sectors.

In January, the International Monetary Fund said it expected Africas second-biggest economy to grow at 0.8 percent this year, down from a previous forecast of 1.1 percent growth. For 2021, it forecast growth of 1.0 percent, down from an earlier prediction for 1.4 percent growth.

At the same time, the country has remained mired in profound inequality, seen by many as one of the legacies of apartheid.

Inequality is high, persistent, and has increased since 1994, the World Bank said in a 2018 report. The top 1 percent of South Africans own 70.9 percent of the countrys wealth, it added, while the bottom 60 percent hold just 7 percent.

The body also said South Africa has the highest Gini index in the world: 63 percent. The index measures a countrys wealth distribution  the closer a value is to zero the more equal the residents of that country are.

South Africa has made progress in reducing poverty since its transition to democracy  18.8 percent of South Africans were poor in 2015, a drop from 33.8 percent in 1996, according to the World Bank. Yet progress is slowing in recent years, with the poverty rate of people living on less than $1.90 a day increasing from 16.8 percent to 18.8 percent between 2011 and 2015.

On the socioeconomic front, little has changed. In fact, things have gotten worse when it comes to basic services like healthcare, housing and education, McKinley said.





Healthcare, education and corruption

In 2018, the government spent $13.6bn, or 12 percent of the countrys budget, on healthcare. The figure marked a 7-percent increase on the previous year but healthcare remains out of reach for many South Africans.

Healthcare is the third-largest item of government expenditure, and yet there is a fundamental disjoint between what we are spending on healthcare and the health outcomes of our citizens, President Cyril Ramaphosa acknowledged in 2018.

It pained me  how this most fundamental of rights, of access to healthcare services, has been impacted by the stench of corruption. Corruption in the health system is not a victimless crime. It targets the poorest and most vulnerable in our society.

In its 2019 corruption perception index, Transparency International ranked South Africa 70th out of 180 countries.

Speaking at the FT Africa Summit in London last year, Ramaphosa said South Africa lost $34bn, about a 10th of the countrys GDP, to corruption during the decade that his predecessor, Jacob Zuma, was in power. Ramaphosa, who took office as president in 2018, was Zumas deputy for four years.

Corruption is a huge problem in South Africa, McKinley said. It is deep and runs all the way from the top down to district level. But it is not out of control or unique to South Africa alone. With the right leadership, it can be contained.

The education sector, meanwhile, is fairing better than healthcare, with primary school enrollment standing at 87 percent, according to the World Bank. Last year, the government spent about 17 percent of its budget on basic education, according to the presidency.

We have made significant progress in making education accessible to the poor. Some 80 percent of schools are now no-fee schools, and nine million nutritious meals are served to learners throughout the country every school day, Ramaphosa said in a speech last year during the handover of newly built primary schools.

But analysts say the countrys education system does not prepare graduates for the job market.

Only about 15 percent of the schools in South Africa are outstanding. Eighty-five percent are weak at best. This has huge impact on our workforce and the quality of our output as a country, Jamine said.

Land redistribution

One of the key promises of the ANC after coming to power was to redistribute land, the countrys black majority having been denied ownership rights under apartheids segregation laws.

The ANC followed a willing seller, willing buyer model through which the government bought white-owned farms for redistribution. However, progress has been slow and most of the farmland is still owned by white farmers.

At least 72 percent of the countrys arable land remains in the hands of white farmers, who make up less than 10 percent of the 58-million population, according to a 2017 land audit.

An advisory report recommended last year that the countrys constitution be changed to allow the government to start seizing land without compensation in certain circumstances. The government has tasked a parliamentary committee to report on the proposed changes to land reform laws before the end of March.

For Jamine, the economist, the country has come a long way but the government needs to address the many shortcomings quickly if it is to keep its promises.

The government is risking social revolution if it does not prioritise addressing the issues pressing the average South African that put it in office. People have had enough, he said.
ELKO  Hospitals and health authorities are working together to prepare for the coronavirus in Nevada, where no cases of the disease have yet been reported.

We are working closely with the state health department and following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ensure our hospital is prepared with the appropriate plans to detect, protect and respond should anyone in our community contract or be exposed to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital said Monday.

Worldwide deaths topped 1,000 and more than 40,000 infections had been reported as of Monday. Twelve people in the United States have tested positive for the virus, including cases in the neighboring states of California and Arizona, according to the CDC.

One Southern Nevada patient was isolated in late January but later tested negative for the virus.

Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital is committed to providing the highest quality care and ensuring the safety of our patients, employees, providers, volunteers and visitors, stated the hospital. While we have not treated any patients with this virus at our hospital to date, and there have been no confirmed cases in Nevada, NNRH has taken the following measures to prepare out of an abundance of caution, in accordance with CDC guidelines:

Patients in the Emergency Department and inpatient units are screened based on their recent travel history.

Personal protective equipment is available, including face masks and eye protection.

Hand hygiene products are easily accessible throughout the facility.

NNRH is equipped with negative air pressure rooms which can be used to isolate patients exhibiting symptoms of respiratory illness.

Importantly, all of the above are standard operating protocols that are in place year-round to help ensure the health and well-being of everyone who enters our hospital, NNRH stated. We want to assure our community that our providers and clinical teams are well-trained and prepared to manage outbreaks of viruses and infectious diseases, including the coronavirus.

For more information, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website at www.cdc.gov.
The president of the State Senate, J. Stuart Adams, pleaded for reconciliation. What I dont want to do is move into the negative rhetoric I think is coming from Washington, D.C., he said at a news conference on Friday.

Barely eight years ago, Mr. Romney was the Republican nominee for president and putative leader of the party. Today, the way many Republicans accept and even encourage the attacks on him from Mr. Trump, who last week accused him of using religion as a crutch to justify the impeachment vote, vividly illustrates the turn the party has taken.

Utah Republicans never quite fell for Mr. Trump as hard as the rest of their party did. The states political sensibilities, heavily influenced by its Mormon culture, are more agree-to-disagree than salt-the-earth. The presidents coarse language, belittling nicknames and aversion to humility help explain why his approval ratings over all in Utah have been below 50 percent for most of the last three years.

And while they support Mr. Trump as their president  very few Republicans here say they would have voted to convict him as Mr. Romney did  they have refused to join the pile-on they see happening back east on Fox News sets and in social media feeds of the presidents followers, where their junior senator is being vilified as a coward and Judas who should be expelled from the Republican Party.

Not only does Mr. Lymans censure resolution appear to be dead on arrival, but the leader of the State Senate, Mr. Adams, also said last week that he would rather not vote on or debate any action related to Mr. Romney at all. He stressed that anything his chamber took up should be positive  a word he used repeatedly as he spoke to reporters at the State Capitol on Friday. He said he preferred something like a unanimously agreed-to statement that affirmed Mr. Trumps strengths as president.
New Delhi, Feb 10 : The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) here on Monday summoned the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) and the Principal of Gargi College over alleged sexual harassment on its campus.

Calling it "mass molestation and sexual assault on female students on Gargi College campus", the DCW has asked the Principal and the DCP to personally appear before it at 2 p.m. on February 13.

"The students have alleged a similar incident had taken place during the fest of the previous year, but no action was taken by the administration," says the summon.

The Delhi Commission for Women Act, 1994 mandates the DCW to investigate and examine all matters relating to the safeguards provided for women under the Constitution and give recommendations to the government on the issue of women safety and Section 10(iii)(d).

The DCW has also sought copies of all complaints, PCR calls, the action-taken report, detailed report on the incident, including the sequence of events, copy of FIR as well as detailed investigation report.

The commission has asked the DCP whether any accused has been identified and arrested. If no arrest has been made then submit the reasons for it, it said. Also submit "details of officials responsible for safety and security of students and the campus, and action taken against them," it said.

The DCW has asked the college administration why it didn't intervene during the alleged assault and allowed the culprits to leave the campus despite the police presence. The college administration has been asked to submit a copy of footage of CCTVs on the campus between 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. on February 6.

Few students of Gargi College on Saturday alleged that some "drunken men", said to be pro-CAA demonstrators, entered the campus and misbehaved with students.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
[February 10, 2020] New IDC Spending Guide Forecasts $124 Billion Will Be Spent on Smart Cities Initiatives in 2020

A new forecast from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Semiannual Smart Cities Spending Guide shows global spending on smart cities initiatives will total nearly $124 billion this year, an increase of 18.9% over 2019. The top 100 cities investing in smart initiatives in 2019 represented around 29% of global spending, and while growth will be sustained among the top spenders in the short term, the market is quite dispersed across midsize and small cities investing in relatively small projects. "This new release of IDC's (News - Alert) Worldwide Smart Cities Spending Guide brings further expansion of our forecasts into smart ecosystems with the addition of smart ports alongside smart stadiums and campus," said Serena Da Rold, program manager in IDC's Customer Insights & Analysis group. "The Spending Guide also provides spending data for more than 200 cities and shows that fewer than 80 cities are investing over $100 million per year. At the same time, around 70% of the opportunity lies within cities that are spending $1 million or less per year. There is a great opportunity for providers of smart city solutions who are able to leverage the experience gained from larger projects to offer affordable smart initiatives for small and medium sized cities." In 2019, use cases related to resilient energy and infrastructure represented over one third of the opportunity, driven mainly by smart grids. Data-driven public safety and intelligent transportation represented around 18% and 14% of overall spending respectively. Looking at the largest use cases, smart grids (electricity and gas combined) still attract the largest share of investments, although their relative importance will decrease over time as the market matures and other use cases become mainstream. Fixed visual surveillance, advanced public transportation, intelligent traffic management, and connected back office follow, and these five use casestogether currently represent over half of the opportunity. The use cases that will see the fastest spending growth over the five-year forecast are vehicle-to-everything (V2X) connectivity, digital twin, and officer wearables.



Singapore will remain the top investor in smart cities initiatives. Tokyo will be the second largest spender in 2020, driven by investments for the Summer Olympics, followed by New York City and London. These four cities will each see smart city spending of more than $1 billion in 2020. On a regional basis, the United States, Western Europe, and China will account for more than 70% of global smart cities spending throughout the forecast. Latin America and Japan will experience the fastest growth in smart cities spending in 2020.

"Regional and municipal governments are working hard to keep pace with technology advances and take advantage of new opportunities in the context of risk management, public expectations, and funding needs to scale initiatives," said Ruthbea Yesner, vice president of IDC Government Insights and Smart Cities and Communities. "Many are moving to incorporate Smart City use cases into budgets, or financing efforts through more traditional means. This is helping to grow investments." IDC's Worldwide Smart Cities Spending Guide quantifies the expected technology opportunity around smart cities initiatives from a regional and worldwide level. Spending data is available for nine regions with 36 distinct use cases across five strategic priorities and eight technology categories. In addition, the spending guide offers a complementary Cities dataset, providing smart city spending for 207 cities across nine regions. The spending guide is designed to provide IT vendors with insights into this rapidly growing market and how the market will develop over the five-year forecast period. About IDC Spending Guides

IDC's Spending Guides provide detail on key technology markets from a regional, vertical industry, use case, buyer, and technology perspective. The spending guides are delivered via pivot table format or custom query tool, allowing the user to easily extract meaningful information about each market by viewing data trends and relationships. Click here to learn about IDC's full suite of data products and how you can leverage them to grow your business. About IDC

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,100 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG), the world's leading tech media, data and marketing services company. To learn more about IDC, please visit www.idc.com. Follow IDC on Twitter (News - Alert) at @IDC and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the IDC Blog for industry news and insights: http://bit.ly/IDCBlog_Subscribe. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200210005215/en/

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Mr. Beans few acting credits in the 1970s and early 80s included voicing Bilbo Baggins in animated adaptations of The Hobbit and The Return of the King. But for all his countercultural activities during that period, he later was something of a conservative. His daughter Susannah married right-wing commentator Andrew Breitbart, who founded the Breitbart media network and wrote in a 2007 Los Angeles Times article that Mr. Bean said it was harder now to be an open conservative on a Hollywood set than it was back then to be a Communist.
Geography, age and anemia shape childhood vaccine responses in Sub-Saharan Africa according to a study comparing samples from 1,119 Dutch children to 171 children in sub-Saharan Africa who took part in a malaria vaccine trial. By casting light on how geography shapes immune responses in children, the findings could help health authorities conduct more effective vaccination campaigns in developing countries. Children in low-income countries are highly susceptible to both vaccine-preventable diseases and infections such as malaria that have historically lacked a vaccine. However, some immunizations do not work as well in children as in adults, partly because scientists don't fully understand how age, nutrition and genetics influence the developing immune system.

Children in low-income countries are highly susceptible to both vaccine-preventable diseases and infections such as malaria that have historically lacked a vaccine.



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One key finding was that children in Tanzania and Mozambique with anemia showed weaker immune responses to the vaccine and lower frequencies of B cells, which, through follow-up studies in the lab, the authors tied to a lack of bioavailable iron. They say their results could explain the poor vaccination outcomes observed in anemic children and iron-deficient adults, but add that further studies should dissect the influence of iron deficiency.



Source: Eurekalert Furthermore, children in Mozambique showed a stronger antibody response to the malaria vaccine compared with Tanzanian children, hinting that geography within continents also influences immune dynamics.One key finding was that children in Tanzania and Mozambique with anemia showed weaker immune responses to the vaccine and lower frequencies of B cells, which, through follow-up studies in the lab, the authors tied to a lack of bioavailable iron. They say their results could explain the poor vaccination outcomes observed in anemic children and iron-deficient adults, but add that further studies should dissect the influence of iron deficiency.Source: Eurekalert

Danika Hill and colleagues examined blood samples from 55 children in Tanzania and 116 children in Mozambique under the age of five who had taken part in a phase 3 trial for RTS,S (MosquirixTM) - one of the first vaccines for malaria licensed in Europe. They found that the composition of immune cells in the children evolved over the 32-month trial, and in some cases matured more quickly when compared with samples from Dutch children collected during a previous study.
Hyderabad: Ms Sara Mathews, city convener of Alliance against CAA, NPR and NRC, said, we have to prepare for a protracted battle to protect the constitutional rights of citizens. We should adopt various ways and means to prolong the ongoing battle against CAA, NPR and NRC.

She made this observation while addressing students of Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU).

Ms Mathews said foreign kingdoms invaded India many times and mostly we failed to defend our boundaries due to wrong strategic approaches adopted by our forces. Likewise, we never attacked any dynasty, because India was rich with full of resources and our people did not want to step out of the comfort zone. If we do not leave our comfort zone and fail to adopt a wise strategy, then we will lose our fight against criminal ideologists. We need to explore changing methods.

She said the fight against CAA, NPR and NRC is not a struggle of only Muslims as other communities will also be affected once NRC is implemented. The most affected communities will Muslims, minorities and dalits.

She pointed out that initially Mr Amit Shah excluded Muslims and now he does not mention about Christians while detailing about the communities who will get citizenships, which means they will deprive the communities one after another community. Woman activist Ms Khalida Parveen said that this was a struggle of minorities, dalits, poor and women. Women and students have shown a direction for a movement against CAA, NPR and NRC. She condemned the fresh police brutal attack against students of Jamia Millia Islamia in which dozens of students have been severely injured.

She said we are apologetic that in Telangana we could not demonstrate like Shaheen Bagh. We also aspire to demonstrate here. We try daily to express our feelings, but the police do not allow us to conduct even peaceful protests. We are not afraid of criminal cases.

Mr Shaik Umer Farooq Quadri, President Students Union MANUU, welcomed the gathering. Students staged a drama, read poetry and sang songs.
The Bureau of Land Management may not need to consider environmental impacts when making long-term plans for the countrys 245 million acres of public land, a document first obtained and reported by Bloomberg Environment last week revealed.

The document indicated the bureau was considering big revisions to its land management planning processes, though the bureau has not formally proposed the idea.

However, if enacted, the rule change may remove environmental study requirements from federal land-use planning. As it stands, the National Environmental Policy Act requires the bureau to consider how opening up public land to development and activity could impact the environment.

For Wyoming, where 18.4 million acres of land fall under the BLMs purview, the consequences of removing NEPA requirements from planning regulations, as suggested in the document, could be dramatic. Conservationists expressed swift and widespread alarm over the possible rollback. But to several public officials and energy groups in the Equality State, curtailing the acts reach may not be such a bad move. Many say theyve grown frustrated with what they consider lengthy and cumbersome environmental reviews.

Sweetwater County Commissioner Wally Johnson shared his frustrations with the near-decadelong development of a resource management plan by the BLMs Rock Springs field office. To him, the amount of time taken to complete the plan is unreasonable and stands as an example of NEPAs harm to county governments.

That document is extremely important to Sweetwater County and its just taking a great deal of time, Johnson said. When you delay (the resource management plan), it affects the drilling and production that comes from oil and gas that is critical to us.

A majority of Sweetwater County also consists of federal land and a meaty portion of the countys budget relies on oil and gas activity, he noted. Though Johnson agrees there needs to be some consideration of environmental impacts to protect critical land, in his mind the act goes too far and regulations needs to be streamlined.

Wyoming produces more energy on federal land than almost any other state in the country, requiring many operators to complete National Environmental Policy Act environmental reviews and obtain permits at multiple levels of government.

Ryan McConnaughey, communications director of Petroleum Association of Wyoming, cautioned it may be too early to jump to conclusions.

At this point, any changes to NEPA during the planning phase are purely speculative, he wrote in an email. Proposed changes will go through the full rule-making process including public comment.

But he also shared Johnsons concerns over the damage the acts requirements can have on proposed oil and gas projects timelines and budgets.

Environmental analysis is important, but bureaucratic paralysis helps no one, McConnaughey stated. Long-term delays due to NEPA can often outlast a developments initial purpose and economic viability resulting in an exponential loss in investment to producers and the State of Wyoming.

***

In addition to influencing the resource management planning process, the National Environmental Policy Act requires the government to undertake sweeping environmental reviews of each proposed infrastructure project, investigating how potential development could impact the nations land, air, wildlife and water resources.

But John Rader, a conservation advocate at Wyoming Outdoor Council, is worried. Hes worried for Wyomings wildlife, cultural sites and historic trails if the BLM follows through with erasing environmental considerations from its planning processes.

Some of our most treasured resources are on that landscape, he said. What this proposal means  if it really goes through  is that BLM wouldnt even evaluate the risk to these resources. It would entirely cut out the publics chance to participate in the management of our own lands. Its essentially gutting NEPA.

Resource management plans provide a long-term look at how public land and minerals should be managed. Each field office considers whether public land should be open to activity or if the land needs protection.

Its a really important landscape-scale look at how our lands and resources should be managed, said Shannon Anderson, an attorney for Powder River Basin Resource Council, a landowners group.

Whats more, the act also adds a critical pathway for the public to engage in the federal governments decisions over the countrys vast lands.

It is really important that there is a robust public comment participation process, Anderson said. ... The agencies dont know everything and are not out on the ground the way people are.

Recent rumblings over the National Environmental Policy Acts fate came just weeks after the Trump administration proposed a formal rule change to the 50-year-old act.

The U.S. Council on Environmental Quality received a directive from President Donald Trump in 2017 to update the rules, which Trump considered a major barrier to completing critical infrastructure developments  pipelines, wind turbines, roads and more. The agency released a draft set of rules for public review last month.

Federal regulators will have a mandate under the new rules to complete environmental reviews within two years. Environmental assessments will need to be completed on a one-year timeline. Right now, environmental impact statements take an average of 4.5 years.

The Council on Environmental Quality is accepting comments until March 10 and holding a public hearing on Tuesday in Denver.

Follow the latest on Wyomings energy industry at @camillereports

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This Week in Review

A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more.
Chief Representative of Jetro Hanoi Takeo Nakajima. (Photo: tapchicongthuong.vn)



Chief Representative of Jetro Hanoi Takeo Nakajima presented the figure as part of the Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro)'s survey on Japanese investment in Asia and Oceania 2019 to Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai at their meeting in Hanoi on February 6th.

The Japanese enterprises will continue to expand their businesses in Vietnam based on revenue growth, development ability, stable production and consumption network, low cost, labour resources, regulations and business procedures.

Takeo Nakajima was quoted by the Cong thuong (Industry and Trade) newspaper as saying: The investment environment in Vietnam has many advantages for Japanese businesses, such as political and social stability, ideal living environment for foreigners and cheap labour costs."

According to this survey, 65.8 percent of Japanese enterprises doing business in Vietnam have been profitable, especially the manufacturing sector, which accounts for 80 percent of profitable firms.

The number of newly established Japanese businesses has also increased in Vietnam./.
Positive feed-in tariff incentives have proven a most effective policy tool to induce a rapid growth in renewables, and Vietnam is a prime example of this.

Investors are looking to the new FiT regulations to decide their next steps

Rooftop solar expert Mai Van Trung takes a look at what is next for 2020, with new moves by the government and what prevailing trends await.

The release of Document No.89/BCT-DL dated January 11 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), which agreed with Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) to continue the grid-connection approval and registration of surplus energy from rooftop solar panels, has temporarily relaxed many investors and developers. However, the document is only the yellow light for the rooftop solar market in Vietnam. The whole industry is still waiting for the green light from the official decision from the government.

Rooftop solar expert Mai Van Trung

Undoubtedly, the potential of rooftop solar is clearly backed by more than 300 megawatt peak (MWp) installed across the country. Even EVN projected a total capacity of 2,000MWp at the end of 2020 if the feed-in tariff (FiT) of 9.35 US cents was maintained. The continuous delay of the new FiT applied for rooftop solar systems commissioned after July 1, 2019 has reduced installation in the market by half. The delay resulted in the restructuring of the rooftop solar players who have been preparing for the extension of FiT up to 2021.

Many local players have to scale down by cutting jobs and international developers keep waiting for a final decision to put their money down. Many newcomers who have entered the rooftop solar market to enjoy the first round of FiT are now struggling to survive due to the downturn of the industry. The risks of downgrading systems installed by those facing bankruptcy will be fully borne by customers within the 25-year lifespan of these rooftop solar systems. The engagement of local commercial banks to finance and refinance the rooftop investment portfolio has built momentum for rooftop solar leasing. This is known as the ESCO model, in which an investor provides a broad range of energy solutions from consultancy, design, implementation, installation, and operation to financial matters and service management for the energy system on the clients premises, and then earns money based on the energy savings.

The internal rates of return relying on incoming cashflows from EVN need to be adjusted downwards due to lower FiT that makes bankers concerned over their loans. Developers with weak financial positions will collapse under the pressure to pay principal and interest after their debts.

Looking at the bright side, the brake from the MoIT enables the market to filter out weak contractors and short-term developers. Also, the performance of the installed systems can be compared to the early estimates of the installers. The players whose growth strategy turn out to be sustainable will stand out while underperforming solar module and inverter brands will be easier to spot. The authorities will wait for six months for new growth to standardise the grid connection approval process and develop installation/construction regulations. The challenges are also a springboard for change and the surviving players will enjoy larger market shares.

Stakeholders are looking for the new FiT to restart their revenue streams. After many rounds of adjustments, both up and down, the latest draft FiT (FiT2) proposed by the MoIT is 8.38 US cents which follows the dramatic reduction of installation costs. FiT2 is considered financially attractive with the high solar irradiation in the south, which contributes more than 70 per cent of installations. Solar rooftop in the north needs more incentives to be feasible under FiT2. The evaluation of FiT2 might vary from stakeholder to stakeholder and there is little point in pointing at the FiT in neighbouring countries.

Another idea is to compare the FiT2 with the weighted average rates for different groups purchasing electricity from EVN. FiT2 is in between the Level 2 and Level 3 individual rates and would only bring a minor reduction in households bills. Individual installers need to decrease self-consumption by as much as possible (normally 40 per cent) to reach the Level 6 rates (currently 12.6 US cents). If the remaining 60 per cent is sold back to EVN at FiT2 prices, it would be difficult for them to turn a profit.

Thus, residents require further incentives like the national rooftop solar programme supported by German state-owned development bank KfW. The sponsorship mechanism should be approved and implemented as soon as possible to maintain the eagerness of individual installers.

Although the programme supported by KfW was introduced last July, it will take time to be deployed. The total amount of $16.2 million should be converted into residential FiT to discount the Level 6 rates ($16.2 million divided by 12.6 US cents equals 128.8 million kWh). The residential FiT can be further divided into many chunks, with each offering gradually reducing rates over time to attract early birds.

With commercial customers who are paying more than 12 US cents per kWh during the day will see negligible impacts from FiT2. Their large electricity consumption allows the commercial installers to use nearly 100 per cent of the generated energy for their operations. The green energy demand from this category is easily forecasted but the limited spaces mean commercial installers cannot afford to install systems as large as their industrial counterparts. The rapid pace of urbanisation and the many resultant new buildings may create shading on the solar rooftop modules of shopping malls, office buildings, and hotels, among others. There should be an indirect mechanism to allow commercials installers to purchase electricity to compensate their peak hour rates.

Regarding industrials, FiT2 looks good as their weighted average rate is roughly 8.12 US cents per kWh, close to FiT2. The available roof space allows large capacities to be installed. One MWp solar modules might help many factories to save 10-30 per cent of their energy consumption. In case the capex is a burden, there are many ESCO companies ready to offer discounts. The factory can enjoy predictable savings thanks to big data and the improved accuracy of simulation software.

The key features of rooftop solar are self-consumption and the wide distribution of systems which enable the utility company to save on transmission and distribution costs. In the early stages of renewable energy integration, it is required for the FiT to be financially feasible. After more than two years of rapid development, the FiT can be turned into a reference price for buyers and sellers of solar energy and regulators can let the invisible hand set the market price.

EVN is building a platform to acquaint demand and supply. On a monthly basis, solar energy buyers will be able to register the number of kWh that they want to purchase. The excess energy generated by the installed rooftop solar systems will be locked by EVNs platform. The matching price of solar energy can be calculated as shown in the box.

The platform will allow more participants to enjoy green energy transactions and draw in commercial, residential, and industrial installers. These transactions will all be automatic thanks to the digital transformation in which EVN is considered one of the first-movers in Vietnam. Such blockchain-based platforms, such as WePower or Energo Labs, have been implemented by many countries.

The next generation of solar rooftop involves the integration of energy storage which is forecast to reduce to $100 per kWh by 2023 from the $156 per kWh in 2019, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Energy independence by hybrid systems is not just a vision but a modern-day reality knocking on the front door. The growth of electric vehicles (cars, trucks, and buses) will shorten the timeline to popularise what is being marketed energy-as-a-service.

World Bank research indicates that the technical potentials of 6,000MWp and 1,000MWp rooftop solar systems in Ho Chi Minh City and the central city of Danang will be realised no later than 2025. VIR

Mai Van Trung

Lessons from solar: Rush to invest in wind power plants to get high tariffs could overload grid The rush to invest in wind energy to take advantage of the Government's pricing incentives could lead to overloading of the national grid in a repeat of the solar scenario, experts warn.
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Over one hundred troops have been injured with traumatic brain injuries following Iran attacks on U.S. bases in retaliation for the killing of Irans top general.

Trump was so desperate to portray his strike against General Soleimani as successful that he lied to the public about the results, claimed no troops were injured or killed and then when it was discovered that dozens suffered traumatic brain injuries, he dismissed them as headaches.

Over 100 US service members have been diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injuries in the wake of the January 8 Iranian missile attack on the al Asad military base in Iraq, according to a US official with knowledge of the latest information, Barbara Starr, CNNs Pentagon Correspondent reported Monday morning.

Thats an increase of at least 36 cases from the end of January when the Pentagon said 64 service members had been diagnosed with injuries.

A Timeline of the Lies:

 Trump took out a top Iranian general with a drone strike without authorization. Because Trump did yet another bad thing, many lies were told to justify and cover it up.

Trump and his administration offered varying justifications for his unauthorized strike, none of which actually explained it or justified it. To be clear, General Soleimani was a bad actor. But the Trump administration was unable to make a case of clear and present danger.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that he had not seen specific evidence of imminent threats. Republicans couldnt name any, and instead went into full he was a bad guy mode, with a litany of past behavior by Soleimani.

Trump et al violated protocol by not telling the Gang of 8 about the strike. Mike Pence went full Weapons of Mass Destruction Bush and tried to falsely link the general to 9/11. The Trump State Department suddenly canceled a briefing when unable to come up with a good enough story.

 Trump falsely claimed that Iran was standing down after his hit.

Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world, Trump told Americans on January 8th.

Vice President Pence echoed Trumps lie, telling Wisconsin on January 14th that Iran was standing down, We suffered no casualties and Iran is standing down. Thats what leadership looks like, Wisconsin.

 Trump claimed no troops were injured or killed on January 8th.

Transcript of Trumps remarks on Iran sent to PoliticusUSA on January 8th, from the White House Press Office:

THE PRESIDENT: As long as I am President of the

United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. Good morning. Im pleased to inform you: The American people should be extremely grateful and happy no Americans were harmed in last nights attack by the Iranian regime. We suffered no casualties, all of our soldiers are safe, and only minimal damage was sustained at our military bases.



 When at first it was reported that actually dozens of troops had suffered traumatic brain injuries from the explosions, Trump dismissed them as just headaches.

While in Davos, Trump said, I heard they had headaches. No, I dont consider them very serious injuries, relative to other injuries that Ive seen.

Trump dodged the draft five times, so he certainly is no experience regarding injuries sustained in war. Trumps former attorney Michael Cohen testified that Trump made up a fake injury to avoid service, because I wasnt going to Vietnam.

Actually, TBIs as they are called, can lead to suicide, as USA Today noted in an editorial.

 Monday February 10th, we discover it was actually over 100 of our troops who suffered brain injuries after the unauthorized attack.

No matter what Trump is telling America, you can bet its not the truth.

Trump doesnt deal in facts. Everything is stagecraft to him, and so he redesigns reality in order to tell the story he wants told about himself. He has been doing this his entire life.

Its just that now, Trump is taking out an Iraqi General without authorization and stealing a U.S. election.

Trump has been empowered by elected Republicans to do whatever he wants, illegal or not, without consequences. As always with Trump, while he avoids consequences, others pay the price for his incompetence and inability and unwillingness to handle reality.
ISTANBUL  A small book publisher is introducing Turkish readers to long-snubbed Armenian literary figures while also fighting to rescue Western Armenian, making Istanbul an improbable center of book production in the endangered language.

Now Aras Publishing has launched a childrens division and opened a new editorial office, built with donations from readers, that includes a space it hopes will forge deeper connections among its readers. The Zebal Yesayan Salon, named for the Ottoman-era feminist writer, hosts lectures, author readings and workshops. This months program includes discussions on being young and Armenian in Istanbul and one sultans fascination with the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.

Its a bold undertaking for an independent press at a time when speech is strictly policed in Turkey and discussions on constraints on its minorities and the World War I-era genocide of up to 1.5 million Armenians remain taboo. Even cultural endeavors carry risks: In October, the authorities banned an academic conference on Armenian history without offering cause.

We want to build bridges through dialogue, and were doing it openly with knowledge, literature and culture. Could this lead to repercussions? Anything is possible in this country, but we have no choice but to try, said editor-in-chief Rober Koptas.

We are like seaweed clinging to the rock: We are among the last and we will continue to dwindle, but this is our way of leaving our mark.

Aras released 20 books last year and almost 250 since it was founded in 1993 by a group of idealists including bestselling author Migirdic Margosyan and Hrant Dink, a journalist assassinated in 2007. From their offices in the 19th-century Hidivyal Palas in downtown Istanbul, editors pore over painstakingly translated novels, memoirs, research tomes and serialized books from long-vanished turn-of-the-century periodicals.

Once a world capital for Armenian publishing, Istanbul's first Armenian printing press opened in 1567, and by the 19th century, newspapers and bookmaking flourished there and in cities across Anatolia. Akabis Story, written in Turkish with Armenian characters in 1851, is widely considered to be the first Ottoman novel. But the industry cratered as Armenians fortunes turned. The massacres of up to 1.5 million Armenians beginning in 1915 spelled the near-obliteration of millennia of Armenian civilization in the land that is now in Turkey.

Today, Aras is Turkeys only dedicated publishing house offering books in Western Armenian, the language spoken by most Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire and distinct from Eastern Armenian, used in the Republic of Armenia. Only 250,000 native speakers survive, mainly in Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Europe and the Americas, according to the United Nations' cultural agency UNESCO which classifies Western Armenian as definitely endangered."

About a third of the Aras catalog is in Western Armenian. Its core mission has become more urgent since the war began in neighboring Syria, where up to 70% of Armenians have fled nine years of conflict. Aleppo sustained Western Armenian literature, but with the war, that tradition has been destroyed, leaving Beirut and Istanbul, said Aras co-founder Yetvart Tovmasyan.

Armenian-language print runs are typically 1,000 copies and do not earn Aras a profit. Publishing these books is financially difficult, but keeping Western Armenian alive is the reason for our existence, said editor Lora Sari. A small fraction of its books is shipped overseas, but most of Aras readers are in Turkey, where 50,000 or so Armenians make up the largest Christian community in a country of 83 million people.

Sari is the director of Hippo, a division producing books in both Turkish and Armenian with a grant from the European Endowment for Democracy. Armenian kids discover books not in Armenian but in Turkish. Without books, the loss of the mother tongue becomes inevitable. Already its difficult to say that Armenian remains the first language of Turkeys Armenians, because so few people speak more than a few words at home. Hippo, she said, aims to create a common literature for Armenians and Turks.

The spirit of inclusivity has extended to Homshetsma, a dialect of Western Armenian that is spoken by fewer than 1,000 Muslims near the town of Hemsin in Turkeys Black Sea highlands. In 2014, Aras published Turkeys first collection of short stories in the archaic tongue and followed two years later with a Homshetsma translation of the Antoine de Saint-Exupery classic The Little Prince.

But most of Aras readers are Turkish, and the early Republican writers it has revived include Zaven Biberyan and Hagop Mintzuri. We believe everyone would want to read the great writers of their land, and until Aras began, neither Armenians nor Turks could find many of these works, Sari said.

Zabel Yesayan is the greatest Istanbul-born writer most Turks never heard of. She became the first Armenian woman from the Ottoman Empire to study at university  and the only woman on the list of intellectuals to be rounded up on April 24, 1915, an event that ignited the genocide. Yesayan escaped arrest and found refuge in the Soviet Union, only to perish in the Great Terror campaign in 1943. An antiwar activist, Yesayan tackled inequality in her novels, short stories and journalism, including in the 1918 novella The Last Cup, now available in Turkish for the first time.

Aras only foray into English is Margosyans Infidel Quarter, published in 2017 with the Gomidas Institute. Margosyan first penned the bittersweet reflections on growing up one of the last Armenians in the Kurdish city of Diyarbakir in 1984 in Western Armenian before writing the Turkish version, which has sold more than 40,000 copies. His admirers translated it into Kurdish in 1999.

Margosyan said he invests those earnings back into Aras to keep producing in Western Armenian. The publisher celebrated its doyens 80th birthday in 2018 with Fillaname, a complete anthology of his work. The title is a play on the Kurdish word for infidel.

The medieval neighborhood where Infidel Quarter is set has largely disappeared, its narrow streets the center of fierce clashes between security forces and Kurdish militants in 2015 and 2016. Authorities razed swathes of the district to flush out the fighters and rubble from stone houses built by Armenian masons was dumped into the waters of the Tigris River that twists below the city.

The area within the old city walls, what we once called the infidel quarter, was flattened. On the street that was given my name, not a single house was left standing, Margosyan said. The book took on a different value when the places it described were suddenly lost.

Dozens of fans lined up for Margosyans autograph at a 2018 Istanbul book fair, pulling out worn copies of Infidel Quarter in Turkish and Kurdish. For readers from Diyarbakir, Margosyan is more than a favorite writer. He is a living connection with a city and a past that has been all but lost.
The man is said to have no visible signs of virus symptoms.

The Embassy of Ukraine in Japan has given details about the health condition of a citizen of Ukraine who was reportedly infected with the novel coronavirus on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Read alsoUkrainian citizen on board Diamond Princess liner gets infected with new coronavirus

"The Japanese side has officially confirmed only one case involving our citizen. The Ukrainian is now in hospital under the supervision of doctors. He is being treated and provided with everything necessary. He feels good and, in general, he has no visible signs of virus symptoms," the diplomats said, adding the Ukrainian had no complaints.

As UNIAN reported earlier, there was one confirmed case involving a citizen of Ukraine on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship placed in quarantine off Yokohama port near Tokyo, Japan, over the China novel coronavirus.

The quarantine regime was introduced from 07:00 on February 5 for a period of 14 days. In total, there are 3,700 people from 56 countries on board the ship, of which 2,700 are passengers and the remaining are crew members, including 25 Ukrainians.
A new Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) study finds that the proportion of high school students identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or questioning (LGBQ) doubled from 2009 to 2017, while the LGBQ teen rate of attempted suicide went from five times the rate for their straight peers to nearly four times the rate. The study was published in the journal Pediatrics.

"Large disparities in suicide attempts persisted even as the percent of students identifying as LGBQ increased. In 2017, more than 20% of LGBQ teens reported attempting suicide in the past year," says study lead author Dr. Julia Raifman, assistant professor of health law, policy & management at BUSPH.

"It's critical that health and educational institutions have policies and programs in place to protect and improve LGBQ health, such as medical school curricula and high school health curricula that are inclusive of sexual minority health," she says.

Raifman says LGBQ rights also play a particularly important role in shaping mental health. In a 2017 study, Raifman found that states' legalization of same-sex marriage came with a 7% decrease in all high school student suicide attempts. She notes that other research (including a 2018 study she led) has shown that anti-LGBQ policies harm the mental health of LGBQ adults and teens. "Our new paper indicates that an increasing number of teenagers are identifying as LGBQ, and will be affected by anti-LGBQ policies that may elevate these already very high rates of suicide attempts" she says.

For the new paper, the researchers used Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance Survey (YRBSS) data from the only six states that collected sexual orientation data continuously between 2009 and 2017: Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, North Dakota, and Rhode Island. Of these states, only Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, and Rhode Island collected data on the sex of sexually-active students' partners, and distinguished between consensual sexual contact and sexual assault. This left the researchers with sexual orientation data for 110,243 high school students, and data on the consensual sexual behavior of 25,994 of these students. (None of the states consistently collected data on transgender students.)

The researchers found that the proportion of high schoolers identifying as LGBQ doubled from 7.3% in 2009 to 14.3% in 2017, with similar trends for identifying as gay/lesbian (1.4% to 2.8%), bisexual (3.9% to 7.2%), and unsure/questioning (2.0% to 4.3%). The proportion of sexually active high schoolers who reported consensual, same-sex sexual contact increased from 7.7% to 13.1%.

In both 2009 and 2017, about 6% of heterosexual high schoolers reported attempting suicide in the previous 12 months, while the rate for LGBQ teens decreased from 26.7% in 2009 to 20.1% in 2017. Adjusting for other student characteristics, the researchers found the LGBQ suicide attempt rate went from 5.2 to 3.8 times the heterosexual rate. They did not find significant changes in the rate of suicide attempts among high schoolers who had had same-sex or only heterosexual sexual contact, although the rate remained about twice as high for those reporting any same-sex sexual contact.

###

About the Boston University School of Public Health

Founded in 1976, the Boston University School of Public Health is one of the top five ranked private schools of public health in the world. It offers master's- and doctoral-level education in public health. The faculty in six departments conduct policy-changing public health research around the world, with the mission of improving the health of populations--especially the disadvantaged, underserved, and vulnerable--locally and globally.
Met Eireann warns that snow is set to be a feature of the weather through Monday and Tuesday.

The forecaster warns snow showers may develop anywhere with some accumulations possible.

The forecaster also warns that the windy conditions that the country has experienced over the last few days caused by Storm Ciara will persist and coupled with the colder air it will feel bitterly cold, with the significant wind chill.

The Status Yellow - snow-ice warning for Ireland says there will be widespread wintry showers on Monday and Tuesday with some snowfall accumulations, especially in the west and north. It says some disruption to travel is possible, particularly over higher routes. The warning is valid until 23:59 Tuesday 11/02/2020

A Status Yellow wind warning for Ireland is also in place as the forecaster says Storm Ciara will continue to produce very strong west to southwest winds over Ireland with mean speeds of 50-65km/h and gusts generally of between 90 and 110km/h, higher in Atlantic coastal areas.

It says a combination of Spring Tides and high seas will result in a significant risk of coastal flooding.

The warning is valid until 8pm on Monday.

Met Eireann weather national forecast issued at 10.07 am on February 10.

TODAY - MONDAY 10TH FEBRUARY

Cold, very windy and wintry today. A band of sleet and snow will push eastwards across parts of the Midlands and southeast of the country this morning. Elsewhere, there will be frequent heavy, squally showers of rain, hail, sleet or snow. Some thundery downpours also. Strong to gale force westerly winds with severe and damaging gusts at times especially in exposed coastal regions of the west and north, and with very high seas the danger of coastal flooding continues, especially around high tides. Afternoon highs of 3 to 5 degrees, with wind-chill making it feel colder.

TONIGHT

Cold and very windy tonight with further showers of rain, hail, sleet and snow, with some snow accumulations in places especially across western and northern counties. Overnight minimums of 0 to +2 degrees, with frost and icy patches in spite of the strong wind.

TOMORROW - TUESDAY 11TH FEBRUARY

A frosty and icy start tomorrow morning with snow lying in places, particularly in the north and west. Cold and very windy again with sunny spells and further hail, sleet and snow showers. Afternoon highs of 2 to 4 degrees, in strong and squally westerly winds.

NATIONAL OUTLOOK

Headline: Very disturbed through the rest of this week. Cold and wintry conditions at first but milder later in the week but there will still be some very wet and windy periods.

Tuesday night: Cold on Tuesday night with wintry falls continuing in the southwest, west and northwest and some snow lying, drier in the midlands east and south with just well scattered wintry showers. Frost and icy conditions with overnight lows of around zero or -1 C.

Wednesday: A frosty start. Cold dry and bright in many places but still some sleet or snow showers in northern counties early in the day but for many dry until nightfall in lighter winds. Highs of 5 to 8 degrees Celsius. Turning wet and windy Wednesday evening and there could well be some falls of snow in northern counties for a time Wednesday night but clearing to cold showery conditions overnight, some wintry in northern parts. Overnight lows of 1 to 4 Celsius with frost in places.

Thursday: A cold bright day, blustery northwest winds in the morning with showers, some wintry, but turning drier and brighter in the afternoon with sunny spells and winds easing. Afternoon highs of 6 to 9 C.

Cold and frosty for a time Thursday night with sub-zero temperatures, but turning less cold later in the night in the west as cloud thickens and winds freshen.

Friday: Strengthening southerly winds and rain spreading east Friday morning, clearing to blustery showery conditions later in the day. Highs of 7 to 10 degrees Celsius.

Weekend: Very disturbed weather but mild. Periods of heavy rain and strong winds expected.
Opposition in Lok Sabha on Monday expressed concern over the declining growth and falling investment and asked the government to take corrective measures to arrest the slowdown and generate employment.

Participating in the debate on the Union Budget 2020-21 in Lok Sabha, BJD member B Mahtab called for financial sector reforms to revive rapidly declining investment.

"We are measuring GDP growth... more the investment, the growth would be faster and quicker," he said, adding that adequate corrective measures were necessary to boost growth which is estimated to slip to five per cent in 2019-20.

Banks were not in a position to lend to infrastructure, Mahtab said and asked the government not to lose sight of wider reforms in the public sector.

"There is a need to bring competition within the banking sector," he said.

The NCP's Supriya Sule termed the budget as "long and tiresome" and said it has exposed the failure "of this government when it comes to fiscal health".

She said the government talks about achieving USD 5 trillion economy but "we are not even barely crossing five per cent (growth)".

She said the government was talking about bullet train but the fact was not even a single acre of land was acquired for the same.

"They are in a fairy-tale world... they live in a make- believe world," she said.

Sule said steps were needed for revival of economy and promotion of private sector investment.

Preneet Kaur (Cong) said the presumption of 10 per cent nominal GDP growth and 12 per cent rise in tax collection seems unrealistic given the low economic growth and falling exports.

Agriculture sector seems to be an area of concern, she said, adding Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana needs to be reviewed.

Observing that Indian growth story is at cross-roads, Kaur said that cautious pragmatism has crept in and the country has fallen into the middle income trap.

Shiv Sena member Gajanan Kirtikar regretted that the Budget has accorded "step-motherly treatment" to Maharashtra.

A M Ariff (CPI-M) accused the Centre of ignoring the demands of the Kerala government for funds for meeting natural calamities.

E T Mohammad Basheer (Indian Union Muslim League) said the allocation of funds for minorities have been slashed drastically.

The government is "digging graveyard" for minorities, he alleged.

Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM) also raised the issue of slashing of funds meant for minorities, especially when the literacy rate among them was low.

He said the budget exercise was meant to mislead Parliament and there was nothing in it to revive the economy.

Owaisi said while the prime minister was harping on investment in the infrastructure sector, the allocation for the same was only Rs 12,500 crore.

On the other hand, the budgetary allocation for the Special Protection Group (SPG), which takes care of prime minister's security, was Rs 600 crore.

Taking a dig at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's budget speech, Owaisi said he was reminded of Raj Kapoor, Vyjanthimala and Rajendra Kumar starrer 'Sangam' movie which had two intervals.

The Finance Minister's budget speech continued for more than two hours, the longest ever.

However, BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi said there is a balance between intent and content, and vision and provision in the Budget.

"We have moved from policy paralysis to policy action under the Narendra Modi government," she said.

The focus is on growth and the Budget will strengthen the foundation of Indian economy in the new decade, she said.

The Budget promotes six major sectors against the backdrop of current economic scenario, she said, adding it will help facilitate investment, spur consumption while giving a push to infrastructure and fillip to agriculture sector.

Observing that this is an age of technology, Sarangi said the Budget has recognised this and made several announcements in this regard.

Technology will help ease living conditions of people, she added.

Rubbishing the opposition claim of reduction in rural Budget, she said the government had always pitched in when there was a need in the past.

On spurring investment, Sarangi said the Budget announcement abolition of Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT) which will free up about Rs 25,000 crore for the corporates.

Besides, National Infrastructure Pipeline will promote investment in the infrastructure building.

Sunita Duggal (BJP) said that Vivad Se Vishwas scheme proposed in the Budget would help in substantially reducing litigation in direct taxes.

Others who participated in the discussion were Brijbhusan Sharan Singh (BJP), Krishna Lauv (YSRCP), Nama Nageshwar Rao (TRS).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, about 200 people work in shifts to search through the ash dump of a heating plant. Desperately poor, they are looking for unburned pieces of coal to sell. It's hard work, but the only way to make a living for many of them during the winter.
US president is expected to make his first official India visit around February 24, but no announcement has been made.

India is set to give final approval to a $2.6bn deal to buy military helicopters from United States defence firm Lockheed Martin ahead of a proposed visit by US President Donald Trump this month, sources told Reuters News Agency.

Prime Minister Narendra Modis government is trying to pull out all the stops for Trumps trip in a bid to reaffirm strategic ties between the two countries, which have been buffeted by sharp differences over trade, to counter China.

Indias defence purchases from the US have reached $17bn since 2007 as it has pivoted away from traditional supplier Russia. It is looking to modernise its military and narrow the gap with China.

Modis cabinet committee on security is expected to clear the purchase of 24 MH-60R Seahawk helicopters for the Indian navy in the next two weeks, a defence official and an industry source briefed on the matter separately told Reuters.

Its a government-to-government deal; it is close, said the industry source.

Trump is expected in India around February 24. It will be his first official visit to the country, although no formal announcement has yet been made.

Both countries are separately working on a limited trade agreement ahead of the trip, after earlier imposing tit-for-tat tariffs on each others imports.

Trump has called India the tariff king of the world, but the Modi government has been trying to address some of his concerns.

Trade officials have pointed to large-scale US arms purchases, from surveillance planes to Apache and Chinook helicopters, as proof of Indias willingness to tighten strategic ties.

The multirole helicopters will be equipped with Hellfire missiles and are meant to help the Indian navy track submarines in the Indian Ocean, where China is expanding its presence.

Many of Indias warships are without any helicopters due to years of underfunding, and the navy had sought their acquisition as a top priority.

The government outlined only a modest rise in its 2020-21 defence spending to $73.65bn in the budget on February 1. Part of that will go towards making a down payment on the helicopter purchase, a defence official told Reuters.

We expect a positive announcement soon on the helicopters, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to service rules. There are limited resources, but there is an allocation.

The US Department of State approved the sale of the choppers to India last year along with radars, torpedoes and 10 AGM-114 Hellfire missiles.

The clearance came after the Trump administration rolled out a new Buy American plan in 2018 that had relaxed restrictions on sales, saying it would bolster the US defence industry and create jobs at home.

The US has also offered India the armed version of Guardian drones that were originally authorised for sale as unarmed for surveillance purposes, the first such approval for a country outside the NATO alliance.

India plans to buy 30 of these unmanned aircraft for surveillance of the Indian Ocean, at a cost estimated to be about $2.5bn, from the US defence corporation General Atomics.

However, the defence official told Reuters News Agency the deal is unlikely to happen immediately due to a lack of funds.
Amazon and Sony are the latest companies to pull out of this month's Mobile World Congress because of the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

The loss of both companies is another blow to one of the telecom industry's biggest gatherings in Barcelona, which has already seen LG, Ericsson and Nvidia pull out.

'Due to the outbreak and continued concerns about the new coronavirus, Amazon will withdraw from exhibiting and participating in Mobile World Congress 2020,' the company said in a statement on Sunday.

Japanese electronics maker Sony also dropped out on Monday, citing the 'utmost importance on the safety and wellbeing of our customers, partners, media and employees' in a statement.

Amazon and Sony are the fourth and fifth major companies to cancel their trip to the event, following South Korea's LG Electronics, Swedish equipment maker Ericsson and US chipmaker Nvidia.

The organiser of the event, GSMA, has also banned any visitors from China's Hubei province, of which the capital Wuhan is where the virus originated.

Amazon becomes the fourth company to pull out of Mobile World Congress 2020 due to the coronavirus

Amazon had planned a significant presence through its cloud computing arm AWS, which was due to host a full-day conference track on the first day of the event.

Ericsson last week said that it would not be attending the annual event as the 'health and safety of employees and customers cannot be ensured', while LG said it made the decision 'with the safety of its employees, partners and customers foremost in mind'.

According to reports, Nokia is also considering pulling out, while BT is 'keeping its attendance under review', according to a spokesperson.

Industry analyst Ben Wood from CCS Insight said he hoped LG's decision last week would not cause a 'domino effect with other companies'.

MWC 2020, which runs from February 24 to 27, will go ahead as planned, the GSMA telecoms industry association, which runs the event, confirmed on Sunday.

The GSMA also said that it would tighten health precautions to guard against the coronavirus outbreak at the event, which attracts over 100,000 visitors.

Last week it announced onsite signs to encourage its expected 100,000 attendees to adhere to hygiene recommendations and follow a 'no-handshake policy'.

Pictured: The 2019 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. This year it will be held between 24-27 February 2020 and organisers insist it will proceed as planned

MWC 2020 SAFETY MEASURES GSMA is putting the following saefty measures in place at MWC: * All travellers from the Hubei province will not be permitted access to the event. *All travellers who have been in China will need to demonstrate proof they have been outside of China 14 days prior to the event (passport stamp, health certificate) *Temperature screening will be implemented. *Attendees will need to self-certify they have not been in contact with anyone infected. *Medical support on-site will be doubled from last year. *There will be increased presence of disinfectants and sanitisers across high-volume touchpoints such as WCs, entrances and exits and handrails. *A 24-hour telephone Security and Medical service is available for all attendees from 12-29 February 2020 Advertisement

No visitors will be allowed to attend from China's Hubei province, where the coronavirus outbreak started, while visitors from China must prove they have been outside the country for two weeks prior to the event, GSMA said.

'In addition to all of the health and safety measures put in place, the Spanish health authorities, Host City Partners, other relevant agencies and the GSMA are collaborating,' it added.

Chinese phone manufacturers Xiaomi, Huawei and Oppo, which are based in Beijing, Shenzhen and Dongguan respectively, will still be attending the event as of Monday.

A number of other technology heavyweights are also still due to appear at MWC  including Microsoft and Samsung.

Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE have said they will attend, ordering China-based staff to self-isolate ahead of the event to ensure they are free of the illness, and drafting in European staff to cover for those stranded.

'Our sympathy goes to all those affected. We are grateful for the preventative measures our Chinese exhibitors have put in place, notably ZTE and Huawei,' GSMA said.

Ericsson pulled out of the world's biggest mobile phone show in Barcelona later this month, citing as its reason fears over the present coronavirus outbreak

'While the GSMA confirm some large exhibitors have decided not to come to the show this year with others still contemplating next steps, we remain more than 2,800 exhibitors strong.'

Some 5,000-6,000 visitors typically come from China to the world's premier telecoms industry gathering, where companies spend millions on stands and hospitality.

China raised the death toll from the outbreak to 811 on Sunday, passing the number killed globally by the SARS epidemic, while total confirmed cases of the illness reached 37,198.

The virus has spread to at least 27 countries and territories, according to a Reuters count based on official reports, infecting more than 330 people outside China.

Two deaths have been reported outside mainland China  both of whom were Chinese nationals.

More then two dozen large trade fairs and industry conferences in China and overseas have been postponed or hit by travel curbs and concerns about the spread of the virus, potentially disrupting billions of dollars worth of deals.
Sydney's dam levels may increase by as much as 30 percentage points from the recent deluge, erasing more than a year's decline in a single rain event, and also placing in doubt the need for water restrictions for the city.

WaterNSW said Sydney's overall storage had rocketed to being almost two-thirds full as of Monday morning, after being 42.7 per cent full just days earlier. The gain over the past week was 22.3 percentage points, or an increase of more than half.

Lake Burragorang, which makes up Warragamba Dam, will continue to get huge inflows for days to come. Credit:Wolter Peeters

Warragamba, which alone accounts for about 80 per cent of Sydney's water storage, surged almost 18 percentage points to be 60.7 per cent full as of Monday.

Some areas nearby to Warragamba reported big rainfall totals, including more than 300 millimetres in the 24 hours to 9am on Monday at Oakdale, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
Why another studio page? Good question! After the launch of URSA MAJOR SUPERCLUSTER v2 last March, Spatzek Studio was actually the second studio page within the space of a year. Now you may be wondering why I went through this struggle twice in such a short space of time.

The reason is simple: The URSA MAJOR SUPERCLUSTER 2019 (UMSC) the site was the biggest fail in the history of web design. Go check it out, otherwise you have no idea what I'm talking about. Oh and while you are there slap on the heart icon on awwwards 

The biggest fail in the history of web design, but sexy.

Contrary to our expectations, the UMSC site bombed completely

Contrary to our expectations, the UMSC site bombed completely. It did not perform well on mainstream awards websites, and we did not get many inquiries (though it worked well on more niche and art-oriented award sites like SiteInspire). Due to its very experimental and artistic approach the site did not really resonate with the audience, so after some time it was pretty clear that we took it too far. But enough about my fails (yes, there are quotation marks because Im awesome). Lets talk success! That brings us to the new Spatzek Studio site.

Learning from my mistakes, I completely changed my approach. But before we get into that, let me tell you more about the new studio:

Spatzek Studio is pretty much the same as URSA MAJOR SUPERCLUSTER, but with a little twist: Its not just a freelance collaboration brand like UMSC has been. Its an officially registered advertising agency. I know nobody here cares about that crap, but I had to mention it.

The name Ursa Major Supercluster was pretty funky, but hardly anybody was able to memorize it.

Why the name change though? The name Ursa Major Supercluster was pretty funky, but hardly anybody was able to memorize it. Therefore, it was not at all appealing to the Austrian audience. I opted for the non-creative but sexy name Spatzek Studio to make it easier for the local audience. Plus, I am the Brad Pitt of web design in Austria (according to recent statistics more than 10 people know my name - numbers are rising).

The approach

Contrary to its predecessor, the new site should not be overly fancy or rely too much on creative effects. Pretty much the opposite was the goal: A good-looking website with a simple structure, easy to use and understand, yet appealing and unique. Sounds boring? Yes. Did it end up being boring? Nope.

I did not try to create aesthetics and effects to make the content interesting. Instead, I started creating actually interesting content.

Since the goal was the opposite, my creative process had to be turned over as well: I did not try to create aesthetics and effects make the content interesting. Instead, I started creating actually interesting content. Mind-blowing, isnt it? When it comes to About Pages in particular, most studio sites lack creativity. While researching, I felt that pretty much all of them said the same old crap and had the same content in one way or another.

I realized that the About Page had the most potential to make the studio stand out from the competition. When writing the text for this page, many ideas arose from the content that were later translated into a concept that tricks people into liking the studio.

How to trick people into doing something they do not like

Before we talk in depth about the world-famous About Page, I have to say a few words about the other parts. Since this site was still a studio portfolio, the actual work had to be the hero, so I made sure that visitors get a huge dose of my work slapped in their faces at the very first impression. There is no better way to achieve that than to show a reel that captures the attention of the viewer and gives them an impression of what we are capable of. But enough of that, Im sure you can figure out the thoughts behind those sections on your own.

Spatzek Studio Showreel.

Ok, lets talk about the About Page. As stated above, I wanted to focus on the message. There was a huge amount of content that had to be communicated. The only problem: Tricking people into reading a lot of text tends to be harder than you think.

Be honest: Would you read a text of ~1700 characters if it is presented like this:

Nobody reads stuff like that. No joke.

Probably not (unless you are a real weirdo who enjoys staring at white walls). But how did I manage to make people read the exact same amount of text on my studio page? Here comes the trickery:

Start off with a very empty page. Just a single sentence that captures interest and makes people curious.

Dont show how much people have to read at all.

Make them interact with the site (in this case by asking questions with clickable answers). If a person puts effort into something (like answering), they are less likely to quit right after.

Repeat the Q&A process at least once more, to trick them into expecting even more questions.

Be funny and/or controversial to keep people interested.

Add funny gifs (everybody likes gifs) from time, to time to hook them.

Repeat above points until you said everything you wanted to say :)

Make a call to action in the end to keep momentum.

The final masterpiece.

But does it work? Oh my god, yes! According to Google Analytics the average session duration is 400% of the average of all my other websites (from 40k users last month until today).

Do you think I am a genius now? Yes/No. Correct!

Technology

Technology-wise there is nothing really interesting to say since the site does not use any fancy stuff like WebGL or complex effects. The only thing worth mentioning, is that I ditched ScrollMagic because it felt outdated. Instead, I decided to write my very own scroll animation script called SpatzekScroll.js . (Thanks to @Jesper_Landberg for motivating me to finally do it )

The website is using Nuxt.js at its core. Nevertheless, since we do not need a CMS, the HTML is pre-rendered to make the site even faster (according to performance mastermind @mario_sommer). The animations are powered by GSAP. Smooth-scrolling is done via smoothscroll-for-websites plugin by Blaze (Balazs Galambosi)

Company Info

Spatzek Studio is a Digital Design Studio that creates highly functional, unique & award-winning digital products in the most uncomplicated way possible.

The studio is managed by owner Daniel Spatzek, an award-winning webdesigner, art-director, creative frontend developer from Austria.
The Ganga river is at the heart of Indian civilisation and our cultural and economic lifeline, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday.

Modi made the remarks on Twitter, replying to a post by Rajapaksa about his Sunday's trip to Varanasi where he got the "honour" of visiting the Ganga.

"Before leaving #Varanasi, I had the honour of visiting the sacred River Ganga."



"I commend PM @narendramodis #NamamiGange effort, not only because of the rivers spiritual and cultural significance but also because it is host to approximately 40% of #Indias population," Rajapaksa tweeted, attaching a picture of his visit.

In his reply, Modi said the "Ganga is at the heart of our civilisation. It is our cultural and economic lifeline".

"I am glad you spent time in Varanasi and also went along the Ganga. The experience would have been wonderful," he added.

The Namami Gange programme was launched in 2014 to clean the river and improve its flow.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Latest on the 2020 Democratic presidential race and Tuesdays primary in New Hampshire.



Elizabeth Warren is tweaking her standard campaign speech, saying that shes in the best position to win what some see as an unwinnable election for any Democrat against President Donald Trump.

Warren finished third in last weeks Iowa caucus, which was too close to call between Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana. She has also refused to say that New Hampshires primary on Tuesday is a must win, even though shes a senator from neighboring Massachusetts.



Still, at a rally at a high school in Lebanon, New Hampshire, on Sunday night, Warren referenced her then-upset win in 2012 over Republican incumbent Sen. Scott Brown. Warren noted that polls in that race once showed her down by 19 points but she ultimately won comfortably.

She said such contests are only unwinnable if you dont get in the fight adding, 2020, were in this fight and were going to win it.

Democratic presidential hopeful Tom Steyer says he would call for a $22 hourly minimum wage if elected president.

The billionaire climate activist made that call during a campaign block party on Sunday afternoon in Winnsboro, South Carolina. Others in the field have called for an increase to $17 an hour.

The town of about 23,000 off Interstate 77 has endured a series of economic struggles in recent years, and its unemployment is typically among the highest in the state.

Steyer is making a play for South Carolina, where former Vice President Joe Biden has traditionally led polling.

But Steyer has been spending millions on television advertising and is campaigning here this week as the rest of the field stumps in New Hampshire. Steyer says he sees success in the diverse states of Nevada and South Carolina as critical to primary success.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren has largely avoided attacks from her key presidential rivals lately  but doesnt see an advantage for anyone in them.

Speaking to reporters after a rally in Concord, New Hampshire, on Sunday, Warren said, Look, were going to have to bring our party together in order to beat Donald Trump.

She added: And the way we do this is not by launching a bunch of attacks on each other and trying to tear each other down.

The Massachusetts senator spent months criticizing Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, over holding fundraisers with wealthy donors that were for months closed to the press.

But lately Warren has tried to stress party unity. She said Sunday that Democratic candidates should talk about the things we can run on together.

New Hampshire is practically Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warrens backyard. So much so that she mistakenly thought she was home while campaigning there.

During a rally at a high school in the New Hampshire state capital of Concord on Sunday, Warren declared, Its up to you, Massachusetts.

The crowd immediately reacted with chuckles and yelling out corrections. Warren corrected herself with a laugh, saying, And to the people of New Hampshire. Thank you.

Warren has refused to call New Hampshire a must-win during Tuesdays primary, despite it bordering Massachusetts. She told reporters after the event, There are 55 more states or territories after this. It looks like its going to be a long battle to the nomination.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar says shes plans to keep defying expectations heading into Tuesdays New Hampshire primary.

Though shes spent the last year behind the front-runners, Klobuchar has enjoyed a burst of momentum in the last few days thanks to a strong debate performance and infusion of cash. At a rally at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester on Sunday, her campaign initially set up about 250 chairs, then removed them to make room for a room-capacity crowd of more than 700.

Klobuchar said shes had an incredible journey in the last few days, and expects to do well in New Hampshire because it is grassroots territory where voters really listen.

The head of the Democratic National Committee says that after the 2020 election is over, the national party will review whether state parties should be running elections.

That word from DNC Chairman Tom Perez follows the vote count problems in the Iowa caucuses from last Monday.

Perez tells ABCs This Week that Iowa might have avoided problems if it had held a primary run by state elections officials, rather than a caucus run by volunteers and the party.

He says hes looking forward to the conversation about state parties getting out of the business of running elections.

Iowas leadoff caucuses ended in disarray after a technical problem and then a telephone logjam prevented the Iowa Democratic Party from compiling results soon after the caucuses ended.

It took until Thursday for the state party to issue what it said are complete results. The Associated Press says its unable to declare a winner based on the available information. The AP believes the results as reported by the Iowa Democratic Party may not be fully accurate

Perez says the Democratic Party also will review whether Iowa should keep its status as being the first in the nation to cast votes.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders insists he doesnt want to denigrate rival Pete Buttigieg, but Sanders is pointing out to supporters in New Hampshire why he thinks Buttigieg shouldnt be the partys nominee.

During an appearance in Plymouth, Sanders began by calling Buttigieg my friend. That draw a loud laugh from a Sanders supporters.

Then Sanders said: Were not here to denigrate Pete, hes running a good campaign, but our views are different.

Sanders said a candidate like Buttigieg who takes campaign contributions from drug company executives or Wall Street tycoons wont stand up to the corporate elite.

Sanders has made similar criticisms in the past about how his rivals raise money. But his pointed remarks toward Buttigieg comes as Sanders fights to win the New Hampshire primary in two days.



Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is playing down the notion that his lagging finish in the Iowa caucuses will hurt his electability.

The former vice president tells New Hampshire voters that rivals Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders were better organized than we were in Iowa.

Biden is stressing that voters should treat the first four early voting states as one. New Hampshire, which holds its primary, is the second early voting state, followed by Nevada and South Carolina.

The New Hampshire contests includes two candidates whom Biden describes to voters as coming from the two states next door to you. Its a reference to Sanders, whos a Vermont senator, and Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts senator.

Biden is returning to the town hall format New Hampshire voters tend to pride themselves on. Before Sunday, Biden had skipped taking questions from the crowds at his New Hampshire events in January and February. Biden instead focused on greeting supporters on the rope line at these events.
A second grader brought a gun magazine to Jane Ball Elementary School on Monday, according to Cedar Lake police.

At about noon, the student brought the magazine, which was empty, to recess and showed it to other students, according to a Hanover Community School Corp. news release.

One of these students immediately told an adult, who asked to see the student's magazine and then turned it over to a school resource officer working in the building, according to the district.

"The child was immediately removed and taken to the principal's office," the Cedar Lake Police Department said in a press release. "The parents of the child were contacted and it was determined the empty magazine did come from the childs home. It was also determined the child never had access to any weapons or ammunition, the empty magazine was accidentally left out."

The Jane Ball school resource officer and principal searched the student's belongings after being taken to the school's main office and nothing else was found in the student's possession, according to Hanover schools.
February 10, 2020



POCATELLO  Stephanie Adams, owner of the Pocatello Pet Lodge and Pocatello Pet Lodge, Too, is the Idaho State University Alpha Kappa Psi Delta Upsilon Chapter 61st Idaho Business Leader of the Year.

Alpha Kappa Psi Delta Upsilon Chapter, the professional business fraternity at ISU, will recognize Adams at a dinner in Pocatello on April 9.

The award annually recognizes an Idaho business leader who has demonstrated outstanding business and professional ethics while contributing significant support to worthwhile community, civic and education activities. Awarded by ISU College of Business students since 1959, previous honorees have included a congressman, former governors, entrepreneurs and leaders of some of Idahos largest companies. The recognition program is the longest-standing one of its kind in Idaho.

Adams is an Idaho State University alumna with a degree in biology. She founded Pocatello Pet Lodge, a boarding and grooming facility and doggie day care center for pets in 2008. Pocatello Pet Lodge grew and opened a second location in 2017 and to a staff of 35 between the two locations.

Animals have always been a big part of her life. Upon graduation from ISU, Adams used her biology degree to become a zookeeper for Zoo Idaho, Fort Worth Zoo in Texas, and Naples Zoo in Florida.

Adams leadership skills started when she was at ISU as an ISU Ambassador and grew as she worked as a zookeeper. She focused on growing as a person and leader while finding her voice for advocacy and persuasion. She wanted to find a career in the personal pet industry she could excel at, but also find personal satisfaction. This is when Pocatello Pet Lodge was born.

Adams said that she is not a boss, but a leader. She jumps in, shoulder-to-shoulder, with the staff and works tirelessly to get the job done right. Hundreds of people from the region entrust their pets to her oversight, attention to detail and high reliability. She cares deeply for the people and pets she serves on a daily basis and creates a feeling of family with those who bring their pets to Pocatello Pet Lodge and Pocatello Pet Lodge, Too.

Adams commitment does not stop at just serving pets and their families. Her commitment to the community and ISU is impressive as well. She is the President of the Zonta Club of Pocatello and the public relation/marketing chair for Zontas District 8. Zonta is a leading global organization that seeks to empower women worldwide through service and advocacy.

She is currently a member of the Leadership Pocatello-Chubbuck and a board member of the ISU Alumni Association. She has also been involved in the Portneuf Rotary Club, the Marketing Steering Committee for the Neighborhoods of Historic Old Town Pocatello and as a Chair of the Pocatello Animal Shelter Advisory Board. She is an excellent example of Alpha Kappa Psis values of service and brotherhood.

Individual tickets to the April 9 banquet, as well as event sponsorships, are available. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit idahostate.akpsi.org/ibloybanquet.
At the meeting, Ge Jun, the former Global Vice President of Apple Inc. and present Executive Director of the Board of Directors and Global CEO of TOJOY, announced TOJOY's Ten Measures for Disaster Relief and Self-Care. He announced that as of February 4th, TOJOY has officially and permanently implemented a remote work system for all employees.

TOJOY also promises no layoffs or salary cuts during the epidemic period. This move is commendable as Chinese companies ae facing pressure to resume work. It is cause for celebration for everyone at the beginning of the Chinese New Year in the face of the epidemic situation.

TOJOY Publishes Ten Measures for ensuring staff and customer safety amid the current health emergency and turning the crisis of 2019-nCOV into opportunity.

Recently, the news about TOJOY permanently implementing a remote work system for all members has flooded the internet. As China is occupied with imminent challenges of fighting the epidemic and resuming work, this move by TOJOY comes as a shot of antidote, addressing both problems. The announcement has become a popular topic one online.

In TOJOY's policy, effective February 4, all employees will work at home during the entire epidemic period. Employees will not be required to attend any in-person functions such as in-office work, face-to-face business negotiations, or customer receptions. Once the epidemic is over, TOJOY will permanently implement the remote work policy, allowing employees to work at company offices just one day per week.

Under this remote work policy, dubbed the "Migratory Work System" TOJOY is still maintaining its "Four Six" work system. That is, employees only need work fou days per week, 6 hours per day. These flexible work location and working hours policies ae certainly enviable for many other companies and workers.

Despite widespread accolades, TOJOY's remote work move has also been met with some skepticism. Remote work programs would normally only be expedient during the epidemic, so why is TOJOY implementing a permanent remote work program? Since the smooth operation of a company requires a pervasive, complex collaboration system, can this system truly be made permanent?

In the midst of this curiosity and doubt, TOJOY gathered its 6,000 employees to attend an online debut on the Migratory Work System, sharing the support system information and implementation success announcement with the public. The accompanying explanation of the TOJOY-developed smart business systems that enable the Migratory Work System (such as collaborative online tools, automated accounting processes, etc.) were helpful in explaining the structure and vitality of the Migratory Work System to the public.

TOJOY's Global Debut of Remote Work Program Sets Example in Resumption of Work

At the TOJOY 2020 New Year's mobilization meeting, Lu Junqing, Chairman of the Board of Directors of TOJOY, authorized the company's resumption of work. Ge Jun, Executive Director of the Board of Directors and Global CEO of TOJOY, gave a mobilization report, and representatives of TOJOY's eight major business groups presented detailed work plans and measures for reporting.

Mr. Ge said that during the epidemic period, ToJoy will continue to practice its business principle of "doing good deeds, taking the right path, and seeking happiness". TOJOY will fully support the country's disaster response efforts, and do its best in terms of its own self-care. At the same time, TOJOY will enable the full use of its online services, platform advantages, and technical strengths to support other Chinese companies in their efforts to return to work safely and effectively, helping them to turn the crisis into opportunity.

Mr. Ge also announced a new extension of TOJOY's employee happiness programs.

"On January 1, 2016, ToJoy implemented a 'Four day, Six hour' working week, becoming the company with the shortest working hours worldwide. Now, in order to continue to deeply implement its business philosophy of happiness, TOJOY officially permanently implements a remote work policy for all employees starting February 4th, 2020."

On behalf of TOJOY Mr. Ge also promised no layoffs or salary cuts would be made during the epidemic period  that TOJOY would share its fate with those of all its employees. He appealed to employees to adhere to ToJoy's corporate motto to "Be kind, be motivated, and be concientious".

Mr. Ge hopes all employees will devote themselves to work with a greater sense of responsibility, and to strive to contribute their own strengths to bettering society.

Encouraged by his speech, representatives from branches in regions such as New York, Paris, Mexico City, and Vienna expressed their determination and additional measures to fight against the disaster.

At the 2020 New Year's Online Business Kick-Off Mobilization Meeting, TOJOY promised "no layoffs, no salary cuts, and to share the fate of all employees"

Thankfully, since the outbreak of the epidemic, no TOJOY employees or family members have been infected or taken as a suspected case.

At the core of the epidemic area, TOJOY's Wuhan Subsidiary purchased a large number of masks and anti-epidemic materials and delivered them to employees quickly following the outbreak of the epidemic. These employees are required to frequently disinfect their home working areas and to try to remain at home to protect themselves and their families.

Zhao Jiezong, vice president and general manager of TOJOY's Wuhan Subsidiary, stated that before and during the outbreak, through the unified deployment of the group and TOJOY's epidemic prevention measures, a zero-infection security bastion has been established.

TOJOY's vision is to create a happy enterprise that lasts forever, and it places the health of its employees and their families as the top priority. Mr. Ge repeatedly emphasized the need to maintain zero-infection results for all employees, and encouraged employees to use the disaster-resistance accountability system, stating that "the entire company will do its best to prevent and control the epidemic, and to prioritize the overall situation, physical, and mental health of all employees and their family members, so as not to add trouble or burden society."

At the all-hands mobilization meeting, TOJOY announced a permanent "Migratory Work System": a remote work program for all employees.

As a large, multinational corporation with over 6,000 employees in 40 cities in Asia, Europe, and the Americas, TOJOY's daily operations cover both the eastern and western hemispheres for 24-hour business. As a global enterprise empowerment platform, with unicorn business incubation and acceleration as its core business, TOJOY believes that its rapid pace of business, high number of projects, wide market coverage, and explosive growth of business are good justifications for its commitment to not lay off staff or reduce their salaries. This places stringent requirements on the company's management philosophy, capabilities, and tools.

As TOJOY still must deal with increasing development pressure while maintaining its permanent Migratory Work System for all employees, there is a secret weapon the company relies on to coordinate global work: the online TOJOY Smart Business suite. This series of innovative programs enables an efficient and orderly work structure that sets the business up well for success in the coming new year.

TOJOY Promotes Disaster Relief and Self-Care with Smart Business - Contributing to Economic Development with Caring

TOJOY's official start of its new Migratory Work System remote work policy and the large-scale virtual conference announcing it were both enabled to run smoothly by TOJOY's Smart Business System.

Knowing what a full-company remote work system would require, it is reported that TOJOY began developing its Smart Business suite with world-class application standards from the very beginning.

In 2016, TOJOY founded the ToJoy Network Technology Group to construct the Smart Business platform. "TOJOY Smart Office" was created jointly with IBM, sought out for its reputation as the world's largest information technology and business solutions provider.

A team of over 500 top talents, 3 years of research and development, and an investment of over 200 million yuan went into the creation of the "TOJOY Smart Business" system, which now easily supports TOJOY's 6,000 employees across different time zones around the world in the smooth implementation of their remote work.

ToJoy Smart Business covers several major functions such as the performance evaluation, conferencing, sales, learning and development, and business operations. The system fulfills these functions for the full company, covering the full gamut of online corporate operations, including business needs such as performance management, timely payment collection, automatic accounting, online tax payments, sales processes, cloud office support, and even hosting meetings for up to 300,000 attendees online at the same time.

Every function and every kind of collaboration in the office can be optimized by "TOJOY Smart Business", ensuring the orderliness of corporate affairs and greatly improving the efficiency of each employee.

With this system, TOJOY is able to take the road less travelled, becoming the world's first large-scale multinational group with a permanent remote work policy, which it calls the Migratory Work System. TOJOY Smart Business enables each employee to work without geographical restrictions, collaborate efficiently, and conduct connected, intelligent digital business.

Due to the pressure to resume work within the present situation in China, many small and medium-sized enterprises in China are facing great difficulty. News reports mention some "urgent situations", in which many companies "can only survive for a few months" due to "their cash flow being on the verge of crash".

According to one senior business observer, "Without timely attention and assistance, many small and medium-sized enterprises, themselves victims of the epidemic, will die silently like those patients. But they can neither be aided as confirmed cases nor put on the suspected case list".

The situation is particularly severe for Wuhan's business community, which is currently suffering the heaviest epidemic and faces the greatest pressure to resume work.

Wuhan is one of China's top industrial hubs and the largest economic center in central China. Small, medium, and startup enterprises account for a large portion of the Wuhan market. Though fighting the epidemic primarily concerns people's health, helping businesses is vital to the lifeblood of such economies. Both are significant and should not be ignored.

Business partners of the TOJOY Wuhan Subsidiary are distributed in many pillar industries such as real estate, construction, agriculture, science and technology, and heavy industry. There are also many TOJOY corporate customers in Xiangyang, Huanggang, Xiaogan and other epidemic-stricken areas outside Wuhan. Therefore, while ensuring zero infection for employees and their families, ToJoy Wuhan Subsidiary is also providing support to enterprises across Wuhan and all of Hubei province.

Last year, TOJOY Wuhan achieved tremendous growth in its online business thanks to TOJOY Smart Business. Now, TOJOY Wuhan is working with its neighbor companies to help them overcome their difficulties. This includes allowing area entrepreneurs free access to the TOJOY Smart Business system. TOJOY hopes this advanced model and system will benefit troubled Hubei enterprises, and help entrepreneurs to regain confidence and renewed life, so that they can take their businesses online like TOJOY and rise against the epidemic situation.

Behind the implementation of its permanent Migratory Work System is TOJOY's concern not only for the health and safety of its employees and partners, but also a deep appreciation of the pressure enterprises are facing to resume work. TOJOY hopes its efforts will contribute to the orderly operation of the economy and general improvement of the social situation.

From employee care, to assistance to customers, to caring for society as a whole, TOJOY is doing its best to achieve meaningful results as a corporate citizen. In China it is said that many social problems are caused when the body runs too fast for the soul to catch up. Today, putting care for the wellbeing of all as the soul and scientific and technological achievements such as TOJOY Smart Business as the body, TOJOY brings a touch of spring to this cold winter at this crucial moment. TOJOY is using its innovative scientific and technological achievements to assist companies in rescuing themselves from the epidemic and to start fresh in the new year.

SOURCE ToJoy Shared Holding Group Co.,Ltd.
SHELTON  A horrific accident on River Road late Sunday claimed the lives of a Monroe woman and an Ansonia man.

Police said Lily Pirulli, 20, of Monroe, and Adrian Miles, 31 of Ansonia, were killed in the two-car accident that closed a section of River Road for about eight hours.

Pirulli, who graduated from Masuk High School, and Miles, who attended Ansonia High School, were among four occupants of a BMW that collided with a Toyota RAV4 around 11:30 p.m. Sunday just yards away from the entrance to Southbank Park.

Two other occupants of the BMW were injured in the crash. Meghan Nealy, 26, of Ansonia, was in critical condition as of Monday afternoon, while Rakiem Reid, 30, of Derby, was treated and released, according to police. The driver of the Toyota RAV4 was identified as Minqiang Chen, of West Hartford. Chen was treated at the scene and released.

This is horrible, said Denese Taylor-Moye, a Bridgeport City Councilwoman, who has known Miles since he was a youngster. He was a wonderful young man. I always found him to be very polite. He loved his family, his girlfriend and his 4-year-old daughter.

The whole family is together right now, Taylor-Moye said. This is a serious loss to them. This is the time to give them our prayers.

Hannah Perry, a friend of Pirullis, described her as a beautiful spirit who touched the hearts of everyone she met. She will be forever missed.

Perry asked that the familys privacy be respected while they grieve and try to comprehend a life without her.

The investigation into the accident, which ripped bark off two trees nearly six feet off the ground, continued Monday.

Two police officers, along with two members of the Department of Public Works, were at the scene Monday afternoon inspecting the damage and the debris on the slope just above the enclosed picnic building built along the Housatonic River. The area below is a popular fishing spot and walking trial.

Shards of metal, plastic and glass from the two vehicles littered the street and the slope. Sections of the metal guardrail were bent.

Three men were at the park just before noon and said they knew the victims but declined to comment further. One walked down to the picnic grove building and sat there quietly.

The accident occurred just before Mouthrop Lane. The investigation, along with the clean-up, forced police to close River Road from Murphys Lane to Rocky Rest until just before 7 a.m. Monday.

Shelton police said the Traffic Division is handling the investigation with assistance from the Detective Bureau but could not give a timeline for its completion.

Police on Monday could not say if drugs or alcohol played a role. They also declined to comment on whether any charges would be filed.

A floral memorial from one of those previous accidents is still attached to a tree about of a quarter mile away from the site of Sundays deadly crash.

River Road, also known as Route 110 which leads from Shelton to Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford, has been the site of numerous fatal accidents in recent years.

On April 8, 2018, Briana Torres-Carter, 23, and her eight-month fetus, and Shalymar Herrera, 18, of West Haven, were killed after one of two vehicles racing on River Road collided with their vehicle.

Two years earlier, on May 6, 2016, Rosemarie Dwyer, a 69-year-old Shelton woman, was killed in a head-on crash on River Road in front of the Sports Center of Connecticut.

Anyone with any information regarding Sundays accident is asked to contact the Shelton Police Department Traffic Division at 203-924-1544.
An AIP is fitted on the conventional diesel-electric submarines and significantly enhances the capability of the boats to stay underwater, which, otherwise, have to come to the surface to charge their batteries frequently.

"The DRDO-built AIP would be fitted on the Kalvari class submarines during their refit programme. The first refit of the first boat INS Kalvari is scheduled for the year 2023," French firm Naval Group's Senior Executive Vice President Alain Guillou told ANI. The French industry official was in India for the biennial DefExpo in Lucknow.

He said the DRDO AIP has been found good and compliant and would add to the capabilities of the submarines.

The DRDO has been working with the Navy to develop it at the Naval Materials Research Laboratory (NMRL) in Pune.

The Indian AIP was earlier supposed to be fitted only on the fifth and the sixth boat but it has now been decided that it would be equipped on all the six boats as and when they go for their major refit programmes.

The first boat was inducted by the Navy a couple of years ago and the last boat is expected to be commissioned with full firepower by the end of 2022.

Indian public sector firm Mazagon Dockyards Limited and the Naval Group are building the submarines together in Mumbai.

Guillou said his firm was also taking part in the Indian Navy programme for supplying torpedoes for the Kalvari class boats and was offering its F-21 torpedo for the project.

The heavyweight torpedoes are also supposed to be used by the Indian Navy for its strategic nuclear submarines as they are also functional without their main underwater weapons.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
One thing you have going for you in planning your later years is that the cost of a fulfilling retirement lifestyle is cheaper than many people think.

While thats reassuring, you still need to get a handle on just what those costs actually are, if youre going to plan properly.

As it turns out, there are several ways to estimate it, which well describe in a minute.

But first, consider why a retirement lifestyle is often surprisingly affordable. While this phenomenon doesnt benefit everyone equally, the fact is a lot of mid-life costs tend to drop off by the time you retire, without detracting from your personal lifestyle. So maintaining a similar standard of living in retirement usually requires a lot less income than it did in your middle years.

The costs of raising a family drop as your children become self-sufficient. Homeowner costs fall as you pay off the mortgage. When you stop working, you no longer pay into Employment Insurance, the Canada Pension Plan, and sometimes an employer pension plan. You may have lower expenses for clothing and transportation.

When a busy work life no longer causes you to spend for convenience, you may adopt savvier spending habits like shopping the sales and making more meals at home.

Youre done saving for retirement, so you no longer have to set aside a big chunk of income for that. You pay much less income tax. By the time you reach 65, youre eligible for tax perks like the age credit, the pension income credit and pension income splitting for couples.

Of course, you may spend more for dental bills that were previously covered by employment benefits. And you may end up spending more on health care costs later in life. But in general, it costs a lot less to maintain the same standard of living in retirement than it did your middle years.

Now lets come up with an estimate for your retirement spending. If you are many years from retirement and just need a ballpark figure for rough planning purposes, you can apply a simple rule of thumb known as the income replacement ratio.

The ratio provides the percentage of gross earnings in your working years that you expect to replace in retirement in order to maintain your standard of living. So if you use a ratio of 60 per cent and your salary is $80,000 a year, then you would require $48,000 a year (60 per cent of $80,000) in retirement.

The tricky part comes in determining what ratio to use. An income replacement ratio of 70 per cent is often recommended in the financial industry, but experts such as Malcolm Hamilton, a senior fellow with the CD Howe Institute and retired pension actuary, and Fred Vettese, a former actuary and partner at Morneau Shepell, think that is too high for most people, and I agree.

In my view, if youre a homeowner with children, you should be able to maintain your standard of living in retirement by spending 50 per cent to 60 per cent of peak earnings. If youre a renter who never had children, 60 per cent to 70 per cent is probably more reasonable, since you wouldnt have a drop-off in mortgage and child rearing costs.

Some people do spend more than 70 per cent of their pre-retirement income, but others get by on much less. I know of one couple who live comfortably but frugally in retirement on less than 20 per cent of their peak earnings.

Either way, when you get close to retirement, you should figure out how much you will need to get the lifestyle you want in actual dollars, rather than just a percentage. This requires a bit more work, but is worth it if youre looking for a concrete figure to rely on.

First, get a handle on what you spend now while youre still working. Track current spending by major categories such as shelter, vehicles, groceries and health. Then review the costs in each category and assess how much you think you will need to spend in each category once you retire. If youve been free-and-easy with current spending, this exercise may also help you get a tighter rein on costs.

While there is no substitute for understanding your own spending requirements for your own retirement lifestyle, having a few benchmarks to compare with can help.

I estimate that a bare bones but fulfilling middle-class retirement for a single person in Canada starts at about $33,000 a year for singles and $44,000 a year for couples. That applies to retirees 65 and over who own their own homes and are debt-free and includes the cost of income taxes (if you rent, carry debt into retirement or you retire before youre 65, it will cost a little more). That should be sufficient for a fulfilling retirement that includes all the key middle-class trappings, albeit at a modest level.

If youre looking for a middle-of-the-road benchmark, consider that an average Canadian seniors spending  including income tax  is about $43,000 a year for singles and $65,000 a year for couples. Thats my estimate based on Statistics Canada Survey of Household Spending data that Ive adjusted in several respects.

And how much would an affluent retirement cost? Of course, the sky is the limit for the truly well off. But if youre looking for a rough number to typify the deluxe end of middle class  not the truly wealthy  I would suggest a figure (including income tax) of about $80,000 for singles and $100,000 for couples, assuming they own their own homes mortgage-free.

Any marker used to define the upper reaches of middle class spending is somewhat arbitrary. But I believe that sets a possible goal that is substantially above average but still within reach for what fairly average Canadians might reasonably aspire to without relying on exceptional financial success or a big inheritance.

David Aston , a freelance contributing columnist for the Star, is the author of the recently-published book The Sleep-Easy Retirement Guide. He has an M.A. in economics and is a Chartered Professional Accountant. Reach him via email: davidastonstar@gmail.com
4x NYT Bestselling Author Wahida Clark I endeavor to use to use my platform to raise awareness for the important themes of family reorientation, conflict resolution and financial literacy in our communities.

On the heels of releasing her 16th book, "Thugs: Seven," publisher, author and motivational speaker Wahida Clarkwho went from prisoner to 4-time New York Times bestselling authorwill now be taking her fans on a raw and riveting journey in an upcoming docu-series, The Queen of Street Lit, a moniker she proudly wears for having initiated the Thug Love Fiction sub-genre. Directed by Antonio T.D. Faison, the project is currently in production, shooting in and around Atlanta, Georgia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Miami, New York and Ghana.

The series delves into the rich and complex story of Clark from her troubled youth to her lofty status atop the Street Lit genre. With some notable celebrity appearances, the project also spotlights the Thug Love Fiction genre and its effects on Hip-hop and urban culture.

Clark says, By reading our under-celebrated Street Lit and Thug Love Fiction genres, we can heal. We promote literacy and address mental illness in our households through storytelling. I endeavor to use to use my platform to raise awareness for the important themes of family reorientation, conflict resolution, and financial literacy in our communities.

Clarks fascinating journey includes serving nearly a decade in federal prisonwith one-time prison mate and media mogul Martha Stewartto owning the most prestigious and fastest growing urban independent publishing house Wahida Clark Presents Publishing, which empowers other incarcerated authors to write and get published so they can support their families.

Clarks publishing banner, is proud to debut her 16th novel, Thugs: Seven(December, 2019), the seventh installment in one of her three popular series, The Thug Series.

No stranger to adversity, Clark was a runaway and high school drop-out at 14 years old, and eventually, facing 10 years in prison, she decided to turn obstacles into opportunity.

While in prison, Clark herself took a creative writing course, wrote her first novel, landed a literary agent and book deals with major publishing houses, including Kensington, Hachette and Simon and Schusterso she could support her two daughters back home. Her literary career catapulted her from behind bars into a 4-time New York Times Bestselling author, and that first book launched just one of her three renowned series.

Clark is also the vice president and business development officer of the 501c3 non-profit Prodigal Sons and Daughters, which offers proven rehabilitation for at-risk youth, as well as those aging out of the foster care system, in Georgia and New Jersey. The organization has partnerships with the Atlanta Braves, Falcons and Hawks through contracts with Delaware North and Levy Restaurants.

Drexel University professor Vanessa Irvin Morris says, Wahida Clark is the creator of the Thug Love Fiction genre which is a sub-genre of street lit. She is also the first street lit author to pen a series, thus establishing the trend. Wahidas style of writing has become the template for urban literature. When you read her novels, they are so real you are convinced that you either know the characters; you want to know the characters; or you are one of the characters!

About the Author

Dubbed the official Queen of Street Lit, Wahida Clark has sold over 900,000 novels, including one New York Times bestseller with Hachette Publishing and three New York Times bestsellers with Cash Money Content, the publishing arm of the iconic record label Cash Money Records (home to renowned hip-hop recording artists Drake, Lil Wayne, and Nicki Minaj). Her publishing firm, Wahida Clark Presents Publishing, currently houses 30 authors, who have published and distributed nearly 100 books. She is the vice president and business development officer of the non-profit Prodigal Sons and Daughters Redirection Services, which offers proven rehabilitation for at-risk youth, as well as those aging out of the foster care system, in Georgia and New Jerseycurrently serving over 20,000 people. Clark has recently been named Director of International Business Development for Prodigal Sons & Daughters Behavioral Health and has been featured in USA Today, Essence, Ebony, Vice, and on podcasts, such as Roxanne Shante, Sway in the Morning and DJ Kay Slay, amongst many others.

About Thugs: Seven

A true page-turner, Thugs: Seven details the harrowing lives of kings of the streets and the queens who love them. Its a thriller that leaves readers at the edge of their seats as they journey through business deals gone wrong, mental health and PTSD issues, camaraderie, betrayal, unbreakable marriages, hot sex, soulmates, child birth and love trianglesall set against the backdrop of the inner dealings of the Chinese mafia and a Mexican drug cartel. The story details the harsh truths and realities of choosing a life that puts the people you love the most in harms way. The main characters travel from New York, New Jersey and Atlanta to Beijing and Shanghaiand no matter the circumstances, they remain fiercely protective of their loved ones.

Instagram: @wahidaclark

Twitter: @wahidaclark

Facebook: facebook.com/Wahida-Clark-Presents-Publishing
Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk has said he is considering introducing in the government the post of deputy prime minister in charge of investments.

He said this in an interview with the Ukrayinska Pravda online news site.

"The direction in which we will definitely step up our positions is an economic unit with a focus on investment because we believe in it. The government's strategy is to increase investment," Honcharuk said, adding that there are several candidates for the post of deputy prime minister.

At the same time, when asked about the surnames of possible candidates for this position, which are being discussed in the media, he said that he had never heard, never met or talked to Ihor Nikonov, but had met with Rostyslav Shurma once, but he is not in the list being considered by the authorities. Viktor Pynzenyk's candidacy was not considered.

Honcharuk also commented on the situation regarding the creation of the Ministry of Occupied Territories and the appointment of Oleksiy Reznikov, Ukraine's representative in the political subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk, as the minister of occupied territories.

"He is an experienced person, a lawyer, and there is a question of transitional justice, that is, rather relevant experience in this case. And he's a good negotiator, and, in my opinion, a good manager. This is the person I am considering for this post, and if the parliament supports him, then maybe he will join our government team," Honcharuk said.

op
The woman behind the British Bigfoot Research has claimed that the animal, whose existence has been dismissed by the majority of scientists, lives in the United Kingdom. Deborah Hatswell, a grandmother of two, said that her encounter with the ape-like creature, which resembles man, scarred her for life.

Speaking to British tabloid Daily Star, Hatswell said that she saw something at the age of 15 which changed her course of life and she still has not recovered from the trauma. The 52-year-old from Worsley, Greater Manchester claimed that the creature looked like a hybrid of an ape and a man.

Hatswell said that the creature was not the issue but the effect of such creature on that person and the constant worry of seeing something that does not exist. She saw the animal during her childhood and searched for people who could explain the event or at least provide a reasonable explanation for it.

Read: Man Opens Bigfoot Museum, Claims It's A Government Experiment

Bigfoot has been a North American phenomenon whose existence is based on a combination of folklore, misidentification, and hoax, rather than an actual living animal. Hatswell admits that though she never saw the creature again in her life, she claimed that many people saw it in the same park as her and has traced back witness reports back to 1960s with the last sighting in 2016.

Read: Netizens Serve Hilarious Memes On Baaghi-3 Trailer: Captain America's Slow Clap To 'Bhai'

Sasquatch Museum in US

In October 2019, a former supper club, along a four-lane highway in Georgia, was turned into the Sasquatch Museum, focusing on the legendary Bigfoot. It provides a wonderful experience for people who want to know more about the beast. The museum is close to the Tennessee state line and has an intricate display of Bigfoot attacking the remote lodge. Colour-coded maps report many alleged sightings and a display portraying an 8-foot-tall beast. A celebrated 1967 video of a supposed Sasquatch sighting plays on repeat, alongside nerve-racking memories from the individuals who guarantee to have encountered a Bigfoot.

Read: Teenager Rants About Mother Posting His Pictures On Internet, Netizens Find It Relatable

Read: Netizens Amazed As China Uses Robots To Deliver Food To Coronavirus Affected Patients
The Delhi police registered a case against unknown people in connection with Jamia protest under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The FIR has been lodged in New Friends Colony police station under IPC sections 186, 188, 353, 332 and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.

Earlier in the day, the Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC) an organisation of Jamia students and alumni had taken out the march from Jamia University against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The march began from Jamia's gate number 7. Several women were also seen raising slogans against the newly formed Citizenship Amendment Act.

The protesters, had planned to march up to Parliament House, were stopped by security forces near Holy Family Hospital in Okhla as the police had denied them the permission to march.

Despite repeated appeals from the police and the varsity authorities, the protesters refused to end their agitation. Police said the protesters did not have earlier denied them permission for the same.

The protestors including Jamia Millia university students and residents of Jamia Nagar also got into a scuffle with police when they were being stopped from marching towards parliament.

Amid heavy deployment of security personnel in and around the university, the protesters, including several women, began their march from Jamia's gate no 7.

The CAA gives citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Parsis and Jains who came to India from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh before 2015 to escape religious persecution in these countries.

(With ANI input)
The French consumer watchdog has fined Apple 25 million euro ($41 million) for its lack of transparency in deliberately slowing down older devices. The iPhone-maker has previously admitted to the practice, and apologised for not informing customers.

Evidence first emerged in 2017 that Apple had used a software update to limit the performance of older iPhones, feeding into a long-held conspiracy theory that the company intentionally slowed devices as they aged to encourage consumers to upgrade.

Apple continues to slow iPhones as their batteries decline with age. Credit:Bloomberg

In December 2017 the company came clean and clarified that it had slowed the devices primarily to protect them. As the phones' batteries age, there's a risk that higher levels of performance will drain the battery or force the phone to restart unexpectedly, Apple said. By making phones with older batteries slower, the devices became more stable and would theoretically keep working for longer than if performance throttling was not applied.

However, France's Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF) has now found Apple's initial lack of transparency breached its guidelines.
Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald speaks to members of the media as she canvasses for support in Dublin on February 6, 2020, ahead of the February 8 General Election.

DUBLIN  Ireland's drawn-out election count has failed to produce either a clear winner or any immediately obvious coalition partnerships, based on the latest figures available on Monday morning.

But as fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh order preferences continue to be sorted and totted up across the final few constituencies today, an exit poll released late Saturday has remained largely accurate and the top three parties will finish very close after a tight race, regardless of the outcome in any outstanding seats.

Sinn Fein, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are all projected to win more than 20% of the national vote based on results from the roughly one third of constituencies that have completed their counting, and several of the country's leading political scientists have told CNBC that this inconclusive result heralds the end of a two-party system that has effectively dominated the republic for decades.

The two centrist parties that between them have traditionally won the vast majority of the combined vote share, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, have both lost major electoral ground to Sinn Fein, a largely left of center party that has long prioritized reunification of the Irish Republic with the neighboring U.K. nation of Northern Ireland.

Brendan O'Leary, a professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania and former advisor to both British and Irish governments, told CNBC that Sinn Fein's presence in a new government would not automatically put Irish reunification on the agenda during the lifespan of Dublin's new Parliament.

But he pointed to shifting demographics in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland's increasingly resilient economy and the cross-border economic integration encouraged by a Brexit that's proven unpopular in the North as factors that would, taken together, "make it more likely that there will be a peaceful and democratic reunification" before 2030.

Under the terms of a 1998 peace deal in Northern Ireland, known as the Good Friday Agreement, separate referenda in favor of a united Ireland are required both north and then south of the border for the century-old territorial partition to be reconsidered.
Taiwan scrambles F-16 fighters to monitor Chinese warplanes

ROC Central News Agency

02/09/2020 09:20 PM

Taipei, Feb. 9 (CNA) Taiwan scrambled F-16 fighter jets to monitor the movement of Chinese military planes that circled half of Taiwan on Sunday morning, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said later that day.

The Chinese planes, consisting of J-11 jet fighters, KJ-500 early warning aircraft and H-6 bombers, flew near the eastern side of Taiwan at 11 a.m., according to a MND statement that did not disclose the number of Chinese planes involved.

Taiwan's air force responded by scrambling the missile-carrying F-16s to follow the Chinese planes, as well as mobilizing other surveillance and air defense assets, the MND said.

A photo taken during the incident showing a Taiwanese F-16 flying alongside a Chinese H-6 was released by the MND.

According to the ministry, the Chinese planes, which carrying out a long-distance training mission, flew through the Bashi Channel to the south of Taiwan and into the western Pacific Ocean before returning to their bases via the Miyako Strait to the northeast of Taiwan.

"The Chinese People's Liberation Army's (PLA) long-distance flights have impacted the safety and stability of the region and have threatened the peace among related parties in the region," the statement said.

The MND urged the public to stay calm, stressing that it is in full control of enemy's threats and is protecting the national sovereignty and the safety of the Taiwanese people.

A report carried on the China Military Online confirmed the drill, quoting Zhang Chunhui (), a spokesperson of the PLA's Eastern Theater Command.

China's military has the resolve and the ability to quell any attempts by Taiwan to separate from China, Zhang said, adding the communist line that Taiwan and its adjacent islands are inalienable parts of China.

China has carried out an increasing number of drills around Taiwan since Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen () first took office in 2016.

Based on MND records, the last time the Chinese military carried out a long-distance flight mission was on Jan. 23, when KJ-500s and H-6s flew close to Taiwan's southern coast, into the Western Pacific, and then headed back to China on the same flight path.

(By Matt Yu and Emerson Lim)

Enditem/J

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(Photo : Screengrab from Youtube (MBCdocumentary)) (Photo : Screengrab from Youtube (MBCdocumentary))

This is not a Korean drama with a tragic ending, but this video is truly heart-wrenching! This documentary by MBC, shows the reunion of a mom named Jang Ji-sung, and a virtual recreation of her daughter Nayeon.

Aired in a TV documentary in South Korea on Feb. 6, an unsettling reunion of a mother named Jang Ji-Sung, and a daughter was captured on video. The Virtual Reality recreation of the daughter Nayeon on VR was made just for that single episode, and viewers are left with mixed feelings about seeing this happen.

The production of Nayeon, the deceased daughter of Jang Ji-Sung

Aju Business Daily released a statement saying that the production of this particular virtual reality took everyone working on the project about eight months to build. This also included the development and audio engineering of her voice into reality. The whole documentary took about 10 minutes long, but it is already enough for viewers to feel strong emotions about this specific event.

There was a specific scene that really captured the hearts of viewers, and this was the birthday backdrop where the VR circulated around Nayeon's birthday.

Middle East Broadcasting Company's contribution to this event

It was the Middle East Broadcasting Company which first shared this video to the world. The video of Jang Ji-Sung meeting the virtual construction of her daughter Nayeon took the world by shock because of how emotionally full this video was. Peaking with overflowing emotions, the video made viewers feel mixed emotions, maybe positive or negative.

The gravity of the video

What really struck the hearts of people is Jang's reaction to the VR of Nayeon. Breaking down in tears and hesitant to even interact, Jang was overwhelmed with emotion by seeing a spitting image of her daughter in VR. Clearly, at first, Jang was hesitant and shocked, but throughout the video, she was painfully able to ease in and even interact with the VR Nayeon.

Read Also: Google Ends Daydream VR Experiment

Jang's family was there when the scene unfolded, and they were witnesses to the authenticity of the whole scene. Watching from a distance, they shared tears as they saw Jang break down but slowly embraced the reflection of her daughter in VR.

The possibility for future VR

An article by Futurism gave their comments on the documentary saying that this could even become a norm. People talking to the deceased could become a whole different industry as there are already a couple of startups that are focusing on creating their very own versions of Nayeon, which is an avatar of the deceased. This also includes chatbots where the algorithm of the conversation is programmed to act like the deceased it is patterned on.

Read Also: Top 5 Best VR And AR Companies In 2019

The process of creating this VR

Gathering the necessary data on the person is no easy task. There are pictures, videos, and audio clips to be compiled just to get enough data to virtually mimic the deceased while the use of machine-learning algorithms creates the personality of the avatar. This can be a very complicated process because the right algorithms have to be applied, and the right data has to be given just so that programmers and developers can have a glimpse of the deceased.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
WASHINGTON  Attorney General William Barr said Monday the Justice Department is taking information that President Trumps personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani is gathering in Ukraine about the presidents Democratic rival Joe Biden and his son.

But Barr cautioned that federal officials have to be very careful with information coming from Ukraine. The attorney generals comments came a day after Sen. Lindsey Graham said Barr told him the department had created a process that Rudy could give information and they would see if its verified.

The DOJ has the obligation to have an open door to anybody who wishes to provide us information that they think is relevant, Barr said. But as I did say to Senator Graham, we have to be very careful with respect to any information coming from the Ukraine. ... We cant take anything we received from Ukraine at face value.

The prospect that Giuliani is providing potentially damaging information about one of the presidents political rivals to the Justice Department while Giuliani is under federal investigation is likely to deepen criticism from Democrats that Barr acts more like the presidents personal lawyer than the attorney general.

Federal prosecutors in New York are investigating Giulianis business dealings, including whether he failed to register as a foreign agent, according to people familiar with the matter. They spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Giuliani also was a main character in Trumps impeachment, which centered on Trumps dealings with Ukraines president and whether he abused his office by seeking an investigation into the Bidens.

Giuliani has been pushing unsubstantiated corruption allegations against Biden. Speaking to Fox News on Sunday, he said he has a document that relates to Bidens son, Hunter, along with a memo allegedly from a Democratic Party official documenting communications with a reporter.

The Democratic-controlled House voted to impeach Trump, alleging abuse of power and obstruction of Congress for pressing Ukraine to investigate the Bidens, while delaying delivery of nearly $400 million in congressionally approved security assistance for the nation. Hunter Biden served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company while his father managed the U.S. governments Ukraine portfolio under President Barack Obama.

Trump was acquitted this month by the Republican-led Senate.

Barr said the Justice Department had established a process to collect information about Ukraine from Giuliani and others and that it would be carefully scrutinized.

Michael Balsamo is an Associated Press writer.
Aviation regulator on Monday suspended an captain for three months for "intimidating and threatening" a wheelchair-bound senior citizen in a Chennai-Bengaluru flight on January 13, an official said.

During investigation, it was found that the pilot-in-command "insisted" on an apology letter from the passengers -- the senior citizen and her daughter -- which further delayed the matter, detaining them for approximately 75 minutes after the deboarding began at the Bengaluru airport.

"It was established that the pilot-in-command's attitude towards the wheelchair-bound senior citizen passenger was intimidating, threatening and lacked compassion. The has suspended his license for a period of three months," the official added.

Independent journalist Supriya Unni Nair, who had asked for a wheelchair for her 75-year-old mother after landing in Bengaluru on January 13 night, had narrated the incident in multiple tweets.

According to Nair's tweets, the cabin crew stated that they do not have access to wheelchair assistance.

Seeing the commotion on this issue, the pilot-in-command came in between, misbehaving and threatening Nair and her mother with jail, Nair had said.

Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri wrote on Twitter on January 14, "I requested my office to contact as soon as I saw the tweet by Ms Supriya Unni Nair about the pilot's behaviour with her & her 75 year old mother in need of wheelchair assistance."



"The airline has informed Ministry of Civil Aviation that the pilot has been off-rostered pending full enquiry," he added.

On Monday, the official said their investigation found that the captain threatened Nair and her mother by saying they will be handed over to the CISF and a police case will be registered against them for "unruly behaviour".

"The pilot exhibited aggression towards the lady passengers in his dealings while disregarding the fact that the elderly passenger required wheelchair assistance," the official added.

The investigation found that the captain's actions led to "avoidable detention" of a wheelchair-bound passenger.

"He exhibited lack of ability in managing threat and error situation, especially when he was to operate another commercial flight after a short duration," the official added.
By detecting the spin of the metal contrast agent with electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR, in short), they could draw conclusions on the state of the protein. The team led by Professor Enrica Bordignon and Dr. Laura Galazzo from the cluster of excellence Ruhr Explores Solvation Resolv in collaboration with Professor Markus Seeger's group from the University of Zurich reports on the method in the journal PNAS on 4 February 2020.

Finding and binding nanobodies to the protein

Until now, it has only been possible to examine membrane proteins in isolation, namely in detergent micelles or in-vitro-created membrane bilayers, which poses the risk that they will lose their properties and dynamics, which are crucial for their function. The team from Resolv was now able to observe a protein directly in its natural environment, namely in the membrane of Escherichia coli bacteria. "It is very cramped and crowded there," describes Enrica Bordignon. The team's trick is to use two sequences of antibodies measuring just a few nanometres in size, called nanobodies, as labels. "We use precisely those sequences that can recognise and bind to certain sections of the protein," explains Laura Galazzo.

Markus Seeger's team took care of selecting the right nanobodies. "Thanks to the selection platform we developed, which bypasses the immunisation of animals, any laboratory can quickly produce synthetic nanobodies for any purpose. This means a step towards their use in structural biology, as this work shows," says Seeger.

How to make the nanobodies visible in EPR? Gadolinium ions are used as a contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging and are detectable by EPR due to their electron spin, therefore, they were attached to two selected nanobodies. As the labelled nanobodies could not yet efficiently be inserted into the bacteria, the scientists used a biochemical trick: the E. coli cells were turned inside out so that the inside of the membrane was exposed to the outside. In this way the sections of the protein targeted by the nanobodies become accessible. Signal only with a certain shape

"The nanobodies immediately bind to the specific sequence of the membrane protein that they recognise and cannot detach again," says Enrica Bordignon. The cells treated in this way were then examined by the researchers using EPR. "We were only able to receive a signal when two nanobodies were within close proximity to each other," explains Laura Galazzo. This was precisely the case when the protein assumes a conformation that expels active substances from the cell.

"Our work shows that we can successfully measure distances in the range of 1.5 to 6 nanometres in native membranes," says Enrica Bordignon. "In the next step, we want to insert the nanobodies into bacteria to observe the membrane protein during action in living cells. "This technique opens up undreamt-of possibilities," says Laura Galazzo.

###

Funding

The work was supported by the German Research Foundation as part of the cluster of excellence Ruhr Explores Solvation Resolv, EXC-2033, project number 390677874, BO3000/1-2, INST 130/972-1 FUGG, and by the Swiss National Science Foundation (PP00P3_144823).

Original publication

Laura Galazzo, Gianmarco Meier, M. Hadi Timachi, Cedric A. J. Hutter, Markus A. Seeger, Enrica Bordignon: Spin-labeled nanobodies as protein conformational reporters for electron paramagnetic resonance in cellular membranes, in: PNAS, 2020, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1913737117, https://www.pnas.org/content/117/5/2441

Press contact

Prof. Dr. Enrica Bordignon

EPR Spectroscopy Research Group

Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Ruhr-Universitat Bochum

Germany

Phone: +49 234 32 26239

Email: enrica.bordignon@rub.de
[February 10, 2020] NMSI and UNCF to Launch STEM Teacher Preparation Program with HBCUs in Six States and the District of Columbia

DALLAS, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Math and Science Initiative has received a planning grant from the Fund II Foundation to design UTeach STEM teacher preparation programs at up to 15 historically black colleges and universities in six states and the District of Columbia. The Dallas-based non-profit has partnered with UNCF (United Negro College Fund) to support the universities as they design their programs. "NMSI and UNCF are nationally recognized leaders in the advancement of American education," said Fund II Foundation Board President Robert F. Smith. "I look forward to supporting them to develop strong programs that meet the unique needs of students at HBCUs. I'm also excited to see how this new work allows more young people to reach their highest potential in their personal lives, professions and communities." NMSI, UNCF and the UTeach Institute are working with academic leaders at potential program schools. Those institutions include Alabama State University, Bowie State University, Claflin University Clark Atlanta University, Howard University, Jackson State University, Morehouse College, Morgan State University, North Carolina A&T University, Prairie View A&M University, South Carolina State University, Spelman College, Talladega College, Tougaloo College and Tuskegee University. The institutions that move forward with the program will work with the program team to design their new STEM teacher preparation programs. The new programs will be based on UTeach, a renowned university-based STEM teacher preparation program founded at The University of Texas at Austin. Since 2009, NMSI has worked with the UTeach Institute to expand the program, which provides math and science undergraduates at 45 universities with teaching skills, classroom experience and continuing support in their early teaching careers. UTeach teachers average longer classroom careers than graduates of other teacher preparation programs, and nearly 70 percent of UTeach graduates teach in Title 1 schools. Based on standardized testing, their students perform as if they had almost six extra months of science and four extra months of math instruction. "Addressing STEM teacher shortages and ensuring that all students benefit from teachers of diverse backgrounds is critical and core to NMSI's mission," said NMSI CEO Bernard A. Harris, Jr. "Expanding the UTeach program to HBCUs will benefit students across the nation." The initiative comes just after passage of the FUTURE Act, providing permanent federal funding for HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions and providing significant STEM-focused funding for those schools.



North Carolina A&T State University , a professor of 40 years at Bennett College for Women, and the author of the FUTURE Act, which guarantees permanent federal funding for HBCUs to prepare the next generation of diverse STEM professionals, I applaud this effort from the private sector to supplement that effort," said U.S. Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC). "In 2017, when my office introduced the HBCU Partnership Challenge, my hope was to encourage the private sector and non-profits to view HBCUs as key to accomplishing industry diversity goals, particularly in our STEM fields. Through this STEM teacher diversity initiative, we are seeing an example of true private investment and engagement with these producers of top diverse talent. I commend Robert Smith , the Fund II Foundation, NMSI and UNCF for their efforts in diversifying our workforce by helping prepare our diverse leaders of tomorrow." A 2017 study from the IZA Institute of Labor Economics found that having at least one African American teacher in third through fifth grades increased African American students' interest in attending college by 29 percent and reduced the probability of dropping out of high school for male African American students from very low-income families by 39 percent.

"Research clearly shows the powerful impact black teachers have on black students. HBCUs already are punching above their weight in the production of STEM graduates  generating 24 percent of the STEM bachelor's degrees earned annually by African Americans," said Dr. Michael Lomax, president and CEO, UNCF. "The nation continues to have incredible need for math and science teachers of color, and students of color deserve to have educators who look like them," ABOUT NMSI

Founded in 2007, NMSI's mission is to advance STEM education to ensure all students, especially those furthest from opportunity, thrive and reach their highest potential as problem solvers and lifelong learners. The nonprofit organization helps develop new STEM teachers through its Teacher Pathways programs, and supports schools, teachers and AP students through Laying the Foundation, the College Readiness Program and other research-based programs. Learn more at nms.org. ABOUT UNCF

UNCF (United Negro College Fund) is the nation's largest and most effective minority education organization and for 75 years, it has supported private HBCUs and hundreds of thousands of deserving students, strengthened its 37 member colleges and universities, and advocated for the importance of minority education and college readiness. UNCF institutions and other historically black colleges and universities are highly effective, awarding 17 percent of African American baccalaureate degrees. Today, UNCF supports more than 60,000 students at more than 1,100 colleges and universities across the country. Learn more at UNCF.org. About Fund II Foundation

Fund II Foundation makes grants to 501(c)3 public charities in five areas: 1) preserving the cultural richness of the African-American experience; 2) safeguarding human dignity by giving voice to the voiceless and promoting human rights; 3) conserving the environment, promoting the benefits of the great outdoors to people of all ages and backgrounds; 4) affording music education to nourish both talent and the soul; and 5) sustaining the American values of entrepreneurship, empowerment, and innovation. For more information, visit: fund2foundation.org | @Fund2F About the UTeach Institute

The UTeach Institute works to improve secondary STEM teaching and learning through national expansion of the UTeach secondary STEM teacher preparation program to colleges and universities. Over a decade, the Institute has developed and employs a comprehensive approach to successful program development in higher education settings and serves as the national hub to a networked community of 45 universities implementing UTeach programs. Media Contacts

Juan Elizondo, NMSI, [email protected], 214-346-1249

Richard Shropshire, UNCF, [email protected], 202-810-0222

Kay Shaw, Fund II Foundation, [email protected], 202-810-7212

Kimberly Hughes, UTeach Institute, [email protected], 512-232-5850 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nmsi-and-uncf-to-launch-stem-teacher-preparation-program-with-hbcus-in-six-states-and-the-district-of-columbia-301001227.html SOURCE National Math and Science Initiative

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Love Island has been rocked by a double dumping that saw two couples eliminated.

Rebecca Gormley and Jordan Waobikeze and Nas Majeed and Eva Zapico were all sent packing in Monday nights episode of the ITV2 dating show.

The contestants were called to the fire pit where they learned that the public had been voting for their favourite couples.

As Shaughna Phillips and Demi Jones are single, they were immune from the vote.

The islanders looked tense as they were told that three couples were at risk  Rebecca and Jordan, Nas and Eva and Jess Gale and Ched Uzor.

Rebecca and Jordan were then told they had come bottom and that they were to leave the villa.

The contestants gathered round to say goodbye, with Shaughna saying that although Rebecca was a nightmare she had brought a lot of laughter to the group and would be missed.

The door had barely closed on the pair when the Islanders learned that another couple would be leaving.

Video of the Day

They all looked stunned to hear that Nas and Evas stay had come to an end.

Their exit will be seen in Tuesdays instalment of the programme.

As Mondays episode came to an end, the arrival of a new boy was also teased.

Love Island airs on ITV2 and in Ireland on Virgin Media Television.
Valo Therapeutics Limited, an Oxford, UK and Helsinki, Finland-based immuno-oncology company developing tumour antigen-coated oncolytic viruses as therapeutic vaccines, received EUR1.1m in additional funding.

The funding, triggered by positive pre-clinical data, will be used to progress its PeptiCRAd platform into first-in-human clinical trials. The company has now raised a total of over EUR 10m.

The total EUR 10m funding comprises the recent EUR 1.1m from existing investors, a non-dilutive loan from The Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation (Business Finland, previously Tekes), and seed capital from private investors.

Led by Dr Michael Stein, CEO, Valo Tx is an immunotherapy company that is developing antigen-coated oncolytic viruses as anti-cancer therapeutic vaccines. The Valo Tx platform, PeptiCRAd (Peptide-coated Conditionally Replicating Adenovirus), developed out of the laboratory of Professor Vincenzo Cerullo at the University of Helsinki, turns oncolytic adenoviruses into targeted tissue specific cancer vaccines without the need to generate and manufacture multiple genetically modified viruses. The company is also developing PeptiENV, among other neoantigen strategies, in collaboration with Professor Cerullo, which is expected to improve the therapeutic response to enveloped oncolytic viruses in the treatment of multiple forms of cancer. Its first clinical trial will target melanoma, lung cancer and triple negative breast cancer.

To translate its research into effective treatments for patients with cancer, the company plans to complete a Series A by summer 2020.

FinSMEs

10/02/2020
Citizens refusing to sign consent will be denied evacuation, the health ministry says.

Ukrainians who plan to evacuate from the Chinese city of Wuhan, Hubei Province, will be quarantined for 14 days, acting chief of the Center for Public Health at the Ministry of Health Ihor Kuzin told a Kyiv briefing Monday.

The process is underway of setting up a mechanism for the evacuation of Ukrainian citizens from Wuhan, the official said, according to an UNIAN correspondent.

The most optimistic scenario suggests the group will be taken from China on February 11, while details are being agreed upon with the Chinese authorities.

At present, there is no detailed information regarding evacuation spots as technical guidance on the process is still in the process of coordination, according to Kuzin.

Read alsoAnother Ukrainian on board Diamond Princess gets infected with coronavirus  MFA

All persons set to be evacuated will be subject to a two-week quarantine.

"Now the Ministry of Health is being offered two locations that are being worked out. These are not health care facilities, these are resort-type rehabilitation centers. After the possibility is examined of converting these facilities into a temporary observatory, the location will be determined... There are also proposals from the Ministry of Defense, but they are still being considered. This is such a possible third location," the official said.

He added that the facilities in question are located within Kyiv region.

Citizens refusing to sign consent will be denied evacuation, the health ministry official says.

Currently, 51 persons have confirmed readiness to sign such consent.

According to UNIAN, the Chinese authorities declared an outbreak of pneumonia of unknown origin in Wuhan at the end of December 2019.

China's National Health Commission has given the virus a temporary official name  novel coronavirus pneumonia, or NCP.

The virus is transmitted from person to person, with its incubation period lasting from two to 12 days.

On January 30, the World Health Organization declared global emergency in connection with the spread of coronavirus from China.
This winter has been a relatively happy one for the citizens of Ulaanbaatar. The temperatures dropped to the usual -30C at night occasionally hitting as low as -40C, but we got more clear days and blue skies and tasted less of the acrid, polluted air, compared with the previous 10 years or so. A bold decision was made by the Government of Mongolia a few months earlier to ban raw coal to heat gers, a tent-like traditional dwelling for nomads which now house 60 percent of the citys population. Over 700,000 tons of coal are burnt annually in the ger district. Last year an alternative product made from semicoke was used instead. Although more expensive, these briquettes burn twice as long and emit fewer fumes.

Hazardous air

But Ulaanbaatar still has the most hazardous air on earth. We dont just breathe it, we taste it. In one of the ger districts, during last December, air pollution exceeded 30 times the World Health Organizations safe limit. The health costs are staggering, especially for the elderly, children, and pregnant women. There are 3.5 times more miscarriages in winter, as well as recurring lung infections. The World Bank estimates that in 2013 more than 2,400 people died from air pollution. Thats a loss equal to 6.9 percent of the countrys GDP. And like many other problems, air pollution hits the poorest hardest.

The population of Ulaanbaatar has tripled in the last 30 years. Rural residents migrate to big cities for economic opportunities, better education and jobs. As the most immediate strategy, the government, public, private companies and individuals must invest in reducing the most harmful emissions. This includes phasing out inefficient stoves and boilers and replacing raw coal with cleaner-burning briquettes. Strict monitoring and sustainable financing are also needed, along with providing masks and air purifiers in all hospitals and kindergartens.

Long and mid-term strategies include redeveloping the ger area and replacing coal with renewable energy.

A booming construction market

Through the Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions in the Construction Sector, (NAMA) project, UNDP is trying to reduce energy consumption. With an increase in housing demand construction is thriving. Its estimated that about 140,000 apartments will be constructed in the next ten years. The building industry alone contributes to over 11 percent of carbon dioxide emissions and energy demand is expected to increase as the urban population grows.

The greenhouse gas savings and the cost-benefits of low carbon interventions in the building sector are not systematically quantified in Mongolia and their benefits remain unclear and done on ad-hoc basis. Major challenges persist in measuring and monitoring energy consumption.

This is where NAMA comes in. Greenhouse gas inventory methodology is developed to measure emission reductions. This will enable the government and the private sector to get funds from international donors. It will also help create public awareness about the need for energy efficient buildings.

Increasing demand



Although it is just a pilot project, it shows the importance of energy efficiency in old and new buildings alike. Both in rural and urban Mongolia, there is an increasing demand for apartment buildings and new housing, says Project Coordinator Bayarlkham Byambaa.

Mongolia needs a committed, ambitious and realistic strategy to enable a healthy, sustainable and prosperous tomorrow for all. Long-term strategic planning as pursued with the continuation of ongoing efforts is a key to ensure consistency and adequate ambition to combat the deadly air pollution crisis. Efforts must come from the government, private sector and consumers. And they will need to be sustained and systematically pursued. UNDP Mongolia will tackle air pollution, harnessing partners to address both the symptoms and causes of air pollution. Engaging people, as citizens and communities, are central to win the fight.

While we cannot control Mongolias freezing weather, we can introduce new technologies and innovative ideas, Bayarlkham Byambaa says.
T his is the heartwarming moment London Tube passengers broke out into an impromptu song and dance as a busker performed at a busy central London station.

The footage shows a group of enthusiastic dancers as they boogie around the performer at Leicester Square station.

Instead of ignoring each other, the revellers make eye contact and form a large conga line.

As more passengers stop to watch the party, the busker - named as Wilfy Williams on Twitter - plays the classic song Twist and Shout by the Beatles.

Tube travellers break out in dance / Wilfy W Music

The clip begins with people dancing on their own or in pairs before a group of three make a conga formation.

Others then join the line until many people in the crowd are involved.

The clip has been shared thousands of time online with social media users expressing delight at the footage.

One user added: Complete strangers having fun. Love that.

Another added: If we all could be together not fighting, not judging, accepting differences, standing together in life, and in this case dance what amazing world this would be.

London MP Wes Streeting also shared the video and commented on 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.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressee a news conference in New York, US on Feb 4, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]

World leaders have continued voicing support for China's fight against NCP, novel coronavirus pneumonia, as the country continues its all-out efforts to curb the spread of contagion.

While talking with Premier Li Keqiang over the phone on Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel hailed China's decisive steps in coping with the outbreak, which she said have won a high degree of support from the Chinese people.

Germany has adopted a prudent position on the outbreak and refrained from excessive restrictions, she said, adding that Berlin is willing to continue cooperation with Beijing on epidemic control and prevention and will continue to offer China support in medical resources.

Li expressed his hope that Berlin will facilitate China's purchase of medical resources from the country through commercial channels.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Saturday that China's actions to contain the outbreak are impressive, and he warned countries not to stigmatize China, China Global Television Network reported.

"It is clear that there is a massive effort that is made by China in order to contain the disease and avoid its propagation. I think that effort is remarkable," Guterres told reporters on the sidelines of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Guterres called for strong international cooperation and solidarity in fighting NCP and said it was inappropriate to blame China because of the outbreak. "We need to avoid the stigmatization that can sometimes accompany a situation like this, in which all of a sudden, people who have nothing to do with it are stigmatized for any reason," he said.

Since the onset of the outbreak, leaders of various countries have expressed sympathy for China over the epidemic and have offered their support for its efforts in fighting the virus, the Foreign Ministry said on Saturday in a news release.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed confidence in President Xi Jinping's leadership and China's victory over the epidemic.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro expressed his country's solidarity with China and readiness to keep its door open to China. He said Brazil would do what it can to help and support China.

Spanish King Felipe VI highly commended the Chinese government for its efforts and measures undertaken against the epidemic. He expressed his country's readiness to work with China and contribute to containing the outbreak.

The United States said in a news release on Friday that it has arranged for the shipping of nearly 17.8 tons of donated medical supplies to the Chinese people, including masks, gowns, gauze and respirators.

In the statement, the US State Department said it is prepared to spend up to $100 million in assisting China and other affected countries, both directly and through multilateral organizations, to contain and combat NCP.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa led on Wednesday a number of Cabinet ministers and members of Parliament joining in a religious activity attended by thousands of people in a monastery in Colombo, the capital, to pray for the Chinese people's victory over the virus.

In a phone conversation with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday, the foreign policy adviser to the French president, Emmanuel Bonne, extended France's support for China's fight against NCP and admiration for China's calm, wisdom and ability in effectively bringing the epidemic under control in such a short time.

He conveyed France's readiness for experience-sharing and cooperation to help with the outbreak and expressed full confidence in China's ability to win this battle.
America Ferrera is using her stunning Oscars 2020 red carpet look to send out an important message. The Superstore actress, who arrived at the Dolby Theater on February 9th with husband Ryan Piers Williams, gave fans a sneak peek of the gown and matching headpiece on Instagram and revealed the look was a tribute to her heritage.

#Oscars for the final farewell to 12 years of How to Train Your Dragon & my Berkian Warrior Queen Astrid, Ferrera wrote in her Insta caption. Tonight, I bring my own warrior ancestors with me, the indigenous Lenca tribe of Honduras.

The Alberta Ferretti limited edition ruby-red gown cinched at the waist and gold headpiece is Ferreras own take on her How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World character, Queen Astrid. The movie is nominated for an Oscar for Animated Feature Film at Sundays show.

Further in her post, Ferreras inspiration for the outfit came to light. She included a photograph of children, presumably from the Lenca tribe of Honduras, who the actress draws her ancestry from, in addition to a photo of a man also presumably from the Lenca tribe wearing a similar headband to Ferreras.

In an interview with E!, Ferrera revealed that she will miss the 12 years she spent working on the How To Train Your Dragon series, but looks forward to the future, especially her second child being born soon. She revealed the pregnancy via Instagram back in December.

Were completely here for Ferrera taking some inspo from her warrior roots, and we also cant wait to see the star on-screen in her newest Netflix project, Gentefied.
Today we'll take a closer look at Manulife Financial Corporation (TSE:MFC) 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 high yield and a long history of paying dividends is an appealing combination for Manulife Financial. It would not be a surprise to discover that many investors buy it for the dividends. The company also bought back stock equivalent to around 2.8% of market capitalisation this year. When buying stocks for their dividends, you should always run through the checks below, to see if the dividend looks sustainable.

Explore this interactive chart for our latest analysis on Manulife Financial!

TSX:MFC Historical Dividend Yield, February 10th 2020

Payout ratios

Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned, 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. In the last year, Manulife Financial paid out 41% of its profit as dividends. 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.

Consider getting our latest analysis on Manulife Financial'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. Manulife Financial has been paying dividends for a long time, but for the purpose of this analysis, we only examine the past 10 years of payments. Its dividend payments have declined on at least one occasion over the past ten years. During the past ten-year period, the first annual payment was CA$1.04 in 2010, compared to CA$1.00 last year. Dividend payments have shrunk at a rate of less than 1% per annum over this time frame.

Story continues

We struggle to make a case for buying Manulife Financial for its dividend, given that payments have shrunk over the past ten years.

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? Earnings have grown at around 8.3% a year for the past five years, which is better than seeing them shrink! Earnings per share have been growing at a credible rate. What's more, the payout ratio is reasonable and provides some protection to the dividend, or even the potential to increase it.

Conclusion

To summarise, shareholders should always check that Manulife Financial's dividends are affordable, that its dividend payments are relatively stable, and that it has decent prospects for growing its earnings and dividend. We're glad to see Manulife Financial 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. Manulife Financial has a credible record on several fronts, but falls slightly short of our standards for a dividend stock.

Companies that are growing earnings tend to be the best dividend stocks over the long term. See what the 14 analysts we track are forecasting for Manulife Financial 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.
Update: Eduardo Montero has been ordered held without bail.

-------------------

A suspect is scheduled to face a judge Monday in connection with charges from a 2013 killing in Worcester, officials said.

Eduardo Montero will be arraigned in Worcester Superior Court on charges in connection with a fatal shooting at a barbershop, according to the office of Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr.

Earlys office on Monday morning did not release any further information about what exact charges Montero is facing or when Montero was arrested.

In 2013, Montero was sought in connection with the shooting Eliezer Rivera at Fadeaway Barbershop on Chandler Street. An arrest warrant was issued, but authorities at the time believed he may have fled the country. Montero was charged with murder and ordered to turn in his passport.

Authorities at that time said they believed Montero was born in the Dominican Republic.
Photo: AP Photo/Marcio Sanchez Comedian Stephen Colbert holds an Olympic torch during a taping of the Colbert Report at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010.

A former chief of staff for Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson has shared a memory of when late-night comedian Stephen Colbert almost became "mayor for a day" during the 2010 Olympics.

Kevin Quinlan was Robertson's chief of staff during the event, and said Colbert's team approached him with the idea for a skit on his popular Colbert Report show, CTV News reports.

"Wasn't even a question. Of course we did. I had grown up watching Colbert when he was on the Daily Show so I was pretty excited," Quinlan wrote on Twitter.

The plan was for Colbert to do a sit-down interview with mayor Robertson and be proclaimed mayor for the day, even being handed the city's ceremonial mace.

Colbert would then address the city from the roof of city hall, proclaiming that he was now mayor, and replace the City of Vancouver flag with a pirate flag.

But Quinlan said the plans were dashed by a snowstorm in the Eastern United States that delayed Colbert's trip and caused him to cut his trip short by one day.

"And that's the story of the Colbert Report episode in Vancouver that never happened," he said.

-with files from CTV Vancouver
Ditching a host can help the show run on time (this one did not, and not only because of Joaquin Phoenixs extended argument for veganism). It can leave room for unscripted awards moments. But it loses one of the functions of the awards show host in recent years: to be the elephant-in-the-room pointer, the joker, lowercase, who acknowledges the industrys failures and embarrassments.

In this case, the Oscars most noted offscreen controversy  the glaring whiteness and maleness of many of the major categories and movies  didnt get quite the airing an extended monologue might have delivered.

The collective did get in a few shots. Rock jibed that Cynthia Erivo, nominated for playing Harriet Tubman, must have hidden all the black nominees, while Monae said, We celebrate all the women who directed phenomenal films (something the best director nominations pointedly didnt).

This anarchist collective of a ceremony ended up being a sort of anthology of mini-shows, hosted by a string of presenters. Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig won Best Audition for a Future Awards Show, nailing a tight a cappella duet medley themed to the best costume design category. James Corden and Rebel Wilson, in costume from Cats, spoofed the uncanny-valley horror of that movie: Nobody more than us understands the importance of good visual effects.
Parasites quadruple wins at the 2020 Academy Awards were historic several times over: the first (through fourth) Oscars given to a South Korean film, the first dual winner for Best International Feature (nee Best Foreign-Language Film) and Best Picture, and, of course, the first Best Picture winner in a language other than English. (Thank heavens no one in The Artist uttered so much as a Oui.) Its enough to restore your faith that the Oscars really do, or at least can, matterthat for all their shortcomings and missteps and outright miscarriages of artistic justice, theyre worth taking seriously. But a significant part of how Parasite ended up on this lofty perch was by undermining that very idea, suggesting that legitimacy wasnt something the Oscars possess by divine right but something they had to earn.

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If theres one thing we know about Oscar voters, its that they liked to be wooed. Even a star as established as Brad Pitt spent months doing the circuit to nail down his first Academy Award for acting. Its possible to win an Oscar without shaking hands by the thousands; Joaquin Phoenix did it last night. But the climb is a much steeper one, and there are actors whose apparent antipathy for working the roomEddie Murphy, for oneis said to weigh heavily against them. Bong campaigned for months on end, effectively moving to the U.S. and hiring big-ticket awards publicists to grease the movies path toward the Oscar. But he and Parasites distributor, Neon, made it clear that they werent going to do all of the Academys work for them. Rather than flood Oscar voters with DVDs and streaming links, Neon forced Oscar voters to leave the comfort of their screening rooms and see the film with an audience, counting on word of mouth to overcome their inertia.

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Even in the midst of a victory that resonated around the world, Bong didnt grant the Oscars a dignity that they still dont deserve.

And while Bong was always gracious in victory as he picked up one precursor award after another, he used his platform to challenge audiences as well as thank them. There was poetry in the Golden Globes speech where he evoked the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles that separates English-speaking audiences from most of the worlds great movies. But he spoke those words in his native Korean, after making two movies in English and returning to his homeland to make his most acclaimed movie ever. He was planted on the other side of that barrier, and it was on others to make the modest effort to cross it.

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Back in October, when even a nomination for Best International Film was far from a lock, Bong was asked by the New York magazines E. Alex Jung what he made of Parasites foray into the Oscar derby. Its a little strange, but its not a big deal, he said. The Oscars are not an international film festival. Theyre very local. His answer was both modest and defensiveit would have made little sense at that point to assume something might happen that had never happened beforebut it was also a subtle kind of neg, a suggestion that, as Variety critic Justin Chang put it last week, the Oscars needed Bong more than he needed them. After all, hed already won Cannes Palme dOr, the most coveted award in world cinema (for Parasite), directed what was once the biggest box-office hit in the history of South Korea (The Host), and been acknowledged as one of the great living filmmakers for over a decade. Whats one more trophy, especially from an awards-giving body that, prior to last year, had failed to acknowledge that South Korean cinema even exists? When Bong and his cast hobnobbed with American movie stars, Neon underlined the message that it wasnt just the Koreans who were meeting their heroes. The distributor tweeted out a picture from one gathering earlier this year with the caption, When Song Kang Ho fan Brad Pitt met Song Kang Ho, the image showing Pitt clasping the Parasite stars hands in a posture of supplication. (In hindsight, the picture seems as key to Pitts campaign as to Parasites.)

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Bongs acceptance speech for Best Director was one of the most generous and moving in recent memory, much of it devoted to his fellow nominees Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino, whom he credited as a key inspiration and an invaluable supporter. (When was the last time you saw an Oscar loser get a standing ovation in the middle of the winners speech?) But he didnt come off as an eager acolyte paying homage to his established betters. Instead, he spoke as a peer (or, in the case of Sam Mendes and Todd Phillips, a superior) taking his rightful place in the pantheon. Bong might not have expected to win, but he acted as if he belonged. And even in the midst of a victory that resonated around the world, Bong didnt grant the Oscars a dignity that they still dont deserve. In pictures after the ceremony, you can see him making two of his Oscars kiss as if hes playing with action figures, savoring the moment for its ridiculousness as well as its significance. He didnt need four Oscars to be Bong Joon-ho, and thats the real prize.

Read more in Slate about the Oscars.
Scott Morrison has just witnessed a show of force from an angry faction that will come after him on climate change when it is ready.

The Prime Minister cannot avoid a confrontation with the unhappy Nationals who joined with Labor on Monday to elevate Llew OBrien to the position of deputy speaker in the House of Representatives.

Nationals Llew O'Brien and Barnaby Joyce are playing brutal politics as they challenge Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack. Credit:AAP

This was brutal politics by former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce and a group of assertive allies who are determined to defend coal and resist any ambition on climate change.

The impact is already being felt. The political aggression from Joyce and his group keeps everyone else quiet.
His Married At First Sight bride was cheated on by seven out of her eight previous partners.

So it's no surprise that Steve Burley's match, 48-year-old single mother Mishel Meshes, had a breakdown on Monday night's episode of the show, when the barber shop owner admitted to cheating on a partner in the past.

Speaking to 9Now, the 51-year-old businessman revealed he didn't want to hide his 'disgraceful' past.

'It was a big, big, massive mistake': Married At First Sight groom Steve Burley (pictured right) has revealed why he was determined to tell Mishel Meshes (pictured left) about his cheating past on the show on Monday night

'I think it was really important to tell her, it was, and of course I had nothing to hide,' Steve said.

The father-of-one added: 'And yeah I did do that [cheat] and it was a disgraceful, despicable thing to do, and I owned it on the day.'

No lies: Speaking to 9Now, the 51-year-old businessman revealed he didn't want to hide his 'disgraceful' past

Steve said he regretted telling Mishel's 18-year-old daughter Eva of his past infidelity, rather than the Brisbane-based teacher herself.

'I wish I had spoken to Mishel about it, instead of speaking to her daughter,' he said.

'This was something that happened a long time ago, and I can either look to the past and live in the past, or I could look toward my future, and that's what I did.'

On Monday night's episode, Steve faced his distraught 'wife' after she stormed out of the reception.

'What I did 17 years ago made me a lowlife and I've lived with it since,' Steve told her of his past infidelity.

'It's a real trigger for me': On Monday night's episode, Steve faced his distraught 'wife' after she stormed out of the reception

He added: 'It was a big, big, big, massive mistake. You're my bride and to see you upset, upsets me.'

'It's a real trigger for me,' Mishel explained.

'I swear to god, I won't be cheating on you,' Steve replied.

Married At First Sight continues Tuesday at 7:30pm on Channel Nine
Paul Atanga Nji, ministre de l'Administration Territoriale. Droits reserves

Paul Atanga Nji, Cameroons Minister of Territorial Administration and Permanent Secretary of the National Security Council has said voting in the twin Municipal and Legislative elections went on smoothly nationwide.

The appraisal is contained in a statement at the close of polls Sunday, February 9, 2020. The Minister said at the close of polls, it is clear that the boycott calls made by ill-intentioned politicians and lame terrorists did not have any impact on the population. Terrorists are hence reduced to social media propaganda and manipulation to influence weak minds.

He described the turnout in the troubled North West and South West regions as massive, observing as it were that a few security hitches at the beginning of the polls were quickly trashed by the Defense and Security Forces.

Concerning the North-West and South-West Regions, the population turned out massively to exercise their civic duties in all the administrative units, said the Minister who voted in Bamenda early this morning before taking off for Yaounde where he delivered this statement.

Hear Atanga Nji: On November 10, 2019, the President of the Republic of Cameroon, Head of State, H.E. Paul BIYA, convened the electorate for the twin legislative and municipal elections of 9 February 2020.

Information from Elections Cameroon (ELECAM), the independent body in charge of organizing elections in Cameroon, indicates that thirty-three (33) political parties presented candidates for parliamentary elections while forty-four (43) political parties presented candidates for municipal elections.

Campaigns started on January 25, 2020 and ended yesterday, Saturday, February 08, 2020, at midnight.

Globally, electoral campaigns went on hitch-free nation-wide. Apart from a few isolated and inconsequential attacks carried out by terrorists in the North-West and South-West Regions at the start of the campaigns, the parties that ran for the February 9 twin polls canvassed for votes in calm and serenity throughout the National triangle.

The call for boycott made by leaders of political parties who lacked the courage to confront the electorate in the legislative and municipal elections was largely ignored by the vast majority of Cameroonians.

Today's municipal and legislative elections took place in total calm, transparency and serenity all over the country.

Reports received from Administrative Authorities at the close of polls clearly confirm that the legislative and municipal elections actually took place in all the ten (10) Regions, fifty-eight (58) Divisions and 360 Sub-Divisions of the Republic of Cameroon.

In a bid to enhance the transparency of Cameroon's electoral system, the Minister of Territorial Administration accredited 16,765 national and foreign observers who effectively travelled to the ten (10) Regions.

Concerning the North-West and South-West Regions, the population turned out massively to exercise their civic duties in all the administrative units.

Over 150 journalists were accredited to cover elections in these two regions. Television and social media images broadcast since this morning are clear testimony of the enthusiasm and commitment of the population in these two regions to exercise their civic duties.

At the close of polls, it is clear that the boycott calls made by ill-intentioned politicians and lame terrorists did not have any impact on the population. Terrorists are hence reduced to social media propaganda and manipulation to influence weak minds.

In his end-of-year speech, the President of the Republic, Head of State, H.E. Paul BIYA, urged:

All Cameroonians who are registered on the electoral roll to go and cast their votes, bearing in mind that they will be electing the men and women who will translate into reality the reforms desired by the Cameroonian people, notably fast-tracking the implementation of decentralization.

As a man who preaches by example, the Head of State re-echoed this call today after performing his civic duty.

Exit poll reports from Administrative Authorities confirm that the vast majority of Cameroonians displayed a high sense of patriotism by heeding the Head of States call and massively going to the polls to exercise their right to vote. This patriotic commitment is to be hailed.

As Governments Agent in the electoral process, the Ministry of Territorial Administration, through Administrative Authorities, provided ELECAM with appropriate security for the smooth running of the just-ended twin elections.

The Minister of Territorial Administration would once more like to remind all stakeholders that grievances, if any, should be expressed through legal channels.

Eventual claims, if any wont be significant enough to undermine the credibility of the polls, and hence, the sincerity of the results due to be proclaimed by competent bodies.

Only competent bodies have the right to publish results of the just-ended legislative and municipal elections. President Paul BIYA, to whom the interest of the nation comes before any other partisan considerations, said, not long ago, that Cameroon's democratic process is now irreversible.

This Sunday, the Head of State reaffirmed it in these terms: Democracy is effective in Cameroon and it is advancing in giant strides.

The calm and serenity which characterised the just-ended polls is eloquent proof of the maturity of Cameroonians. Political party leaders and the electorate are called upon to wait for the verdict in peace and tranquillity. Under the enlightened leadership of H. E. Paul BIYA, Cameroon is a State of law. Only the ballot box speaks.
Rules allowing the conversion of offices and retail buildings into flats have led to thousands of 'sub-standard' homes across the UK, according to experts.

Government research shows that over 20,000 permitted developments - conversion projects designed to create more homes - have been waved through each year without scrutiny.

Architecture firm Resi said 'too many sub-standard developments are being nodded through and not properly scrutinised' as a result of the rules, aimed to create more housing.

At an average 67.8 square meters of living space, new-build homes in the UK are the smallest in Europe. A new home in the 1970s by comparison had 83.3 square metres of space

Over a five-year period to September 2019, 115,448 permitted developments were waved through without need for approval, according to Government data.

This included more than 4,000 office to residential conversions as well as 475 retail to residential conversions.

The conversions have come amid a challenging period for office and retail landlords, who have sought for new opportunities to improve value.

In 2018, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors warned that office-to-residential schemes completed through the permitted development rules were resulting in higher numbers of poor-quality flats than those given full planning permission.

Permitted development rules were introduced in 2013 by the government as a means to boost housing supply in the UK.

It enabled developers to convert offices, shops or other commercial buildings into housing without requiring a planning application. Homeowners could also make certain types of extension without permission needed.

Permitted development schemes are not subject to the same space standards, leading to the creation of 'rabbit-hutch' homes that can be as small as 13 square metres in size.

Harlow in Essex, has the highest proportion of office block-to-housing conversions in England

The government's 'nationally described space standards recommends that a single-bed home for one person should be no smaller than 37 square metres in size, and at least 50 square metres if there are two people.

Resi also warned of the potential harmful impact of the permitted development schemes on UK high streets and town centres.

Alex Depledge, founder and chief executive officer of Resi, said: 'We are also seeing some of our town centres being hollowed out as commercial property is turned into housing.

'This means that families are too often housed in accommodation that simply isn't suitable.

'These developments fundamentally change our communities and need to be looked at more closely.'

In its latest report, the firm has called for a UK-wide housing performance measure, which it believes could improve wellbeing and happiness among residents.

At an average 67.8 square meters of living space, new-build homes in the UK are the smallest in Europe and are even smaller than the average house built in the 1930s. A new home in the 1970s by comparison had 83.3 square metres of space.

The government's 'nationally described space standards recommends that a single-bed home for one person should be no smaller than 37 square metres in size

Last week's BBC Panorama programme detailed extensive problems regarding the conversion of old office blocks into temporary accommodation. The documentary focused on the town of Harlow, Essex, home to the highest proportion of office block to housing conversions in England.

Crime, drug addiction, alcoholism and poor transport links have been common complaints among residents of these developments in the town.

One development, Templefields House has seen police called to the building on almost 600 occasions since it was opened three years ago.

A resident interviewed by the programme described his living conditions as 'human warehousing' and said his wife, who has a terminal illness, had been verbally and physically threatened by a man in the building.

Property company Caridon, which manage Templefields, has received a considerable sum of public money from local authorities in recent years for temporarily housing residents in its Harlow properties.

An investigation by The Times newspaper last year found that Caridon had made at least nine office-to-residential conversions in recent years, none of which adhered to the government's minimum space recommendations.

In a statement on its website, the firm says it 'does not tolerate criminal and antisocial behaviour of any kind at any of its buildings. We act robustly and swiftly when made aware of such issues.
by Sara Guaglione , February 10, 2020

Hearst Newspapers has made a strategic investment in The Martin Group, the largest marketing firm in the Western and Central New York area.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The agency plans to use the funds to grow within the region and beyond.

Martin Group executives Lisa Strock and Matt Davison have become investors and equity-holders. Strock will be Chief Operating Officer and Davison will be Chief Business Officer.

"The reach of Hearst is unique. It just gives us that pipeline to the whole world," Davison told The Buffalo News. "Not a lot of agencies are able to get that without getting bought out."

The Martin Group is the first traditional advertising, marketing and branding firm to be added to Hearst Newspapers' wide range of businesses.

advertisement advertisement

The investment "formalizes The Martin Groups partnership with the Times Union," according to a statement from the companies. The partnership first began in 2018, when The Martin Group co-located its Albany office within the headquarters of the Hearst-owned Times Union newspaper.

The Martin Group was founded in 2001 by Tod Martin. Clients include Under Armour, Wegmans, New Era Cap, ASICS and the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation. The firm has 100 employees across its three offices in downtown Buffalo (its headquarters), Rochester and Albany.

Martin remains the majority owner and is CEO; he will chair the newly formed board.

The board will now include Heart Newspapers-appointed George Hearst III, president and publisher of the Times Union.

The investment we are making in The Martin Group will help the agency continue to rapidly evolve and expand, while at the same time offer a combined ability to provide customized marketing solutions and strategies that deliver measurable performance for clients across several key service verticals, including sports, healthcare, food and beverage, financial services, education and nonprofits, Hearst III stated.

Tim Coppola will remain Chief Financial Officer, while adding Chief Administrative Officer to his title.

Hearst Newspapers has ownership interests in more than 360 companies, including cable television networks and stations, magazines, newspapers, and other businesses.


Chinese medical workers treating patients for coronavirus. (PA)

Experts have warned the UK is facing a major outbreak of coronavirus in the coming weeks as it continues to spread across the globe.

Professor Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said the outbreak is likely to become a pandemic, adding he was becoming increasingly alarmed about the rate of infection.

The death toll in China from the coronavirus has risen to 811, surpassing SARS fatalities in the 2002-2003 outbreak.

Outside China there are 288 cases in 24 countries, with one death, according to the World Health Organisation.

Passengers disembarking an aircraft repatriating British and other nationalities to the UK from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, arrives at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

Professor Piot, who co-discovered ebola and the presence of Aids in Africa, warned that coronavirus is more dangerous than ebola.

Its a greater threat because of the mode of transmission. The potential for spread is much, much higher, he told The Times.

If the number of people who get infected is huge, then that will also kill a number of people.

On Sunday the last plane carrying British citizens evacuated from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan landed in Oxfordshire.

READ MORE FROM YAHOO NEWS UK:

The flight, with more than 200 people on board, including some foreign nationals, arrived at RAF Brize Norton shortly before 7.30am.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it was the second and final flight to be chartered by the Government and had British Government staff and military medics on board.

The passengers will now be taken to the Kents Hill Park hotel and conference centre in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, where they will be quarantined for 14 days.

The ambulance service said the presence of the group in Milton Keynes would not present a risk to local people.

---Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK---
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the states next budget will be balanced, but said if voters dont approve a progressive income tax in November, he would have to reduce state spending across the board in future years.

The governor is preparing to deliver his budget address later this month. He said the progressive tax is needed to address income inequality and increase state spending on things like education.

Voters will decide at the ballot box in November whether to change Illinois flat income tax to a structure with higher rates for higher earners. If voters approve a progressive income tax, it wouldnt go into effect until after the upcoming budget year, which begins in July.

On Friday, Pritzker told Politico at a conference in Washington, D.C., that he would present a balanced budget. However, if voters dont approve the progressive income tax this November, the governor said, 15 percent cuts in state spending would be needed across the board.

We have to pay interest on our debt and all the other things that are fixed and then you get to what people call discretionary spending and thats where youd have to make all these cuts, Pritzker said. And these are the things that affect peoples lives, particularly the middle-class and working families across the state.

Illinois most recent budget called for spending about $40 billion in state money. The state spends another $40 billion in federal tax money.

The governor has said his progressive income tax would increase taxes by more than $3 billion and result in modest income tax reductions for more than 97 percent of taxpayers. However, business groups have said the progressive income tax will hurt small businesses, which they said could affect the economy and push more people to move out of Illinois.

Pritzker is set to deliver his budget address on Feb. 19. He said he will propose a balanced budget to begin in July without relying on revenue from the proposed progressive income tax.

So not only do we need to balance the budget, but we also need to pay down the backlog of bills and we need to deal with other challenges throughout the state like lowering property taxes, Pritzker said.

The states backlog of bills stood at $6.7 billion, according to the most recent state estimates. Thats dwarfed by more than $200 billion in debt from the states worst-in-the-nation funded public employee pensions. Illinois also has among the highest property taxes of any state in the nation.

Pritzker said the state needs more revenue to increase education funding to help reduce local property taxes. He said that could be done with a progressive income tax.

We need a tax system that helps us pay the bills and helps us address the income inequality issue, Pritzker said.

Illinois Chamber of Commerce CEO Todd Maisch said going from a flat tax  where everyone pays the same income tax rate  to a structure with higher rates for higher earners, including small businesses would eliminate what he called our current, true fair tax. Pritzker has called his proposed progressive income tax a fair tax.

It is already having a chilling effect on employers willingness to invest in Illinois, Maisch said. He pointed to other mandates such as the states $15 minimum wage, which will be phased in over several years. The states minimum wage already has increased once this year and will increase again in July.

A focus on our greatest job producers, small business, must be a priority in 2020 to balance the negative effects of 2019 policies, Maisch said.
LONDON, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Adrian Yan, a university student from Warwick University has managed to double 100,000 of initial capital and return more than 105 per cent in just 12 days in Global stockbroker EXANTE's virtual inter-university trading competition, the EXANTE Investment League.

According to EXANTE Senior Analyst, Colin Williams, most professional traders would swiftly feel the heat from their risk manager for carrying the kind of exposure novice trader Mr Yan was.

The theme of January's 12-day league was commodities. Hundreds of traders from 19 of Europe's top universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, Loughborough, LSE, Kings, and Jonkoping International Business School were challenged by recent political events in China and America, as well as other difficult market conditions.

Mr Williams says: "Our top trader made an incredible 105% profit over a short 12 day period. After some relatively successful initial scalping his big hits came from recognising the black swan event, or in this case maybe a black bat event.

"The Wuhan coronavirus spiked volatility and sent markets into a big risk-off as full implications were/are still unknown. Our man was sharp enough to recognise that whatever the outcome, quarantining most of China would have a big hit on global trade. He traded Lumber both long and short which charted nicely in a good range but his most profitable trades came in Eurodollars, EUR/USD and Natural Gas. Eurodollars posted a series of green candles, making a sharp move higher, EUR/USD traded soft as US rates declined and Natural Gas was volatile finishing lower. He took advantage of the added emotion picking the outsides of the bell curve to enter trades but being quick to chop and free to let it run. Simple really," added Mr Williams.

Having never formally learned to trade, Mr Yan credits his trading knowledge to EXANTE. He says: "I don't have a long history of trading experience. I only started learning to trade during the first EXANTE Investor League. Seeing stock numbers and graphs on television always fascinated me. So I decided to take part in the first EXANTE Investor League. This time round I traded with a competitive mind-set. During this league I was learning and trading simultaneously."

Mr Yan adds: "I invested in a total of six futures, with five of them resulting in a profit and one of them becoming a loss. There were two trades I made the most significant gains on and they were the Ultra U.S. Treasury Bond Mar 2020 and the Random Length Lumber Mar 2020 futures.

"I didn't conduct any research on the underlying assets of the futures as I am still a beginner trader at this stage. I just made decisions by looking at the trends on the charts. My next step to progress would be to start relating these futures to the real world and understanding how current events affect their value," he says.

Patrick O'Brien, head of communications for EXANTE says: "As a company we have always been keen on developing new talent. The EXANTE Investor League in partnership with Warwick University is our way of helping students to develop their trading skills that will hopefully open doors for them in their future careers. With students participating from some of Europe's top universities and business schools such as Oxford and Cambridge, we are happy to be developing young talent and giving students opportunities that may otherwise not be available to them."

Mr Yan concludes: "The competition has motivated me to take advantage of the opportunity to simulate trading through EXANTE's platform, and has helped me gain a better understanding of capital markets."

Note to editors:

The EXANTE Investment League is a quarterly trading competition which challenges university students from universities across Europe , including Oxford and Cambridge , to put their trading skills to the test and invest 100,000 over two weeks to see how much they can return. Over 85 per cent of the students that took part in this contest made returns. Mr Yan wins 150 as well as the chance to compete for a paid internship with EXANTE's partners in the competition, Amplify Trading, in the City of London . Second place, Adam Broadhurst gets 100, while third place , Adam Khaw gets 50. The next EXANTE Investor League is in March and is free to participate in.
Dr. Jeff Dulaney, President and CEO, LSP Technologies, Inc. LSP Technologies has doubled in size to over 60 employees and tripled in sales over the past few years, due in large part to the growth of our talented engineering team and our focus on building the Humble, Hungry, and Smart culture." Dr. Jeff Dulaney, President and CEO

Today marks the 25th Anniversary for LSP Technologies, Inc., a Dublin-based company that pioneered the commercialization of a technology using high energy lasers designed to make the world a safer place.

LSP Technologies is a story of American ingenuity with a most unusual beginning. The founder of LSP Technologies, Dr. Jeff Dulaney, originally set out to become a carpenter. My road to becoming a physicist started when I couldnt get into the apprenticeship program for carpentry, stated Dr. Dulaney. It was that setback out of high school that led him to attend Sinclair Community College on scholarship.

Sinclair professors encouraged him to continue his education, so he entered the undergraduate physics program at Miami University. I am grateful to my professors at Sinclair and Miami. They encouraged me to achieve more than I could have imagined at that point in my life by going on to obtain my Ph.D. in physics from the University of Pittsburgh, he noted.

After graduation, Dr. Dulaney joined Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio, and became Technical Unit Leader of Battelles high energy laser group. Dr. Dulaney felt compelled to start LSP Technologies Inc. in 1995 in order to get a fledgling technology called laser shock peening out of the lab and into the real world. Laser shock peening is used to make metal parts much stronger by inhibiting the initiation of cracks and corrosion.

To support the startup company, Dr. Dulaney assembled a small group of scientists, engineers, technicians, and experts in materials and metals. Together, they tackled their first big technical problem, to help the Air Force make the B-1 bomber flight-ready by preventing engine failures caused by foreign object damage on the 1st stage jet engine fan blades.

Laser peening the fan blades for the B-1 bomber was the first production application of laser peening, the first of many successes in the companys mission of Making Your World a Safer Place. Not only did laser peening make the B-1 aircraft safer, it also reduced maintenance costs on the jet engines by more than $10 million per year.

LSP Technologies is now responsible for more than 70 laser peening patents. Through cross-licensing agreements, the companys patent portfolio exceeds 130 laser peening patents. As the LSP Technologies team advanced the technology and made it more cost-effective, applications for laser peening expanded into commercial aviation, power generation, maritime, automotive, and other market sectors.

LSP Technologies has doubled in size to over 60 employees and tripled in sales over the past few years, due in large part to the growth of our talented engineering team and our focus on building the Humble, Hungry, and Smart culture that was the key to unlocking that growth, said Dr. Dulaney.

We also pivoted our business model from laser peening services in our facilities to selling laser peening equipment. That allows our customers to laser peen their own parts in their own factories. We were able to leverage funds from Ohios Third Frontier Program to design and develop a robust, production-ready laser peening system: the Procudo Laser Peening System, he said.

The Procudo System was the first-ever laser peening system available for commercial sale or lease. LSP Technologies has now sold Procudo Systems to customers on three continents. We are very proud to be proliferating laser peening technology around the world, Dr. Dulaney said.

The rapid growth of our Company in recent years has earned LSP Technologies a place on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing privately held companies in the United States and the Fast 50 list of Business First, a ranking of Central Ohios fastest growing small businesses.

Dr. Dulaney is extremely optimistic about the future of LSP Technologies. The company is currently working to solve big problems on commercial aircraft, U.S. military aircraft and combat vessels, and even inside commercial nuclear reactors.

It is hard to believe how far we have come in 25 years. I am honored and grateful to be working with such talented people to solve significant, real-world problems that benefit our country and our world from right here in central Ohio, he said. We thrive on the challenge of developing another first!
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 19:38:09|Editor: Xiaoxia

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Photo taken on Feb. 10, 2020 shows the damaged roof of the cathedral in Frankfurt, Germany. The cathedral in Frankfurt was damaged when the jib of a building crane torn down by hurricane-force winds buckled and crashed into the roof of the cathedral. Storm Ciara, known as Storm Sabine in Germany, swept over Germany and caused severe disruptions to road, rail and air traffic over the past two days. (Xinhua/Lu Yang)

BERLIN, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Hurricane-force winds and heavy rain swept over Germany and caused severe disruptions to road, rail and air traffic over the past two days.

Germany's National Meteorological Service issued the second highest weather warning level for most parts of Germany on Sunday. Large sporting events were cancelled and many schools remained closed on Monday as a precautionary measure.

The cathedral in Frankfurt was damaged when the jib of a building crane buckled and crashed into the roof of the cathedral.

Railway company Deutsche Bahn (DB) announced on Sunday that long-distance trains were completely stopped for safety reasons "because of the heavy hurricane."

According to DB, several hundred passengers made use of residence trains during the night. It is not clear when trains would run again. DB said that the inspection of the routes would take some time.

The General German Automobile Club told Xinhua on Monday that several sections of federal and state roads as well as motorways were still closed because of fallen trees and blocked roads.

There were also delays and flight cancellations on German airports. At Cologne Bonn Airport, more than 80 take-offs and landings were cancelled on Sunday and Monday, a spokesperson of the airport told Xinhua.

At Munich Airport, the second largest airport in Germany, a total of 600 take-offs and landings were cancelled on Sunday and Monday, a spokesperson of the airport told Xinhua.
After closely observing the Trump administration's foreign policy for more than three years, a few patterns have emerged. One is that, on occasion, the administration has the germ of a good point in its stated aims. This was the case with its dispute over the Universal Postal Union, for example, a disagreement that ended favorably for the United States. Another pattern is that, when the administration encounters roadblocks, it doubles down on coercive pressure. This has been the case with the administration's "maximum pressure" campaigns. A third pattern is that the administration has frequently claimed huge victories about truly meager concessions.

There is a danger, however, in trying to systematize the administration's foreign policy approach. Georgetown University professor Daniel Nexon labels this "analytical normalization." This is the natural tendency, when dispassionately analyzing what this administration does, to presume that there is a clear strategy animating these actions, when in actuality it might the immature whims of a president with a very short temper and no constraints on his behavior. If something goes sideways, is it because of President Donald Trump's caprice? Is it because he is running foreign policy with the D-team? Or are some foreign policy problems simply hard to tackle regardless of who is in charge?

Consider this administration's approach to the question of 5G. This is the next generation of wireless networks, which have the potential to power everything from smart grids to artificial intelligence. The Chinese firm Huawei has been a leader in developing these networks. This has freaked out the Trump administration, which has been used to having a monopoly on the tools of weaponized interdependence.

The United States has responded with a panoply of measures designed to keep Huawei out of the U.S. market for 5G, and it has pressured allies to restrict Huawei's access, too. Administration officials have been particularly vocal about the latter part of this initiative. In December, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote an op-ed in Politico on the topic, asserting that "it's critical that European countries not give control of their critical infrastructure to Chinese tech giants like Huawei, or ZTE." That same month, national security adviser Robert O'Brien hectored European allies in an interview with the Financial Times.

The thing is, none of this has worked terribly well. As previously noted in this space, the United Kingdom recently announced that it would allow Huawei to participate in the development of Great Britain's 5G infrastructure. The Washington Post reported Jan. 28: "The American pressure has not won Britain over, largely because of concerns that pulling Huawei out of existing 4G networks would be cumbersome and costly. Major providers such as British Telecom are heavily invested in Huawei technology, and Britain does not want to fall behind in the 5G world."

The administration's response to this policy setback hasn't been great. It is becoming increasingly clear that the Trump administration has no idea what to do on this question.

Trump reacted in a manner perfectly consistent with his status as the toddler in chief. The Financial Times reported Feb. 6: "Donald Trump vented 'apoplectic' fury at Boris Johnson in a tense phone call over Britain's decision to allow Huawei a role in its 5G mobile phone networks, according to officials in London and Washington. . . . British officials were taken aback by the force of the president's language towards Mr. Johnson." This does not appear to have accomplished anything beyond setting the "Days Since Trump Screamed at an Allied Leader" counter back to zero.

Another Trump administration official suggested a more serious policy proposal. The Post reported Feb. 6: "Attorney General William P. Barr on Thursday suggested the United States consider taking an ownership stake in Finland's Nokia and Sweden's Ericsson to counter China's bid to dominate the burgeoning 5G wireless market." Nokia and Ericsson are the chief rivals to Huawei.

One might want to savor the irony of a longtime Republican suggesting that a state-owned enterprise be the best way to forestall a socialist great-power rival. Nokia and Ericsson's stockholders were certainly pleased. Other Trump officials deflated Barr's trial balloon pretty quickly, however. The Associated Press's Tali Arbel notes that both Vice President Mike Pence and White House adviser Larry Kudlow rejected Barr's idea within a few hours of his speech. Arbel also noted, correctly, that this is not the first time a Trump official has floated the idea of a government-sponsored enterprise to compete with Hauwei only to have it shot down by the White House.

Nor is this the first time in 2020 that one hand of the Trump administration has pummeled the other on 5G. The Wall Street Journal reported Jan. 24 that "Commerce officials have withdrawn proposed regulations that would make it harder for U.S. companies to sell to Huawei from their overseas facilities following objections from the Defense Department as well as the Treasury Department." The Pentagon is concerned (with some justification) that the government's restrictions on Huawei have deprived U.S. companies of a key revenue stream, blunting their investments in research and development that have given the United States a technological advantage. Davis notes that the administration is "sharply divided" over how to deal with Huawei.

So this is where we are in February 2020. The Trump administration does not like Huawei's prominent role in the development of 5G networks. Its dislike might even be well founded. But it is equally clear that its approach is a) confused; and b) not working. And administration officials have no idea what to do next beyond doubling down on that inchoate strategy.

_ _ _

Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University
Second 'mercy flight' evacuates some ill Yemenis from Sana'a to Jordan for treatment: WHO

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 08 February 2020 3:40 PM

Two dozen critically ill Yemenis have been evacuated from the Saudi-besieged international airport of the capital Sana'a for a second time in a week via a humanitarian air bridge created by the United Nations.

The World Health Organization (WHO), which is collaborating with the UN in transporting ill Yemenis to Jordan for receiving due treatment, announced the news in a statement on Saturday, a day after it said that the planned "mercy flight" had been rescheduled for "technical reasons."

"The flight just took off from Sana'a headed to Amman," a WHO spokesperson told AFP, adding that the plane was carrying men, women and children, who were in urgent need of medical treatment, along with their companions.

The UN agency said on Friday that it was "committed and working very hard to ensure these Yemeni patients receive the treatment they need."

On Monday, the first UN-operated "mercy flight" evacuated seven critically-ill children along with their companions to Amman, some 18 months after the world body began negotiation with warring sides, particularly Riyadh, to create the air bridge and arrange the mission.

"This is the first of what we hope will be a number of flights in the medical air bridge," the UN resident coordinator for Yemen, Lise Grande, told AFP after Monday's flight.

In March 2015, Saudi Arabia, with the help of a number of its allies, particularly the United Arab Emirates (UAE), launched a brutal military campaign against impoverished Yemen, whose former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi had fled to Riyadh a few months earlier after stepping down the previous year.

The Saudi-led campaign, code-named Operation Decisive Storm, was launched to achieve two main objectives: bringing Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh, back to power, and crushing the Houthi Ansarullah movement, whose fighters have proved to be of significant help to the Yemeni army in defending the Arab country against the invaders since the onset of the imposed war.

However, despite spending millions of dollars and employing foreign mercenaries, particularly from Sudan, the Saudi regime has deeply bogged down in Yemen and has practically failed in achieving both of its objectives.

The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the war has claimed more than 100,000 lives over the past nearly five years.

The Saudi-led coalition has put Yemen under a tight naval blockade as it also imposed a crippling blockade on the capital's international airport, one of the lifelines of the county for the past three years or so.

The UN says over 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.

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Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said his officers should have the power to demand passwords to digital devices in a bid to tackle the evil crime of online child abuse imagery.

He is also calling for an electronic key that would legally enable detectives to access encrypted communications used by organised crime.

The police chief was speaking at the launch of the signing of a voluntary agreement between the Gardai and six telecommunication and internet companies blocking access to a list of known websites containing child abuse images.

The Garda Blocking Initiative was set up in Nov 2014 and Virgin Media (the UPC) was the first to sign up, but has now been joined BT Ireland, Eir Ireland, Sky Ireland, Tesco Mobile. Three Ireland and Vodafone Ireland.

Commissioner Harris said that certainly in relation to serious crime, such as the possession of child abuse images, that the legal right to demand passwords to devices should be a power that is open to us and part of the garda ability to search for evidence.

He said that if gardai can obtain a warrant to search a location for physical evidence they should be able to do the same for evidence that is recorded digitally.

You are asking almost for people to be compelled to provide a password  that's a new, in effect, power that we will be seeking, the commissioner said.

In relation to accessing encrypted communications, such as Whatapp or Facebook Messenger, he said that laws providing law enforcement with an electronic key would be very useful.

He said:

Criminals, not only in the child abuse space but right across all elements of organised crime, are relying more on encryption and we wish to be in a position to defeat that.

Detective Chief Superintendent Declan Daly of the Garda National Protective Services Bureau said that while they have other tools they have had discussions with the Department of Justice about new legislation that would make it an offence to withhold passwords.

He said the new memorandum is not a silver bullet to end the existence of child abuse imagery online, but said it is a significant step forward.

He said the seven companies cover 96% of the online customer base and that these users would be prevented from accessing the worst sites and block access by redirecting them to a Garda stop page.

The list is provided by Interpol and there are currently 1,857 sites on it, he said.

The chief executives of the six new companies along with employers' group, IBEC, were present at the event in Garda HQ.

In relation to judicial criticisms of the five-year backlog top bring cases of child abuse imagery from detection to prosecution, Chief Supt Daly said there is no longer a five-year delay and that a lot of inroads have been made to reduce that time.

Commissioner Harris said there was an operational and reputational risk to the organisation caused by the waiting time, but said he is putting resources into the Cyber Crime Bureau, which examines the devices.
A Communicator of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Awal Mohammed, has said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama has no credibility left in him to contest the 2020 elections.

He fingered former President John Dramani Mahama as the Government Official 1 mentioned in a bribery allegation involving the European aviation giant, Airbus.

In the face of these facts, it is very necessary for president Mahama to come out and be heard publicly about the Airbus scandal, Awal Mohammed exclusively told Kwaku Dawuro on Medo Ghana on Accra-based Kingdom FM 107.7.

He continued, "Mahama has no credibility to contest the 2020 elections,we cant have a President who is involved in several corruption scandals, this kind of behaviors must not be accepted in this country he must immediately step down as the flagbearer of the NDC.

Airbus entered into a deferred prosecution agreement, with the British Serious Fraud Office (SFO), which was investigating the company for bribing or failing to prevent corruption in transactions in five countries, including Ghana.

The mention of Ghana in the agreement has sparked a flurry of political activity with the opposition NDC issuing a statement denying that its officials in the erstwhile Mills and Mahama administrations were involved in any corruption with Airbus, which supplied military aircraft to Ghana in 2012.

The deferred prosecution agreement didnt specifically name any officials who might have been bribed or corrupted during Ghanas negotiations with Airbus but it refers to personalities involved as Government Official 1 (a high-ranking elected public figure) and Intermediary 5 (a British national and close relative of Government Official 1), among others.
Historically, over the last 100 years, moneyed people in Dallas have flowed north out of downtown, to the Park Cities, Preston Hollow, and into North Dallas. The middle class or more moderate income people moved east through Old East Dallas, to Lakewood, then east of the Lake into Lake Highlands and Far East Dallas. I should point out that for the first half of the past century this meant white moneyed people and white middle class. Minorities (both wealthy and not so wealthy) generally moved south into Oak Cliff, Pleasant Grove, and onto the suburbs like Desoto and Duncanville. Perhaps this is a slight oversimplification, but in broad terms it is true (except for the minorities part which has been changing for the past 30 or so years).



Well for the moneyed people of Dallas, where you live is a really big deal. Its not just your zip code, not just whether you live in the Park Cities or not, and its not even which street you live on. Its the street AND the address. There are some in Highland Park who talk about living in Old Highland Park as opposed to the newer sections. Where the new sections refer to the Henry Exall developed property from a hundred and twenty years ago and not the J.S. Armstrong property from a hundred years ago. These people take where you live as a mark of how wealthy and how cultured you are.



Sostarting in the late 90s with the gen x-ers, you had more and more moneyed people in Dallas trying to buy fewer and fewer homes. While it is socially acceptable to live in the Park Cities, certain parts of North Dallas and even perhaps parts of Richardson, its social suicide to move all the way to Plano or, gasp Frisco. And in these moneyed circles a huge amount of business gets done at social events, like dinner parties or charity balls, so social suicide begets economic suicide. In the minds of old money Dallas, moving to Plano dooms one to a life of economic and social mediocrity, regardless of whether or notthis is true, its their perception.
Man robs pizza joint at gunpoint in Chico

Police are searching for a thief, who robbed a busy Chico pizza place at gunpoint. Employees say a man with a gun walked into the Mountain Mikes on West 5th street around 1 p.m. on Sunday. The robber demanded cash and then took off on foot. Employees say they are shaken up but no injuries have been reported. Chico police are urging anyone with information to contact them.

Northern California Traffic Alerts

Happening tonight, Caltrans is set to start work on an I-5 project near Anderson. Construction begins at 8 p.m. There will be a one-lane closure going north until midnight. Crews will be pouring concrete to the bridge deck of the south Anderson railroad overhead. There will be a full lane closure from midnight to 5 a.m. on Tuesday.

Hungry Wildcat Pantry to Plate Cooking Classes

Also happening today, the hungry wildcat food pantry is hosting the Pantry to Plate cooking series, which runs every Monday for the next five weeks. The sessions start at 5 p.m. it's RSVP only. To view the sign-up information, CLICK HERE.

At least 24 Americans suffering from coronavirus are aboard cruise ship quarantined in Japan

The coronavirus continues to spread havoc in China and Japan with numbers now beyond the 2003 SARS outbreak. Thousands remain quarantined on a cruise ship in Japan as cases aboard the boat rise. Here in the U.S., the virus has taken its toll on business and celebrations during the lunar New Year celebrations.

Why you should keep your eye on New Hampshire's GOP primary

After a heated and dragged out Iowa caucus the next step in the democratic primaries starts in New Hampshire Tuesday. Multiple candidates are still claiming victory in Iowa but all eyes are on New Hampshire. As recent polling shows Senator Bernie Sanders with a slim lead over former south bend Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Trump's $4.8 trillion budget proposal revisits rejected cuts

New this morning, we now have a look at President Trumps $4.8 trillion budget proposal for the year 2021. The proposal includes two billion dollars for the border wall. It's also reportedly slashing billions of dollars in social and safety net programs, like Medicare, Medicaid, and food stamps. Like last year, the goal of the 2021 proposal is to balance the budget in 15 years.

Trump Administration ends antitrust probe of 4 automakers, Calif.

The Trump Administration is dropping its antitrust probe into a deal between California and four of the worlds biggest automakers. The justice department started the investigation last fall. It aimed to determine whether antitrust laws were violated by Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW in reaching the July deal with California. Under the deal, the automakers planned to comply with pollution and related mileage requirements established by California.
VALLEJO (BCN)

Vallejo police are searching Sunday night for a 73-year-old woman last seen Sunday afternoon in that city.

Stephanie Helmer was last seen about 1:30 p.m. She suffers from a medical condition that sometimes causes her to become disoriented.

She is 5-feet-4-inches tall, with red hair and brown eyes. She is believed to have been wearing a black hat, black jacket, blue jeans and gold shoes.

The Vallejo Police Department asks that anyone who has seen Helmer, or who may have information about where she may be, call 911.

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.
Tension within The Bachelor fandom was at an all-time high when Peter Weber eliminated Alayah Benavidez not once, but twice, in the span of two episodes. The 28-year-old pilot was called out for his inability to make decisions and rewarding the drama, enabling a few cast members to display some truly malicious behavior. But now, after watching The Bachelor Season 24 unfold from the outside, Weber revealed why he chose to send Alayah home, confirming the toxic culture in the house led to her exit.

What did Alayah Benavidez do in The Bachelor Season 24?

Alayah Benavidez from The Bachelor | ABC/Maarten de Boer

All of Alayahs drama began in the third episode of The Bachelor Season 24. Throughout the episode, Sydney Hightower called Alayah fake and said the 2019 Miss Texas USA acted differently in front of the cameras. Sydney told Weber about her opinion of Alayah. Meanwhile, a few other women thought the same way, including Victoria Paul.

Now, Victoria P. and Alayah have a history. Victoria P. was the 2019 Miss Louisiana USA and knows Alayah from the pageant world. Alayah was accused of convincing Victoria P. to lie to producers about knowing each other. Victoria P. also claimed she didnt really know Alayah. As a result, Weber eliminated Alayah.

In the next episode, Alayah returned to clear her name. She interrupted a group date and told Weber she just didnt want The Bachelor producers to cut both parties because they discussed the show before limo night  as cast members arent revealed until then. Alayah also revealed she is friends with Victoria P. and the pair went on a trip to Vegas together, alongside other pageant contestants. Victoria P. confirmed she lied.

Once he saw the light, Weber asked Alayah to return to the house. She accepted and he gave her the group date rose. Nevertheless, this act stirred up more drama, as Alayah did not attend the group date and her conversation interrupted time with other cast members.

Peter Weber eliminates Alayah Benavidez for the second time

By the next rose ceremony cocktail party, multiple contestants expressed their disappointment in Weber. Im sorry Peter, but Ive never felt so under-recognized by somebody, Deandra Kanu said. She then noted that bringing Alayah back and giving her the group date rose was like the biggest slap in the face.

Then as the night continued, Webers Bachelor contestants tore into Alayah right in front of her. Eventually, Weber took Alayah out to talk.

I dont care what anyone in there says, I know that you have an amazing heart and that you are a good person, Weber said. Alayah then broke down in tears. I felt such a strong connection with you from night one. You opened up to me and showed a side to me that I could tell wasnt easy for you to do. And that meant to much to me as well.

However, the bachelor still let her go. With everything that has happened, this is, like, too much, Weber said. I dont want to have to put you through any more of this. But I think its probably time to say goodbye.

Im sorry that I made this so damn hard for you, Alayah said before leaving.

Peter Weber explains why he eliminated Alayah Benavidez

When speaking with Access on Feb. 5, Weber explained why he eliminated Alayah twice on The Bachelor.

Alayah was a tough one for me. I did not feel good sending her home the first time, he said. There, for sure, I was influenced. I didnt feel good about it.

Then when Alayah came to Cleveland, the 28-year-old thought it was the perfect chance to do the right thing. However, Weber quickly reconsidered because of the other contestants.

Unfortunately, that just became a situation where the toxic culture in the house was just too much, Weber said. That house was gonna implode if I kept her there. And its like OK, whats the lesser evil here? It was tough but it was a situation where I was forced to make a tough decision.

Alayah Benavidez and Peter Weber on The Bachelor Season 24 | John Fleenor/ABC via Getty Images

Even so, Weber admitted he would have still kept Alayah for longer if he was certain she was The One.

No matter how hard it would have been, I wouldnt have let her go if I legit thought, This is my wife here, Weber told People. But it became too much and I wasnt that invested in her at that point. So it wasnt worth it to take that chance and wreak all this havoc.

Regardless of how you feel about Alayah, Weber chose to follow his heart to move forward on The Bachelor. Now, as the ABC reality series approaches week 7, the Delta pilot has six women remaining. So stay tuned. The ride isnt over just yet.

Read more: The Bachelor Fans Think Madison Prewett and Peter Weber Need More Screen Time Together
FORT EDWARD  A Missouri man who is accused of kidnapping two Washington County girls last summer has turned down a plea deal offer that would send him to state prison for 10 years.

Brian F. Hafers lawyer said the plea offer that would require a guilty plea to felony kidnapping and a 10-year sentence was too harsh for his clients limited involvement in the case.

Attorney Marc Zuckerman said Hafers co-defendant, Bradley R. Mittler, was far more culpable, and Hafers lone mistake was agreeing to tag along with his buddy who was going to visit a young woman in Whitehall.

He didnt touch anybody. He didnt make any of the real decisions here, Zuckerman said of Hafer. The (plea) offer is way too high for his involvement.

Mittler, 24, pleaded guilty last month in the abduction of the girls, ages 14 and 15, from Washington County last Aug. 30. Their disappearance prompted a manhunt that ended when the girls were found in Ohio and the two men were arrested.

State Police said the two men dropped the girls off at a restaurant in southwestern Ohio after they learned that they had been reported missing by their parents and guardians.

The girls willingly accompanied the men, but under state law they could not legally consent to going with them because of their ages.

Washington County prosecutors have acknowledged that Mittler was most culpable of the two. He pleaded guilty to felony kidnapping and is to serve a 15-year sentence, with his plea deal requiring that he cooperate against the 36-year-old Hafer.

Mittler met the 14-year-old girl online and pretended to be 17 years old, and even gave the girl and her family a fake birth certificate to corroborate that fabrication. He convinced Hafer to accompany him east to visit her, and her 15-year-old friend told police she left with them to protect her friend.

Mittler was accused of repeatedly raping one of the girls in a Queensbury motel room, but Hafer is not accused of having sexual contact with either of them.

Man pleads guilty in Whitehall kidnapping case One of two men who were accused of kidnapping two Whitehall girls last summer pleaded guilty Friday, and will spend up to 15 years in state prison.

His (Hafers) explanation is totally plausible. He really did very little, Zuckerman said. This case shouldnt be tried, but it looks like it will have to be.

Washington County First Assistant District Attorney Christian Morris, who is prosecuting the case, said he believes the plea offer is fair in light of Hafers actions. He said witnesses for a trial will have to be brought in from Ohio for a trial.

Trial in the case has been set for March 23 before Washington County Judge Kelly McKeighan. Hafer faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the weightiest charge against him, second-degree kidnapping.

Hafer and Mittler are being held in Washington County Jail pending further court action.

Don Lehman covers police and court matters, Warren County government and the outdoors. He can be reached at 518-742-3224 or dlehman@poststar.com

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So the typically superb David Von Drehle suggested in his Feb. 6 op-ed, Democrats are paving Trumps road to reelection, that impeachment was a fiasco for the Democrats. He might be right twere it a political calculation, but guess what? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had no recourse but to begin an investigation of a bona fide constitutional crisis for the first time since President Richard M. Nixon. Were it political, she might have begun the process after the Mueller report, as there was plenty in it concerning obstruction of justice. She didnt. Why? Because President Trump has been good for the Democratic Party.
Attention turns to a committee that could identify offending churches, a new measure put in place following the landmark Houston Chronicle series.

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The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has experienced unprecedented attention and pressure over its response to sexual abuse in the year following the debut of the Houston Chronicles Abuse of Faith series, which last February reported hundreds of sexual abuse cases within the nations largest Protestant denomination.

It has been a year of waking up, SBC president J. D. Greear told Christianity Today. Advocates and journalists have faithfully filled the role of helping us to see things we cant unsee.

Greear said there is a growing awareness within our denomination that the evangelical church has many areas for growth in how we prevent and care for abuse.

SBC leaders and victims advocates agree theres a lot more waking up to do. People inside and outside the denomination are waiting to see if measures enacted at last years annual meetingincluding a newly reconstituted committee to review reports of churches that have mishandled abusewill be effective. The new credentials committee is slated to meet and share from its findings later this month.

The SBC had addressed sexual abuse previously. The conventions website had featured a page with resources for sexual abuse prevention, and the denominational publication SBC LIFE produced a special report in 2008 on protecting children from sexual abuse. As president, Greear launched a Sexual Abuse Advisory Study in 2018 in conjunction with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), and that same year SBC Executive Committee chairman Mike Stone said combating abuse would be an emphasis of his.

But the Chronicles reporting spurred a heightened response.

Beginning February 10, 2019, the Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News released a six-part series that uncovered approximately 380 Southern Baptist church leaders who have been convicted of sexual abuse, credibly accused and successfully sued, or confessed and resigned over abuse during the past 20 years. Those abusers left behind more than 700 victims. The Chronicle continued publishing articles on sexual abuse in the SBC, releasing more than 20 to date in addition to the original series.

ERLC president Russell Moore said Southern Baptists should thank God for the Houston Chronicles reporting because it cast a light on a truth that needed to be revealed. Stone called the series a catalyst in moving the conversation forward.

Yet some victim advocates wonder whether the SBC can sustain its campaign against abuse long enough to make a difference among its nearly 50,000 cooperating churches.

It takes years to change a culture, usually at least ten years, said Susan Codone, who was abused by Southern Baptist ministers as a teen. And the measure of success will be a significant reduction in the cases of sexual abuse in churches along with a much higher number of churches actively enacting policies and caring for the abused.

Combating abuse was a central focus when the SBC convened last summer in Birmingham, Alabama. In addition to adopting a resolution titled On The Evil Of Sexual Abuse, the convention amended its governing documents to strengthen its stand against abuse. SBC messengers in Birmingham also gave the first of two required approvals to amend the SBC constitution to state explicitly that mishandling sexual abuse is grounds for a church to be disfellowshipped from the convention. (The convention already has the power to disfellowship a church for any reason.)

An amendment to the SBC bylaws repurposed the credentials committee to make recommendations when a churchs friendly cooperation with the convention is in question. Abuse claims fall within the committees assignment. At the time, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president Al Mohler called it the most important business to be undertaken by #SBC19.

And now, the SBCs focus is turning toward the new credentials committees February 18 report to the Executive Committeethe group tasked with acting on behalf of the denomination between annual meetings.

If the credentials committee has considered abuse claims related to any Southern Baptist churches, that information could surface in its upcoming report. Should the credentials committee find a church not in friendly cooperation and recommend that it be disfellowshipped, the Executive Committee could act on behalf of the convention to exclude the church, or it could forward the recommendation to the full SBC, which meets June 910 in Orlando, Florida.

These recommendations will be closely followed by advocates who have remained cautious or skeptical of pledges to address the issue and want to see the denomination act in response.

Greear noted that the repurposed credentials committee gives Southern Baptists something we havent had before, a standing committee to consider questions of friendly cooperation among our churches. Last year, Greear publicly named ten churches he believed may have mishandled abuse; a work group of the Executive Committee said only three claims warranted further inquiry.

At least one of those churches, Cathedral of Faith in Houston, voluntarily withdrew after the Chroniclereported its pastor pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a teenage girl more than two decades ago. No church has ever been disfellowshipped from the SBC over sexual abuse.

Credentials committee chairman Stacy Bramlett said the establishment of our committee is part of [the SBCs] work of increasing awareness, encouraging staff and volunteer training in churches, taking accountability seriously, and rebuilding trust through transparency.

At the upcoming Executive Committee meeting, the credentials committee will report further about its purpose, processes, and progress, she said.

Reports of suspected churches can be submitted through an online portal. The committee does not have the authority to investigate churches, and its review process is confidential unless they recommend a church be disfellowshipped from the SBC.

There was enough pushback from victims advocates when the credentials committee released more about its process in December that Codone and fellow SBC victim-turned-advocate Megan Lively wrote for SBC Voices acknowledging the limitations of refusing anonymous submissions but ultimately encouraged people to have patience as the committee figures out its new role.

It could be a major undertaking: A 2019 study by the SBCs LifeWay Research organization found 44 percent of Protestant churchgoers say they have been victims of sexual misconduct, and 10 percent of that group says the misconduct happened at church.

Codone, who has assisted Greear and the ERLC in the Sexual Abuse Advisory Study, said small and large churches alike have been resistant to adopting the SBC-wide Caring Well Challenge to prevent abuse and care for victims. As of last August, less than 2 percent of SBC churches had begun the challenge.

Many large churches dont think they need it because they have policies in place already, and many small churches arent fully aware of it or dont have the people or expertise to implement it, she said.

Additionally, critics long have chided the SBC for citing local church autonomy as a reason for not doing more to combat sexual abuse. Stone, a member of the credentials committee, said local church autonomy is fundamentally a theological issue for Baptists, and there are different ideas about the best way to handle the unique challenges of sexual abuse in the context of our polity.

Still, the national convention has, and has always had, the freedom to determine the parameters for cooperation, said Stone, himself an abuse survivor.

All six SBC seminaries are implementing abuse prevention and response training into their curricula, Greear said. State conventions and local Baptist associations are offering similar training in conjunction with the Caring Well Challenge.

In the past several years, at least three SBC entities have drawn scrutiny related to sexual abuse. Former SBC President Paige Patterson has been accused of mishandling abuse reports during his presidencies of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The International Mission Board (IMB) said it strengthened its policies related to abuse last year days before the Chronicle published a report highlighting abuse cases involving former IMB missionaries.

The SBC is not alone in facing these obstacles. Greears office said a handful of other denominations have called the SBC seeking advice on how they too can strengthen their stands against abuse.

Among other denominations that value local church autonomy, the Mennonite Church USA adopted a 2015 statement confessing failures related to abuse and noting that 21 percent of women and 5.6 percent of men in the denomination reported experiencing sexual abuse. The action was spurred in part by renewed discussion of sexual abuse committed by Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder. The Mennonite Church USA Delegate Assembly adopted a list of commitments for congregations and church institutions to combat abuse.

Sovereign Grace Churches (SGC), a network of congregations that has faced scrutiny over sexual abuse charges, said it offers every church a safety training program related to abuse, provides free background checks for churches, and requires every pastor to report suspected abuse to law enforcement.

Additionally, our ordination process requires a criminal background check for men who are ordained as elders in Sovereign Grace Churches, and if an elders ordination is terminated for any reason, that information is kept in a central database that our churches have access to, said SGC executive director Mark Prater. (Last year, amid growing scrutiny, SGC said an outside investigation of its churches would be inappropriate, impractical, unjust and impossible.)

Codone said she cant think of any denomination that is managing sexual abuse cases well. Nonetheless, she sees hope for the SBC because from what I can tell, everyone seems to believe there is a significant abuse problem and that we need to try to fix it.

The SBCs sexual abuse study group said it would evaluate the possibility of further responses, such as creating a database of known predators, requiring background checks for SBC appointees, and adding survey questions on abuse incidents to the Annual Church Profile.

My prayer is that God would give us vigilance moving forward, Moore said, that the work done so far would be seen merely as a beginning on the way to caring well for those who have experienced this horror and guarding against wicked predators.

David Roach is a writer in Nashville, Tennessee.
Larsen & Toubro (L & T) said on Monday its construction subsidiary's power transmission and distribution has secured orders from prestigious clients in India and abroad.

In the Philippines, the has won an order to construct a 500 kilovolt (kV) substation in association with a prominent local player. The project will cater to the growing demand for electricity in the metropolitan area of Manila.

In Saudi Arabia, orders to construct a 380 kV substation with an associated 230 kV cable network and establish 380 kV and 230 kV transmission line corridors have been bagged.

Another order to construct extra-high voltage overhead lines has been received from a reputed customer in the Middle East.

On the domestic front, the has won an order in Gujarat to construct a 765 kV double circuit transmission line that will help transmit power from renewable energy sources.

Another order has been secured to build a 20 megawatt floater solar power project at a reservoir of NTPC's Auraiya Gas Power Plant in Uttar Pradesh.

Additional orders have been received from ongoing substation jobs in India, L & T said in a statement. The company describes a large order with a value ranging between Rs 2,500 crore to 5,000 crore.

L & T is an Indian multinational engaged in technology, engineering, construction, manufacturing and financial services with over 21 billion dollars in revenue. It operates in over 30 countries worldwide.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nagpur, Feb 10 : A wave of anguish and anger swept Maharashtra as 24-year old woman college lecturer, Ankita Pissude, who was set ablaze by a stalker seven days ago, succumbed to her burns at a private hospital here on Monday morning.

Tension gripped Daroda village where the incident occurred on February 3 with some angry villagers resorting to pelting stones and police retaliating with a baton charge)when the ambulance carrying the victim's body reached there.

Daroda and Hinganghat town - where jilted suitor Vikesh alias Vicki Nagrale poured petrol on Pissude and set her afire on a road outside her college gates - observed a spontaneous shutdown, while villagers resorted to a road block demanding immediate action against the accused.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray expressed grief over Pissude's demise and reiterated that the guilty would be given the most stringent punishment.

"We have appointed Ujjwal Nikam as the special public prosecutor, investigations will be speeded up and the case assigned to a fast track court. We will ensure that they are no delays of any kind," Thackeray told media persons.

The Maharashtra government also plans to study the Disha Law of Andhra Pradesh which envisages completion of investigations in a week, a trial in two weeks and where there is sufficient conclusive evidence, reduce the total judgement time to three weeks, said an official.

Pissude, who fought 168-hours for her life, was a post-graduate in Botany and worked as a part-ime lecturer at the Matoshree Ashatai Kumawar Mahila Mahavidyalaya.

The accused Nagrale, currently in police custody, is married with a small child and knew the victim as they hailed from the same village.

Home Minister Anil Deshmukh described Pissude's demise as unfortunate and said Pissude's brother would be given a government job.

"The medical teams tried their best to save her, but could not. The best of doctors from Mumbai and Nagpur attended to her. It is unfortunate that she passed away," Deshmukh said.

Protestors in Daroda and Hinganghat vociferously demanded a 'Hyderabad-style' justice where four gangrape-cum-murder accused were killed in a police encounter when they tried to flee from custody on December 6, 2019.

Pissude had suffered extensive burns on her face, head, respiratory system, heart, she remained critical throughout her treatment and was placed on ventilator since 2 days. Late on Sunday, she became critical with the end finally coming at 6.55 a.m. on Monday after her heart, lungs and kidneys failed, said Orange City Hospital & Research Institute Director Dr. Anup Marar.

Her distraught family and relatives have accepted the body for the last rites even as tearful students across college campuses in the state expressed grief and outrage.

The incident sparked a series of protests, processions, shutdowns, candle-light vigils and prayers while her plight was highlighted twice in Lok Sabha.

Pissudde's demise sparked outrage among state political, academic, social circles with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, MP Supriya Sule, (both NCP) Shiv Sena Deputy Leader in Legislative Council, Neelam Gorhe, Congress state President Balasaheb Thorat, Minister Yashomati Thakur, MLA Praniti Shinde, Bharatiya Janata Party state President Chandrakant Patil, Vice-President Chitra Wagh and others demanding the most stringent punishment for the accused in a time-bound manner.
The 25-year-old woman lecturer who was set ablaze by a stalker in Maharashtra's Wardha district last week died while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Nagpur on Monday morning, officials said.

Ankita Pisudde, resident of Hinganghat town in Wardha, had been critical after sustaining 35 to 40 per cent "grade III" burns on February 3 when she was set afire allegedly by one Vikesh Nagrale (27) while she was on way to her college, they said.

She was undergoing treatment at the Orange City Hospital & Research Centre here, located around 75 km from Wardha.

"Doctors at the hospital declared her dead at 6.55 am today," Hinganghat's police inspector Satyaveer Bandiwar said.

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party leader Supriya Sule expressed grief over the woman's demise.

State home minister Anil Deshmukh said the case trial would be held in a fast track court and a family member of the victim would be given a government job.

The woman sustained deep burn injuries on scalp, face, right upper limb, left hand, upper back, neck and eyes along with severe inhalational injuries, the hospital said in a medical bulletin on Monday.

She died of "septicemic shock" after suffering from deep dermal burns along with severe inhalational injuries, respiratory distress and related complications, it said.

Around 4 am o nMonday,her oxygen levels deteriorated inspite of ventilator support, coupled with decreasing urine output and reduction in blood pressure, the hospital said.

As part of immediate resuscitation measures, medicines were escalated to maintain the blood pressure and all feasible steps were taken to improve the oxygen levels in blood, but the patient remained "extremely critical", it said.

"Around 6.30 am, she had bradycardia and inspite of prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the patient could not be revived and was declared dead at 6.55 am," it said.

The probable cause of death was "septicemic shock", the bulletin added.

During her treatment, she underwent tracheostomy (creating an opening in neck to place a tube into the windpipe to allow air to enter the lungs), burn dressings, debridement and escharotomies, the hospital informed.

Debridement is a medical procedure to remove dead, damaged or infected tissue, while escharotomy is a surgical procedure used to treat full-thickness (third-degree) circumferential burns.

The woman's parents and uncle were kept informed about her deteriorating health condition and death, the hospital said, adding that the body was later handed over to police for postmortem and other formalities.

Heavy security was deployed in Hinganghat to avoid any law and order problem following her death, the police said.

Several locals took out a march in Wardha city last Thursday, demanding death penalty for the accused.

Talking to reporters in Mumbai, home minister Deshmukh said he spoke to the victim's relatives and assured them that the case would be fast-tracked and the deceased's brother would be given a government job.

"Efforts were made to save the victim, but we are sorry she could not survive. The state government stands with the victim's family. A government job and all other assistance will be provided to the victim's family," he later tweeted.

State revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat also expressed grief over the victim's demise.

"The state government is trying to award hard punishment to the accused by running the case in a fast track court," he said.

NCP MP Supriya Sule in a tweet said she was saddened to hear about the woman's death

"This case will be heard in the Fast Track Court and the State Government will ensure that justice is done," she said.

State Women and Child Development Minister Yashomati Thakur called for starting a struggle against such "violent mentality of men".

"I am feeling numb, mute today...the victim's struggle for life is over, let's start a struggle against this violent-manly mentality," she told reporters at Chikhaldara in Amravati.

The government stands with the woman's family in this hour of grief and is taking concrete steps ensure justice to the victim, she added.

The state government last week flew Navi Mumbai-based National Burns Centre director Sunil Keswani to Nagpur to supervise the woman's treatment.

It has also appointed well-known lawyer Ujjwal Nikam as special public prosecutor in the case.

According to the victim's relatives, Nagrale, who was arrested within hours of the incident on February 3, had been harassing her for quite some time.

Nagrale and the woman were friends till two years ago when she severed ties with him due to his "irrational behaviour", the police earlier said.

A special team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Trupti Jadhav will probe the case, the Wardha Police said last week.
On Monday, PM Modi replied to Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa's tweet where he shared his experience of visiting the Ganga saying that he was "glad" that his Sri Lankan counterpart had the opportunity of visiting Varanasi and the holy river.

Mahinda Rajapaksa who assumed office as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka last year in November came to India on a five-day visit to India to improve bilateral ties between the two countries. After his official engagement in Delhi, Mahinda Rajapaksa travelled to Varanasi and will go on further to Sarnath, Bodh Gaya and Tirupati.

Read: PM Modi holds bilateral talks with Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa

"The Ganga is at the heart of our civilization. It is our cultural and economic lifeline. I am glad you spent time in Varanasi and also went along the Ganga. The experience would have been wonderful!" said PM Modi in response to Prime Minister Rajapaksa's tweet.

Before leaving #Varanasi, I had the honour of visiting the sacred River Ganga. I commend PM @narendramodis #NamamiGange effort, not only because of the rivers spiritual and cultural significance but also because it is host to approximately 40% of #Indias population. pic.twitter.com/kQ5Vedyju3  Mahinda Rajapaksa (@PresRajapaksa) February 10, 2020

Read: MEA confirms Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's India visit from Feb 8-11

The Sri Lankan PM had also commended PM Modi for his efforts to clean the river under the 'Namami Gange' project. The Clean Ganga or Namami Gange programme is, as the name suggests, a massive, central government-led initiative to cleanse the river. During their talks at the Raj Bhavan, PM Modi said that they exchanged views on bilateral and global issues, fighting terrorism and boosting security cooperation. Joint economic projects in Sri Lanka also found a mention in the talks.

Read: Varanasi to get new sewage treatment plants under 'Namami Gange' program

Last year his brother and newly sworn-in President of Sri Lanka, Gotabaya Rajapaksa had also come to visit India, just two weeks after assuming office. Mahinda Rajapaksa served as the country's president from 2005-2015, becoming one of the longest-serving leaders in South Asia. He was also prime minister for a brief period in 2018.

Read: India, Lanka expected to discuss trade, defence during Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa's visit

(With Agency Inputs)
Christians aren't biblically required to tithe 10% of their income, pastors say

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When it comes to tithing, Christians arent biblically required to give 10 percent of their income to the church, as Jesus cares more about an attitude of generosity than a particular number, two pastors have said.

In a recent video posted on the Gospel Coalition website, Jonathan Leeman and John Onwuchekwa discussed what the Bible says about tithing and what it means for Christians.

Leeman, author and elder at Cheverly Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., said that tithing  a word meaning tenth  was required of Old Testament Israel in a certain way.

I don't think we are required to give a 10th of our income in the same way Old Testament Israel did, Leeman said. We're not under the mosaic covenant law in the same way. In fact, they had more than just the tithe. They had a number of things that were required of them. But no, I don't think it applies to us directly. So observation one, not a particular percentage.

Leeman added that believers arent compelled to tithe, citing 2nd Corinthians 9:7, which reads: Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

I would say Christians are called to give cheerfully, generously, and according to their means, he said. So on the one hand, no, I don't think we can give Christians a particular percentage, but I think, one, according to your means, two, generously, three cheerfully.

The pastor encouraged listeners to prioritize their church, adding: I think that whatever percentage I have as a Christian, the first of it should go to my church.

Onwuchekwa, pastor of Cornerstone Church in Atlanta, Georgia, agreed that Scripture outlines that tithing and giving to ones church is for the support of the pastor, the relief of the poor, for the advancement of Gospel works.

The Christian's life is really centered in the church, he said. So it does make sense that as we give, I do think that the church is that home base, that primary place that we give to.

Onwuchekwa added that Jesus, when it came to tithing, celebrated a widow who gave it all and then told a rich man to give it all. According to the pastor, tithing isnt necessarily referring to a particular percentage, but rather, an attitude of generosity.

Christ, He's saying, Give me it all, he said. But He is talking about an attitude where we just know that it's all His. I think when we know that and have a vision for what He did for us, then I do think that when we do talk about trying to give according to our means, we create a generous group of people and not folks who just kind of grin and bear it and give under compulsion.

Although the subject of tithing is addressed in the Bible, only 39 percent of pastors say they or other leaders speak from the pulpit about tithing or giving to the church at least once a month, according to a 2017 study from the Barna Research Group. According to statistics, only around 10 percent to 12 percent of all Christians actually tithe or give one-tenth of their income to the church.

Previously, Dave Ramsey, CEO of Ramsey Solutions and author of Financial Peace University, revealed he regularly tells pastors to stop stressing the importance of tithing to congregants who aren't good stewards of their money.

"Unless," he clarified, "you've done two sermons on ... debt  one on getting out of debt and one on getting on a budget."

"That's the ratio for me instead of just tithe, tithe, tithe," he said. But when pastors fail to address debt and setting a budget, he said, the reaction to a sermon about tithing is often "yeah right, I've got a light bill. That's a great spiritual concept. Maybe someday I'll get around to that.'"

Getting out of debt leads to giving, the financial expert said, "Because if you're out of debt and on a budget and you love Jesus, I think tithing is a natural thing that occurs."

In an op-ed for The Christian Post, Chuck Bentley, CEO of Crown Financial Ministries, encouraged believers to tithe regardless of their financial situation: "Remember that giving is not a tax or a legal requirement to please God, but a voluntary act of worship. It is a tangible way to express our love to God," he explained. "Give, even if you can only afford $1. As you give, ask God to multiply it for His Kingdom."

"At the same time, I recommend that you begin to save so you can establish an emergency savings account," he added. "It is important to give first, then save next, even if it is a very small amount in each category! By working on these goals simultaneously, you will begin to make important changes in the way you manage your income."

"When the offering plate comes your way, thank God for all He's given you and that your heart's desire is to give more to Him," Bentley said. "Don't worry that your gift is small. It's between you and God!'
Iran said it "successfully" launched a satellite Sunday but failed to put it into orbit, in a blow to its space programme that the US alleges is a cover for missile development. The attempted launch of the Zafar -- "Victory" in Farsi -- comes days before the 41st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution and crucial parliamentary elections in Iran. Arch foes Iran and the United States have appeared to be on the brink of an all-out confrontation twice in the past seven months. Long-standing acrimony between Tehran and Washington was exacerbated in 2018 when US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from a deal that froze Iran's nuclear programme, before issuing new demands that Tehran curtail its development of ballistic missiles. Washington has also raised concerns in the past about Tehran's satellite programme, saying the launch of a carrier rocket in January 2019 amounted to a violation of limits on its ballistic missiles. Iran maintains it has no intention of acquiring nuclear weapons, and says its aerospace activities are peaceful and comply with a UN Security Council resolution. On Sunday, it launched the Zafar satellite at 7:15 pm (1545 GMT) but it fell short of reaching orbit, the defence ministry said. A ministry spokesman said initially that the satellite was "successfully" launched and went "90 percent of the way", reaching an altitude of 540 kilometres (335 miles). "The Simorgh (rocket) successfully propelled the Zafar satellite into space," said Ahmad Hosseini of the ministry's space unit. "Unfortunately, in the final moments the carrier did not reach the required speed" to put it into orbit, he told state television. "God willing with improvements made in future launches this part of the mission will be done as well," he added. "We achieved most of the goals we had and data has been acquired, and in the near future, by analysing the data, we will take the next steps." Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi admitted in an English-language tweet soon after that the launch had "failed". "But We're UNSTOPPABLE! We have more Upcoming Great Iranian Satellites!" said Jahromi. Tweeting in Farsi, he added: "I would have liked to make you happy with #good_news but sometimes life does not go the way we want it." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted on Twitter, writing: "Iran failed to launch a satellite today. They also fail to send arms to Syria and Lebanon because we operate there all the time." Israel has carried out repeated strikes in Syria since its civil war erupted in 2011, mainly targeting government forces and their Iranian and Hezbollah allies. - 'New generation' - Iran on Sunday also unveiled a new a short-range ballistic missile and its "new generation" of engines designed to put satellites into space. The Revolutionary Guards' website said the Raad-500 missile was equipped with new Zoheir engines made of composite materials that make them lighter than previous steel models. It also unveiled Salman engines made of the same materials but with a "movable nozzle" for the delivery of satellites into space, allowing "manoeuvrability beyond the atmosphere". In January 2019, Tehran announced that its Payam -- "Message" in Farsi -- satellite had failed to reach orbit, after authorities said they launched it to collect data on the environment in Iran. The United States said the launch of the carrier rocket was a violation of a 2015 UN Security Council resolution endorsing the international accord on curbing Tehran's nuclear programme. Resolution 2231 called on Iran to refrain from any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. - Cyber attacks - Tehran confirmed in September that an explosion had taken place at one of its satellite launch pads due to a technical fault, and slammed Trump for "gleefully" tweeting about it at the time. Trump said the US had nothing to do with what he called a "catastrophic accident" at Semnan Space Centre, also tweeting a high-resolution picture pointing to apparent damage at the site. Sunday's developments come at a time of heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington, after a January 3 US drone strike killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad. Iran retaliated days later by firing a wave of missiles at American troops stationed in Iraq. Its defence forces had been braced for US retaliation when they accidentally shot down a Ukraine International Airlines flight a few minutes after take-off from Tehran on January 8. Iran says its internet services have faced cyber attacks for the past two days, without elaborating on the source of the attack or the likely motives. The country's on-off space programme unsettles some Western nations as the technology used in space-bound rockets can also be used in ballistic missiles. The Islamic republic has successfully launched several satellites since February 2009. It has also sent monkeys, a turtle, mouse and worms into space. Iran has said the scientific observation satellite Zafar would be launched into orbit by a Simorgh rocket like the one seen in this picture released by the defence ministry in July 2017 The United States has previously described Iran's satellite programme as a "provocation"
Authorities in southern Laos Sekong province have issued a ban on people erecting religious shrines in front of their own homes or businesses, arguing that the practice is offensive to Buddhist ideals in the one-party Communist state.

According to the CIA Factbook, nearly two-thirds of Laotians are Buddhist, but there are many regional and local religions. Building shrines is an animistic practice of the Talieng ethnic group, of which the country has about 23,000 members, centered in Sekong.

While the Lao constitution grants freedom of religion, the government often restricts the rights of believers.

You can believe in anything, but you cant erect the shrine in front of your house. Behind the house is ok, an official of Sekong provinces Information, Culture and Tourism Department told RFAs Lao Service Thursday.

We are Buddhists. We dont believe in ghosts. So the shrine for ghosts should be in the back, the official said.

On Feb. 4, authorities of Sekongs Thateng district issued a district-level ban shortly after the provincial ban.

The districts ban states that the shrines are not compatible with Lao culture and tradition, and that placing such a shrine in front of a building is inappropriate.

Its the ban thats not appropriate, a villager in the district told RFA, adding,Its [historically] been our tradition to keep [the shrine] in the front.

The villager explained that many businesspeople place shrines in front of their property so that they can pray and ask the shrine for good fortune.

Another resident told RFA, Nobody would put the shrine in hidden place. Its against the shrines spirit. No spirit would live at the back of the house.

The Talieng believe in spirits. Once every two weeks, they offer water and food to the shrine and ask the spirit inhabiting it for good luck, good health and protection, the resident said.

A third villager agreed, saying, Most people put their shrines in the front. Occasionally youll see some on the side, but never in the back.

A Buddhist monk in Vientiane told RFA that Lao Buddhists have a similar practice. They erect shrines in front of their houses to pray to the Buddha and ask for good luck and health as well.

Reported by RFAs Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
First Deputy PM of the Belarusian government Dmitry Krutoy commented on the results of the summit talks held in Sochi on February 7.

Belarusian refineries, on which the Belarusian side insisted, will buy oil from Russian companies at world market prices, News.am reports citing BelTA.

Belarus does not need any special exclusive conditions, he said adding that they want to buy oil at world prices, and no worse.

According to him, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed with this approach.

Moreover, Putin promised that the Russian government will provide all possible aid in their work with Russian mining companies, he noted.

He drew attention to the fact that the Russian oil market is very heterogeneous and noted that in fact half of January the parties were not in talks due to the fact that Russia was celebrating the New Year holidays.

The First Deputy PM also said that, as the January debate showed, a certain limitation was that the Belarusian market was considered as an export one for Russian oil companies.

He also noted that Vladimir Putin appointed Dmitry Kozak responsible for working with Belarus in the oil market.
Over 3500 Nigerians who participated in a PREMIUM TIMES poll have asked President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the service chiefs.

This comes about a week after federal lawmakers made the same call asking the president to appoint new service chiefs.

It was one of the many resolutions made by members of both the upper and lower chamber of the national assembly after a lengthy deliberation on insecurity last week. This is even as a senator asked the president to resign.

Many believe the service chiefs are bereft of ideas and strategies to tackle insecurity across the country.

Poll

A total of 4,380 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.

Participants were asked a single question: Should service chiefs be removed? with options of yes, no and indifferent.

A total of 3,771 respondents (86.1 per cent) supported the sack while 317 participants (7.2 per cent) kicked against the idea.

Another 292 respondents (6.7 per cent) said they were indifferent about the call.

In the storms eye

The service chiefs include the Chief of Defence Staff, Abayomi Olonisakin; Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai; Chief of Naval Staff, Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, and Chief of Air Staff, Sadique Abubakar.

They were all appointed on July 13, 2015, by the President.

Mr Buhari had said he considered merit and track records in tapping them for their new assignments. Their records gave them the job, he said.

Save for the Chief of Army Staff, whom he said he briefly met at his Command at the Multi-National Joint Task Force, in Chad, the president said he did not know any of them.

The tenures of the defence and service chiefs, according to the Armed Forces Terms and Conditions of Service, expired on July 13, 2017 but the president has kept them in office despite public outcry.

What the law says

Section 8 of the public service rules stipulates that the compulsory retirement age for all grades in the service shall be 60 years or 35 years of pensionable service, whichever is earlier.

No officer shall be allowed to remain in service after attaining the retirement age of 60 years or 35 years of pensionable service whichever is earlier, it says.

Also, section 4 of the harmonised terms and conditions of service officers (2017) states that military service of an officer is a period of unbroken service in the armed forces of Nigeria from the date of commission to the date of retirement from service.

This covers date of enlistment into service as soldiers or ratings or airmen for regular commission, short service commission, direct short service commission, direct regular commission, executive commission officers, including other commissions.

Each of the service chiefs has, however, spent above the stipulated service years.

Mr Olonisakin, 57, has spent 38 years in service. Messrs Buratai and Ibas, both 59, have been in service for 36 years. Air Chief Abubakar, 59, has spent 40 years in service.

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Rising insecurity

Insecurity across the nation has spiked at an alarming rate in recent years.

Apart from the resurgent Boko Haram attacks in the North-east, there have been increased cases of killings and kidnappings across the country. Security operatives, many of whom have also been victims, appear unable to stem the tide.

Boko Haram Terrorists used to illustrate the story.

Most of the attacks across Nigerian are also borne from religious, ethnic as well as political rivalries.

At least, one in three motions discussed in the National Assembly in recent weeks, borders on insecurity.

In one of the latest incidents, 13 people were killed in a Plateau community.

Also there was the kidnap and killing a seminarian, Michael Nnadi and the wife of a Kaduna-based doctor, Philip Ataga, in Kaduna State.

Also, Motunrayo Rafiu, a graduate, was kidnapped on her way to resume at the Abuja campus of the Nigerian Law School days ago. She has regained her freedom.

Besides the killings and kidnapping, there have also been rising cases of armed robbery, rape, car-snatching, among others, in different parts of the country and the Federal Capital Territory.

Defence

Amidst the insecurity, the presidency has said Nigerians have reasons to be grateful as the security situation is better than it was before Mr Buhari assumed office.

We know what the situation was as at 2015 and we know what it is today. Despite the reversals in security, it is still not as bad as it used to be in this country, Femi Adesina, President Buharis spokesperson, said recently.

Even the overwhelmed service chiefs have said countless times that Boko Haram has been defeated. This is even as they blame defeated politicians for sponsoring attacks by Boko Haram.

Will Buhari heed the call?

The president has overtime, failed to adhere to the call of Nigerians with regards to replacing the service chiefs.

Shortly after the lawmakers adopted the resolution to call for the sack of the service chiefs, both the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, met with the president to relay their decisions to him.

However, the outcome of the meeting did not in anyway, show that the president is considering the matter.

Affirming that issues of insecurity were discussed, the only major take-away, perhaps, from the meeting was that the president is as worried as other Nigerians, according to the officials.

Both lawmakers also hammered on the need for increased funding for the security agencies.

Volte face?

The officials, who are of the same political party as the president, also appeared to have taken a slightly different position that the one they had before the meeting with Mr Buhari.

Mr Gbajabiamila said there was the concern of a knee-jerk decision regarding the service chiefs, and also whether the prevalent security problems fall under their job description.

So the question then arises that if he changes the service chiefs, does that address the issues of kidnapping and banditry? The army, navy and air force are outfits set up to tackle external aggression. It is the police that is set up for internal security, such as we are all witnessing, he said.

When asked if the issue of security chiefs came up in the meting, Mr Lawan simply emphasised the need to provide those necessary equipment and welfare for the armed forces and the police and when asked about Mr Buharis reaction, he said the president is more worried than anybody else.

There are no indications that the president will name new service chiefs soon.

Nigerians react

Besides the over 3500 who voted for the service chiefs to be removed, others have taken to the social media to air their views.

Below are some reactions:

The service chiefs should be removed, all religious fanatics shouldnt be allowed close to government or given any appointment, the main point is that. @MBuhari should resign and leave office!!! Incompetence shouldnt be tolerated. Enough have died!  Onubogu (@Onubogu5) February 6, 2020

The service chief is not the issue. it's like changing the head and leaving a bad body.  raimoorefoot (@raimoorefoot) February 3, 2020

To me they have over stayed their welcome, though we must give kudos to them for time frame they contributed to the national service..it is sacrosanct for fresh people with new strategies and ideas to come on board..  Mgbilimgba Na Amawbia JP (@Mgbilimgba1) February 3, 2020

But how can you remove what is not there?  Emma Albert (@emmalbert1) February 3, 2020

What happened to all the service chiefs GEJ changed and replaced? He appointed the most useless and corrupt Service Chiefs ever.  John Christian Alex (@jchristianalex) February 3, 2020

Service Chiefs would depart honourably. Since 2015, They have helped Nigeria surmount internal orchestrated & spontaneous conflicts that threatened our unity. Nigeria owes them gratitude & an honourable Exit. Their sacrifice shall Not be rewarded by a dis-honourable Exit  Isuph JT (@IsuphJt) January 29, 2020

I am in support of this motion! The service chiefs should be sacked and new ones appointed, not because they're incapacitated but because they've exhausted all their ideas and nothing positive is showing up.  Naziru Imam (@naziruimam) January 29, 2020

https://twitter.com/MrAdadu/status/1222606384874901504?s=20

Bunch of hypocrites. They see the service chiefs as cause of the problem while they're allocating 32 billion Naira for revonation of their offices when soldiers are complaining of guns and welfare. Do u know what that amount wil do if channeled to buy sophisticated weapons?  Gamji (@adamuillo11) January 29, 2020
(Natural News) By weeks end, there were still more signs that China is having great difficulty controlling the spread of the coronavirus  so much so that the countrys Communist leaders have begun taking drastic measures to keep their economy, and that of most of the world, from collapsing.

First, Chinese leaders extended the countrys Lunar New Year break in the hopes that doing so would give them and the health ministry a chance to get a lid on the virus spread before everyone went back to work. That didnt happen, however.

Now, as Zero Hedge reports, more cities and more companies appear to be shutting down rather than reopening, with Rabobank noting that leaders are beginning to realize just how serious and deep the damage to the Chinese and global economy will be if the outbreak goes on much longer.

We are, after all, talking about 80 percent of the economy, and 90 percent of exporters, simply not functioning, Zero Hedges Tyler Durden reported.

Yet, a look at global stocks does not give any indication that a major disruption is coming. The question to ask then is why? How come the global markets are ignoring what could be the biggest global pandemic of death and chaos in a century? How come stocks are not responding negatively to the loss of the worlds second-largest economy?

The answer, it turns out, is the same as it always is  or has been for the last decade or more  LIQUIDITY! Durden noted.

He adds:

Typically, Chinas central bank (PBOC) floods the system with liquidity ahead of the lunar new year holiday to ensure banks can fund themselves for the week off and window-dress/support asset-values to ensure optimism and consumption continue. Also, typically, that repo-provided liquidity is rolled off shortly after the holiday is over.

But as the Lunar New Year celebration was approaching and it became obvious that the coronavirus was spreading beyond the governments control, the PBOC doubled down (and then some) on the injection of liquidity into the economy in an amount not seen before: To the tune of about $300 billion.

Some would call this a conspiracy

That injection sent Chinese stocks soaring back to highs, but at the same time Chinese bond yields tanked.

Nevertheless, the U.S. mainstream media, filled with sycophants who have no real clue about what happens when global supply chains are disrupted and the worlds second-biggest economy appears to be on the verge of shutting down, reported nothing but great news.

All is well. Except that it isnt.

If China is seeing its yields plummet, what does that say about global growth prospects? What does that say about global reflation? Zero Hedge noted.

Already, there are major supply-chain disruptions for a broad swath of global firms, and those will only widen and deepen as the virus continues to spread and to kill.

Whats interesting to note is that there appears to be an effort  liquidity is one method and failing to accurately report whats going on is a another  to keep as many people around the world in the dark about whats really going on as possible.

Some would call that a conspiracy. Theyd be right, but it sure isnt the first time its happened.

Nevertheless, as reports by weeks end noted, there seems to be no way to stop the inevitable market collapses if the coronavirus continues spreading and killing throughout China (and beyond).

In a very real but accidental way, Beijing is showing the world why President Trump is right and why its not a good idea to put all of our faith in a country that has had two of these dangerous, deadly viral outbreaks  SARS in 2002 and coronavirus now  in less than two decades.

Sources include:

ZeroHedge.com

NaturalNews.com
[February 10, 2020] HireAHelper Migration Study Reveals 2019 US Moving Trends

HireAHelper, the online marketplace for finding, comparing and booking moving transportation and services, today released its second annual study examining US moving trends. This study is a unique and nuanced view of more than 25,000 moves booked in 2019 to identify exactly where people were migrating. How Was It Made?

HireAHelper looked at the origins and destinations of each move to find out which states attracted the most new residents, as well as which had more people move out of them versus into them. It also examined which US cities were the most attractive to people, and explored the distance and timings of moves, measuring how far (and when) Americans moved in 2019. The study resulted in several interesting findings, including: Most people moved to a place within the same county (62%)

1 in 6 (16%) people on the move chose to find a new home across state lines

The top destination city was Scottsdale, AZ, with twice (108%) as many people moving in versus out

The top destination state was Idaho with 48% more people moving into it than out of it

1 in 8 (13%) of all out-of-state moves were moves to Florida

20% of all moves in America happen on Saturday

35% of all moves took place in the Summer months "This particular stdy stands out because HireAHelper's data takes into account the small, do-it-yourself moves that are invisible to large moving companies that have traditionally published migratory figures," says Dr. Wendy Parson, Ph.D. from the University of California San Diego and an expert in social dynamics at Varsity Tutors. "HireAHelper's research offers a more complete and accurate reflection of society."



According to the data, states such as Idaho, New Mexico, and Maine all registered at least 35% more people moving into them compared to people leaving them. Close behind are Arizona and South Dakota, where net gains were at roughly 25%. On the opposite side of the spectrum is West Virginia followed by, curiously enough, some of the wealthiest states in the country: New York (-18%), Connecticut (-18%), and Illinois, California and New Jersey (all at -17%).

On the city level, New York City, San Francisco, Chicago and Los Angeles all lost more residents than they gained in 2019. Meanwhile, smaller cities - many in southern states - saw great net gains in terms of people moving in. From Mesa and Scottsdale in Arizona, to Jacksonville and Sarasota in Florida, these four cities had 50% more people moving in than moving out. To read HireAHelper's full study examining US moving trends, visit: https://www.hireahelper.com/moving-statistics/migration-report/ About HireAHelper

HireAHelper, part of the Porch.com online home improvement network, provides an online moving marketplace where consumers can instantly compare real-time quotes and availability from local movers to book a range of moving services, from Full-Service movers to hourly moving labor. Since 2007, HireAHelper has spearheaded the Hybrid Moving phenomenon, an alternative moving approach that blends the use of Full-Service labor with do-it-yourself transportation, resulting in dramatic cost savings for consumers. For more information visit www.HireAHelper.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200210005692/en/

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AAP, making an accusation without any evidence, charged that EC is compromised and deliberately delayed announcing final voting percentage

In the time of the raucous Shaheen Bagh, Jamia and Jawaharlal Nehru University agitations, the Election Commission on 8 February conducted free, fair and peaceful polling in the National Capital. But Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his senior colleagues in Aam Aadmi Party are not impressed. They have created an air of suspicion and accused the EC of a conspiracy.

In recent times, the EC has been a favourite punching bag of those who have fared poorly at the polls. It is ironic that the party seemingly confident of a huge victory is targetting the EC and insinuating that after voting at 13,750 booths in 70 Assembly constituencies, senior poll officials and other staff were rigging the process against AAP.

The AAP, making an accusation without any evidence, charged that the EC is compromised and deliberately delayed announcing the final voting percentage.

Absolutely shocking. What is EC doing? Why are they not releasing poll turnout figures, several hours after polling? https://t.co/ko1m5YqlSx  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 9, 2020

Anyone who follows elections in India knows that immediately after polling ends, the EC releases a provisional poll percentage with the rider that it will be updated in due course. The revised figure is always higher. Which is what happened in Delhi. The AAP has been ruling Delhi for years and has contested several elections. They know the process as well as anyone.

The AAP had, for long, been raising bogey of tampering with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and even held a special session of the Delhi Assembly using a dummy EVM and changed its motherboard to claim EVMs could be tampered with. The whole thing was so flimsy that it found no takers beyond a small, supportive political circle. It also never took up the open challenge thrown by the EC.

Kejriwal's absolute shock and his close confidante Sanjay Singh's barbs at the Election Commission kuchh pak raha hai...daal me kala haikhel chal raha hai were obviously designed to convey a message.

Lets first consider what the charges mean and if it is possible for the EC in this social media age to indulge in foul play.

The figures cant be tampered by tweaking the numbers online because the system is not internet based. To fudge the polling percentage for instance  increasing it from 55 percent to 65 percent for instance  the EC officials would have to physically put in that many votes. How could that be done when there is a multi-layered protocol?

Each step has to be done in the presence of booth-level officials and representatives of candidates and political parties. EVMs, when polls begin and after they close, are signed and sealed. The seals cant be broken as they are checked at the time of counting.

The process rules out planting of new EVMs in the strong room. If one has to rig the elections by inflating poll percentage, then fake or compromised EVMs will have to planted in most of the 70 Assembly segments.

Going by that hypothetical (an impossible situation), a lot of people within the command structure of EC, polling staff, agents of all candidates, parties and security personnel at from voting booths to those on mobile duty to the strong room have to be compromised.

So why are Kejriwal and the AAP making this charge?

Kejriwal is a smart leader. He knows that there have been instances, for example the 2011 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, when most exit polls predicted a hung Assembly tilted towards Akhilesh Yadavs Samajwadi Party-Congress combine and low numbers for the BJP. But the when results came, the BJP won by a four-fifth majority.

The same thing occurred in the 2014 parliamentary polls. Recently, pollsters got it wrong in Haryana. No one predicted that Congress could improve its numbers in such a big way.

By making these charges against the EC, Kejriwal may be inoculating himself and his party in case the results are not in sync with the exit polls.
Oakland Fire Department crews are at the scene of a two-alarm fire in East Oakland early Monday morning, according to fire officials.

The blaze was first reported at 44 Malta Court around 4:30 a.m., fire dispatch said.
Rangaka heads back to Johannesburg

Ogilvy Cape Town CCO Tseliso Rangaka is leaving the agency and taking up a position in Johannesburg with FCB.

Rangaka has been with Ogilvy for 13 years across both our JHB and Cape Town offices, and he succeeded Chris Gotz as Cape Town ECD in 2015.



Ogilvy Cape Town MD Vicki Buys says: Tseliso has contributed enormously to our successes. We will miss him greatly and we wish him well. She says a replacement for Rangaka, in what is one of the industrys most-prized positions, will be announced shortly. I am very confident that the great depth in the agencys creative leadership will ensure that clients are not in any way negatively affected by this transition.



Rangaka says Ogilvy has been my home for 13 years and in that time I would have it no other way. Im grateful to have worked with some of the best minds in this business. Looking after a bucket list of brands while enjoying the support of an amazing group of people, who truly love what they do.




new study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that suicide rates for U.S. veterinarians are much higher than those of the general population.

The study examined 36 years of death records covering 11,620 veterinarians to conclude that female veterinarians were 3.5 times and male veterinarians 2.1 times as likely to die from suicide.

"Our findings suggest mortality from suicide among veterinarians has been high for some time, spanning the entire 36-year period we studied," said CDC director Robert R. Redfield, M.D. "This study shines a light on a complex issue in this profession. Using this knowledge, we can work together to reduce the number of suicides among veterinarians."

The veterinary industry in recent years has addressed what many experts assert is a mental health crisis exacerbated by financial struggles, a poor work-life balance, compassion fatigue, depression and other factors.

The American Veterinary Medical Association, for example, offers a personal well-being toolkit at http://bit.ly/2T2kk3J.

John Howard, M.D., director of the National Center for Health Statistics, said more work remains to be done.

"Collaboration among multiple stakeholders in the profession such as professional associations, veterinary schools and suicide prevention experts could help contribute to an effective and comprehensive suicide-prevention strategy within the profession," Dr. Howard said.

The CDC study counted 398 veterinarian deaths by suicide from 1975 to 2015. Seventy-five percent of the victims worked in small animal practice, the most popular workplace among veterinarians.

Perhaps not surprisingly, given a practitioner's familiarity with medications, 37 percent of the deaths were caused by a drug overdose. The number was 2.5 times higher than in the general population.

The CDC study, published in the Jan. 1, 2019, issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, did not explore suicide attempts.

An unrelated research project, the Merck Animal Health Veterinary Wellbeing Study, reported in early 2018 that 1.6 percent of veterinarians had attempted suicide, a rate lower than that of the general population.

"We would speculate that even if suicide attempts were no higher among veterinarians, the suicide rate could conceivably be higher than the general population simply because they have the tools at their disposal," co-investigator John Volk said. "For example, we would expect the success of suicide attempts to be higher among people like physicians, veterinarians and dentists simply because of their access to lethal drugs and their knowledge of how to calculate dosages."

AVMA President John de Jong, DVM, called suicide "a profession-wide concern."

"Too many of our colleagues have either contemplated, attempted or died by suicide," Dr. de Jong said. "And one suicide is clearly too many. Working with our colleagues throughout the veterinary community will help us find solutions more quickly. This issue is affecting not only our profession, but society as a whole in numbers greater than ever before.

"As medical professionals, we need to understand and learn about the clinical signs associated with suicide and work with other medical professionals to confront and combat this serious problem."
Lucknow, Feb 10 : The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India has sent letters accompanied by informative brochures detailing the health dangers of meat, egg, and dairy consumption to all state and union territory education ministries across the nation.

PETA, on behalf of a consortium of 15 doctors and nutritionists, has urged that midday meal programmes in schools should consist of only healthy, humane, plant-based foods.

The health advocacy group Sanctuary for Health and Reconnection to Animals and Nature also sent a similar appeal.

In the brochure, the consortium points to modern research linking numerous health concerns including diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and certain cancers to the consumption of animal-derived foods.

It explains that eggs and cow milk are among the biggest allergens for children. Antibiotic residue can be found in such foods, and meat, eggs, and cow milk are common causes of food-borne illnesses.

PETA points out that fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and pulses, on the other hand, are packed with fibre, are rich in vitamins and minerals, free of cholesterol, and low in saturated fat.

The brochure also provides a chart showing that readily available and affordable vegan foods often contain more protein or calcium than eggs or cow milk.

"Wholly plant-powered lunches would keep kids well-fed and energised and also prevent countless sensitive animals from suffering and being easier on the environment," says PETA India Vegan Outreach Coordinator Dr Kiran Ahuja.

The brochure also cites the World Health Organization's statement that half of all cases of malnutrition are linked to diarrhoea and intestinal parasites, often stemming from unsanitary conditions, and that the key to addressing malnutrition lies in ensuring hygienic conditions - not in giving kids foods like eggs and cow milk, which can make them even sicker.
Teachers of Bengals four top universities on Monday decried a February 4 order of the state government that appointed higher education department officers as the states nominees to the highest decision making bodies of all universities and also set some new rules.

In a letter to education minister Partha Chatterjee, teachers of the Universities of Calcutta, Jadavpur, Rabindra Bharati and Kalyani said they saw the order as an assault on the independence and autonomy of universities. While Rabindra Bharati and Jadavpur University are confined to their campuses, around 200 colleges in Kolkata and the districts are affiliated to Calcutta University and Kalyani University.

The order, the teachers bodies said specified the names of officers as nominees of the higher education department to the Senate, Court, Syndicate, Executive Council etc of state-aided universities. The order says that meetings of such bodies should be convened preferably on Saturday or preferably towards the end of [the] working day if held on a weekday. As it appears, even the minutes of such meetings are to be communicated to the minister-in-charge of higher education before they are circulated, the teachers said in a statement.

Earlier the government had issued another order directing vice-chancellors of all state universities to inform the department of all meetings of university bodies chaired by them. We are of the firm opinion that such orders are a direct assault on the independent functioning and autonomy of our universities, not only interfering in their administrative and academic work but also dictating minor details that are best left for institutions to decide for themselves. These orders also demean the chairs of the Vice Chancellors, the teachers said.

Indirectly referring to chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her partys strong criticism of the violence at Jawaharlal Nehru University and Jamia Millia University, the teachers said that they are pained to see a government that claims its allegiance to the democratic polity should be taking steps that echo those of their bitter opponents in our countrys capital.

Despite repeated efforts HT could not contact education minister Partha Chatterjee.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 17:48:56|Editor: zh

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KABUL, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- A weapons facilitator of the Afghan Taliban was targeted and killed in Afghanistan's northern Balkh province, the country's Defense Ministry said Monday.

"The Afghan Air Force carried out a targeted airstrike, late on Sunday, killing a Taliban local leader Mohammad Gul, known as Abubakr, who was in charge of militants' high-tech weapons in Delbar village, Chimtal district, Balkh province," the ministry said in a statement.

The targeted Taliban leader provided laser weapons for the insurgents across the province, the statement said.

Fighting rages across Afghanistan as Taliban militants have been attempting to take territory and consolidate their positions during the winter in the mountainous country.

The Taliban insurgent group has been waging an insurgency of more than 18 years.
A former friend and roommate of Harvey Weinstein rape accuser Jessica Mann has claimed she didn't show any signs of distress on the day the Hollywood producer allegedly attacked her and that she previously described him as her 'spiritual soul mate'.

Mann, one of the two key accusers in Weinstein's case, testified earlier in the trial that the producer raped her in a Manhattan hotel room one morning in March 2013. She also claimed in a separate incident eight months later that Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her at a Beverly Hills hotel.

Brazilian-born actress Talita Maia testified for the defense on Monday as they tried to discredit Mann's prior testimony.

Maia, who lived with Mann in Los Angeles, was with her in New York and said nothing seemed amiss when they met Weinstein for breakfast after the alleged rape.

She told the jury she spent the rest of that day with Mann and she never mentioned the alleged attack or showed any sign of distress.

In her testimony, Mann claimed that Weinstein checked into the same hotel as her and then forced himself upon her in his hotel room. She testified last week that she didn't tell anybody what happened but was 'pretty shut down' at breakfast.

Maia said she couldn't recall her friend being upset or that anything bad had happened to her.

Mann previously testified that the rape occurred in the course of an 'extremely degrading' relationship with Weinstein that lasted for years.

Maia on Monday said Mann 'spoke highly' of Weinstein during her relationship with him, even calling him her 'spiritual soulmate' at one point.

'She seemed to really like him as a person,' Maia said.

Brazilian-born actress Talita Maia testified for the defense on Monday as they tried to discredit rape accuser Jessica Mann's prior testimony

Jessica Mann, one of the two key accusers in Weinstein's case, testified earlier in the trial that the producer raped her in a Manhattan hotel room one morning in March 2013. She is pictured outside court last week

During cross examination, Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzi asked Maia if Mann ever talked about having romantic feelings towards Weinstein.

'She said a few times he was like a spiritual soul mate,' she said.

Illuzi asked: 'She never said to you that she was attracted to him sexually?'

Maia responded: 'She would say he was a wonderful person. I didn't ask about her sex life'.

She added that Mann once 'volunteered' that Weinstein had given her the 'best orgasm she ever had' but it was not after the incident at the hotel in Beverly Hills.

Maia said she and Mann first met Weinstein at an engagement party in the Hollywood Hills in early 2013.

'I was eating on the couch and Harvey approached me and he joked that I was the only person eating at a Hollywood party. I thought it was hilarious because it was true,' she testified.

Mann approached and they began to talk and Weinstein realized they didn't know who he was. Maia said that he introduced himself and that lots of people were coming to say hello to him.

'I made a joke that's why everyone is being so nice to you. Jessica put her arm around Harvey, kissed his cheek and said: 'No, it's because he's so cute'.'

Later that night, Maia testified that she saw Mann and Weinstein emerging from a 'secluded area' of the party.

'She told me she had given her number (to him). I think she was impressed,' she said.

Asked by defense lawyer Donna Rotunno if Mann began a relationship with Weinstein at that point, Maia said: 'Yes'.

Maia said that she and Mann attended two Oscars parties at Weinstein's invitation and Mann had another meeting with him in a hotel.

Weinstein is shown above in a court sketch listening to Talita Maia's testimony on Monday. Maia testified for the defense on Monday as they tried to discredit Mann's prior testimony

Weinstein is pictured above leaving court on Monday following defense testimony during his rape trial

The 67-year-old has pleaded not guilty to raping Mann and to sexually assaulting Haleyi

Maia testified that Mann had asked her to drive her to the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills where the second alleged attack occurred. She said she knew that Mann was seeing Weinstein at that point.

'They asked me to go upstairs with them. They were very clear there was nothing to worry about, it was a suite, it wasn't a room. I was like OK I'll go. I was uncomfortable with the situation. I didn't want to go to a room with them. I didn't know what they were going to do,' Maia said.

She said she sat on the couch while Mann and Weinstein went into the bedroom.

When questioned by Weinstein's lawyer, Maia denied hearing an argument or her friend asking for help.

Maia said they were in there for about '10 minutes' and they left together with Mann seeming 'normal'.

Under cross-examination, Maia admitted she had a falling out with Mann some time before January 2017 and stopped speaking to her but said she did not dislike her.

Maia said she was testifying in response to a defense subpoena, telling jurors: 'I don't want to be here at all.'

'Never happened': Mexican model denies trapping Weinstein accuser in bathroom where she was allegedly groped

Jurors also heard on Monday from Mexican model Claudia Salinas after being accused by alleged victim Lauren Marie Young of doing nothing to stop her assault.

Young testified last week that Salinas closed the door behind her and Weinstein as they went into the bathroom of a Beverly Hills hotel back in 2013.

'That never happened,' Salinas told jurors.

Salinas, who was called as a defense witness, denied locking Young in the bathroom with Weinstein and said she didn't stand outside the door while they were inside.

'Did you ever close that door while Lauren Young was in the bathroom with Mr Weinstein?' Weinstein's lawyer Damon Charonis asked.

Salinas said: 'If I'd done that I'd remember it. I'd never close the door on anybody ever'.

Testifying last week, Young said Salinas closed the bathroom door behind her and Weinstein before he stripped off his clothes, grabbed her breast and masturbated.

Young said Salinas 'was standing right there' when Weinstein was finished and she managed to get out.

Young told the jury that she shot Salinas 'an evil look and I left as quick as I could without saying anything'.

Salinas, who is now 38 and working as a social media influencer, disputed other parts of Young's account, saying that while they did meet up at the hotel bar the night of the alleged assault, it wasn't because Weinstein wanted to see her.

She also said she didn't recognize the hotel suite and didn't remember following along as Weinstein sought to continue the conversation in his room while he got ready for an awards presentation, as Young had alleged.

Asked on cross-examination if she told investigators last year that it was possible Weinstein took Young to the room, Salinas replied: 'What's true is that I wasn't there in a bathroom scenario. It could have happened but it didn't mean I was there.'

She also denied the suggestion that she brought attractive young women to Weinstein, saying: 'All of my friends look good'.

Salinas said during her testimony that she met Weinstein in 2012 while she was an aspiring actress.

She denied having a romantic relationship with him, adding that he had a 'very strong personality' and 'at times, he wasn't nice to me'.

Mexican model Claudia Salinas testified on Monday. She was accused last week by prosecution witness Lauren Marie Young of doing nothing to stop her alleged sex assault

Lauren Marie Young (above) testified last week that when Weinstein groped her in a Beverly Hills hotel room bathroom in 2013 there was another woman there who did nothing to stop it

The testimony came during the fourth week of Weinstein's high-profile rape trial as it nears its conclusion well ahead of schedule.

When asked if he had watched the Oscars on Sunday night as he headed into court Monday morning, Weinstein responded: 'No'.

The trial is expected to now call on several defense witnesses after prosecutors rested their case last Thursday following testimony from six women accusing Weinstein of sexual assault, including Jessica Mann, Mimi Haleyi and model Lauren Marie Young.

The 67-year-old has pleaded not guilty to raping Mann and to sexually assaulting Haleyi.

Weinstein's lawyers have said they also plan to call two of Mann's friends: a Hollywood talent agent and a Brazilian actress who lived with her in Los Angeles, who were on the March 2013 trip to New York City where she alleges Weinstein raped her at a midtown Manhattan hotel.

The defense witnesses follow more than two weeks of prosecution testimony, including the accounts of six women who say the once-powerful Hollywood boss subjected them to vile sexual behavior.

Weinstein's lawyers last week used a memory expert, cognitive psychologist Elizabeth Loftus, to try to cement doubts about the women's allegations after cross-examinations that sought to highlight inconsistencies in some of their accounts.

In some cases, the encounters the women were recalling happened a decade or longer ago.

Weinstein's lawyers haven't said whether he will testify. He faces life in prison if convicted of predatory sexual assault, which is the most serious charge against him.

During the weeks-long trial, Weinstein's attorneys have questioned his accusers about their appearance at the time of the alleged attacks, their drinking habits and whether they used Weinstein to land a Hollywood acting job.

Harvey Weinstein arrived at the Manhattan court on Monday aided by his walker for the fourth week of his high-profile rape trial
Financial pressure makes CFOs less likely to blow the whistle

A recent study finds that corporate financial managers do a great job of detecting signs of potential fraud, but are less likely to voice these concerns externally when their company is under pressure to meet a financial target.

"One of the take-away messages here is that auditors, investors, regulators and other stakeholders should be prepared to identify red flags on their own, rather than expecting management to raise the issue," says Joe Brazel, corresponding author of a paper on the work and Jenkins Distinguished Professor of Accounting at North Carolina State University. "That could be challenging, since research suggests many of these stakeholders aren't as skilled as financial managers at detecting fraud red flags."

For this study, researchers recruited 204 financial managers - such as chief financial officers (CFOs) and controllers - who worked for private or publicly held companies based in Italy. Study participants were given a suite of financial and nonfinancial information, similar to the materials that CFOs are asked to review at the end of a fiscal year, and asked to respond to a series of questions as if they were acting in the role of CFO.

The study participants were split into four groups. One group was told that the company was under significant pressure to meet a financial target and was also given data that included inconsistencies that could be viewed as red flags, or indicators of potential fraud. One group was under pressure but received no red flags. One group received the red flags but was not under pressure to meet the target. And one group had no red flags and no pressure to meet a target.

The researchers found that the financial managers were adept at identifying the red flags, and that the presence of red flags made it more likely that participants would report internally to their chief executive officer (CEO) about any potential departures from accepted accounting practices. Participants who discovered red flags and were not under financial pressure were also more likely to take their concerns to external parties, like their auditor, if the company didn't address the potential fraud.

However, if under pressure, financial managers became significantly less willing to approach external parties.

"In other words, in really important scenarios - when the pressure is on - executives don't blow the whistle," Brazel says. "They shut down."

The researchers also found that two other variables played a significant role. Executives who had been with their company for a longer time were more likely to keep quiet about their concerns. And CFOs who came from accounting backgrounds were much more likely to go public with their concerns than CFOs from a finance or banking background.

"Broadly speaking, when a company was under pressure to hit a financial target, managers felt that the short-term harm of blowing the whistle on red flags was too high to risk - even though it could lead to professional ruin if any fraud ever came to light," Brazel says. "That's likely because, in the scenarios we presented, there was the possibility that reporting red flags to the external parties could result in a failure to meet financial target - and that could lead to the company's bankruptcy.

"In short, while financial managers are very good at identifying red flags, and can be relied on to report internally, they're reluctant to report potential fraud publicly when the pressure is on.

"It's also worth noting that this study was done with participants in Italy, but it was inspired by issues that are of global concern," Brazel says. "And the findings are consistent with what we would expect to see in other large markets - including the United States."

###

The paper, "Reporting Concerns About Earnings Quality: An Examination of Corporate Managers," is published in the Journal of Business Ethics. The paper was co-authored by Lorenzo Lucianetti of the University of Chieti and Pescara, and by Tammie Schaefer of the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

This story has been published on: 2020-02-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Major airlines from across the world are suspending flights to China amid the outbreak of the deadly contagious virus that has claimed more than 900 lives in the east-Asian country. According to reports, some airlines have cancelled all flights to China, while some have cancelled few flights and routes. The temporary measure by the airlines is a response to tackle the outbreak of the virus as it is rapidly spreading across the globe.

Read: China Praises PM Modi's Letter To XI On Coronavirus Assistance

Among the airlines that have cancelled all flights to China are Australian Airlines, British Airways, Delta Airlines, Egyptair, El Al Israel Airlines, Finnair, Iberia Airlines, Kenya Airways, Lion Air, Oman and Saudia, Saudi Arabia's state airline, Qatar Airways, Rwandair, United Airlines, Vietnam Airlines. Meanwhile, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific Airways, Emirates and Etihad, Hainan Airlines, Qantas Airways, Singapore Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, and Philippine Airlines have cancelled some flights or have changed their usual routes to China until further notice.

Read: China Has Cured Thrice The Number Of Coronavirus Fatalities, Says Foreign Ministry

Coronavirus outbreak

China is not only suffering from the deadly contagious virus but its economy has also taken a serious hit by the temporary ban imposed by airlines and countries advising people not to travel to the country until the disease is contained fully. China has claimed that they are battling the disease quite effectively has authorities in the country recently built a hospital in a record time of just eight days. China is also building another hospital in Wuhan city, the epicentre of the virus, to house patients infected by the disease.

Read: Coronavirus Outbreak: UK Calls Deadly Virus As 'serious And Imminent Threat'

According to reports, more than 40,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in China as of February 10. US Center for Disease Control (CDC) has said that the virus has already spread to 27 countries and may spread to other nations as well. United States Presidents Coronavirus Task Force on Friday informed that the development of a vaccine is progressing well and it would hopefully be ready within three months. Media reports had earlier suggested that the virus originated from a seafood market in China's Hubei province, where animals were being traded illegally.

Read: US Officials Report Coronavirus Vaccine Likely To Be Ready In 3 Months
By Jeremy Rose, CFSB Feb. 09, 2020 | 08:27 PM | MURRAY

CFSB is announcing a partnership with Pathos Inc., a 501 c3, non-profit entity whose mission is to promote new languages for children and adults alike from ages 3 months and up. Pathos Inc., has StarBright Language Centers in Paducah and Murray. StarBright has developed a language learning program through a Murray State University (MSU) grant.

This grant has enabled over 1200 children in three school years and 11 counties to learn new languages. MSUs Global Language Department and their language students taught the clubs classes. Currently, Spanish and French classes are taught at Mayfield Middle school, Hendron Elementary and Reidland Elementary through a 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant. Spanish Clubs also meet at Southwest, North and East Elementary in Calloway County, with parents paying for the program.

CFSB will work with StarBright Language Centers on a concerted effort to bring a Spanish club to HeadStart in Murray at Alexander Hall and to HeadStart in Paducah at Scholar House. StarBright is looking to expand into Graves and Marshall Counties with the program. For more information, visit pathosinc.org.
CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla., Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying Solar Orbiter, an international cooperative mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, lifted off from Space Launch Complex-41 on Feb. 9 at 11:03 p.m. EST. This marks the 82nd successful launch of an Atlas V rocket and 137th launch for ULA.

Solar Orbiter will work closely with NASA's Parker Solar Probe, launched by ULA on a Delta IV Heavy rocket in 2018. Together, both spacecraft will provide a never-before-seen global view of the sun.

"The ULA team is extremely honored to launch Solar Orbiter, enabling more discovery of our sun," said Gary Wentz, ULA vice president of Government and Commercial Programs. "Thank you to our NASA and international mission partners for the outstanding teamwork."

Solar Orbiter launched on an Atlas V 411 configuration vehicle including a 4-meter payload fairing (PLF) and standing 189 ft. tall. The Atlas booster for this mission was powered by the RD AMROSS RD-180 engine. Aerojet Rocketdyne provided the one AJ-60A SRB and RL10A-4-2 engine for the Centaur upper stage. NASA's Launch Services Program at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida selected ULA's proven Atlas V vehicle for this mission and is responsible for management and oversight of the Atlas V launch services.

ULA's next launch is the AEHF-6 mission for the U.S. Space Force in March 2020.

With more than a century of combined heritage, ULA is the world's most experienced and reliable launch service provider. ULA has successfully launched more than 135 missions to orbit that provide Earth observation capabilities, enable global communications, unlock the mysteries of our solar system, and support life-saving technology.

For more information on ULA, visit the ULA website at www.ulalaunch.com, or call the ULA Launch Hotline at 1-877-ULA-4321 (852-4321). Join the conversation at www.facebook.com/ulalaunch, twitter.com/ulalaunch and instagram.com/ulalaunch.

SOURCE United Launch Alliance (ULA)

Related Links

http://www.ulalaunch.com


LAS CRUCES, N.M. - New Mexico State University has announced it will close its Confucius Institute, a program designed around Mandarin Chinese.

The Las Cruces Sun-News reports the decision is part of a wave of closures of Confucius Institutes at American universities in recent years.

New Mexico State cited low enrolment and funding issues with the Office of Chinese Language Council International, the institutes headquarters in Beijing, in its decision to close the institute.

The schools Confucius Institute was founded in 2007 in partnership with Chinas Shijiazhuang University of Applied Technology and, later, with Hebei Normal University.
President Trump Has Not Waged War

When it comes to matters of war, you might have heard of something called an authorization for the use of military force (AUMF). In recent days following Iranian aggression and the President Trumps use of defensive force, there has been a lot of attention paid to prior authorizations and the U.S. militarys ongoing presence in the Middle East. This was a primary focus of the legislative activity in the House last month.

According to Article I of the U.S. Constitution, the power and decision to declare war is entrusted to Congress. Moreover, the War Powers Resolution of 1973 states clearly that the president cannot commit the United States to an armed conflict without the consent of Congress. I have long been supportive of having a debate about how the legislative branch can reclaim this authority, especially following President Barack Obamas unauthorized use of military force in Libya.

For background, an AUMF is the formal means by which Congress authorizes an Administration to deploy and use force against an enemy. There are currently two AUMF resolutions  with no sunset dates  that were passed by Congress and signed into law in the early 2000s. It is under these resolutions granted while President George W. Bush was in office and leading as commander in chief that the U.S. has continued to engage terrorists and insurgencies across the Middle East.

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma) speaks at a rally for the Violence Against Women Act at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2019. Photo by Indianz.Com (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

The original AUMF, passed by Congress in 2001, gave the president the authority to use all "necessary and appropriate force" against those who "planned, authorized, committed or aided" the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Another AUMF was passed soon after in 2002, giving the president additional authority to defend the United States against continuing Iraqi threats and to enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions relating to Iraq. Since 2001, when Congress passed the original AUMF against al-Qaida and against associated enemies, the nature of the war on terror has changed dramatically. We now find ourselves fighting enemies that simply did not exist at the time and in areas that no one in Congress anticipated we would be at war.

To be clear though, President Donald Trump has not waged war with Iran  nor does he want to do so. Despite claims to the contrary, his record to date demonstrates incredible restraint and caution in dealing with the ever-aggressive Iranian regime. In fact, it was only after a series of provocations against the United States that the president chose to strike back with decisive and defensive force, taking out a longtime terrorist leader responsible for the brutal deaths of hundreds of Americans and undoubtedly plotting to kill more. In this case, I believe that the president acted well within his constitutional authority under Article II as commander in chief.

Nevertheless, House Democrats brought up and pushed through two ill-timed resolutions in the name of reclaiming congressional war powers. Unfortunately, these misguided measures were clearly more about striking at the president than protecting American interests and congressional prerogative. Moreover, the resolutions were rushed to the House floor in such a way that purposely left out and shut out Republican views in this important debate.

The first resolution would repeal the 2002 AUMF without providing a replacement to ensure the U.S. military can continue to manage evolving threats in the region. While I agree that the U.S. should not be operating under such an outdated AUMF, we should not repeal without an appropriate replacement. Otherwise, we risk endangering the lives of our dedicated military as well as recklessly delegitimizing their ongoing counterterrorism operations in Iraq and the broader Middle East. Such a move ultimately emboldens terrorists, including those sponsored by the Iranian Regime.

The second resolution considered in the House last month would prohibit any future U.S. military operations against Iran  even to defend against Iranian provocation and imminent threats to U.S. or allied personnel and service members. This attempt to prevent the president from exercising his constitutional responsibility to defend the United States sends the wrong message to the Iranian regime about American resolve.

Certainly, those serving in the U.S. military need to know they have the full support of Congress in whatever mission they are tasked, especially as they are deployed to places no one anticipated in 2001. Therefore, I believe that the president should bring to Congress a clear and comprehensive strategy to protect American interests, deter reprehensible acts and eliminate jihadi forces that are operating and destabilizing our regional allies.

I welcome a debate regarding a new AUMF and legislation that properly goes through the legislative process. This is the only way to reverse a dangerous precedent for the presidency, Republican or Democrat, who may deploy or threaten the deployment of U.S. troops to any region for any purpose without the consent and explicit authorization of Congress.

Tom Cole, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, is serving his eighth term in Congress as the elected representative of Oklahoma's 4th Congressional District. He is recognized as an advocate for taxpayers and small business, a proponent for a strong national defense and a leader in promoting biomedical research. He is considered the foremost expert in the House on issues dealing with Native Americans and tribal governments. He and his wife, Ellen, have one son, Mason, and reside in Moore, Oklahoma.

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Egypt seems determined to create a central Sinai governorate, carving out parts of the peninsula's existing northern Sinai and southern Sinai provinces. The result, officials hope, will reduce terrorism in the area and allow the country to take advantage of the region's potential.

Maj. Gen. Khaled Fouda, governor of southern Sinai, told a visiting parliamentary delegation Jan. 19 that a decision would be issued soon on whether to set up the proposed province.

The partition plan dates back years, and was especially notable when then-deputy Prime Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said he would run in the May 2014 presidential election. A proposal to redivide the provinces and establish new cities was part of his platform. After his election, a special committee proposed provincial borders and by December of that year, plans even included an airport for the new province. The government said central Sinai would consist of the southern Sinai towns of Ras Sedr, as the capital, Abu Zenima, Abou Redis, Nuweiba and Taba. Nekhel in northern Sinai would also become part of the new province.

Some Sinai tribes, however, rebuffed the proposal at that time. Sheikh Salemeh Masmah, leader of the Haywat tribe in Taba, said annexing parts of the southern and northern Sinai provinces to form a third could cause problems among the tribes, whose social lifestyles vary. He also noted that mountains would be a barrier to the annexation.

Recently, Sheikh Abdullah Jahama, leader of the Tarabin Bedouins and head of the Sinai Mujahedeen Society, told Al-Monitor, The decision to create the central Sinai governorate is designed to place the focus on development in the central parts of Sinai, where terrorism hotbeds mushroomed." According to him, the area has much to offer, and "the central parts of Sinai are known for their vast territory, large population and natural resources  most notably the quarries.

In past decades, the government focused on developing the northern and southern parts of the peninsula, while the central parts lack infrastructure and services. "These will be made available when these parts become their own governorate," he explained.

However, Jahama said, "The Sinai tribes [still] fear that the redemarcation of the Sinai [borders] will break up the families and divide areas where a single family lives. Based on that, the proposal must be raised for discussion among the tribes.

Rahmi Abd Rabbo, a parliament member representing northern Sinai, told El-Balad news Jan. 18 that establishing a central Sinai province would boost the population there, help develop villages "and contribute to the discovery of the natural resources such as marble, glass sand, coal and cement. The area also has fertile soil, he noted.

Medical and religious tourism also would benefit from development in the central peninsula, said Attia Moussa, a parliament member for the south Sinai province. Providing central Sinai with an administrative body and governor of its own would help boost investments," he told Al-Monitor.

Another parliament member, Salama al-Raqiei, told Al-Monitor he had previously proposed establishing a central Sinai province, to include Ras Sedr and administrative divisions for Hasna, Nekhel and Taba.

"There should be an integrated strategy to establish [the central Sinai province], to avoid a cancellation of the decision, as happened to the decisions to set up the 6th of October and Helwan governorates.

The government abolished a decision to set up the 6th of October and Helwan provinces as separate governorates, deciding instead to keep them as cities in the Giza and Cairo provinces, respectively. The decision had been implemented, but employees and residents of those areas objected because of the ensuing administrative confusion.

Like Jahama, Raqiei noted there are similar concerns now among tribes in towns bordering the proposed province, and some of the communities that would be affected are close-knit. But, he said, officials "will undoubtedly take that into account when demarcating the border of the new governorate.

He stressed the importance of developing the central peninsula, noting, "The central parts of Sinai are known for its cement industry, mining resources, and marble and coal quarries. They are affiliated with the north Sinai governorate, but lack attention from the government."

According to Raqiei, [Most of] the residents of the central parts of Sinai welcome this decision, which allows them to benefit from the budget and services of the central governorates administrative body. This is because they suffer marginalization and lack services.

Also, he said, "The state has become aware that the best means to combat extremist [groups] is through development and the resulting scattered populations. Based on that, the work in the coming period will focus on developing the central parts of Sinai that previously suffered from terrorism.
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PLANO, TX / ACCESSWIRE / February 10, 2020 / Amazing Energy Oil and Gas Co. (OTCQB:AMAZ) ("Amazing", "Amazing Energy", or "the Company"), today announced the resignation of Director Jed Meisner. Amazing has entered into a settlement agreement (the "Settlement") with Mr. Meisner related to multiple matters.Under the Settlement, Amazing will pay $1,800,000.00 for all interest in three promissory notes, with combined principal balances totaling $5,900,000. The notes are secured by deeds of trusts encumbering the Company's leaseholds in Pecos County, Texas; a total of 14,606,649 shares of the Company's Common Stock; and non-operating working interests in certain oil and gas wells. Additionally, Mr. Meisner, and his affiliates, will also forgo any options, warrants and rights to contingent earnings held. Both Amazing and Meisner have agreed to a mutual release of claims against the other party as part of the agreement.About Amazing Energy Oil and GasAmazing Energy Oil and Gas, Co. is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company headquartered in Plano, Texas. The Company's primary leasehold is in the Permian Basin of West Texas. The Company controls over 75,000 acres between their rights in Pecos County, Texas and assets in Lea County, New Mexico, and Walthall County, Mississippi. The Company primarily engages in the exploration, development, production and acquisition of oil and natural gas properties. Amazing Energy's operations are currently focused in the Permian Basin and Gulf Coast regions. More information may be found on Amazing Energy's website at www.amazingenergy.com Notice Regarding Forward-Looking StatementsThis news release contains forward-looking information including statements that include the words "believes," "expects," "anticipate," or similar expressions. Such forward looking-statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition, description of anyone's past success, either financial or strategic, is no guarantee of future success. This news release speaks as of the date first set forth above and the company assumes no responsibility to update the information included herein for events occurring after the date hereof. Information concerning these and other factors can be found in the Company's filings with the SEC, including its Forms 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K, which can be obtained on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov Investor Relations ContactDerek GradwellInvestor RelationsPhone: 512-270-6990Email: ir@ amazingenergy.com Web: www.amazingenergy.com SOURCE: Amazing Energy Oil and Gas
(Natural News) Liberalism has permeated the West since World War II like a disease permeates a healthy cell, and it has just as deleterious of an effect on societies.

But rather than learn the dangerous lessons wrought by Left-wing political ideology that we can all see with our own eyes, Americans and Europeans continue to be seduced by the deceitful promises of utopianism offered by democrats who have but one objective: To keep and hold power.

As reported by Paul Joseph Watson at Summit News, Londoners have suffered yet another terrorist attack by a young, radicalized student of Islam who, frankly, should not have been roaming around in public anyway and would not have been were it not for the abject lunacy of Left-wing politics.

Watson wrote Feb. 3:

20-year-old Islamic terrorist Sudesh Amman, who was shot dead after trying to stab people in Streatham, south London yesterday, was released halfway through his prison sentence despite pledging allegiance to ISIS, encouraging his girlfriend to behead her parents and sharing a tutorial on homemade bombs.

According to Watson, Amman managed to stab two people during a broad daylight attack on a Sunday afternoon before he was quickly taken out of action by plainclothes anti-terror police whod been following him.

In November 2018, according to reports, Amman was sentenced to three years and four months in prison for several offenses that included:

 Pledging allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist caliphate that, at the time, was still in control of sizable land assets in Syria;

 Plotting to carry out knife attacks against British civilians;

 Sharing terrorist manuals that included a bomb making tutorial;

 Encouraging an attack against a speaker in Hyde Park who was stumping on behalf of gay rights;

 Stockpiling arms;

 Encouraging his girlfriend to behead her kuffar (non-believer) parents.

And yet, despite this string of offenses, the liberal justice system in Britain allowed for Amman to be released early  as in, before half his sentence was completed.

Turning a blind eye is not justice  its stupidity

After having been out only a few days, Amman proceeded to carry out a terrorist attack.

Sure, he was being monitored by British anti-terror police, but despite the fact that they took him down quickly, they could not stop him from harming other citizens first.

Watson noted that Ammans case was shockingly similar to another involving Unman Khan, the perpetrator of the November 2019 stabbings on London Bridge.

As Amman had been, Khan, too, was released from his prison sentence early, though he had also been jailed on charges related to terrorism. He had even plotted to kill now-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson as well as bomb the London Stock Exchange.

Even after being banned from London, Khan was nevertheless given a day release from prison in order to attend a course allegedly designed to help offenders reintegrate into society.

A Khan victim, Jack Merritt was one of the coordinators for the course, called Learning Together. His father reacted to Jacks murder by noting that his son would not wish his death to be used as the pretext for more draconian sentences or for detaining people unnecessarily.

Which, unfortunately, is precisely the problem: The attitude of the liberal Westerner.

This forgive and forget mentality is not shared by those who mean us harm. Think about it; if someone is willing to take your life simply because you dont believe in the same god they do, how else can you deal with that threat other than by elimination?

And elimination doesnt have to be by war; societies can eliminate threats by keeping dangerous people who have committed crimes off their streets. They can deport people who refuse to integrate and abide by a societys rules.

There are options, but turning a blind eye in the name of justice and love isnt one of them. When will Western society figure that out again? Because it used to be something we knew instinctively.

Sources include:

Summit.news

NaturalNews.com
BATTLE CREEK, MI -- Zoo specialists in Battle Creek are playing cupid this week as they plan to introduce two snow leopards they hope will breed.

Binder Park Zoo welcomed a two-year-old female snow leopard named Victoria in August. Victoria came from Omahas Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Nebraska.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums played matchmaker and paired Victoria with Binder Park Zoos seven-year-old male, Raj, as a breeding recommendation, according to a release from the zoo.

Mating season for snow leopards is January through mid-March and gestation is 98-104 days. The average litter size is two to three cubs, according to the release.

If Victoria and Raj mate their cubs will most likely stay at Binder Park Zoo for two years and then the hope is that they receive their own breeding recommendation which could move them to another zoo, said Leslie Walsh, Manager of Marketing & Development for Binder Park Zoo.

Snow leopards in the wild are typically solitary animals. They get together only to breed and then cubs will stay with the mother until they mature which is usually about two years, Walsh said.

Until Victoria arrived, Raj was the lone snow leopard in Battle Creek.

Rajs mother, Shanti, was the last snow leopard cub born at Binder Park Zoo due to the Large Carnivore Act, a law that prevented the breeding of large carnivores in Michigan, according to the release.

Shanti was later transferred to Akron Zoo in Ohio where she has since produced eight cubs, including Raj.

As a one-year-old cub Raj came to Binder Park Zoo in 2013, according to the release.

In March 2019, the Large Carnivore Act was amended to allow accredited zoos a license to breed large carnivores with a Michigan state permit.

Diane Thompson, president & CEO of Binder Park Zoo, praised the amendment and celebrated Binder Park Zoos permit which approves the zoo to breed this species of carnivores.

That effort allows the zoo to elevate its mission of conservation," Thompson said. "When guests see snow leopards at the zoo, its a special experience that creates awareness and understanding that we can make a difference together - for snow leopards and other animals, too.

Also on MLive:

Name a cockroach or rat after your ex and watch zoo animals eat it on Valentines Day

Bells offers Black Hearted IPA to the broken-hearted on Valentines Day

Mexican gray wolves get new home at Binder Park Zoo with state grant
Piers Morgan was forced to apologise to Good Morning Britain viewers after Sharon Osborne swore live on air just three minutes into her appearance on the show.

The television personality, 67, had joined her daughter Kelly, blogger Perez Hilton and Dame Joan Collins inside The Beverly Hills Hotel to discuss last night's Oscars with Piers and Susanna Reid.

But as Sharon recounted her conversation with director Bong Joon Ho - who took home the Best Picture gong for his Korean drama Parasite - she accidentally swore live on air.

The mother-of-three had not realised her microphone was live when she said 'such a f***ing...' as the show cut from a red carpet interview clip back to the panel.

Sharon Osbourne (pictured with daughter Kelly) swore on Good Morning Britain when she didn't realise her microphone was live

Piers rushed to apologise for the blunder moments later, joking that he was 'unsurprised' it took her only three minutes to swear on the live show.

He said: 'We just have to make an immediate and early apology for some profanity that may have been heard earlier.

'You'll be unsurprised to hear that Sharon Osbourne, it took her well, it's 27 minutes into the show, three minutes into Sharon Osbourne's appearance on the programme, and we've already got to air a formal apology'.

Sharon's youngest daughter Kelly, 35, burst out laughing as her mother realised the mistake she had made, and covered her face with her hands in horror.

The mother-of-three had been recounting a conversation with director Bong Joon Ho - who took home the Best Picture gong for his Korean drama Parasite

Piers Morgan (pictured with Susanna Reid) rushed to apologise for the blunder moments later, joking that he was 'unsurprised' it took her only three minutes to swear on the live show

'Sharon, we need to get through the next two and a half hours without being taken off air', Piers continued.

Sharon quickly jumped in to offer her own apology for her slip, explaining that she was 'repeating something that director Bong had said to me earlier'.

She said: 'I will apologise. I am so sorry, because I didn't know I was on air, and I was repeating something that director Bong had said to me earlier, in English!'

Good Morning Britain viewers took to Twitter after they noticed the gaffe live on air, with one writing: 'You don't have Sharon Osbourne on a show with out her swearing. It's kind of a given really.'

Good Morning Britain viewers took to Twitter after they noticed the hilarious gaffe live on air

Sharon had appeared on the Oscars special alongside Kelly, blogger Perez Hilton and Dame Joan Collins

Another said: 'Love the fact @MrsSOsbourne had only been on @GMB three minutes and she's swearing, classic Sharon. It's why she's loved'.

Bong Joon-ho's Parasite made history last night when it became the first ever foreign film to win Best Picture at the 92nd Annual Academy Awards, held at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre.

The critically-acclaimed movie - which earned four total throughout the show, including Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature - beat the likes of Sam Mendes' 1917, Martin Scorsese's The Irishman and Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
A Russian court on Monday sentenced a group of young anarchists and anti-fascists to between six and 18 years in prison on terror and other charges, a lawyer told AFP.

A military court in the central Russian city of Penza handed down the verdict in the so-called "Network" case, Sergei Morgunov, a lawyer for one of the seven defendants, told AFP.

Rights activists and defence lawyers strongly criticised the case overseen by the FSB security service, a successor to the KGB, saying the men had been tortured.

All seven had denied the charges.

Dmitry Pchelintsev and Ilya Shakursky were convicted of creating a "terrorist organisation", among other charges, and sentenced to 18 and 16 years in prison respectively.

The FSB has accused Pchelintsev, 27, of creating the "Network" with the goal of overthrowing the government and seeking to attack government offices and employees.

Five other men were found guilty of participating in the organisation.

Several members of the group were also convicted of the illegal possession of weapons and explosives and attempted drug trafficking.

Five of the seven men will serve their terms in a maximum security prison.

Arrested in 2017 and 2018, most of the men said they had been tortured in custody with electrodes and beaten to extract a confession.

One contracted tuberculosis last year while in custody, his relatives said.

The security service said it had found two Makarov pistols and grenade parts during searches.

Memorial, a top human rights organisation in Russia, has pronounced the men political prisoners, describing them as leftist activists and anti-fascists.

In an open letter, relatives of the men had called the charges against them "fabricated" and demanded a fair trial.

"Everything in this case has been made up," said the letter released by For Human Rights, an NGO.

"This is a monstrously harsh verdict, but we didn't expect anything else," Oleg Orlov of Memorial told AFP.

The "Network" affair is one of several cases initiated by the FSB.

Critics say it is similar to another case against an alleged extremist organisation called "The New Greatness" whose young members have also been accused of plotting to overthrow the Russian government.

Critics say both cases have been fabricated by the security services using secret witnesses and confessions obtained under duress.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Leslie Plaza Johnson/Freelancer

Union membership in Texas fell back to a historic low in 2019, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows.

Texas union members accounted for only 4 percent of wage and salary workers last year, tied with 2016 for the state's lowest membership on record. Nationally, union members account for 10.3 percent of employed workers.
Fashion label Namilia deconstructed Asian stereotypes in the porn industry, empowering the demure, submissive woman with bold dominatrix looks worn exclusively by Asian models at Sunday's show, including several Pornhub actors.

The Herotica collection shown during New York Fashion Week deconstructed the traditional, buttoned-up Chinese dress. The gown kept the same silhouette but was done in dominatrix leather with a hand-embroidered electric blue dragon snaking across the front.

Another look featured the same traditional dress on one side of the model, but the other side was stripped down to black leather dominatrix garb.

A model is prepped backstage before the Namilia fashion show at Pier 59 Studios during NYFW

The Herotica collection shown during New York Fashion Week deconstructed the traditional, buttoned-up Chinese dress. The gown kept the same silhouette but was done in dominatrix leather with a hand-embroidered electric blue dragon snaking across the front

A short, colorful look folded elaborately around the collar into a Chinese takeout box, complete with long, dripping. crystal ramen noodles and pieces of shrimp with words about male genitalia

Another Chinese takeout box-inspired outfit mixed pretty pinks with dominatrix leather

A short, colorful look folded elaborately around the collar into a Chinese takeout box, complete with long, dripping. crystal ramen noodles and pieces of shrimp with words about male genitalia.

Namilia's message is clear. Women like sex as much as men but are often shamed for it. Porn is typically seen as a man's thing, 'but women are also interested in porn and sex, but we were just excluded in the past,' said one of the designers, Emilia Pfohl.

The brand reached out to porn stars to help them reframe that narrative.

Jade Kush (left) and Marica Hase (right) also walked the runway

Namilia designers Emilia Pfohl (center left) and Nan Li (center right) in September 2018 at New York Fashion Week

'I don't think motherhood and sexuality are mutually exclusive at all,' said Pornhub brand ambassador Asa Akira, a 35-year-old college graduate whose been in the business for a dozen years and gave birth to a son last year.

She walked the show wearing a sexy, black kimono-style bodysuit. When she unfurled her arms, fabric hung dramatically to the floor with a reference to wrecking male genitalia.

Porn star Asa Akira walked the show wearing a sexy, black kimono-style bodysuit. When she unfurled her arms, fabric hung dramatically to the floor with a reference to wrecking male genitalia

Nothing is off limits for the Berlin-based brand, composed of Pfohl and Nan Li, who met in design school. Their first collection, whose title can't be repeated, featured vagina- empowering references to pop idols including Nicki Minaj, Rihanna and Miley Cyrus.

Paris Hilton opened their show in 2018, and last year's show featured holograms of a crying Leonardo DiCaprio and Justin Bieber prints photo-edited onto Jesus body.

The Namilia collection is modeled at Pier 59 Studios during New York Fashion Week on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020 in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Celebrities including Jennifer Lopez, Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Rihanna, Cardi B and Ellie Goulding have all worn the brand.

On Sunday, several looks turned models into Transformers, with oversize, clawlike arms inscribed with sexually empowering words. A sculptural neon-green and black look included a riff on the Louis Vuitton pattern, but with dollar signs and male genitalia and large, insect-style wings coming out the back. The designers said it was their take on the Victoria's Secret angel wings, in a way that less objectified women.

The fashion collection provides a sexy twist on traditional Asian clothing and fabrics

The looks were worn exclusively by Asian models at Sunday's show, including several Pornhub actors

A model dressed in a long leather jacket and underwear is prepped backstage

The schoolgirl uniform was also turned on its head, with a pink and white monogram on a pleated leather skirt.

'When is something part of fashion, what's high culture, what's low culture, what's profane, what's not? And we wanted to take porn into a new context to kind of normalize sex work, prostitution, pornography and put it in a fashion show context, so there's not as much shame and taboo,' Li said during a backstage interview.

The schoolgirl uniform was also turned on its head, with a pink and white monogram on a pleated leather skirt

Their designs are heavily inspired by pop culture, 'looking from the outside at American culture' to create 'a revolutionary new feminist youth culture,' said Li, who freelanced for Kanye West's brand Yeezy in the past.

Several streetwear looks included edgy motorcycle race suits in feminine pinks, and sweatshirts with the Pornhub and Herotica label. The brands were also printed on a stylish black velour tracksuit.

'My scariest thing before I became a porn star was that people judge me and also fear of what my mom would think,' said Marica Hase, a 38-year-old from Japan who also walked in the show. 'I love porn. I'm a little bit of a naughty girl.'

On Sunday, several looks turned models into Transformers, with oversize, clawlike arms inscribed with sexually empowering words

The designs are heavily inspired by pop culture 'looking from the outside at American culture'

The designers wanted to take porn into a new context to normalize sex work, prostitution, pornography and put it in a fashion show context

The Namilia collection is modeled at Pier 59 Studios during New York Fashion Week on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020 in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Several streetwear looks included edgy, leather motorcycle race suits

The Namilia collection is modeled at Pier 59 Studios during New York Fashion Week on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020 in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
Fellow Ghanaians, I always hold the view that our President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, certainly deserves an award from us. And it must not be an electoral award. In my humble opinion, coming to the end of his tenure this year 2020, having served as one-term as President, President Akufo Addo must either be handed the gold medal as the "GOAT" in our recent history, or awarded as the only "GOAT" since this geographical entity called Ghana was christened as such at Independence, where both "GOATS" do not mean the same thing.

The first "GOAT" award which President Akufo Addo is craving represents "Greatest Of All Time", and the second GOAT title, if he is unfit for the first GOAT, represents "Greatest Of All Thieves". Be that as it may, the President certainly deserves a gold medal from Ghanaians as the GOAT. However, the difference between these two GOATs hinges on the Ts. One of the Ts stands for "Time" and the other "T" connotes "Thieves".

The judgment is absolutely in the bosom of Ghanaians: whether the President deserves to take the first GOAT with its "T" being "Time" or the second GOAT with its "T" depicting "Thieves". And in this case, it must be "one man, one GOAT". Because, the President cannot be the Greatest Of All Time (GOAT), and at the same time being the "Greatest Of All Thieves" (GOAT) and the vice versa in our Ghanaian political experimentation. Nonetheless, considering the number of scandalous deals and malfeasances that have rocked the Jubilee House ranging from the BOST contaminated fuels saga, the dubious PDS deal, the 1.5 Billion inflated Ameri Deal, dubious KelniGVG Deal, the latest vanished Galamsay excavators, etc., one wonders the President can pass the acid test of corruption and go ahead to win the first GOAT Award.

In the course of last week, Ghanaians nearly conferred upon the President the title of the "Greatest Of All Time" for his supposed order for the arrest of his own General Secretary and Minister for Environment who labored to bring him to power. But just as we could say Jack the President decided to embrace the second GOAT (Greatest Of All Thieves) when another communique was issued from his office asking Ghanaians to disregard the said call or order.

Whether the two men were actually involved in the disappearance of the confiscated excavators of "Galamsayers" (illegal miners) or not is not what I am looking for. My focus is on the positive Perception Index of the President that could have been created to substantiate and buttress his claims of being anti-corruption crusader. However, that speculation turned out to be more embarrassing than "a cocaine turns to soda water or flour at the police station". Shame!

But you see, the factions within the ruling government have really made it difficult for any discerning Ghanaian to appreciate whether the call for the arrest of an insider within the government by the President for acts of corruption, is actually a genuine fight against the canker or it is a mere internal political witch-hunt. Cursory look at the government's commitment to fighting against corruption suggests all members of the New Patriotic Party, NPP, are not equal before the greatest political Lord of the Party (President Akufo Addo). Objectively speaking, it could be observed that while a supersonic and breakneck speed is often launched into the investigation and subsequent dismissal of certain members of the party alleged to have been involved in any form of cobwebs of corruption, there's a great deal of foot-dragging of cases or allegations if some "First Class" members of the same party have their snouts in the honeypot of corruption!

Recall the BOST saga: the presidency was very quiet because one of the "political Princesses" of the country was rumored to have been part of that gangsterism. Thus, the daughter of the President himself was said to have been one of the looters. As a result, the case was deodorized and eventually suffocated to death. No crime was committed.

The same was not the case when the Ameri Deal scandal hit President Akufo Addo like a thunderbolt. Mr. Boakye Argyaku was asked to either "jump or be pushed", and when the man was still afraid to jump having spent only few months in a government where very thick and sweet "juice" continues to flow, especially if you are the beloved political daughter or son of the President like Hon. Usula Owusu Ekuful and Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Minister for Communications and Information respectively, Mr. Argyaku was eventually pushed.

Again, when the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) was exposed by the Anas Aremeyaw Anas's TigerEye PI's investigations about how members of that committee or closer to it, engaged in underhand dealings to circumvent the roadmap to ending the menace, nobody was arrested. The funeral or even cemetery silence was only what exuded from the Jubilee House. Nobody lost his job for that let alone being arrested.

Recall the comments made by the Finance Minister on the Free Education which was a complete dirty slap on the face of the government and on the face of the President in particular. Had Hon. Ken Ofori Atta been the "phlegm" belonging to the nose and not the sight belonging to the eye of President Akufo Addo, those comments could have cost him his Nation's Purse holder's job. But he is the beloved cousin of the President.

So, there are some "fat toes" in every government no spurious fighter of corruption can step on. Like President Akufo Addo, they only hunt down those who have fallen out of their favor and grace with them over time. Yet, such bogus fighters of corruption never miss opportunity to pay continuous lips service about tackling the monster of corruption.

Exactly the reason why the government, within twinkling of an eye, was prompted to issue a disclaimer regarding the call for the arrest of those two gentlemen. In saner countries like China, the Minister would have been in a hot soup as well by now. Because whether he was aware of the excavators disappearance or not, at least they being under his watch, he should have been part of those arrested. So that investigative findings could exonerate him.

Of course, the government can choose to do what it wants in respect of the ways it deems fit in conducting investigations on any rot. However, the personalities involved have always predicted the methods and the political will with which the government goes about its job of uncovering a dicey matter such as this.

I sympathize with the other six people who have been bogged down by the police. Perhaps, they were not one of the prodigious sons of the President.

Such a selective fight against corruption is what renders President Akufo Addo's efforts as anti-corruption Crusader Jaundiced and dead on arrival.

In China over 10,000 people have been indicted by Xi Jinping, the supreme leader of the Communist Party of China. And some have even estimated over one million public officials put on trial for corruption in Beijing alone. Many senior military officers have committed suicides while investigations are still ongoing. President Xi Jinping is fighting corruption in China. And it is not magic. Upon taking office, Xi vowed to crack down on "tigers and flies", that is, high-level officials and local civil servants alike. The same cannot be said of our dear President. Perhaps, because of nepotism, which his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping has eschewed.

But, like our men of old say, when the frog finally dies, we shall determine its fullest length. I hope the NPP handover notes have already been prepared for the next NDC III government to take over. The next government shall objectively establish who indeed was at fault and whose case was swept under the carpet.

Long Live Ghana,

God Bless Us All.

The Writer, Iddrisu Abdul Hakeem, is MasterCard Foundation Scholar (Alumnus) @ KNUST.

CONTACT: 0261669954 (WhatsApp Only)
For yet another year the self-proclaimed love experts at Amazon have failed to name Brandon  or any city at all from friendly Manitoba  in its annual list of the most romantic cities in the country.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/2/2020 (700 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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My plans are to hang out with my boyfriend of four years. Happy Valentines Day!  Denver Pawich

For yet another year the self-proclaimed love experts at Amazon have failed to name Brandon  or any city at all from friendly Manitoba  in its annual list of the most romantic cities in the country.

Every year, the online retailer tallies which cities are buying certain types of products such as sexual wellness items, romance novels, romantic comedies, jewelery and more to determine the list.

While some big cities like Toronto, Ottawa and Calgary made the list, smaller-sized cities like Campbell River, B.C., Bonnyville, Alta. and Pembroke, Ont. made the grade as well.

Richard Waldner (left): I still have yet to surprise her. The less I know about it, the more of a surprise it is for her. Nicole Mogk (right): Im usually not excited for Valentines Day but this is my first spent with Richard. Yeah, Im excited.

The last time Manitoba was represented at all was in 2016, when Winnipeg made it to No. 16 on the list. Brandon was thrown a bit of a bone in 2018 when it failed to rank in the top 20 but was named the most romantic city in the province.

To prevent the affectionate trend-setters in No. 1-ranked Fort McMurray, Alta. from looking down on Brandon, the Sun went to Shoppers Mall in the afternoon to do some interviews and prove that love is alive in the Wheat City.

Shoppers were asked two questions: "What are their plans for Valentines Day?" and "What is the worst Valentines Day gift youve ever received?"

There was great news on the gift-giving front. Except for one person, no one could think of a bad Valentines Day gift given to them. People stopped, tilted their heads in contemplation and ultimately came up blank.

Probably not too much. Just a nice supper at home. Shelley Kurtenbach, with husband Doug

Even if Brandon lovers arent always hitting home runs when it comes to gifts, no one is dropping the ball.

However, the one negative instance was bad enough that it might downgrade what would be an A+ record down a couple of notches.

Amy Jiroux-Roi said that on one Valentines Day a couple of years ago, she went on a date with a guy shed met through the online dating app Tinder shortly beforehand. Her "gift" was that when it came time to pay for the bill after dinner, he disappeared for half an hour and forced her to pay for everything, later claiming hed been stuck in the bathroom.

Then they went to a movie. Once again, when it came time to pay for tickets and snacks, he disappeared for quite a while and claimed the same thing.

Same as last year: nothing. Nothing special. Those days are gone.  Ken Smith

"It was really, really, really bad," she said. "I think it was one of my worst (dates)."

This year, (she) is going home to Quebec with friends for Valentines Day to spend time with family because her current boyfriend has been deployed to Latvia with the Canadian Forces.

When it came time for other interviewees, it was essentially impossible to judge Brandonites date planning skills. A couple of people said they didnt know exactly what was going to happen because their significant other had promised them a surprise.

"Were going to be going out for supper," said Brooke L., who didnt want to give her last name. She didnt know where her significant other is taking her. "Its going to be a surprise for me."

One older couple shrugged when asked and said they would just be having a nice meal. Another older couple said that at their age, they dont really do anything special to celebrate the day.

Instead of any grand gestures or acts of desperation, there was a quiet confidence in the interviewees. Perhaps this is a sign that locals are confident enough in their love to not worry about a holiday that you dont even get a day off for.

That, or the people in Brandon planning dates are flying by the seats of their pants and are hoping that their last-minute decisions will be enough to not disappoint their significant other. If thats the case, there are plenty of local businesses ready and able to help save the day with gifts and meals.

 cslark@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @ColinSlark
There are about 50,000 New Yorkers in the application process who have not been approved for the programs. Their application fees would be reimbursed, according to Heather Swift, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security.

The programs affected include Global Entry (for entry from abroad); NEXUS (for entry from Canada); SENTRI (for entry from Canada and Mexico) and FAST (for truck drivers entering the United States from Mexico).

Current members of the programs are not affected, though New Yorkers will not be able to renew their memberships. The TSA PreCheck program is not affected by the ban, but a Department of Homeland Security official said that could change.

The context

Federal officials said the ban was in response to New Yorks so-called Green Light Law, a recently enacted measure that allows undocumented immigrants to obtain drivers licenses. It also bars federal immigration officials from gaining access to the states Department of Motor Vehicles databases without a court order.

Why do Department of Homeland Security officials need access to the state database to vet applicants for the traveler programs?

Lawrence Payne, a Customs and Border Protection spokesman, said the database contained information like applicants traffic offenses, which would not regularly be available to the agency.

The precedent

New York is among 15 states that have passed green light laws, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
More than 70 exhibitors including US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin have pulled out of the Singapore Airshow over concerns about the coronavirus outbreak, but organisers insisted Sunday that Asia's biggest aviation event would still go ahead. Precautionary measures -- including a major reduction in public attendance and temperature screenings -- have been imposed ahead of the opening of the event which opens Tuesday in the city-state, which has reported 40 coronavirus infections. Organisers were also encouraging attendees to greet each other by bowing or waving instead of shaking hands. Leck Chet Lam, the managing director of organiser Experia Events, confirmed that more than 70 exhibitors have decided not to participate, but said there was "still strong presence" at the show. The biggest names in aerospace participate in the Singapore Airshow, and often massive deals -- such as aircraft orders from major carriers -- are announced at the event. The outbreak, which has killed more than 800 people and infected tens of thousands across China, has spread to nearly more than two dozen other countries and sparked global concern. Many nations, including Singapore, have barred the entry of travellers who had been to China recently from entering or transiting through its territory to counter the spread of the virus. Despite that ban, the Chinese air force will take part in the air show for the first time. The acrobatic team will participate in the flight displays -- the highlight of the biennial event -- but more than 10 Chinese companies have withdrawn. On Friday, Singapore upgraded its disease alert to the second-highest level on its four-point system. Lockheed Martin, and plane maker De Havilland, pulled out after the alert level was raised. Canada's Bombardier had already withdrawn. The South Korean air force's aerobatics team had pulled out of the Singapore Airshow earlier this week because of the virus outbreak.
The New Zealand games industry has more than doubled its annual revenue in the space of two years, according to a report from the New Zealand Game Developers Association (NZGDA).

As the graph below shows, interactive game developers in New Zealand earned $203.4 million during the 2019 fiscal year, which is more than double the $99.9 million amassed during 2017.

The NZGDA claims that upswing was a result of targeting audiences around the world, noting that 96 percent of the industry's earnings came from exports.

It also found that the 10 largest studios earned 93 percent of that overall revenue, and are responsible for employing 77 percent of the country's entire workforce.

What's more, the survey confirmed growth projections made in another NZGDA study published last year, suggesting the New Zealand games industry is on track to become a billion dollar sector by 2025.

For more tidbits and findings, be sure to check out the report in full by heading on over to the NZGDA website.
A vote on a united Ireland within five years is Sinn Fein's price for coalition talks, it revealed yesterday, after the party secured a historic result at the ballot box.

The Left-wing Republican party sparked a political earthquake after romping home with the biggest share of the popular vote in Saturday's national poll, making huge and unexpected gains across the country.

After all first preferences were counted it party took around 24.5 per cent of votes  almost double its share at the last election in 2016. The Fianna Fail and Fine Gael parties, which have dominated a two-party system, were left lagging on 22 per cent and 21 per cent respectively.

Mary Lou McDonald (centre) addresses the media in Dublin, after speaking with Sinn Fein's national executive committee

Leo Varadker (pictured) has ruled out a coalition with Sinn Fein due to their links with the IRA

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald hailed the upset as a 'ballot-box revolution', adding: 'The two-party system in this country is now broken.' It also meant the incumbent Irish premier and leader of Fine Gael, Leo Varadkar was on the verge of being turfed from office. The three-way split means no one party will have enough seats for an outright majority, with potentially months of power-sharing talks ahead.

But due to the historic shift, focus yesterday turned to the question of a united Ireland  a long held aim of Sinn Fein.

Yesterday the party, long considered toxic for its historic IRA links, insisted it must be part of any coalition and vowed to push for a reunification poll within five years.

Michelle O'Neil, Sinn Fein's vice-president and Northern Ireland's deputy first minister, said: 'We want to be in government north and south. Our objective is to deliver in health, housing and public services. And our objective is to unite this island.'

Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams (bottom right) looks on as party president Mary Lou McDonald addresses the national executive committee in Dublin

Experts said Sinn Fein had successfully ridden a wave of anger over perceived austerity and crises in housing and health.

The party has gradually increased its votes in every general election since 2007 by going from a single-issue party on reunification to advocating a range of Left-wing policies. Memories of its links with the IRA have also faded among younger voters.

Sinn Fein has begun contacting smaller parties and independents to try to form a Left-wing coalition. But it is still likely to fall shy of the 80 seats needed to form a government and could be forced to look to one of the traditional centre-right parties.

Mr Varadkar has ruled out any power-sharing deal due to Sinn Fein's history. But Fianna Fail leader, Micheal Martin, has expressed interest.

Behind the respectable leaders of a modern party, the shadow of the gunman returns

Commentary by Kevin Toolis for the Daily Mail

Sinn Feins historic surge in this weekends election has in effect torched the entire Irish political establishment. Overnight, the politics of consensus, compromise, and accommodation with British rule in Northern Ireland that has dominated Irish politics for the last 90 years has, to all intent and purposes, been abandoned.

As a result, the very existence of the Northern Irish state is now more in peril since the aftermath of the 1916 Easter Rebellion.

And terrifyingly, the result has brought the IRAs secretive Army Council close to power in Dublin.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald celebrates with supporters after topping the poll in Dublin central at the RDS count centre in Dublin, Ireland

Make no mistake, Sinn Fein  the political party of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands, of Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams, of the bomb and the bullet  is still controlled by sinister shadowy figures from its recent terrorist past.

And it would be in power in Ireland today if only it had been more ambitious and fielded more election candidates.

The partys figurehead leader, Mary Lou McDonald, might already have made the call to Downing Street to demand Irish re-unification.

Sinn Fein are now the most popular political party in Ireland, and the only party that has electoral representatives north and south of the border.

Thomas Gould of Sinn Fein tops the poll and is elected in Cork North Central, during the Irish General Election count at the Nemo Rangers GAA Club in Cork, Ireland

The Left-wing republican party took 24.5 per cent of the vote, compared to 22 per cent and 21 per cent respectively for the established parties, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. No one party will have enough seats for a majority, and before the election both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael ruled out forging a coalition with Sinn Fein, citing its IRA past and high tax policies as deterrents.

That was then  yesterday morning brought a new reality. Discussions to form a coalition will be difficult and prolonged, but whatever the exact composition of the future Irish government, this is an election that will re-shape the destiny of these islands forever.

Of course, the result is a thumping personal humiliation for former Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, leader of Fine Gael who, in his efforts to be a power player in Europe over Brexit negotiations, perhaps took his eye off the ball back home for longer than he should.

Ireland's Fianna Fail party leader Micheal Martin after voting in the Irish General Election in Ballinlough, near Cork, Ireland

So how was the old order has been cast aside and how did a reinvigorated Sinn Fein become the engine of change for it?

Ireland has the youngest population in the EU and it was younger voters who put their faith in the newly-minted promises of Sinn Fein to solve the problems that beset this age group: a housing crisis, high rents, homelessness, a failing healthcare provision, creaking tax system widely seen to favour political cronies, and inequality in one of Europes best performing economies.

These voters did not grow up haunted by the Troubles; for them Sinn Feins links to the IRA and terrorism belonged to history. They saw, instead, two powerful women  both mothers  at the helm of Sinn Fein: its president Mary Lou McDonald, 50, and her 43-year-old vice-president, Michelle ONeill, who leads Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland.

Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar speaks to the media as he arrives for the Irish General Election count at Phibblestown Community Centre in Dublin on Sunday

But for two decades I reported on the bloody carnage of the Troubles, bombs, guns, and the terrible human cost. I wrote a book about the IRA and I spent thousands of hours in the company of IRA gunmen and their leaders.

Never once did I ever hear any regret or doubt about the cost in blood and pain in pursuing the IRAs goal. Irish Republicanism is a faith, not a political philosophy.

And behind the slick image of change, Sinn Fein today remains very much the party of the paramilitary past. The democratic party of Sinn Fein is still ruled by a reconstituted IRA Army Council based in Belfast known as the Ard Chomairle, and the shadowy IRA figures who control every aspect of policy and rigorously bully and expel anyone, even in their own ranks, who dissents from the leadership line.

This IRA politburo never meets in public, holds press conferences, or even admits to its true identity as the political executive of the IRA. Democratic debate or the usual personal rivalry of a real political party remain utterly foreign to Sinn Feins own internal politics. Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle ONeill might be poster girls for Sinn Fein, but they were appointed by edict to their position and then slavishly endorsed in North Korean-style votes by the party membership.

In a robotic fashion, they continue to parrot a line not that far from the IRA Army Councils view that the 3,700 murders of the Troubles, and innumerable IRA atrocities, are all the fault of the British Government and that the answer to all of Irelands problems is the immediate re-unification of the island.

This rigid Stalinist control from the top, and the demand for unquestioning obedience to the IRAs version of history, had  until this weekend  always hampered Sinn Fein from ever attracting a younger generation of politically able recruits south of the border.

Now, McDonald (and behind the scenes her IRA bosses) will have a key role as either a coalition partner with Fianna Fail, or as kingmaker  and I believe that real power and the prospect of a handful ministerial posts in the next Irish Government, means Sinn Fein is certain to attract more mainstream support that will pull the very centre of Irish politics towards the republican cause.

Even outside government, such a large bloc of Sinn Fein members in the Irish Parliament will effectively deliver a political veto.

On trade, on Brexit, on the border, on the European Union, every future Dublin government will dance to the Sinn Fein tune or risk being seen to betray the will of the Irish people. Or fall from power by a no confidence vote.

And every setback, every political skirmish with Downing Street on Brexit, will be recast into a hostile nationalist agenda towards British rule.

Nor is Dublin likely to spend so much energy placating the endless demands and insults of the DUP in the North just to keep the fragile political peace at Stormont. Why bother? Sinn Fein does not believe that Northern Ireland should exist as a state in the first place.

In reality as a political party, Sinn Fein only has one agenda  Irish re-unification. And they will now ruthlessly pursue this goal whatever the price.

The first thing on Sinn Feins political agenda is likely to be their demand for a border poll. As Northern Irelands Catholic population has grown, the gap with the Protestant majority has narrowed. There is a possibility that there is already a majority in Northern Ireland for a United Ireland.

But in Dublin government circles, until now, even the possibility of such a poll is viewed as no more than a political stunt designed to provoke violent opposition from loyalists in Northern Ireland and endanger the whole peace process.

All that has changed.

Bolstered what they see as the tide of history at their back, Sinn Fein, using their new found electoral numbers, are unlikely to be deterred whatever the cost in bringing their republican dream into being.

Irelands Troubles are far from over  and the shadow of a gunman is once again the most powerful force in Irish politics.

Kevin Toolis is the author of Rebel Hearts: Journeys Within the IRAs Soul






By Gwynne Dyer




A Massachusetts man who was getting mauled by two dogs was accidentally killed by his neighbor who fired his crossbow in an attempt to get the dogs off the victim.

According to a statement from the Berkshire District Attorneys Office, Joshua Jadusingh, 27, was being attacked Wednesday inside his Adams apartment by two mature male pit bulls when a neighbor, armed with a crossbow, tried to intervene.

The statement  referring to the neighbor as a Good Samaritan  contends the two dogs turned on officers shortly after they arrived on the scene. The officers used their service weapons to kill the animals.

Afterwards, investigators found the body of one adult with a fatal crossbow injury inside the apartment and an unharmed child in a nearby room, the statement explains.

According to detectives, the neighbor heard the commotion of the mauling, called 911, grabbed his crossbow and forced his way into Jadusinghs apartment.

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The neighbor shot at the dogs, the statement reads. The arrow struck one of the dogs, went through a door, and then struck the individual being mauled as he was attempting to barricade himself from the attack.

The neighbor, who has not been named, is cooperating with authorities, who do not suspect foul play.

The matter remains under investigation.

Police believe one of the dogs involved in the attack belonged to Jadusingh.

The second was owned by another unnamed individual, but authorities say the dogs were known to be aggressive.
Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), February 10, 2020 (SPS) - President of the Republic, Secretary General of the Polisario Front, Brahim Gali, has met with the United Nations Secretary General, Mr. Antonio Guterres, at the request of the latter as part of the official consultations between the Saharawi party and the United Nations.



During the meeting held on the sidelines of the 33rd Summit of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, President Brahim Ghali transferred to the UN Secretary General the firm position of the Polisario Fronts firm position on the UN peace process in Western Sahara, stressing that the Sahrawi people have lost their confidence in the UN and its mission deployed in the territory to end the decolonization process, confirming that the Sahrawi party will not take part in any process that does not respect the inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination and independence, as required by the resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council.



For his part, Mr. Guterres expressed the commitment of the UN to work to advance the political process in Western Sahara, expressing his hope to appoint a personal envoy in the shortest possible time.



In this context, the African Union had requested the two member states of the continental organization, the Saharawi Republic and the Kingdom of Morocco, to enter into direct negotiations without conditions to resolve this African conflict.



The President of the Republic was accompanied by Minister of Cooperation, Fatma El-Mehdi; Representative of the Polisario Front to the United Nations, Dr. Sidi Mohamed Omar, and advisor to the Presidency of the Republic, Abdati Braika.



For his part, the UN Secretary General was accompanied by the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs and Peacebuilding, Rosemary A. DiCarlo; the Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, and Hanna Serwaa Tetteh, Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the African Union, UNOAU. (SPS)



062/SPS/T
It appears that a county in Kansas has found a way to make people overburdened by medical debt struggle more.

CBS News:

That law was put in place at Hassenplug's own recommendation to the local judge. The attorney uses that law by asking the court to direct people with unpaid medical bills to appear in court every three months and state they are too poor to pay in what is called a "debtors exam."



If two hearings are missed, the judge issues an arrest warrant for contempt of court. Bail is set at $500.

Hassenplug said he gets "paid on what's collected." If the bail money is applied to the judgment, then he gets a portion of that, he said.

"We're sending them to jail for contempt of court for failure to appear," Hassenplug said.

In most courts, bail money is returned when defendants appear in court. But in almost every case in Coffeyville, that money goes to pay attorneys like Hassenplug and the medical debt his clients are owed.

"This raises serious constitutional concerns," said Nusrat Choudhury, the deputy director of the ACLU. "What's happening here is a jailhouse shake-down for cash that is the criminalization of private debt."
Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyun-mee speaks during a meeting with CEOs of local air carriers at Gimpo International Airport, Monday. / Courtesy of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport



By Jun Ji-hye



The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will draw up a series of measures to support local air carriers that have been hit hard by the outbreak of the new coronavirus, Minister Kim Hyun-mee said Monday.



The measures are to include a reduction in fees for the use of airport facilities, among others.



Kim made the remarks during a meeting with CEOs of 10 air carriers including Korean Air and Asiana Airlines.



"The number of fights on routes from Korea to China has decreased by about 70 percent as of the second week of February since China's Wuhan areas were designated as blockade areas on Jan. 23," Kim said. "The Korea-China routes are likely to suffer a heavier blow if the Chinese government enforces additional blockage measures."



She noted demand for flights to Southeast Asian countries is also expected to shrink amid growing fears over infection via other countries.



Originating in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the new coronavirus has been spreading rapidly around the world.



Concerns over infection outside of China have recently arisen here after four coronavirus cases have been confirmed in people who traveled to Thailand, Singapore and Japan, not China.



Kim said the government will increase administrative support so air carriers can promptly change their business plans and launch alternative routes to offset the lower demand on Chinese routes.



"The government will allow air carriers to flexibly operate irregular flight schedules depending on market demand," she said. "In addition, the government will actively consider reducing fees for the use of airport facilities such as landing charges, or allowing delayed payment."



Public fears over the spread of the new coronavirus has led as an increasing number of people to cancel their overseas trips, exerting a direct influence on earnings of air carriers, which have already suffered lackluster earnings last year due to continuing nationwide boycotts of trips to Japan in addition to fluctuating international oil prices and exchange rates.



In July last year, Japan began to impose restrictions on exports of key industrial materials to Korea, triggering an anti-Japan boycott here, under which Koreans opted not to travel to the neighboring country.



Despite lingering difficulties, Korean Air, the nation's top flag carrier, decided not to charge cancellation fees for tickets for all routes to China before Jan. 24. The decision will cover flights departing up to Feb. 29.



Asiana Airlines, the nation's No. 2 carrier, also decided not to charge cancellation or destination change fees for flights from Korea to China issued before Jan. 24.


The approval bestowing the status on the 18-meter tall, 60-year-old tree was announced by the city's Department of Ecology and Natural Resources over the weekend.

Kyiv City Council has granted a decades-old willow the status of a botanical monument in honor of Soviet rock legend Viktor Tsoi in the same neighborhood where he was filmed in a movie shot in Ukraine's capital.

The approval bestowing the status on the 18-meter tall, 60-year-old tree was announced by the city's Department of Ecology and Natural Resources over the weekend, RFE/RL wrote.

Its new status means construction, cutting, and even aesthetic trimming is prohibited on the tree, which has three trunks, each with a diameter of more than a half a meter, said department head Andriy Malyovaniy.

Read alsoKyiv among world's 50 most Instagrammable places

It stands near Lake Telbin in the city's Dnipro district situated on the east bank of the Dnieper River, which bisects the city of 3.7 million people.

In July 1986, just weeks after the Chornobyl nuclear accident, the musician, actor, and leader of the Kino rock group, appeared in the film The End of the Holidays, directed by Ukrainian director Serhiy Lysenko.

The movie weaves four plots, all of which are tied to Kino's songs.

For the neighborhood's residents "and its guests, the Tsoi Tree area is not just a green space, it is a unique monument of historical value that needs to be preserved," said Andriy Strannikov, one of the project's two co-sponsors in the city council.

Tsoi and his group were extremely popular in the Soviet Union in the late 1980s.

His songs stand as symbols of the hope for freedom and political change.

Tsoi, who was of Korean-Russian origin, died in a car crash in the then-Soviet republic of Latvia on August 15, 1990, aged 28.

In June 2018, a monument was unveiled to Tsoi in Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan where the artist wrote many of the songs in his final album and which is the country where his father was born.

Tsoi considered St. Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, his base during the formidable years of his truncated career.
According to Lavrov, the two countries are highly interconnected in economic issues.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said the Russian side does not mind returning its ambassador to Kyiv and receiving the ambassador of Ukraine in Moscow.

Read alsoLavrov says "hopes" for progress on Donbas under Zelensky

"The Ukrainian side recalled the ambassador, threatened to break off diplomatic relations [after Russia unleashed aggression in Ukraine in 2014]. However, it seems like someone there has mentioned the probability of [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky's decision to return the ambassadors. We will not mind. Even in the current situation, our countries are highly interconnected in the economy, in the field of transport, in humanitarian affairs, in family ties. And, of course, it's unreasonable to constantly erect some kind of barriers, for air traffic, for rail transport, and just for communication," he said in an interview for the Rossiyskaya Gazeta government newspaper.

Lavrov said he had met with his Ukrainian counterpart Vadym Prystaiko only once, namely at the Norman Four summit in Paris in December 2019.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine recalled the then Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko from Moscow for consultations in March 2014. Russia took a similar step in 2016.
A man has been charged with 14 offences after he allegedly drove at undercover officers in Melbourne's north-west, prompting them to shoot him in the upper body.

The 36-year-old man was charged on Monday, three days after the incident unfolded just after midnight on Friday in a McDonald's car park off Mickleham Road in Tullamarine.

A man was shot by police after he allegedly rammed unmarked police cars in a McDonald's car park. Credit:Joe Armao

Police allege the man, from Ararat in the state's west, was acting suspiciously which prompted local plain-clothed detectives to use undercover police cars to surround the man's silver Toyota Corolla and create a blockade.

As the officers stepped out of their cars to approach the man's car, the driver allegedly accelerated directly towards them, ramming the two police cars.
A Thai soldier accused of killing more than 26 people and injuring 57 others in a shooting at a crowded shopping mall has been shot dead by police, bringing an end to a 12-hour manhunt, Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said Sunday.

Military officials announced earlier that the shooter had been killed on Sunday morning. The attacker was "shot dead" at around 9 a.m. local time (9 p.m. ET Saturday), according to officials.

The standoff began on Saturday after the shooter started firing first at a military site and then at the Terminal 21 shopping mall in Thailand's northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima province, known as Korat.

Frantic scenes from the mall overnight showed heavily armed Thai soldiers trying to shepherd terrified shoppers out to safety.

News footage from the scene showed people leaving the area in pickup trucks and cars as security forces surrounded the mall.

Prime Minister Prayut confirmed Sunday that the gunman had taken hostages during the standoff but didn't elaborate on how many or what happened to them.

Highly-skilled shooter

Thai authorities said the attacker was believed to be Army Sub. Lt. Jakrapanth Thomma, an ammunition battalion officer working for the 22nd Ammunition Battalion.

"In general, any military (officer) would be good at guns, but this man certainly has more skills," defense ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Kongcheep Tantravanich said.

Speaking to CNN, chief of crime suppression Maj. Gen. Jirapob Puridet said that the gunman was a highly-skilled shooter who had won a number of small shooting competitions.

Jirapob led the team that went inside the building to confront the gunman. "It was almost like a Hollywood action movie shooting scene," he said.

"At certain points the gun firing was nonstop."

According to Jirapob, police tried to negotiate with the gunman at several points, attempting to convince him to give himself up.

Police contacted the gunman's mother from her nearby hometown in neighboring Chaiyapum provinve, and brought her to an area close to the shopping mall. But Jirapob said her son wouldn't talk to her.

Shooting began after argument

The gunman's motive wasn't immediately clear, military officials said.

According to spokesman Tantravanich, the incident began after the gunman quarreled with his superior officer on Saturday, eventually shooting and killing him.

He then took his superior's gun and proceeded to shoot his colleagues, Tantravanich said. It wasn't immediately known whether any other military personnel were killed.

The soldier stole more guns, including at least one machine gun, and a military Humvee. Tantravanich could not confirm the number of guns and ammunition taken.

After the shooter left the military base, he drove to the shopping mall and shot civilians along the way, Tantravanich said.

Jirapob told CNN that police decided to shoot to kill because the lives of people trapped inside the mall were at risk. "We had to make the move of fronting him because people who were trapped inside a freezing room sent messages to us that the oxygen level was very low. And they are suffocating. So we had to risk to front him face to face, otherwise people who were trapped inside would die."

UPDATE: This article has been updated to accurately reflect the death toll given by Thai authorities.
Tampa Bay, FL, Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KnowBe4, the provider of the worlds largest security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, announced today that CRN  , a brand of The Channel Company, has named Tony Jennings, SVP of global channel sales to its 2020 list of Channel Chiefs. This annual list recognizes the top vendor executives who continually demonstrate exemplary leadership, influence, innovation, and growth for the IT channel.

Tony Jennings is an experienced leader in transforming channel and partner business globally in both the software and hardware industries. He is responsible for developing scalable, repeatable and sustainable channel sales models, strategy and partner programs; which in turn drive hypergrowth. Prior to his role at KnowBe4, he was vice president of channel and partners for CA Technologies, where he was responsible for North America indirect sales, all partner ecosystems and net-new revenue across all indirect routes to market. Jennings also worked for McAfee and was educated in South Africa.

Its an honor to be recognized as one of CRNs 2020 Channel Chiefs, said Jennings. Weve built and launched an industry-leading partner portal and channel program designed to be simple, easy to execute and focused on rewarding partners who invest in customers. As we look to 2020, were focused on sales execution, simplicity to onboard and working in partnership with partner sales teams.

CRNs 2020 Channel Chiefs list honors the distinguished leaders who have influenced the IT channel with cutting-edge strategies and partnerships.

The 2020 Channel Chiefs have shown outstanding commitment, an ability to lead, and a passion for progress within the channel through their partner programs. The Channel Chief honorees were chosen by the CRN editorial staff for their dedication, industry prestige, and exceptional accomplishments in driving the channel agenda and evangelizing the importance of channel partnerships.

The IT channel is undergoing constant evolution to meet customer demands and changing business environments, said Bob Skelley, CEO of The Channel Company. CRNs Channel Chiefs work tirelessly, leading the industry forward through superior partner programs and strategies with a focus on helping solution providers transform and grow. Our team here at The Channel Company congratulates these outstanding individuals for their dedication to the channel.

CRNs 2020 Channel Chiefs list will be featured in the February 2020 issue of CRN Magazine and online at www.CRN.com/ChannelChiefs.

About KnowBe4

KnowBe4, the provider of the worlds largest security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, is used by more than 31,000 organizations around the globe. Founded by IT and data security specialist Stu Sjouwerman, KnowBe4 helps organizations address the human element of security by raising awareness about ransomware, CEO fraud and other social engineering tactics through a new-school approach to awareness training on security. Kevin Mitnick, an internationally recognized cybersecurity specialist and KnowBe4's Chief Hacking Officer, helped design the KnowBe4 training based on his well-documented social engineering tactics. Tens of thousands of organizations rely on KnowBe4 to mobilize their end users as the last line of defense.

About The Channel Company

The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequalled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelcompany.com

Follow The Channel Company: Twitter, LinkedIn , and Facebook.

 2019. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved.
Emirates NBD continues to be the UAEs most valuable banking brand with a $4.13 billion brand valuation in the latest edition of The Bankers annual brand valuation league table.

The bank also secured a spot among the top 100 global banking brands and was ranked second in the Middle East and Africa region.

Emirates NBD moved up eight spots from last year to rank 68th worldwide in the Brand Finance Banking 500, a prestigious ranking of the worlds 500 biggest banks, conducted by leading brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance and published in the February edition of The Banker.

Emirates NBD is deeply proud and honoured to maintain our position as the UAEs most valuable banking brand, said Shayne Nelson, Group CEO, Emirates NBD. Our steadfast commitment to advancing digital innovation, combined with our customer-first philosophy, community-focused initiatives, and market-leading products and services has helped Emirates NBD cement its standing as a frontrunner in the regions banking sector. As we prepare for Expo 2020 Dubai this year, we will continue to strengthen our proposition to be the bank of choice for customers, employees and shareholders.

Further, YouGovs daily brand tracking tool BrandIndex has once again ranked Emirates NBD among the UAEs 10 most recommended brands. The bank climbed four places to place 5th in the 2019 UAE Advocacy Rankings.

Emirates NBD delivered a robust set of results in 2019, achieving a record net profit of Dhs14.5 billion and total assets in excess of Dhs683 billion. The banks balance sheet remains strong with healthy liquidity and stable credit quality. The bank marked many milestones over the course of the year, including successfully completing the acquisition of Turkey-based DenizBank in the third quarter of 2019.

This increased the banks presence to 13 countries, servicing over 14 million customers in the MenaT region.

On the social responsibility front, Emirates NBD aligned its CSR activities with the Year of Tolerance through continuous efforts to support people of determination via social, workplace and financial inclusion initiatives. The banks Careers Network initiative has helped 64 people of determination secure job offers from Emirates NBD Group or its corporate partners, while, 48 per cent of Emirates NBD branches became accessible over the course of 2019. Further, in 2019, the banks award-winning Exchanger programme clocked in over 34,000 volunteering hours, with 3,139 active Exchangers and 514 volunteering activities completed.

The recognition from The Banker follows a series of accolades received by Emirates NBD in recent months. The bank has been ranked among the top 20 in the Forbes third annual list of the Worlds Best Regarded Companies.

It was also awarded Best Digital Bank in the Middle East, Best Bank in the UAE and Best Investment Bank in the UAE by Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2019. The bank was recently honoured for its corporate volunteering programme for a Global Innovation Award by IMPACT2030, the corporate volunteering arm of the United Nations. -- Tradearabia News Service
Former National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary Aspirant for Nkwanta South, Richard Manuribe has lashed President Akufo-Addo for failing to honor his promises, almost four years after he assumed office.

According to him, those promises the president made has failed because he hasnt even commenced any action to fulfill those promises.

President Akufo-Addo has lost credibility when it comes to the management of the economy and has failed to fulfill mouthwatering promises by the President during the 2016 elections, Richard Manuribe told Kwaku Dawuro on Medo Ghana on Accra-based Kingdom FM 107.7.

Mr. Richard Manuribe made reference to promises such as the "One Constituency One Million Dollars", One-District-One-Dam policy, etc which was a major campaign promise by the president during the 2016 campaign.

He also lambasted Akufo-Addo and his administration for calling the opposition NDC pathological liars for exposing the numerous devastating conditions facing the country.

Meanwhile, Akufo-Addo said his government has achieved a lot in three years, therefore, he deserves to be given four more years to do more in the country.
A person lounging on a patch of grass dreaming up images in the clouds will typically have only the familiar puffs and streaks to work with. But a satellite passing overhead can see an entirely different canvas.

On Jan. 29, an instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite captured a photo of cloud forms that look like bursting fuzzballs near the west coast of Australia, according to NASA's Earth Observatory , which released the image Friday (Feb. 7). These fuzzballs, or actinoform clouds, are impossible to see from the ground, because they are just so big, sometimes stretching as far as 180 miles (300 kilometers) across, which is a little over the width of Florida.

Actinoform clouds have arms called "actiniae" that reach out in all directions, but the clouds can take on various shapes, such as a more leaf-like structure, according to the Earth Observatory. The clouds sometimes appear to be lined up and sometimes scattered about the sky, as they are in this new image.

Related: See photos of amazing cloud formations

These types of clouds typically form relatively lower in the atmosphere, around 6,600 feet (2,000 meters) high, in an area usually dominated by stratocumulus clouds, those superpuffy and thick clouds. "This scene is interesting because it's a little to the north of the typical stratocumulus region to the west of Australia," Michael Garay, a cloud researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told the Earth Observatory.

Actinoform clouds were first captured by NASAs Television Infrared Observation Satellite V in 1962, but not much is known about how they form; previously, scientists saw a link between actinoform cloud formation and the use of aerosols, according to the observatory. But in this case, the clouds over Australia were found to be so far from land that it's difficult to point to aerosols as the cause, Garay said.

These clouds can linger for up to 72 hours and typically release some raindrops on the daydreamers below.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 18:36:02|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- China will work to keep grain production stable this year and improve planting structure, an official document said Monday.

Efforts will be made to ensure grain production to remain above 650 million tonnes, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a document outlining key tasks of planting for the year.

The combined planting area of the country's three major grains -- rice, wheat and corn -- should stay above 93 million hectares, according to the document.

The country will also optimize planting structure to increase the quality of farm produce and provide more green agricultural products, the document said.

The ministry stressed the stable supply of vegetables as the country fights against the outbreak of novel coronavirus and urged better coordination across regions to ensure demand is properly met.

Grain output will continue to be an important criterion for evaluating the performance of provincial governors while city mayors will be tasked with maintaining a stable supply of non-staple food, the document said.
A father-of-three who punched an airline steward in the face during a drunken row before a stag party flight to Tenerife has escaped a jail term after blaming his boorish behaviour on the 'stress' of looking after his children.

James Ginty, 37, hurled foul-mouthed abuse at fellow passengers and then attacked cabin crew member Muhad Miah after he was asked to move seats during boarding.

During the incident, Ginty, who was on his way to a stag party in Tenerife, shouted 'I will sit here if I f***ing want to,' refused to move his jacket into overhead lockers and shouted 'stupid b***h, c**t' at a woman who complained about his language.

James Ginty (pictured) hurled foul-mouthed abuse at fellow passengers and then attacked cabin crew member Muhad Miah after he was asked to move seats during boarding

The builder, of Timperley near Altrincham, Cheshire, was eventually removed from the plane ahead of take-off and arrested by police at Manchester Airport.

Ginty, who has 15 previous convictions for 25 offences including possession of a firearm to cause fear, admitted assault and being drunk on the aircraft, but claimed that he had been stressed due to his daughter's self-harming.

He was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court to eight months jail suspended for two years, and was ordered to pay 500 compensation to Mr Miah.

Ginty, who is also the primary carer of two other young girls, must now complete 300 hours unpaid work, and seek therapy for 'stress'.

Sentencing, Judge Sophie Mckone told Ginty that he had 'behaved like a drunken thug' and become 'abusive' to fellow passengers on May 8, 2018.

Ginty, who has 15 previous convictions for 25 offences including possession of a firearm to cause fear, admitted assault and being drunk on the aircraft, but claimed that he had been stressed due to his daughter's then-recent 'attempted suicide'

The court heard how Ginty refused to show his boarding pass to cabin crew and sat on a seat by the emergency exit instead.

Prosecutor Denise Fitzpatrick said a female member of cabin crew had been met with stubborn and boozy fury as she asked Ginty to move rows.

When Ginty ignored Mr Miah's 'extremely reasonable' request to have his jacket put in overhead storage, he lashed out at a woman sat next to him, calling her a 'stupid b***h' and 'c**t', adding it was 'that c**t's fault who complained about me'.

As Mr Miah then appeared to make plans to report the brewing incident, drunken Ginty raced past two members of staff and punched Mr Miah in the face.

The 'unprovoked' attack gave Mr Miah a bruising and swelling on one cheek, and caused him such pain that he was unable to work on that flight.

Ginty was then removed from the plane and arrested by police at Manchester Airport. The flight was ultimately delayed for 40 minutes.

Judge Mckone told Ginty that he had behaved with 'aggression and abuse' and 'in a completely unprovoked manner'.

She added: 'You obviously have to appreciate entering an aircraft in that state then behaving in that way is very dangerous because it distracts the crew.

'You have started to have some therapy in relation to stress and I have thought very long and hard about this because you are the primary carer of two very young children who will be affected more than anybody if you were to be sent to prison.

'You have now made efforts to try and behave and in my view the public and safety of the public is best met by the sentence being suspended.'

In a statement, Mr Miah said: 'I was shocked and appalled by James Ginty's behaviour towards me. As a result of the assault due to the injury I was unable to work and consequently lost two weeks pay which left me 425 short in my monthly salary. The assault left me very shaken and upset.'

Defence counsel Dan Lister described Ginty as a 'family man and a devoted father' whose daughter had 'attempted suicide'.

He chalked up Ginty's aggressive manner onboard the Tenerife-bound flight to 'drinking alcohol' and letting himself 'relax far too much'.

Ginty was also ordered to pay court costs of 425.
DOJ Open to Reviewing Credibility of Ukraine-Related Material from Giuliani: Barr

Attorney General William Barr said on Monday that the Justice Department (DOJ) has established an intake process to review any Ukraine-related information submitted by individuals, in order to assess its source and credibility.

Barr made the comments in response to a question during a press conference from a reporter, who asked the attorney general whether the department was receiving Ukraine-related information from President Donald Trumps personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani.

On Sunday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told CBSs Face the Nation that the DOJ has created a process to allow Giuliani to submit information he has collected in Ukraine about former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden so that the material can be vetted.

[Attorney General William Barr] told me that they have created a process that Rudy could give information and they would see if its verified, Graham said during the interview while denying that the DOJ has been ordered to investigate the Bidens. He also said that the information had to be handed over to the DOJ for vetting because it could be Russian propaganda.

The Democrats recent impeachment efforts against Trump was centered around allegations that the president had leveraged his office to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rivals2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden. Trump was acquitted of chargesabuse of power and obstruction of Congressrelated to Ukraine during the impeachment trial in the Senate.

During Mondays press conference, Barr said that the DOJ has the obligation to have an open door to anybody who wishes to provide us information that they think is relevant, while adding that he cautioned Graham about any information coming from Ukraine.

There are a lot of agendas in the Ukraine, there are a lot of cross-currents. And we cant take anything we receive from the Ukraine at face value, Barr said.

And for that reason, we had established an intake process in the field, so that any information coming in about Ukraine could be carefully scrutinized by the department and its intelligence community partners so that we could assess its provenance and its credibility. And you know, that is true for all information that comes to the department relating to the Ukraine, including anything Mr. Giuliani might provide, he added.

The impeachment saga began after an anonymous whistleblower complaint was sent to the Intelligence Community Inspector General expressing concerns about a call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The White House released the transcript of the call between the two leaders immediately after the allegations, which showed that Trump had referenced Barr and Giuliani multiple times.

After the transcript was released, the DOJ said in a statement in September that the president had not spoken to Barr about having Ukraine investigate anything relating to the Bidens.

The President has not asked the Attorney General to contact Ukraineon this or any other matter. The Attorney General has not communicated with Ukraineon this or any other subject. Nor has the Attorney General discussed this matter, or anything relating to Ukraine, with Rudy Giuliani, DOJ spokesperson Kerri Kupec said.

After Trumps acquittal, several Republican senators turned their attention to reviewing corruption allegations against the Bidens. The Bidens have repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said in a letter (pdf) on Feb. 5 that the Committee on Finance and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs was reviewing the potential conflicts of interest posed by the business activities of Hunter Biden and his associates during the Obama administration, particularly with respect to his business activities in Ukraine and China. 

Hunter Bidens lucrative board position in Burisma, one of the largest natural gas companies in Ukraine, and his fathers comments about his involvement in the firing of a top Ukraine prosecutor who was investigating the gas company had garnered significant attention in the past few months. Meanwhile, the senators also raised concerns about Hunters trip to China aboard Air Force Two with his father in December 2013, just one month after Rosemont Seneca, an investment firm that Biden helped create, entered into negotiations with Bohai Capital to create investment firm BHR Partners.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
Our six-county region houses roughly 175,000 Roman Catholics, though some parishes struggle to fill pews and collection plates. Not so much for St. Patrick Catholic Community, considered a plum of a parish within the diocese. This is where Plavcan was sent three years ago to not only administer to parishioners souls but also to the financial challenges of the church, school and property.
Phnom Penh  The European Union Commission on Wednesday is expected to announce its decision on whether to suspend the Everything But Arms (EBA) trade privileges, a crucial mechanism that supports Cambodian exports of garments, footwear and rice and has aided in the countrys economic growth.

Speculation has been rife in Phnom Penh over the outcome of the year-long investigation, initiated by the EU Commission last February, with government officials, analysts, economists and average Cambodians all chiming in on the effects of a potential suspension.

A document on the European Parliament website, authored by Italian MEP Danilo Oscar Lancini, proposing amendments to conclusions of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, may have accidentally revealed the Commissions decision  a partial suspension of the EBA for some products.

[A]fter considering the results obtained during an investigation period, the Commission decided, through a delegated act, to withdraw Cambodias EBA status on some products, reads a section of proposed Amendment 6.

The document was likely not for public use yet because while it had been published on the website on February 5, it had not been indexed and could not be searched for on the EU Parliament website.

The EU Parliament and MEP Lancini have not responded to multiple requests for comment on the potential mistake and the Commission has distanced itself for the document. A spokesperson for the EU Commission did say that the process did involve consultations with the EU Parliament and EU Member States.

The content of the document also helps, potentially, clarify a vague admission by Finance Ministry official Vongsey Vissoth, who last week said that the garment sector would see a $500 million dip in exports and pegged potential job losses at 35,000.

As the debate continues over the EUs decision, there has been non-stop media coverage, both domestically and internationally, of the year-long assessment by the economic bloc, highlighting the high stakes for all involved parties.

The EUs decision to invoke the investigation into Cambodias EBA access was necessitated, the bloc said, by the sweeping political crackdown in 2017 by Prime Minister Hun Sens government. This resulted in the Cambodian Peoples Party winning all parliamentary seats in the 2018 National Assembly elections, after having already established absolute control of the Senate.

The fallout of any EBA decision will most immediately be seen in the governments handling of former Cambodia National Rescue Party president Kem Sokhas treason trial and the continued persecution of the partys supporters and activists.

In an unusual move, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court has said that the treason trial could last up to three months, taking it well past the February 12 deadline for the EBA decision and potentially allowing for some strategic maneuvering from the Cambodian government based on the EU Commissions conclusions.

Speaking to VOA Khmer last week, Kem Sokha attempted to separate his trial from the EBA decision, but did admit that an acquittal would go some way to alleviating the concerns raised by the international community.

The EU has continued to push Phnom Penh to reverse its actions on the disbanding of the CNRP, the banning of 118 of its senior members in 2017, and the arrest of Kem Sokha over alleged treason charges. The bloc has also called for reinstatement of the CNRP and its elected local officials.
The delegation of the Kingdom of Bahrain participates in the Senior Officials Preparatory Meeting (47th Session) of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Member States of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC), headed by Ambassador Fatima Abdullah Al Dhaen, Director of the Organisations Directorate.

The meeting is being held at the headquarters of the Organisations General Secretariat from 9 to 11 of February 2020, in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The meeting discusses all the draft decisions submitted to the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Member States of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation scheduled to be held next April in Niamey, Republic of Niger under the slogan United against Terrorism for Peace and Development, where the Palestinian issue and the Arab-Israeli conflict top the topics tabled for discussion.

The preparatory meeting will also discuss the most important developments in Palestine, the Holy City of Jerusalem, the occupation of the Golan Heights, the Israeli occupation of Lebanese territories, as well as the peace process in the Middle East.
In new court filings, AWS (Amazon Web Services) claims it wants to depose Donald Trump about his involvement in the JEDI bidding process, and "efforts to harm Amazon or AWS." The lawsuit filed by Amazon's cloud computing division cites a history of the president's public attacks of Amazon, including allegations he told Mattis to "screw Amazon" out of the deal.

As covered here on Boing Boing last November, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was none too happy about the matter.

From CNBC:

Amazon is seeking to depose President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and former Defense Secretary James Mattis over a $10 billion Pentagon cloud contract awarded to Microsoft.

In court documents unsealed and filed Monday, Amazon's cloud computing arm said it's looking to depose seven "individuals who were instrumental" in the JEDI source selection and "played pivotal roles" in the ultimate awarding of the contract. Aside from Trump, Mattis and Esper, Amazon Web Services is also seeking to depose the Defense Department's chief information officer, Dana Deasy, and the source selection authority, which awarded the contract to Microsoft, as well as the chairpersons of the SSA, according to the documents.

A spokesperson for AWS told CNBC in a statement: "President Trump has repeatedly demonstrated his willingness to use his position as President and Commander in Chief to interfere with government functions  including federal procurements  to advance his personal agenda. The preservation of public confidence in the nation's procurement process requires discovery and supplementation of the administrative record, particularly in light of President Trump's order to 'screw Amazon.' The question is whether the President of the United States should be allowed to use the budget of the DoD to pursue his own personal and political ends."
The brother of a young girl killed alongside her three cousins in an horrific 'drink driving' tragedy asked his parents 'how do I go on' without his cherished sister.

Veronique Sakr, 11, is being farewelled in a funeral service at Santa Sabina College at Strathfield, in Sydney's west, where she had just started Year 6.

Mourners have been told how when her brother Michael, 13, learned of the tragic accident, he asked: 'Dad, how do I do it?'.

His dad answered: 'Do what?'. Michael said: 'Live my life without her?'.

A brave Michael supported his mother Bridget into the school chapel for the funeral service where mourners heard how the siblings shared a 'beautiful and unrivalled' bond.

Bridget Sakr and her son Michael, 13, are supported as they walk into the chapel for the funeral of daughter and sister Veronique Sakr, 11

The white coffin of Veronique Sakr is carried into the chapel for her funeral on Tuesday

Veronique Sakr, 11, died alongside her three cousins when they were struck by an allegedly drunk and speeding driver at Oatlands, Sydney, on February 1

Veronique and her cousins Antony, 12, Angelina, 11, and Sienna Abdallah, 9, died when they were struck by an accused drunk driver at Oatlands, in Sydney's north west, on February 1.

Through tears, Mrs Sakr told mourners her 'heart is in agony', but she is comforted knowing her Veronique is now in heaven with 'the angels and saints'.

'Our Veronique is with you right now, with our father and all our angels and saints.'

Mrs Sakr revealed the final conversation they shared the day Veronique was killed.

'She said to me on the day she went to heaven: 'Mummy, you know I love talking to older people and younger people',' she said.

A day after speaking glowingly about the Abdallah children, Monsignor Shora Maree told mourners how an encounter Veronique was simply 'unforgettable'.

'Her teachers said that at the end of a long day, whenever they saw Veronique her smile gave them a lift,' Mons Shora said.

'The family said they have been contacted by people saying: 'I met your daughter once and I can't forget her'.'

Leila and Danny Abdallah, whose three children were killed in the same accident, bravely arrive at Veronique's funeral. Their own children were farwelled on Monday

The hundreds gathered heard how despite her age, she had already pledged to care for her parents in later life.

'Bridget, you said that because of the way she saw you take care of your parents, Veronique has said: 'I'll take care of you mum when you grow old'.

Her older brother Michael laughed as the chapel was told how Veronique has always been a 'bossy' sister.

'She was bossy to you as a brother, well what's she going to be like with Jesus up there?' Monsignor Shora joked.

The congregation also heard how Veronique's parents Bob and and Bridget had pledged to forgive alleged drunk driver Samuel William Davidson.

In a statement released ahead of the funeral, the Sakr family said Veronique had an 'incredible sense of compassion and empathy for others'.

'She always opened her kind heart to everyone who was in need of a friend,' her parents said.

'Our beautiful girl embraced all that life had to offer. She loved to dance, kick a ball, rock-climb and endlessly swim in the pool or beach.'

'Veronique will always be loved and eternally missed. She was an angel on earth and now is in heaven', the parents said.

Pink flowers adorned the top of Veronique's white coffin

Hundreds of mourners make their way into Santa Sabina School chapel for the funeral

Bridget Sakr with her children Michael and Veronique, 11, in a photo she posted at Christmas time

In the wake of the tragedy, the families of the four children pledged to set up a road safety charity in their honour.

Danny and Leila Abdallah - whose three children were farewelled on Monday - and the Sakr family made the announcement on Tuesday.

'We intend for establish a charitable foundation to honour the memories of Veronique, Antony, Angelina and Sienna,' the families said.

'(It will be) for the purpose of improving road safety programs and initiatives across Australia.'

Micheal Sakr, 13, holds his mother Bridget's hand for support as they visit the scene of the tragedy where Veronique, 11, was killed along with her three cousins

Veronique's father Bob and brother Michael embrace as they visit the scene of the accident

Veronique's family said in the statement released on Sunday they were 'devastated' by the loss of 'our beautiful girl' in the horrific crash

Chehade Sakr posted this photo as he wrote of the shock of losing his youngest cousin at just 11 years old, and his heartbreak that his own son wouldn't get to grow up with her

The Abdallah family has mostly carried the load in being the public face of the disaster, frequently visiting the crash site and making numerous public statements.

Leila Abdallah made the extraordinary act of forgiving the driver who allegedly killed the four children and injured three others.

Veronique's parents pledged to do the same.

Mrs Abdallah was praised by Monsignor Shora Maree during her three children's funeral on Monday, as was her husband Danny for the love and strength they showed in grief.

'Leila you said the words of forgiveness that stunned the world. That doesn't come from something human, it comes from the divine,' he said.

'Wow. What an inspiration for all of us. We've seen the renewal of faith for many.'

Thousands of mourners packed into the Our Lady of Lebanon co-cathedral to farewell the three young Abdallah children

Leila Abdallah comforts her heartbroken daughter Leanna as her husband Danny shakes a mourner's hand during the funeral

The four children were walking in a group along Bettington Road to buy ice cream on a 40C degree night when they were struck.

Three other kids with them were seriously injured.

Truck driver Samuel William Davidson, 29, has been charged with 20 offences including four counts of manslaughter and high-range drink driving.
by Sumon Corraya

Locked down in their universities, students have had problems finding basic necessities. The Bangladeshi government is preventing them from returning from China, whilst the country's economy is experiencing the first negative repercussions of the epidemic.

Dhaka (AsiaNews)  We cannot leave the university. We spend the days praying and watching TV, said Biplob Nathan, a 33-year-old Catholic student from Bangladesh attending a university in the Chinese province of Zhejiang.

He arrived in China in September 2019 to do a master's degree in Education. Now he is confronted with restrictions imposed by Chinese authorities to stop the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus.

We are concerned about the growing number of victims of the epidemic, he explained. The university has 12,000 students and we try to protect ourselves with masks.

The city is deserted, no one goes out into the streets, and prices for basic necessities have risen, he told AsiaNews.

Dipan Roy, a Hindu student also from Bangladesh, attends Three Gorges University in Yichang (Hubei), close to the epicentre of the outbreak. He says that 172 fellow Bangladeshi are studying at this institution.

We have problems finding food, he said. Now there is a food crisis in the city; neither buses nor trains are operating. We don't know how long we can resist under such conditions.

About a thousand Bangladeshi nationals are in China to study, and only a few have managed to go home.

"I won't go back to Bangladesh, I don't want to risk spreading the virus," said Biplob, who comes from the Diocese of Khulna.

Last week Bangladesh Health Minister Zahid Malik called on his compatriots living in China not to come home.

According to Health Ministry data, 312 have returned from China so far, and have been placed in quarantine in the Ashkona Hajj camp.

For now, no case of infection has been recorded in Bangladesh, not even among Chinese nationals. However, a Bangladeshi worker was found positive in Singapore.

The epidemic is starting to have negative effects on the countrys economy, which plays an important role in Chinas Belt and Road Initiative, a plan to build a trading network between Asia, Africa and Europe.

The construction sector has been particularly hit, but so has electronics. The latter is very important for Bangladesh since it buys many computers from China, as Nazrul Islam, an importer, told AsiaNews.
Peace, stability and imperative prosperity in South Asia View(s):

The Pakistan High Commission organised a seminar titled Peace and Stability  An Imperative to Prosperity in South Asia at BMICH Colombo on February 5. Various impediments towards regional peace and prosperity were highlighted.

The panel comprised Graham Jones, ex-member of the United Kingdom Parliament, Sardar Attique Ahmad Khan, ex-Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Medha de Alwis, Sri Lankan Journalist, and Pakistan High Commissioner Major General (Retd) Muhammad Saad Khattak.

Noting that West was not playing its due role for the resolution of the Kashmir issue, Mr. Jones said, it is our collective responsibility to highlight and play our part for the resolution of this issue. He added that the situation in Kashmir threatened international peace and security with acts of state brutality within Indian controlled Jammu & Kashmir.

Mr. Khan said the Kashmir dispute which began in 1947 in the most sensitive region of South Asia and the disputed land is nestled among three nuclear powers of today  Pakistan, China and India.

Unfortunately, India, despite making local, regional and international commitments on Kashmir, is not forthcoming to click the peace call. The past 72 years are a history of arrogance, bigotry, hate, chauvinism, expansionism and troubles for her neighbors, he said.

He charged that India has caged nine million Kashmiris with one million military and para-military troops besieging the whole valley of Kashmir since august 5,2019.

Flouting all promises and pledges, Indias leadership has made to the world, standing in the witness box of the United Nations Security Council, India has bifurcated Kashmir into parts and declared them as Union Territories, he said, adding that as per the UN charter no physical change can be made in any disputed region or territory.

Ms. de Alwis highlighted that all regional countries should play their part to resolve regional issues to strengthen SAARC.

In his concluding remarks, High Commissioner Khattak emphasised that despite tremendous potential, 16.1% of South Asian population is below poverty line mainly due to the chronic dispute between two major powers; India and Pakistan. In the same context SAARC could not take off as per its goals and potential.

He said that with the revocation of articles 370 and abolition of 35A, India has blatantly violated UNSC resolutions and its own constitution. Subsequently, it followed with draconian and repressive measures by imprisoning the entire nine million people, denying them all rights recognised by international bodies and human rights organizations.

The seminar was attended by diplomats, journalists, participants from think tanks, members of Civil Society and the Pakistani community.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party and her plans to stay on until 2021 were plunged into disarray Monday after her heir-apparent gave up her leadership ambitions in a deepening crisis over ties between the centre and far right. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the leader of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), opted out after barely a year in the post -- a period marked by internal battles over whether to cooperate with the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD). She announced that she was standing down as CDU leader and would not seek to be the party's candidate for chancellor in next year's general elections. "This is an unusually serious situation for the CDU," said close Merkel ally and Economy Minister Peter Altmaier. AKK, as Kramp-Karrenbauer is popularly known, said she had had "a difficult time" as party leader. "At present, we can feel powerful centrifugal forces in our society and in our party," she told reporters in Berlin. Speaking later in Berlin, Merkel said she "regrets" AKK's departure, at one point calling her simply "Annegret" in a rare personal moment in front of the cameras. While the party has a policy of no cooperation with either far left or far right at a national level, regional CDU lawmakers last week went rogue and voted with MPs from the AfD to oust a far-left state premier in Thuringia. The breach in the political firewall against the AfD prompted Merkel's junior partners in the national government, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), to call urgent talks at the weekend about the partnership's future. "The CDU must clarify its relationship to far-right extremists," SPD co-leader Norbert Walter-Borjans told a press conference on Monday. Centre-left SPD ministers will not work with a party "that leaves room for far-right forces," he added. With the race to the chancellery wide open again, Sueddeutsche Zeitung said the aftershocks could be huge. "It's very possible that the chancellor's exit is coming closer," it wrote. - Broken taboo - Voting alongside the far right breaches one of the fundamental taboos of post-World War II German politics -- the refusal of mainstream parties to work with the extremes. AKK's attempts to impose rigid no-cooperation discipline from Berlin have foundered especially in Germany's former communist east, where strong showings for the AfD and Left in some states threaten the ability of mainstream parties to form functioning coalition majorities. Germany's next national elections must take place by autumn next year, although the fractious coalition between the CDU, its Bavarian CSU allies and the SPD may not hold until then. AKK however said she did not believe her retreat would endanger "the stability of the grand coalition government". By this summer, the Catholic mum-of-three hopes to have set up a process for finding the person to lead the CDU into the next federal campaign. "Separating the office of chancellor and the party chairmanship is weakening the CDU," she said Monday -- an implicit rebuke to Merkel's 2018 decision to split the two. The veteran chancellor gave up on the party leadership as a string of regional defeats and the growth of the far right undermined her popularity within her own ranks. Merkel, who has been in power since 2005, announced at the same time that she would not run again for the highest office. - Race to the top - Despite Merkel naming her defence minister last July to lend her the gravitas of federal office, AKK never managed to stamp her authority on the CDU after her hair's-breadth win over challenger Friedrich Merz. Merz, a former rival of Merkel's, has been waiting in the wings, and still enjoys strong backing from the pro-business and more conservative members of the party. Just last week, the former CDU parliamentary leader gave up his job at giant asset manager BlackRock "to support the party more strongly in its renewal and re-enter politics", he said. AKK's decision to quit "deserves respect," Merz tweeted Monday. "I will give her every support to lead from the front the process for her succession and the chancellor candidacy." Germany's next national elections must take place by autumn 2021, although the fractious coalition between the CDU, its Bavarian CSU allies and the centre-left SPD may not hold until then The latest move ends the heir-apparent role that Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer had held since even before she was thrust, with Angela Merkel's backing, into the party's top job
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Storms stretching across the Deep South dumped heavy rains on Mississippi and Alabama on Monday, causing flash floods that covered roads and forced some schools to close.

Dozens of roads were under water in low-lying areas across the Tennessee Valley after a hours of rain, and cars crept along flooded streets in downtown Birmingham. Video showed vehicles leaving wakes behind them on flooded roads, with waves slapping the side of a building in Yazoo City, Mississippi.

Several school systems sent students home early as forecasters warned more downpours were on the way, and some planned to open late on Tuesday.

More than 2 inches (5 centimetres) of rain fell during the day in spots, and the National Weather Service said another 4 inches (10 centimetres) could fall by Tuesday night. After that, potentially severe storms will move across the region, the National Weather Service said.

Flash flood watches and warnings stretched from eastern Texas into the western Carolinas. The Tennessee Valley Authority said some of its rivers and lakes had received as much as 400% of their normal rainfall for this time of year.

Parts of the region are still soggy from heavy rains last week. In north Alabama, some flooded roads were still closed from last week when the rain began Monday.
A former chairperson of the EFCC, Farida Waziri, says former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, and his former military deputy, Musa YarAdua, and others were falsely accused in the alleged 1995 coup attempt by the regime of late dictator, Sani Abacha.

Mrs Waziri served in the legal team that worked with the special investigative panel (SIP) set up by Mr Abacha on the alleged coup. She said in her newly released memoir, Farida Waziri: One Step Ahead, that Mr Obasanjo, the late Shehu YarAdua, Lawan Gwadabe, and Chris Anyanwu, at the time a newspaper editor, were all framed up, The Nation newspaper reported.

The former EFCC boss described the alleged coup as dubious.

There was something dubious about it. Historians called it a phantom coup. In other words, a conspiracy by the powers-that-be against selected targets critical of the state of the nation. Well, I have no opinion about that, she said.

The late dictator, who was Nigerias 10th head of state from November 17, 1993, till June 8, 1998, jailed both Messrs Obasanjo and YarAdua for treason in March 1995.

According to a 1995 BBC World Service report, the coup was supposed to take place on 1 March 1995 during the Eid-el Fitri festival.

Mr Obasanjo spent three years in prison before his release in 1998, following the death of Mr Abacha. He was initially sentenced to death before another military panel set up by Mr Abacha reduced the sentence to 30 years and again to 15 years.

Mr YarAdua who served as the Chief of Staff during Mr Obasanjos 1976  1979 military government, died on 8 December 1997 while serving his own 25-year jail term in Abakaliki prison.

YarAduas Case

In the case of Mr YarAdua, Mrs Waziri recalled how his chief accuser was later found to have framed Mr Yar Adua up.

She said, For example, the chief accuser who claimed he attended the coup meeting in YarAduas lkoyi home couldnt identify the house when driven around the neighbourhood.

Neither could he identify critical places where clandestine meetings allegedly occurred with the general in attendance. His claim that about fifty (50) guests attended a dinner in YarAduas sitting room was proven false.

When taken into the generals home, he found a living room that could barely accommodate twenty, not 50 visitors. He had lamely changed his statement to I was standing by the window.

Caught in a web of lies, he later confessed that an SSS operative gave him a written report, with the instruction to copy the information about YarAduas involvement in the coup.

When completed, burn the book, that was the instruction according to him. We found the book hidden in the ceiling of his home. The accuser was handcuffed and subsequently tried, Mrs Waziri said in her book.

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She said after the conclusion of the investigation, the panel had agreed on treasonable felony as Mr YarAduas indictment but was surprised this was changed to treason.

After reviewing the evidence, the legal team agreed on treasonable felony for YarAdua. The basis was that he might have known about the coup, but it could not be proved. We drafted charges for a treasonable felony and closed for the day.

The next morning began on a dramatic note. Others were seated by the time I arrived. I found them in a pensive mood. My jovial greeting drew solemn responses. My off-hand question have we finished for the day drew murmurs. My file laid face down on the table. I turned it over and got a shock.

General YarAduas indictment had changed to treason. I could hardly contain my anger: What is this? Didnt we all agree yesterday on treasonable felony? None of them replied.

They sat in subdued silence. I was so upset for this blatant interference with judicial due process that I dropped the file and abandoned the morning session.

I went home and told Ajuji, my husband, what happened. Just be careful was all he said. That was hardly satisfactory to me.

I headed to the Force Headquarters to complain to the Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim Coomasie.

We know what is happening, he said. Sometimes, there are things beyond our power to control or influence.

So it was that General Shehu Musa YarAdua was sentenced for treason. Sadly, he died in prison.

Obasanjos Trial

Mrs Waziri said it was obvious something was not right in his case for two fundamental reasons.

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She added that another colleague on the legal team agreed this man (Obasanjo) is innocent of the allegations against him by the end of his trial.

The former EFCC boss also narrated how she had thought of going home to prepare food for Mr Obasanjo but was warned on the implications.

First, General Obasanjo was a superior military officer to all those at the helm of the current government. Second, most of the officers with whom he allegedly conspired were not even commissioned into the Nigerian Army when he was a ranking officer, she said.

One evening after an interrogation session, it was getting late, and Obasanjo, a diabetic patient, was waiting for his meal of beans from his farm in Ota.

There was a delay in getting the meal to him. He was in a great deal of discomfort as his blood sugar level began to drop. Feeling sorry for him, I approached the senior officer and offered to dash home, not far, to prepare a meal of beans for him. The officer smiled and said nothing.

I missed the message. Another officer pulled me aside and cautioned me about getting involved with the detainees, to avoid getting implicated.

What if you prepare food for him and something happens?

The legal team ultimately sentenced General Obasanjo to death; the sentence was commuted to 30 years in prison, and the transitional government of General Abdulsalami Abubakar pardoned and released him from jail.

A spy detective

The book, which is due for launch on Tuesday, surrounds her life as a spy and detective at the Nigerian Police. In pages, she narrated how some soldiers dug up a boys quarters room located in Ikoyi, Lagos State, by creating a pit filled with refuse from the dustbin, which she said was with an intent to make the room unhealthy for junior suspects to be kept in for interrogations and torture.

She also recounted her interaction with some of the high-profile persons accused in the foiled coup. On her encounter with late Mr YarAdua, she said, I studied him through the one-way glass window. He sat quietly in the room, nervous and chain-smoking, wracked intermittently by fits of cough.

When I had the opportunity, I entered the room and politely said to him, Sir, why are you doing this to yourself? It seems smoking is not good for your health. He gave me a wry look. If you were in my shoes, what would you do? he asked.

If I were in your shoes, I would be praying, I responded. As an observer of most of the SIP sittings during the trial of General YarAdua, I had the conviction that he was falsely implicated. The witnesses arranged against him could not substantiate their claims.

She also recalled her encounter with Ms Anyanwu, an editor and later politician. who was imprisoned from 1995 to 1998 for treason after reporting on a failed coup detat.

However, I broke my own rule. I couldnt help but sympathise with a few of the suspects. For instance, Chris Anyanwu was a friend, a popular journalist, editor and publisher (and senator years later). The least I could do was to encourage her to eat and keep her spirit up. I urged her to write all she knew about the incident truthfully.
Jerusalem, Feb 10 : A rocket fired by Gaza militants hit southern Israel on Sunday night amid rising tensions in the region over Washington's Middle East peace plan.

The Israeli military issued a statement saying "one projectile was launched from Gaza towards Israeli territory," adding it fell in an open field, Xinhua reported.

The rocket triggered sirens in the city of Sderot and the area surrounding the besieged Palestinian enclave.

No casualties or damage were immediately reported.

The fire came a day after Israeli tanks targeted two Hamas posts in the northern Gaza Strip after a launch of a rocket was identified.

The violence comes amidst escalated tensions in the region over US President Donald Trump's recently announced peace plan, which was rejected by the Palestinians.
Finland Just Implemented an All-inclusive Parental Leave Policy; Your Turn America

When the musical Spamalot said Finland, Finland, Finland: Thats the country for me, I felt that. According to a 2019 report, Finland is the happiest country on planet earth. Sure, this could be largely due to the fact that the cities are astoundingly beautiful and clean, the sun never sets in the summer, saunas are commonplace and little fuzzy reindeer romp around the northernmost part of the nation at all times. But, its more likely due to the fact that Nordic governments have kind of mastered the whole democracy thing. Finland has universal free healthcare, the best education system on the planet and is the fourth best country in the world for gender equality. You might be asking, what makes the Finnish government so high-functioning? Well, one reason could be that as of right now, the entire government is women-led. This past fall, Sanna Marin became the worlds youngest prime minister, and the third female prime minister of Finland. When elected, Marin joined a coalition of four other parties that are all led by women. You heard us right! Its basically everything a feminist could ask for. Because women are in charge, the country is seeing equal representation the likes of which not a lot of other countries have seen, especially the United States.

The latest in a series of feminist initiatives in the nation is a law that promises equal paid leave for parents. The real kicker? Not only is there equal paid leave, but seven months of paid leave per parent, resulting in over a year of paid leave for families altogether. The new policy is incredibly inclusive. For starters, its gender neutral. Rather than giving a certain amount of maternity leave to one parent and a second, shorter amount of leave to a paternity figure, the policy gives an equal amount to two individuals. Not only this, but the pregnant parent gets one month of pregnancy allowance before the official leave even begins. Finland didnt just stop there, though. The new action also allows for one parent to donate 69 days of their own leave to the other parent, and a single parent gets the entire 14 months of paid leave to themselves.

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To compare this to the parental leave programs in the United States would be difficult, mostly because as a nation, we dont have a universal maternity leave policy. In fact, the only law that guarantees time off for new parents is the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which protects ones job for 12 weeks after childbirth or adoption but is also, you guessed it, unpaid. Individual states do, however, offer paid parental leave options. For example, in New York state, its pretty typical that a private company may offer eight weeks of partially paid maternity and paternity leave. California has a policy for six weeks of partially paid maternity leave,while states like Arkansas see about four weeks of paid maternity leave for state workers. In an ideal situation, even if you add up the partially paid leave both parents receive in most states, it doesnt even add up to six months. Sure we cant all be Sweden, which offers a whopping 240 days off per parent, but under circumstances like we have in the United States, parents are seen saving up their sick and vacation days just to tag a little more time onto their leave, which isnt even allowed at some companies. So why cant we come up with a policy more like that of Finlands?

Prime Minister Marin said it herself, Finland is a better place to achieve the American Dream than America. The 34-year-old politician stated, ...every child no matter their background or the background of their families can become anything, because we have a very good education system...we have a good health-care and social welfare system that allows anybody to become anything. Miran threw some iconic shade and stated the facts at the very same time. The term The American Dream, in essence, means that life should be rich and full for everyone, regardless of social class or circumstances of birth. But obviously, that just isnt the case, and that is clearly evident when looking at working mothers and parents who cannot get the time off they deserve to recover from childbirth or bond with their babies without worrying about money.

While it seems that the United States is drifting further and further away from the notion of the American Dream for all, Finland and its Nordic neighbors push forward with policies that are rooted in the family values America boasts but cannot seem to actually supply. From the notorious Finnish baby box supplied to all new parents by the government, to the countrys network of municipal prenatal clinics and the maternity allowance system in their health insurance, Finland does the most when it comes to helping families with their most basic needs. Kudos to Finland for their new equal paid leave policy. Hopefully one day, America can get it together enough to do the same.

Header image via Pixabay

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Sanna Marin Becomes World's Youngest Prime Minister In Finland

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Aliza is a Creative Writing BFA student and former BUST Magazine intern! When she's not writing, reading or scrolling through TikTok for hours on end, you can find her consuming copious amounts of iced coffee or doing something witchy. Follow her on Twitter @alizapelto.
Rajasthan Energy Minister B D Kalla on Monday said the power tariff hike of 11.21 per cent will not affect more than half of the consumers even as the opposition blamed the state government for burdening people with its losses.

During a debate on the power tariff hike in the state Assembly, which came into effect in the state from February 1, Kalla said it will not affect 57 per cent of the total consumers, including 20 lakh BPL families, 42 lakh small domestic electricity consumers and 14 lakh farmers.

He said 76 lakh consumers will not be affected by the power tariff and government has not put the burden of losses on the consumers as alleged by the BJP.

Kalla said power production cost has increased by 14 per cent since 2016.

He said that previous BJP government had increased tariff twice in Feb 2015 by 16.89 per cent and 9.58 per cent in 2016.

Former School Education minister Vasudev Devnani questioned the logic of charging more than Rs 7 per unit from consumers when the government was purchasing electricity at Rs 3 to 3.5 per unit.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
When an elected officials best possible defence for something is that hes a liar, theres a real problem.

What Toronto city councillor Jim Karygiannis claims to have done is so wholly unacceptable that he really should step down immediately.

Hes been caught on tape talking about how he cruises around his Scarborough-Agincourt ward looking for parking and bylaw infractions. He snaps pictures and says he reports the people he doesnt like or who didnt vote for him while ignoring the bylaw infractions of others if they vote for us, theyre volunteers and they donate money.

Theres houses that we bother, houses that we dont bother, he says on the audio recording secretly made by a former volunteer and staffer a month after the 2018 election and exposed by the Stars Jennifer Pagliaro.

Its not clear how many people Karygiannis actually reported to city staff or what action might have been taken. But it doesnt matter.

His words  and the clear intention behind them  are intolerable for a Toronto councillor.

It flies in the face of the accepted norms for any 21st century democracy, and it certainly should run afoul of the citys code of conduct. Its key principles require councillors to commit to performing their functions with integrity and to avoiding the improper use of the influence of their office, and conflicts of interest, both apparent and real.

Karygiannis is well aware of the rules and the specifics of discreditable conduct, having already been reprimanded by the citys integrity commissioner for his inappropriate, aggressive and intimidating behaviour in 2015. (He was repeatedly harassing a family over the way they were parking in their driveway.)

His punishment was to make a public apology. It cant have been a particularly sincere one since, by his own admission, hes back at it.

We sincerely hope a fresh complaint is made to the citys integrity commissioner, now Jonathan Batty, and that a thorough investigation is launched.

This is not a one-off; its part of a troubling pattern. And this kind of sleazy behaviour doesnt just expose Karygiannis as a bully with a seriously warped view of what it means to be entrusted with power by the people of Scarborough. It brings all of Toronto council into disrepute.

It also raises fresh questions about Karygiannis campaign fundraising controversy.

In the last election, he raised $217,000  far more than any other councillor and well over three times what he was allowed to spend. Questions remain unanswered about how appropriately he spent large amounts of that money and he still faces a city-run compliance audit of his election expenses.

Now we have to wonder whether donors knew about Karygiannis bylaw-infraction extracurricular activities. Were people hoping to buy themselves protection from a councillor who cruises around their streets with a camera and a vindictive attitude?

For his part, the only defence he has provided to the recording is to say it was tough talk during what he thought was a private conversation. He says the only conclusion that can be drawn from it is that I care deeply for my constituents and my ward.

Sorry, councillor. Thats far from the only conclusion.

Karygiannis seems to be missing a pretty basic tenet of elected office. Hes elected to serve everyone in his ward equally whether they voted for him or not, whether he finds them pleasant or not. To declare a policy of treating constituents differently depending on whether hes a buddy or how he voted shows Karygiannis is in the wrong job.

That stuff belongs to other centuries and politically corrupt regimes.

Here, Jim Karygiannis is the servant of the people, not the other way around.

Its up to council and the citys integrity commissioner to make sure he gets that message.
BURLINGTON  One of the victims of an infamous local embezzlement case from the 1990s is literally falling apart.

Twenty-eight years after Mary Norene Lois pleaded guilty to embezzling $185,000 from the Burlington Cemetery Association, the small chapel at Burlington Cemetery, 701 Browns Lake Drive, hasnt been repaired in almost 15 to 20 years. The last time was through a donation of the Burlington Rotary Club.

Bev Gill, a former city clerk and member of the cemetery association, is desperately trying to raise funds for its repair.

Because of the embezzlement, there was no money to take of (the chapel). Its been deteriorating, said Gill. Its another victim of an embezzlement.

Gill had hoped the association could apply for grants through a program administered by Racine County Economic Development Corp. But, at last weeks Burlington City Council meeting, Carolyn Engel from RCEDC recommended tying funds to job creation, which would disqualify the chapel project.

They pulled the rug out from underneath us, said Gill.

As long as were dreaming

The inside of the chapel, which was completed in 1921, cant be much more than 14 feet by 24 feet, with two arched colonnades on the northern and southern walls. The chapel is an example of Richardson Romanesque architecture, which according to its listing on the state and national registry of historic places, includes elements such as its solid volume and simple form, its weighty mass and rough-faced masonry construction, and its use of the round arch and gabled parapets.

The influence of the Gothic Revival style is also evident in its buttress-like pilasters and the use of the Tudor arch, the entry reads.

Another unique feature of the structure is its green Ludowici roof tile from Chicago, which will be preserved when work begins on the roof this spring.

The cemetery association has set aside $5,500 for the roof and has commissioned Renaissance Roofing of Rockford, Illinois for the project. First the tiles will need to be removed and then the roofers will have a better sense of the condition of the roof itself. At this point, all they know is that its not good.

Inside the chapel, water marks run down the walls and a pile of snow sits in a corner illuminated by sunlight coming in from the very visible hole in the roof just above it.

You shouldnt have to shovel the inside of a building to get rid of the snow, said Gill.

Jim Schaal, the cemeterys sexton, said that in addition to rain and snow animals such as raccoons have been getting into the building.

Renaissance will remove any temporary repair work, assess the condition of the roof and then seal the roof to protect the interior from any further damage from precipitation. With the ceiling at least sealed off, the association can start on other projects. But to fully restore the building to full working order could cost up to $120,000.

Its on the rough side, said Gill. But shes not hopeless.

A lot of the woodwork needs to be replaced. The stones need to be sand-blasted. The windows are boarded up and covered with wire nets to protect them from vandals, including a large arched window over a set of double-doors. Gill would like to see that one in particular replaced with stained glass.

As long as were dreaming, she said.

Gill would like to see the chapel used the way it was intended, as a site for the final graveside services. She recounted how someone told her how disturbing it was to see the chapels gaping hole when going to visit a grave site.

Gill and the cemetery association have been reaching out to any and all funding sources they know of seeking donations or grants for the project. So far, they havent had much luck, though they have support from local contractors, such as Peter Scherrer of PSG and Bob Riggs Construction, which have offered to donate some of their services if the association can come up with the rest.

With all of it, we might be able to pull it together, said Gill. Were hoping, because I think its worth saving.

On Feb. 3, 1992, U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller sentenced Lois to 18 months in prison for the embezzlement. She was accused of embezzling the Cemetery Association funds between November 1985 and March 1990, while she was a vice president at Bank One in Elkhorn.

The Burlington Cemetery Association is a registered 501(13). For more information on the association or to make a donation, go online to burlingtoncemeterywi.com.

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The End of Pro-Life Democrats

NEWS PROVIDED BY

Feb. 10, 2020

NEW YORK, Feb. 10, 2020 / Christian Newswire / -- Catholic League president Bill Donohue (photo) comments on Democrats and abortion:

When I taught in a Catholic elementary school in Spanish Harlem in the 1970s, I quoted to my African American and Puerto Rican students what Rev. Jesse Jackson said about abortion: It was genocide against black people. Senator Ted Kennedy also railed against abortion, as did virtually every Democrat.

The pro-abortion party was the Republicans, home to WASP elites like the Rockefellers who saw abortion as a way to resolve "the urban problem." That's why their lavish funding of Planned Parenthood wound up establishing clinics in minority neighborhoods.

But by the end of the 1970s, the parties flipped: Republicans became pro-life and the Democrats became pro-abortion. They did so because of religious reasons.

Evangelicals, most of whom were Republicans, supported Roe v. Wade. They did so largely because Catholics, most of whom were Democrats, were pro-life. But they quickly got over their irrational opposition and, by the time Ronald Reagan became president, they joined the pro-life cause. In the Democratic party, feminists took command and drove out the pro-life Catholic leadership. This pushed more Catholics to join the Republican party.

In the subsequent decades, the number of pro-abortion Republicans and the number of pro-life Democrats dwindled, though there was some room left for pro-life Democrats. Now that is over. What happened last week marked the end of pro-life Democrats.

Charles Camosy is a pro-life Democrat who teaches at Fordham University. He resigned last week from the board of Democrats for Life in America because the party has left him with "no choice." Bishop Thomas Tobin, who heads the Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island, asked on February 4, "Are pro-life voters not welcome in the Democratic party?"

They are not. On Saturday, Senator Bernie Sanders said, "I think being pro-choice is an absolutely essential part of being a Democrat."

Does that mean that all abortions are justified, including those where the baby is just about to be born? Yes. Are there any Democrats running for president who draw the line when it comes to partial-birth abortion? No.

During Friday's debate, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden both endorsed congressional legislation that would codify Roe v. Wade should the Supreme Court reverse this decision. Senator Amy Klobuchar said she would only appoint judges who supported Roe. Pete Buttigieg, who is unemployed, had a chance at a Fox News town hall to carve out a more moderate position, but refused to do so. He previously said that "life begins at breath," and stuck to his guns regarding the moral legitimacy of killing a baby who is 80 percent born.

In May 2018, a Gallup poll found that 13 percent support third-term abortions. Why, then, would not one Democrat running for president agree with the 87 percent of Americans who say late-term abortions are indefensible?

Four years ago, Hillary Clinton hurt herself badly when she defended partial-birth abortion in a debate with Donald Trump. Apparently, nothing has been learned from that experience.

There was a time when New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and New York City Mayor Ed Koch, both Democrats and supporters of Roe, said "count me out" when it comes to late-term abortions. Now the Democrats have become the "count me in" party, the consequences of which will soon be known.

SOURCE Catholic League

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Coronavirus: Britain declares deadly outbreak as 'serious, imminent threat to public health'

International

oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P

London, Feb 10: The United Kingdom on Monday declared the deadly coronavirus that emerged from China as a "serious and imminent threat to public health''. The UK Department of Health and Social Care announced that new measures would be taken up to combat the spread of the disease. It also said people with the virus would now be forcibly quarantined and will not be free to leave.

The UK's health and social care has named two British hospitals as isolation facilities for those affected by the disease and designated the Chinese city of Wuhan and the surrounding Hubei province where the virus first emerged as a "infected area."

"The incidence or transmission of the novel coronavirus constitutes a serious and imminent threat to public health, and the measures outlined in these regulations are considered as an effective means of delaying or preventing further transmission of the virus," the agency said in a statement.

Japan: On a coronavirus cruise, 60 more people tested positive

The agency also said that the changes were designed to ensure the health and safety of medical workers who came into contact with infected patients. The change comes after a British man who caught the virus at a business conference in Singapore in January appears to be linked to at least seven other confirmed cases in Europe.

A 9-year-old boy, including five Britain citizens contracted the virus in the French Alpine ski town of Contamines-Montjoie after staying in the same chalet as the British man. Recently, scores of children and their family members were tested by the French medical authorities from the area for the new virus and temporarily closed three schools where the boy had spent time.

Also, China, in a statement said that 908 people had died of the virus on the mainland and over 40,170 had been infected. More than 360 cases have been confirmed outside mainland China, including two deaths in Hong Kong and the Philippines. Britain has only four of Europe's 39 confirmed virus cases but it is a key travel hub between Asia and Europe. British authorities sought to reassure the public on Monday.

"Our infection control procedures are world-leading and the NHS (National Health Service) is well prepared to deal with novel coronavirus," the agency said. "This measure will rightly make it easier for health professionals to help keep people safe across the country."

Coronavirus: China's death toll exceeds 900, surpasses total from SARS

In India, Goa health minister Vishwajit Rane, on Monday said that the state government has set up isolation wards at Chichalim and Goa Medical College and Hospital.

"As far as Goa is concerned, I don't think there is any fear on coronavirus. Till now, there are no positive cases reported in Goa," Vishwajit told reporters.

(With Inputs from PTI)
NEW YORK, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- International Awards Associate (IAA) has announced the winners of the 2019 Vega Digital Awards. Over 1,550 entries were received from 35 countries throughout the world.

The Vega Digital Awards is an international competition crafted to celebrate and honor leading professionals in the creative fields of digital media. "It is a great joy to see these talented individuals receive accolades for the work they had put forth," Kenjo Ong, the CEO of IAA remarked. "Certainly, there is no end to innovation and talent in the minds of people."

Vega Digital Awards | Celebrating a universe of digital media excellence Vega Digital Awards | 2019 Winners Results Announced | Congratulations to all winners!

The competitors are juried by IAA's select panel of industry-leading creative giants, under comprehensive and strict standards. IAA oversees awards and recognition programs, assembles judging panels, and sets rigorous standards for both competitions.

Grand Jury Panel

For 2019, IAA had gathered 33 renowned and experienced individuals worldwide to serve as its panel of juries. These judges are longstanding professionals in their respective fields, and hail from brands such as KOENIGSFILM, United Nations Children's Fund, Responsive Spaces, BEAMY, Creplus Design, Barrett and Welsh, Studio Black Tomato, E&T Films, for starters.

Entries undergo valuations based on strict industry standards, alongside blind judging by panelists, who weighed the entries' creativity and design concepts. Winners then emerge from the pool of international submissions.

The competition included entries from countries such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Australia, Germany, Turkey, China, Philippines, Poland, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, India, South Korea, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Oman, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, and many, many more.

International Brands Represented

Familiar brands worldwide were represented among the entries. Some of the brands represented include Deep Silver, BMW Group, Pokemon, Prada, Cartier, Tommy Hilfiger, Monotype, Pan Pacific Hotel Group, Levi's, Hilton, and many more.

"IAA is proud to be a waypoint for the diverse group of talents worldwide, as we find ourselves a wider audience with each passing year," Ong noted. "With the scrutiny imposed during the judging process, we can be assured that those who emerge victorious deserve it."

Website: https://vegaawards.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/vegaawards

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vegaawards/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vegaawards/

Media Partner: https://muse.world/

Contact:

Sharon W. | Corporate Communication Consultant

International Awards Associate

United States Tel: +1646-781-8768

[email protected]

SOURCE International Awards Associate (IAA)
Photo credit: ERIN SCHAFF

From Esquire

Few aspire to fame more deliberately than a politician. When you choose to run for office, you know exactly what youre getting yourself into. Please, youre saying to the national media, scrutinize everything Ive said and done in my entire liferight now, all at once. In seconds, CNN is on the horn with your tenth-grade trig teacher. But in todays fractured political landscape, fame is inseparable from infamy, and with a legion of fans come just as many hot-blooded Americans convinced that youre an enemy of the state. We asked politicians from both sides of the aisle to describe their public lives during this charming time in our nations history.

Ilhan Omar is the representative from Minnesotas Fifth District and a series of firsts: the first Somali-American member of Congress, one of the first two Muslim congresswomen, the first woman to wear a hijab on the House floor. Shes also a member of The Squad. All this has attracted plenty of attention for a first-term congresswoman. Sometimes, the scrutiny is merited, as when Omar apologized for playing on anti-Semitic tropes while criticizing the outsize influence of the pro-Israel lobby in American politics. More often, though, it depends on conspiracy theories and innuendo, including from the President of the United States. Trump has targeted Omar repeatedly, and each time he does, Omars office sees a spike in death threats. Along the way, of course, shes also built a platform to fight on the issues she cares about.

Photo credit: Tom Brenner - Getty Images

ESQ: Are you surprised at how The Squad took off as a term after Rep. Ocasio-Cortez first used it on Instagram? Fox News recently tried to make a Conservative Squad happen.

IO: Its fascinating, and a little high schoolish. For us, we like to laugh at it. But there are a lot of people who take it seriously, whove tried to get their own little cliques. Its just weird, because were adults who were each voted into office by hundreds of thousands of people. The idea that you would, in a serious and deliberative way, think about what your cliques name should be? And that itll automatically give you a space to inspire? It says a lot about this need to try to duplicate anything that is noticed.

Story continues

Related Video: All The Times AOC Stood Up For Herself on Twitter

We dont have the influence we have because were called the Squad. We dont raise the amount of political campaign funds we do because were called the Squad. And people know our name not just because were the Squad. Some of the public and the media pundits have decided that we must have somehow deliberately put this together. No. We are a group of female legislators who happen to have an agenda that is for the people, and its about boldly pushing for that. And its nothing more than that. To think that copying the model you think the Squad has will make you resonate is quite pathetic. See, I have strong feelings about those. . . . If they were a group of millennials, I would be like, Thats cute.

Photo credit: Win McNamee - Getty Images

ESQ: Has the scrutiny changed how you live?

IO: I have not transformed. Im still the kind of person that goes home after the day is finished, that hangs out with the people I normally would if I didnt have this particular life. My friends, my associations, my interestsnone of those things have really shifted. We joke about how a lot of people know my name and think they actually know who I am.

ESQ: Is it fair to say theres a gap between your public image and who you really are?

IO: What I do find fascinating, and a little bit entertaining, is the perception that people have of who youre supposed to be when they meet you and interact with you, and how often people will actually express what they thought and how youre different. The more your notoriety grows, the more that people like to think of you as something bigger than you actually are. And so my appearance to people is very different than what they imagine, because I think the size and scope of my voice and power doesnt really match the very tiny person I am. So the first thing somebody will say is, Oh my God, youre so small.

You know, constituents are surprised that when were in our home districts, we dont walk around with the kind of support that we have in D.C. People are often shocked that I am at the grocery store, or Im dropping my kids off at school, because they expect my life to mimic the image they have of the life Im leading. The more your notoriety grows, the more that people think of you as something bigger than you actually are. When they meet you, people will actually express what they thought before and how youre different. The size of my voice doesnt really match the very tiny person I am, so the first thing somebody will say is Oh my God, youre so small.

ESQ: You grew up Muslim in America, and faced suspicion from people who didnt know you and assumed things about you. Did that prepare you at all for your life now?

IO: I think its the reason I continue to smile, amidst all of the craziness that is being a unicorn in Congress. Because even growing up, I was always very different than what people would imagine me to be. In a very conservative, patriarchal culture, as a child I grew up in a feminist, liberal home. So a lot of my childhood friends were always surprised in the way I showed up in public and it didnt really match what they expected for a daughter that was being raised by only men.

Coming to the United States at a young age and being an immigrant and refugee, Muslim and blackI think there were a lot of stereotypes and expectations that people had, that really were not completely aligned with who I was and how I showed up every day. Im really comfortable in who I am and not bothered by the mischaracterization. I really dont have a desire to constantly explain or defend my identities to people. There are a lot of natural tendencies that people have when they are in a room where theyre presented as the minority, whether it is the only woman in a group of male friends, or you know, the black person in a group of white friends. You constantly want to say, Well, my people do this. This is the reason why we... and all of that stuff. And I never really have a desire to explain to people how my identities are different than theirs. Were all humans, and I deserve respect regardless of whether Im a minority or not.



Photo credit: Esquire

ESQ: Was there a specific moment when you realized that you were going to be subjected to a new level of scrutiny along with the new power of your platform?

IO: I think I got that shock out of the way when I was in the [Minnesota] statehouse, when I won my election. It was historic. I defeated a 44-year incumbent. I was the first Somali woman to hold a seat in Minnesota and the first person in [any statehouse in] the country to wear a hijab. And so, a month after I was on the cover of Time.

At the time I didnt really realize how much my media and social media presence had grown, because I wasnt looking every day and monitoring. I posted something about an incident Id had with this cab driver, and it just completely went wild. And I remember having a conversation with my father and he was like, You dont really have ten thousand friends. A whole group of people are tuned into everything you say and do. And it is both a positive, a tool you can use for positive things, but its also something that can be very frustrating and daunting to think about all the time. Because Im a very relaxed person. I like to joke around.

A version of this interview appears in the March issue of Esquire.

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ALBANY  Some new flavors may be coming to your local ice cream shop: Rum and coke, strawberry daiquiri and margarita.

State legislators are floating a bill this session that would allow liquor-infused ice cream, building on the state's previous authorization of beer- and cider-infused frozen treats in 2018, and wine-infused ice cream a decade prior. The state Senate is expected to vote on  and likely pass  the bill within the next few weeks, while the Assembly agriculture committee will tackle the measure at its next meeting.

"Any time we can allow our farmers and our producers to add a product that's popular, it's good for business, good for tourism," said Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, D-Broome County, who is sponsoring the bill.

Get state news first with our Capitol Confidential newsletter

It's not illegal to sell liquor-infused ice cream in New York, as long as the treat has an alcoholic volume of 5 percent or less. But it's up to the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to approve each individual product, not the state Liquor Authority  and implementing a blanket approval at the state level would clear the way for many restaurants to easily hop on the boozy trend, which has already proven popular in New York City.

Anticipating the bill's passage, the owners of Gilligan's Ice Cream in Chenango County have begun experimenting with potential flavors to roll out as soon as the law allows. They led the charge in 2018 to legalize beer- and cider-infused frozen desserts and now boast selections including Apple Hard Cider, Lemon Wine and "Double Buzz," a coffee-flavored ice cream infused with dark craft beer.

"When you think of all the mixed drinks, the possibilities are really endless," said Andy Lagoe, a partner at Gilligan's Ice Cream, who is excited to experiment with whiskey.

Aside from the potential for ice cream shops to profit from new flavors, Lagoe said legalization would offer businesses the opportunity to collaborate with local distilleries and create branded products.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

"People want this product, and our local sources can produce it," said state Sen. Rachel May, D-Syracuse, a bill sponsor, adding that the ice cream could be a hit at the annual State Fair.

"The distilleries are thrilled, and the vendors at the fair are really excited about it, so I think its a win-win," she said.

Similar to the previous authorization of other alcoholic frozen treats  which passed with bipartisan support  the bill includes provisions to ensure that the desserts are not consumed by people under 21. Each product would be packaged in a closed container and clearly labeled to show that it contains alcohol, which would also be capped at 5 percent alcohol by volume.

Jason Conwall, a spokesman for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, said the governor will review the bill language before endorsing the proposal, "but we're always looking for new ways to get more people to try New York's world-class wines, spirits and craft beverage products."
DERBY  Love will be in the air later this month when Sage, the former La Sala Banquet Hall, holds its first-ever Bridal Expo.

Brides-to-be and their future grooms can check out everything theyll need for the big day, from wedding photographers and catering to candy buffets and honeymoon planning, according to Dan Biagioni, owner of both Sage and the Spice Catering Group, which he runs out of the facilitys kitchen.

The expo will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 23 at Sage, 73 High St. Admission is free, but those who plan to attend are asked to register online at https://bit.ly/37859g2.

We are so excited to be planning our first Bridal Expo at Sage, said Biagioni. Come meet our wedding partners that will make your wedding or next event great.

Guests will enjoy a complimentary glass of champagne upon arrival, along with sample hors doeuvres courtesy of Spice Catering Group, in addition to browsing a variety of vendors including DJs, bakeries, bridal salons, photographers, travel agents and more. Theres even going to be a photo booth to captures the days fun.

Biagioni took over the former La Sala Banquet Facility at the Sons of Italy Club last year when an opportunity arose, and is hoping to spread the word that the 200-seat-plus facility is poised to host weddings, baby and bridal showers, fundraisers, birthday parties, corporate events and more at prices that wont break the bank.

We are a budget friendly hall, and this area does not offer much in that category, Biagioni, an Oxford resident, said. Being from this area, we see a high demand for this kind of affordable service.

Biagioni said he has been working closely for the past nine years with Carisa Lockery, one of the premier event planners in the area, and owner of Pink Olive in Cheshire. Along with his Executive Chef Tim Scott, who trained at culinary schools in France and previously worked as executive chef and director of operations at Geronimos in New Haven and Fairfield, and Shell & Bones Oyster Bar & Grill in New Haven, Biagiono said Sage is the place to go for all events, big and small.

Biagioni has owned Spice Catering Group for a decade, operating in Durham for several years prior to calling Derby home. Sage leases the space from the Sons of Italy, and before La Sala changed hands, Biagioni was sub-leasing their kitchen space to do the catering. He previously worked as director of sales for Jordan Caterers in Cheshire.

Biagioni said he and his team love working closely with the community on all kinds of events, and last month paired up with the Red Cross for a blood drive. In March, they are again participating in the Liver Foundation Gala dinner, and later this month teaming up for a third year with The Hops Co. for its annual beer/game dinner.

jean.sos@snet.net
The four astronauts shortlisted for Indias first manned space mission, Gaganyaan, have commenced their full-fledged training at Russias Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Star City. The four, all Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots, arrived in Russia on Friday.

Lasting one year, the training will combine comprehensive and bio-medical preparations with regular physical exercises. The candidates shortlisted by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) will also get exposed to the manned Soyuz spacecrafts systems, informed a statement by the Training Centre.

As part of the training, the astronauts are also expected to rehearse operations during an emergency landing of a descent capsule in various climatic and geographic conditions. They will have to undertake flights aboard an Il-76MDK plane designed to simulate short-term zero gravity modes and other emergencies.

The Training Centre will be the venue for most of the training activities. The Centre head Pavel Vlasov is on record articulating his confidence in the Indian astronauts ability to cope with the spacecraft studies since they already have immense experience in aircraft operations.

Isro Chairman K Sivan had announced on January 1 that the four IAF pilots selected for the mission would be trained in Russia. Twelve pilots were initially selected for the project after clearing the level-1 screening in September

2019.

The four were selected from an initial pool of 60 applicants by the Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM) attached to the IAF. The Gaganyaan mission has been scheduled to be launched in December 2021 or early 2022 ahead of the 75th Independence Day deadline fixed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In July 2019, Russias State Space Corporation Roscosmos had announced that its Glavokosmos division and Isros Gaganyaan Human Space Flight Centre inked a deal for the selection, medical testing and eventual training of the shortlisted astronauts.

Before the manned mission, Isro will undertake two unmanned missions, both carrying a humanoid. A prototype of this humanoid, Vyommitra was recently showcased at an international symposium on human space flights. The manned mission will see the astronauts spend seven days in the crew capsule in a low-earth orbit.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP)  Iran tried but failed to put a satellite into orbit on Sunday, state television reported, the latest setback for work that the United States says helps Tehran advance its ballistic missile program.

The launch of a Simorgh rocket in Semnan Province, about 145 miles southeast of Tehran, sought to put a communications satellite into orbit. It failed because of low speed, Iranian state TV reported.

Still, a Defense Ministry spokesman, Ahmad Hosseini, portrayed the failure as a remarkable achievement for Irans space program. Previous launches of the Simorgh  or Phoenix  rocket also failed to put a satellite into orbit.

Iranian officials had been promoting the mission, and Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, head of the Communication and Information Technology Ministry, continued to do so on Sunday.
Representatives with Chicago, IL-based Healy Scanlon Law Firm announced today that its team member Kevin T. Veugeler has been elected to the 2020 Board of Directors of the Illinois Workers' Compensation Lawyers Association.

"We are delighted and congratulate Kevin on his election to the Board of Directors of the Illinois Workers' Compensation Lawyers Association," said Martin J. Healy, Jr., founding partner of the Healy Scanlon Law Firm before adding, "We wish him success in all his endeavors as a member of the Board of the Directors of the association."

Veugeler was sworn into office by Justice William E. Holdridge on 18 January 2020.

Veugeler is a member of the Chicago Bar Association, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, now the American Association for Justice (ATLA/AAJ), the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA), and Illinois State Bar Association. He also served as the Chair of the Tort Section Council of the Illinois State Bar Association.

Veugeler is a Cum Laude Graduate of Northern Illinois University. He received his law degree after graduating from the University of Illinois School of Law, Champaign-Urbana, where he attended on scholarship.

In 2010, Veugeler was recognized as one of Illinois' "40 attorneys under 40," to watch by the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. In 2007, Kevin was elected to a three-year term in the Illinois State Bar Association Assembly. He was re-elected to the Assembly in 2010.

Veugeler specializes in the areas of personal injury, wrongful death, medical malpractice, product liability, trucking accidents, and workers' compensation cases. He has successfully tried cases involving medical malpractice, wrongful death, product liability, trucking accidents, and other types of injury cases in the Circuit Court of Cook County Law Division.

For more information, please visit: http://www.healyscanlon.com/our-attorney/kevin-t-veugeler.

About Healy Scanlon Law Firm

Healy Scanlon has built a reputation as one of Chicago's top personal injury law firms. The trial attorneys at Healy Scanlon are dedicated to helping the seriously injured and their families. They have the skill, resources, and experience to go up against even the largest multi-billion dollar corporations and their insurance companies to get full & fair compensation on behalf of their clients.

Contact Details:

Martin J. Healy, Jr.

Founding Partner

111 West Washington Street

Suite 1425

Chicago, IL 60602

United States

Phone: (312) 977-0100

Source: Healy Scanlon Law Firm
After dropping a pair of tracks - 'Hypnagogic' and 'CP-1' - under the new alias 'Love Regenerator', Scottish DJ/producer Calvin Harris today confirmed the next instalment will arrive on Valentine's Day!

Love Regenerator 2 will feature another two tracks, this time titled 'The Power Of Love II' and 'Regenerate Love'. Check the announcement out here and listen to the first two releases from Love Regenerator below!
[February 10, 2020] Ariadne Labs and Wolters Kluwer Celebrate Ten Year Partnership Providing UpToDate Access to Clinicians in Resource-Limited Settings

Ariadne Labs and Wolters Kluwer today announced the celebration of their 10-year partnership to provide free UpToDate access to health providers in resource-limited settings through the Better Evidence Program. Since 2009, Wolters Kluwer has donated free UpToDate subscriptions to over 20,000 healthcare professionals in over 145 countries, many of whom had no prior access to online resources. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200210005136/en/ Clinicians around the world are challenged to provide the right diagnoses, treatments, and clinical guidance to every patient in their care. Tools such as UpToDate, an evidence-based clinical resource, ensure clinicians can find and integrate the latest evidence; however, clinicians in resource-limited settings often lack access to such tools, making the challenges they face even greater. Better Evidence is a program of Ariadne Labs, a joint center for health system innovation at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Brigham and Women's Hospital. Better Evidence tests and spreads digital tools for providers to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and quality of care. "The failure to deliver the care we know how to deliver causes more harm than lack of access to care," said Rebecca Weintraub, MD, Director, Better Evidence, Ariadne Labs. "We launched Better Evidence in 2009 to ensure front line providers can access and integrate digital tools to improve their diagnostic accuracy and clinical management. Longitudinal usage of these digital tools will improve health outcomes. The result is better medical care for all," she said. Clinicians who have benefited from the program attest to the impact UpToDate has had on their ability to deliver the best possible care for patients. One clinician in South Africa described how the resource helped them to prevent further infections during an outbreak of chickenpox in their maternity ward, while a clinician in Tanzania credits UpToDate with providing the information needed to treat an infant's suspected heart problem without access to diagnostic equipment. A clinician from Uganda shared how the resource helped prevent an epidemic, saying: "This past October, we had a patient arrive with high fever and general body aches, soon followed by skin bruising and epistaxis. We used Better Evidence to look at the possible differential diagnosis and suspected hemorrhagic fever. We had no experience with this disease before and would not have recognized it without the help of the tool. The Ugandan authorities were alerted - and arrived quickly. This case was finally diagnosed as the first case of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) in Uganda in the past four years. Following the quick diagnosis, the source of the infection was traced, and an epidemic was prevented." To further expand the reach of the program, in 2019 Ariadne Labs launched the Better Evidence for Training in sub-Saharan African medical schools and their affiliated training facilities. Building on a pilot study that showed the utility of providing a free resource to medical students and faculty in Rwanda, the program provides institutional access to UpToDate. In the program's first year, 21 training facilities in six countries received UpToDate access, and 650 students and faculty were trained to use the clinical decision support resource. For reference, all the top medical schools in the US provide UpToDate for their students and faculty.



"It's incredibly gratifying to see how the germ of an idea 10 years ago has matured and now plays a critical role in saving lives. These clinicians on the front lines are true heroes - dedicated to making the lives of their patients and their communities better," said Peter Bonis, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Clinical Effectiveness, Wolters Kluwer, Health. For more information about the Better Evidence program and its impact, visit: https://www.ariadnelabs.org/areas-of-work/better-evidence/

About Wolters Kluwer Wolters Kluwer N.V. (AEX: WKL) is a global provider of professional information, software solutions, and services for physicians, nurses, accountants, lawyers, tax specialists, and finance, audit, compliance, and regulatory sectors. The company provides expert solutions - a combination of deep domain knowledge with specialized technology and services - that help professionals navigate change, solve complex problems, and deliver impact in their respective fields. Headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands, Wolters Kluwer holds market-leading positions in 40 countries globally, represents customers across 180 countries and employs 18,600 people worldwide. In 2018, it reported annual revenues of 4.3 billion. Wolters Kluwer provides trusted clinical technology and evidence-based solutions that engage clinicians, patients, researchers and students with advanced clinical decision support, learning and research and clinical intelligence. For more information about our solutions, visit http://healthclarity.wolterskluwer.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter (News - Alert) @WKHealth. For more information, visit www.wolterskluwer.com, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. About Ariadne Labs Ariadne Labs is a global leader in health systems innovation. A joint center at Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Ariadne Labs develops simple, scalable solutions that dramatically improve the delivery of health care at critical moments to save lives and reduce suffering. Our vision is for health systems to deliver the best possible care for every patient, everywhere, every time. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200210005136/en/

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The campaign of former Mayor Pete Buttigieg garnered widespread mockery after it shared clips from a CNN town hall that inserted fake applause following a remark by the 38-year-old presidential hopeful.

In one of the clips shared by Team Pete HQ, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, told an audience member in New Hampshire:

To me, that is not just a concern for our generation, its a concern that calls on us to build an alliance among generations to try to make sure that the future really is better than the past.

In the live broadcast of Thursday nights CNN event there was no audible applause following Buttigiegs answer.

However, in the clip shared by the Buttigieg campaign canned applause was clearly added to the videomaking it appear that his response garnered far more enthusiasm than it actually did.

The artificial applause was called out by Center for Popular Democracy Action, a group that is supporting the candidacy of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

In a separate tweet, the group called out Sneaky Pete for what it described as a devious approach by the former McKinsey consultant. The group wrote:

This isnt just an isolated edit. Its part of a theme: Faking Black endorsements with the Frederick Douglass Plan. Faking Iowa victory before numbers came. Faking no fossil fuel money pledge. Faking small donations email scam. #SneakyPete will continue this.

In a second video posted by CPD Action, laughter and applause are inserted after the candidate made a joke about how his name is pronounced.

Did you see our first expose of @PeteButtigieg campaign altering a #PeteOnCNN video to fake more voter support? Well here is a second! This time, Pete Buttigieg really wants to fake being funnier!#SneakyPete gonna #MayorCheat pic.twitter.com/IvSbFGknTt  CPD Action (@CPDAction) February 7, 2020

The social media responses to the audio edits were predictably excoriating with Sanders supporters calling Buttigieg Mayor Cheat and a rat.

One Twitter user accused Buttigieg of spouting empty platitudes generated by an algorithm that would make him sound like former President Barack Obama, commenting:

Im more and more convinced that the Zuckerberg people that Pere hired generate his speeches using an AI programmed to do Obama talk.

While another user noted:

Pete Buttigieg steals elections from the multiracial working class AND inserts artificial audience applause into his videos. This guy as fake as fuck, not a true progressive with liberal values, at all, and the DNC is racist AF. #PeteOnCNN
MANILA, Philippines  The Department of Health (DOH) clarified on Monday (February 10) that the travel ban on Taiwan has been in effect since weekend due to the outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus-acute respiratory Disease (2019-nCoV ARD).

According to Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo, Taiwan was among countries which the World Health Organization (WHO) issued travel restriction to the Philippines.

Nagkaroon ng confusion noong mga naunag araw but I think as you have all known over the weekend na full implementation, the DOH spokesperson clarified.

We are still accepting flights from China and we are letting people down if they are Filipinos and permanent residents, the official added.

The Philippines already imposed a travel ban to China and its administrative territories Hong Kong and Macau on February 2.

There are currently 120,000 Filipino workers in Taiwan based on the report of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Should the situation worsen, the DOLE assures enough government measures to assist those who will be affected in the event that the Philippines decides to impose a travel ban on the Asian state.

(Those who will be) affected by travel ban will be entitled to P10,000 financial assistance, confirmed Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III.

Taiwans Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) reported on Sunday (February 9) its first asymptomatic patient, pushing the total number of confirmed cases in the country up to 18.

The patient, a man in his 20s, is one of the sons of a couple who was diagnosed with 2019-nCoV when their family transited through Hong Kong on February 1 following their visit to Italy, Taiwans Health Officials said. MNP (with inputs from Rosalie Coz / Aiko Miguel)

The post Taiwan travel ban in effect due to nCoV  DOH appeared first on UNTV News.
A Nigerian senator, Ignatius Longjan, is dead.

He died on Sunday night after battling with an illness, a northern lawmaker who asked not to be named because he is not authorised to make the announcement, disclosed to PREMIUM TIMES.

Yes, hes dead. We saw it this morning on our platform.

The senator said other lawmakers have been sending condolence messages while they wait for the Senate President to officially make the announcement.

Until his death, Mr Longjan, 75, represented Plateau South senatorial district in the Senate under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He was the Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Culture and Tourrism.

Prior to his election as senator, he was a former deputy governor of Plateau State between 2011 and 2015 .

He replaced Jeremiah Useni of the Peoples Democratic Party who contested for the governorship seat in 2019.

His death comes barely two months after Imo senator, Ben Uwajumogwu, died.
After scoring major points by bringing her step-daughter to a pre-Oscar party on Friday, Kate Bosworth took the night off with her husband Michael Polish to attend Vanity Fair's Oscar party.

The 37-year-old actress looked extraordinary in a form-fitting sliver gown with sliver embellishments and a black clutch, as she posed with her left arm around Polish, 49.

Her husband of almost seven years sported a classic black tuxedo and white dress shirt was more than happy to cozy up with Bosworth inside.

Perfect pair: Kate Bosworth, 37, looked flawless with her husband Michael Polish, 49, while attending Vanity Fair's Oscar party

The Blue Crush star beamed while standing alongside her love, while showing off beautiful details from her glamorous look, including massive sliver earrings and a jeweled hair clip.

While sporting the sliver and cream frock, she kept her blonde locks slicked back and left the focus on the low back and eye-catching shoulder detail.

On the dress' right side a long black piece of fabric draped down past her waist and hung like a veil on the red carpet, before she tucked it away for a more functional after-party look.

Love is in the air: The 37-year-old actress looked extraordinary in a form-fitting sliver gown with sliver embellishments and a black clutch, as she posed with her left arm around Polish

Eyes on you: The Blue Crush star beamed while standing alongside her love, while showing off beautiful details from her glamorous look, including massive sliver earrings and a jeweled hair clip

The sleeveless look showed off her perfectly toned arms and gave a peek of her left leg through a knee high slit on the side, which also showed off her sparkly heels.

While getting ready, the actress posted updates on her Instagram story of the process and some of hair stylist Bridget Brager's unconventional styling tips.

While applying a diamond bracelet to her hair, Brager used dead wire to secure the accessory as a clip to Bosworth's hair with a tooth brush bag, so she wouldn't snag any of her hair.

Hair moment: While getting ready, the actress posted updates on her Instagram story of the process and some of hair stylist Bridget Brager's unconventional styling tips

Red carpet ready: The sleeveless look showed off her perfectly toned arms and gave a peek of her left leg with a knee high slit on the side, which showed off her coordinating sparkly heels

Bosworth also documented Mario Dedivanovic's process, which included only Chanel products and a beautiful shade of red lipstick.

He also dusted her arms with a makeup brush to ensure red carpet perfection.

While inside the party, Bosworth shared some adorable photos with her man, and even captioned one with his arms wrapped around her 'I love you.'

No stone unturned: She also documented Mario Dedivanovic's process, which included only Chanel products and a beautiful shade of red lipstick

The pair fell in love on the set of the cinematic adaptation of Big Sur in 2011.

The lovebirds tied the knot two years later in a romantic ceremony in Philipsburg, Montana, in August 2013.

Speaking in an interview with British Marie Claire magazine in January 2015, Kate admitted she was cautious about rushing into a relationship with her director while they were filming on set in California.

Happily ever after: The lovebirds tied the knot two years later in a romantic ceremony in Philipsburg, Montana, in August 2013

She explained: 'There are so many people that hook up on movies, and you wonder if that's real, so we didn't go there.

'I think we were both experienced to know that if this was the real deal, we could wait to see what would happen.'

She added: 'That's when it hit me, at about a million miles an hour  I almost fell off my chair. They always say, You know when you know, and I had found that quite frustrating my whole life.'
She recently split from her long-time love Austin Butler.

Yet Vanessa Hudgens was taking the break-up in her stride as she made a breathtaking appearance on the red carpet at the 26th annual Vanity Fair Oscars party at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.

The High School Musical star, 31, sizzled in a dramatic purple gown with a deeply plunging neckline and incredible attachments which billowed over her shoulders to ensure all eyes were firmly on her on the red carpet.

Purple dream: Vanessa Hudgens was taking the break-up in her stride as she made a breathtaking appearance on the red carpet at the 26th annual Vanity Fair Oscars party at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

Vanessa was determined to mesh both sexy and edgy for her turn at the prestigious event as she put on a dramatic display in her breathtaking gown.

Clinging to every inch of her incredible figure, the light silk material skimmed her figure and highlighted her lean and lovely frame.

The attachments hanging off her shoulders made for a showstopping look as she threw the threads in the air and allowed the paps to get the perfect shot.

News of her split from Austin was confirmed last month, after a whopping nine years as one of Hollywood's golden couples. The pair reportedly broke up in late 2019 but now it is official, a source told Us Weekly.

Wow! The High School Musical star, 31, sizzled in a dramatic purple gown with a deeply plunging neckline and incredible attachments which billowed over her shoulders to ensure all eyes were firmly on her on the red carpet

Purple dream: Clinging to every inch of her incredible figure, the light silk material skimmed her figure and highlighted her lean and lovely frame

Hot stuff: News of her split from Austin was confirmed last month, after a whopping nine years as one of Hollywood's golden couples. The pair reportedly broke up in late 2019 but now it is official, a source told Us Weekly

'Vanessa and Austin are officially broken up, and Vanessa has been telling those close to her about their breakup,' an insider claimed.

The pair first started dating in September 2011, but had sparked concern among fans after not being pictured together over the festive period.

Butler, 28, and Hudgens were not seen together on New Year's Eve and she travelled to Vals, Switzerland without him.

A vision: Vanessa was determined to mesh both sexy and edgy for her turn at the prestigious event as she put on a dramatic display in her breathtaking gown

Wow! The attachments hanging off her shoulders made for a showstopping look as she threw the threads in the air and allowed the paps to get the perfect shot

Austin was also absent for her birthday celebrations on December 13. The Princess Switch star told the November 2018 issue of Women's Health that she was in no rush to wed.

'I want to get married, travel, then have kids  probably in my late 30s,' she explained at the time. 'Everyone's clock is different.'

Austin and Vanessa first met on the set of High School Musical in 2005 when she was still with Zac Efron. But they didn't start dating until 2011 when they were caught kissing in Miami.

Hot stuff: Her plunging dress left little to the imagination

Happy days: Michael B. Jordan looked dashing as he cosied up to Vanessa

Radiant: She posed with actress Sydney Sweeney, who was clad in a stunning embroidered gown

Brunette beauty: She kept her beauty look simple to make the most of her incredible gown

Sizzling: She was not only turning heads but also performing with the help of her ribbon attachments
Zealandia  Earths seventh continent  experienced dramatic elevation changes between about 50 million and 35 million years ago, according to a new analysis of samples collected during the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 371 in 2017; this topographic upheaval may have been due to a widespread reactivation of ancient faults linked to formation of the western Pacifics infamous Ring of Fire.

Zealandia has 4.9 million km2 (1.9 million miles2) of landmass and once made up approximately 5% of the area of the supercontinent Gondwana, the ancient supercontinent that included Antarctica and Australia. Roughly 94% of the area of Zealandia currently is submerged.

Since the 1970s the prevailing scientific wisdom has been that Zealandias unusually low profile is due to the thinning of its crust as it separated from Gondwana around 85 million years ago.

After the tectonic fireworks, this model has Zealandia doing nothing but gently cooling and subsiding, said Dr. Rupert Sutherland, a geophysicist at the Victoria University of Wellington.

But fossils in the drillcores collected by the IODP Expedition 371 indicate that during the early Cenozoic, portions of northern Zealandia rose 1-2 km (0.6-1.2 miles) while other sections subsided about the same amount before the entire continent sank another kilometer deep underwater.

The timing of these topographic transformations coincides with a global reorganization of tectonic plates evidenced by the bend in the Emperor-Hawaii seamount chain, the reorientation of numerous mid-ocean ridges, and the onset of subduction  and the related volcanism and seismicity  in a belt that still encircles much of the western Pacific.

Although subduction drives Earths plate tectonic cycle, scientists dont yet understand how it starts, Dr. Sutherland said.

One of the amazing things about our observations is that they reveal the early signs of the Ring of Fire were almost simultaneous throughout the western Pacific, he added.

Because this timing predates the global tectonic plate reorganization, scientists need to find an explanation for how subduction began across such a broad area in such a short time.

The study authors propose a new mechanism: a subduction rupture event, which they argue is similar to a massive, super-slow earthquake.

They believe the event resurrected ancient subduction faults that had lain dormant for many millions of years.

We dont know where or why, but something happened that locally induced movement, and when the fault started to slip, like in an earthquake the motion rapidly spread sideways onto adjacent parts of the fault system and then around the western Pacific, Dr. Sutherland said.

But unlike an earthquake, the subduction rupture event may have taken more than a million years to unfold.

Ultimately, Zealandias sedimentary record should help us determine how and why this event happened and what the consequences were for animals, plants, and global climate.

The process has no modern analogue and because the subduction rupture event is linked to a time of rapid, global plate tectonic change, other instances of such change in the geologic record may imply that comparable events have occurred in the past, Dr. Sutherland said.

Geologists generally assume that understanding the present is the key to understanding the past. But at least in this instance, this may not hold.

The findings are published in a paper in the journal Geology.

_____

R. Sutherland et al. Continental-scale geographic change across Zealandia during Paleogene subduction initiation. Geology, published online February 6, 2020; doi: 10.1130/G47008.1
The project to set up INSANIA, an Institute for Advanced Humanities in Africa and the Mediterranean, was announced Saturday in Essaouira during the meeting of the Center for Studies and Research on Hebrew Law in Morocco, held in Bayt Dakira.

The setting up of this institute, the first of its kind in the regions of North and West Africa, gives all its meaning and its deep legitimacy to the exceptional momentum triggered by the historic visit of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, a few days ago, to this emblematic Space, said Andre Azoulay, Royal Advisor and President-Founder of the Essaouira-Mogador Association.

The INSANIA Institute project, which is under construction, was initiated with the assistance of the History and Sociology department of the University of Bordeaux. It will focus its work on Advanced Humanities in partnership with European and African networks already active in this discipline, said Azoulay.

INSANIA proposes, at the crossroads of numerous cultural, religious and historical junctions, to pursue a policy of development and dissemination of the humanities and social sciences, placing humanism and its diversity at the heart of its concerns.

The institute, which will host residents, organize in-residence seminars and international study days on the model of institutes of advanced studies, aims to contribute to the study and knowledge of the Human in its cultural and social dimensions, and in relation to its environment, in its unity and its plurality.

The 4th scientific meeting of the Center for Studies and Research on Hebrew Law in Morocco was held in partnership with the Essaouira-Mogador Association and the German Konrad Adenauer Siftung Foundation, under the theme When Morocco gives meaning to its diversity: the uniqueness of Hebrew law in national law.

Several themes were debated at the meeting, namely The Centrality of Tolerance in the Thought & Action of HM the King; Uniqueness of the Kingdom through the Culture of Dialogue; Legal Reflections on Moroccan Hebrew Law; From Human Rights to Economic and Social Rights; Rights and Cultures in Muslim Societies: the Moroccan case; The Positivity in Standards in the Context of Muslim Africa; Rabbinical Principles of Legal Interpretation; and The Judeo-Amazigh Oral Tradition, a Unique Cultural Heritage.

Addressing the gathering, Andre Azoulay said this scientific meeting is exceptional in several respects, as it takes place after the historic visit of King Mohammed VI to Bayt Dakira. Its a new page of history that has been written in this House, he said.

Stressing the importance of the concept of law associated with studies on the place of rabbinical jurisdictions in Morocco, Azoulay also highlighted the imprescriptible and universal nature of the values of justice, dignity and freedom, which do not know no borders, no religions and which combine in the same way and with the same requirements for all.

This message, deeply Moroccan, which is that of the DNA of Bayt Dakira, tells us that we must first accept the contradictory debate and not derogate from the universality and the foundations of all these values, he argued.

The newly refurbished Bayt Dakira or House of Memory is dedicated to the historic coexistence of Jewish and Muslim communities in Morocco. It is a vivid testimony of a period when Islam and Judaism had an exceptional closeness, complicity and intimacy.
A Naxal was killed and four personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force's CoBRA battalion were injured in an encounter in Chhattisgarh's Bastar division on Monday, an official said.

The exchange of fire broke out around 10.30 am at a forest in Irapalli village on the border of Bijapur and Sukma districts in Bastar division when the security forces were out on a counter-insurgency operation, he said.

"A Naxal was gunned down in the encounter and a weapon was recovered from the spot," a senior CRPF official said.

"Four personnel of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA - an elite unit of CRPF) sustained injuries in the gunfight," he said.

The operation was still underway in the area, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hashem Abedi, left, is on trial accused of helping his brother commit murder in the Manchester bombing. Right, emergency services on the scene after Salman Abedi detonated his device. (PA Images)

The family of the Manchester Arena bomber claimed thousands of pounds in benefits - some of which was used to finance the deadly plot, a court heard.

Samia Abedi  the mother of bomber Salman and his brother Hashem  had received more than 2,000 a month in payments, even after she left the UK for Libya.

Salman killed himself when he triggered a bomb  estimated to be 36kg  that killed 22 people and injured 260 at an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena in May 2017.

The bomb was in a paint tin filled with homemade explosive TATP place inside a money tin and surrounded by shrapnel.

His brother Hashem, 22, is on trial accused of planning the attack with Salman.

Prosecutor Duncan Penny QC said last week that Hashem is just as responsible for the murder of the 22 people killed as was his sibling.

Abedi denies the charges against him.

Hashem Abedi, the brother of Salman Abedi, denies the charges against him. (Elizabeth Cook/PA Wire)

On Monday, the jury heard how money from Samia Abedis benefits payments, which continued to be paid to her after she left the country in October 2016, were accessed to pay for a 300 industrial-sized battery and other alleged bomb-making equipment from B&Q.

Jurors were shown how Samia Ahmed was receiving 2,147 a month, including housing benefit and working and child tax credit.

A bank card connected to her account was used to withdraw thousands of pounds in cash, with a series of withdrawals usually worth 50, 250 and 300 being made.

Read more on Yahoo UK:

Brother of Manchester bomber 'just as responsible for causing so much death', court told

Manchester bomber spotted on camera moments before 36kg homemade bomb blast

'We have come to slaughter' email was used to buy chemicals before Manchester Arena bombing

The welfare payments continued up until May 19, 2017, three days before the Manchester Arena bombing.

Bomber Salman Abedi was also paid 1,002.54 as part of his student loan in early January of that year, and four cash withdrawals of 790, 710, 800 and 700 were made from his RBS account on January 23, 2017.

Story continues

He reported his card lost the next day, claiming there had been a fraud.

A further student loan payment was made at the end of January, worth 2,258.

On Monday, the court also heard how Salman Abedi met convicted terrorist Abdalraouf Abdallah in prison four months before the attack.

Abdallah was convicted of preparing terror acts by helping people and funding terrorism in 2016.

The trial continues.

---Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK---
A soldier angry over a property deal gone sour killed at least 29 people and wounded 57 in a 16-hour rampage in the north-eastern Thai city of Nakhon Ratchasima.

Most of the victims were at the city's Terminal 21 shopping centre, where the shooter held out against an overnight siege with an assault rifle and ammunition stolen from his army base. He was shot dead by police in a raid on the mall.

Police named him as 32-year-old soldier Jakrapanth Thomma. He posted messages on Facebook during the attack before his account was shut down by the social network.

"It was a personal conflict...over a house deal," Prime Minister Prayuth Chansaid said in Nakhon Ratchasima after travelling there to meet survivors.

The conflict was with a relative of the soldier's commanding officer.

Thailand's worst mass shooting prompted soul searching in the south-east Asian country of 69 million, where the army has long styled itself as the protector of the nation.

Expand Close Attacker: Jakrapanth Thomma live-streamed his massacre in the north-eastern city of Nakhon Ratchasima / Facebook

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Whatsapp Attacker: Jakrapanth Thomma live-streamed his massacre in the north-eastern city of Nakhon Ratchasima

At a morgue in Nakhon Ratchasima, the family of 13-year-old Ratchanon Karnchanamethee sobbed as they identified his body.

"He's my only son. He hasn't even had dinner," said his father, Natthawut Karnchanamethee. "I allowed him to do anything he wanted to. I never set expectations for him. I only wanted him to be a good person."

Led by police and soldiers, hundreds of shoppers fled the mall during the 12-hour stand-off. Crouching low, they escaped in small groups, dazed and exhausted.

At one point, armed forces emerged at a run carrying small children.

"It was frightening because I could hear the occasional gunshot... we waited a long time for the police to come and help us, many hours," said Suvanarat Jirattanasakul (27), her voice trembling.

Another survivor said the shooter was "aiming for the heads".

Jakrapanth worked at an army base close to Nakhon Ratchasima, about 250km from the capital Bangkok.

He was a sharp shooter and took many special courses on carrying out attacks, including planning ambushes, army sources said. Thai media reported he often posted photos of weapons on social media.

The killings began at around 3pm on Saturday when the soldier opened fire in a house before moving to an army camp and then driving to the mall in a stolen Humvee.

The soldier's commanding officer was one of the people reported killed before the soldier moved on to the shopping mall and began shooting.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- This might be a good moment in history for an eminence grise to preside over a caretaker presidency. The country is bitterly divided, and the atmosphere will soon grow more poisoned. (If Donald Trumps re-election campaign isnt the most vicious in U.S. history, it will not be for lack of effort.) Democrats are conflicted about the direction of their party and how to defend the rule of law from the depredations of Trump and his enablers. Meantime, an insurgent wing of the party, led by Senator Bernie Sanders, has an appetite for conspiracy theories that often aids and abets Trumps disinformation.

When he entered the Democratic primary for president, former vice president Joe Biden offered himself as an elder statesman, an experienced hand who could calm such roiling waters. Few Americans have been in public life as long as Biden, who was elected to the U.S. Senate five decades ago at age 29. His service to Barack Obama, the most admired Democrat, has accrued political capital; Biden had a bank of residual goodwill upon which to draw, and a coterie of smart, experienced advisers.

Eminence grise, however, is not a job you get to claim. Others must bestow the honor upon you. In Iowa this week, the Biden campaign learned that the laurels got lost somewhere along the trail.

So on Wednesday morning, inside the 1899 Ballroom & Function Hall in the small town of Somersworth, New Hampshire, Biden vowed not to preside and soothe but to fight. Im gonna fight for this nomination. Im gonna fight in New Hampshire, he said. He also acknowledged that he had just lost a big bout. Im not going to sugarcoat it: We took a gut punch in Iowa, he said.

At the mention of gut punch, the journalists in attendance lurched in unison toward their keyboards, understanding that Bidens line was the definitive capstone on a bruising defeat in which he finished fourth. Campaign reporters sense weakness, and theyre writing about it.

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There were also demonstrations of strength. The mayor who introduced Biden called him a visionary leader, a bit of campaign hyperbole to bolster flagging spirits. A representative from the firefighters union said, Joe Biden has been nothing short of our hero. And Biden himself announced that he had received the endorsement of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

But signs of fatigue and listlessness abounded. Bidens herky-jerky performance varied moment to moment, depending on his emotional energy or, perhaps, on his physical stamina. He is the least dynamic of the septuagenarians in the race, lacking Elizabeth Warrens uncanny electricity, Sanders revolutionary zeal or Trumps venom-fueled vitality.(1)

While he took a few swings at Democratic rivals, noting the slippery record of one unnamed candidate (Sanders) on gun regulation, and defending the Obama administrations achievements against Pete Buttigiegs generic attacks on Washington, Biden didnt look like he was eager to go 12 rounds anytime soon. He took no questions from the audience and promptly disappeared from the campaign trail.

At Fridays New Hampshire debate, Biden began the night not by fighting for the state but by conceding it. I took a hit in Iowa he told moderator George Stephanopoulos,and Ill probably take a hit here. FiveThirtyEight has him battling Warren for third place in New Hampshire, which votes Tuesday.

At the Somersworth event, I saw only one African American face in a crowd of a couple hundred people. Black voters nonetheless dominated the space in absentia. Biden, the regular Joe tapped by Obama in 2008 as an emissary to working-class whites, is counting on strong support from black voters in South Carolina, where the primary is Feb. 29, to revive his campaign. A thumping in New Hampshire following the one in Iowa would surely test the faith of voters there. If Biden proves no more convincing as fighter than he did as eminence grise, an unsettled, and for many Democrats, unsettling, contest will be disrupted anew.

(1) Disclaimer: Michael Bloomberg is also seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. He is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.

To contact the author of this story: Francis Wilkinson at fwilkinson1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tracy Walsh at twalsh67@bloomberg.net

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Francis Wilkinson writes editorials on politics and U.S. domestic policy for Bloomberg Opinion. He was executive editor of the Week. He was previously a writer for Rolling Stone, a communications consultant and a political media strategist.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

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Linkedin Ross B. Taylor (The Jakarta Post) Perth  Mon, February 10, 2020 13:36 701 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206394544 3 Opinion Jokowi,Indonesia,Indonesia-Australia,bilateral-relations,diplomacy Free

As Indonesias President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo addressed the Australian Parliament in Canberra on Monday, officials from both countries can breathe a little easier in the knowledge that the bilateral relationship is in good shape.

Australia continues to enjoy a positive working relationship between the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Indonesian National Police that goes a long way to keeping over 1.2 million Australians safe while vacationing in Bali each year. The respective defense forces are increasing their communications and activities as our region becomes less stable. Australian Defense Minister Linda Reynolds is certainly Indonesia-savvy, having lived here some years ago. Senior officials in both nations' foreign affairs departments work cooperatively, with their respective foreign ministers, Marise Payne and Retno Marsudi in regular touch. And the educational and relatively small business-to-business links continue to be very warm.

And it is in the area of business where both leaders will seek to give the relationship a large boost during this presidential visit. With the Australian parliament having ratified the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) last October, Trade Ministry officials in Jakarta worked overtime last week to also have the deal approved by the House of Representatives before the Presidents address to a joint sitting of the Australian parliament today. The Presidents speech marked a significant advancement of this critical relationship, and for trade and business links, despite some concerns within Indonesia that the trade deal puts Indonesian workers and small businesses at a disadvantage.

With gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 5 percent - a growth rate most advanced nations would cheer about  Jokowi is under pressure to boost the economy and create more and better jobs, particularly for the 95 million people under 35 years of age, and to achieve a GDP growth of around 7 percent per year that is needed.

For both countries, the IA-CEPA will create access to a wide range of agricultural products, including the expansion of Australia's beef exports, allowing partnerships to form to "add value" in Indonesia with third-party exports to nations in North Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Education, technology and medical sectors would also benefit enormously, along with opportunities in infrastructure and aged-care, where qualified Indonesian nursing staff could be engaged within nursing homes in Australia - where the availability of quality and caring staff is at a crisis level  boosting people-to-people links within a key area that affects many.

Business groups and NGOs are also encouraging the government to use the IA-CEPA to expand these people-to-people links as a matter of priority, as despite the positive news about the current bilateral relationship, it overlooks one significant flaw: its shallowness. In Australia, we generally find a community that  notwithstanding Bali  sees Indonesia through a prism of ignorance and ambivalence.

Regular surveys conducted by the highly respected Lowy Institute show that Australians  including businesspeople  feel limited warmth toward Indonesians, and rate them only slightly higher than Russians and Egyptians in terms of how we perceive them. Over the past 10 years, the study of the Indonesian language in Australian high schools and tertiary institutions has also collapsed, contributing to this malaise within the relationship between our two countries.

Work is already being done in getting Australians and Indonesians to know each other better, and last year the New Colombo Plan sent over 700 young Australians to live and study in Indonesia, but Jakarta needs to make it easier for these mostly young people to obtain visas and work-experience permits. Likewise, the Holiday-Work program that allows young foreign travelers to visit Australia has been expanded to allow up to 1,000 young Indonesians to holiday and work there annually but it also needs to be simplified and cheaper for young Indonesians to access these opportunities.

These are positive programs but tourism from Indonesia continues to lag badly. Last year, 9.1 million Indonesians traveled abroad, yet only 1.75 percent chose to vacation in Australia, primarily due to the red-tape and cost of applying for a visa. Australia currently attracts a pitiful 126,800 Indonesian vacationers each year - compared with 280,713 from Singapore and 242,000 from Malaysia  costing the economy millions of dollars at a time when the Australian tourist sector is struggling post bushfires, and in recent weeks, due to the coronavirus that is impacting tourism from China dramatically. Indications are that Pak Jokowi will formally raise the issue of visas with Prime Minister Scott Morrison during their talks.

Notwithstanding the reluctance of both countries to acknowledge the people-to-people issue as an impediment to creating more depth in the relationship, the visit to Australia by President Jokowi will be successful and also genuinely warm, as our two leaders get to know each other better at a critical time in our region.

With the formal ratification of the IA-CEPA trade deal, the remaining bilateral challenge for both countries is to build capacity in this relationship between Australia and Indonesia by getting our border security policies and the critical people-to-people links correctly balanced and to create an environment where we can all get to know each other better and more often.

***

Ross B. Taylor AM is the president of Perths Indonesia Institute Inc. and former national vice-president of the Australia-Indonesia Business Council.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
Police caught an alleged burglar after he collapsed and rolled off a roof in south Belfast, a court has been told.

Officers intervened to prevent Declan McNally, 35, hitting the ground at the business premises he is accused of breaking into on Sunday morning.

McNally, whose address was given as HMP Magilligan, appeared before the city's Magistrates' Court charged with burglary and assault on police.

He was arrested at the premises on the Donegall Road were a number of community groups are based.

A judge was told an intruder had broken a window and entered the Sure Start offices.

According to a PSNI constable the man then climbed out a first floor window onto a partial roof.

"He refused to come down and became increasingly unresponsive," the officer claimed.

"He ended up collapsing and rolling off the roof, causing officers to catch him before he hit the ground."

Defence lawyer Eoghan McKenna argued that McNally could be released on bail under tight conditions.

Mr McKenna suggested that a regime including a curfew and electronic tagging would reduce any risk of re-offending.

But denying the application, District Judge Fiona Bagnall said: "Clearly there's a very strong prosecution case against him."

She remanded McNally in custody to appear again by video-link on March 9.
Outgoing leader of the Christian Democratic Union Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (L) and German chancellor Angela Merkel (R) arrive at the partys headquarters in Berlin, Germany, 10 February 2020. (Reuters)

Angela Merkels beleaguered Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party suffered another blow on Monday, after chairwoman Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer announced she would not run for chancellor in the 2021 elections and would stand down as party boss.

The sudden resignation of AKK, as she is widely known, leaves the question of who will lead the party, and potentially become the next chancellor after Merkel, wide open.

The 57-year-old announced her decision just days after the CDU lined up with the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) to help elect a new state premier in the state of Thuringia, causing political uproar.

Kramp-Karrenbauer told the press in Berlin on Monday that her decision not to run for chancellor and to step down as party leader was not made spontaneously in the wake of the political fiasco in Thuringia state last week. This decision has matured and grown in me for quite some time, Kramp-Karrenbauer said.

Every cooperation with the AfD weakens the CDU, she said at the press conference.

Speaking at a press conference with Hungarian leader Viktor Orban on Monday in Berlin, Merkel said that she was sorry to see Kramp-Karrenbauer step down but that she respected her decision.

This was not an easy decision to make, Merkel said, adding that she was pleased that Kramp-Karrenbauer would stay involved in the process of finding her successor.

READ MORE: German state premier resigns after outrage over far-right support

The Thuringia CDUs move to cooperate with the AfD flew in the face of the partys promise to never work with the radical-right party. Merkel, who has frequently defended AKKs actions, this time called the CDUs actions in Thuringia unforgivable.

Even though the freshly elected Thuringia premier Thomas Kemmerich resigned just 24 hours after he won thanks to combined AfD and CDU support, Kramp-Karrenbauer was accused of lacking authority over her party.

On Monday, economy minister Peter Altmaier described Kramp-Karrenbauers resignation as an unusually seriously situation for the CDU.

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It concerns our future as a modern, centrist peoples party, Altmaier added.

CDU Crisis

The Christian Democrats lost over a million voters to the AfD in the 2017 general election, and its attempts to shift more to the right to win them back has caused rifts in the party ranks.

Friedrich Merz, a corporate lawyer by training and former parliamentary floor leader is seen as a top contender for CDU chairman. The traditional conservative has often criticised Kramp-Karrenbauer and Merkel and, having stepped down from his job at investment giant BlackRock, would be available for the role of party chairman.

READ MORE: Merkel calls her partys alliance with far-right unforgivable

Merz avoided directly mentioning the news today, tweeting that now would be the right time to inject impulse with economic and financial policy measures.

North-Rhine Westphalia state premier Armin Laschet is also seen as a serious contender for CDU chief. Health minister Jens Spahn, who vied with AKK and Merz for the party leadership vote in 2018 and came in third, could also be in the running.

Since taking over as CDU leader less than a year and a half ago, AKK has failed to mirror her mentor or unite the party, appearing to stumble from one misstep to the next.

READ MORE: Uproar in Germany as Merkels party allies with far-right in state vote

She was accused of supporting censorship after she said the expression of political opinions online during election campaigns should be regulated. She also caused upset by making jokes onstage at the Cologne carnival about gender-neutral bathrooms.

Merkels spokesman told journalists in Berlin on Monday that Kramp-Karrenbauer would like to stay in her job as defence minister and the chancellor supports that wholeheartedly.

Kramp-Karrenbauer said she will stay on as party chair until a new leader is found at a planned conference in December.
MANCHESTER, N.H. - Democratic leaders have edged toward the brink of open war with each other in recent days after a series of jarring setbacks that could jeopardize the party's chances against President Donald Trump, who continues to solidify his iron-fisted control over the Republican election apparatus.

The infighting focuses largely on the failed caucus process in Iowa, with state and national Democratic leaders at odds over who deserves blame, as well as an increasingly bitter dispute over the rules governing who gets into future nationally televised candidate debates - a process that could allow billionaire Mike Bloomberg to make the stage later this month.

In a particularly stark sign, supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., have returned to bashing the Democratic National Committee, reviving grievances from the divisive 2016 primary race. In that campaign, Sanders backers said the system had been stacked against the democratic socialist - a view later affirmed when WikiLeaks released hacked internal emails - and supporters of nominee Hillary Clinton blamed Sanders for not sufficiently rally his base on Clinton's behalf in the general election.

Sanders's allies are again charging that the DNC is maneuvering to thwart his anti-establishment movement. They say the DNC's decision last week to call for a "recanvass" in Iowa threatened to undercut Sanders's ability to claim momentum from winning the popular vote there, while changing the rules to benefit Bloomberg reflects the desire among the party elite for a savior to deny Sanders the nomination.

"They can shout unity all they want, but the actions show otherwise," said Nina Turner, a national co-chairman of the Sanders campaign.

The brew of resentment and anxiety represents a sharp turn for a presidential primary race that began last year with a historically diverse field and intense optimism that Democrats could harness the same energy that helped them win big in 2018.

Now party unity is breaking down just as voters express rising concerns that none of the remaining candidates is fully equipped to take on an incumbent president who regularly scoffs at political norms of civility and accuracy.

Like Iowans, many of whom remained undecided until the last moment before the caucuses, about a third of New Hampshire voters remain undecided, with Sanders and former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg appearing to have momentum before the Tuesday primary. The longtime national polling leader, Joe Biden, who many Democrats hoped would unify the party and pose the greatest threat to Trump, posted a disappointing finish in Iowa and has been sliding in New Hampshire.

The party's internal strife now looms over the Tuesday vote here as well as additional primaries set for the coming weeks.

Advisers to the two men most responsible for overseeing the disastrous Iowa caucuses, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez and Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Troy Price, have been privately deflecting blame onto each other as the relationship between the two has become tense, advisers say. Price has refused to join Perez in calling for a recanvass of voting records in the state after finding out about Perez's demand from a deputy a few minutes before it was tweeted, people familiar with their communication said.

Price allies blame Perez for the botched caucus count, pointing to new party rules he implemented around transparency and accessibility that increased the burdens on the state. They also point to confusion over whether a cybersecurity team sent by Perez fully reviewed the technology that failed on caucus night.

"Ultimately this is the national chairman's mess," said former congressman Dave Nagle, who planned the 2020 caucuses with Price and now refers to Perez with the nickname "Pontius Pilate." "He is the one who asked us to do it. We tried to do it. We got bushwhacked by a bad system, and now we are trying to clean up."

In response, aides to Perez, who was not in Iowa for the caucuses, have maintained that the state party was ultimately responsible for administering the caucuses, choosing a technology vendor and making sure the technology worked. The DNC hired experts, they say, to review the cybersecurity of the technology but not the functionality of the software.

"I am not Troy Price's boss, so it is not our role to micromanage every element of the administration of elections," Perez said in an interview Sunday, when asked about the DNC's responsibility for the Iowa failures. "Every state party has its own process."

Perez did not appear in the spin room after Friday's New Hampshire debate, and he skipped a speaking slot Saturday in Manchester at a state party fundraiser because of a conflicting, and previously scheduled, appointment to meet with governors in Washington, his aides say.

From the moment he took the job as party chairman, Perez has said he is more focused on beating Trump than expanding "my holiday card list." The party he inherited was a skeletal operation, gutted and demoralized after Clinton's 2016 loss and the scandal sparked by leaked internal party emails, which the intelligence community has blamed on the Russian government.

Perez moved quickly to remake the nominating process, forcing more regulation of states that host caucuses, investing heavily in technology security efforts and eliminating any chance of a decisive vote by party insiders on the first ballot at the nominating convention, a concession to Sanders supporters who wanted the process to more directly reflect the popular vote.

At the start of the campaign, Sanders advisers repeatedly praised Perez, encouraging party leaders who are wary of the enormous funding advantages of the Republican National Committee, which has raised $194 million in the current election cycle compared with $76 million by the DNC, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

But that tone shifted in recent weeks as Sanders surrogates, supporters and staffers have criticized Perez for changing the debate rules and for the appointees he has placed on the various convention committees.

Perez announced last month that he would allow candidates to make the debate stage in late February if they met either a polling threshold or won national party delegates in Iowa or New Hampshire. Perez dropped a requirement that forced candidates to attract thousands of grass-roots donors, which Bloomberg would not meet since he does not accept donations.

A former New York mayor, Bloomberg gave more than $1.5 million to the national and state parties in the final months of last year, according to federal election records. He so far has collected only one of the four 10% polls he needs to qualify for the Las Vegas debate Feb. 19.

Perez said the rule change was not made to benefit any single candidate.

"Our job at every debate is to identify through the most relevant measures who are the most viable candidates who should be on the debate stage," he said when asked why he dropped the donor requirement. "The polling is now more probative because people are paying attention."

Sanders has been blunt in his condemnation of the move.

"I think it is an outrage," he told reporters Thursday. "I guess if you're worth $55 billion, you can get the rules changed."

One top Sanders aide warned that the rule change could hurt party enthusiasm.

"The question is, are working people going to turn against the Democratic Party because there is a billionaire who is himself able to get on the debate stage because he got special treatment?" Sanders senior adviser Jeff Weaver said.

Biden also has joined in the criticism of Perez for changing the debate qualification rules in a way that could allow Bloomberg onto the stage.

"The rules seem to be changing a little bit," he said at a Saturday campaign stop, noting that other candidates had tried to change them. "If I'm Julian Castro or I'm a couple other guys - they didn't change the rules to allow me to stay on the debate stage. But now the rules get change to put someone else on the debate stage?"

Other Democratic insiders have tried to paint the Sanders complaints as politically expedient. Along with other candidates, they say, the Sanders campaign supported a change to the debate rules in December that would have allowed candidates to qualify with either polling or donors, as part of an effort to allow Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., to join the Jan. 14 debate. That change, which Perez did not accept, would also have cleared the path for Bloomberg.

The Sanders campaign was also alarmed when Perez decided last month to name his allotted appointments to the standing committees for the party's national nominating convention, set for this summer in Milwaukee. Previous party chairmen have made similar appointments, which make up a minority of the full committee membership.

"The deck is stacked against fairness," Turner said of the committee appointments. "And not only stacked against Senator Sanders but it's stacked against any candidate who is not entrenched in the elite section of the Democratic Party. And the sad thing about it is Chairman Perez knows this."

Weaver has tried to strike a less aggressive tone, saying that the Sanders campaign still believes Perez has tried to be evenhanded. "Of course, given our experience, we are ever vigilant," he said.

Several national committee members were upset earlier this year when word spread that the budget committee had approved transition payments equal to four months of salary for Perez and his top deputies. The funds were intended to assure that Perez and his deputies had time to work with their successors in 2021, or this year if the party nominee calls for new leadership before the election.

"This is not a Tom thing. This is a business thing," said Dan Halpern, budget committee chairman. "This is an effort to make sure that the DNC is a going concern."

Perez and his team quickly distanced themselves from the effort.

"One hundred percent of our resources are going toward beating Donald Trump," said Xochitl Hinojosa, DNC communications director. "DNC leadership will not accept any extra compensation recommended by the budget committee, which didn't operate at the direction of DNC leadership."

The next logistical test for Perez will come Feb. 22, when Nevada Democrats hold the second major caucus of the process. The state party has scrapped plans to use a similar app to the one that performed so poorly in Iowa, but a computer system is still expected to be employed to collate early voting results. As in Iowa, the Nevada state party has primary responsibility over the process, Perez said.

"Our goal is we want to make sure that we have a caucus that is as low tech as humanly possible while still being efficient," Perez said. "We are working with them and we are coordinating with them."

Sanders, meanwhile, has put a bit more of an anti-establishment edge on his speeches this weekend, perhaps aimed at the independent voters who can participate in the New Hampshire primary, many of whom are skeptical of Democratic Party leadership and other institutions.

"We're taking on not just the whole Republican political establishment," Sanders said, "we're taking on the Democratic establishment." When Sanders said the Democratic establishment was getting nervous, the applause was louder.

Voters have increasingly brought up complaints about the national party on the campaign trail, especially at Sanders events. After the Iowa caucuses, Jared Saunders, 43, drove from Massachusetts to Derry, New Hampshire, where he raised his anxieties with Sanders directly during a town hall meeting about the recent appointment of standing committee members.

Sanders encouraged supporters to channel their nervous energy into voting for him.

"What we can do right now is make sure we have the largest voter turnout in the history of New Hampshire," he said, drawing applause from the crowd. "The truth is that the nominee will have enormous power over those committees, OK?"

The candidate's response did not quell Saunders's concerns.

"The DNC rigged it in 2016 and it's doing it again," he said after the event.

- - -

The Washington Post's Matt Viser and David Weigel in New Hampshire and Isaac Stanley-Becker in Washington contributed to this report.
A new white paper by Capital Lending Centre outlines the importance of specific industry training and key learning techniques for new and tenured professionals. In todays digital world, Dasgupta said there is no excuse to fall behind. With online resources and courses to news, social media and more, pertinent information is always easily accessible. He suggests starting with brokerage training programs, industry publications like Canadian Mortgage Professional, and news aggregators that pull relevant articles and publications from multiple channels.

According to the white paper, the brokerage, agent and other industry players all have a role to play in the lifelong education of a mortgage professional. Having a brokerage or network partner that shares in your ethics and values and is committed to delivering education that resonates with you is something to consider, said Dasgupta. Its one thing to offer training, but the key to success is having a brokerage take you through the delivery and its purpose, what the expectations are and how to apply the information. Tracking and monitoring agent activity and results is a good way for branch managers and company leaders to judge whether there are enough resources going into training and education, he added. In addition, the paper suggests the costs associated with a lack of training is massive. For employers, a lack of training leads to low performance, lack of employee development and growth, diminishing standards, unhappy employees, increased costs and lower sales, the paper stated.

As an agent, theres also a responsibility to embrace all the material and start utilizing it effectively. Lending partners, vendors and other industry colleagues should also participate in verifying information, sharing tips and contributing material to an agents learning.

Finding out what style of learning is best suited for you is also something Dasgupta recommends whether its visually, through audio, in person or self-directed.

Education and training is paramount to new agents accelerating their careers and growth, as well as existing agents who need to stay relevant. Knowledge should always be a primary concern, as the training agents receive will be a key measure of success, said Dasgupta.
Press Release

February 10, 2020 PH RED CROSS READY TO RESPOND TO NCOV With the growing number of persons under investigation (PUI) for the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Acute Respiratory Disease, the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) heightened its preparation by providing personal protective equipment (PPE) to its frontline staff and volunteers to ensure their safety while handling cases of suspected Coronavirus. PRC Chairman Senator Richard J. Gordon said, "The Philippine Red Cross is ready to respond to the Coronavirus scare. As it is important to us that we guarantee the protection of our staff and volunteers who are handling suspected cases of Coronavirus, we provide them with PPE sets for them to use during operations. We want our people to be protected and for us, prevention is of highest importance." There are two different types of PPEs being used by the PRC. The basic set is the standard set used by frontline workers coordinating with the families of suspected patients, while the frontline set is for staff who has direct contact with confirmed cases such as those assigned in ambulances. These staff are required to wear a three-layered clothing, double masks (medical N95 and surgical masks), and double gloves for extra protection. "We have prepositioned PPE sets to our key chapters with international airports and to PRC regional warehouses because we want to make sure that the PPEs are available to chapters whenever needed. We will purchase more of this equipment because we'll never know when will the spread of the virus stop. Better safe than sorry," Gordon said. The PRC has been very vigilant in monitoring suspected cases of nCov in the country and has been promoting health and hygiene activities such as the proper washing of hands as part of its prevention intervention. As part of its response mechanism, the PRC ensures that ambulance crew are properly trained in infection precaution. Welfare desks are also established in airports and in hospitals, while sufficient blood supply is ensured. Likewise, the PRC will be ready to provide medical tents to key hospitals in order to provide additional space to manage patients.
Nnamdi Kanu, leader the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has hinted at not returning to Nigeria for his parents funeral scheduled ...





Nnamdi Kanu, leader the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has hinted at not returning to Nigeria for his parents funeral scheduled for Friday.





In a broadcast via London-based Radio Biafra at the weekend, the IPOB leader said he is monitoring developments on the event in Abia state from abroad.





Kanu also said the ceremony would be broadcast live.





The IPOB leader has been on the run since 2017 when soldiers raided his fathers residence in Abia.





IPOB was later declared a terrorist group, and a federal high court in Abuja, where Kanu was being tried for alleged treason, ordered his arrest after he jumped bail.





Reacting to the police statement that they would disrupt the burial ceremony if IPOB members attend the event, Kanu said the whole world will be watching on that day.





Instead of them to be remorseful for causing the death of my father and mother, all they are saying is we will come and shoot at people that attend the burial, he said.





They should come and shoot; our CCTV is there live so that when it starts, they wont deny it.





It will be relayed live so that when our peoples madness starts, they wont go back to propaganda and say, it is secession, they are trying to secede.





Ene Okon, Abia commissioner of police, had said the funeral of Eze Kanu and his wife, king and queen of Afaraukwu (Nnamdi Kanus community), would not take place with the presence of IPOB members.





I have already reached out to the traditional prime minister of Afaraukwu (Nnamdi Kanus community) and told him that if they want the burial to go smoothly and for police to give them security, they should tell IPOB not to near the area not to talk of participating in the burial, the commissioner said.
MANILA, Philippines  The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has reiterated its appeal to airlines and shipping companies to help impose the countrys ban on travelers from China and its other regions that were hit by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente made the appeal after immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) blocked the entry of 36 foreign nationals who recently went to Macau, which is covered by the ban.

In a statement, the bureau said the foreigners, who flew via a Philippine Airlines flight from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, were barred entry at the NAIA Terminal 1 after immigration officers discovered upon inspection that they were traveling as a group and that they have been to Macau last February 1.

BI port operations division chief Grifton Medina said all 36 passengers were booked on the first available flight back to Phnom Penh.

The Philippine government on February 2 ordered the implementation of travel restrictions on passengers from China and its territories in an effort to curb the spread of the virus.

The novel coronavirus  which originated from the Chinese City of Wuhan  has killed over 900 in mainland China as of February 10 with 40,171 confirmed infections.

A report from Chinas National Health Commission showed that as of February 9, Hong Kong has 36 confirmed cases with one death, while Macau has 10 with one cured and discharged from hospital. Taiwan, on the other hand, reported 18 confirmed cases with one recovery.

Under the countrys travel ban, foreigners will not be allowed to enter the Philippines if they have traveled either to China, Macau and Hong Kong within the past 14 days.

Morente said all airlines and ships have been instructed not to board passengers covered by the ban.

He added that they are now mulling the possibility of imposing fines against airlines violating the policy.

As novel coronavirus infections continue to increase, the BI said both foreign and Filipino passengers from abroad will now be required to completely fill out and submit their arrival cards.

Story continues

Morente said he instructed all immigration duty supervisors to strictly enforce the new policy so the bureau can assist health and police authorities in tracking down passengers who recently travelled to nCoV-hit areas in China.

Previously, only foreign passengers arriving at the airports are required to fill out said arrival cards while Filipinos are obliged to fill out embarkation cards when they leave the country.

The bureau also said its immigration regulation division is now strictly screening applications for extension of stay of foreign tourists to check if any of them have a travel history to China, Hongkong and Macau within 14 days from their arrival.

A visa extension applicant covered by the restriction shall be turned over to the BOQ for medical assessment, the BI said.

We have developed a series of checking, double-checking, even triple checking to ensure that we assist our health authorities in monitoring the travelers. We do what we can to help prevent the spread of this virus, Morente said.

The post Airline, shipping firms urged to help impose PH ban on travelers from nCoV-hit Chinese areas appeared first on UNTV News.
I made my annual trek to the Ag Economic Outlook Forum at the University of Wisconsin Jan. 28. This great event is hosted by the Renk Agribusiness Institute at the university.

Last year I left the Ag Economic Outlook Forum with strong concerns about the future for our ag economy. The story last year was dire. We were hearing about low milk prices, farm closures and a new normal for agriculture after several years of declining prices and income.

This year I left the forum with more optimism than I have felt in a long time. Most of the forecasting was positive. The experts talked about opportunities for growth and expansion. Steve Deller, professor in the Department of Agriculture and Applied Economics at UW-Madison said that agriculture in Wisconsin is a $105 billion industry, which is a significant increase over five years ago, when the impact was $88 billion. He said that ags share of the state economy is growing.

Deller said that in southwest Wisconsin, 30% of all economic activity is related to agriculture. We grow a lot. But we also develop a lot of products. With the advent of the Dairy Innovation Hub at UW-Platteville, I am even more encouraged by this idea. We are on the right track.

Mark Stephenson, the Director of Dairy Policy Analysis and the Director of Dairy Profitability at UW-Madison, reflected the news that I am hearing from dairy farmers in the 17th state Senate District. Milk prices are rising! He said that this is due to slowing production in the U.S. and worldwide, declining stocks, trade improvements and the overall health of our national economy.

Stephenson said that people are eating their milk, rather than drinking their milk. Consumption of yogurt and cheese is rising while fluid milk sales continue to decline. He forecasted higher milk prices in 2020 than 2019.

Paul Mitchell, director of the Renk Institute, said that dairy farmer attrition still exceeds 10%, which is concerning. However herd sizes increased 31% over the last four years. Consolidation is still happening, but there may be good reasons for it. I talk to a lot of farmers all over the 17th Senate District. I hear the phrase  60 and 60  on a regular basis. It is used in reference to farmers leaving the industry who are in their 60s milking 60 cows. These farmers do not have children who want to take over the farm and they want to retire. These cows are purchased by other farms. Many of these farmers continue to farm, but not milk cows.

Our workforce, throughout the state, is impacted by the vast retirement of baby boomers. Farming is no different. In fact, I believe that farming may be impacted even more. As some farmers say, farming is a young mans job. Farming is physically demanding, 24/7/365 work that doesnt quit. Our older farmers want to retire.

When they retire, they are selling their herds to larger farms, often family farms, made up of several families working together. The next generation of farming demands quality-of-life. They want to share the responsibilities of farming so that their families can take vacations, be involved in life off of the farm and live differently than their predecessors. I dont think this is a bad thing!

The afternoon session of the forum focused on industrial hemp. The state Legislature took steps to legalize and support industrial hemp farming over the last several years. However, Wisconsins industrial hemp industry is very young, compared to other states and countries. Mitchell invited experts from Kentucky, Colorado and Canada to tell us about their progress and to offer advice.

The bottom line is that industrial hemp is not the short-term savior of the ag economy in Wisconsin. It is a risky investment with limited markets right now. We also have a lot of work to do to protect the supply chain and develop markets for producers. I recently talked to two farmers in the 17th District who invested in hemp. Neither of them have gotten a check yet. Theyre still optimistic about the opportunity, but they do not consider it to be the sure-thing that it was sold as over the last several years.

In fact, I sat with a farmer at the forum who attended the forum because he was considering investing in hemp this spring and wanted to learn about the industry. By the end of the day, he had reversed his course. The forum may have saved him a lot of hardship and money this year!

Again, the Ag Economic Outlook Forum is a tremendous event. You can view all of the videos and materials from the forum on the Renk Institutes website: https://renk.aae.wisc.edu/ag-outlook-forum. The forum bolstered my resolve to continue working on the nearly 40 bills before the legislature that impact agriculture before we gavel out of session this spring. Stay tuned.

For more information and to connect with me, visit my website http://legis.wisconsin.gov/senate/17/marklein and subscribe to my weekly E-Update by sending an email to Sen.Marklein@legis.wisconsin.gov. Do not hesitate to call 800-978-8008 if you have input, ideas or need assistance with any state-related matters.

Republican Howard Marklein, Spring Green, represents the 17th state Senate District.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 10

By Eldar Janashvili - Trend:

The observation mission from the Czech Republic praised the organization of the early parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan, Trend reports.

Czech observers noted a number of differences between the election processes in the Czech Republic and Azerbaijan at a press conference on the early parliamentary elections held in the country on Feb. 9.

In particular, member of the Czech Republic Chamber of Deputies Jaroslav Holik noted that the Braille alphabet was used for the blind in the ballot papers, which once again proves the country's concern for each of its citizens.

Jaroslav Holik emphasized the importance of finger testing with an ultraviolet detector to prevent re-voting in elections.

The use of webcams was also evaluated by Czech observers as an important step.

"On the voting day, we visited 16 polling stations of Baku, got acquainted with many details, with voter lists. The members of the commissions willingly answered our questions. We did not see any violations and are very pleased with the work of the election commission," Jaroslav Holik said.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @eldarjanashvili
In a fourth-floor toilet of the Terminal 21 mall, shoppers jammed cubicle doors against the entrance to keep out a Thai soldier on a shooting spree, tracing his movements through fragments of CCTV passed on by friends on the outside.

Barricaded in the women's toilet with a few dozen others, Chanathip Somsakul, a 33-year-old music teacher, and his wife pored through social media and made frantic calls to friends and family.

Their daughter Chopin sat watchfully on a ledge, a three-year-old bystander to a mass killing without precedent in Thailand.

Nakhon Ratchasima, a mid-size Thai city entwined like much of the northeastern Isaan region by tight family connections and social media networks, quickly began to rally to its own trapped inside.

"A friend who works at the mall was talking to a guy in the CCTV control room... he gave us updates on the location of the gunman," Chanathip told AFP on Sunday.

Those details, shared over messaging apps, may have saved the lives of Chanathip, his family and the 20-30 others inside.

But in the swirl of competing information, dread gripped those hidden inside cupboards, storerooms and toilets across the mega-mall.

"Everyone was terrified and lost. There was so much information going around, people weren't sure what to believe," Chanathip added.

For hours, a killer stalked the concourses, the glass-fronted windows of the multi-level mall spider-webbed by bullet holes.

The gunman -- a soldier apparently angered by a dispute over the sale of a house -- had already slain several people on his way into the shopping centre, the largest in the city and packed on the first day of a long weekend.

Sergeant-Major Jakrapanth Thomma swaggered through the mall, a machine gun slung over his shoulder and wearing a helmet and combat gear, in full view of CCTV cameras.

By the end of his spree at least 30 people would be dead -- himself included. Many more are wounded, several critically.

Fear snapped through Chanathip's hideout when someone banged on the toilet door.

"I thought it could be the gunman. A lady asked 'who is it?' but there was no answer. She wanted to open the door but we all convinced her not to."



Chanathip had just finished teaching a music lesson and -- like hundreds of others -- was eating in the mall with his family when gunfire erupted.

His family took refuge in the women's toilet. Some men pulled the toilet doors off and wedged them against the entrance.

At 9.00 pm on Saturday they received word from police that they could leave, which they did -- in an orderly fashion at first, along with dozens of others.

But gunshots rang out as they reached a car park, sparking a wild sprint.

Inside, scores of others remained trapped, cowering in gym toilets, under restaurant tables and in store rooms -- hoovering up information on the whereabouts of the gunman.

From inside the stockroom of H&M, Aldrin Baliquing, a Filipino teacher in his 40s, meditated to stay calm.

"I was so scared because the shop where we were trapped was just above the establishment where the gunman held his hostages," he said, referring to unconfirmed reports the rogue soldier had taken human shields.

As police began to clear bullet-riddled cars and rust-red blood stains on the street that had dried in the Thai heat, survivors tried to make sense of a night of terror.

"Everything happened so fast," Lapasrada Khumpeepong, 13, told AFP during a Sunday vigil for the dead and injured.

She and her mother had been trapped in the bathroom on the ground floor of Terminal 21, cornered there for five hours after they tried to flee from the sound of rapid gunfire.

"Thank you to those who sacrificed themselves to keep others alive," she scrawled on a condolences board at the vigil.

"Without you, we would not be here today.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Current methods for diagnosing depression are simply too subjective and imprecise to guide clinicians in quickly identifying the right treatment, Etkin said. In addition to a variety of antidepressants, there are several other types of treatments for depression, including psychotherapy and brain stimulation, but figuring out which treatment will work for which patients is based on educated guessing.

To diagnose depression, clinicians rely on a patient reporting at least 5 of 9 common symptoms of the disease. The list includes symptoms such as feelings of sadness or hopelessness, self-doubt, sleep disturbances  ranging from insomnia to sleeping too much  low energy, unexplained body aches, fatigue, and changes in appetite, ranging from overeating to undereating. Patients often vary in both the severity and types of symptoms they experience, Etkin said.

As a psychiatrist, I know these patients differ a lot, Etkin said. But we put them all under the same umbrella, and we treat them all the same way. Treating people with depression often begins with prescribing them an antidepressant. If one doesnt work, a second antidepressant is prescribed. Each of these trials often takes at least eight weeks to assess whether the drug worked and symptoms are alleviated. If an antidepressant doesnt work, other treatments, such as psychotherapy or occasionally transcranial magnetic stimulation, may also be tried. Often, multiple treatments are combined, Etkin said, but figuring out which combination works can take a while.

People often feel a lot of dejection each time a treatment doesnt work, creating more self-doubt for those whose primary symptom is most often self-doubt, Trivedi said.

Looking for a biomarker

The EMBARC trial enrolled 309 people with depression who were randomized to receive either sertraline or a placebo.

For their study, Etkin and his colleagues set out to find a brain-wave pattern to help predict which depressed participants would respond to sertraline. First, the researchers collected EEG data on the participants before they received any drug treatment. The goal was to obtain a baseline measure of brain-wave patterns.

Next, using insights from neuroscience and bioengineering, the investigators analyzed the EEG using a novel artificial intelligence technique they developed and identified signatures in the data that predicted which participants would respond to treatment based on their individual EEG scans. The researchers found that this technique reliably predicted which of the patients did, in fact, respond to sertraline and which responded to placebo. The results were replicated at four different clinical sites.

Further research suggested that participants who were predicted to show little improvement with sertraline were more likely to respond to treatment involving transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS, in combination with psychotherapy.

Using this method, we can characterize something about an individual persons brain, Etkin said. Its a method that can work across different types of EEG equipment, and thus more apt to reach the clinic.

Etkin is on leave from Stanford, working as the founder and CEO of the startup Alto Neuroscience, a company based in Los Altos, California, that aims to build on these findings and develop a new generation of biologically based diagnostic tests to personalize mental health treatments with a high degree of clinical utility. Part of getting these study results used in clinical care is, I think, that society has to demand it, Trivedi said. That is the way things get put into practice. I dont see a downside to putting this into clinical use soon.

Broad effort

When EMBARC was launched, it was part of a broader effort by the NIMH to push for improvements in mental health care by using advances in fields such as genetics, neuroscience and biotechnology, said Thomas Insel, MD, who served as director of that institute from 2002 to 2015.

We went into EMBARC saying anything is possible, Insel said. Lets see if we can come up with clinically actionable techniques. He didnt think it would take this long, but he remains optimistic.

I think this study is a particularly interesting application of EMBARC, he said. It leverages the power of modern data science to predict at the individual level who is likely to respond to an antidepressant.

In addition to improving care, the researchers said they see a possible side benefit to the use of biologically based approaches: It could reduce the stigma associated with depression and other mental health disorders that prevents many people from seeking appropriate medical care.

Id love to think scientific evidence will help to counteract this stigma, but it hasnt so far, said Insel. Its been over 160 years since Abraham Lincoln said that melancholy is a misfortune, not a fault. We still have a long way to go before most people will understand that depression is not someones fault. (President Lincoln suffered bouts of depression.)

Other Stanford co-authors of the paper are postdoctoral scholars Yu Zhang, PhD, and Jing Jiang, PhD; former postdoctoral scholar Gregory Fonzo, PhD; neuroscience graduate students Molly Lucas and Camarin Rolle; research assistants Carena Cornelssen and Kamron Sarhadi; clinical research coordinator Trevor Caudle; former clinical research coordinators Rachael Wright, Karen Monuszko and Hersh Trivedi; and former neuroscience graduate student Russell Toll. All Stanford authors, including Etkin, are affiliated with Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Healthcare System and the Sierra Pacific Mental Illness, Research, Education and Clinical Center in Palo Alto.

Etkin is a member of the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford.

Researchers at South China University of Technology, the Netherlands Research Institute, Harvard Medical School, the New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University and the Netherlands neuroCare Group also contributed to the work.

Insel is an investor in Alto Neuroscience.

The EMBARC study data are publicly available through the NIMH Data Archive.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (U01MH092221, U01MH092250, R01MH103324, DP1 MH116506), the Stanford Neurosciences Institute, the Hersh Foundation, the National Key Research and Development Plan of China, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
WASHINGTON - The prospect of the federal government enacting bans to limit oil and gas production is becoming more real going into Tuesday nights New Hampshire Democratic Primary as climate change takes up increasing bandwidth in American politics.

Both Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, who placed first and third respectively in Iowas caucus last week, have pledged to ban the practice of hydraulic fracturing if elected president. And before you label them extremists, consider that almost every Democratic candidate, including avowed centrists Joe Biden, Mike Bloomberg and Pete Buttigieg, has pledged to stop leasing federal lands for extracting of oil, natural gas and coal.

In these debates, theres been a real focus on doing away with fossil fuels and oil and gas, said Dan Naatz, senior vice president of government relations and political affairs at the trade group Independent Petroleum Association of America. I dont think theres ever been about this amount of rhetoric in the Democratic primaries.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Evangelicals see the light on climate change

With President Donald Trumps approval rating at 49 percent just nine months before the general election, the Democratic candidates positions on climate change is making many in the oil and gas sector understandably nervous.

Just banning hydraulic fracturing on federal land would seriously hamper oil and gas production across New Mexico, Wyoming and North Dakota, three of the countrys largest oil and gas producing states. For instance, in one of New Mexicos largest oil and gas fields, the Delaware Basin, between 63 and 82 percent of the well completions by Occidental Petroleum, Devon Energy and Concho Resources were on federal land, according to an analysis by the research firm Rystad Energy.

But the effects of such a ban pale in comparison to the outright ban proposed by Warren and Sanders, extending to private lands in states such as Texas.

If fracking is banned in the whole country, we will see a full collapse of the U.S. (shale production), said Artem Abramov, head of shale research at Rystad. The pace of depletion will result in a massive shock for global energy markets with OPEC, Russia, US conventional and other supply sources struggling to replace the loss from the U.S.

To be fair, Sanders has said his fracking ban would not, happen overnight. Legislation he introduced last month with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., proposes to ban fracking beginning in 2025.

Related: UN warns climate pledges not going far enough

Bigger than money

Democrats have come to their positions on fracking and drilling as scientists worldwide warn that drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are required to avoid the worst consequences of climate change. Its an existential issue that reaches beyond economics, they argue.

"Sen. Sanders fracking ban bill is desperately needed if were going to stop the climate crisis, Kassie Siegel, director of the Center for Biological Diversitys Climate Law Institute, said in a statement. This is the big, bold action thats required so future generations can have a livable planet.

But there are legal questions about what authority presidents have over oil and gas drilling, which has traditionally been regulated by state governments.

Even lawyers within environmental groups concede that stopping drilling is not easy legally. Presidents likely do not have the authority to ban fracking themselves. That would require an act of Congress.

And even if some future president was able to manage such a political feat, he or she would face legal challenges from mineral rights owners claiming violation of their constitutional property rights, said Ben Norris, senior counsel at the American Petroleum Institute.

When it comes to the federal lands and waters, however, presidents have authority to conduct oil and gas leasing as they see fit. They are required to compile five-year plans for offshore drilling, but nowhere does it say they must offer leases.

I wouldnt say were out of luck Norris said, but there would be serious challenges in terms of gaining access, beginning in the offshore and potentially in the onshore.

More: Read the latest oil and gas news from HoustonChronicle.com

At least for now its unclear how serious Democratic candidates are about banning fracking or halting leasing on federal lands.

Making a case

Environmentalists believe the Democratic Party has finally turned a corner, willing to take drastic action on climate change. Oil and gas lobbyists, however, view the bans as typical campaign pledges in a competitive Democratic primary, likely to be softened or disappear altogether ahead of Novembers general election.

Not that theyre willing to count on that and are preparing to make their case to the eventual Democratic nominee that the economic disruption caused by scaling back drilling would far outweigh the environmental benefits

We need to have a conversation about the impacts on everyday Americans lives, said Naatz of the Independent Petroleum Association of America said. We need to make sure policy makers really understand what youre really talking about when you talk about a ban on hydraulic fracturing.

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james.osborne@chron.com

Twitter: @osborneja
Im married and I have two daughters and I am aware of some frankly poor behaviour that goes on outside my industry, he said. But what I like to think about more is whats positive. There is plenty to celebrate. While starting from an extremely male-dominated base, Rio Tinto joined Male Champions for Change in previous years and has some runs on the board. It's so far achieved a target to increase women in senior management by 2 per cent annually, increasing from 19 per cent in 2016 to 22.6 per cent in 2018.

Its executive committee went from 20 per cent women to 25 per cent between 2016-18. Graduate intake has fluctuated  41 per cent women in 2017, 36 per cent in 2018  but 2019 figures released in coming weeks will see Rio finally hit its 50 per cent target. Annual pay gap audits saw a 3 per cent equal pay gap (the measure of like-for-like jobs) improve to 2 per cent from 2017-18. Mr Salisbury said mining had for too long focused on engineering qualifications at the expense of skills. Recruiters needed to recognise that focusing only on qualifications in a discipline in which women were already under-represented would exacerbate inequality. And he hoped Rios work in automation would help attract more young women into Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields.

Its not just about wielding pickaxes in remote locations anymore, he said. Our operating centre employs 400 people and a lot of that work used to happen at remote sites but having a more tech-enabled business increases the scope and opportunity for different genders and backgrounds to participate. If we explain that story better to young people we should be able to boost the number of women in STEM subjects.

Mr Salisbury has worked at Rio Tinto for more than 30 years and said recent changes had made senior teams stronger and more cohesive. They had richer discussions and made better decisions. A team made up of predominantly males will always be biased in making decisions that affect people, he said. Engagement, as we call it  the measure of how engaged employees are with their company  is measured very closely. Apart from the factors of how they get paid and where they work, people are looking for purpose. Does the company have a purpose they can align to, do its culture and values play out in everyday life? And more employees were taking advantage of Rios gender-neutral parental leave and flexible work policies.

Loading Its about lifting those policies off the paper and into practice, Mr Salisbury said. In the last couple of years we have seen senior men taking parental leave. Its been a great symbol, its generated great positive discussion. But challenges remain. Two women retired from the board last year. With replacements yet to be announced, the board is back down to a single woman.

And the overall workforce was still only 17.7 per cent women in 2018, down from 18 per cent in 2017. We still have a high rate of attrition, particularly for mothers having children, Mr Salisbury said. You hear all the excuses, about FIFO rosters and so on, but that is just excuses. We have to continue to look at how we can make our work meet the needs of people with young families. And the more we have this dialogue playing in every corner of society, the better off we will be.

CEOs for Gender Equity director Tania Cecconi said mining was often blamed for WAs poor performance in a nationwide context, but mining companies were in fact leaders. Once the CEO or leader of that business turns their mind to increasing the numbers they make it happen. So its so important for leaders of these male-dominated businesses to normalise the conversation in WA, she said. She said after Workplace Gender Equity Agency figures late last year sparked reports that WA had gone backwards in terms of equity, this had not accounted for an overall increase in the number of companies reporting. In fact, WA could celebrate some major achievements.
Vietnams garment-textile sector is expected to make breakthroughs in 2020 thanks to the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Other factors including free trade agreements (FTA) that will take effect in 2020 and the penetration of international brands like Zara, H&M and Mango will also favour the industrys growth.

The sector has made significant progress, especially in yarn and dyeing, through IT applications, as reflected in improved productivity, accelerated production and reduced labour force.

According to Truong Van Cam, Vice President of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, more than 2.5 million tonnes of yarn were churned out in 2019, of which over 1.5 million tonnes valued at about 4 billion USD were exported.

Fabric output also increased six times and export value clocked up 2.1 billion USD, he added.

The Fourth Industrial Revolutions impacts on production mindset and methods are tangible. An example is Duc Quan Investment and Development JSC in the northern province of Thai Binh, which has doubled its yarn output to 17,000 tonnes per year through the application of Big Data in production and management.

Garment 10 Corporation JSC has also used online business management software DIP BMS.NET to better monitor transactions of distribution chains.

Members of the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) such as Hoa Tho Textile-Garment Joint Stock Corporation, Viettien General Garment JSC and Nha Be Joint Stock Corporation have joined the trend.

Vinatex General Director Le Tien Truong said technological applications offer workers stable jobs with higher incomes while helping the group double its profits.

Optimising the achievements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution has become an inevitable trend. However, this has met with a range of difficulties, especially a severe shortage of labourers who can use the new equipment.

Humans, particular technicians, play a key role in the process, said Vinatex Managing Director Cao Huu Chien, adding that the group has mobilised different resources for personnel training.

The Prime Minister has also agreed to upgrade the Hanoi Industrial College for Textile, Garment and Fashion to the Hanoi Industrial Textile Garment University, creating a major personnel training channel for the sector, he said./.VNA

Garment and textile exports likely to reach US$42 billion in 2020: SSI Export turnover within the textile and apparel sector is forecast to reach up to US$42 billion in 2020, representing an increase of 7.7 per cent compared to the figures from 2019, according to SSI Securities Corporation.
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Diversion programs designed as therapeutic alternatives to prison for nonviolent offenders often saddle participants with fees that push some into poverty, according to a new report from the Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice.

Surveys of more than 1,000 participants revealed Alabamas programs often enroll low-income offenders who struggle to keep up with costs, hearings and random drug tests that interfere with work and family obligations. Most of the participants earned $15,000 or less a year, and fees typically consumed about 10 percent of their income. Few qualified for cost-reduction programs designed for low-income defendants.

More than 40 percent of those surveyed admitted to committing another crime to keep up with program payments. Many had also borrowed money or relied on charity to afford food and other necessities while under court supervision.

Crowding and violence in Alabama prisons have focused attention on diversion  which can keep some offenders in the community and even prevent felony convictions. But the system is fractured, often pitting prosecutor-run diversion programs against judge-operated specialty courts. Offenders can find themselves caught in the middle, forced to fund the programs through high fees or risk going to prison.

Gov. Iveys Study Group on Criminal Justice Policy has diversion on their radar and has expressed concerns about the pay-to-play nature of the current system, said Carla Crowder, executive director of Alabama Appleseed. This is encouraging. Our hope is that the Legislature will closely examine which diversion programs are truly working and which are used to boost the budgets of agencies operating them. The questionable programs dont need more money, whether it comes from the poorest Alabamians or the Legislature.

Lawmakers have passed a number of laws over the years authorizing different community programs for nonviolent offenders. The report studied community corrections  where offenders serve their sentences at home  and diversion programs that can erase criminal charges entirely.

These programs get little funding from the state and are mostly supported by participant fees.

I would say the report is eye-opening, said Bennet Wright, executive director of the Alabama Sentencing Commission. It not only shows how differently programs and services are operated across the state in regards to lack of uniformity with fees, eligibility and requirements, but also shows how much the state needs to invest in local communities to ensure services are available across the entire state to everyone that needs them.

One of the most troubling, according to the Appleseed report, is also one of the newest. Pretrial diversion offers the chance to avoid prison and felony convictions, but it also has some of the highest fees and limited opportunities for participation by low-income defendants. According to the report, that can create different outcomes based solely on an individuals ability to pay.

The research also found racial disparities in program participation. Even though a majority of Alabama prisoners are African American, most of those involved in diversion programs are white.

Crowder said the costs of the programs posed the biggest problems, often forcing offenders to make tough decisions about paying bills, buying groceries or staying out of prison.

State law provides little guidance on how pre-trial diversion money should be collected or spent. income from one pre-trial diversion program paid for car washes, business suits and even sheet cakes. Such spending raises questions about who benefits and at what expense.

Should people trying to avoid jail be paying for uniforms and office supplies in DA's Offices? Crowder said. That just doesn't seem right.

Participants who cant pay risk getting sent to prison or having their supervision extended for months or even years. Researchers sat in on meetings with judicial staff and witnessed decisions about sanctions due to missed payments. Some program participants endured years of supervision because they struggled to make payments.

Costs arent the only obstacles to success. Those called for drug testing often get little notice to arrange transportation and time off for mandatory screens  even when they dont have histories of drug abuse. About one in five of the people surveyed had been sent to prison for violating program terms.

For all their problems, Crowder said diversion programs keep some offenders out of prison and offer services that can improve lives.

There is no question that diversion, especially drug courts, works for some people, Crowder said. We encountered dedicated judges, case workers, and staff who truly wanted to serve participants well and help them stay out of jail. But when freedom comes with a price tag and onerous conditions that simply don't work for thousands of Alabamians, we've got to do better.

The report suggested several changes, including better tracking and standardization of many programs that currently vary from county-to-county. Programs should keep elements that work, including educational and employment assistance, and drop financial barriers that exclude the poorest defendants, Crowder said.
A Toyota car has plunged nose-first into a sinkhole that opened up on a suburban street following heavy wind and rain from Storm Ciara.

The massive hole appeared in the early hours of Monday morning as the storm raged, wreaking havoc across the UK with winds of up to 97mph, causing cancelled flights, rail services and sporting events including a Premier League game.

Emergency services at the scene assess the damage after a Toyota fell into a sinkhole in Essex that opened up in the early hours of Monday. (SWNS)

Pictures from Hatch Road in Brentwood, Essex, show what appears to be a Toyota almost completely submerged in the huge hole.

Emergency services can also be seen at the scene, where the occupants of six properties were evacuated due to unstable ground.

The massive hole appeared in the early hours of Monday morning as Storm Ciara raged, wreaking havoc across the UK. (SWNS)

Local Ollie Watson, 50, said he didn't hear the crash  which happened just down the street  and only went to investigate after his daughter mentioned a disturbance outside at around 2.30am.

He said: "I thought it was a road accident at first. We didn't hear it. Our daughter heard a bit of a commotion.

"We then thought that the fire brigade had cut the car in half  but it was actually just sticking out of the hole.

Residents appeared on the street overnight to see the unusual sight. (SWNS)

"It's very unusual. My neighbours were out there, and a few people from across the road.

There was no one in the car at the time it fell into the sinkhole, authorities said.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said: Firefighters were called to Hatch Road, Pilgrims Hatch, at 01:34am after reports that a road had partially collapsed.

On arrival, crews reported that the hole extended into the road and a car was trapped.

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Six properties were evacuated due to unstable ground.

The car was pulled from the sinkhole on Monday. (PA)

The car stayed in the hole overnight as emergency workers assessed the right way to pull the vehicle out. (PA)

The hole after the car was removed. (PA)

Crews worked to make the scene safe by 3:53am before leaving it in the care of Anglian Water and Essex and Suffolk Water.

This morning an Anglian Water spokesperson said: We are currently onsite on Hatch Road, Pilgrims Hatch, in Brentwood investigating a sink hole which has opened up in the road.

We are working with other utilities (water and gas) plus the local police to assess if any of our pipes have been damaged.
Photo: Steven Miller/Flickr

Here's the most recent top news you may have missed in Los Angeles.

Residents displaced after Koreatown fire damages apartment building

A greater-alarm fire Saturday damaged the roof, walls and attic of a three-story apartment building in Koreatown that was built in 1924, authorities said.

Read the full story on NBC LA.

Red carpet tent leaks at the Oscars as rain pours down in Los Angeles

Oh my God the tent is leaking, a photographer declared at the scene.

Read the full story on New York Daily News.

XFL's Los Angeles Wildcats lose in debut

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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 Panama Canal will require container ships and other vessels to pay new fees due to what it calls "historic" low water levels on the country's largest lakes.

The new fees are the latest evidence about how will climate change impact shipping costs. It will also likely alter the cost calculus of ocean shipping from Asia to the U.S. West Coast or East Coast.

In a shipping advisory issued Monday, the Panama Canal Authority said the country's total rainfall dropped 20% in 2019. The Gatun and Madden Lakes, which supply the water going into the canal, saw levels "drop below expected norms."

issued Monday, the Panama Canal Authority said the country's total rainfall dropped 20% in 2019. The Gatun and Madden Lakes, which supply the water going into the canal, saw levels "drop below expected norms."

As a result, the Panama Canal Authority said it will enact a series of measures starting Feb. 15 "to sustain an operational level of water and provide reliability to customers while it implements a long-term solution to water."

The Authority was unable to respond in time for publication.

The new measures include fees that will increase costs of ocean shipping across gas and chemical tankers and dry bulk. But container shipping will see an outsize effect, as it represents over one-third of total tonnage coming through the Canal.

The costs of shipping from Asia to the U.S. East Coast are approaching $1,400 per standard forty-foot container higher than coming through West Coast ports, according to the Freightos Baltic Index (SONAR: FBXD.CNAW, CNAE).

Ocean shipping costs to East Coast ports have increased 23% over the last three months, while West Coast ports are up 13%.

Ocean shipping costs to East Coast ports on the rise. SONAR: FBXD.CNAW, CNAE

Thanks to the 2016 expansion of the Panama Canal, U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports are seeing stronger cargo growth than their West Coast peers. But the potential for extra costs and capacity limits could cap that growth.

Story continues

The notice comes after a year that saw a number of warnings from the Canal Authority to shipping companies that lower draft levels would require oceangoing ships to carry less freight in one of the most important maritime trade lanes in the world.

Between January and May 2019, the Canal Authority issued seven restrictions on draft levels for ships. Draft levels on the new "Neo Panamax" locks went from 49 feet down to 43 feet.

Vessel drafts on those locks were restricted to 43 feet from May 3 through Sept. 12. The older Panamax locks were also restricted to 38.5 feet of depth.

At the beginning of 2019, Panama saw rainfall in its main watershed drop 90%, according to Carlos Vargas, vice president of Environment and Water for the canal.

The lower draft limits the amount of heavy freight that container ships can move through the canal. The 43-foot draft restriction meant that containers on board would have to be up to 20% lighter on average. The Panama Canal Authority typically issues notices to shipping lines at least four weeks in advance to prepare for future draft restrictions.

Along with less available capacity, the cost of shipping through the Panama Canal will increase regardless.

In its advisory, the Canal Authority said all vessels above 125 feet in length would pay a $10,000 "Fresh Water Surcharge," in addition to a variable fee that could range between 1% and 10% of the vessel's toll, depending on Gatun Lake's water levels at the time of transit.

The Canal Authority said it would publish a daily report of lake levels along with a two-month forecast.

Along with the fixed fee, the Canal Authority said it would require a $5,000 "Vessel Visit Creation Fee" for vessels above 91 feet in width be paid in advance. The fee would be deducted from any toll invoices for a ship, but the fee would be forfeited if ship is rerouted away from the Canal.

In its fiscal 2019 year, the Panama Canal had 12,281 transits, a slight increase from the year prior.

The Canal Authority will also impose limits on the number of booking slots available to 21 for ships above 91 feet in width, and six for those below.

In December, a daily average of 28 vessels wider than 91 feet traveled through the Canal, while about seven ships under that width transited the canal during the month.

Ocean shipping companies and their agents will also face tighter terms as fees for transits must be paid within 48 hours to secure a booking.

Image by Monica Volpin from Pixabay

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[February 10, 2020] Telecom API Market by Technology, Application and Service Type, Stakeholder, User Type, Deployment (Enterprise Hosted, Public Cloud, Private Cloud), and Platform as a Service Type 2019 - 2024

NEW YORK, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Communication Service Providers (CSP) continue to see Telecom APIs as a means of leveraging their network and subscriber assets to generate revenues with high margins. However, the ecosystem remains one in which largely third-parties, such as OTT players, maintain the end-user relationship with app and service clients, while CSPs merely provide essentially data as a service on a B2B basis. While this model may suffice for CSPs with respect to the consumer segment and SMBs, it is not sustainable for large corporate clients. CSPs are facing increasing pressure to provide a greater variety of high quality enterprise communications and business collaboration solutions. Accordingly, Mind Commerce sees this as an area ripe for leveraging Telecom APIs to offer value-added carrier offerings such as team collaboration, telepresence, and unified communications (UC) as part of a Telecom API enabled marketplace. This vision is beginning to come true. With the help of leading Telecom API and Communications-enabled app providers like Ribbon Communications, AT&T has recently launched an API Marketplace, which is something that Mind Commerce has recommended since 2011. Offering a turn-key approach by levering solutions such as Ribbon's Kandy APIs and Wrappers, AT&T plans to facilitate enterprise customer ability to leverage telecom assets for embedded applications. Ribbon is also supporting KPN's Telecom API marketplace. Other leading telecom vendors such as Mavenir support the programmable telecom (Telecom APIs, platforms, and apps) ecosystem. The company recently announced its Mobile-Native Unified Communications and Collaboration as a Service (mUCaaS) solution. One of the key differentiators claimed by this solution is the ability for business-critical communications are prioritized by the mobile network using quality of service indicators that don't have to compete with other existing OTT UCaaS applications. For many larger Telecom API vendors, a substantial proportion of revenue continues to be generated from SIP Trunking in support of their client's VoIP, UC, and other IP-based communications apps and services. However, many smaller players are innovating in areas that have high growth potential such as analytics data, device information, edge computing, and number management for calls, data, and subscribers. The last category in particular is emerging as an important area for unwanted call management solutions including robocall management. Longer term, Mind Commerce sees CSPs leveraging Telecom APIs and related tools to support a variety of industry requirements in which carriers are amply positioned to leverage their market position. Those opportunities include Internet of Things (IoT) authentication, robotics, Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms, Mobile Edge Computing (MEC), and support of Blockchain. Three areas that represent great opportunities for carriers to aggressively pursue solution development in the more near-term timeframe are AI, IoT, and Mobile Edge Computing. Telecom APIs in IoT IoT represents a huge and largely untapped market for CSPs, which Mind Commerce sees emerging once carriers begin to fully leverage 5G for IoT apps and services. More specifically, we have identified the opportunity for carriers to act as a orchestrator/mediator within the IoT ecosystem. Uniquely positioned as owner of the primary network to be used for IoT, and provider of data services for humans and machines alike, CSPs have the opportunity to provide various critical services such as IoT authentication, authorization, and accounting. This will include use of Telecom API resources to help manage IoT related access control, permissions, and usage tracking. Telecom APIs in Mobile Edge Computing Carriers are also well positioned to leverage Telecom API enabled capabilities in support of many edge computing use cases as MEC is rolled-out to optimize LTE, 5G, and IoT. Many MECuse cases will require support from multiple Telecom API categories such as Location, Presence, Subscriber Data, and QoS in support of zone-based enterprise apps, services, and data analytics. This will create both a challenge and opportunity for CSPs, which will need the assistance of systems integrators for implementation and managed infrastructure services providers for ongoing operations.



Telecom APIs in Artificial Intelligence

While many AI capabilities will be embedded within other areas (such as platforms, devices, semiconductors, etc.), AI will also be closely associated with end-users, creating an opportunity for CSPs to provide resource support for many AI enabled use cases. This will include basic support for AI, such as user verification, as well as more advanced functionality, such as identifying resource usage and behaviors among a closed user group like enterprise collaboration teams. Now in its seventh year of covering the Telecom API market, Mind Commerce is pleased to offer the most comprehensive research covering the ecosystem including players, platforms, tools, solutions, and service offerings. Telecom API Market by Technology, Application and Service Type, Stakeholder, User Type, Deployment (Enterprise Hosted, Public Cloud, Private Cloud), and Platform as a Service Type 2019  2024 provides an in-depth assessment of the global Telecom API market, including business models, value chain analysis, operator strategies and a quantitative assessment of the industry from 2019 to 2024. This report evaluates the current state of the market and outlook for the future including analysis and forecasts for the Telecom API market segmented many ways including:  Globally, Regionally, and Countries  Stakeholder Type (Carriers and Vendors)  Network Technology (2G, 3G, LTE, and 5G)  API Category (Presence, Location, SCM, etc.)  App Developer (Carrier, Enterprise, Long Tail, and Partner)  Deployment Type (Enterprise Hosted, Private Cloud, and Public Cloud)  Implementation (Development and Set-up) and by Ongoing Operations  Solution (AI, Analytics, Blockchain, Edge Computing, Robotics, WebRTC, etc.) Forecasts by Service Type include: Messaging (SMS, MMS, RCS) API, WebRTC API, Payment API, IVR/Voice Store and Voice Control API , LBS and Map API, Subscriber Identity and SSO, Management API, Content Delivery API, M2M IoT API, IoT Platform Specific API, IoT Authentication API, Blockchain Specific API, AI Platform Specific API, Robotics Specific API, Analytics API, Call screening API, Device Information API, QoS (Quality of Service) API, Do not Disturb API, Edge/Fog Device Specific API. Forecasts by Developer Type include: Enterprise Developer, Internal Telecom Developer, Partner Developer, and Long Tail Developer. Forecasts by Deployment include: Enterprise Hosted, Public Cloud, and Private Cloud. Platform as a Service forecasts include: CPaaS and UCaaS. All purchases of Mind Commerce reports includes time with an expert analyst who will help you link key findings in the report to the business issues you're addressing. This needs to be used within three months of purchasing the report. Select Report Findings:  Total global Telecom API related revenue will reach $442.1.1B by 2024  Global UCaaS revenue will reach $61.9B by 2024 growing at CAGR of 48.0%  Enterprise-hosted deployment is growing most rapidly through the study period  While smallest in revenue at $48.6B by 2024, MEA is fastest growing region at CAGR 31.7% Report Benefits:  Gain a better perspective of the State of the Market for Telecom APIs  Identify challenges and opportunities across the entire API ecosystem  Understand the role of Telecom APIs within the realm of Programmable Telecom  Identify leading companies and solutions for Telecom API enabled apps and services  Understand the market dynamics, players, and outlook for communication enabled apps  Forecasts for every major Telecom API area including Categories, Solutions, Stakeholder Share, and more  Forecasts for Telecom API support of Unwanted Call Management including Do Not Disturb and Call Screening Target Audience:  Telecom API providers  ICT Infrastructure providers  CPaaS and UCaaS companies  Legacy MNOs and OTT service providers  Systems integrators for enterprise communications  Application developers such as UC and enterprise collaboration Vendors in Report:  Amdocs  Apidaze (VoIP Innovations)  Apifonica  Aspect Software  Bandwidth  BICS  CA Technologies  Cisco  CLX Communications  Ericsson  Fortumo  Google  hSenid Mobile  Huawei  Hubtel  LocationSmart  Mashape  MessageBird  Mulesoft  Nokia Networks  Oracle  Persistent Systems  Ribbon Communcations  Syniverse  TeleStax  Telnyx  Twilio  Tyntec  Vidyo  Vonage







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One common promise the main political parties made during the election now ending in the Republic of Ireland was the promise of "more nurses" - 5,000 being the number suggested. Great idea. Let's hope it's implemented in this International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, as designated by the World Health Organisation in honour of Florence Nightingale, the woman who launched modern nursing as a profession.

Before Flo Nightingale undertook her formidable campaigns promoting cleanliness, diet, light, fresh air, prevention and - a great favourite of hers - sitting up all night with the chronically ill or dying, nursing was associated with Charles Dickens' rackety figure Sarah Gamp in Martin Chuzzlewit. Sarah Gamp is gin-swigging, incompetent, negligent, and very possibly a back-street abortionist. Nurses had low status and slatternly habits. Some were regarded as part-time prostitutes. Usually poor women, perhaps they had to do what they could do survive.

But Nightingale changed all that. She raised nursing to a serious and respected profession, supported by medical knowledge, enforced by discipline and vocational dedication. Nuns were her first model for the nursing profession - the French Daughters of Charity who had attended the wounded on battlefields since their foundation by Vincent de Paul, as well as Anglican and Lutheran nuns who tended to the poor and sickly. Call the Midwife, which shows nurses working with an order of Anglican nuns in east London, is directly in line with a Nightingale idea. (She was also influenced by Mother Catherine McAuley, founder of the Irish Sisters of Charity.)

Nightingale was born in May 1820, appropriately enough in Florence, where her parents were on the European tour which cultivated and affluent families undertook at the time. Florence and her sister were well educated, and she showed an early aptitude for maths, statistics and data. She was subsequently to invent an early version of the 'pie chart', that cake-shaped diagram which displays percentages in slices.

And the care of the sick always interested her: as a child she successfully set a dog's broken paw. At 16, she felt 'God's call' to devote herself to a life of service. Though her parents refused to allow her to join the disreputable 'Sarah Gamp' nurses, she did charitable hospital work which included some nursing skills.

Journalism played a key part in Nightingale's epic mission to Scutari, in Turkey, during the Crimean War: reportage from William Howard Russell exposed the terrible conditions in field hospitals there. Nightingale gathered a band of 38 women, including 24 Anglican and Catholic nuns, and set off for Turkey in 1854. (One-third of the British troops were Irish Catholics, according to Mark Bostridge, Nightingale's most recent biographer).

The care that Nightingale and her nurses showed for the wounded and dying quickly became a legend: sentimentally, she was depicted as 'The Lady with the Lamp', visiting afflicted soldiers by lamplight. She became an overnight celebrity and she used that renown to reform nursing, founding and designing hospitals, implementing her ideas and rules with her book Notes on Nursing, which became a nursing bible.

She introduced a register of nurses, and insisted on standards of medical knowledge and understanding, as well as care, empathy, and, above all, cleanliness. However, she didn't approve of nurses having to sit exams: an over-academic approach would deter working-class women. Exams tested memory, but "not moral and personal character". Nurses today face a host of exams and study projects, and that certainly can discourage non-academic applicants.

Feminists have been ambivalent about Nightingale. Yes, she showed, by example, that women could assume leadership and wield professional power. She also established midwifery - previously neglected - as an important medical profession. Yet nurses could also be stereotypes of women as self-sacrificing martyrs and submissive 'angels'. In fiction, nurses often played second fiddle to doctors. Why shouldn't nurses have the same professional status as doctors? And why shouldn't men be nurses? (They are, too). Actually, Nightingale was very supportive of Elizabeth Blackwell, who had to battle so hard to qualify as the first woman doctor.

Latterly, Nightingale's reputation has been dented by being seen as a white, privileged woman with, no doubt, a tinge of imperialistic attitudes (though her family had a strong tradition of campaigning against slavery).

Mary Seacole, the bi-racial Anglo-Jamaican nurse who also did good works in the Crimea, has been advanced as a more relevant role model for today. Seacole, who used herbal remedies and Caribbean recipes to treat battlefield diseases like dysentery and cholera, certainly deserves merit.

But it was Nightingale who raised the profession of nursing on an international scale, and her health reforms are still relevant today. Despite poor health herself in later years, she lived to be 90, ruling the medical profession from her bed.
New Delhi, Feb 10 : Making a significant observation on Shaheen Bagh protests, the Supreme Court, on Monday, said "you can't block public roads indefinitely", and the "protests can't continue like this on public places".

A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and K.M. Joseph issued notices to Delhi Police and scheduled the next hearing on February 17.

Justice Kaul said the protests have gone into many days, there must a designated area to protest, "you just cannot block the road. There cannot be indefinite period of protest in public area. Then, everybody will protest everywhere", added Kaul.

The apex court observed that protests cannot be carried out at the cost of citizens' interest.

The observation from the apex court came after counsel for Bhim Army Chief Chandershekhar Azad contended that the matter is about balancing rights.

Justice Joseph also agreed with this observation on blocking a public road. "Can you block the public road", said Justice Joseph.

Justice Kaul also observed that protests cannot be carried out in parks too, and there should be defined area to hold protests.

Advocate Amit Sahni had moved the apex court seeking directions to the authorities to remove the blockade on the Shaheen Bagh stretch, a main road connecting Kalindi Kunj and Noida.
Ex-president of Globex Bank freed from detention, put under house arrest

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

14:05 10/02/2020

MOSCOW, February 10 (RAPSI)  The Moscow City Court has ordered ex-president of Globex Bank Vitaly Vavilin, accused of a 12-million euros embezzlement, to be released from detention and put under house arrest, RAPSI reports from the courtroom on Monday.

Investigators believe that Vavilin has used his job position to give an unrecoverable 12-million euros loan to a company controlled by businessmen, brothers Alexey and Dmitry Ananyev. The credit deal terms have been allegedly changed and debt obligations to Globex have been transferred to a foreign organization, which is yet to return the money.

Vavilin could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted; however, he does not admit guilt.

Earlier, the former banker was questioned as a witness in several cases related to Globex Bank.

The Moscow business ombudsman Tatiana Mineyeva has noted that the businessmans rights were violated in the framework of the case: firstly, he was detained, and, secondly, his actions could not be qualified as embezzlement, because a commercial court found that the bank suffered no damages.

Established in 1992, Globex Bank is one of major Russian banks with most of its shares (99.9 percent) owned by the state-run Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs.
Harvey Weinstein's 'attack dog' lawyer has come under fire for allegedly being untruthful about when she gave an interview in which she is accused of branding the movie mogul's accusers 'liars' who are vying for 'celebrity victim-hood status'.

On Friday the New York Times podcast 'The Daily' aired an interview with Weinstein's attorney Donna Rotunno where she was asked if she had ever been sexually assaulted and she responded saying, 'I would never put myself in that position.'

She reiterated to reporter Megan Twohey, that 'these are consensual encounters' when addressing the allegations against the film producer and accused the women of seeking celebrity status.

That interview sparked fury in the courtroom on Friday at Weinstein's rape trial in New York where Assistant DA Joan Illuzzi-Orbon told Justice James Burke that Totunno is 'calling our witnesses liars and celebrity victim-hood status, and it is completely in contradiction to your order.'

Harvey Weinstein's lawyer Donna Rotunno has come under fire for discussing the movie mogul's accusers in an interview with the New York Times' podcast The Daily that aired on Friday. She claimed in court Friday that the interview was recorded 'a long time ago' when in reality she did the interview just one week prior. Rotunno and Weinstein pictured Friday

Rotunno claimed that interview was taped a long time ago saying, '[I] have not spoken to anyone since we started this case', according to Page Six.

She said she had 'no idea' the Daily would be airing the piece on Friday.

However, Rotunno had taped that interview just one week prior on January 28 and she was told the air date would be Febuary 7, Times spokeswoman Danielle Rhoades Ha said.

The judge did not address the prosecutor's statement on record.

When asked for comment on the discrepancy in the dates, Rotunno said: 'The days are bleeding together. There was absolutely no intention to make any misrepresentation whatsoever.'

Rotunno spoke to The Daily, despite by ordered by the judge in the Weinstein case not to discuss the victims in any way after a complaint from the prosecution.

When asked for comment on the discrepancy in the dates, Rotunno said: 'The days are bleeding together. There was absolutely no intention to make any misrepresentation whatsoever'

In Friday's bombshell interview she claimed all sexual encounters Weinstein had with accusers were 'consensual'. When asked why accusers would lie she said, 'We have created a society of celebrity victim-hood status'

'Leave the witnesses alone. Dont talk about them in any capacity. Just excise the witnesses from your communications going forward,' Burke said.

'I believe the actions of the women after the fact prove that they were consensual encounters,' Rotunno still said in the interview.

Twohey then pressed and asked why Weinstein's accusers would have reason to lie before the court.

'We have created a society of celebrity victim-hood status,' Rotunno responded. 'We have created a society where women dont have to take responsibility for their actions.'

Though she didn't name accuser Jessica Mann by name she alluded to her saying she had given Weinstein her new phone number after the film producer allegedly raped her.

Weinstein's sex-crimes trial will resume in New York on Monday.
Puerto Rico-born Ozzie Louis Mendoza Diaz was building a career in sales in Kansas City while throwing dinner parties for friends on the side, before a business trip to New Orleans set him on a new path. Diaz now runs pop-up and catering service Fowlmouth Nola (www.fowlmouthnola.com), which combines Puerto Rican flavors and Japanese-style grilling. Diaz makes dishes like chicken empanadas prepared in the style of Chinese soup dumplings and coconut grits wrapped in banana leaves and grilled. Diaz also raises money for disaster relief in Puerto Rico, including a January event at Lost Love Lounge that helped raise $2,000 for Tainas Unidas. Fowlmouth frequently pops up on Friday nights at Bar Tonique.

Gambit: How did you move from sales to running a pop-up restaurant?

Diaz: I always had a passion for cooking. However, I kind of took the safe route. I went to business school and ended up being a salesman for a large multinational coffee company in Kansas City. I did well at that, but I wasnt having fun. I came to New Orleans on a business trip and had a great time, ate wonderful food. Most importantly, I saw average people selling food in the street. I was like, You know what? I could totally do that. I quit my job and a week later moved to New Orleans.

Quitutes Cuisine serves Brazilian dishes and bite-sized appetizers in Arabi The menu includes traditional Brazilian stews and pasteles as well as smoothies and desserts.

I started as a bartender at the Drifter Hotel. I did my first pop-up there, and I killed it. I would do maybe one a month, then one a week. I still do pop-ups there every year.

We originally started with traditional Puerto Rican food. That was cool, but I found it limiting because a lot of context gets lost if you dont grow up eating these foods. I also felt like I was not portraying a side of myself creatively. Though I come from Puerto Rico, I grew up in the U.S. I come from a military family. There are so many dishes and flavors that inform what I believe to be good.

I decided to take a break from the former pop-up to do recipe testing and recalibrate, and I came back out as Fowlmouth.

G: How does your cooking reflect your cultural inspirations?

M: I draw inspiration from a Japanese style of grilling called yakitori, grilling chicken in particular. That cooking style and Puerto Rican hospitality are both about getting everybody together and having a good time.

Everything is made from scratch. I make sauces with a mortar and pestle to feed 100 people. We bake our own bread, grow our own microgreens and are growing some very specific pepper varieties for the summer season. We are also sourcing Springer Mountain Farms pasture-raised chicken, some of the best stuff you can get.

Everything is cooked over charcoal. I have amassed eight or 10 grills at this point. The one I run most often is an arrosticini grill  basically an Italian-style yakitori grill. Theyre far more mobile and less delicate than a typical yakitori grill, which is exactly what you need in the street.

G: What is your next goal?

M: We have a couple of opportunities on the table, but Im waiting for the right one and trying to be patient. My ultimate dream is to have a corner store bodega type thing with Latin American ingredients, awesome wine and beer and a killer bar. For now, I want to remain creative and independent, have fun and travel.  REBECCA FRIEDMAN
Hamilton County Schools will be closed on Tuesday due to rising water levels and continued rain forecast for the area. The National Weather Service forecast calls for rain continuing through the night and water levels in streams, creeks and rivers to continue to rise through the afternoon on Tuesday.

Officials said, "A delay for tomorrow was going to be necessary due to concerns for children at bus stops before daylight in the morning. Also, forecasts are for water levels to crest in the afternoon which may have required an early dismissal. Out of an abundance of caution, it was decided that the best and safest course of action would be to close schools for the day."

School-aged childcare locations will be open on Tuesday from 8 a.m.

to 6 p.m. at Barger Academy, Battle Elementary, Daisy Elementary, East Brainerd Elementary, East Ridge Elementary, McConnell Elementary, Harrison Elementary, and Red Bank Elementary.

Officials said, "Its important for our students to stay engaged in learning every day, even on inclement weather days. The school district has created a range of activities for students to complete while out of school. We hope these learning activities will help parents and engage children in learning activities while out of school. The academic assignments are available on the district website at www.hcde.org/homestudy."

Cleveland City Schools and Bradley County Schools will also close on Tuesday.

Other schools closing include Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy,

Also, some schools around the city were opening on a delay on Tuesday morning. Those included Boyd Buchanan, Chattanooga Christian and Notre Dame at 10 a.m.

All campuses of Georgia Northwestern Technical College will delay opening until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, due to potential dangerous road conditions.
French Ambassador to Korea Philippe Lefort, second from left, poses with Choe Jun-ho, center, a professor at Korea National University of Arts' School of Drama, and other guests after awarding Choe the Legion d'Honneur at the ambassadorial residence in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, Feb. 4. The Order of the Legion of Honor, the highest decoration in France, was given to Choe who earned his Ph. D. at the New Sorbonne University (Paris III) for his contribution to cultural exchanges between the two countries. Choe headed the Korean Culture Center in Paris from 2007 to 2011 and was the art director for the 2015-2016 Korea-France Year that celebrated the 130th anniversary of diplomatic relations. / Embassy of France
Its never a surprise when drama breaks out on The Bachelor, but so far in Season 24, it seems like way more time has been spent on bachelorette battles than on Peter Webers search for lasting love, his wife, or a woman whos there for, you know, the right reasons.

Airline pilot Peter came into this season of The Bachelor with viewer sympathy on his side, since he seemed so sweet in The Bachelorette, but failed to win the heart of Hannah Brown. But as he seemed to waffle about which women to focus on this season, some of the bachelorettes turned downright rebellious.

Lets face it, the women on the show havent been all that likable, either. Between drama queens and bachelorettes who seem to be on the show just for the ride, this seasons cast members act like theyre more interested in their own agendas than they are in Peter.

Do they even like him? You gotta wonder.

(How to watch The Bachelor": The Bachelor airs at 8 p.m. Mondays on ABC. No cable or antenna? Live stream The Bachelor on Hulu + Live TV. You can also catch up on episodes you may have missed via Hulu + Live TV.)

But the show goes on, so The Bachelor returns for Episode 7 Monday night. What can we expect? Well, Peter and the six women left in the hunt, er, cast, go to Lima, Peru. Dating happens. Peter has a conversation with his mother. Awww!

And based on the preview clip, there are more intense face-to-face discussions. Peter seems to be telling Victoria F. shes given him reason to doubt him, as other women get emotional, and say nasty things about each other.

Fun, huh? Sheesh. Based on what were seeing this season, going on The Bachelor looks like an endurance test instead of a romantic fantasy-fairy tale-whatever.

How will Hannah Ann, Kelley, Kelsey, Madison, Natasha, and Victoria F. fare in Episode 7? We suspect there will be tears. Lots of tears.

The Bachelor airs at 8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 10, on ABC.

-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
By Trend





The observation mission from Belarus noted high voter turnout in the early parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan, Trend reports.

At a press conference, Belarusian observers noted the high activity, good preparation and calm atmosphere observed in different polling stations of Baku.

Belarusian observer, the head of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and National Security of Belarus Sergei Rachkov also noted with satisfaction that the members of the election commission are well acquainted with the law and the polling stations were well prepared for the election process.

"We paid attention to how they worked with voters. We did not notice a case when a voter did not present an ID. There were no cases of family voting - that is, only one person entered a booth at a time," Rachkov said.

The Belarusian observer noted that a large number of local observers monitored the elections, which, according to him, shows the transparency of the elections and the high voting activity of the local population.

"We also spoke with local observers and residents. We were interested in the process of nominating candidates, election campaigns, and we also asked how voter lists are compiled," the Belarusian observer said.

In general, the observation mission noted that there were no serious violations of the law, members of the commission worked flexibly and competently coped with issues in unexpected situations. For example, the head of the Belarusian delegation said that at one polling station the voter did not behave appropriately, but the situation was quickly resolved thanks to a flexible approach.

In addition to all this, conducting exit polls was positively evaluated, which was perceived as a modern approach to the election process.

"Therefore, our opinion is that the elections were held in a transparent, relaxed atmosphere," Rachkov said.

Another Belarusian observer, member of the Upper House of the Belarus Parliament, Deputy Head of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and National Security of Belarus Alexander Markevich also expressed satisfaction with the calm atmosphere of the voting process and the professionalism of members of election commissions.

In addition, Markevich noted that more than 80 percent of the candidates were independent candidates, many of whom were female candidates, and there were a large number of observers at the polling stations, both foreign and local.

According to the Belarusian MP, this is a clear indicator of the political activity of the population.

"We visited twelve polling stations in different districts of Baku and everywhere met with a large number of voters. Such a high turnout in adverse weather shows a great interest of voters in choosing worthy people to rule the country," Markevich added.








By Express News Service

Anubhav Sinhas Thappad deals with the subject of domestic violence. In the film, Taapsee Pannu plays a woman who files a petition after her husband slaps her at a party. Anubhav, who has previously directed socially-relevant films like Mulk and Article 15, will be hosting special screenings of Thappad across India. The stopovers include Bhopal, Lucknow, Delhi, Jaipur and Mumbai, ahead of the wider nationwide release on February 28.

I have made this film for men, not women, Anubhav said. We are trying to figure out the audience while some media persons will be invited. The rest will be local artistes from the world of literature and music. I chose Lucknow as one of the cities because we shot the film there and I love the city.

On the films subject, the director adds, Thappad is about the relationship that men and women n share, in and outside their marriages. It tackles a plethora of issues that have unfortunately been normalised. A whole lot of us indulge in gaslighting without realising it. In order to correct our behaviour, we need to first know that it is incorrect.
Confronted with the threat of trillion-dollar-plus deficits for as far as the eye can see, President is offering a $4.8 trillion budget plan for the upcoming fiscal year that rehashes previously rejected spending cuts while leaving Social Security and Medicare benefits untouched.

Trump's fiscal 2021 budget plan, to be released Monday, isn't likely to generate a serious Washington dialogue about what to do, if anything this election year, about entrenched fiscal problems that have deficits surging despite a healthy

The new budget, according to senior administration aides and a copy of summary tables, sees a $1.08 trillion budget deficit for the ongoing budget year and a $966 billion deficit gap in the 2021 fiscal year starting Oct. 1.

The budget's most significant policy prescriptions an immediate 5% cut to non-defense agency budgets passed by Congress and $700 billion in cuts to Medicaid over a decade are nonstarters on Capitol Hill.

But the Trump budget is a blueprint written as if Trump could enact it without congressional approval. It relies on rosy economic projections and fanciful claims of future cuts to domestic programs to show that it is possible to bend the deficit curve in the right direction.

House Speaker said that once again the president is showing just how little he values the good health, financial security and well-being of hard-working American families. Year after year, President Trump's budgets have sought to inflict devastating cuts to critical lifelines that millions of Americans rely on," she said in a statement.

Americans' quality, affordable health care will never be safe with President Trump.

The budget would reduce the deficit to $261 billion within a decade if enacted in its entirety and promises balance after 15 years. Trump's budget blueprint also assumes 2.8 per cent economic growth this year and growth averaging 3 per cent over the long term.

The reality is that no one Trump, the Democratic-controlled House or the GOP-held Senate has any interest in tackling a chronic budget gap that forces the government to borrow 22 cents of every dollar it spends.

Trump's reelection campaign, meanwhile, is focused on the and the historically low jobless rate while ignoring the government's budget.

On Capitol Hill, Democrats controlling the House have seen their number of deficit-conscious Blue Dogs shrink while the roster of lawmakers favoring costly Medicare for All and Green New Deal proposals has swelled.

Tea party Republicans have abandoned the cause that defined, at least in part, their successful takeover of the House a decade ago.

Trump has succumbed to the Washington temptation to deliver spending increases and tax cuts first and then deal or not with their impact on the deficit. Trump and key administration figures such as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had promised that Trump's signature cuts to corporate and individual tax rates would pay for themselves; instead the deficit spiked by more than $300 billion over 2017 to 2019, falling just short of $1 trillion.

Trump has also signed two broader budget deals worked out by Democrats and Republicans to get rid of spending cuts left over from a failed 2011 budget accord. The result has been eye-popping spending levels for defense to about $750 billion this year and comparable gains for domestic programs favoured by Democrats.

Trump's budget violates last year's spending accord with an immediate $37 billion cut to non-defense programs appropriated by Congress each year, including a $2.4 billion, 27 per cent cut to the Environmental Protection Agency and a 13 per cent cut to the Department of Transportation. The Department of Veterans Affairs, would win a 13 per cent budget boost.

The White House hasn't done much to draw attention to this year's budget release, though Trump has revealed initiatives of interest to key 2020 battleground states, such as an increase to $250 million to restore Florida's Everglades and a move to finally abandon a multibillion-dollar, never used, nuclear waste dump that's political poison in Nevada.

The White House also leaked word of a $25 billion proposal for "Revitalizing Rural America" with grants for broadband Internet access and other traditional infrastructure projects such as roads and bridges.

The Trump budget also promises a $3 billion increase to $25 billion for NASA in hopes of returning astronauts to the moon and on to Mars. It contains a beefed-up, 10-year, $1 trillion infrastructure proposal, a modest parental leave plan, and a 10-year, $130 billion set-aside for tackling the high cost of prescription drugs this year.

Trump's U.S.-Mexico border wall would receive a $2 billion appropriation, more than provided by Congress but less than the $8 billion requested last year. Trump has enough wall money on hand to build 1,000 miles of wall, most of it obtained by exploiting his budget transfer powers.

Trump took to Twitter on Saturday to promise voters that his budget will not be touching your Social Security or Medicare in keeping with his longstanding 2016 campaign promise.

Trump had made a bit of a stir last month at a meeting of global economic elites in Davos, Switzerland, when he told a CNBC interviewer that at some point he would consider curbs to popular benefit programs like Medicare and Social Security.

(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.)
Two weeks ago, Vice President Pence invited Gantz to the White House for the unveiling of President Trumps long-anticipated peace plan and said it had been Netanyahus suggestion that his rival attend. Many political observers saw it as a trap that would showcase Netanyahus diplomatic prowess and highlight Gantzs lack of experience on the international stage. After days of media speculation that he would turn down Trumps invitation, Gantz surprised his rivals and analysts by announcing he had secured a separate meeting with the president. He would be briefed on the plan one day ahead of Netanyahu.
Veteran Ghanaian actor Fred Nii Yartey Amugi has lamented on how he is not being celebrated while he is still alive.

Speaking with Graphic Showbiz recently, Uncle Fred, as is affectionately called is however optimistic that one day he will surely be celebrated and given the appropriate recognition he deserves.

It wont keep long, God being who He is, I will be celebrated. From where I cannot tell and how I cannot say but I know it will happen, he stated.

Uncle Fred while shedding light on the local movie industry bemoaned that, the industry is not stable as it is sometimes up and sometimes down.

Today it is up, tomorrow it is down and that is how it is going. At a time, a crop of new faces will come and they will bring the whole industry up.

Before you know everything is down because they are not around. Some cant sustain the industry by being there always. I have been there since I was 30 something years and at 71, I am still in there, he disclosed.

Uncle Fred added that certain core values such as dignity and humility is lost in the industry because a lot of the upcoming acts are disrespectful.

He also spoke about how producers treat them unfairly in the industry.

Humility is lost in the industry, the least chance somebody gets to get to the top, the person starts to raise his or her shoulders and people do not want to use them again because they think they have gotten there.

And when it comes to paying artists what is due them, producers and directors will go for what belongs to them and neglect players in their films.

When they go to register to get their royalties, they register only themselves and forget that what they have, came to fruition because of the actors, that trend must change, he said.

---Ghbase.com
The Zacks Oil and Gas Integrated International industry covers companies that are primarily involved in upstream, midstream and downstream businesses.



These companies have upstream businesses across the United States (including prolific shale plays and deepwater Gulf of Mexico), Asia, South America, Africa, Australia and Europe.



The midstream operations of integrated energy companies entail transporting oil, natural gas liquids and refined petroleum products. Under downstream businesses, the firms buy raw crude to produce refined petroleum products. The companies downstream activities also involve chemicals businesses that manufacture raw material used for manufacturing plastics.



Lets take a look at the industrys three major themes:

The recent outbreak of coronavirus in China has dented global energy demand. This is because Beijing being the largest importer of crude oil in the world is likely to witness economic slowdown owing to disruptions in businesses following widespread quarantines. Weak demand has primarily led West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil price to hover around $50-per-barrel, marking a significant decline from more than $60-a-barrel psychological mark in early January. Low commodity price is thus hurting the integrated energy players upstream operations.



Since most nations are focusing on curbing greenhouse gas emissions, companies are likely to continue to produce huge natural gas volumes. Since the plentiful supply of the commodity has outpaced the demand for clean energy, the price of natural gas is likely to remain low, further hurting profits from upstream activities.



Although low oil prices have lowered input costs for refiners, weak demand for refined petroleum products, especially in China, with massive oil refining capacity, is dampening the prospects of downstream businesses.

Zacks Industry Rank Indicates Gloomy Prospects



The Zacks Oil and Gas Integrated International industry is part of the broader Zacks Oil - Energy sector. It carries a Zacks Industry Rank #161, which places it at the bottom 37% of more than 250 Zacks industries.



The groups Zacks Industry Rank, which is basically the average of the Zacks Rank of all the member stocks, indicates gloomy near-term prospects. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperforms the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.



The industrys position in the bottom 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries is a result of negative earnings outlook for the constituent companies in aggregate. Looking at the aggregate earnings estimate revisions, it appears that analysts are pessimistic about this groups earnings growth potential. Over the past year, the industrys earnings estimate for the current year has gone down 22.4%.



Before we present a few international integrated energy stocks that you may want to consider for your portfolio, lets take a look at the industrys recent stock market performance and current valuation.



Industry Lags S&P 500 & Sector



The Zacks Oil and Gas Integrated International industry has lagged both the Zacks S&P 500 composite and the Zacks Oil - Energy sector over the past year.



The industry has declined 13% over this period against the S&P 500s improvement of 24.5% and the broader sectors decline of 11.4%.



One-Year Price Performance

Story continues





Industrys Current Valuation



Since oil and gas companies are debt-laden, it makes sense to value them based on the EV/EBITDA (Enterprise Value/ Earnings before Interest Tax Depreciation and Amortization) ratio. This is because the valuation metric takes into account not just equity but also the level of debt.



On the basis of the trailing 12-month enterprise value-to EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, the industry is currently trading at 4.74X, lower than the S&P 500s 11.95X. It is, however, above the sectors trailing-12-month EV/EBITDA of 4.69X.



Over the past five years, the industry has traded as high as 9.83X, as low as 3.95X, with a median of 6.21X.



Trailing 12-Month Enterprise Value-to EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) Ratio





Bottom Line



Low energy demand is likely to continue to hurt integrated energy players upstream and downstream operations. However, in the United States, the companies are coming out with fresh pipeline projects to capitalize on the transportation bottleneck problem.



Here, we present two stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and another one with a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) that are well positioned to gain amid the prevailing challenges. There are two other stocks with a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) that investors may choose to hold on to. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.



Gazprom Neft (GZPFY): Based in St. Petersburg, Russia, Gazprom is a leading integrated energy firm. Over the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for this Zacks Rank #1 stocks 2020 earnings per share has been revised upward.



Price and Consensus: GZPFY



PetroChina Company Limited

(PTR): PetroChina is the largest integrated oil company in China. In 2020, the Zacks Rank of 1 stock is likely to see earnings growth of 11.1%.



Price and Consensus: PTR









Chevron Corporation (CVX): Headquartered in San Ramon, CA, Chevron is one of the largest publicly-traded oil and gas companies in the world, based on proved reserves. Over the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for this Zacks Rank #2 stocks 2020 earnings per share has been revised upward.



Price and Consensus: CVX









Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM): This Irving, TX-based firm is the largest publicly traded energy player in the world. The #3 Ranked company is expected to see earnings growth of roughly 41% in 2020.





Price and Consensus: XOM









BP plc (BP): The British integrated energy firm has a positive average earnings surprise of 12.7% for the trailing four quarters. The Zacks #3 Ranked company has an estimated long-term earnings growth rate of 9%, higher than the industrys 5.9%.





Price and Consensus: BP









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Abia State Police Command says it would not allow members of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to participate in the burial of the parents of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

KanyiDaily had reported that Nnamdi Kanus father, Eze Okwu Kanu, who is the traditional ruler of Afara Ukwu Umuahia community in Abia State, and his wife, Ugoeze Sally Kanu, will be buried on February 14, 2020.

Ahead of the burial this week Friday, Abia State Commissioner of Police, Mr Ene Okon said if IPOB members were seen anywhere around the burial venue, the police would scatter the burial.

The CP said he had reached out to the traditional prime minister of Afaraukwu, Kanus hometown, to make it clear that the burial would not hold if IPOB members attended or participate in anything during the funeral.

Whoever thinks along that line is fooling himself. IPOB will dance during the burial and the police elephants will dance too, he said. They (Afaraukwu community) should tell IPOB not go near the area, let alone participating in the burial. If the community fails to adhere to the polices warning the burial will not go on smoothly because we are going to scatter the place. IPOB is proscribed by the Federal Government.

Okon added that no one should expect him, as the Commissioner of Police, to sit and allow a proscribed group operate in the state.

We will not tolerate any flag, IPOB insignia or the groups member disguising as Jewish or Zionist Church members during the burial.

He insisted that the police would only provide security for the burial on the condition that no member of IPOB would be seen around the venue.

KanyiDaily recalls that the Police Commissioner, Eno Okon also made it clear that police will not spare Nnamdi Kanu if he sets foot in Abia for his parents burial or any other thing for that matter because he was declared wanted.
Bondholders agreed to reduced repayments on Puerto Ricos bonds, but want their money earlier.

Puerto Rico would shed about $24bn of debt and move closer to exiting bankruptcy under an agreement with bondholders, according to a deal announced on Sunday by the United States commonwealths federally created financial oversight board.

The agreement would reduce $35bn of bonds and claims to about $11bn, after bondholders agreed to lower repayments for general obligation (GO) bonds and Public Building Authority (PBA) bonds, the oversight board said in a statement on its website.

The Caribbean island began a form of municipal bankruptcy in May 2017 to restructure about $120bn of debt and liabilities. Just months later, residents had to endure devastating hurricanes and more recently the strongest earthquake in more than a century.

Under the new agreement, bondholders would face average value reductions of 29 percent for GO bonds and 23 percent for PBA bonds, which is lower than initial haircuts of 36 percent to 65 percent that were included in the September plan of adjustment.

GO bonds are issued by a municipality on the basis that it will be able to repay those bonds using taxation or revenue from other projects. PBA bonds are issued to raise financing for the construction of government buildings.

According to the plan, Puerto Rico will repay its debt over 20 years rather than the 30-year schedule in an earlier plan. It would then pay a maximum $1.5bn in annual debt service on the new securities and the islands $12bn of outstanding sales-tax debt, down from $4.2bn the island paid in 2017.

The oversight board also agreed to end its legal challenge to cancel $6bn of debt sold in 2012 and 2014, which it previously argued were issued in violation of Puerto Ricos constitutional debt limit.

Oversight Board Chairman Jose Carrion said the deal lowers total debt payments relative to the agreement we reached last year, pays off commonwealth debt sooner and has significantly more support from bondholders, further facilitating Puerto Ricos exit from the bankruptcy that has stretched over three years.

Creditors would receive $10.7bn in new debt, split between GO bonds and sales tax-backed junior lien bonds (which are also known as second mortgage loans placed on properties), along with $3.8bn in cash, the board said.

However, the deal faces opposition from Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez because it does not roll back proposed pension cuts.

Pensions remain an issue for the governor and others as the board has been seeking a maximum 8.5 percent cut for retirees who receive more than $1,200 in monthly benefits.

My position during this process has been that if bondholders receive better treatment in a new deal, pensioners must also receive better treatment, Vazquez said in a statement.


The Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM 99 Las Vegas), hosted a Munchies 4 The Military event on Saturday, February 8 at Liberty High School to benefit the Douglas Green Memorial Foundation.

The public was invited to help stuff and build care packages for troops that are deployed. Suni Chabrows son Douglas was killed in Iraq in 2011. Shes turned the pain of that loss into an amazing event called #MunchiesForTheMilitary . Her son loved to receive snack boxes from home.

Donations, such as hygiene products and food, were collected at the following locations including CBRE Property Management, La Fiesta Apartment Homes and Villas at Painted Desert Apartments.
Nelson Mandela is free. Black South Africa's most powerful figure in the struggle against apartheid walked out of Victor Verster prison near Cape Town.

Nelson Mandela and Winnie walk hand in hand upon his release from prison in 1990. Credit:AP

First published in The Age on February 12, 1990

Hand-in-hand with his wife Winnie, the 7I-year-old leader of the African National Congress walked with a slight limp to greet an exuberant crowd of about 6000 supporters who had gathered outside.

Smiling and raising his fists in salute to the crowd, Mr. Mandela walked slowly, his supporters responding by waving the black green and gold flags of the ANC.

Almost simultaneously in central Cape Town, police with shotguns fired on a huge crowd of supporters waiting to greet him at a rally, after blacks smashed windows and looted shops, witnesses said. Display windows in department stores at the side of the square were smashed and piles of clothes dumped on the footpath. Looters squabbled over the pickings before fleeing into the crowd.

Hundreds of people fled the square, where tens of thousands of ANC supporters had gathered to hear Mr. Mandela's first public address for 30 years.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 10

By Ilhama Isabalayeva - Trend:

Members of the observation mission of the Turkish Grand National Assembly have released the final conclusion on the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan held on Feb. 9, Trend reports.

At the event held following the results of observations in the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan, Samil Ayrim, member of the observation mission of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, head of the Turkey-Azerbaijan Interparliamentary Friendship Group, congratulated the Azerbaijani people on the successful elections.

Ayrim added that by voting for their candidates, the people made their choice.

I congratulate the winning candidates, the mission member said. At the same time, I congratulate all the other candidates for their courage.

Turkish MP Orhan Erdem said that on the election day, observers were divided into two groups and monitored the voting process in Baku and Sumgayit cities.

Noting that decent youth is growing in Azerbaijan, the Turkish MP expressed satisfaction with the great number of young candidates.

In turn, Yunus Kilic, the member of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, noted that observers from Turkey have always taken an active part in elections at various levels in Azerbaijan.

Kilic noted that a great number of candidates, the participation of almost 20 political parties suggest that the elections were held in conditions of objective competition.

The presence of webcams at the polling stations, the conditions created for observers, the organization of the voting process at a high level are very impressive, the Turkish MP said. The fact that Azerbaijan invited a great number of international observers actually shows that it is an open country. No one interfered in the election process at the polling stations, but anyone could watch the voting.

Another member of the Turkish parliament, Ibrahim Aydemir, emphasized that Azerbaijan is an extremely significant country for Turkey.

The normal course of the election process in Azerbaijan is very gratifying for us, Aydemir added. We observed the conditions created for this, and the country can only be proud of them. Some countries should learn from Azerbaijan.

The parliamentary elections were held in Azerbaijan on February 9. Some 1,314 candidates were registered within the early parliamentary elections. The candidacies of 246 people were nominated by 19 political parties, 1,057 were self-nominated, 11 - by initiative groups.

Twenty-one percent accounted for female candidates while 79 percent  male candidates.

As many as 5,426 permanent polling stations operated in 125 constituencies of the country.

Some 883 international observers and 77,790 local observers were monitoring the voting process. Among the local observers, 35,152 were representatives of political parties. International observers represented 58 countries and 59 organizations.
MANCHESTER, NH  It was a mostly clear day, with temperatures in the upper-20s, as Quinnipiac University students John Hangen and Joshua Gorero embarked on the next assignment in their public service course  working for a presidential campaign days ahead of the state primary election.

Hangen, an 18-year-old freshman from Cheshire, and Gorero, a 21-year-old junior from Durham, are among 19 Quinnipiac students, traversing the Granite State, knocking on doors, holding campaign signs, and attending town halls, rallies and other events.

The students arrived in New Hampshire Friday and will this leave Wednesday, the day after the primary.

The course, offered every four years, is taught by Scott McLean, a political science professor who led the trip.

Hangen and Gorero are both working for Democrat Andrew Yang.

Their classmates are working for other candidates, including President Donald Trump, former Vice President Joe Biden, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

They are spending the bulk of their time knocking on doors with other campaign volunteers and plan to attend a Trump rally tonight in Manchester.

McLean began teaching the presidential primary public service course in 2000 when future president George W. Bush finished second in the New Hampshire primary behind Sen. John McCain. On the Democratic side, Vice President Al Gore beat Sen. Bill Bradley.

The goal is that students would learn about grassroots politics, McLean said. ... they will be meeting most of the campaign managers, and developing and organizing grassroots efforts in New Hampshire... so they see the strategy and the science behind it. The other goal is to be able to critically assess the presidential nominating process in both parties.

It is still early in the campaign season and the course.

At this time in the semester we talk about media strategy, state strategy, and all the different strategies that go into a campaign, McLean said.

Students learn about fundraising and logistics later. The goal of immersing them into the campaign is to give students active experiences, McLean said.

Gorero said he hopes to have a better understanding of the political process to see if we are able to reform it.

For example, should states consider replacing primaries and caucuses with another system, like ranked choice voting, as Gorero proposed.

Hangen, meanwhile, said he hopes to have a better understanding, of how a a national campaign is structured.

Students arrived in a caravan of vehicles. After meeting with McLean, they split off to meet their respective campaigns.

Students don't have to agree on candidates, or share political views.

We're all students of politics and can disagree, McLean said. The students really bond over this experience. They do have big debates. And they do still like each other. That gives me a lot of hope.

Gorero agreed.

Each classmate has a different political affiliation. Yet, we're completely fine with one another. We joke around, he said.

McLean said in the course he also talks about professionalism.

You're not just supporters of candidates and parties. I want you to learn what it's like to be professional campaign organizers, McLean said.

McLean said the initial lesson, knocking on doors and talking to people, is an important one.

The students are learning this slowly, all grassroots organizing is, is just the art of the conversation  being able to hold a conversation with someone, and finding out what they care about, he said. That's really the key to it. But it's the hardest thing to learn and the last thing we tend to master.

mgagne@record-journal.com

203-317-2231

Twitter:@MikeGagneRJ
A lawyer claims British Airways ruined his family's 15,000 first class trip after staff took hours to fit a baby seat.

Antonio Michaelides flew from London to Dubai with his wife and baby daughter for a trip that combined work with a family holiday.

But the 35-year-old from London said his daughter, Sofi, five months, couldn't sleep for most of the seven-hour journey because of what he called a 's*** show' by cabin crew.

Antonio Michaelides (pictured with his daughter) flew from London to Dubai with his wife and baby daughter for a trip that combined work with a family holiday

He claims staff took an hour to find a special table on which to place a baby seat and a further 30 minutes to locate the seat itself, although BA dispute the lawyer's timings.

There followed, according to Antonio, a four-hour pantomime as they tried to fit the two together and make sure they were secure.

All the while, the child, named Sofi, was forced to sit upright and was missing out on vital sleep as she was passed between Antonio and Sonia, 33, the lawyer claimed.

Antonio, an employment and benefits law specialist with London firm Covington & Burling, raged on social media, saying cabin crew took over 90 minutes to find somewhere to secure the seat.

He claims staff took an hour to find a special table on which to place a baby seat (pictured) and a further 30 minutes to locate the seat itself, although BA dispute the lawyer's timings

The first image showed a heavy white board with hooks and straps to attach the seat, the area where it was eventually clasped into.

Antonio said that at one point during their flight, there were four members of the crew in first class trying to install the seat.

He said today: 'The point is quite simply that the cabin crew had no idea where the infant seat was and therefore took an unreasonable amount of time to find it.'

Antonio said it was essential for health reasons for his baby daughter to be able to lay down flat but couldn't do so while waiting for the seat.

The panel on which the special seat was eventually fixed on to, which took staff an hour to find, according to Antonio. He said they then took hours to fit the actual seat

'But 4.5 hours into the flight we were still not able to keep our daughter in the infant seat. That is what was a health and safety risk.

'We would have been better flying economy. The whole thing was a complete s*** show,' the lawyer said.

Sources at British Airways strongly deny the baby's health and safety was put at risk and added that Mr Michaelides received a non-specified amount of compensation.

Insiders have also challenged Antonio's claim that finding and assembling the board and baby seat took over five hours.

A spokeswoman for British Airways said: 'Safety of our customers - however small - is at the heart of all we do.

'That's why we offer both seats and cots which are suitable for use from birth, and they are extensively tested by the manufacturer and aviation authorities before we use them on board.

'Our crew are trained in the safe fitting of these seats across of all of our cabins, and we board families with infants early as we know parents value the extra time to settle in.'
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry could be returning to the U.K. next month for their last round of official royal engagements.

Queen Elizabeth II reportedly requested that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who will no longer be using their royal highness titles, join the royal family for the annual Commonwealth service at Westminster Abbey on March 9, according to The Sunday Times.

Meghan, 38, and Harry, 35, are expected to attend the event with their son Archie, who will have just turned 10 months old.

Following the appearance, the couple will return to Canada where they are beginning to settle into their new non-royal life after their decision to step down as senior members of the royal family.

RELATED: Meghan Markle Felt So Much Less Stressed Returning to Canada: It Was a Tremendous Shift, Source Says

Joe Giddens/PA Images via Getty Images; Chris Jackson/Getty Images

The family of three has been staying in a $14 million mansion on Vancouver Island, where Meghan enjoys the scenery on hikes with her beagle Guy and the couples Labrador. They are enjoying living a quiet life, an insider recently told PEOPLE. They go for long walks, they do yoga, and Meghan cooks. They are real homebodies who love to chill out with Archie and the dogs.

But last week, the homebodies took a quick trip to Miami where they made their first joint public appearance since transitioning from royal life at a private JP Morgan event.

PEOPLE confirmed that Harry gave a speech at the event. The father of one reportedly spoke about his experience with losing his mother, Princess Diana, and his decision to leave the royal family. According to The Times, Meghan also spoke at the event, focusing on her love for her husband.

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!

Tim Rooke/REX/Shutterstock

Their new life has brought Meghan much closer to her circle of friends, as well as her mother Doria Ragland, who lives in Los Angeles.

Ragland, a social worker and yoga instructor, spent the holidays with Meghan and Harry in the weeks leading up to the couples announcement that they were stepping down as senior royals. And shes been an important source of support ever since.

Story continues

She definitely gets a lot of her strength from her mother, a close friend told PEOPLE of Meghan.

While the transition still holds many question marks for Harry and Meghan, the most important part has been focusing on being the best parents for Archie.

Archie is the priority. Its very much still about taking care of him and putting the family first. Hes a happy kidhe loves to laugh, an insider said. Archie and Harry have such a good time together. And Meghan is a great mom. Shes very much about tending to him. They are trying to live their life as regular parents.
By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Azerbaijani youth will have the opportunity to practice at the enterprises of the Defense Ministry in a bid to expand their knowledge and increase their sense of social responsibility, Defense Industry Minister Madat Guliyev has said.

Addressing the event dedicated to February 2, which is celebrated as National Youth Day in Azerbaijan, Guliyev noted that the Azerbaijani government pays attention to youth development in the country.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree earlier, declaring 2020 the Year of Volunteers in Azerbaijan.

Guliyev emphasized that national leader Heydar Aliyev, during his leadership of the country, created all conditions for thousands of youth who left to study at USSR universities to return to Azerbaijan and apply their knowledge and skills to the benefit of their homeland.

Guliyev recalled that Heydar Aliyev paid particular attention to the issue of attracting young cadres to public administration, and his successor, President Ilham Aliyev, continues this policy today.

He further congratulated the young specialists working in the ministry.

At the end of the event, the distinguished employees of the Ministry were awarded with honorary diplomas, badges and cash bonuses.

The Ministry of Defence Industry of Azerbaijan was established in 2005 on the basis of the State Committee for Special Engineering and Conversion.

In 2020, Azerbaijan ranked 64th among 138 countries considered for the annual Global Fire Power review.

Azerbaijan is actively strengthening its armed forces. The army's power is growing from year to year; it is equipped with state-of-the-art weapons from the best manufacturers.

Azerbaijani Armed Forces have three branches: the Azerbaijani Land Forces, the Azerbaijani Air and Air Defence Force, and the Azerbaijani Navy. Associated forces include the Azerbaijani National Guard, the Internal Troops of Azerbaijan, and the State Border Service, which can be involved in state defense under certain circumstances.

---

Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
LONG ISLAND CITY, N.Y., Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- LS Power, a leading development, investment and operating company focused on the North American power and energy infrastructure sector, today announced the hiring of Clinton L. Plummer as Chief Executive Officer of its portfolio company, Ravenswood Generating, which owns and operates the 2.2 GW Ravenswood Generation Station in Long Island City, Queens.

"In Clint we are fortunate to have found a business leader who shares our vision for Ravenswood and its critical role in New York City's energy infrastructure today and going forward. I am confident that Clint's leadership, vision and capabilities will establish Ravenswood as New York's premier partner as we move toward a clean energy future," LS Power CEO Paul Segal said.

"We have exciting plans to leverage the Ravenswood assets to support major clean energy initiatives, all while keeping a sharp focus on reliability. We will be working closely with our regulators, customers, communities and capital partners to deliver a future that we can all be proud of. There is much more to come," said Plummer.

A 15-year veteran of the clean energy industry, Plummer most recently served as Head of Market Strategies and New Projects for rsted US Offshore Wind. During Plummer's time at rsted, the Denmark-based offshore wind developer secured customer agreements for more than 2GW of new offshore wind projects serving New York and New Jersey. His prior roles included Vice President of Development for Deepwater Wind, where he served as part of the team that developed, financed and constructed the first offshore wind farm in America.

LS Power's appointment of Plummer drew accolades from a broad spectrum of New York's energy, labor, environmental and civic leaders:

Kevin Law , CEO and President of the Long Island Association , said: "For over a decade, Clint Plummer has proven himself as a capable and trustworthy leader in New York's clean energy industry. I commend LS Power on his hiring."

, said: "For over a decade, has proven himself as a capable and trustworthy leader in clean energy industry. I commend LS Power on his hiring." Adrienne Esposito , Executive Director of Citizen's Campaign for the Environment , said: " New York State needs responsible leaders to forge a definitive path forward and accomplish our transition to clean energy. We are pleased that LS Power has hired such a leader in Clint Plummer . It has been my experience that Clint possesses a clear and strong commitment to supporting clean energy and fostering the needed transition in our energy sector so we can achieve New York's climate change goals."

, said: " needs responsible leaders to forge a definitive path forward and accomplish our transition to clean energy. We are pleased that LS Power has hired such a leader in . It has been my experience that Clint possesses a clear and strong commitment to supporting clean energy and fostering the needed transition in our energy sector so we can achieve climate change goals." Julie Tighe , President of the New York League of Conservation Voters, said: "Ensuring the responsible transition to clean energy is one of NYLCV's top priorities. We commend LS Power for the vision to hire a committed leader like Clint Plummer and are hopeful that he will establish Ravenswood as a prototype for a clean energy future."

said: "Ensuring the responsible transition to clean energy is one of NYLCV's top priorities. We commend LS Power for the vision to hire a committed leader like and are hopeful that he will establish Ravenswood as a prototype for a clean energy future." Anne Reynolds , Executive Director of the Alliance for Clean Energy in New York , said: "It is great news that Clint Plummer is bringing his impressive skills and infectious enthusiasm to this new position. We look forward to him continuing to do great things for clean energy in New York in this new role."

, said: "It is great news that is bringing his impressive skills and infectious enthusiasm to this new position. We look forward to him continuing to do great things for clean energy in in this new role." Roger Clayman , Executive Director of the Long Island Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, said: "We applaud LS Power for hiring Clint Plummer , who has proven himself to be a true friend of New York's labor movement. He established an impressive record of cooperation with local unions in the early stages of the U.S. offshore wind industry. We hope that his commitment to New York's working men and women continues in his new role."

said: "We applaud LS Power for hiring , who has proven himself to be a true friend of labor movement. He established an impressive record of cooperation with local unions in the early stages of the U.S. offshore wind industry. We hope that his commitment to working men and women continues in his new role." Tom Wright , President and CEO of the Regional Plan Association, said: "Through his unwavering commitment to successfully bring offshore wind power to New York and New Jersey , Clint Plummer has proven himself as someone who cares deeply about the well-being of the New York metro region. We are confident that, with his hiring, LS Power will set a high mark as a model for the transition to clean energy."

In his new role, Plummer will oversee the operations of the existing generation facility as well as the development of new projects, including the battery energy storage facility that was recently approved by the New York State Public Service Commission.

About Ravenswood:

For nearly 60 years, Ravenswood Generating has been a vital part of New York's energy system. Located on 28 waterfront acres in Long Island City, Queens, Ravenswood represents more than 20% of New York City's generation capacity. It played a major role in re-energizing the grid after 2003's Northeast Blackout. It has continuously delivered safe and reliable service during major weather events, including Hurricane Sandy  during which it provided up to 50% of New York City's energy  and others, like the recent "Polar Vortex" and "Bomb Cyclone." Today, Ravenswood is pursuing an exciting growth-oriented strategy. This includes modernization of the existing facility, a proposed addition of the largest battery storage project on the US east coast, and other opportunities to play a key role in the energy transition taking place in New York State.

About LS Power:

LS Power is a development, investment and operating company focused on the North American power and energy infrastructure sector. Since its inception in 1990, LS Power has consistently been at the leading edge of the industry's evolution, often introducing or commercializing new technologies and developing new markets. To date, LS Power has developed, constructed, managed or acquired more than 42,000 MW of power generation, including utility scale solar, wind, hydro, natural gas-fired and battery storage projects, and 630 miles of transmission, for which it has raised over $45 billion in debt and equity financing to support North American infrastructure. Additionally, LS Power actively invests in businesses and platforms focused on distributed energy resources and energy efficiency. For more information, please visit www.LSPower.com.

SOURCE LS Power

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Ireland's Indian-origin Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has suffered a bruising general election as his liberal-conservative Fine Gael party took a battering in the face of an unprecedented surge in the fortunes of the nationalist party Sinn Fein.

As the poll results poured in overnight on Sunday, Varadkar's party was pushed down to third place with Sinn Fein in the lead, followed by conservative Fianna Fail in second place.

In what has been described as one of the most extraordinary election results for the country, the process of government formation is likely to be very long-drawn one with Varadkar having ruled out an alliance with Sinn Fein historically associated with the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and dedicated to the reunification of Ireland.

The final results of the weekend's election are still being counted but with all first preferences counted, Sinn Fein has 24.5 per cent compared to 22.2 per cent for Fianna Fail and 20.9 per cent for Fine Gael.

"Nobody can be forced into some sort of forced marriage or forced coalition," said Varadkar, who took over as the Irish Taoiseach or Prime Minister in 2017.

"In order to form a government together, you have to have roughly the same views around the courts and the criminal justice system; around how the economy and society should be run and also how democracy should function. That is what makes my party Fine Gael not compatible with Sinn Fin," he said.

Varadkar, whose father was born in Mumbai, has indicated a coalition with Fianna Fail could be possible, saying "we are willing to talk to other parties about the possibility of forming a new government, one that would lead the country forward for the next five years".

Michael Martin, the leader of Fianna Fail, has meanwhile left the door more widely open, saying he is a "democrat" and would "listen to the people."



Sinn Fein's win of over 24 per cent of the popular vote in the voting that took place on Saturday puts Anglo-Irish relations also on the line, with the party a vocal critic of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit deal.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald has hailed her party's successes across the country and is reaching out to other left-wing parties to arrange talks on government formation.

Candidates in Ireland are elected by single transferable vote (STV), with each constituency returning between three and five deputies, each called a Teachta Dala or TD.

It is clear that no one party will win enough seats for an outright majority, leaving Varadkar's future as the Irish Taoiseach in doubt.

A former general practitioner, Varadkar became the country's youngest and first openly gay Prime Minister over two year ago. He has kept his Indian connect alive over the years, completing an internship at the King Edward Memorial Hospital in Mumbai.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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At a White House meeting with the nations governors, Trump accused Obama of leaking intel on a weapons system to Russia.

Trump said, We have the super-fast missiles, tremendous number of the super-fast, We call the super-fast because they are four, five, six, and even times faster than an ordinary missile. We need that again because Russia has some. I wont tell you how they got it. They got it supposedly from plans from the Obama administration when we werent doing it, and thats too bad. Thats not good.

Video:

Trump has apparently leaked more intelligence to Russia as he just accused Obama of leaking weapons plans to Russia. pic.twitter.com/TxiJiI8y8o  Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) February 10, 2020

Trump is accusing Obama of leaking intelligence to Russia because he has leaked intelligence to Russia.

As the White House Pool report as provided to PoliticusUSA put it, POTUS vaguely accused the Obama administration of somehow being complicit in Russia getting the intelligence capability necessary for its latest nuclear weapons delivery system.

Trump had the Russians in the Oval Office and leaked classified intelligence to them. Obama has been out of office for nearly four years and this is the first that anyone has ever heard of this claim.

Trump is so insecure about Obama that he never misses a chance to smear the former president, who remains everything that he will never be, including an Oscar winner.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

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Married At First Sight's controversial bride Stacey Hampton was engaged to a Rebels bikie boss who was convicted of bashing two nightclub bouncers.

The blonde bombshell dated the Rebels' Adelaide president Shane Michael Smith, 37, until she split with him in July 2017, a month before the brutal assaults.

Stacey, 26, was branded the 'bride from hell' after she snubbed 'husband' Michael Goonan on Monday night's episode, saying he was 'not what I usually go for'.

Married At First Sight's controversial bride Stacey Hampton (right) was engaged to Rebels bikie boss Shane Michael Smith, 37, (left) with whom she shares two sons (one pictured)

Smith, a heavily tattooed 'fitness trainer', fits Stacey's type perfectly, as she admits to being attracted to 'masculine' men with tattoos.

She is equally as inked-up as Smith, with a huge intricate design stretching across her stomach and right thigh as a tribute to her late brother.

The former couple share sons Kruz, two, and Kosta, four, who appeared on Monday's episode of MAFS.

Stacey, who is 11 years younger than Smith, said they met when she was 'very young' and in her early twenties.

'We met when I was very young, fell in love quickly and then tried to make it work for the kids,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'It was a civil break-up. He's an amazing dad and I have no regrets.'

The former couple share sons Kruz, two, and Kosta, four, who appeared on Monday's episode of MAFS. Smith has Stacey and Kosta's names tattooed on his hand

Stacey, 26, was branded the 'bride from hell' after she snubbed 'husband' Michael Goonan (right) on MAFS, saying he was 'not what I usually go for'

Stacey (left, with two friends) is equally as tattooed as her ex-partner, and has a huge intricate design stretching across her stomach and right thigh

One of many family photos on Smith's social media shows the bikie leader in his Rebels colours as Stacey cradles Kosta during their time together.

'That's Stacie Hampton my wife,' he wrote alongside two heart emojis when friends complimented his glamorous partner.

Smith also has Stacey's name tattooed on his hand along with Kosta's name and birth date - January 25, 2016.

In February 2019, Smith was convicted and fined $3,500 for assaulting two bouncers outside a nightclub in Bendigo on August 6, 2017.

Pictured: Stacey in a recent photo with Kruz and Kosta posted to her Instagram

He narrowly avoided jail after a magistrate dismissed an affray charge because the savage beatings weren't deemed to be evoking of terror in bystanders.

Bendigo Magistrates' Court heard Smith was at the Universal club in the northern Victorian town with several other Rebels.

Festivities to commemorate the 2008 car crash death of member Bruno Carlo spilled out of the gang's clubhouse about 11.30pm.

A fight began between the six bikies and other revellers on the dance floor after an altercation in the smokers area and security tried to intervene.

Stacey, who is 11 years younger than Smith, said they met when she was 'very young' and in her early twenties, and only stayed together so long for their kids

Proud parent Smith poses with Kosta (left) and a newborn Kruz sometime in 2017

The court heard Smith threw punches at patrons and security, then 'king hit' a bouncer in the face, punched his head and torso and kicked him as he lay on the ground.

The melee left a patron unconscious in the local hospital's intensive care unit for nine hours, and another combatant with a broken jaw.

The court heard Smith, who was one of two bikies charged over the brawl, had committed previous violent crimes.

He was originally slapped with 10 charges but police dropped seven of them.

In February 2019, heavily-tattooed Smith was convicted and fined $3,500 for assaulting two bouncers outside a nightclub in Bendigo on August 6, 2017

Magistrate Michael King then dismissed the affray charge because the attacks 'would not have terrified a reasonable onlooker'.

He also said there was 'no community interest' in jailing Smith before he received treatment for his anger issues.

Stacey was less impressed with millionaire businessman Michael Goonan, 28, whom she 'married' on Monday night's episode of MAFS.

She told producers he 'wasn't her type or someone I would want to date', adding: 'He's not ugly. I don't think he's ugly. But he's not what I normally go for.'

Smith posted this collage of Stacey, their two sons, and his daughter from an earlier relationship to his Facebook

Pictured: Stacey with Kosta and Smith's older daughter in a snap posted to Facebook in 2017

However, she later learned from her bridesmaid Carla that he had a successful business, and decided to give him a second chance.

'I'm not actually this rude. I was so tired, I had no energy. I want to get to know you,' she said to him outside, before planting a kiss on his lips.

Following their reception, Stacey kicked Michael out of bed in their hotel suite and told him to sleep on the sofa, saying 'we're done now' for the night.

The mother-of-two has previously said she went on Married At First Sight because men are too intimidated by her, particularly as she has young children.

'I'm quite intimidating to men, so I haven't had the time nor the opportunity to be taken seriously by someone,' she said in a recent trailer.

'He's not what I normally go for': Stacey wasn't impressed with millionaire businessman Michael Goonan, 28, whom she 'married' on Monday night's episode of MAFS

'I want to get to know you': However, she later learned from her bridesmaid Carla that Michael had a successful business, and decided to give him a second chance
Greta Thunberg has signed up for a BBC documentary series focusing on her 'international crusade', that will feature her challenging world leaders.

The 17-year-old Swedish climate change activist will be shown exploring what actions can be taken to limit climate change and responding to the 'real-world consequences of inaction'.

The series is being made by BBC Studios - the corporation's commercial arm - as climate change 'is probably the most important issue of our lives'.

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The series produced by BBC Studios will follow the 17-year-old Swedish climate change activist as she explores what actions can be taken to limit climate change

Greta Thunberg re-tweeted the announcement by BBC Studios today (pictured)

Announcing the series, BBC Studios' Executive Rob Liddell said: 'Climate change is probably the most important issue of our lives so it feels timely to make an authoritative series that explores the facts and science behind this complex subject.

'To be able to do this with Greta is an extraordinary privilege, getting an inside view on what it's like being a global icon and one of the most famous faces on the planet.'

Greta re-tweeted the announcement on social media.

The programme will also 'chart her journey into adulthood' and follow the schoolgirl during her 'quiet moments' as she writes 'impactful' speeches.

A broadcaster attached to the series is yet to be announced.

Greta Thunberg pictured visiting a reindeer protection site in Projus, northern Sweden

It is hoped the programme will shine a light on the continuing plight of wildlife and humans across the globe due to climate change.

The UK is committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 in an effort to reverse rising global emissions.

The country will also host the 2020 Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland, in November this year.
A woman who allegedly catfished her ex-girlfriend with a fake online boyfriend 'accidentally' deleted their final text exchange before her mate plunged to her death, a coronial inquest has heard.

Renae Marsden was a 'happy and bubbly' 20-year-old hairdresser who died in a suspected suicide at The Gap in Sydney's east on August 5, 2013.

She received 11,400 messages from a man she knew as 'Brayden' in the lead up to her disappearance, and may have found out he was not real on the day of her death.

Renae's troubling relationship with her ex-girlfriend and close school friend Camilla Zeidan is at the centre of the inquest into her death at the NSW State Coroner's Court in Sydney.

Renae Marsden was a 'happy and bubbly' 20-year-old hairdresser who died in a suspected suicide at The Gap in Sydney's east on August 5, 2013

Camilla Zeidan (right) is accused of inventing 'Brayden' to catfish for ex-girlfriend Renae (left)

Camilla had an 'obsessive, possessing and unrelenting' relationship with Renae, counsel assisting Sasha Harding told the inquest in her opening address on Monday.

'You are going no where, do you understand?  You kill me, I'll be your ghost,' Camilla once said in an email to Renae.

'You hate me, I'll still love you You hide, I'll hunt you down. You've got no way to escape because only I love you, and I'll have you forever'.

Sergeant Harding told the court their romantic relationship fell apart after school, but Camilla later introduced Renae to her 'ex-boyfriend' Brayden Spiteri - a persona police allege she concocted.

The court heard a series of texts were sent between Renae, Camilla and 'Brayden' in the hours and minutes before she died at The Gap in Sydney.

But Camilla later told Renae's mother she 'accidentally deleted the last messages' exchanged between the pair, 'as she pressed the wrong button', the court heard.

Catfish relationship with 'Brayden'

Outside court, Renae's parents Mark and Teresa (supported by their other daughter Monique) said 'not a day goes past' without the family of five thinking about Renae

Despite being happy in the months before her disappearance her parents said they think Renae (pictured) was crushed when she received a break-up message from 'Brayden'

Renae's (centre) troubling relationship with her ex-girlfriend and close school friend Camilla (right) is at the centre of the inquest into her death

Brayden could never see Renae in person because he was supposedly serving a prison sentence at Goulburn over a motorbike accident, the inquest heard.

The fake 'former King's School student' had purportedly traded his visitation rights for a shorter sentence. But he could communicate with her endlessly online.

In March 2011, Renae chose her new flame 'Brayden' over her real-life boyfriend, Angus, the court heard.

Sgt Harding said the allegedly fake relationship gave Camilla the 'best of both worlds an intimate relationship with Renae, via Brayden, and [Renae's] renewed friendship'.

Brayden and Renae were 'obsessively in love' and 'Brayden appeared to monitor Renae's every move and question her whereabouts', so much so she had to 'demand the right to have friends.'

Renae sent Brayden sexual photos and she told him how 'dependent' she was on him, Sgt Harding told the court.

He threatened to hurt her friend, Joseph; demanded to know why she changed her Facebook passwords and quizzed her about her male friends.

Police later found 11,400 texts were exchanged between the pair between March 5, 2013 and June 19, 2013.

What the inquest wants to find out is: Did Renae learn that Brayden was a fiction? And did she learn that her school friend Camilla was allegedly responsible for creating Brayden?

Renae's grandfather Giuseppe Costa broke down in tears as the family spoke to the media outside court, along with his wife Anna (right) and Renae's brother Luke (left)

Mr Costa was shattered by the emotional day where the inquest heard details of how Renae killed herself after being catfished

Renae's final texts

Sgt Harding told the court of Renae's final, distressing day alive - August 5, 2013 - where she attended work as a receptionist at StarTrack.

The court heard that Renae told a work colleague she had not heard from Brayden and was planning to call Goulburn jail to hear from him.

Renae left work early to go home. A colleague told police she had become more distressed as she received texts throughout the day.

Renae made a 90 second call to Goulburn jail that afternoon, at 2.44pm. Over the next half an hour Renae and Brayden exchanged 27 text messages, the court heard.

Her mother, Teresa, received a text from Brayden at 2.59pm, telling her to 'sort your daughter out'. The message said she was suicidal.

The court heard Renae told her worried mother: 'Mum, I would never be so stupid.'

She said of Brayden: 'You don't have to worry about him anymore, I finally found out what he's all about. Don't worry mum, it's all over.'

Renae later did her make-up and told her mother she was going to see her workmates for dinner. Her work clothes were laid out on the bed at the time.

Instead she drove to The Gap, described to the court as an infamous suicide hotspot.

The Marsden family (l-r: Monique, Teresa, Mark, and Renae's brothers Luke and Jake) put on a united front outside court

Renae's mother Anna Costa speaks to the media with raw emotion visible in her face. 'I still wait for my granddaughter every Saturday,' she said

The court heard she texted Brayden at 4.40pm, 5.22pm and 5.23pm, plus a further three times at 5.42pm.

Brayden responded at 5.46pm. At 5.47, Renae sent two texts to Brayden, and then her final text to the friend.

At 5.49pm, Teresa received a message from Renae saying: 'I love you so much. I am sorry for everything and the pain I will now cause you'.

At 5.53pm, Renae was seen sitting on the edge of the cliff and throwing an object over, which police believed to be her mobile phone.

Five minutes later, she was last seen climbing down. Her body has never been recovered.

Grieving parents demand justice

Outside court, Renae's parents Mark and Teresa Marsden said 'not a day goes past' without the family of five thinking about Renae.

They were supported by their other daughter Monique, and Renae's grandparents Anna and Giuseppe Costa, who broke down in tears,

Mr Marsden said it took some time for the 'penny to drop' about what had happened to their daughter, and her friend's role in it.

Renae's parents leave the inquest after hearing the disturbing details of their daughter's last days

Mark and Teresa Marsden (left and second from left) arrive with friends and family at the inquest at the NSW Coroner's Court in Sydney on Monday

Her tearful grandmother Anna Costa said: 'I still wait for my granddaughter every Saturday.

'She used to come and have dinner with me and lunch with me - she doesn't come anymore and I still wait for her'.

Renae's family want the inquest to result in the law being changed, so 'catfishing' can be made a crime in NSW and hope the person who put their daughter through the ordeal will be brought to justice after the inquest.

'There is no closure for us until we determine the facts surrounding her disappearance, and this won't be resolved until the perpetrator decides or is forced to tell the truth,' Mr Marsden told The Sydney Morning Herald.

'Ultimately we would like to see the perpetrator charged, and that the coroner recommends the laws surrounding catfishing are tightened to make it a criminal offence.'

Her parents believe someone was using photos of a random man and talking to Renae with a fake phone number.

Renae had photos of 'Brayden' in her room and was even fantasising about marrying him. He was last person she messaged on the day of her disappearance.

Before her death the 20-year-old (pictured right with her mother Teresa, left) had received more than 11,000 messages from a man she believed to be 'Brayden'

Her parents, Teresa (pictured right with Renae) and Mark Marsden, believe someone was using photos of a random man and talking to Renae with a fake phone number

Mr Marsden said living with his daughter's suspected suicide has been 'hell'.

'That somebody can do this to your daughter to the point she takes her own life, it is about as wrong as it gets,' he said.

Despite being happy in the months before her disappearance her parents said they think she was crushed when she received a break-up message from 'Brayden'.

The day Renae died she told her mother she didn't need to 'worry about him' because she had 'found out what he is all about'.

She told her parents she was going to dinner with friends, but they never saw her again.

Renae sent a text to her mother telling her she loved her, a text to Brayden and a text to the friend.

Mr and Mrs Marsden believe Renae found out she was being catfished and decided to take her own life.

'My daughter was not depressed. She was anything but,' Mrs Marsden said.

The inquest continues.

For confidential support call the Lifeline 24-hour crisis support on: 13 11 14

Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800
Mountbellew Agricultural College to host Farm Safety Event

Teagasc, in partnership with Mountbellew Agricultural College, will hold a half day farm safety event for farmers and their families on Friday, 14th February. In 2019, 18 farmers were fatally injured on farms, and to date provisional data from the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) indicates that 1 fatality has already taken place in 2020.

Mountbellew Agricultural College to host Farm Safety Event

Glen Corbett, Teagasc advisor and event organiser said: Farm safety is a crucial issue and concern on Irish farms. There needs to be constant awareness amongst the farming community of how we can make our farms safer places to be and work.

Glen Corbett went on to say as the average age of an Irish farmer is about 57 years, there is a need for farmers to adapt their farms and work practices for safety. HSA data shows that about 72% of the deaths among Irish farmers were in the over 60 age group in 2019 (13 out of 18). We would particularly welcome farmers of all ages to attend on Friday.

Alma Jordan of Agrikids will be present to promote childhood safety in a vibrant child friendly indoor environment.

Teagasc Health and Safety Specialist, Francis Bligh said: We want to give strong health and safety messages as the year progresses. We will also be holding an event for school children earlier in the day. Mountbellew Agricultural College have many excellently designed examples of buildings, livestock handling facilities and equipment that are designed for safety.

County Galway farm accident victim, Peter Gohery, will be present at the farm safety event to explain the horrific consequence of his farm accident. The Gardai will explain laws around vehicle and trailer safety. The HSA will outline their current strategies on farm accident prevention. Farm Relief Services will demonstrate chainsaw and quad safety. Teagasc and Mountbellew College staff will mount demonstrations on slurry, animal handling, including TAMS II grants and machinery.

The common reasons for deaths and accidents on farms are tractors, other vehicles and machinery, livestock, falls from heights and working with slurry. Tractor and vehicle knockdowns and cow attacks are a particularly high cause of fatal injury. Demonstrations in the farmyard of Mountbellew Agricultural College will take place on all these topics.

All farmers are most welcome to attend and the event runs from 2pm to 5pm.
WeWork Executive Chairman Marcelo Claure told CNBC on Monday that the company's ousted CEO Adam Neumann didn't walk away with the over $1 billion package that was estimated.

"To say that he has walked away with over a billion dollars is totally false," said Claure, SoftBank executive and executive chairman of Sprint, in an interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin.

CNBC reported in October that Neumann was set to get up to $1.7 billion to walk away from the company and give up his voting rights. SoftBank was to pay him up to $970 million for his shares, a $185 million consulting fee and was to offer him $500 million in credit to help repay his loans.

"There's a tender going on right now in which Adam will have the right to participate with shareholders," Claure said of Neumann. "He's a large shareholder of the company, he was a founder, and as we do a tender to buys shares from other shareholders, he's going to have the same opportunity as any other shareholder."

Claure added that the two "rarely" talk, but Neumann will call and share his thoughts on the company.

"I think he's very excited that the business is transitioning from high growth to a more disciplined business with accountability and with a more mature leadership," Claure said.
Fading Hopes For Peace Yet Again In South Sudan

"Lest we forget the cause for secession from Sudan, the aspirations of which were anchored on fundamental values notably equality, fair treatment, freedom from repression and hegemonic attitude, just society, democracy etc, the future of the country and her people appear bleak."

By Ngor Arol Garang

This new month, February 2020, hopes to usher in a new sigh of peace and stability, have started with yet another polarizing political rope pulling between parties to the conflict in South Sudan, yet again dashing hopes of possible consensus and compromise. The parties were expected to conclude negotiations, reach compromises and form the unity government on February 22, 2020.

However, the views over the number of states and boundaries coming from the IGAD (Inter-Governmental Authority on Development) meditated talks showed the contrary. Instead of closing and ending the stalemates, the outcome proved the inability of the parties to end the conflict.

Their views are widening instead of narrowing, causing resumption of disparaging and hate hurling debates between supporters of the political divides in and outside the social media.

The government fears backlash of the decision it made to unilaterally create more states, preferring instead formation of the government based on the 32 states.

The opposition camps are stuck to their demand, advocating either a return to former 10 states or reduction in the number to around 21, 23 or a number below 32, causing outright rejection from the government.

While this wrangle continues with no end in sight, the people for whom the decisions and overtures are being made continue to pay the price of antagonism and intransigence.

The Saturdays attempt was one of the many efforts to break deadlocks. President Salva Kiir and opposition Leader Riek Machar have had ample times sitting together in Juba hoping to thrush out the differences and reach consensus. They could not, resulting in several deferrals.

The two men and their supporters appear to have drawn some redlines beyond which no movement is expected. While Riek and plethora of opposition cites violation of the constitution in the creation of more states, citizens and economists are more concerned of their economic viabilities and social cohesion.

Benefits of more states are in the offing. None of them has been realized since 2015. What is obvious and palpable is that the tensions and loss of lives and properties have resulted in violent protest and articulation of anger.

Twic is in squabble as a result of 32 states. They are unable to agree on where the administrative headquarters should be, Turalei or Mayen Abun.

There is a perennial hate hurling at the great people of Aweil West and North counties by the people of Raga who see the merging as nothing but extension of ethnic hegemony, even when their own is the governor. Lives have been lost.

The folks in Raga see themselves as part of Wau and want to remain there as the first option. If this option is respected, they would be glad to return to Wau. If this option does not work, they prefer being given state of their own instead of merging them with another ethnic group as the second option.

In Tonj, a fight over the name of a county caused a dispute that claimed lives, destroyed properties and a fight was taken to a supposedly administrative headquarters of the area, causing protests and calls for removal of the governor. A local minister was removed from his position on allegations that he raised the issue in the cabinet meeting.

The Luac people in this area are also demanding a separate state of their own from Tonj, citing a) marginalization, b) vastness of their region and c) population and d) popular demand of the people as the qualifying criteria.

This wish was raised in the meeting of the governors of Bhar el Ghazal held in Wau in January 2020. The resolution out of this conference was forwarded to the office of the president together with the demand of the people of Raga.

Conflict over cattle theft and raids between the Agaar and Gok in Western Lakes have resumed and claimed lives, destroyed properties, disrupted regular movement of people, services and goods.

The creation of this state was supposedly envisioned to address perennial clash and killings.

It has, however, exacerbated the relationships, severed ties and created barriers between the two communities. Instead of building bridges, foster unity, harmony, cohesion, the creation is causing division and isolation.

Equally important to add, since it is challenging and stretching the leg, is the question of viability of these units, given that more states comes with financial and political burden to carry.

32 states require more resources. The governor would need mobility, at least a vehicle or two, an official resident and operational cost. The deputy would need a vehicle, an official resident and operational cost. The speaker and the deputy will require the same attention, care and treatment. The ministers, the legislators, county commissioners and the civil servants would need resources, be it payment of salaries or the cost of providing services.

With the war economy, the money that comes from the oil and non-oil revenues is directed to priorities that give little attention to basic services, crushing funding for roads, schools, hospitals, subsidizing farming as well as welfare of the military, improvement etcetera.

Some governors do not have offices in which they operate. They operate under trees. County commissioners operate in their homes. Legislators walk. There is no money.

Yet some areas are contented. In Jonglei, ethnic Murle have received it with delight and gratitude. They are satisfied with the carving out from Jonglei. So are the people of Ruweng in Unity.

But in Upper Nile, the Shilluk see the creation as the political grabbing and giving of a supposedly their land to a rival ethnic group, the Dinka of Ngok Lual Yak, causing protest and sustained rejection.

Elsewhere, politicians from Eastern Equatoria see creation of more administrative units as having disadvantaged them, preferring an additional state besides Torit and Kapoeta.

How then do such polarizing issues get resolved? Here we go. Complex issues require bottom-up approach, if one wants to break the stalemate and create lasting solution.

Firstly, the government from the word go, as it commendably did at the beginning of the talks with opposition when the proposal of 21 states surfaced, should have maintained the initial position that rejected the proposal, citing lack of resources and the need to involve the people to make the ultimate choice and decision.

Secondly, and given the complexities and multiplicities of issues, the government should have commissioned studies if it wanted to create more administrative units that would foster cohesion and harmony instead of turning around to implement what it rejected.

Thirdly, it should have carried out public consultations with the communities to hear directly from the people what they really wanted and where they would like to go in case they do not qualify as a community for a state of their own.

For example, the people of Raga should have been asked to decide either to remain in Wau or choose where to go.

The people of Maridi should have been part of Yambio, given geographical proximity to each other as well as commonalities, be it traditions, people, languages, culture and political views; so were the people of Tambura and Yambio.

They should have been a one state albeit internal but normal political wrangle between the elites in Tambura and Yambio.

Jonglei should have been split into three states in a way that gives Murle, Jie, Kachipo and Anyuak a state of their own while leaving Bor for ethnic Dinka, as ethnic Nuer form a state of their own.

Break Upper Nile into an arrangement that takes into consideration geographical proximity that accommodates Luac Dinka of Khorflus, the Atar folks, the Akoka, Baliet and the rest. Merge them with the Shilluk around Malakal to form a state.

Break Unity into two in a way that ensures the people of Abiemnom do not have a challenge of getting to Parieng. Make them choose where to go, either join Twic or choose to remain as part of the administration that looks after Mayom and adjacent areas.

Ask the great people of Aweil how they would like to manage their affairs. Dont break them before consulting. They are smart and unique people. They know what they want. If they want more states, they would do it amicably and this would be determined by proximity of the areas in which they live.

Break Warrap into Tonj and Gogrial, Lakes into East and West. Central Equatoria into Yei and Juba, Eastern Equatoria into the arrangement of choice.

If this was how the creation was made, it would resonate with the contextually abused demand of the people.

Still, this would not have been the priority. Peace would.

Such arrangements are made when the country is in peace. They require a conduct of census, demarcation of electoral constituencies and availability of funds to support the conduct.

Lest we forget the cause for secession from Sudan, the aspirations of which were anchored on fundamental values notably equality, fair treatment, freedom from repression and hegemonic attitude, just society, democracy etc, the future of the country and her people appear bleak.


Family are desperately searching for a teenage mum and her 18-month-old daughter who have been missing for four days.

Sienna Biddick, 19, has not been heard from since last week and her family fear for her welfare and that of her daughter Anneis.

Queensland Police and Child Safety officers are also searching for the pair since they were reported missing and hold concerns for the child.

Sienna Biddick, 19, has not been heard from since last week and her family fear for her welfare and that of her daughter Anneis

Ms Biddick regularly posts photos of herself and her daughter on Facebook and declared her love for the little girl in a post last week

Family member Taylor Munro-Newton said Ms Biddick was last seen around Beenleigh, south of Brisbane, with an ex-boyfriend.

She claimed the man was 'known to be dangerous' and other family members feared she or Anneis could be harmed.

'Her phone is turned off so we've had zero contact with her and are unsure of her current whereabouts,' she said in a Facebook appeal.

'I'd never thought I'd be making this post about my own family... we are very worried and they need to be found.

'If you find her please follow her (from a safe distance) and contact the police immediately.'

There have been unconfirmed sightings of Ms Biddick in the past few days, with and without her daughter and the ex-boyfriend.

Queensland Police and Child Safety officers are also searching for the pair since they were reported missing and hold concerns for the child

Family said Ms Biddick was last seen around Beenleigh, south of Brisbane, with an ex-boyfriend

The most recent is the local shops in Brassall, near Ipswich, about 3pm on Sunday.

The may also be travelling in an allegedly stolen green Subaru Forrester station wagon.

Ms Biddick regularly posts photos of herself and her daughter on Facebook and declared her love for the little girl in a post last week.

'No matter where or how far we are, I love you. Tonight I've honestly realised I'm truly blessed to have you,' she wrote.

Ms Munro-Newton said police searched the ex-boyfriend's known address on Sunday night and they were nowhere to be found.

'Apparently he hasn't been there for three weeks now so there's no knowing where's he's currently staying,' she said.

Ms Biddick is said to be about 5ft 4in tall with a cross tattooed on her left wrist and was last seen wearing a singlet with shorts and thongs.
GLEN CARBON  Divine Mercy, a proposed 225-unit senior living community project in Glen Carbon sponsored by the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, has been canceled.

Citing several unforeseen cost increases that fundamentally changed the economic profile of the project, the diocese has determined that the project presents financial risk and exposure that exceed the means of the diocese.

Like many in Madison County and the surrounding area  especially our generous donors and those who were looking forward to having loved ones live at Divine Mercy  I am deeply disappointed we could not make Divine Mercy a reality, Bishop Thomas John Paprocki said.

In light of all the time, effort, and generosity the local community had invested, this decision was incredibly difficult, he said. However, good stewardship applies to the obligation of dutiful and responsible guardianship of resources. Just as important, we must protect the trust our donors bestow upon us.

The Diocese of Springfield in Illinois will refund all donations made to the project in the coming weeks. Any future pledge commitments will also no longer apply.

A groundbreaking ceremony was scheduled for last fall at the site adjacent to Father McGivney Catholic High School. That groundbreaking was delayed as actual bids and costs for construction came in much higher than originally forecast.

A team had been working since then to attempt redesign and restructuring measures to mitigate the costs. All proceeds from Divine Mercy were planned to be donated to Catholic Charities and other organizations that care for and help the poor.

I want to thank all the area priests, parishes, those who worked on and volunteered on this project, our partners, and generous donors, Paprocki said.
Groups fighting graft in Africa see a ready symbol for their campaign in Teodorin Obiang, the playboy son of Equatorial Guinea leader Teodoro Obiang Nguema.

The slick-haired scion has a fondness for parties, supercars, fancy suits, jewellery, yachts and the company of hip hop stars, documenting many of his exploits on Instagram.

The 50-year-old is the oldest son of Africa's longest-serving leader.

As vice president, he has been groomed to succeed his father as head of a state awash with oil but mired in poverty and a reputation for corruption.

Transparency International rates Equatorial Guinea 173rd out of 180 countries on its 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index.

A Paris court on Monday upheld a three-year suspended jail term against the younger Obiang and handed him a 30-million-euro ($32.9 million) fine for using public money to buy a six-floor Paris home and luxury cars.

He becomes the first African leader to be sentenced in France for allegedly ill-gotten gains, although his assets have also been targeted in the United States and Switzerland.

'Something exceptional'

Seemingly unabashed, within 40 minutes of the court's verdict, Obiang posted a video clip on social media showing him on a luxury motorbike in the capital Malabo.

In a profile by French TV at the turn of the millennium, he talked with pride of his wine collection, of buying 30 suits at once from top-market tailors and was filmed at the wheel of his cars, ranging from a Bentley and a Rolls-Royce to a Ferrari and a Lamborghini.

"I'm always looking for something exceptional," he said on camera to a jeweller who was showing him a watch worth more than 22,250 euros ($23,250).

Obiang was just 10 when in 1979 his father overthrew his bloodthirsty uncle, the dictator Francisco Macias Nguema.

In the 1980s, the new leader's son was enrolled in the select Ecole des Roches in Normandy, northwest France, a school that prides itself on educating the offspring of leaders from all over the world.

Keen to live it up in Paris, Rio and the United States, Obiang was not even 30 when his father appointed him minister of forests in 1997 in his tropical homeland.

In the government post until 2012, Obiang was considered the godfather of the lucrative timber trade, but at the same time oil exports began to bring previously unimaginable wealth.

Most of the country's 1.2 million people live below the poverty threshold on less than two dollars a day, according to several economic indicators.

In 2016, President Obiang -- freshly elected with more than 90 percent of the vote -- named his son vice president.

Teodorin Obiang used this appointment to argue in vain at the International Court of Justice in The Hague that he had diplomatic immunity and could not be prosecuted in France.

'Relentless embezzlement'

In 2014, the US Justice Department forced Obiang to hand over more than $30 million in assets purchased with the proceeds of corruption.

It estimated that he used his position and influence as a minister to amass wealth of more than $300 million.

A Porsche 918 Spyder was one of Teodorin Obiang's supercars that Switzerland seized and auctioned off for social work in Equatorial Guinea. By FABRICE COFFRINI (AFP/File)

"Through relentless embezzlement and extortion, (he) shamelessly looted his government and shook down businesses in his country to support his lavish lifestyle, while many of his fellow citizens lived in extreme poverty," it said.

The assets he forked over to settle the case included a $30-million mansion in Malibu, a Ferrari and various items of Michael Jackson memorabilia.

In 2016, Swiss authorities seized 25 of Obiang's supercars and last year sold them at an auction, raising 21 million euros for social work in Equatorial Guinea.

And in 2018, the Brazilian police seized more than $16 million in cash and luxury watches in the luggage of a delegation accompanying Obiang.
RCMP say they've concluded "major enforcement operations" of a court order in the traditional territory of a northern B.C. First Nation on Monday, after arresting another seven people who were blocking a service road needed for construction of a natural gas pipeline.

Mounties arrested seven people for breach of the injunction and on Monday evening said  once Coastal GasLink confirms that it can access the Morice West Forest Service Road and its infrastructure  they plan to lift a exclusion zone along the logging road.

"I am very satisfied that this operation was conducted safely and there were no injuries sustained by anyone," Chief RCMP Supt. David Attfield said in a news release.

"This was a very challenging situation, and I am proud of the professionalism displayed by our members."

Earlier in the day, police moved into Unist'ot'en, where the Wet'suwet'en have, for more than a decade, been re-establishing a presence in what began as an effort to block proposed energy projects through the area.

People at the site, including journalists, provided updates on Twitter and Facebook on Monday, reporting that RCMP arrived with dogs, tactical members of the force and that some police had been dropped on the backside of the checkpoint via helicopter.

In one of the livestreams posted by the Unist'ot'en, police were heard reading the injunction to a group of women standing in the road  but the women didn't acknowledge the RCMP presence and instead continued drumming and singing in a circle.

Among those arrested Monday were Karla Tait, the director of clinical programming for the Unist'ot'en Healing Centre, and Freda Huson, longtime spokesperson for Unist'ot'en and one of the named defendants in the injunction brought forward by Coastal GasLink.

The Wet'suwet'en set up an access checkpoint at Unist'ot'en in 2009, controlling who could come into the area. But that checkpoint has since grown, and the area has morphed into a permanent settlement that includes a healing centre.

Story continues

It's unclear how many people are currently staying in Unist'ot'en. The RCMP said in an email to CBC News on Sunday it would be taking action there on Monday as part of the injunction enforcement.

Acts of civil disobedience and solidarity gatherings have been taking place across the country to show support for the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs, who maintain no pipelines can be built through their territory without their consent.

Supporter camp growing

The chiefs and their supporters have defied the injunction, asserting Wet'suwet'en law instead and demanding that the province and federal government come to the table to sort out their rights and title to the territory.

In recent days, their access to that territory has been shrinking.

The hereditary chiefs and their supporters have been slowly pushed farther out of the area as police move, camp by camp, down the Morice West Forest Service Road.

As of Sunday, police were not allowing people past the four-kilometre mark on the road, saying that would be the boundary of an expanded exclusion zone that had previously been applied at the 27-kilometre mark.

Chantelle Bellrichard/CBC

"You know, I never ever thought that we as We'tsuwet'en people would ever be faced with such a crisis as we're facing today," hereditary chief Kaliset told CBC News on Sunday while being kept out of the territory at the police roadblock.

"Us elders, we've sat back and we've watched  we support our young people with the work that they're doing. Today we're speaking out."

On Monday morning, hereditary chief Smogelgem said police had once again shifted their checkpoint to the 27-kilometre mark.

The $6-billion, 670-kilometre Coastal GasLink pipeline has received approval from the province, and 20 First Nations band councils have signed agreements in support of the project, including five of the six band councils in the Wet'suwet'en Nation.

First Nations that signed agreements with the company stand to benefit through a number of avenues  with direct cash payments at different stages of the project's lifespan, contracting and employment opportunities, and other agreed upon conditions.

However, the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs say those band councils are only responsible for the territory within their individual reserves because their authority comes only from the Indian Act. The hereditary chiefs  leaders in place before the Indian Act  assert authority over 22,000 square kilometres of the nation's traditional territory, an area recognized as unceded by the Supreme Court of Canada in a 1997 decision.

Not everyone within the Wet'suwet'en nation is standing behind the chiefs, however.

Bonnie George is a Wet'suwet'en woman who previously worked with Coastal GasLink. She told CBC News she believes the conflict has become "blown way out of proportion."

She stressed there are Wet'suwet'en people who want the project to go ahead and have taken jobs with the project. She also said that the nation is "hurting terribly" through this conflict and welcomed those who are taking action in solidarity with the hereditary chiefs "to refocus that energy on helping us try to live in harmony."

Construction elsewhere

Construction continues along the length of the project at other sections, but Coastal GasLink says it can only put off getting back into the area subject to the injunction for so long before construction timelines are disrupted.

For weeks the company has not been able to move freely along the forest service road at the geographic centre of this conflict.

The Morice West Forest Service Road leads into the heart of Wet'suwet'en territory, about 300 kilometres west of Prince George. It is also the only access road for workers to build the Coastal GasLink pipeline through the area.

Weeks after the injunction decision came out on Dec. 31 it became increasingly clear that those involved in the dispute were at an impasse.

Early Thursday morning, police began the first wave of arrests on the road, at a camp set-up at the 39-kilometre mark.

After that, enforcement took place at the 44-kilometre Gidimt'en checkpoint.

The next day, people were cleared from an area established as a warming centre and gathering space at the 27-kilometre mark.

Between Thursday and Monday, police arrested a total of 28 people as they worked to gain control over the area to ensure Coastal GasLink contractors could clear the road of obstructions from Houston past Unist'ot'en.

Several of those arrested were scheduled to make court appearances on Monday.

Police continue to investigate alleged criminal acts on the territory, including mischief and setting traps likely to cause bodily harm.
Tullamore Credit Union has teamed up with a world leader in banking software for its new Community Banking system.

Temenos, the banking software company, today announced that it has signed three new Irish credit union clients for its Community Banking offering. These include Tullamore Credit Union, Dublin based Capital Credit Union and Meath based Credit Union Plus. All three will be moving from legacy, on-premise systems to Temenos front-to-back Software as a Service (SaaS) offering in order to digitally transform their business and prepare for growth.

Tullamore Credit Union expects that the new Community Banking platform will add a further 10% per annum to their already strong loan growth rates. They also believe it will attract many new members.

Across Ireland, 3.4 million people are members of 241 credit unions, accounting for 18.3 billion in assets. Credit union assets are on the rise, increasing 31% (up from 14 billion) between 2011 and 2019.[1] However, for credit unions to aggressively compete with banks and fintech providers and attract the next generation of members, they need to be able to deliver seamless, personalized experiences more efficiently and they need technology that supports their future growth and innovation.

The Community Banking platform, powered by Temenos SaaS, offers pre-packaged front-to-back credit union products, processes and channels, built on modern cloud-native, cloud-agnostic and API-first technology. This will enable the credit unions to offer an outstanding digital experience to their members, while enabling them to quickly launch new products and services in response to new market opportunities. The credit unions CEOs envisage that the technology partnership will fast-track the delivery of a number of new products, including revolving credit, a wider range of home loans, SME loans and a suite of green, or climate-related, loans.

Temenos Community Banking will provide an additional key benefit by reducing the time that staff spend on administration and back-office functions, enabling them to spend more time on value-added activities like offering financial advice and support to credit union members.

Dennis Daly, CEO, Tullamore Credit Union, commente, Once the community banking system is fully operational, all our members will benefit from reduced paperwork, increased transaction speeds and an expanded services offering. While members are incredibly loyal to their community credit unions, many also feel the need to have accounts with a large bank and/or new fintech entity. This new system is intended to satisfy members full range of banking service needs, thereby negating the need to have accounts elsewhere.

Des Noctor, Regional Director, UK and Ireland, Temenos, said, Financial institutions of all sizes, from innovative community credit unions to high street banks, are recognizing that they need to digitally transform. This is why we are delighted to announce our partnerships with Capital Credit Union, Credit Union Plus, and Tullamore Credit Union as they continue to grow and offer their members hyper-personalized experiences and modern cloud-native, cloud-agnostic technology. We are delighted to expand our presence and leadership in Ireland, and bring revolutionary technology that drastically reduces time-to-market, cost, and operational complexity, to more financial institutions. The flexible deployment capabilities of our Community Banking solution are ideal for the Irish credit union market, delivering the opportunity for a fully managed service that is secure, future proof and affordable. For those that want to deploy on-premise, all of this is also available to their in-house team. We look forward to offering this market-leading technology to many more credit unions in Ireland and around the world.

The agreement was facilitated by the Credit Union Development Association (CUDA), a credit union-owned body that enables credit unions to collaborate on beneficial activities and projects, which may not be possible as single stand-alone entities.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 13:08:17|Editor: Wang Yamei

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MEXICO CITY, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- China has taken "drastic" measures and shown "absolute transparency" in its battle against the novel coronavirus outbreak, Mexican experts said on Sunday.

Armando Azua, a lecturer at the Ibero-American University, told Xinhua that the "drastic" measures adopted by the Chinese government are "in line with the dimension" of the outbreak.

He said that China "is doing everything that it has to do" to win the battle against this epidemic, highlighting the construction of two new hospitals in just two weeks for the care of the infected patients.

In an interview with Xinhua, Ignacio Martinez, a researcher specializing in Asia, hailed the Chinese government's "absolute transparency" in the exchange of information.

While declaring the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on Jan. 30, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus 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."

As to the economy, Azua predicted that the novel coronavirus will not have a significant impact on the movement of merchandise, though it will have an impact on retail sales and tourism.

"I think that after a few months, it will be regularized," he said.
The head of the World Health Organization has warned that confirmed cases of coronavirus being transmitted by people who have never travelled to China could be the tip of the iceberg.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesuss remarks come as members of a WHO-led international expert mission flew to China on Monday to help coordinate a response to the outbreak that has so far infected more than 40,000 people and killed 908 in the country.

Thereve been some concerning instances of onward #2019nCoV spread from people with no travel history to (China), Tedros tweeted Sunday, using the viruss provisional scientific name.



The detection of a small number of cases may indicate more widespread transmission in other countries; in short, we may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg.

While the spread of the virus outside China appeared to be slow, Tedros warned it could accelerate.

Containment remains our objective, but all countries must use the window of opportunity created by the containment strategy to prepare for the viruss possible arrival, he said.

Outside mainland China, there have been more than 350 infections reported in nearly 30 places. There have been two deaths, one in the Philippines and the other in Hong Kong.

Several countries have banned arrivals from China while major airlines have suspended flights, and Air China cancelled some of its flights to the United States.

The WHO-led mission to China is being headed up by Bruce Aylward, a veteran of previous health emergencies, Tedros said. Aylward oversaw the WHOs 2014-2016 response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
Eclipse Gold Mining Corporation is set to begin trading in a direct listing on Tuesday, February 18, 2020 under the symbol EGLD.V

Eclipse will have C$5.4M to begin advancing its Hercules property in Nevada

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 10, 2020) -Eclipse Gold Mining Corporation (TSXV: EGLD) ("Eclipse" or "the Company") announced today that, on February 6, 2020, the Company filed a final prospectus with the British Columbia Securities Commission ("BCSC") qualifying the distribution of the common shares in the capital of the Company issuable for no additional consideration upon deemed exercise of the 15,500,232 subscription receipts of the Company issued on November 19, 2019 (the "Subscription Receipts") and has received a receipt for the filing.

On February 7, 2020, the TSX-Venture Exchange ("TSX.V") confirmed that Eclipse had met all TSX.V requirements for listing on the TSX.V, subject to the conversion of the Subscription Receipts. Today, the Subscription Receipts were converted into common shares of the Company and the funds held in escrow in connection with the issuance of the Subscription Receipts in the amount of $5,425,081 have been released to the Company. The funds will be used by Eclipse to fund the advancement of its mineral properties and the operation of the Company.

Eclipse expects that the common shares of the Company will be listed and begin trading on the TSX.V under the symbol "EGLD" on February 18, 2020.

Additional information on Eclipse can be found in the Company's final prospectus dated February 6, 2020 as filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

About Eclipse Gold Mining

Eclipse Gold Mining is exploring the district-scale Hercules gold property within the Walker Lane. The Hercules property is located approximately 1 hours drive from Reno, Nevada. The Company brings together a team with collective funding of over $2 billion in both strong and weak markets and a track record of at least ten successful buyouts/exits. Our strategy is to begin with the end game in mind: deliver wealth-generating liquidity for shareholders through a major discovery.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Michael G. Allen, P.Geo

President, CEO and Director

CONTACT INFORMATION

Corporate Inquiries: Dylan Berg, dylan.berg@eclipsegoldmining.com

Direct: +1 (778) 945-3949

Company Website: www.eclipsegoldmining.com

Toll Free: +1 (844) 427-6453

Forward looking and other cautionary statements

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 release.

This press release includes "forward-looking information" that is subject to a few assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Statements regarding listing of the Company's common shares on the TSXV, the use of funds and the Company's strategy are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties normally incident to such events. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future events and that actual events or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements represent management's best judgment based on information currently available. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include regulatory actions, general business conditions, continued availability of capital and financing and fluctuations in metal and commodity prices. Such forward-looking information reflects the Company's views with respect to future events and is subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those set out in the Company's final prospectus dated February 6, 2020 and filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The Company does not undertake to update forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, except as required by law. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52261
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI)  Five Purdue University students are back on campus with some caucus experience under their belt.

On Thursday, Jan. 30, they traveled to Iowa to work the democratic caucuses through a C-SPAN internship. Their tasks included traveling to various rallies, working the cameras and setting up interviews.

Andie Slomka is one student who attended, shes a sophomore double majoring in political science and genetics. Up until this point most of her training has happened in the classroom.

She said there's something special about participating in-person versus reading about it or watching it on TV.

Theres only so much you can learn in a classroom, you can read a ton of books, you can listen to lectures, you can watch videos, C-SPAN is very good about that with their archives so you can feel like you're there, but you're not actually there until you travel and interact with these people, you see so much more than a camera or a book or a lecture can capture, said Slomka.

She said seeing the process first hand has given her a new perspective. One thing she found interesting was the varying demographics for each candidate rally.

When we went to the Bernie rallies, especially the bigger Bernie rallies it was a lot of young people but when you went to like a Mayor Pete rally, it was sort of mixed, said Slomka. It was just very different for each one they all kind of had their different groups.

Slomka said it was interesting seeing the support Iowa citizens bring to the caucuses.

Iowans are so proud of this process and it really carries through the generations just because theyve always been raised in this and its pretty cool to see, you dont see that same passion everywhere, said Slomka.

The C-SPAN internship brought students from the Brian Lamb School of Communication, Department of Political Science, the Honors College and the College of Science.
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CAMBRIDGE, UK / ACCESSWIRE / February 10, 2020 / Business leaders in Cambridge, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk are being urged to enter one of the region's most prestigious business awards. The IoD East of England Director of the Year Awards 2020.Entries are now open for the Institute of Directors (IoD) East of England Director of the Year Awards 2020.A celebration of success and leadership talent, the IoD awards offer the business community a chance to acknowledge the excellence and professionalism we have here in the Enterprising East.The annual event is a showcase for business excellence and the significant contributions made by business leaders to the region's social and economic prosperity.The IoD Awards are free to enter and are open to all directors or equivalent level, executive and non-executive, whether or not they are IoD members. Business leaders can submit their own entry online or nominate someone else they believe is making a significant difference. The deadline for entries is Friday 27 March.Those shortlisted for the final will be invited to attend an awards lunch on Friday 12 June 2020 at the Bedford Lodge Hotel in Newmarket alongside many of the region's leading business people.Chosen by their peersSimone Robinson, regional director IoD East of England said: "The IoD East Awards are a unique opportunity for directors to celebrate their achievements as business leaders with their peers."Whether you enter, or are nominated, the IoD Awards recognise every aspect of business, from leadership and innovation to corporate social responsibility."Entry is free of charge via a dedicated online platform, so we urge directors across the enterprising East of England to take part and fly the flag for this amazing and commercially diverse region." In 2019, Jon Camp managing director of engineering firm Tube Tech International in Rayleigh, was named International Director of the Year, and also won the Chairman's Award for East of England Director of the Year.Jon commented: "It's an honour to gain peer recognition as a director. The awards process enabled me both from a business perspective and on a personal level to measure the skills, strategy and delivery framework outlined by the IoD that shape successful directorship. As directors, we spend much of our time looking at the now or what happens next. The awards process gave me the opportunity to take a retrospective look at the incredible achievements made by the business. I was humbled to take two awards back to Essex and the Tube Tech International team." Laura Morrison, managing director at Your Telemarketing, in Bury St Edmunds, was named Director of the Year in the Corporate Social Responsibility category.The judges commented: "Laura has a passion and dedication to her CSR initiatives. She has taken a lead in positioning her organisation as a centre of excellence and provides opportunity for the disadvantaged to gain access to experience and learning." Laura went on to win highly commended for CSR at the IoD National Awards in October 2019.The IoD East of England Director of the Year Awards 2020 are sponsored by Rickard Luckin Chartered Accountants and Tax Advisers, Direct Solutions and Focus 7 International. An online entry form and nomination form can be found at this link: www.iodawards.com/east Pictured: Winners in the 2019 IoD East of England Director of the Year AwardsAbout UsMany more images are available from the IoD East of England Director of the Year Awards 2019. Photo: RMG PhotographyIf you require any further information, please contact:Kate Everett at the IoD East press office on 01473 326907kate@ twi.agency Contact:Simone Robinson0203 006 2729SOURCE: Institute of Directors East of England
If you had your baby at St. Peter's Health in the last three decades, there is a good chance nurse Orpha Montgomery helped deliver it. What many don't know is that her journey into nursing almost didn't happen.

Montgomery was forced to graduate early from high school to receive Social Security benefits left by her father's death when she was just 13. Without these benefits, she would have no way to pay for college and see her dreams of being a nurse crushed. There were a few of us in my class who were in this predicament, Montgomery said. I had to work my butt off and nearly double the amount of classes I was taking, because once I turned 18 I would lose them.

I knew I wanted to get into nursing right away and I never tried any other majors, she said.

Throughout college, Montgomery worked as a Certified Nurse Assistant at Shodair Children's Hospital. Upon graduation she accepted a job from Shodair but was faced with a hurdle when the hospital temporarily closed, which led to her having to apply to other nursing jobs around the state. It wasn't like it is today, there wasn't a nurse shortage back then and finding a job was very competitive and the process was dizzying, she said.

As a Helena native, she was worried about leaving the Helena community and could only see herself nursing in the capital city. As luck would have it, Montomery's application made its way to St. Peter's and she was offered a nursing position in the labor and delivery unit.

The offer felt right. I was born here at St. Peter's, so it had come full circle.

It wasn't long before she realized working in labor and delivery was a unique experience compared to other areas in a hospital. But she faced an early challenge being a younger nurse. Montgomery said she had to work hard to gain the trust of her patients.

Some patients were reluctant of me because at that time, I didn't have children myself, she said. Trust is everything. When patients come in and things are going well it's important that they trust themselves  and when things aren't going well it's important that they trust staff.

As time passed she began connecting with her patients. She now says that forming a bond and seeing a patient through labor is what she feels best doing. That's what makes this different, each nurse sees their patient the entire way through. I am in their lives for several days at a time they will never forget.

It wasn't long before Montgomery started racking up the numbers. Katie Gallagher, public relations specialist for St. Peter's, estimated that Montgomery has helped deliver several thousand children and Montgomery herself said she has lost count on the deliveries she has been a part of, or even the babies shes had to deliver herself when the births came suddenly. Its definitely over 50 births I have done without a doctor, she said.

Montgomerys impact in Montana can't be overstated. We joke that you can do six degrees of separation with every person in the state, Gallagher laughed. If you really think about it, it might be true."

I've delivered my neighbors baby, the babies of my friends, family and coworkers and "they helped me deliver mine," Orpha continued.

Orpha said that her love for the community is often returned. I get requests by mothers to be their nurse, which St. Peter's tries to accommodate when possible.

She goes on to describe a local celebrity-like status. When I go out, people will come up to me and remind me that I delivered their kids. She said it's now at a point where I have been a part of generations. Children I helped deliver are having children and I am there with them.

She spoke of the changes she has noticed since she started at St. Peter's in 1986. She mentioned the advancements in medicine and says that it's more common to see men with their wives in the delivery room than in the 1980s. Now we give families lots of time with their baby upon delivery. We didn't before, she said.

She said her role at the hospital allows her to get to know parts of the community she may not have been able to otherwise, and that her unit has also has a small-community feel. This extends to her time at home. I work three 12-hour days and get the rest of the week off, she said, something that allows her to enjoy everything she likes about living in Helena.

Orpha said she couldn't see herself working anywhere else; Montana is home to her and her family. Her daughter lives in Butte while her son lives in Missoula and plays in a touring band. Helena is the perfect fit for her, Montgomery said, and she can't imagine nursing anywhere else.

Orpha Montgomery's story is part of the ongoing Community in Focus series on everyday people in the Helena area.

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Awards season is always a bit of a whirlwind, but 2019-2020 was even crazier. Part of this can be attributed to the Oscars taking place a few weeks earlier than usual. As the culmination of awards season, folks working within the industry were left scrambling to stay on top of it all.

On top of that, the discourse this year seemed coarser than ever. The academy faced several controversies, including the lack of diversity and the absence of female Best Director nominees. Yet, one film presented the potential Cinderella story many within the industry were rooting for.

An Oscars statue on the red carpet | MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images

Which films were expected to win the big awards at the 2020 Oscars?

When awards season started in the fall of 2019, the smart money was on either Quentin Tarantinos Once Upon a Time in Hollywood or Martin Scorseses The Irishman. Both films felt like traditional Oscar fare. Both featured standout performances and epic tales. And both represented a kind of culmination of their directors careers.

Yet, as the months past by, the narrative changed significantly. Tarantino and Scorseses movies lost much of their steam. And Sam Mendes World War I drama 1917 and Bong Joon Hos South Korean thriller Parasite emerged as favorites. In particular, the formers Golden Globe win for Best Motion Picture Drama turned the tide.

Going into the Oscar telecast, 1917 felt like the clear frontrunner. Nominated for 10 Oscars, Mendes movie had just the right balance of spectacle and substance to deliver a potential sweep. While 1917 did take home three Oscars, those wins were all on the technical side. Instead, another movie rose up to dominate Hollywoods big night.

Parasite pulled off a surprising sweep and made some history

In the end, Parasite became the first foreign-language film to ever win the Best Picture Oscar. Several international releases have been nominated for the top honor over the years  including Roma, Amour, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon  but none made it this far before. Yet, the academy didnt just give Parasite the Best Picture trophy.

Going into the evening, the only award Bongs movie was a lock for was Best International Feature. As the first South Korean movie nominated for the award  formerly Best Foreign Language Film  Parasite was always going to be a pioneer of sorts. Once Bong won Best Original Screenplay, it became clear that a Parasite mini-sweep was a distinct possibility.

And by the time the curtain closed on Oscar night, Parasite had won four of its six categories, more than any other film. Bong defeated frontrunner Mendes for Best Director, setting the stage for the Best Picture victory. The only awards Parasite lost were for production design and film editing to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Ford v Ferrari, respectively.

What does this mean for next years Oscars?

Industry insiders are already assessing whether Parasites historic Oscar wins could be a sign of things to come. But coming just a year after the divisive Green Book won Best Picture, its far too early to tell if Bongs Oscar triumph has anything legitimate to say about what the future may hold.

For all its talk of change, the academy still nominated only one person of color among its 20 acting nominees. Even though Little Women got several nominations, director Greta Gerwig was not among them. And female and minority-led (and directed) films such as The Farewell, Hustlers, and Us were overlooked entirely.

For now, Parasite appears to be the exception rather than the rule. In its presenters and musical performers, the 2020 Oscars made a spirited effort to make up for the lack of representation. Lets hope the academy puts the same commitment to continuing the progress Parasites exciting wins tease may lie ahead.
Speaking of iconic vintage candies, Cupid made Frango mints for Chicago area Macys stores, but just briefly. We did them for about two years but we couldnt be competitive with their price so they ended up doing everything out of Philadelphia, said Stefanos. Cupids French mints are similar to Frangos, but better, he likes to say. Hes not wrong. Their distinctive cool herbal chocolate-enrobed bonbons are absolutely better. After tasting every Frango flavor available at the Macys State Street store, I discovered the Cupid French mints took me back to the chocolate I remembered made at Marshall Fields.
Protesters against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) who were evicted from Kanpurs Mohammad Ali Park in Chamanganj area early Monday, returned later in the day, police official said.

After a six-hour long drama, which also saw mild cane charge and alleged stone pelting by a mob, the protestors who had pitched camp at the site, returned to Chamanganj. The protest which has now entered the 34th day is similar to the Shaheen Bagh agitation in Delhi.

Witnesses said drama began around 3 am when the police forcibly started removing the protestors from the park along with their belongings. But even after the evacuation, women protestors instead of going home started demonstrating at the nearby Inspector Road.

Soon, more protestors, including men and women, joined them, taking their number to nearly 500.

This forced the administration to call up the additional police force but the protestors did not budge even after a mild lathi-charge, said an eyewitness.

Apprehending an escalation in tension, the police allowed the demonstrators to resume their dharna at the Mohammad Ali Park.

The situation arose because of factionalism among the protestors. While one faction agreed to withdraw protest and leave, the other faction kept on occupying the park, said senior superintendent of police (SSP), Kanpur, Anant Dev.

Kanpurs District Magistrate DM Brahma Deo Ram Tiwari denied reports of any lathicharge on the protesters. He said police had been deployed in the area to deal with any untoward situation.

On Saturday, the protestors had agreed to withdraw the dharna after the administration promised to withdraw the cases lodged as part of preventive action against the protesters, said Ravi Srivastava, police inspector at Chamanganj.

All schools and most shops in the locality remained closed because of the tension. Monday is the 34th day of protest by the women at the park.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has several times accused anti-CAA protesters of directly or indirectly speaking the language of Pakistan and has warned that any attempt to vitiate the atmosphere in the country would not be tolerated.

The state had witnessed large scale violence across 15 districts last December shortly after the Parliament passed the controversial citizenship law. About two dozen people were killed in the violence, most of them in police firing. Hundreds of others were arrested and many fined for damaging public property.
Panaji, Feb 10 : The civic corporation of Mapusa in North Goa, on Monday passed a resolution congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for passing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

"This Council resolves to congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for the historic Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019, which offers to grant Indian citizenship to the persecuted minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, seeking refuge in India on the ground of religious persecution and who are already staying in India prior to December 31, 2014," the resolution passed by the Mapusa Municipal Council on Monday read.

The resolution was moved by former mayor of the Council Sandeep Falari, a BJP party worker, at a meeting of councillors on Monday.

Mapusa is one of the most popular urban areas in the coastal state and is a significant commercial centre in North Goa district.

The resolution comes two days after the Archbishop of Goa's influential Roman Catholic church Filipe Neri Ferrao urged the central government to revoke the Citizenship Amendment Act, calling it "divisive" and "discriminatory".
Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) proposed a plan Monday to strip the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of its independence and relocate it to the Department of Justice in an effort to limit corruption and effectively police antitrust in the technology sector.

The FTC isnt working, Hawley said in a statement. It wastes time in turf wars with the DOJ, nobody is accountable for decisions, and it lacks the teeth to get after Big Techs rampant abuses. Congress needs to do something about it.

Hawleys proposal includes replacing the five-member commission which currently oversees the FTC with a Senate-confirmed director, who would serve renewable five-year terms underneath the DOJs associate attorney general.

It also calls for clearly separating roles between the commission and the DOJs Antitrust Division, with the DOJ assuming all authority to review mergers and acquisitions. The FTC would establish a new digital markets research section to assist potential DOJ litigation. The commission would also be tasked with enforcing interoperability, data portability, and data minimization for tech firms, as well as penalties for first-time offenders.

Hawley also attempts to tackle ethical violations in his proposal by limiting the revolving-door relationships between former senior FCC officials and tech companies. The proposal includes a two-year ban on lobbying for any former official with companies grossing over $30 billion in annual revenue.

The plan closely mirrors that of Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) who released as part of her presidential platform in October a plan to slam shut the revolving door between government and giant, dominant firms.

Warrens plan includes a four-year ban on lobbying for giant corporations, banks, and market-dominant companies by former government officials.

More from National Review
- Ethiopia is currently undergoing a national transformation in the areas of politics and economics

- Toyota has also invested $7.6 million in a Kenyan logistics startup in a bid to step up its investment in African businesses

- Burkina Faso is also promoting a national dance festival in a bid to project the country in a good light in the wake of political uncertainty

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

There is deep uncertainty in Ethiopia at the moment owing to the countrys political and economic transformation.

The countrys long-running political culture appears to have remained the same even in the wake of sweeping changes instituted by the prime minister, Ahmed Abiy, Mulugeta G. Berhe, reports.

However, Dan Kopf asserts that there is growing evidence of the countrys rapid economic progress is experiencing a slowdown.

Source: techcrunch.com

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Apple fined almost GHc150 million for deliberately slowing down older versions of iPhones

Global carmaker, Toyota, is also in the news after betting on a huge opportunity in African mobility startups.

A report by qz.com shows that the company has backed its interest in the industry with a $7.6 million investment in Sendy, a Kenyan logistics startup.

This formed part of a $20 million Series B round led by Atlantic Ventures and comes within six months of a $50 million fund raised by Lori Systems and Kobo 360.

It has also been gathered that a dance festival that has gained national recognition in Burkina Faso has overshadowed the effects of ongoing combat against terrorism in the country.

The dance troupes and performers come from Europe and the United States of America (USA), and provides an important reminder of the importance of culture.

Source: mediablackberry.com

Source: UGC

In other news, South Sudan will host its first-ever oil and gas bidding round in March 2020, YEN.com.gh has learned.

This comes after Sudan dissolves the central bank board as well as 11 other state-owned banks, in a bid to dismantle toppled president, Omar al-Bashirs regime.

Sudan, the most oil-dependent nation in the world, has oil accounting for almost all of its exports and about 60% of its gross domestic product (GDP), according to the World Bank.

South Sudans petroleum minister, Daniel Awow Chuang, said the move is a plan to accelerate the economy and an environmental audit into the bidding process has already started.

Per a report by Business Insider, he added that companies that express interest in the process need to prove themselves as there would be a thorough evaluation process.

Chuang went on to say that in August 2019, the country discovered the Adar oil field in Block 3, containing more than 37 million barrels of recoverable oil.

Presently, the ministry is collecting data to make things easier for investors in the oil sector.

READ ALSO: Mercedes Benz reveals details about its brand new camper van; photo drops

Enjoyed reading our story? Download YEN's news app on Google Playstore now and stay up-to-date with major Ghana news!

President Akufo-Addo is a "wicked old man" - Angry protester fumes | #Yencomgh

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Luis Martinez really wants you to start a business. And he really wants you to keep that business in San Antonio.

Martinez heads the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Trinity University, where he works with students to help them start businesses and navigate the world of entrepreneurship.

Hes an El Paso native with a zeal for business who graduated from Trinity and earned a doctorate in organic chemistry from Harvard. Martinez began his career working in scientific research, but in the late 90s, amid the dot-com boom, began consulting with bioscience companies, leveraging a unique blend of business management savvy and scientific expertise.

Martinez, 50, in the early 2000s went home to teach at the University of Texas at El Paso, where he says he saw an opportunity to strengthen diversity and bring other Latinos into STEM fields.

After leaving El Paso and spending a stint in Florida, Martinez came to work at Trinity in 2013.

Dozens of companies have been launched through Trinitys entrepreneurship program, which consists of a degree minor, mentorship services, a pitch competition to win funding and outside accelerator programs.

The school itself now features computers for student to model products, 3D printers, a machine shop and prototyping spaces.

Empowering entrepreneurs, Martinez says, is one of the primary ways to advance San Antonios economy and generate prosperity.

Martinez recently spoke with the San Antonio Express-News at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The following transcript has been edited for clarity and length.

Q: What led you into science and then into entrepreneurship and business consulting?

A: I knew growing up that science was something that I really loved. Im of the generation of Cosmos and Carl Sagan. I was always super excited about science.

One really amazing thing about Trinity  we have the opportunity for students to do research or entrepreneurship as early as their freshman year. So Trinity was one of the first universities that was embracing undergraduate research. I went, I started getting involved in undergrad research and the chemistry was really interesting.

When I was a graduate student, I was fortunate to be involved and make a discovery that enabled you to selectively make this one-handed molecule. I run these experiments  Im like, This is a big deal. Lets patent it. So I went through the process with my adviser to patent the technology, and that got me very excited about technology transfer and the ability to do work and have technology that can be applied in the marketplace.

Q: What brought you back to San Antonio after coming here for undergrad?

A: I was fortunate that my wife was offered a distinguished professor position at Trinity.

My predecessor, Cristal Glangchai, had just stepped down to go and start VentureLab. So leadership at the time said, Gee, Luis, you seem to be this odd duck, someone with deep faculty experience. Youve worked with early-stage companies, youve launched a company. Would you be interested in taking over our entrepreneurship program? I said I would love to.

Q: We often hear buzzwords like seed funding, angel investors, venture capital. But why is developing entrepreneurship important for a city?

A: The largest source of new job creation comes from small businesses and startups, so its important for economic development and jobs. Investment in startups, in early-stage companies, small businesses  thats where the jobs are. The second reason its important  and Rackspace is an incredible example  its from the seeds of those small startups and small businesses that become these transformative companies that can really change a city.

The third reason why its important is because of disruption. The jobs that will exist tomorrow are being invented today. The jobs that will be the great jobs, the economic drivers in 2030, some of them havent been invented yet. So to be able to make those investments, to take those risks as a community and to be able to work in these kinds of spaces is going to make us a more robust, diverse, resilient economy.

Q: Whats the process like for students who go through your program? How do you get a college kid to develop something other people will pay money for?

A: Were unique as a entrepreneurship center in the fact that were not in a school of business or in a school of engineering. We believe every student at Trinity should be entrepreneurial, regardless of an area of study.

We are of the belief that the best way to teach is for students to do it for real. In all of our classes, students are actively working on their own venture, or theyre working on someone elses venture. In every single one of our classes, all of our students are actively engaging in the real work of building their business. Were one of the few entrepreneurship programs that requires a sales course. The most important validation that you have a real product or service that people are willing to pay for is if people pay for your product or service.

For those students who want to launch a company for real, we provide a structured venture competition. Every spring, students get an opportunity to propose an idea, an early-stage business that gets evaluated by a panel. For those teams that get selected to pitch, you pitch in front of real entrepreneurs. Theyll select five teams theyll give seed funding to: $5,000. Plus, they get to work on their business full time in our summer accelerator, where we pay them a stipend and theyre in our formal program where they become a real business or nonprofit. Then you compete for our $25,000 prize in the fall.

We need to have our students doing it for real, and doing it for real in part of whats building and happening in San Antonio. All of the magic thats happened on Houston Street, the great accomplishments and work happening at Geekdom, the additional growth of other spaces ... none of that was happening in 2012. So I want our students to be part of that building.

Q: And what is Students + Startups exactly?

A: Students + Startups is an intern program for local small businesses and startups. We preselect a pool of outstanding collegiate talent, and you submit your intern needs. For student interns, its a $4,000 summer stipend, and if you require housing, free housing downtown. So you as a company, youre a small company, a single founder, and youre looking for someone to come in and help you  its a way to get that summer intern to help move that company forward. We worked with the 80/20 Foundation because only 15 percent of our student body comes from San Antonio. So 85 percent of (Trinity) students arent from San Antonio  they dont know what the San Antonio startup scene is. So, its a way for students we recruit from around the world to come to San Antonio and see whats happening in this great startup culture.

Q: How many students does the program serve?

A: Its incredibly competitive. Last year, we had 48 companies who were providing opportunities to 90 students. The target this year is for 125 intern positions with 60-something startup companies.

Q: If you have a good business idea, youre often either competing against a monolith Google, Amazon, Apple  or theyll just buy you up. Are innovation and entrepreneurship diminishing under the weight of megacorporations?

A: We live in a time of incredible disruption. Everyone has access to a global market in their pocket. Everybody has a super computer in their pocket. The wave of disruption and transformation of technology and the internet and mobile, that cycle of disruption is now faster and larger. So even more importantly now is the need to develop an education in being entrepreneurial and innovative. Were doing it on the college side. To be able to develop these kinds of mindsets early, creating safe spaces for (students) to fail and try it out, so when they leave us into this disruptive marketplace, theyre prepared to create value and create jobs that dont exist yet.

Innovation and entrepreneurial thinking is not only important when we think about startups and small businesses. Its incredibly important in the nonprofit sector, in organizations that are values-driven, when we think about policy, when we think about public administration and about the transformation thats happening in this city.

We look at entrepreneurship as problem-solving and creating value, and so its that level of education thats eminently important across disciplines.

Q: You say that San Antonio is unique in its ability to foster entrepreneurship. What makes you say that?

A: The reason why weve chosen to make San Antonio home and the reason why I love doing this work in San Antonio is that Ive never met a community thats more collaborative and cooperative. And thats just who we are as a city  were the Spurs, baby. We came together for Hemisfair; its part of our DNA. And so what I love is how this community is coming together and building this startup ecosystem. I work closely with people at other universities, in the startup scene, the nonprofit space. Were all really working together and learning together to help make San Antonio the city we love and deserve.

diego.mendoza-moyers@express-news.net
Scores of students of the all-women Gargi College on Monday held a protest against the alleged molestation of students by a group of men who had gatecrashed a cultural festival.

The Delhi Police said it has launched a probe into the incident and is scanning CCTV footage.

Police, however, have not received a complaint in this regard, a senior officer said.

Over 100 students held a protest outside the gate of Gargi College on Monday.

Students and teachers posted on social media about the incident. As per their posts, during the college festival, Reverie, around 6:30 pm on Sunday , groups of unruly, drunk men mobbed the entrances of the college and forced their way in.

The students alleged that Rapid Action Force and Delhi Police personnel were deployed close to the gate from where the men allegedly entered.

There was a complete lapse of security. The students were groped, molested and even assaulted by the men who all appeared to be in their mid-30s. The college had claimed to set up security but I dont think there must have been such an incident in any college campus across the country, a student said on condition of anonymity.

Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal reached the spot to take stock of the situation.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Atul Kumar Thakur said appropriate action will be taken in the matter.

We have not received a complaint in this regard yet. But we have began a sou-moto enquiry into the incident, the DCP said.

Police are scanning footage of CCTV cameras to collect evidence and speaking to students to ascertain facts, he added.
Realme announced its entry-level C3 smartphone last week in India and now the company is teasing the handset in Indonesia with February 19 being the launch date. It appears that the Indonesian market will get a different version with one extra camera.

The official Realme website in the country outlines some of the key specs of the phone and "triple camera" is one of them.

The currently released version features a 12MP main camera and a 2MP secondary one so we would assume that those two are to stay but we don't know anything about the third one just yet.

The rest of the specs remain the same but it's curious to see what the Indonesian market will get as a third camera.

Source
India's efforts to evacuate its citizens from the coronavirus-hit Hubei province and its capital Wuhan was a logistical nightmare since the entire operation had to be done in a region sealed from all sides, Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri said on Monday.

As the news of the outbreak began emerging in the middle of January, the Indian Embassy stepped up efforts to locate hundreds of Indians, mainly students, residing hundreds of kilometres apart in Hubei province and Wuhan - the epicentre of the virus outbreak, Misri said.

It was a logistical nightmare as data had to be collected about Indians stranded in the virus-hit areas while many left for home for the Chinese New Year holidays, he told PTI here.

India issued its first travel advisory on January 17 which was followed by more stringent measures including cancellation of visas for Chinese and foreigners travelled to China as the virus grew more virulent.

Misri said the embassy had to first locate the Indian citizens in Hubei province, establish contacts with them, receive their consent for a 14-day quarantine, followed by the most difficult part of the operation - to get approvals from China's central, provincial and local governments as the city and province were locked down from January 23.

Ahead of the first Air India flight on February 1, the mission sent two of its diplomats - Deepak Padma Kumar and M Balakrishnan - to Wuhan by road through Changsha city despite travel bans and fears of the virus.

Then a large number of buses were hired, permits procured in areas under lock down to transport them to the airport which turned out to be a massive exercise. The airport was closed from January 23 besides all local transportation.

The operations to get permission to operate buses and send them to 40 odd locations to pick up waiting Indians were coordinated by Acquino Vimal, the deputy ambassador, and Priyanka Sohoni, First Secretary (Political) in the mission.

In some areas, roads were dug up to prevent people's movement and entire operation to pick up the students on both the days had to be conducted from the control room in the embassy hundreds of miles away, Misri said.

But 10 Indians could not make it to the flight as they were not allowed by the Chinese immigration officials to board the plane because they had high body temperatures.

Air India's B747 made two flights to Wuhan city - the ground zero of the epidemic that has killed more than 900 people, infected 40,000 and spread to 25 countries, including India, the US and the UK.

In the first flight, 324 Indians were evacuated and another 323 Indians and seven Maldivian citizens were flown back in the second flight.

Sri Lanka and Bangladesh also evacuated their citizens through special flights. Several hundred Pakistani students are held up still in the virus-hit areas as their government has declined to evacuate them ignoring their pleas.

Misri said that about 80 Indians were still in Hubei and the embassy is in touch with them through e-mail, social media and phone calls.

The embassy has received 28,000 emails and receives about 100 calls a day from Indians who were stranded in Wuhan and Hubei province and has been coordinating with the Chinese officials to ensure proper supplies to them.

About chances of their evacuation, Misri said the embassy is exploring all avenues.
A passenger plane was struck by a sudden bolt of lightning just minutes into its journey.

The Aer Lingus flight from Birmingham to Dublin left the runway just after 9.30pm on Sunday.

But CCTV footage recorded the moment it was struck by lightning as Storm Ciara continued to wreak havoc across the country.

In the video, the plane can be seen steadily making its way across the night sky above a residential area.

Drops of rain rush past the camera lens before a flash of light bursts on to the screen.

The lightning bolt appears to zig-zag up toward the passenger plane before fading away just seconds later.

The plane appears to be completely unaffected and continues its ascent, which is where the video ends.

It landed safely at its destination just before 10.40pm.

The Aer Lingus flight from Birmingham to Dublin left the runway just after 9.30pm on Sunday. Pictured: The sudden bolt of lightning lit up the night sky with a flash

The lightning bolt appears to zig-zag up toward the passenger plane before fading away just seconds later, which is where the video ends

The footage was captured by home security cameras owned by 31-year-old Daniel Pereira.

He had been in the house with partner Roxanne Dempster when he saw a huge flash from outside, which was accompanied by a loud bang.

Mr Pereira said: 'We were watching TV when we saw a huge light on the other side of our closed blinds and then a heard a huge noise which made our dogs jump.

'Roxanne said that couldn't have just been normal lightning and checked the CCTV to see what happened.

'Our dogs don't normally care about thunderstorm noise so it was strange that were so scared.

'We couldn't believe what is had been, we see planes going over our house all the time, never seen anything like that before.'

The passenger plane continued its journey unscathed and it landed safely at its destination just before 10.40pm (stock image)

Mr Pereira uploaded the footage to Facebook a short time later and it has since been viewed more than 10,000 times.

Social media users were quick to comment on the shocking video.

Shane Patrick Cuzick wrote: 'Heard this at the Heathway, a strange sounding crack of lightning and then what sounded like a jet engine revving in reverse.'

Another, Karen Carolan, added: 'Right by our house. It was so loud we thought our roof had come down - this is a few doors away from us!'

A third, Debbie McGuigan, said: 'It lit up my living room and was really loud.'

A spokeswoman from Aer Lingus said: 'Aer Lingus can confirm that on its departure from Birmingham Airport at 21:33, flight EI 277 to Dublin encountered lightning.

'The aircraft, which is designed to withstand regular weather occurrences, was not damaged and operated as normal to Dublin where it landed at 22:38.'

A spokeswoman from Birmingham Airport said: 'Aircraft are built to withstand lightning and do frequently encounter lightning during flying.

'Aircraft are designed to withstand lightning strikes by using static wicks which allow the electricity to pass back into the air from the fuselage.'

Storm Ciara caused havoc with flights across Europe with many struggling to land in the 93mph winds.

Further footage showed several planes dangerously rocking from side-to-side at airports including Manchester, Birmingham and Frankfurt.

Gatwick was the UK's worst affected by the weather with around 300 arrivals and departures cancelled.
On Wednesday, Feb. 12, Lara Jean Covey (Lana Condor) returns with the highly anticipated To All the Boys Ive Loved Before sequel, P.S. I Still Love You. As you may know, the Netflix film is based off the three-book series by Jenny Han. And although the novels take place in Virginia, the movies are set in Portland, Oregon, with production in Vancouver, British Columbia. Now, the second movie picks up where TATBILB ended. So where and when was To All the Boys 2 filmed? It seems the cast and crew didnt change up the filming location until the third movie.

To All the Boys 2: P.S. I Still Love You was filmed in 2019

Lana Condor and Noah Centineo | Jean Baptiste Lacroix/WireImage

According to the Directors Guild of Canada, To All the Boys 2 was in production from March to May in 2019. On Mar. 27, Han posted a photo of trailers on Instagram, captioning the pic, Day 1. Then on May 10, Noah Centineo  who plays Peter Kavinsky in the films  revealed the team wrapped TATB2 on my 23rd birthday via Twitter. The actors birthday takes place on May 9.

Meanwhile, in an interview with Narcity, Anna Cathcart  who plays Kitty Covey  confirmed the first two movies of the TATB series were filmed in Vancouver, Fort Langley, and other areas in British Columbia. More specifically, the sequel has been spotted shooting scenes at Point Grey Secondary School. The P.S. I Love You trailer also features a shot within the Vancouver Aquarium, where Lara Jean and Peter appear to be on a date.

To All the Boys 3 will feature two new locations

In case you didnt know, the third movie in the To All the Boys series is confirmed. As reported by Narcity, the film  To All the Boys: Always and Forever, Lara Jean  started filming in July 2019. The publication also revealed production took place in Vancouver.

It also seems Lara Jean will travel outside of Portland in To All the Boys 3. According to Cathcart in the above interview, the third installment was filmed in two new locations.

We filmed in a bunch of places so we did film in Vancouver [and] it was filmed in New York and Seoul in Korea, Cathcart said, per Narcity. We were there for two weeks.

She continued: Ive been to Asia before but Ive never been to Korea so that was a really cool experience. Just like shooting somewhere thats foreign and different from where Im used to was such a cool experience.

To All the Boys 3 wrapped production

Now, it appears the Netflix trilogy has wrapped production. On Sept. 26, Condor confirmed To All the Boys 3 finished filming on Sept. 10.

Its been 16 days since the To All The Boys Ive Loved Before franchise wrapped shooting movies 2 & 3, Condor wrote on Instagram. The actress then expressed her gratitude for her role in the series. She said:

Ive been really struggling how to put into words my feelings towards this ending words will never be able to describe my love for Lara Jean. Her family, her friends, Peter. Words will never be able to describe the long nights on set, where it would suddenly hit me, like a ton of bricks, that I was getting the honor of portraying a girl so fiercely determined in love, who represents strength in softness. Words will never be able to describe my gratitude to YOU, for loving her as much as I do. For tying your hair up in a scrunchie and saying lets do this. Thank you from the very bottom of my heart, youve made me feel like the luckiest girl alive. Always & Forever, your Lara Jean.

Read more: Lana Condor Said She Finally Got Her Cinderella Moment in To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You
Q&A unveiled its brand new set last night from ABCs Melbourne studio.

Gone is the big desk with the host in the central chair. New host Hamish Macdonald now sits at the end of a more open forum.

Macdonald is also freed up to rove into the audience for longer engagement with audience members, as well as on a floating platform.

Together with its new executive producer, the shows town hall forum may have just got a shot in the arm for 2020.
Is Ajisen (China) Holdings Limited (HKG:538) a good dividend stock? How can we tell? Dividend paying companies with growing earnings can be highly rewarding in the long term. Yet sometimes, investors buy a popular dividend stock because of its yield, and then lose money if the company's dividend doesn't live up to expectations.

In this case, Ajisen (China) Holdings likely looks attractive to investors, given its 5.9% 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 research can reduce the risk of buying Ajisen (China) Holdings for its dividend - read on to learn more.

Click the interactive chart for our full dividend analysis

SEHK:538 Historical Dividend Yield, February 10th 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. Ajisen (China) Holdings paid out 25% of its profit as dividends, over the trailing twelve month period. This is a middling range that strikes a nice balance between paying dividends to shareholders, and retaining enough earnings to invest in future growth. 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. Ajisen (China) Holdings's cash payout ratio in the last year was 30%, which suggests dividends were well covered by cash generated by the business. It's positive to see that Ajisen (China) Holdings's dividend is covered by both profits and cash flow, since this is generally a sign that the dividend is sustainable, and a lower payout ratio usually suggests a greater margin of safety before the dividend gets cut.

While the above analysis focuses on dividends relative to a company's earnings, we do note Ajisen (China) Holdings's strong net cash position, which will let it pay larger dividends for a time, should it choose.

Story continues

We update our data on Ajisen (China) Holdings every 24 hours, so you can always get our latest analysis of its financial health, here.

Dividend Volatility

Before buying a stock for its income, we want to see if the dividends have been stable in the past, and if the company has a track record of maintaining its dividend. For the purpose of this article, we only scrutinise the last decade of Ajisen (China) Holdings's dividend payments. The dividend has been cut on at least one occasion historically. During the past ten-year period, the first annual payment was CN0.046 in 2010, compared to CN0.12 last year. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 10% a year over that time. The dividends haven't grown at precisely 10% every year, but this is a useful way to average out the historical rate of growth.

Ajisen (China) Holdings has grown distributions at a rapid rate despite cutting the dividend at least once in the past. Companies that cut once often cut again, but it might be worth considering if the business has turned a corner.

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 Ajisen (China) Holdings has grown its earnings per share at 19% per annum over the past five years. Earnings per share have been growing at a good rate, and the company is paying less than half its earnings as dividends. We generally think this is an attractive combination, as it permits further reinvestment in the business.

Conclusion

Dividend investors should always want to know if a) a company's dividends are affordable, b) if there is a track record of consistent payments, and c) if the dividend is capable of growing. First, we like that the company's dividend payments appear well covered, although the retained capital also needs to be effectively reinvested. Next, earnings growth has been good, but unfortunately the dividend has been cut at least once in the past. Overall we think Ajisen (China) Holdings scores well on our analysis. It's not quite perfect, but we'd definitely be keen to take a closer look.

Are management backing themselves to deliver performance? Check their shareholdings in Ajisen (China) Holdings in our latest insider ownership analysis.

We have also put together a list of global stocks with a market capitalisation above $1bn and yielding more 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.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 04:12:07|Editor: yan

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BEIRUT, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon protested on Monday at Al Rashidiya camp in Tyre, voicing their rejection for the U.S. "Deal of the Century," Elnashra, an online independent newspaper, reported.

The protest comes in support of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' meeting with the United Nations slated for Tuesday to express opposition to the U.S. plan and to demand adherence to international law.

"Trump's Deal of the Century" is totally rejected because it does not meet Palestinians' demands and aspirations while it increases violations by Israelis of the Palestinian territories," head of Fatah Movement in Beirut Serhan Youssef told Xinhua.

Youssef added that Palestinians all over the world will fight against this deal and the only solution is the creation of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital while guaranteeing the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland.

Youssef said he has great hopes that the international community will support Palestinians in their rights.
The activist and former Missouri lawmaker describes fighting for his community on the streets and the legislature floor.

Bruce Franks Jr, an activist, battle rapper and father, began advocating for his St Louis community when Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot by police in 2014. He mentored youth, helped people secure jobs and served as a liaison between the community and police before being elected to Missouris House of Representatives in 2016.

On the House floor, he successfully passed a state law that deemed youth violence a public health emergency and declared June 7th Christopher Harris day, in honour of Franks brother who was fatally shot when he was just nine years old. His story is told in the Oscar-nominated documentary St Louis Superman.

Al Jazeera: Can you tell us a little about yourself?

Bruce Franks Jr: I am a young black kid from one of the roughest neighbourhoods in St Louis, which is not only at the top of the list when it comes to gun violence and murders, but is also one of the most dangerous cities in the world.

In 1991, my brother, Christopher Harris, was killed. And that was my first experience with gun violence and my first experience with funerals. Little did I know that there would be many more.

My life has involved a lot of funerals and a lot of systemic oppression. It numbed me just like it does so many other people from communities like mine. But it woke me up on August 9, 2014, when Michael Brown was shot by the police [in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St Louis].

Al Jazeera: Where were you when Michael Brown was killed?

Franks: I was at home about 15 minutes away getting ready for my sons first birthday. We were blowing up balloons and decorating the house because we were going to have a party for him.

He was just learning how to walk, he was stumbling around the house, and I saw a post from my friend of a man, who we now know to be Michael Browns stepfather, holding a sign that said, Ferguson police just killed my son.

And I said, You know what, damn, thats messed up and I kind of left it at that. But then I saw the pictures online, I saw the videos of his body in the middle of the street, and that took a different toll on me.

Bruce Franks Jr and his son protesting [Screengrab/Al Jazeera]

Al Jazeera: Can you talk about the protests that followed his death?

Franks: Before Michael Brown was killed, I had never protested. But I remember seeing his body in the street, I remember all the social media around it, and I remember thinking to myself: in 16 years, 17 years this could be my son. What would I want to do, what would I want people to do, if this happened?

I know thats what sparked me to go out there, but I didnt know what I was getting into. I saw the streets filled with folks who looked like me and folks who didnt look like me, but the one common denominator was the hurt and the pain of seeing this young mans body in the street and it being done to him by the people we say are supposed to protect us.

And so that kind of sparked a different anger inside of me that was pure anger until I learned how to organise and take  I dont want to say more effective routes  but take different routes, because I think everything can be effective in protests and in rebellion, whether we deem it peaceful or nonpeaceful, whether we deem it realistically violent or non-violent. Because if a building gets burned down they call it violence, even though its not done to a person. But they shy away from whats done to young black men and people of colour by police violence. And so I think they are all effective. But I did learn different ways of being effective.

And a lot of people dont know we were in the streets of Ferguson for 400 days; tear gas, pepper spray, militarised police, anxiety, depression, there were a bunch of different things we had to deal with out there.

Al Jazeera: Did you know Michael Brown personally?

Franks: I didnt know Michael Brown at all. But I saw a young black man on the ground that looked familiar to so many black faces and so many black young men that I know around my city and I know around this country. So I didnt know him personally but I knew him.

Al Jazeera: Once the protests started, how did the community change?

Franks: There were many different stories that werent told. You had the people that lived directly in Ferguson, some who were out there with us, some who were fighting with us, and some who were just trying to survive and these protests made life harder for them.

They had to get their kids to school, they had to walk to the grocery store, they might not have public transportation. Especially when everything within a one or two-mile radius shut down, they had to make extra efforts to go elsewhere, and they might not have had those resources.

You had this sense of unity with folks as well, who all came together to fight for a particular reason, who came to fight because of this tragedy.

And so the temperature was different, depending on who you were and how you saw things.

Al Jazeera: What was it like when the protests ended?

Franks: It was a continuous fight because in St Louis we still had people getting killed by the police. We had an average of, for the next two years, somebody getting killed by the police every month.

There was never a time to decompress or step back. And I think the effects of that protest we didnt necessarily understand until now; how us being in the streets every day affected us mentally.

I think back to some of those who stood next to me or who fought with me or who got pepper-sprayed and tear-gassed that arent here to tell that story because of the mental strain that they were dealing with. Its heavy when you are coming out of those protests.

Im thinking about people like Erica Garner  Eric Garners daughter  who passed away at a young age, and the stress and the heaviness of what we were out there doing and what we were encountering every day and trying to take it home and still live life and still have the energy and power to keep going. It was hard.

Bruce Franks Jr, known as Superman to his constituents, was elected as a state representative in 2016 [Michael B Thomas/Al Jazeera]

Al Jazeera: Where were you when you decided to run for state representative?

Franks: I was in St Louis and the community had a meeting about this new political revolution that needed to happen. And I got invited to the meeting. I didnt know that people were going to ask me to run for state representative.

I was like Ok, I really dont know what a state representative is but yall being my people Im down. Im cool with that.

What enticed me was that it was all people from our community that were coming together and saying Hey, we are tired of what politics looks like, how about we get some real people in these positions in order to fight?

I was like, You know what yall right. I may not know what Im doing, I may not figure it all out right now, but lets do it. And so I decided to say yes and that was it.

I was already doing community work and I knew my community. I would be running against an incumbent who had name recognition  but I had name recognition just from the work that I was doing and how entrenched in the community I was.

Al Jazeera: And what was it like on your first day as representative?

Franks: I loved seeing all these shocked faces at this young black dude with tattoos on his face walking around with a Im rooting for everybody black hoodie on. But it was great.

It was hard. I had to spend a lot of time talking to people to get them to understand where I come from and why I fight so hard.

But I think the one thing that anybody could say in the House of Representatives was whether we agree or disagree with Bruce Franks we respect his passion and his fight and his will for his people. And thats one thing that I earned by communicating with everybody and making sure Im upfront with everybody and that they understand that Im not wavering and Im not selling out my community and Im not selling my soul.

Bruce Franks Jrs story is told in the Oscar-nominated documentary St Louis Superman [Michael B Thomas/Al Jazeera]

Al Jazeera: Can you describe what a day was like as state representative?

Franks: On my days in the House, I got to my office about 6 or 6:30am, looked at the bills that would be coming up in different committees, ones that would be coming up on the floor that I would either oppose or support, get my facts and my rebuttals and my A-game together, and also handle constituent services with my assistant, checking those letters that were written to us from our incarcerated community, and responding to them, seeing if there were ways I could help them, seeing if there was hope that I could give them.

Usually, I was working 12, 14, 16 hour days. Sometimes Id spend the night. And when I was back in the community, I was away from home, away from my kids, out all times of the night because there were people dying, there were people that needed stuff and I was more hands-on than probably a lot of state reps  not all of them because we have some  but I was more in tune with my community, and I refused to sit back when I saw something happening. And so thats what kind of weighed on me and burned me out, though.

Where I am from we grew up with this notion that our vote didnt count, that the system was set up, it was rigged anyway, and when you look around our community, how could we not feel that way? How could we not feel like our vote didnt count when we had all these people in place for all these years and our communities looked the same exact way that theyve always looked?

A good portion of my votes were from people who hadnt voted in forever. Because I took the time out to go say Hey whats going on, whyd you not vote? And theyd say Ah well, nobody came and told us and they dont work, and Id say Thats how I felt before I decided to run for office. But now we have somebody who is going to get into office who understands exactly how you feel, is going to fight every single day even if it kills me to make sure that our voices are heard, the ones that theyve forgotten about, the ones that theyve pushed out, the ones they say our voice didnt matter. Im going to ensure that our vote matters. But the only way to ensure that our vote is going to matter is if you show up.

Al Jazeera: What needs to change in terms of representation?



Franks: First, I would have a much fairer way to draw district lines so they could encompass those communities of like mind.

States have been able to get away with gerrymandering districts. We sue them and they get to the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court kicks it back to the state and says you deal with it however you deal with it. So its back in the hands of the Republican state that put this process in place in the beginning.

On a local level, we talk about campaign finance and keeping big money out of politics. But you have black candidates who historically dont raise as much as white candidates, who dont have as many resources as white candidates, and then you have Democratic candidates who dont raise as much as Republican candidates. So when we talk about campaign finance, yes we should absolutely keep big money out of politics, but some of these campaign finance limits on a local level are actually hurting local elected officials.

I have a problem with those counties where the people inside of jails are counted as part of the population for that county but that representative doesnt have to represent them, and they dont get a vote in certain states. Whether you are locked up or not, you should still be able to vote. If you are counted as part of the population then you should absolutely get a vote, period.

On a national level, I would get rid of the electoral college. Theres no way that certain states should have more weight than other states that have a higher population of people. And you think about these places they concentrate on for primaries and presidential primaries like Iowa, like New Hampshire, and we talk about racial equity in an electoral process, there arent too many people that look like me in New Hampshire and Iowa. And so to put these places in this upper echelon for who should be deciding who runs our country, thats a problem.

This Q&A has been edited for brevity and clarity.
To prevent the spread of the new strain of coronavirus in Vietnam, customers are encouraged to adopt cashless payment methods.

Some banks and fintech firms have taken the opportunity to promote the safety of cashless payments, especially after news that the Peoples Bank of China is using ultraviolet light and high-temperature ovens to disinfect incoming cash. The bank also started replacing old notes with newly minted bills on February 4.

Nguyen Ba Diep, CEO of Momo, an e-wallet with more than 12 million users, told Vietnam News: "Tests have shown cash harbours a wide variety of bacteria which can be transmitted by contact. The coronavirus is spread through normal contact, so cash is likely to be a risky source."

Diep quoted health experts as saying as 90 percent of people in Vietnam use cash, banknotes are sources of pathogens and pose a threat to public health.

While ewallets like Moca and Airpay promoted the use of online payments, some banks are following suit and telling their customers to switch to online transactions while the epidemic continues.

On its Facebook page, SeABank told its customers to use electronic banking to check balances, transfer money and pay bills instead of going to the bank.

Ocean Bank told its customers to use the #EasyOceanBankMobile if they did not want to go to a branch.

Le Thi Thanh Hang, Deputy Director of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)'s Branch in Ho Chi Minh City, told local media on February 5 that the SBV has boosted the use of non-cash payments for a long time.

She added that passing from hand to hand, the banknotes were definitely not clean, adding: It is advisable to gradually switch to digital payment methods and e-commerce instead of direct exchange with each other using cash during an outbreak.

According to banking experts, Vietnam, with a population of 97 million people, is a great market for fintech firms, including e-wallets, as more than 80 percent of the retail market uses cash.

The Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy under the Ministry of Industry and Trade reported an annual growth of 35 percent in the local fintech sector while the 'e.Economy SEA 2019' report by Google, Temasek Holding and Bain & Co said that digital payments in Southeast Asia are expected to cross 1 trillion USD by 2025, becoming the payment method for nearly one in two dollars spent in the region./.VNA

Vietnam c.bank sets cashless payments as top priority for 2020 The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has issued a resolution to boost cashless payments in the country.
A total of 64 people, of whom 62 are Chinese and two are Vietnamese, are being isolated and supervised after arriving in Vietnam due to fears of the novel coronavirus, said the HCM City Department of Tourism.

Illustrative photo showing a woman checking the temperature of representatives attending a conference on tourism in HCM City.  VNA/VNS Photo My Phuong

They were on flight OZ731 of Asian Airlines from Seoul in South Korea to Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCM City last Tuesday.

The 62 Chinese nationals work in Vietnam and were returning to their jobs. Three additional Chinese passengers were refused entry as they arrived using tourist visas.

The airports customs brought the 64 people to an isolated area and gave them health examinations. No passengers showed signs of infection. The HCM City International Medical Quarantine Centre recommended the passengers self-isolate for 14 days under the local medical sectors supervision.

A list of the passengers was sent to their living area so authorities can provide regular health examinations.

Vo Ngoc Thuy, deputy director of the HCM City Department of Tourism, said the department had improved education at tourism sites to raise peoples awareness of preventing the virus infection.  VNS

How has the coronavirus affected Vietnams businesses? Saigon Securities Incorporated (SSI) has released a report naming nine business fields believed to bear the biggest negative impact from the nCoV outbreak.

Vietnam successfully isolates new coronavirus: health official The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology has successfully cultivated and isolated the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the laboratory.
As tends to happen with a global health scare, face masks are suddenly flying off store shelves.

Some people are looking at door handles and elevator buttons as potentially dangerous objects, while others are practically running away from anyone who has the misfortune to cough in public.

So far, public fear around the new coronavirus has been bigger thanthe actual health impact in most places, including Canada. Indeed the flu, which kills an estimated 3,500 Canadians and sends more than 12,000 to hospital each year, is still the far bigger health concern.

But, since were all so focused on infectious disease prevention, lets at least use this opportunity to revive measures that would make a real difference to how many people routinely get sick in Ontario: paid sick days and an end to sick notes.

The provincial government can do both.

In fact, all the Ford government really has to do is go back to measures that were put in place by the previous Liberal government.

When the Progressive Conservatives came to power, Premier Doug Ford rolled back a series of advances in workplace protections, including the right to two paid sick days.

Ford reduced job-protected emergency leave to eight unpaid days and only three of those can be used for personal illness. (The rest are for family emergencies and bereavement.)

That was a mistake.

Paid sick days can decrease the spread of illness. Workers with no sick leave are more likely to go to work sick, where they risk passing on whatever theyve got to co-workers.

Generally the people who dont have the luxury of working for an employer that provides decent benefits, including paid sick leave, are also the low-wage workers who can least afford to miss even a single days pay.

Why on earth does the Ford government want people who work in food preparation or in child care or with frail seniors  all areas rife with low-wage workers who have no workplace benefits beyond the minimums the government legislates  to work when theyre sick?

The government compounded the problem of removing paid sick days by restoring the provision that allows employers to require a doctors note just to take unpaid days off for sickness.

That forces people who should be home resting to go to a doctors office, where they may infect others sitting in the waiting room. Not to mention using up precious health care resources with a requirement that has nothing to do with actually improving anyones health.

Thats why a group of health workers sent an open letter to the Ford government last week urging it to bring back paid sick days and put an end to sick notes to help protect against the coronavirus, seasonal flu and other illnesses.

The province has routinely had Ontarios Chief Medical Officer, Dr. David Williams, reassure the public that Ontario is taking all the appropriate steps to track and contain the spread of the new coronavirus.

The government expects the public to trust what Williams has to say. So isnt it about time Ford and his ministers did the same by acting on the expert advice that he has long provided on how to prevent the spread of respiratory illnesses?

That, he says, includes staying home if youre sick.

The Ontario Ministry of Healths website on flu dangers and prevention also urges people to stay at home when theyre sick because viruses spread more easily in group settings, such as businesses, schools and nursing homes.

Great advice. Now the province just needs to make it financially possible for more workers to take it.

The Ford government should bring back the requirement for paid sick days and put an end to routine sick notes.

Read more about:
Marko Phiri, Thomson Reuters Foundation

NTABAZINDUNA, Zimbabwe - Deep in rural western Zimbabwe, where tarred roads are nonexistent, Japhet Ngwenya used to spend every season worrying that the people who advise him on how to protect his crops from dry spells and pest invasions would not be able to reach him.

Ngwenyas farm - in Ntabazinduna, 40 kilometres (24 miles) north of Bulawayo - is so remote that he can go a year or more without seeing the agriculture extension officers who are sent by local charities to assist small-scale farmers like him.

It has always been difficult to get expert advice. There are no proper access roads here and you drive this far at your cars peril, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation as he readied his fields for a crop of maize, tomatoes and cabbages.

Then, last year, two extension officers from the consortium Turning Matabeleland Green (TMG) managed to make their way to Ngwenyas farm to show him their solution: climate and crop information collected by satellite and sent to farmers phones.

Zimbabwe has been slow to embrace satellite-based systems for its agricultural sector, but now the country is seeing the benefits of using the technology to help farmers adapt to the impact of climate change, agricultural experts say.

More than 7 million people work as communal or small-scale farmers, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Many still rely on traditional weather-predicting systems and occasional visits by on-the-ground extension officers to get crucial information and advice.

But using satellite data, groups like TMG can access weather information that is more accurate than the general forecasts supplied by the meteorological department, said Lwazi Mlilo, an agronomist working with TMG.

And with mobile phone technology, they can get that information to farmers faster than they would by sending people out to hard-to-reach farms, he added.

Mlilo showed Ngwenya how extension officers can look at the farmers 27-hectare (67-acre) holding on Google Maps and combine that with satellite data available online to track everything from weather patterns to the health of crops.

I can monitor the activity on your farm from my office. We do not need to come here to check the progress of your crops, he explained to the visibly awed farmer.

Experts might then advise farmers in the low-rainfall Matabeleland region on what seeds to plant and which techniques to use to keep their crops thriving, Mlilo said.

Because most rural farmers in Zimbabwe have no internet connection - many have no electricity at all - TMG communicates with them via SMS, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The organisation can quickly tell farmers if a plot in their area has suffered a pest invasion or send out warnings about sudden changes in climate conditions to all the farmers in a particular area at once, he explained.

Farming is not as tough as some imagine - as long as one has access to relevant, up-to-date knowledge, especially now with new technologies, Mlilo said. He said about 2,000 small-scale farmers have joined the project since it launched last year.

EMBRACING TECHNOLOGY

Approximately 80% of Zimbabwes rural people depend on rainfed agriculture for a living, making them highly vulnerable to more extreme weather associated with climate change, agricultural experts say.

Last year, the FAO said satellite data had the potential to help Africas farmers be better prepared for drought and increase agricultural production with less water use.

Much of the satellite-based information that TMG uses to craft advice it sends to small-scale farmers comes from a new database launched in Zimbabwe last September.

It was built as a collaboration between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of Zimbabwe, with information collected by high-resolution satellites.

It provides highly detailed information that enables experts to follow the effects of climate change across the country, backers said.

A year earlier, the government launched the Zimbabwe National Geospatial and Space Agency (ZINGSA), made up of five departments focused on encouraging the countrys economic and social development.

Both projects use satellite technology for crop surveillance, drought monitoring, tracking soil conditions and documenting the most effective use of water, among other things.

All of that information can be relayed to farmers to help them use their resources most efficiently and safeguard their crops against drought, said Elisha Moyo, principal climate researcher at Zimbabwes agriculture and climate ministry.

The use of satellite technology is encouraged as an early warning strategy, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The goal is to improve farming yields and shore up food security in a country where, during times of peak production, up to 80% of staple maize is grown by small-scale farmers, according to government figures.

Vangelis Haritatos, the Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement deputy minister, said he is confident satellite technology will help farmers adapt to the countrys shifting climate.

I definitely believe technological interventions will have a great impact on food production and food security as a whole for our nation, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

WHAT WE REALLY NEED IS RAIN

As droughts grow longer and harsher in southern Africa, Zimbabwe is looking for ways to support its embattled farmers.

In the latest budget presented in November, the government announced it was setting aside 340 million Zimbabwe dollars ($900,000) towards agricultural extension and advisory services, a significant hike from the previous budget.

At the time, finance minister Mthuli Ncube said the funding would go toward spreading the use of new technologies - including precision-farming tools such as satellite and GPS - to track land use and water availability.

For many of Zimbabwes long-struggling farmers, the move to satellite data and other modern technology offers hope that they might break the cycle of poor harvests.

Ngwenya, the farmer in Ntabazinduna, said he is willing to try anything that might help.

"What we really need is rain," he said. "But we will certainly appreciate anything that will bring us relief (Reporting Marko Phiri;editing by Laurie Goering and Jumana Farouky
Jacki S. Witt, JD, MSN, WHNP-BC, FAANP , President, National Certification Corporation (NCC) NCC is a vital and growing organization dedicated to the success of specialized nurses and other health care professionals. I am honored to have the opportunity to lead and share in the success of this organization.  Jacki Witt, NCC President.

Ms. Witts broad, diverse leadership experience in clinical care, academia, certification and continuing education combined with her long-standing advocacy for professional certification has uniquely prepared her to serve as the President of NCC.

NCC is a vital and growing organization dedicated to the success of specialized nurses and other health care professionals. I am honored to have the opportunity to lead and share in the success of this organization.  Jacki Witt, NCC President.

Ms. Witt joined NCCs Board of Directors in 2013 and served as Secretary-Treasurer from 2014-2019. She is the Past Chair of the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Womens Health (NPWH) Board of Directors and is a member of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Associations Board of Directors.

Ms. Witt is a Clinical Professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Nursing and Health Studies and has taught at all levels of nursing education for more than 25 years.

For over 35 years, Ms. Witt has provided health care services to diverse, and mainly under-or uninsured women. She currently sees patients at an adult correctional facility near Kansas City, Missouri.

Ms. Witt will continue as the Project Director for the Title X-funded National Clinical Training Center for Family Planning (a role she has filled since its inception in 2006).

NCC is proud and excited to welcome Jacki Witt to the position of president and know that her dedication and advocacy will continue to enhance professional practice and improve patient outcomes.
KUALA LUMPURMalaysia on Monday said it has yet to decide on launching a new search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which went missing with 239 people on board nearly six years ago, following a report that a new effort to find the plane could be mounted.

Malaysias ministry of transport said it had not received any new credible evidence to initiate a new search.

However, the ministry will review any new evidence that it officially receives, the ministry said in a brief statement.

On Sunday, Australias News Corp reported that a new search could be mounted, possibly this year, based on new evidence that it said showed the plane could have ended up in an area adjacent to the previous search area in the Indian Ocean.

News Corp reported that U.S. exploration firm Ocean Infinity was in discussions with the Malaysian government to mount a new search on a no find no fee basis.

Ocean Infinity chief executive officer Oliver Plunkett said that no new search is imminent, but the firm continues to engage with experts to identify where any new search might be launched.

The Malaysian Government, rightly in our view, set a high bar before they will engage in that discussion, Plunkett said in a brief emailed statement.

It was and remains our position that we hope to be able to offer our services to the Malaysian government again at some point in the future.

Flight MH370 became one of the worlds greatest aviation mysteries when it vanished on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014.

Malaysia, China, and Australia, called off a two-year, A$200 million ($130 million) underwater search in the southern Indian Ocean in January 2017 after finding no trace of the aircraft.

A second three-month search, led by Ocean Infinity, ended similarly in May the following year.

By Joseph Sipalan
BALTIMORE, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Morgan State University (MSU) is slated to establish an international presence on the African continent by way of a new pilot program. During the recent public session of the MSU Board of Regents' winter quarterly meeting, the Board unanimously approved a proposal for the university to begin offering three degree programs  a Master of Business Administration, a Master of Science in Global Multimedia Journalism and Communications, and a Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurship  in partnership with the African University College of Communications (AUCC) in Adabraka, Accra, Ghana. The pilot program is scheduled to begin in fall 2020, creating opportunities for western African students to pursue degrees from Morgan. The collaboration marks a first of its kind for an HBCU in Ghana, with Morgan poised to join only a select few American universities offering degree programs in Africa.

"Over the past five years, we have been very interested in Africa and have been eyeing expansion into new markets. We look forward to piloting these three academic degree programs in Ghana, and if this initiative is successful in attracting top-notch students and awarding them highly valued Morgan degrees, we will consider establishing a more physical presence in Africa," said Morgan President David Wilson. "So long as I am the president of this institution, Morgan will never be in stasis. We cannot afford to stand still. It is incumbent upon the university to always lean forward and continuously explore all viable opportunities in this rapidly transforming higher education environment."

Coinciding with the expansion abroad, domestically the Board also authorized the University to pursue the addition of a new Master of Science in Advanced Computing degree program. Pending Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) approval, the M.S. in Advanced Computing would be the only degree of its kind offered at a Maryland university, and Morgan would be the sole HBCU in the nation to offer it. The availability of the program at Morgan would offer students a solid foundation in emerging areas of computer sciences such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data science, machine learning and cloud computing.

To read release in its entirety, please click here.

SOURCE Morgan State University

Related Links

www.morgan.edu


The BJP slapped an Uttar Pradesh leader with a notice after he demanded a ban on burqa, calling it a security threat and linking it to demon king Ravana's sister Surpanakha.

"Burqa should be banned in the country as has been done in several other countries," Raghuraj Singh, who holds a rank equivalent to a minister of state in the Uttar Pradesh government, told reporters on Monday.

Hours later, BJP's state unit president Swatantra Dev Singh issued a show cause notice asking him to explain within a week why he should not be expelled from the party over the undignified comments.

Raghuraj Singh claimed burqa is not worn in countries like Sri Lanka, China, the US and Canada and said it should be banned in India as terrorists can take advantage of it.

The BJP leader said people are sporting burqas in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh protest against the new citizenship law, and added, The burqa helps terrorists, thieves and anti-socials elements to hide behind it.

"Burqa is a threat to national security and has to be banned to crush terrorism," Singh said.

Without citing any source, Singh linked burqa to Surpanakha, the demon who has her face disfigured in Ramayana. According to Singh's version, Surpanakha fled to hide in the Arab desert.

As her nose and ears were chopped, she used a burqa to hide her face," he said, adding it is not necessary for humans.

"In Mecca, a shivalinga was set up by Guru Shukracharya, who was the guru of devils, and from there the burqa tradition started," he said.

"This is Hindustan and it will be run as per traditions of the Hindus. This is our wish," he said.

Congress leader P L Punia and Aam Aadmi Party's Sanjay Singh condemned Raghuraj Singh's remarks.

BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh, a minister in the UP government, disowned the remarks, saying they reflected Raghuraj Singh's personal opinion.

Later, party spokesperson Manish Dixit in Lucknow said Raghuraj Singh has been put on notice.

"The notice has been served on charges of working against the policy of the party and making undignified comments," he said.

The state unit president has said the party will not tolerate any undignified behaviour or comment against women belonging to any caste or community, according to the spokesperson.

Raghuraj Singh, who is part of a cell attached to UP government's labour department, courted controversy earlier by threatening to bury alive Aligarh Muslim University students for raising slogans against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Bharatiya Janata Party's Aligarh unit spokesperson said Singh holds the rank equivalent to a minister of state in the UP government.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Egypt's legislature on Monday gave its initial approval for toughening up already draconian anti-terrorism laws, with amendments that include life sentences and capital punishment for funding terrorism, the state-run agency said.

The sweeping anti-terrorism law was enacted in August 2015. It established an extremely broad definition of terrorism, describing it in one article as any act that disturbs public order with force. Some charges, such as leading or organizing a terrorist group, carry the death penalty.

The law and the amendments are widely seen as part of an unprecedented crackdown on dissent waged by President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi since coming to power in 2013.

The original anti-terrorism law also included provisions to protect Egyptian security forces from prosecution, establish stiffer prison sentences for terror-related offences, as well as heavy fines for those who publish false and a special judicial circuit for terrorism cases.

Journalists who do not toe the government line could be punished under the law. The new amendments expand the definition for the crime of funding terrorist acts. These would now include providing a place for training one terrorist or more; giving them weapons or documents in any way or form; offering support and financing in order to help terrorists travel, even if the provider does not have a direct link to the terrorist crime.

The amendments are being sent to Egypt's State Council for its review. A final parliamentary vote will likely then send it to President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi to ratify. The amendments also tack on life sentences and the death penalty for a range of crimes related to funding terrorist attacks or terrorist-designated groups, said Bahaa Abu Shakq, head of the Parliament's constitutional and legislative affairs committee.

The law already gives heavy prison sentences for crimes that include promoting or encouraging any terrorist offense." These can extend to damaging state institutions or infrastructure, such as military or government buildings, power and gas lines, and archaeological sites.

The original 2015 law prompted concern from Egyptian lawyers, rights groups, and even some politicians and senior judges.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A spokeswoman for the Department of State did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Real estate groups, in their suit, argued that the ban on broker fees never came up last year as part of the sweeping rent laws adopted by the state Legislature and that the Department of State was effectively imposing a new rule without giving their industry a chance to weigh in.

The Real Estate Board and the New York State Association of Realtors, which joined in the lawsuit, praised Justice Mackeys decision. The organizations argued that the impact of the broker fee ruling was both immediate and devastating.

The restraining order means that thousands of hardworking, honest real estate agents across New York State can do business in the same way they did before the state issued the rule, the presidents of the two groups said in a statement.

Tenant advocates cheered the broker fee ruling last week and predicted that it would be upheld despite the legal challenges.

The Department of State issued the ruling late last Tuesday and addressed a slew of outstanding questions about last years landmark rent laws in New York State. Buried in the memo, the department declared that broker fees, which were not specifically mentioned in the laws, must be collected from landlords unless a tenant hires a broker to find a unit.
Back in 2003/2004, Id sit on my family couch at night watching whatever it was that Channel 5 was showing. Sometimes it would be local sitcoms, other times it was crappy international films. Yet I wasnt interested in the programs; instead, every day I patiently waited for the random broadcasts of my favourite advertisementthe Phua Chu Kang Sar-vivor rap.

The first time I saw Gurmit Singhs afro-wearing contractor and his giant mole pop up unannounced on the TV screen, it blew my tiny mind.

Opening with a shot of PCK in the booth, I thought Mediacorp had accidentally aired a Chinese New Year music video in the middle of the year. Then, almost immediately, an incredibly bouncy pop-rap beat kicked in, sending 7-year-old me into a dancing frenzy. Only years later did I realise the song was actually a parody of the 1997 Will Smith hit single Gettin Jiggy Wit It.

Acting as a public service announcement during the height of the SARS epidemic in Singapore, the song was the governments way of appealing to every single demographic. PCK is a national icon thats well-loved by all, and backing him up with an also iconic instrumental from the 90s only strengthened its quality as a song.

Though Mediacorp doesnt make content like Sar-vivor anymore, possibly due to licensing issues, parodies have found a home amongst local content creators. The countrys biggest Youtuber, Jianhao Tan, got his start making song parodies, and the format is still as strong and prevalent as ever among Singapores Youtube community.

However, what separates Sar-vivor from amateur content is Gurmit Singh. His performance on the song is exceptional. Fully channelling the Phua Chu Kang persona that people have come to know and love, Gurmits charisma provides an infectious energy that masks the corny humour of the song. Even the excessive use of Singlish feels adorable rather than forced and forced, which is a hurdle that many Youtubers fail to overcome.

And of course, the SARS puns in the chorus and the insanely catchy Use Your Brain hook was also a stroke of genius. Choosing to draw up new melodies instead of re-using Will Smiths rap flow helped listeners form their own opinions rather than make comparisons to the original. It allowed the song to stand on its own as a fresh piece of content that Singaporeans could attach themselves to.

Story continues

In comparison to classic National Day songs like One People, One Nation, One Singapore and Homesongs that aspire to inspire and instil a sense of nationalismSar-vivor is noticeably lacking in meaning and depth. Its the kind of rap/song that might cause those unfamiliar with Singaporean culture to scratch their heads in confusion.

At the same time, it is also this full-blown embracing of Singapores peculiarities that makes the song lovable. Its not glamorous, nor does it aim to be a high-brow piece of art that wants to impress. Instead, its a song that has fun with local mannerisms.

Like ShiGGa Shays Tapau, a wholly original rap song made for the 3688 OST, its celebration of everyday Singapore life made it a hit. Although it wasnt as iconic, its subtly funny hook of listing out various coffee shop drinks was endearing enough to gain the attention of Singaporeans. Its a good song in its own right, but Sar-vivors differentiating factor is its ability to appeal to an underlying Singaporean characteristic: over-worrying.

The song owes its longevity largely to its warning-like message, drilling its way into our brains. How many of us still randomly blurt out lines like Some say leh, some say lah/Spread kaya, but dont spread SARS! or Think you got SARS? Call nine-nine-three!/Ambulance will come for free! even now?

There are no overly complicated instructions about going for health inspections or consuming specific vitamins. Simplicity is key here, and at some points, PCKs advice actually borders on being too vague. Still, the lyrical content is straightforward enough to be understood by everyone and, perhaps in an unintended fashion, also led to the songs resurgence over the years.

Early 2009 to late 2010 saw the rise of H1N1, better known as Swine Flu, which sent the world into a frenzy. Everyone was clamouring for masks and vaccines, when the SARS comparisons began to surface on national news channels and in family conversations. Concurrently, the Sar-vivor rap gained new life as it achieved its first instance of internet fame on Facebook and Youtube.

It might not even be a stretch to call the song Singapores first online meme.

Humour has long been used as a coping mechanism, and Sar-vivor was no different. Theres an unmoveable set of rose-tinted glasses when it comes to the track. Reminding us of a time that was once filled paranoia, which was eventually replaced with hope, the song felt like it was telling us that despite all the warnings that were given, things can still turn out alright; that we might one day all look back and laugh about it.

Maybe thats why the song has made yet another comeback this year against the coronavirus, whose instructions listed in the song align nearly perfectly with the precautions people should be taking.

A great piece of media can command public attention during a moment in time, but truly classic works will be recalled by people regardless of the time period. Its this memorability that places Sar-vivor in the company of some of the best Singaporean songs in the countrys history.

Thus, with Phua Chu Kang being a timeless icon, and epidemics, unfortunately, with startling regularity, Sar-vivor will forever remain within Singapores consciousness regardless of generation. In a society thats often baited by pessimism, having a piece of lighthearted history to fall back on could be the best port in this storm that we could ask for.

What are your thoughts on Sinaporeans hoardinig food and supplies? Tell us at community@ricemedia.co.

The post Why the PCK Rap is One of Singapores Most Iconic Songs appeared first on RICE.
Kenya Moore seemed to find her Prince Charming in restaurateur Marc Daly. They quickly fell in love, married, and had a baby. But the marriage crumbled mere months later. Moore announced in September 2019 that she planned on divorcing her husband less than two years after they exchanged nuptials.

But could they have reconciled? Moore and Daly were recently seen being intimate, prompting rumors that they might secretly be back together.

Kenya Moore and Marc Daly at an event | Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images North America

A brief timeline of Kenya Moore and Marc Dalys relationship

After meeting through a friend in 2015, Moore and Daly reportedly began dating in December 2016. The two chose to keep their relationship private before sneaking off and getting married in June 2017 in St. Lucia.

It was just so perfect, Moore told People at the time. We wanted something simple and not overly complicated. He didnt want something for show. He didnt want it to be left up to other peoples interpretation of love. He just wanted it to be what he sees it: him looking into my eyes and us being together. It was just two people in love who wanted to get married.

Shortly after, Moore became pregnant. She gave birth to their daughter, Brooklyn Doris Daly, on Nov. 4, 2018. Less than a year later, Moore said in a statement that she could no longer continue in the marriage and intended to divorce Daly. She did not immediately share a reason behind the announcement.

Kenya Moore and Marc Daly split

The couples marital issues played out on RHOA Season 12. Moore said on the show that once their daughter was born, their relationship began to change and eventually grew strained.

The baby has changed so much in our lives, Moore said (via People). Shes in the bed all the time. He does not want me to put her in a crib.

Its been difficult, she added. We [sleep together] when we can, but it definitely is not as often as I would like.

Moore also suggested that Daly allegedly became verbally abusive and that they had trouble communicating with each other. One particular fight became so heated that Daly allegedly dumped Moore.

Kenya Moore and Marc Daly at a gala | Paras Griffin/Getty Images

After they split, Moore said she was open to getting back together. Im open to it as long as we really put in the work and that work comes out to be a positive and loving relationship, she said in an interview. Moore held off on officially filing for divorce, and so did Daly.

Are Kenya Moore and Marc Daly now back together?

Some people think so. The speculation comes after The Jasmine Brand shared a video on Feb. 8 showing the two holding hands while walking and enjoying each others company.

Moore recently gave an update on the status of their relationship, telling SiriusXMs Amy Phillips on Jan. 30 that they were in a great place.

Our relationship has really taken a turn, she said. He has been so kind to me, sweet, you know, hows your day? Whats going? Our relationship hasnt been this good in a really long time.

Moore noted that their relationship started to improve around October [or] November when they were planning Brooklyns 1st birthday party.

Theres no way to tell what the future holds for these two, but its great to see them getting back to a good place. Heres hoping they keep it up.
The owner of an Iranian factory which produces American and Israeli flags burned at protests has said he hopes for better relations between Tehran and Washington, despite any potential impact on his business.

Workers at the small factory in the home town of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini diligently add all 50 stars and 13 red-and-white bars to what are supposed to be US flags, and carefully imprint the blue Star of David on Israeli ones.

They do the work even though it is destined to go up in flames.

The company, Diba Parcham Khomein, serves as a major producer for the flags constantly burned at pro-government rallies in the Islamic Republic.

Such flag-burnings are a sign of support for Irans clerical rulers and a throwback to the famous images of the 1979 Islamic Revolution that branded the US as Irans greatest foe and the Great Satan.

Workers print US flags using a silkscreen, at the Diba Parcham Khomein factory (AP)

Another batch of flags is being prepared for the 41st anniversary of the Iranian revolution on Tuesday.

The celebrations will take on special symbolic importance amid renewed tensions with Washington after a US drone strike in Baghdad killed Irans top general, Qassem Soleimani, last month.

Yet the factorys owner, like many middle-class Iranians, holds out hopes for better relations between the US and Iran.

I hope there is a day that the flags we produce are presented as a gift, Abolfazl Khanjani said.

That day, however, has yet to come to Khomein, a city best known as the birthplace of the Islamic Republics founder.

Recommended Europe is a mere spectator in the battle to rein Iran in

The factory itself is in the nearby suburban village of Heshmatieh, where staff first dye the blue canton containing the 50 white stars of the American flag on linen before dyeing its seven red stripes.

The company produces 1.5 million flags a year, many bearing Islamic phrases for religious and official occasions across the country.

The factory also makes Iranian flags and a small number of Iraqi national flags for export.

It makes as many as 6,000 American, British and Israeli flags in a year, all destined to be passed on to retailers.

Iranian political hardliners then purchase them to be stomped on, torn and ultimately set on fire.

In recent years, the production of the US flags has been tripled, Mr Khanjani said. What eventually happens to my products is on its end user.

The factory owner identifies himself as supporting Iranian reformist groups that want to slowly change and open up the Islamic Republic. But he acknowledged the anger hardliners feel towards the US.

Tensions have been particularly high since Donald Trump, the US president, unilaterally withdrew America from Irans nuclear deal with world powers in May 2018.

In the time since, regional tensions across the Middle East have steadily worsened, leading to US drone strike in Iraq that killed Soleimani as he was leaving Baghdads international airport.

Mr Khanjani said burning the American flag offered Iranians a direct way to express their anger at US policies, including the economic sanctions now choking the country.

Associated Press
YEREVAN.  The court has granted the investigator's motion to arrest Vahagn Vermishyan, Chairman of the Urban Development Committee of Armenia, the National Security Service (NSS) informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

As reported earlier, within the framework of a criminal case initiated by the NSS into taking large-scale bribe, the crime suspects were apprehended, two of themincluding the chairman of the aforementioned committeewere detained.

Moreover, while being questioned as a suspect, this bribe-taking official confessed to committing the crime.

The investigation is still in progress.
Krewe of Cork

Patrick Van Hoorebeeks wine-inspired Krewe of Cork celebrates its 20th year, one shy of being old enough to drink. The krewe is made up of wine lovers, and New Orleans restaurant and hospitality professionals and wine industry folks. A vintner is selected as grand marshal, and this year its Charles Smith, founder of Wines of Substance in Washington State.

Krewe events include a wine dinner at Bayona on Wednesday, Feb. 12, and a krewe party at the Hotel Mazarin, home to Patricks Bar Vin, Thursday, Feb. 13. The parade is at 3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 14, in the French Quarter. The krewe gathers in front of The Court of Two Sisters and circles the heart of the Quarter on its way to the Royal Sonesta. Visit www.kreweofcork.com for information.

Krewe du Kanaval

The Krewe du Kanaval combines the Carnival traditions of New Orleans and Haiti in its events. The krewe was formed in 2018 by Arcade Fires Regine Chassagne, whose parents were immigrants from Haiti, and Win Butler and Ben Jaffe, artistic director of Preservation Hall. Arcade Fire, which hasnt performed since 2018, will headline the krewes costume ball at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 14, at Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts. The concert also features the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, New York-based Haitian DJ Michael Brun, Trinidadian DJ and Major Lazer member Jillionaire, New Orleans-based Haitian-inspired Lakou Mizik, and Congolese native Pierre Kwenders. (Tickets are $85 and up.)

Krewe events include a walking parade and riding in the Krewe of Freret parade Saturday, Feb. 15. There is a post-parade party in the French Quarter with music and food. Membership begins at $1,000 and information is available at www.kanaval.org.

Mystic Krewe of Barkus

The Mystic Krewe of Barkus is ready to go for a ride in a DeLorean with its theme Bark to the Future: Barkus Returns to the 80s. A rescued dog is selected as monarch, and Barkus King XXVII is a longhaired Chihuahua named Eddy.

The krewe gathers for a pawty in Louis Armstrong Park beginning at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 16, where there's food, drink, Barkus vendors and an emergency veterinarian station. Costumed dogs, their human escorts and marching groups including the Organ Grinders parade through the French Quarter beginning at 2 p.m. The 15-block route circles the historic district and passes the reviewing stand at Good Friends Bar (740 Dauphine St.), before returning to the park. Visit www.barkus.org for information.

Mardi Gras Week One Digital Edition
The United States said Monday it had provided health supplies to Laos in the first delivery from a pledge of up to $100 million in global assistance to fight the coronavirus. The US Agency for International Development said it handed over equipment including 440 protective goggles and 1,500 surgical gowns to Laos, which borders China, the epicenter of the fast-spreading virus. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday promised up to $100 million in aid to China and other affected countries to counter the virus that has killed more than 900 people. Jim Richardson, the State Department's director of foreign assistance resources, said the Laos delivery was the first and that funding would primarily aim at containing the coronavirus. "You'll start seeing more announcements as we start tallying up how much assistance is needed," he told reporters. The assistance comes even as President Donald Trump's administration looks to slash funding in support of global health efforts, which include projects to fight disease and encourage maternal health. A budget proposal released Monday, but which has already met fierce opposition in Congress, would cut global health spending by nearly half to just under $6 billion in the 2021 fiscal year. Richardson said that Laos -- along with Pacific island states, Myanmar and Papua New Guinea -- were considered priorities in the budget as the United States hopes to show an alternative to an increasingly assertive China.
C hild actor Raphael Coleman, who starred in Nanny McPhee before campaigning for Extinction Rebellion, has died aged 25.

Raphael Coleman, who played Eric Brown in the film opposite Emma Thompson, passed away on Friday, his mother Liz Jensen announced on Twitter.

Sharing an article that he wrote for the campaign group, entitled "This is why I rebel", she wrote: "Rest in peace my beloved son Raphael Coleman, aka Iggy Fox.

"He died doing what he loved, working for the noblest cause of all.

"His family could not be prouder. Lets celebrate all he achieved in his short life and cherish his legacy."

After his role in Nanny McPhee, Mr Coleman went on to star in the 2009 horror film It's Alive, winning best young actor at the British Independent Film Festival in 2010.

His stepdad Carsten Jensen said Mr Coleman "collapsed without prior health problems" in a tribute on Facebook.

"I guess theres nothing that makes you see death as unfair and meaningless as when a young person dies," he wrote.

"Its life itself thats sabotaged. It just happened to my wife, Liz, whose youngest son, Raph of only 25, died last Friday (sic).

"I will never forget you, we say in a farewell greeting to the dead."

Raphael pursued a career in science before working for Extinct Rebellion, running its social media accounts.

Mr Jensen described him as "one of the first and most active members" of the organisation and spoke of how he was arrested while with the group.

He wrote: "Under the name Iggy Fox, he controlled the groups use of social media, spoke at demonstrations, and was arrested again and again."

He added: "Death turned off raph, but it did not turn off the light that burned in him, because no one who has known him has been unaffected by it or will forget it, and that is how he lives on."

XR also paid tribute to Mr Coleman.

They wrote on the website: "He was 25, had given up a career in science to join XR and fought hard for the cause, especially for Indigenous rights.
In less than two years, scientists expect to receive the first-ever images of, and data about, the suns poles.

While tens of millions of people worldwide watch the 92nd Academy Awards on Sunday, cheering on their favourite film stars, NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) will be counting down the minutes until they launch their probe to the Earths only star, the sun.

At 11:03pm Eastern United States time (04:03 GMT) an Atlas V rocket will blast off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Floridas Cape Canaveral Air Force Station carrying NASA and ESAs Solar Orbiter spacecraft.

At first blush, the orbiters $1.5bn price tag may seem steep, but getting a better understanding of how solar storms form and gather strength before they pummel the earth and fry the very technology many have come to depend on could save trillions of more dollars here on Earth.

The data from missions like this creates predictive models so that well be able to protect our astronauts, [and] protect our assets, said Alan Zide, NASAs Solar Orbiter program executive, at a Friday news conference.

The risk

Because the risk to assets and astronauts is real, the insurance brokerage Lloyds of London released a report in 2013 on the possible effects of a monster solar storm, called a Carrington event, on the United States.

The Solar Orbiter spacecraft, built for NASA and the European Space Agency, prepares for launch [February 9: Steve Nesius/Reuters]

The Lloyds analysts found that: The total US population at risk of extended power outage from a Carrington-level storm is between 20-40 million, with durations of 16 days to 1-2 years.

They concluded: The total economic cost for such a scenario is estimated at $0.6-2.6 trillion USD.

Compare that to the cost of the 2008 US financial crisis. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which helped to bail out the US financial system, cost the taxpayer $634bn, according to Propublicas Bailout Tracker.

That sounds insane but just think about the scope of the goods and services that depend on electricity, such as ATMs, gas pumps and cellphone towers. Not to mention that the very satellites that make financial transactions possible and make telephonic and internet communication possible, could be disabled.

How can this happen?

Similar to how weather disturbances off the northwest coast of Africa can potentially morph into devastating hurricanes in the Caribbean, sun storms can grow large clouds too. But these clouds are packed with magnetised particles called plasma.

A coronal mass ejections (CME) is an immense plasma cloud that the sun ejects, hurling billions of tons of magnetised particles in one direction at the rate of a million miles per hour. If Earth is in the CMEs path, it will be hit with an enormous amount of plasma within three days.

On September 1, 1859 a CME named the Carrington Event after an amateur astronomer who witnessed it, caused telegraph machines around the world to fail and spark, setting papers on fire. On a Friday, March 13, 1989, some six million people in northeastern Canada were in the dark for nine hours because the utilitys grid suffered a power overload caused by a CME.

Whats on board?

The Solar Orbiter is carrying a mix of 10 instruments from different countries that will measure the space environment near the sun and image the stars fiery atmosphere. Unlike previous missions, these instruments can talk to each other. At the Friday news conference Cesar Garcia, ESAs Solar Orbiter project manager, said: They are able to talk to each other so that when one of the instruments detects an interesting feature, it can then send a flag, a trigger, to the other instruments to co-observe that same feature.

If the mission is successful, the Solar Orbiter will get the first-ever images of, and data from, the suns polar regions. According to ESA, the spacecraft will reach the sun in just under two years.
Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia, also called BPH, is a condition where a mans prostate enlarges. It is also called benign prostatic hypertrophy or benign prostatic obstruction. It is not cancer neither does it increase the risk of cancer. This condition happens with age, primarily in men above 50 years of age.

Prostate is a small gland in the pelvis region, found only in males. It is located under the bladder and is about the size of a walnut. It makes prostate fluid which is part of the semen and is essential for a mans fertility.

As the prostate enlarges, it squeezes the urethra. As the urethra becomes narrow, it has to work hard to empty out. This causes the bladder walls to become thick, which causes the bladder to contract even when it contains a small amount of urine leading to loss of bladder control. The hormone related to testosterone, known as dihydroxy testosterone or DHT, plays an important role in causing BPH.

BPH is not a serious or life-threatening disease. However, if left untreated, it can lead to complications like:

Urinary tract infections (UTIs)

Blood in the urine

Bladder damage

Bladder stones and

Kidney damage

The symptoms of BPH can be similar to symptoms of prostate cancer.

Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are the most common symptoms associated with BPH.

These include:

weak direction of urine

dribbling after urination

strain or discomfort while passing urine

need to pass urine multiple times during the night

an urgent feeling to urinate

urinary incontinence

urine which has unusual smell or color

Urinary retention caused due to blocked urethra can also be caused because of taking cold and allergy medications which contain decongestants such as pseudoephedrine. These medications prevent the bladder neck from relaxing and thus hinder in releasing urine.

If one observes severe symptoms like pain in back, side or abdomen, pain or discomfort when passing urine or cloudy or bloody urine, the physician must be contacted as these may require immediate attention.

The treatment options for BPH would depend on the severity of the symptoms.

The options include:

Lifestyle changes:

As soon as one starts getting urinary problems, one must first try to make lifestyle changes to get relief from the symptoms. These include:

reducing or eliminating the intake of alcohol, caffeine, antihistamines (e.g. diphenhydramine), artificial sweeteners and decongestants (e.g. pseudoephedrine)

going to the bathroom immediately with the first urge

reducing fluid intake before going to sleep

control blood sugar, as it helps reduce frequent urination

Medications:

If the symptoms persist or worsen, one must consider treatment with drugs, after consulting a health provider.

Catheters:

These are recommended when there is chronic urine retention.

Surgery:

Generally, surgery is not required for men suffering from BPH. If none of the treatment options work, then surgery may be performed, to remove part or the full prostate gland.

There are four broad classes of drugs used to treat enlarged prostate:

Alpha-blockers (also called as alpha-1-receptor blockers):

These are generally the first line of treatment as they act immediately, providing relief from urinary problems in days or a few weeks time. They relax the muscles around the bottom of the bladder making it easy for passage of urine.

Some of the approved drugs include:

Alfuzosin

Doxazosin

Tamsulosin

Terazosin

Silodosin

Tamsulosin is the most commonly used drug for BPH.

Alpha blockers reach their maximum effect within a months time.

5-Alpha Reductase Inhibitors (5ARIs): These are also known as androgen reducing compounds or enzyme inhibitors.

These drugs block the production of hormone dihydrotestosterone that causes the prostate to enlarge. They help in slowing the growth of prostate or shrink the prostate. When the prostate becomes smaller again, it no longer pushes against the bladder and urethra as much.

These can take several months to provide relief with the maximum effect usually reached after about six months.

The two main drugs under this category include:

Finasteride  the most commonly used drug

Dutasteride  this is also prescribed in combination with Tamsulosin

Anti-cholinergics:

These medications help relax the muscles in the bladder and urinary tract. These are less commonly used for treating BPH and are less effective too. At times, these are used to treat overactive bladder syndrome or incontinence. Hence, they might be more suitable for men who have any of these conditions along with an enlarged prostate.

Phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) inhibitors:

Tadalafil is the most commonly prescribed drug under this category. It is approved for erectile dysfunction. The US FDA has now included BPH in the approved indications of Tadalafil. It relaxes the muscles in prostate and around the opening of bladder, making it easy to urinate.

Some medications used to treat BPH may have side effects which could be serious. Hence, one must contact the healthcare provider immediately on observing any of the following symptoms.

Shortness of breath

Rash

Itching

Chest pain

Swelling of eyes, face, arms or lower legs

Sudden decrease or loss of hearing

The common side effects of different categories of drugs are:

Alpha-blockers:

The most common side effects of alpha-blockers are reduced semen during ejaculation (dry orgasm), erectile dysfunction, upset stomach, headache, stuffy or runny nose and low blood pressure.

Alpha-blockers are also given to reduce high blood pressure. Hence caution must be used when given along with other hypertension medications or impotence drugs, as both these medications have blood pressure lowering effect. Also, blood pressure should also be monitored in patients who are on alpha blockers but who do not have hypertension.

Tamsulosin and Terazosin may cause dizziness or fainting due to low blood pressure.

These drugs can also affect the pupils; hence, the eye surgeon must be informed before cataract surgery.

5-alpha reductase inhibitors:

These drugs may increase the risk of high-grade prostate cancer. The most common side effect of ARIs are decreased sex drive, ejaculation problems, decreased ability to get an erection and enlarged mammary glands.

These medications also reduce the level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in blood. Hence, patients who take these inhibitors for BPH, must inform their health care providers, before doing any PSA test.

Anti-cholinergics:

Side effects of these drugs include blurred vision, constipation, dry eyes, indigestion and urinary tract infections. If men suffering from weak urine flow take these drugs, the problems can worsen.

Phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) inhibitor:

Side effects of Tadalafil include headaches, indigestion, back pain and itching or swelling in nose (rhinitis).

The men suffering from BPH must follow these recommendations to manage BPH.
Passengers on a London-bound airplane that took off from Nigerias capital, Abuja, were thrown into panic Sunday as strong winds forced the flight to abort its landing.

The incident happened seconds after the plane touched down on the runway of the Heathrow Airport in London.

A video posted on social media platforms on Sunday showed a British Airways plane struggling to land during Storm Ciara.

The BBC reported that British Airways was unable to confirm the source of the flight, though it was reported on social media as coming from Abuja, Nigeria.

Charles Okonkwo, a Nigerian passenger on the flight took to his social media platform to recount the experience Sunday night.

The man, in a post on Facebook, described the moment as by far the scariest moment of my life, adding that but The Grace of God was with us.

I was in this plane coming back from Abuja this afternoon, he explained after posting a Youtube footage of the moments the plane struggled to land.

READ ALSO:

The BBC quoted the British Airways as saying that the aircraft went on to land safely after circling the airport.

PREMIUM TIMES efforts to reach the airline Monday morning were unsuccessful.

Storm Ciara swept across the UK on Sunday, with heavy rain and gusts of up to 97mph causing widespread flooding and major disruption on the transport network. The storm hit the UK with gales of 60mph to 80mph bringing some air, ferry and rail journeys to a standstill.

Reports said disruption is continuing as the after-effects of the storm come with widespread flooding and severe gales.

More than 20,000 homes spent the weekend without power, while flood warnings remain in place across the country. Flooding and debris continue to cause problems for rail passengers, who are urged to check their routes.

On Sunday, forecasters said some areas could see blizzards and up to 20cm (8in) of snow.
Kuwait City

The State of Kuwaits Embassy in Singapore yesterday urged Kuwaiti citizens who want to travel to Singapore to delay their travel plans after the government of the Asian nation raised the alert level to orange degree due to spread of the coronavirus.

The embassy said in a statement that it was the first time that Singaporean Ministry of Health raised the alert level to the delicate status since 17 years ago, Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported.

The heightened state of alert came after authorities declared that 33 persons were infected with the new strain of corona -- including ten who did not visit China.

The Kuwaiti Embassy has also called on citizens desiring to travel to wait until normal conditions are restored, urging Kuwaitis in the Asian country to leave rapidly and abstain from staying except for compelling reasons.

It stressed on the necessity to follow up on instructions issued by local authorities, abide by the special measures and refrain from approaching crowded places and shopping malls.
Eastern Oregon communities continue to recover Monday from widespread flooding that prompted rescues and evacuations, swamped highways, destroyed homes and left one woman dead.

The floods are all but gone, according to the local East Oregonian newspaper. And no regional flood warnings are in effect.

But the flooding has left lasting effects throughout the region.

Heres what you need to know about the flooding and its aftermath:

Why did it flood in the first place?

In short: Heavy rain and snowmelt caused significant runoff into rivers and streams.

The Umatilla, Grande Ronde and Walla Walla rivers were among those that flooded, a National Weather Service meteorologist said.

The Stanfield, Pendleton, Hermiston and La Grande area in eastern Oregon experienced massive flooding Friday, February 7, 2020. Mark Graves/StaffMark Graves

How widespread was the flooding?

The flooding prompted evacuations, highway closures and emergency declarations in eastern Oregon and southeastern Washington.

Pendleton, Hermiston and Walla Walla were among the areas that experienced significant flooding.

One woman died. What happened?

Umatilla County authorities said a 62-year-old woman missing since Thursday was found dead Sunday, apparently swept away by floodwaters.

Janet Tobkin Conleys body was found on the Bar M Ranch property in Bingham Springs, about 30 miles east of Pendleton in the Blue Mountains. The Umatilla River runs adjacent to the town.

Neighbors last spoke to Conley on Thursday, as floodwaters were beginning to rise. She said then that she wanted to stay in her home, authorities said.

Volunteers from Umatilla County Search and Rescue and the Oregon Air National Guard started searching for Conley on Saturday. Search and rescuers went door-to-door, and no one reported having seen Conley.

No other fatalities have been reported.

In this Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020 photo, Nate Fuller and Archie Morrow await rescue on the roof of a home in Thorn Hollow outside of Adams, Ore. The pair were stranded when they attempted to rescue the elderly couple who were stuck in the house as waters from the Umatilla River began to rise. All were rescued by helicopter that evening. Severe flooding in eastern Oregon closed a major freeway on Friday, forced evacuations in low-lying areas and stranded at least one family on their roof as other parts of the Pacific Northwest also braced for more flooding and landslides. (Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian via AP)AP

How many people have been rescued?

The Oregon Army National Guard rescued 54 people, 10 dogs, a cat and a rabbit stranded by flooding.

Can I travel through the area on Interstate 84?

Interstate 84 is now back open across eastern Oregon.

The final stretch of interstate that remained off-limits after a widespread closure reopened Sunday evening.

Drivers can now travel the interstate unabated, though traffic is down to one lane in both directions for a several-mile stretch near Hermiston. The speed limit there is 45 mph because of road damage and repair work. Officials have yet to set a time when the second east- and westbound lanes will reopen.

The only highway that remains closed is Oregon 204. Nearly 11 miles of the state highway are closed west of Elgin.

Drivers should view TripCheck.com for the latest travel information.

Cleanup is underway at Riverview Mobile Estates mobile home park in Pendleton on Sunday, February 9, 2020. The mud was drying and family members and neighbors were helping haul away debris.Mark Graves/Staff

Whats the weather forecast?

It looks pretty favorable. The next chance of rain in Pendleton, for example, comes Thursday.

Whats next for the flooded area?

Authorities will continue recovery efforts, which include assessing damage and planning and undertaking repairs.

How can I help flood victims?

Those who want to support flood relief and ensure donations stay local should donate to the Community Action Program of East Central Oregon and Blue Mountain Community Foundation, authorities have said.

-- Jim Ryan; jryan@oregonian.com; 503-221-8005; @Jimryan015

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Lawfares Benjamin Wittes, one of the medias favorite Donald Trump antagonists, took to Twitter this weekend to pen a transcendently nonsensical thread comparing the firing of a handful of bureaucrats to the rounding up of political undesirables in the lead-up to the Holocaust.

Its wouldnt be a huge deal, except that this kind of hysterical reaction has now been normalized in American discourse, illustrating that once-rational people have either lost all sense of history or are willing to belittle the past for short-term political gain. My bet is on the latter.

Heres how Wittes begins his updated version of Martin Niemollers famous poem:

First he came for @comey, and I said nothing because I was mad at @comey because of the Clinton email investigation and I blamed him for Trumps election.  Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) February 9, 2020

When fellow Hungarians came for my grandfather  he was one of the first to be deported from the country  they sent him to sweep mines on the Eastern Front before handing him over to the Germans at Mauthausen and then Gunskirchen.

At some point he perished, no doubt, in a vile and undignified manner, perhaps succumbing to starvation or typhoid or dysentery, or maybe he was shot in the head and left in a shallow unmarked grave. We dont know. His wife and son, the latter of whom he would never meet, would never find out how he died, despite decades of trying. His loss, like the deaths of millions of other powerless and now anonymous victims of that age, would have repercussions that reverberate today.

When they came for James Comey, on the other hand, he landed a massive book deal, made millions on the speaking circuit, wagged his finger at his former boss through social media to his million followers, and spent some quality time with family. He never once had to worry about state-sanctioned violence. Comey, a man powerful enough to oversee a cooked-up investigation into a presidential candidate, merely lost a job.

Story continues

Like Comey, all the alleged victims on Wittess ludicrous list served at the pleasure of the president and could be fired by Donald Trump for almost any reason he desired, just as they could have been fired by Barack Obama or Jimmy Carter or FDR. Many of the people on the list, in fact, have been investigated by the inspector general, who found that they acted either incompetently or potentially illegally.

Government bureaucrats arent endowed with a God-given right to work in the executive branch of the United States government. Most of these victims will find lucrative work elsewhere. None, I confidently say, are going to be thrown into camps. If you dont like who Trump fires, or how he fires them, you can always vote for another candidate.

It might come as a surprise to those who, through hyperbole, demean the real victims of history, but Nazi Germany didnt hold impeachment hearings for their leaders in 1938, there was no institutional anti-Hitler media in 1939, and most people in 1940 did not publicly accuse Hitler of being a seditious criminal and madman. Those who did, such as Martin Niemoller, ended up in Sachsenhausen and Dachau, not the green room at CNN.

Though there are a number of iterations, here is the most popular version of Niemollers poem:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out 

Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out 

Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out 

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me 

and there was no one left to speak for me.

Youll notice the kicker. Even as Wittes is diminishing the horrors of the Holocaust for political gain with his bumbling analogies, a bunch of high-profile Americans were speaking out about Trump actions. Weve basically spent four years listening to people speaking out. Some of the people on Wittess list, in fact, have been speaking out for themselves in major magazines and on television and in newspapers.

Trumps most self-aggrandizing critics might not realize this, but theyre not actually part of any real resistance, theyre just partisans. The only people who came for Andy McCabe were producers and editors with checkbooks open. And even if the firing of Alexander Vindman reminds you of Night of the Long Knives, you have wholly lost touch with reality. As the kids say: Read a book.

More from National Review
SAN BRUNO (BCN)

Police in San Bruno are searching for a man they say tried to rob a man who had arranged to meet the suspected assailant to sell him a high-end watch.

Police said the victim had arranged to meet the suspect at about 12:30 p.m. Saturday on the 1200 block of El Camino Real in San Bruno. Police said the two men met, and the victim handed the watch to the suspect so he could look at it. The suspect then tried to run away with the watch; the watch's owner grabbed the prospective "buyer," and that during the ensuing struggle, the watch owner was shot in the face with pepper spray.

Police said the robber dropped with watch, but fled the area on foot. The victim retrieved his watch.

The suspect was described as a light-skinned Hispanic or Middle Eastern male in his mid- to late 20s, about 5-feet-10-inches tall, with a skinny build, short dark hair and a light goatee. The suspect was last seen wearing a white short-sleeve polo shirt and black pants.

The San Bruno Police Department would like to remind everyone to exercise caution and take safety measures when meeting unknown people to buy or sell items. The San Bruno Police Department is among several Bay Area police departments that offers their buildings as safe sale transaction meeting places.

Anyone with any information related to this incident is urged to contact San Bruno police at (650) 616-7100 or by email at sbpdtipline@sanbruno.ca.gov

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.
MAPUTO, Mozambique - The Mozambican attorney generals office on Monday withdrew its appeal to South African courts to have former Finance Minister Manuel Chang extradited back home amid a massive debt scandal.

Chang faces trial in the United States and in Mozambique for his involvement in the hidden debts scandal in which the southern African nation borrowed $2.2 billion for three state-linked security companies to buy boats and hardware from Lebanese ship-building group Privinvest.

The decision to drop the appeal aims at speeding up a decision by South African Justice Minister Ronald Lamola. The Mozambican attorney generals office still hopes he will decide to extradite Chang to Mozambique rather than to the U.S., which requested his arrest and extradition in late 2018.

Lamola won the right to reconsider a decision taken by his predecessor to extradite Chang to Mozambique despite the lack of an extradition treaty between South Africa and Mozambique  and, crucially, despite Changs immunity as a member of parliament.

The attorney generals office has spent more than $1.6 million to have a South African law firm argue that the previous justice ministers decision be respected. The Mozambican civil society consortium FMO, however, wants to see Chang face trial in the U.S.

One of Changs co-defendants in the U.S. case, Privinvests Jean Boustani, was acquitted of the charges he faced in November.

In Mozambique, a number of defendants are in jail awaiting trial. The attorney generals office said Monday that Changs absence is holding up those cases, and it hoped its decision to drop it appeals in South Africa would speed up a decision there.
A State Emergency Service worker is believed to have been bitten by a snake while helping save a man caught in floodwaters.

Paramedics were called to Auld Avenue, Milperra, 24 kilometres west of Sydney's CBD, at 9.20pm on Sunday.

NSW SES spokesman Andrew Richards told Daily Mail Australia the SES worker 'felt something crawling on his neck when he got out of the raft before he felt a bite'.

'We can't confirm at this stage what bit him, however floodwaters often displace animals,' he said.

'The man is okay, and chose to resume work after he was treated by paramedics.'

Paramedics were called to Auld Avenue, Milperra, 24 kilometres west of Sydney's CBD, at 9.20pm on Sunday following reports an SES worker was bitten by a snake

Footage showed crews helping the injured SES worker out of a raft as he clutched at his left shoulder in pain.

He was then checked over after he had taken his protective gear off.

'The man was not taken to hospital by us, but paramedics were querying a snake bite,' a NSW Ambulance spokesman told Daily Mail Australia.

Moments earlier the group had been helping people who had their cars stranded in the floodwater.

Meanwhile, police are searching for a missing car after it was swept off the Galston, 36 kilometres north-west of the Sydney CBD.

A witness called the local Rural Fire Service station to report a silver Mercedes being swept away between 4.30pm and 5pm on Sunday.

The fire station then called police and SES, who began to search for the car by boat.

However, nothing was found and searchers needed to call off the hunt at 8pm due to hazardous conditions.

Investigators said they will continue searching when conditions ease.
RTHK: South Korea's 'Parasite' makes Oscars history

Movie history has been made at the Oscars with South Korea's black comedy "Parasite" becoming the first non-English-language film to win the best picture award, Hollywood's biggest prize of all.

"Parasite," about a poor South Korean family infiltrating a wealthy household, won a total of four awards, defying the received wisdom that the Academy would overlook a subtitled Asian movie.

"I thought I was done for the day and ready to relax," filmmaker Bong Joon-ho said upon winning best director honours, before promising to "drink until next morning."

But a bigger shock was in store as the movie beat frontrunner "1917" to win best picture.

"It feels like a very opportune moment in history is happening right now," producer Kwak Sin-ae told an audience of Tinseltown A-listers, who cheered the film's wins throughout the night at the Dolby Theatre.

"Parasite" also won the Oscar for best international feature, and became the first Asian film to scoop best original screenplay.

"We never write to represent our countries," Bong said earlier in the night when he took the screenplay award. "But this is (the) very first Oscar to South Korea. Thank you."

Bong also paid tribute to his childhood hero and fellow nominee Martin Scorsese, drawing a standing ovation for the veteran director of "The Irishman."

The pre-Oscars favourite "1917," Sam Mendes' innovative and personal World War I movie about two soldiers crossing no-man's-land, had to settle for best cinematography, visual effects and sound mixing prizes.

Joaquin Phoenix won his first Oscar, taking the best actor award for his turn in supervillain origin story "Joker," the film that started the night with the most nominations.

In an emotionally charged speech, the actor railed against injustice and "an egocentric worldview" that leads to environmental destruction, before paying tribute to his actor brother River, who died of a drug overdose in 1993.

"I have been a scoundrel in my life," admitted Phoenix, thanking Hollywood for not "cancelling" him out and urging others to show similar forgiveness.

Renee Zellweger sealed a remarkable comeback after six years away from the screen by winning best actress for "Judy," dedicating the award to Hollywood screen legend Judy Garland.

"Judy Garland did not receive this honour in her time. I am certain that this moment is an extension of the celebration of her legacy," she said in accepting her second Oscar.

"American Factory"  the first film from Barack and Michelle Obama's production house, about a Rust Belt factory reopened by a Chinese billionaire  won best documentary. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2020-02-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Lucknow, Feb 10 : A priest was found murdered in Bakshi Ka Talab area on the outskirts of Lucknow on Monday and his hands were cut off from the body.

According to reports, the priest Amarnath Tiwari, 58, was the head of the Akohara Baba Ashram in Barakhempur village.

The matter came to light on Monday morning when a local resident, Sarvesh, went to the ashram to borrow a ladder. There he saw the priest lying in a pool of blood and immediately informed the police and other local people.

Station House Officer (SHO) of Bakshi Ka Talab police station, Brijesh Singh, said that the body of the priest had severe injuries on the neck and the crime scene indicated that he had struggled with the assailants. His one hand had been severed from the body.

The body has been sent for post mortem.

Ram Lakhan Tiwari, brother of the deceased, denied that the deceased had enmity with anyone.

The SHO said that further investigations were underway and the crime scene had been sealed.
MILAN - Innovative, experience-based, and immersive tourism will be one of the themes that Italy will be taking to the Dubai Expo on October 20.

Meanwhile, during the annual International Tourism Exchange (BIT), taking place through Tuesday at fieramilanocity, Italy's commissioning body for the World Expo is giving a taste of what they will see in the autumn. Posters in the area around fieramilanocity as well as video installations inside the BIT and social media channels are being used by the Italian pavilion to provide exhibitors and visitors a foretaste of what the country's participation in Dubai will consist of. The Expo is expected to be a very important opportunity to attract more tourists from the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia, which in the coming years will generate greater experience-based tourism demand. The School of Management of the Milan Politecnico have assessed Expo 2020 to be a growth factor for tourism to Italy. Over the next five years, they say, the Middle East alone is expected to produce a 5% rise in overnight stays, equal to an extra 25 million euros per year in revenue. In the Italian pavilion at the first World Expo ever in the Arab World, there will be projects and best practices for travelling in addition to showcasing the country's landscapes and artistic-historic heritage of the various regions.
SEATTLE - President Donald Trumps administration has agreed to speed up the cases of some former interpreters for the U.S. military in Iraq and hundreds of other refugees whose efforts to move to the United States have been in limbo since he announced his travel bans three years ago.

The news was contained in a settlement filed in federal court in Seattle on Monday. It concerned more than 300 refugees who were on the verge of being permitted to come to America in 2017 when their applications were halted as part of Trumps efforts to restrict travel from several mostly Muslim nations.

Some of those affected are close relatives of refugees who are already in the U.S., while others are from 11 countries, including Egypt, Iran and Somalia, that Trump singled out, citing security reasons.

The government tried to keep refugee families apart under the pretense of national security, said Lisa Nowlin, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, which sued along with several other organizations. This settlement aims to undo the harmful effects of the illegal and misguided ban on refugees.

The restrictions on refugees from the 11 countries and on relatives of those already in the U.S.  known as follow-to-join refugees  were companion measures to Trumps broader travel bans on those seeking visas to enter the U.S., which the Supreme Court eventually allowed.

U.S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle  the same judge who blocked Trumps initial, broader travel ban in early 2017  blocked the companion refugee restrictions late that year in consolidated lawsuits that were brought by the ACLU, Jewish Family Services, International Refugee Assistance Project and other organizations. They alleged that the refugee bans were discriminatory and arbitrary and that they violated due process rights.

By the time Robart agreed to block the bans, hundreds of refugees had their cases upended, leaving them in administrative limbo. For many, background checks, medical clearances or other required documentation had expired by the time the bans were revoked. That meant they had to begin the process over again.

The plaintiffs included former interpreters for the U.S. military in Iraq, who sued under pseudonyms because they could face threats if their identities became public. Others were refugees who had petitioned to have their spouses and children join them in the U.S. from camps in Kenya, Uganda and elsewhere.

One plaintiff, Allen Vaught, a war veteran from Dallas, said the refugee ban derailed efforts to get my last surviving Iraqi translator, who served bravely alongside U.S. military forces for many years, to the United States.

Under the settlement, the refugees wont automatically be admitted to the U.S., but the government agreed to move their cases to the front of the line for processing.

What the administration did really messed up their cases, said Mariko Hirose, litigation director of the New York-based International Refugee Assistance Project. This settlement is aimed at making sure that people who were affected by the ban are able to get their cases adjudicated and hopefully come to the U.S. very quickly.

The 11 countries were Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, the Republic of South Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
AMUDAT  Desert locusts, which have ravaged parts of Kenya and Somalia, have entered Uganda.

According to State Minister for Karamoja Affairs Moses Kizige, the locusts entered the country through Abwalinga and Ngongosowon villages in Amudat Sub County, Amudat District, on Sunday, February 9, 2020.

The Amudat District agricultural officer, Simon Peter Lodungokol, had earlier on Sunday said the locusts had reached 4km from the border at a place called Kiwawa in Kenya

Dear colleagues at MAAIF and fellow Ugandans, the arrival of the Desert Locusts is now very eminent. I have just received a phone call from my staff on the ground that the Desert Locusts are areportedly just 4 km from AMUDAT District Kenya border. They are currently in a place called Kiwawa in Kenya, he had posted before the ministers confirmation.

The Desert Locusts are expected to reach Amudat in a matter of less than an hour and they are predicted to approach Amudat District through Abwalinga and Ngongosowon villages of AMUDAT Sub county and not Loroo Sub county as earlier on expected. I will keep you accordingly posted of the developments regarding the Desert Locusts impending disaster, he added.

Also Read:

Last week, the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Resources and Fisheries (MAAIF), said government is stocking pesticides to fight desert locusts.

The government is banking on support from Desert Locust Control Organization for Eastern Africa (DLCO-EA) as the threat of desert locust invasion heightens.

Related
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Sorry, kids, the superstitions to try to bring a snow day are unlikely to work this week. So no need to wear your pajamas inside-out and backward.

There will be some snow overnight, but its expected to change to a rain-snow mix before midnight, then become mostly rain. It should taper off by the early afternoon, leaving behind cloudy skies and a high around 40 degrees in both Akron and Cleveland. It will get chilly overnight as temps dip to around 30. It will be mostly cloudy, but no snow is expected.

Tuesday will bring similar conditions, with highs approaching 40, although Akron is expected to see some sunshine in the afternoon. Cleveland wont be so lucky as forecasts are calling for cloudy skies throughout the day. It will be windy in Cleveland, too, with gusts up to 21 mph, but it will remain relatively calm in Akron.

Chances of rain and snow return Wednesday and highs again will be near 40 degrees. It will continue through the night and a slight cooldown on Thursday will likely bring some snow showers on Thursday.

Winter could make its presence felt by the end of the week. Temps Thursday night will dip into the low teens, and Fridays high will stay in the low 20s. Right now there are no predictions of snow, and highs are expected to climb back into the upper 30s on Saturday with mostly sunny skies.

Sunrise: 7:29 a.m.

Sunset: 5:54 p.m.
Photo: The Canadian Press

A gunman was arrested after he ambushed police officers in the Bronx twice in 12 hours, authorities said, wounding two in attacks that brought outrage from officials who blamed the violence on an atmosphere of anti-police rhetoric.

Robert Williams, 45, of the Bronx, was captured after he walked into a police station in the Bronx and started shooting shortly before 8 a.m. Sunday, police said. His shots struck a lieutenant in the arm and narrowly missed other police personnel before he ran out of bullets, lay down and tossed his pistol, officials said.

That attack came just hours after Williams approached a patrol van in the same part of the Bronx and fired at two officers inside, wounding one before escaping on foot, police said.

All of those shot are expected to recover, authorities said.

"It is only by the grace of God and the heroic actions of those inside the building that took him into custody that we are not talking about police officers murdered inside a New York City police precinct, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said at a news conference.

Williams is being charged with attempted murder, criminal weapon possession and resisting arrest, police said in an email late Sunday identifying him as the suspect. He was hospitalized Sunday evening, the Bronx prosecutor's office said. It wasn't clear whether he had an attorney to speak for him.

Williams had been upset since his own son died after being shot in the Bronx, the suspect's grandmother told the New York Post.

He was depressed at times because his son got shot in the street, Mary Williams, 80, told the newspaper. That was his only child.

The officer injured in the first shooting, Paul Stroffolino, was released from the hospital Sunday to applause from colleagues. The officer, a bandage on his neck, gave a thumbs-up.

Shea called Williams a coward" and said he had a long criminal history, including a 2002 shooting and carjacking in which he fired a gun at police. He was paroled from prison in 2017 after an attempted murder conviction, Shea said.

The commissioner also lashed out at criminal justice reform activists who have demonstrated in recent months against excessive force by police, including a large protest in Grand Central Terminal. The protests, he suggested, helped create an anti-police environment.

These things are not unrelated. We had people marching through the streets of New York City recently, Shea said. Words matter. And words affect people's behaviour.

Shea didn't offer any evidence that Williams knew of those protests or was influenced by them.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who won office partly on a promise to reform overly aggressive policing of minority communities, also suggested that anti-police sentiment had gotten out of hand.

Anyone who spews hatred at our officers is aiding and abetting this kind of atmosphere; it is not acceptable," de Blasio said. You could protest for whatever you believe in, but you cannot vilely attack those who are here to protect us. It creates this kind of dynamic.
A 63-year-old woman died of her injuries following a fire at her Vineland duplex last week, authorities said.

Sheri Berman was found in a second-floor bedroom after firefighters responded to the 2600 block of East Landis Avenue around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to Vineland Deputy Fire Chief Mark Cifaloglio.

Berman was airlifted to Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland, Pennsylvania, and died the next day.

The fire was confined to the bedroom, Cifaloglio said.

The cause of the blaze remains under investigation, but it has not been deemed suspicious.

No one else was in the home at the time.

A lifelong Vineland resident, Berman graduated from Vineland High School and Cumberland County College, according to her obituary. She was employed by South Jersey Gas.

Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Weeks after getting shut down by the San Francisco city attorney, the founder of rogue e-scooter company Go X says hes back in business.

Alex Debelov told The Chronicle on Sunday that he plans to sell his fleet of e-scooters, tricycles and e-bikes to the hotels and bike rental shops that have housed them since May. Previously, the startup and the venues shared revenue in exchange for a place to park. He also intends to sell Go X software to those businesses so that these companies can become unique operators.

But records from the city attorneys office show that neither Go X nor its partners have a permit to run transportation devices on the streets of San Francisco.

Go X does not have authorization to operate in San Francisco, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency spokeswoman Erica Kato said. While Mr. Debelov may be communicating with partner agencies, operating a scooter share service in San Francisco requires authorization from SFMTA.

The San Francisco companys announcement comes a month after City Attorney Dennis Herrera sent a cease-and-desist letter ordering Go X to shut down by Jan. 18. At that point, Go X owed $233,800 in fines after racking up 540 citations in 10 months for operating without a permit and carelessly stashing e-scooters in the public right-of-way along Fishermans Wharf and the Embarcadero. Debelov had created his own fake permits using the city seal and a Chamber of Commerce logo, which angered Chamber of Commerce CEO Rodney Fong.

Debelov sent a mass e-mail Thursday to several news reporters, saying his company had received orders to supply 1,575 scooters, trikes and ebikes to its 175 business partners in San Francisco by the end of March. An hour later, he sent a letter to the city attorney, saying that Go X is looking to sell its scooters (and) technology to another business that will be operating their own fleet under their own company, branding, their own app and payment processing.

He asked whether officials foresee any issues with this.

Peter Keith, chief attorney of the city attorneys Neighborhood and Residential Safety unit replied on Friday, noting that the authority to operate mobility devices is ultimately determined by the Municipal Transportation Agency and Public Works. SFMTA issued four e-scooter permits last year following a competitive application process. Those permits expire in October.

Since starting his business in May, Debelov has argued that he falls outside San Franciscos scooter rental regulations because he parks vehicles at businesses rather than on sidewalks. Kato disagreed with that legal theory.

In practice, those Go X scooters more often than not are getting left in the public right of way, she said.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Public Works employees have confiscated many illegally parked Go X e-scooters during the companys 10 months in operation. In one instance that Herrera cited in his cease-and-desist letter, a Go X representative boarded a Public Works truck and seized several scooters that the city had lawfully taken for blocking public streets and sidewalks. The scooters were en route to a storage facility.

Debelov has become famous for headline-grabbing stunts, most recently last month, when he set up a GoFundMe to buy 8,000 slices of pizza  one for every homeless person in San Francisco, he said. He raised $5,640.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan
A senior officer in a pro-government Arab armed group was gunned down in northern Mali on Sunday, officials said, casting a shadow over efforts to reassert state control over the strife-torn north.

The killing comes as Mali's army is due to redeploy to several cities in the north of the West African country, after rebels captured much of the vast semi-arid area in 2012.

Two unidentified assailants on a motorbike killed Yoro Ould Daha near Tamkoukat, in the north, said Moulaye Abdallah Haidara, the permanent secretary of the pro-government Arab Movement of Azawad (MAA).

Daha was the chief of staff of a branch of the MAA allied to the government in Bamako, according to officials, and was involved in implementing a peace deal between Mali and some rebel groups struck in 2015.

Among other things, the pact provided for former rebels joining the army, which would eventually return north.

Jihadists overtook the anti-government rebellion in 2012, and have since spread the conflict to central Mali and neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

Despite the presence of foreign troops, the government has been struggling to contain the jihadist insurgency, which has killed thousands of soldiers and civilians. Much of northern Mali remains outside state control.

But in a sign of renewed momentum, the Malian army said Friday that it would redeploy to the northern city of Kidal before February 10.

The army is due to return to Kidal with units comprised of regulars and former rebels -- one of the key components of the 2015 peace plan. These new units are also due to deploy to other northern cities such as Gao and Timbuktu after they reach Kidal.

Daha, the killed MMA officer, was associated with Gao. He left the city on Sunday to check on his livestock, according to MMA member Aziz Ould Dida, before getting shot.

Ousmane Maiga, a local leader in Gao, said Daha's body was in the town's morgue where members of the local Arab community were also in attendance.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
His Roya Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and Chairman of the Economic Development Board (EDB) yesterday chaired the EDB board meeting held at EDB headquarters, at Bahrain Bay. During the meeting, HRH the Crown Prince highlighted the Kingdoms achievements across all sectors, and stressed the importance of implementing various economic strategies in order to further advance sustainable development, in line with the Kingdoms comprehensive development, led by HM the King.

HRH the Crown Prince emphasised that Bahraini citizens remain an integral part of Team Bahrains efforts, and highlighted the Kingdoms commitment to providing quality opportunities for citizens in tandem with the growth of the national economy. HRH the Crown Prince went on to note that the Kingdoms economic competitiveness is centred around wide-ranging sustainable diversification efforts designed to enhance its business environment and create further investment opportunities.

Khalid Ebrahim Humaidan, Chief Executive of the EDB, then presented the latest economic indicators and developments regarding the performance of the Kingdoms national economy. According to data issued by the International Monetary Fund: Real GDP increased by 2 per cent in 2019, non-oil growth increased by 2.2pc due to improved performance in sectors such as financial services and manufacturing and growth in the oil and gas sector increased by 1pc. Mr Humaidan went on to highlight the EDBs success in attracting Foreign Direct Investment and creating quality opportunities in the local market. The EDB attracted 134 foreign companies into the Kingdom in 2019, resulting in a total direct investment of USD 835 million.

These investments are projected to create more than 6,000 job opportunities in the local market over the next three years. On this note, Mr Humaidan explained that companies from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, State of Kuwait, France, India, Japan, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and others have invested across the Kingdoms various sectors, including hotels and restaurants, financial services, information communication technology (ICT), telecommunications, manufacturing and logistics, real estate, tourism, education and health sectors. Mr Humaidan remarked that each of these investments further enhance Bahrains economic diversification efforts. The presentation provided further insight into a number of other investment success stories from 2019.
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 10: Attorney General William Barr participates in a press conference at the Department of Justice along with DOJ officials on February 10, 2020 in Washington, DC. Barr announced the indictment of four members of China's military on charges of hacking into Equifax Inc. and stealing data from millions of Americans. (Photo by Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images)

Chinese Military Officers Charged With Stealing 145 Million Americans Data in Equifax Hack

U.S. authorities have indicted four members of the Chinese military on charges of hacking the credit-reporting agency Equifax, stealing the sensitive personal information of roughly 145 million Americans and Equifaxs trade secrets, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Jan. 10.

The breach into Equifax in mid-2017 was one of the largest hacks on record, and exposed Americans sensitive financial records, Social Security numbers, and drivers license data.

A federal grand jury in Atlanta returned a nine-count indictment last week that accused four members of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) of engaging in a hacking operation that involved exploiting a vulnerability in Equifaxs online dispute portal.

This was a deliberate and sweeping intrusion into the private information of the American people, said U.S. Attorney General William Barr in a press release.

Wu Zhiyong, Wang Qian, Xu Ke, and Liu Lei were members of the PLAs 54th Research Institute, a unit of the Chinese military, the DOJ stated.

Allegations

The hackers spent weeks in the system, uploading malicious software and stealing login credentials to carry out their theft, Barr said at a Feb. 10 press conference.

Prosecutors allege that the hackers ran about 9,000 queries on Equifaxs system to search for sensitive personal data, and managed to obtain names, birth dates, and Social Security numbers for about 145 million Americansalmost half of all U.S. citizens.

They also routed traffic through 34 servers in nearly 20 locations in order to hide their links to China, the department said.

The indictment also charges the hackers with theft of Equifaxs trade secrets, namely its data compilations and database designs.

The announcement came after a two-year investigation, Barr said.

Equifax CEO Mark Begor said the company was grateful for the federal investigation.

It is reassuring that our federal law enforcement agencies treat cybercrimeespecially state-sponsored crimewith the seriousness it deserves, he said in a Feb. 10 press release.

In the aftermath of the cyberattack, Equifax has agreed to pay up to $700 million to settle claims by harmed customers.

The controversy also led to the departure of its then-CEO Richard Smith and several congressional hearings into the companys delayed disclosure of the breach and its cybersecurity practices.

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), a member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, denounced the Chinese regimes role in the hack.

The Chinese Communist Party will leave no stone unturned in its effort to steal and exploit American data, he said in a Feb. 10 statement.

These indictments are good news, but weve got to do more to protect Americans data from Chinese Communist Party influence operations.

Hacking Campaigns

The Equifax breach, Barr said, was one among a range of Chinese state-backed hacking operations aimed to steal sensitive personal information from Americans.

These include the 2014 hack of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which resulted in the theft of around 23 million records of federal employees; the 2014 hack of Marriott Hotels, which exposed the personal information of up to 500 million customers; and the 2015 breach of U.S. insurer Anthem, which affected a computer system containing data on nearly 80 million people.

This data has economic value, and these thefts can feed Chinas development of artificial intelligence tools as well as the creation of intelligence-targeting packages, Barr said at the press conference.

The OPM data breach involved exfiltrating personal data submitted by applicants for U.S. government security clearances. This included the names, Social Security numbers, and addresses of more than 22 million current and former federal employees and contractors, as well as 5.6 million fingerprints.

Previous reporting by The Epoch Times revealed that the Chinese regime was using stolen information from the OPM hack and other breaches to build a massive database on Americans, and using it for the purpose of political and economic espionage.

State-sponsored hackers have also targeted foreign companies to steal trade secrets, Barr noted.

For instance, in December 2019, the DOJ charged two Chinese nationals working for the regimes top intelligence agency, the Ministry of State Security, over an extensive hacking campaign targeting U.S. government agencies and private companies in the United States and at least a dozen other countries.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Last week, the Ocean Science Team of Reef Life Foundation was on the island to assess and research the 14-month performance of the IntelliReefs artificial reef substrates which were developed to enhance coral and fish growth; deployed as premier in St Maarten waters at the end of 2018. The team which collaborates with the Nature Foundation was funded by the Waitt Institute, conducted several research and monitoring dives on the coral enhancing structures in the Marine Protected Area and on sites around the island. The researchers discovered coral settlement varieties, important coral contributors and highly diverse marine species on the Oceanite substrates. In the coming weeks, samples and monitoring films will be analyzed in detail to determine species composition and abundance on these substrates, stay tuned for scientific updates!

The Ocean Science Team consisted of marine biologists, coral scientists, photographers and videographers, storytellers and staff of the Nature Foundation, they were also locally supported by Pelican Peak, the Scuba Shop, and Dianne Smith, whose catamaran Random Wind, brought all the expedition teams to the dive sites on 29th of January. The scuba shop provided dive equipment and assistance for the team and we experienced the beautiful views and adrenaline rushing zipline of Pelican Peak. We are grateful for our local support in order to improve the resilience of our coral reefs stated Melanie Meijer zu Schlochtern Manager of the Nature Foundation. I was very excited to see the amount of life on the IntelliReefs in such a short time, including young coral colonies. Working with an incredible, dedicated team from the Nature Foundation and Reef Life Foundation inspires hope and sparks my imagination as an Art Reef designer stated Colleen Flanigan part of the Ocean Science Team for the Reef Life Foundation.

In the last couple of years, the coral reefs on Sint Maarten have been deteriorating quickly due to diseases and storms, the reefs were already extremely threatened as pollution, large amounts of wastewater input into the ocean, overfishing and rising ocean temperatures are destroying coral reefs. If we do not have corals, many tourists will choose to enjoy their vacation somewhere else, causing large losses in income for St Maarten, loss of jobs and an average decrease in wealth and access to medical care, increasing poverty. Besides the importance to tourism, coral reefs are critical to protecting us from storms and swells and are the home to many different fishes and marine life species, including the species we love to have on our menus, such as snapper and lobster. Therefore we are honored to have these structures and their performance being tested on St. Maarten, explained Melanie Meijer zu Schlochtern.

The Reef Life Restoration (RLR) nano-engineered reef habitats, called IntelliReefs, are using environmentally sustainable minerals as a specific coral species growth substrates, mimicking the complex composition of natural coral reefs. Biocompatible and highly diverse surface textures and formulations on and within these substrates are designed to function like established coral, including small holes where fertilized coral larvae can attach, be protected and grow to reproductive stage adulthood. These smart coral substrates are being designed to survive extreme weather, increased sedimentation levels, and changes to the broader ecosystem.

"After diving on the Sint Maarten IntelliReefs and conducting surveys of the structures, our initial observations and results indicate that they support an incredible diversity of life. Their porous design provides more surface area per square meter of reef material for settlement and protects the early life stages of important reef-building organisms like corals. We were amazed to see wild coral recruits settling on one of our structures after only 14 months. Our preliminary results suggest that IntelliReefs can increase the biodiversity of reef organisms even in very small areas and provide refuges to important fish and invertebrate species on degraded reefs," specified Emily Harris Reef Life Marine Biology Lead.

The vision of the IntelliReefs project is to deploy these smart substrates on reefs worldwide and use these technologies to protect and recover coral and biodiverse marine creature populations around the world, as many of the worlds scientists feel that entire reef populations will have to be moved to cooler waters, Reef Life structures can serve as Living Shorelines wave protection as well as individual boat mooring surrounds to prevent further damage to the reefs from anchoring. The mooring habitat technology comes at a time when certain European Union countries are outlawing boat anchors except in proper mooring stations, so this system could globally contribute millions of sustainable boat mooring coral, fish, oyster and marine plant eco-habitats.

What have I learned from Coral Reef systems? Healthy reefs are interdependent and take time to develop. I love the way the IntelliReefs initiative represents a win-win for tourism, government, and conservation. It is a long term collaboration with wins for the environment, marine protected areas and the local economy. After 7 years of development, a 14-month pilot test, and a week of diving repeatedly on the three sites in St Maarten, its clear to me that diverse marine life appreciates this Oceanite substrate. Every inch is covered in life. Most exciting are the recruits of mustard hill coral that are growing from the spawning event. Personally, I was honored to be tentacled by an octopus living in the heart of the IntelliReefs substrate, superior at attracting diverse biological growth to every nook and cranny. There are many more experiments we need to do to optimize the architecture and substrate, but for now, Im thrilled to have a tested material that supports diverse biological growth, said Ian Kellet Reef Life Global Project Lead.

Reef Life Foundation supports global efforts being made to further marine protected areas: MPA expansion and effectiveness, as well as saving coral reef creatures great and small; and we hope to reinforce this by continued scientific development of coastal and oceanic solutions to the ravages of climate change concluded Melody Brenna, Reef Life Foundation Director.

To learn more about IntelliReefs: Substrates for Super Corals, check out www.reeflifefoundation.org/intellireefs.

In order to assist to save our oceans, support by donating to www.naturefoundationsxm.org/donate and the Gift A Reef project: www.reeflifefoundation.org/donate.




Swiss voters support including sexual orientation in hate crimes law

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Voters in Switzerland approved on Sunday a proposal to include sexual orientation in the existing criminal law against hate crimes. Evangelicals have warned that it will conflict with freedom of expression.

In a referendum, more than 62 percent of voters supported the proposal to make discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and sexual identity a criminal offense, according to pollster gfs.bern, Reuters reported.

Although the Swiss parliament had passed a law in 2018 to include sexual orientation in its anti-racism statutes, providing for imprisonment of up to three years for an offender, opponents gained the 50,000 signatures needed to call for a referendum on proposed legislation.

The Swiss Evangelical Alliance, locally known as SEA-RES, called the decision problematic and superfluous.

Extending criminal protection against hatred and discrimination to members of sexual minorities is problematic and superfluous. On the one hand, the existing law already offers sufficient possibilities for punishment and, on the other hand, a conflict with freedom of expression is foreseeable, SEA-RES said in a statement.

While evangelicals "condemn all forms of hatred and violence against people of all sexual orientations and believe current laws already protect LGBT persons, the proposed legislation could restrict religious freedom by penalizing those who speak out against LGBT lifestyles or in favor of traditional marriage "in accordance with the understanding of the Bible," the alliance warned.

The historic Protestant Church of Switzerland (or EKS), which is theologically liberal in its teaching on sexuality, supported the changes in the law and encouraged voters to vote yes in the referendum, according to Evangelical Focus.

The LGBT community celebrated Sunday's vote. The result proves a strong sign of acceptance for lesbians, gays and bisexuals, Pink Cross Switzerland said, according to BBC. After the clear yes, the LGBTI community will use this momentum to achieve the consistent implementation of the penal code and to enforce marriage equality.

A bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Switzerland has been in the pipeline since 2013, and LGBT groups are now likely to push for it.

SEA-RES General Secretary Marc Jost said evangelical churches see the marriage of a man and a woman as the only couple they want to marry.

We just want to be free to say: OK, we want to privilege the marriage of a man and a woman. And we don't want to be at risk if we share this opinion, and treat other couples in a different way, he explained, according to BBC.
Ireland's Indian-origin Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has suffered a huge setback in the general election as his liberal-conservative Fine Gael party took a battering in the face of an unprecedented surge in the fortunes of the nationalist party Sinn Fein.

As the poll results poured in overnight on Sunday, Varadkar's party was pushed down to third place with Sinn Fein in the lead, followed by conservative Fianna Fail in second place.

In what has been described as one of the most extraordinary election results for the country, the process of government formation is likely to be very long-drawn one with Varadkar having ruled out an alliance with Sinn Fein historically associated with the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and dedicated to the reunification of Ireland.

The final results of the weekend's election are still being counted but with all first preferences counted, Sinn Fein has 24.5 per cent compared to 22.2 per cent for Fianna Fail and 20.9 per cent for Fine Gael.

"Nobody can be forced into some sort of forced marriage or forced coalition," said 41-year-old Varadkar, who took over as the Irish Taoiseach or Prime Minister in 2017.

"In order to form a government together, you have to have roughly the same views around the courts and the criminal justice system; around how the economy and society should be run and also how democracy should function. That is what makes my party Fine Gael not compatible with Sinn Fein," he said.

"Quick thinking and dynamic, he surfed a wave of popularity, but the electorate's loyalty has withered," The Irish Times commented on Ireland's first openly gay prime minister, the son of an Indian father and Irish mother.

Varadkar has indicated a coalition with Fianna Fail could be possible, saying "we are willing to talk to other parties about the possibility of forming a new government, one that would lead the country forward for the next five years".

Michael Martin, the leader of Fianna Fail, has meanwhile left the door more widely open, saying he is a "democrat" and would "listen to the people."



Sinn Fein's win of over 24 per cent of the popular vote in the voting that took place on Saturday puts Anglo-Irish relations also on the line, with the party a vocal critic of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit deal.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald has hailed her party's successes across the country and is reaching out to other left-wing parties to arrange talks on government formation.

Candidates in Ireland are elected by single transferable vote (STV), with each constituency returning between three and five deputies, each called a Teachta Dala or TD.

It is clear that no one party will win enough seats for an outright majority, leaving Varadkar's future as the Irish Taoiseach in doubt.

A former general practitioner, Varadkar became the country's youngest Prime Minister over two years ago. He has kept his Indian connect alive over the years, completing an internship at the King Edward Memorial Hospital in Mumbai.

In December, Varadkar along with his family members visited his ancestral village Varad in the coastal Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra for the first time.

His father Ashok Varadkar, a doctor, moved from Mumabi to the UK in the 1960s.

The visit was a "special moment" as three generations of his family gathered at Varad, he said after the villagers felicitated him.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sharon Stone looked incredibly youthful at Elton John's Oscar viewing party in Los Angeles on Sunday evening.

The 61-year-old Basic Instinct vet wore a plunging black gown that revealed her chest as she had her hair slicked back.

This comes a month after the college graduate revealed she was kicked off the dating app Bumble because someone didn't think it could possibly be the Hollywood icon.

Close up look: Sharon Stone looked incredibly youthful at Elton John's Oscar viewing party in Los Angeles on Sunday evening

Dressed to impress us all: The 61-year-old Basic Instinct vet wore a plunging black gown that revealed her chest as she had her hair slicked back

'I went on the @bumble dating sight and they closed my account,' Stone complained on Twitter.

'Some users reported that it couldn't possibly be me!' she added.

In the past she has said she 'never gets asked out.'

Stone has not had an easy life even though she was given stunning looks that helped her landed an enviable acting career.

Cutting loose: The Sliver actress put her arms out when she watched the Oscars

Fun night with a model: And on the right was Heidi Klum who seemed thrilled too

In 2001 she suffered a stroke when living with husband Phil Bronstein in San Francisco.

'This is why I do it: My mother had a stroke. My grandmother had a stroke. I had a massive stroke  and a nine-day brain bleed,' she told Variety in 2019.

'People treated me in a way that was brutally unkind,' she said. And she wasn't referring to men (other than perhaps her ex-husband Phil Bronstein). 'From other women in my own business to the female judge who handled my custody case, I don't think anyone grasps how dangerous a stroke is for women and what it takes to recover  it took me about seven years.'

On stage: The Mosaic actress was also seen on stage with a microphone

And she had to fight to keep her eldest soan; she has three kids, Roan, 19, Laird, 14, and Quinn, 13.

'[From] trying to keep custody of my son to just functioning  to be able to work at all,' Stone added.

'I was so grateful to [LVMH head and now the second-richest person in the world] Bernard Arnault, who rescued me by giving me a Dior contract. But I had to remortgage my house. I lost everything I had. I lost my place in the business. I was like the hottest movie star, you know?' she said, her voice trailing off. 'It was like Miss Princess Diana and I were so famous  and she died and I had a stroke. And we were forgotten.'
A brick company in Son La Province. SMEs need easier access to resources in order to develop. - VNA/VNS Photo Huu Quyet

The Law on Supporting SMEs came into force more than two years ago, but SMEs were still struggling to access credit, land and support programmes.

According to Nguyen Van Than, chairman of the Viet Nam Association of SMEs, problems remained in the implementation of the law.

Than pointed out that the resources available to implement the law remained limited, adding that many localities had not allocated resources to support SMEs.

He said the number of SMEs able to access bank credit and support funds was modest.

High logistics costs were affecting SMEs market expansion as well as lack of competitiveness, plus complicated administrative procedures and slow issuance of preferential policies had made it difficult for them to tackle these difficulties, Than said.

Mac Quoc Anh, deputy chairman of Ha Noi's Association of SMEs, said there were gaps between policies and enforcement as well as the real demands of SMEs.

Quoc Anh said that SMEs still faced problems such as complicated administrative procedures, inconsistent business requirements and vague regulations.

The biggest problem for SMEs was a lack of capital which resulted in small-scale operations and the lack of a long-term strategy, he said, adding that they did not have money to invest in advanced technologies.

The majority of SMEs were using outdated technologies and renovation among SMEs remained slow, he said.

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Vu Dai Thang said that support for SMEs mainly came from local authorities.

As of the end of 2019, 50 out of 63 provinces and cities had developed plans and projects to allocate resources to support SMEs, the ministrys statistics showed. However, localities were still facing problems bringing support policies into real life or identifying areas of strength.

The ministry said that policies on corporate income tax, non-agricultural land fees and incentives for SME investments must be more specific. In addition, policies must encourage business households to transform into enterprises.

Priority should be given to allocating resources to support SMEs, the ministry said, adding that a programme to support SMEs and start-up firms from 2021-25 period would be proposed to the Prime Minister soon for approval.

There were around 760,000 enterprises in Viet Nam as of the end of 2019, around 98 per cent of which were SMEs.


Learners of foreign languages can hear the errors in pronunciation that fellow learners tend to make, but may continue to make the same mistakes themselves despite years of practice, according to a study which may lead to better ways of providing external feedback in language courses.

The researchers, including those from Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) of Munich in Germany, said one of the hurdles in learning a foreign language is knowing the right was to pronounce words, in which learners are typically prone to specific sets of errors.

In their study, published in the journal PLOS One, they revealed that people laugh at these mistakes in pronunciation made by their peers, even though they make the same mistakes themselves.This reaction, the researchers said, points to a paradox in which learners register errors when made by others, but find it virtually impossible to eliminate the same typical errors in their own pronunciation even after years of practice.

Learners have a tendency to overestimate the quality of their own pronunciation, said Eva Reinisch, study co-author from LMU. As a rule, they believe that their English is better than that spoken by their fellow students at language schools, although they make the same set of errors, Reinisch said.

According to the study, this exaggerated assessment of ones own ability is a significant factor explaining why it is difficult to learn the sounds of a foreign language.

In the study, the scientists asked 24 female German learners of English to read out 60 short sentences like The family bought a house, The jug is on the shelf, and They heard a funny noise. Weeks later, the same learners were invited to the lab again, and asked to listen to recordings of four learners -- three from others, and one of their own -- and were asked to grade the pronunciation of each sentence. The recordings were manipulated in such a way that the female speakers sounded like male speakers to ensure that participants would not recognise their own productions, the study noted.

This element of the experimental design is crucial. It was essential that none of listeners would be aware that their own productions were included in the test sample, otherwise their assessments couldnt be taken as unbiased, said Holger Mitterer, another co-author of the study from the University of Malta in Malta. In all cases, the listeners rated their own pronunciation as better than others did, even when they were unable to recognise that it was their own recording, the researchers noted. We were surprised that the experiment so clearly pointed to the significance of overestimation of ones own abilities in this context, Reinisch added.



The researchers said the results could be due to familiar accents being easier to understand than accents that are less commonly spoken. One is best acquainted with the sound of ones own voice, and has no difficulty understanding it, Reinisch said Perhaps this familiarity leads us to regard our pronunciation as being better than it actually is, she said. Another possible factor contributing to the finding, the scientists said, is known as the mere exposure effect in which people rate things which they are more familiar with -- such as the sound of our own voice -- as more congenial.

According to the researchers, the findings emphasise the importance of external feedback in language courses, since it increases the learners awareness of deficits in language production and comprehension. A lack of feedback, according to the study, increases the risk of learners feeling that they have already mastered the unfamiliar articulation patterns in the new language, while that may not be the case. As long as we believe that we are already pretty good, we are not going to put in more effort to improve, Reinisch said.



(This story has been published from a wire agency feed with a few modifications to the text.)

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A fresh batch of foreign envoys including many from the European Union will visit Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday to get first-hand information about the ground situation after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, officials said on Monday.

The envoys will be here on a two-day visit during which they would interact with civil society, security officials and politicians, who were not detained by the administration in August last year.

The delegation will comprise envoys mainly from the European Union as well as from Gulf countries.

The visit comes ahead of a possible voting by the European Union (EU) Parliament on a debate held last month on Kashmir and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

At that time, the voting was deferred and it may now take place during the next plenary session of the EU Parliament to be held from March 31.

The EU envoys had refused to take part in an earlier visit of diplomats, saying they needed some time to discuss among themselves. The envoys had also said they would visit Kashmir together.

The central government had on August 5, 2019 abrogated Article 370 and bifurcated the erstwhile state Jammu and Kashmir into Union territories, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Earlier, a delegation of 23 EU MPs had visited Kashmir to access the ground situation in the Union territory.

The International Institute for Nonaligned Studies, a Delhi-based think tank, which had organised the visit then faced criticism for choosing people with certain ideological bent for the visit.

Owing to the controversy, the state government had distanced itself from the visit and Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy informed the parliament that the European parliamentarians were on a "private visit".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend that the Trump administration has purchased access to a commercial database that tracks the location and movement of millions of cell phones in order to aid in the deportation of immigrants living in the United States and to track people as they cross the border.

The revelation of this program shows that the governments illegal dragnet surveillance has been expanded since the exposure of mass National Security Agency spying by whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013.

Promises of a national dialogue on domestic electronic spying and the passage of legislation to provide more oversight of government operations were never anything more than a sham. The federal government is now outsourcing to private contractors a significant share of the electronic surveillance it had previously been carrying out itself.

[Credit: AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File]

This breach of the American and world populations right to privacy, first justified by President George W. Bush under the guise of the war on terror, then expanded under President Barack Obama, is now being utilized in Trumps fascistic war on immigrants. While the government claims that the cell phone data it uses is anonymized to protect American citizens, such measures will not be limited to immigrants. They will be used against left-wing political opponents of the government and to suppress any eruption of popular opposition by the working class.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Trump administration began purchasing cell phone location data in 2017 from a company in the suburbs of Washington, DC named Venntel. This company has multiple ties to Gravy Analytics, a major mobile advertising firm.

Venntel purchases location data gathered by weather, game, commerce and other applications downloaded by cell phone users and then resells that information to its clients, in this case the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Smartphone apps are constantly giving off signals to cell phone towers and other devices that provide the exact location of the user. Corporate marketers have been using this information to target advertising at consumers with increasingly frightening accuracy. While smartphone users may think they are getting a weather report for their commute, their location is being fed directly to the government that is plotting to deport them.

The use of commercial databases is an end run around a 2018 Supreme Court ruling, Carpenter v. United States, placing restrictions on the federal governments ability to directly collect cell phone data on individuals from the big phone companies. In this case, the government is a commercial purchaser like anybody else. Carpenter is not relevant, Paul Rosenzweig, a former DHS deputy assistant secretary for policy, told the Wall Street Journal. The government is just buying a widget.

Instead of following due process and going to a federal court to get a warrant to track a criminal suspect, the government is purchasing bulk data from marketing firms to spy on everyone living in or traveling to the United States. The Wall Street Journals report notes that the purchase of marketing data is widely used by US agencies to gather intelligence internationally, though the extent is unclear as these contracts are classified.

The number of smartphone users in the United States has exploded over the last decade, rising from 63 million in 2010 to 273 million this year, more than three-quarters of the total population. In Mexico, the number of users is expected to rise from 71 million to 92 million in 2024, more than 70 percent of the population. Nearly two-thirds of the worlds population, 4.8 billion people, currently use a smartphone. The potential for government surveillance utilizing the information put out by these devices is vast.

While the New York Times published an editorial this weekend calling for congressional hearings into the Trump administrations use of what the newspaper termed the most invasive corporate surveillance system ever devised, the revelation has passed largely in silence. It was not mentioned in the Sunday news interview programs nor raised by any of the Democratic presidential candidates. This is due to the fact that there is no section of the ruling elite that is committed to the defense of basic constitutional rights, and the assault on the democratic rights of American citizens and immigrants is bipartisan.

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed an extension of the 2001 Patriot Act in November, including a provision that allows for the bulk warrantless surveillance of domestic electronic communications metadata. Even as they pursued the impeachment of Trump over his foreign policy in relation to Russia, and insisted that Trump is a stooge of Vladimir Putin, the Democrats ensured that the president retained invasive spying powers.

The impeachment process did not stop the Democrats from helping Trump deliver on his major policy initiatives, from allowing Trump to illegally transfer billions of dollars in Pentagon funds to build his wall along the US-Mexico border, to allocating $738 billion for military spending, to passing his austerity budget and ratifying the anti-China trade pact with Mexico and Canada.

The anti-Russia, national security impeachment, which predictably ended in a debacle for the Democrats, was a political diversion aimed at suppressing popular opposition to the ever-widening war on immigrants, including the denial of the right to asylum and the imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of immigrants, including thousands of children, in detention camps.

With impeachment behind him, Trump has been empowered to escalate his attacks on the democratic rights of immigrants as well as the entire population. These attacks cannot be fought through the Democratic Party, a party of the CIA, the Pentagon and Wall Street. The only social force that can defeat Trump and the financial oligarchy that controls both parties is the working class.

The Socialist Equality Party is running its presidential campaign to build a revolutionary leadership in the working class that will fight to defend the democratic rights of all people. The SEPs candidates, Joseph Kishore for president and Norissa Santa Cruz for vice president, stand for the abolition of national borders and the right of all people to travel and work wherever they please, free from state surveillance and harassment.

For more information on the SEP election campaign and to sign up, visit socialism2020.org.
Companies like LG and NVIDIA aren't the only ones having second thoughts about Mobile World Congress in light of the current coronavirus outbreak. CNET sources say Samsung is scaling back its plans to attend the wireless extravaganza, with many executives cancelling their trips. The company is still "considering" its options and might change its approach again, the sources said, but it might not have nearly as much beyond its usual booth.

The company didn't comment on the report.

In addition to high-profile companies leaving the show, the GSMA (which organizes MWC) has also implemented some screening efforts in a bid to reduce the chances of coronavirus infections. It's banning all guests from China's Hubei province, where the outbreak started, and will require that visitors who have been to China prove that they haven't been there for the last 14 days. They'll also have to go through temperature checks and attest that they haven't been in contact with infected people.

Samsung doesn't need MWC as much as some of its competitors do. The company is set to make its biggest announcements at its Unpacked event on February 11th, and anything new at MWC would likely be secondary to that. Even so, a partial exit could represent a significant blow by preventing the business deals that frequently take place at the show. It would also show the extent to which coronavirus fears are affecting the tech world. You know health concerns are serious if a heavyweight like Samsung shrinks its presence at a trade event where it frequently dictates the conversation.
Police, who according to a report said there was a strong odor of marijuana coming from inside the house, saw Larry Davison, 28, of that address, walking to the back of the residence and asked him to stay in the front room while they checked the residence.
Two Russian children killed in Phuket speedboat collision

PHUKET: At least two people died and up to 22 people were injured in a speedboat collision off Phukets east coast this morning (Feb 10).



By Eakkapop Thongtub

Monday 10 February 2020, 10:36AM

One of the damaged boats this morning (Feb 10). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

One of the damaged boats this morning (Feb 10). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

One of the damaged boats this morning (Feb 10). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

One of the damaged boats this morning (Feb 10). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

Reports place the accident in the channel linking Phukets two main marinas with the the bay on the east side of the island at about 8:15am

The 22 injured in the accident were taken to vairous hospitals, as follows: four to Mission Hospital Phuket; 11 to Bangkok Hospital Phuket; six to Bangkok Hospital Siriroj; and one Russian national was taken to Vachira Hospital Phuket.

Video footage at the scene showed rescue workers performing CPR to young Western children.

Maj Ekachai Siri of the Phuket Tourist Police has confirmed that the two people killed were both children, and both Russian: a 12-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl.

In his initial report this morning Maj Ekachai, along with Marine Police Region 8 Chief Col Prasert Srikhunrat, explained that tour boat Payan 5, operated by Seastar company, was en route from Laem Nga in Rassada to pick tourists up at Royal Phuket Marina when the accident happened.

While the Payan 5 was turning into the access channel to arrive at Royal Phuket Marina, it was struck by another boat, the ALP operated by LP company.

The ALP boat was full with tourists and heading out into the bay from near Phuket Boat Lagoon, which is located further along the access channel, Col Prasert said.

There were 39 people on the two boats, he noted.

Of those, 15 people received immediate medical treatment and discharged from care, and a further 20 people were taken to the four hospitals above.

Four crewmen on the two boats were not injured, he added.

At this time, the investigation into the collision is still ongoing. Officers will inspect the scene of the accident before traveling to see the injured persons at the hospitals next, Col Prasert said.
West Bengal Chief minister Mamata Banerjee Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the union government to work together with opposition parties and refrain from the " of vendetta" to revive the economy.

Every body should work together to improve the economic condition. If needed Prime Minister Narendra Modi should speak to the opposition parties, the TMC supremo said at a post budget press conference.

The budget is the last full budget before the crucial 2021 state assembly polls.

Banerjee referred to the recent comments by RBI on the state of the economy and said the union government should look after it, instead of being busy in the of hatred.

"Whatever RBI is saying is a sensitive matter. The union government should look after the economy, instead of being busy in the of hatred. The prime minister should take everybody along, if needed hold discussions with opposition parties," Banerjee said while urging the union government to refrain from the "politics of vendetta".

The Union government nowadays does not consult states before taking any decision, Banerjee alleged.

The state Budget presented today is a pro people budget keeping in mind the needs of the people, she asserted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In 2020 Shell will face unprecedented legal scrutiny over decades of human rights abuses in Nigeria, Amnesty International said on Monday, as the oil giant braces itself for conclusions in a string of European court battles.

Allegations range from complicity in unlawful executions to systemic pollution and environmental damage in the Niger Delta.

Amnesty International, in a press statement issued on Monday, said it has been researching Shells activities in the Niger Delta for more than 20 years, compiling compelling evidence of the companys role in human rights abuses. In a report released today, the organisation highlights the various cases that are finally putting Shells harmful operations in Nigeria on trial.

Shell began the year with another attempt to greenwash its role in the climate crisis, trying to present itself as the future of energy even as the planet burns. This expensive PR effort must not divert attention from the fact that Shell is facing a year of unprecedented legal scrutiny over its business in Nigeria, said Mark Dummett, Amnesty Internationals Head of Business, Security and Human Rights.

Shells business model has allowed it to benefit from weaknesses in Nigerias justice and regulatory systems, wreaking havoc on Nigerian lives and livelihoods while profits continue to flow to its European headquarters. A just transition to clean energy also means holding polluters to account for the harm they have caused in the past.

For the new report, Amnesty researchers interviewed people from several Niger Delta communities about the ongoing impact of pollution and oil spills.

Shell denies all claims.

Read the full statement below.

Nigeria: 2020 could be Shells year of reckoning

In 2020 Shell will face unprecedented legal scrutiny over decades of human rights abuses in Nigeria, Amnesty International said today, as the oil giant braces itself for conclusions in a string of European court battles. Allegations range from complicity in unlawful executions to systemic pollution and environmental damage in the Niger Delta.

Amnesty International has been researching Shells activities in the Niger Delta for more than 20 years, compiling compelling evidence of the companys role in human rights abuses. In a report released today, the organization highlights the various cases that are finally putting Shells harmful operations in Nigeria on trial.

Shell began the year with another attempt to greenwash its role in the climate crisis, trying to present itself as the future of energy even as the planet burns. This expensive PR effort must not divert attention from the fact that Shell is facing a year of unprecedented legal scrutiny over its business in Nigeria, said Mark Dummett, Amnesty Internationals Head of Business, Security and Human Rights.

Shells business model has allowed it to benefit from weaknesses in Nigerias justice and regulatory systems, wreaking havoc on Nigerian lives and livelihoods while profits continue to flow to its European headquarters. A just transition to clean energy also means holding polluters to account for the harm they have caused in the past.

For the new report, Amnesty researchers interviewed people from several Niger Delta communities about the ongoing impact of pollution and oil spills.

King Okpabi, customary ruler of the Ogale community, expressed a widely-held frustration at Shells failure to take responsibility for its actions:

Shell spoiled our water and destroyed our livelihoods. It is now spending millions to protect itself and tell the world that it has no responsibilities towards the people of Ogale, rather than addressing the wrong it did to us.

The claims against Shell

Due to the difficulties of bringing legal claims in Nigeria, individuals and communities affected by Shells operations in Nigeria are bringing cases in the Netherlands and the UK where Shell is headquartered. These could set important precedents for holding polluting multinationals to account in future.

Kiobel v Shell: In the first of this years legal milestones, in March a court in The Hague will hear witness statements from four women who accuse Shell of complicity in the unlawful arrest, detention and execution of their husbands by the Nigerian military in 1995. The women are claiming compensation and a public apology from Shell. The executions were the culmination of a brutal campaign by Nigerias military to silence protests against Shells pollution.

Four Farmers Cases: In May 2020, a final hearing is expected in a case brought against Shell by four Nigerian farmers and Friends of the Earth in 2008. They are seeking compensation from both Netherlands and UK-based Royal Dutch Shell (RDS) and its Nigerian subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), for alleged damage to fish ponds and land caused by oil spills.

This case is the first time that any Dutch company had been sued in a Dutch court for the operations of its subsidiaries overseas.

Okpabi and Others: In June 2020, the UKs Supreme Court will hear an appeal brought against RDS and SPDC by two Niger Delta communities, Ogale and Bille. They claim that over several years they have suffered systematic and ongoing oil pollution because of Shells operations. The court will decide whether it can proceed on the critical issue of whether RDS is liable for the actions of SPDC.

This case is illustrative of the way that Shells corporate structure has shielded it from scrutiny and justice.

Shells activities in Ogale have poisoned water and brought farming to a halt, but jurisdictional wrangling over whether RDS or SPDC is responsible for this damage means that Shell has never had to answer for this in a UK or Dutch court, said Mark Dummett.

Shell claims that RDS is not responsible for the actions of its subsidiary even though it owns 100 percent of SPDC and receives the profits that it makes.

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Bodo: In 2008 there were two massive oil spills, caused by poorly maintained Shell pipelines, in a creek close to the Bodo community. Crude oil continuously leaked into the water for five weeks on each occasion. Shell settled with the community in 2014 but has yet to clean up Bodos devastated waterways. If the pollution is not cleared by mid-2020, the case will be referred back to the UK High Court.

Pastor Christian Kpandei, one of the communitys most vocal activists, says he lost everything when the oil spills killed the fish in his ponds. He told Amnesty: The lack of clean-up has deeply affected us. The soil, the water and the air are all still contaminated.

States are also scrutinising Shells operations.

The OPL 245 bribery case: Prosecutors in Italy are bringing a criminal case over the alleged involvement of Shell, and the Italian oil multinational Eni, in a 1.3 billion US dollar bribery scheme connected to the transfer of a Nigerian oil licence. If found guilty, the individual defendants could go to jail.

Shell denies all claims.

It shouldnt require legal action to get Shell to fulfil its human rights responsibilities. Shell has an obligation to respect the human rights of people in the Niger Delta, including by taking all reasonable steps to prevent spills and then remediate contaminated land and water, said Mark Dummett.

It has consistently, over many decades and in some truly horrifying ways, failed to do this.

Amnesty is calling on Shell to improve its operational practices in the Niger Delta, at a time when the role of Shell and other fossil fuel companies in the climate crisis is coming under increasing scrutiny.

Data from Shells own spill incident reports reveal that from 2011-18 the company reported 1,010 spills along the network of pipelines and wells that it operates in Nigeria. Spills have a variety of causes  from third-party tampering, to operational faults and corrosion of aged facilities. Shell blames most spills on theft and pipeline sabotage. But research by Amnesty and its partner organization the Centre for the Environment Human Rights and Development shows that the companys facts and figures emerge from a flawed process for identifying the volume, cause and impact of oil spills. The research also shows that this process often lacks both independence and oversight, partly because the government regulators are so weak. As a result, Shells findings cannot be trusted.
The Q4 earnings season, which is in its last leg, has painted an impressive picture with a large proportion of companies reporting better-than-expected earnings per share. According to our latest earnings outlook, of the 323 S&P 500 companies to have reported, 72.1% have outperformed on the bottom-line front. What is more encouraging is that the bullish run is likely to continue.

The reassuring earnings picture has come as a relief for investors who have been on the edge due to coronavirus fears. Amid coronavirus-related fears, the high proportion of earnings outperformances looks encouraging, as an earnings beat by a company generally leads to an appreciation in its stock price. Given this backdrop, investors would like to have outperformers in their respective portfolios as they strive for healthy returns.

However, the task is difficult with a deluge of companies in the market. Moreover, the complexities associated with the stock market makes it even more difficult for individual investors to select outperformers in their portfolios in the absence of guidance from experts in the field. These experts are brokers who are equipped with detailed knowledge about the space.

Brokers, irrespective of their types (sell-side, buy-side or independent), have a lot more information on a company, at their disposal, and its prospects than individual investors. To attain their objectives, they go through minute details of the publicly-available financial documents apart from attending company conference calls and other presentations.

Estimate revisions by brokers serve as important pointers regarding the price of a stock. In fact, a rating upgrade generally leads to stock-price appreciation. Similarly, the price of a stock may plummet following a rating downgrade.

Winning Strategy

The above write-up clearly suggests that by following broker actions, one can arrive at a winning portfolio of stocks. Keeping this in mind, we have designed a screen to shortlist stocks based on improving analyst recommendation and upward revisions to earnings estimates over the last four weeks.

Story continues

Also, since the price/sales ratio is a strong complementary valuation metric in the presence of analyst information, it has been included. The price/sales ratio takes care of the companys top line, making the strategy foolproof.

Screening Criteria

# (Up- Down Rating)/ Total (4 weeks) =Top #75 (This gives the list of top 75 companies that have witnessed net upgrades over the last 4 weeks).

% change in Q (1) est. (4 weeks) = Top #10 (This gives the top 10 stocks that have witnessed earnings estimate revisions over the past 4 weeks for the upcoming quarter).

We have also added the following screening parameters to ensure that the strategy is a winning one:

Price-to-Sales = Bot%10 (The lower the ratio the better, companies meeting this criteria are in bottom 10% of our universe of over 7,700 stocks with respect to this ratio).

Price greater than 5 (as a stock trading below $5 will not likely create significant interest for most of the investors).

Average Daily Volume greater than 100,000 shares over the last 20 trading days (Volume has to be significant to ensure that these are easily traded).

Market value ($ mil) = Top #3000 (This gives us stocks that are the top 3000 in terms of market capitalization).

Com/ADR/Canadian= Com (This takes out the ADR and Canadian stocks).

Here are five of the 10 stocks that made it through the screen:

Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings (AAWW): The company, currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), is a provider of outsourced aircraft and aviation operating services.Over the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the stocks current-year earnings has moved 3.1% north. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

AmerisourceBergen Corporation (ABC): This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company is one of the worlds largest pharmaceutical services companies, which focuses on providing drug distribution and related services to reduce health care costs and improve patient outcomes. The stock comes from a favorable Zacks industry (top 33%).

Murphy USA MUSA, a Zacks #3 (Hold) Ranked stock, is headquartered in El Dorado, AR. The company is a leading independent retailer of motor fuel and convenience merchandise in the United States. The company's expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 7.7%, higher than the industry's projected rise of 2.8%.

Headquartered in Denton, TX, Sally Beauty Holdings SBH is an international specialty retailer and distributor of professional beauty supplies. Over the last 60 days, this Zacks Rank #3 stock has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the ongoing-quarter earnings being revised upward to the tune of 1.9%.

Dublin, Ireland-based Adient PLC ADNT is one of the worlds largest automotive seating supplier. Adient, carrying a Zacks Rank #3, has an impressive earnings surprise history having surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the past four quarters. It missed estimates in the other quarter.

You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge.

The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.

Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today.

Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance.



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Holocaust survivor shares harrowing story, urges Americans to 'call out' religious persecution

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A Holocaust survivor shared her story of pain and loss to encourage the international community to stand up, call out religious and ethnic intolerance and persecution, and work toward the idea of never again.

Theodora Klayman shared her story Wednesday during a National Prayer Breakfast sideline event on religious persecution worldwide co-hosted by the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. and 21Wilberforce.

Born in 1938 in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, Klayman was 7 years old at the end of World War II.

I still do remember, so I will speak about that, she said.

She described Yugoslavia as a country cobbled together after World War I and made up of differing historical alliances, many religions, several languages, and serious ideological and political disagreements.

These disagreements resulted in the formation of an ultranationalist group known as the Ustasa, who broke off from the Yugoslav establishment and collaborated with the Nazis. With the support of Nazi Germany, the Ustasa ruled the Independent State of Croatia, eager to persecute anyone who was not politically conservative, Croatian, and Catholic, Klayman said.

Klaymans grandfather was a Jewish Rabbi who had served as the community rabbi for more than 40 years and taught religion courses in the local school alongside the Catholic priest. She described her familys relationship with their predominantly Catholic neighbors as very cordial.

For the forty years my family lived there, practically no anti-Semitic incidents occurred in that area, she recalled.

But just a few months after the Nazis invaded Yugoslavia, Klaymans parents and infant brother, Zdravko, were arrested. Her father was deported to the notorious Jasenovac concentration camp and their mother to Stara Gradiska, a subcamp of Jasenovac.

Fortunately, their housekeeper was able to get Zdravko released from jail. Both children were taken to Ludbreg, where they were cared for by their grandparents.

But by 1942, the entire reaming Jewish community of Ludbreg was deported, including my family members, she said. All were soon killed.

Klayman and her brother were left behind with their mothers sister and her Catholic husband, Ljudevit. However, in 1943, Ljudevit was arrested on suspicion of supporting the partisan resistance movement and sent to Jasenovac. In his absence, his wife was arrested and deported to Auschwitz, where she soon died from an intestinal illness.

Meanwhile, Klayman and her young brother hid with their neighbors, the Runjaks, and pretended to be their children.

Most people knew we were the Rabbis grandchildren and were aware where we were hiding, but they never denounced us, she said.

After liberation, Ljudevit, realizing that Klayman and Zdravkos parents had been killed, legally adopted the children. He was concerned for their well-being, she recalled, especially as the local priest had made veiled threats against them.

He then made the decision to have my brother and me baptized for added protection, she said.

The family of three attempted to rebuild their lives. Eventually, Klayman moved to Switzerland. She married Daniel Klayman, a Jewish American research chemist, in the fall of 1958, and the two later they settled in the Washington, D.C., area with their two children.

The recipient of degrees from the University of Maryland in French and in teaching English as a second language, Klayman taught in the Maryland public school system for 30 years.

The history of the Holocaust, my history, highlights the precariousness of persecuted people and the power of individuals, even whole towns, to stand up and do what is right even in extraordinary times," she said.

Klayman emphasized she will forever be grateful to those who fought against the Nazis and those who sheltered and protected her and her brother, risking their own lives to do so.

Tragically we all know that such hatred, even genocide, did not end with the Holocaust, she said. We are here this morning to highlight the experiences of people who are being persecuted today solely for their religious or ethnic identity. Leaders and laypeople have the capacity to act, they must now summon the will to do so.

Klayman said she hopes her story inspires listeners to stand up, call out religious and ethnic intolerance and persecution, and work toward the idea of never again.
Ukraine needs FTA extension, visa facilitation with Canada, PM says

21:30, 10.02.20 380

A special assessment mission from Canada's Immigration Department is set to arrive in May.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 10)  Solicitor General Jose Calida filed a petition before the Supreme Court to revoke the existing franchise of ABS-CBN, saying the TV network has violated rules set by Congress.

The government's lawyer ran to the high court with a "very urgent" motion requesting to cancel ABS-CBN's legislative franchise weeks before it lapses. Calida claimed that the Lopez-owned network committed violations in the terms set by Congress when it approved ABS-CBN's franchise in 1995.

The quo warranto petition was lodged against ABS-CBN Corporation and its subsidiary, ABS-CBN Convergence Inc.

Calida said he wants to put an end to "highly abusive practices of ABS-CBN" which went unnoticed for years. For one, he said the network allowed foreign investors to "take part in the ownership of a Philippine mass media entity" despite being prohibited by the Constitution.

He likened the violation to online network Rappler, which supposedly issued Philippine Deposit Receipts to foreigners which meant giving control and voting rights to them.

READ: We won't go after other media firms with depositary receipts, SEC says

ABS-CBN also went beyond its mandate when it launched its TV Plus subscription service and the KBO Channel without approval from the National Telecommunications Commission, according to the complaint.

"The legislative franchises of ABS-CBN Corporation and its subsidiary, ABS-CBN Convergence, Inc., must be revoked. A franchise is a special privilege granted by the State, and should be restricted only to entities which faithfully adhere to our Constitution and laws," Calida said in a statement.

But Calida claimed that there's no politics involved in filing the petition.

President Rodrigo Duterte has personally vowed to put the channel and its subsidiaries out of business, even telling its executives to just sell the company. It has been said that Duterte had personal ire against ABS-CBN for not airing his political ads during the May 2016 elections, where he eventually won.

Several bills seeking to renew ABS-CBN for another 25 years remain pending before the House Committee on Legislative Franchises. These have not been taken up since the 18th Congress started in July last year.

The existing franchise expires March 30.

RELATED: Lawmaker tells OSG to let Congress handle ABS-CBN franchise issue

International group Human Rights Watch decried Duterte's moves blocking the franchise renewal, taking it as a curtailment of press freedom. The group added that lawmakers should remain "independent" from the President's whims.

"These actions are part of a broader crackdown on media outlets and civil society groups that dare criticize him (Duterte)," HRW said.

The President has repeatedly slammed the network since 2018 for supposedly failing to air his presidential campaign advertisements in 2016. ABS-CBN has over 10,000 employees and talents as of end-2018, who may lose their jobs if the network is forced to cease operations.

READ: Rights group urges Congress to 'resist' Duterte on threats vs. ABS-CBN

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines had been staging a series of protest actions, calling threats against ABS-CBN an affront to press freedom and freedom of expression.

"Ito'y nagpapatibay na talagang gagawin ng pamahalaang ito ang lahat para ipasara ang isang network na hindi sinasang-ayunan ng Pangulo. That is very, very dangerous to press freedom," NUJP Chairperson Nonoy Espina told CNN Philippines' Newsroom Ngayon. "Ang nakataya dito ay malayang pamamahayag. Kapag pinatahimik mo ang media, mas lalong kawawa ang taumbayan dahil mas lalo silang mawawalan ng pagkukuhanan ng impormasyon."

[Translation: This proves that this government will do whatever it takes to shut down a network that the President doesn't agree with. Freedom of speech is at stake here. If you silence the media, the people are in peril because they will lose a platform where they can get the information that they need.]

Former ABS-CBN reporter now Laguna Rep. Sol Aragones said she remains hopeful that Congress will start discussions on the bill, saying there were at least 15 lawmakers in the House of Representatives who have filed measures for the franchise renewal.

She added that there's one month left for Congress sessions before the franchise lapses.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 23:51:45|Editor: yan

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ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- A senior African Union (AU) Commission official on Monday expressed optimism that South Sudanese factions would establish a transitional government before a new, extended deadline expires in 12 days.

"As we speak, we are still working on the last issues remaining, that is the issue of numbers of the states," AU Peace and Security Commissioner Smail Chergui told a press conference on Monday at the AU headquarters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, on the sidelines of the 33rd AU summit.

The theme of the Feb. 9-10 summit is "Silencing the Guns: Creating Conducive Conditions for Africa's Development."

"We are hopeful this issue (number of South Sudanese states) will be solved, and we can secure the transitional government within the remaining 12 days," Chergui said.

A week before, the 55-member pan-African bloc called on all South Sudanese parties to "unequivocally" adhere to the extended deadline of 100 days for the formation of an inclusive Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity.

"The Peace and Security Council of the AU urges all parties to unequivocally adhere to the extended deadline of Feb. 22, 2020, the second extension of 100 days for the formation of an inclusive Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity, with a view to rebuilding trust and confidence," the AU said in a statement last week.

The council welcomed efforts by South Sudan President Salva Kiir, opposition leader Riek Machar and leaders of the other opposition groups to continuously hold generative dialogue, and encouraged "all parties to continue to address the difficult issues confronting the implementation of the peace agreement and to sustain the dialogue."

The world's youngest nation descended into civil war in late 2013 following a conflict between Kiir and former vice president Machar, creating one of the fastest-growing refugee crises in the world.

A peace deal that was signed in August 2015 collapsed after renewed violence in the capital, Juba, in July 2016.

Under the 2018 peace deal, Machar will take up one of the four vice presidency positions in the transitional government.
Several companies have decided to skip MWC due to Coronavirus fears, and NVIDIA has just joined that list. NVIDIA is actually the first US company that announced itll miss MWC, at least the first major US company.

NVIDIA is not the first company to pull out of MWC due to Coronavirus fears

NVIDIA thus follows the lead of Ericsson and LG, who both announced that theyll skip MWC due to Coronavirus fears. ZTE also scaled back its presence, by canceling its press conference. Unlike Ericsson and LG, however, ZTE will still have a booth at MWC 2020.

It is also worth noting that Huawei is taking some steps as well. The company will still be present at MWC, but it is quarantining its executives, presenters, and service staff from China outside of the country for at least 14 days. In case you were wondering, the incubation period for Coronavirus is 14 days.

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NVIDIA was actually going to have a huge presence at MWC. The company was a major sponsor of the event, and had planned to host 10 sessions and roundtables on artificial intelligence (AI). It also planned to host an AI Edge Innovation Center.

Sony is expected to announce something similar soon

If you thought NVIDIA is the last company to back out, well, youre wrong. Sony is expected to announce the same thing really soon, a well-known tipster suggests.

Roland Quandt announced via its Twitter handle that Sony is backing out of MWC as well. He says that the company will reschedule its launch event, but that it will be an online-only event.

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Sony still did not confirm this news, but is expected to do so during the day. Well update this article once that happens. Roland Quandt is usually spot on when it comes to information he shares, and we doubt hed share something like this if its not accurate.

Coronavirus became a major threat to the lives of people both in China, and outside of it. The virus originates from China, and thats where it did the most damage thus far.

China is attempting to prevent the virus from spreading any further, as are many other companies around the world. Its not exactly surprising that various companies decided to cancel their MWC visit.

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Coronavirus threat is real, and companies do not want to take any risks. They do not want to risk their employees, and other people who are attending the exhibit.

GSMA did confirm that MWC will go on as planned, though. The organization announced that additional security measures are being issued, but that the show will proceed as planned.

It remains to be seen who else will pull out of MWC before it starts, joining NVIDIA, LG, Ericsson, and so on.

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UPDATE: Sony has officially confirmed the news.

UPDATE 2: Amazon has also confirmed that its pulling out of MWC 2020.
Huawei Technologies Co. has filed two patent infringement lawsuits against Verizon Communications Inc. following an apparent failure to agree on licensing terms for the use of its intellectual property.

The Chinese telecom gear and smartphone-making giant said it had reached out to Verizon a year ago, notifying the U.S. carrier of its breach of multiple Huawei patents. Among the offending pieces of technology are network security measures, remote sharing from a PC, parental controls and even the design of a contacts app for mobile devices.

The Huawei lawsuits are a PR stunt, said Rich Young, a Verizon spokesman. The action lacks merit, and we look forward to vigorously defending our company and our nation.

Though the content of the legal action doesnt appear to have the highest of stakes, its a fresh sign of Huaweis increasingly combative stance toward U.S. companies in the wake of crippling sanctions from Washington. Huawei sued the Federal Communications Commission in December, seeking to overturn a regulatory decision that would hurt the Chinese corporations business with its last major American clients.

Another point of legal conflict surrounds the arrest of Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver, British Columbia, more than a year ago. Meng, also the eldest daughter of billionaire founder Ren Zhengfei, is facing a potential extradition to the U.S. for fraud charges, though she denies any wrongdoing.

Shenzhen-based Huawei is one of the worlds most prolific patent holders, with more than 80,000 worldwide and 10,000 in the U.S. alone, the company said in a statement today. Its also one of the leading developers of fifth-generation wireless networking tech, or 5G. It joined IBM, Apple and Amazon as one of the top 10 patent receivers in the U.S. last year, according to an analysis of filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Huawei said last summer that it will not weaponize its vast IP pool and was discussing licensing of its portfolio of patents with European and U.S. entities including Verizon and Qualcomm Inc.

A 173-page lawsuit, filed in Waco, Texas, focuses heavily on Huaweis research history, Verizons products and details of licensing talks, including several meetings in New York between representatives of the two companies. Huawei accuses Verizon of infringing on seven patents related to network infrastructure, including routers, and its Smart Family and One Talk applications.

Because Verizon has not accepted Huaweis numerous flexible approaches during the yearlong negotiations, Huawei is compelled to now enforce its patent rights through this lawsuit, Huawei said in the complaint.

In the second lawsuit, filed in Marshall, Texas, Huawei claims Verizon infringes as many as five patents that relate to the G.709 industry standard for optical transport network systems used to transmit large amounts of data. Huawei said its offer complied with the requirement to license standard-essential technology on reasonable terms.

The cases are Huawei Technologies Co. v Verizon Communications Inc., 20-30, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (Marshall), and Huawei v. Verizon, 20-90, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas (Waco).

(Updates with details of lawsuits beginning in seventh paragraph.)

With assistance from Scott Moritz and Susan Decker.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.
New Delhi: Following Supreme Court upholding the 2018 amendments to the SC/ST Act, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday (February 10) said that the BJP and RSS's ideology is against reservations and that they want to do away with it. Speaking to reports, the Wayanad MP also claimed that BJP and RSS do not SC/STs category to progress.

"They're breaking the institutional structure. I want to tell SCs/STs/OBCs and Dalits that we'll never let reservations come to an end no matter how much Modi Ji or Mohan Bhagwat dream of it," Rahul was quoted as saying by ANI.

Earlier in the day, Supreme Court, while hearing pleas challenging the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (SCs/ STs) (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2018, ruled out out any provision for anticipatory bail for a person accused of atrocities against SC/STs. The Act was enacted to nullify the effects of the March 20, 2018 judgment of the top court that had diluted the provisions of the Act.

A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra said a preliminary inquiry is not essential before lodging an FIR under the act and the approval of senior police officials is not needed. Justice Ravindra Bhat, the other member of the bench, said in a concurring verdict that every citizen needs to treat fellow citizens equally and foster the concept of fraternity.

Justice Bhat said a court can quash the FIR if a prima facie case is not made out under the SC/ST Act and the liberal use of anticipatory bail will defeat the intention of Parliament.

The top court's verdict came on a batch of PILs challenging the validity of the SC/ST Amendment Act of 2018, which was brought to nullify the effect of the apex court's 2018 ruling, which had diluted the provisions of the stringent Act.
As AI data sets get bigger and bigger, computers need more memory

New memory device uses pillar-shaped antiferromagnetic (AFM) materials

AFM materials are inherently fast, secure and require little power to read and write data

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Memory-hungry, power-sapping big data might finally have met its match.

Electrical engineers at Northwestern University and the University of Messina in Italy have developed a new magnetic memory device that could potentially support the surge of data-centric computing, which requires ever-increasing power, storage and speed.

Based on antiferromagnetic (AFM) materials, the device is the smallest of its kind ever demonstrated and operates with record-low electrical current to write data.

"The rise of big data has enabled the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) in the cloud and on edge devices and is fundamentally transforming the computing, networking and data storage industries," said Northwestern's Pedram Khalili, who led the research. "However, existing hardware cannot sustain the rapid growth of data-centric computing. Our technology potentially could solve this challenge."

The research will be published on Feb. 10 in the journal Nature Electronics.

Khalili is an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering in Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering. He co-led the study with Giovanni Finocchio, an associate professor of electrical engineering at the University of Messina. The team also included Matthew Grayson, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at McCormick. Jiacheng Shi and Victor Lopez-Dominguez, who are both members of Khalili's laboratory, served as co-first authors of the paper.

From promise to probable

Although AI offers promise to improve many areas of society, including health care systems, transportation and security, it can only meet its potential if computing can support it.

Ideally, AI needs all the best parts of today's memory technologies: Something as fast as static random access memory (SRAM) and with a storage capacity similar to dynamic random access memory (DRAM) or Flash. On top of that, it also needs low power dissipation.

"There is no existing memory technology that meets all of these demands," Khalili said. "This has resulted in a so-called 'memory bottleneck' that severely limits the performance and energy consumption of AI applications today."

To meet this challenge, Khalili and his collaborators looked to AFM materials. In AFM materials, electrons behave like tiny magnets due to a quantum mechanical property called "spin," but the material itself does not demonstrate a macroscopic magnetization because the spins are aligned in antiparallel fashion.

Typically, memory devices require an electric current to retain stored data. But in AFM materials, it is the magnetically ordered spins that perform this task, so a continuously applied electric current is not needed. As an added bonus, the data cannot be erased by external magnetic fields. Because densely packed devices will not interact with magnetic fields, AFM-based devices are very secure and easy to scale down to small dimensions.

Easily adoptable technology

Because they are inherently fast and secure and use lower power, AFM materials have been explored in past studies. But previous researchers experienced difficulties controlling the magnetic order within the materials.

Khalili and his team used pillars of antiferromagnetic platinum manganese -- a geometry not previously explored. With a diameter of just 800 nanometers, these pillars are 10 times smaller than earlier AFM-based memory devices.

Importantly, the resulting device is compatible with existing semiconductor manufacturing practices, which means that current manufacturing companies could easily adopt the new technology without having to invest in new equipment.

"This brings AFM memory -- and thus highly scaled and high-performance magnetic random-access memory (MRAM) -- much closer to practical applications," Khalili said. "This is a big deal for industry as there is a strong demand today for technologies and materials to extend the scaling and performance of MRAM and increase the return on the huge investment that industry has already made in this technology to bring it to manufacturing."

Khalili's team is already working on the next steps toward this translation to applications.

"We are working now to further downscale these devices and to improve methods to read out their magnetic state," Khalili said. "We also are looking at even more energy-efficient ways to write data into AFM materials, such as replacing the electric current with an electric voltage, a challenging task that could further increase the energy efficiency by another order of magnitude or more."

###

The study, "Electrical manipulation of the magnetic order in antiferromagnetic PtMn pillars," was supported by the National Science Foundation (award number ECCS-1853879) and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (award number FA9550-15-1-0377).

More news at Northwestern Now

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A man who claimed the nation has been eating fish and chips wrong has left the internet baffled.

Restaurant critic Grace Dent, from London, wrote a review of Angel Lane Chippie in Penrithm, Cumbria for The Guardian, where she commended the restaurant's 'extra globs of thick batter.'

However, taking to Twitter, she told how she was left confused by one of the responses she received, and added: 'This week's Guardian column is about a northern chip shop. This comment has kept me awake. I. I just. What.'

She then shared the confusing comment with her 261, 000 followers, which read: 'The batter is there to protect the fish during frying, you peel it off, throw it away, then eat the fish!

Grace Dent, from London, was left in shock following a comment she received in response to a review she wrote of Angel Lane Chippie in Penrithm, Cumbria. Pictured, stock image

The restaurant critic took to Twitter and penned: 'This comment has kept me awake. I. I just. What' (pictured)

'If you bake a fish (or indeed a vegetable) in a salt crust, do you eat that too?'

And many fish and chip lovers from up and down the nation were quick to jump in on the debate.

'It's so bonkers and wrong it makes me wonder if he's actually right and we've all, everyone, been doing it wrong,' joked one, while a second added: 'What kind of monster DOESN'T EAT THE BATTER?'

A third commented: 'Goodness me. The batter is there to soak up maximum salt and vinegar of course', while a further penned: 'Throw it away?! Imagine being this man's dog  the sights you must see, the opportunities you must miss.'

Another who was shocked by the revelation commented: 'What kind of monster doesn't eat the batter' (pictured)

Even TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp waded in on the debate, writing: 'If you throw away the batter what do you feed the children?'

Meanwhile, others took a more sarcastic response to the comment in a bid to highlight the importance of the batter.

'Imagine them eating a Creme Egg,' enthused one, while a second penned: 'Wonder how they get on with onion rings.'

A further commented: 'Eating sandwiches just became very messy,' while a fourth wrote: 'Insanity. The fish is merely the there for the batter to cling to!'

Another joked: 'And the sandwich? Throw away the bread? The butter stops the food sticking to the bread packaging?'
Cracks in military alliance have seen public support in some member states fall, according to new research.

NATOs public image in the United States and France worsened sharply last year, according to a Pew Research Center study, after US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron questioned the value of the Western alliance.

Positive views of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which relies on the commitment of its allies to collective defence, fell to 52 percent in the US last year from 64 percent in 2018, the study released on Monday said.

Overall, the study said 53 percent of people in 16 NATO members had a positive opinion of the alliance, with less than a third expressing a negative view. The alliance is seen most favourably in Poland and least liked in Turkey.

In France, where Macron said last year the alliance was experiencing brain death because of a perceived failure to help resolve world conflicts, support fell to 49 percent, from 60 percent in 2017 and 71 percent in 2009. The 2018 figure was not available.

NATO diplomats have long feared that Trumps portrayal of NATO as an alliance in crisis might erode US public support.

NATO, founded in 1949 to contain a military threat from the Soviet Union, relies on US military superiority to face down a host of threats on Europes borders, including a resurgent, nuclear-armed Russia and militant attacks.

While Macrons comments stunned other NATO leaders on the eve of a December summit in the United Kingdom, Trump has harangued allies since taking office in 2017 over perceived under-spending on defence.

Trump threatened to pull America out of the alliance in 2018 and last year called low-spending allies delinquent.

The summit in the UK revealed deep divisions within the alliance, but NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg attempted to put on a united front, saying: Whatever our differences, we will continue to unite to defend each other, all for one and one for all.

The Pew study noted that several countries have soured on the alliance, including Germany, where support for NATO fell to 57 percent in 2019, from 63 percent in 2018.

Macron has defended his remarks as a useful wake-up call for allies, who he said were too focused on defence spending and other internal issues, rather than relations with Russia, NATO member Turkey in Syria and the Middle East.

In the UK, however, where NATO is taking on greater symbolic importance following the countrys decision to leave the European Union, favourable views of NATO improved to 65 percent of Britons last year from 62 percent in 2017.
The federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., the last stop before the Supreme Court, refused last week to reconsider its October ruling that gave a thumbs-up to the FCCs repeal of net neutrality regulations. The Republican-led commission ditched the Obama-era rules that guaranteed equal treatment for all internet traffic, regardless of its source or destination.

Last October, the appeals court heard a lawsuit brought by the Mozilla Foundationmakers of the open-source web browser Firefoxand several states that challenged the FCC repeal. But in a 2-1 ruling, a three-judge appeals court panel upheld the FCCs 2017 vote, which finally took effect in June of 2018.

The courts ruling included one important victory for net neutrality advocates, however. The judges rejected FCC Chair Ajit Pais contention that the federal repeal took precedence over all state regulations, prohibiting states from passing their own net neutrality legislation.

The D.C. appeals court disagreedfreeing states to impose net neutrality rules of their own, on a state-by-state basis.

Nonetheless, Mozilla and the other plaintiffsincluding 15 state governments and several tech firmspetitioned the court to hear the case again. At the appeals court level, rulings of an initial three-judge panel can often be reevaluated either by the same trio of judges, or en bancthat is, by the full court, which consists of 11 judges.

But on Thursday, both the three-judge panel and he full court refused the petition to consider the case again. The court handed down the order without explanation, which is common in such refusals.

"While today's result is unfortunate, it's not that surprising," said Matt Wood, general counsel for Free Press, one of the advocacy groups bringing the lawsuit, as quoted by Ars Technica. "Courts routinely deny rehearing requests like this. But we'll keep weighing our legal options."

That primary legal option at this point would be to ask the United States Supreme Court to hear the case, but the plaintiffs did not say whether they planned to take that step.

We look forward to continuing to fight for an open Internet in Congress and in statehouses across the country, said John Bergmayer, legal director for Public Knowledge, another plaintiff in the net neutrality lawsuit.

Washington state and Oregon, however, have said that under the courts ruling, they will enforce the state-level net neutrality rules already on their books. Other states that have passed similar open internet regulations, including California and Vermont, say that they will wait until all appeals in the federal lawsuit have tried.

Photo By AgnosticPreachersKid / Wikimedia Commons
Here are todays top news, analysis and opinion at 9 PM. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times.

Man gives triple talaq to wife in UP, sets her on fire for not meeting dowry demands

A man, along with four of his family members, was arrested on Monday for allegedly setting his wife on fire after giving her triple talaq (divorce) for not meeting dowry demands.

Read more.

How India quietly planned the evacuation of 600 Indian students from Wuhan

The evacuation of 647 Indians from Hubei, the province worst-hit by the new coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) outbreak, was a complex exercise which included the listing of hundreds of unregistered Indians, reassuring panicky Indian students about their safety and negotiating hard with Chinese authorities grappling with the most critical medical emergency in decades.

Read more.

IndiGo captain suspended for 3 months for threatening wheelchair-bound passenger

Aviation regulator DGCA on Monday suspended an IndiGo captain for three months for allegedly intimidating and threatening a wheelchair-bound senior citizen in a Chennai-Bengaluru flight on January 13, an official said.

Read more.

Indias first coronavirus patient recovers, may get to go home soon

Amid the World Health Organizations (WHO) latest warning that the coronavirus outbreak outside China can accelerate in the coming days, there is some good news from Kerala which reported the countrys all three positive cases.

Read more.

Why the Delhi election matters | Opinion

The verdict of Delhis assembly election will be out today. The results will not only determine who governs the city for five years, but will also leave a new imprint on the canvas of Indian democracy.

Read more.

Oscars 2020 fashion: Natalie Portman dons cape with names of Oscar-snubbed female directors

Natalie Portman has made a real fashion statement at the 92nd Oscars red carpet as she chose to wear a cape over her gown embroidered with the names of women who directed movies last year, and were snubbed for this years ceremony. Natalies gown and cape are from the house of Dior.

Read more.

India predicted XI for 3rd ODI - Virat Kohli might make multiple changes at Mount Maunganui

India going into the last match of an ODI series with no chance of a comeback in it is rare. What makes it rarest is that it has come after a 5-0 historic T20I win against the same opposition. All the reason why the opposition  New Zealand  deserves a lot of credit. Indias only objective going into the 3rd ODI against New Zealand at Mount Maunganui will be to avoid a whitewash  which they have never suffered against New Zealand in a series where three or more matches have been involved.

Read more.

Cat thinks long before hitting dog, what follows will make you LOL. Watch

Every now and then, the Internet presents such posts which show the mischievous and trouble-making sides of a cat. An old video, which again created a stir after being shared on reddit, captures exactly the same. It shows a cat thinking long and hard before hitting a dog sitting next to it. However, its what follows next that has now left people laughing out loud.

Read more.
While it may not have bagged the Best Picture award (that award went to Parasite), Ford v Ferrari did walk away with two awards; Best Sound Editing and Best Film Editing. That doesn't come as a surprise as the film did make use of authentic V8 and V12 sounds for both the Ford GT40 and the Ferrari P2 accordingly.

With A-list actors such as Matt Damon and Christian Bale playing the lead roles of Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles respictively, along with the sights, sounds and drama of the Ford-Ferrari rivalry at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the film serves as a fitting throwback to motorsports of yesteryear.

When we first saw the the official trailer of Ford v Ferrari back in June 2019, we were quite sure this would be an Oscar-worthy film.

But how did exactly did the filmmakers replicate the authentic sound for Ford v Ferrari? Apparently, Don Sylvester, the supervising sound editor for the film, had to go look for real examples of the exact cars.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, they were able to find several original (and pristine) examples of a GT40, but the owners weren't exactly willing to hand them over so they can record the sound of the engine while on a track.

I knew we had to get the real Ford GT40. I was afraid if we got [the sound] from a bad library, someone would call and say, 'You failed. This is not what the car sounded like.' That fear was with me from the very beginning, said Sylvester.

Luckily, Sylvester was able to find a guy who built a GT40 from original Ford parts. It was even certified by Ford who gave it a serial number. With it, they had to make a trip to Ohio in order to record the sound they needed for the film. They were even able to record the sound of a 1959 Ferrari Testa Rossa V12 thanks to the GT40 owner who introduced them to a collector in Atlanta, Georgia.

After they were done recording all of the necessary sounds, they had to amplify and enhance them for the film, while also keeping them as real as possible. All that hard work paid off when the film was awarded at the 92nd Academy Awards.

If you haven't watched Ford v Ferrari yet, do yourself a favor and make sure you have surround sound in your home to get the best aural experience from the V8s and V12s shown in the film.
Hungarian Police have raised charges against two people for disseminating fake news online that people had dropped dead in Budapests Keleti railway station due to coronavirus.

The two suspects, a man and a woman, have been charged with endangering the public, the National Police Headquarters said on its website on Saturday. Numerous Hungarian-language websites have claimed that several people in Hungary have been infected by coronavirus.



The cybercrime unit of the National Bureau of Investigation (NNI) has found that dozens of Facebook pages are linked to the same network of websites that share scare stories.



The contents are designed as clickbait linked to advertising, and they have reached hundreds of thousands of users, the investigation has found.



On Friday, NNI detectives raided various locations and seized technology equipment.



Photo courtesy of police.hu
(Adds fourth case, links to France and Spain)

LONDON/MADRID, Feb 9 (Reuters) - A fourth case of the new

coronavirus has been diagnosed in Britain after a patient

contracted the illness from a previously confirmed British case

while in France, health officials said on Sunday.

Last week a British national tested positive after returning

to Britain from Singapore, becoming the third confirmed case of

the virus. He is believed to have stayed in France for a few

days on his way home, passing the virus on to others there.

"A further patient has tested positive for novel coronavirus

in England, bringing the total number of cases in the UK to

four," Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England, said in

a statement.

"The new case is a known contact of a previously confirmed

UK case, and the virus was passed on in France."

French authorities said they were retracing all the people

who might have been in close contact with a group of 11 Britons

exposed to the virus after sharing lodgings in the Alpine ski

resort of Les Contamines-Montjoie.

Five of those tested positive, French health officials said

on Saturday, including a 9-year-old and his father.

Two other children - the infected child's siblings - were

hospitalised in France for checks, officials added. Their mother

had left the country by the time authorities began their

investigation and was under observation in Britain, French media

reported.

The French cases have been linked back to the British man

who had stayed with the family and other holidaymakers for four

days in a chalet in Les Contamines-Montjoie on his way home from

Singapore.

In a further possible link to that man, Spanish authorities

said on Sunday a British man had tested positive for coronavirus

in Mallorca.

He was one of four members of a British family taken into

observation on Friday after coming into contact with someone in

France who was subsequently diagnosed with the virus, they said.

The family appear to have been part of the larger group in

Les Contamines-Montjoie that included the infected British man,

Fernando Simon, director of the Centre of Coordination of Health

Emergencies at Spain's Health Ministry, told reporters.

However he said he could not confirm this 100% over respect

for the family's privacy.

The family returned to Mallorca from France on Jan. 29 and

the father started to show light symptoms 24 hours later.

Simon said the man was currently "in good health" but was

being kept in isolation and authorities were drawing up a list

of everyone the man may have come into contact with in Mallorca.

FINAL EVACUATION

The new case in Britain was confirmed as the country's final

evacuation flight from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the epicentre

of the epidemic, landed at a Royal Air Force base in central

England.

The flight from Wuhan brought 105 British nationals and

their family members, as well as 95 European nationals and

family members, and staff and medics who facilitated the flight,

foreign minister Dominic Raab said.

They will be quarantined for 14 days at a conference centre

in Milton Keynes, north west of London.

Barbara Woodward, Britain's ambassador to China, told Sky

News that not all British nationals in Wuhan had been able to

leave, including two who had failed a temperature check. Britain

would work to get them on an evacuation flight chartered by

another country, she said.

(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan in London and Jessica Jones in

Madrid

Additional reporting by Sarah White in Paris

Editing by Frances Kerry)
Chinese workers assemble electronic components at the Taiwanese technology giant Foxconn's factory in Shenzhen, China. AFP | AFP | Getty Images

Uncertainty about work resuming at factories in China is setting in, with provinces or cities posting different dates for an extended shutdown as the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread. Authorities had initially said operations could pick up again on Monday, but the already-extended delay in reopening could be dragged out even further for many factories  including Apple's largest manufacturer Foxconn. Even if businesses were up and running again, their workers would still have to fulfill quarantine requirements of around two weeks. With the further delay, analysts warned of a big hit not just to the Chinese economy, but globally.

Shutdowns further extended

Last week, more than 20 provinces and other regions told businesses to not resume work before Feb. 10 at the earliest. In 2019, those parts of China accounted for more than 80% of national GDP, and 90% of exports, according to CNBC calculations of data accessed through Wind Information.

It's uncertain whether factories could resume production this week amid local quarantine efforts and traffic controls. Morgan Stanley

Some provinces and districts have now told companies to not return to work until March 1, according to officials. While it appears that business activities in some provinces will partially resume Monday, workers returning from other provinces are still subject to quarantine and some sectors, such as construction, will need to delay resumption of work, Morgan Stanley wrote in a report on Monday morning. "It's uncertain whether factories could resume production this week amid local quarantine efforts and traffic controls. Indeed, many authorities and enterprises at local levels are targeting Feb. 17th or later to restart business, and the resumption is likely to be a phased approach," the investment bank wrote. But, it said, "there are still uncertainties as to how quickly the coronavirus situation will be brought under control and when production and goods transportation services will be ramped up to normal levels." "That ... is a major blast to the global value chain, not only for China, but the world. That's already, basically a month and a half without factories working," said Alicia Garcia Herrero, chief economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis. "So indeed, it's a big blow to the Chinese economy, and the world," she told CNBC on Monday.

What we know about Foxconn and other companies

This reportedly includes major companies like Taiwan-listed Hon Hai Precision Industry, better known as Foxconn and the world's largest iPhone assembler. Reuters reported Monday, citing a person familiar with the matter, Foxconn received approval to resume production at a facility in Zhengzhou. But the company is still "trying very hard" to get clearance to reopen plants in other parts of China, Reuters reported. Foxconn did not directly confirm its plans to restart operations, but it told CNBC in a statement: "The operation schedules for our facilities in China follow the recommendations of the local governments, and we have not received any requests from our customers on the need to resume production earlier."
The signing ceremony also included the inking of $11 million in grants for the drilling of eight wells

Egypt signed a new oil and gas exploration deal at Nile Delta with Germany's Wintershall DEA with minimum investments of $43 million, the petroleum ministry announced on Monday.

Petroleum minister Tarek El-Molla signed the agreement covering Nile Delta's East Damanhour exploration bloc between Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co. (EGAS) and Wintershall Dea.

The signing ceremony also included the inking of $11 million in grants for the drilling of eight wells.

Monday's agreement is the first by the German company in Egypt after the 2019 merger between Wintershall and DEA. It comes nearly a year after the German company was awarded the gas concession after an oil and gas bid round.

Wintershall Dea has already been operating in Egypt for more than 40 years, with a current stake in six onshore and offshore concessions, according to its official website. It is also a partner in the major West Nile Delta (WND) project.

Today's signing brings the total number of petroleum focused agreements signed between the ministry and investors and partners since 2016 to 61, El-Molla said, with minimum investments of $6 billion to drill 230 wells.

The 2015 discovery by Italy's Eni of the massive Mediterranean gas field Zohr, which holds an estimated reserve of 30 trillion cubic feet of gas, has significantly boosted Egypt's energy sector and its production of natural gas.

Egypt is looking to become a regional gas hub through its self sufficiency of liquefied natural gas and promising exploration opportunities in its gas fields.



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It was announced today that Ballymore, the international property development company, and their development partner, Oxley Holdings, have received planning approval for 741 residential homes at their Connolly Quarter development adjacent to Connolly Railway Station in Dublin 1.



The overall Connolly Quarter masterplan development extends to c. 80,000 sq. m and will comprise apartments, offices, hotel, local community clubs, restaurants, bars, retail and landscaped plazas.



Ballymore say the 741 residential units approved today forms part of an overall masterplan for the Connolly Quarter which will also have 2 office buildings along with an hotel and over 20 retail and amenity units. The masterplan envisages the creation of over 1,000 direct construction and non-construction jobs for 5 years.

This includes training and apprenticeships opportunities at all levels which will be offered to the local Dublin 1 community first. On completion, the Connolly Quarter will be home to over 5,000 people who will live and work in this newly regenerated part of Dublin 1.



Speaking this week, Founder & Group CEO of the Ballymore Group, Sean Mulryan said, "I welcome An Bord Pleanalas decision to approve the development of 741 much needed residential units in Dublin 1. Dublin has a housing shortage and I am delighted that Ballymore can play its part in creating hundreds of new homes, including 75 social homes, in the heart of Dublin."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Delhi Assembly Election Results 2020 LIVE updates, Delhi Assembly Polls: Check constituency-wise poll-results, candidates, winners, losers

A day after voting in Delhi Assembly elections, the Congress rubbished the exit poll results, most of which predicted little or no change in the party's fortunes from 2015 polls, saying the result on February 11 will "surprise everyone".

Almost all exit polls predicted little change in the fortunes of the Congress, which had ruled the city between 1998 and 2013 but drew a blank in the 2015 polls.

"Let others celebrate the exit poll results. I am confident that the results on February 11 will startle everyone," chief spokesperson of Delhi Congress Mukesh Sharma said.

The party's Delhi unit president Subhash Chopra told reporters that all his party candidates contested with full strength. "There are at least 20 candidates of the Congress who were involved in keen triangular contests. We reject the exit poll results."

Congress contested the Delhi Assembly polls in alliance with the Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD). It fielded candidates on 66 seats leaving four for the RJD.

"We fielded the best candidates on all seats, campaigned sincerely and are positive of good performance," said Sharma who himself contested from Vikaspuri seat.

If Congress sources are to be believed, the party hopes to win some seats provided the minorities voters chose it over the AAP. "There are nearly 10 seats that Congress has a good chance of winning. However, it will depend on how the minorities voters cast their votes," they said.

The final voter turnout in the Delhi polls was 62.59 per cent, down from 67.47 per cent in 2015 assembly election, with exit polls predicting an easy win for AAP, which sought to retain power on development plank, against the BJP that ran an aggressive campaign centred around the issues of anti-CAA protests and nationalism.
Walking down that hallway, my find flashed back to 2013 and Brian Sidney Bembridges brilliant Chicago design for A Raisin in the Sun at TimeLine Theatre. As with William Boles eye-popping set design for Boys in the Band, a play set in a single location was opened up. In the case of Raisin, which often has been staged in spaces so expansive you wonder why the Younger family wants to move, the staging made clear they were exiting a dark, rat-infested building where nothing could grow. But at Boys in the Band, you dont then take a seat. You are inside a huge, meticulously detailed apartment, drinking vodka tonics with the characters, sitting among them on banquets atop their parquet floors, sharing their chips and dip. As the evening wears on, you hear the sounds of the Manhattan streetscape, a dull hum as at least some of these men, their internal buzz wearing off, start to stare in the mirror, straight back at themselves.
The Congress on Monday accused the BJP and the RSS of conspiring to end reservation for the SCs, STs and Other Backward Classes, saying they have been "sabotaging" reservation to these oppressed sections for years.

The party's remarks came after the Supreme Court held that states are not bound to provide reservation in appointments and there is no fundamental right to claim quota in promotions.

It also accused Union Social Justice Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot of misleading Lok Sabha on the issue and said it would move a privilege motion against him.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted that it is in the DNA of the BJP and the RSS to try to erase reservations and a "big conspiracy" is underway to take away the rights of deprived sections and asserted his party will not allow doing away with quota.

Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, he said, "We will not allow reservation to be done away with, no matter how much Modi Ji or Mohan Bhagwat dream of it."



Gandhi slammed the BJP government in Uttarakhand for contending in the Supreme Court that there was no fundamental right to claim reservation in appointments or promotions in public posts, and there was no constitutional duty on the part of the state governments to provide reservations.

The Congress said it would stage protests and agitations at district level on the issue in the coming weeks to "expose" the Modi government's "conspiracy to end reservation" for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.

Congress general secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal said it is a clear agenda of the BJP to curtail reservation for SCs/STs and backwards, and alleged that the RSS has been sabotaging reservation to these oppressed sections for years.

"The Congress party has decided to move a privilege motion against Gehlot," he told reporters.

"The minister has misled the House. We will definitely move the privilege motion against him," he said.

The Congress has prepared a privilege notice and some of its Lok Sabha MPs would file the same on Tuesday before the Lok Sabha speaker.

The government informed Parliament that it was not a party in the Supreme Court which has ordered that states are not bound to provide reservation in appointments.

Making a statement in both houses, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Gehlot said the Centre was also not asked to file an affidavit on the issue.

He said the top court order pertains to a decision of the Uttarakhand government taken in 2012 when the Congress was in power in the state.

Denying the charge, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said it is the BJP government which has filed the special leave petition on November 14, 2019 in the Supreme Court on which the judgment has come.

"The truth is that the mal-intent and malafide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government is leading to this kind of judgement," Surjewala said, adding that the BJP government in Uttarakhand filed the SLP, argued it and filed the statement in Supreme Court.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, in a tweet, said the BJP government is making a statement in the Supreme Court against the constitutional right of reservation.

"These rights were acquired through great struggles and sacrifices, so that India can become a better nation. Today, there is a big conspiracy to take away the rights of the deprived sections one by one. What could be bigger treason than this?" he said.

"The ideology of the RSS and the BJP is against reservation," Gandhi told reporters outside Parliament, adding that "they cannot stand the idea that Dalits, tribals and OBCs have reservations".

"They (the RSS and BJP) wake up every morning and this (reservation) irritates them. Except it is in our Constitution, and these rights are guaranteed by our Constitution," he said.

Upping the ante against the BJP, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra alleged that the saffron party was weakening the equal rights given to Dalits and tribals by the Constitution.

"Understand the BJP's bid of ending reservation -- RSS people consistently make statements against reservation. The BJP government of Uttarakhand makes an appeal in the Supreme Court to abolish the fundamental right to reservation. Uttar Pradesh government also immediately starts tampering with the rules of reservation," Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet.

"The BJP first tried to weaken the law against atrocities on Dalits and tribals. Now it is trying to weaken equal rights given to them by the Constitution and Babasaheb (Ambedkar)," she said in a tweet.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said the government and the BJP must spell out corrective measures if they do not agree with the Supreme Court judgment on reservation not being mandatory as they cannot distance themselves from it.

"The government and the BJP cannot distance themselves from the Supreme Court's judgement on reservation not being mandatory.

"If the BJP does not agree with the judgement, let it say so and spell out the corrective measures," he said on Twitter.

Chidambaram also alleged that the BJP government of Uttarakhand has put forth the argument that has been accepted by the court.

"The BJP government of Uttarakhand put forward the argument that was accepted by the Court. BJP must own up to the judgement and tell us if it will allow the declaration of law to remain unchallenged," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Vietnams Ministry of Health has requested that the Ministry of Education and Training direct schools to include a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) module in their curriculum amid an epidemic that has infected more than a dozen in the Southeast Asian country.

The health ministry made the request on Sunday in response to a document it had received from the education ministry.

Accordingly, schools are asked to give students lessons and guidance on how to avoid 2019-nCoV infection.

Schools in provinces and cities that have not recorded an outbreak of the virus can reopen once they have completed disinfection work, including cleaning and sterilizing classrooms and other spaces on campus.

Schools in these localities also have to take measures to raise awareness among teachers, managers, staff, and students of the virus and preventive measures before reopening.

In places where 2019-nCoV cases have been confirmed, schools are directed to monitor the situation.

School in these locales should allow students to resume studies only when there is no new case reported 14 days after quarantining the last infected patient.

Similar work to disinfect their campuses must be completed before welcoming students back.

All 63 provinces and cities in Vietnam have allowed students to take days off school until at least February 16 to prevent the possible spread of the 2019-nCoV.

More than 100 universities and junior colleges nationwide have granted their students at least a week off after the Lunar New Year holiday.

The novel coronavirus, which first surfaced in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has killed 910 people and infected nearly 40,500 globally as of Monday, according to the South China Morning Post.

It has since spread across mainland China and to 27 other countries and regions, according to a Reuters report.

Vietnam has so far confirmed 14 cases of the virus, including 11 Vietnamese, one Vietnamese American, and two Chinese.

Among them, six have fully recovered and been discharged from the hospital. They were all treated for free.

The World Health Organization (WHO) 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!
A Crisis of Democracy: Matt Stoller on Monopoly Power, From Big Tech to China

In the eyes of Open Markets Institute fellow Matt Stoller, how has the rise of monopolies and corporate centralization in America led to a crisis of democracy?

How did government policy contribute to this?

And, how has the Chinese Communist Party used monopoly power to its advantage against the U.S., using companies like Huawei?

This is American Thought Leaders , and Im Jan Jekielek.

In this episode, well sit down with Matt Stoller, author of Goliath: The Hundred Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy. Previously, he was a Senior Policy Advisor and Budget Analyst to the Senate Budget Committee, and he also worked in the U.S. House of Representatives on Dodd-Frank, the Federal Reserve, and the foreclosure crisis.

American Thought Leaders is an Epoch Times show available on Facebook and YouTube
The Supreme Court Monday said it would hear in April the plea of Vedanta Ltd seeking its nod to re-start iron ore mining in Goa.

A bench, comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant, was told by Vedanta that as per the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, its iron ore mining lease would be extended for a period of 50 years from 1987 to 2037.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said he was "fully endorsing" the interpretation given by senior advocate Harish Salve, the counsel for the company of the statute, on the extension of mining lease.

Lawyer Prashant Bhushan, appearing for NGO 'Goa Foundation', vehemently opposed the submissions and said that the apex court, in its two judgements, has cancelled the mining lease of various companies.

Moreover, the NGO has not been supplied with the copy of the petition by the company, he said.

The court said it will hear arguments by the NGO also in the case filed by Vedanta group firm.

Earlier, the court had issued notices to the Centre and the state government on the plea filed by Vedanta Ltd seeking extension of iron ore mining lease in Goa till 2037.

Prior to this, the Bombay High Court had rejected Vedanta's plea for directions to the Goa government to consider its representation for extension of mining lease.

The decision was challenged by the company in the top court.

The apex court had on January 30 permitted mining firms to transport "royalty paid" iron ore, mined prior to March 15, 2018 in Goa.

It had taken note of the legislative policy and had directed the mining firms that all "such transportation shall be completed within a period of six months from today".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 13:45:22|Editor: Xiaoxia

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VIENTIANE, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Mekong River Commission (MRC) held a forum last week in Laos to discuss with other Mekong nations before going ahead with construction of a Luang Prabang hydropower project on Mekong River.

The Lao government presented detail of the Luang Prabang hydropower project in the ninth Mekong River Regional Stakeholder Forum, which was held from Wednesday to Thursday in Luang Prabang province, some 220 km north of Lao capital Vientiane, local daily Vientiane Times reported on Monday.

Laos briefed representatives of Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand, civil society, academics, the private sector and development partners of details of the hydropower plant for comment.

In response to Lao government's engagement in the forum, representatives of the Mekong countries said they appreciated Lao's presentation of the facts for them to review. They also wanted the Lao government to address the potential impact of the Luang Prabang dam on downstream Mekong countries.

"We're working closely with the developer and its international engineering teams to further improve the design and mitigation measures following the feasibility stage," Lao Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Saynakhone Inthavong said.

"The Lao government highly appreciates the comments from all stakeholders during this prior consultation process and is continually committed to addressing legitimate concerns," he added.

Proposed on the Mekong mainstream in Houygno village, 25 km from the town of Luang Prabang and 2,036 km from Vietnam's Mekong Delta, the power plant will generate electricity mainly for sale to Thailand and Vietnam when commercial operation begins in 2027, according to the report.

In addition to discussing the possible impacts of the dam, the forum considered the draft Basin Development Strategy for 2021-2030, a 10-year strategic direction for development planning within the region.
With seven straight years of double-digit growth, audiobooks are one of publishings most important vehicles for reaching consumers today. At the center of it all is RBmedia, the largest audiobook producer in the world. The companys list of more than 40,000 titles includes 6,500 new releases last year, but the numbers tell only part of the story.

Founded in 1978 as an audiotape company, RBmedia is now as much a 21st-century tech company as it is a traditional publisher. From its massive new facility outside of Washington, D.C., the company has in recent years developed apps that serve direct-to-consumer and library markets, in addition to managing a host of websites including its central direct-to-consumer hub: audiobooks.com.

One way the company brings new content to consumers is through partnerships with publishers such as Harvard Business Review Press, Kensington, Oxford University Press, Princeton University Press, Wiley, and Baen Books. Using custom analytics to assess consumer interest, RBmedia distributes select titles through dedicated imprints. During the last five years, RBmedia has acquired a host of publishing brands including HighBridge Audio, Tantor Media, and Gildan Media, each of which has added depth to the companys catalogue.

Today the company is also focused on two hot-button areas: religion and politics. Christian publishing veteran Megan Dobson recently joined RBmedia as the publisher for ChristianAudio, overseeing christianaudio.com, content acquisition, and publisher partnerships.

Were leveraging the expertise from our other direct-to-consumer platform, audiobooks.com, to the benefit of christianaudio.com, says Troy Juliar, chief content officer at RBmedia. As we drive listeners to christianaudio.com, we gain unique insight into what those listeners want, and we will continue to publish to meet those needs.

At the same time, the company has launched a new politics-focused imprint, Kalorama Audio, leveraging its proximity to the nations capital to deepen its list of major political figures and thinkers. The current political landscape is making the category more relevant than ever, Juliar says. Politics and policy is one of the fastest-growing categories in nonfiction, and consumers are increasingly turning to audiobooks and podcasts for news and information. Our location in the Washington, D.C., area puts us in a prime position to build on our existing relationships with many of the most influential journalists, authors, and commentators who are writing about politics, so this imprint was a natural fit for us.

Among Kalorama Audios first releases are Information Wars by Richard Stengel and Shortest Way Home by 2020 presidential candidate and former mayor of South Bend, Ind., Pete Buttigieg. Forthcoming titles include The Fragile Middle Class, coauthored by Senator Elizabeth Warren, and Bill Browders follow-up to Red Notice.

Along with responding to genre trends, RBmedia is also highly engaged in broader consumer trends. Perhaps the most important of these in recent years is the rise of streaming video platforms, which feed an audience primed for binge-watching long-form content. The trend has helped grow an audience for content related to television series, including audio adaptations of Jenny Hans P.S. I Still Love You and To All the Boys I Loved Before.

RBmedias deep backlist has been key to the companys success. One example of that is the ongoing popularity of the companys Outlander series. The first book in the historical fiction/ fantasy series was published in 1991. Today, its finding new audiences through a recently launched television show, which is driving renewed interest in the books audio editions. The success of the series reflects a broader trend: consumer interest in specific franchises in a variety of formats. And this is a trend the companys combination of imprints, partnerships, and technical savvy are positioned to meet.

Since audio is the fastest growing category in publishing, and we are a leader there, Juliar says, we are in a strong position to enjoy future success.
By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will propose on Monday a 21% cut in foreign aid and slashing social safety net programs in his $4.8 trillion budget proposal for fiscal 2021, according to senior administration officials. The budget will seek an increase in funds to counter developing economic threats from China and Russia, but will also raise funds by targeting $2 trillion (1.55 trillion pounds) in savings from mandatory spending programs in the United States.

By Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will propose on Monday a 21% cut in foreign aid and slashing social safety net programs in his $4.8 trillion budget proposal for fiscal 2021, according to senior administration officials.

The budget will seek an increase in funds to counter developing economic threats from China and Russia, but will also raise funds by targeting $2 trillion (1.55 trillion pounds) in savings from mandatory spending programs in the United States.

Trump, a Republican, sought in his budget proposal last year to slash foreign aid but faced steep resistance from Congress and did not prevail.

Trump latest blueprint for administration spending proposals is unlikely to be passed by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, particularly in an election year.

The budget will raise military spending by 0.3% to $740.5 billion for the fiscal year 2021, starting Oct. 1 and propose higher outlays for defense and veterans, administration officials said.

The White House proposes to slash spending by $4.4 trillion over 10 years.

That includes $130 billion from changes to Medicare prescription-drug pricing, $292 billion from cuts in safety net programs - such as work requirements for Medicaid and food stamps - and $70 billion from tightening eligibility rules for federal disability benefits.

Trump's foreign aid proposal seeks $44.1 billion in the upcoming fiscal year compared with $55.7 billion enacted in fiscal year 2020, an administration official said.

Aid to Ukraine would remain at its 2020 levels under the new proposal, the official said. Trump was acquitted last week of impeachment charges that he withheld aid to Ukraine to spur Kiev to investigate political rival Joe Biden, a Democratic presidential candidate and former U.S. vice president.

Administration officials told Reuters that Trump would request an increase in funding for the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to $700 million compared to $150 million the previous year.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Lisa Shumaker)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
10.02.2020 LISTEN

Like many people in the health sector, the big issue on our minds this week is the coronavirus outbreak in china which has spread to other countries. From the trusted information that I have seen, almost 280 people had been confirmed having the disease on 20th January, last week.

However, by yesterday 31st, we had crossed the 11,000 confirmed cases, most of them in China but also in over 20 other countries. That is why the World Health Organization has had to issue a statement declaring that this is a global epidemic. That means that it has the potential to affect people around the world. It also means that we are all at risk of catching this new disease for which we do not have any cure or even how to manage it.

But my concern is not about how rapidly it is progressing but rather on how we in Ghana are seeing this disease, our sense of vulnerability and our preparedness. My opinion is that the average Ghanaian has not even heard about this disease, to put it bluntly. And even for those who have heard, chances are that we do not understand the extent of the threat it poses to them, individually, and for the nation as a whole. In a sense, this is not surprising because we are a happy go lucky people. We take our own sweet time to do things. We are not so wound up, jumping at any slight issue and in a sense that is great! Less stress, less wahala. So, the reality is that we are all going about our lives as usual, even in places where there is access to media and information (ie the urban areas).

I have spent most of this week working in rural Ashanti and Western North regions. Given the scale of challenges people must deal with daily, another infectious disease cannot make life any darker. So, this disease is not an issue that is coming up in conversations I have had interviewing rural farming folks as part of my work. Also, in the last two days, I have been in Kumasi and engaged in conversations with people engaged actively in the health sector and the issue has not come up in conversations. Thinking back over the week, and what we now know about the virus, the lack of risk perception is itself quite scary. Now we know that more than 250 persons have died from the disease.

So, how concerned should we be concerned about Corona Virus? As a public health specialist with the ability to interpret the science of the evidence coming through the news, I am very concerned. And I think that we should all be concerned. Mainly because we are all vulnerable to this disease that is quickly taking lives. I am not advocating for people to express fear. However, I think a sense of risk perception (feeling the need to protect ones self) must lead us to take some actions. However, I am even more worried bout our limited capacity to create the sense of doing something, in the very likely event that the disease comes to Ghana. Just this morning, I have seen that the WHO has listed Ghana among the 12 countries at the highest risk for the disease in Africa. So, what can we do?

What I worry most for our preparedness is the capacity to quarantine, in the event of an outbreak. In the Wuhan Province in China where the disease was discovered, the whole city has been quarantined to prevent spread of the disease. This means that there is restricted access into and out of the city. This is to ensure that the disease is contained and prevented from spreading. Can you imagine quarantining a place in Accra or Kumasi or some other place in Ghana? There are many practical challenges like communities not having any boundaries where you cannot separate out where one ends and the other starts. Another challenge is that when you quarantine a whole area, then you must ensure supplies to this place. Can you imagine the challenge of ordering and supplying food, medicines, staff, and equipment to a town of even 500 people? We also do not have a track record of providing good services in the context of school feeding, prison welfare, hospital care, etc.

Another big challenge is how people will react to a quarantine. I can imagine rebellion and a huge fight back. To solve this, you will need the police and military to enforce the quarantine. However, as you know, our security services do not have a track record of human handling of disordered crowds. This is to put it mildly. Assuming the security forces do not end up harming people who resist quarantine, there is also the risk of favouritism. Lets just say, Ghanaians generally are not that sacred with keeping the law when it comes to big men. So, if a certain chief or politician comes around to say, do you know me, we are going to have a breach in the quarantine.

These are just a few of the challenges that we need to deal with, in addition to issues like, poor communication and miscommunication via the media, limited number of health workers and health care facilities, limited funding to cater for needs of a quarantine, and lack of a standing mechanism for such an outbreak. Ideally, NADMO should be the agency that will lead such an effort. But frankly, I do not see NADMO leading a medical quarantine. Lets just say, that is NOT their cup of tea. Finally, contact tracing is one of the ways to prevent spread of disease. Assuming people are exposed, there is no proper address and contact system to follow up people. In Ghana, you can easily get lost and untraceable, like white sugar in water.

Our elders say, when someones beard is on fire, that is the time to make sure you have water nearby for your own protection. We need to start thinking of these issues in a world where diseases have no barriers. God help us.
ALBANY, New York, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The advancement in application and widespread use in synthetic hydraulic fluids, coolants, brake fluids, door sealants, and major sectors like aerospace will drive robust growth for the market. According to the TMR study, the ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) market will likely register a notable 6.0% CAGR during 2019-2027. Rising at a robust CAGR, the market will reach nearly US$6.2 bn in valuation by 2027.

As per Transparency Market Research analysts, "the ability to sustain a wide range of temperatures, and strong mechanical strength are key to growth in the ethylene propylene diene monomer market. Additionally, new features such as increased weather resistance also further its application in new segments across industries".

Download PDF Brochure - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=1285

Key Findings of the Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer Market Study

End-industries continue to shift towards synthetic rubber for application. The demand for natural continues to be plagued with fluctuating prices, and growing incentives for production of synthetic rubber also promise to further growth.

The cost-effectiveness of synthetic rubber, and lower consumption of energy in relation to special and general applications promise significant gains.

Key sectors like construction, automotive, among others promise to emerge as strong drivers for growth during the forecast period.

Developments like electric vehicles, UV-resistant properties, and glycol infused brake liquids promise new opportunities for growth in the automotive sector.

Explore the insightful research with its incisive insights, and detailed country-level projections. Gain business intelligence on Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (EPDM) Market (Application: Building & Construction, Electric Insulation, Automotive, Plastics, Lubricant Additives, and Others) forecast, 2019 - 2027: at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ethylene-propylene-diene-monomer-rubber.html

Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer Market: Key Driving Factors

The growing demand for TPVs is a major driver for growth in the ethylene propylene diene monomer market. The cross-linking of rubber materials and formation of polypropylene structured product has opened up new opportunities. These new products offer higher resistance to chemicals, weather, and UV radiation. This is expected to emerge as the main driver for growth in the ethylene propylene diene monomer market.

New horizon of bio-based materials promise to add to conventional strengths with higher metal adhesion, sustainability, higher oil resistance, and effective application as a solvent. Moreover, the use of sugarcane-based bio-materials also promise low costs, thanks to commercial production of sugarcane in major areas of North America region.

region. Indian finance minister recently announced a $1.4 trillion investment in infrastructure over 2019-2024 period. Similar investments across Asia Pacific , North America will emerge as a major opportunity for players in the ethylene propylene diene monomer market.

Key Impediments for Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer Market Players

Despite significant material advancements with bio-materials, the poor compatibility with oils like kerosene, aromatic, and aliphatic hydrocarbons, and oils continue to be a restraint for growth in the ethylene propylene diene monomer market.

Additionally, the in-mold vulcanized bonding process towards creation of substrates also poses challenges for players in the ethylene propylene diene monomer market.

View Detailed Table of Contents at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/report-toc/1285

Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer Market: Region-wise Analysis

The EPDM market promises to make significant expansion in emerging region of Asia Pacific during 2019-2027 period. The growing demand for automobiles, rising investment in infrastructure, and key initiatives in major economies like India, and China are expected to drive growth. The growing acquisitions, and manufacturing capacity expansion in the region are also notable as they promise a higher commercialization of EPDM products in near future.

The growth in Europe, and North America will likely remain robust, thanks to dynamic shifts in auto-manufacturing. The growing automation, and adoption of electric vehicles will create new opportunities for growth in the EPDM market in the region. The bio-based materials will also lead to positive adoption of products in regions like Europe, where stringent environmental regulations open up new business opportunities.

Analyse ethylene propylene diene monomer market growth in 30+ countries including US, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Russia, Poland, Benelux, Nordic, China, Japan, India, and South Korea. Request a sample of the study.

Competition Landscape

According to the TMR study, the competitive landscape of the EPDM market is competitive and consolidated. Six key players in the market make up for 70% of the market share. The players in the market continue to engage in robust innovations to drive growth. For example, in 2018, Johns Manville introduced EPDM membrane sheet, which showcased the tape-to-tape technology. The technology promises to increase installation speeds by four fold, and lowered waterproofing costs significantly. The rising competition in the EPDM market promise to expand the market to new regions. Some key players in the EPDM market are Lanxess AG, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Mitsui Chemicals Inc., DowDuPont Inc, and Lion Elastomers.

Transparency Market Research has segmented the ethylene propylene diene monomer market based on application, and regions.

Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (EPDM) Market: Taxonomy

Application

Building & Construction

Electrical Insulation

Automotive

Plastic

Lubricant Additives

Others

Region

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Latin America

Middle East & Africa

Explore Transparency Market Research's award-winning coverage of the global Chemicals and Materials Industry,

Formaldehyde Market - The formaldehyde market is expected to expand at a CAGR of ~3% during the forecast period. Despite stringent regulations pertaining to the use of formaldehyde, the uptake of formaldehyde is expected to be driven by the growing adoption of urea-formaldehyde and phenol formaldehyde resins.

PE Blow Molded Products Market - In terms of value, the PE blow molded products market is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 4.5% during the forecast period and reach value of ~US$ 80.4 Bn by 2027

Metal Scavenging Agents Market - In terms of value, the global metal scavenging agents market is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of ~4% during the forecast period, to reach value of US$ 20.4 Mn by 2027.

Industrial Absorbents Market - The oil & gas segment is anticipated to present lucrative opportunities to the global industrial absorbents market during the forecast period, due to the increasing demand for oil-only absorbent products across the globe.

Conductive Plastic Compounds Market - The global conductive plastic compounds market is expected to expand at a significant pace during the forecast period, driven by the increase in the production of electrical components and electronic devices.

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About Transparency Market Research

Transparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. Our experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.

Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.

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But downing the airliner and killing all passengers, including 147 Iranians, seem not to be all the story. The evidence narrates that other factors were engaged in the disaster. However, the motivations of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) have yet to be revealed.

The propaganda apparatus immediately launched a wide misinformation campaign and spread fake news to conceal the scale of the crime. The revelation of the conversation of the Aseman Airlines pilot with the Tehran Airport watchtower by Ukrainian officials displayed that the supreme leader Ali Khamenei was informed about the truth from the onset.

This conversation also proved that Iranian authorities had realized that the airliner has been downed by the IRGC anti-aircraft system, however, they denied admitting the truth for three days. Indeed, they continued secrecy and justifying the event even after admitting to their horrific crime.

Disgusting Lying for Covering the Murderer

In the early hours after the downing of the Ukrainian airliner, Iranian officials widely claimed that the plane crashed due to a technical defect. They attempted to cease the public anger by covering up the IRGCs role in killing 176 innocent people.

Ukraines news agency has published the voice conversation between the Asemans pilot with the watchtower while the missiles were shot. The Aseman Airlines pilot in Persian said that he sees the light of launching a missile also an explosion, but the watchtower raised its ignorance.

Then the watchtower tried to contact with the Ukrainian airlines pilot nine times, however, it didnt receive any response, the state-run newspaper Jahan Sanat wrote on February 4.

Notably, it was later exposed that a pilot of Qatari airlines, who was flying near to the incident place, has acknowledged the watchtower about the launching missile. In reports given to the Committee on Development, an exchange similar to what was in the disclosed audio file had been reported by a Qatar Airways crew, Abolfazl Mousavi, a member of the parliaments Civil Commission said on February 3.

The Ukrainian aircraft had all the necessary licenses from the watchtower. According to [regular] procedures, the watchtower was also in compliance with the defense system and had investigated radar systems. At the time, studies rejected the hypothesis that the system was hacked, Mousavi added.

Evidence revealed that the head of Civil Aviation Organization Ali Abedzadeh as the highest official of the aviation organization was immediately informed that the airliner had been shot down by an IRGC missile.

However, he rejected the hypothesis of missile hitting and claimed that a technical defect was the reason for the crash. Many reasons prove that there is no relation between the crash of the Ukrainian and the countrys defense system.

It is not technically possible that the airplane was exploded by a shooting missile, Abedzadeh said in an interview with the state-run TV Channel One on January 9.

Notably, on January 11, the chief of the IRGC Aerospace Force Amir Ali Hajizadeh admitted that he had informed other officials in the earlier hours. In the first hours that I was informed [Wednesday morning], I informed my superiors.

[My forces] told me, we shot down a target. I was in the west of the country I made a phone call and informed officials about the incident. I said, with a high probability we have shot down our planes! Hajizadeh said in an interview with the state-run TV Channel Six news on January 11.

Irans Propaganda Apparatus

In this respect, it would be beneficial to review the misinformation campaign that spread fake news by the state-run media outlets and officials.

This Boeing 737 of the Ukrainian Airlines fell afoul of a technical defect and crashed after taking off from the [airport], the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) quoted the countrys Emergency spokesperson Mojtaba Khaledi as saying on January 8.

The plane would explode in the sky if the incident was caused by rocket fire. However, the fire at the planes engine and the pilots unsuccessful attempt to control the plane resulted in the crash and death of all those aboard, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) quoted the spokesperson of Ministry of Roads and Urban Development Qassem Biniaz as saying on January 9.

The cause of the plane crash depends on its type and model that caused the successive crashes, the state-run newspaper Mashreq published on January 8.

Director-General of the department of Tehrans Crises Management said, A Ukrainian Airlines Boeing 737 fell afoul of a technical defect after taking off from the airport, the state-run newspaper Aftab published on January 11.

Chief spokesman for the General Staff of the Armed Forces Abolfazl Shekarchi called speculation about the plane crash by the IRGC as a rumor, saying, Definitely this issue is raised by [Mojahedin-e Khalq] for the benefit of the Americans. It is another conspiracy in the psychological warfare, the state-run Mashreq website published on January 8.

Earlier Friday, Iran denied Western allegations that one of its own missiles downed the jetliner that crashed early Wednesday outside Tehran, the Associated Press wrote on January 11.

The Iranian Governments Plan for Concealing the Organized Crime

Although from the early hours all the evidence was confirmed that the airliner was downed by a missile fired by the IRGC, however, the Iranian government apparatuses comprehensively attempted to cover the truth.

This is only a sample of great distrust between the Iranian people and authorities, who have killed their citizens on the hand, and also reject the peoples basic right about the tragedys truth.

Several officials certainly knew about the conversation between the pilot and the watchtower; however, they didnt dare to publish what would cause detriment to society Most importantly, at least civil aviation officials, [the organization of] air accidents officials, watchtower, Aseman Airlines pilot, and the head of Aseman Airlines Aviation were aware of the incident.

Therefore, how didnt they inform their superior? Even though the head of the Civil Aviation Organization definitely rejected the missile hit time and again in interviews? Hamdeli newspaper published on February 4.

Additionally, the director of the airline accidents organization Hassan Rezaeifar criticized Ukrainian officials for revealing the audio file, saying, This file was a part of documents we offered Ukrainian experts in the joint team for investigating about the aerial incident.

He also blamed the Ukrainian government for the failure of government propaganda. The publication of conversation audio between pilot and watchtower was in violation of the law since the file was classified as confidential, Ebtekar newspaper quoted Rezaeifar as saying on February 4.

However, given officials knowledge about the conversation in addition to the Qatari pilots report, why have the president Hassan Rouhani, the head of the IRGC Hossein Salami, the spokesman of the administration Ali Rabiei, officials of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, and officials of Irans Aviation organization still tried to conceal the truth?

On the other hand, officials confirmed that they were on high alert at the night of taking harsh revenge on the U.S. bases in Iraq for the death of the chief of IRGCs Quds Force Qassem Soleimani.

However, they didnt realize why they didnt cancel flights when they expected a retaliatory attack by the U.S.? Did the Iranian government abuse passenger flights as a human barrier against possible foreign attacks?

Also, why were two missiles fired at the airliner, while the so-called missile or offensive aircraft was moving from the capital toward the borders? And while any ordinary person can recognize a passenger airliner from a military aircraft, didnt Aerospace Forces truly recognize the difference?

Iranian Authorities Concerns About Revealing the Truth

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 February 3. He says that it seems to me that a missile is flying, he says it in both Persian and English, everything is fixed there, the Ukrainian president said.

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, Ukraine International Airways said in a statement.

The fact is the highest officials of Iran were deeply concerned about the reaction of the society over their unforgivable crime. Particularly, two months after their bloody crackdown on protesters in November, they have failed to escape Khamenei as the main culprit of the mentioned crime.

Following the worldwide disclosure of astounding scheme of lies by Khamenei and Rouhani, and as the 40th day memorial of the victims is approaching, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), called on everyone to express sympathy with the families of the victims and protest against the mullahs demagogic regime.

She also underscored the need to prosecute Khamenei, Rouhani, and IRGC commanders by an international court. She added that the United Nations Security Council must hold to account the regimes leaders for the martyrs of the November uprising and for the victims of the downed Ukrainian airliner, the Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran said on February 4.
[February 10, 2020] Sage Now Accepting Nominations for Second Annual Circle of Excellence Accounting Awards

TORONTO, Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sage (FTSE:SGE), the market leader in cloud business management solutions, is proud to announce today that following last years successful launch, its now welcoming nominations for the annual Sage Circle of Excellence Accounting Awards.

Were thrilled to once again acknowledge the hard work and dedication so many of our accounting partners have shown to their profession, businesses, and communities, said Paul Struthers, EVP and Managing Director, Sage Canada. The Circle of Excellence Awards celebrate some of the industrys greatest accomplishments and remind everyone of the tremendous difference these professionals make across Canada. We look forward to congratulating the winners at the National Sage Accountants Forum taking place in Vernon in June. Through May 5, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. PT, Sage will accept nominations across seven categories to honour Canadian accountants and bookkeepers who, whether solo practitioner or senior partner at an enterprise firm, have made the most positive impact on their clients, communities, and the profession itself: Accountant Partner of the Year: Recognizes the outstanding achievements of an accountant or accountant firm. Last years winner was Karen Brault with RSM Canada, based in Red Deer, AB.

Recognizes the outstanding achievements of an accountant or accountant firm. Last years winner was Karen Brault with RSM Canada, based in Red Deer, AB. Bookkeeper Partner of the Year: Recognizes the outstanding achievements of a bookkeeper or bookkeeping firm. Last years winner was Bianca Mueller with Books by Bianca, based in Burnaby, B.C.

Recognizes the outstanding achievements of a bookkeeper or bookkeeping firm. Last years winner was Bianca Mueller with Books by Bianca, based in Burnaby, B.C. Social Influencer Award: Recognizes a person or practice in their efforts to promote Sage Canada ad the accounting industry in social media. Last years winner was Debrah Burleigh with Debrah Burleigh and Associates Ltd, based in Surrey, B.C.

Recognizes a person or practice in their efforts to promote Sage Canada ad the accounting industry in social media. Last years winner was Debrah Burleigh with Debrah Burleigh and Associates Ltd, based in Surrey, B.C. Community Spirit Award: Celebrates a person or practice that has made outstanding contributions to their community. Last years winner was Clyde Harris with Alwyn Enterprises, based in Scarborough, ON.

Celebrates a person or practice that has made outstanding contributions to their community. Last years winner was Clyde Harris with Alwyn Enterprises, based in Scarborough, ON. Innovator Award: Recognizes a person or practice that pushes through conventional boundaries. Last year featured a tie in this category, with Longueil, Quebec-based Integratechs Andree Dube and Toronto, Ontario-based Actium Consulting Inc.s Anna Abbruzzese sharing the award.

Recognizes a person or practice that pushes through conventional boundaries. Last year featured a tie in this category, with Longueil, Quebec-based Integratechs Andree Dube and Toronto, Ontario-based Actium Consulting Inc.s Anna Abbruzzese sharing the award. Small Business of the Year Award: A new category that recognizes the amazing achievements of a Sage accountant or bookkeepers small-business client. The small-business winner of this award category will demonstrate innovation and/or positive impact on their employees, their customers, and their community. The winner of last years equivalent in this category (previously known as the Small Business Influencer Award) was Stephane Dumont, of Dumont St-Pierre in Montreal, QC.

A new category that recognizes the amazing achievements of a Sage accountant or bookkeepers small-business client. The small-business winner of this award category will demonstrate innovation and/or positive impact on their employees, their customers, and their community. The winner of last years equivalent in this category (previously known as the Small Business Influencer Award) was Stephane Dumont, of Dumont St-Pierre in Montreal, QC. Trainer of the Year: Recognizes a person or practice that has excelled in training accountants and bookkeepers in Sage products. Last years winner was Marge Wegren-Debre with P51 Computing Strategies in Edmonton, AB.



A panel of independent judges (which Sage will announce in March) will rank nominees based on each subjects embodiment of their corresponding category. The three highest-ranked nominees in each category will be the finalists, with the highest-ranked nominees in each category declared the winners.

Prospective nominators and nominees seeking more information can visit the official Sage Circle of Excellence Accounting Awards website here . Media contact: Betty Tian

Sage

Office: 604-207-3611

Mobile: 604-376-7398

[email protected] Additional resources:

Like Sage on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/Sage/

Follow Sage on Twitter  http://www.twitter.com/SageNAmerica

Follow Sage News http://www.sage.com/company/news-and-events About Sage Sage is the global market leader for technology that helps small and medium businesses perform at their best. Sage is trusted by millions of customers worldwide to deliver the best cloud technology and support, with our partners, to manage finances, operations, and people. We believe in doing everything we can to help people be the best they can be, so the combined efforts of 13,000 Sage colleagues working with businesses and communities make a real difference to the world. Sage. Perform at your Best. Find out more at www.sage.com .

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What is Sabarimala Thantri's view over use of halal jaggery to prepare prasadam: plea in Kerala HC

Sabarimala: SC frames 7 issues to be heard by 9 Judge Bench

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 10: The Supreme Court has ordered that the Sabarimala review Bench reference on questions of religion to the larger Bench is correct.

The court also framed seven issues for the nine-judge Bench to hear.

The nine-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde had said that it will inform the parties about the time frame and the questions framed in the matter on February 6.

SC asks Kerala to suggest measures to safeguard ornaments of Sabarimala temple

The bench, also comprising justices R Banumathi, Ashok Bhushan, L Nageswara Rao, M M Shantanagoudar, S A Nazeer, R Subhash Reddy, B R Gavai and Surya Kant, said it will also deal with the issue whether a reference order can be made in review jurisdiction for a hearing by a larger bench.

During the hearing, senior advocates Fali S Nariman, Kapil Sibal, Shyam Divan and Rakesh Dwivedi said in review jurisdiction, there cannot be any reference order on issues to be heard by a larger bench.

The senior lawyers contended that in review jurisdiction, the scope is very limited and the court can only see whether the judgement under review has any error apparent or not.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, senior advocates K Parasaran and Ranjit Kumar, however, opposed the arguments and said the top court while exercising the review jurisdiction can refer a larger issue, which had arisen during the adjudication of the dispute, to a larger bench.

NEWS AT NOON JAN 10th, 2020

The questions framed are what is the scope, ambit of religious freedom, what is the interplay between religious freedom and freedom of beliefs of religious denominations, what religious denominations are subject to fundamental rights and what is the morality in practice of religious freedom.

The bench made clear that it was not discussing the issue of entry of women of all age groups into Sabarimala temple in Kerala.

It has been hearing several senior lawyers on the issue of framing of larger legal questions to be deliberated upon by it relating to discrimination against women in various religions.

'The Sabarimala review case is not before us. We are not deciding Sabarimala. We are deciding the larger questions,' the bench said when senior advocates Nariman, Sibal, Divan and Dwivedi opposed the hearing on the so-called larger issue relating to discrimination against women in various religions.

A five-judge bench, by a majority of 3:2 on November 14 last year, had referred to a larger bench the issue of discrimination against women in religions such as denial of entry of Muslim women into mosques, the practice of female genital mutilation in Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community and denial of right to Parsi women who have married outside their religion.

Sabarimala case: SC to frame questions relating to discrimination against women in religions

At the outset, Nariman said the question whether women of all age groups can be allowed entry into the Sabarimala temple has been already decided by the Supreme Court in 2018 and the subsequent review has also been dealt with and hence, this cannot be adjudicated afresh.

The bench said it will also consider the objection of Nariman as one of the issues.

Nariman said the apex court cannot club other issues with Sabarimala and it cannot frame questions in a review and bring in new issues.

'Scope of review is very restricted. This will set a new precedent. How can you think about other issues in a review?' he said.

To this, the CJI said, 'No. We will not be deciding these issues. We will only interpret articles involved in these cases.' Sibal, appearing for the All India Muslim Personal Board, said though Muslim women are allowed entry into the mosque, the issue of essential religious practice is broad enough to be decided by this court.

Article 25 and 26 (fundamental rights to religion) of the Constitution are part of the fundamental rights which are enforceable against state action, he said.

'A lot of petitions have been filed saying Nikah Halala is bad. Somebody is saying polygamy is bad. How the bench will decide the issue,' Sibal said.

To this, the bench said, 'That is why we have set up a nine-judge bench. That is why we are hearing you.' The bench said it was only going to decide the interpretation of those articles which have been invoked in Sabarimala.

The five-judge bench on November 14 last year had set out seven questions of law to be examined by the larger bench. They include the interplay between freedom of religion under articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution, need to delineate the expression 'constitutional morality', the extent to which courts can enquire into particular religious practices, meaning of sections of Hindus under Article 25 and whether 'essential religious practices' of a denomination or section thereof are protected under Article 26.
[February 10, 2020] Pax8 Executives Walsh and Heddy Recognized as 2020 CRN Channel Chiefs

DENVER, Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pax8 , the best place to buy cloud solutions, today announced that CRN  , a brand of The Channel Company , has named Chief Channel Officer Ryan Walsh and Chief Revenue Officer Nick Heddy to its 2020 list of Channel Chiefs. This annual list recognizes the top vendor executives who continually demonstrate exemplary leadership, influence, innovation, and growth for the IT channel.

Ryan and Nick are two of the industrys most influential leaders, and we are thrilled to see them on the Channel Chief list for the third consecutive year, said John Street, CEO at Pax8. Their contributions to Pax8 employees, partners, and vendors are significant, and the support they offer through our award-winning Wingman partner programs sets them apart. As we begin a new decade, we are excited to deliver even more innovative business strategies. CRNs 2020 Channel Chiefs list honors the distinguished leaders who have influenced the IT channel with cutting-edge strategies and partnerships. The 2020 Channel Chiefs have shown outstanding commitment, an ability to lead, and a passion for progress within the channel through their partner programs. The Channel Chief honorees were chosen by the CRN editorial staff for their dedication, industry prestige, and exceptional accomplishments in driving the channel agenda and evangelizing the importance of channel partnerships. The IT channel is undergoing constant evolution to meet customer demands and changing businessenvironments, said Bob Skelley, CEO of The Channel Company. CRNs Channel Chiefs work tirelessly, leading the industry forward through superior partner programs and strategies with a focus on helping solution providers transform and grow. Our team here at The Channel Company congratulates these outstanding individuals for their dedication to the channel.



CRNs 2020 Channel Chiefs list will be featured in the February 2020 issue of CRN Magazine and online at www.CRN.com/ChannelChiefs . To learn more about Pax8, please visit www.pax8.com .

About Pax8

Pax8 is modernizing how partners buy, sell and manage cloud. As a born-in-the-cloud company, Pax8 simplifies the buying journey, empowering its partners to achieve more with cloud technology. The companys technology displaces legacy distribution by connecting the channel ecosystem to its award-winning transactional cloud marketplace. Through billing, provisioning, automation, industry-leading PSA integrations, and pre and post-sales support, and education, Pax8 is a proven disruptor in the market. In 2018, Pax8 was ranked number 68 on the Inc. 5000 and in 2019, the company was ranked number 60. If you want to be successful with cloud, you want to work with Pax8. Get started today at www.pax8.com . Follow Pax8 on Facebook , LinkedIn , and Twitter . About The Channel Company

The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequaled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. Learn more at www.thechannelco.com . Media Contact

Amanda Lee

ARL Strategic Communications for Pax8

(727) 272-0781

[email protected]

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AMID concerns over American Airlines decision to cut some flights to the territory, the Government assures that their relationship with the airline is solid and growing.





Last week, news spread quickly that the airline was putting a temporary halt to its morning and evening flights until August.





Instead, the first flight will leave Providenciales for Miami at 1.27pm with a second at 3.18pm, and from Miami to Providenciales at 10.35am and 12.43pm.





To quell concerns, Minister of Tourism, Hon. Ralph Higgs met with American Airlines official Floriana Martinez, channel sales manager for the Caribbean late last week.





He reported that the adjustment in schedule have nothing to do with the strength of the relationship with the airline, or performance of the destination.





He added that in fact, added airlift from the Charlotte area to Providenciales will begin on February 19, additional airlift from the Dallas area to Providenciales this summer and also the night flight to Providenciales from Miami is expected to resume around that time as well.





"Both parties - American Airlines and Turks and Caicos Islands - recognise and accept that weve come a long way together and have a very promising and mutually beneficial future.





"As we are with American Airlines, we are grateful to all carriers that provide service to our Islands and we value our partnership, Hon. Higgs stated.





He added that in the 28 years the airline has served the territory, they along with other carriers that fly into TCI would adjust the frequency of their flights for a multitude of reasons.





These are based on their respective companys internal assessment, not only of the number of travellers to visiting the destination, but the aircrafts availability and repositioning requirements.





"We would like to ensure the travelling public that they still can travel to and from our Islands with ease and comfort, on any of the several carriers that flies here from most of the major gateways in North America and beyond.





"I condemn in the strongest possible terms any action or measures to try and politicise or spin this situation for self-aggrandisement, the minister stated.





Echoing the ministers statement was Premier Sharlene Cartwright Robinson who told Weekly News that the decision to shift the schedule had been made since November.





She said the TCI Airports Authority has been in discussion with the airline and has been given every assurance that it is squarely a business decision.





"This is how the airline industry works, and understand that planes and scheduling is a central issue to its operations, she said.





"We regret the inconvenience that some have spoken to but are grateful that AA is adding flights and continue to offer 10 flights a week.





American Airlines is one of the longest serving carriers to the Turks and Caicos Islands, initially with one daily flight from Miami, Florida.





As the destinations tourism grew, so did airlift from the US airline. (By Delana Isles)




Lawyers for Carlos Ghosn, the fugitive former automotive executive, on Monday argued in a Dutch court for the release of internal documents relating to his dismissal by Nissan Motor and Mitsubishi Motors.

Ghosn, former chairman of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, was arrested in Japan in 2018 but fled to Lebanon last December.

He launched a court case in the Netherlands against the Japanese carmakers in July, arguing his firing was unlawful.

Monday's hearing at the Amsterdam District Court was the first public session in the case. Ghosn is seeking 15 million euros ($17 million) in damages from the carmakers, who he says violated Dutch labour laws.

A lawyer for Nissan-Mitsubishi dismissed demands by Ghosn's legal team for documents to be released.

Ghosn's lawyers claim he was unfairly dismissed as chairman of Nissan-Mitsubishi BV, a Dutch-registered entity, because the details of the allegations were not shared with him.

"Nissan and Mitsubishi publicly shamed Ghosn," attorney lawyer Roeland de Mol told the court. "Their reports and accusations were never put to Ghosn. There was no due process."

De Mol said Ghosn wants "a full debate on the reasons of Ghosn's dismissal. We need the information in his file to be able to do that. Mr. Ghosn is ready for a fight."

Ghosn is seeking access to documents relating to internal Nissan and Mitsubishi investigations, which the carmakers used to substantiate his dismissal on allegations of financial misconduct.

His defence team has argued the documents will show the companies were aware of Ghosn's activities.

Lawyer Eelco Meerdink, representing Nissan-Mitsubishi, said Ghosn's legal team was "going on a fishing expedition".

"Their requests are very broad. And it can be no surprise that there are many reasons why we cannot agree to them," he said.
Ever heard of Baby Gaga of London? Maybe not. Its an ice-cream brand thats very controversial and has been in and out of business more frequently than any other retailer. The reason? Baby Gaga sells ice-cream made from human milk or breast milk.

And Baby Gaga would pay women that would sell their breast milk for its rather esoteric ice-cream.

There arent any Baby Gaga outlets in America. However, any healthy woman can sell her breast milk and earn up to $1,000 per month. Or maybe more.

Why Sell Breast Milk?

For money of course. But wait, theres another reason why you should be selling breast milk or human milk. And thats even more compelling than merely making money.

Between two and five percent of all women in the world cannot lactate while an equal number suffer from Agalactia or a condition that causes them to produce insufficient milk to feed their newborn child.

certainly such mothers have two options: feeding their newborns with infant formula- which is an artificial version of human milk. Or feed them breast milk from other women.

Medical and scientific research proves that breast milk is best absorbed by babies. And it keeps them healthy while promoting growth.

When you sell breast milk, youre also helping some mom to provide the best available nutrition to their newborns. And getting an opportunity to make some money too.

If youre lactating and wish for selling breast milk, heres how you can earn $1,000 or more per month.

Top 5 Ways for Selling Breast Milk

Therere five distinct ways to sell breast milk. You can select the ones that suit your convenience and pay more.

1. Hospitals

Intensive Care Units at various hospitals across America require a whopping 70 million ounces of breast milk every year. That adds up to quite a large amount.

Meanwhile, these healthcare facilities will post requirements for breast milk on their website or welcome sellers. You can try any of these hospitals and clinics at your location.

2. HM4HB

HM4HB is a global network known as Human Milk for Human Babies. They have a Facebook page with contact details.

Hence, you can contact HM4HB and register as a breast milk seller. Theyll collect your milk or ask you to visit the nearest center for the purpose.

3. Only the Breast

Only the Breast is an online community for moms to sell and buy breast milk. You can register as a seller on their website. For selling breast milk, register as a member at Only for Breast.

Upon successful registration, you can post a classified ad with details such as your location and volume of milk you can sell. Only for Breast helps you find buyers within your city or location.

4. Mothers Milk Coop

Mothers Milk Coop buys milk but has several terms and conditions. For example, they wont bear expenses for freezing or sometimes, transporting your milk.

Hence you can read terms and conditions on their website and check if theyre a good option. Mothers Milk Cooperative works at providing breast milk to moms at various locations across America.

5. Human Milk Banking Association of North America

Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) operates nearly 30 milk-banks as theyre known at various locations in the US.

The Mothers Milk Bank of Florida and New York Milk Bank are HMBANA members. Hence you can sell breast milk at any of their milk banks too.

Who Can Sell Breast Milk?

Should you decide to sell breast milk, its extremely important to qualify. Since neonates or newborns will consume your breast milk, every organization has very strict rules for sellers and donors. Theres a specific process youll have to follow.

Medical certificate or examination

Youll most likely have to get a certificate from your physician or undergo a medical test to ensure you qualify for selling breast milk.

This test would include various factors such as a history of infectious diseases, general health, iron, folic acid and other nutrient levels in your body and sometimes, tests for diabetes and Thyroid disorders and of course, breast cancer.

Hence meeting the specifications set by buyers is very important for selling breast milk. And that also ensures youre in good health. Because breast milk contains lots of nutrients that are necessary for a newborn.

Furthermore, your health is also important. Hence, a milk-bank will buy you breast milk only when they know you enjoy excellent health. Therefore, taking a medical test is the best option.

Quality of Breast Milk

The quality of your breast milk has to match with those set by milk-banks and buyers. Usually, a milk-bank will test your breast milk either for a small fee or sometimes, free of cost.

I recommend you try and improve the quality of your breast milk before registering as a seller. This means you can easily qualify.

Your genes or ethnicity also decides the quality of your breast milk, according to reports. I suggest you read this article carefully before enrolling as a seller or donor.

Of course, the milk-bank or buyer will test the quality. However, its also better to learn something about these factors for your own safety.

Your Location

Your location also matters a lot while selling breast milk. Because most buyers prefer fresher breast milk over stored or frozen varieties. Therefore, check if theres a milk-bank in your area or find the nearest one and contact them for details.

As I mentioned earlier, some milk-banks might not pay freezing and related costs for your breast milk. To earn more money, its important to consider these factors too.

Above all search on the links to milk-banks and other resources Ive given above to check for more details and milk-banks or buyers in your area.

Price of Your Breast Milk

An ounce of breast milk sells for anything between $1 and $5 each. However, most buyers will pay between $1 and $2 for an ounce. You can get up to $5 per ounce of breast milk if some ICU requires it urgently.

Typically, a newborn consumes between 25 ounces or about 750ml of breast milk daily. Hence, you can sell excess breast milk.

A healthy woman produces about 900ml of breast milk per day. Meaning, you can sell about five to 10 ounces of breast milk daily- if youre breastfeeding your child. However, the volume can differ in every woman.

Therere cases where women increase the volume of breast milk merely for selling and making more money. However, you might severely damage your health by doing this.

Remember, your breast milk contains nutrients that your body needs too. Hence, trying to make more breast milk using various techniques can leave you sick.

Getting Money for Breast Milk

Getting money for your breast milk differs according to your location. Individual buyers will wire the money to your bank or debit card. Some milk-banks issue debit cards while others use PayPal and other services.

Youll have to check with the nearest milk-bank about how they pay for your breast milk. Usually, women ask for payment only after a month or two, unless they require the cash urgently.

Closing Thoughts

As you can see, therere several pros and cons of selling breast milk. Hence, youll have to decide whether you wish for selling breast milk and earn money or let it run waste. Therefore, consider all factors carefully before selling breast milk to make money.
Instead of acknowledging the truth, such organisations and individuals use the card of human rights to slander the Vietnamese State brazenly, thereby plotting to obstruct Vietnams expansion of economic relations, regardless of the fact that such relations will bring substantive benefits to all Vietnamese, which in turn facilitates the perfection and development of human rights in society.

In June 2019 in Hanoi, representatives of the Vietnamese Government and the EU signed the EVFTA and EVIPA following the approval of EU member countries.

On January 21, the European Parliaments Committee on International Trade (INTA) voted on and approved a resolution asking for the European Parliament (EP)s ratification of the EVFTA and EVIPA. This February, during its session in France, the EP will vote on these two agreements. If they are ratified, the EVFTA will come into force immediately while the EVIPA will take effect later, pending ratification by each EU member country.

Such a result comes after nearly ten years of joint efforts by the Vietnamese Government and the EU from agreeing to start negotiations, announcing the start of negotiations and concluding negotiations, legal review to prepare for and complete the signing of the EVFTA, to agreeing to split the EVFTA into two separate agreements, the EVFTA with the current contents and the EVIPA for investment protection, investment dispute settlement, concluding the EVFTA legal review, reaching agreement on EVIPAs content and completing legal review for the EVIPA, officially adopting the EVFTA and EVIPA, and approval for signing the agreements.

For the Vietnamese side, in order to meet the requirements of the EVFTA and EVIPA, the Government took important and necessary steps, which are highly valued by its partners.

For example, Vietnam made progress this past November with the adoption of a revised labour code, which for the first time allows workers to set up a representative organisation or join one of their own choosing, according to the Foreign Trade Association (Amfori). The associations head also recognised Vietnams progress on human rights.

Following the signing ceremony in Hanoi, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom stated that the signing was an important milestone in the long-lasting cooperation between the two sides. She expressed her belief that the implementation of the agreements will bring benefits to consumers and businesses of both Vietnam and the EU with 99% of the tariff lines eliminated.

She added that the agreement will also help promote investment between the two sides and the earlier the ratification the more benefits it brings to the people, workers and consumers. Malmstrom noted that this is a signal sent to the world amid growing protectionism in many places.

According to the trade commissioner, the EU is looking to the Asian friend, wishing this to be the foundation for cooperation between the parties and increased regional integration. She emphasised that with the parties strengths and diversity, the agreements will bring the largest benefits and highest growth for both sides.

The above are responsible and accurate opinions, because the signing of the EVFTA and EVIPA not only meets the need for development cooperation between Vietnam and the EU, but also symbolises a positive trend of todays humanity, that is cooperation for the interests of all sides, contributing to sustainable development, for a world of peace, stability and development.

According to an introduction to the EVFTA and EVIPA posted on the Ministry of Industry and Trades portal, the EVFTA will help Vietnamese exports to the EU increase by 20% in 2020, 42.7% in 2025 and 44.37% in 2030 compared with a no-deal situation. At the same time, Vietnams imports from the EU are also forecast to increase, albeit slower than export growth, by 15.28% in 2020, 33.06% in 2025 and 36.7% in 2030.

Furthermore, commitments on services-investment, government procurement, as well as specific regulations on market access openness and technical measures in some specific areas will also create opportunities for EU businesses, products and services to have better access to the Vietnamese market of nearly 100 million people, while helping Vietnamese consumers to access high-quality products and services from the EU in areas such as pharmaceuticals, healthcare, infrastructure construction and public transport.

It is safe to say that the signing of the EVFTA and EVIPA between Vietnam and the EU will bring a great deal of substantive benefits, open strong and comprehensive cooperation between the two sides, exerting a positive impact on the Vietnamese economy, helping to make use of the resources, tap into its potentials, create more job opportunities for everyone and improve quality of life. The final result of these factors are an increasingly growing country and improved standards of living for its people.

However, these things are beyond the wishes and thoughts of hostile forces, as well as some organisations and individuals that are not in good faith towards Vietnam. Because the reality shows that, as a "permanent instinct", for decades, whenever some international cooperation established that may have positive impact on the development of Vietnam, such organisations and subjects immediately raise their objections, while at the same time trying to find ways to obstruct and prevent them from occurring.

It happened for the signing of EVFTA and EVIPA, too. Over the past years, with the close coordination among both domestic and foreign forces, they have been running around to protest. Based on the argument that its nature is fabricated to slander Vietnam on human rights issue, they call on each other to sign the so call "open letter" to suggest some responsible individuals in the EU "postpone the approval until human rights requirements are met by the Vietnamese government.

Despite Vietnam's human rights achievements that have been highly praised by the international community, they appear here and there to carry out "hearings" and attend seminars just to repeat statements that are contrary to the thinking and awareness of the true persons who promote human rights and truly care about the lives of their compatriots.

Even through the so-called "letter to the European Parliament" on February 4, 2020, they loudly criticised the "majority" in INTA "ignoring repeated pledges formulated by many international and Vietnamese NGOs"... With the crazy and shameless protest activities, they reveal their dark malice and political intrigue, which is ready to trample and neglect the rights of Vietnamese workers.

Not to mention that with the signing of EVFTA and EVIPA, Vietnam's goods will improve their quality to meet the standards of their highly demanding partners. That will be an important factor pushing Vietnamese businesses to pay more attention to their domestic production methods and quality of goods. More and more of Vietnam's goods will be exported, and the inevitable result is the lives of workers in Vietnam will be improved, while the potential of all aspects of the country can also be increasingly enhanced, creating more favourable conditions for Vietnam to increasingly strengthen its tasks in building and defending the country.

Therefore, it is not surprising to look at the list of organisations and individuals who have been opposing the signing of EVFTA and EVIPA. These objects are not entirely strange. They are organisations and individuals who for many years have immediately voiced criticism and opposition without sense of shame whenever there is an international cooperation that benefits and improves Vietnam's prestige, or whenever there is any international appreciation for Vietnam's achievements.

They are old faces who have never been in good faith, such as Human Rights Watch (HRW) with comments that slander Vietnam and incite members of the EP. Such comments have been reflected very specifically through an interview by Claudio Francavilla, a HRW representative in Europe, on RFA on February 7, 2020. Along with HRW is a collection of junk organisations that claim to be "working for human rights" but exist in name rather than in fact, mainly operating on the internet, such as VETO (Human Rights Defenders Network), Que me (belonging to the so-called "Buddhist Solidarity Association"), BPSOS (Boat People SOS  the organisation has organised signing of a "petition letter" sent to the US Government and suffered failure miserably), and CRFV (Committee for Religious Freedom in Vietnam) ...

Notably, to sabotage Vietnam, these organisations do not hesitate to sign a partnership with the terrorist organisation "Viet Tan" and VOICE (the "extended arm" of Viet Tan terrorist organisation). Meanwhile, the other individuals are still the same, still "dropping the tears every week" and have signed on many fabricated documents slandering the Vietnamese State in the issue of human rights.

Promoting economic development in order to ensure the increasingly improved interests of the entire people is one of the important and basic goals that the Party and State of Vietnam always strive for and head towards. The corollary of this guarantee is to contribute to the consolidation and development of human rights in Vietnam. In turn, the human rights achievements gained from economic development will directly refute, expose and turn the rhetoric of hostile forces and a number of unwholesome organisations and individuals into cliches and comicality.

Therefore, these objects must always find ways to "politicise" Vietnam's economic relations with foreign countries, putting pressure on Vietnamese partners to follow their irrational demands. These noisy acts that have been brazened around the signing of EVFTA and EVIPA between the EU and Vietnam are vivid evidences, sufficient to prove that such organisations and individuals do not care about human rights and do not want Vietnam to develop. They just try to seek ways to devise evil tricks to prevent all useful and beneficial relations for Vietnam, with the expectation of Vietnam to be stagnant and the Vietnamese people in disadvantaged "to fish in troubled waters." That is the problem that needs to be exposed and condemned.

In order for EVFTA and EVIPA to promote their positive effects and bring benefits to Vietnam and the EU, for its part, when these two agreements are approved by the EP, the Government of Vietnam and the concerned domestic authorities and businesses should step with the roadmap to fulfil their commitments with the EU on trade in goods, EU export goods, trade in services and investment, government procurement, geographical indications, and implementing the provisions of EVIPA. These are complex tasks but need to be carried out to expand the premise for the country's sustainable development, thus adding more favourable conditions to help increasingly consolidate, perfect and develop human rights in Vietnam.
business Reporters Take | Coronavirus outbreak can severely damage Indias pharma industry Moneycontrols Shraddha Sharma talks to Viswanath Pilla on how the disruption in drug supply due to nCoV is affecting Indias pharma industry.
Phoenix, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - February 10, 2020) - The Stock Day Podcast welcomed Tauriga Sciences, Inc. (OTCQB: TAUG) ("the Company"), a revenue generating Company that operates through the development, distribution, and licensing of proprietary products as well as the evaluation of potential acquisition opportunities. CEO of the Company, Seth Shaw, joined Stock Day host Everett Jolly.

Jolly began the interview by noting that Tauriga Sciences Inc. is an Affiliate Vendor to the National Association of College Stores or the NACS (# 113921) and will be operating a Corporate Exhibitor at the CAMEX - NACS Tradeshow in New Orleans (February 9-11, 2020). "This will be our fifth major trade show since November 12th, 2019," said Shaw. "This one is particularly interesting for us. We are a certified vendor of the National Association of College Stores, which means that we're licensed to sell our products to the college stores and campus bookstores," shared Shaw. "Our company is operating a main floor corporate exhibitor booth, so it's a great opportunity for us," he continued, noting that there are currently over 4,000 campus bookstores throughout the country.

"A few large universities have already expressed very significant levels of interest," shared Shaw. "Although there are no guarantees, I fully expect some of these will translate into major purchase orders in the near future," he added. Shaw then explained that the Company has already facilitated meetings with multiple campus bookstore managers. "I can tell you that is something that I believe will be the next great growth area for this company."

Jolly then commented on the increasing presence of CBD products in gas stations and asked if this is an advantage that the Company could capitalize on. "The gas station and convenience store opportunity is probably the best opportunity that Tauriga has to grow into millions or even several million dollars of revenue," said Shaw. "It is a compelling opportunity and it's a high market opportunity," he added. "In the near term, I expect that there will be a substantial or major press release addressing this."

Story continues

"What are your thoughts on revenues in the first and second quarter of 2020?" asked Jolly. "I am very optimistic about how our product will perform during calendar 2020, but I am going to defer that answer until our next call because there are so many things that can happen within a matter of days, if not a few weeks," said Shaw.

"What type of research and development capabilities does Tauriga have in place right now?" asked Jolly. "We have a laboratory setup where we're capable of testing flavors, increasing concentrations, adding additional products to our gum; We can make some that have caffeine, CBD, B12, and we can do license agreements. We have a very sophisticated laboratory and research and development protocol setup," said Shaw. "It's one of the really undervalued aspects of this company, and it's something that I think will play a much larger role later this year."

Shaw closed the interview by discussing the Company's potential revenues for 2020, as well as their upcoming pharmaceutical project. "We have great products that have proven that they are able to be successful in the marketplace," said Shaw. "What we're capable of achieving could be remarkable," closed Shaw, while encouraging listeners to visit www.taurigum.com.

To hear Seth Shaw's entire interview, follow the link to the podcast here: https://audioboom.com/posts/7500425-ceo-of-tauriga-sciences-inc-seth-shaw-updates-the-stock-day-podcast-on-its-2020-growth-strategy

Investors Hangout is a proud sponsor of "Stock Day," and Stock Day Media encourages listeners to visit the company's message board at https://investorshangout.com/

ABOUT TAURIGA SCIENCES INC.

Tauriga Sciences, Inc. (TAUG) is a revenue generating Company that operates through the development, distribution, and licensing of proprietary products as well as the evaluation of potential acquisition opportunities. One such opportunity on which the Company has acted, involves the Company having entered into the cannabidiol (or "CBD") infused chewing gum product business, as more fully described above and in prior press releases. This CBD infused chewing gum product has been branded under the following name: Tauri-Gum. The Company is currently in production of three distinct flavors of Tauri-Gum: MINT, BLOOD ORANGE, and POMEGRANATE. On December 6, 2019 the Company announced that it completed the initial production run (thereby expanding its existing product lines) with the introduction of a 25mg Vegan CBD Isolate Infused vegan gummy ("gum drop"), branded under the name: Tauri-Gummies. Further, the Company continues to identify and evaluate additional potential opportunities to generate revenue, as well as shareholder value, and leverage its resources and expertise to build a diversified and sustainable business model. Please visit our corporate website at www.tauriga.com.

The Company has also announced the development of a Cannabigerol ("CBG") Isolate infused version of Tauri-Gum. The flavor that has been selected is Starfruit/Peach and each piece of gum will contain 10mg of CBG Isolate / Each blister pack will contain 80mg of CBG Isolate. The Company expects to commence production during its 4thFiscal Quarter of 2020 (January 1, 2020 - March 31, 2020).

In addition, on March 11, 2019, the Company announced the official launch of its E-Commerce site - as part of its Tauri-Gum commercialization strategy. This site can be accessed by visiting the following URL address: www.taurigum.com

The Company has established corporate offices in both New York City (USA) and Barcelona (Spain).

DISCLAIMER -- Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 which represent management's beliefs and assumptions concerning future events. These forward-looking statements are often indicated by using words such as "may," "will," "expects," "anticipates," believes, "hopes," "believes," or plans, and may include statements regarding corporate objectives as well as the attainment of certain corporate goals and milestones. Forward-looking statements are based on present circumstances and on management's present beliefs with respect to events that have not occurred, that may not occur, or that may occur with different consequences or timing than those now assumed or anticipated. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed in forward looking statements due to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, such as are not guarantees of general economic and business conditions, the ability to successfully develop and market products, consumer and business consumption habits, the ability to consummate successful acquisition and licensing transactions, fluctuations in exchange rates, and other factors over which Tauriga has little or no control. Many of these risks and uncertainties are discussed in greater detail in the "Risk Factors" section of Tauriga's Form 10-K and other filings made from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this release, and Tauriga assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Tauriga Sciences, Inc.

555 Madison Avenue, 5th Floor

New York, NY 10022

Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Seth M. Shaw

Email: sshaw@tauriga.com

cell # (917) 796 9926

Corp. Website: www.tauriga.com

E-Commerce Website: www.taurigum.com

About The "Stock Day" Podcast

Founded in 2013, Stock Day is the fastest growing media outlet for Nano-Cap and Micro-Cap companies. It educates investors while simultaneously working with penny stock and OTC companies, providing transparency and clarification of under-valued, under-sold Micro-Cap stocks of the market. Stock Day provides companies with customized solutions to their news distribution in both national and international media outlets. The Stock Day Podcast is the number one radio show of its kind in America. Stock Day recently launched its Video Interview Studio located in Phoenix, Arizona.

SOURCE:

Stock Day Media

602-441-3474

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52271
The results demonstrated greater than 85% reduction in SIJ pain at 6 weeks and radiographic evidence of the presence of solid continuous bridging bone across the treated joint at 6 months. No procedure- or device-related serious adverse events were reported.

A unique feature of the CAT SIJ Fixation System procedure is the ability to directly visualize the joint allowing for a significant increase in reimbursement for the surgeon and facility payments. "This single implant SIJ fusion system allows me to use either a navigated procedure or fluoroscopic imaging providing flexibility in access and visibility. The implant is designed to breach the SIJ and allow for bone graft materials to be loaded and delivered to the SIJ before and after implant placement to promote fusion of the SIJ. The unique trajectory eliminates the risk of sacral nerve root injury encountered with other fusion techniques and reduces the risk of entry into the retroperitoneal space. By supplementing fixation with decortication and bone grafting, I can be confident that my patients have the best possible foundation for biological fusion, and long-term relief," said Dr. Michael Chaparro.

"Our unique approach is designed to drastically reduce procedure time and represents a landmark innovation for SIJ fusion surgery benefiting patients, surgeons, facilities, and payers," said Dr. Kal Mentak, CEO of Tenon Medical.

In November 2016, Tenon Medical, Inc. was granted the first US patent covering a novel posterior approach SIJ fusion system. The company has since filed for additional compositions.

Tenon Medical, Inc. is a privately held company located in the San Francisco Bay Area.

For inquiries about the CAT SIJ Fixation System, please contact Kal Mentak at [email protected].

SOURCE Tenon Medical, Inc.
Moscow FAS office launches case against VTB over improper advertising of loan

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

15:25 10/02/2020

MOSCOW, February 10 (RAPSI)  The Moscow office of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has opened a case against VTB bank over inappropriate advertising of a loan, the agency informs in a statement on Monday.

The application to the office was submitted by a citizen, who had received a telephone call advertising a loan he could take from VTB on favorable terms. Nevertheless, when he contacted the bank it turned out that the credit could not be provided on the advertised terms as there were additional points in the credit agreement the bank did not mentioned in its advertisement.

The antimonopoly watchdog says in the statement it is to examine the relevant documents to establish if the consumer was misled by the advertisement.

The case is to be heard on February 19; in case there is found a violation, the bank is to be fined 100,000 to 500,000 rubles (about $1,500 to $8,000 at the current exchange rate).
The forest cover in West Bengal has increased by 55 square kilometre in the last two years, the state government told the Assembly on Monday.

In the budget statement tabled in the assembly, the government said there has been a qualitative improvement in the forest cover as 'very dense forest' increased by 25 sq km and 'open forest' by 17 sq km.

The medium dense forest cover went up by 13 sq km during the period, the statement said, quoting Biennial 'India State of Forest Report 2019.'



Finance Minister Amit Mitra said his department proposed to allocate Rs 415 crore to the Forest department for next fiscal years for afforestation drive and other activities to raise the green cover.

In an obvious reference to wild animals straying into human habitations in north Bengal, the government said a new alternative rhino habitat has been set up at Patlakhawa in Coochbehar district outside the usual habitat in Jaldapara National Park and Gorumara National Park recently.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Yogesh Pratap Singh By

The Economist published an article back in 2017 titled, The worlds most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data. These days, the topic has provoked a great deal of discussion, and Data is the new oil, a remark made by British mathematician Clive Humby back in 2006, has now become a part of the common refrain. The dynamics of modern civil liberty has changed now. The world is moving into the Orwellian era, where every movement is being monitored, not bodily movements but the likes and dislikes of an individual. We are in an era of data-profiling, where unregulated spying on the contents of ones social media will easily help anyone figure out ones religious affiliation, ideological stances and even sexual orientation, something that is inherent to ones identity and is cherished across the world as sensitive information.

In a historic ruling, Indias Supreme Court brought us into a club of progressive countries such as the US, Canada and the UK that expressly guarantee privacy as a fundamental right. The verdict included informational privacy as a vital facet of the right to privacy. The dangers to privacy in an age of information can originate not only from the state but from non-state actors as well. The court pointed out to the Centre the need to examine and put in place a robust regime for data protection. The creation of such a regime requires a careful and sensitive balance between individual interests and legitimate concerns of the state.

However, in the wake of the recent hoopla surrounding the Citizenship (Amendment) Act-related protests, the developments concerning the Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 have flown under the radar. However, considering the effect that this Bill will have upon being enacted, it demands acute scrutiny. It was introduced in the Lok Sabha, and thereafter referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee. The public can offer suggestions and comments on the Bill till February 12; this provides us with perhaps the last chance to voice our opinions before it is presented for voting.

The EUs General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has served as the blueprint for the PDP Bill, with several provisions bearing striking similarity, particularly those granting rights to individuals and those levying penalties. The Bill is a part of the governments larger agenda to leverage the personal data of individuals, as evident from the draft e-commerce policy, the Aadhaar Act, the data localisation mandate issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and the upcoming National Level Blockchain Framework.

The PDP Bill is undoubtedly a major step forward in ensuring that Indians gain more control over their data. However, there are certain provisions that can be modified to better suit this purpose. A provision in point is Section 25, which allows the Data Protection Authority, the designated regulatory body, the discretion of informing an individual of breach of his/her data. Such a provision should be done away with, and leaks, whether minor or major, should be directly intimated to the concerned individual.

Additionally, vast powers have been conferred on the Centre, by which it may exempt any governmental agency from processing data as per the requirement of this legislation. Some of the grounds under which the government can do so is for public order, and in the interest of integrity and sovereignty of India. These grounds are extremely subjective and afford unobstructed flexibility to the government in exempting agencies. It would do well to recall the US government agency NSAs clandestine snooping activities, which were exposed in 2013. To prevent a repetition of the same in India, we need to check this power of exemption of the government. The government has also been bestowed with the power to issue binding directions to the Authority as it deems fit. This directly hampers the autonomy of the body and makes it subject to political whims. The grounds for issuance of directions are also couched in similarly vague terms, which is another eyebrow-raising feature.

An observation of various sectors such as banking and insurance illustrate that the concerned authorities namely, RBI and IRDA, have formulated rules and regulations concerning data protection in that particular sector. For a seamless and comprehensive data protection law, it is imperative that such powers must reside solely with the Data Protection Authority. Moreover, with the latter consisting of technological experts, it is only natural that the guidelines regarding data protection be formulated by them. Currently, the Bill makes no clear mention of such provisions, and the same can be added.

In spite of these lacunae, this Bill is a landmark legislation, and was long due, considering the inefficacy of the Information Technology Act, 2000. A few modifications can set it on the right track. Precise drafting of provisions and a peoples privacy-centric approach can help it become a stellar piece of law. If due care is taken, it will go down in Indian legislative history as one of its biggest successes, else as one of its biggest blunders. Meanwhile, we must sustain our efforts to ensure that real transformation takes place where right to privacy is endorsed, respected and promoted for all. (Ashirbad Nayak, final-year student at NLU Odisha, contributed to this article)

The government has been bestowed with the power to issue binding directions to the Data Protection Authority, the designated regulatory body, as it deems fit. This directly hampers the autonomy of the body and makes it subject to political whims. The grounds for issuance of directions are also couched

in similarly vague terms

( Yogesh Pratap Singh is a professor of Law & Registrar (I/C), National Law University Odisha and can be contacted at yogesh@nluo.ac.in )
Ferenc Gyurcsany, the leader of the Democratic Coalition, has called on Hungarys opposition parties to join forces, saying: Either well win together or we wont win at all.

In his annual speech on Sunday, the former Socialist prime minister said the opposition parties came from many different backgrounds, with different pasts and political tastes. They dont have to love each other, but they should love the homeland, he said.



Gyurcsany said the opposition parties should not ignore their constituents. If they did win the 2022 general election, he added, they would be able to form a government only by joining together.



Its far better for a country to have a coalition government forced to compromise than an ignominious, selfish  single party of the state, he said. A coalition governments duty, he said, went far beyond linking together party lists.



Those who cant stand each other while campaigning are hardly going to stand each other in government, he said, adding that unless there was an understanding that the opposition is diverse, there will not be an acceptance that the country needs greater diversity and understanding.



Gyurcsany praised the Socialist Party for its efforts to help the disadvantaged. He also welcomed the Jobbik partys efforts to turn itself into a decent, nationalist, conservative party after its awful past. He said the Momentum Movements members were young, dynamic and sometimes cheeky, but have introduced a new generation of hundreds of thousands to politics.



Gyurcsany also noted that the Greens, formerly known as LMP, had filed a criminal complaint against him a few years ago. But this doesnt matter. Theres no middle way between an authoritarian, populist, nationalist, anti-Europeans and democrats, he said. The leftist leader warned that a win by the opposition in 2022 would be followed by a hideous period in which they would be hounded relentlessly.



Meanwhile, referring to fellow DK politician Peter Niedermuller, the mayor of Budapests 7th district who recently caused outrage with a remark about white, Christian, heterosexual men and women, Gyurcsany said Niedermuller should have added that it is not enough to be white, heterosexual and Christian in present-day Hungary, since you also have to be Fidesz.



The ruling Fidesz partys director of communications, Istvan Hollik, said in response that Gyurcsany had made it clear in his annual speech that he was the real leader of the liberal opposition. Gyurcsany, he added, had ruined the country but had done very well for himself.



Hollik added that while hundreds of thousands had sunk into poverty and lost their jobs, Gyurcsany had been earning billions through the privatisation robbery. Lets not forget who Ferenc Gyurcsany actually is, he added.



MTI Photo: Kovacs Tamas
US President said Monday he expected the outbreak that has killed more than 1,000 people to disappear in April due to hotter weather.

"The virus ... typically that will go away in April," he said, adding: "The heat, generally speaking, kills this kind of virus." The SARS-like pathogen has infected 40,000 people since its emergence in China late last year.

The United States has seen 12 confirmed cases of varying severity. At least two patients have been discharged.
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

The abrupt shuttering of a popular Albuquerque event venue following a recent bankruptcy ruling has left couples planning their weddings rushing to find new venues, and unsure whether their deposits will be refunded.

Noahs Event Venue, a Utah-based company with locations in multiple states, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late May, according to court records. Last week, the company was ordered to immediately cease all operations  including at its Albuquerque location, near Paseo Del Norte and Eagle Ridge  after a ruling in the case. In all, 48 locations across the country were affected by the sudden ruling.

Attempts to contact staff at the Albuquerque location were unsuccessful Monday.

The closure came as a shock to many who booked events with the company, or worked alongside venue staff.

High school sweethearts Brooke Hansen and Daniel Molina made a reservation for their upcoming wedding at Noahs Albuquerque location back in May  shortly before the companys bankruptcy proceedings began. After the Chapter 11 filing was announced, the couple attempted to get a refund on their deposit.

According to Hansen, Noahs staff informed the couple they were not eligible for a refund, but assured them there was no need to cancel.

In an email sent to Hansen on July 31 and provided to the Journal, a Noahs staff member wrote: I want to reassure you that Noahs of Albuquerque will not be closing.  I can reassure you that your reservation is safe and Albuquerque will not be affected by the changes of the company.

The email offered Hansen event insurance through the company for an additional fee. It is not clear whether those who purchased event insurance through Noahs will get refunds.

Hansen said she still felt uneasy after the email, but kept her reservation since so much money had already been invested.

A lot of our family was telling us just to cancel it, Hansen said.

In the months since the email, Hansen said she continued to have suspicions about the company.

She and Molina made their $1,300 down payment via a credit card, but were later told that the company had trouble processing their cards and they should make their monthly payments with checks instead.

Hansen found out about the closures through a bridesmaid, and didnt hear from Noahs until Monday.

She said she was in shock since she had been repeatedly assured her event was safe.

Now Hansen and Molina are out $5,000 and left trying to find a venue open for their planned wedding date of Oct. 3.

Despite the troubles caused by the closure, Hansen said other local event companies have stepped up and reached out to affected brides.

A lot of people are being put out, so its really nice to see that other locations are trying to help, she said.

Kelly Cano and her fiance, Marcus Martinez, both of Albuquerque, were also among those impacted by the bankruptcy. The couple got engaged last May and immediately started planning for a September 2020 wedding. By June, Cano and Martinez had booked the space at Noahs.

Cano said she was not informed of Noahs apparent financial woes  the company filed for Chapter 11 in late May  during the booking.

They didnt tell us anything, she said.

Cano said she learned about the closure from the couples wedding officiant Friday.

Honestly, when I first got the phone call I couldnt believe it, Cano said.

In the days since news of the closure broke, Cano was able to secure a new spot for her wedding, but said she already saw the impact of the closures.

The few places that we had gone to on Saturday were saying they were getting calls left and right, Cano said.

While Cano said she was lucky to have secured a second venue so quickly, she said she was saddened by the process.

Besides losing a planned venue, Cano said she is unsure whether she and Martinez will get their deposit back.

The chances of getting our money back is pretty small, she said.

The news of the sudden closures also impacted vendors working alongside Noahs.

Jim Schumacher, owner of the Cooperage Restaurant, said his eatery was one of Noahs main vendors. He said the closure came as a shock as he had around 50 events already planned at Noahs for the rest of 2020.

We were booked for the rest of the year, and into 2021, Schumacher said.

Prior to the closure, Schumacher said the local operators had bragged about the number of events booked for the rest of the year.

Not only did all of those people get hurt, but the people that were doing such a good job running the place lost their jobs, he said.

Schumacher said there was no warning of the closure.

I think everyone learned on Friday, he said.

Since Friday, Schumacher has been busy calling clients who had booked catering through him. In many cases, those clients learned of Noahs closure through him.

Schumacher estimates he will refund well over $100,000 worth of catering deposits.

There is no official number on the events that will be canceled, but a report for the city on the viability of the proposed Route 66 Visitors Center offered some details around the volume of booking at Noahs, noting the Albuquerque location hosts around 280 events per year.

With the closure of Noahs, other Albuquerque event venues are seeing a surge in interest and bookings.

Weve actually seen a huge increase because most of the brides that tour us also tour Noahs, said Akshay Patel, owner of The View Event Center.

He said since Friday, his employees have given around 75 tours to couples who had previously booked with Noahs. Many of those couples then booked his venue on the spot, which he said is surprising.

He said many of those who have come to his business from Noahs told him they had lost money. Those who paid in full for their wedding reported losing around $5,000 to $6,500, according to Patel.
While the stock market is still focused on the large Canadian cannabis LPs listed on major U.S. stock exchanges, several U.S. multi-state operators (MSOs) are set to shock the market with industry leading positions. These companies are set to combat the Canadians for the largest operations without the help of major investments or even Federal approval of cannabis.

Both Canopy Growth and Aurora Cannabis, which grab the vast majority of investor headlines, are set to generate quarterly revenues in the $60 million to $80 million range for the December quarter. Yet, some of the MSOs are set to blow past these numbers.

The U.S. MSOs operate in the largest cannabis market in the world, which forecast to derive greater than 50% of the global market, at least through 2023. While the global cannabis market is expected to grow from an estimate of $24.4 billion in 2019 to $52.5 billion in 2023, the U.S. market alone is forecast to more than double from $12.5 billion last year to $25.7 billion in 2023.

The U.S. market is forecast to account for nearly 53% of the global cannabis market in four years making the opportunity to focus on U.S. alone the best opportunity for a cannabis company to profit.

Weve delved into these three U.S. MSOs with operations set to shock the world with their scale and size. Using TipRanks Stock Comparison tool, we lined up the three alongside each other to give us an idea of what the Street thinks is in store for the trio in the year ahead.

Curaleaf (CURLF)

The market virtually ignored Curaleaf finally closing the acquisition of Select brands from Cura Partners last week. The deal provides an extensive wholesale distribution system for the Select brand products in California and other western states.

With the regulators signing off on the deal finally, investors will see far less risk to the investment story and the likelihood of closing the crucial Grassroots deal to gain access to Illinois. The state of Illinois just announced the first month of recreational sales reached nearly $40 million and Grassroots is a major part of the growth story in that key state.

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In the prior quarter, Curaleaf reported pro-forma revenues of $129 million or the equivalent of C$172 million. If they were a Canadian LP, the stock valuation would far exceed the Canadian stocks versus the current projected market valuation of only $4.7 billion.

In addition, Beacon Securities analyst Russell Stanley recently predicted Curaleaf would reach annual sales of $2.1 billion in 2021 with EBITDA profits of $899 million based on 42% margins. To place these numbers in perspective, analysts have Canopy Growth with an $8 billion market cap not topping $1 billion in sales until FY22 ending in March.

The company is in line to have operations in 19 states with licenses for 131 dispensaries and 1,150 wholesale partners. In addition, the company has a massive 1.4 million square feet of cultivation capacity with the ability to expand to 2.3 million square feet.

TipRanks data shows a bullish camp backing this MSO. The Strong Buy stock has amassed 6 buy ratings in the last three months, with just one analyst playing it safe with a hold rating. The 12-month average price target stands tall at $8.43, marking over 30% in return potential for the stock. (See Curaleaf's price targets and analyst ratings on TipRanks)

Green Thumb (GTBIF)

Green Thumb Industries isnt a household name in the cannabis space or busy making large-scale deals, yet the company is targeting December quarter revenues of $75 million or the equivalent of nearly C$100 million. The stock only has a market cap of $2 billion when Canadian companies generating half those revenues top this market valuation.

In the last quarter, Green Thumb generated revenues of $68 million while the company will now benefit substantially from the legalization of adult-use cannabis in Illinois. At the end of January, the company opened the seventh Rise store in Illinois and 41st in the country.

The company is based in Chicago so the Illinois market should provide a big boost to the hometown company, but Green Thumb has operations far beyond Illinois. The company has licenses for 96 retail locations in 12 U.S. markets with 13 manufacturing facilities.

Analysts forecast 2020 revenues topping $460 million placing the company on par with estimates for the Canadian cannabis giants.

The analyst consensus from TipRanks tells a very similar story. Green Thumb has received 6 buy ratings in the last three months, with no holds or sells  a clear sign that analysts are impressed with the companys potential. Shares sell for $8.17, and the average price target of $18.72 gives the stock an eye-opening 130% upside. (See Green Thumb's price targets and analyst ratings on TipRanks)

Harvest Health & Recreation (HRVSF)

Harvest Health & Recreation is another wild-card stock depending highly on acquisitions to top the large Canadian companies. The company has revenue targets approaching $1 billion in 2020 while analysts have revenue estimates reaching $1 billion in 2021. Either way, the MSO becomes a very large cannabis company in the next year or so.

For Q3, the company reported pro-forma revenues of $95 million. Analysts have Q4 revenue targets at only $41 million due to acquisitions not closing. Harvest Health is reporting adjusted EBITDA losses, but the company expects to become EBITDA positive after closing the pending deals in 2020. The cannabis company projects 10% EBITDA margins reaching 20% margins in 2020.

The company has a lawsuit with pending acquisition target Falcon International causing a cloudier view of the stock due to the $50 million breakup fee, but Harvest Health has other deals in the work including the recently announced deal for Have a Heart CC. The deal includes 11 operating dispensaries in California, Washington and Iowa and licenses for another seven locations in California.

The MSO is positioned for operations in 13 states with over 130 retail locations and 80 manufacturing sites. The company has missed out on the Illinois recreational legalization, but Harvest Health is positioned for other markets like Arizona and Florida legalizing recreational cannabis use.

Harvest Health projects having 487 million shares outstanding after mergers close providing a fully diluted market valuation of below $1.5 billion with the legitimate targets of reaching the $1 billion revenue level prior to the large Canadian cannabis stocks.

At just $2.53, Harvest Health shares are another bargain for return-minded investors. The stocks $10.17 average price target implies over 300% upside, and the analyst consensus of Strong Buy is based on just four ratings, which were given in the past three months. (See Harvest Health's stock-price forecast on TipRanks)
A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the detention of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, under the Public Safety Act (PSA).

Abdullah and People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti were recently booked under the Act.

Both the former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers were detained after the government abrogated Article 370 last year.

In December last year, Farooq Abdullah's detention was extended for three more months under the PSA.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Information about novel coronavirus shall be passed on in rational manner

The voices for rationality have been passed on in the international community by international organizations, foreign governments, scholars and media outlets to inform the public whats going on and maintain social stability amid the recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus that attracted high attention.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Feb. 4 gave high credit to Chinas efforts in combating the novel coronavirus, calling for international solidarity and an end to any ill-founded discrimination of the outbreaks victims.

China has mobilized enormous resources and enormous capacity to respond, and the UN has full recognition of that effort, the UN chief noted.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also warned of the dangers posed by spreading rumors and misinformation. He believes that countries should clarify misinformation and keep sharing information with the WHO, and defeat this outbreak by working together in a spirit of solidarity and cooperation.

At the press conference held by the WHO Tuesday, February 4, the health organization launched an information platform of epidemic diseases which, according to WHO Director of Global Infectious Hazard Preparedness Sylvie Briand, provides a new channel for enterprises, media and the public to acquire epidemic information.

Italian Ministry of Health announced on the same day that it has reached an agreement with Twitter to contain the fake news about the novel coronavirus outbreak on the social media platform. The Minister of Health, Roberto Speranza, noted that they must properly mange the spreading of information and combat fake news.

Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that the government will release information as soon as it can, and advised people to verify relevant information with public channels such as the governments page on social media and mainstream media.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen called on pressmen and mainstream media to report the epidemic based on truth and contain the misinformation on social media platforms. In recent days, Cambodias Ministry of Health has released statements, opened lectures and held press conferences to spread relevant knowledge and raise the publics capability of identifying information.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand has set up a crisis operation center to control the epidemic information about the tourism industry, so as to make immediate response and guide the public.

Mikhail Varshavski, known as Doctor Mike on U.S. social media, has millions of followers. He recently made a video titled The Truths About Novel Coronavirus, calling on people to look for reputable organizations to get information from. Alert, but not anxious, he says in the video. So far, the video has been watched 4.8 million times.

Harvard Health Publishing under Harvard Medical School recently published articles on social media to inform the public about the novel coronavirus and remind them of the importance of getting reliable information. In one of the articles, Dr. Todd Ellerin introduced in detail the symptoms of the novel coronavirus infection  something that causes the most public concern.

In the U.S., the average person is at extremely low risk of catching this novel coronavirus. This winter, in fact, we are much more likely to get influenza B  the flu  than any other virus, Ellerin said in the article.

Marc Van Ranst, dean of the School of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium told Peoples Daily that comprehensive and precise information helps global scientists make correct judgement over the epidemic and contribute proper strategies. Chinese scientists have made huge contribution by sharing the sequencing of the novel coronavirus with the international society, he said.

The website of the American National Public Radio noted that because of poor survivability of these coronaviruses on surfaces, there is likely very low risk of spread from products or packaging that are shipped over a period of days or weeks at ambient temperatures.

News site VOX made a special coverage for the novel coronavirus and denied that the outbreak would turn into a global epidemic, citing WHO information. It gave a high recognition on Chinas quick response to the outbreak.

The internet is spammed by misinformation, much of which is unsupported and in lack of scientific ground, said Arthur Caplan, professor of bioethics, Department of Population Health at Langone Medical Center, New York University. Media and scholars play a vital role under such circumstances, the professor noted, adding that social media shall identify false information, and scholars should also share science-based views to better help people judge the situation.
President Donald Trump is proposing $25.2 billion budget for NASA, part of the federal budget released by the White House on Monday.

That's up 12 percent from the 2020 NASA budget of $22.6 billion, which was 0.48 percent of all U.S. government spending, according to the Planetary Society, a non-government organization that seeks to get more people engaged with space.

Read the full story at HoustonChronicle.com: Trump proposes big boost in NASA funding to get back to the moon

This is a 21st century budget worthy of 21st century space exploration," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a televised news conference, "and one of our strongest budgets in NASA history.

The increased funding comes as Trump seeks to land men and women on the moon. Of the $25.2 billion, $12.3 billion will support the systems, people and facilities needed to land and operate on the moon in 2024 and prepare for a future human landing on Mars. This includes $3.3 billion to support NASA's work to develop human lunar lander systems.

2020 marks the first time weve had direct funding for the human landing system since Apollo, Bridenstine said.

Also notable in the budget is money to support returning samples of Mars' soil and rocks to Earth. These samples could return to Earth in 2031.

The budget will need to be approved by Congress. According to the Planetary Society, NASA's budget peaked as a percentage of the overall budget during the Apollo program but lost political support after the U.S. became the first to reach the moon. Since the 1970s, NASA's budget has hovered between 1 percent and 0.5 percent of all U.S. government spending.
Sinn Fein called on the European Union on Tuesday to back its bid for a united Ireland after a surge in support saw it become the second largest party in parliament at weekend elections. The result has shaken up the political landscape in the EU member state, with Sinn Fein -- once shunned because of its links to IRA paramilitaries -- also the second biggest party across the border in British-ruled Northern Ireland. When counting from Saturday's poll finished in the early hours of Tuesday morning, the nationalist left-wing Sinn Fein had secured 37 of the 160 seats in the Dail, Ireland's lower house of parliament. Centre-right party Fianna Fail was only one seat ahead with 38 while Prime Minister Leo Varadkar's Fine Gael took 35 -- a result likely to topple the premier from office. If a new government is to be formed when the Dail reconvenes on February 20, it must contain multiple parties. Talks have already begun to thrash out a coalition. Sinn Fein wants a central role in power after winning 24.5 percent of first preferences in Ireland's single transferable vote system -- the largest of any party. Its leader Mary Lou McDonald has already talked to smaller left-wing parties to try to determine whether it is possible to form a government without the two main centre-right parties. "I may well be the next taoiseach (prime minister)," she said on a walkabout in Dublin on Monday. "Sinn Fein won the election, we won the popular vote... I'm very clear that people who came out and voted for Sinn Fein have voted for Sinn Fein to be in government." Even if Sinn Fein form an alliance with the 29 lawmakers of the four small left-wing parties, they would still need support from independents to reach the 80-seat threshold to form a government. Ireland's president Michael D Higgins said Tuesday it would be "important to be positive" as negotiations began, telling the Irish Times he had "great confidence in the process we have". - Protracted talks - The surge in support for nationalist Sinn Fein, once regarded as the political wing of the IRA, broke the stranglehold of two-party politics in Ireland. Its former leader Gerry Adams and other party representatives were even banned from the airwaves in the UK as violence raged over British rule in Northern Ireland over the three decades to 1998. But with two decades of peace and new leader McDonald, Sinn Fein's left-wing policies on tackling crises in housing and health have found favour, especially among younger voters. McDonald said the two main parties -- Fine Gael and Fianna Fail -- were "in a state of denial" and had not listened to the voice of the people on pressing domestic issues. Coalition talks are expected to be protracted and difficult, all the more so as Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have both ruled out any deal with Sinn Fein because of its past associations with the IRA. Adams has long denied allegations that he had a leadership role in the IRA, which waged a bloody campaign over UK-rule in Northern Ireland that saw more than 3,000 killed on all sides. - Border poll - Sinn Fein's flagship policy of a united Ireland is likely to figure prominently in whatever role it plays in government. It wants to call a referendum on the issue within five years. McDonald herself called on the European Union to back the party's position. "I think the European Union needs to take a stand in respect of Ireland in the same way that it supported the reunification of Germany," she told BBC television on Monday night. "In the same way that it (Brussels) has a position on Cyprus, for example, and a positive approach to the reunification of that country. I think Ireland is no different." McDonald described the partition of Ireland in 1921 -- when six northern counties remained under British rule and the rest of the island became self-governing -- as a "disaster". "Reunification, reconciliation and good relationships with our next-door neighbours is the way forward," she added. Former Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern said a border poll was now "inevitable". But Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster said only Britain's Northern Ireland secretary could call a border poll "if it appears likely to secure a majority" in the province. "No such circumstances exist," said Foster, who is also first minister of the devolved administration in Belfast. She pointed to recent opinion polls indicating that a majority are not in favour of such a vote.
YOKOHAMA, Japan  In the passenger decks of the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship, more than 2,500 travelers are carefully isolated. Meals are delivered to their cabins. They have permission to walk on deck, six feet apart, for a few minutes a day.

Down below, more than 1,000 crew members live and work elbow-to-elbow, preparing the passengers dishes and eating simple buffet-style meals together, with as many as four sharing a bathroom  and sharing the risk of possible infection from the coronavirus.

The risks to all aboard were reinforced on Monday as Japans health ministry said that an additional 65 people had tested positive for the virus, nearly doubling the total to 135. According to Princess Cruises, which operates the ship, at least 20 of them are American. The ship already has the largest number of coronavirus cases outside the epicenter in China, where more than 40,000 have been infected.

While the quarantine slapped on the Diamond Princess was meant to contain the virus, the conditions facing the crew could end up doing the opposite and help spread the illness, disease experts say.
Sushant Singh is one of the first Bollywood actors who took stand against the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register Of Citizens after he joined a protest in Mumbai. Soon his contract as the host of Savdhaan India was terminated, which a lot of people thought was a result of his participation in protests.

BCCL

Since then, he has been constantly raising his voice in an attempt to bring a change. About a month, he even joined protests at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi. There, he said that the time for 'white haired people' was over.

On Sunday, he joined another protest in Mumbai against the Centres contentious Citizenship Amendment Act and said all must go to villages and interior areas to make people aware of the agenda of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).



We have to remove communalism from the Indian fabric. Through a sustained campaign, we may be able to put an end to CAA-NRC, but the threat of communalism will remain, Singh said.

Members of civil society and educated youth must go to the villages to counter the RSS agenda, he added.

Professor Puniyani who was also at the gathering, said the BJP has been claiming that the primary problem of Muslim women was triple talaq, whereas movements led by women from the community have shown that the primary problems was the threat to the Muslim community.



Puniyani said the Narendra Modi government was bringing in divisive laws like the Citizenship Amendment Act and proposing the National Register of Citizens exercise to divert attention of people from failed promises like bringing back black money, and devastating effects of demonetisation and price rise.

Father Mascarenhas said the economy was in serious crisis and the need of the hour was to work towards building a united, progressive nation.


Last week, American psychologist and architect of the Bush-era torture programme, James Mitchell, took the stand at a hearing at the United States base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He was there to provide evidence in the legal case against five men accused of planning and providing logistical support for the 9/11 attacks. His chilling testimony legitimising torture was yet another reminder of the shameful complicity of medical and health personnel in the horrific crimes committed in recent history under the pretence of saving American lives.

As a senior psychiatrist who has worked with torture survivors for decades, I have seen the human cost of torture; how it savagely destroys a person and traumatises whole families and societies  all to obtain information that is often false, served up to provide whatever may end the unbearable pain.

I worked with a young man who suffered near-drowning, when waterboarded, who cannot now take a shower or pull a jumper over his head as these actions make him relive the horror all over again. I worked with others constantly reliving the pain and smells of burning flesh. I tried to help people who experience perpetual exhaustion and terror following sleepless nights where they vividly re-experienced beatings, electrocutions, mock executions and sexual violence they endured. I worked with one woman who cannot stop hearing the voice of the man who raped her, who taunted her with the words you will never forget this, and you will never be able to tell your husband.

Since 9/11, a myriad of human rights abuses have been committed and justified in complete disregard of the United Nations Convention against Torture by countries that once led the way in establishing the torture ban as a legal norm.

Almost two decades have passed since the start of the war on terror and the implementation of the US enhanced interrogation programme  a clinically friendly name for what until that time had been known by its proper name: torture. So, when he took the stand last week, did Mitchell finally accept responsibility for his crimes? Far from it. He simply gave a testimony mirroring his earlier justifications: Im just a guy who got asked to do something for his country.

As a medical professional, my conduct is underpinned by principles of rehabilitation and respect for autonomy. Psychologists like Mitchell and his colleague Bruce Jessen, who helped him create the torture programme, were bound by similar ethics. Their involvement in torture is perverse and one of the worst conceivable violations of our profession. But Mitchell and his colleagues are hardly the only ones responsible for the atrocities committed in this period of recent history. Those crimes ripple beyond the individual. We know from the so-called torture memos and other evidence, that the expert opinion of scores of lawyers, doctors and civil officials was sought and relied upon to argue that enhanced interrogation techniques do not constitute torture.

The testimonies presented at the Guantanamo hearing this past week were reminiscent of the famous Milgram experiment in the 1960s, which explored how easy it was to replicate the obedience that led to the creation of Nazi concentration camps like Auschwitz. Participants in the experiment who were made to believe that they had inflicted intolerable and even lethal pain on innocent test subjects had repeatedly insisted that they were not responsible for their actions and that they were merely following orders.

It has been extraordinary to see the same moral dereliction on display at Guantanamo. Mitchells deflection of personal responsibility by claiming that he was just doing a job is unconscionable, but the moral failure is broader than that. The normalisation of the actions of Mitchell and others serves as a warning for what could lie ahead.

US President Donald Trump falsely claims that torture absolutely works. He promoted figures from that war on terror era to prominent positions: Gina Haspel, a woman accused of running a black site in Thailand where waterboarding and other interrogation methods were used on suspects, is now director of the CIA. Trump wants to appoint Marshall Billingslea, an official who advocated torture in the post-9/11 era, to the most senior US human rights role.

In the United Kingdom, the government continues to block full transparency on its own complicity in the US torture programme, which parliamentarians on all sides have called for. The elected presidents of countries like Brazil and the Philippines publicly praise torture.

In this frightening climate, it is more important than ever to remind ourselves of what we stand for, and what we are capable of. A societys tolerance of torture is a good litmus test for that. As one of the characters in the film Apocalypse Now puts it: In this war, things get confused out there: power, ideals, the old morality  Every man has got a breaking point.

If we are to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, the psychologists who stooped to torture should not be called to give evidence against the detainees they abused. They should themselves be on trial. Torture is a crime  and its legitimisation makes for a more dangerous world.

As a health professional and as a human being, I know that we can and must do better. Those responsible for these horrifying actions must be held to account. Our humanity depends on it.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
FILE PHOTO: A salesperson arranges 24K gold bracelets for Chinese weddings at Chow Tai Fook Jewellery store in Hong Kong

By Arpan Varghese

BENGALURU/MUMBAI (Reuters) - The coronavirus epidemic continued to stifle activity in the physical gold markets in top bullion consumer China and Hong Kong this week, while demand was mixed in other Asian hubs.

The death toll in mainland China reached 637 on Friday, with a total 31,211 cases, the World Health Organization chief said, while a Reuters tally showed 320 cases in 27 countries.

"Nobody wants to go out, especially in China. Gold is a luxury item, nobody wants to spend money on that, they want to buy masks and alcohol," said Ronald Leung, chief dealer, Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong.

Gold was sold at a premium of $2.5-$4.5 an ounce over the benchmark in China, little changed from the week to Jan. 24 before the Lunar New Year holidays, with most businesses still closed.

In Hong Kong, premiums of $0.30-$0.80 an ounce were charged versus flat to $0.40 premiums last week.

"Despite some industries having resumed operations, it looks like activities will not return to normal levels even by mid-February. Chinese jewellery consumption may fall 40%-70% year-on-year in the first two months of 2020," said Samson Li, Hong Kong-based precious metals analyst at Refinitiv GFMS.

International benchmark spot gold prices traded between $1,546.90 and $1,591.46 per ounce this week

There was limited buying in Singapore, with $0.50-$0.60 an ounce premiums being charged.

"We've not seen a demand slowdown with the virus situation ... The negative impact on an already slow global economy is also making gold an attractive safe haven," Silver Bullion sales manager Vincent Tie said.

In Japan, gold was sold at a $0.50 an ounce premium to a $0.30 discount.

India saw demand pick up slightly as prices eased, with gold futures slipping to 40,000 rupees per 10 grams on Friday, moving further from the record high of 41,293 rupees hit last month, but many buyers held off on hopes of a steeper correction.

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Volatility in prices and the rupee has been confusing jewellers, said a Mumbai-based dealer with a bullion importing bank.

Dealers offered discounts of up to $6 an ounce over official domestic prices, down from $13 last week, a near three-month peak.

The domestic price includes a 12.5% import tax and 3% sales tax.

India's gold imports in January plunged 48% year-on-year to a four-month low on a rally in local prices.

Imports could fall in February as jewellers are getting a lot of scrap, said the bank dealer.

(Reporting by Ashas Sistla and Sumita Layek in Bengaluru, Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai; Editing by David Evans)
On Monday night, three officers assigned to the Harrison District tactical unit were investigating complaints about drug activity in the area of Polk Street and Lawndale Avenue in the Homan Square neighborhood when they saw Harris and a woman. The officers, veterans with about 10 to 12 years on the police force, became suspicious that they were involved in a drug transaction, police said.
MIDDLETOWN  Voters turned out to elect the most diverse Common Council in history in 2019, and sent the citys first African-American woman into Middletowns second-highest office.

Four of the 12 common council members are African American, the largest number ever. The milestone was celebrated at the monthly meeting Monday when Deputy Majority Leader Grady Faulkner Jr. presented Black History Month proclamations to leaders including Faith Jackson, director of the Office of Equal Opportunity & Diversity Management.

Changing the face of city politics

Councilwoman Jeanette (White) Blackwell, who is being called a trailblazer and pioneer, never set out to upset the political balance.

Blackwell, a Democrat, joined fellow party members at the podium alongside Darnell Ford and Faulkner, with Republican and former Board of Education member Ed Ford Jr.

It certainly wasnt rooted in this notion that I wanted to make history. I really hadnt considered the implications of that, Blackwell said. That changed, however, during her campaign when she realized the potential of her candidacy.

During the Nov. 12 inauguration, the audience gave her a standing ovation during ceremonies at Middletown High School. The moment was surreal, she said.

Its huge in the fact that you have the image, and you have the visual, but [residents should] start listening to [African-American] activity, the participation, Faulkner said.

I am humbled and honored. Those emotions were also going through my mind as I was thinking about what it meant historically, said Blackwell, who feels a deep sense of gratitude for the bipartisan support of her council colleagues, as well as from her husband, family and the Cross Street AME Zion Church community.

Challenges abound for those of color

It also comes with a degree of expectation and, perhaps, even unlike my other colleagues, because I am the first African-American woman, she said.

Darnell Ford faces similar challenges.

When I walk into a room, I already know Im being looked at as a male, the second piece is as a black male  sometimes in reverse, he said.

Ed Ford Jr., 22, the citys youngest councilman, agreed.

Its extremely important for us to stay involved and engaged. When you look at the history throughout this country, there have been many times where our vote was suppressed. We couldnt hold elected office, Ed Ford said.

During Reconstruction, blacks had the right to vote. But that was short-lived, he said.

During the Jim Crow era, those rights were reversed. It shows you the power we have to change systems, the power we have to change policy, and the culture of our country. But we have to be in power or have a seat at the table to do that, Ed Ford Jr. said.

Faulkner, on the council since 2006, is quick to point out that more people of color are being elected to the Board of Education and other panels than ever before.

A lot of things have happened in the past as well, but they havent all worked out. We have to work harder every time something like this happens, Faulkner explained.

Any elected official brings his or her supporters to the post, he said. When you vote someone in, especially here in the council, in a city like Middletown, most of the council members usually have a following, and their community is pretty engaged. And they show up at things. We have to work on the showing-up part.

Making history, one election at a time

In 2017, when now-Planning and Zoning Commissioner Tyrell Brown and Board of Education member Ed Ford Jr. were both elected at age 20, it drew attention because of their youth. They were the youngest black Republicans to take office in Connecticut.

In 2018, state Rep. Quentin Phipps, D-Middletown, became the citys first black representative.

Its extremely important we connect our past with our present, and then the future. Thats exactly what this does, Darnell Ford said. We hear all about whats happened and what our forefathers have done, what great African-American leaders have done in our world today.

This is still possible. Thats what they worked hard for, and paved the way for people like myself and other leaders and African Americans to be able to set a course for future generations, he added.

Encouraging future leaders

Be the change you want to see in the world, is an adage his younger counterpart takes to heart every single day. Ed Ford Jr. knew his candidacy and possible win would have far-reaching consequences.

We need more millennials in government to represent our voice. Im going to step up to the plate and represent my community and young people, and bring that voice to the city council. Wherever I saw that voice was needed, and lacking, I felt the need to step up to the plate and fill those shoes, said Ed Ford Jr., who is part of the same congregation as Faulkner.

I watched him as a little kid. Hes a powerhouse. Hes focused. He sought out mentors, Faulkner said.

The young leader spoke with the deputy majority leader while he was considering a run. I made sure he knew I could care less what party hes in. If you have the peoples good in mind, go for it. I always tell people Im not a politician. Im just in there doing community service, Faulkner said.

More diversity is a good thing, said Mayor Ben Florsheim, the citys youngest mayor.

Were starting to see that reflected more and more on the council, and in our elected offices and our state legislative delegation, he said.

First in a series of firsts

Florsheim is intent on making more firsts in Middletown: continuing to expand access to city government, to being involved, to communities to neighborhoods to people who have not always been involved, and been represented in the way they ought to be, he said, and hes gratified to see so much progress being made on social and racial justice.

Across the country Friday,people celebrated 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.

My run inspires all women. We are clearly outnumbered, but with the three of us (including Republican Linda Salafia and Meghan Carta), we have an opportunity to demonstrate that women can also lead, and be very, very strategic about how they make decisions, said Blackwell.

Being the first person of color comes with distinct recognition, but also a degree of pressure and expectation, perhaps differently than my other colleagues, she said.

Darnell Ford is exhilarated by his win, especially for youth. It gives validation to our young students, our young students who are African American, who sometimes, at points in their lives, feel hopeless or cant make the connection without having insight into Can I do that?

On the campaign trail, Blackwell was met with constituents who felt her bid was long overdue. During the Democratic Town Committee caucus in July, she garnered the most votes of anyone.

Right at the outset, I felt a degree of support as I canvassed and knocked on doors. There were many people who readily accepted my run and wanted to support me, she said.

These four leaders are focused on closing the achievement gap, creating more opportunities for youth and bringing back a youth center, among other issues.

We have a lot of youth who are not involved and not engaged in things. I shudder to think they sit in their rooms watching their screens, Faulkner said.
Raipur, Feb 10 : Two troopers drawn from the CRPF's elite CoBRA battalion were killed on Monday in a gunfight with leftist insurgents in a forested stretch in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh's restive Bastar, police said.

The gunfight broke out at around 10.30 a.m. at village Irapalli, some 500 km south of state capital Raipur. One Maoist insurgent was also gunned down in the encounter.

Officials at police headquarters informed that at least four CoBRA jawans were injured in the gunfight and were airlifted to Raipur for urgent treatment.

Chhattisgarh is one of the worst Maoist-hit states of India. Maoists hold sway in vast forested interiors of mineral-rich Bastar since late 1980s.

But in recent months, incidents of violence reported a sharp drop, mainly since the Congress came to power in late 2018.
Novel melatonin receptor molecules make possible therapies that adjust biological clocks to our environments

In a mouse model of jet lag, these molecules altered adjustments to light/dark cycles, potentially addressing circadian rhythm disturbances in depression, sleep disorders and shift work

This discovery allows us to now focus on the development of unique new molecules to generate a response that will help bring sleep patterns and other biological rhythms in line with environmental light and dark cycles. 

BUFFALO, N.Y.  Like breathing or blinking, behaviors regulated by our circadian rhythms, such as digestion and sleep-wake cycles, go unnoticed by most people. But when circadian rhythms malfunction, the result can be any one of a broad range of serious, chronic disorders, from insomnia and depression to obesity, diabetes and bipolar disorder.

A key piece to the puzzle of circadian rhythms and the disorders theyre involved in is the hormone melatonin, which the brain produces in the evening, to facilitate falling asleep and fine-tune circadian adjustments.

Now, a team of researchers from UC San Francisco (UCSF), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) and the University at Buffalo (UB) has discovered through a vast and novel computational library the first molecules that can modulate circadian rhythms by binding with high selectivity to the MT1 melatonin receptor in the biological clock, located in the hypothalamus at the base of the brain.

The research, published Feb. 10 online before print in Nature, will greatly facilitate the development of targeted therapies that can either mimic or counteract the actions of melatonin, which is implicated in numerous circadian disorders ranging from depression, blindness, seasonal affective disorder and sleep disorders to difficulties experienced as a result of jet lag and shift work.

Rhythms in sync

This discovery allows us to now focus on the development of unique new molecules to generate a response that will help bring sleep patterns and other biological rhythms in line with environmental light and dark cycles, providing the sense of well-being that is only experienced when such rhythms are in sync, said Margarita L. Dubocovich, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB.

Dubocovich is one of three corresponding authors, with Brian K. Shoichet, PhD, professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at UCSF, and Bryan L. Roth, MD, PhD, Michael Hooker Distinguished Professor in the UNC School of Medicine.

They note that the new research represents a remarkable confluence of major, complementary achievements and expertise at three institutions. They are all three members of the Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health.

These achievements are:

The discovery of ligands unrelated to any known melatonin receptor ligands through the computational docking (simulating three-dimensional binding) of more than 150 million diverse, make-on-demand molecules (UCSF).



The discovery that these molecules (UCSF 7447 and UCSF 3384) that never existed before, attach with high strength and selectivity to human or mouse MT1 melatonin receptors. They generate cellular responses opposite to that of melatonin, which provided the rationale for the mouse circadian behavior. (UNC)

The discovery that the cellular responses seen in vitro translated directly to in vivo function, slowing down adjustment to a new environmental light/dark period in the mouse model of jet lag, with one unexpected finding demonstrating that they mimic melatonin to modulate rhythms in the absence of light cues (UB).

This work was further facilitated by the publication last spring of the first crystal structure of the MT1 receptor, providing the team with the template to fit new melatonin molecules into the receptor pocket.

"For us, it was at first exciting to see the novelty of the new ligands that emerged from fitting members of an ultra-large chemical library into the receptor structure, said Shoichet. That's what one always hopes for in a structure-based program--finding new chemistries not imaginable from knowing the endogenous ligand (here, melatonin). What made this doubly exciting was to see the new chemistries lead to new signaling, in the Roth lab experiments, and to unexpected animal pharmacology in the Dubocovich lab.

Roth added: My UNC lab spent more than a year characterizing the pharmacology and drug-like properties of the molecules before we could hand them off for animal testing in the Dubocovich lab at UB. We were all excited to see that the new compounds Brian and I had discovered had interesting properties in mice."

Fifteen-year search

The new research caps what Dubocovich says has been her 15-year search to discover MT1 ligands.

Ever since we demonstrated that melatonins effect of resetting biological clocks in vivo circadian models occurs through actions at the MT1 receptors, we have focused through various collaborations on searching for ligands that would better fit the human melatonin receptor, she said. Our hope has always been to find selective MT1 type molecules, either one that works to modulate circadian rhythms responses as with melatonin or its opposite as with the molecules discovered in this study.

The ultimate goal, she said, was always to develop drugs that could address all the disorders that disrupted circadian rhythms can cause. So, she noted, when Brian Schoichet called to ask about our interest in testing in our circadian mouse models the novel molecules they had identified from his ultra-large library of over 150 million compounds, we were eager to collaborate!

The availability of the UCSF vast virtual library was a critical aspect of the research. Dubocovich described it as a gold mine of millions of molecules with distinct shapes, many of which have never been synthesized or seen in nature, and all of them available for mining and docking (fitting) into the pocket of the targeted receptor. The team advanced the research directly from discovery of these molecules to the assessment of their ability to mimic or oppose the effect of melatonin, to in vivo demonstrations of how these molecules impact the animals circadian function.

The team found it especially interesting that the two molecules discovered in this study generate two distinct and opposite mouse circadian responses that are dependent on clock time and the environmental light conditions that the animals experience.

In the experiments where the onset of dark is advanced (known as reentrainment or the jet lag model) the molecules slow this reentrainment or adjustment, an effect opposite to that of melatonin. However, when mice were exposed to constant dark, the two molecules demonstrate an effect identical to that of melatonin.

This could be potentially useful to entrain rhythms to the 24-hour day in populations removed from natural light/dark exposure, including the blind as well as some shift workers, submarine workers or those working in extreme environments, such as polar explorers, she said.

Jet lag and chronopharmocology

When the body is exposed to an abrupt change in the light/dark cycle, like what we experience when we travel across continents, there isnt sufficient time for the biological clock to adjust upon reaching the destination, Dubocovich explained.

Giving these new molecules at the appropriate clock time under a light/dark cycle would allow us to decelerate our ability to adjust to the new environment, potentially providing a treatment for certain types of jet lag and, more importantly, addressing other conditions affected by circadian rhythm disruptions, such as shift work, sleep disorders and depression, she said.

This finding reinforces the increased interest in chronopharmacology, the premise of which is that pharmaceuticals given at the time when a patients biological clock is ready to receive them  given conditions of a precise time of day and environmental lighting - will produce a more effective outcome.

Dubocovich said the next step will be to identify the molecular and signaling pathways that translate the response exerted by these molecules from the time they interact with the receptors in the biological clock to the ultimate circadian behavior expressed in a mouse or human.

In addition to Dubocovich, Schoichet and Roth, co-authors are: Reed M. Stein and John J. Irwin from UCSF; Hye Jin Kang, John D. McCorvy (now at Medical College of Wisconsin), Tao Che, Samuel Slocum, Xi-Ping Huang and Terry Kenakin of UNC; Anthony J. Jones and Grant C. Glatfelter of UB (now with the National Institute on Drug Abuse); Olena Savych of Enamine Ltd.; Yurii S. Moroz of National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv and Chemspace and Benjamin Stauch and Linda Johansson of the University of Southern California.

The research was supported by NIH awards U24DK1169195 (to BLR & BKS), R35GM122481 (to BKS), the NIMH Psychoactive Drug Screening Contract (to BLR), GM133836 (to JJI), ES023684 (to MLD), UL1TR001412 and KL2TR001413 (to the University at Buffalo), PhRMA Foundation Fellowship (73309 to AJJ), Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences unrestricted funds (to MLD), R35GM127086 (to VC), EMBO ALTF 677-2014 (to BS), HFSP long-term fellowship LT000046/2014-L (to LCJ), postdoctoral fellowship from the Swedish Research Council (to LCJ), and the National Science Foundation (NSF) BioXFEL Science and Technology Center 1231306 (to BS & VC).
High testosterone levels increase the risk of type 2 diabetes in women - but reduce the risk in men, a study shows.

Both men and women produce the 'male' sex hormone in various quantities, and scientists have now discovered it may play a part in disease risk.

A study of more than 425,000 people from the UK looked at more than 2,500 genetic variations linked to levels of testosterone and a protein linked to it.

The results showed that women with genetically higher testosterone have an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 37 per cent.

They also had a 51 per cent higher risk of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a 'surprising' finding considering high testosterone was thought to be a consequence of the condition.

Higher testosterone levels reduced type 2 diabetes risk by 14 per cent in men, but increased the risk of prostate cancer.

Scientists urged more research into the effects of supplementation with testosterone based on their findings.

Higher testosterone level increases the risk of type 2 diabetes in women - but reduce the risk in men, a study shows (stock, women checks blood glucose levels)

Having too much naturally-occurring testosterone is a rare problem among men, and has been linked to liver disease, heart attack and low sperm count.

Women also produce testosterone in smaller amounts than men. Those with more testosterone than average may experience breast reductions or a deeper voice.

The study by University of Cambridge is the largest to date on the genetic regulation of sex hormone levels.

Scientists used genome-wide association studies in more than 425,000 UK Biobank participants.

They identified 2,571 genetic variations linked with differences in the levels of testosterone and its binding protein.

They found women with higher testosterone had a 51 per cent higher risk of PCOS, a condition characterised by excessive hair growth, weight gain and fertility problems.

Co-author Dr John Perry said this finding was 'important', because high testosterone is typically seen as a result of PCOS, not a cause.

The NHS says excess androgen  'male' hormones in the body - cause physical signs such as excess facial or body hair as part of the condition.

Dr Perry said: 'We were surprised to see that testosterone appeared to increase the risk of women developing polycystic ovary syndrome.

'The prevailing thought has been that increased testosterone was solely the consequence of the disease, but our research suggests that testosterone may additionally play a direct role in disease susceptibility.'

The risk of type 2 diabetes soared by 37 per cent in women with higher testosterone. The metabolic condition is also known as a complication of PCOS.

In men, higher testosterone generally had a protective effect and reduced the risk of type 2 diabetes by nearly 15 per cent.

Higher testosterone increased the odds of breast and endometrial cancers in women and prostate cancer in men.

WHAT IS TESTOSTERONE? Testosterone is the male sex hormone and is mostly made in the testicles, but also in adrenal glands, which are near the kidneys. It causes the voice to deepen, body hair to grow and the genitals to become larger during puberty. As well as affecting sex drive and sperm production, it also plays a role in developing strong bones and muscles, and how the body distributes fat. Women also create small amounts of the hormone in the ovaries and adrenal glands, and it affects their fertility and bones and muscles. Testosterone levels which are too high or too low can cause various problems. Low testosterone in men can cause erection problems, low sex drive, infertility, weakened muscles and bones, body fat gain and hair loss. Too much testosterone, however, can trigger puberty in boys under the age of nine, is linked to aggression, and can increase the risk of prostate problems, including cancer. Male testosterone levels tend to be highest when he is around 20 years old, and decline naturally with age. Advertisement

A connection between prostate cancer and testosterone has been evident for a while, as experts believe testosterone therapy may be a danger.

Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) is prescribed to men with abnormally low testosterone, but health officials have warned of potential side effects such as higher risk of prostate cancer, heart disease and stroke.

Dr Perry said: 'Testosterone-reducing therapies are widely used to treat prostate cancer, but until now it was uncertain whether lower testosterone levels are also protective against developing prostate cancer.'

The researcher said the full impact of TRT of health is still unclear, and it's premature to advise healthy men to use it.

Dr Perry said: 'There is clearly a trade-off when considering treatment in men  a reduction in metabolic health risk but increased susceptibility to prostate cancer.

'In general much more information is needed on the impacts of other diseases, particularly heart disease, to inform more widespread use of supplementation in otherwise healthy people.'

Dr Perry added: 'We dont recommend anyone to take medication to alter testosterone levels on the basis of our findings.

'In women, testosterone appears to be harmful for risks of metabolic diseases and some cancers.'

Dr Katherine Ruth, of Exeter University, added: 'Our findings provide unique insights into the disease impacts of testosterone.

'Caution is needed in using our results to justify use of testosterone supplements, until we can do similar studies of testosterone with other diseases, especially cardiovascular disease.'

The authors, writing in the journal Nature Medicine, did not offer explanations of how testosterone levels affect disease risk.

They said their findings emphasise the importance of separating men and women when looking at how testosterone affects disease risk.
Queensland's Agriculture Minister is confident CCTV cameras will be installed in slaughterhouses across the state by the next election in response to an inquiry into the treatment of retired racehorses.

Minister Mark Furner hoped he could come to agreements with abattoirs around the state "within a matter of months" to install CCTV cameras at "critical animal welfare points".

The ABC program shocked viewers, with many calling for the industry to be held to account. Credit:ABC 7.30

"No doubt the next step would be looking at legislation to make sure that is fully enforceable as well," he said.

The inquiry's report, announced in October, was made public on Monday and made 55 recommendations that the state government supports in full, or in principle.
Police officers are investigating a severe incident of livestock worrying which killed eleven sheep on a Staffordshire farm.

Police believe the sheep suffered injuries consistent with having been inflicted by a dog.

They have taken DNA samples from the wounds of the sheep, and they will be sent to a specialist team in Scotland for analysis.

The attack took place overnight between 6pm on Thursday 6 February and 7.40am the following morning in a field off Long Lane, Essington.

Chief Inspector Ash Farrington said: Livestock are part of farmers livelihood and harm to them can be very upsetting and also have financial implications.

Dog owners are reminded to be vigilant when walking their dog near livestock as lambing season approaches, always make sure it's on a lead and under control.

If using an extendable lead make sure you keep it short so the dog is by your side, he said.

Under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act it is a criminal offence to let a dog worry sheep, and owners or handlers risk being fined.

A dog doesn't have to kill sheep, or even chase them, for its owner to be committing an offence.

Letting a dog roam loose in an area where there are sheep can cause them stress and have health implications for their lambs.

In some circumstances farmers and livestock owners are entitled to shoot dogs that are loose amongst their animals.

Anyone with any information relating to this incident is asked to contact police on 101, quoting incident 124 of 7 February or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
[February 10, 2020] EmployStream Raises $7 Million in Series B Funding for Onboarding Software

CLEVELAND, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- EmployStream, the leading provider of onboarding automation to the staffing industry, announced the close of its $7 million Series B funding round led by Plymouth Growth Partners, with support from several key investors including JumpStart, Rev1 Ventures, Ohio Innovation Fund and North Coast Angel Fund. EmployStream will use the capital to expand product development, increase its footprint in the staffing industry and drive innovation of ideas inspired by its rapidly growing customer base. "There's an enormous opportunity for intuitive tools in employee onboarding. Our plan is to double down and be the best provider to serve this space. Staffing agencies and other high-volume hirers are increasingly looking for a rich candidate experience and workflow automation. We offer the most complete solution in these areas and plan to significantly expand our platform with this new capital," said Gerald Hetrick, Chief Executive Officer of EmployStream. "Th EmployStream team has built a powerful, easy-to-use, and candidate-focused onboarding platform for the staffing industry," added Evan Ufer, Partner, Plymouth Growth Partners, who will also join the company's board of directors. "We are thrilled to be partnering with EmployStream to help deliver even more value to its loyal customers and continue its rapid growth."



EmployStream is coming off another strong year of growth in which it began expanding its sales and marketing efforts and grew its client base to nearly 200. The company plans to add key leadership roles in Business Development and Marketing and leverage its reputation as a high-growth, modern, SaaS company to attract top-tier talent to its Product and Engineering teams. "This is an important and exciting round of funding for EmployStream," said Hardik Desai, Senior Investing Partner at JumpStart. "Over the past three years, Gerald and his team have demonstrated focused execution to gain market traction and they are well-positioned for future growth and scale."

About EmployStream

EmployStream offers the best onboarding and candidate experience platform in the staffing industry. Its cloud-based, mobile-first platform makes qualifying, hiring and engaging candidates easy for everyone involved. EmployStream was built to automate and simplify critical touch points throughout the hiring process, eliminating costly mistakes and delays. For more information, visit www.employstream.com and follow @EmployStream on Twitter.

About Plymouth Growth Partners

Plymouth Growth Partners invests in growth stage businesses throughout the Great Lakes region. With over 100 years of combined investing experience, Plymouth takes a flexible approach to partnering with management teams, helping to drive growth, build value and realize the full potential. Plymouth focuses on B2B product and services companies that have scalable technology and proven growth. Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Plymouth Growth Partners has over $140 million under management and is actively investing out of its fourth fund. For more information on Plymouth Growth Partners and its investments, please visit www.plymouthgp.com. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/employstream-raises-7-million-in-series-b-funding-for-onboarding-software-301001965.html SOURCE EmployStream

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Tesla Vice President Tao Lin said this week that production would restart on Feb. 10 and that car deliveries from the plant would be temporarily delayed.

US electric carmaker Teslas factory in Chinas financial hub of Shanghai will resume production on Feb. 10 with assistance to help it cope with a spreading epidemic of coronavirus, a Shanghai government official said on Saturday.

Many factories across China shut in late January for the Lunar New Year holiday that was originally due to end on Jan. 30 but which was extended in a bid to contain the spread of the new flu-like virus that has killed more than 700 people.

Tesla warned on Jan. 30 that it would see a 1-1.5-week delay in the ramp-up of Shanghai-built Model 3 cars as a result of the epidemic, which has severely disrupted communications and supply chains across China.

Tesla Vice President Tao Lin said this week that production would restart on Feb. 10 and that car deliveries from the plant would be temporarily delayed.

In view of the practical difficulties key manufacturing firms including Tesla have faced in resuming production, we will coordinate to make all efforts to help companies resume production as soon as possible, Shanghai municipal government spokesman Xu Wei said.

The USD 2 billion Shanghai factory is Teslas first outside the United States and was built with support from local authorities. It started production in October and began deliveries last month.

The Shanghai government also said on Saturday it would ask banks to extend loans with preferential rates to small companies and exempt firms in hard-hit sectors like hospitality from value-added tax, among other measures to prop up businesses during the epidemic.

Such assistance would also apply to foreign companies.

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A former Capita security worker has been jailed for seven years after accepting thousands of pounds in bribes from criminals including convicted rapists to fix their electronic ankle tags so they could roam the streets freely.

Martin Crean charged 37 suspects 500 each to fiddle the monitoring devices that were fixed to their ankles.

Outsourcing company Capita won the six-year 400m tagging contract from the UK government in 2014, and Crean, 49, was employed by the firm's Electronic Monitoring Service (EMS).

In December 2015, he told his employers he had been mugged. The company then replaced his tool kit and he used the spare kit to alter the tags.

Ex-security worker Martin Crean (pictured above) has today been jailed for seven years

In January 2017 Crean's home was raided after Omar Chkaoua, who Crean's daughter was thought to have been having a relationship with, was arrested while subject to a nightly curfew.

He admitted perverting the course of justice but his plea and a series of trials related to the scandal can now be reported for the first time.

Judge Sheelagh Canavan told Crean his crimes 'strike at the very heart' of justice and risk crippling public trust in the system.

The judge said she would write to Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick personally and voice her concerns about the 'lax attitude' towards spotting tag tampering.

A stock image above of a curfew tag on ankle with rolled up jeans and trainers. Crean is thought to have removed such devices

Judge Canavan told Crean: 'During the series of trials I have presided over in this matter over the last two years I've come to understand the workings of the tagging system.

'The lacuna has been cured [since your offending] and such offending could not happen in this way again, however it has come to light that police forces have taken worrying lax attitude towards enforcement despite automatic notifications built into system.

'I am fully aware of pressures on our police forces but I therefore intend to write to the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police about my concerns.'

She added that there must have been 'no doubt' as to the 'nature of the individuals' Crean had been called on to tag.

'You knew full well that curfews are imposed to punish criminals on community order, to allow those who have served time in custody to be phased back into the community, to allow those accused of crime to be released with stringent conditions back into the community.'

Crean helped Peter Brown (left) who led an ammonia-wielding group of robbers in 2017. He also helped Mohammed Butt (right) who was involved in a Mercedes plot

One 'prolific' criminal, who was dating Crean's daughter, enlisted his services before telling other offenders they could dodge their tag for a fee of 500.

Burglars let loose by Crean were able to break into victims' homes and steal their belongings at night while their tag sat at home 'creating the perfect alibi.'

The judge said: 'You're a family man, indeed your daughter and her child have figured in the trials as she was in a relationship with one of the offenders in the case. He is a very prolific offender.

'He was able to do re-offend because he on multiple occasions availed himself of your services.

James Radford (pictured) 30, had met Crean at a secret location and arranged to interfere with his tag on 5 September 2018

'He advertised your skills in removing a tag to other criminals, 37 of whom it appears took up your offer of services.'

She added that no one would be any the wiser if a taggee left their home as the tag was no longer secure.

'You clearly gave instructions to individuals on what to do to replace the strap. The evidence is you got 500 for each reset.

'The only reason these offences came to light was that Mr Chkaoua got himself into further trouble'.

Police attended his home to arrest but only found the tag left behind.

'At about the same time another offender let slip that an officer was willing to take tags off for money.'

37 individuals benefited from his services and the judge said that Crean's actions meant people avoided punishments.

'They were able to be out and about committing crimes while the tag sat at home giving them on the face of it a perfect alibi.

'That they were able to do so as a consequence of your actions. These offences included night-time burglaries of individuals' homes.

'Some were able to obtain a more favourable sentence being able to show they were on curfew at the time of offences.

'Your offending strikes at the very heart of the criminal justice system.

'Your offending puts members of the public at risk and undermines their trust that the criminal justice system works.'

The last man to be convicted of bribing Crean was 30-year-old Sayful Alom who was jailed for 20 months at Snaresbrook Crown Court last month.

'Mr Alom was the subject of a court imposed suspended sentence which had curfew conditions,' said Mark Seymour, prosecuting.

'He was made the subject of a curfew order which was to be electronically monitored.

'The evidence from the electronic data stored by EMS in relation to this defendant is that this defendant's tag was reset electronically'.

The Crown said that the reset took place away from Alom's home monitoring unit.

'This type of reset is only necessary to clear tamper alerts which will occur typically when the strap on the tag that you have to cut or force out of the shoulders.

'The only purpose of removing the strap is if you are going to replace it. That can only be done using the piece of equipment known as a reset.

'Mr Crean was replacing the strap with a new strap that wasn't on the ankle at all. He meets with them out of range, cuts the strap takes it off then digitally resets it.

'Give back to the person, get your 500 go back home and the equipment at home doesn't know what happened.'

Crean used his spare equipment, such as straps which are for wider ankles, allowing the defendants to slip the tags on and off, the court heard.

It can now be revealed that Crean was paid thousands of pounds by dangerous convicts, including armed robbers and a rapist.

Peter Brown, 31, led a gang of ammonia-wielding robbers who squirted the deadly fluid into a shopkeeper's mouth in Hackney in March 2017. Brown also fired a gun at terrified shoppers five months later.

He was the subject of a strict curfew following his arrest but was able to go out each night after his tag was removed by Crean for 500.

Brown was eventually jailed for 10 years in October 2018.

Convicted rapist Tariq Albaity, 37, paid Crean to tamper with his tag so he could leave his home while on curfew.

Albaity was on curfew for breaching a notification order and contacted Crean on December 20 16, 2016, only ten days after the tag was first fitted.

Crean was arrested on January 3, 2017 and the pair had an eight-minute long phone call later that day.

The next day Albaity called the bail tag helpline to say that there was something wrong with his tagging device, in an attempt to get a new one and conceal the tampering.

When he realised police were after him, he fled to London from Luton.

He was arrested on 24 February, when three police officers saw him trying to steal a bank card from a 60-year-old woman using an ATM.

Albaity fromBirmingham, admitted perverting the course of justice, three counts of assaulting an emergency worker, and one count of breaching a notification requirement.

He was jailed for two years and nine months in April last year.

Mohammed Butt, 30, bribed Crean so he could escape his ankle tag while on bail for his part in a 500,000 Mercedes theft plot.

Butt, of Ilford admitted conspiracy to steal cars and perverting the course of justice in relation to his ankle tag and was jailed for a total of 58 months in May 2018.

Chkaoua, 20, was made subject of a tagged curfew for a racially aggravated public order offence at Stratford youth court on 12 September 2016.

The then 16-year-old rarely complied with the curfew though and was subject to plenty of attention from the tag authorities, the court heard.

The tag was first tampered with on 9 October when recovered data showed him leaving his home address to meet Crean and returning home 45 minutes later.

Chkaoua's tag tampering came to light after police went to his house to arrest him for attempted murder on 14 November 2016.

When they realised he wasn't home despite his curfew, police checked the tag data and discovered the various tampering warnings.

Chkaoua, from London, admitted perverting the course of justice, and was sentenced to eight months detention in May 2018.

James Radford, 30, had met Crean at a secret location and arranged to interfere with his tag on 5 September.

He enjoyed four days of freedom before he was arrested for possession of a firearm.

He is now serving a 12 year sentence for that matter and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Radford, of no fixed address, admitted perverting the course of justice and he received a 10 month consecutive jail sentence.

Joshua Jarvis, 28, of Woodford Green, and Paul Higgins, 32, of Dagenham, both admitted paying Crean backhanders so they could roam free throughout 2016.

Jarvis was jailed for 18 months while Higgins received a total of 27 months in January 2019.

Earlier that month, three other men who were tried alongside Jarvis were also found guilty of perverting the course of justice. Gokham Gurler, 35, was jailed for two years, Thomas Capper, 28, was locked up for 20 months and Tony Marshall, 39, was sentenced to 26 months imprisonment.

Devante Bennett, 20, was cleared of the charge.

Gary Allen, 50, and Shane Cable, 25, paid Crean backhanders so they could roam free while awaiting their respective trials.

Allen, of Croydon, south London, and Cable, of Harlow, Essex, were both convicted of perverting the course of justice last month following a six-week trial last August.

Allen was jailed for 22 months while Cable was sentenced to 15 months in prison.

The total term of imprisonment imposed on all those convicted during the Met Police investigation, 'Operation Glenn Falls', amounted to more than 42 years.

Det Con Robin Kyle, from Specialist Crime, said: 'Crean abused his position of trust and undermined an important part of the judicial system. Men whose activities should have been closely controlled, by order of the courts, were free of any restraint and indeed provided with the perfect alibi.

'Thankfully we can find no evidence that those whose tag was tampered with caused serious physical harm to anyone, but that was only by good fortune. Crean was motivated only by greed and he cared not one wit that he was placing the public at risk.

'I hope the sentencing of Crean, our relentless pursuit of all those who conspired with him and the combined sentences of over 42 years, reassures the public that those who seek to undermine our justice system will be relentlessly pursued and brought to account.'

A Capita spokesperson, said: 'We have a zero tolerance policy for any employee who undermines the robustness of the electronic monitoring service. Following the identification of this individual's pattern of behaviour a thorough internal review was conducted that led to our control processes being strengthened.'
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to refrain from the "divisive and communal politics", stating that Union government and Opposition should work together to revive the slowing Indian economy.

"I request Prime Minister to refrain from political vendetta, communal and divisive The government and Opposition shall work together to revive the Indian economy and for the development of the country. We are ready to have talks with Centre as it is a serious matter," said Banerjee during a post-Budget press conference.

The Trinamool Congress supremo alleged that the central government nowadays "does not consult states" before taking any decision.

Underlining on the state Budget, she said: "We do not make an anti-people Budget. We make a pro-people Budget. West Bengal is at the top among other states when it comes to development. We are giving the highest priority to education, farmers and health schemes."

Banerjee lambasted the Centre for blaming her government for not implementing the Centre's universal health scheme 'Ayushman Bharat' in the state and said that already free of cost treatment is being provided to people of West Bengal under various welfare schemes launched by the state government.

She claimed that state farmers' income has been increased by three times.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Burma Another NLD Member Abducted by Unknown Armed Group in Western Myanmar

Ramree Township signpost. / Ko Gyi / Facebook

SITTWE, Rakhine StateA member of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party from Rakhine States Ramree Island was abducted by unidentified gunmen on Saturday evening.

U Zeyar Min, executive committee member and treasurer for the Ramree Township NLD, was on his way home from his sawmill when he was abducted by eight armed people at about 6 p.m. on Feb. 8, according to U Khin Yee, the secretary of the Ramree Township NLD.

U Zeyar Min runs a sawmill between Kyauksauk Village and Kalarpone Village about 10 miles from Ramree and he was heading home together with one of his cousins when the kidnapping occurred.

The armed group left his cousin. As they had arms in this area, they could be either members of the Arakan Army (AA) or government troops, said U Khin Yee.

Leaders of the township NLD had been threatened via phone calls and on Facebook for organizing a rally to support State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on Dec. 4 as she traveled to defend against charges of alleged genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), according to U Khin Yee.

AA spokesman U Khaing Thukha denied that members of his group abducted U Zeyar Min.

We did not abduct Ko Zeyar Min. I have already asked our troops about it. I do not know whether he was abducted by government troops or other people who had problems with him, U Khaing Thukha said.

The NLD officials family members reported the abduction to the police and Ramree Police Station has opened a case under Section 50 (a) and (b) and Section 54 of the Counter-terrorism Law for the abduction and is investigating the scene of the crime, according to police Sergeant Soe Naing.

A team led by the head of our police station has launched a field investigation at the scene, Sgt. Soe Naing told The Irrawaddy.

The AA abducted an NLD Upper House parliamentarian from Chin States Paletwa Township, U Whei Tin, on Nov. 3 over allegations that he was providing intelligence to the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw. The AA released him on Jan. 21.

The AA also detained U Ye Thein, the chairman of the NLD in Buthidaung Township, northern Rakhine State, on Dec. 11 and the armed group said on Dec. 25 that the detained NLD Buthidaung Township chief had died after being hit by a heavy weapon round fired by the Tatmadaw, an accusation that the Tatmadaw denied.

U Ye Thein was abducted by the AA just before a rally supporting Daw Aung San Suu Kyis defense at the ICJ that was organized by NLD members in Buthidaung Township.

After U Ye Theins death, the Tatmadaw told The Irrawaddy that there was no fighting in Buthidaung Township on the day he was killed.

According to a statement released by the AA, heavy weapon rounds fired from Buthidaung-based Operation Headquarters (15) at 9 a.m. on Dec. 25 killed multiple people, including the NLD township chairman, and injured others.

Translated from Burmese by Myint Win Thein

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Asiacell Company has been ranked first as the best telecom company in Iraq for 2019 by winning International Finance Award in high-ranking ceremony held recently in Dubai, UAE.



Receiving the best telecom prize in Iraq is a result of fruitful efforts to by Asiacell to introduce state-of-the-art technology to the company's network. The key reason for the Award is the network quality and big works done to develop the infrastructure to make it the first network in Iraq to be fully ready for the next generation, said an Asiacell statement.



On the social and humanitarian side, Asiacell was granted the International Finance Award of the best Corporate Social Responsibility "CSR" category. It won the Award in recognition of the efforts it made to serve different sections of the community in many areas such as education, health, women affairs, sports, arts, environment, serving people with special needs, as well as providing support to nascent business projects and many more.



The third award was the "Stevie Award" of the best Corporate Social Responsibility 'CSR' category in the Middle East and Africa which was granted to Asiacell in a high-level ceremony held in Vienna, Austria.



Abdulla Hassan, Asiacell official spokesperson said: "We feel very proud of this recognition where we won many awards for being the best company in terms of Corporate Social Responsibility, and for being the best telecom company. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who work for the Company for this great achievement. This appreciation will inspires us to make more efforts to maintain our leading position both locally and internationally."  TradeArabia News Service
Tedros Adhanom, Director General of the World Health Organization, (L) shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping before a meeting at the Great Hall of the People, on January 28, 2020 in Beijing, China. Naohiko Hatta - Pool | Getty Images

Chinese President Xi Jinping has been visibly missing in action in Wuhan, the epicenter of the new coronavirus outbreak, spurring talk about his control from a distance in Beijing. Instead, Xi dispatched his second-in-command, premier Li Keqiang to Wuhan on Jan. 27 in a shot of confidence for the city which has been under lockdown. Since then, Xi has not been out much in front of the cameras, although he has been reported in state media as commanding efforts to contain the outbreak. Most recently, Xi emerged from the shadows on Feb. 5 to meet with Cambodian leader Hun Sen who was on a state visit to China. Before this, the Chinese president had been absent from the limelight for over a week since Jan. 28 when he met with Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general at the World Health Organization.

As the inner workings of the Chinese Communist Party are opaque, observers are weighing why Xi hasn't been to ground zero or playing up his role in managing the crisis. "While Xi has claimed to be personally leading the effort from Beijing, and the division of labor between general secretary and premier often call for such a sharing of responsibilities, there is an undercurrent of sentiment that Xi's response has felt impersonal, more focused on avoiding a political calamity for the party than on the people's health," wrote analysts from risk consultancy Eurasia Group about the political cost for Xi in an outbreak situation that would "return to normalcy" by early April. Xi is the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.

On China's heavily policed social media networks, there has been sparse discussion about the country's top leaders on a personal level, even in private chats. Indeed, despite anger after "the tragic death of the doctor who first alerted the system to the disease, Dr. Li Wenliang, the brunt of negative sentiment has been focused on officials in Hubei (province) and Wuhan (city,) with little spillover to Xi or other leaders in Beijing," the Eurasia Group analysts wrote in their report on Sunday. But Xi's absence from ground zero could be an attempt to protect the top leadership from the potential fallout of the health-care crisis, experts say.

If a crisis is averted, Xi can claim ultimate responsibility, but if problems arise, he can point the finger at lower-level officials. Jude Blanchette Center for Strategic and International Studies

"While Li is an extremely able manager and bureaucrat, he has long been sidelined by Xi and has come to be seen as relatively weak and feckless, leading to speculation that Xi has made Li a possible scapegoat if the virus is not soon contained," Jude Blanchette at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, wrote in late January. "This is in keeping with other problematic policy areas, including U.S.-China relations, where Xi has opted to remain somewhat aloof, preferring to place deputies on the front line. If a crisis is averted, Xi can claim ultimate responsibility, but if problems arise, he can point the finger at lower-level officials," Blanchette added. While the mayor of Wuhan will be the first in line to shoulder the blame from the fallout, "he is too low-ranking to be the scapegoat," said Volker Stanzel, a former German ambassador to China at a discussion hosted by the Mercator Institute for China Studies in late January. Li also "symbolizes the will and the determination of the leadership of Xi Jinping to pull the whole responsibility towards the almost-very center, but not quite very center of the power structure," added Stanzel. "He is not putting himself into the shoes of the person who is responsible for resolving this. He is taking the number two in the countrymeaning he can always get rid of him and still remain Xi Jinping," he said.

Duration of the outbreak is important for Xi
AMSTERDAM  The most enduring legacy of slavery in the Netherlands may be found in neighborhoods like Bijlmermeer, a working-class corner of Amsterdam where many  including those who trace their heritage to the former colony of Suriname  have long felt sidelined.

Slave labor in the South American nation of Suriname generated vast wealth for Amsterdam, and that wealth built many of its palaces and canal-side mansions. But it is in Bijlmermeer  a neighborhood long associated with poverty, crime and aggressive policing  that a movement has grown in recent months to press the city to reckon with this chapter of its history.

Politicians from the area, elected during a vote last year that delivered one of the most diverse city councils in recent memory, have championed a push for Amsterdam to apologize formally for slavery. A majority of the 45-member council, which now has several members descended from slaves, has signed on to the apology initiative that is scheduled to be taken up on February 12. Local politicians say it is likely to pass.

Amsterdam is a beautiful city, but when you look at some of its most beautiful parts, it is hard to deny that they were financed with income that came from the trans-Atlantic slave trade, said Don Ceder, a council member whose parents are from Ghana and Suriname. What we want is for the city to own up to its history, to accept it and to apologize.
Ricky Gervais has trolled the Oscars on Twitter, saying the awards ceremony hosted rich sex pests of all shapes and sizes.

The comedian, who entertained Hollywood stars for the final time at the Golden Globes this year, shared what he says would have been his first joke had he been hosting the 2020 Oscars.

Its great to see such diversity in the room tonight, wrote Gervais. Rich sex pests of all shapes and sizes.

In another tweet, he mocked Hollywood stars for hiring badly paid migrant staff.

27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar Show all 27 1 /27 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar Alice in Wonderland (2010) Its only 108 minutes long, but Alice in Wonderland manages to feel longer than a Lord of the Rings extended cut. There are no laughs and theres no enjoyment factor beyond, Oh, look, its Johnny Depp being weird and quirky again! It might be a visual marvel, but Alice in Wonderland shouldnt have won an Oscar for Best Art Direction because anything that would encourage people to see this movie is wrong. Rex Features 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar Beetlejuice (1988) Tim Burton's Beetlejuice won an Oscar for the only category it was nominated in  Best Make Up. While the film was deserving of far more recognition, its status as an Oscar-winner may come as a surprise to many. Rex Features 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar Death Becomes Her Death Becomes Her might not have given Meryl Streep one of her 20 Oscar nominations, but it did win Best Visual Effects ahead of Alien 3 and Batman Returns. The award seems quite rogue given all we get is a stretchy neck and a woman with a hole in her body, but then it was the 1990s. For her part in the film, on-screen legend Streep described the shoot as tedious and like being at the dentist, and claimed it would be her first, last and only effects-driven movie. Rex Features 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar Dick Tracy (1990) Warren Beatty spearheaded this live-action version of Dick Tracy, which featured an all-star cast including Al Pacino (pictured). Despite negative reviews, the film racked up an impressive seven nominations and won in three categories: Best Art Direction, Best Make Up and Best Original Song. Rex Features 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them JK Rowling's extension of the Harry Potter universe is a far cry from the adaptation of her original wizarding book series. However, Fantastic Beasts won an Oscar for Best Costume Design with its first film  a win made even more surprising by the fact that, despite being nominated for 12 Academy Awards across eight films, the Harry Potter series never won a single one. Rex Features 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar The Golden Compass This adaptation of Philip Pullmans Northern Lights might have a rating of 42 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, but it still managed to win an Oscar for its visual effects. The Academy was impressed by the computer-generated animals and grand vistas of the Arctic. But the flashy CGI doesnt take away from the fact the film makes one of the most fantastical books ever published utterly dull. So unpopular, this box-office bomb caused its studio, New Line Cinema, to merge with Warner Brothers. Rex Features 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar The Grinch The Grinch might be the greatest Christmas film, but its still not a great film. Still, Jim Carreys furry green get-up did win it the Oscar for Best Makeup. Considering it took around eight hours to apply each day, you could say it was deserved. Jim Carrey told Graham Norton that a CIA operative had to be brought in to teach him specialist techniques for enduring torture and said the procedure was like being buried alive every day. Rex Features 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar The Exorcist When taking into account the Academy's inability to nominate horror films over the past few decades, it's increasingly impressive to learn the film considered one of the most shocking of all time won two back in 1974. The Exorcist is a terrific film that deserved its wins for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound. It received a further eight nominations, including Best Picture. Rex Features 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar Happy Feet Mumble the penguin might look more real than the animations that came before him, but he also looks more lifeless. Happy Feet was one of the first films to use motion capture technology instead of Walt Disney style hand-drawn animations. But who wants an exact replica when you can have big white eyes and toothy grins? Apparently the Oscars do, because they gave Happy Feet Best Animated Film. Granted, the scene where a baby Mumble raps Close to the Edge is cute. Rex Features 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar Harry and the Hendersons (1987) It's doubtful that even the makers of Harry and the Hendersons expected their film about a family's encounter with the cryptozoological creature Bigfoot to win an Oscar. But it did (Best Makeup). Universal Pictures 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar The Imitation Game The Imitation Game is as difficult to decipher as a heap of unbroken code. It features a number of historical inaccuracies, which range from the benign to the outright offensive. One scene shows a detective using Tipp-Ex in a time period where it hadnt been invented yet. One plotline slanders Alan Turings memory by suggesting he covered up for a Soviet spy. But despite the film's confusing diversions and ridiculous accusations, Graham Moore won for his screenplay. Rex Features 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1985) While a far cry from the four Oscar wins awarded to Raiders of the Lost Ark, sequel Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom  considered to be the weakest of Steven Spielberg's original trilogy  took home the award for Best Visual Effects. Rex Features 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar Innerspace (1987) Innerspace hasn't endured as a must-watch classic like similar films that were released in the 1980s, but it has an Oscar win to its name  the science-fiction adventure, starring Dennis Quaid, Meg Ryan and Martin Short (pictured), won Best Visual Effects. Rex Features 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar Men in Black It does seem weird that Men in Black won an Oscar for makeup considering the two main characters arent wearing any. But when you think of all the oozing purple aliens they shoot at, it starts to make more sense. The action film also won an Oscar for Best Musical Score thanks to contributions from Will Smith himself (though we all know the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme tune is his only award-winning sound). Sony Pictures Releasing 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar The Muppets The plot of The Muppets is essentially: One day a boy and girl fell in love and together they overcame an obstacle of some sort. While the old films featured big-name celebrities, in the reboot there is a feeling of will this do? Jack Black is paraded out like he were Hollywood royalty, even though at this point in his career, he was probably accepting offers to turn Christmas lights on. It managed to win an Oscar for the song 'Man or Muppet'. To be fair, there were only two others nominated in the category. Rex Features 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar Pearl Harbor Theres nothing the Oscars loves more than a war film, so that explains why they would give a film as bad as Pearl Harbour three awards. Michael Bays movie manages to make his retelling of the Pearl Harbor disaster orientate around a self-indulgent love triangle. Bay has no excuse for the poor quality, the film cost more to make than the real Pearl Harbour cost the US government. Rex Features 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Back in 2007, we were all far too love-drunk on the image of Jonny Depp in eyeliner because somehow we convinced ourselves that Pirates of the Caribbean 2 was a good film. No one finds Johnny Depp in eyeliner attractive anymore so we can all be a bit more honest: its not good. The overly complicated, rambling sequel was nominated for four Oscars and ended up beating Superman Returns to win Best Visual Effects. Rex Features 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar Rango (2011) Johnny Depp's reptilian underdog Rango beat out a boot-wearing pussycat as well as a panda with an affinity for kung fu to win Best Animated feature at the Oscars. Rex Features 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar Song of the South (1946) Song of the South has long had controversy heaped upon it with many believing the film's African-American characters to be racist and offensive stereotypes. Because of this, it might come as a surprise to learn the film is an Oscar winner, taking home the Best Original Song trophy for "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah". Rex Features 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar Spider-Man 2 There havent been many Oscar nominations for superhero films, which makes sense because they often arent very good. Aside from Peter and Marys upside-down kiss in the pouring rain, Spiderman 2 is boring. Still, it managed to beat Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and I, Robot to win Best Visual Effects. Rex Features 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar Suicide Squad After Suicide Squad won an Oscar Suicide Squad has more Oscars than became a meme. Twitter pointed out that the Marvel anti-hero team-up has won more gold men than Gary Oldman and Willem Dafoe combined. To be fair it didnt win Best Film, but Best Makeup. Regardless, that anyone managed to bear the unbearable Joker and the overly sexualised Harley for long enough to notice what anyone looked like is a miracle. Rex Features 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) Sweeney Todd took home the best Art Direction Oscar, an impressive feat considering other Tim Burton films have been far more deserving of the prize, but failed to even be nominated. Rex Features 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar Tarzan Toy Story 2s 'When She Loved Me' is sad enough it could make Ross Kemp cry, but it didnt get the Oscar in 2000. Instead, Tarzan won Best Music for Phil Collins 'Youll Be In My Heart'  a song which lacks all the emotional resonance of drum hit 'In the Air Tonight'. In an extremely bizarre decision, Collins soundtrack was inserted in rather than sung by the characters, because co-director Kevin Lima thought a singing Tarzan would be ridiculous. Because a man swinging from trees like a monkey isnt ridiculous? Rex Features 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar U-571 A French-American submarine films tarring Matthew McConaughey and Jon Bon Jovi isn't a film you'd ordinarily assume would win an Oscar, but U-571 proved an exception. It won Best Sound Editing. Rex Features 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar The Wolfman Rick Baker won Best Makeup and Hair for his work turning Benicio Del Toro into a ferocious wolf. After multiple director changes and other backstage drama, Joe Johnstons much-troubled production nearly didnt get made. Humankind would have been better off if they hadnt managed to resolve their issues. The Wolfman is poorly paced and divulges into CGI overload for an action-heavy climax that is too grizzly for its own good. Rex Features 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar The Young Victoria This film is about as passionless as the Victorian era itself. Watching it is to spend an hour and three-quarters waiting for it to start. The Young Victoria was meant to reimagine the Queen as a young woman full of life, but director Jean-Marc Vallee ends up replacing all of Emily Blunts smouldering mischievousness with drab reserve. Luckily, two-time Oscar winner Sally Potter saved the period drama by winning yet another costume design award. Rex Features 27 films you'll never believe won an Oscar Ex Machina (2015) Nobody expected the fantastic Ex Machina to win anything at the Oscars, but when it was named as the victor in the Best Visual Effects category, it went down as the best twists of the evening. It beat Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Martian, The Revenant and Mad Max: Fury Road

This year's Oscars was hostless for the second consecutive year, but a number of stars presented awards, including Mahershala Ali, Zazie Beetz, Timothee Chalamet, Penelope Cruz, Jane Fonda and Josh Gad.

Olivia Colman, whose performance in The Favourite won her the Best Actress Oscar in 2019, presented the award for Best Actor, which went to Joaquin Phoenix for his starring role in Todd Phillips' Joker.

South Korean black comedy Parasite was the evening's biggest winner, making history by becoming the first ever foreign language film to win Best Picture.

Find a full list of the 2020 Oscar winners here.
Dr Chris Brown is reportedly set to become this year's Bachelor, according to a new report.

New Idea magazine claimed on Monday that the 41-year-old is 'seriously' considering the plum TV role.

'Ten is throwing serious, serious figures his way to be The Bachelor this time around,' a Channel Ten 'source' allegedly told the publication.

Is he the next Bachelor? Dr Chris Brown is reportedly set to become this year's Bachelor, according to a new report

According to the magazine, producers and executives at the network think the hunky veterinarian will set hearts fluttering, which will equal big ratings.

'Everyone at Ten/Warner believes he would be our highest rating season ever - they have all wanted him for ages,' the 'insider' went on the allegedly claim.

The magazine also went on to report that Chris is said to be 'seriously considering' the offer this time around.

Ratings winner? According to the magazine, producers and executives at the network think the hunky veterinarian will set hearts fluttering, which will equal big ratings

The hunky I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! host was previously in a relationship with fellow Channel Ten star, Liv Phyland.

He was also known to be in a relationship with socialite Kendall Bora, who has since moved on with journalist Matt Doran.

In the Stellar magazine article in February last year, the popular TV host admitted he has put work before relationships in the past.

What a treat! The magazine also went on to report that Chris is said to be 'seriously considering' the offer this time around

'I've probably prioritised work more than I potentially should have over the past 10 years  to the detriment of my personal life,' he said.

The handsome star added that he realises all his travel for work, including into the jungle for weeks on end, is difficult for potential partners.

'It's a lot to ask of a girlfriend, to put up with all the travel and the lack of Face Time,' he said, adding that he's ready to settle down.

The case of the ex: The hunky I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! host was previously in a relationship with fellow Channel Ten star, Liv Phyland

In an interview with TV Week in February 2018, notoriously private Chris said he wasn't in the habit of discussing his personal life.

'I've never been that guy going around boasting, especially about who I'm dating,' he said at the time.

He added that the people closest to him 'know everything going on', while everyone else is welcome to 'speculate'.
A senior Fianna Fail politician has described a mooted coalition government with Sinn Fein as untenable.

Jim OCallaghan also insisted his party leader, Micheal Martin, had not softened his stance on ruling out the party as coalition partners.

The prospect of an unprecedented link-up between the two bitter rivals is one consequence of Sinn Feins stunning successes at the polls.

The party smashed Fianna Fail and Fine Gaels 90-year duopoly on power when it emerged from Saturdays election with the most first preference votes.

Despite their nationwide victories, the party will not finish the contest with the most seats, primarily because it failed to run enough candidates to capitalise on its surge at the polls.

Mr OCallaghan, whose Fianna Fail party is likely to end up with the most seats, poured cold water on the idea of a coalition as his election was confirmed in Dublin Bay South.

We gave an assurance prior to the General Election that we wouldnt go into coalition with Sinn Fein. Thats what we said to the electorate, he said.

(PA Graphics)

Thats what I said on the doorstep when people raised it with me. I dont think its tenable now to change our policy in respect of that.

Thats not in any way a personalised comment against Sinn Fein or the individuals involved in Sinn Fein.

We need to recognise we gave a commitment and when you look at the policy differences between Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail, I dont think its tenable to suggest that we should be in coalition with them.

Mr OCallaghans views are not echoed by all his colleagues, with some Fianna Fail members having indicated a willingness to do business with the party.

Earlier, Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald said she would work to form a peoples government voters could relate to.

Story continues

Mrs McDonalds preference is for a coalition of left-wing parties, without any input from the centre right Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.

She pledged to get to grips with crises in housing and health, and bring a new lease of life to public administration.

Counting of votes resumed on Monday, and by 1.30pm 97 of the Dails 160 seats were filled.

The remarkable election saw Sinn Fein secure the most first-preference votes and top polls in the vast majority of constituencies across a state previously dominated by the two other large parties.

Sinn Fein received 24.5% of the vote share on first preference, Fianna Fail got 22.2% and Fine Gael 20.9%.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, whose Fine Gael party is the elections big loser, said it could be months before a government is formed.

(PA Graphics)

Mrs McDonald told RTE: We want to talk to anyone who is interested in delivering a programme for government.

That is about getting to grips with the housing crisis and solving it, getting to grips with the crisis in health, and giving families and workers a break and giving a new lease of life to government.

A government that people relate to, that is in tune with the realities of peoples day-to-day lives, not one that is aloof and adrift from the experiences of citizens.

Fine Gael Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said: It is clear that no political party in our country has a monopoly on representing the people of Ireland.

None of the parties will come close to securing enough seats to achieve a majority in the Dail parliament, so thoughts have already turned to the make-up of a coalition administration.

Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar celebrates after retaining his seat for Dublin West (PA)

Sinn Fein has been left to rue its decision to run half the number of candidates of its two main rivals.

That will see a significant number of Sinn Fein surplus votes being transferred to other parties in the proportional representation contest.

It is a shakedown that could benefit Sinn Fein indirectly, if its surpluses boost the numbers of potential left wing partners in government.

Smaller groupings such as the Greens, Labour, the Social Democrats and Solidarity/People Before Profit, and a sizeable number of independent TDs, may all be courted as the main parties seek junior coalition partners.

Mrs McDonald said: This campaign has been about change and giving Sinn Fein a chance to demonstrate what it feels like when it is led by or has a party of the people in it, that has been the theme of our discussions and conversations.

This vote for Sinn Fein is for Sinn Fein to be in government, for Sinn Fein to make a difference, for Sinn Fein to be tested, for Sinn Fein to deliver.

On Sunday, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin declined to repeat his pre-election pledge never to do business with Sinn Fein (Yui Mok/PA)

On Sunday, Mr Martin declined to repeat his pre-election pledge never to do business with Sinn Fein.

He later cautioned observers not to jump the gun in interpreting his remarks as a signal an alliance with the party was in the offing.

Mr Varadkar said his partys stance on not dealing with Sinn Fein was unchanged.

There are 160 seats in the Dail parliament. The speaker is automatically re-elected, leaving 159 seats up for grabs and 80 the magic number for a majority.

Mr Varadkars last government, a minority Fine Gael-led administration that included several independent TDs, was sustained in power through a historic confidence and supply arrangement with Fianna Fail.

That landmark pact between two parties founded from opposing sides of Irelands civil war of the 1920s took 70 days to negotiate following the inconclusive 2016 general election.
CHICAGO  The day Margarita Del Pilar Fitzpatrick applied for an Illinois drivers license upended her life. When a clerk offered to register her to vote in 2005, the Peruvian citizen mistakenly accepted, leading to long legal battles and eventually deportation.

A decade and a half later, she struggles to find work at 52, is nearly homeless and hasnt seen two of her three American citizen daughters in years because of a secretary of states office mishap.

It has derailed our lives, she said in a phone interview from Lima. Immigrants should not be put in this situation.

A handful of other immigrants could face a similar fate, or criminal charges, after a mistake in Illinois automatic voter registration system allowed of hundreds of people who identified themselves as non-U.S. citizens to register. Sixteen cast ballots.

The fiasco in a state with a reputation for election shenanigans triggered a partisan battle, infuriated voter advocacy groups and left immigrant rights activists doing damage control.

Its disappointing because the situation could have been avoided, said Lawrence Benito, head of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. They voluntarily told people they were noncitizens. It was not their fault.

Voting by noncitizens is forbidden by state and federal laws and is statistically rare. But President Donald Trump has repeatedly made unsubstantiated claims that millions voted illegally in 2016. His comments gave a political charge to the issue and put voting modernization efforts such as automatic registration in the spotlight.

The political appearance is terrible, Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said of Illinois. The political reality is people are looking for any potential sense of error when it comes to noncitizen voting to indicate that things like automatic voter registration give rise to fraud.

Illinois made headlines in 2017 when then-Gov. Bruce Rauner was among the first Republicans to sign automatic voter registration into law. The multi-faceted law focuses largely on the secretary of states office, which issues drivers licenses.

A programming error wrongly sent data from more than 500 people to election officials, even though when asked if they were U.S. citizens, they hit no on an electronic keypad. Ultimately, 545 people were registered.

Its unclear whether some people were confused and mistakenly hit no. About half of the voters appeared to be citizens. One was confirmed as a noncitizen with legal status to live in the U.S. Six others remain in question.

Whether that individual, or others yet to surface, could face criminal charges boils down the will of prosecutors.

Experts say theres little chance of charges being filed around Chicago, where the Cook County states attorney is a Democrat. However, authorities in more conservative pockets might be more inclined to act. Election officials said they have not been contacted by law enforcement.

Stepped-up efforts to crack down on noncitizen voters have netted results elsewhere. In 2018, a federal task force in North Carolina uncovered voting violations that led to charges against 19 foreign nationals related to the 2016 election.

It can take years for a noncitizens illegal vote to surface. Immigration authorities might not find out until an immigrant applies to adjust their status, like a green card holder seeking citizenship with a form that asks if the applicant has ever voted. An affirmative answer could disqualify the applicant and lead to deportation.

Two of the highest-profile cases, heard in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, also started with the Illinois secretary of states office, which has since changed how clerks discuss voter registration.

Fitzpatrick presented both her Peruvian passport and U.S. green card when applying for a drivers license in 2005. She was confused by a clerk who said it was up to you if she wanted to register so she did. Then she voted, saying she did not learn it was illegal until applying for citizenship years later. The government moved to have her deported, which courts upheld. She was removed in 2017.

It was the opposite for Elizabeth Keathley, a Philippine citizen in the U.S. on a marriage visa. She applied for a drivers license and was sent a registration card. She voted in 2006. In processing her green card, immigration authorities discovered she had voted, and she was ordered removed. However, judges determined she did not falsely represent herself, allowing her to stay. Shes since become a citizen, and her story was recounted in an off-Broadway play.

Keathley, 41, said the threat of being separated from her family was devastating, especially since her daughter was then an infant. She also lost her hospital job.

Our lives were turned upside-down, said the Bloomington woman.

Chicago attorney Richard Hanus represented both women. He believed Illinois error could work in their favor, since his clients did not misrepresent themselves as citizens.

Illinois officials vowed to protect immigrants, including fighting subpoenas.

Some voter rights advocates say the state law contains a caveat that could help. It says if a registration is wrongly processed that person shall not be found on that basis to have made a false claim to citizenship.

Noncitizen voting isnt common. A 2017 study by the Brennan Center for Justice found roughly 30 incidents of suspected noncitizen voting when it looked at election jurisdictions representing nearly 24 million votes in the 2016 general election.

Secretary of State Jesse White said his office takes full blame and issued letters to the people affected explaining that. Immigrant-rights advocates want additional protections.

White also countered any insinuation of intentional wrongdoing.

This was an error, and there was no effort put forth to hide anything or to cook the books, so to speak, White, a Democrat, said recently at a state Capitol hearing. He said the glitch, covering registrations from July 2018 through December 2019, was fixed.

Republicans have called for the system to be suspended after other registration glitches were made public. Theyve also pointed to issues with mistaken noncitizen voter registrations elsewhere, including California.

The fundamental right to vote and the sanctity of our democracy is too important to bury our heads in the sand and trust that Illinois state government has everything under control when it clearly does not, Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider said after the error was made public last month.

Nearly 20 states have approved some form of automatic voter registration with the goal of increasing civic participation.

Aside from delays and technical issues, voter groups said repeated problems show Illinois has not done enough to safeguard the system.

The state has not fully come to terms with the harm that can be caused with errors like this in our voting system, said Ami Gandhi with the Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights.

___

Follow Sophia Tareen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiatareen.
Microsofts Android foldable is closer to launch. The Surface Duo with a camera flash has appeared on public transit.

Microsoft Surface Duo with camera flash appears on public transit

A photo of the device in the wild, posted by Israel Rodriguez, shows the device. A Microsoft employee has the device next to his umbrella. The device shows a dual-display setup (two displays instead of one folded display). Theres the time and a row of icons on the left display and text on the right display.

The weather appears to be 4 degrees, indicative of a cold environment. Rodriguez says I just saw a guy in Vancouvers SkyTrain playing around with Surface Duo. Got photos and videos. Vancouver, BC (British Columbia) is as cold a place as it gets on the North American continent.

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A camera flash appears at the top of the device along with a selfie camera. The new selfie camera and flash were not on the original Surface Duo prototype. This indicates that Microsoft has upgraded the original model.

The Surface Duo will likely take photos and offer video chat functionality. Since Skype is Microsofts video chat app, the Surface Duo will probably see Skype integration baked right in. After all, as a Microsoft phone, its not surprising to consider that the Duo will have Microsofts app suite. The apps will include Word, Powerpoint, Excel, Skype, OneDrive, and others.

Surface Duo is in employee testing

Rodriguez didnt state whether or not he could see if the person holding the Surface Duo is a Microsoft employee or not. And yet, with the device in the wild for the first time since Microsofts announcement a few months ago, its safe to say that the holder is either an employee or developer. At this early a testing stage, the person in question is more likely an employee.

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According to Windows Central, Microsoft is now allowing employees to test the Surface Duo. Perhaps this is to ensure that the device works for those who will use it within company confines. With the new selfie camera and flash as opposed to the previous rear-camera design, Microsoft is upgrading the device. Perhaps employee testing is to ensure the device is up to par before making some last-minute design changes.

Surface Duo details

Microsoft announced its Surface Duo back in a keynote address in October 2019. The device contains two 5.6-inch displays and runs Android instead of Windows Mobile. The two displays make the device a dual-display phone instead of a foldable phone.

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In this regard, the Surface Duo isnt in the same camp as the Samsung Galaxy Fold and the Motorola Razr (2019). It matches more of the ZTE Axon M and the LG G8X ThinQ Dual Screen .

Installing Android on its dual-display smartphone ensures that it will have universal appeal. Its no secret that Android is the worlds most popular mobile operating system.

Windows has a handful of users compared to the over 2 billion people using Android daily. The dual-display design certainly prevents the device from having manufacturing defects and seems to be the easier design for foldables for now.

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As for availability, Microsoft says the Surface Duo will be available in Holiday 2020, a reference to the Christmas season most likely. With that much time left before the product goes on sale, employee testing will help Microsoft make more tweaks and changes to ensure its success.
The effort will take multiple forms. NOVA EDA, which includes the economic development agencies of 10 counties and municipalities, plans a campaign using social media such as Snapchat and Twitch. It will also sponsor esports competitions. And it will have a strong presence at events such as the South by Southwest festival, which attracts a young, tech-minded crowd.
MANCHESTER, N.H.Bernie Sanders laid it out for a group of his supporters here on Monday morning. What happens in New Hampshire is enormously important, the Vermont senator said. The whole world is watching New Hampshire.

As the state prepared to help select the Democratic nominee for president Tuesday in what everyone here calls the first-in-the-nation primary, Sanders appeared to have cemented his position as a front-runner  leading polls, drawing large crowds of high-energy supporters, and blanketing the state with door-to-door canvassers. In the town of Hudson on Sunday, while Sanders was hours away preparing for a rally in Keene, a group of his supporters could be seen waving his signs as they danced on the sidewalks.

The race is shaping up as a Bernie Sanders versus everybody contest, with the other candidates now competing to be the last-standing alternative when the Democrats choose who will face off against Donald Trump in this falls election.

Ive said all along this is anyones race to win, state Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley told reporters Monday, noting polls showing more than a third of voters remain undecided. He said his party members also share a sense of satisfaction with all the candidates amid the pretty gentle shots they were taking at each other. All of the candidates would be an enormous improvement over the current occupant of the White House, Buckley said.

Pete Buttigieg, the 38-year-old former mayor of tiny South Bend, Indiana, spent the weekend trying to cement his place as the moderate alternative to Sanders.

I dont think we can take the risk of excluding anybody by saying that if youre not either for a revolution or the status quo, you dont fit, Buttigieg told a packed school gym in Nashua on Sunday.

People had begun lining up for that event hours before it began, with the line of the supportive and the interested stretching around the block.

Were he to be elected, Buttigieg would be the youngest president in U.S. history. He speaks in polished phrases, in a cadence borrowed from Barack Obama. Opponents have attacked his slender national resume and his campaign, fuelled by big-money donors, for being too packaged and stage-managed. Its an impression underscored by the news that his campaign had been entered in a prominent best-branding competition.

Still, his emerging organizational muscle was on display at an all-candidates event in Manchester on Saturday night, when what appeared to be the largest group of supporters in attendance chanted, Boot! Edge! Edge!

The arena was quieter when Joe Biden delivered a meandering set of anecdotes. Biden supporters were clearly outnumbered by those of other front-runners, which fits with his campaigns lowered expectations after a fourth-place finish in Iowas. Biden has been telling crowds he doesnt expect to do well in New Hampshire, and that he thinks the race needs to continue before a real picture of each candidates strength emerges.

At a rally in Hudson, there was an almost mournful air to his remarks. Among Bidens greatest strengths as a campaigner is the empathy with which he connects to people. But in Manchester, that talent was misdirected; when he related anecdotes about the loss of his son, about an abused mother who had wound up homeless with her children, or about a father who had lost his job and didnt know what to tell his kids, the mood became positively anxious. Can people look their children in the eye today and say, Its going to be OK, and mean it? he asked.

Amy Klobuchar, who finished fifth in Iowa, was buoyant in the wake of modest poll gains and a fundraising surge after Fridays televised debate. Given the concerns about Buttigiegs experience and Bidens apparent free fall from front-runner status, Klobuchar was hoping to position herself as the last moderate standing.

I have won every single election Ive ever run in, she said onstage Saturday night, citing her experience as a Minnesota senator who has won elections in traditionally Republican districts and passed legislation in Republican dominated legislatures. Were surging! she told an enthusiastic crowd in Nashua on Monday morning.

Elizabeth Warren, who had briefly jockeyed for the lead in polls before finishing a disappointing third in Iowa, continued to work crowds across New Hampshire all weekend. Throughout the campaign, she seemed to be testing the observation often attributed to Kim Campbell  that a campaign is no time to talk about policy  by unveiling a detailed progressive agenda with budgets and timelines to go with an early-campaign slogan of shes got a plan for that. It was after the budget numbers for her socialized health care plan were unveiled that her surge in the polls began to cool, perhaps because shed given critics too many nitpicking points of attack.

Speaking to a crowd of about 200 in Rochester on Monday afternoon, Warren reflected on some of her supposedly unwinnable fights  becoming a teacher, winning a Senate seat, and battling Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. She won all those battles, she said, and told the crowd she intended to do it again. Were gonna pull in Democrats and Republicans and make this work, and were going to have fun doing it.

Buckley said he doesnt expect any of the confusion that marred the Iowa caucuses, noting that no apps or electronics are involved here.

And while he tempered expectations about turnout, Buckley said a visit from Trump on the eve of the primary  the president was set to host a rally in Manchester on Monday night  would remind Democrats why its important to go out and vote.

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[car groaning] lisa lerer Do  do you think thats the brakes? clare toeniskoetter I think so. lisa lerer Should we not take this car? [LAUGHING] It seems slightly concerning. [car groaning] jessica cheung Oh. clare toeniskoetter Weve gone this far. lisa lerer OK, well. You know. jessica cheung You know. archived recording 1 Heres your Accuweather forecast. A winter weather advisory in effect today. Clouds and some snow, sleet and  archived recording 2 And were just a few short days away from the primary in New Hampshire. We are flooded with presidential candidates. And  archived recording 3 If it wasnt already, the ground is cracking underneath Iowa in terms of being the first caucus in the nation. archived recording 4 So many things to interpret. We dont even have a headline. archived recording 5 We dont. And its unclear, actually, when we will get these results. archived recording 6 Everybodys working really hard, and voters show up and expect to have their vote counted. archived recording 7 I mean, I dont care for the caucus situation one bit. archived recording 8 Ive always maintained that the New Hampshire primary is a far better way to determine how people feel about the race. Its a direct vote. clare toeniskoetter Theres a Tulsi sign. jessica cheung This is a nice neighborhood. clare toeniskoetter Theyre cute houses. jessica cheung Yeah, they look like dollhouses. lisa lerer Well, theyre very, like, colonial. gps voice Your destination is on the right. lisa lerer So thats probably  oh, this is 11. Oh, it looks nice. [knocking on door] speaker Hi. jessica cheung Hi. Were from The New York Times. Im here to meet Atlan Schmidt. woman Yes, he lives next door. jessica cheung He lives next door! OK, so sorry. interposing voices So sorry. Sorry to bother you. lisa lerer So sorry. jessica cheung Sorry to bother you. speaker No problem. Bye bye. clare toeniskoetter Bye. lisa lerer Oops. Wasnt it 11? laughter

lisa lerer

From The New York Times, this is The Field. Im Lisa Lerer in New Hampshire.

atlan schmidt Youre in the right place. interposing voices Hello! Sorry. clare toeniskoetter Did you see us go to the wrong place? atlan schmidt No, I didnt. But a lot of people have a lot of trouble navigating this neighborhood. clare toeniskoetter We went to your neighbors. atlan schmidt Come on. Come on in out of the rain. interposing voices Thank you. atlan schmidt Sure.

lisa lerer

So last week, after a chaotic few days in Iowa, I flew up to New Hampshire on Wednesday night, where I met up with Daily producers Clare Toeniskoetter and Jessica Cheung.

jessica cheung Do you want us to take off our shoes?

lisa lerer

And the race there seemed less agonized than it had in Iowa. For months, Bernie Sanders had been way out in front, with everybody else  Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar and the rest of the field  trailing far behind.

atlan schmidt Want to sit down, or how do you wanna work this?

lisa lerer

Thats not especially surprising. New Hampshire is a state where independents are allowed to vote in the party primaries. So thats a group that should like him. On top of it, hes the senator from the neighboring state, Vermont, so a lot of people here have known him on a first name basis for decades.

atlan schmidt Oh, my name is Atlan Schmidt. Im a software engineer, and Ive been in New Hampshire since 1978. lisa lerer When did you first, first learn about Bernie Sanders? atlan schmidt My family vacationed in Vermont two weeks every year for a long time, and I carried on that tradition for a long time as well. So even back when Bernie was the mayor, I started to know just the name. But when he was the congressman in Vermont, I actually started to follow him. And then he became the senator. I did make a stop up his senatorial campaign office, made a donation and got the senatorial t-shirts. lisa lerer Do you still have the shirt? atlan schmidt Oh, yeah. Oh, I still have the shirt. I really wanted to show my support for the guy and encourage him in his future endeavors. Which turned out to be pretty big. archived recording (bernie sanders) Today, I am proud to announce my candidacy for president of the United States of America. [CHEERING]

lisa lerer

So in 2015, when Sanders announced he was going to run for president against Hillary Clinton, he finds a lot of support in New Hampshire.

atlan schmidt And as we got closer to the primary in New Hampshire, we were doing honk and waves continuously. Every Saturday morning, the Bernie team was out. And the response just got better and better and better as the weeks went by.

lisa lerer

Even when Hillary Clinton was presumed to be the nominee, even after she narrowly won the Iowa caucuses, Atlan says he could still feel the wave building.

atlan schmidt To the point where a really noticeable fraction of the people going by were responding positively to us. So we were very confident in 2016 that things were going to go well. And it did work out that way. archived recording 1 Breaking news. NBC News projects Bernie Sanders has won the New Hampshire Democratic primary, defeating Hillary Clinton. archived recording 2 Bernie Sanders crushes Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire. archived recording 3 This is a shellacking or more. Its a total rout if you look at the state of New Hampshire. 60 percent for Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton at 39 percent. archived recording 4 (CHANTING) Bernie, Bernie, Bernie, Bernie, Bernie, Bernie, Bernie. archived recording (bernie sanders) Thank you, New Hampshire. And now its on to Nevada, South Carolina and beyond. [CHEERING] lisa lerer What do you think New Hampshire liked about him so much? atlan schmidt I think the fact that he speaks his mind very plainly. Were pretty plainspoken here in New Hampshire. I think the things he was advocating were, even back then, things people were feeling the need for. People very much wanted change. My wife, as a state rep, went door to door and a lot of Republicans told her they wanted change. They would have liked the good change that Bernie Sanders could have brought. But if they couldnt get that, they were going to get change anyway. What they ended up doing, of course, is they ended up voting for Trump. And I think those people are still out there, and they still want change. And they want good change. Theyre not happy with what they got. jessica cheung Were in  we noticed in our drive up here that were in a really beautiful, picturesque neighborhood. And were in a very beautiful house, and youre a software engineer. And I wonder why someone like you would want a burn-it-down candidate. atlan schmidt Because even though I have a nice job right now, I was laid off from my last job when my job went to Costa Rica. They had me train up my replacements from Costa Rica and then said, thanks, we dont need you anymore. I would like to see a sustainable economy in this country. Im getting to retirement age. Id like to see the opportunity to retire, perhaps with health care, which I wont have otherwise. My life would be better, I think, if President Sanders were running the joint. lisa lerer You think  so you think hes going to win here? atlan schmidt I think hes going to win here in New Hampshire, yes. I think he will win a plurality. And I think itll be a comfortable plurality.

lisa lerer

So with days left before the primary, Sanderss base of support felt pretty secure here in New Hampshire. Our question was, what about the rest of the candidates? Because what we had just seen in Iowa was that Sanders support had been pretty secure there, too. And so, for the most part, the more moderate candidates had been competing with one another for a share of the same group of indecisive voters, voters who were trying to decide which candidate could best beat Donald Trump, and who didnt think that person was Bernie Sanders. And that vote fragmented. The preliminary results from Iowa were showing Sanders and Buttigieg basically neck-and-neck. Warren was in third, and Biden was a very disappointing fourth. But New Hampshire prides itself on being contrary and ignoring the results of Iowa. So we wondered if those voters in New Hampshire who dont support Sanders, if they might start to come together around someone else.

clare toeniskoetter Live free or die. Are you guys voting in the primaries? speaker 1 Oh, yeah. speaker 2 Yeah. lisa lerer So you guys hear whats happening in Iowa? speaker 1 Yeah. Bo  booty egg, right? Buttigieg  speaker 2 Bernie won the caucus, no? speaker 1 No, it was Boot egg. Booty-egg, [laughing] speaker 1 Doesnt Iowa always mess up?

[music]

lisa lerer Does New Hampshire do it better? interposing voices Absolutely. I would say so. I would definitely. lisa lerer Have you followed whats happened in Iowa? speaker 3 What happened in Iowa? No one knows. [CHUCKLING] speaker 4 I think I was up until 4 oclock in the morning the other night, just thinking it cant last any longer. Cant possibly last anymore. lisa lerer Do you think somebody came out of there looking like a winner? speaker 5 Looks like Bernie and Pete Buttigieg are  speaker 6 But thats Iowa. Who cares, right? [laughter] speaker 7 Iowas job is to cull the field. And they didnt do that. They failed, right? I think Michael Bloomberg looks like a political genius at this point for avoiding Iowa. lisa lerer So what do you guys think about Iowa? speaker 8 Uh. speaker 9 Uh. speaker 8 Um, uh, Iowa is just a big clare toeniskoetter Poop. lisa lerer Haha. That might be the quote of the episode.

[music]

lisa lerer What do you make of Iowa? You think it  how do you think that changes the dynamic here? speaker 10 New Hampshire voters are very independent. The results of Iowa really arent going to impact how New Hampshire votes. speaker 11 Oh, good lord, no. Theyre in another country. You need a passport to go to Iowa from New Hampshire. speaker 12 Um, depending on the result, it might, it might. I dont know. Just maybe seeing what those people think could influence what Im thinking as well. speaker 13 I dont know. I think it was interesting. I dont think people expected Joe Biden to do as poorly as he did. lisa lerer Does that change how you view him? speaker 13 No, I dont think so. But I think it might other people, yeah. lisa lerer Are you into him? speaker 13 Id say like 50 percent. lisa lerer And whos the other 50? speaker 13 Probably Mayor Pete. Yeah, yeah. lisa lerer But you dont think the fact that Pete did well and Biden did poorly impacts how you now make your decision? Because I assume you want electability as a thing, like you want  speaker 13 Yeah, no, I think I would  it swayed me a little bit more towards Mayor Pete. lisa lerer That makes sense. speaker 13 Just seeing the results there, yeah. Yeah.

lisa lerer

So on Thursday afternoon, three days after the Iowa caucuses, with still no winner called 

clare toeniskoetter OK, its 3:15 on Thursday. Were at this Pete Buttigieg rally. And they wont let us in, because its at capacity.

lisa lerer

We shop at an American Legion hall in Merrimack, and the room is already overflowing.

clare toeniskoetter Im standing on the stairs trying to get around, and I can see about 40 people just outside, also trying to get in.

lisa lerer

And actually, before he goes onstage 

archived recording (pete buttigieg) We are taking no vote for granted. Obviously, we feel a lot of momentum coming here, but I know how New Hampshire doesnt  is never told what to do. Folks here think for themselves.

lisa lerer

 Buttigieg comes outside and gives a little speech to everyone waiting outside in the freezing rain.

pete buttigieg So if youre here as a supporter, thank you so much for that, and please continue to spread the word. If youre here to make up your mind, please stay tuned. Well continue to be doing events all through the state and hope to earn that support as we go into Tuesday. Thanks so much again. I appreciate your patience. crowd (CHEERING) Doing a great job. All right, great job!

lisa lerer

And after about 45 minutes of standing around 

applause

lisa lerer

 were able to talk our way inside.

dave hennessey To do what he just did, taking questions like that off the cuff 

lisa lerer

And we meet this guy named Dave Hennessey, whose wife  he calls her the boss  had just wandered away.

dave hennessey Shes going to decide for me tonight, probably, I think. I think she  clare toeniskoetter Is this your wife? dave hennessey Yeah, thats my wife. Ive been torn between Biden and Pete. And I love Joe, and when Im looking at him, my big reason for leaning towards Joe is Im dead sure he can beat Trump. Hes convincing me that he can, too.

lisa lerer

He means Buttigieg.

lisa lerer And thats because of Iowa? dave hennessey Iowas was part of it. But the fact that he can think, and Ive seen it before, Ive seen him doing this before, being able to talk the way he does so quickly, so fast. Hell kill Trump in a debate. Absolutely wipe him out. lisa lerer The fact that Pete seems like the winner there  we dont know  or he did well, is compelling to you. dave hennessey It is compelling. I mean, lets put the elephant in the room on the table. The fact is, though, there are bigots out there. That moron woman out in  Im sorry, I shouldnt say  but the woman out in Iowa who just discovered Pete was gay, and then said she wouldnt vote for him because the Bible wouldnt allow it. I mean, there are people like that. Even today, in 2020. I think its a problem. I hope to God that that kind of thinking isnt so widespread that it would cost him the election. But it worries me, because we gotta get Trump out of there. clare toeniskoetter Dave, are you worried about the moderate vote being split between Biden and Buttigieg? dave hennessey To be honest, no. Everybody  I think most people have the same opinion I have  would vote for a rock over Trump. So whoever wins, ultimately, the nominee is going to be anti-Trump. And I think thats priority one, two, three, four, etc. We gotta beat this guy. Hes a disgrace. Hes awful. All my friends, a lot of my friends who are Republicans are not going to vote for Trump. But Im afraid they may sit out.

lisa lerer

As were talking, Daves wife returns.

lisa lerer All right, so the boss is back. alicia hennessey Hi. lisa lerer What do you think? Are you decided? Are you  alicia hennessey I like Pete. I think Im going to go with Pete. lisa lerer So youre going to sell him on it. alicia hennessey Might split the vote. dave hennessey Weve done that before, but  alicia hennessey I mean, I like Joe, too. But hes just got so much energy.

lisa lerer

Again, by he, she means Buttigieg.

dave hennessey To be clear, we both like Amy. We like Amy a lot. lisa lerer So why not go with Amy? dave hennessey Um. alicia hennessey Theyre both from the Midwest. dave hennessey Yeah, youre talking Midwest, and I think Pete just got  and I dont want to lose her out of the Senate, to be honest. I mean, as close as it is, I think shes got to stay in the Senate.

lisa lerer

Youll notice this is not an entirely satisfying answer. Having now talked to a ton of voters, it feels like theres this thing going on, where a lot of people personally really like Amy Klobuchar, but they sort of assume not enough other people really like Amy Klobuchar. And then we try a version of the moderate question again.

jessica cheung Do you think that its more suitable for a moderate, like a Biden or a Pete or a Klobuchar, to go toe-to-toe with Trump? Or do you think a progressive like Bernie Sanders is well suited to go toe-to-toe with Trump? dave hennessey I think its valid, but Im not for Bernie. I know Bernie, I think, pretty well out of Burlington, back when he was mayor of Burlington. Socialism doesnt scare me and all that. I just dont think he can get his programs through Congress. I dont think he can do it. clare toeniskoetter But, are you worried that with the moderate vote being split between Pete Buttigieg and Joe Biden, that that fracturing will mean that Sanders ends up winning the nomination? dave hennessey I dont hear it. Everybody I talk to is saying the same thing. I may be for Bernie, I may be for this and that, but Ill support anybody who is the nominee for the Democratic Party to beat Trump. Thats what I hear. clare toeniskoetter Youre not worried that  like you two said that youre going to cancel each other out? So if you vote Biden  dave hennessey But see, I dont think the 

lisa lerer

At the Buttigieg rally, at least, this is not proving to be a fruitful line of questioning. Its clear Buttigiegs performance in Iowa is having an influence on some moderate New Hampshire Democrats. Hes got momentum. But the sort of calculation were wondering about, people dont even seem to process the question were asking them. Its so far outside the way they actually seem to be thinking. So we pack up and head to an Elizabeth Warren rally.

jessica cheung It is so cold!

lisa lerer

Warren seems to be in this funny no mans land here in New Hampshire. On the one hand, shes competing with liberal voters for Sanders, but they dont see her as authentic of a liberal choice. But on the other hand, more moderate voters see her big liberal policies as far too damaging to go up in a general election against Donald Trump.

mary bishop Im a New Hampshire voter. I have no idea who Im voting for. nancy Me neither. lisa lerer Youre both totally undecided? nancy Totally. mary bishop Totally. Thats why were here. lisa lerer Yeah, youve got to listen.

lisa lerer

So you find a lot of undecided people at Warrens events, trying to figure out what exactly they think.

mary and nancy Were sisters. lisa lerer Oh, youre sisters! mary bishop Yeah. You couldnt tell. lisa lerer No, now I see it. its in the eyes. Its in the eyes. Yeah. sue Im the friend of the sisters. interposing voices And shes the friend of the sisters.

lisa lerer

And we meet these sisters, Mary and Nancy, with their friend Sue. Theyre all retired, and theyre all really conflicted about what they think about the race.

mary bishop Absolutely. And Im very concerned, because there are so many Democratic candidates, that the vote is going to be split and Trump is going to get in again. I mean, you cant have all of those  all of the candidates, to me, have good things and bad things about what they want. lisa lerer Right. mary bishop But when youve got five people  actually, theres more, but  lisa lerer Yeah, five main ones. mary bishop Right. I think the vote is going to be just so split that Trumps going to get in again.

lisa lerer

So first were thinking, OK, here you go. This is the fractured vote thing.

lisa lerer So do you have any preference among those five? mary bishop Oh, I knew you were going to say that. I knew you were. And frankly, I dont. I like Buttigieg. But sometimes I think hes so young. Hes very bright, but hes so young, Im not sure if experience is what  I mean, look, Trump had no experience at all, but  And who else? Bernie, I dont know. I dont  hes got a good attitude, but Im just not certain about his policies. lisa lerer So do you think the party needs to unify around someone? mary bishop Yes, absolutely. lisa lerer Its just who do you do? mary bishop Well, yes. So Ill wait till New Hampshire and see what they say, and Ill go from there. lisa lerer But youre voting in New Hampshire on Tuesday? mary bishop Oh, yes. Oh, absolutely. lisa lerer And you? Are you? nancy Im undecided. lisa lerer Youre undecided? Everyones undecided! nancy I have preferences. I like Elizabeths energy. But then again, the fact that Bernie got such a jump said, well, maybe he has more support. Maybe he could beat Trump. So I said, well, maybe hes better to go with rather than Elizabeth, because he did do so well in Iowa.

lisa lerer

But then we realized, mmm, not quite. There considering Sanders as one of their choices.

nancy And then I wouldnt  I still dont think Petes the one. So even though he did well  Im glad he did well.

lisa lerer

So Jess circles back more directly to our favorite question.

jessica cheung One question for you. The question is, do you think that Bernie did really well in Iowa as a result of maybe more moderate candidates splitting up the vote among all the other candidates? nancy Hmm. Oh, that the rest of the vote was divided and so Bernie came out on top. jessica cheung The more moderate voters. nancy Yeah. clare toeniskoetter Because you mentioned that you were worried about fragmentation. Is that something that worries you? nancy Yes, yeah. I never thought about that before. It never occurred to me. I understood, I was thinking like, whos going to be the moderate versus the progressive and whos going to take the lead in that, that duel. But um, but I dont 

lisa lerer

Again, no.

nancy I might, if I vote for a moderate, I could possibly vote for Amy.

lisa lerer

New Hampshire Democrats, like Iowa Democrats, are just looking for a winning candidate. New Hampshire just has a little bit more evidence to go on, because they go second.

nancy Ive excluded Biden. lisa lerer Why? nancy Um, too old, too out of touch. He is embarrassing. He was very good on CNN last night. He had a town hall. I thought he did very well. But I dont think hes  hes just too old. And  mary bishop Look at the age of these  Hes too old! and were like, Were too old for them to be asking us questions! [LAUGHS]

lisa lerer

So on Saturday morning, we woke up to a state that looked undeniably aware of what had happened in Iowa. A new poll had just been released that showed Buttigieg surging in New Hampshire and actually polling one point higher than Sanders, at 25 percent. Meanwhile, Biden had plummeted to 11 percent. And at the debate in Manchester the night before 

archived recording (bernie sanders) Unlike some of the folks up here, I dont have 40 billionaires, Pete, contributing to my campaign [APPLAUSE]. Coming from the pharmaceutical industry 

lisa lerer

Sanders went after Buttigieg.

archived recording (pete buttigieg) We need that kind of unification when our nominee is dividing people with a politics that says if you dont go all the way to the edge, it doesnt count. A politics that says its my way or the highway. archived recording (george stephanopoulos) Are you talking about Senator Sanders? archived recording (pete buttigieg) Yes.

lisa lerer

Buttigieg went after Sanders.

archived recording (amy klobuchar) We have a newcomer in the White House, and look where it got us. I think having some experience is a good thing. archived recording (linsey davis) Senator Warren, is that a substantial answer from Mayor Buttigieg? archived recording (elizabeth warren) No. [APPLAUSE]

lisa lerer

Everyone went after both of them.

archived recording (george stephanopoulos) Candidates, welcome. Vice President Biden, the first question is for you. In the last few days, youve been saying the Democrats would be taking too big a risk if they nominate Senator Sanders or Mayor Buttigieg. But they came out on top in Iowa. What risks did the Iowa Democrats miss?

lisa lerer

And Biden had opened the event by acknowledging the results of Iowa 

archived recording (joe biden) This is a long race. I took a hit in Iowa, and Ill probably take a hit here. Traditionally, Bernie won by 20 points last time.

lisa lerer

 and basically trying to lower expectations in New Hampshire.

archived recording (joe biden) Ive always viewed the first four encounters, two primaries and two caucuses, as the starting point. And so thats how I do it. archived recording (george stephanopoulos) By why are Senator Sanders and Mayor Buttigieg 

lisa lerer

On our way out of the hotel 

lisa lerer Hello. alex burns Hello. interposing voices Hi. alex burns How you doing? lisa lerer Good morning.

lisa lerer

We bumped into our colleague, Alex Burns.

lisa lerer How are you? alex burns Good. How are you? lisa lerer Enjoying New Hampshire? alex burns I have barely left this hotel. lisa lerer Really? alex burns Yeah.

lisa lerer

Who, as usual, was thinking smart thoughts after watching Biden debate the night before.

alex burns This is actually one of the issues for Biden, if he does poorly in New Hampshire, right? That the process in Iowa is so screwed up, even on a good day, that a candidate who loses Iowa can say, OK, thats not representative of literally anything, right? And theyve got a pretty good case to make. New Hampshire, its not the most diverse state. Its not a state that terribly well represents the national Democratic coalition. It is a primary election, right? And it is a pretty straightforward process. You cant say this is this arcane set of hoops that voters need to jump through. So if you do end up with reasonable turnout here, and Biden gets clobbered again, I dont know that you can write off a second consecutive just really limp finish.

lisa lerer

Not only is New Hampshire harder to explain away. Biden is the candidate whose entire candidacy is staked on being the electable one.

alex burns The bigger picture, right, is that he came into this race as the favorite to win the nomination. He was the front-runner nationally, and he was the front runner in these early states, right? Whatever his campaign is saying now about, you know, never thinking they could win New Hampshire or Iowa is always going to be very tough, he was leading in the polls in these states when he actually announced his campaign. And this is a guy who has presented himself as the one sure bet to win the general election. And his one outcome so far has been a loss, and a pretty embarrassing loss. And by all accounts, from his own team, theyre expecting another loss on Tuesday. lisa lerer Well, Im going to head out and see Biden today, so well see whether anyone shows up. Im Lerer. Its possible I didnt R.S.V.P. speaker OK. No, you did. lisa lerer Oh, awesome. Good, look at me.

lisa lerer

So across town 

lisa lerer OK, so Im at this Biden event. Its in a small theater right in downtown Manchester. He got a pretty good crowd.

lisa lerer

 the turnout was better than we expected.

lisa lerer All the way, the balcony is full. Theyre filled the space. Theyre even sitting on the stage in front of a sign that says soul of the nation, which of course is a Biden slogan. So lets see how it goes. Im going to try to find some people to talk to. Hey. Hi, sorry to bother you guys. My names Lisa Lerer. Im from The New York Times. Are you guys New Hampshire voters? interposing voices No, sorry. lisa lerer Oh, where are you from? interposing voices Rhode Island. lisa lerer Oh, cool. All right. Ill keep going. speaker 1 OK. lisa lerer Nice to meet you.

lisa lerer

But then I started walking around.

lisa lerer You live in New Hampshire now? speaker 2 No, no, Long Island. lisa lerer Youre in Long Island, OK. speaker 3 Good luck finding a resident. interposing voices Right. [LAUGHTER] lisa lerer Where are you from? speaker 4 Boston. lisa lerer Youre from Boston. And you? speaker 5 New York. lisa lerer New York. speaker 6 New York. Michigan. lisa lerer New York. Michigan, you win!

[music]

lisa lerer Where are you from? speaker 7 D.C. speaker 8 California. lisa lerer California! speaker 9 Im from Canada. lisa lerer Oh, youre from Canada. Are you from New Hampshire? No. speaker 10 Im from New York. lisa lerer Oh, youre from New York. speaker 11 Jersey, Massachusetts. lisa lerer So what are you doing up here? interposing voices Checking it out. Political tourism. Checking it out. speaker 11 As a Times journalist, how do you account for all of us here and no New Hampshirites? speaker 12 This is not good. This is not good. lisa lerer Do you guys  are you Biden fans? speaker 11 No, were trying to do an energy check on Joe. And its not looking good. lisa lerer Are you New Hampshire voters? speaker 13 No. speaker 14 No, were from Rhode Island. lisa lerer Oh. speaker 14 These are also from Rhode Island. speaker 13 Theyre all Rhode Islanders. lisa lerer All five of you? speaker 13 Yeah, were all together. speaker 14 The girl with the green sweater, the lady after her may be from New Hampshire. lisa lerer Hi, Im so sorry to bother you. My names Lisa Lerer. Im a reporter with The New York Times. Are you a New Hampshire voter? speaker 15 Yes. lisa lerer Oh, great. Youre the only one in this entire row. speaker 15 Are you serious? Wow. lisa lerer Yeah, Im serious. Have you seen Biden before? speaker 15 Yes, I did. I think he would be an extremely capable leader, yes. lisa lerer And have you seen Pete? speaker 15 Yes, I have. lisa lerer Thoughts? speaker 15 I think hes perfectly capable, too. Ive seen Amy Klobuchar also. speaker 16 I have a more severe approach. Ill drop a candidate if they dont have their act together. lisa lerer Do you think Biden has his act together? speaker 16 No, not at present. We both like Joe a lot, but thats not where were going at the present time. lisa lerer Where are you going? speaker 16 Im going with Bloomberg. Sorry  my wife is going with Bloomberg. Im going with Buttigieg. lisa lerer OK, cool. speaker 16 Yeah. lisa lerer All right, well, thank you guys. Enjoy it. speaker 16 Yeah, yeah. speaker 17 Good luck, sweetheart. Half of this crowd out here is from someplace else. lisa lerer I have been  I have found two New Hampshire voters so far.

lisa lerer

It turns out, in a year where everybody wants to elect a winner, looking like a winner by winning some states really, really matters. And thats why Iowa, despite all the chaos, despite all the confusion, is just deeply in the brains of people in New Hampshire.

[music]

michael barbaro

On Monday, in their final push across New Hampshire ahead of todays primary vote, the Democratic candidates, especially the two leading candidates, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg, made the case that the others message was a losing one.

archived recording (pete buttigieg) Knowing how much depends on bringing Americans together, we cannot risk alienating Americans at this critical moment. And thats where I part ways with my friend, Senator Sanders.

michael barbaro
Egyptians who returned from China have been quarantined in a Matrouh hospital since their arrival on 3 February

Egypt's health minister Hala Zayed said on Monday that no coronavirus cases have been detected nationwide. The 362 Egyptians who returned from China's Wuhan last week tested negative for coronavirus.

The ministry remains on high alert as precautionary measures at crossings and ports are adopted nationwide to avert the infiltration of the infectious virus into the country, according to the health ministry statement.

The minister has been closely following up, via video conference, the health condition of all Egyptians who returned from China and who have been quarantined in a hospital in the Mediterranean governorate of Marsa Matrouh since their arrival on 3 February, said the ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed.

He added that the ministry held about 12 awareness conferences for medical services providers to further educate them about the virus.

Egyptians quarantined in Matrouh are monitored every eight hours by the medical team, Megahed said, noting that an online database has been created to gather all data on the results of their medical screenings.

Last week Egypt sent a jet to bring hundreds of Egyptians back home from Wuhan, the epicentre of the epidemic, upon their request.

The deadly virus, which spread in 24 other countries, first surfaced in December in Wuhan, killing above 800 people in China so far.

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The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will now manage the security of the Statue of Unity in Gujarats Kevadia, two officials of the ministry of home affairs said.

The central government has taken the decision in view of inputs that Pakistan-based terror outfits may attempt to attack the statue, the officials said.

The statue and its surroundings are presently secured by the Gujarat police but the central government felt that with its experience in access control and zero-incidents record, the CISF should be given the security cover of the statue, one of the officials cited above said.

The CISF secures over 60 airports in the country along with the Delhi metro and several sensitive government installations in the North Block and South Block such as the space and nuclear facilities, the Aadhaar database centre in Manesar, several energy/oil sector installations and heritage monuments.

It is currently carrying out a security survey of the 597-feet (182 meters) tall statue to decide the number of personnel and equipment required, access points and surveillance of the iconic structure, the official said. The Gujarat government will pay for the CISF cover once the security plan is in place, he added.

The official said that the CISF is likely to take over the security of the statue by March end after the MHA approves the final plan.

In the immediate aftermath of the February 2019 Pulwama attack in Jammu and Kashmir, security agencies had received an email alleging that terror outfits were planning to carry out twin blasts at the site. Subsequent alerts about the site becoming a target of terrorists have been received by agencies in the one and a half year since.

Detailing the security arrangements expected to be put in place, the second official said that quick reaction teams, bomb detection squads, dog squads and spotters in plain clothes will be deployed at the site. Although the final security plan is in the making, considering the threat and its importance, the Statue of Unity will be guarded by armed commandoes round-the-clock and there will be a proper perimeter security, checking of visitors using modern gadgets, the official said.

The statue, touted to be the worlds tallest, became a prime tourist attraction following its inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October 2018 to commemorate the on the 143rd birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

The statue, which is twice the size of Statue of Liberty in New York and 40% taller than Spring Temple Budha in Henan (China), recorded a footfall of over 26 lakh visitors in the first year after its inauguration, according to a statement by Gujarat government in October last year.

The complex of the Statue of Unity spreads over 20,000 square meters of land, surrounded by a 12 square km artificial lake.

The Statue is likely to be put under the category of hyper sensitive installations on the lines of airports. Currently, there are 26 hyper sensitive airports across the country while 56 are sensitive.
Authorities in Arkansas on Monday identified Bobby Joe Gibbs, 40, as the man who shot two police officers inside a Walmart before suffering a fatal gunshot wound

Two police officers were shot this morning when a gunman opened fire inside a Walmart in eastern Arkansas, authorities said.

Forrest City Police Department Lt Eric Varner and Detective Eugene Watlington returned fire killing the perpetrator, who was identified by St Francis County Sheriff Bobby May as Bobby Joe Gibbs, 40.

The shooting was reported mid-morning in Forrest City, about 85 miles east of Little Rock, a dispatcher with the Forrest City Police Department confirmed.

Forrest City Police dispatcher Chastity Boyd initially told The Associated Press that three people were shot inside the Walmart.

A woman who was inside the Walmart in the 200 block of Deaderick Road at the time of the shooting told the station KATV she heard 12 gunshots at around 10.30am.

Two police officers were shot this morning at the Forrest City, Arkansas, Walmart. The officers returned fire, killing the gunman

Gunfire erupted at the back of the store on Deaderick Road in Forrest City at around 10.30am

Sheriff May told Fox 13 Memphis that the incident began unfolding when staff at the Walmart noticed a man who was acting strangely and threatening customers, prompting them to call police.

At a press conference on Monday afternoon, Forrest City Police Chief Deon Lee described the suspect as 'kind of talking out of his head.'

Officers who responded to the store confronted Gibbs, who allegedly pulled a handgun and opened fire on them.

The cops returned fire, shooting and killing the suspect at the scene.

Detective Watlington was airlifted to the Regional Medical Center in Memphis and was undergoing surgery, while Lt Varner was transported to a local hospital. Both officers are expected to recover.

Both are assigned to the criminal investigation department and neither was wearing a bullet-resistant vest, Lee said.

The mayor heaped praise on the officers.

'Due to their heroism and quick response, no civilians were injured,' Forrest City Mayor Cedric Williams said.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a tweet that he's grateful for the law enforcement officers who put their lives at risk to keep the public safe.

Forrest City Police Department Lt Eric Varner (left) and Detective Eugene Watlington (right) were injured in the shootout with Gibbs

A relative told Fox 13 Memphis that Gibbs was a truck driver with an 18-year-old son. He said the man had been deeply affected by his recent divorce.

Records indicate that Gibbs was arrested in 2017 on a charge of domestic battering in the third degree.

Family members and friends took to Facebook on Monday to share memories of Gibbs and post photos.

'Rest easy Bobby you where [sic] a great guy in my eyes it's a sad situation but we all never know what's going on with the next person I pray for the other ppl [sic] that where involved in this also,' one friend wrote in a status update.

Walmart spokesman Scott Pope said the company was working with the Forrest City Police Department with its investigation but declined further comment. Walmart is based in Bentonville, Arkansas.

One of the injured officers was taken from the scene in critical condition, having been shot four times by the suspect

Records indicate that Gibbs was arrested in 2017 on a charge of domestic battering in the third degree (pictured in mugshot)

Tammy Priddy, 57, works at Simmons Eye Center in the Walmart. She said she was preparing patient records for the day when she heard eight shots. She said she hid under a counter in the lab until the gunshots stopped.

'The first two shots kind of startled me, and then a coworker came in and said it was gunfire,' Priddy said.

She and a coworker ran from the building and officers outside the Walmart ordered her to get as far away from the building as possible. She was not injured.

'I was too afraid to think of anything except to get to safety,' she said. 'We kept our minds straight to where we were safe and we were able to get to safety.'

The Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division was investigating the shooting.

It's not the first time in recent months that a Walmart store has been the scene of a shooting. A man was injured in a shooting at a Walmart in Hickory Hill, Tennessee, earlier this month, three people were fatally shot at a Walmart in Duncan, Oklahoma, in November, and a gunman killed 22 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, on August 3.

The retailer came under criticism for having insufficient security at the El Paso store on that day has since quietly expanded security at all its stores in the city to include an armed off-duty police officer and a security guard.

A spokeswoman for the company said in November that the hiring of off-duty officers in El Paso was not a blanket policy. Its unclear what security measures were in place at the Forrest City store on Monday.
Rome [Italy], Feb 10 (ANI): Maulana Abdul Aziz, better known as 'Maulana Burqa' for escaping arrest in 2007, being disguised as a woman, does it again.

Despite being banned by the government from entering the premises of Islamabad mosque, also known as 'Lal Masjid' for the colour of its walls, and being considered by a wide majority little more than a terrorist, the Maulana does it again and of course wins because, instead of being jailed, he has been allotted by the public administration 20 kanals of public land to build a new Jamia Hafsa, the female madrasa adjacent to the mosque.

The dispute between the Islamabad Public Administration and the Lal Masjid has been going on for a couple of years, but whoever thinks it is only a land dispute would be totally wrong.

The mosque, and the madrasas linked to it, were managed until 2007 by two maulanas: Abdul Aziz and Abdul Rashid Ghazi. The two brothers were actually two former government officials, who were fired for illegally possessing firearms, being open supporters of the Taliban, of the Islamic strict observance law, and detractors of the then president Musharraf and his foreign policy.

At that time, they had kept the government in check for months, threatening to send their followers to commit suicide attacks across the country. Incidentally, the government-financed and still continues to finance the mosque with public money.

The female madrasa of Lal Masjid is called Jamia Hafsa and was managed by Abdul Aziz's wife. Its girls, about two thousand black maidens dressed and armed with sticks and Kalashnikovs, had at the time kept the police in check to prevent the demolition of an old city mosque, and had particularly distinguished themselves in typically female activities such as trying to shut down shops selling movies and music destroying CDs, tapes and VHS, beating men and women who wore western clothes and even the unfortunate drivers, who insisted on driving their cars in person.

In 2007, Musharraf commanded an anti-terrorism operation against the mosque, besieged for days by the Army. The operation costed the lives of an unknown number of people, marked one of the darkest pages of the former General's presidency and is still considered one of the main reasons for his fall.

Abdul Aziz, who escaped wearing a burqa and then arrested, was released in 2009. Since then he is free, free to continue his 'religious activities' in Islamabad and surrounding areas. Free to support and train jihadi, propagate sectarian and racial hatred. An open supporter of IS, he is the only one who has refused to publicly condemn the Peshawar massacre in which 130 children were killed.

This time, claiming that the present government is as bad as the Musharraf's one, he did it again. Using female students once more to occupy the place. The Army besieged the location but apparently after Burqa obtained to discuss the issue with prominent people in the public administration, the girls started to leave while he 'promised' to leave by tomorrow.

A success for Islamabad authorities? Not really. Being in fact blackmailed by terrorists and their supporters is a new normal in the country. A few days before Maulana Aziz entered the Lal Masjid. In fact, the former TTP spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan had escaped from the safe house where the Army and ISI were keeping him with his wife and children.

From Turkey, where apparently he escaped, Ehsan released a statement in which he talks of a deal struck with the Army and blames the authorities because they did not keep their word: the promised money had not arrived, so he simply left. Most probably with the connivance of the same people who were supposed to guard him.

The past week has seen the country open its doors for Ehsanullah, allowing the Taliban to demonstrate for freedom of Kashmir in the streets, having a deal with a terrorist for land reasons. At the same time, the Army has also been cracking down on peaceful demonstrators who demand their constitutional rights and PTM members being arrested for no reason.

The Loralai location in Balochistan, where PTM was to commemorate the killing of the poet Arman Loni by the Army, has been flooded with water, internet been blocked and PTM members have been stopped from entering the region.

With no results, because thousands of people joined the demonstrations in Loralai and Karachi. But showing again the real face of Imran Khan's 'Naya' Pakistan: ordinary citizens and their demands are worth less than nothing, while terrorists are allowed money, freedom and bargaining power.

.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A couple of weeks out, Mobile World Congress organizer, the GSMA, has issued some fairly sweeping safeguards over growing concerns around the coronavirus. After a number of high profile back outs, including ZTE, LG, NVIDIA and Ericsson, the company issued a new list, including a ban of visitors originating from the Hubei province, whose capital Wuhan is believed to be the origin of the epidemic.

Per GSMA CEO John Hoffman,

All travelers from the Hubei province will not be permitted access to the event.

All travelers who have been in China will need to demonstrate proof they have been outside of China 14 days prior to the event (passport stamp, health certificate).

Temperature screening will be implemented.

Attendees will need to self-certify they have not been in contact with anyone infected.

More than 800 people have died from the virus, surpassing the 774 people who were killed by SARS circa 2002-2003. Hoffman adds that the organizer will be increasing a disinfectant program around the site and promoting a no handshake policy. As the organization notes, some 5,000-6,000 people from China attend the show each year, accounting for around 5-6 percent of visitors.

The GSMA is clearly interested in addressing concerns over the virus while limiting further attendee or exhibitor erosion. The release quotes Catalan health minister Alba Verges, who notes, The Catalan health system is prepared to detect and treat coronavirus, to give the most appropriate response, and this must be clear to those attending MWC Barcelona."
'This is not about early or delay. This is a laid down process'

IMAGE: Security personnel stand guard outside a strong room, a day after national capital went to polls for the assembly election at a counting centre in Akshardham, New Delhi. Photograph: Ravi Choudhary/PTI Photo

Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Ranbir Singh on Sunday said there was no unusual delay in announcing the final voter turnout figure as the returning officers were busy with scrutiny of data throughout the night to ensure its accuracy.

Addressing a press conference, Singh tried to allay all the fears as expressed by a section of political parties over delay in releasing the final voting figures for the Delhi assembly elections held on Saturday, saying "they did not want to speculate and wanted to give exact figures".

"So, returning officers worked throughout the night to check data to ensure it is accurate," Singh said while asserting that the delay was not unusual rather it was done in a good time.

He said there were more than 13,700 polling stations in the national capital and they had to add data from each station and ensure that every vote is accounted for.

It is not matter of late or early as soon as the voting per cent was finalised, it was shared with the public, he said.

After elections to the 70-member Delhi assembly were held on Saturday, poll officials had said there was a turnout of 61.46 per cent, subject to revision.

With no final word from the EC till 4 pm on Sunday, Aam Aadmi Party chief and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal took to Twitter saying it was "absolutely shocking" that the poll panel was not coming out with the final voting figures.

"What is EC doing? Why are they not releasing poll turnout figures, several hours after polling?" Kejriwal tweeted.

At a press conference held at 7.15 pm on Sunday, Singh said the final voter turnout was 62.59 per cent.

"This is not about early or delay. This is a laid down process," Sandeep Saxena, Senior Deputy Election Commissioner, said.

"We wanted to come out with accurate figure rather than speculating. This is not uncommon and we are not late," he said.

While the female voter turnout was 62.55 per cent, male voter turnout was 62.62 per cent.

The highest voting of 71.6 per cent was reported from Ballimaran constituency, while the lowest turnout was in Delhi cantonment at 45.4 per cent, Singh said.

Okhla assembly constituency recorded 58.84 per cent voting. Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Nagar, where protests against the amended Citizenship Act are on, fall under this constituency.

Seelampur constituency recorded a turnout of 71.2 per cent, according to the data.

Exit polls on Saturday predicted an easy win for the AAP against the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.

The Aam Aadmi Party said the delay in announcing of final polling figures was suspicious and asked if the poll panel was waiting for BJP office's nod.

"BJP leaders are giving the voter turnout figures and on the other hand the Election Commission has not been able to give the final voting percentage 24 hours after polling got over," Kejriwal's deputy and Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia asked

AAP leader Sanjay Singh alleged at a press conference that "something is cooking" and "a game is being played secretely".

"This is perhaps the first time in the 70-year history of country that the Election Commission is not ready to release the final figure of voter turnout. The entire country and Delhi have been waiting for the polling percentage since yesterday," he said.

Counting of votes is on Tuesday.
TIRANA, Albania - A fast response by the European Union to the earthquake in Albania that killed 51 people has increased the blocs popularity among the tiny Western Balkan countrys population, according to an EU official.

A survey published Monday on the Albanian public perception of the EU showed that support for Albanias membership in the bloc grew from 93% in 2018 to 97% last year.

Apparently the EUs fast response to Albanias earthquake has had its impact on the peoples support to join (the bloc), said Luigi Soreca, the EUs delegation ambassador to Tirana.

The 6.3-magnitude earthquake on Nov. 26 also left 17,000 others homeless and caused $1.1 billion (1 billion euros) in damages.

The first decision that was made by the new European Commission team that took its post in early December was a 13 million-euro ($14 million) grant to assist Albanias quake efforts.

Brussels led the international efforts of around 780 rescuers rushing to the country to help prevent more deaths, most of them coming from EU member states.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is heading an international donors conference next week in Brussels to assist Albanias reconstruction efforts.

Albania and North Macedonia are expecting that the EU will likely decide this spring in favour of launching full membership negotiations following the adoption of a new methodology, which apparently has pleased France, the main opponent of taking that step last October.
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Berlin, February 10, 2020  Slovak authorities should immediately drop criminal defamation and slander charges against journalist Michal Havran and stop using the countrys criminal code to prosecute journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On February 5, the local daily Sme reported that state prosecutors in Kosice, eastern Slovakia, had filed defamation and slander charges against Havran, a theologian and columnist at the newspaper. The report did not specify when the charges were originally filed, but said they were related to an article Havran wrote criticizing a Slovak catholic priest, which was published on June 27, 2018.

If convicted of slander and defamation of nation, race, and conviction, Havran could face a prison sentence of up to three years, according to the Slovak criminal code.

Slovak authorities must immediately drop criminal defamation and slander charges against columnist Michal Havran, and allow him to write freely, said Gulnoza Said, CPJs Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. Slovakia should have scrapped criminal defamation from its books long ago  such laws have no place in a democracy.

The 2018 article criticized the priests public statements about homosexuals, his ties to the far-right Peoples Party  Our Slovakia, and his promotion of a law banning abortion.

According to the Sme report, police investigators working for the Kosice branch of the National Criminal Agency accused Havran of suppressing freedom of religion and said the article defames the expressions of their faith.

CPJ emailed the spokesperson of prosecutors office in Kosice for comment but did not immediately receive any reply.
JERUSALEM - A leading Israeli opposition figure said Monday that embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has turned a U.S. initiative for ending conflict with the Palestinians into a campaign stunt by pushing for the immediate annexation of West Bank settlements.

Co-leader of the Blue and White party Yair Lapid insisted he was against unilateral steps endangering what he described as President Donald Trumps promising Mideast plan. He expressed hope that the Palestinians would come around to negotiating based upon the U.S. blueprint.

Lapid is slated to become Israels next foreign minister if his party prevails in the March 2 election and fellow party leader Benny Gantz wins the premiership.

Nobody expects Israel or the Palestinians to take the plan face value the way it is and just make sure it happens. Everybody understands this is a framework, a very detailed one, he told an audience of foreign correspondents in Jerusalem, before zoning in on Netanyahu.

Lapid went on to condemn what he said was the prime ministers planned unilateral steps to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.

This is something that came out from the prime ministers office right after the plan was presented. Probably, it seems, for campaign reasons. And this is something you dont do. This is too serious to become a stunt in the campaign, he added.

The Trump plan is widely viewed as being favourable to Israel since it would allow it to eventually extend sovereignty over all of its West Bank settlements along with the strategic Jordan Valley.

The Palestinians have angrily rejected the U.S. plan since it would provide the Palestinians with limited autonomy in several chunks of territory with a capital on the outskirts of Jerusalem, and only if they meet stringent conditions.

Netanyahu has sought to sell the plan, and his close relationship to Trump, as a testament to his master statesmanship ahead of the countrys third elections in less than a year. Hes also seeking to galvanize his hard-line base by annexing territory ahead of the election. The proposed move could establish facts on the ground that would be difficult to reverse, and make the prospect of a contiguous Palestinian state all but impossible.

But hes been forced to walk that pledge back under criticism from the typically like-minded Trump administration that has chided Israels zest for annexation.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman reiterated that concern, saying Sunday that such a move was subject to the completion of a mapping process by a joint Israeli-American committee, and warning that rushing it undermines the plan.

The president put out a plan for the next hundred years, not the next 30 days, he said, alluding to the upcoming election.

Visiting the Jordan Valley on Monday for a tree planting ceremony, Netanyahu insisted hed be patient and only impose Israeli law on any territory there in agreement with the Americans.

The Palestinians seek the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem  areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war  for an independent state. The U.S. is eager to keep the option of statehood on the table.

Lapid, whose centrist party is seeking to unseat Netanyahu, would not detail how his vision differed from Netanyahus beyond saying he would favour direct negotiation with the Palestinians rather than imposing a framework upon them.

We are against anything that is unilateral, he said.

At the same time, he called on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to drop his intransigence, realize that time is not working in his favour and take a serious look at the plan as a basis for talks.

Our approach to the Palestinians is to tell them that always saying no isnt a policy, he said. If instead of always automatically responding with violence and threats, they will take the time to delve deeply into the Trump plan they will see that it contains many opportunities for the Palestinian people.

With Gantz at the helm, Blue and White is polling ahead of Netanyahus Likud three weeks before the election. Both sides are looking for a final surge to put them over the top after two deadlocked elections that did not produce a clear winner.

Lapid said Likud was a viable option to partner with but that his party would not join forces with Netanyahu, who has been indicted on three separate corruption charges.

Beyond the moral message, Lapid said Netanyahu was incapable of implementing the Trump plan or tackling any other major challenge given his pending corruption trial and the stagnation that comes with his lengthy rule.

What is happening to him is the same thing that happens to every leader who holds on to power for too long  the unholy trinity: Corruption, loss of empathy, no new ideas, Lapid said.

____

Follow Aron Heller at www.twitter.com/aronhellerap
Sinn Fein could increase its Dail seat numbers by between 10 and 15, cementing their place as the third large party in Irish politics.

The extent of the surge has led to early calls from within Fianna Fail for them to open discussions with Mary Lou McDonald's party about government formation.

Even though Micheal Martin has ruled out any coalition deal with Sinn Fein, Carlow-Kilkenny TD John McGuinness has said all options must be considered.

Incredibly, in constituencies throughout the country where the party suffered major losses in last year's local elections, Sinn Fein candidates are not only topping the poll, some are coming back with up to two quotas.

Robert Troy tells @JoeFinneganShow that responsible thing to do is look at policies and talk to all parties (including sf)  Johnny Fallon (@jonnyfallon) February 9, 2020

Ms McDonald's party is topping the poll in constituencies across the country and it looks as though the vast majority of Sinn Fein's candidates are going to be elected.

The party is up on the exit poll with most of the tallies across the country done.

At least 37 of the 42 Sinn Fein candidates are in serious contention for a seat.

As an illustration of how strong the swing to Sinn Fein is, final tallies show that Sinn Fein is set to take a Dail seat in Roscommon for the first time in 102 years.

Arriving at the RDS count centre Sinn Fein President @MaryLouMcDonald says the party have already spoken to @greenparty_ie @SocDems and Solidarity-PBP about forming a Government without @FineGael and @fiannafailparty #iestaff pic.twitter.com/wxMqG7Bioh  Elaine Loughlin (@Elaine_Loughlin) February 9, 2020

To illustrate the disruptive nature of the Sinn Fein surge, the final tally in Dublin Bay North put Denise Mitchell on 30% of first preferences, Fine Gael minister Richard Bruton on 16% and Aodhan O Riordain of Labour on 11%. Ms Mitchell was tipped to lose her seat less than two weeks ago.

In Dublin North-West Fine Gael TD, Noel Rock, has told the Irish Examiner about the prospect of keeping his seat there.

"It was always going to be a big ask," Mr Rock said adding that his election is "indecisive".

"Sinn Fein became a natural home for people who were disaffected by the performances in housing and health."

For our most recent updates on #GE2020 follow this link
Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw exits Police Headquarters on her first day in office as police commissioner. Read more

Philadelphias new police commissioner has arrived.

Danielle Outlaw reported for duty before dawn Monday, walking into Police Headquarters about 5:45 a.m. and staying for about an hour before heading back out in her uniform, and telling reporters she was excited to visit officers working in districts.

Just some face time, she said of her plans for her first morning on duty. Get an opportunity ... to know whos out here, to know whos out here getting the work done, and for them to have an opportunity to see me.

She attended a morning roll call at the 26th District in Fishtown, then spent most of the rest of her day in a series of meetings, the department said.

Outlaw, 43, the former chief in Portland, Ore., and a 20-year veteran of the Oakland Police Department before that, was introduced as Mayor Jim Kenneys choice for top cop at the end of December.

 READ MORE: Phillys new police commissioner will be the first black woman to lead the department. This is Danielle Outlaw.

Her installation Monday came after a particularly violent start to 2020: The 41 homicides recorded through Sunday represent the highest year-to-date total in the city since at least 2007, according to police statistics. Last years annual homicide tally was also the highest in more than a decade.

Outlaw is the first black woman to lead the 6,500-member department. A native of Oakland, she joined the citys police force in 1998 after graduating from the University of San Francisco. She spent the next two decades climbing the ranks, becoming deputy chief in 2013.

In 2017, Outlaw left to become chief of Portlands police department. Kenney appointed her after an extensive and largely secretive search process last year.

She takes over for acting Commissioner Christine M. Coulter, who served in that role for six months following the abrupt resignation of Richard Ross in August. Ross stepped down after a woman contended in a lawsuit that he had retaliated against her for breaking off an affair with him, accusations he has denied.

Coulter returned Monday to the rank of deputy commissioner.

Kenney has tasked Outlaw with addressing a host of challenges, including the citys ongoing gun violence epidemic, and claims of racial and gender discrimination within the department that were spotlighted following Ross resignation.

John McNesby, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, said he and his union members were looking forward to working with Outlaw as she transitions into her new job.

She was on the job bright and early, he said. We welcome her. Shes going to do just fine.
The script of Antoinette Nwandus bracing and lyrical Pass Over  now receiving a vibrant production at West Oranges Luna Stage under the direction of Devin E. Haqq  designates the setting as a ghetto street, a lamppost, night / but also a plantation / but also Egypt, a city built by slaves, and the plays time as now, right now / but also 1855 / but also 13th century BCE.

A play about two young Black men who struggle to move beyond the one street corner that is their home, the play is deeply concerned with how pervasive systems of violence and oppression have operated consistently throughout human history. It is a play very much about the current epidemic of police killing unarmed black men, but it is just as much a play about how the powerful have always sought to keep the oppressed contained, held down. Imbued with hip-hop lyricism and biblical resonance, Pass Over is a 90-minute meditation on much of human history, seen through the experiences of two pulsating and frequently terrified black men.

Opening on a barren city block (rendered intimate and unforgiving by set designer Joo Kim), the play introduces us to Moses (Kevis Hillocks) and Kitch (Robert Barnes) who live under a lamppost and have developed a system to take turns sleeping while the other keeps watch. During the day, they pass the time with chatter of dreams and memories  lists of pleasures like favorite foods, soft sheets, and clean socks that they would want waiting for them in the Promised Land; mournful recollections of family and friends murdered by police  and inevitably vocalize plans to get off their block and pass over into the broader world. But their routine is often interrupted by the sudden need to freeze in terror of even the potential of violent police encroaching on this space, and Nwandu makes clear early on that Moses and Kitch planning to get off the block are much like Becketts Vladimir and Estragon waiting for Godot: big plans, little progress.

On this day, the pair are visited by an ominously pleasant white man, unsubtly named Master (Woodrow Proctor)  gosh, its just a name, a family name, so, you now, he says, maybe oblivious, maybe all-too-aware and their fears of police harassment will not go unrequited. But the play stresses routine: these men stay here because they are stuck here, penned in by forces that threaten their lives should they traverse the boundary, and so they live life in the limited ways they have figured out are available to them. The block is not a prison. But also it is.

There is not much about Pass Over that is subtle. Nwandu treats police violence against black bodies as a pressing national emergency, and offers a play that is in part a parable about human history, but is also unapologetic agitprop, making its themes explicit and unavoidable. The play first made national news after receiving a defensively racist review of its 2017 premiere in Chicago by a white critic who objected to the plays treatment of white police, and dismissed the play as simplistic.

What this critic missed, and what New York audiences saw in the plays successful 2018 Lincoln Center run, is that Pass Over is not interested in subtleties or shades of grey that threaten to occlude the sort of violence that results in dead black bodies. The play does not universalize; it makes it essential, insisting that this crisis is very real, very dangerous, and made all the more threatening by complacency.

At Luna, Haqq and his cast capture the essence of this play by invoking a pulsating sense of urgency. Nwandu makes fairly clear early on that these men arent going anywhere, but Moses and Kitch dont know that, and Hillocks and Barnes capture a clear sense of aspiration in their characters. At first, Hillocks Moses is the one with a glint in his eye looking to the future, an energy that Barness Kitch absorbs and reflects, but when that dynamic shifts, Barnes shows Kitchs real eagerness to lift his friend up, and Hillock carefully crafts a steady transition from sullen back into the determined leader.

Hillock and Barnes also give full breath to the lively patter and rhythm of Nwandus poetry. All these dynamics are affected by the worrisome presence of Proctors two characters, both of whom intrude on the protagonists space in ways that must reshape their world. Proctor covers a good deal of ground in both characters convincingly and compellingly. Haqqs cast succeeds here by finding a balance between the individual and that which is far broader. As Nwandu indicates, they are these characters at this time with these names and experiences, but they also stand in for a much greater collection of humans.

At Luna, the play ends without a curtain call, denying audiences the catharsis of recognizing the performers as their real selves rather than their characters. The effect seems wholly appropriate for this play, which wants us not only to dwell with the experiences of Moses and Kitch, but also to recognize all the other Moses and Kitches around us. They are characters in a play, but also they are urgently real.

PASS OVER

555 Valley Road, West Orange

Tickets available by phone: (973) 395-5551. Running through March 1.

Patrick Maley may be reached at patrickjmaley@gmail.com. Find him on Twitter and Instagram @PatrickJMaley. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.
Twenty-four categories, hundreds of nominees and one trophy to rule them all, Oscars 2020 is one of the biggest Hollywood award ceremonies. The 92nd Academy Awards held on February 9, 2020, witnessed several prominent faces of the film industry walking the red carpet. From blingy sequin to tribal themes, Oscars 2020 red carpet fashion was the limelight of the event. Here are a few red carpet looks of the celebrities from Oscars 2020.

Charlize Theron

Charlize Theron walked the Oscars 2020 red carpet wearing a sleek black gown with a long train. The dress was complimented with a thigh-high slit. Her outfit was also accessorised with a stunning Tiffany &Co. diamond necklace and rings. The actor's look was completed with strappy black heels. For her makeup, she kept it minimal with a nude makeup look.

America Ferrera

America Ferrera was a nominee for her leading role in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. The actor graced the red carpet in a long red gown and flaunted her baby bump gracefully. The actor completed her look with a statement accessory that is a beautiful golden headband around her forehead. Ahead of her appearance on the red carpet, the actor explained the theme of her outfit on her social media. She informed that her outfit was inspired by a warrior from the indigenous Lenca tribe of Honduras.

Cynthia Erivo

Cynthia Erivo made a head-turning arrival at the red carpet of Oscars 2020 wearing a striking white gown. She looked sensational in her white dramatic gown with a sequinned bodice. With silver sequins and mesh detailed gown, the actor completed her look with matching platform heels. The array of silver rings made her look even more glamorous.

Also Read| Oscars 2020: Date, time, and other details of the 92nd Academy Awards

Janelle Monae

Janelle Monae is known for her experimental red carpet looks. This time at the Oscars 2020 red carpet, Janelle Monae donned a metallic tulle mesh A-line gown with draped hood and open back. Her tulle mesh dress was embroidered with crystals all over. Her gown was so heavy that she was accompanied by four people who picked her gown for the red carpet appearance.

Also Read| Oscars 2020 | The 92nd Annual Academy Awards - fresh from the oven : LIVE UPDATES here

Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson graced the Oscars 2020 red carpet in a metallic silver corset gown with a liquid skirt. The actor flaunted her back tattoo as her gown had an open back. She completed her look with stilettos, earrings, and a messy bun.

Also Read| Oscars 2020: Brad Pitt dedicates his win to his children, thanks Leo in the speech

Also Read| Priyanka Chopra gives Oscars 2020 a miss, posts throwback photos of Red Carpet looks

Image Courtesy: Scarlett Johansson Instagram, Cynthia Erivo Instagram

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.
LMC Insurance & Risk Management, headquartered in West De Moines, Iowa, has joined Florida-based AssuredPartners Inc.s national broker team.

LMCs operations consist of 290 dedicated employees who will remain under the operational leadership of LMC President and CEO Greg LaMair.

LMCs founding dates back to 1865. The group provides property/casualty insurance, employee benefits, personal lines, financial services and risk management services.

In addition to Des Moines, LMC has offices in Omaha, Neb., and Madison, Wis. LMC also has four additional licensed insurance subsidiaries, including Independent Insurance Services, Molyneaux Insurance, The Friedman Group, Inc. and Agri-Business Insurance Services, with offices in Iowa, Illinois, Ohio and Minnesota.

Source: AssuredPartners Inc.

Topics Trends Iowa Risk Management
Large storage tanks on the Schuylkill, part of the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery complex whose fate is expected to be determined Wednesday at a U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing. Read more

Philadelphia Energy Solutions on Monday urged the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to approve the sale of its shuttered South Philadelphia refinery complex to a Chicago real estate firm that plans to redevelop the 1,300-acre site, saying efforts to promote a return to oil-refining were a fantasy.

PES lawyers, in court filings, defended a proposed reorganization plan that includes a $240 million sale to Hilco Redevelopment Partners of Chicago. The plan promises billions of dollars of investment into the site to transform the debtors business from a destroyed refinery complex to a mixed-use industrial site. The refinery shut down following a June 21, 2019, fire and declared bankruptcy in July.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Kevin Gross has scheduled a hearing Wednesday in Wilmington to confirm the reorganization plan.

PES, in two filings that totaled more than 300 pages, attempted to clear the wreckage from a multi-car pileup of objections filed last week to its reorganization plan from the committee of unsecured creditors, the U.S. Trustee, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the United Steelworkers Union, and others.

The fire-damaged refinery, after 150 years of producing fuel and chemicals from crude oil, and after going through three owners and two bankruptcies since 2012, may no longer be an attractive investment in a world oversupplied with oil. The bankruptcy is the result of the tremendous damage caused by the accident and market realities, not the debtors, PES said in its filing.

The company called the Hilco offer the best and most realistic option it received after months of shopping the property to prospective buyers. No credible bidder offered to resume refining operations at the site, despite extreme measures" to find a new refinery operator, PES said.

A bid by rival developer Industrial Realty Group of Santa Monica, Calif., was $25 million greater than Hilcos, but came with only a $5 million deposit compared with Hilcos $30 million deposit. Supporters of resuming refining operations have also characterized IRGs proposal as a refinery restart, but PES said the bidder did not present it that way at the auction.

From the outset of the sale and marketing process, the debtors made every effort to encourage a sale to a going-concern buyer, PES said in its filing. But the debtors were unable to find a refinery restart bidder with the financial and operational wherewithal to complete the sale.

Much of the companys response on Monday was directed at the committee of unsecured creditors, which on Friday urged the judge to reject the plan, calling it an artifice for doling out control, bonuses, and releases to insiders, and unfairly leaving out unsecured creditors. The unsecured creditors include suppliers and vendors who are likely to receive only a small portion of the more than $1 billion they are owed.

PES denounced the committees mud-slinging and blanket attacks, and said the committee completely ignores the reorganization plans benefits.

The plan is a good and fair result, satisfies the standards for confirmation, and should be confirmed.

PES said the committees request to convert the Chapter 11 reorganization plan to a Chapter 7 liquidation plan was nonsensical, and would result in greater harm to all creditors.

And PES brushed aside the committees plea for the judge to suspend implementation of the plan, should he approve it. This unique request effectively concedes defeat; no party confident in its position seeks a stay pending appeal before they have even lost, the PES lawyers said.

The company also defended its request to pay eight top executives as much as $20 million in bonuses if the company generates $1 billion in net proceeds from a sale and an insurance recovery.

The debtors already short-handed management team has worked tirelessly since the day of the disaster  which came about through no fault of their own  in a function that far exceed the hours, effort, and stress of their original roles, it said.

The companys court filings shed new light on the auction process, and the effort of a group led by retired PES chief executive Philip Rinaldi to organize a refinery restart

PES said it shared more than 5,000 documents with the Rinaldi Party, answered 133 diligence questions, and set up five site visits or meetings with management and the Rinaldi team. It said it also took the unusual step of arranging an in-person meeting between the Rinaldi team and the unsecured creditors in December.

But despite the debtors diligent efforts and engagement, the Rinaldi Party did not submit a bid, qualified or otherwise, in the third round of bidding, PES said.

The only bidder in the third round who contemplated a restart of the facility  not Rinaldi  was massively lacking in numerous respects, and did not participate in the auction after failing to obtain financing, PES said. The bidder, whose name was not disclosed, had also contemplated a sale price that was far lower than either Hilcos or IRGs, it said.

Hilco had initially bid $154 million for the property in qualification rounds, according to a deposition from John Singh, a partner with PJT Partners LP, the investment banker that supervised the sale and auction.

But when the price escalated in the auction, and Hilco boosted its offer to $240 million, it also declined to be the backup bidder if PES awarded the sale to IRG, and then IRG later backed out. That meant that if a deal with IRG dissolved after 30 days, Hilcos offer would have reverted to its initial $154 million offer  or even less, Singh said.

PES also said that Hilco, which is operating under the name HRP Philadelphia Holdings LLC, has engaged in discussions with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection on a soil remediation plan, and with Sunoco Inc., a previous refinery owner, to resolve indemnity and deed restrictions. Resolution of both those matters by May 31 is a condition for Hilco to close the deal.
The new brand is all about driving the vehicle marked Change, writes Michael Clifford

At 11.05am they broke out into Come Out Ye Black and Tans. Somebody unfurled a tricolour and the volume went up a few notches. It was the first commotion yesterday in the RDS, the count centre for the Dublin constituencies, the cockpit of this election.

The would-be Wolfe Tones were supporters of Dessie Ellis, Sinn Fein TD and former IRA activist whom tallies had suggested was polling at around 44% of the vote in his Dublin North-West constituency.

After the spontaneous effort at song, things subsided for a few minutes until some of the supporters broke into a chant. At that point, Ellis pulled a few of them aside, had a few words, told them to tone it down. Theres a new image for the party, more about bread and butter than Tiocfaidh ar la.

At 3.35pm, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, who had entered the cavernous room some while before, addressed the media. There were no tricolours waving in the background. The new brand is not about the old and vexed question of the islands political status. Its all about driving the vehicle marked Change. You want change? We got it.

This was Sinn Feins greatest day in electoral terms south of the border.

It represented the greatest leap towards what once must have been a pipe dream for the party  leading a government of left-wing entities. That remains for the next election to determine, but the wake of this election throws up a tricky question for the party: Is Sinn Fein, if offered the opportunity by one of the other two parties, now ready to make the major leap from protesting and campaigning into actually governing?

We asked people to give us a chance to deliver the platform we had set out on the housing crisis, health, giving ordinary workers a break, McDonald said in the RDS. What I want is to have a government for the people, a government without Fianna Fail or Fine Gael in it.

That wont happen, but there is no denying that Sinn Fein has moved onto another plateau.

The success has many fathers. In the first instance, Mary Lou McDonald had far and away the best campaign of any party leader. She played a blinder, coming across as empathetic, articulate, and always on message. Unlike her predecessor, she carried no baggage from the violence in the North. Her most potent line was Give us a chance.

The narrative had it that Fianna Fail had wrecked the country and Fine Gael had mismanaged the recovery. This more than anything resonated particularly with a younger audience inclined to vote on issues rather than tradition or history.

The party entered the campaign on the defensive, hoping to stem any losses rather than make gains, but the seeds of their victory were sown over the last six months. After very poor local and European elections last May, Sinn Fein redirected the focus from protesting to offering solutions. The principal figures in this regard were Eoin O Broin and Pearse Doherty, who, along with McDonald were the public faces of the campaign. Housing, in particular, was at the heart of the message. This resonated right across the voting demographics.

Another factor was that for the first time the party presented itself as open for business  willing to talk to anybody about entering government.

More than anything though, the party had possession of the greatest asset in any contest  luck. This election was the third since the collapse of the economy. Over that time the political culture in this country has been going through slow, transformative change.

Fine Gael and Labour promised a different way when they took the reins in a time of deep crisis in 2011. Five years later the drift from the big two parties was under way because the change promised had not been delivered. Now, with the economy undoubtedly recovered, yet many parts of society failing to feel it, the landscape was primed for a major change.

The only party outside the big two still standing, albeit bruised, was Sinn Fein. In that regard, the Shinners resembled the corner forward standing on the edge of the square as the ball comes back off a post into his hands. The goal is now on, more likely than not, but theres still a bit of work to do. And under McDonalds leadership, they did the work and reaped the rewards.

In electoral terms, this was a very Irish revolution. Most upheavals in recent years have involved the sweeping to power of right wing populist parties or individuals. What happened here was of a completely different order.

Sinn Fein claims to be a left-wing party, but it would be more accurate to describe it as a populist entity, albeit coming from the left rather than right.

Some of its polities would be anathema to anybody of the left striving for a progressive programme to eliminate inequality. What left-wing or socialist outfit could condone abolishing a property tax at a time of a housing crisis?

How unequal is it to rob future generations of the chance of a pension by pandering to todays voters?

The other noteworthy feature of this electoral revolution is that Sinn Fein has not been swept to power. A case could be made that the party does not want to go into power at this point, as the only option to do so would be with Fianna Fail or Fine Gael. A far more attractive proposition would be to go into opposition where it could build further to a point where it could realistically aspire to lead a government after the next election. Unlike the populist entitles elsewhere, Sinn Fein plays a very long game.

The change wrought at the polls on Saturday was transformative. But as this was an Irish revolution, its way too early to tell where exactly its going, and how long its going to take to get there.
Good morning, Bay Area. Its Monday, Feb. 10, and even though the coronavirus news sounds scary, we have a wealth of experience from SARS and other outbreaks to draw from. Heres what you need to know to start your day.

Its not every day a homeowner in one of the Bay Areas most exclusive cities opens his home to a homeless couple. But thats what Piedmont resident Terrence McGrath did for Greg Dunston and Marie Mckinzie a year ago by letting them live in his in-law unit.

Its been a trying experience for both homeowner and guests. Tensions have flared over the couples joblessness and cleanliness. But McGrath remains committed to helping them.

These are two human beings that deserve to be treated with love and respect, McGrath says. Thats as simple and pure as it gets.

Columnist Otis R. Taylor Jr. reconnected with the three to learn more about their experience. Read the full story here.

Previously:

 A homeless couple moved into a $4 million Piedmont home. Then came the calls to police.

 Hopes of good luck dashed, couple spend nights huddled in a doorway.

Jumping the gap

Hazen Woolson

South Lake Tahoe pro skier Josh Daiek pulled off a stunt that a certain sect of skiers has been fantasizing about for decades: jumping across Highway 50.

He launched himself from the edge of a 90-foot cliff above the roadway near Echo Summit, threw a backflip while clearing westbound semitrucks on the pavement below, then landed on his feet in the snowy embankment on the other side.

Lifestyle and Outdoors editor Gregory Thomas details how Daiek, 36, achieved what he calls the craziest thing Ive ever done.

President Pete?

Charlie Neibergall / Associated Press

On the campaign trail and in interviews, presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg likes to explain how his candidacy represents a new direction for the country. At 38, he is not only the youngest remaining candidate in the race, he would also be the nations first openly gay president.

But representing a new direction doesnt mean the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., is charting a more progressive course. In some ways, hes advocating policies that are more conservative than what is in place now in California.

Senior political writer Joe Garofoli explains what would be in store for the state under a Buttigieg presidency.

More:

 What dramatic changes would come to California if Bernie Sanders were elected president.

 How an Elizabeth Warren administration would affect California.

 President Joe Biden: What it would mean for California.

Viral alertness

With a new coronavirus spreading even faster than the one that caused SARS, global health authorities are applying lessons learned from nearly 20 years ago, and reinforced over outbreaks such as Ebola and H1N1 in the interim, to halt the new epidemic.

It was a scramble back then, said Dr. Tomas Aragon, who led the Center for Infectious Diseases and Emergency Readiness at UC Berkeley during SARS. Now theres a whole generation of people like myself with really deep experience in these things.

Read more by health reporter Erin Allday.

Also: From eyeglasses to backpacks, Bay Area firms scramble as the coronavirus closes Chinese factories.

Mad dash to DMV

Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

Less than eight months before Real IDs will be needed to board domestic flights, at least 9 million Californians still need to line up at the DMV to get the new federally compliant drivers licenses.

Were trying to pull people into the office by hook or by crook and let them know that Real ID is real and Oct. 1 is a real deadline, said DMV Director Steve Gordon.

Read more here.

Around the Bay

 Lion dancers and firecrackers: Coronavirus worries dont dampen Chinese New Year Parade. Visual Essay: Images from Saturday nights celebration.

 Competing interests: Where do Oakland voters prefer a new As ballpark? Depends on the poll question.

 Parasite is runaway Oscar winner: The South Korean film nabbed four awards, all big ones: best picture, best director, best original screenplay and best international film. Local victory: Pixars Toy Story 4 won best animated feature.

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 Reverend returns: Giants most popular player at FanFest? Hunter Pence.

 Upbeat speech: Oakland mayor says new development may drive down cost of rental housing.

 Independent contractors: California freelancers, heres what to do if a client tells you to form an LLC.

 Fighting back: From horse handlers to tutors, gig-law AB5 frustrates contractors. Also: Will Ubers ride changes thwart gig-work law?

 Rolling forward: For protected bike lanes, eyes turn to S.F.s busy Embarcadero.

 Broken Care: S.F. rescues homes for elderly, homeless and mentally ill on the verge of closing.

 Wiggins beginnings: The newest Warriors player impresses in team debut as Golden State falls to Lakers.

 Hearts and violins: S.F. Symphonys married couples discuss love and work.

Chronicle Food

Mel Tow

Sushi Yoshizumi is not your typical sushi spot.

The omakase at this San Mateo restaurant is mainly just seafood. There arent drastic, palate-refreshing departures. As their website declares, the restaurant serves no truffle, no caviar, no golden flakes. ... Just rice, fish and fresh wasabi, that is all.

And yet, chef Akira Yoshizumi packs an extensive array of experiences into his menu, leaving food adventurers no option but to focus on the sensation of the food itself: the variations in texture, the coloring, the progression from one to the next.

In a special review, critic Soleil Ho takes readers on an illustrated walk through one of the Bay Areas best Edomae sushi restaurants.

More from Food:

 Vegan company Miyokos Creamery sues California over labeling restrictions.

 S.F.s Chase Center arena has wine that youll actually want to drink.

Bay Briefing is sent to readers email inboxes on weekday mornings. Sign up for the newsletter here, and contact Taylor Kate Brown at taylor.brown@sfchronicle.com.
Press Release

February 7, 2020 GORDON TURNS OVER HOUSES TO OMPONG-DISPLACED FAMILIES IN CAGAYAN More than a year after the destruction of Typhoon Ompong, the strongest typhoon to hit Luzon since Juan in 2010 and the strongest to make landfall in the Philippines since Yolanda in 2013, the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) enabled affected families in Cagayan get back their lives. Senator Richard J. Gordon, PRC chairman and CEO, led on Friday the turnover of houses to some 244 families in Amulung Gattaran, and Alcala, among others, in Cagayan. "Like what the Red Cross Hymn says, 'When the world no longer watches, we do what must be done.' We don't take people for granted, especially those who are suffering. That is why we are here today. This time, we want to ensure that the families affected by Typhoon Ompong are able to recover. We want them to get back on their feet again with dignity because our mission in the Red Cross is to alleviate human suffering and to uplift human dignity," he said. Typhoon Mangkhut, locally known as Typhoon "Ompong," made landfall in Baggao, Cagayan on Sept. 15, 2018, affecting more than 2.5 million people when it badly hit Regions I and II. State of calamity has been declared in the following areas: Provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Abra, Kalinga, Benguet, Ilocos Norte, La Union, Quirino, Apayao and Mountain Province; Cities of Vigan, Ilagan, and Tuguegarao; and the Municipalities of Luna (La Union), San Fabian (Pangasinan) and Mayoyao and Aguinaldo (Ifugao). The PRC, upon instructions of its chairman, immediately extended assistance. The country's foremost humanitarian organization served 17,778 individuals with hot meals; 3,700 families with food items, consist of 2-3 days ration and assorted packs; and rescued 53 individuals, among others. To enable the affected families to get back on their own feet again, the PRC, in partnership with its Movement Parters, provided 244 families with full shelter assistance, the houses complete and latrine with septic tank; and distributed agricultural assistance worth P15,000 each to some 198 families so they can make their damaged farms become productive again. "With the help of our partners, we will provide humanitarian assistance to families affected by the buffet of disasters that visit our country, especially those who are most vulnerable," Gordon assured.
China stutters back to work as virus deaths soar

CHINA: Millions of people in China returned to work Monday (Feb 10) after an extended holiday designed to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, which has killed more than 900 people in the country.

ChinesehealthCoronavirusCOVID-19

By AFP

Monday 10 February 2020, 09:58AM

Experts have warned of the risk of a bump in infection cases when people return to work. Photo: AFP

Women wearing protective face masks chat in Hong Kong, which has seen 26 cases of the new virus. Photo: AFP

The death toll from the novel coronavirus has overtaken global fatalities in the 2002-03 SARS epidemic. Photo: AFP

At least 40,000 people in China have now been infected by the virus, believed to have emerged late last year in Hubei provinces capital Wuhan.

And although the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said there are tentative signs the epidemic is stabilising in China, the agencys director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that the number of cases recorded overseas could be just the tip of the iceberg.

His comments came as an advance team of WHO international experts left late Sunday for China, led by Bruce Aylward, a veteran of previous health emergencies.

In an attempt to contain the virus, cities in Hubei have been locked down and transport routes across the country cut to stop the movement of hundreds of millions of people who usually visit family during the annual Lunar New Year holiday.

The unprecedented measures included an extension of the holiday, with citizens told to stay inside as much as possible.

Officially the holiday was extended by only three days, but many cities and provinces pushed the deadline until February 10.

The measures have left businesses, shops, factories and tourist sites closed and turned many cities into ghost towns, sparking concerns about the impact of the outbreak on the economy.

But there were some signs Monday of the country beginning to make a return to normality.

Roads in Beijing and Shanghai had significantly more traffic than in recent days and the southern city of Guangzhou said it would start to resume normal public transport from Monday.

The city had been running a partial service due to the epidemic, said city authorities -- who reminded people to continue avoiding crowded places.

Work, interrupted

However, tens of millions of people in Hubei province were not returning to work, as the province  the epicentre of the outbreak  remained under lockdown with travel links cut off.

Many companies were offering staff the option of working from home.

Car manufacturer Volkswagen said while some of its factories would re-open on Monday, others had delayed production for another week. Toyota has extended the closure of its Chinese plants to February 16.

Many factories involved in manufacturing medical equipment had already returned to work.

According to the National Development and Reform Commission, around 87% of the countrys medical mask production had already resumed.

Chinas central bank said it would make 300 billion yuan (B1.342 trillion) available in special loans to banks from Monday to help businesses involved in fighting the epidemic.

But the tourism industry remains in the doldrums, with several countries banning arrivals from China, major airlines suspending flights and international and domestic tour groups being halted.

Schools and universities across the country remained closed.

Tip of the iceberg

The death toll from the novel coronavirus has overtaken global fatalities in the 2002-03 SARS epidemic.

China drew international condemnation for covering up cases during the SARS outbreak, but the WHO has praised the measures Beijing has taken this time.

However, the health body has warned that the figures could still shoot up.

Ian Lipkin  a professor at Columbia University who worked with China on the SARS outbreak  also warned of the risk of a bump in infection cases when people return to work.

WHO chief Tedros said there had been some concerning instances of cases overseas in people with no travel history to China.

The detection of a small number of cases may indicate more widespread transmission in other countries; in short, we may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg, he tweeted.

Meanwhile in Hong Kong, thousands of people stranded aboard the World Dream cruise ship for five days were allowed to disembark Sunday after its 1,800 crew tested negative for the new coronavirus.

The ship carried three Chinese passengers to Vietnam between January 19 and 24 who were later found to be infected with the SARS-like coronavirus.

Health authorities in the semi-autonomous Asian financial hub said the crew and a similar number of passengers had been released from quarantine.
Sudanese VIPs take a group photo in front of the Chinese peacekeeping helicopter.

By Yu Hao and Hao Zhaojian

Al-Fashir, Sudan, Feb. 9 -- The 3rd Chinese peacekeeping Medium Utility Helicopter Unit (CMUHU03) to Darfur, Sudan, passed the combat readiness assessment conducted by a UN group on February 8.

The assessment aimed to get a whole picture of the combat readiness building of the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) and the peacekeeping contingents from various countries, and facilitate future decision-making regarding the adjustment of UNAMID forces. Lieutenant General Carlos Humberto Loitey of Uruguay, military adviser for UN Secretary-General (UNSG), expressed his appreciation for Chinas peacekeeping contributions.

Led by Lt. Gen. Loitey and UNAMID commander Lt. Gen. Leonard Muriuki Ngondi, the UN assessing team visited several areas and had a comprehensive assessment of the CMUHU03 in four aspects such as flying capability, barracks defense, logistics support and external liaison.

At the base camp at Al-Fashir, the assessing team debriefed the Chinese contingent on its fulfillment of duties, had a temporary test of the barracks defense, and checked general equipment, level-1 hospital, amenities and single-soldier gears on the spot.

Lt. Gen. Loitey, when summarizing the assessment, spoke highly of the performance of the CMUHU03 and affirmed Chinas contributions to safeguarding world peace. Lt. Gen. Ngondi also expressed his satisfaction with the capability and task fulfillment of the Chinese contingent.
Creating hope in conflict: A humanitarian grand challenge selects finalists

February 10, 2020, Toronto, Canada - Three finalists were announced today for the Creating Hope in Conflict: A Humanitarian Grand Challenge Transition to Scale program. The Grand Challenge--supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands--calls on innovators around the world to submit ideas to save and improve the lives of the most-vulnerable and hardest-to-reach people affected by humanitarian crises caused by conflict.

The finalists, selected from 111 applicants, will receive a total of $3.7 million from the Humanitarian Grand Challenge. Each finalist identified solutions that will provide humanitarian assistance to help the most vulnerable and hardest to reach people affected by conflict.

The finalists are: Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, Field Ready, and Hala Systems.

Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team: Missing Maps in Africa's Great Lakes region

Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) is an international team dedicated to humanitarian action and community development through open mapping. With millions of people living in unmapped areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Western Uganda, the HOT team will be mapping the region to provide accurate maps to help healthcare workers in their tracking, treatment, and prevention of Ebola.

With funding from the Humanitarian Grand Challenge, HOT, through a partnership with Maxar, will deploy machine-learning-based algorithms to create 160,000 km of detailed maps of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Western Uganda, creating a single information data source that captures the homes of 4.1 million people - a valuable resource for all humanitarian agencies working in these two countries. HOT will also work with affected communities on the ground to map every village of the affected area in person, using local language names.

Since 2014, HOT's Missing Maps innovation has supported responses to 50 humanitarian crises, across over 20 countries, and have added an area home to 70 million people onto detailed maps.

Project Location: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda

Field Ready: Making essential items Field Ready

Conflict-affected populations and the aid workers that serve them do not have exactly what they need where and when they need it. Relief supplies and other essential items are too often unavailable or trapped in slow and expensive supply chains. As a result, lives are lost and suffering goes unaddressed. Field Ready is localizing the manufacturing and repair of essential relief and reconstruction items and equipment using various technologies and local resources. This networked and distributed way of working cuts across sectors and increases local resilience.

With funding from the Humanitarian Grand Challenge, Field Ready will increase and expand their catalogues of available parts and devices in Syria, service additional hospitals in Syria, and strengthen long-term sustainability through key partnerships and commercialization efforts.

Project Location: Syria

Hala Systems: Scaling Operations in Syria: An early warning system to save lives

Hala Systems (Hala) uses technology to save lives in conflict zones, counter disinformation, and support accountability efforts. Its focus to date has been largely civilian protection against the threat of airstrikes in Syria through Sentry Syria, an early warning system against airstrikes. The System provides an average of 7-10 minutes of warning to more than two million people. Additionally, data collected by Sentry constitutes the most complete record of the air war in Western Syria outside of a classified environment.

Sentry Syria uses trained civilian observers on the ground, strategically placed sensing devices, and artificial intelligence to identify and predict airstrikes. Once the data has been compiled, Sentry then alerts civilians of incoming airstrikes, using social media, radio stations, and physical air raid sirens. While it saves lives, it also documents evidence of attacks, and counters disinformation with credible ground truth in real time.

With funding from the Humanitarian Grand Challenge, Hala will refine and expand the reach and predictive capabilities of its life-saving technology.

Project Location: Syria

###

For more information on Creating Hope in Conflict: A Humanitarian Grand Challenge, visit: HumanitarianGrandChallenge.org

For more information, please contact:

Zeba Tasci

Associate Communications Officer, Humanitarian Grand Challenge

zeba.tasci@humanitariangrandchallenge.org

647.328.2021

About the Humanitarian Grand Challenge

Creating Hope in Conflict: A Humanitarian Grand Challenge is a partnership of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, with support from Grand Challenges Canada.

About USAID

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is the world's premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results. USAID's work advances U.S. national security and economic prosperity, demonstrates American generosity, and promotes a path to recipient self-reliance and resilience.

About DFID

The Department for International Development (DFID) leads the UK's work to end extreme poverty. DFID are tackling the global challenges of our time including poverty and disease, mass migration, insecurity and conflict. Its work is building a safer, healthier, more prosperous world for people in developing countries and in the UK too.

About the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands works to improve living conditions in poor, vulnerable countries and encouraging self-reliance. It tries to tackle global challenges, such as poverty and food scarcity, climate change and epidemics. In developing countries, the Ministry works on issues such as economic resilience, better healthcare, food security and clean drinking water.

About Grand Challenges Canada

One of the largest impact-first investors in Canada, Grand Challenges Canada has funded over 1,100 innovations championed by innovators in more than 95 countries since 2011. Grand Challenges Canada estimates that these innovations have the potential to save up to 1.6 million lives and improve up to 35 million lives by 2030.

This story has been published on: 2020-02-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/10/2020 -- Keep yourself up-to-date with latest market trends and maintain a competitive edge by sizing up with available business opportunity in Global Telecom Cloud Market various segments and emerging territory. Advance Market Analytics released the research report of Global Telecom Cloud Market, offers a detailed overview of the factors influencing the global business scope. A detailed study accumulated to offer Latest insights about acute features of the Telecom Cloud market. Telecom Cloud Market research report shows the latest market insights with upcoming trends and breakdown of the products and services. The report provides key statistics on the market status, size, share, growth factors of the Telecom Cloud. This Report covers the emerging player's data, including: competitive situation, sales, revenue and global market share.



Key Players in This Report Include,

AT&T Inc. (United States), BT Group Plc (United Kingdom), Verizon Communications Inc. (United States), Level 3 Communications, Inc. (United States), CenturyLink, Inc. (United States), Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singapore), NTT Communications Corporation (Japan), Orange Business Services (France) , Amdocs (United States), Oracle Corporation (United States), CGI Group, Inc. (Canada), Ericsson (Sweden), Netcracker Technology (United Kingdom), Cerillion (United Kingdom), AsiaInfo (China), Computer Science Corporation (United States), Redknee Solutions, Inc. (United States), Huawei Technologies (China), Tech Mahindra (India)



What is Telecom Cloud?

Telecom cloud is a voice and messaging service that shifts the needs form landline services to the cloud computing services which will allow them to efficiently utilize the networking resources. Conventional business telephone system like PBX (private branch exchange), EPBAX, among others and offers improved scalability to companies as they enable them to add more channels over their existing trunks. All the applications and services of telecom cloud are hosted on servers and can be accessed from the cloud. With the rising importance of cloud computing in the telecommunication industry numerous applications areas and data are moved from on-premise to on-cloud to benefit the user by making them connected to their data on a server.



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by Type (Service (Unified Communication and Collaboration, Content Delivery Network and Others), Solution (Network Services, Colocation Services, Professional Services, Managed Services)), Application (Billing and Provisioning, Traffic Management, Others), Service Model (Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)), Billing Type (Convergent, Prepaid, Postpaid, Interconnect, Roaming, Others), Charging Mode (Usage Based, Subscription Based), Deployment Type (Public, Private, Hybrid)



Market Trends:

Increasing Adoption for SaaS Tool Mostly in IT Industries

Acceptance of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) in Work Fields



Market Challenges:

Complexities in Redesigning the Network

Lack of Required Skill Set Among the Workforce



Market Drivers:

Growing Awareness About Telecom Cloud Among Enterprises

Lower Operational and Administration Costs



Market Restraints:

Huge Investment Associated With Initial Setup of Telecom Cloud

High Risk for Security and Privacy Concerns



Region Included are: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Oceania, South America, Middle East & Africa

Country Level Break-Up: United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, South Africa, Nigeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Germany, United Kingdom (UK), the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Austria, Turkey, Russia, France, Poland, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, India, Australia and New Zealand etc.



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Strategic Points Covered in Table of Content of Telecom Cloud Market:

Chapter 1: Executive Summary

Chapter 2: Abbreviation and Acronyms

Chapter 3: Preface

3.1 Research Scope

3.2 Research Methodology

3.2.1 Primary Sources

3.2.2 Secondary Sources

3.2.3 Assumptions

Chapter 4: Market Landscape

4.1 Market Overview

4.2 Classification/Types

4.3 Application/End Users

Chapter 5: Market Trend Analysis

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Drivers

5.3 Restraints

5.4 Opportunities

5.5 Threats

Chapter 6: Industry Chain Analysis

6.1 Upstream/Suppliers Analysis

6.2 "Regulatory Affairs Outsourcing." Analysis

6.2.1 Technology Analysis

6.2.2 Cost Analysis

6.2.3 Market Channel Analysis

6.3 Downstream Buyers/End Users



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Key questions answered

- Who are the Leading key players and what are their Key Business plans in the Global Telecom Cloud market?

- What are the key concerns of the five forces analysis of the Global Telecom Cloud market?

- What are different prospects and threats faced by the dealers in the Global Telecom Cloud market?

- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?



Data Sources & Methodology:

The primary sources involves the industry experts from the Global Telecom Cloud Market including the management organizations, processing organizations, analytics service providers of the industry's value chain. All primary sources were interviewed to gather and authenticate qualitative & quantitative information and determine the future prospects.



In the extensive primary research process undertaken for this study, the primary sources  Postal Surveys, telephone, Online & Face-to-Face Survey were considered to obtain and verify both qualitative and quantitative aspects of this research study. When it comes to secondary sources Company's Annual reports, press Releases, Websites, Investor Presentation, Conference Call transcripts, Webinar, Journals, Regulators, National Customs and Industry Associations were given primary weight-age.



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Afghanistan, U.S. Probe Attack That Killed Two U.S. Soldiers

(Bloomberg) -- A delegation led by Afghanistans Chief of Army Staff, Bismillah Waziri, is investigating together with the U.S. a shooting incident that killed two American soldiers and one Afghan soldier in eastern Nangarhar province.

The shooting, carried out late yesterday by an Afghan in military uniform, also wounded six American and three Afghan soldiers, Afghanistans defense ministry said in a WhatsApp statement.

A U.S. military spokesman in Kabul, Sonny Leggett, also confirmed the incident saying it was under investigation and the cause and motive behind the attack is unknown for now.

An individual in an Afghan uniform opened fire on the combined U.S. and Afghan force with a machine gun, Leggett said in the statement.

The firefight took place when the U.S. and Afghan soldiers were visiting an Afghan army base in the Sherzad district of the province for an operation, Ajmal Omar, a senior member of Nangarhars provincial council, said by phone. After greetings, one of the Afghan commandos opened fire on them.

Incidents such as this fail to have negative effects on the friendship and spirit of cooperation between the Afghan and U.S. forces, according to the ministrys statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Eltaf Najafizada in Kabul at enajafizada1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net, Colin Keatinge, Sara Marley

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.
Two days ahead of the Congress government's move to bring in an anti-CAA resolution in the assembly, Lt Governor Kiran Bedi on Monday shot off a letter to Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, saying the Act passed by Parliament is applicable to the union territory and "cannot be questioned or deliberated in any manner."



She said this after three nominated legislators from the BJP, V Saminathan, K G Shankar and S Sellaganapathy, met her and submitted a petition, bringing to her notice the government's move to bring in a resolution in the assembly on February 12 against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

The legislators had already presented a petition to the Speaker V P Sivakolundhu on February 6,requesting him not to permit any discussion ora resolution against CAA "as it exceeds the powers of the Legislative Assembly under Government of Union Territories Act 1963".

The legislators requested the Lt Governor to take necessary action, saying any discussion or deliberation on CAA would be violative of the provisions of the Constitution and infringing the rights of Parliament.

They also pointed out that the CAA had been passed by both Houses of Parliamentand the President had also given his assent to the Act.

Bedi, in her WhatsApp message, said she had examined the legal position of their representation and sent a letter to the Chief Minister, "advising him accordingly".

She pointed out in her letter that CAA had been passed by both Houses of Parliament,given assent to by the President and notified in the extraordinary Gazette of December 12, 2019.

She said the legislative power of the Puducherry Assembly does not extend to discussing or deliberating the matter of citizenship as it falls squarely within the domain of Parliament and the Central government.

"The matter of CAA is already under adjudication before the Supreme Court," she said.

Bedi said that as per Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of Puducherry Legislative Assembly 1966 "a resolution of any matter which is under adjudication by a court of law having jurisdiction in any part of India is not not admissible under Rule 105 of the above mentioned rules".

The Lt Governor said she had also enclosed a copy of the petition with her letter to the Chief Minister.

Narayanasamy had said on February 3 that he would not inform Bedi in advance about the proposed anti-CAAresolution and that it would be done after the resolution was approved.

The Chief Minister had said the assembly had the right and the privilege to adopt such a resolution to protect the interests of the people of the Union Territory.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
This takes the total number of coronavirus positives on the ship to nearly 140.

Hyderabad: Indian crew members on the cruise ship, Diamond Princess, quarantined quarantined off a port in Japan since February 5 issued an urgent appeal to the government of India to rescue them even as reports emerged that 60-odd more passengers on board tested positive for the coronavirus on Monday. This takes the total number of coronavirus positives on the ship to nearly 140.

In a video recorded on the ship, that also showed some of the other Indian crew members, he says, Please somehow save us as soon as possible. Whats the point if something happens (to us)... I want to tell the government of India, Modiji, please segregate us and bring us back home safely.

Binay Kumar Sarkar, a chef from north Bengal, told this newspaper via a phone message, Please save us. Life is more important than a job.

Mr Sarkar, who first took to Facebook days ago sharing the fear that had gripped people on the ship, said, We are very scared. There are more than 60 positive cases today but an official announcement of how many of these are passengers and how many are crew is yet to be made.

So far only 500 people have been tested, Mr Sarkar said. Right now, only those who are reporting more than 37.5 degrees C of body temperature are being tested. There are 160 Indians among the crew along with 8 Indian passengers, he said in the video.

Reports in the Japanese media, quoting that countrys health minister Katsunobu Kato, said the government was considering testing all crew members and passengers on the vessel.

The ship has about 3,700 passengers and crew.

The first secretary in the consular division of the Indian embassy in Tokyo said on Monday that there are no Indians among the 70 passengers who tested positive till Sunday.

Today there are some more cases and we are yet to know their identity. We are in touch with the Indians on board through the foreign ministry and the Japanese health ministry. Some of the passengers are in touch with us directly through email, the official said.

Princess Cruises, the company that operates Diamond Princess, confirmed an additional 66 cases of coronavirus cases as tested by the Japanese ministry of health. These cases are from Australia (4), Canada (1), England (1), Japan (45), Philippines (3), Ukraine (1) and USA (11).

We are following guidance from the Japan ministry of health on plans for disembarkation protocols to provide medical care for these new cases. Since it is early in the quarantine period of 14-days, it was not unexpected that additional cases would be reported involving individuals who were exposed prior to the start of the quarantine, the company said.

The Japan ministry of health has been the lead public health authority defining the testing protocols for all guests and crew on Diamond Princess, the company said.
Moody's Investors Service on Monday affirmed Delhi International Airport Limited's (DIAL) Ba2 corporate family rating and senior secured ratings.

The ratings outlook remains stable, it said.

"The ratings affirmation principally reflects the expected growth in DIAL's revenue over the next 12 to 18 months, underpinned by a sustained recovery in passenger traffic from the decline recorded in the first half of the fiscal year ending March 2020 and increasing contributions from its non-aeronautical businesses," said Spencer Ng, a Moody's Vice President and Senior Analyst.

"These factors should help keep DIAL's financial metrics above the minimum tolerance level set for its rating."

However, given the substantial funding requirement for its major phase three A expansion, Moody's expects DIAL's funds from operations and debt to remain weak over the next two to three years with a very limited buffer above the minimum tolerance level of three to four per cent.

Moody's financial projections assume that aeronautical tariffs will remain at the current level during the third regulatory period between April 2019 and March 2024, and passenger traffic growth will improve to the mid-single-digit percentage range in fiscal 2021 as one-off factors such as suspension of Jet Airways gradually dissipate.

DIAL is undertaking a major expansion of its Indira Gandhi International Airport, which is expected to cost about Rs 9,800 crore and take about three to four years to complete.

To fund the expansion, DIAL will rely on its substantial cash on hand, cash flow from operations, proceeds from the monetisation of land parcels as well as incremental debt.

As such, the airport's financial profile over the expansion period will also be driven by its ability to monetize additional land parcels to help support its expansion funding requirements.

Challenges in this regard will likely result in additional debt needed to complete the expansion, which would exert additional pressure on the airport's financial profile.

DIAL is the concessionaire for Indira Gandhi International Airport and operates under an operations, management and development agreement concluded in 2006 with the Airports Authority of India.

The concession is for a 30-year period and DIAL has the option to extend it for another 30 years, subject to the company meeting defined performance criteria.

.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
TORONTO, Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fura Gems Inc. (Fura or the Company) (TSXV: FURA, OTC: FUGMF and FRA: BJ43), a gemstone mining and marketing company with emerald, ruby and sapphire assets in Colombia, Mozambique and Australia, respectively, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a share purchase agreement and non-competition agreement (together, the Agreements) with Gemrock Company Ltd (GemRock), pursuant to which the Company will acquire interests in three ruby mining licences/concessions in the Cabo Delgado province of Mozambique and certain rights to explore in various countries without competition from GemRock.

Key Highlights  Acquisition of participating interests in Mozambican mining companies which hold the following ruby mining licences and concessions in Mozambique for a total cash consideration of US$3.8 million (approximately C$5 million):

 100% participating interests in SRL Mining, Limitada, a Mozambican mining company holding each of ruby mining concession 8955C and ruby exploration licence 7414L; and  20% free carried and non-dilutive participating interest in Ibra Moz SA, a Mozambican mining company holding ruby mining concession 8921C (together with ruby mining concession 8955C and ruby exploration licence 7414L, the Licences) (note: Fura expects to acquire the remaining 80% interest in Ibra Moz, SA and thereby ruby mining concession 8921C as part of its acquisition of the New Energy Assets, described below).  Rights to explore without competition from GemRock:  US$3.5million is payable to acquire rights under the non-competition agreement, pursuant to which GemRock has agreed not to compete with Fura in certain jurisdictions in respect of its ruby mining activities  US$500,000 is payable as a reimbursement of GemRocks expenses in connection with the transactions contemplated in the Agreements  The acquisition of the participating interests in the Mozambican mining companies holding the Licences is expected to add a further 95.15 sq. km to Furas existing land package in the main ruby belt of the Montepuez district of Mozambique  Fura expects to commence bulk sampling at the licence areas by March 2020

Dev Shetty, Furas President and CEO, commented:



Story continues

We are pleased to further consolidate our position in the main ruby belt of the Montepuez district of Mozambique. Completion of the merger of ruby assets agreement with New Energy Minerals Ltd. announced in November 2018, combined with Furas acquisition of ruby mining licence 5572L announced on October 17, 2019 and now Furas anticipated acquisition of the interests in SRL Mining, Limitada and Ibra Moz, SA, and thereby the Licences, is expected to give Fura the ability to explore for secondary alluvial and a primary deposit of rubies in the region.

In the last 3 years, Furas portfolio of assets has grown significantly. We now have three important silos of colour-gemstone properties in our portfolio, emeralds from Colombia, the worlds largest emerald supplier in value, rubies from Mozambique, the worlds largest ruby supplier by volume and sapphires from our sapphire project in Australia. With these assets and our hugely experienced team, we believe we are in a strong position to be able to create a leading colour gemstone company. I would like to thank my team in Fura for their passion and dedication and our local partners in Australia, Colombia and Mozambique for their continued support.

Share Purchase Agreement

Fura and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company have entered into a share purchase agreement (the Share Purchase Agreement) dated February 4, 2020 with GemRock. Pursuant to the Share Purchase Agreement, and subject to the terms and conditions set out therein, Fura will acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding shares of Vedas International DMCC (Vedas), which holds a 100% interest in SLR Mining, Limitada and a 20% interest in Ibra Moz SA (the Acquisition). As of the date of this press release, 100% of the issued and outstanding shares of Vedas have been transferred to Fura. In addition, in connection with the Acquisition, GemRock agreed to the terms of a non-competition agreement in respect of its ruby mining activities in Russia, Brazil and the Cabo Delgado province of Mozambique (the Non-Competition Agreement).

The aggregate purchase prices for the Licences and rights under the Non-Competition Agreement are US$3,800,000 and US$3,500,000, respectively, plus US$500,000 for the reimbursement of expenses incurred by GemRock in connection with the Acquisition, to be paid as follows:

 US$4,500,000 in cash to be paid to GemRock immediately following the execution of the Agreements, which amount as of the date of this press release has been paid; and  US$3,300,000 in cash to be paid to GemRock upon the Company obtaining formal approval from the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy of Mozambique (MIREME) for the acquisition of the target companies.

The Acquisition is an arms length transaction for the purposes of the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) and the Company understands that the Acquisition qualifies as an Exempt Transaction under TSXV Policy 5.3. Fura is not paying any finders fees in connection with the Acquisition. Prior to entering into the Agreements, GemRock delivered to Fura several documents, including, inter alia, a binding tax opinion, confirmation that all amounts set out in the binding tax opinion have been paid, and applicable legal opinions. The only condition remaining for completion of the Acquisition is obtaining formal approval from MIREME.



Fura is currently in the process of completing the purchase and sale of interests in three additional ruby prospecting licences/concessions in Mozambique as follows: (i) 75% of the issued shares of Montepuez Minerals Pty Ltd., which owns a 70% interest in mining licence 5030L and an 80% interest in mining concession 8921C; and (ii) a right to earn a 65% interest in mining concession 8955C under a joint venture agreement (collectively, the New Energy Assets). Please see the Companys press release dated November 29, 2018 for further details regarding the terms of this proposed acquisition, which remains subject to TSXV approval.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/75b8afe4-0006-44bd-9084-e82b8237c483

For more information about Fura Gems Inc., please contact:

Fura Gems Inc. Dev Shetty  President & Chief Executive Officer Tel: +971 (0) 4 240 8760

dev.shetty@furagems.com Rupak Sen  Vice President - Marketing & Sales Tel: +971 (0) 4 240 8760

r upak.sen@furagems.com Public Relations

Tavistock (UK)

Jos Simson / Barney Hayward Tel: +44-207-920-3150

fura@tavistock.co.uk

About Fura Gems Inc.

Fura Gems Inc. is a gemstone mining and marketing company which is engaged in the mining, exploration and acquisition of gemstone licences. Furas headquarters are in Toronto, Canada and its administrative headquarters are located in the Gold Tower, Dubai. Fura is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the ticker symbol FURA.

Fura is engaged in the exploration of resource properties in Colombia and owns a 76% interest in the Coscuez emerald mine in Boyaca, Colombia. Fura is involved in the exploration and mining of sapphires in Australia through its 100% interests in two mining permits (EPM 25973 and EPM 25978) and three mining licences (ML 70419, ML 70447 and ML 70451), and rubies in Mozambique through its 80% effective interest in four ruby licences (4392L, 3868L, 3869L and 6811L) and its 100% interest in ruby licence 5572L.

About GemRock

GemRock is a coloured gemstone mining subsidiary of Diacolor International DMCC, which was co-founded by father-son duo Mr. Rajkumar Tongya and Mr. Rishabh Tongya. GemRocks gemstone mining portfolio consists of ruby mining licenses in Mozambique and emerald mining licenses in Colombia and Ethiopia.

Regulatory Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the Companys ability to complete the Acquisition and obtain the MIREME approval, the Companys ability to complete the acquisition of the New Energy Assets, the mineralization and prospectivity of the New Energy Assets and the areas covered by the Licences, the Companys exploration activities and mining activities and the Companys performance. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates or does not anticipate, or believes, or 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. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, geopolitical and social uncertainties; the actual results of exploration activities; regulatory risks; risks inherent in foreign operations, legacy environmental risks, title risks and other risks of the mining industry. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in 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 information 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 information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

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.
New Delhi [India], Feb 10 (ANI): Offices of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), as well as their leaders, are under the threat of being targetted by global terror organisations, which could use IEDs or vehicle-borne improvised IEDs (VBIEDs) to carry out the attack, as per a recent input of the Intelligence Bureau (IB).

The attack can take place in Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, etc, it claims.

The latest input issued this month claims that 'unknown individuals, possibly linked to Global Terror Groups are planning to target RSS offices/leaders and Police Stations, possibly using IEDs and/or VBIEDs in the coming days.'

Sources have claimed that alert asked all concerned state governments to take appropriate steps to beef up the security.

A top government official claimed that security has been beefed in states of Maharashtra, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, UP and Assam and security of office bearers are also under review.

There have been multiple instances of reports on the attack on RSS workers.

Last month, Bengaluru Police arrested six accused for attempting to kill an RSS activist who went to attend a rally in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in December. Deceased Varun Bopala was stabbed multiple times but he managed to survive.

Accused identified as Mohammad Irfan, Syed Akbar, Syed Siddique Akbar, Akbar Basha, Sanaulla Sharif, and Sadique Ul-Ameen had hatched a bigger conspiracy, police had claimed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
'Parasite' overcame language, cultural barriers



South Korean movie "Parasite" directed by Bong Joon-ho became the first non-English language film to win the Best Picture Award in the 92-year history of the Academy Awards, Sunday (local time). Bong himself also won the Best Director Award and the Best Original Screenplay Award as a co-writer along with Han Jin-won. "Parasite" also won the Best International Feature Film Award.



Congratulations to Director Bong, all actors and actresses who starred in the film as well as all people who contributed to making it. This was a historic day for Korean movie fans as well.



What makes Koreans more proud is that "Parasite" was the first to win the Best Picture Award in Oscar history with an entirely Korean cast, which was brilliant, but wasn't recognized specifically in this year's ceremony. The Korean cast, including Song Kang-ho and Lee Sun-kyun, was awarded the Screen Actors Guild award for Best Performance by an Ensemble Cast in a motion picture.



In a commentary, the New York Times wrote the Korean film's historic victories were possible because voters "managed to embrace the future," citing "Hollywood's overreliance on white stories told by white filmmakers." Bong may have had this in mind when he said in a speech after winning the Best International Film Award, "I applaud and support the new direction that this change symbolizes." He also said, "We never write to represent our country, but this is very personal to South Korea."



But we believe there are more reasons "Parasite" has become a monument in film history. The film represents a winning mixture of director, cast and storytelling as well as increasing global recognition of Korean pop culture. There is already huge overseas demand for Korean commercial music and dramas.



"Parasite" is about a lower-income family who infiltrates a wealthy household. The class struggle is a universal subject that has been covered by numerous artists in numerous places, but it was illustrated humorously and satirically in the black comedy as the way director Bong sees this in Korean society. Bong said after winning the Golden Globes for best foreign-language film last month, "Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films."



The Korean movie industry has a strong infrastructure. Multiplex theaters are everywhere and there are skilled directors, actors, actresses and translators, who are crucial for global distribution. Korea also fortunately has many talented directors like Bong who have a very good sense for what works in international markets. The success of Bong's film shows that Korean movies have huge potential as long as they are strongly connected with foreign audiences despite the language and cultural barriers.


Philomath resident Jackie Weiner wanted to do something nice for her daughters family this Christmas.

The daughter (who didnt want her name used in this article) had quit her job as a nurse to take care of her 16-year-old son, who was battling an aggressive form of cancer. The treatment appears to have been successful, but the medical bills were steep and the family has struggled to pay them.

So when the holidays rolled around, Weiner decided the best present she could give was money. She stopped off at the Walgreens drugstore in Albany and purchased several Vanilla Visa gift cards  $450 worth, altogether  and gave them to her daughter on Christmas.

But when Weiners daughter tried to use a $200 gift card, it was declined. She checked the card issuers online portal and found a zero balance  according to the website, the card had been used several days earlier at an Albertsons supermarket in McMinnville.

The same thing happened with two $100 cards  the portal showed that both had already been drained of funds at other retail stores in other Oregon towns. Only a $50 gift card still had its original cash value.

Weiner was heartsick. Her daughter was out $400 her family desperately needed, and there was nothing she could do about it.

We trusted that money would be there, Weiner said. I cant afford to replace it.

Whats going on?

Gift cards are big business in this country. According to a 2017 report from WalletHub, U.S. gift card sales have been growing steadily and were projected to reach $160 billion in 2018.

Walk into any chain supermarket, drugstore or department store these days and youre liable to see a big display of gift cards for sale, from special-purpose cards for use at restaurants, coffee shops or movie theaters to use-anywhere cards such as the popular Vanilla Visa. They make a convenient gift option for many people, especially around the holidays, and experts say that also makes them a target for cybercriminals.

The most common variant of the gift card scam is a form of extortion. A criminal will contact someone by phone or email, often pretending to be a police officer or government official, and tell the unsuspecting victim he or she must pay money to avoid consequences such as a jail term or a fine. The victim is then instructed to purchase gift cards and give the redemption codes to the criminal.

These kinds of scams, which are frequently in the headlines, are widespread in Oregon and around the country, according to Ellen Klem, director of outreach and education for the Oregon Department of Justice. What happened in Weiners case appears to be a less common type of fraud that involves tampering with gift cards to obtain the redemption codes.

What it looks like the scammers have done is theyve pulled back the decals or stickers over those redemption codes, copied the codes and replaced (the stickers), Klem said. Then the scammer inputs the codes into the Visa system and drains the money.

While not nearly as widely known as the extortion racket, gift card tampering has been a problem for some time, according to John Breyault, vice president of the National Consumers League.

Gift cards are one of, if not the No. 1 gift that consumers spend money on at the holidays, he said. Its one thats been attracting scammers for many, many years.

Gaming the system

The cards sold at major retail stores generally have some kind of protective packaging, and in many cases the redemption codes are covered with a protective decal or scratch-off film. The cards work like credit or debit cards, and theres no money loaded into the accounts until the purchaser pays for them and the cards are activated.

But cybercriminals have developed a variety of high-tech ways to defeat those security measures and compromise the cards, siphoning funds from an account after a card has been activated but before it can be used by its rightful owner, Breyault said.

Some employ malicious software programs to hack into financial services networks so they can monitor the balance on accounts for which they have stolen codes and see immediately when a card goes live. Then its just a matter of cashing in their ill-gotten gains as quickly as possible.

The systems these scammers use to track the balance on those cards are fairly sophisticated, Breyault said.

Chances are theyve compromised dozens or hundreds of cards, and they have software that constantly monitors the portal. When one of the cards is activated, they get a ping.

But how do the thieves get their hands on the money if they dont have the physical gift card in their possession? Once again, the answer likely lies in technology.

According to Breyault, what frequently happens is that the criminals use the card number from the front of the gift card and the redemption codes from the back to access the funds directly from the card issuers online portal and transfer the funds onto an electronic wallet account such as Apple Pay or Google Pay. Then they can walk into a retail store and use a smartphone at an electronic card reader to make purchases and get cash back.

If theyre fast enough, the thieves get your money  and you get left holding the bag.

They can siphon the money off online and transfer it to a different card, Breyault said. A consumer who thinks they have $100 on a card, for example, goes to use the card and finds out theres nothing there.

The problem is especially pernicious around the holidays, he added. Gift card sales spike in the weeks leading up to Christmas  and so does gift card fraud.

Say its the day after Thanksgiving and Im out shopping and I pick up a few gift cards, Breyault said. If Im not going to give that card to the recipient until Christmas, there might be $400 sitting there unused on that card for almost a month  thats plenty of time to access the money on that card before the recipient can use it.

Getting a refund

So what recourse do consumers have when they become victims of gift card tampering?

On Jan. 2, Weiner said, she contacted the manager of the store where she bought the cards, but she didnt get the refund she was hoping for.

He said the cards were activated, Walgreens did their job  and there was nothing they could do, Weiner said.

Store personnel did help her file a report and told her it would be sent up the chain to corporate headquarters, Weiner said, but after two weeks she still hadnt heard anything back.

After attempting without success to interview the store manager, the Gazette-Times called Walgreens corporate media relations office and talked to company spokesperson Alex Brown, who acknowledged that gift card fraud was a significant concern and said she would look into Weiners situation.

Its certainly an issue thats on our radar, Brown said. Its something thats impacting all retailers.

On Jan. 29, Weiner got a letter in the mail from Walgreens with a gift card in the amount of $478, the value of the cards she had originally purchased from the store plus activation charges.

While she was glad to get a refund, it still wasnt quite what she had been hoping for. Instead of a use-anywhere Vanilla Visa card like the ones she had originally purchased, this one could only be redeemed at a Walgreens store.

I gave the Walgreens gift card to my daughters family, Weiner said. They can use it to buy shampoo or whatever.

Although some gift card retailers may provide refunds to consumers who are victims of this sort of fraud, the ultimate liability lies with the financial institution that issued the card in the first place, according to Breyault.

Its the credit card companys responsibility to make the consumer whole under federal regulations, he said.

While security measures have improved, Breyault thinks both card issuers and retailers need to do more to protect the integrity of gift cards and crack down on this kind of scam.

It happens far too often, Breyault said.

I wish so much of the responsibility of awareness and policing this kind of fraud didnt fall on consumers, but unfortunately thats the case.

For her part, Weiner said she still feels rattled by the whole experience.

Its always a weird feeling when you are violated like that, she said.

Its kind of worrisome. Ive stopped doing online banking, which I did before. I just dont trust it.

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Former Irish premier Bertie Ahern says a referendum on a united ireland is 'inevitable'

The former Irish premier Bertie Ahern says a border poll on a united Ireland is 'inevitable' following Sinn Fein's electoral success.

Mary Lou McDonald's first General Election as leader of the republican party saw the party romp home with huge gains across the country in constituencies where they had historically never had a representative.

After all first preferences were counted, the left-wing republican party had taken 24.5 per cent of the vote, compared to 22 per cent for Fianna Fail and 21 per cent for Fine Gael.

No one party will have enough seats for an outright majority both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have already ruled out forging a coalition with Sinn Fein due to its historic links to the IRA.



Due to the historic shift, focus has now turned to the question of a united Ireland, a long held aim of Sinn Fein, and the basis for their 'programme for government'.

Bertie Ahern, the former taoiseach and Fianna Fail leader said on Monday, as counting continued: 'I think a border poll is inevitable.

'If you ask me when that is, I think it's probably five years off at least.

'I think the Sinn Fein position is it should be held within five years.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald celebrates with supporters after topping the poll in Dublin central at the RDS count centre in Dublin, Ireland

Thomas Gould of Sinn Fein tops the poll and is elected in Cork North Central, during the Irish General Election count at the Nemo Rangers GAA Club in Cork, Ireland

'So let's say we are talking about it being five years off, I do not think you are going to get the circumstances where it would become a condition of government that it has to be held in the short term.

'But it will be inevitable over this decade.'

On BBC Radio 4's World At One he warned against rushing towards a poll on reunification before extensive preparatory work had been completed.

'It can only be done when the preparation is done, when the case is made, when it has been well explained, when people know the outcome,' he said.

'To try and push it or rush it, which some people will probably try to do, would be a grave mistake.'

Sinn Fein has gained the most first preference votes in Ireland's 2020 election held on Saturday, however a united Ireland and Brexit did not feature as major voting issues.

Domestic crises in the health and housing sector are widely accepted as the two main drivers behind the shift in Irish politics.

Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill said on Monday it was a 'good day' when asked about her party's electoral successes.

'We have provided solutions in terms of the health crisis and the housing crisis so we will want to work with others to establish a programme for government that reflects how we can deliver upon those promises,' she said.

'But obviously we are Irish republicans, there is no secret of that, and clearly we will have asks in terms of the republican project, clearly we will have asks in terms of the kind of society we want to build.

Ireland's Fianna Fail party leader Micheal Martin after voting in the Irish General Election in Ballinlough, near Cork, Ireland

Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar speaks to the media as he arrives for the Irish General Election count at Phibblestown Community Centre in Dublin on Sunday

'At the end of the day, we have said there should be a unity referendum within five years so that's the position we will take into negotiations.'

Ms O'Neill added she 'absolutely' feels this election has pushed Irish reunification closer.

'We have said things are going in this direction for some time, I think for a number of reasons not least the fact that the unionist majority, the very basis on which this northern state was founded, is gone and has been gone over the last number of elections.

'But I think this is a seismic election shift in the 26 counties, Sinn Fein are the largest party in the 26 counties, I think that is significant in itself.'

The Sinn Fein leader set about trying to form a left-coalition government on Monday, contacting smaller progressive parties and independents, however even if all were on board, she is likely to still fall shy of the 80 seats needed to form a government and could be forced to look to one of the traditional parties, Fine Gael or Fianna Fail, for assistance.

Fianna Fail, likely to hold the most seats in the Irish parliament after the votes have been counted, has sent mixed messages over whether or not it would be willing to work with Sinn Fein, with some representatives saying the coalition is 'inevitable' while others say the two party's policies are 'untenable' together.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 10)  Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo and 25 members of the opposition were cleared of sedition and other complaints, while former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and ten others were charged for their supposed involvement in an ouster plot against President Rodrigo Duterte.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) made the confirmation Monday, three days after the resolution was "quietly" released by the agency's panel of prosecutors.

The panel on Monday charged Trillanes and ten other individuals supposedly responsible for circulating the "Ang Totoong Narcolist" videos with conspiracy to commit sedition before the Metropolitan Trial Court of Quezon City.

Advincula, who admitted being the hooded "Bikoy" shown in the series of viral videos linking Duterte and his family to the illegal drug trade, was also among those charged.

The others who violated Article 141 of the Revised Penal Code were Joel Saracho, Boom Enriquez, a certain "Monique," Yolanda Ong, Vicente Romano III, Fr. Albert Alejo, Fr. Flaviano Villanueva, Jonnel Sangalang, and Eduardo Acierto.

Advincula previously made a turnaround in his earlier claims against the Dutertes and said the opposition was behind the series of videos, prompting the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group to file a complaint before the DOJ on July 18 and cite his testimonies.

But in a statement, DOJ spokesperson Undersecretary Mark Perete said the panel found "interlocking pieces of proof" that Advincula and the other respondents made an effort to "create hatred or revenge against the President and his family with the end in view of toppling and destabilizing the current administration."

"These videos, the panel found, were made by respondents Advincula; Saracho (who acted as their narrator); Enriquez (videographer) and his assistant "Monique; Ong and Romano (scriptwriters). The Panel likewise found that Fr. Alejo prepared the JesCom (Jesuit Communications) where the videos were taken," the statement read.

It added that the allegations of Advincula and the admissions of Trillanes bolstered the "existence of a grand conspiracy between and among some respondents to commit the crime of sedition."

A total of 36 respondents were initially identified in the complaint against then opposition senators, Otso Diretso senatorial bets and church officials who were previously accused of sedition, cyber libel, libel, estafa, harboring a criminal, and obstruction of justice. These included Senators Risa Hontiveros, Leila de Lima, and former Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino, who were all cleared in these cases.

Trillanes called the new case "absurd," and noted that the Duterte administration is using the issue to "weaponize the law" against the opposition.

"This latest absurd case is but another proof that the Duterte administration continues to weaponize the law against the political opposition, critics and the media. But let me assure Mr. Duterte that we will not be cowed by such political persecution," he said.

"On the contrary, we are more determined and motivated to continue our fight for democracy and the rights of our people," Trillanes added.

Meanwhile, Vice Presidential Spokesperson Barry Gutierrez said the dismissal of the complaint was "a definitive condemnation of the fabricated accusations and trumped-up charges" brought against Robredo in the past.

"[This] stands as vindication of what [Robredo] has maintained from the start: that these 'charges' were never anything more than lies and political harassment."
LONDON  Britains health department declared the new coronavirus an imminent threat to public health and announced a series of measures to combat the spread of the virus, a sign of the seriousness with which local health authorities are treating the fears of the epidemic.

The newly introduced measures  which apply only in England  are among the first in Europe to allow the health authorities to keep individuals in quarantine if public health professionals believe they may be at risk of spreading the virus.

Four more people in Britain linked to a cluster of transmissions at a ski resort in France tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases in the country to eight, the health department announced Monday.

The coronavirus has sickened more than 40,500 people, mostly in China, and at least 910 people have died since the virus first emerged in Wuhan, a city of 11 million people in the central part of the country late last year. Since that time, the virus has also spread to at least 24 countries, triggering fears of a global pandemic.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 10

Trend:

A delegation of the State Committee on Work with Diaspora, who is on a visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, met the Azerbaijanis living in Ar-Riyadh city.

The meeting begun with the national anthem of Azerbaijan. Then, Shahin Abdullayev, ambassador of the Republic of the Azerbaijan to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia delivered an opening speech and highly appreciated the visit of the delegation of the State Committee to this country.

Then, a video commercial related to the work of the State Committee was demonstrated. Fuad Muradov, the Committee Chairman gave information about the activity of the state body led by him, and about the implemented projects.

He also drew attention to the establishment of the Coordination Council according to the Strategic Route Map, establishment of the Azerbaijani houses for compatriots living abroad, launching diaspora map and recruitment of the campaign materials on the social networks and etc.

He called on Azerbaijanis to be active on social networks and join a large diaspora family.

Expressing their satisfaction with the visit of the State Diaspora Committee to the Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijanis spoke about the challenges they face, and exchanged views on the projects to be implemented in this country with the purpose of promotion of our national cultural values in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Some of the problems were clarified right at the meeting.
Uninterrupted power, secure data transmission, refurbishing of 11 airports - including two along the India-China border - and subsidy on rent are some of sops the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir is offering to the investors for its proposed information technology hub, a new policy document shared with potential investors said.

Information technology industry is one of the pillars on which the new union territory of Jammu and Kashmir is banking on for employment generation and industrialisation.

The policy document also stated that two IT parks - one each in Srinagar and Jammu - spread over 5 lakh square feet should be ready by 2021. The IT parks are being developed in cluster mode, will have secure infrastructure and fibre optic connectivity, it further said. The police document also said that these parks will be connected to airports.

As many as 11 airports, including Fukche and Chushul, are being expanded. These two airports are used as Advanced Landing Grounds (ALG) by the military to transfer troops and material to India-China border. In fact, the Chushul ALG was used to land tanks during the 1965 war.

In addition to this, military airports along India-Pakistan border like Poonch, Rajouri, Gurex are also being expanded and opened up for civilian use, the policy document said.

Internet was snapped in the union territory on August 5 last year when the Centre scrapped the special status of Jammu and Kashmir by abrogating Article 370 and split the erstwhile state into two union territories. 2G mobile connectivity was restored in J&K last month under the Supreme Court directions, with access only to 301 government-approved websites.

In addition to the IT policy, the state administration has also released real estate policy which said that land banks created by the government will be disbursed to private developers through a transparent bidding process. Earlier, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said that no private land would be taken away for infrastructure projects.
New Delhi, Feb 10 : The Congress will hold a countrywide protest on February 16 to expose the "anti-quota" ideology of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), said Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal on Monday.

The Congress move comes in the backdrop of the Supreme Court verdict delivered on February 7 where it said that there is "no fundamental right which inheres in an individual to claim reservation in promotions", and also no court can order a state government to provide for reservation to SC/STs.

In a circular issued to all the state units and the frontal organisations, Venugopal said, "As you are well aware that the BJP and the Sangh Parivar ideology is opposed to the reservations for SC, ST and OBC communities. The BJP has been systematically attacking the provision of reservations for SC, ST and OBC through various statements and actions for the last many years." Slamming the BJP-led central government, he said "Carrying forward this agenda, the BJP government now has taken the unconstitutional stand in the Supreme Court." Sharing the Supreme Court's order, he said, "In response to the stand taken by the BJP government, it has been decided by our party to vehemently expose the BJP and agitate for the constitutional rights of the SC, ST and the OBC on February 16." Venugopal asked the party leaders to organise a dharna or public meeting or protest march under the combined aegis of the SC, ST and OBC departments, coordinated and monitored by state unit chiefs.

Congress leader of House Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury raised the issue during Zero Hour.

Attacking the government, he said, "There has been discrimination against the SCs and STs for centuries. But, the Indian government decided to give them rights after independence. What happened to this government? Why is the government trying to snatch the rights of SCs and STs." However, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi rejected the Congress's allegation against the government, saying "it was the Supreme Court's judgment and the government has nothing to do with that".

He told the Congress that it was it's government in 2012 when the matter came up in the court.
The Fianna Fail TD in Cork North-Central said the party has to be open to negotiating with any party if it is serious about developing a programme for government.

However, the Solidarity TD in the area has urged Sinn Fein and the Greens not to "rescue" Fianna Fail or Fine Gael after the election.

Fianna Fail's Padraig O'Sullivan, speaking after he retained his seat in the constituency, said that the vote sent a clear message that the public do not want another confidence and supply arrangement.

Mr O'Sullivan declined to be drawn on whether he would be happy to work with Sinn Fein, instead insisting that it is better to wait to "see how the numbers fall" instead of speculating on future governments, though he did say that all options should be considered.

"Nationally, the trend hasn't been as kind to us but, at the same time, we are happy with the work we did here," he said.

"There are a number of permutations between forming coalitions or confidence and supply with various parties; all avenues need to be explored. We do need to open to speaking to everybody. You have to be able to agree a programme for government, to agree a deal.

"There is no point in us pretending that another confidence and supply would be to everyone's satisfaction."

Solidarity TD Mick Barry urged those parties on the left not to back a Fianna Fail or Fine Gael government, though.

He was speaking after retaining his own seat in the constituency.

"The election has shown a desire among ordinary people for change," he said.

"The big beneficiaries in this election are Sinn Fein and, around the country to an extent, the Greens.

Those parties should now rule out doing deals with Fianna Fail or Fine Gael. I don't think those parties should be rescued.

The other big winner on day two of the count was Colm Burke, the Fine Gael Senator who finally won a seat after nearly four decades of trying.

The Tanaiste, Simon Coveney, was the first to pay tribute to Mr Burke.

"I think he deserves it. He is an incredibly hard-working Oireachtas member," Mr Coveney said.

"People respect the work-rate of Colm Burke and they know he will represent people on the ground from all sorts of backgrounds."

Mr Burke faced challenges including, most notably, the internal issues in Fine Gael in Cork North-Central, where Dara Murphy's representation had come under heavy scrutiny in the wake of questions about his attendance and expenses.

Mr Burke said, "I think the great thing for Cork North-Central, for Fine Gael, it is a huge boost. We have had a difficult time over the last few years and it is important we have a strong representative for those people in the constituency."

Colm Burke (FG) wipes away the tears after he was elected at the Cork North Central Count Centre at Nemo Rangers GAA Club in Cork. Picture: Dan Linehan

For others, it was time to reflect on results.

The Greens played down suggestions they would be disappointed by failing to take a seat in Cork. Just last week, party leader Eamon Ryan targeted 15 seats, including four in Munster.

Oliver Moran, the Cork North-Central candidate, said the party is proud of its performance.

He said, "It shows how far we have come. It is not a green wave, it is a desire for change.

"To pull off four in Munster, we needed two in Cork but the performance has been strong. We have proven that our mandate from the local elections was not a flash in the pan. We are consolidating on a loyal base."

Labour, too, found themselves on the outside looking in.

John Maher, who had been tipped by many as an outside bet for a seat, was eliminated early on and described himself as "gutted".

He said the new TDs have a big job to deliver for Cork North-Central.

"Enough of the noise and shouting from the ditches, people must take up the responsibility of being elected," he said.
A drunken thug who caused an easJet flight to divert to Edinburgh after he began eating his mobile phone faces a jail sentence.

Matthew Flaherty, 44, was on an easyJet flight travelling from Manchester to Iceland when he pulled a bottle of gin from a bag and began drinking it from the bottle.

Flaherty, from Middlewich, Cheshire, then shouted and swore at concerned cabin crew before issuing threats to kill them during his mid-air rant.

Matthew Flaherty, 44, was on an easyJet flight travelling from Manchester to Iceland when he pulled a bottle of gin from a bag and began drinking it from the bottle (file image)

But when the property conveyancer was warned to sit down and behave, he pulled out his mobile phone and began chewing on the electrical parts.

The phone's battery fell onto a seat and began to smoke and smoulder causing one steward to rush over and place the device into a glass of water.

The easyJet cabin crew manager was said to be 'very intimidated' by Flaherty's drunken outburst on January 28 last year.

She added how she was 'worried he would physically harm her' during his outburst.

The manager reported the incidents to the pilot who took the precaution of locking the cockpit door and diverting the plane to Edinburgh Airport.

Flaherty was subsequently met by police officers who took him to Livingston police station in where he continued his rowdy behaviour by racially abusing a constable.

Cabin crew manager reported the incidents to the pilot who took the precaution of locking the cockpit door and diverting the plane to Edinburgh Airport (pictured file image)

Flaherty appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court today where he pleaded guilty to charges including putting the safety of the flight in danger at Edinburgh Airport.

Fiscal depute Jade Doidge told the court the easyJet flight departed from Manchester Airport to Keflavik in Iceland at around 4pm with six crew and 142 passengers on board.

Flaherty was soon seen grabbing a bottle of gin from an overhead locker and drinking from the bottle before he started chatting up a woman.

When the female passenger ignored him, Flaherty began shouting and swearing telling her to 'f**k off' and that he was 'going to kill her family'.

Cabin crew attempted to calm the situation but the drunk thug soon turned on them by stating 'I am going to kill you if you do not shut up'.

The air crew were said to be 'quite shaken' by Flaherty's behaviour and the court heard none of the cabin staff had 'dealt with anything as extreme before'.

During the drunken outburst Flaherty also began struggling with a male passenger after the man had attempted to retrieve a bag from the overhead locker.

And as the plane began its decent into Edinburgh, Flaherty pulled out his mobile phone and began pulling it apart and chewing on the broken parts.

Ms Doidge said: 'The accused took his mobile phone out and began to destroy it with his bare hands cutting himself in the process.

'He was seen putting parts of it into his mouth and chew them up.

'The battery was discarded onto a a seat and as a result it began to heat up and began smouldering.'

Cabin crew reacted swiftly to the 'potential of fire' on board the plane and 'scooped the battery up and placed it in a cup of water to cool it down'.

Flaherty was met by police when the plane landed and after being taken to Livingston police station he abused a PC and threatened to find and kill his family.

Solicitor Richard Souter, defending, said his client was 'aghast at his behaviour' on the flight and had little recollection of the events due to mixing alcohol with painkillers he had taken for a trapped nerve.

Mr Souter said the combination of medication and alcohol had 'an adverse effect on his behaviour'.

Sheriff Thomas Welsh QC said Flaherty had carried out an 'extremely serious offence' and deferred sentence to next month for the preparation of reports.

The sheriff added: 'This is an extremely serious case and you should prepare yourself for custody.'

Flaherty pleaded guilty to conducting himself in a disorderly manner by shouting, swearing, uttering threats and failing to comply with cabin crew instructions on an easyJet flight between Manchester and Keflavik, Iceland.

He also admitted to acting in a manner likely to endanger the aircraft by taking apart a mobile phone, placing parts in his mouth, causing damage to the battery whereby it began to smoulder placing persons on the plane at risk of injury and danger to the safety of the aircraft.

Flaherty also pleaded guilty to a third charge of shouting, swearing, uttering threats of violence and racial remarks at Livingston police station on the same date.
Passengers wait in their cabins on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship at Daikoku Pier where it is being resupplied and newly diagnosed coronavirus cases taken for treatment as it remains in quarantine after a number of the 3,700 people on board were diagnosed with the new coronavirus, in Yokohama, Japan on Feb. 10, 2020. (Carl Court/Getty Images)

Coronavirus Infections on Quarantined Cruise Ship Surge to 135

Sixty-five more people tested positive for the novel (new) coronavirus on the quarantined cruise ship in Japan, health officials said on Monday.

Earlier in the day, the cruise ship operator said 66 cases were confirmed.

There are now 135 confirmed cases among 3,700 passengers and crew members.

The test results from patients aboard the Diamond Princess were confirmed by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Princess Cruise Lines said in a statement, adding it is following the agencys disembarkation protocols to provide medical care for these new cases.

The company listed 66 new patients: 45 Japanese, 11 American, four Australian, three Filipino, and one each from Canada, Britain, and Ukraine. Japans Ministry of Health said one person might have been counted twice.

The ministry said the people would be treated at hospitals off the ship. Officials also said they were considering testing the thousands of passengers on board for the virus after a two-week quarantine thats expected to end on Feb. 19. If the testing was done, any passengers who tested negative would be let off the ship.

Officials with protective suits walk from the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess in the Yokohama Port in Japan on Feb. 10, 2020. (Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)

We need to properly address the unease and concerns of our citizens, said Health Minister Katsunobu Kato, reported The Mainichi.

The ship has been quarantined in Yokohama since one case was confirmed. It left Yokohama on Jan. 20 and returned on Feb. 3 after stops in Kahoshima, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Okinawa.

Princess Cruises said on Sunday that it would refund the full fare for all guests including air travel, hotel, ground transportation, and pre-paid shore excursions. People will also get credit equal to the cruise fare paid for the voyage.

Princess Cruises also confirmed that although all gratuities will be refunded back to guests the company will ensure crew members receive their designated gratuities for the work performed. Guests have been provided a letter delivered to their stateroom with details on how to process this refund, the company said in a statement.

The cruise ship Diamond Princess, where dozens of passengers were tested positive for coronavirus, is seen at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan on Feb. 10, 2020. (Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Cruise ships represent a unique challenge because of how clustered everyone is on board, said Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organizations Health Emergencies Program, during a press conference last week at the organizations headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

A cruise ship is a very particular environment in which you can have higher levels of transmission even with a virus that isnt very efficient with transmission, he said. Thats not to say this virus wont gain more efficiency or spread more.

Outbreaks on cruise ships arent unheard of, he said, citing the norovirus outbreaks that have occurred on ships in recent years.

These arent particularly unusual, he said. It is difficult for people who get caught up in that situation, because they are confined. Its quite scary. Its quite scaryvery, very scaryto be in that situation.
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has said that he would work with a Sinn Fein justice minister to provide for the security of the country.

Speaking at an event to highlight the blocking of websites that host child abuse material, Mr Harris said that he is here to protect democracy and would work with whoever is the democratically elected minister.

Im here to keep people safe and to provide for the security of the country. So whatever minister we have Im sure well have a positive working relationship.

Mr Harris was speaking after Sinn Fein recorded the highest number of first preference votes in the general election, making it a likely coalition partner in the next government.

Separately, Mr Harris said that he favours a backdoor security key for iPhones to help fight crime.

If there was a key that could be used by law enforcement so that we could get to data and evidence of crime, that would be very useful to us, he said.

The issue of a backdoor security key is a battleground between governments, police forces, privacy advocates and technology companies.

Firms such as Apple say that to weaken encryption on iPhones and iMessage would ultimately lead to weaker security for everyone and could give criminals an upper hand.

US and UK authorities have publicly clashed with Apple and other companies over the issue, with a string of terrorist cases providing flashpoints in recent years.

Asked if he favoured legislation requiring the handing over of digital passwords in criminal investigations, Mr Harris said that it should be part of Garda resources in its efforts to fight crime.

I think in certain cases around very serious crime such as the possession of child abuse images, or other serious offenses, yes, that should be a power that is open to us, and it should therefore then be part of our ability to search for evidence.

Mr Harris was speaking as the countrys biggest internet service providers agreed to closer co-operation with Garda efforts to block websites using child abuse material. Under the initiative, sites that have child abuse imagery will show a warning message, informing the user that the site contains illegal material.

The scheme will use Interpols Worst Of list, which currently has 1,857 websites which are blocked worldwide.
In 2017, Quarde Alfred was working his nightly shift as a Beaumont ISD janitor when he paused and walked to the front of the classroom he was cleaning.

Nobody was in the building but me, Alfred said. I would literally stand in the front of the classroom like, OK, class, this is what we are going to do today.

Three years later, Alfred is back at the front of a classroom. But now, its filled with eager, antsy kindergartners listening as he reads a book.

Looking back, he cant believe how his life has changed in the last three years.

I was just happy to have a job at the time, Alfred said. I didnt have a problem cleaning toilets. I mean, I grew up poor, so I saw dirty all the time. But cleaning toilets allowed me to figure out what it is that I want to do with my life.

Alfred is one of about 36 teachers in Beaumont ISD certified by a district-funded program called Grow Our Own, which allows anyone with a bachelors degree to become a certified teacher.

It saved my life, Alfred said. I could either be one of two places  in the ground, or in a jail cell. But Im in a classroom, you know what I mean?

Alfred worked to overcome a life of struggle and poverty growing up, helping to raise his siblings while holding a job and going to school.

I grew up in a single-parent household, Alfred said. A lot of the weight fell on my shoulders because I grew up dirt poor in a one-bedroom house with six kids. And sometimes the only time we ate was at school.

But that didnt stop Alfred from graduating as valedictorian of his high school. He moved to Houston, where he got a degree in economics.

His luck didnt last long.

Every job I was getting, it didnt pan out or it was a failure, Alfred said. I remember moving to Atlanta  and when I got there I spoke with my sister, and she said, Please come home.

Eighteen hours later, a Greyhound bus with Alfred on it pulled up in Rose City at about 3 a.m.

To be honest with you, when I moved back to Beaumont I literally thought I had failed, Alfred said. I graduated valedictorian, I got my degree in economics from the University of Houston. I always wanted to go off and be an attorney and be this great person, but life happens. Life happens. Life happened to me, and I hit rock bottom. I had hit rock bottom when I moved back to Beaumont.

A few months after envisioning what it would be like to teach at the front of a classroom, Alfred was promoted to custodial supervisor and moved to the day shift at Lucas pre-K.

That changed him from being able to work at night to days, which gave him the opportunity to work with and see the children, former Lucas principal Valencia Greenwood said. And the children just dearly loved him. They would just gravitate toward Mr. Alfred because he was so kindhearted.

One evening, as Alfred cleaned Greenwoods office, she suggested he take advantage of the teacher certification program, noting that he already had a degree and worked well with children.

I told him about the program and he said, You know what, Im going to do it. Im going to do it, Ms. Greenwood, and Im going to prove to you that I can do this, said Greenwood, who is now principal of Charlton-Pollard Elementary. And so, true enough, he went through the entire program expeditiously and completed it.

While Alfreds path to the classroom is unconventional, he has used it to connect with the students.

The main reason I became a teacher was that I grew up just like a lot of the kids, Alfred said. My background is the same. My story is the same. But I wanted them to see that you can overcome your house, or your life, or your situation. I wanted them to see what success looks like.

Kelli McBride of the Texas Education Agency runs the certification for the Grow Our Own program. She said teachers like Alfred are filling a growing need for educators in the district.

As an educator myself, I see the need in the districts, McBride said. And weve got a lot of teachers that are retiring, so we always have to replenish that pool.

McBride said Alfred is an example of what the teacher certification program can do for individuals, students and the community.

When he walks in a room, and especially when I have gone to visit him in the classroom  you can tell, he really makes a difference with the students, McBride said. So that is exactly what we look for with every single candidate. They are going out there and making the difference for the schools and the students that they serve.

Alfred said connecting with students, and bridging the gap between home and school life, could be the first step in solving discipline and violence issues that have afflicted BISD and the surrounding community.

I mean they are fighting in the parking lot, outside of school, Alfred said. These kids are exposed to things that 15, 20, 30 years ago, we didnt hear about. So why would I be someone that would not set the example?

In addition to his experiences, Alfred said his identity allows him to be a positive role model for the kids.

Sometimes you have to do it alone. I am a black educated man. We are rare. I didnt have anybody that looked like me growing up, he said. I look just like them, my hair is just like them, the way that I talk, my body language is just like them. They see me and they say, He look just like me, and he is a teacher.

He uses those experiences to curtail bad behaviors and instill respect in his students, while teaching them how to cope with the stresses of life.

BISD is a predominantly black school population and sometimes, especially our boys, they dont have enough role models to say, Hey look, I come from a similar background that you had, but you aint gotta be in that classroom acting like that. You know what I mean? he said. Listen to your teacher. Shes only there to help you, not hurt you.

At the end of the day, Alfred said he can effect change starting at the beginning of a childs education and give back to a district that gave him a second chance.

I teach kindergarten, and kindergarten and pre-K  are the foundational levels. If you can reach them at this age, you have them for a lifetime, he said. If you can get them to enjoy school and understand that learning is a lifelong, not just K-12, but lifelong thing.

Alfred does not look down on his time as a janitor.

I wanted the learning environment of our students to be clean and conducive to learning, he said. I want people to know that I enjoyed being a janitor.

Greenwood said that just as she inspired Alfred to be a teacher, he could inspire students and other potential teachers alike to make the most of their situations.

Mr. Alfred definitely could serve as a role model for  the kiddos that are in this community, Greenwood said. She described Alfred and herself as products of their communities who set an example with their passion to achieve.

We really need mentors to show our kids that they too can rise above where they are, she said. Children certainly today need to see that they can rise above any situation.

isaac.windes@hearstnp.com

twitter.com/isaacdwindes
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President Donald Trump said Monday the time has come to pursue trade negotiations with the European Union which he said imposes "incredible" barriers to US goods. "Europe has been treating us very badly," Trump said at a White House event with US state governors. After a reaching a series of trade deals with Canada, Mexico and Japan, and a phase-one agreement with China, Trump said, "The next thing could be Europe, where we talk to them very seriously." Relations between the two major economies have lingered for months in a tense truce. Trump has imposed punishing tariffs on EU goods like French wine in a dispute over Airbus, and other goods in a confrontation over tax on digital giants like Google and Amazon. But so far he has held off on threatened punitive duties on European cars aimed at forcing a change in trade policy. Trump reached a ceasefire with the EU in mid-2018, when the sides agreed to pursue negotiations -- talks that so far have not resulted in anything concrete. Trump said he focused first on the dispute with China and renegotiating the continental free trade pact with Canada and Mexico because he "didn't want to do the whole world at one time." But Monday he renewed his complaints about EU trade policy, even claiming improbably that the economic bloc "was really formed so they could treat us badly." "They have barriers that are incredible," Trump said, adding, "They're ready for a deal." US President Donald Trump, speaking at a White House event with the nation's governors, says the time has come for trade talks with the European Union
Congress party on Monday gave a suspension of business notice in Rajya Sabha under rule 267 over Supreme Court ruling that quotas and reservations for promotions for government jobs is not a fundamental right.

Congress has also given adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha over the Supreme Court ruling saying "SCs and STs reservation in government services should not be diluted as it will be a disastrous blow to the backward communities of our country".

The Supreme Court had on February 7 in a potentially key judgement said that reservation in promotions for government jobs is not a fundamental right and that states cannot be directed to provide promotions to the members of the SC/ST community if it chooses not to.

"There is no fundamental right which inheres in an individual to claim reservation in promotions. No mandamus can be issued by the court directing the State government to provide reservations," a bench of the apex court comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao and Hemant Gupta said.

The Supreme Court ruling had overturned a 2012 ruling by the Uttarakhand High Court that directed the state to provide quotas to specified communities.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 22:33:35|Editor: huaxia

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Medical team members of the Second Hospital of Shangdong University swear an oath before leaving for Hubei Province in Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province, Feb. 9, 2020. Medical teams from across China have been rushing to Hubei Province to aid the novel coronavirus control efforts there. (Xinhua/Zhu Zheng)

BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities Monday stressed further increasing the production and supply of key medical prevention and control materials, strengthening the deployment of medics and developing drugs against the novel coronavirus.

Concrete measures should be taken to accept and cure more patients infected with the virus and reduce the infection and mortality rate, according to a high-level meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

The meeting of the leading group of the CPC Central Committee on the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak, which is headed by Li, ordered local authorities to encourage enterprises to increase production of medical supplies such as medical protective clothing and masks, by providing fiscal, taxation and financial policies and policies for government purchase and storage and helping solve the problem of raw materials and labor shortage.

Noting some 20,000 medical staff from across the country have been sent to Hubei Province to treat patients, the meeting asked 19 other provinces to further step up medical staff assistance to Hubei while ensuring their local virus control.

The meeting also stressed pooling strength to develop anti-virus medicines and vaccines and advance research on virus traceability and transmission, among others.

Under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, concrete and effective efforts should be made to resolutely win the war of epidemic prevention and control, the meeting said.

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.
French soldiers killed more than 30 Islamist militants in Mali in three separate operations targeting al Qaeda and Islamic State-linked groups.

According to Frances armed forces, soldiers of the French Barkhane force killed about 20 militants and destroyed several vehicles in the Gourma region. In the Liptako region, a stronghold of Islamic State, 10 more were killed.

Reuters reported that the operations involved a drone, warplanes and two helicopters.

Former colonial power France began its current military intervention in the Sahel in 2013 with Operation Serval in Mali. Serval evolved in August 2014 into Operation Barkhane, with a mandate for counterterrorism operations across the sub-Saharan region. Roughly, 4,500 French troops are already deployed, focusing activity in insurgent-hit Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.

In December, French forces killed 33 Islamist militants in Mali using attack helicopters, ground troops and a drone near the border with Mauritania where a group linked to al Qaeda operates.

French troops work alongside other groups in the Sahel, including the regional G5-Sahel Joint Force, which comprises troops from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Chad and Mauritania, and MINUSMA, the United Nations stabilization mission in Mali.

Last week, France said it planned to deploy 600 more soldiers in the fight against militants in the Sahel. The reinforcements would mostly be sent to the area between Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
I bought it at Christies

The art historian and writer Michael Peppiatt discusses his Spanish baroque table, on which he wrote two of his acclaimed books about Francis Bacon and life in Paris

I always wanted a Spanish table with ironwork stretchers. I love its combination of wood and wrought iron and thought I would work on it well. My wife and I were in Amsterdam and we went to the auction together. There were three Spanish tables up for sale. The one before this  which I thought I wanted  sold quite high. When this table came up there was just one other bidder who, mercifully, faded away quite quickly and my table just about made its low estimate. So I was doubly pleased. Im wary of getting into a bidding war, because it can push you further than you want to go. On the other hand, its frustrating if you stop and the other person carries it off at the next bid.

A Spanish walnut refectory table, of baroque style. 76 cm x 123 cm wide x 69 cm deep. Sold in March 2013 at Christies in Amsterdam

I think this is a travelling table, designed to come apart and be packed up for the road. The catalogue called it a refectory table, but those are usually quite large things found in monasteries. You can seat four people around it, no more. But to me its more attractive than the other two in the sale. I would say its both decorative and austere  which is very Spanish, of course. I guess it is late-17th or early-18th century. There are more florid versions of this style of table, but this one has all the characteristics of the era. I wrote my two most recent books sitting at it. Francis Bacon in Your Blood tells the story of my friendship with the painter, and The Existential Englishman is an indiscreet memoir about my life in Paris from the 1960s on.



The stretchers remind me of duelling swords  and writing is a duel, mostly with oneself, so I suppose thats appropriate
Kathmandu, February 10

Though the incumbent Nepal Police Inspector General Sarbendra Khanal is going on home leave on Tuesday a few days ahead of his retirement, the government did not name his successor on Monday.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had scheduled a Cabinet meeting this afternoon and it was expected to pick the new police chief as Khanal is leaving the office. However, the meeting did not make any decision in this regard, according to a source. The source says the next Cabinet meeting to be held later this week will name the new police chief.

As all the additional inspectors general are also retiring along with Khanal, the government will pick one between DIG Thakur Gyawali and DIG Tarini Prasad Lamsal to lead the organisation. Gyawali or Lamsal will also retire after around five months due to the 30-year service rule.
An unspecified number of Indians were among the nearly 3,000 passengers and crew members on board a cruise ship quarantined off Japan due to diagnosis of coronavirus cases, the Indian Embassy in Tokyo said on Monday.

IMAGE: Workers wearing protective suits walk away from the cruise ship Diamond Princess, as they prepare to transfer passengers tested positive for the novel coronavirus, at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan, on Monday. Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

Cruise ship Diamond Princess, carrying 3,711 people, arrived at the Japanese coast early last week and was quarantined after a passenger who de-boarded last month in Hong Kong was found to be the carrier of the novel virus on the ship.

Around 60 people tested positive of the virus on Monday, taking the total number of those infected on the ship to 130.

Authorities had initially tested nearly 300 people when the ship arrived at the Japanese coast.

Indian Embassy in Tokyo on Monday tweeted the information about the Indians on the ship.

IMAGE: Passengers look out the balconies of their cabins as officers of the Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) prepare for the transfer of coronavirus-affected passengers. Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

'Many Indian crew & some Indian passengers are on board the cruise ship Diamond Princess quarantined off Japan due to Coronavirus (nCoV),' it tweeted, without giving a specific number of Indians on the ship.

'In this context, any query please contact First Secretary (Consular) @IndianEmbTokyo at fscons.tokyo@mea.gov.in @CPVIndia @MEAIndia @PMOIndia,' it said.

Those on the ship have been asked to wear masks and allowed limited access to the open decks as they are advised to remain in the cabins most of the times to contain the spread of the virus, according to media reports.

Quoting an Indian crew member, identified as Binay Kumar Sarkar, on board Diamond Express, NDTV news channel said there are 160 Indian crew members and eight Indian passengers on the ship.

Sarkar, in a video recorded from the ship, appealed to the Indian government and the United Nations to segregate the Indians on board on urgent basis.

'None of them have been checked (for coronavirus),' Sarkar, a chef from Bengal, said in Hindi.

He was flanked by five of his Indians colleagues who were wearing masks.

'Please somehow save us as soon as possible. What's the point if something happens (to us)...I want to request the government of India and Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi-ji, please segregate us and bring us back home safely,' he said.

IMAGE: The cruise ship Diamond Princess, where dozens of passengers were tested positive for coronavirus, is seen at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama. Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

According to an AFP report, people on board the ship are facing difficulty due to the quarantine measures, particularly those in windowless interior cabins and others who require medication for various chronic conditions.

The Japanese health ministry said on Monday that around 600 people on board urgently needed medication, and around half received supplies over the weekend, it said.

Meanwhile, the operator of the ship on Monday vowed to refund all 2,666 passengers due to the onboard outbreak of the new coronavirus.

Carnival Japan Inc., the Japanese branch of Princess Cruise Lines Ltd., which operates the ship, said refunds will be offered via travel agencies through which the passengers made their bookings.

The company will additionally cover all costs incurred by those quarantined aboard the ship since last Tuesday, when passengers were originally scheduled to disembark at Yokohama.

'We hope this will help ease our guests' stress even just a little bit,' a company official was quoted as saying by The Asahi Shimbun newspaper.

The death toll in the coronavirus outbreak in China has gone up to 908 with 97 new fatalities reported mostly in the worst-affected Hubei province and the confirmed cases of infection crossing 40,000.

The coronavirus outbreak originated in central China's Hubei province in December last year.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the Centre and Delhi government over the participation of children and infants in demonstrations and agitations.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde took suo moto cognizance on a plea filed by bravery award winner Zen Sadavarte who had written a letter to CJI seeking directives to prevent children from participating in protests.

During the hearing, a group of women from Shaheen Bagh through their lawyer told the bench that even Greta Thunberg was a child when she became a protester and further raised concerns on how their children from the area are being termed as Pakistanis in schools.

On this, CJI questioned the counsels, how could a four-month-old go to the protest site, and how could mothers justify this and told the counsel not to make irrelevant arguments on someone calling a child Pakistani in school, NRC, CAA or detention camps.

In this proceeding, we are considering the death of a four-month-old child, CJI remarked.

We have the highest respect for motherhood, highest concern for children and they should not be treated badly, CJI said, adding, Can a 4-month-old child be taking part in such protests?.

This comes after 12-year-old Zen asked the court to prevent children's involvement in protests following the death of a four-month-old infant, whose mother was a regular at the anti-CAA and NRC demonstration at Shaheen Bagh.

The Class 7 student in her letter claimed that the incident was a violation of the deceased infant's right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.

ALSO READ: Shaheen Bagh protesters remove barricades to allow funeral procession to pass

The newborn babies need a lot of attention and care as they cannot express their pains. They are brought to the protest place which is a violation of their child rights and natural justice, she wrote while asking for a probe into the death of four-month-old Mohammed Jahan.

Zen, in her letter, has pointed out that little Jahaan's Right to Life under Article 21 of the Constitution was violated as he accompanied his mother daily for the protests and after returning home at 1 a.m. on January 30, passed away in his sleep.

Zen had received a National Bravery Award in 2019, for guiding 17 people to safety when a fire broke out at Parel's Crystal Tower.

Supreme issues notice to Centre and Delhi government on suo moto cognizance it took after a letter by a Bravery Award winner to stop children and infants' involvement in demonstration and agitations, in wake of the death of a four-month infant of a Shaheen Bagh protestor.  ANI (@ANI) February 10, 2020

If you can wait for 50 days, you can wait for one more week, the court said before posting the matter for February 17.

The observation by the top court came in two petitions - one by advocate Amit Sahni and another by BJP leader Nand Kishore Garg.

The bench, also comprising Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant, expressed anguish over the two women lawyers who made a statement that children who participated in the protests have been dubbed as 'Pakistani' and 'anti-nationals' in their schools.

"We do not want people to use this platform to further create problems," the bench said, expressing unhappiness that the lawyers were deviating from the main issue it taken cognisance of.

"We are not considering either CAA or NRC. We are not considering the abuses like Pakistani hurled in schools," the bench said.

The bench made it clear that it was not stifling anybody's voice.

"We are not stifling any voice. This is a properly constituted suo motu proceedings by the Supreme Court of India," the bench said.

The two women lawyers said they were seeking intervention on behalf of journalist and activist John Dayal and a woman who is the mother of two children.
It's no coincidence that some of the worst viral disease outbreaks in recent years -- SARS, MERS, Ebola, Marburg and likely the newly arrived 2019-nCoV virus -- originated in bats.

A new University of California, Berkeley, study finds that bats' fierce immune response to viruses could drive viruses to replicate faster, so that when they jump to mammals with average immune systems, such as humans, the viruses wreak deadly havoc.

Some bats -- including those known to be the original source of human infections -- have been shown to host immune systems that are perpetually primed to mount defenses against viruses. Viral infection in these bats leads to a swift response that walls the virus out of cells. While this may protect the bats from getting infected with high viral loads, it encourages these viruses to reproduce more quickly within a host before a defense can be mounted.

This makes bats a unique reservoir of rapidly reproducing and highly transmissible viruses. While the bats can tolerate viruses like these, when these bat viruses then move into animals that lack a fast-response immune system, the viruses quickly overwhelm their new hosts, leading to high fatality rates.

"Some bats are able to mount this robust antiviral response, but also balance it with an anti-inflammation response," said Cara Brook, a postdoctoral Miller Fellow at UC Berkeley and the first author of the study. "Our immune system would generate widespread inflammation if attempting this same antiviral strategy. But bats appear uniquely suited to avoiding the threat of immunopathology."

The researchers note that disrupting bat habitat appears to stress the animals and makes them shed even more virus in their saliva, urine and feces that can infect other animals.

"Heightened environmental threats to bats may add to the threat of zoonosis," said Brook, who works with a bat monitoring program funded by DARPA (the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) that is currently underway in Madagascar, Bangladesh, Ghana and Australia. The project, Bat One Health, explores the link between loss of bat habitat and the spillover of bat viruses into other animals and humans.

"The bottom line is that bats are potentially special when it comes to hosting viruses," said Mike Boots, a disease ecologist and UC Berkeley professor of integrative biology. "It is not random that a lot of these viruses are coming from bats. Bats are not even that closely related to us, so we would not expect them to host many human viruses. But this work demonstrates how bat immune systems could drive the virulence that overcomes this."

The new study by Brook, Boots and their colleagues was published this month in the journal eLife.

Boots and UC Berkeley colleague Wayne Getz are among 23 Chinese and American co-authors of a paper published last week in the journal EcoHealth that argues for better collaboration between U.S. and Chinese scientists who are focused on disease ecology and emerging infections.

Vigorous flight leads to longer lifespan - and perhaps viral tolerance

As the only flying mammal, bats elevate their metabolic rates in flight to a level that doubles that achieved by similarly sized rodents when running.

Generally, vigorous physical activity and high metabolic rates lead to higher tissue damage due to an accumulation of reactive molecules, primarily free radicals. But to enable flight, bats seem to have developed physiological mechanisms to efficiently mop up these destructive molecules.

This has the side benefit of efficiently mopping up damaging molecules produced by inflammation of any cause, which may explain bats' uniquely long lifespans. Smaller animals with faster heart rates and metabolism typically have shorter lifespans than larger animals with slower heartbeats and slower metabolism, presumably because high metabolism leads to more destructive free radicals. But bats are unique in having far longer lifespans than other mammals of the same size: Some bats can live 40 years, whereas a rodent of the same size may live two years.

This rapid tamping down of inflammation may also have another perk: tamping down inflammation related to antiviral immune response. One key trick of many bats' immune systems is the hair-trigger release of a signaling molecule called interferon-alpha, which tells other cells to "man the battle stations" before a virus invades.

Brook was curious how bats' rapid immune response affects the evolution of the viruses they host, so she conducted experiments on cultured cells from two bats and, as a control, one monkey. One bat, the Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus), a natural host of Marburg virus, requires a direct viral attack before transcribing its interferon-alpha gene to flood the body with interferon. This technique is slightly slower than that of the Australian black flying fox (Pteropus alecto), a reservoir of Hendra virus, which is primed to fight virus infections with interferon-alpha RNA that is transcribed and ready to turn into protein. The African green monkey (Vero) cell line does not produce interferon at all.

When challenged by viruses mimicking Ebola and Marburg, the different responses of these cell lines were striking. While the green monkey cell line was rapidly overwhelmed and killed by the viruses, a subset of the rousette bat cells successfully walled themselves off from viral infection, thanks to interferon early warning.

In the Australian black flying fox cells, the immune response was even more successful, with the viral infection slowed substantially over that in the rousette cell line. In addition, these bat interferon responses seemed to allow the infections to last longer.

"Think of viruses on a cell monolayer like a fire burning through a forest. Some of the communities -- cells -- have emergency blankets, and the fire washes through without harming them, but at the end of the day you still have smoldering coals in the system -- there are still some viral cells," Brook said. The surviving communities of cells can reproduce, providing new targets for the the virus and setting up a smoldering infection that persists across the bat's lifespan.

Brook and Boots created a simple model of the bats' immune systems to recreate their experiments in a computer.

"This suggests that having a really robust interferon system would help these viruses persist within the host," Brook said. "When you have a higher immune response, you get these cells that are protected from infection, so the virus can actually ramp up its replication rate without causing damage to its host. But when it spills over into something like a human, we don't have those same sorts of antiviral mechanism, and we could experience a lot of pathology."

The researchers noted that many of the bat viruses jump to humans through an animal intermediary. SARS got to humans through the Asian palm civet; MERS via camels; Ebola via gorillas and chimpanzees; Nipah via pigs; Hendra via horses and Marburg through African green monkeys. Nonetheless, these viruses still remain extremely virulent and deadly upon making the final jump into humans.

Brook and Boots are designing a more formal model of disease evolution within bats in order to better understand virus spillover into other animals and humans.

"It is really important to understand the trajectory of an infection in order to be able to predict emergence and spread and transmission," Brook said.

###

Other co-authors of the eLife paper are Kartik Chandran and Melinda Ng of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City; Andrew Dobson, Andrea Graham, Bryan Grenfell and Anieke van Leeuwen of Princeton University in New Jersey; Christian Drosten and Marcel Mu?ller of Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany; and Lin-Fa Wang of Duke University-National University of Singapore Medical School.

The work was funded by a National Science Foundation fellowship, the Miller Institute for Basic Research at UC Berkeley and a grant from the National Institutes of Health (R01 AI134824).
The Former President, Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings (Retired), on Sunday, advised Christians to back their prayer of thoughts and words with actions to achieve desired responses and results, as prayer alone was insufficient to solve their problems.



We often fail to engage the prayer of action, but without it, we cannot give life to the prayer of words or thoughts.

He gave the advice at the St. Paul Catholic Church in Kpehe, a suburb of Accra when the Church was climaxing the celebration for its 75th anniversary.



The celebration, marked with confirmation, cultural performances, and get-together was on the theme: Call to Holiness anchored on 1 Peter 1:15-16.



Flt. Lt. Rawlings said Christians ought to take appropriate actions to preserve human dignity, justice, and freedom.

You should be prepared to die for freedom, justice, your belief and you should be fearless like Christ to stand up for the truth. We need the courage of conviction to live by the truth.



Citing an example with the global leader of the Church, Pope Francis, he said the Pope went a step further from using prayer of words to taking an action by kissing the shoes of both contenders of political power in South Sudan and imploring them to maintain the tenuous peace that existed between them.



Im asking you with my heart, the Pope said to the President, Salva Kiir, and the opposition leader, Riek Machar, clutching his hands in front of his chest. Stay in peace, he quoted the Pope.

The Former President advised Christians to desist from ungodly practices like corruption, telling lies and succumb to being truthful and showing love to all.



Flt. Lt. Rawlings said politicians resorted to ungodly acts like telling lies and stealing, a practice that was far from that of traditional leaders.



He said traditional leaders had the ethics of life; hence, he called on everyone who wanted to enter into politics to learn from traditional leaders to be able to conduct themselves in a noble way.



I see the indignity that corruption has reduced people to and the humiliations involved. You should be fearless like Christ to stand up for the truth. We need the courage of conviction to live by it, he added.







Source: GNA









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CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio  Police are investigating more than 40 car break-ins that happened late Sunday and early Monday across Cleveland Heights.

At least 46 car windows were smashed overnight at city-owned parking lots and an apartment complex, Cleveland Heights Police Chief Annette Mecklenburg said. No arrests have been made. Investigators are searching for clues, including any surveillance videos.

Its unclear whether the same person or group smashed all the windows, but police believe the break-ins may be related, Mecklenburg said.

Cleveland Heights police are checking with surrounding cities to see if they experienced any car break-ins. Police in several other cities, including East Cleveland and Cleveland, did not immediately respond to questions about car break-ins Monday.

Calls started rolling into Cleveland Heights police about 7 a.m. Monday. The damaged cars were parked at a parking deck on Lennox Drive; off of Cedar Road near a Starbucks; and a few blocks west at a parking lot on Cedar Road, just past the restaurant Nighttown.

Other cars were vandalized at a lot on Meadowbrook Boulevard in the Cedar-Lee neighborhood, and on Warrensville Center Road north of Mayfield Road.

Cleveland Heights police are compiling a list of items stolen from each car. Jumper cables, a GPS unit and a gun were among the stolen items, Mecklenburg said.

About 12 other cars were broken into between Feb. 1 and Feb. 6 in Cleveland Heights, including some in which windows were smashed, according to police.

To comment on this story, please visit our crime and courts comments page.

Read more from cleveland.com:

Robbers shoot at three men selling ATV via OfferUp app at former Cleveland elementary school

Three young kids left alone in van at Cleveland gas station, police say

Same men committed two violent Cleveland armed robberies within 90 minutes, police say
Critics and reporters often categorize Amazon as a big tech company, and it is true that digital technology powers much of our businesses. But in todays economy, phrases like big tech and the tech industry obscure more than they enlighten. Our core business, consumer retail, involves hundreds of thousands of employees who store, ship and deliver billions of physical goods  not bits of data  via airplanes, trucks and vans around the world. We are not a social media company, a news aggregator or a forum for political advocacy (or disinformation).

While we fully agree that a company of Amazons size should be scrutinized, we also believe people should know that Amazon is doing exactly what many lawmakers and critics insist the private sector should do. And because Amazon is a large company with hundreds of thousands of employees, as well as contractual relationships with hundreds of thousands of other businesses of all sizes, what we do can generate positive ripple effects across the country.

When Amazon raised its minimum wage to $15 an hour, we made sure that every one of the companys warehouse workers, known as fulfillment center associates, got a pay increase. But the change wasnt just good for our associates. We have 500,000 employees in 40 states; when a company our size increases wages, competitors feel pressure to do the same for their own workers, or risk losing them. Indeed, after our wage-increase announcement, we received a record 848,775 applications for hourly positions.

We know $15 is not a lot. In fact, we believe $15 should be the minimum anyone in the United States is paid for an hour of labor, and in most areas of the country our starting wage is even higher. But while the debate about Amazons impact at times focuses on how our hourly jobs compare to jobs of the past, or to an idealized vision of the future, the truth is that more than 40 million Americans earn less than the lowest-paid Amazon associate. For many people, a job at one of our fulfillment centers is by far the best option available in their region. And we are proud of that  even as we agree that our political and business leaders must work together to create more and better options for all Americas workers.

One place to start: Raise the federal minimum wage to $15 from its current rate of $7.25  something only members of Congress like Senator Sanders can do. If Congress were to follow our lead, all it would take to greatly improve the lives of Americas lowest-paid workers is the presidents signature.
The Navy is forging ahead with a plan to build a 355-ship fleet, but its construction budget for new warships is set to fall significantly in 2021.

The Navy will spend $16.4 billion on two new subs, a pair of destroyers, a next-generation frigate, an amphibious transport dock, and two towing, salvage and rescue vessels next year. The submarine builds will include plans for the first of the new Columbia-class subs along with one Virginia-class.

That's according to its $161 billion budget request, including base and overseas contingency funds, that was unveiled on Monday. The Navy Department's overall budget total, which includes the Marine Corps' request, dropped by $2.9 billion in comparison with last year's request.

The Navy's shipbuilding budget would fall to $16.4 billion to buy eight vessels in 2021, down from $22 billion last year for 12 new ships. The decrease raises questions about how the service will get to its planned fleet size of 355 if it's building fewer ships than last year.

Navy and Marine Corps leaders are completing a force-structure assessment that will lay out a path for the new fleet size. Leaders have said that number is likely to top 355 ships, but could include smaller, lightly manned ships that can be built more quickly and cheaply than today's fleet of vessels.

This Navy is also moving forward with plans to invest in state-of-the-art unmanned ships, with $200 million slated for two more large unmanned surface vessels. Leaders have said unmanned ships will not be included in the 355-plus ship count expected to come out of the new force-structure assessment.

The Navy also plans to send several "less-capable" platforms into early retirement. That includes the first four littoral combat ships, which the Navy turned into non-deploying test ships in 2016, according to a Navy official familiar with the plan. Budget documents state a dock-landing ship will also be sent into early retirement.

Related: Navy Takes 1st Four Littoral Combat Ships Out of Deployment Rotation

"This budget adapts the force to reflect key changes in the security environment," budget documents state. "... Overall, the maritime system is more heavily used, more stressed and more contested than ever before."

The 2021 budget request includes a proposed 3% pay raise for troops. The Navy also plans to increase the size of its force by 7,300 -- up from 340,500 personnel to 347,800. Both the officer corps and enlisted force could get bigger as a result of that proposed change.

The extra personnel, the documents state, will help counter unmanned aircraft systems, assist with maintenance and readiness recovery, and man ships that will remain in service longer than planned, including cruisers.

The Marine Corps will face personnel cuts for the first time since the end of a post-war drawdown as leaders look to pay for more modern equipment.

Both the Navy and Marine Corps are investing in long-range and hypersonic weapons and other equipment needed to take on more sophisticated adversaries. That includes more F-35 joint strike fighter jets for each service, including 21 of the variant that can operate from aircraft carriers.

The Navy plans to buy 11 of those F-35Cs and the Marine Corps 10.

The service also wants to buy two dozen more F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and six more of the CMV-22s, modeled after the tiltrotor Osprey aircraft the Marine Corps uses on land and at sea.

Big weapon plans include nearly $5 billion in spending for more than 2,500 new ship and aircraft weapons. The Navy wants more than 500 of the various Tactical Tomahawk missiles that can be launched from surface ships and submarines. The service is also looking to increase its laser-guided Hellfire missiles from 29 purchased last year to 115 in 2021.

The Navy plans to invest $2.6 billion in 2021 into designing and constructing the third and fourth Ford-class carriers.

The request also restores funding for the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman, which the Navy announced last year it wanted to send into early retirement to save money on its refueling. The ship will now be refueled in the beginning of fiscal 2025, the Navy's budget documents state.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.

Related: Acting SecNav Hints at Fewer Aircraft Carriers in Next Ship-Count Plan
A number of scientists have recently discovered what is said to be the first-ever reliable pattern of radio bursts from deep space which is located approximately 500 million lightyears away from earth. According to reports, a mystery object has led to the phenomenon which is casing transmitted signals to be sent every 16 days. However, the scientists have ruled out the potential for alien contact.

While speaking to an international media outlet, Leon Osdtrum at the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy said that if it were an alien beacon it would have emitted more quickly as a 16-day period is not efficient for communication. However, the discovery still marks a significant moment for the astrophysicists who noticed the pattern in data from the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment radio telescope in British Columbia. It was further noted that the first case of its kind, a blast of fast radio bursts (FRBs) were reportedly emitted around one to two times per hour for four days before going silent for 12 days.

READ: Astronomers Have Discovered A Mysterious Radio Signal From A Galaxy Similar To Ours

According to reports, over 100 FRBs have been noted since 2007, however, only ten have been seen to repeat this cycle. The report further suggests that the signals have been tracked to a spiral galaxy nearly 500 million lightyears away from Earth and Duncan Lorimer, an astrophysicist reportedly said that this discovery is potentially going to take the scientists in an interesting direction to get to the bottom of these repeaters.

Signal from a galaxy similar to ours

In the month of January, astronomers also found a mysterious signal originating from a nearby galaxy that looked very similar to our own galaxy. These findings could help solve the mystery of unexplained fast radio bursts that have been sent through the universe. The radio bursts could have resulted from unknown natural phenomena or even alien life.

READ: ET Calling? Telescope Picks Up Mysterious Radio Signals From Deep Space

The galaxy in question that is sending out these signals seems to be very similar to our own. According to Sarah Burke-Spolaor, assistant professor of physics and astronomy and co-author on a new paper in Nature said that identifying the host galaxy is very important for understanding the fast-radio bursts. Only after identifying the origin of the fast radio bursts can scientists try to find out what type of environment are producing the fast-radio bursts.

READ: NASA Admits Serious Error In Spaceship That Could Have Destroyed It On Re-entry

READ: NASA Mysteriously Fixes Voyager-2's Interstellar Glitch From 11.5 Billion Miles Away
by Karlene Lukovitz @KLmarketdaily, February 10, 2020





In a snub reminiscent of its Golden Globes experience, Netflix came out of the Oscars with just two awards, despite going in with the most nominations of any studio (24), and spending an unprecedented amount (at least $70 million, according to competitors) on promoting its films for Academy Awards consideration.

Laura Dern won best supporting actress for Netflixs Marriage Story" -- Netflixs first acting Oscar. In addition, the streamers American Factory, the first production from Barack and Michelle Obamas Higher Ground Productions, won for best documentary feature.

But Marriage Story lost out on its other five nominations, including best picture, and The Two Popes missed on all three of its nominations.

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Most notably, despite 10 nominations, Netflixs critically acclaimed, $160-million The Irishman, directed by Martin Scorsese, won zero awards.

Instead, Parasite, from South Korean director Bong Joon Ho, became the first non-English-language movie to win best picture, and also took home best director and best international feature film.

Disney/Searchlight had the second-most nominations with 22, and won for best animated feature (Toy Story 4), best adapted screenplay (Taika Waititis Jojo Rabbit), best film editing and best sound editing (both for Ford v. Ferrari).

Sony (20 nominations) won for best supporting actor (Brad Pitt) and best production design, both for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Little Women won for best costume design, and Hair Love, a project that was funded through Kickstarter, scored best animated short.

At this years Golden Globes, Netflix also went in with the most nominations (34, including 17 in the film categories), but emerged with just two.

Last year, Netflixs Spanish-language drama Roma won three Oscars, including best director.
RIVERSIDE, Calif., Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Said Expertise.com, "We scored family law lawyers on more than 25 variables across five categories, and analyzed the results to give you a hand-picked list of the divorce lawyers in Riverside, CA." The selection criteria were:

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Hong Kong: Employee rights explained

An employee may claim compensation under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance for a disease if it is a personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of employment, the Government said today.

The Government made the clarification in response to media reports that employees, including medical staff, would not be entitled to protection under the ordinance if they contract the severe respiratory disease associated with a novel infectious agent.

In a statement it explained that according to the ordinance, if an employee sustains an injury or dies as a result of an accident arising out of and in the course of employment, or suffers from an occupational disease, the employer is, in general, liable to pay compensation.

Although Severe Respiratory Disease associated with novel coronavirus is not a prescribed occupational disease under the ordinance, the ordinances section 36 stipulates that an employee may still claim compensation for a disease if it is a personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of employment, the Government added.

The statement said if an employee contracts or suspects having contracted the novel coronavirus, the individual should notify their employer immediately so the employer can notify the Labour Department of the injury.

If the employee has any doubt as to whether the injury was reported, the individual can contact the departments Employees' Compensation Division directly.

As for government employees, the Government will make compensation in accordance with the relevant legislation and terms of appointment.

The Government asserted that the Labour Department understands that there are proposals to amend the law in the community and it is looking into the issue.

Nonetheless, in prescribing a new occupational disease, we have to clearly specify in the legislation what industries and processes in which the employees are engaged have definite risks posed by the disease, as well as the prescribed period within which the employees must have been employed to work in those industries and processes.

As the outbreak situation of novel coronavirus is still developing, the legislative amendment can only be made when definite medical and epidemiological information is available.

In the process, it is also necessary to discuss the details with stakeholders, including the insurance sector and employees and employers of related industries.

The department will closely monitor developments and consult stakeholders about legislative amendments in due course, the statement added.

This story has been published on: 2020-02-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
BEIJING, Feb 10  An advance team of international experts led by the World Health Organization (WHO) has left for Beijing to help investigate Chinas coronavirus epidemic, which authorities said on Monday had now claimed 908 lives on the mainland.

The outbreak has caused huge disruptions in China with usually teeming cities becoming virtual ghost towns during the past two weeks as Communist Party rulers ordered virtual lockdowns, canceled flights, closed factories and shut schools.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who made a trip to Beijing for talks with President Xi Jinping and Chinese ministers in late January, returned with an agreement on sending an international mission.

But it has taken nearly two weeks to get the governments green light on its composition, which was not announced, other than to say that WHO veteran Dr. Bruce Aylward, a Canadian epidemiologist and emergencies expert, was heading it.

Ive just been at the airport seeing off members of an advance team for the @WHO-led #2019nCoV international expert mission to #China, led by Dr Bruce Aylward, veteran of past public health emergencies, Tedros said in a tweet from Geneva on Sunday.

The WHO declared the outbreak a global emergency on Jan. 30, days after the Chinese central government imposed a lockdown on 60 million people in Hubei province and its capital Wuhan, epicenter of the virus that emerged in December in a seafood market.

The death toll from the outbreak in mainland China rose by 97, the largest in a single day so far, to 908 as of the end of Sunday, the National Health Commission (NHC) said on Monday.

Over the weekend, an American hospitalized in the central city of Wuhan became the first confirmed non-Chinese victim of the disease. A Japanese man who also died there was another suspected victim.

The coronavirus outbreak has now killed more people than the SARS epidemic did globally in 2002/2003.

Across mainland China, there were 3,062 new confirmed infections on Sunday, bringing the total number so far to 40,171.

Authorities had told businesses to tack up to 10 extra days onto holidays that had been due to finish at the end of January.

Even on Monday, a large number of workplaces will remain closed and many white-collar workers will continue to work from home.

The virus has also spread to at least 27 countries and territories, according to a Reuters count based on official reports, infecting more than 330 people. Two deaths have been reported outside mainland China  both of Chinese nationals.

The latest patients outside China include a group of British nationals staying in a mountain village in Haute-Savoie in the Alps, French health officials said, raising fears of further infections across Europe.

(Reporting by Ryan Woo and Huizhong Wu; Additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; ylie MacLellan in London and Jessica Jones in Madrid; Writing by Lincoln Feast; Editing by Michael Perry)

Topics COVID-19 China Medical Professional Liability
Oman Environmental Services Holding Company (beah), the wholly government-owned solid waste management flagship, recently signed a deal with Oman Cement Company to supply processed scrap tyres as a fuel resource for use in the latters cement kilns near Rusayl, said a report.



Beah Oman CEO Tariq al Amri highlighted the deal as a triumph for its efforts to secure the safe, sustainable and value-generating disposal of the mountains of used automotive tyres stockpiling at key dumpsites around the sultanate, added the Oman Daily Observer report.



Beah also highlighted the commercial and environmental benefits accruing to Oman Cement as it switches to a fuel alternative based on tyre waste while reducing its consumption of valuable natural gas.



Under the agreement, beah has committed to supplying around 30,000 tonnes per annum of tyre derived fuel (TDF) processed from scrap tyres in a unique application of the waste to energy (WtE) principle as a panacea to the problem of end of life automotive tyres stockpiling in the country.



The pact with Oman Cement will allow for a number of small and medium enterprises to provide support services in the form of transportation and logistics of tyres and the processed fuel, added the report.
Max Verstappen says he is not obsessed about becoming F1's youngest ever world champion this year.

Sebastian Vettel currently holds that record, but many are predicting that 22-year-old Verstappen has a good chance of aiming for it in 2020.

"Honda has done an incredible job in the past 12 to 18 months," F1 sporting director Ross Brawn told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"I think if they continue like this in 2020, Red Bull will be hard to beat."

Verstappen, too, is also up to the task, according to former Red Bull driver Robert Doornbos.

He told Gassan magazine: "Max is the Messi of motorsport. Only once in a decade does a talent like him come along. Someone who can achieve so much at such a young age is unique.

"If you think something is impossible, Max does it anyway. He has proven that he can rise above the level of his equipment.

"But if the power is not there compared to Ferrari or Mercedes, it will be difficult," Doornbos admitted.

2020 is Verstappen's last chance to beat Vettel's youngest champion record, but the Dutchman indicated to Auto Zeitung that he is not obsessed.

"It would be cool, but whether I'm youngest or not, I always want to fight for titles," he said.

"I hope to have the chance this season and will give everything for it. I'm sure we'll have a good year, but of course we have to wait and see."

(GMM)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 10)  A US State Department official said Monday that a bilateral meeting with the Philippines is being set next month to discuss Manila's plans to end the Visiting Forces Agreement.

President Rodrigo Duterte, in a expletive-laden speech on the same day, said he is not changing his decision to terminate the VFA despite attempts by US President Donald Trump and others to save the agreement.

Cooper did not confirm if the federal government has already received a formal notice from the Philippines that it is ending the VFA  something which President Rodrigo Duterte supposedly ordered last Friday, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said.

EXPLAINER: The Visiting Forces Agreement

The US official also flagged what's at stake should Manila ultimately decide to end the military pact  around 300 engagements, joint exercises, and port calls yearly.

"It's a worthy converstion to have. Of all the engagements  freedom of navigation exercises, joint trainings, and having US military personnel on the ground  does require that we have a mechanism that allows that. That's why the VFA is so important," Cooper added.

"We don't want to see any of these exercises either be reduced or disappear," he said, noting that even the subsequent Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement would be at risk as well without the VFA in place.

The VFA is the first of two agreements between Washington and Manila about the treatment of their troops when they are in the US or the Philippines. Among the provisions of the deal include lax visa and passport policies for US troops entering the country, and rights of the US government to retain jurisdiction over military personnel.

However, Cooper said communication lines remain open between military forces for coordination and the purchase of arms.

Speaking at a meeting of local executives Monday, Duterte said he was not backing down on his stand to end the agreement.

Ngayon, Ill make it public. Because public official ako. Si Trump, pati yung others, are trying to save the Visiting Forces Agreement. Sabi ko, ayaw ko, he said.

[Translation: Now, I'll make it public. Because I am a public official. Trump and the others, are trying to save the Visiting Forces Agreement. I said I don't want to.]

He added the US has been meddling in local affairs, including the case of Senator Leila de Lima

"Napakabastos ng Amerika. Talagang sobrang bastos... Imagine demanding the release of de Lima under threat that we will not receive the aid at may kulatilya that all persons who had a hand in the imprisonment of de Lima will not be allowed to go to the United States. P**** i**, ano bang nasa Amerika? he said.

[Translation: America is very rude. Extremely rude. Imagine demanding the release of de Lima under threat that we will not receive the aid plus all who had a hand in the imprisonment of de Lima will not be allowed to go to the United States. What is in America, anyway?]

Meanwhile, the Senate approved a resolution Monday to thoroughly review the VFA before coming to a decision regarding its fate.

READ: Duterte encourages Cabinet members to boycott travel to the US

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro "Teddyboy" Locsin, Jr. previously said the country would stand to lose around 10 billion in aid, such as military assistance and financial grants from the US, should the termination push through.
The Tibet Autonomous Regions more than 40 ethnic minorities account for 95 per cent of its population.

Its not in India alone that a majoritys dangerous minority complex can make sections of the minority community feel under siege. The government of Sri Lanka, whose born-again Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, is now visiting New Delhi, acts as if the majoritys Sinhalese language, culture and Buddhist religion are under constant threat from the minority Tamils and Muslims. It was even more comic (and also tragic) when the Peoples Congress of Tibet obediently passed a law last month reflecting the nervousness of more than 1.2 billion Han Chinese about the aspirations of 3.2 million Tibetans and nine million Uighurs.

The Tibet Autonomous Regions more than 40 ethnic minorities account for 95 per cent of its population. The new Ethnic Unity Act, which will become effective from May 1, resembles a similar law introduced four years ago in the autonomous territory of Xinjiang, which China has controlled since 1949 and where 90 per cent of the people are Han. Like Tibet, Xinjiang also houses multiple ethnicities. At least a million Uighur and other Muslims, along with some ethnic Kazakhs and Uzbeks, have been detained in re-education camps in recent times. The action against Muslims who are ethnically and culturally closer to Central Asians than to the Han Chinese intensified after riots in the regional capital Urumqi killed more than 200 people in 2009. Denying the crackdown, Beijing describes the facilities where detainees are held as vocational training centres. Both ethnic unity laws reiterate that these outlying regions peopled by non-Han races have always been inalienable parts of China, and that it is the common responsibility of all ethnic groups to strengthen ethnic unity, safeguard national reunification and oppose separatism.

This is not the first time that China has invoked ethnic unity. In October 2019, the General Offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee published a guideline for enhancing ethnic unity, stressing efforts to improve the governance of ethnic affairs, guaranteeing the legal rights and interests of ethnic groups and cracking down on criminal acts that sabotage ethnic unity or cause ethnic separation. Before that, in 2016, China began a campaign in Xinjiang to promote ethnic unity and called on people to respect the cultures of the minorities who call the region home. Even Xi Jinping urged the people to strengthen the community spirit and called on ethnic groups to unite. In September 2019 he emphasised the importance of patriotic teaching at an event to honour role models and groups on ethnic unity and progress. In November 2019, the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council published an outline for promoting patriotic education in what President Xi calls the New Era.

Obviously, patriotic education is seen as an important vehicle for promoting values that further ethnic unity. This is in line with New Era thinking which marks a departure from previous attempts at establishing a system of ethnic autonomy.

Understandably, Beijing resents any American criticism of these moves, especially a bill that the US House of Representatives passed by 407 votes to 1 on December 3 that seeks to impose sanctions on senior Chinese officials for their involvement in detaining Muslims. In order to become law, the bill needs to be first approved by the Senate before it goes to President Donald Trump for approval. His decision will be influenced by the post-Phase One Sino-US trade agreement talks as well as responses to the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act which became law on November 27, 2019 and obliges the US to impose sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials responsible for human rights abuses in the former British colony. Already incensed, the Chinese media describes the Uighur Bill as part of Washingtons smear campaign and urges Mr Trump not to sign it.

India-Sri Lankan relations might become equally testy given Prime Minister Narendra Modis frank speaking to Mr Rajapaksa, as earlier to his brother, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who made New Delhi his first overseas destination after taking office in November. However, there is also a danger now that evidence of Islamist fundamentalist activity in Sri Lanka culminating in last years vicious Easter Sunday bombings might tempt New Delhi to make common cause with Colombo against terrorism. Mr Rajapaksa spoke appreciatively this week of Sri Lankan police officers participating in anti-terrorism courses in Indias premier training institutes, of intelligence-sharing and counter-terrorism capacity building. No doubt these are important matters, and India cannot deny its smaller neighbour assistance in overhauling national security. But the first charge on the Rajapaksa clan which now controls Sri Lanka is the unfinished business of the disastrous 27-year civil war which ended technically on May 18, 2009 but has left behind a trail of bitterness, broken lives and shattered hopes.

Sinhalese Buddhists account for 75 per cent of Sri Lankas 23 million population. The largely Hindu Tamils are 11 per cent while Muslims (Tamil, Malay and Moor) comprise under 10 per cent. Being so well-entrenched, the majority should have the confidence to share governance with the two minority communities, knowing that it is the only way of ensuring willing cooperation. The 13th amendment to Sri Lankas constitution, introduced at Indias urging as part of Rajiv Gandhis 1987 peace accord with J.R. Jayewardene, envisaged a federal dispensation instead of the present autocracy. The Rajapaksa brothers  Gotabaya and Mahinda  have a dual task. Not only must they tackle what the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission signally failed to achieve, but they must also live down their own roles during those 27 years of bloodshed. There may not be enough energy left for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to rise again, but surly silence should not be mistaken for peaceful cooperation. The Rajapaksas decision to drop the Tamil version of Sri Lankas national anthem from last weeks Independence Day celebrations doesnt augur well for the future.
T enants were left horrified after discovering a black substance on their wall was the blood of an upstairs neighbour who had been dead for more than a week.

AJ McCrady said his Minnesota apartment had "smelt horrible recently" in a tweet accompanied by pictures of the mysterious dark stains.

After calling a maintenance team, he and his flatmate were shocked to discover the fluid came from the decomposing body of their neighbour, who had died in his sleep.

Authorities said the blood had leaked through the floor and into Mr McCrady's flat.

Mr McCrady wrote on Twitter: My apartment has smelt horrible recently and I just found out the guy living above me has been dead for over a week.

"And before you ask, his body was just discovered after his blood leaked down the ceiling into our apartment this morning."

He later added: "All I really know of the situation is the man upstairs died in his sleep.

"His body decomposed and somehow managed to seep into our apartment. We've heard leaking in our bathroom so when we saw this we called maintenance immediately."

A video was also posted by his flatmate, showing the blood had dripped from the ceiling to the floor.

Mr McCrady then said that a maintenance worker "had no idea" what it was at first.

He added: "He wiped off a little on the wall to examine it and still really couldn't determine anything.

"He went upstairs into the apartment above to see if they had the same problem and that's when the body got discovered."

A Minneapolis Police spokesman told local media that a body was discovered in the apartment.

Officers found nothing suspicious when they investigated the scene.
The picture of a young soldier with ears sticking out has forever graced the kitchen of Tom Gormleys mother-in-law. When asked about it, she would reply that her younger brother Donnie disappeared during the Korean War at the tender age of 18. In 2010, he and his wife, Sandy, set out to discover what happened to her uncle and to bring him home. The details of their journey are now shared to the reading public within the pages of A Korean War Odyssey (published by Trafford Publishing).

Set in the backdrop of the Korean War, this story is about Corporal Donald Matney  his exploits and sudden disappearance, and the efforts made to locate and bring him home. The saga begins with a Korean history lesson told through the eyes of Woo Kyu-Chul, a fictional young refugee and family fleeing the North Korean invasion. It continues from the viewpoint of a soldier on occupation duty in Japan suddenly thrust into a violent police action. Both characters witness the atrocities of war until one disappears. Through alternating perspectives, the account continues weaving what happened during the war with how the author and his wife identified this missing young soldier. Throughout, the major events of the war flow through the researched perspectives of the participants.

We researched many personal accounts, books and government records about the war and Uncle Donnie's regiment, Gormley shares. Our journey took us to Washington, DC; Seoul, Korea; and many places in between. But slowly, carefully, step-by-step, we reconstructed the short life of Sandys uncle Donnie, identified his remains, and returned him to rest by his mothers side in Missouri.

The publication of A Korean War Odyssey aims to give readers a glimpse of what may have happened during the Forgotten War. The author adds that anyone who desires to understand why the U.S. still has presence on this Asian peninsula today will gain a new viewpoint through the book. Visit https://www.amazon.com/Korean-War-Odyssey-Bringing-Donnie/dp/1490799206 to get a copy and http://www.TomGormley.com for more information about the author.

A Korean War Odyssey

By Tom Gormley

Hardcover | 6 x 9in | 244 pages | ISBN 9781490799193

Softcover | 6 x 9in | 244 pages | ISBN 9781490799209

E-Book | 244 pages | ISBN 9781490799186

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

A native of Ohio, Tom Gormley graduated from Ohio State University with a degree in engineering and Colorado State University with a masters in business administration. With over 40 years business experience in high tech industries, Gormley is now writing. An avid history buff, his first story tells of locating his wifes uncle, Corporal Donald Matney, long lost during the Korean War. He and his wife, Sandy, call Colorado their home. They love to travel.

Trafford Publishing, an Author Solutions, LLC, author services imprint, was the first publisher in the world to offer an on-demand publishing service, and has led the independent publishing revolution since its establishment in 1995. Trafford was also one of the earliest publishers to utilize the Internet for selling books. More than 10,000 authors from over 120 countries have utilized Traffords experience for self publishing their books. For more information about Trafford Publishing, or to publish your book today, call 1-888-232-4444 or visit trafford.com.
Vijay Sethupathi is undoubtedly one of the busiest actors in the South film industry. The actor will be seen in multiple projects this year and will also be making his grand Bollywood debut with Aamir Khan starrer Laal Singh Chaddha. While the 42-year-old star has a lot in store for us, at the moment, we are super excited about his film Uppena which is set to release on April 2.

Just a while back, his baddie look from the film was unveiled on social media by the makers and we have to admit that Sethupathi looks terrifyingly stylish as Rayanam. His intense avatar will definitely impress one and all. The actor is playing the role of an antagonist and we are pretty sure his performance will stand out in the movie which is directed by Bucchi Babu Sana.

Sharing Vijay Sethupathi's first look poster, Mythri Movie Makers wrote on their official Twitter page, "Makkal selvan @VijaySethuOffl as 'Rayanam' from #Uppena #UppenaOnApril2nd #PanjaVaisshnavTej, @iamKrithiShetty #BuchiBabuSana." In fact, not one but two posters were released on the web and both of them pack a solid punch courtesy Sethupathi's charismatic personality.

Talking about the film, Sai Dharam Tej's brother Panjaa Vaisshnav Tej is making his acting debut in Telugu with Uppena along with actress Krithi Shetty. Jointly produced by Y. Naveen, Y. Ravi Shankar, C. V. Mohan, and Sukumar, Uppena went on floors in May last year and Vijay Sethupathi shot for his role in August. Apparently, the movie was wrapped by October.

At the launch event of the film, it was announced that debutant Manisha Raj would be playing the female lead in Uppena. However, just a week before the shooting commenced, Krithi Shetty replaced her as the leading lady in the film. Uppena also grabbed headlines when there were rumours about Sethupathi walking out of the project. But that obviously didn't happen and now the superstar is ready to wow his fans once again with his acting prowess.

ALSO READ

Master Third Look Poster: Vijay & Vijay Sethupathi's Face Off Sets The Social Media On Fire!
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday said it is "pretty clear" the government has no basis to charge Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti under the Public Safety Act and the two former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers must be freed.

Since when has becoming a "daddy's girl" and encouraging people to vote become a crime against the nation, Priyanka Gandhi asked on Twitter.

Her attack came after Abdullah's "considerable influence" over people, including the ability to attract voters to polling booths despite poll boycott calls and the potential for channelling energies of public for any cause, was cited in support of his detention under the stringent PSA.

His political opponent and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti has been accused of making anti-national statements and extending support to organisations such as the Jamaat-e-Islamia. She was also reportedly referred in the report as being called by the masses as 'Daddy's girl' and 'Kota Rani'.

"Since when has being a 'Daddy's girl' and encouraging people to vote become a crime against the nation? I would be proud to be both!" Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet.

"It's pretty clear that the government has no basis for charging Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti with PSA. They must be freed," she said.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala also attacked the government over the PSA dossier on the two leaders.

"It has now become a crime to encourage people to vote despite a call for boycott by separatists, and that too under PSA?" Surjewala asked in a tweet.

All leaders, parties and election commissioners have been committing this crime, he said.

"Where are the Supreme Court and Election Commission? 'Modi hai toh mumkin hai (If Modi is there, it is possible)," Surjewala said, taking a dig at the BJP's 2019 election campaign.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BANGKOK, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Security forces on Sunday shot dead the mass shooter who went on a rampage in northeastern Thailand that left at least 21 people dead, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said.

"Thank you police and army for ending the situation. Shooter shot dead!!!" Anutin said in a post on Facebook. (Reporting by Juarawee Kittisilpa; Writing by Matthew Tostevin)
Delhi election results: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is worried over the Election Commission's (EC) revision of the final voter turnout to 62.59% in Delhi election 2020 on Sunday evening. Whereas, the exit polls estimated an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) sweep in Delhi.

The national capital had registered a 67.47% voter turnout in 2015 assembly polls. Fearing low voter participation and several exit polls forecasting a landslide for Arvind Kejriwal's AAP, BJP's New Delhi also conducted a meeting late Saturday evening.

ALSO READ: Delhi Election Results: How and when to watch results; live streaming on AajTak, India Today

Among prominent party leaders, those present were BJP president J P Nadda, home minister Amit Shah, Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari, Delhi election in-charge and Union minister Prakash Javadekar, Union minister Nityanand Rai. Polling in every assembly was reviewed.

Exit polls projected AAP returning to power in the national capital with a clear majority, whereas BJP is likely to remain a distant second. According to India Today-Axis My India exit poll, AAP is set to win 59-68 seats, whereas BJP might be limited to 2-11 seats. While BJP might improve its seat tally in comparison to the last Assembly elections in Delhi.

ALSO READ: Delhi Election Result 2020: Counting time; how to check; when will trends start coming in?

The BJP had left no stone unturned while canvassing for the Delhi Assembly elections. Around 240 BJP MPs, 70 union ministers and even several chief ministers campaigned for several days in the national capital. Shah himself conducted door-to-door campaigns ahead of polls in Delhi.

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari has claimed that all exit polls will be proved wrong on the result day, February 11. In a tweet, he stated that BJP will form the next government in Delhi with 48 seats.

ALSO READ: Delhi elections 2020: Counting of votes tomorrow; here are exit poll predictions
President Donald Trumps former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn leaves the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington on June 24, 2019. (Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images)

Prosecutors Ask for Flynns AttorneyClient Communications, Hint at More Charges

Prosecutors on the case against Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn asked the court to give them access to Flynns communications with his former lawyers. The prosecutors suggested they are interested in information that could help them level additional charges against Flynn.

Communications with ones lawyers are normally protected by attorney-client privilege. The prosecutors argued, however, that Flynn gave up that privilege when he accused the lawyers of giving him bad advice.

When a defendant claims that his conviction should be vacated or his sentence reduced because his counsels professional performance was so deficient that it violated the defendants constitutional rights, it follows that the defendant must have waived his attorney-client privilege in that case, the prosecutors said in a Feb. 9 court filing (pdf).

Flynns current lawyer, Sidney Powell, noted there are limitations to the prosecutors argument, but offered to work it out.

I hope we can even reach an agreement, she told The Epoch Times via email. Weve already provided the key documents and waived privilege as to those communications.

In a Feb. 9 response to the court, Powell indicated Flynn will take up to two weeks to respond to the prosecutors move (pdf).

In a Feb. 10 order, the district judge, Emmet Sullivan, gave Flynn and the prosecutors until Feb. 24 to reach an agreement on the terms of the waiver of the attorney-client privilege and the authorization of disclosure of information with respect to Mr. Flynns ineffective assistance of counsel claims.

The Plea

Flynn, former national security adviser to President Donald Trump and former head of military intelligence during the Obama administration, pleaded guilty on Dec. 1, 2017, to one count of lying to the government.

The charge stemmed from a Jan. 24, 2017, interview he gave to two FBI agents: Peter Strzok, former FBI deputy assistant director for counterintelligence operations, and Supervisory Special Agent Joe Pientka.

In his statement of offense, Flynn also admitted to lying on foreign lobbying paperwork for his now-defunct consultancy, Flynn Intel Group. He wasnt charged for this.

After Flynn hired new lawyers in 2019, he began to push back and is now asking the federal court to allow him to withdraw his plea. He argues the former lawyers gave him bad advice and led him to admit to crimes he didnt commit.

He noted that the former lawyers, from firm Covington and Burling, had a conflict of interest because they prepared the foreign lobbying paperwork and it was thus in their interest to avoid blame for it and have Flynn take the blame instead.

Covingtons spokesperson previously responded by saying it cant comment on the allegations due to the attorney-client privilege.

We do not have any further comment at this time, the spokesperson said in a subsequent email to The Epoch Times.

Additional Charge

The prosecutors suggested in their filing that they may use information from Covington to try to charge Flynn with lying in the lobbying papers if the court allows him to withdraw his plea.

Any limitation the court puts on how the attorney-client information can be used shouldnt preclude the government from prosecuting the defendant for perjury if any information that he provided to counsel were proof of perjury in this proceeding, they said.

They also asked the judge to make certain and clear that counsel [Covington] may take the necessary steps to vindicate their public reputation by addressing and defending against the defendants claims of ineffective assistance of counsel.

In 2019, Flynn already partially waived his privilege and gave the prosecutors notes from conversations he had with Covington in preparation of the lobbying papers in early 2017 as well as emails between them from that time.

Powell walked the prosecutors through some of the notes during a June 27, 2019, talk, laying out the case that Flynn was honest with the lawyers and depended on them to complete the lobbying papers correctly.

As such, Flynn declined to say that he signed the papers knowing there were lies in them.

This angered the main prosecutor, Brandon Van Grack, according to notes from the June 27, 2019, conference call (pdf).

Without [Flynns] willfully/knowingly [making false statements], it doesnt make this an offense, Van Grack said in a very heated voice, the notes state.

Flynn has since alleged that the prosecutors have tried to retaliate against him. Hes asked Sullivan to dismiss the case for government misconduct and in the interest of justice.

Update: The article has been updated with information from Judge Emmet Sullivans Feb. 10 order.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 10, 2020

Floodwaters have started to recede after inundating areas of Jakarta and displacing residents as rains reached what is expected to be their seasonal peak over the weekend.

As of 5 p.m. on Sunday, South Gunung Sahari subdistrict in Central Jakarta was the last area to be inundated with floodwaters above 150 centimeters, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) website for real-time flood information, petabencana.id.

Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head Subejo said the flooding had subsided and the number of inundated areas was decreasing.

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Anne Heche and Thomas Jane made their red carpet debut as a couple on Sunday.

The two - who are both 50-years-old - looked happy as can be as they were photographed at the Hollywood China Night Oscar viewing party at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills after dating for almost one year.

The lovebirds have an interesting story as they first became friends a decade ago when they played exes on the HBO series Hung for two years.

It's love: Anne Heche and Thomas Jane made their red carpet debut as a couple on Sunday

Kiss kiss: The two looked happy as can be as they were photographed at the Hollywood China Night Oscar viewing party at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills after dating for almost one year

Anne looked lovely in a plunging deep purple dress with sequins down the front.

Her long blonde hair was parted on the side and worn down in soft curls. Diamond earrings with hanging amethysts looked elegant.

Jane wore a smoking jacket with an open shirt that showed off his chest and tailored slacks.

The actress and actor, are 'definitely in love,' a source told People in 2019, adding that 'they're really supportive of each other and have a lot of fun' together.

They looked so close: Both held on to awards as they were arm in arm on the carpet

They go way back: The lovebirds have an interesting story as they first became friends a decade ago when they played exes on the HBO series Hung for two years

They go way back: The actors played exes who were annoyed with each other on the HBO series Hung from 2009 until 2011

Heche, a native of Aurora, Ohio, and Jane, who's from Baltimore, portrayed a divorced couple on HBO's Hung and are working on a forthcoming movie called Hour of Lead.

Their chemistry is both professional and personal, as 'they've been friends for so many years and they're so like-minded that it's an incredibly easy relationship.'

The couple has also been spotted in recent public outings, as Jane accompanied the actress to the Sarasota Film Festival April 2019 when she was given the Career Tribute award.

Still fit as can be: Anne looked lovely in a plunging deep purple dress with sequins down the front. Her long blonde hair was parted on the side and worn down in soft curls. Diamond earrings with hanging amethysts looked elegant

Their exes: On the left is Thomas and Patricia Arquette in 2005. And on the right is Anne with James Tupper in 2009

They were subsequently seen in May at the Tribeca Film Festival, where an insider told the publication that they 'arrived at the afterparty holding hands.'

Heche, who's been in films such a Six Days Seven Nights and Wag the Dog, parted ways with actor James Tupper last year following a decade-long relationship in which they welcomed son Atlas, 10.

She's also mother to 18-year-old son Homer with ex-husband Coleman Laffoon. Heche previously dated Ellen DeGeneres for three years leading up to their 2000 split.

Jane was formerly wed to actress Ayesha Hauer from 1989 until 1995; and Oscar-winner Patricia Arquette from 2006 thru 2011. He and Arquette are parents to 17-year-old daughter Harlow.
Aquaplex, a leading distributor of plumbing solutions, hardware and bathroom fixtures, said it has joined forces with Groupe Atlantic - France, a specialist thermal comfort solution provider, to introduce energy-efficient water heaters in the UAE market.



The collaboration was announced in the presence of VIPs, dignitaries and key members of both organisations. It entails Aquaplex to distribute Groupe Atlantics range of water heaters, which are designed to respond to the specific needs of the Gulf region.



Since its establishment in the UAE, Aquaplex has etched a name in the market for its qualitative products and service excellence. The recent association with Groupe Atlantic will help the brand foster its development throughout the region.



On the French collaboration, director Ravi Hinduja said: "We are pleased to associate with Groupe Atlantic and bring in their expertise to our souq distribution vertical. It is known for its HVAC products and we are confident that this new superior product offering will reinforce our presence in the market, whilst helping us foray into untapped markets."



"With the launch of the new product, we are expanding our existing range and evolving with the changing lifestyles of our customers, to offer products that live up to their unique requirements," stated Hinduja.



"While the introduction of the energy-efficient water heater is based on the market demand, it is a part of our business strategy to strengthen our presence in the industry," he added.



According to industry experts, the market for energy-efficient water heaters in the Middle East is witnessing a great demand.



The global and Middle East water heater market is poised for solid growth in the coming years and is expected to cross $2.5 billion by 2024, they stated on the sidelines of the gala launch function hosted jointly by Aquaplex and Groupe Atlantic in Dubai, Ajman, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.



Increasing demand for energy-efficient systems coupled with favourable regulatory policies toward carbon emissions will foster the Middle East water heater market. The green growth strategies adopted by the Middle East countries including solar powered heating solutions is another factor that determines the product demand, they added.



Groupe Atlantic country manager Mazen Aldabie said it was thrilled to associate with Aquaplex.

"The company is known for its cutting-edge service levels in the market, and we are confident that this collaboration will further enhance our status as the providers of world-class, energy-efficient water heaters," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Lying on the Sri Lankan Politicians scale is so unusualso frequent, shameless and easily falsified, people do not know how to react.





by Zulkifli Nazim





The vilest writer hath his readers, so the greatest liar hath his believers: and it often happens, that if a lie be believed only for an hour, it hath done its work, and there is no further occasion for it. Falsehood flies, and truth comes limping after it, so that when men come to be undeceived, it is too late; the jest is over, and the tale hath had its effect.  Jonathan Swift in 1710.









Why individuals choose to remain silent is when they believe that their view isnt held by the majority. This unwillingness to speak out is due to fear of social isolation. It is also due to the expected negative consequences of going against the perceived status quo. On the other hand, those confident their beliefs and opinions meet public opinion can voice their thoughts without fear. This also perpetuates the silencing effect on those in the minority.





This is based on the cues we have had from the mass media and our environment. In other words, we have a sixth sense of the popular public consensus on a range of issues.





News was once a scarce commodity and it is still, in countries run by dictatorships, an absence of reliable, comprehensive and quality news. But in democratic countries news and information overflow on all sides. They are suffocating us. The Greek philosopher Empedocles said : the world was made up of four elements: air, water, earth and fire. Information has become so abundant in our globalised world that it is now almost a fifth element. Politics in its media-driven and prosperity-oriented format seems to have embraced lying as a necessity.





Today, lying by politicians have taken centre stage. It is undeniable that some politicians, make all sorts of claims prior to an election, and then do the opposite after the election. Lying is ubiquitous  omnipresent.





A political lie is sometimes born out of the minds of overzealous politicians, and thence delivered to be nursed and dandled by the mob. Everyone is aware of the fact that the heads of political parties traditionally lie about their duties towards the people. They have shocked their supporters and betrayed those who placed their trust on them and in them, beyond redemption, and deceived and disappointed us all and surprisingly politicians pay a very small price for their wanton dishonesty.





Lying on the Sri Lankan Politicians scale is so unusualso frequent, shameless and easily falsified, people do not know how to react. It is hard to comprehend someone who goes so far beyond normal, occasional deceitfulness. One reason political leaders lie with impunity is that there is no longer even a reputational penalty for doing it, let alone a real sanction.





There is one essential point wherein a political liar differs from others of the faculty, that he ought to have but a short memory, which is necessary, according to the various occasions he meets with every hour of differing from himself, and swearing to both sides of a contradiction, as he finds the persons disposed with whom he hath to deal.





So the age-old adage has to be revised to read: You really can fool some of the people, all of the time.





Our nation, today, has become a laboratory for mad scientists of propaganda. Politicians here can lie with immunity and impunity which makes us part of a global pandemic. Official government lying from the top has gone viral. False, weaponized and dysfunctional information will wreak even more havoc, literally affecting everyone in the country. Public life hasnt always been a liars paradise, it now became necessary as a means to power. Politics is directly related to power. So, it is very difficult to find any politician who doesnt have any attachment to power.





As the political theorist Franz Neumann noted, Every political system impresses the mores, the conventions that embody the fundamental values of the ruling group upon its population. The greater the tensions, the more stringent the impositions become. The individual then resorts to many forms of dissimulation; and, in certain periods of history, it is the liar who becomes the hero.





While it may be true that everybody lies, at least at one time or another, but lies told by politicians and others in power are particularly pernicious, harmful and deadly, since trust is lost not only in the politician but also in the office he or she holds when the lie is discovered. Politicians in democracies have always mangled the truth: denying affairs and downplaying the ill effects of their policies. What is new, is the degree to which voters are prepared to back leaders who seem to revel in their mendacity.





The governments in power campaigned on political honesty and made a big deal of the previous government breaking promises, accusing them of being liars. It then did the same. You will see it in full form at the time of the next General Elections. They have already begun to spin unrealistic promises; and outright lies are so common that it has become the norm in the political arena. Politicians seem to have become lying experts, the premise of a democracy is ultimately broken when we dont know what we are voting for. Politicians have indeed routinely served as the supreme examples of mendacious actors and politics means by definition nothing but dirty hands.





It is not unusual for the three traditional areas of power  legislative, executive and judicial  to make mistakes and operate less perfectly than they might. This is more likely to happen under authoritarian and dictatorial regimes, where the political realm is mainly responsible for violations of human rights and attacks on liberties. But there are serious abuses of power in democratic countries too, even when laws are the result of democratic votes, governments are elected through universal suffrage and justice is, at least in theory, independent of the executive. An innocent person can be wrongly accused; parliaments can pass laws that discriminate against sections of the population and governments can pursue policies that damage a sector of society.





In a democratic framework the traditional media have often seen it as a duty to denounce such violations of human rights. Sometimes journalists have paid the price. This is why, in the phrase attributed to Edmund Burke, journalism is the Fourth Estate.





We should not forget the fact that the traditional media have been a recourse against abuses of power within the democratic structures of our societies. Thanks to the civic responsibility of this traditional media and the courage of individual journalists, this fourth estate has provided a fundamental and democratic means for people to criticise, reject and reverse decisions - unfair, unjust, illegal and sometimes even criminal decisions against innocent people. It is the voice of those who have no voice and that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy.





Giving voice to the voiceless provides a critical role to play in improving the quality of governance, especially of those who have been previously excluded or marginalised on the basis of gender, ethnicity, geography, or other identities. In particular, peoples capacity to express and exercise their views has the potential to influence governance processes. By increasing demands for accountability and transparency, voice can also influence government priorities, provide an important corrective to public policy, and encourage consensus building on key issues of national concern.





Harming living beings does not earn you the title of noble. It is he who does not harm living beings that is considered noble.  Lord Buddha.
A 25-year-old man was arrested on Monday in Maharashtra's Pune for allegedly stalking and raping a 15-year-old girl and threatening her with acid attack if she disclosed the incident, a police officer said.

The alleged incident had taken place in Wagholi area on the outskirts of the city between June and September last year.

The officer said a similar case was pending against the accused in a police station in the city.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Lashkar division, Ravindra Rasal told PTI that the accused used to stalk and harass the girl, who is a student of a school in the city.

"He had told the girl that if she meets him once, he would not harass her again. He then took her to Wagholi area and sexually assaulted her. He threatened her with an acid attack and also to kill her family members if she disclosed the incident," Rasal said, adding that the accused also shot video of the act.

The incident came to light last week after the girl confided in the counsellor of her school, who in turn informed her family members, he said.

Police have withheld the name of the accused.

"A case was registered under sections 376 (rape), 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on February 8," the ACP said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
It was way back when in 1996 that the world first saw Brad Pitt on an Academy Award nominee list - making the honour for his role as anarchist Jeffrey Goines in 12 Monkeys. Over two decades and three more nominations later, weve finally seen the actor come full circle, with a Best Supporting Actor win at the 92nd Academy Awards for the role of Cliff Booth in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.

The competition was nothing to laugh at either. Pitt beat out Tom Hanks (Fred Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), Anthony Hopkins (Pope Benedict XVI in The Two Popes), Al Pacino (Jimmy Hoffa in The Irishman), and Joe Pesci (Russell Bufalino in The Irishman). With both the Golden Globe and SAG awards under his belt though, it wasnt surprisingto see Pitt pick up the Oscar as well.

Pitt has been a regular nominee at the awards for a while now, with 6 nominations across production and acting - having won his first award for producing 2014s standout period-drama, 12 Years A Slave. This makes both his Oscar wins period films - and theres something to be said for Pitts incredible work behind the mask of Cliff Booth. Steely, nonchalant as heck, poised and subtle - it was a demanding, complicated role that absolutely no one else could have pulled off.

 Reuters

Couple this with the stratospheric direction demands of Quentin Tarantino, and youve got the role of a lifetime ahead of you.



 Reuters

"Wow," he said on stepping up to the dais, "This is really incredible." Pitt went on to make a political quip - telling the audience that his 45 seconds for the speech were 45 seconds more than the Senate gave John Bolton this week, referring to the events of President Trumps impeachment trial. He also took a moment to reminisce on his own early struggles in showbiz, before recognising and thanking the efforts of Hollywoods stunt crews and stuntmen.



"Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, ain't that the truth?" Pitt ended his speech by dedicating the win to his kids, "I adore you."
Two FDNY firefighters have died of 9/11-related illnesses on the same day, nearly two decades after working at Ground Zero following the terror attack.

Firefighters Richard Jones, 63, and Paul Deo Jr., 74, died on Friday having both retired from the force soon after the 2001 atrocity at the Twin Towers in Manhattan.

Jones served for two decades, working Ladder 25 on the Upper West Side, he was awarded three acts of merit in his career in 1992 and 1997.

Deo, a Vietnam veteran and Marine, served for 33 years mostly in Queens. He was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in 2016 and had a lung transplant last year.

Firefighters Richard Jones, 63, (left) and Paul Deo Jr., 74,(right) died on Friday having both retired from the force around a year after the 2001 terror attack on the Twin Towers in Manhattan

Deo's son Michael told News 12 that his father had inspired him to become a firefighter.

World Trade Center funerals will be held for the men at Saint Joseph's Church in Manhattan later this week.

The terrorist attack killed over 343 firefighters at Ground Zero, while Friday's deaths bring the number of those to die of 9/11-related illnesses to 218.

Commissioner Daniel Nigro said in a statement: 'Nearly two decades later, our FDNY family continues to lose remarkable men and women who never wavered in their commitment to protecting life and property in our city. Our department will never forget them or the bravery they exuded throughout their careers.'

The terrorist attack killed over 300 firefighters at Ground Zero (pictured: United flight 175 flies directly into World Trade Center Tower Two)

President Donald Trump last year signed a bill to inject $10.2 billion into the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, which covers healthcare for thousands of emergency workers who were at Ground Zero.

A study last month in the National Cancer Institute revealed that workers exposed to the air at the terror attack have an increased risk of specific cancers, including leukemia and prostate cancer.
The trial of 93-year-old Bruno D, a former Nazi SS (Schutzstaffel) security guard at the Stutthof concentration camp, commenced on October 17, 2019. The public prosecutor accuses Bruno D of aiding and abetting in the murder of at least 5,230 people.

Bruno D was part of a team of SS guards at the Stutthof concentration camp from August 9, 1944 to April 26, 1945. Due to Bruno Ds age at the timehe was just 17-18 years oldthe trial in the city of Hamburg is being held in the citys juvenile court. It is estimated that around 65,000 people were murdered by the Nazis in the Stutthof concentration camp, which is located about 40 kilometres east of Gdansk in what is now Poland.

From the start of the trial the statements made by co-plaintiffs, survivors of the Stutthof concentration camp and their relatives, have played an important role in graphically demonstrating the cruel and murderous conditions prevailing in the camp together with the role played by the SS guards.

A statement was read out in court by Judy Meisel, who is 90 years old, lives in the US and was no longer able to travel to Germany. She was transported to Stutthof as a 13-year-old girl, together with her mother, who was murdered in the gas chamber. In her statement, read out by her lawyer, she stated: Stutthof was mass murder organised by the SS and made possible by the security guards. They made sure that nobody could escape from this hell.

In his testimony the accused, Bruno D stated he had mainly served on the guard tower of the concentration camp and had never used a weapon. Although he could remember a number of details from the camp, he claimed he could not recall the smell from the crematorium where bodies had been cremated every day. Survivors of the concentration and extermination camps all say that this smell can never be forgotten.

Bruno D also claimed that he had seen no way to evade concentration camp service. His claim was contradicted by historian Stefan Hordler, who has acted as an expert witness in several similar trials.

Hordler pointed out that the SS guards played a crucial role in the functioning of a concentration camp. They had the task of shielding the camp from the outside, preventing prisoners from fleeing, leading them to their daily forced labour, as well as guarding incoming trains and the selection process that led directly to the murder of many of those transported.

Bruno Ds lawyer posed the question as to why the trial was taken place at such a late stage, given the age of the accused. The main reason is that there was never a genuine political and legal reappraisal in post-war West Germany of the countless crimes committed by the Nazis during World War II. Numerous judges, prosecutors and officials continued to hold leading positions after the war in a largely seamless transition from the Nazi era. For example, of the approximately 6,500 SS members involved in duties at the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp who survived the war, only 29 were sentenced in the post-war Federal Republic.

A new legal basis for prosecution was only first introduced in 201166 years after the liberation of the concentration camps and long after most of the perpetrators had died peacefully in their beds. The new legislation stipulated that there no longer needed to be evidence of a specific crime to be convicted of involvement in the mass murder committed by the Nazis. Instead, any form of involvement in the operations of a concentration camp was sufficient, given that the entire purpose of the camps was to facilitate extermination of inmates.

As a result, a number of former guards, including Ukrainian security guard John Demjanjuk and SS man Oskar Groning, have been sentenced since 2011 for their involvement in the murder of thousands of victims.

The importance of the trials currently taking place is primarily to show that there is no expiry date for the mass crimes of the Nazi dictatorship. This in turn provides at least some relief and justice for survivors of such atrocities and their families who have had to live with the consequences of these terrible experiences for a lifetime.

In the lawsuit against Bruno D, several of the co-plaintiffs heard so far have stressed the significance of the trial, given the current resurgence of far-right extremism and fascism in Germany, Europe and worldwide. One co-plaintiff, Christoph Ruckel, said that the trial was urgently necessary, following the murder by a neo-fascist of the state president in Hesse, Walter Lubcke, and the more recent terrorist attack on a Jewish synagogue in the city of Halle. Every far-right-wing act must be relentlessly pursued, Rucken stressed.

At the end of October, 93-year-old Marek Dunin-Wasowicz took the stand in the trial of Bruno D. Dunin-Wasowicz, who had travelled from Warsaw, was one of the political prisoners held at the Stutthof concentration camp. Together with his brothers and parents he had supported the resistance against the German occupation.

Dunin-Wasowicz described the horrific conditions in the camp and described how thousands of Jews were transported to the camp in autumn 1944, hounded and beaten by SS men. Many of them were no longer seen later in the camp, i.e., they had been immediately murdered and their bodies destroyed. He reported that the sight of human corpses was commonplace in the camp.

Dunin-Wasowicz also described conditions in the barracks, where three people had to share a bed of straw on three-storey bunks. Hunger was pervasive. Internees were given a slice of bread for breakfast and a ladle of soup for lunch. Many people forced to work under these conditions died of hunger and exhaustion. Dunin-Wasowicz was fortunate enough to survive the death march organised by the Gestapo in January 1945 and managed to escape.

According to spiegelonline, Dunin-Wasowicz declared at the end of his statement that he only appeared in court because he felt it was his duty. He had come to pay homage to all those imprisoned with him and who had died in Stutthof. He also stressed that he would do everything in his power to ensure that what he had experienced would never be repeated.

When I see whats going on in Germany, Poland, France and many other countries: with nationalism and racism on the riseand even fascismthen I am fearful, Marek Dunin-Wasowicz said Thats why I have come. I dont want revenge.

At the beginning of December, camp survivor Abraham Koryski travelled to Hamburg. The 92-year-old came from Israel with his daughter and two other relatives to testify about the sadistic atrocities committed by the SS. At the age of 16, he was sent to the Stutthof concentration camp in August 1944. Prior to his odyssey through a number of camps ending in Stutthof, Koryski had spent years in the ghetto in the old town of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. The National Socialists transported thousands of Jews from Vilnius to Ponar where they were destined for mass elimination.

Koryski was also forced to take part in a death march shortly before the end of the war. The prisoners were not permitted food, drink, warm clothes or shoes. Whoever died was shoved to the side of the road while the rest were forced to continue running. We ate snow, Koryski said. He had to sit down several times because he could no longer bear the pain. Then he got up again. He was finally freed by the intervention of the Soviet Red Army.

Koryski expressly wanted to testify in the trial. He said, Its not easy for me. I dont come out of revenge. At the same time, I do accuse; I will not forgive. I want the world to know what happened. Everyone should know everything. That is particularly important for the coming generations, he said. My revenge is my family, my relatives who are here in this room, Koryski said. They demonstrate that I managed to survive it all.

On January 24, the Hamburg regional court heard the moving testimony of another survivor of the Stutthof concentration camp. It was read out by Gunnar Solberg, the son of 97-year-old Johan Solberg from Norway. He is currently in hospital and was too ill to travel to Hamburg.

Johan Solberg belonged to the resistance movement that fought the German occupiers in Norway. He was arrested and taken to the Stutthof concentration camp with 44 men and 18 women. He stated that he still remembers the smoky-sweet smell that hovered over the camp.

Solberg arrived on August 10, 1944, and immediately faced a horrific scenario: about 15 emaciated bodies lay in front of a barrack, as a man tore the gold out of their teeth. Solberg also described the complete overcrowding of the barracks. Jewish prisoners had the worst fate. He saw hundreds of people being led to the gas chamber every day. Many of them were crying. Everyone knew where they were going, he said.

Solberg also described how all the prisoners were forced to turn out if one was punished. He witnessed 11 executions. The cruellest case involved two Russian boys who were hanged next to a Christmas tree a few days after Christmas Eve 1944.

His son reported that he saw the television series Holocaust with his father in the 1970s and asked him, Was it really that bad? The father replied, No, it was worse.

In his statement Johan Solberg stressed, I hate the Nazi system, but not individual people. Revenge doesnt solve problems.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 10) The Philippines first confirmed case of novel coronavirus has recovered and has already been discharged from the hospital, the Health Department said Monday.

In a media briefing, Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo said the patient a 38-year-old Chinese woman already tested negative for the 2019-nCoV twice.

The first case has already tested negative twice, and has in fact, been discharged, Domingo told reporters.

The Chinese national, who traveled to the Philippines from Wuhan the epicenter of the illness outbreak was discharged from the San Lazaro hospital in Manila last Saturday.

However, it remains unclear if she has already flown back to China, Domingo noted.

The coronavirus patient arrived in the country on January 21 with her partner, a 44-year-old Chinese man, who became the countrys second case and the first reported fatality of the illness outside of mainland China.

READ: DOH: Body of novel coronavirus case 'disposed of properly'

At least 314 people have been placed under watch for suspected coronavirus infection, majority of them Filipino nationals. Called "patients under investigation," they include those who came in close contact with confirmed coronavirus cases.

Worldwide, over 900 people have been killed by the new virus as of Monday, CNN reported. The coronavirus has since spread to at least 27 countries and territories outside mainland China, with over 40,000 cases reported globally as of publishing.
02/10/2020

Contact: Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 (o), 978-758-4664 (c), or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu or Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu





Just one day before the New Hampshire Democratic primary, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders has the lead among those vying for the partys nomination, but 40 percent of likely voters say they could still change their mind, according to a new poll released today by the UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion.





Sanders is leading by eight points, with the support of 25 percent of likely voters in the Democratic primary. Sanders, who won the 2016 New Hampshire Democratic primary, is up 2 percent in todays poll over the results of the poll issued Feb. 3 by the UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion. A week ago, Sanders was in a race too close to call with former Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, as all three were within four points of each other and the margin of error of the Feb. 3 poll. As of todays poll, Sanders has expanded his lead and is solidly in first place.





Mayor Pete Buttigieg has vaulted past Biden and Warren into second place, with 17 percent, up five points since a week ago. Biden, who was just a point behind Sanders Feb. 3 with 22 percent, has dropped eight points into fourth place with 14 percent. Warren is in third place, but is down from 19 percent to 15 percent.





We are now looking at a race with a leader. After the chaos surrounding the Iowa caucus, Bernie Sanders has emerged as the candidate to beat in a state he won by more than 20 points in 2016. But Mayor Pete Buttigieg is on the rise and received the biggest post-Iowa bump, said Joshua Dyck, director of the Center for Public Opinion and an associate professor of political science. With Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren trending downward, the question is, does Mayor Pete have enough time and can he woo enough of the soft support away from other candidates to catch Bernie?





U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who was tied last week with businessman Tom Steyer, has climbed two points to 8 percent to hold fifth place on her own. Steyer has dropped 1 point since last week to 5 percent. U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is down 1 point to 4 percent, businessman Andrew Yang is up 1 point to 3 percent and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick remains at 1 percent.





Among women polled, Sanders has the most support, with 29 percent, followed by Warren with 17 percent, Buttigieg with 14 percent and Biden with 9 percent. Sanders support among women likely primary voters is stronger than among men who are likely voters, 20 percent of whom said they support him, behind Biden and Buttigieg, both of whom garnered 21 percent, and Warren at 12 percent. More on how each candidate performed in the independent, nonpartisan poll  including by likely voters age, income level and their second choices for candidates  is available at www.uml.edu/polls





Even with the shifts in support for candidates over the last week and Sanders solidifying his lead, four in 10 likely Democratic primary voters still say they could change their mind and vote for a different candidate, virtually no change since the Feb. 3 poll.





Normally, electorates grow in certainty as the election nears, but both the percentage of those who said they could change their mind and that there is no change since a week ago suggests a high degree of instability for an election that will take place in one day. New Hampshire primary voters appear to be living up to their reputation of waiting until the very end to decide, said Dyck.





Sanders base of likely voters who support him remains the most stable, with 87 percent (a one-point change from Feb. 3) saying they will definitely vote for him and only 13 percent saying that they could change their mind. Among Buttigieg voters, 53 percent (down from 71 percent a week ago) say they could still change their mind, while 42 percent of Biden voters (up 10 percent) and 41 percent of Warren voters (up 3 percent) say they could vote for another candidate. Nearly two-thirds, 65 percent (up from 58 percent a week ago), of Klobuchar voters also say that they could still change their mind.





Likely Democratic primary voters changed their minds over the last week about who they think will win the partys presidential nomination. Sanders now leads with 30 percent, up six points over a week ago. The percentage of likely voters who think Biden will get the nomination has dropped 19 points since Feb. 3 from 42 percent to 23 percent. Buttigieg has gained nine points, going from 3 percent to 12 percent while Warren has dropped to 7 percent (down one point). No other candidate received higher than 2 percent.





The survey found that 41 percent of likely voters feel Biden would best continue the legacy of former President Barack Obama; Buttigieg is in a distant second at 13 percent. Forty-four percent said they think Obama  who has an 86 percent favorability rating among those polled  would support Biden in a primary, but 65 percent said they feel Obama should not endorse a presidential candidate.





Joe Biden has been running from Day 1 as Barack Obamas successor and someone who can beat Trump. While New Hampshire Democratic primary voters view Biden positively and associate him with Obama, Biden has lost their confidence that he can win the nomination and beat Trump in a general election. The fundamentals are still there for Joe Biden, but his campaign cant, to borrow a Trumpism, seem to close the deal. To these voters, Biden just doesn't look like a winner, said John Cluverius, associate director of the Center for Public Opinion and assistant professor of political science.





Given the high degree of polarization in the country and the competitiveness of elections, supporting political candidates can sometimes strain personal relationships. Thirty percent polled reported their attitudes about Trump had strained relationships, but only a small percentage said so about their support for a Democratic candidate.





There are some potentially good signs in this poll for Democrats concerned about whether the party will be able to unify. Very few voters, only 3 percent, report that supporting a candidate in the Democratic nominating contests has caused strained relationships for them with friends or family. This is a good reminder that some of the intra-party fighting that plays out on social media platforms like Twitter is not real life, said Dyck.





The nonpartisan poll of 440 likely New Hampshire Democratic primary voters was independently funded by the University of Massachusetts Lowell, which has more than 13,000 students, alumni and employees from the Granite State. The Center for Public Opinion presents events and polling on political and social issues to provide opportunities for civic engagement, experiential learning and real-world research.





The survey was designed and analyzed by the Center for Public Opinion and fielded by YouGov from Feb. 4 through Feb. 7. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 6.5 percent. Detailed poll results  including topline and full methodology  are available at www.uml.edu/polls




A population survey done every decade is beginning again, leading people to wonder how to respond to forms and interact with federal workers.



Heres a breakdown of what to know and expect.

WHAT IS IT?

Population data is collected once every 10 years, and based on the data, billions of dollars in federal funding go to hospitals, fire departments, schools, roads and other resources each year, and the data also makes a difference for legislative districts and more. The head count is mandated by the Constitution.

Even people in special groups, such as those experiencing homelessness or in prison, are counted. The census attempts to count literally every person living in the United States and five U.S. territories. It includes noncitizens and people living in the country illegally.

WHEN WILL IT HAPPEN? WHAT WILL OCCUR?

Starting in mid-March, homes will begin receiving invitations to complete the 2020 Census. You can respond online, by phone or by mail.

If no response is received, a census taker will come to your home to follow up in person. Census visits will occur from April through July, depending on circumstances.

If people respond by online, by phone or by mail, they will not be visited by a census taker, Census Bureau spokeswoman Kristina Barrett said in an email.

People are advised to respond immediately to avoid multiple mailings that have reminder materials.

WHAT QUESTIONS ARE ASKED?

Youll be asked questions ranging from How many people were living  in this house  on April 1, 2020? to others asking for those persons names, birthdays, races and family relationships.

View the questions here.

WILL THERE BE A CITIZENSHIP QUESTION?

No. President Donald Trump had proposed adding a question to the 2020 census asking about U.S. citizenship. In 2019, hundreds of thousands of households received test forms with the question, asking if a person was a citizen or not, as an experiment to gauge public reactions, NPR reported. Last summer, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the effort to add the question to the census forms.

CAN I REFUSE TO PARTICIPATE?

Youre required by law to participate, but the Census Bureau is also required by law to protect your answers.

Your responses are used only to produce statistics, census officials say. The Census Bureau does not disclose any personal information.

The American Bar Association notes the penalty for refusing to answer all or part of the census carries a $100 fine, which is $500 for false answers and can be as much as $5,000 for refusing to answer a census question. The lawyer organization noted fines are rare and seen as a last resort.

CAN MY INFORMATION BE USED AGAINST ME?

Your personal information is kept confidential, the census says. The Census Bureau is bound by federal law to protect your information, and your data is used only for statistical purposes.

Your information cant be used against you by any government agency or court, and the Census Bureau cant release identifiable information about you, your home or your business, even to law enforcement agencies, the Census Bureau notes. Other federal laws also protect you, the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan institute at the New York University School of Law, notes.

AVOIDING SCAMS: WHAT WONT BE ASKED?

The Census Bureau is reminding people that during the census, the government will never ask for your Social Security number, bank account information, credit card numbers, money or donations. It also wont contact you on behalf of a political party. The Bureau also reminds people that it wont send unsolicited emails to request your participation in the census.

HOW CAN CENSUS WORKERS BE VERIFIED?

You can verify workers' identities by checking their ID badge, which will have their photograph, a U.S. Department of Commerce watermark and an expiration date. You can also contact a Regional Census Center if you need help verifying someones identity.

(This article was written with information from the U.S. Census website and The Associated Press. For more details, click here.)
All eyes were on Lisa Rinna and her two stunning daughters Delilah Belle and Amelia Gray Hamlin as the trio strutted down the runway in Dennis Basso's newest collection for New York Fashion Week on Sunday.

The 65-year-old designer, who has been friends with Rinna and her husband Harry Hamlin for 25 years, called the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, 56, and her model daughters 'the best finale' on Instagram after the show.

While sweeping the catwalk with grace in a strapless hot pink gown with green floral accents and matching earrings, the reality TV star was joined by her 21-year-old and 18-year-old.

Show stopper: Lisa Rinna, 56, and her two stunning daughters turned heads while strutting down the runway in Dennis Basso's newest collection for New York Fashion Week on Sunday

Rinna's daughters donned coordinating looks, which were made of the same hot pink and floral materials, as they closed the show.

'When you think about generations of mothers and daughters playing dress up, this is exactly what fashion dreams are made of,' Basso told WWD ahead of the show.

The publication also reported that Rinna's girls gave her some modeling advice during a fitting and while trying on the looks Rinna said, 'Im like the queen and youre the princesses.'

Model family: Basso stressed wanting to make his 'Mommy and Me' collection a representation of 'women being strong and modern'

Hamlin, who struggled with an eating disorder, applauded the fashion industry beginning to embrace more body types.

'Its amazing that they are using curvier women in fashion shows. But theyre still lacking what people would call quote-normal  not just one extreme and another extreme,' she told the outlet.

Basso stressed wanting to make his 'Mommy and Me' collection a representation of 'women being strong and modern.'

'WHAT A MOMENT!!!!!!!!' Lisa captioned a picture of the pair walking down the runway side by side

Rinna's next generation made her proud as they displayed her confidence and turned heads with their striking resemble to her.

'WHAT A MOMENT!!!!!!!!' she captioned a picture of the pair walking down the runway side by side.

While the self-proclaimed 'proud mama' paid tribute to her girls on Instagram during their shared moment, she didn't miss a beat sliding into the audience to support the models during their next show.

Got it from their mama: Rinna's next generation made her proud as they displayed her confidence and turned heads with their striking resemble to her

Family friends: The 65-year-old designer, who has been friends with Rinna and her husband Harry Hamlin for 25 years, called the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, 56, and her model daughters 'the best finale' on Instagram after the show

Rinna was seen snapping pictures in the front row and stomping her heels in excitement when her daughters took the catwalk again for The Blonds by themselves.

Her girls looked unbelievable in coordinating baby pink ensembles, as Delilah wore a short dress that bared her legs and amble cleavage and Amelia rocked a jumpsuit with built-in thigh high boots.

As the girls walked side by side down the runway, Amelia snapped a runway of themselves down the catwalk.

Proud mama: Rinna was seen snapping pictures in the front row and stomping her heels in excitement when her daughters took the catwalk again for The Blonds by themselves

Runway ready: As she watched excitedly in the audience, Rinna showed off her toned legs in a thigh-grazing mini dress with a high neckline

As she watched excitedly in the audience, Rinna showed off her toned legs in a thigh-grazing mini dress with a high neckline.

She wore her brunette tresses in a high top knot and big hoops, while letting the sequined number shine.

For makeup, the reality star went for a super glamorous smokey eye, dark brows and a matte lip.
United States aviation security officials have denied destroying a precious traditional instrument belonging to Mali's Ballake Sissoko, after the master kora player took to social media to denounce "cultural ignorance and racism".

Ballake Sissoko is one of the world's greatest players of the kora: a traditional 21-string lute from West Africa.

When he touched down in Paris on 4 February after flying from New York at the end of a US tour, he was horrified to find that his instrument had been "completely destroyed".

The lute had been dismantled, with a note left by the agents, in Spanish, reading "intelligent security saves time," according to a post on Sissoko's Facebook page.

"Would US customs have dared to dismantle a Stradivarius?" Music producer Lucy Duran said in the post, referring to a class of fabled violins.

"These kinds of custom-made koras are simply impossible to replace," she added.

However, the US Transport Security Administration, which screens luggage for explosives, said in a statement to AFP on Sunday that it played no part in the damage.

It added that it knew agents did not search Sissoko's instrument case because "it did not trigger an alarm when it was screened," and was tagged appropriately.

Act 'reflects a kind of cultural ignorance'

The broken kora generated significant media interest and social media comment around the world this week after Sissoko suggested white musicians would have been treated better.

"This is an unprovoked and sad act of aggression, a reflection of the kind of cultural ignorance and racism that is taking over in so many parts of the world," his Facebook post said.

The musician told AFP on Sunday that his kora was broken by the time he opened his case after landing in Paris, and admitted the airline could have been responsible.

"Maybe the message is too strong and I should have said it differently," Sissoko said.

Story continues

He added, however, that he was shocked and angry that his kora was beyond repair and that whoever was responsible should have respected it.

"I'm not trying to play the media to get money," Sissoko said.

Corinne Serres, his manager, told Le Monde Afrique that it had been "an enormous shock" for him and that the damage was irreversible.

"Ballake says it's like a forced divorce and he can no longer play the instrument. It's a definitive separation."

Confusion at Mali's Culture Ministry

Adding to confusion surrounding the affair, Mali's culture ministry released a statement on Saturday saying it would "do everything legally and diplomatically possible to obtain reparation" for the offence.

But on Sunday it removed the statement from its website and issued another one that denied the earlier release came from the culture ministry, without giving further details.

Mali's Culture Minister N'Diaye Ramatoulaye Diallo told AFP on Sunday that her department's statement on Saturday was simply "fake," without clarifying further.

Sissoko said that he was contacted by the Malian embassy in Paris about the kora incident and that he plans to meet government officials when he is next in Mali.

He added that friends had told him the government appeared to have asked for "reparation" but that he was unaware the statement had been removed.



(With AFP)
Police who walk the beat in some of San Franciscos most visible crime hot spots have a new downtown office in the midst of troubled Market Street.

The Mid-Market Foot Beat Office, which San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Police Chief Bill Scott introduced in a Tuesday morning news conference, is on the ground floor of the Proper Hotel at 1100 Market St. between La Bande coffee shop and the Villon restaurant.

The small triangular office has its own entrance and will be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily for people to file reports or meet with officers. The office doesnt have jail cells, so police arent calling it a station or substation.

Officers who walk their beats in the Mid-Market neighborhood and the Tenderloin, Central, Southern and Northern districts  as well as Municipal Transportation Agency officers  are expected to use the new outpost as a mustering spot.

Scott said the office will better integrate the departments divisions into the area.

This is another way for us to connect with the community, he said. We will have another presence here.

Neighbors of the office include tech giants Uber and Twitter, as well as new residential developments, but its not uncommon to see people selling and injecting drugs or defecating on the streets.

During a visit to the office Tuesday, Breed said she hoped the officers increased visibility will make a big difference in deterring crime.

The mayor added that shes eager to change the neighborhoods gritty reality while allowing it to remain a place for people to meet friends, shop and hang out.

But when they cross the line and commit a crime, we have to do something about it, Breed said. Im beyond frustrated with open-air drug deals, people shooting up openly. Those things are a challenge. We deserve better.

Tires fall off stolen car after driver rams Oakland police vehicles

One of the stranger car chases in recent memory ended Wednesday in Oakland when the tires fell off the vehicle attempting to get away from police.

The incident began shortly after 1 p.m. on the 2200 block of 89th Avenue when Oakland police received calls reporting a man sleeping in his car with a gun. Several police cars responded, including an armored vehicle, but the man apparently remained asleep for nearly an hour and a half despite careful efforts to roust him.

When the man awoke, things kicked into high gear. Literally.

The man revved up his car and rammed into police cars before pushing past them and making a getaway, according to an account posted on social media by police spokeswoman Johnna Watson.

The short chase ended outside the Coliseum BART Station at 73rd Avenue and San Leandro Street  where, ultimately, Watson said, his vehicle came to a stop.

The reason?

The wheels literally fell off the car  all four wheels, Watson said in the video. The tires melted, and the rims broke in half.

At that time, he surrendered, Watson said.

The man arrested is in his 20s and has an outstanding criminal warrant from the Department of Corrections, police said. The car had been reported stolen in San Francisco. The gun also was stolen, and the trunk contained stolen goods.

The suspect was not identified.

Former bodybuilding cop in Santa Clara busted for alleged disability scheme

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, 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 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.

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 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 bodybuilder.

The Hendersons met investigators in 2018 at a Starbucks in Las Vegas, where Mandy Henderson appeared to be disabled, according to prosecutors. But soon afterward, the couple were 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 of house arrest and ordered to make repayments. Kenneth Henderson faces imprisonment if convicted.

A call to his attorney was not immediately returned.

Arrest made in S.F. after burglaries hit school robotics club

A 35-year-old man is accused of 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 past two months.

Police say Carlos Vallecillo of San Francisco burglarized the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts Cyberdragons team on Dec. 23 and Jan. 11, stealing equipment financed by student fundraising and donations.

The burglaries included several laptops, saws, a drill press and handheld power tools, which were taken from a shed in the schools courtyard at 555 Portola Drive, according to the teams GoFundMe page.

After the page surpassed its original fundraising goal, team members said the surplus money will be used to find a new secure and safe workspace.

The San Francisco Police Departments Burglary Detail identified Vallecillo as the suspect and arrested him on Jan. 29 near Seventh and Mission streets. He faces two counts of burglary and two counts of receiving stolen property.

The nonprofit SOTA Cyberdragons team formed in 2014 as a way to encourage students interested in STEM fields  science, technology, engineering and mathematics  according to the organizations website.

Michael Cabanatuan, John King, Steve Rubenstein and Megan Cassidy are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com, jking@sfchronicle.com, srubenstein@sfchronicle.com, megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan, @JohnKingSFChron, @SteveRubeSF, @meganrcassidy
CAIRO - Yemens warring sides quietly began U.N.-backed talks about a prisoner swap on Monday, according to the United Nations.

U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said a third round of negotiations aimed at implementing an ambitious Yemeni prisoner exchange was underway in the Jordanian capital of Amman.

Although heavy clashes continue on the ground, the resumption of talks signals modest headway in diplomatic efforts to resolve a war that has killed over 100,000 people and pushed millions to the brink of famine.

The prisoner swap deal was seen as a breakthrough during 2018 peace talks in Sweden, where Yemens Shiite Houthi rebels and the internationally recognized government agreed to several such confidence-building measures, including a cease-fire in the strategic port city of Hodeida.

Ongoing military offensives and deep-seated distrust have dogged implementation of the tentative peace plan. But more recently, hopes for a settlement have been stirred by back-channel talks in the Gulf state of Oman between Saudi Arabia, which supports the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, and the rebels.

The talks focus on interim agreements, such as re-opening Yemens main international airport in Sanaa, which was shut down by the Saudi-led coalition in 2016. In a sign of progress, two United Nations flights ferrying dozens of seriously ill Yemenis abroad for treatment took off last week from the rebel-held capital, the first since the start of the air blockade.

The conflict in the Arab worlds poorest country erupted in 2014, when the Iran-allied Houthis seized the capital and much of the countrys north. A Saudi-led coalition, determined to restore Hadis government, launched a military intervention months later. Yemens worsening humanitarian catastrophe has added a sense of international urgency to political negotiations.
The Department of Justice announced charges Monday against four members of Chinas Peoples Liberation Army for the 2017 hack of Equifax Inc., a breach that exposed the personal information of about 145 million Americans.

The announcement by Attorney General William Barr follows an indictment in Atlanta accusing the Chinese military personnel of conspiring with each other to hack into Equifaxs network and stealing sensitive data on nearly half of all U.S. citizens.

This was a deliberate and sweeping intrusion into the private information of the American people, Barr said in a statement. Today, we hold PLA hackers accountable for their criminal actions, and we remind the Chinese government that we have the capability to remove the internets cloak of anonymity and find the hackers that nation repeatedly deploys against us.

Wu Zhiyong, Wang Qian, Xu Ke and Liu Lei, who were members of the PLAs 54th Research Institute, were charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit computer fraud, conspiracy to commit economic espionage and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, authorities said.

They were also charged with two counts of unauthorized access and intentional damage to a protected computer, one count of economic espionage and three counts of wire fraud, according to the Justice Department.

In a statement following the announcement, Equifax Chief Executive Officer Mark Begor said that We are grateful to the Justice Department and the FBI for their tireless efforts in determining that the military arm of China was responsible for the cyber-attack on Equifax in 2017. It is reassuring that our federal law enforcement treats cybercrime  especially state-sponsored crime  with the seriousness it deserves.

The defendants allegedly exploited a vulnerability in the Apache Struts Web Framework software used by Equifaxs online dispute portal. They used the access to obtain login credentials that could be used to further navigate Equifaxs network and spent weeks running queries to identify the companys database structure and searching for personal information, according to the Justice Department.

The hackers ultimately stored the information in temporary output files, compressed and divided the files and downloaded and exfiltrated the data to computers outside the U.S., according to the Justice Department.

In total, the attackers ran approximately 9,000 queries on Equifaxs system, obtaining names, birth dates and social security numbers for nearly half of all American citizens, according to a statement from the Justice Department.

Over the Top

The hackers took steps to evade detection, too, routing traffic through about 34 servers in nearly 20 countries to mask their origin and using encrypted communication channels within Equifaxs network to blend in with normal network activity, authorities aid.

Chinese spying is over the top increasingly dangerous, said Jim Lewis, a senior vice president and director of the Technology Policy Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. The PLA has more personal data on Americans than anyone else.

Its the second time in a week that Barr has raised criticism of Chinas behavior on technology issues. Last week he gave a speech warning of the threats he said are posed by Chinese technology, focusing on Huawei Technologies Co.s 5G networks, and saying the U.S. should consider investing in competitors Nokia Oyj and Ericsson AB.

Unfortunately, the Equifax hack fits a disturbing and unacceptable pattern of state-sponsored computer intrusions and thefts by China and its citizens that have targeted personally identifiable information, trade secrets, and other confidential information, he said.Equifax announced in September 2017 that hackers accessed data including Social Security numbers, drivers license numbers and addresses.

Hackers gained access to the Equifax network in May 2017 and attacked the company for 76 days, according to a House Oversight Committee report. Equifax noticed red flags in late July, and then in early August contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation, outside counsel and cybersecurity firm Mandiant. The company waited until that September to inform the public of the breach.

The breach attracted scrutiny from lawmakers in Washington and criticism from consumers and banks, igniting a debate about the role credit bureaus play in lending.

With assistance from Jenny Surane.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.
To qualify for the registry, each site had to meet at least one of the following criteria: be associated with an event that has contributed significantly to history; be associated with the lives of significant historical figures; represent or possess distinctive architectural and artistic features; or have produced important historical information, said Barbara Wyatt, historian for the National Register of Historic Places. The physical appearance of each property must also resemble how it looked during its historic period of significance, Wyatt said.
New Delhi: The Popular Front of India (PFI) has prepared a plan to organise massive protests against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register for Citizens (NRC) through its political wing SDPI, revealed an intelligence report sent to Ministry of Home Affairs.

According to the report, which is in possession of Zee News, PFI has chalked out a strategy to hold protests against the CAA, NRC and National Population Register (NPR) in more than 5000 places, besides launching a door-to-door campaign.

In the name of 'will not show paper' (Kagaj nahi dikhayenge) campaign, people are being instigated as well as being informed that they should not show any paper for the upcoming government exercise of census for updating the National Population Register, said the report.

The report further said that the impact of this protest is also visible. In some areas of Andhra Pradesh and in Karnataka, reports are coming in that Muslims are not cooperating with the government officials.

Muslim organisations have staged protests in more than 2300 places in the past few days. Of these, Kerala so far witnessed 587 incidents, followed by West Bengal-221, Uttar Pradesh-202, Tamil Nadu-221, Maharashtra-201, Andhra Pradesh-118, Telangana-105, Karnataka-100, Rajasthan-87, Delhi-77, Madhya Pradesh-71, Gujarat- 48 and Bihar- 45, the report added.

Anti-CAA protests erupted in various parts of the country after Parliament gave its nod to the Citizenship Amendment Bill in December last year.

Notably, the CAA grants citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist and Christian refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.
Minh Phu is one of the leading seafood firms in Viet Nam. It is currently accused of tax evasion in the US. - Photo cafef.vn

Before Tet (Lunar New Year), media reported that the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had launched an investigation into whether MSeafood, a US division of Minh Phu Seafood, violated US trade laws by evading anti-dumping taxes on frozen warmwater shrimp from India.

A report on undercurrentnews.com on January 16 said the CBP had sent a letter to MSeafood Corporation, located in Fountain Valley, California, regarding the initiation of the investigation and interim measures.

On Thursday, MoIT said it has reported the case to the Prime Minister and also told the shrimp firm to clarify and provide all the information needed.

MoIT said, together with other relevant ministries and departments, it will talk with the US side about the issue.

MoIT said it will fight against commercial fraud, including origin fraud, however, it will do its best to protect local aquaculture firms if they are not involved in such activities.

Minh Phu said it was a pity that CBP applied the sanctions against the firm before letting it have a chance to provide Ad Hoc Shrimp Trade Enforcement Committee (AHSTE) with data and tell them directly the issues they accused the firm for.

Chairman of Minh Phu Le Van Quang said: "We will always cooperate with CBP even though their decision with us was so unfair and based on biased information, in a letter sent to the State Securities Committee.

Quang said Minh Phu has assigned lawyers in Viet Nam and in the US to actively work with CBP to provide them with the correct data so that they can give the correct decision.

Minh Phu confirmed they had not imported frozen shrimp from India to export to the US.

Last year, Minh Phu Seafoods total production was down 9.05 per cent on-year to 59,500 tonnes.

Total exports were 57,700 tonnes, worth US$643 million. The figures were down 14.69 per cent and 14.25 per cent on-year, respectively.

In the US market, the company recorded a 19.57 per cent annual drop in its exports, which retreated to $246 million.

Minh Phu Seafood shares (UPCoM: MPC) dropped another 0.9 per cent on Friday morning at VND21,500 ($0.97) per share. Its shares tumbled more than about 10 per cent after the investigation was reported.
SALINAS (BCN)

A 25-year-old gang member has been sentenced to 54 years to life in prison for a fatal shooting in Salinas in 2015, the Monterey County District Attorney's Office announced Monday.

A jury convicted Norteno gang member Angel Ramirez on Dec. 6 of first-degree murder, use of a firearm and a gang enhancement for the killing of 42-year-old Dexter Barnett Sr. around 10 p.m. on Jan. 10, 2015, prosecutors said.

A Monterey County Superior Court judge on Friday then handed down the sentence, along with a four-year sentence after Ramirez pleaded guilty to a charge for a gang-related assault on another gang member in the county jail in 2017.

The fatal shooting case started when Ramirez went to try to buy beer at a market on North Main Street and Barnett allegedly challenged him to fight.

Ramirez left the store and returned with other gang members to confront Barnett, who ultimately was able to leave because he had his 11-year-old son with him, prosecutors said.

Less than two hours later, Ramirez hit in the cover of darkness near the corner of North Main and East Lake streets and fatally shot Barnett with a .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol, then confessed the shooting to other gang members, according to the district attorney's office.

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.
Tens of thousands of people remain without power, rail lines face ongoing disruptions, Sydney's dam levels have jumped by more than half and beaches have retreated as much as 25 metres amid the wettest weather since 1990.

As agencies continue to respond to a record number of calls - Fire and Rescue NSW fielded 16,000 over a 48-hour period, and the State Emergency Service received 10,500 - meteorologists have warned of the potential for a return of wild conditions as soon as this weekend.

Sea foam whipped up by the strong surf inundates properties along Collaroy on Sydney's northern beaches. Credit:Nick Moir

Forecasters expect tropical Cyclone Uesi to reach severe category-3 strength as early as midday Tuesday as it passes north of New Caledonia. The Joint Typhoon Warning Centre is among those predicting the storm will weaken and head in a southwesterly direction towards the NSW coast.

"Intense weather is possible [from Uesi]," Ben Domensino, a meteorologist with Weatherzone, said.
Tajay Thompson, left, who came to the UK aged five, could be deported under plans defended by government minister Rishi Sunak, right (Pictures: PA)

A government minister has defended plans to deport 50 people to Jamaica, claiming many of them are rapists and violent offenders.

Critics of the proposal said minor offenders are among those to be deported, including a 23-year-old who moved to the UK aged five.

More than 170 cross-party MPs have called on the government to halt Tuesdays planned flight, while an online petition to stop the deportations until a report into the Windrush scandal is published has more than 50,000 signatures.

Prime minister Boris Johnson, who said it is right that foreign-born offenders are deported, has been under pressure to halt the flight.

There is some dispute about the crimes committed by the offenders, with the government insisting a number are serious offenders who have committed rape, manslaughter and murder, while critics of the plan say a number were convicted of non-violent offences and drug offences.

Protestors outside the Jamaican High Commission in London to demand that a flight carrying 50 deportees to Jamaica from the UK is stopped (Picture: Getty)

A leaked report commissioned by ministers and seen by the PA news agency warned the government that the policy should be reconsidered in all but the most severe cases.

Chief secretary to the Treasury Rishi Sunak told Sky News on Monday: Many of these people have committed crimes such as manslaughter, rape, other very serious offences.

Its reasonable, its proportionate, and something the British people would expect us to do for foreign criminals who have committed very serious crimes who should be sent back to their countries where they have a right to reside elsewhere.

Downing Street later revised Mr Sunaks claim that many were serious offenders to some.

The prime minister's official spokesman said: "It's correct to say that some of those on board are convicted of manslaughter, rape, violence and drug dealing.

"It is long-standing government policy that any foreign national offender sentenced to 12 months or more in prison should be considered for deportation."

Labour MP David Lammy told Sky News he knew of eight deportees convicted of non-violent crimes and nine of drug offences.

Story continues

The Guardian, which has spoken to 13 of those people due to be on board the flight, reported that many have committed only one offence, in many cases drug supply, GBH or joint-enterprise crimes.

Read more

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The Windrush scandal led to many people who had arrived in the UK from the Caribbean before 1973 being wrongfully detained, threatened with deportation, and in some cases, wrongly deported.

Mr Sunak was asked about the case of Tajay Thompson, who is facing deportation to Jamaica having served half of a 15-month sentence in 2015 after being convicted of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply at 17.

Mr Thompson, now 23 and living in south London, said he has no links to the Caribbean nation which he has only visited twice since coming to the UK aged five.

I feel like I was born here. Jamaica is not my country, Mr Thompson said, insisting he was groomed into a gang as a teenager.

Its not like Im a rapist or a murderer, Ive made a mistake when I was 17 and its now going to affect my whole life.

Chief secretary to the Treasury Rishi Sunak has defended a plan to deport 50 people to Jamaica (Picture: AFP/Getty)

Mr Sunak said he was not familiar with Mr Thompsons case but insisted all due process will have been followed.

Lawyers are launching a judicial review in a bid to halt a flight. Duncan Lewis Solicitors, which is representing 15 people due to be on the flight, is expected to file the papers at the High Court and have called for an urgent oral hearing on Monday afternoon to discuss the matter.

Bella Sankey, director of Detention Action, said: Mr Sunak is misrepresenting the individuals scheduled for deportation tomorrow.

Our information indicates that most have been convicted of drugs-related offences, often only once, and several have been groomed into county lines operations.

Labour MP Nadia Whittome organised the letter protesting against the Home Office flight which she says is intended to deport people who have been resident in the UK for decades.

The fact is that many of the individuals in question have lived in the UK since they were children and at least 41 British children are now at risk of losing their fathers through this charter flight, the Nottingham East MP said.

The government risks repeating the mistakes of the Windrush scandal unless it cancels this flight and others like it until the Windrush Lessons Learned Review has been published and its recommendations implemented.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Sunday on CBS's Face the Nation that nobody should believe unverified information Rudy Giuliani brings back from Ukraine about former Vice President Joe Biden because it could be Russian disinformation, that Attorney General William Barr has created a special "process" through which Giuliani  President Trump's personal lawyer  can feed the Justice Department his Ukraine information, and that Biden should be investigated for possible corruption in Ukraine. Host Margaret Brennan tried to keep up.

"Has the Department of Justice been ordered to investigate the Bidens?" Brennan asked. Graham said no, but earlier Sunday, Barr "told me that they've created a process that Rudy could give information and they would see if it's verified."

Brennan tried again a few minutes later: "When you're talking about being asked to do these things in a channel being open between Rudy Giuliani and the Justice Department, this sounds a lot like this is in some ways a taxpayer-funded oppo-research operation against Joe Biden. Isn't this exactly what was at the heart of the impeachment probe to begin with?" "No, not at all," Graham said. "There are plenty of people being contacted by folks from the Ukraine." He mentioned Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) inviting Giuliani's former business partner Lev Parnas to watch Trump's impeachment trial and a 2017 prank call to Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) in which Russian entertainers  who later duped Graham  offered "compromising" nude photos of Trump. "So Democrats are being played and I'm not going to be played," Graham said.

"There would be so many things wrong with Barr granting VIP direct access to Giuliani that it's hard to know where to start," writes CNN legal analyst Elie Honig. For example, what Giuliani is doing is likely illegal, he argued, and such an arrangement would clearly show Barr "to be a spineless partisan, serving Trump's every political and personal desire."

More stories from theweek.com

Bloomberg jumps to 2nd among black Democrats, Biden falls, in new poll

Why Wall Street isn't freaking out about Bernie Sanders

GOP Senate Budget Committee chairman says he's ignoring Trump's $4.8 trillion budget


"It seems like everybody in Granite City has lasting memories of the 'Old YMCA Buildingfrom learning to swim as a child, to lifting weights in the basement as a teen, while watching the night life Downtown out of those ground-level windows peering onto the streets. said Granite City Mayor Ed Hagnauer. Our people have a love affair with the place, and it was very important to us to see the building not only saved, but used well.

Funding for the project will come from a variety of sourcesaffordable housing tax credit and historic rehabilitation tax credit equity provided by Associated Bank through Boston Capital, construction financing from FCB Banks, HOME funds provided by Madison County Community Development and the Illinois Housing Development Authority and US Bank NA made a IAHTC eligible charitable contribution. Rise is the developer, Altman Charter Company is the general contractor and the architect is Rosemann & Associates.

All members of the community are welcome to attend the groundbreaking.
Representative image

A water container for transporting drinking water was exposed to be a transport for illegal liquor in Bihar. The tanker was seized from Chakia village under the Majhi police station limit in Saran district on February 8.

A total of 330 cartons of India-made foreign liquor (IMFL) was transported along with 400 pouches of country liquor. It was seized along with an escort car that was moving ahead of it. As per Times of India, SHO Mishra said, Initially driver Sonu, a resident of Indra Colony in Aligarh, tried to mislead the police by disclosing that he was carrying drinking water in the container. But, water didnt flow from the tap even after being pressed repeatedly by the cops. The search of the tanker led to recovery of liquor.

The seized consignment was reportedly supposed to be supplied during Holi when the demand for liquor will be high. The water tanker had the registration number under UP and was seized following a tip-off. It is being confirmed if this modus operandi has been used elsewhere in the state. The manufacturing, sale, and consumption of liquor was banned in the state under Bihar Excise and Prohibition Act 2016.
Palestinian-backed plans for a UN security council vote designed to show international opposition to Donald Trumps Middle East peace plan have been shelved after the US and the UK raised separate objections to the draft text.

In what was seen as a key test of the diplomatic support for Trumps ultimate deal, Tunisia, with Arab League and Palestinian support, had tabled a resolution saying it breached basic undertakings to the Palestinian people.

Without the resolution going to a vote on Tuesday, the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas instead used his speaking slot to rail against the US administration, which he has long criticised as brazenly in favour of Israels government.

Holding up a map of Trumps plan, showing small pockets of land allocated for Palestinians, Abbas described it as cutting up any future state of Palestine into Swiss cheese.

If you impose peace it will not last, it cannot last, he said of the plan, which has been endorsed by Israel.

Hours before he spoke, a few thousand Palestinians protested in the West Bank city of Ramallah and in the Gaza Strip against the US initiative. A poll released on Tuesday, the first since Trump presented his vision for peace last month, found 94% of Palestinians reject it.

Despite the Palestinian position, Israel plans to soon begin implementing some of the most contentious aspects of the deal, including annexing large sections of occupied Palestinian territory given to it under the terms. Washington has said it supports such moves, if done in consultation, while other world powers has warned that land grabs would be illegal.

In a joint statement, UN Security Council members Belgium, Estonia, France and Germany said that any annexation would also challenge the prospects for just, comprehensive and lasting peace.

The diplomatic episode over the failed resolution vote was seen as a key test of whether post-Brexit Britain would stick to its longstanding positions on the Middle East peace process or instead seek to avoid a clash with the Trump administration by abstaining on the Tunisian text.

Story continues

In an effort to find a compromise the UK on Monday called for changes to the draft text, including the insertion of a call for both Israel and the Palestinians to return to negotiations. The formula would allow the British not to endorse the Trump plan but to portray it as a possible basis for negotiations.

The US set out an array of objections to the Tunisian text and indicated it would veto the resolution if it was not rewritten.

Blocking the vote is likely to be seen as a rare diplomatic success for the US at the UN on the Middle East issue.

Washington has been putting pressure on UN security council delegations for days in an attempt to ensure it would not be isolated in Tuesdays planned vote. Such has been the pressure that last week the new Tunisian government felt forced to recall its highly experienced and respected UN ambassador, Moncef Baati.

Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law and the architect of the plan, met key diplomats on Thursday in New York to seek support and seems to have faced resistance from European countries including France which asked why the Palestinians had not been consulted.

Josep Borrell, the EUs foreign policy chief, caused a stir when he condemned the US plan, saying future Israeli annexations of West Bank settlements could not pass unchallenged, and reiterated the EUs commitment to a viable two-state solution.

Related: All that's missing from Trump's 'overly good' Middle East plan is Palestinians

Last month in the House of Commons, Boris Johnson said the Trump plan had its merits though no peace plan is perfect. The UK foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, described the plan as clearly a serious proposal, reflecting extensive time and effort.

Neither remark represented an endorsement, and British diplomats have been working to test the degree of flexibility the administration is willing to show about the plan. One western diplomat said different parts of the administration showed different degrees of flexibility.

It may be the Americans view this as similar to a real estate deal. You bid low and expect the other side to come back high, one said.

Britain has in the past broken with the US on the issue, including when Johnson was foreign secretary and the UK rejected a US proposal to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Hundreds of protesters, including students and civil society members, poured onto the streets in central Delhi on Monday protesting against the amended citizenship law and the National Register of Citizens.

The protesters, carrying placards and banners of all sizes and colours, converged at Mandi House around 11 am and started marching towards Jantar Mantar.

A large number of police and paramilitary personnel walked along with them.

"The protesters do not have permission to take out a march, but as long as they maintain peace, we do not have a problem," a police official said.

The protesters, however, claimed that they had the permission and would march till Jantar Mantar.

Children as young as 10, senior citizens, civil society members and university students filled the streets and ran the length of central Delhi, shouting anti-CAA and anti-government slogans.

They carried the photographs of freedom fighters Bhagat Singh and Chandrasekhar Azad and social reformer Savitribai Phule, and demanded that the government revoke the "black law".

The wife of Dr Kafeel Khan, who was in September acquitted of all negligence and corruption charges in the Gorakhpur BRD Hospital tragedy, and brother of Sharjeel Imam, arrested on sedition charges, also participated in the march taken out under the banner of Welfare Party of India.

Siraj Talib, the national secretary of the Welfare Party of India, "We are protesting against the CAA and NRC. We have permission, I have spoken to police and we are marching towards Jantar Mantar.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sydney, Feb. 11, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Just released, this edition of Paul Budde Communications focus report on Iceland outlines the major developments and key aspects in the telecoms markets.

Click here to access the report : https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Iceland-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses





Iceland has one of the smallest yet most progressive telecom markets in Europe. There is effective competition in the mobile and broadband markets, with a number of players having emerged to challenge the dominance of the two leading operators Siminn and Syn, which have interests across the telecom sectors. Syn was formerly Vodafone Iceland before being rebranded to reflect the companys move into broadband and broadcasting following its December 2017 acquisition of most of the telecoms and media interests of 365 Media. The new entrant Nova has become the leading player in the mobile market and has quickly expanded its presence in the fixed-line segment, particularly in fibre.

The telecom market has shown some resilience in recent years following the significant economic downturn a decade ago, supported by continuing investment in mobile and fixed-line broadband infrastructure by operators and well as by the governments Telecommunications Fund which is supporting Next Generation Access networks, particularly in rural areas.

Key developments:

Regulator increases MTRs;

Government adds ISK450 million to Telecommunications Fund for fibre network builds;

Farice planning new IRIS submarine cable to Ireland and the UK;

Syn extends 500Mb/s FttP service to northern areas of Iceland;

Siminn's LTE network delivering data at up to 300Mb/s;

LTE licensees providing 99% population coverage;

Report update includes the regulator's market data to June 2019, operator data to Q3 2019, Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Syn (Vodafone Iceland), Siminn, Nova, Tal, 365 Media.

Table of Contents

Key statistics

Regional European Market Comparison Europe Telecom Maturity Index by tier Market Leaders Market Challengers Market Emergents TMI versus GDP Mobile and mobile broadband penetration Fixed versus mobile broadband penetration

Country overview

Telecommunications market Historical overview

Regulatory environment Historical overview Regulatory authority Fixed-line developments Privatisation Interconnect Access Number Portability (NP) Carrier preselection (CPS) Mobile network developments Roaming Network sharing Mobile Termination Rates (MTRs) Licensing Mobile Number Portability (MNP) Spectrum auctions

Mobile market Market analysis Mobile statistics General statistics Mobile infrastructure Analogue networks Digital networks M2M networks Mobile data services Mobile broadband Major mobile operators Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO)

Fixed-line broadband market Market analysis Broadband statistics Government policies Fixed-line broadband technologies Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) networks Other fixed broadband services

Fixed network operators Siminn Syn

Telecommunications infrastructure Overview of the national telecom network VoIP International infrastructure

Data centres

Appendix  Historic data

Related reports





List of Tables

Table 1  Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities  Iceland  2019 (e)

Table 2  Development of telecom market revenue by sector  2009  2019

Table 3  Development of telecom market investment by sector  2009  2019

Table 4  Change in the number of fixed number portings  2013  2018

Table 5  Growth in the number of mobile numbers ported  2013  2018

Table 6  Growth in the number of mobile voice subscribers and penetration rate  2009  2024

Table 7  Change in the number of mobile voice subscribers by operator (regulator data)  2005  2019

Table 8  Change in mobile market share of voice subscribers by operator 2006  2019

Table 9  Growth in mobile voice traffic by type  2000  2019

Table 10  Change in mobile sector revenue  2007  2019

Table 11  Change in the number of prepaid and contract market subscribers  2009  2019

Table 12  Development in the number of prepaid subscribers by operator  2006  2019

Table 13  Change in the number of active mobile phone cards by type  2006  2019

Table 14  Change in the proportion of active GMS and UMTS cards  2008  2019

Table 15  Growth in the number of M2M subscriptions  2013  2019

Table 16  Growth in mobile data only traffic by operator  2008  2019

Table 17  Growth in mobile data traffic by type  2008  2019

Table 18  Increase in the number of mobile data-only subscribers  2009  2019

Table 19  Decline in the number of SMS traffic by operator  2009  2019

Table 20  Change in the number of MMS traffic by operator  2007  2019

Table 21  Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers by operator (voice and data)  2009  2019

Table 22  Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration  2009  2024

Table 23  Growth in the number of mobile broadband data only subscribers  2014  2019

Table 24  Growth in fixed internet and data revenue  2007  2019

Table 25  Development of fixed broadband subscribers by platform  2009  2019

Table 26  Broadband penetration by access type  2004  2018

Table 27  Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration  2009  2024

Table 28  Annual growth in DSL and fibre lines  2009  2019

Table 29  Change in the number of fixed broadband subscribers by operator  2008  2019

Table 30  Decline in the number of DSL subscribers by operator  2009  2019

Table 31  Change in the number of fix broadband connections by speed  2016  2019

Table 32  Change in the proportion of broadband connections by speed, new style (Mb/s)  2015  2019

Table 33  Growth in the number of fibre subscribers by operator  2009  2019

Table 34  Growth in fibre market share of fixed broadband connections  2009  2019

Table 35  Decline in the number of wireless broadband subscribers  2009  2019

Table 36  Development of Siminn Groups financial data  2009  2019

Table 37  Change in Siminn Group revenue by type  2016  2019

Table 38  Development of Syns financial data  2012  2019

Table 39  Development of Syns revenue by sector  2017  2019

Table 40  Change in the number of fixed-line access channels: PSTN and ISDN  2010  2019

Table 41  Decline in the number of fixed-lines in service and penetration  2009  2024

Table 42  Change in the number of fixed-line subscribers by operator  2015  2019

Table 43  Change in fixed-line subscriber market share by operator  2006  2019

Table 44  Decline in fixed-line traffic (PSTN/ISDN)  2009  2019

Table 45  Development of fixed-line revenue  2007  2019

Table 46  Change in the number of VoIP and IP connections  2007  2019

Table 47  International internet bandwidth  2009  2017

Table 48  Historic - Telecom market revenue by sector  2004  2009

Table 49  Historic - Telecom market investment by sector  2004  2009

Table 50  Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate  1997; 1999  2009

Table 51  Historic - Mobile subscribers: analogue and GSM  1995; 1997; 1999  2012

Table 52  Historic - Mobile voice traffic  2000  2009

Table 53  Historic - Prepaid and contract market subscribers  2000  2009

Table 54  Historic - SMS traffic by operator  2000  2009

Table 55  Historic - Internet users and penetration rate  1996  2015

Table 56  Historic - Broadband subscribers  2002  2009

Table 57  Historic - DSL subscribers by operator  2004  2009

Table 58  Historic - Fibre subscribers by operator  2005  2009

Table 59  Historic - Annual growth in DSL and fibre lines  2001  2009

Table 60  Historic - Fibre market share of fixed broadband connections  2003  2009

Table 61  Historic - Dial-up internet calls  2007  2017

Table 62  Historic - Fixed-line access channels: PSTN and ISDN  1995; 1997; 1999  2009

Table 63  Historic - Fixed-line traffic (PSTN/ISDN)  2000  2009

Table 64  Historic - Fixed-line (PSTN) subscribers by operator  2006  2016

Table 65  Historic - Proportion of broadband connections by speed, old style (Mb/s)  2015  2017

Table 66  Historic - Satellite broadband subscribers  2005  2017

Table 67  Historic - Wireless broadband subscribers  2004  2009

Table 68  Siminn Group financial data  2006  2009

Table 69  Historic - International internet bandwidth  2001  2009

List of Charts

Chart 1  Europe Telecoms Maturity Index  Market Leaders (top tier)

Chart 2  Europe Telecoms Maturity Index  Market Challengers (middle tier)

Chart 3  Europe Telecoms Maturity Index  Market Emergents (bottom tier)

Chart 4  Overall view - Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per Capita

Chart 5  Europe - mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration

Chart 6  Scandinavia and Baltics: mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration

Chart 7  Northern Europe mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration

Chart 8  Southern Europe mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration

Chart 9  Eastern Europe mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration

Chart 11  Northern Europe fixed and mobile broadband penetration

Chart 12  Southern Europe fixed and mobile broadband penetration

Chart 13  Eastern Europe fixed and mobile broadband penetration

Chart 14  Development of telecom market revenue by sector  2009  2019

Chart 15  Development of telecom market investment by sector  2009  2019

Chart 16  Growth in the number of mobile voice subscribers and penetration rate  2009  2024

Chart 17  Change in the number of mobile voice subscribers by operator (regulator data)  2005  2019

Chart 18  Change in mobile market share of voice subscribers by operator 2006  2019

Chart 19  Growth in mobile voice traffic by type  2009  2019

Chart 20  Change in mobile sector revenue  2007  2019

Chart 21  Change in the number of prepaid and contract market subscribers  2009  2019

Chart 22  Change in the number of active mobile phone cards by type  2006  2019

Chart 23  Change in the proportion of active GMS and UMTS cards  2008  2019

Chart 24  Growth in the number of M2M subscriptions  2013  2019

Chart 25  Growth in mobile data traffic by type  2012  2019

Chart 26  Decline in the number of SMS traffic by operator  2009  2019

Chart 27  Change in the number of MMS traffic by operator  2007  2019

Chart 28  Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers by operator (voice and data)  2009  2019

Chart 29  Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration  2009  2024

Chart 30  Growth in fixed internet and data revenue  2007  2019

Chart 31  Development of fixed broadband subscribers by platform  2009  2019

Chart 32  Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration  2009  2024

Chart 33  Change in the number of fixed broadband subscribers by operator  2008  2019

Chart 34  Decline in the number of DSL subscribers by operator  2009  2019

Chart 35  Change in the number of fix broadband connections by speed  2016  2019

Chart 36  Change in the proportion of broadband connections by speed, new style (Mb/s)  2015  2019

Chart 37  Development of Siminn Groups financial data  2009  2019

Chart 38  Change in Siminn Group revenue by type  2016  2018

Chart 39  Development of Syns financial data  2012  2019

Chart 40  Development of Syns revenue by sector  2017  2019

Chart 41  Decline in the number of fixed-lines in service and penetration  2009  2024

Chart 42  Decline in fixed-line traffic (PSTN/ISDN)  2009  2019

Chart 43  Development of fixed-line revenue  2007  2019

Chart 44  Change in the number of VoIP and IP connections  2007  2019

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1  Generalised Market Characteristics by Market Segment

Exhibit 2  Spectrum auction results (700MHz, 800MHz, 2.1GHz, 26.8GHz)  June 2017





Click here to access the report : https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Iceland-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses
A sockless weirdo who's waving more red flags than a rodeo gets the go-ahead from a trio of maniacal marriage matadors on a wet and wild episode of Married At First Sight.

'You know what's better than true love?' John 'Heart Breakin' Aiken asks our intrepid panel of relationship ruiners on Sunday night.

'Reckless criminal endangerment!' his cronies bark in unison, as they proceed to pair a man without a heart with a woman without a clue.

'Til death: Sockless oddball Ivan Sarakula (pictured), who's waving more red flags than a rodeo, gets paired with a woman who asked for 'Channing Tatum' on Sunday's episode of MAFS

Her own reality: First, we meet Aleksandra Markovic (pictured), a Serbian-Australian who thinks she's auditioning for an Introduction to Daytime Soaps course at NIDA

First, we meet Aleksandra Markovic, a Serbian-Australian who thinks she is auditioning for an Introduction to Daytime Soaps course at NIDA.

'I hope they give me a guy who looks like Channing Tatum!' she says.

Do you agree? Email Daily Mail's critic, Alex Michael, at alex.michael@mailonline.com

Enter Ivan Sarakula, a real estate agent who says 'hullo' like Mr. Bean. Poor Aleks, she asks for Channing Tatum and ends up with Mark Latham.

Pheromone fanatic Dr Trisha Stratford says they're a perfect match because 'they're both European and they're both real estate agents'.

Which roughly translates to: 'Two professional salesmen with a knack for trick photography and an appetite for stuffed vegetables.'

Trisha, next time just spray your Glade Clean Linen and go and wait in the hall. This is going to be a disaster.

Cut to the morning of the wedding, where we see Ivan using a shoehorn to get his ankle-sock infested feet into his loafers.

Also being shoehorned into something are the two extras whom producers have clearly paid to act like they're his friends.

What's that smell? Pheromone fanatic Dr Trisha Stratford (left) says they're a perfect match because 'they're both European and they're both real estate agents'

One of the 'friends' hands a bag of powder to Ivan, and insists the substance will be used to stop his 'balls' from sweating.

Yes, yes, I know. It's talcum powder.

Everything is going shockingly well at the wedding until Ivan ducks off, leaving Aleks alone with his mother, Joanne.

Thanks! On the day of the wedding, one of the extras pretending to be Ivan's friend hands him a bag of powder he insists is just for 'sweat management'. Yes, yes, I know. It's talcum powder

Within milliseconds, the pair hatch a plan to surprise Ivan with a duet, despite the fact Ivan had explicitly banned them from doing so.

He realises something isn't quite right when he returns from the bathroom and a man wearing a gold chain saunters up to the podium.

This guy has a buzzcut on top with a hidden mullet in the back. He looks like if the rapper Pitbull was from Penrith.

Next minute: Everything is going shockingly well at the wedding until Ivan ducks off, leaving Aleks alone with his mother, Joanne

'I'd like to invite the lovely Joanne up on stage for a duet with the bride,' he says.

Now the entire audience is stunned and Ivan is quite rightly furious. Joanne was RUBBISH. She sounded like a hyena in a blender.

Back at Relationship HQ, the 'experts' are being loaded into a paddy wagon for crimes against human decency and falsifying formal qualifications.

Where it all went wrong: Ivan realises something isn't quite right when he returns from the bathroom and a man wearing a gold chain (right) saunters up to the podium

'I'd like to invite the lovely Joanne up on stage for a duet with the bride,' the man says. Ivan is quite rightly furious. Joanne was RUBBISH. She sounded like a hyena in a blender

At the end of the night, Ivan strips down to his Y-fronts and hops into bed, and Aleks promptly picks him up and moves him straight to the friend zone.

But if you think you're home free, Ivan, think again.

Aleks looks like she's more than ready to wade through two months of marriage hell for the pot of sponsored content gold at the end.

Next stop: At the end of the night, Ivan strips down to his Y-fronts and hops into bed, and Aleks promptly picks him up and moves him straight to the friend-zone

Over at the obligatory second wedding, a bloke with two hooped earrings named Jonethen marries a walking crisis of confidence named Connie.

Problem is, he's looking for 'someone with a brain' but has to go through the relationship experts, who can barely muster one between them.

It's yet another boring wedding with manufactured drama to make it 'interesting'. It wasn't interesting and we're not going to discuss it.

Busted: Back at Relationship HQ, the 'experts' are being loaded into a paddy wagon for crimes against human decency and falsifying formal qualifications

Speaking of manufactured drama, we need to talk about the crime this brilliantly messed up show continues to commit.

Why does every single bride and groom have to film a scene in which their parents act like they have NO IDEA their child has signed up for Married At First Sight?

'Married At First Sight!? I hate that show!' one bride's 'shocked' mother complains, treating the viewer like idiots in the process.

You mean you're shocked about your daughter's shotgun arranged wedding to a bloke who doesnt understand the hygienic value of socks? Im pretty open-minded and even I think this is mental.

Snooze fest: Over at the obligatory second wedding, a bloke with two hooped earrings named Jonethen marries a walking crisis of confidence named Connie

But come on. Don't act like you're just now finding out that your daughter / son is a desperate attention seeker who's willing to get married just to get on the telly.

You should have worked that out around the time a truck with 'Married At First Sight' painted on it showed up in your driveway and started unloading camera equipment.

Married At First Sight continues Monday at 7:30pm on Channel Nine
Luxembourg trip a success.

PHILIPSBURG:--- On Friday, January 31ST, the Minister of finance, Ardwell Irion joined a small delegation of the NRPB and PJIAE to the Headquarters of the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg. The main purpose of this high-level visit was to cross the Ts and dot the Is on the 50 million US Dollars loan that the Government of Sint Maarten has signed with the European Investment Bank for Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA). This loan will be provided to the Airport under very favorable conditions, with a grace period of five years and a subsidized interest percentage of around 2.5 to 3%.

As one of the principal financiers for the Airport Terminal Reconstruction Project, the EIB will be an important partner for the country and the Airport in the years to come. Minister Irion thanked the EIB and especially Ms. Emma Navarro, the EIBs Vice-President for the Caribbean for the EIBs support: I am very grateful for this unique opportunity to work with a triple-A institution like the EIB. Together with the 72 million US dollars grant from the Sint Maarten Trust Fund, the technical assistance of the World Bank and the release of the insurance proceeds, the EIBs loan will allow PJIA to return the Terminal Building to its former glory and to look beyond at new horizons. The EIB is a very natural partner for the Airport, as the EIB already finances major operations in almost every major airport in Europe. Hopefully, this loan will be the first in a series of operations of the EIB with PJIA in order to finance future upgrades to our terminal facilities, including pre-clearance.

During his visit, Minister Irion and Director Claret Connor of the NRPB discussed how the cooperation with the EIB can also become beneficial for other investment projects of the Government of Sint Maarten and its Government Companies. The financing of the Airport project teaches us a very important lesson: we can and should use the Trust Fund to leverage more attractive funding for our island. The availability of over half a billion US Dollars in grant money through the Trust Fund is an asset that we should use to our advantage. We can leverage the Trust Fund to obtain more attractive public and private funding for our projects. The involvement of triple-A institutions like the World Bank and the EIB, makes it more attractive for other financiers to chip-in. As Minister of Finance, my goal is always to follow the numbers and to do the math: we already have half a billion, but we need and can get more. My visit to the EIB, being the first official visit of the Government of Sint Maarten to the EIB, serves this purpose as I strongly believe that the EIB can become an important partner to leverage the Trust Fund, Minister Irion explained.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has been elected on the fifth count in Dublin West.

His election follows that of Sinn Fein's Paul Donnely, who took the top spot in the constituency and was elected earlier this evening on the first count.

Fine Gael tonight have ruled out a number of scenarios in forming a government or cooperating with parties in power.

While Mr Varadkar said his party would not work with Sinn Fein and would not be involved in any "forced marriage" with the party, Tanaiste Simon Coveney tonight has also closed the door on alternative options.

Mr Coveney said Fine Gael would not work in a confidence and supply agreement. Such a deal operated with Fianna Fail supporting the Fine Gael-led government for almost the last four years.

But Mr Coveney told RTE he had seen what had been done to Fianna Fail after working in this arrangement and that his party would not be part of such a process.

This now firmly puts pressure back on Fianna Fail to cobble together a government-if it gets the most seats-either with Sinn Fein or with other smaller parties.

Sinn Fein have said they are open to working with all parties.
She has also sought quashing of the February 5, 2020, order detaining Omar Abdullah under the PSA.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear the plea by Sara Abdullah Pilot  sister of former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah  challenging her brothers detention under Public Safety Act.

A top court bench headed by Justice N.V. Ramana agreed to listing of the plea by Sara Abdullah upon a mentioning by senior counsel Kapil Sibal seeking an urgent listing.

Omar Abdullah, his father and former J&K chief minister Farooq Abdullah and other senior Kashmiri leaders are under detention since August 5, 2019, under the instructions of the Centre and the state administration following the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the state into two Union Territories.

Sara Abdullah in her petition has contended that there could not be any new material for further detaining a person who is already under detention for last six months.

She has also sought quashing of the February 5, 2020, order detaining Omar Abdullah under the PSA.

Describing the detention as illegal, Sara Abdullah in her petition says, The grounds for the detention order are wholly lacking any material facts or particulars which are imperative for an order of detention.

Recounting the public service rendered by Omar Abdullah both in the J&K as chief minister and as a Central minister, the petition says, It is rare that those who have served the nation as members of Parliaments, chief ministers of state, ministers in the Union and have also stood by

the national aspirations of India are now perceived as a threat to the state.

It further says, It is therefore of the utmost importance and of the utmost urgency that this court protects not only the individuals Right to Life and Liberty but also protects the essence of Article 21 which is the cornerstone of Part III of the Constitution, a violation of which is anathema to all that a democratic nation stands for.

Sara Abdullah Pilot stated in her petition that her brothers detention is a grave violation of his constitutional rights including freedom of speech, and noted that it is part of a consistent and concerted effort to muzzle all political rivals.

According to rules, preventive detention can be stretched beyond six months only if an advisory board, constituted two weeks before the completion of the 180-day period, directs for the same.

The PSA dossier prepared by the police to renew Omar Abdullahs detention cited his ability to convince voters to turn out in huge numbers as one of the reasons for booking him under PSA.

He managed to maintain voter turnout even during the peak of militancy and poll boycott calls by separatist leaders, the dossier is reported to says.

The dossier reportedly mentions that Omar Abdullah was put under house arrest on the grounds of provoking the general masses in Kashmir when J&K was reorganised in August last year. It also accuses him of playing divisive politics and following a radical methodology.
The Supreme Court on Monday will pronounce verdict on pleas challenging the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (SCs/ STs) (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2018, that rule out any provision for anticipatory bail for a person accused of atrocities against SC/STs.

A Bench of Justice Arun Mishra, Justice Vineet Saran and Justice Ravindra Bhat will pronounce the verdict on pleas challenging the Act.

In October last year, the Bench had given a hint that it will uphold amendments made by the Centre in SC/ST Act to restore immediate arrest and ban anticipatory bail.

"We are not diluting any provisions... these provisions will not be struck down. Law should be as it was... They will be left as it was prior to the judgement on review petition and amendments in the Act," it observed.

The Apex Court had also said it will also clarify that police can hold a preliminary probe before taking any action on a complaint under SC/ST Act, in case it is of prima facie view that complaints are false.

The Bench had observed that with regard to anticipatory bail, the judgement of the Constitution Bench passed earlier had held that anticipatory bail can be granted in cases where a prima facie case under the SC/ST Act is not made out.

The old provision would be restored stand in the light of the review judgment delivered on September 30, 2019, the Court had remarked.

By September 30 verdict, the apex court's three-judge bench had recalled its March 20, 2018 order that had diluted the stringent provisions of the SC/ST Act while restoring automatic arrest in such cases.

It had also recalled order on the preliminary probe by the police before the arrest.By March 20, 2018 verdict, the two-judge bench of the apex court had held that there will be no automatic arrest on a complaint filed under the Act had also introduced anticipatory bail provision under the Act.

The Centre had filed a review petition before the top court asking to review its order passed on March 20, 2018.

However, the Centre had made amendments in the Act to overcome the top court's order diluting the provision of arrest under the law.

The amendments provide that no preliminary inquiry would be required for registering a criminal case and an arrest under this law would not be subject to any approval.

A bunch of pleas opposing amendments to the SC/ST Act were filed in the Supreme Court alleging that Parliament had "arbitrarily" decided to amend the law.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Trumps New Budget Request Calls for Substantial Non-Defense Spending Cuts

Blueprint proposes to reduce spending by $4.4 trillion over 10 years, aims to achieve a balanced budget in 15 years

WASHINGTONPresident Donald Trumps fourth budget resolution, which will be released Feb. 10, calls for substantial reductions to both discretionary and mandatory spending. The proposal includes deep budget cuts in foreign aid and environmental programs.

This years proposal, titled A Budget for Americas Future, includes $4.4 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years, according to a summary sheet provided to The Epoch Times.

The blueprint aims to reduce the deficit each year and achieve a balanced budget in 15 years.

From day one, President Trump has taken deficits and spending very seriouslywhich is why the Trump administration has proposed more spending cuts than any administration in history, a senior administration official told The Epoch Times.

Nearly $2 trillion of savings will be to mandatory spending, which includes entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Another $2 trillion in savings will come from discretionary spending, and the rest will be interest savings, according to the plan.

Trump proposes to reduce foreign assistance by 21 percent, including cuts to United Nations programs. Eliminations of various programs and accounts are expected to save nearly $170 million compared to the 2020 enacted level.

The plan also proposes slashing the Environmental Protection Agencys budget by 26 percent, by eliminating dozens of wasteful programs.

We continue to think the environmental protection agency is bloated, the official said.

The budget requests $740.5 billion for national defense in 2021, an increase of $2.5 billion over the 2020 enacted level. The plan also proposes to increase defense spending by nearly 2 percent on an annual basis after 2021 for a few more years.

The administration plans to request $2 billion in new funding from the Pentagon for the construction of a wall on the southern border, according to the official. Thats significantly lower than the money requested in previous years.

Most critical features of the wall are being fully resourced as of right now, the official said, adding that 80 percent of the wall that will be built is approaching being fully resourced.

In February last year, Trump declared the border situation a national emergency, which allowed him to redirect $6.7 billion from the Pentagon toward wall construction last year. The administration plans to shift an additional $7.2 billion this year.

A construction worker installs new fencing along the U.S.Mexico border fence in Tijuana, Mexico, on July 21, 2018. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Work Requirement Expansion

The president also proposes significant mandatory savings and reforms but protects Social Security and Medicare beneficiaries, the official said. The proposal includes nearly $130 billion in savings over 10 years from lower drug costs within the Medicare program.

Another $300 billion savings is planned through implementing a 20-hour-per-week work requirement for the housing program and Medicaid, and expanding it within the food stamp program.

The Trump administration tightened work requirements for the food stamp program last year. This change alone has created $13 billion in savings over 10 years, according to the official.

Other proposals include student loan reform and site-neutral payments, the concept of paying the same amount for a service, regardless of whether the patient is treated at an outpatient hospital or a physicians office, for example.

In light of the coronavirus outbreak in China, the budget prioritizes $4.3 billion in funding for fighting infectious diseases under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention budget.

Federal employees step out of the Federal Triangle Metro station at the Wilson Plaza and Ronald Reagan Building on Jan. 28, 2019. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The budget also proposes maintaining security assistance to Ukraine at currently enacted levels, while increasing funding for Veterans Affairs, NASA, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the National Nuclear Security Administration. It allocates no funding for Nevadas Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository.

The presidents budget for the Department of Housing and Urban Development is reduced by 15 percent, although the proposal includes $2.8 billion in homelessness assistance grants.

The budget proposes moving the U.S. Secret Service to the Treasury Department from DHS.

It also makes individual tax cuts that are set to expire after 2025 permanent.

The White Houses budget proposal sets high expectations for economic growth. The budget forecasts the economy will grow about 3 percent annually over the next decade, relying on the assumption that deregulation and other policies will have a long-lasting impact on the economy.

Congress has ignored Trumps calls to slash federal spending before, and theyre likely to do so again. The proposal is generally viewed as a political messaging document.

Fiscally irresponsible spending bills over the past decade have dramatically boosted the debt, which recently surpassed $23 trillion.

Trump signed a bipartisan budget deal in August last year to raise spending caps by nearly $320 billion for fiscal years 2020 and 2021.

I think at the end of that two-year deal, were going to have to really have a serious conversation about spending. And I think thats what youre hearing from the Hill, the official said.
Former Maharashtra chief minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said that with the help of peoples blessings one can make a comeback.

Nobody can stop you if you have the blessings of the people. We definitely make a comeback if we have their blessings, the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly told a gathering in Alandi, a pilgrim town in Pune district.

I think whether you are in power or in opposition, you have to walk on sanmarg (right path) and for doing so, you have to come here to get the blessings. Therefore, I have come here to get your blessings, Fadnavis added.

Once you get blessings of the people, then you will definitely come again, he said.

During the state Assembly elections held in October, Fadnavis had repeatedly used mi punha yein (I will come again) slogan as part of his poll campaign.

The BJP and the Sena, which had fought the assembly polls in alliance, had secured a comfortable majority by winning 105 and 56 seats respectively.

The Sena, however, broke its three-decade-long ties with the BJP after the latter declined to share the chief ministers post.

The Sena finally joined hands with the NCP and Congress to form the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government with Sena president Uddhav Thackeray as the chief minister.
Christians in Iraq are continuing to flee the country even though the violence has slowed.

According to The Christian Post, families are choosing to leave the country that they say is becoming a land of militias.

They feel there is no peace, law or justice here in Baghdad, and that our country has become a land of militias, the parish priest, Father Nadheer Dako, told The Telegraph.

His parish, St. Josephs in Baghdad, once boasted some 5,000 families. Today, the church membership is about 150.

It is true that people are no longer getting kidnapped as much, and the Islamic State is gone. But the infrastructure of the country has been ruined, and people want a better future, not so much for themselves but for their children, Nasib Hana Jabril, a parishioner at the church, said.

Father Dako added that he has also noticed that much of Baghdad has declined, including its educational system.

Returning here from London after six years, I've noticed how the quality of education in Baghdad has gone down in nearly all the primary schools. The new generation just have very little hope of making a life here anymore.

With the population decreases, Dako said he worries about the future of Christianity in Iraq.

Will there still be a Christian community here in Baghdad in 2050?

The Christian population in Iraq has fallen from 1.5 million to about 250,000, Loay Mikhael, head of foreign relations for the Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council, said.

He said last week that the persecution Christians and other minorities face in Iraq is unprecedented. He even moved his family out of the country.

We are all over the world, he said, not because of our choice, but because we were forced to flee. The challenge is tremendous.

Mikhael said the Iraqi government has not helped those who have been displaced or tried to do something tangibly on the ground to bring those communities back to their lives.

Its really unspeakable, he said.

Photo courtesy: Getty Images/Romanista

Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.
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A 16-year-old boy wanted on suspicion of robbery was detained early Sunday after he allegedly slammed his car into the vehicle of a Fremont police officer who stopped him, then sped off and collided with another driver.

At about 1:50 a.m., a Fremont officer spotted an Infiniti sedan that was sought in connection with an earlier incident of felony grand theft in the city, police said. The officer pulled over the car in the emergency room parking lot at Kaiser Permanentes Fremont Medical Center and held the driver at gunpoint.

As other police officers responded to the scene, the driver started to intentionally ram his car into the first officers patrol car, according to the Fremont Police Department. The driver was able to escape from police and sped westbound down Mowry Avenue while officers pursued him, the department said in a news release.

After running through red lights and failing to stop for police officers, the Infiniti crashed into another car as it approached Mowry Avenue and Farwell Drive, police said. The second car flipped over and the woman driving it had to be removed by Fremont firefighters using the Jaws of Life.

The suspect driver ran away on foot but was detained in a nearby hotel parking lot, police said. Officers learned the suspect had two active warrants for suspected robbery out of San Francisco.

Both the suspect and the driver of the second car sustained major injuries that police did not believe were life-threatening. They were each transported by ambulance to local trauma centers.

Fremont police are recommending that the juvenile suspect be charged with four felonies  assault with a deadly weapon, vandalism, reckless evading and evading causing serious bodily injury  on top of the two felony robbery warrants from San Francisco. Officers are also recommending he be charged with misdemeanor obstructing or resisting, according to Fremont police.

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 said the felony grand theft case is still open and they may seek additional charges later.

J.D. Morris is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thejdmorris
Photos: Petfinder

Interested in adopting a pet  or just gazing at some delightful doggies up for adoption? There are dozens of great dogs up for adoption at animal shelters in and around San Antonio.

Animal shelters and pet rescue groups work hard to care for unhoused pets and connect them to loving homes. Hoodline used data from Petfinder to power this roundup of dogs currently available for adoption.

(Details like pet availability, training, vaccinations and other features are based on data provided by Petfinder and may be subject to change; contact the shelter for the latest information.)

Roo, Labrador retriever and retriever mix

Roo is a male Labrador retriever and retriever mix currently residing at They Have The Right to live Rescue. Roo will get along great with your other dogs. He's been vaccinated and neutered. No need to worry: He is already house-trained. Notes from Roo's caretakers: Read more about how to adopt Roo on Petfinder.

Roo is a delightfully playful yet gentle golden male lab/retriever mix. He is quick to make new doggy friends, but can be shy around new people. Roo loves the company of other dogs and enjoys being outside as much as he can. He's happy to sun himself, chew on a bone or play chase. Curiously playful yet sweet-tempered Roo is ready to work his way into your heart and home.

Farrah, Labrador retriever and terrier mix

Farrah is a darling female Labrador retriever and terrier mix currently housed at Protecting Animals Within San Antonio (P.A.W.S foster based rescue). Farrah will get along great with your cats and dogs. Protecting Animals Within San Antonio (P.A.W.S foster based rescue), however, recommends she be placed in a home without small children. She is already house-trained. She has had all of her shots, and she's spayed. Farrah is a special needs pet, so please inquire about her specific care requirements. Here's what Farrah's friends at Protecting Animals Within San Antonio (P.A.W.S foster based rescue) think of her: Read more about how to adopt Farrah on Petfinder.

Story continues

Farrah is 3-year-old black lab/terrier mix. She is very timid at first with humans. She needs a patient family. However ,she is great with dogs and cats so having a buddy definitely helps her confidence. She loves to lounge on the couch. She walks well on a leash and is kennel trained, but she will chew on clothes if left out.

Blyss, hound and golden retriever mix

Blyss is a female hound and golden retriever mix being kept at Katie's Roadside Rescue. Blyss is happy to keep company with other dogs. Have no fear: She is already house-trained. She's already spayed, and she has had all her shots. Notes from Blyss' caretakers: Read more about how to adopt Blyss on Petfinder.

Blyss is a true survivor and an amazing middle-aged lady. She lived many rough years on the streets of San Antonio and had many litters of puppies, as her body tells that story. She took a little while to trust us and still has some shy tendencies but that's OK. She is house trained, uses a doggy door, is comfortable in a crate and good with other dogs of both sexes and all sizes.

Nova, American Staffordshire terrier

Nova is a female American Staffordshire terrier dog in the care of Katie's Roadside Rescue. Nova loves other dogs. She is looking for cat-free household. Nova is already spayed and vaccinated. She has mastered her house-training etiquette. From Nova's current caretaker: Apply to adopt Nova today at Petfinder.

Incredible! Awesome! Devoted! Loving! Nova is an outstanding dog full of love, life and did I say love? She is house trained, uses a doggy door, loves to snuggle all night (sometimes a bit of a bed hog but so content when she is close to you). She loves to snuggle and watch movies. Nova plays well with other dogs and puppies but needs monitored closely on introductions. She is well behaved and listens. Please consider giving this wonderful girl a loving fur-ever home.

This story was created automatically using local animal shelter data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
The young college teacher, who was set afire by a youth in Maharashtras Wardha district last week, succumbed to her injuries after a week-long battle, said the doctors at Nagpur hospital where she was being treated for burn injuries.

The patient was declared dead at 6.55 am today. The probable cause of death was septicemic shock. Her body has been handed over to police authorities for post-mortem, said Dr Anup Marar, Director, Orange City Hospital & Research Centre, Nagpur, according to news agency ANI.

The 24-year-old unmarried woman teacher had suffered approximately 40 per cent burn injuries.

Her health had been deteriorating and her blood pressure was also fluctuating. Her heart failed twice. The first time we could revive her, but not the second time, a bulletin from the hospital said. She was very critical for the last two days and on ventilation.

Her burn injuries were deep and due to infection, it also affected her organs. Her lungs were affected as all three layers of the skin were burned. She had suffered grade three level burns and inhalation injuries, the bulletin further said.

The incident took place near Hinganghat when the woman was heading to her college at around 7.30 am on Monday morning (February 3). A man threw petrol on the woman and set her on fire. The victim was taken to the hospital by the locals present at the site. Later, she was taken to Nagpur for further treatment.

The accused, Vicky Nagrale (27), was arrested by the police from Takalghat near Nagpur on the day of the incident. Nagrale approached her on his motorcycle, poured petrol on her, and set her on fire, Hinganghat police inspector Satyaveer Bhandivar said.

He was charged under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means).

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, said Bhandivar.

Nagrale was womans friend, but she severed ties with him two years ago, Bhandivar further added.

Almost all political parties had observed a bandh at Hinganghat in protest against the incident on February 4. The bandh was total and business, schools, colleges and other establishments remained closed during the bandh. Many people of the city had joined the protest.

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People who are quarantined aboard the Diamond Princess in Japan have been wondering how long their situation would last. On Sunday, the World Health Organization offered clarity on that question, NPR reports.

The coronavirus quarantine that has kept some 3,700 people aboard the cruise ship is set to end on Feb. 19. However, for "close contacts" of infected passengers, the quarantine will be extended 14 days from the last contact with a confirmed case, according to the WHO.

An additional 41 cases were confirmed on board early Friday, bringing the total among passengers and crew to 61. Those samples were part of the initial screening  meaning those confirmations didn't require a new 14-day quarantine to begin.

Then on Saturday, officials announced they had confirmed three more cases, for a total of 64.

Princess Cruises had announced that the previous group would end their quarantine on Feb. 19. Among those people, Japan's health ministry had taken samples from just 273 individuals who were deemed to be in an at-risk group, based on their recent travels.

The WHO position adds clarity to circumstances aboard the cruise ship, which is docked at Japan's Yokohama port.

On the ship, passengers  including some who had already spent two weeks aboard the vessel before the quarantine doubled their stay  are told not to leave their rooms. They visit the deck in shifts, for a rare breath of fresh air.

"My concerns are what happens next," passenger Aun Na Tan of Australia, told NPR's Rebecca Davis via text message. "We don't have a clear plan of what is going to happen," she added, citing the risk of new cases.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus A.Dapkiunas meets the Ambassador of Palestine

05-02-2020

On February 5, 2020 the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Andrei Dapkiunas, met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Palestine to the Republic of Belarus, Khalid Ariqat.

Belarusian and Palestinian diplomats discussed in detail recent events around Palestine taking into account the Deal of the Century proposed by the US leadership, and the situation in the Middle East as a whole.

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus noted the crucial importance of maintaining the attention of the international community on the issue of Middle East settlement and, in principle, welcomed the desire of several participants of this process to propose new options to overcome existing misunderstandings and contradictions.

At the same time, A.Dapkiunas and H.Ariqat agreed that a truly successful and lasting settlement of the conflict in the Middle East requires balanced and responsible steps by all interested parties on a solid foundation of resolutions of the UN Security Council and fundamental principles of international law, as well as maximally full and unbiased consideration of the fundamental interests of neighbours and partners at all stages of the search for ways to resolve a long-term conflict.

The Deputy Minister and the Ambassador also discussed ways to deepen cooperation between the two countries in the international arena, including opportunities for the development of trade and economic cooperation.



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22-year-old Maliki Bello who is believed to be the supreme leader of Berry Boys secret cult has been arrested by the men of the Nigerian Police Force, Lagos State Command.

According to reports, Maliki was nabbed alongside 11 others by the Police, in an ongoing crackdown on the cult that is said to be recruiting members on social media platform, Facebook.

Bello has been on police wanted list for violent crimes and gang clashes, and operating in Itire, said Lagos police spokesperson DSP Bala Elkana.

Bello is a native of Lalopun, Kwara state but resides in Lagos. He confessed to be responsible for series of violent attacks, murders and armed robberies incidents recorded in Idiaraba, Lawanson, Dosunmu, Ashimowo Bakare, Omo-Bola Mushin and Itire, the police said. He told detectives he was initiated into the cult at age 12 when he was in JSS1. He later rose to the cults number-one position, mostly addressed as supreme leader.

The gang has an official Facebook page (Bbl Baloteli) with 1,928 friends, according to the police, alongside other social media accounts used to recruit members, plan attacks and update members. A search for the Facebook page turned up nothing.

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The number of deaths in the coronavirus epidemic rose to more than 800 on Sunday, passing the death toll from SARS, according to the latest official figures from China.

A total of 814 deaths from the novel coronavirus (nCov-2019) were recorded worldwide, with 780 of those in the central Chinese province of Hubei.

The number of confirmed cases rose to 37,592, with all but a few hundred reported in mainland Chinese cities and provinces.

However, the day-to-day rise in confirmed cases slowed by around 20 percent compared with the rise in new cases reported a day earlier.

Some 2,656 new cases were reported in the 24 hours ending at midnight Saturday, compared with 3,399 new cases reported in the previous 24-hour period.

Employees in the food and medicine industries will begin a staggered return to work starting from Monday, although tens of millions of people will remain in locked-down cities and communities across China, with schools, universities and public places on extended shutdown.

Experts have estimated that there are many more unreported cases of the coronavirus at the epicenter of epidemic in Wuhan and neighboring cities, as the regions' hospitals have been overwhelmed with the demand for beds, medication and test kits.

China's ambassador to the U.K. continued to insist on Sunday that the epidemic is "controllable, is preventable, is curable."

"The isolation and quarantine measures have been very effective," Liu Xiaoming told the BBC.

But social media users appeared confused at best and mistrustful at worst over the ruling Chinese Communist Party's handling of the crisis, and the mixed messages on prevention.

A global shortage of face masks has meant that a large proportion of China's 1.4 billion population have no way to buy them, raising concerns of a further spike in infections after several cases in eastern China were found to have had scant contact of any kind with known patients, and had merely visited local vegetable markets.

Droplets and contact

But Feng Luzhao, a researcher at the Infectious Diseases Division of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention told state broadcaster CCTV that the main transmission route is via droplets and contact.

Feng's comments ran counter to earlier warnings in state media that everyone should wear masks if they go outside, and to state media reports of suspected airborne transmission routes.

"At present, the main route of transmission of new coronaviruses is droplet transmission and contact transmission," Feng told CCTV. "There is currently no evidence that nCoV is capable of airborne transmission."

"The transmission distance is very short, usually one to two meters," Feng said. "The virus will remain suspended or floating in the air for any length of time."

Social media users were quick to point out the government's mixed messages.

"What about the problem of face masks for ordinary people?" commented @mingrensuozhang. "Taobao won't ship them, or is out of stock, they are unavailable in pharmacies, or they have been totally requisitioned."

"They tell us that we need to wear masks, but they won't get them for us," the user wrote. "A lot of people will have to go back to work in a few days, and they don't have any masks. What are we supposed to do?"

User @hanman agreed, commenting: "The problem is that people aren't able to get hold of surgical masks that meet the necessary standard ... Some people look like they're wearing masks, but they are wearing the same one over and over ... which increases their chances of catching the virus."

@yanling_198709 expressed skepticism, commenting: "I think it can be transmitted via the air."

"The credibility of these experts is getting lower and lower; you are treating us like monkeys," wrote @qigexiangliangdemingzi.

Whistleblower under house arrest

User @anxiangshuyinghengxie said officials told everyone at the start of the coronavirus outbreak that it wasn't being transmitted from person to person, which turned out not to be true.

"I want to believe this, but you told us at the outset that the extent of human-to-human transmissions was limited," the user wrote. "So I'm going to protect myself by not believing what you say."

@liulangzheOD added: "Couldn't the relevant departments have just come out with the truth from the start, instead of leaving the general public up the creek without a paddle?"

Meanwhile, authorities in Beijing have placed Jiang Yanyong, who shot to global fame as the whistleblowing doctor who exposed the extent of the SARS epidemic in 2003, under house arrest, The Guardian newspaper reported.

RFA reported in April 2019 that Jiang was incommunicado after writing to China's leaders calling the 1989 Tiananmen massacre a crime.

"He is not allowed to be in contact with people outside," Jiang's wife Hua Zhongwei told the paper.

"He is at home. He has no means of communication [with outside] ...

His health is not good. He is not in a good mental state either. He is not very well," she said.

In 1989, Jiang was a surgeon in active service at the Chinese People's Liberation Army 301 Hospital in Beijing, where he took part in the rescue and treatment of the injured during the massacre, which began on the night of June 3.

Jiang later shot to fame in 2003 as the doctor who blew the whistle on a massive cover-up by Chinese health authorities of the extent of the SARS outbreak in the city that year.

Five million left Wuhan

As Japan reported six more cases among 3,700 passengers and crew aboard the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess, authorities in Hong Kong freed thousands of people quarantined aboard the World Dream cruise ship after all crew members tested negative for the coronavirus.

The city has began enforcing a 14-day quarantine for arrivals from mainland China, although chief executive Carrie Lam has refused to shut down the border with mainland China entirely.

Nine members of a Hong Kong family were reportedly infected with the virus after sharing a family "hotpot" meal, health officials said.

A 24-year-old man and his grandmother, 91, were initially confirmed to have the virus. Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection later said the man's father, mother, two aunts and three cousins were also infected.

Reports are emerging that some five million people left Wuhan, provincial capital of Hubei, ahead of the lockdown imposed by the city shortly after the Lunar New Year.

Nearly 70 percent of trips out of Wuhan were within Hubei province, while another 14 percent went to the neighboring provinces of Henan, Hunan, Anhui and Jiangxi, the Associated Press reported, cited Baidu maps data.

Some two percent went to the southern province of Guangdong, while others "fanned out across China," the report said, adding: "The travel patterns broadly track with the early spread of the virus."

"Its definitely too late," molecular virologist Jin Dong-Yan of Hong Kong Universitys School of Biomedical Sciences told the AP. "Five million out. Thats a big challenge."

"To control this outbreak, we have to deal with this. On one hand, we need to identify them. On the other hand, we need to address the issue of stigma and discrimination," Jin said.

Lai Shengjie, a former employee of China's CDC, said the five million who left Wuhan could have been carrying the coronavirus but without showing symptoms.

"Maybe they hadnt developed symptoms but could transmit the virus,"

Lai told the AP. "We need to look at destinations across China and the world and focus on the main destinations and try to prepare for disease control and prevention."

The last trains left Wuhan the morning of Jan. 23, cutting off a surge of outbound travel that had begun three days earlier, according to the Baidu data.

Reported by RFA's Mandarin and Cantonese Services. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Chinese authorities have taken drastic action in an attempt to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, placing at least 15 cities and more than 50 million people under quarantine.

The U.S. government also took an unprecedented step by ordering a 14-day quarantine for 195 people evacuated from mainland China. They are being held at a California military base until the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can confirm they are not infected.

In Northeast Ohio, a confirmed case of coronavirus could also lead to isolation or quarantine procedures, but they may not bear much resemblance to those in China or even California, according to local experts and federal guidelines.

U.S. officials will avoid place-based or mass quarantine procedures, said Dr. Elie Saade, an infectious disease specialist at University Hospitals. He called blocking off a city a nightmare scenario, similar to something youd see on American Horror Story or The Walking Dead.

Local public health officials would rely on CDC guidelines, which recommend monitoring an infected person at their home or keeping them isolated in a healthcare facility.

"The reality is that people can stay at home and sit in their rooms and watch Netflix," Saade said.

Quarantine refers to separating seemingly healthy people who have been exposed to virus from the public. Isolation, a commonly accepted measure for halting communicable diseases, is for people who are already sick.

Most public health experts describe mass quarantines, like the one in China, as an ineffective solution. The practice could make healthy people sick and comes with significant psychological and economic costs.

Theres just no good evidence, at least in modern times, that (a mass quarantine) has made a big difference, said Dr. James Kazura, the director of Case Western Reserve Universitys Center for Global Health and Diseases.

What might a quarantine order look like in a major U.S. city?

Its difficult to say, because quarantine orders are exceedingly rare. The U.S. governments decision to quarantine 194 people in California is the first federal quarantine order since a 1960s effort to evaluate a suspected case of smallpox, the CDC said. The CDC did not release any more information about the effort; the last case of smallpox in the U.S. came in 1949, and the disease was declared eradicated worldwide in 1980, according to NBC News.

The U.S. federal government did not impose quarantine orders during recent global health scares such as the SARS outbreak in 2003 and the Ebola outbreak in 2014.

The CDC has the authority to detain and examine people at quarantine stations located at ports-of-entry in 20 U.S. states and territories. Diseases including infectious tuberculosis, cholera and smallpox are subject to the federal order that governs isolation and quarantine.

Several U.S. states were criticized for imposing mandatory, 21-day quarantines for medical workers returning from Africa amid the Ebola outbreak. A 2015 report by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Yale Global Health Justice Partnership called them medically-unjustified and unconstitutional, and argued they discouraged other doctors and nurses from traveling to Africa to help contain the epidemic.

Its almost impossible to imagine a U.S. city or state trying anything akin to the mass quarantine in China, Kazura said.

Its really in more authoritarian countries than the United States, you could perhaps have an enforced quarantine. But in the United States, I dont think its feasible, he said. I think it would be very hard to do something like that in this country.

Are mass quarantines even a good idea?

Public health experts questioned the efficacy of large-scale quarantines in a 2001 report in the Journal of the American Medical Association, saying they might lead to unintended consequences, including the infection of healthy people.

If you put people who are quarantined together in close quarters, if theres two people infected, and the other 1,000 arent, then it puts those people at risk, Kazura said.

Such quarantines might also result in violence. Authorities in Muncie, Indiana struggled to convince the public of the need for a mass quarantine amid an 1893 smallpox outbreak. The publics anger led to the shooting of several government officials.

Mandatory quarantines also raise ethical concerns. During the Ebola outbreak, the ACLU said government officials should not overreact and issue medically-unnecessary quarantines. The organization has reiterated that stance amid fears of the coronavirus.

The public health community has learned over time that treating sick people like potential enemies only spurs them to go underground and avoid the authorities, which exacerbates the spread of disease, the organization wrote in a Jan. 28 blog post.

Even if a U.S. city imposed a mass quarantine, its highly likely people would simply find a way to leave, Saade said. They may also lie about their symptoms in order to escape, he said.

For big areas I would never underestimate peoples' ability to find what's best for them. Traveling by land or traveling otherwise, Saade said. There are reports coming from Wuhan of people being able to get out of the city in different ways.

Are local hospitals prepared to isolate patients infected with coronavirus?

Summit County released a plan this week which largely pulls from CDC guidelines for isolation and quarantine. Cuyahoga County has not released a similar plan, but would follow the same state and federal procedures, county Board of Health spokesman Kevin Brennan said.

Local hospitals are under no order to keep a patient exhibiting coronavirus symptoms from leaving. Public health officials would need to issue such an order, Saade said.

If a patient walks into MetroHealth exhibiting mild coronavirus symptoms, doctors might send them home under the supervision of public health agencies, hospital spokesman Mike Tobin said.

Obviously, what you dont want to do is hospitalize someone who doesnt need to be hospitalized, and expose more people to the virus, he said.

If a patient is exhibiting more serious symptoms, they may be isolated in the hospital. MetroHealth has a protocol that designates an isolation space for patients, and the hospital has protective gear for healthcare workers, Tobin said.

Hospitals are taking guidance from a CDC risk-assessment guide covering isolation and quarantine procedures. It includes four risk levels: high, medium, low and no known risk for contracting the new coronavirus.

The highest risk level includes people with lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus; people showing symptoms; people who live with or had intimate contact with confirmed case; or people whove recently traveled to Hubei Province. High-risk people may be isolated at home or in a healthcare facility, or quarantined in a location determined by public health authorities.

What might happen if coronavirus was detected at a local school or airport?

If there are no guidelines issued by public health officials, schools would decide whether or not to close to close entire schools.

In Northeast Ohio, Bay Village closed Westerly Elementary School on Jan. 30 and 31, an example of what a school district can do for communicable diseases. There was no suspected coronavirus there; students were experiencing a variety of symptoms and illnesses.

The superintendent made the decision to close Westerly, district spokeswoman Karen Derby-Lovell said.

The district added in extra cleaning to try to get ahead of the various sicknesses affecting students, but call-ins reached about 35 percent of the total student population on Jan. 29.

The district hired a professional cleaning service, which cleaned every surface in the school with a disinfectant, then fogged all the rooms with a food-safe, EPA-approved sanitizing treatment. The district began to see call-ins decrease right after the weekend, Linda Gandee reported for cleveland.com.

Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is not an international port-of-entry, so its unlikely the airport will encounter a passenger exhibiting symptoms, said airport spokeswoman Michele Dynia.

The airport is following guidelines issued by public health agencies and taking precautions such as additional cleaning and sanitizing of surfaces, she said.

What's happening in California?

The mandatory 14-day quarantine in California is an order from the federal government, and a prime example of how federal government can intervene in quarantine procedures. It is within the typical purview of the federal government as it relates to hundreds of travelers coming into the country.

As more planes arrive from China with evacuees, they are housed at federal facilities for 14 days. These homes can include hotels or military bases, according to multiple reports. These evacuees are not showing symptoms, but each person's health and temperature is monitored by staff. While those under quarantine can go on walks and participate in activities, it's recommended that people keep a 6-foot distance, reports NPR. Meals are catered three times a day.

By catching coronavirus at travel hubs, the CDC hopes there won't have to mandate isolation or quarantine at a local level.

Within my career 25-year career at CDC, there have been situations where this has come up and what was different about this one is that the outbreak was caught so early before it really got to the United States, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of CDCs National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said in a Wednesday press briefing.
Pakistan: Shortcomings in marine fisheries sector

February 10,2020 | Source: Pakistan Observer

Fisheries, like agriculture, are also a part of the primary sector; therefore along with its counterpart, fisheries also play a crucial role in enhancing the economies of developing countries. In Pakistan, over a million people look to the seas for sustenance. Many fishing villages exist on the coastline of Pakistan. The short-comings in the fisheries sector of Pakistan directly affect these communities. The government of Pakistan has therefore recognized the fisheries sector as a component of Pakistans Poverty Reduction Strategy.



The Stock Assessment Surveys in Pakistan indicate that the marine fisheries resources of the country are extremely over-exploited. This has been the collective outcome of various detrimental anthropogenic activities. Marine fisheries in Pakistan are still open access with no limited entry; the number of vessels in Pakistan has not only increased, but they have become larger, motorized and are utilizing mechanized gear, previously unavailable; and fishing is being done down the food web. Larger individuals of organisms such as sharks, rays, guitarfish, groupers, croakers, catfish and ribbonfish are no longer found. The most vulnerable organisms have been the demersal elasmobranchs including sharks, skates, and rays. One of the factors contributing to this decline has been detrimental fishing practices such as bottom trawling for shrimp and gillnetting for the targeted fishing of tuna. Trawlers tend to cross the 200 nm limit and have even been found near Iran. Fishermen change flags according to the territory they are entering into and have also made fake passports and NICs. The smuggling of fish, high sea transhipment and poaching is totally out of control. The Pakistan Navy and MSA are now working on the enforcement of installing tracking systems into fishing vessels.



Since proper fishing practices are not adhered to, post-harvest losses are extremely high, leading to the shortage of raw material for processing while fishmeal processing proliferates. The two main fish harbours in Karachi include the Korangi Fisheries Harbour and the Karachi Fisheries Harbour. Both these harbours consist of their own set of issues. The Karachi Fisheries Harbour is owned by the Sindh government. Visiting this harbour, one is witnessing incredibly unhygienic practices. After landing, fish is kept on the floor, the trolleys and crates being used are incredibly unhygienic, the workers hygiene is unacceptable, there is a lack of measures to control pests, birds and the entry of unauthorized people and the ice being used to store the fish is incredibly unhygienic. The Karachi Fisheries Harbour is also over congested with boats. These careless practices have resulted in a ban of the export of fish from Pakistan to the EU.



The Korangi Fisheries Harbour is a Federal Harbour and was established under Ordinance number XVI of 1982, to exploit fisheries resources beyond the 12 nm territorial waters. The main issue at the Korangi Fisheries Harbour arises with the operation of the deep sea fishing vessels as the deep sea fishing policy only remained operational for two years, from 2003 to 2005. The expression of interest (EOI) for deep-sea fishing licensees has been introduced as a joint-venture with locals. The approval must go through the Inter Ministerial Scrutiny Committee. The Korangi Fish Harbour is therefore not fully operational, and the landed catch is transported to the Karachi Fisheries Harbour for auction. However, the Korangi Fisheries Harbour is trying to implement an auction hall up to EU standards. Another issue arises with shifting the boats from the Karachi to the Korangi Fish Harbour.

The fish is handled poorly onboard fishing vessels and the cool chain is hardly maintained.



The fish is transported under unhygienic conditions, trash fishing is the main fishing operation, drying fish for fishmeal is a highly undesirable act, and the conditions in most processing plants is undesirable. To make post-harvest improvements, the handling and storage onboard needs to be improved. A reduction in the fishing period is also required. Trash fishing needs to immediately be controlled if not banned and ice should be used for trash fish as well. On fishing vessels, hand washing and toilet facilities must be made mandatory. Auctions should be conducted on stainless steel of the highest quality and not on the floor. The transportation also needs immediate improvement.

Improvements in the processing plants all need to measure up to the same level so that they may be up to EU standards. A ban needs to be imposed on the processing and packaging in Machar Colony and other squatter settlements.



Pre-processing industries such as the shrimp peeling industry needs to be improved. Processing needs to be conducted in authorized plants. Live fish needs to be exported; lobster, mud crab, razor clam and ivory shells are already being exported while there is immense potential for groupers in Persian Gulf countries. The Quality control systems also need revamping.

In conclusion, to ensure sustainable fisheries and to increase the fisheries contribution in the GDP of Pakistan, various measures need to be taken; the fishing fleets need to be reduced and regulated, best practices should be ensured throughout the value chain, prolonged closed seasons for fishing should be the norm, area closures and restrictions on gear need to be implemented, community-based management is needed, some areas need to be declared Marine Protected Areas, illegal trade needs to be addressed, and ecological certifications should be put in place.
ANN ARBOR, MI -- A Thurston Elementary School music teacher was honored as the states music educator of the year at a ceremony last month, the Michigan Music Education Association announced Wednesday.

Yael Rothfeld received the annual award that goes to a teacher who has served their students, communities and profession in an exemplary manner, according to a news release.

She is a model not just for her students, but for her colleagues as well, mentoring new teachers before they ever set foot in the classroom," Rothfelds nominator Carin McEvoy said in a statement. "She approaches her work with an inspirational creativity and sense of humor... Yael is a hard working and dedicated master teacher and is so deserving of this award.

Rothfeld has taught in the elementary school north of downtown for 17 years. She has both her bachelors and masters degrees from Michigan State University, according to the release. Rothfeld also is an adjunct teacher at Eastern Michigan University and is a certified yoga instructor.

She plays piano and ukulele, according to her website.

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More than 800 foreign students in Nghe An have left the country to avoid the Coronavirus outbreak.

illustrative image

Nghe An People's Committee issued a Decision 547 about letting Laotian students in Vietnam take a leave of absence from schools and universities amid the outbreak. 111 Laotian students at the Nghe An Teachers College have been allowed to go home since February 7 until further notice.

On February 8, Nghe An Department of Foreign Affairs said a total of 837 Laotian students were studying at six colleges and universities in Vietnam. After Tet Holiday, 324 students returned to universities and 316 of them have left Vietnam.

Eight Laotian students of Vinh Medical University continue staying in Vietnam in their final year. There are 11 students from Thailand, four from Ghana and one from Cameroon at Vinh Medical University. After Tet, one student from Thailand and five from Africa returned to the university.

According to Vinh University, they have over 400 students from Laos and 12 from Ghana, all of them have been allowed to return to their countries since February 7 until further notice.

In accordance with Official Document 79 issued on January 29 by the Secretariat of the Central Committee and the Official Document 5427 issued on February 1 by the Standing Committee of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee, Nghe An authorities have asked all schools and universities in the area to temporarily shut down. Dtinews

Coronavirus cases top 40,550 up until 7:45 on February 10 By 7:45 Feb. 10, 2020, 40,553 confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV infection have been reported globally, including 910 deaths (908 in China and 2 outside mainland China).
Watches had been around for a long time before we started wearing Apple's version, but it took only a few years for the Apple Watch to become the most popular wearable timepiece on earth. That's according to a new report from research firm Strategy Analytics, which says that Apple shipped almost 31 million units last year, while the entire Swiss watch industry shipped a little over 21 million.

Like the iPhone, which essentially created an entirely new category of device, the Apple Watch was something completely different than what we had been wearing for generations. Sure, there were cellphones before the iPhone, but there were very few that we would have called smartphones, and almost none that actually deserved that name.

The Apple Watch, on the other hand (no pun intended), is a watch only in the sense that you wear it on your wrist and it will display the time. Beyond that, it has far more in common with your iPhone than something made by Rolex or Tag Heuer.

Back in 2015 when the Apple Watch was first introduced, Jean-Claude Biver, the CEO of Tag Heuer, downplayed its chances of success, asking in an interview with CNBC, "Can it be repaired in 1,000 years or can it be repaired in 80 years? Can your children wear the watch? No, because it won't work anymore. The technology will be gone."

Now, Swiss watchmakers are releasing their own smartwatches, with mixed results. In reality, the appeal of the Apple Watch has as much to do with its connection with the overall watchOS and iOS ecosystem as its being the piece of hardware you wear on your wrist.

In fact, the biggest reason that the Apple Watch has been so successful is that it has changed the way we think about wristwatches. No longer is it meant solely as a timepiece or fashion accessory, but as something we use and depend on throughout the day for a range of tasks and activities.

Status

Watches simply aren't a status symbol in the way they used to be. I'm sure there are plenty of horologists and watch aficionados who would disagree, but many younger workers don't pay as much attention. Especially since most of them are wearing an Apple Watch.

A Wall Street Journal report last year noted:

In the past, one's shoes, one's suits and, yes, one's watch spoke volumes about one's place at work. Even though some believe status watches still send signals, today's office has drastically evolved: CEOs wear sneakers and tell time with their smartphones; many people work remotely; wristwatches are less commonly remarked upon.

Productivity

Instead of serving primarily as a way to tell time, the Apple Watch is an extension of the iPhone in many ways. It delivers reminders, manages our calendar, gives us directions, and allows us to interface with apps that we use every day without our having to pull our phone out of our pocket.

Even the most advanced mechanical watch can't remind you to pick up dinner as you leave work, or give you directions to the restaurant. You can quibble with whether a mechanical watch is a better long-term investment or a better piece of machinery, but you can't argue with the fact that the reason most people wear something on their wrist has changed.

Health

The Apple Watch has become as much a health and wellness device as anything else. In fact, last year, Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, told CNBC's Jim Cramer, "If you zoom out into the future, and you look back, and you ask the question, 'What was Apple's greatest contribution to mankind?' it will be about health."
The Congress has also announced a nationwide agitation over the issue.

New Delhi: With a day left for the Delhi Assembly poll results, the battle for Bihar has begun, with the Opposition led by the Congress going full blast on the SC/ST quota issue in Parliament and outside. While former Congress president Rahul Gandhi alleged there was a big conspiracy to take away the rights of deprived sections, the government told the Lok Sabha it was not a party to the case in which the Supreme Court has ruled states are not bound to provide quotas in appointments and promotions.

The Congress has also announced a nationwide agitation over the issue.

The SC/ST issue also forced NDA ally Lok Janshakti Party to take a stand, with its chief Chirag Paswan saying the government should immediately intervene, and put the subject of reservations in the Ninth Schedule, so that no one can approach the

Supreme Court on these issues.

The issue of reservation is likely to be a major poll plank for the Bihar Assembly polls later this year. It might be recalled that RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwats statement against reservations was said to be one of the reasons for the NDAs defeat in Bihar in 2015.

The day began with the Opposition parties attacking the government in the Lok Sabha, saying the Centre had failed to defend the reservation system. The Opposition first tried to raise the matter during Question Hour, but was given time by Speaker Om Birla to speak in the Zero Hour, when Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Trinamul Congress Kalyan Banerjee said there was a dilution in SC/ST reservations since the Narendra Modi government came to power.

In the Rajya Sabha, the Opposition parties demanded that the government file a review petition in the Supreme Court over its ruling on reservations in jobs and promotions for SC/STs, and walked out of the House over the matter.

Congress members later shouted slogans Modi Sarkar Hai Hai, Modi Government Shame Shame!

CPI(M) member A.M. Ariff said the government should file a review petition, while LJP MP Chirag Paswan said the government should immediately intervene and put the subject of reservations in the Ninth Schedule.

Mr Gandhi later told the media outside the House that it was in the DNA of the BJP and the RSS to try to erase reservations and that a big conspiracy was underway to take away the rights of deprived sections. We will not allow reservations to be done away with, no matter how much Modiji or Mohan Bhagwat dream of it, he said.

Responding to the Opposition charge in the House later, social justice and empowerment minister Thaawarchand Gehlot said the court order pertains to a 2012 decision by the previous Congress government in Uttarakhand and said the Centre was committed and dedicated to quotas for SCs, STs and OBCs. He said the Centre was not asked to file an affidavit in the matter, and said the issue was being discussed in the government at the highest level and that it would take appropriate steps.

The Supreme Court has held that states are not bound to provide reservations in appointments and that there is no fundamental right to claim quotas in promotions.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh accused the Congress of trying to politicise the issue. This is my charge that the Congress is politicising this sensitive issue, he said.

Coming down heavily on the government, the Congress said it would move a privilege motion against Mr Gehlot for misleading the House on the Congress position. The BJP has shown their true colours on guaranteeing reservations to SC/ST and OBCs. The Uttarakhand governments stand in the Supreme Court, that there is no fundamental right to claim reservations in public posts, is a danger signal. The Congress will fight against such an unconstitutional stand, CWX general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal said.
Top actors Chiranjeevi and Nagarjuna on Monday met Telangana Cinematography minister T Srinivas Yadav to discuss issues concerning the Telugu film industry.

The actors appealed to the minister to allocate a suitable land for construction of a film institute and the minister has asked revenue officials to identify it.

He directed revenue officials to identify suitable land at Shamshabad here to establish a film institute on par with international standards, an official release said on Monday night.

The minister said he would try to address the concerns of the film industry by organising a meeting with Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.

Yadav held a meeting, as per Rao's directives, with the top actors along with various officials to discuss the steps to be taken for promotion of the Telugu film industry and for addressing the problems of artistes, the release said.

Chiranjeevi and Nagarjuna sought tough measures to be taken to contain film piracy which caused massive losses to producers.

The minister said the government would prepare a plan to take concrete measures towards checking piracy.

Several other issues concerning the film industry were discussed at the meeting.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Umatilla County authorities said a 62-year-old woman missing since Thursday has been found dead, apparently swept away by floodwaters.

Janet Tobkin Conleys body was found Sunday morning on the Bar M Ranch property in Bingham Springs, roughly 30 miles east of Pendleton in the Blue Mountains. The Umatilla River runs adjacent to the town.

Her death marks the only reported fatality in the flooding that swept eastern Oregon starting late last week.

Neighbors last spoke to Conley on Thursday, as floodwaters were beginning to rise. She said then that she wanted to stay in her home, authorities said.

Volunteers from Umatilla County Search and Rescue and the Oregon Air National Guard started searching for Conley on Saturday. Search and rescuers went door-to-door, and no one reported having seen Conley.

Elsewhere in eastern Oregon, residents are beginning to return to their homes to clear away mud and debris. A favorable shift in weather conditions means more flooding is unlikely.

-- The Oregonian/OregonLive
London: China's most senior diplomat in the UK has admonished Prime Minister Boris Johnson, saying the cap on Huawei involvement in the 5G network is not a good representation of the country's claim to be a free-market economy.

Ambassador Liu Xiaoming told British television that the string of ex-cabinet ministers seeking an Australian-style ban on the Chinese technology provider was a "witch-hunt".

"They are totally wrong, I think what they are doing is a kind of a witch-hunt," Liu told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show.

China's Ambassador to the UK Liu Xiaoming appears on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, Sunday, 9 February, 2020. Credit:BBC

"Huawei is a private-owned company, nothing to do with the Chinese government and the only problem they have is they are a Chinese company."
The $56 billion superannuation fund representing the construction and building industries has invested in at least 23 global coalmining companies despite adopting a vocal stance on climate change and pledging to reduce exposure to fossil fuels.

Melbourne-based Cbus has $128 million invested in companies including Swiss-based Glencore, China's Shenhua Energy Company and Exxaro of South Africa, published records show. The fund has also backed 90 per cent of shareholder resolutions put forth by the coal companies it has invested in, according to annual general meeting results.

Cbus invests in Glencore, the worlds dominant coal exporter. Credit:AFR

Cbus' exposure to coal comes as major financial institutions face rising scrutiny over their investments in fossil fuels, amid a growing debate over the financial sector's role in reducing carbon emissions.

The world's largest fund manager, BlackRock, last month signalled it would divest in companies primarily producing thermal coal  although its self-imposed thresholds means it is still able to invest in Glencore, the world's largest thermal coal exporter.
By Dan Williams

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A U.S. envoy warned Israel on Sunday not to declare sovereignty over West Bank land without Washington's consent, pushing back against calls for immediate action by ultra-nationalists within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition.

U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan, unveiled on Jan 28, envisages Israel keeping key swathes of the occupied territory where Palestinians seek statehood. But the question of timing has opened up a rare rift between the allies.

Netanyahu initially pledged a speedy "application of Israeli law" - de facto annexation - to Jewish settlement blocs and the Jordan Valley, delighting his religious-rightist base ahead of Israel's March 2 election, where he hopes to win a fifth term.

But he was forced to backpedal after the White House made clear it wanted a U.S.-Israeli mapping process - likely to take weeks or more - completed first.

The Palestinians, for their part, have rejected the Trump plan as a non-starter.

With Defence Minister Naftali Bennett and other Israeli ultra-nationalists urging an immediate cabinet vote on sovereignty in the West Bank, the U.S. ambassador intervened.

"Israel is subject to the completion (of) a mapping process by a joint Israeli-American committee. Any unilateral action in advance of the completion of the committee process endangers the Plan & American recognition," envoy David Friedman tweeted.

In a separate speech, Friedman elaborated that his message was "a little bit of patience, to go through a process, to do it right, is not something which we think is too much to ask for".

'POTENTIALLY ADVERSE'

"With the news out that the (Israeli) cabinet was about to be pushed in a direction that was potentially adverse to our view of the process, we just let people know where we stand," he told the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) think-tank.

"It was not a threat."

Story continues

In parallel, Netanyahu invoked the White House position.

"The (U.S.) recognition is the main thing and we don't want to endanger that," the premier told his cabinet on Sunday.

At the JCPA, Friedman said the mapping process was unlikely to be completed before March 2. But he held out the possibility of implementation even if the election does not produce a clear winner, as was the case twice in the last year.

Asked if Washington first wanted a permanent Israeli government - as opposed to a caretaker government of the kind Netanyahu has headed by default for months - in place, Friedman said: "We have not made that demand."

Most countries consider Israeli settlements on land captured in the 1967 Middle East war to be a violation of international law. Trump has changed U.S. policy to withdraw such objections and the prospect of Israeli annexations have drawn widespread condemnation.

Palestinians say the settlements make a future state unviable. Israel cites security needs as well as biblical and historical ties to the land on which they are built.

"Any unilateral step is rejected whether it is taken before or after the election," said Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "Facts can't be created on the ground and they will never become a reality."

"The only thing we can accept is the Palestinian map on the 1967 borders," Abu Rdainah added.

On Saturday, Netanyahu told an election rally that the mapping process with the Americans was already under way. "We've been waiting since 1967 and some people are making a big deal out of a few weeks," he said, alluding to rightist rivals.

(Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Mark Potter)
The results of Irelands General Election have thrown up a number of surprises with many new faces entering the Dail.

 Verona Murphy

The former president of the Irish Road Haulage Association was a household name before Februarys election due to a controversy from a November by-election.

Standing as a Fine Gael candidate, Ms Murphy made comments to the Irish Times that so-called Islamic State was a big part of the migrant population in Ireland and services were needed to alleviate that type of indoctrination.

Ms Murphy also told RTEs This Week programme that some asylum seekers have to be deprogrammed as they carry angst and may have been infiltrated by Isis.

Despite mass outrage, Fine Gael backed its candidate and even had the Minister for Justice campaign with her.

When Ms Murphy failed to gain the seat, the Taoiseach made a U-turn, saying he had decided to drop Ms Murphy as an election candidate as her apology for her comments about migrants wasnt sincere, and that he was glad she had not been elected.

She stood as an independent in this election, and was elected in Wexford.

(PA Graphics)

 Patricia Ryan

The Sinn Fein candidate hit the headlines after she took a holiday during the campaign, as a Christmas present from her children.

The gift could not be changed, and although she said she worked every day during the break away, eyebrows were raised about how it would affect her campaign.

She topped the poll on Tuesday for Kildare South on the sixth count with 10,155 votes.

 Cathal Berry

Also in Kildare South, independent candidate Cathal Berry claimed the third seat.

Thank you so so much to everyone who supported and voted - I will not let you down https://t.co/WM1A2PqRnZ  Cathal Berry TD (@BerryCathal) February 10, 2020

The former Army Ranger and qualified doctor raised more than 30,000 euro on a crowdfunding website.

Recently retired from the Defence Forces, Dr Berry has spoken publicly about pay and conditions in the sector.

 Holly Cairns

Holly Cairns, a candidate for the Social Democrats in Cork South West, shocked many when she scooped the third and final seat in Fine Gael founder Michael Collins constituency, after a impressive showing in transfers.

Her boyfriend, Christopher OSullivan of Fianna Fail, took the second seat in the same constituency.

 Gino Kenny

The incumbent Soldarity-People Before Profit TD for Dublin Mid-West had conceded his seat on Sunday afternoon, telling social media followers: Not looking good in getting re-elected, before finding out he had been elected on Monday afternoon.

Not looking good in getting re-elected. We done all we could over the past four weeks/years. Proud to have played a part in the legalisation of medical cannabis which will have a profound difference to many people. For me activism doesnt begin and end at Leinster House.  Gino Kenny TD (@Ginosocialist) February 9, 2020

Mr Kenny passed Fianna Fail candidate John Curran to take the fourth seat, and broke down in tears when he was announced.
The Iranian regime has miscalculated in three disastrous ways, leaving the Supreme Leader in a weaker position than 11 days ago.

Our thought bubble: Trump is taking a lot of flak globally and from Democrats. But at this moment, the Iranian regime is doing most of the suffering.

"Death to America" protests on Dec. 31 breached security at the fortress-like U.S. embassy in Baghdad, and Trump tweeted: "Iran will be held fully responsible." Three day later, Iranians lost their most powerful military leader when a U.S. drone took out Qasem Soleimani. Iran promised "'forceful revenge." But ballistic missile strikes aimed at U.S. troops on two bases in Iraq killed no one. Trump then said: "Iran appears to be standing down." Iran lied about the mass murder of 176 people because a trigger-happy idiot shot down a civilian Ukrainian plane taking off from Tehran. The regime looks like dishonest incompetents on the global stage.

Go deeper... What we know: Ukrainian Boeing 737 crashes in Tehran
The government has said it will push ahead with a charter flight removing around 50 people to Jamaica despite widespread demands for the mass deportation to be called off.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Rishi Sunak insisted that those set to be forcibly removed on Tuesday  on the second charter flight to the country since the Windrush scandal  had committed very serious offences such as rape and murder, and their deportations were reasonable.

However, it has emerged that in a number of cases those facing deportation have committed less serious crimes such as drug supply, GBH or joint-enterprise crimes, often only once and many years ago  raising questions around whether their removal is proportionate.

The Home Office would not release any breakdown on the nature of offences committed by those scheduled to be on the flight.

Many of the deportees have also been in the UK for decades and have children here  with campaigners estimating that at least 41 British children are at risk of losing their fathers as a result of the charter flight.

In one case, The Independent revealed that Reshawn Davis, 30, who has been in the UK since the age of 11 and has a six-month-old British daughter, is set to be removed on the basis that he was convicted for robbery 10 years ago under the now-unlawful joint enterprise rule  for which he spent two months in prison.

Recommended Man who has been in UK since age 11 set to be deported

More than 170 cross-party MPs have written a letter calling on the prime minister to halt the flight until the publication of the Windrush lessons learned review  of which a draft leaked to the media last week said ministers should consider ending the practice of deporting people who arrived in the UK as children.

The letter also demands that people set to be removed are provided with effective access to justice, after it emerged that a mobile phone outage at Heathrow removal centres meant detainees were struggling to pursue challenges against their removal directions.

Speaking to Sky News on Monday, Mr Sunak defended the flight, insisting it was right and the British public would expect foreign national offenders to be deported.

Many of these people have committed crimes such as manslaughter, rape, other very serious offences. It's reasonable, it's proportionate, and something the British people would expect us to do for foreign criminals who have committed very serious crimes who should be sent back to their countries where they have a right to reside elsewhere," he said.

When asked about the case of Tajay Thompson, who is facing deportation after serving half of a 15-month sentence in 2015 for possessing class A drugs with intent to supply at 17, Mr Sunak said he was not familiar with the case but insisted all due process will have been followed.

 MPs Nadia Whittome and Dawn Butler raise point of status of people on next weeks deportation flight to Jamaica

Labour MP Nadia Whittome, who organised the letter protesting against the charter flight, said: The fact is that many of the individuals in question have lived in the UK since they were children and at least 41 British children are now at risk of losing their fathers through this charter flight.

The government risks repeating the mistakes of the Windrush scandal unless it cancels this flight and others like it until the Windrush Lessons Learned Review has been published and its recommendations implemented.

Labour MP David Lammy said it was "scandalous" that the government was pushing ahead with the charter flight "despite knowing the Windrush Lessons Learned Review suggests many of these men should not be deported".

He added: "We know that many of those scheduled to be deported came to the UK as children as young as two, five, seven and 11. Many of those scheduled to be on this flight are not hardened criminals, but one-time drug offenders."
Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Park Superintendent Judy Forte and visitors in front of the King Birth Home. The site is one of the national parks featured in the new NPS video "Twenty & Odd." NPS Photo

News Release Date: February 5, 2020



Contact: NewsMedia@nps.gov

WASHINGTON - The National Park Service is marking Black History Month in February with a variety of new tours, exhibits, and digital media that relate the struggle, resilience and beauty of the African American experience as reflected in Americas national parks.



African Americans have made innumerable contributions to the fabric of our country, said National Park Service Deputy Director David Vela. Our collective narrative must include an understanding and appreciation of their struggles and accomplishments, many which are commemorated in national parks.



A compelling new short video, Twenty & Odd, uses vocal and artistic imagery to advance messages of African American empowerment, remembrance, education, inspiration and engagement. Featuring Dr. Maya Angelous recording of her poem "Still I Rise", the video and its online companion guide encourage dialogue about racial equity, representation and change within the social system.



The videos title, Twenty & Odd, refers to a 1619 description of the first enslaved Africans in English-occupied North America at what is now Fort Monroe National Monument, one of many parks with a strong association to African American history. The piece was filmed on location at more than a dozen National Park Service sites that highlight aspects of African American history and culture, including New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, African Burial Ground National Monument and Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site.



Dr. Woodson is known as the Father of Black History and his home as the birthplace of Black History Month and the epicenter of the black history movement. Dr. Woodson was the second African American to earn a doctoral degree in history from Harvard and is believed to be the only child of enslaved parentage to receive a doctorate in history from any institution. In addition to creating and fostering the annual commemoration, Dr. Woodson wrote and edited numerous books about African and African American history. His Washington, D.C. house served as the headquarters of his organization, today known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, and a vital repository of historical materials and artifacts.



Three living history performances taking place at the Carter G. Woodson Home during the month of February will feature an actor portraying Dr. Woodson. Visitors to his home will gain insights into his motivation to create Negro History Week and his dedication to the cause of black history.



There are a variety of other Black History Month programs taking place in national parks throughout the month, including:

A new interactive GIS story map, 400 Years of African American Heritage," weaves together place-based histories found in parks and other historic places recognized or documented by National Park Service programs such as the American Battlefield Protection Program, Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itineraries, Teaching With Historic Places, Historic Preservation Fund Grants, National Heritage Areas, and National Historic Landmarks.



The continuing struggle for racial equality is also told through the African American Civil Rights Network, a collection of powerful historic resources that commemorate, honor and interpret the significant time period between 1939-1968. The network, administered by the National Park Service, is composed of properties, programs and facilities that reflect the reality of the African American Civil Rights movement as not just a Southern project, but as a nationwide movement for justice. From Providence, Rhode Island to Contra Costa, California, African Americans and their allies fought to end segregation and disenfranchisement across the U.S. The network tells these stories through resources that shed light on a lesser known figure or event consequential to the civil rights struggle, offering a more comprehensive overview of the people, places and events associated with the civil rights movement during the 20th century.



www.nps.gov



About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 419 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Visit us at www.nps.gov, on Facebook www.facebook.com/nationalparkservice, Twitter www.twitter.com/natlparkservice, and YouTube www.youtube.com/nationalparkservice.
What happened to that photo is now the stuff of Internet mini-legend. When Moon posted it to his Twitter account, viewers were struck by the semicircle of pale white skin revealed as the wind blew his hair away from his otherwise color-filled face. It looked as if the president had a serious facial tan line, as Vox put it, or, less charitably, as if he had failed to blend his makeup.
Ten years ago Ish Aderonmu was in jail.

This fall, the 35-year-old will be starting law school at Ryerson University.

His experience within the criminal justice system, including the time he spent in jail in the United States, is the reason he wants to become a criminal defence lawyer.

I feel a sense of responsibility to be given such an opportunity, Aderonmu said in an interview shortly after he got his acceptance letter last month. Ive seen the gaps and all the work that needs to be done. And I feel I can make an impact.

Ten years ago, none of this seemed possible.

On Jan 20, 2010, Aderonmu was arrested by Philadelphia police for dealing marijuana. Hed had it delivered by mail from California, then distributed it to friends who would sell it. He was charged with possession with intent to deliver 10 pounds of marijuana, criminal conspiracy, criminal use of a communication facility and possession of a controlled substance.

He spent seven days in jail before Meryl Silver, the mother of a friend, bailed him out.

It was quite scary, he said. I was a deer in the headlights.

A year later, he accepted a plea deal on the eve of trial. He pleaded guilty to the charge of possession with intent to deliver and was sentenced to six months of house arrest and two years probation  a better prospect than three to five years in prison if he went to trial and lost.

On Feb. 24, 2011, the judge warned Aderonmu a guilty plea could affect his immigration status. Before entering his plea, he said his lawyer assured him and the court that this wouldnt be an issue  something that turned out not to be true.

He was deported a year later; Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested him while he was walking his dog, Sasha. He spent 45 days in jail before agreeing to be voluntarily deported to Canada on Feb. 29, 2012. He hoped he could apply to return. He had to leave Sasha behind with friends.

I was free, he said as he crossed the border. But, with only a suitcase stuffed with some clothing and his whole life left behind, it didnt feel like it.

Aderonmu was born in Nigeria but moved to Winnipeg with his family when he was three. He became a Canadian citizen a few years later. Then, when he was 13, his family moved to Cheltenham, Pa., where his father got a job as an imam at a maximum-security prison nearby.

He knew people selling marijuana in high school and in 2009  when he was 25  he started bringing in marijuana from California to sell it on to others at $500 a pound.

I saw it as an opportunity to catch up to my friends who all came from means, he said. I tried to pretend I wasnt from poverty... I saw (this) as a way out.

It all came crashing down one day in January 2010. He went to get the package from a UPS deliveryman, but it was an undercover police officer.

After Aderonmu was deported, he lived with family friends in Brampton and then Toronto. The next few years were difficult. He eventually worked in sales, then joined tech startups. But he was terrified his criminal past would come out, that his conviction would mean he couldnt go to the United States for training or other travel for work.

By 2018, he reached a point where he said f--- it and quit his job. He started to volunteer with a campaign for Toronto city council and said put everything he had into it. He even helped a court challenge of Premier Doug Fords decision to halve the number of city councillors. He eventually applied for social assistance from Ontario Works.

Then he saw a 60 Minutes episode about Shon Hopwood, a Nebraska man who became a law professor after serving a 12-year sentence for armed bank robbery. For the first time, Aderonmu saw a path toward redemption.

I watched the episode four or five more times, he said. Then he reached out to Hopwood on Twitter and Hopwood encouraged him to apply to law school: Dont let anyone tell you, you cant do anything, he said.

But Aderonmu had only done two years of community college and one year of university in the U.S. He wasnt sure he could apply.

He reached out to Lorne Sossin, the former dean of York Universitys Osgoode Hall Law School, and over a coffee talked about his past for the first time. Sossin told him he was the type of person law schools needed.

It was exactly what he needed to hear at that moment. If hed slapped me down there, who knows what I would have thought, he said.

Aderonmu applied in 2018 without success, but he kept going.

And instead of keeping his criminal history a secret, he started leading with it  and created a website to share his story.

I was always hiding something, he said. Its freeing to just be me and not carry all this s--- around with me.

He began watching cases in Toronto courthouses and shadowing lawyers. He got involved with a cannabis amnesty campaign.

He was also working at a non-profit called Building Up, which helps people with criminal records get jobs in construction.

One of the men he met there had an ongoing criminal trial. In court to lend support, Aderonmu became worried the man wasnt always sure what was going on  like how he felt after his own arrest.

After the man was convicted, Aderonmu helped him get an appeal lawyer so he could get out on bail pending appeal. It worked.

While at the courthouse, Aderonmu paid attention to smaller things too.

There was a sign telling the public to not take food outside the cafeteria. It was ignored by pretty much everyone, and never enforced. But Aderonmu thought of his father, who would have dutifully followed the instruction. After several phone calls and emails, he got the sign removed.

Silver, the friends mom who bailed Aderonmu out of jail 10 years ago  she said she considers him one of her children  cried when she heard hed been accepted to law school. There is light in his life again. He created that light, she said. It feels like now there can be real vision towards the future. I just feel like his path is falling into place again

She hoped Aderonmu will be able to receive a pardon, which might allow him to finally come visit her and her family in Philadelphia.

She said she saw a big difference in him after he decided to be open about his past  but said it was a very difficult decision to make. And seeing what Aderonmu went through, visiting him in prison and seeing him try to rebuild his life afterwards made her rethink her own beliefs about what it means to have a criminal record.

We say we want the system to be better, but how do we really treat people in the system? Silver asked.

She said she is proud that Aderonmu wants to take everything he went through and put it toward helping people, however he chooses to do so. Proud that hell be able to say to his classmates: This has been my history... and its played a big part in why Im here today.

Aderonmus application to Ryersons new law program was successful because of what he has accomplished since his time in custody, said Gina Alexandris, a special adviser to Ryersons faculty of law, a position which includes overseeing the admissions process.

His experience in the criminal justice system is only one element of who he is and what he brings, she said. Hes had to learn a lot, hes had to research, hed had to talk to people, hes had to find creative solutions, hes had to endure and move forward and be resilient. All of those are the elements we think future graduates of Ryerson Law should have.

Defence lawyers say Aderonmus background could be an asset in building trust with clients and that it shouldnt be an impediment to him becoming a lawyer.

It was refreshing and brave to hear Aderonmu speak openly about his criminal record, defence lawyer Annamaria Enenajor said. Being represented by somebody who has gone through the same thing you have or something similar and understands the questions and fears you have upon being arrested ... its something that cant be replaced with any kind of education.

Its the same reason that defence lawyers think judges and Crown prosecutors should visit jails, and why defence lawyers should be exposed to the reactions of victims of crime, appeal lawyer Mark Halfyard said. It just builds perspective, he said. This whole idea that people make one big mistake in their life and they are simply irredeemable doesnt hold true.

Defence lawyer Jordana Goldlist is working on starting a scholarship at Osgoode Hall law school for people with backgrounds like Aderonmus and her own  she was convicted of selling marijuana as a teenager, dropped out of high school and spent years homeless before she turned her life around. She recognizes there are far more people who arent open about their past.

Goldlist encouraged Aderonmu to apply to law school after he shadowed her in court. He has the capacity to connect with clients, to know what they want to learn about the process and how to explain it to them, she said.

To move beyond a past mistake in your life is what the justice system says it wants, even if that is not what it does, she said.

Ontarios law society requires that lawyers maintain good character, but a criminal record is not disqualifying. Aderonmus offence did not involve financial fraud or the exploitation of vulnerable people  which are things the law society is concerned about.

Its very hard to meet Ish and to know his story and see the passion that he brings to the practice of law and not believe he has the best character suited for this profession, Enenajor said.

Aderonmu said he had his acceptance letter laminated in the fanciest option available at Staples. It was especially meaningful to him that the news came in on Lincoln Alexander Day, which commemorates the birth date of the first Black Canadian to become a member of parliament.

The cost of actually paying for law school is the next big barrier. Aderonmu says he hopes to pay for his schooling through a combination of scholarships and crowdfunding, so that he wont be left with the kind of crushing student debt that would stop him from doing the work he wants to do with racialized and marginalized people.

I am proud of myself. When I saw that episode of 60 Minutes about Hopwood I saw this window. And I am so proud I did everything I had to do to get there, he said.

He hopes his story will be that window for someone else.
"Significant progress" has been in 11m plans to extend in The Gobbins coastal path in Co Antrim.

As part of the Belfast Region City Deal, The Gobbins Phase II project will join the upper and lower cliff paths at the popular visitor attraction.

Mid and East Antrim Borough councillor Gregg McKean, a member of the council's City Deal Elected Members Working Group, said the projects hope to create a "world-class, authentic visitor attraction" and bring increased numbers of domestic and international visitors to the borough.

Councillor McKean said progress has been made in developing an Outline Business Case for the project, which will be presented to the Treasury this summer.

Alliance representative Robert Logan said: I commend the hard work of all those involved in progressing this vital work which will be crucial to unlocking the economic and tourism potential of our borough.

The Gobbins is a key tourism asset in Mid and East Antrim and Northern Ireland, with thousands of visitors from around the world travelling to experience this unique attraction.

The planned City Deal investment will build on its reputation and deliver an enhanced, world-class tourism site, which will be invaluable to our local economy.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wants to have a word with all 74 of the United States' 74 inspectors general.

In a letter sent Monday, Schumer requested the inspectors general "take immediate action to investigate any and all instances of retaliation against anyone who has made, or in the future makes, protected disclosures of presidential misconduct to Congress or inspectors general."

Schumer's call for investigations was inspired by Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman's dismissal from his post at the National Security Council last week, months after he provided damaging testimony against President Trump during the House's impeachment inquiry. Schumer clearly sees Vindman's firing as an act of revenge by the White House, and said he wants to make sure witnesses and whistleblowers, whose rights are protected by law, don't face professional or personal consequences for disclosing information about the president.

"Regrettably, these rights are now being challenged like never before, creating a chilling effect among those who, in previous administrations, may have come forward to expose abuses of power," Schumer wrote. "If this chilling effect persists, it will inhibit our ability to hold public officials and institutions accountable and it will irreparably harm the ability of Congress to fulfill its constitutional oversight responsibilities."

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During this time of the year, buyers from the western markets usually travel to China to negotiate deals with garment exporters for the next season. But this time, due to the Novel Coronavirus most of these buyers have cancelled their trips and have started discussing with exporters from India and other countries.

While this is good news, the flip side is exporters say they are not in a position to convert the enquiries into orders as they are not able to match the price. What's more, many exporting units here are stuck as they aren't able to import accessories from China. As ...
Ayushmann Khurrana starrer Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan is all set to hit the theatres soon. The film has already created a massive buzz among the audience. Apart from this, Ayushmann's Instagram posts is also hitting the headlines. Check out the times when Dream Girl actor raised the temperature with his shirtless pictures.

ALSO READ | Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan: Ayushmann Khurrana recreates Anil Kapoor's step after 35 yrs

Every time Ayushmann Khurrana went shirtless

Captioning the post as "public demand", Ayushmann Khurrana shared an intense and earthy looking picture of him. He stunned in a chocolate brown jacket paired with a polka design shirt and black velvet pants. Ayushamnn kept his shirt unbuttoned, exposing his ripped body.

ALSO READ | Ayushmann Khurrana laments ragging after co-star Jitendra's 'forced to kiss men' reveal

In this picture post, Ayushmann Khurrana posed wearing his blue stripe nightdress, keeping the shirt's button open. Holding his coffee mug, the Bala star gave an awestruck look as he enjoyed Mumbai's weather. Check out Ayushman Khurrana's Instagram.

ALSO READ | Ayushmann Khurrana confesses having kissed a guy before Jitendra Kumar

The time when Ayushmann Khurrana went on a vacation to the Bahamas, he posed with his wife and the two were seen wearing beach wears. The actor went shirtless with neon skull print shorts.

ALSO READ | Ayushmann Khurrana Shows How To Tour India Like No Other, See Pictures

If you are one of his followers, you will know that he is a great writer too. Posting one of his poems on his Instagram, he shared his shirtless picture. He is seen standing still enjoying the sunset. Check it out.

While on his New Year's trip to the Bahamas, Ayushmann Khurrana posted another shirtless picture, sitting on a deck. Tahira also shared the frame. Take a look at Ayushmann Khurrana's drool-worthy picture.

Image Source - Ayushmann Khurrana's Instagram

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The population of vultures in the country has declined sharply from four crore to less than four lakh in three decades, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Monday.

Addressing the curtain raiser event for the upcoming 13th Conference of Parties (COP 13) of the United Nation Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), to be hosted by India next week, he revealed that veterinary drug 'diclofenac', used to treat cattle, lead to death of vultures after they consume the dead animals.

"The conference will discuss the issue of decline in vulture population. In India, vultures died after consuming dead cattle, which were given 'diclofenac' drug, and their population reduced from four crore to less than four lakh. We are taking efforts to revive the population," Javadekar said.

Elaborating on the measures, Soumitra Dasgupta, the Inspector General Forests (Wildlife), Ministry of Environment, said the drug has been banned and the vulture population is now reviving.

Reacting sharply to the ministry's claims, an environmental expert said the drug was yet to be banned, while another one said the effectiveness of the enforcement has been patchy.

"It is true that this drug 'diclofenac' is the main cause of vulture deaths but it has not been banned yet. The drug has only been banned in Tamil Nadu but not across the country. It is a cause of concern," said environmental activist and advocate Gaurav Bansal.

Another environmentalist Dipankar Ghosh from World Wide Fund (WWF), an international organisation for wildlife, said despite a ban it was being openly used.

"Vulture population in India and other parts of south Asia has declined primarily due to diclofenac poisoning. The government has banned selling the chemical for veterinary use but still some people use it in high doses for cattle. This needs to stop. The drug is meant for human beings.

"Vulture breeding sites and their feeding grounds need to be secured," Ghosh said.

A biologist said India as a society has to respect the rule of law for efforts to succeed.

"Diclofenac is the main reason behind massive and rapid decline in population of vultures in India. Even though the drug has been banned, effectiveness of the enforcement has been patchy. In general, India as a society has to respect the rule of law for such efforts to succeed," Bengaluru-based conservation biologist Ravi Chellam said.

During the press conference here, the minister termed COP 13, to be held from February 15-22 in Gujarat, a significant step towards conservation of wildlife. The COP 13 will be inaugurated on February 17 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi through video conference.

"Representatives from 130 countries, eminent conservationists and international NGOs working in the field of wildlife conservation will be attending the COP," Javadekar said.

He said the conference will address issues that have risen due to climate change and air pollution and also discuss scientific methodologies to be used to tackle the problems.

The CMS COP-13, which has over 130 countries as participants, is a global platform for the conservation and sustainable use of migratory animals and their habitats and brings together the states through which migratory species pass.

So far, 12 COPs (conference of parties) have been convened. The CMS COP 13 is an environmental treaty under the aegis of United Nations Programme (UNEP) is going to be held at Gandhinagar in Gujarat. As the host, India shall be designated the president for the next three years.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As they stood on the debate stage Friday in New Hampshire, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders once again battled each other over the roles they played nearly 18 years earlier in the Iraq War vote. Biden said he made a "mistake" trusting President George W. Bush to use diplomacy, while Sanders said he knew administration officials were "lying through their teeth."

For the two men, their actions in the late summer and autumn of 2002 have become defining moments of their careers and candidacies, with lessons for how each might handle foreign policy if he is elected president. Biden voted for a resolution authorizing the use of force, while Sanders opposed it.

In explaining their actions to voters, however, they have both left out key details that present a more complicated picture of how they handled what both now say is one of the worst foreign policy mistakes in American history.

Biden not only played a key role in helping Bush win passage of the measure, but he also privately assured the president that "I think you're doing it the exact right way," according to notes taken at a meeting by White House press secretary Ari Fleischer. In that meeting, Bush told Biden that though he would attempt to use diplomacy, he would use the authority to invade if he believed it was necessary, according to Fleischer's notes.

Sanders, meanwhile, agreed at the time with much of what Bush said about Iraq, including the view that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

For example, appearing on MSNBC in September 2002, Sanders was asked about statements that Hussein "has weapons of mass destruction" and "is on his way to nuclear weapons" that could be used against the United States. Sanders responded that "I agree" with those statements. He disagreed only with the host's view that "we have got to take (Hussein) out."

"The question is whether we will do more harm than good by acting unilaterally," Sanders said. However, if the international community worked together on an effort to remove Hussein, "that becomes a different story."

The Iraq War, which has left more than 4,000 Americans dead, was launched on the basis of faulty intelligence that said the country had weapons of mass destruction.

The vote on the war, in addition to reflecting past actions by Biden and Sanders, has also framed one of the most important foreign policy issues of the presidential campaign: the extent to which U.S. troops and military might should be used around the world. President Donald Trump has made ending wars a centerpiece of his message, and Democrats continue to debate whether U.S. troops should be pulled out of Iraq, Afghanistan and other areas.

Sanders and Biden declined to comment for this article. This account is based on interviews with key players, a review of meeting transcripts and the candidates' comments at the time.

As the Iraq War debate unfolded in 2002, Biden and Sanders were at opposite ends of Congress's power structure.

Biden, who was first elected to the Senate in 1972, held the influential position of chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, which made him an important voice as fellow Democrats pondered whether to support Bush's resolution. The Bush White House courted him assiduously, playing to his desire to fashion bipartisan agreements.

Sanders, who was first elected to the House in 1990, was an independent who attended Democratic Party caucus meetings but had little influence. He was seen as dovish on military affairs. Like Biden, he had voted against the 1991 Gulf War, which he said "would be a terrible mistake that this country would regret for decades to come."

The United States easily won that war, ousting Iraqi forces from Kuwait, but then-President George H.W. Bush did not use the victory to oust Hussein.

In 1998, Sanders and Biden became allies when Congress passed the Iraq Liberation Act, which provided support to Hussein's enemies but did not authorize U.S. military action. Sanders and Biden both supported the legislation. Hussein, however, remained in power.

A year after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks - which Iraq did not initiate - President Bush asked Congress to give him authority to invade Iraq.

Bush and his aides issued an array of alarming claims, including that Hussein had a stockpile of biological weapons; that a Sept. 11 conspirator met with an Iraqi intelligence officer; and that a cache of aluminum tubes showed that Hussein was seeking to develop a nuclear weapon. As Vice President Dick Cheney put it in August 2002, "There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction" to use "against us."

All of those claims have since been discredited. Former secretary of state Colin Powell, who made the administration's case to the United Nations, has said many of the claims made at the time resulted from "a great intelligence failure."

Former president Bush did not respond to a request for comment.

During Friday's debate, Sanders said he had "helped lead" the effort against that war.

The Sanders campaign, asked about what he did to lead the antiwar effort, cited a Sept. 21, 2002, story in the New York Times that said Sanders was one of 19 members of Congress who worked to oppose the resolution. The story said the group "met privately" with House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri but did not specify whether Sanders spoke directly to him.

Gephardt, in an interview with The Washington Post, said he had no memory of talking with Sanders about the Iraq vote. While the independent congressman met with Democrats, he "was really never an integral part of the caucus," Gephardt said.

Sanders spokesman David Sirota, who worked for Sanders before the war vote and was a Democratic aide during the war debate, said, "Bernie Sanders was an original member of the coalition of 19 lawmakers that led the effort to pressure Dick Gephardt - an Iraq War supporter - and the rest of the Democratic caucus to oppose the war resolution."

At the time, Sanders acknowledged that he had limited influence when asked why more Democrats weren't standing up to Bush. "You are asking the wrong guy," Sanders responded. "Ask Gephardt."

The House passed the measure 296 to 133, giving Bush the authority to use military force in Iraq "as he determines to be necessary."

On Sept. 4, 2002, Biden arrived at the White House for a meeting with Bush. He urged that an invasion be undertaken only "with the informed consent of the American people," according to Fleischer's notes.

Biden said he believed Bush was going to use the authorization for military force to put pressure on the United Nations to get international support for putting weapons inspectors in Iraq. "If you can get it done without staying, we'll give you the Nobel Peace Prize. I'll support you for president," Biden told the president, according to Fleischer's notes.

Bush told Biden that if the administration didn't get what it wanted from the United Nations, "we will have to act unilaterally," Fleischer's notes said.

Fleischer said Saturday via email that what Biden is "saying now is so contrary to what he said face to face to Bush." The Biden campaign said in a statement, "We dispute that characterization of the VP's positions and statements" in Fleischer's notes but declined to provide specifics.

In the days following the White House meeting, Biden had second thoughts, particularly because of a warning from Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Bob Graham D-Fla., who conducted hearings that highlighted doubts about Bush's claims.

"It was our judgment that there was no persuasive evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction," Graham said in an interview.

Biden pivoted and came up with a compromise that could have changed history.

Under legislation he sponsored with Sens. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., and Richard Lugar, R-Ind., Bush would not have been given broad powers to unilaterally invade Iraq.

Instead, Bush would have been allowed only to destroy Iraq's supposed weapons of mass destruction, and even that mission had to be approved by the United Nations. Then, if the mission to destroy such weapons had not succeeded, Bush would have to return to Congress for broader authority to invade Iraq.

Bush was livid, saying, "I don't want a resolution which ties my hands."

Bush aides came up with a political flanking maneuver. Bush made a deal in early October 2002 with Gephardt, who was preparing to run for president and agreed to support Bush's war resolution.

"The White House cut the legs out from under Biden," said Hagel, who later served as secretary of defense in the Obama administration. "Joe was caught in the middle. He was trying to do the right thing."

Antony Blinken, who worked for Biden as a staffer on the Foreign Relations Committee and is now a campaign adviser, said, "Dick Gephardt decided to support the Bush authorization for military force, and the air went out of the Biden-Lugar bubble."

This was Biden's decision point, when he might have allied himself with Democrats who eventually voted against the Iraq War resolution.

Biden, however, sided with the Bush White House. "It was a very difficult decision that we discussed, debated, argued about for some time," Blinken said.

The intelligence turned out to be false, and Gephardt said that his decision to give Bush broad authority to invade Iraq "was one of the great mistakes of my career."

The measure passed the Senate with the support of 77 members, including Biden, while 22 Democrats and one independent opposed it.

Biden said last year that while he made a "bad judgment" in voting for the war resolution, he "opposed the effort" as soon as Bush launched the invasion, and "I was outspoken as much as anyone at all in the Congress and the administration." Blinken later told The Washington Post's Fact Checker that Biden "misspoke by saying that he declared his opposition to the war immediately."

Bush wrote in his book "Decision Points" that some prominent Democrats would later "claim they were not voting to authorize war but only to continue diplomacy."

Actually, Bush wrote, the resolution's language was "unmistakable." It gave him authority to use military force, and he used it.

- - -

The Washington Post's Alice Crites contributed to this report.
The death toll from the novel coronavirus has breached the 900 mark, with the total number of fatalities and infections related to the outbreak having crossed the numbers from the SARS outbreak in China.

In this backdrop, World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has issued a grave warning.

"Thereve been some concerning instances of onward #2019nCoV spread from people with no travel history to China. The detection of a small number of cases may indicate more widespread transmission in other countries; in short, we may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg," he tweeted.

He added that even though the spread of the virus outside China appears to be slow at the moment, it could very well accelerate.

In a tweet, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres also urged people around the world to follow advisories on coronavirus from the WHO, emphasising the need to avoid stigma and discrimination at such a time of "heightened anxiety".

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

Outside China, the highest number of cases reported have been on a cruise ship docked at the Yokohama Port in Japan. The total number of cases on Diamond Princess, the ship which has been quarantined for over a week now, has gone beyond 130, as per a report by The New York Times. It noted that around 3,700 people are quarantined on the ship, with a rising number of cases on the ship being reported by the Japanese Ministry almost daily.
The VN-Index fell 1.07 percent to 930.73 points Monday, with the vast majority of blue chips closing in the red.

Order-matched transactions on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) plunged to VND2.19 trillion ($94.27 million) from VND3.1 trillion ($133.44 million) in the previous session, making Monday the quietest session of the past two weeks.

HoSE, on which the VN-Index is based, saw 220 stocks fall and 122 rise. The VN30-Index for Vietnams 30 biggest market caps shed 1.23 percent, with 22 losing tickers and three gainers.

All stocks in the banking sector lost this session, led by BID of BIDV, one of Vietnams three biggest lenders by assets, which dropped 5 percent. The other two, VCB of Vietcombank and CTG of Vietinbank, lost 1.2 percent and 1.1 percent respectively.

Among major losing stocks were BVH of insurance giant Bao Viet, down 3.8 percent, VPB of private mid-sized lender VPBank, 3 percent, and VRE of retail corporation Vincom Retail, 2.8 percent.

MWG of electronics retailer Mobile World also fell 2.7 percent this session, followed by POW of state-owned PetroVietnam Power, down 2.3 percent.

The two biggest market cap stocks on HoSE, VIC of Vietnams biggest private conglomerate Vingroup, and VHM of its real estate subsidiary Vinhomes, shed 0.6 percent and 0.9 percent respectively.

Five stocks kept their opening price this session, including SAB of Vietnams biggest brewer Sabeco and MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group.

In the opposite direction, ROS of real estate developer FLC Faros and CTD of construction giant Coteccons were the biggest gainers this session, both surging 6.9 percent to hit their ceiling prices for the second session in a row.

ROS had been the biggest losing stock on the VN30-Index for many consecutive sessions, having fallen to its floor price (6.7-7 percent) in over half of its last 25 sessions.

The CTD stock had also fallen steadily in the last quarter of 2019, with Coteccons reporting declining profits every quarter, citing a slowdown in the real estate market and rising prices of construction materials. However, the stock picked up last Wednesday and gained for four consecutive sessions.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, Vietnams second main bourse for small and midcap stocks, fell 0.9 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for unlisted public companies shed 0.7 percent.

After four consecutive net selling sessions, foreign investors became net buyers of nearly VND30 billion ($1.29 million) worth of shares on all three bourses. Buying pressure was most focused on VHM of Vinhomes and HPG of leading steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, which kept its opening price this session.
The management of the Tumu Community Cooperative Union (TCCU) has expressed its readiness to embrace the Warehouse Receipt System Project (WRS).

The leadership of the Union observed that the WRS presents real opportunities for the association to enhance the financial status of its members thereby improving their livelihoods.

At a training session organized at Tumu in the Upper West Region by the WRS Project of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group, the leadership of the Tumu Community Cooperative Union acknowledged that the WRS interventions will help them to control the default rate of loans granted to members by the Union.

The Board Chairman for the TCCU, Mr. Kodimah Issifu explained that members of the Union would no longer have the opportunity to divert their produce since the commodities would be stored in separate and secured warehouses. This Warehouse Receipt System brings us an opportunity to expand our membership base and operations whiles helping us to reduce the loan default rate of because members can no longer divert their produce, he emphasized.

Madam Aisha Batong Hor, the General Manager of the TCCU, on her part indicated that there are many opportunities with the WRS intervention that would be used to develop various products to serve the needs and aspirations of the union members. We have already identified many products and services that could be developed to enhance the agribusinesses of our members as we also grow the Unions agribusiness portfolio.

The IFC Ghana WRS Project is being implemented in nine regions of the country with financial support from the Switzerlands State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). It is a technical assistance and advisory services project aimed at setting up a well-functioning regulated WRS that is expected to facilitate an increased access to credit to farmers and the supply chain, linkage to structured markets and reduce post-harvest storage loses.

This intervention focuses on supporting a well-functioning WRS as a necessary pre-condition for the successful operations of the Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX). The project addresses WRS on a policy and regulatory level, system level, including technical advisory, training, capacity building and awareness raising for various stakeholders in the public and private sector.
World Health Organization officials are concerned about new coronavirus cases confirmed in France and the U.K. that were transmitted without any travel history to China. Five British citizens contracted the virus in the French Alpine town of Contamines-Montjoie, health authorities said Sunday. On Monday, the U.K. said it confirmed new cases linked to a British man who went a conference in Singapore. "The detection of this small number of cases could be the spark that becomes a bigger fire, but for now it's only a spark," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters Monday at the organization's headquarters in Geneva. "Our objective remains containment," he said. "We call on all countries to use the window of opportunity we have to prevent a bigger fire." World health officials said the respiratory disease, which has sickened more than 40,000 people worldwide and killed at least 910, mostly in China, is capable of spreading through human-to-human contact, droplets carried through sneezing and coughing, and germs left on inanimate objects. Symptoms can include a sore throat, runny nose, fever or pneumonia and can progress to multiple organ failure or death in some severe cases, they said.

People wearing face masks for protection against the Coronavirus epidemic on 31st January 2020 in London, England, United Kingdom. Mike Kemp

The coronavirus pneumonia produces mild cold symptoms in about 80% of patients, Dr. Sylvie Briand, head of WHO's Global Infectious Hazard Preparedness division, told reporters Monday. About 15% of the people who contract the virus have ended up with pneumonia with 3% to 5% of all patients needing intensive care, she said. On Friday, WHO said it sent medical supplies such as masks, gloves, gowns and diagnostic tests around the world. It is discouraging stockpiling of protective gear, saying the limited items need to be saved for regions most impacted by the virus. The price of protective gear has increased, while availability has decreased, WHO officials said. That could have a "knock-on effect" for other ongoing epidemics such as Ebola, Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO's emergencies program, said Friday. The agency has set up a referral system where countries that don't have the capacity to run diagnostic tests can send samples to labs located in different regions around the world. Tedros said Monday the agency has identified 168 labs with the needed technology to run tests. The agency is also preparing to ship an additional 150,000 diagnostic tests after sending out 250,000 last week, he said. On Friday, the Trump administration said it would commit up to $100 million to help WHO, China and other countries fight the outbreak.
Multiple months' worth of rain in a matter of days caused dangerous flooding across the Australian state of New South Wales, but it also extinguished dozens of fires that have ravaged the country for months.

An influx of moisture from the Tasman Sea helped spark widespread rainfall and thunderstorms from across central and eastern New South Wales since late last week.

The heaviest rainfall in decades was reported in Sydney from Friday into Monday as daily downpours inundated the city and surrounding suburbs.

The city received 391.6 mm (15.42 inches) of rain over this four-day stretch, more than three times the normal amount for the entire month of February.

The flooding that ensued from the heavy rainfall caused at least 100,000 power outages in the Sydney area, according to the BBC.

More than 200 people were also rescued by emergency services in Sydney during the recent flooding.

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Flooded roadways caused travel headaches on Monday and rail and ferry services were also disrupted due to the ongoing flooding problems.

Showers and thunderstorms caused additional flooding problems across eastern New South Wales on Tuesday, although Sydney was spared from any further downpours.

Flooding will continue to be a concern this week as daily showers and thunderstorms drench locations from southeast Queensland southward through eastern New South Wales, including the Sydney area.

Additional rainfall of 25-50 mm (1-2 inches) will be common into Thursday with an AccuWeather Local Storm Max of 150 mm (6 inches).

Residents of coastal New South Wales will also need to monitor the tropics closely this week as a newly formed tropical cyclone near New Caledonia is expected to track southwest toward Australia late this week.

The cyclone, which has been named Uesi, may bring downpours and rough seas seven if the center of the storm remains offshore.

The recent heavy rainfall has not been all bad news as only 17 fires continued to burn in New South Wales on Monday, according to BBC.

Story continues

More than 30 fires were extinguished since Friday, including the Gospers Mountain "mega-blaze" which burned more than 500,000 hectares (1.24 million acres).

The Currowan Fire, which destroyed 312 homes, was also put out by recent heavy rainfall, according to the BBC.

Additional fires are likely to be put out by the downpours in the coming days.

Another positive for the region is that the extreme rainfall has elevated reservoir levels after a multi-year drop raised concerns for future water supplies.

Greater Sydney dam levels were above 64 percent on Monday, up more than 22 percent in the last seven days, according to The Guardian.

The flooding in eastern Australia occurred while western parts of the country were being slammed by dangerous Cyclone Damien. The storm made landfall on Saturday night local time as a Category 3 severe tropical cyclone near the town of Karratha in northwestern Australia.

Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Despite the nearly two-year crisis in the auto sector, the past two Union Budgets have given little respite to the sector that is very critical to generate employment.

Mumbai: It is set to be a long haul for the auto sector that has already been riding through its worst slump in two decades, with demand, that has so far plunged 16 percent, unlikely to pick up even next year, according to a report.

The 3 million-plus-units domestic auto industry has seen volume plunging over 16 percent as of December-end 2019, with some of the segments performing even worse.

Despite the nearly two-year crisis in the auto sector, the past two Union Budgets have given little respite to the sector that is very critical to generate employment. Instead, lakhs of jobs have already been lost in the industry, including its allied segments, since the past 18 months or so.

Expecting very low pick-up in volumes given the lingering growth pangs of the overall economy and other macroeconomic headwinds, India Ratings has revised downwards its outlook on the sector to negative for 2020-21 from stable, as it expects "flat-to-low pick up in volume in FY21".

Amid the weak consumer sentiment and an uncertain regulatory environment, including for the e-mobility push, limited credit availability and increased cost of ownership after BSVI implementation from April will add to the already negative consumer sentiment which would see a flat-to-low single-digit volume growth in 2020-21.

The agency pegs passenger vehicle demand growing 2-4 percent in 2020-21 over 2019-20, but commercial vehicles (CVs) will continue to see falling demand to the tune of 5-7 percent and the two-wheeler segment will decline 0-5 percent.

This is on top of the steep decline in sales volume during the April-December 2019 period of the ongoing fiscal when demand plummeted a full 16 percent year-on-year.

CVs have been hit much harder with over 35 percent drop in sales.

The report sees more fall in volumes, with the "industry closing the current fiscal losing 12-15 percent of the market" from the previous fiscal when it had clocked over 3.3 million units.

But it expects limited rating movements in the sector in FY21 and thus has maintained a stable rating outlook.

Revenue growth and margins will be subdued, and companies will continue to incur capex in view of the ongoing regulatory changes, development of EV platform and the continued investment in new products.

However, credit ratings of most original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are likely to be unaffected due to their robust liquidity positions and low-leverage profiles that provide them strong financial flexibility, it notes.

After the adoption of BS-VI from 1 April, vehicle prices will go up by a low of 5 percent for cars and a high of 12-15 percent for two-wheelers and others.

Despite this, there is unlikely to be any meaningful pre-buying as automakers have already started launching their BS-VI variants and lowered production of BS-IV models to manage inventory pile-up.

FY21 will continue to face headwinds as consumers will take some time to accept the increased pricing, thus demand in Q1 of FY21 is likely to be minuscule, especially for CVs. The demand is likely to pick up only from the festive season.

In CVs, new axle load norms, low industrial output and a reduction in transit time after GST implementation have resulted in excess capacity. While infrastructure spending could increase in FY21, this would consume only some of the spare capacities in the system and thus is unlikely to create an incremental demand, the report concludes.
Four members of the Chinese military have been charged with breaking into the networks of the Equifax credit reporting agency and stealing the personal information of tens of millions of Americans, the Justice Department said Monday, blaming Beijing for one of the largest hacks in history.

The 2017 breach affected roughly 145 million people, with the hackers successfully stealing names, Social Security numbers and other personal information stored in the company's databases.

The four members of the People's Liberation Army, an arm of the Chinese military are also accused of stealing the company's trade secrets, law enforcement officials said.

The case comes as the Trump administration has warned against what it sees as the growing political and economic influence of China, and efforts by Beijing to collect data on Americans and steal scientific research and innovation.

This was a deliberate and sweeping intrusion into the private information of the American people, Attorney General William Barr said in a statement.

Today, we hold PLA hackers accountable for their criminal actions, and we remind the Chinese government that we have the capability to remove the Internet's cloak of anonymity and find the hackers that nation repeatedly deploys against us," he added.

The case is one of several the Justice Department has brought over the years against members of the PLA. The Obama administration in 2014 charged five Chinese military hackers with breaking into the networks of major American corporations to siphon trade secrets.

The criminal charges were filed in federal court in Atlanta, where the company is based.

The indictment, which details efforts the hackers took to cover their tracks, includes charges of conspiracy to commit computer fraud, conspiracy to commit economic espionage and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A woman allegedly involved in a sex racket died after jumping off a three-storey house in Varanasis Sanjay Nagar Colony during a raid on Sunday night, police said.

Police mounted the raid after local residents complained that the inmates of the house could be involved in a prostitution and sex racket. The residents are said to have prevented five people from leaving the house until the police arrived.

The police team found a woman found lying at a plot next to the house during the search in the house and the surroundings. She was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared her brought dead, said senior superintendent of police (SSP) Prabhakar Chaudhary.

She reportedly ran to the roof and jumped off the building to escape the police. She was around 28 years of age, said a police official.

Police said another woman also jumped off the roof in attempt to flee the scene but fell on the roof of the adjacent building and suffered minor injuries.

The injured woman and two other men were taken into custody, said the police. The owner of the house, who lives elsewhere, has also been taken into custody for interrogation.

A few tenants, including three women, were living in the three-storey house in Sanjay Nagar Colony in Pahadia area.

Locals alleged that different men used to visit the house every evening. The activities of those visiting the house appeared to be suspicious. They suspected a prostitution racket was being run from the house and informed the police.

The police claimed some objectionable materials were recovered from the house. Police also found visa related documents from the building.

The documents suggest some foreigners also used to visit the place. A thorough investigation is being conducted into the matter, said the SSP.

Police said they were trying to ascertain the identity of the woman.
LEXINGTON, Ky., Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Tempur Sealy International, Inc. (NYSE: TPX, "Company") announced today that it will invest in solar power technology for its largest mattress manufacturing operation, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The project is planned for completion by year end. The locally-generated renewable energy will provide a sustainable source of electric power sufficient to run all of Albuquerque's mattress assembly lines, reducing the annual electric consumption purchased from public utility by approximately 2 million kWh's.

Additionally, the Company announced that its facility in Duffield, Virginia has achieved the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry by reducing its energy intensity by nearly 40% within 4 years. In successfully achieving the ENERGY STAR Challenge, Tempur Sealy's Duffield facility has reduced over 3,800 tons of greenhouse gases per year and saved enough energy to power over 500 homes.

Earlier this year, the Company issued its first Corporate Social Values Report to highlight its efforts to improve its communities and the environment. The Company focuses on driving many environmentally friendly initiatives through leveraging well-established practices and continually researching additional areas of opportunity. Through these efforts to continuously expand its environmental initiatives, the Company identified the opportunity to integrate solar power in its manufacturing operations.

"These renewable energy projects are exciting additions to our other environmental initiatives here at Tempur Sealy," said Scott Thompson, Tempur Sealy International, Inc. Chairman and CEO. "This reduction in our carbon footprint from the solar energy initiative alone equates to powering all mattress assembly lines at our largest facility, and at the same time, allows us to improve the cost effectiveness of our operations."

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain "forward-looking statements," within the meaning of the federal securities laws, which includes information concerning one or more of the Company's plans, objectives, goals, strategies, and other information that is not historical information. When used in this release, the words "expects," "anticipates," "projects," "plans," "proposed," "intends," and variations of such words or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements relating to the Company's operational plans, results of operation or financial position. Any forward-looking statements are based upon current expectations and beliefs and various assumptions. There can be no assurance that the Company will realize these expectations or that these beliefs will prove correct. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made. Numerous factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control, could cause actual outcomes to differ materially from those expressed as forward-looking statements.

About the Company

Tempur Sealy International, Inc. (NYSE: TPX) develops, manufactures, and markets mattresses, foundations, pillows and other products. The Company's products are sold worldwide through third party retailers, its own stores, and online. The Company's brand portfolio includes many highly recognized brands in the industry, including Tempur, Tempur-Pedic, Sealy featuring Posturepedic Technology, and Stearns & Foster. World headquarters for Tempur Sealy International is in Lexington, KY. For more information, visit http://www.tempursealy.com or call 800-805-3635.

Investor Relations Contact

Aubrey Moore

Investor Relations

Tempur Sealy International, Inc.

800-805-3635

[email protected]

SOURCE Tempur Sealy International, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.tempursealy.com


[February 10, 2020] Steven M. Wiltse, CPA Joins Schneider Downs' Expansion Team in Washington D.C.

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Schneider Downs, one of the nation's 60 largest public accounting firms, announced that Steven M. Wiltse, CPA, will serve the firm as its first Senior Consultant for business development in the Washington D.C. region. In his new role, Mr. Wiltse will help Schneider Downs further expand its practice within the Washington D.C., Maryland and Northern Virginia markets. Recognized as one of the nation's largest certified public accounting firms, Schneider Downs offers a full spectrum of business consulting services to clients in the Mid-Atlantic region, including technology and cybersecurity consulting, transaction advisory, retirement planning solutions and wealth management. The firm generates nearly $90 million in revenue annually and employs 480 employees across its headquarters in Pittsburgh, PA and office in Columbus, OH. Schneider Downs recently made the commitment to open an office location in Tysons Corner (McLean), Virginia, to better serve its existing roster of clients in the region. The firm believes it can further expand its client base in the area by focusing on its experience in strategic markets and services. "We are incredibly bullish on our opportunities in this region," explained Steven D. Thompson, Co-CEO of Schneider Downs. "Steve Wiltse will provide great leadership and experience to help our firm continue to build on the exciting momentum we're experiencing throughout the Mid-Atlantic." Mr. Wiltse is a veteran of the Washington D.C. business community, and was a founding partner of Argy, Wiltse & Robinson, P.C., previously one of the 100 largest public accounting firms in the nation. In 2012, the company was acquired by a national firm, where Mr. Wiltse worked until his retirement in 2014. He currently serves as a Board Director of FVC Bank, as well as a consultant fr government contractors and real estate organizations.



"We are very pleased to leverage the unique blend of professional and regional expertise that Steve can deliver," explained John R. Null, shareholder at Schneider Downs and the firm's market leader for the region. "Steve thoroughly understands our business offerings, and has business friends and contacts throughout the region. We have a great base of valued clients in the region, and Steve will help us expand on that foundation." For Mr. Wiltse, the opportunity with Schneider Downs represents an opportunity to leverage an entire career's worth of business contacts and experiences.

"Schneider Downs' services and niche industry expertise pair well with this region," Mr. Wiltse said. "There is a great need for insightful advisors who can deliver a full roster of CPA and consulting services with a personal, friendly approach. I look forward to helping tell their story." Schneider Downs is a Top 60 accounting firm providing tax, audit and business advisory services to public, private and nonprofit companies. The firm offers 80 services from five business units: Assurance and Tax Advisors; Business Advisors; Technology Advisors; Wealth Management Advisors; and Corporate Finance Advisors. With offices in Pittsburgh, Columbus and McLean, Schneider Downs serves clients in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Washington D.C., West Virginia, New York, Maryland and beyond. CONTACT:

Leigha Pindroh

[email protected]

412-697-5251 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/steven-m-wiltse-cpa-joins-schneider-downs-expansion-team-in-washington-dc-301002139.html SOURCE Schneider Downs

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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 U.S. team. All times below are in Beijing time.

7:15 pm: China's Xi says the country will definitely win fight against coronavirus

Chinese President Xi Jinping insisted the country will win the fight against the coronavirus outbreak, saying he will adopt more decisive measures to contain the spread. Speaking on state television Monday, Xi said the country would speed up the development of drugs that have relatively good clinical effects against the deadly pneumonia-like virus. Xi's comments come shortly after China's National Health Commission said it had confirmed more than 3,000 new cases and almost 100 deaths as of Sunday night. The world's second-largest economy now has a total of 40,141 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the country, with 908 deaths. (See 7:48 a.m. update).

Chinese President Xi Jinping Aris Messinis | Pool | Reuters

6:45 pm: Mongolia suspends coal exports to China until March 2 amid coronavirus outbreak

Mongolia has suspended deliveries of coal across its southern border into China until March 2, Reuters reported Monday, citing the country's National Emergency Commission. The move is designed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, with the commission also recommending the country suspend its Tsagaan Sar Lunar New Year celebrations later this month. Mongolia has not yet reported any cases of the coronavirus.

6 pm: UK confirms four new coronavirus cases, bringing the country's total to eight

The U.K. has confirmed four new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number in the country to eight. The new cases are all known contacts of a previously confirmed U.K. case, with the virus passed on in France, the Department of Health and Social Care said Monday. "The patients have been transferred to specialist NHS centres in London, and we are now using robust infection control measures to prevent further spread of the virus," Chris Whitty, England's chief medical officer, said in a statement via Twitter. Earlier in the day, the U.K. declared the coronavirus a serious and imminent threat to public health. (See 4 p.m. update).

5 pm: Cruise ship off the coast of Japan confirms 66 additional cases, bringing total to 136

The Diamond Princess cruise ship off the coast of Japan confirmed 66 additional cases of the coronavirus on Monday, bringing the total number of infections to 136. The additional cases are from Japan (45), the U.S. (11), Australia (four), Philippines (three), Canada (one), England (one) and Ukraine (one). Princess Cruises told NBC News it was continuing to follow guidance from Japan's Health Ministry regarding plans for disembarkation protocols to provide medical care for these new cases. The ship was quarantined for two weeks after a previous guest, who didn't have any symptoms while aboard, tested positive for the disease six days after leaving the cruise ship. (See 2:54 p.m. update). It was not expected that additional cases would be reported involving individuals who were exposed prior to the start of the quarantine, Princess Cruises said Monday.

4:20 pm: Sony withdraws from major Barcelona conference over coronavirus concerns

Japan's Sony has announced it will not attend Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, later this month, citing concerns over coronavirus. "As we place the utmost importance on the safety and wellbeing of our customers, partners, media and employees, we have taken the difficult decision to withdraw from exhibiting and participating at MWC 2020 in Barcelona, Spain," Sony said Monday. MWC is scheduled to run from Feb. 24 to Feb. 27. It is the world's largest telecom industry event and attracts more than 100,000 visitors each year. Amazon, LG Electronics, Ericsson and Nvidia have also pulled out of the conference.

4 pm: UK declares coronavirus a 'serious and imminent' threat to public health

Britain has declared the coronavirus a serious and imminent threat to public health, shortly after it was confirmed that four patients in England had now tested positive for the virus. "The Secretary of State declares that the incidence or transmission of novel Coronavirus constitutes a serious and imminent threat to public health," the U.K. health ministry said in a statement Monday. "Measures outlined in these regulations are considered as an effective means of delaying or preventing further transmission of the virus." The move will provide the U.K. government with additional powers to tackle the outbreak.

3:28 pm: China says two foreigners have died from the coronavirus, others undergoing treatment

The coronavirus has killed two foreigners, a U.S. citizen and a Japanese national, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday. That makes a total of 27 confirmed foreign cases in China as of 8 a.m. Monday, local time, spokesman Geng Shuang said, according to an official translation. He added that three people have recovered.  Cheng

2:54 pm: More confirmed cases reported aboard cruise ship off the coast of Japan

Japanese news outlets reported, citing a government official, that more than 60 additional people on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship have tested positive for the virus. The ship, operated by Carnival's Princess Cruises, is carrying more than 3,700 passengers and crew and has been quarantined in Yokohama since early February. On Sunday, Japan's Health Ministry said that of the 336 people tested to date, 70 were confirmed to have the coronavirus. If the additional numbers reported Monday are confirmed, then that would bring the total number of infected people on the ship to at least 130. The ship was quarantined for two weeks after a previous guest, who didn't have any symptoms while on board, tested positive for the disease six days after leaving the cruise ship.

1:57 pm: Singapore supermarkets see empty shelves as people stocked up on supplies over the weekend

Supermarkets in Singapore's Tanjong Pagar neighborhood, part of the city-state's central business district, had been largely replenished as of 11 a.m. Monday following a rush over the weekend that saw shelves cleared and queues snake out the door as residents rushed to stockpile goods. Shelves of household goods such as toilet paper, cleaning products and pet food remained bare Monday, but the sense of panic appeared to have abated, shoppers told CNBC. "I think it all stems from the run in Hong Kong, but I think people are overreacting. I'm personally not too concerned," one man who did not wish to be named said at FairPrice supermarket's Tanjong Pagar outlet.

Shelves storing paper products and pet food lay bare in FairPrice supermarket's Tanjong Pagar outlet in Singapore. Karen Gilchrist

Another woman who was looking to purchase a thermometer at her boss' instruction said she felt the sense of urgency had "died down" since Singapore raised its health warning to orange on Friday. As of noon Sunday, the city-state had 43 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.  Gilchrist

1:45 pm: Airbnb suspends Beijing bookings until the end of the month

Airbnb said it has suspended bookings of all listings in Beijing with check-in dates from Feb. 7 to Feb. 29, in guidance from local authorities for the short-term rental industry. Airbnb in a statement to CNBC said it "will refund and support guests who had cancelled reservations. And we will continue to work diligently to build programs that support our community of hosts."

12:52 pm: China's Commerce Ministry tells local branches to help foreign-invested companies

China's Ministry of Commerce issued a notice Monday telling local branches to help foreign-invested enterprises and work on attracting foreign investment in the wake of virus-related disruptions. The five-point announcement included helping the businesses resume normal production operations, improving services for foreign-invested projects and increasing transparency and fair play in accordance with the newly enacted foreign investment law. That's according to a CNBC translation of the Chinese text. The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai said Friday that of 127 companies surveyed, 87% of respondents believe the coronavirus outbreak will have a direct impact on 2020 revenues, with nearly a quarter expecting a decline of at least 16%.  Cheng

12:38 pm: China's consumer prices rise, beating forecast

Consumer prices in China rose 5.4% year over year in January, official data showed, more than the 4.9% forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll. Higher food prices were the main driver of the overall rise in consumer prices. The National Bureau of Statistics of China said in a statement on Monday that last month's jump in consumer prices was due to the Lunar New Year festivities, an outbreak of a new coronavirus and a lower base of comparison with last year's prices. Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at consultancy Capital Economics, said: "It appears that supply disruptions and hoarding due to the coronavirus outbreak helped to keep food prices elevated during the week after Chinese New Year, when they would normally drop back."  Lee

12:02 pm: LPGA cancels Singapore, Thailand tournaments

10:58 am: China's international profile could diminish, Fitch Ratings says

The coronavirus outbreak could diminish China's international profile for two reasons, according to ratings agency Fitch. First, China will turn inward and second, foreigners will turn away, it said. "China's political priority will be developing a strategy and implementing tactics to confront the virus and its fallout so as to preserve the leadership credentials of the Party. This will be time-consuming and resource-intensive," James McCormack, global head of sovereign ratings at Fitch, wrote in a note. "Short of an unforeseen exogenous crisis, it is hard to imagine international events of any sort being given a higher priority in Beijing. In the short term, at least, an inward orientation among Chinese policymakers is inevitable," he said.

10:36 am: Chinese Premier Li held a phone call with German Chancellor Merkel

Premier Li Keqiang discussed the coronavirus outbreak in a phone call Sunday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Li said he hoped Germany would provide necessary assistance in making it easier for China to purchase medical supplies from the European country through commercial channels, according to a CNBC translation of the Chinese text. Merkel thanked China for its assistance to Germans in the mainland. She noted that her country is willing to strengthen cooperation with Beijing in trying to prevent and control the virus outbreak, which includes providing China with medical supplies and assistance, the ministry said.  Cheng

9:21 am: Foxconn factories may not reopen on Monday as planned

The world's largest iPhone assembler Foxconn may not reopen its factories in China on Monday as previously planned. That could potentially hit Apple and some analysts have already reduced their iPhone shipment predictions earlier this month. The Japanese business daily Nikkei reported on Saturday that Foxconn's plans to resume production on Monday have been called off by Chinese authorities. While Foxconn did not outright confirm that its plans to restart operations have been delayed, it told CNBC in a statement: "The operation schedules for our facilities in China follow the recommendations of the local governments, and we have not received any requests from our customers on the need to resume production earlier."  Yoon

8:46 am: Asia markets decline, US futures fall on coronavirus worries

Investor sentiment remained dented in Asia as shares in Japan and South Korea declined. The South Korean benchmark Kospi led losses, down 1.29%, while Australian stocks also traded lower. U.S. futures also traded lower and indicated a nearly 100-point drop for the Dow Jones Industrial Average at Monday's open. Morgan Stanley analysts said in a research note that the disruption to supply chains due to the outbreak is seen as a "major concern for the global economy due to the integrated supply chains, especially in Asia." Both China and the world economy are set to be affected in February and March, they said. Many factories in China suspended operations as part of the country's efforts to temper the spread of the coronavirus. Reports suggest those factories may remain closed for longer than expected (see 7:36 am update).

7:48 am: China reports additional 97 deaths and 3,062 confirmed cases

China's National Health Commission said it confirmed 3,062 new cases and 97 additional deaths, mostly in Hubei province. As of Sunday night, the government said a total of 40,171 cases have been confirmed and 908 people have died in the country.

7:36 am: Reopening of China's factories could be delayed, many localities pushing to Mar. 1

Chinese authorities initially said factories would reopen on Monday, after being shuttered as part of the country's efforts to quarantine the spread of the coronavirus. But that looks set to be delayed. In Guangdong province, China's original manufacturing belt, there has been no official notice on when factories should reopen. Many localities, instead, are urging companies to stay shut until Mar. 1. Police of the Huangpu district in the city of Zhongshan posted on their WeChat social media account that companies should not resume work before March without permission. A clothing manufacturer in Shenzhen told CNBC he had been instructed by local officials that he could not reopen his factory until he received permission from authorities. He said he is still waiting to find out what documents he needs to submit to receive his permit.  Yoon, Pan

6:56 am: Hubei reports an additional 91 deaths

China's Hubei province reported an additional 91 deaths and 2,618 new confirmed cases related to the pneumonia-like coronavirus as of the end of Sunday. The Hubei Provincial Health Committee said that 871 people have died in the province and a total of 29,631 cases have been confirmed thus far, with most of them in the city of Wuhan where the fast-spreading virus was first detected. Hubei has accounted for most of the deaths related to the new coronavirus.

All times below are in Eastern time.

4:25 pm: 14 Americans test positive aboard cruise ship

Fourteen Americans, including a woman from Oregon, who were on the Diamond Princess cruise have tested positive for coronavirus. Princess Cruises said in a statement that guests on Diamond Princess will receive refunds for their fares and will not be charged for incidental expenses incurred while on the ship. The company also said that it is giving the guests a future cruise credit equal to the fare for this trip. The Carnival-owned company on Tuesday put the 3,700 passengers and crew members on the ship in quarantine when it reached Japan. The move was required by the Japanese ministry of health.

4:15 pm: Amazon backs out of Barcelona conference

Amazon has backed out of the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona later this month, a spokesperson for Amazon Web Services confirmed to CNBC. "Due to the outbreak and continued concerns about novel coronavirus, Amazon will withdraw from exhibiting and participating in Mobile World Congress 2020, scheduled for Feb. 24-27 in Barcelona, Spain," the company said in a statement.

3:35 pm: WHO sending advance team to China
"Were excited by our continued growth and the opportunity to invest in the next generation of engineering excellence." Gary Orazio, PE, president, Swanson Rink

Swanson Rink today announced it has made a $25,000 donation to the University of Colorado as part of its commemoration of 70 years in the engineering business. This contribution will support scholarship funding for students pursuing degrees in the universitys College of Engineering and Applied Science. Founded in Denver in 1949 by Al Swanson and Fred Rink, Swanson Rink provides mechanical and electrical design and commissioning services for data centers, airports and corporate developments.

Were proud of our history and legacy, and we wanted to celebrate this success by reinvesting in the engineering talent pipeline, said Gary Orazio, P.E., president of Swanson Rink. Engineers have a tremendous impact on our communities, and were looking forward to helping support advancements in the thinking and skills needed for the next 70 years, he added. The endowment will help fund scholarships for CU Boulder students pursuing their degree in engineering sciences.

Swanson Rink is a recognized market leader in data center engineering, designing the power and cooling to ensure seamless data center operations supporting the global digital infrastructure. The firm has worked for some of the largest hyperscale data center clients in the U.S, having designed more than 200 megawatts of data center projects during the last three years.

The firm has also created a niche market providing design for some of the worlds largest and most iconic airports. Swanson Rink has provided baggage handling design at more than 60 airports around the world, including recent projects at Las Vegas and Los Angeles International Airports. The firm also has a major contract with the Transportation Security Administration, providing security checkpoint design for nearly every airport within the United States.

Swanson Rink has provided engineering for many notable projects in Denver, including Davitas Corporate Headquarters, Xcel Energys Regional Headquarters at 1800 Larimer, and the 16th and Chestnut office tower as well as The Denver Pavilions and Cherry Creek Mall.

Swanson Rink remains a boutique engineering firm in an era of mega design firm mergers and acquisitions. The firms focus on mechanical and electrical engineering is supported by experts in fire protection/life safety, telecom and security, as well as baggage handling systems design.

We wouldnt be as successful as we are without the dedication of our employees, the trust placed in us by our clients, and all of the collaborative efforts of the many partners weve worked with during the past 70 years, said Orazio. Were excited by our continued growth and the opportunity to invest in the next generation of engineering excellence, he added.

About Swanson Rink: Swanson Rink is headquartered in Denver with a satellite office in Phoenix, providing engineering for mission critical data centers, aviation and corporate clients around the world. For more information, please visit https://swansonrink.com/.
Through decades of changing times and faces, Barbara J. Baker was a constant.

For 46 years, the Jacksonville native was a community and political leader. She served the past 18 years as the first person to whom many people needing assistance from the federal government turned, first as office manager for Congressman Ray LaHood, then Congressman Aaron Schock and, most recently, Congressman Darin LaHood.

With her passing Friday, Darin LaHood said, the community lost a friend who epitomized what it means to be a public servant.

A funeral will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Buchanan & Cody Funeral Home, with burial at Jacksonville Memorial Lawn Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home.

Baker, 72, was born July 28, 1947, in Jacksonville and graduated in 1965 from Jacksonville High School. After attending Lincoln Land Community College and Heartland Business College, she began her political career in 1974 as deputy clerk for the city of Jacksonville. She stayed in that role until 1988, when she was elected circuit clerk for Morgan County.

Four years later, she became office manager for then-Congressman Ray LaHood, the father of current 18th District Congressman Darin LaHood, who said Sunday that her passing brought him great sadness.

Barb blessed the Jacksonville community and our office with a spirit of warmth and decency few could rival, he said. She leaves behind an indelible mark on Jacksonville and central Illinois as a selfless person deeply committed to her family, her faith and her community. We will miss her dearly.

Her dedication to community reached well beyond office walls. She was a past president of Pilot Club of Jacksonville, Morgan County Republican Womens Club, the Illinois Association of Court Clerks, Play for All (Godfrey Park) and Sunrise Rotary Club, from which she received the Paul Harris Fellowship Award. She also was a past treasurer for the Jacksonville Park System Board, a Passavant Memorial Area Hospital board member and a lifetime board member of The Salvation Army.

She also was a Republican precinct committeeman and an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention.

Veteran Jimmy Duncan said Baker was a friend of his for many years.

She was always kind and did her best to help people, he wrote in her online guestbook.

Darin LaHood said her enduring spirit blessed many people during her time on earth.

Kristen and I ask that our community keep Barbs friends and family in your thoughts and prayers during this time of mourning, he said. May God lift her up with his angels and may she watch over us.



Barbara J. Bakers obituary is on Page 4 of todays paper.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 01:57:00|Editor: yan

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ANKARA, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Turkey on Monday urged Russia to fulfill its responsibilities in the Astana process that aimed at a cease-fire in Idlib province of Syria, the Turkish presidential spokesperson said.

A visiting Russian delegation held the first round of talks with Turkish government on Saturday and continued discussions over the recent escalation of tension in Idlib on Monday.

Following meetings at the Turkish Foreign Ministry, the Russian delegation also met with Turkey's presidential aide and spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin.

The latest situation in Idlib has been discussed, said a written statement released by Kalin's office.

The military attack carried out by the Syrian government forces at Turkish observation points was strongly condemned, said the statement, adding that the Turkish military would respond within the framework of the right of self-defense against the attack.

An attack by the Syrian government forces killed five Turkish soldiers and injured five others in Idlib on Monday while talks between Turkish and Russian delegations were ongoing. A previous Syrian government attack on Turkish soldiers killed eight personnel of the army in Idlib last week.

Turkey has stressed to Russia that the attack against the Turkish soldiers was unacceptable, and that the Turkish army has responded in the hardest manner and will continue to retaliate, said the statement.

Turkey emphasized the need to stop these attacks which were contrary to the spirit of the Astana deal and violated the Sochi consensus, and Russia, one of the guarantors of the agreement, should fulfill its responsibility, it added.

Ankara expressed its determination to respond and take every kind of measures against attacks which aim at harming the political process, said the statement.

Over the past two months, the Syrian army launched a wide-scale offensive in the southern and eastern countryside of Idlib as well as in the southern countryside of Aleppo Province in a bid to open the Damascus-Aleppo strategic highway that connects the country's south with its north.

In the process, the army besieged some of the Turkish observation points that were set up in rebel-held areas to observe a short-lived de-escalation zone deal agreed upon between Russia and Turkey.

The Syrian shelling targeted Taftanaz Air Base in Idlib countryside as Turkey was amassing forces and started shelling Syrian forces as part of Ankara's plan to launch a wide-scale offensive to hinder the progress of the Syrian army in Idlib.
Allen Lefkowitz (R), a rabbi, and his wife, Jody, a school administrator, attended Shen Yun Performing Arts in Hartford, Conn., at The Bushnell, The William H. Mortensen Hall, on Feb. 9, 2020. (Weiyong/The Epoch Times)

HARTFORD, Conn.New Englands notable leaders and experts continued to attend and enjoy Shen Yun Performing Arts during the touring companys visit to Hartford, Connecticut, this time at The Bushnells William H. Mortensen Hall.

On Feb. 9, 2020, Rabbi Allen Lefkowitz and his wife, and heart surgeon John Rousou were among the audience members who took in New York-based Shen Yuns unique brand of classical Chinese dance and authentic culture and called it God-given, fantastic artistry.

Shen Yun Performing Arts curtain call at The Bushnell, The William H. Mortensen Hall, on Feb. 9, 2020. (Edward Dye/The Epoch Times)

Rabbi Says Shen Yuns Dancers Were Given a Gift From Above

Allen had seen Shen Yuns advertisements for years before finally attending.

He said that, as a rabbi, he appreciate[s] the beauty and the God-given art of this dance. Beautiful. Its beautiful. Just very artsy and moving.

God has given these bodies the ability to move like this. Its a gift, a gift from above, he said.

His wife, Jody, is a school administrator who felt that Shen Yun was touching and spiritual.

Yes, very moving and spiritual. Deeply moving on the inside, spiritual, heartfelt, stunning, she said as she described the way the performance made her feel.

Shen Yuns mission is to revive traditional Chinese culture, which was almost lost, through ancient and richly-expressive art forms such as classical Chinese dance, bel canto singing, original orchestral compositions, and more.

Throughout its five millennia-long history, Chinese civilization has always revered heaven and believed in the divine. In fact, China was once known as The Divine Land, a place where divine beings walk the earth and where the cultures most precious assets such as the arts were handed down by heaven. Shen Yun carries on this spiritual tradition by depicting heavenly beings and realms on stage in some of its roughly 20 short vignettes.

Allen spoke with authority about this aspect of Shen Yun.

A beautiful message. I feel like Im being with God. Like being in God, he said, after seeing the performance.



John Rousou, a cardiac surgeon, attended Shen Yun Performing Arts in Hartford, Conn., at The Bushnell, The William H. Mortensen Hall, on Feb. 9, 2020. (NTD Television)

Heart Surgeon Congratulates Shen Yuns Artists

Cardiac surgeon John Rousou spoke very highly of Shen Yun after seeing it, and, like the Lefkowitzes, took note of the deeper, spiritual aspects of the performance.

[Shen Yun] mixed the spirituality with the physical stuff and I liked the way they did it, with the combination of the screen and the stageits fantastic. There are people coming out of the heavens and then they disappear up. Its very, very well done.

Shen Yun employs a patented digital backdrop technology that enables the characters onstage to transport the entire audience to mythical realms and ancient settings. It regularly leaves audience members agasp and inspires spontaneous applause.

Oh, [Shen Yun] is fantastic. I cant say enough about it. Its very precise and very physical, and I think they are doing a great job. Its fantastic. I like the costumes as well. There is a lot of variety, he said.

Rousou praised and encouraged Shen Yuns artists in their pursuit to bring back traditional Chinese culture from the brink of extinction.

I think that should be done, he said. I think its great to do that, and Im enjoying it. Its greatfantastic show.

I felt great, I felt uplifted. Its a great show. I must congratulate all the actors and all the people who produce this. Its amazing. So, very nice, thank you.

With reporting by NTD Television, Weiyong, and Brett Featherstone.

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.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the constitutional validity of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2018 that ruled out any provision for anticipatory bail for a person accused of atrocities against SC/STs.

This means the Preliminary inquiry is not compulsory when a complaint was made under the atrocity law. Moreover, no prior approval of appointing authority or senior police officials is required before registration of FIRs.

Delivering the verdict, a bench of Justice Arun Mishra, Justice Vineet Saran and Justice Ravindra Bhatt directed that provisions related to anticipatory bail are to be exercised sparingly and in exceptional cases where no prima facie case is made out.



ALSO READ | In their DNA: Rahul Gandhi accuses RSS, BJP of trying to erase reservation

Justice S Ravindra Bhat penned down a separate order concurring with Justice Arun Mishra and added a caveat that pre-arrest bail should be granted only in extraordinary situations where a denial of bail would mean miscarriage of justice.

In its September 30 verdict, the Supreme Court's three-judge bench had recalled its March 20, 2018 order that had diluted the stringent provisions of the SC/ST Act while restoring automatic arrest in such cases.

In the March 20, 2018 verdict, the two-judge Supreme Court bench had held that there will be no automatic arrest on a complaint filed under the Act and had also introduced anticipatory bail provision under the Act.

After the apex court's verdict, violent protests erupted across the country in which several persons lost their lives and many were injured.

Parliament on August 9 last year had passed the bill to overturn the apex court March 20, 2018 judgement concerning certain safeguards against arrest under the SC/ST law.

The Centre had filed a review petition before the Supreme Court asking to review its order.
KER KERNEL ANNOUNCES DATE FOR H1 FY2020 RESULTS AND CONFERENCE CALL

Kernel Holding S.A. is announcing that it will report its Condensed Consolidated Interim Financial Statements for the 6 months ended 31 December 2019 on Thursday, 28 February 2020, prior to market opening. Management will hold a conference call at 14:00 UK time on the date of publication. Dial in is available on the Companys website under: https://www.kernel.ua/investor-relations/events/
Steven Del Duca appears to have a stranglehold on the Ontario Liberal leadership race after dominating the partys weekend delegate elections.

Preliminary results suggest the former Vaughan MPP and cabinet minister is well ahead of his rivals with MPP Michael Coteau (Don Valley East) and one-time London candidate Kate Graham, who were in a battle for second place.

I am truly humbled by the vote of confidence I have received from our party membership, Del Duca said in a statement Sunday night.

Across Ontario on Saturday and Sunday, thousands of party members voted for 2,092 delegates who will be eligible to cast ballots at the March 7 leadership convention in Mississauga.

The elected delegates and some 400 ex officios  sitting and past Liberal MPPs, current Liberal MPs from Ontario, and party insiders  will be able to cast ballots at next months Mississauga convention.

Well release the official results from the leadership election meetings this weekend as soon as we are able to. Validating results may take a few days, the party said in a statement Sunday.

While Sundays results were still being tabulated, the unofficial tally from Saturday saw Del Duca supporters win 570 of 911 delegate spots up for grabs  or 62.5 per cent.

Initial counting Sunday suggested that overall more than half of the elected delegates were committed to Del Duca.

Those backing Graham, benefiting from her regional strength in southwestern Ontario, which voted in the first day of delegate selection meetings, took 151 positions or 16.5 per cent on Saturday.

Coteaus team  which, sources said, improved their standing on Sunday because that was when Toronto ridings were voting  won 107 or 11.7 per cent on Saturday.

MPP Mitzie Hunter (Scarborough-Guildwood) won 37 delegates on the first day of voting.

Alvin Tedjo, a former candidate in Oakville North Burlington, secured 25.

Ottawa lawyer Brenda Hollingsworth won 6 delegates.

Eighteen delegates were elected as Independents on Saturday.

Over the weekend, more than 5,100 people competed for 16 delegate spots in each of the 124 ridings as well as at campus and womens clubs.

On Sunday, the voting was held in Toronto, York, Durham, Simcoe, Ottawa, and Eastern Ontario and the ridings of Dufferin-Caledon and Parry Sound-Muskoka.

Saturdays meetings were held in Peel, Halton, Hamilton, Niagara, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Windsor, and much of Northern Ontario.

Del Duca  like Coteau and Hunter  served in premier Kathleen Wynnes cabinet until the Liberals were trounced by Premier Doug Fordss Progressive Conservatives in the June 2018 election.

He lost his Vaughan seat to Tory Michael Tibollo in the PC landslide that reduced the Liberals to just seven MPPs in the 124-member legislature.

Despite that, Fords Tories, who trail the leaderless Liberals in some polls, are taking the Del Duca threat seriously.

Sources say the PC party has spent tens of thousands of dollars on focus groups to determine how voters might view him. The first round of those groups was inconclusive, confided one senior Conservative.

Nobody knew who the hell he was, noted a PC official, speaking on condition on anonymity in order to discuss internal strategic discussions.

As well, a right-wing activist linked to Ontario Proud and Canada Proud, which buy social media and TV ads attacking Liberals, appears to be behind the Anybody But Del Duca Facebook page, Twitter account, and website.

The online campaign is designed to appears as if its being pushed by Liberals backing other leadership candidates.

Until 2018, the Grits had governed Ontario under Wynne and her predecessor, Dalton McGuinty, for almost 15 years.

The next provincial election is in June 2022.

Robert Benzie is the Stars Queens Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie

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A thug suspected of involvement in the gruesome murder and dismemberment of teenager Keane Mulready-Woods was quizzed in prison by gardai for several hours last week.

The criminal, a key member of the faction at war with the Maguire mob in the Drogheda feud, was not arrested but met with officers from the Louth division, the Sunday World reported.

The gangland figure is serving a jail term for offences unrelated to the horrific murder.

He is believed to have been in the company of the chief suspect in Keane's murder - a psychopathic Dublin mobster - on the night of the killing.

The feuding thug is also suspected of involvement in serious incidents relating to the Drogheda feud.

The move by gardai followed the revelation that the jailed thug's mob bosses have fled Ireland and are in hiding abroad.

The Herald revealed that the gang leaders - two brothers from Drogheda in their 20s - are suspected to be hiding out in Spain after fleeing the country via the UK.

The brothers were due to appear in court last week on feud-related charges but failed to appear. A warrant was not sought for their arrest.

Secretive

During a week of significant developments in the probe into the killing of the 17-year-old, gardai also raided the home of a secretive crime boss based in Co Meath closely associated with the psychopathic chief suspect in the killing.

It is understood CCTV equipment and phones were seized at the gang boss's Meath home.

Officers believe the crime lord, who has been on the radar of gardai since the early 2010s, was visited by the chief suspect in the teen's killing several times around the time of the slaying.

Sources say gardai are also investigating reports he was spotted drinking with the chief suspect in a Drogheda pub days after Keane was kidnapped and dismembered.

The gangster had been in control of more than 30 associates of the anti-Maguire mob involved in the Drogheda feud but is now struggling with drug addiction.

Both men had been directing the less-experienced Co Louth mob's drug enterprise, but the younger mobsters are now understood to be taking over more control.

In another development in the garda operation to smash the feuding gangs, a junior associate in the anti-Maguire mob was caught with a loaded handgun destined to be used as part of a gangland hit.

Teenager Keane was abducted in his native Drogheda on the evening of January 12. He was murdered and dismembered in the Rathmullen area of the Co Louth town the same night.

Gardai believe he was stabbed to death.

Knives and machetes believed to have been used in the murder were later found in a shed at a house in Drogheda.
The highest-level North Korean diplomat to defect to South Korea will join its main opposition party and run in April parliamentary elections, party officials said Monday.

Thae Yong Ho, a former minister at the North Korean Embassy in London, came to South Korea in 2016 with his family.

He since has given media interviews and written articles highly critical of North Korea's authoritarian government, led by Kim Jong Un.

The conservative opposition Liberty Korea Party announced Monday that Thae has decided to join the party and run in a Seoul constituency in the April 15 election.

"His courage and decision will give hope to North Korean refugees and other South and North Korean people who are wising for genuine unification," Kim Hyong-o, head of a party committee on candidate selections, told reporters, according to his party.

An organization that represents Thae didn't immediately respond to an emailed request to confirm the party's announcement.

If Thae is elected, he would become the second North Korean defector to win a seat in South Korea's single-chamber National Assembly.

Former North Korean Cho Myung-Chul, who came to South Korea in 1994, served as a proportional representative for a predecessor of the Liberty Korea Party from 2012 to 2016.

It's rare for senior North Korean officials to defect to South Korea.

About 33,000 North Koreans have fled to South Korea in the past two decades, but most are women from rural towns near the border with China who fled to avoid poverty.

Thae, 57, is the most senior North Korean diplomat who has defected to South Korea.

The highest-level North Korean to seek asylum in South Korea is Hwang Jang-yop, a senior ruling Workers' Party official who once tutored Kim Jong Un's father, late leader Kim Jong Il. Hwang died in 2010.

After coming to Seoul, Thae told reporters that he decided to flee because he didn't want his children to live "miserable" lives in North Korea and he was disappointed with Kim Jong Un.

Thae said he initially had some hopes for Kim but eventually fell into "despair" after watching him execute officials and pursue development of nuclear weapons.

North Korea has called Thae "human scum" and accused him of embezzling government money and committing other crimes.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 10:40:00|Editor: huaxia

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CHONGQING, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality has sent over 300 medical workers, four medical vehicles and 25,000 kg of oranges to help fight the novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic in Hubei.

Four batches of medical staff totaling 318 critical care and respiratory specialists from Chongqing's top hospitals have been summoned and sent to the cities of Wuhan and Xiaogan since late January, according to the local health commission.

Four medical vans with different functions of outpatient service, special examination, drug and devices, and power supply have been sent to Hubei, said Xing Dianguo with the commission.

More medical staff will be dispatched to Hubei's Yichang City soon, following a national "pairing-up support for Hubei" policy, which orders 16 municipalities and provinces to aid cities in Hubei, Xing said.

On Sunday, 2,500 kg of fresh navel oranges harvested in Chongqing's Fengjie County arrived in Wuhan.

The vitamin-rich oranges will be given out to frontline medical staff, said Xiao Gongxun, director of Fengjie's orange industry development center.

Xiao said the batch of fruit worth 250,000 yuan (about 36,000 U.S. dollars) was donated by 11 growers and dealers, and picked, cleaned and packaged within two days thanks to local volunteer farmers and residents wanting to help.
EXETER, N.H. - People often say candidate debates don't make much difference in presidential campaigns. Don't tell that to Amy Klobuchar. The senator's performance on Friday night was like a switch being flipped for her campaign.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who won the primary here four years ago with 60% of the vote, remains the person to beat in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary. Former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg, on the strength of his delegate victory in the flawed Iowa caucuses, came into the state as the hot candidate hoping to overtake Sanders.

But Klobuchar, D-Minn., now appears to be an unexpected and unpredictable force in the closing hours of the primary campaign here. She is drawing the biggest crowds of her campaign, and polls show her on the rise, potentially complicating things not only for Buttigieg but also for former vice president Joe Biden and for Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

Klobuchar is trying to maximize her newfound attention. She added extra stops to her schedule Sunday, and at the last minute, she threw on a late-night get-out-the-vote event for Monday night in Manchester at a venue down the street from where President Donald Trump was holding his pre-primary mega-rally.

On Sunday morning, Klobuchar did a quick stop at Tucker's, a popular diner in Concord, where she found patrons at the booths and tables warming to her candidacy. Asked by reporters whether she could feel a difference since the Friday debate, she offered a big smile.

"There's a bunch of people coming out, committing, that had been supporting other candidates," she said. "It's all over the place. It's really strange. I wish I had videos of it."

On Monday afternoon, Klobuchar filled the town hall in Exeter to overflowing. She spoke on the anniversary of her announcement speech, which she delivered in a Minnesota snowstorm. On the eve of the primary here, she appealed to her audience to get to work in the last hours and help her to "surprise the country" Tuesday.

She excoriated Trump, but she is, in the tradition of her home state, a happy warrior. Her speech was part serious policy, heavy on health care and education and economics, and part standup comedy. Interrupted by someone in the audience at one point, she hesitated and then, with a laugh, called on those in an overflow room one floor above for help. They responded by stomping their feet in solidarity, bringing laughter to the main floor audience and the candidate.

Voters in New Hampshire are still getting to know Klobuchar, who spent most of her time in Iowa before the caucuses trying to leverage her next-door-neighbor status into a significant finish. In the end, she came in fifth, which under ordinary circumstances would sink most candidates.

But this is not an ordinary year. Because the Democratic race is so unsettled, no candidate, almost no matter how badly they finish in the first few contests, will conclude that it's time to quit, unless they are flat out of money. And perhaps even that won't stop them for a few weeks.

Klobuchar is lucky in another way. No other candidate has worried much about her or seen her as a threat - at least until now. She has been able to go on offense in the debates without getting much pushback in return. As Sanders, Buttigieg and Biden squared off against one another Friday night and since, nobody is spending time or money attacking Klobuchar. That could change, depending on what happens here Tuesday. For now, she has a free ride.

Klobuchar's sudden rise comes at the possible expense of Biden and Warren. Biden's team continues to frame his strategy around all of the first four contests, trying to play down possible disappointment in New Hampshire after disappointment in Iowa. Using a World Series analogy, Kate Bedingfield, Biden's deputy campaign manager, told reporters at a Bloomberg News breakfast Monday, "This is Game 2 and we're going all the way to Game 7."

A year ago, Warren was expected to be battling Sanders for supremacy among progressive voters here in a kind of near-home-state duel. But Warren's third-place finish in Iowa and a less-than-dominating performance at Friday's debate at Saint Anselm College have given Klobuchar some unanticipated operating room.

None of this is to say that Klobuchar will truly be successful when the votes are counted here Tuesday night. The polls show that she is competitive with Warren and Biden but not necessarily assured of finishing ahead of them, unless she is on an unbreakable trajectory. Her future depends both on the order of finish and how close she ends up to the leaders.

The most significant potential effect of Klobuchar doing well here is to further clog up the competition to become a moderate alternative to Sanders. That was to be Biden's calling card before Iowa happened - or more accurately, perhaps, it was Sanders who was intending to become the progressive alternative to Biden.

Buttigieg upset those Biden plans, and coming out of Iowa, he looked to consolidate his position ahead of the former vice president. That is still possible if he can power through the primary here in another head-to-head finish with Sanders. But it's also the case that he will have other moderates to worry about heading to Nevada and South Carolina later in the month.

Klobuchar has limited resources and limited options, other than to try to maximize the moment. Just where she might strike, if New Hampshire voters give her a real push forward, is a big question. She has not proved that she can attract votes from African Americans or Latinos, who play bigger roles by far in the next two contests.

She said she has raised more than $3 million since the debate, but that's a tiny fraction of what a candidate needs for Super Tuesday. She will be living on press coverage, every available media interview she can muster and more good debates.

The other possibility is that a solid finish for Klobuchar in New Hampshire opens the door wider for Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire former New York mayor. Bloomberg is skipping the first four contests, a strategy never successfully employed but one that, for now, looks better than the skeptics were claiming.

Klobuchar has waged a mostly lonely campaign since her announcement a year ago, overshadowed by other candidates and overlooked by the media. In an instant, that has changed here in New Hampshire. Her moment has arrived, and she is ebullient at the opportunity. She awaits the verdict of voters in a state that can both surprise and disappoint.
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Jesus taught it. Paul reaffirmed it. And neither of them said their teaching was optional for Christians. Instead, God Himself commands us, His children, to love our enemies and to bless those who curse us.

No one said it would be easy. No one even said it would be possible, without divine help. But, without any question, the call to love our enemies is a divine command, not a human suggestion.

In the words of Jesus, You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in Heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:4348).

In the words of Paul, Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ... Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for Gods wrath, for it is written: It is mine to avenge; I will repay, says the Lord. On the contrary: If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:14, 1721).

To be sure, this is not talking about how our countrys military should respond to a foreign invader. Nor is it telling a husband and father what to do if a serial killer breaks into his home, intent on killing his wife and children.

These teachings refer to our interpersonal relationships. To our attitudes. To our responses.

Will we bless those who curse us, or will we curse them back? Will we love those who hate us, or will we hate them back? Will we overcome evil, or will we be overcome by evil?

There are certainly times for making a spirited defense of ones position, especially for the cause of righteousness. And there are certainly times when evil must be publicly and plainly rebuked.

But you can rebuke someone while having great love for them at the same time.

You can even want justice to be done while having great love for the criminal justly sentenced for his crime.

In short, the command to love our enemies does not call on us to compromise our ethics. It calls on us to take our ethics to a higher level, hating evil to the point that we refuse to be corrupted by it.

At the recent National Prayer Breakfast, Arthur Brooks, a Harvard professor and president of a conservative think tank, had decried a crisis of contempt and polarization and urged his listeners to love your enemies.

In response, President Trump remarked, I don't know if I agree with you, adding, I don't like people who use their faith as justification for doing what they know is wrong. And, the president continued, Nor do I like people who say, 'I pray for you' when you know that is not so.

On the one hand, I commend Trumps honestly.

He openly questioned what Brooks had said rather than put on a religious show. And he openly admitted his struggles at the end of his talk, saying, I'm sorry. I apologize. I'm trying to learn. It's not easy. When they impeach you for nothing and then you're supposed to like them, it's not easy folks. I do my best.

But this is where the rubber meets the road. It is not easy to love people whom you think have wronged you. To the contrary, it is totally unnatural to love them. Lord, Youre telling me Im supposed to love them?

Jesus would reply with an emphatic Yes. In fact, He would say, Thats exactly what I did. I died for My enemies. I forgave My enemies. I blessed My enemies.

And in doing so, He set an example for each of us. As Peter taught, To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly (1 Peter 2:2123).

Yes, Jesus left us an example to follow, showing us the redemptive power of all-consuming love. It turns your enemies into your most loyal friends!

This has nothing to do with liking those who hurt you or attack you. Liking has to do with personal preferences. Loving has to do with truly desiring what is best for others. And true love will make personal sacrifices for the well-being of others, even of ones enemies.

As noted by H. S. Vigeveno in his book Jesus the Revolutionary, Our world has witnessed many a revolution, but none as effective as the one that divided history into B.C. and A.D. Every revolution involves the shedding of blood. So did this one. Not as much blood, perhaps, but the quality of the One far outweighs the quantity of others. Revolutionary, indeed, this mission, to begin with a cross and sway the whole world through suffering love. Revolutionary to build a Church on the sacrifice that offers man forgiveness and atonement with God.

How remarkable. That is the power of the cross.

Not surprisingly, shortly after the Prayer Breakfast, President Trump was on the warpath, lashing out at those who sought to remove him from office. And I can understand his attitudes and his actions.

After all, from his perspective, he has been the victim of unjust attacks for more than three straight years. This includes the constant vilification of the leftwing media. The unrelenting, often vicious mockery of Hollywood celebrities. The wiretapping of his campaign. The unjust attempts to remove him from office with the Mueller investigation and the impeachment trial. And more.

Yes, from a human perspective it is totally understandable that he not only took a victory lap  who can blame him for that?  but that he went on the attack as well, pulling no punches.

But just think of how transformative it would have been had he said, I hate the fact that the country is so divided, and I understand I have been a big part of that division. But today, I choose not to retaliate. Its true that I have been acquitted, and I believe that justice has been done. But I choose to forgive those who sought to remove me from office. And I call on my political enemies and my enemies in the media to work together for the good of our country. I will lead the way.

If others want to stew in their hatred, let them. We will step higher.

My Stream colleague Al Perrotta put it so well just a few days back, making this brilliant appeal to the president:

The builder in you knows how this works. Like you did with the Old Post Office Building across from the White House, youve done the demo, now comes the beautiful remodel.

Youve got the economic heart of America pounding hard. Now turn to nurturing Americas soul.

Youve shown us the bloody, unbowed street fighter. Show us the better angels of our nature.

Today, in this hour of political victory, show us the greatest victory is to love one another.

May the grace and wisdom of God guide you.

Yours truly,

Someone Deplorable.

Unfortunately, President Trump missed the first opportunity to do this in the aftermath of his acquittal. And many of us who voted for him have missed our opportunity as well, feeling nothing but loathing for the Democrats and their ilk. (I should also mention the Christians who show no love for the president and his allies. They, too, have chosen hatred over love.)

The good news is that today is a new day.

All of us can step higher. All of us can seek to heal rather than destroy. And all of us, without compromising our convictions or violating our ethics one iota, can choose to love our enemies, with the help of the Lord.

Will we?
The Red Cross is seeking donations to help a little-discussd group of blood recipients  cancer patients.

According to a release from the American Red Cross, patients fighting cancer need more blood than patients fighting any other disease, using nearly one-quarter of the nations blood supply.

In honoro of these patients, this month, the American Red Cross and the American Cancer Society have teamed up to encourage people across the country to Give Blood to Give Time , ensuring loved ones have the strength and support to battle cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society, one in three people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. An estimated 20,300 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in Connecticut this year.

A loved ones cancer diagnosis often makes families and friends feel helpless. Thats why the Give Blood to Give Time partnership with the American Cancer Society is so important, said Dr. Pampee Young, American Red Cross chief medical officer in a news release. When someone donates blood or platelets or makes a financial gift, they are helping to give patients and their families time, resources and the hope they need to fight back.

Some types of chemotherapy can damage bone marrow, reducing red blood cell and platelet production. Other times, the cancer itself or surgical procedures cause the problem. Five units of blood are needed every minute to help someone going through cancer treatment, yet only 3 percent of people in the United States give blood.

Individuals can honor their loved ones by making a blood donation appointment or financial contribution at GiveBloodToGiveTime.org.
Current Capital Partners LLC, an independent advisory and merchant banking firm focused primarily on industrial and services companies, announces that Larry Wash, an experienced senior leader in the industrial services industry, will join the firm as a Senior Advisor on March 1, 2020.

Larry Wash was most recently Executive Vice President for KONE Americas and served as a member of KONEs Executive Board. In this role, he led a $2 billion business in the United States, Canada and Latin America. Larry also serves as Board President for the National Elevator Industry, Inc., a preeminent trade association for the building transportation industry.

Kevin Smith, Managing Director of Current Capital, said Larry brings a valuable set of experiences and relationships that will help us continue to grow our successful mergers and acquisitions advisory, corporate management services and private equity investing businesses. He is an exciting addition to our firm who, along with our Advisory Board and Executive Network, bring valuable ideas and proven operating expertise to our clients.

As a senior executive with extensive experience running global organizations, Larry is skilled at developing strategic direction and implementing operational improvements to profitably grow businesses. He is also a well-respected thought leader, published author and speaker on smart buildings, services innovation, solution selling and emerging IoT services.

Prior to joining KONE, Larry was President of Global Services for the Climate Solutions and Trane divisions of Ingersoll Rand with full responsibility for the management of their services businesses where he led a multi-year business transformation and global growth strategy yielding double digit growth and margin expansion.

Before joining Ingersoll Rand, Larry was Vice President of Service & Contracting for Trane, where he led the services businesses in Canada, Latin America and the United States and created the strategic and operational plans for Trane Building Services. Earlier in his career, Larry held the position of Vice President of Global Services for Xerox Corporation, responsible for worldwide strategy, business development, marketing, sales and operations.

Larry received his bachelors degree in electrical engineering from Wayne State University and a masters degree in electrical engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Larry also holds a masters in business administration from Stanford University and is a named Arjay Miller Scholar.

About Current Capital Partners LLC

Current Capital Partners LLC is an independent advisory and merchant banking firm focused primarily on the industrial and services sectors. We provide mergers and acquisitions advisory services, corporate management services and private equity investing. The mergers and acquisitions advisory effort offers high quality financial advisory services - including ideas, buy-side and sell-side execution, strategic and capital structure reviews, restructuring advisory and related services  for corporate and investment firm clients seeking an independent perspective and senior attention. In our management services effort, we manage investments, sit on Boards of Directors and provide related consulting services for other investors and financial institutions; and offer advice and expert witness services in complex corporate litigation. Our private equity investing business helps create value, primarily in lower middle market and smaller companies, with an integrated operating, finance and investment approach. Our Advisory Board and Executive Network are important advantages for our clients. Learn more at http://www.currentcap.com.

Mergers and acquisitions advisory services, and related products and securities services, are provided by our affiliate Current Capital Securities LLC, a broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. Current Capital Securities does not conduct underwriting activities, provide research, produce analyst reports, handle customer funds or securities, solicit or carry customer accounts, or offer or sell securities products to retail customers.
Thats not just hometown pride talking. Butte has been called the most mined city in the world, and much of the worlds copper once came from here. When the bulk of the mines shut down in the 1980s, the fighting began over how to mitigate the damage and who would pay for it.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 00:27:50|Editor: yan

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BERLIN, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- German customs recorded drug seizures at a "consistently high level" and were "continuously adapting the risk analysis for controls and investigations", a spokesperson of Germany's Customs Investigation Office told Xinhua on Monday.

Last week, a government reply to a parliamentary inquiry by Free Democratic Party (FDP) faction had shown that the amount of confiscated drugs smuggled into Germany in 2019 had gone up compared to previous years.

The number of ecstasy pills seized by German customs increased from almost 0.4 million units in 2017 to more than 1.3 million in 2019, according to the preliminary figures by the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF).

The amount of confiscated heroin increased even more significantly, according to BMF. While only 62 kilograms of heroin had been found in 2017, German customs seized 918 kilograms two years later, almost 15 times as much.

Heroin was mostly brought to Germany from Afghanistan, Pakistan or Iran via the Balkan route, the government reply noted. The German customs office spokesperson said that "further successful international cooperation" was required.
Victoria Kim

Victoria Kim reports from Seoul, South Korea, for the Los Angeles Times. Since joining the paper in 2007, she has covered the state and federal courts and the Korean community in Los Angeles. Her work has included investigations on the cover-up of the sex abuse scandal in the Los Angeles Archdiocese, killing of unarmed suspects by the Inglewood police, underpaid workers in the garment district and unaccredited law schools in California. She has previously written for the Associated Press in South Korea and West Africa, as well as the Financial Times in New York. Victoria was raised in Seoul and graduated from Harvard University.
In December 2017, Apple was being suspected of slowing down iPhone performance without informing users. And then immediately after, the Cupertino giant shockingly admitted to slowing down older iPhones for preserving their batteries for longer duration.

Obviously, the secretive move by Apple didn't go down too well, and now two years later, the iPhone maker has been charged with a fine in France for 27 million euro.

Reuters

After its admission in December 2017, Apple obviously felt it had to damage control. People were obviously furious because of Apple's secretive iPhone slowing down firmware updates.

Class action lawsuits followed, of course. Lawsuits filed in California, New York, and Illinois immediately after meant millions of iPhone owners could jump on the bandwagon and demand compensation for being cheated out of their money.



Reuters

One lawsuit, filed last week in San Francisco, claimed the batterys inability to handle the smartphone processors demands over time could be seen as a defect. Rather than curing the battery defect by providing a free battery replacement for all affected iPhones, Apple sought to mask the battery defect, the lawsuit said.

Therefore, beginning 2018, Apple offered owners of the iPhone 6 and later models Rs 3,900 credit in India ($50 in the US) if they got their battery replaced out of warranty. The money was provided to all those eligible in the form of an electronic funds transfer, or credit on the credit card used to pay for the replacement.

Fine in France

French prosecutors opened an inquiry in January 2018 at the request of the Halt Planned Obsolescence (HOP) association. "iPhone owners were not informed that installing iOS updates (10.2.1 and 11.2) could slow down their devices," the DGCCRF anti-fraud agency said in a statement.

Reuters

"This is a historic victory against scandalous ready-to-rubbish practices, for consumers as well as the environment," HOP co-founders Laetitia Vasseur and Samuel Sauvage said, adding that they will consider filing claims for additional damages for iPhone clients.



Apple said it welcomed the accord with the DGCCRF, which will allow it to avoid a potentially embarrassing public trial.

However, one can't help but wonder at the fine being charged in this case. The penalty charged by French authorities doesn't even amount to a rap on the knuckles, it's so abysmally low compared to Apple's record-breaking last quarter's profit.


Its been eye-opening to us how impactful Conscious Discipline is to people on the spectrum through connection, even the most non-verbal children. Together, weve been able to impact the lives of so many people, said The Autism Projects Executive Director Joanne Quinn.

Leading social and emotional learning (SEL) provider Conscious Discipline will host a two-day workshop in Orlando, Fla. on February 29-March 1. The workshop, titled Conscious Discipline (SEL) for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), will feature Conscious Discipline founder and SEL pioneer Dr. Becky Bailey, Conscious Discipline Master Instructor Kim Jackson, and The Autism Projects Director of Programs Cheryl Cotter, who is also a Conscious Discipline Certified Instructor.

Conscious Discipline is a trauma-responsive, comprehensive social and emotional learning (SEL) provider that combines evidence-based practices in SEL, school climate, classroom management and self-regulation. The Autism Project is a collaboration of parents, professionals and community members who provide quality resources and education to children with ASD, their families and other adults who work with them.

Social and emotional learning is critical to the success of children with autism, said author, educator and Conscious Discipline founder Dr. Becky Bailey. It supports children in connecting with others, developing social skills, and managing their emotions so they can problem-solve, learn and thrive socially and academically.

The two-day workshop is intended for educators and administrators of all ages, special education teachers, school counselors, school psychologists and social workers seeking strategies for effectively supporting children with ASD. Attendees will build a better understanding of brain development as it relates to autism and will learn best practices that create the structure, safety and connection that students with ASD need to learn and succeed.

Its been eye-opening to us how impactful Conscious Discipline is to people on the spectrum through connection, even the most non-verbal children. Together, weve been able to impact the lives of so many people, said The Autism Projects Executive Director Joanne Quinn.

Individuals interested in attending the February workshop can register on the Conscious Discipline website: https://consciousdiscipline.com/professional-development/event/conscious-discipline-sel-for-students-with-autism-spectrum-disorder/.

About Conscious Discipline

Conscious Discipline provides a comprehensive, trauma-informed social and emotional learning program that is based on current brain research, child development information and developmentally appropriate practices. All aspects of Conscious Discipline focus on creating a safe, connected environment for children to learn and practice the skills needed for healthy social, emotional and academic development. Conscious Discipline methodology has been recognized by SAMHSAs National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP), and it was named a national model for character education by the Florida State Legislature. Research shows that Conscious Discipline decreases aggression, impulsivity and hyperactivity while creating a positive environment in the school or home. In schools, Conscious Discipline has been shown to decrease discipline referrals while increasing teaching time and academic achievement. Learn more at http://www.consciousdiscipline.com.

About The Autism Project

The Autism Project is a Hub of Hope that connects people with a spectrum of needs to the available resources and education that support independent and purposeful lives. Founded in 1997, it is a unique collaboration of parents, professionals and community members who provide quality support, training and programming that is accessible to all children and adults with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, their families and those who work with them. They offer training, consultations, workshops, social skills groups, and other resources for children, families and educators. The nonprofit organization also works to support individuals with other disabilities and with communication, social-emotional and regulation challenges in Rhode Island and beyond. Learn more at http://www.theautismproject.org.
Its been a while since we last reported on the Right of Way regulations for telecommunications infrastructure rollout in India, and the problems the Department of Telecom (DoT) has had enforcing them. However, little seems to have changed in recent months.

According to news reports in India, industry body the Towers and Infrastructure Providers Association (Taipa) has indicated that fewer than half of Indias states or union territories are following the RoW (Right of Way) rules, laid down in 2016.

Thus, four years after the rules on the rolling out in India of telecommunications infrastructure such as towers and fibre cable first came in, in many states their observance is being delayed or undermined. Out of the 37 states or union territories, only 16 have broadly aligned their policy with the 2016 rulings.

The RoW rules provide for a framework to give approvals for setting up of towers and laying of fibre cables and for settling disputes in a timely manner. The rules also aim to improve coordination between companies and the authorities and local bodies linked to the various state governments.

This hasnt stopped some states from developing their own, somewhat contradictory policies, in some cases adding to the restrictions on placement of infrastructure and insisting on much higher fees to be paid to the state government for permission.

Karnataka in particular is singled out for comment by Taipa. Last May, the DoT asked the Karnataka government to align its state infrastructure roll-out policy with the RoW rules. This followed news of cutting of cables laid overground by the local municipal body in Bengaluru, which seemed to be insisting that telecommunications cables be laid underground and a fee paid before that happened.

While government and industry bodies have pointed out that such divergence on infrastructure rollout rules will hit connectivity and development, so far it doesnt seem to have made much difference. If, as Taipa has said, India still needs to roll out more than 100,000 towers to serve an active subscriber base of more than a billion consumers, it doesnt look like its going to happen soon.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex turned down an invitation to present an award at Sunday night's Oscars ceremony in LA, according to HELLO! magazine.

Prince Harry, 35, and Meghan Markle, 38, were reportedly asked to present the prestigious gong for Best Picture at the 92nd Academy Awards.

Speaking to the publication, a source said: 'They were honoured by the request, but declined the invitation.'

'Parasite' won Best Picture on the night - marking the first time a foreign-language film has ever won the award.

Pictured, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry attend 'The Lion King' film premiere in London on - 14 July, 2019

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with their son Archie, visiting the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation in Cape Town, South Africa, on 25 September 2019

The star-studded ceremony was attended by a whole host of A-listers including Bradley Cooper, Renee Zellweger and Jennifer Aniston.

They went on to say organisers had hoped the royals would participate in the glitzy event, which would've been their most high profile appearance since 'stepping back' as 'senior' royals in January.

It comes after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are thought to have been paid up to $1 million for their first post-Megxit appearance.

The couple broke their self-imposed exile in Canada to attend J P Morgan's 'Alternative Investment Summit' in Miami on Thursday.

Pictured, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend the WellChild awards at Royal Lancaster Hotel on October 15, 2019 in London

During his keynote speech, Harry told American bankers he has been in therapy for seven years to cope with loss of his mother.

Meanwhile, the Queen has requested Harry and Meghan attend the annual Commonwealth Service with the rest of the royals next month.

Government representatives of the 53 member nations will gather at Westminster Abbey for the one-hour event on the afternoon of March 9.

For the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, it will be wrapped into a wider whistle stop schedule which will mark their final duties on the Family frontline.

At last year's event, Meghan was heavily pregnant with now nine-month Archie, who will fly with his parents from Canada for their engagements, the Sunday Times reports.
Manlius, N.Y.  Alicyn Hart was ahead of her time when she opened Circa in Cazenovia in 2006.

Hart prioritized buying food from local farmers and producers before farm-to-table largely entered the general Central New York lexicon. Hart said it was the kind of place where prim and proper diners would sit at a table near the boot-wearing farmers who grew the food served in the restaurant.
The coronavirus outbreak infected 27 foreign nationals in China and two of them have died, Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday, assuring that the country attaches great importance to the health and safety of all foreign citizens.

The SARS-like coronavirus outbreak has killed 908 people and at least 40,000 others have been infected by 2019-nCoV, which is believed to have emerged late last year in a market in Wuhan.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang during his online media briefing here said 27 foreign citizens in China were diagnosed with the novel coronavirus. Among them, three patients have recovered and discharged from the hospital, he said.

Two foreigners -- an American woman and a Japanese man -- died from the coronavirus on Saturday in Wuhan while 22 others are undergoing treatment, Geng said.

While China has not given the details of the foreign nationals who contracted the virus, earlier reports said four Pakistanis and two Australians were being treated for the coronavirus attack.

Geng said China provided best treatment to the 60-year-old American woman who died due to the virus.

While medical workers were doing the best to treat her in the hospital, the Chinese side has also been in contact with her family in China. We offer the deepest condolences over her passing. We have notified the US through diplomatic channels and will offer necessary assistance to the US side and his family," he said.

Weng also expressed condolences to the family of Japanese national who died in Wuhan due to the coronavirus.

Geng said China attaches great importance to the health and safety of all foreign nationals in Hubei province capital Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak.

We have taken effective measures to timely respond to their reasonable concerns and requests. WHO director general Tedros also stressed many times that flying out in a rush is not recommended, the best way is being stay put and enhancing self-protection," he said

We hope that WHOs professional recommendations will be respected. For those countries that wish to take home their nationals, China will make relevant arrangements and offer necessary assistance consistent with international practices and our domestic epidemic control measures," he said.

The death toll from the novel coronavirus has overtaken global fatalities in the 2002-03 SARS epidemic and the virus has spread to around 26 countries including India where three people in Kerala who returned from Wuhan contracted the virus.

The only fatalities outside the mainland have been a Chinese man in the Philippines and a 39-year-old man in Hong Kong.

Several countries have banned arrivals from China while major airlines have suspended flights.

While India has evacuated 647 Indians and seven Maldivians from Wuhan, Indian officials say still over 80 Indians are held up there including 10 who could not board the Air India flight as they were stopped by the Chinese immigration officials after they tested for high temperature.

Over 700 Pakistanis are also stuck in Hubei province and the Pakistani government has not heeded to their pleas to evacuate them from there.
In a big win for the officials, Gujarat ATS has arrested Munaf Halari from Mumbai airport in the wee hours of the morning. He is one of the main accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. Halari was en route to Dubai via Mumbai on a Pakistani passport. On a tip-off received by Gujarat ATS, the accused was detained at Mumbai airport.

Read: UP Police arrests 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Jalees Ansari in a 'dramatic' way in Kanpur

Close aid of Tiger Memon

In the case of the 1993 serial blasts case, he was also being hunted by central authorities as well and there had also been a Red Corner notice which was issued against him. Halari is also a close aide of the main conspirator of Mumbai serial blasts of 1993  Tiger Memon. Halari had acquired three scooters which were laden with explosives which were then parked at Zaveri Bazar and were exploded subsequently on March 12, 1993. The blasts had resulted in the death of 257 people, various injuries being sustained by 713 people and also the destruction of property worth Rs 27 crore.

Read: Police Diary accessed as 1993 Mumbai blast convict goes missing; son wishes for his arrest

After the blasts, the accused had fled to Bareilly and then to Bangkok and officials shared that his aide Tiger Memon helped him to flee by making his Pakistani passport and he was also in constant contact with the accused. After this, he was taking refuge in Kenya as a Pakistani national and an assumed identity. Since then, officials shared, he had also been involved in helping smuggling contraband to India as well.

Read: 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Jalees Ansari goes missing; ATS and Crime Branch launch manhunt

Halari is also an accused in a heroin smuggling case in which 5 Pakistani nationals were arrested on Jan 2, 2020. On January 2, 2020, Gujarat ATS had also arrested five Pakistani nationals from the high seas with large amounts of contraband as well. The contraband had belonged to Haji Hasan in Karachi and on further investigation, Gujarat ATS found out that there were several phone calls between Hasan and Halari. The conversations were also about the smuggling of explosives and contraband heroin into India.

Read: 1993 Mumbai blasts convict goes missing during parole

(Image Credits-AP)
To support multiple initiatives to increase broadband access across the commonwealth, the Virginia Transportation Department (VDOT) and fiber optics firm Osprey Communications signed a resource sharing agreement (RSA) for a multi-conduit fiber-optic system.

RSAs enable companies to partner with VDOT to lay fiber along limited-access rights-of-way -- freeways and interstates -- in exchange for cash, goods or services. Announced last month, this particular agreement calls for Osprey to build six to seven underground conduits in the limited-access right-of-way along the I-81 and I-66 corridors.

Each conduit will handle 288 standard-size fibers and 432 nonstandard fibers, giving it a dramatic amount of scalability, Osprey CEO Paul Elswick said. VDOT will use some of those conduits -- a nondisclosure agreement protects the exact number -- for communications across its five transportation operations centers (TOCs) and assets and devices such as traffic cameras, electronic message signs and other traffic management and control technologies.

That requires some pretty significant communications resources, which in the past has been almost entirely over leased communication services, but we have a master plan that talks about how to establish communications to those devices and ultimately become less reliant on those leased services because theyre certainly expensive, said VDOT's Ken Earnest, assistant division administrator at the Operations Division, which is responsible for the fiber optic resource sharing program. The plan really deals with fiber optics and how we expand our fiber-optic network capabilities to those devices, how we provide for redundancy and how we also interconnect our various facilities like the TOCs.

A main benefit of fiber optics to VDOT is cost savings because it eliminates the need for leased circuits, which can cost $300 to $500 per traffic camera along a rural corridor. The camera locations really drive our desire to get off of those leased circuits, but then we also have some major circuits that go from our operations facilities back to data centers, where some of our applications and systems are hosted, and those leased circuits can be expensive as well -- several thousand dollars per month, Earnest said.

Other benefits of fiber optics include better cybersecurity and bandwidth, which he said futureproofs VDOT as the internet of things and connected and autonomous vehicle adoption expands.

One of the things thats really important to us is making sure that we have that backbone in place, which is what the resource sharing program is really helping us to develop," said Cathy McGhee, VDOT's director of research and innovation.

"As the connectivity between the vehicles and the infrastructure and vehicle and vehicle becomes more widespread, the need for that backbone is going to only grow, she said. Were really working hard to make sure we understand the implications of that technology and are ready to fully benefit from it -- and developing this fiber backbone is a piece of that.

The agency wont cut off leased circuits as soon as the fiber-optic backbone is in place, Earnest said. That would be an evolutionary process, he said. There would be a time when we would have both up and running, and once we validate that we have a robust, reliable, redundant network, then we would decommission more of those leased circuits.

The RSA program began in 1998, but interest has grown in recent years, spurred on by broadband stimulus funding from the Obama administration and a settlement between Virginia and tobacco companies. Whats more, Loudoun County in Northern Virginia sits at the heart of the internet, and all of the providers are trying to get to those data centers, so our limited access routes become very attractive, Earnest said.

Whats different about the RSA with Osprey, he said, is the types of things VDOT will get. Whereas the agency typically gets fiber strands as part of the backbone from RSAs, it negotiated for an empty conduit along the entire route to use fiber assets it may install in the future. Additionally, Osprey will integrate existing and future devices along the corridors into the backbone.

The departments efforts are separate from but in line with the statewide Virginia Telecommunication Initiative to bring broadband connectivity to rural areas. Gov. Ralph Northam announced last month more than $18.4 million in grants to support projects. His proposed budget adds $16 million a year to the $19 million allocated annually last year, bringing the total investment to $35 million each year to further expand broadband.

VDOT stands ready to support that effort, too, by sharing excess its fiber to with other government entities such as libraries or schools, McGhee said.

Osprey will take the remaining fiber supply to support the private sector, said Elswick, who estimates it will take about a year for the buildout, which will run from Haymarket, Va., to Nashville.

This long-haul fiber will get access to the Tier I internet feeds for communities all along the route, so eventually a lot of rural Virginia will be served because of this project, he said. We gain potentially [in] the private arena and they gain the public-sector asset they need. Plus, they get the benefits of our expertise in building it, so its a win-win for everybody.
Harpreet Bajwa By

Express News Service

CHANDIGARH: To mobilize support against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR), Sanvidhan Bachao Manch Punjab (SBMP), a united front of various organizations, has decided to go on an agitation from February 12 in the state on the lines of Shaheen Bagh of Delhi.

"The people of Punjab will start their struggle from February 12 against NRC, CAA and NPR. Leaders of Shaheen Bagh agitation Ruby Shaheen, Razia and Sultana Begum along with Sucheta Dey, Ashutosh Kumar from JNU, Mufti Irtak Ul Hassan Joint Action Committee Member Punjab and Dr Dharamveer Gandhi, former MP, are reaching Mansa to inaugurate the agitation, said a member of SBMP.

The members of SBMP expressed their satisfaction that Punjabis are supporting them in this regard. They said that they will apprise and familiarize people about these laws.

Meanwhile, Malerkotla, the only Muslim dominated town in the state, has become the epicentre of anti-CAA protests in Punjab. Students, women, farmers and activists have held demonstrations to express their displeasure over the implementation of the controversial Act.

From February 9 to 15, street plays and musical performances are being held in the villages by members of Punjab Lok Sabhyacharak Manch to mobilize people. A massive rally will be held on February 16, sources have said.
The Dragon's Den-style project set-up by Prince Andrew has removed the the Duke of York's name from its website, amid backlash from sponsors over his friendship with paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein.

Pitch@Palace, founded by Andrew, is planning on launching a rebrand in the Spring as it further distances itself from the royal.

It has already moved its base from Buckingham Palace to a new office after the prince's car crash Newsnight interview in November where he defended his links to Epstein.

The firm's website previously welcomed visitors with the words: 'The Duke of York founded Pitch@Palace to provide a platform to amplify and accelerate the work of entrepreneurs.'

However, that has now been replaced with a note saying that Pitch@Palace is taking the first part of 2020 to 'refresh the brand'.

Prince Andrew pictured as he hosts a Pitch@Palace event at Buckingham Palace in June 2019

Andrew, centre, with entrepreneurs at a Pitch@Palace event - the organisation has now removed the Duke's name from its website

Several pictures showing Andrew have also been removed from the website.

Barclays, KPMG and Standard Chartered have also already withdrawn funding from the project, which will be known just as Pitch going forward.

The British branch of Pitch@Palace is being wound up - though its global operations will remain active.

The potential future role of the prince in the initiative is unknown.

Pitch@Palace Global was designed as a commercial business controlled by the Duke and  according to the company's latest accounts  it posted a profit of 576,000 for the year ended March 31, 2019.

The Dragons' Den-style business was set up by Andrew in 2014 and it brokers deals between tech start-ups and wealthy investors.

Barclays, KPMG and Standard Chartered have also already withdrawn funding from the project after Andrew's disastrous Newsnight interview

The Duke of York with Sarah, the Duchess of York, third and second from right, Princess Beatrice, far right, her fiance Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, far left, and the Chinese ambassador Liu Xiaoming and his wife Hu Pinghua last week

Andrew resigned from his royal duties in November, following the disastrous BBC interview, but opted to keep hold of his Pitch@Palace business.

The accounts for the company, whose registered office is at Buckingham Palace, were signed off last week by Amanda Thirsk, who remains a director at Pitch@Palace Global despite resigning as Prince Andrew's private secretary earlier in January.

Three of its other directors, however, resigned last month over the Andrew-Epstein scandal.

It comes after the Duke carried a message to the Chinese government from the Queen on Friday expressing sympathy for those affected by the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

It was delivered when he attended a dinner hosted by the Chinese ambassador to Britain, Liu Xiaoming.

The meeting, recorded in photographs posted to Liu's Twitter account, marks one of the Duke's first major appearances since he withdrew from public duties.

Pressure is mounting for the Prince to co-operate with the FBI, which is investigating the late financier's crimes in the US.
Albritton said he feels strongly about public education in Alabama and frankly, were not doing very well.

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He cited scores that show Alabama ranks low in math, reading and other skills compared to other states.

Theres only 10 states in the country that have elected school boards, Albritton said. All of them around us have appointed school boards, and all of them are doing better than we are. Even when we are spending the same amount for each student, they do better.

Answering a question about whether its possible to ensure that an appointed school board promotes an educational agenda and not a political one, Lee said Alabama used to have an appointed state school board.

It ended in 1970, and the reason it ended was the people in Montgomery and educators around the state decided it was too political because the people who were appointed by the governor to serve on that board were paying more attention to who appointed them than they were to local educators, Lee said.

Addressing a question about whether an appointed board would be accountable to the electorate, Albritton said voters still have control.
From left, Democratic presidential candidates Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Joe Biden at a primary debate in the Sullivan Arena at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., on Feb. 7. Read more

Pennsylvania donors are sharing the love.

As they poured money into Democratic campaigns for president last year, to the tune of almost $14.4 million, more than one in five donors gave to multiple candidates.

And for however chaotic the primary has been, and as deep as the ideological fault lines may appear, many donors have been willing to financially back more than one campaign. Their giving patterns complicate common narratives about progressive and moderate lanes as candidates put forward competing visions of the party.

For example, about 16% of former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigiegs Pennsylvania donors  or one in six  also gave money to Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, making her the most popular overlapping candidate among Buttigieg supporters.

Thats despite the perception of Buttigieg as a moderate closer to the mold of former Vice President Joe Biden, in contrast to Warren, who, with Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, leads the more progressive candidates in the race. The overlap between Warren and Buttigieg donors is more than twice as large as the overlap between Warren and Biden donors.

Overlap isnt necessarily a sign of political weakness, either. The fact that Sanders has a massive group of donors who give only to him, while a significant number of Warren donors also contribute to others, could bolster Warrens argument that she can ultimately be a unifying candidate for the party.

Ideological connections do matter: Warren and Sanders donors overlap most with each other, and Biden donors most commonly also give to Buttigieg. But the connections dont always fall cleanly between progressive or moderate candidates. Surprising connections also exist with lower-tier candidates, including ones who have dropped out.

Its become easier than ever to give small amounts to multiple candidates, thanks to a rise in online tools that make it nearly frictionless for everyday people to join the donor class.

Democratic campaigns this election cycle have sought to aggressively grow their pool of small-dollar donors, taking advantage of the online platform ActBlue, and heeding lessons from Sanders 2016 campaign about the power of an army of small donors.

Sanders has repeated that approach to great effect  he has many more Pennsylvania donors than anyone else  and Warren has adopted the tactic, too. Both are eschewing traditional fund-raisers.

Biden, meanwhile, has relied on major donors and traditional big-check fund-raising events, though the campaign also has sought to broaden its financial base. Buttigieg has courted large-dollar donors while also raising substantial sums from small-dollar donors.

The Democratic Party has leaned into the new fund-raising reality, requiring candidates to raise money from large numbers of donors to qualify for debates last year. That has made desperate fund-raising appeals a regular part of the 2020 election cycle, with emails, text messages, and social media posts begging supporters to donate as little as $1 to help candidates meet debate-stage requirements.

While a majority of Pennsylvania donors give to only one candidate, almost 34,000 gave to more than one.

An Inquirer analysis of federal campaign-finance filings reveals very different donor pools among the candidates, including the four candidates in the top tier, both nationally and in Pennsylvania. Sanders, for example, has the largest number of Pennsylvania donors and the highest degree of loyalty, while Warren has the second-largest donor base in the state, but almost half of her backers have also given money elsewhere.

Buttigieg and Biden have smaller overall donor pools than Warren and Sanders, and Buttigieg has fewer exclusive donors than Biden has.

Andrew Yang, Marianne Williamson, and Tulsi Gabbard also had highly loyal donor bases in Pennsylvania last year.

But Sanders leads the pack. And Adam Grimes, 37, of Parkesburg in Chester County, helps show why. Hes been donating $10 a month to the Sanders campaign for the last seven months. Through ActBlue, the campaign automatically charges his card once a month.

Grimes, a Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq, cited as key selling points Sanders support for a single-payer health-care system and his efforts to root out corruption and big money in politics. He said he also feels a personal debt of gratitude to Sanders for his cosponsoring of the 2008 post-9/11 GI Bill, which Grimes said helps pay for his education. Hes pursuing two engineering degrees at Drexel.

His campaign is much less about identity and much more about how hes going to help the average American, especially the average American worker, Grimes said.

Im gonna keep that monthly money flowing, he added. Hopefully, itll help him out.

In a sign of the power of those appeals for small donations, some candidates had a significant number of donors who gave a total of $5 or less.

Consider Adam Dusen, 35, an organic farmer from Buckingham Township in Bucks County. He said he makes an automatic contribution of $2.70 a month to the Sanders campaign and sometimes chips in more near fund-raising deadlines.

We don't make a lot of money in my household, he said. At least that much I know I can contribute.

Dusen said Sanders was the only candidate who is really intent on trying to reform what is broken about politics in our country. But he also gave $1 to former U.S. Sen. Mike Gravels campaign to try to help him get on the debate stage. Gravel dropped his quixotic bid in August and endorsed Sanders.

Staff writer Andrew Seidman contributed to this article.
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Storm Ciara has blasted across Europe with 110mph winds that left at least one person dead and brought torrential rain, flash floods and widespread damage to the continent today.

One man died and another was reported missing in southern Sweden when their boat capsized, while three people were seriously injured in Germany by falling trees and branches.

Another man was injured by a tree in the Czech Republic, where winds reached up to 112mph on the country's highest mountain, Snezka.

The storm left 130,000 people without power in France where an orange alert was in place and a truck was toppled over by the wind on a motorway this morning.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled across Europe this morning, including more than 200 at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport - the third-busiest in Europe.

A house in Montmollin, Switzerland, is covered by fallen trees today after Storm Ciara battered the continent with 110mph winds today, bringing torrential rain and widespread damage

Municipal workers in Brussels clear a fallen tree from the street after storm Ciara brought weather chaos to Belgium

Rescuers work on the A2 motorway in France this morning after a truck was tipped over by Storm Ciara's strong winds

Paris authorities sent out a warning to residents to stay indoors for their own safety today, while parks were closed in Lille and open-air markets shut their doors early.

Luxembourg and the German city of Cologne announced that all school children could stay home on Monday to avoid travelling under dangerous conditions.

In Germany, where the storm was known as Sabine, national railway operator Deutsche Bahn cancelled long-distance trains to destinations most at risk.

'We have learned from previous storms that it's better not to have trains travel into critical regions in the first place,' said Deutsche Bahn spokesman Achim Stauss.

Utility companies in the country have also been scrambling to restore power to some 50,000 homes in northern Bavaria.

The Netherlands closed one of its big storm surge barriers as the storm approached on Sunday night, causing traffic jams across over 400 miles of roads this morning.

Waves on the shore of Lake Geneva crash against a diving board in Lutry, Switzerland, today during the severe storm

A tree on the shore of Lake Geneva is pounded by the waves after the winter storm reached Switzerland on Sunday night

A woman holding an umbrella struggles in the wind as she walks along a pavement in the Swiss capital of Bern today

Fallen trees on a house in Montmollin in the Swiss region of Neuchatel today after Storm Ciara brought powerful winds

Passengers queue up for information at the main railway station in Frankfurt today where many trains were cancelled

Debris of the roof of an apartment building which was blown down during storm Ciara lies on the street in Bietigheim-Bissingen, southern Germany

A collapsed crane at Frankfurt cathedral today after the impact of Storm Ciara, which was known as Sabine in Germany

The construction crane toppled over in the wind at the cathedral in the centre of Frankfurt which dates to the 7th century

An information board at Frankfurt railway station shows several trains delayed and cancelled because of the bad weather

In Belgium, rush-hour traffic ground to a halt in Brussels due to street closures and flooding.

Danish authorities warned motorists not to cross large bridges, including the Great Belt Bridge that links eastern and western parts of Denmark.

Meanwhile Britain began a clean-up after bearing the brunt of one of the most of violent and destructive storms in years.

Channel ferry services between Dover and Calais in northern France resumed Monday morning after being halted yesterday.

The whole Belgian offshore wind farm was shut down as powerful gusts caused the turbines to stop automatically for safety reasons.

However, there was an upside for passengers flying British Airways to London from New York.

The storm helped the flight to finish in the sub-sonic flight record time of 4 hours 56 minutes, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24.

A man looks at the wreckage of his car today after it was badly damaged by fallen trees in Brussels

Municipal workers in Brussels clear a fallen tree from the street in the Belgian capital where flooding caused rush-hour chaos

A municipal worker saws through a tree trunk which had fallen on to a street in Brussels today after the extreme winds

Emergency workers on the A2 motorway near Marly in northern France today after a lorry toppled over in the high winds
Ive seen many different platforms and tools aimed at trying to shake up the mortgage industry, but many of them havent been launched well. They also werent up to the standards that people are accustomed to these days. When every app and website is polished, fast and bug-free, you cant expect people to look past an ugly, slow and featureless product.

Its time to put ourselves into the shoes of a 25-year-old purchasing their first condo. Unless their parents take them, this buyer wont set foot into a bank. The first thing theyll do is head to Google  skipping past the Google ads because they know that theyre ads and instead heading to the best-reviewed businesses.

When comes to communication, Gen Zers hate talking on the phone, despite the fact that they always have one in their hand. Texting is the only way to communicate; FaceTime works, too, but only for short conversations. They will expect to sign things digitally and wont be thrilled with paper copies. Theyll want responses quickly and delivered in an accessible fashion.

The relationship with a client might well be formed without ever meeting face-toface, as bizarre as that seems in our industry. Dont forget that this generation is used to dating almost exclusively through apps like Tinder and Bumble. When you do meet, youll already have a nice foundation.

Its now 2020. Thirty years ago, when I was only 5 years old, I imagined we would have flying cars and Star Wars-style bases on different planets by now. While Im still waiting for both of those, what we do have is technology thats changing, evolving and disrupting industries on a daily basis. Its incredibly exciting to see  and as a tech geek, its amazing to watch as the masses adopt new forms of tech.
You know it's about to be rodeo season when you start to spot cowboys on horseback riding down Texas highways.

In honor of 71 years of tradition, officers from the Harris County Sheriff's Office Mounted Patrol unit left Houston on horseback Saturday to travel to the state capitol and hand-deliver invitations to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (HLSR) to state officials.
- Martin Amidu has confirmed that his office has started investigations into the Airbus bribery scandal

- He stated that there is enough reasonable suspicion of corruption and bribery in the deferred prosecution

- He, however, appealed to the public not to politicize the judgment so as to allow his office to treat the suspected breaches

- Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), spearheaded by Martin Amidu has confirmed that it has started investigations into the Airbus bribery scandal that cited Ghana in some alleged corrupt practices in procurement processes of aircraft

Martin Amidu stated that there is enough reasonable suspicion of corruption and bribery in the deferred prosecution agreement between Airbus and the British Serious Fraud Office in which Ghana was featured.

In a document signed by the special prosecutor, the said offenses included bribery of public officers and the use of public offices for private profits.

READ ALSO: NPP's John Boadu makes serious accusation; says NDC is the most corrupt party

The relevant domestic public institutions which can assist with the on-going investigation have already been contacted to provide information and documents, Amidu noted in the statement.

He is however appealing to the public not to politicize the judgment so as to allow his office to treat the suspected case.

President Akufo-Addo tasked the Office of the Special Prosecutor to investigate the Airbus scandal that allegedly paid or attempted to pay millions of dollars in bribes in exchange for contracts.

Akufo-Addo asked the OSP to collaborate with the UKs Serious Fraud Office, to bring the culprits to book.

READ ALSO: Mahama will be thrown in jail before the 2020 Elections - Kofi Akpaloo claims (Video)

In other news, the opposition National Democratic Congress( NDC) says the identity of the former government official who is alleged to have taken a bribe in what has become the Airbus scandal as immaterial.

The NDC also rejected the allegation by the government that the unnamed government official in the document is former president John Dramani Mahama.

First, no ex-government official of Ghana is cited in any part of the approved judgments for receiving a bribe or committing any offense, Sammy Gyamfi National Communication Officer of the party said at a press conference in Accra on Thursday, February 6.

Mr. Gyamfi, the chairman of the opposition NDC stated that the name of the said government official is really unimportant to the matter at hand.

READ ALSO: Good innovation: Nana Ama McBrown throws weight behind man selling Hisense coconut

Mathew Anim Cudjoe showered with money after Hearts - Kotoko game in Accra | #Yencomgh

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Colombian artist Diana Beltran Herrera creates incredibly realistic bird sculptures by carefully attaching bits of colored paper.

To say Diana Beltran Herreras hands are super-precise instruments would be an understatement. The talented artist uses her innate dexterity and years of practice to create amazingly-detailed models of various birds, from the common sparrow to tropical parrots, out of bits of glued paper. To represent the birds as they are in nature, Herrera makes her sculptures life-size. Over the last decade, she has created paper sculptures of hundreds of bird species.

Photo:  Diana Beltran Herrera

I really got to know the birds: I collected a lot of photos and I studied them in books, Beltran Herrera told Flow Magazine about the artistic process. I made an archive with different views, colors and special information. To make them, I first choose a profile and draw them  the wings, the feet, the face  in Illustrator. My work is half digital, half handmade. I print everything and cut it before I put it together. It takes me at least four days to make one bird.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by DianaBeltranHerrera (@dianabeltranherrera) on May 21, 2019 at 6:34am PDT

The Colombian artist said that her beautiful art form began with a return to nature a few years back, and a desire to know more about the things living around her. She knew that there were other creatures sharing this world, but she wanted to know more about them, and she began with birds. She observed local birds in her city of Bogota, researched them online, and met with members of an ornithology group to learn more about them.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by DianaBeltranHerrera (@dianabeltranherrera) on Mar 5, 2019 at 4:02am PST

Inspired by all this new knowledge, Diana started making paper sculpture of birds, and in a few years time she had created a paper aviary featuring over 100 species of birds, from blue jays and cardinals, to flamingos and blue herons.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by DianaBeltranHerrera (@dianabeltranherrera) on Feb 19, 2019 at 8:18am PST

I only use paper, and some wire for the feet, the artist said. I paint them myself; I add watercolor to the paper to get the tone I need. I use very basic, daily materials and transform them into something that has more value. With my work I want to show people that you can make great things with the simplest material you can find: paper. You only need time and imagination.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by DianaBeltranHerrera (@dianabeltranherrera) on Dec 7, 2018 at 6:42am PST

Diana Beltran Herrera makes the process sound simpler than it is, though. She may only use paper and some wire, but the work and attention that goes into each model is immense. She begins with a base form made out of paper, on which she carefully glues meticulously cut paper feathers. Then comes the coloring, which has to be incredibly precise to depict the birds as closely as they are found in the wild.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by DianaBeltranHerrera (@dianabeltranherrera) on Jul 17, 2019 at 2:08am PDT

My work is nothing different or new, it is just a representation of something that is real, and somehow it has an impact, Beltran Herrera told Smithsonian Magazine. More than creating birds, the real aim of what I do is to use this work as a model to exercise a behavior. It is an invitation to rediscover what is there, to see further and understand we are not alone here. We are part of a big system, and, as that, we need to learn how to respect and relate.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by DianaBeltranHerrera (@dianabeltranherrera) on Apr 3, 2017 at 10:31am PDT

For more incredibly realistic paper bird sculptures, check out Diana Beltran Herreras official website, as well as her Instagram. You wont regret it!
From left: Former U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta , Di Bruno Bros.s Emilio Mignucci, Gran Caffe L'Aquilas Riccardo Longo, and DiGiacomo Brothers Specialty Food Co.s Bill DiGiacomo gather the dining room of Gran Caffe LAquila, a cafe and specialty food store in Philadelphias Rittenhouse neighborhood. The goal was to plead for relief of threatened U.S. tariffs on Italian imports, which they say the Trump administration seeks to impose in retaliation for European subsidies to jet builder Airbus, a competitor of America's Boeing. Read more

Escalating U.S. tariffs on imports from Italy threaten to unravel the intricate trade networks that make Italian American cuisine possible, and could slash transport, retail, and restaurant jobs across the United States, food purveyors are warning.

Every dollar the tariffs go up pushes more U.S. stores and consumers towards fake prosciutto and fake Parmesan from other countries as a cheap substitute for la buona cucina, Riccardo Longo, owner of Gran Caffe LAquila on Chestnut Street in Center City, said Thursday at a gathering he hosted of competitors and lobbyists who seek to stave off the threatened taxes.

Its not just that some Americans wont pay more for the best: Its also that small-town Italian producers are feeling forced by the uncertainty to seek new markets in Asia and the Middle East, Longo and other importers said.

Food makers in Italy and importers in the U.S. depend on a network of relationships built up by a century of Italian American immigration, tourism, nostalgia and food education. The threatened 25% tariffs and the resulting drop in profit margins and sales would shift supply lines and threaten to disrupt or end that long heritage, said restaurant supplier Bill DiGiacomo of DiGiacomo Bros. Specialty Foods Co. in Conshohocken.

The owners said selected imported foods have already been slapped with tariffs  including a big seller, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese  but they have so far been successful at persuading the government to hold back on slapping taxes on a wider range of goods.

But in October, the World Trade Organization ruled the U.S. would be justified if it slapped up to $7.5 billion in retaliatory tariffs against European Union countries, including Italy, as punishment for aggressive subsidies to jet airplane maker Airbus, which competes with Americas Boeing. So now the importers fear their margins will collapse.

Longo said big food import companies have been stuffing their warehouses before the tariffs hit, but small businesses dont have that option. If a threatened increase in tariffs, from the current 25 percent for many items to as much as 100 percent, many Italian specialty importers will surely go out of business."

He elaborated later: "To this point, we have absorbed the increases, and not passed them on to our customers. The choice that Italian restaurants will have to make is to either raise their prices or utilize what we as Italians call  fake food " -- which last, he added, "will not be an option for our restaurant.

Either way, the consumer will be negatively effected with either a higher price tag or an inferior product. We will always use the authentic Italian products that are part of our heritage. and will have to work on a costing and portion strategy to deal with potential increased costs, Longo concluded.

Italian culture is all about food, wine, and family, said Emilio Mignucci, third-generation operator of Di Bruno Bros. He said the business rests on tight personal relationships with families like the cheesemaking Auricchios of Cremona, olive-oil makers in the hills around Lucca, and the crostini bakers of Abruzzo.

But they dont have to ship to Di Brunos, he added. If tariffs drive up prices and U.S. orders drop, pinched sellers will find markets among the rapidly growing economies of Asia and elsewhere, leaving Americans behind.

My grandfather said, All you need to do is sell the best you can find, and people will get it, Mignucci said. Our prosciutto is $5 more than the guy down the street. A box of crostini already costs $20. I buy them by the shipping-container load. But $5 a bag [in new tariffs] is not sustainable.

These small-town Italian exporters have nothing to do with the Airbus, added former U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta (R., Pa.), a Trump supporter who was at the gathering and is chairman of the 450-member American Italian Food Coalition, which is lobbying to stop the tariffs.

I support the president when he stands up for American jobs, said Barletta, who is also known for his criticism of past immigration policies. But the Italian tariffs are more likely to hurt U.S. employment, which should give the administration pause, he added.

Small Italian companies that are used to relying on the American market may be able to sell elsewhere, but the dislocation in the meantime will cost jobs in both countries, said Amato Berardi, a Philadelphian who formerly held one of the seats in the Italian Parliament reserved for American expatriates.

The threat of tariffs unsettles many delicate trade relationships, warned Salvatore DAngelo, owner of DAngelos Ristorante Italiano in South Philadelphia. He blames the threat of new tariffs for the increased difficulty hes had finding some Italian wine in recent foreign shipments to Pennsylvania state stores: The suppliers are sending product elsewhere, he suspects.

Philip P. Jaurigue, CEO of Sabre Systems Inc. in Warrington, whose clients include Boeing, also attended the presentation and said many companies large and small are working to limit the impact of retaliatory tariffs.

But tariffs can damage even businesses they dont affect directly, DAngelo warned.

As a young man, DAngelo said, he was a marble importer. He watched the once-robust Italian marble imports crumble because of a U.S.-Mexico dispute over marble prices. Supply uncertainty drove buyers out of the market, he said, even those not directly touched by the dispute.

DAngelo worries thats happening now to the food business. He blamed government interference in natural markets for squeezing family businesses, caught in international politics.

Reporters Note: The story generated a number of direct responses from readers. My favorite, from Robert Capretto:

Dont believe it. We Italians know fake from real. If they tick us off, we can make our own.
A hardline Iraqi faction hanged effigies of US President Donald Trump in Baghdad Monday, ahead of a memorial for their commander killed in a US strike.

On Tuesday, the Iraqi capital will commemorate 40 days since Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of Iraq's powerful Hashed al-Shaabi military network, was killed alongside top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike in Baghdad.

An official memorial service will be held in the morning in Baghdad's high-security Green Zone, followed by a public commemoration.

In preparation, Kataeb Hezbollah -- a hardline Hashed faction that Muhandis founded -- erected mock gallows at the entrances to the massive eastern district of Sadr City.

Hanged in nooses were cut-outs of Trump with his tongue protruding and soldiers in US uniforms.

Enormous portraits of Muhandis and Soleimani were also erected elsewhere in the city.

"Our people hung the gallows in preparation for the 40-day memorial service," said an official from Kataeb Hezbollah, who declined to give his name.

Washington carried out a drone strike outside Baghdad International Airport in the early hours of January 3, hitting the two-car convoy in which Soleimani and Muhandis were travelling.

Trump authorised the strike against Soleimani but had not specifically targeted Muhandis, US officials said.

The Iraqi commander was picking up his longtime friend and mentor Soleimani, Iran's pointman on Iraqi affairs, who had just landed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
People wanting to vote in the March 3 presidential primary election in San Mateo County will have three options for casting ballots "independently and privately," the county's Clerk-Recorder office said.

The March 3 presidential primary election will be the fourth election, and the first VCA presidential primary, conducted by San Mateo County under the California Voter's Choice Act model.

In this model, traditional polling places have been replaced by "vote centers," which will be open for voting for an extended period and which will offer expanded voter services including voter registration, multilingual assistance and disabled access voting options. Every registered voter will also receive a vote-by-mail ballot, which voters can return with no postage required in any mailbox or into secure county ballot drop boxes located throughout the county.

The Accessible Vote by Mail system allows voters with disabilities to access and mark their ballot in a screen-readable format using their personal computers. In 2017, San Mateo County was the first county in California to deploy an AVBM system for voters with disabilities as authorized under Assembly Bill 2252.

A Mobile Vote Center is available to voters until Election Day, to provide greater access to voting and election materials. Voters with disabilities can request the Mobile Vote Center service if they are unable to use the AVBM system.

The Mobile Vote Center is designed for voters with disabilities who are unable to vote at a Vote Center or on a Vote by Mail ballot. Elections will travel to a place of the voter's choosing and provide an accessible touchscreen Ballot Marking Tablet with a Disabled Access Unit, which can read the ballot to a voter and can display in large font.

For more information, call (650) 312-5222; visit www.smcacre.org; or follow us the Clerk-Recorder's office on Twitter and Instagram at @smcvote

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.
Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson performed his one-man What Does This Button Do? speaking show on Saturday night, February 8th, at Sala Radio in Bucharest, Romania, and you can see his highly entertaining repertoire in the fan-filmed video footage below.

Bruces An Evening With performances feature an unscripted question-and-answer session with fans and one question Bruce was asked was what will happen to Iron Maiden after the current members retire?

Bruce responded: I like that. Theres always hope.

After the current members retire, therell be a whole new load of Iron members. We wont even have to be fucking holograms. You know what I mean?

You can actually have real Iron Maiden members that kind of look like us but are not us. Thats good. I like that. Its not a bad idea.

Then we can just sit back and collect the royalties and do no work. Good idea!

Itll never happen, because were never going to fucking retire.

Bruce also confirmed that he will be bringing out a new album wth Roy Z. That will be Bruces fifth solo album and first since 2005s Tyrannny Of Souls, which also heavily featured Roy Z. There is no scheduled timeframe for a release at the moment.

Last month Bruce was made an honorary RAF Group Captain after being enrolled as a member of the 601 (County of London) Squadron, a London-based group of the RAF Reserves, reactivated in 2017 to help shape the RAFs future with talent from industry and academia.

Bruce has a close alliance with the RAF after taking the controls of an MoD-chartered 747 in 2008 to bring its pilots home from Afghanistan to RAF Wittering in Cambridgeshire.

An RAF source said: Its absolutely fantastic that Bruce has been made an honorary Group Captain. Hes a keen aviator and loves the RAF. Hes a first class bloke. His two big interests outside of music are flying and fencing.

Iron Maiden resume their much-lauded Legacy Of The Beast world tour on May 1st 2020 with six Australian dates before gigs in New Zealand, Phillipines, Japan, UAE and Israel. The tour arrives in Europe on June 6th with dates in seventeen countries including Download Festival on June 13th and Belsonic Festival in Belfast on 15th.

Heres Bruces performance from Saturday night.

AN EVENING WITH BRUCE DICKINSON

FEBRUARY 2020

14  La Trianon, Paris, France

MARCH 2020

5  Global Expo, Warsaw  Poland

6  Hamburg, Cinemaxx, Germany

11  DK Lensoveta, Saint Petersburg, Russia

12  Vegas City Hall, Moscow, Russia

26  Alexa Concert Hall, Tallinn, Estonia

AUGUST 2020

15  Mexico City, Metropolitan Theater, Mexico

18  San Jose, CCCR, Costa Rica

20  Bogota, Jorge Eliecer Gaitan Theater, Colombia

21  Lima, CCL, Peru

23  Santiago, Corpartes Theater, Chile

25  Buenos Aires, Estadio Obras, Argentina

26  Sao Paulo, Tom Brazil, Brazil
Gujarat Congress leader and Patidar quota agitation spearhead is untraceable since January 18 when he was arrested in a 2015 sedition case, his wife Kinjal said on Monday.

Patel, who is facing sedition cases related to the 2015 Patidar quota agitation, was arrested on January 18 this year after a court here issued a non-bailable warrant for not being present during hearing.

He was granted bail four days later but was again picked up in connection with two other cases filed in Patan and Gandhinagar districts.

Patel got bail in these two cases on January 24.

However, a trial court issued a non-bailable warrant on February 7 after he once again failed to appear for a hearing.

" has been untraceable since he was arrested on January 18. Though we do not know where he is, the police frequently comes to our residence to ask me about his whereabouts," said Kinjal at an event organised by Patidar quota leaders.

The meeting of Patidar leaders was organised here to put pressure on the state government to withdraw around 1,500 cases lodged against people who took part in the quota agitation in 2015 and before the 2017 Gujarat Assembly polls.

In all, Patel faces over 20 cases registered against him across Gujarat after he led the Patidar quota stir in 2015.
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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 10, 2020) - Regency Gold Corp. (TSXV: RAU.H) ("Regency" or the "Company") is issuing this comprehensive news release to update and expand on its news release of January 10, 2020, regarding its definitive option agreement dated January 6, 2020, as amended January 27, 2020 (collectively, the "Option Agreement"), with Benton Resources Inc. (TSXV: BEX) ("Benton") in connection with the acquisition by the Company of, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions precedent, an option to acquire a 100% right, title and interest in the Escape Lake Property (the "Escape Lake Property") and the right to acquire 100% of Panoramic Resources Inc.'s indirect subsidiary, Panoramic PGMs (Canada) Ltd. (the "Pan Subsidiary") which owns the Thunder Bay North Project (the "TBN Project") (the "Transaction"). The Escape Lake Property and the TBN Project are collectively referred to as, the "TBN Property".

The Company is also pleased to announce that its previously announced private placement of subscription receipts (each, a "Subscription Receipt") led by Paradigm Capital Inc. and Sprott Capital Partners LP (the "Co-Lead Agents") on behalf of a syndicate of agents, including Red Cloud Securities and Mackie Research Capital Corporation (together with the Co-Lead Agents, the "Agents") is expected to close on or about February 11, 2020 (the "Closing Date"). The private placement is fully subscribed and the Company is expected to issue 75,000,000 Subscription Receipts for aggregate gross proceeds of $15,000,000 (the "Offering").

The Transaction is an arm's-length transaction (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV")) as Regency is not a related party (as such term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) to any of Benton, Panoramic Resources Inc. ("PAN"), or Rio Tinto Exploration Canada Inc. ("RTEC").

The Property

The TBN Property is located approximately 50km northeast of Thunder Bay within the Thunder Bay Mining Division in north-west Ontario, Canada, an emerging Ni-Cu-PGM province. The TBN Property currently comprises:

TBN Project consists of 300 unpatented mining claims (1456 cell units) covering an aggregate area of approximately 29,725 hectares.

Escape Lake Property consists of 20 unpatented mining claims (20 cell units) with an area of 561.3 hectares. The property is located 2.1km west-southwest of the Current Lake Deposit and is completely surrounded by TBN Project claims.

Escape North Property consists of 24 unpatented mining claims (67 cell units) with an area of 1722 hectares. The portion of the TBN Property is directly north of and adjacent to the northern boundary of the TBN Project claims.

History of the TBN Property

The Pan Subsidiary optioned the Current Lake Claim Group in 2005, the Beaver Lake Property in 2006, the CasRon Property in 2007 and staked the balance of the claims comprising the TBN Project in 2009. Starting 2006, the Pan Subsidiary deployed an aggressive exploration program resulting in the discovery of nickel-copper-PGE sulphide mineralization. Between December 2006 and June 2009, the Pan Subsidiary drilled 338 core boreholes (over 51,000 metres) to delineate the polymetallic sulphide mineralization and support the initial evaluation of mineral resources. A first-time historic mineral resource estimate was completed by SRK Consulting Ltd. on behalf of Magma Metals PTY Ltd. ("Magma"), the parent company of the Pan Subsidiary, in 2009. An updated historic mineral resource was calculated in late 2010 and a preliminary economic evaluation was completed in February 2011 by AMEC Americas. PAN announced an unsolicited takeover for Magma on February 3, 2012 and completed its acquisition of Magma on June 7, 2012.

RTEC staked the original Escape Lake Property (a single 15 unit claim) in 2006. Between 2010 and 2012 RTEC drilled 11 core holes (approximately 6412 metres) into various parts the intrusion and intersected similar mineralization to that discovered at the TBN Project. Between 2014 and 2016 after an earn-in joint venture agreement was signed between RTEC and the Pan Subsidiary, RTEC completed outcrop and boulder prospecting throughout the TBN Property and reprocessed all of the Pan Subsidiary's geophysical data. During 2015 and 2016 RTEC drilled 24 core holes (approximately 9500 metres) into the TBN Property with 7 holes (approximately 2418 metres) drilled into the TBN Project and 17 holes (7081.04m) into the Escape Lake Property. In late 2016 RTEC flew a semi-airborne HeliSAM survey over the Current Lake and Steepledge Lake Intrusions. Since 2016 there has been very little exploration conducted on the TBN Property.

Terms of Option Agreement

Under the Option Agreement, and following satisfaction of certain conditions precedent as described below, in order to acquire a 100% right, title and interest in the Escape Lake Property from Benton (subject to Benton exercising its pre-existing option (the "Benton Option") with RTEC and Benton's rights to acquire a 100% right, title and interest in the TBN Project, Regency is required to complete, among other things, the following:

enter into a definitive share purchase agreement (the "Pan Agreement") with Magma, and make an initial $250,000 payment. These requirements have both been completed; issue to Benton an aggregate of 24,615,884 common shares (the "Consideration Shares") in the capital of Regency, subject to adjustment; fulfill all the remaining payments to RTEC under the terms of an option agreement (the "RTEC Agreement") dated October 9, 2019, between RTEC and Benton required in order for Benton to exercise the Benton Option to earn a 100% interest in the Escape Lake Property. These payments are set out below; fulfill all the remaining payments under the terms of the PAN Agreement. Those payments as set out below; and grant to Benton a 0.5% net smelter return royalty from production on the Escape Lake Property and a 0.5% net smelter return royalty from production on any mineral claims comprising the TBN Project over which a net smelter royalty has not previously been granted.

The Consideration Shares to be issued by Regency to Benton shall not exceed 19.9% of the issued share capital of Regency and will be subject to a four month and one day statutory hold period from the date of issuance. The Consideration Shares may be subject to the escrow requirements of the TSXV.

The RTEC Agreement

Under the RTEC Agreement, Benton was granted an option to acquire 100% ownership interest in the Escape Lake Property, subject to a 1% net smelter return royalty to be retained by RTEC, in exchange for payment of C$6 million by Benton to RTEC over a three-year period, as follows:

C$3 million paid by Benton to RTEC upon signing of the RTEC Agreement. This amount has been paid by Benton; C$1 million payable on the first anniversary of the signing of the RTEC Agreement, being October 9, 2020; C$1 million payable on the second anniversary of the signing of the RTEC Agreement, being October 9, 2021; and C$1 million payable on the third anniversary of the signing of the RTEC Agreement, being October 9, 2022.

Under the terms of the Option Agreement, Regency has assumed and is bound and shall perform the obligations of Benton under the RTEC Agreement. RTEC consented to Regency acquiring the Benton Option pursuant to a consent, acknowledgement and agreement dated January 6, 2020 between Benton, Regency and RTEC.

The PAN Agreement

Under the Pan Agreement, Regency has the right to acquire a 100% ownership interest in the Pan Subsidiary, the subsidiary of Magma that holds the TBN Project, in exchange for payment of C$9 million by Regency to Magma over a three-year period, as follows:

C$4.5 million due on closing of the acquisition of the TBN Project (the "Initial Pan Payment"); C$1.5 million on the first anniversary of the closing of the acquisition of the TBN Project; C$1.5 million on the second anniversary of the closing of the acquisition of the TBN Project; and C$1.5 million on the third anniversary of the closing of the acquisition of the TBN Project.

A third party has made an initial payment of $250,000 on behalf of Regency (which will be credited to the Initial Pan Payment) to PAN, which extends the proposed closing of the acquisition and the Initial Pan Payment, by 60 days. In addition, Regency now has the ability to get up to three additional 30-day extensions by making a $10,000 payment for each extension.

Satisfaction of Conditions to Closing

The grant to Regency of the option to acquire the TBN Property under the Option Agreement is subject to the satisfaction of certain additional conditions precedent, including, among other things:

receipt of all necessary consents, approvals and other authorizations of any regulatory authorities, shareholders or third parties has been obtained, including, but not limited to, the approval of the TSXV; the representations and warranties of the parties in the Option Agreement remaining accurate at and as of the closing date; the completion by Regency of the Offering (which is expected to close on February 11, 2020); and the closing of the grant of the option occurring prior to May 30, 2020.

Offering

In connection with the Offering, the Company proposes to enter into an agency agreement (the "Agency Agreement") on or about the Closing Date, among the Company and the Agents, pursuant to which the Company proposes to issue on the Closing Date, an aggregate of 75,000,000 Subscription Receipts at a price of $0.20 per Subscription Receipt (the "Issue Price") for aggregate gross proceeds of $15,000,000.

The gross proceeds of the Offering less certain expenses of the Agents and other commissions (the "Escrowed Proceeds") will be held in escrow on behalf of the subscribers of the Subscription Receipts by Computershare Trust Company of Canada (the "Escrow Agent"), pursuant to the terms of a subscription receipt agreement (the "Subscription Receipt Agreement") to be entered into one or about the Closing Date among the Company, the Co-Lead Agents and the Escrow Agent. Each Subscription Receipt will be automatically converted, without payment of any additional consideration and without further action on the part of the holder thereof, for one unit (each, a "Unit") of the Company upon satisfaction or waiver of the escrow release conditions ("Escrow Release Conditions") set out below and in the Subscription Receipt Agreement and prior to a Termination Event (as defined below), subject to adjustment in certain events. The Units to be issued upon conversion of the Subscription Receipts will be comprised of one common share of Regency (each, a "Unit Share") and one-half of one common share purchase warrant (each whole common share purchase warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will be exercisable by the holder thereof for one common share of the Company (each, a "Warrant Share") for a period of twenty-four (24) months after the Closing Date at an exercise price of $0.30 per Warrant Share, subject to adjustments in certain events.

The Escrow Release Conditions are as follows:

The receipt of all required corporate, shareholder and regulatory approvals in connection with the Offering, the Transaction and the TSXV Listing (as defined below), including, without limitation, the conditional approval of the TSXV for the listing of the Unit Shares and Warrant Shares and any relevant listing documents having been accepted for filing with the TSXV; The completion or the satisfaction of all conditions precedent to the Transaction, substantially in accordance with the definitive agreements relating to the Transaction (other than the payment of the cash purchase price due in connection with the acquisition of the TBN Project), to the satisfaction of the Agents; and The Company and the Agents having delivered a joint notice to the Escrow Agent, confirming that the conditions set forth in (a) and (b) above have been met or waived.

As consideration for the services provided by the Agents in connection with the Offering: (a) the Agents will receive a cash commission equal to 6% of the gross proceeds of the Offering (being reduced to 3% with respect to certain subscribers on the "President's List"); and (b) the Agents will receive compensation options (the "Compensation Options") on the Closing Date. Each Compensation Option will be exercisable to acquire that number of Units equal to 6% of the number of Subscription Receipts sold under the Offering (being reduced to 3% with respect to the President's List) at the Issue Price for a period of twenty-four (24) months after the Closing Date. Additionally, for the services provided by certain other eligible persons (the "Finders"), the Company has also agreed to a fee of: (i) a cash commission equal to 3% of the total proceeds from certain subscribers on the President's List introduced by the Finders; and (ii) Compensation Options equal to 3% of the number of Subscription Receipts sold under the Offering to certain subscribers on the President's List introduced by the Finders.

In the event that: (i) the Escrow Agent does not receive the release notice contemplated by the Subscription Receipt Agreement prior to 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on that date which is 120 days after the Closing Date (the "Escrow Release Deadline"); or (ii) prior to the Escrow Release Deadline, the Company advises the Agents or announces to the public that it does not intend to proceed with the Transaction and/or satisfy the Escrow Release Conditions (each, a "Termination Event"), the Escrowed Proceeds (plus any interest accrued thereon) will be returned to the holders of the Subscription Receipts on a pro rata basis and the Subscription Receipts will be cancelled without any further action on the part of the holders. To the extent that the Escrowed Funds are not sufficient to refund the aggregate Issue Price paid to the holders of the Subscription Receipts, the Company will be responsible and liable to contribute such amounts as are necessary to satisfy any shortfall.

The net proceeds of the Offering will be used to fund the cash portion of the consideration payable to Magma in respect of the acquisition of the TBN Project, to fund drilling for the TBN Property, and for general corporate purposes.

The securities issued in connection with the Offering (including the Subscription Receipts and any Unit Shares, Warrants, and Warrant Shares) will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day from the Closing Date, in accordance with applicable securities laws.

The securities offered have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any U.S. 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 under the U.S. Securities Act) absent registration or any applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable U.S. state securities laws. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Reverse Takeover Transaction

Regency has been inactive for more than two (2) years when it ceased its activity as an "Industrial Life Science or Technology Issuer" in accordance with the policies of the TSXV. After a thorough evaluation of the existing operations of Regency and a review of strategic options for Regency, generally, the Board of Directors of Regency has determined that it will be in the best interests of Regency and its shareholders for Regency to be reactivated in the mineral resources sector through the completion of the Offering and the Transaction.

Regency proposes to effect a reverse takeover ("RTO") pursuant to the policies of the TSXV to reflect the new direction in the business of Regency by filing a filing statement (the "Filing Statement") in support of its application to the TSX to become a "Mining Issuer" (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) following the completion of the Transaction (the "Resulting Issuer").

The Transaction may require sponsorship under the policies of the TSXV unless an exemption from sponsorship is granted. Regency intends to apply for an exemption from sponsorship requirements of the TSXV in connection with the Transaction. There can be no assurance that such exemption will ultimately be granted.

The common shares of the Company are currently listed on the NEX Board of the TSXV under the symbol "RAU.H". The Company seeks to graduate from the NEX Board and list the common shares of the Resulting Issuer on the TSXV (the "TSXV Listing") upon completion of the Transaction. The Company has applied to list the Unit Shares and the Warrant Shares on the TSXV. The TSXV Listing will be subject to the Company fulfilling all the listing requirements of the TSXV.

Following completion of the Transaction, the Company intends to change its name to "Clean Air Metals Inc.". It is expected that following the name change, the common shares of Regency, as the resulting issuer, and will trade under the ticker symbol "AIR" on the TSXV.

The Company intends to seek shareholder approval from a majority of the shareholders of the Company by way of written consent in accordance with Section 4.3 of Policy 5.2 of the TSXV Corporate Finance Manual.

Upon the closing of the Offering and the Transaction, it is anticipated that Benton will become an "Insider" (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) of the Resulting Issuer. Prior to the completion of the Offering and the Transaction, Benton did not beneficially own or control any securities of Regency. Upon the issuance of the Consideration Shares to Benton, Benton will beneficially own and control 24,615,884 common shares (the "Resulting Issuer Shares") of the Resulting Issuer, representing approximately 19.68% of the issued and outstanding Resulting Issuer Shares on a non-diluted basis, assuming completion of the Offering and the Transaction.

Management of the Resulting Issuer

Following the completion of the Offering, the current Board of Directors and management of Regency, with the exception of Kelsey Chin, CPA, CA, the Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary of Regency, will resign and will be replaced by the persons, and in the capacities listed below. Brief biographies of the proposed nominees are as follows:

Abraham Drost, M.Sc., P. Geo., CEO and Director - Mr. Drost is a Professional Geoscientist (Ontario) and a graduate of the University of Waterloo (B.Sc) and Queen's University (M.Sc.). Mr. Drost is a former President and Director of Sabina Gold and Silver Corp., former President and Director of Gold X Mining Corp. and former CEO, and Director of Mexican Gold Corp. Mr. Drost is a former Chairman of Premier Gold Mines USA Inc. and the former CEO and founding Director of Premier Royalty Inc., prior to the sale to Sandstorm Gold Ltd. He was a former CEO and then Director of Mega Precious Metals Inc. at the sale to Yamana Gold Inc. Mr. Drost was most recently CEO and Director of Carlisle Goldfields Ltd. at the sale to Alamos Gold Inc. He previously served as Regional Land Use Geologist with the Ontario Geological Survey, promoting exploration best practises for junior mining companies on aboriginal traditional territories.

James Gallagher, P. Eng., Chairman and Director - Mr. Gallagher is a Professional Engineer and seasoned mining executive with a 35-year track record of optimizing operational performance, leading successful projects and consulting with global scope. Mr. Gallagher was most recently the President and CEO of North American Palladium Ltd. ("NAP"). During his 6 year tenure at NAP, Mr. Gallagher rebuilt the senior management team, introduced advanced technologies and mining methods at the Lac des Illes Mine and achieved an operational and financial turnaround that made the Lac des Illes Mine one of the largest and lowest cost underground mines in Canada, culminating in the 2019 sale of NAP for $1 billion to Impala Platinum. Prior to NAP, Mr. Gallagher spent 24 years with Falconbridge Ltd., in a variety of operational and project management roles and eight years as Global Director of Mining for Hatch, leading one of the largest mining EPCM teams in North America. Mr. Gallagher is a Director and chair of the Health, Safety and Technical committee for Harte Gold, serves on the Board of Directors of the Ontario Mining Association.

Dean Chambers, P. Eng., ICD.D., Director - Mr. Chambers is a Professional Engineer and financial executive with over 35 years of business, technical and financial experience. In 2017, Mr. Chambers retired as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Sherritt International Corporation, a major international resource company. Mr. Chambers' career as a senior executive in the mining and chemical industries also includes progressive positions with The Dow Chemical Company, Falconbridge Limited and Dynatec Corporation. Most recently, Mr. Chambers served four years on the Board of Directors and chaired the Audit Committee of North American Palladium Ltd. leading up to its successful sale to Impala Platinum in 2019. Mr. Chambers holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. Mr. Chambers also serves on the Industrial Advisory Committee for the Engineering and Management program at McMaster University.

About the Pan Subsidiary

The Pan Subsidiary is a corporation incorporated under the Business Corporations Act (Yukon) on October 20, 2005, by Magma, an Australian company formerly cross-listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Australian Stock Exchange.

Below is a summary of financial information of the Pan Subsidiary based on a balance sheet as at October 31, 2019:

Financial Period Assets Liabilities Revenues Net Loss October 31, 2019 $1,118,601.30 $56,112,825.30 ($103,163.94) ($55,063,041.11)

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

"William Radvak"

William Radvak, President and Chief Executive Officer of Regency Gold Corp.

For further information, please contact:

William Radvak, President & CEO of Regency Gold Corp.

Phone: 778-888-4101

Email: billradvak@gmail.com

Abraham Drost, Proposed CEO & Director of the Resulting Issuer

Phone: 807-252-7800

Email: adrost@cleanairmetals.ca

THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

Cautionary Note

Completion of the Transaction and the closing of the Offering, among other things, are subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, TSXV acceptance and, if applicable, disinterested shareholder approval. The Transaction cannot close until the required shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the Transaction, the Offering or the TSXV Listing 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 Regency should be considered highly speculative.

The TSXV has in no way passed upon the merits of the Transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Further details of the Transaction will be included in subsequent news releases and disclosure documents to be filed by Regency.

The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to the Transaction, the Offering, and the TSXV Listing, risk related to the failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projections.

NOT FOR DISSEMINATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

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More than 100 soldiers have traumatic brain injuries stemming from Iran's missile attack on a base in Iraq last month, US officials told Reuters on Monday.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said there has been a 50 percent jump in TBIs from the attack, up from the 64 that had been previously reported last month.

The Pentagon declined to comment.

President Donald Trump initially said that Iran's attack had not led to serious injuries for American troops, instead saying that the soldiers involved had 'headaches.'

Tinnitus and hearing loss are the top causes of disability for US veterans. A new drug tested in mice may prevent damage to auditory neurons without preventing soldiers from hearing

'I heard they had headaches and a couple of other things...and I can report it is not very serious,' Trump said at a press conference in Davos, Switzerland of the January 8 attacks.

He said that potential traumatic brain injuries are less severe than, say, missing limbs.

But these injuries can be debilitating, increasing lifetime risks for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicide - leading causes of veteran disability. Some 8,000 military personnel sustained 'severe or penetrating' head injuries between 2010 and 2015.

'No, I don't consider them very serious injuries relative to other injuries that I've seen,' the president said, and described meeting previously with US troops wounded by roadside bombs. 'I've seen people with no legs and with no arms. I've seen people that were horribly, horribly injured in that area, that war.'

'No, I do not consider that to be bad injuries, no,' he added.

Yet 11 service members were flown out of Iraq on January 10 and 15 after on-site medical screening flagged them for concussion-like symptoms.

And the forthcoming report suggests that many more were injured in that attack.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that no Americans were harmed in the Iranian missile strikes on January 8, which came in retaliation for a US drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, Iran's top general.

And Trump had said that outcome drove his decision not to retaliate further and risk a broader war with Iran.

That movement was not reported to Defense Secretary Mark Esper until the day it was publicly announced last month - in line with the usual practice of not reporting injuries to the Pentagon unless they involve the loss of life, limb or eyesight.

In addition, defense officials said that about 10 more service members were flown to Germany in recent days. Most were being treated for symptoms related to possible traumatic brain injury.

A smaller number may have been suffering from psychological trauma, according to two defense officials who discussed the matter on condition of anonymity.

The exact nature and severity of the apparent brain injuries has not been publicly released.

Speaking in Geneva (pictured), President Trump dismissed the injuries sustained by US troops during the Iran missile attacks as 'headaches.' Now, more than 100 are diagnosed with TBIs

And at the Pentagon, the deputy commander of US military operations in Iraq and Syria told reporters that the extent of potential brain injuries was not clear in the first days following the Iranian attack.

Air Force Major General Alexus Grynkewich, who visited the troops at Ain al-Asad air base a few days after the attack, said the days and weeks immediately following the attack were to know the severity of injury suffered by those who have been evacuated to Germany and Kuwait.

Traumatic brain injury, or TBI, has been an increasing cause of concern in the military since the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan began, with the Department of Defense reporting more than 375,000 incidents between 2000 and 2018, according to a National Academy of Sciences report released last year.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the effects of a TBI can vary significantly depending on the severity - ranging from short-term symptoms to life-long debilitating impacts on cognitive and motor function and behavior, including significant changes in thinking and behavior, depression, anxiety and aggression.

In 2014 alone, TBIs resulted in approximately 288,000 hospitalizations and were related to nearly 57,000 deaths.

'Each year, TBI causes a substantial number of deaths and leads to life-long disability for many Americans. In fact, TBIs contribute to about 30 percent of all injury deaths in the United States,' the CDC reported.

It added that, 'The consequences of severe TBI can affect all aspects of an individual's life, including relationships with family and friends, the ability to progress at school or work, doing household tasks, driving, or participating in other daily activities.'

US Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said in a statement last month that given the nature of the reported injuries, 'it is possible additional injuries may be identified in the future.'

Trump told reporters he was informed of the concussion issue 'numerous days' after the attack.
[February 10, 2020] Internet Services Market Procurement Intelligence Report | TCO Analysis Is Imperative for Buyers to Limit Frequent IT Hardware and Network Equipment Costs | SpendEdge

SpendEdge has been monitoring the global Internet services market and the market is poised to experience spend growth of over USD 200 billion between 2019-2024 at a CAGR of more than 7% during the forecast period. Request Free Sample Pages. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200210005350/en/ Read the 136-page research report with TOC and LOE on "The Global Internet 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." The advent and the eventual popularity of BYOD devices are creating the requirement for a unified communication platform within buyers' organizations which is making the utilization of high-speed Internet service a bare necessity. The proliferation of smartphone users coupled with the expansion of the mobile network area coverage is increasing the demand for mobile Internet services across the globe. These factors are exerting a cumulative impact on the spend growth in the Internet 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. Insights into the supply market The concentration of regional Internet service providers is restraining their global counterparts to hike prices of Internet services. Most of the global Internet service providers are reducing their service charges to remain competitive in the market and retain/attract clientele to leverage from bulk business volumes.





In trms of innovation, Internet service providers in North America and Europe are dominating the market. The deployment of SD-WAN solutions for network virtualization to meet the high data requirements of buyers is an upcoming trend in these regions. Buyers are also increasingly implementing end-to-end IP wireless networks through the use of 4G technology such as LTE (News - Alert) and WiMax networks to simplify the architectural challenges associated with enterprise mobility services.



Insights into category management strategies that will help buyers to optimize their procurement spend Internet service providers will tackle recurring expenditure to implement networking hardware and on energy to power Internet connectivity to cater to the demand for high-speed Internet connectivity. To compensate for this expense, service providers are likely to increase their service charges which will impact buyers' procurement expenditure in the Internet services market. Considering this possibility, this report has listed category management strategies and procurement best practices that will not only aid buyers in achieving an optimal procurement spend but also improve their supplier management relationship.

Partner with service providers who provide a pay-as-you-grow engagement model Buyers should evaluate options to engage with service providers through the pay-as-you-grow model. Within this model, buyers only need to pay based on their usage rate per individual months. Furthermore, such an engagement model brings about an opportunity to reduce pricing based on scalability. Analyze service offerings to avoid vendor lock-ins Factors such as poor service quality, high costs, changes in IT policies, security concerns, the introduction of better service by a different supplier, and M&A situations compel buyers to switch to different service providers. However, the cost of switching can often be expensive and can get further exacerbated by instances of vendor lock-in. Therefore, buyers must scrutinize the offerings of the service providers for possibilities of vendor lock-in and demand client testimonials to assess such possibilities. 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 Internet Services market. Some of the key topics covered in this report are: Internet services market spend segmentation by region

Total cost of ownership analysis in the Internet services market

Regional spend opportunity for Internet service providers

Internet service providers cost structure

Internet services pricing models analysis

Internet services procurement best practices

Category management objectives

Cost saving opportunities in the Internet services market Free sample of reports that you may like: Global Network Management Services Market - Procurement Intelligence Report

Global Enterprise Router Market - Procurement Intelligence Report About SpendEdge: SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions. To know more, https://www.spendedge.com/request-free-proposal View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200210005350/en/

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She has undergone an incredible transformation over the past few months after hitting the gym hard with her personal trainer.

And Rebel Wilson stunned fans as she showed off her impressive weight loss at the Oscars on Sunday night.

The Pitch Perfect star, 39, turned heads on the red carpet in a dazzling cleavage-baring gold sequined gown.

Golden girl! Rebel Wilson showed off her incredible weight loss in a cleavage-baring sparkling sequined gown at the Oscars in Hollywood on Sunday night

The actress accessorised with a gold choker necklace and gold heels, and had her hair coiffed in old Hollywood style waves, which were held back by an on-trend gold clip from Kitsch.

She also opted for classic makeup - black winged eyeliner and red lipstick.

Rebel has been working out with 'transformation trainer' Jono Castano in Sydney recently.

Stunning: The actress had her hair coiffed in old Hollywood style waves, which were held back by an on-trend gold clip from Kitsch

Hard work is paying off! Rebel has been working out with 'transformation trainer' Jono Castano in Sydney recently, and has shed several kilos. She is pictured on the left at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards, and right, on Sunday night

Last month, she shared a video of herself being put through her paces during a rigorous training session.

Standing in the middle of a darkened gym, Rebel was seen repeatedly whipping two thick black ropes onto the ground.

Golden girl: The actress accessorised with a gold choker necklace and gold heels

'Positive changes': On January 2, Rebel said she was focusing on her health this year, in an effort to make 'some positive changes'

On January 2, Rebel said she was focusing on her health this year, in an effort to make 'some positive changes'.

'Okay so for me 2020 is going to be called 'The Year of Health' - so I put on the athleisure and went out for a walk, deliberately hydrating on the couch right now and trying to avoid the sugar and junk food which is going to be hard after the holidays I've just had but I'm going to do it!' she wrote.

She added: 'Who's with me in making some positive changes this year?'

Old Hollywood glam: Rebel wore her golden locks in old Hollywood style waves and painted her pout with a classic shade of red lipstick

Cats clawed its way to the Oscars after all! Later in the evening, Rebel and co-star James Corden hit the stage dressed as their characters from the critically savaged adaptation of the Broadway musical
By Tong Kim





As a protracted stalemate is settling on nuclear negotiations, it's been quiet on the North Korean front  with no provocations. Pyongyang appears focused on its internal agenda. It is busy realigning its party apparatus, shuffling party cadres; and carrying out its self-reliance policy to breach the barriers of sanctions to economic development.







Washington speaks less ill of the socialist monarchy in Pyongyang for its nuclear policy or its abuses of human rights. But Trump's defense secretary still calls North Korea a rogue state, underscoring its threats. Trump made no mention of North Korea in his State of the Union address on Feb. 4, unlike the two previous occasions in Congress. Perhaps, he had nothing good to say about the North Korean nuclear situation.







Trump sounded like he was delivering a campaign stump, bragging about his performance on domestic issues. He did not delve into foreign policy, except for making a passing reference to his flexible stance on Iran and his demand for U.S. allies to increase their share of incurred burdens.







In Seoul, the Moon government has been struggling to get out of the box in which it is totally shunned by the North. Moon is trying hard to revive inter-Korean dialogue. The North has been disappointed at the failure of the South to deliver economic assistance that it promised through three inter-Korean summits. It has blamed the South for yielding to U.S. interference in inter-Korean projects.







Seoul's recent proposal for individual tourism to North Korea, which is not banned by U.N. sanctions, would not pay much to the North, as compared to the reopening of group tours to Mount Geumgang or the joint industrial complex in Gaeseong or linking railways to the North. All three of these projects are not doable under the U.N. sanctions.







In the midst of the deadlocks on nuclear talks and inter-Korean engagement, the novel coronavirus epidemic has emerged as the most acute focus of attention in Seoul and many other major cities of the world. Pyongyang is no exception. It has assigned the task of preventing the spread of the new coronavirus to its Central Emergency Anti-epidemic Headquarters.







The reclusive government has shut down its borders with China, while it has not yet reported any cases of the new coronavirus. The border closing is likely to affect the black-market economy in the North, an important part of the lifeline for the people who depend heavily on goods smuggled in from China.







Even under these circumstances, the North Koreans will watch South Korea's parliamentary elections in April and the U.S. presidential election in November. They certainly would want to see a victory by Moon's party, and probably would favor Trump's re-election.







In Seoul, a preliminary contest for the next presidential election  that will take place more than two years from now  will be held between two former prime ministers: Lee Nak-yon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and Hwang Kyo-ahn of the Liberty Korea Party. The two will compete in the Jongno District of Seoul, a symbolic venue representing Korean politics.







In Washington, Trump just got off the Senate impeachment trial with an acquittal, which left behind a sharp political division between the Democratic and Republican parties and their respective supporters. Questions still remain with respect to the facts of charges and interpretation of the Constitution. The justifications for acquittal included an argument that, even if the charges were true, they did not rise to an impeachable level. Now, for all practical purposes, American voters will be the final jurors to deliver a verdict on Trump in November.







Pyongyang discards democracy as a divisive and unproductive system. It does not want an opposition party or a system of checks and balances that will challenge and restrict the power of their absolute leader. The North Korean elite think their system is more stable politically. They don't think of their system as the culprit for their failing economy or the cause of hardships for the people.







In the meantime, the North Korean military is watching how this year's U.S.-South Korea joint exercises will be conducted. Every annual allied drill has put the KPA forces on alert, forcing them to squeeze fuel and other scarce resources to run counter combat maneuvers, placing a great burden on them. In addition to the routine training and exercises, they participate in national construction projects.







Many are expecting that next month's joint allied exercises will be of the same scale but over a shorter period than those of last year. If this is the case, it will be unlikely for the North to launch a major provocation. It may prefer a quiet standoff for the time being.



) is a visiting professor with the University of North Korean Studies, a visiting scholar with Korea University, a fellow at the Institute of Corean-American Studies, and a columnist for The Korea Times.



Tong Kim ( tong.kim8@yahoo.com
Three people, who were attempting to sell MMDA, a psychedelic drug, have been arrested, police said on Monday.

The arrested are Muhammed Sharif Siddique (40) from Chokkabettu in Suratkal, Muhammed Shafi (33) and Muhammed Anas (27) from Katipalla in Dakshina Kannada district, they said.

Besides the illegal drug worth Rs 87,650, mobile phones and the BMW car in which they were travelling were seized.

The total value of the seized items is Rs 51.1 lakh, according to police.

The three were arrested when they were travelling to the city on the National Highway from Udupi on Sunday.

The drugs were being illegally transported from Mumbai and they were trying to sell the drug here, police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Socrates Complaint About the New Technology of Writing

This discord of words

left in our heads by dead mentheir

twisted syllablesthis braid is

coming loose again. Those yet-unborn will be

the guardians of our thoughts.

They will be the hearers of many.

They will have learned nothing.

***

Now what we had by heart

no longer belongs to us.

The things we find (blossoms unfurling beside

the road) we catalogue and collectively

keep.

We write them down as a memorial.

***

Though there are times

when we see into the blankness

beyond this world to Olympusthat rush of light

when we try to write it, the vision

becomes a few chords cradled on a mountain wind.

And if you who are yet to live

ask us what it is weve seenif you reach for meeven

in a dreamyou will wake to your own worlds

empty wind and the silence

that comes after speech.

by Amanda Beth Peery
The federal government through the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO), says a total of 5,433,394 Nigerians are...





The federal government through the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO), says a total of 5,433,394 Nigerians are now on the conditional cash transfer programme.





According to an infographic shared on its Twitter page , the beneficiaries are drawn from 1,080,240 households across 32 states.





This was as of January 31, 2020.

Also, the office said it has captured 9,458,160 individuals on the national social register of poor and vulnerable households.





This, it said, is across 43,258 communities in 35 states.





NASSCO said the national social register would be used to support outreach, registration and determination of potential eligibility for one or more social programs for poor & vulnerable Nigerians.





In 2017, the federal government had said it would register about five million Nigerians in the national social register for the poor and vulnerable households.





These vulnerable people, President Muhammadu Buhari said, would be enrolled on government intervention programmes that would be tailored for their needs.





The programmes are being financed partly by the $32o million Sanni Abacha loot repatriated by the government of Switzerland.





The Global Forum on Asset Recovery (GFAR) saw the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Nigeria and the government of Switzerland for the return of an additional $320m of the Sani Abacha loot, the president said at the time.





Included in that agreement is the commitment that the funds would be invested in one of Nigerias flagship social investment programmes, the conditional h Transfer scheme targeted at the poorest and most vulnerable households in our country.




The parliamentary elections (Milli Majlis) of Azerbaijan are very well organized, head of the Department of Philosophy and Education of the Philosophical Faculty of Moscow State University, Elena Bryzgalina, who arrived in Baku as an observer, said in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza.

"I love Azerbaijan and appreciate efforts that the country is making to develop education. Today, as an observer, I believe that the conditions created in the parliamentary elections of Azerbaijan are great. I would like to highlight good level of organization. The commissions work transparently. Weather is pretty cold today, but I hope that it will not stop people from coming to the polls and cast their ballots for the candidates they have chosen," she said.

Elections to the Azerbaijani parliament of the sixth convocation kicked off Feb.9. Around 883 international and 77,790 local observers will observe the voting process. Of the local observers, 35,152 are representatives of political parties. International observers represent 58 countries and 59 organizations.
MANCHESTER, N.H.  It's not just the chaos in Iowa or the newly bitter tone of the campaign in New Hampshire that's to blame for the angst gripping the Democratic Party in recent days.

It's the realization that the primary on Tuesday may do nothing to resolve the discord.

Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, two centrists who are newly mauling each other, will move on to Nevada and South Carolina. So will Bernie Sanders, the frontrunner in New Hampshire, and Elizabeth Warren. Following the Iowa caucuses, Amy Klobuchar sent staffers to New Hampshire and Nevada.

The billionaires aren't going anywhere, either: Michael Bloomberg will confront all of those candidates on Super Tuesday, and Tom Steyer is polling well enough in South Carolina to disrupt the race there.

Its straight out of House of Cards or Veep, just the level of uncertainty [in] contest after contest if we dont have a verdict, said Jay Surdukowski, a New Hampshire-based attorney and Democratic activist who co-chaired Martin OMalleys 2016 presidential campaign in the state. It could be a jump ball for months.

Traditionally, Iowa and New Hampshire have culled unwieldy Democratic fields. This year, they are only adding to the muddle. And as the candidates swept across the icy roads of New Hampshire, Democrats began to settle in for a slog.

Everybodys in it as long as they can hang, said state Sen. Lou DAllesandro, a Biden supporter and an influential figure in New Hampshires primary politics. He called the possibility of a contested convention more likely than it had been only several weeks ago.

Even Ray Buckley, chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, suggested a winnowing of candidates here is unlikely. While fielding questions about a possible recount in New Hampshire if the election Tuesday is close, Buckley said at a Bloomberg News event that after the Iowa caucus debacle, more party officials from around the country are preparing to travel to Nevada, South Carolina and other later states to help with their elections and caucuses.

Story continues

The primary is now in a state of mumbo-jumbo, said Robert Wolf, a venture capitalist and influential Democratic donor who raised money for and advised former President Barack Obama.

"This wasnt a great week for the party, Wolf said, adding that he fears the effects of a non-consolidated primary could linger.

I think people have been misjudging the impact, Wolf said. When you narrow the field, things happen. All of the moneys going to a few candidates, the donor and grassroots excitement is going to a few candidates. From my perspective, thats not showing to be true as we could have a field of eight into Super Tuesday.

The uneasiness surrounding the nominating contest has been exacerbated by a sharpening of the campaigns edges in New Hampshire.

Over the weekend, Biden, hobbled coming out of Iowa, ripped into Buttigieg. This guys not Barack Obama, the former vice president declared. He also released an ad mocking the gravity of Buttigieg's experience in South Bend, Ind., such as installing decorative lights under bridges and licensing regulations for pet chip scanners  the kind of local government experience that Buttigieg has said politicians should not discount.

Buttigieg responded by portraying Biden as a creature of Washington. Steyer, meanwhile, aired ads attacking them both, Biden as an insider and Buttigieg as an untested newcomer.

Steyer, whose strong polling in South Carolina has startled many Democrats, on Friday challenged Biden to disavow remarks by a surrogate who suggested Steyer bought the support of the chair of South Carolinas Legislative Black Caucus. He has not ruled out spending money on ads criticizing Bidens record on race in an attempt to soften Bidens overwhelming support among black voters.

The antagonism has begun to erode the persuasiveness of Democrats campaign-long calls for unity ahead of a general election against Donald Trump. And the disorder in the primary was accentuated by its contrast with one of the Republican presidents best weeks.

Trump thrilled Republicans with his State of the Union theatrics, was acquitted in the impeachment trial and posted a highest-ever 49 percent approval rating in the latest Gallup survey. Trump will once again insert himself into the primary campaign on Monday, when he hosts a rally in Manchester after staging a similar event in Iowa ahead of the caucuses.

This week didnt feel good. Theres no doubt about that. It didnt feel good from an our party standpoint, said Amanda Renteria, national political director of Hillary Clintons 2016 campaign.

I think Iowa just spooked people again, not about any one candidate, but spooked them about the process in general," she said.

If New Hampshire offers any clarity to the primary, it is likely to come only as a matter of degree.

Many moderate Democrats are closely watching Warrens performance in New Hampshire, fearful that if the progressive senator falls too far behind after a third-place showing in Iowa, her supporters may eventually rally to Sanders, strengthening his candidacy.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., greets members of the audience after speaking at a campaign stop at the Hanover Inn Dartmouth, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, in Hanover, N.H. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

If its Sanders against the field, its a problem, said Matt Bennett, a veteran of the 2004 presidential campaign and co-founder of the center-left group Third Way.

The durability of multiple moderate candidates could be problematic for moderates, as well.

Buttigieg performed well in Iowa and is surging in New Hampshire, but he has no demonstrated support among voters of color in the two states that come next, Nevada and South Carolina.

And in New Hampshire, Biden has emerged as the inverse case to Buttigieg. He all but wrote off the state during Friday's debate. But his demise, if it comes soon, likely won't arrive until South Carolina, where he remains ahead.

Even if Biden finishes fourth in New Hampshire, said Sean Lewis, vice chairman of the local Democratic Party in Salem, he has super PAC money behind him, he has a lot of supporters who are still making the case that theyre going to bank on South Carolina, theyre going to bank on Super Tuesday.

It defies traditional logic, said Lewis, a Sanders supporter. But nothing about this primary has been traditional  Everythings just fractured.
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Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez on Sunday denounced a "terrorist attack" on a warehouse in the northern state of Carabobo belonging to two state-owned communications companies.

"A terrorist attack caused a fire in the CANTV and Movilnet Flor Amarillo Warehouse, resulting in the total loss of strategic telecommunications material," Rodriguez said through her Twitter account.

The fire occurred near midnight in the Flor Amarillo area of Valencia, where the warehouse of CANTV, the national telephone company of Venezuela, and Movilnet, the state-owned mobile communications company, was located.

Rodriguez added that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had called for "the immediate restitution of the indispensable material and the capture of those responsible."

The vice president attributed the act to "opposition extremists" under direction from the United States.

CANTV denounced the attack through its Twitter account, saying that it was a crime against services provided for the Venezuelan people.
About this Seminar

Russia, as an international political actor is interested in acquiring and maintaining its great power status in the international system. Its efforts are two-fold: 1) To divide its self-identified adversary, the West, starting from Europe and its areas of interest, thus weakening western prominence and influence in the international system; and 2) to complement this division by finding strategic partners/allies globally. Even though these actions may eventually result in strategic overstretch, Russia has certainly gained prominence on the international stage with the partially successful combination of the two.

It is essential to present and assess clearly the reality of Russias actions backing its aspirations, grouped around a number of topics and complemented by seminars that interactively deepen the analysis, and complement it in regional contexts.

The objectives of this seminar are to:
It should be obvious by now, even for the semi-attentive, that USG elections are fixed. This arrangement failed stupendously in 2016 and the establishment has spent the last three years trying to unseat an elected president they revile and want to be removed from office, even if the interloper must be assassinated. Now that the dysfunctional efforts by Democrats to remove Trump by way of impeachment have failed, the president may indeed have an unfortunate accident or be offed by a lone wolf patsy if it looks like he will be reelected.

The establishment desperately needs to insert one of its own into the White House. The Iowa Caucus, despite its hilarious malfunction blamed on a smartphone app, hoisted Mayor Pete Buttigieg to the top of the heap, although we know many ground-level Democrats prefer the socialist Bernie Sanders.

As The Grayzone documents, Mayor Pete appears to be a CIA asset. He worked with the agency in Afghanistan and the national security folks endorse his campaign.

The spook's choice: Coup plotters and CIA agents fill Mayor Pete's list of national security endorsers@Cancel_Sam looks at Buttigieg's new roster of endorsements from high-ranking spies, regime-change architects, and global financiershttps://t.co/RBQTnDKu7g  The Grayzone (@TheGrayzoneNews) December 30, 2019

In addition to assisting the illegal occupation and murder of tens of thousands in Afghanistan, CIA Pete teamed up with the DEA, the federal agency responsible for untold misery and murder in its failed war on (some) drugs.

There DEA has not stopped the record flow of heroin produced from Afghan opium into the United States. During the bankster engineered subprime crisis, illegal drugs floated the banks. This was pointed out by none other than Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, more than a decade ago.

If you ever ever had the feeling Buttigieg was the CIA's candidate, your instincts were right on the money. Military who "work with" the CIA are often CIA in military clothing and when they're working on the drug side of things, you can bet 99.9% CIAhttps://t.co/IRkEOA67Ku  Ken McCarthy (@KenMcCarthy) February 9, 2020

In 2004, the proceeds of the Afghan heroin trade yielded an estimated global revenue of the order of 90 billion dollars. This estimate was based on retail sales corresponding to a total supply of the order of 340,000 kg of pure heroin (corresponding to Afghanistans 3400 tons of opium production). Michel Chossudovsky wrote in 2005.

The Talibancreated whole fabric by Pakistani and USG intelligenceis routinely blamed by the propaganda media as the source of the worlds illicit heroin supply. Left out of this wild distortion of reality is the fact the Taliban worked with the United Nations to eradicate the cultivation of opium. The Bush neocon invasion reversed this trend.

The Afghan governments drug eradication program was repealed. The 2001 war on Afghanistan served to restore as well as boost the multibillion dollar drug trade. It has also contributed to the surge in heroin addiction in the US. Opium production had declined by more than 90 per cent in 2001 as a result of the Taliban governments drug eradication program. Immediately following the invasion (October 7, 2001) and the occupation of Afghanistan by US-NATO troops, the production of opium regained its historical levels.

Mayor CIA, if the following tweet can be believed, has an interest in Afghanistans wealth of natural resources, the sort of minerals the neoliberals are addicted to stealing, never mind the staggering cost in human life.

Pete Definitely-Not-A-CIA-Agent Buttigieg has in his living room a huge map of the natural resources and minerals in Afghanistan, a country he helped militarily occupy (which has trillions of dollars worth of minerals, by the way) Extremely normal thing to have in your house https://t.co/0ScyPk8ti6  Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) February 6, 2020

I have long argued the CIA is by far the most subversive force at work in the USG and around the world. It has performed as a hitman and violent regime change facilitator for the national security state beginning with the presidency of Harry Truman. It captured the major news media in the 1950sthe Mighty Wurlitzer of propagandaand influences Hollywood media productions and video games, thus thoroughly brainwashing the public with lies and disinformation (nobody beats the CIA at fake news).

The CIA vets governors and other politicians. This was substantiated by the former governor of Minnesota, Jesse Ventura, who was visited by CIA spooks shortly after taking office. On occasion CIA officers meet with senior state government officials, as they did in this case, to discuss issues of mutual interest, admitted CIA Spokesman George Little in 2008.

More accurately, no doubt, such visitsin this case by nearly two dozen agentsare designed to scare the hell out popularly elected politicians not vetted by the elite.

Mayor Pete the former CIA operative is a near-perfect candidate (although I am betting the full weight of DNC will fall behind the control freak billionaire Michael Bloomberg or a late entry Hillary Clinton). Pete is said to be a homosexual. He fully endorses the identity politics agenda, and he has stated repeatedly he will steal the firearms of law-abiding Americans, although he cannot beat Bloomberg on this count (former Mayor Mike also wants to dictate what you can eat and drink).

The CIA, of course, is not liberal, or conservative for that matter. It covertly supports whatever political ideology it believes will effectively bamboozle politically naive Americans. Identity politics fits the ticket.

Philip II of Macedon and later Niccolo Machiavelli understood the most effective way to undercut the threat posed by political opposition is divide and rule (divide et impera). This is precisely what we are now enduringa wholly artificial war between statist factions that is rending the political and social fabric of America and distracting it from real issues.

The national security state and its master of subversion, lies, and murder must recapture the White House and Congresssweeping away the unacceptable on both the right and leftand although Mayor CIA probably will not be nominated, a similar person will be selected and appointed. Bernie Sanders will be cheated out of the nomination for a second time and Elizabeth Warrens promise to address crony corporate influence in government will be paved over with the insipidity of identity politics that completely ignores the locus of our rapidly approaching serfdomthe financial elite.

Meanwhile, the wars, wholesale theft of natural resources, and mass murder will continue.
Exit Polls Show Aliyev's Ruling Party Strengthens Majority In Parliamentary Elections

By RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service February 09, 2020

BAKU -- An exit poll in Azerbaijan's February 9 parliamentary elections suggests President Ilham Aliyev's ruling New Azerbaijan Party (YAP) has increased its share by four seats in the single-chamber legislature and only one opposition candidate has won a seat.

The exit poll conducted by the U.S.-based firm Arthur J. Finkelstein & Associates suggests the ruling YAP won a total of 69 seats in the 125-seat parliament. The YAP had 65 seats in the outgoing parliament, the Milli Majlis.

The exit poll also suggests that Azerbaijan's nominally independent candidates, most of whom support the policies of the ruling YAP, won 41 seats in the elections.

According to the exit poll, the only opposition candidate expected to make it into the next parliament is Erkin Gadirli of the Republican Alternative Civic Movement (REAL).

Polls closed across Azerbaijan at 7 p.m. (local time; 4 p.m. Prague time) in a snap election that was called by Aliyev in December. The ballot was boycotted by some opposition parties in protest over limitations on access to media and the right to peaceably assemble.

Azerbaijan's Central Election Commission (CEC) said turnout was 44.84 percent of eligible voters at 5 p.m. local time when two hours of voting remained.

Irregularities reported in the early hours of voting included multiple voting, interrupted video feeds at polling stations, and hindrance or abuse of independent observers.

Some opposition parties are not participating in the elections over continued lack of access to fair coverage among government-dominated media. Critics have cast serious doubt on hopes of genuine reforms that might strengthen the country's long-beleaguered opposition.

Instead, they say, Aliyev and his allies are seeking a way to ensure a line of succession that began with Aliyev's father, a Soviet-era KGB leader and Politburo member who passed the presidency to his son shortly before his death nearly two decades ago.

The February 9 elections originally were scheduled for November 2020 until they were moved forward by nine months in December, when Aliyev signed a decree to dissolve the existing parliament.

Aliyev's YAP said the composition of the legislature needed to be changed in order to carry out Aliyev's "reform" program. His reform plan follows several high-profile changes in the government and his administration near the end of last year that included the appointment of 62-year-old economist Ali Asadov as prime minister.

Critics say the party's hope for a change in the composition of parliament suggests Aliyev's party may be trying to clear the way for Aliyev's wife, First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva, to take over the presidency at a later date.

In fact, parliamentary powers are limited in Azerbaijan. Most political power in the Caucasus nation is concentrated in the hands of the presidency.

The post of prime minister in Azerbaijan has long been held by a close ally of Aliyev, who took over the presidency in 2003 after his father ruled the country the previous 10 years.

Aliyev -- who was reelected in 2008, 2013, and 2018 -- was able to consolidate his power through a 2009 referendum that abolished the country's two-term presidential limit and a 2016 referendum that lengthened presidential terms to seven years.

According to the CEC, some 5.3 million voters are eligible to cast ballots on February 9.

Initial official results are expected to be announced in the early morning hours of February 10.

Minor complaints were already trickling in within hours of the opening of polling stations.

Some independent observers said they saw instances of carousel voting -- when people visit multiple polling stations -- and people casting multiple ballots at once.

One candidate reported seeing an ambulance ferrying voters to multiple polling stations.

One election monitor working for a candidate said he was beaten and thrown out out of a polling station he was attempting to observe.

Other election monitors said they were being prevented from entering polling stations or were ordered to remain in certain locations. The Institute for Democratic Initiatives shared several videos of people interfering with observers seeking to record at polling stations.

Cameras were being blocked at some of the 1,000 or so voting locations with live video feeds.

One candidate, activist and blogger Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, told RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service that he was initially prevented from voting at a Baku polling station and was told he hadn't registered properly. But an election official later said access to the polling station was being limited ahead of President Aliyev's arrival there to vote.

Apparent power outages meanwhile cut the lights for more than half an hour at some polling stations in Suraxani and Hovsan, northeast of the capital.

Election observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have noted that the number of registered voters in more than half of the 125 constituencies deviated by more than what the Election Code allows.

"A difference of approximately 2 million persists between the number of registered voters as per CEC data and the number of citizens of voting age according to the State Statistics Committee," the OSCE Election Observation Mission (ODIHR) said in a January 29 preelection report from Baku.

Voters who had not yet registered were allowed to do so on election day if they provided proof of residency in Azerbaijan.

Election officials registered 1,637 candidates who had applied by the January 10 deadline.

A total of 19 political parties fielded 272 of the candidates. They included 123 candidates from the ruling YAP, followed by 25 from the opposition Musavat party, and 21 from the opposition Party of Hope (UMID).

A total of 81 lawmakers, about two-thirds of the outgoing parliament, were seeking reelection.

Istanbul-based Azerbaijani political commentator and contributor to RFE/RL Arzu Geybullayeva said the elections would be different from previous parliamentary votes because of the emergence of new "genuine candidates" who were running as independents or who had joined forces under a new political bloc called Movement.

Movement, which was formed in December after the early elections were announced, brings together human rights activists, rights lawyers, election observes, bloggers, feminists, youth activists, and politicians.

Since the registration of candidates was completed on January 17, more than 300 official candidates withdrew from the ballot -- leaving a total of about 1,300 candidates seeking one of parliament's 125 seats.

The 22-day official election campaign period began on January 17. Azerbaijan's Election Code requires campaigning to end a day before the vote.

Poor Democratic Record

Since Azerbaijan declared independence from the Soviet Union in August 1991, its elections have repeatedly been deemed as falling short of democratic standards by international observers from the OSCE and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

OSCE observers say Azerbaijan conducts its elections "within a restrictive environment and under laws that curtail fundamental rights and freedoms."

Independent media also have been stifled economically or closed by force, as was the case with the Baku bureau of RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service in December 2014.

The Paris-based media rights group Reporters Without Borders says Aliyev has waged "a relentless war" against his media critics, with journalists and bloggers being "jailed on absurd grounds if they do not first yield to harassment, beatings, blackmail, or bribes."

The opposition Azerbaijani Popular Front (PFPA) and its allies in the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) are boycotting the February 9 ballot to protest what they say are unfair limitations on access to media and freedom of assembly.

PFPA Deputy Chairman Seymur Hazi told RFE/RL that voters in Azerbaijan have, for years, been denied the opportunity to see the platforms of different candidates and parties debated on television.

"We cannot speak about transparency and results coming from competition in the elections," Hazi told RFE/RL.

The REAL movement decided not to boycott the election, despite the refusal of election officials to register REAL leader Natiq Jafarli as a candidate on grounds that he was charged in 2016 for alleged illegal business practices.

The refusal of the CEC to register Jafarli came despite the fact that prosecutors in Baku dropped the criminal charges against Jafarli in 2017 before a verdict was reached in his trial, and the European Court of Human Rights last November ruled that the charges against him were politically motivated.

"A boycott is unlikely to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the elections," Jafarli says. "The authorities don't want people to go to the polls so that they can comfortably falsify the results. Therefore, we need to massively attract people to the elections."

But OSCE observers say most media in Azerbaijan have avoided covering the candidates, parties, and political issues during the official campaign period to avoid being accused of violating a stifling "equal coverage" rule in the Election Code.

Aliyev has rejected such criticism from international observers. He insists his government has taken all necessary measures to ensure fair and transparent parliamentary elections that comply with Azerbaijan's laws and international standards.

Aliyev also has accused the Council of Europe of "targeting Azerbaijan for 20 years" with "double standards and injustice."

"They depict Azerbaijan as a backward country, ignore positive processes in Azerbaijan, try to blacken Azerbaijan's reputation, and publish baseless and falsified reports that allege Azerbaijan has political prisoners and hinders democratic processes," Aliyev said.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/azerbaijan-vote-millimajlis -aliyev-parliament/30424655.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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Kazakhs Start Returning Home From Kyrgyzstan After Weekend Ethnic Violence

By RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service February 10, 2020

More than 1,000 Kazakh nationals have crossed from Kyrgyzstan into neighboring Kazakhstan on February 9, following reports of inter-ethnic clashes that erupted two days earlier in a cluster of five villages of Kazakhstan from which many fled and entered the next-door country.

Kyrgyz officials told RFE/RL that after the ethnic violence erupted between Kazakhs and Dungans, a Muslim group of Chinese origin, in which 10 people died, border guards recorded approximately 4,500 entries from Kazakhstan.

RFE/RL couldn't verify how many Kazakhs returning to their country had initially crossed into Kyrgyzstan as a result of the violence.

Thirty-four Kazakhs were accepted into Kyrgyz hospitals on February 8-9, with 13 still receiving treatment. An additional five Kazakhs remained under medical and psychological observation and were reported to be in stable condition.

Another 39 were reported still hospitalized in Kazakhstan as of February 9, including three officials who sustained gunshot wounds.

Clashes started on February 7 in the Zhambyl region, located about 130 kilometers west of Kazakhstan's commercial capital, Almaty, and prompted authorities in the district of Korday to declare a state of emergency.

Villagers reportedly attacked each other in groups, and bands of men torched homes, overturned cars, and sent hundreds of people fleeing into nearby Kyrgyzstan.

While visiting the affected district on February 9, Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Berdibek Saparbayev promised residents of the villages that their damaged homes would be rebuilt.

"We ask you not to give in to provocation. All the houses that were destroyed, we will restore them, we will help families," Saparbayev said. "Our experts are working to assess the damage. Once again, we appeal to everyone, tell your relatives who have left, who are now in Kyrgyzstan with their relatives -- they must return."

Kazakhstan's deputy health minister, Kamalzhan Nadyrov, paid a visit to Kyrgyzstan on February 9 to attend to the injured in two hospitals, including one in the capital of Bishkek, after which eight hospitalized Kazakhs were transported to Almaty.

Most of the Kazakhs who entered the neighboring Central Asian country were women, children, and seniors, Kyrgyzstan's border guard service said.

Residents in the neighboring Kyrgyz villages reportedly greeted the fleeing Kazakhs with hot meals and offered shelter.

In an unscheduled televised appearance, President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev said he had ordered security agencies to prosecute those spreading hate speech and "provocative rumors and disinformation."

Kazakh law enforcement deployed riot police to the area on February 8, hours after the initial fighting.

By February 9, authorities said they believed around 300 people had taken part in the mob violence and they had already launched criminal cases, including for suspected murder.

RFE/RL correspondents reported long lines of police, holding riot shields and truncheons, along roads in the region.

On February 8, groups of mainly ethnic Dungans could be seen lining up along the Kyrgyz side of the border, while on the other side of the border, Dungan people handed out food and offered medical assistance to those coming across.

Footage circulating on social media late on February 7 showed young men, some armed with clubs, marching along the road of a village in the area with buildings on fire. Many of the videos could not be independently verified.

At a news conference in the Kazakh capital, Nur-Sultan, Interior Minister Erlan Turghymbaev said 30 homes, 15 shops, and 20 cars had been damaged in Masanchi, and other villages in the region.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kazakhs-start- returning-home-from-kyrgyzstan-after-weekend- ethnic-violence/30425913.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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Piers Morgan has been voted the publics most popular Secret Crush for the second year running, according to a new poll.

The Good Morning Britain anchor has pipped the likes of Prince Harry to the post, as well as man of the moment Phillip Schofield and fictitious stalker Joe Goldberg from Netflix thriller You.

Piers, 54, topped heat magazines annual survey, which is published each year in the lead-up to Valentines Day and celebrates an affection for 'men of all ages, shapes, sizes and aesthetics'.

Lolz: Piers Morgan has been voted the publics most popular Secret Crush for the second year running, according to a new poll

The Life Stories interviewer gathered more votes than the top five runners up combined.

His closest rival was Prince Harry, who shot on to the list in second place. Harry also beat his brother Prince William who only made it to number 22.

Psycho Joe - who is played by actor Penn Badgley - took the third spot, and four-times previous Secret Crush champion, EastEnders actor Jake Wood, jumped back up into fifth place.

Piers will perhaps be most pleased to have trounced his rival ITV hosts, This Mornings Phillip placing at 13, and Eamonn Holmes at 19.

Topping it off: The Good Morning Britain anchor has pipped the likes of man of the moment Phillip Schofield [L] and fictitious stalker Joe Goldberg [R] from Netflix thriller You to the post

On how thrilled he was to his runner-up being Prince Harry, Piers laughed: 'Oh Meghan you made such a mistake. That is really going to compound his hellish start to the year. 'Hes had to leave the country, and give up everything that he likes in life, and now hes lost out to me in Secret Crush'

Diverse: Those voting seem to have an eye for a bit of bloodshed - with Dracula star Claes Bang [L] in at four; 7ft glamazonian drag queen RuPaul [R] sashays in for the first time at 17

Phillip notably came out as gay on Friday's instalment of This Morning, with Piers congratulating him on Twitter, despite rumours of a feud between them swirling in previous weeks.

Piers will be equally satisfied that his longtime frenemy Lord Sugar could only manage to scrape onto the bottom of the list at 25.

Those voting seem to have an eye for a bit of bloodshed - with Dracula star Claes Bang in at four.

Bottom of the pile: Piers will be equally satisfied that his longtime frenemy Lord Sugar could only manage to scrape onto the bottom of the list at 25

Older gentlemen: [L-R] Eamonn Holmes and Boris Johnson made the list

Crooner: Ed Sheeran is on the list, strumming his way to number 20

TV Presenter duo: Ant and Dec both slide down this years list from 6th place to 24 and 3rd place to 10th respectively

Prime Minister Boris Johnson made his debut in sixth place, and Scottish Grammy Award winner Lewis Capaldi lands at number seven.

Elsewhere on the list, Greatest Hits Radio presenter Pat Sharp, famous for his iconic 80s mullet, is voted in at number 12, just behind rising star KISS Breakfast Show presenter Tom Green at 11.

Former winner Jeremy Clarkson remains the 16th Secret Crush, while 7ft glamazonian drag queen RuPaul sashays in for the first time at 17.

Crushing: Pat Sharp and Lin Manuel Miranda are also on the list

Quirky: Bake Off's Noel Fielding has found himself on the list at number 14

TV Presenter duo Ant and Dec both slide down this years list from 6th place to 24 and 3rd place to 10th respectively.

The Results: heats Secret Crush 2020 1. Piers Morgan 2. Prince Harry 3. Joe Goldberg 4. Claes Bang 5. Jake Wood 6. Boris Johnson 7. Lewis Capaldi 8. Greg Davies 9. Louis Theroux 10. Dec Donnelly 11. Tom Green 12. Pat Sharp 13. Phillip Schofield 14. Noel Fielding 15. Greg Shepherd 16. Jeremy Clarkson 17. RuPaul 18. Romesh Ranganathan 19. Eamonn Holmes 20. Ed Sheeran 21. Lee Mack 22. Prince William 23. Lin Manuel Miranda 24. Ant McPartlin 25. Alan Sugar Advertisement

Commenting on his second victory Piers said: 'It makes me feel insufferably smug, but I congratulate, as ever, heat magazines very discerning readership on working out where truly great aesthetic and character quality lies. I do feel like this could be the birth of a really long and extended reign.'

On what he thought his unique selling point was Piers added: 'Honestly, I think its because the entire country is now infested with weak snowflakes and women in particular are now getting drawn to what they see as the antidote to that.

'I stand up for common sense, I dont wear papooses, Im not a vegan, I dont think James Bond should be a woman or gender fluid. I think a lot of women  and Im not ruling out an extensive male vote too  but a lot of women see what used to be called a real man but you cant even use that phrase anymore because that offends people.'

On how thrilled he was to his runner-up being Prince Harry, he laughed: 'Oh Meghan you made such a mistake. That is really going to compound his hellish start to the year.

'Hes had to leave the country, and give up everything that he likes in life, and now hes lost out to me in Secret Crush. Meghans going to be sitting there going, Damn it, have I picked the wrong one?'

On where he will be keeping his two awards Piers revealed: 'Im keeping one in London but Im taking the other to Hollywood and Ill put it in the bar of my Beverly Hills home. It can go next to my Emmy which I won last year. To me its right up there with the Emmy.

'Lots of people win Emmys but very few people have won your Secret Crush award. Im humbled  which is not a state I normally find myself in  that heat magazine readers have once again given me this award, Im touched by the support, but I cant say Im surprised.'

heats Secret Crush is published in heat magazine on sale on Tuesday 11 February.
Sacred Native American burial sites within a national monument are being blown up to build President Trump's border wall, it has been claimed.

Construction crews in southern Arizona have started blasting hills at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument to clear space for the new border wall system.

Without consulting the Native American nation whose ancestral land sits on part of the wall's route, crews are bulldozing through Monument Hill to construct a 30-foot steel wall along the US-Mexico border, it is claimed.

'Controlled blasting' has been carried out for the construction of the wall which is part of a 43-mile project on national monument land about 115 miles west of Tucson, officials said.

A congressman whose district includes the reservation has said the Department of Homeland Security had 'failed in its legal obligation to consult with the tribes'.

Scroll down for video.

Trump's border wall under construction at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in southern Arizona. The 43-mile project goes through the national monument and tribal land

'Controlled blasting' has been carried out for the construction of the wall in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona which is part of a 43-mile project on national monument land about 115 miles west of Tucson

Saguaros cactus, killed within the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona by the border wall construction. Bulldozing through Monument Hill has been carried out to construct a 30-foot steel wall along the US-Mexico border

Tribal elders told Democratic Rep Raul Grijalva that bodies were buried on the hill after Apache raids, the Arizona Daily Star reported.

Grijalva, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, visited the location ahead of the construction and described the site in a video posted to social media. Monument Hill, where he said explosions are now occurring.

In a video posted on Sunday, Grijalva said: 'Where they were blasting the other day on Monument Hill is the resting place for primarily Apache warriors that had been involved in battle with the O'odham.

'And then the O'odham people in a respectful way laid them to rest on Monument Hill.

'DHS has consistently failed in its legal obligation to consult with the tribes, and this is only the latest example.'

He also sent a letter to the acting head of the Department of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, to express 'serious concerns' about the construction project.

Organ Pipe was designated as an International Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations and is part of the national parks system, officials said.

A congressman whose district includes the reservation (pictured) has said the Department of Homeland Security 'failed in its legal obligation to consult with the tribes' in the bulldozing through sacred land to build the border wall

'The construction contractor has begun controlled blasting, in preparation for new border wall system construction, within the Roosevelt Reservation at Monument Mountain,' Customs and Border Protection said.

'The controlled blasting is targeted and will continue intermittently for the rest of the month.'

Environmental advocates, elected officials and Tohono O'odham Nation leaders have raised concerns about the project, including the destruction of saguaros, the use of water from an underground aquifer, the potential impact on migrating animals and the destruction of land consider scared by some Native Americans.

The Army Corps of Engineers reported that the Department of Defense awarded $891 million in contracts to Southwest Valley Constructors in May to build the border wall on Organ Pipe and Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge.

The US government plans on replacing barriers through 100 miles of the southern border in California and Arizona, including through a national monument and a wildlife refuge, according to documents and environmental advocates.

President Donald Trump walking on the South Lawn of the White House after returning by Marine One, in Washington this week. He announced a $4.8trillion budget proposal yesterday that slashed spending on foreign aid and social safety nets but requested billions of dollars to complete the border wall

Barriers will go up at the monument, a vast park named after the unique cactus breed that decorates it, and Cabeza Prieta, which is largely a designed wilderness home to 275 wildlife species. The government will also build new roads and lighting in those areas.

The Department of Homeland Security last May again waived environmental and dozens of other laws to build more barriers along the US-Mexico border.

Funding will come from the Defense Department following the emergency declaration that President Trump signed this year after Congress refused to approve the amount of border wall funding that he wanted.

Environmental advocates who have sued to stop the construction of the wall say this latest plan will be detrimental to the wildlife and habitat in those areas.

Yesterday Trump announced a $4.8trillion budget proposal that slashed spending on foreign aid and social safety nets but requested billions of dollars to complete the border wall.

The budget plan will request $2billion to complete the controversial wall along the southern US border that Trump has demanded since his 2016 campaign to stop migrants from entering the country.
A delegation of the Odisha Assembly Committee will meet Railway Minister Piyush Goyal in New Delhi on Tuesday to seek more allocation for the development of the railway infrastructure in the state.

However, the BJP will not be part of the delegation as partys chief whip Mohan Majhi walked out of the committee meeting presided by Speaker S N Patro alleging insult by a senior officer.

The members from the ruling BJD and the opposition Congress will, however, be part of the delegation to meet the Railway Minister.

"A delegation of the Assembly Committee will meet Railway Minister Piyush Goyal at Rail Bhavan in New Delhi at 7 pm," said Patro, adding that the delegation will demand more allocation for the state.

The assembly committee meeting also expressed concern over reduced allocation for railway development in the state in the 2020-2021 budget. While the state got an allocation of Rs 5,993 crore in 2019-20 budget, it came down to Rs 4,373 crore in 2020-21 budget.

Earlier, the ruling BJD had termed the reduced allocation as "cause of concern." The Congress blamed both the BJD and BJP for reduced allocation in the railway sector.

The BJP chief whip said he walked out of the meeting as he felt insulted. "When I asked about the state governments failure in land acquisition for railway projects, a senior officer present at the meeting said that he is answerable to the Speaker only. Therefore, I walked out of the meeting as I felt insulted," Majhi told reporters.

Majhi said he would not be part of the delegation to be led by the Speaker to Delhi. "I will not visit New Delhi tomorrow as the House Committee did not pay attention to my questions," the BJP leader said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
"The technical aspects of generating a whole viral sequence from a patient is quite significant," Professor Dwyer said.

A team of 10 scientists and pathologists at NSW Health Pathology's laboratory at Westmead Hospital have been able to build two full genome sequences of the virus and isolated the virus from several patients.

The cultivation of the new coronavirus using samples from NSW patients has been described as a breakthrough.

It adds to the international pool of genetic sequences of the 2019-nCoV virus, which will help with the development of treatments and a vaccine, NSW Health Pathology's director of public health pathology Dominic Dwyer said.

"The advantage of having the 'genome isolate' as we call it is we can confirm that our tests are working well and we've already done that. We can also make a contribution in terms of understanding how the virus is changing around the world," he said.

Professor Dwyer said that, as well as aiding testing for the virus, having genome sequences would help vaccine manufacturers by giving them viruses they could use to test potential vaccines.

Their data has been added to the World Health Organisation's online database, which has 50 full genomes of the virus, including one from Melbourne. Researchers at the Doherty Institute there were the first outside China to grow the virus.

The death toll for the virus stands at 910, with all but two of those in mainland China. Worldwide, 40,514 people have been diagnosed with the virus. Fifteen people in Australia have been diagnosed with the virus and three of NSW's four patients have fully recovered. One 43-year-old man remains at Westmead Hospital.
Gold prices gained for the fourth successive day by Rs 72 to Rs 40,738 per 10 grams in Mumbai's bullion market on safe haven buying over coronavirus concerns as the death toll in China crossed over 900.

The rate of 10 grams, 22-carat gold in Mumbai was Rs 37,316 plus 3 percent GST, while that of 10 grams,24-carat gold was Rs 40,738 plus GST. The price of 18-carat gold quoted at Rs 30,554 plus GST in the retail market.

According to Navneet Damani, Vice President, Motilal Oswal, gold prices showed some sign of recovery on rising concerns over the new coronavirus, and its impact on global growth outweighed encouraging US economic data, which drove the metal prices higher. Until and unless no official sources are confirming any positive news on an antidote to the coronavirus, metal prices will keep getting support on the lower levels.

Source: Motilal Oswal

On data front, US non-farm payrolls reported positive. On other hand the unemployment numbers recorded higher than expectations, and thus hence supported the metal's prices.

A broader trend on the Comex could be $1,555-1,590, and on the domestic front, prices could hover in the range of Rs 40,250-Rs 40,800, said Damani.

The gold/silver ratio, which is the amount of silver required to buy one ounce of gold, currently stands at 88.12 to 1.

Silver prices dipped Rs 5 to Rs 46,225 per kg from its closing on February 7.

For All Commodities Related News - Click Here

In the futures market, gold rate touched an intraday high of Rs 40,710 and an intraday low of Rs 40,565 on MCX. For the April series, the yellow metal touched a low of Rs 37,530 and a high of Rs 41,567.

Gold futures for delivery in April slipped Rs 79, or 0.19 percent on the MCX trading at Rs 40,565 per 10 grams in evening trade in a business turnover of 17,075 lots. Gold contracts for June delivery eased Rs 23, or 0.06 percent, at Rs 40,767 per 10 grams in a business turnover of 5,717 lots.

The value of the April contracts that were traded so far is Rs 2,124.32 crore, and those of June contracts saw a value of Rs 52.99 crore.

Similarly, the price of Gold Mini contracts for March was down Rs 55, or 0.14 percent at Rs 40,508 in a business turnover of 8,562 lots.

Axis Securities advised its clients to sell gold contracts for April at Rs 40,670 with a stop loss at Rs 40,750, and a target of Rs 40,570.

MCX Gold has intraday support at Rs 40,480-40,300, whereas resistance is at Rs 40,760-40,880, according to Motilal Oswal.

The brokerage firm said spot gold has immedate support at $1,567-1,560 whereas resistance is at $1,580-1,587.

At 12:28 pm (GMT), spot gold was up $2.15 at $1,572.05 an ounce in London trading.
Public attitudes towards homosexuality during the Georgian era may have been more tolerant than thought, the 210-year-old diary of a Yorkshire farmer reveals.

Matthew Tomlinson, 45  of 'Dog House' farm  argued in an entry dated January 14, 1810 that homosexuality may be innate and should not be punishable by death.

The Christian man's diary revealed that he struggled to understand how a just God could countenance death for a 'natural' or inborn trait.

Mr Tomlinson penned the entry in response to reports that he had read of the execution of an accomplished naval surgeon for the then crime of sodomy.

Scroll down for video

Public attitudes towards homosexuality during the Georgian era may have been more tolerant than was previously thought, the 210-year-old diary of a Yorkshire farmer reveals

THE EXECUTION OF JAMES NEHEMIAH TAYLOR, SURGEON Matthew Tomlinson penned his diary entry in response to reports of the court martial and execution of naval surgeon James Nehemiah Taylor. Mr Taylor, 37, had admitted to performing sodomy  then a crime  with his young servant, Thomas Ashton, in his cabin aboard the HMS Jamaica on August 23, 1809. The act had been witnessed by three other members of the vessel's crew through a hole in the cabin's wall. He was subsequently hung to death from the Jamaica's yard arm on December 26, 1809. Mr Taylor is reported as saying that he 'did not look upon himself as a notorious sinner'. He is also recorded as saying that 'this crime is more general than you are aware of [...] in London, in France and in the Mediterranean he had seen the crime committed, and it was not considered a crime.' Accounts of the trial were published in both British and Irish newspapers, which stressed the draconian penalties meted out for homosexual behaviour. Until 1861, acts of sodomy were met with the death penalty. 'Contemporary media reporting on sodomy cases, often couched in the language of moral panic, both reflected and reinforced social stigma against same-sex intimacy,' Mr OKeeffe said. 'But Tomlinsons writings suggest that not all readers uncritically accepted the homophobic assumptions they encountered in the press.' Advertisement

Mr Tomlinson wrote: 'It appears a paradox to me, how men, who are men, shou'd possess such a passion; and more particularly so, if it is their nature from childhood (as I am informed it is)...'

'...if they feel such an inclination, and propensity, at that certain time of life when youth genders [i.e. develops] into manhood; it must then be considered as natural, otherwise, as a defect in nature  it seems cruel to punish that defect with death.'

Held in the collections of the Wakefield Library, Tomlinson's diary has been written about by researchers in the past  but this is the first time that this particular passage has been brought to attention.

Historian Eamonn O'Keeffe of the University of Oxford came across the passage in the course of his research into British military musicians during the Napoleonic Wars.

'As it turned out, the diaries had little to say about military music  Tomlinson was disdainful of patriotic pageantry,' Mr OKeeffe said.

'But his reflections on homosexuality, which I spotted by chance while paging through the journals, stood out to me as striking and unusual for the time.

'In this diary we see a Yorkshire farmer arguing that homosexuality is innate and something that should not be punished by death.

'While Tomlinson's writings reflect the opinions of only one man, his phrasing  "as I am informed it is"  implies that his comments were informed by the views of others.

'This exciting discovery complicates and enriches our understanding of Georgian attitudes towards sexuality'.

The announcement of the discovery coincides with the celebration of LGBT History month in the United Kingdom.

Mr OKeeffe noted that parallels exist between the reasoning lain out in the diary and modern debates over equality.

'[Tomlinson] anticipates some of the arguments that have been deployed so successfully in recent decades by proponents of LGBT equality and marriage rights to argue for greater acceptance and celebration of sexual diversity,' he said.

'The diary suggests that recognisably modern ideas about sexuality were in circulation in British society more widely and at an earlier date than is often believed.'

Matthew Tomlinson, 45  of Dog House farm  argued in his diary entry dated January 14, 1810 that homosexuality may be innate and should not be punishable by death

It should be noted, however, that Mr Tomlinson's reasoning also considered  less progressively  that homosexuality might be deserving of punishment were it instead a choice, or as he put it, the product of a 'corrupted inclination'.

He furthermore entertained the notion that sodomy's capital punishment might be replaced with castration  and stated in support of his reasoning the mistaken assumption homosexual behaviour was unknown among animals.

'Tomlinsons meditations thus prove ultimately inconclusive, but nonetheless provide rare and historically valuable insight into the efforts of an ordinary person of faith to grapple with questions of sexual ethics more than two centuries ago,' O'Keeffe said.

The Christian man's diary revealed he struggled to understand how a just God could countenance death for a 'natural'  or at the very least inborn  trait

The diary entry, Mr OKeeffe added, suggests 'that the revolutionary conception of same-sex attraction as a natural human tendency, discernible from adolescence, was mooted within the social circles of an ordinary Yorkshire farmer.'

Similar arguments have been recorded from around this period  although for the most part have been confined to the rarefied circles of 'thinkers' like the poet Lord Byron and the philosopher Jeremy Bentham.

Mr Bentham, for example, wrote in notes on an unpublished manuscript that, on the matter of sodomy, he saw 'no reason for punishing it at all: much less for punishing it with the degree of severity with which it has been commonly punished.'

Meanwhile, the Halifax landowner Anne Lister wrote in her diary in 1823 that her lesbian attractions were both 'instinctive' and 'natural'.

Nevertheless, Georgian Britain was still a time of significant persecution for queer individuals of the time  who faced the risk of execution, presentation in stocks to hostile crowds, public disgrace and the need to flee into an overseas exile.

Similar arguments have been recorded being made from around this period  although such has been confined to the rarefied circles of characters like the poet Lord Byron and the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, pictured left. Mr Bentham wrote in notes on an unpublished manuscript that, on the matter of sodomy, he 'no reason for punishing it at all: much less for punishing it with the degree of severity with which it has been commonly punished.' Meanwhile, the Halifax landowner Anne Lister (right) wrote in her diary in 1823 that her lesbian attractions were both 'instinctive' and 'natural'

'I am delighted that this discovery has been made,' said Wakefield Library's Claire Pickering, who is pictured left, with historian Eamonn O'Keeffe, who found the passage, pictured centre

'I am delighted that this discovery has been made,' said Wakefield Library's Claire Pickering.

'Its not the first time Tomlinsons diaries have come to the attention of academia for their provincial non-conformist outlook and thoughtful self-expression.

'But Im delighted that a new audience will be exposed to them with an interest in LBGTQ histories.'

'A former Methodist, Tomlinson was an observant but ecumenical Christian; he wrote extensively on faith, love, death, and the political and economic affairs of his day,' added Mr OKeeffe.

'His voluminous diaries chronicle local Luddite disturbances, agricultural life, and his attempts to find a second soulmate after the demise of his first wife.'

Mr Tomlinson penned the entry in response to reports he had read of the execution of an accomplished naval surgeon for the then crime of sodomy

Princeton University historian Fara Dabhoiwala  who studies changing sexual attitudes and behaviour but was not involved in the study  called the archival find 'wonderful'.

he said it 'provides vivid proof that, even during times of severe persecution, historical attitudes to same-sex behaviour could be more sympathetic than is usually presumed.

'Tomlinson's diary illustrates that, by 1810, even an ordinary Yorkshire farmer could seriously entertain the idea that homosexuality was not a horrible perversion that deserved the death penalty, but simply a natural, divinely ordained human quality,' he said.

'The view that homosexuality was a natural inclination was rarely so clearly expressed,' agreed researcher Rictor Norton, who is an expert in the history of homosexuality during this period.

'It is extraordinary to find an ordinary, casual observer in 1810 seriously considering the possibility that sexuality is innate and making arguments for decriminalisation.

'Tomlinson's diary reflections on homosexuality are unique for their time.'
The Kremlin also says that there is no substantive discussion on the exchange of ambassadors

Ukraine has no plans to appoint an ambassador to Russia in the near future. This was reported by Ukranews news agency with reference to Ukraine's Foreign Ministrys response to the request.

"It is not planned to fill the vacant position of the head of Ukraines diplomatic office in the Russian Federation at the moment," the statement said.

Ukraine's MFA earlier stated that Ukraine had been approving candidatures for 13 of 19 countries where they were not appointed. However, there was no specific information on the list of countries.

"There were no requests for aggregation from the Russian side to Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs," the message reads.

As we reported earlier, according to Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, the Kremlin is ready to exchange ambassadors with Ukraine. Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported that on February 10.

"It seems someone mentioned Zelensky's possible decision to return the ambassadors. We do not mind," Lavrov said.

It is worth noting that Ukraine and Russia recalled their ambassadors for consultations in 2014. And in 2018, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passed the law that ceased the Agreement on Friendship, Cooperation, and Partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation.
Sajid Javid is under mounting pressure to announce a wholesale review of business rates in next months Budget.

Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, the director-general of the CBI, has written to the Chancellor demanding an overhaul of the hated tax on firms, including retailers and manufacturing companies.

She is also demanding a string of other measures, including rules to make all business premises greener.

Sajid Javid is under mounting pressure to announce a review of business rates in next months Budget. His challenge is turning optimism into a 'surge in investment across the country, says Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, the director-general of the CBI. The federation wants a review that will slash the bills paid by firms by the end of the year - costing the Treasury 800million annually

A vocal anti-Brexiteer, Dame Carolyn is now striking an optimistic tone.

She acknowledged there had been a Boris bounce in business confidence since the start of the year and said the CBI was an enthusiastic supporter of the Prime Ministers promise to level up the regions.

She is meeting Mr Javid next Monday to discuss the Budget, which she described as a momentous one. The challenge, she added, was for Mr Javid to turn optimism into a surge in investment across the country.

Carolyn (pictured) has noticed a Boris bounce in business confidence since the start of 2020 and said CBI was an enthusiastic supporter of the Prime Ministers promise to level up the regions. The anti-Brexiteer is to discuss the 'window of opportunity' to transform the UK economy

Dame Carolyn said that with a decisive mandate in the election, the Government had a window of opportunity to transform the UK economy.

Business rates are dragging down many parts of the country and adding to the woes on struggling high streets, she said. The CBI wants a comprehensive review that will slash the bills paid by firms by the end of the year. It said the measures being demanded would cost the Treasury 800million annually.

Marks & Spencer blamed business rates for its decision to close more than 100 stores by 2022. The retailer has previously complained it pays more than 180million in rates a year.

Tesco said its annual business rates bill had almost doubled to 700million in the past decade.

This compares to the 63.4million paid by internet shopping giant Amazon in 2018, prompting critics of the system to argue it is disadvantaging retailers with high street shops.

When I see the Chancellor, this will be very high on my agenda, Dame Carolyn said, adding that she wanted Mr Javid to remove business rates from plant and machinery which makes British industry uncompetitive.

Mr Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel (pictured on day two of of the 2019 Conservative Party Conference at Manchester Central on September 30) are understood to have agreed the framework of the new system. It is to close the route for low-skilled migrants to come to the UK

The CBI is demanding steps in the Budget to help bring the UK further towards its target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050 by making all commercial properties achieve a high grade of energy efficiency within a decade. The business organisation wants a doubling of the funds for on-street electric car charging points by 2024.

Dame Carolyn also wants the Chancellor to set up catapult quarters around the country, bringing together businesses, mayors and universities to kick-start innovation.

Mr Johnson is pictured making a keynote speech at the CBI annual conference in November. The federation is demanding steps in the Budget to help bring the UK further towards its target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050 by making all commercial properties achieve a high grade of energy efficiency within 10 years

It comes as the Home Office said low-skilled immigration from the EU is set to fall by 90,000 a year under a proposed points-based system.

Analysis of the plan, which is due to be unveiled in the coming weeks, predicts that the end of free movement at the end of this year will lead to a dramatic drop in the number of people coming to the UK from the EU.

However, it is also expected to lead to an increase in the number of skilled workers coming to work in the UK from around the world.

Mr Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel are understood to have agreed the framework of the new system, which will close the route for low-skilled migrants to come to the UK.

In most cases, skilled migrants will have to have a job offer paying more than 25,600  a lower threshold than currently applies to migrants from outside the EU. Migrants will also earn points for how well they speak English.

In some cases migrants taking jobs paying as little as 23,000 could be granted visas, depending on their skills.
China on Monday appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's letter to President Xi Jinping offering solidarity and assistance to deal with the deadly coronavirus outbreak, saying it "fully demonstrated" New Delhi's friendship with Beijing.

In a letter to Xi, Modi expressed solidarity with the president and people of China over the outbreak of the virus that has claimed over 900 lives in the neighbouring country.

"We thank and appreciate India's support for China's fight against the NCP Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia, the official name for coronavirus," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.

"India's acts of goodwill fully demonstrate its friendship with China," Geng said during an online media briefing while replying to a question on Modi's letter to Xi.

Prime Minister Modi also offered India's assistance to China to face the challenge, besides conveying condolences over the loss of lives due to the outbreak.

The prime minister also conveyed to Xi his appreciation for facilitating evacuation of around 650 Indian citizens from the worst-affected Hubei province last week.

A sizeable number of countries have evacuated their citizens from China and restricted movement of people and goods to and from China.

India too has put restrictions on the movement of people to and from China as part of precautionary measures to contain the spread of the virus.

"We stand ready to work with India and other members of the international community to jointly tackle fight the epidemic and safeguard regional and global public health security," Geng said.

Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri told the Indian media here on Monday that India was in touch with Chinese officials to find out the immediate requirements to deal with the epidemic.

The death toll in China's coronavirus outbreak has gone up to 908 with 97 new fatalities reported mostly in the worst-affected Hubei province and the confirmed cases of infection crossing 40,000, Chinese health officials said on Monday.

A team of international experts led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) would arrive in China on Monday night to assist the Chinese health officials to contain the spread of coronavirus outbreak.

"I've just been at the airport seeing off members of an advance team for the @WHO-led 2019nCoV international expert mission to China, led by Dr Bruce Aylward, veteran of past public health emergencies," WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a tweet.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Grieving relatives of 29 people murdered by a rogue soldier in Thailand held tearful Buddhist prayer ceremonies Monday, as fresh details emerged of shoppers cowering in terror while the gunman stalked the mall. Holding portraits of their relatives and dabbing away tears, families of the victims arrived on Monday morning at a city morgue in Nakhon Ratchasima, better known as Korat, in the morning to carry home coffins bearing their dead. The gunman -- Sergeant-Major Jakrapanth Thomma -- was shot dead by a commando unit Sunday morning, ending a rampage that left 29 dead and scores more wounded. The killer started his killing spree on Saturday afternoon with weapons stolen from a barracks' arsenal, where he gunned down Mehta Lertsiri, 22, who was guarding the depot. "I don't know what to do next," Mehta's grief-stricken grandfather, Udom Prapotsang, said outside of the morgue waiting to claim his body. "His four-year-old son keeps asking why he can't call his dad." After seizing the weapons, the shooter drove to a Buddhist temple, where blood splatters and bullet holes attested Monday to the horrors that unfolded. Narissara Chotklang, a 52-year-old Pharmacist, was among nine people to die there. Her funeral rites began late Monday a few kilometres away, where hundreds of mourners lined up to pour water over a jasmine garland placed delicately over her outstretched hand. The attacker then moved to the town centre mall, where a terrifying siege unfolded late Saturday. Armed with automatic weapons, the gunman held out overnight as hundreds of shoppers sought refuge in toilets, storerooms and under tables -- staying silent or making a break for the exits when they could. Pressed to the ground in an office inside a Japanese home goods shop, Partiya Aree, 29, tried to control her breathing as she watched the masked soldier stop just yards away on the shop's own CCTV. "He was carrying a gun, looking left and right constantly," Partiya told AFP. Alongside 21 others, they disabled location services on their phone fearing the social media-obsessed gunman might be able to find them. Her group escaped several hours later, flanked by police in a sprint for the mall entrance "which felt like forever." But others were not so fortunate. Flowers and messages of condolences including one saying "R.I.P. Korat, we will not forget" piled up outside the bullet-riddled mall. A Buddhist monk in orange robes led a prayer ceremony on a grass verge outside the mall for Peeraphat Palasan, shot dead as the gunman sprayed bullets into traffic, killing the 25-year-old engineer. His father, Witoon, was among a dozen mourners crying, kneeling, hands clasped -- some holding incense sticks -- in prayer. "My son had just finished work and came here to go shopping," Witoon told AFP. "I never thought I would lose him so soon." - PM criticised - As Korat -- and the country -- mourned, there were growing questions about why the gunman went on a killing spree over an apparent private debt to a senior officer and how he was able to steal weapons, including an M60 machine gun, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Divisive Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha was hammered on social media for a tone-deaf response to the crisis during a visit to the city on Sunday where he posed for selfies, high-fived a crowd and smiled before shutting down questions from the media at a press conference. "There should be no smiles, joking around and touching hands like people are your fan club," popular blogger Sorakon Adulyanon, aka Noom Muang Chan, said on Facebook. Others drew unfavourable comparisons with the dignified response of New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to the Christchurch mass shooting last year. As criticism snowballed, the gruff former army chief Prayut was prodded into a rare act of contrition late Sunday. "We are all saddened by what happened," he said on his official Facebook page. "I intended to offer my moral support... my expression may have been misunderstood or made many people uncomfortable." burs-apj/aph
There is a certain level of skill required to create a game. From rules to design and everything in between, it's a gargantuan task that is not simply accomplished with good intentions alone. The Siembra Leadership High School Game Expo happens Tuesday, Feb. 11 from 4pm to 6pm , and students who've created games are highlighted and showcased to the community. This free , all-ages event is a fantastic way to get out into the community and help foster the future creators in our area by supporting their endeavors. Even better, youre allowed to judge the creations, so if telling high schoolers what you think is your jam, this is the perfect event for you. But earnestly, bring constructive thoughts and ideas and help them mold and shape their projects to the next level, so support this group as best as you can. For more information, call 227-9467. (Dan Rayne Pennington)

This exhibition showcases student-created games. Community members are invited to judge exhibitions as well as provide ideas, support and mentorship to these young entrepreneurs.

The OT Circus is so excited to collaborate with Siembra Leadership High School this year! Join us for this fab pop up event on Tuesday February 11th 2020, from 4-6pm.

Siembra Leadership High School (Trimester 2 Exhibitions) have created games! This exhibition is where students will showcase their final products to the community. Community members will be invited to judge exhibitions as well as provide ideas, support and mentorship to our young entrepreneurs!

About Siembra Leadership High School:

Siembra provides students with immersive, real-world learning that prepares them for their future in college and in their career. Our staff are dedicated to high expectations; students learn 21st century skills about professionalism, collaborative learning, and teamwork, but also develop leadership skills to succeed wherever they go.

For more information: http://siembraabq.org/

We look forward to your attendance for this awesomely inspiring and unique experience! The OT Circus is located between the Hotel Blue and Firestone Tires at 709 Central Ave NW!
(CNN) -- Thailand police revealed Sunday they tried several times to persuade a soldier who had killed 29 people to turn himself in, and even brought the gunman's mother in to talk to him.

The shooting at a military base in Thailand's northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima province, known as Korat, and a crowded shopping mall also left 58 others injured -- 30 of whom remain hospitalized -- before the gunman was killed by police at around 9 a.m. local time on Sunday (9 p.m. ET Saturday), according to officials.

Seven bodies have been extracted from the Terminal 21 shopping mall where the rampage ended, Thai Public Health Ministry official Narinrat Pitchayakamin said Sunday. This figure likely includes the gunman's body.

While most fatalities happened at the shooting scenes, two victims died in hospital during surgery, Pitchayakamin added.

Thai authorities said the attacker was believed to be Army Sub. Lt. Jakrapanth Thomma, of the 22nd Ammunition Battalion.

Authorities brought the gunman's mother from his hometown in Chaiyaphum Province to an area near the mall but she was unable to get inside, said Maj. Gen. Jirapob Puridet, who led the security team inside the building. The mother, whose name was withheld, told him there was little point in talking to her son anyway, as he had depression and an extremely bad temper.

The gunman had a machine gun that he had stolen, with around 800 rounds of ammunition and two short guns, Puridet said.

"We had to make the move of confronting him because people who were trapped inside a freezing room sent messages to us that the oxygen level was very low and they are suffocating," Puridet said. "So we had to risk to confront him face to face otherwise people who were trapped inside would die."

One officer was killed and three others injured during the ensuing confrontation, Puridet said.

"It was almost like a Hollywood action movie shooting scene," he said. "At certain points the gun firing was nonstop."

Frantic scenes from the mall overnight showed heavily armed Thai soldiers trying to move terrified shoppers to safety.

News footage from the scene showed people leaving the area in pickup trucks and cars as security forces surrounded the mall.

Eyewitness accounts

Survivors described the desperate situation inside the shopping mall. "It was frightening because I could hear the occasional gunshot ... we waited a long time for the police to come and help us, many hours," Suvanarat Jirattanasakul, 27, told Reuters news agency.

The gunman was "aiming for the heads," another survivor told local Amarin TV, according to Reuters.

"He was shooting everywhere and his shots were very precise," said the man, identified as "Diaw" and whose colleague was killed.

At a morgue in Nakhon Ratchasima, the family of 13-year-old Ratchanon Karnchanamethee sobbed as they identified his body.

"He's my only son. He hasn't even had dinner," said his father, Natthawut Karnchanamethee. "I allowed him to do anything he wanted to. I never set expectations for him. I only wanted him to be a good person."

Skilled soldier

Earlier Sunday, Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said the rampage was sparked by an argument the gunman had at his base with another soldier over a land-selling commission fee. He added that the gunman had taken hostages during the later standoff but didn't elaborate on how many or what happened to them.

"In general, any military (officer) would be good at guns, but this man certainly has more skills," defense ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Kongcheep Tantravanich said.

After shooting his fellow officer at the base, the gunman took his gun and shot other soldiers. It wasn't immediately known how many military personnel were killed.

After the shooter left the military base, he drove to the shopping mall in a military Humvee that he had stolen, shooting civilians along the way, Tantravanich said.

UPDATE: This article has been updated to accurately reflect the death toll given by Thai authorities.

This story was first published on CNN.com "Thai military brought in mother of gunman who killed 29 people, in bid to negotiate with him."
Zapapizza, a 5-month-old Chinatown pizzeria that topped its pan pizzas with traditional Mexican dishes such as chilaquiles and taquitos, has closed, owner Nick Zukin announced on social media Saturday.

Zukin, who also owns the nearby taqueria Mi Mero Mole, was inspired to open Zapapizza in a former West Burnside Street strip club after visiting a Mexico City location of Pizza del Perro Negro, a punk-rock pizza chain with loud music and dim lighting best known for its chile relleno-topped pies.

It just opened my eyes to how far you could go with the idea of Mexican pizza, beyond...the taco pizza Id grown up with, Zukin told The Oregonian.

At Zapapizza, which sits just around the corner from Mi Mero Mole, Zukin and his team placed everything from taquitos to al pastor on a thick base part way between Detroit and Chicago styles. The standouts were the toppings  those crunchy potato-cheese taquitos with sour cream and avocado sauce, the chile relleno slices available weekends only and the chilaquiles, sold only as a whole pie to allow the salsa verde to soak into the chips.

According to Zukin, the restaurants hot wings will join the menu at Mi Mero Mole, 32 N.W. Fifth Ave.

-- Michael Russell, mrussell@oregonian.com, @tdmrussell

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
C Shivakumar By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: To decongest West Tambaram, a draft comprehensive mobility plan (CMP) has proposed banning of parking of MTC and long-distance buses along GST road.

According to the report, since MTC buses are parked or terminated all along GST Road from Market Area till Tambaram Sanatorium Bus Stand, there is a need to shift the terminal to existing bus stand to avoid chaos in the already congested area.

The existing on-street terminal shall be used only as pick-up, drop off bays, the report said. The report said it has been observed from traffic surveys that a total of over 1.5 lakh vehicles are registered on GST Road. The road has a mix of heterogeneous traffic.

On-street parking has been a menace for pedestrians as vehicles encroach pedestrians usage area forcing them to walk on the carriageway.

An organised parking lot has to be planned at West Tambaram by City Corporation for the alleviation of on-street parking problems. It has been observed that while a few parking lots are operational at a flat rate of `25 for 24 hours servicing the railway station, no parking lots are observed in or near the Market Area, the report said.

It says that existing facilities of footpath on GST road are either too small not adhering to standards or totally encroached by on-street vendors.

There is little or no pedestrian footpath observed in and around the market area - a minimum of 1.8m in the residential area and 3-4 m in commercial areas to be planned, the report has suggested.

Challenges
Construction crews began blasting sites in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument as part of the construction of Donald Trumps US-Mexico border wall, with the affected areas including sites sacred to Native American groups, according to a Democratic congressman from Arizona.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is an internationally recognised biosphere reserve, meaning it has plants and animals so rare that the United Nations has given it a special designation.

It includes about 330,000 acres of designated wilderness and is home to ancestral grounds sacred to the Tohono Oodham Nation, one of at least a dozen Native American groups that claim connections to grounds within the monument.

Raul Grijalva, a congressman whose district includes the reservation, said crews this week began blasting through parts of Monument Hill, which includes a burial site for the Tohono Oodham Nation.

The construction contractor has begun controlled blasting, in preparation for new border wall system construction, within the Roosevelt Reservation at Monument Mountain, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said, according to Associated Press.

Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California Show all 20 1 /20 Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California The prototypes for President Trumps border wall are being demolished. AP Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California The US Customs and Border protection had built the eight 30-foot tall steel and concrete models near San Diego on the US-Mexico border. Reuters Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A 2018 report from the Government Accountability Office found that the construction challenges presented by the four concrete models would be extensive and those presented by two of the other models would be substantial. Reuters Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California It was intended that Mr Trump would choose his favourite of the designs after testing had been completed. AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California The President is yet to comment. AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California Each prototype cost $300,000 to $500,000 to build and they are being knocked down in order to make way for the San Diego Secondary Wall project which will see up to 14 miles of barrier being built to support the existing steel border fence. AP Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California The new barrier will not employ the design of any of the prototypes, instead being built of the favoured steel bollards which make up the current section of the wall at San Diego. Reuters Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California The new secondary barrier being built near San Diego. Reuters Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California The rubble of one of the demolished prototypes. Reuters Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A steel wall prototype AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A wall prototype made from a mix of steel and concrete AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A wall prototype made from a mix of steel and concrete AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A concrete wall prototype AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A steel wall prototype AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A concrete wall prototype AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A concrete wall prototype AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A concrete wall prototype AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California A digger approaches the prototype wall AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California Aerial view of the wall prototypes at the US-Mexico border after they were torn down AFP/Getty Trump prototypes for Mexico border wall demolished in California An aerial view showing Tijuana, Mexico on the left and the demolished wall prototypes on the right AFP/Getty

The controlled blasting is targeted and will continue intermittently for the rest of the month.

Mr Grijalva, the chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, visited the location ahead of the construction and described the site in a video posted to social media.

Monument Hill, where he said explosions are now occurring, is a site where members of the Tohono Oodham Nation have buried members of opposing tribes.

Where they were blasting the other day on Monument Hill is the resting place for primarily Apache warriors that had been involved in battle with the Oodham, he said. And then the Oodham people in a respectful way laid them to rest on Monument Hill.

The CBP said there is an environment monitor at the blast sites, where there is also ongoing clearing activities, but it did not provide additional details, according to CBS News.

The department did not respond to The Washington Posts request for comment and clarification about which sites are in the path of the blasts this month.

 Trumps US-Mexico border wall falls down in high winds

Before his visit, Mr Grijalva sent a letter to the acting head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Chad Wolf, to express serious concerns about the construction project.

Members of the Tohono Oodham Nation recently informed me that the Department of Homeland Security is not respecting tribal lands and sacred sites as they proceed with border wall plans and construction, he wrote in January.

I strongly urge DHS to conduct meaningful government-to-government consultation with the Tohono Oodham Nation about the DHSs planned border wall construction.

Mr Grijalva said no such consultation has taken place.

There has been no consultation with the nation, he said. This administration is basically trampling on the tribes history  and to put it poignantly, its ancestry.

Laiken Jordahl, who works on border issues at the Centre for Biological Diversity, said that crews have butchered parts of the mountain.

It is completely different from what it has been before  theres a swath of land gone from right in the middle, he said.

Recommended Trump set to divert billions more to border wall from military budget

[T]he Nation categorically opposes the barrier construction projects, because they directly harm and threaten both the lands currently reserved for the Nation ... and its ancestral lands that extend along the international boundary in Arizona, Ned Norris, chairman of the Tohono Oodham Nation, said in an accompanying letter to the CBPs Tucson sector chief.

Mr Grijalva said that he has not received a response from the DHS.

In addition to concerns about sacred grounds, environmental advocates  and members of the US government  have warned about the potential destruction of other sites and wildlife in the area as a result of construction.

An internal National Park Service report found that construction of Mr Trumps wall could destroy up to 22 archaeological sites in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.

In addition to the sacred sites like Quitobaquito Springs, the entire monument is ancestral lands. The tribe uses it to gather plants, they still actively use it for ceremony, the entire landscape is sacred to the tribe, Mr Jordahl said.

They are ploughing over ancient saguaro cactuses, 200-year-old cactuses, chopped up like firewood  it is appalling, he added. They are also sacred to the Oodhom; they see them as the embodiment of their ancestors. So to see them turned into mulch  it is deeply upsetting.

Crews have cleared some plants, as well as the saguaros, and moved them to other locations as they work within the national monument, according to local media.

But Mr Jordahl shared images with The Post of some saguaros that he said have been destroyed.

He pointed to the Trump administrations move to use its authority under a 2005 law to bypass environmental rules and other laws in its efforts to construct the border barrier  a decision he says enables it to disturb wildlife or sacred sites.

Mr Grijalva cited the 2005 law in his January letter, too, which he said allows the administration to waive requirements such as tribal consultation.

[T]his administration continues to use its waiver authority at an unprecedented and irresponsible rate. Of the 21 times the waiver has been enacted since 2005, 16 of those instances have occurred in the last two and a half years, he wrote.

The congressman said he plans to hold a hearing this month on the border constructions impact.

There is urgency, and time is of the essence in order to try to work with our friends in the Oodham Nation to preserve, conserve and leave the identity intact, he said.

The Washington Post
Jan. 27

At 3:08 a.m., Officer Schwausch was patrolling the 7500 block of IH610 NB when he observed a vehicle switching lanes without signaling. Officer Schwausch initiated a traffic stop and made contact with the operator of the vehicle. Further investigation found the driver to be driving while intoxicated with a previous conviction. The driver was charged with driving while intoxicated 2nd and transported to the Bellaire Jail without incident.

At 2:53 a.m., Officer Younger initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle for impeding a moving lane of traffic in the 4500 block of Bissonnet Street. Officer Younger observed the vehicle sit through a full green light cycle. The traffic stop investigation found the driver being placed into custody for driving while intoxicated. West University Place Police Officer Cirlos assisted with this investigation.

At 7:15 a.m., Officer D Rocha was conducting a school traffic assignment in the 7000 block of South Rice Avenue. At approximately 0726 hours Ofc Rocha observed a silver colored Pontiac G6 speeding through the school zone. Officer Rocha observed the driver and passengers had been drinking. The driver was charged with driving while intoxicated. Sergeant D Hollie and Ofc A. Lysack assisted on this incident.

At 11:52 a.m., Officer Liccketto was dispatched to the 4400 block of Jonathan Street in reference to a theft. Officer Liccketto met with the victim who stated the tailgate of his pickup truck was stolen possibly the night before. Officer Lysack assisted with the case.

At 7:28 p.m., Officer Bellard was dispatched to a shoplifting at 5130 Bellaire Blvd. Officer Bellard arrived on scene at approximately 1933 hrs. and located the suspect. After further investigation it was discovered the suspect removed items from the store without paying. The suspect was placed into custody for shoplifting (theft). Officer Baylis assisted in this case.

At 3:22 p.m., Officer Bellard was dispatched to a suspicious circumstance call in the 5100 block of Mimosa Street. Officer Bellard arrived on located and advised that three subjects claiming to be City of Houston employees made entry into the residence. After further investigation it was determined two of the suspects distracted the homeowner and caretaker while another suspect went through multiple rooms removing items.

Jan. 28

At 7:25 p.m., Officer Bellard was dispatched to the 4300 block of Bellaire Boulevard in reference to an identity theft. Officer Bellard arrived on scene and after further investigation it was found unknown suspect(s) used the victims identifying information to open multiple financial accounts without her permission.

At 11:40 p.m., Officer Barrientos observed a white Toyota RAV 4 traveling at a high rate of speed and made multiple lane changes without using the vehicles turn signal in the 3700 block of the Southwest Freeway. Ofc. Barrientos conducted a traffic stop on the RAV 4 for these violations. Ofc. Barrientos made contact with the driver and immediately smelled a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from her breath and/or person, red blood shot eyes and slurred speech. During the traffic stop investigation, Ofc. Barrientos placed the driver in custody for driving while intoxicated.

At 5:54 p.m., Officer Barrientos was dispatched to the Bellaire Police lobby to meet with the reportee/victim regarding an identity theft in the 10 block of Pin Oak Estates. The reportee/victim advised Ofc. Barrientos a unknown suspect(s) opened an account and made a purchase using the victims personal information without consent.

Jan. 29

At 3:32 a.m., Officer Guerra was patrolling the 4400 block of Darsey Street when he observed a black Ford Escape parked in the middle of the street with no lights. Officer Guerra observed the subject in the rear of the victims pickup truck trying to detach the tailgate. After further investigation the driver was arrested for theft and the passenger was arrested for forgery government instrument. Officers Clisham and Vorhees assisted in this case.

At 6:32 a.m., Officer Lysack was conducting a traffic stop in the 6700 block of South Rice Avenue when another individual gained his attention by yelling profanities in public. Officer Lysack began watching the suspect who then crossed the street without using the crosswalk. Officer Lysack gave the suspect multiple instructions to return to the sidewalk but he refused. Officer Lysack concluded his traffic stop and focused his attention on the suspect. The suspect then ran on foot from Officer Lysack. Officer Lysack and Cpl. Clawson engaged in a brief foot chase with the suspect before he was taken into custody and transported to the Bellaire Jail on the charge of evading on foot.

At 8:10 p.m., Officer D. Norman was dispatched to a shoplifting in progress at Randalls at 5130 Bellaire Blvd. The suspect was located at the Bellaire Metro Center. Upon further investigation, it was shown the suspect walked past all points of purchase with the merchandise without paying. The suspect was arrested for theft. Officer R. Bellard assisted with this case.

Jan. 30

At 11:33 p.m., Officer Schwausch was patrolling the 6000 block of IH610 NB when he observed two vehicles traveling at a low rate of speed and lining up next to each other while revving their engines. The vehicles then took off at a high rate of speed in an attempt to outdistance each other. Officer Schwausch initiated a traffic stop on the first vehicle and made contact with the driver of the vehicle. The driver admitted to racing on the highway. The driver was charged with racing on a highway and transported to the Bellaire Jail without incident.

Jan. 31

At 3:24 a.m., Corporal D. Clawson observed the defendant stopped in the 100 block of White Drive passed out in the driver seat with the vehicle lights on. Clawson conducted a welfare check on the defendant. During the investigation, it was determined the defendant was in possession of a controlled substance and unlawfully carrying a weapon and was subsequently charged with possession of a controlled substance and unlawfully carrying a weapon. Officer Schwausch assisted in this investigation.

At 11 a.m., Officer Trujillo was dispatched to the 4300 block of Vivian Street in reference to a burglary of a motor vehicle call. Upon the Officers arrival he spoke to both victims who stated they left their work truck unlocked and an unknown person(s) removed items without their permission.

At 10:53 p.m., Officer Schwausch was patrolling the 8000 block of IH 610 SB when he observed a silver Corolla in front of him switch lanes without signaling. Officer Schwausch initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle and, while making contact with the driver, Officer Schwausch observed a plastic baggie containing a green leafy substance in plain view. Further investigation found driver in possession of a dangerous drug and marijuana. The passenger was found to have 16 confirmed warrants with the Houston Police Department. Both were transported and booked into the Bellaire Jail without incident.

At 8:07 p.m., Sgt D Kerr was dispatched to the 4400 block of Phil Street in reference to an alarm call. Upon arrival and checking the exterior of the house, I observed a broken window leading into the house. The house was checked inside for suspect(s) and none were found. The owner had already been notified by the alarm company and arrived just after checking the house. It was later determined nothing was missing from the house.

Feb. 1

At 2:44 a.m., Corporal OSullivan contacted a subject at in the 6300 block of IH 610 East Service Road in reference to a traffic stop where the suspect driver was speeding. The subject/driver was subsequently arrested for driving while intoxicated.

At 4:46 a.m., Corporal D. Clawson was dispatched to a person slumped at the wheel on the shoulder of the freeway in the area of 5900 IH 610 northbound. I arrived and met with a witness who observed the defendant hit two construction barrels and then stop on the outside shoulder. During the traffic investigation the defendant was determined to be operating a motor vehicle on a public roadway while intoxicated. The defendant was subsequently charged for driving while intoxicated 2nd due to a prior DWI conviction. Officer Younger assisted in this case.

At 7:48 p.m., Officer D. Norman was dispatched to check by with the Bellaire Fire Department on a medical call in reference to an unconscious male in the 4600 block of Willow Street. The male was pronounced deceased and a death investigation was completed.

At 11:06 a.m., Officer Lysack was dispatched to 5133 Bellaire Blvd. in reference to a robbery. Officer Lysack arrived on scene and met with the victim who stated she was exiting her vehicle when a black male grabbed her purse while it was around her neck. The suspect then pushed the victim to the ground and stole the purse. Corporal Clawson and Officer Norman assisted with this case.

At 12:15 p.m., Officer D. Norman was dispatched to a burglary of a motor vehicle in the 4400 block of Bellaire Blvd. Officer Norman made contact with the victim who advised an unknown subject shattered the front passenger window of her vehicle and stole her purse.

At 6:24 p.m., Officer Andrade was dispatched to 5400 Maple St. in reference to a carjacking that had just occurred. Upon arrival, Officer Andrade made contact with the victim who stated he was held at gunpoint by two suspects who took his vehicle. After further investigation, this incident was determined to be an aggravated robbery.

At 7:54 p.m., Officer Schwausch responded to a DWI in progress traveling within the city limits of the city of Bellaire that came from West University Place in the 4300 block of Bissonnet Street. Officer Schwausch initiated a traffic stop on the suspect vehicle. Further investigation found the driver to be driving while intoxicated after leaving the scene of an accident without leaving information. The suspect was charged with driving while intoxicated and fail to stop and give information and placed into custody without incident. West University Police Officer P. Acevedo assisted with this investigation.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The head of the NYPDs sergeants union continued his war of words against Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday threatening to expose him for his perceived anti-police bias.

Sergeants Benevolent Association President Ed Mullins made the comments, without offering specifics, in an interview with the Advance responding to questions about the union declaring war on the mayor after back-to-back attacks targeting officers in the Bronx this weekend.

The mayors instituted policies that are putting our cops in harms way. Well, were going to start to expose what really goes on in the NYPD -- what really goes on inside City Hall, he said. (The mayor is) either going to get in front of this, or this is going to get to a point that its not gonna be good."

Mayoral Spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein said City Hall has no idea what Mullins is talking about, and that its main focus is keeping officers and communities safe.

Mondays comments from Mullins followed a series of Sunday afternoon SBA posts to social media declaring war on the mayor after he visited the two officers injured in the attacks allegedly carried out by gunman Robert Williams.

Mayor (de Blasio), the members of the NYPD are declaring war on you! We do not respect you, DO NOT visit us in hospitals, officials tweeted from the unions verified account. You sold the NYPD to the vile creatures, the 1% who hate cops but vote for you. NYPD cops have been assassinated because of you. This isnt over, Game on!

Mayor DeBlasio, the members of the NYPD are declaring war on you! We do not respect you, DO NOT visit us in hospitals. You sold the NYPD to the vile creatures, the 1% who hate cops but vote for you. NYPD cops have been assassinated because of you. This isnt over, Game on! https://t.co/XyruPraM9T  SBA (@SBANYPD) February 9, 2020

COMMENTS CALLED REPREHENSIBLE

Earlier Monday, Goldstein responded to the declaration linking the comments to Mullins, and calling them reprehensible."

(Mullins) clearly has forgotten his oath to protect and serve. While he threatens violence, the mayor remains focused on the safety of our officers and communities, she said.

NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan, the departments highest ranking uniformed officer, also took issue with attempts to politicize the attacks in a Monday morning interview with WPIX.

The blame is placed on this individual who thought it was OK to bring a gun and try to assassinate police officers. He is someone that shouldnt be out on the streets, he said.

Eddie Mullins speaks for Eddie Mullins. None of the other unions follow his lead, and the men and women that are out on the right street now, care about keeping people safe. They care about keeping themselves safe, and thats what this is about. This isnt politics. This isnt grandstanding, Monahan continued.

Officials for the Police Benevolent Association, the NYPDs largest union, declined to comment on Monday about the SBAs war declaration.

However, PBA President Pat Lynch had his own words for those he perceives to be perpetuating anti-cop messaging after the two targeted attacks.

It is a double miracle that we are not preparing for two funerals right now, he said in a statement released Sunday morning. These targeted attacks are exactly what we have warned against, again and again. The hatred and violence directed at cops continues to grow. Good luck and kind words are not enough to keep police officers or the public safe. Our elected officials need to start listening to us and working with us  not against us  to fix the deteriorating environment on our streets.

New York Police Department Lt. Jose Gautreaux, who was shot in the arm by a gunman who opened fire in a police precinct in the Bronx, waves to his comrades as he is released from Lincoln Hospital, Monday, Feb. 10, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez) APAP

THE ATTACKS

Williams, 45, started his alleged rampage Saturday night when he opened fire on officers sitting in a patrol van near the intersection of East 163rd Street and Fox Street.

A bullet went through the chin and neck of Officer Paul Stroffolino, 31, in that attack missing his carotid artery by literally a millimeter, according to Monahan. Stroffolino was discharged from Lincoln Hospital Sunday morning.

Hours after the first attack, Williams allegedly walked into the 41st Precinct station house, and shot Lt. Jose Gautreaux. He then proceeded through the building to another room where he fired on two officers and a civilian, who were not struck.

Monahan told WPIX that, after being wounded, Gautreaux confronted and engaged the assailant to help subdue him. Gautreaux was discharged from the same hospital in the Bronx Monday afternoon.

Williams was arrested and charged by police for attempted murder, possession of a weapon, and resisting arrest. He is scheduled to be arraigned Monday.

Monahan identified Williams as a career criminal, who previously engaged in multiple conflicts with officers, including one in 2002, in which he was armed.
Another FIR has been registered against actress Raveena Tandon, choreographer-director Farah Khan and comedian Bharti Singh on the content of a particular episode on Farah's Youtube show 'Backbenchers'. This is the second complaint to be lodged against the trio over the same issue, after one in December.

The second FIR has been registered in Mankapur police station in Nagpur, Maharashtra by a Gorewada resident named Khushbu Bhagwan Parwar. The contention is that Farah, Raveena and Bharti made a mockery of a certain religious term during the episode which was telecast on TV on December 25, 2019.

Inspector Vazeer Sheikh of Mankapur police station was quoted by PTI as saying, "The complaint was submitted on December 27 and after investigating it, an offence under section 295a (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class by insulating its religion or the religious beliefs) was registered. We will issue summons to the three soon."

In the previous FIR, the three of them were booked at Amritsar's Ajnala police station under section 295-A IPC after the local Christian community complained that the mockery of the word 'Hallelujah' on the show hurt their religious sentiments. Raveena, Farah and Bharti had issued an apology soon after the controversy. Raveena and Farah went an extra mile and sought the forgiveness of Cardinal Oswald Gracias of the Roman Catholic Church, and even took his blessings.

ALSO READ: Raveena Tandon, Farah Khan Booked For Hurting Religious Sentiments On Christmas

ALSO READ: Farah Khan And Raveena Tandon Apologize To Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Get His Blessings


Egypt's army announced on Sunday that it killed 10 terrorists as its forces thwarted a major terror attack on a military checkpoint in North Sinai province, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

In a statement, spokesperson of the Egyptian armed forces Tamer al-Refai said members of the armed forces managed to foil a terrorist attack on a security post in North Sinai, adding that the assault caused the death and injury of seven troopers, including two officers.

A four-wheel drive vehicle used by the terrorists was destroyed, the spokesman said, noting that army forces started an operation in search of terrorists at the scene of the attack.

Egypt has been fighting against a wave of terrorism that killed hundreds of policemen, soldiers and civilians since the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 and the massive crackdown on his currently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.

Most of the attacks were claimed by a Sinai-based terrorist group loyal to the Islamic State.
India is often viewed as an aggressive tax jurisdiction by domestic and overseas taxpayers, and making the charter as part of the Act may help restore confidence among taxpayers.

The Budget has proposed the insertion of a new Section 119A in the Income Tax Act to empower the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to adopt and declare a taxpayers charter and issue orders, and directions or guidelines to the I-T authorities.

If the proposal is accepted, this amendment will take effect from April 1.

India is often viewed as an aggressive tax jurisdiction by domestic and overseas taxpayers, and making the charter as part of the Act may help restore confidence among taxpayers.

Market players, however, believe that its efficacy will depend on the way it is drafted and executed.

According to Mukesh Butani, managing partner at BMR Legal, a taxpayer charter legislated in the law has to go far beyond what is currently put up on the income tax website as citizens charter - which lays down general principles for transparency and service standards but lacks teeth.

The new charter should enjoin on lawmakers a sense of accountability with regard to taxpayers, says Butani, incorporating privacy of tax filing information, the confidentiality of business data, and a grievance mechanism, outside of the formal dispute process.

India has a rich jurisprudence laid down by the courts as to how officials are expected to act judiciously.

"If such rights are breached, a sense of accountability needs to be instilled in officials. This can be achieved through the charter, says Butani.

Suresh Surana, founder, RSM India, points out that the charter should provide uniformity in the application without leaving it to administrative discretion and legal remedy in case of non-adherence.

Arijit Chakravarty, senior principal-direct tax litigation, Advaita Legal, says while a charter may give rights to the taxpayer, what is needed is a change in mindset.

Our experience, so far, is the opposite where taxpayers are looked upon with suspicion, issues never reach finality, an effective redressal system is lacking, and most importantly, sense of accountability for ones actions is lacking, he adds.

More than 40 countries have similar charters in place, experts reckon.

In countries like Brazil and Italy, for instance, the charter is part of the statute, while in countries, such as Australia and Canada, the charter does not have the protection of the law.

Girish Vanvari, founder of Transaction Square, believes that the charters efficacy will depend on how it can influence the administrative portions of the Act and how it balances aggressive tax planning by taxpayers with the tax aggression by revenue authorities.

It will also be interesting to see how this charter works within the dispute machinery already prevailing in the Act, such as CITs, appeals, courts, and AARs, says Vanvari.

Experts believe several issues need to be explicitly addressed in the charter.

For instance, there is a need for a prior notice listing specific issues in case of summons or tax proceedings, except in the case of search or duly authorised investigations.

Surana feels taxpayers should have the right to have legal or tax advisors presence during summons, search or survey proceedings, and during the recording of statements beyond office hours.

They should also have the right to privacy and the right to take breaks for medicine, prayers, sleep, and contingencies during proceedings extending beyond a certain duration.

Time limits should be set to dispose of appeals. For example, if I file an appeal before CIT today, if the hearing does not take place for two, three or five years down the line, it is an issue, says Ameet Patel, partner, Manohar Chowdhry & Associates.

Abhay Sharma, partner at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, wants the charter to lay down a definite timeframe for disbursal of tax certificates and the imposition of penalty as a routine should be stopped, except when there is tax evasion by taxpayers.

The refusal to apply the principles laid out in a superior court judgment to a particular taxpayers case based on minor factual differences should be discouraged or stopped.

"Where two views are possible, the principle of adopting a view that is more beneficial to the taxpayer has to be adopted by the authorities in letter and spirit, he says.

According to Sudhir Kapadia, national tax leader at EY India, a charter is necessary to be applied in the context of facts and circumstances but it will be difficult to bring an omnibus provision in the law addressing all possible practical situations.

The main purpose of such a charter is to enable taxpayers to point out the guidelines in specific cases of harassment to senior leadership in tax administration and also to appellate authorities and courts when matters reach that level, he says.

Vanvari feels that the timing of the charters implementation will be crucial considering the current flux in the taxation environment both domestically and internationally.

India is going through a transitionary phase with digitisation and e-assessments.

"Further, there are continuously checks and balances now being introduced in the Act in the form of GAAR (General Anti-Avoidance Rule), demonetisation and digital enablement to curb blatant tax evasion, he said, adding that there is need for adequate public debate before the enactment of a charter.
Seoul, Feb 10 : South Korea and the US held a "working group" meeting on Monday to coordinate policy on North Korea, with Seoul's push to allow individual trips to Pyongyang expected to be a key agenda item.

The chief US delegate, Deputy Special Representative for North Korea Policy Alex Wong, went straight into a closed-door meeting with his South Korean counterpart Rhee Dong-yeol, reports Yonhap News Agency.

Wong arrived in Seoul on Sunday for the talks.

The two sides were expected to discuss South Korea's push for inter-Korean exchanges amid the prolonged deadlock in the nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang since the collapse of the second summit in February 2019 between US President Donald Trump and the North's leader, Kim Jong-un.

In his press conference for the new year, President Moon Jae-in vowed to push for an expansion of inter-Korean cooperation as a way to facilitate the stalled nuclear talks, such as allowing individual tourism to the communist state, which does not fall under UN sanctions against the North.

The Unification Ministry in charge of inter-Korean relations said the issue of individual tourism does not necessarily need consultations with Washington because such tourism is not banned under UN sanctions, though the government plans to brief the US on it.

The two sides were also expected to discuss a wide range of issues related to the North, including the reconnection of cross-border railways and roads, a project that the two Koreas agreed upon in 2018 but which has been stalled ever since.
Iraq will reduce oil production from the Nahr Bin Omar oil field to a minimum to cut gas emissions and pollution, Reuters reported today, quoting the Iraqi state news agency.

Arab News quoted the director general of the fields operator, Basra Oil Company, as saying Nahr Bin Omar oilfield is considered one of the most controversial fields because of the pollution and gas emissions. It has been decided to cut crude oil production to minimum and to stop operating all oil wells to provide environmental protection.

Nahr bin Omar has reserves of some 6.5 billion barrels of oil and 12 billion cu ft of natural gas. Daily production of oil averages 40,000 bpd and gas production stands at 25 million cu ft daily.

The decision to cut production at the field could be motivated by genuine--although not very typical--concern for the environment, but it could also prove to be a way of bringing Iraq closer to its production quota under the OPEC+ agreement. The latest data on OPEC production, from an S&P Global Platts survey, showed that Iraq and Nigeria continued to lagged behind their co-members in compliance.

Interestingly enough, Iraq managed to produce more than it should despite the temporary shutdown of a field that pumps some 70,000 bpd in late January. The Al Ahdab field, operated by Chinese CNPC, stopped producing oil about a month ago amid widespread economic protests, sparking concern that more fields could be affected by the protests hurting the countrys vital oil revenues. A week later, the field was back online after the government struck a deal with the security guards that had blockaded it, causing the shutdown.

The protests also shut down another oil field twice in less than a month. The Nassiriya field, in southern Iraq, was first shut down in December and then in January as protesters demanded jobs, the Iraq Oil Report wrote. Nassiriya produces some 80,000 bpd.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Samsung has showed off its new flip phone with a foldable screen in an advert two days before the device is due to be officially announced.

The Galaxy Z Flip, which is rumoured to have a 6.7-inch foldable display made of 'ultra-thin' glass, was revealed in an advert during Sundays Academy Awards ceremony.

The ad shows the phone, which comes in black or purple, relaying video calls while folded at various angles.

The device appears to stay open as it sits on a flat surface, suggesting users will be able to video chat hands-free.

The phone folds up to reveal a compact square, while the back of the hinge shows the embossed Samsung logo.

The tech giant is due to officially reveal both the Galaxy Z Flip and the Galaxy S20 at its Unpacked 2020 media event in San Francisco on Tuesday from 19:00 GMT.

The new phone comes in black and purple and can sit open on a flat surface so users can get a good angle will making video calls hands-free

There are two displays on the new device  one on the inside that folds on top of itself and a second outer screen that shows time, notifications and caller ID when the device is folded up.

The design is meant to emulate the classic 'clamshell' flip phones of the 2000s, including the Samsung S500 and T609.

Although the foldable was not named in the ad, it is widely expected to be confirmed as the 'Galaxy Z Flip'.

In small print during the ad, Samsung warns: You may notice a small crease in the centre of the main screen, which is a natural characteristic of the screen.

Once unfolded, the main screen appears to separate into a video display section and a control panel

The very same warning can also be found on the marketing webpage for Samsung's first foldable device, the Galaxy Fold smartphone, which was withdrawn after initial release last year due to susceptibility to screen damage.

Eagle-eyed viewers of the ad will also notice the text in the bottom right-hand corner that reads: 'Google Duo is a trademark of Google LLC'  showing the device will support Google's video calling app for Android.

Earlier leaks of the Galaxy Z Flip suggest the new device will come with a 6.7-inch OLED screen and 'ultra-thin glass' screen and a metal case.

Small print in the ad warns viewers: 'You may notice a small crease in the centre of the main screen, which is a natural characteristic of the screen.' The warning follows complaints directed at the Galaxy Fold smartphone, released last year, which can pick creases and blemishes after a few folds

The ad shows the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip and its ability to stay open at a variety of angles

The base of the phone once folded shows the Samsung logo embossed in the metallic base

The phone will use USB-C and will not come with a physical headphone jack, the leak suggests, and will support wireless charging.

The Galaxy Z Flip is also expected to support 5G, the next-generation communications standard that allows super-fast internet speeds and downloads.

The Galaxy Z Flip will enter a the nascent market for foldable smartphones, which also includes the Huawei Mate X, the Motorola Razr and Samsungs own 1,800 Galaxy Fold.

Also to be revealed on Tuesday evening, the Galaxy S20 will be the Korean tech giants next flagship and a follow-up to last years Galaxy S10 series.

The S20 line will include the standard S20, the slightly larger S20 Plus and the high-end S20 Ultra, which is rumoured to come with more advanced camera technology including ultra-wide, telephoto and macro lenses.

Leaked images of the Galaxy S20 Plus also show that the handset will feature a four-camera setup on the back, along with a flat screen and thin bezels.

It is believed that the S20 line will include both 4G and 5G variants of the S20 and S20 Plus handsets  meaning there could be at least four S20 devices revealed.

While the main 6.7-inch screen divides up for video calls, the Galaxy Z Flip forms a single display much like any other smartphone

Leaked photos appear to have confirmed that Samsung's next flagship phone will indeed be called the Galaxy S20 as had previously been speculated. Pictured, a leaked image of the Galaxy S20 Plus

Samsung is also expected to announce more details regarding its first smart speaker, the Galaxy Home Mini.

In a now-deleted press release, Samsung revealed the new smart speaker will cost $83 (about 140) and will be equipped with its digital assistant Bixby.

Galaxy Home Mini will also come with 360-degree surround sound to play music and send and receive messages by voice command.

The Galaxy Home Mini (rendered above) will also likely be revealed tomorrow during Unpacked event, a major press event by Samsung

Samsung revealed what was originally planned to be its entry into the smart speaker market back in August 2018  but the Galaxy Home was never commercially released.

With the Galaxy Home Mini, Samsung will likely bypass the original Galaxy Home, which was mocked for its weird, cauldron-shaped design with tripod legs.

The homepage for the original Galaxy Home also now redirects to tomorrow's Unpacked event.
State-owned (IOB) has reported widening of its net loss to Rs 6,075.49 crore during the third quarter ended December 2019, owing to higher provisioning for bad loan.

The bank had registered a net loss of Rs 346.02 crore during the corresponding October-December period of 2018-19.

Its total income during the December 2019 quarter also fell to Rs 5,197.94 crore from Rs 5,688.59 crore in the year-ago quarter, IOB said in a regulatory filing.

Provisioning for jumped to Rs 6,663.94 crore, compared with Rs 2,075.28 crore a year ago.

The bank's gross non-performing assets (NPAs), however, dropped to 17.12 per cent of the gross loans at the end of December 2019, from 23.76 per cent a year ago.

Net NPAs fell to 5.81 per cent from 13.56 per cent.

In value terms, the gross NPAs were valued at Rs 23,733.86 crore from Rs 35,786.57 crore. Net NPAs were Rs 7,087.09 crore from Rs 17,987.92 crore.

On NPA divergence for 2018-19, the bank said there was a gap of Rs 358 crore in gross bad loans, as the bank had reported it to be Rs 33,398 crore while the Reserve Bank of India assessed it to be at Rs 33,756 crore.

Net NPAs divergence was of Rs 358 crore and the divergence for provision came in at Rs 2,208 crore.

Thus, overall loss during 2018-19 was adjusted to Rs 5,999.90 crore from the earlier reported Rs 3,737.90 crore.

The provision coverage ratio improved to 86.20 per cent, IOB said.

Shares of IOB closed at Rs 9.92 apiece on the BSE, up 1.95 per cent.
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NATO is generally seen in a positive light across publics within the alliance, despite lingering tensions between the leaders of individual member countries. A median of 53% across 16 member countries surveyed have a favorable view of the organization, with only 27% expressing a negative view. But opinions of NATO and related issues vary widely across the countries surveyed, especially regarding the obligations of Article 5 of the 75-year-old treaty, which declares that an attack against one member nation is considered an attack against all members.

Positive ratings of NATO among members range from a high of 82% in Poland to 21% in Turkey, with the United States and Germany in the middle at 52% and 57%, respectively. And in the three nonmember states surveyed, Sweden and Ukraine see the alliance positively (63% and 53%, respectively), but only 16% of Russians say the same.

Favorable views of the organization have fluctuated over time among both NATO member and nonmember countries. Since the late 2000s, favorable opinions of NATO are up 10 percentage points or more in Ukraine, Lithuania and Poland. However, positive opinions of NATO are down significantly in Bulgaria, Russia, Germany and France over the past decade, with double-digit percentage point declines in each of these countries. Favorable views of the organization are also down significantly in Spain and the Czech Republic.

In addition, across several countries surveyed, favorable views of the organization are related to ideological orientation, with those on the right sharing a more positive view than those on the ideological left.

NATO serves as a political and military alliance for its 29 member states spanning Europe and North America. Founded in 1949 to provide collective defense against the Soviet Union, the alliance seeks to balance Russian power and influence, in addition to a host of other operations.

Despite the organizations largely favorable ratings among member states, there is widespread reluctance to fulfill the collective defense commitment outlined in Article 5 of NATOs founding treaty. When asked if their country should defend a fellow NATO ally against a potential attack from Russia, a median of 50% across 16 NATO member states say their county should not defend an ally, compared with 38% who say their country should defend an ally against a Russian attack.

Publics are more convinced that the U.S. would use military force to defend a NATO ally from Russia. A median of 60% say the U.S. would defend an ally against Russia, while just 29% say the U.S. would not do so. And in most NATO member countries surveyed, publics are more likely to say the U.S. would defend a NATO ally from a Russian attack than say their own country should do the same.

In terms of transatlantic relations, some Western European publics prefer a close relationship with the U.S., but many others prefer a close relationship with both the U.S. and Russia. Nevertheless, few want to prioritize their relationship with Russia over their U.S. relations. Ideology also relates to views of potential allies: Those on the right in several countries are more likely than those on the left to prefer a relationship with the U.S.

Despite the reservations many have about NATOs Article 5 commitments, half or more in nearly every country surveyed agree it is sometimes necessary to use military force to maintain order in the world. In most countries surveyed, those who say military force is sometimes necessary are also more likely to agree that their country should use military force to defend a fellow NATO ally.

These views have changed significantly over the past decade in some countries. In Ukraine, Russia, Slovakia and Germany, more say military force is sometimes necessary than said the same in 2007. And in Italy, Spain and the Czech Republic, publics have grown less inclined to agree.

On the topic of territorial ambitions, when asked if there are parts of neighboring countries that really belong to their country, relatively few surveyed agree. However, among NATO member states, majorities in Hungary, Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria agree that parts of other countries belong to them. In many European countries, those with a favorable view of right-wing populist parties are more likely to support this statement.

These are among the key findings from a Pew Research Center survey of 19 countries, including 16 NATO member states, Sweden, Russia and Ukraine. The survey was conducted among 21,029 people from May 13 to Aug. 12, 2019. Throughout this report, German results are occasionally sourced from a series of surveys conducted in Germany by Korber-Stiftung, in partnership with Pew Research Center.

NATO viewed favorably across member states, though opinions have shifted over time

Across the 16 NATO member countries surveyed, NATO is generally seen in a positive light. A median of 53% across these countries have a favorable view of the organization, while a median of 27% have an unfavorable opinion. In 13 of these countries, roughly half or more have a positive view of NATO.

Among NATO member countries, positive views of the organization range from 82% in Poland to 21% in Turkey. Majorities of people in Poland, Lithuania, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany rate NATO positively in Europe. Opinions are also relatively positive in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Spain, Hungary and Bulgaria.

Canadians and Americans hold positive views of NATO, with 66% in Canada and 52% in the U.S. expressing favorable opinions.

In Turkey and Greece, publics are particularly unfavorable toward the alliance: Roughly half or more express a negative opinion.

Among the three non-NATO countries surveyed, views of the alliance are mixed. In Sweden and Ukraine, more than half have a favorable view of NATO. But in Russia, 60% have an unfavorable view of the organization, while just 16% view it favorably, the smallest share across all countries surveyed.

Views of NATO have fluctuated since Pew Research Center began asking this question in 2007. In non-NATO-member Ukraine, for example, 34% said they had a favorable view of the organization in 2007. In 2019, 53% said the same, an increase of 19 percentage points. Lithuanians and Poles have also grown more favorable toward NATO over the past 10 to 12 years (increases of 18 and 10 points, respectively).

Several countries have soured on the alliance over that period. In France, favorable views of NATO dropped from 71% in 2009 to 49% in 2019, a decrease of 22 percentage points. In Germany, favorable views of the organization declined by 16 points, and in Bulgaria favorable views are down by 12 points. In nonmember Russia, positive views have been nearly cut in half: In 2007, 30% had a favorable view of NATO. By 2019, just 16% expressed the same sentiment.

Read the full story here.
UNMITIGATED DISASTER: TRUMPS PEACE PLAN

Trumps peace plan for Palestine, titled Peace to Prosperity  A Vision to Improve the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People, was finally revealed at a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the 28th January. This followed more than two years of drawn-out negotiations between the two sides.

The two sides in question, however, were not Israel and Palestine; they were instead Israel and the United States.

The Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organisation were completely excluded from the negotiations and even from the press conference. Due to this overt display of lack of respect for their sovereignty and right to self-determination, the Palestinian government had rejected the deal long before it was published.

In response to the outrageous nature of the deals proposals, the Palestinian government has further suspended all relations with both Israel and the United States. Large protests have broken out across Palestine against the deal.

The deal reconfirms the Trump and Netanyahu governments recognition, denounced at the UN General Assembly by an overwhelming majority of the worlds nations, of undivided Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. For Palestine, it proposes that some minor outlying districts of Jerusalem under current Palestinian control be known as Al-Quds (the Arabic name for Jerusalem as a whole) and be recognised as Palestines capital. Palestinian citizens would theoretically be allowed access to certain religious sites in Jerusalem but it would be under Israeli control and so, presumably, at the Israeli states discretion.

This proposal is emblematic of the deals unacceptable nature as a whole. As a necessary condition to achieve peace between two sides in any longstanding political dispute, the core contradictions must be identified, and practical outcomes which fundamentally transform the nature of each of these contradictions must be agreed upon and put into practice bilaterally. The Jerusalem issue and its religious and cultural significance has been correctly identified as a core contradiction and point of conflict; however, this deal does not transform the nature of this contradiction whatsoever, only further intensifies it.

The plan also confirms Netanyahus intention to annex the existing illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, as well as annex the Jordan Valley, thus entirely encircling the West Bank with Israeli territory.

Two areas close to the Egyptian border would be conceded to Palestine, connected by only one thin strip of land to Gaza. However, none of the border itself would be conceded, and instead Israel would retain its own thin strip right along the border.

The State of Palestine that would remain would be a motley collection of patches of land connected by a few roads, surrounded almost entirely by Israeli territory. The resemblance to apartheid-era South Africa has been noted by many online commentators. Like the Bantustans of apartheid, Palestine would be nominally independent, but the deliberately inconvenient mess of territorial offcuts allotted to them, as well as the unequal treaty between them, would render this independence a political fiction. Once again, this deal does not offer to transform any of the contradictions underlying the conflict, only to intensify them by proposing they be recognised as permanent.

The US proposal for the redrawing of the map (pictured) also shows, rather offhandedly, a tunnel to be built connecting the West Bank and Gaza. The details of this tunnels funding and construction are not elaborated upon by the proposal. Another case of the Mexicans will pay for it?

Trump may well think this is the deal of the century but Netanyahu could not be so foolish. This deal is so obviously unacceptable in so many ways that it would be extremely naive to think that it is intended to have any chance at being accepted. In reality, it signals only that the Israeli regime has entirely turned its back on peace negotiations and seeks only a means to pass the buck  and thereby blame  to Palestine.

There are many provisions, including economic packages, in the plan other than the above territorial issues. However, regardless of what other provisions such a plan may contain, it could never be acceptable unless the land issue is agreed upon. Palestinian land is not for sale. No further compromise on land is permissible; the internationally recognised 1967 borders are the compromise and respecting these borders and Palestines sovereignty and independence is a requirement for peace.
Hongkongers stranded aboard the docked Diamond Princess cruise liner in Yokohama for seven days say they have to contend with stifling boredom, confined spaces, erratic meal times and dirty bedlinen  on top of the threat of the deadly coronavirus.

Young Wo-sang and his wife manage to kill time by watching films and taking advantage of the free internet, but their only wish is to get home  in good health  as soon as possible.

The Youngs are among about 260 Hongkongers staying on the luxury cruise in Japan.

On January 25, thousands of passengers boarded the ship in Hong Kong for the start of an adventure taking in Vietnam, Taiwan and Okinawa.

But as their voyage was about to end at Yokohama on February 4, they were banned by Japanese authorities from leaving the ship for two weeks because a former passenger had been found infected with the new coronavirus, which has killed more than 900 people since emerging from the central Chinese city of Wuhan last month.

The infected 80-year-old man from Hong Kong had disembarked the same vessel in the city on January 25.

By Monday evening, the number of confirmed cases on the ship with 3,700 passengers had risen to 136.

Young, 48, boarded the Diamond Princess on January 25 at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal with his wife.

Young Wo-sang is marooned on the Diamond Princess, where passengers are told to stay in their tiny rooms. Photo: Handout

He said he was worried that the emergence of new cases could lead to an extension of the quarantine period.

I hope we can leave as scheduled or even earlier, Young said.

The captain made an announcement that the Japanese authorities were concerned about the new cases, but he stopped short of saying whether we can leave on February 19. So we just dont know when we are going to leave.

Young said passengers had only been allowed to leave their rooms for up to 1 hours a day since the boat was berthed at the port of Yokohama, which sits 36km south of Tokyo.

Announcements informed passengers when it was time for them to go to an area on deck where masked crew would hand out facial coverings and remind them not to get too close to others.

Story continues

We did not go out. We just open the balcony doors during the day to get the room ventilated with fresh air, and close them in the evening as it can get quite cold here, he said.

We also got a new set of bedding today as well, though the staff members wouldnt come in and do it for us.

Young also said they had been spending time watching films in their room, and taking advantage of the complimentary Wi-fi to stay in touch with the outside world.

Its not too boring, as we can also watch TV and play crossword puzzles delivered to our room, he said.

His chief concern, however, was the meals and when they were served.

A passenger is not impressed with the food, saying it arrives at strange times of the day. Photo: Handout

Every day, we can choose from a few options on what we want to have for lunch and dinner the next day. But theres no choice for breakfast  you are either surprised or shocked by what you get each morning, he said.

Sometimes we get our breakfast as early as 7am, and we dont get our lunch until 2pm. And then theres dinner at 6pm.

Another Hong Kong resident, a woman who only gave her surname Yeung, also said that food was an issue. Sometimes we get our dinner as late as 9pm, she said.

Yeung said she had been staying in her room with her husband the whole time because going out would only increase the risk of infection.

It is quite boring here. I just spend time walking around in the room and watching the harbour, as well as those boats and helicopters hired by Japanese media to take a closer look at us, she said.

I am a bit worried about the new cases of confirmed infections, but it should be all right as long as we open the balcony doors. We also had our temperature checked last week and were each given a thermometer.

Medical workers prepare to transfer Diamond Princess passengers who have tested positive for the coronavirus. Photo: Reuters

In Hong Kong, Democratic Party legislator Helena Wong Pik-wan has urged the health and immigration departments to negotiate with Japanese authorities to charter a flight returning Hongkongers to their home city, where they would be isolated.

It is very dangerous to stay on the Diamond Princess, she said.

Yeung agreed. I want to come back earlier, I hope the authorities can make the flight arrangements, she said.

Pro-establishment lawmaker Vincent Cheng Wing-shun said that apart from an evacuation, Hong Kong and Beijing authorities should also consider sending more officials to help Hong Kong residents onboard.

They also need psychological support because they were only allowed to take a walk on the deck for a short time everyday, he said.

Cheng also proposed that rather than lock up passengers in small cabins, Japanese authorities should transfer people to larger facilities, such as holiday camps, barracks or hospitals, for quarantine.

A spokeswoman for Hong Kongs Immigration Department said the government and its Tokyo office had been trying to help Hongkongers aboard the Diamond Princess. They have contacted Beijing and Tokyos foreign ministries, the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, and the cruise company to understand the situation.

She said Hong Kong officials would stay in touch with the Chinese and Japanese authorities, adding that immigration officers had travelled from the city to Tokyo to provide medical support to the Hongkongers in need.

She said among the 260 Hong Kong residents, three had been infected by the virus and hospitalised in Japan.

More from South China Morning Post:

This article Coronavirus: Hongkongers stuck on the Diamond Princess in Japan struggle with boredom, cabin fever and the threat of infection first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020.
On its surface, cash bail seems simple, say county officials. Defendants give money to the court and promise to come back for hearings in exchange for getting out of jail.

But scratch the surface, and its clear that cash bail has a much larger impact on people in poverty.

Cash bond is kind of a complex issue when you really start to break it down and what it means, said Mandy Bisek, La Crosse Countys Justice Support Services manager.

Bisek, La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke and Judge Elliott Levine will speak at an event titled Unseen Costs of Cash Bail at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the auditorium of the La Crosse Public Library, 800 Main St.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will go over the basics of the bond system and the ways the people who make bond decisions try to make it more fair, particularly to those living in poverty.

The way that cash bail is set up specifically in Wisconsin really does make it so that justice is available based on the amount of money that you have, Bisek said.

La Crosse County sees people accused of crimes who often are living paycheck to paycheck, without $50 to spare, much less $500 for a low cash bond, she said. Those people are left in the La Crosse County Jail while someone accused of the same crime with the same bond is able to get out.

Basing it on cash doesnt make for a super safe system, she said, because anyone with enough money can get out of jail.

When you look at cash bail as an infrastructure that we have based so many peoples freedoms on, it comes down to their access to money, and that doesnt feel right, Bisek said.

Biseks department is in charge of implementing an objective assessment tool, as well as monitoring people out on bond. JSS staff members use factors to determine how likely someone is to return to court and how dangerous they are to let out in the community. When they are out on bond, JSS monitors defendants with GPS, conducts drug testing and connects them to resources

The main purpose of bond is to ensure people appear in court and to protect the community, Gruenke said.

Posting money doesnt really have a lot to do with whether people show up for court or not, but thats the system that Wisconsin has, so were stuck with it, Gruenke said.

Keeping everyone in the jail isnt an ideal solution.

Incarcerating more people is, first of all, expensive. We shouldnt use it unless we really think we need to use it, Gruenke said.

Second of all, when the state incarcerates people it doesnt need to, those people lose productivity, separates them from their family and could even cause them to lose their job, a job they may depend on to keep their children fed and a roof over their head.

Its chaotic for anybody to lose a job, Gruenke said. Itd be a pretty big, major influence in their life, and it may cause problems in the rest of their life. Its just that much harder to get back on your feet.

While sometimes people are really dangerous and need to be incarcerated, he said, but whether someone is kept in the jail shouldnt be decided by how much money they have.

It affects their work and their family life. People who have money dont have to go through the same problems, Gruenke said.

Theres a conflict inherent in the system where on the one hand, people may seem a danger to the community, Gruenke said, but on the other hand they are presumed innocent and havent been convicted of doing anything wrong.

The discussion is a complex one, said La Crosse Public Library programming and community engagement coordinator Barry McKnight.

Weve been talking about this idea for a little while, and we thought this would be a good time to have a community discussion about how cash bail/bond works, the inequities in the system and how the whole thing affects La Crosse and Wisconsin, McKnight said.

Bisek jumped at the chance, saying it was important to take advantage of every opportunity to educate the community and answer any questions people have.

This is a really important conversation, one that our community seems to be very interested in, Bisek said.

McKnight agreed, saying the librarys position as a neutral party makes it an ideal forum to discuss the issue.

We try to have an open and civil discussion about some of these issues. I think thats something that libraries in general are ideally suited for and certainly thats a role we want to have in our community, McKnight said.

Jourdan Vian can be reached at jvian@lacrossetribune.com or follow her on Twitter at @Jourdan_LCT.

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Several Irish islands are connected to the mainland by an isthmus as if the shore cant bear to let them go  an umbilical cord that ties them to the shore till time erodes the link and renders it a true island.

One such is Bullock Island at the mouth of Lough Hyne in West Cork, which is linked to the lough by the famous Rapids which permit seawater to enter the lough twice a day, thus rendering it one of Irelands three saltwater lakes.

Bullocks isthmus, known locally as the Coosh, is a stubby, pebble-strewn bar that disappears at high tide.

At first sight, Bullock Island would seem unremarkable. A hilly, unpopulated rock characterised by a thick coniferous plantation and a near impenetrable forest of vegetation.

Ah, but at second sight 

Cut into the rock at sea level are a series of steps which may be further evidence of an elaborate network of pirate activity from the 17th century.

An underwater archaeologist attached to UCC, Connie Kelleher, has been researching piracy in 17th century West Cork and her forthcoming book on the subject promises to reveal more.

She details several such steps in West Cork of piratical origin such as at Crookhaven and around the corner at Castletownshend at Dutchmans Cove.

They allowed pirates to load and unload booty in an otherwise hostile environment. The steps are usually the width of a human and are worn by the passage of time.

Bullock Islands steps are draped in ivy and, without archaeological examination, it cant be stated definitively that that is what they are.

What Im finding is that the steps often have multi-uses, says Connie. Its a matter of them being put in there to facilitate a number of users, legal and illegal.

"If you have animals you need to be able to get on and off an island; a fisherman may need access to fresh-water sources. What Im interested in is if theyre at high, medium, or low-water mark which would tell you what kind of boats they brought up.

Possible pirate steps cut into the rock.

They may go back to the time of the ODriscolls as well, she says.

This is a reference to the ODriscoll clan who dominated the seas here in the 17th century and whose clan chief Fineen died on Castle Island Lough Hyne.

What may debunk the Bullock Island theory is the name of the island, which was grazed until the 1920s and these steps, narrow as they are, may have been the animals way on and off the island.

Of course, the earlier function may have operated as well as the later.

As Connie relates in her book, West Cork was a hive of pirate activity in the 17th century and coastlines with hidden inlets and harbours were ideal for evading detection by the authorities.

Connies reference to the neglect of the navy by James I compounded by his ineptitude in dealing with corruption by his leading officials  the pirates in Munster were more than capable of out manoeuvring the two or three royal naval vessels sent to patrol the Irish coastline each year.

Piracy, in effect, had carte blanche to flourish, and Bullock Island may have been part of its network.

A huge point of interest on Bullock Island is its 97m cave on the western side which penetrates over half way beneath. Terri Kearney of the Skibbereen Heritage Centre says it is one of the most important habitats in the Lough Hyne reserve overall.

It is popular with kayakers. Terri says a huge part of the local economy up to the 1950s from the late 19th century was sand harvesting east of Bullock Island at a time when commercial fertiliser was not available.

The heavily-laden sandboats would have to enter the lough via the Rapids, which was only possible on a higher tide, she writes. The boatmen calculated the time they could enter the Rapids and clear the coosh by means of the coosh stone which allowed them estimate how much time they had when its hollowed-out surface filled with water.

How to get there:

Bullock Island is privately owned.

Other:

The Alliance of Pirates: Ireland and Atlantic Piracy in the Early Seventeenth Century, Connie Kelleher, Cork University Press (due in April); Lough Hyne: From Prehistory to the Present, Terri Kearney, Macalla Publishing; www.skibbheritage.com
BUCKS COUNTY >> Police in Northampton, Lower Southampton and Upper Makefield townships report the following incidents and arrests: Lower Southampton THEFT >> In the early morning hours on Monday, Jan. 10 two individuals made off with the entire change machine from the Feasterville Laundromat along Bustleton Pike. The male appears to be "cracking himself up" while he hatches his scheme...
The votes for the Delhi Assembly elections 2020 will be counted tomorrow. In order to count votes, 21 centres have been set up across the city. The Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi, Ranveer Singh, told AIR that the counting of votes will begin from 8 am. In order to ensure the secrecy of the vote counting process, paramilitary and Delhi police personnel have been deployed. Apart from ensuring the secrecy of counting of votes, this deployment will also provide a multilayered protection to the EVMs.

Singh also told AIR that all preparations are in place. In the Assembly polls held on February 8, Delhi witnessed a voter turnout of 67 per cent. The highest voter turnout was recorded in Ballimaran at 71.6 per cent whereas the lowest voter turnout was registered at 45.4 per cent in Delhi Cantonment. The polls were conducted in a single phase for all 70 constituencies.

Here's what the exit polls say about Delhi Assembly Polls 2020

According to the India Today- Axis My India poll, the Kejriwal-led AAP is likely to win anywhere between 59-68 seats. The BJP is expected to be a distant second, as per the India Today-Axis My India poll. This exit poll predicts that the BJP could at best win 11 seats and the worst case scenario could be 2 seats. About 48 per cent voters went from BJP to AAP post the 2019 General Elections, according to this poll.

Apart from India Today, exit polls by Times Now-IPSOS, Republic-Jan ki Baat, ABP News, NewsX and TV9 Bharatvarsh also say that Arvind Kejriwal could be the Delhi CM for the third time. These polls stated that AAP could come back to power in Delhi with two-thirds of majority. According to exit polls by almost every media channel, Arvind Kejriwal is the most preferred candidate for Delhi CM.

ABP-C Voter exit poll predicted that the AAP could win 49-63 seats whereas the BJP could win a maximum of 17 seats. The worst case scenario for the BJP, according to the ABP exit poll is 3 seats. This exit poll predicted 0-3 seats for the Grand Old Congress. The Times Now-IPSOS poll predicts that the AAP could easily win 47 seats and the BJP could be a distant second at 23 seats. This poll predicted Congress would not open its account.

The Republic-Jan Ki Baat exit poll predicts that the Kejriwal-led AAP could win 48-61 seats whereas the saffron party was a distant second. The BJP, according to the Republic-Jan Ki Baat exit poll could win maximum 21 seats with the worst case scenario being 9 seats. This poll predicted a single seat for the Congress party.

According to the NewsX-Polstrat exit poll, the AAP could win anywhere between 50-56 seats whereas the saffron party was predicted as a distant second at 10-14 seats. According to this poll, it seems difficult for the Congress to even get a single seat in the Delhi Assembly elections 2020. The TV9 Bharatvarsh exit poll predicts that the AAP is likely to come back in Delhi with a bang. This poll predicted that AAP is likely to get 53-57 seats. The BJP was a distant second yet again at 11-17 seats. The Congress was likely to get 0 seats.

Also read: Delhi Election Result 2020: Counting time; when will trends start coming in?

Also read: Delhi Election Results 2020: Date, vote counting time, FAQs, exit poll results
A "deeply vulnerable" young woman with a traumatic history who is considered a "very serious" risk to certain persons is objecting to being made a ward of court.

A petition by the Child and Family Agency seeking to have the 18-year-old woman made a ward was adjourned at the High Court today at the request of her lawyers to allow another psychiatrist assess her for the purpose of the wardship inquiry.

The assessment was sought by her lawyers following earlier psychiatric assessments.

One psychiatric report has suggested her various disorders suggest a "fluctuating capacity" while two other psychiatrists, and a court-appointed medical visitor, have concluded she lacks capacity to make decisions concerning her welfare.

The wardship petition refers to disorders including a reactive attachment disorder and a sexual sadism disorder.

The Child and Family Agency (CFA) considers she may need to be placed in a UK specialist unit as her complex case exceeds anything the services here have come across.

Barry O'Donnell SC, for the CFA, told High Court president Mr Justice Peter Kelly on Monday that, in the "unusual" circumstances of the underlying complexity of the woman's condition, the Agency was not objecting to an adjournment for the purpose of getting another psychiatric report.

The woman appears reasonably stable in her secure care placement here and a team from a UK unit hope to assess her next month for possible placement there, he said. Other options are also being examined, he added.

Mr Justice Kelly said he would adjourn the matter for further review to late March to allow for the psychiatric assessment and progress concerning the assessment by the UK unit.

The judge noted the woman is not seeking a jury trial of her objection to wardship with the effect the wardship inquiry can proceed before a judge on a date to be fixed.

The CFA late last year obtained various orders continuing secure detention of the woman beyond her 18th birthday and pending the outcome of the wardship proceedings. She is separately subject of District Court criminal proceedings.

An 'immediate and very serious risk' to certain people

The woman and her court-appointed guardian are separately represented in the wardship case because her view about what is in her best interests are "diametrically opposed" to the guardian's.

She also objects to her mother continuing to have any involvement in the case and that matter will be addressed later.

The judge was previously told the woman presents an "immediate and very serious risk" to certain people and to particular categories of people.

There is a prior history of assault and sexual violence and an incident last year had led to her admission to special care. She had described her intentions and a large knife was found, the court heard.

A form of "deep-seated disordered thinking" was illustrated in that she had, on the one hand, set out in a manuscript a plan to kill and mutilate someone which was not treated as a "fantasy" but a "definite" threat while, on the other hand, she talked about wanting to go to college and pursue a career.
New Delhi: In another move to further convince the international community that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is returning to complete normalcy, the Union Government will take a second batch of foreign envoys from different geographical reg-ions to J&K this week, possibly on Thursday.

According to some reports, envoys from European Union-member nations as well as West Asian countries may be part of the group this time. According to other reports, the foreign envoys may also be taken to Budgam in the Kashmir valley this time.

It may be recalled that the first batch of foreign envoys from 15 nations were taken around on January 9 and 10, It, however, did not consist of anyone from either the EU-member nations or West Asia.

Government sources said on Monday, Since the last visit of Envoys, we have received several requests from Ambas-sadors to visit the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. A group of Envoys from different geographical regions will be visiting Jammu and Kashmir this week.

It may be recalled that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had earlier said after the visit of the first batch that those envoys had been taken there to see the efforts being made by the government to bring the situation to normal, and had added that normalcy has been restored to a large extent.

Last month, 15 envoys from United States, South Korea, Vietnam, Bangl-adesh, Fiji, Maldives, Norway, Philippines, Morocco, Argentina, Peru, Niger, Nigeria, Guyana and Togo were part of the delegation that visited the newly-created union territory of J&K.

They interacted with security officials, members of civil society, political leaders and the local media.

During the discussions with members of civil society, the envoys had heard a range of views, with some also critical of the move to revoke Article 370 while there were others who felt that this would bring new opportunities to those sections of society who had felt marginalised earlier.

India had last year defended its move to revoke Article 370 in August, maintaining that The recent legislative measures taken by India within the framework of its Constitution will ensure that these progressive measures will ... (bring) an end to gender disparity, including on property rights and representation in local bodies, adding, There will be better protection of juvenile rights and laws against domestic violence. The rights to education, information and work will now be applicable. Long-standing discrimination against refugees and under privileged sections will end.

Omar Abdullahs sister moves Supreme Court challenging PSA detention

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear the plea by Sara Abdullah Pilot  sister of former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah  challenging her brothers detention under Public Safety Act.

A top court bench headed by Justice N.V. Ramana agreed to listing of the plea by Sara Abdullah upon a mentioning by senior counsel Kapil Sibal seeking an urgent listing.

Omar Abdullah, his father and former J&K chief minister Farooq Abdullah and other senior Kashmiri leaders are under detention since August 5, 2019, under the instructions of the Centre and the state administration following the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the state into Union Territories.

Sara in her petition has contended that there could not be any mew material for further detaining a person who is already under detention for six months. She has also sought quashing of the February 5, 2020, order detaining Omar Abdullah under the PSA. Describing the detention as illegal, Sara Abdullah in her petition says, The grounds for the detention order are wholly lacking any material facts or particulars which are imperative for an order of detention.

Recounting the public service rendered by Omar as CM and as a Union minister, the petition says, It is rare that those who have served the nation as MPs, CMs, ministers in the Union and have also stood by the national aspirations of India are perceived as a threat.

It further says, It is therefore of the utmost importance and of the utmost urgency that this court protects not only the individuals Right to Life and Liberty but also protects the essence of Article 21 which is the cornerstone of Part III of the Constitution, a violation of which is anathema to all that a democratic nation stands for.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 00:41:51|Editor: yan

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LONDON, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- The British government should change the law so that employers have a legal duty to make sure their workplaces are harassment-free, the country's main trade union body has said.

Despite higher levels of awareness, cases of workplace sexual harassment remain alarmingly high in Britain, said the Trades Union Congress (TUC), urging that the law on sexual harassment must be changed on the role of the employers.

"Currently there is no legal requirement for employers to prevent sexual harassment happening in their workplaces. Instead, it is up to the victim to report it after it has happened," said the TUC.

"The government must stop dragging its feet and change the law. Employers, not victims, should be responsible for tackling harassment at work," said TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady.

The TUC suggested employers take simple preventive steps like carrying out mandatory training for all staff and managers and having clear policies.

The union made the call following a report showing that 72 percent of women and 78 percent of young people think the #MeToo movement has allowed people to speak more openly about sexual harassment at work in Britain.

However, 52 percent of women and 63 percent of young women aged from 18 to 24 in the country have experienced workplace sexual harassment, said the report.
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Taxpayers in South Carolina will not only be left with the optics of having an inmate give birth in her jail cell and whose baby died in the toilet, but theyre also on the hook for the $1.15 million dollar lawsuit the woman just won against the state. The State of South Carolina and two healthcare companies responsible for the former inmates healthcare while in prison will be paying up for what seems to be the grossest of negligences: allowing a baby to die in jail.

Sinetra Johnson will get $750,000 from the state Department of Corrections and $200,000 from both Medustrial and MedFirst, healthcare providers for South Carolinas prisons. Johnson reportedly found out she was pregnant for the first time just two days before getting sentenced to two years in prison for a simple parole violation.

At six and a half months, she gave birth to twins while imprisoned in Camille Griffin Graham Correctional Institution located in South Carolinas capital of Columbia.

Johnson says both she and the prison system knew she was pregnant with more than one child. However, when Johnson started having contractions she wasnt quite due. In fact the babies were more than a month early.

After having alerted the guards to her belief she was in labor, she gave birth to her first baby in a prison toilet after being ignored. The second baby was born in the appropriate medical unit, but an autopsy confirmed the first baby could have been saved had Johnson been given adequate care and attention.

The State newspaper interviewed Johnson who says she did not get adequate medical care for herself or her twins. She said no ultrasound nor vaginal medical exam was ever conducted on her. So when the twins were being born Johnson says she knew something wasnt right.

I knew something was wrongIt just wasnt the normal feeling that I had during the 25 weeks prior.

Born at 11:15 pm, Karmin was delivered into a prison toilet. She was still inside her amniotic sack filled with fluid but was suffocating because she was not breathing oxygen. The baby should have been removed from the sack and allowed to breathe air but guards, when they eventually arrived, ordered the other inmates not to touch the baby and to leave it inside the toilet.

Karmin stayed inside the toilet until midnight and eventually passed away. Johnsons son was successfully born inside the medical unit but nothing could be done for his female twin, Karmin, who died most likely because prison guards would not allow her any medical attention. Johnson recalled how hard it was for her following her release from prison.

In the beginning, it was really hardI couldnt go into clothing stores. I would avoid the little girls section all together. I would see people with twins and I would just  break down. I became angry inside. Angry at myself. Angry at the situation. At the way things happened.

Since her release from prison, the eloquent former prison inmate commented on the entire ordeal saying:

(This) shouldnt have to happen. Inmate or not, were still people. The same medical treatment you would get on the outside, ultimately, thats what taxpayers are paying for.

Johnson now lives with Kamryn who is nearly 8 years old. She must share the settlement with the deceased babys father.

Thats right America, average pregnant citizens, not career criminals, end up in prison and are forced to give birth in the same facilities housing the nations criminal elements of society, who often display more compassion than the stoic prison guards who supposedly are paid to protect and serve them. No one was ever charged with criminal negligence in the death of Johnsons baby girl.
(Bloomberg) -- A Republican defending his seat on Texass all-powerful energy regulator is preparing a first-of-its-kind report on natural gas flaring, a practice thats come under fire from environmental groups and even some producers.

The report will showcase flaring trends, its proportion to surging oil production and potentially a list of the best and worst operators, said Ryan Sitton, a member of the Texas Railroad Commission, which actually oversees the oil and gas industry in the state despite its name. His office has been working for the last six months to aggregate data reported by oil and gas operators and aims to release something to the public within the next week or so.

My point is to put the information out there and then we can start to talk policy, Sitton said Thursday in an interview in Houston.

Flaring has come to the fore as one of the worst side effects of the shale boom in Texas as vast amounts of gas from oil wells in the Permian Basin are being burnt off for lack of pipelines to ship it away. While pressure mounts to curb the practice, a supply glut, depressed U.S. gas prices and the distance from key markets for the heating fuel means the byproduct of crude production has little value for explorers in the state.

When a well is drilled, Texas allows producers to flare for the first 10 days without seeking special permission. Anything after that, however, requires approval by the Railroad Commission.

In 2019, the commission granted 6,972 permits allowing companies to flare or vent natural gas, a 40-fold increase from the start of the shale boom a decade ago. Texas crude output, meanwhile, increased fivefold over that period.

Previously, if a member of the public wanted to look at RRC flaring data, they had to pay to get operator production reports, which were in an outdated and difficult-to-manipulate data format, said Colin Leyden, senior manager of regulatory and legislative affairs at the Environmental Defense Fund in Texas. While the RRC has recently made these reports free, they are still very difficult to analyze. Texans shouldnt need advanced computer degrees to understand how much gas is being wasted and which operators are responsible.

In addition to being central to the campaigns of Democrats trying to unseat Sitton, the current scale of flaring in the Permian has even attracted criticism from the oil and gas industry.

On Wednesday, a Royal Dutch Shell Plc executive used an industry conference to call on regulators to craft better policies to reduce flaring in the Permian.

A lot of that has to do with infrastructure, but I believe a bigger part is to do with robust, fit-for-purpose policies and regulatory requirements to incentivize reduction in flaring, Amir Gerges, vice president of Shells operations in the basin, said at the Argus Americas Crude Summit conference in Houston.

Weeks earlier, the co-founder of Houston-based investment bank Tudor Pickering Holt & Co., which advises oil and gas companies, said the state could do more to limit flaring.

Its not an easy, black-and-white, Well-why-dont-you-just-tell-them-to-stop? kind of problem, Bobby Tudor said on the sidelines of an event by the Greater Houston Partnership. But I think in general, a much firmer stand from the Railroad Commission and leadership from the most active companies can make a difference.

Sitton said he agrees that flaring needs to be reduced, but when asked whether that should be done via regulatory actions, he deferred to the coming report. Theres no question, though, that the problem can no longer be ignored.

Everybodys been an influence, Sitton said. Its banks. Its ourselves. Its me going to Midland and talking to people out there who say, Yeah, man, this seems like this is a lot.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Independent MP Zali Steggall says her proposed "sensible centre" laws for more ambitious climate action will need Coalition MPs to cross the floor and public pressure to get through.

The Warringah representative, who ousted former prime minister Tony Abbott at the 2019 federal election campaigning on a climate change platform, on Monday released a private member's bill seeking to enshrine in law the goals of the Paris climate agreement.

Zali Steggall launching her private climate change bill at Parliament on Monday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Ms Steggall would need several Coalition MPs to cross the floor to secure the passage of the bill, to be introduced on March 23, through the lower house and is calling on the government to allow a conscience vote.

Failing that, she said Centre Alliance senators would introduce the reforms to the upper house and, ultimately, she hoped people power could persuade the government to follow her lead.
Anti-government protesters in France have attacked the Paris headquarters of BlackRock - the world's largest fund managing firm.

A mob calling for President Emmanuel Macron to resign forced their way in to the upmarket Centorial building and began to vandalise property and daubed graffiti on walls.

It is the latest in a series of violent incidents carried out by opponents of Mr Macron's pension reforms.

BlackRock, the New York-based company, is said to have played a role in shaping the controversial new legislation for Mr Macron, a former merchant banker.

The BlackRock HQ in Paris was stormed by anti-government protesters who vandalised the building and dumped red paint across the floor

A giant Anarchist symbol was pained on the floor in red paint when demonstrators smashed their way into the world's largest fund managing firm

'The mob was chanting anti-capitalist slogans and saying the BlackRock was part of a global conspiracy,' said an eyewitness to the attack that started soon after midday on Monday.

'There were around a hundred hardcore intruders who made their way into the headquarters, and then targeted individual offices.'

The mob tried to organise a sit-in, but Republican Security Guard (CRS) riot police then arrived and forced them out of the building.

The demonstrators were waving Anarchist flags, as well as ones denoting ecological groups such as Extinction Rebellion.

Videos posted on Twitter by the group members showed the aftermath of the attack on one set of offices.

The mob called for President Emmanuel Macron to resign then forced their way in to the upmarket Centorial building and began to vandalise the property

Protesters tried to organise a sit-in, but heavily armed Republican Security Guard (CRS) riot police then arrived and forced them out of the building

Papers had been scattered around the floor, and slogans such as 'The Yellow Vests Triumphant' written on walls.

This referred to the French anti-government group best known for their trademark bright yellow road jackets.

'Black Rock Murderer' had also been written, and large amounts of red paint splashed around as an alarm sounded.

Protesters also blocked entrances with furniture, creating barricades to prevent police and security guards getting to them.

BlackRock's involvement in most of the world's listed companies has turned it into a prime target for anti-establishment anger.

Despite the criticism in France, BlackRock has repeatedly denied that it lobbied for the pension changes.

Two years ago it was revealed that former British Chancellor George Osborne was earning 650,000 a year for working for four days a month at BlackRock.
NPS

February 5, 2020

Contact: Kelly Kincaid, 208-843-7014

LAPWAI, Idaho  Would you like to share your traditional skills or stories with your community? Present your skills this summer at Nez Perce National Historical Parks 2020 speaker series.
South Africa: Suspected drug mules to appear before court

Three suspected drug mules will appear before the Kempton Park Magistrate Court this morning after they were arrested on Saturday for drug trafficking at the OR Tambo International Airport (ORTIA).

The three -- two men and a woman -- were nabbed during an integrated multi-disciplinary operation at the ORTIA.

In a statement, police spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said: In the first incident, members from the South African Police Service, South African Revenue Service, ACSA and ORTIA Security acted on intelligence and intercepted a man and a woman at approximately 9.30am as they arrived from South America.

The woman, he said, was carrying over 21 kilograms of a substance suspected to be cocaine in her check-in luggage, and also of 4 kilograms of a substance suspected to be cocaine, which she had strapped around her waist and chest.

Meanwhile, the Hawks acted on information and intercepted a 49-year-old Brakpan man as he was about to depart to Hong Kong on the 11.30am flight.

The man was found with over five kilograms of cocaine, which was also strapped around his waist and chest, he said.

This is the second time in less than a month that an alleged drug mule travelling to Hong Kong with cocaine is intercepted at ORTIA. On 12 January this year, Fiona Kruger was intercepted and arrested at the airport after she was also found in possession of cocaine.

Since 1 January 2019 to date, the joint team secured an average of 20 drug busts per month, including parcels coming through Mail Centre, via courier companies, as well as an average of one drug mule per week arrested at ORTIA alone, Naidoo said.

These drug successes, he said, are an indication of the capacity and capabilities the joint security forces have to decisively deal with the numerous attempts to use ORTIA as a thoroughfare for drug smuggling.

This clearly negates recent media reports that drug smugglers pass through O R Tambo International Airport undetected," said Naidoo.

He said it was also important to note that neither the SAPS nor any other department that forms part of the joint operational team at ORTIA has been contacted for comment or confirmation in those recent media reports.

He urged anyone with information to contact the SAPS Crime Stop number 086 00 10111 or information can be channelled through the MySAPSApp.

All information will be treated with strictest confidence and callers may remain anonymous, he said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-02-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Ahmedabad, Feb 10 : Congress leader Hardik Patel's wife Kinjal here on Monday claimed her husband was untraceable since his release from jail on January 24. He was arrested on January 18.

Kinjal said he had not made any contact with the family though he had tweeted about his release. "Has been released from detention of dictatorship. But what's my fault," he had tweeted On January 24.

Charging the "government machinery" for Patel's disappearance, Kinjal said the family was being harassed by the government.

"My husband was arrested and sent to jail in many cases. On several occasions, as soon as he came out of jail, he was rearrested and put behind the bars in some other case. Don't you think this is harassment," Kinjal said.

Fearing for her husband's life, Kinjal claimed the police often visited her house at odd hours.

Responding to her allegations, Gujarat Director General of Police (DGP) Shivanand Jha told IANS: "Is this a topic to talk on? I don't think he (Hardik Patel) deserves a comment. He is not worth it." However, Kinjal's claims have created a ripple and are being talked about in the police and the political circles -- from Gujarat to Delhi. The Ahmedabad Police have been maintaining a studied silence on her allegations.

Patel had earlier tweeted "that he will not bow down" apparently referring to the BJP.

Meanwhile, the Patidar Anamat Andolan sources said they were unable to establish any contact with Patel. "Nobody knows if he has gone underground or what," said a leader.

The Congress has said the Gujarat Police were misusing their power and had charged the Patidar leader in several cases.
HARTFORD  A new horror movie by Elle Mercurio made its Illinois debut Saturday at the Lewis and Clark State HIstoric Site in Hartford where it was filmed last year.

Mercurio, who lives in Florissant, Missouri, wrote the story as a college student about five years ago and made the film as a creative way to bring awareness to heroin and opiate addiction.

Its the most life-changing thing, to try to help other people, said Mercurio. I dont know that I can put it in words. I am just really excited to be able to share recovery with people, because people are dying out there right now.

If I can prevent one more parent from burying their child or one more child from burying their parent, then Ive done my job with all of this, she said.

Set in 1587 and based on a true story, Claimed tells of English colonists who disappeared within three years after settling in America. While the film is a combination of horror and historical and speculative fiction, the colonists disappearance also serves as a metaphor for the hundreds of thousands of heroin addicts who go missing in the U.S. every day, Mercurio said.

A total of 252 people volunteered as cast and crew for the project, with several expressing their support of the cause.

Ive never done any kind of film or movie or any of that, said actress Elisabeth Baum. But the cause was worthwhile and it meant a good deal to me, so I joined in. It was a real eye opening experience.

Jon Musgrave of the Southern Illinois Film Commission was at the premiere and shared his interest in Mercurios project, along with other small and larger projects in the region.

Were excited that were seeing smaller productions, said Musgrave. Our goal is to bring in big productions. But one of the things we have to do is find and identify who we have as crew.

To place some of the medium-sized Indies (independent films), they want to know if we have crew in the area that can come in as a gaffer or do we have camera people who can actually be a DP (director of photography), he said. She (Mercurio) had people from the St. Louis area and all over the region helping out, and then I saw her help out on another project. So we find that exciting.

One of Mercurios background actors, Tim Sullivan, is also a filmmaker. His film, The Other Side, was recently accepted into the St. Louis Fimmakers Showcase. As a writer, director and actor in his own film, he had skills that Mercurio was looking for in her project.

I think Elle saw me post a trailer for it and saw me acting in that and thats why she asked me if I wanted to be in this film, said Sullivan. Ive seen some footage, but not the finished cut. Im interested in seeing how it turns out.

Londa Hill, who plays the role of lead witch in Claimed, doesnt have the experience of Sullivan. But she said that, when Mercurio met her, she immediately wanted her for the part.

It was exciting, said Hill. I felt really liberated, actually; I came out of my shell. I got the chance to do a once in a lifetime thing that not many people can say that theyve done  be a part of something that is creative and unique and express myself.

The Illinois premiere is just the start for Mercurio, who is looking forward to partnering with a Los Angeles editing company to work out any remaining hiccups in the film which has already been accepted to multiple film festivals and shown at different locations in the St. Louis area.

I pray that this movement and call for action will ripple through our country and our communities and people will take a stand against this modern day horror that all too many people know all too well, said Mercurio.
Need more pizza in your life?

Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the best affordable pizza sources in Cambridge, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of the best spots to venture next time you're on the hunt.

1. Pinocchio's Pizza & Subs

Photo: karen l./Yelp

Topping the list is Pinocchio's Pizza & Subs. Located at 74 Winthrop St. in Riverside, the spot to score pizza and more is the highest-rated cheap pizza spot in Cambridge, boasting four stars out of 695 reviews on Yelp.

The business has been, "making excellent pizza for a reasonable price in a friendly atmosphere," it notes on Yelp in the section highlighting specialties.

2. Otto

Next up is West Cambridge's Otto, situated at 1432 Massachusetts Ave. With four stars out of 431 reviews on Yelp, the gluten-free and vegetarian spot, offering pizza and more, has proved to be a local favorite for those looking for a cheap option.

"Otto began in Portland, ME in June of 2009," the business explains in the history section of its Yelp profile. "Immediately embraced by foodies and those simply seeking a good slice of pie, Otto has grown to 10 locations in Massachusetts and Maine, garnering regional and national awards along the way."

3. Alfredo's Italian Kitchen

Photo: em b./Yelp

Wellington-Harrington's Alfredo's Italian Kitchen, located at 691 Cambridge St., is another top choice, with Yelpers giving the budget-friendly Italian spot, which offers pizza and more, four stars out of 44 reviews.

"We opened our Cambridge location in July of 2014" in notes in the history section of its Yelp profile.

"Discover real North-End Italian flavor," it states on Yelp in the section highlighting specialties. "Each dish is prepared from fresh, wholesome ingredients. Choose traditional or contemporary selections from our extensive take-out or catering menus."

4. Blaze Fast-Fire'd Pizza

Photo: Donald S./Yelp

This outpost of the national chain Blaze Fast-Fire'd Pizza, a fast-food spot that offers pizza, salads and more in East Cambridge, is another low-priced go-to, with four stars out of 206 Yelp reviews. Head over to One Canal Park to see for yourself.

"OK, we're gonna keep this quick," it states on Yelp in the section highlighting specialties. "Fresh, made-from-scratch dough. Healthful, artisanal ingredients on the assembly line. Inventive to classic. You decide."

This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
John Cross has been appointed chair of Livestock Information Limited, the company which will replace existing livestock tracing systems for cattle, sheep and pigs in England.

The fifth generation farmer will provide strategic leadership to the company as it creates the Livestock Information Service (LIS).

The service wants to pioneer a new and closer way of working between government and industry that will cement the UKs reputation for producing high quality, sustainable and trusted products.

Mr Cross said LIS is a 'once-in-a-lifetime chance' to transform the way traceability is managed in the livestock industry.

Based in Norfolk, he was Chair of the English Beef and Lamb Executive (EBLEX) from 2002 to 2015.

He is currently chair of the Traceability Design User Group (TDUG), the industry body set up to advise on the creation of LIS.

He has held many similar roles in the past, and in 2015 he was awarded the prestigious Royal Smithfield Club Prize for outstanding contributions to the Livestock Sector.

Livestock Information Ltd was created in October 2019, as a subsidiary company of AHDB, owned 51% by AHDB and 49% by Defra.

Commenting on the appointment, AHDB CEO Jane King said His experience has earned him the respect and trust of the whole industry, making him the ideal leader for a programme which will set new standards for collaboration between government and producers.

Hes been part of the Livestock Information programme from the early days, and Im confident in his ability to lead the company to success as it moves into delivery, taking the programme from the drawing board and into the real world.

John Cross added: The massive strides this programme has made since its inception will soon start to produce real-world results which will positively impact producers at all levels.

As a farmer myself, I know what the sectors need world-class traceability to deliver, and as someone whos supported the programme for many years I can see the way we can make those changes come about in a user-friendly way.
WFH for Private offices in Delhi, restaurants & bars to be shut as Omicron-led to sudden rise in Covid cases

Coronavirus impact on component supply from China, worries auto industry

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 10: The Indian automotive industry is apprehensive about coronavirus outbreak disrupting component supplies from China, but a clear picture will emerge only in the next few days after factories in the country reopen, SIAM said on Monday.

Auto industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said it will be collecting information and data from its members in the next couple of days to understand if there could be disruptions, and to what extent, if there are any.

"It is still slightly early to comment on it. The only thing I can say is that there are apprehensions and everybody is waiting to see as today is the day when China (market) is supposed to open up post their Chinese New Year holidays," SIAM Director General Rajesh Menon told reporters here.

Coronavirus: China's death toll exceeds 900, surpasses total from SARS

He was responding to query on whether the coronavirus outbreak would disrupt supplies from China and, if that happens, how it could affect transition to BS-VI emission norm from BS-IV from April 1.

"We will get clarity on the exact nature of impact and the possible implications. What is clear is that there are apprehensions. To what extent the problem will be, we will come to know in the next few days," Menon reiterated.

NEWS AT 3 PM, FEB 10th, 2020

When asked if there would be a need for SIAM to make a representation to the Supreme Court to extend the BS-VI transition deadline in the wake of possible supply disruption due to coronavirus, Menon said, "It is too early (to comment on that). We have to wait from our member companies to decide on that. In two or three days we will have a better idea."

He said the supply chain in the auto industry ranges from Tier I to Tier II and III suppliers, and information has to come from across.

Fact Check: Is China planning to kill 20,000 coronavirus patients

"We are in touch with member companies and we will see what needs to be done once we have more data in hand," Menon said.

He further said it was too early to assess how much of components come from China would see disruption.

When asked about the problem posed by coronavirus, Maruti Suzuki Managing Director and CEO Kenichi Ayukawa told PTI, "Nobody knows at this moment."

He further said it was unclear at the moment as to how long the outbreak would last and what sort of impact it could have.

"Some people say it is very serious and some people say maybe three months later it will be fine," Ayukawa said, adding that the situation needed to be assessed.

Last week, Tata Motors CEO and Managing Director Guenter Butschek had said that clarity about supply constraints of components from China will only emerge when workers in the coronavirus-hit country rejoin work (expected from Monday).

The company, which imports certain components for both Nexon EV and other traditional models from China, said if the workers don't join work next week, then it could lead to supply issues for not only for Tata Motors but for the entire global automobile industry.

The coronavirus outbreak and subsequent advisories on Chinese travelling into India has had an impact on the attendance of officials from participating companies at the Auto Expo here.

How Indias production of diabetes drugs, antibiotics could be hit by prolonged coronavirus crisis?

China's largest SUV manufacturer Great Wall Motor (GWM), which announced USD 1 billion in India, stated that its leadership team from the headquarter could not make it here due to the outbreak and the subsequent travel advisories.

China's FAW Group firm automaker Haima Automobile also cancelled its scheduled press conference as top leadership team of the company could not make it to India.
Various environmentalists are saying that the old adage about water being for fighting over doesnt have to apply to Napa County.

The group called Water Audit California has used lawsuits to pry water releases from local reservoirs for fish and has threatened a groundwater-related lawsuit against Napa County. The group last week co-sponsored a forum to suggest another way.

Nearly 150 people packed the 105-year-old Native Sons of the Golden West hall in downtown Napa on Friday for the Napa watershed forum.

Were here because you folks have a golden opportunity, William McKinnon of Water Audit California said. You have the ability to show everyone else how to take care of the problems not by litigation and fighting and saying, Mine, mine, mine.

At issue are the Napa River and its watershed. The river travels the length of Napa Valley, winding past vineyards and through the city of Napa carrying storm runoff to San Pablo Bay during the rainy season.

Unlike waterways in some places, such as Los Angeles, the Napa River was never stuffed into a concrete-lined canal. Its watershed isnt paved over with streets and buildings.

Previous generations have really gifted us with a gem of watershed, Amber Manfree, a Water Audit California adviser and Napa County supervisor candidate, told the forum audience.

Still, tensions have arisen. Measure C in 2018 divided the community over how much additional county watershed protection laws are needed. Water Audit California and its members sued to have more water for fish released from Bell, Kimball and Rector reservoirs serving St. Helena, Calistoga and Yountville.

Peter Moyle during the forum suggested an approach he called ecosystem-based management. Moyle is associate director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at the University of California, Davis.

Basically, its a management designed to support good ecological conditions in a river system and these conditions are supposed to be good for both people and fish, Moyle said.

Moyle supports a holistic approach that manages water, land and species to improve the ecosystem for both native biodiversity and human use. Various stakeholders and experts come together agree on a desired ecosystem condition.

This is desired ecosystem condition is an important aspect of it, because it says were in charge, Moyle said.

He mentioned such techniques as releasing water flows from dams at certain times to benefit different species, improving river habitat and managing at a watershed level.

Why we need this kind of approach is simply because weve screwed up our (California) water systems so much that controversies are arising that are heralded as disputes between people and fish, he said. Its making life a lot more difficult for people than I think it needs to be.

The forum included a look at how Solano and Yolo counties manage the 23 miles of lower Putah Creek.

Lower Putah Creek has water supplies squeezed by 300-foot-tall Monticello Dam, built in the late 1950s to create Lake Berryessa reservoir. During the 1987-1992 drought, fish died in a dry lower Putah Creek streambed.

That led to Yolo County environmentalists in 1991 suing Solano County water interests that use Lake Berryessa water for farms and cities. The parties reached a settlement in 1999 to work together.

Among the results is additional water flows being released from Lake Berryessa for Putah Creek fish at certain times. Lower Putah Creek has a streamkeeper to work with landowners on creek restoration.

I dont think there is any other way but engagement of the community to solve the problems, streamkeeper Rich Marovich told the forum.

Putah Creek has seen its salmon population increase from a dozen to more than 500 per year, Marovich said. Over 20 years, the Putah Creek effort has attracted $14 million in grants for monitoring and restoration.

What might all of this mean for Napa County? County Supervisor Brad Wagenknecht attended the forum and said on Monday that he found it interesting.

One of the things I thought most promising is they are talking more broadly about water and how were going to do water in the county, Wagenknecht said. I think theres a good part of our board that wants to do a broader water conversation. Im very interested in that.

Wagenknecht also noted that forum organizers passed out and praised a document called Napa River Watershed Owners Manual. That community effort prepared by the Napa County Resource Conservation District dates to the 1990s.

Mike Hackett of Growers/Vintners for Responsible Agriculture said the forum was meant to be educational. The goal is to collaborate with the county.

I would like to say at the outset that this is not a political event, Hackett told the audience.

Attendees at the forum ranged from several Napa County planning commissioners and Open Space District board members to local environmentalists such as Jim Wilson and Chris Malan.

As Manfree noted, the Napa River has seen its own share of restoration projects. Among them are the Rutherford Reach and Oak Knoll to Oakville efforts to recreate Napa River flood plains near vineyards, the Living River Napa County flood control project and tidal wetlands restoration in the south county.

Sponsors of the Napa watershed forum were Water Audit California, Growers/Vintners for Responsible Agriculture and Napa Vision 2050.

You can reach Barry Eberling at 256-2253 or beberling@napanews.com.

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Former "America's Got Talent" judge Gabrielle Union is allegedly filing a lawsuit to one of her former co-judges, Simon Cowell.

Union was far from happy with her experience on the set of the talent reality show and has sparked an entire investigation into the show.

However, one specific reason why Union was suing the talent search mogul was because of his habits on set. For many years, it has been known that Simon has a habit of smoking in between commercial breaks when filming.

While some of his colleagues reason it out with him, Union believes that Cowell has put her life in danger because of smoking, according to the Daily Mail.

An insider told The Mail on Sunday that Cowell exposed her to the dangers of passive smoking, saying, "Gabrielle was always cross that Simon would smoke when the cameras weren't running."

And for Union, it is a big deal because she believes it can cause cancer and "she doesn't think she deserves to have been at risk when she was at work."

The former AGT judge has employed Attorney Bryan Freedman to represent her lawsuit against the Syco boss. Freedman has worked with many high-profile celebrities in the past, including Jennifer Aniston and Megan Kelly. He is also featured in a list of "power lawyers" that were compiled by The Hollywood Reporter.

Despite that, California has a strict law on the smoking ban for employers from "knowingly or intentionally permitting the smoking of tobacco products in an enclosed place of employment," including restaurants and bars.

The bill also prohibits smoking in daycare facilities, including private residences, which could make the Union's stance even stronger.

I have cut down smoking. A lot. Using electric cigarettes to help. Are they bad for you?  Simon Cowell (@SimonCowell) April 28, 2013

Part of Something Bigger

Gabrielle Union and Simon Cowell's feud is nothing new.

In November, it was reported that Union and another judge, Julianne Hough, were fired from the show after only one season of judging.

Union prompted producers of the show to report an incident involving a racist joke by former "Tonight" show host Jay Leno. The episode aired on August 6, but the joke was edited out. Union pushed Human Resources to be alerted.

The headlines that surrounded her termination included charges that producers told her on multiple occasions that her hairstyles for the program were too black.

However, in a sit-down interview with The Hollywood Reporter, NBC said that there would be an investigation to understand deeper the facts.

The network also claimed that they are working with Union to come to a sportive resolution.

Making a Statement

Speaking to a "Power of Inclusivity and the Women Leading the Charge" panel in New York City in December, Union addressed her recent firing from the show. Although she did not mention "America's Got Talent" by name, it is already understood that she refers to it.

According to Variety, she reportedly said, "Don't be the happy negro that does the bidding of the status quo because you're afraid. Don't allow them to call you angry when someone else is passionate."

Unino also exclaimed that it is terrifying because of a "chance" that you'll lose your job; however, she added, "I speak from experience."

READ MORE: 'Birds of Prey' Flies Low With Weakest DC Debut -- Here's What Happened
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Vietnam has shipped medical supplies and equipment worth US$500,000 to China to help the neighboring country combat a pneumonia epidemic caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

An aircraft of national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines on Sunday transported the equipment to Wuhan City in the central Chinese province of Hubei.

The plane also carried 11 Chinese citizens back to their home country and will return with some Vietnamese nationals from Hubei.

Prior to the departure, a ceremony was organized at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, during which Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs To Anh Dung handed over the assistance to Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Xiong Bo.

The equipment, including ventilators, cleanroom suits, gloves, and face masks, was valued at $500,000 in total.

The items demonstrate Vietnams solidarity with China as well as its efforts to support the neighboring nation amidst the 2019-nCoV epidemic, Dung elaborated.

The equipment and supplies are of the best of their kind in Vietnam, the official added.

Vietnam is taking drastic measures to contain the epidemic and protect the health of its people, as well as coordinating with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other countries in coping with the situation.

As ASEAN Chair in 2020, the country is also promoting the blocs common efforts to stand side by side with China and other nations in the fight against the epidemic, Dung remarked.

Ambassador Xiong said he appreciates the precious assistance provided by the Vietnamese Party, government, and people.

He described the medical equipment and supplies as both material and spiritual support for the Chinese people during this difficult time.

The diplomat praised Vietnams determination and efforts in containing the epidemic, expressing his belief that the country will successfully deal with its impacts.

The medical equipment and supplies would be immediately delivered to Wuhan City, the frontline of the 2019-nCoV epidemic, he said.

On this occasion, the Vietnam Red Cross Society has also donated medical supplies worth $100,000 to China.

The novel coronavirus, which first surfaced in Wuhan in December 2019, has killed 910 people, of whom 908 were in mainland China, and infected over 40,550 globally as of Monday, according to the South China Morning Post.

It has spread across mainland China and to 27 other countries and regions, Reuters reported on the same day.

Vietnam has confirmed 14 cases so far, including 11 Vietnamese, one Vietnamese American, and two Chinese.

Among them, one Chinese and two Vietnamese have fully recovered and been released from hospital.

Nearly 500 people remain in quarantine in Vietnam because of 2019-nCoV as of Monday morning, including 83 cases of suspected infection and 392 asymptomatic cases isolated due to having recent close contact with high-risk individuals, according to the Ministry of Health.

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[February 10, 2020] United States District Court Sides Again With Park Assist on Motion of Patent Infringement Case

United States District Judge, Honorable Roger T. Benitez, issued an Order (https://parkassist.box.com/v/ace-parking) on January 30, 2020, ruling in Park Assist's favor by denying Ace Parking Management, Inc.'s ("Ace") motion for sanctions against Park Assist. Ace's motion had claimed that Park Assist's patent infringement action against Ace was unfounded and did not have a reasonable basis. The Order stems from Park Assist's suit against the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority ("Airport") and Ace for infringement of Park Assist's U.S. Patent 9,594,956 directed to a method and system for managing a parking lot based on intelligent imaging. The Judge noted in denying Ace's motion that "both the original and Amended Complaints [by Park Assist for patent infringement] evince a thorough re-filing analysis by Park Assist and its counsel" and found this to be "a good faith, informed comparison" including by comparing the patent claims to the Airport Parking System. Judge Benitez concluded by finding that "Ace Parking's Rule 11 motion lack[ed] merit" and found it notable that even Ace's co-defendant "[the Airport did] not join in Ace Parking's motion." Park Assist as the prevailing party now has the option to seek all its fees for having to oppose the failed Ace motion.



This is the second consecutive substantive merits motion on which Park Assist has prevailed. After Park Assist initiated the infringement action against the Airport, the Airport and Ace moved to dismiss Park Assist's case by attacking the patent's validity. That motion was similarly denied on August 23, 2019. With the Court now having rejected both motions, the infringement action against the Airport and Ace will continue.

About Park Assist: Pioneers of camera-based parking guidance and PGS systems with core business intelligence, Park Assist continues to enhance its patented, proprietary technology through leading-edge product innovations and robust API-driven solutions. With nine strategically located offices across the globe, the company serves many of the world's premier property developers and operators. The latest example of the data-driven explorations that inform the cutting-edge innovations and proven solutions we continue to bring to the marketplace. For more information, please visit: www.parkassist.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200210005622/en/

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A team of marine conservationists were came under gun fire from pirate poachers aboard small boats in the upper Gulf of California on Saturday morning.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said its crew was surveying a section in what in what is known as the 'critical zone' of an area designated as a refuge for the vaquita because several of the porpoises have been sighted there.

The vaquita population has been dramatically reduced by illegal net fishing for the totoaba, whose swim bladders can sell for thousands of dollars in China. Only about a dozen or so of the reclusive porpoises are believed to remain in the gulf, also known as the Sea of Cortez.

Officials from the Mexican navy, federal police and Mexican environmental protection agency were also onboard the M/V Sharpie.

Surveillance video and photos shared by Sea Shepherd showed the moment four skiffs, known locally as pangas, approached the vessel and began to chase it at full speed, swerving in front and around the ship.

The crew of a vessel with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society was attacked by pirate poachers Saturday morning in the upper Gulf of California. The crew was surveying an area home to the vaquita population, which has been dramatically reduced by illegal net fishing

A group of poachers fired off two shots at a team of marine conservationists Saturday in the upper Gulf of California

Last week the crew aboard the Sea Shepherd's M/V Sharpie brought aboard a dolphin that was trapped in a net. Despite an attempt to save it, the dolphin later died

The non-profit organization, which is based out of San Juan Island, Washington, said Sharpie's captain carried out anti-piracy procedures, including the use of water cannons and other anti-boarding techniques.

The pirates fired at least two shots fired from the skiffs landed in the water near the Sea Shepherd vessel, which was not hit during the incident.

Sea Shepherd said no injuries occurred.

'This just shows how aggressive the poachers are here. It proves to us that they are armed and that we need to take every panga that we come across seriously, because we have no idea what they are capable of,' said Jacqueline Le Duc, Captain of the M/V Sharpie.

Mexico's environmental protection agency also acknowledged the incident, while saying it would continue to collaborate with Sea Shepherd in an effort to protect the environment.

Pirates aboard a small boat (left) crossed in front of the vessel, which was shot at twice

Jacqueline Le Duc, Captain of the M/V Sharpie, said its crew is extremely careful when it encounters the pirate poachers. In January, a separate vessel was attacked with Molotov cocktails and rocks

Poachers aboard a small boat hunt for vaquitas in the upper Gulf of California. The porpoise is on the brink of extinction

The aggression on Saturday was in the same area in which Sea Shepherd discovered a dead vaquita trapped in a gillnet last March.

Mexico's environmental protection agency said that porpoise was in an advanced state of decay but had deep stabbing wounds as well as slashes consistent with the cutting of nets around the animal.

Sea Shepherd has been working with Mexican authorities in the area for six years, removing the illegal gillnets that threaten the species.

Marine conservationists attempted to save a dolphin that was trapped inside a net in the upper Gulf of California, an area frequented by illegal poachers

Surveillance camera from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society M/V Sharpie vessel captures the moment it is being chased by one of four fishing skiffs in the upper Gulf of California

The crew last week attempted to save a dolphin that was caught in a net. But the effort came up short when the dolphin died.

Poachers have resorted to violence in the area before.

In January 2019, Sea Shepherd vessel the M/V Farley Mowat was attacked by a mob of over 50 skiffs, who hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails at the ship, breaking its windows and setting its hull on fire.

Earlier that same month, Sea Shepherd said poachers ambushed and illegally boarded the Farley Mowat.
(Newser)  Winds at the Kirkwood Mountain Resort near Lake Tahoe were so strong on Sunday that the ski resort closed for the day "to ensure guest and employee safety," reports KCRA. The resort's tweet on the matter also cited a notable stat: that the wind gusts may have reached as high as 209mph. CBS News reports that number was indeed captured right before 8am Sunday by a weather gauge located more than 9,100 feet up the Alpine County mountain, and it may be a record-breaking one, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Alex Hoon.

story continues below

Hoon said he and co-workers based in Reno, Nev., watched in awe as wind speeds passed the 150mph mark and kept going "up and up." Although he adds that state climatologists have to confirm the "exciting" numbera task he says could take months"it looks legitimate." The previous California wind-gust record was 199mph, set in February 2017 at Ward Peak, also near Lake Tahoe; that number wasn't verified for nearly 10 months, notes KOLO. Another NWS meteorologist, Mark Deutschendorf, tells the station the current conditions are the result of a weather system bringing strong winds out of the northeast, which is the opposite of how winds usually sweep down on the Sierra Nevada range. (Read more high winds stories.)
Hungarian Ambassador to South Korea Mozes Csoma, right, holds a photo album on Hungary's relations with the Korean Peninsula, as professor Chang Du-sik from Dankook University's Institute of Hungarian Studies looks on during a publication ceremony at the Hungarian Cultural Institute in Myeong-dong, Seoul, Feb. 6. / Korea Times photo by Yi Whan-woo



By Yi Whan-woo



A photo album published by Hungarian Ambassador to Seoul Mozes Csoma last week adds to a series of books that shows the scholar-turned-diplomat's deep understanding of the Korean Peninsula's history in relation to Hungary.



Titled "The relations of the Korean Peninsula and Hungary seen through rare photos," the 260-page album consists of photos handpicked by Csoma from the archives run by the embassy and the Hungarian News Agency among other public and private institutions.



The album was to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Hungary-South Korea diplomatic relations in 2019.



The photos date back as early as 1908, 16 years after the Korean Empire signed a Treaty of Friendship with the Austro-Hungarian Empire.



The episodes depicted on the photos encompass the nascent governments of the two Koreas after the 1945 liberation of the Korean Peninsula from the Japanese colonization, Hungary-North Korea friendship during the Cold War era, South Korean students' support for anti-communist Hungarian Revolution in 1956, the 1989 diplomatic treaty between the two sides and 30 years of cooperation since then.



"This album indeed is about the time during the Korean Empire to the liberation to the present South Korea," Ambassador Csoma, speaking in fluent Korean, said during a ceremony to celebrate the publication at the Hungarian Cultural Institute in Myeong-dong, Seoul, Feb. 6. "For this reason, I opted for the Korean Peninsula over the Republic of Korea for the title of this album."



Also a founding member and former head of the Department of Korean Studies at the University of Budapest, Csoma said he especially spent time on finding "less well-known but outstanding pictures."



The ambassador reckoned the 30th anniversary last year "offered a great opportunity to take a thorough look at the history of the two distant nations" and that the commemorative album will be "highly interesting and informative."



The participants at the ceremony included Hungarian Cultural Institute Director Andrea Kalman and Chang Du-sik, general manager at Dankook University's Institute of Hungarian Studies.



In her congratulatory speech, Kalman assessed the album as "a precious reference to a deep bond between Hungary and the Korean Peninsula."



Chang joined Csoma for one-on-one discussion and introduced some pictures they found worth introducing to other participants.



Taken by Hungarian naval doctor Dezso Bozoky, a 1908 image shows the front view of Geunjeongjeon or the main throne hall of Gyeongbok Palace.



Another 1908 photo shows the front cover of "Korea, the land of morning calm"  the first Hungarian book on Korea.



Its author is ethnographer Benedek Barathosi Balog, who stood for the Korean independence and was against the Japanese colonial power.



Korean traditional dancer master Kim Baek-bong, who is in her 90s, was seen with her peers when she visited Budapest in 1949 to join the Soviet Bloc's World Festival of Youth and Students.



The creator of "Hwagwanmu," a floral coronet dance, and "Buchaechum," a fan dance, Kim once defected to North Korea but returned to the South in 1951.



A series of photos were about North Korea's founding leader Kim Il-sung joining the Hungarian leaders, such as Matyas Rakosi and Andras Hegedus in 1956.



Former President Roh Tae-woo, who initiated Northern Policy aimed at opening ties with North Korea's allies in the late 1980s, was pictured at Budapest Ferihegy International Airport and the Parliament of Hungary.



In a 2002 photo, then-National Assembly Speaker Lee Man-sup (1935-2015) was seen receiving the Hungarian Cross of Merit at the Parliament of Hungary.



Lee was among the nine Yonsei University students forming Volunteer Student Soldiers for Hungarian Freedom, which asked then-Defense Minister Kim Yong-woo to send them to Hungary to fight for freedom during the 1956 uprising. The offer was denied.



All nine, including Yoo Jay-kun, a former three-term lawmaker in the 1990s and 2000s, all later received honors from the Hungarian government.


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The Supreme Court on Monday declined to immediately order removal of the people who are protesting against the amended citizenship law at the national capitals Shaheen Bagh but signalled that people could not be allowed to block a public road indefinitely.

If you can wait for 50 days, you can wait for one more week, the court said before posting matter for February 17, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said as the two-judge bench issued notices to the Centre, Delhi Government and Delhi Police.

The bench, which also comprises justice KM Joseph, said it did not want to take a call on the two petitions that had reached them without hearing the government first. The petitions were filed by lawyer Amit Sahni and Delhi BJP leader Nand Kishore Garg.

But it also signalled that it could not approve a protest that would go on indefinitely at the same location. The bench said the protests could continue but it should be done in an area designated for protests.

You cannot block a public road indefinitely. If everybody starts protesting everywhere, then what will happen, the bench led by Justice Kaul said.

The top court had last week put off hearing two petitions filed against the protests in south Delhi in light of the assembly elections held on February 8. The bench had then indicated that it recognised that there was a problem and intended to examine how to resolve it.

But at the same time, the judges were conscious that it did not want its decision to impact elections in the national capital. Why should we influence it? the bench had responded last week on a request for a decision before the Delhi election.

Shaheen Bagh has become the epicentre of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, which empowers the government to fast-track the grant of Indian citizenship to so-called persecuted minorities from the Muslim-majority nations of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The law has been criticised by many because of its exclusionary nature. It is also feared that it will be used in tandem with a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The government has clarified that there was no decision to implement a nationwide NRC though it has spoken of plans in parliament and outside that the register is imminent.

The petition complains that the road closure at Shaheen Bagh causes great inconvenience to the public and leads to wastage of precious time, energy and fuel besides overburdening the Delhi-Noida-Direct Flyway, Akshardham and Ashram routes.

The Kalindi Kunj road, Sahni argued, is a vital route since it connects three states -- Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana -- and the road closure has led to huge difficulties not only for the residents of the area but hundreds of thousands of commuters who are not able to use the road because of the blockade.

Lawyer Amit Sahni, who has petitioned the top court against the road closure at Shaheen Bagh, has argued that people had the right to protest but this right is subject to reasonable restrictions and protestors could not be allowed to occupy public roads indefinitely.
Downing Street today confirmed it is seriously considering plans to build a bridge between Northern Ireland and mainland Great Britain.

Boris Johnson has previously spoken of his enthusiasm for the massive infrastructure project which could cost 20 billion and link Scotland with Northern Ireland.

Number 10 said the proposal is the subject of an official feasibility study to figure out whether the bridge could be built, where it could start and finish and what it could look like.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said 'a range of government officials' had been tasked with pulling together a 'proper piece of work' on the idea.

The building of a bridge across the Irish Sea would represent a huge feat of engineering amid concerns about the depth and volatility of the ocean at the narrowest crossing point and the fact the area has previously been used as a munitions dump.

But Mr Johnson and supporters of the project believe it could help strengthen the Union.

Responding to reports that the PM had revived the project, his official spokesman said: 'This is an idea which the Prime Minister has expressed interest in in the past and he said at the time "watch this space".

'The PM set out that this was an idea which he believed could have some merit so as a result of that you would expect government to be looking into it.'

Boris Johnson, pictured in Downing Street on February 5, has revived plans to build a 20 billion bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland

Engineers could look to copy a link between Sweden and Denmark which featured in a hit 'Scandi noir' crime drama

The spokesman confirmed that 'work is underway looking into the idea of a bridge' and that work is being carried out by a 'range of government officials'.

'The Prime Minister is ambitious in terms of infrastructure projects,' the spokesman said.

'He is looking at a wide range of schemes across the United Kingdom which could boost connectivity.'

He added: 'There is a proper piece of work being carried out into the idea.'

It is thought the work being done amounts to a scoping exercise examining the feasibility of such a link.

Many critics are deeply sceptical that such a bridge would be deliverable but one government source said bigger engineering challenges had been overcome in the building of other pieces of infrastructure around the globe.

'Greater things around the world have been achieved,' they said.

It is thought that one of the designs for the approximately 20-mile bridge would copy a link between Sweden and Denmark which featured in a hit 'Scandi noir' crime drama.

It would be modelled on the Oresund Bridge, which runs for five miles from the Swedish coast near Malmo to an artificial island in the middle of the Oresund Strait.

It then turns into a 2.5-mile tunnel to the Danish island of Amager, near Copenhagen.

The Oresund crossing was the setting for The Bridge, a popular BBC series starring Sofia Helin and Killing Eve actor Kim Bodnia as detectives investigating a gruesome murder.

The GB-NI bridge would be most likely to run between Portpatrick in Scotland and Larne in County Antrim.

Engineers are understood to have come up with the idea of a bridge-tunnel split as a way of dealing with Beaufort's Dyke, the UK's largest offshore dump site for conventional and chemical munitions after the Second World War.

A bridge between Northern Ireland and Scotland has previously been floated by Mr Johnson and the DUP. The suggestion was to link the 28 miles between Larne in Ulster and Portpatrick in Scotland, pictured on a map

It lies seven miles off Portpatrick and the Ministry of Defence estimates there are a million tons of munitions at the bottom of the deep trench, including 14,500 tons of 5in artillery rockets filled with phosgene gas, in addition to two tons of concrete-encased metal drums filled with radioactive waste which was dumped there during the 1950s.

Mr Johnson told the House of Commons in December that the bridge was a 'very interesting idea' and advised MPs to 'watch this space'.

Although Mr Johnson's critics have described the idea as 'pie in the sky' and a waste of public money, the Prime Minister believes that it would ease the strain on air routes between the mainland and Northern Ireland and would help to cement the Union.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: Boris Johnson has promised lots of physical bridges in his political career so far, he hasnt delivered, to the best of my knowledge, a single one of them.

I bow to nobody in my ambitions for Scotland and in my ambitions for Scotland to be connected to Ireland and to Europe but I do think there are big practical questions over the feasibility and deliverability of this, not just the distance but the depth of the water - I know there is a munitions dump under the water.'

Nigel Farage, the leader of the Brexit Party, described the bridge proposal as 'crazy'.

At an estimated 20 miles, it would still be dwarfed by the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge-tunnel system, which traverses 30 miles of water.

The structure spanning the greatest expanse of open sea is the 22.4-mile Hangzhou Bay Bridge in China.
Africa is experiencing bigger and more frequent thunderstorms as global temperatures rise, according to researchers at Tel Aviv University.

The continent already has many of the worlds lightning hot spots, with storms that can be extremely destructive and, sometimes, deadly. This month, for example, a conservation group reported that four rare mountain gorillas had been electrocuted by lightning in Mgahinga National Park, Uganda. In a calamitous episode in 2011, a lightning strike on an elementary school in the same country killed 20 children and injured nearly 100.

Mass casualties like that are rare. But meteorologists wondered at the time whether thunderstorms were becoming more common in Africa in the era of climate change.

The answer, according to the new research, published in January in the American Meteorological Societys Journal of Climate, is yes. An increase in temperatures in Africa over the past seven decades correlates with bigger and more frequent thunderstorms, the researchers found.
Five years ago, two police officers were murdered in Brooklyn, and the New York City police blamed Mayor Bill de Blasio for fomenting an atmosphere in which police murder was acceptable. This past weekend, although thankfully no one was killed, a man twice attempted to assassinate police officers in New York City. This time, the Sergeants Benevolent Association says this is war  not with the criminals, but with the mayor.

One of the most striking images from the first year of Bill de Blasio's mayoralty was the scene at the funeral for Wenjian Liu. Liu and his partner Rafael Ramos were killed in an ambush. Police officers blamed de Blasio's constant anti-police, proBlack Lives Matter rhetoric for creating an atmosphere so hostile to police that murder was inevitable. At Liu's funeral, in January 2015, when de Blasio began his eulogy, many of the assembled police officers turned their backs on him:

In the intervening years, as the Black Lives Matter furor died down, the New York cops and Mayor de Blasio entered into an uneasy truce. That all ended over the weekend, when one man, believed to be Robert Williams, twice attempted to assassinate New York City police.

The first effort was Saturday night, when the suspect approached a patrol car and, after asking for directions, shot into the car, wounding one officer. The next morning, a person police believe was the same man walked into a precinct and fired several rounds in the lobby, wounding one person. After the wounded officer unsuccessfully returned fire, the suspect shot into a full room, mercifully missing everyone. Only after he ran out of bullets did the suspect lie down and surrender.

President Trump immediately blamed de Blasio's pro-criminal policies for the attempted carnage:

I grew up in New York City and, over many years, got to watch how GREAT NYCs Finest are. Now, because of weak leadership at Governor & Mayor, stand away (water thrown at them) regulations, and lack of support, our wonderful NYC police are under assault. Stop this now!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2020

De Blasio did not take responsibility for what happened in New York. Instead, he sent out a generic set of political tweets, first praising the officers and then rendering them almost irrelevant by saying the attacks were actually against all New Yorkers:

This was a premeditated assassination attempt against New Yorks Finest. It was also an attack on ALL New Yorkers and everything we believe in. This MUST be a city where everyone can live in peace and respect. This individual attempted to destroy that. We will not let him win.  Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) February 9, 2020

The Sergeants Benevolent Association, rather than feeling supported, was enraged and volleyed back with scorching tweets "declaring war" on de Blasio, openly denying him respect, banning him from hospital visits, and accusing him of selling the police out to the criminals:

Mayor DeBlasio, the members of the NYPD are declaring war on you! We do not respect you, DO NOT visit us in hospitals. You sold the NYPD to the vile creatures, the 1% who hate cops but vote for you. NYPD cops have been assassinated because of you. This isnt over, Game on! https://t.co/XyruPraM9T  SBA (@SBANYPD) February 9, 2020

Police are being targeted.The anti cop tone infecting our city & state is causing bloodshed. Before any public official sends their thoughts & prayers, they should ask themselves how the language & behavior they've been tolerating has contributed to violence against police.  SBA (@SBANYPD) February 9, 2020

The twitterati, which trends Left, responded by excoriating the police for being thin-skinned and psychotic:

dunno about everyone else but I certainly feel very safe knowing that whoever posted this is armed and can shoot anyone they want with no legal repercussions  i bless the rains down in castamere (@Chinchillazllla) February 9, 2020

40% of NYC cops beat their wives  working title Petra (@Gender_Hell) February 9, 2020

Good to know the police don't overreact to the slightest precieved slight against them  Yumeko JamommyYumi Defense Force (@MakotoGoinNuts) February 9, 2020

Members of the thin blue line are human and subject to human foibles. However, the vast majority are men and women who have willingly taken on a job that can put them at great risk in order to preserve the very thin veneer separating civilization from savagery. While those who dehumanize them may have the short-lived satisfaction of seeing police suffer, those who lived in New York in the 1970s should remember the city's despair and decay,and work with the police to return law and order to the city.
OTTAWA  The Canadian police on Monday began moving against protesters who had set up transportation blockades around the country in sympathy with an Indigenous groups campaign to halt construction of a natural gas pipeline to Canadas West Coast.

The blockades affected at least 19,500 rail passengers, according to Via Rail Canada, and 200 freight trains were unable to travel.

By late Monday, more than 47 protesters had been arrested. The nationwide demonstrations had been set off by the recent arrests of 21 protesters at the pipeline construction site itself.

The first blockade appeared on Thursday night and led to the shutdown of all rail passenger trains between Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa, as well as some freight trains. Another group was blocking freight and passenger rail traffic near Smithers, British Columbia.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, February 10, 2020

The San Francisco-based company Unity Technologies, which provides tech services to gaming developers, has agreed to settle a class-action complaint alleging it facilitated behavioral targeting of young children, according to court papers filed Friday.

Settlement terms have not yet been disclosed, and the agreement hasn't yet been accepted by U.S. District Court Judge James Donato in the Northern District of California.

The potential settlement stems from a lawsuit dating to 2017, when some parents whose children played gaming apps sued Disney, Viacom and outside companies -- including Unity, Upsight and Kochava -- for allegedly violating children's privacy by harvesting data for ad-targeting purposes.

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The apps -- including Princess Palace Pets and Wheres My Water? -- allegedly came embedded with tracking software from mobile ad-tech companies.

The parents alleged that the ad-tech companies collected identifiers (like the Android Advertising ID) as well as data used for device fingerprinting (including the users language, time zone, and mobile network).

Last year, Donato rejected the companies' request to dismiss the lawsuit on the grounds that the alleged tracking didn't cause the kind of harms that would justify a federal lawsuit.

Current privacy expectations are developing, to say the least, with respect to a key issue raised in these cases -- whether the data subject owns and controls his or her personal information, and whether a commercial entity that secretly harvests it commits a highly offensive or egregious act, Donato wrote in a 22-page decision.

The most significant of the parents' claims was "intrusion upon seclusion -- which occurs when companies violate people's expectations of privacy in a "highly offensive" way.
International Bad Guys

To Pay Or Not To Pay?

(TNS)  Last week's cyberattack on Louisiana ITI College in Baton Rouge  which followed similar attacks in New Orleans and elsewhere in the state  suggests that hackers have no intention of leaving Louisiana alone.If that's the case, the state is in good company. More than 110 local and state governments across the country have faced similar problems, as cybersecurity, once a low priority for many jurisdictions, has become a top concern in the last year.The attack method of choice is ransomware: malicious software that locks up computers and demands payment from its victims to allow them access. While it is not a new phenomenon, it has boomed as some governments, overwhelmed by sophisticated technology, have paid out big sums that have kept the thieves coming."Last year saw more publicly reported ransomware attacks against state and local entities than any other year ... and that's just the ones that were publicly reported," said Allan Liska, of Recorded Future, a Massachusetts cybersecurity firm.Louisiana leaders have largely refused ransom requests so as not to fuel future attacks. But they have nevertheless paid big money to strengthen networks that hackers targeted this winter. The cost so far is in the millions and rising, officials at various city and state agencies said.Other states and cities are paying similar sums to cure system vulnerabilities, which have opened the door to attacks that make it all but impossible to provide basic public services. Still others have simply caved to ransom demands, which, according to the chief of the FBI's New Orleans office, is one reason the attacks keep coming."With the exponential growth weve seen in malicious cyberattacks over the last five years, theres no reason to expect that its going to change," Bryan Vorndran said.The wave of publicly reported attacks against Louisiana in the last several months does not necessarily point to a specific problem with the state's systems. Officials note that the state has a more formal process for governments to report cybersecurity issues than many other areas, where such attacks may fly under the radar."I think were falling victim to having a more formalized process, a more aware government," said Dustin Glover, the state's chief information security officer. "These things are happening across the country and arent getting reported or arent getting called in."Though so far no government in Louisiana has admitted to paying a ransom, others in the state may also find themselves on a target list for no other reason than the fact that one hack draws the interest of other attackers, Liska said.Though finding the hackers can be difficult, many FBI investigations have traced attacks to organized crime syndicates in Iran, China, North Korea and Russia. Vorndran said these international mobsters were behind most of the more than 40 attacks on Louisiana agencies since last July.Their motives are "purely financial," he said, adding that ransomware has become to mobsters these days what bank heists were to their predecessors decades ago.Other attacks involve hackers-for-hire, who can be tapped by anyone from business owners seeking to harm their competitors to ex-employees seeking revenge on former bosses. The middlemen often complicate efforts to find the true culprit.Ransomware attacks are up across all types of organizations, but there has been a particularly noticeable increase in attacks on local governments, Liska said. In part that's because local governments are more likely than private industry to publicly admit when they've been compromised, and those reports become used in advertising for various malicious software schemes, he said.Local governments also may appear to be juicy targets because they can't simply give up on reclaiming the data that's been maliciously encrypted, potentially making them more likely to pay a ransom.Last year, officials participating in the U.S. Conference of Mayors agreed that their cities would not pay ransoms. "But when youre faced with the possibility that if you dont pay the ransom youre going to lose access to things that youre legally required to hold onto, what do you do?" Liska asked.Ryuk, the malware used in recent attacks on Mayor LaToya Cantrell's and Gov. John Bel Edwards' administrations, is believed to have originated from an organized crime group in Russia. Ryuk often works with secondary programs like Emotet or Trickbot to infiltrate a system, in a process described by the cybersecurity firm Cyberreason as a "triple threat."When someone in city government or another target organization clicks on a phishing email, it enables Emotet, a program whose job is to collect information about a network, to go to work and drop Trickbot. Trickbot can then give a criminal thousands of miles away control of one victim's computer, steal system credentials for multiple users and spread to other network devices.When given control of the targeted device, a human hacker checks to see if that machine is a good candidate for ransom. If it is, he or she will employ Ryuk, which uses the credentials Trickbot stole to move through the system, lock up files and leave ransom notes.When the process is over, hackers will have obtained every piece of financial, personal or business data on a network. "You can never guarantee that they will never sell your data, or release your intellectual property of design," said Vince Gremillion, of ResTech, a cybersecurity consulting firm based in Metairie.Local officials have said systems fell prey to Ryuk and to malicious emails. But it hasn't been made clear precisely who was behind the attacks or how deeply into government systems hackers were able to go.Officials did say they disconnected computers to stop Ryuk in its tracks. They also said they refused to pay ransom and instead shelled out millions of dollars to rid their computers of malware and make other fixes.Because ransoms are usually set low enough to encourage payment, many victims in other states have bowed to that pressure. Lake City, Florida, paid out a $460,000 ransom in June because recovering backed-up data that attackers had deleted could have cost three times that amount, city leaders told ProPublica. La Porte County, Indiana, paid a ransom of $130,000 in July.Still, New Orleans' $7 million cost of recovery without a ransom paid was less than the $18.2 million Baltimore spent when it declined to pay ransom in May. It was also less than the $17 million Atlanta was projected to spend to fully recover after a 2018 hit, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported.Gremillion said an attack's severity can depend on how many outdated operating systems were in a government's network.Agencies that don't back up important data to external hard drives, the internet or the cloud are more at risk, Vorndran said. And any organization can be compromised if it doesn't train its employees to avoid dubious emails, the most common trigger of such attacks.Governments don't often prioritize those precautions. "The city manager says, 'I have a huge opioid problem in my city. I can spend $2 million saving lives, or I can spend it on (preventing) an attack that may or may not happen,' said Liska, the intelligence analyst.Though New Orleans expects to spend $7 million to improve its systems after Decembers attack, the citys Information Technology & Innovation Office received only $15.8 million in 2019  just over 2% of the city's $702 million budget that year, records show.Some of the city's cost comes from the time city workers have spent wiping drives to ensure they are not still vulnerable and reinstalling and upgrading their software. But many of the city's costs are associated with purchasing new or improved software and replacing equipment that is too old to handle the upgrades, officials have said.Before the attack, 1 out of every 5 city computers was too old to support a Windows 10 operating system, the latest Windows standard. New Orleans is now spending $1 million to replace those devices.The cost to state government has been significantly lower. It has spent about $1.5 million responding to the attack on its systems, and most of that is for the salaries and benefits of the employees responding to the attack, said Jacques Berry, a spokesman for the Division of Administration. Another half-million dollars was spent on National Guardsmen who assisted in responding to both the state attack and those on local governments.The lower costs borne by the state are largely because of an effort over the past five years to upgrade its equipment and software, which meant it needed to spend less money specifically to respond to the attack, said Glover, the state's information security officer.In theory, that should have meant that most equipment simply needed to be wiped and restored, resulting in a relatively quick and cheap response for the state. However, equipment failures not directly related to the cyberattack were discovered during that process, leading to, for example, extended downtime for the Office of Motor Vehicles, Glover said.The city has a $3 million cybersecurity insurance policy with AIG, and it is weighing whether to raise the amount. The state has a policy as well, though officials would not say how much it covers.Such insurance can provide reimbursement for expenses related to attacks. But it can be problematic if word gets out of its existence, as enterprising criminals may see such policies as easy opportunities to get paid, Vorndran said.That's a concern that is already weighing on city officials as they think about future attacks. While Cantrell has floated the idea of a $10 million insurance policy, members of her administration have declined to say exactly how much coverage is under consideration, for fear of making the city a more enticing target.Because many state and local governments have insurance, "the attackers know that they can get money out of them, which means they are attacking that sector more than another sector," Vorndran said.But Tim Francis, a vice president at Travelers Insurance, which insures the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, said it's not that simple. While Travelers may negotiate with hackers to lower a ransom demand, the decision to pay or not is up to their client. The Convention Center, attacked Jan. 16, decided against it, officials have said."Certainly, it's not the first course of action to pay the ransom," Francis said.
A second Canadian plane has left the quarantined region of Hubei, China, bearing more Canadians who have asked to return from the centre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, the federal government says.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/2/2020 (701 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Journalists work near the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship sitting at the Yokohama Port Monday, Feb. 10, 2020, Yokohama, Japan. The operator of the ship said Monday that an additional 66 cases were found aboard. That is in addition to 70 reported earlier. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A second Canadian plane has left the quarantined region of Hubei, China, bearing more Canadians who have asked to return from the centre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, the federal government says.

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said there was room for about 200 passengers aboard the flight from Wuhan.

The plane is bringing back the last group of Canadians who want to be repatriated, said Champagne, who is travelling with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Africa and the Middle East.

There were 236 Canadians hoping to board the plane from a city that has been under quarantine for weeks as Chinese authorities try to contain the virus's spread, Canadian officials had said Sunday.

The government plans to unite the latest batch of evacuees with the 213 Canadians and their families who left Wuhan last week, and who are already under a mandatory quarantine at Canadian Forces Base Trenton in southern Ontario.

But they might not be staying in the same modern accommodations as those who arrived last week, Canada's chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, warned in a briefing Monday.

While most evacuees are in rooms in the Yukon Lodge, a motel on the base, some of the new arrivals will be put up in Hastings Hall, a historic building typically used as officers' quarters that was built in 1934. Each room has its own sink but washrooms are shared and will need to be cleaned frequently to make sure quarantine protocols are followed, Tam said.

Public health officials and Canadian Forces personnel are working to make the rooms as comfortable as possible, including installing wireless internet access.

Myriam Larouche takes a selfie while out for some fresh air at Yukon Lodge, at Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Ont. on Monday, Feb. 10, 2020 in this handout photo. A Canadian evacuee from the Chinese epicentre of the novel coronavirus says life under quarantine at an Ontario military base can feel like "summer camp." Myriam Larouche is among the Canadians who were flown in from Wuhan, China, late last week to undergo two weeks of quarantine at Canadian Forces Base Trenton. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Myriam Larouche *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Canadian teacher Wayne Duplessis and his family boarded the plane in Wuhan. They had been planning to hunker down in the quarantined city until they realized they were running low on supplies.

"It was getting desperate," Duplessis said from the airport while waiting for the flight.

While Duplessis and his 15-year-old son Wyatt are Canadian, his wife, Emily Tjandra, and their older son, Adryan Candra, 38, are Indonesian. The Canadian consulate was able to put a rush on Tjandra's and Candra's visas so they could stay together as a family.

The family is ecstatic to be coming back and to know that they are safe, Duplessis said.

He described Wuhan as "a city in pain."

"It's a city I love. I feel great sadness for them."

Those under quarantine are allowed outside for short times for recreation, but they are expected to stay two metres away from other evacuees, wear masks and wash their hands often to avoid the potential spread of the virus.

So far, none of the evacuees has shown any symptoms, Tam said.

She authorized the early release from quarantine of all Canadian Forces personnel involved in the initial flight from Wuhan, as well as a government official who was on board. She also released crew members who travelled with evacuees from Vancouver to CFB Trenton aboard a separate flight, after those evacuees left China on an American plane.

The crews and medical staff did not spend time in Wuhan, followed appropriate infection protocols, including the use of personal protective equipment, and did not have unprotected contact with the passengers who were flown to Canada, Tam said.

Champagne said the government is also monitoring the well-being of 285 Canadians quarantined on the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in the Japanese port city of Yokohama, just outside Tokyo, where an eighth Canadian is among those who have recently tested positive for the virus.

The cruise line is following the Japanese health ministry's "disembarkation protocols to provide medical care for these new cases," the company said in a news release.

The latest Canadian patient will join seven others who were taken earlier to Japanese hospitals for treatment and monitoring.

Health officials have given another quarantined ship in Hong Kong the all-clear, allowing passengers and crew to disembark.

Seven cases of the virus have also been confirmed in Canada, four of them in British Columbia and three in Ontario. Most cases of the new coronavirus are mild, but the respiratory illness can be deadly for some people.

China reported a rise in new cases Monday, denting optimism that disease-control measures, including isolating major cities, might be working.

The death toll on the Chinese mainland rose by 97 to 908 in the 24 hours through midnight Sunday and 3,062 new cases were reported. That was up 15 per cent from Saturday and broke a string of daily declines.

The fatality toll from the new virus has passed the 774 people believed to have died in the 2002-03 epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome, another viral outbreak that originated in China. And the current total of 40,171 cases on the mainland vastly exceeds the 8,098 sickened by SARS.

More than 440 cases have been confirmed outside mainland China, including two deaths in Hong Kong and the Philippines.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 10, 2020.

With files from Hina Alam and The Associated Press
UTICA, N.Y. -- Brandon Clark pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Oneida County Court today in the killing of 17-year-old Bianca Devins, according to Oneida County District Attorney Scott McNamara.

Clark, 21, of Cicero pleaded guilty with the understanding that he will receive the maximum sentence of 25 years to life, McNamara said.

Clark initially pleaded not guilty, and was set to go to trial later this month.

He will be sentenced in April.

Clark slit Devins throat July 14 in Utica, and then posting bloody photos of her on the Internet. He then tried to kill himself and took a selfie of himself with the body, police said.

Devins and Clark had been to a concert in New York City and were returning back to Utica when Clark allegedly got jealous and killed her. The two were friends, but not romantically involved, police and the family have said.

The graphic photos were posted online and shared by many on different social media platforms. Some companies removed the photos but the photos still remain online on some platforms.

Kim Devins, Biancas mother, has been working with politicians to advocate for social media reform and new laws to clamp down on the posting of graphic photos like those of her daughter.

Biancas mom has shared talked about her daughter and how she wants her to be remembered for the vibrant, loving daughter she was - and not for her horrific murder.

Her family is planning a Bee Gala in Utica Feb. 15 to raise money for scholarships in Biancas name.

At the end of January, Clark was charged with turning a toothbrush into a shank while in jail.

In court, Clark apologized for his actions.

He told the judge Bianca Devins "didnt deserve what happened to her,'' according to social media posts by news organizations.

"I think I need to realize what I did I cant undo, as much as I want to, '' Clark said in court. "I have to face it.

I apologize to all the people that knew and loved her. I apologize to everybody affected by this - everybody who had to see that horrific picture of her. I know sorry is not enough and it wont take back what I did. I wish I had more to give," he said.

17 Remembering Bianca Devins

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It is possible to still purchase long-term care insurance at age 75 according to the latest information shared by the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.

"Age 79 is generally the cut off," explains Jesse Slome, director of the long-term care insurance industry group, "but being accepted for this important coverage is going to be highly dependent on your current health. The few insurers who accept applicants at age 75 reject almost half of those who apply."



The Association director shared examples of costs for someone purchasing new coverage at age 75. "For a male purchasing $162,000 of coverage with no future benefit growth a policy will cost around $4,638-per-year," Slome shares. "Women pay more because they are far more likely to eventually claim benefits." According to the Association's 2020 pricing index a 75-year-old female applicant would pay $7,215-per-year for similar levels of coverage.

"Your money pays for long-term care insurance but your health actually buys it," Slome explains. "By that, I mean that the insurance companies will not offer coverage to individuals based on gathering extensive health information."

According to the Association, the following is a partial listing of conditions that generally make you ineligible for long-term care insurance. "You have NOT seen a doctor in the past 2 years for a complete head-to-toe physical," Slome shares. "You currently use a quad cane, walker, wheelchair, electric scooter, stair lift or hospital bed. You currently qualify for payment under Medicaid (not Medicare) or any disability plan."



The Association has posted a special informational page for those age 75 or older who want more information. The website lists multiple conditions that make someone ineligible for long-term care insurance.



"If you've been diagnosed with or received advice or care for any of the following, you will not be eligible," Slome notes. "Alzheimer's Disease, mild cognitive impairment, schizophrenia, kidney failure or you've received dialysis are among the conditions listed."

To learn more visit the Association's Consumer Learning Center page for those age 75 at https://www.aaltci.org/long-term-care-insurance/learning-center/age-75-costs.php or call the Association for general information.
The death toll from the novel coronavirus surged past 900 in mainland China on Monday, overtaking global fatalities in the 2002-03 SARS epidemic, even as the World Health Organization said the outbreak appeared to be stabilising.

With 91 more people dying in Hubei, the province at the centre of the outbreak, the toll is now higher than the 774 killed worldwide by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

The latest data came after the WHO said the last four days had seen some stabilising in Hubei, but warned the figures could still shoot up.

At least 39,800 people in China have now been infected by the virus, believed to have emerged late last year in Hubeis capital Wuhan, where residents are struggling to get daily supplies.

The epidemic has prompted the government to lock down whole cities as anger mounts over its handling of the crisis -- especially after a whistleblowing doctor fell victim to the virus.

With much of the country still not back at work after an extended Lunar New Year holiday, cities including financial hub Shanghai ordered residents to wear masks in public.

Michael Ryan, head of the WHOs Health Emergencies Programme, said the stable period of the outbreak may reflect the impact of the control measures.

A WHO international expert mission left late Sunday for China, the agencys director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Twitter. The mission is led by Bruce Aylward, a veteran of previous health emergencies.

While the death toll has climbed steadily, new cases have declined since Wednesdays single-day peak of nearly 3,900 people nationwide.

- Public anger -

Millions of people are under lockdown in Hubei in a bid to stop the virus spreading.

The local government asked people to stay at home as much as possible, but there are not enough goods in shops each time we get there, so we have to go out frequently, a woman in Wuhan, surnamed Wei, told AFP.

Chinas central bank said from Monday it would make 300 billion yuan ($43 billion) available in special loans to banks to help businesses involved in fighting the epidemic.

China drew international condemnation for covering up cases during the SARS outbreak, whereas the WHO has praised measures it has taken this time.

But anger erupted after the death of a Wuhan doctor who police silenced when he flagged the emerging virus in December.

The doctor, 34, died early Friday, after contracting the virus from a patient.

Chinese academics were among those angered by his death, with at least two open letters posted on social media demanding more freedoms.

Put an end to the restrictions on freedom of speech, one letter demanded.

- Percolating along -

Beijing responded by sending its anti-graft body to launch an investigation, attempting to ease the anger.

But Ian Lipkin -- a professor at Columbia University who worked with China on the SARS outbreak -- said earlier intervention could have made a key difference.

This virus was percolating along without anyone realising it was there, he said.

If the quarantine measures have been effective, the epidemic should peak within the next fortnight, Lipkin added -- but he warned there is also the risk of a bump in numbers when people return to work.

Wuhan has converted public buildings into makeshift medical centres, and built two new field hospitals.

But Wuhan resident Chen Yiping told AFP her 61-year-old mother has severe symptoms and was still waiting for a hospital bed because there are too many people in need of treatment.

The first foreign victim in China was confirmed when an American diagnosed with the virus died in Wuhan.

The only fatalities outside the mainland have been a Chinese man in the Philippines and a 39-year-old man in Hong Kong.

Seventy people on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship off Japans coast have tested positive, with all passengers told to stay inside their cabins to prevent further infection.

Several countries have banned arrivals from China while major airlines have suspended flights.
STORY LINK Pound Canadian Dollar (GBP/CAD) Exchange Rate Rises as Coronavirus Throttles Oil Demand

Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar (GBP/CAD) Exchange Rate Edges Higher as Oil Prices Fall

The concern remains that the wider markets have yet to reflect the full impact of the disruption. With China being the worlds most dominant consumer of raw materials, the impact continues to be felt strongly across key commodities and the world is facing the biggest demand shock since the 2009 global financial crisis.

The oil market will be waiting on Russias response, to see if the OPEC+ can prove itself as being a proactive producer group in dealing the coronavirus virus outbreak which, like SARS, is effectively a negative demand shock.

CAD Slides despite Canadian Construction Rising to Four-Month High

Sterling (GBP) Rises despite Lack of Data

Pound Canadian Dollar Outlook: Weak UK Business Investment to Send GBP Lower

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The Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar (GBP/CAD) exchange rate edged higher this afternoon, leaving the pairing trading at around CA$1.7209.The oil-sensitive Loonie slumped after oil prices slipped at the start of the week as Chinese demand weakened amidst the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak.Since a peak in January, oil slumped more than 20% as demand throttled the worlds largest oil importer.Commenting on this, Ole Hanson, Saxo Bank commodity strategist noted:Prices also remained under pressure after Russia stated it needed more time to decide whether or not to cut production by a further 600,000 barrels per day.Russias Energy Minister, Alexander Novak argued that US crude production would slow and global oil demand still remained solid.Commenting on this, Harry Tchilinguirian, BNP Paribas analyst said:The Canadian Dollar weakened on Monday, hitting a four-month low against the US Dollar (USD) as Wuhan virus worries overshadowed upbeat Canadian housing statistics.Building rebounded at the start of 2020, with the level of construction jumping to a four-month high after a slowdown at the end of 2019.The number of Canadian units rose by 8.8% from 195,892 in December.In a separate measure of data, stronger-than-expected Canadian permits jumped by 7.4% in December, however, this was offset by lower risk appetite.As the country is a major exporter of commodities, a slowdown in global growth caused by the outbreak of the virus would hurt its economy.The Pound was able to rise against the Canadian Dollar despite there being little data or news to drive the British currency.GBP rose against the Canadian Dollar over the course of this morning despite UK-EU trade deal fears.Commenting on this, Lee Hardman, a currency analyst at MUFG noted:In the UK, recent data points to a pick up in growth which is good for the Pound but that is being set of by concern over a trade deal.Last week saw Sterling remain under pressure after Prime Minister Boris Johnson took a tough stance against the European Union ahead of trade talks.Looking ahead to Tuesday, the Pound (GBP) could give up todays gains against the Canadian Dollar (CAD) following weak UK growth data.If the UKs flash Q4 GDP data disappoints, it will send Sterling lower.Meanwhile, the pairing could plummet further following the release of annual business investment data.If business investment slumps further than expected in the final quarter of 2019, the Pound Canadian Dollar (GBP/CAD) exchange rate will slide.

International Money Transfer? Ask our resident FX expert a money transfer question or try John's new, free, no-obligation personal service! ,where he helps every step of the way, ensuring you get the best exchange rates on your currency requirements.

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A French paedophile who flew to Britain planning to sexually abuse a 12-year-old girl even offered to pick her up from school.

Mathieu Hilaire, 29, was arrested by National Crime Agency officers near a cafe in south east England on 10 December last year - as he waited to meet someone he thought was a young girl.

Investigators were waiting for him and, when arrested, Hilaire said: 'Yes. Yes, OK, what am I likely to get for this?'

He admitted to meeting a child after sexual grooming, and was handed a 16-month sentence - suspended for two years - at Southwark Crown Court.

Mathieu Hilaire, 29, was arrested by National Crime Agency officers near a cafe in south east England on 10 December last year - as he waited to meet someone he thought was a young girl

Hilaire begun chatting to what he thought was a young school girl on an instant messaging app in November last year.

Within a few weeks his conversations became sexually explicit, and he plotted to use a planned business trip to meet up with the 'girl'.

Hilaire, originally from near Marseille but who lived in Valletta in Malta and had plans to move to Cambridgeshire - flew to the UK despite repeatedly being told that 'she' was 12.

He changed his flight plans to secure the meeting, booked accommodation close to where he thought she lived and even suggested picking her up from school.

Hilaire said he was worried about being seen by a teacher or someone who knew her and that he was concerned about being caught, even adding he was worried about going to prison if snared.

His plan was to take the child in a car he had hired to an address, where he intended to abuse her, the court heard.

Specialist police in Malta searched Hilaire's address and seized some electronic devices for forensic examination.

In Southwark Crown Court on Friday, he was referred to a rehab course and ordered to pay 200 costs and given a ten-year sexual harm prevention order restricting his internet use

In court on Friday, he was referred to a rehab course and ordered to pay 200 costs and given a ten-year sexual harm prevention order restricting his internet use.

Martin Ludlow, NCA operations manager, said: 'Hilaire's sexual interest in children is clear to see.

'Not only was he talking to someone he thought was a young, vulnerable girl, but he actually changed his travel plans to carry out child sexual abuse.

'There is no greater priority for the NCA than protecting children.'

The terms of Hilaire's sexual harm prevention order include stipulate that he must have risk management software installed on his internet enabled devices and that he must surrender said devices at the bequest of the authorities.

He is also prohibited from deleting his internet history and is forbidden from installing software that does so.

The Frenchman also cannot surf the dark web or use any software that hides his identity.
As incoming lorries disembark from the ferry other lorries line up ready for departure inside the Eastern Dock of the Port of Dover is where the cross channel port is situated with ferries departing here to go to Calais in France on the 29th of January 2020 in Dover, Kent, United Kingdom.

U.K. plans to boost trade and growth by building tax and customs free zones at 10 ports around the country is facing early skepticism from trade experts and opposition lawmakers.

The U.K. government launched a consultation document on so-called "freeports" on Monday which claims that fenced off areas that exist on the British mainland but aren't subject to import duties can support jobs, trade and investment in the post-Brexit world.

Goods that move into the freeport wouldn't pay duties as they enter the area, but would pay once they either fully move into the U.K. customs territory or set sail for another country.

Tax would be paid on the finished good rather that the component part. The logic is that, with the total tariff due likely to be cheaper on the finished and assembled good, it should encourage global manufacturers to move new facilities into the zone in order to perform assembly.

Once the U.K. consultation is finished, different port operators around Britain will be encouraged to bid for the status with full operation slated for 2021.

U.K. Chief Secretary to the Treasury Rishi Sunak said in a statement that freeports would "unleash the potential in our proud historic ports."

Speaking to CNBC Monday, the former diplomat and trade negotiator, Dmitry Grozoubinski, said freeports and special economic zones could be a place to roll out innovative policies, but it was important not to get carried away by their potential.

"Just declaring an area a 'freeport' doesn't do much in terms of jobs and growth," said Grozoubinski in a telephone call, before adding: "This isn't magic. Otherwise there would be 40 million freeports worldwide."

The trade expert, who also helped found ExplainTrade.com, said there was little hard evidence that freeports attracted manufacturers and other businesses who otherwise were not planning to operate in that country.

Labour Member of Parliament and Shadow Finance Minister John McDonnell accused the government of stripping regulation and the country's tax base.

"There is very little solid evidence that so-called freeports create jobs or boost economic growth, showing this up as another ideological move from a far-right government," said McDonnell.

"This plan only represents a 'levelling-up' for the super-rich, who will use freeports to hoard assets and avoid taxes," he added.

The trade association representing most of the larger commercial ports in the United Kingdom, UK Major Ports Group, cautiously welcomed the move but noted that freeports were more than just tariffs. It said "planning, connectivity and skills" would all be key to success.

One other potential drawback is World Trade Organization rules that dictate that if countries that import goods from free trade zones can demonstrate that the manufacturers enjoyed unfair subsidies then off-setting duties can be imposed.

U.K. freeports existed until 2012 and EU legislation does not prevent member countries from having them. As of February 1 2020, there were around 70 operating in the customs territory of the European Union.

However, such zones do have to comply with EU rules on areas such as state aid. This means the zones are likely to become a contentious area as Brussels and London attempt to agree a future trade deal.

Grozoubinski said many European lawmakers also worry that they allow scope for limited oversight on the movement of goods.

"The major concern is that they become a haven for smuggling and avoiding tax," he said.

Deregulated tax havens such as freeports exist in many countries around the world. In the U.S., they are termed "foreign trade zones" while in other parts of the world they are called "export processing zones."

Often there are additional benefits to these zones such as looser planning rules and other tax breaks.
: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa arrived at Tirumala, the famous hill abode of Lord Venkateswara, near here, on Monday.

A devotee of the ancient temple, Rajapaksa, now on a five-day state visit to India on the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi since Friday, flew in at Renigunta airport, 20 km from here, late Sunday evening.

On his maiden spiritual visit as Prime Minister at the airport, Rajapaksa was accorded a traditional reception and later, amid tight security cover, he reached the sacred hills by road.

After an overnight stay on the hills, Rajapaksa would visit the shrine in wee hours of Tuesday and offer worship to the presiding deity of Lord Venkateswara, a temple official told PTI



A 19-member Lankan delegation, including two ministers A Thondaman and KN Devananda, was with the Prime Minister of the neighbouring island nation during his spiritual visit to the hills, the official said.

After offering prayers to Lord Venkateswara here, Rajapaksa would leave for Colombo, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New data has revealed how average NSW Police response times vary widely across Sydney.

Officers from Surry Hills police area command, who also cover Moore Park, Paddington and Darlinghurst, took an average of four minutes and 34 seconds to respond to urgent calls reporting serious incidents like violent assault, robbery, domestic violence, sexual assault and break-ins.

The response time was the fastest in the state in the year to 2019.

Surry Hills police officers took an average of four minutes and 34 seconds to respond to urgent calls reporting serious incidents. Credit:Isabella Porras

Meanwhile in Camden, Oran Park, Richmond, Castle Hill, Kellyville and Northmead emergency callers wait more than twice as long to hear the sound of sirens as those in inner city areas like Paddington, Newtown, Potts Point and Balmain.
Sometimes, people dont know what to say to support you, and I feel like as survivors we need to be consistent [in the community]," Aragon said. Its the only way for people who have not been affected to understand.
(Photo : China Daily via REUTERS) A person riding a shared bicycle is seen outside a closed Apple store near the West Lake in Hangzhou after the city imposed new measures to prevent and control the new coronavirus, in Zhejiang province, China February 4, 2020.

Apple has been fined 25 million ($27 million) for deliberately slowing down older iPhone models without informing its users. The fine was imposed by France's Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF) after a two-year investigation.

The French consumer watchdog said the tech giant failed to warn the buyers of the risk that older phones would slow down. DGCCRF said that reverting back to the previous iOS is "impossible" once the software update had been carried out.

Apple had 'deceptive marketing practice,' says DGCRF

According to DGCCRF, the Paris Prosecutor's Office investigated the complaint of an association against Apple on January 5, 2018. The French consumer watchdog has discovered that iPhone owners had not been informed that upgrading Apple's operating system (iOS 10.2.1 and 11.2) would slow down the operation of their device.

DGCRF said Apple "devoted the crime of misleading commercial practice through omission." Apple had agreed to pay the satisfactory, according to the consumer watchdog.

As a part of the agreement, Apple must display a note on its French-language website for a month. The tech giant added that it had resolved the problem with the DGCCRF.

Why does Apple creeping down old iPhones?

Many clients had long suspected that Apple slowed down older iPhones to encourage human beings to upgrade when a new one changed into released.

It stated the lithium-ion batteries in the devices became less capable of imparting demands, as it grows older over time. That could result in an iPhone shutting down all at once to shield its digital components.

Apple confirmed in 2017 that it did slow down several iPhones. The tech giant explained it only made such a move to "lengthen the life" of the devices.

"Our goal [is always to create] secure products appreciated by clients. Making iPhones that last as long as possible is an important [part] of that," Apple told ZDNet, a business technology news website.

Hence, Apple launched a software update for the iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, and iPhone SE. The company claimed that the upgrade "smoothed out" battery performance.

The practice was confirmed after a purchaser shared overall performance assessments on Reddit. The commenter suggested their iPhone 6S had slowed down drastically as it had aged. The iPhone had abruptly speeded up again after the battery have been replaced, the commenter added.

ALSO READ: Apple Will Repair Your iPhone 6s Or 6s Plus For Free If It Won't Turn On

Does Apple still gradual down older iPhones?

Yes. Since Apple showed the practice in 2017, it has carried out it on numerous iPhones, including iPhone X series, iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, iPhone SE, and iPhone 6 series.

The setting is only enabled while the battery begins to degrade. iOS now offers more transparent data to consumers approximately when performance control has been switched on.

ALSO READ: Apple iPhone Keeps Restarting? Here Are Possible Solutions

"The effects of performance management on these newer models can be much less noticeable because of their more superior hardware and software program design," Apple said.

ALSO READ: Apple Announces iOS 13, iPadOS 13: Is Your iPhone Or iPad Compatible?

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
By Trend

The parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan were successfully held in accordance with the international democratic standards, Observer from Germanys Berlin city Onur Oguz Dellal said.

Dellal made the remark in Baku at the press-conference, Trend reports on Feb. 10.

The parliamentary elections were held at the proper level, in accordance with the laws of the country, the observer added.

While observing the elections, no violations were revealed from both the members of the election commissions and voters, the observer added.

Dellal, as the rest members of the delegation, in which he participated as an observer, visited several polling stations.

"The best conditions were created for voters, namely, for those in the polling station which we visited," the observer added.

The parliamentary elections were held in Azerbaijan on February 9. Some 1,314 candidates were registered within the early parliamentary elections. The candidacies of 246 people were nominated by 19 political parties, 1,057 were self-nominated, 11 - by initiative groups.

Twenty-one percent accounted for female candidates while 79 percent  male candidates.

As many as 5,426 permanent polling stations operated in 125 constituencies of the country.

Some 883 international observers and 77,790 local observers were monitoring the voting process. Among the local observers, 35,152 were representatives of political parties. International observers represented 58 countries and 59 organizations.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Seoul, Feb 10 : Global smartphone production in the first quarter of the year may drop to a five-year low due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, a market researcher said on Monday.

TrendForce said it expects global smartphone production in the first quarter to decline 12 per cent year-on-year to 275 million units following the coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 900 people in China.

"Delayed resumption work and uncertainties in employees' returns will cause the monthly delivery of key components to be postponed, thus affecting the progress of smartphone production," TrendForce said, according to a Yonhap news agency report.

Among the top six smartphone vendors, No. 1 player Samsung Electronics Company was expected to produce 71.5 million smartphones in the first quarter, a 3 per cent fall from its initial forecast, according to TrendForce.

However, Samsung was projected to suffer less damage from the virus outbreak than other manufacturers since the South Korean tech giant's main production base is in Vietnam, TrendForce said, adding that the company's smartphones account for only 2 per cent of the domestic market in China.

Huawei Technologies Co., the world's No. 2 smartphone producer, was expected to produce 42.5 million smartphones in the first quarter, down 15 per cent from TrendForce's previous forecast, while Apple Inc. was projected to see its production going down from 45.5 million to 41 million units over the same period.

TrendForce, however, said it doesn't have an "overly pessimistic outlook" towards smartphone production for the whole of 2020.

"As long as the outbreak can be controlled and a basic level of demand can be supported by the overall global economy, TrendForce believes that most demand is deferred rather than eliminated," it said.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
EXOR, which was founded by Italian businessman Giovanni Agnelli, revealed it is now engaged in exclusive talks with Covea while pointing to the possibility of not reaching a deal.

These discussions are ongoing and there is no certainty that they will result in a transaction, stated the firm. EXOR will refrain from further comment until the final outcome of the discussions is known.

No further details have been provided by either side.

It was in March 2016 that EXOR completed its US$6.9 billion acquisition of PartnerRe. Now, according to sources cited by Bloomberg, the reinsurer could be snapped up to the tune of US$9 billion.
LAWRENCE -- In the latest issue of The American Naturalist, University of Kansas investigator Jorge Sobero?n offers a new method for ecologists to calculate the correlation between geographic space and the number of species inhabiting that space.

"There's a problem in ecology that's been around since the 1920s called the 'species-area relationship,'" said Sobero?n, a University Distinguished Professor at the KU Biodiversity Institute and Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology. "Ecologists noticed that the more space you assemble, the more species you will discover. And that's a mathematical relationship."

The "problem" is that there's not a clear understanding of why the increase in geographic space is always accompanied by an increase in the numbers of species in that space.

"This observed relationship is pretty universal," Sobero?n said. "You can do it for islands or continental masses, in the tropics or in temperate regions -- wherever you do a plot of area versus number of species you get an increasing line. But why? Most explanations are based on the idea that the more individuals you sample, the more likely it is that they belong to a different species."

But Sobero?n's new approach to species-area relationship is different. Rather than performing a headcount of animals (or plants) within a given geographic area, the KU researcher proposes calculating the number of "Grinnellian niches," or conditions that support the existence of species in that area.

He said the method, expressed by mathematical formulae, could offer a more accurate roll call of species.

"What I did was to apply a theory we have been developing here at KU for the last 10 years, which is called 'Grinnellian-niche theory,'" Sobero?n said. "Instead of concentrating on counting individuals, I explained this pattern in terms of the requirements of species for different climatic combinations. Different species have different climatic requirements, and if you can model that you can place the different requirements -- which are called 'niches' -- in environmental niche space. And when you increase the area you're looking at you are also increasing niche space. That's the bottom line."

According to Sobero?n, examples of niches could include water availability or the right temperature range.

"Some species tolerate very hot weather -- some species require less hot weather," he said. "Some species can tolerate very dry environments; other species require water in different amounts. So, this combination of, say, from what lowest temperature to what highest temperature. From what driest environment to what wettest environment, from what acidity in the soil, and so on -- you derive these combinations of requirements, they're called niches."

The new approach refines the understanding of the species-area relationship because it accounts for factors beyond simply the size of an area. For instance, Sobero?n said the Grinnellian-niche approach could account for variations in environment, such as temperature, that occur more powerfully north-to-south than east-to-west.

"Latitudinal effects are just one of the many things that conventional theories ignore," Sobero?n said. "But they play a very prominent role in the theory I've published, because it matters a lot whether you are moving, say, from Alaska to Central America, or vice versa. You encounter different species, different sets of tolerances and different niches. But in traditional theories, that doesn't matter because you just care about how much area -- the distinction is not made whether that's tropical area or temperate area or polar area. But for me that's a very major thing."

To hone his theoretical approach, Sobero?n performed the Grinnellian analysis for North American mammals, then compared results with massive databases of known populations of species for the same region, subdivided into grids.

"There's an organization called the International Union for Conservation of Nature that has been convening meetings of experts from all over the world to draw the various distributions of terrestrial vertebrates -- mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians," the KU researcher said. "We have databases which are publicly available with distributions, already established by these experts. This is the work of decades. In fact, anyone can download them. They are public. I chose to look at the mammals because, well, I am slightly familiar with mammals and I have friends that are very familiar with mammals and I could ask questions of them. So, I downloaded IUCN database, which I used to test -- and I also downloaded a GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) database, which is a huge database of observations of species. Those I used to do the calculations."

Sobero?n said his new approach to biogeography could aid species conservation and species management across a spectrum of commercial and ecological efforts.

"It's a matter of universal concern, what species live in a particular place," he said. "Those species may be species of conservation interest -- maybe you don't want tigers to go extinct, or gorillas. But there are also species of economic interest for people. For instance, there are plagues and diseases of crops, and you don't want to have those in your fields. There are species that transmit diseases for people, for instance, mosquitoes. So, the general problem of 'why did you find this species in a particular place?' is important for people. We care about certain species, and we don't want to have other species near us. And this combination of the ones that we'd like to keep, and the ones that we don't want to be close to us, is an instance of this general problem that I am dealing with in the paper."

###
A protest march was held on Monday here from Mandi House to Parliament against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Register of Citizens (NRC) and Population Register (NPR).

Called 'Sansad Gherao,' the protest march was joined by the families of martyrs from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The protest was also joined by the family members of Sharjeel Imam, the JNU student who has been arrested on the charges of sedition.

The protesters were raising slogans against the government and the amended act, saying that they will protest until the CAA is revoked.

"We are registering our protest against the government and we will keep protesting until the CAA is revoked," said a protester.

The protest march was organised under the banner of the Welfare Party of India.

The CAA grants citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist and Christian refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, 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.)
HUDSON, N.H. - Karen Forleo thinks it would be a debacle if Democrats nominate Bernie Sanders. On the eve of the New Hampshire primary, the retired dental hygienist remains undecided between four of his rivals. She loves Pete Buttigieg's youthful vigor, Joe Biden's experience, Elizabeth Warren's plans and Amy Klobuchar's grit. But the 62-year-old isn't sure who is the best bet to stop Sanders.

"I know he appeases the young students who have no money. Well, somebody has to pay for everything he wants," Forleo said Sunday night after watching Biden speak for 90 minutes in a high school gymnasium here. She plans to attend rallies this afternoon for Klobuchar in Exeter and Warren in Portsmouth.

The Democrat from Lyndeborough, who supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 primary, remains frustrated that Sanders didn't do more to help her that fall. "If Bernie leads the ticket, I don't think the American people are going to be ready for that. I don't think he can beat Donald Trump," she said. "And if Donald Trump thought he could, Trump would be all over him like he is with Joe Biden."

The splintering among moderates like Forleo is an important part of the explanation for why Sanders, the independent senator from neighboring Vermont, is the favorite to win Tuesday's contest. There's a very fluid and incredibly tight three-way battle for third place.

Buttigieg has surged since the Iowa caucuses a week ago into a solid second-place position, prompting attacks from all directions that appear to have slowed his momentum a bit.

Biden has been tanking in the polls since finishing fourth in Iowa, prompting many people who had planned to vote for him because they perceived him as the most electable option to check out others. Klobuchar has been rising. She drew her biggest crowds of the campaign this weekend and reporting her best fundraising days yet after Friday night's debate.

Warren, who represents neighboring Massachusetts and led in polls of this state last summer, seems to be losing altitude here on the ground, even though she finished ahead of Klobuchar in Iowa. About a third of the people at her rally at a middle school in Concord on Sunday afternoon streamed out before she finished talking.

A brew of other factors is also working to Sanders' advantage on the eve of the first-in-the-nation primary. Most Democrats don't want Sanders to be their nominee, but they cannot agree on who to rally behind instead. Despite rumbling concerns of the establishment, there's no organized Stop Sanders or Never Bernie movement. In fact, Democrats who don't support Sanders still hold largely favorable views of him. Unlike in Iowa, where he faced nearly a million dollars in attack ads, no one is on the air here with anti-Sanders commercials.

Sanders expanded his lead Sunday night in the final day of the Boston Globe-WBZ-Suffolktracking poll. He garnered 27% among likely Democratic presidential primary voters, up from 24 to 25% in the previous six polls. Buttigieg, who briefly eclipsed Sanders in the poll one day last week, got 19% in the latest survey, followed by Klobuchar at 14%. Biden and Warren tied at 12 points. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.4%.

You should take all the polling with a grain of salt because this contest is so in flux, but two other surveys published Sunday also showcased Sanders' relative strength among likely voters. A University of New Hampshire poll for CNN put Sanders at 28%, with Buttigieg at 21%, Biden at 12% and everyone else in single digits. Buttigieg led among voters who identify themselves as moderate or conservative, while Sanders led by more than 25 points among self-identified liberals. Asked whom they expect to win, regardless of whom they're supporting, 57% in the CNN picked Sanders. Interestingly, Sanders also took a seven-point lead over Biden on the question of which candidate has the best chance to defeat Trump in November, a reversal since Iowa.

A YouGov poll for CBS pegged Sanders at 29%, up two points compared to last month, with Buttigieg at 25%. Most of Buttigieg's double-digit gains in that survey come at the expense of Biden, who fell to 12%, trailing Warren. Only 39% of likely voters in the CBS poll said they've definitely made their final decision, and only six in 10 said they're enthusiastic about the candidate they're leaning toward. Sanders' supporters were the most enthusiastic.

They compete for different kinds of voters, but Sanders has been attacking Buttigieg partly out of a desire to prevent him from coalescing moderate support and thereby overtaking him in this must-win state.

Sanders could benefit from a similar dynamic to what allowed Trump to amass an unsurpassable delegate led during the 2016 Republican primaries, even as most GOP voters opposed him. The odds, at least initially, are that all the top contenders will stay in the race beyond New Hampshire, continuing to divide up support going into the next two early states. Mike Bloomberg is waiting in the wings, spending literally hundreds of millions of dollars in states that vote on March 3, also known as Super Tuesday, when a third of all pledged delegates to the convention are awarded.

Four years ago, Sanders struggled with nonwhite voters and hit a wall because of Latinos in Nevada and African Americans in South Carolina, the next two states to vote. The senator has worked hard to make inroads with communities of color ever since, and Biden's fade could boost Sanders in the Palmetto State by dividing up the black vote.

The Sanders campaign, which has invested heavily in organization, said that volunteers knocked on more than 150,000 doors on Saturday alone. Sanders' field program is focused more on mobilization of known supporters than persuasion of the undecided, a contrast to the late-surging campaigns like Klobuchar's and Buttigieg's who are still trying to identify potential backers. The campaign said 1,981 people attended Sanders' rally last night in Keene. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., will join Sanders on Monday night for a massive concert the campaign is putting on in Durham, home to the University of New Hampshire, featuring The Strokes and Sunflower Bean.

The Sanders campaign slogan is "Us, not me." But his stump speech increasingly sounds like "Us versus Them." And the "Them" is the party establishment. He's added a little more pitchfork to his populist tone in the recent days. "We're taking on not only the whole Republican political establishment and Trump," Sanders said this weekend. "We're taking on the Democratic establishment." His supporters from four years ago remain angry at the system and feel let down by both parties. The undercurrent of anti-elite frustration that helped propel Trump still exists in 2020, despite strong top-line economic indicators.

Nick Landry, 27 of Somersworth, said he has tried hard to keep an open mind since supporting Sanders four years ago. He considered Warren "very strongly." He heard out entrepreneur Andrew Yang, who was intriguing, but he found his plan to give everyone a thousand bucks a month "kind of gimmicky." After watching the Democratic debate on Friday night, he decided he'll probably back Sanders again.

"We lost in 2016 by trying to play to the middle. As a liberal, I believe we should swing for the fences. And if we're not going to win, let's at least go down pushing for progressive ideals," Landry said at a Sanders rally in the packed-to-capacity Opera House in Rochester. "Biden represents the establishment, and I think Pete and Amy are part of the establishment."

The data analyst for an insurance company supports Medicare-for-all and badly wants stricter gun laws so that his kids will be safer at school. Landry said he totally understands why some Democrats fixate on electability, but he said Trump and Senate Republicans have shown themselves to be such "cartoonish villains" that he doesn't believe the opposition should pander to win back the kinds of voters who supported Barack Obama in 2012 but Trump in 2016. "They're keeping kids in cages," Landry said. "I don't want to necessarily be shaping our political platform around trying to appeal to people who aren't bothered by that."

Meanwhile, moderate voters express growing concern about what they see as a collective action problem. Siobhan Brace, 62, was the first person to ask Biden a question during his town hall meeting on Sunday night. "I love you a lot, but I am undecided," she said. "I thought everybody did a great job in the debate, but I am afraid of that one of you cannot beat [Trump], but I think all of you could. Is there some way that you guys could put a dream team together and present that to the American people? And just say, like, Amy is going to be vice president and we'll put Andrew [Yang] in charge of Commerce?"

The crowd cheered. Biden laughed. "There's two ways to be on the dream team: run it or be picked," he replied. "I promise that you my administration will look like the country. It will be made up of women and blacks and browns and people who represent the diversity of the country. There are at least six women I can think of at the top of my head who I wouldn't have a moment's hesitation in asking to be my vice president. I can say the same thing for at least four leading African Americans that I know."

Reflecting the degree to which voters still believe he's in contention, Biden was asked again half an hour later who he might pick for vice president. Biden said he didn't want to be presumptuous, but then he hinted that he might select Buttigieg. The 77-year-old said he could promise that he would not pick anyone who is older than him to be his No. 2, which would take out the 78-year-old Sanders. Biden added that he cannot imagine picking someone to be vice president who supports Medicare-for-all, a knock against Sanders. "But there are at least four people running that are, in fact, simpatico with where I am, starting with Indiana," he said, a reference to Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind.

Brace, who asked the first question to Biden, said in an interview afterward that she's "terrified" Trump will win. "Bernie's too way over there," she said, pointing with her left arm to the other side of the room. "The Republicans that are on the fence are going to come with a moderate. We need to get some of the Republicans who do know that Trump is crazy to come over to our side, and they're only going to do it with a moderate. So we've got to find a moderate."

Independents could have outsized influence in tomorrow's open Democratic primary because there's not a competitive race on the Republican side. Though Trump is flying up here to hold a rally in Manchester tonight, he faces no competitive GOP primary. Polls show the incumbent president getting more than 90% against former Massachusetts governor William Weld. New Hampshire has 416,000 "unaffiliated" voters, who get to pick which primary to participate in.

Sanders defeated Clinton by 22 points in New Hampshire four years ago, garnering 60%, or 152,000 votes. Polls and interviews make clear that most of the people who backed him as the anti-Clinton candidate four years ago will not support him again this time. That said, I encountered a few people at the Sanders rally in Rochester who backed Clinton in the primary four years ago and are giving Sanders a close look.

"We need grass-roots change, and it may be more than some of the traditional establishment is willing to go, unfortunately," said Colleen Hartnett, 57, of Windham, a software engineer who remains undecided. "I think I'm leaning more toward the progressive side rather than the moderate part of the party at this point. . . . Because Republicans have gone so far, the contrast is just striking. I feel like the pendulum can't just go for a moderate swing."

Sanders knows he needs to win this neighboring state, which is why he doesn't hesitate to confidently predict victory. There's no apparent effort to manage expectations. "I am absolutely confident that, with the volunteer support we have, we are going to win in New Hampshire," Sanders said Saturday night in Manchester. He said his 2016 victory in New Hampshire was critical to winning 22 more states in the months that followed, and he said winning the primary helped put some of his ideas that were called radical four years ago into the mainstream. "We need to complete the revolution we started four years ago in New Hampshire," he said.

Warren losing altitude in New Hampshire also likely works to Sanders' advantage. She drew only a modest crowd Sunday afternoon to a middle school near the state capitol. "Our democracy hangs in the balance, and it is up to you, Massachusetts, to decide what to do," she said at the end of her speech, after more than a hundred people had left, many to go watch other candidates.

"New Hampshire," people in the audience yelled.

"And to the people of New Hampshire," she added, correcting herself with a laugh.

The crowd applauded. "Thank you," she said, appreciatively. "It is a hard time."

Warren brushed aside a question afterward about the people who left, calling it an "enthusiastic" crowd. "It looks like it is going to be a long battle to the nomination," she told reporters. "There are 55 more states and territories after this. . . . I'm in it for the long haul."

Other candidates who struggle to get covered are trying more colorfully to contrast themselves with Sanders. James Carville, the Democratic strategist who helped elect Bill Clinton in 1992, stumped late Saturday afternoon for Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., in Manchester. He emphasized that Sanders would be a problem for down-ballot Democrats, especially in competitive Senate and House races. "They'll run away from Bernie Sanders like the devil running away from holy water," Carville said. "If Michael Bennet is the nominee, Mitch McConnell's going to look like he crapped a pineapple."
The Bay Area bar scene has a little bit of everything, from legendary dives to stylish wine bars and trendy spirits-forward lounges.

But we didn't know what we were missing until a group of industry vets, each with some of San Francisco's top restaurants on their resumes, opened an eccentric, neon-lit bar serving savory cocktails to pair with sweet-forward dim sumstyle bites in Oakland.

Viridian, which takes the old Plum Bar space on Broadway a few blocks north of the Fox and Paramount theaters, was inspired by further flung locales.

"The dessert and cocktail concept is really popular overseas," says William Tsui, the bar's director, and one of four co-owners, who hails from Lazy Bear and Rich Table. He points to places like Room 4 Dessert in Ubud, Bali and Milse in Auckland, New Zealand; "We wanted to do something for The Town that no one has ever done."

"We" includes Tsui's partners in this bright new venture, all Oakland nativesnamely ops manager Raymond Gee (Hakkasan); creative director Jeremy Chiu (Shinmai); and GM Alison Kwan (True Laurel, Moongate Lounge).



"We really wanted to do something that continues and perpetuates the culture of Oakland," says Tsui, and "we wanted to tell the stories of our upbringing through food and drink, and to create a space where we can kick it, a spot where we belongwelcome to thugz mansion."

You can't miss Viridian in Oakland thanks to a bright teal interior and neon reflective window. (Sarah Chorey)

Arriving at the brightly painted teal exterior, you'll see what he means (or you could drop by Viridian's neon-pink-and-purple website to immediately get the vibe: "Fuck yeah, we're open!" the homepage reads). From the street, the windows have a reflective metallic wash of iridescent hues; once inside, you'll need to let your eyes adjust.



The vibrant space was designed by another big name you'll recognize: Brandon Jewyes, of Michelin-starred restaurant Mister Jiu'sand Anna Lee of Soon and Soon Studio, which also designed Mister Jiu's as well as Moongate Lounge and the just-opened Mamahuhu. The theme: Hong Kong nightlife meets the dramedy film ChungKing Express meets 1990s R&B record covers. A series of neon light sculptures custom created by SF-based artist Laura Stevenson are an abstract interpretation of the zig-zagging lights of Hong Kong as seen at night from above.

The offbeat energy continues onto the menu where you'll find seven or so house cocktails with a savory bent. Options currently include the Tomato Beef, a concoction of Julio Blanco tequila, basil eau de vie, and tomato water; and the Golden Triangle with gin, golden beets, Meyer lemon, quinquina wine, California poppy, and Suze. Devised by Tsui and Kwan, all the drinks favor fresh produce, with ingredients reading like a farmer's market bounty: tangelos, red berries, blood oranges, grapefruit, and apples.

You may order up at the long black bar, grab a two-top along the wall, or take your group to one of the sofas in the back where you can sprawl out to share dim sum and sweet bites.

Desserts outweigh the savory dishes by about six to four here, so if you're not a sugar eater, this may not be your place. Executive chef Amanda Hoang (20th Century Cafe, Bird Dog) turns out creative, approachable, and very interesting fare. The flavor of a Thai iced tea is recreated in layers of cake and cream for a twist on tiramisu; sugar-crusted churros are laced with vanilla and accompanied by tequila and lilikoi dipping sauce; and leaky sand buns are ready to burst with runny egg yolk custard filling. If you need a savory bite or two before you go all in on the sugar, dig into salt and pepper chicken nuggets or a fluffy milk bread topped with Japanese chili crisp, garlic, and charred scallions.

Embrace the energy from the sugary sweets and the neon lights and you're bound to have a buzzy time at Viridian.

// Viridian, 2216 Broadway (Oakland), viridianbar.com
Description

GIS - 10 February, 2020: The Development-Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture Initiative (DeSIRA), developed by the European Union, aiming at enhancing the research and development capacity of the Food and Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (FAREI) for sustainable and modern agriculture , was signed this morning, by the Attorney General , Minister of Agro-Industry and Food Security, Mr. Maneesh Gobin and the Ambassador of the European Union to Mauritius, Mr. Vincent Degert, at the Farmer Training School in Wootun.

Mauritius has been chosen for the implementation of specific activities under the initiative Supporting Sustainable Agriculture for Improved Food security and safety in the Republic of Mauritius. In this respect, the FAREI has been awarded a grant of Rs 100 M with the aim of fostering innovation in agriculture through the consolidation of the institutes research and development capacity to address climate challenges and development of climate smart practices for sustainable production.

In his address on the occasion, Minister Gobin expressed gratitude to the EU for its support in the implementation of the DeSIRA initiative as well as the various other projects in different spheres. He underlined that the FAREI contributes significantly to the agro-industry sector of the country and has made key achievements.

He observed that the institute has a pool of well-qualified and competent technicians and emphasised on the need for frontline officers to be taken on board during the implementation of key projects so that they are inculcated with the necessary knowledge and information.

The Minister hence urged FAREI representatives to elaborate a plan for officers working on site, wherein they are familiarised with the necessary information regarding the implementation of the DeSIRA initiative.

As for the EU Ambassador, he spoke on the urgent need for enhanced global action in light of the climate emergency and reiterated EUs determination to accelerate climate actions to help save the planet. EU has been partnering with Mauritius by providing assistance so that the country achieves its Sustainable Development Goals, he said.

The DeSIRA Initiative, he added, is a testimony of our strong commitment to play the role of the leader in scaling global efforts towards this end. The initiative is part of EUs contribution to transform the agriculture and food systems of developing countries, he indicated.

The Ambassador pointed out that promoting sustainable agriculture is key for the survival of mankind and essential for the legacy of a safe and secure planet for the next generations to come. On that score, Mr. Vincent Degert dwelt on the benefits of shifting to green and smart agriculture and commended Mauritius for being among the few countries to recognise the need to adopt sustainable development principles to agriculture.

According to him, if countries join forces and move together, they will move faster towards the common goal of saving the planet.

DeSIRA Initiative

EU has developed with its members states the DeSIRA Initiative geared towards promoting science in development with a view to foster innovation for increased impact, and building up research capacities for innovation.

The EU has earmarked a budget of EUR 2.450 M for the implementation of the project which will be implemented over a period of 36 months.
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(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Its an odd paradox of Brexit that having won its trade freedom, the U.K. may find it harder to pursue free trade. The former was an oft-cited objective of Brexit, but the latter has been made a central pillar of Boris Johnsons desire to create a Global Britain.

More than four decades have passed since Britain last negotiated a trade deal, but it now plans to hold up to five sets of trade talks simultaneously. The guiding philosophy, Prime Minister Johnson said last week, is an abiding belief in the value of free trade, which Britain plans to use its negotiations to promote.

Free trade agreements are Johnsons most pressing foreign policy objective. But they dont come easily. Negotiating a single deal takes sustained political will from both sides, a deep bench of expert negotiators, a coherent strategy, detailed consultation with various stakeholders, time (usually several years or more)  and luck.

While negotiating tandem deals isnt unknown, its even more complicated. South Korea and Chile ran talks with the U.S. and European Union simultaneously; one negotiator involved described it to me as a nightmare, recounts David Henig, director of the U.K. Trade Policy Project and a former British trade official. The complexities reflect the resources required to run tandem negotiations, but also the need to keep track of which discussion lines have moved with which party and to keep things simple for regulators. It cant help when two of the parties are trade elephants like the EU and the U.S., who themselves are at odds with each other over a host of trade issues.

Johnson wants free trade deals with the EU and the Americans, to be concluded before the end of this year; but hes also negotiating deals with Japan, Australia and New Zealand. He referred to the plan (in what may be his first known instance of understatement) as the great multidimensional game of chess.

That game was launched last week and now his pieces are fanning out across the board, or boards, at breakneck pace. On Monday, Johnson set out his objectives for the EU talks, asking for a comprehensive deal but rejecting the demand that Britain adopt a host of European rules and regulations.

Story continues

In this particular game, however, the U.K. has started off by sacrificing its Queen. The price of trade freedom was leaving a largely friction-free European single market of 450 million people. Negotiations with the EU are about damage limitation as new barriers go up, not removing obstacles to trade.

Despite all the brouhaha around Brexit, the main focus last week was on non-EU deals. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab traveled to Asia to kick off talks with Australia and Japan. On Thursday International Trade Secretary Liz Truss published the governments goals in seeking deals with the four non-EU like-minded partners. The government also launched a public consultation on the U.K.s new global tariff schedule, which would apply to countries where theres no free-trade deal in place.

The U.K. has been rapidly lawyering up. The trade ministrys team overseeing all negotiations has expanded from 119 staff in 2016 to more than 700 trade lawyers and experts in 2019; it outnumbers even its U.S. equivalent. This trade army may not be battle hardened, but if Britain makes a mess of it, it wont be for lack of muscle. Clear political direction is another matter.

What can Britain hope to achieve? Getting a deal with Japan would be positive for Johnson and might reassure some carmakers that companies such as Nissan Motor Co Ltd. will stick around in the U.K. But its hard to see how any agreement would compensate for the damage Brexit inflicts on the U.K.-Japanese partnership by ending Britains role for Japanese companies as a gateway to Europe.

Agreements with Australia and New Zealand also fall into the category of nice to haves. Australia, however, already rejected a British proposal for visa-free work travel between the two countries; they are worried about a brain drain and getting low-skilled workers in exchange. Welsh lamb farmers, meanwhile, are keeping a wary eye on any New Zealand deal.

The real prize is agreement with the Americans. This is not primarily a matter of economics. The upside to the British economy from such a deal would be modest  adding about 0.2% of GDP in the long-term  but it would be a hugely symbolic achievement for Johnson.

While some hope the U.S. talks will put pressure on the EU to make concessions, that seems like a long shot; and one that carries risks. If a U.S. deal gets bogged down, any pressure on the EU side is gone. Worse, if the Americans press demands that are politically toxic  anything around the National Health Service, food standards or animal welfare, for example  Johnson may find public patience wears thin.

Its not clear that a quick U.S. deal can go much beyond tokenism. I really struggle to come up with too many forms of market access that you could potentially offer the U.S. that would hurt the EU more than it would hurt the U.K. not having a good deal [with the EU], says Dmitry Grozoubinski, a former Australian trade negotiator and founder of Geneva-based consultancy ExplainTrade.

Donald Trump, a big Brexit supporter, has promised a massive trade deal, one reason Johnson may not want to wait. U.S. and U.K. delegations have been meeting for more than two years and leaked notes from some of the early sessions in July 2017 showed a willingness on the U.S. side to find common ground, and a realism about whats achievable.

Trade is not always a happy area; this is, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said during one bilateral meeting. But it was also clear that the U.S. wants the U.K. onside in its disputes with Europe over issues from services and Geographic Indicators (names for food and drink that matches where theyre made, such as Parmesan cheese) to agricultural chemical regulations and data.

That will get awkward eventually: The EU and the U.S. both like to hug trade partners close. Britains outgoing U.S. ambassador Kim Darroch told the Guardian last month that he expects the Americans to push aggressively to open up Britains agriculture and health care sectors to U.S. exporters. He thinks the U.K. probably wont get much in return.

A U.S.-U.K. trade deal is likely at some point, but it will not be easy, and it is unlikely to make up for what has been lost with the EU, Simon Lester, a trade expert at the libertarian Cato Institute, says. The Trump administration has mostly gone in the direction of protectionism rather than free trade. They may be willing to liberalize a little bit with the U.K., but so far they have not been willing to do too much in other negotiations.

All of this will be closely watched back in Parliament  another board in the multidimensional chess game. Johnson has a fresh electoral mandate and a large majority, but he cant take that for granted.

Richard Tice, chairman of the now redundant Brexit Party, has urged the government to be even bolder in its EU negotiations. We must not wait for the EU to be ready to talk in March. Instead, we should shock them, while they are fearful and weakened, he wrote in a newspaper column. The idea is absurd to anyone whos been involved in a trade negotiation, but Nigel Farages party, and plenty of Conservatives, plan to hold Johnsons feet to the fire so he doesnt backslide.

And this may also be about a future blame game. For all the fanfare, Johnsons trade crusades probably wont yield great victories; and the public may lose faith in the effort. As Emmanuel Macron has found in France, it doesnt take much for a honeymoon to end.

To contact the author of this story: Therese Raphael at traphael4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Boxell at jboxell@bloomberg.net

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Therese Raphael writes editorials on European politics and economics for Bloomberg Opinion. She was editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal Europe.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

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Blondie admitted messaging the boy but claimed she didn't plan to meet him

She lifted up her crop top to expose her breasts in the middle of a busy road

Blondie laughed when confronted by TV crew about sending him nude pics

The pair started talking on Instagram after the teen mentioned Blondie in a post

A burlesque dancer who was accused of grooming a 13-year-old boy and saying she had 'dibs' on his virginity has flashed her breasts on a busy city street when confronted by a TV crew.

Bethany Edgecombe, who uses the online persona 'Blondie,' admitted to sending the Queensland teenager sexually explicit messages and nude photos on Instagram when approached by A Current Affair this week.

The 20-year-old, who regularly posts provocative photos to her 100,000 followers, initiated conversation via private message after he mentioned her in one of his posts.

When confronted by a TV crew in central Melbourne, the exotic dancer initially laughed at claims she was grooming the boy, but eventually admitted to sending him inappropriate messages.

'What would you like to say to this boy's parents?,' reporter Dan Nolan asked.

'Thank you, that is my comment,' she said, and lifted up her crop top to expose her breasts in the middle of a busy road in broad daylight.

While Blondie admitted she sent the boy sexually explicit messages, she claimed she was not serious about meeting up with him.

'Did I ever see the boy though? Have I ever seen the boy or is it just silly harmless chatting?... That's how I see it,' she said.

When asked how many other underage teens she had sent nude photos to, she responded: 'It actually only was this one boy.'

No charges have been laid against Blondie, but Queensland Police said in a statement investigations were continuing.

Blondie was accused of texting the teenager nude photographs while he was at the movies with his mother.

'Thank you, that is my comment,' she said while lifting up her crop top to expose her breasts in the middle of a busy Melbourne street in broad daylight when confronted by reporters

Text message receipts show Blondie asking the boy to sneak off to the bathroom.

'Now... Show me what I do to you? Sneak off to the bathroom bad boy. Sneak off and don't tell your mummy,' she wrote.

When Nolan showed the speechless 20-year-old screenshots of her correspondence, she claimed the messages are old.

'You know I was like 18 when I did this,' she said. 'It's like two years ago.'

But it's alleged the text messages were sent just last year.

One of Blondie's first messages to the boy asked if he was a virgin, before she said: 'I call dibs on that virginity'.

Blondie is accused of texting the teenager four nude photographs while he was at the movies with her mother

'Hold onto that virginity, I'll be going past your part of town in a week or two,' she then sent the boy, accompanied by a kissing face emoji.

The boy responded saying he was 'keen,' before the exotic dancer urged the boy to keep their plans a secret.

'And don't tell anyone, [I] don't think you're even legal,' she wrote.

Blondie then asked the boy how old he was, to which he responded saying he was 13.

'I really must be a pedo cause that's so hot,' she replied.

As the messages between the pair continued, Blondie - who claims to be a law student - made more references to being a paedophile.

'Well... I'm officially a pedo,' she wrote. 'I did not know you were that young... I should not be perving on you as much as I do. Not gonna stop though.'

In a statement the boy's mother said Blondie pursued her son despite knowing he was only 13.

'What kind of a sick individual does that? How dare she try and manipulate any child with her evil perverted ways for her own self-gratification,' she said.

The boy told A Current Affair he initially enjoyed his conversations with Blondie, before she became 'pushy'.

Bethany Edgecombe, who uses the online persona 'Blondie,' admitted to sending the teen sexually explicit messages and nude photos on Instagram

'After a while though she started to act a bit crazy! She was pushy and acting a bit obsessed.

'She said she wanted to take my virginity but it wasn't fun anymore, she was acting weird and I'm not that dumb. I don't date 20-year-olds.'

The boy's family said they provided all the information to Coomera Police on the Gold Coast last year.

Queensland Police released a statement saying 'these matters take time to thoroughly investigate, particularly when a forensic examination is required'.

It said the matter is still being investigated.
DUBAI, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Iran launched a domestically made satellite on Sunday but it failed to reach orbit, a defence ministry official said.

"It was launched with success and ... we have reached most our aims ... but the "Zafar" satellite did not reach orbit as planned," the official told state television.

The launch was the latest in a programme which the United States says helps Tehran advance its ballistic missile technology. Tehran denies that its aerospace programme is a cover for missile development. (Writing by Parisa Hafezi, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
The Federal Court has ordered the cancellation of a trademark for the words "Urban Ale" after a legal battle between two Melbourne breweries over how they promote craft beer.

In 2018, Docklands brewery Urban Alley brought legal action against Alphington-based beer brand La Sirene, claiming La Sirene's Farmhouse Style Urban Pale product infringed on Urban Alley's trademark for Urban Ale beers.

La Sirene co-founders Eva and Costa Nikias. Ms Nikias said she was pleased the company's request for Urban Ale's trademark to be cancelled was upheld in the Federal Court. Credit:Henry Trumble.

Urban Alley said La Sirene's products and labelling amounted to a trademark infringement and misleading and deceptive conduct that could confuse beer drinkers. Urban Alley was previously called Collins Street Brewing Company and it registered a trademark for Urban Ale in 2016.

The legal action led to a series of counter-claims between the two businesses. This included La Sirene applying to have Urban Alley's trademark cancelled. La Sirene argued the words "Urban Ale" did not sufficiently distinguish Urban Alley's products in a marketplace where several other craft brewers and commentators used the word "urban" in relation to products.
DP World, a global trade enabler, said it will soon be finalising agreements on the construction of a new port and economic zone in Dakar, capital of Senegal.



The project will support the economic growth of Senegal by developing Dakar into a major logistics hub and gateway to west and north-west Africa, reported Emirates news agency Wam.



The announcement was made following a meeting between Macky Sall, President of Senegal, and Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO of DP World, in Abu Dhabi on Friday.



"The economic zone in Dakar will serve as a great aggregator of cargo, creating a hub for African exporters and importers and generating value for Senegal and businesses in the region, said Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem.



"We discussed the great progress of the Senegalese economy and the role DP World can play in the development of a port and economic zone serving west and north-west Africa.'' DP World has designed a master plan for the development of the Port de Futur which will see it develop into a multi-purpose port including economic and logistics zones adjacent to the new Blaise Diagne International Airport.



DP World will be responsible for the development of the initial phase of the port, constructing a modern north-west container terminal capable of handling the largest container vessels in operation today.



The development of the Port de Futur allows for the creation of cargo and free movement of goods to support the countrys Plan Senegal Emergent, unleashing new trading opportunities that can bring about economic diversification and boost non-resource exports. The port will reinforce Senegals position as an Investment and Trade hub in West Africa and help attract new foreign direct investment to the country.



DP World has operations in Senegal, Egypt, Mozambique, Somaliland, Rwanda, Algeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Can you imagine going from being banned from graduation because of how you wear your hair to walking the Oscars 2020 red carpet? That's exactly what happened to Texas high school senior DeAndre Arnold, who was told by his school that he would not be allowed to walk in his graduation this spring unless he cut his locs.

Arnold has been growing out his hair, rooted in his Trinidadian heritage, since the seventh grade and said he had complied with school rules by wearing it pinned up during the day. (Barbers Hill High School requires male students to have their hair off their shoulders and above their earlobes, according to HuffPost. They say that even though my hair is up and off of all the regulations, that if it was down, it would be out of dress code, he told a local news station in January month.

Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade, and director Matthew Cherry heard about Arnold's story and invited him (and his mom) to be their guests at the Oscars, where Cherry's film Hair Love won the Oscar for Best Short Film (Animated). The film is about a dad who happens to wear his hair in locs and how he learns to do his young daughter's hair. Our hair is an extension of ourselves, Cherry previously told HuffPost of his film. And the cool thing about this story is that it really represents pure love: what were willing to do for the people we love even when they ask us to do something we dont know how to do.

Cherry shared some behind-the-scenes footage of Arnold getting ready for the big night.

The Hair Love team looked amazing walking the red carpet.

ABC's Coverage Of The 92nd Annual Academy Awards - Red Carpet Eric McCandless/Getty Images

Cherry gave Arnold a shout-out from the Oscars stage. "There's a very important issue that's out therethe Crown Actand if we can help to get this passed in all 50 states, it'll help so many stories like DeAndre Arnold's stop happening," he said.

Story continues

For those not familiar, the Crown Act is a law that makes it illegal to discriminate against someone based on the way they wear their hair. It has currently passed in New York City, California, and New Jersey.

"I can tell you that courts have bent themselves into pretzels to avoid calling hair discrimination out for what it is," Carmelyn P. Malalis, chair and commissioner of the New York City Commission on Human Rights, told Glamour last year, noting that it's a form of racial discrimination, plain and simple. "They have wanted to say that these types of [grooming] policies are neutral policies, when in fact we know they disproportionally affect black people because they're imposing these Eurocentric standards of beauty."

It's shocking that in 2020 both students and professionals in the workplace can have something as personal as their hair policed, but it's a reality that's finally being challenged, thanks to legislators who truly understand why these policies are so harmful. "It's personal for me from many perspectives," California state senator Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles), who wore braids with decorative beads when she was in high school, told Glamour last year. Mitchell was instrumental in working with Unilever (the parent company of Dove) to write the Crown Act. "Fast-forward several years, to having my son in high school. He wore twists to school on the first day of his junior year, then came home that evening and made the decision to take them out, because he wasn't comfortable with bullies," she said, adding, "I graduated from high school in 1982 in Riverside [California], which wasn't a bastion of progressive politics. At no point was my wearing braids to school every day an issue. I thought, How did we go backward?"

Hopefully, Hair Love's win tonight and Arnold's story will help make passing the Crown Act even easier for lawmakers in other states. It's about time.

Originally Appeared on Glamour
In the space of a few hours on Sunday, Iran unveiled a new ballistic missile and launched a domestically-built satellite - which failed, however, to reach orbit, Al Jazeera reports.

The launch of the satellite happened at 7:15pm local time at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran's Semnan province, some 230km (145 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran. State television said, however, that a Simorgh rocket could not put the Zafar 1 communications satellite into orbit due to a low speed.

"Stage-1 and stage-2 motors of the carrier functioned properly and the satellite was successfully detached from its carrier, but at the end of its path it did not reach the required speed for being put in the orbit," Ahmad Hosseini, spokesman for the defence ministry's space programme, told state TV.

The satellite, which Iran says was to be used for scientific observation, is part of a programme that the United States has previously described as a "provocation".

Iran's Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi admitted in a Twitter post that "failure happened", adding: "But We're UNSTOPPABLE! We have more Upcoming Great Iranian Satellites!"
Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb on Monday said he doesn't expect the U.S. to see an epidemic of coronavirus cases, as he addressed common concerns over the new virus.

From the amount of testing kits available to virus containment, Gottlieb  a physician, health advocate and Pfizer board member  answered Twitter user questions posed to CNBC's "Squawk Box." Gottlieb is also a CNBC contributor.

China's National Health Commission, as of Sunday night local time, said it confirmed 3,062 new coronavirus cases and 97 additional deaths, mostly in Hubei province. The government said a total of 40,171 cases have been confirmed and 908 people have died in the country.

The World Health Organization said there's been more than 150 coronavirus cases in about two dozen countries outside of China and declared the virus a global health emergency.

The virus was first discovered in December in the Chinese city of Wuhan in Hubei province. It has since spread to other countries, including the U.S., which has reported 12 cases.
Cortellis identifies new drugs for treating indications for breast cancer, lymphoma, multiple sclerosis (MS) and migraine touted for commercial and clinical success

PHILADELPHIA and LONDON, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Clarivate Analytics plc (NYSE: CCC; CCC.WS), a global leader in providing trusted insights and analytics to accelerate the pace of innovation, today announced the launch of its annual Cortellis "Drugs to Watch " list, which identifies 11 new drugs that are scheduled to enter the market in 2020 and predicted to achieve annual sales of $1 billion or more (i.e., blockbuster status) by 2024.

The Cortellis team at Clarivate Analytics has applied its proprietary technologies, tools and techniques, to produce the list of potential drugs for inclusion from drugs that advanced to phase II trials or beyond in early 2020. Each drug was subsequently scrutinized by in-house analysts - researched and evaluated in its individual context by interrogating annual filings, drug pipelines, clinical trials, patents, chemistry, deals, conferences and company announcements and regulatory status.

This year, editors and writers from award-winning life sciences news service BioWorld have examined the various disease landscapes from all angles, analyzed the pricing strategies, explored the science underpinning the new medicines to provide reality checks via the ultimate test: patients and advocacy groups who will seek beneficiary outcomes from the new drugs entering the market in 2020.

The list and corresponding analyses focus on the treatment and possible cure for chronic, progressive and often debilitating diseases and conditions, including drugs which target the indications of breast cancer, multiple sclerosis (MS), migraine and type 2 diabetes.

The drugs listed have been almost universally accelerated in their development by orphan drug status or other designation intended to speed their path to market. There is a high level of expectation of commercial success for each of these drugs - despite the fact that most medicines on the list are entering or are poised to enter markets already crowded with competitors, meaning they'll face substantial pressures to differentiate themselves. Many are expected to tout improved safety vs. alternative therapies, especially regarding cardiovascular risk, while others will seek to highlight novel mechanisms of action or even curative potential.

More than half of the medicines on the list are biologics, a fast-growing and increasingly expensive segment of prescription medicines for which regulators and payers alike have sought to rein in costs during recent years. Gene and cell therapies  represented on this year's list by hemophilia A therapy Valrox (Biomarin Pharmaceutical, Inc.) and lisocabtagene maraleucel (Bristol-Myers Squibb Co) for large B-cell lymphoma, respectively  have drawn particular attention for their high costs. If approved, Valrox will be crowned as the first potential curative approach for severe hemophilia A. The one-and-done therapy will be transformative as it corrects the genetic defect underlying the condition and eliminates the need for blood transfusions and FVIII replacement therapy. If, as expected, it takes a leadership position it could become the most expensive drug ever to reach the market with a cost of $2.5 million  $3 million per treatment.

Lynn Yoffee, News Director, BioWorld, "Despite the ongoing tension among scientific innovation, commercial motive and public good, as medical research and the pursuit of innovative medicines continues to accelerate, the success of these drugs will bring hope to many  if they can afford them - and seek to provide the benefits of novel mechanisms of action alongside curative potential."

The full list and analysis are freely available online at: www.bioworld.com/drugstowatch2020

Join the conversation on Twitter: @BioWorld @Cortellis #DrugstoWatch2020

The Cortellis Drugs to Watch 2020:

Name(s) Developer(s) Indication Mechanism of action Route of administration Rimegepant (BHV-3000) Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Co. Ltd., of New Haven, Conn. Migraine CGRP antagonist Oral and buccal OMB-157 (ofatumumab sc) Novartis AG, of Basel, Switzerland Multiple sclerosis Anti-CD20 (MAb) Subcutaneous injection Ozanimod (RPC-1063) Celgene Corp., of Summit, N.J. (subsidiary of Bristol-Myers Squibb) Multiple sclerosis S1P1 and S1P5 receptor agonist Oral Vadadustat Akebia Therapeutics Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America Inc., of Jersey City, N.J., Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., of Tokyo Anemia due to chronic kidney disease HIF-PH inhibitor Oral Valrox (valoctocogene roxaparvovec; BMN-270) Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc., of San Rafael, Calif. Hemophilia A FVIII gene therapy (via AAV5 vector) Intravenous infusion Filgotinib (GLPG-0634) Gilead Sciences Inc., of Foster City, Calif., NV, of Mechelen, Belgium Rheumatoid arthritis JAK1 selective inhibitor Oral Rybelsus (semaglutide, oral, once daily) Novo Nordisk A/S, of Bagsvaerd, Denmar Type 2 diabetes mellitus Long-acting GLP-1 analog Oral Inclisiran (ALN-PCSsc; ALN-60212; PCSK9si) The Medicines Co., of Parsippany, N.J. (subsidiary of Novartis) Hypercholesterolemia PCSK9 small interference RNA (siRNA) Subcutaneous injection Sacituzumab govitecan (IMMU-132) Immunomedics Inc., of Morris Plains, N.J., Medicine Inc., of New York Metastatic triple-negative breast cancer Anti-TROP2-SN38 ADC Intravenous infusion Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan; DS-8201a) Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd., of Tokyo, Astrazeneca plc, Cambridge, U.K. Unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer Anti-HER2-exatecan ADC Intravenous infusion Liso-cel (JCAR-017; lisocabtagene maraleucel) Celgene, of Summit, N.J. (subsidiary of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., of Princeton, N.J.) Large B-cell lymphoma Anti-CD19 CAR T-cell therapy Intravenous infusion

Methodology for the Cortellis Drugs to Watch 2020

Data for this list were compiled from Cortellis, the suite of life sciences intelligence solutions from Clarivate Analytics. Cortellis includes the broadest and deepest range of sources of intelligence across the R&D lifecycle, including annual filings, drug pipelines, clinical trials, patents, chemistry, deals, conferences and company announcements. Drugs in phase 2 or phase 3 trials, at pre-registration or registration stage, or already launched early in 2020 were selected for analysis; drugs launched prior to 2020 were excluded. The dataset was then filtered for drugs that had total forecast sales of $1 billion or more in 2024. This filtering process produced a list of drugs which was then manually reviewed by our in-house experts and consultants to determine whether these products were likely to go to market in 2020, based on factors such as the company's expected approval or launch dates. Following this manual review, 11 drugs to watch for 2020 were determined. Each drug was subsequently researched and evaluated in its individual context, including clinical trial results, regulatory status, the market for each drug (including analysis of competitor drugs) and regulatory designations (e.g., Orphan Drug, Priority Review). Sources used included SWOT analyses compiled by Cortellis editors, biopharma company press releases and other publications (e.g., annual filings), peer-reviewed publications and Cortellis sales data (sourced from Refinitiv I/B/E/S). Data extraction  January 20th, 2020.

About Cortellis

Cortellis, a Clarivate Analytics solution, gives life to science by unlocking the hidden insights in data by curating broad and deep sources of intelligence to enable precise, actionable answers to specific questions across the R&D lifecycle  from discovery and clinical development through regulatory submission and commercialization. By supporting data-driven decisions, Cortellis helps pharmaceutical companies, biotech and medical device/diagnostic firms accelerate innovation.

About BioWorld

BioWorld's suite of news services delivers actionable intelligence on the most innovative therapeutics and medical technologies in development. With writers and editors stationed around the globe, BioWorld reports the breaking news  and provides key perspective on hundreds of therapeutics and devices in development, the companies behind those candidates, the business development transactions that evolve the markets, and the regulatory hurdles that both challenge and guard the processes.

About Clarivate Analytics

Clarivate Analytics is a global leader in providing trusted insights and analytics to accelerate the pace of innovation. We have built some of the most trusted brands across the innovation lifecycle, including the Web of Science, Cortellis, Derwent, CompuMark, MarkMonitor and Techstreet. Today, Clarivate Analytics is on a bold entrepreneurial mission to help customers reduce the time from new ideas to life-changing innovations. For more information, please visit clarivate.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release and oral statements included herein may contain forward-looking statements regarding Clarivate Analytics. Forward-looking statements provide Clarivate Analytics' current expectations or forecasts of future events and may include statements regarding results, anticipated synergies and other future expectations. These statements involve risks and uncertainties including factors outside of Clarivate Analytics' control that may cause actual results to differ materially. Clarivate Analytics undertakes no obligation to update or revise the statements made herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Clarivate and its logo, as well as all other trademarks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners and used under license.

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The Ontario governments fall economic and fiscal update emphasized the importance of immigration to the provinces labour needs.

Its hard to overstate this point. The Ministry of Finances own forecasts find that immigration will account for all workforce growth in the province over the next quarter century. Its no exaggeration to say our economy is dependent on the contributions of newcomers.

Yet when newcomers with professional skills, experience and qualifications arrive, they often face barriers to success. These include Canadian experience requirements, non-recognition of foreign credentials, challenges qualifying for support programs, and employers fear of the unknown.

Our immigration policies have increasingly attracted skilled immigrants, but our labour market lags behind in utilizing their skills and expertise. And despite various federal and provincial policy reforms, this challenge persists.

A recent Statistics Canada study found that between 2001 and 2016, university-educated recent immigrants became more concentrated in jobs requiring less than a university education. This represents a significant waste for our economy and a huge loss for people unable to find success and self-expression. Charting a new path requires action from all governments, but as the province receiving the largest number of immigrants Ontario has a significant role to play.

Most of the policy attention over the past 15 years has been dedicated to foreign credential recognition in regulated occupations such as law, education and the skilled trades. These efforts are important and must continue. But regulated occupations represent only about 20 per cent of jobs and policymakers focus must be wider.

Our new policy brief published by the Ontario 360 project, housed at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, puts forward a series of policy recommendations to improve the integration of skilled immigrants into Ontarios economy. The goal is to inform a provincial strategy that touches all parts of the labour market.

One area for focus lies in making employment support programs more demand-led  not simply helping immigrants with credentialing or training, but making provincial programs function more like executive search services that connect qualified workers with businesses who need them.

To improve talent use and retention, qualification for these programs also needs to be opened to include those on work permits and new citizens, many of them women, who may begin their career path longer after immigrating. Pre-arrival services also need attention, working with the federal government to expand programs that can connect immigrants directly to employers before they arrive.

There have been considerable changes to the immigration file since the Ford government took office in 2018. These responsibilities now reside in the newly constituted Ministry of Labour Training and Skills Development. With the ground settled, its now time to consolidate leadership and drive a new strategy to support professionally skilled immigrants.

Frankly, we cannot afford not to. More than ever, the success of immigrants, the province and country are fundamentally intertwined.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP KK Ragesh on Monday gave a suspension of business notice in Rajya Sabha under Rule 267 over Supreme Court ruling that reservations for jobs, promotions, is not a fundamental right.

The Supreme Court also ruled that states cannot be directed to provide promotions to the members of the SC/ST community.

During Zero Hour, parliamentarians can raise matters of great importance without the mandatory ten days advance notice.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will pronounce verdict on pleas challenging the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (SCs/ STs) (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2018, that rule out any provision for anticipatory bail for a person accused of atrocities against SC/STs.

Earlier on Monday, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Communist Party of India (CPI) also gave a suspension of business notice in Rajya Sabha under rule 267 citing the "prevailing situation in the country over the proposed NRC-NPR and CAA".

The first phase of the Budget Session of the Parliament will conclude on February 11, while the second part of the session will begin from March 2 and end on April 3.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Health And Human Safety

Aesthetics

Privacy And Cybersecurity

Local Action

National And International

Action Steps And Solutions

(TNS)  In 2019, the state of Florida passed legislation written by AT&T that limited the ability of local municipalities to govern the rollout of 5G.While 5G provides "more data faster," 5G frequencies do not travel very far. Telecom's solution? "Small cell wireless facilities" approximately every 200 feet in public rights-of-way.With competing telecom carriers and no requirement for co-location of equipment, you may have multiple pole installations in your front yard.Here are the issues.Scientists in the study of electromagnetic field (EMF) and medical doctors from 42 countries have appealed to the United Nations and to the European Commission asking for a moratorium on the rollout of 5G based on hundreds of independent peer-reviewed studies demonstrating hazards associated with exposure to EMF radiation.Despite the known health effects, the 1996 Telecommunications Act prohibits local governments from regulating wireless communications on the basis of health and human safety, yet industry has allocated zero dollars to safety testing. RF exposure limits have not been updated since 1996."Small cell wireless" is a misnomer. The equipment may be up to 28 cubic feet in size and may be mounted on utility poles, street lights, bus stops and sides of buildings. It may also be installed in the right-of-way in your front yard.In many areas of the city, the utilities have been buried. Unfortunately, the money and effort involved in this ongoing endeavor may prove futile as telecom has the right to install new poles to host their equipment even when utilities are underground. What will the impact be on property values for homes and businesses? How will homeowners feel when they wake up to a junkyard on a pole in their front yard?5G technology is very susceptible to hacking. Data is collected and available for sale and one's every move is tracked. Nationally, cyberterrorism has been identified as the No. 1 threat to national security.Ordinance 2019-770, written by Verizon, "would bring Jacksonville into compliance with Florida law" but it goes far beyond compliance, eliminating many of the objective design standards that City Council agreed to in 2018. Other Florida cities are fighting back.The Florida League of Cities filed a lawsuit challenging a 2017 state law that deprives cities of their constitutional right to manage the use of taxpayer-owned property."While cities embrace 5G technology in their communities," the lawsuit states, "they maintain the law should not include deep subsidies to multi-billion-dollar wireless companies paid for by taxpayers. Under the law, wireless providers may have an all-access pass to public rights of way, including city sidewalks, and city-owned utility poles, including light poles and traffic signal poles, to place wireless antennas and large equipment boxes."Cities are basically unable to say no and have limited authority to control where the wireless equipment is placed on public property. City-owned utility poles were not intended to accommodate such equipment or to provide virtually free use of such poles by private wireless providers. The lawsuit seeks to stop this action, which could disrupt every local community in Florida. It's a shocking example of corporate greed hoisted onto taxpayers."Panama City Beach passed on ordinance in which small wireless poles "are not permissible within 250 feet of the footprint of any dwelling, including attached garages, porches, and balconies. ... Round-mounted equipment ... shall not be permissible within 500 feet of any dwelling."Theasks "Why should a private entity get carte blanche over taxpayer-owned rights-of-way without any real concern over aesthetics or public safety? Three of the seven permits currently on file for new small cell nodes in Pensacola are in rights-of-way directly in the front yard of single-family homes."Despite the egregious overreach of government, many cities around the country are protesting. Multiple cities in California have passed ordinances prohibiting small cell facilities in residential areas.Internationally, countless cities and countries have enacted restrictive legislation or blocked the rollout entirely. Recently, there was a global protest against 5G.5G requires switching from large "macro" cell towers to much cheaper small cell sites placed close together  the 5G build-out is all about maximizing profit for the telecom industry.The residents of Jacksonville should demand that Ordinance 2019-770 be amended to establish a minimum distance between 5G installations and dwellings. Local activists have suggested a minimum of 150 feet.Contact your City Council representative and all of the At-Large Council members. Join Stop5GJax on Facebook.Educate yourself and get involved!Everyone benefits from and appreciates the convenience of modern technology, but in this case "progress" is a massive threat to public health, an aesthetic disaster and the framework for surveillance capitalism.
Finding bilingual educators has been a long-standing problem for school districts across the country. Now, a study out of Georgia State University explores why finding those teachers may be only half the problem.

The invisible work of translating and creating curriculum materials in languages other than English that falls on the shoulders of dual-language bilingual educators too often goes unrecognized and is never remunerated. That responsibility could lead to teachers leaving the profession, concludes Cathy Amanti, a clinical assistant professor at Georgia State.

Using data from six interviews, the study reveals that most school administrators arent even aware of the extra work. This linguistic labor, as Amanti calls it, is work that many dual-language teachers must take on because of the scarcity of quality learning materials for English-language learners and students enrolled in dual-language programswhich are surging in popularity around the country.

The bilingual teacher shortage is an emerging issue nationwide , federal data indicate: 31 states and the District of Columbia have a shortage of teachers who work in bilingual, dual-language immersion, and English-as-a-second-language classrooms, federal data indicate.

For the study, Amanti interviewed six teachers in elementary school dual-language programs (four are Spanish-English programs and two are French-English programs). All the participating teachers had some curricular materials provided by their school or district in the language they teach, but the quality and amount varied by subject, school, and district.

Amanti, who cautioned against making widespread generalizations based on her work, thinks more extensive research is needed to explore whether educators working in these positions are leaving their jobs because of the lack of recognition and compensation for the extra work they incur.

In Amantis study, two of the six teachers left their jobs at the end of the school year in which her study took placeone transferred to a school without a dual-language bilingual education program and the other left teaching altogether. Amanti reported that the teachers left various reasons, some of which are tied to the additional work involved and resources required for the job.

It is unlikely that any [dual-language bilingual education] teacher is provided with all the instructional materials and resources they need, Amanti writes in the study. But it is more likely that [dual-language bilingual educators] have less ready-made curriculum materials available to them than their counterparts who teach in English. This is an extra burden that directly impacts the working conditions.

Amanti, who has experience as a bilingual educator and currently teaches English-as-second-language and dual-language bilingual education courses at Georgia State, said teacher colleges should consider requiring more students to study curriculum development in languages other than English since they inherit the responsibility when they take new jobs.

I see a lot of value in teachers creating their own materials because they are in the best position to know their students in the communities that they come from, Amanti said in an interview with Education Week. I would love to see coursework in teacher-preparation programs that specifically focuses on creating curriculum materials, particularly culturally relevant curriculum materials that respond to local histories, local knowledge.

Related Reading

Bilingual Teachers Are in Short Supply. How Can Schools Cultivate Their Own?

Quality Learning Materials Are Scarce for English-Learners

Bilingual School Staff Who Want to Teach Face Bureaucratic, Financial Barriers

Photo Credit: Amaya Rodriguez-Lema, of Bilbao, Spain, conducts a reading lesson with 2nd grade students at William Lipscomb Elementary School in Dallas. Rodriguez-Lema is one 150 teachers from Spain currently working in the district.

--Brandon Thibodeaux for Education Week


Police detectives have arrested a 26-year-old American-British dual citizen suspected of murdering a Frenchman in downtown Budapest.

The body of the Frenchman was found early on Saturday in Ferenczy Istvan Street in the capitals 5th district.



The 25-year-old is thought to have died at the scene from severe injuries.



Police arrested the suspect in a nearby apartment in Museum Boulevard at 2pm and questioned him on suspicion of murder.



Photo courtesy of police.hu
Ready to work with new US administration says Pak foreign minister

With a likely meeting of Jaishankar, Qureshi Indo-Pak tensions set to thaw further

No Indo-Pak bi-lateral so far on sidelines of Afghan meet

World will take Pakistan seriously once it is economically stable: Foreign Minister

International

pti-PTI

Karachi, Feb 10: Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday said the world will take his country seriously once it is economically stable.

He made this comment while lamenting that the world was not taking the Kashmir issue seriously though Pakistan was raking it up at international meetings.

"The world will take Pakistan seriously when we are financially stable," the minister said.

The Pakistan foreign minister conceded that many countries were reluctant to speak on the Kashmir issue and the Citizenship Amendment Act because of their economic interests as India was a big trade market for them.

"The thing is that while everyone speaks of ethics and doing the right thing, their actions are always in line with safeguarding their own economic interests," he said.

Qureshi said his ministry would facilitate other ministries to establish stronger commercial ties with other nations, which would help introduce better trade practices in the country, Dawn News reported.

Qureshi said "de-industrialisation" in Pakistan in recent years had led to closing down of many factories.

"The question is about when this process (de-industrialisation) started. If industries are shutting down now, something must have happened in the past few years to have triggered the process," the minister was quoted as saying by the Dawn News.

He said placing blame or playing politics on the economy would serve no purpose but a solution must be found.

The cash-strapped Pakistan government has been implementing austerity measures to improve the country's finances.

In July last year, Pakistan registered a currency reserve of less than USD 8 billion -- enough to cover only 1.7 months of imports. The International Monetary Fund formally approved a USD 6-billion loan to Pakistan in July 2019, citing "significant" economic challenges.

Pakistan has so far received billions in financial aid from friendly countries like China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE during the current fiscal year.
Strategic Improvement Group and UW Faculty Senate Committee to Host Public Forum Feb. 18

The University of Wyomings Strategic Improvement Working Group has been working since last semester with groups across campus to address some of the concerns raised in the Great Colleges to Work For survey.

The 12-member Strategic Improvement Working Group is working with stakeholders across campus on several improvement plans in four general areas assigned to four subgroups: staff relations; decision-making, shared governance and faculty relations; resources and position management; and administrative systems and business processes.

The working group is collaborating with the Faculty Senate to develop a faculty forum regarding the Office of Research and Economic Development (ORED) on campus, says UW engineering Professor Michael Barker, the Strategic Improvement Working Group chair.

The topic was identified as important to faculty and staff, and it is timely given the changes that have occurred in ORED, the consultant work with ORED, the economic development emphasis in the state, and the Grand Challenges initiative, Barker says.

The Strategic Improvement Working Group and the Faculty Senate Forum on Research and Economic Development will host a joint meeting from 2-4 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 18, in the Wyoming Union Family Room. The forum is open to the campus community.

Barker, also the Faculty Senates secretary, will moderate the discussion.

Among items to be discussed:

-- ORED overview from Diana Hulme, associate vice president for research.

-- Research Services -- pre-award -- Farrell Rapp, Research Services director.

-- Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) -- post-award -- Jerry Fife, OSP interim senior director.

-- Research compliance, Carolyn Broccardo, research integrity and compliance director.

-- Technology Transfer/Research Products Center, Victoria Bryant, director.

-- Updates from Ed Synakowski, ORED vice president.

A question-and-answer session will follow the program.

In response to campus Great Colleges survey results, the Improvement Working Group and the Faculty Senate have coordinated the right people to come together to communicate OREDs operations, Barker says. This forum will be to address the perceived and real issues and concerns with the functions and operations of ORED.

The forum will include attendance from ORED and OSP; the UW Board of Trustees Research and Economic Development Committee; Acting President Neil Theobald; and representatives of Academic Affairs, Budget and Institutional Planning, deans and directors.

This is the opportunity for faculty and staff to participate and to gain a better knowledge of ORED, and to help identify systemic issues and recommended improvements that address OREDs effectiveness, Barker says.

He adds that ORED has gone through changes, and the faculty and staff have raised issues and concerns.

Now, we need those same faculty and staff to participate in the forum to work through the changes, the issues, the concerns so that ORED can best serve faculty and staff, the university and the state, Barker says.
South Africa: President Cyril Ramaphosa assumes AU chairship

Let us build the Africa we want. Let the guns be silenced. Let our swords be beaten to ploughshares, and our spears turned into pruning hooks. It is the actions we take from this day onwards that will determine our continents destiny, said President Cyril Ramaphosa.

With these words, the President highlighted South Africas focus for the African Union (AU) chairship, which he assumed on Sunday during the first day of the 33rd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

President Ramaphosa took over the chairship of the AU from President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

South Africa was elected in February 2019 as the incoming chair of the AU. The Union, had at the time, agreed that the assumption of the rotational chairship shall take place on the occasion of the 33rd Ordinary Session.

South Africa first chaired the African Union 18 years ago in 2002, at the seminal session of the official launch of the Union in Durban, South Africa.

Convened under the theme, Silencing the Guns: Creating Conducive Conditions for Africans Development, South Africas 2020 chairship of the AU coincides with its chairship of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSGCC).

President Ramaphosa further highlighted key priorities of the term as supporting integration, economic development, trade and investment in the continent; infrastructure development; advancing gender equality, strengthening cooperation between the African Union and United Nations; promoting peace and security, and advancing efforts to silence the guns on the African continent and elsewhere.

He reaffirmed the principle of finding African solutions to African problems as the fundamental approach to addressing all conflicts on the continent, working within the frameworks of the AU and UN.

He further called on the AU to continue to support the just struggles of oppressed people elsewhere in the world. He reiterated unwavering support for the people of Palestine in the legitimate quest for an independent and sovereign state, and the right of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination.

The African continent is on the ascent. It is indeed a regeneration moral and eternal, as described by the South African revolutionary Pixley Isaka Seme.

If we pursue our objectives with diligence and determination, and mobilise our fellow African countries to support them, I am certain that ours can be a meaningful, effective and impactful Union Let us build the Africa we want, said the President.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-02-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
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ALBANY  Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who was in Washington, D.C. for the National Governors Association's annual winter meeting, shared a stage with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Sunday to discuss the political sphere, national infrastructure and the working relationship between state and federal leaders.

Cuomo moderated a brief discussion with Pelosi, asking about her political background and whether she would support her children entering the "so tough and so toxic" world of elected office. He then led governors in questioning the California congresswoman on transportation and the 2020 census, among other topics.

Cuomo, who is also the vice chairman of the NGA, strayed from discussing President Donald Trump, impeachment or other recent political events in his conversation with Pelosi. Still, he hinted at the division seemingly ever-present in the nation's capital: "We're in this hyperpartisan, hyperpolitical time, and I think sometimes, people lose the humanity of what we do in public service. We focus on labels and titles and positions, and we forget that we're all people trying to do good things," he said, segueing into a question about Pelosi's political family.

Pelosi spoke of "the politics in which I was raised," alluding to what she views was a more amicable time in government, when she said politicians worked together to arrive at the common goal of making a better world for their children. She referenced Cuomo's most beloved phrase as of late  "e pluribus unum," a Latin term meaning "out of many, one," that is also the motto for the United States.

"'E pluribus unum' really does say it all," Cuomo said. "It's one of the great expressions, it's on the country's seal from the very beginning. I just proposed adding it to the seal of the State of New York this year, changing the seal to add 'e pluribus unum,' because it really does sum up our overall philosophy."

Cuomo asked Pelosi how state leaders can spearhead national investments in infrastructure, something he also touched on in an address to governors at the meeting on Saturday. He had urged his colleagues to take the lead on infrastructure projects: "While we all hope for an active federal partner, the reality is, after such a long delay, I think the best course forward is for the states to hope for the best and plan for the worst."

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Pelosi noted that infrastructure growth has never been a partisan issue, but Democrats and Republicans in D.C. are often split on how to pay for new roads, broadband access, bridges and other items that contribute to the all-encompassing "infrastructure" term.

"I am optimistic, because we must do it, and it is one thing the public appreciates and wants," she said.
Technology surrounds us and is a major part of our everyday lives. We all pick up our phones several times a day, whether it be to send messages, scroll through our Instagram feed or do some online shopping. But what a lot of us dont realise, is how much the technology in our hands needs to be regulated to ensure were getting the best possible product.

Apple is a prime example of how regulation can discipline the industry. Just recently, the California-based technology giant was fined A$41 million (25 million) by Frances regulatory body, the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention, for intentionally slowing down older iPhones following iOS software updates, without informing customers. Apples malpractice may not be news to you, as it first came to light back in 2017 that devices were being slowed down to help counteract aging battery performance.

While Apple claimed this was for consumers own good, not everyone was sold

if i knew that i will going to be forced for choosing between stability and power in the future with that price, i wouldnt buy iphone i would go with Android.  Sayeed Kabir Sadat (@kebir_sadat) December 20, 2017

As Mashable reported on Saturday, Apple has since apologized for its miscommunication over the issue and offered discounted battery replacements. But that didnt stop them from being fined by the Italian government in 2019, and now by France.

However, Australia hasnt issued any fines of its own, rather seemingly plodding along and taking a shell be right (or, lets not scare off investors) approach. So the Competition and Consumer Commission  the countrys regulatory body  either doesnt care that Apple misled its citizens, or it just hasnt decided yet if the crime is worthy of a high-figure fine.

Its not to say the ACCC is completely devoid of taking any sort of action against any corporation, as in December 2019 it was announced a dedicated unit would be set up to monitor and report on the state of competition and consumer protection in digital platform markets.

Not to mention, the Australian Government did fine Apple $9 million in 2018 for misleading customers about their rights to a repair, after the company insinuated that having your device repaired by a non-Apple shop voided your rights to an Apple repair job.

But wed like to see them hit Apple where it hurts, over more substantial issues, inspiring them to build better batteries  or at least be more transparent about their aging (and IOS updating) services  in the future.

Read Next
In an act of rare moral courage, Senator Mitt Romney voted last week to convict President Donald Trump of abuse of power for his pressure campaign on Ukraine to investigate his political rivals. There will no doubt be a place in posterity for the former Massachusetts governor and Republican candidate for President against Barack Obama in 2012 as he became the first senator in three impeachments in American history to vote against a President from his own party.

Till now thought of as a fickle politician without core beliefs, Mr Romney changed the perception with a vote of deep moral conviction against a President he accused of acting with a personal and political purpose. The populist demagogue, who is now likely to win another four-year White House term, acted true to form in hate-tweeting an ad attacking Mr Romney within hours of the Senate vote.

Politicians rarely act against their own interests. If something is in your personal best interest, the mind rationalises that as the right thing to do, Mr Romney, 72, said while explaining the difficulty of casting a conscience vote. His forceful speech condemning the President was sufficient for Mr Trumps son to seek his expulsion from the Senate Republican conference. The party will, no doubt, hound Mr Romney much more as his vote was more symbolic than significant as the Republicans otherwise held ranks to acquit Mr Trump on both charges.

Mr Romney may have voted with his party against the second article of impeachment  obstruction of Congress  as he believed the Democrats hadnt presented the case well enough. However, he acted courageously in sticking his neck out though the US Senate, disappointingly, seemed to impeach the very concept of democracy by exonerating Mr Trump. The party won over the country and the very principles of constitutional justice. But at least one politician had the courage to say no.
Years ago, a couple of weeks after Donald Trump won the presidency, Dennis Prager, a nationally syndicated radio talk-show host and columnist, wrote a thought-provoking article for National Review titled, Ten Reasons Left-Wingers Cut Trump Voters from Their Lives. Reading it for the first time last week, I thought it had been written this year.

Prager began his column noting a front-page article in the New York Times on the same topic titled, Political Divide Splits Relationships  and Thanksgiving, Too. The NYTs article began with three examples of people breaking family relationships over the 2016 election.

One man canceled Christmas plans with his family who voted for Trump. A woman called off Thanksgiving with her mother and brother. Another woman moved her wedding so that her fiances grandmother and aunt, strong Trump supporters  could not attend.

Prager observed and the NYT acknowledged these politically charged family breakups were one-sided: Democrats have dug in their heels, and in some cases are refusing to sit across the table from relatives who voted for President-elect Donald J. Trump.

Prager himself said he had received calls on his radio program from parents whose daughters had informed them they would no longer allow their parents to see their grandchildren. All of these examples happened within two weeks of the 2016 election! And, if anything, its worse today than then!

Family feuds over religion or politics are nothing new. Nevertheless I continue to be struck by the insatiable nature of this one-sided feud. Were in Trumps last year of his term, and hatred of Trump and his followers has reached superlative heights of apocryphal decrees! Every crisis, real or imagined, for the past three-plus years has been the worst possible scenario that would certainly lead to World War III or the total demise of planet earth. All the experts and anonymous sources agree.

Trump beat Hillary! Oh, the agony! Kavanaugh was confirmed! Oh, disaster! Schiff has seen absolute undisputed proof of Trumps collusion with Russia. Mueller finds no evidence of any collusion with Russia! Oh, the humanity! And, this week Trump conquers impeachment! Whats that song The 5th Dimension released in 1967? Maybe its the best thing for you, But its the worst that could happen to me. ... Per his campaign promises, Trump just keeps on winning and winning.

Prager explains this one-sided feud from a historical perspective of the left and right sides of politics going back to Karl Marx. He makes a great case. I encourage you to read it for yourself.

Recently Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced a proposed peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Key Arab nations in the Middle East have expressed their favor, though some have not. This announcement comes in spite of wars and rumors of wars covering the globe, when lawlessness is becoming more pronounced and many peoples hearts are turning cold.

What do all of these things portend? Could the coronavirus kill tens or even hundreds of millions this year? Will nations join together, or will powerful nations take advantage of the times to broaden their influence? Are forces more powerful than climate change capable of making radical changes affecting everyone in the world over the next seven years or so? What are the signs telling us?

Daniel L. Gardner is a syndicated columnist who lives in Starkville, Miss. You may contact him at PJandMe2@gmail.com.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  You reap what you sow.

What we saw over the weekend in New York City, when a gunman targeted NYPD officers for assassination, is the result of years of anti-cop rhetoric and policies put in place by Democratic lawmakers who have bent over backward to favor criminal suspects over crime victims.

Two cops were wounded over a 12-hour stretch on Saturday and Sunday. One was on duty with another officer in a police van when alleged shooter Robert Williams opened fire without provocation.

The other was wounded when Williams allegedly began shooting up a police precinct stationhouse.

The shootings brought back chilling memories of the 2014 murders of Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, which were thought to be revenge slayings against the NYPD during national protests over the police-involved deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown.

How out of control has anti-law enforcement sentiment gotten? Correction Department chief Hazel Jennings advised members and their families not to wear apparel featuring the department name and logo on mass transit.

Enforcing the law has taken a 180-degree turn in New York City since Bill de Blasio was elected mayor. The City Council has pitched in too. Stop-and-frisk has been tossed aside as a tool of law enforcement. Police have been told to stand down when it comes to quality-of-life offenses. Broken windows enforcement is now seen as racist. Mass transit fare evasion is rampant. Graffiti has crept back onto the city landscape.

But it was state lawmakers, under Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who really upped the ante when they decided that those accused of crimes, including hard-core criminals, didnt need to post bail when they were arrested. Because poverty is not a crime.

Sure, but others things are crimes.

Weve seen with our own eyes whats happened: Criminals released onto the streets went right back to committing crimes. Weve seen an increase in crime in the city that even de Blasio has had to acknowledge is the result of bail reform.

But de Blasio cant put all the blame on Cuomo. The mayor supported the state reforms, despite red-alert warnings from law enforcement, prosecutors and others that it was a bad, bad idea. And de Blasio has overseen the stop-and-frisk downgrade and other enforcement reforms in the city. Hes helped lead the effort to close Rikers Island.

The bottom line: Criminals have very little to worry about in New York City these days. They can carry a gun with virtual impunity, knowing that they are unlikely to be stopped and searched. They know that if theyre arrested, chances are they will be put right back out on the street. For some offenses, theyre unlikely to be arrested at all. Whats to worry?

Law enforcement used to be fairly straightforward in New York City: You didnt let the little crimes slide. Like fare evasion. Like graffiti. Like peeing in the street. Because sometimes, somebody committing a petty crime was also responsible for committing a more serious one one. Maybe there was a warrant out for them. Or maybe they were carrying a gun when they jumped that turnstile.

It sent a clear message: Commit a crime, any crime, and youll get busted. Who knows how many people were discouraged from committing crimes because they feared the long arm of the law? Thats how you keep a city safe. The stats bear it out. And now the stats have taken a turn for the worse.

It's easy to turn it around: Just start enforcing the law. The Daily News reported that stop-and-frisks were up 22 percent last year from 2018. Maybe somebodys getting the message.

And state lawmakers need to undo this crazy bail reform measure, and allow judges to again use their discretion when it comes to sending accused criminals to jail.

Let law enforcers enforce the law.
The head of the Presidents Office, Andriy Bohdan, decided to resign. Ukrainska Pravda reports, referring to its sources.

"According to five sources of the Ukrainska Pravda, Bogdan had a conversation about his resignation with President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday, February 10. The head of the Presidents office also discussed the resignation with his deputies. Sources did not report on the reasons for Bohdans intention to leave the Presidents Office." Ukrainska Pravda asked for a comment to almost all the deputy heads of the Presidents Office, presidential aides Serhiy Shefir and Andriy Yermak, and to Bohdan himself," reads the statement.

In turn, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Dmytro Razumkov commented on the information about the alleged resignation of the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Bohdan, on the air of one of the TV channels, the UNIAN correspondent reports.

Im not the press secretary of Andriy Bogdan. I think its better to ask him. Today I did not have the opportunity to talk with him, I cant comment on it, - Razumkov said.

When asked if this is possible, given the recent events, the speaker said: I think that in our country, thanks to our people, everything is possible. At one time they said that Zelensky could not be president. However, everyone sees who the president is today "I, perhaps, could never have thought that I would be the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Therefore, everything is always possible. However, to be correct, I think that one should not guess, but ask."

As we reported, The officials of Yanukovych time, who were lustrated, occupy the high position during the presidency of Volodymyr Zelensky
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The gunman who allegedly shot and injured two New York City police officers over the weekend has been arraigned in a Bronx court as it's revealed he was 'angry' at cops for using a taser on him during a DWI arrest in 2018.

Robert Williams was arraigned on 13 counts of attempted murder, criminal weapon possession and resisting arrest charges on Monday afternoon. He was ordered held without bail.

The beaten and bruised man held his head down as he faced a judge at the Bronx Criminal Court. Williams, 45, appeared to have a bandage along his left ear and stitches under his left eye, which was swollen shut.

Williams was wearing a grey Starbury hoodie with the words, 'My house, my rules,' written above 'Brooklyn, New York'.

The suspect didn't mutter a single word as he stood in the courtroom where nearly 100 NYPD officers stood watching.

Just before Williams was arraigned, it was revealed that Williams was arrested in 2018 for driving driving while intoxicated. At the time of that arrest, Williams allegedly tried to resist, prompting officers to use a stun gun on him.

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Robert Williams (pictured in court on Monday), 45, who allegedly shot two NYPD cops has been arraigned in a Bronx court as it's revealed he was 'angry' at police for using a stun gun on him during a 2018 arrest

Williams was arraigned on attempted murder, criminal weapon possession and resisting arrest charges on Monday afternoon. Williams appeared to have a bandage along his left ear and stitches under his left eye, which was swollen shut

The beaten and bruised man held his head down as he faced a judge at the Bronx Criminal Court. Williams was wearing a grey Starbury hoodie with the words, 'My house, my rules,' written above 'Brooklyn, New York'

The suspect didn't mutter a single word as he stood in the courtroom where nearly 100 NYPD officers (pictured) stood watching

Following the arraignment Patrick Lynch (pictured speaking), the president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association of New York City, condemned the shootings outside the court

Williams, of the Bronx, was captured at the 41st precinct headquarters in the Bronx after he walked in and started shooting shortly before 8am on Sunday, police said.

Following his arrest, he was hospitalized and from his hospital bed, Williams is said to have made several rambling statements.

According to News 4, Williams expressed his anger at police in general before mentioning the DWI arrest.

Williams allegedly voiced anger about being stunned and labeled an emotionally disturbed person by the officers who arrested him at the time.

After the 2018 arrest, Williams went back to prison on a parole violation for two months from December 2018 to January 2019.

While in custody, Williams reportedly told officers at the hospital that he was going to shoot one of them once he gets out.

'Im going to shoot one of you when I get out,' Williams said, according to the New York Post.

His arraignment came just hours after New York Police Department lieutenant, Jose Gautreaux, was released from the Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx.

Gautreaux was allegedly shot in the arm by Williams after he opened fire in a police precinct on Sunday morning.

The lieutenant was greeted by lines of waiting officers as he left the hospital on Monday. His arm in a sling and a police jacket over his shoulders, Gautreaux got out of a wheelchair at the hospital entrance, walking to a waiting car and giving the crowd a thumbs-up.

Among those marking the moment was NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea.

Lt Jose Gautreaux, who was wounded on Sunday morning at the 41st precinct headquarters in the Bronx, was released from the hospital earlier on Monday

His arm in a sling and a police jacket over his shoulders, Gautreaux got out of a wheelchair at the hospital entrance, walking to a waiting car and giving the crowd a thumbs-up

The lieutenant waved at the cheering audience of officers and officials as he exited the hospital on Monday

Among those marking the moment was NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea (shaking Gautreaux's hand)

Gautreaux was seen waving from a car as he left the Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx on Monday

Authorities said he struck Gautreaux in the arm and narrowly missed other police personnel before the running out of bullets, lying down and tossing his pistol as he was swarmed by officers.

The attack on the precinct came just hours after Williams approached a patrol van in the same part of the Bronx on Saturday night and fired at two officers inside, wounding one before escaping on foot, police said.

The officer who was wounded in that earlier attack, Paul Stroffolino, was released from the hospital on Sunday evening.

It's still unclear what prompted Williams, of the Bronx, to open fire on the officers. A DailyMail.com request for comment wasn't immediately returned by the NYPD.

The suspect - who was out on parole after a 2002 attempted murder conviction - was seen handcuffed to a hospital bed on Sunday in photos obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com.

New York City leaders held a press conference on the case on Sunday afternoon, where Shea and Mayor Bill de Blasio blamed the attacks on an anti-police atmosphere fueled by recent protests.

Williams, of the Bronx, was captured at the precinct station after he walked in and started shooting shortly before 8am Sunday, police said. Williams is seen handcuffed to his hospital bed in photos obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com

Williams appeared to be sedated and his severely swollen face was covered in dried blood from a wound on his cheek

Surveillance footage shows Williams before the Saturday night shooting (left) and inside the 41st precinct station before the Sunday morning shooting (right)

Shea hit out at criminal justice reform activists who've held demonstrations against use of excessive force, referencing a protest on January 31 in which dozens of members of a radical police-hating group stormed Grand Central Terminal chanting anti-NYPD slogans including 'F**k cops!'

'These things are not unrelated. We had people marching through the streets of New York City recently,' Shea said. 'Words matter. And words affect people's behavior.'

Shea didn't offer any evidence that Williams knew of those protests or was influenced by them.

Cops are circulating this doctored photo of de Blasio with Williams. The mayor started a program that gives Mets tickets and other freebies to defendants to entice them to return to court

The commissioner said the suspect was paroled in 2017 for an attempted murder conviction in 2002 in the Bronx. He said the suspect had carjacked a woman, crashed the car and then engaged in a gunfight with NYPD officers.

The Sergeants Benevolent Association said in a tweet that they are declaring war on de Blasio

Williams was recently released from police custody after being jailed on charges of heavy weapon possession and was due in court in the coming days.

Shea referred to the suspect as a 'coward' and said authorities were confident that he was involved in both the precinct shooting on Sunday and the patrol shooting the night before.

'This is not a crime gone bad. This is not a liquor store robbery interrupted that a tragedy erupts from. This is a premeditated assassination attempt,' Shea said.

'It is only by the grace of God and the heroic actions of those inside the building that took him into custody that we are not talking about police officers murdered inside a New York City police precinct.'

De Blasio, who was elected partly on a promise to reform overly aggressive policing of minority communities, also suggested that anti-police sentiment had gotten out of hand.

'Anyone who spews hatred at our officers is aiding and abetting this kind of atmosphere; it is not acceptable,' de Blasio said. 'You could protest for whatever you believe in, but you cannot vilely attack those who are here to protect us. It creates this kind of dynamic.'

De Blasio also took to Twitter to share his frustration over the shootings.

'This was a premeditated assassination attempt against New Yorks Finest. It was also an attack on ALL New Yorkers and everything we believe in. This MUST be a city where everyone can live in peace and respect. This individual attempted to destroy that. We will not let him win,' he tweeted.

His tweet was quickly met with anger from the Sergeants Benevolent Association who declared war on the mayor.

'Mayor DeBlasio, the members of the NYPD are declaring war on you! We do not respect you, DO NOT visit us in hospitals.

'You sold the NYPD to the vile creatures, the 1% who hate cops but vote for you. NYPD cops have been assassinated because of you. This isnt over, Game on!' the association wrote.

NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea (left) and Mayor Bill de Blasio (right) spoke at a press conference on Sunday and blamed the attacks on an anti-police atmosphere fueled by recent protests

Thousands of protesters flocked to Grand Central Terminal and flowed out into Midtown's streets on January 31 to protest police use of excessive force

Robert Williams was quietly brought to Bronx Central Booking tonight under the cover of darkness. He was transported from St. Barnabas Hospital in a motorcade complete with heavily armed @NYPDSpecialops officers. https://t.co/PZbxTwq4QD pic.twitter.com/HZrFq2zhoW  Myles N. Miller (@MylesMill) February 10, 2020

A safety memo (pictured) was issued by Hazel Jennings, chief of the Department of Corrections, on Sunday night. It essentially urges officers to hide their police affiliation to avoid being targeted

On Sunday night, Hazel Jennings, chief of the Department of Corrections, issued a memo essentially urging officers to hide their police affiliation to avoid being targeted.

Shortly after Williams was arrested on Sunday, authorities said they also brought a woman in for questioning who is believed to be Williams' girlfriend Liza T Valdez, a communications technician for the NYPD.

Authorities said they believe the woman was 'present in the general area' and may have driven Williams to the precinct.

Police did not name the woman as she is not considered a suspect but sources identified her to DailyMail.com as Valdez.

The woman's mother spoke said she was not Williams' girlfriend, but the pair were childhood friends.

The mother insisted that her daughter 'has nothing to do with this' and suggested that Williams tricked her into driving him to the precinct.

The first attack unfolded just before 8.30pm Saturday when a man approached a locked police van with its emergency lights activated and asked the officers inside, Stroffolino, 31, and Brian Hanlon, 33, for directions.

Williams (left) was reportedly out on parole after a 2002 attempted murder conviction. Authorities were also questioning a woman believed to be Williams' girlfriend Liza T Valdez (right), a communications technician for the NYPD

The suspect is seen raising his gun and firing at cops in security camera footage from Saturday's incident

The suspect (pictured) was filmed walking away from the scene of Saturday's shooting, which police say was unprovoked

The first officer was shot at 906 Simpson St in the Bronx New York on Saturday, authorities said

A New York police officer is seen on the scene of the first shooting on Saturday night in the Bronx

The two shootings took place only blocks away from each other less than 12 hours apart in the Bronx

Williams allegedly then pulled out a gun 'without provocation' and fired multiple shots into the van, striking Stroffolino on the chin and neck, narrowly missing his carotid artery.

Neither Stroffolino nor Hanlon, who have been friends since middle school and partners for eight years, fired a single shot.

Hanlon then drove Stroffolino to a nearby hospital, where he was held overnight for observation.

The shooting happened near the junction of East 163 and Barretto streets, where the officers were stationed because of recent drug activity and violence, officials said.

Police released a photograph of the suspected shooter and were combing the city for him when Williams walked into the police station coordinating the manhunt, strolled to the desk and brandished a gun just before 8am.

Two security cameras captured video of the chaotic scene at the 41st precinct station.

Williams struck Gautreaux, who was sitting at the front desk, and the lieutenant returned fire but did not hit the suspect.

He then rushed into a side room and fired at two people, including a civilian employee, before retreating into the lobby and diving on the floor when he ran out of ammunition.

Williams allegedly opened fire on a lieutenant manning the front desk of the 41st precinct on Sunday morning. When the lieutenant returned fire, the suspect fled into another room and shot at other police personnel

Williams is seen diving on the floor and surrendering after he ran out of bullets

Several officers then swarmed the suspect after he surrendered his weapon

Emergency vehicles rushed to the 41st precinct after a lieutenant was gunned down at the front desk on Sunday morning

Officers with the NYPD's Technical Assistance Response Unit are seen near a vehicle believed to belong to the gunman

EMS are seen taking the victim out of the 41st precinct on a stretcher on Sunday morning

New York police released this photo of a firearm Williams allegedly used in both attacks over the weekend

Video from a different angle shows an officer in the precinct lobby reacting to the first gunshot.

One uniformed cop is seen punching the suspect as other officers converge, pointing their guns, and the gunman's pistol is seen sliding away from him across the floor.

The suspect's grandmother, 80-year-old Mary Williams, spoke to NBC 4 New York after the attack on Sunday and said she was 'really shocked' by the allegations levied against him.

Mary Williams, the suspect's grandmother, told News 4 she was 'really shocked' by the allegations levied against him

She said she spoke to her grandson, whom she raised in the Soundview section of the Bronx, a few hours before the first attack.

Mary said her grandson had been looking for a job recently, adding that he 'didn't have no problem with no police lately'.

The grandmother also noted that Williams' own son was shot and killed in the Bronx two years ago but declined to elaborate on his death.

Sunday's official press conference was held at Lincoln Hospital, where the officer injured in the shooting on Saturday was treated.

Stroffolino was released on Sunday morning and is expected to make a full recovery.

The 15-year veteran of the NYPD was showered with applause from fellow officers as he was carted out of the hospital and gave a thumbs-up to the crowd.

Shea said the Saturday night shooting 'harkens back to some bad times', referencing previous assassinations of police officers.

In 2017, a gunman killed Officer Miosotis Familia as she sat in her patrol vehicle in the Bronx. Three years earlier, two officers, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, were shot dead in their patrol car in Brooklyn by a man upset about recent police killings of unarmed black men.

Paul Stroffolino, the officer injured in the Saturday shooting, was released from Lincoln Hospital on Sunday morning

Stroffolino had a bandage over his neck as he left the hospital, where fellow officers gathered to shower him with applause

Stroffolino smiled at his wife as he departed from Lincoln Hospital (left). The couple are seen right in a Facebook photo

Stroffolino gave a thumbs up to the supportive crowd after he got in a car to head home

The commissioner said Ramos and Liu's deaths were 'not something that engenders anything but the worst memories'.

He said that 'everyone should be speaking against this', adding: 'I condemned it then and I condemn it right here today.'

In the wake of the killings of Ramos and Liu, some officers blamed de Blasio for expressing solidarity with the demonstrations, and turned their backs on the Democrat at the funerals.

De Blasio spoke after Shea at Sunday's press conference and echoed his characterization of the shooting, calling it 'an attempt to assassinate police officers'.

'There's just too much hatred out there right now,' de Blasio said.

Robert Gangi, executive director of the Police Reform Organizing Project advocacy group, said it was 'irresponsible' for Shea and de Blasio to say the violence this weekend was linked to the recent demonstrations, which he said involved activists 'protesting in a legitimate fashion'.

Of the gunman, though, Gangi said there is 'no defense for a lunatic who opens fire on police'.

De Blasio echoed Shea's characterization of the shooting, calling it 'an attempt to assassinate police officers'

President Donald Trump hit out against de Blasio and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Sunday morning, blaming them for this weekend's attacks.

Trump tweeted: 'I grew up in New York City and, over many years, got to watch how GREAT NYCs Finest are. Now, because of weak leadership at Governor & Mayor, stand away (water thrown at them) regulations, and lack of support, our wonderful NYC police are under assault. Stop this now!'

Cuomo had tweeted to condemn the 'heinous' attacks on those who serve the city.

Trump spoke out against the latest violence against police, blaming Cuomo and de Blasio for the attacks

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he was 'horrified' after the recent attacks

'Horrified by the multiple attacks on officers in the Bronx,' New York Governor Andrew Cuomo tweeted.

'NY's law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe. These attacks are heinous. Those responsible will be brought to justice & held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.'

He shared in an official statement that state police would be on hand to help and said the perpetrator will be punished harshly.

'I am horrified by the two attacks on NYPD officers that occurred last night and this morning in the Bronx,' Cuomo stated.

'Members of New York's law enforcement community put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe, and they deserve our respect and appreciation. I have asked the New York State Police to reach out to the NYPD to offer any assistance necessary.

'We have zero tolerance for attacks of any kind against law enforcement, and the person or people responsible will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.'

NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson also tweeted about the shooting

NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson tweeted: 'We have another shooting of a police officer in the Bronx. Prayers for the officer in the latest shooting, who is at Lincoln Hospital w/non-life threatening injuries, the officer who was shot last night, and all those who serve our City. This horrific violence must end.'

The president of the Police Benevolent Association said the streets needed to be fixed.

'It is a double miracle that we are not preparing for two funerals right now,' Patrick Lynch, PBA president, said in a statement.

'These targeted attacks are exactly what we have warned against again and again. The hatred and violence directed at cops continues to grow. Good luck and kind words are not enough to keep police officers or the public safe.

'Our elected officials need to start listening to us and working with us  not against us  to fix the deteriorating environment on our streets.'

He added outside the hospital on Sunday: 'Start backing our police officers. Our elected officials who stand and nod their heads with us, it's time you open your mouth and say "This must stop."'
Sen. Bernie Sanders has overtaken former Vice President Joe Biden in a national survey for the first time, with less than 24 hours before voters head to the polls in New Hampshire for the Democrats' first 2020 primary.

A Quinnipiac poll that dropped Monday afternoon found that 25 per cent of Democratic voters or independent voters who lean Democratic support Sanders, who won the popular vote in Iowa and looks poised to win in New Hampshire - boosted by his next-door-neighbor status.

Biden is now in second place with 17 per cent support, and he's lost a crucial voting bloc, as the percentage of black voters who support his candidacy is at 27 per cent, down from the 51 per cent Quinnipiac measured in December.

Former Vice President Joe Biden has been bypassed by Sen. Bernie Sanders in a national poll for the first time, after a fourth place finish in the Iowa caucuses. Earlier Monday, Biden had pointed to his national lead to downplay Tuesday's New Hampshire primary

Sen. Bernie Sanders now attracts 25 per cent support from Democratic voters and independents who lean Democratic nationally. Monday's survey marks the first time the democratic socialist tops a national poll

Biden is followed by former New York City Michael Bloomberg with 15 per cent.

Bloomberg has decided to skip the four early primary states: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, and hasn't participated in the Democratic debates, and instead has focused hundreds of millions of dollars of his riches on television ads hitting President Trump.

Bernie Sanders has overtaken former Vice President Joe Biden in a national survey for the first time, with less than 24 hours before voters head to the polls in New Hampshire for the Democrats' first 2020 primary. Dark blue shows the current percentage of voters and light blue the numbers at the end of December

Biden is now in second place with 17 per cent support, and he's lost a crucial voting bloc, as the percentage of black voters who support his candidacy is at 27 per cent, down from the 52 percent at the end of December

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who came in third place in the Iowa caucuses, has 14 per cent support nationally, while former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg - who won the highest percentage of delegates from the Iowa caucuses - is at 10 per cent nationwide.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who has surged to third place in some New Hampshire surveys - bypassing Biden - has 4 per cent support in the new poll.

The Bernie bump couldn't come at a worse time for Biden.

The ex-vice president came in fourth place in Iowa and the Real Clear Politics polling average has him tied for fourth place with Klobuchar in New Hampshire as well.

Biden's downplayed Iowa and suggested New Hampshire doesn't matter because he was still leading in national polls.

'I don't see any diminution of national support, I'm still leading nationally,' he said Monday morning on CBS 'This Morning.'

The former vice president also said he expected to see better results once the voters were more diverse, pointing to the two other contests held in February - the Nevada caucuses and the South Carolina primary.

'Nothing's going to happen until we get down to a place and around the country where there's much more diversity,' Biden said. 'And, you know, you're always behind the eight ball when you're running in New Hampshire and you have two people from the neighboring states,' he added, meaning Sanders of Vermont and Warren of Massachusetts.

His Deputy Campaign Manager Kate Bedingfield echoed the ex-vice president during a Bloomberg News event with reporters Monday morning, saying she didn't expect losses in Iowa and New Hampshire to impact his support with black voters.

'It goes back to the long relationship he has with the African-American community,' she said.

Biden has long made the argument that he's the Democrats best chance to defeat Trump.

He still wins that, by a hair.

Twenty-seven per cent of respondents said Biden fits that bill, while 24 per cent selected Sanders. Another 17 per cent chose Bloomberg, while 9 per cent pointed to Buttigieg.
Doctor's Death Unleashes Mourning, Fury at Chinese Officials

By Joyce Huang February 08, 2020

China mourned the death Friday of Li Wenliang, a 34-year-old eye doctor from Wuhan, who was among eight whistleblowers reprimanded by local authorities for trying to sound the alarm about the deadly virus in late December of last year.

His death has sparked an explosion of anger and sorrow among the general public in China, including residents from Wuhan, the epic center of the outbreak, and hundreds of thousands of netizens.

Truth-telling

"I feel we should honor his spirits. He was someone who dared to tell the truth and was dedicated to his work, but he ended up sacrificing himself. I call upon everyone to care for his family," a Wuhan resident told VOA.

Li died at 2:58 a.m. local time Friday, a week after he was diagnosed as being infected during the fight against the outbreak, according to a statement released by Wuhan Central Hospital, where he worked.

He left behind a five-year-old son and his wife, pregnant with their second child.

On Weibo, China's Twitter-like microblogging platform, many also mourned the loss of Li and expressed hope that those who have wronged him would be punished and held accountable for the initial cover-up of the epidemic.

"Rest in peace, Dr. Li. I hope no one lies in heaven," a Weibo user wrote.

"His name has to be cleared along with the names of those seven other whistle-blowers," another user's post read.

In late December, Li warned colleagues on social media about a SARS-like virus that later became the novel coronavirus epidemic. He and seven other people, who reportedly also work in the city's hospitals, were detained by Wuhan police in early January for "spreading false rumors."

Rumormonger?

Branded by authorities as a rumormonger, Li was forced to "admit" he had "breached the law and seriously disrupted social order," according to a document, which he signed and was widely circulated on the internet.

Many more netizens responded positively to news reports the National Supervision Commission will launch a thorough investigation into issues involving Li's death.

"I hope the authorities will get to the bottom of this matter and hold those both in the local and central level accountable," a Weibo user wrote in response to the commission's investigation.

Another complained: "These officials have always been slow in doing their job right. What a waste of our taxpayers' money!"

Belated investigation

According to a video circulated online, Li's mother allegedly expressed her gratitude toward the public's support and took pride in her son's integrity and honesty.

"He was only 34. He was such a promising and talented person. He never told lies and was devoted to his duties," she said.

"[His wife] is due in June. What are we going to do? His family has now been broken apart!" she added.

Chen Bingzhong, a former health official, also lauded Li as a true hero.

He said if the local government haven't had turned a deaf ear to Li's warning, China and the world would have a less tough fight against the coronavirus epidemic.

"It has now come to light that these eight people all work at the frontline in hospitals. They had first-hand experience with the deadly virus. They spoke by the book. And the authorities should have had taken their words seriously," Chen said.

"Failing to act on their warnings, the authorities ended up forcing them to hush up. How despicable!" he added.

A reminder

Albert Ho, chairman of Hong Kong Alliance in support of Patriotic Democratic Movement in China, agreed, saying Li served as a reminder to the Chinese government's incapability.

"The government leaders should be made to become aware that when the people become so sad about the death of Dr. Li, who is now accepted as a symbol of courage, a symbol of consciousness for the people, then the leaders should feel shameful about their failing to do their job, about their failing to take proper measures at a proper time to protect public health," Ho said.

He said Li's death reflects the problematic system of governance in China and its regime, which is often run by lies and violence.

He urged top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party not to shift the blame and responsibility in their negligence in handling the outbreak.

Ho's group is holding a memorial event Friday night in Hong Kong to mourn Li's death.

Seemingly acknowledging the public's outcry, the Chinese government also paid its respects.

"The National Health Commission sends our deepest condolences to Dr. Li's family over his death," Song Shuli, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, told a news briefing Friday.

"Since the outbreak, an array of medical workers has put their own safety behind to care for the public's health, working courageously at the frontline of the epidemic," she added.

Online comments toward the official eulogy appeared negative, though, calling it "insincere" and "patronizing."

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: The Madras High Court on Monday directed the state public prosecutor to file a modification petition on the anticipatory bail granted to former Transport Minister and DMK MLA V Senthil Balaji.

Also, the court directed the MLA to appear before Central Crime Branch police in Chennai on February 14 for inquiry in connection with a 2012 job racket case.

The High Court had, on February 7, granted conditional anticipatory bail to Senthil Balaji apprehending arrest in the case.

The issue pertains to a complaint lodged against the former minister with the CCB alleging that when he was the transport minister 16 people were duped to the tune of Rs 2.31 crore promising jobs in the state transport corporation.

On Monday, the state public prosecutor A Natrajan mentioned before Justice PD Audikesavalu stating that some clarification is required regarding DMK MLA Senthil Balaji's anticipatory bail petition.

Justice Audikesavalu allowed the public prosecutor who explained before the court that as directed by the court 41-A notice was prepared and brought before this court and served, but instead, this court granted anticipatory bail to Senthil Balaji.

The state public prosecutor informed that granting of anticipatory bail and same day serving 41A notice is not serving any purpose and therefore clarification is required.

The judge directed Senthil Balaji to appear before the police on February 14 by complying the 41A notice and until it is informed that the sureties should need not be executed and also the directed the state to file modification petition.

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

Some gunmen on Friday night invaded the residence of a former vice chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha, and kidnapped his 35-year-old daughter, who is a mother of three.



The gunmen, it was gathered invaded the residence located at Hayin Malam Jamaa in the Sabon Gwari LGA, Zaria in Kaduna State on Friday night about 11.30pm.

It was learnt that the abductors shut the security guard on duty and headed straight to the former vice chancellors apartment.

A source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told our correspondent the armed men forced the occupants of the house out, including the daughter who was on a visit from Lagos.

The source added that the gunmen wielded sophisticated weapons, describing the entire situation as terrifying.



In fact, we suspected that they must have an informant who must have conducted a survey of the area, he said.

The source said, The gunmen invaded the former VCs residence in a commando style and headed straight to the Profs apartment.

They ordered one of the security guards on duty to lead them to professors room. The security man attempted to run and he was shot.

But they eventually had their way inside the house where they forced occupants out, including the daughter who came from Lagos on a visit.

The bandits have yet to call to make demand since the incident on Friday night, he added.

The police in Kaduna on Sunday confirmed the incident.

The Police Public Relations Officer of the Command, DSP Yakubu Sabo, said the operatives of the command on getting the distressed call on the incident, moved into action and neutralised one of the bandits.



The police spokesman said in a statement, On 07/02/2020 at about 2340hrs, the Command received a distress call through DPO Samaru Division Zaria that some unknown armed men entered the residence of Professor Abdullahi Mustapha, former vice chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, shot and injured one Zayyanu Abdullahi a security man and took away Maryam Abdullahi Mustapha a 35 year old daughter of the professor.

On receipt of the information, teams of policemen were promptly mobilised to the scene, engaged the hoodlums in a serious gun duel and successfully neutralised one of the bandits who died on the spot and several of the attackers escaped with gun injuries. Exhibits recovered on the body of the neutralised bandit includes an AK-47 magazine loaded with 24 live ammunition and a techno handset while seven empty shells of AK-47 ammunition were recovered at the scene of the incident.

However, the bandits succeeded in running away with the victim in the heat of the gun battle.

The injured security man is currently receiving treatment at ABU Teaching Hospital Zaria and is responding positively, while efforts are on top gear to rescue the victim and apprehend the perpetrators with a view to bringing them to book.
This was meant to be bad news, and in a way it is: Storm Ciara (easier to write than to pronounce) has swept across the United Kingdom, disrupting travel on road, rail and in the skies.

Floods have inundated low-lying areas, while on high ground the ferocity of the gales has caused wreckage to property and, perhaps, to the balance sheets of insurance companies.

But still, when I saw the newspaper headline last week, 'Enjoy the calm before storm Ciara', something in me rebelled against that apparently unexceptionable statement.

Storm Ciara (easier to write than to pronounce) has swept across the United Kingdom. Pictured: Waves crash against a lighthouse at Newhaven Harbour, East Sussex

Floods have inundated low-lying areas, while on high ground the ferocity of the gales has caused wreckage to property. Pictured: Massive waves and gale force winds pound the harbour wall at Porthcawl, Wales

I enjoy storms, and I am sure I am far from alone. Children all seem to do so, perhaps because they don't have the adult anxieties about the threat to property, or indeed the knowledge that such weather can end lives, when a tree suddenly falls on a passing motorist.

That almost happened to my wife last year. She drove off to church, and when she came back found the track to our house completely blocked by a mighty tree which had fallen across it. I heard the sound of it crashing, and was horribly aware that if my wife had set off maybe a quarter of an hour later, she could easily have been buried under it.

Elemental

We live, though only about 50 miles from London, surrounded by forest. That makes the experience of storms, while more dangerous, also more thrilling. The roar of the gales through the trees is like a mighty symphony composed by nature itself.

Indeed, some of the most wonderful of all music was written to emulate a storm  these are the great composers' homage to the majesty of the elements. The 'storm' in Beethoven's Pastoral symphony is probably the most well-known. Among British composers, there is nothing to touch Benjamin Britten's 'Storm' in his Four Sea Interludes.

But no one, in my view, captured the elemental power of nature more than the Finnish composer Sibelius, for example in his Tempest suite. And his final work, Tapiola, depicting a storm in a Finnish forest, contains perhaps the most awe-inspiring passages of music ever written.

It helped that Sibelius lived in a country of extreme weather  weather of which he was deeply respectful.

Weather can end lives, when a tree suddenly falls on a passing motorist. Pictured: A tree is uprooted by violent winds close to Victoria train station in central London

Although Britons live on a bunch of islands on the edge of the Atlantic, fortunately we experience nothing like the hurricanes which repeatedly pulverise the coastline on the other side of that ocean.

And the UK never experiences the devastating tornadoes whipped up on the great plains of the U.S. Midwest. Some years ago, I was in Omaha, Nebraska, and was amazed when the skies turned completely black  in the middle of the day.

The feeling of pressure in the air was overwhelming in itself. This presaged a colossal cyclone. I was actually on the way to the airport, where we were all urged to go into the basement shelters specifically built for this (quite regular) event.

Perhaps this marks me out as especially child-like, but I was exhilarated, as much as anything else. I suppose this is why so many like to watch programmes about extreme weather: but watching a recording of a tornado is a bloodless and banal experience compared with the reality.

Still, even in the far less extreme climatic conditions of the High Weald of East Sussex (where we live) there is enough drama in a storm to satisfy the senses  and keep us awake at night as the wind howls and the windows rattle. I have lost count of the times the electricity has been cut off because a tree has fallen across the supply wires. We have a large number of torches and candles on hand, and I remember how when the children were little, it was always something of an adventure for them when the candles had to be used.

Among British composers, there is nothing to touch Benjamin Britten's (left) 'Storm' in his Four Sea Interludes. No one, in my view, captured the elemental power of nature more than the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, (right) for example in his Tempest suite, writes DOMINIC LAWSON

On several occasions we have been trapped in our home for days because of the flooding in our neck of the woods. So we have a large chest freezer, with more than enough provisions for such an emergency (though obviously when the power is down, you can forget about using the microwave for defrosting).

Many years ago, the ancient earthworks which support the causeway that leads to our house gave way as a result of flooding in a storm; a Bailey bridge had to be built rapidly to allow us to get in and out and regain contact with what we call civilisation.

Godsend

But, again, it was most exciting for the children, even if it was a blow to their parents in the form of a sharp increase in the household insurance premiums.

Yet adults, too, are thrilled by the wild unpredictability of what passes in this country for extreme weather. Perhaps even more so nowadays, in an age when modern technology has made our existences so much securer than our forebears endured.

Our lives  in homes that are centrally heated, insulated boxes and with our communication with the world increasingly experienced through the internet  have become ever more detached from the physical reality, and arbitrariness, of nature.

In a way, that is a godsend, as the predictability it brings to our lives allows us to plan and work much more easily.

On the other hand, this hermetic existence can produce a sense of near-omnipotence which is delusional and even deadening.

So when the might of nature bursts in on us, it is not only a necessary reminder of our insignificance, it also makes us feel more vividly alive.

We motorists are being driven mad

The older I get, the greater my suspicion that government, for all the apparent seriousness of its pronouncements, is an elaborate practical joke played on the electorate.

And in the area of climate change policy, I am one of many who feel as though a series of pies has been pushed in our faces by a succession of clowns in Downing Street.

In 2005, I sold our petrol car and bought a diesel-powered one. This was a direct result of the then Labour government encouraging us to do so by tilting the fuel duty system to favour diesel  justified on the grounds that diesel produces fewer carbon emissions per unit of energy than petrol.

The latest government is telling us that hybrids, too, are bad for the planet, and that in 15 years' time we will actually be banned by law from buying any new ones: only fully electric vehicles will be tolerated. writes DOMINIC LAWSON. Pictured: Chevrolet Volt hybrid car

But diesel also produces about 20 times more lung-infesting sooty particulates than petrol. This had been known for decades by scientists, despite what the policy-makers later claimed.

Anyway, in due course we were told we'd have to pay heavy charges if we drove our once allegedly environmentally superior diesel cars into cities.

So, two years ago, I did as encouraged by the last government and bought a petrol-electric hybrid, selling the diesel (for a pathetic price, given the new policy to make them uneconomic).

I'm very happy with our new  or rather 12-year-old, second-hand  hybrid. And it was pleasing, in a smug sort of way, to drive a car parading its ecological virtue with 'hybrid' emblazoned on its side.

But now look what they've done. The latest government is telling us that hybrids, too, are bad for the planet, and that in 15 years' time we will actually be banned by law from buying any new ones: only fully electric vehicles will be tolerated. So, the (admittedly depreciated) value of my hybrid will plummet.

Doubtless, when we've all got electric vehicles, the government of the day will say it has suddenly realised that the batteries required are wrecking the planet because of the vast amount of cobalt mining required for their manufacture  and so we must buy cars fuelled by hydrogen.

As I say, this is beginning to look like a practical joke played on motorists  and a very expensive one, too.
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to pass any order against the Shaheen Bagh protests without hearing their side. The SC also said the protesters can't block the public road and create inconvenience to others. People are entitled to protest but they have to do so in an area designated for agitation, the SC said. The court also listed the matter for hearing on February 17. The SC was hearing a plea seeking ban against the protests in Shaheen Bagh, over CAA and NRC, since December 15, 2019.

Activist Amit Sahni had filed the petition saying daily life had been disturbed due to the protests. The plea stated, "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".

"No one can be permitted to occupy a public road for any reason whatsoever under the pretext of peaceful protest and that too for an indefinite period to make others suffer for the same," added the plea.

Sahni had earlier filed a petition in the Delhi High Court, highlighting the plight of the public due to the continuing protests at Shaheen Bagh. But, the Delhi HC quashed the petition without stating any reasons and asked the authorities to look into the matter.

Also read: Shaheen Bagh protest: Man open fires near protest site; taken into custody
"It was just here. My house was number 41 Clifton Street," said Cassiem Morris, his voice catching as he points to where his Cape Town home was razed to enforce apartheid. Morris, a South African of Malay origin, took his first baby steps 56 years ago in the house in District 6, then a multiracial neighbourhood of the coastal city. South Africa's white minority government in 1966 listed District 6 as a "white" area under its racial segregation policy. Most residents were forcibly moved because they were black or mixed-race and bulldozers destroyed their homes. A quarter of a century after the fall of apartheid, this page in South Africa's dark history may have turned. But a court decision has raised hopes of returning home for the dispossessed people of District 6. "Whatever the colour of your skin and whatever you believed in, we were a big family of almost 50,000 people," Morris said. "That was the amazing part because there was never a problem. "It is sad, it is extremely sad." Scant trace remains of the little streets that crisscrossed at the foot of Table Mountain. Only a handful of churches and mosques were left standing when the area was cleared. - 'A blot cleaned up' - Though he was a child, Cassiem Morris has never forgotten the expulsions of February 11, 1966 under the Group Areas Act that assigned different racial groups to separate areas. "I can still see the day where the Group Areas Act people went to my grandfather and told him that he has to move. He said 'You can literally demolish everything around me, I will wait until my time comes to move'." The head of the household held out for four years before being driven away. "When we returned just to come and see the place one or two days later, the whole house was flattened already," Morris said. Future head of state P.W. Botha, then minister for community development and coloured affairs overseeing segregation, praised the operation, calling District 6 a "blot" that needed cleaning up. All non-white residents were forcibly displaced to Cape Town's distant shanty townships. "At that time, we coloured people were treated like nothing," said Salie Davis, who described eviction as "traumatic". "We had to leave in such a hurry. We had to leave so many things behind and move to an area we didn't know nothing about, to live in a jungle," Davis, 59, said. His family wound up in Hanover Park, more than 20 kilometres (12 miles) away. Retired, he lives in a small apartment in a crowded neighbourhood overrun by crime and drugs. "There was a better life back then in District 6," Davis said, adding that people are "determined to move back to their land." The fight to return began with the end of white minority rule and the arrival of democracy under the late president Nelson Mandela in 1994, with a brand-new constitution. When the District 6 dispossessed mark their evictions on Tuesday, the country will also be commemorating the 30th anniversary of Mandela's release from jail on February 11, 1990. - 'Very inept government' - A law passed that year was intended to provide restitution of rights in land to people or communities dispossessed because of past racially discriminatory laws or practices. Former residents of District 6 hoped for a swift return, but it took a decade for the first ones to be resettled in 2004. Even today, only a few hundred people have been reinstalled. "I don't think that they had any idea or clue on how to handle restitution," said Shaheed Ajad, the District 6 Working Committee chairman. "Most of all, although there was money, the money was squandered. In a nutshell I would say we had a very inept government for 24 years," the 62-year-old official told AFP. Running out of patience, Ajad and about 1,000 other former residents of District 6 turned to the legal system two years ago. To widespread surprise, a judge last December ordered the government to take action. The authorities swiftly presented a proposal for 954 new homes and the resettlement of the plaintiffs and their families by 2024. Approached by AFP, Land Reform Minister Thokozile Didiza did not respond, but her services stated that a rebuilt District 6 "should be as close as possible to the urban environment from which they were so unjustly removed, within the constraints of available funding and the exigencies of contemporary lifestyles." Cape Town, the stronghold of the opposition Democratic Alliance, could give District 6 "a look of the new century", declared the city councillor handling the matter, Alderman Marian Nieuwoudt. "This is not the time to play political games. I'm determined to make sure that they all come back," she said. Renamed "Sonneblom" ("Sunflower" in Afrikaans) under apartheid, District 6 has seen its original name restored to road signs and Nieuwoudt hopes that building work will start "in the next month or two". "We have suffered enough, we now only want what is rightfully ours," Ajad said. "We need to heal and... come back to the land that we love." It may prove an example in South Africa, split over a constitutional reform that would enable the expropriation without compensation of land held by the white minority to benefit the black majority. "We believe that this small enclave that we call District 6, where life started for many of our forefathers, whether they were white, black or brown, this is where transformation and change can come in South Africa," Ajad said.
Elizabeth Vaughn of Red State cites Don Bongino to explain Pete Buttigieg's appeal the Democrat voters despite his glaring inexperience and poor performance as mayor of the small city of South Bend, Indiana. Bongino says, "Pete Buttigieg has a near magical ability to never answer a question. His [BSing] skills are second to none in the Dem field." Bongino says that when Buttigieg doesn't want to answer a question, he'll ramble on for four or five minutes without giving an answer.

A compliant media lets Mayor Pete get away with this. But putting aside the media for the time being, what accounts for this ability  that Buttigieg has to disguise his true beliefs with such evasion?



Photo credit: Edward Kimmel.

There are two reasons. To understand the first, go to the 1980s and back from there. That was before homosexual behavior was mandated to be acceptable by the leading lights of society. As such, homosexuals had to be good at hiding their "preferences." Back then, being a homosexual was enough to deny a person getting a security clearance for sensitive government positions. This was not so much because homosexuals were susceptible to blackmail, which itself was a legitimate concern. No, the thinking was that homosexuals were a greater risk because they were unusually successful at being devious and hiding their intent. Enough said.

Secondly, look at Pete Buttigieg's father, Joseph. He was a Marxist professor at Notre Dame, where he was on the faculty for 37 years, starting from 1980. Professor Buttigieg was a scholar on Italian communist Antonio Gramsci (18911937). He admired Gramsci so much that he was a founding member and onetime president of the International Gramsci Society.

Gramsci's main original contribution to Marxism was that for communism to succeed, culture first had to be corrupted. This was to be done by subverting the institutions of a country from the inside out. Sadly, this has proven highly effective in the United States. Starting in earnest after WWII, communists and like-minded people went into government bureaucracies, universities, the media, and religious dominations and slowly started spread their left-wing thinking throughout them. These infiltrators did not announce that they were communists or their fellow travelers. Rather, they hid that fact and hid it well.

As they advanced upward in these organizations, they made sure to hire their own kind and filter out others. One result of this process explains why so many college departments skew hard left. A conservative candidate had little chance of being brought in, especially if he held strong Christian beliefs. Ironically, many universities that were started by devout Christians now harbor centers of anti-Christianity bigotry within them. This is Gramsci writ large.

This brings us back to boy mayor. Given that he idolized his father, it is easy to assume that he absorbed Gramsci's teachings at his daddy's knee. Pete Buttigieg is a red diaper baby. Given his background and upbringing, he's a natural at hiding his core beliefs to advance the cause. If the U.S. had an honest media, it would be child's play to smoke out Buttigieg's true beliefs and expose him for what he is. But we all know that the term "honest media" is an oxymoron.

Can the liberal media keep covering up for Buttigieg? Maybe yes, maybe no. On one hand, the media, although they are not omnipotent, are still powerful. Look what they did and still do for Barack H. Obama. That man held the highest position in the U.S. government for eight years, yet there is still so much the American public doesn't know about him. One the other hand, if Buttigieg gets the nomination or is coming close to it, he'll be going against The Donald, not mopes like John McCain and Mitt Romney, whom Obama was fortunate to have as opponents. With or without the media, Trump will put a hot enough spotlight on Buttigieg to melt him, allowing America to see what's behind the facade.
The Students' Union of India (NSUI) on Monday protested against the alleged molestation of female students at Delhi's Gargi College by a number of unidentified men during their annual cultural fest on February 6 and demanded immediate action against in the matter.

Expressing solidarity with students, NSUI members protested outside Gargi College and raised slogans against police administration. They were also holding placards which read 'Shame on you Delhi Police', 'NSUI with Gargi' and 'Give justice to our sisters'.

Meanwhile, a student of Gargi college on the condition of anonymity, said: "It is the mistake of the authority, not the principal. The staff should have responded on time. Such a thing would not have occurred if an action had been taken on time. The entry of boys should be banned during the fest to prevent such incidents in the future."

On being asked about the delay in lodging a complaint in the matter, she said: "Our fest was on February 6 and then we had a holiday on the next day. On Feb 8, there were elections so classes were not held and then 9 was Sunday. This is why action is being taken now." Taking cognisance of the matter, Delhi Commission For Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal, also reached the college today.

Earlier in the day, a Gargi college student told ANI that over 100 middle-aged men crashed the college gate on February 6 and misbehaved with the women inside the campus.

"The three-day annual college fest began on February 4 and on February 6 over 100 middle-aged men crashed the college gate and came inside where the fest was being held. They started misbehaving with girls. Luckily nothing happened with me but my friends told me that those men groped them and much more," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Elon Musk, co-founder and chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., speaks during an unveiling event for the Tesla Model Y crossover electric vehicle in Hawthorne, California, U.S., on Friday, March 15, 2019.

Check out the companies making headlines midday Monday:

Tesla (TSLA)  Shares of Tesla rose more than 3% on heavy trading volume. Earlier in the day, the volatile stock climbed as much as 7%, topping $800 a share after the Shanghai municipal government said it would help companies like Tesla "resume production as soon as possible." Tesla's Shanghai factory has been closed while the Chinese government tries to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

Slack (WORK)  Slack surged 15.4% after the workplace chat application scored its biggest customer ever. IBM is reportedly deploying Slack to every single one of its 350,000 employees worldwide, as part of the push to modernize the company. The stock is on track for its second best day since its IPO.

L Brands (LB)  L Brands climbed 2.4% after CNBC reported that the apparel company is nearing a deal to sell its Victoria's Secret brand to Sycamore Partners, a private equity firm. The company's stock is down more than 8% over the past year amid struggles at Victoria's Secret and pressure on CEO Les Wexner to step down due to his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

Taubman Centers (TCO)  Taubman Centers shares soared more than 50% after the mall owner announced that it would be acquired by rival Simon Property Group. The deal is valued at roughly $3.6 billion, and the offer price of $52.50 per share is 51% higher than Taubman's stock closed on Friday. Shares of Simon Property Group rose slightly following the news.

Xerox (XRX), HP Inc (HPQ)  The stock price of both companies rose in midday trading after Xerox raised its bid to acquire HP to $24 a share from $22 a share. The new offer consists of $18.40 per share in cash and 0.149 Xerox shares for each HP share and values the company at $34.8 billion. Xerox CEO John Visentin has been pursuing a deal with HP since November based on what he sees as billions in cost synergies, but his advances have been rejected by HP thus far. Xerox was up 1.4% and HP Inc. gained 0.8%.

FedEx (FDX)  Shares of the shipping company rose 0.7% following an upgrade to buy from neutral from UBS. The firm said with shares down 12% in the past 12 months, now is a good time to buy the stock. The UBS analyst also hiked his price target to $187 per share from $161 per share.

Nvidia (NVDA)  The semiconductor builder's stock popped more than 4% after RBC Capital Markets raised its price target to $301 per share from $251 per share, the highest on the Street. RBC raised its earnings estimates ahead of the chip stock's report on Wednesday. The analyst said gaming and data center revenues should surprise to the upside.

Restaurant Brands International (QSR)  Shares of the Burger King parent company rose 2.7% on the back of better-than-expected quarterly results. Restaurant Brands reported a profit of 75 cents per share on revenue of $1.479 billion. Analysts polled by Refinitiv expected earnings of 73 cents per share on sales of $1.463 billion. The results were driven by a 34.4% surge in Popeye's same-store sales. However, sales for the company's Tim Horton's and Burger King franchises disappointed analysts, knocking the stock from its session high.

Biohaven Pharmaceutical (BHVN)  Disappointing trial results for a drug designed to treat patients with Generalized Anxiety Disorder sent Biohaven Pharmaceutical shares down by more than 8%. The stock was on pace for its biggest one-day decline since June 6, when it plummeted more than 20%.

Foot Locker (FL)  An analyst at Telsey Advisory Group downgraded Foot Locker to market perform from outperform, sending the retailer's stock down more than 3.5%. The analyst, who also slashed her price target to $42 per share from $50 per share, said Foot Locker lacks catalysts to push its stock higher.

Lyft (LYFT)  Shares of the ride-hailing company jumped 7.6% following an upgrade to buy from neutral from Northcoast. The firm said it has "more confidence that competitive dynamics and unit economics of the "ride business" are sound."

CNBC's Maggie Fitzgerald, Yun Li, Michael Sheetz, Jesse Pound and Tom Franck.
One of the vicious teenage killers who beat student Sophie Lancaster to death for being a Goth as she cradled her boyfriend's head has had his minimum jail term reduced for 'exceptional progress' by a High Court judge today.

Ryan Herbert was just 16 when he was handed a life sentence after admitting he murdered the 20-year-old in a violent and unprovoked gang attack 13 years ago.

The thug had also admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Robert Maltby, Ms Lancaster's boyfriend, and was given a minimum term of 16 years.

Now 28-year-old Herbert, whose sentence was extended seven years ago by four months after battering a nurse in a psychiatric ward, has had his tariff reduced from 15- to -14-and-a-half years by a High Court judge today.

Ryan Herbert (pictured, 2008) won a reduction in his sentence at the Court of Appeal today, after a High Court judge cited 'exceptional progress' in his behaviour

Mr Justice William Davis said that Herbert had made 'exceptional progress' in prison, citing evidence provided by staff at HMP Warren Hill, Suffolk.

The judge concluded that Herbert's behaviour since his earlier, failed attempt to reduce his term in 2018 had significantly improved.

His decision now means that Herbert can apply for parole in February 2022, on condition that the Parole Board is satisfied that he poses no threat to the public.

Herbert and five other teenage boys including Brendan Harris 'savagely and mercilessly attacked' Mr Maltby in Stubbylee Park, Bacup, in August 2007.

Gap-year student Ms Lancaster had rushed to help her boyfriend as he lay unconscious, and shouted at his attackers to leave him alone.

The gang then turned on her, subjecting her to a 'sustained and vicious attack' which involved her head being kicked and stamped on until she too lost consciousness.

Ms Lancaster never regained consciousness and died in hospital 14 days later.

Sophie Lancaster (pictured, undated) was ruthlessly murdered by a gang of teenagers as she held her boyfriend's head in her arms for the way she dressed

Harris, who was found guilty of Ms Lancaster's murder in March 2008 and admitted the attack on Mr Maltby, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 18 years.

However, Judge Davis today said that Herbert, who had told two people shortly after the attack that there were 'two moshers nearly dead' and had battered a nurse at a psychiatric ward in 2013, had made 'exceptional progress' in jail.

The judge said that he also received a letter from the chiefs of the Learning Together programme at the University of Cambridge, where Herbert has taken a law course which involves inmates and students working together.

He added: 'The way in which Herbert has developed since his arrival at HMP Warren Hill some two-and-a-half years ago does amount to exceptional progress.

'The way in which he is described by the senior staff at that establishment goes significantly beyond what would be expected of any inmate making good progress.

'The material from the Learning Together programme shows extraordinary progress, even from the point reached by Herbert at the time of the review conducted.

'In 2008, Herbert was a young person whose only contribution to education was to disrupt and who saw no purpose in learning. In 2020 he is someone who has a profound interest in his own education and the education of others.'
By Trend





Parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan were held at quite a high level, Russian MP from the Yedinaya Rossiya party Maksim Ivanov said at a press conference in Baku, Trend reports.

The positive changes that are taking place in Azerbaijan are clearly visible, the MP said. This includes creation of infrastructure, civil society, comfortable environment for people, and when we talked today with the residents of Baku, we heard people talking about those changes for the better.

Ivanov also expressed opinion that great future awaits Azerbaijan and Russia.

In turn, MP Ludmila Kozlova noted that there were many observers and many journalists early at the start of the elections, adding that there were no incidents at the polling stations.

Russian MP Sergey Markov said that the most important observation is that the elections were held fairly and embodied the will of the Azerbaijani people.

The parliamentary elections of the sixth convocation were held in Azerbaijan on Feb. 9. Some 1,314 candidates were registered within the early parliamentary elections.

The candidacies of 246 people were nominated by 19 political parties, 1,057 were self-nominated, 11 - by initiative groups. Twenty-one percent accounted for female candidates while 79 percent  male candidates.

Throughout the day, 5,573 permanent polling stations operated in 125 constituencies of the country. There were 5,329,460 registered voters.

Some 883 international observers and 77,790 local observers monitored the voting process. Among the local observers, 35,152 were representatives of political parties. International observers represented 58 countries and 59 organizations.

Exit polls were conducted by AJF & Associates Inc. (US) jointly with Citizens' Labor Rights Protection League, the Rey Monitoring Center, and the French OpinionWay Research Institute together with the Human Rights in the XXI Century  Azerbaijan Foundation.
Sir,



Kindly allow me to pay my heartfelt tribute and deep sadness to my late leader and colleague; former Principal Secretary Nomathemba Dlamini. I had not anticipated her death after having spoken to her recently.



In one of my articles to the Times SUNDAY, I happened to mention a few of the participants with whom we worked so hard in creating the National Development Strategy, working with reputable futurists and strategists from several organisations under the leadership of Nomathemba. She was competent in her job as well as a professional in the field we were dealing with, trying to create an effective road for the nation as it pursued its future. She began to lead us when Prince Mbilini and Cabinet agreed in 1994 to pursue the project.



Team



The then minister of Economic Planning and Development had put the team together, drawn from organised business, labour force, traditional leaders, members of civil society and a team of young professionals to represent government; from each ministry.



The minister had directed us to utilise the services and financial support from one of the USAID agencies, which had mainly been set up to promote human development programmes. Therefore, part of our work was to call on potential people from both the public and the private sectors, who were keen to upgrade their academic positions.

Nomathemba was one of the impactful participants in the selection of those we eventually sent away, most of whom are running the economy today, although some of them got frustrated by having no progress within their organisations when they returned from years of study - hence you find them holding high positions in both the public and private sectors of South Africa.



Leader



Nomathemba was such a leader who was able to make her followers to become equal participants in the task they were doing; quite often feeling that they were equally able to lead the process we were charged with: the drafting of the National Development Strategy.

Her major strength was in getting the participants to learn how to differ creatively and constructively. She was also so able in building team spirit and unity among the different sectors participants.



Whether we were working internally or externally; mostly in Central and Western Africa, where the UNDPs African Futures Centre was located, in Abijan, she was there and completely in unity with the specialist facilitators.



Nomathemba led us to His Majesty the King in October, 1997 to officially present the draft NDS. While there she was able to answer all the questions His Majesty had asked the team to explain. She was supported by the four traditional leaders who were part of the drafting team; when they answered the King after having asked them if they agreed with all that was in the document.



Last year in December I called her and asked if she would be willing to work with us on a new organisation for equal justice for all, which, among its key objectives, wants to enlighten the population about where the country went wrong in relation with the current situation in which this nation finds itself. She had agreed but now she is gone!



I am certain that I am speaking for all those who served under Nomathemba when I say the country has lost a team leader it could not afford to lose if it is to succeed in the NDS. The best we can do now that she is gone is to recommit to the NDS and use it effectively in advocating for the population to know and understand why we are in the mess we find ourselves; and then strive for actions which may reverse this downward spiral of our nation. May her soul rest in eternal peace!



Musa Isaiah N. Hlophe




Barack and Michelle Obama have praised the filmmakers behind American Factory after the movie helped their production company win its first Oscar last night.

The film, about the decline of manufacturing jobs in the industrial Midwest, picked up the golden statue for best feature-length documentary on Sunday.

American Factory, which was released on Netflix, showed how employees at a former General Motors plant in Moraine, just outside Dayton, Ohio, suffered the impact of globalization following the closure of the glass manufacturing site in 2008.

The story following the plant after it was bought by a Chinese billionaire, was moving enough to catch the eye of none other than Barack and Michelle.

Higher Ground production company was set up by the Obamas last year and bought American Factory at the Sundance Film Festival after it had already been made.

Accepting the award last night, director Julia Reichert quoted Karl Marx's The Communist Manifesto, saying 'we believe that things will get better when workers of the world unite'.

Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert and Jeff Reichert (front left to right) pose with the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature for American Factory with presenter Mark Ruffalo cheering behind at the Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, last night

President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle close the Obama Foundation Summit in Chicago last October. Their production company acquired Oscar-winning American Factory

Former President Barack Obama congratulated filmmakers Jeff and Julia Reichert as well as Steven Bognar on the film's success, calling it 'a complex, moving story' about the 'wrenching economic change'.

He tweeted yesterday: 'Congrats to Julia and Steven, the filmmakers behind American Factory, for telling such a complex, moving story about the very human consequences of wrenching economic change. Glad to see two talented and downright good people take home the Oscar for Higher Ground's first release.'

American Factory beat rival documentaries Honeyland, The Cave, The Edge of Democracy and For Sama to clinch its first Academy Award.

The former first lady also congratulated the team behind the film in a tweet on Sunday night after they picked up their statuette.

Michelle Obama wrote: 'Congrats to Julia, Steven, and the whole crew on winning Best Documentary for #AmericanFactory, Higher Ground's first release! So glad to see their heart and honesty recognizedbecause the best stories are rarely tidy or perfect. But that's where the truth so often lies.'

Co-directed by Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar, the film is an all-access look at how both American and Chinese workers, from blue-collar to management, had their lives transformed by powerful global economic forces.

American Factory beat rival documentaries Honeyland, The Cave, The Edge of Democracy and For Sama to clinch production company Higher Ground's first Academy Award

The Netflix documentary American Factory showed how employees at a former General Motors plant in Moraine, Ohio, experienced low wages and strict conditions when the site was bought by a Chinese billionaire

The film charts a Midwestern rust belt community's journey from optimism at the giant plant's reopening - bringing back vital jobs - toward creeping anger and disillusionment as the Chinese management imposes its strict, exhausting demands on workers and fires those who don't comply.

It follows workers suffering low wages and strict conditions when the site was bought by billionaire Cao Dewang - dubbed 'Chairman Cao'.

Employees who fail to meet the standards set by the bosses have been fired and attempts to unionize the workforce have been blocked by the firm.

Hundreds of Chinese laborers went to work, far from their wives, children and homeland at the factory that was closed in 2008 as General Motors went through a federally managed bankruptcy and was bailed out of with $50 billion of taxpayer funds.

Filmmakers Jeff Reichert and Julia Reichert, winners of the Documentary Feature award for American Factory, at the Academy Awards Governors Ball at Hollywood and Highland last night

The facilities of Fuyao Glass in Moraine, Ohio. Fuyao Glass, one of the largest auto glass manufacturers in the world, bought the vacant General Motors manufacturing plant in in 2014

Despite promises, wages remain frozen far below those of the GM era, while workers' attempts to unionize and confront slipping safety standards are aggressively shut down from above.

Director Julia Reichert said after picking up the award: 'Our film is from Ohio and China. But it really could be from anywhere that people put on a uniform, punch a clock, trying to make their families have a better life.

'Working people have it harder and harder these days, and we believe that things will get better when workers of the world unite.'

The former first couple acquired American Factory early last year at the Sundance Film Festival, where it had won the directing award.

It was released on Netflix in August 2019 as the first offering from the former first couple's Higher Ground Productions company.

The film's co-producer and the factory's chairman were unable to leave China for the ceremony, due to White House restrictions on travel over the coronavirus panic.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has started formal investigations into the Airbus bribery scandal in which some Ghanaian officials, between 2009 and 2015, were allegedly bribed prior to the acquisition of three C-295 military transport aircraft by the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).



The OSP, led by Mr Martin A.B.K. Amidu, according to government sources, began the investigations on February 4, 2020, on the basis of the referral made to him by the Office of the President.



Corruption



Sources within the government told the Daily Graphic last Saturday, February 8, 2020 that the Special Prosecutor had acknowledged receipt of the Presidents request to commence investigations into the matter.



Efforts to contact Mr Amidu to elicit further information on the possible timelines and other details, had proved unsuccessful as his phone had been off since Saturday while a text messages to him as of press time yesterday had not received any response.



Mandate



The commission of corruption and corruption-related offences, including bribery of public officers and the use of public office for private gain, falls within the mandate of the Special Prosecutor, as provided for in the Office of Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959).



Per provisions of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017, Act 959, the Special Prosecutor is to investigate and prosecute cases of alleged or suspected corruption and corruption-related offences under the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663); investigate and prosecute allegations of corruption and corruption-related offences under the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) involving public officers, politically exposed persons and persons in the private sector involved in the commission of the offence, and investigate and prosecute alleged or suspected corruption and corruption-related offences involving public officers, politically exposed persons and persons in the private sector involved in the commission of the offence under any other relevant law.



Complaint procedure and referrals



Under Article 27 (1) of the Special Prosecutor Act, A person may lodge a complaint under this act if that person has knowledge of the commission of corruption or a corruption-related offence.



Section Two states: The complaint referred to in Subsection (1) shall be made in writing or orally.



Recall



On Sunday, February 2, 2020, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced that he had referred the judgement of a court in the United Kingdom (UK), in which the European multinational aerospace corporation had been fined $3.9 billion for the payment of bribes to secure deals in several countries, including Ghana, to the Special Prosecutor.



The judgment was issued on Friday, January 31, 2020 by the Crown Court at Southwark, UK, in a case between the director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) of the UK and Airbus SE.



A statement signed by the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Mr Eugene Arhin, said facts in the case between 2009 and 2015 indicated that "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)".



It quoted the judgment, which stated: "Government Official 1 was a key decision maker in respect of government of Ghana aircraft orders."



Improper favour



Referring to the judgment, the statement from the Director of Communications at the Presidency added that 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 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.



President Akufo-Addo has taken notice of the judgment and its implications and has referred it to the Office of the Special Prosecutor to collaborate with its UK counterpart 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, it said.



Background



According to US and UK court documents, Airbus had been under investigations by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), the SFO of the UK and the Parquet National Financier (PNF) of France.



This came to light after nearly four years of investigations by authorities in the US, the UK and France into the business operations of Airbus, which culminated in the company being fined $3.9 billion for its corrupt practices in Ghana, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Taiwan within the same period.



Fine



The $3.9-billion fine imposed on Airbus is one of the largest in the world against a corporate body, as carried in the Monday, February 3, 2020 edition of the Daily Graphic.



The US, the UK and France authorities imposed the fine in a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA), which is essentially a corporate plea bargain that helped the company to avoid criminal prosecution.



However, prosecutors from the three countries said employees of the company found culpable could face prosecution.



Airbus was found guilty of failing to prevent its employees and others associated with the company from bribing officials during deals for the purchase of its aircraft and other products and also for breaking US export regulations with regard to its International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).



The DPA was approved in separate judgments by the Queens Bench Division of the UK Crown Court at Southwark and the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Friday, January 31, 2020.



Ghana



Court documents published by the DOJ of the US and the SFO of the UK revealed how Airbus employed different tactics to bribe officials in many countries, including Ghana, in order to secure lucrative contracts.



In the case of Ghana, Airbus allegedly paid more than 3 million through a third party.



In fact, Airbus and its vendors had paid, offered or agreed to pay political contributions, fees or commissions in connection with these sales in the amount of at least 3,596,523, the facts, as presented by the DOJ to the District Court in the USA, stated.



According to the facts, a high-ranking elected official, which the document mentioned as Individual 1 (who was in office from 2009 to 2016), made direct contact with the Airbus management about the purchase of the aircraft a few months after he took office.



Individual 1 was influential in having the government of Ghana approve aircraft purchases and Individual 1 contacted Airbus senior executives during the government approval process. In 2011, during Individual 1s time in office, the Ghanaian Parliament approved the purchase of C-295 aircraft, the facts said.



As part of the sale of the aircraft to Ghana, the DOJ said, Airbus contracted the brother of Individual 1, who was named as Consultant 4, to act as the third-party agent of the company during the sale of the aircraft.



Airbus purposefully sought to engage Consultant 4 due to his closeness to Individual 1, and the Airbus management included Consultant 4 in its communications with Individual 1. Airbus used Consultant 4 as a conduit for messages intended for Individual 1. Consultant 4 traded on his access to Individual 1, the DOJ said.



Airbus reaction



In an official reaction posted on its website, Airbus stated that the DPA reached with the authorities in the US, the UK and France concluded all investigations into its activities by the three countries.



According to the company, the outcome was as a result of the reporting, cooperation and new compliance standards at Airbus and added that it was determined to conduct its businesses with integrity.



The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Airbus, Mr Guillaume Faury, said the company had learnt many lessons from the incident.

Source: Daily Graphic









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Featured Video
A day after local electrician Chuck Lewis installed a flashing amber beacon in a Winnipeg school zone, the light was removed  by Lewis himself.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/2/2020 (700 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A day after local electrician Chuck Lewis installed a flashing amber beacon in a Winnipeg school zone, the light was removed  by Lewis himself.

He installed the solar-powered device on a pole on Bedson Street on Thursday, near Winnipeg Mennonite Elementary, in an effort to pressure city hall to green-light his plan to donate lights to school zones across the city, paying for the lights and installation from his own pocket.

Lewis said he realized it was in his best interest to remove the light, which was only installed as a demonstration. (John Woods / Free Press files)

Lewis took down his initial light after a city official contacted him to say an official agreement could be ironed out as soon as this week.

Lewis, the general manager of Expert Electric, said he realized it was in his best interest to remove the light, which was only installed as a demonstration. The light was mounted five feet off the ground instead of its proper position atop the pole.

"I didn't think (the city) would be the one taking it down," he said. "I knew going in (it would be me)."

The Free Press is waiting for the city to confirm an agreement might soon be reached.

Lewis has been trying to get the lights put up through official channels since 2017 but keeps running into bureaucratic roadblocks. Last fall, the city agreed to test the beacons, but afterward, the bright idea reached yet another impasse.

That led Lewis to take matters into his own hands.

Once the light was put up, a city spokesperson told the Free Press there were no "immediate plans" to remove the light and the city was "confident" an agreement would be finalized this spring to begin installation.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Thanks to Lewis' stunt, it appears that agreement could come sooner rather than later.

"Time will tell," he said.

If an agreement is inked, Lewis said he intends to schedule for installation a set of lights in a different school zone every month while implementing a street-safety program in the schools affected.

He said he wants to make sure kids understand safe crossing even with the lights there to discourage school zone speedsters.

"Hopefully, we can work together and make school zones safer for everyone," he said.

ben.waldman@freepress.mb.ca
It said that people in Shaheen Bagh are illegally protesting against the amended citizenship law, by blocking the common and public road connecting Delhi to Noida.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear applications seeking removal of anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protesters from Delhi's Shaheen Bagh area on Monday.

Earlier on Friday, the apex court had said that it would take up on Monday the two public interest litigations (PIL) seeking directions to the Centre for laying down guidelines relating to restrictions for holding protests leading to obstruction to public places.

A two-judge bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and also comprising Justice KM Joseph on Friday had said that they would take up the matter on 10 February.

"We do understand that there is a problem," the top court had said after advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi said that this court should pass appropriate directions to the concerned authorities as far as the protestors in Shaheen Bagh is concerned.

The PIL, filed by Dr Nand Kishore Garg and Amit Sahni through their lawyer Shashank Deo Sudhi earlier last week, sought appropriate directions to the Centre and others for removal of protesters from Shaheen Bagh near Kalindi Kunj.

It said that people in Shaheen Bagh are illegally protesting against the amended citizenship law, by blocking the common and public road connecting Delhi to Noida.
Vietnams real estate market is currently one of the most attractive in Southeast Asia, with many opportunities for domestic real estate developers to find partners and investors in the form of mergers and acquisitions.

Investors are seeing hope in Vietnamese real estate after suffering from issues elsewhere in the region

As 2020 began, Kinh Bac City Development Holding Corporation announced the acquisition of full stakes in Lotus Hotel Development Company  the developer of the Diamond Rice Hotel Complex, from Tan Hoang Minh Corporation. The deal was done with the total value of VND1.85 trillion, or $80 million.

The Diamond Rice Hotel Complex covers more than 4.2 hectares of land area located next to the Vietnam National Convention Center in Hanois My Dinh area. With the proposed investment capital of $250 million, development of a 100-storey hotel building, an 80-storey building, and another 15-storey building has been set.

At the same time, Saigon Glory, another domestic company, was announced as the new investor of The Spirit of Saigon, the 5-star complex located right at the heart of District 1 in Ho Chi Minh City, opposite to Ben Thanh Market. This complex previously belonged to Bitexco Group and the transaction deal was valued at VND7 trillion ($300 million).

The two outstanding cases of transactions are proving an opportunity for new investors to push them forward after long delays.

Attracting investors

Although mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are amassing through domestic investors, overseas equivalents are increasing their interest and participation into the field.

According to Akihiko Iwatani, chief representative from Haseko Corporation, Vietnam is assessed as one of the biggest potential markets for Japanese investors in particular and other foreign investors in general.

Choosing a suitable segment of the real estate market depends on each investor. However, I think that apartments, offices, and hotel developments in major cities of Vietnam are the most fruitful segments which attract foreign investors, Iwatani said.

Iwatani further compared the Vietnamese real estate market with other countries in the region, saying that international investors are finding it tough when investing in other mature markets like Indonesia or Malaysia, while Singapore is a small market. Vietnam, meanwhile, has more favourable conditions, with a huge population, stable economic development, and a fast urbanisation growth rate which consistently pushes the demand for accommodation.

Luu Thi Thanh Mau, CEO of Phuc Khang Corporation, said that M&A deals are needed to increase more financial sources and ensure the Vietnamese real estate market becomes more transparent.

I see great opportunity for domestic investors to mobilise financial sources from foreign investors, especially those who own compensated land with clear legal dossiers, Mau said.

According to figures released by the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, foreign direct investment (FDI) pledged to Vietnam surpassed $38 billion in 2019, marking a 10-year high and representing an on-year increase of 7.2 per cent.

Of those, 65 per cent or $24.56 billion was directed into the processing and manufacturing sector, while 10 per cent, or $3.88 billion, went into the real estate sector, and the remainder into wholesale and retail, and science and technology.

The capital contribution trend emerges as both domestic and foreign companies realise the complementary support that they can offer to each other.

Foreign investors are usually hesitant to enter the market because of the changing legal environment. Therefore, co-operation with Vietnamese partners through share purchase and capital contribution enables them to receive access to land plots, which are ready for construction.

Meanwhile, due to the State Bank of Vietnams stricter control on bank loans to domestic real estate developers to avoid a market bubble, Vietnamese businesses often turn to foreign investors through share sales and joint ventures as a new funding source. Also, sharp land prices and hindrances within the regulatory framework could be obstacles to FDI, so they resort to M&A deals with local counterparts who have easier access to cleared land for the development of projects.

Ben Gray, director of Capital Markets at Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam, said that during the last two years, some transactions were reported as the well-known benchmark in the market.

Last year saw SK Group invest $1 billion into Vingroup, while Saigon Co.op joined forces with Auchan, taking over 18 physical stores at an undisclosed value.

Truong Hai Auto Corporation (THACO) also increased its holdings in Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group after buying over $100 million of convertible bonds. Meanwhile, SonKim Land closed a round of investment worth $121 million from a consortium led by existing investors EXS Capital and ACA Investments, as well as a new backer in Credit Suisses Singapore branch.

Although Japan and South Korea have been the leading investors in M&A in the real estate market, domestic investors are still retaining promises with a range of deals carried out in the last quarter of 2019 and even the first days of this year.

Existing concerns

According to Gray, when looking at the Vietnamese market, real estate investors are identifying the same key concerns they have been highlighting for years.

These risks include the regulatory and legal framework that investors must navigate, the complex nature of Vietnamese tax law, and the sometimes unfavourable business and deal-making environment.

The valuation of assets continues to be problematic. Investors expectations on pricing are frequently incongruous with the sellers perception of the assets worth, he said.

Furthermore, Gray added that management and accounting standards are lagging behind international standards. When investors are considering target companies for acquisition or joint venture partnerships, they tend to be guided by existing relationships or their knowledge of a real estate submarket in Vietnam, he added.

In the absence of quality public information on target companies, partners, or transaction evidence, investors find it difficult to crystallise a deal that is in line with international standards of transparency and fair market pricing.

Gray added that for real estate M&A in Vietnam, the lack of comparable evidence that can be analysed and the common practice of mismatched  or even dual book  accounting systems is holding back the growth of the market.

The value of a partnership or a company and its underlying asset base or project is often over-optimistic or overestimated due to differing valuation standards, and Vietnamese companies failing to regularly produce business plans or financial projections. This is a strong contributor to deal failure and accounts for the low closing rate for M&A in Vietnam, with only 2 per cent of deals being successful, he explained. Most of these hurdles can be readily cleared if investors use third-party advisors to track records from deal origination to execution and provide post-deal support.

According to Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam, going forward, the real estate segments that will continue to attract foreign investment will be infrastructure and development, utilities, and support services.

Developers will continue to seek joint venture partners to help manage how their projects are funded now that the banking sectors view of real estate lending is more closely aligned with international risk management, said Gray.

Meanwhile, Phan Huu Thang, vice chairman of Vietnams Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises, said that condominiums, offices for lease, industrial and warehouse properties, trading centres, and hotel resorts are still attractive for foreign investors currently and will remain so in the coming years.

South Korea and Japan remain the leading investors into the Vietnamese real estate market, especially via M&A deals, together with a remarkable investors coming from Singapore and Hong Kong, Thang said.

In regards to regulation, the Vietnamese government should continue on its current path with rules that are well-drafted, clear, and contribute to the continued improvement of the market, according to several experts.

Additionally, Vietnamese companies aligning themselves with standard international practices for accounting and management will be better positioned regionally and globally.

In addition, the proposed revisions to securities, enterprise, and investment laws would greatly improve the M&A environment, resolving many of the structural issues investors face such as licensing, conditional business lines, the ability to offshore capital, and ownership limits and ratios.

Meanwhile, Savills Vietnam also said that 2020 would see rising demand in new segments of the industry, including resort and industrial property.

With more than 15 per cent growth in the number of international tourists, it creates good opportunities for real estate developers in popular tourist areas such as Danang, Phu Quoc, and Nha Trang to introduce resort properties. Such resort properties are designed to harmoniously combine cultural characteristics and natural features.

Thanks to manufacturing companies transition from China amid the trade dispute with the United States, and new free trade agreements (FTAs) including the EU-Vietnam FTA, industrial property is in high demand in key industrial clusters such as Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, and Dong Nai in the south, as well as Haiphong and Bac Ninh in the north. VIR

Bich Ngoc

Great opportunities for real estate firms to call for foreign capital Akihiko Iwatani, chief representative of Haseko Corporation in Hanoi, believes that Vietnam is the most attractive market in ASEAN for Japanese investors in particular and foreign investors in general.
While AI technology directly threatens existing retail jobs, its downstream impact has created new jobs as well. This is because  at least for now  the last mile of online retail still requires a human touch. As it turns out, retail job losses since 2014 have been almost exactly counterbalanced by a gain of 118,000 light-truck or delivery-service driver jobs. The number of heavy-truck and tractor-trailer drivers increased more than 175,000 over the same period, making these two driving jobs among the fastest-growing occupations in the United States.
BERLIN  A fierce storm pounded Europe with hurricane-force winds and heavy rains, killing at least seven people and causing severe travel disruptions as it moved eastward across the continent Monday.

The storm belted Britain and Ireland on Sunday before churning a trail of damage on the continent that included power cuts for tens of thousands of homes.

A woman and her 15-year-old daughter died in Poland after the storm ripped off the roof of a building in the mountain resort of Bukowina Tatrzanska and sent it hurtling onto people standing near a ski lift, police said.

In Sweden, one man drowned after the boat he was sailing in on the southern lake of Fegen capsized.

Two men, one in the north of Slovenia and another in southern England, also died after their cars were hit by falling trees. And in Germany, a driver died after crashing his truck into a trailer parked by workers clearing storm debris off a highway in the southern state of Hesse.

Police in the Czech Republic said the storm likely was to blame for a car accident that killed the driver. Investigators think a tree fell on the car, which skidded off the road and overturned.

The number of Czech households without electricity reached 290,000, according to power company CEZ.

Britain, which bore the brunt of the storm Sunday, was assessing the damage and working to get power restored to 20,000 homes. But for northern England and Scotland, the respite was set to be brief, with forecasts of blizzards.

Many parts of the country were mopping up after a month and a halfs rain fell in just 24 hours in some places and rivers burst their banks. Some 75 flood warnings remained in place across the country.

The River Irwell burst its banks in northwestern England, prompting authorities to evacuate residents. And in the Scottish town of Hawick, which borders England, a guest house and bistro collapsed into the raging River Teviot. No one was injured.

Ferries were operating across the English Channel after being closed on Sunday.

Frank Jordans and Pan Pylas are Associated Press writers.
Over 1.97 lakh passengers travelling in 1,818 flights have been screened for novel coronavirus, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Monday as he outlined the steps taken by the government to deal with the virus since its outbreak last month.

Issuing a suo motu statement in Lok Sabha, Vardhan also said that screening of passengers has been initiated at 12 major seaports and all minor ports in the country to identify passengers and crew members coming from China and to isolate them in case they are found symptomatic.

"As of today, a total of 1,818 flights have been screened covering a total of 1,97,192 passengers. Teams of specialist doctors were sent to all the airports to ensure effective screening and arrangement for isolation in the attached hospitals," Vardhan said.

In view of a confirmed case in Nepal, the government has initiated screening at all integrated check posts from Nepal in collaboration with Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Sikkim and Bihar, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Land Port Authorities, the health minister said.

China reported the outbreak of novel coronavirus on December 31, 2019. As of February 9, a total of 37,198 confirmed cases and 811 deaths have been reported in China. A total of 354 confirmed cases have been reported outside China from 27 countries (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan).

"In our country, three positive cases have been reported so far from Kerala. All these cases have travel history from Wuhan, China. They have been isolated and are reported to be clinically stable," Vardhan said.

The government has already constituted a GoM headed by the Health Minister to monitor coronavirus. Besides, gram sabhas are being organised in villages adjoining borders with Nepal to create awareness amongst people.

So far, 1,510 samples have been tested of which 1,507 were found negative. Three samples have tested positive and 27 samples are under process.

Vardhan said two Special Air India flights were operated between Delhi and Wuhan on January 31 and February 1 that brought back a total of 654 passengers -- 647 Indian citizens (including two Indian Embassy officials who were on the ground in Wuhan to coordinate the evacuation operation) and seven Maldivian nationals.

"I take this opportunity to thank Air India, its crew and our team of doctors and para medical staff who executed this challenging operation and place on record the appreciation on behalf of this august house for their contribution," he said.

After evacuation, the people are presently undergoing quarantine at special facilities created by Indian Army in Manesar and by Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in Chawla Camp. 10 of the evacuees who were symptomatic have been shifted to isolation. All of them have tested negative for this disease and are stable. All other evacuees are being medically examined on daily basis and are healthy, Vardhan added.

The minister said India has provided support to other countries in tackling the challenge posed by the disease. ICMR has offered to do testing of samples for other South East Asian Region countries.

"Testing of samples from Maldives has already been undertaken. Request from Afghanistan for samples testing has been agreed to. We have agreed to provide technical assistance to Bhutan in managing this infectious disease and screening of passengers also.

Using integrated disease surveillance network, all persons are tracked and the government is following 9,452 passengers across 29 states/UTs.

The state surveillance officers, district surveillance officers and rapid response teams of health professionals under the leadership of state Health Secretaries are monitoring all such people on a daily basis, he said.

Sufficient isolation beds have been made available in tertiary facilities across the country to manage any outbreak.

369 symptomatic travellers have been referred to isolation facility and are being monitored, Vardhan informed the House.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rwandas Stillborn Middle-Income Economy

By David HIMBARA

President Paul Kagame launched Rwanda Vision 2020 in the year 2000 with the objective of turning Rwandan into a middle-income economy in a single generation. In 2013, he claimed mission accomplished. That is when Kagame declared that Rwanda was already an African economic lion. And in 2019, the Rwandan head of state proclaimed Rwandas social and economic performance globally unequalled and that he had achieved 85 percent of the Rwanda Vision 2020 objectives. But in Rwandas Stillborn Middle-Income Economy, Kagames former senior advisor challenges this misguided narrative.

The book how Rwandas head of state, Paul Kagame, and his international backers, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Jim Yong Kim, and the World Bank failed to create prosperity in Rwanda, their claims to the contrary notwithstanding. Vision 2020, under which Rwanda was to become a middle-income economy, was a fiasco. Rwanda remains appallingly poor, unable to provide food security for its people. The book offers a lens into the Rwandan rulers manipulative power by examining a range of false or dubious proclamations and the myriad ways in which he misled the world into believing that he had turned Rwanda into a prosperous African nation. The book also reveals how Western politicians such as Clinton and Blair ruthlessly promote themselves while immorally benefiting from fighting poverty in countries such as Rwanda. Clinton and Blair need Kagame, just as Kagame needs them. They are in mutually beneficial relationships of opportunism and greed in which poverty is a valuable commodity.
In a new interview with C.M. Rubin, Founder of CMRubinWorld, Head of Marketing from Norwegian based Kahoot, Sean DArcy, discusses the future of game-based learning in classrooms.

Using digital game-based learning is on the rise in schools and learning organizations globally. Kahoot! currently has over 2 billion players, according to DArcy - including teachers, students, parents, and even corporate users. With over 60 million interactive games, the platform has developed the nickname, The Netflix of Education.

Technology is becoming more and more important in 21st century classrooms, where students can learn from anywhere at any time and have access to the worlds information, says DArcy. He believes that while traditional classrooms will continue to exist in the future, they will be supported with the use of interactive and social learning environments so that they can accommodate all kinds of learners and make learning a fun, gamified experience.

Read the full article here

Kahoot is a game-based learning platform that makes it easy to create, share and play fun learning games or trivia quizzes. Kahoot! is used in a variety of settings: in K-12 and university classrooms, corporate offices, social settings, and major sporting and cultural events. In 2018, Kahoot! had over one billion participating players in more than 200 countries. Launched in 2013, the company is headquartered in Norway with offices in the US and the UK.

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A group of World War II veterans, ages ranging from 94 to 98, have reason to commemorate one of the bloodiest battles of that war.

The combat veterans will mark the 75th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Iwo Jima during a monthly World War II Veterans and Friends Breakfast Club session at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19, at the Home Front Cafe on Main Street in Altamont.

The survivors of that battle, along with their families and friends, will mark the start of the 36-day battle to take the island from Japanese forces.

The survivors will honor those, mostly Marines, Navy sailors and Army soldiers, who didn't survive, says Mark Yingling of Clifton Park.

A total of 6,621 American troops, mostly Marines, were killed and more than 18,000 were wounded as they killed more than 22,000 Japanese troops in the battle for the control of the strategic small Pacific island in 1945.

Iwo Jima survivors will include:

Fourth Division Marines Sal Famularo and Thomas Smith, both of Glenville, and Thomas "Hollywood" Lemme of Albany, fought in the battle.

Ambrose "Cowboy" Anderson and Francis Dick Varone, both of Troy, assigned to the 5th Marine Division, also fought there.

Porter Bidleman of Altamont, a Navy survivor of the battle, will also attend.

Other Iwo Jima survivors have been invited.

Yingling, a Patriot Guard rider who helped organized the breakfast sessions, said he hopes he finds and contacts other Iwo Jima survivors so those combat veterans can attend the commemoration and other breakfast session at Home Front. Survivors or anyone who knows one may contact Yingling at iwosurvivors@aol.com or phone 518-265-5972.

One of the past breakfast sessions featured Famularo's battle experience, as detailed in the book "By Dammit, We're Marines!" written by Gail Chatfield.

After Cpl. Famularo, a rifleman, was wounded in the battle, he was picked up by an American tank crew. As the Marine was lying in the path of the ongoing tank, he said, he thought he was about to be crushed. But two armor crew members scooped the wounded Marine up through a tank bottom door as they vehicle rolled over Famularo.

Famularo also fought on Saipan and Tinian. But on Iwo Jimo, Famularo was wounded in his back by enemy machine gun fire. Famularo, who was among 229 Marines in his company, was one of only 29 who survived Pacific battles.

Lemme, a demolition specialist, was wounded in the battle.

Anderson was a corporal assigned to the 8th Ammunition Company.

How's this for historic coincidence: Smith, a corporal who was wounded four times, said he had a role in saving Famularo's life. While working at the American Locomotive factory in Schenectady, he cut hatches into the bottom of tanks made there before he enlisted in the Marines.

Varone served as a forward observer and radio operator in the battle.

Helping veterans

Mary Judd of SongwritingWith:Soldiers will be the keynote speaker during a forum, "Our Veterans: Back Home," from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27, at the Hearst Media Center at 645 Albany Shaker Road, Colonie.

Families of veterans and people who care about veterans' issues are encouraged to attend. Registration is required. To sign up for free tickets, visit https://veteransbackhome.eventbrite.com. For information, call Patti Hart at 518-454-5067.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

"Our Veterans: Back Home" will be presented by the Veteran Center at The College of Saint Rose. Judd is the co-founder and program director with SongwritingWith:Soldiers. Learn how Judd and her partner musician, Darden Smith, built a program that allows service members to share their stories, often for the first time, through collaborative songwriting with professional musicians.

Additional panelists will be announced.

Who should attend this event:

Veterans and service members exploring options;

Families and children of veterans interested in learning about opportunities;

Anyone who wants to hear inspirational stories about veterans who have returned to our community.

Light refreshments will be provided by Mazzone Hospitality.

Aid for Patriot Flight

A corned beef and cabbage dinner will be sponsored by the Sons of the American Legion from 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 16, at Gerald O'Neil American Legion Post at 836 Broadway, Rensselaer.

Proceeds will benefit Patriot Flight, an all-volunteer community group that gives World War II, Korean and Vietnam War veterans a free day trip to visit their memorials and other historic sites in Washington, D.C.

Cost is $12 per person or $11 for seniors for the eat-in or take-out dinner. For information, call 518-465-3312.

News of your troops and units can be sent to Duty Calls, Terry Brown, Times Union, Box 15000, Albany, NY 12212 or brownt@timesunion.com.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Mazda Motor (China) Co.,Ltd. said its new car retail sales in January 2020 amounted to 20,963 units, of which 7,539 units and 13,424 units were from FAW Mazda and Changan Mazda respectively.

Compared to the data the company offered a year ago, Mazda posted a decrease of 8.23% in its China deliveries.



Photo source: FAW Mazda)



Despite the overall downturn and fewer workdays than the year-ago period, FAW Mazda still net a growth of 7.45% in January. The retail sales of the Mazda6 Atenza and the CX-4 reached 3,699 units and 3,840 units respectively.



Photo source: Changan Mazda)



Changan Mazda saw its Jan. deliveries slide 15.19% from the previous year. As for specific models, 10,698 and 2,648 consumers in China took delivery of the Mazda3 Axela and the Mazda CX-5.

In 2019, the Japanese automaker delivered 227,750 new vehicles in China market, posting a double-digit drop of 16.4% compared with the year of 2018.

Changan Mazda is ready to locally manufacture the Mazda CX-30, a small-sized SUV positioned between the CX-3 and the CX-5. Powered by the latest SKYACTIV-X engine, the homegrown CX-30 is said to hit the market in the second-half of 2020, competing with such models as the Honda Vezel, the Toyota C-HR and the TACQUA.

Mazda unveiled the MX-30, its first mass-produced BEV model, at the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show. Powered by a 35.5kWh, the all-electric model only features a range of 209km. However, the MX-30 won't be introduced to China as the range is somewhat scant to Chinese consumers. The automaker plans to launch another BEV model dedicated to China market by teaming up with one of its joint ventures.
The prestigious Thadomal Shahani Centre for Management (TSCFM), Indias 3rd best institute for Global Business programs recently adopted Utkarsh Global Foundation, a non-profit organisation based in Mulund. The inauguration of this esteemed facility, which works towards animal welfare, took place on 30th January 2020. The institute has also adopted two pariah dogs from them and provided shelter in their sprawling Mumbai campus.

TSCFM is one of the few institutions in the sector, which has consciously taken steps towards improving the condition of stray animals and focusing on their welfare. It aims at imbibing in its students, the same values and concern and serving as an inspiration for them to find pragmatic solutions to resolve these issues, and give back to society.

Commenting on the same, Dr. Akhil Shahani, Managing Director, Shahani Group said, Our institute has prioritised animal welfare, as we believe in giving back to the community by doing our bit. Our endeavours are further supported by dedicated students who consistently drive innovative ideas to enhance their outreach. Acquiring Utkarsh has enabled us to widen our window, and to work in collaboration with a specialised team, in order to provide a better life to strays. We sincerely look forward to inspiring our peers across industries for creating a positive difference within the society.

Utkarsh Global Foundation prides itself on premier movements like the Animal Welfare Movement, initiatives and benevolent programs like feeding drives for stray animals and stray together, and aims at providing care and treatment to strays. Its primary objectives entail  ensuring harmony between animals and mankind, rabies prevention and awareness generation, provision of free medical assistance, and the promotion of welfare through practical activism. The mission of the organisation speaks volumes about its noble principles like relieving animals in distress, mobilising public participation and optimum utilisation of available resources. Further, it offers a large number of services like free medical care for animals, wherein approximately 2000 animals like dogs, cats, horses, donkeys, buffaloes, cows, monkeys and birds are treated every month. The organisation provides multiple other facilities including a hospital, with a seasoned team of 75 members comprising veterinary doctors, para-veterinary professionals, cleaners, security guards, receptionists and ambulance drivers.
Building coal-fired power stations is as futile as using an old Nokia 3210 mobile instead of opting for a modern iPhone, Osher Gunsberg claimed.

The Bachelor host, who has become a vocal environmental activist, criticised the push by some MPs to increase Australia's coal capacity.

He slammed politicians for not focusing on modernisation in the energy industry, saying it was equivalent to 'playing Snake forever'.

Speaking on Q&A about the $70 billion industry, he said: 'If they were selling us mobile phones, they'd be saying the Nokia 3210 is the only phone we'll ever need.

Osher Gunsberg (pictured) slammed the government's energy policy, saying it shouldn't back the building of new coal-fired power stations

WILL AUSTRALIA BUILD A NEW COAL-FIRED POWER PLANT? The government is spending $6 million on two studies which will consider building new electricity generation projects. One of those being considered is a coal-fired power planet at Collinsville in north Queensland. While it would bring hundreds of jobs to the region, critics worry it would not help Australia meet its emissions targets. But Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce said a focus on cutting cutting carbon emissions was being prioritised instead of affordable power. Advertisement

'I'm telling you that we are  as a country exporting coal  we are Nokia with a 3210 thinking people will only ever want to play Snake forever, and the iPhone is coming.'

On Saturday, the government unveiled a $4 million study with Shine Energy, which will consider building a new coal-fired power plant in Collinsville, Queensland.

Defending the industry back in January against climate change protests, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said many rely on coal to provide for their families.

He said that closing down the coal sector would be akin to 'pulling out the rug from regional communities'.

'It is important to communities across the country,' Mr Morrison said.

'Our government's plan is to meet and beat emissions reductions targets, without putting taxes on people, putting up electricity prices and pulling out the rug from regional communities who depend on the sector for their livelihoods.

The Eraring power station near Newcastle if one of Australia's coal-fired power stations, and provides hundreds of jobs

'We will continue to maintain a balanced approach to make sure it is in Australia's interest.'

But former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull slammed some politicians' desire to underwrite new stations, calling it 'nuts'.

'There is no economic basis on which to build a coal-fired power station in Australia, any longer," he told Sky News.

'Those people who are advocating the government should fund coal-fired power are basically making the case for higher emissions and higher energy prices and that is nuts.

Gunsberg, who also hosts the Bachelorette, also revealed suffering from 'climate anxiety' contributed to his mental health breakdown.

Mr Gunsberg compared building new coal-fired stations to using Nokie 3210 phones (pictured)

He said he had 'psychosis' and 'paranoid delusions' impact by worrying about the environment.

'As someone who has suffered incredible climate anxiety, I had episodes of psychosis that manifested as paranoid delusions,' he said.

'I was on two different kinds of antipsychotics and was seeing things, it was horrible.'

Responding to a young woman who was worried about the future of the planet, he said being anxious about the environment was a 'completely ordinary reaction'

'I can say to you, you're not alone and when you know what you know, it's a completely ordinary normal reaction to have when you look at what is coming,' he added.

Coal is worth around $70 billion to the Australian economy, with experts fearing electricity prices would shoot up if it were to close.

Scott Morrison (pictured on Saturday) has defended the coal industry, saying it provides important jobs from regional Australians

The presenter also criticised the government's plan to use carryover credits to meet its emissions targets.

Also known as Kyoto carryover credits, they are a carbon accounting measure which allow countries to count historical emission reductions towards its current targets.

But using them is controversial, with the likes of New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden and Denmark ruling them out.

They are used by Russia and Ukraine, who hope to carry over billions of tonnes of carbons towards their Paris Climate Agreement targets.

'Trying to say the Kyoto credits work is like  saying to my current wife, "I did heaps of dishes in my first marriage, so I don't need to do the dishes in this one",' Gunsberg said.

Osher Gunsberg (pictured) is best known for being the host of the Bachelor and the Bachelorette

Gunsberg said found comfort in making small changes in his life - such as driving an electric car and using an electric bike.

The popular TV host has previously opened up about his mental health battle, which was impacted by his concerns about climate change.

He has suffered with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and alcoholism, and has taken two types of anti-psychotic drug.

Speaking about being plagued with suicidal thoughts, he said: 'I struggled quite intensely with suicidal thoughts during The Bachelor season two, the Blake Garvey season.

'I was riding my bicycle to work, which was at a beautiful mansion on Hunters Hill, and I'd be having vivid, really shocking images of all these houses on the water just inundated  everything's underwater, everyone's panicking.'
By Trend

The observation mission from the Czech Republic praised the organization of the early parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan, Trend reports.

Czech observers noted a number of differences between the election processes in the Czech Republic and Azerbaijan at a press conference on the early parliamentary elections held in the country on Feb. 9.

In particular, member of the Czech Republic Chamber of Deputies Jaroslav Holik noted that the Braille alphabet was used for the blind in the ballot papers, which once again proves the country's concern for each of its citizens.

Jaroslav Holik emphasized the importance of finger testing with an ultraviolet detector to prevent re-voting in elections.

The use of webcams was also evaluated by Czech observers as an important step.

"On the voting day, we visited 16 polling stations of Baku, got acquainted with many details, with voter lists. The members of the commissions willingly answered our questions. We did not see any violations and are very pleased with the work of the election commission," Jaroslav Holik said.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
ANKARA, Turkey  Turkey said it retaliated Monday after intense shelling by Syrian forces killed five of its soldiers and wounded five others in Syrias northern Idlib province, a marked escalation a week after a similarly deadly clash between the two sides.

The exchange of fire came as a Russian delegation held a second round of talks in the Turkish capital of Ankara to discuss the fighting in Idlib province, which has uprooted more than a half-million people in the past two months. No statement was issued at the end of the talks.

The fighting led to the collapse of a fragile cease-fire brokered by Turkey and Russia in 2018. Turkey supports the Syrian rebels, while Russia heavily backs the Syrian governments campaign to retake the area, which is the last rebel stronghold in Syria.

A U.N. official said the number of people displaced by the violence since Dec. 1 reached nearly 700,000, up from 600,000.

Thats more than 100,000 people in just over a week, said U.N. regional spokesman David Swanson.

This could well prove to be the largest number of people displaced in a single period since the Syrian crisis began almost nine years ago, Swanson said, reiterating the call for an immediate truce.

T he U.N. remains deeply alarmed about the safety and protection of over 3 million civilians in Idlib and surrounding areas, over half of whom are internally displaced, as reports of airstrikes and shellings continue in Syria, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said in New York.

At least 49 civilians were killed between Feb. 1-5, with at least 186 civilians killed in January, he said.

Most of the displaced are living in open-air shelters and temporary homes in rain, snow and freezing temperatures near the Turkish border. Half of the displaced are believed to be children.

Food, shelter, water and sanitation, hygiene, health, education and protection assistance are all urgent priorities, Haq said, with the humanitarian community seeking $336 million to help 800,000 people in northwestern Syria for six months.

The fighting has led Turkey to send hundreds of military vehicles and troops into Idlib province in the past week, bringing both countries forces into direct confrontation, a rarity in the Syrian conflict.

Eight Turkish military and civilian personnel and 13 Syrian soldiers were killed in a clash in the province last week. Turkey has warned Syria to retreat to cease-fire lines that were agreed in 2018.

The Turkish Defense Ministry said its five troops that were killed and those who were wounded were reinforcements that had been sent to Idlib.

Our fire support vehicles immediately fired on the targets with intensity and the necessary response was given, the ministry said. The statement did not say where the attack took place but news reports said it was at Taftanaz, where Turkish troops were allegedly trying to set up a base.

A later statement said the retaliation was in line with Turkeys rules of engagement and its right to self-defense.

At least 115 Syrian positions were targeted in the retaliatory strikes, the ministry said, adding that more than 100 Syrian forces were neutralized. In addition, three tanks and two artillery positions were destroyed, while a helicopter was hit, the ministry said. The claim could not be independently verified.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition monitoring group, gave a higher casualty toll, reporting six Turkish soldiers were killed and seven were wounded in the Syrian shelling at the Taftanaz air base. It added that four Syrian rebels were killed in the shelling.

Omer Celik, the spokesman for Turkeys ruling-party, said it was out of the question for the Turkish troops to vacate the observation posts in Idlib, adding that Turkey would continue to respond to systematic Syrian government attacks

Celik also said Turkish troops would continue trying to ensure that Syrian government forces withdraw to previous positions.

The Turkish will carry out the necessary work to ensure that the (Syrian) regime retreat from the line it has violated with the aggression, Celik said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkish and Russian delegations exchanged proposals over Idlib at a first meeting Saturday in Ankara.

The Russian team returned to Ankara on Monday from a visit to Jordan and held talks with Ibrahim Kalin, a top aide to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

During the meeting, Kalin emphasized the need for the attacks against Turkish soldiers and the observation to be stopped, according to a statement from his office, carried by state-run Anadolu Agency.

Syrias military has vowed to continue its campaign.

An early morning airstrike on the village of Ibbin in a rebel-held region of Aleppo province near Idlib killed nine people, including six children, according to activists from the Observatory and the Step news agency, an activist collective. At least 10 people were wounded.

The Syrian governments campaign appears aimed at securing a strategic highway in rebel-controlled territory for now, rather than seizing the entire province and its densely populated capital, Idlib.

The government-controlled Syrian Central Military Media released a map of the area of fighting showing that Syrian troops only have 15 kilometers (9 miles) left from seizing full control of the strategic highway, known as the M5. The highway links the national capital of Damascus with the countrys north, which has for years been divided between government and opposition forces.

Meanwhile, a car bomb in a Syrian town controlled by Turkey-backed opposition fighters killed at least four people and wounded 15, the Anadolu Agency reported.

The attack was the latest in a series of explosions in Turkish-controlled regions that have killed and wounded scores of people. Turkey has blamed the Syrian Kurdish militia, known as the Peoples Protection Units.

The bomb went off on a main street in the town of Afrin, which Turkey took control of following a military incursion in 2018, Anadolu reported. It said some of the wounded were in serious condition, adding that the death toll was likely to rise.

The Turkish offensive has aimed at pushing Kurdish fighters away from the border. Those Kurdish fighters had been key U.S. allies in the fight against the Islamic State group. Turkey considers the Syrian Kurdish fighters terrorists linked to a Kurdish insurgency within Turkey.

___

Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Sarah El Deeb in Beirut and Edith M. Lederer in New York contributed.
Pump jacks and wells are seen in an oil field on the Monterey Shale formation where hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is used to extract gas and oil near McKittrick, Calif., on March 23, 2014. (David McNew/Getty Images)

Oil Drops as Coronavirus Outbreak Saps Chinese Demand

Oil prices fell on Monday as the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak continues to sap Chinese demand for energy.

As of 11:30 EST, U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures fell 0.85 percent to $49.97 per barrel, while Brent Crude futures dropped by 1.21 percent to $53.78 per barrel.

The concern remains that the wider markets have yet to reflect the full impact of the disruption, Saxo Bank commodity strategist Ole Hansen told Reuters.

With China being the worlds most dominant consumer of raw materials, the impact continues to be felt strongly across key commodities and the world is facing the biggest demand shock since the 2009 global financial crisis.

Oil has dropped more than 20 percent from a peak in January after the spreading virus hit demand in the worlds largest oil importer and fueled concerns of excess supplies.

To alleviate downward pressure on oil prices, a technical committee that advises the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, including Russia, has called for further cuts to oil production.

The group, known as OPEC+, has already been implementing cuts of 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) since January 2019.

The Minister of Energy of Algeria and President of the OPEC Conference in 2020, Mohamed Arkab, said after an extraordinary meeting of the Joint Technical Committee in Vienna last week that the advisory body recommends cutting production by an additional 600,000 bpd until the end of the second quarter.

A press release noted that the committee blamed the coronavirus outbreak for reduced oil demand.

The coronavirus epidemic is having a negative impact on economic activities, particularly on the transportation, tourism, and industry sectors, particularly in China, and also increasingly in the Asian region and gradually in the world, Arkab said.

While oil prices have been under strain, safe-haven assets like gold and U.S. Treasuries have rallied on coronavirus fears.

Gold can be driven higher off of geopolitical uncertainty. It provides growth and positive performance when other assets are selling off, explained David McAlvany, CEO of the McAlvany Financial Cos., speaking to The Epoch Times. The benefit of owning gold alongside other more traditional assets is you increase total returns and decrease volatility by having an asset which behaves in a countercyclical trend. Gold acts like insurance.

Meanwhile, stocks worldwide have shed more than $1 trillion in value since Jan. 21, when the first case of a coronavirus infection was confirmed in Washington state.

The virus outbreak comes as Chinas economy is already growing at its slowest pace in nearly three decades.

This is like Chernobyl in a sense, author and China expert Gordon Chang told The Epoch Times, referring to the nuclear accident that occurred in the Soviet Union in 1986.

If the panic continues until April or May, it will have an enormous effect on the Chinese economy this year, he said.

If this isnt brought under control quickly, youll have factories leaving China, he added.

I dont know where coronavirus goes from here, but the uncertainty factor changes the perception of the marketplace of where you should be putting your money, McAlvany said, and you can already see the footprints of dollars moving to safe havens.

Emel Akan and Reuters contributed to this report.
[February 10, 2020] Growth of Danish Telco's market has been stimulated by consumer demand for data services based on the near universal availability of LTE services.

Sydney, Feb. 11, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Just released, this edition of Paul Budde Communications focus report on Denmark outlines the major developments and key aspects in the telecoms markets.

Click here to access the report: https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Denmark-Mobile-Infrastructure-Broadband-Operators-Statistics-and-Analyses Denmarks mobile market continues to show steady growth despite the country having one of the highest mobile penetration rates in Europe. Growth has been stimulated by consumer demand for data services based on the near universal availability of LTE services. Operators have started trials of 5G services while commercial services will be greatly supported from the beginning of 2020 when spectrum in a range of bands which will become available. 5G services will go far to helping the government reach its broadband coverage targets in rural areas. This report provides an analysis of the Danish mobile market, including the latest regulatory developments, the growth of mobile data services and operator strategies. Key developments: Hi3G signs roaming deal with TDC;

Regulator increases MTRs;

TDC acquires the MVNO Plenti, trials a 1Gb/s mobile data service;

Nokia Networks given five-year managed services contract for TT-Netvrket;

Telenor discontinues low-cost BiBoB brand and migrates customers to its CBB Mobil unit;

TDC expands NB-IoT across its LTE footprint;

MNOs end NFC-based mobile wallet platform;

Report update includes the regulator's market data update to June 2019, telcos' operating and financial data to Q4 2019, recent market developments. Companies mentioned in this report: TDC, Telenor Denmark, H3iG Denmark, Lycamobile, Tele2, Telia Table of Contents Market analysis

Mobile statistics General statistics Market share of subscribers by operator Prepaid

Mobile infrastructure Digital networks 5G 4G (LTE) 3G Other infrastructure developments Machine-to-Machine (M2M) IoT

Mobile voice

Mobile data Short Message Service (SMS) Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)

Mobile broadband

Regulatory issues Spectrum 2.5GHz 2.1GHz spectrum 800MHz 1800MHz Other spectrum 900MHz / 1800MHz 700MHz / 900MHz / 2300MHz Roaming Mobile Number Portability (MNP) Mobile Termination Rates (MTRs) Network sharing

Major mobile operators TDC Telenor Denmark Telia Danmark H3 Denmark Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs)

Mobile content and applicatios Near Field Communications M-commerce

Appendix  Historic data

Related reports





List of Tables

Table 1  Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration  2009  2024

Table 2  Growth in the number of mobile voice and data subscribers  2009  2019

Table 3  Change in mobile services revenue by type  2009  2018

Table 4  Fall in average revenue per mobile subscriber  2009  2018

Table 5  Change in mobile sector investment  2015  2018

Table 6  Change in the market share of mobile subscribers by operator (main operators)  2009  2019

Table 7  Change in the market share of mobile subscribers by operator (main operators)  2009  2019

Table 8  Fall in the number of prepaid subscriptions and proportion of total  2010  2019

Table 9  Growth in the number of LTE subscriptions  2015  2019

Table 10  Growth in the number of M2M subscriptions by operator  2008  2019

Table 11  Development of mobile voice traffic  2005  2019

Table 12  Fall in SMS traffic  2009  2019

Table 13  Growth in MMS traffic  2009 - 2019

Table 14  Growth in mobile data traffic  2007  2019

Table 15  Change in the number of dedicated mobile data subscriptions  2008  2019

Table 16  Growth in the number of active mobile data subscriptions  2009  2024

Table 17  Growth in the number of active mobile data subscriptions  2009  2024

Table 18  Growth in the number of TDCs mobile broadband subscribers  2008  2019

Table 19  Growth in the number of TDCs mobile broadband subscribers  2008  2019

Table 20  Change in the number of annual mobile numbers ported  2009  2019

Table 21  Change in the number of TDCs domestic mobile subscribers (retail, wholesale)  2007  2019

Table 22  Development of TDCs mobile services revenue by segment  2007  2018

Table 23  Growth in TDCs mobile voice ARPU (consumer)  2016  2019

Table 24  TDCs spectrum concessions in Denmark

Table 25  Change in the number of Telenor Denmarks mobile subscribers, proportion prepaid  2009  2019

Table 26  Development of Telenor Denmarks mobile ARPU by type  2009  2019

Table 27  Development of Telenor Denmarks mobile revenue  2009  2019

Table 28  Change in the number of Telia Denmarks mobile subscribers  2009  2019

Table 29  Change in Telia Denmarks blended mobile ARPU  2007  2019

Table 30  Development of Telia Denmarks mobile service revenue  2006  2019

Table 31  Change in the number of H3 Denmarks registered subscribers  2007  2019

Table 32  Change in the number of H3 Denmarks active subscribers  2018  2019

Table 33  Development of H3 Denmarks mobile financial data  2010  2019

Table 34  Change in H3 Denmarks annualised monthly ARPU and proportion to data ARPU  2010  2019

Table 35  Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration  1999  2009

Table 36  Historic - Prepaid subscriptions and percentage of subscribers  1999  2009

Table 37  Historic - Mobile retail services revenue  2001  2009

Table 38  Historic - Mobile traffic in minutes  2005  2009

Table 39  Historic - Annual mobile numbers ported  2003  200

Table 40  Historic - Telenor Denmark mobile subscribers, proportion prepaid  2004  2009

Table 41  Historic - Telenor Denmark ARPU  2004  2009

Table 42  Historic - Telenor Denmarks mobile revenue  2005  2009

Table 43  Historic H3 Denmark financial data  2007  2009

Table 44  Historic - H3 Denmark annualised monthly ARPU and data proportion  2007  2010

Table 45  Historic - SMS traffic  2003  2009

Table 46  Historic - SMS sent per subscriber  2014  2017

Table 47  Historic - Total MMS sent  2003 - 2009

Table 48  Historic - MMS sent per subscriber  2014  2017 List of Charts Chart 1  Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration  2009  2024

Chart 2  Change in mobile services revenue by type  2009  2018

Chart 3  Fall in average revenue per mobile subscriber  2009  2018

Chart 4  Fall in the number of prepaid subscriptions and proportion of total  2010  2019

Chart 5  Growth in the number of M2M subscriptions by operator  2008  2019

Chart 6  Development of mobile voice traffic  2005  2019

Chart 7  Fall in SMS traffic  2009  2019

Chart 8  Growth in MMS traffic  2009 - 2019

Chart 9  Growth in mobile data traffic  2007  2019

Chart 10  Change in the number of dedicated mobile data subscriptions  2008  2019

Chart 11  Change in the number of annual mobile numbers ported  2009  2019

Chart 12  Change in the number of TDCs domestic subscribers (retail, wholesale)  2007  2019

Chart 13  Development of TDCs mobile services revenue by segment  2007  2018

Chart 14  Change in the number of Telenor Denmarks mobile subscribers, proportion prepaid  2009  2019

Chart 15  Development of Telenor Denmarks mobile ARPU by type  2009  2019

Chart 16  Development of Telenor Denmarks mobile revenue  2009  2019

Chart 17  Change in the number of Telia Denmarks mobile subscribers  2005  2019

Chart 18  Change in Telia Denmarks blended mobile ARPU  2007  2019

Chart 19  Development of Telia Denmarks mobile service revenue  2006  2019

Chart 20  Change in the number of H3 Denmarks registered subscribers  2007  2019

Chart 21  Development of H3 Denmarks mobile financial data  2010  2019

Chart 22  Change in H3 Denmarks annualised monthly ARPU and proportion to data ARPU  2010  2019 List of Exhibits Exhibit 1  Denmarks 3G licensing results  2001

Exhibit 2  2.5GHz licence awards  2010

Exhibit 3  H3iG Denmark spectrum concessions Click here to access the report: https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Denmark-Mobile-Infrastructure-Broadband-Operators-Statistics-and-Analyses Nicolas Bombourg [email protected] Within Australia (02) 8076 7665 Outside Australia +44 207 097 1241

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Maharashtra minister Ashok Chavan has called a meeting of the cabinet sub-committee formed for the issues related to the Maratha reservation on Tuesday.

Chavan is head of the sub-committee formed by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Cabinet ministers Ekanath Shinde, Balasaheb Thorat, Vijay Wadettiwar and Dilip Walse Patil are members of the sub-committee. The meeting will be held on Tuesday at Vidhan Bhavan at 3 pm.

The Maratha reservation has been a contentious issue in Maharashtra's politics for many years. The previous BJP government led by Devendra Fadnavis had passed a law to give 16 per cent reservation to Maratha community.

The same law was upheld by Bombay High Court but the percentage of reservation was cut down to 12 per cent in education and 13 per cent in jobs by the court. Now, the High Court's order has been challenged in the Supreme Court by a bunch of petitioners.

This sub-committee will decide the government's stand on various pending litigations about the validity of Maratha reservation in the apex court and petitions in the Bombay High Court, challenging recruitments based on the new quota system.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Coronavirus Death Toll Surpasses That of SARS Epidemic

By VOA News February 09, 2020

The death toll on mainland China from the coronavirus outbreak has now reached 908 after earlier surpassing the number of deaths caused by the SARS pandemic of 2002-03, Chinese officials said Sunday.

China's National Health Commission reported another 97 deaths Sunday along with 3,062 new cases, coming after a drop in the number of reported cases Saturday -- the first drop in more than a week.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is believed to have killed 774 people and sickened nearly 8,100 in China and the special administrative region of Hong Kong.

The commission reported that new coronavirus infection cases dropped Saturday for the first time since Feb. 1, to 2,656, for a total of 37,198.

Liu Xiaoming, China's ambassador to Britain, in a BBC interview Sunday, described coronavirus as "the enemy of mankind." He said it "is controllable, is preventable, is curable," but that "at this moment is very difficult to predict when we are going to have an inflection point."

"We certainly hope it will come soon, but the isolation and quarantine measures have been very effective," Liu said.

Meanwhile, Britain confirmed its fourth case of coronavirus and Spain its second, with both cases acquired by people who had made trips to France.

Millions of people remain under lockdown in Hubei, the landlocked province at the center of the coronavirus outbreak where residents are complaining of food shortages.

Commerce official Wang Bin said Sunday said there are poor logistics, price increases and labor shortages.

"It is difficult for the market supply to reach normal levels," he acknowledged. Currently, he said there is a five-day supply of pork and eggs, and a three-day supply of vegetables.

China's central bank said that starting Monday it would make available 300 billion yuan ($43 billion) to help businesses involved in fighting the epidemic.

Joseph Eisenberg, professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan, told the Reuters news agency it was too early to say whether the epidemic was peaking due to the uncertainty in the number of cases.

"Even if reported cases might be peaking, we don't know what is happening with unreported cases," he said. "This is especially an issue in some of the more rural areas."

Among the new fatalities are a U.S. citizen in Wuhan, China -- the epicenter of the outbreak -- officials at the American Embassy in Beijing said Saturday.

The embassy said that the 60-year-old American died Feb. 6. A Japanese citizen is also reported to have died in Wuhan of viral pneumonia, likely caused by the coronavirus, although that has not been confirmed.

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My pension date is March 2020. I have been a permanent resident in Canada (and have had dual British and Canadian citizenship) since 1977.

I worked for eight years in the UK prior to resettling in Canada, and have bought back, through voluntary contributions to National Insurance, another 13 years, for a total of 21 full years NI contributions.

I would like to receive my state pension in British pounds. I have opened a pounds sterling bank account with HSBC Bank, in Canada.

Canadian resident: Can I get my state pension paid into my pounds sterling account at an HSBC branch in British Columbia?

Can I receive my payments in pounds sterling, not Canadian dollars? That way, I can choose the most beneficial time to convert the money to Canadian dollars, and take less of a hit due to unfavourable exchange rates.

If it is not possible to have the money deposited to my HSBC branch in British Columbia, Canada, can I get the money deposited to a British bank account in pounds sterling?

Can an expat, living permanently in Canada, even open a bank account in the UK?

Tanya Jefferies, pensions writer for This is Money, replies: The Department for Work and Pensions says that if you retire abroad, your state pension can either be paid into a bank in the country youre living in, or a bank or building society in the UK.

If it is the former you will be paid in local currency, and if the latter it will be in sterling. Details are on the Government's website here.

So, it looks like you will have to try to open a UK bank account in order to receive your state pension in pounds, and convert them at a time of your own choosing.

My colleague Emma Gunn, who covers saving and banking, looks at your options in detail below.

Since you have lived in Canada for a long time, you are probably already aware that because you have chosen to live there in retirement, your state pension will be frozen at the rate it is at when you begin to draw it.

This means that you will not get annual state pension increases of at least 2.5 per cent a year under the triple lock, which are received by those living in the UK or in countries with reciprocal arrangements with the UK government.

Full details are here, for the benefit of readers who may not know about these rules.

One note of caution regarding your currency conversion plan. It is notoriously difficult to forecast foreign exchange rate moves. Even the professionals find it hard to time trades profitably.

Sometimes trends set in and it takes years for them to reverse, and at other times markets make swift, shocking moves - either could leave you sitting on losses.

You might have more restful nights if you decide to ride out the gyrations of foreign exchange markets in the currency of the country where you live.

Emma Gunn, of This is Money, says: Unfortunately opening a UK bank account once you have moved abroad is near impossible as banks require that you have a UK address and proof that you live there.

When signing up for an account they will ask for a passport, driver's licence or national identity card, plus something like a utility bill, council tax bill or bank statement from your UK address.

Its because of this that most expats choose to keep their UK bank account open when they leave.

The good news is however that there are a couple of options for you.

According to HSBC you would be able to open a UK bank account as an existing customer through its International Banking Centre. This wouldnt require a specialist or premium current account, or for you to have a UK address.

This would allow you to transfer your pension from your UK account fee-free to your sterling account with HSBC in Canada. However when you choose to exchange the sterling for Canadian dollars you would be charged a real-time exchange fee.

This is a live rate which is updated by the second during market hours.

Another option would be money transfer service, Transferwise, which offers a borderless account.

This lets you open accounts in multiple currencies under one umbrella account. The major bonus is that for some currencies you also get local bank account details.

The company operates in Canada, and would allow you to open a borderless account in sterling with a UK account number and sort code  which you could provide to the Department for Work and Pensions.

You could then choose to transfer money from there to your regular Canadian account, transfer it within Transferwise to an account in Canadian dollars and then use your Transferwise Mastercard debit card to spend it, or simply leave it in sterling to move at another time.

Transferwise uses the mid-market rate for currency transfers, but adds a fairly low simple fee. It currently costs 90p to transfer 200 to Canadian dollars in its borderless account.

Thats much better than many high street banks which load the rate and often add hefty international payment fees.

When we checked, Barclays charges 15 for an international payment online or up to 40 if made in person, for Nationwide customers its 20 and Halifax adds 12.50.

One thing to note though is that Transferwise is not technically a bank. You can't get an overdraft or loan or earn interest on your account.

It also isnt covered by Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which means you aren't protected for up to 85,000 in compensation if it goes bust.

However it is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under e-money rules and customers funds are ring-fenced in a Barclays account should the company fail.

According to Transferwise it already has customers that use its accounts in the way you intend, receiving money from the DWP on a regular basis, and exchanging it themselves through a borderless account.

Revolut could also be an option in future as it is in the process of opening in Canada. It currently offers UK residents an account with both a European IBAN number and one with UK bank details so it is possible it will offer something similar in Canada.
CHICAGO - A former Chicago police officer convicted of murder for fatally shooting an unarmed man in 2017 was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison.

Lowell Houser, 60, sat slumped in a chair between his lawyers as Cook County Judge William Gamboney handed down the sentence. The charges carried a possible sentence of probation or a maximum term of 20 years. Houser will get credit for the nearly three years he spent on an ankle monitor awaiting trial. He is expected to be released from custody in about two years.

Houser was the first Chicago officer to be found guilty of murder since the 2018 conviction of Jason Van Dyke for the shooting death of black 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. Besides second-degree murder, Van Dyke was convicted of 16 counts of aggravated battery  one for each bullet the white officer fired at the black teenager.

Speaking during the sentencing hearing, Houser apologized to the family of the victim, Jose Nieves.

I sincerely send my condolences to the Nieves family, he said. Many times I went over in my mind if there was something I could have done to prevent this, but, unfortunately, I can only look at this in hindsight.

Gamboney said in his 15-page decision that it was not reasonable to believe that circumstances existed to justify the use of deadly force in this case.

During trial in October, prosecutors said Houser shot the 38-year-old Nieves during an argument outside an apartment complex where the victim lived. But Houser, a 28-year police veteran who was on medical leave for cancer treatment at the time of the shooting, said Nieves made a threatening move and he then acted in self-defence.

Mr. Houser had a multitude of alternatives during his interaction with Mr. Nieves, Gamboney said. We can sit here and debate what he could have done ... but Mr. Houser chose probably the most extreme (option) in that list of circumstances, and as a result, we have a 37-year-old man ... Jose Nieves, who is dead.
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said the Special Criminal Court provides an essential service  in combating organised crime and terrorism.

In relation to calls from Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald that there should be a review of the non-jury court, the commissioner said he wouldn't be concerned about a review.

On suggestions that the court should be abolished, he said the issue didn't currently arise as no one had called for that.

Ms McDonald's position on the SCC became a significant issue in the run-up to the election, particularly during one of the leaders' debates in which she refrained from offering support to the court, but said it was party policy that it should be reviewed.

This drew very strong criticism from the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin.

When asked would he have any problem working with a Sinn Fein minister for justice, Commissioner Harris said he would have a very positive relationship with whoever was the minister.

In relation to the status of the garda investigation into the murder of 21-year-old Paul Quinn in Co Monaghan in October 2007  which was another issue enveloping Ms McDonald before the election  the commissioner said gardai were determined to bring the perpetrators of the awful crime to justice.

Speaking at an official event in Garda HQ, the commissioner said the SCC provided an essential service in dealing with organised crime and threats to national security, particularly from terrorism.

We obviously have a situation where organised crime groups and terrorist groups are in a position through fear to thwart jury-led trials and that, unfortunately, is the position we are in, he said.

We have to have the arrangments then to deal with those particular type of offenders.

He said gardai had a lot of successful prosecutions in the SCC over the years against criminal gangs and terrorist groups: So, we see it as a vital function, a justice function, a criminal justice function, in how we protect the people of Ireland.

Questioned about a possible review of the court or its possible abolition, he said: I wouldn't be concerned about a review. I haven't heard anyone mention abolition, so the question doesn't arise yet.

Asked would he have any problem working with a Sinn Fein justice minister, the commissioner said: I'm here to protect democracy. I will work with who is the democratically elected minister of the government and I'm sure whoever it is I will have a very positive working relationship.

I am here to keep people safe, I'm here to provide for the security of the country, prevent crime and protect the people of Ireland, so I'm sure whatever minister I'm working with we'll have a positive working relationship.

The police chief was also asked about the status of the Paul Quinn murder investigation - an issue that was raised in the final days of the election over past comments made by Stormont Minister and senior Sinn Fein figure Conor Murphy that the victim was involved in criminality.

Commissioner Harris said the murder was subject to an examination by the Serious Crime Review Team and indicated he and local officers would receive its final report soon.

There will be recommendations and we will work through those," he said. "Obviously, there's an element of this which is cross border, so we will work with the PSNI on the recommendations we receive and see what we can do to move forward this investigation.

He added: The case is not closed, it's not cold, it remains live.

He said they want to put the effort in and ensure that whoever carried out the awful crime is brought to justice and said they were determined to do that.
JERSEYVILLE  More charges have been filed and another suspect named in a series of recent vehicle burglaries.

Sean A. Breeden, 18, Shane M. Carney, 18, and Timothy D. Sunderland, 21, all of Granite City, were charged last week with multiple felony counts by the Jersey County States Attorneys Office. Mckenzie A. Land, 20, of Granite City, has also been charged with multiple felony counts for allegedly driving the three to various theft locations.

Juvenile charges also have been filed against an unnamed individual.

This comes after Breeden, Carney and Sunderland and a juvenile were all charged by Madison County prosecutors earlier that week. The group has been implicated in 200 or more auto burglaries and thefts in Jersey, Madison and Macoupin counties.

First and foremost, a job well done needs to go out locally to our lead detective at the Jersey County Sheriffs Department as well as the deputy chief of police at the Jerseyville Police Department, Jersey County States Attorney Ben Goetten said Monday.

The individuals charged were not from Jersey County, he said. They worked as a team and went to multiple counties and municipalities to carry out these crimes.

But for the excellent investigative work by our Jersey County detective and JPD deputy chief, these individuals would still be wreaking havoc throughout the area, Goetten said. Once the case began to develop, other agencies put their resources to work and did an outstanding job to bring additional charges in their respective jurisdictions.

Sunderland was charged in two separate filings, one for the city of Jerseyville and another for Jersey County. He was charged with 11 counts of burglary without causing damage, all Class 3 felonies; one count of residential burglary, a Class 1 felony; and theft of a motor vehicle, a Class 2 felony.

Those charges stem from incidents on Dec. 20 and Jan. 20.

Bail was set at $50,000.

He also faces 11 counts of burglary and one count of stolen vehicle possession in Madison County.

Carney and Breeden were each charged with three counts of burglary, all Class 3 felonies; residential burglary, a Class 1 felony; and theft of motor vehicle, a Class 2 felony. All the offenses allegedly occurred Jan. 20.

Their bail was set at $50,000 each.

Madison County officials have charged Carney with 12 counts of burglary and one count of stolen vehicle possession. Breeden has been charged by Madison Count with five counts of burglary and one count of stolen vehicle possession.

Land was charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit burglary, all Class 3 felonies; conspiracy to commit residential burglary, a Class 1 felony; and conspiracy to commit motor vehicle theft, a Class 2 felony. According to court documents, on Jan. 20 she drove the other defendants to the crime scenes.

Her bail was set at $35,000.

Goetten cautioned that people need to remember to lock their vehicles, garage and home doors.

While these individuals are now behind bars, the threat remains, he said. Its imperative that citizens are diligent in locking their vehicles, garage doors and their homes.

Its even more imperative for those of us with concealed carry licenses who may conceal a firearm in our vehicle, he added. As a CCL holder myself, I know its my responsibility to protect that firearm.

Firearms are the No. 1 item drug dealers accept in trade for drugs, Goetten said. We all have an obligation to make sure the firearms we buy and carry legally will never get into the hands of a bad actor and used in a violent crime. 
The number of deaths from China's new epidemic jumped to 908 on Monday after the hardest-hit province of Hubei reported 91 new fatalities.

In its daily update, Hubei's health commission also confirmed another 2,618 new cases in the central province, where the outbreak emerged in December.

There are now more than 39,800 confirmed cases across China, based on previously released figures from the government.

The new virus is believed to have emerged last year in a market that sells wild animals in Hubei's capital Wuhan, the city at the centre of the outbreak, before spreading across the country.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Saturday that the number of cases being reported daily in was "stabilising", although the health body warned it was too early to say if the virus had peaked.

A WHO " expert mission" left late Sunday for China, the agency's director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Twitter.

The only confirmed fatalities outside the mainland are a Chinese man in the Philippines and a 39-year-old man in Hong Kong.

The toll has overtaken the global number of deaths caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus, which killed 774 people in 2002-03.

(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.)
Press Release

February 7, 2020 Statement of Senator Joel Villanueva on calling POGO companies to strictly observe prevailing government efforts against the 2019 novel coronavirus (nCoV) Workers at Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGO) companies who returned from areas where an nCoV outbreak has been recorded should strictly observe quarantine procedures implemented by the Department of Health (DOH) which is to undergo a 14-day isolation, among others. All government agencies and regulators should issue related guidelines bearing in mind DOH's protocol as the bare minimum. The state gaming regulator, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), which has oversight on POGOs should fulfill its mandate, and not merely rely on other agencies like the interior department to conduct surveillance on industries they are supposed to monitor. They issue licenses to POGO workers so they can work legitimately, thus it is Pagcor's job to ensure workers comply with relevant health regulations. If there is any doubt with regard to health protocols, they can always seek guidance from the DOH. We remind POGO operators that they must operate within the bounds of Philippine laws and statutes. Any regulation enforced as a result of the nCov outbreak takes into consideration public safety and welfare. If they cannot comply with our laws, regulations, and standards, they have no place to do business in the Philippines.
In the late 1970s, Daniel Ortega led a ragtag group of leftist Sandinista guerrillas in an overthrow of dictator Anastasio Somoza. Today, President Ortegas crackdown on protesters in Nicaragua shows he has become a dictator himself. Along with his wife, Rosario Murillo, who is vice president, the couple seeks to install dynastic family rule much like the regime they overthrew, using violent means to repress dissent. In the absence of meaningful political opposition, the Catholic Church is at the forefront of these protests  not as an ally of old-fashioned Latin American authoritarianism but as a voice for oppressed Nicaraguans and as a sanctuary for the persecuted.

The duos response to any who dare challenge their rule has been ruthless and unrelenting. The couple count at their disposal the national police force and directly arm thousands of roving paramilitary groups. Their war against civil society shuttered famed news outlets and severely curtailed reporting on human-rights violations. Prosecutors fabricate evidence against protesters, police arrest citizens arbitrarily, and Human Rights Watch reports the existence of grisly torture centers. This is not the Nicaragua of the 1980s, an era of battles between leftist nationalists and right-wing counterrevolutionaries, with U.S. and Soviet fingers stuck in the pie. Todays conflict is a bitter struggle between an erstwhile man of the people turned oppressive dictator and the citizens he had pledged to lead  who now engage in nonviolent resistance for democracy and freedom.

The Church is at the tip of the spear in the fight for the restoration of democracy in Nicaragua. Nicaraguas bishops, working tirelessly to find a solution to the crisis, have brokered dialogue between the opposition and the regime on multiple occasions. Rectories have morphed into informal clinics for the thousands wounded in the protests, many of whom are denied access to state-run medical care due to their participation. The Ortega-Murillo regime responded to the Churchs activism by surgically targeting members of the clergy, slandering them as coup-plotters.

Story continues

Yet, with the Church under siege in Nicaragua, the silence from Rome is deafening.

The Catholic Churchs support for the countrys democratic movement has been met with regime attempts to infiltrate and entrap priests under an enlarged definition of terrorism. When these tactics fail, the Ortega-Murillo regime resorts to strong-arming and intimidating members of the clergy. Security forces manhandle priests at the cathedral in Managua and surround churches during Mass. Recently, mothers and wives of political prisoners went on a hunger strike in a church in Masaya to protest the illegal detention of their loved ones. The government responded by cutting water and electricity and surrounding the church with police and paramilitaries. The Reverend Edwin Roman, who permitted the hunger strike and subsequently became imprisoned inside without food for over a week, said of the Ortega strongmen, They left us like rats in a hole.

In a particularly egregious example, Bishop Silvio Jose Baez, a beloved Catholic leader and one of the most outspoken critics of the regime, was the target of a regime-planned assassination attempt. For several months, plainclothes police officers tailed him, drones constantly hovered over his home, and ominous motorcycle gangs waited on his doorstep. He survived a knife attack by regime supporters in the city of Diriamba. After the U.S. embassy in Managua tipped Baez off, Pope Francis transferred him to Rome, where he remains insulated from the brutalities of the Ortega regime. While his move may have been for his own safety, the timing fueled theories that the Vatican made the decision based on reports of friction between Baez and the Nicaraguan government.

Pope Francis has spoken only sparingly on the protests in Nicaragua, quiescent in the face of persistent reports of violence by the regime. Indeed, when the pope issued his most direct public statement on the matter  vague calls for a peaceful resolution to the crisis  20 former Latin American presidents issued a statement criticizing him for minimizing the oppression of Nicaraguans at the hands of their government. Vatican representatives have issued lukewarm endorsement of the protesters, recommending a renewed commitment to reconciliation and electoral reform. Absent from these statements were any mention of the defense of protesters by representatives of the Catholic Church  much less any demand that government officials ensure the security of the clergy in the country.

Last year, Vice President Mike Pence condemned the Ortega governments crackdown on religious freedom, declaring it was waging war on the Catholic Church and those calling for democracy and national dialogue. And Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met recently with Nicaraguan refugees forced into exile in Costa Rica, bearing witness to the regimes systematic human-rights violations. But still nothing from the pope.

Ortega managed to hoodwink the Catholic Church before  professing a love of Jesus, supporting some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the world, and even creating a kind of parallel (pro-government) church by co-opting members of the clergy into his Sandinista political movement. Now, the Church is on the front lines in Nicaraguas battle for democracy, with clergy and parishioners almost uniformly rejecting Ortegas cruel policies. Yet the Churchs leader remains largely on the sidelines, silent in the face of attacks on members of his clergy and Catholic protesters, who deserve support from their leader in Rome.

Ryan C. Berg is a research fellow for Latin America at the American Enterprise Institute. Frances Tilney Burke is a visiting research fellow in foreign and defense policy at AEI.

More from National Review
WHO to look at virus transmission, China response, as human-to-human cases outside mainland raise concerns.

An advance team of international experts led by the World Health Organization (WHO) has left for Beijing to help investigate Chinas coronavirus epidemic, which authorities said on Monday had now claimed 908 lives on the mainland.

The outbreak has caused huge disruptions in China with usually busy cities becoming virtual ghost towns over the past two weeks as Communist Party rulers ordered communities sealed off, cancelled flights, closed factories and shut schools.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who made a trip to Beijing for talks with President Xi Jinping and Chinese ministers in late January, returned with an agreement on sending an international mission.

But it has taken nearly two weeks to get the governments green light on its composition, which was not announced, other than to say that WHO veteran Dr Bruce Aylward, a Canadian epidemiologist and emergencies expert, was heading it.





Ive just been at the airport seeing off members of an advance team for the @WHO-led #2019nCoV international expert mission to #China, led by Dr Bruce Aylward, veteran of past public health emergencies, Tedros said in a tweet from Geneva on Sunday.

The WHO declared the outbreak a global emergency on January 30, days after the Chinese central government sealed off the province of Hubei and its capital Wuhan, the epicentre of a virus that emerged in December in a seafood market.

Dr Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said the team would be able to investigate not only how the virus spreads, but also the severity of the outbreak.

There are a lot of unanswered questions and mysteries about how this outbreak is unfolding and the actions the Chinese government is taking, he told Al Jazeera. (The team) will help us risk stratify this for the rest of the world.

The death toll from the outbreak in mainland China rose by 97, the largest in a single day so far, to 908 as of the end of Sunday, the National Health Commission (NHC) said on Monday.

Tip of the iceberg

Over the weekend, an American hospitalised in the central city of Wuhan became the first confirmed non-Chinese victim of the disease. A Japanese man who also died there was another suspected casualty.

The coronavirus outbreak has now killed more people than the SARS epidemic did globally from 2002 to 2003.

Across mainland China, there were 3,062 new confirmed infections on Sunday, bringing the total number so far to 40,171.

Protective masks have become ubiquitous in cities across Asia including Hong Kong [Tyrone Siu/Reuters]

Authorities had told businesses to add as many as 10 extra days onto holidays that had been due to finish at the end of January.

Even on Monday, a large number of workplaces were expected to remain closed with many white-collar workers working from home. Millions of others have been unable to return amid tightening restrictions on movement in some of Chinas larger cities.

Al Jazeeras Katrina Yu, who is in Beijing, said the government had released data showing a sharp drop in passenger numbers across trains, planes and buses since the outbreak began. Beijings metro was running at just 10 percent capacity, while airport traffic was down 63 percent and railway use was down 73 percent.

The last few weeks have been eerily quiet in Beijing, she said. Today is nothing like a normal working day in Beijing.

The virus has also spread to at least 27 countries and territories, according to a Reuters count based on official reports, infecting more than 330 people. Two deaths have been reported outside mainland China  both of Chinese nationals.

The latest patients include people who were infected even though they had no travel connection with mainland China.

Tedros described such cases as concerning instances and while stressing the need for calm urged all countries to be on the alert for the virus.

The detection of a small number of cases may indicate more widespread transmission in other countries; in short, we may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg, Tedros said in a series of tweets on Monday morning.
The government has no plans to give permanent status to the finance commission, Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur said on Monday.

Currently, the government appoints finance commission for a fixed term.

While replying to a question in the Lok Sabha, Thakur also said the RBI was also not considering any proposal to give permanent status to the commission.

" No, Government of India is not considering any proposal to give permanent status to Finance Commission," the Minister of State for Finance said in a written reply to the lower house.

Core responsibilities of the finance commission include evaluating the state of finances of the Union and State governments, recommending the sharing of taxes between them, laying down the principles determining the distribution of these taxes among states.

The government in November extended the term of 15th Finance Commission, headed by former bureaucrat N K Singh, by one year to October 30, 2020.

The term of the commission was originally set to end in October 2019, but was extended by one month to November 30.

Singh presented the first report pertaining to financial year 2020-21 to the government in December 2019.

"The recommendations made by the Finance Commission will be examined in the ministry in consultation with various departments and approval of Cabinet will be sought," Thakur said in the House.

In accordance with approval of the Cabinet, "an explanatory memorandum as to the action taken on the recommendations made by the will be laid on the floor of both the Houses of Parliament during Budget Session," he added.
A judge has withdrawn a Municipal Elections Act charge against Mark Grimes in connection with the Toronto city councillors 2014 campaign expense statement.

The non-criminal charge, laid in November 2018, accused the councillor for Ward 3 Etobicoke-Lakeshore of improperly filing $26,000 in campaign expenses after his successful 2014 re-election campaign.

Invoices for polling and research done by the firm Campaign Research about the race in Grimess ward were sent to developer Dunpar Homes, and not properly reflected in the audited campaign statement that Grimes filed after the election, police said at the time.

Council candidates are subject to strict campaign limits to ensure fairness and must officially account for their election spending.

If the case had proceeded and Grimes had been found guilty, he could have been fined or a banned from running in the next two municipal elections. Campaign Research has said it has no record of the invoice being sent or paid by Dunpar, which has denied any wrongdoing.

The Crown is in possession of evidence to suggest that during the 2014 Toronto municipal election, that the campaign of Mark Grimes received the benefit of polling data from a company called Campaign Research that was not claimed on his financial statement or auditors report, assistant Crown attorney Michael Wilson told a Toronto court Monday.

The Crown, however, is not in position to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Coun. Grimes personally requested or received this data, or that he deliberately failed to report the receipt of that data (when) filing his financial statement and auditors report, Wilson said.

For that reason, it is not in the public interest to proceed with this prosecution, he said, requesting that the charge against Grimes be withdrawn.

Justice Karen Erlick of the Ontario Court of Justice then withdrew the charge.

Grimes did not attend Mondays hearing. From the beginning, I have maintained that there was no wrongdoing on my part and that there was no basis for the charge, he told the Star in a written statement.

The Crown attorney's decision today confirms this, and I am pleased that the record is now clear. My focus has always been on our community and I will continue to serve the residents of Etobicoke-Lakeshore with the same commitment and dedication that I always have.

Justin Di Ciano, who represented the former Ward 5 Etobicoke Lakeshore from 2014 to 2018, was charged with the same offence at the same time as Grimes.

The charge against Di Ciano remains before the court and under review by the Crown, his lawyer Scott Fenton told the Star on Monday. Accordingly, I am unable to comment further.
Owner of Supa Quick Hillcrest, Angie Frederic's foray into entrepreneurship has been a long road that began in childhood.

Angie Frederic

What did you want to be when you grew up?

Could you describe a typical day in your job?

Are South African women getting enough of a chance to shine in the automotive industry?

As a female entrepreneur in the automotive industry, whats the least and most exciting aspect of your workday?

Women are natural problem solvers. Do you think this is perfect for the automotive industry?

Could you list a few, if any, specific challenges females face in this industry?

What is your advice for overcoming these challenges?

What advice do you have for the future generation of women wanting to get into the automotive space?

You sit on the Supa Quick Council, representing all the KZN Supa Quick stores. What does this entail?

I am a Durban girl born and bred, the third of five children and we often battled financially, she says. I remember that even as a young girl my goal was to make a success of my future self, but as I grew up I came to realise that success is more than just your bank balance, but its a healthy, happy family and genuine supportive friends, says Frederic.Her journey started in 2005 when she was employed as the Second in Command at the Bridgestone KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Regional Office. The operation was made up of a sales office, warehouse and technical bay that supported the 45 Supa Quick stores in KZN, as well as Toyotas Durban manufacturing plant.With a background in accounting and sales, the position gave her an opportunity to grow her skills further by diversifying into a business management role with some technical knowledge elements.I found the industry very exciting and it intrigued me that an employee with 40 years of service was nothing out of the ordinary in this space, she says. After 11 years at the regional office I decided that I needed a new challenge and seeing that it had always been a goal of mine to be an entrepreneur, I felt that opening a Supa Quick store would allow me to achieve this lifelong goal.She went on a mission to find a suitable site for her Supa Quick as she knew that the location was a major part of the success of any store. She was lucky enough to secure a site in Hillcrest, Durban that was located along the main road.The building came with a few challenges, one being that the ceiling was too low to jack up vehicles and the space upstairs needed a purpose so that it could be maximised.Frederic consulted with a number of experts until she came up with the solution to lower the floor to compensate for the low ceiling, which worked perfectly.Her second challenge of finding some purpose for the extra space upstairs turned into a unique opportunity when she was also faced with the difficulty of finding staff with highly specialised skills for the new shop.To maximise this great space, I decided to start a training school for the tyre industry and the upstairs area was perfect for what I needed, she says. I am proud to say that my training school is now accredited by the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services Sector Education and Training Authority (merSETA) and I am excited to teach the valuable skills that will contribute to creating jobs in South Africa.However, three-years into running the business these feelings of doubt faded and she started to leverage her unique abilities, with the understanding that women and men bring different qualities to business, which complement each other.She now serves on the Supa Quick Council, representing all the KZN Supa Quick stores and is the only female on the council, well-respected and valued by her fellow male council members.We chat to Angie Frederic to find out about her journey...While growing up, I had my heart set on being a professional ballet dancer  gosh how different did things turn out!I dont know if I can call my days normal, but that is what I love about my business  my days can be very unpredictable. They include going to Johannesburg for Supa Quick National Council meetings or RMI meetings (where I serve as the chairperson), as well as running my training school and helping customers who need tyres, batteries, brakes or shocks. I am very busy and would not have it any other way.We are not yet there, but we have made great strides. Companies such as Bridgestone and other leading organisations in the automotive industry have been transforming and providing opportunities for women through their transformation agenda.Women are often a largely underutilised resource in the automotive industry. The most exciting aspect of my workday is how and what can be done to change this in the industry.If I am honest, I cant think of any aspect of my job that I dont find exciting  I am deeply passionate about everything.Yes, of course, consumers want to build a relationship with their tyre guy. Solving problems that arise with the least amount of disruption to their day-to-day lives goes a long way to building this relationship.I must be honest that, at first, I battled with my own confidence issues, thinking that I was not technical enough to be respected in the industry. However, after three years of owning my shop, this had changed dramatically. Women and Men bring different aspects to business which often complement each other. I also serve on the Supa Quick Council representing the KZN stores. I am the only lady on the council, and I feel that my input is valued by my fellow male council members.Always grow your knowledge through short courses or articles. Observe what is going on around you. Listen to those that have been in the industry for a long time, as they are a foundation of knowledge and wisdom that you cant get out of a book.It is challenging, dynamic and innovative with great rewards. I would advise the future generation to give a career in the automotive industry a chance or pursue it. There are learning and upskilling opportunities and never a dull day at the office.As Supa Quick Franchise Owners we have a financial interest in the Supa Quick brand so, it was necessary to set up a forum whereby franchise owners could have input into the future goals and visions for the brand.The position entails a lot of meetings regarding strategies that will align the Supa Quick brand with our mission statement To be the undisputed number one market leader within the fitment industry.
A predatory paedophile caught trying to groom girls on Facebook was confronted on camera by a vigilante group.

This week, convicted sex offender Lee Parry, 37, walked free from court after arguing there were no 'real' victims of his offending.

Back in June, the Manchester native was exposed by paedophile hunters after he repeatedly sent pornographic pictures of himself to an investigator posing as a 14-year-old girl.

During months of exchanges Parry asked if he could take the 'girl' out for a milkshake told her she was 'cute', 'sexy' and he wanted to be her 'first' and added: 'I will be a dirty b*****d.'

Parry, shown outside court, will also have to complete 240 hours unpaid work and was ordered to abide by Sexual Harm Prevention Order and sign Sex Offenders register for 10 years

Later, when confronted at his home by members of the Catching Online Predators (COP) group, Parry - who had been convicted of molesting a 15-year-old girl in his teens - began scuffling with the investigators and embarked on a foul mouthed rant at them as his citizen's arrest was live-streamed on the social media site.

In his defiant outburst Parry claimed he was trying to 'protect' the youngsters 'from weirdos' and declared: 'I've done wrong. I'm not a f****** nonce. There are loads of d*** pix on Facebook. She shouldn't have been on Facebook in the first place.'

He added angrily: 'Why are you trying to sew me up. It's absolutely disgraceful that you come round to my home to humiliate me in front of everybody. I'm not bothered. Film me and follow me all you like. I'm a decent guy. I'm not a pervert. I'm the same as you. I've done f*** all wrong.'

The confrontation was viewed 113,000 times on Facebook and sparked an angry response against Parry by neighbours in Droyslden, Greater Manchester.

At Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, Parry admitted attempting to cause a child to watch images of sexual activity, attempted sexual communications with a child and attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity.

Prosecutor Miss Lisa Boocock said: 'Conversations started on April 14 with the defendant being told immediately she was 14 and he saying he was 25. Parry being confronted, shown

But he was sentenced to 12 months jail suspended for two years after saying the children were 'fictitious' and no harm was caused.

Judge Tina Landale told him: 'It is clear you have a sexual interest in children, and you communicated with those two people over a period of time - the second child for five months, the first for just over one month.

'You tried to get them to meet you by offering to buy them things and sent them photographs of your erect penis and you tried to get them to send you pictures of themselves.

'Fortunately, these were not real children but you were confronted by overwhelming evidence of your activities. The pre-sentence report says that you are a highly manipulative person and by behaving in this way you intended to groom children into meeting you for sexual purposes and I agree with that assessment.

Parry began scuffling with the online investigators and embarked on a foul mouthed rant at them as his citizen's arrest was live-streamed on Facebook

'It says unless you meaningfully engage in treatment, further offending is inevitable.

'I have had to decide whether you are capable of meaningfully engaging with treatment and I have borne in mind that it seems you are not remorseful and expressed to the probation service the view you didn't believe you had done anything wrong.

'Your defence says you can be rehabilitated if you do engage, and that you didn't actually cause real harm to actual children. Looking at the whole of the circumstances I am persuaded that the sentence of imprisonment can be suspended today.

'If I'm wrong and you don't meaningfully engage with these programs, I will send you to custody.'

The investigation began last year after Parry began sending messages two fake profiles purporting to be 14-year-old girls which were set up on Facebook by the paedophile hunters group.

An investigation began last year after Parry began sending messages two two fake profiles purporting to be 14-year-old girls which were set up by the paedophile hunters group

Prosecutor Miss Lisa Boocock said: 'Conversations started on April 14 with the defendant being told immediately she was 14 and he saying he was 25.

'The communication continued for just over a month and the messages fairly quickly moved into grooming behaviour calling the child 'cute', 'sweet' and 'sexy' saying he would like to 'cuddle her' and wanted to meet up.

'He asked her would she please meet up with him and he would look after her, buy her things, buy her train tickets and take her to the cinema.'

Prosecution added that on April 27, Parry sent explicit images with increasingly lewd messages.

'He said: "Don't tell anyone" and she responded in typical childish fashion saying it was 'horrid' and she was not interested. But he said: 'I wish you would take a sexy picture for me' She was saying: 'I am 14'.

Pictured is Lee Parry being confronted by the Catching Online Predators group. In a defiant outburst Parry claimed he was trying to 'protect' the youngsters he has been chatting to

'On May 6 he sent seven further images and that concluded their interaction. As regards the other profile, the conversation went on for a period of five months with the sexual communications exchanged in very similar terms asking about her day, telling her she's beautiful, inviting her to Manchester and offering to buy her things.

'There was discussion about him wanting him to be her 'first time' and telling her 'not to accept dirty pictures from older men, not to talk to other boys and just to talk to him'. After a long exchange he said: 'I will be a dirty b******' and sent pictures of his own erect penis - that concluded that exchange.

'On June 2 the group attended his home and confronted him with the messages. Soon there was an almighty upset in the area with local residents becoming aware and shouting abuse with many people being very upset about what the defendant had done.

Parry has one previous conviction for having sex with a girl aged 15 when he was 16

'In police interview he later accepted sending messages but said he was doing it out of a desire to protect the young girls rather than any sexual motivation. He said he was drunk and very lonely at the time but there is a fairly concerted effort on his part to meet up with the young girls.'

Parry has one previous conviction for having sex with a girl aged 15 when he was 16. Defence barrister Mark Fireman said: 'These offences are attempts and the children involved are fictitious.

'He says to me the proceedings have had a significant and detrimental effect on his mental health. He is somebody who is extremely isolated and rather lonely and there is a level of immaturity and isolation. He is very anxious to comply with any order and get help for any problem.'

Parry will also have to complete 240 hours unpaid work and was ordered to abide by a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and sign the Sex Offenders register for 10 years.
Shoppers have been left devastated by confirmation that a much-loved store is closing down this year after almost 40 years.

Kmart Northcote Plaza in Melbourne will shut its doors for good on November 22 2020 when their lease ends.

The department store's spokesman Steven Man confirmed that the legendary store, which tranformed the local area when it opened in 1981 on a former brickworks site, will not continue trading.

Kmart Northcote's closure comes as Amazon and other online retailers force Australian brands out of the retail market, spelling the end for high profile brands.

In the past year alone Harris Scarfe, Bardot, Roger David and Napoleon Perdis have collapsed, followed by Jeanswest, Colette Hayman, and Co-op bookstore.

Kmart Northcote Plaza (pictured) in Melbourne will shut its doors for good on November 22 2020 when their lease ends

The department store has been open since August 4, 1981, will not renew their lease (Northcote Plaza pictured)

While he didn't explain why they decided to not renew their lease, Mr Mann said permanent staff members have been guaranteed jobs elsewhere.

Dropping like flies: Some of Australia's recent retail casualties 2016: Dick Smith, Masters hardware, Payless Shoes 2017: Topshop Australia 2018: Avon, Espirit, Toys 'R' Us, Max Brenner, Roger David 2019: Ed Harry, Diana Ferrari, Napoleon Perdis, Ziera, Bardot, Harris Scarfe 2020: Jeanswest, Collete Hayman, EB Games, Co-op bookstore Advertisement

Devastated locals took to social media in confusion as to why the bargain shop is closing down.

'I can't deal. I'm shock,' one person wrote.

'Let face it the entire plaza really needs to go if Kmart leaves,' another wrote.

Australian retail growth is at its worst level since the early 1990s recession as Amazon and other online retailers driving local brands out of the market.

Harris Scarfe, founded in 1849, took consumers by surprise when it entered administration in Decmber and is now about to close at least 21 stores.

Days later the country's sixth-largest wine company McWilliam's Wines, which has been around for 140 years, announced it appointed voluntary administrators.

Popular video game chain EB Games was the next to announce their closure, with the business announcing the closure of 19 stores across Australia.

Major fashion chain Bardot also announced plans to close 58 stores nationwide before March

The brand is yet another retail store that had collapsed, following Harris Scarfe, Bardot, Roger David, EB Games and Napoleon Perdis

AUSTRALIA'S RETAIL APOCALYPSE: WHY YOUR FAVOURITE STORE COULD BE NEXT Amazon and other online retailers are driving local brands out of the market by taking advantage of Australian businesses whose products are easy to copy, a retail expert has warned. In the past year Australian brands including Harris Scarfe, Bardot, Roger David and Napoleon Perdis have failed and closed dozens of outlets as they fall victim to huge overseas competitors. Now the chief executive of a leading market research company has told Daily Mail Australia that businesses which cannot carve out a niche will remain under threat from foreign giants. 'The ones that are going to survive are the ones that have captured something special,' Roy Morgan chief executive Michele Levine said. 'The whole logic of this is if you don't have something really special, you could be in trouble. 'Some discount stores may have a special niche which keeps customers going, but if they don't have that then they might struggle.' Ms Levine did not name any particular companies who could be the next to close. But in 2016 the managing director of Wesfarmers Richard Goyder said the Amazon Fresh grocery service would 'eat all our breakfasts lunch and dinners' if it opened in Australia. Last year, Retail Doctor Group chairman David Kindl said Amazon was 'a definite threat to retailers like Kmart and Big W and Myer and all specialty stores'. Legendary entrepreneur Dick Smith has also warned Amazon could send Australian companies bankrupt. He cited the online giant's lower overheads and ability to operate more cheaply than Australian companies as a major contributor to the country's retail downturn. In 2018 he warned the huge American Walmart corporation could take over Australia's Kmart department store chain within five years. 'They'll take Kmart, that will go first, in the next four or five years,' he told Daily Mail Australia. Advertisement

Major fashion chain Bardot also announced plans to close 58 stores nationwide before March.

Queensland University of Technology retail expert Dr Gary Mortimer said Australian companies were not being quick enough to adapt to the changing retail landscape and consumer preference.

'We've seen a lot of market changes in Australia over the last decade, with global fashion retailers entering the market base and Aldi almost 20 years ago,' he told 9news.

'We have consumer changes and too much choice out there in the marketplace.'

Popular jewellery and accessories chain Colette by Colette Hayman was placed into voluntary administration in January

In January popular jewellery and accessories chain Colette by Colette Hayman was placed into voluntary administration despite making $140million last year.

Administrators from Deloitte Restructuring Services said the country's dire retail climate was at the centre of the business's failure.

The brand has now been put in the hands of Vaughan Strawbridge, Sam Marsden and Jason Tracey.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia Mr Smith said that internet companies had driven the retail disaster.

'We will end up with just Amazon and Aldi and basically all the Aussie companies will be sent to bankruptcy,' he said.

'All those famous brands will go. Some of them might exist in name only but will be taken over by overseas companies.'

Mr Smith watched the electronics chain that bore his name crash in 2016, decades after he sold it in 1980. The collapse was one of Australia's biggest retail failures.

The businessman was skeptical that even giants like Coles, Woolworths, David Jones and Myer would survive.

'I don't know how long the big department stores especially will be able to remain viable, but the writing is on the wall,' he said.

Mr Smith said a overseas operators were smarter than almost anyone in the Australian market and ruthless enough to crush them.

Australia is headed for a retail apocalypse at the hands of ruthless invaders like Amazon and Aldi and there is nothing to stop them, an expert claims

Myer closed 74,670 square metres of stores in 2015-17 and shut down its Colonnades store in Adelaide and Belconnen outlet in Canberra.

The Hornsby store, in Sydney's north, closed on Sunday after 40 years following a depressing fire sale of up to 80 per cent off.

David Jones has been owned by a South African conglomerate since 2014 and is struggling just as much as its arch-rival.

Whereas Aldi sales jumped 10 per cent in 2018 to about $9.2 billion and opened about 20 stores across the country last year. Coles was about $39 billion.

Amazon Australia's sales reached $260 million in 2018, its first full year since opening, and are tipped to hit $23 billion in 10 years.

Australia is headed for a retail apocalypse that could even kill off Myer, which closed its store in Hornsby, Sydney, after 40 years of serving customers

Roy Morgan chief executive Michele Levine said the brands most vulnerable to being forced out by Amazon were those that's products were easily replicated.

'Any brands that are commoditised are going to be in real strife,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'The ones that are going to survive are the ones that have captured something special. Something that people will pay more because it's unique or it speaks to them or they fall in love with it.'

Too many retailers are in this space, particularly big department stores without enough of an identity, and have resorted to perceptual discounts just to make sales.

Retail expert Brian Walker said those most at risk were big fashion chains that have existed for decades, because they could no longer rely on their in-store offerings to beat online rivals.

'We're seeing a very distinct line between shopping and buying. Buying is the domain of Ali Baba and Amazon, while shopping is inspirational, aspirational and emotional,' he told 9 Finance.

Mr Evans said big retailers were also spending far too much on back-office staff and needed to slim down their operations to people with fresh ideas.

Smaller business, on the other hand, were being driven into the ground by landlords and shopping centres charging far too much in rent.
In blow to space programme, Iran 'successfully' launches satellite but fails to put it into orbit

International

oi-PTI

Tehran, Feb 09: Iran said it "successfully" launched a satellite Sunday but failed to put it into orbit, in a blow to its space programme that the US alleges is a cover for missile development.

The attempted launch of the Zafar -- "Victory" in Farsi -- comes days before the 41st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution and crucial parliamentary elections in Iran. Arch foes Iran and the United States have appeared to be on the brink of an all-out confrontation twice in the past seven months.

Long-standing acrimony between Tehran and Washington was exacerbated in 2018 when US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from a deal that froze Iran's nuclear programme, before issuing new demands that Tehran curtail its development of ballistic missiles.

ISRO's GSAT-30 satellite successfully launched its first space mission of 2020, aboard Ariane rocket

Washington has also raised concerns in the past about Tehran's satellite programme, saying the launch of a carrier rocket in January 2019 amounted to a violation of limits on its ballistic missiles. Iran maintains it has no intention of acquiring nuclear weapons, and says its aerospace activities are peaceful and comply with a UN Security Council resolution. On Sunday, it launched the Zafar satellite at 7:15 pm (1545 GMT) but it fell short of reaching orbit, the defence ministry said. A ministry spokesman said initially that the satellite was "successfully" launched and went "90 per cent of the way", reaching an altitude of 540 kilometres (335 miles).

"The Simorgh (rocket) successfully propelled the Zafar satellite into space," said Ahmad Hosseini of the ministry's space unit. "Unfortunately, in the final moments the carrier did not reach the required speed" to put it into orbit, he told state television. "God willing with improvements made in future launches this part of the mission will be done as well," he added.

"We achieved most of the goals we had and data has been acquired, and in the near future, by analysing the data, we will take the next steps." Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi admitted in an English-language tweet soon after that the launch had "failed".

NEWS AT NOON JAN 10th, 2020

"But We're UNSTOPPABLE! We have more Upcoming Great Iranian Satellites!" said Jahromi. Tweeting in Farsi, he added: "I would have liked to make you happy with #good_news but sometimes life does not go the way we want it." Iran on Sunday also unveiled a new a short-range ballistic missile and its "new generation" of engines designed to put satellites into space. The Revolutionary Guards' website said the Raad-500 missile was equipped with new Zoheir engines made of composite materials that make them lighter than previous steel models. It also unveiled Salman engines made of the same materials but with a "movable nozzle" for the delivery of satellites into space, allowing "manoeuvrability beyond the atmosphere".

In January 2019, Tehran announced that its Payam -- "Message" in Farsi -- satellite had failed to reach orbit, after authorities said they launched it to collect data on the environment in Iran.

The United States said the launch of the carrier rocket was a violation of a 2015 UN Security Council resolution endorsing the international accord on curbing Tehran's nuclear programme. Resolution 2231 called on Iran to refrain from any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Tehran confirmed in September that an explosion had taken place at one of its satellite launch pads due to a technical fault, and slammed Trump for "gleefully" tweeting about it at the time.

Trump said the US had nothing to do with what he called a "catastrophic accident" at Semnan Space Centre, also tweeting a high-resolution picture pointing to apparent damage at the site. Sunday's developments come at a time of heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington, after a January 3 US drone strike killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad.

This satellite image of Australian bushfires from NASA shows burn scars in miles

Iran retaliated days later by firing a wave of missiles at American troops stationed in Iraq. Its defence forces had been braced for US retaliation when they accidentally shot down a Ukraine International Airlines flight a few minutes after take-off from Tehran on January 8. Iran says its internet services have faced cyber attacks for the past two days, without elaborating on the source of the attack or the likely motives. The country's on-off space programme unsettles some Western nations as the technology used in space-bound rockets can also be used in ballistic missiles. The Islamic republic has successfully launched several satellites since February 2009. It has also sent monkeys, a turtle, mouse and worms into space.
- Ethiopian Airlines has reduced the number of flights to selected towns in China in the wake of the spread of the coronavirus

- It has been confirmed that 725 people have so far lost their lives since the virus started spreading in China

- Ethiopian Airlines' decision follows that of other airlines such as Kenya Airways and Rwandair

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

Africas biggest airline, Ethiopian Airlines, is in the process of cutting down a number of its flights to China.

This comes in the wake of the coronavirus scare which has plagued the Asian country in recent times.

Information available shows that about 725 people have lost their lives to the deadly virus.

Source: qz.com

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Apple Inc sued almost GHc150 million for intentionally slowing down older iPhone models

Per a report by qz.com, the virus has been detected in 24 countries, most of them involving people who traveled to China.

There has been no confirmed case in Africa but concerns about the outbreak of the virus in the continent remain high.

In the wake of fears of a possible spread of the virus, Ethiopian Airlines cut down its February 2020 flights from Addis Ababa to Beijing, Chengdu, Guanzhou and Shangai by 33%.

The airline has also changed its aircraft that ply the same routes from Boeing 777 and A350 to Boeing 787-8 resulting in a 20%-45% change in capacity on the different flights.

The airlines decision follows similar one by other African carriers such as Kenya Airways and Rwandair.

In other news, the coronavirus has, in recent times, caused havoc in a number of countries in the developed world, and the race for a cure appears to be all that everyone looks forward to.

As health officials brace themselves for the worst, Africa is yet to record a single case of infection. Information available shows that over 31,000 people have been infected since late December 2019.

Trips between Africa and China grow by the day, and per a report by Bloomberg.com, closer ties between them have increased the rate of exposure to the virus.

YEN.com.gh understands that about 20 African countries have already discussed the possibilities of an outbreak, taking into consideration the general state of medical facilities.

READ ALSO: Sudan dissolves its central bank as South Sudan prepares for its first oil and gas bid

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President Akufo-Addo is a "wicked old man" - Angry protester fumes | #Yencomgh

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Concerns are growing that a decision on the proposed all-Wales Nitrate Vulnerable Zone is being taken without a 'comprehensive understanding' of costs and impacts.

Information has been obtained by NFU Cymru from Natural Resources Wales (NRW) - Welsh governments principal adviser on issues relating to the environment and its natural resources.

The union requested, via an Freedom of Information (FOI) request, for information on the advice and evidence provided by NRW to Welsh government relating to regulatory proposals.

NRW has supplied its comments on the adequacy of the draft Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA), also making a number of points in relation to reputational risks to NRW and Welsh government should a whole territory NVZ approach be taken forward.

NVZs are areas within Wales that contain surface water or groundwater susceptible to nitrate pollution from agricultural activities.

Numerous farm groups in the country believe an all-Wales proposal, due to be enforced this year, would not be effective in delivering water quality improvements.

NFU Cymru, which has campaigned for months to halt the plans, said the NVZs would also be highly damaging for farm businesses and the wider economy.

The union has expressed concerns that the proposals for the introduction of all-Wales regulatory approach to address agricultural pollution have been developed without a thorough understanding of costs and impacts.

NRW identified multiple shortcomings in the draft assessment, concluding that it did not fully follow Welsh governments own guidance for RIAs, leaving it open to challenge from a number of stakeholders.

NRW identified that the draft RIA did not follow its own guidance in terms of comprehensive presentation of options or how they are assessed.

The RIA contains very little analysis on water quality, or the impact on the number of agricultural pollution incidents or diffuse pollution against Water Framework Directive classifications.

NRW also questioned how proportionate the proposed measures were in areas where low nitrate concentrations are found.

NFU Cymru Deputy President Aled Jones said the proposed new regulations 'will impact every farm, every sector and every area of Wales'.

A comprehensive impact assessment must consider the impact of an all-Wales NVZ on farm viability, the capacity of farm businesses to afford the cost of new regulations and continue trading, as well as the impact of proposed NVZ regulations on employment - both direct and indirect - on Welsh farms, the allied industry and wider supply chain, he said.

We are clear that no decision should be taken by Welsh government without a comprehensive understanding of the full impact of that decision. The RIA is, therefore, a critical document.

He added: The information received from NRW through the FOI process only reinforces our concern that the RIA upon which an all Wales NVZ decision is to be taken is flawed.

As a result, NFU Cymru has written to Welsh government and asked for the deficiencies to be addressed, with a fresh RIA to be undertaken without delay and ahead of the final decision to introduce regulation being taken.
A spokesperson for the Army said Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the impeachment witness who was ousted from National Security Council post by President Donald Trump Friday may end up at the Army War College in Carlisle, but thats not certain yet.

The spokesperson, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Vindman has been selected to attend a senior service college beginning this summer, but it hasnt yet been determined which school he will attend.

There are five possible locations, she said, including the Army War College in Carlisle and National War College in Washington, D.C. Its also possible he will attend the senior college of another branch, such as the Navy or Air Force, she said.

Multiple news outlets reported over the weekend that the Vindman, a decorated combat veteran, would return to the Department of Army for reassignment, but was scheduled to report to the war college in July.

Vindman, who had told Congress in November he didnt think it was proper for the president to urge the Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Bidens son, Hunter Biden, was escorted from the White House on Friday.

Vindmans twin brother, Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, also was asked to leave his job as a White House lawyer on Friday, and Gordon Sondland, Trumps ambassador to the European Union, was also released.

Trump on Saturday lashed out at Vindman in a pair of tweets, saying he didnt know the Purple Heart recipient but that he was insubordinate. The president also said without evidence that Vindman had problems with judgment, the chain of command and leaking information. In other words, OUT.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and top Trump ally, said Sunday on CBSs Face the Nation that the removal of Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman from the White Houses National Security Council was justified.

I dont think he could be effective at the NSC, Graham, said of Alexander Vindman, calling his removal a reassignment.

Graham suggested without evidence that Vindman may have improperly provided information to an administration whistleblower who first raised concerns about Trump.

Hopefully somebody will ask questions of you about the role you play with the whistleblower, Graham said of Vindman. The whistle-blowers identity has remained largely hidden.

Vindman famously testified to the House that he had told his father, a Soviet-era emigre from Ukraine, Do not worry. I will be fine for telling the truth.

Democratic presidential candidates on Friday lauded Vindman during their debate in New Hampshire. Joe Biden exhorted the audience to stand up and clap in support of Vindman. Pete Buttigieg said Trump was punishing a war hero while Amy Klobuchar said being a witness took courage.

Other government officials who testified against Trump are bracing for reprisals after the president was acquitted by the Senate on Feb. 5.

Business Insider reported that his dismissal from the National Security Council came as a shock to many who served with him. One of his former commanders, retired US Army Brig. Gen. Peter Zwack, told the publication he wanted to set the record straight.

I would trust Alex with my life, Zwack told Business Insider. It was literally important  we were in a difficult operational environment as attaches representing the United States to the Russians. We really had to be reliable, we had to be accurate, we had to be diplomats and Alex was good at all of it.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Pitch & Sync will continue to operate under the Pitch & Sync name but will integrate its business operations into Paradigm and work closely with Paradigm's thriving in-house Brand Partnerships team led by Commercial Director Debbie Ward.

The deal further expands Paradigm's music representation practice in the UK. After taking a majority interest in Coda Agency in 2019 following a five-year partnership, the Pitch & Sync deal  spearheaded by Paradigm's UK leadership team  broadens Paradigm's global offering in an important sector. Complementing the work of Paradigm's in-house Brand Partnerships and Corporate departments, Pitch & Sync's knowledge of the emerging artist network also provides new A&R opportunities for Paradigm.

Pitch & Sync, whose clients include global players Nike, Intel and Heineken, among others, has helped reshape the sync market from one based on 'sync' composers to one favoring adapted music from authentic indie and established music artists. It's also part of the industry's newer trend of these artists creating sound design and bespoke music for brands and platforms.

The agency has also predicated its business model on commissioning work to ensure that budgets flow back to artists in support of their original work.

"We're thrilled to be in business with Alex, Simon and the whole Pitch & Sync team. We've been collaborating for many years now and this seemed like the next natural step," said Paradigm London Partner James Whitting. "They're leaders in their field and we're excited about what Pitch & Sync can achieve in tandem with our wider Paradigm Brand Partnerships business."

"We are thrilled to have this new association with Paradigm, whose leadership in live music and powerful relationships with management will allow us to operate further upstream, grow our team and enhance our capabilities," said Pitch & Sync co-principal and co-founder Alex Lavery. "This is a game changer for us and what are able to do for our clients."

"We realized at one point that 50% of our business involved Paradigm clients, which wasn't by design, but certainly showed how aligned our sensibilities are," added co-principal and co-founder Simon Robinson. "We now have the best of both worlds, closer access and insight into Paradigm's incredible line up of artists but also the independence to adapt and commission music from all sources on behalf of our clients."

Pitch & Sync founders Lavery and Robinson first met at the record label Wall of Sound where they worked with pioneering artists such as the Propellerheads, Royksopp, The Bees and Les Rythmes Digitales/Stuart Price. The duo formed Pitch & Sync in 2006. Its first major deal, connecting brand client Motorola with rising electronic star Nathan Fake, was a pioneering example of a brand using adapted music. The deal, through Amsterdam-based agency 180, put Pitch & Sync on the map in the UK and Amsterdam, where it has continued to operate.

Pitch & Sync represents the latest partnership for Paradigm, whose international music practice has been successfully built through relationships with leading UK music agencies. In July 2019, Paradigm acquired a majority stake in Coda Agency, now known as Paradigm Agency Ltd. Paradigm is also in partnership with X-ray Touring, and has a strategic relationship with Independent Talent Group, a leading European talent and literary agency. Paradigm Agency Ltd. currently represents over 1,000 music artists.

Paradigm's roster of globally-represented music artists includes Halsey, Shawn Mendes, Imagine Dragons, Janet Jackson, Billie Eilish, Gucci Mane, Kacey Musgraves, Liam Gallagher, Sia, Normani, Tiesto and Zedd. The agency also handles international representation outside North America for Bon Iver, Ellie Goulding, FKA twigs, Lewis Capaldi, Liam Payne, Mark Ronson, Pusha T, Rag'n'Bone Man, Rita Ora, Robyn and Take That.

ABOUT PARADIGM

Paradigm provides global representation to a diverse and dynamic roster of artists and content creators working across television, live music, motion pictures, theatre, digital, book publishing, content finance, and brand partnerships. While known for discovering and developing culturally significant artists, it's our 30-year track record of cultivating lucrative and creatively fulfilling careers for the artists we represent that sets our agency apart. Paradigm's global team is disciplined, passionate and focused on generating opportunities for our clients and partners, while never losing sight of the unique creative visions of the artists and creators we represent. For the art. For the artist.

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Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1086895/Pitch_and_Sync.jpg

Related Links

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SOURCE Paradigm
Holidaymakers in Magaluf may be asked to sign a code of conduct by hotels amid a crackdown on drunken tourists.

The code covers antics such as jumping off balconies into swimming pools and bans pub crawls. It also prohibits bars from offering drink promotions such as happy hours.

Majorcas hotel association is urging members in Magaluf and SArenal to adopt the rules.

Holidaymakers in Magaluf may be asked to sign a code of conduct by hotels amid a crackdown on drunken tourists. Pictured: Playa de Magaluf

Those that do will ask visitors to sign a document at check-in and record their passport.

Tourists will immediately be kicked out if they flout rules. They also face fines up to 60,000 euros (51,000) from officials for practices endangering life.

The code could come into force this summer.

The document Majorca hotel federation FEHM has drafted and sent to its member hotels in Magaluf and the party resort of SArenal, says: The hotel management informs clients that it is forbidden to engage in practices which endanger life, health and physical integrity in this establishment, for example by passing from a balcony or window to another and jumping from unsuitable locations into the swimming pool.

The code covers antics such as jumping off balconies into swimming pools and bans pub crawls. It also prohibits bars from offering drink promotions such as happy hours (stock image of tourists in Magaluf)

Guests who carry out these dangerous practices will be expelled immediately by hotel management, with the assistance of the forces of law and order if necessary.

Holidaymakers where hotels decide to implement the change will be asked to sign and date the document and record their passport and room numbers at check-in.

The code of conduct also highlights the fines that can be levied on guests who break the rules and warns them: We also inform you that taking drinks of any kind outside the hotel is strictly prohibited.

Maria Jose Aguilo, vice-president of the FEHM which has 900 member hotels in Majorca, said the association was recommending the introduction of the document but confirmed it was optional.
By Express News Service

KOLKATA: A resident of West Bengals North Dinajpur district is among the 138 Indians stuck on a cruise liner quarantined at a Japanese port after some passengers were detected with Novel Coronavirus.



Binay Kumar Sarkar, a resident of Chakulia village, is a crew member of the cruise liner Diamond Princess. Altogether, there are 132 Indian crew members and six passengers who are onboard Diamond Princess. Sarkar, 31, is on duty at the communication control room of the ship. Earlier, he had made a post on the social media pleading for help from Indian and Bengal governments for being rescued from the ship that is docked at Yokohama port.



ALSO READ | Coronavirus outbreak: China stutters back to work as death toll exceeds 900

Later, a team from Indian embassy in Japan met Sarkar and promised all help. The team from the Indian embassy came to meet me and assured me of all necessary help. A medical team has been posted at the cruise liner. I am grateful to the governments for the initiatives that have been taken (so far), Binay said over the phone. The ship is carrying 3,700 people comprising both passengers and crew members. Japan has already examined 280 people and reports of six of them came on Saturday. Among the six, three have been identified as infected with Coronavirus.

Binays family members are worried about his well-being. He is staying among Coronavirus victims. My son told me that the passengers started falling victims of Coronavirus after the ship started from Hong Kong on January 25. Those who have been detected with Coronavirus have not been kept in isolation wards. I urge to the state government to initiate all efforts to bring my son back, Binays father Chandi Sarkar pleaded.

42 people under observation in Nagaland



The Nagaland government has kept 42 people, who had arrived in the state in recent past from China and other countries, under observation. Officials in the state said there was no confirmed case of the viruss infection in the state as of now. Health Minister S Pangnyu Phom said all the 42 people, seven of whom have been kept in isolation at their homes, were being monitored twice a day as per standard protocol. He informed the Assembly that the department had operationalised a public health emergency operations centre and the reports of day-to-day monitoring were being shared with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
In Kharkiv, a man called the police because he was bored and wanted to have fun. The patrol police of the Kharkiv region report this information on their Facebook page.

"The crew of the patrol police arrived for a complaint in the Sloboda district of Kharkiv. The applicant said that he felt sad and in this way, he decided to entertain himself and communicate with the police," the message said.

When a man found out that his actions were qualified as an administrative offense under Art. 183 (knowingly false call of special services), then began to offer patrol bribes in the amount of $ 50.

The police refused and reported the criminal responsibility that the perpetrator would suffer if he did not stop trying to pay off justice. The man still tried to put money in the pocket of the patrol.

These actions were recorded on the lapel bodyguards of the patrol, after which the investigative-operational group was called in place. Investigators will consider the qualification of citizen actions under Art. 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (offer, promise or provision of undue benefits to an official).

As we reported before, In the village of Sofiyivska Borshchahivka in the Kyiv-Svyatoshinsky district of the Kyiv region, a drunk man attacked a policeman during the clearance of administrative materials for another offender.
Jane Fonda arrived at the 2020 Oscars on Sunday night in a sparkling red Elie Saab gown.

Chances are you felt a prickling sense of deja vu as you clapped eyes on the actress and your instincts would be right. Fonda, 82, first stepped out in the dress, from Elie Saab's fall/winter 2013 Haute Couture Collection, at the 67th International Cannes Film Festival in 2014.

For this year's Academy Awards, she accessorised the look with a pixie crop, smokey eye and Pomellato Tango earrings with brown diamonds, Iconica Bangle with brown diamonds and a Sabbia ring. In an Instagram post Fonda explained she chose to wear Pomellato because it only uses responsible, ethically harvested gold and sustainable diamonds.

This time around she also paired the look with a red coat slung purposefully over her shoulder. So much more than a straightforward styling choice, the coat had meaning as Fonda had previously stated that it was the last item of clothing she will ever buy.

Jane Fonda and her statement red coat / REUTERS

As an environmental activist, Fonda spent most Fridays in October and November last year peacefully protesting the dangers of climate change at the United States Capitol.

Jane Fonda at the Cannes Film Festival 2014 (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Variety)) / (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Variety)

Fonda, who calls her protests Fire Drill Fridays, was arrested on five consecutive Fridays, the first time on October 11 alongside members of Oil Change International, an environmentalist non-profit group.

As part of her protests, Fonda has sworn that her red coat, which she wears to every Fire Drill Friday, is the last piece of clothing she will ever buy.

You see this coat? I needed something red and I went out and found this coat on sale. This is the last article of clothing that I will ever buy," she told a crowd during one of her "Fire Drill Fridays" in 2019.

Jane Fonda is arrested during a climate change protest on Capitol Hill on October 18 2019 / Getty Images

"When I talk to people about, We dont really need to keep shopping. We shouldnt look to shopping for our identity. We dont need more stuff, then I have to walk the walk too," she continued. "So Im not buying any more clothes.

Other stars also championed sustainability on the red carpet. Margot Robbie wore a black vintage Chanel gown, while Charlie's Angels director Elizabeth Banks arrived at the Vanity Fair Oscars bash in a scarlet Badgley Mischka creation that she wore to the publication's party in 2004. Best Actor winner Joaquin Phoenix completed his award season by wearing the same Stella McCartney tuxedo he's worn to every single event.
An AIADMK member on Monday urged the government in Rajya Sabha to take necessary steps for granting dual citizenship to Sri Lankan Tamil refugees living in India.

Making a special mention in the Upper House, AIADMK MP Vijila Sathyananth said there are close to one lakh Lankan Tamil refugees living in 107 camps spread across Tamil Nadu and another 36,000 staying in other states.

The AIADMK has been favouring dual citizenship because Sri Lankan Tamils have immovable assets in Sri Lanka, Sathyananth argued.

"It is learnt that the Indian Constitution does not stand in the way of granting dual citizenship to Sri Lankan Tamils. If need be the Union Government should make an amendment for that matter and also work towards entering into a treaty with the Sri Lankan government in order to protect their properties after the grant of dual citizenship to them," she demanded.

In another mention, R K Sinha (BJP) demanded a mechanism to check "biased" media coverage of protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act.

"For example, if a particular channel runs a 30-minute bulletin on CAA, all of it are filled with public opinion and editorial against the CAA. At no point (do) such bulletins give space to counter opinion or even narrate what CAA says, set aside attempts to clarify misconceptions about CAA," he said.

Sinha said it appears that in the name of and freedom of speech, such biased platforms are serving to publicise a narrative with vested interest and agenda.

He claimed that such media create an air of misinformation and negative image of the country, and violate basic principles of journalism and licence conditions.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At the end of 2019, Johnny Isakson, the Georgia Republican, resigned from the Senate. The reason was poor health. Therefore, it fell to the states governor, Brian Kemp, also a Republican, to appoint a successor.

President Trump and TrumpWorld wanted Doug Collins, a House member. Collins is one of the Trumpiest members of the House (which is saying something). Kemp, however, chose Kelly Loeffler, an Atlanta businesswoman.

This was thought to be daring. For one thing, it showed independence of mind. It was almost defiant. For another, TrumpWorld was skeptical of Loefflers reliability. Among her failings was that she had donated to Mitt Romney.

They need not have worried.

Barely into her Senate term, Loeffler tweeted, After 2 weeks, its clear that Democrats have no case for impeachment. Sadly, my colleague @SenatorRomney wants to appease the left by calling witnesses who will slander the @realDonaldTrump during their 15 minutes of fame.

When I saw this, my first thought was, Good girl. My second thought was, Shes gonna be jes fine. Shell go a long way in the GOP.

After his acquittal, Trump singled her out for praise: downright nasty and mean, he said. That is a very high accolade from President Trump, and in todays Republican party.

Loeffler has to run in a special election this year, and Doug Collins is challenging her for the GOP nomination. But I doubt Loeffler will allow herself to be out-Trumped.

She is a perfect Republican.

 Early in his career, George C. Wallace lost a Democratic-primary race for governor. At the time, believe it or not, he was known as something of a liberal. After this loss, Wallace said, famously  or infamously  Ill never be out-segged again. (There is another version of this quotation, more vile. It is likely that Wallace said both.)

In the last few years, I have seen former Reagan Republicans take a similar vow: They will never, ever be out-Trumped. And they wont, you can trust it.

Story continues

 Like Kelly Loeffler, Senator Martha McSally was appointed by a governor. Like Loeffler, she is a Republican. She holds the seat to which John McCain was elected in 2016. (He died in 2018.)

A fundraising e-mail is being sent around for McSally. Its heading begins, She stood up to Mitt Romney. She did indeed. So did the 51 other Republicans who voted to acquit President Trump. Romney was the only dissenter.

I would like to congratulate the 52 united Republicans on their bravery in standing up to the lone dissenter. Profiles in courage, all of them.

 In recent days, it has become clear that Romney is the GOPs new Emmanuel Goldstein. I suppose this means that Viktor Orban has George Soros all to himself.

 The Fox host, Lou Dobbs, said Romney is going to be associated with Judas, Brutus, Benedict Arnold forever. I dont know. Forever is a long time. I suspect Romney will have his admirers in the future, as he does now.

 Many Republicans have called for the heretical senator to be expelled from their party. Donald Trump Jr. is one of them. He did more than call for Romneys expulsion. Ill let an article explain:

Donald Trump Jr. posted a picture on Instagram calling Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) a pussy after the former GOP presidential candidate announced that he would be voting to convict President Trump on one of two impeachment charges. The picture featured Romney wearing high-waisted jeans, and was captioned: Mom Jeans, Because youre a pussy.

Every day, I see Mitt Romney described this way by the Trump Right: pussy, wimp, wuss, etc. But it seemed to me that Romney demonstrated real manhood when he stood apart as he did. I thought of an expression I learned in Indiana: balls the size of church bells.

Matt Gaetz, the Republican congressman from Florida, said, If I were Mitch McConnell, I would expel Mitt Romney from the Republican caucus. He added, Frankly, I dont know what the difference is between Mitt Romney and a Democrat at this point.

If being a Republican means being loyal to Trump, and subscribing to Trumpism, Romney is no Republican, its true.

I noticed a tweet from Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, and the co-founder, with Jerry Falwell Jr., of the Falkirk Center (named for the two of them). Kirk has been hailed by Nikki Haley, among others, as the future of the Republican party.

That is certainly true, but he is also, I would say, the present of the GOP. He is an important Republican leader.

He tweeted,

Did you know: Mitt Romney will be the only Senator in US history to vote to convict a president in his own party He should be ashamed of himself RT if the GOP should move to expel him from the Republican Party

In 2012, the Obama-Biden campaign ran an ad against Romney (who was the GOP presidential nominee): Mitt Romney. Not one of us. As I commented last week, Democrats and Republicans can now unite in saying, Mitt Romney. Not one of us.

Im afraid I agree with the Republican luminaries: Mitt Romney does not belong in their party. Oil and water. A mismatch.

 In the article I linked to a minute ago, I also said this: I can hear people saying that Romney simply wants invitations to cocktail parties. Let me tell you, with confidence: Romney doesnt want cocktails (and neither do I, for what its worth).

Brad Parscale is President Trumps campaign manager this year. He tweeted,

Mitt Romney is an irrelevant relic. The entire Republican Party is united behind @realDonaldTrump and knows he did nothing wrong. Lets call it what it is. Youre sour about Trumps success and you want to keep your elitist dinner invites.

It seems to me that Mitt Romney is not really looking for invitations out  to soirees at Trump International Hotel or anywhere else. He likes to spend time with his wife, sons, and zillion grandchildren.

Republicans used to speak of family values, back in the old days.

Speaking of old days: I wrote an article in 2017 called Dinos, Unite! People like me were being called dinosaurs. Brad Parscale calls Romney an irrelevant relic. Im not really sure what irrelevant means. I think its pretty much the great nonsense word of our time. Most people use it to mean I dont like you, I think. But Romney certainly is a relic.

As a conservative, I appreciate relics.

 Last Thursday, the Fox & Friends show had a guest who made the following pronouncement on Trumps presidency so far: I would argue that its probably three of the greatest years since maybe Jesus walked the earth with his ministry.

I thought the probably and the maybe showed humility. That isnt disqualifying, is it?

 After Trumps State of the Union address, Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped up her copy of the speech. Republicans then made earnest statements about decorum, and norms, and civility.

Really, Republicans did.

Listen, either you believe in disruption or you dont. Either you believe in Burn it down or you dont. Pick a stance, baby. You cant have decorum for one party and not for yours.

Did you like Trumps performance at the National Prayer Breakfast? And at the State of the Union, for that matter? Then you dont have even a toe to stand on when it comes to Nancy the Ripper.

 In past times, the conservative movement influenced the Republican party. These days, its more like vice versa. Is there a difference between the GOP and the conservative movement (to the extent there is such a movement)? If so, very little. Next to no daylight.

 Last week, the writer Andy Smarick tweeted, I dont expect to change many minds at this point, but its worth repeating: My brand of American conservatism includes decentralization, civil society, markets, natural rights, tradition, prudence, and moral virtue. Our Republic needs leaders who believe in and model such things.

Dinosaur? If anything, thats pre-dinosaur. (What came before them?) (I need to go back to school.)

 I will glance in on the Democrats, briefly. (Impromptus today is mainly a Republican column, so to speak.) For me, looking at the Democrats is almost as dispiriting as looking at the Republicans. I say almost because I never had any expectations for the Democrats at all. (I was a Republican for some 35 years, and an ardent one.) They cannot disappoint me.

Did you see their presidential debate on Friday night? The candidates gave the impression that they were running for the presidency of, oh, the Oberlin student council  not the presidency of the United States.

It was a woke-off. A nutty, screwy woke-off. If the Democrats can offer the public no better an alternative to Trump and Trumpism, they will lose, and deserve to.

 In another forum, Bernie Sanders was asked whether a person could be pro-life, or anti-abortion, and a Democrat, too. He said, in effect, no. (1) Is he even a Democrat? (2) Would it have killed him to nod to freedom of conscience? To have paid a little lip service? I think it would have. I think such nodding, such lip service, would be the kiss of death in a Democratic presidential contest.

 Four years ago, in the GOP primaries, candidates competed to be the not Trump. To be the guy at the end who, pretty much alone, could square off against Trump. So, Cruz, Rubio, and others chewed one another up (while barely laying a glove on Trump). Are Biden, Pete, and Klobuchar competing to be the not Sanders? And therefore chewing one another up? Could be.

 If Pete is the nominee  a big if  I think Barack Obama will campaign alongside him so often, Obama will almost look like the running-mate.

 Obama will, of course, give a big speech at the Democratic convention. Rally the troops. George W. Bush, needless to say, will not be at the Republican convention. He would be as welcome as Obama. Its a shame, though, because, way back, I always thought it was pretty neat to listen to, and see, the ex-presidents at the conventions. Even Jimmy C.!

 Ive got a lot more, but have gone way long. A little language? I heard a guy on the street say, Aint got no money. Im broke as a joke.

 A little music? For a review of Sally Matthews, the British soprano, in recital, go here. (She was accompanied by Simon Lepper, a British pianist.)

 Have I thrown at you my New York Chronicle for February? Here it is.

 If your allegiance is to the University of Texas, you say Hook em. If your allegiance is to Texas A&M, you say Gig em. I spent an evening last week with some Baylor Bears  who say Sic em. Also, they form a hand into a bear claw.

These traditions are pretty cool.

 While in Washington  did I say I was in Washington, D.C., last week?  I ran up to the Lincoln Memorial, as is my custom. Took a picture. Tweeted it. Said I was spending a little time with my favorite Republican, and favorite American.

A man from elsewhere  from outside our shores  responded, For many years I did not understand why Lincoln was so revered by the Americans. And then I read many books about the Civil War and many biographies of Lincoln; and then I understood.

I thought that was pretty neat.

Thank you for joining me, ladies and gentlemen. Ill see you soon.

If youd like to receive Impromptus by e-mail  links to new columns  write to jnordlinger@nationalreview.com.

More from National Review
On Monday, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan addressed the Parliament on the situation of Coronavirus in the country, elaborating extensively on the measures taken by the Indian Government to control the epidemic. According to reports, the coronavirus death toll in China has now reached 908 with 3,052 additional cases confirmed by health authorities taking the overall number of cases to 40,171. It has also spread globally to multiple countries, with 3 positive cases in Kerala.

Dr Harsh Vardhan addressed the seriousness of the situation stating that the WHO had declared the outbreak "a public health emergency of international concern." He also revealed how a number of details regarding the novel disease that are still unknown including the functioning of the virus and the time frame that it works in.

Read: Coronavirus scare: DGCA exempts flight crew from Breath Analyzer tests at select airports

"After a person is infected with the disease, it takes nearly 14 days for the symptoms to hit in. There are 10-20% cases that are serious enough for the person to be on a ventilator because of pneumonia, 2% cases show the possibility of death," he said.

Need active involvement of all Ministries

Addressing the measures taken by the Union Government, he said, "Till now 3 positive cases have emerged in Kerala. All had its roots from Wuhan. They have been kept in isolation and they are reported to be stable. Seeing the strength of the disease it is important not only for the Health Ministry but all government departments to take strong steps in controlling the epidemic."

Read: Health Ministry gives update on coronavirus, 9452 persons under community surveillance

"The Government has taken multiple efforts in tackling the epidemic as well as keeping it in control. We have also built a GoM including EAM Jaishankar. Apart from that every day we are conducting video conferences with other countries," added the Health Minister.

According to the Ministry, a total of 9452 persons are currently under community surveillance in India. The screening of passengers is now on at all 21 airports, International Seaports and border crossings. 1818 flights and 1,97,192 passengers have been screened so far across Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata airports amongst others.

Read: Coronavirus outbreak: 60 new cases identified on cruise ship off Japan coast

"We have also taken multiple measures to rescue Indian nationals and others from China as well. Air India's flight on January 31 and February 1 flew to Wuhan to airlift over 600 Indians and 7 Maldives nationals to save them from the disease. I would like to extend my gratitude to the aircrew and the para-medical staff of the flight who took up such a brave challenge."

Read: WHO warns overseas coronavirus spread may be 'tip of the iceberg'
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are 'busier than ever' since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's departure from the UK, according to a Us Weekly source.

But rather than putting a strain on their eight-year marriage, Prince William and Kate Middleton's jam-packed diary has reportedly 'brought them closer together'.

The royal couple, who share three children together, looked particularly loved-up during a visit to Mumbles in South Wales, last week.

It comes after the Duke, 35, and 38-year-old Duchess of Sussex moved to Canada with their son Archie at the start of this year, after stepping back as senior working royals.

While the Cambridges always have a busy schedule, they are more in the spotlight than ever after Harry and Meghan's departure and Prince Andrew's 'retirement', and will certainly be aware of the need to step up to support the Queen.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge look particularly loved-up during a visit to Mumbles in South Wales, last week

Speaking to the American magazine, the source said: ' The Cambridges are busier than ever since Harry and Meghan left the UK.

'Youd think their hectic schedule would put strain on the marriage, but its actually brought them closer together.

'Working as a team and supporting each other is essential at a time like this, and thats exactly what theyre doing.'

William and Kate showed a rare display of affection on Tuesday, when visiting Mumbles in South Wales.

It comes after the Duke, 35, and 38-year-old Duchess of Sussex's (pictured in London, in July) move to Canada with their son Archie at the start of this year

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at a reception at Buckingham Palace to mark the UK-Africa Investment Summit on January 20

The couple shared many gentle touches, with the duchess adoringly putting her hand on her husband's shoulder at one point.

It appeared as quite a contrast to what has in the past been seen as a 'hands-off' approach adopted by the parents.

According to body language expert Judi James, William and Kate's 'constant touch' while out meeting crowds signalled a move towards more public displays of affection.

Speaking to FEMAIL, the British author suggested that the small arm and back touches shared between the couple was to combat the loss of the 'hugely tactile' Harry and Meghan.

Gentle manner: Prince William offers an affectionate hand on his wife's back as the couple talk to well-wishers in Mumbles, on Tuesday

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.'

Harry and Meghan officially stepped back from life in the royal family last month, and are now residing in an opulent 10million ($14million) Vancouver Island mansion.

From the spring Harry and Meghan will stop using their HRH titles and withdraw from royal duties, including official military appointments.

However the couple will be allowed to maintain their private patronages and associations.
BLACKSBURG  When Karen DePauw arrived on Virginia Techs campus in 2002 as a dean, more than a few naysayers chafed at her plans for graduate education.

Even when I interviewed, I had quite a vision for things that I wanted to do, and people didnt think that I could do it, DePauw said this week at her office. And  again, this may not be the right words for publication  but I said, Watch me. And we did it.

Over the next two decades, DePauw would, in essence, build Techs graduate education programs from the ground up. She oversaw the transformation of an old hotel into the academic and residential center for graduate students; founded a childcare co-op; and introduced programs that exposed students to international travel, preparation for a life in higher education and interdisciplinary studies  all with a special emphasis on fostering inclusion and diversity.

My goal has been to build, to create, an affirming, inclusive graduate community, DePauw said. Its really about changing the way we do graduate education.

Last week, DePauw, 71, announced she will retire Aug. 1. The university will launch a national search for her replacement, and has no plans to appoint an interim dean.

She has been an amazing mentor, one of the most level-headed administrators that Ive met in my career, said Manuel Perez-Quinones, a professor at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte who served as an associate dean under DePauw at Tech. I think the graduate school at Virginia Tech is a thousand times better for having had her for that long.

Perez-Quinones noted UNC Charlotte is one of numerous universities nationwide that have sent representatives to Techs Graduate Life Center to learn about its programs.

Before coming to Tech, DePauw spent 22 years at Washington State University, where she held several positions. As a graduate school dean there, DePauw developed a framework she called Transformative Graduate Education, aimed at preparing future faculty and higher education leaders for the 21st century.

I knew that the experience that I and others had, had in graduate education needed to be changed, said DePauw, who earned a masters degree from California State University Long Beach, and a doctorate from Texas Womans University.

There used to be the notion that you just had to survive graduate school, and you had to just tough it up, DePauw recalled. I was a single mom with a 2-and-a-half-year-old son going back to finish a Ph.D., and keep working, and honestly ... there was very little acknowledgment of my situation with a 2-and-a-half-year-old and what I could and could not do.

DePauws arrival at Tech sparked controversy and national media attention when the schools board of visitors initially refused a promised English department post for her partner, Shelli Fowler.

In my view ... it was not about my partner. It was about me, DePauw said. They didnt want me to come.

Over time, DePauw said, she was able to overcome those hurdles. She recalled an early meeting of faculty where she outlined her vision for graduate education at Tech. A man in the audience sat arms-folded, shaking his head No as she spoke. Today, she says, he is one of her biggest fans.

News of DePauws retirement prompted an outpouring of gratitude from students.

Hani Awni, president of the Graduate Student Assembly, said that DePauw has been proactive in helping students navigate the university bureaucracy and advocating for issues such as graduate stipends.

Awni noted that thankfulness existed alongside nervousness among students who hope the university will find a successor who will continue and build on DePauws work.

In the coming years, the university plans to boost graduate enrollment as the Innovation Campus in Alexandria comes online. Tech just last week named the inaugural executive director of the campus, who will oversee an incoming class of 100 students in the fall.

Despite all the programs DePauw helped put into place, she cites graduate student housing in Blacksburg and university-wide childcare as issues that remain unresolved fully.

Cortney Steele, who also serves on the Graduate Student Assembly, credited DePauw for prioritizing students at governmental and in one-on-one meetings.

Honestly, the way I would best describe Dean DePauw is a champion for students, Steele said. Its sad to see her go, but she definitely left a legacy behind.

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The summer's catastrophic bushfires have convinced many people that Australia needs to do more to combat climate change. Whether our federal politicians can negotiate the political minefield that is climate and energy in this country and turn that public sentiment into policy remains to be seen.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has certainly changed gears on his rhetoric, with talk of the need for "practical changes" driven by science and technology and a possible new emissions target for 2050. This is a welcome shift but it is also slow going.

Australia's bushfires have captured the world's attention. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Mr Morrison must manage a Coalition that has torn itself apart on several occasions in the past decade over the best way to reduce Australia's emissions, which are among the highest per capita in the world.

Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce is trying to make sure the climate wars are not a thing of the past. He may have blown his chances of taking back his party's leadership, but without Tony Abbott in the Coalition party room, Mr Joyce has taken the lead role in opposing "inner city" green policies.
(CNN)  Women who have general anesthesia during C-sections are significantly more likely to experience severe post-partum depression resulting in hospitalization, suicidal thoughts, or self-harm, according to a study published last week.

That might be because general anesthesia can delay breastfeeding and skin-to-skin interaction between the mother and infant, and often results in more acute and persistent pain after childbirth, researchers from Columbia University explained.

"These situations are often coupled with a new mother's dissatisfaction with anesthesia in general, and can lead to negative mental health outcomes," said Jean Guglielminotti, lead author and an assistant professor of anesthesiology at Columbia, in a news release.

The study, published in the journal Anesthesia and Analgesia, is the first to examine how specific types of anesthesia for cesarean delivery affect the risk of postpartum depression.

General anesthesia increased odds of postpartum depression

The researchers used hospital discharge records of cesarean delivery cases from New York state hospitals between 2006 and 2013. Out of the 428,304 cases they examined, 34,356 women -- or 8% -- received general anesthesia during delivery.

General anesthesia induces sleep, meaning that mothers won't be able to see, feel or remember anything during childbirth. It also prevents them from being able to see their child immediately after birth.

The study found that 1,158 of the women who received general anesthesia, or about 3%, experienced severe postpartum depression that required hospitalization. Women who had general anesthesia were also 54% more likely to experience postpartum depression and 91% more likely to have thoughts about suicide or self-harm, compared to those who had regional anesthesia such as spinal blocks or epidurals.

Women who had general anesthesia during C-sections were also older, and more often non-white and on Medicaid or Medicare, compared to those who had regional anesthesia, the study said.

The authors caution that their findings don't necessarily mean that general anesthesia causes postpartum depression.

"We don't want people to believe that general anesthesia is always bad," Guglielminotti told CNN. "It can be good in some situations, when you require an emergency C-section. What we're saying is that general anesthesia is not always good, and when it can [it should] be avoided."

General anesthesia is rarely used

General anesthesia for cesarean delivery is not the norm in North America.

Fewer than 5 out of every 100 C-sections in the US are done with general anesthesia, according to the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology.

When general anesthesia is used, it's typically in emergency C-sections or in cases when typical numbing anesthesia like spinal blocks or epidurals cannot be used, says Grace Lim, director of obstetric anesthesiology at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh.

Emergency cesareans are more likely to be needed for babies who are pre-term or sick in some way, or for mothers with certain health problems, which Lim says could explain the increased odds of postpartum depression.

"Thus, the nature of the emergency delivery, rather than the general anesthetic itself, may be the real reason why these women end up with higher odds of depression," she wrote in an email to CNN.

About one in nine women nationally experience symptoms of postpartum depression, according to CDC research.

The authors say more studies are needed

Though researchers and medical experts have not previously studied the link between general anesthesia in C-sections and harmful psychological outcomes, other studies have examined the link between C-sections and postpartum depression.

A 2019 study from the United Kingdom found that first-time mothers who have emergency C-sections are 15% more likely to experience postnatal depression, and a 2017 analysis of previous research suggested that C-sections and emergency C-sections increase the risk of postpartum depression.

Another study from 2018 found that epidurals, which reduce the pain experienced during labor, were linked to a reduced risk of postpartum depression, although its authors cautioned that other factors might play a larger role.

Because the Columbia University study is the first of its kind, Guglielminotti said that there needed to be more research to confirm the link between general anesthesia during cesarean deliveries and postpartum depression.

Since the researchers used administrative hospital records instead of clinical data, they don't know the exact reasons that general anesthesia was used in the cases they studied. Lim said it is difficult to capture all of the reasons a patient may need general anesthesia based only on administrative data, rather than a more complete health record.

The authors also noted that they might have underestimated the actual instances of postpartum depression, because their study identified cases of postpartum depression based on delivery hospitalization and hospital readmission. The data did not include outpatient visits or emergency department visits.

Additionally, since the study only looked at cesarean deliveries in New York state, the authors noted that their findings may not apply to cases in other states.
Everyone either knows someone who suffers from migraine, or struggles with migraine themselves. Most people don't realise how serious and incapacitating migraine can be. But with the help of studies we can learn more about this neurological disease.

1 It's more than just a headache

Public perception usually reduces migraine to a headache, perhaps because migraines are transient, non-communicable, non-fatal and are classified across a spectrum from episodic to chronic migraine. Migraine, however, can be so much more than a headache as documented by the latest edition (third) of the International Classification of Headache Disorders. There are multiple diagnoses of this condition such as migraine with aura, hemiplegic migraine and retinal migraine. The majority of people with migraine are classified as having migraine without aura, but even within this diagnosis there can be different experiences. The many symptoms in the diagnosis of migraine include sight, smell, sound, touch, and physical sensations like hemiplegia and nausea.

2 Migraine packs a punch

Results from the most recent Global Burden of Disease Study, a global research programme that assesses 328 diseases in 195 countries, estimated migraine to be the second leading cause of years lived with disability worldwide in 2016, causing an estimated 29 to 62.8 million years lived with disability. In Ireland, an estimated 700,000-900,000 people experience migraine, along with roughly 500,000 work days a year lost as a result.

3 Migraine takes time to diagnose

The role of the GP as gatekeeper for referral, diagnosis and management of major health conditions including migraine is more important than ever. The transient nature of migraine means it can take time to diagnose and a headache diary for three months is recommended. A headache diary can help improve diagnostic accuracy by distinguishing between different types of primary headache disorders, such as tension type headache or cluster headaches, or secondary disorders such as medication overuse syndrome.

4 There is a genetic link in migraine

There is a strong hereditary component in migraine, results are varied but approximately 50pc of migraineurs are estimated to have a first-degree relative with migraine. While specific research into migraineurs with and without aura is considered to have heritable phenotypes ranging from 33-57pc.

5 There are new treatments in migraine

The last two years has seen increased preventative and acute treatment options for migraine. The field of neuromodulation has been advocated in certain instances and involves the use of devices like gammaCore, Cefaly and Nerivio that discharge electrical or magnetic currents to interrupt and suppress migraine. In other cases, the arrival of Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide (CGRP) monoclonal antibody treatments has been hailed as a new era in headache disorders. With most preventive medication for migraine being originally developed for other conditions, it explains the excitement for these migraine-focused drugs.

Since 2018, four of these preventive drugs have been approved for the use of migraine by the FDA in the US, one of which (erenumab) was the subject of recent controversy in the UK. Erenumab had been approved for use in the NHS Scotland and in Northern Ireland, subject to a funding request, but not in its Welsh and English counterparts.

In Ireland, three parliamentary questions have been put to the Minister for Health since 2018 regarding the introduction and reimbursement of this medication in the HSE, specifically erenumab and fremanezumab. As per standard procedures, the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics' assessment of fremanezumab is currently ongoing, while a recommendation of erenumab was made in September 2019 to consider reimbursing chronic, not episodic, migraine if cost-effectiveness can be improved.

6 Different factors are believed to affect progression from episodic to chronic migraine

Episodic and chronic migraine are common classifications used to describe the migraine spectrum. Chronic migraine is classified as a headache occurring 15 days or more per month for three months on which at least eight days per month have the features of migraine, while episodic migraine can be classified as headaches occurring less than the above.

Multiple factors have been considered for their potential contribution in the progression from episodic to chronic migraine. A review of literature documented strong evidence for 10 or more headache days per month, moderate evidence for depression and five or more headache days per month and low quality evidence for medication overuse and allodynia contributing to progression to chronic migraine.

Importantly, given the limited data and low quality research in the area, the researchers called for confirmation of these findings and further consideration of other possible risk factors with future studies.

7 Social media can help migraine management

Technology, specifically communication and information via the internet and social media, has bolstered how migraine is diagnosed and managed. Reviewing social media allows for instant news and accessible insight from migraine advocates, patients and professionals, and organisations. The simple act of following the Irish Migraine Association on Twitter or Facebook allows for open and frank discussion with migraineurs with similar experiences. A recent qualitative study of 20 migraineurs has reported that social media in migraine can be used to validate the illness experience, reduce feelings of isolation and provide reassurance.

The caveat to the benefit of social media is that it's unregulated, allowing opinions on a drug, healthcare professionals or organisations to be construed as statements of fact. Limited research has investigated possible factors impacting migraineurs like social comparison, self-esteem or mood.

8 Research on triggers is ongoing

Most people report experiencing at least one trigger in migraine, but what triggers for one may not for another. Take caffeine, for example. A recent prospective study of 98 participants suggested three or more servings could be associated with increased odds of having a migraine. While other research has considered the possibility that smaller levels of caffeine act as a preventative measure for migraine.

The most exhaustive review to date of 85 studies including 27,122 participants and 420 unique triggers, found stress was the most commonly reported trigger for all types of primary headache disorder (ie migraine, tension type headache etc). Stress was followed by sleep, emotions, weather, visual and hormonal triggers.

9 Psychology can help with migraine management

Given that the highest reported triggers for headache disorders were stress, sleep and emotions, psychological input with some migraineurs could be merited. There is limited research to definitively support psychological interventions in reducing migraine frequency. However, a case can be made for psychology helping people manage migraine. For instance, maintaining a diary for three months or more can take effort for anyone in the normal chaos of life. To face up to the stimulus that may be causing them pain, distress or even disability takes daily flexibility or fortitude whatever the preference.

At the Centre for Pain Research in NUI Galway we are researching possible current and historic psychological factors, such as adverse childhood experiences, dissociation and emotions in participants with chronic and episodic migraine. We hope this research will help develop better therapies to help people cope with migraine.

Further information and access to our online survey is at: nuig-psychology.ie/index.php/693694?lang=en
By Trend

The mission of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) recognizes the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan as legitimate, transparent and credible, head of the mission, SCO Deputy Secretary-General Sherali Saidamir Jonon said a press conference following the elections, Trend reports.

"Ultraviolet detectors were used to check for the presence of invisible paint, which was applied to the voters' fingers before voting at the polling stations. The website of Azerbaijan's Central Election Commission (CEC), as well as its information centers, published information on the addresses of polling stations, members of commissions etc. Election commissions were provided with ballots, printed and other necessary materials. The CEC also provided foreign observers with memos with useful monitoring information, as well as a brochure on voting rules," Sherali Jonon said.

As Sherali Jonon noted that inviting international observers ensures openness, transparency and democratic parliamentary elections.

"The SCO mission conducted observations in the cities of Baku, the settlements of Absheron, Ganja, Sumgayit, Shirvan, as well as in the territories adjacent to them. Members of the SCO mission visited more than 204 polling stations on election day. The mission positively assesses the large-scale work done by CEC of Azerbaijan. The activities of the CEC were open, transparent and independent. The SCO mission states that the parliamentary elections were consistent with the country's mandatory laws, as well as international laws adopted by the country, and recognizes the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan as legitimate, transparent, credible and democratic. The mission congratulates the people of Azerbaijan on the elections for Azerbaijani Parliament, and wishes the Azerbaijani people success," Sherali Jonon added.

The parliamentary elections of the sixth convocation were held in Azerbaijan on Feb. 9. Some 1,314 candidates were registered within the early parliamentary elections.

The candidacies of 246 people were nominated by 19 political parties, 1,057 were self-nominated, 11 - by initiative groups. Twenty-one percent accounted for female candidates while 79 percent  male candidates.

Throughout the day, 5,573 permanent polling stations operated in 125 constituencies of the country.

Some 883 international observers and 77,790 local observers monitored the voting process. Among the local observers, 35,152 were representatives of political parties. International observers represented 58 countries and 59 organizations.

Exit polls were conducted by AJF & Associates Inc. (US) jointly with Citizens' Labor Rights Protection League, the Rey Monitoring Center, and the French OpinionWay Research Institute together with the Human Rights in the XXI Century  Azerbaijan Foundation.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
It was revealed in December last year that newcomer Dayle Hudson would be replacing Ben Hardy as Peter Beale - the seventh actor starring in the long-running role.

And now the first look Peter's return to Walford has been revealed, with the troubled character coming back to 'exorcise some demons.'

The BBC soap will air the explosive scenes next week as the 'damaged soul' comes back home after five years away.

New face: The first look EastEnders' Peter Beale's return to Walford has been revealed, with the troubled character (now played by Dayle Hudson) coming back to 'exorcise some demons'

With his blonde hair and boyish good looks, Dayle is very resemblant of Ian Beale's prodigal son, but the drug-addled character that returns from New Zealand is far more grittier than the one viewers know and love.

EastEnders' executive producer Jon Sen teased Peter's comeback to The Sun Online, stating: 'Peter Beale is a wonderful character with a very complicated history.

'He's got a great heart and he's got a very damaged soul. He's returning to Walford to exorcise some demons.'

It comes as Dale takes on his first acting role as the long-running character, taking over from Ben Hardy, who went on to make it big in Hollywood.

Pastuyres new: It was revealed in December last year that newcomer Dayle would be replacing Ben Hardy as Peter Beale - the seventh actor starring in the long-running role

The actor, who left his role in 2015, went on to star in films including Bohemian Rhapsody, X-Men: Apocalypse and a recent part co-starring with Ryan Reynolds in 6 Underground.

Last year, Dayle told The Sun Online: 'I am really grateful and excited to have the opportunity to work on such an institution of British television, alongside some incredible actors.

'Peter has been away for some time so I can't wait to find out what he's been up to and I'm very excited to see what the future holds for him.'

Ben's character Peter left the Square five years ago when he was struggling to deal with the revelation that his younger brother Bobby killed their sister Lucy.

He's back! With his blonde hair and boyish good looks, Dayle is very resemblant of Ian Beale's prodigal son, but the drug-addled character that returns from New Zealand is far more grittier than the one viewers know and love

Despite his absence, information about Peter's whereabouts has been fed to viewers including the fact he reunited with his partner Lauren Branning in New Zealand.

However it was later divulged that he was fighting a battle with alcoholism as he struggled to come to terms with his past in Walford.

It is yet to be revealed what has torn Peter away from his now happy life down under with Lauren to return to Albert Square.

Prior to Ben's stint as Peter, the part was previously played by Thomas Law for four years between 2006 and 2010 before he moved to Devon with Lucy to live with their grandmother.

Before his time on the show the role was given to James Martin, however he quit the BBC soap after just two years as Peter.

Bye, bye: It comes as Dale takes on his first acting role as the long-running character, taking over from Ben Hardy, who went on to make it big in Hollywood

Bigger things: The actor, who left his role in 2015, went on to star in films including Bohemian Rhapsody, X-Men: Apocalypse and a recent part co-starring with Ryan Reynolds in 6 Underground

The second actor to play Peter was Joseph Shade who took on the role for six years between 1998 and 2004, and before him was Alex Stevens for just one year.

Joseph previously admitted carrying out a string of sexual offences against three underage girls in 2017 but was spared jail during a court hearing.

Joseph confessed to a string of offences against girls aged between 14 and 17, committed while he was working in Norfolk.

Jon Sen, Executive Producer EastEnders added: 'As soon as I met Dayle, I knew he'd be the one to bring Peter Beale back to Walford.'

Peter will return during the soap's thrilling 35th anniversary episodes, in the week commencing February 17th.

EastEnders airs Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evenings on BBC One.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) has been waiting for her moment for nearly a year. On paper, she has always looked like a winner: a middle class daughter of the heartland who has won every election in which she competed, and who consistently ran ahead of her party in a crucial Midwestern swing state. But she never caught fire. Vice President Joe Biden dominated the moderate "lane" for most of the campaign, while other candidates  Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg  generated more personal enthusiasm. Eventually, she came to be seen as the scold of the campaign, patiently explaining to the voters why they can't have nice things.

That's finally changing  perhaps too late, but just possibly not. Biden's and Warren's campaigns are stumbling, and Buttigieg is getting a closer and more skeptical look. Klobuchar's closing argument in the New Hampshire debate clearly touched a chord, and the polls have moved significantly her way: both the Suffolk University and Emerson College polls  the only ones that sampled voters immediately before and after the debates  both have Klobuchar surging to 14 percent and third place, ahead of both Warren and Biden and nipping at Buttigieg's heels.

Could she ride a surprisingly strong New Hampshire finish into real contention for the nomination? It would require everything to break her way. Along with other, more tangible matters like money and support from crucial constituencies, it would require a real change in the logic that has governed the campaign to date.

A much-noted article in Politico about political forecaster Rachel Bitecofer explains that logic. According to Bitcofer's thesis, there are far fewer true swing voters than people believe. Most independents actually lean strongly to one party or the other, and most of the remainder simply vote against the status quo. Very few voters truly swing between the two parties.

So how could a state like Iowa, say, have swung so strongly from Obama (who won the state by over 9 percent in 2008 and nearly 6 percent in 2012) to Trump (who won the state by nearly 9 percent)? The answer is that the electorates weren't the same. Eighteen percent of Iowa voters didn't shift from Obama's camp to Trump's over eight years. Rather, a significant number of Obama voters dropped out of the electorate (or went third party), while a significant number of non-voters came out of the woodwork for Trump.

Story continues

In Bitecofer's understanding, an election is a two-step process. First, the contours of the electorate are defined. Well before the voting starts, the shape of the electorate  the demographic and geographic characteristics of the two party coalitions  will be clear. Once that shape is set, the battle will be for each side to turn out their voters. And as Bitecofer sees it, since November 2016, the shape of the electorate has been defined by Donald Trump's residency in the White House. So the job of the Democrats is to mobilize those voters who find that fact intolerable.

Following that logic, it's easy to conclude that what the Democrats need to do is nominate someone who maximally energizes the various components of their coalition, from suburban professional women to young urban African Americans to rural Hispanic voters. There's still a legitimate debate about whether a more moderate or a more left-wing candidate would do a better job of exciting the Democratic base, because that base includes both left-wing and more moderate voters  and in their different ways, that's the debate we've been having between Biden and Buttigieg on one side and Sanders and Warren on the other. But in either case, the question is really who gets Democrats to the polls, not who swings the middle to their side. (And, frankly, if Bitecofer is right, then the savvy deployment of marketing dollars and GOTV efforts will matter much more than who the candidate is.)

But that way of parsing the question misses something crucial: negative partisanship is a two-way street. It doesn't just matter how well you energize your own coalition. It matters how well you energize your opponent's coalition  whether your candidate is someone the other side is scared of enough to mobilize their people against.

The case for Klobuchar is, fundamentally, that she's the candidate Republicans would have the hardest time mobilizing against, because she's just not that scary to them.

This would be true even if the campaign had proceeded differently until this point. Klobuchar's biography and legislative history make her a relatively difficult target for Republican demonization. They'll surely come up with something, but the trivial attack lines against her competition  that she's doddering, that she's an extremist, that she's a "deep-state" insider, that she's a neophyte, that she's an out-of-touch elitist  won't apply. But it's especially true given that, were she to actually win the nomination, she would have done so precisely as the candidate of realism, and the candidate against revolution, because that has been her brand the whole campaign. Plus she would have done it without the personal resources of a billionaire like Mike Bloomberg.

Klobuchar flips on its head the logic of all the other campaigns. From their perspective, Trump's voters are a given: He's got the passionate support of white evangelical Christians, rural voters, men without college degrees, and partisan Republicans of all stripes. Democrats need to run up the margin in the cities and suburbs, and among women and minorities, to overwhelm their numbers. That's what happened in 2018, when the Democrats and Republicans both achieved high turnout, and the Democrats were able to take the House.

But in that same wave election, the Democrats lost ground in the Senate. Strong Democratic turnout wasn't enough to overcome the partisan Republican advantage in states like Indiana, North Dakota, Missouri, or Texas, or even in Florida. And a major reason was that the Kavanaugh hearings energized the Republican electorate to come out in force.

Now imagine that Trump's vote isn't a given. There's clearly a segment of the electorate who are reluctant Trump voters. They aren't going to vote for a Democrat, but they might stay home rather than give Trump four more years  provided they aren't too worried about who the Democratic president would be. Who are these voters? Perhaps they are single white women without college degrees who thought Hillary Clinton looked down on them. Perhaps they are Chamber of Commerce types who enthusiastically supported Romney. They may well live in states like Iowa, Maine, and North Carolina where Trump's approval rating is under water in spite of the inroads he made in 2016  and which are crucial to the Democrats' Senate hopes in 2020. Which nominee is best positioned to convince those voters to stay home, and thereby not only defeat Trump but deprive him of Senate coattails?

That's the case for Klobuchar from a progressive perspective. It's not just a question of who would more aggressively push a progressive agenda as president, or even which nominee would be more likely to win the presidency in the first place. Without the Senate, even a President Sanders would have a hard time passing most of his agenda. And the Democrats are unlikely to take the Senate simply by running up their own vote. They need to depress the other side  and do it in states where Trump will be competitive or even favored to win.

While turning to a moderate would seem to be a sign of fear, in a sense a Klobuchar nomination would be an expression of confidence. The Democrats would be saying: We know our people are going to turn out, because they are mobilized by Trump. And we know whoever we nominate is going to share, broadly, a similar vision for the country. It's the other side that needs a bogeyman to run against, someone they can paint as scarier than Trump to voters who only ever picked Trump as the lesser of two evils. So we're not going to give it to them.

Is that confidence warranted? That's the real question. If not, the Democrats have to hope their nominee is someone who can excite the kind of passion that only rare candidates can, and that it doesn't generate a more effective counter-mobilization by Republicans of their coalition. If so, then it might just be Klobberin' Time.

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Bill Maher appeared on CNN Sunday where he spoke about how last week was great for President Trump, not so great for Democrats. The week began with an absolute debacle at the Democratic caucus in Iowa, causing the results not to be known for days. On Tuesday, Trump delivered the State of the Union address during which he actually stuck to the script, and on Wednesday he was acquitted of both impeachment charges on a near party-line vote.

I thought it was his best week ever, Maher said of Trump, and the most depressing week for me as someone whos not a fan of Donald Trump and what hes doing to this country.

And as good as Trumps week was, it was equally bad for Democrats in Mahers mind.

The other depressing thing about this week was, ya know, at his [Trumps] best moment, the Democrats are  they just look like the gang who cant shoot straight or cant run straight, Maher said. And if they cant get their act together soon, its gonna be over before it begins.

Maher believes the State of the Union was a win for Trump, though Mahers praise was for the spectacle, not the content of the speech.

If you didnt know the facts and you watched that State of the Union, it was very effective, Maher said. And the showmanship, ya know, they pulled out every stop. But the medals and the Marine being reunited, I mean, thats what he does, and its gonna be hard to beat.

And Maher compared Democrats to the good guy in a superhero movie, only in Mahers analogy, this is a superhero movie in which the good guy could lose.

If this is a superhero movie ... this is the moment when Superman is on the ground. You know, the kryptonite has weakened him. And I dont know how we get to the end of the movie. I know how in a superhero movie it happens cause they always win, but this is life. Maher said. I dont know how we get from here, this week, to that place Nov. 3 where hes defeated and leaves, which, of course, I dont think hes gonna do.

Story continues

For more on the Bill Maher interview go to CNN.com.

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A former military policeman being investigated for his possible involvement in the 2018 murder of a Rio de Janeiro councilwoman and activist was killed by special forces Sunday in Brazil's northeastern state of Bahia. Authorities had been looking for Adriano Magalhaes da Nobrega, who is thought to be involved in the killing of Marielle Franco, a prominent activist for Afro-Brazilian and LGBT rights, and her driver. The assassination shocked many Brazilians and sparked protests in several countries.

The state's Secretary for Public Security said an elite squad of officers, known by its acronym BOPE, found da Nobrega in the Bahian city of Esplanada. Da Nobrega was a former member of BOPE in Rio. He was killed after resisting arrest and shooting at police forces, the Secretary of Public Security said. Daily O Globo reported that da Nobrega'a lawyer, Paulo Emilio Catta Preta, would ask for a full investigation of the operation. The lawyer said his client had been reluctant to surrender because he was convinced he would be killed in prison to prevent him from collaborating with investigators.

Since the early days of the investigation into Franco's murder, authorities have pointed to police-linked militias. In March 2019, a year after her death, police arrested two former police officers, Ronnie Lessa and Elcio Vieira de Queiroz on suspicion of having carried out the attack. Lawyers for both men denied their involvement. Months later, Brazil's departing attorney general requested that five people be charged with obstruction of justice. The document cited two court officials, two police agents and a lawyer, alleging interference with the inquiry.

But the mastermind of the killings remains unknown. On Twitter, Franco's former partner asked: Who wins with the death of ex-Bope Adriano Nobrega?

Left-wing party PSOL, to which Franco belonged, published its own statement, demanding full transparency on the circumstances of da Nobrega's death. It said its Bahian lawmakers will request a hearing with the Secretariat of Public Security, since the militia man was a "key piece to reveal several crimes.

Franco was a prominent activist and an outspoken critic of Rio's violent police forces and paramilitary groups, but a year and a half after the assassination, the motive remains unclear.
6 fully recovered in Singapore, 4 more confirmed cases of coronavirus infection

Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed three more cases of 2019-nCoV infection in Singapore on February 9, bringing the total number of cases to 43.

On the same day, four more confirmed cases were discharged from hospital, MOH said in a statement. In all, six have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged.

Photo courtesy: NCID

Of the 22 locally transmitted cases, epidemiological investigations and contact tracing have uncovered links between 15 of them, with the three currently known clusters. They are Life Church and Missions Singapore, Yong Thai Hang and the private business meeting held at Grand Hyatt Singapore from January 20 to 22.

Case 41: A 71 year-old male Singapore Citizen with no recent travel history to China.

He reported onset of symptoms on February 1 and had visited a general practitioner (GP) clinic on the same day, and again on February 5. He sought treatment at Hougang Polyclinic on February 6, and at Tan Tock Seng Hospitals emergency department on February 7 where he was immediately isolated.

Prior to hospital admission, he had visited Paya Lebar Methodist Church (5 Boundary Road), and a gathering at Braddell Heights Residents Committee. He had also picked up his grandchild outside Pats Schoolhouse Kovan (755 Upper Serangoon Road). He stays at Upper Serangoon Road.

Case 42: A 39 year-old male Bangladesh national who is a Singapore Work Pass holder, and has no recent travel history to China.

He reported onset of symptoms on February 1, and had sought treatment at a GP clinic on February 3, and at Changi General Hospital (CGH) on February 5. He went for a follow-up appointment at Bedok Polyclinic on February 7 and was thereafter admitted to the intensive care unit at CGH.

Case 43: A 54 year-old male Singapore Citizen with no recent travel history to China. He was in Malaysia on January 26.

The man reported onset of symptoms on January 30, and had visited two GP clinics on the same day, as well as February 5 and 6. He sought treatment at SKH on February 6 and was warded in an isolation room on February 7.

Prior to hospital admission, he had stayed at home, except for trips to seek medical treatment and once to work at Resorts World Sentosa. He lives at Fernvale Close.
Five people were injured in an explosion that took place at a house in Bihar's Patna on Monday.

Police said that due to the explosion two houses were damaged.

"It seems a bomb that was kept in a house exploded, damaging two houses. Injured people have been shifted to a hospital," Sub-Inspector of Police, Shyam Narayan Singh told ANI.

Further details are awaited.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
It is the legal voting record of the caucus, like a ballot, Shayla McCormally, the attorney, wrote in an advisory included in the email from Price. The seriousness of the record is made clear by the language at the bottom stating that any misrepresentation of the information is a crime. Therefore, any changes or tampering with the sheet could result in a claim of election interference or misconduct.
The winner of the worlds latest piano competition is Jiale Li of China.

Jiale won the gold medal of the 2020 Gurwitz International Piano Competition in San Antonio on Saturday night after his performance of Sergei Rachmaninoffs Piano Concerto No. 2 with the San Antonio Symphony conducted by Music Director Sebastian Lang-Lessing.

The silver medal went to Yedam Kim of South Korea, who performed the Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5, Emperor, on Saturday night in front of a sold-out audience 1,700 people at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts. The bronze medal was awarded to Leonardo Colafelice of Italy, who presented the Sergei Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3.

Jiale receives the gold-medal award of $25,000. As silver medalist, Yedam receives $15,000 and Colafelice $10,000 as bronze medalist. But these winners also gain boosts to their careers, using the medals to seek opportunities to book future performances with orchestras, recitals and possible recordings.

Lang-Lessing doubled as the competitions jury chairman during the week, heading a panel of six judges that included Russian-American piano star Olga Kern, who performed the Peter Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 with the San Antonio Symphony on Jan. 24-25 and who holds her own international piano competition in New Mexico.

Jiale won the gold medal by besting an initial field of 76 entrants from 21 countries. Months ago, the field was narrowed to 12 pianists. They gathered in San Antonio over the past week for the early rounds of solo performances at Trinity Universitys Ruth Taylor Recital Hall and at the Charline McCombs Empire Theatre.

The 12 contestants in the early rounds each performed solo programs lasting about 50 minutes, all from memory and displaying the utmost in concentration and physical stamina.

The three finalists exhibited the same attributes in their Saturday concerto performances with the San Antonio Symphony.

Jiales total command of the keyboard was evident from the beginning of the Rachmaninoff concerto. The concerto is an account of the composers recovery from depression, and Jiale gave the piece a strong sense of journey from illness to strength and health. His technique was impeccable and natural as the music, the most emotional of the three concertos, seemed to seek an inner peace.

Yadems account of the Beethoven concerto was marked by its smoothness, along with strong volume and pace dynamics and sparkle. Her polish lent a distinctive style to a faithful interpretation.

Colafeliches Prokofiev concerto came across with flair and fluid confidence as he negotiated the angular contours of the dizzying melodies. His highlight came in the roller-coaster ride at the very end.

Earlier in the week, contestant Jongyun Kim of South Korea won the $5,000 Latin Prize, and Russian pianist Artem Kuznetsov was presented the $2,500 Junior Jury Award. A $5,000 Audience Favorite Award went to Colafelice. The other pianists received $1,000 each.

The orchestra, under Lang-Lessing, proved its high level of professionalism with warm, spirited and sharp performances of all three concertos, especially given that the musicians had less than three days notice of which concertos would be scheduled.

Begun in 1984 and held every four years, the piano competition expanded this year, for the first time under the management of Musical Bridges Around the World and adding the Gurwitz name, after a founder of the original San Antonio International Piano Competition, Ruth Jean Gurwitz, who died in 2015. It also was the first time that the San Antonio Symphony participated.

With larger cash awards, San Antonio becomes fully in the swing of holding one of the worlds prized global piano competitions.

hendrickd53@yahoo.com
(TNS)  At a public hearing Thursday evening, residents of Keene, N.H., and surrounding communities aired their concerns to the City Council about the potential health implications of installing new wireless technology.Scheduled by Mayor George S. Hansel after a recommendation by the councils planning, licenses and development committee, the hearings subject was a draft ordinance that would create location, design and aesthetic standards for erecting small wireless facilities on public rights-of-way.Also known as small cells, these facilities are the implementation tool for the next generation of mobile networks, 5G, which offers faster download and upload speeds, as well as better connectivity between devices. Small cells can be used for 4G, too.Unlike traditional cell towers, which stand up to 200 feet tall, small wireless facilities consist of boxy antennas that can be attached to existing structures, such as buildings or light poles. Connected by fiber optic cable, the cells are installed every few blocks because they emit higher-frequency radio waves that dont travel as far.The draft legislation is not an endorsement of small cells or 5G, but a mechanism to handle any potential applications from service providers.For opponents of 5G, the draft ordinance has become an embodiment of the mobile networks gradual rollout across the country and the world. Of the 12 to 15 people who attended the hearing, seven spoke against the technology, particularly the idea of allowing small cells near homes and putting residents in close proximity to the high-frequency electromagnetic fields.Some of the speakers pulled from their pockets old flip-phones as evidence that the new mobile network isnt necessary for people to stay connected, adding that their devices are always set to airplane mode to limit their own exposure to radiation.Len Weldon said hell move out of Keene if the technology infiltrates the area, later citing a study by the National Toxicology Program that found cancerous tumors in male rats after prolonged exposure to cellphone radiation. The results of that 10-year study were released in 2018 and examined the effects of radio frequency radiation like that of 2G and 3G, which are lower-frequency waves. The report notes that 5Gs waves are likely to penetrate no deeper than the skin, whereas the lower frequencies have been shown to penetrate at least three to four inches into the human body.)Decrying a lack of research focused specifically on the new technologys biological impacts, several speakers asked the council to delay any action on the small cell ordinance until a state panel studying 5Gs health effects completes its work and releases its findings. The Legislature passed a bill creating the commission last year, making New Hampshire the first state to do so.Lori Schreier of Westmoreland proposed several changes to the draft ordinance. She noted efforts in California to block small cell installations near fire stations after reports of firefighters complaining of nausea, headaches and other symptoms. Schreier suggested an annual renewal fee to discourage an overabundance of applications, and expanding criteria for requiring abutters be notified of proposed installations.David Galluccio of Keene, who said he works in information technology, also urged the council to wait on passing an ordinance until theres more evidence available. But he also acknowledged the apparent inevitability of 5G.My feeling is this  I work in this stuff every day  5G will be coming. Were all now comfortably sitting in a bath of electromagnetic frequency from the lights, from the equipment in the room, from our cellphones that may or may not be in airplane mode, he said.Businesses will want to take advantage, he said, and law enforcement agencies will likely benefit, too. He implied that the conversation shouldnt be about trying to stop the technology.The best we can do is create applicable safeguards, listen to expert advice and proceed on that basis, he said.Regardless of any outcry over unknown health impacts, though, city staff has explained that there is little room for municipalities to consider that in their guidelines, which are being drafted in response to federal requirements.The Telecommunications Act says local governments cant discriminate against providers or prohibit wireless service, meaning that a municipality that allows utility and phone poles on its public rights-of-way cant categorically bar the installation of small cells.Then the Federal Communications Commission released its Small Cell Order in late 2018, in which the agency detailed the bureaucratic regulations that would rise to the level of effectively prohibit[ing] service  which would open a municipality up to a lawsuit  and restricted what local governments can require of providers.The FCC order also mandated that any requirements of providers be published in advance, and it gave towns and cities deadlines for processing small cell applications: 60 days for attaching to an existing structure and 90 days for new construction.As of now, theres no mechanism for Keene to handle such an application, which is what the draft ordinance aims to address. The closest thing to an alternative would be the citys telecommunications ordinance, but the N.H. Municipal Association has urged against using that as a stand-in because of small cells technical and legal complexities.The draft ordinance is slated for discussion again at the Feb. 26 planning, licenses and development committee meeting.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Hundreds of protesters, including students and civil society members, poured onto the streets in central Delhi on Monday protesting against the amended citizenship law and the National Register of Citizens.

The protesters, carrying placards and banners of all sizes and colours, converged at Mandi House around 11.00 am and started marching towards Jantar Mantar.

Large number of police and paramilitary personnel walked along with them.



ALSO READ | People entitled to protest, but can't block road indefinitely: SC on Shaheen Bagh protest

"The protesters do not have permission to take out a march, but as long as they maintain peace, we do not have a problem," a police official said.

The protesters, however, claimed that they had the permission and would march till Jantar Mantar.

Children as young as 10, senior citizens, civil society members and university students filled the streets and ran the length of central Delhi, shouting anti-CAA and anti-government slogans.



ALSO READ | Shaheen Bagh protesters remove barricades to allow funeral procession to pass

They carried the photographs of freedom fighters Bhagat Singh and Chandrasekhar Azad and social reformer Savitribai Phule, and demanded that the government revoke the "black law".

The wife of Dr Kafeel Khan, who was in September acquitted of all negligence and corruption charges in the Gorakhpur BRD Hospital tragedy, and brother of Sharjeel Imam, arrested on sedition charges, also participated in the march taken out under the banner of Welfare Party of India.

Siraj Talib, the national secretary of the Welfare Party of India, "We are protesting against the CAA and NRC. We have permission, I have spoken to police and we are marching towards Jantar Mantar."
The 25-year-old woman lecturer who was set on fire by a stalker in Maharashtra's Wardha district last week died at a hospital in Nagpur on Monday morning

Mumbai: The 25-year-old woman lecturer who was set ablaze by a stalker in Maharashtra's Wardha district last week died while undergoing treatment at a hospital on Monday morning, officials said.

Ankita Pisudde, resident of Hinganghat town in Wardha, had been critical after sustaining 35 to 40 percent "grade III" burns on 3 February, when she was set afire allegedly by Vikesh Nagrale (27) while she was on way to her college, they said.

She was undergoing treatment at the Orange City Hospital and Research Centre, located around 75 km from Wardha. "Doctors at the hospital declared her dead at 6.55 am today," Hinganghat's police inspector Satyaveer Bandiwar said.

The woman sustained deep burn injuries on scalp, face, right upper limb, left hand, upper back, neck and eyes along with severe inhalational injuries, the hospital said in a medical bulletin on Monday. She died of "septicemic shock" after suffering from deep dermal burns along with severe inhalational injuries, respiratory distress and related complications, it said.

Around 4 am on Monday, her oxygen levels deteriorated inspite of ventilator support, coupled with decreasing urine output and reduction in blood pressure, the hospital said.

As part of immediate resuscitation measures, medicines were escalated to maintain the blood pressure and all feasible steps were taken to improve the oxygen levels in blood, but the patient remained "extremely critical", it said. "Around 6.30 am, she had bradycardia and inspite of prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the patient could not be revived and was declared dead at 6.55 am," it said.

The probable cause of death was "septicemic shock", the bulletin added.

During her treatment, she underwent tracheostomy (creating an opening in neck to place a tube into the windpipe to allow air to enter the lungs), burn dressings, debridement and escharotomies, the hospital informed. Debridement is a medical procedure to remove dead, damaged or infected tissue, while escharotomy is a surgical procedure used to treat full-thickness (third-degree) circumferential burns.

The woman's parents and uncle were kept informed about her deteriorating health condition and death, the hospital said, adding that the body was later handed over to police for postmortem and other formalities.

After the woman's condition deteriorated, the hospital informed about her critical status to Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, Wardha Guardian Minister Sunil Kedar, Nagpur Divisional Commissioner Sanjeev Kumar, Police Commissioner Bhushan Kumar Upadhyay, Wardha Collector Vivek Bhimanwar and Wardha Superintendent of Police Basavraj Teli.

Heavy security was deployed in Hinganghat to avoid any law and order problem following her death, the police said. Several locals, mostly women and college students, took out a march in Wardha city last Thursday, demanding death penalty for the accused.

Home Minister Anil Deshmukh visited the hospital on Tuesday and announced that the accused's trial would be fast-tracked. The state government last week flew Navi Mumbai-based National Burns Centre director Sunil Keswani to Nagpur to supervise the woman's treatment. It has also appointed well-known lawyer Ujjwal Nikam as special public prosecutor in the case.

According to the victim's relatives, Nagrale, who was arrested within hours of the incident on 3 February, had been harassing her for quite some time. Nagrale and the woman were friends till two years ago when she severed ties with him due to his "irrational behaviour", the police earlier said.

A special team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Trupti Jadhav will probe the case, the Wardha Police said last week.
Simmering tension between Ankara and the regime of Bashar al-Assad over the fate of Syrias northwest Idlib province threatened to escalate on Monday, following an attack on Turkish forces that left five soldiers dead and prompted retaliation against the pro-Damascus forces.

Five Turkish military personnel were also injured in the initial attack, at an outpost in the town of Taftanaz, on the northwest outskirts of Idlib city. Video posted online showed a military helicopter transporting the wounded to a state hospital in Turkeys Hatay province, which borders Idlib.

The confrontation came one week after Syrian forces killed eight Turks at an observation post in the rebel-held northwest province, which has been pummelled for months by the Assad regime and Russian airstrikes and artillery.

Turkish units responded by intensively shelling the Syrian targets, local media cited military officials as saying, without detailing casualty estimates. A monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, described relentless rocket fire by Turkey and its Syrian rebel allies, on regime positions.

The attack was retaliated against and avenged with immediate elimination of enemy targets, Fahrettin Altun, communications director for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, wrote on Twitter. The war criminal who ordered this treacherous attack not only targeted Turkey but the whole international community.

The deadly clashes between Turkish and Syrian forces in Idlib province comes as Assads forces, backed by Russian and Iranian fire and manpower, attempt to consolidate their hold over the country after a nine-year civil conflict which has left hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced but ultimately leaves the Damascus regime in power.

Syrian regime bombards Idlib Show all 23 1 /23 Syrian regime bombards Idlib Syrian regime bombards Idlib Members of the Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, recover a wounded boy from the rubble of a building following a regime air strike on a vegetable market in Syria's last major opposition bastion of Idlib AFP via Getty Syrian regime bombards Idlib The regime air strikes killed at least nine civilians, striking bustling areas of Idlib city AFP via Getty Syrian regime bombards Idlib An injured woman waits to receive treatment at a makeshift hospital AFP via Getty Syrian regime bombards Idlib Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, searching through the rubble of a building AFP via Getty Syrian regime bombards Idlib A Syrian boy is evacuated AFP via Getty Syrian regime bombards Idlib AFP via Getty Images Syrian regime bombards Idlib The wreckage of a car AFP via Getty Images Syrian regime bombards Idlib A Syrian boy cries as he is evacuated AFP via Getty Images Syrian regime bombards Idlib Rescuers search for survivors EPA Syrian regime bombards Idlib AFP via Getty Images Syrian regime bombards Idlib A Syrian boy grimaces in pain after he was wounded in the airstrikes AP Syrian regime bombards Idlib A Syrian youth stands at the site of a regime air strike in Ariha town AFP via Getty Syrian regime bombards Idlib Rescuers search for survivors under the rubble of a collapsed building EPA Syrian regime bombards Idlib AFP via Getty Syrian regime bombards Idlib Firefighters try to extinguish flames EPA Syrian regime bombards Idlib Emergency services look for survivors AP Syrian regime bombards Idlib AP Syrian regime bombards Idlib A boy wounded in airstrikes is treated in a hospital AP Syrian regime bombards Idlib Syrian White Helmet civil defense workers extinguish a burning car Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP Syrian regime bombards Idlib A Syrian walks on the rubble of a building AFP via Getty Syrian regime bombards Idlib AP Syrian regime bombards Idlib AP Syrian regime bombards Idlib AP

The relentless Syrian regime offensive, which has allegedly targeted schools and hospitals, has prompted hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee their homes and flock to the Turkish border.

On Sunday, Syrian regime helicopters dropped barrel bombs targeting civil defence centres, clinics, a police outpost and a school in Atareb, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, a monitoring group. The United Nations said on Monday that more than 100,000 people in Idlib have fled their homes in the past week alone amid a cold snap that has brought temperatures to below freezing, bringing to 700,000 the number of Syrians who have been displaced in the province since 1 December.

With this cold front weve had a lot of trouble addressing peoples needs, said Amany Qaddour, Turkey-based regional director for Syria Relief and Development, an aid group. Weve had to move healthcare facilities. There really are not enough medical staff to treat various conditions, because the medical workers are themselves being displaced. People have virtually no protection. People are on the move and the lucky ones maybe have a tent or some structure. Others are just exposed to the elements.

Turkey, Russia and Iran began hammering out a deal for Syrias north as part of the so-called Astana process which began in 2017. Turkey, which serves as the main patron of Assads opponents, set up a dozen observation points throughout Idlib to maintain various ceasefires.

People are on the move and the lucky ones maybe have a tent or some structure. Others are just exposed to the elements. Amany Qaddour, Syria Relief and Development

During military operations called Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch, Turkey carved out zones of influence in northern and northwest Syria where it hopes to relieve domestic political pressure by resettling some refugees.

But from the beginning, Russia has given its client Syria the diplomatic and military cover to violate repeated truces meant to protect civilians.

The folding of rebel defences in Idlib and the seizure of key highways by the regime could foil those plans, flooding those areas with newly displaced people that will make them unsustainable, and potentially destabilise Turkey.

The problem is when the Russians and Turks entered talks in 2017, Turkeys role was always to negotiate the terms of the surrender of the opposition, said Aaron Stein, Middle East director at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a Washington think tank. Theyre clever enough to call it something else.

Facing the prospect of being forced to absorb millions of Syrians escaping Idlib on top of at least 3.5 million refugees already settled in the country, Turkey finds itself backed into a corner. Talks with Russians in Ankara were continuing over the weekend. Irans foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday offered up Tehrans readiness to facilitate dialogue among brother neighbours Turkey and Syria.

But Russia has also been bolstering Assads forces with air power and heavy military equipment, and Iranian-backed militias that once confined their activities to southern and central Syria have been reportedly taking part in the Idlib offensive.

Mr Erdogan demanded on 5 February that Syrian forces withdraw beyond Turkish observation posts by the end of the month, warning of a potential military offensive if they didnt. But with Russian controlling the skies over much of Syria, theres very little Turkey can do without risking the Kremlins ire.

Now that the regime is on the M5 highway, it risks collapsing everything, said Mr Stein. Where are you going to put 2 million newly displaced people? Everybody Turkey has shoved into those places and those who have taken refuge in those places will move across the border.
What are we to make of American Dirt? On the one hand, its the great American novel about migration weve all been waiting for. Sold for seven figures, hyped to the skies, top of the bestseller list, an Oprah Book Club pick, drawing rapturous praise from celebrity authors, enthusiastically reviewed and compared to Steinbecks The Grapes of Wrath.

Jeanine Cummins has been accused of exploiting the migrant experience. Credit:

American Dirt is both a moral compass and a riveting read, said bestselling author Ann Patchett. I couldnt put it down. Ill never stop thinking about it.

On the other hand, the backlash. Its been attacked as trauma porn, fake-ass social justice literature, a Frankenstein of a book. The US publisher, Flatiron Books, cancelled the author tour due to security concerns and also made significant concessions after a visit from some of the most vocal critics.

Why such a polarised reception? The story is about a Mexican mother and son who try to escape to the US after a drug cartel massacres their family. The author, Jeanine Cummins, gave a sincere and moving interview to my colleague Melanie Kembrey in these pages about her long journey in writing the book. She said her goal was only to redeem the humanity of migrants, to tell a story of singular individuals separate from their representation as a faceless brown mass.
New Delhi, Feb 10 : Outsiders were involved in the alleged sexual molestation during the annual cultural fest at Delhi University's all-women Gargi College last week and not students, Parliament was told on Monday.

Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' made the statement in the Lok Sabha while replying to the query of Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi during Question Hour. The Congress leader also called for action, noting that sexual harassment and bullying were common occurrences in several higher educational institutions.

"It has come to our notice that those involved in the incident were outsiders and not the students. But what happened was not right. The college administration has been asked to look into it," Pokhriyal said.

The Minister's statement came in the wake of allegations of several students that hundreds of men entered the college campus on February 6 during a third day of the college fest, 'Reverie' and groped and molested the women students.

The Delhi Police has registered a first information report in the case regarding the incident.

Students of Gargi College have said that this was not the first time they faced harassment during their college fest but similar incidents took place last year too during the fest.

Meanwhile, both the National Commission of Women (NCW) and Delhi Commission of Women (DCW) visited the college campus on Monday and met the students. The DCW also summoned the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) and the Principal of Gargi College, asking them to personally appear before it at 2 p.m. on February 13.
- Founder of the Ghana Union Movement (GUM), Rev Christian Kwabena Andrew has, hinted that he would legalize illegal mining activities in the country should he win election 2020

- He said legalizing galamsey would benefit both licensed and unlicensed operators to ensure everyone interested in mining has the liberty to do so

Our manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

The head pastor of the Assembly Worship Centre and founder of the Ghana Union Movement (GUM), Rev Christian Kwabena Andrew said it was worrying that although Ghana had been blessed with abundant natural resources including gold, diamond, bauxite and manganese, those resources had been poorly managed by successive leaders.

Wading into the brouhaha surrounding the illegal mining menace, he said it was evident that the government had failed to deal with the canker.

He said the GUM would take bold steps to streamline the activities in the small-scale mining sector and give opportunities to all people to mine sustainably.

Osofo Kyiri Abosom, as he is popularly known, made this known while speaking at the launch of his partys constitution and 2020 manifesto.launch in Accra

READ ALSO: Good innovation: Nana Ama McBrown throws weight behind man selling Hisense coconut

When Im voted into power, small scale mining will be free for everyone to put money into everybodys pocket. For the gold, we will continue mining so far as the ground permits he declared.

According to a report by MyNewsGh, he said streamlining small scale mining would benefit both licensed and unlicensed operators to ensure everyone interested in mining has the liberty to do so.

Rev. Andrew added that long-serving prisoners, under his presidency, would be released with the exception of those locked up for murder charges.

READ ALSO: The identity of government official in Airbus scandal unnecessary - NDC

In other news, the General Secretary for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), John Boadu, has stated that the track record of the National Democratic Congress(NDC) on corruption is unmatched.

According to John Boadu, the NDC is the only political party in the history of Ghana that has recorded some of the mind-lowing corruption cases while in government.

He made this known while speaking in an interview on Accra-based Kingdom FM in reaction to claims by the NDC that the current NPP government is corrupt.

READ ALSO: NPP's John Boadu makes serious accusation; says NDC is the most corrupt party

Mathew Anim Cudjoe showered with money after Hearts - Kotoko game in Accra | #Yencomgh

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Source: YEN.com.gh
Massive Fire Impacts Vinyl Record Production Worldwide

A massive fire last week at the 15,000 square foot Apollo Master Discs manufacturing plant will effect vinyl record manufacturing worldwide.

Apollo is one of only two companies worldwide that manufacture the lacquered discs used to make the masters used to manufacture vinyl records.

There were multiple reports of explosions when the fire started, California Fire Captain Fernando Herrera told the Palm Springs, CA Desert Sun. There wasnt anyone spot you could say wasnt on fire.

It is with great sadness we report the Apollo Masters manufacturing and storage facility had a devastating fire and suffered catastrophic damage. Apollo Master Discs said in a statement. The best news is all of our employees are safe. We are uncertain of our future at this point and are evaluating options as we try to work through this difficult time.

A Global Problem

From my understanding, this fire will present a problem for the vinyl industry worldwide, Ben Blackwell, co-founder of Third Man Records told Pitchfork. There are only TWO companies that make lacquers in the world, and the other, MDC in Japan, already had trouble keeping up with demand BEFORE this development.

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SPRINGFIELD  Catherine Glennon never expected that the pain and numbness she felt in her right foot would kickstart a two year-plus journey that would culminate with the birth of her second child  and be immediately followed by open heart surgery.

But thanks to the staff at Baystate Medical Centers Midwifery & Womens Health, a rheumatologist and the hospitals Division of Cardiac Surgery, what could have developed into a potentially life-threatening situation for both the Springfield mother and child was successfully averted.

Before I was pregnant with my second child, I started having outrageous pain in my right foot. It started suddenly one day. I was on an elliptical machine at the YMCA and felt a sharp pain. I spent the summer before last going to doctors trying to figure out what it was, said Glennon. I ended up with a rheumatologist because they thought it was an autoimmune disorder called 'Takayasu Arteritis,' a disease that inflames some arteries and can move to any place in your body.

But this initial diagnosis was the first of many surprises for Glennon, a teacher and mother of one with no history of health issues.

In October 2018, I found out I was expecting a baby. But talking to my OB'GYN, I learned that Takayasu Arteritis could create complications with my pregnancy, said Glennon.

As a result, Glennon said that her midwife at Baystate Midwifery Womens Health recommended that she meet with one of Baystate Medical Centers maternal fetal medicine specialists, Dr. Diana Rodriguez.

I had planned to chaperone my son's school trip to Italy. Dr. Rodriguez assured me I would be fine. She said that when I got back, I should get an echocardiogram as an extra precaution because the disease could cause heart problems, said Glennon.

From the moment she was referred to the waiting room instead of being sent home after undergoing her echocardiogram, Glennon said she suspected something wasn't quite right.

I got a little nervous when I was referred to the waiting room. Then, a whole team of OB'GYN specialists  and cardiologists  told me the news, she said.

Glennon said it was Dr. Andrew Healy, a high risk perinatologist from Baystate Maternal Fetal Medicine, who broke the news: doctors discovered she had an atrial myxoma  a noncancerous tumor of the heart  that would need to be removed as soon as possible.

We agreed that a C-section would be safer. A natural birth would put strain on my heart, said Glennon. They scheduled the C-section for the next morning, June 1, and my son, Quinn, was born at just under six pounds and healthy, but needing to spend a week at the NICU so his lungs could further develop.

With Quinn safe, Glennon said her attention turned toward her own upcoming procedure  open heart surgery to remove the tumor  which she said was miles beyond any medical procedure she has ever experienced in her life.

I had only been hospitalized for my first child birth and my only surgery was a tonsillectomy. It was zero to sixty, she said.

Glennon was then seen by Dr. David Deaton, a cardiac surgeon with the hospital's Heart & Vascular Program, who explained the surgery and worked to alleviate the many fears that she had.

As these tumors grow, pieces can break off or form a clot that breaks off. They're considered fairly urgent to address. Sometimes they can get so big they can obstruct the blood flow, said Deaton, a veteran surgeon who will reach his 30th year at the hospital in July 2020.

We try to take these out acutely and urgently. When they present, they do have a tendency to become apparent during pregnancy. It can present a concern around the mother's health, the fetus's health; sometimes we have to tailor the treatment to the situation, he said.

Deaton said that while the surgery is considered to be low-risk, conducting such a procedure on a woman carrying a child  especially so late in her term  wasn't even an option.

To remove a myxoma, you have to go on a heart/lung machine that circulates blood outside the body. It keeps the body alive by diverting blood that would go to the heart outside of the heart. It requires an incision right down the middle of the chest and a week in the hospital, he said.

Deaton continued, A myxoma oftentimes does occur in people who are younger and oftentimes they don't have any other diseases. So, the surgery itself isn't as risky as other operations we do; but open heart surgery has its own spectrum of risks. It's more risky than, say, having a hernia removed, but with open heart surgery, the chance of dying is one percent.

Most importantly, however, Deaton noted what would have happened if doctors had not discovered the tumor.

The risk that a person faces is substantial if we didn't perform surgery. Most people would have a stroke. In fact, myxomas are typically found because somebody has had a particular event, such as a stroke and we go to see where the clot came from. Other times, somebody gets an echocardiogram for some reason, and low and behold, there's a myxoma and no symptoms deferrable to it.

Such was the case with Glennon, according to Deaton.

Post-surgery, Glennon said shes grateful to say that life is back to normal  a new normal  that benefits her whole family.

The surgery went very, very well. They removed the tumor. The days after my surgery were very painful and humbling. But the nurses at Baystate were the most incredible people. I have so much respect for the people who were with me; especially the nurses I grew to have daily experience with, over and over, she said.

Glennon said that she was back home less than a week after the procedure and quickly noticed that something simply felt different.

I didn't know how exhausting having a heart tumor was. I've always been an energetic person. I didn't realize I didn't feel well to begin with, she said. I had a three-month recovery period before I could drive. I had summer break to recover and started teaching at a new school at the beginning of the school year.

Glennon continued, The perspective change  to be able to step back from things and put them into a big picture like I haven't been able to before  has been a big change. My son, he's the best older brother out there. If I didn't get pregnant with Quinn, doctors may never have found my heart tumor, she said.

And regarding her treatment at Baystate, Glennon said she never considered seeking treatment anywhere else.

I honestly didnt think of going anywhere else. My parents live right over the line in Chicopee. I loved that my husband (Tom) and son could stay there with me. They were phenomenal throughout all this. My husband was a rockstar. My parents, too. We lived with them for the month of June  with our 8-year-old and dog, too, she said. It was great to have the support. I wouldnt have been able to do that if I went to Boston.
The chairperson of the Syrian Democratic Council has expressed her willingness to enter into negotiations with the regime to discuss the Self-Administration areas writes Asharq Al-Awsat.

Ilham Ahmed, the chairperson of the executive body of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), said that Damascus has agreed, through Russian mediation, to start political negotiations, and the possibility of forming a high committee tasked with discussing the laws on local administration in Syria and the administrative structure of the Self-Administration of northeastern Syria.

Ahmed said in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat that meetings had been held with a Russian delegate at the Hemeimeem base, and that, the Russian delegate was commissioned by the Russian Foreign Ministry after meetings were held with all parties in northeastern Syria, including leaders of Kurdish parties and Arab and Christian figures, at the end of last year. Therefore, our meeting last week was a continuation of the first meeting. 

In response to a question, she said that the Hemeimeem meetings were lengthy and, included a set of questions in the first session, the most prominent of which was how to develop dialogue, and whether or not we are part of this dialogue or not, and within which framework these dialogues would be completed. She added: We are still discussing the first stages of the process of discussions with the Syrian government. Transferring the dialogue to serious discussions requires setting an agenda and an action plan to discuss its details through specialized committees.

Ahmed indicated that the Russians are, serious about playing the role of mediator and guarantor of the political process, and launching talks with the government, and pledged to pressure it to accept a comprehensive settlement, and promised to translate these promises into action in the coming days. She added: After discussions ended in Hemeimeem, we traveled to Damascus the next day, and met with Major General Ali Mamlouk (head of the National Security Office), and had a meeting in the presence of the Russian envoy.

She said: I am waiting for these words to be converted into actions, which will be accomplished by practical steps, and the launch of a comprehensive dialogue to determine the fate of the Syrian people and an area which is part of the Syrian state, while addressing urgent national issues, and dealing with them in a spirit of responsibility, and not in the spirit of hostility or betting on a military solution. From time to time we hear the language of threat and intimidation from senior Syrian officials and that if we do not accept dialogue, they will come with weapons. I say that these thorny issues must be addressed through dialogue, keeping the region away from the spectre of war, and protecting children who have suffered from the actions of terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State, the al-Nusra Front and the pro-Turkish factions.

In response to a question, Ahmed said: We are always ready for negotiations, whether in Geneva or directly with the government, and so we have worked on a draft constitution, and other specialized committees, and we have a clear vision for the solution. Dialogue can take place around issues that are simple and easy in order to open the way towards resolving complex issuesbut the issue of the rights of nationalities remains above constitutionalism, and will remain on the table continuously, in all places. She added that the location of the dialogue is not important. What matters is that there is a settlement that satisfies the Syrian people, and meets the aspirations for the desired change.

She noted that the meeting with the Syrian government did not address the issue of natural resources, and, of course it is an issue that has a major role in influencing the negotiating process, and we believe it is necessary to hold back on it now until we reach a political map for the solution in Syria as a whole. She said that the topic of the Syrian Democratic Forces is a military issue, discussed by the leaders and military officials from the forces. In the event of that a comprehensive agreement is reached, these forces will be part of the defense and protection of the state. But as for defining its role and areas of deployment and the form of its involvement, it is too early to go into details until we hear the government side and its perception on these issues.

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.
Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia:

The Canadian investment giant Brookfield Asset Management said it raised US$20 billion for a massive new fund dedicated to infrastructure, exceeding its $17 billion target and the $14 billion it raised for its previous infrastructure fund, which closed in July 2016.

The Toronto-based company with over $540 billion of assets under management says it put $5-billion into the Brookfield Infrastructure Fund IV (BIF IV) itself, and raised the remainder from 170 institutional investors, including pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, and other investors.

Investors in Fund IV include the: $215.4 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund, Albany; $157.6 billion Texas Teacher Retirement System, Austin; Oregon Investment Council, Tigard, which oversees the investments of the $81 billion Oregon Public Employees' Retirement System, Salem; $26 billion New Mexico State Investment Council, Santa Fe; and $11.4 billion Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System, Baton Rouge among others.

Approximately 75% of the third-party capital came from existing Brookfield investors, highlighting Brookfield's focus on building long-term relationships with its limited partners.

Brookfield's commitment will be funded through Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and Brookfield Renewable Partners.

Sam Pollock, Head of Brookfield's Infrastructure Group, said: "The strong level of support we have received from investors reflects ......................

To view our full article Click here
A Bexar County jail inmate who claimed to have possibly been exposed to the novel coronavirus has been quarantined in a special cell out of an abundance of caution, Sheriff Javier Salazar said Sunday.

The 49-year-old man, whom Salazar did not identify, was booked early Sunday on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and assault-family violence. The man was not granted bail.

RELATED: None of the 91 evacuees quarantined at JBSA-Lackland are showing signs of coronavirus

He told deputies he had been working as a contractor in the days before his arrest and came into contact with people who had been quarantined for coronavirus, Salazar said.

That scenario actually seems pretty unrealistic from what we're hearing, the sheriff said. Since the claim was made, we want to make sure that were acting appropriately.

University Health System officials examined the man, and Salazar said its more likely the inmate has the flu or a cold.

Jail officials have isolated him in a negative pressure cell that prevents any contaminated air from spreading to other parts of the building. He will remain there until doctors give him clearance to move elsewhere.

Also Sunday, the city of San Antonio said several Bexar County residents, as a precaution, are self-quarantined in their homes after returning from China.

Since Friday, 91 evacuees from China have been quarantined in a hotel on San Antonio Joint Base-Lackland base. No one in Bexar County has been diagnosed with the illness.

Twelve cases have been reported in the U.S. and 40,000 people have been diagnosed globally. The death toll has climbed to more than 900.
It takes a lot of preparation, prefabrication and people. The Chinese have all of this.

It's hard to find much information about Huoshenshan Hospital, the modular marvel that was assembled in Wuhan in seven days, but it is a pretty amazing project. A lot of headlines say it was built in seven days, but that's not quite accurate; these modules take a lot longer to build and were likely in storage somewhere.

It was evidently modeled after Beijing's Xiaotangshan Hospital, built in 2003 for the SARS outbreak, but they have assembled the blocks differently; "but according to CNN's source, who asked not to be named due to the project's sensitivity, the design itself could not be copied like for like." It has one thousand beds in its 600,000 square feet.

 Huoshenshan Hospital/ Getty Images

I have often written that shipping containers make terrible buildings, but that the important innovation was the standardization of the corner castings and the dimensions so that it could be transported quickly and cheaply; so in this case shipping container-sized modules make sense. Others agree. Structural engineer Thorsten Helbig tells Quartz:

Because units are assembled under the controlled environment of a factory, designers and builders can troubleshoot any problems and make sure all the modular blocks work together before theyre even brought in. Traditional building, on the other hand, is reliant on weather conditions and the choreography of various contractors who work on different aspects of a project. Today, hotel chains from Citizen M and Marriott to KPMGs newly opened corporate retreat in Florida incorporate pre-fab parts in their build-out plan.

 Huoshenshan Hospital/ Getty Images

But that is not what they did here; they are putting it all together on site rather than shipping completed rooms, much like my beloved Kenner girder and panel building set from my childhood. This is something altogether different, a weird hybrid of prefabricated components that they build into modules on site.

 Huoshenshan Hospital/ Getty Images

In the photo above you can see the farthest to the rear, just frames and roofs, then as you move to the foreground, there are wall panels, and then in the immediate foreground, windows are installed. It seems odd, prefabricating the frames and then doing the rest on site like this.

What seems to make this kind of project feasible is the availability of labor; seven thousand tradespeople worked around the clock to assemble this project. This is often more important than the building technology; after I was extolling the wonders of Broad Sustainable Buildings to Dennis Poon, Vice President of Thornton Thomasetti, he noted that the reason they could build a hotel in seven days was less the technology and more the vast number of people they threw at the project, all working around the clock.

Oscar Holland and Alexandra Lin of CNN explain how it will work as a hospital.

This layout could reflect that wings of differing levels of contagiousness, for instance, are being isolated from one another to prevent cross-infection. They would also, ideally, be divided from central areas by disinfection facilities, [emergency medicine physician Dr. Solomon] Kuah said  especially if doctors are working across different groups of patients.

 Huoshenshan Hospital/ Getty Images

Ventilation is obviously going to be a big deal with a virus floating around, so all the rooms are under negative pressure. This means that air flows into rooms, rather than out into the corridor, much like most apartment buildings which have pressurized corridors in order for smells to stay in apartments. You can see here that they are even installing the ducts outside of the entire building, to avoid any chance of virus leaking out, although this could also be because there isn't much ceiling height to put them inside.

 Huoshenshan Hospital/ Getty Images

There is even an airlock in each hospital room so that stuff can be passed through, and double-sided cabinets so supplies can be delivered without entering the room.

 Huoshenshan Hospital/ Getty Images

This is not exactly sustainable design. All those double columns are impossible to seal properly and these wall panels look like solid polyurethane foam with a thin layer of sheet metal on either side. I hope this place never has a fire. But then it doesn't look like it's built to last.

The most remarkable thing about this hospital is not that it was assembled in seven days, but that they had all the components ready to go, given that the government didn't even acknowledge that there was a problem until early January. I wonder if the American and Canadian governments are as well prepared.
Tara Harriel went to Jackson Hospital in Montgomery for a fractured finger in 2018. A state worker with health insurance, she believed that everything was covered. It mostly was, except for $150 she said she didnt realize she still owed.

She was surprised when someone from the sheriffs office served her with a lawsuit at work. I received no communication from Jackson Hospital, she said.

Harriel was among at least 1,302 Alabamians sued last year by Jackson Hospital, which filed lawsuits against the most patients of any non-profit hospital in Alabama in 2019 according to a records search by AL.com. Jackson sued at least a half dozen for less than $200.

As a non-profit hospital, Jackson has obligations to provide charity care for needy patients in exchange for tax exemption. Yet non-profit hospitals in the United States have few specific requirements for the level of charity care they must provide or how aggressively they pursue debt collections, leading to a wide range of outcomes.

Harriels mother works at Jackson Hospital, and she had her first child there. At the time she was sued by Jackson, Harriel was recovering from a house fire. She was staying in a temporary rental that turned out to be a nightmare.

I had no air, no heat. The roof was leaking. The windows was busted out, she said. Harriel went to court against her landlord and ended up being evicted. When she found out she was being sued by Jackson, it felt like too much. I actually almost had a nervous breakdown. I actually had to go get something for anxiety because I was just so stressed out."

She said she called the office of George Wakefield, attorney for Jackson Hospital, to work out a payment plan.

Tara Harriel was sued by Jackson Hospital for $150.

I said, Well, actually I'm in the process of rebuilding my life, me and my son actually don't have anywhere to live, she told them. Wakefield declined to comment for the story.

They were rude. They were not understanding. They didnt care about the things that I had gone through, she said.

Some Alabama Hospitals Sue more than others

While Jackson may have sued more patients in 2019 than other non-profit hospitals in Alabama, it is not alone in turning to the courts to collect on unpaid bills. Jackson Hospital did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Hospitals in states that expanded Medicaid see fewer patients without compensation. But in Alabama, a state that did not expand Medicaid, some hospitals face increasing financial challenges and even risk closure.

According to Donald Williamson, president of the Alabama Hospital Association, hospitals in the state provide more than $500 million dollars in uncompensated care each year, and 75 percent operate at a loss.

The mission of hospitals is to provide high quality care, but they cant survive without being paid for their services, he said.

In 2015, ProPublica found Southeast Alabama Medical Center (SAMC) in Dothan sued over 4,000 patients in three years, at times garnishing their paychecks and wiping out their bank accounts. It also required its patients to sign a waiver giving up financial protections from debt collectors established under state law. SAMC did not respond to requests for comment.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW

Dale Medical Center in Ozark filed 656 lawsuits in 2018, about half as many lawsuits as the number of patients it discharged by September of that year according to public records and to data shared with Alabama Media Group by Definitive Healthcare. The hospital did not respond to requests for an interview.

Jackson Hospital may be among those facing financial strain. The hospital reported negative $10.4 million revenue in its most recent filing from 2017.

Nationally, non-profit hospitals have come under scrutiny for suing patients, a practice some healthcare advocates say is at odds with a charity mission. But industry representatives point out that hospitals provide billions of dollars of uncompensated care.

As a field, we will always continue to look for new and more effective ways to work with patients who need help understanding their bills or meeting their financial obligations for the care they receive, said Melinda Hatton, General Counsel for the American Hospital Association, in a statement.

University of Illinois College of Law Professor John Colombo says, in general, there are few specific IRS requirements for charity care.

This notion of... the hospital as a place where, you know, you serve the poorest of the poor, that really has gone out the window, he said.

Wages Garnished

Monique Davis went to Jackson Hospital when her ovaries burst in 2017.

Davis believed her insurance had covered her visit, but a few months later, her boss said someone from the sheriffs office was at their office to serve her with a wage garnishment for a quarter of her paycheck.

Embarrassed, Davis learned Jackson Hospital was suing her for $250 in unpaid medical bills and an $83 attorneys fee, plus $18.75 in interest, not including court costs.

The lawsuit came at a difficult time in her life. Her 10-year-old son Jamari had recently committed suicide after being bullied for being a dancer. Since then, she said, life has been a painful blur.

I felt like my whole world had just stopped. I still feel that way to this day. I feel like I'm in a twilight zone. Im numb. I tell people when he died that night, part of me died.

She considered filing for bankruptcy until her older son offered to help. Since then she has been garnished twice by Jackson Hospital for visits in 2016 and 2017 and once by an anesthesiologist.

Now Davis tells people she wont go to Jackson.

My motto is, something happens to me, let me just die on the floor. Do not take me to Jackson. Take me somewhere else, she said.

At Baptist Medical Center East, another non-profit hospital that operates in Montgomery, Davis had trouble paying a bill around the same time. She called and was able to work out a payment plan.

Monique Davis says she won't go back to Jackson Hospital.

Charity policies range widely

Legal Services Alabama Attorney Farah Majid works with clients sued by hospitals. She worries lawsuits are a deterrent to patients getting care.

I'm not going to go to the ER because I'm going to end up with a bill for tens of thousands of dollars that I can't pay, she said, imagining the rationale.

People should be able to, you know, receive health care and protect their health without fear of going bankrupt, she added.

According to the Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C. based policy group, 21 percent of Alabamians have medical debt in collections.

Majid says she believes hospitals can do more to explain the billing process and let patients know about their charity care policies.

Jacksons policy is to hand out financial assistance applications to all patients at discharge. Neither Harriel nor Davis say they were aware that Jackson offered financial assistance, and likely neither would have qualified.

Majid says, in general, few patients read the fine print.

Hundreds of times (clients) say I didn't even know these people had sued me. Now my wages are being garnished.

Jackson Hospital has the highest bar to qualify for financial assistance among Alabama non-profit hospitals reviewed by Alabama Media Group.

For patients with insurance, Jackson offers financial help to those earning below 100 percent of the poverty level, or $12,490 for a single person. Jackson discounts self-paying patients bills at 78 percent.

In contrast, most non-profit hospitals in Alabama offer financial assistance to insured patients making less than two or three times the federal poverty level. That means anyone with an annual salary from $24,980 to $37,470 for a single person may qualify.

Do no harm

In Memphis, a Methodist hospital decided to change its practices last year following media reports.

Jenifer Bosco at the National Consumer Law Center says suing patients is antithetical to the mission of non-profit hospitals.

People in the medical profession are supposed to, you know, at the very least do no harm. And this is kind of compounding the harm that people already have from unaffordable medical debts, she said

Bosco questions how much hospitals like Jackson actually profit from collection suits for small amounts compared to the attorney suing on their behalf and collecting fees.

At least one non-profit hospital in Alabama has improved communication and decreased collections lawsuits in recent years.

DCH Health System in Tuscaloosa filed around 1,450 small claims suits in 2014. In 2019, that number was down to about 376, according to a search of Alabama court records.

Spokesman Andy North says the hospital attributes the drop to a new education strategy. When patients are admitted, hospital staff tell them what to expect.

Where possible, this process has included an estimate of the cost of anticipated services, estimated insurance contribution and a request for payment of items such as copays at the time of service, he said in an e-mail.

In contracts patients sign to receive care, DCH describes in bold letters that it offers financial assistance and lists a phone number for patients to call.

Non-profit hospitals in Alabama sue at varying rates

Under revised 2015 IRS rules, non-profit hospitals are required to determine patients financial ability to pay before pursuing aggressive collection tactics. They are also required to verbally notify patients before they file a lawsuit.

Harriel says she wishes Jackson Hospital would have tried harder to reach her, perhaps by phone or e-mail, before suing. She says she would have preferred to pay Jackson directly without the added $116.56 in attorneys fees and $82 in court costs.

Having 25 percent of her wages garnished for several weeks threw Harriel behind financially.

The judgment against her hurt her credit, which she was trying to rebuild. She ended up refinancing her car to cover her expenses.

Theres nothing you can do. Once its filed, its filed, she said of her garnishment. Allow me to pay that (bill) before you take 25 percent of my check.
WOOD RIVER  Riverbend Family Ministries executive board members have voted in the nonprofit organization, Sleep In Heavenly Peace (SHP), as part of the RFM Community Center.

SHP is a national organization that is a group of volunteers dedicated to building, assembling and delivering top-notch bunk beds to children and families in need. The Alton-Illinois Chapter will now have office space downtown Wood River in RFMs building.

We believe a bed is a basic need for the proper physical, emotional and mental well-being for a child, said Jason Brunaugh, Sleep in Heavenly Peace Alton-Illinois Chapter President. Our mission of, No Kid Sleeps on the Floor in our Town, will help meet the demand of so many local families in need of a bed for their children.

I love that we are now part of the RFM team, said Brunaugh. The opportunity to occupy a space in their new location is a blessing in so many ways.

The collaboration comes as Riverbend Family Ministries is preparing to move into a new location right across the street from its current downtown Wood River building.

We are so excited to announce that the SHP team has joined our family, said Riverbend Family Ministries Executive Director, Tammy Iskarus. They will work hard to provide not only bunk-beds, but also the mattresses and all bedding to those in need.

We are blessed to have them serving side by side in the same building with the other great organizations as we work to bring hope and light to our families in need, Iskarus said.

For more details, visit SHPs website at www.shpbeds.org.
Buttigieg awarded the most delegates from Iowa Caucus; Sanders a close second

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Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg was awarded the most national delegates from the Iowa Democratic Caucus, confirmed the state party after reviewing results from some of the precincts.

Held last Monday, results for the Iowa Caucus have been complicated by problems chiefly centered on a newly released mobile app.

Following a review of 55 of the 1,765 precincts, or 3 percent of the precincts, the party announced on Sunday that they were allotting 14 national delegates to Buttigieg, 12 to U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, 8 to U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, 6 to former Vice President Joe Biden, and 1 to U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.

Prior to reporting the totals, the IDP shared with each campaign the analysis of the submissions and any resulting corrections, explained the Iowa Democratic Party.

Corrections were made when the reported precinct numbers were inconsistent with the precincts official results, as signed by the precinct chair, secretary, and representatives of presidential campaigns.

Results for the first-in-the-nation state contest for the Democratic presidential candidates were delayed due to technical problems associated with a mobile app used to record the votes.

The app was developed by Shadow Inc., a Democratic tech firm whose leadership has ties to the 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign.

Shadow was paid around $63,000 by the state Democratic Party for the app, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

Due to the complications, results for the precincts were released by piecemeal. Last Tuesday, with 62 percent of precincts reporting, Buttigieg led with 26.9 percent on state delegate equivalents, followed by Sanders with 25.1 percent.

Last Thursday, with 97 percent reporting, Buttigieg's advantage over Sanders narrowed, with him having 26.2 percent while Sanders had 26.1 percent, according to The Hill.

By the time 100 percent of precincts had reported, Buttigieg maintained his narrow lead over Sanders. However, the senator from Vermont had won the popular vote.

Buttigieg celebrated the first reported result last week, stating that "nothing can take away what happened on Monday, just an extraordinary moment for the movement that we have built."

Speaking at a press conference last week regarding the possibility of a review of the results, Sanders did not believe much would change about the results.

What I expect will most definitely happen is that Mr. Buttigieg and I will end up with the same amount of delegates  11 now, each probably a little bit more, stated Sanders, as reported by the Washington Examiner.

That's what will happen, ain't going to change, and what certainly is not going to change is the fact that in terms of the popular vote, we won a decisive victory.

The next statewide contest will be the New Hampshire Primary, the first primary in the nation, which will be held on Tuesday.

According to an average of polls by RealClearPolitics accessed on Monday, Sanders leads the Democratic field with 28.5 percent, followed by Buttigieg with 22 percent, Warren at 12.3 percent, Biden at 11.5 percent and Klobuchar at 11 percent.
A woman has filed a lawsuit after she claims a female TSA agent reached into her clothes and touched her genitals during a screening at a North Carolina airport last summer.

According to the February 4 lawsuit, the plaintiff alleges that an officer for the Transportation Security Administration was effectively sexually assaulting (her) in the middle of an airport.

It also says the defendant, who is only referred to as Robinson, inappropriately touched the plaintiff for the purpose of sexual gratification and/or for the purpose of humiliating, dominating or controlling (the plaintiff).'

The lawsuit has named Robinson and the U.S. government as defendants.

Citizen Times reports that the plaintiff was traveling to Los Angeles, California, through the Asheville Regional Airport in on June 27, 2019, when she was told to submit to a groin search based on her security body scan.

A woman has sued a Transportation Security Administration and the U.S. government after she claims an agent groped her genitals during a screening

The lawsuit says the plaintiff specifically asked if the search involved touching her genitals and profusely denied consent if so.

Robinson reportedly assured her that the search did not, but during a TSA groin search an agent is required to touch individuals genitals.

During screenings, TSA procedures instruct that an agents touch should be limited to sliding and swiping, the plaintiffs lawyers say.

They also note that during the sliding portion, TSA agents slide along the inside of the individuals leg until the hand is met with resistance.

Swiping entails agents using the back of their hands to make swiping motions along the front of the groin.

The plaintiff says she was traveling through Asheville regional Airport when she was instructed to undergo a groin search based on her security body scan

According to TSA website: The officer will advise you of the procedure to help you anticipate any actions before you feel them. Pat-downs require sufficient pressure to ensure detection, and areas may undergo a pat-down more than once for the TSA officer to confirm no threat items are detected.

However, the suit says Robinson insisted the plaintiff spread her legs further than the standard length.

A still picture from AVL security footage shows Robinson conducting the search, including an image showing the plaintiffs legs spread far wider than the yellow footprints, the lawsuit says.

The plaintiff says Robinson said her shorts were particularly short, before she allegedly touched her genitals with the front of her hand and fingertips.

After (the plaintiff) involuntarily flinched as Robinson's hand made contact with her labia, Robinson allegedly said if she resisted, the groin search would be conducted again, the lawsuit says.

No illegal contraband was found, the attorneys wrote.

The plaintiff is said to have immediately filed complaints with both the TSA and airport police, as well as made her claim to the Federal Torte Claims Act against the TSA in September.

By September 26, TSA said they would not acknowledge the claim unless more documentation was provided.

They wrote their organization will not consider the claim without additional documentation for which they were not entitled.

The plaintiffs lawyers have hit back at the dismissal, saying TSAs clear procedures left no room for confusion by employees.

Given clear and unambiguous policy and training to the contrary, no reasonable TSA screener or manager would have thought that they were allowed to put their hands inside the shorts of a traveler to grope the traveler's vulva, nor to use the front of their hands to grab a traveler's intimate areas during a standard body scanner resolution pat down, the attorneys said.

The plaintiff is seeking actual damages for battery, loss of liberty, unconstitutional search, and any emotional damages stemming therefrom in an amount to be determined by a jury, the lawsuit says.

The plaintiff is suing for punitive damages, reasonable attorneys fees and cost of the action, as well as actual damages

She is also seeking punitive damages, reasonable attorneys fees and cost of the action.

This lawsuit comes after the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said travelers can sue the government over TSA screener mistreatment and abuse.

The judges made the decision because TSA agents have jurisdiction to act like law enforcement officers, including when conducting invasive searches.

They also noted that TSA agents wear uniforms with badges, are called officers and hold positions of authority.

The ruling overturned a previous decision from a district court that viewed TSA agents as just screeners who handle passengers and bags.

Despite initial rulings that said airports screenings are not actual searches because passengers consent to it, the appeal judges maintained that being able to explore a persons entire body constitutes as such.

If the previous ruling had stood, according to the judges, travelers would have no ability to take action if they are assaulted, wrongfully detained or accused of fabricated charges.
The global economy faces its worst quarter since the financial crisis as the coronavirus wipes more than 200billion off output worldwide, experts warned.

Analysts at Swiss bank UBS think global growth may stutter to a near-standstill in the first quarter of 2020, as consumers and workers around Asia stay at home and factories and shops are closed.

Consultants at Capital Economics were even more pessimistic, predicting that global economic output would not increase at all in the first quarter of this year for the first time since 2009.

Analysts think global growth may stutter to a near-standstill in the first quarter of 2020, as consumers and workers around Asia stay at home and factories and shops are closed

The research consultancy said: 'Our best guess is that the economic disruption related to the coronavirus will cost the world economy over $280billion [217billion] in the first quarter of this year.

'If we're right, then this will mean that global GDP will not grow in quarter-on-quarter terms for the first time since 2009.'

Originating in Wuhan, China, there have been more than 40,000 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus and more than 900 deaths, mostly in China. Eight cases have been confirmed in the UK.

Although workers were officially required to be back at their posts in China this week, many employers have continued to encourage staff to work from home, and some factories have remained closed as workers refuse to show up.

Tech conference hit by fears A global gathering of the mobile industry is being abandoned by firms over concerns about the deadly coronavirus. Sony and NTT Docomo became the latest to pull out of Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona after Amazon, LG Electronics, Ericsson and Nvidia said they were withdrawing. Meanwhile, Chinese telecoms giant Huawei is only sending a select number of staff from its home country  where the outbreak originated  while domestic rival ZTE has cancelled its press conference. Sony said its decision was linked to the safety and wellbeing of our customers, partners, media and employees. MWC organisers said microphones will be routinely disinfected, attendees encouraged not to shake hands and visitors from China put in a 14-day isolation before the event starts.

And with industrial activity in the world's largest economy paralysed, the ripples are spreading.

Car maker Nissan halted production at its plant in Kyushu, Japan, yesterday after struggling to get parts from China.

Starbucks, Apple and McDonald's have shut down outlets in China, and last week Burberry warned that coronavirus was having a 'material negative effect on luxury demand'.

Shared office provider Wework has closed 100 locations in China and British Airways, which suspended flights to China at the end of January, said yesterday that routes to Shanghai and Beijing would remain grounded until March 31.

Although UBS is forecasting a hefty hit to economic growth in the first quarter of 2020, the bank suggests this will be short and sharp.

But it also expects global growth to bounce back by 4.19 per cent in the third quarter of this year  higher than the 3.07 per cent it had initially forecast  as health authorities around the world get to grips with the virus and businesses try to make up for lost time.

Stock markets around the world have already taken a beating from worries over the coronavirus outbreak, and many were down again yesterday.
By Mark Oshinskie

Conventionally politically engaged people and media outlets typically pay attention to world affairs or mainstream, national, partisan politics. In particular, this cohort focuses almost exclusively on how much they like or dislike various presidential candidates and on which new laws Congress might pass.

State and local governments and courts receive almost no attention. This is regrettable. State and local government and judicial actions can strongly affect many peoples daily lives. Often, these effects, both positive and negative, are experienced more acutely than are the effects of more publicized federal actions.

Further, even when the federal Congress enacts good laws, such federal laws can be nullified when federal, state or local governments fail to enforce these laws, or when courts fail to fairly apply them.

Heres an example.

In 2012, I opted to represent several individuals against their New Jersey municipal government, which was enforcing an unconstitutional ordinance against them. Highland Park had ordered hundreds of its residents, some from lower-incomes, to spend hundreds of dollars to fix the cracked and crooked sidewalks in front of their homes. Those who refused were issued summonses and then fined.

I won an injunction and forced the rescission of all 60 pending summonses, as well as extensive amendment of the unconstitutional municipal law. It was a clear, consequential victory for my clients and many hundreds of other similarly situated people.

But I was not paid a livable wage to do this work. A federal statute, 42 U.S.C. 1988, requires that government entities that violate citizens civil rights must pay the legal fees of those who successfully sue to vindicate citizens civil rights. This law incentivizes attorneys to take civil rights cases.

42 U.S.C. 1988 was also designed to discourage local and state governments from beating up on little guys who cant afford to litigate against the deep-pocketed government. Before I took this case to court, I offered to settle with the town, for no money, if they would only meet with me. Town officials disrespectfully ignored my request to meet, assuming that I wouldnt really work all of the needed hours to litigate in order to vindicate the rights of people who couldnt afford to pay me. I think municipal officials also reasoned that the New Jersey Judiciary wouldnt compensate me fairly if I won.

But I did litigate. And I did win. For the many long days and nights worked, I was compensated with a $10,000 fee, amounting to $25/hour. My adversary, the private law firm that the municipality hired to defend its indefensible position, lost the injunction hearing and four related motions received $80,000, derived from municipal tax dollars.

Before I took this case, citizens and numerous peer attorneys advised me not to take on The System. Attorneys told me they didnt take such cases because they would lose money doing so. While it was satisfying to defeat an unreasonable and dishonest municipal government and its Princeton firm, I worked for a wage scarcely higher than a barista's, and less than most bartenders.

Nothing against baristas but its much harder to get into and through law school, and practice law for 30 years than it is to make lattes or cocktails. And baristas or bartenders dont have to pay for various forms of overhead attendant to doing legal work: tuition, support staff, professional fees, etc.

Therefore, I won't work for one-eighth the wages that the attorneys I defeated were paid to do inferior work and lose. In reaction to the New Jersey courts disrespect for me and the federal law, I stopped representing indigent clients.

Since them, some low-income people have contacted me. I told them that I feel sorry for them but cant afford to invest the hundreds of hours needed to vindicate their rights, only to be paid like a barista. I tell them that the New Jersey courts value bartenders more highly than they value those who protect constitutional rights.

Ultimately, and under the media radar, New Jerseys overrated judiciary is thwarting the federal law that provides low-income people access to the courts.

But no one is watching. Meanwhile, the endless presidential campaign rolls on.

Mark Oshinskie is a retired attorney who lives in Highland Park.

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.
(Natural News) Mere hours after we reported that Chinas capital city, Shanghai, has fallen to the coronavirus pandemic, we are now learning from our Taiwan news sources that Chinas mega-city of Shanghai has also just been placed under strict lock down.

This is now confirmed via Yahoo News Taiwan.

The rough English translation reports:

[T]he Shanghai municipal government also said at a press conference on the prevention and control of the epidemic that most of the citys 13,000 neighborhoods have been closed management, strict control of the number of entrances and exits of the community and access personnel to review the registration of temperature measures, and no residential premises in the local, no work of personnel to strengthen the evacuation, For people from the affected areas, the mandatory isolation observation for 14 days, all are not allowed to go out.

The story goes on to note that, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing have all been placed under strict quarantine control as the coronavirus has spread beyond every measure of attempted containment in China.

WHO now admits this may be just the beginning of a global pandemic

This came on the same day that WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus suddenly admitted that the coronavirus outbreak cases were seeing in China may be just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what is yet to come, reported the South China Morning Post:

There have been some concerning instances of onward #2019nCoV spread from people with no travel history to [China], he tweeted on Sunday, using the virus scientific name.

The detection of a small number of cases may indicate more widespread transmission in other countries; in short, we may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg.

Perhaps now the WHO is beginning to realize WHO has been lying.

Western media propagandists are still living in the past and pretending none of this is happening

Slowly but surely, the world is awakening to the facts we reported many days ago: That the coronavirus has broken containment in China and is on track to become a global pandemic.

The lying mainstream media in the United States remains at least two weeks behind reality, still pretending the coronavirus is a conspiracy theory or that people who are concerned about the virus are racist bigots who dont like Chinese people. (Yes, seriously, they have to turn everything into a pathetic display of virtue signaling.)

Meanwhile, credible claims of the number of infections in China currently put that number anywhere from 100,000 to 200,000 people, and one professor from Imperial College London believes that China is headed for a blowout peak of 50,000 new infections per day.

Those infections arent expected to peak in China until mid-March, according to several estimates. The spread outside of China will have a lag time of 1-2 months, perhaps longer.

In other words, whats happening to China right now may happen in Singapore, Thailand, Japan or Hong Kong in the March / April time frame. From there, its only a matter of time before its also happening in India, Africa, Mexico, Western Europe, etc.

If China couldnt contain it with the most heinous, draconian quarantine measures imaginable, consider the near-zero chance of a city like Los Angeles containing such a pandemic. America cant even control its borders (thanks to the Democrats), so how is America going to stop a pandemic thats carried by the movement of people?
(Bloomberg) -- Googles plan to buy Fitbit Inc. is running into a wall of antitrust and privacy worries in the U.S., Europe and Australia, where competition officials are increasingly wary of how internet giants can exert control over data to cement their dominance.

Googles $2.1 billion acquisition of the maker of smartwatches and fitness trackers, announced in November, would add wearable devices to the internet giants hardware business. It also advances the ambitions of Google parent Alphabet Inc. to expand in the health-care sector by adding data from Fitbits more than 28 million users. Google has struck cloud-service partnerships with hospital groups and signed a deal with Mayo Clinic to build new artificial intelligence tools.

In the past, the Fitbit deal probably wouldnt have raised much concern for competition enforcers because the company doesnt compete directly with Google. And even with Fitbit, Google would have a minuscule share of the hardware and fitness-tracker market.

Today, theres heightened concern, particularly in the European Union, about how tech companies can leverage their control over data to become ever more powerful. Regulators also face criticism that theyve been too permissive in allowing tech deals like Facebook Inc.s $19 billion takeover of messaging service WhatsApp in 2014 and its $1 billion purchase of photo-sharing service Instagram in 2012.

It would be a great test case, said Maurice Stucke, an antitrust law professor at the University of Tennessee who calls companies like Google data-opolies because of the huge amounts of data they hold. The concern is Google would use this data to help reinforce its dominance in other segments.

The deal, which Google expects to close this year, is under investigation by the Justice Departments antitrust division, according to a person familiar with the matter, and will likely undergo a review by the European Commission.

Australian authorities are also monitoring the proposed tie-up, but wont review it until the companies file with the competition watchdog. The concern people have is, well I might have given consent for Fitbit to have this information, but I didnt give consent to Google, and now Google could combine it with all its other data, said Justin Warren, a board member of Electronic Frontiers Australia.

Story continues

Google declined to comment. Fitbit didnt respond to a request for comment.

Tougher Oversight

In each region, tech companies are coming under tougher oversight because of their size and their data collection and privacy practices, raising new hurdles for acquisitions of all kinds.

The Australian regulator, for example, is setting up a special unit to scrutinize technology giants following a government report that raised concerns about the use and storage of personal data and the erosion of the mainstream media.

Antitrust enforcers and lawmakers in the U.S. are weighing how privacy lapses can raise competition concerns.

In the EU, where companies are subject to the blocs sweeping privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has called for additional rules to rein in how tech companies collect and use data.

Google is already contending with broad antitrust probes around the world. In the U.S., the Justice Department along with state attorneys general are investigating potential antitrust violations in digital advertising.

As the inquiries advance, theres widespread recognition that the data vacuumed up by the tech giants has created nearly insurmountable barriers to competition. The more data the tech companies control, the better their products. Some have argued that consumer data is so valuable to tech platforms that the companies should actually pay users for it.

Google moved to tighten its hold on data this month by cutting off data-sharing with advertisers and marketers. That decision phased out the use of so-called third-party cookies, which let companies that use Googles technology to buy ad space also track readers around the web and send them targeted ads. While Google said the change would increase users privacy, some critics say the company is using privacy as cover to maintain its data dominance.

Googles businesses have received extensive scrutiny already in Europe, with three EU antitrust probes resulting in more than $9 billion in fines. New privacy investigations may lead to yet more fines. The company will go to court this week to try to overturn a 2.4 billion euro ($2.63 billion) fine imposed by the EU for thwarting competition in shopping-comparison searches.

Extended Investigation

Ioannis Kokkoris, a law and economics professor at Queen Mary University in London, said he expects the Fitbit purchase to get an extended investigation.

The deal relates to complicated markets and market definition will be a major determinant to the outcome: what type of watch are we talking about and what health information, he said in an email. The potential wider benefits for Google of having access to such data will also need to be assessed in detail.

U.S. antitrust enforcers could bring a strong case against the deal by arguing that acquiring Fitbits user data will complement Googles existing data and enable the company to maintain its monopoly in internet search, said Stucke, the law professor. Antitrust enforcers could also contend that Google would degrade Fitbits privacy protections over time in order to gather more data, he said.

Google has said it would be transparent about the data it collects, and that it would never sell personal information. It also said it wouldnt use Fitbit health and wellness data for Google ads and would let Fitbit users delete their data.

But tech companies have shown a pattern of going back on such promises after completing acquisitions, said Dina Srinivasan, an antitrust expert and former ad-technology executive who has advised news publishers that have raised antitrust complaints about Googles dominance.

When Google agreed to buy ad technology company DoubleClick in 2007, it told lawmakers that protecting privacy was part of its culture. Although the Federal Trade Commission approved the merger, Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour said Googles promises shouldnt be accepted at face value and suggested the agency mandate a firewall separating DoubleClick data from the rest of Googles data.

Harbours dissent proved prescient. Google changed its privacy policy in 2016 to allow the combination of DoubleClick data with personally identifiable information it has on users, prompting a complaint from privacy advocates.

Google has an incentive to to decrease user privacy as much as possible to increase the data to shove into their auctions to make more money, Srinivasan said. Regulators need to wake up.

(Updates with Google comment and experts background in fourth and fifth paragraphs from the bottom.)

--With assistance from Mark Bergen, Gerrit De Vynck and Sybilla Gross.

To contact the reporters on this story: David McLaughlin in Washington at dmclaughlin9@bloomberg.net;Aoife White in Brussels at awhite62@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net, ;Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net, Paula Dwyer

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.
PARIS, Feb 9 (Reuters) - French health authorities confirmed on Sunday that two people diagnosed on Sunday with the new coronavirus, one in Britain and the other in Spain, were linked to a group of Britons who contracted the virus in a ski resort in France.

Five Britons tested positive for the virus in France on Saturday after sharing a chalet in the French mountain village of Les Contamines-Montjoie.

"We learned that there were two other cases linked to this cluster, two adults - one who was diagnosed in the United Kingdom and the other who was diagnosed in Mallorca - linked to a stay in the apartment in Les Contamines-Montjoie," senior health official Jerome Salomon said in a televised statement.

He said a third school near the French ski resort would be closed for checks this week. (Reporting by Sarah White, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
As student debt continues to climb, President Donald Trump on Monday released a budget for 2021 that would slash many of the programs aimed at helping borrowers.

Student loan spending would be cut by $170 billion in Trump's plan, titled "A Budget for America's Future." The reductions include "sensible annual and lifetime loan limits" for graduate students and parents and the end to subsidized loans, in which the government covers the interest for borrowers who are still in school or experiencing economic hardship.

It would also reduce the number of repayment options for borrowers and nix the popular, if challenged, public service loan forgiveness program.

More from Personal Finance:

How to buy a house despite student debt

Here's one way to help determine a good cash cushion

One in 5 fear they'll owe the IRS money this spring

That program, signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2007, allows not-for-profit and government employees to have their federal student loans canceled after 10 years of on-time payments. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau estimates that up to one-quarter of American workers are eligible.
Time to discuss how to protect rights of sexual minorities



A transgender student who had gained admission to a women-only university in Seoul gave up her admission Friday due to strong opposition from other students. The transgender woman, 22, underwent gender reassignment surgery in Thailand last August and received approval to change her legal gender from male to female before the College Scholastic Ability Test in November. So there were no legal problems with her being admitted into Sookmyung Women's University.



In her online post, published after she had decided not to attend the school, she said, "I am scared of the growing opposition. My life continues to be slighted and opposed in other people's everyday lives. My reasonable goal of attending university is the object of suspicion and scrutiny to someone."



While some supported her enrollment, many students and alumni strongly opposed it, flooding the school with complaints and sending emails to its alumni association. Some students asked the school to revoke the admission. Many students raised questions about why she insists on entering a women-only university through gender reassignment surgery after having lived for more than 20 years as a male. Some of them even suspected her of trying to use Sookmyung Women's University as a test bed for highlighting the transgender issue in Korea.



True, few can deny that Korea is less tolerant to the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) issue than other nations. Taiwan legalized same-sex marriage last year and Japan elected its first openly gay lawmaker. Pete Buttigieg, who shot to first place in the Iowa caucuses of the Democratic Party, is married to a man.



People can feel strange and uncomfortable about sexual minorities, and it's doubtful if our society is open enough to accept them at this point. But it's no longer tenable to remain hush-hush about the LGBT issue. The time has come for us to publicly discuss how to protect the rights and interests of sexual minorities.




Emily Ratajkowski's beauty look at the Oscars included this YSL firming serum. (Getty Images)

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.

Its very rare - if not totally impossible - to see a picture of Emily Ratajkowski where she doesnt look flawless.

Of course there are good genes and work at play there, but, it turns out that - just like the rest of us - there is also a really good skincare product, too.

Make-up artist Hung Vanngo was responsible for Emilys dewy beauty look as she stepped out onto the red carpet at the Oscars on Sunday night, hosted at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

Luckily for us, he was kind enough to share the details behind the no make-up look with his followers on Instagram.

Alongside a close-up of the American model and actress, Vanngo listed all the products hed used, and they were all by cult designer brand Yves Saint Laurent (YSL).

Emily Ratajkowski at the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party following the 92nd Oscars. (Getty Images)

But before you despair that bagging all these beauty products would cost hundreds of pounds, there is one standout product that will upgrade the rest of your makeup without you having to invest in designer all the way.

The YSL Pure Shots Y Shape Serum, the exact product Emily wore, can be applied underneath your makeup to leave your skin feeling firmer and softer.

Buy it: Pure Shots Y Shape Serum | 59 from YSL

According to 50 YSL beauty testers, who self-assessed the product, it helps your skin feel softer and more moisturised as well as brightening your overall complexion.

Those who actually bought the product themselves seem to be equally as emphatic, taking to the YSL website with words of praise for the serum.

This serum provides great hydration and leaves your skin feeling silky and smooth, one skin-savvy shopper wrote, while another explained: Lightweight but very effective. I use this on my neck every night before going to bed. It has made a noticeable improvement. Fewer lines and skin is nourished nicely now.

We think that sounds worthy of the investment.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo Style UK:
Were Definitely Not Prepared: Africa Braces for New Virus

LUSAKA, ZambiaAt a Chinese-run hospital in Zambia, some employees watched as people who recently returned from China showed up with coughs but were not placed in isolation. A doctor tending to those patients has stopped coming to work, and health workers have been ordered not to speak publicly about the new virus.

The virus that has spread through much of China has yet to be confirmed in Africa, but global health authorities are increasingly worried about the threat to the continent where an estimated 1 million Chinese now live, as some health workers on the ground warn they are not ready to handle an outbreak.

Countries are racing to take precautions as hundreds of travelers arrive from China every day. Safeguards include stronger surveillance at ports of entry and improved quarantine and testing measures across Africa, home to 1.2 billion people and some of the worlds weakest systems for detecting and treating disease.

But the effort has been complicated by a critical shortage of testing kits and numerous illnesses that display symptoms similar to the flu-like virus.

The problem is, even if its mild, it can paralyze the whole community, said Dr. Michel Yao, emergency operations manager in Africa for the World Health Organization.

Those growing worried include employees at the Sino-Zambia Friendship Hospital in the mining city of Kitwe in northern Zambia, near the Congo border. Chinese companies operate mines on the outskirts of the city of more than half a million people. One company is headquartered in Wuhan, the city at the center of the virus outbreak. Hundreds of workers traveled between Zambia and China in recent weeks.

Were definitely not prepared. If we had a couple of cases, it would spread very quickly, physiotherapist Fundi Sinkala said. Were doing the best we can with what resources we have.

The Sino-Zambia Friendship Hospital, or Sinozam, a low-slung facility near the citys train station, has taken some precautions, including checking patient temperatures with infrared thermometers and establishing isolation areas. Employees wear masks. Gloves, disinfectant and oxygen inhalers have been stockpiled. Sinozam treats many Chinese in Kitwe and its precautions go further than other hospitals in the area.

A sign indicates the way to the fever clinic at the Sino-Zambia Friendship Hospital in Kitwe, Zambia, on Feb. 6, 2020. (Emmanuel Mwiche/AP)

But the employees and others familiar with the matter, some of whom spoke anonymously under the new rules, say some Chinese patients checked in with coughs and fevers but did not get placed in isolation.

Visiting Zambian health officials concluded the patients did not merit special treatment and did not take samples to test for the virus. After the people recovered, they were sent home with antibiotics, employees said.

On Feb. 5, the hospital set up a new fever clinic, where people arriving with a high temperature are now taken to right away. Its unfortunate the ward wasnt set up earlier, Sinkala said.

Two people familiar with the matter say a doctor tending to the sick has fallen ill. Dr. Yu Jianlan has not come to work in the past week and hospital administrators have not explained her absence, Sinkala said. The other person spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

Hospital administrator Li Zhibing said there were no patients with a fever and said Yu had a urinary tract infection, not a fever. But a notice posted by the Zambia-China Cooperation Zone, which manages the hospital, quoted an employee as saying on Jan. 27 that the facility probably sees 120 fever patients a day, and at least 70 of them are carrying germs of various diseases.

Earlier this week, a Zambian official acknowledged for the first time that his country was following up on an unspecified number of suspected cases. Zambia is one of 13 African countries identified by WHO as a high priority because of busy travel links with China.

Copperbelt provincial health director Dr. Robert Zulu, who oversees Kitwe and the surrounding region, told The Associated Press he would not discuss details, citing privacy. But he added, when any case is confirmed, you will be informed.

Crucially, no one in Zambia has been able to test for the virus so far. Like most African countries, it has been waiting for a substance known as a reagent, which labs require to confirm whether a patient is infected. Labs in just six of Africas 54 countries were equipped as of mid-week. That means a wait of two or more days to know whether a sample shipped to South Africa or even outside the continent tests positive.

Without testing, officials are just relying on the symptoms and whether they persist. But from what we are learning right now, some people show hardly any symptoms at all, Sinkala said, calling that the hospitals biggest worry.

Zambia is one of the additional countries WHO planned to equip by the end of the week. As of Friday, WHO emergencies chief Dr. Mike Ryan said 28 labs across the continent could diagnose the new virus.

Adding to concerns at Sinozam, three employees say Zambian health officials visited on Tuesday and have been testing the bodies of two Chinese patients that have been in the morgue for days, though some added it was out of an overabundance of caution.

Li, however, dismissed the accounts of testing the bodies as rumors. He said one died last month of malaria and the other of a heart attack. The bodies are still there because family members in China wish to come and pay respects but cannot because of the outbreak, he said.

Zambias health ministry spokesman, Dr. Abel Kabalo, called the employee accounts of events at the hospital very strange. He vowed that if Zambia confirms a case, authorities will definitely inform the world.

Its pointless to hide information, Kabalo said.

The WHO says countries are obligated to inform it of any confirmed cases and are requested to report suspected cases as well. The WHO chief has publicly urged countries to share information. So far, African countries appear to be complying, a WHO adviser on health security, Dr. Ambrose Talisuna, told reporters.

Several African nations such as Ghana, South Africa and Ethiopia have announced their precautions, including updates on negative test results for suspected cases and demonstrations of surveillance and quarantine capabilities. Ethiopian Airlines, however, faces questions by some in Africa about why it continues to operate more than 30 China flights a week while other African airlines have suspended theirs.

A masked woman walks in a corridor of a shopping mall in Kitwe, Zambia, on Feb. 6, 2020. (Emmanuel Mwiche/AP)

Adding to the difficulties in diagnosing the new virus are numerous diseases in Africa with symptoms that include fever or coughing or both.

Its impossible to diagnose the new virus by symptoms alone, Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman said, adding that there is a significant likelihood that the virus will be confirmed in Africa. And there is a risk that panic overtakes good public health and good science.

The foundation has committed up to $20 million to help health authorities in Africa and South Asia, another vulnerable region, improve their disease surveillance, isolation and treatment for the virus.

Concerns are high among some in Kitwe. A local pharmacy manager, Edward Goma, estimated that his business had sold more than 800 face masks in the past few days.

So far everyone is scared, he said. And yet he has not noticed the stricter surveillance measures seen in other countries, beyond temperature checks at the international airport an hours drive away.

The 15th Metallurgical Construction Group, based in Wuhan, said on its website that its overseas operations in Zambia and Congo must purchase masks, disinfect living quarters and workspaces daily and check workers temperatures three times a day.

Chinese employees are temporarily barred from returning to Africa, while those in Zambia are not allowed to go to China, said Li, the hospital administrator.

Chinese embassies in Zambia and elsewhere in Africa have been unusually outspoken, giving news conferences and television interviews to discuss their response to the outbreak. Embassies require arriving Chinese citizens to declare where they have been in China. They also urge citizens to voluntarily isolate themselves for 14 days.

We are now practicing hygiene, even in the mines, said the Kitwe-based president of the Mine Workers Union of Zambia, Joseph Chewe. Any report of a person with coronavirus here will be very disastrous.
Farida Waziri, former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), says Olusegun Obasanjo and Shehu Musa YarAdua ...





Farida Waziri, former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), says Olusegun Obasanjo and Shehu Musa YarAdua were unjustly jailed for the 1995 coup.





She said while Obasanjo, who had served as head of state, was perceived as not being guilty, YarAdua, a former chief of staff, supreme military council, was falsely charged for treason.





TheNation quoted Waziri as saying this in her new memoir entitled, Farida Waziri: One Step Ahead.





The former EFCC chairman served in the legal team that worked with the special investigative panel (SIP) on the trial of the alleged coup plotters.





She said in the case of YarAdua, his chief accuser who claimed he attended the coup meeting in the late generals home was later found to have framed him up.





Caught in a web of lies, he later confessed that an SSS operative gave him a written report, with the instruction to copy the information about YarAduas involvement in the coup, she wrote.





After reviewing the evidence, the legal team agreed on treasonable felony for YarAdua. The basis was that he might have known about the coup, but it could not be proved. We drafted charges for a treasonable felony and closed for the day.





The next morning began on a dramatic noteGeneral YarAduas indictment had changed to treason. I could hardly contain my anger: What is this? Didnt we all agree yesterday on treasonable felony? None of them replied.





They sat in subdued silence. I was so upset for this blatant interference with judicial due process that I dropped the file and abandoned the morning session.





I went home and told Ajuji, my husband, what happened. Just be careful was all he said. That was hardly satisfactory to me. I headed to the Force Headquarters to complain to the Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim Coomasie.





We know what is happening, he said. Sometimes, there are things beyond our power to control or influence. So it was that General Shehu Musa YarAdua was sentenced for treason.





On Obasanjo, Waziri said she and another colleague on the legal team agreed this man (Obasanjo) is innocent of the allegations against him by the end of his trial.





She said it was obvious something was not right in his case for two fundamental reasons.





First, General Obasanjo was a superior military officer to all those at the helm of the current government. Second, most of the officers with whom he allegedly conspired were not even commissioned into the Nigerian Army when he was a ranking officer, she said.





Waziri also narrated how she had thought of going home to prepare food for Obasanjo but was warned on the implications.





She wrote: One evening after an interrogation session, it was getting late, and Obasanjo, a diabetic patient, was waiting for his meal of beans from his farm in Ota.





There was a delay in getting the meal to him. He was in a great deal of discomfort as his blood sugar level began to drop. Feeling sorry for him, I approached the senior officer and offered to dash home, not far, to prepare a meal of beans for him. The officer smiled and said nothing.





I missed the message. Another officer pulled me aside and cautioned me about getting involved with the detainees, to avoid getting implicated. What if you prepare food for him and something happens?





The legal team ultimately sentenced General Obasanjo to death; the sentence was commuted to 30 years in prison; and the transitional government of General Abdulsalami Abubakar pardoned and released him from jail.




The U.S. Air Forces aircraft boneyard is about to get a bit more crowded as the service plans to ditch more than 100 planes across its bomber, airlift, tanker and drone fleets in its fiscal 2021 budget request to lawmakers.

Officials are requesting $207.2 billion total, including "non-blue" dollars, which are categorized under the Air Force but are not managed by the service. Of that, it would oversee $169 billion, which includes money for the U.S. Space Force, according to the service's budget request documents revealed Monday.

But the Air Force is slated to cut 17 non-nuclear B-1B Lancer bombers in the latest proposal, reducing the fleet to just 44. It also plans to retired 44 A-10 Thunderbolt II close air support mission aircraft; roughly 30 older-model KC-135 Stratotanker and KC-10 Extender refuelers; 24 RQ-4 Global Hawk drones, some which are used as a networking Battlefield Airborne Communications Node, or BACN; as well as 24 C-130H Hercules -- the most senior model left in the cargo inventory, the documents say.

Related: The Air Force Is Ready to Scrap Older Aircraft to Prepare for Future Wars

While the service has stressed its need to boost to readiness and mission capability, total pilot flight hours, including those supporting warfighting overseas, will decrease, from 1.33 million in 2020 to 1.24 million in 2021. The Air Force will also reduce the number of combat air patrols flown by MQ-9 Reapers around the world from 70 to 60 per day.

We believe that winning in the future will require investing in the right new capabilities now, an Air Force spokeswoman said Monday. Within the allotted budget, that means trading some of the old in favor of the new.

The reductions come as the service looks to make gains elsewhere.

Despite rebuilding the force with more than 3,000 airmen over the last two budget cycles following years of budget cuts and sequestration, the Air Force hopes to add only 1,500 new airmen across its force in the FY21 request, the budget says.

The service would still plus-up its active-duty component by 900 airmen, increasing its end strength to 333,700, according to the documents. Additionally, the service wants 600 airmen across its reserve force (400 in the Guard, 200 in the reserve). The marginal growth comes as the Air Force shifts 6,400 people into the Space Force; the sixth and newest military branch, which falls under the Department of the Air Force.

Of note, officials propose dedicating more than $1 billion for the Next Generation Air Dominance program, known as NGAD, which explores what future fighter jet operations might look like; and over $300 million -- more than double last years enacted funding of $144 million -- on the new Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS), a state-of-the-art program that focuses on fusing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance sensor data from around the world. Both programs are funded through the Air Forces research, development, test and evaluation (RTD&E) budget.

In addition to these future initiatives, the Air Force is still pouring money into multiple overtasked aircraft fleets.

For instance, the B-1 bomber has sustained significant structural wear and tear over the years due to constant deployment. Some aircraft are just showing their age; the Stratotanker, for example, dates back to the 1950s.

By scrapping older aircraft sooner than planned, the Air Force can free up some $4.1 billion over the future years defense program (FYDP), or the Pentagons next five years of planned spending, the Air Force spokeswoman said, which will fund many of the critical technology and capability investments in this budget, she said.

Furthermore, retiring the least capable B-1s will allow for maintainers across the force to focus on the remaining bombers, which will "drive up the readiness of the fleet until the B-21 [Raider] can replace these aging bombers in the mid-2020s," said Air Force Maj. Gen. John Pletcher, the deputy assistant secretary for budget at the Air Force's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Financial Management and the Comptroller at the Pentagon.

While mobility forces have suggested the service slow the retirement of older KC-10s and KC-135s in order to avoid gaps in refueling missions, Pletcher noted the service needs to take some chances as it awaits more KC-46 Pegasus tankers to fill its flightlines. The Air Force accepted its newest tanker, made by Boeing Co., despite a number of deficiencies in need of adjustment.

"To try to ensure we have the capabilities we need in the future, we're going to have to take some risk," he said. "We can't continue to fund everything today that we do without having to eventually make some tough choices," Pletcher said.

The Air Force will boost its fighter inventory with 48 new F-35A Joint Strike Fighters, and 12 F-15EXs -- a hybrid aircraft that will replace older F-15C/D Eagle models, the documents show.

Last year, the Pentagon officially asked lawmakers to fund eight brand-new F-15EX fourth-plus generation fighters, initiating its first fourth-generation fighter program in more than 20 years.

Other replacements include the new MH-139 helicopter, set to replace the aging UH-1N Huey. The service wants funding for its first eight helicopters, dubbed the Grey Wolf, according to the documents.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.

Read More: Special Forces Soldiers Killed in Afghan Firefight ID'd, Promoted
Delhi chief electoral officer Ranbir Singh, said all the machines have been tested and they are foolproof as well as non-tamperable.

New Delhi: Tight security arrangements have been put in place at 21 centres across 11 districts of the national capital where the counting of votes polled in the high-stakes February 8 Delhi Assembly elections will take place on Tuesday. Trends on the elections, in which 92.54 lakh people exercised their franchise, will start coming from 8 am onwards.

The voting trends and results on individual seats will be declared live on the Election Commission of India websites  eciresults.nic.in, eci.gov.in and results.eci.gov.in. Additionally, updates are also expected on ECs Twitter account.

The curiosity among people to know the outcome of the elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly has heightened post-exit polls, that has forecast a big win for the ruling AAP, and the delay in announcement of the final voter turnout by authorities.

The election, largely seen as a battle between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and the BJP, which went aggressive during the high-octane campaign, was held on Saturday, sealing the fate of 672 candidates  593 men and 79 women.

Exactly 25 hours after the polling ended in Delhi, the Election Commission on Sunday announced that the final voter turnout was 62.59 per cent, five per cent less than 2015, and asserted that it followed the laid-down process to compile data, after the AAP questioned the delay.

On AAPs charge that the Electronic Voting Machines could be tampered with to maniputate the election outcome, Delhi chief electoral officer Ranbir Singh, said all the machines have been tested and they are foolproof as well as non-tamperable.

Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari claimed that his party would win the election with precisely 48 seats and said other parties should not make the excuse of EVM tampering for their defeat.

Exit polls have predicted an easy win for the AAP, which sought to retain power on development plank, against the BJP that ran an aggressive campaign centred around the issues of anti-CAA protests and nationalism. Most exit polls also predicted that Congress is unlikely to open its account even this time in Delhi , which it ruled from 1998-2013. Looking to capture power after 22 years, the BJP had mounted one of the most aggressive campaigns in Delhi.
ATLANTA, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- MedShape, Inc., the industry leader in orthopedic devices using nickel titanium (NiTiNOL), reported today on the initial clinical outcomes with the DynaNail Mini Fusion System for subtalar fusion procedures. First used clinically under a limited market release in 2019, the DynaNail Mini has been implanted by over 50 orthopedic surgeons in over 50 hospitals across the United States. The DynaNail Mini features MedShape's patented superelastic nickel titanium (NiTiNOL) technology and is the first device designed for subtalar fusion that offers maintained active compression post-surgery. The DynaNail Mini will be featured at the upcoming American College of Foot & Ankle Surgeons Scientific Conference in Austin, Texas at the company's booth #935.

Compression across the joint is important not only for ensuring the bones remain tightly apposed, but also in promoting the appropriate bone healing response.1 Screws currently represent the primary surgical treatment option in subtalar fusion procedures, but these devices are unable to hold compression following surgery when bone resorption and joint settling inherently occur. The DynaNail Mini features an internal NiTiNOL Compressive Element that allows for dynamic compression to be maintained post-surgery. The superelastic properties of NiTiNOL enable the DynaNail Mini to automatically adapt and respond to changes in the joint throughout the healing process while also allowing for immediate dynamization upon weight-bearing. Furthermore, the device includes two transverse locking screws to help provide additional joint stability and improved fixation.

Sam Adams, MD (Duke University) was one of the first surgeons to implant the DynaNail Mini and has performed numerous surgeries with the longest follow-up results now at 9 months. According to Dr. Adams:

"The DynaNail Mini with its internal NiTiNOL element is an unrivaled device for subtalar fusion. Its maintained post-operative compression and transverse locking screws give me the confidence that I can achieve successful outcomes where traditional compression screws might fail. To date, my Mini patients have all successfully fused with no complications. The device is truly a gamechanger!"

The DynaNail Mini has been used to address a number of different pathologies and indications including revisions of prior failed fusions, calcaneal fractures, and severe deformity. Most notably according to the literature, patients who have a prior ankle fusion have shown to be significantly more at risk for subtalar non-union.2 Another early adopter, Terrence Philbin, DO (Orthopedic Foot & Ankle), is seeing successful outcomes with the DynaNail Mini:

"Overall, I have been pleased with the results I have achieved with the DynaNail Mini to treat classically challenging indications," said Dr. Philbin. "In particular, I have implanted the DynaNail Mini in two patients with prior ankle fusions. At 6 and 3 months post-surgery, both patients have shown successful bony union on CT and are doing well clinically. I look forward to expanding my indications for use with this innovative product."

The DynaNail Mini joins its predecessor, the DynaNail TTC Fusion System, in MedShape's growing NiTiNOL product portfolio that also includes the DynaClip Bone Fixation System. Commercially available since 2013, the clinical power of the DynaNail to treat complex hindfoot pathologies in high-risk patient populations has been demonstrated in numerous peer-reviewed articles3,4 suggesting the potential clinical utility of the DynaNail Mini for other foot & ankle applications.

"We are very pleased with the market acceptance and clinical results observed so far for the DynaNail Mini," said Kurt Jacobus, PhD (MedShape, Inc. President & CEO). "Building off the momentum of the DynaNail TTC System, the Mini is poised to be another revolutionary device in joint fusion."

The DynaNail Mini Fusion System is now available in full market release for subtalar fusion in a variety of diameter and length offerings.

About MedShape, Inc.

MedShape, Inc. is a privately held medical device company working to develop and commercialize a portfolio of surgical solutions that uses its patented advanced functional material technologies to address the increasing demand for improved joint fusion, soft tissue repair and musculoskeletal trauma products in the foot & ankle. For more information, visit www.medshape.com.

DynaNail Mini is a trademark of MedShape, Inc. DynaNail and DynaClip are registered trademarks of MedShape, Inc.

1Dupont KM, Shibuya N, Bariteau JT. Tibiotalocalcaneal Arthrodesis with Intramedullary Nails  Mechanobiological Background and Evolution of Compressive Technology. Global J of Orthopedics Research, 2019. 1(5): 1-8.

2Zanolli DH, Nunley JA, Easley ME. Subtalar Fusion Rate in Patients With Previous Ipsilateral Ankle Arthrodesis. Foot & Ankle Int, 2015. 36(9): 1025-1028.

3Steele JR, Easley ME, Nunley JA, Adams SB, et al. Comparison of Tibiotalocalcaneal Arthrodeses Using a Sustained Dynamic Compression Nail Versus Nondynamized Nails. Foot & Ankle Spec, 2019 (in press: doi: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1938640019843332).

4Ford SE, Kwon JY, Ellington K. Tibiotalocalcaneal Arthrodesis Utilizing a Titanium Intramedullary Nail With an Internal Pseudoelastic Nitinol Compression Element: A Retrospective Case Series of 33 Patients. J Foot Ankle Surg, 2019. 58(2): 266-272.

Media Contact:

Jenn Pratt

Carabiner Communications

404.655.2273

[email protected]

Company Contact:

Kathryn Smith, PhD

678.235.3304

[email protected]

SOURCE MedShape, Inc.

Related Links

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Linkedin Made Anthony Iswara (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 10, 2020 11:40 701 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206381f40 1 Business African-swine-fever-in-Indonesia,pig-farms,pork,exports Free

African swine fever, a disease previously blamed for the deaths of nearly a thousand pigs in Bali, is now being called unconfirmed, according to an official, backtracking from a previous confirmation.

Bali Agriculture and Food Security Agency head Ida Bagus Wisnuardhana said on Friday he only suspects that Afrian swine fever (ASF) killed the pig. The Agriculture Ministry will likely take another three months to obtain lab test results and confirm the source of the outbreak, he added.

Read also: Bali confirms swine fever outbreak amid numerous pig deaths

The illness has killed over 880 pigs over the past two months. No deaths were reported in the past week, Wisnuardhana said.

Its not a matter of whether it is [ASF] or not. The important thing is that there are no dead pigs anymore. The task is done, said Wisnuardhana, adding that his team would continue to closely monitor the outbreak daily.

The officials change of tune could quiet concerns that the fatal virus will hurt Balis pork industry. Parts of the islands population depend on pig farming for a living.

The agency has been spreading public awareness that the illness is not contagious to humans and Bali-bred pork can be consumed safely. It is also presenting information about how to properly feed pigs and handle suspected ASF-infected pigs to prevent further spread

Agriculture Ministry animal health director Fajar Sumping Tjatur Rasa said the ministry had not yet released an official statement on the matter as of Thursday.

But just like Wisnuardhana, Fajar argued that seeking ways to mitigate infections was more important than declaring the causes of an outbreak.

He added that the illness did not affect exports as the country was still freely sending live pigs from Pulau Bulan in Batam to Singapore with Singapore-approved biosecurity standards. Fajar estimated that the ministry was currently exporting 25,000 live pigs every month from Pulau Bulan while the country currently did not import live pigs.

Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data shows that Indonesias pig export value was US$44.9 million between January and September of last year, up 9.22 percent from $41.01 million in the same period in 2018. About 14,893 tons was sent to Singapore in the first half of 2019, higher than the 13,194 tons recorded in the previous year.

Farmers have complained that the unconfirmed announcement could ruin farmers earnings due to falling prices and low demand from the widespread worries ahead of religious festivities like Galungan, which usually causes a spike in pork consumption. Galungan this year will begin on Feb. 19 and end on Feb. 29.

Bali Pig Farmers Association (GUPBI) chairman Ketut Hari Suyasa said on Thursday that Balinese officials should have waited for ministries to deliver an official statement as only ministerial-level officials were allowed to declare an outbreak.

This is because lengthy procedures need to follow such an announcement, starting with the containment of pigs in affected areas and followed by the culling of sick pigs, which he estimated could cause trillions of rupiah in losses.

If regional officials are confident that the outbreak is true, how ready are they to mitigate the ASF? Ketut said. I dont think that the decision was wise for the current situation.

Read also: 'It's safe to eat pork': Bali launches campaign against swine fever outbreak with delicacies

No pigs have been culled as of Friday and pork prices in the market remain normal, the Bali Agriculture and Food Security Agency reported.

The agencys head estimated that the deaths of the 888 pigs caused Rp 2.66 billion in direct losses at an average price Rp 3 million per pig.

But Bali is not alone in facing the illness. North Sumatra has also identified pig diseases following an ASF outbreak that killed more than 50,000 pigs across the province last year.

The epidemic also perturbed China in August 2018. It moved south to Vietnam, onto Luzon Island in the Philippines and reached Timor Leste by October 2019. It has resulted in the death of hundreds of millions domestic pigs, driving up meat prices and causing economic problems, especially in porks top-consuming country: China.

According to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), ASF is caused by a large-DNA virus of the Asfarviridae family. While ASF is not a risk to human health, the disease can be transmitted to other pigs through direct and indirect contact, such as through ingestion of contaminated material.

There is currently no antidote or vaccine, and the only known method to prevent the disease from spreading is a mass cull of the infected livestock.
'Fight against belief that one nation, one race...' Phoenix Oscar speech was as wild as you expected

Why Joaquin Phoenix deserves an Oscar for Joker

International

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Los Angeles, Feb 10: Hollywood star Joaquin Phoenix finally ended his dry run at the Oscars as he picked up the best actor trophy for his performance in and as "Joker" at the 92nd Academy Awards. The 45-year-old actor had earlier bagged a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his turn as a failed, unhinged stand-up comedian who descends into chaos.

An Oscar had eluded Phoenix for the most part of his career, despite his successful collaborations with Ridley Scott ("Gladiator"), James Mangold ("Walk The Line") and Paul Thomas Anderson ("The Master"), all of which had earned him nominations.

But as Arthur Fleck aka The Joker, Phoenix finally managed to break that jinx and became the second actor to win an Oscar for playing the DC comic book villain after the posthumous best-supporting actor win to Heath Ledger in 2008.

After Indian documentary wins Oscar, Mumbai Police comes up with yet another catchy tweet

As Joker, Phoenix took a deep dive into character, capturing its essence as well as maniacal spirit in both body and soul. He lost 52 pounds to get into the physicality of Fleck and turned to a pathological disorder to get his distinct laughter right. His laughter is spot on for the classic staple of the Joker as a general character, and his dancing in the film is very technical and fun to watch. The way Phoenix change the tone of his voice with the snap of a finger to the way he can use his face superbly to display a full range of emotions is tremendous.

No doubt that Phoenix is a brilliant actor and also a talented person. He goes to incredible lengths to research and embody his roles.

Phoenix had also pretended to walk away from acting and started a music career for 18 long months. He directed music videos, as well as produced films and television shows. He has directed music videos for Ringside, She Wants Revenge, People in Planes, Arckid, Albert Hammond Jr. and Silversun Pickups.

NEWS AT NOON JAN 10th, 2020

For recording the soundtrack to Walk the Line, he won the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media.

Who is Renee Zellweger? The Judy star who took home the Best Actress award after 16 years

During the comeback portion of his career, Phoenix was often cast in supporting roles as conflicted, insecure characters with a dark side.

Phoenix is a social activist, lending his support to several charities and humanitarian organizations. He is on the board of directors for The Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization which provides daily meals to students of township schools in Soweto of South Africa. Phoenix is also known for his animal rights advocacy. He has been a vegan since the age of three and campaigns for PETA and In Defense of Animals.

Phillips wrote the part keeping Phoenix in mind though the actor took some convincing to play the role.

The film had also courted controversies, owing to its theme of gun violence in the movie as well as Phoenix's temperamental press tour that saw him walking out of an interview midway. But critics and the fans loved the actor's riveting turn in the movie and his pointed speeches.

(with PTI inputs)
Saudi Arabia has turned to a pair of former Democratic aides to help repair relations with Capitol Hill.

The Saudi Embassy in Washington hired the Washington-based Williams Group for help providing advice on how best to establish relationships with members of Congress and staff. Registered to lobby on the account are firm founder Michael Williams, a special assistant for legislative affairs under President Bill Clinton, and Jennifer Stewart, a former aide to Reps. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, and Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., who has touted her ties to the Congressional Black Caucus.

The one-year contract, which was effective Oct. 1, 2019, but only disclosed last week, calls for the Williams Group to be paid $30,000 per month. This is the 10th lobbying firm registered to work for the Saudi Embassy and the Foreign Ministry in Riyadh. (Check out the complete list here.)

Williams told Al-Monitor that he will only provide advice to the embassy and will not lobby.

The contract comes as Saudi Arabia continues to suffer blowback on Capitol Hill for its bombing campaign in Yemen and the murder of dissident Jamal Khashoggi, particularly from Democrats. Riyadh spends tens of millions of dollars per year on about 100 foreign agents, including a roster of Republican bigwigs but not a single former Democratic lawmaker.

It makes perfect sense for them to diversify their support base, given the extremely strong opposition to them from Congress, said Sarah Leah Whitson, managing director for research and policy at the dovish Quincy Institute. I think they may be recognizing that they just need to invest some more into maintaining what has been, historically, a willingness of the United States to look the other way.

In recent months, Democrats have continued to hammer Saudi Arabia. Bipartisan efforts have included efforts to ban the sale of US weapons to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, which President Donald Trump vetoed, and to sanction Saudi officials complicit in Khashoggis murder, which failed in December after Republicans marked it as a red-line issue in negotiations over the annual defense bill.

This is a president who has a Saudi Arabia-first foreign policy, Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J., who sponsored the bipartisan Saudi sanctions language, told Al-Monitor at the time. This is all on the White House, and Republicans at the end of the day would not fight their own president on this issue.

Whitson, however, emphasized the bipartisan nature of the US relationship with Saudi Arabia.

It was President Obama that signed the biggest arms deal with Saudi Arabia until Trump one-upped him, Whitson told Al-Monitor. It was President Obama who supported Saudi Arabia and joined Saudi Arabia's disastrous war in Yemen.
The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to Centre and Delhi government on participation of children in wake of the death of a four-month-old infant of a Shaheen Bagh protester.

We have the highest respect for motherhood, highest concern for children and they should not be treated badly, the bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde told the lawyers of the mothers who are protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA at Shaheen Bagh.

The court had taken suo moto cognizance of the issue after the death of the infant in Shaheen Bagh, where anti-CAA protests have been going on for almost two months. The baby had passed away in his sleep on the night of January 30 after returning from Shaheen Bagh.

ALSO WATCH | Suicidal bomb: BJPs Giriraj Singh on babys death at Shaheen Bagh protest

The matter was initiated by the top court based on a letter by a 12-year-old Mumbai girl who was the recipient of National Bravery Award in 2019.

Zen Gunratan Sadavarte, a recipient of the 2019 Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW) National Bravery Award, had said in her letter that the parents of the baby and the organisers of the anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh had failed to protect the rights of the kid, resulting in his death. She had also sought directions to prevent children from participating in demonstrations as it amounts to cruelty.

Sadavarte had helped in evacuation operation during the fire that broke out in Mumbais Crystal Tower in August 2018. She guided 17 people to safety.

Lawyers representing some women protesters raised the issue of discrimination faced by their children at schools and detention of children at camps.

A lawyer appearing for three women said, Children come home from school crying because they are called Pakistanis and terrorists.

CJI Bobde, however, refused to entertain those arguments stating that it is completely unrelated to the case.

You cannot use this platform to make such statements. That is not being considered here, he said. Further arguments by lawyers on similar lines were met with stronger response from the CJI.

We dont want people to use this platform to make situation worse. You cannot make irrelevant arguments. This case is not on CAA, NRC, or students being called Pakistanis, he said.

While hearing a case against the nearly two-month-long protest at Shaheen Bagh in south Delhi, the court also signalled that people could not be allowed to block a public road indefinitely and posted the matter for further hearing on February 17.

You cannot block a public road indefinitely. If everybody starts protesting everywhere, then what will happen, the bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said.

The top court had last week put off hearing two petitions filed against the protests in south Delhi in light of the assembly elections held on February 8. The bench had then indicated that it recognised that there was a problem and intended to examine how to resolve it.

Shaheen Bagh has become the epicentre of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, which empowers the government to fast-track the grant of Indian citizenship to persecuted minorities from the Muslim-majority nations of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
President Donald Trump once again blasted Mitt Romney after his impeachment vote  this time when fielding a question from the senator's home-state governor.

'How's Mitt Romney? You keep him. We don't want him,' Trump said, when Gov. Gary Hebert asked him a question during White House 'business session' for the nation's governors.

'I haven't spoken to him,' Hebert responded, quickly moving on and asking a budget question.

'You keep him. We don't want him,' Trump told the governor of Utah when he asked a question at a White House event, in reference to Sen. Mitt Romney, who voted to convict him of abuse of power

Trump hosted the governors for an annual ball over the weekend, after blasting Romney as a 'failed presidential candidate' after the first-term senator became the only Republican to vote to convict Trump of abuse of power for pressuring Ukraine to investigate the Bidens.

The president was acquitted on a vote a 52 to 48 on that count  a result Trump crowed about for days, but without the ability to claim it was on a strict party-line vote thanks to Romney.

The president also retweeted a video that called Romney a 'Democrat secret asset,' and the president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., tweeted that Romney 'should be expelled' from the Republican Party.

Romney was the GOP's presidential nominee in 2012. Trump Jr. wrote: 'He was too weak to beat the Democrats then so he's joining them now. He's now officially a member of the resistance & should be expelled from the @GOP.'

Mitt Romney said Trump's conduct toward Ukraine was 'an appalling abuse of the public trust'

Kellyanne Conway, Counselor to the US President, speaks to media inside the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 05 February 2020

Romney in his Senate floor speech last week said Trump's conduct toward Ukraine was 'an appalling abuse of the public trust.'

Trump's dig came as counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway suggested the post-impeachment purge may not be through.

On Friday, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who testified against Trump at the Democratic-run House impeachment inquiry, was escorted out of the White House, where he was detailed to the National Security Council.

Vindman's brother, Yevgeny, a lawyer on the NSC, also was pushed out. U.S. ambassador to the E.U., Gordon Sondland  who also testified and provided damaging information even as he testified to Trump's denial of knowing Rudy Giuliani's actions in Ukraine  was removed from his post Friday.

Asked if more officials would be pushed out, Conway, who has been with Trump since his presidential campaign, responded with a 'maybe.'

She defended pushing out the Vindmans.

'In the case of the Vindman brothers, you remember, they were detailed here.' She noted they are 'employed today'  a reference to Vindmans' return to the Pentagon.

'They are working at the Army, where they were. They were detailed to the NSC. This is typical,' she said. 'I've had detailees on my small staff.' The called it 'very typical' for people to return to their post after working at the White House. She did not mention that Vindman was escorted out of the White House, that he had testified against Trump, and that Trump had gone after him on Twitter, putting his military rank inside quotation marks.

Matt Schlapp, who heads the American Conservative Union, is defending his decision to uninvite Romney from the annual CPAC gabfest. He took the action after Romney voted for hearing from witnesses and getting documents  but before his 'guilty' vote.

This year, I'd actually be afraid for his physical safety, people are so mad at him,' Schalpp told 'Full Court Press' with Greta Van Susteren, the New York Post reported.
Libyas Azzawiya Oil Refining Company has suspended its operations for lack of feedstock amid the continued blockade of oil ports that has led to the shutdown of several fields, Reuters reported, adding that the refiner is completely out of stockpiled crude.

Libya has lost more than a million barrels daily in production, with its average daily slumping from over 1.2 million bpd in early January to less than 200,000 bpd as of the end of last week, according to the National Oil Corporation as cited by local media.

The company said it had also lost $1 billion from the blockade so far and urged the Libyan National Army and the tribal groups that seized the ports to lift the blockade.

National Oil Corporation (NOC) renews its call for all blockades to be lifted to allow the corporation to resume production immediately, for the sake of Libya and its people, the statement read as quoted by the Libyan Express.

In late January, NOCs chairman Mustafa Sanalla told Bloomberg Libya could lose all of its oil production if the blockade was not lifted soon and the latest production figures suggest that output may indeed be heading for zero.

The blockade was an extension of the ongoing fight for control of the country and its oil revenues between the Libyan National Army, affiliated with the eastern government, and the Government of National Accord, which has been recognised by the UN. All oil revenues go into accounts controlled by the GNA and NOC, and the LNA is seeking to change that through the blockade.

The economic situation in the North African country was the key topic of discussion at the latest round of UN talks on Libya. Bloomberg reported on the talks, noting that if they ended with a deal between the warring parties and production begins to ramp up, this would compromise OPECs efforts to curb global supply amid the coronavirus scare.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Gakharia made a phone call to President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on February 10.

Gakharia congratulated the president on a landslide victory of the New Azerbaijan Party, headed by President Aliyev, in the parliamentary elections.

President Aliyev thanked for the attention and congratulations.

The Azerbaijani president and the Georgian prime minister hailed the development of friendly relations between the two countries and expressed confidence that the bilateral ties would continue to expand.

--

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday termed the molestation of women students during the annual cultural festival at Gargi College as "disappointing" and demanded strict action against the culprits.

"Misbehaviour with our daughters in Gargi College is disappointing. This cannot be tolerated at any cost. The culprits should be caught and given strict punishment. The security of our children studying in colleges should also be ensured," Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi.

Earlier in the day, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson Swati Maliwal said that the Commission will issue a notice to both the Gargi College administration and the police to find out as to why no action has been taken in the matter of sexual harassment of female students in the college by a number of unidentified men during their annual cultural fest on February 6.

Maliwal on Monday visited the college and spoke with the students. Later, she interacted with the media.

"We met many students at the Gargi College today who narrated horrifying ordeals faced by them during the fest held on February 6. Neither the college administration nor the police have taken any action in the matter. Delhi Commission of Women is issuing a notice to both the college and the police to find out why an FIR has not been registered nor have any arrests taken place?" Maliwal told reporters here.

The Delhi Police have begun a probe into the matter of alleged harassment and sexual abuse of women students in the college by a number of unidentified men during their annual cultural fest on February 6.

"We are inquiring into the matter. However, we have not received any complaint so far," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) South, Atul Thakur.

While speaking to ANI on Monday a woman student said that over 100 middle-aged men crashed the college gate on February 6 and misbehaved with the women inside the campus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The start of the year is a popular time for couples to meet with lawyers as they contemplate divorce.

Rather than opt for costly and drawn-out litigation, many are turning to alternatives such as mediation or whats known as collaborative divorce.

Both parties have to be willing to negotiate fairly and agree to pursue mediation or collaborative divorce instead of the litigation path, said Thomas Roberto, a family law attorney with Adinolfi, Molotsky, Burick & Falkenstein in Haddonfield. There is a level of trust involved.

If you and your spouse are prepared to work together to resolve your differences rather than fight, these alternatives could be right for you.

Before you give one of these methods a try, heres what you should know.

WHAT IS MEDIATION?

A divorcing couple would meet with an independent third-party mediator who is usually a former attorney or judge.

It can help to minimize conflict and allow all parties to voice their concerns and priorities, said Jody DAgostini, a certified financial planner and certified divorce financial analyst with The Falcon Financial Group in Morristown.

Want more personal finance news? Enter your email address to be the first to know:

DAgostini said mediation can be more cost-effective and less stressful than litigation, and can be tailored to the couples needs. Also, she said, it allows for flexibility because couples are subject to the courts schedule.

David Carton, co-chair of the matrimonial and family law practice at Mandelbaum Salsburg in Roseland, has also served as a mediator. He said hes successfully resolved very challenging cases with mediation.

But, he said, its not a process that should be entered into unless there is a full disclosure of information in advance.

Without a full disclosure of information it is bound to fail or result in a one-sided resolution. Its like baking a cake with only half of the ingredients, Carton said.

Both parties should still seek the advice of their own attorneys, he said, because its not the mediators role to provide legal advice.

Not all kinds of mediation is voluntary in New Jersey.

For parents who cant come to an agreement about parenting time, court-sponsored mediation will be mandatory, said Kenneth White, a certified matrimonial attorney with Shane and White in Edison.

He said the program is free and attorneys dont typically participate.

Nearly all counties boast a custody mediation success rate in excess of 50%, saving the parties significant time and money while freeing up the judges to handle other matters, White said.

Similarly, White said, if the financial aspects of a divorce are not finalized within a reasonable period of time, usually six to nine months, the court system generally requires parties to participate in the Mandatory Economic Mediation Program.

Unlike the custody mediation program, this exercise typically includes attorneys as well as a third attorney serving as mediator for a cost, he said. It is generally well worth it as this mediation typically represents the last opportunity to secure a settlement without commencing a trial.

Also, the process is completely private and confidential and minimizes the amount of information that gets filed with the court and becomes public record.

But mediation isnt for everyone, DAgostini said.

This is fine for non-complicated divorces, but if there is a knowledge or power imbalance, one spouse can be at a disadvantage, she said.

WHAT IS COLLABORATIVE DIVORCE?

The goal of collaborative divorce is to use a team of professionals to resolve a couples issues in a more amicable fashion.

The team usually involves a family law attorney who provides the backdrop of the law, a financial planner or a certified divorce financial analyst and possibly a certified public accountant. These professionals will help provide solutions for the division of assets and liabilities, future housing and other financial and tax-related issues.

If the couple has children and there are custody issues, the team may include a child specialist and a parenting coordinator who will help negotiate and coordinate the new co-parenting family schedule.

The main benefit that I see from a collaborative divorce is that it respects the integrity of the new family, DAgostini said. It is the couples divorce and they each have input into the pace and outcome of the divorce. The professionals are there to provide guidance and education on their area of expertise, but the process can be much easier on the family unit.

Like mediation, the process is private and confidential.

At the start of the process, both spouses and their attorneys agree that no pleadings will be filed with the court unless and until the collaborative process has been exhausted or proves unsuccessful, said Jeralyn Lawrence, a family law attorney with Lawrence Law in Watchung.

Any experts brought into a collaborative case are retained jointly and work for both parties, she said.

Not every attorney buys into the term collaborative divorce.

White said from his perspective, divorce is divorce no matter what name or title you give it.

If individuals divorcing are prepared to listen to their attorneys, cooperate with each other and restrain from name calling, they are in a position to negotiate a swift, amicable divorce in a cost-effective manner, he said. There is no reason to call it `collaborative.

Theres a big downside if the collaborative process isnt successful.

If the process doesnt result in a settlement, the individuals getting divorced must start over. And that can double the costs, White said.

When individuals enter into the collaborative divorce process with attorneys, there is an agreement that if the matter is not amicably resolved by settlement that the individuals chosen attorneys are prohibited from participating in formal, traditional divorce litigation, White said. Therefore, with the collapse of the collaborative divorce process, the husband and wife are left starting the process over and each must retain new attorneys.

To learn more about divorce alternatives, check out the not-for-profit New Jersey Collaborative Law Group and the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals.

And before you take a divorce, read about these common mistakes made when pursuing divorce and see whether January is the most popular month for divorce. Also see the biggest trends in divorce in New Jersey.

Have you been Bamboozled? Reach Karin Price Mueller at Bamboozled@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KPMueller. Find Bamboozled on Facebook. Mueller is also the founder of NJMoneyHelp.com.
A Russian plane with at least 100 people on board crash-landed on its belly in the north of the country due to problems with its landing gear on February 9. The company and officials also said that no one was injured in the incident when the Utair Boeing 737 was afflicted by a sudden change in the direction of the winds while it was landing at Usinsk airport in the northern Komi region. The plane was already on the tarmac when the malfunction occurred.

Read - Two Planes Carrying Virus Evacuees Land In Brazil

Utair reportedly said that the airport's instrument landing system was not working and the runway lighting was also out at the time of crash landing. The images shared online also showing the jet landed in its belly on the snow-covered tarmac and the passengers were scrambled to evacuate. According to international reports, none of the 94 passengers along with six crew members were severely injured, however, one passenger sought medical assistance.

#UTair, a Boeing 737-500 (VQ-BPS) flight #UT595 from #Moscow Vnukovo suffered a landing gear collapsed upon landing at #Usinsk Airport. Reports says no injured reported. There were 100 passengers & crew on board. #Boeing



*All pictures and videos from Twitter. pic.twitter.com/fONJz2n8h6  FlightMode (@FlightModeblog) February 9, 2020

Read - Spain Confirms Second Case Of Coronavirus; UK Plane Brings 200 Evacuees

Airlines thanked crew members

The airlines also thanked the 'quick and highly-professional actions' by the crew members who made it possible to keep the plane on the landing strip until it fully stopped. Furthermore, Utair also lauded the 'experienced' crew by quoting that a pilot who has more than 6,900 hours of flight time. Meanwhile, a spokesperson from the local branch of the emergencies ministry told an international agency that 'the plane landed on its tail' and the passengers along with the crew evacuated through the emergency slides.

However, the head of the Komi region Sergei Gaplikov in a statement called the Usinsk airport incident as 'unacceptable' and expressed relief that 'no one has been seriously hurt'. Utair reportedly also grounded its scheduled flights for February 10 from Usinsk to Moscow due to the condition of landing strip being 'unsatisfactory'. International media reports also stated that the critics have noted the poor aircraft maintenance and lax safety standards which has one of the worst safety records in the world.

Read - Spain Confirms 2nd Virus Case; UK Plane Brings 200 Evacuees

Read - U.S. Investigators Inspect Site Of Fatal Turkish Plane Crash

(With agency inputs)




By Kim Bo-eun







KB Kookmin Card said Monday its Cambodian subsidiary opened a new branch in Sen Sok, Phnom Penh, as part of efforts to boost its presence in the Southeast Asian country.







Sen Sok is a vibrant district in the capital, where large-scale commercial and residential development projects are under way.







The card firm established its Cambodian subsidiary KB Daehan Specialized Bank in September 2018 after taking over Tomato Specialized Bank in April that year.







The subsidiary posted a 200 million won net profit in the third quarter of last year, just 10 months after its launch. KB is focusing on mortgages and auto loans there, and plans to launch a credit card business.







"Based on the expansion of our local sales network in Cambodia, we will seek continued growth in our existing mortgages and auto loans business and accelerate efforts to stabilize new businesses, including a credit card business we plan to launch," a KB Kookmin Card official said.







KB Kookmin Card has four outlets in Southeast Asia  in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. It is set to launch a subsidiary soon in Indonesia after signing a deal in November to acquire a local credit finance company, PT Financial Multi Finance.







Korean card firms are in a battle to gain market share in the fast-growing region as they face limitations in the mostly saturated domestic market.


Find all our Student Opinion questions here.

How often do you watch movies? And where do you like to watch them?

Do you prefer to go to movie theaters, use a streaming service like Netflix or Hulu at home, or a combination of both? Which movies, if any, do you try to see on the big screen? If you usually stream movies, do you use a television, a computer, a tablet or a phone? Now compare these experiences: Which do you think is the best way to watch a movie? Why do you say that?

In Once Upon a Time  in Hollywood, Many Times Over, Brian Raftery writes about a movie theater in Los Angeles that is part of an art house revival that is now happening despite the popularity of streaming services:

LOS ANGELES  On a crisp Saturday night last month, a hundred movie lovers got into their cars and drove to the New Beverly Cinema, an old theater on Beverly Boulevard, to relive a golden age of Hollywood. As a 1960s radio broadcast played overhead, ticket holders walked past a lobby filled with vintage artifacts like a Make Love Not War banner and Green Hornet poster before taking their seats. You open the doors and its 1969, said Brian Quinn, a theater manager, who took the stage at 7:30 p.m. to introduce the nights main attraction: Once Upon a Time  in Hollywood, written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who also owns the New Beverly. The audience gasped, laughed and applauded as they followed the tale of a fading TV star (played by Leonardo DiCaprio), his loyal stuntman (Brad Pitt) and Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), set in the final days before Charles Manson upended Hollywoods collective psyche. Such cinematic time capsules have been a fixture at the New Beverly, a 225-seat, single-screen theater that is emblematic of an art house revival in Los Angeles and beyond. The theater shows studio classics and cult films, including many movies by Mr. Tarantino. And last July, when Once Upon a Time was released, it was added to the lineup, selling out more than 50 consecutive screenings.

The article suggests there are reasons beyond seeing a movie that draw people to the New Beverly Cinema:

Nostalgia remains one of the theaters biggest draws. Its the closest thing to a time machine Ill ever see in my lifetime, said Alison Martino, 49, a journalist and historian who has seen the film at the New Beverly 11 times. When Ms. Martino first saw the scene in which Sharon Tate visits the Fox Bruin Theater on Broxton Avenue (which still stands), she recalled her weekend nights there as a teenager in the 1980s. I cried, because so much of my childhood was there, said Ms. Martino, who runs the Facebook page Vintage Los Angeles. For those who werent around during those years, the theater offers a sense of camaraderie so often lost in the age of at-home streaming. Its a good escape, said Mr. Vasquez, who has seen the film at least a dozen times at the New Beverly. Theres no plot to the movie, really. But I just like to hang out with these characters, and be in that world.

Students, read the entire article, then tell us:

Would you want to visit the New Beverly Cinema or any of the other theaters mentioned in the article? Why or why not? As you read, were you reminded of any vintage or vintage-inspired movie theaters you have visited or heard about? How does the New Beverly Cinema compare with the kind of movie theaters typically found near where you live?

The article states:

A generation of people who have only seen movies at home now want to see them in theaters, said Jake Perlin, 44, the artistic director at Metrograph. Theyre realizing that nothing is greater than watching something like Bells Are Ringing with another couple hundred people.

To what degree do you think Mr. Perlin is right? Do you think the experience of watching a movie in a theater is markedly better than just streaming it? And if so, what makes it better? Is it the communal experience of watching with other people? The larger screen? The superior sound system? The smell of buttered popcorn?

What have the older people in your life told you about how they watched movies when they were your age? What, if anything, about their stories appeals to you? Why?

You read about people who have seen Once Upon a Time  in Hollywood multiple times in a theater. What movie holds your personal record for most viewings? Why have you watched it so many times? How many times, if ever, did you see it in the theater? Where and how did you watch it the other times?

Students 13 and older are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
The Delhi High Court Monday asked the Centre and the Delhi government to reply to a PIL seeking a "complete ban" on advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar issued notice to the ministries of home, health and finance, the Delhi government and the national as well as Delhi state commission for protection of child rights seeking their stand on the plea which has alleged child labour in a company engaged in tobbaco products, like 'khaini', in the national capital.

The petition by one Dipesh Jha has alleged that Harsh Infinity Flavour Pvt Ltd was engaged in manufacture, packaging, marketing and sale of 'khaini', in violation of various statutory provisions.

The petitioner has contended that the alleged "illegal activities" by the company include surrogate advertisement, not paying minimum wages to its workers, child labour, tax evasion and environment pollution.

Central government standing counsel Anurag Ahluwalia appeared for the health ministry and sought time to file a reply to the petition.

The bench listed the matter for further hearing on March 11.

The petition has contended that the company was advertising its product in such a manner so as to give the impression that it was herbal and beneficial to health.

The sachets are made of plastic and do not display any statutory warnings, in violation of judicial orders, it has alleged, claiming that waste and expired products were disposed of by burning them in an open area leading to air pollution.

The petitioner, who claims to be a social worker, has sought directions to the authorities to set up a special investigation team to probe into the various illegalities allegedly committed by the company.

Besides, it has sought directions to the authorities to implement rehabilitative measures for the child labour allegedly employed in the company.

It has also sought a "complete ban over advertising, promotion and sponsorship of any tobacco product in any form including surrogate advertisements for different products under a single brand name".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With its storied history of penthouse fundraisers and ballroom galas, New York has long been an epicenter of philanthropy. To this day, funders of all sizes invest countless dollars into shaping the states approach to criminal justice, health care, education, poverty and many other policy issues.

Despite its role as a force for good in the world, philanthropys relationship with power has increasingly become a subject of scrutiny in recent years. Charitable giving is often seen as a form of political and social influence. These questions of power and influence are of particular importance to New York.

This list, which was compiled by New York Nonprofit Media reporter Kay Dervishi, ranked leaders at foundations and philanthropic institutions who direct their giving to New York and remain influential in the region. Leaders who oversee the day-to-day operations at foundations were picked over their founders when possible and, when founders were picked, their examination was focused specifically on their role as philanthropists.

Were pleased to announce our inaugural Philanthropy Power 50 list.

1. Darren Walker

Jake Chessum President, Ford Foundation

Darren Walker now manages a $13 billion foundation that gives out $600 million every year, but the experience that has most informed his leadership was when he worked as a busboy at 13 years old.

There was something about being rendered invisible and the perniciousness of the systems that render too many people invisible in our society that has informed how I think about our work here at Ford, he told The New York Times last year. Its part of why Walker  who has also worked as a corporate lawyer and nonprofit leader  has made inequality a major focus of his work.

Although the foundations focus is national, it has dedicated plenty of resources to New York, especially for advocacy groups supporting marginalized communities. Walker has been involved in the effort to close the Rikers Island jail complex as a member of the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform, which was pivotal in getting the citys support. He has offered his expertise to many other organizations, including the New York City Commission on City Art, Monuments and Markers, VOW to End Child Marriage and the Committee to Protect Journalists.

2. Lorie Slutsky

Ari Mintz President, The New York Community Trust

In the 96 years since its founding, The New York Community Trust and its donors have contributed $4.6 billion to nonprofits. Much of its growth as a major philanthropic institution in the past several decades can be credited to Lorie Slutsky, who has spent her whole career at The New York Community Trust. During her tenure as president, the foundations assets have tripled, making it one of the 10 largest foundations in the state.

Slutsky oversees funding for a range of New York City-focused initiatives, including on the environment, immigration, social services and health. Many of the foundations projects are taken on collaboratively, as the trust has partnered with more than 140 funders in the past 40 years. This year, Slutsky has made getting out the count for the 2020 census a priority, with the trust serving as home to yet another collaborative fund. The New York State Census Equity Fund has doled out nearly $2 million in grants to organizations in the state so far.

3. Wes Moore

Will Strawser CEO, Robin Hood

Robin Hood earned its reputation as a favorite of Wall Street executives and top celebrities looking to invest in anti-poverty initiatives. So it was a big deal when Wes Moore  an author, Army veteran and Rhodes scholar  took over the foundations operations about three years ago.

The people I fight for, and those that Robin Hood will continue to fight for, are those who have been frequently left behind, he told The New York Times when he became CEO. Its the underserved, the underresourced. Its the people we are having conversations about, and not having conversations with.

Moore oversees its $129 million in grantmaking to 200 New York City organizations fighting poverty through education, housing and other services. Just last year, Robin Hood made a major announcement. The foundation and the XQ Institute would pitch in $16 million to build 20 new public schools in New York City. The kicker: The schools focus would be shaped by teams of community members participating in a local competition.

4. Patricia Harris

Bloomberg Philanthropies CEO, Bloomberg Philanthropies

Patricia Harris has spent much of her career alongside billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. She worked at Bloomberg LP before becoming first deputy mayor during his mayoral tenure  and then the driving force behind Bloomberg Philanthropies. In fact, Bloomberg told Politico, Patti is the foundation. And as he runs for president, Harris has stepped away from the foundation to join his side as an adviser once again. Its no wonder Harris features prominently on power lists from publications like Crains New York Business and Politico.

In the past decade, she has overseen three major initiatives at Bloomberg Philanthropies: promoting public health, spurring government innovation and fighting climate change. That amounted to about $767 million in giving in 2018. One of the foundations biggest announcements this past year was its $160 million commitment to stop vaping among youth, as e-cigarette usage becomes a major debate nationally. That decision is in line with Bloomberg Philanthropies priorities; since 2007, it has contributed nearly $1 billion to reduce tobacco usage.

5. Eric S. Goldstein

UJA Federation of New York CEO, UJA-Federation of New York

Following several anti-Semitic attacks in the New York City metropolitan area, including a stabbing at a rabbis home in Monsey, New York, UJA-Federation of New York has become an important voice for the Jewish community. The nonprofit helped organize a rally against hate in January, attended by thousands, including the governor and other elected officials. And as it encourages New York to do more to provide security for synagogues and nonprofits, UJA-Federation has taken the problem into its own hands by appointing a community security director to help Jewish institutions throughout New York.

Eric S. Goldstein has been at the forefront of this leadership. Over the past six years, he has overseen the organizations funding of hundreds of nonprofits throughout New York, including social services groups, synagogues, Jewish community centers and summer camps. Most of UJA-Federations support is dedicated to the region, providing $92.6 million in grants to support initiatives in New York. Goldstein previously served as a board member to some of the groups partner organizations: New York Legal Assistance Group, DOROT and The Jewish Agency for Israel.
A look at the most-read stories from the weekend you might have missed:

Revised North Broadway assessments stun nursing home



Twenty-one of 120 parcels subject to assessment for the planned reconstruction of North Broadway Avenue are seeing increases to their expected contributions.

Samaritan Bethanys nursing home complex, west of Broadway at 24 Eighth St. NW, is seeing the biggest jump, from $28,303 proposed in April to $218,972 using a revised formula based on estimated benefits to property values.

"It seems a little excessive," said Susan Knutson, Samaritan Bethany mission leader and CEO.

Read the full story from Randy Petersen here.

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A change in the weather: PB is bringing Brock back

The Post Bulletin has introduced frequent daily weather forecasts and updates, provided by the largest weather team serving southeastern Minnesota and featuring regular contributions by longtime Rochester television meteorologist Randy Brock.

Brock was chief meteorologist at KTTC-TV for 14 years before leaving television for a career as a real estate agent. He will contribute a weekly video weather report on the Post Bulletin's website and co-host a new weekly podcast with the Post Bulletin. The first entry will appear Monday at PostBulletin.com/Weather .

Read the full story from Jeff Pieters here.

St. Charles makes another sale in I-90 business park



ST. CHARLES  Another sale signals another success for St. Charles' business park on Interstate 90.

Danmar Properties, representing the new Whitewater Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealership that's been selling cars since last fall, purchased 4 acres in the new phase two addition to the business park.

The deal was done in the wake of a deal between the car dealership and representatives of Love's Travel Plaza. Danmar sold a portion of its initial purchase at the business park to Love's in order to help Love's reach its goal of a total of 10 contiguous acres.

Read the full story from Brian Todd here.

'We're on a fun ride': Schaeffer Academy boys basketball team enjoying breakout season

Tom Bance saw it coming.

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The Schaeffer Academy head coach knew his boys basketball team had a chance to be good after a 13-win 2018-19 campaign.



And before the calendar has even flipped to February, Schaeffer Academy has already eclipsed its win total from last season.



Read the full story from Isaac Trotter here.

Climate change, altered landscape taking toll on Minnesota wildlife

BLOOMINGTON  Climate change and an altered landscape are taking a toll on wildlife, and its only going to get more challenging, according to managers in the division of Fish and Wildlife and the division of Ecological Services and Water Resources within the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.



Extreme rain events, flooded lands and eroding waterways are taking a toll on everything from deer and upland bird species to migrating songbirds, four managers from the two divisions told an audience Jan. 24 at the annual Roundtable hosted by the department in Bloomington.

Its all impacting the ability to produce wildlife for today and the future, Dave Trauba, regional wildlife director in New Ulm, told the audience. "It is going to get a lot harder for us to do that," he said.

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Read the full story here.
Authorities at the Ejisuman Senior High School in the Ashanti Region have expelled seven female students from the schools boarding facility after they allegedly posted a video on social media that contained sexual innuendos.



According to authorities, the video which has gone viral has dented the image of the school.



A letter announcing the sanctions against the students and addressed to the Ashanti Regional Directorate of the Ghana Education Service stated that: the management of the school at a meeting with the affected students and their parents arrived at that decision.



The seven who are all final year students have been accused of using a mobile phone  which is prohibited in basic and high schools  to upload a video on social media where unprintable words that border on sex were spewed out.



The schools management also expressed concern about the use of unauthorised gadgets while in school.



The sanction which took effect on February 6, 2020, according to the school was to serve as deterrent to other students.



The behaviour of these students, management feels should not be allowed to perpetuate hence this action, the letter added.



Although the schools management is yet to speak after issuing the statement, the Ashanti Regional Student Representative Council Coordinator, Raphael Sarkodie called for intensified guidance and counselling in Senior High Schools.

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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Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, have reported, in the journal Cell Reports, the mechanism of how the very early precursor or stem cells which eventually give rise to the germ cells, eggs and sperm, are formed over the course of development. This could help create eggs and sperms under laboratory conditions to help infertile people who dont have sperms, or eggs, for instance.

UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center/Cell Reports - Differentiating human pluripotent stem cells (blue) turning into human germ cells (pink and white).

The problem

Infertility is a problem for 1 in 10 of the population in the US, and shows an increasing trend over the last few decades because of the later time of first pregnancy. In many of these cases, in vitro fertilization (IVF), and more advanced techniques like intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) are successfully used to begin a pregnancy. In IVF, the male and female germ cells are joined outside the body and the resulting conceptus is later inserted back into the uterus. With ICSI, the sperm nucleus is injected directly into the egg cell.

However, both of these techniques require sperm and eggs to be present. When it comes to people who lack these germ cells, other therapies must be looked for. The lack of sperm or eggs could be a result of genetic abnormalities, chemotherapy or radiation, or sometimes unknown causes.

One option is to use donor eggs or sperm, or both. However, as researcher Amander Clark says, With donated eggs and sperm, the child is not genetically related to one or both parents. What we want to do is use stem cells to be able to generate germ cells outside the human body so that this kind of infertility can be overcome.

The beginning

All embryos develop from a set of undifferentiated cells are present that is capable of developing in many different directions to make almost any kind of cell in the body. These are the pluripotent stem cells, the cells that can also give rise to sperms and eggs.

Scientists have already discovered how to make cells very similar to these from already differentiated adult skin or blood cells, by reversing the developmental timetable and un-differentiating them. These are called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).

The process

The current study made use of technology to measure the genes that were active in over 100,000 embryonic stem cells and iPSCs as they gave rise to sperm and egg cells. This huge amount of information was then analyzed, using newly developed algorithms from their colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to discern the pattern of development.

The scientists were thus able to come up with a high-definition picture of the process by which germ cells are formed. The first step occurred at 24-48 hours, when the stem cells begin to differentiate into the different types of cells that continue to develop into all the distinctive and highly specialized cells of the adult human body.

At the 12th day after fertilization, around the time of implantation but before the earliest formation of embryonic parts like the primitive streak or the gastrula, it is possible to recognize the earliest stem cells that are differentiating into the germ cell production line, called the human primordial germ cells (hPGCs). At this point the hPGC-like cells (hPGCLCs) are specified, or set apart, by a change in their gene expression towards a transitional state. At this point they share the characteristics of the pre-implantation stem cell as well as the post-implantation embryonic stem cell, which is described as naive and primed, respectively. They then turn into the pathway to become germ cell progenitors, by the regulation of the sex-determining chromosome area SOX17 that is responsible for hPGCLC specification.

At this point, the hPGCLCs can no longer differentiate into somatic cells  this is called crossing Weismanns barrier, after the legendary German biologist who proposed the existence of the hereditary factor within germ cells, today known to be DNA. This is the key point in achieving the in vitro production of gametes, or sex cells (eggs and sperms).

Implications

In the current experiment, the primed hPGCLCs are turned back to become transitional germinal pluripotent cells and thus begin to differentiate into germ cells. The researchers now know when to intervene so that they can maximize the number of germ cells formed by diverting more of the differentiation process into this stream.

Another interesting finding was that germ cells arise from stem cells originating in the amnion, the thin translucent membrane containing the fluid surrounding the embryo, as well as the gastrula-forming cells that belong to the baby proper.

Finally, they found that the gene activation patterns leading to germ cell formation are nearly the same, whether it is an embryonic stem cell or an iPSC. This proves they are using the right technique to form the germ cells.

Clark says, Now were poised to take the next step of combining these cells with ovary or testis cells. These germ cells are not yet decided on whether to develop into sperm or egg cells, and this depends on the molecular signals they receive, whether from the ovary or the testis.

The researchers say, Through this work, we uncovered the human germline trajectory and discovered the identity of potential peri-implantation progenitors for hPGCs.

The researchers hope they will eventually be able to coax the iPSCs formed from the patients own skin cells to differentiate into germ cells and into ovarian or testicular tissue. This could be used to let each person have his or her germ cells created in the laboratory. The process, however, is a long-drawn-out one and will require intensive research and work.

A step too far?

These techniques have been restricted to laboratory use, and are not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for use in humans, nor have they undergone human testing.

It is obvious that such experiments involve the abundant use of human pre-implantation embryos. Though ethical approval norms are fulfilled, such testing nonetheless raises numerous other ethical issues. Again, the true motivation of the research remains in doubt since the lack of value for potential human life shown by such experiments makes it difficult to believe that making it possible for infertile couples to have babies is the real incentive.

Finally, the potential for misapplication of this technology is obvious, just one example being its use to allow both sperm and egg cells to be created from the same patient, nurtured by both ovarian and testicular tissue derived from that patient, and eventually giving rise to a single-parent zygote. One hopes that scientists will not allow their curiosity to run rampant but rein it in within appropriate bounds rather than ruin human life with unnecessary technology -simply because they can.
As of January 2020, the WCO Anti-Corruption and Integrity Promotion (A-CIP) Programme for Customs is now collaborating with five additional partner administrations. Burkina Faso, Cote dIvoire, Jordan, Niger and Palestine are now benefiting from WCO technical assistance and capacity building provided through the Programme.

The A-CIP Programmes expansion follows the WCO and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) signature of an addendum to the initial Grant Agreement last November, bringing Norways total contribution from EUR 5m to nearly EUR 8m. The WCO A-CIP Programme now counts 16 partner administrations as Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Ghana, Lebanon, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Tunisia have already been collaborating with the WCO to promote integrity and fight against corruption, within the context of the Programme launched in January 2019.

This Programme responds to the increased demand from WCO Members for support in their own efforts to meet the recommendations of the Revised Arusha Declaration on Integrity in Customs, recognizing the high costs of corruption, to both public and private sectors.

For more than two decades, the WCO has played an active and key role in addressing the complex problem of corruption in public service and more specifically in customs. The WCOs core strategic policy document Customs in the 21st Century emphasizes the fight against corruption, the safeguarding of integrity and the enhancement of good governance measures. The A-CIP Programme will galvanize activity in this area and lead efforts to improve governance and integrity in customs.

For more information about the A-CIP Programme, please visit the WCO A-CIP Programme page, or contact capacitybuilding@wcoomd.org .
Award-winning chef Aaron Turner admits he has a love of fried chicken that borders on obsession: I knew it as soon as I took that first bite of Nashville hot birdI was a goner. In The Hot Chicken Project, Turner examines that obsession, making a pilgrimage to Nashville, the birthplace of hot chicken, to pay his respects to its creators and celebrate that fiery bird he loves so much. With its signature blend of recipes, narrative, and pictures, The Hot Chicken Project is a unique take on the history and pleasures of hot chicken. What follows is an excerpted recipe from The Hot Chicken Project, out in April from Hardie Grant Books.

Cold Fried Chicken Sandwich

Hangovers, broken hearts...a cold fried chicken sandwich will fix pretty much anything. And, just like most sandwiches, it tastes a thousand times better if someone else makes it for you.

The secret is to makeor ordermore fried chicken than you need and let it sit in the fridge for a day or two first, so that youre good to go. And make sure you have some cheap white bread in the housethick cut is best but, in all honesty, any will do.

Makes as many as you like

White bread (the cheaper the better)

Whole-egg mayonnaise

Iceberg lettuce leaves Sliced cheese

Leftover boneless fried chicken (any kind)

Hot sauce of your choice

-Smother two slices of bread in mayo and cover with pieces of crisp iceberg lettuce and cheese.

-Slice the cold fried chicken and season well with your favorite hot sauce.

-Put it all together.

-Repeat as needed.
She said she can only think of one other time the city brought out heavy machinery for a cleaning. That day she saw two peoples tents get knocked down even though they were not marked as abandoned.


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Simon Property Group, Inc. (SPG) and Taubman Centers, Inc. (TCO) announced Monday that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Simon will acquire an 80% ownership interest in The Taubman Realty Group Limited Partnership.



Simon, through its operating partnership, Simon Property Group, L.P., will acquire all of Taubman common stock for $52.50 per share in cash and the Taubman family will sell approximately one-third of its ownership interest at the transaction price and remain a 20% partner in Taubman Realty.



The transaction price of $52.50 per share in cash represents a 51% premium to TCO's closing price on February 7, 2020 and a 19% premium to total enterprise value, which includes debt and preferred equity.



The transaction is expected to be at least 3% accretive to Simon's Funds From Operations (FFO) per share on an annualized basis, beginning immediately upon consummation of the transaction.



Taubman Realty is engaged in the ownership, management and/or leasing of 26 super-regional shopping centers in the U.S. and Asia. They will continue to be managed by its existing executive team, under the leadership of Taubman Chairman, President and CEO Robert Taubman, in partnership with Simon.



The transaction has been unanimously recommended by a Special Committee of independent directors of Taubman and approved unanimously by the Boards of Directors of both companies. Simon expects to fund the total required cash consideration of approximately $3.6 billion with existing liquidity.



The transaction, expected to close in mid-2020, is subject to customary closing conditions including approval of two-thirds of the outstanding Taubman voting stock and approval from majority of the outstanding Taubman voting stock not held by the Taubman family.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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A BJP corporator from Thane in Maharashtra was arrested on Monday in the 2015 case of extorting money from a local builder, police said.

The accused, Narayan Pawar, was booked in December 2015 along with three others when he was with the Congress.

In his FIR, the builder R G Pataskar had claimed that he had purchased a plot from one of the accused persons, Siddimian Sheikh, in 1997.

However, Sheikh and two others forged documents to claim that they had purchased the plot from the builder, a police official said.

"The builder claimed that he was threatened to pay Rs 3 crore to Pawar to get the plot back in his possession, following which a case was registered against Pawar, Sheikh, Ramrao Gurala and Pradip Burke," she said.

The official said the builder had paid Rs 3 lakh to the accused.

He said Pawar was booked after the police opened up cases against some corporators for harassing builders, in the wake of the suicide committed by Cosmos Group builder Suraj Parmar in October, 2015.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Cautious: Railway passengers in Shanghai wear full plastic bags in a bid to protect themselves from coronavirus. Photo: Aly Song/Reuters

China has raised the death toll from its coronavirus outbreak to 811, passing the number killed globally by the Sars epidemic.

Many of China's usually teeming cities have almost become ghost towns during the past two weeks as Communist Party rulers ordered virtual lockdowns, cancelled flights, closed factories and shut schools.

Even today, a large number of workplaces and schools will remain closed and many white-collar employees will work from home.

The scale of the potential hit to an economy that has been the engine of global growth in recent years has taken a toll on financial markets, as shares slumped and investors switched into safe-havens such as gold, bonds and the Japanese yen.

China's cabinet said it would co-ordinate with transport authorities to ensure the smooth return to work of employees after an extended lunar new year holiday.

The government's special coronavirus advisory group also said workers should return in "batches", rather than all at once, to reduce infection risks.

China's ambassador to Britain described the newly identified virus as "the enemy of mankind" in an interview with the BBC yesterday, but added it "is controllable, is preventable, is curable".

"At this moment it is very difficult to predict when we are going to have an inflection point," Liu Xiaoming said. "We certainly hope it will come soon, but the isolation and quarantine measures have been very effective."

China's National Health Commission recorded another 89 deaths on Saturday, pushing the total well above the 774 who died from Sars in 2002/2003.

Total confirmed coronavirus cases in China stood at 37,198, commission data showed.

New infections recorded the first drop since February 1, falling back below 3,000 to 2,656 cases. Of those, 2,147 cases were in Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak.

The virus has also spread to at least 27 countries and regions, according to official reports, infecting more than 330 people. Two deaths have been reported outside mainland China - both of Chinese nationals.

As millions of Chinese prepared to go back to work, the public dismay and mistrust of official numbers was evident on Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter.

"What's even more frustrating is that these are only the 'official' data," said one user.

"We all know we can't purchase masks anywhere, why are we still going back to work?" said a second.

"More than 20,000 doctors and nurses around the country have been sent to Hubei, but why are the numbers still rising?" asked a third.

Authorities had told businesses to tack up to 10 extra days on to holidays that had been due to finish at the end of January and some restrictions continued.

Joseph Eisenberg, professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan, said it was too early to say whether the epidemic was peaking.

"Even if reported cases might be peaking, we don't know what is happening with unreported cases," he said.

The latest patients outside China include five British nationals staying in a mountain village in Haute-Savoie in the Alps, French health officials said, raising fears of further infections at a busy period in the ski season.
Bamako, Mali (PANA) - Three gendarmes were killed, several others injured and extensive property damage recorded in an attack on Sunday by gunmen in Alatona, in the Segou region of central Mali, security source told PANA
UPDATE: Sean Caribe Avant Jr. was found dead in western Jefferson County.

Authorities are asking for the publics help in finding a Birmingham teen who has been missing since late last week.

Sean Caribe Avant Jr., 18, was last seen Thursday, Feb. 6, between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m., according to Birmingham police.

Avant was reported to have been in a car with a friend and dropped off at an unknown location said Birmingham police Sgt. Johnny Williams. His family reported him missing when he did not return home.

Both his mother and father, as well as other family members, have been pleading for help finding him on social media posts throughout the weekend. If you are a father you should feel my pain, his father wrote on Facebook. My kids are my world and I will give my last breath to save them.

Avant was wearing black jeans, a gray hoodie with a tiger on the front and yellow and white Jordan shoes. He is known to be active on social media but has been inactive since his disappearance.

He is described as a black male, 5-feet, 3-inches and weighs about 130 pounds.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Birmingham Police Department at 205-297-8434 or 911. If you have additional information on this investigation, contact Crime Stoppers 205-254-7777.
Moroccan editorial activity for 2018/2019 has increased slightly, according to the annual report released by the King Abdul Aziz Al-Saoud Foundation for Islamic Studies and Human Sciences on the eve of the opening of the International Book and Publishing Fair (SIEL), held in Casablanca Feb.6 to 16.

Over 4,200 documents (books, journals and digital publications) were recorded during 2018/2019. 79.69% of the publications in the fields covered by the report, namely human and social sciences and literature, are produced and disseminated in paper format, according to the report.

The digital publishing is however making a real breakthrough, with an increase of 12%, or 857 titles listed. This production remains, for the most part, the work of public establishments, even if the contributions of certain foundations and cultural associations participate in the Arabization of this production and extend it beyond the economic and financial fields, to other fields of sciences such as history, philosophy, religion, added the report.

Most of those who write and publish do so in the Arabic language. With 3,312 titles (print and digital / books and magazines), this production represents 78.50% of all the titles listed. And if production in French has increased in quantity with 675 titles against 485 the previous year, it is far from reversing the trend marked by the decline of French compared to the decades after independence (1960-1980).

There are also 72 publications in English, 45 in Amazigh, 13 in Spanish, one in Portuguese and one in German.

Editorial production in the Amazigh language amounted to 45 works representing only 1.22% of all titles published, the report noted.

There were also 72 publications in English, 13 in Spanish, one in Portuguese and one in German.

The report criticized the lack of importance given to Moroccan writers, noting that 25% of them are forced to bear the cost of printing and publishing their intellectual productions. As a result, their works remain limited to the inner circle of their city and their relatives and acquaintances.

Among the publications of 2018-2019, 736 were funded by their authors.

The Al Saoud Foundation report also specified that 83% of the works were written by men, compared to 17% produced by women.

Over 700 exhibitors from Morocco, Africa, Europe, Asia and America, are participating in the Casablanca book fair, displaying more than 100,000 works.

This year Mauritania, the land of 1000 poets, is celebrated as the guest of honor.
After 30 years in the business of politics, you find yourself to be alumni of several different campaigns. Ive always been proud to be a Mitt Romney alum, as the California director of his 2008 presidential campaign.

I had decided over a year beforehand that I wanted to work to elect Romney as president. I was impressed with how he was a Republican who was elected governor in the blue state of Massachusetts and pragmatically steered a course with conservative hues.

My friend and then business partner Mike Murphy had navigated Romneys Massachusetts victory, and I was influenced by the atypical genuine high esteem Mike held for Romney. Romney was a skilled conservative of strong character whom I deeply believed would be a great president.

His 2008 campaign was of course unsuccessful. He lost the Republican nomination to John McCain. But my belief in Romney remained and he was a great friend to consequential GOP efforts in California, like supporting his friend Meg Whitmans quest for governor in 2010.

All of this came into focus during the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.

Regardless of ones belief about whether President Trump should have been removed from office, you have to either be a rube or willfully discard plain truth that Trump did what hes accused of doing.

Many GOP senators chose to be courtiers to their king, promoting the White Houses preposterous narrative that he did nothing wrong and the charges were a hoax.

But Romney did something different. He voted to find Trump guilty of the charge of abuse of power. Mitt Romney doing what he believes to be right thing should come as no shock.

In an interview with Mark Leibovich of The New York Times, Romney soberly described his inability to ignore his conscience and oath. Clear-eyed about the backlash from his party that was sure to ensue, he referenced a refrain from a hymn from his church: Do what is right let the consequence follow.

Romney clearly acted in the scope of his conscience (greatly informed by his faith), his duty to his oath and his desire to be on the correct side of history by rendering impartial justice.

If you watched his speech on the Senate floor, the emotion gripping him from the gravity of his decision was apparent. This was clearly a man taking a path much more difficult than the one his GOP colleagues were choosing. And he was reconciled to the consequences that would follow.

Those consequences were swift and pathetically predictable. The presidents son, Donald Trump Jr., in customarily sophomoric form posted a meme to Twitter mocking Romney for wearing mom jeans, and called him a slang term for womens genitalia (just like his father infamously bragged about grabbing).

Romneys niece, the obsequious chairwoman of Republican National Committee, Ronna Romney McDaniel, blasted him in a public statement, and there is clamor in Romneys home state of Utah to pass legislation to allow for the recall of U.S. senators. Trump has accused him of being a secret Democrat asset.

Romneys vote of course had no effect on the outcome of the trial. But it is my hope and prayer that it will have an outcome on what comes next in American politics.

It has been so long since weve seen such a startling act of conscience from a politician that we may have forgotten what it looks like. For Romney to be eviscerated for his act of conscience is further evidence that the GOP under Trump has become a gang with fidelity only to the capo.

The contrast of Romney choosing the difficult path of conviction and duty to the bootlicking capitulation of others, starkly defines the age upon us.

In the days ahead, Romney will be eviscerated by the Trump sycophants feeding at his trough for money and/or power, and hell ironically be lionized by a left-tilting mainstream media that treated him quite unfairly as a presidential candidate. Its all going to be predictable.

But beyond the babble, many of us hope that Mitts decision is a moment of leadership that sears consciences and emboldens people to treat our politics with more dignity and complexity than Trump, cable news and the petulance of many Democrats present to us daily.

A good place to start in doing your part to resist our slouch toward banal tribalism is in defending Romney for his act of conscience, even if you disagree.

I stand with Mitt. Like all politicians, hell tell you hes not been perfect and has regrets. Such is life in the arena. He would have been a great president, but maybe Gods intended moment for him was as a senator.

Ive remain forever a proud Romney alum. And last week, I couldnt be prouder.

Rob Stutzman is a Republican strategist in Sacramento, Rob@Stutzmanpa.com. He wrote this commentary for CalMatters, a public-interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California's Capitol works and why it matters.
The Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana lets the scouts pick where they want to set up tables to sell, as long as its in front of a legally owned and operated business, said public relations manager Britney Bouie. Table sales of the $5 boxes of cookies started Saturday.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 23:53:46|Editor: yan

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BANGKOK, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- All cabinet ministers and officials at Government House are to wear black on Tuesday as Thailand mourns those victims killed in the weekend mass shooting in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima which saw 27 people killed and over 50 injured by a frenzied former soldier.

The instructions to wear black were made by the Thai Government House on Monday.

Bouquets of flowers were placed in front of the Terminal 21 shopping mall in Nakhon Ratchasima where the tragedy happened.

About 5,000 local residents arrived at the mall to attend a candle-lit prayer ceremony in memory of the victims.

Meanwhile Nakhon Ratchasima Governor Wichian Chantharanothai on Monday said that nine of the injured are in a critical condition, with three still remaining unconscious.
Viewership for the Oscars plunged to a new low on Sunday night, with an audience of 23.6 million tuning in to watch the broadcast on ABC, according to Nielsen.

Thats a 20 percent drop from last year, and roughly three million fewer than the number of people who tuned in for the 2018 ceremony, the previous low. Those numbers do not include viewers who watched the broadcast on streaming platforms.

Plenty of theories on the ratings collapse will be floated: Does the annual extravaganza need to go back to having a host? Was the show scheduled too close to other major live television events? Can viewers in the streaming era stomach a program that runs three and a half hours and includes more than 40 minutes of commercials?

Two weeks ago, the Grammys hit a 12-year low in viewership, but their declines were more modest: The show lost just 5 percent of its audience.
The Scottish government has announced 40 million funding to help farmers and crofters move toward climate-friendly practices.

The Agricultural Transformation Programme aims to support the farming industry's contribution in meeting Scotlands climate change ambitions.

The fund will support farmers in undertaking a range of actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support sustainable farming and land use.

It will also seek to improve the environmental sustainability of the sector by protecting natural habitats and building sustainability through business practices that encourage productivity and innovation.

The Scottish government's Rural Economy Secretary, Fergus Ewing said the programme will help position farmers in taking advantage of the green economy.

The recently-announced Climate Change Bill - which aims to have all of Scotland's emissions offset by 2045 - sets a target of a 75% reduction by 2030.

Scotlands land and the manner in which we use and manage it must adapt and change if we are to meet our ambitious net zero targets, he said.

The main focus of this programme is to offer ways to enable farmers to make changes to their business so they drive forward the transition to a low carbon future, delivering a sustainable, productive, and profitable agricultural sector.

Mr Ewing added: While we will set out the detail of how the fund will operate in due course, our Programme for Government has already set out our steps in response to the climate emergency, including significantly increasing tree planting levels, restoring peatland, and promoting low carbon agricultural practices, including organic practices.

Achieving this will require every one of us to think about what you can do to ensure you play your part in transitioning to a net zero future, he said.

It follows a recent WWF Scotland report which suggested that Scottish farmers have the potential to slash emissions by 38 percent by 2045.
But all theyre really asking of Tulsa is patience.

Gilcrease will still have a presence in Tulsa  in pop-up galleries, possibly in the museums Helmerich Center for American Research and in other opportunities  but the centerpiece of the citys crown jewel will be missing for a while.

The city owns Gilcrease, and a lot of Improve Our Tulsa and Vision tax money will go into the project. Mayor G.T. Bynum says legally that could all be done without any sort of public consultation, but in the interest of democracy and transparency, the city will go through a Brown ordinance process, meaning it will hold a news conference and multiple public meetings before the City Council considers the plan.

Thats a good idea. When a public asset as treasured as Gilcrease Museum is involved, many voices make for better harmony.

We are convinced that the new Gilcrease will allow more of the world-class collection to be available to public viewing and offer better, more efficient protection to Tulsas proudest asset. We look forward to a full public discussion of the plans in the months ahead, and to a day in the not-too-distant future that the new Gilcrease will emerge better than ever.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the book that forever changed Shakespeare studies, the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship will present a free symposium on Wednesday, March 4, 1:00 pm, in the National Press Club's Fourth Estate Room.

This date marks the centennial of the modern discovery that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, was very likely the true genius behind the pseudonym "William Shakespeare." At least as early as the 1590s, when the Shakespeare plays and poems first began to appear, indications of doubt about their author's identity were published, including hints that Oxford, a highly educated and well-travelled courtier poet, was the real author, not the sometime actor from Stratford.

On March 4, 1920, British scholar John Thomas Looney (JTL) published the book "Shakespeare" Identified, detailing the stunning evidence supporting Oxford's authorship. Corroborated by more research over the years, this book has persuaded some of the greatest minds of our time, including Sigmund Freud, several Justices of the Supreme Court, scholars in many fields, and some of our most admired Shakespearean actors, that the Stratford man was not the author.

On March 4, 2020, five leading scholars will honor and build upon JTL's work, presenting fascinating lectures and responding to questions about the true mind and life behind the works of Shakespeare:

 James A. Warren (retired U.S. Foreign Service diplomat, past director of Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, and editor or author of several books and articles by or about JTL and the Oxfordian theory)

 Tom Regnier, J.D., LL.M. (attorney and adjunct law professor who lectures and publishes widely on law in the works of Shakespeare)

 Cheryl Eagan-Donovan, M.F.A. (filmmaker, lecturer, and author whose documentary on Oxford as the true Shakespeare, "Nothing Is Truer Than Truth," is available on Amazon Prime and Hulu)

 Bonner Miller Cutting, B.F.A., M.Mus. (lecturer and author whose book "Necessary Mischief" explores the Shakespeare authorship question)

 Roger Stritmatter, Ph.D. (Professor of Humanities and Literature, Coppin State University, Baltimore, a prolific Shakespearean scholar, author of dozens of scholarly articles in leading academic journals, and co-author of two major books in the field)

The moderator is award-winning journalist Bob Meyers.

Details at https://ShakespeareOxfordFellowship.org

We welcome all to this celebration of the theory that has rocked the literary world for 100 years.

SOURCE Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship

Related Links

https://shakespeareoxfordfellowship.org


Paul Tasong Archives

The Minister Delegate to the Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Paul Tasong, voted at a polling center in Alou Subdivision, Lebialem Division of the South West region today.

Tasong, CPDM Campaign Leader for Lebialem voted along with Denis Nkemlemo, National Secretary for Communication for the opposition Social Democratic Front, SDF, party. Nkemlemo is also parliamentary candidate for Lebialem Constituency on the ticket of his party.

Aside the two prominent faces who voted in Alou, pictures show a huge crowd of persons who also voted at the Alou polling center. In fact, statistics from Elections Cameroon, ELECAM suggest that 7,356 voters were expected to vote in Alou but for the uncertain socio-political situation in the area.

Paul Tasong votes in Alou (c) WhatsApp

The CPDM Parliamentary candidate for Lebialem, Hon. Bernard Foju, 31 CPDM candidates to the council elections, their SDF peers and several other locals voted at the polling centre in Menji. A total of 6,980 persons registered to vote, but the turnout is said to have been far below the mark.

Some of the 7513 registered voters in Wabane also turned out to vote at their assigned polling center.

In all, 21,849 persons were expected to vote in Lebialem in todays twin Municipal and Legislative Elections. Even as the participation figures are being awaited, no incident has been reported hours after polls closed in the area.

Armed separatist fighters had imposed a lockdown in a bid to foil the elections. Lekeaka Oliver aka Field Marshal, leader of the Lebialem-based Red Dragons armed group fighting to make of Cameroon's North West and South West Regions an independent country christened Ambazonia, had threatened that elections were only going to take place over his dead body.

Minister Paul Tasong in a communique Saturday called on the population of the area to manifest courage and go out and vote massively because todays vote shall be a turning point for Lebialem.

That Field Marshall, the self-proclaimed king of Lebialem, was nowhere to be seen confirms the assertions made by Minister Tasong when he said:

I insist that the so-called Field Marshal is an illusion. He has long escaped from Lebialem and is begging us to help him obtain a passport so he can leave the country. His brother, Christopher Anu has gone back to his alleluia church in Texas from where he is preaching death. The Red Dragons is a propaganda machine to divert our attention while they steal our wealth.

We can no longer allow a family of highway robbers control our destiny. Lekeaka has broken into every credit union bank in Lebialem and stolen the savings of the entire population. His brother has swindled funds raised in America by his cohorts to burn down our beautiful CAMEROON. Their sister was arrested as FCFA 366 million of stolen money from Lebialem and the diaspora was traced to have landed in her bank account. They are confiscating the cocoa harvested by the hard working Lebialem farmers.
The new Bodo accord has also created a political polarisation in the state.

Guwahati: The Bodo peace accord signed in New Delhi on January 27, bringing an end to the chapter of three decades old insurgency in western Assam has certainly been a major success, but biggest challenge before all the stakeholders, including the government, would be to make it sustainable by enforcing commitments given in the new peace-accord.

This is what the civil society groups led by All Bodo Students Union which played the key role in persuading all the factions of armed rebel groups of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) believe.

Referring the Prime Minister Narendra Modis remarks, We wont allow the darkness of violence to return. Mothers whose children have returned from the wilderness are blessing me today. So many families have been reconciled. There were gunfights for decades in Bodoland, the Absu president Mr Pramod Boro told this newspaper, PMs remark has given hope to Bodo civil society which was churning for peace and harmony for decades. We wanted to bring an end to armed conflict.

Admitting that this Bodo peace accord is unique in that it is the first peace agreement in the Northeast where all the existing insurgent groups in a particular area have put their signatures, with a joint commitment to end violence and strive for progress and development, the Absu president however said, The onus is on the government to ensure that arms conflict is brought to an end effectively. No one should be allowed to take arms again. If it comes to notice now, the government will have to act firmly against such forces.

Apart from more legislative, executive, administrative and financial powers, the Bodo Accord has decided to demarcate the border of the Bodoland Territorial Area (BTR). A commission headed by a retired judge will work out a mechanism for inclusion of villages with a majority tribal population, contiguous to the present Bodoland Territorial Council area, into BTR. Similarly, villages with a majority non-tribal population currently under the Bodo Council, but contiguous to non-Sixth Schedule areas (meaning areas outside the Council jurisdiction), will be excluded from the Council. This is expected to address the issues of both tribal currently outside the Bodo Council as well as non-tribal currently living within the Council.

Again, from 40 seats, the BTR Council will now have 60 seats. Up to 16 of these 60 seats could be open seats, meaning seats where non-tribal can also contest elections. Besides, there will be six nominated members in the BTR Council, including two women members and two from unrepresented communities. Thus the new Bodo Accord is going to address the grievances of non-tribal as well. The experts say that this was lacking in earlier two accords.

The other significant provisions of the new accord is the decision to set up a Bodo-Kachari Welfare Council for development of Bodo villages located outside the Bodo Council area, and declaring Bodo language in Devnagri script as an associate official language of Assam. Besides, measures for protection of the Bodo language and culture and setting up several institutions of higher and technical education have also been provided in the accord.

The new Bodo accord has also created a political polarisation in the state. The All Bodo Students Union is going to hold a mega consultation with civil society groups from February 12 to decide their future course of action after the Bodo Accord, said Mr Boro adding, We are going to consult all the stakeholders including the leaders of all the NDFB factions. He however did not rule out the possibility of challenging the present political leadership of Bodoland Territorial Area in the forthcoming elections of the council this year in April.
New Delhi: The Supreme court on Monday issued notice to Centre, Delhi government, Bar council of Delhi (BCD) and others on a petition filed in the Tis Hazari police-lawyer clash case. The notice has been issued by a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad Arvind Bobde.

The petition filed by Reepak Kansal seeks registration of FIR against every member of the Third battalion who entered in Tis Hazari premises without the permission of District Judge during the clash between the lawyers and police on November 2, 2019.

The petition filed by Kansal alleged that the police had beaten male-female lawyers and damaged their properties, who have present in the court during the incident. This petition challenges the order of the Delhi High Court, which had disposed of his petition. Kansal also demanded to deploy the trained security force in courts other than Delhi police.

The violent scuffle between lawyers and police officials happened over an alleged parking issue in November 2019. SIT is further investigating the matter. The Delhi High Court has also ordered for judicial inquiry and made a special bench to probe into the matter.
Men and women of Australia. No federal statute, no decision by a distant monarch, no arbitrary determination to prevent disclosure should be allowed to compromise the public's right to know details of the most vexed moment in the country's history.

Gough Whitlam, pictured in 1972, established the predecessor to the National Archives. Historian Jenny Hocking is seeking papers relating to his dismissal from office. Credit:George Lipman

With apologies to former prime minister Gough Whitlam, these might approximate words he would use today to demand the unsealing of documents held by the National Archives that constitute the last significant piece in the puzzle of what actually took place in the lead-up to his dismissal on November 11, 1975 by then governor-general John Kerr.

In light of last week's hearing by the High Court of Australia into an appeal against a lower court's refusal, via a split 2-1 decision, not to order the release of the Kerr documents, it is reasonable to ask this simple question. Why is the Australian public being deprived of its historical birthright in the form of a full accounting of what actually transpired in those fateful days leading up to the Whitlam dismissal and subsequently?

The Kerr documents, sealed in the National Archives, might answer some of those questions. This includes what sort of consultation, if any, was held between Yarralumla and Buckingham Palace to forestall the possibility of Whitlam demanding the Queen sack Kerr before the latter had his opportunity to get in first.
FNF currently owns 7.9% of F&Gs outstanding ordinary shares and all of its Series B preferred shares, and will acquire the remaining F&G Series A preferred shares. Under the terms of the merger agreement, holders of F&Gs ordinary shares can elect to receive either $12.50 per share in cash or 0.2558 of a share of FNF common stock for each share of F&G they own.

We are excited to announce our plans to acquire F&G Holdings and look forward to welcoming F&G employees and policyholders to the FNF family, said William P. Foley II, chairman of FNF. Following the termination of the merger agreement with Stewart Information Services, the board and management diligently reviewed FNFs capital-allocation strategy and determined that expanding into the annuity market through the acquisition of F&G Holdings would offer compelling benefit to our shareholders.

Through our minority ownership position on F&G, we have come to know the business well and have developed great respect for Chris Blunt, F&Gs president and CEO, said FNF CEO Raymond Quirk. We believe FNFs size, scale, and financial strength will offer significant advantages to Chris and the management team as they continue to lead F&G. We see incredible potential in working with the management team to invest in and grow F&Gs business on a national level.

We are pleased with the agreement reached with FNF and are proud of all F&G has accomplished, Blunt said. The transaction presents all of our stakeholders with immediate value while offering F&G a strong platform for continued growth. Upon completion, FNF will provide the ability to fuel our channels for distribution while offering additional cross-selling opportunities.
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The death toll in China due to the novel coronavirus epidemic rose to 908, Chinese health officials said on February 10.

The total number of confirmed cases have risen to around 40,171 in China's 31 provincial-level regions so far.

China's National Health Commission has also said that there were 97 deaths and 3,062 new confirmed cases of the lethal infection on February 9.

According to the commission, ninety-one deaths were reported from the Hubei province  the epicentre of the epidemic. There were two reported deaths in Anhui, and one each in Heilongjiang, Jiangxi, Hainan and Gansu.

On February 9, as many as 3,281 patients were discharged from hospital after recovery.

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

Thousands remain under observation

The heath commission has said that 3.9 lakh close contacts had been traced and that 29,307 among them were discharged from medical observation on February 9. Around 1.8 lakh still under medical observation.

By the end of February 9, 36 confirmed cases, including one death, had been reported in Hong Kong and 10 confirmed cases in Macao.

Coronavirus in India

Over 300 cases of novel coronavirus have been reported outside of China. These include three cases in Kerala, India.

Screening of commuters continues at various airports across the country. Hundreds remain under observation, especially in Kerala.

India too has put restrictions on the movement of people to and from China as part of precautionary measures to contain the spread of the virus.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has conveyed to Chinese President Xi Jinping India's readiness to provide assistance to the country to deal with the situation.

In a letter to Xi, PM Modi expressed solidarity with the president and people of China over the outbreak of the virus.

Latest from WHO

The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on February 9 said that the UN health agency would send an international mission to China as it received a response from Beijing.

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the team leader would leave early next week with the rest of the experts to follow.

The UN health agency said the number of cases of the coronavirus in China was "stabilising", which is a "good news".

It, however, cautioned that it was too early to make any predictions about whether the virus might have peaked.

"There has been a stabilisation in the number of cases reported from Hubei," Michael Ryan, head of WHO's Health Emergencies Programme said at a briefing in Geneva.

"We are in a four-day stable period where the number of reported cases hasn't advanced. That's good news and may reflect the impact of the control measures that have been put in place," Ryan was quoted as saying.

But he added that it was "very early to make any predictions".

(With inputs from PTI)
(L-R) Julia Reichert, Lindsay Utz, Steven Bognar, Jeff Reichert and Julie Parker Benello accept the Documentary - Feature - award for 'American Factory' onstage during the 92nd Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on February 09, 2020 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Barack and Michelle Obama's production company scored an Oscar win on Sunday for "American Factory," a documentary that chronicled what happened to workers when a Chinese billionaire purchased a manufacturing plant in the U.S. Midwest.

"American Factory" is the first release from their company Higher Ground Productions, which the former U.S. president and first lady founded in 2018. In that same year, they announced a multiyear deal to supply content to streaming service Netflix.

"Our film is from Ohio and China. Go Buckeyes!" Julia Reichert, an American documentary filmmaker who worked on the film, said during her acceptance speech Sunday. "But it really could be from anywhere where people put on a uniform, punch a clock, trying to make their families have a better life. Working people have it harder and harder these days and we believe that things will get better when workers of the world unite."
Billy Porter wore a look inspired by the British royal family to the 2020 Oscars [Photo: Getty]

Billy Porter has been crowned best-dressed throughout awards season this year so it was only fitting that the actor donned a regal look by one of the royal familys go-to designers at the 2020 Academy Awards.

Further cementing his sartorial winning streak, Porter reigned the red carpet in a headline-worthy ensemble by Pippa Middletons wedding dress designer Giles Deacon.

Inspired by Kensington Palace, the ensemble featured a 24-karat gold feathered bodice with a billowing skirt emblazoned with Roman statues to finish - an ode to the walls of the Cupola Room at the royal residence.

Billy Porter in a bespoke Giles Deacon ensemble at the 2020 Academy Awards [Photo: Getty]

A pair of impressive Jimmy Choo platform boots and a bespoke bag by Judith Leiber Couture earned the look a spot in fashion columns across the world.

READ MORE: All of the Oscars 2020 red carpet fashion

I thought, The Oscars are kind of a royal event, Porters stylist, Sam Ratelle, told The New York Times.

I love the idea of Billy being this kind of messenger sent from the gods.

Porters latest look is just another flex of his unwavering fashion influence, as the Pose star is here to challenge gender norms on the red carpet.

READ MORE: A celebration of Billy Porters show-stopping red carpet style

In fact, it was at his debut Oscars ceremony back in 2019 that Porter rose to dazzling fashion heights all thanks to a tuxedo-dress by Christian Siriano.

The 'Pose' star rose to fashion fame courtesy of his Oscars 2019 look [Photo: Getty]

If that isnt enough to convince you that Porter is dominating the fashion charts, the US Broadway darling wore a similar suit-dress hybrid at the 2020 Grammy Awards.

Proving he isnt one to take the dress code lightly, the Alex Vinash ensemble took over three months and 465 hours to create courtesy of its 4,000 Swarovski crystals (and 12-metre train).

According to his stylist, tonights Oscars ensemble is just one of Porters looks with an outfit change on the agenda so make sure to stay tuned until the after-parties kickstart.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo Style UK:
KDW

Texas Frio Cold Storage, a family-owned and operated company based in Houston, has broken ground on a nearly 63,000-square-foot facility near Crosstimbers and Interstate-45 in north Houston.

Designed and built by Houston-based KDW, the facility at 500 Victoria Drive will provide freezer storage space for Houston-area foodservice and restaurant operations. The building will contain 43,742 square feet of cold storage space for whole and packaged beef, pork and poultry products and 19,086 square feet of office space. The cold storage space could be doubled to meet future needs.
A kayaker downed a bottle of Jack Daniels and danced outside a music festival before he was interrupted by officers on a police boat.

The reveller had 'the best seat in the house' while he sat in his kayak in Harts Mill, in South Australia's Port Adelaide while the Laneway Festival kicked off in front of him last Friday.

Footage shared to Instagram shows the kayaker taking a swig from the bottle before waving to two officers who pulled up beside him.

Many were impressed with the kayaker's idea and said they would try his method out for the next Laneway festival.

'There were mixed fortunes for this punter trying to score a good spot for Laneway Festival,' the video was captioned after it was shared to S**t Adelaide Instagram page.

'As long as old mate is under .05 he should be sweet. If anything the police should be giving him a wider berth,' someone said.

'Best seat in the house I reckon,' another wrote.

'More ingenious than fence hoppers/jumpers, credit to this legend,' someone said.

'When you can't afford Laneway,' another commented.

The kayaker said that despite the police officers driving beside him, he stayed at the festival for the whole night.

'Stayed there the whole night and got more p****d, cops got no balls,' he said.

South Australia Police told Daily Mail Australia the man was spoken to by officers from the Water Operations Unit.

A reveller drank from a bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey while he kayaked outside the Laneway Festival in Adelaide
European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom (L), Romania's Minister of Business Environment, Trade and Entrepreneurship Stefan Radu Oprea (C), and Vietnam's Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh (R) sign the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement in Hanoi, June 30, 2019.

A European Union approval of a landmark free trade deal with Vietnam, absent any concrete improvement to its human rights record, would give Hanoi carte blanche to continue with violations, a rights group warned Monday, on the eve of an EU vote on the pact.

The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), inked in June, would eliminate 99 percent of tariffs on goods between the bloc and Southeast Asian country, although some would be reduced over a 10-year period and others will be limited by quotas.

The European Parliament is scheduled to vote to approve the agreement on Tuesday over the objections of international and Vietnamese nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), who last week urged lawmakers to postpone consent on the EVFTA until Vietnams government agrees to protect the rights of laborers and ensure human rights.

Speaking to RFAs Vietnamese Service on Monday, Claudio Francavilla, EU officer for New York-based Human Rights Watch, called the EVFTA an unprecedented opportunity to leverage Hanoi into making concrete human rights progress.

Not doing this and giving swift consent to the ratification when there has been pretty much no meaningful new improvement on the human rights situation in the country means wasting a very big opportunity, said Francavilla, whose rights group was among nearly 30 that last week expressed regret over an initial approval to proceed by the parliaments International Trade Committee (INTA).

But he expressed hope that efforts by NGOs to inform Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) about the situation in Vietnam and the opportunity that the EVFTA represents would lead lawmakers to withhold their consent on Tuesday.

This is a government that clearly thinks transactionallyit is immune to any expression of criticism from the international community, Francavilla said.

This is why the NGOs are putting forth so much effort this time, because there is leverage. This [trade deal] is something that [Vietnams] government wants and, again, this is an opportunity that the MEPs should not waste.

Sending a message

According to Francavilla, Vietnam has made small, positive developments to its rights record, but had failed to release its political prisonerswho are believed to number between 140 and 300end restrictions on freedom of speech, and reform its penal code.

He said that the vast majority of activists behind bars in Vietnam are there because of the draconian penal code provisions in Vietnam that pretty much criminalize any expression of dissent and criticism against the government, while the same provisions deny workers the ability to enjoy the labor rights they are entitled to in the countrys constitution.

Vietnam can ratify all the ILO [International Labour Organization] conventions and legislation that it wants, but as long as those penal code provisions remain in place, the ratification of these international instruments remains close to meaningless, Francavilla added.

Approving the EVFTA on Tuesday would make things more complicated in pressuring Vietnam to ensure protections for human rights, he said.

If MEPs say yes to the deal now, without any improvement and without the prospects for any improvement, the message that is sent to Hanoi is that all the calls for improvements don't really matter because once [the EU] had the leverage, they didn't use it and  Vietnam does not care about international criticism.

Last week, NGOs presented four recommendations that they said should be minimum requirements for the European Parliament to agree to the deal with Hanoi.

Vietnam should amend or repeal draconian laws, especially those used to detain activists, journalists and human rights defenders; release political prisoners; commit to ratifying ILO Convention No. 87, which ensures freedom of association and protects the right to organize; and create an independent monitoring and complaints mechanism for those who would be harmed by the EVFTA.

The EU is Vietnams second-largest export market after the U.S., mostly for garment and footwear products, and in 2018 the Southeast Asian nation sent U.S. $42.5 billion worth of goods and services there, according to official data. Vietnam imported U.S. $13.8 billion from the EU that year.

The Vietnamese government has said that the EVFTA will boost EU exports to Vietnam by more than 15 percent and those from Vietnam to the EU by 20 percent by 2020, while the agreement will increase Vietnams gross domestic product by up to 5.3 percent annually between 2024 and 2028.

Full withdrawal unlikely for Cambodia

The vote to approve the Vietnam trade pact is scheduled a day ahead of an expected decision by the EU on whether to withdraw Cambodias tariff-free access to its markets under the Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme for developing nations.

On Nov. 12, the EU warned in a preliminary report that Cambodia has not taken enough measures to prevent a withdrawal of its EBA status, noting the countrys further deterioration of civil, political, labor, social, and cultural rights since the launch of a review process in February last year.

Over the weekend, the Nikkei Asian Review reported that a document published to the European Parliament website by Italian MEP Danilo Oscar Lancini of the far-right Identity and Democracy Party (ID Party) appeared to point to a partial suspension of Cambodias EBA privileges, adding that while it did not specify which products had lost duty-free access, it noted that rice was not among them.

In the document, the ID Party expresses concern that the European Commission had decided through a delegated act to withdraw Cambodia's EBA status on some products but rice is not listed among these products, and suggests that large amounts of rice imports from the country, as well as from Vietnam, have distorted the European market and led to the launch of safeguards.

The Nikkei report was followed by one from The Financial Times on Sunday which cited three people close to the process as saying that the European Commission has decided to remove duty-free access for some of the goods Cambodia exports to the bloc under the EBA program, but was likely to refrain from approving a blanket withdrawal of all the trade preferences.

The sources told the FT that Brussels is expected to maintain some support for the garments sector to help protect the livelihoods of factory workers.

Cambodia is the second-largest beneficiary of EBA trade preferences, accounting for more than 18 percent of all imports to the EU market under the EBA scheme in 2018.

EU imports from Cambodia totaled 5.3 billion euros (U.S. $5.8 billion) that year, nearly all of which entered the EU duty-free, taking advantage of EBA preferences.

Clothing and textilesa crucial industry in Cambodia that employs around one million peopleaccount for around 75 percent of EU imports from the Southeast Asian nation.

Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
It has been a while since the Coronavirus outbreak has affected China in a major way, claiming more than 800 lives and affecting China's businesses massively. Apple's major supplier Foxconn had shut its operations to prevent spreading of the virus but as global supplies are rumoured to get affected, Foxconn has started getting back its factories up and running. A fresh report suggests that Foxconn has resumed operations in China but not in the same way as it usually does.

According to the latest report from Reuters, Foxconn has resumed its operations from the city of Zhengzhou, affirmed a source. The plant is currently operating only with 10 per cent of its workforce (16,000 employees) for now but the report says that Foxconn is taking all measures to ensure the protection of its workers from the virus. The Zhengzhou plant is one of the two major plants supplying iPhones for Apple.

Foxconn is yet to open the Shenzhen plant as the authorities are yet to give their safety nod to this particular plant. However, chances are that Shenzhen plant may open in another week's time. There's no information as to whether all of Foxconn's will return or the company will reduce its active workforce to prevent spreading the virus.

On the other hand, Huawei says it has resumed operations of its consumer devices and carrier equipment.

The reduced production could impact the global supplies of iPhones across all markets. The Coronavirus outbreak is also rumoured to affect Apple's upcoming March announcement of the iPhone 9 launch. The iPhone 9 will be Apple's return to the affordable smartphone space since the iPhone SE and Apple might be expecting greater sales numbers once the phone launches in several countries, including India. The iPhone 9 is expected to start from as low as $399 (approximately Rs 28,000) and make it tough for companies like OnePlus and Samsung in emerging markets.

The Coronavirus outbreak has affected other global events as well. The upcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona is witnessing a lot of major manufacturers backing out due to the Coronavirus scare. LG, Sony, Amazon and a few others have pulled out of the tech convention after the Coronavirus outbreak happened.
Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has declared the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari a total failure. The group said it had w...





Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has declared the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari a total failure.





The group said it had warned Nigerians that Buhari has nothing to offer to them, adding that the President has failed to tackle insecurity and improve the economy.





NEF said the Buhari-led government appeared helpless in finding solutions to the numerous challenges the country is faced with.





NEFs position was made public by the Forums Director, Advocacy and Engagement, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmad shortly after a meeting convened by the chairman of the forum, Professor Ango Abdullahi.

Those that attended the meeting were: Abdullahi, former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alamin Daggash (retd); Secretary of the Coalition of Northern Groups, Abdullahi Usman and Ambassador Yahaya Kwande; Deputy National Chairman of NEF, Alhaji Bello Kirfi (Wazirin Bauchi), DIG Labaran Wurno, Alhaji Yakubu Shehu and former MD, defunct Bank of the North, Hajiya Amina Yahaya, among others.





Baba-Ahmed said, Northern Elders Forum has refrained from comments on major developments relating to management of national security and governance because it is convinced that these are times which require the highest levels of responsibility and circumspection in the manner elders and leaders in the nation contribute to the search for solutions to the multiple problems which face the nation.





It has become necessary and appropriate, however, to make public, the position of the Forum on important matters that affect the manner Nigerians live, and the future we must address.





The Forum regrets that by any standard of judgement, the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari has failed the nation in the vital area of improving its security. Poverty, particularly in the North, and massive social security have worsened under this administration. The relationship between insecurity and poverty is fundamental, but the administration does not appear to have any idea on what will provide relief or solution.





It gives the Forum no pleasure to say that it had warned Nigerians that President Buhari lacked the will, the competence and commitment to lead it into a secure and prosperous future before the 2019 elections.





It is shocking that in spite of unprecedented consensus among Nigerians that the administration requires a new resolve, approach and leadership in the fight against the nations multiple security challenges, President Buhari appears either totally isolated or in deep denial over the result of his failures to secure Nigerians.





With this type of mind set, it is difficult to see how President Buhari can accept the challenge to radically improve his handling of our security situation. Nonetheless, we believe that Nigerians must continue to raise our voices and organize through all legitimate means to demand that the administration addresses major failings in his perception of our situation and his response to our demands for our rights to security.





The Forum demands a thorough overhaul of the leadership of our security and public safety agencies, and the injection of higher levels of competence, integrity and accountability in the manner our troops and the police and security agencies deal with security challenges. We appeal to our religious leaders and fellow citizens not to fall into the trap of insurgents to set us up against each other.





We condemn the tactic of targeting Christians and publicising their executions by an insurgency seeking to exploit our different faiths.





We also condemn the murder of thousands of Muslims and Christians in communities which the insurgency has made permanent targets in the last decade. These are times when we must unite and resist a common enemy as well as demand that our leaders protect us all as Nigerians.





In principle, the Forum supports the idea of improving the policing capacities of the nation. It is important to emphasise, however, that all initiatives to improve public safety must find accommodation within our laws, and must not be designed to threaten or harass particular groups or interests. We recommend the adoption of a more vigorous and inclusive process which will result in the creation of acceptable frameworks and higher levels of confidence among all communities with respect to policing strategies.





This Forum extends its hand at any group or interest willing to discuss this important matter, and will utilize its entire assets to collaborate with other groups to achieve an understanding on the way forward. We advise all governments to exercise higher levels of restraint and responsibility in the manner they respond to the challenges of improving our security and safety.





In this regard, the Forum notes that the comments of the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), in response to the opinions of His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Saad Abubakar do not conform with the culture of respect and reverence for leaders which Northerners are noted for.





The Forum demands that the Chairman of BOT of Coalition of Northern Groups should apologise to His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto without reservations. The Forum notes that His Eminence has many avenues for relating with the Coalition, and urges him to continue with his close relations with the Coalition and utilize his position to extract the maximum benefits which could accrue to the Northern community in his relations with the Coalition.





In moments of tension and stress, Nigerians tend to find easy solutions or scapegoats. This Forum is concerned that the apparent resurgence of certain types of conflicts such as ethnic and farmers/herders clashes will have multiplier effects and cause damaging setbacks to the successes made in improving community relations. We appeal to governments and communities to commit further to living together in peace and earning a living within the ample resources we are blessed with.





With due respect to the rights of the Lagos State Government to take decisions that improve the environment and public safety, we are constrained to draw attention to the impact of its policy on banning Okada and Keke in parts of the State on the poor and operators, many of them from the North, who earn honest living through this trade.





We urge restraint in the responses of those who are immediately affected by this policy, while we urge Northern State Governments to mobilize and support the people who will be compelled to relocate back to the North with other sources of legitimate living.





The Forum had engaged a broad spectrum of opinion on the stress in relations between the palace of Sarkin Kano and the Government of Kano State. The Forum is looking forward to engaging with His Excellency, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje on this matter.





We commend the maturity and restraint of all parties on this matter, and we join others in prayers that Allah will help us all to find a way out of this issue. We are aware of the outpouring of advise and contributions towards resolving these stresses, and we urge the Governor and Sarkin Kano, the two people Allah Has entrusted with huge leadership responsibilities today, to find a fair and lasting solution to this seeming problem.





The Forum has observed that political manoeuvres around the 2023 elections are targeting the North as a region available for exploitation. We want to make it clear that people of the North will be very careful in committing to persons seeking their support on the basis of their region or wealth.





The North knows its interests, and will stand together to elect only persons who meet the standards and interests of the people of the North. No politician should assume that they are entitled to our support unless they show a clear understanding and a commitment to deal with our problems and meet our aspirations.




The chief executive of Thyssenkrupp's steel division will leave at the end of the month, German newspaper Handelsblatt reported, citing sources close to the group's supervisory board.

Premal Desai has been leading the division since June 2019. He is likely to be succeeded by Bernhard Osburg, currently the unit's chief commercial officer, Handelsblatt said.

Thyssenkrupp declined to comment.

The company, whose attempt to merge its steel division with Tata Steel's European unit was thwarted by regulators last year, has outlined plans to transform the business into its biggest profit engine.
Helping Your Child Succeed

Do you have children who can read, but do not enjoy reading, and almost never pick up a book or anything else to read for pleasure? Would your Read more
San Jacinto College is taking the next step in establishing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program following recent final approval by the Texas Board of Nursing.

It will be the first baccalaureate degree program for San Jacinto College Central and expands the institutions longstanding presence as a nursing education bedrock for the communities of Pasadena, La Porte and Deer Park by providing the opportunity for registered nurses with an associate degree to earn a four-year degree.

FREE RIDE: New program will allow seniors from 3 Pasadena high schools to attend San Jac for free

The school is expecting a 30-student enrollment for the first RN-to-BSN program the 2020 fall semester and into the spring.

What we are working on right now is the actual implementation phase, said Rhonda Bell, Central Campus dean of health and natural sciences. Now that we have finished the various approvals required to have this program, we are working with our (faculty) to be ready for fall of 2020.

Facts about the coming nursing degree program The San Jacinto College Central BSN classes will cost the same tuition rate per semester credit hour as the institution's other credit courses: $78 for an in-district resident; $135 for an out-of-district one. The cost for a non-Texas resident/international student is $210 The application period for the first cohort will be March 16 to June 30. For more information: Visit https://bit.ly/2SwKuwW, call 281-476-1842 or send an email message to Veronica.Jammer@sjcd.edu. See More Collapse

CONTINUING EDUCATION: Lone Star College and San Jacinto College partner with online nonprofit institution

The three-semester program, approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, will give RNs a chance to advance their degree while staying in a familiar environment and learning systems.

San Jacinto has a history of providing nursing education for greater than 50 years in this area, said Veronica Jammer, San Jacs new RN-to-BSN department chair. Moving forward, we have numerous graduates who have sought this additional degree from other four-year institutions and now get to provide a pathway from the (Associates Degree in Nursing) to the BSN for our graduates. They are familiar with the layout of the college, the buildings where we teach, the bookstore and all our student services. This is a positive while continuing with their advanced degree.

San Jac uses the blackboard program, a course-management system that supports all courses at the school.

Through eight-week courses based on a hybrid of distance and in-person learning, the program will center on research, community health, public and global health policy, informatics (a study that intersects information science, computer science, and health care) and leadership.

ON HOUSTON CHRONICLE.COM: Texas colleges go big in offering student financial aid

The implementation phase includes preparation of the application and admissions process, course prerequisites, the development of curriculum, how students will be assessed and the location and time of the classes.

The RN-to-BSN program was created with the input of a committee that included representatives from area hospitals. Primary hospital supporters have been HCA Houston Healthcare Southeast and Memorial Hermann Southeast Hospital.

I think (the program) speaks very highly of the partnerships  with our clinical affiliates and chief nursing officers and executives in the hospital  because they are the ones that have supported the whole vision and to make sure we are reaching the needs of our community and the institutions that hire the nurses that come from our program, said Bell.

Fruits of 10 years of planning

The baccalaureate degree program has been a decade-long project for San Jac, which formed an advisory committee following a 2010 Institute of Medicine report foretelling inevitable and necessary changes within the health care industry and recommending that 80 percent of RNs have BSN degrees by 2020.

According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, a BSN degree for new nurses is a requirement by 44 percent of healthcare groups; and in 2017 the Texas Legislature authorized community colleges to provide bachelors degree programs like BSN.

These factors sped San Jacs own efforts to keep in step with those changes within the healthcare industry.

With the RN-to-BSN program, registered nurses will have an opening to seek advanced specialized study and practice, which ultimately improves the level of healthcare in the region, Jammer said.

What it means (for the community) is that while we supported the entry-level into professional nursing, this second degree will provide for a better prepared, better qualified health care professional, Jammer said. Our intent is to support the health care needs of the community and who better than the citizens of the community to be involved in providing care for their community.

yorozco@hcnonline.com
In 2006 Mark Hoplamazian was appointed CEO of Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H). This report will, first, examine the CEO compensation levels in comparison to CEO compensation at companies of similar size. Then we'll look at a snap shot of the business growth. Third, we'll reflect on the total return to shareholders over three years, as a second measure of business performance. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels.

View our latest analysis for Hyatt Hotels

How Does Mark Hoplamazian's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

Our data indicates that Hyatt Hotels Corporation is worth US$9.0b, and total annual CEO compensation was reported as US$12m for the year to December 2018. While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth noting the salary is lower, valued at US$1.2m. Importantly, there may be performance hurdles relating to the non-salary component of the total compensation. As part of our analysis we looked at companies in the same jurisdiction, with market capitalizations of US$4.0b to US$12b. The median total CEO compensation was US$6.4m.

It would therefore appear that Hyatt Hotels Corporation pays Mark Hoplamazian more than the median CEO remuneration at companies of a similar size, in the same market. However, this fact alone doesn't mean the remuneration is too high. We can better assess whether the pay is overly generous by looking into the underlying business performance.

You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Hyatt Hotels has changed over time.

NYSE:H CEO Compensation, February 10th 2020

Is Hyatt Hotels Corporation Growing?

On average over the last three years, Hyatt Hotels Corporation has grown earnings per share (EPS) by 39% each year (using a line of best fit). In the last year, its revenue changed by just 0.9%.

Overall this is a positive result for shareholders, showing that the company has improved in recent years. It's good to see a bit of revenue growth, as this suggests the business is able to grow sustainably. You might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for future earnings.

Story continues

Has Hyatt Hotels Corporation Been A Good Investment?

Boasting a total shareholder return of 59% over three years, Hyatt Hotels Corporation has done well by shareholders. As a result, some may believe the CEO should be paid more than is normal for companies of similar size.

In Summary...

We examined the amount Hyatt Hotels Corporation pays its CEO, and compared it to the amount paid by similar sized companies. Our data suggests that it pays above the median CEO pay within that group.

However we must not forget that the EPS growth has been very strong over three years. On top of that, in the same period, returns to shareholders have been great. Considering this fine result for shareholders, we daresay the CEO compensation might be apt. If you think CEO compensation levels are interesting you will probably really like this free visualization of insider trading at Hyatt Hotels.

Important note: Hyatt Hotels may not be the best stock to buy. You might find something better in this list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

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.
The UN is the only organization entitled to broker a settlement of the Sahara issue, said Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat in a statement that confirms AUs new-found neutrality in the regional conflict.

Moussa Faki Mahamat recalled resolution 639 of the African Union in Nouakchott, which remedied the organizations past biases towards Morocco by stating clearly that the Sahara should be tackled only within the UN framework barring the road to adversaries of Moroccos territorial integrity within the African Union who sought to create a parallel mechanism.

He said a troika made of the previous, incumbent and upcoming chairmen of the African Union is the only body that can make statements on the Sahara in support of the UN process.

The adoption of resolution 639, in July 2019, was followed by a meeting in Marrakech in which thirty-seven countries representing two-third of the African Union members, expressed support for the UN process to settle the regional dispute over the Sahara.

The participating countries in Marrakech stressed the need of refraining to push the African Union into stands that block efforts towards a political, lasting and mutually acceptable solution in line with the Security Council resolutions.

Moroccos gradual strengthening of its ranks within the AU resulted so far in putting an end to the use by Algeria and its allies of the AUs most powerful body, the Peace and Security Council, which was divested from treating the Sahara issue.

Even at the terminological level, the AUs official statements stopped repeating Algerian propaganda. Henceforth, the Sahara is framed using the UN terminology which never referred to Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara as occupation.

The Polisario and their Algerian mentors are feeling the heat of an imminent change in the AU in favor of Moroccos territorial integrity and sovereignty over the Sahara. With two-thirds of African countries not recognizing the Algerian-sponsored separatist entity, the Polisairo is becoming an aberration that disrupts the works of the AU commissions.

The recognition of SADR as a state by the African Union and its predecessor the OAU in the 1980s stands as an aberration that prejudged the outcome of negotiations in total disregard for the UN process and for Moroccos historical rights as a country that was divided by two colonial powers.

Prior to Moroccos return to the African Union, 28 states have explicitly asked the chairman of the African Union to freeze the membership of the Polisario in the African Union.
Israels Privacy Protection Authority announced the launch of an investigation into a massive data leak by a website for a mobile phone app used by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus party, just weeks before the country heads to the polls for the third general election in less than one year.

The Likud uploaded the entire Israeli national voter registry  including personal data such as full names, phone numbers, addresses and national ID numbers  to the website of an app called Elector. The app is designed to communicate information to voters ahead of the March 2 elections.

While all political parties in Israel have access to the Israeli voter registry ahead of elections, they are required by law to protect voters privacy and cannot copy, erase or transfer the registry. While the Likud gave Elector access to the registry, it is not yet clear if any of these privacy regulations were violated.

Why it matters: In January 2019, current Shin Bet director Nadav Argaman warned that an unnamed foreign cyber power  the immediate suspect being Russia  was working hard to hack aspects of Israeli elections.

Israeli cyber experts have warned that Iran and other foreign intelligence agencies may already have access to the leaked data, which includes private cellphone numbers and other information of top Israeli intelligence officials.

The blame game: Netanyahu routinely brags about the Israeli cyber defense industry and its abilities in this field, but now his own party is under the threat of an investigation and potential charges. The parties and their leaders have a responsibility to defend the data and prevent access for unauthorized people.

What's next: The Privacy Protection Authority can call the Likud party leaders for questioning and might press charges against them. The cyber authority is trying to block the leaked info from further dissemination and assess the damage.

Read more: Check out Ben Caspits piece on the Israel Pulse about Israeli parties and election committees bracing against cyberattacks.
A place-based payroll tax incentive can be effective in stimulating employment in remote and underdeveloped regions, helping to address regional inequalities, according to a new UCL and University of Oslo study.

The study, published in the Journal of Public Economics, examined the effect of a tax reform in Norway that harmonised payroll tax rates across regions. Prior to this, to promote economic activity in less developed and remote areas, the government of Norway applied geographically differentiated payroll tax rates (ranging from 0% in the northernmost regions to 14.1% in the central areas) to stimulate employment and business activity, and avoid depopulation of sparsely populated areas. The geographically differentiated tax system was abolished in 2004 in compliance with EU trade regulation.

The researchers found that after the place-based tax scheme was abolished, regions more heavily exposed to the reform-induced tax hike experienced a substantial decline in employment and a modest decrease in worker wages.

First author on the study, Dr Hyejin Ku (UCL Economics) said: "Our findings suggest that in countries or states where wages cannot adjust so easily, due for instance to centralised wage bargaining, place-based payroll tax incentives can indeed be an effective tool in stimulating local employment in underdeveloped regions."

"Ultimately, the effectiveness of place-based payroll tax incentives in stimulating local employment depends on how flexibly wages can adjust to a given tax change. In settings where rising labour costs for firms are easily shifted on to worker wages, we would expect no changes in employment levels in response to payroll tax hikes. However, in Norway, where trade unions have strong influence over wage bargaining, we see that it is employment levels that are most affected."

Payroll taxes - taxes imposed on employers or employees, usually calculated as a percentage of the salaries that employers pay their staff - are a major part of labour cost for businesses. They are the backbone of financing the social insurance system, and payroll taxes levied on firms constitute about 15% of the total tax revenue in OECD countries.

While place-based payroll taxes have not received a great deal of attention, they are popular in Finland, Norway and Sweden; countries that have noticeably lower levels of income inequality.

The researchers compared changes in employment and wages before (2000-2003) and after (2004-2006) the abolition of geographically differentiated payroll taxes between commuting zones (or local labour markets).

The researchers found that a one percentage point increase in the payroll rate tax leads to a decline in wages in the local labour market of 0.32%.

The researchers also found a significant decrease in local employment in response to the payroll tax hike: a one percentage point increase in the payroll tax rate reduced employment in the local labour market by 1.37%. This is a strong response especially taking into account that only large firms--which employ about 70% of workers in the local labour market--are subject to the payroll tax increase (as the government provided a subsidy for small firms).

The employment decline was primarily driven by workers transitioning from employment to unemployment or non-employment rather than a worker moving to a different local labour market.

According to the latest Labour Force Survey (Sep-Nov 2019), there is a fair amount of regional disparities in the labour market status of individuals in the UK. For instance, the employment rate among males aged 16-64 varies from 82% in the South East to 74% in the North East. The unemployment rate among the economically active males aged 16-64 was 3.65% in the South East and nearly twice as high in the North East (6.78%).

Professor Uta Schoenberg (UCL Economics) said: "Most countries have large and persistent geographical differences in employment and income, and a growing number of place-based policies attempt to reduce these differences through targeting underdeveloped or economically stressed regions. In the UK, for example, the Conservative Government has said it wants to reduce regional divisions, so this could be among the types of policies they consider for a post-Brexit Britain."

###

The research was funded by Norwegian Research Council, NORFACE, and ESRC. Notes to Editors

For more information or to speak to the researchers involved, please contact: Natasha Downes, UCL Media Relations. T: +44 (0) 20 3108 3844 / +44 (0) 7990 675 947, E: n.downes@ucl.ac.uk Ku, H., Schoenberg, U., Schreiner, R.C. 'Do place-based tax incentives create jobs?' will be published in the Journal of Public Economics on 10 February 2020.

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Attorney General William Barr, right, next to FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich, speaks during a news conference, Monday, Feb. 10, 2020, at the Justice Department in Washington. Four members of the Chinese military have been charged with breaking into the networks of the Equifax credit reporting agency and stealing the personal information of tens of millions of Americans, the Justice Department said Monday, blaming Beijing for one of the largest hacks in history. Read more

WASHINGTON (AP)  Four members of the Chinese military have been charged with breaking into the computer networks of the Equifax credit reporting agency and stealing the personal information of tens of millions of Americans, the Justice Department said Monday, blaming Beijing for one of the largest hacks in history to target consumer data.

The hackers in the 2017 breach stole the personal information of roughly 145 million Americans, collecting names, addresses, Social Security and driver's license numbers and other data stored in the company's databases. The intrusion damaged the company's reputation and underscored China's increasingly aggressive and sophisticated intelligence-gathering methods.

"The scale of the theft was staggering," Attorney General William Barr said Monday in announcing the indictment. "This theft not only caused significant financial damage to Equifax, but invaded the privacy of many millions of Americans, and imposed substantial costs and burdens on them as they have had to take measures to protect against identity theft."

The case is the latest U.S. accusation against Chinese hackers suspected of breaching networks of American corporations, including steel manufacturers, a hotel chain and a health insurer. It comes as the Trump administration has warned against what it sees as the growing political and economic influence of China, and efforts by Beijing to collect data for financial and intelligence purposes and to steal research and innovation.

The indictment arrives at a delicate time in relations between Washington and Beijing. Even as President Donald Trump points to a preliminary trade pact with China as evidence of his ability to work with the Communist government, other members of his administration have been warning against cybersecurity and surveillance risks posed by China, especially as the tech giant Huawei seeks to become part of new, high-speed 5G wireless networks across the globe.

Experts and U.S. officials say the Equifax theft is consistent with the Chinese government's interest in accumulating as much information about Americans as possible.

The data can be used by China to target U.S. government officials and ordinary citizens, including possible spies, and to find weaknesses and vulnerabilities that can be exploited  such as for purposes of blackmail. The FBI has not seen that happen yet in this case, said Deputy Director David Bowdich, though he said it "doesn't mean it will or will not happen in the future."

"We have to be able to recognize that as a counterintelligence issue, not a cyber issue," Bill Evanina, the U.S. government's top counterintelligence official, said of the Equifax case.

The four accused hackers are suspected members of the People's Liberation Army, an arm of the Chinese military that was blamed in 2014 for a series of intrusions into American corporations.

Prosecutors say they exploited a software vulnerability to gain access to Equifax's computers, obtaining log-in credentials that they used to navigate databases and review records. They also took steps to cover their tracks, the indictment says, wiping log files on a daily basis and routing traffic through about three dozen servers in nearly 20 countries.

Besides stealing personal information, the hackers also made off with some of the company's sensitive trade secrets, including database designs, law enforcement officials said.

Equifax, headquartered in Atlanta, maintains a massive repository of consumer information that it sells to businesses looking to verify identities or assess creditworthiness. All told, the indictment says, the company holds information on hundreds of millions of people in America and abroad.

None of the accused hackers is in U.S. custody. But officials nonetheless hope criminal charges can be a deterrent to foreign hackers and a warning to other countries that American law enforcement has the capability to pinpoint individual culprits. Even so, while China and the U.S. committed in 2015 to halt acts of cyber espionage against each other, the Equifax intrusion and others like it make clear that Beijing has continued its operations.

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not return an email seeking comment Monday.

The case resembles a 2014 indictment that accused five members of the PLA of hacking into American corporations to steal trade secrets. U.S. authorities also suspect China in the 2015 breach of the federal Office of Personnel Management and of intrusions into the Marriott hotel chain and health insurer Anthem.

Such hacks "seem to deliberately cast a wide net" so that Chinese intelligence analysts can get deep insight into the lives of Americans, said Ben Buchanan, a Georgetown University scholar and author of the upcoming book "The Hacker and the State."

"This could be especially useful for counterintelligence purposes, like tracking American spies posted to Beijing," Buchanan said.

Barr, who at an event last week warned of Beijing's aspirations of economic dominance, said Monday the U.S. has long "witnessed China's voracious appetite for the personal data of Americans."

"This kind of attack on American industry is of a piece with other Chinese illegal acquisitions of sensitive personal data," Barr said.

The criminal charges, which include conspiracy to commit computer fraud and conspiracy to commit economic espionage, were filed in federal court in Atlanta.

Equifax last year reached a $700 million settlement over the data breach, with the bulk of the funds intended for consumers affected by it.

Equifax officials told the Government Accountability Office the company made many mistakes, including having an outdated list of computer systems administrators. The company didn't notice the intruders targeting its databases for more than six weeks. Hackers exploited a known security vulnerability that Equifax hadn't fixed.

While company stock has recovered, Equifax's reputation has not fully. The company was dragged in front of Congress no less than four times to explain what happened.

The company is about to start paying out claims on its $700 million settlement, of which more claimants have opted in to getting a cash settlement than accept credit counseling. So many claims have been made for the cash that the lawyers suing Equifax and the Federal Trade Commission have warned claimants that the chance of getting the full cash value of the settlement was unlikely.

Associated Press writers Nick Jesdanun and Ken Sweet in New York and Frank Bajak in Boston contributed to this report.
Deceptive rhetoric at Davos could bring disaster By Paul Driessen

The World Economic Forum conference in Davos, Switzerland is billed as the globes most prestigious annual gathering of movers and shakers. Its mission is to improve the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. This years theme was Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World. Unfortunately, the lofty rhetoric belies the misleading, potentially disastrous realities of agendas supported by many participants. A primary basis for this years theme is the repeated assertion that the world faces a climate cataclysm. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen thus wants to tax carbon-based energy imports into the EU and end humanitys practice of taking resources from the environment and generating waste and pollution in the process. She (and others) insist that green energy would do no such thing. Climate crisis claims in turn are based on computer models that are only as good as the assumptions built into them  and on attempts to blame temperature changes, extreme weather events and future crises on fossil fuel emissions, because the assumptions and models say its a cause-effect relationship. The most cited model is (naturally) the most extreme: RCP8.5, which predicts temperatures way above what we are actually measuring and all manner of future calamities. But it is based on the assumptions that: methane and plant-fertilizing carbon dioxide (a tiny 0.0402% of Earths atmosphere) are vastly more important than the sun in driving climate change; our planet will have 12 billion people by 2100; there will be no energy innovations over the next 80 years; and therefore coal use will increase tenfold by the end of the century. On that were supposed to base restrictive energy policies, and Davos meeting themes. Who are the stakeholders that Davos attendees will consult? Greta Thunberg was invited, to present her patented tirade that fossil fuels are destroying her future. But no climate realists (alarmism skeptics) were given the podium, nor were representatives of EU or US factory workers or the worlds poorest citizens. The good news is that several bankers made assurances that they were not going to stop lending funds to fossil fuel companies or major polluters. (Will that latter category include the mining companies that will have to provide voluminous raw materials for a US and global green new deal, as discussed below?) The bad news is that Davos bankers and politicians allow themselves to be pressured constantly primarily by far-left stakeholders, who hold the stakes that they and global ruling elites want to drive through the hearts of developed nation living standards and poor country aspirations for better lives. Indeed, contrary to its assurances at Davos, despite consultation with indigenous peoples supposedly being a core company business principle, and without consulting with Alaska Native stakeholders who want to drill carefully and ecologically for oil and gas on their own lands, to improve their peoples living standards, Goldman Sachs has decided it will no longer fund such development in the Arctic. With mainstream outlets and social media increasingly controlling news and opinion, and siding with climate alarmists and anti-fossil activists, that pressure will continue to build  to our great detriment. Will Davos themes, agendas and policies usher in a more cohesive world? The opposite is infinitely more likely. Deprive people of abundant, reliable, affordable fossil fuel (and nuclear) energy, as eco-activists seek to do  and you deprive them of jobs, living standards, food, health and life. People die in droves (itself a goal of more rabid environmentalists panicked about an over-populated world). Implement green new deal policies, and the results will be anything but cohesion. The policies will bring rage, protests, violence and anarchy  as France and Chile vividly demonstrated over the past two years. Turn African, Asian and Latin American countries into vassal states, with enormous mines serving ecologically responsible, climate-focused nations that dont tolerate mining within their own borders  and any cohesion will rapidly disappear. Tell American, European and other families they must accept massive wind and solar installations in their backyards or off their coasts, and the results will be similar. A sustainable world? Yes, fossil fuels are ultimately finite resources  hundreds of years from now, after we run out of huge coal deposits, oil and gas from fracking, methane hydrates and other supplies, assuming policy makers dont lock them up and keep them in the ground. But long before that happens, human innovation will create far better alternatives than wind turbines, if we let creativity flourish. Meanwhile, just remember: Wind and sunshine are sustainable. But lands and raw materials required for the technologies to harness this intermittent, widely disbursed energy absolutely are not. Sustainability is a useful concept for assessing hidden costs, risks and fiduciary responsibilities  such as those associated with climate change, as we are constantly reminded. But we must apply those same considerations to wind, solar, battery and biofuel operations; and to impacts on habitats and wildlife, air and water quality, human health and wellbeing in green new deal mining and manufacturing regions, and human welfare in an energy-deprived world of increasing hunger, death, anger, riots and chaos. As my new Heartland Institute reports and previous articles note, fossil fuels and nuclear currently provide over 8 billion megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity and electricity-equivalent power annually, to meet Americas industrial, commercial, residential and transportation needs. Using solar to generate all that power  and charge batteries for a week of sunless days  would require 19 billion state-of-the-art sun-tracking photovoltaic panels, completely blanketing an area equal to all of New York and Vermont. But that assumes the panels are all located where the sun shines with summertime Arizona intensity 24/7/365, which will never happen. So wed probably have to double (perhaps even triple) the number of panels and affected acreage. The impacts on habitats and wildlife would be significant. Using 1.8-MW wind turbines instead of solar panels would require more than 4 million turbines on farm, wildlife habitat and scenic lands equal to Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon and part of Washington State combined. But the more we install, the more we have to put turbines in poor wind locations. Wed probably have to double (or even triple) the number of turbines, and acreage impacted. Their rapidly turning blades (200 mph at their tips) would slaughter millions of eagles, falcons, other birds and bats. Going offshore instead would require hundreds of thousands of 650-foot-tall 10-MW turbines. Their impact on birds, bats, marine mammals, vistas, and ship and aircraft navigation would be intolerable. Each 1.8-MW turbine requires some 1,200 tons of steel, copper, aluminum, rare earth elements, zinc, molybdenum, petroleum-based composites, reinforced concrete and other materials. Each ton of materials requires removing thousands of tons of rock and ore  and processing ores with fossil fuels. In fact, wind turbines need some 200 times more material per megawatt than a modern combined-cycle gas turbine! Storing a week of electricity for windless and sunless periods would require some 2 billion half-ton Tesla car lithium-cobalt battery packs  and more materials; more mining. Connecting wind, solar and battery facilities to distant cities would require thousands of miles of new transmission lines, and more mining. This doesnt include materials to replace existing cars, trucks, heating systems and other technologies. And thats just for the United States. Imagine how many turbines, panels, batteries, transmission lines, raw materials, mines, processing plants and factories wed need for a global transformation! But green new deal advocates detest mining, at least by western mining companies in western countries. So its mostly done in faraway places that have virtually no environmental, health, safety, wage or child labor rules. Places like Inner Mongolia, where rare earth operations have fouled the air, created a huge toxic lake, and poisoned thousands of people. And Africas Congo, where 40,000 children labor in mines just for the cobalt needed in todays cell phones, laptops and electric cars; not for any green new deal. This eco-imperialism and false sustainability must end. As to all those self-styled stakeholders, You first. Lead by example. Slash your energy use and living standards. Then you can (nicely) ask the rest of us to do likewise. That means you, Greta, Leo DiCaprio, Al Gore, Emma Thompson and all the other climate scolds. (But of course they wont. So why should we? And why should the worlds poor?) Paul Driessen is senior policy analyst for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow and author of books and articles on environment, climate and human rights issues. Home
The General Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has called for the immediate implementation of the local content policy to protect workers of multinationals from layoffs.

This according to the Union, will ensure their jobs are secured should there be any operational challenges.

The call follows recent reports of Tullow Oil Ghana's decision to reduce its workforce by at least 25 per cent due to Tullow Oil Plc's massive disappointments in operations in Africa and South America.

Deputy General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress, Francis Sallah has said it is time the right bodies begun implementing policies to ensure such situations don't affect Ghanaian workers.

It is the adequate implementation of the governments policies that are lacking. I dont think if we have the calibre of people or Ghanaians who are already mature in industries taking charge of the key operations in the oil and gas industry, no multinational company will do something outside this country and the negative effects will be pushed unto as Ghanaians.

So in reality, it is the implementation of our policy that is the problem. We have fine laws but how do we let them work? These companies will not be able to do all these if we had the right people in charge of certain operations in this country. So, we need to take a second look at our local content policy to ensure that, it works, he said.

Sources close to the company have told Citi Business News that the ongoing global redundancy process will lead to the departure of 35 percent of Tullow Ghana's senior leadership as well as overall 25 percent job losses for staff made up of both Ghanaians and expatriates.

The redundancy programme will be done in three batches with the first group of workers set to exit the company by March, the second batch to depart by June, and the last in December 2020.

---citinewsroom
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 14:38:30|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Beijing police said Monday that 29 people have been detained in six separate cases involving the production and sale of counterfeit facial masks in the Chinese capital.

In one case, the city's public security bureau said they busted two inter-provincial rings and seized more than 170,000 counterfeit masks. In another case, reports from members of the public brought to light a scheme that sold facial masks on the instant messaging app WeChat.

Facial masks have been in tight supply in many Chinese cities since the novel coronavirus outbreak showed signs of escalation in late January.

A spokesperson with the bureau said they would crack down on the manufacturing and sale of bootleg medical materials to "assist the battle against the epidemic and safeguard social stability."
London: Propelled by ferocious winds, a British Airways plane is thought to have made the fastest New York-to-London flight by a conventional airliner.

The Boeing 747-436 completed the 5600-kilometre transatlantic journey in 4 hours and 56 minutes, landing 102 minutes early at Heathrow Airport on Sunday morning, local time, according to flight tracking website Flightradar24.

A British Airways plane flew between New York and London in less than five hours, landing early Sunday at Heathrow Airport after leaving John F. Kennedy International Airport. Credit:AP

The airliner reached a top speed of 1327 kilometres per hour.

That set a new speed record for subsonic - or slower than the speed of sound - commercial aircraft to fly between the two cities, according to Flightradar24, which tracks global flights.
Much has been said over the past three years about the Trump administration's efforts to bring reforms to the executive branch and its regulatory agencies. But this worthy endeavor is not something that can be finished during a single term or administration. It will require a long-term effort, with collaboration across the government.When setting out on a long journey, it is important to have a good map. Luckily for our federal executive branch, state governments have been hard at work over the past few years reforming their own regulatory codes and processes. In fact, there has been an impressive wave of bipartisan regulatory reform at the state level, with lawmakers and regulators working together to restore accountability  and, frankly, sanity  to their administrative codes.That wave is gaining momentum, and we are poised to see some major progress over the next few years in removing unnecessary barriers that stifle opportunity, threaten the livelihoods of the least-fortunate Americans, and don't effectively solve big societal problems. Research from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University found that poorer households tend to spend a larger share of their budgets on goods and services that are highly regulated, such as energy, food, drugs and medical supplies.Jurisdictions that have adopted red-tape-reduction programs in the U.S. and Canada have not experienced diminished protection for public health and safety or other adverse effects that critics warn of. Instead, many have experienced resounding economic success. British Columbia, for example, reduced its regulatory requirement count by fully 50 percent in a little over 18 years, from 330,812 requirements in 2001 to just 166,919 in 2019. B.C.'s economic growth was 1.9 percentage points below the Canadian average from 1994 to 2001, but 1.1 percentage points above the average from 2002 to 2006, and GDP grew outpaced the national average every year from 2002 to 2008.Similar successes are happening south of the border, in states with both Republican and Democratic governors and legislatures.In 2018, for example, Virginia enacted a red-tape-reduction pilot program, set to run for three years at the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation and the Department of Criminal Justice Services, two agencies that disproportionately affect the lives of the less affluent by creating barriers to economic opportunity. The bill passed the Republican-controlled legislature with strong bipartisan support and was signed into law by Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam. Under the program, the agencies were each required to review all existing regulations and reduce the number of restrictions by 25 percent over three years.After the first year of the program, the state's secretary of finance reported that both agencies were ahead of schedule, hitting a reduction target of about 10 percent. When the pilot program ends in 2021, the legislature will have the opportunity to expand it to the other 41 executive-branch agencies. Last year, CNBC ranked Virginia as the top state in the country for businesses , and among the factors it cited was the state's red-tape-reduction pilot.Rhode Island took a different approach. In 2015, Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo signed an executive order jumpstarting an effort to modernize and reform the state's entire regulatory code at once. The following year, state lawmakers passed additional reforms to the Administrative Procedures Act, which governs how rules are made. The result? In the process of putting the entire regulatory code into an online, searchable database, regulators reduced the volume of rules by 31 percent, removing more than 8,000. This initiative was crafted around reforms such as streamlining permitting processes to remove unnecessary rules that stifled small-business creation.In Arizona, each agency is required by statute to review all its rules at least once every five years to determine whether anything should be amended or repealed. This law has helped Arizona maintain one of the least-complex regulatory codes in the country: It has fewer than 64,000 restrictive words  terms such as "shall," "must," "may not," "prohibited" and "required"  compared with neighboring California, which has nearly 400,000 and is the most heavily regulated state. Arizona's Republican governor, Doug Ducey, has been working to do even more. The state created an online portal for those who live and work under its regulations to make recommendations and tell their stories, and it exceeded its target to reduce red tape. Arizona was fourth in the nation for economic growth in 2018.Idaho requires its Legislature to renew its entire regulatory code each year; last year the Legislature failed to renew the code, giving Republican Gov. Brad Little an opportunity to overhaul parts that were outdated or unnecessary. Thanks to the quick and dedicated work of executive-branch officials, the state was able to significantly reduce its regulatory burden and become what Little could plausibly claim to be the least regulated state in the country Additional states are considering regulatory reforms in their 2020 legislative sessions; this is a wave that states can and should continue to ride. It's also an opportunity to learn from our laboratories of democracy to inform future  and urgently necessary  reforms at the federal level.Experts at the regulatory agencies should see lawmakers as their partners and allies, and vice versa. The effort to create a regulatory state that works requires collaboration and cooperation across government and across the aisle. On the other side of these reforms lie opportunities for more people to start a small business, make that career change, move to a new city, provide for their families, and ultimately build their own American dream without being stopped by unnecessary hurdles.
Major tech companies are skipping the inescapable Mobile World Congress this year owing to fears over the coronavirus, though Chinese groups including ZTE and Huawei still plan to attend.

Amazon and Sony said Monday they will steer clear of the world's biggest mobile tech fair in Barcelona, joining Swedish telecoms equipment maker Ericsson and South Korean giant LG.

The annual gathering is to take place on February 24-27 this year.

"Due to the outbreak and continued concerns about novel coronavirus, Amazon will withdraw from exhibiting and participating in Mobile World Congress 2020," a Spanish-language statement said.

A Sony statement said: "As we place the utmost importance on the safety and wellbeing of our customers, partners, media and employees, we have taken the difficult decision to withdraw from exhibiting and participating at MWC 2020 in Barcelona."



The Japanese group has maintained an internet conference on February 24 however to present its new products.

LG, which normally has one of the biggest stands, said last week that its decision "removes the risk of exposing hundreds of LG employees to international travel which has already become more restrictive as the virus continues to spread across borders."



The company plans instead hold separate events to unveil its new mobile products. Other major trade shows have also been hit by the virus, with Swiss watch maker Swatch cancelling a salon in March and the biennial Singapore Airshow reporting the loss of more than 70 participants, including US group Lockheed Martin and Bombardier of Canada.

The MWC is a major date on tech company calendars and normally draws more than 100,000 people from all over the world to see the latest innovations and gadgets from 2,800 exhibitors.

The mobile trade association GSMA that organises the congress said Sunday it was taking drastic precautions this year to ease concerns that it could become a hub for the virus to spread.

To date, more than 40,000 people have been infected and more than 900 have died.

The Barcelona congress will be off limits to anyone from the Chinese province of Hubei, where the virus first broke out, and visitors from other parts of China will have to show they have been outside the country for two weeks before arriving in Spain.

Shenzhen-based ZTE, which makes smartphones and wireless networking equipment, and Huawei have said they still plan to attend, along with compatriots Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi.

ZTE's exhibition stand and equipment will be disinfected daily and all of its booth exhibition staff will come from countries outside China, mainly from Europe, it said.

Senior executives taking part in "high-level meetings" at the gathering "will self-isolate themselves in Europe for at least two weeks prior to the MWC," a ZTE statement added.

The company plans to showcase new 5G devices this year.

Huawei staff, including executives, have also arrived two weeks early and isolated themselves in their hotels, a company spokesman told AFP.

A GSMA statement said: "We are grateful for the preventative measures our Chinese exhibitors have put in place, notably ZTE and Huawei." Meanwhile, personnel will be on hand to take visitors' temperatures.

Spain has not declared a health emergency and only two cases of coronavirus have been detected in the country so far, one in the Canary Islands and one on the Mediterranean island of Majorca.

"Everything will be done to ensure the participant's peace of mind," Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni told Antena 3 television.

Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez added that security measures to guarantee the well-being of participants had been taken.

GSMA said it has "implemented many measures to help to mitigate the spread of the virus and is continuing to add other actions regularly.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha pours holy water onto the hand of a slain police officer at Tri Thotsathep Worawihan temple in Bangkok, Feb. 10, 2019.

As Thailand recoiled Monday from a mass shooting that left 30 dead over the weekend, the king announced he would pay for victims funeral rites, as condolences poured in from abroad while survivors and witnesses said they remained shaken by the attack by an army sergeant.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha announced the kings offer to pay for the funerals, while speaking to a national television audience as Thailand mourned in the wake of its deadliest attack by a lone gunman.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn and the Queen feel remorse because of the shootings and extend moral support to the families of the dead and will sponsor their funeral rites, said Prayuth, who had earlier described the attack as unprecedented.

The gunman, identified as Sgt. Maj. Jakrapanth Thomma, 32, allegedly went on the shooting spree in Nakhon Ratchasima, a city of 2.6 million about 260 km (160 miles) northeast of Bangkok, after seizing weapons and ammunition and killing his commander  the first victim  during an argument over a property deal on Saturday afternoon, officials said.

Jakrapanth killed 14 people in all at a residence, an army barracks and near a temple in Nakhon Ratchasim, and later killed 15 others at a seven-story shopping center in the city before Thai commandoes gunned him down early on Sunday, officials said. Authorities said he went on the rampage after suffering a psychotic break.

Around 8 a.m. Sunday, Thai Special Forces enlisted the help of a drone operator for a local TV news channel, according to the Associated Press. The journalist maneuvered his thermal-sensing drone through shattered windows and into a supermarkets cold storage room, broadcasting images of Jakrapanth and several apparent hostages back to police, allowing sharpshooters to take out the gunman.

Security analyst Nanthadej Meksawat, a retired lieutenant general who had been responsible for intelligence oversight in Thailands insurgency-stricken Deep South, expressed concern that more attacks were possible.

This is the worst gun violence. But Thailand is like America, there are a lot of guns and freedom, he told BenarNews.

It doesnt matter that the gunman was military, it depends on attitude  the gunman shot indiscriminately. When things like this happen, it can be hard to stop copycats, he said.

Prayuth, who also serves as defense minister, earlier on Monday joined National Police Chief Gen. Chakthip Chaichinda and other officials in holding a bathing ceremony for two anti-terrorist policemen who were shot dead on Sunday morning as they advanced toward the gunman, according to police.

Under Buddhist tradition, relatives and friends pour holy water over one hand of the deceased during the bathing ceremony before the body is then placed in a coffin and surrounded with wreaths, candles and sticks of incense.

The dead  a captain and a senior sergeant  were behind a shield and wearing body armor that did not withstand Jakrapanths gunfire. The soldier had stolen an M60 machine gun and an HK-33 assault rifle from a military barracks as he set out on his killing spree, officials said.

I ordered the agencies involved to have after-action review within two weeks, Chakthip told reporters. We lack equipment, he said, referring to proper body armor and shields.

Anthony Davis, a security analyst who writes for the Janes defense publications, said it was premature to judge the Thai militarys response to the siege, AP reported.

In the end you have a professional military man with a large supply of ammunition holed up in a very large building with not much clear idea on the part of the security forces how many people are in his reach, Davis said. It took a long time, but in a big building they couldnt risk storming in and killing a lot of people.

Among those killed was police senior Sgt. Maj. Chatchawan Tanthong, 50, who was shot as he tried to intercept the gunman who was driving a Humvee toward the shopping center, according to police. His widow held a bathing ceremony Monday afternoon.

I cant take it. When I saw his photo, I melted down, Nattha Rattanarak, 33, told reporters at the Po Temple in Nakhon Ratchasima. Im proud of him. He performed his police duty until the last minute. I hope this attack is the last one.

Chatchawans unit praised him on Facebook.

He didnt have time to get out of the car before the windshield was shattered by bullets, the post said.

Angkhana Neelapaijit, a former member of the National Human Rights Commission, called on the army to investigate.

It is like a terrorist, the lone wolf acted alone, killing randomly and expecting mass casualties, Angkhana told BenarNews. I hope the agencies involved  the Army, in particular  look into the case with transparency and investigate the motive to prevent future violence.

People light candles during a memorial service at Terminal 21 shopping center in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, Feb. 10, 2020. (AP)

Survivors speak

Songyost Suwanachim, a regular visitor to the shopping center, told Reuters news service that he was shaken by the mass killings but lucky because he got a late start on Saturday.

I feel depressed and scared. I can still hear the sound of gunshots in my head and I cant sleep at night, said Songyost, 40.

He said he saw smoke coming from the shopping center from his vantage point at the Big C supermarket across the street.

If I left half an hour or an hour earlier I would probably be stuck inside the mall because I always like to come here, he said.

Nuttawut Kanchanamethi lost his 13-year-old son and only child to the gunmans bullet. The boy, Rachanon Kanchanamethi, was shot and killed while riding his motorbike, AP reported.

I dont want to lose him like this, Nuttawut said during the first day of his sons Buddhist funeral. This is too sudden. We had plans for him, growing up. Thats all. We didnt impose any expectations on him.

A woman who goes by the name Gem for privacy reasons, said she hid under a table at a shop inside of the mall as the gunman came by.

He played instrumental music on his cell, sounding very relaxed. It was abnormal. I just hid under table, scared, as he shot indiscriminately, she told TV Channel 3.

The United States and China were among the nations sending condolences to the people of Thailand.

The Embassy of the United States of America in Bangkok stands with the people of Thailand, saddened by tragic events in Nakhon Ratchasima. We offer our deepest condolences to the victims and their friends and families, the embassy said on its Facebook page.

China posted this message: The Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China offers deepest condolences and has sincere sorrow toward to families of the dead, the injured and other families in the Korat shooting. In this time of grief, Chinese people stand by Thais.
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Monday compared BJP leaders to Marie Antoinette, the last Queen of France before the French Revolution, for "mocking the poor" of India and said they were worse than her.

His comments came after a BJP MP cited the clothes people wear as evidence that there was no recession.

Antoinette, the wife of Louis XVI of France, on being told that the French peasants were unable to afford, had infamously responded that they should develop a taste for "brioche", a form of cake.

In a tweet, Yechury said, "Not only has the BJP created this situation of grave economic crisis and social disharmony, it also wants to mock the poor of this country who are suffering heavily. Their leaders shame Marie Antoinette."



Addressing a programme in Ballia on Sunday, BJP MP Virendra Singh Mast argued they would have worn dhoti-kurtas had the economy been that bad.

"Had there been recession, we would have come here wearing dhoti and kurta and not coats and jackets. Had there been recession we would not have purchased clothes, pants and pajamas," Mast said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The 92nd Academy Awards took place in Los Angeles with people involved in the making of films from scratch, and stepping out on the red carpet at the city's Dolby Theatre.



While the red carpet is a space where you can spot your favourite actors and directors, it's also quickly evolving into a platform where people can express their emotions and identities. In the case of Spike Lee, he paid homage to Kobe with a blazer that was inspired by Kobe's Lakers jersey. Joaquin Phoenix has been wearing the same Stella McCartney suit to most red carpets including this one and Billy Porter wore a gown inspired by the Kensington Palace to the Awards.



But the red carpet is also popular for classic tailoring that is exemplified through the fine suits that we see on actors each year. While this year's nominees including Joker's Joaquin Phoenix, Marriage Story's Adam Driver and Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood's Brad Pitt and Little Women's Timothee Chalamet, it was their outfits on the red carpet that made an impact.



Although the Oscars have a reputation for playing it safe and keeping things formal, some of these year's best-dressed guys really switched things up.



1. Mahershala Ali and Amatus Sami-Karim



 Gettyimages

Ali wore an Ermenegildo Zegna XXX and an Omega watch.2. Rami Malek





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Rami wore a Saint Laurent and Cartier.



3. Brad Pitt

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Brad Pitt who also won his first acting Oscar this year, wore a classic tuxedo with a black bow tie.



4. Leonardo DiCaprio

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Leonardo too kept it simple like his co-star Brad Pitt from Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood with a plain tuxedo.



5. Joaquin Phoenix

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Joaquin Phoenix has vowed to use a single blazer for the entire Award season, for that he's chosen a classic black Stella McCartney.



6. Timothee Chalamet

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There were rumours that Timothee Chalamet was going to wear a backless shirt this time at the Oscars. Instead, he was seen wearing what looked like avant-garde track pants with a Cartier brooch to complete the look.



7. Adam Driver and Joanne Tucker

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Adam Driver chose a fine Burberry suit for the occasion.



8. Billy Porter

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Billy Porter, true to what has now become a Billy Porter red carpet tradition, was seen wearing Giles Deacon.




As scientists pin down the origin, governments enact prevention measures and labs look for a cure, news about the outbreak of the novel coronavirus often comes down to two questions: where and how many people are infected?

A new interactive map from University of Washington geographer Bo Zhao aims to answer those questions in real time.

Zhao produced this interactive map of the novel coronavirus, which updates every few hours with data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, the People's Republic of China, and other government agencies, including those in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. By zooming in on various countries - such as China - users can see the numbers of cases, recoveries and deaths, as well as trends over time.

"Mapping is a powerful tool to tell social, cultural and political phenomena," said Zhao, an assistant professor of geography who specializes in the social implications of maps and using innovative methods in mapping. "As a geographer, and in what people call the 'post-truth era,' it's important to weigh in with data sources to show people how things are happening."

The outbreak of the coronavirus, which is believed to have originated in Wuhan, China in December, has been declared a public health emergency by the WHO. Tens of thousands have been infected, and hundreds have died.

Zhao recently produced an online atlas to illustrate the global refugee experience. The coronavirus, he said, is another societal issue that people can gain perspective on by seeing it on a map.

While the Chinese government has been criticized for its response to the crisis, and concerns have arisen about its transparency, Zhao said China's National Health Commission data is the most accurate available for the country.

But the outbreak is not just affecting China or the city of Wuhan, he added. It is a global issue, and that's the perspective users can gain from the map. The numbers on display are important, too, he said, because there are more recoveries than deaths.

"That can give people encouragement," he said.

As more detailed data become available, Zhao plans to add county-level totals from China, and state and provincial totals from the United States and Canada, respectively.

###

For more information, including links to download Zhao's data, contact Zhao at zhaobo@uw.edu or 206-685-3846.
Turkey said on Monday it had "neutralised" 101 Syrian regime soldiers following a bombardment which killed five Turkish soldiers in northwestern Syria's Idlib region, the last major rebel bastion.

The Turkish defence ministry said its troops were pushing on with bombardments on Syrian positions in the area on Monday evening.

Under a deal with Russia, Turkey has 12 observation posts in Idlib as a way to avert an offensive by Syrian government forces trying to retake it from rebels, but Syrian troops have been advancing despite Ankara's warnings.

"According to our sources, 101 regime troops were neutralised, three tanks and two cannons were destroyed and a helicopter was hit," the Turkish ministry statement said.

Earlier Monday, five Turkish soldiers died in Syrian regime artillery fire in Idlib. The barrage also wounded five soldiers in the violence-plagued northwest, prompting the Turkish military to respond by "destroying targets", the defence ministry added. The exchange was the second in eight days and took place in the area of Taftanaz, which was recently reinforced by Turkey, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Monday's incident comes a week after earlier regime shelling killed eight Turkish soldiers, prompting a deadly response by the Turkish army.

The clashes are further straining relations between Damascus and Ankara, while also increasing tension between Russia and Turkey -- the conflict's chief foreign protagonists.

Turkey has beefed up its Idlib positions in recent days by sending at least 350 vehicles with commandos backed by armoured vehicles.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Linkedin Riska Rahman and Riza Roidila Mufti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 10, 2020 14:53 701 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20639ab6e 1 Business Wuhan-coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia,tourism,Chinese-tourists,Transportation-Minister-Budi-Karya-Sumadi,PHRI,Bali-Airport,Batam,Bintan,manado,North-Sulawesi,Bunaken,SARS Free

The countrys tourist sector has taken a hit amid the novel coronavirus outbreak in China that has spread to other countries, as more trip and hotel booking cancellations have been reported following travel bans on tourists to and from China.

Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) chairman Hariyadi Sukamdani said on Friday that more than 40,000 hotel bookings in Bali had been canceled since the outbreak.

"This coronavirus has overwhelmed us, especially the tourist sector in Bali where more than 40,000 room bookings were canceled and 20,000 people annulled their visits, said Hariyadi. Import and export activities, including the export of live fish, has also been disrupted.

"We should be more vigilant. We did not imagine that the impact of the coronavirus outbreak would be greater than that of SARS [Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome]," he said.

The SARS epidemic, which also started in China, killed around 800 people worldwide in 2002-2003. The 2019-nCoV virus, linked to a wet market in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has infected more than 40,100 people since it was first reported early this year with a death toll of around 900 as of Sunday.

Hariyadi called on stakeholders to work hand-in-hand to tackle the issue as the outbreak also occurred during the low season.

"If this continues, I think it could turn into a serious matter," he said.

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said on Friday that Bali, North Sulawesi and Riau Islands had been affected as they were the gates to several popular destinations for Chinese tourists, such as Bunaken and Bintan.

To ease the tourist industrys burden, the government is encouraging domestic tourists to visit such destinations.

"I have asked Indonesian carriers to give special prices or discounts to those destinations," said Budi Karya.

Previously, the ministry planned to provide additional international flight slots to Bali from East Asia and Middle East countries to boost foreign arrivals to Bali.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has accused his AC Milan team-mates of lacking belief and energy after they conceded four goals in the second half of the Milan derby and tossed away a 2-0 half-time against arch rivals Inter.

Influential striker Ibrahimovic set up Ante Rebic's 40th minute opener and then scored himself seconds before the interval as his side belied their midtable position to look in control against the Serie A title chasers.

Their lead evaporated within eight minutes of the restart as Marcelo Brozovic and Matias Vecino drew Inter level before Stefan de Vrij and Romelu Lukaku sealed victory, leading Ibrahimovic at a loss to understand the collapse.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic set up the first goal and scored as AC Milan went 2-0 up against rivals Inter

Milan were on course for their finest result since the Swede returned to the club in December

'It's difficult to explain what happened,' the frustrated Swede told Sky Sport Italia in the aftermath of another depressing night for Milan in a season when they have turned to the 38-year-old on a six-month deal in an attempt to improve their fortunes.

'At half-time we told ourselves the first 15 minutes going back out there will be crucial, and in that 15-minute spell we conceded two goals.

'We stopped playing, the team stopped believing, we stopped pressing, didn't pass it around enough. From the equaliser onwards, everything collapsed.'

The thrilling derby proved a real scare for Inter, who recovered to return to the top of the table on goal difference above reigning champions Juventus.

Ibrahimovic and his team-mates knew Inter would respond but still capitulated after half-time

Romelu Lukaku scored as Inter surged back in the second half to record a resounding victory

Milan and Ibrahimovic had shown promising form and entered the showdown having lost only one of their last 11 matches, but the despondent veteran conceded that a stronger winning mentality could have seen them hold on to their advantage.

'I think a lot of it is down to experience, because you must know how to control a game at 2-0 up, not just winning at the end,' he rued.

'It's strange because our first half was practically perfect. I expected more from Inter and the first half performance did not look like a team worthy of second place. They did after the break.'

Milan host Juventus in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final on Thursday.
More than 100 American service members have traumatic brain injuries from Iranian airstrikes on Al Asad Air Base in Iraq in January, the Defense Department said, a number that was more than 50 percent higher than previously disclosed.

Of the 109 troops who have been diagnosed with brain injuries, 76 had returned to duty, officials said Monday.

We are grateful to the efforts of our medical professionals who have worked diligently to ensure the appropriate level of care for our service members, which has enabled nearly 70 percent of those diagnosed to return to duty, said Alyssa Farah, the Pentagon press secretary.

The latest tally, which has steadily grown since the Jan. 8 strike, drew a sharp contrast with the assertion by the Trump administration in the hours after the attack that no Americans were hurt. The number also underscored the unseen effects of traumatic brain injuries, which sometimes do not manifest symptoms for days or weeks but can have long-term physical or mental effects.
The leader of Fianna Fail has failed to rule out entering government with Sinn Fein in the Republic after a general election that's set to transform the political landscape.

As video emerged of a triumphant Sinn Fein TD Dessie Ellis and supporters singing rebel song Come Out Ye Black And Tans at the election count in the RDS, unionists expressed their concerns about the prospect of Sinn Fein being in government on both sides of the border.

Sinn Fein is set to significantly increase its number of seats in the Dail after it topped the polls across the country when first preferences were added up.

Arriving at his count centre in Cork, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin would not rule out working with Sinn Fein or Fine Gael, having definitively refused to countenance either as coalition partners during the campaign.

Mr Martin, who said his party looked like being on course to win the most seats, was repeatedly pressed to restate his opposition to a potential Sinn Fein partnership.

While insisting there were "significant incompatibility" issues in terms of policy, he did not dismiss the suggestion outright.

"Our policies, our positions and principles haven't changed overnight or in 24 hours," he said.

Read More

Campaigners for victims of IRA terrorism reacted with dismay at the surge in support for Sinn Fein in the polls.

Kenny Donaldson, spokesman for Innocent Victims United, said IRA terror victims would be "depressed and marginalised" by the election outcome.

"The level of increased support Sinn Fein has experienced in the Republic is substantial and it would be wrong for us to dismiss the strong mandate that they have secured.

"However, tonight there are very many innocent victims/survivors of Provisional IRA terrorism who are feeling depressed and further marginalised."

Kenneth Worton (24) was shot dead alongside nine other Protestant workmen after the minibus they were in was stopped by the IRA near Whitecross in Co Armagh on January 5, 1976.

On Sunday night his brother Colin said he was "flabbergasted" by the level of support that Sinn Fein had received.

Expand Close Colin Worton, brother of IRA victim Kenneth / Facebook

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Whatsapp Colin Worton, brother of IRA victim Kenneth

"It's very daunting, to say the least. It's only a few months ago that they were trailing in the polls," he said. "What has changed? What has caused the surge in Sinn Fein support? I don't understand it.

"Flabbergasted would be the word.

"I think Sinn Fein is the only party that, no matter what they do, it does them no harm.

"It's very worrying, from a unionist point of view, they there are getting the level of support that they are getting," Mr Worton said.

Read More

Ulster Unionist leader Steve Aiken felt it heralded a worrying time for residents of the Republic.

"The results of yesterday's election in the Irish Republic show a fracturing of the traditional FF/FG 'duopoly'," he said.

"That there appears to be no party large enough to command the support for a majority government will face the Irish electorate with the choice between another, potentially inconclusive election, or a coalition government between a centre-Right party, heavily leaning on international banking and foreign direct investment from USA, and a hard-Left party, with a less than transparent relationship with its violent past, and whose economic and social policy influences are those of Venezuela and Cuba.

"Our neighbours are living in interesting, if worrying, times."

TUV leader Jim Allister said the Sinn Fein advance should give unionist leaders "cause for thought".

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Whatsapp TUV leader Jim Allister

"In the Republic's election Leo Varadkar is reaping what he sowed," he said.

"By insisting Sinn Fein was fit for government in Northern Ireland, and must be included, he validated and sanitised the party of the IRA.

"Likewise, by the DUP making Sinn Fein's elevation into Stormont government possible, they short-sightedly endorsed them as a party fit for government. Now Ireland, north and south, is blighted with their growth. 'Moving forward', wasn't that the DUP slogan?

"Sadly, it is those they partnered into government that are on the move, singing IRA songs. The correlation is obvious.

"The only comfort is that a triumphalist Sinn Fein in the Republic gives unionists even more reason to be opposed to an all-Ireland, but it should give the lead party of unionism cause for thought."

A DUP spokesman said on Sunday night: "We note the election results so far in the Republic of Ireland.

"When a government is formed, we will work constructively with it on matters of mutual concern."

Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said Irish voters have registered a "step change" in politics. Speaking to RTE, Mr Adams said: "There has been a realignment of politics across this island."

He added: "This is one big step change."
No matter the result, Florence Pugh was already a winner at last nights Oscars thanks to her wacky wardrobe.

The 24-year-old British nominee has turned heads during the awards season with the help of her stylist Rebecca Corbin-Murray.

The Guernsey-born style guru, 37, has helped the newcomer receive praise for her style credentials as well as her Oscar-worthy performance in Greta Gerwigs Little Women.

Florence Pugh has turned heads during the awards season with the help of her stylist Rebecca Corbin-Murray (right with Miss Pugh)

Florence is very true to herself. She loves bold, colourful, interesting shapes, Miss Corbin-Murray told Vogue.

Miss Pugh was the talk of last weeks Baftas thanks to the fuchsia Dries Van Noten x Christian Lacroix gown she wore on the red carpet, which she then swapped for a ruffled green Givenchy dress for the after party at Annabels.

For Saturdays pre-Oscars party, she wore a mustard Oscar de la Renta dress with an enormous bow on the front.

Clearly a fan of dramatic layers and draping fabrics, Miss Pugh stood out in a blue Valentino gown at the Little Women premiere in December.

Miss Pugh dazzled in a quirky teal tiered ballgown as she walked the red carpet at the 92nd annual Academy Awards on Sunday night

For Saturdays pre-Oscars party, she wore a mustard Oscar de la Renta dress with an enormous bow on the front (left). Florence is very true to herself. She loves bold, colourful, interesting shapes, Miss Corbin-Murray told Vogue

But its Miss Corbin-Murrays red carpet tricks that set her clients looks apart from the rest.

An arsenal of underpinnings and a fabulous tailor are two of my secret weapons, she said.

Miss Corbin-Murray makes her clients do standing practice  preparation for being in front of a sea of photographers on the red carpet.

She also swears by the body-shaping lingerie Spanx because it makes for better lines, which makes a dress look so much better.
bgwalker/iStock(FORREST CITY, Ark.) -- Two police officers were shot while responding to an incident inside a Walmart in Forrest City, Arkansas, on Monday morning, police said.



The shooting unfolded after police got a call around 10:24 a.m. about an individual making threats inside the Walmart, Forrest City Police Chief Deon Lee said at a news conference.



The suspect -- identified by the St. Francis County coroner as 40-year-old Bobby Joe Gibbs -- was killed, Lee said, and the injured officers are expected to be OK.

The prayers of the ASP are with the 2 Forrest City officers that were injured this morning in a shooting at Walmart.



The ASP Criminal Investigation Division has been requested to conduct an investigation of the incident. Please stay away from the area if at all possible.  AR State Police (@ARStatePolice) February 10, 2020

Eugene Watlington, a seasoned detective, underwent surgery, Lee said.



Lt. Eric Varner, who has been on the force for over a decade, has been treated and released from the hospital, Lee said.



Arkansas State Police's criminal investigation division did not say who shot the suspect, but said there was an "exchange of gunfire" and prosecutors "will determine whether the use of deadly force by law enforcement officers today was consistent with Arkansas laws."



Forrest City is about 90 miles east of Little Rock.



"The prayers of the ASP are with the 2 Forrest City officers that were injured," the state police tweeted.



Walmart spokesperson Scott Pope said in a statement, "We are aware of the incident that took place at our store in Forrest City."



"We will continue to work with the Forrest City Police Department to assist in their investigation," Pope said.



Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
By AFP

BEIJING: The number of confirmed infections in China's coronavirus outbreak has reached 40,171 nationwide with more than 3,000 new cases reported, the National Health Commission said Monday.

In its daily update, the commission said there had been 97 new deaths from the virus -- with 91 in hardest-hit Hubei province -- bringing the national toll to 908.

Millions of people in China were returning to work Monday after an extended holiday designed to slow the spread of the new coronavirus

And although the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said there are tentative signs the epidemic is stabilising in China, the agency's director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that the number of cases recorded overseas could be just "the tip of the iceberg".

His comments came as an advance team of WHO international experts left late Sunday for China, led by Bruce Aylward, a veteran of previous health emergencies.

In an attempt to contain the virus, cities in Hubei have been locked down and transport routes across the country cut to stop the movement of hundreds of millions of people who usually visit family during the annual Lunar New Year holiday.

The unprecedented measures included an extension of the holiday, with citizens told to stay inside as much as possible.

Officially the holiday was extended by only three days, but many cities and provinces pushed the deadline until February 10.

The measures have left businesses, shops, factories and tourist sites closed and turned many cities into ghost towns, sparking concerns about the impact of the outbreak on the economy.

But there were some signs Monday of the country beginning to make a return to normality.

Roads in Beijing and Shanghai had significantly more traffic than in recent days and the southern city of Guangzhou said it would start to resume normal public transport from Monday.

The city had been running a partial service due to the epidemic, said city authorities -- who reminded people to continue avoiding crowded places.

The death toll from the novel coronavirus has overtaken global fatalities in the 2002-03 SARS epidemic.

China drew international condemnation for covering up cases during the SARS outbreak, but the WHO has praised the measures Beijing has taken this time.

However, the health body has warned that the figures could still "shoot up".

Ian Lipkin -- a professor at Columbia University who worked with China on the SARS outbreak -- also warned of the risk of a "bump" in infection cases when people return to work.
As health organizations around the world try to shut down the spread of the virulent coronavirus that has killed more than 800 people in China, a group of computer science majors who were high school friends has developed a website to track reported cases worldwide.

Trackcorona.live is the creation of University of Virginia undergraduates James Yun and Soukarya Ghosh; Bilguunzaya Battogtokh, of Stanford University; and Austin Stout, of Virginia Tech. The four are friends from Arlingtons Yorktown High School.

The website features tables and charts updated with real-time data, including recovery and mortality rates and interactive maps detailing the virus travels by country and city.

Our intention was to inform people about the growing spread of the virus, Yun explained. This way, people can track the infection rates in real time, as well as hone into specific geographic hotspots using our interactive map. With the amount of attention the virus has gotten, we think its important to equip people with the right tool to monitor the situation.

According to the tracker, there are a dozen cases of the virus reported in the United States, with no deaths as of Sunday evening. There have been more than 37,000 cases reported in 25 countries with 814 deaths reported. All but one of those deaths occurred in China, with the other being reported in the Philippines.

There are lot of students at UVa and other universities who travel a lot, and this way, they can see where the virus is spreading and where its active, Yun said. They will be better able to assess their risk levels, depending on where theyre traveling to.

Yun said his friends have discussed their website on Reddit and are using the feedback theyve received to add features.

We are currently working on a medical information page to inform the public about the nature of the virus and preventative measures they can take, he said. Its going to change as we get more ideas and figure out how to make things work.

According to the National Institutes of Health, the virus was first reported in the city of Wuhan in Hubei Province in China. A betacoronavirus, its the same genus as the viruses that created Severe Acute Respirator Syndrome in 2003 and Middle East Respirator Syndrome in 2012. The viruses originate in animals.

Both MERS and SARS have been known to cause severe illness in people, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website stated in a Feb. 7 update. The complete clinical picture with regard to [coronavirus] is not fully understood. Reported illnesses have ranged from mild to severe, including resulting in death.

Symptoms of coronavirus, according to the CDC, include fever, cough and shortness of breath. They may appear anywhere from two to 14 days after exposure.

The first case of the virus being transmitted from one person to another in the United States was reported on Jan. 30, according to the NIH. Confirmed cases have been reported in California, Washington, Arizona, Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Illinois.

Six potential cases have been reported in Virginia as of Sunday evening, according to the Virginia Department of Health. Five of those cases tested negative for the virus; one test of a person in Northern Virginia remains pending.

On Jan. 30, the World Health Organizations emergency committee declared the virus a public health emergency of international concern.

All countries should be prepared for containment, including active surveillance, early detection, isolation and case management, contact tracing and prevention of onward spread, committee officials said in the declaration. The committee believes that it is still possible to interrupt virus spread.

The committee also recommended that countries not restrict travel or trade based on the available information about the virus.

That hasnt happened. Australia, Hong Kong, Philippines, India, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Great Britain and Vietnam have restricted travel to and from China.

On Jan. 31, the U.S. also restricted travel to and from China for non-citizens.

The Centers for Disease Control, along with state and local health departments, has limited resources and the public health system could be overwhelmed if sustained human-to-human transmission of the virus occurred in the United States, the proclamation restricting travel, signed by President Donald Trump, states. Sustained human-to-human transmission has the potential to have cascading public health, economic, national security and societal consequences.

The proclamation noted that in 2019, an average of 14,000 people a day traveled to the United States from China.

[The government] is unable to effectively evaluate and monitor all of the travelers continuing to arrive from China, the proclamation states. The potential for widespread transmission of the virus by infected individuals seeking to enter the United States threatens the security of our transportation system and infrastructure and the national security.

The proclamation also called for orderly medical screening and possible quarantine of persons entering the United States who may have been exposed to this virus.

While governments react to the outbreak, Yun said trackcorona.live will provide the most up-to-date information possible. The site uses software that scrapes information from primary sources in China and across the world. It also accesses news sites to provide immediate updates from worldwide sources.

Were also trying to get data state by state and finding other sources, he said. There will be more changes to the site as things go along.

For the quartet, the site has been a way to put their education into practice.

We went to the same high school and weve been friends for a long time. This started out as a fun project, but it turned into the site it is today, he said. Were working on it between classes and before and after class. Were putting our knowledge into practice. Its been a great learning experience.
The body of a four-and-a-half year-old boy, who went missing four days ago, was recovered from a drain in northeast Delhi's Khajuri Khas on Monday, police said.

No external injury was found on the body and a post-mortem report stated that the boy died due to drowning, according to the police.

However, the family and relatives of the child staged a demonstration after placing the body on a road, alleging police delay in the investigation. The demonstration led to traffic congestion in the area but the crowd dispersed later after an appeal by police.

The child went missing last Thursday and a case was registered the next day. The body was handed over to the family after post-mortem, the police added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: In a statement that is likely to kick up a fresh controversy, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy on Sunday said that half of Bangladesh population would seek Indian citizenship if offered to them. Who will take responsibility of that huge population? In fact, those seeking Indian citizenship are Islamic fundamentalists. Will Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao take their responsibility or Congress leader Rahul Gandhi? he asked.

The Union Minister made the comments while speaking at the 621st birth celebrations of Sant Ravidas at the BJP party office here.The Centre is ready to review CAA if it has one word against anyone of the 130 crore citizens of India, he said, adding that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is meant for those who are being persecuted in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. I do not see any reason why some people should demand Indian citizenship for Muslims of those countries though they are not among the persecuted lot.

He stated that the Indian Government will allow citizenship only to the refugees but not to the infiltrators. Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh have not even been ensuring minimum rights to the minorities like Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs and they are migrating to India as refugees, he said and added that the Central Government has brought the CAA to help them lead a life of decency and dignity.

He also alleged that some pseudo-intellectuals and opposition parties were raking up unnecessary controversies over CAA.

Meanwhile, BJP State chief K Laxman has alleged that the GHMC has passed a resolution against the CAA as it was under the pressure from AIMIM and said that CM

K Chandrashekar Rao has been acting against the sentiments of the Hindus at the insistence of AIMIM.
A medical worker gives thumbs up to a child who receives medical treatment in hospital. [Xinhua]

As pregnant women and children are particularly susceptible to novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP), special care and protective measures have been taken in many places throughout China to protect them from the virus.

Taiyuan Establishes Maternal and Child Treatment Team

A medical team comprised of 168 professionals, including 10 obstetrics and 23 pediatric experts, was established in Taiyuan, a city in North China's Shanxi Province, to stand ready to conduct treatment services for any maternal and child infection cases at the city's designated hospitals.

Measures have been taken to strengthen the management of key areas in hospitals, including the neonatal room, delivery room and maternity ward. Family members are required to reduce frequency of visits and the numbers of accompanying persons are limited, to reduce the inpatients' risk of being infected by the virus.

More efforts have been made to promote the knowledge of epidemic prevention to pregnant women and children's parents through phone calls and WeChat, a popular instant messaging app.

Gansu Opens Hotline, Offers Psychological Counseling Services

As the NCP spreads, the Women's Federation of Gansu Province and women's federations at the city and prefecture levels in the province have actively organized professional psychological counselors and opened counseling hotlines to provide psychological care to medical staff, community workers, parents and children.

The province's women's federation has recently launched comprehensive crisis intervention services to fight the outbreak, which include rights protection, psychological counseling, domestic-violence investigations and publicizing epidemic-related policies and regulations.

Moreover, the federation opened a psychological crisis intervention hotline via the federation's official WeChat account in cooperation with the Gansu Women and Children's Psychological Counseling Association. The federation announced the contact information of the province's volunteers' team of women and children's psychological counseling and the volunteers' teams of psychological counseling of the women's federations at city and prefecture levels in the province.

Zhou Zhiling, President of the association, said that being unable to go out for a long time may cause anxiety, panic and other negative emotions, especially among children and teenagers.

She suggested that family members should show more tolerance and care for each other and try to ease the bad mood by playing games or reading books together with their children at home.

Sichuan Provides Daily Services to Quarantined Families

To curb the spread of the virus, the quarantine sites were set up in Sangyuan Town in Qionglai, a city in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, to conduct medical observation of those who had close contacts with confirmed cases.

Zhao Xiyao, Deputy Director of the Sangyuan Health Center, volunteered to work in the sites, providing services and caring for those in quarantine.

The father of a family came back from Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak, and was diagnosed as a confirmed case during observation. The mother of the family and her two children needed to be quarantined separately. Zhao took the initiative to look after the two children, playing with the children every day, bringing them toys and giving them thoughtful care.

(Source: China Women's News/Translated and edited by Women of China)
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As Vietnam quarantines all people returning from China in assigned camps where they are monitored for signs of being infected with the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), residents inside these camps have decided to stay optimistic by dancing the day away.

Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspapers reporters visited them to know what their life inside quarantine camps is like.

At the Military School of Lao Cai Province in northern Vietnam, at least 216 Vietnamese citizens who recently came back from China are undergoing two weeks of isolation, which is the incubation period of the virus.

The new coronavirus has killed over 900 people, chiefly in mainland China, and infected more than 40,000 around the world.

Lu Thi Thuy, a 41-year-old female worker returning from China, was among those isolated at the camp.

Women in quarantine for the novel coronavirus dance to music at the Military School of Lao Cai Province in northern Vietnam. Video: Nguyen Khanh / Tuoi Tre

Despite the quarantine, Thuy said she was not worried.

Its even better than staying at my own home as Im given proper food while simply enjoying my days here, Thuy told Tuoi Tre.

Thuy said she and other women in quarantine at the camp would gather for a dancing session every afternoon, while the men prefer physical exercise.

Moving rhythmically to playful music played from a mobile phone, Thuy said the activity also helps ease her homesickness.

Women in quarantine for the novel coronavirus dance to music at the Military School of Lao Cai Province in northern Vietnam. Photo: Nguyen Khanh / Tuoi Tre

Women in quarantine for the novel coronavirus dance to music at the Military School of Lao Cai Province in northern Vietnam. Photo: Nguyen Khanh / Tuoi Tre

Most of the 216 people at the camp came to China to work as laborers and trailer truck drivers, according to Nguyen Van Don, deputy chief of staff of the Military Command in Lao Cai Province, who is also the commander of the provisional command center for the 2019-nCoV isolation center.

Do told Tuoi Tre that the military school had allocated 11 of its housing blocks for being set up as the quarantine camp.

The school is also sufficiently supplied to provide for the day-to-day needs of its temporary residents for 14 days.

Four times a day, camp staff would visit every room to check on its occupants health and well-being, Do said.

Those who show symptoms of 2019-nCoV infection will be sampled and placed behind another layer of quarantine.

At the same time, the rooms are disinfected every afternoon while vehicles are sterilized when entering and exiting the camp.

Do added that the school also tries to enhance internal communications, including offering radio news that comes in three languages spoken by different ethnic minority groups in northern Vietnam, to raise awareness of the virus among the isolated people and give them updates on the epidemic.

A woman in quarantine for the novel coronavirus at the Military School of Lao Cai Province in northern Vietnam. Photo: Nguyen Khanh / Tuoi Tre

Women in quarantine for the novel coronavirus dance to music at the Military School of Lao Cai Province in northern Vietnam. Photo: Nguyen Khanh / Tuoi Tre

A man plays games on a mobile phone at the Military School of Lao Cai Province in northern Vietnam. Photo: Nguyen Khanh / Tuoi Tre

Military staff deliver gifts from families to the people in quarantine at the Military School of Lao Cai Province in northern Vietnam. Photo: Nguyen Khanh / Tuoi Tre

Inside a bunk-bed room at the Military School of Lao Cai Province in northern Vietnam. Photo: Nguyen Khanh / Tuoi Tre

A medical staff member checks the body temperature of a woman at the Military School of Lao Cai Province in northern Vietnam. Photo: Nguyen Khanh / Tuoi Tre

A woman in quarantine for the novel coronavirus dances to music at the Military School of Lao Cai Province in northern Vietnam. Photo: Nguyen Khanh / Tuoi Tre

A woman in quarantine for the novel coronavirus at the Military School of Lao Cai Province in northern Vietnam. Photo: Nguyen Khanh / Tuoi Tre

Military staff prepare dinner for people in quarantine at the Military School of Lao Cai Province in northern Vietnam. Photo: Nguyen Khanh / Tuoi Tre

A military staff member cleans a dining room at the Military School of Lao Cai Province in northern Vietnam. Photo: Nguyen Khanh / Tuoi Tre

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The most remarkable thing about Dr. McEwen, he added, in a phone interview, is that he started off as a cell biologist, with his first paper on muscle biochemistry published in 1959 in Science, and over the last couple of decades his work was more about why crappy childhoods make for adult brains that dont work well.

Dr. McEwen discussed allostatic load in 2000 in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, writing:

In anxiety disorders, depressive illness, hostile and aggressive states, substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), allostatic load takes the form of chemical imbalances as well as perturbations in the diurnal rhythm, and, in some cases, atrophy of brain structures.

In addition, he went on, growing evidence indicates that depressive illness and hostility are both associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and other systemic disorders. A major risk factor for these conditions is early childhood experiences of abuse and neglect that increase allostatic load later in life and lead individuals into social isolation, hostility, depression and conditions like extreme obesity and CVD.

By the end of his career Dr. McEwen had expanded his research to look at the impact of stress on communities, finding that chronic stress disproportionally affected marginalized people and increased their risk of illnesses.

Five years ago, he teamed up with his brother, Craig McEwen, a professor emeritus of sociology at Bowdoin College in Maine, to study the sociological implications of chronic stress.

We know that environmental complexity changes the brain, Bruce McEwen said in an interview recorded by Rockefeller University, and that it comes to haunt us in terms of socioeconomic status, poverty and things of that sort.

At his death  caused by complications of a stroke, a Rockefeller spokeswoman said  Dr. McEwen was the Alfred E. Mirsky professor and head of the Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology at the university.
By Scott DiSavino

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell to their lowest level since December 2018 on Monday on weaker Chinese demand in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak and as traders waited to see if Russia would join other producers in seeking further output cuts.

Oil has dropped more than 25% from a peak in January with U.S. crude back below $50 a barrel after the spreading virus hit demand in China, the world's largest oil importer, and fueled concerns about excess global supplies.

Brent futures <LCOc1> fell $1.20, or 2.2%, to settle at $53.27 a barrel, their lowest close since Dec. 28, 2018, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude <CLc1> fell 75 cents, or 1.5%, to settle at $49.57, the lowest close since Jan. 7, 2019.

That keeps both Brent and WTI in oversold territory for 13 days and 14 days, respectively, their longest bearish streaks since November 2018.

The premium of the Brent front-month over the same WTI contract <WTCLc1-LCOc1>, meanwhile, fell to its lowest level since August 2019.

"Oil markets are continuing to experience downward pressure from the coronavirus health crisis, which has brought Chinas transport and manufacturing sectors to a virtual standstill," analysts at Eurasia Group said in a report.

China's crude oil and natural gas imports have tumbled, as most Chinese refiners have significantly cut operations while import terminals slash orders for new shipments and some have declared force majeure.

Beijing has orchestrated support for its companies and financial markets in the past week and investors are hoping for more stimulus to lift the world's second-biggest economy.

Worries over supply were not alleviated on Friday when Russia said it needed more time to decide on a recommendation from a technical committee that has advised the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies to cut production by a further 600,000 barrels per day (bpd).

The group, known as OPEC+, has been implementing cuts of 1.2 million bpd since January 2019 to reduce the global supply glut and prop up crude prices.

Story continues

Algeria's Oil Minister Mohamed Arkab said on Sunday the committee had advised further output cuts until the end of the second quarter.

Russia's Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Moscow needed more time to assess the situation, adding that U.S. crude production growth would slow and global demand was still solid.

"The lack of enthusiasm from the Russians to deliver an additional 600,000 barrels per day in deeper production cuts could prove (costly) in stabilizing prices in the short-term," Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA in New York, said in a report.

Oil traders also said they were concerned the proposed reduction would not be sufficient to tighten global markets as China's state refiners have said they would cut refining throughput by about 940,000 bpd this month.

(Reporting by Noah Browning in London and Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy, Kirsten Donovan and Sonya Hepinstall)
The Catholic Church of Malta has released the motto and logo of the visit of Pope Francis to Malta on Pentecost Sunday, May 31. In a video message, Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta comments on the significance of this visit.

By Robin Gomes

The announcement of the visit of Pope Francis to Malta in May this year has been received with enthusiasm by its archbishop, the government and the people.

The Holy See Press Office officially announced on Monday that the Pope has accepted the invitation of President George Vella of Malta, the authorities and the Catholic Church of the country and would visit Malta and Gozo on May 31, 2020.

The theme chosen for the papal visit is, They showed us unusual kindness (Acts 28, 2). It is accompanied by a logo depicting open hands from a ship reaching out to a Cross. Chapter 28 of the Acts of the Apostles recounts the adventures of St. Paul the Apostle, who on his way to Rome to face charges, was shipwrecked together with his sailing companions on the island of Malta.

Traditionally, St. Paul's Bay and St Paul's Island are believed to be the location of this shipwreck.

In a video message, Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta spoke about the generosity with which Paul and his shipwrecked companions were received by the islanders.

I would like to welcome His Holiness to the island of St. Paul and also thank him for the beautiful meditations he gave us in January of 2020, on this important passage from Scripture, Archbishop Scicluna said.

The motto, he explained, is also a reminder that we need to welcome each other, to forgive each other and to welcome migrants who knock on the shores of our islands, seeking a safe haven and human dignity.

Archbishop Charles Scicluna on the visit of Pope Francis to Malta

Despite being a tall order for a small nation, the archbishop said they will make use of the visit to heal the wounds that have wounded our social fabric.

They would also commit themselves to be a safe haven for Migrants in the Mediterranean. Malat, from which Malta derives its name, Archbishop Scicluna explained, meant safe haven in the culture and language of the ancient sea-faring Phoenician people.

That is what we need to be in the name of Jesus Christ, the archbishop said.

Not long after the Vatican announcement, President Vella announced the papal visit at the end of a Mass at the Church of St Paul's Shipwreck in the Maltese capital, Valletta.

Among those attending the Mass were Miriam Vella, the presidents wife, Jose Herrera, Secretary for Culture and Local Government who represented the Prime Minister, the opposition leader, the Mayor of Valletta and other dignitaries. Vellas announcement was greeted with hearty applause.

The upcoming visit of Pope Francis will be the 4th papal visit to Malta. St. Pope John Paul II visited the Mediterranean island twice, in 1990 and 2001. Pope Benedict XVI visited Malta in 2010.

Prime Minister Robert Abela said that the Popes visit is a reminder that despite its small size, Malta still enjoys the respect of world leaders.

He noted that helping the community, tolerance and civil rights, which are issues close to the Popes heart, are also the values of the government.
Michael Calvey and Phillipe Delpal are among several Baring Vostok executives facing charges of embezzlement.

Michael Calvey and Philippe Delpal, a pair of executives and investors who face charges of embezzlement in Russia, will remain under house arrest until May 13, a Moscow court ruled on Monday.

Calvey, from the United States, and Delpal, from France, are among a group of several executives from private equity firm Baring Vostok Capital Partners who were detained in early February 2019. All the executives have denied wrongdoing.

They said the charges against them are being used to pressure them in a business dispute over control of Vostochny Bank.

The case against Baring Vostok has rattled Russias business community and prompted several prominent officials and businesspeople to voice concerns about the treatment of the executives.





The court also ruled on Monday to lift a freeze on 2.5 billion roubles ($39m) worth of shares in Vostochny Bank that were frozen as part of the case, a Baring Vostok representative said.

The shares are held by Evison Holdings, a subsidiary of Baring Vostok, the representative said.

Calvey, the founder of the multibillion-dollar Baring Vostok investment fund, faces up to a decade in prison on charges that he participated in the embezzlement of $37m. Five others were charged along with him in February 2019.

Investment

Authorities believe the funds were embezzled from Vostochny Express Bank, in which Baring Vostok holds an ownership stake of more than 50 percent.

Baring Vostok describes itself as one of the largest investment firms in the former Soviet Union, with $3.7bn of committed capital. Calvey has been with the firm since its inception 25 years ago.

The firm has stakes in a number of Russian companies such as online video services and internet and cable TV providers.

The company was also an investor in Yandex, now Russias biggest internet search engine, during its build-up. Yandex, also known as Russias Google, currently has a market capitalisation of $10.3bn.

French executive Philippe Delpal is also among those detained on suspicion of embezzlement [Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters]

Several high-profile figures have spoken on behalf of Calvey, with Russias business ombudsman Boris Titov saying last year that the case was a typical corporate dispute and calling Calveys arrest illegal.

And this is not the first time foreign investors have run afoul of the law in Russia.

US-born Bill Browder, once the biggest foreign investor in Russia, faced a string of criminal charges in 2008 after his lawyer Sergei Magnitsky revealed massive fraud by state officials.

Both were charged with tax fraud, but Magnitsky died in pre-trial detention of untreated health issues.

His case later inspired the Magnitsky Act, a bill passed in 2012 by the US Congress and intended to blacklist Russian officials implicated in human rights abuses.

Browder, meanwhile, was sentenced in absentia to nine years in jail.
Belgian court acquits doctors of manslaughter for euthanizing 38-year-old female patient

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Three Belgian doctors who euthanized a patient that exhibited mental health problems were acquitted Friday on charges of manslaughter by poisoning.

In what has been seen as an important test of the western European nation's euthanasia laws, a Belgian court acquitted the three doctors of manslaughter on Friday, Time magazine reported. Thirty-eight-year-old Tine Nys, a patient suffering a mental breakdown, was injected with a lethal dose to end her life in 2010.

Joris Van Hove, the doctor who administered the lethal injection, Nys' former doctor Frank D, and psychiatrist Lieve Thienpont were all acquitted.

The court case came about after the woman's family took legal action against the doctors, arguing that her death never should have occurred and that her mental state was not hopeless and further treatment was possible, the BBC reported.

Nys had reportedly suffered serious psychiatric problems during her childhood and had previously attempted suicide when she was younger. Nys' family members said they think euthanasia should be permitted in some cases but want the law to be made more clear.

The jury took eight hours to deliberate, ultimately reaching a not guilty verdict.

Belgium is one of only two countries in the world that permits euthanasia for patients suffering from a mental illness.

The verdict is not a shock to those who have tracked the trajectories of euthanasia laws. Such critics have insisted that euthanasia and assisted suicide laws inevitably loosen over time once they are codified, and that the principle of "dignified death" receives priority over any abuse or malfeasance by doctors.

The Belgian verdict comes mere months after a similar ruling in the Netherlands in which a doctor was exonerated after ordering family members to physically restrain a woman who was fighting for her life during a physician-assisted death.

Commenting on the result, Discovery Institute senior fellow Wesley Smith said on the blog of conservative publication National Review that the verdict was "disgusting but unsurprising."

"After the Dutch and now Belgian refusals to convict, dont expect any other death doctors to ever be prosecuted no matter how far they seem to stray from legally accepted euthanasia practices," he said.

Supposedly protective guidelines and so-called restrictions that advocates assert will guard against abuse are "useless veneer," he added.

"Once medicalized killing becomes legal and societally accepted, death becomes the prime paradigm rather than protecting the lives of vulnerable people."

The U.S. states that allow assisted suicide include: Maine, Vermont, New Jersey, Washington state, Oregon, California, and Hawaii, along with the District of Columbia. Montana does not have a state law on the books but the option is legal in the state following a state Supreme Court ruling.
Bengaluru, Feb 10 : Giving up 9 departments he was holding for over 6 months, Karnataka Chief Minister B.S Yediyurappa on Monday allocated portfolios to the 10 new ministers sworn-in on February 6.

Allocating the portfolios to the new ministers, Yediyurappa allowed the incumbent 17 ministers to retain their portfolios but shifted additional charges of some of them to their new colleagues.

"Besides finance, the Chief Minister retained planning, energy, administration, Bengaluru development, intelligence and information and public relations," an official told IANS here.

Ramesh Jarkiholi, who spearheaded the revolt against the Congress and rallied other rebels to resign from the Assembly in July, was rewarded with a plum post - major and medium irrigation projects, excluding water resources, which Yediyurappa kept with himself.

The revolt by 14 Congress and 3 Janata Dal-Secular legislators led to the fall of the 14-month-old JD-S-Congress coalition government on July 23 after Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy lost the confidence motion he moved on July 18.

Anand Singh got food, civil supplies and consumer affairs, S.B. Patil textiles, K. Gopalaiah, small-scale industries, B.A. Basavaraja, urban development, S.T. Somashekar, cooperation, B.C. Patil, forest, K. Sudhakar, medical education, K.C. Narayana Gowda, municipal administration and A.H. Shivaram, labour.

The first cabinet expansion was on August 20 when 17 members of the ruling BJP were inducted over three weeks after Yediyurappa took oath as the Chief Minister for the fourth time on July 26.

In the 34-member ministry, the six vacancies will be filled after the Budget session in March.

"The third cabinet expansion is likely to be held after summer when vacancies in the Legislative Council will have to be filled for making them ministers.

Of the 17 defectors from the opposition Congress and JD-S, 13 re-contested in the December 5 by-elections 5 and 11 won, while M.T.B. Nagaraj and A.H. Vishwanath lost.

"As the Chief Minister promised to the two losers to make them ministers, they may be inducted after they get elected to the Council," a party official told IANS.

By-elections in Muski in Raichur district and RR Nagar in southwest Bengaluru are pending the outcome of the litigation in the Karnataka High Court on their results declared in the 2018 Assembly elections.

Governor Vajubhai Vala allocated the portfolios to the new ministers on the Chief Minister's advice, said a Raj Bhavan communique.
The claim: In a tweet proclaiming "so goes Texas, so goes the world," state Rep. James White said that 10 percent of children in the United States are Texans.

Whites tweet used many abbreviations and symbols, but can be paraphrased as such: Texas youths are 20 percent of our state population, but 100 percent of our states future. Texas holds the destiny of our nation. Ten percent of U.S. children are Texans. So goes Texas, so goes the world.

PolitiFact ruling: True. Whites claim checks out. There are about 73.4 million minors in the United States and about 10%, or 7.4 million, live in Texas.

Discussion: Texas is the second most populous state in the nation and PolitiFact has checked a number of claims about its residents in the past. Most recently, they rated False a claim that a third of Texas has seen a "20-25% population loss in the last 5 years."

Asked for the source of his claim, White, a Republican from Hillister in East Texas, pointed to a 2016 report from the Center for Public Policy Priorities, a left-leaning think tank, titled "State of Texas Children."

The report said: "More than 7 million children live in Texas today, representing nearly 1 in 10 children living in the U.S."

About PolitiFact PolitiFact is a fact-checking project to help you sort out fact from fiction in politics. Truth-O-Meter ratings are determined by a panel of three editors. The burden of proof is on the speaker, and PolitiFact rates statements based on the information known at the time the statement is made. See More Collapse

PolitiFact Texas checked a similar statement in 2017: "One in 10 babies born in this country is born in Texas."

That claim was rated True, based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about annual births.

But Whites claim is a bit different, as it focuses on total population, not annual births. For this check, PolitiFact turned to two sets of data from the Census Bureau measuring population by age and location.

Texas makes up the second largest share of people under 18 in the U.S., after California, which is home to about 12 percent of the population under 18 years old.

Within Texas, the population under 18 made up about 26% of the states population in 2018.
I would like to express my thanks for the invitation, the hospitality, and for the very constructive talks I had today with my Spanish colleague, Arancha Gonzalez Laya.

Regarding our bilateral relations, we jointly ascertained that they are at an excellent level, both politically and economically, with our countries collaborating on a large range of issues. We agreed to boost our economic relations, in order to increase private investments on both sides, as well as our bilateral cooperation.

We talked about the refugee/migration issue, as both countries are points of entry and first reception for refugees and migrants. We agreed to expand our coordination in the context of the European Union, during the debate on reform of the Unions rules on asylum and on migration in general.

I briefed my colleague on the serious impact of Turkeys violations of international legality on stability, security and peace in the Mediterranean, which, as Mediterranean countries, is our common homeland.

I stressed that the Law of the Sea is conditio sine qua non for peace and stability. I reiterated that the two Turkey-Libya memoranda  though null and void, as they violate the International Law of the Sea and the UN Security Council Resolution on the Libya arms embargo  undermine precisely that good which is precious to all of us: peace and stability. At the same time, they threaten the efforts for the ceasefire in Libya. Both Spain and Greece are in a position to assist these efforts.

Finally, we had the opportunity to discuss the Western Balkans and their accession perspective. For Greece, this perspective is the only way forward. It is vital to the regions stability and prosperity. We believe that the European Commissions recent proposal for reform of the accession process should move ahead without further delay. But at the same time, I made it very clear that both countries perspectives have to do with their own compliance with the conditionalities that are requisite for their European course.

Finally, we looked in depth at regional initiatives, such as MED7. MED7 can assist with bolstering stability and peace in the region.

I would like to thank my dear colleague for the warm welcome, which I am certain I will have the opportunity to reciprocate very soon in Athens.
What better way to celebrate 20 years in the food business than to launch Happy Chocolates, the new line of high-quality retail bonbons in classic flavors with a modern seasonal influence. Food writer, pastry chef, and educator, Susie Norris, has specialized in chocolate since 2000, running Happy Chocolates as a wholesale supplier to premium hotels and restaurants. She is now indeed very happy to provide these gourmet confections directly to consumers online and in the new cafe, Le Petit Biscuit, in Pasadena, CA - part of a Happy Valentines Day.

Susies first book, Chocolate Bliss (Penguin/Random House, 2008) is a sweet philosophy of chocolate (with recipes.) Her next book, Hand-crafted Candy Bars (Chronicle Books, 2008, with Susan Heeger) features candy-bar makeovers with artisan ingredients. She recently completed her third cookbook, A Bakers Passport (Amazon/2019), with over 200 technique-driven recipes for sweet and savory baking classics culled from her global travels and her award-winning blog, Food Market Gypsy. The book is designed to inspire home cooks and those who like to explore global cuisines.

My childhood love of chocolate grew into a love of culinary travel: Paris, Vienna, Mexico, Spain. Chocolates history is meaningful to so many people in so many different countries. The flavor profiles of Happy Chocolates are influenced by European classics like Belgian creams, French caramels, dark chocolate from equatorial growing regions, and delicate Asian design.

About the Owner

Susie Norris is a pastry chef, cookbook author, culinary educator, and food-focused traveler. She taught baking and pastry arts at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in California where she runs artisan chocolate business, Happy Chocolates. Her culinary travel blog, FoodMarketGypsy.com documents her travels to baking capitals and culinary hot spots. Within a year the blog won the International Association of Culinary Professionals Digital Media Award. A Baker's Passport is a collection of her most-requested recipes from the blog.

Susies work has appeared in/on The Food Network, KTLA Morning News, NBCs syndicated television show Daytime, The New York Times, The Times London, The Washington Times, and more. She is based in Los Angeles with roots in Kentucky bourbon country and the farm-to-table culture of the Berkshires of Massachusetts. She is the author of Chocolate Bliss (Random House/Celestial Arts, 2008), and Hand-Crafted Candy Bars (with Susan Heeger, Chronicle Books, 2013). Susie is known for her lively baking classes, road-trip tours of farmers markets and urban food halls, and workshops highlighting pairings of chocolate and craft spirits. Visit her at http://www.FoodMarketGypsy.com.

Try Happy Chocolates signature bonbons from Chocolate Bliss at home!

Artisan Caramel Bonbons

Makes about 30 truffles

2 cups sugar

 cup water

1/4 cup light corn syrup

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 teaspoons kosher salt

8 ounces dark chocolate (70% cacao or higher), finely chopped

4 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped

2 ounces unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting

Prepare a bowl of ice water and set aside. Combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a heavy pan. Stir gently until all the sugar is wet, and make sure no sugar crystals are on the sides of the pan. Place over medium heatno stirringand allow the mixture to boil for about 10 minutes. You can cover the pan for a few minutes as it boils, which will wash away any unwanted sugar crystals on the sides. Youll start to see a light amber color form around the edges of the sugar. Continue boiling until the mixture is the color of honey or maple syrup. This is now caramel, so be careful because it is very hot!

Turn off the heat and plunge the saucepan into the ice water to shock the sugar and stop it from cooking. Place the pot on a heatproof surface, add the butter, then the cream, vanilla, and salt. It will steam and bubble up. Stir it together, and once the mixture has cooled off (about 10 minutes), add the dark and milk chocolates and stir until mixed. If the caramel sticks to the bottom of the pan, return the pot to the burner and stir over very low heat.

Transfer this mixture to a bowl and allow it to cool and firm up in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. With a melon baller or sturdy spoon, scoop out as many balls as you need (any unused portion can be reheated and used as a sauce over ice cream). Roll them between your palms to achieve a round shape. Refrigerate them for about

30 minutes, then dust them with cocoa powder and serve.

Recipe may be reprinted with the following credit:

Chocolate Bliss

Penguin/Random House 2008

A Chocolate Recipe from A BAKERS PASSPORT:

Chocolate Pots de Creme FROM Chantilly, FRANCE

Yield: 46 servings

Level: Medium

This is the quintessence of the simple and important French dessert. As chocolate slowly swept through the European aristocracy in the 1700s, elegant pots of creamsome for drinking, some for holding little dessert custards became a feature of a well-laid table, along with English silver and thin Chinese plates. Today, you can find antique sets of these lidded vessels in vintage shops or from fine porcelain purveyors. The favorite filling, a dark chocolate baked custard, became part of classic French cuisine. Today, chefs serve it in individual ramekins for dessert. Who doesnt become child-like and content at the sight of your very own little dish of smooth, chilled, dark chocolate custard? Its topped with a dollop of Chantilly Cream, created in the aristocratic town of Chantilly.

Equipment: medium bowl, small saucepan, ramekins or 1 (9-inch) cake pan, deep baking dish

Time: 1 hour (plus 2 hours for chilling)

For the Pots de Creme:

4 ounces dark chocolate, melted

1 egg

2 egg yolks

 cup (2 ounces) granulated sugar

1 cup (8 ounces) whole milk

 cup (4 ounces) heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon salt

For the Chantilly Cream:

1 cup (8 ounces) heavy cream

3 tablespoons powdered sugar, sifted

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 300F.

Place the melted chocolate in a medium bowl, then add the egg, egg yolks, and sugar and whisk together; set aside.

In a small saucepan, heat the milk, cream, vanilla, and salt together over medium heat and bring to a simmer (also known as scalding) with bubbles along the edges of the liquid. Pour a small amount (about  cup) into the chocolate mixture and stir. Continue to add the milk mixture slowly to the chocolate mixture, stirring constantly until all of the milk mixture is incorporated.

Using a ladle or large spoon, divide the batter into 46 (3-inch-wide) ramekins. Place the ramekins in a deep baking dish filled with 2 inches of water. Bake for about 3035 minutes until the sides of the custard are firm and the interiors are slightly fluid in the center.

Remove the ramekins from the water bath and cool completely. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Meanwhile, prepare the Chantilly Cream. Combine the cream, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat to full volume, about 23 minutes.

Top the custards with Chantilly Cream. Serve on a plate with cookies and berries.

Recipe may be reprinted with the following credit:

A Bakers Passport by Susie Norris

Amazon/February 2019

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE BOOK, TO REQUEST A REVIEW COPY, AND TO SCHEDULE AN INTERVIEW, CONTACT:

Trina Kaye  The Trina Kaye Organization TrinaKaye@tkopr.com / 310-963-3964

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT HAPPY CHOCOLATES, PLEASE CONTACT SUSIE DIRECTLY AT Susie@FoodMarketGypsy.com
Story Highlights A record 69% of Hong Kongers lack confidence in the region's local government

19% approve of Chief Executive Carrie Lam

56% lack confidence in the local police

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- After living through months of sometimes times violent protests, Hong Kong residents have been left with little faith in their institutions -- just as they are facing a new threat from a potential coronavirus outbreak in their community.

At the height of the protests that included calls for embattled Chief Executive Carrie Lam's resignation last fall, Gallup data show Lam's approval ratings stood at 19%. Hong Kong residents didn't place much more faith in their local government, as their confidence dropped to a new low of 30%.

The ongoing unrest began in June of last year, over proposed legislation that would have changed Hong Kong's extradition laws to allow for suspects to be extradited to other jurisdictions. This unrest has disrupted life in the region, at times bringing road and rail traffic to a standstill. The legislation that sparked the unrest has since been withdrawn. However, the demonstrations have continued, given new life in recent weeks over the government's action to halt the spread of the coronavirus in the region.

The sharp drop in confidence in 2019 stands in contrast with most of the findings since Gallup started asking the question in 2014. A slim majority (53%) of Hong Kong residents expressed faith in the government in 2014, while 45% did not.

Confidence in Police Cut in Half

Clashes between protesters and Hong Kong's police force have led to the arrests of an estimated 7,000 protesters and the deaths of at least two protesters. In the aftermath, Hong Kong residents' confidence in their police in 2019 (43%) fell to about half of what it was in 2017 (80%).

A majority of Hong Kong residents (56%) report they lack confidence in their local police, more than double the 20% who said the same in 2017. Prior to 2019, no more than 28% of Hong Kongers reported lacking confidence in the local police. Notably, that previous high of 28% was recorded in 2016, following protest for greater local autonomy for the region, which resulted in dozens of injuries and arrests.

While the amendments to Hong Kong's extradition laws were withdrawn, a substantial slide in confidence in the region's judiciary has occurred. Nearly half of Hong Kongers (45%) now report they lack confidence in the region's judicial system, up from 24% in 2017, while 52% say they have confidence in Hong Kong's courts, down from 75% just three years ago.

A Majority of Hong Kongers Now Believe Elections Are Not Honest

In November, Hong Kongers went to the polls and delivered a victory to opposition party candidates. Prior to that election, a majority of Hong Kongers (57%) said they did not have confidence in the honesty of the region's elections, up from 49% in 2017. This was the first time in Gallup's trend that a majority of Hong Kongers did not have confidence in the honesty of elections.

Since 2012, Hong Kongers have been roughly evenly divided in their confidence that the region's elections were honest. However, in 2019, there was a clear divergence with a record high percentage expressing a lack of confidence.

Bottom Line

Substantial drops in confidence in Hong Kong's government and institutions clearly reflect the unrest that engulfed the region in 2019. These drops present a clear challenge to the region's government, which must both try to bring an end to unrest and restore Hong Kong residents' confidence -- in an increasingly challenging environment. A change in leadership could be a potential step toward restoring confidence, given the low levels of approval for Lam, who survived an effort to impeach her in December.

For complete methodology and specific survey dates, please review Gallup's Country Data Set details.

Learn more about how the Gallup World Poll works.
At the fag end of the hearing on Shaheen Bagh protests, when advocate appearing for a petitioner insisted that some directions may be passed as people are facing inconvenience due to the blockade of public roads, the bench said, 'If you have waited for over 50 days, wait for some more days.'

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said the anti-CAA protesters at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh cannot block public roads and create inconvenience for others.

The apex court issued notices to the Centre, Delhi government and the police on pleas seeking removal of protesters from Shaheen Bagh.

"There is a law and people have grievance against it. The matter is pending in court. Despite that some people are protesting. They are entitled to protest," a bench comprising justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph said.

"You cannot block the public roads. There cannot be indefinite period of protest in such an area. If you want to protest, it has to be in an area identified for protest," the bench said.

The apex court further said that the protest at Shaheen Bagh has been going on for long but, it cannot create inconvenience for others.

The bench said it would not pass any direction without hearing the other side and posted the matter for 17 February.

At the outset, advocate Amit Sahni, one of the petitioners in the case, said that the question in this matter is about the extent of right to protest.

"Is there anybody present from the government's side. We will issue notice," the bench said.

When advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi, appearing for another petitioner and former BJP MLA Nand Kishore Garg, urged the bench to pass some direction, the court said, "It can't be done ex-parte".

Advocate Mehmood Pracha told the court that he wanted to intervene in the matter on behalf of Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad. "Do whatever you feel proper," the bench told Pracha.

At the fag end of the hearing, when Sudhi insisted that some directions may be passed as people are facing inconvenience due to the blockade of public roads, the bench said, "If you have waited for over 50 days, wait for some more days."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 21:59:31|Editor: huaxia

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ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Looking at the achievements made in promoting peace and security in Africa, the objective of silencing the guns and ending wars across the continent is achievable, a senior African Union (AU) official said on Monday.

"Looking at the achievements made in promoting peace and security in the continent, in recent decades, particularly since 2004, with the operationalization of the AU Peace and Security Council, the noble objective of silencing the guns and ending wars in the continent is achievable," said Ramtane Lamamra, special envoy of the AU Commission chairperson on Silencing the Guns.

The special envoy made the remarks while addressing the 33rd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU on the implementation of the flagship project on "Silencing the Guns" at the AU headquarters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

Lamamra also noted that from around 30 active conflicts in 2004, Africa must celebrate the fact that it is now addressing fewer conflicts than in the past.

"Africa has a robust blueprint for promoting peace, security and stability, as well as advancing good governance, respect for human and people's rights and constitution," he said. "This blueprint is the combination of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) and the African Governance Architecture (AGA)."

He stressed that while the respect for national sovereignty is paramount, "this should not undermine the efforts to scale up conflict prevention and, if and when necessary, take collective action in the name of the principle of non-indifference as enshrined in the Constitutive Act."

"Cognizant of the fact that civil conflicts are triggered by series of disagreements, disparities within or between individuals, communities and factions, we are faced with the challenges of being more creative in conceptualizing and implementing innovative solutions to conflicts," Lamamra said. "In this perspective, our focus should primarily be to ensure the preservation of national unity, functioning of state institutions and overall sovereignty of the people."

He said a significant proportion of conflicts across Africa have been predominantly driven by ethnic rivalry over political succession, disagreement over modalities for the conduct of national elections or over the outcomes of elections, as well as power struggles within the state.

Conflicts also arise due to struggle over control and access to natural resources and the accruing benefits, Lamamra added.

"While we continue to deploy conventional methods of conflict resolution through processes that involve the use of wise Pan-Africanist, international and regional organizations, the involvement of neighboring countries, peace support operations and civil society organizations, we should be cognizant of the nature, scope and cultural settings of these conflicts," he said. "With this approach, one can then forge a tailored comprehensive strategy, including the use of formal and informal mediation mechanisms at the village, community, state, regional and continental levels."

The 33rd AU summit is being held under the theme of the year, "Silencing the Guns: Creating Conducive Conditions for Africa's Development."
3 1 of 3 File Photo / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Ahmet Ertug / Contributed photo Show More Show Less 3 of 3





The New Canaan Library will present visitors a rare chance to view a large scale triptych photograph of Leonardo da Vincis masterpiece, titled The Last Supper. Internationally renowned photographer Ahmet Ertug was given special permission to photograph the iconic work; in order to capture the majesty and detail of the painting, he printed the photographs at the same size as the original painting appears on the wall of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan (approximately 180 by 350).

The triptych photograph has been on view in New York City, and will be on display at the library throughout March, after which it will go on to auction. Generous sponsorship of the exhibit has been provided by the New Canaan Board of Realtors and Halstead, William Pitt Sothebys, William Raveis, Berkshire Hathaway, Houlihan Lawrence, Coldwell Banker and Compass, an announcement said.
Masked vandals who destroyed Hosier Lane were Chinese Communist Party agents, conspiracy theorists have claimed.

At least ten people with face masks and paint-filled fire extinguishers sprayed over iconic graffiti in the Melbourne lane-way on Saturday as a drone flew above them.

Police hunting the gang do not know why they vandalised the lane - but social media is awash with theories.

Footage posted to Instagram on Sunday showed at least ten people with face masks paint bombing the inner-city laneway famous for urban art

Police hunting the gang do not know why they vandalised the lane - but social media is awash with theories

One Twitter account with the name First State 88 wrote: 'If you look closely you will see that all of the masked men are Chinese.

'This isn't a random act... this is a calculated assertion of power by the Chinese communist party.'

Other Twitter users speculated the vandals were covering up pro-Hong Kong or pro-Taiwan art in the lane.

Twitter user Michael R asked: 'Was there any pro Hong Kong art, or anti-CCP art still on display when Hosier Land was vandalised? If so, the leader of these "vandals" might be a Chinese agent'.

Another named Frank added: 'There is (was?) a lot of pro Hong Kong messages and Tiananmen Square references. I suspect that local agents of the Chinese Govt. are behind the cleansing. Their paranoia knows no bounds.'

At least ten people with face masks and paint-filled fire extinguishers sprayed over iconic graffiti in the Melbourne lane-way on Saturday as a drone (pictured) flew above them

Other Twitter users speculated the vandals were covering up pro-Hong Kong or pro-Taiwan art in the lane

But Chinese-Australian artist Baudico, who claims he is 'hunted' by the CCP for his anti-government artwork, rubbished the theory, saying the vandals were just youngsters messing around.

'Just west kids protest game,' he wrote on Twitter.

Hong Kong and Taiwan, regions with a level of independence from China, have long been at odds with the Chinese Communist Party.

Last year huge protests flared up in Hong Kong over a new law that would allow suspects to be extradited to the mainland.

Other Twitter users said the conspiracy theory was 'racist' because it is only based on the appearance of the vandals.

'Maybe one was Chinese one was white... I wouldn't jump to conclusions... sounds super racist,' wrote Aluna Kay.

Meanwhile, many in the underground world of urban art are quietly celebrating the desecration.

Street artists see the brazen attack as an act of 'reclamation' of a space which has become 'too commercial'.

Once targeted by graffiti artists looking to boost their street reputations, Hosier Lane has now become a selfie spot for suburban Melburnians and tourists.

Melbourne street magazine Acclaim Magazine even went so far as to call for it to be torn down.

As the group stormed the cobblestones with makeshift spray guns, onlookers could be seen filming the commotion rather than trying to stop it

'Hosier lane is not real, it's a toothless tiger, beautiful to look at and without any threat  and it needs to go,' it stated in an undated article.

'The current state of Hosier is appalling  quality work doesn't exist or disappears instantly, while swarms of paid street art tours and an endless sea of tourists and flood the street.'

Social media users were baffled by the hostile Saturday night act, which sparked outrage online.

WHY IS HOSIER LANE FAMOUS? Hosier Lane is Melbourne's most iconic street art lane way and is one of the main tourist attractions in Melbourne. In 2010, Banksy used the abandoned street to stencil a rat wearing a parachute. Since then, artists used its walls to make political statements and paint murals of celebrities, including Taylor Swift. Hosier Lane was once voted the best free tourist attraction by Lonely Planet. Advertisement

'Why would they do this?' one commenter asked.

'Disappointing,' another said.

But someone else pointed out that artists are likely to cover the damage over the coming days.

'It's legal who cares mate there'll be your pretty murals again in a couple days nothing lasts in that place anyways wouldn't stress it too much.'

Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp told Daily Mail Australia the attack is 'not in keeping with the spirit of Hosier Lane'.

'We see this act as vandalism particularly given the damage they've done to the pavement and cobblestones.'

'Council contractors attended Hosier Lane this morning to clean the cobblestones and curbing.'

Police are using CCTV footage to identify the perpetrators.

Ms Capp described the attack as 'an extreme act of vandalism' in a statement with police.

'It has caused damage to the city of Melbourne and private property,' she said.

'The random nature in the way the young people used fire extinguishers filled with paint to cover street art that we value is unacceptable.'
SHELTON  Democratic Board of Apportionment amd Taxation members say some $92,000 in budget overspending is a violation of budget allocations and have demanded payment be on the boards next agenda.

Michelle Laubin, Joe Knapik and Steve Guralnick made the request Feb. 6 to Mayor Mark Lauretti at what was the boards first meeting in nearly a year.

Knapik said that, by city charter, the overspending in the various departments should have come before A&T and asked Lauretti for an explanation as to why they were not on the Feb. 6 agenda. Laubin asked that the items be placed on the next agenda.

I am not prepared to answer on the $92,000, said Lauretti. Sometimes some line items are posted erroneously. Sometimes there is a miscalculation of payment in the budgeting process, which can generate a shortfall. These occur during the course of a year. There are 1,500 line items.

At the January Board of Aldermen Finance Committee meeting, Aldermen President John Anglace Jr. called the $92,000 number overstated. He said the committee examined each item, deciding to send only what it felt necessary to A&T for approval. One such item was $7,000 from the building maintenance account  a transfer from from regular payroll to overtime pay. A&T approved that transfer at its Feb. 6 meeting.

I have to chuckle to myself  for years people sit here and scrutinize the city side when the Board of Education (budget) has the majority of the money and no one asks two questions about how they spend it. This is ridiculous, added Lauretti.

Laubin said that the Board of Education has monthly finance committee meetings where such questions are asked.

Are they really asked? Lauretti responded.

Newly elected A&T Chair Jay Francino-Quinn said that, during his time with the Board of Education between 2011 and 2015, such questions were not regularly asked.

The Democratic members have for months demanded answers from Lauretti and city corporation counsel Fran Teodosio on why the boards meetings are regularly canceled, calling the cancellations a violation of the city charter.

Lauretti has stated the meetings were not needed because of lack of business.

The list the committee was given included $21,267 for elections, $15,671 for the Conservation Commission, $16,025 for Planning and Zoning and monies in other accounts including fire marshal, accounting and control, management information services and community development.

Laubin first demanded answers on why the city spent $92,599 in overages before the committees January meeting. She wanted information for expenditures between the beginning of the fiscal year and Dec. 24, 2019. The January meeting was never held.

Of course, this list does not include any overages that may have been incurred in the intervening month, or any of the lines that may be in danger of being overspent based on current department projections, so I trust that you will also be conferring with the applicable city departments on any anticipated needs that they may have to move money that is not noted here, and will also add those items to the agenda, wrote Laubin in an email to Finance Director Paul Hiller in January.

Lauretti said that those items not resolved would be on A&Ts next agenda.

When Laubin asked how any of the items could be resolved, since the charter demands A&T vote on each one, Lauretti said that A&Ts role is handling interdepartment not intradepartment transfers, and some of the items in question may fall under intradepartment.

All of the items  along with any other budget matters  were the focus of the Board of Aldermen Finance Committee last month. On the $92,000 number, Anglace stated, Thats not what it is. We are not going to focus on the number. We are going to focus on the specifics.

The aldermens Finance Committee determined that $15,671 for Conservation and $16,025 for Planning and Zoning were improperly listed numbers  essentially a financial discrepancy. Corrections have since been made, Hiller told the aldermen.

In other business, Francino-Quinn was elected A&T chairman, with Lauretti breaking a 3-3 tie on the initial vote. Knapik had nominated Laubin for the boards top seat. The boards makeup, by charter, is three Democrats and three Republicans, with the mayors vote designed to break any ties.

The board also approved a $40,000 transfer from regular payroll to part-time payroll for the building department. That vote was also 4-3, with Lauretti joining the three Republicans in approving the transfer.

The board also approved three other transfers:

$3,000 from regular payroll to City Hall parts in the highways and bridges budget;

$1,000 from inoculation to veterinarian and $1,000 from printing and advertising to veterinarian in the city Animal Shelter account; and

$7,000 from regular payroll to overtime pay and $400 from regular payroll to mileage in the building maintenance account.

brian.gioiele@hearstmediact.com
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg gives a press conference during a meeting with climate activists and experts from Africa focusing on key environmental threatening of the continent, on January 31, 2020 in Stockholm. (Photo by Pontus LUNDAHL / TT News Agency / AFP) / Sweden OUT (Photo by PONTUS LUNDAHL/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images)

Greta Thunberg will be the subject of a new TV series made by BBC Studios it has been announced.

The environmental activist has become a household name in the past 18 months as he has undertaken a mission to combat climate change and make the matter a pressing issue world leaders need to address.

And now BBC Studios will produce the programme, which it is believed will chronicle the 17-year-olds campaigning and journey into adulthood.

Read more: Greta Thunberg's parents 'thought her climate activism was a bad idea'

The project was announced at BBC Studios Showcase event today (10 February).

Rob Liddell, BBC Studios Executive Producer said: Climate change is probably the most important issue of our lives so it feels timely to make an authoritative series that explores the facts and science behind this complex subject.

To be able to do this with Greta is an extraordinary privilege, getting an inside view on what its like being a global icon and one of the most famous faces on the planet.

Details such as the title and the number of episodes have yet to be announced, though it is known the Thunberg series will be made by BBC Studios award-winning science unit.

Scientists across the world agree that global temperature rise needs to be limited to 1.5 degrees, to give us the best possible chance of avoiding irreversible chain reactions.

Read more: Singer Meat Loaf denies climate change and says Greta Thunberg is 'brainwashed'

The series will see these experts lay out the science that lies beneath this unanimous belief.

It is also promised viewers will se Thunbergs quiet moments preparing for speeches and reflecting on life as a teenager, as well as charting her own journey into adulthood as she continues to be confronted by the real world consequences of inaction.

Despite many praising the Swedish teenagers activism, there have been many whove criticised Thunberg, including US president Donald Trump, TV presenter Piers Morgan and music star Meat Loaf.
With the threat of novel coronavirus looming large, the Union Health Ministry has decided to stock up at least 50,000 personal protection equipment (PPE) kits for doctors and other medical staff treating the patients.

The move assumes significance as there could be a spurt in the demand for PPE, which includes disposable clothing, boots, masks and gloves, in case India witnesses an outbreak of the deadly coronavirus that has claimed more than 900 lives in China.

India is among the top 30 countries at "high-risk" from the spread of the deadly coronavirus, according to a study based on the number of air travellers predicted to arrive in the countries from the worst-affected cities in China.

The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Southampton in the UK.

India has already banned export of all kinds of personal protection equipment used to stop air-borne particles.

According to a health ministry official, even though there are adequate stocks of PPE and there is no crisis, the government is already in the process of procuring around 20,000 PPE kits from three companies which imported such equipments.

"One of the companies is providing us with 11,500 PPE kits while the two others are giving us 7,500 and 300 PPE kits respectively," the official said.

Moreover, the health ministry is in discussion with three domestic companies which manufacture PPEs for the Army.

"Their product samples are being tested by the technical wing of the Ministry of Textiles. Once we get a nod from them, we will place orders for manufacturing PPEs in bulk. At present, we aim to stock up at least 50,000 PPE kits as a preventive measure," he said.

So far, India reported three confirmed cases of nCoV, all from Kerala.

Three medical students of the Wuhan University, all natives of Kerala, who returned to India on their own recently and self-reported at a hospital in the state have tested positive for the respiratory virus.

Besides this, around 100 people are admitted to isolation wards in hospitals across the country while 9,678 people are under community surveillance.

Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan chaired a video conference on Monday with health secretaries from states and Union Territories along with senior officials from the ministries of shipping, civil aviation and home affairs to review their action and preparedness for prevention and management of nCoV.

Sudan informed the meeting that various precautionary measures have been undertaken in close coordination with the ministries concerned.

"While the situation is under control, the states need to stay on alert and be vigilant," she said and advised them to enhance the awareness activities regarding updated advisories.

States and Union Territories were also asked to review the availability of earmarked isolation PPE kits and N95 masks to ensure adequate preparedness. States were also asked to strengthen their rapid response teams to counter any eventuality.

Passengers arriving from Thailand and Singapore, besides China and Hong Kong, are being screened for possible exposure to nCoV at 21 airports. In all, 2,15,824 passengers from 1,984 flights have been screened so far at 21 airports. Screening is also being done at major seaports and border crossings.

As of now, 1,563 samples have been tested of which three tested positive -- all in Kerala. All Indian evacuees from Wuhan have tested negative for nCoV.

The health ministry has asked people to refrain from travelling to China in view of the coronavirus outbreak and said travellers on return could be quarantined. In an updated travel advisory, the health ministry said that the existing visas, including e-visas already issued, are no longer valid for any foreign national travelling from China.

The death toll from the coronavirus outbreak rose to 909 in China on Monday while the number of those affected by the deadly disease spiralled to 40,235.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Brad Pitt is making the most of his moment in the limelight these days.

In the past few weeks, he has been making headlines for his comments about adding his Screen Actors Guild Awards trophy to his Tinder," his speech about a guy who "gets high and takes his shirt off," and of course, his other self-deprecating acceptance speeches that he pens themselves when he won awards.

It must be Brad Pitt's lucky year because he also won Best Supporting Actor at the 92nd Academy Awards for "Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood."

Aside from winning at the awards ceremonies, Page Six has also reported that he won the war started by his second ex-wife Angelina Jolie.

Insiders told Page Six in 2018 that Jolie started a "whisper campaign" to paint her ex-husband as a "deadbeat dad" with the ongoing custody fight for the couple's six children.

The insider said, "I felt - and so did lots of us - that Brad was muted during his relationship with Angelina. He was distant. And now, we have him back."

A source close to Pitt said, "I wouldn't say muted, because they did a lot of really good work together internationally."

However, it was noted that Jolie did most of the talking and was more "aggressive in setting agendas and priorities."

Ian Harperlin's book, "Brangelina: The Untold Story," also alleges that Angelina Jolie launched a mean-spirited but effective campaign to smear Jennifer Aniston after getting with her then-husband, Brad Pitt.

Jolie reportedly planted press stories in 2005 that painted the "Friends" actress in a negative light that says she's prioritizing her career over starting a family.

"She was convinced that this is the story that would resonate with all these women who saw her as a man-stealer," the author said.

In 2018, Jolie was reportedly on a mission to shame her ex-husband, filing a court claim that the actor failed to pay child support, but Pitt's camp claimed that he spent more than $9 million since the 2016 split.

During their divorce hearing, the judge reportedly scolded Jolie for trying to drive a wedge between Pitt and their children. Now, Pitt gets to see his children for four hours every other day and 12 hours on weekends.

The world was shocked when the "Tomb Raider" actress filed for divorce in September 2016. It reportedly came days after an alleged private jet altercation between Pitt and their oldest son Maddox, where the teen is said to have stepped in to defend his mother whom Pitt was reportedly yelling at.

Even the FBI was dragged into the matter, but the LA County Department of Children and Family Services cleared Pitt.

In court documents, the award-winning actor's lawyers called out Jolie and her legal team for filing papers that are "calculated to increase the conflict" and are a "thinly veiled effort to manipulate media coverage."

Even though there's a schedule of custody and financial agreement, Jolie allegedly wants to end their marriage "as soon as possible."

But despite Jolie painting her ex as the bad guy, sources say that Pitt is getting a lot of love from his peers.

"There's a lot of love and respect from Hollywood because of his talent and how supportive he has been of others and how easy he is to work with," said the Page Six source.

The source added, "He's a good guy, and that will be his legacy."

READ MORE: Brad Pitt Makes MASSIVE Statement After Oscars 2020 Win
British Officials Plan for Coronavirus, as Economists Divided on Impact

By Jamie Dettmer February 09, 2020

The British government is drafting contingency plans to cope with factory shutdowns in China spurred by the coronavirus outbreak.

British officials are adapting plans they drew up in readiness for a no-deal Brexit amid rising fears that China will have to close more cities and shutter factories as the virus spreads, causing a shortage of parts and manufactured goods.

Among the worries, officials say British, are short supplies of life-saving medical equipment and components for business supply chains. British companies are being urged to scout out alternative supply sources. Several firms have warned that they can cope if the crisis lasts only a month or so but will face severe logistical problems if the crisis is prolonged.

Britain's tourism industry is already being affected by the virus. China has banned tourism departures indefinitely and hotels are facing mass cancellations, including those around London's Heathrow Airport, which are normally packed with Chinese tourist groups. Joss Croft, head of UKinbound, an industry trade association, ok? said some tourism companies are facing major cash flow problems, and on Sunday urged the government to help them, as "once these businesses are gone, they are gone."

Sales in Britain of luxury goods have fall off precipitously in the absence of Chinese tourists, brand leaders report.

Fashion brand Burberry has said its sales have also dropped in China, and it has been forced to close 24 of its 64 stores in China after seeing an 80% fall in sales. Nike, Adidas and Puma have also closed stores across China.

Long-term impact feared

The British economy isn't alone in suffering from the coronavirus outbreak. There are also rising concerns about the longer-term impact on the global economy, say analysts, who are bracing for the World Health Organization to declare the outbreak a pandemic, the first time it has announced such an emergency in more than a decade.

Economists at Morgan Stanley say that while the global economic cycle could be disrupted by the virus, "it should not derail the global recovery." Bloomberg Economics says the fallout of the coronavirus will drag down growth of euro-area gross domestic product by between 0.1 and 0.2 percentage points in the first quarter, with the Netherlands and Germany the most affected, followed by Britain.

Others, though, are less sanguine.

Oxford Economics, a forecasting group in Britain, is predicting a "spill over significantly to the rest of the world" because of disruptions in international supply chains. It predicts that the "tentative" recovery in global manufacturing will be halted and that this year industrial production will rise less than 1%, the weakest growth since the financial crisis of 2008.

Some analysts point out that European economies were already faltering before the appearance of the coronavirus, with growth across the bloc slowing to almost zero. China is Europe's second largest-trade partner. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde warned last week that the coronavirus outbreak had added a new layer of economic uncertainty and could potentially damage global growth.

Fiat Chrysler says the impact of the coronavirus epidemic could halt production at one of its main European car plants within a month because of supply-chain disruptions. Fiat's chief executive, Mike Manley, told Britain's Financial Times last week there was one "critical" supplier of parts that was putting European production at risk.

Economists says the full economic impact can't be known until the virus has peaked in China and elsewhere. Until then there will be uncertainty.

Health officials and virus experts are divided on how long the crisis will last and whether it will turn into a global pandemic.

Peter Piot, a London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine microbiologist, told British media that he is "increasingly alarmed" by the quick spread of the virus and was expecting WHO to declare a global pandemic. A WHO-led international team investigating the outbreak will leave for China Monday.

Piot predicts the virus won't peak for another month or so.

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Lack of student discipline, inadequate administrative support, and lack of respect are frequently cited as reasons why teachers leave the teaching profession, often as much as low salary and poor working conditions. Too many policymakers yearn for a time that no longer exists and do not understand the reality of what our teachers face daily.

Our classrooms have an abundance of students exhibiting an assortment of disruptive behaviors that take the focus off academics, and in some cases even worse, make learning impossible. A teacher might have several of these students misbehaving in the same class. Yes, we need to get students supported in many cases. However, we need to re-establish the foundational support for our educators and schools because they are on the frontlines of student discipline issues.

Education stakeholders can no longer maintain their reticence on the issue of student discipline. We have to speak up and speak out. It is easy for those who are not in classrooms to have a nostalgic sensation about things they do not have to live. However, educators deal with student discipline issues every single day, and it is time we move beyond talk. It is time for the General Assembly and School Boards to finally address it. I know some legislators will tackle this challenge.

We can have an endless debate about the root causes of student misbehavior. Researchers generally point out two primary causes: 1) the disintegration of the family, and 2) the lack of parental involvement and support in and for the schools. Those issues are unlikely to be solved by those in the classroom. These are cultural issues, and society has to work to address them. Acknowledging them is the first step.

Former Secretary of Education William Bennett states: Clearly many modern-day social pathologies have gotten worse. More importantly, they seem impervious to the government's attempts to cure them. Although the Great Society and its many social programs have had some good effects, there is a vast body of evidence suggesting that these "remedies'' have reached the limits of their success. Bennett is, and was, correct.



However, Bennett did not stop there. He added: Our social and civic institutions--families, churches, schools, neighborhoods, and civic associations--have traditionally taken on the responsibility of providing our children with love, order, and discipline--of teaching self-control, compassion, tolerance, civility, honesty, and respect for authority. Government, even at its best, can never be more than an auxiliary in the development of character.

So why should the Tennessee General Assembly even bother to address student discipline issues? Perhaps because we still believe in our free society, and that the ultimate responsibility still rests with the people themselves. We must embrace the optimism Bennett shared, The good news is that what has been self-inflicted can be self-corrected.

Just as student discipline has been a critical issue for our educators in the last thirty years, it is time we place this behemoth issue of student discipline on every legislator's agenda. Thus far this year we have numerous legislators step into the fray in an ethereal and calm manner with reasoned legislation.

We are particularly supportive of pending legislation introduced by Representative Charlie Baum and Senator Bill Powers that better defines qualified immunity. We are extremely supportive of pending legislation by Representative Scott Cepicky and Senator Joey Hensley that gives greater authority of the teacher over their classroom, establishes procedures following removal of a student from the classroom, and establishes placement review committees. Senator Ferrell Haile and Representative William Lamberth have proposed legislation to allow a director of schools, or the director's designee, to determine whether a suspended or expelled student should be required to attend alternative school or an alternative program, to remove a student from alternative school or an alternative program if the student is not benefitting from the placement, and to determine whether, and how, if applicable, to enforce the suspension or expulsion of a student who transfers into the LEA under suspension or expulsion from another LEA. We urge the passage of all three needed pieces of legislation. This forward-thinking legislation should be supported by all members of the Tennessee General Assembly that want to create an orderly environment where educators are free to teach without chronic student discipline issues.



We cannot continue to lay the blame for continued societal problems at the feet of public education. It is true public education has its issues from design to execution, but every problem faced by society gets manifested in our schools. We need more community support and cohesive education policies statewide that enables districts and schools to address critical issues such as student discipline.

We have heard the desperation in the voices of educators across the state. There is nothing more discouraging than caring, committed teachers who have lost hope. We need consistent, uniform guidance and enforcement of student conduct. Talk to your legislators and share your thoughts and opinions with them on student discipline. In a self-governing society, we must engage in this critical matter. Failure to do so may well mean that in the near future there will be nobody willing to teach our children.

JC Bowman

Executive Director of Professional Educators of Tennessee
The chairman of the inquiry into a London apartment building fire that killed 72 people wrote Britains attorney general Thursday to ask for a pledge to prevent evidence provided by corporate witnesses from being used in subsequent criminal prosecutions.

Martin Moore-Bicks written request to Attorney-General Geoffrey Cox is an important development in the investigation into the 2017 blaze at Grenfell Tower, the deadliest fire on British soil since World War II.

Corporate entities involved in the buildings refurbishment before the fire have threatened to remain silent on the grounds they might incriminate themselves. Without their testimony, lessons that could be learned from the fire might be incomplete.

The attorney for the inquiry, Richard Millett, advised Moore-Bick to seek the witness immunity pledge. Londons Metropolitan Police are conducting a separate probe of the Grenfell fire for potential crimes ranging from gross negligence to manslaughter to health and safety violations.

Without it, you will not get to the truth, Millett said.

But attorneys for the victims objected, arguing that the demand for immunity _ together with the last-minute timing of the request _ suggested the firms were trying to derail the effort to identify the root causes of the disaster.

Lawyer Michael Mansfield said the potential perpetrators of this inferno are trying to essentially dictate the terms in which they will provide their assistance.

The firms argue that requests for immunity had occurred in other British inquires, such as the one into the 1972 Blood Sunday shootings, at the height of the so-called Troubles in Northern Ireland.

During the first phase of the inquiry, experts concluded that the refurbishment work failed to comply with building regulations. The second phase of the inquiry opened this week but stalled quickly when the lawyer for the inquiry noted that submissions from the firms involved in the work expressed no trace? of responsibility for the catastrophic fire.

High-rise towers are supposed to be designed to stop apartment fires spreading, but within minutes of starting, the flames raced up the outside of the tower like a lit fuse. The question is why.

The inquiry continues.

Photo: The remains of Grenfell Tower fire in London, June 17, 2017. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics London
Washington, Feb 10 : US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that she thought an infrastructure bill was "within range".

"I'm optimistic because we must do it," Xinhua news agency quoted the Democratic leader as saying at a National Governors Association event on Sunday.

"I think there's a real chance, the President wants it," she said.

Several senior US lawmakers have called for an immediate action to upgrade the country's crumbling infrastructure, but talks between the administration and Democratic leaders over a $2-trillion-plan fell apart in May 2019.

At Sunday's event moderated by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Pelosi said that Richard Neal, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, will meet Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Tuesday when they may resume talks on an infrastructure bill.

Pelosi noted that the key issue was how to pay for it.

"Infrastructure, it's all about money," she said. "The national debt is growing at such a rate that we'd have to pay as you go." The California Democrat again criticized President Donald Trump administration's tax cuts rolled out in late 2017, calling them a "tax scam" that added $2 trillion to the national debt.

"This is unsustainable," she said.

When asked by Maryland Governor Larry Hogan whether it was possible to get something done on infrastructure in this election year, Pelosi said she thinks it is "really honestly within range".

"There's never going to be enough appropriate funds ever to meet the needs that we have, we have to be more entrepreneurial and creative in how we come up with it," said Pelosi.
Protesters holding Tricolour flags raise slogans during a protest against CAB, NCR, NPR at Jamia college, in New Delhi, on Monday. PTI photo

Hundreds of protesters, including students and civil society members, poured onto the streets in central Delhi on Monday protesting against the amended citizenship law and the National Register of Citizens.

The protesters, carrying placards and banners of all sizes and colours, converged at Mandi House around 11 am and started marching towards Jantar Mantar.

A large number of police and paramilitary personnel walked along with them.

The protesters do not have permission to take out a march, but as long as they maintain peace, we do not have a problem, a police official said.

The protesters, however, claimed that they had the permission and would march till Jantar Mantar.

Children as young as 10, senior citizens, civil society members and university students filled the streets and ran the length of central Delhi, shouting anti-CAA and anti-government slogans.

They carried the photographs of freedom fighters Bhagat Singh and Chandrasekhar Azad and social reformer Savitribai Phule, and demanded that the government revoke the black law.

The wife of Dr Kafeel Khan, who was in September acquitted of all negligence and corruption charges in the Gorakhpur BRD Hospital tragedy, and brother of Sharjeel Imam, arrested on sedition charges, also participated in the march taken out under the banner of Welfare Party of India.

Siraj Talib, the national secretary of the Welfare Party of India, We are protesting against the CAA and NRC. We have permission, I have spoken to police and we are marching towards Jantar Mantar.
Modern skyscrapers in business district

Rising economic and geopolitical risks  including the coronavirus pandemic and heightened tensions in the Middle East  have financial markets on edge.

It has triggered a flight to safety among investors, making it responsible for golds latest rally which sees the yellow metal trading at around US$1,574 per ounce at writing.

While gold is a well-known safe haven and hedge against uncertainty, over the long term, it has failed to outperform defensive stocks. Utilities, which are classified as defensive stocks, have outperformed gold over the last decade.

The largest utilities exchange-traded fund (ETF), the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund has gained around 138% over the last 10 years compared to golds more modest 41% and the S&P/TSX Composite Indexs 54%.

Another class of defensive stocks that also possess solid growth potential and pay a regular income are REITs because they invest in real estate, which is classified as a hard asset, rendering it resistant to economic downturns.

One of the most attractive REITs to buy is Northwest Healthcare Properties REIT (TSX:NWH.UN), which has risen by a notable 19% over the last year compared to the S&P/TSX Composite, which is up by 13%.

Promising outlook

There are clear indications that NorthWest Healthcare will deliver further value during 2020, making now the time to buy. After completing the needle-moving $1.2 billion acquisition of 11 medical properties in Australia from Healthscope, NorthWest Healthcare announced the launch of a $3 billion European joint venture to expand its presence in Germany and the Netherlands.

NorthWest Healthcare also recently completed the $167 million acquisition of six private hospitals in the United Kingdom, giving it a presence in one of Europes largest healthcare markets, where private healthcare is estimated to be a market worth US$14 billion by 2025.

Those deals will serve as powerful growth drivers for the company, giving earnings a solid boost.

Story continues

The REIT is also in the process of structuring its Australian operations to optimize their performance, including the sale of non-core assets, which it expects will raise $140 million that will be used to reduce debt.

Growing aging populations in NorthWest Healthcares core Canadian, Australian and European markets will act as a powerful earnings tailwind, while lower debt and a focus on controlling costs will boost profitability.

There are also significant barriers to entry for the healthcare industry because of significant regulatory and capital requirements endowing the company with a wide economic moat that protects its earnings.

Apart from that wide economic moat, NorthWest also has some solid defensive characteristics, including the inelastic demand for healthcare, particularly medical treatment, thereby shielding its earnings from economic downturns.

For these reasons, NorthWest Healthcare possesses a rare mix of strong growth potential and sturdy defensive characteristics, making it the ideal stock to hold in the current environment thats driven by considerable economic and geopolitical uncertainty.

NorthWest Healthcare is very attractively valued, trading at a modest 7% premium to its normalized net asset value, indicating considerable upside ahead and further emphasizing that now is the time to buy. The REIT rewards unitholders with a sustainable and regular monthly distribution yielding a very juicy 6.3%.

Looking ahead

Rising economic and geopolitical risk magnified by the coronavirus pandemic in China and the potential fallout for the global economy means that defensive stocks will perform solidly during 2020.

NorthWest Healthcare because of its robust defensive characteristics and solid growth potential is the ideal stock to hold in such an environment. While investors wait for its market value to appreciate, they will be rewarded by its sustainable distribution and juicy yield.

More reading

Fool contributor Matt Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends NORTHWEST HEALTHCARE PPTYS REIT UNITS.

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
By Daniel J. Levy

February 10, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - In his final days as the Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Gadi Eisenkot confirmed, on the record, that Israel had directly supported anti-Assad Syrian rebel factions in the Golan Heights by arming them.

This revelation marks a direct break from Israels previous media policy on such matters. Until now, Israel has insisted it has only provided humanitarian aid to civilians (through field hospitals on the Golan Heights and in permanent healthcare facilities in northern Israel), and has consistently denied or refused to comment on any other assistance.

In short, none other than Israels most (until recently) senior serving soldier has admitted that up until his statement, his countrys officially stated position on the Syrian civil war was built on the lie of non-intervention.

As uncomfortable as this may initially seem, though, it is unsurprising. Israel has a long history of conducting unconventional warfare. That form of combat is defined by the U.S. governments National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 as "activities conducted to enable a resistance movement or insurgency to coerce, disrupt or overthrow an occupying power or government by operating through or with an underground, auxiliary or guerrilla force in a denied area" in the pursuit of various security-related strategic objectives.

While the United States and Iran are both practitioners of unconventional warfare par excellence, they primarily tend to do so with obvious and longer-term strategic allies, i.e. the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance fighters in Afghanistan, and various Shia militias in post-2003 Iraq.

In contrast, Israel has always shown a remarkable willingness to form short-term tactical partnerships with forces and entities explicitly hostile to its very existence, as long as that alliance is able to offer some kind of security-related benefits.

The best example of this is Israels decision to arm Tehran during the Iran-Iraq War, despite the Islamic Republic of Irans strong anti-Zionist rhetoric and foreign policy. During the 1980s, Iraq remained Jerusalems primary conventional (and arguably existential) military threat. Aiding Tehran to continue fighting an attritional war against Baghdad reduced the risk the latter posed against Israel.

Similarly, throughout the civil war in Yemen in the 1960s, Israel covertly supported the royalist Houthi forces fighting Egyptian-backed republicans. Given Egypts very heavy military footprint in Yemen at the time (as many as a third of all Egyptian troops were deployed to the country during this period), Israelis reasoned that this military attrition would undermine their fighting capacity closer to home, which was arguably proven by Egypts lacklustre performance in the Six Day War.

Although technically not unconventional warfare, Israel long and openly backed the South Lebanon Army, giving it years of experience in arming, training, and mentoring a partner indigenous force.

More recently, though, Israels policy of supporting certain anti-Assad rebel groups remains consistent with past precedents of with whom and why it engages in unconventional warfare. Israels most pressing strategic concern and potential threat in Syria is an Iranian encroachment onto its northern border, either directly, or through an experienced and dangerous proxy such as Hezbollah, key to the Assad regimes survival.

For a number of reasons, Israel committing troops to overt large-scale operations in Syria to prevent this is simply unfeasible. To this end, identifying and subsequently supporting a local partner capable of helping Israel achieve this strategic goal is far more sensible, and realistic.

Open source details of Israels project to support anti-Assad rebel groups are sparse, and have been since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war.

Reports of this first arose towards the end of 2014, and one described how United Nations officials had witnessed Syrian rebels transferring injured patients to Israel, as well as "IDF soldiers on the Israeli side handing over two boxes to armed Syrian opposition members on the Syrian side." The same report also stated that UN observers said they saw "two IDF soldiers on the eastern side of the border fence opening the gate and letting two people enter Israel."

Since then, a steady stream of similar reports continued to detail Israeli contacts with the Syrian rebels, with the best being written and researched by Elizabeth Tsurkov. In February, 2014 she wrote an outstanding feature for War On The Rocks, where she identified Liwaa Fursan al-Jolan and Firqat Ahrar Nawa as two groups benefiting from Israeli support, named Iyad Moro as "Israels contact person in Beit Jann," and stated that weaponry, munitions, and cash were Israels main form of military aid.

She also describes how Israel has supported its allied groups in fighting local affiliates of Islamic State with drone strikes and high-precision missile attacks, strongly suggesting, in my view, the presence of embedded Israeli liaison officers of some kind.

A 2017 report published by the United Nations describes how IDF personnel were observed passing supplies over the Syrian border to unidentified armed individuals approaching them with convoys of mules, and although Israel claims that these engagements were humanitarian in nature, this fails to explain the presence of weaponry amongst the unidentified individuals receiving supplies from them.

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Writing for Foreign Policy in September 2018, Tsurkov again detailed how Israel was supporting the Syrian rebel factions, stating that material support came in the form of "assault rifles, machine guns, mortar launchers and transport vehicles," which were delivered "through three gates connecting the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights to Syria - the same crossings Israel used to deliver humanitarian aid to residents of southern Syria suffering from years of civil war." She also dates this support to have begun way back in 2013.

The one part of Israels involvement in the Syrian Civil War which has been enthusiastically publicised, though, has been its ongoing humanitarian operations in the Golan. Dubbed "Operation Good Neighbor," this was established in June 2016, and its stated aim is to "provide humanitarian aid to as many people as possible while maintaining Israels policy of non-involvement in the conflict."

Quite clearly, this is - at least in parts - a lie, as even since before its official commencement, Israel was seemingly engaging with and supporting various anti-Assad factions.

Although Operation Good Neighbor patently did undertake significant humanitarian efforts in southern Syria for desperate Syrian civilians (including providing free medical treatment, infrastructure support, and civilian aid such as food and fuel), it has long been my personal belief that it was primarily a smokescreen for Israels covert unconventional warfare efforts in the country.

Although it may be argued that deniability was initially necessary to protect Israels Syrian beneficiaries who could not be seen to be working with Jerusalem for any number of reasons (such as the likely detrimental impact this would have on their local reputation if not lives), this does not justify Israels outright lying on the subject. Instead, it could have mimicked the altogether more sensible approach of the British government towards United Kingdom Special Forces, which is simply to restate their position of not commenting, confirming, or denying any potentially relevant information or assertions.

Israel is generous in its provision of humanitarian aid to the less fortunate, but I find it impossible to believe that its efforts in Syria were primarily guided by altruism when a strategic objective as important as preventing Iran and its proxies gaining a toehold on its northern border was at stake.

Its timing is interesting and telling as well. Operation Good Neighbor was formally put in place just months after the Assad regime began its Russian-backed counter-offensive against the rebel factions, and ceased when the rebels were pushed out of southern Syria in September 2018.

But its not as if that September there were no longer civilians who could benefit from Israeli humanitarian aid, but an absence of partners to whom Israel could feasibly directly dispatch arms and other supplies. Although Israel did participate in the rescue of a number of White Helmets, this was done in a relatively passive manner (allowing their convoy to drive to Jordan through Israeli territory), and also artfully avoided escalating any kind of conflict with the Assads forces and associated foreign allies.

Popular opinion - both in Israel and amongst Diaspora Jews - was loud and clear about the ethical necessity of protecting Syrian civilians (especially from historically-resonant gas attacks). But its unlikely this pressure swung Israel to intervene in Syria. Israel already had a strong interest in keeping Iran and its proxies out southern Syria, and that would have remained the case, irrespective of gas attacks against civilians.

Although Israel has gone to great lengths to conceal its efforts at unconventional warfare within the Syrian civil war, it need not have. Its activities are consistent with its previous efforts at promoting strategic objectives through sometimes unlikely, if not counter-intuitive, regional partners.

Perhaps the reason why Eisenkot admitted that this support was taking place was because he knew that it could not be concealed forever, not least since the fall of the smokescreen provided by Operation Good Neighbor. But the manner in which Israel operated may have longer-term consequences.

Israel is unlikely to change how it operates in the future, but may very well find future potential tactical partners less than willing to cooperate with it. In both southern Lebanon and now Syria, Israels former partners have found themselves exposed to dangers borne out of collaboration, and seemingly abandoned.

With that kind of history and record, it is likely that unless they find themselves in desperate straits, future potential partners will think twice before accepting support from, and working with, Israel.

For years, Israel has religiously adhered to the official party line that the countrys policy was non-intervention, and this has now been exposed as a lie. Such a loss of public credibility may significantly inhibit its abilities to conduct influence operations in the future.

Daniel J. Levy is a graduate of the Universities of Leeds and Oxford, where his academic research focused on Iranian proxies in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Palestine. He lives in the UK and is the Founding Director of The Ortakoy Security Group. Twitter: @danielhalevy

This article was published by "Haaretz" -

Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here

==See Also==

Iraqi leader: CIA controls Iraqi gov't branch, Israel arming protesters.:
More than 170 people have sought medical assistance in the wake of the recent unrest in southern Kazakhstan, with 14 remaining in serious condition, Vice Healthcare Minister Kamalzhan Nadyrov said on Monday

NUR-SULTAN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th February, 2020) More than 170 people have sought medical assistance in the wake of the recent unrest in southern Kazakhstan, with 14 remaining in serious condition, Vice Healthcare Minister Kamalzhan Nadyrov said on Monday.

On Friday, a mass brawl in the Korday district of the southern Jambyl region turned into civil unrest that resulted in 10 people dead and almost 50 detained. As a result of ensuing acts of arson, 25 houses, 31 shops and 41 vehicles were damaged. According to the authorities, the unrest was caused by a traffic dispute that some instigators tried to make interethnic. The region in question is home to the Dungans, a Muslim minority group of Chinese ethnic origin.

"In total, more than 170 people have sought medical assistance. These are mostly people with minor injuries and bruises. All of them were provided with the necessary first aid. Many surgeries of varying complexity were performed. There were serious injuries too, mostly gunshot wounds. Fourteen people are still in serious condition in intensive care," Nadyrov wrote on Facebook.

According to the minister, some of those injured sought medical assistance in neighboring Kyrgyzstan. Nine of the 13 people admitted to Kyrgyz medical facilities have been transferred to Kazakh hospitals, while the rest will soon be discharged.

As of now, 43 people remain in hospitals in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, he added.
Homeowners managed to escape a blaze Saturday afternoon that began inside a mobile home at the Hickory Hills park in Moore Township.

Klecknersville Rangers Volunteer Fire Co. Chief Jon Mann said the fire began about 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the first block of Valley View Drive in the mobile home development just north of Bath off Route 512.

Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Nathan Branosky, the public information officer for Troop M, said two of three people who live at the mobile home were inside when the flames ignited. The family was assisted out of the home by neighbors and passer-by motorists, Branosky said. One family member who escaped is elderly, he said.

Branosky said the fire began under the southwest corner of the home and quickly spread into the interior through an air conditioning vent. It took crews about a half hour to get the flames under control, Mann said.

The state polices fire marshal assisted in the investigation, determining it not to be suspicious and appearing to be electrical, Branosky said. The home is a total loss, he added.

The mobile home development was the scene of a fatal explosion in Feb. 14, 2014, which left resident William Neith of 118 Hickory Hills Drive dead. The Pennsylvania State Police fire marshal later deemed the explosion accidental and stated it was caused by a natural gas leak. A resulting investigation by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission also found 39 violations, including that Hickory Hills mobile home park and its parent company Continental Communities had not registered its two-mile natural gas pipeline system with the state for inspection for years.

The PUC in January 2019 approved an agreement in which Oak Brook, Illinois-based Continental Communities would pay $1 million to settle a complaint alleging safety violations contributed to the blast.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Tehran: Iran amidst tensions with the US made public the short-range ballistic missile Rad-500 on Sunday, February 9, 2020. At the same time, Revolutionary Guards has said that this missile has a new generation engine to put the satellite into orbit. At the same time, the name of this engine is Zuhair, which is made of alloy. It is lighter than the steel engine built earlier, so it is easier for the missile to catch fast speed.

Fire-power of Rad-500 is 500 km: On the website of Revolutionary Guards, it is said that the weight of Rad-500 missile is half of the earlier Fateh-110 missile but it is 200 km more than its range. Iran made the Fateh-110 missile public in 2002. Where the firepower of that missile is 300 km. It is a ground-to-ground ballistic missile. In this sense, the range of Rad-500 is 500 km. Major General Hussain Salami, head of Revolutionary Guards, removed the curtain from the new missile. It has been dedicated to the former head of the organization, Major General Qasim Sulemani. Sulaimani was killed by the US in a drone strike on 3 January 2020 in Baghdad.

But the satellite launch failed: It has been learned that Iran tried to place the satellite by launching satellite on Sunday, February 9, 2020, but it failed. This satellite named Zafar was dropped from Semnan. At a speed of 7,400 kilometers per hour, the rocket carried it to space but it could not maintain the required speed at the time of being placed in orbit and the entire water was lost. Iran had earlier left the satellite in 2009, 2011 and 2012. But the launch of two advanced satellites abandoned in 2019 has failed.

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New Delhi, Feb 10 : At any given time, at least 10 Aam Aadmi Party volunteers are guarding the strong rooms across the national capital to avoid any mishandling of the EVMs ahead of the counting on Tuesday.

A strong room is the place where the EVMs are kept for the time after the polling is done and before counting takes place.

The Election Commission has established 21 strong rooms across the city to keep the EVMs after the polling for the 70 Assemblies in Delhi completed on Saturday.

Aam Aadmi Party, the outgoing party in power in the Delhi Assembly, has alleged that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), used for polling on Saturday in Delhi, were being taken away for tampering illegally.

Speaking to IANS, a senior party leader said at least 10 AAP volunteers are guarding the strong rooms across the city all the time by working in shifts.

"There were reports that there can be tampering of the EVMs. Also, we are confident that the results are in our favour and so the party has decided to keep a close watch on the strong rooms. We have deployed at least 10 AAP volunteers and workers outside the strong room to keep a close watch all the time," the party leader said, demanding anonymity.

A meeting was called by AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal at his residence on the night of February 8 after the polling ended.

The leader said the meeting was called after the party received inputs that the EVMs are not being handled properly.

"The decision of keeping a close eye on the EVMs was taken in the meeting with Kejriwal. Our volunteers are also guarding the strong rooms in night," the leader added.

The volunteers and party workers are working in shifts to ensure the EVMs are secured.

The 21 strong rooms are situated in nine of the 11 districts of the city.

The districts with two strong rooms are -- North, South West, South East, and Shahdara. There is one strong room each in New Delhi, South, East, North East and North West districts.

The party volunteers, guarding the strong room at the Commonwealth Games Village for seven assemblies -- Trilokpuri, Kondli, Patparganj, Laxmi Nagar, Vishwas Nagar, Krishna Nagar and Gandhi Nagar, told IANS that they are checking all the vehicles coming and going inside the premises.

"We are scanning the cars coming out and going in the premises. We cannot trust anyone. The opposition can do anything to temper the results," said one of the volunteers.

Another one said they are also taking breaks in shifts.

"We don't go for rest or eating collectively. One or two go, while other remains. We are being asked that at least 12-15 are on duty all the time," said the volunteer, adding that AAP workers have come from different constituencies for guarding.

The security deployed at the strong rooms is multi-layer security including police and paramilitary forces.

The security deployed outside told IANS that the EVMs are kept under CCTV security and the volunteers of different parties can see the footage.

The polling for the 70 Assemblies in Delhi was done on February 8 and the counting will be done on Tuesday.

(Nivedita Singh can be contacted at nivedita.singh@ians.in)
Armenian News - NEWS.am presents a daily digest of top news as of 10.02.2020:

 The issue of constitutional amendments has heated up social networks. Armenian President Armen Sarkissian signed a decree to hold a referendum on constitutional amendments on April 5, 2020.

Earlier, the Armenian parliament passed a resolution on holding a referendum: 88 MPs voted for the bill, with 15 MPs against it.

According to the draft for the referendum, Article 213 of the Constitution shall be amended so that the powers of the CC judges who are elected before April 2018 shall be terminated.

We say Yes to the revolution on April 5, Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan wrote on his Facebook.

 A soldier Valery Petrosyan, 19, has died in Artsakh under unknown circumstances, Artsakh Defense Ministry press service reported.

The military soldier, private was found unconscious on Sunday. He was taken to a military hospital, where his death was ascertained.

Criminal case has been launched into his death.

 Another four Armenian soldiers were stuck Friday under an avalanche in Armenias Syunik Province.

The bodies of three servicemen were found after search and rescue efforts. The other soldier was brought out of the snow, has injuries, and his health condition is satisfactory.

A criminal case has been launched over the incident.

 The court has granted the investigator's motion to arrest Vahagn Vermishyan, Chair of the Armenian Urban Development Committee.

Earlier, within the criminal case initiated by the NSS into taking large-scale bribe, the crime suspects were apprehended, two of themincluding Vermishyanwere detained.

Moreover, while being questioned as a suspect, this bribe-taking official confessed to committing the crime.

 The NSS has uncovered another case of large-scale illegal drug smuggling into the country.

By order of two acquaintances living in Yerevan, an Armenian citizen in Russia illegally obtained large quantities of drugs which he hid in a secret compartment in an electric saw, and on January 25, in Moscow, he transferred them in a bag to driver of a van carrying cargo to Armenia.

On February 3, these drugs were imported to Armenia, however, the customers were detained.

Criminal case launched into this incident.

 On February 5, Slovenia has notified the General Secretariat of the European Council and the Council of the European Union (EU) about the completion of its internal procedures necessary for the ratification of the Armenia-EU deal, Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan wrote on her Facebook.

 Coronavirus death toll has reached 910, and 97 new deaths were recorded only in the last day.

All but two deaths are recorded in mainland China. One death has been reported in Hong Kong and the Philippines.

There are 40 553 confirmed cases of infection, of which 6494 are in critical condition and 3324 patients recovered.

 The 92nd Academy Awards (Oscars) has ended in Los Angeles.

South Korean director Bong Joon-ho's Parasite became the evenings sensation. This social drama won an Oscar for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and International Feature Film. For the first time ever, a foreign film has won the highest award of the film academy.

Meanwhile, Brad Pitt finally won his first Oscar as Best Supporting Actor for his role in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Timein Hollywood.

Joaquin Phoenix won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role as the Joker in Todd Phillips' same-name movie. Joker, by the way, received its first Oscar in best Music (Original Score).

And the Oscar for best Music (Original Song) went to Elton Johns "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" soundtrack from Rocketman.
The European Union will host an extraordinary meeting of health ministers on Thursday, along with a WHO envoy, to discuss the novel coronavirus outbreak.

So far, only around 30 cases of the new strain have been detected in Europe, but the World Health Organisation warns that cases outside China could accelerate.

"Now is the time to join forces to stop this epidemic," said European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic.

The EU ministers discuss ways to prevent the virus' spread and "adopt conclusions in relation to the EU response to the novel coronavirus outbreak".

Last week, German health minister Jens Spahn suggested at a meeting with his French counterpart Agnes Buzyn that Europe impose restrictions on travellers from China.

The United States has already banned the arrival of foreign nationals who have visited China recently.

But for any such measure to be imposed in Europe the 27 EU members would have to coordinate the decision, since most of them are in the Schengen passport-free travel area.

The virus, which first emerged at the end of last year, has killed more than 900 people. Some 40,000 people have been infected in China and 350 elsewhere.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Unmasked: The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber is one of the more befuddling productions Paper Mill Playhouse has produced in quite some time  an unexpected impression for it to leave, considering its title theoretically tells you exactly what it is (and is presumably a corollary to his 2018 memoir of the same name). An Andrew Lloyd Webber musical revue is an easy enough concept to grasp. We saw one on Broadway in 2017 when Prince of Broadway gave us a musical collage of the late Hal Prince's most famous projects: more or less an even split between Webber and Stephen Sondheim with a smidge of Kander and Ebb for good measure.

So I suppose this time, the point is that there are no composer rivals around to upstage the wizard of Broadway longevity who worked his magic on musicals like Evita, Cats, and of course, The Phantom of the Opera. It's Webber's world and we're just living in it for two-and-a-half long hours of untempered self-congratulation and theatrical vlogging.

That's right. Through the power of technology, the man himself gets to have an outsize presence in his own commemorative production. You might think his onscreen request for the audience to power down their cellphones is just a fun flourish for the top of show, but he returns againand againand again to introduce each section of his retrospective (sometimes one intro per section isn't even enough).

Wandering through the streets of London or sitting at various piano benches, he explains how he nearly passed on Tim Rice's idea for an Eva Peron musical, why he considers "Gethsemane" his greatest character song, and how the tune to "With One Look" was nearly in The Little Mermaid (if Roy Disney had wanted a more Phantom-y version of the fairytale, which he decidedly did not). The anecdotes are interesting, and they're even delivered with charm and a fair amount of self-deprecation. But that doesn't stop his looming presence as an all-powerful overseer from making his cast more like pawns than performers.

Alex Finke, Rema Webb, Mamie Parris, Amy Justman, and Alyssa Giannetti in the cast of Unmasked.

( Jerry Dalia)

Aside from Alex Finke's lovely rendition of "Pie Jesu" from Webber's lesser known Requiem, melodrama is the one character choice coming out of the ensemble (or perhaps the one character mandate coming from director and choreographer JoAnn M. Hunter). Mamie Parris  a Webber regular who not long ago picked up Broadway Grizabella duty as a replacement for the short-lived Leona Lewis in the 2016 revival of Cats  lends her muscular voice to power ballads like "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" and "Memory." She, along with Rema Webb, playing Sunset Boulevard's Norma Desmond, and Alyssa Giannetti showing off her soprano as Phantom's Christine Daae, are technical perfection (more than can be said for the male ensemble). But among all the vocal prowess, there's nothing interesting in the performances to grab onto  like a collection of Broadway action figures temporarily animated by the voice of their creator.

That's essentially what they become in the Act 2 opener, "Here We Are on Broadway," a brand-new song no one asked for that gathers all of Webber's best-known characters (plus Andrew Kober's cheeky embodiment of T.S. Eliot) in their iconic costumes (Parris suddenly is in full Evita getup, which she did not have during her actual Evita numbers, but the white gown is faithfully re-created by Alexander Dodge).

Once we get to the photo montage of Webber's glitziest moments and goofiest haircuts, Unmasked shifts from a standard revue to an odd blend of lifetime achievement award ceremony and memorial service, made odder by the fact that Webber crafted it himself. He collaborated on this self-tribute with Richard Curtis (celebrated screenwriter of romantic films like Four Weddings and a Funeral and Love Actually), so blame for tone deafness and general perplexity can't be laid squarely in one lap. But the hollow road ahead of Unmasked becomes pretty clear from the opening video diary entry when Webber staunchly rejects the concept of chronology in musical revues. What's the better dramaturgical choice, you may ask? He doesn't say. And as you quickly find out, it's because he doesn't know.
'It's funny because, everyone I've spoken to, you, have all been so supportive and so loving and caring.

'And my entire family to a person have grabbed us and said it's OK, it's OK, we love you, we're proud of you.

'And every person I tell it gets a little lighter and a little lighter but at the same time, you know, I have made this decision which is essential for me and essential for my head and that's principally the decision why I've done this.

'Of course I'm really very aware that Steph and the girls are at home watching this and we're all together, and we spent a lot of time together, we spend a lot of time together obviously.

'And they've been supporting us as we got to this moment and we all knew it was coming.

A pillar of support: TV presenter Phillip Schofield on ITV's This Morning talking with Holly Willoughby today about his announcement that he is gay

'So, yeah, I mean I feel a little lighter, but I'm also very aware, there's no question that it causes pain and it causes upset. I've no secrets. We've never had any secrets. Tough, it is tough, but this is not something that's happened quickly. I've had to deal with this in my head for quite some time.

'We've gone through this together and we've been honest and we've been open. Steph, as I said, I can't write in any statement what I feel about that women.

'She is amazing, she's incredible. There's no one in my life who would have supported me the way, as a wife, as the way she supported me. She's astonishing, literally astonishing.

'It's a good question (why now). You know this has been bothering me for a very long time and I think everybody does these things at their own speed, at their own time, when they feel the time is right.

'I've no secrets': Full transcript from Phillip Schofield's interview with Holly Willoughby on This Morning

'And there's no question that it has in recent times consumed my head and has become an issue in my head.

'And so I got to the stage where I thought we sit here every day, and I'm over there and some amazingly brave incredible person is sitting here, and I'm listening to their story and thinking 'oh my God, you're so brave, oh my God, you're so brave'.

'And I'm thinking ''I have to be that person, I have to be that person''. I think all you can be in your life is honest with yourself. I was getting to the point where I knew I wasn't honest with myself, I was getting to the point where I didn't like myself very much because I wasn't being honest with myself.

'And so, when is the right time, when is the right time to do it? And as a family, it's the right time.

'There are people around the world, there are people in this country, there will be people watching this, and we always say talk to someone, and believe me, believe me, when we say that and we do say that a lot on this show, you must talk to someone, you must talk to someone, i have and it's helped a lot.

'And it's brought me back - i mentioned those dark places in the statement  talking to people does bring you back. And in some cases talking to people saves you. You have to discuss it, with my friends, with my family, with my wife, we've talked it through  and we have to talk it through.

'This is my decision, this is absolutely my decision. It was something I knew that I had to do. And I don't know what the world will be like now - I don't know how this will be taken, or what people will think.

He said: 'But at the same time I will sit here and say actually, I'm proud of myself today. And I am proud of myself today'

'But would I say is that yes, I am very conscious of the hurt, and so my overriding emotion with my family is obviously going to be guilt, because I do feel guilty that this can't be anything other than a painful process for them.

'But at the same time I will sit here and say actually, I'm proud of myself today. And I am proud of myself today. It wasn't easy but they (my daughters) were, they are so amazing in their love and support.

'I sat them down and I told them and they jumped up and they gave me a hug, a big hug, a long hug, and then they hugged Steph and they said it's OK, we'll be OK, we'll always be a family, always us four, is what we always call ourselves. We'll always be that.

'It was the same with my mum, my mum is watching this today. She's been on the phone this morning  hope you're OK. I went down to see her, she's down in Cornwall, and I went down to see her. And I told her and she said 'oh, OK, well, I don't care' - and that's the same with everyone.

'No I don't think so (thinking about future relationships) - I'm not thinking there. I'm doing each day at a time now, this has always been a slow process and there is no fast process after this.

'This was the big day and this was the day that I knew everything was pointing towards and I could not have don't it if it hadn't been you. So afterwards I don't know, but no, there's no one, I'm not rushing out to anybody.'
The opposition's crushing defeat in Peru's legislative elections has left a fragmented Congress without a dominant party -- but with a surprising newcomer threatening to become a serious player. Keiko Fujimori's Popular Force lost dozens of seats Sunday in the Congress it had dominated since 2016, shrinking from 73 out of 130 seats to an expected 16. The Christian evangelical fundamentalist party Frepap is expected to have a larger representation as the fourth largest group with a projected 12 seats. "Frepap's success is in part due to a transfer of votes from the collapse of Fujimorism," analyst Luis Benavente, director of the Vox Populi consultancy, told AFP. The vote share for Frepap, whose leaders wear long beards and flowing tunics in the style of Jesus, "is part of Peru's significant protest vote," political analyst Carlos Melendez said on Twitter. Popular Force looks to have paid for its leader's implication in the sprawling Odebrecht corruption scandal. Fujimori is accused of accepting $1.2 million in illicit party funding from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht for her unsuccessful 2011 presidential election campaign. Odebrecht has admitted to paying at least $29 million to Peruvian officials since 2004, and bribing four former Peruvian presidents. The scandal destroyed the popularity of the 44-year-old daughter of jailed former president Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000). She spent 13 months in pre-trial detention before being released in November, and on Tuesday faces a judge's decision on whether to send her back to jail. "It's the collapse of Fujimorism, it's a very deep fall, a very hard blow," Benavente said of the election result. - 'Political minorities' - The big winner was center-right President Martin Vizcarra, who dissolved parliament in September and called snap legislative elections in a bid to end a political crisis between the executive and Congress. His attempts to push through anti-corruption reforms had been repeatedly blocked by Popular Force. Vizcarra said he wants to establish with the new Congress "a responsible, mature relationship that seeks a consensus that benefits Peru." Vizcarra doesn't have a party but with centrist parties in the ascendency, the president will "achieve a more bearable relationship" with Congress than he had done with Fujimori, said political analyst Augusto Alvarez. The new Congress will sit for only 16 months as a general election is already scheduled for April 2021. With 60 percent of Sunday's votes counted, hardly any party has managed more than 10 percent. The center-right Popular Action party is expected to come out on top, with 24 seats. Another center-right party, Alliance for Progress, is next on 18 seats, with the nationalist Union for Peru on 17. The largest left-wing party, the Broad Front, is expected to come in joint fifth with the right-wing Popular Force on 12 seats. It has been an even worse election for Popular Force's main ally, the social-democratic APRA of former president Alan Garcia, who died by suicide in April as police arrived at his home to arrest him in a corruption case related to the Odebrecht scandal. APRA, Peru's oldest political party, is expected to lose all of its seats. "This election... shows that we're a country of political minorities, practically microscopic" ones, Melendez told AFP. - Huge support for Vizcarra - There were more than 2,300 candidates representing 21 parties in Sunday's election -- the first time legislative polls have been held separately from presidential voting. It came about after Vizcarra dissolved Congress on September 30, a move that was popular among Peru's 25 million population. The opposition accused him of a "coup d'etat" and swore in Vice President Mercedes Araoz as "acting president" but she resigned the following day. The opposition took its case to the constitutional court, which ruled in Vizcarra's favor. Demonstrators took to the streets to support Vizcarra and his anti-corruption push. Polls showed 90 percent support for the president's daring move.
A rusty 600-year-old sword used by Highlander mercenaries has sold for a whopping 30,000.

The medieval weapon, believed to date from the 15th or 16th Century, originated in the Scottish Highlands.

Only a few swords from the era survive, with most displayed in ancestral homes or museums.

The sword was valued at 200 before being sold for 150 times that amount to a Canadian buyer by Hutchinson Scott auction house in Skipton, Yorkshire.

Hutchinson Scott said the dimpled surface of the sword meant it was likely to have been buried, submerged or exposed to the elements for many years.

The 15th or 16th Century used by Highlander mercenaries and valued at 200 which sold for 30,000 to a Canadian buyer

Hutchinson Scott also confirmed that the swords tip is missing.

The anonymous finder of the weapon was clearing out his recently deceased fathers garage in an undisclosed location.

The sword is now in London and is due to be shipped to Canada shortly.

The new buyer is paying a 20 per cent buyers premium on top of the 30,000 selling price  about 36,000 in total.

Paul Macdonald, a master-at-arms at Edinburgh-based sword makers Macdonald Armouries, had hoped to bid on the artefact and get a bargain.

He had planned to use the item to make a replica out of what he called a very distinctive weapon.

These swords were incredibly light and incredibly fast, Macdonald said.

I thought I might get a bargain and I was prepared to go up a bit.

I was surprised when it went up to 6,000 and then 7,000.

Despite being priced out, Macdonald said he was glad its true value had been appreciated.

But really I am glad that it has gone for a price that reflects its true value.

Clearly, its significance has been recognised and you can only hope that it has gone to a good home and that it will be looked after.'

Despite its broken tip, the rusty red sword sold for 30,000 after originally being valued at 200

Macdonald said he had seen three or four other swords of this type, held in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin.

He believes the sword was used by West Highlander members of the gallowglass  the elite mercenary warriors from Scotland who were employed to defend Irish clans from the 13th to 16th centuries.

The gallowglass warriors were hired for their fighting prowess and were seen as effective bodyguards who were unlikely to become involved in local disputes.

This type of sword was also the weapon of choice for battles in the highlands of Scotland between the English.

The last known battle where this weapon was used was the Battle of Killiecrankie in 1689, won by Jacobite supporters of James VII of Scotland against troops of the ruling King William of Orange.

Jacobean revolts continued into the 18th century, culminating with the Jacobite rising of 1745 led by Charles Edward Stuart, grandson of James VII of Scotland.
ANKARA, Turkey  Turkey said it retaliated Monday after heavy shelling by Syrian forces killed five of its soldiers and wounded five others in Syrias northern Idlib province, a marked escalation a week after a similarly deadly clash between the two sides.

The exchange of fire came as a Russian delegation held a second round of talks in the Turkish capital of Ankara to discuss the fighting in Idlib province, which has uprooted more than a half-million people in the past two months.

The fighting led to the collapse of a fragile cease-fire brokered by Turkey and Russia in 2018. Turkey supports the Syrian rebels, while Russia heavily backs the Syrian governments campaign to retake the area, which is the last rebel stronghold in Syria.

A U.N. official said the number of people displaced by the violence since Dec. 1 reached nearly 700,000.

This could well prove to be the largest number of people displaced in a single period since the Syrian crisis began almost nine years ago, said U.N. regional spokesman David Swanson, reiterating the call for an immediate truce.

The U.N. remains deeply alarmed about the safety and protection of over 3 million civilians in Idlib and surrounding areas, over half of whom are internally displaced, as reports of air strikes and shellings continue in Syria, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said in New York.

At least 49 civilians were killed Feb. 1-5, with at least 186 civilians killed in January, he said.

Most of the displaced are living in open-air shelters and temporary homes in rain, snow and freezing temperatures near the Turkish border. Half of the displaced are believed to be children.

Food, shelter, water and sanitation, hygiene, education and protection assistance are all urgent priorities, Haq said, with the humanitarian community seeking $336 million to help 800,000 people in northwestern Syria for six months.

The fighting has led Turkey to send hundreds of military vehicles and troops into Idlib province in the past week, bringing both countries forces into direct confrontation, a rarity in the Syrian conflict.

Eight Turkish military and civilian personnel and 13 Syrian soldiers were killed in a clash in the province last week. Turkey has warned Syria to retreat to cease-fire lines that were agreed to in 2018.

The Turkish Defense Ministry said its five troops that were killed and those who were wounded were reinforcements that had been sent to Idlib.

At least 115 Syrian positions were targeted in the retaliatory strikes, the ministry said, adding that more than 100 Syrian forces were neutralized. The claim could not be independently verified.

Suzan Fraser and Bassem Mroue are Associated Press writers.
Stocks in the news today: Here is a list of top stocks that are likely to be in focus in Monday'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 MRF, Bajaj Consumer Care, Bharat Forge, Oil India, Indiabulls Real Estate, Dilip Buildcon, GAIL, Essel Propack, Godfrey Phillips, UPL among others.

Max India Q3: The company reported consolidated net profit at Rs 366.8 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2019, as against Rs net loss of Rs 30.31 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. Total income stayed flat YoY at Rs 34.23 crore in the October-December quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 34.84 crore in the same period last financial year. Tax expense stood at Rs 0.39 crore in Q3 FY20 from Rs 1.30 crore in Q3 FY19.

Godfrey Phillips Q3: The company reported 39% % rise (YoY) in consolidated net profit to Rs 114 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2019, as against Rs 82 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. Total income rose 14.4% (YoY) to Rs 825 crore in the October-December quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 721 crore in the same period last financial year. Total Tax expense reduced to Rs 36 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2019, from Rs 38 crore, booked in the corresponding quarter in the previous year. Revenue from Cigarettes, Tobacco and related products stood at Rs 702 crore in Q3 FY20 from Rs 619 crore in Q3 FY19. Revenue from Retail and related products stood at Rs 93 crore in Q3 FY20 from Rs 77 crore in Q3 FY19.

United Phosphorus Limited Q3: The company reported 52% rise (YoY) in consolidated net profit to Rs 701 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2019, as against Rs 461 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. Total income rose 80% (YoY) to Rs 8,912 crore in the October-December quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 4,958 crore in the same period last financial year. EPS stood at Rs 9.16 crore in Q3 FY20 from Rs 6.04 crore in Q3 FY19.

Essel Propack Q3: The company reported 32% rise (YoY) in consolidated net profit to Rs 60 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2019, as against Rs 45 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. Total income rose 2.4% (YoY) to Rs 714 crore in the October-December quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 697 crore in the same period last financial year. Total Tax expense rose to Rs 28 crore during the quarter ended December 31, 2019, from Rs 25 crore, booked in the corresponding quarter in the previous year.

Dr Reddy: Company informed that its wholly-owned subsidiary Aurigene Discovery Technologies Limited has entered into an amendment of its collaboration, license and option agreement with Curis, Inc. for development and commercialization of CA-170.

Maruti Suzuki: The automaker produced a total of 179,103 units in January FY20 as compared to 183,064 units January FY19, recording a de-growth of 2.1%.

Q3 Earnings Today: MRF, Bajaj Consumer Care, Bharat Forge, Oil India, Indiabulls Real Estate, Dilip Buildcon, Sundaram Finance, GAIL, Balrampur Chini Mills, Bombay Dyeing, Chalet Hotels, Punjab & Sind Bank, Union Bank Of India, Petronet LNG, General Insurance Corporation, Grasim Industries, Jmc Projects, Indian Overseas Bank, Motherson Sumi, New Delhi Television Ltd, Ucal Fuel Systems among others will release their Q3 results today.
Human Insulin Market Size, Trends and Growth Analysis by Type (Modern Human Insulin (Premixed Modern, Long-Acting and Rapid Acting), Traditional Human Insulin (Premixed Traditional, Intermediate Acting and Short-Acting), Brand (Lantus, Novorapid, Humalog, Novomix, Levemir, Apidar, Humulin and Insuman)) and Region (Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Middle East & Africa)  Global Forecast till 2025

Human Insulin Market Synopsis

Human Insulin Market size is predicted to reach USD 40 billion at a CAGR of 12.1% during the forecast period (2019-2025). The surging diabetic population across the globe is highly influencing the market growth. Also referred to as analog insulin, the physicians generally prescribe modern human insulin for the treatment of diabetes. Human insulin is the customized form of traditional human insulin which offers efficient results compared to any traditional human insulin. Insulin helps in the regulation of carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body. It is a peptide hormone which is secreted by the beta cells of the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas.

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The surging prevalence of diabetic population, growing prevalence of obesity, and growth in the geriatric population are some of the top factors contributing to the human insulin market growth across the globe. The human insulin market is estimated to experience a healthy growth rate in the coming years mainly due to the growing prevalence of diabetes across the globe. With the changing lifestyle, rising number of geriatric as well as obese population coupled with the inadequate healthcare services, the market for human insulin is predicted to flourish. The advancing technology in the past few years like the innovation of insulin pens and favorable government policies have contributed to the growth of the human insulin market across the globe.

The untapped emerging nations and pipeline insulin products are further promising growth opportunities for the manufactures, thereby influencing the market growth globally. Several private and government research organizations are highly engaged in R&D activities for the development of advanced treatment methods. The aim is to enhance the effectiveness of human insulin, lower the risk of diabetes-related disorders like kidney disease, blindness, strokes, heart attacks, or limb loss.

On the contrary, the strict regulatory requirement for the approval of the insulin is likely to deter its growth across the globe. The high cost of the analog is also dampening the growth of the market during the appraisal period. Moreover, the several side effects associated with human insulin coupled with the delayed onset of action are further restricting the human insulin market growth during the appraisal period.

Human Insulin Market Segmentation

By mode of type, the human insulin market has been segmented based on traditional human insulin and modern human insulin. While modern human insulin comprises rapid-acting insulin analogs, long-acting insulin, and premixed analog insulins, traditional human insulin consists of NPH human insulin, regular human insulin, and pre-mixed insulin. Modern insulin is considered to gain prominence in the coming years.

Human Insulin Market Regional Insights

Geographically, the human insulin market span across Europe, America, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa.

Considering the global scenario, the North American and the European regions are considered to dominate the global market. The regions are likely to retain their dominance in the coming years owing to the increased prevalence of diabetes coupled with the rising R&D activities for effective insulin. Diabetes is one of the prominent health problems in this region owing to the growing number of geriatric populations coupled with the surging prevalence of obesity. Such factors have further contributed to the market growth in this region.

The Asia Pacific region is estimated to experience the fastest growth rate. Type 2 diabetes has mushroomed in this region which is likely to influence the market highly. As per a study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, around 60% of the total population in Asia was suffering from diabetes in 2012. In this region, China is anticipated to have the highest rate of diabetes, which is likely to fuel the market growth.

Human Insulin Market Competitive Dashboard

The prominent players operating in the global human insulin market comprises Tonghua Dongbao Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. (China), Biocon Ltd. (India), Merck & Co. (U.S.), Adocia (France), Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (U.S.), Julphar (UAE), Oramed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Israel), GlaxoSmithKline Plc (U.K.), Novo Nordisk A/S (Denmark), and others.

Table of Content:

1 Report Prologue

2 Human Insulin Market Introduction

Definition

Scope Of The Study

Research Objective

Assumptions

Limitations

3 Human Insulin Market Research Methodology

Introduction

Primary Research

Secondary Research

Market Size Estimation

4 Human Insulin Market Dynamics

Drivers

Restraints

Opportunities

Macroeconomic Indicators

Trends & Assessment

5 Human Insulin Market Factor Analysis

Porters Five Forces Analysis

Bargaining Power Of Suppliers

Bargaining Power Of Buyers

Threat Of New Entrants

Threat Of Substitutes

Intensity Of Rivalry

Value Chain Analysis

Investment Opportunities

TOC Continued.

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Police have arrested a teenage girl who allegedly shot dead her instructor at a Ukrainian firing range after having a blazing row with her boyfriend.

Veronika Motorina, 18, is accused of killing Igor Smolyaninov, 64, in the central city of Poltava.

Reports say Motorina came to Object 7.62 shooting gallery 'to cool down and relax' after having a fight with her boyfriend.

The quarrel had erupted when the jealous teenager accused her partner of cheating on her, according to local media.

Veronika Motorina, 18, is accused of shooting dead Igor Smolyaninov, 64, at a firing range in Poltava, central Ukraine.

Smolyaninov was pronounced dead at Object 7.62 shooting gallery (pictured) after taking two bullets to the head and heart. The lower part of his dead body is pictured lying on the gallery floor

The Margolin pistol given to Motorina by Smolyaninov, before she allegedly used it to fire two bullets into him

Relieving stress at the facility, she was shooting at targets with a Glock pistol then with an AK-74 assault rifle.

After a while, Motorina, who was a frequent visitor to the place, asked for a Margolin pistol and was given one by instructor Smolyaninov.

But instead of continuing firing at targets, she pointed the gun at the instructor and put two bullets in his body, a witness said.

After Smolyaninov fell on to the floor, Motorina threw her weapon away and fled the scene as the shocked shooting range staff called emergency services.

Paramedics arrived at the scene and confirmed the victim was already dead.

A forensic examination showed the man died on the spot after being shot in the heart and head.

Motorina came to Object 762 following a blazing row with her boyfriend, who she accused of cheating

At a court hearing on Saturday (pictured), Motorina said she did not mean for Smolyaninov to die

The shooter was caught and taken into custody one hour after the killing occurred on Friday.

Police launched a murder case against the girl and she was ordered into a pre-trial detention jail for a two-month period while the investigation is ongoing.

At a court hearing on Saturday, Motorina said to local media: 'I did not want him [Smolyaninov] to die'.

Veronika Motorina trained herself to fire guns and wanted to join the Ukrainian Army but her application was rejected, say Ukrainian media.

She was 'emotionally unstable and regularly expressed a wish to kill someone,' her boyfriend said to law enforcement.

Motorina was a frequent visitor to the Poltava shooting range and had trained herself to fire guns as part of her application to join the Ukrainian Army, which was rejected

Police spokesman Yury Sulaev told: 'Paramedics tried to revive the victim but he died on the spot after receiving severe gunshot wounds.

'Police have enough evidence to charge the 18-year-old suspect with premeditated murder.

'The suspect is being interrogated by detectives at the moment.'

The teenager faces up to 15 years in prison if found guilty.

The investigation continues.
Delhiites will spend one more anxious night to know the winners of the Assembly elections in which 62.59% of 1.47 crore voters exercised their franchise to choose 70 MLAs.

Around a dozen exit polls have predicted that Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP will return to power riding on its performance, dashing the hopes of the BJP, which has been hoping to end its wilderness in power in the capital for the past 22 years despite a high-octane campaign based on nationalism and polarisation.

Also read  Delhi: Exit Polls give AAP another shot at power

The counting of votes will begin in 21 voting centres spread across the capital at 8 am. The final results are expected by early afternoon. Officials expect that a definitive trend will be known by 11 am.

Heavy security has been put in place in and around counting centres to ensure the smooth conduct of the exercise. Police is also on high alert in other parts of the capital to ensure that the results do not lead to law and order issues.

The voting percentage in this edition of Assembly election is better than that of the Lok Sabha election in May last year when it clocked 60.6%. However, it could not surpass the previous Assembly election records as 2015 had 67.12% turnout while in 2013, it was 65.63%. In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Delhi polled 65.1%.

The "delay" in the release of the final voter turnout by Election Commission had invited criticism from AAP with Chief Minister and party supremo Kejriwal describing it as "absolutely shocking". However, Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ranbir Singh said the returning officers worked throughout the night to check data to ensure that it was accurate.

According to the data provided by the poll body, 5 constituencies had a voting percentage above 70% while 48 had a voter turnout between 60% and 70%. Sixteen seats had a voting share of 50% to 60% while only one seat had less than 50% turnout.

Also read  Arvind Kejriwal vs EC over delay in final Delhi voter turnout

The highest turnout was witnessed in Ballimaran (71.58%) while the lowest was recorded in Delhi Cantonment seat, where only 45.36% of voters came for exercising their franchise.

Among the male voters, 50.75 lakh (62.62%) of the 81.05 lakh voted while among women, it was 41.78 lakh (62.55%) of the 66.80 lakh. Among the third gender, 340 (39.12%) of the 869 exercised their franchise.

While the exit polls predict a sweep by AAP, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari has rejected it and expressed hope that his party will win 48 seats.

If the exit polls turn true, this will AAP's third shot in power, the first being a 49-day government, which it formed with the support of Congress in 2013. The first Kejriwal government had resigned over the issue of the passage of Lokpal Bill.

Congress, which ruled the capital for 15 years between 1998 and 2013 under Sheila Dikshit, is expected to be a distant third and at least half of the exit polls predicted that it is unlikely to open the account like the 2015 polls while others give them a couple of seats.

For the BJP, which won the first Delhi Assembly election in 1993, has not been able to win the Assembly since then though it had been ruling the municipal bodies in the capital.
BEIJING, China --- China reported a rise in new virus cases, possibly denting optimism disease control measures that have isolated major cities might be working, while Japan reported dozens of new cases aboard a quarantined cruise ship.

The mainland death toll rose from 97 to 908.

Japanese health officials said about 60 more cases were found aboard the Diamond Princess in Yokohama, in addition to 70 cases found earlier among 3,711 passengers and crew.

RELATED: OREGON WOMAN INFECTED WITH CORONAVIRUS

Health ministry officials were double-checking the results and could not immediately release the exact figure.
Jim Coltrin, CFP and Andy Bailey, CFP, the managing partners of True North Advisors at Raymond James, announced the group has added Sandy Chambers Dittus, CFP of Chattanooga to its ranks.The managing partners said, We are very excited to add Sandy to the team because she has the experience and work ethic to continue serving our clients here in Chattanooga and the surrounding community. We believe in building a team with experience and with advisors that care for their clients.Ms.Chambers Dittus has previous experience in the Trust Department at Pinnacle Financial Partners, FSGBank and Pioneer Bank/First American Bank/AmSouth Bank. She organized the trust department at FSGBank in 2004. She also worked at Raymond James and in public accounting in the tax department of Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Ernst & Young.Ms. Chambers Dittus has a BBA in accounting and a master of accountancy from the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga. She holds a CFP, a CPA certificate in Tennessee and Georgia and AEP (Accredited Estate Planner). Ms. Chambers Dittus is a past president of the Estate Planning Council of Chattanooga, Chattanooga Tax Practitioners and Kiwanis Club of Chattanooga.Ms. Chambers Dittus joined True North Advisors at Raymond James in November 2019. She is part of a team approach to financial planning providing customized services for clients. She concentrates on comprehensive wealth management, investment management, trust and estate services.
A senior lawmaker from Japans ruling Liberal Democratic Party has said that the country should create its own digital yen within the next 2-3 years.

The sooner the better. Well draft proposals to be included in governments policy guidelines, and hopefully make it happen in two-to-three years, Kozo Yamamoto told Reuters on Monday. The lawmakers remarks highlight the pressure Japan feels against Chinas progress on digital currency.

Last month, another group of Japanese lawmakers, led by former economy minister Akira Amari, said that they are working on a proposal to issue digital currency. Yamamoto today said he would work with Amari to push the government to adopt their proposals.

Japan wants to curb the potential influence of Chinas upcoming digital yuan. Norihiro Nakayama, a lawmaker from Japans ruling party, recently said that Chinas digital currency is a challenge to the existing global reserve currency system and currency hegemony and that Japan would need U.S. support to counter Chinas efforts.

The Bank of Japan, the countrys central bank, has started initiatives to research digital currencies. Last month, it joined hands with five other major central banks - the Bank of England, the Bank of Canada, the European Central Bank, the Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden) and the Swiss National Bank - to explore digital currencies.

"If each country manages to control flows of money with their own (digital) currencies, that could prevent a big swing at a time of crisis and stabilize their own economy," Yamamoto said today.
Some investors rely on dividends for growing their wealth, and if you're one of those dividend sleuths, you might be intrigued to know that Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. (NYSE:OPY) is about to go ex-dividend in just 2 days. Investors can purchase shares before the 13th of February in order to be eligible for this dividend, which will be paid on the 28th of February.

Oppenheimer Holdings's next dividend payment will be US$0.12 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed US$0.48 to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Oppenheimer Holdings has a trailing yield of 1.7% on the current share price of $27.94. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. As a result, readers should always check whether Oppenheimer Holdings has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.

Check out our latest analysis for Oppenheimer Holdings

Dividends are typically paid from company earnings. If a company pays more in dividends than it earned in profit, then the dividend could be unsustainable. Oppenheimer Holdings has a low and conservative payout ratio of just 11% of its income after tax.

Generally speaking, the lower a company's payout ratios, the more resilient its dividend usually is.

Click here to see how much of its profit Oppenheimer Holdings paid out over the last 12 months.

NYSE:OPY Historical Dividend Yield, February 10th 2020

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Businesses with strong growth prospects usually make the best dividend payers, because it's easier to grow dividends when earnings per share are improving. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. That's why it's comforting to see Oppenheimer Holdings's earnings have been skyrocketing, up 67% per annum for the past five years.

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Since the start of our data, ten years ago, Oppenheimer Holdings has lifted its dividend by approximately 0.9% a year on average. It's good to see both earnings and the dividend have improved - although the former has been rising much quicker than the latter, possibly due to the company reinvesting more of its profits in growth.

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The Bottom Line

From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Oppenheimer Holdings? Companies like Oppenheimer Holdings that are growing rapidly and paying out a low fraction of earnings, are usually reinvesting heavily in their business. This is one of the most attractive investment combinations under this analysis, as it can create substantial value for investors over the long run. Oppenheimer Holdings ticks a lot of boxes for us from a dividend perspective, and we think these characteristics should mark the company as deserving of further attention.

Want to learn more about Oppenheimer Holdings's dividend performance? Check out this visualisation of its historical revenue and earnings growth.

A common investment mistake is buying the first interesting stock you see. Here you can find a list of promising dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.

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.
Deputy Foreign Minister To Anh Dung hands over medical equipment worth US$500,000 to Chinese Ambassador in Viet Nam Xiong Bo at Noi Bai International Airport in Ha Noi on February 9, 2020

The handover ceremony took place at the Noi Bai International Airport in Ha Noi on Sunday afternoon.

Speaking at the event, Dung said the medical equipment reflected the solidarity of the Party, Government and people of Viet Nam, which is expected to help ease difficulties caused by the 2019-nCoV outbreak in China.

Dung expressed belief that the Party and Government of China will soon control the epidemic, affirming that Viet Nam will accelerate ASEANs joint efforts and stand side by side with China and other countries in combating the epidemic.

Ambassador Xiong extended thanks to the Party, Government and people of Viet Nam for their valuable gifts, which demonstrated the fine tradition of mutual support and assistance between the two nations.

Later the same day, a Viet Nam Airlines' flight carrying the medical equipment departed for Wuhan.
At a time when London High Court is going to begin the final hearing in the Vijay Mallya extradition case, values of the liquor companies that he founded - United Breweries (UBL) and United Spirits (USL) - are ticking up. These two companies jointly held a market value of over Rs 84,000 crore between them on Monday. The minor promoter stakes in the liquor manufacturing companies that are still in the name of Mallya and his companies - these shares were attached by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) along with his other assets - are valued at Rs 4,526 crore, according to the Monday share prices.

The share price of USL has soared 19.4 per cent in the last two weeks, while UBL rose 6.9 per cent between January 30 and February 6, before it fell by 3.9 per cent in the Friday and Monday trading.

Mallya, who fled India on March 2, 2016, had sought political asylum in the UK. Indian government's extradition plea was submitted on Feb 9, 2017, by the British court and Mallya was arrested on April 18, 2017. He has since been out on bail. The London High Court will hear his appeal against extradition to India from Tuesday. According to media reports, no effective appeal lies beyond this court's decision. If Mallya fails in his case, he will be brought back to India within 28 days. The bankrupt business tycoon had taken Rs 9,000 crore from 13 banks to run the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

ALSO READ:Vijay Mallya can't use pendency of plea to stall verdict in UK court, says SC

Mallya and his firms hold 11.04 per cent stake in UBL, according to the December shareholding structure. Of which, 95.21 per cent of the holding has been pledged with the banks. As on February 10, the stake of Mallya and his firms in UBL has been valued at Rs 3,766 crore on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), considering the company's market capitalisation (m-cap) of Rs 34,108 crore.

When Mallya escaped from India, the share price of UBL was at Rs 805. It climbed to Rs 1,290 on Monday. Mallya was holding 30.71 per cent stake in the beer manufacturing company. Nearly half of his holding (47.39 per cent) was pledged to the banks at that time. The joint promoter, the Scottish beer major Heineken held 43.18 per cent stake. Heineken bought the stake from Diageo and increased it through equity infusion in the company. At present, Heineken holds 46.69 per cent stake in UBL.

In the financial year 2015/16, UBL had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 295.45 crore, on a revenue of Rs 5,075.81 crore. The company continued its profit streak over the next three financial years - aggregate profit of Rs 1,188 crore between April 2016 and March 2019 - without Mallya at the helm. In first nine months of this financial year, its profit comes to Rs 387 crore.

ALSO READ:Courts allow banks to utilise movable assets of Vijay Mallya to clear debt

The m-cap of USL stood at Rs 50,007 crore on February 10. The share price went up 41.28 per cent to Rs 687 since the day Mallya escaped from India. It went down to the lowest of Rs 370 and rose to a peak of Rs 790 during these years.

At present, Mallya and his investment companies hold just 1.52 per cent stake in UBL and it is valued at Rs 760 crore, according to the latest m-cap. However, over 90 per cent of the shares have been pledged. The British liquor giant Diageo, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Relay BV, owns 55.24 per cent stake in USL.

In 2015/16, USL had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 968.94 crore, on a revenue of Rs 9,379.29 crore. The profit was lower at Rs 93 crore in the next year, but it recovered to Rs 651.9 crore and Rs 683.6 crore in the following financial years. The revenue stood at Rs 28,872.5 crore in the last financial year. In first three quarters of this financial year, the aggregate profit of USL comes to Rs 571 crore. Until 2013, Mallya and Diageo had been holding equal stakes in USL. With the rise in debt, Mallya diluted stake in the company, ceding the control to Diageo.

ALSO READ:Vijay Mallya case: Maharashtra Police wants to visit UK jails to see prison quality
A Moscow court has extended the house arrest of U.S. investor Michael Calvey and his business partner, French national Philippe Delpal, until May 13.



The Moscow City Court announced the ruling on February 10, three days before a previous extension of the two men's house arrest was set to expire.



The court also prolonged the house arrest for a Russian citizen, former Vostochny Bank CEO Aleksei Kordichev, until May 13.



Calvey and several other executives and employees of the Russia-based private-equity group Baring Vostok were detained in Moscow in February last year and charged with financial fraud.



They all deny any wrongdoing and say the case is being used against them in a corporate dispute over the control of a Russian bank. Calvey was released under house arrest in April 2019.



The arrests stunned many Western investors and drew complaints from high-level Russian business leaders and government officials, who questioned the motivation of the courts and prosecutors.



Baring Vostok is one of the largest and oldest private-equity firms operating in Russia. It was founded in the early 1990s and manages more than $3.7 billion in assets. The company was an early major investor in Yandex, Russia's dominant search engine.



Calvey is one of two Americans currently facing potential trial in Russia on charges supporters say are groundless. Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, has been behind bars since December 28, 2018, when he was arrested on an espionage charge he denies.

Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax
It was a rather musical year for the Oscars.

Janelle Monae kicked off the night with a medley paying tribute to the musical moments of the year in film  with a distinct nod to Luniz's "I Got Five On It," which featured in Jordan Peele's suspense film "Us"  setting a melodic tone for the evening.

In addition to performances by those nominated for Best Original Song, including "Stand Up" by Best Actress nominee Cynthia Erivo, the show took a handful of other musical detours.

One montage stood out. Ostensibly paying tribute to those iconic songs inextricably tied to classic movies, a series of videos revisited works like Peter Gabriel's "in Your Eyes" in "Say Anything" and Keith Forsey's "Don't You Forget About Me" in "The Breakfast Club" before giving way to another film standout: Eminem's "Lose Yourself" from "8 Mile," a movie in which the rapper also starred.

And then, to the surprise of everyone, Eminem himself walked out to perform the song in person.

Other surprises were of a less musical variety.

A number of surprise wins dotted the ceremony, including Brad Pitt, who won the award for Best Supporting Actor in "Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood" and Bong Joon-ho and his "Parasite," which landed three major awards: Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.

See all our favorite highlights above and more Oscars coverage below.

More Oscars coverage:

 Catch the best movie star looks on the Oscars red carpet

 Spike Lee Wears Kobe Bryant Tuxedo to the Oscars

 Oscars 2020 winners: Full list of results with live updates

 Natalie Portman embroiders names of snubbed female directors on her Oscars outfit

 Tom Hanks and Janelle Monae share a surprisingly wholesome 'Mr. Rogers' moment

 Chris Rock and Steve Martin jab at Jeff Bezos in Oscars intro

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGate digital editor. Email: alyssa.pereira@sfgate.com | Twitter: @alyspereira


WASHINGTON  Amazon is seeking to depose President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and former Defense Secretary James Mattis over a $10 billion Pentagon cloud contract awarded to Microsoft. In court documents unsealed and filed Monday, Amazon's cloud computing arm said it's looking to depose seven "individuals who were instrumental" in the JEDI source selection and "played pivotal roles" in the ultimate awarding of the contract. Aside from Trump, Mattis and Esper, Amazon Web Services is also seeking to depose the Defense Department's chief information officer, Dana Deasy, and the source selection authority, which awarded the contract to Microsoft, as well as the chairpersons of the SSA, according to the documents. A spokesperson for AWS told CNBC in a statement: "President Trump has repeatedly demonstrated his willingness to use his position as President and Commander in Chief to interfere with government functions  including federal procurements  to advance his personal agenda. The preservation of public confidence in the nation's procurement process requires discovery and supplementation of the administrative record, particularly in light of President Trump's order to 'screw Amazon.' The question is whether the President of the United States should be allowed to use the budget of the DoD to pursue his own personal and political ends." The White House declined to comment. Representatives from the Defense Department declined to comment. Microsoft also declined to comment.

(L-R) CEO of Apple Tim Cook , U.S. President Donald Trump, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos attend a meeting of the American Technology Council in the State Dining Room of the White House June 19, 2017 in Washington, DC. Olivier Douliery | Abaca | Sipa via AP Images

The Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, cloud computing contract could be worth up to $10 billion for services rendered over as many as 10 years. The Pentagon selected Microsoft over Amazon for the colossal contract on Oct. 25. Amazon was initially seen as the favorite to win the contract, then Trump said in July he was looking into the contract after IBM and other companies protested the bidding process. In November, Amazon filed a notice in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims indicating a plan to protest the Pentagon's decision to award Microsoft the multibillion-dollar cloud contract. Amazon claimed that the JEDI evaluation process contained "clear deficiencies, errors, and unmistakable bias." Amazon said in court documents made public last December that Trump launched "behind-the-scenes attacks" against the company, which caused it to lose out on the JEDI contract. Some of those alleged attacks were detailed in Mattis' recent memoir, in which the former Defense secretary claimed Trump told him to "screw Amazon" out of the contract. Read more: Trump says he's looking into a Pentagon cloud contract AWS said it's looking to depose Trump about his involvement in the bidding process, including any private conversations that took place or any instructions that were given regarding the award, as well as any "efforts to harm Amazon or AWS." "While other individuals can testify about specific conversations he had with them individually, President Trump is the only individual who can testify about the totality of his conversations and the overall message he conveyed," according to the filings. "Moreover, President Trump has unique knowledge about whether he had other, previously undisclosed conversations with individuals not previously identified, and who therefore do not appear on the deposition list."

AWS wants to depose Mattis because it claims he has "highly relevant, first-hand knowledge about Trump's animus toward Mr. Bezos and Amazon and the efforts President Trump took to pressure DoD officials" on the JEDI contract award. AWS claims Esper intervened in the JEDI award process to "conduct an 'examination' at President Trump's behest." Esper announced last August that he would review the JEDI contract and recused himself from the JEDI source selection process last October. AWS said the timing, circumstances and announcement of Esper's recusal raises concerns and that it would seek further details about his recusal by deposing Esper. Bezos has been a constant source of frustration for Trump. The billionaire executive owns The Washington Post newspaper, which Trump regularly criticizes for its coverage of his administration. Trump also has gone after Amazon repeatedly for, as he claims, not paying its fair share of taxes and ripping off the U.S. Post Office. In December, Amazon's AWS chief, Andy Jassy, told CNBC that the cloud contracting was not adjudicated fairly. "You know, there was significant political interference here," Jassy explained of the JEDI award. "When you have a sitting president who's willing to be very vocal that they dislike a company and the CEO of that company, it makes it difficult for government agencies, including the DoD to make objective decisions without fear of reprisal. And I think that's dangerous and risky for our country," he told CNBC's Jon Fortt.
Nigel Farage wears socks with the Union flag as he speaks at the European Parliament in Brussels (Francisco Seco/AP)

The United Kingdom is leaving the European Union  cardboard boxes and Union Jack socks and all.

With the Brexit moment set for 11pm on Friday, some UK politicians at the European Parliament in Brussels who have been fervent Brexit pushers were wasting no time getting ready to get out the door.

Nigel Farages office on Tuesday was a jumble of boxes and mementoes ready to be packed and shipped.

His favourite souvenir? A framed Economist cover with him, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin marching to the big drums of populism.

Its not meant to be flattering, but in a sense, what it sums up is the great battle thats going on, Mr Farage said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Expand Close Nigel Farage has started removing personal items from his Brussels office (Francisco Seco/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Nigel Farage has started removing personal items from his Brussels office (Francisco Seco/AP)

He was still wearing his Union Jack socks, ready for Wednesdays plenary when the EU parliament should overwhelmingly approve the Brexit withdrawal agreement, the last act needed before the UK leaves on Friday.

Downstairs in the parliamentary halls, some fans of the Brexit party, also dressed in British colours were posing among the flags of the member states, laughing and shouting at anyone wanting to hear how the EU was a dictatorship.

Yet for most of the parliaments politicians and many of the departing British representatives, the EU remains one of the greatest experiments in peace-building and democracy following the devastation across Europe from the Second World War.

Among the British backers of the EU are members of the Green party, who lit lights outside the European Parliament against the darkening sky, a symbolic Well leave a light on action in case British politicians ever do return to Brussels.

Expand Close Personal items on a desk of Nigel Farage at the European Parliament in Brussels (Francisco Seco/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Personal items on a desk of Nigel Farage at the European Parliament in Brussels (Francisco Seco/AP)

For a more official occasion, EU Parliament chief David Sassoli will bid the UK a formal farewell during Wednesdays plenary, where the Brexit vote will take place.

Even the UKs representation offices will change their name and become the UK Mission to the European Union.

For insiders, UKReps will become UKMis, and they will still be just as busy, since both Britain and the EU still need to figure their future relationship and trade deals.

One thing is sure though.

Were passing the point of no return, said Mr Farage. Were leaving. Were never coming back.
In February of last year, state legislators in New York announced plans for what would be landmark legislation to decriminalize sex work in the state, as AVN.com reported. In June, the lawmakers followed through on their pledge.

They introduced a straightforward, 13-page bill that kept the issue simplerepealing laws that would abolish criminal penalties for selling and purchasing sexual services. The bill, christened the Stop Violence in the Sex Trades Act, would also roll back existing laws used to target sex workers, such as statutes against loitering for prostitution and similar offenses.

But the bill made no progress in last lears legislative session.

Now the state lawmakers backing the bill are giving it a second chance, according to WTEN TV News in Albany, New Yorks state capital.

Backers hope that the twin bills, S6419 in the state senate and A8230 in the state assembly, will survive committee votes in the current legislative session. Last year, the bills never reached that point.

Though the bills leave laws against sex trafficking and non-consensual sexual practices in place, they still face criticism both from conservatives and progressive legislators, according to the WTEN report.

From the right, critics have suggested that decriminalization has no effect on rates of violent crime or sex trafficking of minors, WTEN reported. But from the left, the bills critics claim that it lacks the nuance of adequate built-in safeguards to help prevent exploitation of sex workers.

"Our goal is to help trafficking survivors while allowing those selling sexby circumstance or choiceto do so safely, said Jessica Ramos, one of the New York state senators sponsoring the bill, as quoted by WNYW TV News.

In January, a new poll by the group Data for Progress found that, for the first time in any survey, a majority of Americans52 percentsaid that they support decrminalization of sex work.

Photo By Beyond My Ken / Wikimedia Commons
A 4-year-old girl struck by a pickup truck that killed her older sister in Waushara County is out of the hospital.

The Tri-County Area School District in Plainfield says the girl is recovering at home with her family.

She was injured and her 6-year-old sister was killed as they waited to board a school bus along Highway 73 Monday morning.

Officials say the bus was stopped and its lights were flashing when the pickup, traveling in the same direction, went around it and struck the girls.

The Waushara County Sheriff's Department has not released the status of the pickup driver.

-------

School district officials in Waushara County say a kindergarten student was killed and her sibling was injured when they were struck by a vehicle just before boarding a bus.

The Tri-County Area School District says the children were hit along Highway 73 southeast of Plainfield just after 7 a.m. Monday.

WLUK-TV reports district administrator Anthony Marinack says the bus was stopped and another vehicle going in the same direction struck the two children, killing the 6-year-old girl.

He says there were other students on the bus at the time.

The State Patrol is investigating.

(

Copyright 2019, The Associated Press

)
THE outbreak of the first case of 2019 novel coronavirus (nCoV) in the Philippines shows a strong cooperation between the Philippines and China in combating its spread. On Jan. 31, 2020, the Department of Health (DOH) confirmed the first case of 2019-nCoV, a 38-year-old female Chinese national who traveled to the Philippines from Wuhan via Hong Kong, testing positive of the virus. After two days, the DOH announced the second case of 2019-NcoV, which is the 44-year-old man who died. They believed that he was the companion of the woman. Both of them are people from Wuhan, China.

The outburst of the positive cases of 2019-nCov and the increasing number of persons under watch on suspicion that they might have been infected with the nCov climbs to 215. Of that number, 184 are currently admitted and isolated in hospitals, nine refused admission, and 17 were discharged but remain under strict monitoring, according to the DOH. Both countries are communicating to assist the security of the Filipino citizens.

The Chinese government helped the Philippines by providing masks since the supply is insufficient. According to the Philippine News Agency, the Chinese government donated a total number of 200,000 surgical masks.

The Philippine Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (PCCCII) pledged to donate 600,000 face masks. They also offered to share medical information and findings about the 2019-nCoV.

On the other hand, Philippine agencies, such as Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), provided P10,000 cash, transport assistance, and accommodation to the affected overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in China.

Moreover, the Philippine Consular Agency in Shanghai is doing its job to contact all the Filipinos in China to ensure their health and safety. Lastly, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) tells the OFWs to follow the advice of the local health authorities in their areas.

The efforts exerted by the Philippines and China show unity and collaboration. In 2016, they had a joint statement that was meant to enhance understanding, broaden cooperation and increase interaction and communication to benefit their people.

Story continues

As Filipinos, we are glad that both governments are striving hard to fulfill their duties while maintaining their close bilateral relationship in times of crisis.

The Philippine government also achieved the second pillar of the Philippine Foreign Policy, which is the protection and promotion of the welfare of OFWs. We cannot do this without communicating with China.

Nations must help each other, knowing that this is a global emergency. There is no space for blaming and hating China since all of us are suffering from this situation. Thus, cooperation and effective communication are essential for every nation to solve a global problem. It is a great key to escape from this epidemic to preserve the life of the individuals.

Nations should be aware of their limitations and work as one so that their ties with other nations and the safety of their citizens will be balanced without compromising one aspect.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been creeping more deeply into our lives for decades now. We celebrate innovations in the field one day, fear them the next, and when one falters even minutely, we suddenly wax nostalgic and start chattering about the special human traits we could never replace with machines. In other words, were dazed and confused.

Mindar, the new robotic priest in Japan's Kodaiji Buddhist temple.

Whatever your feelings about AI might be, the fact is its here to stay and will be around long after youre pushing up daisies. Latest case in point: fully functional robotic priests on the brink of running entirely on AI.

Priest Mindar

At Kodaiji, a 400-year-old Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan, theres a new priest named Mindar. He does everything his fellow priests do, delivering sermons and interacting with people who come to the temple to worship. But instead of flesh and blood, Mindars body made from silicone and aluminum. Thats right, hes a $1 million robot. Hes not yet powered by AI and only repeats the same sermon about the Heart Sutra, but he does it well. Plans are on the horizon to expand his capabilities so he can counsel worshippers on specific ethical problems and dole out spiritual guidance.

Priest Mindar delivers a sermon to Kyoto's masses.

In a country where religious affiliation has been declining for some time now, leaders are desperate to rekindle the passion for faith that once existed everywhere. Tensho Goto, the chief steward of Kodaiji, explains that: This robot will never die; it will just keep updating itself and evolving. With AI, we hope it will grow in wisdom to help people overcome even the most difficult troubles. Its changing Buddhism. Hes certain that one day robots like Mindar will be capable of advising fellow parishioners, blessing believers, and carrying out funeral proceedings.

Not the First Religious Robot

While Mindar is certainly a novel idea in Japan, robotics and AI have actually been part of other religions for several years. In 2017, two different religions incorporated robots into their operations. Germanys Protestant Church unveiled a robot called BlessU-2 that delivered preprogrammed blessings to more than 10,000 people to celebrate the Protestant Reformations 500th anniversary. Similarly, India introduced a robot capable of conducting the Hindu aarti ritual, a ceremony that consists of repeatedly moving a light in circles as a form of tribute to a deity.

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Germany's religious BlessU-2 robot, first unveiled in 2017.

SanTO, short for Sanctified Theomorphic Operator, is a 17-inch-tall robot that resembles Catholic saint statuettes. It was first introduced in 2019 to ease parishioners worries by reciting words of advice like: From the Gospel according to Matthew, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. According to roboticist Gabriele Trovato, SanTO was also developed to offer social interaction and religious comfort to elderly people with limited mobility.

Feedback and Fears

An AI hand reaches out toward a human one as a symbol of unity.

Not everyone is sure AI is a good idea for religion, but they do agree it will raise new questions and issues. Ilia Delio, a Franciscan sister who holds two PhDs and a chair in theology at Villanova University, said she thinks AI may compel a conventional religion like Catholicism to reexamine its perception of human priests as divinely called and sanctified (a distinction thats currently believed to endow them with special powers).

Delio clarifies that The Catholic notion would say the priest is ontologically changed upon ordination. We have these fixed philosophical ideas, and AI challenges those ideas  it challenges Catholicism to move toward a post-human priesthood.

There are also many questions about how robotics could alter our religious experiences. Customarily, those incidents are important in part because they leave opportunity for the impulsive, astounding, and even the supernatural  all of which could disappear in a world controlled by AI.
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is at the forefront of shaping how state insurance regulators all over the U.S. will deal with the legal cannabis market.

Lara is not only the chief insurance regulator of the nations largest cannabis market  one that other states with legal and medicinal programs coming online are using as an example  but he also chairs the National Association of Insurance Commissioners Cannabis Insurance Working Group, which in December approved a white paper outlining a framework for other states regulating insurance for the cannabis industry to follow.

The white paper, REGULATORY GUIDE: UNDERSTANDING THE MARKET FOR CANNABIS INSURANCE, outlines the challenges for the insurance industry in regulating cannabis and it establishes a guideline, or a starting point, for state insurance regulations.

If theres one take home from the paper for regulators to consider, its that theres much to be done, according to Lara.

It also points out that were not there yet, Lara said, describing the intent of the paper.

After just a year in office, its easy to identify in what areas Lara is positioning himself to take the lead among state insurance regulators.

Climate change is one issue on which hes been out in front. Among the numerous climate-related steps hes taken in the past year was the launch of a yearlong effort to develop a Sustainable Insurance Roadmap to confront Californias climate risks.

Cannabis and insurance is another hot topic for Lara.

Lara has continued an existing practice of encouraging insurers in the admitted market to offer more products and services to what he believes is an underserved cannabis industry, an effort that was started by Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones back in 2017.

Lara in January paved the way for people with cannabis-related convictions to become licensed insurance producers. Lara said the California Department of Insurance will use its discretion in deciding whether to issue licenses to those with cannabis-related convictions in support of Proposition 64, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, approved by voters in 2016.

The action clears obstacles to becoming an agent, broker, or other licensee for those whose past convictions are eligible to be dismissed or reduced under the current law.

When voters passed Prop 64, it was in line with our changing attitudes, Lara said, explaining his reasoning for the step.

Lara said after the decision that one question hes gotten is how the California Department of insurance will make sure consumers are protected.

The same way weve always protect consumers, Lara answered, adding that the decision doesnt change the vetting process for people to become licensed to sell insurance in California.

Were still going to vet every license, Lara said.

Elaborating on his earlier were not there yet, comment, Lara noted that one of the key findings of the NAIC white paper is that more insurance products are needed for the cannabis industry.

Insurance availability continues to lag behind the needs of the cannabis industry, Lara said.

The white paper calls attention to substantial gaps in insurance coverage for the cannabis industry, with glaring needs for all cannabis segments  cultivation, manufacturers, testing labs, distribution and retail.

Lara believes the best way to address the gaps are for states to engage admitted insurance carriers and encourage them to offer more products for cannabis businesses.

That is key to getting the admitted cannabis product onto the market, Lara said.

Even in California, where seven admitted carriers are now offering comprehensive coverage, up from just one when Golden Bears filing to sell cannabis business insurance was approved in 2017, there still isnt enough coverage available in Laras opinion.

No doubt that does not meet the demand of our businesses in California, Lara said. Were behind.

He added: I think we are unfortunately behind the curve in this emerging market.

The paper also recommends that each states insurance department have a dedicated cannabis industry expert to improve communications.

Perhaps the biggest challenge to getting cannabis businesses more access to insurance is that marijuana continues to be treated by the federal government as a Schedule 1 drug, making it difficult for these businesses to access essential services, such as banking, Lara said.

Asked if he supports the SAFE Banking Act, which would enable cannabis businesses access to regular banking services  the bill has been in limbo for some time in the Senate  he responded: Absolutely.

But until something big happens at the federal level, Lara believes that state insurance regulators must do what they can to encourage more products and innovation, and believes the NAIC white paper is a good start.

I think the bones of the white paper really give you a framework by which states can start making the changes necessary to be successful with their own cannabis industries within their own states, Lara said.

Topics California Cannabis
Local shares finished what was Topsy Turvy start to the week with modest losses. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 fell 10.1 points, or just over 0.1 per cent, to 7012.5.

In a repeat of Fridays trading session, the losses were once again led by energy and materials which skidded 0.9 per cent and 0.6 per cent respectively. In the energy space, Woodside Petroleum slipped 0.9 per cent to $33.56 while Origin Energy fell by a larger 1.7 per cent to $7.61, seeing the broader index close at the lowest level since late October.

The losses for materials were led by Boral after the company announced its chief executive Mike Cain will step down after the release of the companys full year results. Shares in the building materials firm tumbled 10.7 per cent to $4.60. Despite the fall, that only took them back to where they were trading a month ago.

BHP Billiton also weakened on the back of falling commodity prices and uncertainty over the outlook for Chinese demand, closing down 1 per cent at $38.40.

Information Technology also came under pressure, sliding 1.1 per cent with all the WAAAX stocks except for Altium falling more than 1 per cent. Afterpay Touch suffered the largest decline, slumping 2.3 per cent to $38.52.

Financials also dragged on the broader benchmark index, finishing with a decline of 0.4 per cent. IAG fell 2.7 per cent to $6.88, the largest percentage decline of any company in the financials index.

Offsetting those pockets of weakness, healthcare, consumer discretionary and consumer staples all rose more than 0.4 per cent.

CSL lifted 0.9 per cent to $322.96, closing at yet another record high. JB Hi-Fi was the standout among retail stocks, soaring 11.5 per cent to $44.71 after releasing a strong first half profit report. It too closed at the highest level on record.

For the session, 113 companies on the 200 fell, 74 rose while 13 were unchanged.
A group of Indian-Americans has said that India's decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir needs support from the US and it is the responsibility of the community to make the political leadership here aware of the ground realities in the region.

During a meeting at the Rajdhani Mandir in a Virginia suburb of Washington DC on Sunday, the participants said that Article 370 promoted "corruption, terrorism and dynasty politics" and its abrogation will allow the people to take the region to new heights.

The Indian government abolished Article 370 and split the state into two union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh in August last year.

Article 370 granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir and allowed it to have its own flag and constitution, among other rights.

Alok Srivastava, one of the participants, said India's stand on Kashmir needs American support.

Harsh Sethi, an Indian-American community leader, said, it is the responsibility of the community in the US to make the political leadership here aware of the ground realities and the truth."



For example, Congressman Tom Suozzi, a Democrat from New York sent a letter to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, on the actions of the Indian government in revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

"Once he met with the community and learned the truth, he acknowledged his mistake and apologized, Sethi noted.

Article 370 did not give anything except separatism, corruption, terrorism and family rule to Jammu and Kashmir. Decades of dynasty rule in J&K prevented the population from political leadership, he said.

Now the people of Jammu and Kashmir will lead the development work and take the region to new heights, Sethi said, asserting that the region has the potential to be the biggest tourist hub of the world.

The participants also made presentations and spoke on various issues highlighting the situation on Kashmir, including Myths & Facts about religious persecution of Hindus and other minorities in Kashmir and "Return of Kashmiri Hindus to Kashmir: Way Forward."



Srivastava said that India and the US are the largest and the oldest democracies on the earth and people of the two countries enjoy many similarities including religious freedom, freedom of speech and an established independent judiciary system.

"India currently is the fourth largest and soon will be the third largest economy of the world after the US and China, he said.

Uniformity in their federation and decrease in terrorism, will free up resources, to invest in development, providing opportunities to the US businesses and the world economy, besides helping us secure a peaceful world order, Srivastava said.

Rajeev Khanna, another participant, said that return of Kashmiri Hindus back to their homes and terrorism-free Kashmir is important.

It is unfortunate that one of India's neighbours continue to bleed India through terrorism. They believe it will make lives and development of Kashmiris so prohibitive that the region will fail, he said.

Therefore they are engaging in a low-cost and forcefully privatised proxy war by arming and training terrorists groups in Kashmir, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
"Its an open secret that every company is on fire," says Kintaba co-founder John Egan. "At any given moment something is going horribly wrong in a way that it has never gone wrong before." Code failure downtimes, server outages and hack attacks plague engineering teams. Yet the tools for waking up the right employees, assembling a team to fix the problem and doing a post-mortem to assess how to prevent it from happening again can be as chaotic as the crisis itself.

Text messages, Slack channels, task managers and Google Docs aren't sufficient for actually learning from mistakes. Alerting systems like PagerDuty focus on the rapid response, but not the educational process in the aftermath. Finally, there's a more holistic solution to incident response with today's launch of Kintaba.

The Kintaba team experienced these pains firsthand while working at Facebook after Egan and Zac Morris' Y Combinator-backed data transfer startup Caffeinated Mind was acqui-hired in 2012. Years later, when they tried to build a blockchain startup and the whole stack was constantly in flames, they longed for a better incident alert tool. So they built one themselves and named it after the Japanese art of Kintsugi, where gold is used to fill in cracked pottery, "which teaches us to embrace the imperfect and to value the repaired," Egan says.

With today's launch, Kintaba offers a clear dashboard where everyone in the company can see what major problems have cropped up, plus who's responding and how. Kintaba's live activity log and collaboration space for responders let them debate and analyze their mitigation moves. It integrates with Slack, and lets team members subscribe to different levels of alerts or search through issues with categorized hashtags.

"The ability to turn catastrophes into opportunities is one of the biggest differentiating factors between successful and unsuccessful teams and companies," says Egan. That's why Kintaba doesn't stop when your outage does.

Story continues

Kintaba Founders (from left): John Egan, Zac Morris and Cole Potrocky

As the fire gets contained, Kintaba provides a rich text editor connected to its dashboard for quickly constructing a post-mortem of what went wrong, why, what fixes were tried, what worked and how to safeguard systems for the future. Its automated scheduling assistant helps teams plan meetings to internalize the post-mortem.

Kintaba's well-pedigreed team and their approach to an unsexy but critical software-as-a-service attracted $2.25 million in funding led by New York's FirstMark Capital.

"All these features add up to Kintaba taking away all the annoying administrative overhead and organization that comes with running a successful modern incident management practice," says Egan, "so you can focus on fixing the big issues and learning from the experience."

Egan, Morris and Cole Potrocky met while working at Facebook, which is known for spawning other enterprise productivity startups based on its top-notch internal tools. Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz built a task management system to reduce how many meetings he had to hold, then left to turn that into Asana, which filed to go public this week.

The trio had been working on internal communication and engineering tools as well as the procedures for employing them. "We saw firsthand working at companies like Facebook how powerful those practices can be and wanted to make them easier for anyone to implement without having to stitch a bunch of tools together," Egan tells me. He stuck around to co-found Facebook's enterprise collaboration suite Workplace while Potrocky built engineering architecture there and Morris became a mobile security lead at Uber.

Like many blockchain projects, Kintaba's predecessor, crypto collectibles wallet Vault, proved an engineering nightmare without clear product market fit. So the team ditched it and pivoted to build out the internal alerting tool they'd been tinkering with. That origin story sounds a lot like Slack's, which began as a gaming company that pivoted to turn its internal chat tool into a business.

So what's the difference between Kintaba and just using Slack and email or a monitoring tool like PagerDuty, Splunk's VictorOps or Atlassian's OpsGenie? Here's how Egan breaks a site downtime situation handled with Kintaba:

Youre on call and your pager is blowing up because all your servers have stopped serving data. Youre overwhelmed and the root cause could be any of the multitude of systems sending you alerts. With Kintaba, you arent left to fend for yourself. You declare an incident with high severity and the system creates a collaborative space that automatically adds an experienced IMOC (incident manager on call) along with other relevant on calls. Kintaba also posts in a company-wide incident Slack channel. Now you can work together to solve the problem right inside the incidents collaborative space or in Slack while simultaneously keeping stakeholders updated by directing them to the Kintaba incident page instead of sending out update emails. Interested parties can get quick info from the stickied comments and #tags. Once the incident is resolved, Kintaba helps you write a postmortem of what went wrong, how it was fixed, and what will be done to prevent it from happening. Kintaba then automatically distributes the postmortem and sets up an incident review on your calendar.

Essentially, instead of having one employee panicking about what to do until the team struggles to coordinate across a bunch of fragmented messaging threads, a smoother incident reporting process and all the discussion happens in Kintaba. And if there's a security breach that a non-engineer notices, they can launch a Kintaba alert and assemble the legal and PR team to help, too.

Alternatively, Egan describes the downtime fiascoes he'd experience without Kintaba like this:

The on call has to start waking up their management chain to try and figure out who needs to be involved. The team maybe throws a Slack channel together but since theres no common high severity incident management system and so many teams are affected by the downtime, other teams are also throwing slack channels together, email threads are happening all over the place, and multiple groups of people are trying to solve the problem at once. Engineers begin stepping all over each other and sales teams start emailing managers demanding to know whats happening. Once the problem is solved, no one thinks to write up a postmortem and even if they do it only gets distributed to a few people and isnt saved outside that email chain. Managers blame each other and point fingers at people instead of taking a level headed approach to reviewing the process that led to the failure. In short: panic, thrash, and poor communication.

While monitoring-apps like PagerDuty can do a good job of indicating there's a problem, they're weaker at the collaborative resolution and post-mortem process, and designed just for engineers rather than everyone, like Kintaba. Egan says, "It's kind of like comparing the difference between the warning lights on a piece of machinery and the big red emergency button on a factory floor. Were the big red button . . . That also means you dont have to rip out PagerDuty to use Kintaba," since it can be the trigger that starts the Kintaba flow.

Still, Kintaba will have to prove that it's so much better than a shared Google Doc, an adequate replacement for monitoring solutions or a necessary add-on that companies should pay $12 per user per month. PagerDuty's deeper technical focus helped it go public a year ago, though it has fallen about 60% since to a market cap of $1.75 billion. Still, customers like Dropbox, Zoom and Vodafone rely on its SMS incident alerts, while Kintaba's integration with Slack might not be enough to rouse coders from their slumber when something catches fire.

If Kintaba can succeed in incident resolution with today's launch, the four-person team sees adjacent markets in task prioritization, knowledge sharing, observability and team collaboration, though those would pit it against some massive rivals. If it can't, perhaps Slack or Microsoft Teams could be suitable soft landings for Kintaba, bringing more structured systems for dealing with major screw-ups to their communication platforms.

When asked why he wanted to build a legacy atop software that might seem a bit boring on the surface, Egan concluded that, "Companies using Kintaba should be learning faster than their competitors . . . Everyone deserves to work within a culture that grows stronger through failure."
By Tufan Neupane This is the second part of a two-part series on livelihoods and conflict along the Mahakali. Read the first part here. There are three settlements of the Sona community in Bhimdatta municipality wards 11 (Bhujela) and 12 (Airi). Fishing has been their means of livelihood for generations, but is now under threat. The Bhimdatta municipality given a contract, based on a tender, for fishing along the river. The contractor needs to pay NPR 250,000 (USD 2,180) to the municipality for the monopoly on fishing in the area. Munna Sona, a-55-year old resident of Airi, used to collect 2-3 kilogrammes of fish per fishing trip, selling them in the market buy foodgrain to feed his family. This is no longer possible. The contractor says that I have invested a huge [amount of] money. From now onwards you are not allowed to fish, Munna said. If you want to continue fishing, you need to take permission by paying NPR 3,000 (USD 26). How can I pay that amount of money at a single time? Per capita income in Nepal is just over USD 1,000 per annum. NPR 3,000 would represent approximately ten days earnings of an average person. Sona and some of his friends approached the Ward Office to express their concerns. The staff of Ward Office said that they will ask the contractor to reduce [the permit cost] by NPR 200-400. We were compelled to pay NPR 2,500 (USD 22) for permission, he said. Giving up hope on the offices of the local government, Sona now works as a daily labourer. Premwati Sona, 53, from the same area said that her family have not eaten fish since the contract was awarded. Previously my husband and sons used to bring fish from the river. If we had got enough fish, we used to buy food grains from the money earned by selling fish, She said. Now we need to pay money to the contractor in advance. We dont have that money to pay. We left the fishing occupation. Now we are engaged in the works of breaking up pebbles and sand processing. They now have neither fish to eat, or sell.

Women have played a key role in conserving the river. Image via The Third Pole/ Abhaya Raj Joshi The women organise The women of Mahakali municipality number 9 have established a-28-member Kalika Women Empowerment Centre. These women had prohibited the acts of throwing garbage in the river. Likewise, they had prohibited the act of fishing by using poison, electricity and explosive equipment. This was after witnessing the harm of these activities, poisoned little fish, and serious injuries. One villager had lost a limb while using explosives. We had made plans of fishing in a certain season after conserving them the whol year, Purna Devi Kasera, the Coordinator of the Centre, said But the municipality offered a contract to a contractor leaving no room for benefit to the people who are devoted to the conservation of the river. Now people are left wonderin why they should conserve a resource which will be exploited by others. The municipality has developed Fishery Guidelines. A length of 1,200 metres along the river is identified as a protected area. Fishing is prohibited in the months of March, April, August and September. Women had made efforts of river conservation at a time when their husbands were in India for work. We had conserved the river  not even allowing the villagers to fish, Shanta Sunar, the Deputy Coordinator of the Centre, said. The villagers became our enemies after the municipality offered a contract to a contractor. The narrow goal of extracting maximum revenues is turning the local government against the very people on behalf it is supposed to govern. Revenue Sharing: An Apple of Discord between Local Levels The Mahakali Bhimdatta municipality and Mahakali municipality from each other. Since no exact demarcation line is drawn between the two municipalities, the river serves as a border. The river is also the main source of income for the municipalies, heightening tensions, since they were given the power to manage the river resources two years ago. Bhimdatta municipality entered into a contract for NPR 44.3 million (USD 386,000) to mine the riverbed for materials in August 2019. After a continued feud regarding revenue sharing remained unsolved, the Mahakali municipality also issued a tender call of NPR 10.12 million (USD 88,000). Each municipality wants to keep 70 percent of the revenues. The Mahakali municipality asked for a 50-50 split, but the Bhimdatta municipality is not ready to more than 35 percent. While the municipalities receive funds from the federal and provincial governments, their main source of revenue remains rent tax, property tax, and other local forms of revenue generation. The unresolved border, or ownership of the river, is therefore of prime importance. After failing to reach an agreement, both Municipalities made a Task Force comprising of four Ward Chairs of each municipality that are connected to Mahakali River. According to Dil Bahadur Sinjalai, Ward Chair of Mahakali municipality-6 and a member of the Task Force, a continued negotiation made an agreement of 50-50 revenue sharing. However, Bhimdatta municipality did not accept it. Himal Chand, Ward Chair of Bhimdatta municipality-11, and also a member of the Task Force, says that Mahakali municipality demanded 50% of revenues without any concrete basis whereas revenues need to be distributed on the basis of population, geography, stage of development, exploitation of river resources, impacts of export. This topic entered the District Coordination Committee after the Task Force of Ward Chairs failed to reach an agreement. Again, no agreement could be reached, and then Maan Bahadur Sunar, a member of the provincial parliament, tried, and also failed to help the municipalities reach an agreement. Bir Bahadur Sunar, mayor of Mahakali municipality, says that the revenue sharing dispute is connected to not only with Bhimdatta municipality but also with Shuklaphanta National Park. Mahakali municipality shares its border with Shuklaphanta National Park. No other agencies except Shuklaphanta National Park can collect revenues in the areas where the Park shares its border with the river. Since the river is considered as the border, Mahakali municipality has been claiming its share with the revenues generated by the river. This revenue sharing dispute also remains unresolved. Making a new federalism work

The competing jurisdictions of federal, provincial and municipal governments over the Mahakali make it difficult to resolve disputes. Image via The Third Pole/ Ramesh Bhushal Bhimarjun Acharya, a constitutional law expert, says that since federalism in its current form is new to Nepal, there is no experience in resolving disputes among federal units. He thinks that the disputes will only increase, going from river resources to other shared natural resources like jungles and mines.

This debate is spinning out in other areas as well. A lawsuit regarding forest usage between Province-2 and the Federal Government is in the Supreme Court. Similarly, there is a dispute between Province-5 and Gandaki Province with regard to construction of a diversion in Tinau River. Karnali Province has claimed its ownership in the Bheri-Babai Multipurpose Diversion Project. The federal, provincial, and local governments have different areas of jurisdiction according to the new Constitution promulgated in 2015. In practice, though, it is hard to disentangle them. The Constitution has envisaged three types of mechanisms to resolve such a dispute. One of them is the Inter-Provincial Council under Article 234 of the Constitution. This, though, does not deal with a dispute taking place at the municipal level. The next mechanism is National Natural Resource and Fiscal Commission constituted under article 251 of the Constitution. The responsibility of this Commission is to make recommendations about coordination and mitigation of disputes likely to arise regarding the distribution of natural resources between the Federation and Province, between the Provinces, between a Province and Local Level entity, or between Local Level entities. Gopikrishna Khanal, Joint-Secretary and Spokesperson of the Commission, says that not even a single issue of the dispute has been registered formally in the Commission. We are aware that disputes may arise. We study the technical aspects of the possible disputes, and submit the conclusions of the study to the government as suggestions, he said. He said that the Nepali model of federalism is based not on competition, but based on cooperation, co-existence and coordination, and the federal system will be institutionalised once the disputes are being resolved. The third mechanism envisaged is a constitutional remedy. The Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court does have the right to make constitutional remedy on such disputes. The Constitutional Bench works two days a week, and it does have the power of making judicial review as well. Because of a load of writs, it has not been able to resolve the cases in a timely fashion, and the squabble over resources between two tiny municipalities on the India-Nepal border is unlikely to get its attention any time soon. It seems that local conflicts will need local dispute settlement if they are to work, but there is no such institutional mechanism available. The Third Pole is a multilingual platform dedicated to promoting information and discussion about the Himalayan watershed and the rivers that originate there. This report was originally published on thethirdpole.net and has been reproduced here with permission.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said hes filing a lawsuit against Juul, contending the company misled consumers about the dangers of electronic cigarettes.

In a post on Twitter Monday morning, Shapiro accused the company of manipulating consumers and jacking up the nicotine rates of Juuls e-cigarettes. He also said the company has been lying about the dangers of its products and targeting children.

They must atone for hooking an entirely new generation of Pennsylvanians onto nicotine, Shapiro said on Twitter.

#BREAKING



Im filing suit against JUUL for manipulating consumers, jacking up nicotine rates, lying about the dangers of their product, and targeting children.



They must atone for hooking an entirely new generation of Pennsylvanians onto nicotine.  AG Josh Shapiro (@PAAttorneyGen) February 10, 2020

JUUL knowingly targeted young people with tactics similar to the tobacco companies playbook, Shapiro said in a statement. There is no proof these e-cigarettes are safe and until there is, we need to get JUUL products off shelves and out of the hands of young people."

Other states, including New York and California, have recently filed lawsuits, claiming Juul downplayed the addictive potential of its products and targeted teens.

Pennsylvanias action comes amid growing concerns from health professionals about lung illnesses tied to vaping.

In a statement released Monday, Austin Finan, a spokesman for Juul said, While we have not yet reviewed the complaint, we remain focused on resetting the vapor category in the U.S. and earning the trust of society by working cooperatively with attorneys general, regulators, public health officials, and other stakeholders to combat underage use and convert adult smokers from combustible cigarettes.

As part of that process, we stopped the sale of flavored pods other than Tobacco and Menthol in November, suspended all broadcast, print, and digital product advertising in the U.S. and are investing in scientific research to ensure the quality of our FDA Premarket Tobacco Product Application (PMTA) application and expanding our commitment to develop new technology to reduce youth use," the statement continued. "Our customer base is the worlds 1 billion adult smokers and we do not intend to attract underage users. As previously announced, JUUL Labs refrained from lobbying the Administration on its draft flavor guidance and supports its final policy.

Shapiro is seeking to have Juuls products taken off Pennsylvania shelves.

If that doesnt work, Shapiro wants tighter restrictions on the sale of Juuls products and he wants the company to pay for public health research and prevention programs aimed at kids.

As of Jan. 21, 2010, 2,711 cases of lung injury or illness tied to vaping have been reported nationwide, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Sixth deaths have been reported in 27 states and Washington D.C., but emergency room visits have been dropping in recent months after peaking in December, the CDC reports.

Juul e-cigarettes deliver more nicotine than most other brands and do it faster, according to a study by Penn State College of Medicine released in November.

The Juul users we studied obtained blood nicotine concentrations almost three times as high as most of the e-cigarette users we previously studied, Jessica Yingst, one of the researchers, said in November. Juuls nicotine delivery is very similar to that of cigarettes.

U.S. regulators have cracked down on many flavored e-cigarettes. Some flavored vaping products have been taken off the market this month, but critics have said the federal governments policy allows too many exceptions.

More from PennLive

Are your kids vaping? It may be hard to tell, but heres what to look for

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Chandigarh, Feb 10 : Almost a fortnight after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) took over the probe into the drug smuggling case involving the Pakistan-based Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) member Harmeet Singh aka PHD, who is believed to be dead, an NIA court sent three arrested accused to the anti-terror probe agency custody.

According to NIA officials, the court sent three accused -- Nirmal Singh, Satpal Singh and Hiralal -- for seven days to the agency's custody.

The case pertains to the arrest of three accused persons with 500 gms of Heroin and Rs 1.2 lakh in drug money for which a case was registered in Amritsar.

The Punjab Police had arrested three more accused persons were arrested in the month of December 2019.

NIA has taken over the probe on January 22 this year and booked the accused under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UaPA) and NDPS Act.

The NIA official said that during investigation, role of Harmeet Singh, Pakistan based chief of KLF, a proscribed terrorist organisation, has emerged in running a cross-border narco-terror network through drug smugglers, militant elements and hawala operatives based in Punjab and other states in India.

Harmeet Singh is believed to have been killed in Pakistan last month.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 10)  Philippine Airlines (PAL) extended its cancellation of flights from China, Hong Kong, and Macau until March 28 an advisory said Monday.

RELATED: Few China-PH flights remain amid travel ban

According to PAL, flights between Manila and Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Xiamen, Quanzhou (Jinjiang), Hong Kong, and Macau will remain cancelled.

We are compelled to cancel these flights until March 28 in view of the continuing travel restrictions imposed by the Philippine Government as a public health and safety measure, related to the novel coronavirus situation, the advisory read.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Feb. 2 ordered a ban on the entry of foreign travelers coming directly from China, Hong Kong and Macau or who have a history of travel to those places within the last 14 days. Filipinos and holders of permanent resident visas issued by the Philippines are allowed to enter the country but subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine. Filipinos are also barred from flying to those places.

As there is no definite end date to the travel ban and thus no certainty that we may resume flying after March 28, we are unable to carry out automatic flight re-accommodations for passengers of cancelled flights.

Once the travel ban is lifted and the flights are reinstated, passengers can rebook, reroute, or refund tickets within the tickets validity period, with rebooking, rerouting, or refund serve fees waived, the statement said.

The airline was mum about flights to Taiwan. On Monday, Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo said Taiwan has been included in the temporary travel ban, although it was enforced late last week and was not part of Duterte's initial order.

Domingo pointed out that the World Health Organization considers Taiwan as part of China. The Philippines also follows a "One-China" policy that recognizes China and limits relations with Taiwan to cultural and economic ties.

China considers the self-administered island of Taiwan as its province.
New Delhi, Feb 10 : The Supreme Court on Monday, taking suo motu cognizance on the death of a four-month-old, said how could an infant go to protest at Shaheen Bagh, and also how could mothers support this.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprising Justices B.R. Gavai and Surya Kant issued notice to the Centre and the Delhi government on suo motu plea to "stop involvement of children and infants in demonstrations".

A counsel appearing for the women in the protests claimed as per United Nations convention, children can participate in the protest. To this, the Chief Justice replied: "Can a 4-month-old child be taking part in such (Shaheen Bagh) protests?", Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was also present in the court, objected to the line of argument of the women's lawyers.

A group of women from Shaheen Bagh through the lawyer contended before the top court that even climate change activist Greta Thunberg was a child when she became a protester, and raised concerns on children from the area being called Pakistanis, traitors etc., in schools.

The Chief Justice, terming these arguments irrelevant, said: "Do not make such explosive submissions...we do not want people to use this platform to create more problems." Two women advocates claimed they represent the women involved in the protest.

The Chief Justice reiterated the query how could a four-month-old go to the protest site, and how could mothers justify this. The 4-month-old baby had passed away in his sleep on the night of January 30 after his parents returned from Shaheen Bagh.

As the counsel continued to argue on the plight of women and children in detention centres, the Chief Justice again told the counsels not to make irrelevant arguments on someone calling a child Pakistani in school, NRC, CAA or detention camps. "In this proceeding, we are considering the death of a four-month-old child," he said.

"We respect motherhood, social peace. Don't make arguments to generate guilt...", he added.

The apex court had taken cognizance of a letter by a 12-yr-old national bravery award winner, who wrote to the Chief Justice following the death of a 4-month-old infant allegedly due to exposure to cold as he was taken to the venue of the anti-CAA protest at Shaheen Bagh.
India is set to give final approval to a $2.6 billion deal for military helicopters from US defence firm Lockheed Martin ahead of a proposed visit by US President Donald Trump this month, defence and industry sources said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is trying to pull out all the stops for Trump's trip in a bid to reaffirm strategic ties between the two countries, which have been buffeted by sharp differences over trade, to counter China.

India's defence purchases from the United States have reached $17 billion since 2007 as it has pivoted away from traditional supplier Russia, looking to modernise its military and narrow the gap with China.

Modi's cabinet committee on security is expected to clear the purchase of 24 MH-60R Seahawk helicopters for the Indian navy in the next two weeks, a defence official and an industry source briefed on the matter separately told Reuters.

"It's a government-to-government deal, it is close," said the industry source.

To cut short lengthy negotiations between Lockheed and the Indian government, the helicopters that will be deployed on India's warships will be bought through the US foreign military sales route, under which the two governments will agree details of the deal.

Trump is expected in India around Feb 24 on his first official visit to the country, although no formal announcement has yet been made.

Both countries are separately working on a limited trade agreement ahead of the trip, after earlier imposing tit-for-tat tariffs on each other's imports.

Trump has called India the "tariff king of the world" but the Modi government has been trying to address some of his concerns.

Trade officials have pointed to large-scale US arms purchases, from surveillance planes to Apache and Chinook helicopters, as proof of India's willingness to tighten strategic ties.

The multirole helicopters will be equipped with Hellfire missiles and are meant to help the Indian navy track submarines in the Indian Ocean, where China is expanding its presence.

Many of India's warships are without any helicopters because of years of underfunding, and the navy had sought their acquisition as a top priority.

The government outlined only a modest rise in its 2020/21 defence spending to $73.65 billion in the budget on Feb. 1, of which a part will go towards making a down payment on the helicopter purchase, a defence official said.

"We expect a positive announcement soon on the helicopters," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of service rules. "There are limited resources, but there is an allocation."

The US State Department approved the sale of the choppers to India last year along with radars, torpedoes and 10 AGM-114 Hellfire missiles.

The clearance came after the Trump administration rolled out a new "Buy American" plan in 2018 that had relaxed restrictions on sales, saying it would bolster the American defence industry and create jobs at home.

The United States has also offered India the armed version of Guardian drones that were originally authorized for sale as unarmed for surveillance purposes, the first such approval for a country outside the NATO alliance.

India plans to buy 30 of these unmanned aircraft for surveillance of the Indian Ocean, at a cost estimated to be about $2.5 billion, from General Atomics.

However, the defence official said the deal is unlikely immediately because of lack of funds.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says promotion of gender equality and the meaningful engagement of women and girls was key to poverty eradication in Africa.

Mr Guterres stated this in his address to the 33rd African Union (AU) summit, which opened in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, on Sunday.

He said although the continent had made progress in gender equality and women empowerment, but much remained to be done.

Noting that the world was still dominated by men, the UN Chief emphasised that the search for global peace and sustainable development required womens leadership.

That is why I have made gender parity a centerpiece of UN reform, and gender equality and the advancement of women a top priority in all the UN does.

Peace, social cohesion and sustainable development require womens contribution and leadership.

It is our joint responsibility to ensure that women are not excluded from critical decision-making in peace processes and post-conflict governance.

Mr Guterres also reiterated his advocacy for youth empowerment and engagement at all levels of leadership in the continent.

Describing young people as agents of change, he said the had a lot to contribute and must, therefore, not be sidelined or excluded.

I am inspired by young people across Africa who have become advocates for peace through dialogue and addressing the root causes of conflict.

Let us work to provide not only social space for young people, but opportunities for work and incomes.

And let us ensure that Africas youth are equipped to take full advantage of the benefits that the digital revolution offers, he said.

1 million by 2021

He lauded the 1 million by 2021 initiative launched by the African Union Commission in 2019 to empower African youth.

Among other objectives, the initiative seeks to provide millions of African youth opportunities in the areas of employment, entrepreneurship, education and engagement.

He said the UN was ready to support the idea and other efforts to give young people a better future in the continent. (NAN)
An EU diplomat has slammed young people's commitment to climate change and dismissed it as 'Greta syndrome'.

Brussels foreign policy chief Josep Borrell doubted the generation's appetite for environmentalism would be so great if they were forced to foot the bill to compensate miners laid off in carbon-cutting efforts.

He later backtracked from the 'inappropriate reference' to the 17-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.

Speaking in the Belgian capital last Wednesday, Borrell said he had doubts about young people's commitment to tackling climate change.

He questioned whether they were ready to change their lifestyles to help compensate miners and others who will be most affected by measures to cut carbon emissions.

Josep Borrell (pictured n Brussels last month) dubbed young people's half-baked commitment to the fight against climate change as 'Greta syndrome'

Greta Thunberg gives a press conference during a meeting with climate activists in Sweden last month

'It is fine to demonstrate for climate change as long as you are not asked to contribute to pay for it,' Borrell said.

Under pressure, Borrell, a Spanish socialist, later apologised. 'I want to apologise to anyone that may have felt offended by my inappropriate reference to the important youth movement fighting #climatechange,' he tweeted on Saturday.

But facing more criticism on social media and from journalists, a commission spokeswoman was forced on Monday to repeat Borrell's apologies, describing his remarks as 'inappropriate'.

'We hope with that tweet ... the situation is clarified,' spokeswoman Dana Spinant told a news conference, adding that all commissioners supported young activists engaged to reducing the impact of climate change.
Current 25% tariffs on European wine and looming threats of increasing those tariffs to 100% stem from a dispute over subsidies the EU provides to Airbus. The EU needs to comply with the WTO rulings, and the US is within its rights to impose fair and effective tariffs to ensure this happens.

However, tariffs on wine are neither effective nor efficient as they do more harm to American owned businesses than they do to Europeans.

"China is a ready and willing customer for European wines not sold to American importers. New numbers from the Global Trade Atlas verify that the 25% tariffs are already speeding the growth of the Chinese market. While case sales of wine from France to the US plummeted by 48% during the first month of 25% tariffs, exports from France to China grew by 35%. China's purchases of French wines were 118% higher than the US in November," said Root.

Further, despite the huge drop in French wine exports to the U.S., overall French wine exports actually increased after the tariffs, showing just how ineffective tariffs on wine are in punishing France.

According to Meininger's Wine Business International, the EU is also releasing government marketing subsidies to build new trade partnerships. Releasing $1.3 billion of their 5 year funding cycle for immediate use; adding $12 million to the EU marketing budget for 2020; and allowing companies to redirect marketing plans without restriction.

Worse still, wine is a finite product. You cannot simply make more without large and long-term investment. Once new trade routes are established for a big chunk of this finite supply, it will be very difficult to bring that supply back, breaking a key tenet of wise tariff practice: don't cause long term damage for a short-term action.

Once imported into the United States, the wine trade is heavily regulated and taxed. The three-tier system in the US means 3 US owned companies generate revenue, profit, and employment for every single EU grower that produces the wine. These three layers add up quickly. In the first month after the 25% tariff implementation, US imports from France fell $35 million compared to the same month in 2018. If sold in the US, that wine would produce $148 million in profit and taxes right here in America.

The two biggest domestic wine trade organizations and thousands of individual wineries are opposed to these tariffs. The downstream effects of profit loss for distributors, retailers, and restaurantsas well as subsequent business closuresfar outweigh any possible short-term increase in sales of domestic wines.

Wine tariffs are inefficient, ineffective, and do disproportionate harm to American businesses. The USTR and the Administration will decide by February 17 whether to expand or contract tariffs arising out of the Airbus dispute. They should immediately cease the tariffs on wine.

"The transfer of a healthy, thriving industry to our biggest trade adversary is too great a price to pay for an ineffective trade action. Future action should target products that will effectively apply pressure to the EU to stop the Airbus subsidies and not disproportionately harm American business," concluded Root.

As predicted, the US-European wine trade is transferring directly to China, providing our biggest trade adversary, a new domestic commerce platform and unnecessarily depriving a healthy US industry a major portion of its supply chain.

Also as predicted, the current tariffs are ineffective in pressuring the EU to implement the DSB recommendations. French global exports are significantly up in the first month of the tariff action as China and other countries aggressively pursue goods available due to the imposed tariffs.

Tariffs on wine are ineffective against our trade adversaries, and they do disproportionate damage to American companies, especially small and medium sized businesses. The arguments are simple and compelling: (1) the US is replaceable as an importer of European wines, and it is easy for European producers to find other markets; (2) for the US these wines generally cannot be replaced with domestic products; and (3) 75-85% of the selling price of a bottle of wine is profit or taxes taken by American entities.

SOURCE U.S. Wine Trade Alliance
Ocean Prime | Photo: Phong N./Yelp

Wondering where to find the best steakhouses near you?

Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the top steakhouses in Orlando, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of the best spots to satisfy your cravings.

Consumers in the Orlando area usually spend more in the winter at restaurants than any other season of the year, according to data on local business transactions from Womply, a software provider that also helps companies find free business advertising. The average amount spent per customer transaction at Orlando-area restaurants grew to $26 for the metro area in the winter of last year, 2% higher than the average for the rest of the year.

Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions.

1. Kres Chophouse

PHOTO: annie k./YELP

First on the list is Kres Chophouse. Located at 17 W. Church St. in the Central Business District, the restaurant and bar is the highest-rated steakhouse in Orlando, boasting 4.5 stars out of 536 reviews on Yelp.

2. Cafe Mineiro

PHOTO: samuli k./YELP

Next up is Florida Center's Cafe Mineiro, situated at 6432 International Drive. With four stars out of 291 reviews on Yelp, the Brazilian steakhouse has proved to be a local favorite.

3. Ocean Prime

PHOTO: karena l./YELP

Ocean Prime, a member of the chain located at 7339 W. Sand Lake Road, is another top choice, with Yelpers giving the New American spot, which offers steaks, seafood and more, 4.5 stars out of 470 reviews.

4. La Boucherie

Photo: kieuoanh n./Yelp

La Boucherie, a French cocktail bar and steakhouse in Florida Center, is another much-loved go-to, with 4.5 stars out of 145 Yelp reviews. Head over to 7625 Turkey Lake Road to see for yourself.

This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
The automotive aftermarket e-retailing market is expected to grow by USD 41.86 billion during 2020-2024, according to the latest market research report by Technavio. Request a free sample report

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200210005297/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled global automotive aftermarket e-retailing market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire)

Constant advances in computing technology and the emergence of new digital data sources have reinvented the core disciplines of the automotive aftermarket. E-retailers are increasingly using analytical tools to collect customer data, which along with location-based capabilities allows e-retailers to provide personalized offers on the sale of auto parts. The use of analytical tools also allows e-retailers to optimize inventory management. This can lead to significant cost savings, which reduce the margin pressure on e-retailers caused by factors, such as the increase in prices of parts and other macro-economic factors. Thus, the use of advanced analytical tools is expected to boost the growth of the market during the forecast period.

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=IRTNTR40628

As per Technavio, the booming e-commerce market driving online sales of automotive parts will have a positive impact on the market and contribute to its growth significantly over the forecast period. This research report also analyzes other significant trends and market drivers that will influence market growth over 2020-2024.

Automotive Aftermarket E-Retailing Market: Booming E-Commerce Market Driving Online Sales of Automotive Parts

Internet penetration has increased at a significant rate, especially in developing economies due to the introduction of low-cost 4G data connections. For instance, in 2019, the global internet penetration was more than 50% and is expected to grow at a high rate during the forecast period. Strong Internet connectivity is resulting in the growth of the global e-commerce industry. Moreover, the trust built by the e-commerce industry among customers across the world is becoming a crucial factor for the growth of the automotive aftermarket e-retailing market. E-commerce companies promote vehicle modifications in a very impressive manner which attracts the young population. For instance, Lexani, a California-based company offers luxury vehicle accessories online. Similarly, Brabus is a company that focuses on modifying and enhancing vehicles. It has created a car configurator to allow customers to modify and create their own cars online.

"Factors such as the growing demand for vehicle customization and increasing vehicle lifespan leading to vehicle parc growth will have a positive impact on the growth of the automotive aftermarket e-retailing market during the forecast period," says a senior analyst at Technavio.

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Automotive Aftermarket E-Retailing Market: Segmentation Analysis

This market research report segments the automotive aftermarket e-retailing market by product (wheels and tires, brakes and brake pads and others), customer type (DIY customers and professional customers), and geographic segmentation (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America and South America).

The North American region led the automotive aftermarket e-retailing market in 2019, followed by Europe, APAC, South America and MEA. During the forecast period, the North American region is expected to register the highest incremental growth due to factors such as growing population of vehicles, strong presence of organized automotive aftermarket stores, and the increasing demand for aftermarket auto parts from professional and DIY customers.

Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report, such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Request a free sample report

Some of the key topics covered in the report include:

Product

Wheels and tires

Brakes and brake pads

Others

Customer type

DIY customers

Professional customers

Geographic segmentation

APAC

Europe

MEA

North America

South America

Market Drivers

Market Challenges

Market Trends

Vendor Landscape

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Competitive scenario

About Technavio

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/20200210005297/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: media@technavio.com

Website: https://www.technavio.com/
Panel that will examine bill to raise legal age of marriage has one woman member out of 31

25-year-old lecturer set ablaze by stalker in Maharashtra's Wardha district dies of septicemic shock

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Nagpur, Feb 03: A 25-year-old woman teaching at a college in Maharashtra's Wardha district, who was set ablaze by a stalker on 3rd February has succumbed to her injuries on Monday. The probable cause of death was septicemic shock.

Dr Anup Marar, Director, Orange City Hospital & Research Center, Nagpur said,'' The patient was declared dead at 6.55 am today. The probable cause of death was Septicemic shock. Her body has been handed over to police authorities for postmortem.''

The victim, Ankita Pisudde, a resident of Daroda village in Wardha, suffered 70 per cent burns and inhalation injuries were admitted to a hospital in Nagpur.

The accused, Vikesh Nagrale (27), who was the victim's friend till two years back before she broke ties with him, has been arrested, the official said.

20-year-old woman set ablaze by boyfriend's family; battles for life

The incident took place around 7.15 am when the woman alighted from a state transport bus in Hingnaghat town of Wardha, located about 75 km from here, to get to the college.

NEWS AT NOON JAN 10th, 2020

At that time, 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, Hingnaghat police station inspector Satyaveer Bandiwar said.

"Some passers-by poured water on the woman and rushed her to a nearby primary health centre from where she was shifted to Orange City Hospital in Nagpur. She has suffered 40 per cent burns," the official said.

The hospital authorities later released a bulletin, stating that the woman suffered "grade II deep dermal burns covering scalp, face, right upper limb, left hand, upper back, full neck with an approximation of 40 per cent burns with inhalation injuries affecting respiratory system also."

23-year-old woman who set herself ablaze after filing rape complaint dies at Hospital

Nagrale, who fled the scene of the crime, was nabbed from Takalghat village and charged under Indian Penal Code Sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means, Wardha Superintendent of Police Basavaraj Teli said.

"Nagrale, also from Daroda village, 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.
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The Report Toaster Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product (Pop-up, Oven, Conveyor), By Application (Residential, Commercial), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2019  2025

The global toaster market size is expected to reach USD 4.5 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc., registering a 4.8% CAGR during the forecast period. The market is mainly driven by increasing demand from quick service restaurants. This is one of the best labor-saving appliances used across homes, hotels, cafes, and restaurants. Technological advancements in the appliance over years has significantly benefited market growth. Manufacturers are constantly looking to innovate new and versatile appliances that can fit into different spaces, have various capabilities and sizes, and offer varied heating specifications that can range from simplistic to extreme, depending on how one prefers their bread.

Significant improvement in purchasing power of consumers for advanced kitchen appliances in developing countries such as China and India has also had a positive impact on product demand over the forecast period. In light of this, the market in Asia Pacific accounted for over 40.0% of the revenue in 2018. Increasing consumption of various types of breads for breakfast among many South Asian countries is driving the market. For instance, a study by Japanese consulting and economic research firm Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. finds that close to 51.0% of people in Japan prefer bread as part of their breakfast meal, overtaking the traditionally preferred item  rice.

On the basis of product, the toaster market is segmented into pop-up, oven, and conveyor toasters. Pop-up toasters held the largest market share in 2018 and are the most preferred type among consumers. These appliances consume lesser energy as compared to toasting bread in the oven or stove, which are less efficient. Conveyor toasters form the fastest growing segment owing to rising demand in commercial applications such as restaurants and hotels as they can toast larger quantities compared to household variants such as pop-up toasters.

By way of application, the residential sector accounted for the dominant share in 2018. With bread being a vital breakfast item for consumers across the globe, the convenience provided by toasters for a quick, easy, and delicious breakfast will continue to be a key factor keeping product demand high in the residential segment. Nevertheless, the commercial sector will register the fastest growth over the forecast period.

An increasing number of manufacturers and distributors have been entering the industry, ensuring stiff competition. The market is primarily dominated by regional and local players and more than 60.0% of the market is reportedly unorganized. New product launches, strong marketing campaigns, and strategic partnerships and collaborations are, therefore, crucial to holding a prominent position in the market. For instance, the steam toaster by Balmuda, a Japanese design and manufacturing company, uses steam technology and temperature control to keep the bread from drying out. A small amount of water is poured into the toaster, which ensures retention of moisture and aroma of the bread.

Access Research Report of Toaster Market @ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/toaster-market

Further key findings from the report suggest:

By product, conveyor toasters are projected to register the highest CAGR of 5.95% over the forecast period owing to rising demand in commercial applications such as restaurants and hotels

In terms of application, the residential sector dominated the global market with a share of over 70.0% in 2018. The commercial sector will emerge as the fastest growing segment by 2025

Asia Pacific held the dominant share of 40.08% in 2018. The region will continue its leading streak over the next few years, propelled by increasing disposable income in countries like India, South Korea, and China

The toaster industry is highly competitive in nature with manufacturers concentrating on new product launches, marketing campaigns, and technological innovations to stay ahead. Some of the key players are The APW Wyott, Hatco, Star Manufacturing International, Waring Commercial, and Toastmaster.

Grand View Research has segmented the global toaster market on the basis of product, application, and region:

Toaster Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2015 - 2025)

Pop-up

Oven

Conveyor

Toaster Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2015 - 2025)

Commercial

Residential

Toaster Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2015 - 2025)

North America U.S.

Europe Germany U.K.

Asia Pacific China India

Central & South America Brazil

Middle East & Africa South Africa



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.
President Donald Trump has submitted a budget blueprint to Congress, and Congress will ignore it, as tradition, the Constitution, and prudence all dictate  the power to spend and the power to tax reside with the legislative branch, not with the executive. This is another example of American politics as ritual.

The Democrats still have declared themselves appalled by Trumps proposals, which include cuts to many government agencies (which employ many Democrats) and to programs for poor people. Democrats object to this. At the same time, the Trump schematic maintains a political moat around welfare programs that benefit relatively well-off people, Social Security and Medicare prominent among them.

Democrats do not in general advocate cuts to entitlements for affluent people, either. And, in fact, some of the most popular items on the current Democratic agenda are wealth transfers to people who are relatively well-off and in some cases very well-off. The most prominent example of that is the proposal to pay off Americans college loans for them. The wage premium for college graduates has fluctuated a bit over the years, but college graduates on average still earn much more than non-graduates, and they end up about twice as wealthy. Most of the borrowers with college loans are able to repay them out of a relatively small portion of their incomes, and the people who are the most burdened by their student loans are, counterintuitively, those with the least debt: We see those shocking stories about recent graduates with six-figure debt burdens, but borrowers with $5,000 or less in student debt are almost twice as likely to be in default as those with $100,000 or more.

Which is to say, if you were trying to design a program that would concentrate its benefits on those who are the least well-off and most in need of help, then people with big debts resulting from an expensive university education probably would be somewhere near the bottom of your list. Not every student borrower graduates, of course, but student debt is the most concentrated among those who end up earning the most. If you go to Stanford Law or the Harvard Business School, you may have big debts, but you also are likely to have a big income. The same is true to a less dramatic extent for undergraduate borrowers: The kids at Princeton at going to be okay, and so are the ones at the University of Texas and Berkeley, the ones getting pharmacy degrees from the University of Kentucky, etc. That is why the college-debt programs put forward both by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D., Harvard) and Senator Bernie Sanders (Socialist, Soviet Honkystan) both disproportionately benefit rich people. Sanderss proposal would benefit the wealthy slightly more than Warrens would.

Story continues

Likewise, people who benefit from Social Security are wealthier than average, which is not surprising, given that people tend to accrue more wealth as they get older: The median net worth of Americans 5564 was just under $200,000, according to a 2016 Federal Reserve study, while the mean was $1.2 million. The radical difference between the median and the mean means that there are some very, very rich oldsters out there, but Bill Gates and Bruce Springsteen are eligible for Social Security and Medicare simply by virtue of their age. When you hear about means-testing entitlements, thats what is meant. And while the money that goes to a handful of dusty billionaires may not actually be all that much in the context of overall entitlement spending, overall Social Security spending disproportionately benefits relatively affluent people, in part because of flaws in the design of the program that are well understood but politically impossible to fix.

Senator Sanderss giveaway to college borrowers will cost about $1.6 trillion. Thats enough to send a check for $125,000 to every American household in the poorest 10 percent or to buy about 15 million houses and give them away to poor people. Invested at a 3 percent return, that money could generate almost $90,000 a year to look after every homeless person in the United States  forever. But none of that quite captures the Democratic imagination like funding a $1.6 trillion wealth transfer from American taxpayers, at least some of whom are of relatively modest means, to a group of people who are on average wealthier than the average American, high-earning, more upwardly mobile, more likely to come from affluent backgrounds, and more likely to be white. Representing Vermont, as he does (What was wrong with Brooklyn, Senator?), Bernie Sanders is something of an expert on the needs and aspirations of relatively affluent white people with college degrees. Senator Sanders is a class-war man, it is true, but maybe not the kind youd think.

That $1.6 trillion is a lot of money. But so is the cost of Social Security, a program under which we spend that $1.6 trillion about every 18 months or so.

So the Sanders Democrats and the Trump Republicans agree about at least one thing: Both camps are committed to protecting and expanding welfare benefits for those who need them least. When push comes to shove, Republicans and Democrats alike choose to comfort the comfortable.

And that is not necessarily the wrong idea. Those Scandinavian welfare states that Senator Sanders says he admires (and who knows why?  they are far from the socialism he claims to profess) tend to operate on a similar model with one important difference: As with the United States, the Nordic countries tend to concentrate benefits on the middle classes; unlike the United States, they tax their middle classes heavily to pay for those middle-class benefits. Nordic nations offer their citizens  all of their citizens, but especially the middle class  high-quality services that save people a lot of money, time, and trouble, as Anu Partanen, a Finland-born journalist, put it in The Atlantic. This is what Americans fail to understand: My taxes in Finland were used to pay for top-notch services for me.

There are two main ways of conceptualizing a welfare state. One model is redistribution, taking money from the relatively well-off and spending it on the relatively poor. Thats the model that programs such as food stamps are based on. Another model is consumption-smoothing, which is really the basis of most social-insurance programs. It is a kind of forced-savings program, a way for the relatively young, healthy, higher-income you to transfer money to the older, sicker, lower-income you. This is the kind of program that F. A. Hayek described as providing for those common hazards of life against which few can make adequate provision.

Bringing the affluent into the group of welfare-state beneficiaries is usually good politics  A program for the poor is a poor program, the proverb advises, and canny politicians such as Franklin Roosevelt made sure that the American entitlement model would rely more on the self-interest of the middle and upper classes than on their philanthropic impulses.

The problem is that the American model is half-redistributionist and half-Scandi  and the wrong half in both cases. Our tax system concentrates the burdens of paying for the welfare state very heavily upon the highest-earning Americans (the top 10 percent of earners pay 70 percent of federal income taxes, and the top half of earners provide nearly all federal revenue), but relatively little of that money goes to supporting programs for the poor. At the same time, the middle class enjoys generous entitlement benefits but is not taxed at a rate sufficient to pay for them, which is why Social Security and Medicare are the major long-term drivers of federal debt. The Trump administration is touting the best economy in American history (it isnt that  not by a long shot  but it is pretty good) and, even with reasonable growth and low unemployment, we are expected to run a deficit of more than $1 trillion this year. Those middle-class benefits are expensive, but there is no serious effort among Republicans or Democrats to impose the taxes necessary to pay for them.

Eventually, we are going to have to align our tax burden with our benefit-driven spending commitments. That means either much higher taxes or big cuts in benefits. Naturally, well start with cuts to programs for poor people  politically speaking, poor people do not matter very much. Thats why Republicans will put forward cuts for food stamps long before they consider cuts to Social Security, and why leading progressives such as Senator Sanders and Senator Warren are going to bat for a $1.6 trillion wealth transfer to the well-off.

More from National Review
The 36-year-old man pleaded guilty to one charge each of aggravated molestation and committing an obscene act with a child. (Photo: Getty)

SINGAPORE  A 36-year-old man who was entrusted to fetch his primary school goddaughter from school sexually abused her in a public toilet, a court heard.

The perpetrators girlfriend found naked photos of the girl, who was between five and six, while going through his computer and made a police report.

At the State Courts on Monday (10 February), the man was jailed for five years along with six strokes of the cane.

The man pleaded guilty to one charge each of aggravated molestation and committing an obscene act with a child. He and the girl cannot be named due to a gag order imposed by the court.

Abused victim in toilet

The man was friends with the victims father. He would fetch her from school and sometimes bought food for her before sending her home.

Sometime in 2015, after he had picked her up from school, the man brought her to Toa Payoh Hub. When he felt the urge to urinate, he brought the girl into a handicapped toilet with him.

After he had relieved himself, the man suddenly became sexually aroused and felt the urge to masturbate, Deputy Public Prosecutor Colin Ng told the court. The culprit asked the girl to undress and took a photo of her while she sat on the toilet bowl with her legs spread apart.

The perpetrator then touched and took two close-up photos of the girls private parts. He then masturbated himself.

Throughout the entire ordeal, the victim kept quiet as she did not comprehend the nature of the accuseds actions, said DPP Ng.

The accused kept the three photos so that he could masturbate to them. He also copied the photos onto a hard disk belonging to him, the prosecutor added.

Girlfriend found photos

Two years later, in May 2017, the mans 38-year-old girlfriend was going through his computer when she came across the photos. She recognised the victims face in the first photo and the mans fingers in the close-up photos and confronted him, demanding that he delete them. However, the culprit refused to do so.

Story continues

The girlfriend then told the victims parents about the matter. They didnt believe her at first, but became furious when she sent them the photos.

The victims father wanted to make a police report but the accused begged him not to do so. The father also decided against making a report to protect his daughters privacy.

However, the perpetrators girlfriend went ahead to make a police report. When the culprit found out about it, he deleted the photos and threw away the hard disk.

In asking for the jail term that was meted out, DPP Ng pointed out that the man was previously fined for masturbating along a corridor when he saw two young girls below 10.

A report from the Institute of Mental Health also stated that the paedophile has a high risk of reoffending.

The maximum punishment for using criminal force to outrage the modesty of a child below 14 is up to five years jail along with a fine and caning.

For committing an obscene act with a child, the maximum penalty is a fine of up to $10,000 and up to five years jail, for a first-time offender. Repeat offenders face a fine of up to $20,000 and up to seven years jail.

Other Singapore stories:

Senior public servant denies molesting 2 colleagues on 9 occasions

Coronavirus: LPGA cancels HSBC Womens World Championship 2020 in Singapore

Coronavirus: 3 new cases in Singapore, total at 43

Coronavirus: MOM revokes work passes of 4 holders for breaching 14-day leave of absence rule
From wails to high-pitched slogans demanding death for the accused, emotions ranged from one extreme to another as the 25-year-old woman lecturer, who died on Monday morning, days after she was set ablaze by a stalker, was cremated in the presence of thousands in Daroda village in Maharashtra's Wardha district in evening.

Amid outpouring of grief and anger, Ankita Pisudde's last journey began from the hospital in Nagpur, where she breathed her last this morning, to her native village Daroda via Hinganghat--the total distance of about 100 kms.

While heavy security was deployed in Hinganghat, some angry locals threw stones to block the road when the ambulance carrying the body was on way to Daroda.

The local police, however, managed to control the situation and the Rapid Action Force was also deployed in the area, an official said.

Earlier in the day, residents of Daroda village blocked the highway demanding capital punishment for the arrested accused, Vikesh Nagrale (27),



Nagrale allegedly set Pisudde ablaze after dousing her with petrol, which he took out from his motorcycle, on the morning of February 3 in Hinganghat while she was on her way to her college.

Pisudde suffered inhalation injuries and grade-III burns of 35-40% in the attack.

According to police, Nagrale, a married man, had been stalking the lecturer for many days before the attack.

After the ambulance carrying Pisudde's body entered the village in afternoon, a large number of crowd, mainly comprising women and children, followed it to the residence of the deceased.

Villagers assembled at the spot demanded a written assurance from the state government asking a government job for the victim's younger brother, a compensation of Rs one crore and the strictest punishment for Nagrale.

Wardha district collector gave a written assurance on the government job for Pisudde's younger brother.

Pisudde's final journey began around 4:30 pm from her residence to the crematorium, a distance of around 1 km.

By that time, the crowd swelled to more than 5,000, with many people from neighbouring villagers too joining the funeral procession.

Around 5:30 pm, Pisudde's father lit the funeral pyre amid spontaneous cries demanding justice for the deceased and slogans hailing the young lecturer.

Many people, especially women, present at the crematorium couldn't control their tears as the flames of the pyre went up.

Many women demanded implementation of the "Hyderabad pattern" to give justice to Pisudde.

All businesses in the small village remained shut throughout the day as a tribute to the departed soul.

Villagers, mostly farmers, didn't go to their fields for regular work.

Pisudde's distraught father said he hoped his daughter would get speedy justice and it would not be delayed like the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape case.

"The accused man should also go through the pain that my daughter had suffered in these seven days. We want immediate justice and it should not be delayed as in the Nirbhaya case," he told reporters in the village.

Hinganghat MLA Samir Kunawar and Wardha MP Ramdas Tadas also attended the last rites of the victim.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bong Joon-ho (C), fellow crew, and cast members accept the Best Picture award for 'Parasite' onstage during the 92nd Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on February 09, 2020 in Hollywood, California. Kevin Winter

"Parasite" took home the top prize at the 92nd Academy Awards, becoming the first non-English language film to win the best picture award. The South Korean movie was considered an underdog headed into the Sunday night's ceremony, beating out strong competition from "1917" and "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" for the best picture win. It also won the award for best international feature, best director and best original screenplay. It is South Korea's first nominated film. "I'm speechless," producer Kwak Sin Ae said during her acceptance speech. "We never imagined this to ever happen. We are so happy." "Parasite" has become a bit of a breakout hit in the U.S. and gained momentum heading into Sunday's Oscars. The film won prizes from the Writers Guild of America, Independent Spirit Awards and BAFTAs. Bong Joon Ho's win for directing was an upset as "1917's" Sam Mendes was the favorite after securing the Golden Globe and Directors Guild awards for best director.

Universal's "1917" took home three prizes: cinematography, sound editing and visual effects. Disney garnered wins for "Toy Story 4" in the best animation category, "Jojo Rabbit" in the best adapted screenplay category and two for "Ford v. Ferrari," which won for film editing and sound editing. Netflix, which nabbed 24 nominations for the big awards ceremony, more than any other media company this year, received trophies for best documentary and best supporting actress. Warner Bros. scored wins for best score and best actor.

Talk of the town

Presenters and winners at the 92nd annual Academy Awards didn't hold back during the start of the 2020 Oscars. Heading into the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had been criticized for its lack of diversity. Janelle Monae's opening song and the opening monologue given by Steve Martin and Chris Rock were quick to poke fun at how few nominees were women or people of color. Only two of the 20 actors and actresses nominated were people of color, and no female director was nominated this year. Of the nine films nominated for best picture, only the South Korean movie "Parasite" featured a predominantly nonwhite cast, and only one, "Little Women," was centered around numerous female characters. Actress Natalie Portman made her discontent with the lack of female director nominees known by wearing a cape embroidered with the names of the snubbed directors while walking the red carpet before the show.

(L-R) Choreographer Benjamin Millepied and Natalie Portman attend the 92nd Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood and Highland on February 09, 2020 in Hollywood, California. Kevin Mazur

"We have a firm belief that representation matters deeply, especially in cartoons," Karen Rupert Toliver, producer of animated short winner "Hair Love"  about the beauty of black hair  said during her acceptance speech. "Because in cartoons that's where we first see our movies and how we shape our lives and think about how we see the world." In addition to commentary about inclusion, the Academy Awards quickly got off to a political start after Brad Pitt won the award for supporting actor. "They told me I only have 45 seconds up here," he said. "Which is 45 seconds more than the Senate gave John Bolton this week. I'm thinking maybe Quentin [Tarantino] does a movie about it and in the end the adults do the right thing." In the past, award shows like the Academy Awards have been a place for the film industry elite to air grievances. Statements about the inequality of pay between men and women in Hollywood, women's rights, gay rights and police brutality against people of color have all been prevalent in the last few years.

(L-R) James Corden and Rebel Wilson speak onstage during the 92nd Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on February 09, 2020 in Hollywood, California. Kevin Winter

Adding levity to the ceremony was James Corden and Rebel Wilson who arrived on stage dressed as cats to give out the award for best visual effects. "As cast members of the motion picture 'Cats,'" Wilson began. "Nobody more than us understands the importance of," Corden added. "Good visual effects," they said in unison to thunderous laughter. The pair then batted the microphone like a cat toy after announcing the nominees. Here is the complete list of winners and nominees from the 2020 Academy Awards: Best picture "Parasite" (WINNER)

"Ford v. Ferrari"

"The Irishman"

"Jojo Rabbit"

"Joker"

"Little Women"

"Marriage Story"

"1917"

"Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" Performance by an actress in a leading role Renee Zellweger, "Judy" (WINNER)

Cynthia Erivo, "Harriet"

Scarlett Johansson, "Marriage Story"

Saoirse Ronan, "Little Women"

Charlize Theron, "Bombshell" Performance by an actor in a leading role Joaquin Phoenix, "Joker" (WINNER)

Antonio Banderas, "Pain and Glory"

Leonardo DiCaprio, "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood"

Adam Driver, "Marriage Story"

Jonathan Pryce, "The Two Popes" Achievement in directing Bong Joon Ho, "Parasite" (WINNER)

Martin Scorsese, "The Irishman"

Todd Phillips, "Joker"

Sam Mendes, "1917"

Quentin Tarantino, "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" Achievement in music written for motion pictures (original song) Elton John and Bernie Taupin, "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" from "Rocketman" (WINNER)

Randy Newman, "I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away" from "Toy Story 4

Diane Warren, "I'm Standing With You" from "Breakthrough"

Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, "Into the Unknown" from "Frozen II"

Joshuah Brian Campbell and Cynthia Erivo, "Stand Up" from "Harriet" Achievement in music written for motion pictures (original score) Hildur Gudnadottir, "Joker" (WINNER)

Alexandre Desplat, "Little Women"

Randy Newman, "Marriage Story"

Thomas Newman, "1917"

John Williams, "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" International feature film South Korea, "Parasite" (WINNER)

Poland, "Corpus Christi"

North Macedonia, "Honeyland"

France, "Les Miserables"

Spain, "Pain and Glory" Achievement in makeup and hairstyling Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan and Vivian Baker, "Bombshell" (WINNER)

Nicki Ledermann and Kay Georgiou, "Joker"

Jeremy Woodhead, "Judy"

Paul Gooch, Arjen Tuiten and David White, "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil"

Naomi Donne, Tristan Versluis and Rebecca Cole, "1917" Achievement in visual effects Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler and Dominic Tuohy, "1917" (WINNER)

Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken and Dan Sudick, "Avengers: Endgame"

Pablo Helman, Leandro Estebecorena, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser and Stephane Grabli, "The Irishman"

Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Elliot Newman, "The Lion King"

Robert Guyett, Neal Scanlan, Patrick Tubach and Dominic Tuohy, "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" Achievement in film editing Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland, "Ford v. Ferrari" (WINNER)

Thelma Schoonmaker, "The Irishman"

Tom Eagles, "Jojo Rabbit"

Jeff Groth, "Joker"

Yang Jinmo, "Parasite" Achievement in cinematography Roger Deakins, "1917" (WINNER)

Rodrigo Prieto, "The Irishman"

Lawrence Sher, "Joker"

Jarin Blaschke, "The Lighthouse"

Robert Richardson, "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" Achievement in sound mixing Mark Taylor and Stuart Wilson, "1917" (WINNER)

Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson and Mark Ulano, "Ad Astra"

Paul Massey, David Giammarco, and Steven A. Morrow, "Ford v. Ferrari"

Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic, and Tod Maitland, "Joker"

Michael Minkler, Christian P. Minkler and Mark Ulano, "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" Achievement in sound editing Donald Sylvester, "Ford v. Ferrari" (WINNER)

Alan Robert Murray, "Joker"

Oliver Tarney and Rachael Tate, "1917"

Wylie Stateman, "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood"

Matthew Wood and David Acord, "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" Actress in a Supporting Role Laura Dern, "Marriage Story" (WINNER)

Kathy Bates, "Richard Jewell"

Scarlett Johansson, "Jojo Rabbit"

Florence Pugh, "Little Women"

Margot Robbie, "Bombshell"

Laura Dern, winner of the Actress in a Supporting Role award for "Marriage Story," poses in the press room during the 92nd Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood and Highland on February 09, 2020 in Hollywood, California. Jeff Kravitz

Best documentary short subject "Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl)" (WINNER)

"In the Absence"

"Life Overtakes Me"

"St. Louis Superman"

"Walk Run Cha-Cha" Best documentary feature "American Factory" (WINNER)

"The Cave"

"The Edge of Democracy"

"For Sama"

"Honeyland" Achievement in costume design Jacqueline Durran, "Little Women" (WINNER)

Sandy Powell and Christopher Peterson, "The Irishman"

Mayes C. Rubeo, "Jojo Rabbit"

Mark Bridges, "Joker"

Arianne Phillips, "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" Achievement in production design Barbara Ling and Nancy Haigh, "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" (WINNER)

Bob Shaw and Regina Graves, "The Irishman"

Ra Vincent and Nora Sopkova, "Jojo Rabbit"

Dennis Gassner and Lee Sandales, "1917"

Lee Ha Jun and Cho Won-woo, "Parasite" Best live action short film "The Neighbors' Window" (WINNER)

"Brotherhood"

"Nefta Football Club"

"Saria"

"A Sister" Best adapted screenplay Taika Waititi, "Jojo Rabbit" (WINNER)

Steven Zaillian, "The Irishman"

Todd Phillips and Scott Silver, "Joker"

Greta Gerwig, "Little Women"

Anthony McCarten, "The Two Popes"

New Zealand director Taika Waititi poses in the press room with the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for "Jojo Rabbit" during the 92nd Oscars at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, California on February 9, 2020. (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images) FREDERIC J. BROWN

Best original screenplay Bong Joon Ho, Han Jin Won, "Parasite" (WINNER)

Rian Johnson, "Knives Out"

Noah Baumbach, "Marriage Story"

Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns, "1917"

Quentin Tarantino, "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" Best animated short film "Hair Love" (WINNER)

"Dcera"

"Kitbull"

"Memorable"

"Sister" Best animated feature film "Toy Story 4" (WINNER)

"How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World"

"I Lost My Body"

"Klaus"

"Missing Link" Actor in a supporting role Brad Pitt, "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" (WINNER)

Tom Hanks, "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood"

Anthony Hopkins, "The Two Popes"

Al Pacino, "The Irishman"

Joe Pesci, "The Irishman"

The 92nd Oscars broadcasts live on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020 at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood and will be televised live on The ABC Television Network at 8:00 p.m. EST/5:00 p.m. PST. Craig Sjodin
How can pharma and life sciences be prepared and agile enough to respond to future challenges if it has not thought about the current trends and emerging challenges? Its a question that Pistoia Alliance operations team member John Wise has asked, and one that the not-for-profit life sciences organization hopes to answer in its 2030 Life Sciences and Health Go Digital report, which Wise co-authored alongside the alliances CEO Steve Arlington.

Globaldatas pharmaceutical writer Allie Nawrat explains:

The report is based on discussions from three workshops  two in the US, one in the UK  between 75 subject matter experts from 65 different organizations within the life science, research and development (R&D) and healthcare eco-system. But what are the most interesting potential changes that life sciences companies need to be prepared for in 2030? A move towards outcomes-based drug reimbursement could be one of them.

Wise notes that in 2020 there is a possibility to cure diseases, which, until quite recently, were incurable through innovations in gene and cell therapies, giving the examples of GSK treating the adenosine deaminase deficiency  known colloquially as the boy in the bubble syndrome  with gene therapy Strimvelis and Novartiss spinal muscular atrophy gene therapy Zolgensma.

He adds these remarkable innovations in precision and personalized medicine are accompanied by price tags which are quite extraordinary for example: Zolgensma is the most expensive drug in the world, costing over 2m per patient.

Therefore, as the industry moves further into a personalized medicine paradigm, Wise notes that society, health services and pharma need to think of different ways of reimbursing treatments. The report says the one-size-fits-all approach where people pay per pill is becoming outdated and there will be a transition towards payment based on outcomes where if the treatment is successful over a period of time, then the company will be reimbursed, however, if its not, then reimbursement will have to be diminished pro rata.

This creates a situation where healthcare expenditure should be treated more long-term like a mortgage. You dont try to buy a house in a year, you buy it over 25 years, Wise notes.
ABU DHABI, UAE, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Intellect Global Transaction Banking (iGTB), the transaction banking specialist from Intellect Design Arena Limited, are delighted to congratulate UAE's leading financial institution Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) for winning the Aite Group's 2019 Cash Management and Payments Innovations Award for Customer Experience through their flagship platform, ADIB Direct, across web, mobile and watch.

iGTB's Digital Transaction Banking platform prepares transaction banks to provide for every client's and every sector's needs with a configurable and intelligent platform that encompasses every aspect of transaction banking. With DTB, transaction banks can successfully optimize capital, maximize ROA and fee income, improve product cross-sell & distribution channel effectiveness, ensure regulatory compliance and support SME franchise and growth sectors (through working capital provisioning and advisory services) as well as empowering larger corporates, including up to multinationals.

ADIB received this award for demonstrating innovation through technology to offer a differentiated user experience that aligns with the needs of today's business owners and corporate treasurers.

The well-known Aite Group recognizes financial institutions that leverage innovative technology. The awards program honours financial institutions that are introducing new products, capabilities or levels of automation and effectiveness that brings the industry one step closer to next-generation banking.

Haytham Elmaayergi, Global Head of Transaction Banking at ADIB, said: "We are delighted to be recognized by Aite. This award is testament to the work being done at ADIB to improve the user experience. Our focus on technology-driven innovation will continue to further improve the customer experience for our Business Banking customers and our partnership with iGTB in the implementation of our digital transformation strategy will help us boost the bank's productivity and efficiency."

Manish Maakan, CEO, iGTB said, "Our vision is to deliver cutting-edge products and solutions, with design being the key differentiator in enabling digital transformation. We are delighted that ADIB has won this exemplary recognition, joining the growing ecosystem of award-winning banks who partner with iGTB. It further evidence show the world's best corporate and transaction banks succeed across the world in partnership with iGTB."

"Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank's decision to invest in its digital capabilities has enabled it to differentiate itself among its peers and create a consolidated experience with unique attributes that enhance end-user efficiency and value," said Christine Barry, Research Director at Aite Group. She added, "ADIB's rollout of iGTB's new digital platform has streamlined and enhanced customers' user experiences, providing easy access to the most critical products through multiple channels."

About Intellect Design Arena Limited

Intellect Design Arena Ltd., a global leader when it comes to applying true digital technology, is the world's first financial tech company that covers the entire spectrum of banking and insurance needs with its wide suite of products. It does so via its four lines of business, namely, Global Consumer Banking, iGTB (Global Transaction Banking), Risk, Treasury and Markets and Insurance Software. With over 25 years of deep domain expertise, today Intellect is a brand name that progressive financial institutions look to for their digital needs, and for digital transformation initiatives.

Intellect pioneered design thinking for cutting-edge banking and insurance products and solutions, with that being the company's salient differentiator when enabling digital transformation. FinTech 8012, the world's first design centre for financial technology, reflects Intellect's commitment to continuous and impactful innovation, such that the growing need for digital transformation may be aptly addressed and answered. Intellect generates annual revenues of more than USD 208 million, by serving more than 240 customers through offices in 91+ countries, with a diverse workforce of more than 4,000 solution architects, domain specialists, and technology experts in key financial hubs around the world. For further information about the company and the various solutions it offers, please visit intellectdesign.com. For further information about the transaction banking solutions offered by iGTB, please visit https://www.igtb.com/.

For Media related info, please contact:

Nachu Nagappan

Intellect Design Arena Ltd

Mob: +91-89396-19676

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Intellect Design Arena Limited
A New York Times article published Monday slandered the Chinese government, saying its inability to contain the outbreak has disrupted life across the country and beyond, and that economists are predicting a significant blow for Chinas economy.

CNBC echoed the New York Times view on the same day, claiming the coronavirus outbreak could diminish Chinas international profile.

In addition, some American politicians have taken advantage of the epidemic to attack Chinas political system and tried to benefit from it.

While the Chinese people are combating the virus and protecting peoples health, such ridiculous remarks reflect the evil intentions that cross the bottom line of morality.

The virus knows no borders, and remains a public enemy for the entire human race. In the face of the novel coronavirus outbreak, countries around the world form a community with a shared future, where no one can sit back and act like an irresponsible onlooker.

The global epidemic calls for full efforts from the relevant countries, as well as global cooperation. Any practice that points fingers at other countries efforts goes against the future of mankind and indulges the virus.

Since the onset of the novel coronavirus outbreak, the Chinese people have launched a battle against it in which everyone is involved. The scale, speed, efficiency and transparency of Chinas preventive efforts are almost unprecedented.

There is a window of opportunity because of the strong measures China is taking at the source, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The epidemic acts as a mirror for previous outbreaks. The influenza A (H1N1) epidemic in 2009 led to around 284,000 deaths around the world, and the WHO also declared it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The U.S. was one of the sources of the epidemic, but failed to take forceful measures to control it, which resulted in the virus spreading globally.

American media and politicians might turn a blind eye to that fact, but history is a witness and people are the judge.

Any country would take strict prevention measures for epidemics within its territory, as it is responsible for both its own citizens and the global population.

However, its confusing that the U.S. seems to have learnt nothing from the epidemic 10 years ago. So far, an influenza virus has infected 19 million Americans across the country and killed at least 10,000 people this season alone. In todays world, where there is such a high frequency of global travel, all countries may get severely hit by the virus if the U.S. continues its loose regulations. This is nothing less than a crime against the entire human race.

In a recent article, BuzzFeed News Reporter Dan Vergano urged people not to worry about the coronavirus, saying that they should worry about the flu. In the article, Vergano told people that the coronavirus is infectious  but that shouldn't cause panic. The risk of getting infected is high in China  but people in the US should be way more worried about the flu, he said.

The objective view that he put forward was neglected by some people in the U.S. who believe that blaming China is the politically correct thing to do, rather than being responsible to Americans and people in the rest of the world.

History proves that effective international cooperation is essential in winning the battle against viruses, and also a key to safeguarding and developing human society.

American media and politicians, please look at the American people suffering from the influenza before you create any nonsense. Its hoped that you still have at least something of a conscience.

Background information:

Summary highlights on US response to the 2009 H1N1 Pandemic

2009 H1N1 was first detected in the United States in April 2009. This virus was a unique combination of influenza virus genes never previously identified in either animals or people. Later, the virus spread across the US and affected over 200 countries and regions.

On April 26, 2009, the United States Government determined that a public health emergency existed nationwide.

On April 27, 2009, World Health Organization (WHO) raised the level of influenza pandemic alert to phase 4, based primarily on epidemiological data demonstrating human-to-human transmission and the ability to the virus to cause community-level outbreaks.

On April 29, 2009, the WHO raised the influenza pandemic alert to phase 5, indicating sustained community-level transmission in two or more countries within one WHO region.

June 11, 2009, WHO signaled that a global pandemic of 2009 H1N1 influenza was underway by further raising the worldwide pandemic alert to phase 6.

According to summary highlights by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the 2009 H1N1 Pandemic, on May 4, 2009, CDC shifted from reporting confirmed cases of 2009 H1N1 to reporting both confirmed and probable cases of 2009 H1N1. At that point, more than 98% of probable flu virus samples were testing positive for 2009 H1N1, indicating the ever-growing scale of the outbreak. Over the course of the outbreak, more than 3,300 people from throughout CDC would support the response.

On May 6, 2009, CDC distributed recommendations for the use of influenza antiviral medicines to provide guidance for clinicians in prescribing antiviral medicines for treatment and prevention (chemoprophylaxis) of 2009 H1N1 influenza.

On June 11, CDC held its first press conference. At the time, more than 70 countries had reported cases of 2009 H1N1 infection, and the number of patients diagnosed with the disease continued to rise. By June 19, 2009, all 50 states in the United States had reported cases of 2009 H1N1 infection. On June 25, CDC estimated that at least 1 million cases of 2009 H1N1 influenza had occurred in the United States. On July 23, 2009, CDC reported the number of 2009 cases for the last time. Reporting of 2009 H1N1 hospitalizations and deaths continued. In addition, CDC continued using its traditional surveillance systems to track the progress of the 2009 H1N1 influenza outbreak. Traditional surveillance systems do not count individual cases, but instead monitor activity levels and virus characteristics through a nationwide surveillance system.

CDC closed out reports of 2009 H1N1 hospitalizations and deaths for the 2008-09 season in late August. Reporting modifications were then implemented to allow states to report hospitalizations and deaths associated with any influenza for the 2009-2010 flu season.

According to USA Todays report on October 27, 2009, H1N1 flu was pushing hospitals to their limit in terms of patient capacity. Waves of flu patients arrived at hospitals in Denver, Seattle and San Diego, doubling their emergency room volume. Nearly three times as many kids as usual streamed into the emergency room at Johns Hopkins Hospital. One of the ER doctors said on Oct. 11 that they had 15 to 20 patients an hour. And 95 children had died of H1N1 flu by the time the report was published.

From April 12, 2009 to April 10, 2010, CDC estimated there were 60.8 million cases, 274,304 hospitalizations, and 12,469 deaths in the United States due to the (H1N1)pdm09 virus.

Medical journal The Lancet published a report on June 26, 2012, estimating that globally there were between 151,700 and 575,400 deaths associated with 2009 pandemic influenza A H1N1, and 51% of the deaths occurred in southeast Asia and Africa.

A New York Times article published in 2010 on U.S. Reaction to Swine Flu pointed out some other problems. For example, the US only detected the outbreak from late March to mid-April in 2009 while the outbreak probably already began in rural Mexico in January. They could have spotted the new virus earlier if the surveillance system had not been absent in Mexico. Also, the US government predicted in early summer that it would have 160 million vaccine doses by late October, 2009. It ended up with less than 30 million.

In a comprehensive review by The New England Journal of Medicine, of available data from national public opinion polls conducted by telephone between April 2009 and January 2010, 54% of respondents said the federal government was doing a poor or very poor job of providing the country with adequate vaccine supplies. Respondents were nearly evenly divided on whether medical testing of the H1N1 influenza vaccine had moved too quickly to ensure that it was safe.

In 2010, CSIS Global Health Policy Center cited a report by the Trust for Americas Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, finding that swine flu has exposed serious underlying gaps in the nations ability to respond to public health emergencies. In the report, 20 states in the US had six or fewer of the 10 key indicators of prepared infrastructure. Almost two-thirds of states in the US had seven or fewer. What has been in short supply is leadership,the report says. (Source: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA Today, New York Times, CSIS, etc.)
Barack and Michelle Obama have tweeted their congratulations to the crew of Oscar-winning documentary American Factory - which was created by the couples production company.

The film is about the opening of a Dayton, Ohio manufacturing plant by a Chinese billionaire, and the culture clash that ensues.

It is the first project produced by their Higher Ground production outfit, and was released on Netflix.

Co-creator Julia Reichert said: "Working people have it harder and harder these days, and we believe that things will get better when workers of the world unite."

Mr Obama tweeted: "Congrats to Julia and Steven, the filmmakers behind American Factory, for telling such a complex, moving story about the very human consequences of wrenching economic change.

19 films that should never have won Oscars Show all 19 1 /19 19 films that should never have won Oscars 19 films that should never have won Oscars A Beautiful Mind (2001) A Beautiful Mind is one of the mustier Best Pictures winners of the century so far. While its win was a coup for DreamWorks  the film was the studio's third victor in a row it was far from a deserving recipient, especially considering Ron Howard won Best Director over Robert Altman and David Lynch for Gosford Park and Mulholland Drive, respectively. Rex Features 19 films that should never have won Oscars Chariots of Fire (1981) While Chariots of Fire is precisely the type of film the Academy usually takes under its wing, the fact it won was a big surprise, considering everybody present had expected Reds to win the top prize. The Warren Beatty film would have been a far worthier winner, too. Rex Features 19 films that should never have won Oscars Cold Mountain (2003) Cold Mountain lucked out by being nominated in what was a particularly weak year for Best Supporting Actress. Renee Zellweger recovered from failing to win for Chicago the previous year and, in doing so, earnt the unremarkable drama its "Oscar-winning" tag. Rex Features 19 films that should never have won Oscars Crash (2004) Viewers of the Oscars have grown used to unexpected victories, but none was more ill-judged than when Paul Haggis' drama Crash beat Brokeback Mountain to Best Picture. Rex Features 19 films that should never have won Oscars Dances with Wolves (1990) It's quite soul-destroying to think that Dances with Wolves scooped a total of seven Oscars in the same year that Goodfellas was nominated. Rex Features 19 films that should never have won Oscars The Danish Girl (2015) Alicia Vikander's performance in The Danish Girl is by no means weak, but it was nothing on Rooney Mara's affecting turn in Todd Haynes' film Carol. Had Tom Hooper not won five years before for The King's Speech, it seems unlikely that the drama would have picked up any nominations. Rex Features 19 films that should never have won Oscars The English Patient (1996) Put simply, The English Patient isn't a very good film. Of the nine (nine!) Oscars it won, Juliette Binoche's trophy for Best Supporting Actress was perhaps the most surprising. The French star herself could barely contain her shock. Rex Features 19 films that should never have won Oscars Gladiator (2000) This will most likely be this list's most controversial placement, but let's be honest: Gladiator is not the fantastic film it's regularly hailed as. Ridley Scott's overlong historical drama boasts plenty of swords-and-sandal bravado, but not much else. Rex Features 19 films that should never have won Oscars Going My Way (1944) The musical Going My Way may have been the biggest cinematic hit of its year, but it certainly wasn't better that classic noir Double Indemnity, which it beat to win Best Picture. In fact, it's nowhere near director Leo McCarey's greatest film (he won six years previous for the Awful Truth and would be nominated again for The Bells of St Mary's two years later). Rex Features 19 films that should never have won Oscars Grand Hotel (1932) There's a reason why Grand Hotel is the only film to ever win Best Picture without receiving a nomination in any other category. An entertaining film, sure, but nothing more. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 19 films that should never have won Oscars The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) It's ironic that a film with the word "greatest" in its title has gone down as one of the worst winners in Oscars history. A prime example of when the Academy voted for spectacle over quality. Rex Features 19 films that should never have won Oscars Green Book (2018) To those who don't care about awards ceremonies, Green Book is a crowdpleaser that boasts decent performances from Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali. To everyone else, it's the damp squib that somehow came out of nowhere to snatch Best Picture from under Roma's nose. Rex Features 19 films that should never have won Oscars The Imitation Game (2014) The Imitation Game won Best Adapted Screenplay, which begs the question: what the hell was this distinctly average film doing having any nominations at all? Rex Features 19 films that should never have won Oscars The Iron Lady (2011) Meryl Streep has won enough Oscars for the world to know she's evidently one of the finest actors who'll ever live. Her win for The Iron Lady, though, was one Oscar too many. Rex Features 19 films that should never have won Oscars Life is Beautiful (1998) The year of 1999 marked one of the most remarkable Oscar ceremonies in history for the sole reason that the majority of its winners were terrible choices. Right up there was Roberto Benigni, who beat Tom Hanks (Saving Private Ryan) and Edward Norton (American History X) to win Best Actor for, of all things, Life is Beautiful. Rex Features 19 films that should never have won Oscars The Pianist (2002) It might finally be accepted that disgraced film director Roman Polanski shouldn't be handed accolades, but back in 2003, this was still what the Oscars were doing. He won Best Director for The Pianist, an award the French-Polish filmmaker could have done without. Rex Features 19 films that should never have won Oscars A Place in the Sun A Place in the Sun is a fine little film, but fine little films shouldn't be winning Oscars  especially when they see off competition from more deserving opposition. In this case, director George Stevens beat John Huston (The African Queen), William Wyler (Detective Story) and Elia Kazan (A Streetcar Named Desire) to the Director prize. Paramount Pictures 19 films that should never have won Oscars Shakespeare in Love You have to hand it to Shakespeare in Love, it played the Oscars campaign trail perfectly, overtaking war favourites Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line to win the evening's biggest prize. This doesn't mean its success has gone down as anything more than evidence of poor judgement from the Academy. Rex Features 19 films that should never have won Oscars Slumdog Millionaire It's often good to hold your hands up and admit that a film is nowhere near as good as you recall. Sadly, Slumdog Millionaire is one of those. While its win no doubt put smiles on the faces of commuters reading the morning papers the next day, the shine has worn off its success in recent years. The rightful winner  The Dark Knight  wasn't even nominated for Best Picture. Rex Features

"Glad to see two talented and downright good people take home the Oscar for Higher Grounds first release."

Mrs Obama wrote: "Congrats to Julia, Steven, and the whole crew on winning Best Documentary for American Factory, Higher Grounds first release.

"So glad to see their heart and honesty recognisedbecause the best stories are rarely tidy or perfect. But thats where the truth so often lies."
- Jeff Bezoz has been spotted in a photo laughing as comedians joked about his divorce settlement with Mackenzie Bezoz

- Jeff and Mackenzie divorced in July 2019, leaving her with $38 billion and making her the world's third richest woman

- Chris Rock and Steve Martins teamed up to mock the billionaire at the 2020 edition of the Oscars

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Recently divorced billionaire Jeff Bezoz was the target of jokes by comedians Chris Rock and Steve Martins during the opening monologue of the 2020 Oscars.

Rock remarked that Bezoz is so rich that a divorce settlement did little to reduce his wealth.

YEN.com.gh understands that Bezoz was in the audience and appeared to be laughing at the jokes as the camera focused on him.

Source: Business Insider

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Apple Inc. fined almost GHc150 million for deliberately slowing down old iPhones

Bezoz, the richest man in the world finalized a divorce settlement with Mackenzie Bezoz in July 2020.

This left her with a partial stake of $38 billion out of Amazons worth after a 25-year-marriage, making her the third richest woman in the world.

Per a report by Business Insider, Martin later remarked that he needs to stop the jokes as he wishes to get his Amazon packages on time.

Bloomberg has meanwhile estimated that Bezoz is worth $126 billion as at February 2020.

He therefore maintains his position as the richest man in the world despite the divorce settlement.

In other news, South Sudan will host its first ever oil and gas bidding round in March 2020, YEN.com.gh has learned.

This comes after Sudan dissolves the central bank board as well as 11 other state-owned banks, in a bid to dismantle toppled president, Omar al-Bashirs regime.

Source: Business Insider

Source: UGC

Sudan, the most oil-dependent nation in the world, has oil accounting for almost all of its exports and about 60% of its gross domestic product (GDP), according to the World Bank.

South Sudans petroleum minister, Daniel Awow Chuang, said the move is a plan to accelerate the economy and an environmental audit into the bidding process has already started.

Per a report by Business Insider, he added that companies that express interest in the process need to prove themselves as there would be a thorough evaluation process.

Chuang went on to say that in August 2019, the country discovered the the Adar oil field in Block 3, containing more than 37 million barrels of recoverable oil.

Presently, the ministry is collecting data to make things easier for investors in the oil sector.

READ ALSO: Mercedez Benz unveils new new camper van; photo and details

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WASHINGTON  For more than a decade, Al Qaedas affiliate in Yemen has been one of the most dangerous terrorist organizations on the planet. The group spent years inventing explosives that are difficult to detect, including trying to disguise bombs in devices like cellphones. It has tried at least three times to blow up American airliners, without success.

But the White Houses announcement last week that the United States had killed the groups leader, Qassim al-Rimi  confirming what The New York Times first reported several days earlier  was the latest in a string of setbacks over the past few years that have damaged the groups ability to orchestrate or carry out operations against the West, American and European counterterrorism specialists say.

A flurry of American drone strikes in Yemen in recent years has now killed two successive leaders of the group as well as Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, the affiliates notorious bomb maker. Clashes with rival Islamic State and Houthi rebel fighters in Yemen have also weakened the group, whose full name is Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. And its once formidable jihadi news media presence has been far surpassed by the Islamic States.

AQAP doesnt seem like the beast it once was, Edmund Fitton-Brown, a former British ambassador to Yemen who is now a top United Nations counterterrorism official, told a think-tank audience in Washington last week.
Burma Local Woman Who Worked for US, Myanmar Operators of Cannabis Farm Is Freed

Ma Shunlei Myat Noe after Myingyan District Court cleared her of cannabis charges on Monday. / De Hlaing Win / The Irrawaddy

Mandalay  Myingyan District Court in Mandalay Region has released Ma Shunlei Myat Noe, who worked for the owners of a plantation at the center of a long-running cannabis case, after spending nearly 10 months in jail.

But the court decided to proceed with the case against a US citizen and a citizen of Myanmar under the Anti-Narcotics Law for allegedly running a marijuana plantation.

The Ministry of Home Affairs said in April that its investigation found marijuana, chemicals and other materials. It added that the plantation was believed to have been planted for medical use for cancer sufferers.

The defendants told the court that they had official permission to grow the plants and the seeds were imported legally.

The court ruled that Ma Shunlei Myat Noe had no responsibility for the plantation.

The court could find no evidence that Ma Shunlei Myat Noe was responsible for the plantation and it decided to release her, said Daw Tin Than, the spokeswoman for the Myingyan court.

According to her family, she had been employed for just 21 days when she was arrested in April. She was designated as a lab assistant, however, she only worked as an interpreter.

Ma Shunlei Myat Noe, 23, and Ko Shane Latt, 37, were arrested in April 2019 with US citizen John Fredric Todoroki, 63, following a Facebook post about the plantation.

They are working for III M Global Nutraceutical Company in Myotha industrial park in Myingyan Township, Mandalay Region.

Manager Ko Shane Latt faces a lawsuit for cultivating cannabis and possession of restricted chemicals and other materials to grow the drug. He faces five to 15 years in prison.

Todoroki was granted bail of 300 million kyats (US$207,000) in July because of respiratory and lung complaints.

In January, the court said it would issue an arrest warrant for Todoroki after he missed several court hearings since December.

The bail must be supplied by Todorokis friend, U Khin Maung Win, who signed the assurance at the court to guarantee that the US citizen would return to court.

The court is due to proceed with a separate lawsuit against Todoroki on Feb. 24, where it will make a final decision on whether to issue an arrest warrant.

If he still fails to attend court, the bail money will be seized, said the courts spokeswoman.

Approximately 24 hectares used for the plantation were leased from Mandalay Myotha Industrial Development Public Co., Ltd by III M Global Nutraceutical.

After the arrests in April, the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control said it was responsible for the plantation.

It said more than 300,000 marijuana plants, 380 kg of marijuana seeds, formic acid, acetone, acetonitrile concort water, methonal liquid, 271 kg of dried marijuana and other chemicals and materials were seized.

The Irrawaddy reporter De Hlaing Win contributed from Myingyan.

You may also like these stories:

Myanmar Court Grants Bail to Lawyer and Poet Sued by Military

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OROVILLE, Calif. - State Senator Jim Nielsen was honored on Friday, Feb. 7 as Legislator of the Year by the California Special Districts Association.

The award was presented Friday morning, at the Oroville River Parks and Recreation District.

Jim Nielsen was recognized for his efforts to prevent local government from being held financially responsible during PG&E power cutoffs. For authorings B-287 to make local governments operate more efficiently, and for the ongoing support of service-based government agencies.

Nielsen was elected to the State Senate in January 2013, he proudly represents the citizens of Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Tehama and Yuba counties.

Nielsen was originally elected to the State Senate in 1978 and served as Republican Leader from 1983 to 1987.

In 1990, he was appointed chairman of the California Board of Prison Terms, where he served until 2007. He was elected in November 2008 to represent the North State's 2nd Assembly District in the State Legislature.

There are about 239 special districts in northern California, and more than 3,000 statewide.
The spokesperson for the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) at Berlins Humboldt University, Sven Wurm, has filed a disciplinary complaint against Professor Jorg Baberowski following Baberowskis physical attack on Wurm. Baberowski tore down IYSSE campaign posters in the Student Parliament (StuPa) elections, and then attacked Wurm because Wurm had documented Baberowskis illegal removal of the posters. A video of Baberowskis tearing down of the posters and attack on Wurm can be viewed here.

Below is the text of the disciplinary complaint filed with the university administration:

Dear Ms. Kunst,

Dear Mr. Kronthaler,

Dear Mr. Keller,

As a member of the Student Parliament and a student of history at Humboldt University, I would like to inform you that Professor Jorg Baberowski attacked me physically last Thursday and tore down and destroyed IYSSE posters for this years StuPa elections. I therefore hereby submit a complaint against Professor Baberowski.

The incident has been recorded on video. The video clearly shows Baberowski entering the staircase of a side wing of the HU main building holding numerous destroyed IYSSE posters in his hands. He goes up to a bulletin board where students hang posters and announcements, and from there he tears down six more IYSSE election posters.

When I then filmed Baberowski and asked him why he was tearing down the posters, the professor became violent. Youre not filming me, he shouted at me. Then Baberowski attacked me and knocked my phone out of my hand.

A fellow student stood between me and Baberowski and tried to calm the professor down. Shall I smash something in your face? Baberowski threatened, with a raised fist. I asked Baberowski to stop the attacks, to which Baberowski replied, You are leaving now, but very quickly. One more step, friend! Afterwards, Baberowski quickly left the scene of the crime. All this is recorded on video. (See https://youtu.be/QptQWEsR5Hk).

Professor Baberowski physically attacked me to prevent a video recording of his gross violation of the democratic right of students to engage in political activities at the university.

Baberowskis vandalism, vulgar threats and assault constitute a serious obstruction of the IYSSEs election campaign for the Student Parliament. Our posters have repeatedly been systematically torn down and our work obstructed. It is now becoming apparent that Baberowski, a member of the university staff, is directly involved.

Baberowskis action is not only an attack on the fundamental democratic rights of students and the autonomy of student self-administration, it is also criminal in several respects. In addition to damaging property, he seeks to prevent students from advertising their list in the StuPa elections by means of bodily harm and coercion.

Baberowskis violent actions cannot be tolerated, let alone justified by the university. He must be held accountable for his violent attack.

Students have the right to hold their elections and discuss politics without being threatened and beaten by university staff. The university is obliged to provide students with a safe environment, free from intimidation and violence. I therefore call on you to take disciplinary action against Professor Baberowski.

Yours sincerely,

Sven Wurm
Femi Falana, human rights lawyer, says the recent act of kindness by Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno state, is an indictment on thos...





Femi Falana, human rights lawyer, says the recent act of kindness by Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno state, is an indictment on those who categorise victims of Boko Haram insurgents along religious lines.





Zulum visited Shehu Sanda Kyarimi 2 primary school around 6:30 am on Friday where he met Obiageli Mazi, a class teacher.





Impressed by her dedication to work, the governor commended and rewarded her with a cash gift of N100,000 cash.





He also recommended her for promotion, and in less than 24 hours, the State Universal Education Board (SUBEB) announced her promotion to assistant headmistress.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Falana commended Zulum for rewarding Mazi irrespective of her religion and ethnicity.





No doubt, governor Zulum deserves commendation for rewarding Mrs Obiageli notwithstanding her religion and her state of origin, he said.





Governor Zulum has actualized section 15 (1) of the Constitution which provides that national integration shall be encouraged whilst discrimination on the grounds of place of origin, sex, religion, status, ethnic or linguistic association or ties shall be prohibited.





Falana said the governors actions should be a reference point for politicians and the elite who use religion and ethnicity to divide Nigerians.





The Zulum example is an indictment of those who are currently busy counting the thousands of Nigerian citizens that have been brutally killed and abducted by the satanic Boko Haram insurgents along religious divide, he said.





people of Nigeria along ethnic and religious lines. The example of Governor Zulum is a challenge to the labour movement and other progressive forces to intensify the campaign against reactionary politicians and the backward members of the elite that are taking advantage of insecurity and official incompetence to divide the economically marginalisedpeople of Nigeria along ethnic and religious lines.




Private investment opportunities will abound as Sydneys new aerotropolis development takes off, but those who want a slice of the action would be wise to start investigating options now.

The Western City & Aerotropolis Authority aims to create 200,000 new jobs across the Western Parkland City, with a particular focus on advanced manufacturing and agribusiness, as well as in education, housing, healthcare and pharmaceuticals.

Central to the development is the creation of a modern, digitised supply chain, which in itself wont create many jobs, but will provide a vital support network to leverage the opportunities of an airport that operates 24/7.

Early mover investors

The authority is aiming to have the agribusiness and manufacturing precincts up and running by the time the airport opens in December 2026.

Several businesses in those sectors have committed to build facilities in the area, including advanced 3D-printing company GE Additive, Australian vitamin and pharmaceutical maker Vitex, along with the Australian Space Agency and 18 SMEs in aerospace.

Additionally, aerospace company Northrop Grumman has committed to an AUD 50 million investment in an advanced defence electronics maintenance and sustainment centre. Japanese multinationals Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group have also agreed to invest in the aerotropolis. The states largest wholesale produce market, Sydney Markets, has signed an agreement to expand into the aerotropolis.

And to help supply the skilled workforce needed for many of these businesses and others in the region, the University of Newcastle, University of NSW, University of Wollongong, and Western Sydney University plan to join forces to create a world-class, higher education institution at the aerotropolis.

State and federal governments have committed AUD 20 billion to build Western Sydneys new airport and all the associated transport infrastructure, yet the NSW government estimates that to build out all of the development required in Western Sydney  the airport and aerotropolis, the transport infrastructure, housing, schools, hospitals and so on  will cost more than AUD 100 billion.

Where opportunities await

The remaining AUD 80 billion will come from the private sector and this presents a huge opportunity for investors, in property, in business, in infrastructure  and even as potential owners of the airport should the government eventually privatise it, says Roddy Adams, Head of Energy, Infrastructure & Resources NSW at Westpac.

Accommodating population growth

A huge amount of investment will be required to house the population of the rapidly growing Western Parkland City, as the government has tagged the region.

In a Westpac-commissioned report titled Western Sydney Infrastructure Projects and Investment Opportunities, The Root Partnership has identified what will need to be built in the two decades to 2036 to accommodate the rapid growth:

Roddy Adams, Head of Energy, Infrastructure & Resources NSW at Westpac, notes that the airport has been structured as a stand-alone corporation, Western Sydney Airport. While nothing has been confirmed, Adams believes the government may put the airport up for sale once it is operating, providing another opportunity for investors in the region.

It would make sense for them to recycle their money once the airport's up and running because that's how it was with every other airport in Australia, he says.

Additionally, while the federal government has committed AUD 5.3 billion to the airport, Adams says most observers believe that to bring it up to the standards of an international class airport total investment will be more like AUD 10 billion, suggesting the government will have to raise additional cash, or sell off the airport in stages to fund its continued development.

He expects the airport to attract interest from the superannuation sector, which is drawn to the stable, long-term cashflow that comes with many major infrastructure investments.

It wont just be multibillion-dollar, headline-grabbing projects which create opportunities for investors. Adams says the knock-on effects for the whole region will be quite profound.

There are also investment opportunities in the aerotropolis itself, which will host industry and manufacturing, and logistics centres designed to take advantage of the new airport  and it will be home to new communities, parklands, cultural and sporting centres, shopping centres, schools, childcare centres, universities, aged care facilities, healthcare and hospitals.

Investors have the capacity to put money into the aerotropolis both by establishing businesses in the precinct and by funding its development, plus they will have the chance to either buy land or acquire long-term leases as well.

Obvious candidates to set up in the aerotropolis include logistics and supply chain businesses and those involved in agribusiness. You don't have to think too hard down that line to come up with a whole range of people, both from an industrial or other institutional equity perspective, wholl be keen to look into this, says Adams.

Westpac will be involved in facilitating the regions growth both as a member of the community which has had branches in the region since the early 1900s and as a facilitator of opportunities for corporate and institutional clients.

Adams says, "we want to help the aerotropolis drive as much value into the business supply chains locally as we can as well."

This is one of the biggest growth opportunities that the bank currently has on its radar, he concluded
This story was updated 8:42 p.m. EST

WALLOPS ISLAND, Va.  Northrop Grumman aborted the launch of a commercial Cygnus cargo ship to the International Space Station Sunday (Feb. 9) due to a sensor issue at the mission's Virginia launchpad.

The Cygnus spacecraft, filled with NASA supplies, was set to launch atop an Antares rocket  also built by Northrop Grumman  at 5:44 p.m. EST (2244 GMT) from Pad-0A of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport here at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. But minutes before that liftoff, Northrop Grumman called off the launch try due to "off-nominal readings from a ground support sensor," the company said in a statement.

NASA and Northrop Grumman are now targeting the launch for no earlier than Thursday, Feb. 13, at 4:05 p.m. EST (2105 GMT), weather permitting. There were launch opportunities on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, but Northrop Grumman opted to skip them "due to an unfavorable weather forecast over the next two days, and time required to address the ground support issue," the company said.

The Cygnus spacecraft is packed with 7,600 lbs. (3,400 kilograms) of supplies for the three-person Expedition 62 crew living and working on the space station. The launch had a five-minute window and was aborted more than two minutes into that allotment. Northrop Grumman is still evaluating when to try again.

Related: Bacteria & bone: Here's the science launching on Cygnus NG-13

More: How Northrop Grumman's Antares rockets & Cygnus ships work

The full moon appears to hover over Pad-0A of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility at dawn on Feb. 9, 2020 where a Northrop Grumman Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo ship stood ready for a launch attempt to the International Space Station. (Image credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

During the lead-up to launch, flight controllers paused the countdown at the T-5 minute mark for reasons that were not announced. The Northrop Grumman team then resumed the countdown, then pushed launch from an initial 5:39 p.m. EST target to its final 5:44 p.m. EST time  the end of the window  before scrubbing the launch try altogether. During live audio launch commentary, a mission team member referred to a regulator while discussing the abort, but more details were not yet available.

The technical glitch marred an otherwise flawless countdown for Northrop Grumman's Antares and Cygnus vehicles. The launch had a 95% chance of good weather and that forecast appeared to be spot on.

Aside from a light breeze, the sky was a dusky blue, with wisps of clouds and flocks of geese decorating the sky from time to time.

An Antares rocket carrying Northrop Grummans Cygnus NG-13 cargo resupply spacecraft stands on Pad-0A at NASAs Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Feb. 9, 2020, shortly after the launch was scrubbed. (Image credit: NASA TV)

NASA flight controllers at the agency's Mission Control Center have alerted the station's current Expedition 62 crew, which includes American astronauts Jessica Meir, Andrew Morgan and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Scripochka.

As Northrop Grumman reviews Sunday's Antares launch glitch, NASA and the European Space Agency are counting down to a different launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is set to launch the joint ESA-NASA Solar Orbiter mission from Cape Canaveral at 11:03 p.m. EST (0403 GMT Feb. 10) to begin an ambitious mission to the sun. The powerful Solar Orbiter is designed to study the sun's polar regions from orbit to better understand the origins of solar weather and the sun's magnetic field.

You can watch the Solar Orbiter launch live on Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV, beginning at 10:30 p.m. EST (0330 GMT Feb. 10).

Editor's note: Space.com senior writer Meghan Bartels contributed to this report from New York City. Editor-in-chief Tariq Malik contributed to this report from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia. This story was updated to include a new launch date for the Cygnus NG-13 mission.

Email Meghan Bartels at mbartels@space.com or follow her @meghanbartels. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
UK FOREIGN Office Minister for the Overseas Territories, Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon, is visiting the Turks and Caicos Islands next Tuesday (February 11).





During his visit, the minister will be meeting with the premier, the leader of the Opposition, the chief of police, members of the criminal justice system.





He will also meet leads from the police maritime unit, border force, radar and environment to discuss maritime challenges.





The minister will be briefed by those investigating and policing serious crime in the TCI.





Lord Ahmad said: "The UK is committed to continuing our strong and positive partnership with the Turks and Caicos Islands.





"I look forward to seeing for myself how the Islands have recovered since the devastating hurricanes of 2017.





"I am also keen to focus on how the UK can support the Islands on security and ensuring safety of all Islanders.





The meetings will provide an opportunity to engage on a range of matters relating to the islands economy and security, a press release from the Governors Office said.





The focus of the visit will be for the minister to see first-hand the Islands response to border security and serious crime, on Thursdays (February 6) statement read.





It will inform how the UK can provide further support to the Turks and Caicos Islands to improve national security.





The minister is also keen to recognise the continued growth of the high-end tourism sector and observe the Islands recovery since his last visit immediately after the devastation of hurricane Irma in 2017.





Last week, Lord Ahmad issued a statement with Christopher Pincher, Minister for Europe and the Americas, on Brexit.





The minsters assured their respective territories that their interests will remain a priority for the UK government.





"We want to assure you and to leave you in no doubt that Britain is absolutely committed to the safety and prosperity of each of our overseas territories. Brexit is no exception to this, they wrote.





"As the British governments ministers of state responsible for our overseas territories, a priority for us and for the entire government has been to work closely with territory leaders to identify the opportunities and concerns in each overseas territory associated with Brexit.





"You will be aware of the recent general election in Britain, the resulting new dynamics in parliament and the decisive action of the prime minister to press ahead with Brexit.




I am somewhat embarrassed to ask the question. I had an encounter recently and I am unable to find a legitimate answer, wrote an SFGATE reader.

We love getting emails like this heres the rest of her query:

"I am a frequent flier, flying in excess of 100,000 miles for the last 15 years. Recently, I painted my nails on a flight, first time ever. When I say 'on a flight' I mean, during boarding with the door still open. There was no one next to me and I boarded with group 1, so the plane was relatively empty. I decided to take a minute (literally) and quickly paint my nails.

"The flight attendant said I needed to stop as this was illegal. I immediately stopped and didnt hide in the bathroom to finish. I was intrigued as I had never been in this situation before. I asked the same flight attendant if it was indeed illegal and she said 'yes' because of re-circulated air. I attempted to clarify because the door was still open and she insisted that it indeed is not allowed.

"Still intrigued, I have attempted to find additional information online. To no avail. The only thing I can find is an incident with a woman in 2012 in which a woman got arrested, but the charges were dropped.

"Again, I am somewhat embarrassed to ask the question, is this indeed illegal or just irritating to others? The question is not whether it is rude or disruptive to other passengers. I assessed the situation and made a judgment callIf this is indeed illegal or not permitted, where would one find an extensive list of things not permitted on airplanes? Also, Im trying to determine whether this is a hidden rule or a flight attendant fibbing about something illegal because she didnt like it. I didnt press the issue with the actual flight attendant, fearful for any consequences. I am hoping that you can provide some insight or validity to a unique situation."

Don't miss a shred of important travel news! Sign up for our FREE bi-weekly email alerts

So the reader's question is: Is painting nails onboard a plane illegal? Technically, the answer is no. You cannot be arrested or removed from the plane for breaking the law if you refuse to stop painting your nails onboard. (But you can be thrown off a plane if you are involved in an altercation when asked to stop painting, or seen as disruptive in the eyes of crew members.)

Is it irritating to others? Yes. But from a quick poll of airlines, we found none that have a formal policy against painting nails onboard. Instead, they simply recommend against it.

A United spokesperson told SFGATE, We dont have a policy against nail polish. However, as a courtesy, we ask customers to refrain from using it for the comfort of their fellow travelers. Southwests response was similar: For the comfort of all our passengers onboard, this practice is frowned upon and the customer will be asked to put away their polish. Alaska Airlines said Polish isnt prohibited, but its not encouraged given the strong odor. At Delta, a spokesperson said that the carrier does not have a published rule on polish.

The reader's other question was if the flight attendant was fibbing that painting nails was illegal simply because she didnt like it? Yes, the flight attendant was fibbing, based on the official responses we received from airlines. No laws were broken.

With the shift in the story to the behavior of the flight attendant, we decided to ask Heather Poole, an 18-year career flight attendant and author of a book about her experiences called "Cruising Altitude" about what happened. She had plenty to say:

Everyone is looking for a reason to get in a fight onboard planes these days, arent they? she said. Anyway, during training, we were taught to ask passengers to put polish away because its a flammable liquid and because of the offensive smell. We tell them its okay to have the polish onboard, but its not okay to use it, adding, And no one has ever had a problem with that.

Is it okay for flight attendants to fib a little to get someone to stop an offensive behavior? How would you react to someone painting their nails next to you onboard? Tell us what you think in THE COMMENTS.

Chris McGinnis is SFGATE's senior travel correspondent. You can reach him via email or follow him on Twitter or Facebook. Don't miss a shred of important travel news by signing up for his FREE biweekly email updates!

SFGATE participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.
According to him, at around 10.30 am, armed Naxals ambushed a search party comprising CoBRA personnel in the jungle near Irapalli village under Bijapur district.

Bhopal: Two jawans of Commando Battalion for Resolute Actions (CoBRA), the elite anti-Naxal wing of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), were martyred on Monday and six others injured in an encounter with Maoists in Chhatt-isgarhs south Bastar district of Bijapur.

A Maoist was also killed in the gunfight, a senior CRPF officer said.

According to him, at around 10.30 am, armed Naxals ambushed a search party comprising CoBRA personnel in the jungle near Irapalli village under Bijapur district.

This led to a fierce gun battle between the two groups. In the exchange, two commandos of CoB-RA were killed while six members of the search party, including a deputy commandant, were injured, the CRPF officer said.

The martyred jawans have been identified as constables Vikash Kumar and Purnanand Sahu.

The injured are deputy commandant Prashant Kumar, head constable Ajit Singh and constables, Giriwar Oraon, P. Pawan Kumar, Bibha Basu Mahata, and Pawar Pandurang.

The body of a Naxal was also recovered from the encounter site. It is yet to be identified.

A weapon was also found on the spot.
Millions of people in China were returning to work Monday after an extended holiday designed to slow the spread of a virus that has already killed more than 900 people.

At least 40,000 others have been infected by 2019-nCoV, which is believed to have emerged late last year in a market in Wuhan.

And although the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said there are tentative signs the epidemic is stabilising, the agencys chief warned there may more infections abroad in people who have never travelled to China.

The comments from Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus came as a team of WHO experts departed for China, led by Bruce Aylward, a veteran of previous health emergencies.-

In an attempt to contain the virus, cities in Hubei have been locked down and transport links countrywide were cut to stop the movement of hundreds of millions of people who usually visit family during the annual Lunar New Year holiday.

Officially the Lunar New Year holiday was extended by only three days, but many cities and provinces pushed the deadline until February 10.

The unprecedented measures have turned cities into ghost towns, with people staying inside.

But there were some signs Monday of the country beginning to make a return to normality.

Roads in Beijing and Shanghai had significantly more traffic than in recent days and the southern city of Guangzhou said it would start to resume normal public transport from Monday.

But for those at work, it was not an easy balance to strike.

Of course were worried, said a 25-year-old man surnamed Li in a beauty salon in Beijing, which reopened Monday.

When customers come in, we first take their temperature, then use disinfectant and ask them to wash their hands.

 Work, interrupted 

However, tens of millions of people in Hubei province were not returning to work, as the province  the epicentre of the outbreak  remained under lockdown.

Even outside the quarantined province, many companies were limiting staff.

The Shanghai government suggested reducing large gatherings of people through staggered work schedules, suspending central air systems, avoiding group meals and keeping at least one metre away from work colleagues.

Online office communication tool DingTalk said in a Weibo post last week that nearly 200 million people were using the platform to work from home.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai said 60 percent of its member companies were planning mandatory work-from-home policies.

State media reported that passenger numbers on the Beijing subway was down by about 50 percent Monday compared to a normal work day.

Large shopping malls in the capital were deserted.

A bank employee in Shanghai told AFP he was heading to work for a half-day, with other employees taking over in the afternoon.

The rest of the day, staff are instructed to work from home.

It makes our work more difficult because we need to access the systems in our office, he said.

Other employers, including auto manufacturer Toyota, simply delayed work for another week.

Schools and universities across the country remained shut.

 Difficult journeys 

Those returning to work faced fresh travel difficulties.

The eastern city of Wuxi said anyone trying to enter the city from provinces with high numbers of cases would be persuaded to go back while Suzhou city, near the financial hub of Shanghai, suspended all passenger transport to the surrounding counties.

I just checked and it would takes 18 hours for me to go to work by bicycle, wrote one frustrated commuter on Weibo.

Its time to work now. Should I walk??? wrote another.

On Saturday, travel authorities said there were 11 million journeys by train, road or plane  84 percent down on the same day last year.

The tourism industry remains in the doldrums, with several countries banning arrivals from China, major airlines suspending flights and international and domestic tour groups being halted.

 Tip of the iceberg 

The death toll from the novel coronavirus has overtaken global fatalities in the 2002-03 SARS epidemic, when China drew international condemnation for covering up cases.

The WHO has praised the measures Beijing has taken this time, while warning figures could still shoot up.

WHO chief Tedros said there had been some concerning instances of cases overseas in people with no travel history to China.

We may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg of these cases, he tweeted.

Meanwhile in Hong Kong, thousands of people stranded aboard the World Dream cruise ship for five days were allowed to disembark Sunday after its 1,800 crew tested negative for the new coronavirus.

The ship carried three Chinese passengers to Vietnam between January 19 and 24 who were later found to be infected with the SARS-like coronavirus.

SOURCE: AFP | PHOTO: AFP
Half of Bangladesh's population will leave that country if Indian citizenship was promised to them, Union minister G Kishan Reddy said on Sunday.

IMAGE: Union minister of state for home G Kishan Reddy alleged TRS, AIMIM are indulging in vote bank politics over CAA. Photograph: @kishanreddybjp/Twitter

Speaking at Santh Ravidas jayanthi celebrations in Hyderabad, Reddy dared Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to prove in what way the Citizenship Amendment Act was against the 130 crore population of India.

"Half of Bangladesh will be empty (vacant) if India offers citizenship to them (Bangladeshis). Half of Bangladeshis will come over to India if citizenship is promised (to them). Who will take responsibility? KCR? or Rahul Gandhi?," he asked.

"They seek citizenship for infiltrators. The Government of India is ready to review the CAA if it has one word against anyone of the 130 crore citizens, but not for Pakistani or Bangladeshi Muslims," Reddy said.

Noting that CAA was brought in on humanitarian grounds for certain persecuted communities in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, he said some political parties were demanding that citizenship be given to Muslims of those countries also.

Taking a dig at Telangana Rashtra Samithi and its 'friendly party' All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, Reddy alleged that the former was indulging in vote bank politics.

"I am requesting the TRS party. I am requesting the chief minister (KCR). I am challenging the Chief Minister to prove if any one person out of 130 crore citizens of this country were affected by the Citizenship Amendment Act," the Union minister of state for home said.

Asserting that refugees and infiltrators should not be treated alike, he claimed that parties such as Congress were seeking citizenship for infiltrators, who came from Bangladesh and Pakistan.

According to him, some refugees have been staying in India for the past 40 years without any facilities and documents such as voter id, Aadhar or ration card.
Amazon said that its employees would not attend Mobile World Congress in Barcelona due to fears about coronavirus. (Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images)

Amazon (AMZN) has become the latest major tech company to pull out of Mobile World Congress, one of the worlds biggest tech conferences, due to fears about the continued spread of coronavirus.

The company said on Monday that it had made the decision due to the outbreak and continued concerns about novel coronavirus.

Amazon joins a high-profile list of companies, such as LG, Nvidia (NVDA), and Ericsson (ERIC), who have chosen to withdraw as exhibitors from the conference, which is due to take place later this month in Barcelona.

Mobile World Congress is considered the largest mobile industry exhibition and conference, and thousands of companies exhibit new technologies and products at the four-day event.

GSM Association (GSMA), the organiser of Mobile World Congress, on Sunday issued a new set of coronavirus-related guidelines for the conference.

No travellers from Chinas Hubei province, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, will be permitted to attend the conference, while those who have recently been to China will have to prove that they have been outside of the country for at least 14 days prior to the event.

The organiser said that it will also implement temperature screening, and that attendees will need to self-certify that they have not been in contact with anyone who has been infected by coronavirus.

It is also encouraging those attending the conference to adopt a no-handshake policy.

Ericsson appreciates that GSMA have done everything they can to control the risk, the Swedish telecoms company said last week.

However, as one of the largest exhibitors, Ericsson has thousands of visitors in its hall each day and even if the risk is low, the company cannot guarantee the health and safety of its employees and visitors.

Chinas National Health Commission said on Monday that the death toll from coronavirus had now risen to over 900, with the total number of confirmed infections in the country now approaching 40,200.

Around 3,000 new cases were recorded in the past 24 hours, with most of them arising in Hubei province.
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Attorney General William Barr ran off the stage after one question when asked about his process for investigating Giulianis Ukraine dirt.

Barr said, The DOJ has an obligation to have an open door to provide us information that they think is relevant, but as I said to Sen. Graham, you have to be very careful with any information coming from the Ukraine. There are a lot of agendas. There are a lot of cross-currents, and you cant take anything you are seeing from Ukraine at face value, and for that reason, we had established an intake process in the field, so that any information coming in from Ukraine could be carefully scrutinized by the department and its intelligence community partners so that we can access its provenance and credibility.

Video:

NEW: AG Barr asked about process he set up for @RudyGiuliani to share info from Ukraine with DOJ. Barr says he has an open door to anybody. But former DOJ officials say this is *not* the way it works. Barr abruptly left the stage after one question, so no follow-up. @CBSNews pic.twitter.com/seeFwCpfh2  Paula Reid (@PaulaReidCBS) February 10, 2020

Barr then ran off the stage and took no follow-ups.

As Paula Reid of CBS News noted above, Barrs comments do not match with what former DOJ officials have been saying.

Lindsey Graham was telling the truth. There has been a direct process established for Rudy Giuliani to give his Ukraine conspiracy dirt to Barr for investigation.

Attorney General Barr, like most Trump officials, runs away from questions because he is trying to keep his role in Trumps plot to cheat in the 2020 election out of the public eye, but the information is coming out.

Barr is lying to the American people, as now that impeachment is in the past, Trump has weaponized the DOJ to investigate Joe Biden.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook
/ -- TOTO India successfully hosted the 2nd edition of the Architect Talk at Trident, BKC. Spearheaded by Mr. Taro Muroi, Managing Director- TOTO India; the event witnessed an insightful seminar & panel discussion on 'Archaeology of the Future'. On the panel were prominent personalities and pioneers from the Indian Architecture and Design landscape along with keynote speaker Ar. Tsuyoshi Tane, a globally celebrated contemporary architect.

Inaugurated by Mr. Taro Muroi and Ar. Tsuyoshi Tane; the event also witnessed other notable speakers at the panel such as Ar. Alpa Shikre, Principal, SSA Architects, Ar. Reza Kabul, President, ARK Reza Kabul Architects, and, Ar. Alan Abraham, Joint Principal Architect, Abraham John Architects with Ar. Sandeep Shikre, Principal, SSA Architects moderating the panel discussion.

An intellectual soiree talking about the core dialogue conceptualized by Ar. Tsuyoshi Tane's work anthology on Archaeology of the Future focusing on forgotten memory hidden behind modernization and globalization. In his address, Ar. Tane also presented an orientation about his working philosophy 'Archaeology of The Future' and his key projects like Kofun Stadium of Japanese Olympics 2020, LIGHT is TIME, Estonian National Museum (34,000 m2 | completed in 2016), Scramble Stadium (approx. 80,000 m2), Hirosaki Contemporary Art Museum (3,500 m2), Furoshiki Pavilion at the Hotel de Ville de Paris (5,000 m2 | completed in 2018) to the private commissions and product design, artistic installations for the Milan Design Week. The talk received an overwhelming response from the attendees from various spectrums of the industry which started a constructive dialogue over hors d'oeuvres served post the discussion.

Ar. Tsuyoshi Tane also recalled his association with TOTO and how he regularly visits TOTO Publishing / Gallery MA for academic, research, and different idea exchange programs organized by them. He also spoke on his connect with TOTO as a publishing partner for the monograph 'Archaeology of The Future' that documents his creation and exploration of how architecture creates the future.

Speaking on the Architect Talk, Mr. Taro Muroi, MD of TOTO India said, "The Architect Talk is a medium for us to create a knowledge-sharing platform for the industry. Through this event, we strive to amalgamate the rich culture of Japan and India focusing on various innovations that can be inculcated in the industry as a whole. This year, we are extremely delighted to host Ar. Tsuyoshi Tane as our keynote speaker. Focusing on his work 'Archeology of The Future', the talk provides a well-rounded perspective to key stakeholders of the industry from architects to designers."



Expressing his views on the event, Ar. Tsuyoshi Tane said, "I am extremely thrilled to be a part of this year's Architect Talk hosted by TOTO India who have been a forerunner in the bathroom solution industry for decades. I believe in an industry like architecture and design, innovations and approach have a global implication and is not restricted to a particular region and this event is right step towards creating a global platform for exchange of ideas and opinions."



About TOTO:TOTO was established in the year 1917 and is headquartered in Fukuoka, Japan. It entered India in 2001 and registered in the market in 2011. It is one of the world's most technology-driven and environmentally sustainable bathroom solutions company with their 1st manufacturing unit established in India in the year 2014. TOTO, over the years, has strived to create a culture of comfortable and healthy living. TOTO has been an innovation leader in bath products, designer suites, and toilet systems which have been honored with numerous awards such as WorldStar Award, Red Dot Design Award, IF Product Design Award, Sustainability Award, Monodzukuri Nippon Grand Award, and many more. TOTO employs about 33,431 people and more in 18 countries and offers superlative solutions to the most prestigious and luxurious hotels and homes. It takes huge pride in their products of exquisite craftsmanship like Neorest Series and Floatation tub along with its patented, Washlet (Electrical Toilet Seat with Bidet).

For more information, please visit: https://in.toto.com/.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
DALLAS, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Infogroup, a leading provider of data and data-driven intelligence solutions, announced today the hire of Rohan Chandran as chief product officer to lead the company's data strategy and products. In this role, Chandran will drive the company's strategy for its industry-leading proprietary data, with Infogroup's state-of-the-art technology applications.

Infogroups cloud-based Data Axle technology enables real-time updates to business and consumer data files. Chandran learned to appreciate the accuracy of Infogroups data during stints at YP and Telenav, both of which were Infogroup customers.

"Rohan possesses domain knowledge and an entrepreneurial spirit," said Infogroup Chairman and CEO Michael Iaccarino. "He knows our datasets and knows how our customers think  because he was one. Rohan will lead our effort to enable our clients to make better business decisions in real-time. On a personal level, he is one of the most personable technologists I've met and a great fit for our culture."

Chandran joins the company from Shopkick, where, as chief product and technology officer, he led the buildout of a real-time data platform, and the introduction of new product lines, while overseeing product management, growth, engineering, design, analytics and data science, and operations. Before that he served as VP and GM of mobile and analytics at Telenav, head of consumer products at YP, and co-founder and CEO of Collient. Chandran holds three degrees from Stanford University including a Masters in computer science.

"As a former Infogroup customer what stayed with me was the fundamental robustness of their data compared to that of their competitors; no one else does verification the way Infogroup does, and this kind of dedication to quality begets trust," said Chandran. "Now, as part of Infogroup, I'm excited to work alongside a great team that will position Infogroup as a trusted business partner  helping companies drive better decision-making by leveraging our real-time business intelligence."

To learn more about Infogroup, its data, products and leadership, go to https://www.infogroup.com/about-us/.

About Infogroup

Infogroup is a leading provider of data and data-driven marketing solutions for salespeople, marketers, and professionals. The company's solutions are powered by its proprietary business and consumer databases and supplemented by client and third party data. Clients range from Fortune 500 enterprises and local businesses to not-for-profit and political organizations. Infogroup's cloud-based Data Axle technology allows for real-time updates to its business and consumer data files, and also provides clients with a real-time API delivery platform for the most accurate and up-to-date information to support their marketing and business needs. Infogroup has 45+ years of history creating its own data and makes 24+ million verification calls per year to ensure data quality. For more information, visit www.infogroup.com.

SOURCE Infogroup

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The removal of anti-dumping duty on Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA), a key raw material for textile industry, will help in promoting the growth of man-made fibre companies, an official said.

The government in Budget had announced revoking anti-dumping duty on import of this chemical from seven countries, including South Korea and Thailand.

The official said that the country's man-made fibre (MMF) base needs to grow at a healthy rate in order to cater to domestic and overseas textiles markets.

To enable the textile sector to grow from its current market size of USD 110 billion (about Rs 7.81 lakh crore) to about USD 200 billion (about Rs 14.20 lakh crore) by 2025, fibre production in the country has to grow from the current level of 8 billion kg to about 16 billion kg in the coming years.

"This growth has to come largely from the MMF segment since cotton has a limited capacity to grow given various constraints," the official added.

Scarcity of water in states like Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and uprooting of cotton plants by farmers without waiting for third/fourth round of pickings have been reasons for lower output.

The PTA users association had demanded from the government that the anti-dumping duty on PTA be revoked in the overall interest of promoting the growth of MMF industry.

The industry also asked for significant reduction of import duty on the chemical.

In July 2019, the finance ministry had imposed anti-dumping duty of up to USD 78.28 per tonne on the chemical from South Korea and Thailand.

Earlier in July 2016, the ministry had slapped duty of up to USD 168.76 per tonne on the chemical from China, Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan.

Hailing the move, Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) Chairman A Sakthivel has said that abolishing the duty will give the much needed boost to the entire textile and apparel value chain.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The mother of a convicted extremist has insisted her ISIS-supporting son who called for beheadings would 'never hurt anyone' as ministers race to stop his automatic release.

Mohammed Zahir Khan had previously posed with an ISIS flag and had called for a so-called 'year of fear' before being jailed in 2018.

The 42-year-old from Sunderland was supposed to have been imprisoned for four and a half years but is due for automatic release in the next few months.

Ministers are facing a deadline of February 27 to pass the emergency terror legislation through Parliament that would end automatic release for offenders after half their sentence after Sudesh Amman attacked locals in Streatham.

Khan's mother Tazeem Akhtar today claimed she wanted her son freed so he could be at home with her.

Mohammed Zahir Khan (pictured above) claimed he 'never supported' the terror organisation, he is due to be released in the next few months

Ministers are facing a deadline of February 27 to pass the emergency terror legislation through Parliament that would end automatic release for offenders after half their sentence after Sudesh Amman (above before the attack) attacked locals in Streatham

The 63-year-old said Khan now wants to 'move on with his life'.

Speaking to the Sun Online she said: 'He's not a danger to society. He would never hurt anyone.

'I just want to see him freed. He has served his time. I want to see him back here at home with me. He told me he leaves this month. He is very excited to leave.'

She added that her son now wants to open a grocery store, 'get married and have a family of his own'.

Khan, a father-of-one and shopkeeper, was jailed in May 2018 for encouraging acts of terror, disseminating terror material and inciting religious hatred.

Amman (above) was shot dead by police following his knife attack in Streatham, London

Khan had previously penned on Facebook that there was 'nothing wrong' with 'chopping off the heads of your enemies'.

He could now become one of 500 convicted terrorists who have been released in the UK over the last 10 years.

The prime minister announced the new legislation following an attack in Streatham, in which convicted terrorist Sudesh Amman, who was released last month despite authorities having serious concerns about him, went on a stabbing spree.

Early release was first introduced in 2005 and Khan will be one of 75 eligible for the scheme.

Sources in Whitehall previously said Khan was an 'extremely concerning individual'.

MPs are hoping the legislation will pass through the Commons by the end of next week, before Parliament breaks for a week's recess.

That means the House of Lords will have just three days to pass the bill when Parliament returns on February 24.

Khan 42, originally from Birmingham, was locked up after he admitted possessing a dossier of terror material.

He said initially that had amassed the bile filed material 'recklessly' but a Judge called him out for his 'uninhibited hatred.'

Khan's previous posts on Twitter also called for 'death to Shias'.

Despite this his mother has claimed he is not a terrorist and has 'done nothing wrong'.

She added that it was 'talk but never actions', and said her son's life has been ruined.

This is while locals in Sunderland, where Khan had run an off-license said he should never be released from jail.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 10

Trend:

"Explaining India's Citizenship Amendment Act by Shri Kanwal Sibal, (former Foreign Secretary of India).

India has amended its Citizenship Act of 1955 in December 2019 to allow persons belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist and Christian faiths who have illegally migrated into India over the years from three neighbouring Islamic countries, namely, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, to acquire Indian citizenship on a relatively fast track basis. The exclusion of Muslims from the amendment has been criticised by Indias political opposition, sections of the civil society, leftist student groups and others for being unconstitutional, diluting Indias secularism and eroding Indias democracy.

The BJP won a huge majority in Indias general election in May last year, consolidating further its impressive victory in the 2014 elections. Amending the Citizenship Act of 1955 has been on the partys agenda all along. In its previous tenure the BJP government had moved the amendment but it could not be passed because the party did not have a majority in the Upper House of Indias parliament, and so the legislation had to be shelved. This time also the party lacked a majority in the Upper House but was able to get the legislation through with the support of a section of the opposition. In other words, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was passed after an intensive debate in both houses of parliament when all the issues raised by the opposition, including the perceived anti-secular nature of the amendment, were answered by the government. The legislation was passed through an open, transparent and fully democratic process. The constitutionality of the legislation has, nonetheless, been questioned by opponents and the matter will be adjudicated by the Supreme Court of India. This is in consonance with the robust functioning of Indias democracy.

The CAA was necessitated because Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain and Christian minorities who have entered India over decades and settled down in the country could not acquire Indian citizenship under the pre-amended citizenship law. They were, thus, deprived of many benefits of Indian citizenship and had to live precarious lives. These minorities entered India for many reasons- persecution, discrimination, physical insecurity, threat of forcible conversion, and so on. In 1947 minorities in Pakistan, mostly Hindus and Sikhs, constituted about 23% of the population; today they constitute about 5%, with Hindus at about 1.65%. In 1971, at the time of Bangladeshs creation, Hindus constituted 19% of the population, whereas in 2016 they constituted only 8%. These are telling figures that testify to the large scale exodus of minorities from Muslim majority neighbouring countries. This should be contrasted with the number of Muslims in India in 1947 at 92 million and their estimated number today at about 200 million. Not only that, Muslims have occupied the highest positions in the country in all domains, the Indian constitution protects the rights of all minorities and Muslims, along with other minorities are given special rights in the management their religious and educational institutions.

Now, these non-Muslim minorities, primarily Hindus and Sikhs, could only migrate to India and nowhere else, given that the historical home of Hindus and Sikhs is India. No Muslim country would either accept them or give them citizenship. But then, amongst those who have entered India illegally over the decades have been Muslims from Bangladesh. They did so not because of religious persecution discrimination, physical insecurity or threat of conversion. They came for better economic opportunities, encouraged also by Bangladesh regimes of the past for political reasons. Their case is different, as they can return to their country of origin, after, of course, identification as illegal migrants. The Indian government estimates that there are about 20 million illegal Bangladeshi migrants in India, though the exact number can only be determined after a citizenship roll is established.

India is probably unique amongst major powers in not having a system that legally identifies its citizens. It does not have a citizenship register; the system of national identity cards does not exist. This is an anomaly for a country that has a long open border (1758 kilometres) with one of its neighbours (Nepal), a longer porous border (4096 kilometres) with another (Bangladesh), and several thousand kilometres of contested or un-demarcated borders with two others (China and Pakistan- 4056 kilometres and 3323 kilometres respectively).

The government has repeatedly clarified that the CAA is to grant citizenship on a one-time basis to a particular group of persons with no alternative options and not to take away the citizenship of any one, much less an Indian Muslim. The CAA has a cut-off date of December 31, 2014, after which no illegal immigrant, whether Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Christian or Muslim would be eligible for citizenship under the amendment. In this larger sense, the CAA is by no means anti-Muslim.

The opposition elements in India believe that they have got an issue to put the Prime Minister Modi-led BJP government on the defensive, and hence the resolutions passed by opposition ruled Indian states not to implement the CAA. Unable to have their way in parliament and looking for an issue around which those opposed to the BJP government can coalesce, the opposition is over-dramatising issues and indulging in unrestrained fear-mongering.

Outside observers need to better understand the dynamics of internal politics in a raucous democracy like India. However, because the issues of refugees, migration, targeting of minorities anywhere, rise of nationalism have international resonance, western liberal circles, political and in the media, which have anti-Indian lobbies embedded in them traditionally, have picked up the CAA and NRC controversy in India and have begun a malicious campaign against the government, without trying to understand the issues dispassionately. In the process they are showing disrespect for Indian democracy. Worse, they are openly interfering in Indias domestic politics on the side of the opposition. These circles should learn to respect the sovereignty of other countries and curb their tendency to pronounce on internal developments in them. They condemn interference in their internal politics by others and even punish them for this, but openly interfere in the internal politics of other countries. They should not believe that they have a responsibility to shape them or that they have a better idea of how other countries should be governed, more than their elected leaders. They forget that Prime Minister Modi was elected as Indias leader through the largest ever democratic exercise in human history, with more than 550 million voting in an electorate of 830 million.
On Monday, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) announced that it has exempted flight crews from Breath Analyzer (BA) tests for 15 days at Kerala's Calicut, Kannur, Trivandrum and Cochin airports amidst the contagious coronavirus outbreak. Breath Analyser tests are mandatory tests for all flight crews to check for the presence of alcohol in the system. Apart from the pilots and cabin crew, even the airside staff, ground equipment operators, ground handling personnel and flight dispatchers are subjected to the test.

Read: Health Ministry gives update on coronavirus, 9452 persons under community surveillance

However, given the global outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus which has claimed over 900 lives, the DGCA has decided that it would exempt the crew from Breath Analyzer tests since the disease is highly contagious and could spread through oral transmissions such as sneezing or coughing.

DGCA has exempted flight crews from Breath Analyser tests for 15 days at Kerala's Calicut, Kannur, Trivandrum and Cochin airports. Crew operating flights out of these airports need to mandatorily undergo post-flight BA at the next immediate station. #Coronavius pic.twitter.com/kjjHZF4ahf  ANI (@ANI) February 10, 2020

Read: WHO warns overseas coronavirus spread may be 'tip of the iceberg'

DGCA raises precaution

Amid the scare of the novel Coronavirus, the Ministry of Health on Sunday had taken to Twitter and issued an update on the status of virus in India. According to the Ministry, a total of 9452 persons are currently under community surveillance in India. The screening of passengers is now on at all 21 airports, International Seaports and border crossings. 1818 flights and 1,97,192 passengers have been screened so far. Several countries have banned arrivals from China while major airlines have suspended flights to the country.

Read: Coronavirus: DGCA restricts entry of foreigners in India who visited China post Jan 14

Previously the DGCA had announced that foreigners who visited China on after January 15, will not be allowed to enter India. A notice conveying the news was issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Saturday, which read, "foreigners who have been to China on or after January 15, 2020, are not allowed to enter India from any air, land or seaport including India-Nepal, Indo-Bhutan, Indo-Bangladesh or Indo-Myanmar land borders."

(With Agency Inputs)

Read: China warns against 'excessive' use of protective suits amid coronavirus outbreak
Even if you don't know the name Stanley Saitowitz, if you've lived in San Francisco long enough, you know his work.

Designer Saitowitzs work has spanned four decades in the city, producing well-known buildings like 8 Octavia and the Yerba Buena Lofts. He was born in South Africa, but since coming to UC Berkeley to get his masters in architecture in the mid-1970s he has lived, taught and designed amazing buildings in the Bay Area, many of which have garnered honors from the American Institute of Architects.

Given his long history here, Saitowitz had a lot to say about how a recent rise in NIMBYism has impacted the planning process, his upcoming "fog house" and why hes glad signature architecture has fallen out of favor. An edited and condensed version of Saitowitzs exclusive conversation with SFGATE is below.

Q: How have you seen neighborhood objections to projects affect the planning process?

Stanley Saitowitz: That attitude has grown and has become what we come to expect, but it's not pleasant. The process becomes tedious and difficult. Eventually, you get to build the building, but it's always that aspect that makes it less and less fun.

Originally, most of the responsibility in the review process was at the professional level  the planning department, the building department. But theyve sort of abdicated their power to the neighborhood. They wont really even make a commitment to the project until they get a feeling about whether the neighborhood's going to be accepting. So yeah, it's becoming more and more of a kind of negotiation with people who are self-interested rather than have a broader kind of interest in the development of the city.

Q: You made it through the planning process on two Bay Area student housing projectsCalifornia College of the Arts and UC Berkeleythat are wrapping up soon. Whats attractive to you about working on student housing?

SS: It's just a very strong need. CCA is an art school that competes with other art schools around the country, like RISD [Rhode Island School of Design]. One of the things that they found that limits their student acceptance is that it's very difficult for students to find affordable housing in San Francisco when they can stay in Rhode Island for half of what it costs them to rent a room in San Francisco. It's true in Berkeley, as well.

The need for affordable student housing is a critical thing that's happened because of the explosion of cost in the Bay Area. And so that's how we got involved with the student housing market. But we also like market-rate housing and were doing an SRO in Pasadena. So, we have a broad range of different affordable housing projects, as well as market-rate housing.

Q: Do you prefer working in an urban context?

SS: The approach is identical but I think the thing for us is that when we do projects in the city, theyre bigger. There's more publicness to them. The ground floor is always part of the streetscape and they involve the city at large. Whereas a house is a private sort of realm that has presence for the public, but it doesn't actually invite the public to participate in it. So, I think that the bigger urban projects really have bigger opportunities for affecting the quality of the city.



Q: Do you see Natoma Architects doing fewer private homes in the future?

SS: Well, 25 or 30 years ago we almost exclusively did single-family houses. And then gradually we started doing multifamily infill buildings in the city. And now our projects have got more and more involved with the city and at the biggest scale. So yeah, that is the sort of direction that our work is moving towards.

But we still really love doing houses for people who really want to have a beautiful home. Like we're doing a house now for a person who is very involved with the idea of how the fog works in San Francisco. She's bought a lot out in the Sunset and shes named the house The Fog House and she's given me the question, How can you make a house that celebrates living in fog? So, those things are always interesting and those can be more experimental than a bigger project with lots of costs and constraints involved.

Q: Whats exciting you about architecture right now, in the Bay Area or internationally?

SS: There was postmodernism and then that led to a very formalist, exuberant, sculpture-driven idea about architecture. I think that has now lost its power and the buildings that are interesting to me now are much more about this idea of how buildings are continuous with these sites and how they build a city. So, I think the best practices of architecture now are those kinds of buildings, which you see happening in places like Lisbon and Barcelona and in certain Dutch architecture. I think people are focused on that again rather than these sort of outer space objects, which just land and have no relation to anything.

The idea of signature architecture, where the expression of the architect is more important than the relationship to the world that it's in, thats become less of the focus. The other kind of architecture, which is more about continuity and place, is more the currency of today. I think its good. The sort of Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, those architects, I think thats changing to another kind of idea about how buildings can responsibly exist in the world.

Emily Landes is a writer and editor with an obsession with all things real estate.








Honeyland, a Macedonian film that tells a powerful story of survival and nature, has missed out on two Oscar awards for which it was nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in California.



It first lost in the documentary feature category to American Factory, the first movie released by Barack and Michelle Obama's studio company.



Produced by Netflix, the film is about an Ohio auto-glass factory that is run by a Chinese investor and explores such issues as, workers' rights, globalization, and automation.



Honeyland and its creators from North Macedonia -- Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov -- came to the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles riding high on the back of 30 international awards, including three of the honors at last year's prestigious Sundance Film Festival.

Its subject, Hatidze Muratova, an unlikely Turkish-Macedonian traditional beekeeper, was also in attendance following a much-publicized dress-fitting in her country's capital, Skopje.



Later in the evening, the movie lost out to Parasite in the international film category.



It's a social satire directed by South Korea's Bong Joon-ho, whose film was perceived as the front-runner in the category and also won the award for best picture.



Still, Honeyland remains the first film to have been nominated for both the documentary and international feature-length film categories.



That achievement alone raised the movie-making profile of North Macedonia in the eyes of Metodija Koloski, president of the United Macedonian Diaspora organization in Washington.



"Macedonia has a century-old filmmaking culture" and its dual nominations are "an example of that and only strengthens that heritage and spreads understanding of the huge potential of Macedonian cinematography," Koloski told RFE/RL in a text message after the awards ceremony.



He called the beekeeper's message in the film "global," saying it emphasized the "need to give back to the environment and nurture it and take care of it -- she is a winner in my heart and so many others," he said.
Judge refuses to block Oklahoma law banning telemedicine abortions

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A judge has refused to block an Oklahoma law banning telemedicine abortions, or abortions in which a doctor guides a patient via video conference through a medication-induced termination of pregnancy.

Oklahoma County District Judge Natalie Mai rejected a motion for a preliminary injunction on Oklahomas telemedicine ban, as well as another state law mandating that only physicians perform abortions.

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter said in a statement on Friday that the litigation against the laws was extreme and sought to overthrow commonsense safety laws.

Abortion advocates used to say that abortion should be between a woman and her doctor, but now they are attempting to take the doctor out of the room, and out of the picture altogether, stated Hunter.

We look forward to our continued defense of these laws and others that have been enacted to protect Oklahoma womens health and safety, as well as the dignity of the unborn.

Hunter also labeled the judges decision thoughtful and believed that it stays faithful to the U.S. Supreme Courts repeated assertion that there is no doubt that these types of laws are reasonable and constitutional.

Last November, the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit attempting to strike down the two Oklahoma laws, labeling them unnecessary.

Filed in the District Court of Oklahoma County, the suit also had among its plaintiffs Trust Women of Oklahoma City, a gynecologist who performed abortions, and an advanced practice registered nurse licensed to practice in the state.

As clinics shutter across the country, telemedicine is a crucial way to keep services available, said CRR President and CEO Nancy Northup in a statement released at the time.

If we get these senseless laws off the books, we can expand abortion access in Oklahoma, which has very few abortion providers.

Last July, a judge ruled against a request by the Trust Women Foundation for an injunction blocking implementation of Kansas ban on telemedicine abortions.

Shawnee County District Judge Teresa Watson stated at the time that the Trust Women abortion clinic had failed to show that it or its patients will suffer irreparable injury in the absence of a temporary injunction for the period of time between now and a decision on the merits.

The Telemedicine Act does not authorize or prohibit any specific medical procedure. Rather, it clarifies that the same federal privacy protections afforded patients apply equally to care provided in person and via telemedicine, concluded Watson last year.

Because the Telemedicine Act does not limit or prohibit abortion in this state, Plaintiffs constitutional challenge to Sections 6 and 7 of the Telemedicine Act in this context fails as a matter of law.
Congress leaders have expressed confidence despite exit polls predicting bleak prospects in Delhi elections for the party but are worried that the return of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) could hit their revival plans in the national capital.

Congress leaders PC Chacko and Kirti Azad on Sunday dismissed exit poll projections, saying the party will do much better.

We have seen such exit polls in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. We will do better than what these surveys are predicting. I am not saying that we will get a majority but our position will improve, Chacko said.

Also Watch | Delhi: Is Congress considering an alliance with AAP? Watch leaders reply

Azad, too, cited the outcome of assembly elections in Haryana to reject the projections.

Exit polls in Haryana suggested that Congress will get three seats, but we got 31. Similarly in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, BJP was predicted to form the government but we came to power in all three states. I am confident that we will get a good number of seats in Delhi, he said.

A Congress leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the party was in a good position in some seats but rued the lack of a credible face to take on chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. We should have projected a face. Voters nowadays want to see the contenders for the chief ministers post and accordingly take a call, the leader from Delhi said.

We cannot fight the elections just on the basis of our legacy or history. Past is past. Voters want to know our future policies and plans for development of Delhi. In 2013, we lost because of water and electricity and the AAP is coming back to power in 2019 because of water and electricity, he added.

Though the Congress is upbeat about the fact that BJP is not projected to win the elections by the exit polls, the worry for the grand old party is that its support base is continuously eroding and shifting to the AAP as a result of which its revival plan could go for a toss.

In Delhi, both the Congress and the AAP vie for the same vote base, with the BJPs share appearing to remain intact in the past several elections.

The BJP, too, was banking on a good show by the Congress to dethrone the AAP as they were confident that the party could cut into the AAP votes.

The Congress was heavily banking on the minority vote, with a section arguing that Muslims were disillusioned with the AAP in the wake of the silence of its leaders, especially Kejriwal, on the Shaheen Bagh issue.

But another group of senior leaders had a different take. They were of the view that Muslims would by and large vote for the AAP as it is in a much better position than the Congress to keep the BJP out of power in Delhi.

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In the wake of the Federal Communications Commission's recent approval of the $20.4 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, stakeholder reactions to the broadband support program's disbursal rules have been mixed.The new FCC money will be divvied up in two phases, with the first distributing the majority of the funds, $16 billion, to Census blocks where data shows no service is available. What some stakeholders take issue with, however, is that the FCC is using Form 477 data, which has driven its funding in the past but has also been widely criticized. A top point of contention is that within this data, if a Census block has a single household with high-speed Internet, the entire area is counted as served.This is an issue that drew mixed responses from FCC commissioners involved with the initial ruling.FCC Commissioner Michael ORielly supported the decision in an official statement , downplaying concern.[B]y limiting Phase I eligibility to those Census blocks that have no broadband whatsoever and targeting those consumers truly deserving of FCC assistance, our action should not in any way trigger or exacerbate the rightful concerns raised over our broadband mapping procedures, ORielly wrote.Two other FCC commissioners, Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks, were less enthusiastic."This effort has been pushed out so fast I fear we are only starting to understand what is not workable in this framework," Rosenworcel said in her statement . "We are making so much up as we go along."Rebecca Dilg, rural community and outreach manager for the Utah Governors Office of Economic Development, is aware of related situations in Utah where stakeholders wanted to pursue FCC funding. In one case involving a Census block that covered dozens of square miles, developers couldnt go after any money because of a single served household.I couldnt help but be concerned [about the Census block rule] and wanting to look at it a little more, Dilg said. You look at Census blocks in Utah or the entire West compared to the East. I mean, its completely different. We have this wide expanse.Industry analyst Craig Settles said using Form 477 data to determine eligibility allows large broadband providers to say, Were doing a great job because we said so, which leaves behind people in rural areas who need better Internet service.This whole thing is a sham, Settles said. Having the 477 data is a joke, because youre basically self-dealing to the incumbents because they influence what the information is.Settles added there should be more accountability on how FCC broadband money is used after its awarded. Billions of FCC dollars have been given out for many years. And what do we have to show for it? I would contend that we have little to show for it, Settles said.A 2018 study by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance indicates that Form 477 reporting enables de facto monopoly providers to overstate their coverage and territory to hide the unreliable and slow nature of their service in many communities. The study also states that the extensive instructions for Form 477 discourage smaller providers with fewer resources from completing the form.Even though Microsoft has previously cited multiple limitations with Form 477 data, the company supports the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and is optimistic that the FCC will continue its effort to reform broadband mapping, said a representative from Microsoft, in an email to. Indeed, for the funds second phase, which will distribute a smaller amount of $4.4 billion, the FCC promises to use granular, precise broadband mapping data.Other rules for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund may raise concerns among smaller providers as well. The new program will prioritize bidders committing to provide fast service with low latency, which deviates from previous FCC funds that prioritized efficiency. Claude Aiken, president of the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association, said higher-speed networks take much more capital to deploy, which could make smaller providers bow out of of an already-complicated auction process.If they look at it and see only gigabit speeds are going to win out, that might keep them out of the auction altogether and result in even less competition for the subsidy money, Aiken said.Aiken, however, was more optimistic about a line of credit requirement that would potentially keep smaller providers from competing. He said although the official rules document hasnt been released yet, he believes the FCC has moved in a positive direction on this particular issue based on what he heard from the last meeting about the fund.One difference from previous FCC broadband funds is a provision that allows electric cooperatives to participate. Brandon Presley, the northern district commissioner for the Mississippi Public Service Commission, said this rule is a monumental step in the right direction. In 2019, Mississippi passed the Broadband Enabling Act, which granted electric co-ops in the state the ability to provide broadband to their members. In less than a year since the bills passage, eight co-ops in the state have announced plans to bring high-speed Internet to their customers.We have a proud history of serving our rural communities [through electric coops]  I applaud the FCC for it [the new co-op rule], Presley said.Presley would like the FCC to abandon the practice of using Form 477 data to identify eligible areas, but he said thats a part of the rule that well move on and live under, I guess.The FCC also initially stated that neither Alaska nor New York would be able to receive money from the new fund due to established FFC-related broadband programs in those states. Various Congress members from New York complained, leading the FCC to change its position on New York. Meanwhile, Alaska doesnt have an issue with being excluded from the new program, as it already benefits from three FCC funds.The FCC is legitimately working with us trying to solve the problem, said Keith Comstock, development executive in the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development. Whether or not the three plans currently available will get us to 100 percent or not, thats yet to be seen. We believe that theyre working in good faith with us, and theyre well aware of our unique needs  The fact that were cut out of this one program doesnt mean anything for us.
A recanvass would check the vote count against paper records to ensure it was reported accurately.

The campaigns of Democratic candidates Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg have asked for a partial recanvass of the results of last weeks Iowa caucuses.

The recanvass would not be a recount, but instead a check of the vote count against paper records to ensure the counts were reported accurately.

The Sanders campaign has outlined 25 precincts and three satellite caucuses where it believes correcting faulty math could swing the delegate allocation in Sanders favour. Meanwhile Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, requested the party check the results in 66 precincts.

Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir, appearing on CNN, said on Sunday: You can expect us to be asking the Iowa Democratic party for a recanvass of the discrepancies that we have identified and found for themIts been handled incompetently from our perspective.

Both Pete Buttigieg, former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and Sanders have claimed victory in the caucuses  Buttigieg, because he holds a razor-thin lead in the delegate count, which is the number of delegates from the state each candidate wins based on a weighted voting system, and Sanders because he has received the most total support overall. Following the primary season, the number of delegates won by each candidate across the country will determine the Democratic nominee for the general election.

On Sunday, the state party released updated results showing Buttigieg leading Sanders 13 delegates to 12, out of the states 41 national delegates. On Monday, the party said it was reviewing the justifications of the campaigns requests.





Some news agencies, including The Associated Press, have remained unable to declare a winner because they believe the results may not be fully accurate and are still subject to potential revision.

With a slim margin separating Buttigieg and Sanders, the slightest mathematical or reporting mistake could have a significant effect on the race.

In a statement on Monday, Sanders senior adviser Jeff Weaver said the campaign does not expect the recanvass to change the results of the caucuses, but he also suggested the campaign may ask for a full recount in the future.

Once the recanvass and a subsequent recount are completed in these precincts, we feel confident we will be awarded the extra national delegate our volunteers and grassroots donors earned, he said.

The chaos and inconsistencies in the reporting have raised widespread doubts and prompted sharp criticism of the process from the candidates and party leaders.

Iowa is the first contest in the country in the path to selecting a Democratic nominee, and while the number of delegates from the state is relatively small, it is considered symbolically significant in building momentum for the rest of the race.

Uncertainty, bad math, errors

The potential recanvass would further extend a process already clouded by uncertainty and technical errors in Iowa.

An app used by party volunteers to report results and jammed phone lines set up for the same purpose resulted in the Iowa Democratic Party failing to release any results to the public until nearly a day after the event.

Party volunteers later found inconsistencies in the complicated math used by caucus volunteers to calculate the outcome of each individual caucus.





To confirm the validity of the data they received, Iowa Democratic Party officials spent much of the week collecting paper records of the results and checking them against the numbers reported by volunteers. But issues continued to plague the partys reporting, and the Iowa Democratic Party on Saturday said it was reviewing reported inconsistencies in 95 precincts.

The updated results released on Sunday largely left issues with the complicated math used to calculate results at the individual caucus sites, known as precincts, intact. This is because that math is recorded on an official record signed by the precinct leader, secretary and representatives of each campaign present, and the partys leadership says altering the record to fix the math would potentially break the law.

It is the legal voting record of the caucus, like a ballot. The seriousness of the record is made clear by the language at the bottom stating that any misrepresentation of the information is a crime, Shayla McCormally, the partys lawyer, said in the internal party email, according to AP. Therefore, any changes or tampering with the sheet could result in a claim of election interference or misconduct.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez said on CNN on Sunday that he is mad as hell about how the caucuses unfolded, and suggested the issues in Iowa could spell the end of caucuses altogether, which are technically party-run events rather than government-run elections.

I think what were going to do at the end of this cycle  is have a further conversation about whether or not state parties should be running elections, he said.

Perez also said the party will absolutely consider whether Iowa should lose its status as the first primary state in the nation.
Shasta Dam in California This budget reaffirms the administrations commitment to water and power reliability in the West.

President Trump today proposed a $1.1 billion Fiscal Year 2021 budget for the Department of the Interiors Bureau of Reclamation. The budget builds on recent accomplishments and supports the Administrations goals of ensuring reliable and environmentally responsible delivery of water and power for farms, families, communities and industry, while providing tools to confront widening imbalances between supply and demand throughout the West.

President Trumps 2021 budget request for the Department is about investing in our people and public lands and waters," said Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt. "He is committed to the mission of conservation and creating more public access for Americans to fully enjoy our national treasures and landscapes. This budget is a critical step in the right direction and provides a path to restore commonsense in our budgeting process.

"This budget reaffirms the administrations commitment to water and power reliability in the West," said Commissioner Brenda Burman. A significant portion of this request is dedicated to improving existing infrastructureincluding dams and reservoirs; creating better water and power certainty for farmers, families and communities; and meeting our environmental stewardship responsibilities.

The proposed FY 2021 budget includes $979 million for Reclamations principal operating account (Water and Related Resources), which will fund operation, maintenance and rehabilitation activitiesincluding dam safetyat Reclamation facilities. This account will also fund planning, construction, water conservation, management of Reclamation lands and efforts to address fish and wildlife habitat needs. It builds on the 2019 Biological Opinion and upcoming record of decision for the Central Valley Project in California by providing $33.0 million to implement the California Bay-Delta Program to help address Californias current water supply and ecological challenges and $55.9 million for the Central Valley Project Restoration Fund to protect, restore, and enhance fish, wildlife, and associated habitats in the Central Valley and Trinity River Basins. It also provides $60.0 million to develop, evaluate, and directly implement Reclamation-wide policy, rules and regulation as well as other administrative functions.

Specific funding within the Water and Related Resources operating account will also build on 2020 spending to continue work on the Arkansas Valley Conduit project, which will provide an alternate clean drinking water supply to rural communities grappling with groundwater contamination issues.

The proposed budget includes $103.2 million in appropriations for extraordinary maintenance (XM) activities across Reclamationpart of a strategy to improve asset management and deal with aging infrastructure to ensure continued reliable delivery of water and power. Examples of XM expenditures include spillway repairs, modifying fish screens, hydroelectric generator maintenance and rewinds, and pumping plant gate maintenance and replacements. Additional XM items are directly funded by revenues, water and power customers, or other federal agencies (e.g., Bonneville Power Administration).

Reclamation provides services through many of its projects and programs to fulfill its trust responsibilities to tribes. The FY 2021 budget request includes a total of $112.1 million for Indian water rights settlements. This includes $43.6 million for the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project to continue important construction work; $12.8 million for the Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement; $4.0 million for the Aamodt Litigation Settlement; and $25.9 million for the Blackfeet Water Rights Settlement. Other settlements include the Nez Perce Settlement within Columbia and Snake Rivers Salmon Recovery Project ($5.6 million), the San Carlos Apache Tribe Water Settlement Act ($1.6 million), the Ak-Chin Indian Water Rights Settlement Act ($15.3 million) and the Colorado Ute Settlement Act within the Animas La Plata Project ($3.4 million).

The FY 2021 budget, through programs such as the Lower Colorado River Operations Program ($37.6 million) and the Central Valley Project ($141.5 million), will continue efforts in both areas to find long-term, comprehensive water supply solutions for farmers, families and communities in the Colorado River Basin and California. It builds on the incredible work of Colorado River partners and stakeholders to implement drought contingency plans in 2019 and funds federal government obligations under those DCPs.

Other highlights of Reclamations FY 2021 budget proposal include:



$107.1 million for the Dam Safety Program to effectively manage risks to the downstream public, property, project and natural resources and provide for risk management activities at Reclamations high and significant hazard dams.

$30.3 million for ongoing authorized rural water projects to deliver water supplies to defined rural communities. This includes projects that benefit tribal nations such as the Mni Wiconi Project in South Dakota, the Pick Sloan-Missouri Basin Program  Garrison Diversion Unit in North Dakota, the Fort Peck Reservation/Dry Prairie Rural Water System in Montana, and the Rocky Boys/North Central Rural Water System in Montana.

$2.9 million for the Desalination and Water Purification Research Program to support new and continued projects in three funding areas -- laboratory scale research studies, pilot-scale testing projects and full-scale testing projects.

$11.0 million for the Science and Technology Program to support continued science and technology projects; water and power technology prize competitions; technology transfer; and outreach activities that address critical water and power management issues.

$27.3 million for the Site Security Program which includes physical security upgrades at key facilities, guards and patrols, anti-terrorism program activities and security risk assessments.

$18.2 million for the WaterSMART Program to support Reclamations collaboration with non-federal partners in efforts to address emerging water demands and water shortage issues in the West, as well as promote water conservation and improved water management.

Additional details about Reclamations budget request are available at http://www.usbr.gov/budget.
New way: what a proposed bridge to Scotland could like

Officials are examining the potential for a bridge linking Scotland and Northern Ireland, an idea championed by Boris Johnson.

Downing Street said a "range of officials" were looking at the idea, but were unable to say how many civil servants were examining proposals.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said it was a "proper piece of work" and Mr Johnson was "ambitious" about infrastructure projects across the country.

Mr Johnson has repeatedly spoken about the prospect of a bridge, even though experts have warned that the depth of the Irish Sea and the presence of dumped munitions would cause problems for any project.

The project could cost a reported 20 billion, although Mr Johnson has previously said it would "only cost about 15 billion".

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "The PM set out this was an idea which he believed could have some merit so, as a result of that, you would expect the Government to be looking into it."

The scoping work is being run from Number 10, with a range of officials reporting into it.

"The PM is ambitious in terms of infrastructure projects," Mr Johnson's spokesman said.

"He's looking at a wide range of schemes across the UK which could improve connectivity."

Expand Close Boris Johnson has repeatedly spoken about the prospect of a bridge linking Scotland and Northern Ireland (Stefan Rousseau/PA) / Facebook

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The Prime Minister told MPs "watch this space" when asked about the prospect of a "Boris bridge" in Parliament in December 2019.

The distance from Larne to Portpatrick, one of the most likely routes for a bridge, is around 45km.

There is no problem with distance, money or the Beaufort's Dyke explosives disposal area, according to the Prime Minister.

In November 2018, he said: "The problem is not the undersea Beaufort's Dyke or lack of funds. The problem is an absence of political will."

Government sources said it was possible to build a bridge which has a tunnelled section to cope with some of the difficulties caused by the depth of the Irish Sea.
By Helena Cobban

February 10, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - In a key piece of actual extensive, on-the-ground reporting, the New York Timess Alissa Rubin has raised serious questions about the official US account of who it was that attacked the K-1 base near Kirkuk, in eastern Iraq, on December 27. The United States almost immediately accused the Iran-backed Ketaib Hizbullah (KH) militia of responsibility. But Rubin quotes by name Brig. General Ahmed Adnan, the chief of intelligence for the Iraqi federal police at the same base, as saying, All the indications are that it was Daesh  that is, ISIS.

She also presents considerable further detailed reporting on the matter. And she notes that though U.S. investigators claim to have evidence about KHs responsibility for the attack, they have presented none of it publicly. Nor have they shared it with the Iraqi government.

KH is a paramilitary organization that operates under the command of the Iraqi military and has been deeply involved in the anti-ISIS campaigns throughout the country.

The December 27 attack killed one Iraqi-American contractor and was cited by the Trump administration as reason to launch a large-scale attack on five KH bases some 400 miles to the west which killed around 50 KH fighters. Outraged KH fighters then mobbed the US embassy in Baghdad, breaking through an outside perimeter on its large campus, but causing no casualties. On January 2, Pres. Trump decided to escalate again, ordering the assassination of Irans Gen. Qasem Soleimani and bringing the region and the world close to a massive shooting war.

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The new evidence presented by Rubin makes it look as if Trump and his advisors had previously decided on a broad-scale plan to attack Irans very influential allies in Iraq and were waiting for a triggering event any triggering event! to use as a pretext to launch it. The attack against the K-1 base presented them with that trigger, even though they have not been able to present any evidence that it was KH that undertook it.

This playbook looks very similar to the one that Ariel Sharon, who was Israels Defense Minister in summer 1982, used to launch his wide attack against the PLOs presence in Lebanon in June that year. The trigger Sharon used to launch his long-prepared attack was the serious (but not fatal) wounding of Israels ambassador in London, Shlomo Argov, which the Israeli government immediately blamed on the PLO.

Regarding London in 1982, as regarding K-1 last December, the actual identity of the assailant(s) was misreported by the government that used it as a trigger for escalation. In London, the police fairly speedily established that it was not the PLO but operatives of an anti-PLO group headed by a man called Abu Nidal who had attacked Argov. But by the time they had discovered and publicized that fact, Israeli tanks were already deep inside Lebanon.

The parallels and connections between the two cases go further. If, as now seems likely, the authors of the K-1 attack were indeed Daesh, then they succeeded brilliantly in triggering a bitter fight between two substantial forces in the coalition that had been fighting against them in Iraq. Regarding the 1982 London attack, its authors also succeeded brilliantly in triggering a lethal conflict between two forces (one substantial, one far less so) that were both engaged in bitter combat against Abu Nidals networks.

Worth noting: Abu Nidals main backer, throughout his whole campaign against the PLO, was Saddam Husseins brutal government in Iraq. (The London assailants deposited their weapons in the Iraqi embassy after completing the attack.) Many senior strategists and planners for ISIS in Iraq were diehard remnants of Saddams formerly intimidating security forces.

Also worth noting: Three months in to Sharons massive 1982 invasion of Lebanon, it seemed to have successfully reached its goals of expelling the PLOs fighting forces from Lebanon and installing a strongly pro-Israeli government there. But over the longer haul, the invasion looked much less successful. The lengthy Israeli occupation of south Lebanon that followed 1982 served to incubate the birth and growth of the (pro-Iranian) Hizbullah there. Today, Hizbullah is a strong political movement inside Lebanon that commands a very capable fighting force that expelled Israels last presence from Lebanon in 2000, rebuffed a subsequent Israeli invasion of the country six years later, and still exerts considerable deterrent power against Israel today

Very few people in Israel today judge the 1982 invasion of Lebanon to have been a wise move. How will the historians of the future view Trumps decision to launch his big escalation against Irans allies in Iraq, presumably as part of his maximum pressure campaign against Tehran?

This article has been republished with permission from Just World News.

Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here

==See Also==
BELTON, Texas - A Central Texas police officer was charged Monday with manslaughter for the fatal shooting of an unarmed man during a traffic stop, officials said.

Temple Officer Carmen DeCruz was charged with the second-degree felony in the Dec. 2 shooting of Michael Dean, Bell County District Attorney Henry Garza said in a statement. His bond was set at $500,000. He was placed on paid administrative leave after the shooting.

If convicted of the charge, DeCruz could face two to 20 years in prison.

Police in Temple, a city of 76,000 people about 70 miles (112 kilometres) northeast of Austin, have said little about the shooting and consistently referred questions to the Texas Rangers, who submitted the findings that led to the charge.

Dean was black, while jail booking records list DeCruz as American Indian.

DeCruz tried to stop Deans PT Cruiser for speeding on the night of Dec. 2, but the 28-year-old didnt stop and a short pursuit ensued, according to a police report dated Dec. 30 and sent to the Texas Attorney Generals Office. It also referred to an altercation of some sort between the men but didnt elaborate, and the charging document doesnt reference it.

An arrest affidavit filed Monday said that once Dean was stopped, DeCruz went to the passenger side window and demanded that Dean shut the motor off and hand over the keys.

The affidavit said DeCruz reached for Deans keys with his left hand while holding his handgun with his right, finger on the trigger. When DeCruz pulled back, his finger squeezed the trigger, discharging the weapon into Deans head. DeCruz then pulled Dean from the passenger side of his car. He and other responding officers administered first aid until paramedics arrived, but Dean was dead at the scene, the affidavit stated.

S. Lee Merritt, an attorney representing Deans family, called the charge inadequate.

Michael Dean was shot in the temple through a closed door seconds after being pulled over for a minor traffic violation, Merritt said in a statement. We are demanding that the appropriate charges be pursued, he added.
In the 1992 general election in Ireland there were 166 Dail seats, so a working majority was anything better than 83. Labour won the election that year by doubling its seats to 33. Fine Gael lost 10 seats and was left with 45.

The Democratic Left party won four.

One of the stories of that election was that if Labour had run more candidates it would have won more seats. I was there at the time, and it is the case that if we had had our way there were at least two constituencies where we wanted to run a second candidate  Dublin North and Dublin South as they were called at the time.

As it happened we had two quotas in each of those constituencies. If wed had the right number of candidates wed have had 35 seats.

The combined FG/Lab/DL total would have been 84. The Rainbow government that was refused then by Fine Gael, but accepted two years later, would have been irresistible. History would have been different.

Im saying this because history is staring us in the face again. Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein are looking at it.

By the time the votes are counted, the two parties combined will have a working majority, or at worst will need no more than an Independent TD or two to support them.

For that reason, a Fianna Fail/ Sinn Fein coalition is the only logical outcome of this transformative election.

The only question in my mind is who should be Taoiseach. Should it be the leader of the party with the largest number of seats, or the leader of the party with the largest number of votes?

Or is the irrefutable logic, at last, pointing towards a rotating Taoiseach?

As someone who has opposed Sinn Fein all my adult life, it has won a resounding mandate that has to be respected and admired.

This was a monumental election for Sinn Fein, the sort of election result that no one could have predicted  or did predict.

It has won the largest share of the vote of any political party in the country, and if the party had run enough candidates it would have the largest number of seats. As it is, Sinn Fein will in the end beat Fine Gael into third place on both counts.

And the party has been very clear that its mandate is a mandate for government.

A mandate for government, for a party that was in the relatively recent past banned from the airwaves in Ireland. From that point to winning the largest share of the popular vote is the most remarkable, earth-shattering transformation.

And there is more to come. Whatever government is appointed can only be appointed in accordance with the terms of the constitution.

And the Constitution makes it clear, in clear and simple language, that the government is appointed by the President after the Dail votes for it. They take no oath of office, but they are bound by several provisions of the Constitution.

They are collectively responsible for all government decisions  that means they are responsible to each other as well as to us. They are answerable to the Dail, and only to the Dail.

They must implement the policies adopted by the Dail, and they must maintain its confidence.

And they must respect the confidentiality of government meetings, unless the High Court says otherwise in the public interest. Article 28.4.3 of the Constitution says that in black and white.

Apart from anything else, that means that it is impossible, in the context of our democracy as it is prescribed by our Constitution, for any cabinet minister to consult with shadowy figures as part of carrying out their responsibilities.

Of course members of the government consult, and if theyve any sense try to get the best advice possible, but when theyre in the Cabinet Room theyre there as part of the exercise of collective responsibility.

This is routinely explained to each incoming minister as he or she is appointed by the cabinet secretary. He will supply them with a copy of the Cabinet Handbook (which they and we can read online anyway) and set out their democratic and constitutional responsibilities from the off.

Theres no need for any misunderstanding about it  and theres no scope for dark theorising either.

In the immediate aftermath of the election, there is a sort of cold war going on as the final figures clarify themselves. But actually, all thats really left to do is to wish Taoiseach Micheal and Tanaiste Mary Lou (or vice versa!) the best of luck. We may not all have voted for it, but its in all our interests  especially when it comes to the housing crisis  that it succeeds.

I would like to say one more thing before I finish. I joined the Labour Party not far short of a half century ago. I first worked for the party in a by-election, as a volunteer, in 1981. I served the party on a full-time basis for 20 years.

Heres what I know (and these are simply facts). In all those years and many more, the party of which Im a member has never been involved in an act of political corruption. No member of my party has ever taken bribes nor had to appear in front of a tribunal.

No member of my party ever had to defend an atrocity, nor make apologies on behalf of the party to victims of violence. No member of my party ever found themselves having to offer reassurance about our democratic commitment.

And apart from that altogether, Ive been a member of a party that has been in the vanguard of progressive change in Ireland for all my life. It was a Labour minister, Frank Cluskey, who began the overhaul of the social security system to end its discriminations against women. Labour TDs were almost the only ones  at a time when it was really difficult to do so  to oppose the introduction of the Eighth Amendment.

Another Labour minister, Mervyn Taylor, spearheaded wide-ranging reforms of family law, culminating in the successful passage of a divorce referendum against all the odds.

From then on, Labour ministers have been to the forefront of progressive change. Equal marriage and the repeal of the Eighth would not have happened without Labours political leadership, and without Eamon Gilmores and Brendan Howlins advocacy.

And in that time I worked for a party leader, Dick Spring, whose contribution to lasting peace in Ireland has always been underestimated. You cant objectively trace the progression from the Downing Street Declaration to Good Friday and beyond without seeing his role.

And I dont believe you can look at the more open and inclusive Ireland we have today without recalling Springs advocacy of Mary Robinson as Ireland first woman president.

I hope youll forgive me therefore if one of my feelings this morning is profound sadness at the state of the party whose core values have influenced me all my life.

This isnt the moment to analyse the reasons. All I want to say is that those values of community, of solidarity and equality, of inclusiveness and openness, of a deep and abiding democracy, must not be allowed to die.
Scores of protesters, including women and students, have gathered at Mandi House here for a protest march against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens.

Police said they had not given any permission to the protesters to march. The protesters, however, claimed that they had the permission and would march till Jantar Mantar.

The protest call was given by the Welfare Party of India.

Siraj Talib, the national secretary of the Welfare Party of India, "We are protesting against the CAA and NRC. We have permission, I have spoken to police and we are marching towards Jantar Mantar."



There was a heavy deployment of police personnel in the area.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Davenport native, who now lives in Sterling, Ill., said she searches Facebook Marketplace, estate sales and the like probably too often, mostly for antique furniture, knickknacks and oddities. "But my dedication to looking has led me to find some really amazing things that mightve been gone pretty quickly if I wouldnt have seen them right away.

Venues such as the classifieds section of the newspaper, Facebook Marketplace and resale apps make it easy for people like Breedlove who are looking to unload slightly bizarre, random items, and people like English who are in the market for them. Read more.
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Furious locals in Brighton have accused the government of keeping them in the dark over the coronavirus after it emerged that two of the eight UK cases are healthcare workers believed to work at a doctor's surgery in the city.

Patients who have visited County Oak Medical Centre are being urgently traced as four people in the city were confirmed to have the killer illness from China.

The surgery has been shut down, sealed off and is being cleaned by a team in hazmat suits 'because of an urgent operational health and safety reason'.

The infected medics have been linked to a British 'super spreader' businessman who is feared to have infected at least 11 people with coronavirus he picked up in Singapore, prompting the emergency testing of hundreds of people on his flights, Alpine ski break and even staff in his local pub and yoga class in Hove.

However, the NHS has refused to reveal any details about the two infected medics, how many people they came into contact with at work or whether they were on a skiing holiday with the 'super spreader' in late January.

Angry locals are now accusing the government of keeping them in the dark to try to 'limit panic'.

Shaun Wright said: 'It seems like the government is trying to hide information in an attempt to limit panic, rather than informing the public who and where the infected have been.'

Another added: 'It seems that information is being drip-fed to us by NHS England and we are being left to fill in the empty spaces between the dots.

'The movements of the people so far infected have not been publicly documented, and since it has now (today) been established in China that the incubation period for the new coronavirus may be up to 24 days, the possibility of a wider spread is real.'

Dr Catriona Saynor, who owns the chalet in the Alps where the British 'super-spreader' stayed two weeks ago, was a partner at the Brighton surgery until last summer but works there as a locum, according to the medical centre's website. She is believed to be infected with the coronavirus and having treatment at the Royal Free Hospital in London.

County Oak medical centre in Brighton has been shut down, sealed off and is being cleaned by a team in hazmat suits this afternoon 'because of an urgent operational health and safety reason'.

The team in protective clothing was also seen cleaning seats in the waiting area of the the GP surgery where Dr Catriona Saynor once worked and is believed to return as a locum 'from time to time'

A man in protective clothing cleans the floor of the pharmacy inside the County Oak Medical Centre in Brighton, which was closed today because at least one staff member has been diagnosed with coronavirus

A note on the front of the County Oak Medical Centre in Brighton saying the surgery has been closed for 'operational difficulties'

Dr Catriona Saynor (pictured left) quit as a partner in Brighton to live permanently in the French chalet where the British super-spreader visited to ski. She works at County Oak Medical Centreas a locum, according to the medical centre's website. Her husband Bob and their nine-year-old son are also said to have been confirmed with coronavirus

Ministers today declared the outbreak  which has infected more than 40,000 and killed 910 people  a 'serious and imminent' threat to the British public

Her environmental consultant husband Bob and their nine-year-old son are in quarantine in a French hospital after being exposed the virus by their guest from Hove  but it is not yet confirmed if Dr Saynor is in Britain or in France.

It is feared the County Oak staff member came into contact with a British 'super spreader', who is believed to have infected at least 11 others on a French ski holiday, and then worked an 'admin day', during which she did not see any patients, at the surgery.

Public Health England medical director, Yvonne Doyle, has said all four new cases were 'closely linked to one another'.

She said: 'Our priority has been to speak to those who have close and sustained contact with confirmed cases, so we can advise them on what they can do to limit the spread of the virus.

'Two of these new cases are healthcare workers and as soon as they were identified, we advised them to self-isolate in order to keep patient contact to a minimum.

'We are now working urgently to identify all patients and other healthcare workers who may have come into close contact, and at this stage we believe this to be a relatively small number.

What we know about the Britons infected with coronavirus and the patients ill in the UK Cases in the UK and where they are being cared for: York and Newcastle: Two Chinese nationals who became ill while staying at Staycity Aparthotel in York on Wednesday January 29 are being treated at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle. Brighton and London: The third person to be diagnosed in the UK was a businessman from Brighton who caught the infection while on a work trip in Singapore, then became ill in Brighton after travelling home via a chalet at the Les Contamines Montjoie ski resort in the French Alps. He flew back to the UK on Easyjet flight EZS8481 from Geneva to London Gatwick on January 28 and is now being treated at St Thomas' Hospital in London. France and London: A fourth adult, believed to be Dr Catriona Saynor, who owns and was staying at the same chalet in France was diagnosed with the virus on Sunday, February 9, and is being treated at the Royal Free Hospital in London. Brighton and London: Four more people were diagnosed with the coronavirus in Brighton on Monday, February 10. Two of them are healthcare workers and all four are linked to the Brighton businessman and caught the virus in France. They are being treated at the St Thomas' and Royal Free hospitals in London. Brighton: One of the four unknown Britons is thought to work at Brighton's County Oak Medical Centre, where Dr Catriona Saynor  also known as Dr Greenwood  worked before falling ill last week. They are believed to be a male doctor who also holidayed at the French chalet. Total: Eight people. Six Brits and two Chinese nationals. British expats and holidaymakers outside the UK Majorca: A British father-of-two who stayed in the French Les Contamines Montjoieski ski resort tested positive after returning to his home in Majorca. His wife and two children are not ill. France: Five British people became infected after coming into contact with the Brighton businessman. They include the French chalet's owner, environmental consultant Bob Saynor, 48, and his nine-year-old son  the husband and child of the UK case Catriona Saynor. They are all in a French hospital. Japan: A British man on board a cruise ship docked at a port in Japan tested positive for coronavirus, Princess Cruises said. Alan Steele, from Wolverhampton, posted on Facebook that he had been diagnosed with the virus. Believed to be on his honeymoon, Steele said he was not showing any symptoms but was being taken to hospital. Total: Seven people, all British nationals. Advertisement

'We would like thank all those who have followed public health advice and have taken the necessary steps to reduce the risk to the general public.'

Jacqui Egan, 55, from Brighton was due to have a bone scan at the County Oak Medical Centre in the city this afternoon.

But she received a phone call this morning to say her appointment had been cancelled and rescheduled for five weeks' time because the centre was having a 'deep clean'.

Mrs Egan told MailOnline: 'I'm concerned and not sure I want to go there again. The woman called me at 9.30am this morning and told me my appointment was cancelled because of the coronavirus.

'It has been rearranged until March 17, but I'm in pain in my hip every day and had waited four weeks for this appointment.

'If I hear anything else about virus I'll go elsewhere and try go private  even though I can't afford it.'

Five new patients  four men and a woman  were diagnosed with the deadly SARS-like infection in Brighton over the weekend and transferred to specialist hospitals in London to be treated in quarantine for 14 days.

All of the patients were 'known contacts' of a businessman from neighbouring Hove, who became the UK's third case last Friday after picking up the virus at a work conference in Singapore.

They are all believed to have been staying in the same chalet in Les Contamines-Montjoie, close to Mont Blanc.

The six others who have fallen ill since holidaying with the 'super-spreader' include five more Britons being cared for in a French hospital and a father-of-two British expat who flew home to Majorca where he became ill.

And two are thought to have been doctors  a man and a woman  who worked at the County Oak Medical Centre, Brighton & Hove News reported.

A coronavirus isolation pod has now been set up at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

The pods are designed to keep people who suspect they may be carrying the virus away from vulnerable people.

A sign inside a doorway next to A&E says: 'NHS 111 Coronavirus priority assessment pod this way'.

Brighton is at the centre of the outbreak in Britain with one super spreader at the source of all but two cases in the UK.

It comes as a 10,500-a-year private school in Southampton has been closed for three days for a 'deep clean' after the family of some pupils were isolated over coronavirus fears when they returned from China with symptoms.

Police have today been given the power to seize people trying to escape coronavirus quarantine and force them back into isolation in handcuffs, the government has announced.

A new law was hurriedly brought into force after a patient staying at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral reportedly tried to leave before completing the 14-day stay after his return from China.

Government sources said those who returned to the UK on the evacuation flights on January 31 were given a 'very clear choice' and had to sign contracts saying they would remain in isolation for a fortnight.

But a source involved with the Arrowe Park incident said: 'We found we didn't have the necessary enforcement powers to make sure they didn't leave.'

Brighton GP surgery the County Oak Medical Centre has been closed today for 'urgent operational health and safety reasons' after a member of staff tested positive for the killer coronavirus

Arrowe Park Hospital, the isolation facility in The Wirral, where Britons evacuated from Wuhan in China have been staying

Health chiefs are also under increasing pressure to name a British 'super spreader' of the coronavirus, who is thought to have infected at least seven others

UK GOVERNMENT WILL 'FORCIBLY QUARANTINE ANY PATIENTS WITH SUSPECTED CORONAVIRUS' Suspected coronavirus patients will now be forcibly quarantined after a man staying at an isolation facility following his evacuation from Wuhan two weeks ago threatened to walk out. The patient staying at Arrowe Park hospital on The Wirral told medics he was going to leave before completing 14 days of quarantine after his return from the Chinese city, MailOnline understands. Government sources said those who returned to the UK on the evacuation flights on January 31 were given a 'very clear choice' and had to sign contracts saying they would remain in isolation for a fortnight. It came as the Department of Health today declared the outbreak a 'serious and imminent' threat to the British public as it announced new powers to fight the spread. Anyone infected with the virus will now be kept in quarantine for their own safety and will be forced into isolation if they pose a threat to public health. A source told MailOnline: 'We found we didn't have the necessary enforcement powers to make sure they didn't leave. The source said the phrase 'serious and imminent threat' in the regulation was needed to trigger the powers, and at the moment the risk to the public is still regarded as 'moderate'. We're saying we are having to take action to prevent it becoming a serious and imminent threat.' The first Britons evacuated from Wuhan will have completed 14 days in quarantine on Saturday, MailOnline understands. Advertisement

Police will now be able to force people to remain in the units and, if they leave, to arrest them for committing an offence and take them back to the quarantine facility, MailOnline understands.

The new rule comes as England today announced its fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth cases of the virus in Brighton  all of the three men and a woman are linked to the fourth patient, who has now been dubbed a 'super-spreader'.

The fourth patient was a businessman who returned to the UK from a conference in Singapore via a ski chalet in France, where other Britons were subsequently taken ill with the virus.

The Department of Health today declared the outbreak  which has infected more than 40,000 and killed 910 people  a 'serious and imminent' threat to the British public.

Confirming the cases this morning, professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England, said: 'Four further patients in England have tested positive for novel coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases in the UK to eight.

'The new cases are all known contacts of a previously confirmed UK case, and the virus was passed on in France. Experts at Public Health England continue to work hard tracing patient contacts from the UK cases. They successfully identified these individuals and ensured the appropriate support was provided.

'The patients have been transferred to specialist NHS centres at Guy's and St Thomas' and The Royal Free hospitals, and we are now using robust infection control measures to prevent further spread of the virus.

'The NHS is extremely well prepared to manage these cases and treat them, and we are working quickly to identify any further contacts these patients have had.'

Health chiefs are also under increasing pressure to name a British 'super spreader' of the coronavirus, who is thought to have infected at least 11 people.

The businessman is at the centre of a web of cases stretching across the UK, France and Spain after he apparently contracted the virus during a four-day trip to Singapore for a sales conference for gas analysis company Servomex.

He attended a business conference in Singapore then jetted from south-east Asia to the Alps to ski in Les Contamines-Montjoie in late January.

Passengers, including a baby, disembark from a charter flight carrying Brits evacuated from Wuhan, China after it arrived at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire

Hundreds have been tested for cononavirus in the town of Les Contamines-Montjoie, near Megeve in the French Alps

Passengers have been taken by coach to Kents Hill Park hotel and conference centre in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, where they will be quarantined for 14 days (pictured are provisions laid out at the centre)

Figures also show 910 people have now died across the world, with all but two deaths recorded in mainland China

More than 40,000 people have now caught the killer coronavirus  nearly 99 per cent of the cases have been recorded in China

BRIT BUSINESSMAN GETS CORONAVIRUS AT SINGAPORE HOTEL THEN FLEW HOME VIA FRENCH SKI RESORT AND HAD PINT AT HIS LOCAL PUB A British 'super spreader' is feared to have infected at least seven others with coronavirus, prompting the emergency testing of hundreds of people on his flights, Alpine ski break and even staff in his local pub. The businessman is at the centre of a web of cases stretching across the UK, France and Spain after he apparently contracted the virus during a four-day trip to Singapore for a sales conference for gas analysis company Servomex. The man in his fifties then jetted from south-east Asia to the Alps to ski in Les Contamines-Montjoie in late January where five more Britons including a nine-year-old boy became infected despite the 'super spreader' not having any cold or flu-like symptoms. Britain's health authorities have also contacted 183 passengers and six crew on an easyJet flight then taken by the unnamed man from Geneva to London, warning that they could be infected. Five staff at The Grenadier in Hove, his local pub, have been instructed to self-isolate for a fortnight after he went there for a pint on Saturday February 1. Advertisement

Five more Britons including a nine-year-old boy became infected despite the 'super spreader' not having any cold or flu-like symptoms.

Britain's health authorities have also contacted 183 passengers and six crew on an Easyjet flight then taken by the unnamed man from Geneva to London, warning that they could be infected.

Five staff at The Grenadier in Hove, his local pub, have been instructed to self-isolate for a fortnight after he went there for a pint on Saturday February 1.

And a student at Portslade Aldridge Community Academy in Brighton has also been told to stay at home for two weeks amid fears he came into contact with the so-called 'super spreader'.

Officials have desperately tried to stop further spread with a cross-border hunt for all the hundreds of people the Hove man may have had contact with.

More than 910 people have died and 40,000 have become infected since the outbreak began in the Chinese city of Wuhan, which has been placed in lockdown to curb the spread - an evacuation flight landed at RAF Brize Norton on Saturday.

Public Health England is under pressure to reveal where the so-called 'super spreader' had been and the full extent of the numbers under observation.

The task has been made more difficult because the patient, from Hove in East Sussex, interrupted his return from Singapore to Britain by taking a four-day break in the French Alps.

Professor Paul Hunter, professor in medicine, University of East Anglia, said last night: 'This new case would appear to be linked to the cluster of cases in the French ski resort which is also linked to the case in Brighton.

'As such this case is part of the same cluster which is being reported as linked to a British national returning from Singapore.

'Whilst we currently do not know many details about how this new case was linked to others in the cluster, his/her identification does not at this stage indicate wider spread within the UK community.

'If the new individual had been already identified through contact tracing and the person was self-isolating then this should not pose any additional risk.

'Further cases within an already identified cluster are not surprising and do not pose an additional risk to public health providing such contacts are complying with instructions from Public Health England.'

Authorities confirmed yesterday that a fourth case of coronavirus in the UK was also linked to the Hove businessman.

In addition, a British father-of-two who stayed in the ski resort tested positive after returning to his home in Majorca.

The five Britons who caught the virus in the Alps include the chalet's owner, environmental consultant Bob Saynor, 48, and his nine-year-old son.

British honeymooner Alan Steel, from Wolverhampton, became the second confirmed UK national to be diagnosed with the lethal disease after catching it on a cruise ship off the coast of Japan (pictured with his new wife Wendy)

Alan Steele (pictured right) was separated from his new wife Wendy (pictured left on board the cruise ship) and taken off the Diamond Princess after learning his test results in Yokohama Bay today

Alan Steele had married his wife Wendy in January before they set off on a honeymoon cruise on board the Diamond Princess

The patients staying at Arrowe Park Hospital arrived back in the UK on January 31

The announcement by Matt Hancock (pictured) gives the Government greater powers to fight the spread of the virus, with four confirmed cases in the UK

WHAT IS A SUPER SPREADER? Patients infected with the killer Wuhan coronavirus are thought to infect up to 2.6 people, infectious disease specialists estimate. But some patients pass it on to a disproportionately higher number than that. A person's behaviour may contribute to them becoming a super spreader. Someone who travels a lot has a greater chance of becoming one because they come into contact with many people in a number of countries. International businessmen and women are therefore at risk. This appears to be the case with the British businessman who travelled from Singapore to the French Alps and back to the UK. The unnamed middle-aged man is thought to have infected at least 11 people. Another suspected super spreader in the current outbreak is a man believed to have infected 14 workers at a hospital in Wuhan, China. But in other cases it is not always clear why a person can become a super spreader.

Scientists say some people may 'shed' more of the virus into the environment by coughing or sneezing as their immune system tries to get rid of it. Super spreading is not a new phenomenon. In 2012, a Mers-coronavirus patient returned led to 82 people becoming infected after returning from Saudi Arabia to South Korea. Irish cook Mary Mallon (1869-1938) was dubbed 'Typhoid Mary' after passing the disease to 51 people in the US when she had no symptoms.

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They are in hospital with three other Britons who were staying at the six-bedroom chalet.

Mr Saynor's two other children and four Britons from another family are being kept in isolation at French hospitals as a precaution. His wife Catriona, a doctor, is reportedly in the UK.

The family is understood to have been living in the village for just three months after moving from Hove themselves, despite having bought the property several years ago.

Mrs Saynor had left France by the time the investigation began and is under observation in a UK hospital. It is not clear if she was the fourth case diagnosed in Britain.

French officials have closed the 95-pupil primary school attended by the Saynors' nine-year-old son, while a 200-pupil school in nearby Saint-Gervais he attended for one day last week will also be shut.

Etienne Jacquet, the mayor of Les Contamines-Montjoie, said the chalet had now been disinfected.

At this time of year, the village of 1,200 people, which is part of the Mount Blanc ski area, hosts thousands of skiers.

But local shop staff said some tourists had cancelled bookings, even though French half-term week starts today, followed by British half-term next week.

Last night, Easyjet spokesman said it had contacted all of the passengers and crew on the infected carrier's flight from Geneva to London Gatwick on January 28.

Five employees at The Grenadier pub in Hove have been instructed to self-isolate after he visited for two hours on February 1. A school pupil in the area was also told to self-isolate during the investigation into the man's movements.

The meeting in Singapore was attended by 94 other business people, with participants from Malaysia, South Korea and Britain also diagnosed with coronavirus.

Dr Nathalie MacDermott, from King's College London, told yesterday of her 'concerns of the potential for this epidemic to develop into a pandemic, particularly if international lines of communication about cases of infection and mechanism of transmission are not maintained'.

The super spreader had been at the chalet close to Les Contamines' main ski lifts where five people became ill

Five staff at the Grenadier pub in Hove have been instructed to self-isolate after he visited for two hours on February 1

The landlord has confirmed that the 'super-spreader' had been in for a drink but said the pub is open for business

Professor Richard Tedder, a visiting professor at Imperial College London, said that the most recent cases gave rise to the 'potential risk of a pandemic'.

China yesterday raised the death toll from its coronavirus outbreak to 811, passing the number killed globally by the SARS epidemic.

China's ambassador to Britain, Liu Xiaoming, described the virus  which has spread to at least 27 countries and territories, infecting more than 330 people  as 'the enemy of mankind'.

Health experts believe the outbreak could have spread from bats to humans through the illegal traffic of pangolins  or scaly anteaters  which are prized in China for food and medicine.

Elsewhere, 60 more people on the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship in the port of Yokohama have tested positive for coronavirus, Japan's health minister has said.

There are now 130 confirmed cases on the ship, with officials previously saying 70 people had the virus among the 3,711 passengers and crew.

More than 3,600 people, including 78 British passport holders, are still in a 14-day quarantine on board the ship.

British honeymooner Alan Steele, who was transferred from the cruise liner to hospital in Japan with coronavirus, was said to be feeling well and in good spirits over the weekend.

In the UK, a University of York student and their relative are still being treated at the Royal Victoria Infirmary infectious diseases centre in Newcastle.

Nearly 100 people died of coronavirus yesterday on the deadliest day of the outbreak so far.

The death toll in mainland China rose by 97, taking the number of global fatalities to 910.

Another 3,062 cases were reported in China yesterday - an increase of 15 per cent compared to Saturday which put an end to a series of daily declines.

The latest surge in deaths is a setback to hopes that China's drastic quarantine measures might be working.

The rise in China's death toll comes as millions of people return to work today after an extended Lunar New Year holiday.

Roads in Beijing and Shanghai had significantly more traffic than in recent days and the city of Guangzhou was resuming normal public transport today.

However, the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai said 60 per cent of its member companies were planning mandatory work-from-home policies.

Tens of millions of people in Hubei province were not returning to work, as the province at the centre of the outbreak remained under lockdown.

China has built two hospitals for virus patients in Wuhan and sent thousands of extra doctors, nurses and other health care workers to the city of 1 million people.
The star guests at this years Miami event were none other than Prince Harry and wife Meghan , fresh from consciously uncoupling from the royal family. What business advice they were providing the investment banks wealthy clients is beyond us. But as sources told the New York Post, the annual conference has often concluded with celebrity appearances. Last year, it was headlined by Jennifer Lopez . With speakers rumoured to be paid between $500,000 and $1million, the conference  and adjacent private dinners  is one of the banks most private events. Those who scored an invitation included star architect Norman Foster , Greek shipping dynasty heir Stavros Niarchos , New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and former British PM Tony Blair . Howard is a member of JP Morgans International Council, the banks high-powered advisory group that is chaired by Blair. While Blair was reported to have missed the Sussexes at the conference, there was no word from Howards office whether he intended to meet the couple.

Former prime minister John Howard was wheeled out twice last year  when the election campaigns of Prime Minister Scott Morrison and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian were looking particularly precarious. Both handily won and now the Libs appear to have stored the elder statesman away again. But this columns correspondents noted the former PM in much more exclusive surrounds in Florida, where we are told he is enjoying the hospitality at JP Morgans annual Alternative Investment Summit.

It was reasonable to expect fireworks when Melbourne businessman James Baillieu was mentioned in court yesterday regarding a charge of harassment against Andrew Dyer.

Readers will remember the former colleagues clashed verbally after Dyer replaced Baillieu as the chair of listed small-cap Bid Energy.

It is alleged Baillieu penned more than 100 emails, texts and letters  including personal attacks on Dyer. These communications included some in which Baillieu allegedly referred to Dyer as a maggot and dishonest toad. (Not mentioned  the time an unknown individual is said to have hand-delivered a letter addressed to Dyer to the exclusive Melbourne Club repeating the maggot epithet.)

Since then, the court heard, Dyer  who is the National Windfarm Commissioner  had obtained an interim intervention order against Baillieu. The hearing on a final intervention order will be heard on February 20. Victoria Police have separately charged Baillieu, alleging he harassed Dyer via a carriage service.

Baillieu has said in the past he has sent only six emails, one text and one letter to Dyer. He has also argued the language he used was no more robust than a standard business dispute between directors of a listed company.

So it comes as no surprise there was an air of anticipation inside Melbourne Magistrates Court as magistrate Trieu Huynh heard a mention on the harassment charge. Dyer arrived early, taking his place in the back corner of the room, while police prosecutors and Baillieus defence lawyer, Carly Lloyd, set up. But Baillieu didnt show. Lloyd explained her client had stayed away out of an abundance of caution.

One of Melbournes most enthusiastic litigants staying away from court? Thats a first.

Then again, both executives are set to appear on March 17 in the Supreme Court, where Baillieu is taking civil action against Dyer and Bid Energy. He claims Dyer and the company exaggerated Dyers involvement with the company ahead of appointing him as chairman.

Very messy.

HINCH HOORAY

Talk about a knees-up. Former senator Derryn Hinch celebrated six decades in journalism  during which he alleges to have interviewed every sitting prime minister  with a love-in at St Kilda bistro Riva on Sunday.

It was, coincidentally, his 76th birthday. Having reported for more stations than the Southern Aurora, Hinch is this year back on the Seven Networks Sunrise program.

Of particular note was the appearance of former Melbourne University Publishing chief executive Louise Adler, the very day University of Melbourne vice-chancellor Duncan Maskell reignited a feud over the controversial shake-up of the high-profile institution.

I dont think it is the right space for an academic publisher to be publishing memoirs of jockeys, Professor Maskell told The Age, earning an immediate rebuke from MUPs former chairman, Laurie Muller, for taking a cheap shot .

Adler, happily installed at MUP rival Hachette Australia, stayed out of the fray. Awkwardly, MUP is still to publish Hinchs second tome about life in the Senate  Unfinished Business  which is due to be released late next month (he was originally signed by Adler).

Others in attendance included Hinchs former Sky News Australia colleague, Janine Perrett, now on 2GB, Sunday Telegraph political editor Annika Smethurst and HWL Ebsworth partner Nicholas Pullen, who advised Hinch when he was found guilty of contempt of court but who most recently represented Geoffrey Rush in legal action against the Telegraph.

Also present: Hinchs former fiancee, Lynda Stoner, the one-time Young Doctors star who called off their wedding in 1981. They are, by all accounts, reunited.
The drama "Crash Landing on You tells" centers the story of two characters from opposite worlds, a South Korean heiress and socialite and a North Korean elite man who also happens to be an army officer.

On one fine day, while paragliding Yoon Se-ri portrayed by Son Ye-jin experienced an unlucky event that was caused by a strong wind, she accidentally crashes in the land of North Korea. This is where she met her leading man Ri Jeong-hyuk played by Hyun Bin who is known as a North Korean army officer who made an agreement to help Yoon Se-ri return to South Korea. Eventually they both fall deeply in love, despite the fact that they belong in opposite situations between their respective countries.

tvN's popular drama "Crash Landing on You" continues to attract more viewers with the captivating story of Yoon Se Ri (Son Ye Jin) and Ri Jung Hyuk (Hyun Bin). Having just four episodes left in the drama, tvN has released some reasons to look forward to the episodes left before its finale. And everyone is excited.

The destiny of Ri Jung Hyuk and Yoon Se Ri as a couple

Ri Jung Hyuk and Yoon Se Ri have seen each other once again in Seoul and proved their love for each other, in their situation, nothing comes easy. As seen in the previous episode Ri Jung Hyuk expressed to Yoon Se Ri that he does not want to go back and wants to stay in Seoul with Yoon Se Ri. But as fate has it, Ri Jung Hyuk is stuck in a situation in which he is required to return to North Korea as soon as he completes his mission of finding Jo Cheol Kang. Meanwhile, Yoon Se Ri is preparing herself for the day that she has to say goodbye to Ri Jung Hyuk.

Ri Jung Hyuk clash with Jo Cheol Kang

The imminent conflict between Ri Jung Hyuk and Jo Cheol Kang played by Oh Man Seok. Showing how their story,in which began with the death of Jung Hyuk's brother Ri Moo Hyuk (Ha Seok Jin), will end. Their war has made viewers be on the edge of their seats. In addition, will Jung Man Bok (Kim Young Min) and his fellow soldiers succeed in their mission of returning Ri Jung Hyuk back to North Korea?

Lastly,the love story of Seo Dan and Gu Seung Jun's

Seo Dan played by Seo Ji Hye and Gu Seung Jun's as Kim Jung Hyun growing love story has been making the viewers put a big smile of their faces with each episode that both are in. Although, Gu Seung Jun has accepted and acknowledged his attraction to Seo Dan, she still seems to root on her relationship with Ri Jung Hyuk. The strategy of how Gu Seung Jun will win Seo Dan heart is also something to look forward to. , as well as if Seo Dan will be able to let go on her deep feelings to Ri Jung Hyuk, for whom she has harbored a one-sided love for a long time.

The next episode of "Crash Landing on You" is scheduled to air on February 8 at 9 p.m. KST.
Irish News journalist Allison Morris has called for stalking legislation to be introduced. Credit: BBC

A Northern Ireland journalist has called for the introduction of stalking legislation after she was subjected to a four-year campaign of harassment by her former partner.

Allison Morris' former partner Fernando Murphy, of Balholm Drive, Belfast, was jailed last week for 10 offences, including breaching a restraining order and harassment.

The Irish News journalist said she was subjected to "daily abuse" at the hands of Murphy, including threatening phone calls, text messages and emails.

In September 2016, he showed up at the Irish News building "ranting and screaming" and squashed a sandwich into her hair and clothes.

Ms Morris said that, due to her job as a security correspondent, she initially did not want to show signs of weakness over her ordeal.

"As a security correspondent I deal with the PSNI regularly - at times critically - and I did not want them, or anyone for that matter, to view me as weak. I did not want to be seen as a victim," she told the Irish News.

"In the end, it was not my welfare but that of my child that brought the situation to a head."

In November 2017 Fernando Murphy was convicted of harassment for the first time.

Ms Morris detailed that range of abuse she suffered over the years.

"There are the threats to ruin your life, the phone calls, the constant messages, the character assassination, the false accusations, the fabricated and fantastical stories, the sexually explicit comments, the conspiracy theories and the need for constant attention regardless of how negative the circumstances," she said.

"He contacted my employers, my work colleagues, my union, my friends, my family, politicians. He phoned social services and made false reports about my grandchildren, causing my family enormous distress."

Last week, Murphy was handed a 14-month sentence at Belfast Magistrates' Court, half of which will be spent in prison and half on licence.

Northern Ireland is the only region in the UK without stalking legislation. Ms Morris hopes the newly formed Executive will take action on the issue.

"I'm far from convinced my ordeal is over but I am hopeful that legislative change will soon make stalking a criminal offence, with tailored protection orders and sentences that reflect the seriousness of the crime," she said.

"Until then, I despair for those victims living in fear of the what next, every moment of every day."

A public consultation on the creation of a specific stalking offence was held last year by the Department of Justice.

The majority of respondents supported the introduction of such legislation.

Justice Minister Naomi Long has said she will bring legislation through Stormont to tackle domestic abuse. The Department of Justice said this legislation will include provisions to combat stalking.
A poster in favour of the change of the penal code is pictured ahead of a referendum on anti-homophobia law in Geneva, Switzerland. Photo: Denis Balibouse/Reuters

Swiss voters have overwhelmingly voted to approve a ban on discrimination against people because of their sexual orientation.

Switzerland's parliament in late 2018 approved expanding the country's existing anti-discrimination law to make it illegal to publicly denigrate, discriminate or stir up hatred based on a person's sexual orientation.

Opponents of the move insisted it violated people's right to freedom of opinion. They gathered enough signatures to force a referendum on the issue. Switzerland holds referendums several times a year that give voters a direct say in policy.

Voters supported outlawing anti-gay discrimination by a margin of 63.1pc to 36.9pc, an outcome roughly in line with pre-referendum expectations. Of Switzerland's 26 cantons (states), only three - Appenzell-Innerrhoden, Schwyz and Uri - had majorities vote against it.

Under the measure, operators of restaurants, cinemas and public facilities such as swimming pools will not be able to turn people away because of their sexual orientation.

The revision approved yesterday expands the scope of a law in force since 1995 that bans discrimination on the basis of race or religion. The law allows fines and up to three years in prison for violations.

In its new form, it will cover sexual orientation but not gender identity.

Supporters said the addition was needed but that it would not stifle legitimate public debate as long as the views expressed didn't stray into fomenting hate or discrimination.

Voters were "saying unmistakably that hatred and discrimination have no place in our free Switzerland", Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said.

Opponents argued that protections against denigration were already enshrined in Swiss law.

The nationalist Swiss People's Party, the biggest single party in parliament, opposed the change and said the backers must now show it was "not a pretext for handing down politically motivated verdicts and silencing unwelcome opinions and voices".

Ms Keller-Sutter said "freedom of expression remains guaranteed". She added courts had been "restrained" in their application of the existing law and "anyone who remains respectful need have no fear of being convicted".
Iraqi students in Baghdads Tahrir Square say they will remain at the sit-in until their demands have been answered.

Baghdad, Iraq  Inside one of a sea of tents in Tahrir Square, Sajjad Muyed and a group of his friends are sitting in a circle on thin mattresses, singing anti-government songs.

We told you time and again, this square is ours, they chanted, as they whooped and cheered.

Muyed, who has spent more than 120 days in Tahrir, the focal point of anti-government protests in Baghdad, filmed the scene with his phone, a large grin on his face.

Look how high our morale is, the second-year accounting student at al-Esraa University College told Al Jazeera. This protest movement is going strong and as long as our demands havent been answered, we will remain here.

For four months, Iraq has been rocked by leaderless anti-government protests in the capital and across much of the Shia-majority south of the country. Demonstrators have demanded more job opportunities, better public services, an end to corruption and the overhaul of the political system imposed after the 2003 US invasion.

The protests forced the resignation of former Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi on December 1, although he remained in post in a caretaker capacity before Mohammed Allawi was appointed as prime minister-designate in early February.

The selection of Allawi, a former communications minister, has been rejected by the protest movement, which sees him as part of the ruling elite which they want to remove from power. Following his nomination, hundreds of students from different universities marched against Allawis appointment in Baghdad and several cities in the southern provinces.

We have given the government a list of five candidates to choose from throughout the provinces who we want to see as the next prime minister, Muyed said. They are not listening to us, and want to impose someone from the political parties on us, which is unacceptable.

A group of Iraqi university students sing popular chants against the government [Linah Alsaafin/Al Jazeera]

Backbone of the protests

According to the United Nations, nearly half of the Iraqi population is aged under 21.

High school and university students have staged several strikes, some prolonged and others short-lived. According to Muyed, public universities such as Baghdad University and Mustansiriya University went on strike for as long as 14 weeks.

Muyeds friend and fellow protester Mustafa Falah called the student strikes the backbone of the protest movement.

This movement derives its support from the presence, activism and volunteerism of students, he said. Look around Tahrir: there are hundreds of tents representing different departments of universities.

Dameer Muhannad, 13, told Al Jazeera that the role of students was essential. She regularly goes to Tahrir Square with her mother and siblings, but she said some schools have spoken out against the demonstrations.

Dameer Muhannad, 13, regularly attends the Tahrir Square protest site with her family and fellow students [Linah Alsaafin/Al Jazeera]

Principals and teachers who are affiliated with certain political groups within the government have banned students from holding demonstrations within school grounds, the seventh-grader said. They also dont accept students going to Tahrir Square as representatives of their schools.

But Dameer has been undeterred by such decisions.

For me and my peers, we will continue to stand with our brothers and sisters at the protest sites until the demands have been met, she said. The blood of our martyrs will not go in vain.

Falah said there have been initiatives and workshops given by university students to those in high school.

We hold workshops to raise their awareness about their rights, and the importance of having a high sense of security, such as who to trust and who to keep an eye out on, he explained.

We have a duty to them from one generation to another because they are the ones that will carry the torch forward.

Strikes, co-option and stagnation

In the early days of the protest movement, student strikes were common and lasted for consecutive weeks, with public universities being affected the most. This led to the circulation of rumours that authorities would cancel the academic year, but an adviser to the education ministry told Al Jazeera there was no truth to such claims.

Most universities are now running back to normal, Dr Salah al-Naeemi said. Classes have resumed in a stable manner, with students sitting their midterm exams.

According to Ali al-Nashmi, a history professor at Mustansiriya University, the only drastic step the government has taken has been the cancellation of the spring and summer holidays for public universities to make up for missed classes.

The strikes, he continued, have occurred mostly in the central and southern Shia-dominated provinces  but not all have come at the initiative of the students, suggesting that supporters of political movements had instigated some walkouts.

These saboteurs, al-Nashmi said, were supporters of political parties who have a stake in the protests  namely, the Sadrists.

The supporters of popular Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose Sairoon bloc holds the biggest share of seats in parliament, joined the protest movement relatively early on, much to the scepticism of the politically independent protesters, who wanted to keep the movement separate from established political parties.

Some protesters warily welcomed the Sadrists, or Blue Hats  members of al-Sadrs Saraya al-Salam militia who are known for their signature headgear, as they provided a degree of protection from pro-Iranian militias, but were clear in distinguishing their tents from theirs at the sit-ins.

Al-Sadrs position towards the protest movement has oscillated recently. In late January he ordered his supporters to leave major protest sites, only to back the movement again a week later, in what analysts described as an attempt to build political momentum.

This fluctuation has played out on the campuses of some universities in the southern provinces, where Sadrists had a role in operating the gates.

At the beginning of February, after endorsing Allawi as the next prime minister, al-Sadr emphasised the need to reopen schools in the southern and central provinces and called on his followers to work with security forces to clear protest sites.

This led to a deadly confrontation between his supporters and the non-aligned protesters last week at the main protest site in the southern holy city of Najaf, where at least seven people were killed in clashes between anti-government protesters and Sadrists.

The anti-government protesters want basic jobs and services and an overhaul of the ruling political elite [Linah Alsaafin/Al Jazeera]

Breaking point

The protests have been characterised as a leaderless movement, but Abbas al-Darraj, who dropped out of university and drives a tuk-tuk, said the protesters believed a leader would be a weakness.

If we had a leader, then this movement would have been over a long time ago, he said. Its easy for a leader to be compromised or co-opted by the forces hes fighting against.

He said that the protesters would continue to demand their rights.

The political parties and the outside interference of Iran and the US have ruined this country, he said. A municipality worker survives on 2000 Iraqi dinars (less than $2) a day, while the member of parliament get paid in the tens of thousands of dollars. How can such injustice be so extreme?

We want people to have jobs and basic services, Mustafa Falah chimed in. Weve reached the breaking point.
Honorable Romney

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, deserves the title of Honorable for by standing by his conviction that President Donald Trump has abused the trust of the American people and should be impeached.

Romney is a man of true faith, moral character and principles. Romney should be praised as a savior of the Republican Party for attempting to restore our faith in the partys future. Instead he will be crucified and will face a barrage of Trumps disparaging remarks.

God bless Romney.

Juan Serda

RINO Romney

The long impeachment nightmare is over. The only question remaining is: When will Sen. Mitt Romney cast off his RINO moniker and switch to the Democratic Party?

This modern day Brutus (also a senator in Caesars time) will not soon cleanse his hands after vicariously plunging his political dagger in the back of President Donald Trump.

Mike Gonzales

The voters will decide

Re: The only way to get corrupt Trump out of office, by Ross Douthat, Other Views, Feb. 5:

All you have to do is beat him  if you can.

Despite what the House managers and the Trump lawyers told us, the voters will decide how guilty President Donald Trump was of those articles of impeachment. The Democratic candidate will also have the burden of convincing voters he or she has something better to offer.

Basically, it will be a pocketbook vote, especially for those who dont follow politics, which is probably a majority of the voters.

Robert M. Louie
4 endangered mountain gorillas killed by lightning strike in Uganda, conservation groups say originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

Four endangered mountain gorillas have been killed by an apparent lightning strike in one of Uganda's national parks, conservation groups say.

Three adult females, one of whom was pregnant, and a newborn infant were found dead in Mgahinga National Park in southwest Uganda last week. An international response team led by the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration, a Rwanda-based conservation group, conducted field and post-mortem analyses that indicate the gorillas were struck by lightning during a severe storm on Feb. 3.

"Based on the gross lesions from the post-mortem, field assessment observation and history, the tentative cause of death for all four individuals is likely to be electrocution by lightning," the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration said in a statement Saturday. "Confirmation of the cause of death will be issued after a histopathology laboratory exam of the collected samples, which is expected to take 2-3 weeks."

MORE: Inside the legal lion bone trade

The four mountain gorillas were part of a group of 17 known as the Hirwa family, which had crossed into Uganda's Mgahinga National Park in August last year from Volcanoes National Park in neighboring Rwanda.

A spokesperson for the Uganda Wildlife Authority, the government agency that manages the country's national parks, wildlife reserves and sanctuaries, did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment Monday.

A Mgahinga National Park ranger reported hearing "the cries of surviving group members and chest-beating of the silverbacks immediately following the [lightning] strike," according to Gorilla Doctors, a California-based conservation group that's part of the international response team assessing the situation on the ground and monitoring the gorillas.

PHOTO: A male silverback mountain gorilla sits in the dense forest on the slopes of Mount Bisoke volcano in Volcanoes National Park, northern Rwanda, Sept. 4, 2015. (Ben Curtis/AP, FILE)

"The fact that a park ranger was nearby when the strike occurred is an extraordinary example of the challenges, and even the dangers, we sometimes face working in dynamic mountain environments," Gorilla Doctors said in a statement Friday. "In fact, the ranger reported feeling a mild shock at the time of the strike!"

Story continues

There was initial concern that the some of the other gorillas were injured by the lightning strike, but all 13 remaining members of the Hirwa family were found "in general good health" and "significantly calmer" some 650 feet from the location, according to Gorilla Doctors.

MORE: Koko, the gorilla who learned sign language, to be laid to rest at animal sanctuary

One of the adult females killed in the strike was the mother of a 1-year-old male, who was still breastfeeding while slowly transitioning to eating leaves. The response team, alongside park rangers, will "closely monitor" the health of the infant and the rest of the Hirwa family over the coming days, according to statements from the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration and Gorilla Doctors.

"This case, while extreme, also highlights the fragility of the endangered mountain gorilla population," Gorilla Doctors said in its statement. "While we know mountain gorilla numbers are increasing, the total population is still relatively small."

In 2008, there were an estimated 680 mountain gorillas in existence. Now, there are believed to be just over 1,000.

MORE: How advocates say Trumps endangered species rules could threaten conservation

The mountain gorilla, one of two subspecies of the eastern gorilla, improved in status in 2018 from critically endangered to endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species. The eastern gorilla remains critically endangered.

The mountain gorilla lives in habitat restricted to protected areas covering approximately 305 square miles in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. The subspecies remains under high threat from poaching, civil unrest and human-introduced diseases, from respiratory infections to Ebola, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

"Mountain gorillas are typically long-lived with slow reproductive cycles, so every single individual, and their lifetime reproductive potential, is critical to the long-term stability of the population," Gorilla Doctors said in its statement Friday. "The loss of these three reproductively active females, one of whom was pregnant, and a newborn infant, is not only heart-breaking in the moment, but could ultimately have population-level consequences, making our veterinary work all the more critical for the gorillas that remain."
Starbucks launches transgender charity campaign

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Starbucks has started a new advertising campaign, #whatsyourname, in the United Kingdom in partnership with Mermaids, a U.K.-based group that pushes trans-ideology. The group is headed by Susie Green, who gained notoriety for taking her 16-year-old son, who identifies as a girl, to Thailand to be castrated.

Starbucks' #whatsyourname campaign "celebrates" the companys signature practice of taking a customers name, writing it on a cup and calling it out, by extending it to "transgender and gender diverse people," the American coffee chain says in a statement.

Its to celebrate the significance it can have for some transgender and gender diverse people as they use their new name in public. Its a symbol of our warm welcome. It is part of the Starbucks Experience and creates a moment of connection between our baristas and customers," the company adds.

As part of the campaign, the company released a commercial showing a trans-identifying teen looking uncomfortable every time her name "Jemma" is called. Only when a Starbucks barista calls "James," that's when the teen is seen smiling. The commercial was created in partnership with creative agency Iris and was inspired by real life experiences of people who were transitioning. We discovered that they found Starbucks stores to be a safe space, where their new name was accepted, and they could be recognized as who they are.

We were moved to discover that individuals find our stores a safe space to try out their new names when transitioning.

Starbucks is also selling mermaid tail cookies in its stores to financially support the transgender helpline run by Mermaids with the aim of raising at least 100,000 (roughly $130,000).

Mermaids has seen over a 600% increase in demand for its helpline service in the past five years, and our support will help grow this service, allowing the charity to employ an additional helpline operator and extend its webchat service, Starbucks says.

Mermaids has influenced education protocols and other public policies across the U.K. to enshrine transgenderism in culture. The group is headed by Susie Green, who when her son was 16 years old took him to Thailand to undergo a sex change operation.

The group has become highly influential in the U.K., so much so that even law enforcement has targeted its critics. As The Christian Post reported in 2018, feminist activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, also known as Posie Parker, was interrogated by police for tweeting her disapproval of Green's decision to take her son to Thailand for a sex change operation. She was specifically targeted for having tweeted the word castration."

As far as the transgender ideology stretches I believe it is one of complete submission. Those that even raise questions are silenced with threats and accusations of bigotry, Keen-Minshull commented in an interview with the CP at the time.

We all have the capacity to be offended and offensive. We have to decide whether we want to criminalize this offense, she added, noting that in a world of billions I would hope the liberty of free speech is one we would extend to all, not just those we agree with.
DES MOINES, IOWAThe first signs of trouble came early.

As the smartphone app for reporting the results of the Iowa Democratic caucuses began failing last Monday night, party officials instructed precinct leaders to move to Plan B: calling the results into caucus headquarters, where dozens of volunteers would enter the figures into a secure system.

But when many of those volunteers tried to log on to their computers, they made an unsettling discovery. They needed smartphones to retrieve a code, but they had been told not to bring their phones into the boiler room in Des Moines.

As a torrent of results were phoned in from school gymnasiums, union halls and the myriad other gathering places that made the Iowa caucuses a world-famous model of democracy, it soon became clear that the whole process was melting down.

Volunteers resorted to passing around a spare iPad to log into the system. Melissa Watson, the state partys chief financial officer, who was in charge of the boiler room, did not know how to operate a Google spreadsheet application used to input data, Democratic officials later acknowledged.

Others, desperate to verify results, began telling some precinct leaders to email photographs of their worksheets  the paper forms used to tally results  to a dedicated email address. But for hours, no one monitored the inbox. When it was finally opened Tuesday morning, there were 700 unread emails waiting, with photos that had been sent sideways; volunteers had to to crane their necks to decipher the handwritten forms.

An hour after the caucuses began, the Iowa Democratic Party chairman, Troy Price, huddled in another room with other officials, none of them with a clear strategy to manage the unfolding chaos or answers to share with increasingly exasperated presidential campaigns. A conference call with the campaigns ended with Price hanging up on them, amid accusations that caucus results in Iowa may have been incorrectly reported for decades.

As disastrous as the 2020 Iowa caucuses have appeared to the public, the failure runs deeper and wider than has previously been known, according to dozens of interviews with those involved. It was a total system breakdown that casts doubt on how a critical contest on the American political calendar has been managed for years.

Until now, the main public villain in the Iowa caucus fiasco has been the reporting app, created by a company called Shadow Inc., along with a coding issue in a back-end results reporting system that state party officials blamed for the chaos. But the crack-up resulted from cascading failures going back months.

The fragile edifice of the caucuses, which demoralized Democrats in search of a strong nominee to take on President Donald Trump, crumbled under the weight of technology flops, lapses in planning, failed oversight by party officials, poor training, and a breakdown in communication between paid party leaders and volunteers out in the field, who had devoted themselves for months to the nations first nominating contest.

The wider scope of the malfunctions came to light partly because of a new set of reporting requirements, mandated by the Democratic National Committee after allies of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont pushed the national party to demand more transparency following his narrow loss to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Iowa caucuses.

The widespread lack of faith in the Iowa results has shaken many Americans confidence in their electoral system. Trump has revelled in the meltdown. Democrats have proposed abolishing caucuses and ending Iowas time at the front of the presidential nominating calendar.

Even as party officials scramble to contain the fallout, the full extent of the problems in Iowa is still not known.

An analysis by The New York Times revealed inconsistencies in the reported data for at least one in six of the states precincts. Those errors occurred at every stage of the tabulation process: in recording votes, in calculating and awarding delegates, and in entering the data into the state partys database. Hundreds of state delegate equivalents, the metric the party uses to determine delegates for the national convention, were at stake in these precincts.

The Iowa Democratic Party released a list of 92 precincts Sunday that it said were flagged as problematic by three presidential candidates  Sanders; Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana; and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. That figure is far fewer than the number with inconsistencies captured in the Times review. The Associated Press said it was unable to declare a caucus winner.

Sean Bagniewski, the Democratic chairman of Polk County, which includes Des Moines, blamed state officials for neglecting the hard work of overseeing the caucuses.

Its very easy to slip into the celebrity of the caucuses, Bagniewski said. State party leaders, he said, were distracted by offers to appear on cable TV, hobnob with national Democratic leaders and meet presidential candidates, and did not take their day-to-day duties seriously from the get-go.

In the aftermath of the disaster, state and national party leaders are pointing fingers at one another. On Sunday, Price, the state party chairman, said he was proud of the volunteers who put on the caucuses and that the state party worked with the national committee for months to prepare for them.

We are conducting a thorough independent review of the process, and it would be irresponsible for us to rush to judgment before that review is complete, he said in a statement.

Tom Perez, the chairman of the national committee, placed blame directly on the Iowa Democratic Party and Price.

Troy Price was doing his best, but it wasnt enough, Perez said in an interview with The Times on Sunday, noting that while the national and state parties work in partnership, the Iowa Democratic Party is ultimately responsible for administering its own nominating contest.

The DNC approved Iowas delegate selection plan, but left the state party to determine on its own how to collect and tabulate caucus results, Perez said, adding that the national party did not test the states app or set standards for training or preparation.

Perez said he was not responsible for what state parties and their leaders do.

I do not conduct a performance evaluation of every party chair, he said.

Asked whether the DNC would increase its scrutiny of other caucuses run by state parties, including Nevadas in less than two weeks, Perez said he would implement all of the lessons learned, but did not specify how.

A Bid for Transparency

Some of the roots of the Iowa debacle stretch to 2016, when Sanders finished a fraction of a percentage point behind Clinton in the states caucuses. He and his allies were furious.

Their caucus-night data indicated he had won the popular vote, but there was no way to prove their case. Precincts only reported how many delegates should be allotted, without the underlying vote totals. And there was no mechanism for Iowa Democrats to recount caucus results, because the state party did not maintain paper records of them.

In 2017, the DNC formed a commission to propose changes to the partys presidential nominating system, including the way caucus results are reported.

The Iowa Democratic Party tried to comply with the national committees orders, which were enacted in 2018, but the two organizations sparred over how the state should address the new requirements and what role the national party should play in Iowa Democrats affairs.

Since the disaster last Monday night, the DNC has said it took a hands-off approach to the entire operation. But an email from the summer, obtained by The Times, indicates that the national committee tried to involve itself in preparing for the caucuses  in particular, with security.

In July, according to the email, Kat Atwater, the DNCs deputy chief technology officer, proposed language for vendor contracts that would give the national party access to source code, and allow it to test apps and other products used by the state party.

Iowa party officials rejected the proposed language.

Weeks later, in August, the national party cited security concerns when it vetoed the Iowa Democratic Partys proposal to hold a virtual caucus, which would have allowed absentee participation by phone.

The disagreements delayed approval of Iowas caucus plan until late September. The state would use remote satellite caucuses to allow Iowans who could not make it to their precinct caucus sites to participate, and a smartphone app for precinct leaders to report results.

One man would oversee all of it.

Price, 39, a lifelong Iowan who became chairman of the state Democratic Party in July 2017, had a sterling resume. He had been an aide to two former Iowa governors and a top figure in both President Barack Obamas 2012 reelection campaign in the state and in Clintons 2016 run.

He relished the national attention the caucuses attracted. In early November, at an annual state party dinner that drew 13,000 people, he spoke for 18 minutes, longer than any of the presidential candidates did.

Price spent the months before the caucuses defending Iowas pre-eminent position in the presidential primary process, as candidates bemoaned Iowas lack of diversity and arcane caucusing process.

At an August news conference, Price projected total confidence.

Just know this, he said, gesturing with a pointed finger for emphasis. On Feb. 3 of 2020, caucuses will take place in this state. We will be first. And they will be, without a doubt, the most successful caucuses in our partys history.

Software on a Rushed Timeline

Just days before the caucuses, precinct leaders received their first instructions for downloading an app they were to use to record and send results.

The app was created by Shadow Inc., a company recommended to Iowa party officials by Democratic leaders in Nevada, who were working with it as well.

The chief executive of Shadow, Gerard Niemira, was a veteran of the 2016 Clinton campaign, where he oversaw tech products like an app the campaign used to take advantage of the quirky math of caucuses and track results in real time.

Because of the delays in planning Iowas caucuses, Shadow personnel didnt enter into a contract for the Iowa app until the fall of 2019, compressing an already tight timeline on a deal that paid relatively little  a bit more than $60,000 (U.S.) so far  for customized technology services.

In November, Iowa officials gathered in Des Moines with Harvard election security experts including Robby Mook, Clintons 2016 campaign manager, to test processes involved in the caucuses. But the app wasnt part of the exercise.

Still, Shadow developed an initial version of the app that month and began testing and updating it, according to a person involved in the effort. As the caucus date approached, more updates came, but the developers didnt regard them as critical.

The weekend before the caucuses, officials from Shadow, the state party and the DNC gathered to run final tests. They fed in false data to verify that the quality-control system would catch anything amiss. The app worked well, according to a person involved. But no evidence arose of a bug that would jumble a portion of the results on caucus night.

The Sunday before the caucuses, Price kept up a busy schedule. He taped an interview with Kasie Hunt of MSNBC in the early afternoon. He posed for a photo on the Fox News set with Donna Brazile, a former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. In the evening, he was at a Super Bowl party with Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

Yet in Polk County, where Democrats were preparing for 177 precinct caucuses, it had already been clear all week that the app had problems.

When precinct chairs reported issues, the state party referred them to a lone helpdesk employee, who did not always respond to calls and emails.

Six hours before the caucuses were to start at 7 p.m. Monday, precinct leaders received a final email about the app with an ominous instruction: If the app stalls/freezes/locks up: Close out of the app and log back in with your PIN. The app should save where you were. If it does not, please call in your results.

Most precinct caucuses ran smoothly across the state. But when some precinct leaders tried to report the results, the app sometimes froze. Calls to the state party hotline sometimes languished on hold for five hours.

To relieve pressure on the state party, DNC officials executed a contingency plan created for natural disasters or terror events: using a backup call centre at the partys headquarters on South Capitol Street in Washington, where about 40 people began taking calls.

By then, it was clear that a catastrophe was taking place at the Iowa Events Center, a venue for auto shows and state wrestling tournaments that was serving as caucus central.

The state partys phones were jammed. Users on the website 4chan had publicly posted the election hotline number and encouraged one another to clog the lines. The partys volunteer phone operators also had to deflect calls from television news reporters in search of caucus results that were hours overdue.

One floor below, representatives from the seven presidential campaigns competing in Iowa waited in a room with no windows, no food, no water and no information. They took turns trying to call state party officials in search of information.

On a conference call with the campaigns later that night, Price struggled to explain the information blackout. He said the problems stemmed from party officials having to collect three sets of data from all precincts for the first time.

You always had to calculate these numbers, all were asking is that you report them for the first time, Jeff Weaver, Sanders closest adviser, said he told Price on the call. If you havent been calculating these numbers all along, its been a fraud for 100 years.

Price ended the call.

As engineers scrambled to repair the app, panicked Iowa party leaders were making a choice. It was time, they decided, to abandon digital methods and rely on the old ways, gathering data over the phone and doing the math by hand  a decision that would open a whole new can of worms.

Each precinct leader had 36 separate figures to report, along with two separate six-digit verification numbers  and there were more than 1,700 precincts, including the satellites.

In the chaos, caucus results collected by phone operators were riddled with errors. Dozens of the volunteers returned over the next three days to cross-check them and input results from caucus worksheets that came in by email or through the app. One was delivered days later by the Postal Service.

In the Times review of the data, at least 10 per cent of precincts appeared to have improperly allocated their delegates, based on reported vote totals. In some cases, precincts awarded more delegates than they had to give; in others, they awarded fewer. More than two dozen precincts appeared to give delegates to candidates who did not qualify as viable under the caucus rules.

Given the slim lead Buttigieg now holds over Sanders in state delegate equivalents, a full accounting of these inconsistencies could alter the outcome. But without access to the precinct worksheets, it is difficult to determine whom the errors hurt or favoured.

As caucus night gave way to a week of finger-pointing, some local Democratic volunteers expressed anger at what they saw as efforts by national party officials to blame Iowa for the mess.

The DNCs kind of hanging us out to dry, said Steve Drahozal, the Democratic chairman in Dubuque County. Instead of saying Good job! to the local volunteers, theyre disrespecting a lot of grassroots organizing that was done. There are criticisms they can make, but this was an extremely smooth, well-organized caucus. We just couldnt get the data reported.

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Several Republican senators preemptively  and unsuccessfully  urged President Donald Trump not to oust Gordon Sondland as ambassador to the European Union, The New York Times reported Saturday.

The senators said Trump should allow Sondland to depart on his own terms and avoid the appearance of seeking retribution. The Portland hotelier turned diplomat was already reportedly in talks to leave his post.

But administration officials instead told Sondland to resign immediately, the Times reported earlier. He declined and was recalled instead.

Another prominent witness, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, was escorted from his National Security Council post at the White House by security officers hours earlier. His brother, Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, who didnt testify in the impeachment proceedings, was also removed from his security council job.

An aide to Vice President Mike Pence was also forced out of her position last week in the wake of Trumps acquittal.

The group of Republicans who reportedly warned against the ousters included Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Martha McSally of Arizona and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally, said Sunday on CBSs Face the Nation that the removal of Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman from the White Houses National Security Council was justified. Sondland, like other ambassadors, serves at the pleasure of the president, Graham said.

Another Trump supporter, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, pointed out that Trump is within his rights to ensure only Trump followers will serve under him in the White House.

Sondland became a key witness during House-led proceedings to impeach Trump, in which he testified that Trump wanted Ukraines president to commit to an investigation that could damage Joe Biden, a potential political rival, in exchange for $391 million in promised military assistance.

House lawmakers first subpoenaed Sondland to testify during the impeachment proceedings in September. He appeared in a closed-door session Oct. 8, days after he defied the administrations order not to appear.

He returned to Capitol Hill in November during televised hearings and delivered damning testimony that would be repeated often by Democratic lawmakers. Sondland said he was aware of a quid pro quo deal between the U.S. and Ukraine.

Although the House voted to impeach Trump -- driven in part by Sondlands testimony -- the Republican-held Senate ended the proceedings Wednesday by voting to acquit.

-- The Oregonian/OregonLive and The Associated Press
(Natural News) Just days after Natural News reported that Twitter had speciously targeted the account of an independent, conservative-learning PJMedia.com journalist for suspension, the popular social media sounding board has reportedly axed from its platform the account of yet another independent journalist with similar political leanings  Megan Fox, also from PJMedia.com.

Fox wrote about her social media plight in a recent article, explaining how shes repeatedly been targeted by the big boys as her work has gotten more popular. Foxs YouTube channel, for instance, was apparently demonetized not long after conservative talk show legend Rush Limbaugh read one of her articles aloud on his program.

Matt Drudge has also picked up Foxs work, which further drew attention to her and put her in the crosshairs of Twitter. An article she published entitled, Teachers Attend LGGBDTTTIQQAAPP Sensitivity Training (WTF?) garnered plenty of scrutiny, including from the LGBTQ mob, which accused Fox of harming people with her free speech.

In responding to these allegations via Twitter, Fox told her critics that they change the meaning of words and teach children that science, a.k.a. biological reality, is false (though she used a more colorful swear word to express this). Fox further pointed out that the LGBTQ mafia is the entity actually responsible for hurting people like American business-owner Jack Phillips of the Colorado-based Masterpiece Cakeshop, who is being accused of unlawful discrimination against a gay couple that demanded Phillips bake them a wedding cake in violation of his religious convictions.

At the end of her tweet, Fox included the words Go hang, which she says is a colloquial way of telling someone, I dont care what you say. This is how its listed in the Cambridge Dictionary, anyway, but Twitter apparently doesnt recognize this definition as valid. Not long after tweeting this in response to one of her critics, Fox was presented with a message that many Twitter users are encountering these days:

We have determined that this account violated the Twitter Rules. Specifically, for: 1) Violating our rules against abusive behavior. You may not engage in the targeted harassment of someone, or incite other people to do so. We consider abusive behavior an attempt to harass, intimidate, or silence someone elses voice. As a result, we temporarily limited some of your account features. While in this state, you can still browse Twitter, but youre limited to only sending Direct Messages to your followers  no Tweets, Retweets, follows, or likes  Your account will be restore to full functionality in: 12 hours and 0 minutes.

Foxs Twitter account suspending AGAIN just a few hours after being reinstated

While it can be argued that Foxs inclusion of the words Go hang at the end of her tweet represents a type of threat, its no accident that Twitter decided to target her specifically while allowing tens of thousands of other far more threatening tweets from the left to exist on the platform. We wont include those here so as to not draw needless attention to them, but anyone who uses Twitter already knows that aggressive, attacking language is all-too-common.

And if youre thinking to yourself: well, Megan Fox just needs to be more careful  at least she got her account back! Well, this is only partly true. Just a few hours after her account was reinstated, Fox saw it go bye-bye once again, this time in response to her retweet of a something President Trump tweeted about Muslims murdering people and tossing them off roofs.

According to Fox, Twitter actually forced her to remove the tweet entirely, even though it contained nothing that could feasibly be perceived as violating any of Twitters black and white terms of use.

Sources for this article include:

NaturalNews.com

PJMedia.com

PJMedia.com
The 2020 Academy Awards kicked off Sunday night, February 9, to honor the film industry's brightest and biggest stars. "Parasite," a 2019 South Korean film made history after winning the coveted Oscar's Best Picture Award. The film broke 92 years worth of Oscar history, after being the first-ever foreign language (non-English) film to win the Academy Award.

The film went against Hollywood's best movies including "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" by Quentin Tarantino, the internet-breaking hit and billion-dollar comic adaptation film, "Joker" and Netflix's "The Irishman." However, the thriller that talked about class-struggles pulled off a record-shattering win that brought the whole Dolby Theater off their sits.

The film's historic win did not only end with the Best Picture award but proceeded to be the night's big winner after winning three more awards which are, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Original Screenplay, and the film's director Bong Joon-ho went home as the night's Best Director.

"Parasite's" big win also made the South Korean front pages, where a 50-year-old officer worker from Seoul, expressed his happiness saying that winning the award was a momentous event that made the whole country proud after its movie industry just turned 100 years old last year.

Also Read: 'Fast & Furious 9' Spoilers: Fans Anticipate Paul Walker Cameo, Returning Casts

On the other hand, Brad Pitt made sure his Oscars moment was unforgettable as he threw shade at President Donald Trump's impeachment trial during his acceptance speech after winning the Best Supporting Actor Award in his role in "Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood".

During his speech, Brad joked about being told he only had 45 seconds to speak saying that is already 45 seconds more than what the Senate gave John Bolton during Trump's trial. He also added that maybe if "Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood" director Quentin Tarantino made a movie about it then the adults may do the right thing in the end.

Moreover, Brad wasn't only the one making statements at the Oscars. Natalie Portman turned heads at the red carpet when she arrived wearing the names of overlooked female directors.

Portman donned a black and gold dress with a black cape where names of female directors who didn't make it to the Oscars nominees for best director were embroidered in gold. Amongst the names are "Hustlers" director Lorene Scafaria; Lulu Wang of "The Farewell"; and "Little Women" director Greta Gerwig who was previously tipped of getting a nomination but failed to make it to the final cut.

In an interview with Los Angeles Times in the red carpet, the "Thor" star stated that this is her subtle way of honoring the women who were not honored for their contributions to the movie industry this year.

This is also not the first time that Portman threw shade for females not being included as best director nominees. During the 2018 Golden Globe Awards, Portman also emphasized how the best director nominees are all male which earned gasps and applause from the audience.

The Oscars 2020 was also a big night for the blockbuster drama "1917" which garnered three awards, the second most number after "Parasite." Full list of winners was posted by New York Times in this link.

Related News: Prince William, Kate Middleton Reportedly Upset About Prince Andrew, Prince Harry Jokes at BAFTAs

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Viewers will soon be bidding farewell to the decades-old PGR and AO labels on free-to-air television and welcoming the familiar G, PG, M, 16 and 18 labels onto their screens. This will make it easier for television audiences to protect themselves and their children from unsuitable content that may cause harm.

The Broadcasting Standards Authority has announced the results of its review of timebands and classifications on free-to-air television, which included community research and extensive public consultation. It found New Zealanders strongly supported a shift away from the traditional labels, towards the labels seen on pay television.

The move is set to take effect in early May 2020. However, it is not all change, as Kiwis also gave their views about the use of timebands on free to air television which restrict when certain programmes, such as those for adults, should be shown on TV. The overwhelming majority want to keep the 8.30pm watershed, and this will be retained. A large number of people consulted also accepted that change to some timebands was justified in the modern environment.

Television viewing habits and technology have changed dramatically since the timebands and classifications were introduced in 1989. Viewers are increasingly accustomed to using time-shifting technology to watch content at a time that suits them. Importantly, parental locks are now available on all free to air enabled televisions, which allows viewers to manage television content in their homes, says BSA chair Judge Bill Hastings.

Audiences told us they wanted more guidance from classifications, particularly to break down the AO rating into age guides for mature content, so the choices are clearer.

Even though New Zealanders are watching more on demand content, there is still very strong support for the 8.30pm watershed on free to air television. Our consultation found that the 8.30pm watershed continues to be used as a guide for many Kiwis, especially parents and caregivers, on what is suitable viewing for children on FTA television. This timeband still has an important role to play in protecting children and young people from harm in the FTA television environment.

The consultation also indicated that there was limited awareness about the restrictions on playing PGR content at different times of the day. Under the new rules PGR content will be able to be played throughout the day.

To support the changes, important additional safeguards are also being introduced to reduce the potential for harm to viewers. Classification labels will be displayed more frequently during programmes, and more information will be provided in programme guides to help viewers make informed decisions about what they watch.

A new website will be launched to provide viewers with information about the classifications, audience advisories and how to use parental locks on their televisions.

The BSA acknowledges the wide range of content available on New Zealand screens and the ability for viewers to access content at any time.

The BSA encourages parents and caregivers to use parental lock or control features, which are available through Freeview and SKY enabled televisions. These tools enable viewers to restrict the programmes children in their care can access. It allows them to set a maximum classification (rating) for a programme and, if a show on air is classified above the chosen level, a password or pin will be needed to view it, says BSA chief executive Belinda Moffat.

We also encourage audiences to read the classification and programme information that is provided by broadcasters to enable viewers to protect their families from content that may harm. These are important safeguards provided through the broadcasting standards system and are there to help viewers inform themselves about the viewing choices they make.

The BSA has been working with FTA broadcasters on how the changes should be implemented. The new classification labels will be displayed on both TV and digital guides. An awareness-raising campaign will run across TV and online platforms to ensure communities can learn about the changes before they launch.

Further changes to timebands include: G and PG content can be played at any time. M content may be aired between 9am and 3pm, except for on school and public holidays, and after 7.30pm until 5am on any day. Content classified 16 and 18 may not be played during the day. Content classified 16 may only be broadcast after 8.30pm and content classified 18 may only be broadcast after 9.30pm. Broadcasters will also adopt a responsible programming principle, which requires them to consider the impact of the content on the likely and target audience when scheduling programmes.

The BSA and FTA broadcasters have amended the Free-to-Air Television Code, in the Broadcasting Standards in New Zealand Codebook, to reflect the changes.

New Zealanders are invited to have their say on the amended code before the proposed changes are introduced.

Consultation opens today and will close on 6 March 2020. To find out more or give feedback, visit the BSA website, email info@bsa.govt.nz or call 0800 366 996.
Burma Myanmar Maid Quarantined in Yangon After Boss in Singapore Infected With Coronavirus

Face masks are increasingly common in Yangon. / Aung Kyaw Htwe / The Irrawaddy

Yangon  A Myanmar domestic worker who returned from Singapore has been quarantined at a Yangon hospital after it was determined that her employer tested positive for the coronavirus, according to Myanmars Ministry of Health and Sport.

The ministry on Sunday said Singapores authorities reported that the 29-year-old returned to Myanmar on Feb. 5.

The maid was tracked down by health officials to an apartment at Pearlmon Housing in Yangons South Dagon Township.

She has been quarantined at Yangons Waibargi Hospital and 12 people who had contact with her have also been instructed to stay indoors for 14 days, the ministry said.

Dr. Khin Khin Gyi, deputy director of epidemiology at the ministry, posted on Facebook Monday that the maid from Singapore had a fever and was being monitored.

Samples would be tested and her relatives were under home quarantine, the deputy director said.

As of today, Myanmar has 18 people being monitored for the coronavirus but no confirmed case yet.

Myanmar would soon be able to test for the coronavirus as reagents from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Thailand and Japan were expected to arrive in Myanmar, Dr. Khin Khin Gyi added.

Another domestic worker from Myanmar, who was treated in Singapore, was permitted to return home on Sunday after she tested negative for the coronavirus.

Ma Aye Myint Khaing, 28, told the media she was taken to hospital as a coronavirus suspect on Friday after being found unconscious by Singapores police after leaving a market.

She told Myanmars media that she felt sick after having a soft drink provided by her employer who was feeling unwell after returning from China a month ago. She was not allowed to visit a clinic, she said.

Ma Kitty Aye Mar Mar, one of the volunteers from Singapore-based Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (Home), which assisted Ma Aye Myint Khaing, told The Irrawaddy that the woman was discharged from hospital after testing negative.

According to Chinese news reports, the coronavirus death toll has exceeded 900 in mainland China.

Globally, more than 40,500 people have been infected across Asia, Europe and North America, with two deaths reported outside mainland China.

You may also like these stories:

Chinese Visitor to Myanmar Tests Negative for Coronavirus, Released After Four Days of Quarantine

Myanmar Deports Chinese Coronavirus Suspect While Hunting Another Four

China Says Coronavirus Could Disrupt Economy in Q1, Upbeat on Recovery
The alarm raised over the spread of the coronavirus by the World Health Organization has also caused concern among the tourism sector on the Costa del Sol as airlines stop flying to Europe from China.

The head of the Andalusian travel agents' association, Sergio Garcia, said earlier this week that the coronavirus outbreak will have seen between 12,000 and 14,000 Chinese tourists cancel trips during January and February. Some 150 group arrivals were planned over the first two months of the year.

These cancellations are particularly important for the area as Chinese customers are higher than average spenders on accommodation and services.

Travel agents are also feeling the reverse effects as Spaniards are not going to China either

"We're particularly worried as we don't know how long this will go on for," explained Garcia. He also added that travel agents are feeling the reverse effect with Spaniards not going to China on holiday either. "Today I've cancelled three tickets to Shanghai, a trip that it a significant amount [of income] and not easy to sell."

Malaga Airport is the main point of entry for travellers from all of Asia to Andalucia, with up to two fights a day from Turkish Airlines' hub in Istanbul. That company has stopped flying to Chinese cities until at least 9 February.

Other airlines with connections to Malaga have also suspended flights to China.
Starting February 10, sweethearts can create their own chicken nugget bouquet and enter for a chance to win a grand prize of $10,000 for a romantic getaway and a year's supply of Tyson chicken nuggets. To enter, create a chicken nugget bouquet and share a photo by tweeting @TysonBrand with the hashtag #nuggetbouquetcontest.

"Chicken nugget bouquets have become a trend," said Lauren Talbert, senior marketing manager for the Tyson Brand, "and what better way to say I love you than with a chicken nugget bouquet this Valentine's Day."

The trend started last October when a bride's obsession with Tyson chicken nuggets spurred her maid of honor to reach out to the Tyson Brand team, who created a custom nugget bouquet as a surprise gift for the bride and provided Tyson nuggets for all the wedding guests to enjoy. The bride posted a picture of herself with the nugget bouquet, and the story took off.

The Tyson Brand team is inviting all chicken lovers to get in on bouquet making and are bringing back the chicken nugget bouquet experts as the official judges: bride Blair and her maid of honor Jenna.

"This Valentine's Day, we're all about the nuggs and kisses," said Talbert. "Whether you make a bouquet for a special someone or with a group of friends, give the heart what it really wantsdelicious chicken nuggets."

Valentine's Day Lovers Are Seeking Unconventional Gifts to Celebrate the Holiday

While gifting traditional items such as flowers and chocolates is still common amongst Valentine's Day gift-givers, people are increasingly opting for unconventional ways to express their love. Last year, Americans spent over 20 billion dollars on the holiday with only 9% going towards flowers, down from previous years1. The same is expected for this year with close to half of Americans wanting a gift that is rooted in an experience that can be shared with a loved one2.

"Everyone should take a bite out of love this Valentine's Day with their own chicken nugget bouquet," said bride Blair. "Trust me, it'll be a deliciously-nuggety time."

The grand prize winner will be announced in late February. The full contest rules can be viewed here: www.tyson.com/rules.

For more information on Tyson products, including where to purchase them, visit www.tyson.com. Follow the Tyson Brand on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

About Tyson Chicken

In the 1930s, John W. Tyson moved his family to Arkansas and began delivering farm-raised chickens from his truck. From those humble beginnings, the Tyson brand grew, finding new ways to help feed the nation while staying true to its original belief that every family deserves to have high quality farm-raised chicken on their table. The brand's portfolio of products includes Tyson Fresh and Frozen Chicken, Tyson Naturals Chicken, Grilled & Ready Chicken, Any'tizers Snacks, Tyson Chicken Nuggets and Crispy Strips. As the brand has grown, our beliefs have remained the same: Be good. Be humble. And always keep it real. For more information, visit WWW.TYSON.COM.

1 https://www.paymentssource.com/list/following-the-money-on-valentines-day-5-key-insights

2 https://nrf.com/insights/holiday-and-seasonal-trends/valentines-day

SOURCE Tyson Brand

Related Links

http://www.tyson.com


Two former legislators belonging to National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party were on Monday released from MLA hostel; however, they will remain under house arrest in their homes.

Irfan Shah senior NC leader and former legislator from Batamaloo and Khursheed Alam former legislator were released from MLA. Both the leaders were detained ahead of revocation of article 370 on August 5. They were first held at Centuar hotel and later moved to MLA hostel like other leaders of the mainstream parties.

A senior police officer confirmed that two former legislators belonging to NC and the PDP were released from MLA hostel. Both will remain under house arrest in their homes.

Last week five leaders three from MLA hostel were released including Peoples Conference chairman Sajjad Lone, Youth PDP leader Waheed Parra and former legislator Basheer Ahmad Veeri.

However, they were later put under house arrest. Currently there are less than 10 people detained at the MLA hostel. Last week two senior leaders NC general secretary, Ali Mohammad Sager, Sartaj Madni PDP and former minister and PDP leader Nayeem Akthar were booked under PSA and shifted to a government building at M5 on high security Gupkar road.
2 1 of 2 National Weather Service Show More Show Less 2 of 2 National Weather Service Show More Show Less



A cold front is making its way toward Houston this week, but it is expected to back track  twice  over the next day.

The front is expected to stall above counties north of Houston on Monday afternoon, with chances that the front pushes back north slightly, according to the National Weather Service. Areas south of the front (including Houston) will see isolated and possibly scatted showers Monday afternoon, while communities along the stalled frontal boundary will see the heaviest rain  up to 2 inches, according to NWS.
A British Airways flight was forced to abort its landing at Heathrow Airport due to severe weather brought on by Storm Ciara.

BA was unable to confirm the source of the flight, though it was reported on social media as coming from Abuja in Nigeria.

The airline said the plane eventually landed safely after circling the airport.

Storm Ciara has battered the UK with heavy rain and gales of 60mph to 80mph bringing many travel services to a standstill.

Storm Ciara31
The governments dossiers against Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, two former chief ministers of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state, already languishing in jail for six months  based on which the two were recently charged under the Public Safety Act, J&Ks draconian preventive detention law, may have been dismissed as amusing  a typical example of concoctions the police in India are known to insert into their FIRs and investigation reports  if they werent dangerous, given their wider implications for Kashmir and the country.

Such official justifications against high political personages who also hold an esteemed position in society, are unlikely to have been drummed up by the police and bureaucracy on their own. In high-profile cases, they are known to act based on guidance from above. And since the UT is now under New Delhis direct rule, one can assume that the political masters at the Centre are the real authors of the loaded dossiers. Lets look at the absurdity. The dossier on Mr Abdullah refers to the capacity of the subject to influence people for any cause can be gauged from the fact that he was able to convince his electorate to come out and vote in huge numbers even during the peak of militancy and poll boycotts.

In any democratic system, such an individual should get high marks for acting against extremism and militancy and getting people to the ballot box through his words, but not under the stewardship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah. Indeed, the government has determined that Mr Abdullah is a victim of radical methodology. Being a vote-catcher can falsely lead to any politician being labelled as a pied-piper who is radical, losing sight of the real political meaning of that expression. If the capacity to get people to vote is made a criminal offence and attract the charge of causing public disorder or disaffection against the State, then all vote-pulling politicians beware. Big Brother is watching!

Mr Abdullah was also accused of speaking out against the revocation of J&Ks autonomy under Article 370. This is extraordinary. While this provision was emasculated through the use of the governments brute majority and political arm-twisting by it in Parliament, the constitutionality of the action is still before the Supreme Court. In any case, questioning or challenging the government is not a crime, much less an act against India, which the dossier suggests. The political class and our civil society need to gauge how dangerous the implications of the dossier against Mr Abdullah are.

The BJP had no hesitation co-habiting with Mehbooba Muftis PDP to be in power in J&K, but now the dossier against Ms Mufti accuses her of opposing triple talaq and speaking out against mob lynching, and being her daddys girl. Its with her daddy that the saffron arty had struck an alliance in J&K. Political prisoners in J&K must be freed, not charged on surreal grounds.
The Chinese Consulate in WA has contacted the City of Perth on "multiple occasions" in attempts to stop lawful protests by Falun Gong practitioners against their persecution by Beijing's authoritarian regime.

The meditation group, which is banned in China, holds regular protests throughout the city's central business district and near the Chinese Consulate in East Perth.

The Chinese government has attempted to shut down Falun Gong protests in the City of Perth.

WAtoday has confirmed Chinese consular officials regularly contact members of the City's executive management team to complain about the Falun Gong protests, but have been rebuffed.

The City's community development general manager Anne Banks-McAllister said the concerns of the Consulate had been noted, but Falun Gong had always complied with their permits.
Kolkata: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said that petrol and petroleum products are already under Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the states have to decide when they want petrol and petroleum products to be taxed under GST.

"Whenever the States are ready to bring in petroleum under the GST, another amendment will not be required. It is, now, up to the States and also the GST Council to take a call on when they want it to happen," Finance Minister Sitharaman said at a press conference here.

She further said that the petroleum products have been placed under the GST regime due to the foresight of the late Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

"Even as the GST was framed and rolled out, a lot of discussions had taken place about petrol and petroleum products. At that time my predecessor, late Arun Jaitleyji made a provision. The amendment was inclusive of zero-rated petroleum product provision in GST," she said.

"Petroleum as an item product has been included without any tax on it. So when the GST Council takes a call, a rate will be decided and the rate will be added," she added.

Finance Minister Sitharaman said this while addressing industry leaders at a post-Budget interaction organised by the Ministry of Finance in Kolkata. Similar interactions have been held in Mumbai and Chennai as well.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.

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A Delhi court on Monday extended till February 14 the custodial interrogation of Gopal Krishna Madhav, OSD to Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, in a bribery case.

Special Judge Santosh Snehi Mann extended the custody after the accused was produced before the court by the CBI on expiry of his earlier custodial interrogation.

The agency sought seven days' further custody to unearth the larger conspiracy.

It told the court that it has a long list of transporters who were reportedly asked to pay bribe to get GST exemption.

According to the CBI, Madhav, posted in the GST department of Delhi government since October 2019, was arrested on Thursday evening on the basis of the information provided by a middleman, nabbed on Wednesday, who allegedly collected bribes from transporters on his behalf.

Sources said the agency has not found Sisodia's involvement in the case so far.

Madhav, who joined the service as Head Clerk in August 2003 in the Education Department, was posted as officer on special duty (OSD) in Sisodia's office since 2015, the agency said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
My goal is to increase the Christian voice in the geo-political arena and bring these spiritual realities to the forefront of the national dialog...

Madson Baptiste believes that current church leadership is moving in an antiquated posture, and that it is time for this generation of leaders to shift into a more relevant expression to impact the world.

In This Present Reality: Breaking the Timeline of our Adversary, Baptiste provides a collection of revelatory letters to a church in Pakistan, intended to guide a church where resources are limited, as well as inspire wisdom to overcome an escapist mentality and serve God more passionately. Baptistes book examines the geopolitical arena and the spiritual dynamics that are driving it.

Weve been hearing the same talking points for years, Baptiste said. My goal is to increase the Christian voice in the geo-political arena and bring these spiritual realities to the forefront of the national dialog, and encourage people to engage in the future of Gods purpose for this generation.

Baptiste was called to apostolic ministry in 1994. The focus of his book is to discuss old foundations, while exposing new revelations for the church and its members.

The book is the first in a three-part series, designed to connect believers and provide focus for the current state of spiritual warfare.

After 25 years of pursuing my own destiny, Baptiste said, Im fulfilling the call to change the churchs lack of relevancy in this generation, to become more compliant with this season of Gods timeline.

This Present Reality

By Madson Baptiste

ISBN: 978-1-9736-7962-2

Available at the Westbow Press Online Bookstore and Amazon

About the author

At thirty-five, Madson Baptiste had a personal encounter with God. This transformed his life and started him on a path that would take him into a season of great trials and suffering, but it was also a path of purpose and consecration. It eventually led him to attend Bible College, start his own business, and develop a successful ministry as an itinerant lecturer, teacher and conference speaker. He learned what it meant to become a true disciple and eventually to use the grace and spiritual gifts God gave him as a catalyst for a deeper relationship with God.

Located in the heart of America, G.A.T.E. Ministry Fellowship (Grapevine Apostolic Transformation Enterprise) is based in Kansas City, Kan. GATES mission is to build relationships in ministry by providing resources for churches desiring to transition into a higher level of expression and authenticity in both their local church and mission outreaches. To learn more about the author and his book, please visit: https://www.westbowpress.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/794540-this-present-reality.

Review Copies & Interview Requests:

LAVIDGE  Indianapolis

Lindsey Gobel

317.435.2116

lgobel@lavidge.com
Novel coronavirus, which has killed over 700 in China and infected thousands across the globe so far, has now created initial chaos for the upcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2020 in Barcelona, with LG, Ericsson and Nvidia set to skip the mega event.



Employees of Chinese companies make up a huge proportion of over one lakh attendees at MWC every year.



According to reports, the show has a big economic impact of 492 million euros this year, generating over 14,000 part-time jobs, according to the GSMA, the industry trade body and the MWC organiser which represents more than 1,200 companies across the mobile ecosystem.



Although the GSMA has said the show must go on, the withdrawal symptoms can now be seen on tech companies which do not want to take any risk with the health of their employees.



Nvidia, a major sponsor of the conference which partnered with the GSMA to host 10 sessions and roundtables around Artificial Intelligence (AI), pulled off from the event on Saturday.



"Given the public health risks around coronavirus, ensuring the safety of our colleagues, partners and customers is our highest concern. We have been looking forward to sharing our work in AI and 5G with the industry, we regret not attending, but believe this is the right decision," the company said in a statement.



Nvidia joined Swedish telecom giant Ericsson and South Korean major LG in saying no to the event.



Although no major Chinese smartphone maker has yet announced its exit, the situation is grim and changing by the day as the virus impacts supply chains and disrupts tech companies' 2020 plans.



Ericsson said that as one of the largest exhibitors, it has thousands of visitors in its hall each day and even if the risk is low, the company cannot guarantee the health and safety of its employees and visitors.



LG said it "has decided to withdraw from exhibiting and participating in MWC 2020 later this month in Barcelona, Spain, with safety of its employees, partners and customers in mind".



Industry watchers have also warned that other tech companies may soon follow suit.



"Yes, it can lead to a drop in footfalls as Chinese participants are likely to skip or nominate their colleagues from other regions," said Tarun Pathak, Associate Director, Counterpoint Research, adding that the potential impact will be more clear closer to the event date which is later this month.



The World Health Organization (WHO), which has upgraded the coronavirus' status to a global health emergency, has said that there "is no evidence at present to suggest that there is community spread in Europe, so WHO/Europe is not currently requesting that large gatherings are cancelled".



Still, tech companies are not taking any risk and we may see more of those deciding on the MWC 2020 participation as early as next week.



There is also a possibility that some of the smartphone launch events get postponed or cancelled, according to experts.
Syrian soldiers are seen in the town of al-Eis in the southern countryside of Aleppo province, Syria, on Feb. 9, 2020. The army forces captured the town of al-Eis, one of the important areas in the army's quest to fully secure the Damascus-Aleppo highway, on Saturday. (Str/Xinhua)

DAMASCUS, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian government forces captured a strategic town in the south of Aleppo province in northern Syria on Saturday, a war monitor reported.

The army forces captured the town of al-Eis, one of the important areas in the army's quest to fully secure the Damascus-Aleppo highway, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights.

The Syrian government, backed by its ally Russia, has kept up a military offensive in Idlib province and the southern Aleppo countryside, aimed at securing the strategic highway that runs along the rebel-controlled territory.
[February 10, 2020] Nicole Stavroff of SecurityScorecard Recognized on CRN's 2020 Channel Chiefs List

NEW YORK, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SecurityScorecard, the global leader in security ratings, announced today that CRN  , a brand of The Channel Company , has named Nicole Stavroff, Senior Director of Worldwide Channels to its 2020 list of Channel Chiefs. This annual list recognizes the top vendor executives who continually demonstrate exemplary leadership, influence, innovation, and growth for the IT channel. Nicole currently oversees all global channel relationships at SecurityScorecard, leading a complete relaunch of the Partner Program in FY20 while creating valuable relationships with new strategic partners. Nicole brings 20 years of sales and channel experience and prior to joining the company, was the director of sales and business development at Kognetics. Nicole was also the senior sales director at CloudGenix, where she worked with Cardinal Health, Chipotle, Kroger and other large enterprise customers. Prior to that, she spent 13 years at NetApp, in a mix of different sales, sales leadership, strategy, channel and alliance roles and as the district manager of enterprise sales in the Ohio valley in her last position. She started her career at Oracle, where she managed $500 million and above accounts in both the financial and healthcare verticals. "I am honored and humbled to be recognized by CRN and am committed to leading the global channel partner program at SecurityScorecard, where we are helping to make the world a safer place," said Nicole Stavroff, Senior Director of Worldwide Channels at SecurityScorecard. "We value our partners and their commitment to leading with SecurityScorecard solutions within their overall security offering. In turn, we deliver a comprehensive and trusted partner program to set them up for success both strategically and financially." CRN's 2020 Channel Chiefs list honors the distinguished leaders who have influenced the IT channel with cutting-edge strategies and partnerships. The 2020 Channel Chiefs have shown outstanding commitment, an abilty to lead, and a passion for progress within the channel through their partner programs. The Channel Chief honorees were chosen by the CRN editorial staff for their dedication, industry prestige, and exceptional accomplishments in driving the channel agenda and evangelizing the importance of channel partnerships.



"The IT channel is undergoing constant evolution to meet customer demands and changing business environments," said Bob Skelley, CEO of The Channel Company. "CRN's Channel Chiefs work tirelessly, leading the industry forward through superior partner programs and strategies with a focus on helping solution providers transform and grow. Our team here at The Channel Company congratulates these outstanding individuals for their dedication to the channel." "I am delighted to see Nicole being recognized as a true leader among her peers," said Bill Hogan, SecurityScorecard's Chief Revenue Officer. "It's a testament to her drive and exceptional abilities and I am confident that Nicole will only continue to elevate SecurityScorecard's value-driven channel program to new heights."

CRN's 2020 Channel Chiefs list will be featured in the February 2020 issue of CRN Magazine and online at www.CRN.com/ChannelChiefs. About SecurityScorecard

SecurityScorecard is the global leader in cybersecurity ratings and the only service with over a million companies continuously rated. Founded in 2013 by security and risk experts Dr. Alex Yampolskiy and Sam Kassoumeh, SecurityScorecard's patented rating technology is used by over 1,000 organizations for self-monitoring, third-party risk management, board reporting and cyber insurance underwriting; making all organizations more resilient by allowing them to easily find and fix cybersecurity risks across their externally facing digital footprint. SecurityScorecard is the only provider of instant risk ratings that automatically map to vendor cybersecurity questionnaire responses - providing a true 360- degree view of risk. SecurityScorecard continues to make the world a safer place by transforming the way companies understand, improve and communicate cybersecurity risk to their boards, employees and vendors. Every company has the universal right to their trusted and transparent Instant SecurityScorecard rating. For more information, visit securityscorecard.com or connect with us on LinkedIn. About The Channel Company

The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequalled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelcompany.com Follow The Channel Company: Twitter , LinkedIn, and Facebook .  2019. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved. The Channel Company Contact:

Jennifer Hogan

The Channel Company

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nicole-stavroff-of-securityscorecard-recognized-on-crns-2020-channel-chiefs-list-301000521.html SOURCE SecurityScorecard

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With polls showing Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders the likely first-place finisher in tomorrows Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire, Sanders opponents have focused their attacks on his public identification as a democratic socialist.

Friday nights seven-candidate debate in New Hampshire began with former Vice President Joe Biden claiming that Sanders at the top of the ticket would doom Democratic candidates for other offices on the ballot November 3. Bernies labeled himself  a democratic socialist, Biden said. I think thats the label that the presidents going to lay on everyone running with Bernie if hes a nominee.

Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar joined in the attack, suggesting that Sanders would out-divide the divider in chief, i.e., Trump. I think we need someone to head up this ticket that actually brings people with her, instead of shutting them out, she said, touting her own appeal to moderate Republicans and voters in the middle.

From left, Democratic presidential candidates former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Senator Bernie Sanders, former Vice President Joe Biden, and Senator Elizabeth Warren (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

At a rally at Dartmouth College Saturday, Klobuchars staff handed out copies of newspaper editorials endorsing her, including from the ultra-right Manchester Union-Leader, the largest circulation paper in the state. I dont agree with everything thats said on that debate stage, Klobuchar told the audience. When they asked should a socialist lead the ticket, I raised my hand and said no.

The issue dominated the appearances by Democratic presidential hopefuls on network and cable television interview programs on Sunday. Sanders himself was interviewed on four programs and was asked about his identification as a democratic socialist on three of them.

It is remarkable that in a country where socialism has been the subject of official vilification and witch-hunting for a century, where anticommunism has been elevated to the status of a state religion, and where genuine socialists are subject to a media blackout, that the s word has suddenly become a major subject of media discussion.

It attests to the worsening of social inequality and the growing consciousness among millions of working people and youth that the concentration of wealth under the control of a tiny handful of multimillionaires and billionaires has become both an impassable obstacle to social progress and a deadly threat to democratic rights. Poll after poll has shown deepening popular hostility to capitalism and rising support for socialism, particularly among the younger generation.

This shift to the left in popular consciousness finds only the most distorted expression within the corporate-controlled two-party system. In 2016, it took the form of an explosion of support for the Sanders campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, surprising the senator himself and the entire US political establishment. Sanders attracted mass support, enthusiastic rallies, a huge outpouring of small-dollar donations over the internet, and ultimately 13 million votes.

The Vermont senator originally sought to occupy the gadfly role played by Jesse Jackson, Dennis Kucinich and similar candidates in the Democratic presidential primaries, giving a left cover to this staunchly pro-capitalist party while it chose yet another right-wing nominee for the position of commander-in-chief of US imperialism.

After being unexpectedly catapulted into the position of a major figure in capitalist politics, Sanders bowed to the dictates of the US ruling elite, accepted his defeat in 2016, and endorsed and campaigned for the Democratic nominee, the choice of Wall Street and the CIA, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Sanders is not a socialist. He is not seeking public ownership of industry or nationalization of the giant corporations. He wants to tax the wealth of the billionaires at a slightly higher rate, not confiscate it to use it to meet social needs. He cites as his models the wholly capitalist countries of Denmark and Sweden, and even Germany, where the neo-Nazis are the main opposition party in parliament and dictate policy to the coalition government headed by Angela Merkel.

In the 2020 campaign, after being largely ignored by the corporate media for months, Sanders has surged in the polls, held the largest rallies, and raised far more money than any of his non-billionaire rivals, largely in small donations from working people. His top contributors are teachers as well as the low-paid employees of Amazon, Starbucks, Wal-Mart, Target and the US Postal Service.

After his strong showing in Iowa, he leads in polls ahead of the vote Tuesday in New Hampshire, and a virtual panic has broken out in the Democratic Party establishment and its media allies that Sanders is now the frontrunner for the partys presidential nomination. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, for example, told the Wall Street Journal that declaring Sanders the frontrunner was premature and that the socialist label was a big pill for a lot of voters to swallow.

On Sunday, former Vice President Biden appeared on ABCs This Week, where he reiterated his attack on Sanders, telling interviewer George Stephanopoulos, Now, youve been around, George, as much as anybody, youre going to win with that label, youre going to help somebody in Florida win with the label democratic socialist? Because its going to go all the way down the line. Thats whats going to happen. Youre going to win in North Carolina? Youre going to win in Pennsylvania? Youre going to win in those states in the Midwest?

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, the other ostensibly progressive candidate along with Sanders, said on Sunday: I am a capitalist. I believe in markets, but markets need rules.

Sanders was asked directly on NBCs Meet the Press, on CNNs State of the Union, and on Fox News Sunday to reply to charges that his socialist labelwhich he claims less and less frequentlywill doom him and the Democratic Party to defeat in November. In each instance he evaded a direct answer, instead criticizing Trump or attacking economic inequality and the failures of the profit-driven US health care system.

When NBC interviewer Chuck Todd cited likely charges by Trump that Sanders had a record of cozying up to Latin American left leaders like Evo Morales in Bolivia and Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, Sanders responded with a similar red-baiting attack on Trump, citing the presidents efforts to woo Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. If you want to talk about cozying up to communists around the world, it aint me, its Donald Trump, Sanders said.

On Fox, Sanders adopted the most left pose in any of the four interviews, telling interviewer Chris Wallace, We are a campaign of the working class, for the working class, and by the working class. He declared that health care should be a basic right, although he went on to assert, as he did in other interviews, that his health care program would slash spending by trillions of dollars. And he told Wallace, in response to a question about Trumps denunciations, that Trump knows Im not a communist.

Sanders never used the word socialist to describe his own political beliefs, either in the nearly 40 minutes of interviews on four television networks or during the two-hour debate on Friday night.

He is evidently seeking to appease his right-wing critics in the Democratic Party, as demonstrated by his conciliatory response on CNNs State of the Union Sunday when interviewer Jake Tapper asked him about efforts by Democratic Party officials to mask his victory in the Iowa caucuses, where he outpolled former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg by 6,000 votes.

Tapper cited criticisms by Sanders supporters who said the call for a recanvass of the Iowa results issued by Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tom Perez on Thursday appeared timed to overshadow news that Sanders had a comfortable lead in the votes cast by caucus-goers and was nearly tied with Buttigieg in state delegate equivalents. The exchange continued:

Tapper: Do you think the Democratic Party is trying to openly hurt your campaign?

Sanders: Look, all I can say about Iowa is, it was an embarrassment

Tapper: Do you think that the Democratic Party, whether the Iowa Democratic Party or the DNC, was trying to hurt you, though?

Sanders: I have no idea. And that'swere going to monitor the situation closely, but thats not my impression at this point.

While Sanders said this on Sunday, there is little doubt that if he wins the New Hampshire primary, the hysteria in the Democratic Party establishment over his supposed socialism will reach new heights.

If the current group of right-wing alternativesBiden, Buttigieg and Klobucharlooks unviable, there is likely to be a shift to support billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who has entered the contest but will not appear on any ballot until the March 3 Super Tuesday primaries, when 40 percent of the delegates to the Democratic convention will be selected, including from such large states as California, Texas, Massachusetts and Virginia.
Prayagraj, Feb 10 : A saint, accused of raping a 14-year-old girl, has been arrested from Jhusi area by the Prayagraj police. According to reports, the accused has been identified as Sanjeev Kumar Rai a.k.a. Sanjeev Maharaj.

Police sources said that Sanjeev Maharaj had allegedly raped the girl at his camp on the Magh Mela ground on February 5.

Station House Officer (SHO), Jhusi police station Brijesh Singh said that the accused is a native of Gadwar in Ballia district.

"The accused had set up a camp under his organisation Parmarth Utthan Evam Anusandhan Sansthan on the Magh Mela ground. On February 5, the accused allegedly raped the minor girl who used to deliver flowers at his camp," the SHO said.

The girl's mother sells flowers from a makeshift shop in the Mela ground. The victim used to deliver flowers to various camps of kalpwasis around their shop. On February 5, when the girl went to Rai's camp, he allegedly convinced her to come inside and raped her. The accused called the girl inside by telling her that he wanted to give her 'prasad'.

The girl somehow managed to escape and then told her mother about the rape. Acting on a tip-off, a police team nabbed the seer from the Lotus trisection in Jhusi on Sunday.

An FIR was lodged at Jhusi police station under relevant sections of the IPC and Pocso Act on February 6 on the complaint filed by the victim's mother.
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SOUTH BEND, Ind. - More than 2,400 sets of fetal remains found last year in the Illinois garage and a car of an Indiana abortion doctor after he died will be buried Wednesday at a northern Indiana cemetery.

The 2,411 sets of fetal remains that resulted from abortions Dr. Ulrich Klopfer performed in Indiana will be memorialized Wednesday afternoon at a graveside service at Southlawn Cemetery and Palmer Funeral Home in South Bend, Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hills office said Monday.

Hills office did not immediately respond to messages left Monday asking whether the burial space had been donated. He had previously said Roman Catholic dioceses in Indiana had offered to bury the remains, which were transferred in October to the St. Joseph County coroners office in South Bend.

Klopfer died Sept. 3 at age 79. Days later, relatives told authorities they had found fetal remains in his garage in Will County, Illinois. Officials found 2,246 sets of fetal remains in that building.

Another 165 sets of fetal remains were found in October in the trunk of a car owned by Klopfer that was parked at a Chicago-area storage unit.

All of the remains resulted from abortions Klopfer performed at his now-shuttered clinics in Fort Wayne, Gary and South Bend. Officials believe those abortions were performed between 2000 and 2003.

Klopfers medical license was suspended in 2016 by Indiana regulators who cited shoddy record-keeping and substandard patient monitoring.
10.02.2020 LISTEN

The leadership of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) says its members are demoralised by the death of the 37-year-old nurse at Ayoum in the Ashanti Region.

The Associations executives have met with police to receive progress on their investigations after the death of Ruth Ama Eshun.

According to them, the recent development raises concerns about the security of nurses especially those who work in areas where their lives can be in danger.

Already, one person is in the grips of police as investigations into the matter continue.

Speaking to Citi News after meeting the police, Ashanti Regional Public Relations Officer for the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association, Thomas Asafo Agyei called for calm among members.

It came as a shock. It is very disturbing. Most of our members are demoralised. Because the question that we ask ourselves is whether that is how we should be paid for trying to save peoples lives? That shouldnt be the case. Why should it happen to us like that? If you go to some of the facilities, they are all wearing red bands to show that we are down. Because now it has happened to Ruth, the next time it may be me or the other nurse, he cried.

So its time for us to ensure that the needed justice is ensured and the perpetrators are found and brought to book. That is all that we are crying for. They [the police] are the people being mandated by the state to ensure that our safety is being cared for. And as such, they are the people that can unravel the mystery behind this death of our colleague. from the interactions that weve had with them, we are very positive they will make headway. What we plead with our members is that they should remain calm but be resolute to ensure that we all fight for justice for our colleague.

Background

The lifeless body of Ruth Ama Eshun was found at Ayuom near Sewua in the Bosomtwe District of the Ashanti Region, a few meters to her home last week.

Ms. Eshun was last seen by her colleagues leaving the Sewua Health Centre, where she worked as a registered community health nurse, on Monday, February 3rd, 2020.

Relatives of Ruth Ama Eshun, who could not trace the whereabouts of the deceased after she closed from work that Monday found her lifeless body a day later.

Despite speculation, police are also yet to confirm if the deceased was raped before her death as being alleged by some Ghanaians.

Investigators who visited the crime scene found a mobile phone which was suspected to be for persons behind the suspected murderer.

One person has however been arrested so far in connection with the murder of the nurse. GRNMA asks Police to intensify probe

The Association had earlier tasked the Ghana Police Service to intensify its investigations into the murder of Ms. Eshun.

President of the Association, Perpetual Ofori- Ampofo in a statement condemned the act.

The GRNMA strongly condemns this dastardly and inhumane act and appeal to the Ghana Police Service to investigate this matter with the urgency it deserves and bring the perpetrators to book, the statement read.

---citinewsroom
The family of murdered Charlotte Murray appealed for a law in her name to stop the release of killers like her former fiancee Johnny Miller until they do ''the decent honourable thing'' and give up the location of their victim's body.

The former chef was told by Judge Stephen Fowler QC he will serve a minimum 16 years of his life term in jail before ever being considered for release by the Parole Commisioners for murdering Charlotte in 2012.

The 49-year-old Co Tyrone chef, from Redford Park, Dungannon, who has already lodged an appeal against his conviction, was unanimously found guilty last October, just weeks before the 7th anniversary of 34-year-old Charlotte's disappearance.

He was described as being her "cold calculating murderer".

Police also re-issued their appeal for Miller to give up the location of the body.

Expand Close Johnny Miller Photopress Belfast / Facebook

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"This is denying her friends and family the chance to say their final goodbyes and to know the truth about what happened to her," said Detective Chief Inspector Eamonn Corrigan.

"His cowardly silence is cruel and is prolonging the suffering and distress for Charlottes family. They have already been through unimaginable turmoil and have been robbed of the normal events they should have enjoyed as a family over the past seven years.

I am appealing directly to Johnny Miller. Johnny imagine it is your mother standing where Charlottes mother Mary stands today. Not able to lay her child to rest. Do the decent thing, end this suffering and tell us where Charlotte is.

What if this was your daughter or sister? Detective Chief Inspector Eamonn Corrigan

Its possible other people also know where Charlottes body is or what happened to her. If you do, come forward now with the information as we need to bring Charlotte home to her family. It is the honourable thing to do and is the very least Charlottes family deserve."

He added: "I am immensely proud of the painstaking investigation carried out by dedicated detectives over the years to make sure that Johnny Miller is now behind bars. Normally sentencing brings an element of closure for a family after a loved one is murdered. However, there is still no closure for the Murray family - only continued suffering and unanswered questions.

In sentencing remarks on Monday Judge Fowler acknowledged the devastating impact on Charlotte's family that her body has never been recovered, or ever likely to be.

"This has caused and will continue to cause the family considerable pain, distress and hurt. I regard this as the most serious aggravating feature of this case," declared Judge Fowler.

The Dungannon Crown Court judge said the disposal of Charlotte's body was not "transient concealment" the effect of which "has been to deprive Charlotte's family of any form of closure.

"Their ability to grieve the loss of their loved one has been denied by the defendant," he said.

Expand Close Charlotte Murrays mother Mary, left, and Charlottes twin sister Denise with sisters Michelle and Emma. Credit: Peter Morrison / Facebook

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Whatsapp Charlotte Murrays mother Mary, left, and Charlottes twin sister Denise with sisters Michelle and Emma. Credit: Peter Morrison

Judge Fowler, who said the police should be commended for their "thorough and painstaking investigation", said her disappearance also made it impossible to say how she died, what injuries she suffered and that the reason behind it he was satisfied was "to evade detection and destroy evidence".

Outside the Tyrone courthouse, Charlotte's still grieving family, while also praising both the police and authorities, said "we would also like to ask our local politicians to bring into place a Charlotte's law to compel murderers such as Mr Miller to divulge the location of their victims, failing this they do not stand a chance of parole".

We want to say our goodbyes in peace Charlotte Murray family

Speaking on behalf of her mother and brothers, Charlotte's identical twin sister Denise added: "No family should have to suffer like this. We should not be denied the right to be able to bury our sister Charlotte, to mourn her and to lay flowers on her grave."

The family said they left court, "knowing justice has been served... but we still don't have Charlotte's body home".

And in a direct appeal to Miller, they asked him "to tell us where Charlotte's body is and to let us bring Charlotte home. We want to say our goodbyes in peace," describing his continued silence as "a cruel suffering he has put upon us, especially our mum".

"You had a fair trial Mr Miller, give it up and let us know what you have done with Charlotte," the family said.

The Public Prosecution Service said the absence of a body made the case particularly challenging.

"It was in these highly unusual circumstances that the PPS Serious Crime Unit worked closely with police and our team of counsel to prepare a robust prosecution case, which resulted in a jury unanimously finding Johnny Miller guilty of her murder," said Hazel Edmondson, senior public prosecutor.

While nothing can bring Charlotte back, we hope that this guilty verdict will bring some measure of comfort to them PPS

We would also like to thank those members of the public who came forward to make statements and give evidence in the case. Their evidence formed important strands which, when drawn along with the expert evidence and the thorough investigative work of police, allowed the jury to reach their verdict.

While Charlottes family, including her mother Mary and twin sister Denise, continue to try to cope with the loss of their much loved daughter and sister, the fact that they have not been able to lay her to rest is a source of great distress for them.

While nothing can bring Charlotte back, we hope that this guilty verdict will bring some measure of comfort to them.

During the four-week trial last October the trial heard Miller murdered Charlotte in a rage when sent explicit images of herself in the arms of another man. It was, said prosecution QC Richard Weir, "the last straw ... a last humilitaiton...being shown to be a cuckold".

In answer to these murderous claims, Miller maintained that she simply left their Roxborough Heights, in The Moy, Co Tyrone, to take up a job in Belfast, leaving him her car, which he sold to pay off her debts to him. She also left her beloved dog Bella behind for him to look after.

However, on Monday Judge Fowler dismissed his claims as little more than "an elaborate ruse to put her family and police off their enquiries" by creating a false trail of messages "to suggest she was alive, in communication with him, living in Belfast and had made arrangement to collect her things".

"This," added the judge, "was further evidence of his actions to evade detection and prosecution".

A third aggravating factor, as identified by the prosecution at his trial, was Charlotte's vulnerability, estranged from her immediate family with no real friends, and murdered in a domestic setting, "in her home where she should have been safe" and that she was "no physical match for the defendant".

In the aftermath of his conviction last year, Charlotte's twin Denise, appealed on behalf of their mother Mary and family for "Mr Miller to do the decent thing, the honourable thing and let us know where Charlotte's body is, so we can bring her home".

To date Mr Miller has kept that secret to himself, maintaining she still is alive, while assiduous, thorough, wide-ranging, comprehensive inquiry .... gargantuan efforts" by police has established there was not a shred of evidence to suggest this is the case.

And despite renewed searches by police since his conviction, including the draining of a local quarry pit at Benburb, Charlotte's whereabouts remain unknown.

During his trial the jury heard of alleged sightings of Charlotte in the weeks and months following her disappearance, in Moy itself, at a local hospital, and even in England.

However, by their verdict the jury must have discounted this and Miller's denials of using her mobile phone to send text messages to "lay a false trail" in an attempt to show her alive.

The jury must also have rejected defence claims Charlotte was either alive or had fallen victim of another killer, and instead accepted the "circumstantial" prosecution case she did not simply disappear, but was murdered by the man she'd proposed marriage to.

And that three weeks later Miller dismembered and disposed of her body using an axe and a saw he'd gone looking for online for the gruesome task, and not as a Christmas present for his dad, as he claimed.
Malian troops have begun deploying to the key northern town of Kidal, a senior army official said Monday, returning to an area that has long been a symbol of the government's lack of control over the north.

Malian soldiers returning to the restive northern town of Kidal is considered a key component in implementing the 2015 Algiers peace agreement, struck between the government in Bamako and some rebel groups.

Speaking to the AFP on condition of anonymity, the senior Malian army officials said soldiers had left the northern city of Gao en route to Kidal. "There is no problem for now," he said.

Rebels captured much of the West African state's north in 2012, including Kidal, triggering a war that has since been co-opted by jihadists and spread to central Mali, neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

The deployment came as the New York-based Human Rights Watch urged Malian authorities to investigate massacres by armed ethnic groups and Islamist militants in central Mali that killed more than 450 people, making 2019 the deadliest year in the region since the conflict began in 2012.

The conflict in the impoverished, landlocked nation has spread to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger even as French troops operating under Operation Barkhane have been deployed on an anti-insurgent mission in the Sahel.

Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that the number of French troops in the Sahel would be increased from 4,500 to 5,100. The decision came at the end of a G5 Sahel in the southern French city of Pau, where Macron met with invited leaders of Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad  countries that make up the G5 Sahel military grouping.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Nigeria faces an existential threat. Slowing but surely, Nigeria is dying. Its demise will not be by implosion and a bang as some had forecasted; but by agonizing segmental dissipation, and a whimper. The National Assembly recent kneejerk effort to review the Constitution panders to the incremental approach, when the needed review should devolve to the people as was done in 2014. With ongoing zonal coalescing and alignments, the nation is already at risk of a constitutional force majeure. Nigeria will not decline into a categorical failed state; it will just disintegrate, courtesy of bad leadership and the crass unwillingness to act and arrest the nations insecurities and prevailing dichotomies. Whether Nigerias splintering will be peaceful, or by force of arms, remains an open-ended question.

The whole body begins to hurt and die, when parts of the whole are malignantly afflicted. That is Nigerias fate. Let no one be in doubt. The sepsis has been long in coming; and long hidden canker sores are now festering open sores of the nation. There are no more pretenses. And there shouldnt be. We are a nation in dire crisis. The corporate body known as Nigeria, which for long was held and bound together by hope, tolerance and accommodation, is in a free all. Insecurity, the cheapening and devaluation of lives, has left the nation hopeless. Where there ought to be frightening noise, and cry for remediation, the nation has become catatonic.

Nigeria is no longer at ease. And this is not politicking. Its about the nations state of mind, which is such that there is an eerie silence in the land; when there should be discourse, dissension or even protestations and civil disobedience over the state of the nation. Suddenly, Nigeria has gone catatonic. Why? And why is no one speaking up? Nigerians are tired of Nigeria. They have fatalistically given up on the nation, thus willing for the chips to fall where they may. This is not mere rhetoric. The predisposition is real.

For long Nigeria had suffered from the cruelty of false hope. In this post-change era, the vicissitudes and vagaries of governance aside, endemic challenges, and the inability of the national elite to rally to a consensus on the way forward, are wrecking Nigeria. Renascent sectionalism, and unbridled ethnicity and sectarianism, which undermine the nations secularity, as well as unkept promises, continue to elicit deep resignation. What is even far more worrisome is that ongoing retrogressive developments in Nigeria should give us pause, since Nigerias foreign friends and adversaries are watching her closely. But rather than worry, we are all mute and acquiescent.

Insecurity has become second nature in Nigeria. And there is evidently an external dimension to it, as the Nigerian military hinted recently. Discovery of some sophisticated weapons in the insurgency theatres speak to this concern. The long festering insurgencies aside, visceral bloody conflicts and crimes are being unleashed daily against Nigerian citizens, mostly by foreign Fulani cohorts, who have embedded themselves into different parts of the nation, while masquerading as cattle herders. Nigerian citizens -Christians and Muslims alike - are being killed daily. The former are deliberately targeted; the latter, tend to be collateral damage. A corollary is that multiple quiescent ethnic and religious fissures are manifesting, now without pretenses. This is to say that the die is cast. Nigerian leaders must brace up for the possible emergence of proto-states; and do well to draw lessons from Southern Cameroon.

Governments responsibility to protect, extend to maintaining sanitized and secure territories. As a nation, we can no longer pretend that with our open border policy, Nigerian territories are not prone to the insinuation of ISIS and Al Qaeda terrorist cells. Conflicts in Libya and the Sahel make this scenario feasible, as does our numerous ungoverned spaces. This outlook makes existing Boko Haram and ISWAP challenges a childs play. But more worryingly, we know that where active terrorist cells are domiciled, we can expect that the U.S. and other global anti-terrorist forces to come calling. Are we as a nation, willing to be the next theater for global anti-terrorist military campaigns? I hope not. This is more so, since images and memories of the Aleppo Governorate in Syria are still very fresh in our minds. If our government has knowledge or evidence, of foreign nations that are funding insurgency in Nigeria, or abetting local bandits, this is the time to come clean. Such nations must be publicly identified and challenged.

Security has for long been a joint responsibility of the state and people; but the primary responsibility to protect Nigerian citizens as encapsulated in the 1999 Constitution, belongs to the state. But our governments -federal, state and local - have failed Nigerians collectively. The toll in human lives, loss of properties and productivity, is spiraling. Human insecurity, including food insecurity keeps creeping up. Small arms and light weapons are proliferating. Meanwhile, Nigerians are fast losing confidence in our statutory security arrangements. Thus it seems the only option left to Nigerian citizens, is resort to collective regional, community or individual self-defense. That reality is also manifesting as the clock ticks. Read differently: it means an ensuing state of anarchy!

In Nigeria, clear and present danger is lurking around. There is a time to speak and a time for silence. There is also a time to act. In the national interest, this is a time to speak up; and a time to act to save corporate Nigeria. Only a frank and selfless national dialogue on security and restructuring will save Nigeria. Shamefully, our leaders and most of the national elite across ethnic, religious and political divides have opted for taciturnity rather than speak truth to power. To paraphrase John Foster Dulles, such disposition is immoral and opportunistic. Such reticence is insidiously dangerous for an ill-at-ease and already disintegrating and dying Nigeria.

------

Obaze is MD/CEO, Selonnes Consult  a policy, governance and management consulting firm in Awka.
13:36 | Lima, Feb. 10.

"() The decision to accept his resignation has been made," the President told reporters from Lima's peripheral Villa El Salvador district where he supervised the actions carried out by the Executive Branch to continue assisting the gas tanker truck deflagration victims and their relatives. Said accident occurred on January 23.
NUR-SULTAN -- Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has sacked the governor of the southern Zhambyl region following deadly ethnic clashes in the area over the weekend.



Toqaev's press service said on February 10 that the president issued decrees to relieve Asqar Myrzakhmetov from his duties and was appointing Deputy Prime Minister Berdibek Saparbaev in his place.

The announcement comes after 10 people were killed in the violence that erupted between local Kazakhs and ethnic Dungans, a Muslim group of Chinese origin, in the region's villages of Masanchi, Sortobe, Auqatty, and Bulan-Batyr last week.

Dozens were also injured, including two police officers, while more than 30 houses, 15 commercial buildings, and 23 vehicles were destroyed or damaged in the battles.



Earlier, on February 10, Toqaev ordered Myrzakhmetov to sack the Zhambyl region's deputy governor for social issues, Slushash Qurmanbekova, and the governor of the Qordai district, Bolatbek Baitole, where the deadly clashes took place.



Toqaev also ordered Interior Minister Erlan Turghymbaev to sack regional police chief Arman Orazaliev and the Qordai district police chief Azamat Aiqymbekov.

Kazakh Deputy Interior Minister Aleksei Kalaichidi said on February 9 that the violence was sparked by a conflict on a highway after men in two cars brawled following a traffic disagreement.



Kalaichidi added that the brawl was recorded and placed on social media networks which led to the wider clashes in which firearms were used. Kalaichidi also said that police detained a man suspected of placing the video on the Internet and adding "misleading" statements that sparked the ethnic conflict.

Thousands of people fled villages where the violence erupted, ending up in the neighboring Kyrgyz Chui region, where the majority of ethnic Dungans in Central Asia traditionally reside.

On February 8, groups of mainly ethnic Dungans could be seen lining up along the Kyrgyz side of the border, while on the other side of the border, Dungan people handed out food and offered medical assistance to those arriving.



Kyrgyz officials told RFE/RL that some 4,500 Kazakh citizens, mainly Dungans, entered the country in the wake of the clashes last week.



Kazakh officials said on February 9 that over 1,000 of them had returned to Kazakhstan following a call from the Kazakh government.



Deputy Finance Minister Alikhan Smailov said on February 10 that the government will provide the families of those killed in the clashes with financial support and fully restore destroyed and damaged houses.



Police have launched probes into the murders and the organization of the groups who clashed. A specially created government commission led by Deputy Prime Minister Berdibek Saparbaev is working in the Qordai district on the case.



The Kazakh government has been positioning the country as an example of interethnic civility for years, though local ethnic conflicts have been reported in the country since it gained independence following the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991.



However, it is the first ethnic clash of such scale in Kazakhstan that involves ethnic Dungans.



Dungans, also known as Hui, are Sunni Muslims who speak a dialect of Mandarin with many words and phrases borrowed from Arabic, Persian, and Turkic. Their ancestors came to Central Asia, which was then part of the Russian empire, in the late-19th century after the Chinese governments violent crackdown on the Dungan Revolt of 18621877.



The number of Dungans living in the former Soviet Union is about 120,000, most of whom reside in Kyrgyzstan's northern region of Chui and the neighboring Kazakh region of Zhambyl.

With reporting by Tengrinews, RFE/RL's Kazakh and Kyrgyz services
The latest test result of the woman medical student, who arrived here from China's Wuhan region and was the first positive case from India for the novel Coronavirus (nCoV), has come out negative

Thrissur: The latest test result of the woman medical student, who arrived here from China's Wuhan region and was the first positive case from India for the novel Coronavirus (nCoV), has come out negative, health officials said on Monday. Her condition was "stable", they said.

According to the state health department as of now, 34 people are in isolation wards across various hospitals in the state.

"The blood test result of the first patient from Thrissur, from the National Institute of Virology (NIV) testing centre at Alappuzha, shows a negative result. But we need confirmation from the NIV at Pune," a senior medical officer told PTI.

After the first positive case was reported from Thrissur, two other Keralite students from Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus, had tested positive in Alappuzha and Kasaragod districts.

The health department had earlier said those in isolation wards of various hospitals in the state have come down to 34. "A total of 3,252 are still under observation across the state, of which 3,218 are under home quarantine," a release issued by the health department said.

The department has already sent at least 345 samples for testing at the NIV at Pune and so far 326 results have

eturned negative.

The 'state calamity' alert, which was declared on 3 February, was withdrawn on Friday after no new positive cases of infection were detected.
Thousands marched in solidarity with Palestinians and their rights to an independent state while denouncing the US Middle East peace plan, known as the deal of the century.

The protesters, including representatives of different political parties, rights groups and labor unions, hoisted Palestinian flags and chanted slogans against the US proposal.

The protesters expressed their determination to continue to support the Palestinian cause, rejecting all maneuvers against the Palestinians rights to an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Demonstrators also carried banners with slogans emphasizing that Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Palestine.

The march came a couple of days after head of the government reiterated, in a statement to the Moroccan news agency, Moroccos steady position in support of Palestine with Al Quds as its capital.

When the US president unveiled his peace plan, the Moroccan foreign ministry expressed appreciation for the efforts of Donald Trump to end the conflict, while stressing that it needs to be accepted by all parties in line with the two-state solution.

The Ministry also emphasized that Moroccos traditional position on the Palestinian issue will remain unchanged.

Foreign media reported recently that Israel had interceded with the US to open a consulate in Moroccos Sahara in return for Moroccos re-establishment of ties with Israel.

There was no confirmation of the reports by Moroccan, US, or Israeli authorities.
A woman protester shouts as police stop her and several others during their march against the amended Citizenship Act, NRC and NPR, near Jamia Nagar in New Delhi on Monday. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Hundreds of Jamia Millia students and residents of Jamia Nagar, on Monday, were allegedly beaten by the police after they refu-sed to end their protest and insisted on carrying an anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) march towards Parliament.

Despite repeated appeals from the police and the varsity administration, the protesters refused to end their agitation, which started following a call by the Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC), an organisation of Jamia students and alumni.

The protesters, including several women, began their march from Jamias gate no. 7 around noon amid heavy deployment of security personnel in and around the university.

The altercation intensified by 6 pm as the students refused to budge and a group of protesters gheraoed the Sukhdev Vihar police station. Some protesters jumped over barricades as the police, in riot gear, thrashed them.

As the number of people joining the protest swelled by the evening, the Sukhdev Vihar Metro station near the university was closed.

Men formed a human chain on either side of the road as women walked ahead, waving the tricolour and raising slogans of Halla Bol.

Despite repeated appeals from the police and the varsity authorities, the protesters refused to end their agitation. They raised slogans like kagaz nahi dikhayenge (we will not show documents) and jab nahi dare hum goron se toh kyun dare hum auron se (When we did not fear the British, why should we fear others).

It has been two months since we are protesting. No one from the government has come to talk to us. So we want to go to talk to them, said Zeba Anhad, a protester.

Jamia Millia Islamia proctor Waseem Ahmed Khan appealed to the students to disperse and not meddle with the police. The message has been sent. I request students in the crowd to go back to the university, he urged.
Syracuse, NY -- A Syracuse teenager will spend roughly a decade in prison after admitting he assaulted a 2-year-old girl, but he wont say how.

Teon Jacobs, then 17, has never admitted what he did to cause the significant burns to the toddlers leg that required hospitalization in February 2019. But Monday, he admitted intentionally harming the girl, in exchange for a 7-year prison sentence, plus 1 to 4 years for violating probation from a prior conviction.

Jacobs already had his second chance: hed avoided a criminal record after attacking the local Black Lives Matter leader during an unprovoked robbery at Destiny USA in November 2017. He was sentenced to probation in August 2018 and granted youthful offender status.

But six months later, Jacobs was back in trouble after the 2-year-old girl in his care was hospitalized. He lied to police, claiming shed fallen into a space heater.

Doctors determined that Jacobs poured some sort of hot liquid on the girl while watching her on Feb. 15, 2019, prosecutor Anthony Copani said.

Copani theorized that the liquid was boiling water, but said Monday he still cant be sure. He had indicted Jacobs on vague terms: for causing injuries with a dangerous instrument.

Jacobs said repeatedly that the girl had been injured by falling into a space heater. When that defense fell apart, he continued to maintain that she was injured in some unknown accident. His theory for the injuries hadnt been revealed, with trial only weeks away.

On Monday afternoon, Jacobs came back for a special court session as he mulled a plea offer. He appeared to balk, getting an irritated response from the judge.

Ive been as patient as can be, Judge Thomas J. Miller said, ready to send the case to trial. Jacobs faced up to 25 years in prison if convicted by jury.

A woman in the gallery, apparently in support of Jacobs, called out in court that he would take the deal. Hell take it, though! she said.

Doesnt sound like it, maam, the judge responded.

But defense lawyer Nicholas DeMartino asked for one last chance to talk to Jacobs. And after a last-minute discussion, Jacobs took a plea deal.

He pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and will spend seven years in prison. He will also spend another 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison for violating his probation in the earlier assault at Destiny USA.

Jacobs still has sentencing later this month to explain, once and for all, what really happened.

Its fair to say, though, that this wasnt what the victim of his Destiny USA attack had in mind when she offered him some advice at the time of his August 2018 sentencing.

Youre getting a second chance, Razhie Seals told Jacobs at the time. Youre getting shown mercy. And I wish that you would actually take a second chance and do better, honestly. Because right now, it looks like you really dont care.

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.
Written by ACM









*Strasbourg/Angelo Marcopolo/- Even if all UNSC Members might Not Yet Fully Agree on a New Resolution for Libya, for the moment, nevertheless, UNO has "Already Adopted" Resolutions on that Crisis before, (f.ex. on Arms' Embargo, etc), and Now Wants that "All Parties ...live up to the Commitments they made in Berlin"'s International Conference (19/1/2020), "in Writing or Verbally", strongly stressed Today the Experienced Long-Time UN Secretary General's Spokesman, Stephane Dujarric.

He was Replying to Press Questions, the Day After an UNSC Meeting at its New York Headquarters where UN's Libya Envoy, Ghassan Salame, Denounced particularly the Direct Import of some 2.000 Foreign Fighters by Airplanes from Turkey, added to Heavy Weapons imported by Turkish Warships in Tripoli, despite avoiding Names. This practically Confirmed the "Explicit and very Grave Violations", "by Turkish Acts, at this very Moment", "of what had been Agreed in Berlin", as Openly Denounced Earlier French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. While MEPs at a CoE Assembly's Debate in Strasbourg had, in the meantime, slamed, inter alia, also "the Most Worrying development" : "that Jihadi Terrorists, ..fully Armed", "have been Transported to Libya for combat" by Turkey, "just a hop away from the Italian coast", (See Infra).

Did "the Promisses Given" and "the Commitments Taken" by "Turkish President Erdogan at Berlin"'s international Conference on Libya, (as Macron reminded), only aim to Hypocriticaly Stop the surprisingly important "Advances" that the Libyan Opposition's Leader, General "Haftar was Making" on the BattleGround, "Before" Berlin", (as mainstream PressAgency "Bloomberg" observed), and Various Other Sources Spectacularly illustrated with Many concrete Documents (Photos, Videos, Satellite Maps, etc : See Infra) ?

At any case, CoE's Press Spokesman, Daniel Holtgen, speaking to "Eurofora", revealed that the PanEuropean Organisation, (where both Russia and Turkey are included among its Members), apparently "Wants to make a Report" on Libya, due to be prepared at the Eve of the forthcoming rotating CoE's Presiency by Greece, (May-November 2020), which is followed by that of Germany (November 2020-May 2021). But a Shorter Timing, between Now and the Next CoE Assembly's Plenary, on April 2020, is Not Excluded a priori.

-----------------------------------------------

In particular :

- Earlier Today (31/1//2020), a Journalist queried Dujarric, during his "Noon Press Briefing", about Salame's alleged Wish to see the UNSC "Vote asap. a Resolution" on Libya, and what the UN "wanted to have in" it.

- UNO's Spokesman replied that, "First of all", "What we (UN) would like to see is ....a Cessation of Hostilities". And he went on to Add also : "and a full Respect for Arms' Embargo", observing that the Latter Issue had been "Already Adopted" by a Previous UNSC Resolution.

+ But the Journalist observed that, Yesterday, all UNSC Members didN't seem to Agree Yet, at least for the moment, on a New Resolution on Libya, and she Asked what UNO and its Secretary General Wanted to do Now.

>>> Interestingly, UNO's Spokesman Confirmed that New Resolution Row, for the Time being, but went on to Add : - "What we (UNO) Need to see is ...All the Parties to Adhere to (UN) Security Council RESOLUTIONS" WHICH EXIST "ALREADY" (Comp. Supra), AND to Live up to the COMMITMENTS they made in BERLIN, whether they were in Writing or Verbally", as he stressed.

Regarding that latest Key point, the incoming Belgian UNSC Presidency, (for February 2020), reportedly Intends to Focus on Libya, and, particularly, to Start systematicaly "Monitoring" the Respect of Berlin Conference's Conclusions by the participant Countries (NDLR: Partly UPDATED).

According to the Berlin's Conference's Conclusions, of 19/1/2019, where all UNSC Permanent Members were present, the participants Committed to Refraining from Interference in ...Libya, among 6 Areas (''baskets') related to that Conflict.

------------------------------------------



=> But, French President Macron slamed, earlier this week in Paris, at a Press-point Together with Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis, whah he called an "Explicit Opposition to what President Erdogan had Committed to do, during the Berlin Conference" (19/9/2019), "stressing" his "Concern" on this point :

- Indeed, "We see, these latest Days, Turkish Ships, escorted by Syrian Mercenaries, arriving on the Libyan Land. That's an Explicit and very Grave Violation of what had been Agreed in Berlin. It's a DisRespect of given Promises. It Harms Libya's Sovereignity, and Harms the Security of All Europeans and Sahelians. I want to stress it here, very Firmly. It Proves ...that the Concerns that we had evoked earlier, ....were Confirmed", President Macron Denounced.

---------------------------

At Berlin, mainly, "Leaders agreed Not to Intervene in Libya", stressed UNO's Envoy Salame from the outset at his official Briefing to UNO's Security Coucil Yesterday, (send to NY in a Video-Statement from African Union's relevant meetings).

- "But, with Recent Developments on the Ground, I Regret to report that Truce holds only in Name", he Denounced.

- Inter alia, "Artillery (recently typical of Turkish Aggressions, f.ex. in Syria, where Ankara's Soldiers Avoid Direct Fight, prefering to Bomb Adversaries with Gadgets/Machines Hidden Far away) exchanges have Significantly Increased in Tripoli, these days", Salame observed.

>>> - In particular, "at the Same Time, Foreign Fighters (i.e. armed Islamist Extremist gangs from Syria, etc), supporting the GNA, were Flown into Tripoli (withTurkish Airplanes) by the Thousands, and Deployed in Forward Locations !", UNO's Libya Envoy Denounced, for the 1st Time so Bluntly...

+ Moreover, "During that, the GNA Forces, Supported by a Foreign Sponsor (Turkey), established Advanced Air Defense Systems, throughout the Western Region : To put it Bluntly : "Hawk" Anti-AirCraft [i.e. AirPlane Downing Missiles "System"].

++ "As Recently as Tuesday (28/1/2019), the presence of Foreign Naval Assets - including WAR-SHIPS (of Turkish Army) - was Witnessed off the Coast of Tripoli, in Addition to Cargo-Ships", reportedly full of Armored Vehicles and Tanks.

- s At least Five (5) Turkish Military Frigates, Identified one by one, were reportedly Spoted these Days in Libya's EEZ Waters, in relation with such Direct and Ostensible Heavy Weapons Deliveries by a Foreign State, (Filmed by several Videos published in the Web), including at least one Photographed Anchored (with Military Canons and the Turkish Flag) in a Libanese Seaport near Tripoli, according to Other Sources...

=> That's why UNO wants to set up asap an "International Follow-Up Committee to the Berlin Conference", including a "ceasefire Monitoring mechanism", of "great Interest" to UNSC, so that "those who Obstruct the process" of "Berlin", "can be held to Account", Salame Warned.

Strongly Denouncing those "UnScrupulous Actors", " who Cynically nod and wink towards efforts to promote Peace and piously affirm their support for the UN", while, in fact, "they continue to double down on a Military Solution, raising the Frightening specter of a Full-scale Conflict and further Misery for the Libyan People, more Refugees, the creation of a Security Vacuum and further Interruptions to global Energy supplies", "in blatant Disregard of Libya's Sovereignty, the fundamental Rights of the Libyan People, and in flagrant Violation of international Consensus and the rules-based International Order", UNO's Libya Envoy expressed the "Hope that ... (UN) can Find (its) Unity and (its) Voice, to Halt Libyas senseless Unraveling", "in the Coming Days", Because "too Much is at Stake, including our (UNO's) collective Credibility", as he Urgently Warned.

--------------------------------------

However, if Nothing is done, i.e. if Not any UN or other Sanction is not imposed at all, in the foreseable Future, particularly on Turkey, which notoriously Multiplied Manifold Blatant Violations of Libya's Sovereignity, Many Grosses Interferences in its Internal affairs, a lot of Provocations, Intrusions inside its Core Issues, etc, then, any UNO's above-mentioned "Credibility" will certainly Vanish, and Libya's entity Shattered into Pieces...

Certainly, secret Violations of Arms Embargo, and/or Usurpation of Libya's Cultural Heritage, etc., may have occured, mutatis-mutandis, from Both Sides, several times in the Past. Opposition's Leader, General Haftar, has alread been Criticized for reportedly using a Private Russian Company, with some Hundreds of Agents, mutatis-mutandis, as also the Tripoli Government has tried to do with others, including even by ...Hiring Private Armed Gangs in order to ensure its own Security, since "Libya does Not have professional Security Forces, and the GNA (Tripoli's "Government") currently relies on Armed Groups for its Security" (sic !), as even UNO's Security Council observes Nowadays...

>>> But it's anOther, COMPLETELY DIFFERENT kind of things, when, f.ex.., Ostensibly, the Foreign Turkish Government itself, Openly Announces in Public that it Sends "about 2,000 Syrian Militiamen, to Back" the Tripoli's Government (Comp. Supra). Or, in Addition to several "Turkish Naval Frigates, which Accompagny Cargo Ships unLoading Fighting Vehicles in Tripoli, this weeK", as "a Libyan security Official" Denounced, according to mainstream Press Agency "Bloomberg". There, the Foreign Military Interference inside Libya's Internal affairs, is, Obviously, Much more Blatant, Despite a Long Series of Condemnations by UNO, the EU, Arab League, the African Union, the Neighbouring Countries' Leaders, French-Italian-Greek-Cypriot+Egyptian MAFs, Berlin's International Conference with UN, (etc)...

----------------------

- In Fact, "Countries that decide in Unilateral fashion to Intervene diplomatically and Militarily, such as Turkey, ....become part of the Problem ... what they try to do is ...to Take Advantage of a neighbouring country, declaring an Exclusive Economic space in the sea between Turkey and Libya. This Violates the Law of the Seas, .. also ....as far as territorial waters of the Islands in the Aegean (which) ... belong to the EU". And "This is.... a country that has still Not signed the international law of the seas !", Denounced, on behalf of the Biggest Group in CoE's Assembly (PACE): that of ChristianDemocrats/EPP, during PACE's Debate on Libya, Yesterday Afternoon in Strasbourg, MEP Evripides Stylianides from Greece, (the forthcoming CoE Presidency in office: May-November 2020)...

-----------------------------

- Ankara "has ... Manipulated the very Fragile Government of Tripoli, in order to sign, to Null and void, as Contrary ... to the ...law .., 2 Memoranda: ", pointed out, as Speaker for the Euro-Left Group, Greek MEP Georges Katrugalos, former Foreign Minister+.

-"1 of Military aid, which Violates the arms Embargo and the recent agreement of the Berlin process or the ceasefire".

+"The 2nd Memorandum is about the delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of Turkey and Libya to non Neighboring countries, to the Detriment of legal and legitimate rights of both Cyprus and Greece. This is not just Contrary to the international Law, but also a Violation of Geography and common Sense", he denounced.

"Even Yesterday, according to a statement by President of France Emmanuel Macron, Turkish frigates were transporting Weapons and Fighters to the country. ... All states should Refrain from Violating international Law, and from actions which might Exacerbate Divisions, Undermine Human rights and Libya's democratic transition. ...CoE should follow closely, but finally, only the Libyan themselves can Solve the problems of their country", he concluded.

-------------

- "The Libyan political *** Agreement signed on ....2015, and the action Plan of the UN SG's Special Representative for Libya of ....2017, which were Hopeful in their Time, seem almost Illusory Today", or even "Worse"..., Denounced Nowadays, speaking on behalf of the Liberal Group, the Head of the French Delegation of MEPs, Nicole Trisse.

- "The situation in Libya, far from improving, is tending more and more towards Confusion" ... "Despite the efforts of the International community to promote Cooperation between the GNA of Mr. Fayez el-Sarraj and General Haftar, the Civil War is still going on". "Several ...States are more or less openly providing military and political support to the belligerents, withOut seeking to encourage Dialogue and national Reconciliation... This situation is Regrettable and Worrying", she Criticized.

=> "A Return to the Fundamentals", "seem to us to be the only viable and credible way Forward", Trisse stressed. In particular, "CoE, ... could provide Legal Assistance for the reconstruction of a Libyan State based on Law and Democratic values".

---------------------------------

>>> The Main Point is that "the Berlin Conference ....has called for all international and regional Actors to Refrain from Interference in this armed conflict" inside Libya, stressed from the outset, the Experienced, former Long-Time Foreign Minister and Prime Minister of Greece, Georges Papandreou, Now a Socialist MEP.

But, "Unfortunately, Tensions have recently heightened following the M.O.U. signed between ...Tripoli and Turkey. This Deal is a "quid pro quo": - Turkey gives you Military Backing, If you Accept to delineate new Maritime Zones in the Mediterranean in Violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea !" Because "this M.O.U. Ignores the sovereign Rights of Greece and other Neighbouring Countries of the region, (as Cyprus, Egypt, etc)", he Denounced.

=> "German Bundestag's Legal department has clearly stated that such a Deal, with0ut the Consent of other Mediterranean Countries concerned, Violates the customary Law of the sea and canNot be considered as legal". + And "the International community, key Regional players, the EU, and even the internationally recognised Libyan Parliament (based at Tobruk) have made Similar protests", the MEP observed.

- Finaly, on the Substance, Giorgos Papandreou reiterated his "Long-Standing Position", on "Greece and Turkey", in such Oil/Gas Resources disputes, to "Delineate the Continental shelf through Dialogue, and if necessary going to the Hague, the Court of the Hague".

--------------------------------------

+ But, some Other MEPs appeared to have even More Dreams or, rather, Illusions about Turkey than GP :

F.ex., Liberal Swiss MEP Alfred Heer, Pessimistically Claimed that, "if we (Europe) are really Truthful to ourselves - we have to say there is Not much we Can do, because Now Military actions is ruling Libya".

=> Therefore, he believed that "we Only can Hope together with Russia and Turkey (sic !), who are now involved in Libya, .... that we can return to a Peaceful solution, that we can have the hope for a Democratization of Libya. We hope for rule of Law, for Democracy, and for Human rights", etc...

After having Followed all various Turkish Regimes of our Era, during about 30 Years, "Eurofora" wishes "Good Luck" to Mr. Heer on that obviously Highly Controversial point !

---------------------------------------------------

- After widely Denouncing a larger "War in order to control Energy reserves and Pipelines" around Libya, Cyprus' MEP Georges Loukaides, ("Euro-Left" Group), slamed also the "illegal and Irrational Deal concluded between the governments of Erdogan and Fayiz es-Serrac, on the delimitation of the Turkey-Libya Maritime Zones, which constitutes a gross Violation of international Law, ...fully Disregarding the legal rights of other Coastal States and, ...specifically, Egypt and Greece. These Provocative actions of Turkey come in addition to the illegal activities it is pursuing in Cyprus' EEZ, that ...undermines ...a ...solution to the Cyprus problem, and have taken the EU to impose Sanctions on Turkey", while, "the International community should fully and unequivocally Denounce that Deal, stressing that Turkey must fully Comply with international Law".

-----------------------------------

+ In the Immediate MeanTime, However, "we are ...Concerned about reports" on "a Serious Flown of Terrorist Fighters, from Jihadist Organisations, which are currently based in the Idlib province of Syria, to Tripoli in Libya, (Comp. Supra). This is Dangerous !", Warned even Dissident Turkish MEP of the current "Opposition", (Socialist), Ahmet Cevikoz.

=> Fustigating "Massive Population Displacements and growing migration, as well as the increasing Danger of Terrorist elements reaching out to our own societies", he added that his Party recently "Voted Against the Bill to Send Troops to Libya", (as well as "All the Opposition Parties" in Ankara's Parliament).

+ Cevikoz went on to point at "the UNSC ...Resolution 2259", according to which, "the Libyan Political Agreement, signed in Skhirat on ...2015, is still the only Framework in which an end can be brought to the Libyan crisis", as it "was confirmed in Berlin ... International Conference on Libya (19/1/2020), where the institutions deriving from the Libyan Political Agreement continue to receive International Recognition". Thus, "Legitimacy in Libya ....include(s) All the Institutions, Both in Tripoli, and in Tobruk", i.e. also the Libyan Parliament, (which supports General Haftar).

--------------------------

- On the Contrary, Turkish pro-Government MEP Ziya Altunyaldiz, at a delayed, written Intervention, focused on Claiming that the only "Legitimate Representative of Libyans" would be the UnElected "GNA" in Divided Tripoli (which still controls Only a Small Part of the Country Nowadays), Not even Mentioning the existence of the Elected Parliament, (which is also Internationaly Recognized, Member of the IPU at Geneva, Interlocutor of the UNO, etc), currently located at Tobruk, (Comp. Supra), after Islamist Militia's Aggressions obliged it to Leave Tripoli some years ago, in the Past...

+ Moreover, a Strange Ambiance emerged from the 3 Delayed Interventions of Turkish pro-Regime MEPs, presented in Written Texts, at the very Last Minute, After the End of CoE's Debate, Altunyaldiz, Emine Nur Gunay, and Zeynep Yildiz :

- Turkey's Foreign Military interference inside Libya serves only to ..."create a convenient Atmosphere on the road of Peace" (sic !), and promote "Dialogue", "in order to Halt the Military Conflict", with "a Constructive attitude in accordance with International Law" (re-sic !), working for "a Peaceful, Political Solution", according to the conclusions of "Berlin" Conference, (and so on, until an Angel Flies at the Sky)...

=> So, that's Why Turkey has Started an UnPrecedented, Huge Foreign Military Intervention Libya, signed a expensive Military/Defense Deal, paid by Economic Concessions from Tripoli's Fragile and Instable Regime, send Dozens of Armed Frigates/War-Ships to Tripoli's Seaport, Exported there Foreign Turkish Army Troops, practically took over the Direction of Military Strikes, shiped into Libya many Armoured Vehicles and Tanks with Big Cargos, Boosted Deadly "Artillery" Strikes against Libyan opponents, (as Turks recently did also in the Invasion of Syrian Kurdish Regions, Killing People just by Pressing a Buton at a Machine Hidden in a Far Away hole, withOut Daring go Fighting directly, Face to Face), and even Imported "by Thousands" (UNO) Dangerous Foreign Fighters, Armed Gangs of Islamist Extremists, among the various Terrorists notoriously at Idlib (Syria), who were "Deployed in Forward Locations, alongside Libyan forces" (UNO)... (Comp. Supra).

Now it becomes Clear what UNO's Libya Envoy, Ghassan Salame, had in mind when he Denounced, just Yesterday, at the UNSC, those "UNSCRUPULOUS Actors", " who Cynically nod and wink towards efforts to promote Peace and piously affirm their support for the UN", while, in fact, "they continue to double down on a Military Solution, raising the Frightening specter of a Full-scale Conflict and further Misery for the Libyan People, more Refugees, the creation of a Security Vacuum and further Interruptions to global Energy supplies", "in blatant Disregard of Libya's Sovereignty, the fundamental Rights of the Libyan People, and in flagrant Violation of international Consensus and the rules-based International Order", (Comp. Supra).



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(../..) ("Draft-News")

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I always tell my students the Constitution is a work of special genius. Madison explained the rationale undergirding our new government by comparing us to angels. If men were angels, he reasoned, we wouldnt need any government. If we were governed directly by angels, we wouldnt need to fear government tyranny.

The great difficulty, given our human imperfection, lies in designing a government with sufficient power to do its job, and sufficient internal safeguards to prevent it from abusing that power.

The separation of powers and system of checks and balances is what the founders hammered out and we inherited. Their Constitutional system divides the governments power between Congress, the president and the courts. Each of these branches can check, or limit, the other branches power. The president, for example, can veto a law passed by Congress. Congress, in turn, can override the presidents veto with a two-thirds majority vote.

The president is the commander-in-chief, but only Congress can declare war. The Supreme Court can rule a law unconstitutional. Congress and the states can amend the Constitution to nullify the courts ruling.

And Congress can impeach and remove the president from office.

This Constitutional check on presidential power was important to the founders because theyd just fought to free themselves from one king and feared the rise of another. At first, they considered whether regular elections would offer sufficient protection against an abusive president, but they concluded that impeachment was indispensable for defending the republic, especially against a president who betray[ed] his trust to foreign powers and practiced corruption to win election.

They also prophetically noted the great opportunities of abusing his power available to a president particularly in time of war, when the military force, and, in some respects, the public money, will be in his hands.

So much that I heard from President Trumps defense team tortures the founders clear intent. The founders chief fear wasnt that a president might violate a specific criminal statute. They were instead most determined to guard the republic against a president who attempts to subvert the Constitution by abusing his power. They asked the rhetorical question, Shall any man be above justice, and their resounding answer was no.

Yes, Hamilton warned against impeachments regulated more by the comparative strength of parties, than by the real demonstrations of innocence or guilt. Partisan bias, however, can motivate a presidents defenders as well as his prosecutors.

No one is tearing up ballots. The explicit purpose of impeachment is the necessary removal of an elected president. Nor did modern Democrats invent the Constitutional provision that a president duly removed from office is liable to disqualification to hold future office.

Despite his defense teams repeated allegation, President Trump wasnt impeached over a policy dispute. There is, however, glaring irony in their attempt to defend him by repeatedly alleging the superiority of his Ukraine policy.

Its even ranker hypocrisy to claim theres insufficient evidence of the presidents guilt while you deliberately block the presentation of relevant witnesses and evidence. On his deathbed, Chief Justice Warren warned that if President Nixon was successful in denying Congress access to the evidence in his tapes, then liberty will soon be dead in this nation.

Clever lawyering isnt justice. Justice discourages wrongdoing. It keeps us safe from peril now and in the future. We stand in peril.

Some Republicans concede that President Trumps actions were inappropriate or not what I would have done, or that they crossed the line. Several expressed confidence that hed learned a lesson, that hed think twice next time. His defenders argue he didnt obstruct justice, that he was instead protecting the executive privilege rights of future presidents. Others rest on his insistence he did nothing wrong.

Tell me: Whats the likelihood that a self-serving flouter of presidential norms would care a fig about the prerogatives of future presidents? Is a narcissist who stands before a memorial to fallen CIA officers and brags about how many magazine covers hes appeared on likely to see beyond his own reflection?

Is a man who lies about the weather and his inaugural crowd size likely to tell the incriminating truth about his corrupt motives and deeds?

When the nation was 50 years old, a young Abraham Lincoln foresaw that men with particular genius and ambition would rise up among us to subvert the law and lead us as tyrants. When such a one does, Lincoln exhorted, it will require the people to be united with each other, attached to the government and the laws, and generally intelligent, to successfully frustrate his designs.

Following Mr. Lincolns death, his successor Andrew Johnson faced an impeachment trial. Several senators felt compelled by conscience to vote against their party. When it was Edmund Rosss turn, he knew what his conscience was about to cost him: I almost literally looked down into my open grave. Friendships, position, fortune, everything that makes life desirable to an ambitious man were about to be swept away by the breath of my mouth, perhaps forever.

He voted his conscience.

I watched the State of the Union performance the night before the Senate met to acquit President Trump. I watched the chanting, glad-handing senators whod stopped their ears and turned their backs on witnesses. I thought of Ross, and Lincoln.

I couldnt help feeling shame and grief. The Founders have suffered a defeat. And so have we.

Peter Berger has taught English and history for 30 years. Poor Elijah would be pleased to answer letters addressed to him in care of the editor at editor@middletownpress.com.
S Gurumurthy By

Parameswaran ji, as he was known to his countless admirers, is no more. P Parameswaran, who became the pracharak of RSS when he was 23 and ceaselessly worked for 70 years more till he breathed his last, had only one mission in life that was nation and one deity that was Bharatmata. Though an organisation man, his acute intellectual urge drove him to found the Bharatiya Vichara Kendram in Thiruvananthapuram decades ago, through which he expounded the other, uncelebrated spiritual mind of Kerala. For a quarter-century until his demise, he headed and spread the work of Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari, which is doing a yeomans service to the distanced and disadvantaged people of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya and Andaman Islands. Undeterred by the stately power of contextual Kerala intellectualism, he remained a centennial seer who looked beyond his life and times as he spoke and wrote for decades with dignity and respect towards those who disagreed with him, even derided him.

MULTI-DIMENSIONAL PERSONALITY



He was a multidimensional personality. A prodigious reader, he must have read thousands of titles in his mother tongue and English. A prolific writer, he has written over 20 books, in Malayalam and English. As a journalist, he ceaselessly wrote for decades, particularly columns in Yuva Bharati, a journal of Vivekananda Kendra which he edited. He was an elegant orator in both English and Malayalam and he spoke not to win the approval of his audience but to impart what he thought they should know.

He was an extraordinary, original thinker. He was wrongly regarded as a right-wing thinker based on the popular division in the Indian discourse which draws its norms and labels from Western dictionary. What needs to be recalled when Parameswaran is not around is not his personal details, but the social thinking he expounded in the most difficult times in Kerala.

NEHRU GAVE UP, PARAMESWARAN DIDNT



Parameswaran continued to expound his nationalist mission, which he had undertaken as his life mission, in the Left-dominated Kerala as the full-time Pracharak of the RSS. It was the same idea of Hindu nationalism which Swami Vivekananda had more than a century before propounded and triggered the freedom movement of India. That Swami Vivekanandas thoughts inspired the Indian freedom movement was accepted by the leaders of the movement including Maharishi Aurobindo, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi, Pundit Nehru, Netaji Bose and Rajaji, to mention a few. Throughout out his life, Parameswaran expounded only the concept of Hindu nationalism of Swami Vivekananda, which Jawaharlal Nehru fully accepted in the mid-1930s, which most scholars on secularism either did not know or kept it suppressed despite knowing. Nehru wrote A famous disciple of Ramakrishna was Swami Vivekananda, who very eloquently and forcibly preached the gospel of nationalism.... Vivekanandas nationalism was Hindu nationalism, and it had its roots in the Hindu religion and culture. This was not in any way anti-Muslim or anti-anyone else... [Jawaharlal Nehru, Glimpses of World History, Penguin Books New Delhi, 2004, p 437] Post-independence, however, Nehru moved away from Vivekanandas nationalism but Parameswaran did not.

Nehru, who gave up Vivekananda, was celebrated as secular and those like Parameswaran who held on to Vivekananda were labelled un-secular. Parameswaran was finally vindicated by the Supreme Court in the Hindutva judgement in 1995. The court said that no meaning in the abstract can confine the terms `Hindu, `Hindutva and `Hinduism to the narrow limits of religion alone, excluding the content of Indian culture and heritage and added that Hindutva is related more to the way of life of the people in the sub-continent. This idea of India as a cultural entity is for which Parameswaran lived and fought throughout his life. The secular parties clamoured for 20 years for the review of the Hindutva judgement, but, in 2016 a seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court ruled that the judicial view that Hinduism is a way of life and constitutes the culture and heritage of India should stand and not reviewed. The mainline secular political discourse may still evade the undeniable fact that what Parameswaran was expounding as the idea and identity of India was finally accepted by the Supreme Court. Parameswaran, who had no personal desire even his lifetime, must have closed his eyes as a highly fulfilled man, for the idea of for which he had worked for decades had been legitimised by the Supreme Court.

NEITHER LEFT NOR RIGHT



The Indian philosophy of which Parameswaran was a product, distinguishes between spiritual and material spheres of thought. It does not know any Left or Right in thought. And, yet by formal label, he was perceived as a Right Wing thinker in Kerala, the land of the Left thinkers. Anyone who left out from among the Left in Kerala was, by definition, Right Wing. And by extension, Parameswaran was seen as conservative, and by further extension, as even un-secular and anti-secular. It is this automatic labelling, not truth, that defined Parameswaranjis role in Kerala discourse which turned unidirectional because of political power. Parameswaran resisted and defied this unidirectional intellectualism of Kerala. The Indian thought system transcends the Western distinction between conservative and liberal, which is inadequate to comprehend Indian intellectuals.

Can the Western labels comprehend whether Swami Vivekananda, the spiritualist, was a conservative or liberal. The western materialist thought labels are inadequate to comprehend a spiritually oriented intellectuals like Parameswaran. He was neither Left, nor Right in his thinking. He was just nationalistic in polity that only saw people as either Left or Right. His potential as a thought giver to Kerala was not fully actualised because of the political label attached to a trans-political thinker that Parameswaran was.

KERALA NEEDS TO RECALL PARAMESWARAN



He got late recognition by awards including Padma awards. As he did not desire any award, he added merit to the awards, not the other way round. The quintessence of Parameswaran is for what he was less known outside. He was, within, a saint in white robes. It is that inner saintly element in him which made him pursue his mission undeterred for 70 long years without expecting anything in return, against all odds. One among the intellectual giants who had shaped contemporary Kerala in the past five decades, his demise removes from Keralas public discourse a towering example of such great men. Kerala, which has strayed away from its spiritual core and persisted with unspiritual materialism for too long, needs to recall Parameswaran to reboot itself for better future.
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NYPD Chief Hazel Jennings (pictured) has warned officers not to wear their uniforms or department logos in public following back-to-back attacks on Bronx cops

A top NYPD official has warned officers not to wear their police uniforms or department logos in public following back-to-back assassination attempts on cops in the Bronx.

Hazel Jennings, chief of the Department of Corrections, issued a memo on Sunday night essentially urging officers to hide their police affiliation to avoid being targeted.

The memo came after a career criminal carried out two separate attacks on officers in the Bronx in the span of just 12 hours, leaving two officers injured.

Robert Williams, 45, was taken into custody on Sunday after he allegedly opened fire on a police station in the Bronx shortly before 8am. He struck Lt Jose Gautreaux in the arm and narrowly missed other police personnel before the running out of bullets, lying down and tossing his pistol as he was swarmed by officers.

Hours earlier, Williams approached a patrol van in the same part of the Bronx late Saturday and fired at two officers inside, wounding one before escaping on foot, police said.

The suspect - who was out on parole after a 2002 attempted murder conviction - was seen handcuffed to a hospital bed on Sunday in photos obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com. He is expected to be arraigned on Monday morning.

Authorities said they brought a woman in for questioning who is believed to be Williams' girlfriend Liza T Valdez, a communications technician for the NYPD.

Scroll down for video

A safety memo issued by Jennings on Sunday night is seen in full above. It essentially urges officers to hide their police affiliation to avoid being targeted

Suspect Robert Williams is seen handcuffed to his hospital bed in photos obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com

Williams appeared to be sedated and his severely swollen face was covered in dried blood from a wound on his cheek

Williams (left) was reportedly out on parole after a 2002 attempted murder conviction. Authorities were also questioning a woman believed to be Williams' girlfriend Liza T Valdez (right), a communications technician for the NYPD

Surveillance footage shows Williams before the Saturday night shooting (left) and inside the 41st precinct station before the Sunday morning shooting (right)

New York City leaders held a press conference on the case on Sunday afternoon, where NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea and Mayor Bill de Blasio blamed the attacks on an anti-police atmosphere fueled by recent protests.

Cops are circulating this doctored photo of DeBlasio with Williams. The mayor started a program that gives Mets tickets and other freebies to defendants to entice them to return to court

Shea hit out at criminal justice reform activists who've held demonstrations against use of excessive force, referencing a protest on January 31 in which dozens of members of a radical police-hating group stormed Grand Central Terminal chanting anti-NYPD slogans including 'F**k cops!' Cops

'These things are not unrelated. We had people marching through the streets of New York City recently,' Shea said. 'Words matter. And words affect people's behavior.'

Shea didn't offer any evidence that Williams knew of those protests or was influenced by them.

De Blasio, who was elected partly on a promise to reform overly aggressive policing of minority communities, also suggested that anti-police sentiment had gotten out of hand.

'Anyone who spews hatred at our officers is aiding and abetting this kind of atmosphere; it is not acceptable,' de Blasio said. 'You could protest for whatever you believe in, but you cannot vilely attack those who are here to protect us. It creates this kind of dynamic.'

NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea (left) and Mayor Bill de Blasio (right) spoke at a press conference on Sunday and blamed the attacks on an anti-police atmosphere fueled by recent protests

Thousands of protesters flocked to Grand Central Terminal and flowed out into Midtown's streets on January 31 to protest police use of excessive force

Robert Williams was quietly brought to Bronx Central Booking tonight under the cover of darkness. He was transported from St. Barnabas Hospital in a motorcade complete with heavily armed @NYPDSpecialops officers. https://t.co/PZbxTwq4QD pic.twitter.com/HZrFq2zhoW  Myles N. Miller (@MylesMill) February 10, 2020

The first attack unfolded just before 8.30pm Saturday when a man approached a locked police van with its emergency lights activated and asked the officers inside, Paul Stroffolino, 31, and Brian Hanlon, 33, for directions.

The suspect then pulled out a gun 'without provocation' and fired multiple shots into the van, striking Stroffolino on the chin and neck, narrowly missing his carotid artery.

Neither Stroffolino nor Hanlon, who have been friends since middle school and partners for eight years, fired a single shot. Hanlon then drove Stroffolino to a nearby hospital, where he was held overnight for observation.

The shooting happened near the junction of East 163 and Barretto streets, where the officers were stationed because of recent drug activity and violence, officials said.

Police released a photograph of the suspected shooter and were combing the city for him when Williams walked into the police station coordinating the manhunt, strolled to the desk and brandished a gun just before 8am.

Two security cameras captured video of the chaotic scene at the 41st precinct station.

Williams struck Gautreaux, who was sitting at the front desk, and the lieutenant returned fire but did not hit the suspect.

He then rushed into a side room and fired at two people, including a civilian employee, before retreating into the lobby and diving on the floor when he ran out of ammunition.

Video from a different angle shows an officer in the precinct lobby reacting to the first gunshot. One uniformed cop is seen punching the suspect as other officers converge, pointing their guns, and the gunman's pistol is seen sliding away from him across the floor.

Williams opened fire on a lieutenant manning the front desk of the 41st precinct on Sunday morning. When the lieutenant returned fire, the suspect fled into another room and shot at other police personnel

Williams is seen diving on the floor and surrendering after he ran out of bullets

Several officers swarmed the suspect after he surrendered his weapon

The two shootings took place only blocks away from each other less than 12 hours apart

The suspect is seen raising his gun and firing at cops in security camera footage from Saturday's incident

The suspect (pictured) was filmed walking away from the scene of Saturday's shooting, which police say was unprovoked

Emergency vehicles rushed to the 41st precinct after a lieutenant was gunned down at the front desk on Sunday morning

EMS are seen taking the victim out of the 41st precinct on a stretcher on Sunday morning

Police released this photo of a firearm Williams allegedly used in both attacks

At Sunday's press conference, Commissioner Shea said that the suspect was paroled in 2017 for an attempted murder conviction in 2002 in the Bronx. He said the suspect had carjacked a woman, crashed the car and then engaged in a gunfight with NYPD officers.

Williams was recently released from police custody after being jailed on charges of heavy weapon possession and was due in court in the coming days.

Shea referred to the suspect as a 'coward' and said authorities were confident that he was involved in both the precinct shooting on Sunday and the patrol shooting the night before.

'This is not a crime gone bad. This is not a liquor store robbery interrupted that a tragedy erupts from. This is a premeditated assassination attempt,' Shea said.

'It is only by the grace of God and the heroic actions of those inside the building that took him into custody that we are not talking about police officers murdered inside a New York City police precinct.'

Mary Williams, the suspect's grandmother, told News 4 she was 'really shocked' by the allegations levied against him

The suspect's grandmother, 80-year-old Mary Williams, spoke to NBC 4 New York after the attack on Sunday and said she was 'really shocked' by the allegations levied against him.

She said she spoke to her grandson, whom she raised in the Soundview section of the Bronx, a few hours before the first attack.

She said Williams had been looking for a job recently, adding that he 'didn't have no problem with no police lately'.

The grandmother also noted that Williams' own son was shot and killed in the Bronx two years ago but declined to elaborate on his death.

Authorities said they were interviewing a woman who was 'present in the general area' and may have driven Williams to the precinct.

Police did not name the woman as she is not considered a suspect but sources identified her to DailyMail.com as Valdez, Williams' girlfriend.

The woman's mother spoke to ABC 7 on Sunday night and said she was not Williams' girlfriend, but the pair were childhood friends.

The mother insisted that her daughter 'has nothing to do with this' and suggested that Williams tricked her into driving him to the precinct.

Paul Stroffolino, the officer injured in the Saturday shooting, was released from Lincoln Hospital on Sunday morning

Stroffolino had a bandage over his neck as he left the hospital, where fellow officers gathered to shower him with applause

Stroffolino smiled at his wife as he departed from Lincoln Hospital (left). The couple are seen right in a Facebook photo

Stroffolino gave a thumbs up to the supportive crowd after he got in a car to head home

Sunday's official press conference was held at Lincoln Hospital, where the officer injured in the shooting the night before was treated.

Stroffolino was released on Sunday morning and is expected to make a full recovery.

The 15-year veteran of the NYPD was showered with applause from fellow officers as he was carted out of the hospital and gave a thumbs-up to the crowd.

Shea said the Saturday night shooting 'harkens back to some bad times', referencing previous assassinations of police officers.

In 2017, a gunman killed Officer Miosotis Familia as she sat in her patrol vehicle in the Bronx. In 2014, two officers, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, were shot dead in their patrol car in Brooklyn by a man upset about recent police killings of unarmed black men.

The commissioner said Ramos and Liu's deaths were 'not something that engenders anything but the worst memories'.

He said that 'everyone should be speaking against this', adding: 'I condemned it then and I condemn it right here today.'

In the wake of the killings of Ramos and Liu, some officers blamed de Blasio for expressing solidarity with the demonstrations, and turned their backs on the Democrat at the funerals.

De Blasio spoke after Shea at Sunday's press conference and echoed his characterization of the shooting, calling it 'an attempt to assassinate police officers'.

'There's just too much hatred out there right now,' De Blasio said.

Robert Gangi, executive director of the Police Reform Organizing Project advocacy group, said it was 'irresponsible' for Shea and de Blasio to say the violence this weekend was linked to the recent demonstrations, which he said involved activists 'protesting in a legitimate fashion.'

Of the gunman, though, Gangi said there is 'no defense for a lunatic who opens fire on police.'

At Sunday's press conference, Commissioner Shea referred to the suspect as a 'coward' and said authorities were confident that he was involved in both the precinct shooting on Sunday and the patrol shooting the night before

De Blasio echoed Shea's characterization of the shooting, calling it 'an attempt to assassinate police officers'

A heavy police presence is seen outside the 41st precinct after the shooting on Sunday morning

Officers with the NYPD's Technical Assistance Response Unit are seen near a vehicle believed to belong to the gunman

New York City police direct foot traffic on the corner of 163rd and Fox Street at the scene of Saturday's shooting

President Donald Trump hit out against de Blasio and New York Governor Andrew hours earlier, blaming them for this weekend's attacks.

Trump tweeted: 'I grew up in New York City and, over many years, got to watch how GREAT NYCs Finest are. Now, because of weak leadership at Governor & Mayor, stand away (water thrown at them) regulations, and lack of support, our wonderful NYC police are under assault. Stop this now!'

President Donald Trump spoke out against the latest violence against police, blaming New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio for the attacks

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he was 'horrified' after the recent attacks

Cuomo had tweeted to condemn the 'heinous' attacks on those who serve the city.

'Horrified by the multiple attacks on officers in the Bronx,' New York Governor Andrew Cuomo tweeted. 'NY's law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe. These attacks are heinous. Those responsible will be brought to justice & held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.'

He shared in an official statement that state police would be on hand to help and said the perpetrator will be punished harshly.

NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson also tweeted about the shooting

'I am horrified by the two attacks on NYPD officers that occurred last night and this morning in the Bronx,' Cuomo stated. 'Members of New York's law enforcement community put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe, and they deserve our respect and appreciation. I have asked the New York State Police to reach out to the NYPD to offer any assistance necessary.

'We have zero tolerance for attacks of any kind against law enforcement, and the person or people responsible will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.'

NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson tweeted: 'We have another shooting of a police officer in the Bronx. Prayers for the officer in the latest shooting, who is at Lincoln Hospital w/non-life threatening injuries, the officer who was shot last night, and all those who serve our City. This horrific violence must end.'

The president of the Police Benevolent Association said the streets needed to be fixed.

'It is a double miracle that we are not preparing for two funerals right now,' Patrick Lynch, PBA president, said in a statement. 'These targeted attacks are exactly what we have warned against again and again. The hatred and violence directed at cops continues to grow. Good luck and kind words are not enough to keep police officers or the public safe.

'Our elected officials need to start listening to us and working with us  not against us  to fix the deteriorating environment on our streets.'

He added outside the hospital on Sunday: 'Start backing our police officers. Our elected officials who stand and nod their heads with us, it's time you open your mouth and say "This must stop."'

The first officer was shot at 906 Simpson St in the Bronx New York on Saturday, February 8

NYPD issued a warning to avoid the area as helicopter is called in to search for the suspect
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Georgia's Supreme Court on February 10 sentenced opposition leader Gigi Ugulava to 3 years and 2 months in prison on charges of misusing public funds while he was mayor of the capital, Tbilisi.



This was Ugulava's second conviction on similar charges, in a case the opposition says is politically motivated.



A number of criminal cases have been opened against leaders of the opposition after mass protests against tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili's ruling Georgian Dream party and its government.



The protests that began in the summer of 2019 have resulted in several arrests.



Dozens of former officials have been arrested on abuse-of-power and corruption charges since Georgian Dream came to power in 2012 after defeating then-President Mikheil Saakashvili's party in an election.



Ugulava, mayor of the capital from 2005-2013, was first sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison in September 2015 for similar offenses but was freed in January 2017 after a court reduced his sentence.



In 2018, Ugulava was sentenced again to 15 months in prison in the same case, but his sentence was considered to have been served.



The Supreme Court's February 10 ruling regards a new case of alleged misspending of funds, and the time he has already served will not count against it.



"This is a shameful decision made by the Ivanishvili regime," Tina Bokuchava, a leader of the opposition United National Movement, told reporters.



Critics accuse Ivanishvili of running the country from behind the scenes.



Ugulava, one of the leaders of the European Georgian Party, said he had not pleaded guilty and the verdict was a "legal farce."



"The fact is that the path chosen by the opposition frightens Ivanishvili," he told reporters before going to prison.

With reporting by Reuters
In a post I wrote last week about what I view as the demonization of John Bolton, I said that Bolton has plenty of company under the Trump bus. As an example, I cited Jeff Sessions, a conservative hero of longstanding who fell out of favor after he recused himself, for ethical reasons, from the Justice Departments Russia investigation and his deputy appointed Robert Mueller to investigate on the DOJs behalf.

I did not address the argument that if Sessions couldnt ethically oversee the investigation of Russian involvement in the 2016 election, he shouldnt have taken the job or should have resigned. I will address it now.

The argument does not hold up when one considers the timeline of events. President Trump nominated Jeff Sessions for Attorney General on November 19, 2016. At that time, I dont think Sessions had reason to believe that his duties as AG would involve overseeing an investigation of Russian interference in the election. He certainly had no reason to believe that any such investigation would target Trump.

None of the key events that led to that investigation had taken place as of November 19, 2016. The Steele dossier wasnt put into public circulation or called to Trumps attention until January 2017. Trump hadnt foolishly decided that James Comey would remain as FBI director until later that month.

The FBI did not entrap Michael Flynn until late January, and allegations that Flynn lied to the FBI did not surface until early February. The conversation in which Comey claims that Trump requested leniency for Flynn didnt until occur until later in February.

Comey wasnt fired until May 9, 2017. The Comey firing, and Comeys plotting, led to the appointment of Robert Mueller eight days later.

Rod Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney General, decided to name a special counsel and selected Mueller for the job. My sources say the White House picked Rosenstein to be Sessions DAG. Sessions did not select him.

Rosenstein was nominated on February 1, 2017, the same day the Senate confirmed Sessions. Sessions recused himself from any Justice Department investigation of the 2016 election on March 2, 2017.

Given this timeline, Sessions cannot fairly be criticized for agreeing in November 2016 to be the Attorney General. At that time, he couldnt have anticipated that there would be a Justice Department investigation of alleged collusion by Trump with Russia.

What about the argument that Sessions should have resigned once the prospect of such an investigation became apparent? Suppose he had. In all likelihood, Rod Rosenstein would then have been in charge not just of the Russia investigation, but of the entire Justice Department.

Theres no reason to suppose that Trump would have replaced Sessions with anyone other than Rosenstein or that the Senate would have confirmed someone other than Rosenstein expeditiously and without extracting concessions regarding the handling of the Russia investigation (as it has done during subsequent confirmation hearings for other key DOJ jobs). Rosenstein wasnt confirmed until the end of April.

The fact that Trump didnt fire Sessions after the recusal speaks to the futility and likely negative repercussions for the president of replacing the AG by this point. A Sessions resignation would have been futile in the same way and would have carried similar, though less severe, repercussions.

Sessions could have withdrawn from consideration in January, before he was confirmed. But the result of such a withdrawal would have been similar to the result of a resignation or a firing thereafter.

Sessionss rocky confirmation hearings occurred on January 10 and 11, just as the Steele dossier was coming into prominence. The consequences of a Sessions withdrawal at that point would have included (1) a victory for Al Franken, who has leading the anti-Sessions charge, (2) a setback for Trump before he was even inaugurated, and most importantly (3) surface credibility for Democrats charge of Russia-related wrongdoing in the Trump campaign.

Furthermore, Sessions had no reason to believe in January that his resignation was necessary to protect Trump from a special counsel investigation. The events that led to the appointment of Mueller  most notably the deterioration of relations between Trump and Comey and the subsequent firing of the latter  occurred after January.

Sessions understood by January that the Trump Justice Department would be investigating the 2016 election, including charges of collusion. However, he had no reason to assume that an internal DOJ investigation of these baseless charges would be problematic or that Trumps appointee as Deputy Attorney General wouldnt ensure that the investigation was fair. Still today, theres no reason to make either assumption.

The appointment of a special counsel, and Mueller in particular, was the cause of the administrations woes. Blame for that appointment lies with Rod Rosenstein, who made the decision, and James Comey, who manipulated matters to induce Rosenstein to make it.

Blame for the appointment of Rosenstein and the retention of Comey rests with President Trump. Jeff Sessions is Trumps scapegoat.
At least two police officers were injured and a suspect was killed at a Walmart store in Forrest City, Ark., after a person opened fire on Monday, the authorities said.

Capt. Eddie Adamson, from the St. Francis County Sheriffs Office, said in a telephone interview that one of the officers had a gunshot wound and had been transported to a hospital. He did not know how the other officer had been injured.

Captain Adamson, speaking from outside the store, said he had been called to the location at about 10:30 a.m. local time on a report of a shooting, and had helped clear customers and staff from hiding places in restrooms and changing rooms.

The Forrest City police chief, Deon Lee, said in a news conference on Monday that police officers responded to a 911 call that a man was making threats in the grocery section of the store.
NEW YORK  In the third week of testimony at Harvey Weinsteins rape trial, the prosecution rested, the defendant dozed off and there was the most intense testimony yet, with jurors being sent home early one day after a key accuser started sobbing uncontrollably.

After several witnesses described explicit details of Weinsteins anatomy, jurors Tuesday were shown nude photographs of him that authorities took after his 2018 arrest.

Prosecutors appeared to be using the images to corroborate testimony that Weinstein had extreme scarring on his body, as well as specific details about his genitalia that came up in witness testimony.

The images were meant to be seen only by the jury and werent projected in court or passed out to the media. Nevertheless, some courtroom sketch artists using binoculars were able to get a gander at the photos and incorporated them into their renderings.

It was among several notable moments and odd twists in court this week.

KEY ACCUSERS EMOTIONAL TESTIMONY

In the most dramatic moment of the trial so far, a key accuser broke down in tears on the witness stand, ending court early Monday as a defense lawyer grilled her about her complex relationship with Weinstein.

The woman, now 34, said she tried to make Weinstein my pseudo father, and sent him flattering emails and kept seeing him after an alleged rape in 2013 because I wanted him to believe I wasnt a threat.

She became emotional while reading an email passage about her having been abused earlier in her life. Sobbing as she left the courtroom, her cries could be heard from a nearby witness room.

The woman returned after about a 10-minute break but couldnt continue. She wept loudly, resting her head on the witness stand and blotting tears with a tissue as a prosecutor tried to calm her.

When she returned on Tuesday, the woman was more subdued. She turned to the jury and defiantly declared: He is my rapist.

The charges against Weinstein involve the womans rape allegation as well as an allegation that he forcibly performed oral sex on a different woman in 2006. Weinstein, 67, has insisted that any sexual encounters were consensual.

The Associated Press has a policy of not publishing the names of sexual assault accusers without their consent. It is withholding the name of the rape accuser because it isnt clear if she wishes to be identified publicly.

WEINSTEIN NODS OFF

Weinstein appeared to be asleep at times in court this week. On Monday, during emotional testimony from the woman he is charged with raping, he was seen with his eyes closed and his head drooped as he sat in a chair at the defense table.

As he left the courtroom, a reporter asked Weinstein why he was sleeping. He turned, scowled at her and said: Oh please.

The New York Post later reported that Weinstein hosted a Super Bowl party for his supporters the night before, offering a possible explanation for his fatigue.

Weinsteins spokesman said the party was a small get-together to say thank you and that guests included his lawyers and a couple of friends.

A juror also nodded off for a spell during Mondays testimony, leading to a scolding from the judge.

WEINSTEIN LAWYER UNDER FIRE

Weinstein lawyer Donna Rotunno came under fire on social media and in court Friday for a podcast interview in which she blamed victims for getting sexual assaulted. Rotunno told The New York Times The Daily shed never been attacked because I would never put myself in that position.

Kenidra Woods, a teen mental health advocate, tweeted that the lawyers comments were beyond sickening.

Stephanie Fisher, a social media director at Save the Children, tweeted that her Alexa device suddenly shut off in the middle of the interview, quipping, I guess even she doesnt think this horrible woman deserves to have a public voice.

By lunchtime, Rotunnos name was trending on Twitter in the U.S.

In court, prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon questioned the timing of the interview and rebuked Rotunno for calling our witnesses liars.

That was taped a long time ago, Rotunno interrupted, claiming that she hadnt talked to anyone in the media since the case began.

She was later contradicted by a Times spokeswoman, who told reporters the interview was recorded on Jan. 28  five days after opening statements and the start of testimony.

In another part of the interview, conducted by Meghan Twohey  half of the Times duo that recounted their reporting on Weinstein in the book She Said  Rotunno said Weinstein is  well aware of the fact that his life is on the line here and that he deserves to have a voice out there.

DUN-DUN: DEFENSE DITCHES LAW & ORDER WITNESS

The defense scrapped plans to call to the witness stand a Hollywood writer and director who, it turns out, also wrote a #MeToo-themed episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit based on the Weinstein saga.

Warren Leight showed up to the courthouse Thursday, but the first witness ran long and his planned testimony about directing one of Weinsteins rape accusers in a movie in the early 1990s was bumped back to Friday. Thats when Weinsteins lawyers decided to ditch him.

Leight was expected to be asked about actress Annabella Sciorras behavior on the set of the 1993 romantic comedy The Night We Never Met, where shes acknowledged she was hooked on Valium.

Sciorra, now 59, alleges Weinstein barged into her apartment and raped her in late 1993 or early 1994, long after shooting wrapped up. Testifying last week, she rebuffed defense suggestions she was on the drug during the alleged raped, saying shed weaned herself off by then.

Leight, a top producer on SUV, wrote the Weinstein-inspired episode, Im Going to Make You a Star, for this seasons premiere in September.

In it, the head of a big media studio is arrested after hes accused of raping young actresses and forcing one to watch him masturbate at an audition. In a line evoking what accusers have said of Weinstein, the mogul character tells a victim: You want this part, dont you?

In a People magazine interview, Leight took a shot at the legal strategy employed by people like Weinstein, saying: The first thing these guys do is get women attorneys who dont seem to worry at all about who theyre defending.

DONT ADDRESS HIM BY HIS REAL NAME

Spilling another big secret of Weinsteins celebrity life, prosecutors revealed that the Pulp Fiction producer used Max Poster  derived from his fathers first name and mothers maiden name  as an alias when checking into hotels.

Jurors were shown Weinsteins guest profile from the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills, which instructs staff: Always use alias Max Poster for future stays.

Weinstein used the same fake name at his other Beverly Hills home away from home, the Peninsula, and at the DoubleTree in midtown Manhattan.

A note in the DoubleTrees reservation system alerted employees to Posters true identity. CELEBRITY HARVEY WEINSTEIN IS THE ACTUAL GUEST, it said. Another note in the system warned: DONT ADDRESS HIM BY HIS REAL NAME.

Prosecutors say all three hotels were sites of Weinsteins sexual misconduct in 2013. A key accuser has testified that he tried to force her into a threesome at the Montage and raped her both at the Peninsula and DoubleTree.

The Montage is also where model Lauren Marie Young testified this week that Weinstein lured her to his hotel room in February 2013, under the pretense of a career discussion, stripped off his clothes, groped her breast and masturbated.

A Montage executive noted its common for celebrities to use aliases.

___

On Twitter, follow Michael Sisak at twitter.com/mikesisak and Tom Hays at twitter.com/aptomhays

___

For more coverage of Harvey Weinsteins trial visit: apnews.com/HarveyWeinstein
Britain has declared the new coronavirus that emerged from China a "serious and imminent threat to public health'' and announced new measures Monday to combat the spread of the disease.

The UK Department of Health and Social Care said people with the virus can now be forcibly quarantined and will not be free to leave.

It named two British hospitals as isolation facilities for those affected by the disease and designated the Chinese city of Wuhan and the surrounding Hubei province where the virus first emerged as a infected area.

The incidence or transmission of novel coronavirus constitutes a serious and imminent threat to public health, and the measures outlined in these regulations are considered as an effective means of delaying or preventing further transmission of the virus, the agency said in a statement.

It added that the changes were designed to ensure the health and safety of medical workers who came into contact with infected patients.

The change comes after a British man who caught the virus at a business conference in Singapore in January appears to be linked to at least seven other confirmed cases in Europe.

Five British citizens, including a 9-year-old boy, contracted the virus in the French Alpine ski town of Contamines-Montjoie after staying in the same chalet as the British man.

French medical authorities tested scores of children and their families Sunday from the area for the new virus and temporarily closed three schools where the boy had spent time.

China on Monday said 908 people had died of the virus on the mainland and over 40,170 had been infected.

More than 360 cases have been confirmed outside mainland China, including two deaths in Hong Kong and the Philippines.

Britain has only four of Europe's 39 confirmed virus cases but it is a key travel hub between Asia and Europe.

British authorities sought to reassure the public on Monday.

Our infection control procedures are world-leading and the NHS (National Health Service) is well prepared to deal with novel coronavirus, the agency said.

"This measure will rightly make it easier for health professionals to help keep people safe across the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hundreds of protesters, including students and civil society members, poured onto the streets in central Delhi protesting against CAA, NRC

New Delhi: Hundreds of protesters, including students and civil society members, poured onto the streets in central Delhi on Monday protesting against the amended citizenship law and the National Register of Citizens.

The protesters, carrying placards and banners of all sizes and colours, converged at Mandi House around 11 am and started marching towards Jantar Mantar.

A large number of police and paramilitary personnel walked along with them. "The protesters do not have permission to take out a march, but as long as they maintain peace, we do not have a problem," a police official said.

The protesters, however, claimed that they had the permission and would march till Jantar Mantar.

Children as young as 10, senior citizens, civil society members and university students filled the streets and ran the length of central Delhi, shouting anti-CAA and anti-government slogans. They carried the photographs of freedom fighters Bhagat Singh and Chandrasekhar Azad and social reformer Savitribai Phule, and demanded that the government revoke the "black law".

The wife of Dr Kafeel Khan, who was in September acquitted of all negligence and corruption charges in the Gorakhpur BRD Hospital tragedy, and brother of Sharjeel Imam, arrested on sedition charges, also participated in the march taken out under the banner of Welfare Party of India.

Siraj Talib, the national secretary of the Welfare Party of India, "We are protesting against the CAA and NRC. We have permission, I have spoken to police and we are marching towards Jantar Mantar."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 09:58:55|Editor: huaxia

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QINGDAO, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- How to hold a safe wedding amid the novel coronavirus outbreak? A Chinese couple just set an example with a two-minute service attended by only six people, all wearing masks the entire time.

Zhang Long and Chen Xiao from eastern China's Shandong Province held a special wedding last Thursday in the bridegroom's courtyard, with the bride's father as the host and her mother as the photographer.

Answering the government call for staying at home and avoiding crowds amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, many Chinese couples have chosen to postpone weddings, but Zhang and Chen agreed to press on with their schedule but scrapped all the festive trappings.

"We're in a critical time of epidemic prevention and control, so we decided not to invite guests or hold a banquet," said Zhang, the bridegroom. "After all, a wedding is just a ceremony, and the most important thing is our happiness."

On the day of the wedding, Zhang, wearing a mask, followed the custom to drive to the bride's house in Licha Town, the city of Qingdao. There, in a romantic ritual, he lifted the bride's red veil to see a mask on her face.

"Because of the mask, I didn't even know the color of the lipstick she was wearing," the bridegroom recalled.

Presided by the bride's father, the wedding lasted no longer than two minutes.

"My father in law spoke very quickly. Bow to heaven and earth, bow to parents, bow to each other, and the wedding was over. We didn't even have the chance to say our wedding vows," Zhang said.

Before the novel coronavirus swept the nation, Zhang's plan was to have a typical Chinese wedding complete with all the pompous rituals. He booked a 50-table feast, 20 wedding cars and invited four pairs of groomsmen and bridesmaids.

"Everything was canceled. He only spent several hundred yuan to marry me, but it doesn't matter, as long as he is the right man for me," said Chen Xiao, the bride.

On the way back to the groom's house, they passed three checkpoints for measuring body temperatures.

"The volunteers there congratulated us during the checks," Chen said. "Although no relatives or friends came in-person to congratulate us, I believe more people blessed us from their hearts."

Many villagers gave them thumbs up in the WeChat group chat after Zhang Long's father announced the no-guest wedding. "We are in a critical time of novel coronavirus prevention. The villagers support their decision," said Liu Jingming, party chief of the Licha Town.

This is not the first no-guest wedding held amid China's anti-coronavirus fight. On Jan. 27, Sun Wenlong and Liu Miaomiao also had a no-guest masked wedding in Qingdao. "When the epidemic is over, I will definitely make it up to her," said Sun.
Maunakea, Hawaii - A team of astronomers led by Brendan Bowler of The University of Texas at Austin has probed the formation process of giant exoplanets and brown dwarfs, a class of objects that are more massive than giant planets, but not massive enough to ignite nuclear fusion in their cores to shine like true stars.

Using direct imaging with ground-based telescopes in Hawaii - W. M. Keck Observatory and Subaru Telescope on Maunakea - the team studied the orbits of these faint companions orbiting stars in 27 systems. These data, combined with modeling of the orbits, allowed them to determine that the brown dwarfs in these systems formed like stars, but the gas giants formed like planets.

The research is published in the current issue of The Astronomical Journal.

In the last two decades, technological leaps have allowed telescopes to separate the light from a parent star and a much-dimmer orbiting object. In 1995, this new capability produced the first direct images of a brown dwarf orbiting a star. The first direct image of planets orbiting another star followed in 2008.

"Over the past 20 years, we've been leaping down and down in mass," Bowler said of the direct imaging capability, noting that the current limit is about 1 Jupiter mass. As the technology has improved, "One of the big questions that has emerged is 'What's the nature of the companions we're finding?'"

Brown dwarfs, as defined by astronomers, have masses between 13 and 75 Jupiter masses. They have characteristics in common with both planets and with stars, and Bowler and his team wanted to settle the question: Are gas giant planets on the outer fringes of planetary systems the tip of the planetary iceberg, or the low-mass end of brown dwarfs? Past research has shown that brown dwarfs orbiting stars likely formed like low-mass stars, but it's been less clear what is the lowest mass companion this formation mechanism can produce.

"One way to get at this is to study the dynamics of the system -- to look at the orbits," Bowler said. Their orbits today hold the key to unlocking their evolution.

Using Keck Observatory's adaptive optics (AO) system with the Near-Infrared Camera, second generation (NIRC2) instrument on the Keck II telescope, as well as the Subaru Telescope, Bowler's team took images of giant planets and brown dwarfs as they orbit their parent stars.

It's a long process. The gas giants and brown dwarfs they studied are so distant from their parent stars that one orbit may take hundreds of years. To determine even a small percentage of the orbit, "You take an image, you wait a year," for the faint companion to travel a bit, Bowler said. Then "you take another image, you wait another year."

This research relied on AO technology, which allows astronomers to correct for distortions caused by the Earth's atmosphere. As AO instruments have continually improved over the past three decades, more brown dwarfs and giant planets have been directly imaged. But since most of these discoveries have been made over the past decade or two, the team only has images corresponding to a few percent of each object's total orbit. They combined their new observations of 27 systems with all of the previous observations published by other astronomers or available in telescope archives.

At this point, computer modeling comes in. Coauthors on this paper have helped create an orbit-fitting code called "Orbitize!" which uses Kepler's laws of planetary motion to identify which types of orbits are consistent with the measured positions, and which are not.

The code generates a set of possible orbits for each companion. The slight motion of each giant planet or brown dwarf forms a "cloud" of possible orbits. The smaller the cloud, the more astronomers are closing in on the companion's true orbit. And more data points -- that is, more direct images of each object as it orbits -- will refine the shape of the orbit.

"Rather than wait decades or centuries for a planet to complete one orbit, we can make up for the shorter time baseline of our data with very accurate position measurements," said team member Eric Nielsen of Stanford University. "A part of Orbitize! that we developed specifically to fit partial orbits, OFTI [Orbits For The Impatient], allowed us to find orbits even for the longest period companions."

Finding the shape of the orbit is key: Objects that have more circular orbits probably formed like planets. That is, when a cloud of gas and dust collapsed to form a star, the distant companion (and any other planets) formed out of a flattened disk of gas and dust rotating around that star.

On the other hand, the ones that have more elongated orbits probably formed like stars. In this scenario, a clump of gas and dust was collapsing to form a star, but it fractured into two clumps. Each clump then collapsed, one forming a star, and the other a brown dwarf orbiting around that star. This is essentially a binary star system, albeit containing one real star and one "failed star."

"Even though these companions are millions of years old, the memory of how they formed is still encoded in their present-day eccentricity," Nielsen added. Eccentricity is a measure of how circular or elongated an object's orbit is.

The results of the team's study of 27 distant companions was unambiguous.

"The punchline is, we found that when you divide these objects at this canonical boundary of more than about 15 Jupiter masses, the things that we've been calling planets do indeed have more circular orbits, as a population, compared to the rest," Bowler said. "And the rest look like binary stars."

The future of this work involves both continuing to monitor these 27 objects, as well as identifying new ones to widen the study. "The sample size is still modest, at the moment," Bowler said. His team is using the Gaia satellite to look for additional candidates to follow up using direct imaging with even greater sensitivity at the forthcoming Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) and other facilities. UT-Austin is a founding member of the GMT collaboration.

Bowler's team's results reinforce similar conclusions recently reached by the GPIES direct imaging survey with the Gemini Planet Imager, which found evidence for a different formation channel for brown dwarfs and giant planets based on their statistical properties.

This work was supported by a NASA Keck PI Data Award, administered by the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute. The Keck Observatory is managed by Caltech and the University of California.

###

ABOUT NIRC2

The Near-Infrared Camera, second generation (NIRC2) works in combination with the Keck II adaptive optics system to obtain very sharp images at near-infrared wavelengths, achieving spatial resolutions comparable to or better than those achieved by the Hubble Space Telescope at optical wavelengths. NIRC2 is probably best known for helping to provide definitive proof of a central massive black hole at the center of our galaxy. Astronomers also use NIRC2 to map surface features of solar system bodies, detect planets orbiting other stars, and study detailed morphology of distant galaxies.

ABOUT ADAPTIVE OPTICS

W. M. Keck Observatory is a distinguished leader in the field of adaptive optics (AO), a breakthrough technology that removes the distortions caused by the turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere. Keck Observatory pioneered the astronomical use of both natural guide star (NGS) and laser guide star adaptive optics (LGS AO) and current systems now deliver images three to four times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope at near-infrared wavelengths. AO has imaged the four massive planets orbiting the star HR8799, measured the mass of the giant black hole at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy, discovered new supernovae in distant galaxies, and identified the specific stars that were their progenitors. Support for this technology was generously provided by the Bob and Renee Parsons Foundation, Change Happens Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Mt. Cuba Astronomical Foundation, NASA, NSF, and W. M. Keck Foundation.

ABOUT W. M. KECK OBSERVATORY

The W. M. Keck Observatory telescopes are among the most scientifically productive on Earth. The two, 10-meter optical/infrared telescopes on the summit of Maunakea on the Island of Hawaii feature a suite of advanced instruments including imagers, multi-object spectrographs, high-resolution spectrographs, integral-field spectrometers, and world-leading laser guide star adaptive optics systems.

Some of the data presented herein were obtained at Keck Observatory, which is a private 501(c) 3 non-profit organization operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Observatory was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation.

The authors wish to recognize and acknowledge the very significant cultural role and reverence that the summit of Maunakea has always had within the Native Hawaiian community. We are most fortunate to have the opportunity to conduct observations from this mountain.
@igbomandate

The Nigerian Police is still detaining leaders of Ifite -Ogwari town in Ayamelun Council of Anambra State, two weeks after they were arrested after a meeting with Governor Obiano

The detained leaders include Chief Nwaora Ikeozalla (Deputy President General) and Chief Michael Akamala (Chief Security Officer) of Ifite-Ogwari, respectively. The traditional ruler of the town, HRM Dr A.I. Ofuebe was almost arrested with the other elders at the scene of the meeting with Governor Obiano. Since then, the detained community leaders have been dumped at cells meant for hardened criminals at the CID cell in Awka, Anambra State

A week after their detention, the leader of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria MACBAN, in the South East, Alhaji Gidado Siddiki alleged that youths of Ifite-Ogwari killed four herders and 108 cows between December 20 and January 27, 2020.

Igbo Mandate Congress, IMC, have been following up on the issue since the Miyetti Allah leaders raised alarm last week, at the behest of Igbo leaders, and have interacted with stakeholders in the community, state government, the police and members of the Fulani community. Igbo Mandate Congress has released its preliminary reports to Ohanaeze Ndigbo, PFN, CAN and members of the diplomatic community on the situation at Ifite-Ogwari capable of turning Anambra State into a theatre of war.

Igbo Mandate Congress IMC noted that:

The community leaders of Ifite-Ogwari are being detained at the insistence of leaders of Miyetti Allah in the South East. They justified their two-week incarceration on the mantra that they are still investigating and looking for the killers of the herdsmen and the 108 cows.

The Legal Adviser to the community, Barrister Michael Chukwuemeka, has been denied proper access to the detained elders and that the Deputy President General is in bad state of health.

Top officials of Anambra State Govt told IMC that Governor recently asked the Commissioner of Police to release the elders but the Police declined, insisting that only order from Abuja can effect their release.

Igbo Mandate Congress leaders were told by the Ifite-Ogwari elders that they were living in peace with the Fulanis till a murderous and rapist group entered their midst.

These Murderous groups specialize in destroying peoples farms and brandishing dangerous weapons when challenged by the displaced farmers.

The murderous herders graduated to raping young girls in their farms to the point that young girls do not go to farms again.

The Murderous herders descended on married women who refused to be chased away from farms and raped them repeatedly.

The men, then started escorting their women to farms, and the herders graduated into raping married women in the presence of their husband.

The elders and youth of Ifite-Ogwari made repeated efforts to get the attention of the state government to the tension, and they were repeatedly told to forgive their enemies for the sake of national unity.

They claimed that at no point between December and January, did the youth mobilize against the Fulani, insisting that if such had happened, probably hundreds would have died.

That if anybody ever died, as claimed by Miyetti Allah, it could be as a result of a private clash between an infuriated farmer and a rapist herdsman, and the community was not involved in it.

That the claims by Miyetti Allah leaders that they killed four herders are a subterfuge to attack the community.

That whether Willie Obiano defends them or not, they will not allow rapists to invade their farmlands anymore, and will defend the community against any attack.

That Governor Obiano is insisting that the community pays N38 million naira being compensation for alleged 108 cows and that the community elders have raised some million from communal taxation.

Igbo Mandate Congress in its recommendation, advises the leaders of Miyetti Allah to expunge those murderers and rapists from their midst terrorizing communities around Ayamelum.

Igbo Mandate Congress deems Miyetti Allah actions in Anambra State as triggers for disintegration of Nigeria.. While IMC has been working in concert with Igbo elites and professionals to stem the secessionist tide in the South East since 2014, with great success, including severally calling some youth leaders to order , the Miyetti Allah counterparts are encouraging rapists and murderers in their midst .

Igbo Mandate Congress advises Governor Obiano to stop taxing the Ifite Ogwari community, and pay from state coffers the N38 million naira the Miyetti Allah demanded for the allegedly killed 108 cows. Governor Obiano should also pay N18 milllion naira for the destroyed farmlands and N18 million naira for rehabilitation of families whose daughters and mothers have been senselessly raped since the state failed to protect the community after repeated alarms.

The Nigerian Police should order the release of the community elders detained and pay them compensation for illegal two weeks detention.

The youth of Ifite Ogwari should suspend any planned reaction and allow a solution to be worked out within the next few days by concerned Igbo leaders.

Igbo Mandate Congress is a major stakeholder in Anambra State and expects those concerned to act in the interest of peace

Rev Obinna Akukwe

Director, General, Igbo Mandate Congress.

[email protected]
What cannabis industries are facing is a combination of what I like to call internal risks and external risks, said Rocco Petrilli (pictured), chairman of the National Cannabis Risk Management Association (NCRMA) and a speaker at the Cannabis Cover Masterclass. Those internal risks are traditional risks that you face as a businessowner in whatever vertical that youre operating in. The external risks are much more complicated because those are risks that are inflicted on cannabis owners because theyre in cannabis.

He pointed to ongoing prejudice against people who work in cannabis as a result of its federal illegality, which in turn creates caution around how cannabis businesses are treated  from what type of insurance coverages they can get to how theyre handled from a zoning and permit standpoint when they want to move into a particular geographic area.

On the insurance front, the barriers cannabis companies have to cross are much higher than traditional businesses. These entrepreneurs require D&O and E&O coverages, as well as general liability, property, and cyber, among others. However, many of these coverages are limited and expensive in the marketplace, with few players willing to write them.

Theres little or no actuarial data to support how these cannabis businesses are going to perform, said Petrilli, adding that the extra weight of the prejudice against the industry goes hand in hand in limiting these coverages and making them more costly for the businesses that purchase them.

The NCRMA strives to distinguish between internal risks and external risks, and provide its members a specific direction in each of the areas as well as helping them combat both of those risks, whether it be with its risk management platform or by working with legislative and judicial bodies on the further appeasement of the external risk.

Cannabis companies currently mitigate their losses using the compliance frameworks that theyre required to meet by their state and local municipalities. However, this is a non-traditional market and the entrepreneurs in this market are non-traditional people, according to Petrilli. Theyre not the typical entrepreneurs who are entering a mature market with a new product in an effort to make it better  theyre entering the market with the first product and many come from working in cannabis informally to turning it into a business with significant investment. When they buy insurance, theyre doing so to check the box for compliance purposes.

But few of them buy it with any hope of ever having a claim satisfied or even filed, so thats going to come with education, thats going to come with best practice, thats going to come with some early performance that will show providers that there arent all of these external risks that maybe the industry was labelled with, said Petrilli. Its ultimately going to come to very sound risk management representation that is going to work to open up more capacity because the more insurance capacity that we have, the more that supply and demand curve is going to be impacted.

On the bright side, attitudes towards cannabis as an industry are shifting, though there are positive and negative outcomes that come as a result of those changes.

Its an evolution, really like nothing weve seen in our country since its inception, said the NCRMA chairman. But with more legalization comes more regulation and security, simply because these states have their own compliance and regulatory requirements [with the] intent to make businesses more responsible. At the same time, youre starting to see a bit of a crackdown on the black market, which helps the external risks. And all in all, as more clinical data comes out, particularly about the advantages of medical cannabis, thats going to help move that needle as well.

To learn more about what cannabis clients need in their coverage, register for the Cannabis Cover Masterclass in Denver on March 17 and Los Angeles on March 26.
I would respond to that by asking the honourable member across the way if its an area of work that she has considered. So said Alberta Conservative MP Arnold Viersen in the House of Commons to a new and impressive NDP MP from B.C., Laurel Collins, who had been talking about the dangers of sex work or prostitution.

It was an appalling thing to ask and lately Conservatives have been saying things like that, Trump-style, in the House. Its an understated version of Trump crudeness and stupidity but its still there. Why is Question Period always a blast of U.S.-style point-scoring instead of elucidation?

Ah, the lovely Viersen. He raps, white rural style, on Youtube. It isnt good. On Tony Clement: Ive got the chops/Like to drink hops/Even on Twitter/Im a heavy hitter/In cabinet for 10 years/Leave the Libs in tears/The man from Muskoka/Im the partys Lee Iacocca.

Id like to give him points for trying but charity fails me. Okay, Arnold, A for effort.

Viersen apologized sincerely for insulting Collins. The MP lacks social skills but in fairness, the point he was making very badly was a feminist one. In the course of exploring womens rights, I have asked this question of brothel managers as well as sex workers and sex work campaigners.

If sex work is work, is it work youd want your daughter to do?

The January murder of Marylene Levesque, a 22-year-old Quebec City sex worker, in a hotel room, was a horrible one that could easily have been prevented.

Eustachio Gallese, 51, has been charged with her murder. He was on day parole. In 1994, Gallese was convicted of violently attacking Chantal Deschenes, his ex-wife. When she tried to leave him in 2004, he smashed her head with a hammer and stabbed her to death.

Despite this, he was told by the parole board that he was allowed to meet women to have his sexual needs taken care of. It was a monstrous ruling that suggested sex workers are not worthy of care.

In other words, the need of men to purchase womens bodies for sex trumps the need of Levesque, and all women, not to have sex with a murderer on a violent mission against females.

It seems unreal but this is the attitude that endangers every woman. Men must have sex. Women dont need to. Women must not deny male sexual wants, a word I prefer to needs. The beautiful young Marylene Levesque died because of that board ruling.

In 2014 in response to a Supreme Court ruling, the Harper government reluctantly criminalized the buying of sex and living off the avails in Bill C-36 aimed at men, pimps and brothels.

Viersen told the house that no woman ever freely chooses sex work as a job and that it is inherently dangerous. Hes right. Women are trafficked, or they need money desperately to pay the rent. Viersen and Collins actually want the same thing: protection for these good women.

His question to Collins was sexist and demeaning. But anger at the question does bolster Viersens point, that no one does sex work voluntarily. If you find it insulting to be asked if you have considered prostitution, then you yourself are contributing to the stigmatizing of sex work.

Feminists and sex workers alike who call for legal brothels in Canada so women may work more safely resemble the parole board in saying, first, that mens sexual needs must be met and second, that women must be safer while providing them.

Other feminists, including me, disagree. This is a male problem. Why is invading a poverty-stricken or trafficked womans body a male right? Maybe that so-called right should vanish socially as well as legally, which is why I oppose brothels.

Germany has legal brothels, giant factories of beauteous Eastern European village girls servicing men, both locals and from the EU. They have weekend sales to service old men.

The young girls live in a huge dormitory above the sex floor. Its very German in that the women are meticulously tracked in a way that seems rational. Until you think about it.

So think about it. Question Period always leaves you to assemble your own thoughts, your own logic.
The diplomats of Russia and Armenia act on a common front on many key issues, which is very important, Russian ambassador to Armenia Sergei Kopyrkin told reporters on Monday.

The ambassador noted that such cooperation is beneficial to both states.

According to him, with such historical baggage and traditions, we are doomed to close interaction and partnership, given that we have many common interests in a complex world.

Kopyrkin added that bilateral relations are at a very high level, and the status of these relations is well known to everyone.

He noted that Russia and Armenia are allies and strategic partners, and the relations of two peoples are fraternal.

All this is fully reflected in diplomatic relations, he added.

The ambassador noted that today's events were accompanied by the laying of flowers on the graves of prominent Armenian statesmen who contributed to the development of the diplomatic service of Armenia and the USSR.

February 10 marks in Russia the Day of a Diplomatic Worker. A ceremony of laying flowers at the monument to Alexander Griboedov took place in Yerevan in this regard. Sergei Kopyrkin, embassy staff, public figures were present.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 05:54:14|Editor: yan

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ISTANBUL, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would never allow U.S. so-called "Deal of the Century" to threaten peace in the region, the state-run Anadolu agency reported Monday.

Erdogan made the remarks in a written message he sent to the Third Conference of the Inter-parliamentary Jerusalem Platform in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital.

The Turkish leader said the deal which declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel is nothing more than "a dream" that threatens peace in the region, and Turkey would not allow this dream to come true.

"We do not recognize this plan, which means annexation of Palestinian lands, destroys Palestine, and completely seizes Jerusalem," he was quoted as saying by Anadolu. "We never accept this attempt, which accepts a two-state solution on the surface but means legitimizing the Israeli occupation under the mandate of the American administration."

Earlier, Ankara declared the plan, which was announced by U.S. President Donald Trump at the end of January to stop the conflict between Israel and Palestine, as "stillborn."
Earlier this year my daughters primary school, in a laudable quest for eco-credentials, banned all plastics.

No bags. No bottles. No cling film. No juice cartons. No plastic packaging of any kind.

That included all birthday treats, too. The cakes or sliced-up tray bakes must now be home-baked and arrive in a reusable box.

Of course, no one complained about this publicly. What are we, monsters? But once again its the lives of mothers (mostly) that get more complicated, our to-do lists subtly longer, our mental load gaining another item (or three).

Louise Jones revealed her daughter's school wouldn't let her bring in cakes with her for her birthday unless they were home made (file image)

It wont take much longer to make an oaty bar, but who buys the ingredients? Who will clean up afterwards?

Yes, I can bake cupcakes, but, you know, its another thing to do after a long day at work and not all women like to bake. I havent baked a cupcake since I was 12.

Once you start looking, you notice that much of the urgent planet-saving work is falling to women.

Who is sourcing (and using) the refillable, eco cleaning and laundry products? Whos scouring recipes for tofu spag bol to avoid beef?

She thinks there should be more emphasis put on equalling the domestic playing field, than banning plastic from schools (file image)

Who does the charity shop runs? Who deals with the meltdowns when you explain, no, you wont buy the magazine with the little plastic panda gift because one day  say this bit gently  it will end up in a dolphins blowhole?

Eradicating plastic from a school is a commendable aim. But perhaps if we put just as much effort into levelling the domestic playing field, it wouldnt feel like such a chore.

Dads want to save the planet, too  lets use the eco-crusade to speed up the rate at which they step up at home.
Berlin: The woman who had been expected to become Germany's next chancellor says she will not run for the top job, succumbing to a scandal involving the far-right and blowing wide open the race to succeed Angela Merkel.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer is a protegee of the Chancellor and leader of their conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), but has faced growing doubts over her suitability to replace Merkel, who has led Germany for 15 years but plans to stand down at the next federal election, in 2021.

Christian Democratic Union party chairwoman Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer will not run for chancellor. Credit:AP

Last week, Kramp-Karrenbauer's inability to impose discipline on the CDU in the eastern state of Thuringia dealt a fresh blow to her credibility - already eroded by a series of gaffes.

The regional CDU branch defied her by backing a local leader helped into office by the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD), thereby shattering a post-war consensus among established parties on shunning the far-right.
Amid growing pressure to bring back its nationals, mostly students, from coronavirus-hit Hubei province, the Pakistan government has said it is closely monitoring the situation in China and will soon take a decision on their evacuation.

Pakistan came under criticism after it said that Pakistani students should not be evacuated from Wuhan as medical facilities back home do not meet the standards required to treat a patient diagnosed with coronavirus.

The Pakistani nationals stuck in areas affected by the novel virus have been making requests to the government on social media platforms to evacuate them.

The matter is being considered at the high level and best possible decision would be taken after considering all possible aspects. Rest assured that we care about you, said Zafar Mirza, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health, on Sunday.

Mirza said that the government has been keenly observing the situation in China, the Dawn newspaper reported.

He said that all options were being explored and the government wanted to maintain a balance on the issue.

We have to consider all aspects including situation of the Pakistanis (in China), Chinese regulations and advisories of the World Health Organisation (WHO). All the stakeholders are involved over the issue and we have kept all options open, he said.

Addressing students in China in a tweet, Mirza said, My very dear students in China and your respectable family members, we are intensely discussing the situation at highest level and will make the best decision in view of all factors with reference to devastating coronavirus potential global pandemic. Meanwhile, Pakistans Ambassador to China Naghmana Hashmi said that they could not reach the stranded Pakistani students in Wuhan due to the complete lockdown of the city, the capital of Hubei province.

Pakistani officials are in contact with their Chinese counterparts in Beijing and Wuhan and will promptly reply to any query by a Pakistani citizen in China, she was quoted as saying by Geo News.

However, Pakistani nationals vent out their anger on social media after Mirzas tweet, the Dawn report said.

Dear sir, if you care about us then please spend at least one day with us in Wuhan, China at least one day please after this we will never say to evacuate us. Please consider my suggestion thanks, a Pakistani national living in Wuhan tweeted.

Another Pakistani student tweeted, it is a humble request not to tweet if you wont change things. The death toll in China due to the novel coronavirus increased to 908 and the number of confirmed cases surged over 40,000, Chinese health officials said on Monday.

Five persons with symptoms of coronavirus were reported from Pakistan on Sunday after they arrived from a flight from China.

There were up to 800 Pakistanis studying in various universities in Wuhan - a city of 11 million people which has been quarantined by the Chinese authorities in an effort to stem the spread of the deadly virus.

Earlier, Foreign Office said that there were 28,000 Pakistani students currently in China apart from hundreds of businessmen.
Nigerias anti-graft agency, EFCC, on Thursday at its Abuja office quizzed a senator and former governor of Abia State, Theodore Orji, over an allegation that he diverted N521 billion from the state to his personal use.

Mr Orjis son, Chinedum, who is the Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, was also quizzed alongside his father.

The investigation followed a petition dated March 17, 2017, filed by a group, Fight Corruption: Save Nigeria Group.

The petitioner accused Mr Orji, who served two terms as governor between 2007 and 2011, of withdrawing N500 million monthly as security vote from the states treasury during his eight years in office.

Mr Orji, since leaving office as governor, has been serving as a senator. The petition accused him of diverting N383 billion revenue from the Federation Account, N55 billion Excess Crude revenue, N2.3 billion Sure-P revenue, N1.8 billion ecological funds, N10.5 billion loan, N12 billion Paris Club refund, N2 billion agricultural loan, and N55 billion ASOPADEC money while in office.

According to the petition, the N500million the former governor allegedly withdrew monthly was not part of the security funds expended on the Nigerian Police, the Nigerian Army, DSS, Navy anti-Kidnapping Squad, anti-robbery Squad, purchase of Security equipment and vehicles for the security agencies.

The petitioner also accused Mr Orjis son, Chinedum Orji, who is currently the Speaker of Abia State House of Assembly, of owning about 100 accounts in different banks.

It added that the accounts which run both as corporate and Individual received so much deposit in cash without evidence of job or services rendered.

His investigations come months after the EFCC secured the conviction of his former boss and predecessor, Orji Kalu, on December 5. Orji Kalu was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment after being found guilty on 39 counts of fraud to the tune of N7.65 billion.

Mr Orji currently represents Abia Central Senatorial District in the Senate. He served Mr Kalu as Chief of Staff before succeeding him as Abia governor.

Mr Kalu is also a senator representing Abia North in the Red Chamber.

The EFCC acting spokesperson, Tony Orilade, in a telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES on Monday, confirmed that the commission was investigating the Orji family members accused in the petition.

Mr Orilade said, Operatives of the Commission on Thursday, February 5, 2020, invited both Orji and his son in continuation of the investigation.

He said the two politicians were released on administrative bail but did not state when they are expected back at the commission.

On why it took the EFFC over three years to begin investigations over the petition, Mr Orilade said the commission only followed its procedure for the exercise, saying investigations do not always begin immediately upon receipt of petitions.
Opposition parties in Lok Sabha on Monday targeted the government over the Supreme Court order that states are not bound to provide reservation in appointments, saying the Centre has failed to defend the reservation system.

Hitting back, the government said the Congress is trying to politicise a sensitive issue. "This is my charge that the Congress is politicising the sensitive issue," Defence Minister and deputy leader of the House Rajnath Singh said.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi also urged Speaker Om Birla to expunge remarks made by opposition members against the government.

Birla said he would look into the issue.

Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Kalyan Banerjee (TMC) targeted the government, saying there has been an onslaught on SC and ST reservation since the Modi government came to power.

Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot will make a statement on the issue in Lok Sabha in the afternoon.

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

 GIS - 10 February, 2020: The eighth meeting of the EPA Committee under the Interim Economic Partnership Agreement (iEPA) between the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) states - Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Zimbabwe (ESA-5) and the E uropean Union (EU) was held in Seychelles on 14 January 2020 and co-chaired by Ambassador Haymandoyal Dillum for ESA-5 and Cecile Billaux for the EU.

The Parties reaffirmed the importance of ensuring a smooth implementation of the Agreement to achieve its intended objectives of enhancing trade and supporting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They also took note of the status of implementation of tariff reduction and modification of the tariff nomenclature respectively for all Parties involved and agreed to continue exchanging information thereon.

Furthermore, th e Parties recogni s e d the need for appropriate implementation strategies to improve access and diversify exports to EU individual member states so as to fully benefit from the iEPA and agreed to undertake further steps towards the development of a common methodology aimed at finali s ing a monitoring and evaluation framework for the iEPA.

Both Parties agreed this is an important step to define a joint understanding of the progress and remaining challenges as to be able to address those adequately and that a dedicated discussion on this matter will take place in the margins of the next round of negotiations in Brussels.

It was also agreed that the EU would undertake a sustainable impact assessment in support of the negotiations and invited the ESA-5 to participate in the consultations. The ESA reiterated its concern on the application of dock dues levied by the French Overseas Territories having an impact on products from ESA-5. The latter also called on the EU not to extend the dock dues (Octroi de Mer) after December 2020. The Parties adopted the decision 1/2020 on the technical amendments of the Protocol 1 on Rules of Origin of the ESA-5-EU iEPA which will come into effect on 31 March 2020.

The EU took note of the remarks made by Mauritius on the derogation request on salted snoek fish submitted end of 2019 and will consider the needs expressed by Mauritius for flexibility regarding requests for derogations from ESA states in particular when SMEs are involved. The Parties reviewed progress relating to the accompanying measures undertaken by the five countries and the implementation status of financial support provided under the 11th EDF.

The EU welcomed the request from ESA-5 states to facilitate cross border investment, setting up of special economic zone as well as sharing of experience in the manufacturing, ICT/BPO and agricultural sectors. In this context, new opportunities arising from such regional initiatives, including projects related to research and innovation will be considered in view of increasing the competitiveness of ESA-5 business operations. The need for capacity building of the private sector was also emphasi s ed .

Moreover, the ESA-5 stressed the need to develop internationally agreed standards for cooperation between jurisdictions. The ESA-5 suggested to hold consultations prior to downgrading of any jurisdictions. Both sides will continue mutual discussions regarding reforms that will be undertaken by ESA States in this area.

The ninth meeting of the EPA Committee will take place in Brussels in 2021 at a date to be jointly decided.
Algeria's state prosecutor is seeking a 20-year jail term for the brother of former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, lawyers said Monday, as he seeks to appeal a 15-year sentence.

The once mighty Said Bouteflika, 62, was long seen as the real power behind the presidency after his brother suffered a debilitating stroke in 2013.

He had served as a key presidential aide but was detained in May last year, a month after Bouteflika quit office weeks into mass protests against his bid for a fifth presidential term.

In September Said Bouteflika, along with several other senior regime officials, were sentenced by a military tribunal to 15 years in jail for "conspiring" against the state and undermining the army's authority.

A court in Blida, south of Algiers, began hearing an appeal against the sentence on Sunday behind closed doors and amid heavy security.

The deliberations continued on Monday, also behind closed doors, with the defence team presenting their arguments, according to defence attorney Farouk Kessentini.

Kessentini is representing General Mohamed Lamine Mediene, known as "Toufik", who for 25 years headed the powerful Department of Intelligence and Security, and was sentenced in September alongside the former president's brother.

Also in court were Mediene's former right-hand man, General Athmane "Bachir" Tartag, and Louisa Hanoune, who had served as secretary general of the left-wing Workers' Party.

The four defendants are accused of having met in March 2019 in a bid to derail plans by the army high command to force the departure of president Bouteflika.

Said Bouteflika allegedly wanted the intelligence bosses to dismiss the army chief of staff at the time, General Ahmed Gaid Salah.

Defence lawyers hope the four will be released after Algeria's balance of power shifted following the December 23 death of Gaid Salah at the age of 79.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Beijing, China  Mon, February 10, 2020 11:58 701 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20638bb52 2 Business China,economy,health,Wuhan-coronavirus,stigma,spending Free

Wang Li's guesthouse sits a stone's throw from the Great Wall, an idyllic setting for a weekend getaway. But in these uncertain times of the new coronavirus, Wang and her family are the only occupants.

The 35-year-old woman now spends her days disinfecting Yingfangyuan Farmhouse and its empty restaurant near Beijing, as millions of people across the country stay home, either under government orders or out of caution.

As the virus claims more lives and infects thousands of people every day, it is also taking a toll on the country's small businesses that rely on spending from China's growing middle-class.

"We used to be able to have up to 10 tables of guests a day during this period," she told AFP. "There is no one now."

While she usually earns around 10,000 yuan (US$1,400) during the Lunar New Year holiday, her business was closed this year.

"We rely on this for our livelihood. We can only wait for the epidemic to pass," she said, noting that she will face problems if the situation persists for more than two months.

"I don't have other [backup] plans."

Across Beijing's rural outskirts, guesthouses, restaurants and tourist attractions have been deserted for almost two weeks.

The Great Wall and Ming dynasty tombs remain closed and people are urged to stay home  with many working remotely even after the Spring Festival break ended.

Many bus and train services have been suspended across the country, and central Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, has effectively been locked down.

Supermarkets are struggling to sell their food as families have enough after stocking up for holiday gatherings that have not been held  in line with officials' advice.

At the Shijihualian Supermarket in Heishanzhai village, boxes of Lunar New Year goods, including food items such as persimmons, remain stacked and unsold.

"They are bought as gifts, but people have not been visiting their relatives this year," said its shopkeeper surnamed Yang.

"With no relatives to host this year, it will take time for them to deplete their supplies."

With analysts warning that the virus could cut into the country's already slowing economy, China's central bank has urged financial institutions to continue stepping up support for small and micro enterprises.

But this has not stopped business owners from fretting over an uncertain future.

Adding to the isolation of rural communities, villages have closed themselves off from "outsiders" in a bid to ensure the new coronavirus, which has claimed more than 900 lives, stays out.

Bright red banners proclaiming the importance of epidemic prevention drape across the entrances of villages, and masked volunteers stand guard at each entry point.

Residents who would have typically returned to work in cities after the Spring Festival break are still in their hometowns as well.

In the Heishanzhai village north of Beijing, there are blockades on roads leading into its residential areas.

"We stopped allowing people in from the second day of the Lunar New Year," said Zhang Xinao, a 25-year-old volunteer manning one of the entrances.

"We also disinfect the entire village every day in the mornings and afternoons," he told AFP, as another volunteer walked around spraying a can of disinfectant.

In the background, announcements blaring over loudspeakers remind residents of the importance of donning masks.

Zhang added that he does not usually work in the village, but has a job with a railway-related business in nearby Changping district.

But his company, like many others across the country, has yet to confirm when regular operations will resume.

The absence of tourists is posing a different problem for some.

Wang Jigang stands guard at the entrance to the Yanshou temple, which he said used to attract up to 1,000 visitors a day during peak periods.

"On the first day of the Lunar New Year, there were still hawkers setting up stalls here. But the controls got more and more serious by the day and eventually we blocked off the area with stone blocks," he said.

This also means devotees, who would bring donations to the temple, are not visiting.

While the temple does not lack resources for now, Wang is looking to local authorities for support in the near future.

"People are understanding," he said of the government's response to the virus.

"But they have paid a heavy price."
NC leader Omar Abdullah's sister on Monday challenged in the Supreme Court his detention under the stringent J&K Public Safety Act(PSA) terming the move "arbitrary and whimsical" even as authorities called his fellow detained party leader Hilal Lone as a "poster boy" who can easily instigate people to agitate.

In her plea, Sara Abdullah Pilot submitted that the order of detention under the stringent PSA is "manifestly illegal" and there is no question of him being a "threat" to the maintenance of public order.

"The detention order is arbitrary, vague, irrelevant, whimsical and fanciful and deserves to be quashed by an appropriate writ of this court," it said.

The detention of Omar and Mehbooba Mufti, both former chief ministers of undivided Jammu and Kashmir, was slammed by Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who said it is "pretty clear" the government has no basis to charge them under the PSA. She demanded that the two leaders be freed.

CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami termed the grounds for booking the two under PSA as"hilarious" and said it shows the "intellectual and moral bankruptcy" of the BJP government at the Centre.

The PSA was invoked against Hilal Lone, the son of National Conference(NC) Lok Sabha member Mohammad Akbar Lone, for belonging to a party whose manifesto is to agitate against abrogation of special status of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir, officials said in Srinagar.

The 47-year-old Hilal Lone, who has been under preventive detention since August 5 last year when the Centre announced the abrogation of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state's special status besides its bifurcation into union territories, has also been accused of being the "brain child" behind the "seditious and anti-national" statements given by his father.

On Monday morning, the Deputy Commissioner of Bandipore served Hilal with a dossier informing him that he had been booked under the PSA as the union territory administration felt that his release could hamper the law and order situation in north Kashmir, the officials said.

"You being a probable MLA candidate of National Conference are a probable threat to the public peace and tranquility as you belong to the party whose manifesto is to agitate against the abrogation of Article 370, 35-A of Constitution of India," the two-page detention order said.

"Being a poster boy of NC and son of senior party leader Mohd Akbar Lone of Sonawari locality, you will find it easy to exploit the innocent people and will instigate them to agitate and protest against the abrogation" of special status."



He was also accused of threatening the sovereignty of the country for his statement that the party will fight "till last breath" if the special status was withdrawn during the Parliament election campaign last year."



Omar Abdullah's petition submitted that exercise of powers by authorities under the CrPC to detain individuals, including political leaders, was "clearly mala fide to ensure that the opposition to the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution is silenced".

It further said the intent of exercise of power was to "incarcerate not just him (Omar Abdullah) but the entire leadership of the National Conference, as well as the leadership of other political parties, who were similarly dealt with including Farooq Abdullah, who has served the state and the union over several years... stood by India whenever the situation so demanded."



Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Pilot, mentioned the plea for urgent listing before a bench headed by Justice N V Ramana.

Sibal told the bench that they have filed a habeas corpus petition challenging the detention of Omar Abdullah under the PSA and the matter should be heard this week.

The bench agreed for listing of the matter.

"It is rare that those who have served the nation as members of Parliament, Chief Ministers of a state, ministers in the Union and have always stood by the national aspirations of India are now perceived as a threat to the state," the plea said.

"In fact, a reference to all the public statements and messages posted by the detenue (Omar Abdullah) during the period up to his first detention would reveal that he has kept calling for peace and co-operation - messages which in Gandhi's India cannot remotely affect public order."



The PSA has two sections -- 'public order' and 'threat to the security of the state'. The former allows detention without trial for six months and the latter for two years.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Four white doves were released over Sydney's west as thousands of mourners gathered at Our Lady of Lebanon Co-Cathedral in Harris Park to farewell Antony, Angelina and Sienna Abdallah.

The children's parents, Danny and Leila Abdallah, and their three surviving siblings were joined at the two-hour service by NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Prime Minister Scott Morrison's wife Jenny and hundreds of children in school uniform.

Leila and Danny Abdallah at the funeral of three of their six children. Credit:Cole Bennetts

More than 300 employees of Mr Abdallah's company, Rockform, formed a guard of honour to accompany the three white hearses onto the grounds of the Maronite Co-Cathedral.

They were led by a procession of drummers from The King's School, where Antony had started year 8 in the weeks before he died.
Appointment

10 February 2020

CWT, the B2B4E travel management platform, has appointed Laura Watterson as Senior Vice President, Global Talent & Rewards. In this newly created role, Laura and her team will provide enterprise-wide thought leadership and counsel to senior executives on talent acquisition, talent management, learning and development, as well as compensation and benefits. Additionally, Laura will build strategies and initiatives that position the CWT business for even greater growth, innovation and impact, and plan for the workforce needs of today and into the future.

Laura reports to Catherine Maguire-Vielle, Executive Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer, at CWT.

Laura joins CWT from Johnson Brothers Liquor Company in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she served as chief human resources officer from 2018. Laura began her career at General Mills Inc in 2000 and has since held several positions of increasing responsibility, including Global Director of HR at Philips Electronics, the leading electronics manufacturer and VP Talent and Culture at Aimia, the global loyalty marketing and analytics company. Laura has a proven track record of delivering positive impact in multiple industries and Fortune 500 companies through superior human resource management, implementing innovative talent movement processes to improve depth and deployment, and creating sustainable people infrastructure.

She holds a Master's in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Arts in French from Washington and Lee University.
Leishenshan Hospital, the second makeshift hospital built in Wuhan, central Chinas Hubei province to battle against the novel coronavirus, started to be delivered gradually from Feb. 6, marking another piece of thriving news in the combat against the virus.

It takes only 10 days to complete the construction of the Huoshenshan Hospital, a makeshift hospital in Wuhan to battle against the novel coronavirus outbreak. Photos by Xiao Yijiu, Xinhua News Agency

After being put into operation, the hospital is able to offer 1,600 beds and accommodate over 2,000 medical staff. The record speed of the completion of the Leishenshan Hospital, as well as the other makeshift hospital Huoshenshan, astonished the world.

As millions of people tuned into livestreams of the construction, nearly 10,000 of constructors were working hard day and night to race against the spreading epidemic. They light the hope of life.

Chinas execution has received high appraise from the international community. Users of social media platforms commented that China is the only country in the world that can finish such a huge task as its institutional advantages allow it to concentrate resources to accomplish large undertakings.

The epidemic is a major test for national governance system and capability. The construction of the two hospitals is just an epitome of Chinas efforts to combat the virus in the recent days. From the quick sequencing of the virus to sharing it with the world, and to implementing the largest lockdown of city to stop the spreading of the virus, the Chinese government has taken unprecedented and rare measures of epidemic prevention and control, many of which have much higher standards than the requirements in the International Health Regulation. It reflects the high responsibility of the government over the life and health of the people.

Chinas powerful organizing capability has won wide respect and trust from the world. The international community commended that such cohesion is admirable and demonstrates remarkable unity of the country.

Why can China respond so fast and why does the country have endless power? These are two questions that confused many. The answer lies in the advantages of Chinas institutional system which represents the will of the people, guarantees the interests of the people and spurs the innovation of the people.

When the government and people think the same way, they are undefeatable. The power of unity is especially essential at the critical moment when the country is combating the novel coronavirus and saving the lives of the patients.

Leishenshan Hospital, Chinas second makeshift hospital to battle against the novel coronavirus in epicenter Wuhan on Feb. 6 completes acceptance testing by the citys urban construction department and health commission after 10 days of construction and is delivered gradually. The upper photo is taken on Jan. 27, and the lower on Feb. 7. Photos by Xiao Yijiu, Xinhua News Agency

China has an institutional system and social environment that are able to concentrate national strength, and allocate human, financial and material resources to the prevention and control of the epidemic in a collective and effective manner.

Under the unified command, coordination and dispatching of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the country has the confidence to get through the difficulty, and is sticking together to prevent and control the epidemic with scientific and targeted measures, releasing infinite power of unity.

Because of this, the international community firmly believes that China can give full play to its unique institutional advantages to overcome the epidemic. Ernesto Carrasco, president of the Ecuadorian Medical Federation, noted that the necessary and timely actions taken by China to cope with the epidemic, as well as the leadership it showcased as a major country are worth learning from for the world.

This is destined to be a remarkable page in human history. The national efforts to offer assistance in the battle against the novel coronavirus further demonstrated the indestructible and indomitable spirit of the Chinese people.

During the Chinese New Year holiday when families across the country should have reunited, thousands of medical workers rushed to the epicenter Hubei; mask producers returned to work; constructors worked day and night; and transportation department did all they could to contain the spreading of the virus.

By the joint efforts of the 1.4 billion Chinese people, and the institutional advantages and strength of Chinas national governance system, China has explored a new model to cope with public health emergency.

The world hailed that theres no other country that is able to react so efficiently, and the countrys resolution can defeat all difficulties every time encountering a challenge.

Chinas institutional advantages shine at such critical moment. The country will surely win the battle against the epidemic as it is guaranteed by the huge advantages of the socialism with Chinese characteristics and supported by the international society.
The study aimed to show that Alzheimers disease could be stopped if treatment began before symptoms emerged. The participants were the best candidates that scientists could find: still healthy, but with a rare genetic mutation that guaranteed they would develop dementia.

For five years, on average, the volunteers received monthly infusions or injections of one of two experimental drugs, along with annual blood tests, brain scans, spinal taps and cognitive tests.

Now, the verdict is in: The drugs did nothing to slow or stop cognitive decline in these subjects, dashing the hopes of scientists.

Dr. Randall Bateman, a neurologist at Washington University in St. Louis and principal investigator of the study, said he was shocked when he first saw the data: It was really crushing.
Experts and U.S. officials say the theft is consistent with the Chinese government's interest in collecting as much information about Americans as possible. The personal data can be easily sold  though officials say there is no evidence of that happening here  and used by Chinese intelligence services eager to target Americans, including possible spies, or find weaknesses and vulnerabilities that can be exploited.
Pakistan on Monday summoned Indian Charge dAffaires Gaurav Ahluwalia to lodge a strong protest over the alleged ceasefire violation by the Indian forces on the Line of Control that injured 10 Pakistani civilians.

Pakistan's Foreign Office in a statement said that Director General (South Asia and SAARC) Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri registered the country's "strong protest" at the ceasefire violations by Indian forces in Jabbar, Sandhara, Sumbal Gali and Dabsi villages of Kotli district on February 9.

It said that in the firing, 10 civilians, including children and women, were injured.

Separately, the Pakistan Army in a statement claimed that Pakistani troops responded to the firing, killing one Indian solider and injuring three others, including a Major, and "substantial damage" inflicted on Indian posts.
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Linkedin Ruslan Sangadji (The Jakarta Post) Palu, Central Sulawesi  Tue, February 11, 2020 08:17 700 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2063ad35d 1 National crocodile,stuck,motorcycle-tire,Matt-Wright,Australia,Indonesia,Palu,river Free

Australian presenter Matthew Nicolas Wright together with his fellow crocodile observer Chris Wilson have officially joined the Central Sulawesi Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA Central Sulawesi) to assist in the rescue of a wild crocodile that has had a motorcycle tire stuck around its neck for years in the Palu River.

The participation of the two Australians is based on a decree issued by the Environment and Forestry Ministry on Monday to BKSDA Central Sulawesi, into whose operational control the crocodile rescue team has been entrusted.

After consulting with the ministrys biodiversity conservation directorate general, both of them were allowed to immediately join the rescue team, Haruna, a BKSDA Central Sulawesi official, told reporters on Monday.

Wright and Wilson were reportedly still in Jakarta and would immediately head to Palu to join the rescue team. The rescue operation will start when the two arrive.

In his Instagram post on Sunday, however, Wright was seen walking along the river bank upon arriving in Palu on his first day. He said in the post that he would fly to Jakarta on Monday to meet and coordinate with Indonesian officials.

While waiting for Wright, Haruna said the team was preparing all the necessities including equipment and the most appropriate strategy to catch the crocodile and release the tire from its neck.

The 4-meter-long reptile was first seen swimming with the tire around its neck in 2016.

The crocodile was regularly spotted swimming in the water connecting the Palu River to Palu Bay. Officials and conservationists previously tried but failed to catch it.

Locals believe the crocodile was frightened off because every time there was a rescue attempt, dozens of curious Palu residents swarmed around the river to watch the process.

In 2018, M. Panji, better known as Panji the Adventurer, an animal handler and tamer who is known from his stint on the Adventures of Panji national television show, attempted to catch the crocodile but failed.

In January, Central Sulawesi Governor Longki Djanggola warned the agency to immediately rescue the crocodile because the motorcycle tire had been stuck in the crocodiles neck for too long and might endanger its life.

I am surprised. I have repeatedly told [the agency] to rescue the crocodile, but the instruction seems to have been ignored. This time I emphasize that we must act immediately or I will act myself, said Longki.

Following that order, the agency held a contest for anyone who was willing to catch the crocodile, promising a prize as a reward, as a result of its limited resources.

The contest, however, was later canceled after the agency failed to gain a positive response, so it prepared a special team with the assistance of the Environment and Forestry Ministry.

Read also: See you later, alligator: Crocodile rescue contest in Palu cancelled as no takers emerge

BKSDA Central Sulawesi then coordinated with a number of parties volunteering to join the rescue team, including crocodile observers Wright and Wilson.

The team includes members from the police and it has installed nets at several points in the Palu River in the past week, which have so far failed to capture the crocodile.

"We might be able to capture the crocodile if people do not gather around to watch it, because it might make the crocodile afraid to come to the surface, said Haruna. (syk)
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan made a statement at the International Conference on Nuclear Security: Sustaining and Strengthening Efforts. In the statement, he also touched upon the charges that the speaker from Azerbaijan had made against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenian News-NEWS.am presents the statement in its entirety.

Mr. President,

Distinguished Colleagues,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to thank Director General Rafael Grossi for convening the third conference on Nuclear Security in Vienna. I also take this opportunity to extend once again my warmest congratulations on your appointment as Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency and wish every success in this important and demanding mission.

Allow me to start by paying tribute to the late Director General Mr. Yukiya Amano, whose commitment and expertise over the past 10 years steered the Agency to many remarkable achievements under the IAEA motto expanded on Director Amanos suggestion Atoms for Peace and Development. In May, 2019 Mr. Amano paid a working visit to Armenia. High level meetings with the leadership of my country became a testimony of fruitful cooperation between Armenia and the IAEA and outlined new directions for our future joint endeavors.

Mr. President,

I would like to underscore the unique inclusiveness of this conference, which provides us, the Member States, with an opportunity to share perspectives, challenges, and achievements, to jointly identify the measures which will promote the strengthening of global nuclear security through dialogue and cooperation. I am confident that the Ministerial declaration to be adopted later today will become an important milestone for undergoing efforts of the international community in strengthening the global non-proliferation regime and will demonstrate our shared commitment to maintain high standards in nuclear security regime.

Since the second ICONS in 2016, the world, regrettably, hasnt become a safer and better place to live. Today, in ever changing world, the global security environment is subject to rapidly evolving threats, such as the threats associated with emerging technologies and cyber-attacks. We do not know, or cannot imagine what and how many new threats will emerge tomorrow, in the foreseeable future. That means the national nuclear security regimes, regulatory systems need to be flexible, adaptable and resilient. The exchange of information, sharing experiences and practices are key prerequisites for timely identifying and addressing the threat. The continuous assistance provided by the IAEA to Member States to enhance their national security regimes is indispensable.

Mr. President,

As a strong supporter of the non-proliferation policies, Armenia reiterates its full compliance with the non-proliferation treaty and other relevant treaties, as well as IAEA safeguards agreements and additional protocol.

Recognizing that the responsibility for nuclear security within the Member state rests entirely with that State, we have always strongly supported the essential and leading role of the International Atomic Energy Agency in the international nuclear security framework and non-proliferation regime. The peaceful use of nuclear energy is of vital importance for my Government in terms of economic development and energy security.

Armenia attaches great importance to reinforcing nuclear security both at national and international levels through the ratification and implementation of international legal instruments as well as the establishment of robust national legislation related to physical protection and security of Armenian NPP and nuclear materials and rules on physical protection of nuclear installations and nuclear materials. Armenia closely cooperates on a regular basis with the international partners with regard to all nuclear energy issues. Armenia is undertaking necessary measures to enhance and maintain nuclear and radiation safety. We greatly value the role of the IAEA and ongoing support to Armenia in ensuring the highest standards Security of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant.

In particular, numerous IAEA's on-site inspections and assessment missions have reaffirmed Armenia's commitment in implementing its international obligations and the highest level of openness and transparency. No any non-compliance or deviation from the requirements of international treaties has ever been recorded.

Armenia fully implements its international obligations under the UN Security Council Resolution 1540. The National Action Plan of Armenia for 2015-2020 outlines series of concrete steps ranging from reviewing already implemented national measures to the coordination of ongoing and anticipated activities.

We are also actively participating in counter-proliferation initiatives such as Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism and Proliferation Security Initiative. The Government of Armenia is continuously working with its international partners at bilateral and multilateral levels to further enhance its national capabilities in countering nuclear smuggling.

We follow with deep concern the developments in our region, and, in particular, the situation with the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Actions on Irans nuclear program). The conclusion of JCPOA - a real achievement of multilateral diplomacy - provided world with a critical tool in reducing the risk of nuclear proliferation and we call upon all partners to honor their obligations under the JCPOA, to avoid taking steps that could lead to escalating tensions and do the utmost to preserve the agreement. Armenia welcomes all diplomatic and multilateral efforts to re-start the inclusive and open dialogue on the matter.

We commend the International Atomic Energy Agency team and its leadership for their dedicated, professional and impartial work in verifying and monitoring of Irans nuclear related commitments under JCPOA and look forward to continuous cooperation between IAEA and Iran towards implementing the of JCPOA and UN SC resolution 2231(2015).

Finally, Mr. President,

Flimsy and unjustified charges were made against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh by the speaker from Azerbaijan. Those are totally rejected. The territory of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh is under full and legitimate control of NK authorities and nothing indicates to the contrary. NK authorities are open for international cooperation and at any time the Azeri allegations can be easily verified and proven as non-existent.

In conclusion, I would like to reiterate Armenias strong commitment to our shared goals of nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation and peaceful use of nuclear energy and wish every success to the conference.

Thank you.
FILE PHOTO: Workers unload coal from supply truck at yard on outskirts of the western Indian city of Ahmedabad

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's coal imports in November rose 8.6% from a year earlier to 21.83 million tonnes, government data showed, following three straight months of decline.

Imports of thermal coal - used mainly for electricity generation - rose 12.3% from a year ago to 17.65 million tonnes, whereas coking coal shipments to India fell 5% from a year earlier to 4.18 million tonnes, data from the Ministry of Coal showed.

India's thermal coal imports fell from August to October, their longest sustained fall in over two years, due to a broader economic slowdown that stifled demand from industrial consumers.

(Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
Braintree, Massachusetts, Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) today announced its latest renewable energy project, Maple Hill, a 150-megawatt solar facility in Portage and Summerhill Townships, Pennsylvania. Construction could begin as early as the end of 2020. This announcement of Maple Hill follows the Federal Energy Regulatory Commissions recent decision to expand the Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR), which provides a solid ground for new infrastructure investment, including renewable development, and safeguards the competitiveness of the markets.

As a leader who makes job creation and business investment top priorities, I enthusiastically welcomed CPVs $1 billion investment that created Fairview Energy Center in Jackson Township, said State Representative Frank Burns. The continued partnership between good government and private investment is bringing further good news to Cambria County, in the form of the Maple Hill project.

Maple Hill is one of the first solar projects of its kind in western Pennsylvania. Located on already cleared timber property, the Maple Hill facility will avoid over 150,000 tons of CO2 per year by displacing older, less efficient generation and will add to the clean energy mix in the Commonwealth. The project will employ 150-200 workers at peak construction and will bring significant tax benefits to Cambria County.

CPVs mission of modernizing U.S. power generation means we are making significant investments in renewables and highly efficient, flexible natural gas generation to create the electric grid of the future, said Executive Vice President Sean Finnerty. Im proud of the wide scope of CPVs efforts and the progress we are charting in the power generation sector to reduce emissions while maintaining grid reliability. Maple Hill exemplifies our commitment to providing safe, reliable, cost-effective and environmentally-responsible power and will have a significant positive impact on the Pennsylvania energy sector.

About CPV

Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) is uniquely positioned to leverage global technology and financial partnerships to help modernize Americas power generation. Together with our investors, partners, host communities and other key stakeholders, we are driven to improve our energy infrastructure by developing and operating power generation facilities using cutting edge, domestically available natural gas and renewable power technologies. Headquartered in Silver Spring, MD, with an office in Braintree, MA, the company has ownership interest in 4.2 GW of clean generation across the United States. The companys Asset Management division currently manages more than 9,300 MW of fossil and renewable generating facilities in eight states for 11 different owner groups. For more information: www.cpv.com. Follow CPV on Twitter: @CPVEnergy.

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There were angry exchanges at Stormont on Monday when Finance Minister Conor Murphy was challenged over the Paul Quinn murder controversy.

Last week, the Sinn Fein MLA apologised for comments he made in the wake of the Co Armagh man's murder in 2007 in which he branded Paul Quinn a criminal.

The apology came after Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said Mr Murphy never made the comments, only for footage to emerge proving otherwise.

While the Quinn family, who have campaigned for those responsible for the murder to be brought before the courts, accepted the apology, they said it did not go far enough and called on Mr Murphy to publicly state Paul Quinn was not a criminal.

During Minister's Questions at Stormont on Monday, Mr Murphy was asked about the funding provided under the confidence and supply agreement between the DUP and the Conservative government.

TUV leader Jim Allister questioned how anyone could have confidence in Conor Murphy as an Executive Minister, given his "cruel treatment" of the Quinn family.

"If he had any shred of integrity he would have resigned," Mr Allister added.

The minister responded: "I wont take any lectures from the member, who refused discipline his party member Trevor Collins for organising a petition calling for the release of Torrens Knight, who carried out the murders at Greysteel... this is a member who also sat alongside paramilitaries on a loyalist marching band forum."

In 2009, TUV member Trevor Collins defended his decision to started a petition calling convicted Greysteel murderer to be released, after he was returned to prison following his conviction for assaulting two sisters in Coleraine.

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He had previously been released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement after serving seven years for taking part in the Greysteel massacre in 1993, in which eight people were killed, and the murder four workmen in Castlerock the same year.

Mr Murphy added: "This demonstrates that the member is just another unionist with double standards - in other words a hypocrite."

As the Finance Minister was speaking, Mr Allister could be heard shouting from the opposite side of the chamber and was reprimanded by the Speaker, Alex Maskey.

The issue was later raised by Ulster Unionist MLA Robbie Butler, who asked Mr Murphy if he would take the opportunity to categorically state Paul Quinn was not criminal and commit to giving a full account of what he knows about the murder to the authorities.

The Sinn Fein minister said he made a statement last week and had already spoken with Gardai in the wake of the murder.

He also said the issue had never been raised with him before by any of Mr Butler's Ulster Unionist colleagues and he was "sceptical" of Mr Butler's "belated interest" in the topic.

"I have written to the family, I made the statement last week and that is where the matter rests with me," he added.

Paul Quinn was beaten to death by an IRA gang in a farmhouse in Oram, Co Monaghan in October 2017. He had previously clashed with a local IRA commander's son.

In an interview broadcast the following month, 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."

Last week he apologised for the remarks after the footage emerged, stating his comments are a "matter of regret".
Joe Dermody reflects on 40 years of Apple in Ireland.

When Apples CEO, Tim Cook, came to Ireland to accept IDA Irelands first ever Special Recognition Award for the companys contribution to Ireland, it coincided with another high point in the firms history.

Apple shares hit a new high over the Christmas holiday period. The company said its customers spent a record amount in its App Store during the final days of the Christmas and new year holidays.

Global App Store spending totalled $1.4bn (1.2bn) between Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, up 16% from the same period in 2018, Apple said in a blog post. Its shares rose 92% in value since the end of 2018.

Of course, Apple must await the outcome of its European court appeal against the severity of the 13bn fine for corporate tax issued imposed on the company by the EU, an appeal which is supported by the Irish Government.

Meanwhile, the company, whose global headquarters are in Cupertino, California, USA, continues to enjoy enviable global growth, built upon a remarkable sales platform of 925 million iPhones worldwide.

Its sales of apps, tablets and its many other consumer devices have cemented its position as one of the most successful companies in the world.

This phenomenal success story was celebrated with the inaugural IDA Ireland award to mark the companys 40th anniversary in Ireland, presented to Tim Cook by An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, at a ceremony in Dublin.

While in Ireland, Tim Cook also visited Apples hub in Hollyhill, Cork, where it has operated since 1980.

Having started with around 60 manufacturing staff, Apple now directly employs around 6,000 people throughout Ireland supporting all aspects of its business.

Since 2012, Apple has invested over 220m to develop its Hollyhill campus, which its expanded again in recent years with a new building that provides space for 1,400 employees.
Associates of Trumps lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, reached out to Kolomoisky when Giuliani sought a meeting with Zelensky after the comedian was elected in April. Those associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, approached Kolomoisky for help in Israel, but he spurned them. Months later, however, Kolomoisky was in contact with them via text, according to a cache of messages released last month.
WASHINGTON  Internal reforms to processes and the sale of obsolete military equipment helped the Pentagon find $6.5 billion in validated savings in fiscal year 2019, the departments chief management officer has revealed.

That money is being put directly into war-fighting priorities, including maintenance for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and training needs, according to Lisa Hershman, who officially was sworn in as the departments number three official at the start of January.

The savings are different from the $5.7 billion figure found through a comprehensive review of the departments defense-wide agencies, which was announced last week. Those findings were through a specific review process, looking at the fiscal 2020 budget and figuring out where funds could be redirected for the FY21 budget request.

This amount, in contrast, is part of an annual efficiencies target, a required part of the CMOs job, and reflects money found in FY19, which wrapped up at the end of September. The office previously found a combined $4.7 billion in FY17 and FY18. The White House Office of Management and Budget set a target of $6 billion in savings for CMO in FY19  meaning Hershmans team exceeded their target by half a billion dollars.

Pentagon acting CMO Lisa Hershman on saving billions of dollars for the department

Some of the savings found are fairly small, Hershman acknowledged, but she said that is fine under the guidance given to her by Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who has said over and over and over again, nothing too big, nothing too small.

Hershman stressed that her goal is transformation, not simply cutting costs for short term gains, which will then sprout back up, or cause greater problems, down the road. As an example she pointed to changes in the commissary system.

I can cut cost by shutting down commissaries," she said. "Im not going to do that because its really important to my military personnel and their families.

Story continues

But, she noted, of the 1.4 million individual items that are stocked in the commissary system, almost a million of them produce less than $1,000 in revenue per year. There are also opportunities to find savings by not carrying items which simply dont sell (get ready for the 23 brands of apple juice in the commissary system to get cut down).

How do we consolidate, buy the things that people want, that will actually sell? How do we consolidate back office operations, [create] single a IT system where now we can share data? Those kind of things make sense, and that does cut costs, she said.

The savings claimed by the CMO office include:

Changes in fees applied to roughly $16 billion in annual TRICARE contracts led to $352.9 million in savings for FY19, with $2.4 billion projected through FY21.

The Navy saved $97.9 million by procuring 10 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers under five-year contract models, which led to a 9.3 percent discount compared to the estimated cost for those buys under single-year contracts instead.

Military health information technology changes, including changing how IT spending is baselined and moved over to more modern operating systems, saved $68 million.

Improvement to <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2019/07/22/this-is-who-wants-to-reform-the-fourth-estate-now/" target=_blank>fourth estate business operations</a>, such as modernizing technology and updating business processes, reduced the total operating costs by $80.4 million for the Army, Navy, Air Force, CMO, comptrollers office and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service.

The sale of obsolete equipment brought back $407.8 million that could be reprogrammed for other priorities. The gear in question included nine older UH-60 Black Hawks through a GSA auction, 10 older US-60 Black Hawks sold to Afghanistan, 100 older MIM-104 Patriot missiles sold to the United Arab Emirates, and four older C-130 Hercules sold to Chile and the Philippines.

On the sale of military equipment, Hershman said her team was encouraged to shine a light on what we have, what were using, what is aligned with our higher purpose, driven by the National Defense Strategy. The sales also sent a message to allies that the U.S. is willing to part with the older gear that is no longer as relevant for expected future operations.

The savings found by CMO are being redirected to investments in war-fighting needs, including to Army and Navy training needs; sustainment on Air Force platforms, including the F-35, F-22, E-3, B-52, and B-1 aircraft, as well as intercontinental ballistic missile maintenance; additional contracts for red air training from outside vendors; cyber operations and digitalization efforts, including cloud migration; and additional special operations force structure, acquisition workforce development requirements, background investigation requirements, and classified activities, per a statement.

For FY20, the CMOs target for efficiencies and savings has been set a $7.7 billion, an 18.5 percent increase over what was found in FY19. Hershman expressed confidence that target could be hit: I wouldnt say its easy. None of this is easy, but its definitely doable.
BOSTON, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Schneider Electric, the global leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, today announced that CRN  , a brand of The Channel Company, has named Shannon Sbar, Vice President of Channels, North America, to its exclusive list of the 50 Most Influential Channel Chiefs for 2020. This annual list recognizes the elite vendor executives who lead, influence, innovate and disrupt the IT channel.

As Vice President of Channel, Shannon is responsible for driving revenue, strategy and profitability within the North American Channels organization. Under her vision and direction, the Channel team  which consists of IT Distribution, National Solution Providers, Electrical Distribution, Field Sales, Channel Marketing, and Dell, HP, retail, and eCommerce partners  is focused on increasing business effectiveness, creating strategic relationships, driving growth and improving customer satisfaction. In 2020, the key to success for channel partners will be continuing to find ways to differentiate their businesses by being able to solve the many challenges their customers are facing today.

"Shannon is not only a high performer who continues to lead the company's growth efforts across the North American channel, but she also demonstrates fantastic leadership for the entire organization," said Jay Owen, Senior Vice President, North America Secure Power division, APC by Schneider Electric. "With more than 20 years of channel experience, Shannon has continued her success here at Schneider Electric and a consistent history of success at Schneider Electric over the past decade. She emulates the type of leadership we look for and we can't think of someone more deserving of this recognition."

CRN's 2020 Channel Chiefs list honors the distinguished leaders who have most influenced the IT channel with cutting-edge strategies and partnerships. The 2020 Channel Chiefs have shown outstanding commitment, an ability to lead and a passion for progress within the channel through their partner programs.

The 50 Most Influential Channel Chiefs were chosen by the CRN editorial staff as the individuals who stand at the very top of the already select group of Channel Chief honorees. These top executives have cultivated the greatest professional and channel achievements, and their leadership will greatly impact the future IT community, driving growth and innovation.

"The IT channel is undergoing constant evolution to meet customer demands and changing business environments," said Bob Skelley, CEO of The Channel Company. "CRN's Channel Chiefs work tirelessly, leading the industry forward through superior partner programs and strategies with a focus on helping solution providers transform and grow. Our team here at The Channel Company congratulates these outstanding individuals for their dedication to the channel."

CRN's 2020 Channel Chiefs list, including the 50 Most Influential Channel Chiefs, will be featured in the February 2020 issue of CRN Magazine and online at www.CRN.com/ChannelChiefs

About Schneider Electric

At Schneider, we believe access to energy and digital is a basic human right. We empower all to do more with less, ensuring Life Is On everywhere, for everyone, at every moment.

We provide energy and automation digital solutions for efficiency and sustainability. We combine world-leading energy technologies, real-time automation, software and services into integrated solutions for Homes, Buildings, Data Centers, Infrastructure and Industries.

We are committed to unleash the infinite possibilities of an open, global, innovative community that is passionate with our Meaningful Purpose, Inclusive and Empowered values.

www.schneider-electric.us

About The Channel Company

The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequalled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelcompany.com

Follow The Channel Company: Twitter , LinkedIn, and Facebook .

 2019. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

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The Iowa Democratic party has officially awarded Pete Buttigieg the largest portion of delegates in last week's caucuses as second-place Bernie Sanders prepares to ask for a 'partial recanvass' of the results.

The state party released updated results on Sunday which showed Buttigieg leading Sanders by a razor-thin margin of two state delegate equivalents out of 2,152 counted - or 0.1 percent.

An aide for the Sanders campaign confirmed plans to request a recanvass ahead of a Monday deadline for candidates to ask for one. A recanvass is not a recount, but a check of the vote count to ensure the results were added correctly.

'You can expect us to be asking the Iowa Democratic party for a recanvass of the discrepancies that we have identified and found for them,' the Vermont senator's campaign manager Faiz Shakir told CNN on Sunday night.

'It's been handled incompetently from our perspective, and we'll be asking them to take a look at some of these obvious discrepancies that have affected our count and I think after it is all said and done, it should be the case that we have the same number of national delegates as Pete Buttigieg.'

The national Democratic party chairman has also ordered a review of the results following the technological problems and as doubts were raised about the accuracy of the process.

The Iowa Democratic party officially awarded Pete Buttigieg (left) the largest portion of delegates in last week's caucuses on Sunday as second-place Bernie Sanders (right) prepares to ask for a 'partial recanvass' of the results

Several major outlets including the Associated Press and NBC News have declined to declare a winner because they believe the results may not be fully accurate and are still subject to potential revision.

Both Buttigieg and Sanders have claimed victory in the caucuses as Buttigieg holds a slim lead in the delegate count while Sanders received the most total support overall.

But the chaos and inconsistencies in the reporting of the results have raised widespread doubts and prompted sharp criticism of the process by candidates and party leaders, and the field has largely shifted its focus to the next primary state, New Hampshire.

Last Monday's caucuses were roiled by technical issues after an app used by party volunteers to report results and jammed phone lines set up for the same purpose resulted in the Iowa Democratic Party failing to release any results to the public until nearly a day after the event.

Party volunteers found inconsistencies in the complicated math used by caucus volunteers to calculate the outcome of each individual caucus.

To confirm the validity of the data they received, Iowa Democratic Party officials spent much of the week collecting paper records of the results and checking them against the numbers reported by volunteers.

Still, issues continued to plague the party's reporting, and the Iowa Democratic Party on Saturday said it was reviewing reported inconsistencies in 95 precincts.

On Sunday, they released updated results, which still gave Buttigieg a narrow lead in the delegate count.

But the updated results largely left issues with the complicated math used to calculate results in the individual caucus sites, known as precincts, intact - because, party leadership says, fixing the math would break the law.

Buttigieg emerged with 26.2 per cent in Iowa while Sanders came out with 26.1 per cent. The results were delayed for days after a reporting app malfunctioned and caused caucuses to resort to paper reporting and manual tabulations

Precinct leaders are required to fill out a 'caucus math worksheet' at every caucus site to record the number of attendees and the results on the first and second round of voting.

Those worksheets are signed by the precinct leader, secretary and representatives of each campaign present to certify their accuracy, and theyre considered the official paper record of what went on in each individual caucus room.

The Iowa Democratic Party used those paper records to ensure they matched the numbers the party reported publicly.

But errors in the worksheet abound. In some cases, there were issues in adding up votes for candidates, or the final count of individuals participating after the two rounds of voting was larger than the initial count.

In others, precinct leaders made errors when using the partys formula that translates raw votes to 'state delegate equivalents,' which are ultimately used to calculate how many national delegates each candidate receives.

In an internal party email sent this weekend, Iowa Democratic Party Chair Troy Price said that, according to the advice of the partys attorney, Shayla McCormally, those worksheets are considered legal documents and tampering with them would amount to a crime.

'It is the legal voting record of the caucus, like a ballot. The seriousness of the record is made clear by the language at the bottom stating that any misrepresentation of the information is a crime,' McCormally said in the internal party email.

'Therefore, any changes or tampering with the sheet could result in a claim of election interference or misconduct.'

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren won eight delegates, former vice president Joe Biden won six and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar won one.
Textiles businesses, including several with no prior experience, have begun producing antibacterial masks after authorities announced a daily need of 10 million.

At the beginning of last week, Toan, an employee of the Dong Xuan Knitting Company in the northern province of Hung Yen, was transferred to an antibacterial cloth production line. His company had begun making this new product following the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak.

Toan and her colleagues now try to use their afternoon break to produce more masks in order to meet the amount needed each day as well as earn some overtime income.

"Most of us are doing an extra half-shift of overtime every day. Because we make more money, everyone is happy and trying to take advantage of the situation," he said.

The Dong Xuan company has set up a similar antibacterial cloth production line in one of its factories in Hanoi. Its director Tran Viet said although the company has not worked in medical supplies before, it was applying Japanese technology to produce antibacterial fabric given the current scarcity of masks.

Viet estimated that the company now produces 7-8 tons of anti-bacterial fabric every day, enough for Dong Xuan and its partners to produce up to 300,000 masks each day.

"We are working every hour to improve productivity, so after it stabilizes, we will see if we can serve orders in other epidemic affected areas if needed," Viet said.

Le Tien Luong, general director of The Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex), one of the largest textile makers in Vietnam, said the company needed about three to four days to rearrange production lines, train workers in new technology, as well as transfer designs from affiliate companies to make masks, which was a new product to the group.

TNG, a company based in northern Thai Nguyen Province specializing in producing garments and fashion for export, has also joined the emergency production of masks, using nano- fabric.

The company was able to kick off production of antibacterial nano masks just three days after it submitted designs and standards for approval from the Ministry of Health, said TNG chairman Nguyen Van Hoi.

A worker makes antibacterial nano-masks at a factory in Thai Nguyen. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh.

"Raw materials used to produce clothes and production lines are now prioritized for making masks. Soon 2 million masks will be completed and released to the market to help ease shortages, and soon after, TNG will be able to mass produce them," Hoi said.

Currently, the enterprise has increased working hours and allocated as many workers as possible to ensure it rolls out 20,000 masks a day. TNG said it will also work with the Thai Nguyen Department of Health to give out one million free masks to people.

Bui The Kich, general director of the Dong Nai Garment Corporation, said his enterprise has also been producing anti-bacterial fabric at maximum capacity. The company now produces around 10-15 tons of the fabric every day, and one kilogram of it is used to make approximately 300 disposable antibacterial masks.

Designers draw details and size of masks on antibacterial cloth before feeding it into a cutting machine. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh.

Truong Thanh Hoai, head of the Department of Industry under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said producing 10 million antibacterial masks every day, as requested by the Ministry of Healths request, required 400 tons of antibacterial fabric and enterprises working at full capacity.

However, he pointed out that the Health Ministry has not issued standards and regulations for the antibacterial cloth masks. It needs to do so as soon as possible so that "users can trust the products," Hoai said.

Vietnam officially declared the nCoV outbreak an epidemic on February 1. Out of the 14 confirmed infection cases so far, three have been discharged from hospitals: a Nha Trang hotel receptionist, a Chinese man from Wuhan, and one of the workers who returned from Wuhan.

The global death toll of the epidemic has reached 910 one each in the Philippines and Hong Kong, and the remaining in mainland China.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 22:16:33|Editor: huaxia

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Participants hold placards during a special prayer meeting held for China in Noida, on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, Feb. 10, 2020. A special prayer meeting was held for China on Monday in Noida. The participants, mostly young students, came to express their solidarity with Chinese people -- especially the doctors and paramedical staff who are on the forefront working with dedication. (Xinhua/Javed Dar)

by Peerzada Arshad Hamid

NEW DELHI, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Inside a brightly lit spacious hall at the upscale Noida locality in the outskirts of New Delhi, a special prayer meeting was held for China.

"Stay strong China, we are with you," read the placards that participants held in their hands.

The meeting at the Institute of Photography on Monday started with two minutes of silence in the memory of people who lost their lives in China due to the outbreak of coronavirus. The participants, mostly young students, came to express their solidarity with Chinese people -- especially the doctors and paramedical staff who are on the forefront working with dedication.

A traditional oil lamp was lit in the middle of the hall.

"Light from the lamp removes darkness and is a metaphor for the transformation involved in the quest for enlightenment, and through this light of oil lamp we wish to pray for our partner country in its mission to control the outbreak," Himadrish Suwan, chairman of Confederation of Young Leaders, told Xinhua.

The Chinese government "has shown its solid commitment and confidence to win the battle against the outbreak," he said.

Suwan, who is also an advisor to the Confederation of Indian Universities, said they have gathered to express their support and solidarity to their counterparts in China.

During the meeting, the attendees expressed their appreciation for the Chinese government's role in ensuring the safe return of Indian nationals. Recently, many Indian students were brought from China and kept in isolation at a facility in the outskirts of Delhi.

"We are here to echo our concern and express solidarity with China," said Markandey Rai, a senior advisor of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme.

Rai expressed his confidence in China's efforts to combat the virus outbreak, saying it was admirable the country has effectively dealt with the outbreak.

"In these tough times, we stand in solidarity with the friendly people of China," said Rai. "China is doing a great work in stopping the virus from spreading."

India reported three cases of novel coronavirus from its southern Indian state of Kerala. Local authorities declared the outbreak as a "state calamity." However, the alert was withdrawn after the patients' health improved.

On Sunday, the health department in Kerala said it has placed 3,252 people under surveillance, out of which 34 have been admitted in selected isolation facilities. Several cases were also reported in other states, but so far none was tested positive.

Students who attended the meeting said they were hopeful that China would overcome this situation soon.

Abdul Suboor Sultani, a student of photography from Afghanistan, expressed firm belief that "this situation would pass."

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the recent novel coronavirus epidemic a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

India's federal health ministry has launched a 24/7 helpline number to answer queries on the novel coronavirus. Health teams have been deployed at 21 airports across the country to screen visitors.

The health ministry is also circulating precautionary measures recommended by the WHO to prevent the spread of the virus.

Despite an uphill battle to contain the outbreak, China isn't alone.

"I was in China a few days back. The love and concern they showed to us is highly appreciative," the institute's director Rajesh Goyal said. "We are ready to do whatever we can for the people in China."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 22:19:33|Editor: huaxia

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GENEVA, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said late Sunday that the WHO-led team of international experts had left for China amid the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak.

Tedros said on Twitter that he had "just been at the airport seeing off members of an advance team for the WHO-led 2019-nCoV international expert mission to China, led by Dr. Bruce Aylward," who is a Canadian epidemiologist and emergencies expert and also a "veteran of past public health emergencies."

The WHO chief did not reveal any more details or the team's schedule.

Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, said earlier that the WHO-coordinated team of global experts will cover clinical management, virology, vaccine, drug development, ecological investigation, animal health, epidemiology, public health and risk communication.

"The team's objective is to learn from Chinese counterparts' experience in dealing with this event so that the world can learn from them," he added.

Also on Sunday, Tedros expressed his gratitude towards health workers in China, especially in Hubei Province, who are fighting against the novel coronavirus.

"I am in awe of the thousands of health workers in China, especially in Hubei, who are caring for patients and gathering data on 2019-nCoV for scientific analysis, while under immense pressure," he said on Twitter.

"The world is grateful for your efforts to discover how to best treat and prevent the spread of the virus," he added.

Tedros underlined that experts in medicine and science are working across borders to lead a data-driven response to the novel coronavirus.

"From China's early sharing of genome sequencing data to our work at WHO to debunk myths, we are rapidly collecting, analyzing and sharing information to keep the world safe," he added.
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Linkedin Andreo Calonzo (Bloomberg) Manila, Philippines  Mon, February 10, 2020 12:58 701 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20638ffe0 2 SE Asia Philippines,media,politics,Censorship,Court Free

The Philippine governments chief lawyer has asked the top court to forfeit the franchise of ABS-CBN Corp., the nations biggest broadcaster which has drawn President Rodrigo Dutertes ire.

ABS-CBNs permit should be revoked for violating the constitutional ban on foreign ownership in media by issuing deposit receipts to foreigners, Solicitor General Jose Calida said in a statement after filing a petition before the Supreme Court Monday. The petition was filed weeks before ABS-CBNs congressional franchise expires on March 30.

We want to put an end to what we discovered to be highly abusive practices of ABS-CBN benefiting a greedy few, Calida said. A company spokesman said he will notify as soon a statement becomes available.

The state lawyer also said that ABS-CBN went beyond the scope of its franchise when it launched a pay-per-view channel.

Duterte has been criticizing ABS-CBN since 2017, accusing the network of bias and supposedly not airing his advertisements when he was campaigning as president. The president also told owners of the media company in December to sell as its franchise renewal remains uncertain.

ABS-CBN shares fell as much as 2.9 percent before paring losses to 1.8 percent at 10:49 a.m. in Manila. The Philippines benchmark stock index was down 0.4 percent.

Topics : Philippines media politics Censorship Court
Child marriage is the informal or formal, union, or marriage between a minor (youth or child under a particular age, normally 18 years) and an adult. Child marriages violate the children's rights, and they have a long term and widespread adverse consequences on the child. The legal marriageable age in several countries is less than 18, particularly for girls. In some jurisdictions where the marriageable age is above 18 years, cultural customs can be prioritized over legislative law. Several jurisdictions can allow child marriage with parental-permission or in special situations like teenage pregnancy.

Over 700 million women on the planet got married before age 18. In countries like Niger, over 77% of the women between 20 and 49 years old got married before their eighteenth birthday, while only 5% of the men in that age group were in a union before age 18. In nations like Nigeria and Mauritania, over 50% of the girls aged between 15 and 19 years old are married to husbands who are about 10 years older than them. Even in nations where child marriage is not common, girls are more affected than boys. Child marriage was quite popular throughout history, and up to now, it is still occurring, particularly in developing nations like parts of Oceania, Asia, Latin America, and Africa.

10 Modern Nations Where Child Marriages Occur

The United States

Historically, underage marriage was culturally accepted in the country, but today it is considered to be child abuse. Even though several international agencies consider it to be a human-rights violation, underage marriage still exists in the United States. The legal marriage age in the U.S. is usually established by each territory, state, and a federal district. According to a report by Tahirih-Justice-Center, there are 13 American states with no legal minimum marriage age. Over 200,000 teenagers were legally-married in the country between 2000 and 2015. A considerable percentage of the underage marriages involved an adult between 18 to 20 years and an underaged individual. A considerable portion of the married minors in the U.S. were girls. In several American states, married minors cannot go to shelters to escape abuse, leave their spouses or legally divorce them

United Kingdom

The marriageable age in the U.K. is 18 years or 16 years with the guardian's or parent's consent. In Scotland, however, parental approval is not mandatory for over 16 years old individuals. Andorra and Scotland are the only European jurisdiction where 16 years old teenagers have a right to marry. Underage Muslim girls are smuggled into the U.K. to be married by older Muslim men. Underage cohabitation is observed in the U.K., and according to a study conducted in 2005, more than 8.9% of girls between the age of 15 and 19 admitted to having been in a cohabitation-relationship. 4.1% of the girls in this age group were also in this type of relationship.

Russia

Even though the common marriageable age in Russia that was established by Family-Code-of-Russia is 18years old, underage marriage still occurs in the country. Underage marriage between age 16 and 18 years is allowed in Russia by the local municipality-authority's permissions and only with a great reason. Marriage before the sixteenth birthday can only be permitted by the Subject of the Federations law in special circumstances. The minimum marriageable age in the special circumstance in 2016 had been established at 15 years (in Ryazan Oblast and Murmansk Oblast) or 14 years (in Novgorod, Moscow, Kaluga, and Tambov Oblasts, among others).

Belgium

In Belgium, under 18-years-old teenagers can get married with judicial permission. An individual below the age of 18 can also get married with their parent's permission, although there must be a serious reason. The Washington Post reported that 24 child brides arrived in Belgium from 2015 to 2016. The report also added that the police registered about 56 complaints about force-marriage from 2010 to 2013. Underage marriage is in specific geographic and ethnic pockets in Belgium, including the Romas and Afghans.

Canada

The minimum marriageable age in Canada has been 16 years old since 2015. The marriageable age of the majority of the Canadian provinces is either 18 or 19 years; therefore, underage marriage has additional restrictions, including court and parental consent. The Canadian constitution states that anyone who aids, participates, or celebrates in a marriage ceremony knowing that one of the married people is under 16 years is liable to jail-term not exceeding 5 years.

Brazil

In Brazil, underage marriage or cohabitation is an under-looked, but common problem in the country. Many girls look for older husbands to escape various problems at home, including poverty, sexual abuse, and other forms of violence. The Brazilian law allows individuals to get married at 16years with their parent's consent; however, some are married at an even younger age in case of teenage pregnancy. Brazil has one of the highest numbers of Teenagers married or living-with-partners at age 15 on the planet. According to the government census, more than 877,000 wives between 20 and 24 years old were married before their fifteenth birthday by 2010.

Indonesia

Even though child marriage is illegal In Indonesia, there are several unregistered unions between older men and young girls in rural areas. One of the cases that caused public protest was one of a rich Muslim cleric who got married to a 12 years old minor. The Muslim cleric was prosecuted and sentenced for 4 years in prison. In order to rescue child marriages, the government plans to increase the marriageable age to 19 years by 2022. Previously, the marriageable age for young girls was 16 years in the country, under the 1974 marriage law.

Turkey

Even though it is illegal, underage marriages are quite prevalent in Turkey, especially among less-educated individuals. The minimum marriageable age in Turkey is 17 years, but 16 years old girls can get married under exceptional circumstances. Over 33.3% of all marriages are underage marriages in Turkey, and a third of the women get married before their eighteenth birthday. Over 504,957 children aged between 16 and 17 years got married in Turkey from 2002 to 2014. Out of the 134,629 underage children married from 2000 to 2013, 129,000 were girls. Over 20,000 Turkish families filed requests to have their under 16-year-old girls married in 2012.

Georgia

Georgia is a traditional European nation where underage marriages are still quite common. The number of underage marriages in the country is unknown since most families tend to delay marriage registration for several years. According to the UN Population Fund, about 17% of the young girls in this country are married before their eighteenth birthday. These weddings are held in rural churches and mosques, and the couple is considered married religiously and culturally.

South Africa

Even though the legal marriageable age in South Africa without the parent's consent is 18 years old, underage marriage is quite common in the country. The Center for Child-Law in South Africa reported in 2018 that over 91,000 teenagers of school-going-age are married. In South Africa, there is an old cultural practice referred to as ukuthwala, happening to date. Ukuthwala is the practice of men abducting young girls and marrying them by force, with or without their parent's consent. Ukuthwala occurs in the rural parts of the country, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.
Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Eun Sung-soo, second from left, greets foreign financial firm CEOs before a lunch meeting at the Conrad Seoul, Monday. / Courtesy of FSC



By Park Jae-hyuk



The nation's financial regulators guaranteed foreign financial companies new business opportunities in the Korean market as part of efforts to attract investments, according to the Financial Services Commission (FSC), Monday.



"In the Korean financial market that has repeated innovation, foreign financial companies will be able to discover new business opportunities," FSC Chairman Eun Sung-soo said at a meeting in Seoul with CEOs of foreign financial firms.



"In particular, collaboration with fintech startups, invigoration of the asset management market through business-centered fund conversions and continuous growth in pension funds will be significant opportunity factors."



The meeting was held to discuss countermeasures against growing uncertainties in the global financial environment and to hear proposals from foreign financial firms.



The participants were the FSC chairman, Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) First Senior Deputy Governor Yoo Kwang-yeol, who is also serving as the head of the Financial Hub Korea, and 17 foreign financial firm CEOs.



Foreign financial firms were heard on how the authorities have coped with their previous proposals.



The financial authorities also explained pending issues for policies and several measures that have been taken to make Korea an international financial hub.



According to the FSC, foreign financial firms asked the government to ease regulations.



They want to be exempt from the 52-hour workweek, because the regulation has hindered them from collaborating with their overseas branches in different time zones.



The FSC chairman said he will discuss their proposals with other ministries, so as to help foreign financial firms that are seeking to enter the Korean market.



In December, FSS governor Yoon Suk-heun also told foreign financial firm CEOs that the watchdog would fix the flaws that had hindered Korea from growing into a financial hub.



Yoon admitted tough regulations, heavy taxes, language barriers and living conditions had barred foreigners from making investments in Korea.



According to the FSC, the number of foreign financial company offices here has decreased from 168 in 2016 to 163 in 2019.



The financial regulators' initiative on innovation, however, is expected to put a brake on the recent exodus of these companies.



At the end of last year, several foreign firms, including financial companies such as HSBC Korea, launched a fintech committee under the British Chamber of Commerce in Korea to expand their investments in the country's financial tech industry, in line with the government's deregulation efforts.


Space defenders to the front.

The newly minted Space Force may not yet have an official rank structure or an anthem, but it's set to receive healthy investment in the fiscal 2021 defense budget as the service gets off the ground.

The White House defense budget request, released Monday, would keep overall non-emergency spending levels essentially flat, coming in at $705.4 billion including a base of $636.5 billion and a combined Overseas Contingency Operations augment of $69 billion. The fiscal 2020 budget total was $712.6 billion, including $8 billion in "emergency" funds that, among other things, supported President Donald Trump's request for border wall funding. It's not clear yet whether an emergency funding augment would be added to this year's bill; it was not included in Monday's request.

The Defense Department request would make up the majority of an agreed-upon $740 billion overall spend for defense, including funding for other agencies. That topline was set by a budget agreement set last summer.

Related: More Army, Navy Families Unhappy with Housing in Wake of Scandal

The active-duty force is slated to grow some 5,500 troops on net, with Space Force gaining a founding cadre of 6,400, all of which are transferring from the Air Force. The Navy will add some 5,300 sailors while the Marine Corps sheds about 600; the Army is looking to increase its strength by 900 "to achieve the strategic readiness required to support the NDS," a Defense Department budget request overview document states.

For personnel, the budget includes a 3% pay raise, following on the heels of 2020's 3.1% raise. While the request funds a gradual repeal of the Survivor Benefit Plan/Dependency and Indemnity Compensation offset -- known colloquially as the "Widow's Tax" -- and continues to resource efforts to create a merged electronic health record for patients within the Defense Department and Department of Veterans Affairs, it also contains a surprising $114 million drop in funds for military family housing, from $1.465 billion to $1.351 billion. That comes on the heels of a 2019 scandal in which reporting revealed dangerous mold and vermin in privatized military housing, prompting a new tenant's bill of rights and housing inspections across the military.

The request does, however, include a $54.6 million year-over-year increase in "Military Housing Privatization Support," a bump of 82%, according to documents, to add staff, improve quality control and increase training, among other things.

"We recognize the Department has had a lapse in oversight, giving ride to concerns about the health, safety, and welfare of residents living in privatized housing," DoD officials said in the overview document. "These concerns deserve immediate action to ensure our Service members and their families receive quality housing, fair treatment, and greater accountability from both the Department and our housing privatization partners."

'Night Court' and New Investments

Subtitled "Irreversible Implementation of the National Defense Strategy," the new budget request includes $1 billion worth of "Night Court" divestments of aging and lower-priority programs, including the Navy's first four littoral combat ships, four ballistic missile defense cruisers, and 24 Air Force Global Hawk drones. It then increases research and development of new technology by more than $2 billion in a dramatic gesture of support for an NDS that emphasizes preparation for near-peer competition, with China and Russia as primary threats. Among investment priorities is an accelerated hypersonic weapons capability, with plans for the Army to field and test-fire the first prototype hypersonic battery by 2022 and "[field] combat rounds" by fiscal 2023.

The Air Force, meanwhile, will take point on development of a team tasked with helping U.S. military weapons and systems communicate with each other across domains on the battlefield, better networking the services and preparing the Defense Department to deploy more unmanned and autonomous systems into the fight. The request includes $435 million toward this effort.

A clear winner in the budget is space operations, which total $18 billion, including nearly $15.5 billion, most of it transferred from the Air Force, to stand up Space Force, funding nearly 10,000 uniformed and civilian personnel and including $111 million to fund and maintain service headquarters and field centers. The lion's share of Space Force funding, however -- $10.3 billion -- is earmarked for research, development, test and evaluation.

"The U.S. Space Force will invest in developing space power doctrine; space education and training; space concepts of operations; space tactics, techniques and procedures; space intelligence; and space personnel management," according to the overview.

Nuclear Deterrence Spending

Elsewhere, the Air Force's Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent program, set to replace the nation's current nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile arsenal, will see investments tripled, with $1.5 billion requested, up from $600 million enacted this year. The budget would also buy the first Columbia-class nuclear submarine, with $4.4 billion invested in that program -- set to replace the current Ohio class -- up from $2.4 billion this year.

The Navy will also see continued investment in shipbuilding, though at reduced levels, down $20 billion from $24 in 2020. The 2021 request buys a total of eight ships, including two additional large unmanned surface vessels as the service invests in a future fleet of drone and lightly manned ships. Among other ship purchases are another frigate, with a design expected to be chosen this year; two Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers; a Virginia-class submarine, and a San Antonio-class amphibious ship. The request also saves the carrier Harry S. Truman from a previously planned mid-life retirement, setting a refueling for the ship instead beginning in 2025.

The Army and the Marine Corps will together buy more than 2,400 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, spending $1.5 billion on that emerging capability, while the Marine Corps will spend $521 million on 72 amphibious combat vehicles, set to replace aging amphibious assault vehicles. In addition, the Army will continue to spend on its close combat lethality programs, with a doubled investment of $111 million on its next-generation squad weapon, set to replace the Army's M4A1 carbine and M249 squad automatic weapon.

Funding for warfighting and security efforts in Afghanistan and against ISIS and Iraq and Syria is decreased slightly, with the entire Overseas Contingency Operations request down $2.3 billion from 2020. Despite the vaunted defeat of ISIS forces and recent efforts to pull back U.S. troops in northern Syria, the "Counter-ISIS Train and Equip Fund" request is only down fractionally, from $1.2 billion to $900 million.

Officials noted that budget reductions tend to lag behind presence reductions due to "the fixed, and often inelastic, costs of infrastructure, support requirements, and in-theater presence to support contingency operations."

"The training, equipment, and operational support in this request will secure territory previously held by ISIS and prevent its reemergence," the overview notes.

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.

Read More: Special Forces Soldiers Killed in Afghan Firefight ID'd, Promoted
Natalie Portman was turning heads last night at the Oscars ceremony for her outfit, but not for the reasons one might think.

Natalie Portman at the 92nd Academy Awards | Steve Granitz/WireImage

Her Dior ensemble did all the talking for her, and heres what it had to say.

What Portman wore to the Oscars last night

The 38-year-old decided to mix message with fashion at the Academy Awards this year, wearing a custom-made Christian Dior gown.

Embroidered on Portmans gown were the last names of the seemingly endless list of women directors, not one of whom was nominated for an Oscar this year, including Lorene Scafaria, Hustlers; Lulu Wang, The Farewell; Greta Gerwig, Little Women; Marielle Heller, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood; Melina Matsoukas, Queen & Slim; Alma Harel, Honey Boy; Celine Sciamma, Portrait of a Lady on Fire; and Mati Diop, Atlantics.

Its not the first time the Black Swan star has used the occasion of the Oscars ceremony to make a statement for female filmmakers. The 2018 Golden Globe Awards chose only male directors for the Best Director category. The Oscar winner made sure to let the Hollywood Foreign Press know of her displeasure. While announcing the Best Director nominees, with filmmaker Ron Howard standing by her side she said, Here are the all-male nominees.

The mother of two told the Los Angeles Times of her gown last night, I wanted to recognize the women who were not recognized for their incredible work this year in my subtle way.

Twitter loved Portmans gesture

Many on Twitter were supportive of her statement. One tweet said, Natalie Portman wearing the names of women directors who werent nominated at this years Oscars is too good.

Another said, One of my favorite actresses plus she stands by her convictions #NataliePortman So have to respect her latest action. Natalie Portman wears cape with names of women snubbed by Oscars.

#NataliePortman has the best dress hands down, a fan gushed. She embroidered female directors who werent nominated. You cant beat that.

One of the more surprising snubs

One of the directors honored on Portmans gown is Little Womens Greta Gerwig.

Upon being overlooked in January for a nomination for Best Director, the 36-year-old simply took the high road. Gerwig didnt tweet or Instagram her disappointment.

Instead, she put aside her own lack of recognition when the Oscar nominations were announced to cheer the films having been selected for six other categories: Best Costume Design, for which designer Jacqueline Durran won a statuette last night; Best Adapted Screenplay; Best Original Music Score; Best Supporting Actress for Florence Pugh; Best Actress for Saoirse Ronan; and Best Picture.

I am brimming with happiness  thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you (thats six!) to the Academy, Gerwig wrote in a statement at that time.

The films producer, Amy Pascal, told Vanity Fair at the time, I can say I wish it had been otherwise, but thats not what shes saying. [Gretas] saying, my actors got nominated, they recognized the beautiful screenplay she did  We all followed her. She was in every single part of all of these nominations.
As cool as the character of The Mandalorian is, he ended up playing second fiddle in his own show. Oh, sure, hes the lead and all, but few would dispute that most of the buzz centered around Baby Yoda. And that buzz will continue into Season 2 of the Disney+ show.

However, there is arguably another star that upstaged the Mandalorian, and this one is an inanimate object. Its the droid, IG-11, who made a big splash in the first episode before sacrificing himself in the finale.

Just as Marvel fans want the late Tony Stark to come back, Star Wars fans want the late IG-11 to come back. And they have a pretty prominent player in their corner.

The life, death, rebirth and death of IG-11

Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni | Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney

IG-11 was the same type of battle/hunter droid that OG Star Wars fans remember from The Empire Strikes Back as part of the motley crew that aimed to hunt down Han Solo, although the Mandalorians forebear, Boba Fett, was ultimately successful.

In the first episode of The Mandalorian, he was a sharpshooting bounty hunter who briefly helped the title character fight off a horde of adversaries. Then they both found Baby Yoda. When it became clear IG-11 aimed to kill The Child, the Mandalorian took him out  or so he thought.

IG-11 returned in the penultimate episode of the first season, when he had been reprogrammed to care for Baby Yoda. The image of IG-11 as a maternal figure amused many viewers.

When it became clear that IG-11 would resort to his impressive sharpshooting skills, fans cheered. Ultimately, however, IG-11 blew himself up so that our heroes could escape. Theoretically, its hard for droids to recover from an explosion.

Taika Waititi wants IG-11 back

Would Taika Waititi direct a #StarWars movie? "Obviously I would, but Im going to just settle for IG 11 being the hero of the entire season" https://t.co/TthvIv2p6C pic.twitter.com/uFZooYjKyh  Variety (@Variety) January 13, 2020

IG-11 is important to Taika Waititi for two reasons. First, the New Zealand actor/director provided his voice. Second, Waititi directed the final episode of season 1, in which IG-11 made his noble sacrifice. Or at least what passes as noble for a droid.

In an interview with TheWrap, Waititi said, I feel we just need to start a petition because I think that character, really, he held up the entire season, didnt he? From episode one all the way through, he was the hero.

OK, so Waititi engaged in a bit of playful hyperbole, as is his style. If the petition exists, its not easily findable yet. Even if it did, such petitions routinely get ignored, largely because their reach exceeds their grasp. Petitions on file for The Mandalorian include Kill Off Baby Yoda, Call The Mandalorian the Baby Yoda Show and Stop Rian Johnson from effecting (sic) The Mandalorian.

Sometimes droids are at least as compelling as humans

Robots have a long history of upstaging their human counterparts in the movies. This has been going on as early as 1927, with Maria the robot emerging as one of the most compelling figures of Fritz Langs silent milestone Metropolis.

In Stanley Kubricks classic 2001: A Space Odyssey, the menacing ships computer HAL murders all but one member of the crew, and many people noted that the red-eyed villain was more compelling than the humans in the movie. And that was probably Kubricks point.

So it goes with Star Wars. Its initial appeal was that the story was told from the point of view of secondary characters, C-3PO and R2-D2. That was a device George Lucas borrowed from Akira Kurosawas The Hidden Fortress. Many people felt the most memorable character in Rogue One was the sarcastic K-2SO, so one could say Star Wars was carrying on the old tradition of droids being livelier than their makers.

Whether this means IG-11 can come back remains to be seen. Its more likely that another IG droid will take his place, and that Waititi will voice him too. At least droids dont complain when theyre renamed or killed off. Humans are known to do that.
REUTERS

Donald Trump has said he will not reduce Medicare or social security spending in 2021  despite proposing cuts worth billions of dollars this year.

The president tweeted: "We will not be touching your Social Security or Medicare in Fiscal 2021 Budget. Only the Democrats will destroy them by destroying our Country's greatest ever Economy!"

The pledge contrasts with his 2020 budget, which proposes savings worth $1.9 trillion on Medicare (which mostly helps the elderly), Medicaid (which supports poorer people) and other programmes for vulnerable people. The budget also proposes spending $26 billion less on social security.

The president said these savings would come from cutting waste and fraud and from an improving economy that left fewer people needing aid.

However, when the proposed budget cuts were announced in March 2019, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called them "a gut punch to the American middle class".

There was speculation that the administration wanted the cuts to help fill the gap caused by Mr Trump's tax cuts for the wealthy, as well as a 5 per cent increase in military spending and $8.6 million for his border wall.

In an interview with CNBC in Davos, Switzerland, last month, Mr Trump acknowledged he was still considering cuts to safety net programmes, saying: "At some point they will be."

We will not be touching your Social Security or Medicare in Fiscal 2021 Budget. Only the Democrats will destroy them by destroying our Country's greatest ever Economy!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 8, 2020

He said: "At the right time, we will take a look at that", adding that "we're going to look" at cutting Medicare.

In 2016 he had said he would not touch social programmes, providing a stark contrast with his more fiscally conservative rivals for the Republican nomination.

Story continues

His latest intervention comes with healthcare one of the most important issues in November's presidential election.

Among the Democrats vying to take Mr Trump on, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are pushing for universal healthcare systems while centrists like Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg want less far-reaching reforms.

Last month a doctor was filmed confronting Mike Pence about proposed health cuts when the vice-president made a campaign stop at a diner in Des Moines.

Rob Davidson, who has 20 years of experience in a rural west Michigan ER, told the vice president he was worried about plans to cut Medicare and about the roll-out of cuts to Medicaid.

The vice president looked perplexed and replied that he didn't know about cuts to Medicaid before saying that when he was governor of Indiana, the state got a waiver from the Obama administration, allowing it to expand Medicaid coverage.

Read more

Trump publicly admits he fired White House official as retaliation

Photo of Trump's orange face prompts ridicule and Panda comparisons

Russian far-right leader asks to honour Trump acquittal at Mar-a-Lago

How did Trump's victory in 2020 become such a sure bet?

Trump's most eyebrow-raising lines from jobs event-turned-rally
Counting staff during the Irish General Election count at the Nemo Rangers GAA Club in Cork, Ireland. PA Photo

Throughout all the political noise of a knife-edge election, a fading rally for Irish bonds is sending a signal to investors: it's a good time to get out.

The debt has been the second-best performer in the euro area since Leo Varadkar agreed a Brexit breakthrough with the UK last October.

While there may not be a big knee-jerk sell-off if there's a change of leader, investors question whether near record-low yields now justify the risks.

The shape of a ruling coalition of the election is hanging in the balance thanks to Sinn Fein's poll surge. While both of the parties that have ruled since independence have said they will not deal with Sinn Fein, it is unclear what coalition could emerge. And there's still an end-year deadline to agree a Brexit trade deal.

"I doubt the relative value will again improve very much," said Henning Schnurbusch, a money manager at Cologne-based Monega Kapitalanlagegesellschaft, who was bullish on Irish bonds in 2019.

Bloomberg
Puzzles hub



Visit our brain gym where you will find simple and cryptic crosswords, sudoku puzzles and much more. Updated at midnight every day. PS ... We would love to hear your feedback on the section right HERE
JAKARTA, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Indonesia's state tin miner PT Timah is expected to increase refined tin output this year by around 5% annually, corporate secretary Abdullah Umar Baswedan said on Monday.

"This year, the target will increase slightly from the realised output (in 2019). Maybe around 5%, but we are monitoring the price condition," he told reporters.

Timah, a world's major tin exporter, is yet to release its 2019 results, but Baswedan said output last year was estimated at around 65,000 to 70,000 tonnes. (Reporting by Bernadette Christina Munthe Writing by Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Kim Coghill)
National Reference Laboratory (NRL), part of Mubadalas network of world-class healthcare providers, delivered educational talks and workshops for laboratory professionals at the recently concluded Medlab in Dubai, UAE.



NRL experts spoke in eight of the conference tracks, providing unparalleled education and management solutions to help diagnostics excel.



NRL also organized two CME-accredited workshops where, alongside its experts, prominent figures from the international pathology sector were invited to speak.



Abdul Hamid Oubeisi, chief executive officer of NRL, said: We are very pleased to support the education of current and future laboratory technicians, physicians, and other healthcare professionals in the laboratory field, through our partnership with Medlab.



We have proved our standard of excellence many times over, with a total of 28 successful inspections in 2019 for the entire NRL Network, including CAP, ISO 15189, ISO 22870, JCI, and the American Association of Blood Banks. The level of expertise we brought to these workshops and talks is exceptional, ensuring laboratory professionals heard from the worlds best in the field to advance their skills and improve lab services, and ultimately contribute to excellence in patient care.



One of NRLs workshops covered laboratory accreditation, providing an update on laboratory standards and accreditation requirements and an overview of the regulation and challenges facing medical laboratory professionals.



Another NRL workshop on laboratory quality management, in partnership with the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI), shared practical solutions for laboratory-developed tests, implementing auto-verification and the tools necessary to maintain and sustain assessment, audits, and inspections to achieve successful accreditation.  TradeArabia News Service
Four persons, who had recently returned to Jharkhand's Ranchi and Jamshedpur from China, have tested negative to novel coronavirus, health department officials said on Monday.

Blood and swab samples of the four persons were sent for tests to two state-run medical colleges in Jharkhand and Pune's National Institute of Virology and reports from all the institutions verified they were not infected, a statement issued by the health department said.

A total of 19 persons have recently returned to the state from China and other countries where coronavirus has spread and they have been advised 28 days 'home isolation', it added.

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




By Jung Min-ho







Three Korean citizens in mainland China were confirmed to have been infected with the new coronavirus, the Korean government said Monday.





Kim Gang-lip, deputy head of the central disaster headquarters, told reporters that three members of a family staying in Qingdao, in the country's eastern province of Shandong, have tested positive for the virus, which has killed 904 people and infected nearly 41,000 in 29 countries over the past few weeks.





"The World Health Organization and the Chinese government notified on Sunday that they were confirmed to be infected," Kim said.





The three  a father and his two children  are "in a stable condition" and have been treated at a local hospital, he said. The man is the spouse of a Chinese woman who was confirmed to have been infected with the virus on Jan. 31.





The government has no plan to bring the patients back to Korea. "As we are responsible for foreigners infected with the virus here, it is the Chinese government's responsibility to take care of those in China," Kim said.





He said the government will closely monitor the patients' conditions and, if necessary, help them through the South Korean Consulate in Qingdao.


Hyderabad, Feb 10 : A college student was found murdered with her throat slit at her residence in Telangana's Karimnagar town on Monday, police said.

According to police, an unidentified person killed the 17-year-old with a kitchen knife. The Intermediate First Year (Class 11) student of a private junior college was alone at her residence.

Her parents, both daily wage workers, found her murdered when they returned home in the evening.

Police rushed to the scene and shifted the body for autopsy. Clues team and dog squad were pressed into service.

A police officer said they did not find many clues but gathered some fingerprints.
The winding roads of rural Normandy were reminiscent of Ireland and meandered between thick hedgerows, easing around bends to reveal new sights and pleasant people.

An older woman was on her knees, a folded sack beneath, wielding a sickle in the grass of a 'long acre' alongside a small house. Cut, gather, cut, gather - all with a careful rhythmic action. Each tuft of grass was important and valued.

In Ireland, even then, this verge would be deeply scored by tyres and muddied with the detritus of speeding wheels.

The woman's harvest was gathered in neat piles - tiny cocks to become food and bedding for goats and rabbits, visible in their hutches near the house, and domestic fowl pecking and scratching in their free-ranging. I stopped to bid a kindly word on the industry, extending an Irish blessing on the work.

The following day, in a nearby town, there were live rabbits for sale, along with fowls, also live, and eggs and a variety of vegetables in a market.

This was not today nor yesterday, I hasten to add. That countryside and its peaceful ways may have changed; mini milk cans for easier hoisting may be no longer in use; and old women are perhaps not on their knees cutting grass.

But Normandy came back to me in a book of stories sent to me, written by an Irish woman who has spent most of her teaching career in France. Her name is Mary Byrne, she lives in the Midi and her tales - set in rural France and urbane Paris - are amusing and at times breath-taking.

John McGahern had a "dead bird in a chimney" in one of his set pieces. Mary Byrne has a human so ensconced, his presence revealed when a boot, complete with foot, falls into a fireplace.

Mary Byrne has taught English at university in France, her student years in Ireland being at St Louis in Monaghan and UCD. Her book, Plugging the Causal Breach, is published by Regal House, at 14.60.

I had once spent some time away from media cutting scrub timber with a chainsaw. My regular companion, like the old woman in Normandy, used to harvest the road verge outside his cottage with a scythe.

As he got older, a farmer neighbour would cut his roadside meadow and bale it, which my friend would sell on. Some of the proceeds would go towards a regular drop in the village pub where I regularly joined him after a hard day's work logging wood for winter fires.

Those were the days!
Kia Motors is suspending production at its three car plants in South Korea due to a shortage of auto parts, a company official said on Monday.

Production at its Gwangju and Sohari factories will be suspended on Monday and Tuesday, the official said, adding the company will monitor the availability of auto parts in order to determine whether to resume production after that.

Kia's Hwaseong factory halted output on Monday and is expected to resume production on Tuesday, he added.
The fifth edition of India-UK joint military exercise 'Ajeya Warrior' will be conducted at Salisbury Plains, United Kingdom from February 13 to 26, the Army said on Monday.

The exercise will comprise of 120 soldiers each from Indian and United Kingdom Army who would be sharing their experiences gained during conduct of various counter insurgency and counter terrorist operations in the past.

"The aim of this exercise is to conduct company level joint training with emphasis on counter-terror operations in urban and semi-urban areas. Training on modern weapon systems, equipment and simulator training have also been planned," Army spokesperson Colonel Aman Anand said here.

The exercise is conducted alternatively in United Kingdom and India.

"The joint military exercise displays a bilateral willingness to work jointly and share operating procedures to deal with a situation in a specified operational setting. Exercise Ajeya Warrior will promote defence cooperation and enhance interoperability while sharing experiences between both the armies," the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
02/02/2020

MSN.com

By Meghan Bartels

Photographing an alien planet is incredibly difficult. Now try doing it from a massive balloon high in Earth's atmosphere.





That's the task Christopher Mendillo, an astronomer at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and his colleagues have tackled with a project called PICTURE-C, which made its first test flight in September 2019. That flight was never going to capture an image of an exoplanet  but it could pave the way for a future mission to do just that. Mendillo recounted the successes and challenges of the test flight earlier this month at the 235th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Honolulu.





"We were able to demonstrate everything we wanted to demonstrate," Mendillo later told Space.com. "We met all of our success criteria, we had a great flight, everything worked."





Related:The Biggest Alien Planet Discoveries of 2019





Scientists have never seen most of the 4,000 exoplanets discovered to date: these worlds are just passing shadows or invisible dance partners of their stars. Directly imaging a planet is difficult because such objects are so much fainter than but so close to their stars: Astronomers have to block out the starlight without losing sight of the planet.





That's the promise of direct imaging, and the sort of work that Mendillo hopes a system like PICTURE-C could do, perhaps about five years down the line if all goes well. That future instrument would need to be able to latch very precisely onto a specific star, blot it out, revisit it after studying other targets and reveal a planet, all through some of Earth's blurring atmosphere.





From, you'll recall, a massive balloon. The direct imaging that has been done to date has used massive telescopes on the ground. And many dreamed-of future space telescopes will follow the same approach, but not for at least a decade. Suborbital, balloon-lofted instruments might bridge that gap, Mendillo and his colleagues say.





"It's sort of unanswered question," he said of the potential for such research. "We know we can do it from space, we know what we can do on the ground. No one's ever done a balloon before. We think that we can do really compelling science from a balloon, but we're not sure."





And so they're finding out. Mendillo first worked on two similar projects that launched on sounding rockets that don't reach orbit. But such a flight can only ever give an instrument a few minutes to work, which isn't long enough for direct imaging.





So the team turned to a balloon unlike any you've ever seen. It inflates to 400 feet (122 meters) across and takes 3 hours to climb to an altitude of about 127,000 feet, or 24 miles (39 kilometers). And there, it hovers.





Well, it's more complicated than that. The launch site, which is located in New Mexico, only operates in the late summer and early autumn. The weather has to cooperate with winds that won't snatch the balloon away. The balloon must set off around dawn, but the instrument can't study the stars until night falls, making the flight a 28-hour workday for the team.





Retrieving the data requires that the PICTURE-C apparatus jettison the massive balloon and parachute toward land, ideally someplace soft. "We can watch it falling, which is really fun," Mendillo said. "It's nosediving and swinging all around and doing all this violent, very fast swings that you never thought your telescope would do as it skydives."





But PICTURE-C's first flight went smoothly, Mendillo said, and overall the team is pleased with how the telescope performed. (An onboard camera even spotted a meteor as a bonus.) For next flight, they'll turn on a system they flew and tested but did not connect, which will block additional starlight and improve the telescope's images.





The scientists also discovered one key issue they'll need to fix, an interfering vibration that prevented the rig from gathering more than 6 minutes of data at a time. With that addressed, the telescope should be able to stare at any given star for a few hours at a time.





That should be long enough for PICTURE-C to spot features like asteroid belts, dust rings and perhaps particularly bright planets. The team has a list of a half dozen nearby, bright stars that seem to sport such accessories that the telescope may be able to image during its next flight. "No one's actually taken a picture of these dust rings or planets before," Mendillo said. "That's the goal."





PICTURE-C and its successors could not just fill the time before space-based direct imaging is a reality, Mendillo said, but could also prepare engineers for those missions. NASA's Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) will carry a technology demonstration mechanism to block starlight, and two of the four missions NASA is considering to launch in the 2030s would rely on such technology to meet their science goals.





"Actually being able to build something that's autonomous," Mendillo said, "that can fly on its own, that can survive the environment and have all the systems operating together in a place where you can't go in and turn a screwdriver if you need to  all the lessons you learn developing a system like that are applicable to building a space mission."
Four men and two women, including Prince Charles's favourite clergyman, will today sit in judgment in an anonymous office in the Whitehall edifice that houses the Treasury on the most contentious set of peerage nominations for a generation.

Over the years, dozens of people have seen their dreams of being draped in ermine evaporate after the confidential deliberations of the powerful House of Lords Appointments Commission.

Since 2000, when the commission was set up by the Blair government, no prime minister has ever opposed any of its recommendations on whether someone is fit to be a peer or not.

Apart from the former Speaker John Bercow, no one will be awaiting their verdict more keenly than Karie Murphy. As one of Jeremy Corbyn's most trusted confidantes, the fiery redhead became perhaps the most powerful woman in the Labour Party.

Jeremy Corbyn and Karie Murphy outside the Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, in 2017

Yet despite helping to engineer Labour's worst result since 1935 as Corbyn's chief of staff, Murphy has been rewarded by her boss with a nomination for a peerage. To say her elevation to the Upper House would be controversial is a colossal understatement.

Within days of the news breaking that Murphy, 56, would be on the dissolution honours list to mark the end of the last parliament, an email was sent to the commission  composed of Lord (Richard) Chartres, the former Bishop of London and close friend of Prince Charles, and five others including a Labour, Lib Dem, and Tory peer, as well as a Lord Lieutenant in Northern Ireland.

The message  from an unnamed former Labour Party staffer who worked with Murphy  was clear, concise and to the point.

'Karie Murphy', said the author, is 'completely unfit' to be a member of the House of Lords. The former Labour employee added that evidence could be provided of her 'aggressive behaviour' which should disqualify her from being made a peer.

The appointments commission does not have the power to veto a peerage on its own account.But it sends advice to the Prime Minister of the day after examining whether the 'past conduct of the nominee would not reasonably be regarded as bringing the House of Lords into disrepute'.

The past conduct of Karie Murphy, who for three years was Corbyn's all-powerful chief of staff in the Commons, is facing criticism on a second front.

A three-page letter, sent anonymously by more than 20 Labour staffers, has described a 'divisive and toxic' culture of 'bullying and intimidation' by senior management in Corbyn's office. The letter was sent in December 2018 to Jennie Formby, the general secretary of the Labour Party and a close ally of Corbyn, and signed '20+ staff members from the Leader's office'.

A copy was passed to the Huffington Post website. And while it never actually named Murphy, several of those who endorsed it told the political website that it related specifically to her.

Controversy has been sparked by reports that the Labour leader is nominating his former chief of staff Karie Murphy for a peerage

A spokesman for Murphy denied she was aggressive or a bully. Pointing out that Murphy was part of a management team, he said that she was not identified by name or position in the letter and that there were six members of the senior management team, none of whom is mentioned in the anonymous letter, against whom the allegations could be directed.

Separately, a dozen former and current staff members, again speaking on condition of anonymity, talked to the Huffington Post about their alleged experiences of bullying at the hands of Murphy. They all insisted that they were supporters of Corbyn's leadership and policies.

The litany of allegations included: pushing a member of staff by the neck and pinning them against a wall; reducing a junior member of staff to tears at a Christmas party after a 15-minute tirade of screaming and shouting; swearing and shouting at staff who were perceived to have made errors; disclosing to staff that female colleagues had suffered miscarriages; telling colleagues, inaccurately, that other staff had mental health problems or were drunks; and managing Corbyn's office through 'a culture of fear'.

Murphy strongly denies all of these allegations and has pointed out that in all her time working in Mr Corbyn's office she never had any formal or informal complaints brought to her about her behaviour.

But it's not just the complaints of bullying, all of which Murphy vehemently denies, which could sink her ambition to become a peer. The Jewish Labour Movement (JLM), which this year celebrates 100 years of affiliation to the Labour Party, has also complained about her.

Jeremy Corbyn, in the Commons last week, has been made to wait over his controversial decision to nominate John Bercow, Karie Murphy and Tom Watson for peerages

'Ms Murphy's nomination is deeply inappropriate and must be rescinded immediately,' it says. 'Jeremy Corbyn is using his final weeks in office to reward failure.'

The JLM is critical of Murphy over the party's failure to deal with hundreds of allegations of anti-Semitism that are now the subject of a major investigation by the Equality And Human Rights Commission (EHRC). The only other political party which has been investigated by the EHRC is the far-Right British National Party.

As the allegations of anti-Semitism flooded in, Murphy demanded Corbyn's office had oversight of the most sensitive complaints. This led to the charge that his staff interfered with decisions on suspensions and expulsions of party members.

The JLM is not alone in its concerns on this issue. The anti-racist group Hope Not Hate has also called for Murphy's peerage to be halted until the EHRC completes its investigation. The organisation's chief executive Nick Lowles wrote to the commission to flag up his worries.

'A submission by the Jewish Labour Movement to the EHRC included allegations that complaint processes lacked independence from the Leader's Office, that staff in the Leader's Office denied anti-Semitism was an issue and that individuals, including Karie Murphy, appointed staff members with a known history of anti-Semitism,' he wrote.

Over the years, dozens of people have seen their dreams of being draped in ermine evaporate after the deliberations of the House of Lords (pictured) Appointments Commission

'An informed decision as to the ennoblement of Ms Murphy is not possible until such time that the EHRC has fully considered all allegations against her and come to a determination as to her culpability with regard to the issue of anti-Semitism within the Labour Party.'

Once again, a spokesman for Murphy said that any statement that she had interfered with decisions on suspensions and expulsions of party members was untrue.

There is no doubt that Murphy has her supporters. Indeed, there are some who would go so far as to say she is a model colleague. But what is undeniable is that she is a deeply divisive figure.

Fresh evidence of the dysfunctional nature of the Leader's Office  where Karie Murphy was a key player came in September last year, with the resignation of Andrew Fisher, Corbyn's influential head of policy.

Labour sources say Murphy's move out of Corbyn's office was a response to the row that erupted after Andrew Fisher announced that he was quitting, citing a 'lack of professionalism, competence and human decency' in an explosive email which was leaked to the Press.

Jeremy Corbyn has nominated John Bercow for a peerage despite Boris Johnson snubbing the controversial former Speaker

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell was furious that Fisher, who was highly respected, was quitting. 'He now had the ammunition to move against Murphy,' said the source.

The following month, Murphy was abruptly moved out of Corbyn's office and into the party HQ on the orders of McDonnell. The switch was designed to ensure Murphy was kept out of harm's way but it backfired when the General Election was called only weeks later.

Murphy seized control of the campaign, which was run from Labour HQ. Some MPs who lost their seats blame her for refusing to take heed of clear indications emerging from northern and Midlands seats about Labour's disintegrating vote.

They accuse her of pumping resources instead into seats she thought the party would capture from the Tories. One Labour MP told me: 'Karie was fighting the 2017 election campaign all over again when Corbyn fared much better than expected. This time we gained only one seat, Putney, and lost 60. It was down to her. It was her strategy.'

During the presentation of an internal report on the election to the party's National Executive Committee last month Murphy defended herself by producing a document claiming that the role of community organisers was 'directly attributable' to winning Putney.

Her behaviour attracted ridicule from opponents. 'It's often said that history is written by the victors,' said Wes Streeting, the MP for Ilford North and a long-time Corbyn critic. 'But in this case it is very clear that history has been rewritten by the losers, who are more interested in covering up the litany of failure that they have presided over rather than providing the Labour Party with an open, honest account of what has gone wrong.'

So who is Karie Murphy? Born in Glasgow in 1964, she was a nurse for 25 years. A passionate champion of the NHS, in 2017 she revealed that she had once donated a kidney at Guy's Hospital in London to help a desperately ill child she had never met. She made the decision after watching a 'profoundly moving' TV advert appealing for organ donors and required hospital treatment after catching an infection from the procedure.

She married William Cullen in Cambuslang in 1991 but they split up around 20 years later. Their two grown-up children, Roisin and Ryan, live with their father. A staunch socialist, she rose to be chair of the Scottish Labour Party and came to national attention for all the wrong reasons in 2013 when she attempted to secure the Labour Party candidacy in Falkirk.

The selection process hit the headlines when she was suspended from the party and reported to the police by Labour officials over allegations of trying to fix the selection in conjunction with Unite, the trade union.

Unite supported her candidacy but she withdrew from the process despite being cleared by an internal inquiry.

Tom Watson, who Murphy worked for at the time, quit as the party's general election co-ordinator at the height of the dispute.

It was in 2016 that she was parachuted into Corbyn's office and began steadily to consolidate her grip on the party machine.

When David Prescott, who worked in Corbyn's office, was accused of sexual misconduct by a Labour MP in 2017, Murphy stepped in to block his suspension. Prescott, whose father John was Deputy Prime Minister under Tony Blair, denied the allegations. No formal complaint was pursued and he returned to his role in the party.

After Peter Willsman, a member of Labour's National Executive Committee and friend of Corbyn, was accused of harassing a young woman staffer, leaked emails suggest Murphy blocked a formal inquiry. In an internal email, she wrote: 'I am happy to discuss this matter with him directly if appropriate. This is not a matter to be managed under the sexual harassment policy. I am sure someone having a word with PW would easily correct this.'

Initially, Murphy was given credit for professionalising Corbyn's chaotic political operation but her combative approach was soon winning her more detractors than admirers. She formed a powerful double act with Len McCluskey, the general secretary of Unite, one of the most vocal supporters of Corbyn's leadership.

They have been linked romantically and were photographed holding hands while celebrating New Year in 2018 at the luxury Loch Fyne Hotel in Scotland.

In June last year they were seen at a five-star Villa Magna hotel in Madrid before the Champions League final between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool.

And Murphy has also been seen going into the block of flats where McCluskey lives near London Bridge. Only last month, and despite the appalling election result, she was handed even more power by Jennie Formby, a Corbyn ally and general secretary of the Labour Party.

Murphy took over the role of executive director for governance, membership and party services at a time when thousands of new people were joining before the January 20 deadline for a vote in the Labour leadership contest.

The Unite executive is backing Rebecca Long-Bailey, seen as the Corbyn continuity candidate. If Long-Bailey triumphs, it's widely expected that Murphy will keep her job. But if front-runner Sir Keir Starmer succeeds, it's thought she will be out, which is why a new berth in the House of Lords would suit her.

First, she has to overcome the objections raised in that letter to the House of Lords Appointments Commission.

Murphy's legal team has released supportive statements from some of her colleagues to try to see off the bullying allegations.

Joe Bradley, who worked closely with her and is now operations director for the Rebecca Long-Bailey leadership campaign, said: 'These allegations are absolutely ridiculous.

'Karie was a great manager from day one. She always made sure I had the support and guidance that I needed, in some incredibly difficult circumstances.'

Amy Jackson, Corbyn's former political secretary and a close colleague of Murphy, added: 'I've worked with Karie for years. She has consistently been incredibly supportive of me, and has always offered advice, guidance and help.'

A spokesperson for Murphy said: 'These are vicious smears falsely generated to feed a media determined to damage the Labour Party and Ms Murphy personally.

'It is categorically untrue to say complaints were made about Ms Murphy by existing Labour staff. It is categorically untrue to claim Ms Murphy is a bully. In four years of working with the leader of the Opposition office our client has not had any formal or indeed informal complaint brought to her under two general secretaries of the Labour Party.'

Whether Murphy becomes a peer is still open to question. The decision lies in the hands of the little known House of Lords commission, chaired by the Northern Irish peer Lord Bew. It will be up to him and his colleagues to decide whether the complaints are credible and serious enough to cost Murphy the ermine she craves.
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As primary season continues, troubling questions and palpable dismay linger on the minds of many voters. The same tired fights of 2016 are playing out yet again four years later, as Donald Trumps approval rating creeps higher while the Democratic unity looks like a pipe dream. Defeating Trump was always going to require a once-in-a-generation campaign. Now, its beginning to feel like Trump could run away with this thing. What happened?

Think back to the summer of 2019. The field of 20-odd contenders was a rowdy and diverse lot, a true cross-section of the modern Democratic Party. Senators and House members, governors and mayors. Young and old, black and white and Asian and brown, gay and straight. They were, as DNC Chairman Tom Perez said, the most diverse field in our nations history.

More from Rolling Stone

But by the time of the first primary contest, the field had shrunk to a mostly old, mostly white, mostly wealthy crop of established candidates who  apart from Mayor Pete Buttigieg  could scarcely claim to represent something new. At the same time, two billionaires, Tom Steyer and Mike Bloomberg, had bought their way into the top tier of candidates by spending hundreds of millions of their private fortunes.

They wanted a big, fluid, multicultural field  they didnt get it, says Jeff Roe, a Republican political consultant who ran Ted Cruzs 2016 presidential campaign. They wanted a new generation of leadership  they didnt get it. They didnt get any of the things they wanted.

And that was before the calamitous Iowa caucuses denied any of the candidates the springboard theyd hoped for, like the one that propelled Obama in 2008. Instead, the story out of Iowa was about how the Democrats  who hold themselves out as the defenders of safe and secure elections  bungled a caucus they had four years to prepare for and damaged the publics trust in the outcome. Whatever the opposite of hope and change was, well, this was it.

Story continues

The chaos of Iowa did, however, make the strongest case yet for why the Democratic Partys primary process must be revamped from top to bottom. Here are four ideas.

Replace Iowa with Georgia

Why invest so much money and manpower in a small, overwhelmingly white state with little significance in the November general election? If Democrats want to build the party of the future, they should replace Iowa with Georgia. A growing and diversifying state with a healthy mix of urban and rural populations, Georgia is already seen as a state that could turn purple, thanks in large part to the voting-rights work led by Stacey Abrams. Want to accelerate Georgias leftward shift? Make Georgia the first primary state in 2024. Two-dozen presidential candidates building grassroots organizations and spending tens of millions of dollars on advertising will do wonders in Georgia.

Get rid of the debates

Lets face it: Primary-season debates do more harm than good. Candidates dont have enough time to adequately explain their positions on nuanced issues. News organizations that host the debates care more about conflict and ratings than informing the public. And in the case of the 2020 race, the DNCs debate rules penalized grassroots candidates (like Andrew Yang) and non-East Coast candidates (like Govs. Jay Inslee of Washington and Steve Bullock of Montana) who didnt have high name recognition. Save the debates until the general election. Stick with town halls or issue-focused forums. At least that way voters will learn something.

Reward states that make it easy to vote

Democrats should reshuffle the order of their primary states and reward those states that make it easy to vote. Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina  three of the four opening contests in 2020  all have some of the most restrictive voting-rights laws in the country. The Democratic Party must reward the states that use automatic or same-day registration, secure voting technology, early voting, and mail-in ballots.

Demand candidates take a Ban the Big Money pledge

As long as Republicans have power, Congress wont lift a finger to rein in the legalized bribery and corruption unleashed by decades of misguided legal decisions, including Citizens United. In the meantime, Democrats should demand that their primary candidates vow that they wont take money from Super PACs, use wealthy bundlers, or accept corporate money. Such a pledge would build trust with voters, give upstart candidates a fair shot, and make the Democratic Party responsive to the working people it claims to represent.

Whoever the Democratic nominee is, the usual choice between turning out the base versus winning over swing voters is a false one. Trumps re-election campaign is spending vast sums of money to not only mobilize those who voted for him last time but to also find and register millions of new voters. Democratic operatives say it will take a multiracial movement like the one that elected Obama in 2008 to inspire Democrats and independent voters alike. Theres a lot of headroom both for Trump and for the Democratic nominee, Ben Wikler, chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, says of the 2020 race. Its going to be radically different from 2016.

The point of a presidential primary is to pick a nominee and set up that candidate for success in the general election. This time around, it can feel as if the opposite has happened. Win or lose in November, a reckoning is in order.

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CONCERNS around the coronavirus outbreak drove global dairy prices lower last week, but prices didnt fall as far as feared.

Key whole milk powder (WMP) prices slid 6.2pc, while overall prices fell a more moderate 4.7pc.

However, speaking to the Farming Independent Nate Donnay, Director of Dairy Market Insight at INTL FCStone since the auction powder prices in the US bounced higher and some slight firming in spot prices in the EU.

Coronavirus continues to spread, and cases probably wont peak until April or May, but a combination of supply concerns in New Zealand and traders waiting to get a feel for actual demand impacts gave some support to prices this week, he said.

Donnay added that history has taught us that our fear tends to take over while were in an outbreak and we tend to overestimate the impact.

For reference a 3pc change in New Zealand milk production is a 5-10pc change in global dairy prices. So some mildly adverse weather in one of the major dairy exporting countries could quickly negate any negative price impacts of this outbreak, he explained.

These sentiments were echoed by Nathan Penny analyst with ASB bank in New Zealand, who said Chinese buyers were still active, with the number of buyers from North Asia bang on the average number for the last three months.

Nonetheless, we remain vigilant. The outbreak situation is very fluid and, with that in mind, dairy price implications are subject to change. Over the coming days, we will monitor the dairy futures market for further market developments ahead of the next auction in two weeks time, he explained.

Penny also said traders had also begun to return our gaze to New Zealand drought conditions.

In particular, the key Waikato region is very dry in parts, while the Taranaki, Northland, Nelson and parts of Canterbury are also very dry.

If drought conditions continue to worsen over coming weeks, dairy prices have the potential to swing quickly back the other way, he said.
Truong Thi Mai, Politburo member and head of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committees Commission for Mass Mobilisation, speaks at the opening ceremony of the 29th International Book Fair of Havana in Cuba on February 6th. (Photo: VNA)

Mai, who is also Chairwoman of the Vietnam  Cuba Friendship Association, led a high-ranking Party delegation to pay a working visit Cuba and attend the 29th International Book Fair of Havana, in which Vietnam is a guest of honour, from February 4th to 8th.

While in Cuba, Mai had meetings with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez; President of the Cuban National Assembly of Peoples Power Esteban Lazo Hernandez; Second Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba Jose Ramon Machado Ventura and Secretary General of the Cuban Womens Federation Teresa Maria Amarelle Boue.

Head of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committees Commission for Mass meets with President of the Cuban National Assembly of Peoples Power Esteban Lazo Hernandez. (Photo: VNA)

At the meetings, she affirmed Vietnams consistent stance to support Cubans revolutionary cause and struggle for an immediate and unconditional end to the economic, trade and financial embargo against Cuba.

Cuban leaders spoke highly of the visit and thanked Vietnam for its presence at the book fair which kick-started a series of activities in the coming time to mark the 60th anniversary of the Vietnam  Cuba diplomatic relations (December 2nd, 1960  2020).

Mai holds talks with Second Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba Jose Ramon Machado Ventura. (Photo: VNA)

They reiterated the Party, State and people of Cuba attach importance to the relations with Vietnam and want to further strengthen the long-standing ties and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, States and peoples.

They congratulated the Party, State and people of Vietnam on the successfully implementation of resolutions issued by the CPVs 12th National Congress and hoped for the success of the next congress, to be held in 2021.

In her remarks at the launch of the International Book Fair of Havana on February 6, Mai highly valued the effort of the Cuban Party and State for organising such a significant cultural event in the time of hardship.

The presence of Vietnam as a guest of honour is a chance for the two countries to enhance the mutual understanding and cultural exchange, and to beef up the bilateral ties.

She and Cubas high-profile leaders cut the ribbon to launch Vietnams pavilion at the fair which features over 700 books and 2,000 publications in different languages, including Vietnamese, Spanish, and English./.
Michelle Obama has talked about the marriage counselling sessions she attended with Barack, saying it helped them to work through tough times after their daughters were born.

She was speaking to Oprah Winfrey at Barclays Center in New York on Saturday in front of a crowd of 15,000 people when she opened up about the ups and downs of her marriage to the former president.

She said counselling helped her to discover that she was responsible for her own happiness.

"Sometimes you need an objective person to just hear you out. If Im going to show up equal in this partnership, I have to be able to make myself happy and so I had to stop focusing on what he wasnt doing and start thinking about how to carve out the life that I wanted for myself, with or without Barack.

"The more I succeeded in defining myself for myself, the better I was in my partnership."

Michelle Obama's most empowering quotes Show all 10 1 /10 Michelle Obama's most empowering quotes Michelle Obama's most empowering quotes On the key to a successful marriage In our house we dont take ourselves too seriously, and laughter is the best form of unity, I think, in a marriage. On Live with Regis and Kelly in February 2011. Getty Images Michelle Obama's most empowering quotes On not underestimating yourself "You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world's problems at once but don't ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own." In a speech to schoolgirls at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School in North London in April 2009. Getty Images Michelle Obama's most empowering quotes On inspiring young people I want our young people to know that they matter, that they belong, so dont be afraid. You hear me? Young people, dont be afraid. Be focused, be determined, be hopeful, be empowered Lead by example with hope, never fear, and know that I will be with you, rooting for you and working to support you for the rest of my life. In her final White House address in January 2017. Getty Images Michelle Obama's most empowering quotes On double standards regarding parenting When a father puts in long hours at work, hes praised for being dedicated and ambitious. But when a mother stays late at the office, shes sometimes accused of being selfish, neglecting her kids. At the "Let Girls Learn Event" in Madrid, Spain in June 2016. Getty Images Michelle Obama's most empowering quotes On the importance of diversity in film and TV For so many people, television and movies may be the only way they understand people who arent like them I come across many little black girls who come up to me over the course of this 7 years with tears in their eyes, and they say: Thank you for being a role model for me. I dont see educated black women on TV, and the fact that youre first lady validates who I am.' In an interview with Variety in August 2016. AFP/Getty Images Michelle Obama's most empowering quotes On maintaining hopeful following the election of Donald Trump See, now we are feeling what not having hope feels like, you know. Hope is necessary. It is a necessary concept. What do you give your kids if you cant give them hope? In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in December 2016. Getty Images Michelle Obama's most empowering quotes On motherhood "My most important title is 'mom-in-chief'. My daughters are still the heart of my heart and the centre of my world." At the Democratic National Convention in September 2012. AFP/Getty Images Michelle Obama's most empowering quotes On championing women's education Men in every country need to look into their hearts and souls and ask themselves whether they truly view and treat women as their equals. And then when you all encounter men in your lives who answer no to that question, then you need to take them to task. You need to tell them that any man who uses his strength to oppress women is a coward, and he is holding back the progress of his family and his country. In a speech at the summit of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, July 2014. Getty Images Michelle Obama's most empowering quotes On dealing with bullies When someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you dont stoop to their level. No, our motto is, when they go low, we go high. At the Democratic convention, July 2016. Getty Images Michelle Obama's most empowering quotes On the meaning of success "Success isnt about how your life looks to others. Its about how it feels to you. We realised that being successful isnt about being impressive, its about being inspired." In a speech at the Oregon State University commencement, June 2012. Getty Images

She said she tries to get across to young people just how difficult a partnership can be: "Marriage is hard and raising a family together is a hard thing. It takes a toll."

With an empty nest - Malia, 21, is at Harvard University and Sasha, 18, is at the University of Michigan - they now have more "emotional time, emotional energy".

"We had to worry about what parties they were going to, whether there was alcohol, I had to know who the parents were, so every weekend for me was hard. And theyre gone, thank God.

"We have more emotional time, emotional energy. Its just me and him and [dogs] Bo and Sunny and dinner. And they dont talk, the dogs."

Her marriage comments ended on an uplifting note, in which she said friendship is at the heart of their relationship.

 Michelle Obama reads things she couldnt say as First Lady with Jimmy Kimmel

"Were coming back to that point where we see each other again because some of the hardest times in our lives we just escaped, we survived it.

"We went through a tough time, we did some hard things together. But now were out on the other end and I can look at him and I still recognise my husband. Hes still the man I fell in love with."

The couple met at a law firm in Chicago, and will celebrate their 28th anniversary on October 3.
Tom Hanks last night announced Hollywood's long-awaited $388m Oscars museum will open in December but questions remain over how it will present movie titans hit by sex-scandals.

'It's going to be a very big deal,' Hanks told the 92nd Academy Awards. 'We'll see you there.'

And in the history of the Academy, Roman Polanksi, Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein are among its biggest deals, despite their infamy in the #MeToo era.

The Academy, which recently had a 'woke' revamping of its membership - considered too old, too white - is now faced with how to present their histories in its Museum of Motion Pictures.

The academy 'will explore the full scope of film history including conversations around such issues as the #MeToo movement,' a spokesman told The Hollywood Reporter.

Designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, the museum is housed in a historic building - the Saban Building formerly home to the May Company department store - and will feature six floors that include exhibition spaces, a cafe, a store, plus a 1,000-seat theater.

The museum will present the narrative 'within contexts that are complete, thoughtful and transparent,' he added.

'It's going to be a very big deal,' Tom Hanks told the 92nd Academy Awards. 'We'll see you there'

However, others expect the Academy to skirt around the issues, particularly as many of the exhibits were donated by older members. A source told The Hollywood Reporter: 'The question is: Will the person who donated the artifact have a say in how it's presented?'

Among the many exhibits that will feature are Dorothy's famed ruby slippers from 'The Wizard of Oz,' a copy of a script annotated by Gregory Peck for the 1962 drama 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' the doors to Rick's Cafe Americain from 'Casablanca' and the typewriter used to write Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho'.

Brandeis University professor Thomas Doherty has warned the museum not to 'whitewash' Hollywood's darker underbelly. 'That's Stalinism, where you erase somebody,' he told the Hollywood Reporter.

The professor compared the achievement of the Nixon Library, which celebrates the president's achievements while devoting a section to Watergate, to the Clinton Library, which omits the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, the museum is housed in a historic building - the Saban Building formerly home to the May Company department store - and will feature six floors that include exhibition spaces, a cafe, a store, plus a 1,000-seat theater.

As well as Hanks, several other A-listers have been involved in the project, including Annette Bening and Laura Dern, who have hosted fundraising events and drummed up support both at home and abroad.

View of the David Geffen Theater located in the Sphere Building during the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Media Tour in Los Angeles, California, on February 7, 2020

Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences Museum during a press tour earlier this month

The museum will open with a retrospective devoted to Miyazaki, whose animation masterpieces include 'Princess Mononoke' and the Oscar-winning 'Spirited Away.'

This was in a bid to give the museum an international, cosmopolitan feel from the outset, to show it was not just about Hollywood or US movies.

The retrospective is to be followed by an exhibition on the history of African-American filmmakers and their contribution to American cinema.
The central and state governments aren't able to assess what they'll earn through GST in the whole year, Sitharaman said

Kolkata: The Centre has informally proposed to the GST council that rationalisation of rates be done once in a year and not every three months, as the present system was bringing in a certain level of uncertainty for both the government and the business, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said here on Sunday.

"In GST, when you have come to certain level or grade, periodically changing it leads to inversion problems, refund issues, and so on. So, therefore, when one item's rate of taxation is brought down, a lot of other ripple effect is created, and with that, either the refund gets affected, or businesses rightly feel they cannot plan how much they have to keep aside for taxation in a whole year," Sitharaman told a media meet here.

She said at the same time, the central and state governments aren't able to assess what they'll earn through GST in the whole year.

"So, rate reduction or increase every three months, when the GST council meets, is periodically bringing in a certain level of uncertainty. Now we literally proposed to the GST Council, not formally, but as part of a small discussion, we have said can we consider a situation where once in a year alone we would do any rate rationalisation reduction or increase, and everything else, and not every three months," she said.

Sitharaman also denied that the GST collections have been coming down.

"It has not come down. There was just once when it dipped," said the Union minster.

She said over the past three months, the exact amount of collection each month has crossed Rs 1 lakh crore.

In January, the collection was Rs 1.11 lakh crore.

"So, rate reduction or increase every three months, when the GST council meets, is periodically bringing in a certain level of uncertainty.

"Now we literally proposed to the GST Council, not formally, but as part of a small discussion, we have said can we consider a situation where once in a year alone we would do any rate rationalisation -- reduction or increase, and everything else, and not every three months," she said.

Sitharaman also denied that the GST collections have been coming down.

"It has not come down. There was just once when it dipped," said the Union minster.

She said over the past three months, the exact amount of collection each month has crossed Rs 1 lakh crore.

In January, the collection was Rs 1.11 lakh crore.
Hours after voting concluded for the Delhi assembly elections on Saturday evening, all electronic voting machines (EVMs) were escorted to 21 designated counting centres. Security was tight, with personnel from the Delhi Police as well as armed paramilitary commandos providing multi-layered cover.

Senior police officers said each of these centres will be guarded by at least 200 security personnel until counting day on February 11 (Tuesday). On Counting Day, their strength will be doubled.

Unauthorised vehicles and individuals will be kept away from these heavily barricaded centres, said an officer privy to the security details, but not authorised to speak to the media, said.

On Saturday, around 42,000 Delhi Police personnel, along with 190 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) were deployed to maintain law and order during polling. Along with this, 19,000 Home Guards were also deployed to assist the forces.

On Saturday night, alleging irregularities, the Aam Admi Partys (AAPs) Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh tweeted a video and wrote, election commission must take note of thisthe EVMs are being unloaded at a place where there is not centre.

The video showed people carrying what looked like EVMs deboarding a Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) bus. The video does not specify the area, nor does Singh in his tweet.

The above quoted police officer, however, said everything was followed as pero protocol.

Delhi CEO Ranbir Singh said, the machines being taken to the strong rooms were reserve machines, which did not have any votes polled in them.

At Babarpur, the sector officer was taking two sets of reserve machines to the strong rooms, for which tow different locations were assigned. However, since the lanes leading to the location were too narrow and a car could not be taken up to that point, the officer had to cover the distance of around 500 metres on foot with the machines. When he came back for the second set of machine, some people ghearoed him. The machines were checked and kept in the strong rooms, which were sealed in the presence of polling agents of political parties, Singh said.

A senior police officer said that soon as polls concluded, EVMs were escorted to the 21 designated counting centres amid heavy security. Paramilitary personnel escorted the machines with the help of Delhi Police that assisted them in all possible ways. Traffic police were also roped in to ensure a smooth passage to the vehicles carrying the EVMs. The task took hours and was completed till early morning Sunday without any glitch, the officer said.

The officer said all these centres where the strong rooms have been set up for counting of votes that is scheduled for Tuesday, are being heavily guarded.

The inner cordon and strong rooms are being guarded by the CAPF personnel and Delhi Police are providing security on the outer periphery of these centres. Two hundred Delhi police personnel will be available at each of these centres. All the centres have been heavily barricaded so that no unidentified vehicle can reach close to these centres. No individual will be allowed inside unless he or she shows the authorization given to them by the election commission, he said.

Deputy commissioner of police, Sharat Sinha said the strength of Delhi Police officers at each centre will go up to at least 500 personnel on the day of counting, including senior officers of the rank of assistant commissioner of police. Apart from this, any accessory, stationery, equipment, computers, refreshments that need to be taken inside the centres will be scanned thoroughly for any possible threat or violation, Sinha added.

Another police officer, who did not wish to be named, said officers from the polices special branch will also be deployed around the counting centres. Apart from them, the crime branch officers will also keep an eye on the surrounding areas to ensure no criminal activity in the vicinity.

Police Control Room vans will also be stationed at every centre in adequate number so that in case of any untoward incident, immediate conveyance is available.

Drones will be used for surveillance if need be. Senior police officers from the districts can decide if drones need to be used around counting centres in their areas, the officer said.
Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has said that Facebook users should delete their accounts, calling the social media site lame.

The billionaire owner of Tesla and SpaceX tweeted the #DeleteFacebook hashtag in response to British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, a vocal critic of Facebook.

Baron Cohen had tweeted: We dont let 1 person control the water for 2.5 billion people. We dont let 1 person control electricity for 2.5 billion people. Why do we let 1 man control the information seen by 2.5 billion people?

Facebook needs to be regulated by governments, not ruled by an emperor! he added, accompanied by a doctored photo of Mark Zuckerbergs face on a Roman statue.

Musk replied: #DeleteFacebook Its lame.

Elon Musk, pictured, has clashed with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg over AI in the past

Elon Musk tweeted in reponse to comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who said 'Facebook will run any political ad you want, even if its a lie'

The #DeleteFacebook hashtag has been trending since March 2018 when it was confirmed that Facebook had hired Cambridge Analytica to harvest personal private data from up to 87 million Facebook user accounts for advertising purposes.

Musk deleted the official Facebook accounts for Tesla and SpaceX the same month after being prompted by a Twitter user to do so.

I didnt realise there was one. Will do,' he said at the time.

Its not a political statement and I didnt do this because someone dared me to do it, he later tweeted regarding the decision.

Just dont like Facebook. Gives me the willies. Sorry.

He also said that his companies had never advertised with Facebook, nor had they advertised or paid famous people to fake endorse Tesla or SpaceX.

Product lives or dies on its own merits, he said.

I dont use Facebook and never have, so dont think Im some kind of martyr or my companies are taking a huge blow.

He added that Facebook-owned Instagram was still probably OK to keep running Tesla and SpaceX accounts so long as it stays fairly independent from its parent company.

Zuckerberg (pictured) has come under fire for his social network's handling of the privacy of its users

Before the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Elon Musk called Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerbergs understanding of artificial intelligence limited.

The two billionaires disagree on the subject of AI, with Musk warning of its dangers to the human race, and Zuckerberg calling people with such views naysayers, highlighting its potential to provide safer cars and diagnostic tools for illnesses.

I have pretty strong opinions on this. I am optimistic, Zuckerberg said in a Facebook Live broadcast back in 2017.

And I think people who are naysayers and try to drum up these doomsday scenarios  I just, I don't understand it.

It's really negative and in some ways I actually think it is pretty irresponsible.

In response, Musk tweeted: Ive talked to Mark about this. His understanding of the subject is limited.

The angry couples beef with each other can be traced as far back as September 2016, when a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded and destroyed a Facebook satellite that it was carrying.

We did give them a free launch to make up for it and I think they had some insurance, Musk later said.

Mark Zuckerberg hosted Elon Musk in his home for dinner back in 2014 to debate AI, according to the New York Times.

As for Sacha Baron Cohen, the comedian criticised Mark Zuckerberg and social networks as a whole, calling them part of the biggest propaganda machine in history in November.

If you pay them, Facebook will run any political ad you want, even if its a lie, the comedian said while accepting the Anti-Defamation Leagues International Leadership Award.

And theyll even help you micro-target those lies to their users for maximum effect.

Under this twisted logic, if Facebook were around in the 1930s, it would have allowed Hitler to post 30-second ads on his solution to the Jewish problem.'
Jessie Royer of Seeley Lake won the 300-mile Montana Race to the Sky Monday night, building on her legacy as the musher with the most wins in the annual sled dog race.

At 9 p.m., four of the other five mushers remaining in the race were all still resting at Whitetail Ranch for their mandatory six-hour rest. First among them to arrive was Gabe Dunham of Darby, followed by Clayton Perry of Choteau, Cindy Gallea and Damon Ramaker of Minnesota. Kevin Mathis of Monona, Iowa, was still almost 10 miles out.

Royer started her winning career in the Race to the Sky in 1994 at age 17 and continued with wins in 2015, 2016 and 2018. She still holds the record for youngest champion from her 1994 win. Seven of the last eight champions were also women.

"She has a level of understanding of the dogs people would only have a hope to have," Pam Beckstrom, race secretary, said about Royer's skills.

Royer is set to compete in her 18th Iditarod, which kicks off March 7 from Anchorage, Alaska. She placed third last year, bringing her career total Iditarod winnings to over $430,000.

Trail conditions were spectacular this year, according to Beckstrom. She credited the trail groomers for a nice hard-packed trail, she credited the volunteers for a well-marked trail and she credited Mother Nature for weather conditions conducive to a good sled dog race.

Three first-time Race to the Sky teams withdrew from the race Sunday: Jesse Flory of Hesperus, Colorado; Patrick Roy of Paradise; and Jed Stephenson of Sandpoint, Idaho. According to Beckstrom, some dogs on the teams were less experienced and tired quicker than expected.

"They all did great though and they all had a great attitude," Beckstrom said. "They usually end up going home, talk to other mushers, get encouraged and come back the next year."

In the 100-mile race, Josi Thyr of Seeley Lake placed first early Sunday at the Morrell Creek snowmobile parking lot near Seeley Lake. Thyr, originally from Cataldo, Idaho, was awarded the Jack Beckstrom Best Cared for Team Award.

"Every single 100-mile musher had a big smile on their face when they crossed the finish line," Beckstrom said.

Roy Etnire of Seeley received the Jack Beckstrom Sportsmanship Award for his work on the trail and sacrificing running time to help the Race to the Sky. Etnire, a two-time winner of the 100-mile race, finished seventh Sunday.

Charmayne Morrison, a 19-year-old Montana State University student from Polson, received the Rocky Mountain Triple Crown award. She competed in and finished the Eagle Cap Extreme 100 in Oregon in January and the Idaho Sled Dog Challenge in McCall, Idaho, two weekends ago before taking third place in Race to the Sky 100.

The Rocky Mountain Triple Crown is an effort by the three races to conform the rules of each race so people know what to expect going into them. The group is also planning a dog-mushing symposium in Missoula in September.

According to Beckstrom the last symposium they held was 18 years ago in Helena and it drew about 150 mushers from around the country.

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A prime accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, who is a close associate of the terror attack's key conspirator Tiger Memon, was arrested from the airport in Maharashtra's capital by the Gujarat ATS in a drug seizure case, a senior official said on Monday.

Munaf Halari was arrested from the Mumbai international airport on late Sunday night by a team of the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), he said.

The 55-year-old, travelling on a Pakistani passport, had arrived from Nairobi and was supposed to catch a Dubai- bound flight from Mumbai, said Assistant Commissioner of Police (ATS) K K Patel.

Halari is wanted in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts in which around 260 people were killed and more than 700 injured in what was one of the worst terror attacks in India.

Halari was on the radar of the Gujarat ATS following the arrest of five Pakistani nationals in January off the Gujarat coast with drugs worth Rs 175 crore, he said.

The questioning of the Pakistani nationals had revealed the role of Halari in drug smuggling, the ACP told reporters at Gujarat ATS headquarters here.

"Munaf Halari is also a prime accused in the Mumbai serial blasts case of 1993 in which a Red Corner Notice had been issued against him. He had played a vital role in the serial blasts.

"Halari is a close associate of Tiger Memon, one of the main conspirators of the serial blasts (Memon is yet to be arrested)," said Patel.

"Munaf Halari had procured three brand new scooters which were laden with explosives, of which one was parked at Zaveri Bazar (one of the blast sites in Mumbai).

"After the blasts, he first fled to Bangkok. Tiger Memon got a Pakistani passport prepared for Halari with the help of Pakistani authorities. His Pakistani passport is in the name of Anwar Muhammad," said the Gujarat ATS officer.

Though a RCN had been issued against him, Halari entered India two times on Pakistani passport after going into hiding in 1993, he said.

A Red Corner Notice is a kind of international arrest warrant for fugitives where Interpol requests its member countries to arrest or detain them, Patel said.

Halari last entered India in 2014 from Pakistan through the Wagah-Attari border in Punjab and visited Mumbai, from where he hails, he said.

The Gujarat ATS has seized his Pakistani passport, which was renewed two times by authorities in the neighbouring country, said Patel.

"With the help of Tiger Memon, Halari then settled in Nairobi, the capital Kenya where he started a business under his new identity of a Pakistani National.

"On instructions of Tiger Memon, he entered into the business of export-import of foodgrains. However, his main intention behind starting this business was to smuggle explosives and contraband into India," said the ATS officer.

The interrogation of the five Pakistani nationals arrested in January with drugs had revealed the consignment belonged to one Haji Hasan of Karachi, who was in touch with Halari, Patel said.

Hasan had even promised to smuggle explosives into Gujarat through the coast, said Patel.

The accused will be produced before a court for remand, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 40-year-old thief was lynched by angry residents of a village in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Monday.

His associate sustained injuries after he was also thrashed and attacked with stones by locals in Khativali village here, they said.

The incident took place around 3 am on Sunday when the two men, both hailing from Panchmahal in Gujarat, were trying to run away after breaking into some houses in the village and stealing items, police inspector Raju Vanjari said.

On spotting the two men, a local raised an alarm following which some other villagers also came out of their houses and chased the duo.

The two thieves, in a bid to scale a wall and jump over, fell down following which the villagers hurled stones and bricks on them.

The villagers then caught hold of the two men and beat them severely, the official said.

The two men were later taken to a government hospital where one of them, identified as Dinesh Mavi, was declared brought dead by doctors, Vanjari said.

Mavi's associate, who was injured in the attack, was undergoing treatment at the hospital, he said.

A case was registered against eight villagers under Indian Penal Code sections for murder and rioting, he said.

No arrest was made so far, the official said, adding that a probe was underway in the case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The boy complained of pain in his hands and back, and was taken to Childrens National Hospital, the report said. There, the respondent started to become disorderly and failed to follow the instructions of the officers. While officers were attempting to secure the respondent to the bed, the boy started to kick his foot and kicked one officer in the center of his chest, according to the incident report.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln will sponsor the first Panhandle Soil Health Workshop in Bridgeport next month. The half-day event will take place on March 3 from 8-11:30 a.m. in the Prairie Winds Community Center.

The workshop is intended to appeal primarily to farmers and ranchers, but also to crop consultants and anyone with an interest in soil, said Bijesh Maharjan, Soil and Nutrient Management Specialist at the UNL Panhandle Research and Extension Center, who is organizing it. Crop consultants will be able to receive continuing education units in nutrient management (2 CEUs) and crop management (1 CEU).

The idea for a soil health workshop was born out of numerous questions Maharjan receives on soil health, cover crops, how to build up the soil, and how to integrate crop and livestock production on the same land.

Maharjan said he hopes the event will start a conversation about soil health, and lead to potential topics for future meetings. He said he would like to hear from ag producers what theyve been doing, whats working for them  then hopefully what more they want to learn about.
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: 10 February 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 23,978 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 1,538 pence 19.90 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 1,532 pence 19.82 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 1,534 pence 19.85 USD Ticker: PSHD Date of Purchase: 10 February 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 15,994 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 19.83 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 19.82 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 19.83 USD Trading Venue: Euronext Amsterdam Ticker: PSH Date of Purchase: 10 February 2020 Number of Public Shares purchased: 26,686 Shares Highest Price Paid Per Share: 19.86 USD Lowest Price Paid Per Share: 19.80 USD Average Price Paid Per Share: 19.83 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 203,867,318 Public Shares outstanding, or 209,529,058 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 7,089,432 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/20200210005710/en/

Contacts:

Camarco

Ed Gascoigne-Pees Hazel Stevenson +44 020 3757 4989, media-pershingsquareholdings@camarco.co.uk
The Delhi High Court on Monday deferred to April 27 the hearing on Enforcement Directorate plea challenging bail granted to businessman Ratul Puri by a trial court in Moser Baer Bank loan matter.

Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar adjourned the hearing as the ED counsel was not available while the matter was taken up by the court. Senior Advocate Rajiv Nayyar and Advocate Vijay Aggarwal had appeared for Ratul Puri.

Last week, the ED had moved the Delhi HC, challenging bail granted to Puri by a trial court on December 13. In its plea, the ED had stated that Puri has influenced witnesses and bail should not have been granted at least till the examination of prosecution witnesses is complete.

ED further stated that the trial court Judge who granted bail has erred in holding that the apprehension that Puri would tamper with evidence appears to be far-fetched.

The entire record of the accused's company in custody of the official liquidator as the evidence of money laundering clearly do not form part of the record of the accused company as the siphoning has been done throughout of books sales, accommodation entries etc.

On December 13, a trial court had granted bail to Ratul Puri on Rs 5 lakh bail bond and two sureties of like amount. He was arrested by ED in the case on August 19 and since then was in judicial custody and agency custody till December 13.

He recently also was named an accused in Agusta Westland money laundering case.

Ratul Puri is the nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath. The ED had in October filed a charge sheet against businessman Ratul Puri in connection with Rs 354-crore bank fraud case. The plea is likely to come for hearing on February 10 in Delhi High Court.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had, in August earlier this year, filed a case against Puri, who is the former executive director of Moser Baer India Limited (MBIL), his father Deepak Puri and mother Nita Puri on a complaint filed by the Central Bank of India. Based on the complaint, the ED had arrested Puri on August 19. The bank had accused Moser Baer and its director of defrauding the bank of Rs 354 crores.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Aviation regulator DGCA has suspended a pilot of budget carrier IndiGo for threatening a passenger who had asked for a wheelchair for her mother.

The incident took place in January on a Chennai-Bengaluru flight. The incident came to light when the passenger later shared her ordeal on Twitter.

"The PIC (pilot in command) misused his authority in intimidating and threatening the wheelchair passenger... by saying that they will be handed over to CISF and a police case will be registered," the DGCA said in its communication on February 10.

Noting that the pilot was aggressive towards the female passengers, the regulator noted that the PIC also insisted on an apology letter, detaining them for over an hour. The DGCA then issued a show cause notice to the pilot.

After examining the pilot's reply, the regulator noted, it was established that the PIC's attitude was "intimidating, threatening and lacked compassion."

Union Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had responded to the passenger's request and the pilot was off-rostered.

After the incident, IndiGo had said: "We are aware of the complaint raised by a passenger on flight 6E 806 flying from Chennai to Bangalore last night. The matter is under internal review and necessary action will be taken. "
Here, the headline seasonally adjusted Business Activity Index sat at 46.8 in January, up from 44.2 in December (stock photo)

New results for orders and output in the private business sector here last month show signs of stabilisation with "near-term certainty" manifesting confidence.

According to data from the Ulster Bank Northern Ireland PMI, produced by the IHS Markit, the Northern Ireland private sector's business activity fell at a softer pace in January with firms raising their staffing levels for the second month running. Business confidence was at its highest in almost two years. The main findings in the survey pointed towards a softening decline and more promising future.

PMI is a number from 0 to 100. A PMI above 50 represents an expansion when compared with the previous month, while a PMI reading under 50 represents contraction, and a reading at 50 indicates no change.

Here, the headline seasonally adjusted Business Activity Index sat at 46.8 in January, up from 44.2 in December.

That fall was the softest since March 2019.

Analysing the results, Richard Ramsey, chief economist Northern Ireland, Ulster Bank, said: "Brexit and political uncertainty blighted the UK private sector in December, resulting in only one region, London, managing to record growth in output.

"January was a different story though, with nine of the 12 regions posting an increase in business activity last month and only one recording a fall in employment. Clearly the decisive General Election result and the passing of the Withdrawal Bill in Parliament provided a much-needed boost to business confidence.

"Unfortunately, Northern Ireland wasn't one of the nine UK regions to record business activity growth last month.

"However, the rate of decline did ease. And following 12 months of contraction, the fall in new orders appears to have bottomed out. This reflects, a notable pick-up in domestic demand, but concerningly the export orders slump continues.

"Despite the overall weak demand in Northern Ireland's private sector, the pace of hiring has picked up, driven by the services and construction sector. The services sector's improvement can also be seen in a return to growth in new orders."

Mr Ramsey said the restoration of the Executive has contributed to a boost in sentiment, with all sectors here anticipating growth in business activity in a year's time.

He said: "Construction firms are their most optimistic about the year ahead than at any time since the series began in March 2017. What is of course key though is the extent to which this increasing business confidence translates into rising business activity."

He said Brexit uncertainty was cited as the main factor behind a decline in business from abroad.
The days of enterprise security being a separate entity from mobile and desktop endpoint management are coming to an end, which should delight infrastructure and security teams wholl eventually have more powerful machine learning-enabled tools at their disposal  and a single console through which to control them.

Security around mobile and desktop infrastructures has traditionally depended on what's being managed; you purchase one for mobile devices and another for the rest of your endpoints, whether laptop or desktop.

While security threats are growing, particularly phishing attacks via email, SMS or hyperlinks, the amount of money companies spend on mobile security appears to be shrinking. And yet, the percentage of organizations that admit to having suffered a mobile compromise grew in 2019, according to a Verizon survey.

Two-thirds of organizations said they are less confident about the security of their mobile assets than other devices, according to Verizon's Mobile Security Index report. The 2019 survey included 700 small, medium and large companies.

Over the past year and a half, vendors have moved to more tightly integrate security with unified endpoint management (UEM), offering a more comprehensive strategy for securing all enterprise endpoints, according to Nick McQuire, a senior vice president of research at CCS Insights.

UEM involves products that provide a centralized policy engine for managing and securing corporate laptops and mobile devices from a single console. Essentially, UEM platforms represent the next generation of device management; in many ways, its a culmination of mobile device management (MDM), enterprise mobility management (EMM), mobile application management (MAM) and client management philosophies.

There are products now that have, or are close, to the single-console approach to unified endpoint and security management," said Phil Hochmuth, vice president of mobile research at IDC. "For smaller firms, or organizations with lean IT staffs, this consolidation is key. For larger organizations, role-based separation and access to features and dashboards will be important."

Machine learning now in the mix

Machine learning-based security is taking access to corporate applications and data to a new level, managing not only who can log into those systems through UEM platforms but continuously monitoring what employees are doing while using corporate apps and data repositories.

We absolutely believe the way the industry is moving forward is it shouldnt matter what kind of device you have, you should get an appropriate security policy based on the device and other contextual variables, such as who owns the device, where in the world youre located, what time of day youre accessing something, or if youre on a public W-iFi, said Rob Smith, a research director at Gartner.

Known as a "zero-trust" framework, end users are subject to pre-determined parameters that can discern their intentions based on their roles in the company; if their actions fall outside of the boundaries for safe behavior, system access can be cut off.

A lot of [threat detection] has to do with knowing what the device is, who the user is, the health of the device and making sure the user is tied to their credential and that credential is tied to the device, said Bill Harrod, federal CTO at MobileIron. Then its about being able to evaluate the risk in all those places.

In short, zero trust means being able to take proactive measures before an organization is compromised or loses a significant amount of data. While machine learning plays a part, companies also have to ensure they have trusted communication channels, meaning data is encrypted while in transit and at rest. That can help avoid common security issues, such as man-in-the-middle and ransomware attacks, Harrod said.

It also means "taking measures to quarantine [a breach] or stop continuous user authorization" because nothing can stop an employee from doing anything they want once they've input the correct credntials, Harrod said.

Zero trust relies on multifactor authentication, analytics, encryption and file system-level permissions; it includes dynamic enforcement of access rules, not only for a user's identity but also for their device and the context in which they're attempting access. The result is that users are given the minimum amount of access to accomplish a specific task.

While not a new concept, adding zero trust capabilities to UEM is at leading edge of device management, and enterprises should expect some, though not all, vendors to begin selling single-console products over the next year and a half, Smith said.

Gartner sees a convergence of management and security, however, they will remain separate buying centers, Smith said. But, there will be vendors such as Microsoft, VMware and BlackBerry wholl offer it as a single solution.

For example, VMware last year bought Carbon Black, a cloud security vendor whose product uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to protect endpoints through behavior recognition. In October, BlackBerry announced the availability of its mobile threat defense (MTD) product combined with its Unified Endpoint Management product  the result of its acquisition in 2018 of AI/ML security vendor Cylance.

Its taking time for those internal silos to break down between the security side and the UEM side to come up with singular products, Smith said. This is something that will evolve over the next 12 to 18 months, as these vendors take their existing management products and make them work with their new security companies.

Microsoft has essentially already merged its existing endpoint management and security products through its Office 365 E5 license, which includes ATP Defender and InTune  all under the Azure console.

Microsoft is only missing the MTD intelligence piece, according to Smith. But it's expected to integrate with several of the mobile threat defense venders, as it has with Lookout, and place their data directly into Windows Defender ATP.

However, the price leap from an E3 license to an E5 is quite big and really only adds security, so I dont think the same pressure [to buy a single-pane solution] will apply here  at least, not yet, Smith said.

How MOL Group tied security to mobile

MOL Group, an international oil and gas company based in Budapest, Hungary, supports about 4,200 employee devices for executives, office staff, truck drivers and delivery workers.

MOL currently provides corporate-owned iOS devices to its business managers, Windows phones to its office-based staff, and both Android and iOS tablets to field workers such as delivery drivers and maintenance workers. MOL also supports a BYOD deployment for employees who prefer to use their own devices at work.

Most of the companys apps are customized by third-party developers and support a variety of business tasks such as route planning and optimization for deliveries. The apps are securely deployed to iOS and Android devices through MobileIron AppsWork, an application library that also enables updates to be pushed to devices.

MOL employees use MobileIrons secure browser, WebWork, to access internal web resources and get approvals from their managers. And employees across the company can securely access and share files through SharePoint and internal company sites.

MOL said it has also improved mobile security by containerizing apps such as KiteWorks, WebWork, Email+, and DocsWork on mobile devices.

Before the company turned to MobileIron, employees would often save corporate documents to external hard drives to work on at home later. This put corporate data at risk because IT had no control over how documents were shared.

Mobile devices can now be configured and secured remotely, apps can also be silently installed, updated, or removed without any end-user intervention required. If an employee leaves the company, or if a device becomes compromised, IT can lock down or remotely wipe the device to ensure corporate data doesnt fall into the wrong hands.

Now we can identify all of the devices on our network, know who is connecting to which resources, and see which OS and app versions they are running, said Akos Danyi, senior expert of group office applications at MOL. This is essential to helping us control access to back-end resources and ensure that all devices are running the most current app and OS versions."

Even industry leaders are just now rolling it out

MobileIron and BlackBerry are currently two of the leading providers of UEM zero-trust solutions, according to McQuire.

For example, in November, BlackBerry added several zero-trust software updates to its flagship Enterprise Mobility Suite.

BlackBerry has had a security focus for some time  even before acquiring Cylance, said Jack Gold, principal analyst for J.Gold Associates. They are now porting those AI security features to the mobile device world from their previously PC-centric offering. They are also moving in a workspaces direction as they offer secured on-device access through secured browsers and [Office] 365 type access."

Single-console management isnt the ultimate benefit of unifying security and endpoint management, according to IDC's Hochmuth. The biggest benefit is the integration of data and analytics between endpoint management and security, which will be transformational, he said.

When vendors add artificial intelligence to UEM, it opens up the possibility of self-fixing end-user computing environments, and automated breach and vulnerability responses.

Beyond that, businesses can use this data to optimize and improve how employees with technology do their job. This can drive more efficiency, creativity and productivity and  ultimately  better business outcomes, Hochmuth said.
With BookExpo scheduled to begin May 27 in New York City, event organizer ReedPop has announced the lineup for the Adult Book & Author Breakfast set for May 28 as well as some upgrades to its bookseller grant program.

Moderating the breakfast will be radio host and MSNBC political analyst Zerlina Maxwell, whose new book of political commentary, The End of White Politics: How to Heal Our Liberal Divide, will be released by the Hachette Book Group in July.

Joining Maxwell will be Joy Harjo, the first Native American U.S. Poet Laureate, who will discuss the forthcoming When the Light of the World was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry. Harjo edited the book, which gathers the work of more than 160 poets representing nearly 100 indigenous nations. Also appearing at the breakfast will be bestselling horror writer Carmen Maria Machado, who will talk about her comic book debut, The Low, Low Woods, to be published by DC as part of horror maven Joe Hills Hill House Comics imprint.

With 2020 being an election year, U.S. Representative for Minnesota Ilhan Omar will join the panel to discuss her memoir, This Is What America Looks Like, set for released by Dey Street Books on May 26. The fifth member of the breakfast panel will be Rebecca Roanhorse, who will present her fantasy novel Black Sun, from Saga Press, the first installment of a new epic fantasy trilogy inspired by the Anasazi cliff dwellings and the Mayan and Aztec cultures.

Were humbled to be able to showcase such a powerful group of authors whose latest works come from such varied and meaningful perspectives, said Jenny Martin, event director of BookExpo in a statement. The Adult Book & Author Breakfast allows us to bring together important writers who reflect the current publishing climate, and I cant wait for out attendees to learn from their invaluable insights.

Martin also announced that Reed's Bestsellers Grant Program, aimed at making it easier for ABA members to attend BookExpo, will have some new features this year. Recipients will have their hotel covered for three nights at the official ABA Hotel, the Wyndham New Yorker, and will also receive $150 in UnBound Bucks to be used to place orders with any vendor within UnBound, the sideline show that will run concurrently with BookExpo.

Martin said early registration for BookExpo is encouraging, reporting that to date registration is up 70% over this time last year. The biggest drivers so far are a 200% increase in book club leaders, a 87% rise in the school education category, and a 56% increase in librarian registration. Bookseller is on par with last year, Martin said, noting that, given the timing of Winter Institute, we are just ramping up marketing to that group now.

BookExpo will start on Wednesday, May 27, with a day of panels, and the show floor will be open May 28-29. BookCon immediately follows BookExpo in New York's Javits Center, running May 30-31.
Galway city councillors have voted against giving an extra 2.5 million in funding to the Galway 2020 European capital of culture project.

A total of 11 councillors from a number of parties backed a motion not to give the extra funding after a two-hour debate on Monday evening. The extra monies had been sought for a number of city specific projects, including an international installation highlighting the migrant crisis by leading Chinese dissident artist Ai Wei Wei.

It was the second attempt by city manager Brendan McGrath to make a case for advancing sums of 1.25 million from the 2021 and 2022 city budgets. Mr McGrath said a full and exciting 2020 programme would still go ahead, as there was still a total budget of 39.15 million.

Galway city council had already committed 6 million and Galway County Council 4 million, while 15 million is coming from the Department of Culture. The project has failed to generate a targeted private sponsorship of 7 million.

Fianna Fail councillor Peter Keane, who had been critical of the lack of detail provided to councillors at a special meeting on the issue late last month, said there should be no more money for the project, and enough was enough.

Green Party councillor Pauline OReilly was also unhappy that no list of specific projects had been provided.

A city managers report for last months special meeting included a number of projects already in the programme published last September.

Galway 2020 chief executive Patricia Philbin said there were no figures yet in relation to the cost of the open air opening ceremony, which had to be cancelled due to Storm Ciara at the weekend.

Several councillors questioned the decision to select South Park in the Claddagh - known locally as the Swamp as it is on reclaimed land prone to spot flooding, even in summer.

Mr McGrath said that if the event had been planned for any location in Galway, it would still have had to be cancelled on public health and safety grounds due to the orange weather warning.

EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan formally handed over the European capital of culture to Mayor Cubbard at an indoor event on Saturday.

Bellringers wearing bulls' heads from the Croatian city of Rijeka, which is sharing the title with Galway, performed at the handover ceremony in the Galmont Hotel.

Galway 2020 chief executive Patricia Philbin said that the project was " disappointed" by the outcome of the city council meeting "but, as this weekend has proved, Galway 2020 is a very resilient project".
She's on the hunt for love on Married At First Sight, after having her confidence knocked following seven unfaithful past partners.

And on Monday night's episode, Mishel Karen revealed the very dramatic way she keeps herself 'looking youthful', as she continues her quest for romance.

Comparing herself to Star Wars character 'Darth Vader', the 48-year-old confirmed she wears a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine to 'open up her airways' every night as she sleeps.

Extreme: On Monday night's Married At First Sight, Mishel Karen (pictured) revealed the very dramatic way she keeps herself 'looking youthful' as she continues her quest for romance

'I get a lot more oxygen during sleep,' she gushed. 'I look a little bit like Darth Vader, but I believe that that keeps me youthful.'

According to The Sleep Foundation, the CPAP machine helps to subtly increase air pressure in the throat during sleep.

Benefits are said to include reduced daytime fatigue, improved focus and lower blood pressure.

'It's an amazing look when you wake up next to me!' Mishel laughed.

Uncanny: Mishel Karen compared her look to iconic Star Wars character Darth Vader (right), who was renowned for his eerie heavy breathing

Benefits: Benefits are said to include reduced daytime fatigue, improved focus and lower blood pressure

Mishel faced fresh heartache on the episode, hours after she was introduced to her new 'husband', Steve Burley, 51.

Things appeared to be going well for the pair during the ceremony, with barbershop owner Steve gushing over how 'lovely' Mishel was.

But everything changed at the reception when Mishel's daughter, Eva, learned that Steve had cheated on an ex-girlfriend years ago.

'I have cheated on somebody before,' Steve, 51, confessed.

'Get me out of here!' Meanwhile, Mishel Karen (pictured) and Steve Burley's wedding went from good to bad to catastrophic in a matter of hours

'That was about 18 or 19 years ago. It was a massive mistake and I wasn't proud of it. It will never happen again.'

Mishel, who has been betrayed by seven partners in the past, was devastated by the news, telling her children: 'Once a cheater, always a cheater.'

She burst into tears, before storming out of the venue yelling: 'Get me out of here!'

The Brisbane-based teacher, 48, had spoken to psychologist John Aiken about her previous relationships earlier in the episode.

Whoops: Things appeared to be going well for the pair during the ceremony, with barbershop owner Steve gushing over how 'lovely' Mishel was. But everything changed at the reception when Mishel's daughter, Eva, learned that Steve had cheated on an ex-girlfriend years ago

'I was married for almost 13 years. He cheated on me. Every guy, except for one, has cheated on me. How does this happen? I must be a dud,' she said.

'Seven [have cheated]! I've only dated eight. Why can't I meet a guy that just likes me? You lose trust in men, and it's heartbreaking.'

Married At First Sight continues Tuesday at 7:30pm on Channel Nine
A new method of interpreting brain activity could be used in clinics to help determine the best treatment options for depression, according to a Stanford-led trial.

Stanford researchers and their collaborators used electroencephalography, a tool for monitoring electrical activity in the brain, and an algorithm to identify a brain-wave signature in individuals with depression who will most likely respond to sertraline, an antidepressant marketed as Zoloft.

A paper describing the work will be published Feb. 10 in Nature Biotechnology.

The study emerged from a decades-long effort funded by the National Institute of Mental Health to create biologically based approaches, such as blood tests and brain imaging, to help personalize the treatment of depression and other mental disorders. Currently, there are no such tests to objectively diagnose depression or guide its treatment.

"This study takes previous research showing that we can predict who benefits from an antidepressant and actually brings it to the point of practical utility," said Amit Etkin, MD, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford. "I will be surprised if this isn't used by clinicians within the next five years."

Instead of functional magnetic resonance imaging, an expensive technology often used in studies to image brain activity, the scientists turned to electroencephalography, or EEG, a much less costly technology.

Etkin shares senior authorship of the paper with Madhukar Trivedi, MD, professor of psychiatry at the University of Texas-Southwestern. Wei Wu, PhD, an instructor of psychiatry at Stanford, is the lead author.

The paper is one of several based on data from a federally funded depression study launched in 2011 -- the largest randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial on antidepressants ever conducted with brain imaging -- which tested the use of sertraline in 309 medication-free patients. The multicenter trial was called Establishing Moderators and Biosignatures of Antidepressant Response for Clinical Care, or EMBARC. Led by Trivedi, it was designed to advance the goal of improving the trial-and-error method of treating depression that is still in use today.

"It often takes many steps for a patient with depression to get better," Trivedi said. "We went into this thinking, 'Wouldn't it be better to identify at the beginning of treatment which treatments would be best for which patients?'"

Most common mental disorder

Major depression is the most common mental disorder in the United States, affecting about 7% of adults in 2017, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Among those, about half never get diagnosed. For those who do, finding the right treatment can take years, Trivedi said. He pointed to one of his past studies that showed only about 30% of depressed patients saw any remission of symptoms after their first treatment with an antidepressant.

Current methods for diagnosing depression are simply too subjective and imprecise to guide clinicians in quickly identifying the right treatment, Etkin said. In addition to a variety of antidepressants, there are several other types of treatments for depression, including psychotherapy and brain stimulation, but figuring out which treatment will work for which patients is based on educated guessing.

To diagnose depression, clinicians rely on a patient reporting at least 5 of 9 common symptoms of the disease. The list includes symptoms such as feelings of sadness or hopelessness, self-doubt, sleep disturbances -- ranging from insomnia to sleeping too much -- low energy, unexplained body aches, fatigue, and changes in appetite, ranging from overeating to undereating. Patients often vary in both the severity and types of symptoms they experience, Etkin said.

"As a psychiatrist, I know these patients differ a lot," Etkin said. "But we put them all under the same umbrella, and we treat them all the same way." Treating people with depression often begins with prescribing them an antidepressant. If one doesn't work, a second antidepressant is prescribed. Each of these "trials" often takes at least eight weeks to assess whether the drug worked and symptoms are alleviated. If an antidepressant doesn't work, other treatments, such as psychotherapy or occasionally transcranial magnetic stimulation, may also be tried. Often, multiple treatments are combined, Etkin said, but figuring out which combination works can take a while.

"People often feel a lot of dejection each time a treatment doesn't work, creating more self-doubt for those whose primary symptom is most often self-doubt," Trivedi said.

Looking for a biomarker

The EMBARC trial enrolled 309 people with depression who were randomized to receive either sertraline or a placebo.

For their study, Etkin and his colleagues set out to find a brain-wave pattern to help predict which depressed participants would respond to sertraline. First, the researchers collected EEG data on the participants before they received any drug treatment. The goal was to obtain a baseline measure of brain-wave patterns.

Next, using insights from neuroscience and bioengineering, the investigators analyzed the EEG using a novel artificial intelligence technique they developed and identified signatures in the data that predicted which participants would respond to treatment based on their individual EEG scans. The researchers found that this technique reliably predicted which of the patients did, in fact, respond to sertraline and which responded to placebo. The results were replicated at four different clinical sites.

Further research suggested that participants who were predicted to show little improvement with sertraline were more likely to respond to treatment involving transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS, in combination with psychotherapy.

"Using this method, we can characterize something about an individual person's brain," Etkin said. "It's a method that can work across different types of EEG equipment, and thus more apt to reach the clinic."

Etkin is on leave from Stanford, working as the founder and CEO of the startup Alto Neuroscience, a company based in Los Altos, California, that aims to build on these findings and develop a new generation of biologically based diagnostic tests to personalize mental health treatments with a high degree of clinical utility. "Part of getting these study results used in clinical care is, I think, that society has to demand it," Trivedi said. "That is the way things get put into practice. I don't see a downside to putting this into clinical use soon."

Broad effort

When EMBARC was launched, it was part of a broader effort by the NIMH to push for improvements in mental health care by using advances in fields such as genetics, neuroscience and biotechnology, said Thomas Insel, MD, who served as director of that institute from 2002 to 2015.

"We went into EMBARC saying anything is possible," Insel said. "Let's see if we can come up with clinically actionable techniques." He didn't think it would take this long, but he remains optimistic.

"I think this study is a particularly interesting application of EMBARC," he said. "It leverages the power of modern data science to predict at the individual level who is likely to respond to an antidepressant."

In addition to improving care, the researchers said they see a possible side benefit to the use of biologically based approaches: It could reduce the stigma associated with depression and other mental health disorders that prevents many people from seeking appropriate medical care.

"I'd love to think scientific evidence will help to counteract this stigma, but it hasn't so far," said Insel. "It's been over 160 years since Abraham Lincoln said that melancholy 'is a misfortune, not a fault.' We still have a long way to go before most people will understand that depression is not someone's fault." (President Lincoln suffered bouts of depression.)

###

Other Stanford co-authors of the paper are postdoctoral scholars Yu Zhang, PhD, and Jing Jiang, PhD; former postdoctoral scholar Gregory Fonzo, PhD; neuroscience graduate students Molly Lucas and Camarin Rolle; research assistants Carena Cornelssen and Kamron Sarhadi; clinical research coordinator Trevor Caudle; former clinical research coordinators Rachael Wright, Karen Monuszko and Hersh Trivedi; and former neuroscience graduate student Russell Toll. All Stanford authors, including Etkin, are affiliated with Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Healthcare System and the Sierra Pacific Mental Illness, Research, Education and Clinical Center in Palo Alto.

Etkin is a member of the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford.

Researchers at South China University of Technology, the Netherlands Research Institute, Harvard Medical School, the New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University and the Netherlands neuroCare Group also contributed to the work.

Insel is an investor in Alto Neuroscience.

The EMBARC study data are publicly available through the NIMH Data Archive.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (U01MH092221, U01MH092250, R01MH103324, DP1 MH116506), the Stanford Neurosciences Institute, the Hersh Foundation, the National Key Research and Development Plan of China, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

The Stanford University School of Medicine consistently ranks among the nation's top medical schools, integrating research, medical education, patient care and community service. For more news about the school, please visit http://med.stanford.edu/school.html. The medical school is part of Stanford Medicine, which includes Stanford Health Care and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford. For information about all three, please visit http://med.stanford.edu.
Brexit trade talks have taken another twist after Sinn Fein unexpectedly emerged as the most popular party in Ireland in a move which could harm the UK's chances of striking a deal with the EU.

Sinn Fein stunned Dublin and beyond as it secured the most first preference votes and topped the polls in the vast majority of constituencies across the state.

It narrowly beat both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael - the two traditionally dominant forces in Irish politics - but none will win enough seats to secure a majority in the Dail parliament, setting the stage for coalition talks.

Sinn Fein's new found place at the heart of the battle for power will likely spark concern in Number 10 Downing Street because the party vehemently opposed the Brexit divorce deal.

It suggested that Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar gave away too much in the crunch talks with Boris Johnson last year which led to the updated divorce deal being agreed.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald celebrates with her supporters after being elected at an election count in Dublin

Leo Varadkar, pictured celebrating his re-election, is facing an uphill battle to stay on as Taoiseach after his Fine Gael party lost seats

It has also expressed concerns about what the deal could mean for cross-border trade between the Republic and Northern Ireland amid wider fears that UK divergence from EU rules in the future could harm the Irish economy.

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein have long called for a united Ireland and in its 2020 manifesto it pledged to 'start the planning for the Unity referendum'.

Brexit deal opposition and demands for a border poll could now become key issues as the main Irish parties try to figure out who will form the next government.

And even if Sinn Fein does not form part of the next administration its new found popularity will give it a much stronger voice as an opposition party, giving it a bigger platform to advance its agenda.

Crucially, all EU27 member states will have to ratify any trade deal struck between Brussels and Britain which means potential Sinn Fein opposition could hamper progress and reduce flexibility on what could be agreed.

Sinn Fein received 24.5 per cent of the vote share at the election while Fianna Fail got 22.2 per cent and Fine Gael 20.9 per cent.

Despite that, Fianna Fail remains best placed to secure the most seats, primarily due to Sinn Fein's failure to field enough candidates to capitalise on its unexpected surge at the polls.

Of the three, Fine Gael looks like being the big loser, with Mr Varadkar's party set to lose several seats.

He now faces an uphill battle to stay on as Taoiseach with his chances of clinging on appearing to be slim.

Smaller parties such as the Greens, Labour, the Social Democrats and Solidarity/People Before Profit, and a sizeable number of independent TDs, may all now be courted as the main parties seek junior coalition partners.

Sinn Fein's election win could prove a potential headache for Boris Johnson, pictured in Downing Street on February 5

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin yesterday declined the opportunity to repeat his pre-election pledge never to do business with Sinn Fein.

Though he later cautioned observers not to 'jump the gun' in interpreting his remarks as a signal an alliance with the party was in the offing.

Mr Varadkar was more unequivocal in his response, making clear his party's stance on not dealing with Sinn Fein remained unchanged.

Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald said she was willing to talk to all political leaders but expressed a desire to lead a coalition made up of left-leaning parties, without any input from Fianna Fail or Fine Gael, which are both centre-right in outlook
The ranking was determined using data from Walk Score, a Redfin company that rates the walkability of cities, neighborhoods and addresses. Cities where daily errands do not require a car score 90 points and above, a score of 70 to 89 points means most errands can be accomplished on foot and a score of 50 to 69 indicates that some errands can be completed on foot.

Below is Redfin's latest ranking of the top 10 U.S. cities (with populations of more than 300,000) for walking:

Rank City Walk Score Change in Walk Score from 2017 1 New York, NY 88.3 -0.9 2 San Francisco, CA 87.4 1.3 3 Boston, MA 82.0 1.0 4 Philadelphia, PA 78.8 -0.2 5 Miami, FL 77.6 -1.6 6 Chicago, IL 77.4 -0.4 7 Washington, D.C. 75.9 -1.5 8 Seattle, WA 74.0 0.9 9 Oakland, CA 73.8 1.7 10 Long Beach, CA 72.4 2.5

Biggest Walk Score changes

Since Redfin last published Walk Score rankings in 2017, Miami and Washington, D.C. each lost about 1.5 points, and New York lost about one, but each retained its place in the rankings.

Oakland; Long Beach, CA; Portland, OR and Omaha, which each picked up around two points, had the biggest Walk Score increases since 2017.

"A lot of my homebuying clients seek out walkable neighborhoods in Long Beach because it's a way to get a small-town feeling in a big city. In certain neighborhoods, people run into each other all the time because they're out running errands, walking the dog or keeping an eye on neighborhood kids playing outside," said local Redfin agent Costanza Genoese-Zerbi. "Second Street, Belmont Shore, Belmont Heights, Naples, Alamitos Heights and Belmont Park, all of which are within walking distance of schools, stores, restaurants and parks, have become more and more popular over the last few years."

Baltimore, which lost four points to hit 65, saw the biggest Walk Score decline of any U.S. city. It's followed by Bakersfield, CA and San Antonio, which each dropped three points to 34 and 35, respectively.

To read the full report, please visit: https://www.redfin.com/blog/most-walkable-us-cities-2020 .

For a ranking of the most walkable Canadian cities of 2020, visit: https://www.redfin.com/blog/most-walkable-canadian-cities-2020 .

About Redfin

Redfin ( www.redfin.com ) is a technology-powered real estate brokerage, combining its own full-service agents with modern technology to redefine real estate in the consumer's favor. Founded by software engineers, Redfin has the country's #1 brokerage website and offers a host of online tools to consumers, including the Redfin Estimate , the automated home-value estimate with the industry's lowest published error rate for listed homes. Homebuyers and sellers enjoy a full-service, technology-powered experience from Redfin real estate agents, while saving thousands in commissions. Redfin serves more than 90 major metro areas across the U.S. and Canada. The company has helped customers buy or sell homes worth more than $85 billion.

For more information or to contact a local Redfin real estate agent, visit www.redfin.com . To learn about housing market trends and download data, visit the Redfin Data Center . To be added to Redfin's press release distribution list, email [email protected] . To view Redfin's press center, click here .

SOURCE Redfin

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The Church of England could be forced to pay 200million to survivors of child sex abuse, its parliament is to be told.

The money is being set aside for restoration or redress to thousands of victims abused by bishops, clergy and lay helpers.

This huge bill is more than the annual sum spent running the C of E by its financial arm, the Church Commissioners.

The Church of England could be forced to pay 200million to survivors of child sex abuse, its parliament is to be told (stock image)

It could lead to major spending cuts and force the sale of some of the Churchs 8billion-worth of historic assets.

In papers for a meeting today of the C of E ruling body, the General Synod, the Rt Rev Peter Hancock, Bishop of Bath and Wells, says the Church is co-operating with the national Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

He admits its hearings have underlined the Churchs poor response to survivors of abuse.

The inquiry is due to make recommendations this summer and Bishop Hancock says these will inform next steps, including budget setting.

The money is being set aside for restoration or redress to thousands of victims abused by bishops, clergy and lay helpers (stock image)

He told the Synod two years ago that in 2016 the number of complaints had reached 3,300, around a fifth of them against clergy, and mainly from people who were abused as children.

The Church has struggled to cope with abuse cases for a decade. Ex-bishop Peter Ball, jailed for 32 months in 2015 for sex abuse against boys lasting three decades, had been allowed to stay in the Church after a reprimand in 1993.

And a former Archbishop of York, Lord Hope, was investigated by police in 2016 over his cover-up of child abuse by an ex-Dean of Manchester, the Very Rev Robert Waddington.

Most recently, a leading CofE evangelical, the Rev Jonathan Fletcher, was accused of subjecting boys to naked ice baths, beatings and massages.

A 200million compensation bill would be equivalent of paying all 42 of the Churchs diocesan bishops, running their houses and palaces, and paying their staff and expenses for a period of four years.

This huge bill is more than the annual sum spent running the C of E by its financial arm, the Church Commissioners (stock image)

In reply on behalf of CofE bishops, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, the Right Reverend Peter Hancock, said: The National Church is looking at this issue and awaits a recommendation from IICSA whose hearings underlined the Churchs poor response to survivors of abuse.

He added that provision for abuse survivors is likely to include financial compensation, which is paid by the paid by the Commissioners when the cost is not covered by insurance, therapeutic support, and counselling.

Bishop Hancock also said in answers to questions reported in the Synod papers that the provision of restoration or redress to victims of clerical abuse is complex and forms part of the work of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, whose recommendations we await in the summer of 2020, which will inform next steps, including budget setting.

He added that the CofEs National Safeguarding Team which handles allegation does not collate statistics which record the number of victims or survivors of clerical abuse who are seeking compensation or redress because that information is not available to it.
Students Cambria Isabelle Barnes and Andrew Joseph Schumann have been chosen to join Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich representing New Mexico in the nations capital during the 58th annual U.S. Senate Youth Program Washington Week March 7-14.

Cambria Barnes and Schumann, both of Rio Rancho, were selected from among the states top student leaders to be part of the 104 national student delegation who will also each receive a $10,000 college scholarship for undergraduate study, organizers said in a news release.

Cambria Barnes, a senior at Cottonwood Classical Preparatory School in Albuquerque, is founder and president of her schools Model UN club and serves as the president of the National Honor Society. She is an International Baccalaureate diploma candidate who also was a member of her schools state champion and national qualifying We the People team.

She participates in speech and debate where she has held offices and won multiple awards. She enjoys volunteering in her community and learning new languages, organizers said.

Schumann, a senior at College and Career High School in Albuquerque, serves as president of the student body there. He drafted his schools Student Senate Constitution, and as president of the National Honor Society Luna Chapter, also began a school-wide tutoring program.

He already has earned 75 college credits while maintaining a 4.0 college GPA at CNM and is on track to graduate high school with associate degrees in political science, history, and pre-law. He has been on the CNM Deans List for five consecutive semesters, and has been inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.

The Senate Youth Program was created by Senate Resolution 324 in 1962 and has been sponsored by the Senate and fully funded by The Hearst Foundations since inception.

The impetus for the program as stated in Senate testimony is to increase young Americans understanding of the interrelationships of the three branches of government, learn the caliber and responsibilities of federally elected and appointed officials, and emphasize the vital importance of democratic decision making not only for America but for people around the world.

The annual competitive merit-based program brings outstanding high school students to Washington, D.C., for an intensive week-long study of the federal government and the people who lead it, according to the release. One overall objective is to instill a more profound knowledge of the American political process and encourage a commitment to public service.

The Hearst Foundations provides the $10,000 scholarships to the students with encouragement to continue work in government, history and public affairs.

The foundations also provide transportation and all expenses for Washington Week. No government funds are utilized, organizers said.

Alternates chosen for the 2020 program were Shena Leng Han, who attends Los Alamos High School, and Caleb Bryce Jorgensen, who attends Onate High School in Las Cruces.

Delegates and alternates are selected by the state departments of education nationwide and the chief state school officer for each jurisdiction confirms the final selection.

For more information, visit www.ussenateyouth.org.
Newspapers across America, especially in rural areas like here in Sierra County, have been dying at an alarming rate, and Downieville was about to become the latest news desert. The obituaries for the paper had already been written. Don Russell, the hard-drinking, chain-smoking editor with a blunt writing style who had owned and run the paper for nearly three decades, was retiring, and he seemed happy enough for the paper to die with his retirement.

And then one night Mr. Butz was watching Citizen Kane on cable and thought, I can do that. He made the deal quickly, paying a price in the four figures, he said, plus the assumption of some debts, without even looking at the books.

Still, Mr. Russell, an old friend of Mr. Butzs, was a reluctant seller. His position was, its a losing proposition and someone whod want it would be crazy, Mr. Butz said. He called me a romantic idealist and a nut case. And thats not a paraphrase, but a direct quote.

For the residents of Downieville  and there are not many; the population is about 300  who for generations counted on The Messenger to arrive every Thursday, through wildfires and power outages and economic booms and busts, Mr. Butz has become an unlikely local hero, a savior of a cherished institution.

Thank God for Carl, he stepped in, said Liz Fisher, a former editor of the paper who lives across the street from its office and runs The Sierra County Prospect, an online news site. It was devastating for everybody that we were going to lose The Mountain Messenger.
KYIV, Ukraine - When a dozen plainclothes intelligence agents raided the headquarters of Ukrainian television network 1+1 on Feb. 5, searching offices and carting away computers, they could barely move amid the crush of journalists filming them.

The official reason was to search for a leaked recording. On it, the nation's 35-year-old prime minister, Oleksiy Honcharuk, insults President Volodymyr Zelensky over his "very primitive" understanding of economics.

Embarrassing secret recordings of officials have a way of surfacing in Ukraine. It's all part of the ruthless competition between rival law enforcement agencies, political officials and billionaire oligarchs - all vying for dominance.

But the raid set off other tremors as analysts struggled to figure out what it meant.

One interpretation was that Zelensky, a former TV comedian, was cracking down on Ihor Kolomoisky, an influential mogul who controls 1+1 and has close ties to the president. Or was it just another dust-up in Ukraine's power struggles between elected officials and powerful oligarchs?

This much is clear: Zelensky's pledge to end corruption has been thrust to center stage. There's no way to do that without breaking the grip powerful oligarchs have on Ukraine.

The country's endemic corruption was the running narrative through President Donald Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate. Zelensky's clean-government promise will define his political future.

If he fails to rein in the oligarchs and rampant judicial corruption, his reforms will sputter and Ukraine will lose its best chance in decades to escape Russia's influence and emerge as a pro-Europe Western-leaning democracy, analysts say.

The nation's economy is dominated by a small group of squabbling billionaire oligarchs - who also control almost all major media. They have the power to damage, even ruin, a political leader who attempts to unravel their influence. Business titans routinely bribe judges to protect their interests.

But already, anti-corruption activists and Western financial analysts fear that Zelensky is shaping up to be like his predecessors, with promised reforms stalling.

Timothy Ash, a Ukraine specialist from Bluebay Asset Management, says it appears Zelensky will not move to rein in favored oligarchs. Judicial reform efforts were being frustrated and disreputable judges remained, he added.

In his days as a TV comedian, Zelensky sold his comedy series "Servant of the People" - in which he played Ukraine's president - to Kolomoisky's 1+1. Kolomoisky has interests in metals, the media, energy and airlines, and he is one of Ukraine's most powerful men.

Zelensky named his political party, Servant of the People, after his show, and it won a majority in Ukraine's parliament. That bloc is strongly influenced by Kolomoisky and tends to vote for parliamentary bills that benefit him.

The last president to take on Kolomoisky - Petro Poroshenko, who sacked the oligarch as governor of Dnipropetrovsk in 2016 - lost the election to Zelensky, who had strong support from Kolomoisky's 1+1.

Associates of Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, reached out to Kolomoisky when Giuliani sought a meeting with Zelensky after the comedian was elected in April. Those associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, approached Kolomoisky for help in Israel, but he spurned them. Months later, however, Kolomoisky was in contact with them via text, according to a cache of messages released last month.

Zelensky immediately hired Kolomoisky's lawyer, Andriy Bohdan, as his presidential chief of staff, a move that alarmed anti-corruption activists. Reports have surfaced of an FBI investigation into Kolomoiskyfor alleged financial crimes, including money laundering. But the magnate said last May that any probe would flop because he had committed no crimes. The FBI declined to comment.

Bearded, gray-haired and at times foul-mouthed, Kolomoisky is a brilliant chess-player, according to those who know him.

When he meets someone, Kolomoisky immediately sums up their perceived weaknesses and vulnerabilities, according to associates. Kolomoisky initially agreed to be interviewed for this article but later did not respond to messages.

"What we are learning across the board really is that Zelensky is very much shaped by popular opinion and is not that willing to put his head above the parapet and rock the boat for reform," said Ash, a London-based emerging markets analyst specializing in Ukraine.

"It's a shame, really," he added, "as much of this popular opinion is shaped by Ukrainian media captured by oligarchic interests, which are intent on keeping the status quo where the state remains captured by certain oligarchs.

"Zelensky had the best conditions of any Ukrainian leader since independence to really transform the country in a positive way. Let's hope he does not blow that chance."

Orysia Lutsevych, a Ukraine analyst at the London-based think tank Chatham House, said that although Zelensky was close to Kolomoisky, it was too early to say whether the president would be able to rein in the country's powerful oligarchs writ large.

"Kolomoisky's perception now is that it's his time, regardless of what Zelensky thinks," she said.

Kolomoisky also has a reputation as a formidable and frightening enemy.

Former central banker Valeria Gontareva made an enemy of him in 2016, when the bank nationalized Privatbank - Kolomoisky's bank and Ukraine's biggest - after $5.5 billion in deposits disappeared, risking a national economic crisis. Kolomoisky has denied wrongdoing.

Masked men with Kalashnikovs delivered a coffin with her blood-soaked effigy to the entrance of the central bank in 2017. Her house was vandalized. Fearing for her life, she quit her job four years before her contract expired and fled to London.

Gontareva accuses him of death threats and harassment, which he has denied.

On Sept. 5, Gontareva's son's car was burned in Ukraine. On Sept. 10, men with masks and machine guns searched her Kyiv apartment. Two days later, her home outside Kyiv was burned to the ground. (In August, she was struck by a car in London, but she remains uncertain as to whether that incident was linked.)

In September, a secret tape surfaced in which officials planned an intimidation campaign against her. Then, the director of the State Bureau of Investigations, Roman Truba, discussed the use of "psycho-tactics" against her with a colleague, mentioning a man nicknamed BAY. Truba later said the tape had been doctored.

Gontareva believes BAY refers to the presidential chief of staff and Kolomoisky's former lawyer, "Bohdan, Andriy Yosipovich." Bohdan did not respond to a request for comment.

"For me it was absolutely clear that it was orchestrated by Kolomoisky," Gontareva said.

Kolomoisky has taken legal action to get back his bank or be compensated. In April, the Kyiv District Administrative Court ruled the nationalization of Privatbank to be illegal. The central bank has twice appealed.

The International Monetary Fund sees the case as a litmus test on Zelensky's presidency.

If Kolomoisky did regain the bank, "the message would be that nothing has changed, and oligarchs still run the show [and] the rule of law means nothing in Ukraine. I think there would be no foreign direct investment into Ukraine, which means subpar growth would continue, as it has for the past 30 years," Ash said.

A bill under consideration would prevent any nationalized bank from being re-privatized, and it reportedly contains a provision for compensation.

Judges at the influential administrative court, which ruled in Kolomoisky's favor on Privatbank, have been accused by anti-corruption authorities of graft and illegal rulings. Anti-corruption campaigner Alexandra Ustinova called it "Ukraine's most odious court" and said oligarchs such as Kolomoisky use it to "solve problems."

Secret tapes emerged last year in which the court's judges discussed in advance how cases must be decided.

Gontareva hopes that at 42, Zelensky decides he does not want to be the puppet of an oligarch.

"Let's hope that he's quite smart, even though he was a comedian," she said. "Right now, he's president, and let's hope his mind would move to the right direction."
The relationship between Russia and the United States has been mired in crisis for much of the past decade. Communication once considered routine has been cut off, deepening mistrust and making it more difficult to reduce tensions and avoid miscalculation. The current state of affairs does not serve the strategic interests of either country, and it puts global security at risk because Russia and the United States are the only countries that possess enough nuclear weapons to destroy each other  and all of humanity.

Rebuilding mutual confidence and putting United States-Russian relations on a safer track will be a challenging long-term endeavor, given the political climates in Washington and Moscow. But the two countries have a chance to head off even more instability by extending the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which expires in one year, on Feb. 5. While 12 months may seem like a lot of time, in diplomatic terms and in the present environment, the clock is ticking fast.

The United States and Russia can avoid a senseless and dangerous return to nuclear brinksmanship if they act soon. There is no reason to wait, and extending the treaty, known as New START, is the place to begin.

With the unfortunate dissolution of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty last year, New START is the only agreement still in place that limits the size of American and Russian nuclear forces. It also provides vital verification and transparency measures, including on-site inspections, that have helped foster strategic stability. The treaty allows for a five-year extension if the leaders of both countries agree. President Vladimir Putin and President Trump should seize this opportunity.
Attorneys Rudy Gonzales and Alex Hilliard of the Hilliard Martinez Gonzales Law Firm fought to obtain material and relevant documents from Wal-Mart in pending litigation in Nueces County. However, Wal-Mart deliberately withheld the relevant documents and engaged in an attempt to deny their existence. It was not until the attorneys filed a Motion to Compel Forensic Examination of Wal-Mart's Computers that Wal-Mart finally produced the documents in question.

"Had we not aggressively fought Wal-Mart for documents which we knew must exist, those documents would never have seen the light of day. It took the extraordinary measure of hiring a forensics expert and filing a Motion to Compel Forensic Examination of Wal-Mart's Computers before the relevant documents were "discovered" by Wal-Mart the following day," said attorney Rudy Gonzales.

Attorney Alex Hilliard stated, "Wal-Mart's actions unequivocally demonstrate a well-orchestrated campaign designed to bury evidence in an effort to derail Plaintiffs' carefully designed discovery program. Their "hide-and-seek" tactics illustrate Wal-Mart's pre-meditated attempt to abuse the discovery process by denying the existence of certain crucial and relevant evidence.

"Unfortunately, nefarious conduct is all too common in lawsuits in which Wal-Mart is a party. Wal-Mart has chosen extreme discovery abuse as a litigation strategy. This case is just another example in a rapidly growing list of Wal-Mart's egregious approach to discovery, a pattern that can no longer be ignored."

The case is: Robert Faircloth v. Wal-Mart Stores Texas, LLC, Wal-Mart Real Estate Business Trust, et. al., case number 4:18-cv-03127, in Nueces County Court at Law No. 4.

About HMG

Hilliard Martinez Gonzales LLP (HMG) specializes in mass torts, personal injury, product liability, commercial and business litigation, and wrongful death. Hilliard Martinez Gonzales LLP has been successfully representing clients in the United States and Mexico since 1986. Bob Hilliard obtained the Largest Verdict in the country in 2012 and the #1 verdict in Texas.

SCHEDULE AN INTERVIEW

Contact Lauren Gonzales at 361-960-3146

SOURCE Hilliard Martinez Gonzales LLP

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Naperville is home to various banquet spaces, including multiple hotels, country clubs, restaurants and more. Our team of specialized event planners are more than ready to find a venue to accommodate your needs in a timely manner, the Naperville Convention and Visitors Bureaus website reads. On the behalf of our clients, the NCVB can reach out to the venues to check availability and pricing for the day of your event.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Feb. 10

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

The International Ocean Institute (IOI) will hold a regional workshop on the Caspian Sea - Sustainable Development and Management in the Caspian Avaza (tourist zone in Turkmenistan) from March 9-20, 2020, Trend reports referring to the Turkmen government.

The seminar will bring together representatives of relevant institutions of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan.

The workshop will be organized with the participation of Caspian Sea Institute and Turkmenistans Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

IOI is a non-governmental organization with the status of a special advisory body of United Nations (UN).

The Institute works closely with UN programs and specialized agencies as follows: the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO), International Maritime Organization (IMO), UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), etc.

The program of the current training includes a wide range of issues directly related to economic, social and environmental aspects of the development of the Caspian littoral states, their cooperation in these areas.

It is expected that audience will familiarize themselves with the main provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which was signed and confirmed by about 160 states and the EU.
- EQT opens office in Sydney to support accelerated efforts in the Asia-Pacific region, with specific focus on Australia and New Zealand

- The Sydney office will be led by Ken Wong, Managing Director and Head of EQT Australia & New Zealand, who has been leading coverage efforts from Singapore and will return home to Sydney as part of the office opening

- EQT currently holds investments in Australian cloud and managed service provider, Nexon Asia Pacific, and has entered into a Scheme Implementation Agreement to acquire 100% of Metlifecare, one of the largest owners and operators of integrated retirement and aged care villages in New Zealand

SYDNEY, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- EQT today announced the opening of an office in Sydney, Australia. The office will be led by Ken Wong, Managing Director and Head of EQT Australia & New Zealand, who was previously based in EQT's Singapore office and will return home to Sydney as part of the office opening. In alignment with EQT's local-with-locals approach, the team will seek to find thematic investment opportunities with the support from EQT's global platform and extensive network.

Ken Wong, Managing Director and Head of EQT Australia & New Zealand commented: "The opening of the Sydney office is a testimony to EQT's commitment to investing in the region. Australia and New Zealand has an abundance of investment opportunities in EQT's core sectors, and we have already started to see that EQT's differentiated approach to active, responsible and growth focused ownership resonate with management teams, founders and corporates."

Thomas von Koch, Deputy Managing Partner and Chairperson of Asia-Pacific at EQT, commented: "EQT is excited to expand into Australia and New Zealand, markets in which EQT's Nordic values and unique governance model are well received. EQT has previously had positive experiences from investing in Australia and are encouraged by the recent traction we're getting in market. We believe that Australia and New Zealand are some of the most interesting markets in the Asia-Pacific region and one where EQT can make a positive impact on portfolio companies as well as local communities. Putting EQT's flag on the ground in Sydney is part of our global expansion strategy and ambition to establish a local presence across the regions EQT invests in. With a local team in Sydney, EQT is well-positioned to stay close to both its portfolio companies and to capture new investment opportunities in the region."

EQT made its first investment in Australia in 2014 following EQT Mid Market's acquisition of I-MED Radiology Network, a leading diagnostic imaging service provider. During EQT's ownership period, I-MED achieved strong organic growth, established multiple new clinics, entered into new hospital contracts, successfully completed a number of value accretive add-on acquisitions and made significant investments into equipment, new technology and people. The business was divested in 2018.

In July 2019, EQT Mid Market Asia III announced its investment in Nexon Asia Pacific, a cloud and managed service provider who helps clients run more efficiently, create better user experiences and explore bigger opportunities. They are a trusted technology partner for mid-market businesses, government agencies and not-for-profit organizations throughout Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.

In December 2019, EQT Infrastructure IV entered into a Scheme Implementation Agreement to acquire 100% of Metlifecare shares by way of a scheme of arrangement. Metlifecare is a leading New Zealand owner and operator of integrated retirement and aged care villages, providing rewarding lifestyles and outstanding care to more than 5,600 New Zealanders. Established in 1984, the business has a portfolio of 25 villages in areas with strong local economies, supportive demographics and high median house prices, located predominantly in New Zealand's upper North Island.

Contact

Ken Wong, Managing Director and Head of Australia & New Zealand, +61 2 9052 4852

Roger Newby, Domestique Consulting, roger@domestiqueconsulting.com.au, +61 401 278 906

EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com

Sydney office address:

EQT Partners Australia Pty Ltd

Level 48, 264 George Street

Sydney, NSW 2000

Australia

About EQT

EQT is a differentiated global investment organization with a 25-year track-record of consistent investment performance across multiple geographies, sectors and strategies. With strong values and a distinct corporate culture, EQT manages and advises funds and vehicles that invest across the world with the mission to generate attractive returns to the fund investors.

EQT's talent base and network allow it to pursue a unique value creation approach and thematic investment strategy, with the aim of future-proong the companies which EQT invests in, creating superior returns and making a positive impact with everything EQT does.

EQT has more than EUR 62 billion in raised capital since inception, currently around EUR 41 billion in assets under management across 19 active funds within three business segments - Private Capital, Real Assets and Credit. EQT is a thought leader within the private markets industry with deep expertise in responsible and long-term ownership, corporate governance, operational excellence, digitalization and sustainability. EQT has offices in 16 countries across Europe, Asia Pacic and North America with more than 700 employees.

More info: www.eqtgroup.com

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

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https://mb.cision.com/Main/87/3032135/1191599.pdf Press Release EQT opens office in Sydney a" further strengthens Asia-Pacific footprint

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By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police has announced a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh to anyone who shares information that could help in tracing unidentified accused in the December 15 anti-CAA violence near Jamia Millia Islamia, officials said on Monday.

In an order, the Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik declared a "cash reward of Rs 1,00,000, which will come in force with immediate effect and shall stand/remain good till the arrest of the unknown accused persons for anyone who may give any information/clue(s) to trace out the unknown accused persons who are wanted in a case of New Friends Colony and evading their arrest intentionally".

ALSO READ | Anti-CAA protesters scuffle with cops as march from Jamia to Parliament stopped

An FIR at New Friends Colony Police Station was registered on December 16 on charges of rioting, arson, unlawful assembly and damage to public property in connection with the violence near Jamia Millia Islamia on December 15.

According to the official order, as and when any information about the accused is received, the same may be sent immediately to DCP (Southeast) or DCP (Crime Branch).

"The Commissioner of Police reserves the right to decide finally by whom the reward has been earned and in what proportion it will be distributed amongst various claimants, in case more than one claimant come forward for the same," it stated.

Protestors had torched four public buses and two police vehicles as they clashed with police in New Friends' Colony near Jamia Millia Islamia during a demonstration against the amended Citizenship Act on December 15, leaving nearly 60 people including students, cops and fire fighters injured.

Police used batons and teargas shells to disperse the violent mob, but denied firing at them.

Following the arson on roads, police entered the Jamia university campus, where tension prevailed as several persons were detained for alleged involvement in the violence.
Seven naxals, three of them carrying cash rewards on their heads, surrendered in front of senior police and CRPF officials Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Monday.

Of the seven who surrendered, Amit Lekam (22), Madkam Shankar (28) and Oyam Motu (20) were Mirtur local organisation squad 'deputy commander', Pamed local guerrilla squad 'deputy commander' and LOS 'deputy commander' respectively and were carrying a reward of Rs 3 lakh each on their heads, said an official.

He identified the other four as Madkam Bhima (38), Madkam Joga (32), Mohanna alias Mohna Sodhi (34) and Tamo Hunga (32), all part of the Naxal's 'janmilitia'.

These seven have said they were disillusioned with the Naxal ideology, the official informed, adding they would get Rs 10,000 each as 'encouragement money' from the state government.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A couple has been compared to the family in classic Australian film The Castle for vowing to defend their home from being demolished to make way for a new road.

John Howard and Melissa Rayner could lose a portion of their home to a $5million road upgrade on the corner of Woodside Road and Old Princes Highway in Nairne, south west of Adelaide.

They have pledged to protect it like the characters in The Castle - a comedy where a family fight tooth and nail to save their home from proposed developments.

But some locals have refused to support the pair, claiming the intersection near their home is a traffic blackspot.

John Howard and Melissa Rayner could lose a portion of their home to a $5million road upgrade

'Be a bigger hero and sell up to the intersection so that the safety of the masses that use it can be upheld,' one person wrote on Facebook.

'That intersection is a fatality waiting to happen and if they would rather see that than move to a better location without headlights shining into their place and constant banked traffic, I can only say they're halting progress.'

Others commented on the condition of the front yard.

'Try looking after your house before you fight for it.'

'Your place looks like a bloody wrecking yard, cars everywhere.'

While the couple could only lose part of their front yard and driveway access (pictured on Google Maps), they have pledged to protect it

But Mr Howard told Adelaide Now he would 'fight' the proposal.

'If I have to, I will chain myself on to my property, just like they did in The Castle, they are not taking my land.'

'We will fight this, as will our neighbours. They can't just take our homes, or portion of it.

'We've also been told that land valuations have come back at $300,000 for our properties  if that's all they are going to offer us, they will have a fight on their hands.'

The home at 10 Old Princes Highway is one of nine properties the government will partially or fully obtain to fix the dangerous intersection.

Pictured: The house featured in Australian film The Castle where a family fight tooth and nail to save their home from proposed developments

The median sale price for homes in Nairne is $375,000.

Another resident who lives nearby claimed she didn't know about the proposed development.

A Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government spokesman said all affected community members were informed.

'All property affected property owners have been advised and the department has spoken or met with all affected owners,' he said.

'Property acquisition is a very sensitive issue and we will continue to work with the community and property owners to provide as much detail as possible throughout this process to minimise disruption and inconvenience.'
Kolkata, Feb 10 : Firing a fresh salvo at the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday took exception to the 'blackout' of his address to the Assembly while the budget presented by Finance Minister Amit Mitra was telecast live.

"The State Finance Minister Dr Mitra's budget speech was live while the address of the Governor under Article 176, an important occasion, in sharp deviation to practice was not allowed live coverage and media was also kept away. Leave to judgement of the people of the State!" Dhankhar tweeted as the budget address was on on Monday.

Later, Raj Bhavan issued a media release where the Governor called it an 'intolerant act' and 'crucifixion of democratic values'.

"Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has taken exception to the blackout of his address to the Assembly on February 7. Governor Dhankhar takes this as an intolerant act and violation of the rights of the people. This also compromises right to expression.

"Governor Dhankhar appreciated the direct telecast of FM speech as it helps people know about legislature working. However, this situation makes discrimination apparent. This is crucifixion of democratic values," the release said.

According to Dhankhar, there is increasing transparency of House proceedings all over the country.

"It is for the legislator, executive and the media to engage in soul searching as regard this kind of media muzzling and censorship," Dhankhar said, as he appealed to everyone concerned in the government and the legislature "not to belittle democratic values as narrow partisan considerations".

Banerjee, however, dodged a scribe's question on the issue, saying it was not her subject.

She said the question should be put to Speaker Biman Banerjee, who can shed light on the matter.

"That's a different issue which the Speaker can tell. You can ask the Speaker. It is not my subject," said Banerjee.

Dhankhar's February 7 address to the state Assembly was not telecast live, unlike the last few years.

The lack of television coverage came in the wake of a stand-off between him and the Banerjee-led government over whether Dhankhar would read the full text of the speech pre-approved by the state cabinet.

Dhankhar himself had ignited the debate by commenting that he could leave out or make additions to his address approved by the state cabinet.

He had suggested some changes to the speech, which were turned down by the state government.

Finally, Dhankhar stuck to convention and read the entire cabinet-ratified speech, which had critical references to the National Population Register, National Register for Citizens and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
Brent crude hit a low of $53.63 a barrel and was at $54.09 by 0100 GMT, down 38 cents. U.S. West Texas Intermediate fell 38 cents to $49.94 a barrel after striking a low of $49.56. Worries over supply were not alleviated on Friday when Russia said it need more time to decide on a recommendation from a technical committee that has advised the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies to cut production by a further 600,000 barrels per day. Russia Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Moscow needed more time to assess the situation, adding that U.S. crude production growth would slow and global demand was still solid.

The proposal for the further cuts "failed to alleviate the pressure on oil, in part because the proposal has yet to be formally discussed by OPEC ministers and because Russia continues to push back against further cuts," said Stephen Innes, chief market strategist at AxiCorp.

"If the cartel fails to reach an agreement, there will be more pain to come in oil (on the) downside."

Oil traders also said they are concerned the proposed reduction would not be sufficient to tighten global markets.

(Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Tom Hogue)
By this time each February, more Americans are killed by guns in the US than are killed the entire year in other developed nations. For every person impacted by gun violence, there is a story. 36,000 Americans are shot and killed every year. Thats 36,000 tragic stories.

This week is National Gun Violence Survivors Week, a week focused on amplifying the stories of gun violence survivors. Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America will honor our Pennsylvania gun violence survivors at the State Capitol during this week as well as other local events.

It is important to me as a parent, educator, and community member to remember the individuals and families who have been effected by gun violence. I also choose to honor them with action.

That is why I volunteer with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. I ask you to honor our survivors with your own commitment to end gun violence.

Tina Gallagher

Lansdale
A glitch in the TastSelv Borger ta x service has sent over one million Danish CPR numbers to the US companies Google and Adobe.

The Danish Agency for Development and Simplification has discovered the data leak that involved the TastSelv Borger service, which is managed by the US company DXC Technology.

The TastSelv service allows everyone with a tax liability to Denmark to view and change his tax return, annual statement and pay residual tax.

Data, including CPR numbers, have been exposed for almost five years before the data leak was discovered.

We take this kind of case very seriously. And of course we need to be able to make sure that our suppliers handle all data according to applicable law and within the framework agreed upon with them. states the Government Agency.

The good news is that according to the Agency, data was encrypted, it also added that Google and Adobe were not able to see the CP R numbers.

Google Hosted Libraries have been designed to remove all information that allows identifying users before logging on. Thus, no user information is shared with Google in this process. Google told the DR News website that first reported the news of the data leak.

Peter Kruse, cyber security expert and founder of the CSIS group, explained that Google had access to 1.2 million Danes CPR numbers because they were in plain text.

The data received by Google is unencrypted. Google has been able to read data in unencrypted form, he estimates. explained Kruse.

Google has accessed 1.2 million Danes CPR numbers. 

The Danish Agency for Development and Simplification attempted to downplay the incident and confirmed that CPR numbers have been encrypted.

DR news website reported that the issue was triggered when logged on users to Tastselv Borger clicked on Correct contact information.

Once the users have corrected their contact information, an error in the application caused CPR numbers being sent to Google and Adobe as part of a web address.

DXC has acknowledged the vulnerability and addressed it and confirmed that was not compromised.

Together with the Development and Simplification Agency, we have addressed potential vulnerabilities. Based on our immediate review, we currently have no reason to believe that data has been compromised. We are continuing to investigate the matter in close cooperation with the Development and Simplification Board. said DXC.

In 2014, the company CSC (now DXC) was involved in a similar incident that exposed 900,000 CPR numbers.

The Development and Simplification Board has now asked the Attorney General to investigate the incident to clarify the responsibility of DXC Technology.

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs  Data leak, CPR numbers)
[February 10, 2020] TransPecos Banks Signs With NYMBUS for Modern Core Banking Upgrade

NYMBUS, a provider of the world's most advanced financial services platform, today announced TransPecos Banks, SSB has selected and is currently converting its existing core, payments and digital banking solutions over to NYMBUS. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200210005134/en/ Committed to providing the highest level of care and leadership in the communities it serves throughout West Texas, TransPecos Banks, SSB sought to upgrade its core banking platform in order to rapidly meet and respond to the rising digital demands of today's modern consumers. With NYMBUS' digital-first product suite, all required banking functions are unified into one system, providing an unparalleled experience for customers while simplifying back-end processes to improve efficiencies and drive revenue growth. "Our BankMD partnership with NYMBU SmartLaunch helped us quickly deploy new digital experiences and capture revenue opportunities with minimal cost or disruption to our existing business. Our experience with NYMBUS convinced us they were the right choice for rebuilding our larger bank infrastructure," said Mike Kozub, President and Chief Executive Officer of TransPecos Banks, SSB. "Their modern platform and open architecture provide the technology foundation we've been looking for to offer cutting-edge digital experiences for our customers."



TransPecos Banks, SSB has selected NYMBUS SmartCore, a cloud-based core platform, to provide a single, quality digital experience for banking customers. The Bank will also implement NYMBUS SmartDigital for Internet and mobile banking and NYMBUS SmartPayments for debit card processing and fraud protection. The digital-first product suite allows TransPecos Banks to unify all the required banking functions into one solution, enabling a multi-channel customer experience, while automating and simplifying back-end processes and workflows for its employees. "We've had the great pleasure to support TransPecos in their business transformation," said David Mitchell (News - Alert), President of NYMBUS. "Our progressive SmartLaunch model has proven to accelerate their speed to innovate and compete with a new digital-only bank. Now, by undertaking the transformation of their current technology eco-system, we can help in their long-term success with near endless innovation to adapt to whatever comes next in the market."

About NYMBUS

NYMBUS provides the world's most advanced financial services platform. From SmartCore, SmartDigital and SmartMarketing, our flagship digital technology solutions, to SmartLaunch, our full-service and standalone digital bank alternative, the NYMBUS SmartBanking suite enables financial institutions to digitally transform their businesses. About TransPecos Banks

TransPecos Banks, SSB is a member of TransPecos Financial Corp., a Texas banking organization with locations throughout the TransPecos Region of West Texas and its corporate headquarters in San Antonio. We are committed to providing the highest level of customer care and leadership in the communities we serve. Our employees help set us apart by providing friendly, high quality customer experiences and innovative banking solutions. TransPecos Banks and its employees are proud of the communities in which we live and serve. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200210005134/en/

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Recently, excerpts from notes taken at a meeting at the Rockefeller family mansion between activists, donors and political appointees emerged. They contain further revelations, beyond those first reported.

These notes quote numerous, high-ranking political appointees from state government making quite clear that the costly lessons of scandalous Obama-era parade of high-profile and costly green energy boondoggles changed nothing.

Green energy remains about money and power. As in keeping power, not generating it.

The handwritten and typed notes obtained by the transparency group Energy Policy Advocates were taken at a meeting at Pocantico, the Rockefeller home outside New York City.

The meeting was titled Accelerating State Action on Climate Change. The notetakers were an employee of the activist group/consultancy Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), and an official from Tom Steyers Energy Foundation,

Rule number one in pushing the green agenda is to get industry on your side. Of course! But, how ever does one do this?

Per the RMI notes, when [it] comes to power sector, look to politics - relatively easy political landscape, as long as utility makes $.

Ah. Rob Peter to pay Paul, and hell get behind whatever you do. This stratagem is attributed to David Bobzien, Director of the Office of Energy for Gov. Steve Sisolak, Democrat of Nevada. Yes, Nevada, home of the high-profile debacle, unfolding at the very time of this meeting, known as Crescent Dunes.

Nevada officials in attendance had quite a few things to offer their colleagues.

They reminded colleagues that, while guaranteeing that potential impediments in industry make money get them on board, the politicians schemes also require taxpayer money.

Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Director Bradley Crowell  a former Obama green energy official  is credited with noting, need novel/workable funding mechanisms. have to balance the budget.

This per another set of notes were taken by Katie McCormack, the Energy Foundation's Program Director for West Policy.

And power? A further statement, attributed merely to Nevada, pleaded, have to be careful about keeping Ds in office.

Its not just Nevada. And its not just Ds. The 20 appointees in attendance, each of them a governors chief of staff, department secretary, or cabinet equivalent, came from both Republican and Democratic administrations. They convened to offer each other a safe space for airing such sentiments, and work out a plan to keep the gravy trains running.

This green energy agenda is remarkably resilient, particularly given its track record. The power of rent seeking  the business of earning money the old fashioned way: with a little help from your friends in government  provides some explanation.

And public choice theory tells us that politicians and bureaucrats are people, too, who can rationally be expected to behave in accordance with their own personal interests rather than the romantic idea of the public interest.

Combine them and you get the adage that when you rob Peter to pay Paul, youre guaranteed Pauls enthusiastic support. Sometimes the idea was Pauls to begin with.

Still, it is indeed striking to see how few lessons the political class thinks the taxpayers have learned, such that officials so brazenly scheme to ignore experience and economics in the pursuit of political green energy schemes.

Chris Horner is a board member of the public interest law firm Government Accountability & Oversight, P.C., which represents Energy Policy Advocates in open records matters.
- Maria Mbenekaa resigned from co-operative tribunal under the Ministry of Agriculture

- She noted her interest at the moment is to clinch the Law Society of Kenya (LSK)'s top seat

- Mbeneka is a partner at Kimani Kabucho Mbeneka Advocates

- She will battle out with other top lawyers among them Nelson Havi and Charles Kanjama

Laikipia county First Lady Maria Mbeneka has quit plum state job to concentrate on her quest to become the next Law Society of Kenya (LSK) president.

Mbeneka resigned from Co-operative Tribunal in the Ministry of Agriculture to focus on her campaigns ahead of the contest slated for February 27, 2020.

READ ALSO: South African MP envious of privileges Kenyan MPs enjoy: "I am an MP for the wrong country"

Laikipia First Lady Maria Mbeneka has resigned from state job to contest for LSK presidential seat. Photo: Maria Mbeneka.

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: House of cards: Jubilee Party convenes urgent meeting as UhuRuto cracks widen

In a letter of resignation she addressed Agriculture CS Peter Munya, Mbeneka expressed gratitude for the opportunity she was accorded to serve in the ministry.

She asked the CS to relief her of the duties with immediate effect.

"In recent times, I have announced my intention to serve the legal fraternity in a different capacity as the President of the Law Society of Kenya, my intention to serve in this capacity may create a potential conflict of interest given my current status as a member of the Co-operative Tribunal," she said.

READ ALSO: Kwa heshia ya Mzee Moi: Bunge kuandaa kikao maalum

Maria Mbeneka in a past LSK annual conference address. Photo: Maria Mbeneka.

Source: Facebook

The advocate noted she would not take any other state job for the time being as that would amount to a conflict of interest contrary to the provisions of the constitution.

"Any responsibility given to me by the governmentalbeit meritoriously awardedthat may be construed as a conflict of interest will certainly not serve my interests at this point in time," stated Mbeneka.

The Laikipia governor's wife who is a partner at Kimani Kabucho Mbeneka Advocates said her primary objective at the moment is focusing on ways to win the LSK top seat.

"My resolve to become the next President of LSK is unbowed and I will not let anything to stand on my way be it for real or imagined reasons, she added.

She will battle out with other top lawyers among them Nelson Havi and Charles Kanjama.

For one to be considered for the post of LSK president or vice president, he or she must be a current or former member of the council and have qualifications equivalent to those of the Supreme Court Judge.

Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly.

I did not steal from Betty Kyalo- former househelp tells her side of the story | Tuko TV

Source: TUKO.co.ke
GRO-Biz Conference Registration Now Open

Wyomings premier government contracting event for small-business owners and entrepreneurs will feature some big-name speakers, unique networking opportunities and valuable assistance from several entrepreneurial organizations.

Registration is now open for the 2020 GRO-Biz Conference. The event will take place Wednesday, March 25, from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at the Red Lion Hotel and Conference Center in Cheyenne. Registrants also will be able to attend a preconference workshop and networking reception Tuesday, March 24.

Early registration is open until Friday, March 13, at the discounted price of $65. After March 13, the cost will increase to $79. To register, or to view a full list of speakers and workshops, visit www.wyomingsbdc.org/grobiz.

The GRO-Biz Conference is the result of a partnership among U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the Wyoming Procurement Technical Assistance Center, the Wyoming Business Council, the University of Wyoming and the Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network.

The conference focuses on providing training, resources and matchmaking opportunities to help Wyoming businesses expand their market to federal, state and local government agencies.

The conference will include opportunities to network at the event, and attendees will be able to choose from a large selection of workshops focused on government contracting, procurement website design, legal updates for small businesses and cybersecurity.

This years speakers include Adam Austin, a nationally recognized cybersecurity expert; Craig Carlson, Trihydro Corp. senior vice president; and Brent Owens, U.S. SBA procurement expert.

Experts from Wyomings vast Business Resource Network also will be on hand to help entrepreneurs take advantage of the numerous consultation services and technical assistance programs available to all Wyoming residents at no cost.

Every year, government agencies set aside millions of dollars to spend on products and services from Wyoming small businesses in every industry. Representatives from these agencies will be available for one-on-one meetings to discuss current and future opportunities.

For more information, call the Wyoming SBDC Network at 1-800-348-5194 or email wsbdc@uwyo.edu.
Dear Annie: I'm 68; my sister is 66. We live far apart. She prefers talking on the phone. I prefer texting with her.

When we text, it's a back-and-forth conversation. When we talk on the phone, she talks; I listen. She dumps all her stress, problems and anxiety on me for an hour and says the same things over and over. I have tried to not absorb her feelings, but after our conversations, I'm usually frustrated and upset. My reaction is to offer suggestions to make her happier. But she hates that. She just wants to dump.

In the past, when she did this with our mother, Mom put down the phone and let my sister go on and on without listening to the "dump."

Once, in person (yes, she does this in person, too), I told her that I feel like she doesn't know me because she doesn't ask about me or listen to what I say. At first, she was mad at me for saying that, but later started asking, "How are you?" That's not what I meant; I want a real interaction -- a back-and-forth conversation.

Obviously, we communicate differently. Now she has refused to text with me. She only wants to talk on the phone. I feel like I can't take any more. How do I take care of myself and keep my sister? -- An Earful

Dear Earful: To quote the ancient Greek philosopher Epictetus, "We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak." More than 2,000 years later, it seems that most people still haven't gotten the memo. What a shame for your sister to go through life a verbal dump truck. Her compulsive need to talk likely deprives her of richer relationships, growth and personal development.

But to her credit, she did at least try to course-correct when you brought it up (after some initial defensiveness). This tells me that she's open to feedback. Express to her again your desire for more equitable conversation. Don't hesitate to gently point it out when she starts unloading. And if all else fails, limit your phone calls with her to once per week or however much you can manage.

Dear Annie: Regarding "Wedding Present Problems," who wrote to you about a couple who split up after just one month of marriage: I think that if a couple split as soon as this couple did, they should return the gifts to the givers. The couple described in the letter were living with their respective parents, and all the houseware items they were given from their registry were never used. That's just my two cents. -- Krista

Dear Krista: I agree that returning the gifts would be the most gracious way for the couple to handle this unfortunate situation. Let's hope the couple in question sees it that way, as well.

Dear Annie: I am a huge, lifelong fan of your column in all its iterations, but I am worried that your recent response to "Younger Self" is too simplistic and that it suggests that healing and moving forward requires them to gain perspective on their abuse by understanding their parents better. Empirically supported conceptual paradigms suggest that the most important thing for the letter writer would be to understand that their abuse and neglect were wrong and that it was not in any way their fault or under their control. As an aside, it may be that the writer's expressed guilt is protective and it prevents them from potential triggering. Trauma-informed psychotherapy is the gold standard in the field for moving forward and it is multidimensional and multifaceted. Thanks for all you to do promote health and happiness among your readers. -- Janine S.

Dear Janine: And thank you for articulating these nuances, which I'm printing for "Younger Self" and anyone else who's struggling to process past abuse from their parents.

"Ask Me Anything: A Year of Advice From Dear Annie" is out now! Annie Lane's debut book -- featuring favorite columns on love, friendship, family and etiquette -- is available as a paperback and e-book. Visit http://www.creatorspublishing.com for more information. Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2020 CREATORS.COM

Read more advice:

Ask Amy: Separated soulmates are eager to connect

Dear Annie: Looking to hop off the hamster wheel

Dear Abby: Children cut off stepmother with dads power of attorney
Older people could hold the key to revitalising rural communities, researchers say.

An international team, led by the University of Exeter, will use a method called "guided conversations" as part of a toolkit designed to find out what older people in rural communities want and need.

Researchers will then help communities design and set up solutions to their problems using the voluntary, public and private sectors.

The project, called Healthy Ageing through Innovation in Rural Europe (HAIRE), has won a grant of 5.3 million euros (4.5m) from the EU to work in eight rural communities - two each in Belgium, France, the Netherlands and the UK (Feock in Cornwall and Rother in East Sussex).

"In Europe, the US and many other countries, populations are ageing, leading to a host of issues ranging from pressure on health services to increased isolation and loneliness," said Professor Catherine Leyshon, of the University of Exeter.

"This situation is especially acute in rural communities, many of which are at risk of dying out.

"The challenge for many societies is to manage the needs of the ageing population while encouraging healthy ageing and realising the potential of older people, which has been overlooked."

The project team, which includes the University of Plymouth, will encourage older people to:

- define what support they need. - participate in the design and delivery of services. - develop solutions for themselves to reduce loneliness and improve quality of life, health and wellbeing.

Initiatives might include community transport schemes, starting new clubs and societies, and bringing together the younger and older generations.

Volunteers will be trained to identify their underused community assets and networks and conduct "guided conversations" with about 600 people (aged 60+ and no longer in employment) across the eight communities in the study, finding out how people feel about their lives and the place in which they live.

The researchers aim to create a "tool kit" - a set of steps that could be used anywhere to identify problems and solutions that will improve people's lives.

"We want to make rural communities socially sustainable for the long term," said Professor Leyshon.

"To do that, we need to reinvigorate the voluntary sector, with older people involved in making that happen.

"This will work differently based on the needs of each community.

"The problems facing communities like Feock or Rother will be different than those in France, Belgium or the Netherlands.

"However, we might learn lessons that can apply to many communities, and it will be possible to use our 'tool kit' anywhere."

Feock Parish Council has been seeking to support its residents for several years through local societies and organisations, and more recently through a service that connects people together according to need.

"The Council is excited by the opportunities now offered through HAIRE to help its older population in a more sustainable way," said Councillor Keith Hambly-Staite, Lead on HAIRE for the Parish Council.

"Working together, we are more likely to break out of the box and create activities and systems that meet the needs of people in a way that will make a real difference now and in the future."

The project could link with the concept of "social prescribing", in which doctors suggest patients improve their mental of physical health with a social activity such as joining a walking group.

It is hoped that communities involved in the project will have more such groups and services available, making social prescribing easier.

As well as increasing community vitality, the researchers hope to get older people actively involved in service design and delivery at a much more strategic level.

They also hope that training local volunteers will begin a process in which knowledge about "social innovation" will spread from the project areas to neighbouring communities.

The project is funded by Interreg 2 Seas, which promotes territorial cooperation between the UK, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

###
The father of a 10-year-old Co Antrim boy who was mauled to death by the family dog has recalled the distressing moment he found his son lying unconscious and covered in blood.

Ryan Busa, a pupil at Ashgrove Primary School in Glengormley, died at Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital for Sick Children on October 15, 2017.

He died as a result of "multiple severe injuries" after he was attacked by a German Shepherd dog, named Max.

On Monday his father Marek Busa gave evidence at the first day of an inquest into the schoolboy's death, held in Newtownards Courthouse and presided over by Coroner Suzanne Anderson.

Mr Busa had been arrested and questioned on suspicion of murder as part of a PSNI investigation into the child's death, but was later told by the Public Prosecution Service that he would not face any charges.

Mr Busa - who appeared in the witness box with an interpreter - revealed he had returned home from working a night shift at Tesco around 6am on the morning of his son's death.

"The two boys were home," he told the coroner's counsel, Mr Ronan Daly.

"I drove home... came into the kitchen and let the dog outside."

Explaining this was a normal routine occurrence to allow the dog out to go to the toilet, he added that he and his sons then enjoyed breakfast together.

At that stage, Max had returned indoors.

Mr Busa said he then fell asleep upstairs around 8am.

Revealing he had owned Max for three years, since the dog was around six months old, he said the pet had been a "part of our family".

Mr Daly asked the shop worker if he ever had "any issues" with the German Shepherd, such as "growling, biting", to which Mr Busa replied: "Max would bark, like every other dog."

Mr Daly then asked the witness about a previous statement he had made to police that Max could be "unfriendly, if you didn't know him".

In response, Mr Busa insisted there were no unusual signs from the animal.

"Every dog is like that," said Mr Busa.

Mr Daly added: "Was Max seen to have had a good relationship with the children?" Mr Busa replied: "Yes... He was part of the family."

Mr Busa, whose relationship with the mother of his sons ended in 2011, explained he woke up at roughly around noon.

He then walked downstairs where he discovered Ryan unresponsive and lying covered in blood in the kitchen.

An emotional Mr Busa, who is originally from Slovakia, recalled the harrowing moment he performed CPR on his son as he waited for the emergency services to arrive.

"I tried to do my best. I tried to save his life... I did as much as I could," he told the inquest.

The coroner heard that as Ryan was rushed to hospital, "no signs of life" were detected by paramedics.

Mr Busa's solicitor Seamus McIlroy asked his client how he felt at being arrested following Ryan's death - at which the father became visibly upset. "It was like I was being treated like a criminal," he said.

Dr James Lyness, state pathologist for Northern Ireland, outlined the extent of Ryan's horrific injuries in a post-mortem examination report.

It stated that the child had sustained "multiple lacerations... bruises and abrasions" which were consistent with "major animal bites and animal claws".

These were found on the upper half of Ryan's body, including the youngster's neck.

The state pathologist concluded that death would have occurred at a "fairly rapid" rate, noting the cause to be "neck injuries due to dog bites".

Ryan's mother Renata Bilaninova was not present at yesterday's hearing but a statement submitted to the inquest on her behalf revealed that she had misgivings about her ex-partner getting the pet.

"I thought the dog was too big for the boys," she insisted. She added that she was aware that Ryan, who she said wanted to be a police officer when he grew up, would have played with Max.

The inquest also heard from a veterinary surgeon who examined Max following the attack.

Natasha Melbourne said the German Shepherd at the time of the incident weighed 31.1kg.

She noted that a dog of the same breed in "peak health" would weigh between 37 and 40kgs.

In her statement, the veterinary expert also described Max's coat as being in "poor condition" and that the canine had been suffering from dermatitis, a condition which would have caused the dog to "constantly... scratch or chew the affected areas".

This would have required "regular veterinary attention", added Ms Melbourne.

The inquest continues today.
Tension erupted during the anti-CAA protest march from Jamia Millia Islamia to Parliament here on Monday. A scuffle ensued when police confronted the protesters who tried to push forward towards Parliament. In the melee that ensued, many from both sides fainted.

Coming up against four layers of barricades and massive security deployment, some of the protesters tried to climb over the barricades. But they met with stiff resistance from the police.

When shoes were hurled at the police from inside the ranks of the protesters, the organisers quickly stepped in to tell the protesters not to indulge in violence.

The anti-CAA march from Jamia Millia Islamia to Parliament began behind schedule on Monday amid heavy security deployment. The police had earlier denied permission to the protesters for the march.

The march to Parliament was called by the Jamia Coordination Committee against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

A similar march on January 30 had created a controversy after a man raising pro-CAA slogans opened fire injuring a protesting student.
Visitors can experience a true engineering marvel of its day as they travel through Tunnel Hill Historic Railroad Tunnel, the first major railroad tunnel in the South. (Photo credit: Gary Keeble) The five tour itineraries are designed for travelers who are in search of iconic places authentic to the southeastern United States.

The Tennessee River Valley Stewardship announces the roll out of five new trip plans geared to both domestic and international visitors. Available on the Tennessee River Valley Geotourism MapGuide, an online guide of authentic places and adventures that have been recommended by locals, the five itineraries provide visitors a unique destination experience that can only be enjoyed in the Tennessee River Valley. The itineraries feature locations in Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama and North Carolina and there are several options for travelers to choose from depending on their likes and interests.

The five new Tennessee River Valley itineraries are designed to showcase to national and international audiences the natural, cultural and historic attractions that define the Tennessee River Valley region. Marvel at the majestic sights of the Great Smoky Mountains, experience the sounds from great musicians such as country music group Alabama, W.C. Handy, Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn, learn about the legends and heroes of the region including Helen Keller, Sequoyah and Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens and train like an astronaut at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. What makes these itineraries even more attractive is that local people who know the region best have nominated all of the listings for the Tennessee River Valley Mapguide.

The five tour itineraries are designed for travelers who are in search of iconic places authentic to the southeastern United States and are bursting with places to go and things to do that is pure Americana, said Julie Graham, spokesperson for the Tennessee River Valley Stewardship Council.

The five new trip plans are:

Music, Mountains and Memories (East) features Americas most visited national park, home of the country music star Dolly Parton, a scenic train ride, the role Knoxville played in the history of country music and the deepest canyon in Alabama, Little River Canyon and its cascading waterfalls and ever-changing seasonal views.

Music, Mountains and Memories (West) offers visits to Loretta Lynns ranch, Alabamas oldest town, largest space museum in the world, famed recording studios of the Shoals and much more.

Legends, Lore and Landscapes (East) touches on American, Tennessee and Cherokee history with stops at the oldest and largest of Americas Civil War parks, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, birthplace of Sequoyah and American Museum of Science and Energy.

Legend, Lore and Landscapes (West) provides an opportunity to learn about Alabamas ties to the music industry, explore the 4,200-acre Shiloh National Military Park, spend the day at the ranch of Queen of Country Loretta Lynn and visit the hometown of Olympic sprinter and gold medalist Jesse Owens.

A Dam Good Tour allows visitors an inside peek into the history, the origins and explanations about the functions of TVA dams.

For additional trips plans, visit https://www.tennesseerivervalleygeotourism.org/plans or to discover additional things to see and experience in the Tennessee River Valley, visit http://www.exploreTRV.com. All listings have been nominated by local people who know the region best and offer visitors the most unique, fun and interesting experiences.
The Government on Monday introduced a bill in Lok Sabha which seeks to confer the status of institution of national importance to a cluster of ayurveda institutions in Gujarat.

The Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha by Minister of State in Ministry of Ayush Sripad Yesso Naik.

The Bill seeks to confer the status of Institution of National Importance to the Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda Jamnagar by conglomerating the cluster of Ayurveda institutes at Gujarat Ayurveda University campus, Jamnagar.

The three institutes which would be clubbed are Institute of Post Graduate Teaching and Research in Ayurveda, Gulabkunwerba Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya and Institute of Ayurveda Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Saugata Roy (TMC) opposed the introduction of the Bill and questioned the reason for setting up the institute in Gujarat. He said the institute should instead be set up either in Kerala, Delhi, Varanasi or West Bengal.

Shashi Tharoor (Cong) also protested against the Bill, saying the Government has been selective in the selection of the three institutes.

Asking why this institute cannot be set up in Thiruvananthapuram, he said there is no clarity in the definition of institution of national importance.

Introducing the Bill, Naik said he would look into suggestions made by members of the House.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
South Africa: F State officer killed in ambush

Police Minister General Bheki Cele has condemned the murder of a Free State sergeant on Sunday.

The male officer was killed when he and his female partner were performing crime prevention duties in Vierfontein.

Two officers had reported for duty at 6pm last night, said police spokesperson Vishnu Naidoo.

At approximately 9.05pm, the female member called the commander at the Community Service Centre telephonically and frantically reported that they were under attack and shot by at least three suspects, Naidoo said.

The two sergeants had followed a suspicious vehicle from Vierfontein to Road House in Orkney.

The members alighted from the police vehicle to confront the suspects, who also got out of their vehicle. They began arguing with the police officials before they opened fire on and subsequently disarmed them both of their official pistols, two magazines and ammunition, said Naidoo.

The male sergeant died at the scene after sustaining a gunshot wound to the chest.

The female sergeant was wounded in her leg and admitted to hospital, where she is in a stable condition.

Cases of murder, attempted murder and robbery of the State-owned firearms and ammunition have been opened for further investigation.

In a statement issued on Monday, Cele said police will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the criminals are brought to book.

National Police Commissioner General Khehla John Sitole has ordered the mobilisation of the 72-hour Activation Plan of Crime Intelligence, the Hawks, forensic experts and SAPS detectives to find those responsible and bring them to book.

"This team must not rest until these ruthless criminals are all brought to book," said Sitole.

Police have appealed to anyone with information that can assist in the arrest and successful prosecution of the suspects to please contact SAPS Crime Stop number on 086 00 10111 or provide such information via MySAPSApp.

All information will be treated with strictest confidence and callers may remain anonymous.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-02-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
PC Paul Brown (pictured), 48, was given permission to borrow the car while on duty to discuss his son's education staff at City College Norwich

A police driving instructor who drove an unmarked patrol car to a private meeting at speeds of more than 120 mph was cleared of speeding offences today.

PC Paul Brown, 48, was given permission to borrow the powerful BMW X5 while on duty for a 17-mile round trip to discuss his son's education staff at City College Norwich.

He was cleared of 11 offences of speeding, four of jumping red lights and one of driving on the wrong side of a keep left marker, after he claimed that he was practising his fast driving skills. He had denied all the charges.

PC Brown clocked up a speed of 122mph on the A11 dual carriageway near Norwich, Norfolk, while using the car's blue flashing lights and sounding the sirens intermittently.

Suffolk magistrates court in Ipswich was today shown dashcam footage of his journey, showing cars and lorries pulling over and stopping to allow him to pass.

At one point the police instructor reached 101mph in a 30mph zone on his way to the college where his son was a student, just before 9am on April 30 last year.

A colleague later became suspicious and checked the car's data recording equipment after PC Brown returned it to the Norfolk Police headquarters at Wymondham.

PC Brown claimed that he had been self-assessing himself at the time as part of his requirement to carry out continuing professional development (CPD). He insisted that he had told a colleague about his plans in advance.

Suffolk magistrates court in Ipswich heard that speeding was a necessary part of training and officers being trained could claim an exemption from traffic laws.

But the prosecution claimed that PC Brown, a Norfolk Police driving instructor since 2016 and an officer for 18 years, had not been authorised to use the car for his training while driving alone to and from the college.

PC Brown (pictured) was cleared of 11 offences of speeding, four of jumping red lights and one of driving on the wrong side of a keep left marker, after he claimed that he was practising his fast driving skills

Prosecutor Harry O'Sullivan said it was not an issue that PC Brown was driving the car at the time on 'a personal errand'.

But he added: 'What is in dispute is that he as a serving police officer had been acting under legal exemption to road traffic laws such as speeding and jumping red lights.'

Mr O'Sullivan said that PC Brown's claim he was conducting CPD at the time were denied by the Crown.

He added: 'PC Brown was late for a meeting and drove the way he did, not out of concern to keep his driving up to scratch and perform CPD, but because he was late.

'The manner of driving is consistent with a police officer abusing a vehicle and abusing his position to force his way through rush hour traffic to get somewhere in time.'

PC James Waller, a senior driving instructor at Norfolk police, said he had given permission for PC Brown to take the police car to his private appointment at around 8.30am on April 30 last year.

But he denied that PC Brown had told him that he was going to carry out CPD at the time.

He added: 'He said it was regarding his son and it was a personal matter. I didn't ask any more about it.'

PC Waller, who is now with Police Scotland, said he later had 'cause for concern' to check the telemetric recording data on the car.

Suffolk magistrates court in Ipswich (pictured) was today shown dashcam footage of his journey, showing cars and lorries pulling over and stopping to allow him to pass

He said: 'My understanding was that it was for a private meeting and I was surprised to see that blue lights had been used. There were several occasions when the speed of the vehicle had gone beyond the speed limit.

'It did surprise me and I was a bit disappointed because the vehicle had been given on an ad hoc basis for a private matter and a private journey. I was not expecting it to have been driven in this way.

'We have an unwritten rule that for small journeys like this, we have been able to use driving school vehicles.'

PC Brown made no comment in a police interview, but in a prepared statement said that he was required to do CPD in his role. He claimed he had never driven a police car 'for any other purpose other than with what my role requires.'

Giving evidence in court, he insisted that he was carrying out CPD on himself at the time, and had informed PC Waller that he was doing so.

He said: 'I wanted to keep my driving skills up to scratch. If my standards fall short, my credibility goes out of the window.

'It was a personal appointment. It was a 15 minute or 20 minute drive and it would give me what I needed - a bit of a refresh to double check my skills.'

He denied driving fast to get to his appointment on time, saying: 'It's wholly wrong, utter nonsense'.

He claimed that he could have disengaged the car's recording equipment, but had kept it on so he could analyse his driving performance afterwards.

Mark Milton who was the National Police Chief Council's lead for driver training at the time of the incident admitted that there had been no national policy laid down on how instructors to conduct CPD.

Speaking to the court via a video-link, he said that PC Brown's manner of driving had been 'pretty typical' for an officer attending an emergency call or training for 'emergency circumstances'.

But he said that if an instructor was carrying out CPD, he would have expected another officer in the car to judge the driver's performance, and a training session with clearly defined goals followed by a debrief.

Mr Milton said: 'Someone training themselves is just not realistic. You simply cannot perform two functions at the same time. We would expect a written record to show whether the driver met the standard.'

Des Pooley, the head of the joint Norfolk and Suffolk police driving instruction unit, confirmed that there was no local written down policy about CPD training, other than a requirement that officers undertake it.

He admitted that he had carried out CPD driving by himself while travelling between the Norfolk and Suffolk after getting permission to do so.

Mr Pooley said there had been the 'odd occasion' when instructors had also trained themselves, but only after getting permission from him, PC Waller or another colleague.

Another police instructor PC Shaun Newby said he sometimes did CPD training sessions alone 'while assessing training routes for students'.

Fraser Cox Hill, defending PC Brown, said: 'There is simply insufficient evidence for conviction. There is no dispute about the driving that took place or the speeds achieved

Clearing him of all charges, presiding magistrate Anne Walker saying that there was no agreed policy or rules for how police instructors should do their own training and record it.

She added: 'We cannot be sure that Mr Brown did not undertake these two journeys while carrying out his own CPD.'

Mrs Walker also called for Norfolk and Suffolk Police to draw up new procedures with regard to how driving instructor training was carried out and recorded.
Its February, and romance is in the air. At the library, we have our popular Blind Date With A Book program, where patrons check out a wrapped book. You dont know what youve picked up until you unwrap it. It seemed natural to write about romance novels. But all is not happy in Romancelandia.

In late December, the Romance Writers of America, a trade organization for romance authors and the publishing industry, censured one of its members, author Courtney Milan, due to an ethics complaint. Milan, an outspoken voice for marginalized romance authors and readers, described an older book by another romance author as a racist mess." That author filed an ethics complaint that resulted in banning Milan from holding a leadership position in the organization (among other things). There were new details to this scandal added every day in the beginning of January, with the end result being the resignation of most of the board and the cancellation of the premiere award for romance novels, the RITA Awards.

The problems with the organization go back further, with rumblings from membership over the past few years about the lack of diversity in RITA nominations and continued lack of inclusion. In 2018, Suzanne Brockmann, a multi-bestselling and multi-award-winning author, accepted the Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement recognition at the RITA Awards. During her fiery acceptance speech, Brockman spoke about her first book in 1992. An editor asked her to remove a secondary character from her book because the character was gay. In 2000, she introduced an out, gay character, FBI agent Jules Cassidy, and there was a lot of pushback from the organization (well get letters). In 2008, that character had a book about his HEA (happily ever after), and again there was pushback from the organization. The 2018 speech was a clarion call to rock the boat in the name of love and inclusion. The 2020 RITAs have been cancelled as a result of the problems RWA is experiencing.

While the established romance industry represented by the organization has been dragging its heels on the idea of diversity and inclusion, authors and publishers have been slowly making headway. Todays billion-dollar romance publishing industry is not the Fabio-cover, bodice-rippers of the '80s and '90s. If you havent read a romance (ever), or its been years, we have some suggestions for you:

"The Kiss Quotient" by Helen Hoang: A heartwarming and refreshing debut novel that proves one thing: There's not enough data in the world to predict what will make your heart tick. Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. It doesn't help that Stella has Asperger's, and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish.

"Get a Life, Chloe Brown" by Talia Hibbert: Emerging from a life-threatening illness, a fiercely organized but unfulfilled computer geek recruits a mysterious artist to help her establish meaning in her life, before finding herself engaged in reckless but thrilling activities.

"Ayesha at Last" by Uzma Jalaluddin: Ayesha Shamsi has a lot going on. Her dreams of being a poet have been set aside for a teaching job so she can pay off her debts to her wealthy uncle. She lives with her boisterous Muslim family and is always being reminded that her flighty younger cousin, Hafsa, is close to rejecting her 100th marriage proposal. Though Ayesha is lonely, she doesn't want an arranged marriage. Then she meets Khalid, who is just as smart and handsome as he is conservative and judgmental. She is irritatingly attracted to someone who looks down on her choices and dresses like he belongs in the seventh century. When his engagement to Hafsa is announced, Ayesha must deal with the truth about Khalid, her family  and herself.

"The Ladys Guide to Celestial Mechanics" by Olivia Waite: As Lucy Muchelney watches her ex-lovers sham of a wedding, she wishes herself anywhere else. It isnt until she finds a letter from the Countess of Moth, looking for someone to translate a groundbreaking French astronomy text, that she knows where to go. Showing up at the countess London home, she hoped to find a challenge, not a woman who takes her breath away. Can Lucy and Catherine find the strength to stay together, or are they doomed to be star-crossed lovers?

More titles to explore:

 "My So-Called Bollywood Life" by Nisha Sharma

 "A Duke by Default" by Alyssa Cole

 "Hate to Want You" by Alisha Rai

 "The Wedding Date" by Jasmine Guillory

These titles are available to check out at Seymour Library. Visit the librarys website at seymourlibrary.org.

Lisa Carr is director of Seymour Library in Auburn. For more information, visit seymourlibrary.org or call (315) 252-2571.

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When 11-year-old Maggie Johnson got sick last October, her rural Texas school district rallied behind her. Community members raised $3,000 to offset the fifth grader's medical bills, shipped encouraging cards to the girl, and sent their thoughts and prayers.

In a Facebook post rallying "Pirate Nation," Poth Independent School District officials said Maggie had been diagnosed with Wegener's, a rare autoimmune disease that damages the kidneys, and asked parents and students to pray for the girl known for her "fiery red hair" and "a spunky personality to match."

In the months that followed, Maggie was hospitalized and began receiving intense therapies to manage her illness, reported local TV station WOAI/KABB in Poth, about 35 miles southeast of San Antonio. The dialysis and chemotherapy gave her headaches, made her nauseated and caused her signature locks to start falling out.

Her big brother, 16-year-old Newt Johnson, proposed a solution: He would begin growing out his hair, with the intent of donating it to Locks of Love, in case Maggie eventually needed a wig.

"It made me feel good that I could do something for her," Newt told TV reporter Alejandra Guzman-Tracy.

Locks of Love, an organization that creates wigs from human hair, requires that all donations be at least 10 inches long. But by winter break in December, when Newt's growing hair had passed his ears, the Poth High School principal told the teen he was no longer in compliance with the student handbook hair policies, CNN reported. Male students are not permitted to have hair that surpasses the "ear opening" on the sides of their head nor the "top of a dress shirt collar."

"No 'tails' of any kind will be allowed for male students," according to school policy.

Newt had to cut his hair, school officials said.

But by mid-January, the teen's hair was still growing. On Jan. 21, school officials told CNN they asked Newt's mother, Jamie Mathis-Johnson, to pick him up from school and make an appointment.

"It really stressed me out because I already worried about my sister," Newt told WOAI/KABB.

The family initially challenged the policy, but declined an invitation to escalate the issue to the superintendent's office, CNN reported. Instead, Newt decided to withdraw and be home-schooled.

News of the conflict between the Johnsons and the school district over the hair policy were first reported by WOAI/KABB last week, prompting a backlash in the community that led school officials to write a now-deleted Facebook post criticizing the TV station.

Superintendent Paula Renken said there is an annual process outlined in the student handbook to formally challenge the dress code. The review takes place at the start of a new school year, when the school board makes changes to district guidelines. Renken defended the high school principal and said he was doing his job when he enforced the school's hair policy.

"I am Poth Proud to lead this high performing district that reflects the morals, beliefs and goals of the community of Poth," Renken wrote in the Facebook post. "Proudly flying flags, arming school staff for student safety, drug testing students, enforcing a conservative dress code, prayer, faith and family are traits of Poth supported in the actions of the elected school board, administration and staff."

"It was never about not supporting a sick child," Renken wrote.

The school district did not respond to a request for comment from The Washington Post.

Alan Johnson, Newt and Maggie's father, said in an interview with WOAI/KABB that Newt's commitment to his sister would "make any dad proud."

Listen to your kids, if they really believe in something, even if it does go against the rules, sometimes you just have to dig deep see if its really worth it or not, Johnson told the TV station. Its worth it.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 22:11:32|Editor: huaxia

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ANKARA, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Five Turkish soldiers were killed and five others wounded in a regime artillery attack in Idlib of Syria, Turkey's Defense Ministry said on Monday.

"As a result of the intense artillery shooting by the regime on Feb. 10, 2020, five of our heroes gunmen were martyred and five were wounded among the ones sent to the region in order to prevent conflicts, to ensure our border security, to prevent migration and human drama," said the defense ministry in a written statement.

Turkish army responded to the regime attack, said the ministry.

"The targets determined in the region were immediately intensely fired with our fire support vehicles, the necessary response was given, the targets were destroyed and the blood of our martyrs was not left on the ground. The developments are closely monitored and necessary measures are taken," said the statement.

The regime artillery attacked the Turkish military convoy near Taftanaz town, local media reported.

A previous regime attack on Turkish soldiers killed eight personnel of the army in Idlib last week. Monday's attack came as Russian and Turkish delegations were holding talks in capital Ankara on the issue of escalation tension in Idlib.
United Nations, Feb 11 : Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur next week during a trip to Pakistan, according to his Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq.

Kartarpur will be on the itinerary of Guterres's visit to Pakistan to participate in an international conference on that country hosting Afghan refugees for 40 years, Haq said on Monday.

Guterres had welcomed the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor when it was inaugurated in November saying that it was "paving way for interfaith harmony and understanding by facilitating visa-free cross border visits by pilgrims to holy shrines." Rajwant Singh, the co-founder of the National Sikh Campaign, welcomed the announcement of Gutterres's visit as Sikhs celebrate the 550th anniversary year of Guru Nanak's birth.

He told IANS, "The Secretary-General's visit to the shrine will amplify Guru Nanak Dev's message for peaceful coexistence of all religions and signal to the entire world that Kartarpur is internationally a very sacred place." Haq said that Guterres, who arrives in Islamabad on Sunday, will meet with Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan, President Arif Alvi and Foreign Minister Mahmood Qureshi and speak at a meeting on sustainable development and climate change.

He will also attend an event on polio vaccination, Haq said.

Polio eradication programme there has had setbacks with attacks on vaccinators.

The Kartarpur Corridor connects Gurdwara Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur in India with Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, 4.7 km inside Pakistan, permitting Indian pilgrims to travel there without visas.

Guru Nanak Dev established the first Sikh community in Kartarpur in 1504 on the bank of the River Ravi.

The General Assembly called Kartarpur Corridor "a landmark initiative for inter-religious and inter-cultural cooperation for peace" and said it "appreciates the agreement between the governments of India and Pakistan to allow visa-free access to pilgrims of all faiths." (Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in)
New Delhi, Feb 10 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) here on Monday arrested former New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (Noida) Chief Engineer Yadav Singh in a case of awarding Rs 116 crore projects to private companies, officials said.

The CBI had registered in January 2018 the case alleging criminal conspiracy, misuse of official position and acceptance of bribes by Singh from the accused contractors and firms for awarding contracts.

The agency also named five private persons, unknown public servants and private persons in the case.

The CBI had registered the case on the Allahabad High Court orders in 2015.

In its FIR, the CBI alleged that the then Chief Maintenance Engineer (Singh) in conspiracy with other officers/officials of Noida as well as the said contractors had awarded several contracts worth Rs 116.39 crore to the five firms in gross violation of tender norms and procedures.

Singh is also being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the case.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WPD Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CSE: WBIO)(FSE: 8SV1) (the Company or WPD), a clinical stage pharmaceutical company, is pleased to announce that its drug candidate WP1066 was the subject of a scientific paper published in 2019 entitled "Immunological Reprogramming in the CNS Tumor Microenvironment and Therapeutic Efficacy of Radiotherapy with STAT3 Blockade which found that drug candidate WP1066 is potentially capable of immune reprogramming in Glioblastoma animal models.



Currently in clinical trials at the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, WP1066 represents a new class of drugs, which WPD identifies as Immune/Transcription Modulators. WP1066 and related analogs have not only demonstrated the ability to directly induce apoptosis (tumor cell death) but also the ability to stimulate an immune response to tumors allowing T-cells to attack tumor cells. These unique drug properties are a result of WP1066s ability to inhibit the activated form of STAT3, (p-STAT3.

One of the key findings of the research is that immune-competent mice treated with both radiation and WP1066 developed an immunological memory that enabled them to prevent regrowth of the tumor after these tumor cells were reintroduced. The result was the development of long-term survivors, leading to an increase in overall survival in these models. Of note was that mice with a compromised immune system did not show this effect. The study was also showed the most robust immunological responses were located in the CNS (Central Nervous System) tumor microenvironment rather than peripheral non-tumor tissue. Importantly, the study indicated that the combination of STAT3 inhibition with whole brain radiotherapy had the capacity to enhance the therapeutic effect against established tumors based on immunological competence.

Mariusz Olejniczak, CEO of WPD commented The findings in the report by Dr. Martina Ott, of MD Anderson Cancer Center in collaboration with Dr. Amy Heimberger (the Principle Investigator of the current investigator-initiated clinical of WP1066 for brain tumors) are very encouraging, especially given the increasing focus on the potential of STAT3 inhibition for the treatment of cancer. Making any kind of discovery in treating glioblastoma is exciting, and these findings could have a significant impact on understanding the role of STAT3 inhibition, as well as help focus our continued development of WP1066.

About WPD Pharmaceuticals

WPD is a biotechnology research and development company with a focus on oncology, namely research and development of medicinal products involving biological compounds and small molecules. WPD has 10 novel drug candidates with 4 that are in clinical development stage. These drug candidates were researched at institutions including MD Anderson Cancer Center, Mayo Clinic and Emory University, and WPD currently has ongoing collaborations with Wake Forest University and leading hospitals and academic centers in Poland.

WPD has entered into license agreements with Wake Forest University Health Sciences and sublicense agreements with Moleculin Biotech, Inc. and CNS Pharmaceuticals, Inc., respectively, each of which grant WPD an exclusive, royalty-bearing sublicense to certain technologies of the licensor. Such agreements provide WPD with certain research, development, manufacturing and sales rights, among other things.

On Behalf of the Board

Mariusz Olejniczak

Mariusz Olejniczak

CEO, WDP Pharmaceuticals

Contact:

Investor Relations

Email: investors@wpdpharmaceuticals.com

Tel: 604-428-7050

Web: www.wpdpharmaceuticals.com

Cautionary Statements:

Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the Companys CSE listing statement, prepared in accordance with the policies of the CSE, 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 the Company should be considered highly speculative.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that contemplate activities, events or developments that the Company anticipates will or may occur in the future. Forward-looking statements in this press release include that our findings could have a significant impact on understanding the role of STAT3 inhibition and that WPDs drugs could be developed into novel treatments for cancer.. These forward-looking statements reflect the Companys current expectations based on information currently available to management and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause outcomes to differ materially from those projected. Factors which may prevent the forward looking statement from being realized is that competitors or others may successfully challenge a granted patent and the patent could be rendered void; that we are unable to raise sufficient funding for our research; that our drugs dont provide positive treatment, or if they do, the side effects are damaging; competitors may develop better or cheaper drugs; and we may be unable to obtain regulatory approval for any drugs we develop. Readers should refer to the risk disclosure included from time-to-time in the documents the Company files on SEDAR, available at www.sedar.com. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they are not guarantees of future performance and, accordingly, they should not be relied upon and there can be no assurance that any of them will prove to be accurate. Finally, these forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and the Company assumes no obligation to update them except as required by applicable law.
PITTSFIELD, Mass.  The Board of Health approved amendments to the body art regulations but will continue to not allow minors to get tattoos.

After hearing from some tattoo shop owners Wednesday during a public hearing, the board voted to approve amendments to the "Rules and Regulations Pertaining to the Practice of Body Art" without changes to their original amendments.

"Thank you for coming in and you educated us on what you are dealing with and have made some very good points," Chairman Alan Kulberg said.

The board opened up the floor to the public and first heard from April Shepard, owner of Rock'n Ink at 1500 East St., who asked the board to consider allowing tattoo shops to tattoo minors with permission from their parents or guardian.

"At that age they can get their permit, they can drive, they are capable of working, and have a little more independence," she said. "I think 16 is reasonable."

As it stands to get a tattoo from a shop in Pittsfield you have to be 18 or older. The city only allows minors to get limited piercings with consent.

Shepard said her main concern was kids getting tattoos from amateurs in unsafe conditions. She said these amateurs often work with unsanitary tools and know little about bloodborne pathogens.

"If my own children went to an underground artist that was not licensed or in an unclean facility I would be upset," she said. "When they could get something professionally done."

She hoped that if minors had this outlet they would be less likely to go somewhere else. Shepard said this is the practice in other communities.

She added that this also allows tattoo shops the opportunity to fix botched tattoos minors may have had done unprofessionally.

"There is a local artist that has been working out of his home and there are a lot of young kids coming in my shop wanting to get their stuff fixed," she said. "I would like to be able to help with some of these mistakes."

Kulberg said this concern never dawned on him.

"We haven't really considered kids going to someone and getting botched or getting tattoos in cosmetically sensitive areas," he said. "We are making a value judgment here."

Shepard said she did not think kids younger than 16 should be allowed to get tattoos and noted she would never give a minor even with a parent's consent a face tattoo.

The board also heard from Wes Lamore, owner of Intradermal Designs at 409 North St., who did not think the city should consider this. He felt the board should put its efforts toward stopping "underground tattoo artists."

He said he always has younger visitors in his shop and always offers them the same advice.

"I asked them what the most important thing to them was when they were 12, when they were 16, and even 18," he said. "None of these things are the same and if you put something permanent on your body, I am not sure if they even have the mental faculty to know what they want at that age."

He said a lot of his business is covering up tattoos people got when they were younger and even if the board lifted this policy, he would not change his own practice.

Lamore added that consent can also cause issues especially if a parents share custody.

"It puts us right in the middle of it and that has happened a few times," he said. "It is not our fault and we had a legal guardian there. It is more of an ethical thing."

The board saw both sides of the issue and Stephen Smith asked if there was any detriment health wise getting a tattoo so young.

"Before I make a decision, I would want more information," he said. "I want to know the impact on the health of a young person getting a tattoo. They are still growing and will it affect their skin?"

Lamore thought it was more of an ethical consideration. He said the tattoo would really only become distorted if they gain a lot of weight.

Shepard and Lamore both agreed that there are plenty of options of minors who want tattoos. Shepard said it is not a big deal to drive to another community that allows tattoos with consent. She said a lot of kids go to Vermont and are charged an exorbitant amount of money.

Lamore added that there is nothing illegal about home tattoos and anybody can buy a kit online. He said it only becomes illegal if someone without the proper certification charges for a tattoo.

He said people often barter for tattoos and he did not think allowing minors to get tattoos professionally done would change this.

Although the board sympathized with allowing for cosmetic changes to botched tattoos they wanted more data in relation to minors seeking out underground artists when they cant get something professionally done.

They were also hesitant to change the way Pittsfield does things just because minors can get tattoos just outside of the city.

They also did not think the change would be accepted by the greater public.

Other than the age restriction, Shephard and Lamore had no concerns with the amendments.

Director of the Department of Health Gina Armstrong quickly highlighted two changes. Tattoo shops must sterilize equipment each week that equipment is used and new tattoo store owners must prove their experience with a resume.

"We really want to see evidence that they had that experience otherwise they would have to apply for an apprentice permit," she said.

In other business, the board approved the demolition of 619-621 Fenn St.

"All avenues for possible rehabilitation have been exhausted," Kullby said. "Looks like at one time it was a nice place."

The board heard from senior sanitarian Andy Cambi who said the structure is on the verge of collapse and is a public safety concern.

"The roof is collapsing and it has a big open area," he said. "There is no heat or hot water and it is open to the elements."

Cambi said they have tried to contact the owner about repairs but to no avail. He said the owner has been issued $1,750 worth of fines to date.

A friend of the owner made an inquiry about rehabilitation and that he sent off a copy of the order but has not heard back. He added that there has been no interest in receivership.
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The Supreme Court Monday took up the issue of an infant dying on returning home from Shaheen Bagh where his parents had taken him along to the ongoing protests against the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA).

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde took strong exception to some of the lawyers opposing the court's taking suo motu (on its own) cognisance of the matter.

"Can a 4-month-old child be taking part in such protests," the bench asked women lawyers appearing in the matter.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said it was not correct that minors like the 4-month infant should be taken to the protest site.

The apex court took suo motu cognisance of the matter following a letter written to it by a national bravery award winner Zen Gunratan Sadavarte, who said that minors be barred from participating in any type of protest and agitation.

The top court issued notices to the Centre and the Delhi government seeking their responses on the issue.

The bench, also comprising Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant, expressed anguish over the two women lawyers who made a statement that children who participated in the protests have been dubbed as 'Pakistani' and 'anti-nationals' in their schools.

"We do not want people to use this platform to further create problems," the bench said, expressing unhappiness that the lawyers were deviating from the main issue it taken cognisance of.

"We are not considering either CAA or NRC. We are not considering the abuses like Pakistani hurled in schools, the bench said.

The bench made it clear that it was not stifling anybody's voice.

"We are not stifling any voice. This is a properly constituted suo motu proceedings by the Supreme Court of India," the bench said.

The two women lawyers said they were seeking intervention on behalf of journalist and activist John Dayal and a woman who is the mother of two children.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
UPDATE: 3:42 p.m. Monday, Feb. 10 - The Sacramento office of the National Weather Service said via Twitter that they're putting into question the accuracy of the 209 mph wind gust reading near Lake Tahoe this weekend.

On Sunday the NWS Reno office said it could take months for state climatologists to verify the record.

Read the statement from the National Weather Service, Sacramento below:

After further review the 209 mph wind gust reported at Kirkwood seems questionable. The station seems to have multiple errors including 92 percent relative humidity during the strong winds. Also the wind seems to have been unusually strong the past few days at this station #cawx  NWS Sacramento (@NWSSacramento) February 9, 2020

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP)  A gust of 209 mph was recorded atop a California peak on Sunday, a potential record that wowed forecasters monitoring a cold storm that moved south through the state dumping snow, rain and hail.

The blast of wind was captured around 7:45 a.m. by an instrument at 9,186 feet on Kirkwood Mountain south of Lake Tahoe, said National Weather Service forecaster Alex Hoon.

He and his colleagues at the NWS office in Reno, Nevada watched in surprise as wind speeds across the crest of the Sierra Nevada hit 150 mph and kept rising.

It went up and up, Hoon said. It could take months for state climatologists to verify the record, he said.

But the way that the winds did ramp up, it looks legitimate, Hoon said. Its an exciting moment for sure.

The previous record was a gust of 199 mph (320 kph) at Ward Mountain west of Lake Tahoe on Nov. 16, 2017.

The storm that caused widespread in flooding last week in Washington and Oregon brought a strong cold front to California.

Waves topping 5 feet (1.5 meters) were recorded on Lake Tahoe, where air temperatures dipped below freezing.

Powerful winds downed trees and knocked out power to tens of thousands in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The same system dumped hail in parts of greater Los Angeles and snow in mountain areas north and east of the city.

Heavy rain fell as stars arrived for the Academy Awards in Hollywood on Sunday. The red carpet was protected by a tent but the position of some camera crews had them just outside the shelter, sending them scrambling to find tarps and plastic to protect their gear.

Temperatures in LA were in the 50s (about 13 Celsius).
New Delhi, Feb 11 : The students of Jamia Millia Islamia on Monday alleged that the police manhandled with the students and other protestors who had taken out a march till the Parliament earlier in the day.

Talking to IANS, Safoora, one of the core members of Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC) claimed, "I was caught between 4 policemen who refused to budge even though they saw that I couldn't breathe at all and I was fainting...I fell down. I was between their legs for more than 5-6 minutes. They kept ignoring me." "One of my friends found me...he saved me. I wouldn't be alive otherwise. When he begged them to give me space to breathe they kept taunting him. It was terrorising," she added.

The doctors who attended the injured students stated, "Most of the injured students have complained about being hit on the stomach, others have talked about severe neck pain due to dragging from the neck." Answering on the claims that the students were hit on their private parts, the medical officer said, "No such complaints have been conveyed to us." Jamia Millia Islamia Vice Chancellor Najma Akhtar, along with other senior officials of the varsity, visited Al Shifa to see students injured during the stand-off with Delhi Police earlier in the day.

A senior varsity official said: "Though there was no baton-charge by Delhi Police but some instances of scuffle had left minor injuries to our students. Najma Ma'am went to see them." Earlier in the day, an anti-CAA protest march to Parliament called by the Jamia Coordination Committee was blocked by Delhi Police after the protesters were stopped near the Holy Family Hospital which is within walking distance of Jamia Millia Islamia.
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - More than 70 trade exhibitors have pulled out of the Singapore Airshow amid concerns over the new coronavirus and the number of public tickets available will be less than half of those on offer in 2018 to limit attendance, the show's organiser said on Sunday.

Some major exhibitors, including Lockheed Martin Corp and Raytheon Co have pulled out over the virus.

Experia Events Managing Director Leck Chet Lam told reporters the number of companies not attending represented less than 8% of those that had signed up for the show, to be held from Feb. 11 to 16.

He said the number of aircraft on static display would be lower than in 2018, but around 40 to 45 were still expected.

At a media preview at the show site on Sunday, there were some empty spaces where stands would have been assembled by some of the exhibitors that had pulled out.

The show is requiring temperature checks on arrival and is discouraging attendees from shaking hands as part of enhanced health measures to protect against the virus, Leck said.

There have been 40 confirmed coronavirus cases in Singapore, which on Friday raised the threat level from the epidemic to the same put in place during the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory System outbreak.

(Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Richard Chang and David Gregorio)
SACRAMENTO  Californias Democratic primary suddenly matters.

Between the muddle of Iowas botched caucus, a weakened Joe Biden and Mike Bloombergs aggressive play for the 494 delegates at stake in the nations most populous state, Californias March 3 primary is taking on increased importance  just as California officials hoped it would more than a year ago, when they decided to move it up from June to Marchs Super Tuesday.

And the voting has already begun: Even as New Hampshire gets its traditional place in the spotlight Tuesday, more than 15.5 million early ballots were mailed out to registered California voters last week, more than are up for grabs "in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada combined," California Secretary of State Alex Padilla notes.

The vast states reputation for a lengthy vote-counting process could prevent the quick emergence of a winner that night. But Padilla maintains theres little danger that the confusion that happened in Iowa will take place in California, in part because the states elections are overseen by state administrators, not party officials. Plus, he argued, the biggest issue in Iowa was the use of an app  and California does not use apps for counting or casting ballots, or for reporting results  and the state doesnt allow the voting system to touch the internet to prevent hacking.

But political veterans here note that the complex, costly political landscape of the Golden State, including more than a dozen major media markets, does present a daunting series of campaigning hurdles for contenders. Democratic delegates in each of the 53 House districts will be doled out proportionally  and a candidate must meet a threshold of 15 percent of the districts voters to come away with any delegates at all, a hurdle that veteran state voting expert Paul Mitchell calls a potential "killer" for struggling second-tier candidates.

California is incredibly expensive from a media perspective  cost-prohibitive for some of the campaigns, notes Buffy Wicks, who helped run Barack Obamas 2008 grassroots campaign here and directed Hillary Clintons 2016 California effort. That means to build an effective field program, you really have to start, like, last year, says Wicks, now an East Bay assemblywoman.

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That hasn't deterred a late, all-out entry into the California primary fight by billionaire Bloomberg, who had the delegate-rich California terrain all to himself earlier this week as the rest of the Democratic pack arm-wrestled for the 49 delegates  just 10 percent of Californias delegate take  that ultimately will be awarded in snowy Iowa. Bloomberg appears ready to seize on the confusion and campaign shakeups that emerged from Iowa, and Bidens underperformance  and California looms large in that effort.

Having California moved up is obviously an important part of this whole process. The sheer size and magnitude of the campaign here is a critical part and our ground game  and what were doing in the state here is pretty extraordinary, says veteran Democratic strategist David Chai, who serves as a Northern California political director for Bloomberg.

His team is pouring money  and time  into the state, blanketing the airwaves with $13 million in ads since the start of the year and sending his message into rural markets that have rarely seen so many presidential campaign ads.

And in Sacramento a week ago, Bloomberg offered California voters the chance to see something equally rare in the Golden State: retail presidential campaigning up close. At dawn, the billionaire worked his way through a crowd of curious voters at a downtown coffee shop and bakery, posing for selfies, urging voters  in signs, buttons and in his stump speech  to "vote early."

Crystal Strait, Bloombergs state political director, looking around the packed Sacramento event, said the campaign is running on all cylinders in California  dividing the state into seven regions for targeted mail and voter outreach, opening 20 offices and hiring 300 staffers. Hes doing great, and were really feeling the momentum, she said.

New York's former mayor has picked up dozens of California endorsements in recent weeks, from big city mayors like London Breed of San Francisco, Sam Liccardo of San Jose and Antonio Villaraigosa, the former Los Angeles mayor and Assembly speaker, to rural Central Valley mayors like Kuldip Thusu of Dinuba and Eddie Neal of Lemoore.

But he has to play catch-up to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has been the front-runner in four recent major California state polls.

The fact that we are leading in the biggest state in the country is a big deal  and weve been prioritizing it, says San Francisco-based Ben Tulchin, the veteran Democratic pollster for Sanders national campaign. He says Sanders front-runner status here is the direct result of consistent gains in California with three critical voter groups who may decide the state winner  Latinos, younger voters and the nearly 1 in 3 who have no party preference or are independents. And our hard work is paying off.

Tulchin says the Vermont senator has hit California more than any other candidate has and in more diverse places  including the Central Valley and the fire-ravaged Northern California community of Paradise. He also has opened 16 state offices to date.

Thats because Sanders views California as the fifth primary, after critical early contests of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, Tulchin says. Its a high priority not only because of the delegate numbers at stake, but because a win in the biggest and most diverse state in the union would send a message about Sanders electability against President Donald Trump going forward, he said.

In the last week, Sanders' team  which has opened 20 state offices and hired 90 paid staffers  has made an aggressive reach to appeal beyond the Democratic base. On Jan. 31, Sanders' key team leaders staged a news conference on the steps of the State Capitol in Sacramento in an attempt to woo the estimated 5.5 million nonpartisan voters eligible to cast ballots.

"Thats why we have been on the ground since Day One, educating Californians about the ins and outs of voting. We have an unprecedented opportunity to expand the Democratic electorate this cycle  and we arent going to waste it, said Rafael Navar, Sanders' state campaign director.

Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, meanwhile, has outraised every other Democratic candidate in the state that is an ATM for the party  more than $9 million to date, according to Federal Election Commission data. He returns next week for four back-to-back fundraisers in the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley  ending the week with a town hall and rally on Valentines Day in Sacramento  events that political insiders say will be a hot ticket coming off his strong showing in Iowa.

Another Democratic billionaire, Tom Steyer, the only Californian still in the race following Sen. Kamala Harris exist last fall  insists that hell surprise the pundits here. His state campaign manager, Heather Hargreaves, says he has more than 400 staffers and nine offices on the ground  and the benefits of years of political outreach in his home state. As the founder of the Bay Area-based climate advocacy group NextGen Climate Action, Steyer has addressed tens of thousands of state voters in dozens of town halls hes held on that issue alone, she says. Climate is the issue that brought Tom into politics  and its an issue that resonates strongly with state voters, she says.

Bidens California ties and work for the Obama administration have won him some plum endorsements, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein and her husband Richard Blum; uber-attorney and donor bundler Joe Cotchett; and two of Californias most prominent mayors, Los Angeles Eric Garcetti and Long Beachs Robert Garcia.

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club Dinner, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020, in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

But the former vice president has done no major retail events like the super-sized rallies that have been a hallmark of Sanders campaign here. He also failed to show up at two major Democratic party meetings in California in the past months, including a Democratic state party convention where Elizabeth Warren and Buttigieg not only roamed the venues buttonholing key delegates, but appeared before California voters at enthusiastic rallies and campaign events.

Four to seven delegates are awarded in each of Californias 53 congressional districts, plus an additional 79 unpledged so-called superdelegates  many elected officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, as well as members of the DNC  putting the total at 494.

And we are a massive state. You cant traverse California in any significant way  even in one day, says Mindy Romero, founder and director of the California Civic Engagement Project at the University of Southern California's Sol Price School of Public Policy.

Romero also notes that the ethnic diversity of California, a majority-minority state, also demands more from candidates hoping for an edge. We have more voters that come from historically underrepresented groups, she says. Those include most significantly Latinos  who accounted for 23 percent of the eligible voter turnout in 2016, more than double that of 2012.

And Asian Americans, she said, now make up nearly 19 percent, up 7 percent from 2012, both significant jumps. Their increasingly robust presence, she says, can be a challenge in terms of messaging, in terms of translation of websites  and terms of finding a competent campaign staff and managers.

Complicating the matter: More than half of California now cast ballots by mail  with an estimated 45 percent expected to do so before the South Carolina primary on Feb. 29. Another new bump in the road for campaigns to consider: 2020s primary marks the first California election where same-day registration kicks in.

Mitchell, vice president of political data and the founder of Redistricting Partners, a political strategy firm, argues there's no reason to expect a repeat of the recent Iowa meltdown in California. Golden State elections are not overseen by the party but by registrars in 58 different counties whose count will be backed up by paper ballots.

Still, he warns the sheer size of the state means results could likely be drawn out for days, perhaps weeks  which is why candidates like Bloomberg and Sanders are already "trying to front-load their efforts, and telling people to vote now."

No matter how the final results may shake out, Mitchell said, campaigns know that what matters  for fundraising and momentum  is who is called the winner on election night  who technically gets a few more delegates.
When this years Oscar nominations were announced, the discussion of #OscarsSoWhite ramped up anew.

But theres not only an issue with diversity and inclusion within the space of actors, writers, directors, and the rooms that decide whose work is acknowledged with awards. Hollywood's colorblindness also contributes to a lack of people of color on the glam squads brought to set  even on films that star Black women.

During Alfre Woodards Oscars Sistahs Soiree at the Absolut Elyx House in Los Angeles Wednesday, we chatted with Laura Harrier, Cynthia Erivo, Kiki Layne, Lashana Lynch, and more about just that  the importance of having Black hair stylists and makeup artists on set, what it means to them to be able to appear onscreen with their natural hair, and more.

It's so important, and it's really rare, unfortunately, Harrier said, when we asked her how essential it is to have people of color in those rooms. I think it's really important for all of the crews to be vocal about that. That this is a real issue, and it's something that's important because you can't walk into set and feel your best if you don't feel like you look how you want to look. Its really frustrating to have so few hairstylists of color that are unionized, because there's so many talented hairstylists out there, so it's definitely something to push for.

Generally speaking, if a stylist isnt union (for example signed up with the I.A.T.S.E. Local 706), they wont be able to be considered for gigs on those sets.

One of Harriers favorite on-set moments with a glam squad was on her 2018 film Blackkklansman. LaWanda Pierre, who made all of the wigs in that film, was incredibly talented, Harrier said. She's this amazing Black woman based in New York, and the hair in that film really created the feel and the style. It wouldn't have been the same thing if we didn't have those kind, incredible pros. Like you just wouldn't have believed it. So, you look at someone like her who really struggled to join the union because it's so insular, and it shouldn't be so hard for someone so talented to break into this industry.

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RELATED: Laura Harrier Takes Us Inside Her 48-Hour Prep for the Oscars

Lynch also talked about how rare it is to have people of color who are makeup artists and hairstylists on set, and why they are needed. If I get into a makeup chair and I see someone who is even slightly brown, then my heart sits comfortably in where it should be coming into a makeup chair, the Captain Marvel star said. I know there are people in this industry who are caucasian who can do makeup and hair, but to know that theres a sister in the room, makes me feel like I dont need to communicate anything with you, you just know. Having a shorthand in the beginning by having a woman of color in the room is what makes us feel comfortable.

Its so crazy to even be asked the question of like how many people of color are you going to see on a film set, but actually that just shows how much work we still have to do, she continued. Nothing is cemented yet. These are all shifts that have been happening these last couple years. I'm grateful for them, but until they're concrete, no one can rest.

Kiki Layne, who praised the work of hairstylist Larry Sims and makeup artist Rebekah Aladdin, says she has started to ask to have African American hair stylists on set who can style her natural hair. On a project, Im definitely like um, Im sorry. Whos here for me? You want my hair in braids? Whos doing that? But, part of that confidence, and being able to say I need this, was inspired by women in this room, the Native Son star said. She talked about how many women she felt lucky to look up to in the industry  who were also at the fete  who have told her they make sure to keep specific requests for hairstylists of color in their contract. Theres so many women in that room who have paved the way or have not taken bullsh*t so I didnt have to, she said.

There was a specific moment on the set of the upcoming film The Old Guard when Layne did have to speak up about her hairstyling. We were over in London, and I said to the producers, Hey, can I get a sister here or at least one regularly, because they had someone coming in to braid my hair, she just wasnt there every day. And, I was just able to say to them, Hey, can she be here every day? They were just like, all right, okay. And that was that. They took care of me, and were super understanding, but I still had to say this should be a daily thing.

Layne, who swears by coconut and argan oil for her locks, is known for her natural hairstyles, and she said its super important to her to rock her natural hair. It's important to me to show the versatility of our natural hair, because I remember growing up and being made to feel like, your hair is so unmanageable. There's just nothing to do with it. That's why I'm constantly changing mine. Im trying these short braids now, I've done longer, I've done twists. I just love to show that we can be so creative and so expressive with our hair.

Cynthia Erivo, who was honored at the event, said its important to her that young Black women see her and know that its okay to wear their natural hair too. This is a real part of me and I celebrate it every day and I wear it and rock it in different ways. I hope it sends a message to young girls that they can be exactly who they are, however they want to be who they are, and that it doesn't diminish them at all.

Those conversations and more about their experiences working in Hollywood took the guests at Woodards annual event into the wee hours of the morning, bonding and celebrating each other.

RELATED: Regina King, Amandla Stenberg, and More Reflect on 4 Years of #OscarsSoWhite

We celebrate each other regardless of what is going on, Woodard told InStyle about the event, at which Taylor Russell was also honored. We give something to each other that the Academy can't give us. Not to diminish that at all, but what we do here is something that only family can give you, and it's something only true colleagues can give you  [We] create the bonds that you can go to them if you need something. That's what we do for each other. The root of that is to come together. And when you do that, everybody is lifted.
(Natural News) For more than two decades, horrible trade arrangements and political graft gave China a huge economic advantage over the U.S.

As American economic growth slipped from 4-5 percent per year to a new normal of between 1.5-2.5 percent, Chinese economic growth skyrocketed to annual double digits.

The money has allowed successive Chinese leaders to modernize their country and their military at the expense of U.S. economic and national security. And with its wealth  now the No. 2 economy in the world  and a massive market of 1.3 billion people, Chinas influence is growing around the globe.

Even as American politicians and presidents like Bill Clinton cozied up to the Communist regimes, unofficially soliciting donations and allowing top secret information to be pilfered at will, U.S. corporations and retailers have increasingly turned to Chinese factories to help fill domestic store shelves.

Mega-retailers like Walmart are especially guilty. For years, the chain has put forth a mom, pop, and apple pie persona while going behind the backs of American manufacturers to buy more cheaply from China.

The result was predictable: Continued hemorrhaging of U.S. jobs and manufacturing capacity to Chinese competitors who, for the most part, were only undercutting American-made products by negligible amounts.

Now, however, the legacy of corporate China pandering is about to come crashing down, and once again, its the American consumer who will be hurt.

As the coronavirus  believed by some to be part of a Chinese bioweapons program  continues to spread and kill, Communist authorities in Beijing are clamping down further to isolate the outbreak and limit its reach.

Measures include widespread quarantines, even of entire cities, according to some reports, which is leading to production slowdowns and cuts at factories all over the country. Factories that produce all the cheap goods sought by retailers like Walmart and e-tailers like Amazon.

Just-in-time supply chains failwithout supplies

As noted by Curtis Ellis writing at Breitbart News:

The China price gave us an endless stream of cheap consumer goods. It was made possible by global supply chains, transoceanic containerized shipping, and just-in-time inventory management to control warehouse and carrying costs, all part of the logic of relentless cost-cutting Wall Street demanded of multinational corporations.

But the coronavirus has its own logic, and it does not respect the logic of Wall Street bankers, logistics managers, and mass merchandisers.

Ellis goes on to point out that the coronavirus outbreak is exposing the frailty of global supply chains as well as the fallacy of the management theory that actually calls for international supply links as well as just-in-time management of inventory.

Global supply chains fail when one link  or, in this case, the chains anchor  fails. And thats whats going on right now with China.

The government has quarantined at least 60 million people in more than 12 cities; also, the Chinese government has ordered thousands of factories shuttered, writes Ellis.

Just-in-time supply chains fail without a continual supply of goods that arrive on store shelvesjust in time. And with reduced inventories  almost no one keeps much stock in-store these days because stock is expensive to maintain  it wont take long to run out of things.

A lot of things, in fact. Whats more, the longer the virus pandemic lasts, the bigger the supply chain fail is going to be and the longer shortages will last.

Already, mega-tech corporation Apple has been forced to reduce iPhone shipments by 10 percent this quarter because of disruption in its China-dependent supply chain (the vast majority of iPhones are made in China).

Even the official mouthpiece publication of the Communist regime, Global Times, has admitted that the party understands a labor shortage issue seems to be haunting major Chinese cities that include the countrys manufacturing hubs.

Before President Trump, successive American administrations were fine with allowing the China dog to continue wagging the American tail. Now that misguided strategy is going to come home to roost in a big way.

Sources include:

Breitbart.com

WSJ.com

TheNationalSentinel.com

NaturalNews.com
[February 10, 2020] IGEL's Brad Tompkins Recognized on CRN's 2020 Channel Chiefs List

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- IGEL, provider of the next-gen edge OS for cloud workspaces, announced today that CRN  , a brand of The Channel Company , has named Brad Tompkins, Chief Sales Officer, to the 2020 Channel Chiefs list. This annual list recognizes the top vendor executives who continually demonstrate exemplary leadership, influence, innovation, and growth for the IT channel. CRN's 2020 Channel Chiefs list honors the distinguished leaders who have influenced the IT channel with cutting-edge strategies and partnerships. The executives on this list have shown outstanding commitment, an ability to lead, and a passion for progress within the channel through their partner programs. Tompkins joined IGEL, a 100% channel-led, partner-first company, in 2017 at Vice President of Sales, North America, bringing with him more than 20 years of experience in software and hardware sales. In 2019, he was elevated to Chief Sales Officer, after pioneering the development and launch of IGEL's ELA model. With IGEL Workspace Edition, IGEL partners and their customers now benefit from flexible software licensing options that de-couple the hardware from the software, making it easier and more cost-effective than ever to sell, manage and support IGEL's software defined endpoint solutions. The launch of the new ELA model in 2018 resulted in a number of record-breaking software deals for IGEL. "I am proud to be a part of the IGEL Family and to work closely with our partners to enable customers to bring their workspaces to the Cloud," said Tompkins. "We could not have experienced our tremendous growth without the help of our partners." During 2019, Tompkins and his team also contributed to IGEL achieving the following milestones: The shipment of 749,000 copies of IGEL OS for a total unit growth of 132%, year-over-year

The dramatic growth in the North American IGEL channel partner network which now includes 23 Platinum partners and 26 Gold partners with a sales pipeline that has increased 100%, year-over-year

The unveiling of the IGEL Academy, an online learning platform for customers and partners

The success of IGEL's third annual DISRUPT 2020 events in Nashville, Tenn. , January 27-29 , and Munich , February 4-6 , which reached unprecedented attendance levels

, , and , , which reached unprecedented attendance levels The naming of IGEL as a "key partner" for Windows Virtual Desktop by Microsoft



Jed Ayres , Global CEO, IGEL. "Brad and his team have done an exceptional job demonstrating to our partners and their customers how IGEL's next-generation edge operating system for cloud workspaces can deliver improved manageability, enhanced security, better user experiences and cost efficiencies for organizations looking to help people best match their work-style with their individual lifestyle. We are proud to see Brad recognized again this year as one of industry's top channel executives, and would like to thank the editors of CRN for continuing to recognize our team for innovation and leadership in the IT channel." Andy Whiteside, CEO and Founder of XenTegra, an IGEL Platinum-level partner, said, "Brad has been a welcome addition to our partnership with IGEL since joining the IGEL team in 2017. His leadership and engagement with our team has enabled XenTegra to substantially grow both our IGEL and Citrix business in 2019, culminating in the IGEL 'Partner of the Year' and the Citrix 'US Partner of the Year' wins. We believe that the sales growth overall at IGEL has been a major factor, both directly and indirectly, in the growth of our business since Brad joined IGEL."

CRN's 2020 Channel Chief honorees were chosen by the CRN editorial staff for their dedication, industry prestige, and exceptional accomplishments in driving the channel agenda and evangelizing the importance of channel partnerships. "The IT channel is undergoing constant evolution to meet customer demands and changing business environments," said Bob Skelley, CEO of The Channel Company. "CRN's Channel Chiefs work tirelessly, leading the industry forward through superior partner programs and strategies with a focus on helping solution providers transform and grow. Our team here at The Channel Company congratulates these outstanding individuals for their dedication to the channel." CRN's 2020 Channel Chiefs list will be featured in the February 2020 issue of CRN Magazine and online at www.CRN.com/ChannelChiefs. IGEL on Social Media

Twitter: www.twitter.com/IGEL_Technology

Facebook: www.facebook.com/igel.technology

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/igel-technology

YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/IGELTechnologyTV

IGEL Community: www.igel.com/community About IGEL

IGEL provides the next-gen edge OS for cloud workspaces. The company's world-leading software products include IGEL OS, IGEL UD Pocket (UDP) and IGEL Universal Management Suite (UMS). These solutions comprise a more secure, manageable and cost-effective endpoint management and control platform across nearly any x86 device. Easily acquired via just two feature-rich software offerings,  Workspace Edition and Enterprise Management Pack  IGEL software presents outstanding value per investment. Additionally, IGEL's German engineered endpoint solutions deliver the industry's best hardware warranty (5 years), software maintenance (3 years after end of life) and management functionality. IGEL enables enterprises to save vast amounts of money by extending the useful life of their existing endpoint devices while precisely controlling all devices running IGEL OS from a single dashboard interface. IGEL has offices worldwide and is represented by partners in over 50 countries. For more information on IGEL, visit www.igel.com. About The Channel Company

The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequalled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelcompany.com Follow The Channel Company: Twitter , LinkedIn, and Facebook .  2020. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/igels-brad-tompkins-recognized-on-crns-2020-channel-chiefs-list-301001892.html SOURCE IGEL

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Barclays Bank Ghana Limited has today commenced operations as Absa Bank Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of Absa Group Limited, after receiving all required regulatory approvals from the Bank of Ghana. The name change marks the start of a new era for the banks operations as a forward-looking

African bank with global reach.



Today, we begin a new chapter as Absa Bank Ghana Limited, while we retain our 100-year heritage of

indelible commitment to Ghanas economic growth. Our new brand demonstrates our commitment to building a bank that is centered on growth for our people through the provision of financial resources, services and opportunities that connect their dreams to possibilities, said Mrs. Abena Osei-Poku, Managing Director of Absa Bank Ghana Limited.



The bank, which has been the most profitable in the industry for the past three years, is a major financier and contributor to key sectors of the Ghanaian economy, including agriculture, education, health, industry and infrastructure among others. Under the Absa brand, the bank has reiterated its commitment to remain a significant player in the financial services sector and the countrys economic development.



As one of Africas top three largest banks, backed by a large capital base and balance sheet, we will continue to play a leading role in Ghanas development agenda while we remain focused on serving Ghanaians with quality groundbreaking financial services and safe investments for their hard-earned money. Our destiny is tied to that of our country and our commitment to Ghana is absolute, said Mrs. Osei-Poku.



The change to Absa will not cause any change in customers account details and the banks branches will

continue to operate as usual. Barclays branded cards will continue to work as normal until their date of expiry. Customers can also continue to use their Barclays chequebooks until 10 August 2020, after which only cheques drawn on an Absa chequebook will be accepted.



When we started this journey over 3 years ago, we took time to seek insights from our clients and

stakeholders. We took to heart what they told us and set out to build a bank that partners them in innovative ways to bring meaning to their lives. Ghanaians can look forward to stronger partnerships that drive sustainable growth and a brighter future for all, Mrs. Osei-Poku reiterated.

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 condition of Muduli and her child is stated to be stable.

Due to the lack of a road to the village, Ghataguda villagers are often forced to wade through the Muran river, thus risking their lives.

KORAPUT: Incidents of pregnant women being carried in slings and cots to hospitals due to lack of transportation facilities in several remote areas of Odisha continue to cause inconvenience to the villagers.

In yet another such incident, a pregnant woman was forced to cross river in a sling due to the absence of proper road connectivity to a village in Koraput, reports said on Monday.

As per reports, the tribal woman, Dhaben Muduli of Ghataguda village under Dasmantpur block in the district, complained of labour pain on Sunday. Subsequently, family members of Muduli carried her in a sling and waded through the Muran river for 2 km to reach Dasmantpur Community Health Centre (CHC).

The condition of Muduli and her child is stated to be stable.

Due to the lack of a road to the village, Ghataguda villagers are often forced to wade through the Muran river, thus risking their lives. In 2011, two girls reportedly drowned while crossing the river in the absence of a proper road to the village.

Even after repeated requests from the locals, the district administration is yet to take any measure to solve their problem.

Earlier in November 2019, a pregnant woman of Ambapadar village under Dasamantpur block in Koraput district was carried in a sling for around four km due to lack of road link to the village.
Boko Haram jihadists killed at least 30 people and abducted women and children in the Borno state of Nigeria, said a regional governments spokesperson. The extremist group reportedly stormed the area with heavy weapons and abducted women and children after killing many people, said government spokesperson Ahmad Abdurrahman Bundi.

Bundi, in a statement, said that the attackers killed at least 30 people and torched the vehicles present in the area. According to media reports, most of the victims were travellers who stopped at a place which was around 25 kilometres west of Maiduguri, active region for fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Reports suggest that many of the drivers sleeping in the vehicles were burnt alive by the jihadists.

Read: ISIS Claims Execution Of 11 Nigerian Christians After Christmas

The highway, linking Maiduguri to Damaturu, has frequently been targeted by the ISWAP militants in the recent months. The increasing influence of the jihadists has forced the Nigerian military to create super camps in which small army camps move together to create larger bases.

Recently, an explosion took place on the El Beid bridge of Nigeria, near the border of Cameroon, that killed at least 30 people and injured dozens. The blast occurred on the afternoon of January 6 on the El bridge which connects the Nigerian town of Gambaru with the town of Fotokol in Cameroon.

Read: UN Reports Deadly Violence By Armed Groups In Nigeria

Killed Christians to avenge Baghdadi

Earlier, in a bid to avenge the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the terror group released a video on December 26, a day after Christmas, in which its militants killed 10 Christian men in Nigeria. The footage was posted on the ISIS online Telegram news channel a day after Christmas, with Arabic captions but without audio. In the video, 11 captive men were seen blindfolded of which ten were beheaded and the 11th was shot dead by militants in beige uniforms and black masks.

Read: Nigeria: At Least 30 Killed, 35 Injured In El Beid Bridge Explosion

Read: Miss Nigeria's Reaction On Jamaica Winning Miss World Title Is Winning Hearts

(With inputs from agencies)
Technavio has been monitoring the teeth whitening market and it is poised to grow by USD 840.38 mn during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of 4% 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 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/20200210005481/en/

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Ankara says army retaliated by destroying scores of Syrian army targets after attack on its forces in northwest Syria.

Five Turkish soldiers have been killed in an attack carried out by Syrian government forces in Syrias northwest, prompting Ankara to retaliate against dozens of Syrian army targets.

The Turkish defence ministry said Mondays shelling on a military base in Idlib province, the last rebel-held stronghold in the war-torn country, wounded a further five troops.

The regimes intense artillery fire targeted our elements sent as reinforcement to the region with an aim to prevent clashes in Idlib, ensure our border security and stop migration and human tragedy, the ministry said.

The Turkish military retaliated by hitting 115 Syrian government targets, according to the ministry, which said it had neutralised 101 Syrian military personnel.

Its statement added that the response was carried out under the rules of engagement and legitimate self-defence.

Turkish authorities often use the word neutralised in statements to imply that enemy elements have surrendered, are killed or have been captured.

Al Jazeeras Sinem Koseoglu, reporting earlier from the Bab al-Hawa crossing on the Syrian side of the border, said the Syrian army had targeted the Taftanaz military base, which the Turkish army took over from the Syrian military last week to establish a new observation post.

This is seen as the highest escalation that has ever happened between Ankara and Damascus in Syrias nine-year war, she said.

The Turkish armed forces are being hit directly by the Syrian army  and today is a benchmark in this escalation.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Defence Minister Hulusi Akar held an emergency meeting immediately after the attack, Turkeys NTV television reported.

Ankara has sent major reinforcements to Idlib, as it tries to stem rapid advances by Syrian government forces backed by Russia.

Their attacks against our posts have made an operation necessary, Omer Celik, spokesman for Erdogans AK Party, told reporters in Ankara, referring to the Turkish posts set up to descalate tensions in the region.

Russian delegation in Ankara

The Syrian armys assault came after a similar attack by the government forces last week killed eight Turkish military personnel, prompting another response by Turkeys army.

It also happened as a delegation from Russia, the Syrian governments main ally, is in Ankara for talks on the situation in Idlib.

Late on Monday, Ibrahim Kalin, the Turkish presidential spokesman, told the visiting Russian delegation that attacks on observation posts in the region must be stopped immediately, according to Turkeys presidency.

Kalin reportedly stressed that such assaults will not remain unanswered in a two-hour meeting with the Russian officials.

Turkey retaliated against the attack to destroy all enemy targets and avenging our fallen troops. The war criminal, who ordered todays heinous attack, targeted the entire international community, not just Turkey.  Fahrettin Altun (@fahrettinaltun) February 10, 2020

Separately, the United Nations said on Monday that nearly 700,000 civilians have been displaced by the latest Syrian government offensive against the rebel-held northwest since early December, including some 100,000 in the past week alone.

David Swanson, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the situation was increasingly dire near the border with Turkey, where more than 400,000 people had already taken shelter from earlier anti-rebel offensives last year.

Turkey, which already hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees, says it cannot absorb any more and has demanded that Damascus pull back in Idlib by the end of the month or face Turkish action.
Tel Aviv, Israel. January 2020. Israeli based Jewelry designer and manufacturer, Danny Newfeld, is back at the drawing board designing and launching his brand new signature line of sterling silver jewelry, the Danny Newfeld Fine Jewelry Collection. With over 25 years in the jewelry industry, Danny has been involved in every step of the jewelry production process. From design to manufacturing. From distribution to retail. A recognizable face for over 
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has reconstituted a 12-person committee following the rejection of the Senate President Ahmad Lawan-led National Reconciliation Committee by the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki.

The party had earlier set up a 10-person reconciliatory committee in December, 2019, to appease the aggrieved members of the party nationwide and resolve the crises in the party.

However, Mr Obaseki, in his reaction faulted the development. He accused the Senate president and the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Wase, of playing a prominent role in the crisis rocking the party in the state.

Mr Obaseki rejected the former arrangement and vowed not to heed to it until the party substituted those he complained about.

We believe the committee does not only fall short of the most basic of integrity tests, but is also a disservice to genuine efforts to bring a lasting solution to the crisis rocking different chapters of the APC across the country, the Edo official said.

To the specifics, Senator Lawan and Ahmed Wase in the Senate and the House of Representatives, respectively, presided over the plenary sessions where the motions to take over the Edo State House of Assembly were deliberated. They are also parties in the court case, in which the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt ruled that the National Assembly cannot take over the functions of the Edo State Assembly, the governor through his spokesperson, Crusoe Osagie, had said.

READ ALSO:

Meanwhile, the unending political power tussle between Mr Obaseki and the partys national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, continue to deepens.

New Committee

Bisi Akande, who was to serve as the vice chairman of the rejected reconciliatory team, has been appointed as chairman to replace Mr Lawan in the reconstituted team.

In a statement signed by the APC spokesperson, Lanre Issa-Onilu, on Monday, he noted that President Muhammadu Buhari and the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have reviewed the membership of the partys National Reconciliation Committee.

Mr Wase still made the list of the reconstituted members despite the protest from Obasekis faction.

Other members include the Governor of Niger State, Abubakar Sani Bello; the Governor of Osun State, Gboyega Oyetola; Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi; Tanko Al-Makura (a senator); Kashim Shettima; Minister of State for Environment, Sharon Ikeazor; Aliko Koki; Khairat Abdulrazak-Gwadabe; Binta Garba and John Enoh (secretary).

Mr Issa-Onilu also said the reconstituted committee is empowered to address grievances of party members across the country and resolve existing conflicts, all with a view to fostering oneness, strengthen the party for better governance and ensure unity of purpose within the party.

The committee will be inaugurated on Tuesday February 11, 2020 at the APC National Secretariat by 3 p.m.
It's no secret that Donald Trump dislikes NATO.

But the U.S. president's incessant hammering of alliance members to urge them to pay more for collective defence may be having a spillover effect, particularly among traditionally staunch western European allies.

That's how some analysts are reading the results of the latest Pew Research Centre survey of the attitudes of individual countries toward the 70-year-old North Atlantic Alliance.

While most member countries maintain a positive view of NATO, there has been a marked, steady erosion in support in France, Germany and Spain compared to previous surveys.

It could very well reflect "the Trump Factor," said Steve Saideman, director of the Canadian Defence and Security Network and a professor at Carleton University.

"I'm not that surprised to see public opinion dropping in Europe about NATO because it's now about whether it's given enough money to Donald Trump," he said. "Trump is making it less popular in Europe."

Is Europe souring on its own defence pact?

The survey by the nonpartisan, Washington, D.C.-based, think tank, which included 21,029 respondents in 19 countries, found the attitudes of "several countries have soured on the alliance" over the last decade.

The results come at a time when Canadian support for the alliance remains steady (66 per cent) and the Liberal government sings the praises of multilateralism.

We seem to be the outliers, however. Support in Britain, Poland and Lithuania and Greece increased slightly (although the Greeks only mustered a 37 per cent favourable view). Every other country, including the United States, saw a decline  in some cases a slight decline, in others a more pronounced one.

Support in France registered at 49 per cent, down from 71 per cent two years ago. Germany saw a 16 per cent decline to 57 per cent support over the same timeframe.

Both countries have been targets of Trump's Twitter rants about defence spending  his demands that nations meet the NATO benchmark target of setting aside an amount equivalent to two per cent of their gross domestic product for military appropriations.

Story continues

French President Emmanuel Macron, just prior to the last NATO leaders' meeting in December, bemoaned the state of the alliance in an interview, describing it as "brain dead" and urging the discussions to move beyond money.

"In the last several years, in Europe every discussion about NATO has been about Trump demanding more money," said Saideman, who has written extensively on alliance relations.

The migration crisis

Another contributing factor, he said, is disappointment in many European countries over the alliance's lack of success in stemming the flow of migrants across the Mediterranean Sea from Africa.

Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images

Stefanie von Hlatky, a defence expert and associate professor of political studies at Queen's University, agreed there is "disillusionment" among allies and said there's "a slight Trump effect" at work, but cautioned that the reasons behind the discontent are complex.

What surprised her, she said, was the widespread belief tracked in the survey among member nations that U.S. would step up to protect them in the event of a Russia attack  despite Trump's suggestion that America might not come to the defence of allies who don't pay up.

The survey also raises questions about the willingness of individual countries to commit their own forces to defend allies.

"Despite the organization's largely favourable rating among member states, there is widespread reluctance to fulfil the collective defence commitment outlined in Article 5 of NATO's founding treaty," said the Pew Research Center report.

"When asked if their country should defend a fellow NATO ally against a potential attack from Russia, a median of 50 per cent across 16 NATO member states say their country should not defend an ally, compared with 38 per cent who say their country should defend an ally against a Russian attack."

Von Hlatky said the survey seems to reflect a belief that the Americans would carry the lion's share of the burden in any future conflict  a notion that could provide more ammunition to Trump, who has argued forcefully that American soldiers already do too much.

The Pew Research Center survey also tracked what may be a shift in Canadians' attitudes when it comes to the use of military force on the international stage. According to the report, 71 per cent of Canadians agreed that military force is sometimes necessary to maintain order  a finding that is remarkably close to American attitudes.

Saideman called the result "striking," but cautioned more research is needed to see how much of a departure it might be from previous attitudes.
Former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullahs sister on Monday moved the Supreme Court to challenge his detention under the J&K Public Safety Act (PSA) on the grounds that the order was manifestly illegal, even as a political row broke out over reasons behind the action against the National Conference (NC) leader.

Abdullah, his father and former chief minister Farooq Abdullah, and another former J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti are among several leaders who have been under detention since last August, when the Centre moved to revoke the special status of the state by nullifying Article 370.

Last Thursday, Abdullah and Mufti were booked under the stringent PSA, hours before their six-month-long preventive detention was to end. The PSA allows the administration to detain them without trial for up to two years.

Earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a speech in Parliament, had suggested that comments purportedly made by Abdullahs and Mufti were against the spirit of the Constitution, and asked if any true Indian could advocate their cause.

Sara Abdullah Pilot, the NC leaders sister, filed the petition after reports that an official police dossier cited Abdullahs political influence even during the peak of militancy to support his detention under PSA.

In her petition, Pilot said: That the dossier states that the capacity of the subject (detenu) to influence people for any cause could be gauged from the fact that he was able to convince the electorate to come out and vote in huge numbers even during peak militancy and poll boycotts. In other words, the detenu is accused of convincing people to participate in elections in huge numbers and exercise their democratic right to vote despite threats from militants.

While the district magistrates (DM) official notification detailing the move to charge Abdullah under PSA did not mention the above reason cited in Pilots petition, a dossier prepared by the J&K Police to be sent to the administration included the remark. HT has accessed both documents.

A spokesperson for the J&K administration said that the police dossier is an internal communication and not a part of the order. He said that a PSA order generally picks up a few points from the DMs report, the polices dossier, and the prosecution wing. What hasnt been taken on record by the DM is something not taken note of, the spokesperson said, adding that what hasnt been accepted in the Grounds of Detention notified by the DM doesnt form a part of PSA detention.

However, Shariq Reyaz, Pilots lawyer, said the police dossier has to be necessarily construed as a part of the detention order. Its the information on which the DM enters satisfaction and passes the order, he said. And if it is an internal document, why was it served on him [Abdullah], Reyaz added.

In her plea in the apex court, Pilot said that the exercise of powers by authorities under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to detain individuals, including political leaders, was clearly mala fide to ensure that the opposition to the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution is silenced.

She alleged that Abdullahs detention was based on patently false and ridiculous material.

In the Habeas Corpus petition, Pilot prayed for production of Abdullah in Supreme Court, arguing that he was a votary of peace and there was overwhelming evidence in the form of tweets and public statements to prove the same.

...the Dossier handed over to the detenu along with the order of detention under the PSA contains patently false and ridiculous material, essentially accusing the detenu of becoming a popular figure among general masses and possessing considerable influence over people, the petition said.

Senior counsel Kapil Sibal mentioned the petition before justice NV Ramana and made a request for urgent listing of the case. The judge said that the requested will be considered for listing.

Abdullah, who was the chief minister of J&K from 2009 to 2014, has been accused by the police in its dossier of favouring radical thoughts and of planning and projecting his activities against the Union of India under the guise of politics while enjoying the support of gullible masses in the grounds for detention.

Pilot sought quashing of the detention order of February 5 on the ground that the material,on the basis of which the detention order was passed, is not disclosed or supplied to Abdullah. This, she submitted, deprived him of the fundamental right to make an effective representation against the detention order.

...this Honble Court has, in a catena of judicial pronouncements, held that the non-supply of material forming the basis of the grounds of detention vitiates the order of detention making it unconstitutional and liable to be quashed, she said.

The detention order is arbitrary, vague, irrelevant, whimsical and fanciful and deserves to be quashed by an appropriate writ of this court, Pilot added.

It was also her argument that none of the grounds in the detention order disclosed which prohibited action listed in Section 8(3)(b) of the PSA was committed by Abdullah. This, Pilot alleged, showed complete non-application of mind by the DM, who passed the detention order.

The reports on the contents of the police dossier on Abdullah invited sharp political criticism on Monday. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said it was pretty clear that the government had no basis to charge Abdullah and Mufti under PSA. She demanded that the two leaders be freed.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader MY Tarigami termed the grounds for booking the two under PSA as hilarious and said it showed the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre.

The move against Abdullah and Mufti has also triggered sharp reactions in the Valley.

For all of us, contents of the PSA dossier are surprising. They (ex-CMs) have been charged under frivolous charges. Describing Omar Abdullah or Mehbooba Mufti as anti-national is wrong and in no way close to facts, said Khursheed Ahmad, an educationist who runs a school in north Kashmir.

Social activist and lawyer Irfan Hafiz termed it as unjustified move that wont stand in court.
He says Vindman "had problems with judgement."

U.S. President Donald Trump has explained why he fired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a National Security Council (NSC) expert on Ukraine.

Trump says he does not know Vindman, Ukraine's European Pravda news outlet reported.

"Fake News CNN & MSDNC keep talking about 'Lt. Col.' Vindman as though I should think only how wonderful he was. Actually, I don't know him, never spoke to him, or met him (I don't believe!) but, he was very insubordinate, reported contents of my 'perfect' calls incorrectly" the U.S. President said on Twitter on February 8.

Read alsoNYT: Trump fires impeachment witnesses Gordon Sondland, Alexander Vindman in post-acquittal purge

"[Vindman] was given a horrendous report by his superior, the man he reported to, who publicly stated that Vindman had problems with judgement, adhering to the chain of command and leaking information. In other words, 'OUT,'" he said.

Fake News @CNN & MSDNC keep talking about Lt. Col. Vindman as though I should think only how wonderful he was. Actually, I dont know him, never spoke to him, or met him (I dont believe!) but, he was very insubordinate, reported contents of my perfect calls incorrectly, &...  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 8, 2020

As was reported, Trump on February 7 fired two key impeachment witnesses, dismissing Vindman, the top Ukraine expert at the council, and U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland.
Amanda Gilson, a nurse at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, protests outside the hospital for a rally organized by the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals on Dec. 13, 2019. Read more

I am a nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Christophers Hospital for Children, which was purchased in December by Tower Health and Drexel University. I have worked there for five years and have been a nurse for eight years. I have an 11-week old son.

Even though my hospital made $54 million in profit in 2018, it was bought out for just $50 million. The paid time off (PTO) I worked so hard to save so I could spend time with my baby was taken from me by Tower Health and Drexel just two weeks after he was born.

Drexel President John Fry and Tower Health CEO Clint Matthews have refused to recognize our accrued PTO. My husband, who is a Philadelphia firefighter, is now forced to work overtime so I can stay home, unpaid, to care for our baby and our 2-year-old daughter. He gets to spend less time with his newborn son because Tower Health and Drexel are more interested in lining their pockets than in ensuring that sick children have experienced and qualified nurses that are valued by the hospital in which they work.

We are fighting for all of our accrued PTO with Tower and Drexel. My union, the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP), has launched a GoFundMe to help pregnant nurses and nurses on maternity leave at St. Chris pay our bills in the meantime. But we shouldnt have to fund-raise for benefits we are owed.

Tower Health and Drexel have dishonestly claimed that they have given reasonable PTO. Nothing could be further from the truth. Theyve given nonbargaining employees just one year of PTO, no matter how long they have worked here and what PTO was built up before, at a rate less than what we accrued in the past. They want bargaining employees to settle for the same.

I had saved approximately 220 hours of PTO to cover the full first 12 weeks of my sons life. When I was sick, I worried about using that time. I skipped vacations and being able to stay at home because I knew how crucial it was to be there for my child in the first few weeks of his life. Tower Health and Drexel cannot hide from the fact that they have stolen that time.

Tower Health and Drexel have also gone after another key element of care: our contractual mandate for safe nurse staffing. Rather than honor the safe staffing standards, including a staffing grid that we negotiated for our contract in 2019, they have refused to include the grid and honor the staffing system we saw as safe for nurses and patients.

Nurses at St. Chris provide care to the sickest children in the poorest big city in America. We do it because we love to help these children get better. Without St. Chris nurses, the hospital would not function.

That is why ensuring safe nurse staffing at the bedside has been shown time and again to improve patient outcomes.

Since we organized with PASNAP in 2016, we have made big strides in reducing nurse turnover at St. Chris so that sick children have the most professional nursing staff to provide care for them. What Tower Health and Drexel are trying to do is eliminate the gains we have made for patient care to enrich their own pockets.

Matthews got a $1.7 million salary as president of Tower Health in 2018, while Drexels Fry made $1.3 million that year. This is Robin Hood in reverse.

Both Fry and Matthews have refused to meet personally with St. Chris nurses. That has left us with the impression that they do not see St. Chris as a critical resource for care. They see St. Chris as a moneymaker.

I cant help but feel angry about this. My child deserves for his mother and father to be able to spend time with him. The sick children at St. Chris deserve a nurse. We arent asking for anything less than what we, the nurses and patients, are owed.

Tower Health and Drexel should be held responsible. We are urging elected officials and community leaders to make their voices heard  to say that this is an outrage and to help us secure whats rightly owed. St. Chris deserves it. The children deserve it.

Amanda Gilson is a nurse at St. Christophers Hospital for Children.
Men armed with rifles and machetes attacked a police station in Benin ne ar the border with troubled Burkina Faso, raising fears that Islamic extremist violence could be encroaching even further south, officials said.

One policeman was killed and another wounded in the attack in the village of Mekrou-Djimdjim at dawn on Sunday and the gunmen then set fire to the building, according to a statement by a police spokesman.

The attack took place near one of the wildlife areas known as W National Park straddling the borders of northern Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger.

In the Pendjari National Park further west, two French tourists were kidnapped last May and their guide was killed.

Observers have expressed growing fears that Islamic extremist groups could be extending their reach further south.

Islamic militants grabbed hold of the major towns in northern Mali in 2012, only to be dispersed by a French-led military intervention the following year.

Since 2015, neighboring Burkina Faso has been beset by jihadist attacks and now there are concerns about the northern regions of Benin, Togo, Ghana and Ivory Coast becoming the next front.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Donald Trump is calling for slashing social safety net programs like food stamps and the Children's Health Insurance Program in a $4.8 trillion election year budget proposal.

The White House is also proposing to slash foreign aid, a perennial target for proposed cuts, after the president has spent years blasting U.S. overseas funding as wasteful.

Homeland Security programs would get a boost, the Pentagon would get flat funding after enjoying big increases in prior years, and NASA would get a $3 billion increase as it plans for a trip to Mars.

The White House is releasing President Trump's $4.8 trillion election year budget proposal, which slashes funding for social safety net programs

Food stamps would shed $181 billion over the next ten years, while proposed changes to hospital reimbursements and other programs would trim hundreds of billions out of Medicare  if they became law.

The social safety net cuts would total $292 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The social program cuts are part of an effort to balance the budget in 15 years  although Congress has rejected them in the past and they stand little chance of making it through the Democratic-controlled House.

''For decades, Washington elites told us that Americans had no choice but to accept stagnation, decay, and decline. We proved them wrong. Our economy is strong once more,' Trump said in a statement accompanying the budget.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said night that 'once again the president is showing just how little he values the good health, financial security and well-being of hard-working American families.'

In this Jan. 31, 2019, file photo, hundreds of people overflow onto the sidewalk in a line snaking around the block outside a U.S. immigration office with numerous courtrooms in San Francisco

In this Aug. 13, 2019, photo, Dr. Jasmine Saavedra, left, a pediatrician at Esperanza Health Centers in Chicago, hands newborn Alondra Marquez to her mother, Esthela NuAez, right, after examination. The budget proposes cuts in a variety of social programs

President Donald Trump's budget request for fiscal year 2021 arrives at the House Budget Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Feb. 10, 2020

Trump's budget follows a familiar formula that exempts seniors from cuts to Medicare and Social Security while targeting benefit safety net programs for the poor, domestic programs like clean energy and student loan subsidies. It again proposes to dramatically slash funding for overseas military operations to save $567 billion over 10 years but adds $1.5 trillion over the same time frame to make his 2017 tax cuts permanent law.

Trump's budget would also shred last year's hard-won budget deal between the White House and Pelosi by imposing an immediate 5% cut to non-defense agency budgets passed by Congress. Slashing cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency and taking $700 billion out of Medicaid over a decade are also nonstarters on Capitol Hill, but both the White House and Democrats are hopeful of progress this spring on prescription drug prices.

To help show the budget coming into balance, the budge envisions long-term 3 per cent growth and more immediate 2.8 per cent growth  even though growth was 2.1 per cent last year.

The president also will request billions of dollars to complete a wall at the US-Mexico border.

The budget plan will request $2billion to complete the controversial wall along the southern US border that Trump has demanded since his 2016 campaign to stop migrants from entering the country.

The proposal will also substantially boost funding for NASA, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Homeland Security.

However, it's not likely that the budget plan, which is designed to reduce the country's spending by $4.4trillion and deficits by $4.6trillion over the next decade, will pass in the Democrat-controlled House.

The plan sheds light on Trump's fiscal priorities as he seeks re-election this year.

President Donald Trump announced a $4.8trillion budget proposal on Sunday that will slash spending on foreign aid and social safety nets but will request millions of dollars to complete a wall at the US-Mexico border. Trump pictured Friday

This graph shows the sectors where Trump will boost and cut funds in his $4.89trillion budget plan. The biggest post will be in defense, while cuts will be made in social security, medicaid and medicare

The plan seeks to fulfill Trump's 2016 campaign promise to construct a wall along the southern US border, which has sparked controversy in Congress and triggered a historic five-week government shutdown last winter when lawmakers refused to fund the project.

The $2billion request is significantly less than the $5billion that Trump's administration asked for last year.

The budget plan also focuses on military spending, boosting it by 0.3% to $740.5billion for fiscal year 2021, starting on October 1, a senior administration official confirmed to the Wall Street Journal.

The proposal includes shifting resources away from the Air Force to some of President Trump's new priorities, including the recently created Space Force, Bloomberg News reported.

NASA will see the biggest boost with as much as a 12% increase to fulfill Trump's goal of returning astronauts to the moon by 2024.

The budget plan will request $2billion to complete the controversial wall along the southern US border that Trump has demanded since his 2016 campaign to stop migrants from illegally entering the country. The border wall pictured in Campo, California

Trump's budget will bolster NASA spending from about $22.6billion to $25.2billion in fiscal 2021 - one of the biggest spending jumps requested since the 1990s.

Overall the White House will cut reduce spending on food stamps and federal disability benefits and will modify Medicare prescription-drug pricing that could lead to $130billion in savings - something the president touched on in his State of the Union Address last week.

'Working together, the Congress can reduce drug prices substantially from current levels,' Trump said.

'I have been speaking to Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa and others in the Congress in order to get something on drug pricing done, and done properly. I am calling for bipartisan legislation that achieves the goal of dramatically lowering prescription drug prices. Get a bill to my desk, and I will sign it into law without delay,' he said.

NASA will see the biggest boost with as much as a 12% increase to fulfill Trump's goal of returning astronauts to the moon by 2024. Trump's budget will bolster NASA spending from about $22.6billion to $25.2billion in fiscal 2021 - one of the biggest spending jumps requested since the 1990s

Another major focus of Trump's budget is to reduce foreign aid by 21% as the president continues to push for countries to pay their 'fair share' for their own defense.

Trump came under fire for temporarily suspending aid to Ukraine last year, a move which triggered impeachment proceedings over abuse of power.

Republicans defended the move claiming the president was seeking to suspend or reduce US financial spending overseas, particularly to corrupt countries.

The budget plans to cut 26% or funding for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), continuing Trump's efforts to roll back Obama-era EPA regulations.

Overall social saftey nets will see $292billion in cuts impacting work requirements for Medicaid and food stamps.

In Trump's State of the Union Address he boasted about the strength of the economy saying: 'We are moving forward at a pace that was unimaginable just a short time ago and we are never going back.'

Under Trump's plan, the federal budget deficit would shrink to $966billion next year from an estimated $1trillion in 2020 - more than twice what Trump projected in his first budget proposal in 2017.
Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Monday said with negotiations on the Naga political issue between the Centre and the Naga groups concluding on a positive note on October 31 last year, the Nagas were at a crucial juncture in their history.

Rio appealed to all other groups to join the peace process in the interest of the Naga people.

Replying to the debate on Motion of Thanks to the governor's address delivered on the first day of the ongoing Budget Session of the state assembly, he said, "With the positive conclusion of the talks, it is our hope that divine wisdom prevails and guides the negotiating parties as the modalities and competencies are worked out in due course of time."



"We have to be united, irrespective of tribe or community or political party affiliation. We have to transcend all boundaries that bind us within our individual comfort zones," the chief minister said.

Clarifying Governor R N Ravi's statement in the assembly over Naga peace talks, he said nowhere has it been mentioned that the peace process has concluded.

Rio said only the talks have concluded on a positive note which signifies that the negotiating parties have arrived at a meeting point.

"Negotiations had been going on for the last 22 years and the talks had to be concluded so that an agreement can come," he said, adding that no pact can be signed unless the points of contention are hammered out between the parties involved.

Expressing gratitude to the central government, he said it was the logical and rational way to hold talks.

"Nagas are at a critical juncture because during such times, insecurity may prevail in the minds of people, or misconceptions and confusions based on hearsay may be spread by mischief makers," the Nagaland chief minister said.

Maintaining that these possible instances cannot be ruled out, he said it is the duty of the government, as facilitators, to "appeal to our neighbouring states to understand the sensitive juncture" Nagas are in.

Rio also reiterated that early resolution of the decades old Naga political issue has been the topmost priority of his government.

He said the Joint Legislators' Forum on the Naga political issue, comprising of all 60 elected members of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly cutting across party lines,



was reconstituted on September 18, 2018 under the chairmanship of the then speaker, Late Vikho-o Yhoshu.

On the opposition NPF's demand for an anti-CAA resolution in the assembly, the chief minister said despite the privileges of protection Nagas enjoy under Article 371 (A) of the Constitution and Inner Line Permit (ILP), the state government opposed the CAA as a sign of solidarity with the neighbouring states.

He said collective efforts of all sections made the Centre take notice and the Union home minister held consultative meetings with all northeastern states and subsequently the states covered under the ILP, Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR), 1873, and Tribal Areas under the 6th Schedule of the Constitution have been exempted from the ambit of the new citizenship law.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
SARS. Bird flu. And now a new coronavirus.

A lot of epidemics seem to come out of China, leading some to point accusing fingers. President Trumps trade czar, Peter Navarro, for one, once went so far as to describe the country as a disease incubator, and that was before the latest outbreak.

But those perceptions are outdated.

While some of the most serious outbreaks have been traced to Chinese origins, others associated with China may have started elsewhere.

Old stereotypes have also contributed to unfounded portrayals of China as a source of contagion, when in fact it has progressed further than many countries in eradicating scourges that can flourish in developing regions.

Still, Chinas recent history of what are known as zoonotic infections  viruses, bacteria and parasites that spread between animals and humans  has raised questions about public-health practices in the worlds most populous country.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 00:16:48|Editor: yan

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ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Bad governance, the absence of women at decision-making tables and youth unemployment are some of the challenges that continue to blight Africa's quest for total peace, social cohesion and sustainable development, Vera Songwe, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), said on Monday.

The ECA chief made the remarks on Monday while addressing a high-level discussion on sustaining peace and economic security that was convened by the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, on the margins of the ongoing 33rd African Union (AU) Summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

"Bad governance lies at the center of Africa's failure to sustain peace. When conflicts persist, girls drop out of school and we lose Africa's brain trust. Women and girls must not be used as or for conflict," said Songwe.

Noting that currently there are 21 armed conflicts raging on the continent, Songwe also stressed that "We need to ensure that women are included in critical decision-making processes if we are to reduce conflict, sustain peace, and deliver a prosperous Africa."

"Investing in women and ensuring they have a seat at the decision-making table is crucial for peace, social cohesion and sustainable development on the African continent," she added.

The ECA chief further said the over 13 million of Africa's youth who have no employment were a time bomb that requires the continent's leaders to act fast, "our leaders need to invest in education, our business environments, good governance and infrastructure."

Canada's Prime Minister Trudeau also on his part said that "in this time of change, time of transformation of the global economy, conflict and climate challenges, people worry that the system has no place for them. We have populism in some places... attractiveness of extremism and terrorism in far too many youth."

"It's time for us to pull together. To understand that an essential part of building peace isn't just the absence of conflict, it's the creation of opportunities; it is working with local governments to see the need for the young people to have jobs, become entrepreneurs; investments that can unlock economic opportunities as an essential part of the path forward."

He called for home-grown solutions in countries that are in conflict. Imposed solutions, he said, do not work.

"We need to work better together, driving investors and creating economic opportunities and prosperity that is broadly shared, with a real and fair chance to succeed for all of us," Trudeau said.

Burkina Faso President, Roch Marc Christian Kabore, also highlighted the conflicts in his country and the Sahel region in general, and the need for more international support to combat jihadist groups and extremism.

The current UN General Assembly President, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, also hailed the high-level meeting, saying there is a need to define and refine the best ways through which to secure and sustain peace and economic security on the continent.

"Peace is key to Africa's sustainable development, adding no stone should be left unturned in efforts to address conflicts and promote peace," Muhammad-Bande said.
With Biden dipping in the polls, race between Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg heats up before US states primary.

Portsmouth, New Hampshire  As former United States Vice President Joe Biden continues to see his poll numbers sink in New Hampshire in advance of the states primary election on Tuesday, a new duel is coming into political focus.

With Bidens support in New Hampshire falling from a poll average about 23 percent to 11 percent among the many Democratic candidates for president, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg has emerged as a favourite for the partys moderate wing. But Senator Bernie Sanders, from the neighbouring state of Vermont, still appears to hold a healthy lead over Buttigieg as the two trade increasingly vicious barbs.

Sanders is kind of the least of the evils right now, said Willa Shaw, an employee at Treehouse Toys in Portsmouth.

Democratic US presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders poses with students for selfie photographs after speaking at a campaign rally one day before the New Hampshire presidential primary election in Rindge, New Hampshire [Mike Segar/Reuters]

Im not very politically informed, but I feel like I do have to vote, she told Al Jazeera, adding that Sanders will hopefully be able to win the Democratic primary and then the general election.

40 billionaires

Over the weekend, the contrast between the two sharpened. Sanders has painted a picture of Buttigieg as a young, inexperienced centrist candidate under the thumb of billionaires.

The US senator told fired-up supporters in the town of Plymouth that the 38-year-old had raised campaign cash from over 40 billionaires.

Were taking on Wall Street, Sanders said to rousing cheers. Were taking on the insurance companies. Were taking on the drug companies. Were taking on the fossil fuel industry. We are taking on the military-industrial complex.

For his part, Buttigieg warned about the costs of Sanderss Medicare-for-all plan. In Dover, he alleged that the 78-year-old has no idea how [Medicare for all] is supposed to be paid for.

Pete Buttigieg, Democratic presidential candidate and former South Bend, Indiana, mayor, attends a campaign event in Plymouth, New Hampshire [Eric Thayer/Reuters]

The Democratic Party, meanwhile, has been doing its best to recover from the Iowa caucus voting disaster in which neither Sanders nor Buttigieg could claim outright victory. Both have called for a recanvass of the results.

Biden on Monday looked to be competing for third place in New Hampshire with Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, whose fortunes have also declined nationally and who was polling first in the state just months ago.

US Senator Elizabeth Warren speaking at a campaign town hall in Lebanon, New Hampshire, US [Brian Snyder/Reuters]

She could be a surprise, a come-from-behind candidate, said Rachel Collins, a college volunteer from Florida canvassing in New Hampshire for Warren.

I think Sanders does have a good chance, Collins told Al Jazeera. But I worry about what happens after New Hampshire, and I dont know if the Democratic Party is ready to unite behind either candidate.

But Biden has not let Buttigieg off easy either, with an advertisement on Saturday criticising the ex-mayors short tenure in government. The elder statesman from Delaware also brought up the issue of support from the crucial African American community.

Leading in the next primary states of Nevada and South Carolina, Biden seems more likely to gain traction in those relatively diverse places.

Former Vice President Joe Biden speaking to supporters at a campaign event in Hampton, New Hampshire [File: Elise Amendola/AP Photo]

Klobucharge

Since New Hampshires Democratic primary is open, all of the candidates  but particularly the moderates  are canvassing for independent and Republican votes, too.

A Monmouth University poll released Friday on the eve of the New Hampshire debate showed that just under half of the states primary voters were already decided on their preferred candidates.

Many voters are now fleeing to Senator Amy Klobuchar for the lack of what they see as other viable contenders to take on President Donald Trump in November.

Democratic 2020 US presidential candidate Senator Amy Klobuchar is greeted by supporters during a campaign event in Salem, New Hampshire [Brendan McDermid/Reuters]

Klobuchars rallies have been attracting bigger numbers across the state, most recently in Keene, where her supporters filled up an overflow room because the initial amount of space did not suffice.

The Klobucharge has propelled her to third place in some polls on the eve of the primary.

Analysts say this is the result of voters thinking Sanders is too far left and believing that Buttigieg  whose improbable rise has shocked many  just does not have a long-enough political resume.

New Hampshires primary comes after a chaotic Iowa caucuses [Ben Piven/Al Jazeera]

But even for those who support other candidates, including entrepreneur Andrew Yang, the race will ultimately come down to who voters are able to relate to more.

We went to the Buttigieg town hall yesterday, said Joshua Harrison, a Yang supporter. Hes able to rock the stage.

His message is a very safe one, whereas Bernie is a candidate for a future very different from what we have right now, Harrison told Al Jazeera.

Their rivalry will come down to who is most relatable. And thats why I give the edge to Buttigieg.
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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The pressure was on for lawmakers and DFL Gov. Tim Walz last year: They were constitutionally mandated to deliver a two-year budget.

This year, theres less pressure to be productive  but be prepared to see plenty of grandstanding in this election-year session featuring a Republican-controlled Senate and DFL-controlled House.

"Thats OK. Thats healthy," Walz said when asked about the legislative statements either party might try to make this session  knowing the other chamber will ignore them.

"I think the public should get a chance to see some proposals that were not going to agree on, but that there are distinct differences on. Then they can decide later this year [in the election]," he said in an interview with MPR News.

A bonding bill is always at the top of the list in an even-year session, and Walz has already announced a $2 billion package of public construction projects. Republicans say the plan is too big, but Walz is holding firm.

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"Im more than willing to say if there are some of these things we need to take out and move till later, wed like to add a few things, thats what the legislators should be doing," Walz said. "But I think the number weve come up with is pretty close to whats reasonable and whats right."

A bonding bill can't pass without bipartisan support. It needs a 60 percent supermajority in both the House and Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, R-Nisswa, said hes optimistic that  just as they did for last year's budget negotiations  the governor, House and Senate can come together again to pass a plan for borrowing.

"I am very committed to making sure the infrastructure bill gets done, and you hear all four legislative leaders say that," he said. "I dont know that Ive ever heard quite as much public comments early about, lets get a bonding bill done, so thats why Im optimistic about that."

The fight, though, will be over the bill's size.

House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, R-Zimmerman, said a $2 billion bill is unrealistic.

"Are we willing to go above $1 billion? Yeah, we probably are for important projects like road and bridge infrastructure, wastewater and drinking water infrastructure and taking care of our state assets like our buildings at our state colleges and universities," he said. "Were more than willing to do that, but its got to be reasonable."

Lawmakers will also consider some budget adjustments this year. The last economic forecast projected a $1.3 billion surplus. A revised number comes out next month.

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Walz wants to replenish the state's "rainy day" fund, but Gazelka wants tax cuts, including an elimination of the state tax on Social Security income.

House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, wants to invest in early childhood education.

"We would like to see the amount of one-time spending that we have available to us this year focused on the things that matter the most," she said.

Hortman said despite election-year distractions, lawmakers will be able to get things done.

"We will work together to find those areas where we can move things forward, where there is a bipartisan compromise, where both sides are willing to find the true middle and get something done for Minnesotans," Hortman said.

To that end, a first-day hearing is planned in the House on an emergency insulin measure still unresolved from last session.

But it will be hard to escape politics, with all 201 legislative seats on the ballot in November. Several policy proposals will be considered mainly for show with no hopes of becoming law this year.

For example, Senate Republicans will pass things that House Democrats have no interest in, including school choice tax credits and Voter ID. House Democrats are expected to pass gun control, paid family leave and other bills that Senate Republicans wont touch.

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"That is not a waste of time. That is to communicate with Minnesotans our different visions and approaches to the problems that face the state, so that people can make a good decision when they go vote in November," Hortman said.

Gazelka said despite feeling a shift toward politics this year, he hopes lawmakers can stay focused.

"We still just need to focus on making sure we get the things done that we should and can get done," he said.

What to watch at the Legislature this year:

Bonding: A borrowing plan for public construction projects will be the focus of the session. But there will be disagreement about the size of the bonding bill. Walz has proposed a $2 billion package. Senate Republicans want less. House Democrats want more.

Budget surplus: The November economic forecast projected a $1.3 billion surplus. A revised number is due in a few weeks. Walz wants to beef up the "rainy-day fund." Senate Republicans are talking tax cuts. House Democrats say early childhood education funding is the way to go.

Clean energy: There is bipartisan support for some type of legislation to get utilities to move away from fossil fuels. The House and Senate have competing approaches, but a compromise bill appears within reach.

Department of Human Services: Senate Republicans are eager to address the large departments problems, including a series of financial missteps last year. Walz is open to improvements, but it might take more than one session to make changes.

Guns: House Democrats will again push for a pair of gun control measures they passed last session. One would expand background checks to more types of purchases, and the other would allow for extreme risk protection orders. Senate Republicans have not supported either bill.

Insulin: The rising cost of insulin is an issue from last session that didnt get resolved during the interim. The House and Senate are out with competing proposals on how best to help Minnesotans get the life-saving drug. The House has a first-day hearing scheduled.

Opportunity scholarships: Senate Republicans will try again to provide tax breaks to businesses that donate to scholarships that could be used for private schools. Walz and House Democrats call them vouchers, and theyre strongly opposed.

Paid family leave: House Democrats will push again for a bill that would provide paid family and medical leave and earned safe and sick time to all Minnesotans. It faces stiff opposition from Republicans.

Recreational cannabis: House Democrats held a series of 15 community meeting to get input for their legalization bill. Hearings are expected on the bill, but it might not get a House vote. Walz supports legalization, while Senate Republicans are strongly opposed.

Voter ID: In 2012, Minnesota voters rejected a constitutional amendment to require them to show a photo ID to get a ballot. Senate Republicans want to bring back the issue, this time as a legislative proposal, to protect election integrity. Walz and House Democrats are opposed.

This story originally appeared at: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/02/09/legislative-session-that-starts-tuesday-could-be-light-on-accomplishments of story Questions or requests? Contact MPR News editor Meg Martin at newspartners@mpr.org  2019 Minnesota Public Radio. All rights reserved.


Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 10)  The number of "patients under investigation" for novel coronavirus or 2019-nCoV in the country has climbed to 314, the Department of Health's website showed Monday.

There are currently 202 pending cases, while 109 tested negative, and three tested positive. Among the people under watch are 183 Filipinos, while the others are foreign nationals including 99 Chinese, DOH data showed..

Metro Manila still has the most number of currently admitted patients under investigation with 105 people.

The first confirmed case of 2019-nCoV, a 38-year-old Chinese woman, has recovered and "tested negative twice" in subsequent tests. She was discharged Saturday but it is unclear if she has already flown back to China, Health Department Spokesperson Eric Domingo said.

The second confirmed case, the 44-year-old Chinese man who was the partner of the first case, died after developing severe pneumonia. He became the first death due to novel coronavirus outside of mainland China.

The third confirmed case is that of a 60-year-old Chinese woman who already flew back to China on January 31.

Contacts of three confirmed cases traced

All the 441 contacts of the couple who are the first and second confirmed cases, have already been identified by the Epidemology Bureau of the DOH, together with the Philippine National Police's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

On the other hand, 224 of the 403 contacts of the third case have been traced, "including co-passengers and individual contacts from hotels and hospitals," Domingo said.

Among these contacts are 147 who have been interviewed and have been placed in home quarantine.

"Eight contacts with symptoms have been categorized as PUIs and have been admitted for isolation and monitoring," Domingo added.
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Linkedin Hangga Fathana and Dr Priyambudi Sulistiyanto (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 10, 2020 16:36 701 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2063a22f2 3 Opinion Australia,Australia-Indonesia,bilateral-relation,IA-CEPA Free

President Joko Jokowi Widodos visit to Canberra marked a new milestone in Australia-Indonesias relations.

Not only did he address Australias parliament on Monday, Jokowi also launched a plan of actions for Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA), which finally has been ratified by Indonesias parliament last week.

This visit also commemorates the 70th years of Australia-Indonesia relations. It is also a sign that the two country relations are in the best shape.

IA-CEPA, as claimed by both countries, will open up more economic partnerships and thus complement the current strategic relations. Jokowis visit disproves the observation that unlike his predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Jokowi disregards Australia as one of Indonesias good friends.

However, we should not get overly excited over the IA-CEPA yet. Even though the partnership has received positive responses from each country, IA-CEPA has some apparent implementation challenges.

Challenges to Indonesia 

That the agreement will further liberalise Australia-Indonesia trade and broaden economic relations is indeed inevitable. Indonesia will enjoy the benefit of zero tariffs for all exports to Australia, while it is also cutting 94% tariff for Australias exports to Indonesia.

Some may argue that this opportunity will boost Indonesias export to Australia. But, our recent discussions with some of Indonesias parliament members, owners of small/medium enterprises, and trade unions indicated that they are not aware of the benefits of IA-CEPA.

Instead, there are growing anxieties that they will not be able to take advantage of the agreement, given Indonesias current trade deficits with Australia. This trade deficit, exacerbated by the competing trade structure of the two countries on mining sectors have left them clueless about the initiatives to increase Indonesias export to Australia.

On the other hand, in the context of investment, this agreement is also momentum for Indonesias government to ease its bureaucracy. Our colleague, a junior Australias diplomat, finds it surprising that despite Indonesias reputation as a democratic country, its administration for investment is still too much a hassle.

This can limit Indonesias attractiveness to foreign direct investment. And it may restrain Australias investors from working more closely with Indonesia.

To mitigate the risks above, Indonesias government should engage more proactively with civil societies and small/medium enterprises to promote the trade deal in more details.

The government should inform beneficiaries of the IA-CEPA on how to seize the advantage of the agreement.

 and to Australia

For Australia, this trade deal provides a significant opportunity to enhance its export to Indonesia. Australias current agricultural products export can be further optimised, given Indonesias large population of 270 million.

However, this agreement may still result in a sub-optimal outcome given the current Australian business practitioners low awareness of Indonesias culture and society.

Export is not simply about producing and selling high-quality products. Australian corporations need to understand Indonesias daily norms and social structure.

To anticipate these issues, intensive course for business practitioners on Indonesian language, culture, and business best practices should be widely provided in Australia.

It will help Australians to grasp the opportunities being offered by Indonesia through IA-CEPA. It will allow them to be more adaptive in creating businesses with the worlds largest Muslim population.

The need to response Indonesias concern of halal certification on Australian products, for example, can be empowered through an in-depth understanding of Indonesias society.

More broadly, amidst the declining Indonesian studies in Australia, Australian societys engagement with Indonesian people should also be revived. High school and universities can do this by providing lessons in Indonesian language, culture and political studies.

Indonesia should also address the same urgency, as the centres on Australian studies in the country are also scarce.

Challenges outside trade

IA-CEPA is a milestone for Australia-Indonesia relations, but it is not a panacea for all the challenges the two countries face.

The current bushfires in Australia and recent floods in Indonesia show that both countries are vulnerable to climate change. Thus, there is an urgent need for shared initiatives to mitigate the climate change impact.

Some preexisting programs such as collaborative research, bilateral dialogues, and financing scheme for sustainable landscape management have set a solid ground for further and stronger engagement.

These initiatives can be extended through collaborative work on improving policymaking to address climate change and strengthening environmental law enforcement.

The IA-CEPA itself can also play a pivotal role as an entry point for a regulatory approach to assure the practice of environmentally friendly investment.

---

Hangga Fathana, Assistant Professor in International Relations, Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII) and Dr Priyambudi Sulistiyanto, Senior Lecturer, Flinders University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
The gardai and the PSNI joined forces to arrest a man in connection with an armed burglary in West Cork four years ago.

A man in his 20s was arrested and charged in relation to a burglary that occurred at a house in the Union Hall area of Skibbereen, Co. Cork on October 2, 2016.
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Security forces were deployed amid charred buildings and torched vehicles after deadly ethnic clashes in southern Kazakhstan. Ten people were killed in clashes which began on February 7, prompting thousands of ethnic Dungans to flee across the border into neighboring Kyrgyzstan, although hundreds have returned.
South Koreas Parasite made history to become the first film not in the English language to take home best picture in the 92-year history of the Academy Awards.

Bong Joon Hos satire of inequality took Hollywoods top prize at the Oscars on Sunday night, along with awards for best director, best international film and best screenplay, beating off competition from highly-fancied dramas including 1917, Once Upon a Time  In Hollywood, and The Irishman.

Parasite has already won many awards including the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival last year.

Parasites win was a watershed moment for the Academy Awards, which has long been content to relegate international films to their own category.

Multiple standing ovations greeted Bongs several wins.

I am ready to drink tonight, Bong said, prompting roars from the crowd. Unexpectedly called up again for best director, Bong saluted his fellow nominees, particularly Martin Scorsese, and concluded: Now Im ready to drink until tomorrow.

The movies wins made history in both the Hollywood and South Korean film industries [Mario Anzuoni/Reuters]

The win for Parasite came in the same year many have criticised the lack of diversity in the nominees and the absence of female filmmakers.

Problem with diversity

For the 87th time, no women were nominated for best director, a subject that was woven into the entire ceremony, and even into some attendees clothing. Natalie Portman wore a cape lined with the names of female filmmakers who were not nominated for best director, including Lulu Wang (The Farewell), Greta Gerwig (Little Women) and Mati Diop (Atlantics).

The acting categories were also the least diverse since the fallout of #OscarsSoWhite pushed the academy to remake its membership. Cynthia Erivo, in the running for Best Actress for her role in Harriet, was the only actor of colour nominated for an award. All the acting prizes went as many had predicted with Brad Pitt, Renee Zellweger, Joaquin Phoenix and Laura Dern taking home the golden statuettes.

The hostless ceremony opened on a note of inclusion, with Janelle Monae performing A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and her own song, Come Alive, with help from Billy Porter.

Im so proud to be standing here as a black queer artist telling stories, Monae said. Happy Black History Month.

Cynthia Erivo was nominated for Best Actress, the only person of colour to be nominated for an acting award [Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP Photo]

Two former Oscar hosts, Chris Rock and Steve Martin provided the opening monologue. An incredible demotion, Martin called it. Martin also pondered that something was missing from the years directing nominees. Vaginas! Rock replied.

There were milestones, nevertheless.

In winning Best Writing Adapted Screenplay for his Nazi satire Jojo Rabbit, the New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi became the first Indigenous director ever to win an Oscar. He dedicated the award to all the indigenous kids in the world who want to do art, dance and write stories.

We are the original storytellers, Waititi said.

Joker composer Hildur Gudnadottir became only the third woman to ever win best original score.

To the girls, to the women, to the mothers, to the daughters who hear the music opening within, please speak up, said Gudnadottir. We need to hear your voices.
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Linkedin Nina Loasana (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 10, 2020

Airin Rahmi Diany seems eager to end her second-term as mayor of South Tangerang, Banten, with a bang. She has set her eyes on extending the existing MRT route in Jakarta to South Tangerang and has recently been pushing for the government to list the ambitious project as a national strategic project (PSN).

Were trying to get the project included as one of national strategic projects. If this happens, typically the project can be accelerated, Airin said on Tuesday as reported by antaranews.com.

Her request was not without preparation. She claimed her administration had carried out a pre-feasibility study on the project and that the results had also been forwarded to the Transportation Ministrys Greater Jakarta Transportation Body (BPTJ).

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Singapore, Feb 10 (ANI): Singapore's health authorities upgraded the nation's health alert status to orange, the second-highest level on its DORSCON (Disease Outbreak Response System Condition) four-point scale. This follows several locally transmitted cases of the Wuhan novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) which are not linked to travel history to or from China.

At the time of writing this article, 37,609 people have been infected with the virus, out of which 814 people have died. Only two fatalities have occurred outside China. Singapore where 43 people have the virus is the country with the second-highest number of cases outside China. Japan with 96 has the most number testing positive for the virus out of which 69 are from Diamond Princess, the cruise ship anchored off the Japanese port of Yokohama with quarantined passengers.

During the last major coronavirus outbreak caused by the so-called SARS virus, based on Health Organisation (WHO) figures, a total of 775 people died with 32 of the deaths happening in Singapore.

The orange alert status in Singapore means that offices, schools, government services centers, organizers of large-scale events must screen staff, students and visitors for fever and respiratory conditions like running nose and cough. Contact details of all visitors must also be noted. Companies have also been asked to review and ready their business continuity plans.

Hospitals have already implemented temperature scans and restrictions on visitors. All arriving visitors at the border crossing, ports and airports have to be temperature scanned.

One sector that is expected to be severely impacted is Singapore's MICE (Meetings, Incentive, Conferences, and Exhibitions) industry. Singapore is one of the world's foremost locations for MICE events. According to Colliers International, the industry brings in about USD 1.58 billion in tourism revenue.

In January, a meeting organized by British gas analysis firm Servomex at the Grand Hyatt has created an international scare with WHO starting an investigation into the event which was attended by 94 foreigners among the 109 guests. Already one Koreans, one Malaysian (who then went on to infect his sister) and one British man have been confirmed with the virus. So far, there are no reports of Indian nationals being affected.

The upcoming bi-annual Singapore Airshow, the largest aerospace exhibition in Asia, scheduled to start February 11, is expecting a dramatic plunge in attendance. In the 2018 edition, it attracted54,000 trade visitors from 147 countries with participation of1,016 companies from 50 countries, generating about USD 250 million of tourist receipts. This year's event has been hit with a spate of cancellations from exhibitors and prominent visitors. Reuters reported that a total of 70 exhibitors have canceled. Besides the cancellation from major aerospace firms like Lockheed Martin, Bombardier, Textron (makers of Bell helicopters and Cessna airplanes) and General Dynamics's Gulfstream and DeHavilland Canada, important decision-makers from the US Defence Department have decided not to attend out of safety concerns. Other companies and countries have also reported being reducing their contingent or pulling out entirely.

Following the travel ban imposed by the Singapore government on travelers from China, the travel and hospitality industry is bracing itself for a major slowdown. China represents the largest inbound travel market for Singapore. In 2019, about 3.7 million visitors came from China, which represents 19.5 percent of the total of 19 million international tourist arrivals. Visitors from other countries are also giving the island republic a miss due to concerns about the number of cases of the virus here.

DBS Group Research has lowered its growth forecast for Singapore in 2020 from 1.4 percent to 0.9 percent. Prior to the virus outbreak, Singapore had already been affected by the slow-down in global economic activity due to increasing trade protectionism.

DBS estimates that for every three months of Singapore's travel ban, there will be a decline of one million tourists resulting in a loss of USD 714 million in tourism receipts.

Shops in Chinatown, a popular tourist attraction especially among Chinese tourists, have reportedly seen the number of customers plummet between 50 to 80 percent. Elsewhere, hotels, restaurants, and retail outlets are expected to be significantly impacted with those catering to Chinese tourists most affected.

With approximately 30 percent of Singapore's gaming revenue contributed by the Chinese, the integrated resorts casinos, operated by resorts Genting in Sentosa and Las Vegas Sands in Marina Bay are expected to report lower revenues although they have declined to quote numbers when asked by the media. Nikkei Asian Review quoted a Resorts employee offering an anecdotal estimate of a 50 percent drop in visitor traffic during the usually busy Chinese New Year period.

The outbound travel sector is also affected with more and more Singaporeans cautious about going abroad and companies imposing travel restrictions on their executives.

Already, the largest local travel fair where many Singaporeans book their overseas travel packages has been postponed from February to May. This fair usually attracts over 100,000 visitors and 90 exhibitors.

The global manufacturing supply chain is expected to be disrupted due to China's position as its main pivot and the severity of the virus outbreak in China. Many of Singapore's manufacturers work closely with their Chinese counterparts and it will come as no surprise if Singapore's manufacturing output declines.

Compared with the SARS outbreak in 2003, the current Wuhan virus outbreak is set to have a broader and more profound global economic impact since China's GDP is now four times larger and more integrated with the world's economy.

The Singapore government has introduced various measures to alleviate the business impact of affected industries. This includes waiving license fees for hotels, travel agents and tour guides. It will also defray the cleaning costs of hotels that provided accommodation to those guests confirmed and suspected to have the virus. Companies and the self-employed will be reimbursed to the tune of SGD 100 (USD 72) per day for each worker who has to be quarantined due to the virus. More is relief is expected via Singapore's 2020 budget announcement on February 18.

A good reflection on which companies investors expect to be affected by the virus outbreak and to what degree can be gleaned from the stock market.

Singapore Airlines which has been reducing flights to China saw its share price fall slightly by about 4 percent during the week after Singapore imposed a travel ban on China and when the extent of the virus crisis became clearer. Ascott Residence Trust, which runs hotels and is controlled by Capitaland, Southeast Asia's largest property group, fell almost 10 percent. They have since regained some ground.

The FTSE ST China Index which tracks mid to large-sized Singapore listed companies that have a majority of their sales from or operating assets located in China has tumbled some 8 percent since the beginning of the year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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But was it? Not by a long shot; when it comes to misconduct, Congress has a long history. Congressmen have pulled guns on each other. Theyve shoved and punched each other, and smacked at foes with fireplace tongs. Theyve engaged in mass brawls, toppling desks, tossing spittoons and, in one case, yanking off a toupee. The most famous violence in congressional history is the caning of the abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts by Representative Preston Brooks of South Carolina on the Senate floor in 1856, but it was not an anomaly.

Nor is Ms. Pelosi alone in violating traditions for all to see; it was far from the first time that members of Congress met alleged lies with bold displays of open contempt. In 1790, Representative Aedanus Burke of South Carolina showed his feelings with a flourish after Alexander Hamilton, the Treasury secretary, slurred the Southern militia during an Independence Day speech. Hamilton had said that Southern troops were dispirited and in disarray before the arrival of Gen. Nathanael Greene. Burke  outraged and hoping to impress folks back home  used the theater of Congress to have his say. Turning toward the visitor gallery, he declared, In the face of this assembly and in the presence of this gallery  I give the lie to Colonel Hamilton. Onlookers were stunned.

Representative Louie Gohmert of Texas did much the same when President Obama discussed his health care plan before the House in 2009, waving a handwritten sign that read, What Plan? The things he was saying were certainly not true of the only bill we had at the time, Mr. Gohmert later said. On that same night, Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina shouted You lie! at the president for a similar reason.

By far, the most skilled practitioners of this showy statecraft were Southern slaveholders in the decades leading up to the Civil War. Threatened by even the hint of opposition to slavery, they used bold public threats during debate to frighten their foes into compliance or silence, tossing off insults or dangling duel challenges to set an example. Faced with the choice of a fistfight or a duel  or the humiliation of avoiding one  most men backed down or held back. For Southerners, transgressing rules was part of the point; it was a show of power.

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky used the same form of showmanship when he exposed the alleged whistle-blowers name during impeachment proceedings last Tuesday. Days after Chief Justice John Roberts refused to read a question from Mr. Paul that revealed the name, Mr. Paul did the deed himself. During a period reserved for impeachment speeches, he read his question aloud while standing next to a large blue poster with the name in bold yellow, endangering the whistle-blower and violating the spirit of whistle-blower protection laws in the process; although those laws are meant to protect informants from retaliation, they dont explicitly stop members of Congress or the president from revealing names. Tradition and ethics alone keep them silent.
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Foxconn, the trading name of Hon Hai Precision Industry, is seen on top of the company's building in Taipei

By Yimou Lee

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's Foxconn <2317.TW> has received approval to resume production at a plant in the northern Chinese city of Zhengzhou that had been shuttered due to a coronavirus outbreak, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Monday.

About 16,000 people, or under 10% of Foxconn's workforce in Zhengzhou, have returned to the plant, the person said, adding that company executives were "trying very hard" to negotiate with authorities to resume production in other parts of China.

The development comes as the coronavirus outbreak - declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization - threatens to disrupt Chinese manufacturing and force policymakers to ready measures to stabilise the economy.

At Foxconn, the delayed resumption of operations could impact the global technology supply chain and shipments to customers including Apple Inc <AAPL.O>, a source with direct knowledge of the matter previously told Reuters.

The contract manufacturer is in talks to resume production at key plants including in Shenzhen and Kunshan, said the person on Monday, who was not authorised to speak publicly on the matter and so declined to be identified.

Foxconn, formally Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, in a statement said employee safety is a "top priority" and that it is working with authorities to meet requirements to resume production across China "in a staggered and orderly manner."

Tens of thousands of Foxconn employees have returned to work following an extended Lunar New Year holiday. They have been told to wear masks, undergo temperature checks and adhere to a specified dining system, showed internal memos reviewed by Reuters.

Most senior Taiwanese officials have been told to refrain from returning to China and those who needed to do so required approval from Chairman Liu Young-Way, the person said.

Foxconn, which makes devices for global vendors, built its own production lines in the southern province of Guangdong to make masks for its hundreds of thousands of employees, targeting two million masks a day when at full capacity by late February, the memos showed.

Shares of Foxconn fell as much as 2.4% in Monday trade, lagging a 0.3% decline in the broader market <.TWII>. They have fallen more than 12% since the market reopened following the Lunar New Year break.

(Reporting by Yimou Lee and Taipei newsroom; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Christopher Cushing)
"It was just here. My house was number 41 Clifton Street," said Cassiem Morris, his voice catching as he points to where his Cape Town home was razed to enforce apartheid. Morris, a South African of Malay origin, took his first baby steps 56 years ago in the house in District 6, then a multiracial neighbourhood of the coastal city. South Africa's white minority government in 1966 listed District 6 as a "white" area under its racial segregation policy. Most residents were forcibly moved because they were black or mixed-race and bulldozers destroyed their homes. A quarter of a century after the fall of apartheid, this page in South Africa's dark history may have turned. But a court decision has raised hopes of returning home for the dispossessed people of District 6. "Whatever the colour of your skin and whatever you believed in, we were a big family of almost 50,000 people," Morris said. "That was the amazing part because there was never a problem. "It is sad, it is extremely sad." Scant trace remains of the little streets that crisscrossed at the foot of Table Mountain. Only a handful of churches and mosques were left standing when the area was cleared. - 'A blot cleaned up' - Though he was a child, Cassiem Morris has never forgotten the expulsions of February 11, 1966 under the Group Areas Act that assigned different racial groups to separate areas. "I can still see the day where the Group Areas Act people went to my grandfather and told him that he has to move. He said 'You can literally demolish everything around me, I will wait until my time comes to move'." The head of the household held out for four years before being driven away. "When we returned just to come and see the place one or two days later, the whole house was flattened already," Morris said. Future head of state P.W. Botha, then minister for community development and coloured affairs overseeing segregation, praised the operation, calling District 6 a "blot" that needed cleaning up. All non-white residents were forcibly displaced to Cape Town's distant shanty townships. "At that time, we coloured people were treated like nothing," said Salie Davis, who described eviction as "traumatic". "We had to leave in such a hurry. We had to leave so many things behind and move to an area we didn't know nothing about, to live in a jungle," Davis, 59, said. His family wound up in Hanover Park, more than 20 kilometres (12 miles) away. Retired, he lives in a small apartment in a crowded neighbourhood overrun by crime and drugs. "There was a better life back then in District 6," Davis said, adding that people are "determined to move back to their land." The fight to return began with the end of white minority rule and the arrival of democracy under the late president Nelson Mandela in 1994, with a brand-new constitution. When the District 6 dispossessed mark their evictions on Tuesday, the country will also be commemorating the 30th anniversary of Mandela's release from jail on February 11, 1990. - 'Very inept government' - A law passed that year was intended to provide restitution of rights in land to people or communities dispossessed because of past racially discriminatory laws or practices. Former residents of District 6 hoped for a swift return, but it took a decade for the first ones to be resettled in 2004. Even today, only a few hundred people have been reinstalled. "I don't think that they had any idea or clue on how to handle restitution," said Shaheed Ajad, the District 6 Working Committee chairman. "Most of all, although there was money, the money was squandered. In a nutshell I would say we had a very inept government for 24 years," the 62-year-old official told AFP. Running out of patience, Ajad and about 1,000 other former residents of District 6 turned to the legal system two years ago. To widespread surprise, a judge last December ordered the government to take action. The authorities swiftly presented a proposal for 954 new homes and the resettlement of the plaintiffs and their families by 2024. Approached by AFP, Land Reform Minister Thokozile Didiza did not respond, but her services stated that a rebuilt District 6 "should be as close as possible to the urban environment from which they were so unjustly removed, within the constraints of available funding and the exigencies of contemporary lifestyles." Cape Town, the stronghold of the opposition Democratic Alliance, could give District 6 "a look of the new century", declared the city councillor handling the matter, Alderman Marian Nieuwoudt. "This is not the time to play political games. I'm determined to make sure that they all come back," she said. Renamed "Sonneblom" ("Sunflower" in Afrikaans) under apartheid, District 6 has seen its original name restored to road signs and Nieuwoudt hopes that building work will start "in the next month or two". "We have suffered enough, we now only want what is rightfully ours," Ajad said. "We need to heal and... come back to the land that we love." It may prove an example in South Africa, split over a constitutional reform that would enable the expropriation without compensation of land held by the white minority to benefit the black majority. "We believe that this small enclave that we call District 6, where life started for many of our forefathers, whether they were white, black or brown, this is where transformation and change can come in South Africa," Ajad said. South Africa's white minority government in 1966 listed District 6 as a "white" area under its racial segregation policy Former District 6 residents in Cape Town hope a court decision will allow them to return decades after they were forced off their land during apartheid Many forced to leave the area remember exactly where their homes were before they were torn down District 9 used to occupy this area of land until it was cleared by the apartheid government in 1966 Former resident Cassiem Morris never forgot the day his family were expelled fromn their home
This is the time for facts, not fear. This is the time for science, not rumors. This is the time for solidarity, not stigma. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently send a strong appeal to the world.

Obviously, to respect the authoritative suggestions from the WHO and take measures recommended by the organization to avoid the impacts on regular international exchanges of personnel and practical cooperation in each field is what countries should do in the face of the current epidemic.

Whether countries can evaluate the severity of the epidemic in a just and rational manner, and inform the public about the low mortality rate and the fact that the cured cases have outnumbered the deaths to avoid secondary crisis has become a standard that measures wisdom, rationality and humanity. Its foreseeable that it will be much easier for the world to get through the current difficulty as long as this standard is met by all countries.

However, some countries ignored the WHO recommendation that there was no reason for measures that unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade. Their overreaction and measures have caused trouble for normal international travel. Such exaggerated measures have triggered panic and are indulging the emergence of hostility, vicious remarks and evildoings. This has no doubt signaled an alarm.

Countries are cautioned against actions that promote stigma or discrimination, in line with the principles of Article 3 of the International Health Regulation (IHR). However, some western media, with ulterior motives, called the virus a yellow peril made in China, publicly labeling the Chinese and even Asians. As a result, some people in western countries even committed violent crimes targeting Asians. Such ridiculous remarks and practices will do nothing to help the world combat the coronavirus, but only instigate racism and create panic.

Without doubt, the mainstream public opinion in the international society still stands with justice and righteousness. Any prejudice or discriminatory action against China is now condemned by the power of justice, as the practices and achievements made by the Chinese people to race against time and combat the epidemic are touching the world. Many foreigners have denounced the discriminatory remarks, saying such remarks are stupid and intolerable. With ImNotVirus hashtags, they posted messages on social media saying that the epidemic is not an excuse for exclusiveness and the crisis shall not overwhelm humanity.

Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong criticized such remarks, saying "that is foolish and illogical," and the virus does not check peoples passports before it goes into their bodies. He stressed that the situation is a public health emergency and not an issue of race or nationality, and is a problem that all countries must work together to solve.

Leaders from Germany, Canada and the Philippines also made voices to stop discrimination. Michael Levitt, winner of Nobel prize in Chemistry and a scholar of virus research pointed out that western media broadcast what is happening in China from a selfishly focused perspective: how to limit the outbreak of illness outside the countrys borders. How narrow and sad that they never give China a voice or send words of encouragement and solidarity, he said.

Panic shall never worse the epidemic, and solidarity to protect lives shall never be obstructed. It tells from the human history of battles against viruses, especially todays world where globalization is developing in a profound manner that the experiences in and lessons learned from the epidemics of influenza A/H1N1, MERS, Ebola and Zika all proved that the impacts of public health issues are beyond borders. We are all in this together, and we can only stop it together, said Tedros in a statement.

Addressing the challenges facing the world from the novel coronavirus outbreak, UN SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres urged "a strong feeling of international solidarity.

The spirit of solidarity and cooperation showcased by China in the battle against the epidemic has won wide respect and support from the international society. China has quickly spotted, isolated and sequenced the virus, and shared the information with the world, as well as taken a slew of measures that have much higher standards than the requirement in the IHR. These forceful measures are hailed as a good example for epidemic response.

The Chinese people, particularly in Wuhan and other affected cities in Hubei Province, are currently bearing the burden, said Michael Schumann, chairman of the German Federal Association for Economic Development and Foreign Trade. They are protecting the world from an even faster spread through their willingness to make sacrifices and their commitments, Schumann added, noting that the world will lose more if it cannot maintain humanity in front of such challenge.

The epidemic is ruthless, but humans arent. To have rationality control panic, to have sympathy, understanding and support overwhelm prejudices, narrowmindedness and anxiety, and to show solidarity to cope with the global public health challenge will lead to the final victory over the epidemic.

(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by Peoples Daily to express its views on foreign policy.)
Its true that Sikhism is a religion inspired by Sufism, which in India borrows from Islam and Vedic belief, while discarding the ritual of the latter. It is arguable that Buddhism and Jainism are derived from Hindu belief.

The Mullah sounds the dusk Aazaan 

The streets are red with splattered Paan!

To Christs mass the church bell calls 

We commit khoolla nuisance against walls!

In temples we pray to Hanuman 

Kabh hoga yeh swachh Hindustan?

 From Songs of Shanty Niketan by Bachchoo

A friend, left in charge of another late friends estate, attempts to access this late friends savings and close her bank accounts. As all human beings know, dealing with the affairs (of every category) of the dead is not easy. In some cases, it involves the unbearable or annoying complications of bureaucracy. In this case, my friend tells me, she had to negotiate with the operative of an Indian-government-owned bank.

He offered her several forms to fill, which demanded details about the deceased. One of these boxes asked for the religion of the dead person. The form, or perhaps it was the operative, offered her two options: Hindu or Muslim.

My friend said the deceased was neither. She was Christian by birth and possibly by faith. The operative replied that that would be classified as Hindu.

This, gentle reader, was naturally puzzling and my friend enquired how such a classification came about. The operative, she says, told her that Christians, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Parsis and perhaps atheists were classified as Hindus. The contrary or opposing category was Muslims.

Now this can be seen as a simple matter of the bureaucratic simplification, however mistaken, of categories  resolving Indians into two main religious groups. Or it can be seen as a categorisation which is severely sinister  a categorization which distance Muslims from the rest of Indian citizens.

The basis for such a division, if indeed my friend understood the forms or the operatives directions accurately, is obscure. Is there an implication in this separation of religions of who belongs and who doesnt? I mean to the soil, to Hindustan, to Bharat Mata? The report of her encounter with the Operative and his forms (note the capital O, used here in imitation of George Orwells capitalisation of Big Brother in 1984) is indeed disturbing as it seems to chime with the recent acts of the government in classifying the citizens of India by their religion of birth.

Even the panjandrums of organisations such as the RSS have at times said, perhaps not in so many words, that all citizens of India are Hindus. I believe, and am perfectly willing to be corrected, that they meant that being a Hindu was a nationality and not a faith.

The universally accepted definition of citizenship is that it is bestowed through the rights of jus sanguinus or jus soli  by connection of blood  meaning you are Indian if your parents are Indian, though you may have been born in Bechuanaland  or geography  those born on British soil can claim British citizenship. These criteria are logical and humane and should be universally followed. The process of naturalisation, the issuing of citizenship to people who live and dedicate their futures to a nation, is a logical path to citizenship  from Green Card to Stars-and-Stripes-waving American!

Alas, there are forces in America, personified in Trumpism who dont respect this universal principle and classify as undesirable people from countries whose populations are dominantly Muslim. Has then the Statue of

Liberty in New York harbour sprouted two continuous fountains of tears?

Whats puzzling to my commonsensical mind is the basis on which such classifications are made. Perhaps the contention is that Islam is an imported religion. That truth doesnt make the Muslims of India an imported population. They are sons and daughters of the soil and are maybe 99 per cent, though they may boast of Afghan or other ancestry, the descendants of converted Hindus.

So also with the Christians and Jews of India. They are indigenous converts to a belief with solid (or double-helix) Indian DNA in their being. Now, I venture to say, Parsis are different. They are not only Zoroastrian by belief, they are an imported race, albeit settlers in India for the last 1,200 years. But still Hindu?

Its true that Sikhism is a religion inspired by Sufism, which in India borrows from Islam and Vedic belief, while discarding the ritual of the latter. It is arguable that Buddhism and Jainism are derived from Hindu belief.

And so to the fact or contention, certified by an absolute majority of world historians, that Hinduism, is an evolution from an amalgam of the beliefs of the Dravidian race with their worship of Shiva and the religion of Aryans who came from Central Asia and brought their polytheistic pantheon of nature gods with them.

The other conundrum which this classification of other religions as Hindu brings to mind is an episode in my long and happy career as a TV-wallah in the UK. Channel 4, where I worked, ran a programme called Devils Advocate in which the late, dynamic TV presenter Darcus Howe, a Trinidadian in origin himself, challenged controversial actions or statements of politicians and others before a studio audience. A female counsellor of a London borough, of African origin herself, had made some statement about banning Indians from certain appointments.

Darcus invited and challenged her. She denied that she had made a statement which discriminated on grounds of religion and blithely said I am a Hindu myself!

Darcuss immediate rejoinder was Really? So, what caste do you belong to? Are you a Brahmin or dalit? Answer came there none.

Ironically, in Britain today, there is much talk of diversity. This is the sociopolitical contention legislated determination to make every institution and activity fully representative of the UKs present population by including, recruiting and nurturing people of ethnic origin, gay people and other minorities. Women, though they are 50 per cent of the population, sometimes seek representation behind this banner of diversity.

Its a mark of Britains civilisation that it officially enshrines the embrace of minorities. Shouldnt this be a universal principle in all democracies?
IIT-B students Pramod Mandade and Samarth Bhagwat discuss secularism in part 4 of IIT Bombay for Justice's #PreambleLectures series

Editor's Note: The following was originally published on 10 February. It is being republished on the occasion of India's Constitution Day  the day in 1949 on which the Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution of India.

The words of the Preamble to the Indian Constitution, like the National Anthem, come easily to our lips.

We, the People of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a sovereign socialist secular democratic republic, and to secure to all its citizens:

Justice, social, economic and political;

Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;

Equality of status and of opportunity;

and to promote among them all

Fraternity, assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;

In our Constituent Assembly this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do hereby adopt, enact and give to ourselves this Constitution.

And yet, glibly though we pronounce these words, few among us have dwelt on and fully understood their meaning.

A lecture series organised by the IIT-Bombay for Justice group between 16-26 January 2020 attempts to address just this gap.

Even as the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in India has shown up the fault lines amid the people of this country, IIT-Bombay for Justices Preamble lecture series endeavours to go back to the basics; to examine what it means to be a sovereign socialist secular democratic republic, to reaffirm the ideals enshrined in the Constitution  justice, liberty, equality, fraternity  that Indians must hold on to, more than ever in these fractured times.

More from the series, here.

***

In lecture 4, IIT-B's Pramod Mandade (PhD candidate, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences) and Samarth Bhagwat (Master's student at Industrial Design Centre) discuss secularism. Watch it here:
I'm not alone when I say that I've never been through anything like this and didn't see it coming. I had no way of imagin...
DENVER, Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Axcient , a leader in business availability and cloud security solutions for Managed Service Providers (MSPs), today announced today that CRN  , a brand of The Channel Company , has named Angus Robertson, Chief Revenue Officer at Axcient, to its 2020 list of Channel Chiefs. This annual list recognizes the top vendor executives who continually demonstrate exemplary leadership, influence, innovation, and growth for the IT channel.



Angus has played an integral role in Axcients efforts to elevate the partner experience and simplify our technology for the IT channel, said David Bennett, CEO at Axcient. We are proud to recognize his success as a CRN Channel Chief, and look forward to the impact his business strategies will make in 2020.

CRNs 2020 Channel Chiefs list honors the distinguished leaders who have influenced the IT channel with cutting-edge strategies and partnerships.

The 2020 Channel Chiefs have shown outstanding commitment, an ability to lead, and a passion for progress within the channel through their partner programs. The Channel Chief honorees were chosen by the CRN editorial staff for their dedication, industry prestige, and exceptional accomplishments in driving the channel agenda and evangelizing the importance of channel partnerships.

The IT channel is undergoing constant evolution to meet customer demands and changing business environments, said Bob Skelley, CEO of The Channel Company. CRNs Channel Chiefs work tirelessly, leading the industry forward through superior partner programs and strategies with a focus on helping solution providers transform and grow. Our team here at The Channel Company congratulates these outstanding individuals for their dedication to the channel.

CRNs 2020 Channel Chiefs list will be featured in the February 2020 issue of CRN Magazine and online at www.CRN.com/ChannelChiefs .

To learn more about Axcient or start a free trial, please visit www.axcient.com .

About Axcient

Axcient is an award-winning leader in business availability and cloud security solutions for Managed Service Providers (MSPs). The Axcient Business Availability suitewhich includes Replibit , BRC , CloudFinder , Anchor , Fusion , and the Axcient Cloud enables MSPs to build secure technology stacks for their clients, automate processes, and acts as the last line of defense for MSPs. Trusted by MSPs worldwide, Axcient protects businesses data and continuity in the event of security breaches , human error, and natural disasters . For more information, visit Axcient at www.axcient.com .

Follow Axcient on LinkedIn , Facebook and Twitter .
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The U.S. Department of Defense has confirmed that two U.S. soldiers were killed in Afghanistan on Saturday.

"Both soldiers died February 8, 2020 in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, as a result of wounds sustained while engaged in combat operations," said the Pentagon in a statement released Sunday, adding the incident is under investigation.

Both soldiers were assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), according to the statement.

U.S. media reported Saturday that a firefight had taken place between Afghan and American soldiers in eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar Province earlier in the day, leading to fatalities on both sides.

The U.S. military described the Saturday incident in a separate statement, saying "an individual in an Afghan uniform opened fire on the combined U.S. and Afghan force with a machine gun. We are still collecting information and the cause or motive behind the attack is unknown at this time."

Citing an Afghan defense ministry official, U.S. media reported Sunday that the shooter was not a Taliban infiltrator but an Afghan soldier who had argued with the U.S. forces before opening fire.

Six U.S. service members have been killed in Afghanistan since the start of 2020.

The incident came days after U.S. President Donald Trump said in his State of the Union address that the U.S. military was making progress in Afghanistan and peace talks with the Taliban militant group were underway.

Peace talks between the United States and the Taliban began last year but have been interrupted at least twice after Taliban attacks on U.S. military personnel in September and December of last year.

The United States maintains roughly 13,000 troops in Afghanistan, which mostly provide training missions to local Afghan forces while conducting counterterrorism operations.

The war in Afghanistan is the longest one in U.S. history. The death toll of U.S. service members has surpassed 2,400 since the country invaded Afghanistan in 2001.
Heavy metal heads, 2020 is for you.

Megadeth and Lamb of God are joining forces for a co-headlining tour that has not one, but two stops in Pennsylvania this year. The Metal Tour of the Year will be stopping first on June 28 at the S&T Bank Music Park at Burgettstown near Pittsburgh, and second on Oct. 24 at the Wind Creek Event Center in Bethlehem.

Tickets for the show Burgettstown show go on sale at 11 a.m. Feb. 14, while tickets for the Bethlehem one go on sale an hour earlier that same day. You can buy tickets on livenation.com.

Joining the bands on tour will be Trivium and In Flames.

Megadeth rose to prominence in the 1980s and is regarded as one fo the big four of the thrash metal scene, which is known for its fast rhythm sections. It was founded by former Metallica guitarist David Mustaine as well as bassist David Ellefson. The Metal Tour of the Year will mark the bands the first North American tour for Megadeth since 2017 and the first since Mustaine has recovered from throat cancer.

Lamb of God started making waves in the metal scene in the early 2000s with songs like Redneck and Laid to Rest. The upcoming tour is slated to be pretty special for Lamb of God fans -- as they can expect to hear songs from the groups first studio album in five years, which is slated to be released on May 8.

Megadeth and Lamb of God arent the only two big music acts coming to the Keystone State this year. Billie Eilish, Tim McGraw and Elton John are also amongst the big names performing in the state. Check out our list of the biggest concerts coming to Pennsylvania this year.

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.
SIOUX CITY -- The League of Women Voters of Sioux City on Sunday afternoon held a program at the Betty Strong Encounter Center celebrating the 100th anniversary celebration for the national organization and the ratification of the 19th Amendment.

Founded in Chicago by suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt on Feb. 14, 1920 -- six months before women were granted the right to vote -- the League of Women Voters is today a national nonpartisan group represented in more than 700 communities in all 50 states.

Sioux City's chapter is believed to have begun sometime in the 1920s; currently it has some 62 members.

At Sunday's program, Carolyn Goodwin portrayed Carrie Chapman Catt, her turn-of-the-century suffragist costume complete with a "Votes for Women" sash. She made several jokes about her purported age (Catt was born in 1859), while also discussing the decades of work it took to get the 19th Amendment passed -- and, breaking character, discussed Catt's alleged bigotry against African-Americans.

"Women were not of one mind on suffrage," Goodwin said, in the character of Catt.

Sioux City Mayor Bob Scott read a proclamation recognizing the 100th anniversary of the League of Women Voters during the program.

Sioux City's League of Women Voters organization hosts frequent town halls, programs and candidate forums for local elections. Scott commended the group for this work.

The real Carrie Chapman Catt, who died more than 70 years ago and lived in Iowa for part of her life, gave speeches in Sioux City and elsewhere in the state in the years before the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920. Iowa ratified the 19th Amendment in July 1919, becoming the 10th state to do so.

A Sioux City Journal piece from March 1916, a month before Catt visited the city, alluded to one of the key sticking points in the debate for women's suffrage in those years -- namely, the fear that women, newly enabled politically, would push forward a prohibition law.

The article took issue with the suffragists allegedly painting women who didn't support voting rights into the same corner as supporters of legal alcohol.

"The suffragists insist that the liquor interests are opposed to votes for women. In all likelihood this is true. But in the interest of fairness the suffragists must differentiate between opposition of such selfish, mercenary sort and opposition of reputable women who cannot bring themselves to favor suffrage," the Journal wrote at the time.

"The suffragists cannot tar some of the best women of Iowa with the same stick with which they tar brewers and distillers and saloonkeepers and hope to make capital out of it for their cause. It would be hard to think of a poorer piece of politics," the 1916 article continued.

In April of that year, Catt told a Sioux City audience the following: "Why do women want the vote? It used to be simply a desire, I believe. Now there are more women's clubs. Women are engaging in charity work. We are opening a new world and getting a vision of reforms needed in the world. We are realizing that criminals are not given the right care, that the treatment of the insane in many cases is wrong. We believe that many evil conditions can be made right."

Goodwin, channeling Catt, listed off a series of gender-equality milestones in Iowa politics, including the elections of Gov. Kim Reynolds and Sen. Joni Ernst, both the first women to hold their positions.

"I'm proud of all the work that was done in Iowa, and I was glad to be here campaigning in 1916," Goodwin said.

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(Natural News) As bad as coronavirus is getting in China where the outbreak originated, the effects of the bug are soon going to be felt the world over, even in places where it has yet to make an appearance.

As reported by The Epoch Times, the pandemic is beginning to cause major disruptions in Chinas shipping industry as lines are re-routed to reduce virus exposure while other nations are cutting their port calls to the Asian giant.

Its a worsening situation, say analysts, that could set up delays of goods and components for months ahead.

Because of the virus pervasiveness, entire cities have essentially been shuttered  quarantined by Chinese health and government officials battling to curb the spread of coronavirus. So, too, have factories in the worst-afflicted areas.

And global air travel is suffering as well.

The Epoch Times notes further:

Chinas decision to extend its Lunar New Year holiday period until Feb. 10 has compounded logistical complications, despite its ports staying open. China is a vital link to the container sector, transporting everything from fresh food to phones and designer clothes as well as industrial parts.

The government extended the Lunar New Year holiday as a means of curbing the virus spread, but its not working: Tens of thousands are now sick, hundreds are dead, and there is no evidence that the virus is actually being contained.

As such, the more it spreads, the more the government reacts with quarantines and other restrictions, which only compounds the problem of reduced factory production and delays in getting products shipped.

But the supply disruptions are not all due to China. Major container lines Maersk, MSC, and CMA CGM all have reduced port calls to China over coronavirus fears.

This really is the perfect storm

Already, there has been such a reduction in exports from China to global markets that industries in other countries are shuttering for the time being. One of them is Hyundai Motors in South Korea; the company said it will suspend its production because of a lack of spare parts.

And sea cargo flow disruptions are now making worse an already pressured situation for shipping lines as they have been dealing with weaker global markets and higher costs imposed by new International Maritime Organization regulations over the use of lower sulfur fuel.

Logistics at Chinese ports have also been affected. For instance, truck drivers and port workers have been quarantined either at their homes or otherwise away from their places of employment. Also, warehouses in and around Chinese docks are not functioning at full capacity, either. Ships are being diverted from Chinese ports to South Korea, The Epoch Times reports.

One of the worlds major container terminals at Busan in South Korea has seen a spillover of capacity at 78 percent and that could rise even more from its usual 70-percent level.

Shippers are parking cargo at our ports, so later, perhaps when the coronavirus dies down and the level of cargo (backlogged in China ports) decreases, they can deploy a small ship to carry these cargo to their destination in Chinese ports, one port official told the newspaper.

The official added that if container levels grew to 80 percent overcapacity or more, it would become difficult to efficiently operate Busan.

Lasse Kristofferson, the CEO of Norwegian shipping group Torvald Klaveness, said in an interview with Reuters that 25 percent of the companys container fleet has been affected by cancellations.

This is largely due to lower volumes on China. This is normal during Lunar New Year, but it seems to us that the volumes are lower than normal for this period  likely impacted by the coronavirus, he said.

U.S. container firms arent faring much better. Industry consultant Jon Monroe, said blank sailings in February were higher than normal, and that even when the virus becomes contained, there will be a rush to ship goods into and out of China, creating logjams.

Everybody will be making up for lost time. This is really the perfect storm, he said.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

NaturalNews.com
bill gates

Netflix/YouTube

Bill Gates says the best way to help poorer countries tackle climate change is to make sure they're healthy enough to survive it.

Gates made the remark on Monday in the annual letter he jointly pens with his wife Melinda, in which the pair spell out their broad areas of interest as philanthropists.

The Microsoft cofounder argued that climate change is as much a public health issue as it is an environmental one.

Countries near the equator  which are disproportionately poor by global standards  are likely to be worst hit by climate change.

Gates argues this will disproportionately worsen the nutrition of people living in these countries, and make them more susceptible to disease.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates says the best way to help poorer countries tackle climate change is to make sure they're healthy enough to survive it.

Gates made the remark Monday in the annual letter he jointly pens with his wife and fellow philanthropist, Melinda. The letter spells out the Gates' main philanthropic concerns and ambitions, on issues related to education, climate, health, and gender.

The Microsoft cofounder argued that climate change is as much a public health issue as it is an environmental one. In Gates' view, simply finding ways to grow more food  though undeniably helpful  won't wholly offset the negative health effects of climate change.

"Even if we succeed in increasing crop yields, the reality is that climate change will make it harder for many people to get the nutrition they need  which will, in turn, make them more susceptible to disease," Gates wrote.

"The best thing we can do to help people in poor countries adapt to climate change is make sure they're healthy enough to survive it."

Gates' concerns appear all-the-more pressing in light of recent research.

Story continues

A 2018 study by researchers at the universities of Melbourne and Oxford found that countries situated around the equator  which are disproportionately poor by global standards  are likely to be worst hit by climate change.

Specifically, the study found that those countries will undergo bigger changes in their local climates than more temperate countries if global average surface temperatures remain at or above the 1.5- or 2-degree Celsius (2.7- to 3.6-degrees Fahrenheit) limit set by the 2016 Paris agreement.

Accordingly, Gates argued that focusing on helping malnourished people survive will be as important as preventing malnourishment from happening in the first place.

He continued:

"We need to reduce the number of children who become malnourished and improve the odds that people who do suffer from malnutrition survive. That means making sure that people have access not only to the nutrients they need but also to proven interventions like vaccines, drugs, and diagnostics."

Both Bill and Melinda Gates are longtime champions of vaccination technology. In 2012, the pair set up an award recognizing people who work to increase immunization rates, with the winners receiving $250,000.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Valentines Day also known within the Ghanaian parlance as Vals day originated from the Roman priest Saint Valentine. Saint Valentine was actually a very charismatic priest who reached out to others, most especially the poor, needy and marginalised in the society. In order to commemorate all his good works, the feast of Saint Valentine was established by the Roman Pope Gelasius in AD 496 and it has since then been remembered every February 14 on the catholic calendar as a feast day.

Valentines day has since developed into a tradition of courtly love by the 14th century within the era of Geoffrey Chaucer. By the 18th century, it was used as a medium of expression of love by couples in England.

The situation at stake now seems to drift away from the initial purpose for which the day was instituted. From onset, Valentines day was mainly used in remembrance for the good works done by the Roman martyr Valentine and also to as far as possible replicate the good deeds which he once exhibited.

In Ghana, this day is marked with extravagance, ranging from the purchase of expensive gifts or souvenirs to expensive dates usually at very expensive places. Most often than not, these gifts are not given to wives or husbands. Instead, they are given to boyfriends, girlfriends or concubines. Reaching out to the poor or needy; the very essence for this day is long forgotten. Instead what we see is the dashing of gifts to concubines, girlfriends or boyfriends. The question here is, do the receivers of these gifts really merit or deserve them? Are they really in need, as in poor and helpless? Would Saint Valentine really be happy that he is been remembered this way?

The dark side of the commemoration of Valentines day remains untold. There have been several reports on some of the negative practices in which people indulge in on account of this day. Notable amongst such deviant behaviour is promiscuity. Most people see this day as one to which they would use to exhibit their sexual prowess without bearing in mind the numerous STIs which abound. Apart from the fact that it has been set aside as a day for showing love, it is also a feast day in accordance with the catholic doctrine. It is therefore sacrilegious to use this holy day to practice promiscuity. If nothing at all, all and sundry should join hands with the church by praying for the marginalised, the poor and less privileged in society.

It is not bad to give out gifts to loved ones but the main bone of contention here is whether we are really living up to the main purpose for the institution of Valentines day. It should be a day in which the marginalised like; the beggars, the blind, the crippled etc should be remembered and made to know that they are part and parcel of society.

Just as Saint Valentine ministered to the persecuted Christians and conducted weddings for some Roman soldiers who were not allowed to marry, same should be emulated in our society. Inmates in our prisons could also be reached out to on this said day, in order to showcase or extend our love to them. In as much as possible, it should not be a day that would be used to promote or indulge in immoral practices.

With regards to how Valentines day is observed in our part of the world, is the celebration hyped? Or is it really necessary?

Written by; Dakurah Sebastian

Email: [email protected]
" " The American Society of Civil Engineers considers the Panama Canal one of the seven Modern World Wonders. Canal de Panama

In the heated jungles of Central America in the early 1900s, thousands of workers toiled in the rain and mud trying to cleave Panama in half in order to join the Pacific Ocean with the Caribbean Sea. The difficult, dirty work involved more than digging and dynamiting, though. Working on the Panama Canal in the early days was about simply surviving.

But for all the groundbreaking engineering feats accomplished in creating the Panama Canal  one of the American Society of Civil Engineers' seven Modern World Wonders  it was a decision that dealt more with man than machine that proved most critical.

Thousands of workers  perhaps as many as 22,000  died while the French first tried to dig the canal. Yellow fever was rampant, as was malaria. On-job accidents killed and maimed. Close to 80 percent of the workforce was fleeing when the Americans took over the job in 1903.

When famed engineer John Frank Stevens arrived in 1905, his first job was to stop the carnage. And that meant accepting the relatively new idea that controlling mosquitoes  a measure favored by U.S. Army physician William Crawford Gorgas  would make the job site safer.

"Men of that era couldn't conceive of a mosquito being able to kill a strong man. They just couldn't respect that," says J. David Rogers, a professor of geological engineering at Missouri University of Science & Technology. "The thing you had to conquer to make that project work was the sanitation issues."

With Gorgas' guidance and under Stevens' orders, swamplands were drained and grasslands close to workers were cut to control the mosquitoes. Insecticides were used. Workers' quarters were screened. Adult mosquitoes were captured. Quinine was administered to the men. The result: Yellow fever in the area was all but eradicated. And, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, deaths from malaria in the total population were reduced from a maximum of 16.21 per 1,000 in July 1906 to 2.58 per 1,000 in December 1909.

That medical success paved the way for the engineering marvel that followed.

" " Construction on the Panama Canal began in the early 1900s and was brutal and slow. More than 22,000 men died during construction, many from malaria. Library of Congress

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Why Build the Panama Canal?

After seeing the relative success of another waterway  Egypt's Suez Canal, which opened in 1869  America envisioned a shortcut through Central America as a way of strengthening its position as a two-ocean power.

Before the Panama Canal opened, ships had to travel all the way around South America to get to the other side of the country. Soon after the USS Maine was sunk in Havana Harbor in 1898, the USS Oregon sailed from the West Coast around Cape Horn on the southern tip of Chile all the way to Cuba. The trip took 66 days. It would have taken around 21 days if the Panama Canal were operational and saved some 8,000 miles (12,874 kilometers) of travel.

For years, the U.S. had been considering building a canal through Nicaragua. But engineering concerns  not to mention worries about active volcanoes in the area  prompted President Teddy Roosevelt to continue with the failed French site in Panama instead. In 1903, he agreed to pay the French $40 million (it'd be about $1.2 billion now), and the Americans assumed control of a project that would take more than a decade to complete.

"The French [who had helped build the Suez Canal in Egypt] didn't realize how massive and complex this was," Rogers says. "It was like two different worlds."

As the Americans took control, the building of the Panama Canal became an audacious example of American ingenuity and know-how. "It was a national pride project," Rogers says. "We just kept writing checks."

By the end, the U.S. had shelled out some $375 million (somewhere close to $11 billion today). The project came in some 444 percent over budget.

" " A cruise liner approaches the first of the Panama Canal Locks, Gatun Lock, with the lock gates just opening to allow entry. A cargo vessel is in the second parallel lock. Both vessels are heading west toward the Pacific Ocean. elmvilla/Getty Images

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The Hurdles Faced

Besides the deadly diseases that plagued the early days of the construction, the difficult weather (tropical rains and intense heat) and the costs, engineers debated the very nature of the Panama Canal early on. They finally abandoned ideas about a sea-level canal (like the Suez), with Stevens instead insisting upon a series of locks that would raise or lower ships as needed. But that design necessitated construction of another big project.

Gatun Dam, at one time the largest dam in the world, had to be built across the sometimes-raging Chagres River to ensure the proper flow of water between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic. That formed Gatun Lake, a major component of the canal's operation (more on that below).

And then there was the sheer scope of the project: Between the French and American builders, some 7.2 billion cubic feet (268 million cubic yards) of earth and rock had to be excavated, three times what was removed to build the Suez Canal. Most of the muck was placed onto railcars, shipped to the coasts and dumped into huge piles in the ocean. It now forms breakwaters and the foundation for towns and a military base. Much was dumped into the adjacent jungle, too.

"The efficiency in earth-moving was staggering," Rogers says. "The earth had never seen anything like that before. And it didn't afterward for a long time."

Also a continuing problem: landslides. Yet despite the constant challenges, the Panama Canal opened in August 1914, with the SS Ancon becoming the first ship to officially make the trip through.

" " A massive expansion of the Panama Canal extended the locking gates to allow larger cargo ships and aircraft carriers to pass through. Canal de Panama

"They had to learn a lot while they were going," Rogers says. "They used up all of the vitrified clay pipes to be produced in the United States, and all the cement produced in the United States, and all of the dynamite produced in the United States. All over this 10-year period, all diverted down to Panama."

In its first five years, decreased traffic because of World War I and a series of landslides (which closed the passage for almost all of 1915 and would continue for years), the canal was barely used. That would soon change.

The Panama Canal was traveled extensively by U.S. warships in World War II, and now has become a major shipping route between East and West.

At one time, engineers again looked at making the passage a sea-level canal, which would eliminate the need for locks and decrease travel time. That idea was scrapped. After World War II, when military ships became too big to pass through, engineers also considered "nuclear excavations"  effectively, creating canals through the use of underground nuclear devices. That, too, was dismissed.

In 1977, the signing of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties returned control of the canal from the United States to Panama, effective Dec. 31, 1999. Since then, the Panama Canal has been expanded  the locks used to be about 100-feet (30-meters) wide; now they're 175- to 185-feet (53- to 56-meters) wide  so that now even the biggest aircraft carriers and cargo ships can pass through.

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How the Locks Work

The goal once a ship enters the Panama Canal is to get them up and over the terrain  and up 85 feet (26 meters) above sea level to Gatun Lake. That's where the locking system comes in. A locking system was chosen for the Panama Canal design because the Pacific Ocean sits at a higher sea level than the Atlantic. So rather than excavating down to sea level, engineers determined that a series of massive locking gates that could raise ships above sea level into a large man-made lake (Gatun Lake) would be the best option.

Ships entering the Panama Canal from the Atlantic enter the first of three Gatun Locks, where the massive chamber fills with 26.7 million gallons of water. To fill the chamber with water and raise the ship, the miter gates and lower lock valves are closed, while the upper valves are opened. The water from Gatun Lake rushes in through 20 holes in the chamber floor. It takes about eight minutes for the chamber to completely fill and raise the ship. The process is repeated two more times until the ship is level with Gatun Lake.

The ship then travels through Gatun Lake until it reaches the Pacific Ocean where it enters the Pedro Miguel Locks and the process goes in reverse  it's lowered through two locks from Gatun Lake back to sea level. The entire trip  from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific  takes an average of 8 to 10 hours.

The ships don't go through the Panama Canal for free. They pay a toll based on the measurements of the vessel each time they enter. And it earns Panama more than $2.5 billion a year. The 50-mile (80-kilometer) long canal hosts nearly 14,000 trips a year, mainly by container ships and others carrying fuel, coal, grains and minerals/metals, though other small ships make the crossing, as well.

Now, more than 100 years after its opening, you can see why it remains an engineering wonder.

NOW THAT'S INTERESTING The 46 locking gates are instrumental to the success of the Panama Canal  and they are massive. All of them are 65 feet wide by 7 feet deep (19 meters wide by 2 meters deep). Their heights vary, though, and range anywhere from 47 to 82 feet (14 to 24 meters). The Miraflores Gates are the tallest because of the Pacific Ocean tides. But all of the gates weigh between 353.8 and 662.2 tons (321 and 600 metric tons).
By Laman Ismayilova

Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva has visited the maternity ward of City Clinical Hospital No.3 in Sabunchu district, Baku.

The 60-bed maternity ward has been provided with couveuse (infant incubator) by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

Leyla Aliyeva was informed about the treatment of the infants who were placed in special devices due to their being born with respiration failures, and other problems.

Since 2004, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation has been actively participating in building a new society and contributing to the social and economic development of the country.

The Foundation successfully implements major projects in spheres such as public health, education, culture, sports, science and so on. The healthcare has always been a focus of the attention.

A number of healthcare institutions, including hospitals, polyclinics, diagnostic centers, and other medical facilities have been built and renovated in Azerbaijan thanks to the Foundation's activities.

The Foundation successfully operates at an international level and closely cooperates with the UN Development Program, UNESCO, ISESCO, and other organizations.

---

Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Attorney-General Christian Porter says he'll consider legislating to stop so-called "double-dipping" by casual employees and extra sick leave for shift workers if two court decisions don't go the government's way.

Mr Porter last year appealed a Federal Court decision that Mondelez International factory workers rostered on for three 12-hour shifts a week were entitled to 120 hours a year of sick leave, calculated as 10 days multiplied by 12 hours. This was despite the court finding a worker who put in the same 36 hours across five shifts would accrue only 72 hours' sick leave a year.

Christian Porter is considering legislation to clarify some entitlements for casual and shift workers. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

In an interview, Mr Porter, who is also Industrial Relations Minister, said his office was planning for "contingencies" in case the High Court ruled in the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union's favour, saying it would "obviously ... increase the argument for reform of the law".

He said the existing approach, under which accrued sick leave was based on hours worked in a fortnight, was "a good starting point for what the law should be".
Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won are Oscar winners!

The duo took home the Best Original Screenplay award for Parasite at the 2020 Oscars on Sunday, beating out Rian Johnson (Knives Out), Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story), Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) and Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns (1917).

Thank you!, Bong said, while accepting the honor. Writing a script is always such a lonely process. We never write to represent our countries. But this is a very first for South Korea.

I thank my wife for always being an inspiration to me, he added. I thank all the actors for bringing the film to life.

Han went on to thank his family, as well as the storytellers and filmmakers in South Korea.

RELATED: Oscars 2020: Joker Leads Nominations with 11, Three Other Films Tie with 10

Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won | Kevin Winter/Getty

RELATED: The Oscars to Go Without a Host for Second Consecutive Year

Bong, 50, partially based Parasite on his experience tutoring a wealthy boy in the students family home in Seoul. The foreign-language film follows poor family the Kims as they slowly infiltrate the Park familys home, getting jobs as tutors and housekeepers, all while pretending they dont know each other.

When youre working as a tutor or a housekeeper, youre in the most private spaces, and both sides are brought together in such intimacy, Bong told The Hollywood Reporter.

Those interactions resulted in Parasite receiving acclaim for its commentary on capitalism and socioeconomic differences  but Boon didnt originally intend for that to happen. This idea of a poor family infiltrating the lives of a rich one is where I first delved in, Bong continued to THR. It was more like putting these characters together in a very controlled environment and then watching the chemical reactions unfold.

RELATED VIDEO: The Parasite Cast Talk About Crying Tears of Joy After Historic Win, Plus Meeting Brad Pitt & Glenn Close

Parasite received a total of six Academy Award nominations, including a nod for Best Picture.

The 92nd Annual Academy Awards are airing live from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Feb. 9 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC
Dont spend your mental energy on things that can be automated

Although the goal is to prove that you are more valuable than the supposed convenience customers get from similar online services, it doesnt mean that technology is the enemy. Utilize technology and use it to help you become a better and more efficient broker. Think of how many hours a week you use just to process emails and think of all the other things you can do with that time.

Learn more about automating email processing. Although the personal touch shouldnt be lost when it comes to communicating with clients, some emails can be responded to with a pre-prepared response. Prepare a reply to frequently asked questions, and other email responses that you use on a regular basis. Follow-ups could also be made faster if you cc yourself on an email to which youre expecting a response. This way, that email could be saved to a folder specifically assigned for follow-ups and you wont have to search through your sent messages to check if youve gotten a response.

Color-code your messages so that your emails will be automatically be prioritized according to how you need it to be. Do this according to urgency or client priority. This way, when you open your email, you only need to scan your inbox to see which messages you need to open first. If youre subscribed to newsletters and other reading materials using your work email, put this on a separate folder so they dont get mixed with your client messages.

Show your clients what true customer service is like

The introduction of online mortgage businesses in recent years have posed a threat to traditional firms and lenders. A study by CoreLogic states that 75% of millennials are looking to buy homes in the next three years. A large percentage of home buyers applying for loans will be from this generation,most of whom prefer online transactions more than face-to-face interactionor at least in addition to it. Most of them will be first home buyers and their inexperience in purchasing property could be disadvantageous when making these big decisions, especially without a professional to guide them through it.

Mindy Ashdown, who runs her mortgage business in Utah, believes in the customer service that face-to-face brokerage firms offer. She said, ...these online companies, they sound great, but you dont get that customer service that youre going to get when you use us. So when you use us, were going to hold your hand through the whole process, but not even just that, but were here forever.
Kirk Douglas, a major performer in American films from the late 1940s until the early 1970s, died at his home in Beverly Hills, California, on February 5 from natural causes at the age of 103. One of the leading film actors of the post-World War II era, he also played a role in helping to end the anti-communist blacklist by hiring and crediting blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo for his efforts on Spartacus (1960).

Douglas brought his renowned dynamism to dozens of films, including many valuable ones, among them, Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947), Champion (Mark Robson, 1949), Ace in the Hole (Billy Wilder, 1951), The Bad and the Beautiful (Vincente Minnelli, 1952), Paths of Glory (Stanley Kubrick, 1957), Spartacus (Kubrick, 1960), Two Weeks in Another Town (Minnelli, 1962) and Seven Days in May (John Frankenheimer, 1964).

Kirk Douglas and Lana Turner in The Bad and the Beautiful

The actors career expressed some of the continued strengths of American filmmaking as it suffered through and emerged from the anti-communist McCarthyite purges, as well as the limitations imposed onand accepted byHollywood as a result of the virtual criminalization of left-wing ideas in the early 1950s.

Douglas was born Issur Danielovitch in December 1916four months prior to US entry into World War I and 11 months before the Bolshevik-led revolution in Russiain Amsterdam, New York, a small manufacturing city in the Mohawk Valley known for its carpet-making.

In his autobiography, The Ragmans Son (1988), Douglas recounted his childhood on Amsterdams East End, the opposite side of town from the rich people on Market Hill. He, his parents and six sisters lived in a run-down, gray clapboard house, the last house at the bottom of a sloping street, next to the factories, the railroad tracks, and the Mohawk River.

In the same memoir, Douglas wrote that he had been born in abject poverty. My parents came here from Russia, illiterate immigrants. Douglass parents were Jews who emigrated, his father first, to the US in 19081910 to escape the oppression and misery of tsarist society.

Douglas described his father, Herschel, born around 1884, as one of the ignorant peasants who, when conscripted into the army, had hay tied on one sleeve, and straw on the other, so that they could tell their right hand from their left. His father was a rag picker and junkman in Amsterdam, working from a horse-cart.

His mother, born Byrna Sanglel, wrote Douglas, came from a family of Ukrainian farmers She wanted all her children to be born in this wonderful new land, where she thought the streets were paved with goldliterally. In Russia, Douglass mother had seen a brother killed in the street by one of those Cossacks, exhilarated by vodka, who considered it a sport to gallop through the ghetto and split open a few Jewish heads.

Douglas worked at a variety of jobs from an early age, although he managed to go to college, St. Lawrence University, also in upstate New York.

He had first been encouraged by an Amsterdam high school teacher to pursue acting. After graduating from university, Douglas, like many others before and after him, moved to Greenwich Village in New York City. He entered the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, which offered him a scholarship. One of his classmates, who later helped him launch his movie career, was actress Lauren Bacall. After serving in the Navy during World War II, Douglas returned to New York and started finding work in radio and the theater.

Douglas appeared in his first film in 1946, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (directed by Lewis Milestone, from a screenplay by left-winger Robert Rossen). He began a Hollywood career at an interesting time, at the height of the film noir era, when American filmmaking was at one of its most realistic and critical moments. Like others of his generation (including Burt Lancaster, William Holden and Robert Mitchum), Douglasat 30 or soalready brought to his initial performances some knowledge of life and its difficulties.

Kirk Douglas and Robert Mitchum in Out of the Past (1947)

After another valuable dark and troubling work, I Walk Alone (Byron Haskin, 1948), the first of seven films in which he appeared with Lancaster, Douglas featured in the French-born Tourneurs Out of the Past, based on a novel by left-wing American writer Daniel Mainwaring. Douglas plays a gangster, Whit Sterling, determined to track down his former lover (Jane Greer), who shot and wounded him, and stole $40,000 of his money. Unusually, while he is menacing throughout, Douglass character is suave and articulate, his homicidal tendencies hidden as much as possible.

The WSWS commented in 2015 that Out of the Past was a morally and psychologically forceful work. Considering its subject matter, there is very little overt violence in the film For his part, Whit smiles and jokes, and almost never raises his voice. He doesnt have to, his money and power automatically demand respect.

Robsons Champion, in which Douglas played a leading role as a boxer ruthlessly battling his way to the top, brought the actor to prominence. Douglass Midge Kelly shamelessly betrays friends, associates and women in the course of this story of a man who, as the films opening proclaims, starting from the most sordid poverty, has become World Champion.

Arthur Kennedy, Kirk Douglas and Paul Stewart in Champion (1949)

Ace in the Hole is one of Wilders bitterest films (and one of his few commercial failures), influenced, one would assume, by the medias foul role in generating the McCarthyite hysteria of the late 1940s and early 1950s, although it approaches the issue of deceitfully manipulating public opinion only by way of allegory.

Douglas, now a full-blown movie star, plays a cynical, down on his luck journalist, Chuck Tatum, who stumbles upon the case of a man trapped in a New Mexico cave collapse. Tatum (Im a pretty good liar. Ive done a lot of lying in my time.) does everything in his power to manipulate a gullible public, all too eager to be led by the nose. He conspires with a corrupt, ambitious local sheriff to see to it that the unfortunate victim is not rescued immediately (If I just had one week of this), so that the story can remain on the front pages of newspapers across the country.

Kirk Douglas in Ace in the Hole (1951)

In The Bad and the Beautiful, one of several of Douglass films directed by Minnelli, the actor played, once again, a relatively ruthless character, a maverick Hollywood producer, Jonathan Shields, cynical, cunning, and demonic, in the words of one commentator, based on several famous Hollywood figures. The melodrama proceeds in flashbacks. Three figures, a director, a scriptwriter and an actress, gathered in a Hollywood office essentially explain why they refuse to have anything to do with Shields, based on bitter past experience.

A common theme clearly emerges in a number of these films, associated with general postwar criticism of the American dream and the pursuit of achievement at any cost. (Although, in the case of The Bad and the Beautiful, the Douglas character actually sacrifices others and himself in the effort, at least in part, to liberate the creative potential of his director, scriptwriter, and leading lady, as film critic and historian Thomas Elsaesser observes.)

Kirk Douglas in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)

It is worth noting that Douglas, whose Horatio Alger, rags-to-riches story, in his own words, was so trite as to be unbelievable, was able to recognize the problematic nature of the framework in which his own life was often presented as proof of Americas unlimited opportunities.

Film historian and scholar Joseph McBride (see accompanying interview), in his short 1976 biography of Douglas, argues eloquently that the life vein running through virtually all of his films is a spirited, anguished critique of the American success ethic.

Two processes seem to be work simultaneously, and sometimes at cross-purposes, in a number of Douglass films: the undeniable ability (and determination) of certain people in America, including from immigrant or impoverished backgrounds, to raise themselves, economically and culturallyrooted in the powerful position and resources of US capitalismand, on the other hand, the questionable, unstable character of the success achieved, often leading to the anguish, guilt or intense self-doubt of the central character.

One recalls film director Rainer Fassbinders comment about the outlook of German novelist Theodor Fontane (18191898): He lived in a society whose faults he recognized and could describe very precisely, but all the same a society he needed, to which he really wanted to belong. He rejected everybody and found everything alien and yet fought all his life for recognition within this society.

In a 1960 interview, cited by McBride, Douglas commented, All your life youve been dreaming of wanting to act, to portray roles. Then what happens is that if youre successful at it, you become big business. A myriad of things that you never bargained for come into play. All of a sudden you are buffeted from every side and youre fortunate if youre a guy that has the right advice.

Of course, it is easy enough to argue that all this took place within the general acceptance by the actor and Hollywood liberalism of American democracy, in whose political service Douglas often performed officially, including on State Department tours and other political operations. (Lancaster, who worked with European directors such as Luchino Visconti [The Leopard, Conversation Piece] and Bernardo Bertolucci [1900] in the 1960s and 1970s, and also appeared in actively oppositional works like David Miller-Dalton Trumbos Executive Action, Robert Aldrichs Twilights Last Gleaming and Ted Posts Go Tell the Spartans, adopted a somewhat more openly anti-establishment course.)

Here too, however, it is necessary to distinguish between the artist and the actor-public personality, with his career, financial success, endless sexual conquests and all the rest. Douglas was honest enough as an artist to paint and leave behind unflattering pictures of American society through his characterizations and the truth, in particular, of his emotions and anguish, whatever function he may have performed as one of its loyal spokesmen during the Cold War.

The objective contradictions involved with doing serious artistic work under conditions in which entire arenas of social life had been cordoned off by anti-communism and the film industrys self-censorship perhaps find particular expression in the sometimes overwrought quality of Douglass performances (in Minnellis Lust for Life [1956] for example), as though too much had to be read into and squeezed out of too little. Critic Manny Farber, reviewing Detective Story, referred to the gymnastic-minded Douglass mad-dog style of acting.

Kirk Douglas in Lonely Are the Brave (1962)

McBride, in his 1976 book, noted that to segments of the film-going public, Douglas was synonymous with the jut-jawed, strident-voiced, tirelessly pugnacious characters he usually plays on screen, characters whose gesticulating and ranting (in Farbers phrase) could be both irritating and distracting. At its best, however, his phenomenal energy and intensity (McBride) brought contradictory and disturbing conditions and dilemmas to life.

Douglas did have the good fortune to work with many of the most serious studio film directors in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, in addition to those already mentioned, including John M. Stahl (The Walls of Jericho, 1948), Joseph L. Mankiewicz (A Letter to Three Wives, 1949), Michael Curtiz (Young Man with a Horn, 1950), Raoul Walsh (Along the Great Divide, 1951), William Wyler (Detective Story, 1951), Howard Hawks (The Big Sky, 1952), Richard Fleischer (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, 1954, and The Vikings, 1958), Henry Hathaway (The Racers, 1955), King Vidor (Man Without a Star, 1955), Andre de Toth (The Indian Fighter, 1955), Robert Aldrich (The Last Sunset, 1961), Otto Preminger (In Harms Way) and Anthony Mann (The Heroes of Telemark, 1965)

Douglass most prominent years extended from 1957 to 1963, when he was one of the top 25 most successful film stars each year.

Paths of Glory, set during the slaughter of World War I, is one of Douglass most important works. He plays a French officer, Colonel Dax, obliged to lead a suicide mission against German lines planned by the French general staff, who know that it cannot succeed. The military hierarchy is quite prepared to see the mass killing of its own men. After one unit refuses to advance into the path of the murderous German fire, General Mireau (George Macready), to deflect attention from his own role in the fiasco, decides to court-martial 100 men for cowardice, eventually reduced to three.

Paths of Glory (1957)

Dax, a lawyer in civilian life, defends the three soldiers in a proceeding that is a farce from a legal standpoint. Conviction is preordained. In his summary, Dax tells the tribunal, The prosecution presented no witnesses. There has never been a written indictment of charges made against the defendants. And lastly, I protest against the fact that no stenographic records of this trial have been kept. The attack yesterday morning was no stain on the honor of France... and certainly no disgrace to the fighting men of this nation. But this court-martial is such a stain and such a disgrace. The case made against these men is a mockery of all human justice. Gentlemen of the court, to find these men guilty would be a crime, to haunt each of you till the day you die. The court, however, does precisely that, and three men are executed.

In one of the final scenes, General Broulard (Adolphe Menjou), a member of the general staff, informs Mireau that he will be made a scapegoat for the whole affair and subsequently offers Mireaus command to Dax. Dax-Douglas replies, Sir, would you like me to suggest what you can do with that promotion?

When Broulard demands an apology, Dax responds with fury, in one of Douglass finest moments: I apologize for not being entirely honest with you. I apologize for not revealing my true feelings. I apologize for not telling you sooner that youre a degenerate, sadistic old man. And you can go to hell before I apologize to you now or ever again!

Kirk Douglas and Woody Strode in Spartacus (1960)

Stanley Kubrick (after the firing of Anthony Mann 10 days into the picture) directed Spartacus, the epic story of the slave revolt in ancient Rome, in the first century BCE. The film was made by Douglass company, Byrna Productions, named after his mother. The script, as noted, was written by the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo, adapted from the 1951 novel by left-wing author Howard Fast, begun in prison where Fast was serving a three-month sentence for refusing to provide names to the House Un-American Activities Committee.

There are intriguing and powerful sequences in Spartacus. For the creators, the slave revolt in the ancient world clearly bore parallels to the revolt of the oppressed in modern times, including the ongoing Civil Rights movement. According to McBride, Douglas pointed out that his lead character was a complex blend of the animal and the spiritual, beginning as a brutish and brutalized sub-human and eventually finding a conscience and becoming a figure of heroic legend.

Kirk Douglas in Spartacus (1960)

In a famous scene, after the defeat of the slave revolt, Roman officials try to locate the rebel leader by promising the survivors they will avoid the terrible punishment of crucifixion on the single condition that you identify the body or the living person of the slave called Spartacus. Famously, each of the survivors shouts, Im Spartacus!

Two Weeks in Another Town, based on a novel by Irwin Shaw, is a further examination of the film industry directed by Vincente Minnelli. Douglas is a former star, Jack Andrus, afflicted with alcoholism, who travels to Rome to play a small part in a film to be directed by his onetime mentor, Kruger (Edward G. Robinson), featuring an up-and-coming film star (played by George Hamilton). In the end, after Kruger suffers a debilitating heart attack, Andrus takes over the direction of the film and completes it successfully. Instead of gratitude, he is met with jealousy and the charge that he has attempted to undermine Kruger. An atmosphere of bitterness and disillusionment pervades the lush, quasi-decadent goings-on.

In Seven Days in May, set in the future, in 1974, a rogue Air Force general determines to organize a coup detat in opposition to the US presidents signing of a disarmament treaty with the Soviet Union. Lancaster plays the semi-fascist general, James Mattoon Scott, and Douglas a Marine Corps colonel, Jiggs Casey, while Fredric March performs as the somewhat ineffectual President Jordan Lyman.

Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster in Seven Days in May (1964)

The best-selling novel by Charles W. Bailey II and Fletcher Knebel was inspired by the activities of Gen. Edwin Walker, a fascistic figure who resigned in 1961 after it come to light he was indoctrinating troops under his command with his ultra-right political views and had described former President Harry Truman, former Secretary of State Dean Acheson and former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt as Communist sympathizers. Bailey and Knebel also interviewed another extreme reactionary in the US military high command, Gen. Curtis LeMay, one of the inspirations for characters in Kubricks Dr. Strangelove (1964).

In Frankenheimers film, Casey comes to learn that Scott and the rest of the Joint Chiefs of Staff plan to stage a military takeover of the US government, removing Lyman and his cabinet. Under the plan, a secret unit will seize control of the countrys radio, telephone and television networks. Lyman and Casey work to stymie Scotts plans, without, however, disclosing their existence to the American public. The film has numerous chilling and prescient aspects, and points to the cancerous and sinister growth by the early 1960s of the military-industrial complex and the fragility of American democracy at the height of postwar prosperity. What is its hollowed-out condition six decades later?

The final confrontation between Lancaster-Scott and Douglas-Casey goes like this, with Scott leading off:

Youre a night crawler, Colonel. A peddler. You sell information. Are you sufficiently up on your Bible to know who Judas was? I asked you a question.

Are you ordering me to answer, sir?

I am.

Yes, I know who Judas was. He was a man I worked for and admired until he disgraced the four stars on his uniform.

A good number of Douglass films will endure. He had the energy and intelligence, and talent, to shed light on American life in a manner that encourages criticism and independent thought.
The local council has confirmed that it expects Stormont to match the UK governments commitment of 50m in City Deal funding in the coming weeks.

However, negotiations are ongoing with the NI government to secure an additional 55m to match the total UK Government (UKG) package of 105m towards a Derry City and Strabane Region Deal.

With match funding and investment from private partners it was envisaged that the overall package would be in the region of 250m-300m.

By way of comparison, the Belfast Region City Deal will see the UKG invest 350m into the Belfast Region over the next 15 years. It is proposed that this figure will be matched by the NI Executive.

Bolstered by co-investment of upwards of 150m from Belfast Region City Deal partners and investment by the private sector is anticipated to bring the total Belfast investment package to over 1bn.

Last May it was announced that Derry and Strabane will receive 105m in major new investment from the UKG.

But match funding is necessary to fulfil ambitions laid out by the council in terms of Strabane town centre regeneration, as well as key tourism, economic, and social projects and initiatives.

The current package, 50 million for the City Deal and 55m for the new Inclusive Future Fund, aims to boost the economic potential of the city and support a more prosperous and united community.

The Derry City and Strabane City Deal investment will help strengthen innovation and the digital potential of the city region and unlock local partner funding.

It will be bolstered by a 55m Inclusive Future Fund aimed at bringing greater prosperity and social benefits to the whole of the community.

Ulster University will be granted 85m of the 105 already committed. Official council documents suggest it may be given additional funds if its included as part of the 40m set aside for Queens Quay/Riverfront projects.

UUs 85m will be invested in centres of innovation and excellence in data analytics (CARL) and robotics and automation (CIDRA), the Graduate Entry Medical School (NIGEMS) and Personalised Medicine Centre of Excellence (THRIVE).

The Derry News asked Derry City & Strabane District Council whether it still has confidence in UU to deliver its projects given recent revelations about its huge overspend on the Belfast campus and a request for a 126m bailout from Stormont.

That is coupled with the fact that a new business case has to be drafted for Magee expansion and a senior official at the Department for the Economy stated that new money would have to be found, adding its hard to see that happening.

In response, a spokesperson for the council said it is working closely with UU to expand Magee but continues to explore all avenues to develop third level education provision in the city.

Significant progress has already been made, she said, and all project proposals have been submitted to government at this stage.

As a result of this positive work council is hopeful that Heads of Terms can be signed in the coming weeks and continues to work with government and key partners in this regard.

Much has already been achieved in terms of the scaling and prioritisation of projects, the proposed governance structures and the processes and timelines involved since the initial City Deal funding announcement, she explained.

Confident

The spokesperson continued: In terms of securing the required Northern Ireland government match funding of 50m to the UKG 50m City Deal funding, it is assumed this will be finally confirmed at Heads of Terms stage.

Discussions in relation to Northern Ireland Government match funding to the UK Government 55m Future Fund element of the funding package are ongoing and we welcome the commitment set out in the New Decade New Approach report that the Executive will make it a priority to realise the economic potential offered by City Deals for the Belfast Region and Derry/Londonderry, including through match capital funding for infrastructure, regeneration and tourism projects.

She added: Since the restoration of devolved government at Stormont local political representatives have also been proactive at Executive level in amplifying the campaign for university expansion here.

The delivery of the Graduate Entry Medical School for Magee has been highlighted as a key commitment amongst a raft of priority projects set out within the New Deal and Council is confident that this firm commitment to investing in the economic regeneration of the NW will be honoured by both the UK and Irish governments.

In terms of the delivery of the project, Council continues to explore all avenues with regards to successfully growing and developing third level education provision here in the city.

Ulster University is working closely with Council and its partners to realise the plans for the further expansion of the Magee campus, including the GEMS.

Council looks forward to welcoming the incoming Vice Chancellor once in post to hear more about those plans and to continue that work.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 14:19:27|Editor: Xiaoxia

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MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- A total of 35 militants have been confirmed dead as a cleanup operation continues in Balkh district of the northern Balkh province in Afghanistan, said an army statement released here Monday.

The mopping-up, according to the statement, was launched late Sunday night and so far 35 insurgents have been killed and five others arrested.

Without providing more details, the statement added that the operation would last until the restive Balkh district and its vicinity is cleared of the insurgents.

Taliban fighters who are active in parts of Balkh province have not commented on the report.
The Vietnam Administration of Forestry has instructed province and city agriculture departments around the country to carefully monitor wildlife imports amid the public health emergency caused by the new strain of coronavirus.

Wild birds being sold at the Thanh Hoa Agricultural Market in Long An Province. Photo vietnamplus.vn

It is widely believed that the coronavirus infection spread from wild animals.

The departments have been told to focus on monitoring border gates and routes through which wild animals are smuggled in.

Animal organs, which are used to make medicines and others are also to be kept out.

The administration has urged local authorities to improve oversight of the sale of wild animals and their raising and processing.

If wild animals contract infectious diseases, they should be isolated and treated as prescribed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, it said.

Following the warnings, Tran Van Can, chairman of the Long An Province Peoples Committee, said his administration has instructed local authorities to improve management of wildlife-related activities and crack down on the illegal sale and purchase in time.

He also ordered them to monitor illegal sale and purchase at the Thanh Hoa Agricultural Market in Thanh Hoa District.

Violators would be fined, he warned.

The province is keeping a close eye out for H5N1 influenza, which has broken out in Chinas Wuhan city, and when any outbreak occurs, local authorities and other relevant agencies should co-ordinate preventive measures to contain it, he said.

Birds with H5N1 infection should be destroyed and farmers who own them should get timely assistance from authorities, he said.

The transport, slaughter and sale of poultry in urban areas and those with high populations or at high risk of the disease should also be monitored carefully, he said.

Transport of poultry infected with H5N1 and other diseases should be banned to prevent their spread, he added.  VNS

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.
Amid growing pressure to bring back its nationals, mostly students, from coronavirus-hit Hubei province, the Pakistan government has said it is closely monitoring the situation in China and will soon take a decision on their evacuation.

Pakistan came under criticism after it said that Pakistani students should not be evacuated from Wuhan as medical facilities back home do not meet the standards required to treat a patient diagnosed with coronavirus.

The Pakistani nationals stuck in areas affected by the novel virus have been making requests to the government on social media platforms to evacuate them.

The matter is being considered at the high level and best possible decision would be taken after considering all possible aspects. Rest assured that we care about you, said Zafar Mirza, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health, on Sunday.

Mirza said that the government has been keenly observing the situation in China, the Dawn newspaper reported.

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

He said that all options were being explored and the government wanted to maintain a balance on the issue.

We have to consider all aspects including situation of the Pakistanis (in China), Chinese regulations and advisories of the World Health Organisation (WHO). All the stakeholders are involved over the issue and we have kept all options open, he said.

Addressing students in China in a tweet, Mirza said, My very dear students in China and your respectable family members, we are intensely discussing the situation at highest level and will make the best decision in view of all factors with reference to devastating coronavirus potential global pandemic.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's Ambassador to China Naghmana Hashmi said that they could not reach the stranded Pakistani students in Wuhan due to the complete lockdown of the city, the capital of Hubei province.

Pakistani officials are in contact with their Chinese counterparts in Beijing and Wuhan and will promptly reply to any query by a Pakistani citizen in China, she was quoted as saying by Geo News.

However, Pakistani nationals vent out their anger on social media after Mirza's tweet, the Dawn report said.

Dear sir, if you care about us then please spend at least one day with us in Wuhan, China at least one day please after this we will never say to evacuate us. Please consider my suggestion thanks, a Pakistani national living in Wuhan tweeted.

Another Pakistani student tweeted, it is a humble request not to tweet if you won't change things.

The death toll in China due to the novel coronavirus increased to 908 and the number of confirmed cases surged over 40,000, Chinese health officials said on Monday.

Five persons with symptoms of coronavirus were reported from Pakistan on Sunday after they arrived from a flight from China.

There were up to 800 Pakistanis studying in various universities in Wuhan - a city of 11 million people which has been quarantined by the Chinese authorities in an effort to stem the spread of the deadly virus.

Earlier, Foreign Office said that there were 28,000 Pakistani students currently in China apart from hundreds of businessmen.
Two men have been sentenced following the theft of livestock worth nearly 30,000 from numerous farms in the north east of Scotland.

Lloyd Fowlie, 32 and Craig Arbuckle, 30 were convicted by jury at Aberdeen Sheriff Court on 20 December 2019 and sentenced on Friday 7 February.

They had been charged with the theft of 14 cattle worth nearly 30,000 from Kinellar and Monymusk in June and July 2016.

They stole the animals from Lower Todlachie, Monymusk, Inverurie, between 14 July and 23 July 2016.

The pair were both handed eleven month restriction of liberty orders and ordered to undertake 300 hours of unpaid work with 18 months to complete it.

North East Division's Rural Crime Lead, Chief Inspector Norman Stevenson, said: The conviction is welcomed and a testament to all involved that rural crime and the safety of those in such areas is taken very seriously.

We recognise the devastating impact that rural crime can have on local businesses and the livelihoods of those living and working in our rural communities, which makes us all the more determined as a collective to prosecute those responsible.

Lorna Paterson, Regional Manager at NFU Scotland added: NFU Scotland cannot ever condone rural criminality within our community and anything relating to rural crime, be it livestock worrying or theft is a complete blight on the countryside.

We'd like to acknowledge the work of the North East Rural Crime and Safety Partnership and we are certain the wider rural community will be grateful for their efforts and success.

NFU Scotland always welcomes the successes which our Police Scotland staff achieve through collaboration and we will continue to work closely with their staff and other stakeholders in order to mitigate incidents and activities of this type.
The convicts lawyer challenged me that their execution will not happen for an indefinite period..."

These were the words of a distraught Asha Devi on the stairs of the Patiala House Court on January 31. The execution of the men who brutally raped her daughter and left her for the dead on a cold December night in 2012 had been postponed again after the defence lawyer successfully argued against their hanging till each convict had exhausted all his legal options.

Asha Devis frustration with the legal system struck a chord with all those present there. But it also brought into sharp focus the fight-back mounted by the defence, particularly by AP Singh, the lawyer for three of the four convicts.

Singh, who has a doctorate in criminology, has been accused of exploiting loopholes in the system to save his clients from execution. Strictures have been passed against him by the Delhi High Court, while the Bar Council has issued notices over his conduct on more than one occasion. In the courtroom, frustrated onlookers are often heard muttering, "isi ko tang dena chahiye (Even he should be hanged)."

But, undeterred, Singh continues to defend the Nirbhaya convicts  Pawan Gupta, Akshay Kumar Singh and Vinay Sharma. The fourth convict, Mukesh Kumar, has a different legal team lead by Vrinda Grover, once an amicus curiae (friend of the court) in the case.

Ajay Prakash Singh, a 46-year-old law graduate from Lucknow University, has been practising in the Supreme Court since 1997. But he shot to fame, or rather infamy, in 2012 when the Nirbhaya rape and murder case went to trial in the Saket court.

In an interview to CNN-News18, Singh said it was his mother who had asked him to take up the case then. "Akshay's wife had come from a village in Bihar to meet her arrested husband in Tihar Jail. Someone there must have passed on my number to her. She came home and met my mother. When I returned home, my mother told me you must fight to give this girl justice," he said.

The lawyer said he tried to reason with his mother about the consequences of taking up such a case, but she persuaded him. "My parents are simple people, extremely spiritual. They didnt watch TV, so didnt have much idea about the protests, Jantar Mantar, Ramlila Maidan, mombatti, dhoop batti, agar batti..." Singh said, referring to the candle-lit marches and protests in solidarity with the 23-year-old victim who was given the name Nirbhaya or fearless by the media.

Singh's defence of the Nirbhaya rape convicts began in the Saket court. He took up the cases of two of the convicts  Akshay and Vinay  but failed to get the duo acquitted of the grave charges. His strategy included maligning the deceased victim.

It is seven years later and he still does not regret his conduct.

"Should I not ask what the girl was doing with the boy so late at night? It is part of evidence. I wasnt saying they had a brother-sister relationship or they were out to celebrate rakhi. All I said was that they are friends. Now in their society, boyfriend-girlfriend relation must be laudable, but not in the culture I come from," Singh said when News18 questioned the need to malign the victims character to get his clients acquitted.

Singh's views had led to massive outrage in 2013. After failing to secure victory in Saket court, Singh had openly attacked the judge in the courtroom. "You have not upheld truth, but lies. This decision has been taken under political pressure and for vote-bank politics," he had told Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna on September 13, 2013.

Outside the court, he lashed out at the media and was panned for his misogynistic remarks.

"If my daughter or sister engaged in pre-marital sex and disgraced herself and allowed herself to lose face and character by doing such things, I would most certainly take this sort of sister or daughter to my farmhouse, and in front of my entire family, I would put petrol on her and set her on fire, he had said.

Singh has a daughter in college and a son.

Radio City ran a campaign against the lawyer asking him to withdraw from the case keeping in mind the public sentiments, but Singh instead took on another convict, Pawan, as his client as the case went into appeal in higher courts.

While Asha Devi mother pleaded before judges for justice, Pawan's mother and father worshipped AP Singh.

Hira lal, Pawan's father, told News18 that he is confident his son will not be hanged. "I have not met him in Tihar even though jail authorities told me that today can be the last meeting. I am confident my son has done nothing wrong. Courts will hear us," Hira lal said as Singh looked on.

This was on January 30, 48 hours before Pawan was to be executed on February 1. Singh managed to get this date postponed in the next hearing. He filed petition after petition. He pleaded before the High Court that Pawan was a juvenile at the time of the crime. He went to the Supreme Court when the HC refused to grant him relief.

The HC found his strategy frustrating. On January 20, the court said, "The Court deprecates such practice adopted by the advocate. It is not in dispute that an advocate files petition on the instructions of the petitioner. It is also not in dispute that the petitioner is a master of facts, however, it is presumed that the advocate is well aware of the law and the procedure."

Following up on the court order, the Bar Council show-caused Singh.

The judiciary has commented on more than one occasion that the defence team is exploiting loopholes in law, but has failed to stop Singh from extending the lease of life of the death-row prisoners.

It is this failure of the judiciary that frustrates Nirbhaya's parents too. "Court mein bhi sab (defence lawyers) tan kar khade rehte hain. Aisa lagta hai maine galati ki hai. Hum haath jode insaaf 7 saal pehle bhi maang rahe the, aaj bhi maang rahe hain (The defence lawyers are smug in court, while we have been humbly seeking justice for the last seven years," Asha Devi said.

But legal practitioners feel Singh is just doing his job as a defence lawyer to the farthest extent that the law allows.

Manu Sharma, who defended A Raja in the 2G case, cites constitutional provisions and points out that under the Bar Council of India rules, a lawyer cannot refuse to defend an accused on the grounds that general public believes the person to be guilty.

"Under Article 21 of the Constitution, no one should be deprived of his or her life or liberty without strict observance of the due process of law. Under Article 22, an obligation is cast upon the lawyer to ensure that Article 21 is observed and followed, said Sharma.

Now if any legal process or recourse is available to an accused or a convict as the case may be, its his or her lawyers constitutional obligation to see that its availed of and followed. The general public should refrain from making irresponsible comments on defence lawyers," he added.

Supreme Court advocate Meet Malhotra, too, argues against public perception taking precedence over legal provisions. "Why is a person brought to trial and punished? Because he broke the law. And, therefore, the punishment has to be in accordance with law. If the law allows you a certain latitude, public pressure can't take away what the law permits you to do," he said.

But it is the public perception that has become the biggest challenge for the Nirbhaya case defence lawyer. "Society ka pressure to tha hi. Shaadi-byah mein, rishtedari mein sunna padta hai ki ye case kyun lad rahe hain. Khas kar ke mahilayen, bacche poochte hain. Marne do na inko, aap kyun ladte ho? I have to convince them," Singh said.

The case has brought a lot of bad press for Singh. But it has also led to comparisons with all-time greats like Ram Jethmalani who also faced criticism for defending high-profile clients like KM Nanavati in the 1950s, the assassins of Indira Gandhi, and more recently Jessica Lall murder convict Manu Sharma. Singh is well on his way to match the veteran defence lawyers record, having defended former union minister Chinmayanand and self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim, both accused in rape cases.

Singh that the execution of convicts in the Nirbhaya case is inevitable, but he is determined to fight on. "This will be part of academic research in future about law, about system for death row prisoners," he said.
APOPKA, Fla. - State troopers safely recovered a 3-year-old girl who was abducted early Monday in central Florida, finding her inside a vehicle they stopped hours later on an interstate in the northern part of the state, authorities said.

The child was recovered safely around 11 a.m. on Interstate 10 near the state capital of Tallahassee, Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Kim Montes said in a news release.

News outlets reported that four adults inside the vehicle were taken into custody. Their names havent been released and investigators havent released a motive for the abduction or whether those in custody have any connection to the girls family.

The little girl was in her front yard with her father around 6 a.m. Monday, Montes said. The father went back inside to get his keys and heard his daughter screaming as a man took her into a black Honda with a temporary Texas license plate, a ccording to authorities.

Montes said the father jumped into his car and chased the vehicle. He pursued it from Apopka, a community northwest of Orlando, until he lost sight of it on Interstate 75 further north. The father didnt have a cellphone, but he drove home and called authorities.

An AMBER alert was issued by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement around 9:30 a.m. It was cancelled once the child was located.

News outlets reported the father told police he didnt recognize the man driving the car, and that the childs mother lives out of state.
Three persons were held with fake currency with a face value of Rs 63,500 in Bhuj in Gujarat's Kutch district, and the mastermind who supplied these notes was from Bengaluru and on the run, police said on Sunday.

A Bhuj B Division police team raided the house of Atul Vora and seized 37 notes of Rs 100 denomination which he had got from Ishwar Patel living in Bengaluru, an official said.

"Vora said he got 700 notes of Rs 100 denomination from Patel, of which he gave 412 notes to Bhavesh Zala, and 250 pieces to Snehal Zaveri, both trader friends. We have recovered 350 notes from Zala while he has circulated the rest. In all, the notes recovered have a face value of Rs 63,500," he said.

These notes are photo-copies, he added.
The Home Office has said it will press ahead with a controversial charter flight deporting Jamaican nationals, even as a last-minute court order granted some of them a temporary reprieve.

More than 50 men had been due to be flown to Kingston on Tuesday morning because of their criminal records, even though some had lived in the UK since childhood and committed only low-level offences.

But on Monday night the Court of Appeal ordered the Home Office not to deport dozens of the men who had not been granted adequate access to legal advice. The men been denied access to working sim cards at Heathrow detention facilities following a mobile phone signal outage that prevented them from consulting lawyers.

The flight went ahead on Tuesday morning but it is not clear how many people were on board.

Sajid Javid, the Chancellor and a former Home Secretary, defended the decision to proceed with the flight for some of the men, saying it was "to protect the public". He said the men had committed serious crimes "like manslaughter, rape, dealing in class A drugs".

Those still set to be flown back to Jamaica told The Independent that they feared for their lives on return to Kingston. Five people previously deported to Jamaica were killed shortly after their arrival.

Evidence presented to the court by charity Detention Action showed replacement sim cards were being distributed only from last Wednesday, breaching the Home Offices own policy that all deportees must be given a minimum of five working days before removal to seek legal advice if they wish to.

It comes after the department was forced to admit it had known about the issue affecting detainees mobile phone signals since 13 January, but still pressed ahead with charter flights to Ghana, Nigeria and France before providing working sim cards.

Locked in his cell at Brook House removal centre on Monday, 25-year-old Rohan McLennon, who has been in the UK since the age of eight, said: They are sending me to death. Im very depressed. I cant eat. Im very scared. If they leave me at the airport I will not know which way to turn.

People are going to take what they are saying and think we are murderers and rapists. That is not me, but theyre going to stereotypes us as murderers and killers. People are going to want to kill me. Their own police officers are corrupted.

Id rather die in Brook House now than go in that plane tomorrow, because I know my family will come to my funeral. In Jamaica my family would not come. They wouldnt know Id have died.

The northwest London resident said he had been sentenced to two-and-a-half years over a drug offence committed after he was groomed by county lines gangs as a teenager while he tried to save to secure his immigration status. He added: They want to send me back to a place Ive not been since I was eight years old. The only thing I remember from Jamaica is brushing my teeth. Ive got no one there.

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Christine Jardine said: Even after the appalling Windrush scandal, Conservative ministers were brazenly defending their plans to deport people just hours before the court ruled it unlawful.

Recommended Government defends mass deportation flight to Jamaica amid backlash

No one can trust the Home Office to get these decisions right, and we owe it to the victims of the Windrush scandal to prevent anything like it from happening again.

Mobile phones provided by the Home Office at the outset of detention are the principal means by which detainees are able to access legal assistance, contact their solicitors and stay in touch with their families.

Handing down the ruling on Monday evening, Lady Justice Simler said: At best some individuals have had a functioning sim card for three working days. At worst, the evidence indicates that some have still not received a functioning sim card.

Further, in light of the evidence filed by the claimant I cannot be confident that there were adequate alternative means of accessing legal advice and assistance during a minimum of five working days before the charter flight to Jamaica.

It remained unclear on Monday evening whether all of those due to be deported from the Heathrow removal centres affected by mobile phone problems would be taken off the flight, but Detention Action said this was likely to be the case.

Bella Sankey, director of the charity, said the landmark decision was a victory for access to justice, fairness and the rule of law.

 MPs Nadia Whittome and Dawn Butler raise point of status of people on next weeks deportation flight to Jamaica

She added: On the basis of this order from our Court of Appeal we do not believe that anyone currently detained at the Heathrow detention centres can be removed on tomorrows flight. We understand that this will apply to at least 56 people.

Toufique Hossain, director of public law at Duncan Lewis, who represented the charity, said: For weeks now detainees complaints have fallen on deaf ears.

Their removal looms large, hours away and yet again it takes judicial intervention to make the home office take basic, humane and fair steps to allow people to enjoy their constitutional right to access justice.

A Home Office spokesperson said: The planned charter flight to Jamaica is specifically for deporting foreign national offenders. Those detained for removal include people convicted of manslaughter, rape, violent crime and dealing class-A drugs.

We are urgently asking the judge to reconsider their ruling and it would be inappropriate to comment further whilst legal proceedings are ongoing.
President Donald Trump on Monday submitted to Congress a $740 billion national security budget request heavy on investment in updating the nation's nuclear arsenal and providing a substantial boost to research and development, while retiring a number of older Air Force planes. It is a bullish document for defense contractors and their investors, but also provides warning that after years of growth the momentum is starting to fade.

The Pentagon portion of the budget totaled about $705 billion, down 1% from $713 billion a year prior, but the government is seeking to increase spending on nuclear command and control and investment in the new Columbia class nuclear submarine made by General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) and Huntington Ingalls (NYSE:HII). The government also is continuing to invest in Lockheed Martin's (NYSE:LMT) F-35 fighter.

The budget also earmarks $2.8 billion to continue development of Northrop Grumman's (NYSE:NOC) B-21 bomber, as well as $1.5 billion for a new intercontinental ballistic missile program that Northrop is the favorite to win.

The Defense Department is undergoing a shift away from focusing on fighting insurgents in the desert and toward potential great power competition against China and Russia. The budget document calls 2021 funding the "irreversible implementation" of the National Defense Strategy, implying that the administration is trying to move programs far enough along that they will not be reversed no matter who wins the presidential election in November.

Overall the administration proposes spending $107 billion on research and development into Lockheed Martin-dominated hypersonics and other future weapons. But its actual funds for purchasing equipment is down year over year, to $137 billion from $144 billion in fiscal 2020.

The budget does call for a number of platforms to be scrapped, a sign that the Pentagon is feeling pressure to make sacrifices as it seeks to find funds for new programs. The Pentagon proposes retiring hundreds of F-15 and F-16 fighters, A-10 attack planes, and B-1 bombers over the next five years.

Overall the Navy's budget would drop slightly year over year, while the Air Force remains steady. The administration did increase the planned purchase of Boeing (NYSE:BA) built KC-46 refueling tankers to 15 from 12, helping to offset planned retirements of older tankers.

Investors should consider the budget proposal the opening of negotiations, and not the final document. Expect Congress to revise the proposal considerably over a long drawn out process. This year's budget is expected to receive even more scrutiny than usual because it is an election year, and because the administration is holding steady on defense while decreasing nondefense discretionary spending.
Sunday recorded the highest number of new deaths from the novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) outbreak for a single day in China with 97 people dying until midnight and the toll hitting the 908-mark on the mainland.

The total number of infections has soared to 40171, health officials said at the morning briefing on Monday.

The number of deaths, and infections  by a big margin  have crossed the toll of the 2002-03 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic, which also broke out in China.

The fatality rate for SARS was higher than the NCP, experts have said.

Also Watch | Coronavirus: 26 cases confirmed in Hong Kong, 17 in Taiwan

The new numbers come in the backdrop of WHO chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saying that theres been some concerning instances of the coronavirus spread (abroad) from people with no travel history to China. The detection of a small number of cases may indicate more widespread transmission in other countries; in short, we may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg.

More than 300 cases have been reported globally in at least 25 countries.

Two people have died outside the mainland - one each in Hong Kong and the Philippines.

The worst-hit central Chinese province reported 2,618 new cases of the NCP on February 9, with 91 new deaths and 356 recovered.

The total infection number in the province increased to 29,631, with 871 dead and 1,795 recovered, officials said.

The NHC said 6,484 patients remained in severe condition, and 23,589 people were suspected of being infected with the virus.

The commission said 399,487 close contacts had been traced, adding that among them, 29,307 were discharged from medical observation Sunday, with 187,518 others still under medical observation.

The raging outbreak, first detected in Wuhan, Hubeis capital city, has prompted the government to lock down nealy 15 cities in the province to contain the spread of the virulent virus.

Chinas new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus pneumonia outside Hubei province, where the epicentre city of Wuhan is located, has dropped for five consecutive days, the National Health Commission (NHC) said Sunday.

A total of 509 new confirmed cases were reported on Saturday outside Hubei, about 42.8 percent lower than the number reported on Monday, said the NHC spokesperson, Mi Feng.

The numbers of new confirmed cases in these provinces during the past days were 890 (Monday), 731 (Tuesday), 707 (Wednesday), 696 (Thursday) and 558 (Friday).

Michael Ryan, head of the WHOs Health Emergencies Programme, said on Sunday the stable period of the outbreak may reflect the impact of the control measures.

State media reported Monday that China has allocated 71.85 billion yuan (about 10.3 billion U.S. dollars) of fiscal funds to support the control of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

As of 6 pm Saturday, 31.55 billion yuan of the funds were spent, finance minister Liu Kun at a national teleconference on Sunday evening.

Meanwhile, WHO chief, Tedros, said though the virus spread outside China appears to be slow but it could accelerate.
Description

GIS - 10 February, 2020: Development must not jeopardize our survival. As an island we are very vulnerable to the risks associated with natural disasters. It is therefore essential that we review the way we operate and even our way of living if we want sustainable development. Development must not jeopardize our survival. As an island we are very vulnerable to the risks associated with natural disasters. It is therefore essential that we review the way we operate and even our way of living if we want sustainable development.

This statement was made by the Minister of Tourism, Mr Georges Pierre Lesjongard, on 7 February 2020, at the opening of Anantara Iko Mauritius Resort & Villas at Le Chaland. Nestled on Le Chaland Beach along the south-eastern coast of Mauritius, the 164-room Anantara Iko Mauritius Resort & Villas has been developed in partnership with Currimjee Jeewanjee & Co.

The Tourism Minister indicated that his Ministry will come forward with a series of measures to better adapt our tourism sector to climate change. He also appealed to all the industry partners to join in the efforts for a green and sustainable industry. In a bid to transform Mauritius into a cultural and wellness tourist destination, he highlighted that the ministry of Tourism will enhance its product portfolio by laying more emphasis on the Mauritian culture and the wellness industry.

He congratulated the promoters of the resort for leaving a 100-metre buffer zone between the buildings and the coast when the current legislation requires only a 30-metre buffer zone. This measure, he said, will cause less pressure on the beach and the marine park and thus preserve the beauty of the site. He also acknowledged that the local community has been taken care of through the installation of facilities on the beach of La Cambuse, and also the construction of an access road.

Mr Lesjongard further underlined the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions so as to mitigate the impacts of climate change. He added that several measures are being adopted by other hotel groups in order to be more eco-responsible. The Anantara Group establishments, he pointed out, are certified "Green Growth " and this demonstrates the seriousness and willingness of the group in its vision to be respectful of the environment and sustainable development.

Speaking about the novel Coronavirus, Minister Lesjongard stated that because of China's trade and economic ties with the world, the effects of the coronavirus are manifold adding that global tourism is also suffering.

He underlined that Government has taken health measures and steps to limit the risks associated with the coronavirus in Mauritius. Since flights from China and Hong Kong have been suspended, there will be a drop in tourist arrivals which will be a big loss of revenue for the country, he added. However, he expressed confidence that the Mauritian mindset will allow the country to get back on track. Our people, our nation has always been able to meet the challenges because of our solidarity and our working culture, he said.

Mr Lesjongard also underlined the various measures taken to increase tourist arrivals, namely price promotion currently underway on the Reunion and South Africa. Markets; digital campaigns launched in emerging markets to stimulate the Easter holidays and Ramadan; and consolidation of European markets.
Tropical Cyclone Damien made landfall on Feb. 9 along the northern Pilbara coast of Western Australia. On Feb. 10, the GPM or Global Precipitation Measurement mission core satellite analyzed the rainfall generated by the remnants that triggered warnings.

As Damien was making landfall around 1:15 a.m. EST (0615 UTC) on Feb. 9, the MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image of the storm. The MODIS image showed the recently developed eye on the coastline. By 11 a.m. EST, Damien's center had moved inland into Western Australia. Tropical Cyclone Damien has weakened to a Category 2 system, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (ABM).

On Feb. 10 at 5:41 a.m. EST (1041 UTC), GPM passed over Western Australia and measured the rate of rainfall from Damien's remnants. GPM showed heaviest rainfall occurring south of the center and falling at a rate of at least 0.2 inches (5 mm) per hour.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology posted an update at 3 a.m. EST (4 p.m. AWST), Feb. 10, and noted Ex-Tropical Cyclone Damien was located over the northeast Gascoyne, about 62 miles (100 kilometers) north northeast of Meekatharra, moving towards the south.

ABM said, "Ex-Tropical Cyclone Damien is expected to carry with it an area of heavy rainfall as it moves south southeast through the southeastern Gascoyne and the adjacent Goldfields." That heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding.

ABM's update noted, "Heavy rainfall is forecast over the southeastern Gascoyne and adjacent Goldfields, this area will gradually move south overnight Monday (Feb. 10). Strong and squally winds are also possible. Locations which may be affected include Mount Magnet, Cue, Leinster and Sandstone."

Since 9 a.m. AWST Monday (8 p.m. EST on Sunday, Feb 9) the following rainfall amounts have been observed: Wiluna Airport 40 mm (1.57 inches) and at Meekatharra 29.8 (1.17 inches).

For updated warnings, visit: http://www.bom.gov.au/wa/warnings/

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If Sumaiya Rana feels suffocated in the country, then there are a lot of paths open for her to go to Pakistan

Aligarh MP and BJP leader Satish Gautam on Sunday said that Sumaiya Rana, daughter of poet Munawwar Rana, is free to go to Pakistan if she feels suffocated in India.

"If Sumaiya Rana feels suffocated in the country, then there are a lot of paths open for her to go to Pakistan," the BJP leader said.

"In India, one can speak openly with freedom," he said.

"The environment in the country right now is vitriolic and it is suffocating to live in such conditions," Sumaiya Rana had said at an anti-CAA protest in Aligarh.

Earlier, Sumaiya Rana, daughter of Munawwar Rana, on Sunday said that the cases filed against her by the state government are a badge of honour for her.

She was attending an anti-CAA event at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

"I have said that the Uttar Pradesh police is acting in an autocratic manner and that this will not work. As a result, cases were filed against me and my sister on the next day for alleged violation of section 144," said Rana.

"Yogi Adityanath must be thinking that I have been punished by him through this act. I would say that this is a badge of honour for us. The coming generations will remember us for this," she said.

"The environment in the country is vitriolic and it is suffocating to live in such conditions," she added.
Korea reported three more cases of new coronavirus infection on Sunday.

According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, they include a 73-year-old woman from Siheung south of Seoul who has never been to China, and her son (51) and Chinese daughter-in-law (37) who had visited China's Guangdong Province over the last three months.

It was the first infection reported in Korea from a person who had been to a part of China other than Hubei Province, the epicenter of the epidemic.

The latest confirmed infections spread jitters in Siheung, prompting 465 childcare facilities in the city to close down temporarily.


At Friday nights Democratic presidential debate in New Hampshire, Pete Buttigieg attacked Bernie Sanderswho is polling ahead of Buttigieg in the statefor dividing people with a politics that says, if you dont go all the way to the edge, it doesnt count. A politics that says, its my way or the highway. On Sunday, ABCs George Stephanopoulos asked Buttigieg if he believed that the Democrats can defeat Donald Trump if they have to defend socialism. Answered the former Indiana mayor: I think it will be lot harder. Elsewhere on Sunday, Buttigieg told a crowd that Sanders universal health-coverage plan was too expensive and that the party needs to do something about the federal deficit even though the subject is not fashionable in progressive circles.

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Buttigieg is running second in New Hampshire polls ahead of Tuesdays primary, but hes still in fifth place nationallybehind Sanders, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and Michael Bloombergand has almost no nonwhite support. Winning in New Hampshire is important for his near-term narrative momentum, and as Mother Jones Tim Murphy noted, his sudden concerns regarding fiscal responsibility, the risks of socialism, and the off-putting steadfastness of Sanders principles may have been developed strategically to attract the moderate Republican and independent voters who are allowed to participate in the states open Democratic primary if they choose.

As leftist journalist Walker Bragman noted, the gambit is the exact type of campaign strategy that Buttigieg denounced, with almost an eerie degree of foresight, during a February 2019 appearance at Scripps College. (Hed announced that hed formed a presidential exploratory committee a month earlier.) First (at 28:50 in the video above) he described writing an essay about Sanders while in college and praised him for being forthright about his positions:

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There was a moment where people just werent saying what they believed, especially on the leftthey were just so cowed by living in this conservative moment that even Democratic presidents or politicians were saying conservative things, which to me raised the question of why we bothered voting for [Democrats]. So what was so interesting to me about thenobscure congressman Sanders was that he just said what he thought. He attached himself to this label that was really suicidal in most contexts politically, socialist, especially 20 years ago. And just said what he was about. And I wished that more people on both sides of the aisle would just do that. And I really respected that and still do. You know, I think I have a somewhat different message in 2020 than he does and Im certainly a very different messenger. But to the extent that he just opened up the conversation and just moved the kind of outer fencepost of what we could talk about between right and left, I think thats a very healthy thing and its good that hes in this process again.

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(CNNs Andrew Kaczynski also noted on Sunday that Buttigieg praised Sanders in 2017 as a politician who wore his ideas on his sleeve but also seemed to be capable of working with Republicans. Said Buttigieg, then: Conviction politics can actually make you more convincing, not less, with independents and folks on the other side of the aisle because at least they know that youre motivated by values, even if your values are different.)

Later the Scripps events moderator asked Buttigieg about a poll which had found that 58 percent of Democrats were comfortable saying they supported socialism. Heres part of his response (it starts at 33:45):

I think [Im] from a generation that didnt grow up in this era where you had communism and socialism here [gesturing upward to one side], kind of the same thing in peoples imagination, and then you had democracy and capitalism here [gesturing upward to the other side], also the same thing. So if you were for socialism you were with communism, which meant you were against democracy. And I think that just doesnt compute for anybody my age or younger. Because were living in this moment when socialism could mean Venezuela but it could mean Denmark. It could mean Social Security. And whats really interesting in the moment were living in is the tensions that are arising between capitalism and democracy. And the real question is, when those tensions arise, do you defend capitalism over democracy, or do you defend democracy over capitalism? Those are the questions that I think need to be answered for our generation. And so in terms of whose approval ratings are where on the idea, look, I think weve gotta remember that the conduct of these campaigns changes the answer to some of those questions. The fact that Bernie Sanders got in, in 2016, changes the numbers on socialism among Democrats for 2020. And weve got to recognize that theres more to campaigns than just trying to get over the finish line. The conduct of the campaigns matters. And Republicans were very smart about this. They ran super-uphill campaigns in the 60s with ideas that seemed preposterously far-out when Goldwater campaigned on them, and then became mainstream by the time Reagan campaigned on them. Or at least the second or third time Reagan campaigned on them, and actually won. And that was how conservatives began to win not just an election but an era. And I think serious progressives should be thinking about how we set the conditions for our values to be in the ascendant over the next 20 or 30 years, not just how we get through 2020.

Up-and-Coming Phenom Buttigieg and Long-Shot Candidate Buttigieg said that Sanders was admirably principled in a way that independents and Republicans respected, and implied that denouncing socialism was destructive to the long-term interests not just of the Democratic Party but of democracy itself. Presidential Contender Buttigieg says that Sanders is obnoxiously inflexible and that socialism is electorally and financially dangerous. The conduct of a campaign really can change the answer to some questions, huh?
The Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government has constituted a committee, headed by President Roch Kabore of Burkina Faso, to study and make a full report on Nigerias land border closure with her neighbours.

The decision to set up the committee was agreed Sunday night in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at an extraordinary session of ECOWAS leaders convened on the margins of the 33rd AU Summit to discuss the issue and other pressing regional matters.

Nigeria closed its land borders last August mainly to check smuggling of agricultural and petroleum products.

The Nigerian government said the border closure has been positive for the economy as local production of food such as rice increased while local consumption of petrol has also reduced.

Nigeria has vowed to continue the border closure until its neighbours, mainly Benin, Niger and Chad, ensure they properly regulate their sides of the borders.

Critics says the border closure violates various ECOWAS and African Union protocols.

A PREMIUM TIMES investigation found that smuggling is still rife in many of the borders despite the closure.

Nigerias Foreign Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, told journalists after the three-hour closed door ECOWAS session that The President of Burkina Faso is charged with undertaking a full study of the situation, make a report and then we take it from there.

Asked when the report will be presented to ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, the Nigerian minister replied: As soon as possible, there are no timelines. But he is supposed to start very quickly, study the situation from all the affected countries and present his report.

Mr Onyeama also said the meeting attended by President Buhari and chaired by the ECOWAS Chairman, President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger Republic, also discussed West Africas new single currency, the Eco, and the situation in Guinea Bissau after the presidential election.

On the Eco currency, the foreign minister said: Nothing has changed in respect of Nigerias position.

He added that Nigerias position was that the convergence criteria have not been met by majority of the countries, therefore there has to be an extension of time on the take-off of the single currency.

Nigeria and other English-speaking West African countries had condemned their French-speaking counterparts for agreeing to adopt Eco as their new currency later this year with or without their English-speaking counterparts.

That move caused a split within ECOWAS over the Eco, despite years of discussions and agreements on the issue.

On Guinea Bissau, the minister said ECOWAS leaders recognised that there was an appeal of the presidential election result and they are waiting for the Supreme Court decision on the matter.
Brown diamonds are much more mysterious than white ones, said Vincenzo Castaldo, the creative director at the Italian jewelry house Pomellato.

I find them more understated, he said in an interview. White is very bright, very strong and very impressive. Brown is much more mysterious, in a certain way nocturnal and, in my opinion, also a little more sophisticated.

Brown is also a bit unconventional, but that happens to be a hallmark of Pomellato. And this year the Milan-based jewelry house, founded in 1967 by Pino Rabolini of a well-known goldsmithing family, is showcasing them in a reprise of its 2018 Nuvola collection.

Every single stone has its own color  one maybe a little darker, another lighter, Mr. Castaldo said. The brand began exploring such gradations of color in 2007 with the pave stone decoration of its Tango collection.
James Mark (center) sits at the bar in his restaurant Big King, along with cooks (from left) Oscar Lange, Emily Joslyn, Peter Kachmarsky, and JC Kuvaszko. Mark employs fewer than 50 people, so he isn't required to provide health benefits, but he does anyway because he thinks it helps with staff retention and is the right thing to do. Read more

PROVIDENCE, R.I.  Last winter, James Mark was a 2018 James Beard Award finalist. A few months later, both GQ and Bon Appetit ranked Big King, his newest Rhode Island restaurant, as one of the countrys best places to eat.

But in 2018, the chef and restaurateur spent almost double his personal income on health insurance for his employees: $54,000 to cover a dozen or so people, compared with the $35,000 he paid himself.

Mark spends most of his time at the self-identified small and strange Big King, his experimental Asian restaurant on Providences trendy West Side, where the handwritten menu changes daily. At downtowns Dean Hotel, he runs the small cocktail bar and the no-reservations North, which serves dishes like fried kabocha with pumpkin miso. He employs fewer than 50 people, so he isnt required to provide health benefits. But he thinks it helps with staff retention and is the right thing to do.

Thats why Mark, who studied at nearby Johnson and Wales University and trained in restaurants both here and in New York City, has joined a growing chorus of small-business owners to support Medicare for All or some type of government-sponsored universal health plan.

The beef is not just about the financial burden. I could make a lot more money if I didnt have to pay that, he said from Big King, a narrow eating space where bottles of golden Japanese whisky and clear sake glimmer against the dark wood paneling. Its also the confounding choices and hours of administration for which Mark feels at best underqualified. Though he tries to pick a good option, he reflected: I have no idea if its a good [health] plan or a bad plan, in comparison to everything else.

While industry groups have largely opposed the idea of a single-payer system, worrying it would mean tax hikes, some individual owners are open to the idea.

Mark  and others of his kind  conclude they would accept higher taxes if the government would take over the herculean task of insuring their workers.

Not everyone agrees. The National Restaurant Association opposed the Affordable Care Act and other Democratic reform efforts that were less sweeping than the single-payer approach but did require employers with 50 or more workers to offer insurance. Today, the trade group doesnt have a specific stance on Medicare for All, though a spokesperson pointed to concerns about the eventual tax burden its members could face.

The National Federation of Independent Business, a Washington-based advocacy group for small-business owners, offered similar worries about the tax hikes likely paired with this system. An internal survey of NFIB members showed 75% opposed single-payer, often citing payroll tax increases as their concern.

Aaron Frazier, the National Restaurant Association spokesperson, suggested that members could get a better health insurance deal by using the groups association health plan, which is collectively negotiated by the trade group.

Association health plans  a longtime favorite Republican concept  are a cornerstone of the current White Houses health policy. But they remain controversial and are often held to less stringent coverage standards than other forms of insurance since they may have caps on coverage spending and may not cover some of the Affordable Care Acts essential benefits, such as maternity care and prescription drugs.

A middle ground, proposed by many Democratic presidential candidates, might be a public option, a government-run health plan that individuals  or their employers  could pay to join if they didnt like their other options.

That approach could still go a long way in addressing some of the concerns restaurant owners outlined, said Linda Blumberg, a health policy fellow at the Urban Institute, a Washington think tank.

Those restaurant owners who insure their staff usually face a hefty expense and hours navigating the byzantine world of health insurance.

It was a lot of bureaucratic stuff that I didnt really understand. My focus is in the kitchen, said Richard Wall, who owns Both Ways Cafe and Catering in Seattle. He hired a broker but reviewed only a few plans before picking one to offer employees. The process was confusing.

On the 2020 campaign trail, presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren talk about how their plans would replace the current, private insurance system with a single, government-run program. Their proposed systems would eliminate most cost-sharing, so patients pay very little out-of-pocket, and would be financed through taxes.

Rather than focusing on these details, these restaurateurs emphasized the result: having the government guarantee coverage to everyone.

We would all, everyone involved, be positively affected, argued Daniel Myers, who co-owns Loyal Nine, a spacious cafe by day and restaurant by night in Cambridge, Mass.

Loyal Nine insures about a dozen employees, who must meet a $3,000 deductible before coverage kicks in. It also employs fewer than 50 people. But, Myers argued, subsidizing coverage makes sense. Employees are more likely to stay because of health insurance.

Its a big expense, though. Myers estimates 10% of his payroll goes to health care. His business is too small to bargain with the insurance company. So each year, the price goes up. The variable is by how much.

Youre pushed up against a wall, he said. We have no ability to negotiate our prices.

Kaiser Health News is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
Police said a man was killed in a shooting Sunday night in Colorado Springs.

Shortly after 6:30 p.m., Colorado Springs police responded to the 1100 block of Mazatlan Circle, near Fountain Boulevard and Chelton Road, for a reported shooting and found a man dead with an apparent gunshot wound.

The victim has not been identified. Further details were not immediately provided by police.

Anyone with information, or who is a witness to the shooting, is asked to call the Colorado Springs Police Department at (719) 444-7000.

#BREAKING: Heavy police presence at an apartment complex near Mallard & Chelton in #ColoradoSprings. Investigators have Mazatlan Circle blocked with crime tape. Were working to learn more information on scene. @KKTV11News pic.twitter.com/UVQH4vFkuP  Catherine Silver (@CatSilverTV) February 10, 2020

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It promises to be a humdinger and the two main rivals - the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and principal opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are claiming that a vast majority of the 62.59 per cent of Delhi voters have pressed the button of their symbol during the February 8 Assembly election.

While AAP is eyeing a big win in Delhi Assembly election 2020, the BJP is hoping to topple the Arvind Kejriwal-led government. On the other hand, the down-and-out Congress is seeking a resurgence after scoring a big zero in the 2015 Delhi election.

The counting of votes will begin at 8 am on Tuesday (February 11) at 21 counting centres across Delhi and the final result is expected by later afternoon. All eyes will be on these counting centres across Delhi where postal ballots and electronic voting machines (EVMs) will be opened and votes tallied to declare the winners of the 70 Assembly constituencies of the national capital.

"We have set up 21 centres for counting of votes, wherein there will be a dedicated hall for every constituency. The counting will start at 8 am on February 11," Delhi's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ranbir Singh had said on February 9. The 21 centres are situated in nine of the 11 districts of the city. The districts with counting centres are -- North, South West, South East, and Shahdara. There is one each in New Delhi, South, East, North East and North West districts.

The counting of votes and results on each of the 70 seats will be declared live on the websites of the Election Commission-- eciresults.nic.in, eci.gov.in and results.eci.gov.in.

The audience of Zee News can follow the coverage of the big event on the TV channel as well as zeenews.india.com.

The exit polls by different pollsters and the Zee News Maha Exit Poll predict a massive victory for the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP with the BJP a distant second and Congress not even in the reckoning. AAP is expected to retain power with 55 seats while BJP would bag 14 and Congress just 1.

The security deployed at the strong rooms is multi-layered including police and paramilitary forces.

The overall voting witnessed a massive dip as compared to the 2015 Delhi Assembly election when 67.1 per cent of the electorate had cast their votes. Ballimaran assembly constituency which comes under Chandni Chowk recorded the highest voter turnout of 71.6 per cent, said Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Ranbir Singh. The lowest voter turnout was recorded at Delhi Cantonment which stood at 45.4 per cent.

The AAP had registered a landslide victory in 2015 elections getting 67 of 70 seats. The BJP had won three seats while Congress failed to open its account. Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari refused to believe the exit poll predictions, and Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit also scoffed at them. However, AAP leaders were upbeat about the results.
Additional reporting by Juno McEnroe

Divisions have emerged within Fianna Fail over whether it should enter talks with Sinn Fein about forming a government.

On a day when his party lost 14 sitting TDs, Micheal Martin's negotiating position weakened considerably as the party will return with less than forty seats.

As the seats fell, the party was openly divided over the question of dealing with Sinn Fein, with leading figures like Michael McGrath, Jim O'Callaghan and Jack Chambers staunchly against the suggestion.

Others including deputy leader Dara Calleary, Sean Haughey and Robert Troy made it clear the party should respect the votes cast and talk to all parties about forming a Government.

Mr Troy went as far as to call for a special meeting of the parliamentary party to be convened to discuss the Sinn Fein issue.

Sources close to Mr Martin admitted that if a call came from Mary Lou McDonald, that Fianna Fail would meet and listen to Sinn Fein and give their response.

But the source added:

There is a big difference between discussions and sitting down negotiating.

A parliamentary party meeting is also expected to take place this week.

Fianna Fail officials also have suggested that, if Sinn Fein are serious about governing, they should consider being part of a confidence and supply deal.

But it was a bruising day for the party with some heavy-hitters failing to make it back to the 33rd Dail.

As of tonight, Declan Breathnach, Lisa Chambers, Timmy Dooley, John Brassil, Margaret Murphy O'Mahony, John Curran, Bobby Aylward, Kevin O'Keeffe, Fiona O'Loughlin, Shane Cassells, Eugene Murphy, Malcolm Byrne, Pat Casey and Pat the Cope Gallagher had all lost their seats.

Others, including Stephen Donnelly and Eamon Scanlon were fighting to keep their seats.

The losses and failures to pick up new seats could leave Fianna Fail with just 37 TDs, the same as Sinn Fein, a drop of seven from 2016.

There is anger within Fianna Fail about the losses, especially after the party spent the last nine years in operation.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Fianna Fail's finance spokesman Michael McGrath said:

Some of the losses are devastating. Exceptional colleagues have undeservedly lost seats. I do not see a position of Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail being able to reconcile their divergent economic policies. Their policies would damage job creation and the economy and it should not be the road we go down.

Others were equally vocal about not working with Sinn Fein.

Justice spokesman Jim O'Callaghan said We gave an assurance prior to the election to the electorate that we wouldn't go into coalition with Sinn Fein. And I don't think it is tenable now for us to change our policy in respect of that.

Defence spokesman Jack Chambers said: We set out our position before the election and should stick with it.

In terms of Fine Gael, Leo Varadkar's leadership was called into question by former TDs and defeated candidates. With the party suffering its worst result since 1948, former Waterford TD Paudie Coffey was the first to call for a change of leader.

He told WLRfm: "I think Leo should reflect on his position, I think he's done his best.

"He didn't achieve what he set out to do, unfortunately - I think he should step aside as leader of Fine Gael. and allow a new re-building of the party from the grassroots up again.

The Green Party will come back with 11 seats, up from the three they held when the last Dail was dissolved, a remarkable increase.

The Social Democrats also had a good day, trebling the number of TDs from two to six.
Now Open

10 February 2020

Avani Hotels & Resorts announces the opening of the brand new 289-room Avani Central Busan Hotel (www.avanihotels.com/central-busan), in the Republic of Korea. Renowned for its status as the country's main commercial port, home to the Korea Exchange, and a renowned leisure destination, Busan was selected as the perfect host for Avani. The stylish and relaxed Avani Central Busan Hotel offers convenient access to business travellers and holiday makers to enjoy the city's hotspots from the heart of Busan's financial centre

Guests to Avani Central Busan Hotel can choose from seven room types, ranging from studio-style accommodations to one-bedroom suites with separate living areas. Each guest room and suites boasts amazing city or mountain views, and in some cases both, no matter the room category, each is designed for optimal comfort and convenience, from flat-screen TVs and free Wi-Fi to rainfall showers and tea and coffee making stations - delivering every amenity for the perfect stay.

Business travellers and holidaymakers alike will find all they need at Avani Central Busan Hotel. The Lobby Lounge welcomes visitors with refreshing beverages and light snacks, ideal for a casual business meeting at the open workspace or a respite between exploring the city on one of the comfy sofas. The CUBE all-day dining offers delicious local Korean flavours and international favourites, featuring Avani's honest approach to food by sourcing ingredients locally. The AvaniFit gym is open 24/7 so a workout can fit into any schedule, while the fully equipped meeting room can be arranged to host up to 150 guests for business or leisure events.

Avani Central Busan Hotel is conveniently located within the Munhyeon Finance Complex, at the centre of Busan's commercial district, where business travellers can head directly to the Busan International Financial Centre, Bank of Korea's Busan headquarters, and the regional headquarters for several government financial bodies as well as one of the largest musical theatre in Korea - Dream Theatre. The complex also has a direct connection to the Busan subway system and is a 15-minute drive to Korea's bullet train KTX stop and international cruise terminal.

For leisure guests, the Avani Central Busan Hotel is only a 30-minute drive to the most popular beach in Korea, Haeundae Beach, while shopping at Seomyon is just a 10-minute walk away. To savour local culture, Jagalchi Fish Market and Gamcheon Village are a short drive, as are the spectacular views from Hwangnyeongsan Mountain. No matter the experience, Avani Central Busan Hotel can assist in curating experiences to enhance any traveller's journey through the seaside town.
The chairman of the Conservative Political Action Conference raised eyebrows over the weekend when he remarked that he would fear for Senator Mitt Romneys physical safety if he attended the conference.

This year, I would actually be afraid for his physical safety, people are so mad at him, CPAC chairman Matt Schlapp told Greta Van Susteren on Fox Newss Full Court Press.

Romney, a Utah Republican, angered members of his party earlier this month when he became the sole Republican to vote to convict President Trump in his impeachment trial.

We wont credential him as a conservative, Schlapp said Sunday of Romneys potential presence at CPAC. I suppose if he wants to come as a non-conservative and debate an issue with us, maybe in the future we would have him come.

For some critics, Schlapps remarks edged too close to a threat.

I have not met a more honorable person than Mitt Romney, said Senator Joe Manchin, one of the Senates most moderate Democrats. Its hard to believe that we have stooped this low.

Schlapp denied his comments contained any threatening intention, saying he has no beef with Romneys family and hopes they have happy healthy lives away from politics.

I wish Gov Romney no harm I just want him to find a new hobby away from destroying GOP momentum, the conference head wrote in a tweet.

The newfound distaste of many conservatives and Republicans for Romney is a far cry from just eight years ago when the party elected him as its standard-bearer to take on President Barack Obama in the presidential election.

Romney said his vote in favor of removing Trump from office was based on his integrity and his faith.

Im aware that there are people in my party and in my own state who will strenuously disapprove of my decision and in some quarters I will be vehemently denounced, Romney said during his Senate floor speech explaining his vote. Does anyone seriously believe that I would consent to these consequences other than from an inescapable conviction that my oath before God demanded of me?

Story continues

Schlapp, however, slammed Romney as a disloyal political opportunist.

He said he was going to be an extreme conservative, that he was the most conservative guy in the world, and when he came to CPAC, after 2012, he doesnt want to have anything to do with us, Schlapp said.

More from National Review
Earlier leaks of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip suggest that the successor to the Galaxy Fold will sport a 6.7-inch display. (Photo: Engadget)

Samsung Unpacked event is just a few days away and ahead of the big day, images of the Galaxy Z Flip have leaked, showing the device in its entirety.

The images, received by Engadget, show off a tall foldable device with a 22:9 aspect ratio in its unfolded form. When folded, the dual-lens camera is visible next to the small external display that would show time and other notifications.

Earlier leaks of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip suggest that the successor to the Galaxy Fold will sport a 6.7-inch display, Snapdragon 855+ SoC, 8GB of RAM, and up to 256GB internal storage. It is expected to be priced around USD 1,400.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
A display featuring missiles and a portrait of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is seen at Baharestan Square in Tehran, Iran on September 27, 2017. (Nazanin Tabatabaee Yazdi/TIMA via Reuters)

Iran Unveils New Ballistic Missile With 300-Mile Range

Iran unveiled a new short-range ballistic missile on Feb. 9, adding to its arsenal of missilesthe greatest in the Middle Eastwhich it relies on for military muscle.

The Raad-500 missile was announced by Irans Revolutionary Guards media, as officials said that a satellite named Victory had failed to reach orbit.

Irans latest home-grown Raad-500 missile has almost double the range310 milesof a similar missile, the Fatah-110, according to the military.

The cousin of the Fatah-110, the Fatah-330, also with a 310-mile range, is one of the two missile-types believed to be used in the January attack on U.S. troops at the Al-Assad base in Iraq. That missile attack was retaliation for the killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani on Jan. 3 by the U.S. military.

Irans military ambitions are currently clipped by financial constraints and sanctions. Unable to buy the latest military tech from around the world, it primarily relies on proxies, hybrid warfare, naval power, and missile defense, according to an unclassified Pentagon report published in November 2019. The Pentagon keeps a weather eye on Irans own missile and rocket development programs, wary of the possibility that the technology could be adapted to carry nuclear warheads.

Iran denies that it has ambitions to develop nuclear weapons.

Its space program is of particular concern since the technology needed to hoist a satellite into space could potentially be converted for use in long-range ballistic missiles.

On Feb. 9, the domestically made Zafar satellite (Farsi for Victory) fell short of reaching orbit. It was the third consecutive launch failure since the start of 2019. No Iranian satellite has successfully reached orbit in the past four years.

This Feb. 4, 2020, satellite image shows activity at the Imam Khomeini Space Center in Irans Semnan province. An Iranian rocket failed to put a satellite into orbit on Feb. 9, 2020. (Maxar Technologies via AP)

Officials told state media that the satellite was successfully launched and went 90 percent of the way, reaching an altitude of 335 miles before losing speed in its final moments.

Iran already has the largest fleet of conventional missiles in the Middle East, which is expected to continuing growing in number and accuracy, according to the Pentagon.

The new missile has engines made of composite materials lighter than on earlier steel models, extending the range, according to Iran. It also contains that same terminal precision capability demonstrated during the attack on the U.S. air base in January, according to Defense Update.

That attack followed the Jan. 3 drone strike on Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Quds Force, which the United States has designated as a terrorist organization.

Iran responded to Soleimanis death by announcing it would no longer abide by the terms of the international deal aimed to curb its nuclear ambitions, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Iran has breached the terms of the deal a number of times over the years.

President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the pact in 2018.

Irans military spending rose after the implementation of the Iran Nuclear Deal in 2014 but fell last year for the first time after the Trump administration pulled out and imposed oil sanctions.

Measured with the exchange rate, Irans military spending was around $13 billion in 2019, as quoted by the DIA report. However, one analyst previously told The Epoch Times that the figure is potentially misleading.

Using calculations that account for local spending power and lower local wages, Richard Connolly says Irans spending is closer to nearly $50 billiona figure close to the military spending of countries such as the UK and France.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Getty

CONCORD, New HampshireStanding in the back of the gymnasium at Concord's Rundlett Middle School, Heather Frye waited patiently to hear Elizabeth Warren speak. A native of nearby Bow, she was still surveying her options in the Democratic field, though she felt inclined to back the Massachusetts Democrat, whose combination of policy portfolio and personal biography reflected her own interests and life story.

Frye, who is in her early fifties, grew up in a single-parent home after her parents divorced. Her mom was thrust back into the workforce by necessity, and they struggled to buy food and pay for heat. Later in life, Frye herself got a taste of how difficult it can be for a woman in the workplace and what good can come when principled stands are made. When she applied for a role in a department store and was offered a job that paid comparatively less than her male colleagues, she decided to say no.

Suddenly, she recalled, they came up with the money. Funny how that happens.

For someone with that life experience, Warrens story has resonance. You do have to persist, she explained, referencing the now-famous tagline that the senator has adopted for her campaign. You do have to show grit. You do have to show perseverance.

And yet Frye has an acute fear about making Warren the Democratic Partys presidential nominee: Would her gender, though personally inspiring, be politically problematic?

I struggle with that, said Frye, donning a fleece vest, her cheeks still tinged red from the cold outside. I wonder if the country is ready for a woman president.

Warren is wondering too.

As the senator seeks to pull off a surprise New Hampshire win, her campaign is being hampered, ever so slightly, by a quintessentially Democratic paranoia: a stubbornly persistent belief that Hillary Clintons loss in 2016 is proof that misogyny remains a latent but potent force in American politics and that, in an election all about beating Donald Trump, resurfacing that might not be worth the risk.

Story continues

This is a backwards country in that regard. I approach life assuming I have equal rights. But I know its not always true. I know its not because of history. This is, in many ways, even stickier than gay rights because there are women themselves who are worried about women, said Anne Dowling of Canterbury, New Hampshire. Im sick to my stomach over it. Of course, they should be comfortable with a woman. But Im deeply worried about it.

Faced with these fears, Warren has tried to thread a needle, emphasizing the historic nature of her quest for the presidency but often in subtle ways. On Sunday, her introductory speakers talked about the gender elements of the campaign. Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) noted that Warren featured the first all women co-chairs of a presidential campaign in the history of this country. And Rep. Deb Haaland (D-NM) implicitly acknowledged the skepticism facing Warren when she instructed the crowd that, If anybody tells you a woman cant win, tell them to take a look at our class in Congress right now.

Elizabeth Warren Leans Into First Female President

On Saturday, Warren commemorated the three-year anniversary of the time Mitch McConnell admonished her for persisting on the Senate floor by reminding voters of institutional obstacles she often faces.

And when Warren herself took the stage on Sunday, it was once more to Dolly Partons 9-to-5an homage to working women that served as the main song on the feminist revenge fantasy film of the same name. But gender was not front and center in her speech, save for one or two references, including the time she was pushed out of the job because she was visibly pregnant. Instead, she spoke about her ability to unite the party and beat Trump.

Among Warren supportersand some on the campaign as wellthere is a belief that she gets none of the benefits for trying to break the last remaining glass ceiling in politics while getting all of the downsides that come with being a woman in politics. The sources of the gripes are numerous, including the fact that Warren was pressured into introducing a detailed plan for how shed finance her Medicare for All proposal while Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has not introduced any such equivalent proposal. Questions about her electability have dogged her more than former Mayor Pete Buttigieg, despite him hailing from a much smaller political perch and facing his own societal barriers. When she and Sanders had a dispute over whether he told her he believed a woman could not win the presidency only one personWarrenwas dubbed a traitorous snake online. And during Friday nights debate, she got comparatively little speaking time next to her male counterparts, even though she had a strong showing in Iowa days before.

Look at the coverage after Iowa. She finished third and the media just dismissed it, said Mary, a New Hampshire native who declined to reveal her last name. Look at Bernie! Can you imagine a woman of his age who had a heart attack? Theyd be told to go home.

Warren, for her part, never complains about this. Doing so would be against her political brand, which is heavy these days on her pitch that she is a unity candidate in a splintered Democratic field. But more to the point, to complain would be to invite its own set of gendered criticisms, and whats the point of enduring that?

For the women in her crowd, it felt all too familiar.

We have gone through it in our professional lives as attorneys, said Lauren Noether, who hails from the Concord area. You have to persist. You have to be dogged. You have to work in the background while your male colleagues get the attention. I saw it happen. I felt it happen too.

But if Warren isnt leaning on her gender as she makes her pitch to voters, those voters seem fine considering other aspects of her biography. Off to the side of her event, five students from New York University law school stood in a circle holding campaign signs. They had come to canvass for her in New Hampshire and when asked why, they went through a laundry list of reasons: her child care policy, her brain power, the fact that former HUD Secretary Julian Castro had endorsed her. All of them women, not one listed gender as a reason for their support.

Sam Stein/The Daily Beast

As Warren spoke, a group of young mothers stood along the folded bleachers, their childrenall daughtersperched on their shoulders or crawling on the floor around their legs. The campaign has become so accommodating of kids that theyve begun distributing crayons and color-in pages of Warrens dog Bailey to serve as youthful distractions (though the piercing cry of a bored child often punctured the candidates stump speech). It seemed only logical that the young mothers were bringing their young daughters there to be part of a moment of symbolic female empowerment. And to a certain degree, they had. Warren was a draw, not because of her gender, however, but because, they believed, she could win.

Sam Stein/The Daily Beast

I want the best candidate whether it is a man or woman, said Karen Craver, of Concord. And by best candidate, I mean the best to beat Trump.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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New Delhi, Feb 10 : Days after few students of Gargi College alleged that some "drunken men" -- said to be pro-CAA demonstrators -- misbehaved with them inside the campus, the students staged a protest inside the college campus on Monday.

The students of the women's College, affiliated to Delhi University and situated in the South Delhi, had alleged that on February 6 some drunken men reportedly entered college and manhandled the students.

It happened on Day 3 of the annual festival 'Reverie'. The students gathered inside the college against the management, however, soon after the protest started and the number of students reached between 1,500-2,000, a meeting was called with the students.

The students told IANS that they held a meeting with the management.

"We have put our demands before the management. The principal and proctor have asked for an hour. We are now waiting for their response," a student told IANS, adding they are continuing the protest.

The college principal and the proctor remained unavailable for any comments.

Few teachers have also came out in support of the protesting students. Speaking about the incident on February 6, a second-year student said, "Taking advantage of the crowd, the men followed girls everywhere and groped them. They made girls uncomfortable." The girls said they were manhandled, molested and sexually assaulted. Meanwhile, the National Commission for women has taken cognizance in the matter and a team has also visited the campus to record statement of the students.

Swati Maliwal, the Delhi Commission for Women chief, will also visit the college today.

The matter has reached the Parliament as well with Aam Aadmi Party's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh giving a zero hour notice in the Upper House over the incident.

The Gargi College was established in 1967 and has currently been awarded Grade-'A' by NAAC. It has about 4,000 students on its rolls.
As her eldest grandson Peter Phillips separates from his wife-of-12-years Autumn Phillips the Queen has reportedly been left 'upset' by the second family trouble of the year.

In the second month of 2020 the Queen has had yet another bombshell dropped by one of her eight grandchildren.

Last month the monarch was forced to negotiate with Prince Harry after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced that they would be stepping down from their duties as senior royals and moving to North America.

Queen Elizabeth II with the Duke of York arriving at St Mary the Virgin, Hillington, Norfolk to attend a Sunday church service after news hit last month that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would be stepping down from royal duties

And now the Queen is reportedly unsettled by the news that Peter Philips' Canadian wife Autumn Phillips - said to be a favourite granddaughter-in-law of hers - may also be leaving the country for a fresh start away from the Royal Family.

As the couple's daughters, the Queen's great-granddaughters, Savannah, nine, and Isla, seven, are believed to have dual Canadian citizenship it is not known whether they will follow their mother should she chose to go.

Autumn is believed to have led the decision to divorce with her husband Peter Philips, 42.

A friend of Peter Philips told The Sun: 'She is a favourite of the Queen and I'm sure Her Majesty will be very upset by this as well.

Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles and Autumn Phillips attend the 2019 Braemar Highland Games on September 07, 2019 in Braemar, Scotland

Autumn Philips was previously seen laughing away with the Queen and Prince Charles at the Braemar Highland Games in Scotland in September

'It's the last thing she needs after all her recent troubles and you get the feeling that the royal family is falling apart a little bit.'

The Queen was last seen travelling to church with Autumn in September of last year.

She was previously seen laughing away with the Queen and Prince Charles at the Braemar Highland Games in Scotland earlier that month.

Last month the monarch was forced to negotiate with Prince Harry after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced that they would be stepping down from their duties as senior royals and moving to North America

Last year, while not officially an annus horribilis, the Queen faced many challenges including her beloved Prince Philip suffering a car crash in Norfolk at the age of 97.

The Sussexes drew criticism for their perceived hypocrisy over the environment while Prince Andrew 'retired from his duties' after an ill-judged BBC interview about that sordid Epstein affair.

But just two months in to the new decade it seems 2020 could be squaring up to be the start of another annus horribilis.

Hoping to put 2019 behind her the queen addressed the 'bumpy' 12 months in which Prince Andrew was forced to step down from public duties, stating that 'small steps' can overcome difficulties and division.

Andrew stepped back from public life following November's 'car crash' BBC interview in which he attempted to explain his friendship with Epstein. He repeatedly denied claims that he had sex with one of the disgraced financier's victims, Virginia Roberts, when she was just 17. Miss Roberts then accused him of lying

BBC's Emily Maitlis (pictured during the Newsnight interview) praised the Duke for his 'candour' in answering questions in an age when public figures attempt to avoid scrutiny

The year saw Prince Philip face a police probe over a car crash, Prince Harry acknowledge tensions in his relationship with his elder brother William, and Harry's wife Meghan admit she was struggling with her new life as a royal.

But the biggest 'bump' faced by the Royal Family was the fallout from the Duke of York's disastrous Newsnight interview about his relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

He repeatedly denied claims that he had sex with one of the disgraced financier's victims, Virginia Roberts, when she was just 17. Miss Roberts then accused him of lying.

During her Christmas Day address, the Queen acknowledged the 'bumpy' year endured by both the Royal Family and the nation (Pictured: making 2019's broadcast to the nation from Windsor Castle in Berkshire)

The Queen's second son also faced calls to speak to the FBI about his relationship with Epstein, who was found dead in his prison cell in August awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.

Andrew was effectively sacked by his mother after his older brother Charles warned her that the scandal threatened to engulf the monarchy.

Just days into the new year another 'bump' in the road hit for the Royals leaving the royal household 'disappointed' and 'hurt' at Meghan and Harry's decision to announce their departure - amid claims that the couple did not tell the Queen.

Of the queen's eight grandchildren four are married - Prince Harry, Prince William, Princess Eugenie, Zara Philips; one is now separated - Peter Philips; one is engaged to be married - Princess Beatrice; and two are children - James Viscount Severn and Lady Louise Windsor.

Prince Philip faced a police investigation over a car crash which injured two women (pictured: the Duke of Edinburgh talking to the Queen while at the wheel during the Royal Windsor Horse Show in November 2018)
(Bloomberg) -- Foxconn Technology Group resumed some production Monday at its main iPhone-making site in Zhengzhou, according to local officials, though it was unclear how many workers returned, highlighting the ongoing uncertainties the global tech supply chain faces amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Henan Governor Yin Hong inspected the site on Monday to assess the companys virus-prevention measures as workers went back to work after an extended holiday, according to the Chinese Communist Party city committee in Zhengzhou.

Yet just the day before, Foxconn told some workers that it was postponing the resumption of production and wouldnt be able to decide on a back-to-work date for the site until further notice, according to a version of an internal message reviewed by Bloomberg News. The site is one of many run by the iDPBG business unit, which makes gadgets for Apple Inc. at a factory in Zhengzhou in central China and two other plants in Shenzhen. Its not clear how many employees received the message and whether other workers were summoned back.

Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., declined to comment on the message and said on Monday its factories will comply with government requirements and resume output in an orderly manner by staggering the return of workers.

The rapid change in developments highlights the fluidity in responses by local governments and companies as they seek to contain the coronavirus while minimizing economic impact. Foxconn has told employees at its southern Shenzhen headquarters not to return to work after the extended Lunar New Year break ended Feb. 10, according to a memo obtained by Bloomberg.

Not all of its employees returned to their hometowns for the holiday break so there are still some available workers on production sites, according to people familiar with the plant operations, though its unclear how many.

The unit could also struggle to hire back workers after the holiday period. A recruitment app for iDPBG shows that two of its plants in Shenzhen had received only 800 applications from former workers as of Monday morning. The facilities are seeking as many as 3,000 ex-workers.

Story continues

Apple and Foxconn were among the first corporations to try and quantify the epidemics impact. Hon Hai slashed its 2020 outlook last week, anticipating disruptions to Apples carefully calibrated production chain as well as weaker consumer demand and overall economic growth. As Chinas largest private employer and a key partner to many of the worlds most recognizable consumer brands, Foxconn has become a high-profile symbol of how the outbreak is disrupting Chinese manufacturing and the worlds supply of electronics.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Gao Yuan in Beijing at ygao199@bloomberg.net;Debby Wu in Taipei at dwu278@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net, Edwin Chan, Colum Murphy

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.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 01:59:00|Editor: yan

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HOUSTON, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- At least three people have been shot Monday morning inside a Walmart in the U.S. state of Arkansas, local media quoted police as reporting.

According to media reports, two police officers were injured in the shooting in Forrest City, about 150 km northeast of Little Rock, the capital city of Arkansas.

Forrest City Police Department described it as an active shooter situation.
T he Government has continued to defend plans to deport 50 people to Jamaica in the face of mounting legal challenges and widespread calls for the jet to be grounded.

Ministers insisted the flight, which is understood to be leaving the UK at 6.30am on Tuesday, would go ahead despite concerns people who came to the country as young children will be on board.

The decision follows news of a leaked report commissioned by ministers in the wake of the Windrush scandal which warned the Government that the policy should be reconsidered in all but the "most severe cases".

Lawyers have launched urgent legal proceedings in light of the report's recommendations after campaigners claimed those on board may have been denied access to proper legal advice.

Some of those due to be on the flight had bids to block their deportations refused by the High Court on paper, without a hearing taking place, by the time the court closed for business on Monday.

But a spokeswoman for the judiciary confirmed other cases were still being considered, while lawyers representing those whose cases were rejected said they would press for an urgent reconsideration at an out-of-hours telephone hearing on Monday evening.

Demonstrators have blocked the road outside Parliament / PA

Meanwhile, demonstrators protesting against the deportation have blocked the road outside Parliament.

The protesters - who had braved heavy rain - carried placards reading "Solidarity with the Windrush Generation" and chanted "no charter flight, respect human rights".

Antonia Bright, one of the protest's organisers, said the Home Office had conducted a "round-up" of Jamaican detainees across all detention centres in order to fill the charter flight. She said many had already been locked in their rooms ahead of Tuesday's planned departure.

The Government faced sustained questioning and some heavy criticism over the decision in the House of Commons on Monday afternoon.

Labour MPs shouted "shame" as Home Secretary Priti Patel left the chamber to allow junior minister Kevin Foster to respond to an urgent question on the matter for the Government.

He insisted no British nationals were on the flight and said deportation rules were applied on "the criminality, not the nationality of the offender" adding: "The foreign nationals on that flight have been sentenced to a total of 300 years in prison.

Priti Patel has been criticised over the plans / Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images

"The offences are, as we said, relate to everything from sex offending, serious drug trafficking offences, violent offences, firearms offences."

Mr Foster was repeatedly asked by MPs for more specific information on the nature of offences committed by those on the flight but refused to provide more detail.

The Home Office said murderers and rapists were among those on board but would not confirm how many, saying it could not provide such information because the flight was a live operation.

Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott told the Commons: "We need to be absolutely certain when we are deporting people in this way that we are clear about their immigration status."

Windrush campaigner and Labour MP David Lammy called for the flight halted amid concerns some of those on board may have arrived in the UK as children.

He added: "People watching see the way that this Government holds with such disrespect the contribution of West Indian, Caribbean and black people in this country. When, when will black lives matter again?"

While SNP immigration spokesman Stuart McDonald suggested the Government's action could leave 41 British children without a father in the country.

Duncan Lewis Solicitors filed papers calling for a judicial review earlier in the day on behalf of at least 15 people due to be on board the flight.

Meanwhile lawyers on behalf of charity Detention Action are seeking an urgent court injunction to halt the plans, claiming some on board have been denied access to legal advice.

More than 150 MPs have signed a letter calling on the Prime Minister to step in and stop the flight.

Toufique Hossain, director of public law at Duncan Lewis which is leading the legal challenge, said many of the clients had come to the UK as young children aged between four and 13.

A number of the people due on the flight are thought to have been convicted of one-time drug offences when they were young and have lived in the UK "for most of their lives".

The legal challenge calls for the flight to be halted over concerns that detainees are struggling to access legal advice and over the claims made over the criminality of those due to be on board.

The action has been launched in light of the recommendations in the leaked Windrush Lessons Learned review that deportations of people who have been here since childhood should be stopped and reconsidered.

A draft of a report commissioned by the Government in the wake of the Windrush scandal recommended that ministers rethink the flights, particularly for those who came to the UK as children.

Written in June 2019, the document seen by PA said: "Government should review its policy and approach to FNOs (foreign national offenders), if necessary through primary legislation.

"It should consider ending all deportations of FNOs where they arrived in the UK as children (say before age of 13). Alternatively - deportation should only be considered in the most severe cases."
Amy Klobuchar had voters lined up out the door and banging in the rafters on Monday after she surged to third place in two New Hampshire polls following her strong debate performance.

'I need your help,' Klobuchar told a rally in Exeter, New Hampshire.

'Right now we are on the cusp of something really great,' she said, 'but I can't call everyone you know. So I'm asking you to do that today.'

She made her appeal as a new dynamic appeared in New Hampshire in the 24 hours ahead of its crucial primary: Klobuchar burst ahead of Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren in two polls.

Amy Klobuchar had voters lined up out the door after she surged to third place in two New Hampshire polls

Klobuchar answers questions from the press after a New Hampshire campaign stop

The Minnesota senator moved up in a Suffolk University/Boston Globe/WBZ and an Emerson poll - both of which also showed Bernie Sanders solidifying his lead over Pete Buttigieg.

The surprise twist left Biden and Warren defending their candidacies and shook up the Democratic presidential primary as it headed into its final hours.

'The path is South Carolina and going into Nevada and going into Super Tuesday, and going into states that I'm going to do very well in,' Biden told NBC News about his next steps.

Warren visited the bus of reporters traveling with her to tell them: 'Ive been counted down and out for much of my life. But Mitch McConnell had it right. Nevertheless, she persisted.'

The polls also showed a third of New Hampshire voters remain undecided, making the last 24 hours in the state crucial for the candidates ahead of Tuesday's primary.

Almost half New Hampshire voters - 47 per cent - are independents and tend to pick their candidates late in the process.

Klobuchar has run a bare boots campaign reflective of her previous lower still status. Monday's rally had no walk-on song and no celebrity introduction - just a line of people out the door.

The Minnesota senator's event saw voters standing outside the door to listen after the fire marshal shut down the town hall center due to capacity.

And she promised the crowd in the overflow room she'd stop by, leading them to stamp on the floor - a sound that reflected through the town hall center.

'Hello to the people in the overflow room,' she said as the crowd banged with their feet. 'I love that. They're finding a way to express themselves. We hear your voice. Just dont break the overflow room.'

Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren defended their candidacies and path forward on Monday

Amy Klobuchar is coming off a strong performance in Friday's debate

Klobuchar's speech was full of zingers, comebacks - when one person shouted out, asking her what she would do if President Donald Trump wouldn't debate her, she responded she'd call him 'chicken' - folksy stories, policy positions and cheery anecdotes.

The crowd responded with laughter and cheers.

'If this is what the election is going to be like, it's going to be really good,' she responded.

She did a packed day of five campaign events to try and capitalize on her new momentum.

Klobuchar said she raised $3 million dollars over the weekend after her strong performance in the Democratic debate, where she attacked then-front runner Pete Buttigieg for his lack of experience.

At Friday's debate, Buttigieg, who declared himself the victor in Iowa in the wake of its caucus debacle, took the hits that come with front runner status.

Biden and Klobuchar questioned whether he had the capacity to successfully face off with Trump, questioning whether he has the experience to lead the nation.

Buttigieg, who served two terms as mayor of South Bend, a city with a population of 100,000, said the Washington insider experience of some of his rivals was no longer what was needed, and it was time to 'turn the page' on the old Washington politics.

'I freely admit that if you're looking for the person with the most years of Washington establishment experience under their belt, you've got your candidate, and of course it's not me,' he said.

Klobuchar hit back claiming that 'it is easy to go after Washington, because that's a popular thing to do. It is much harder ... to lead and much harder to take those difficult positions'.

Then she dug into the fresh-faced Buttigieg: 'Because I think this going after every single thing that people do because it's popular to say and makes you look like a cool newcomer, I just  I don't think that's what people want right now. We have a newcomer in the White House, and look where it got us. I think having some experience is a good thing.'
(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set for a weaker open on Monday, taking their cue from a downbeat session in Asia amid ongoing concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.

The FTSE 100 was called to open 13 points lower at 7,453.



Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said: "Asian equity markets kicked off the week on a negative note as the spreading coronavirus was the major concern as the virus took 900 lives and infected more than 40,000 people, with cases outside China rising. There are also doubts that the numbers in China may be higher than reported.



"China is back from its extended CNY holidays this week, but the activity will likely remain subdued for a couple of more weeks, if not months until the dust settles."



Comments from World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus were unlikely to help the mood, after he tweeted over the weekend that confirmed case of the virus being transmitted by people who never travelled to China could be "the tip of the iceberg".



In UK corporate news, NMC Health confirmed it had received "highly preliminary" approaches from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and GK Investment Holding Group regarding possible offers for the company.



The Middle East hospital operator also said its founder and chairman BR Shetty is conducting a legal review into potential historical inaccuracies relating to his own stake in the firm and those of three other shareholders.



Workspace announced the appointment of David Benson as its new chief financial officer with effect from 1 April.



Benson is currently corporate finance director of Premier Inn owner Whitbread.








The Supreme Court on Monday came down heavily on several states for failing to file their affidavits on a PIL seeking setting up of community kitchens across the country.

A bench headed by Justice N V Ramana said states filing the affidavit in the next 24 hours will have to pay Rs one-lakh fine, whereas those who fail to submit it by then will have to pay Rs 5-lakh fine.

Five states -- Punjab, Nagaland, Karnataka, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand -- and two Union Territories -- Andaman and Nicobar, and Jammu and Kashmir -- have filed their response on the PIL.

The court had on October 18 favoured setting up of community kitchens, saying the country needs this kind of system to tackle the problem of hunger.

It had issued notices to the Centre and all states seeking their responses on a PIL seeking directions to all the states and union territories (UTs) to formulate a scheme for community kitchens to combat hunger and malnutrition.

The plea had claimed that many children, under the age of five, die every day due to hunger and malnutrition and this condition was violative of various fundamental rights, including the right to food and life of citizens.

The PIL, filed by social activists Anun Dhawan, Ishann Dhawan and Kunjana Singh, had also sought a direction to the Centre for creating a national food grid for people falling outside the purview of the public distribution scheme.

It had also sought issuance of an order to the National Legal Services Authority (NLSA) for formulating a scheme to mitigate hunger-related deaths.

The plea referred to the state-funded community kitchens being run in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Jharkhand and Delhi that serve meals at subsidised rates in hygienic conditions.

The plea also referred to the concepts of soup kitchen, meal centre, food kitchen or community kitchen, in other countries, where food is offered to the hungry usually for free or sometimes at below-market price.

The petition, filed through advocates Ashima Mandla and Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi, had said that the Centre and its various ministries have initiated and implemented various schemes to combat hunger, malnutrition and the resulting starvation, although in reality, effective implementation of the schemes was "unclear and fairly limited".

The statistics on starvation deaths in the country are unavailable and starvation as the cause of death can only be ascertained upon autopsy after death, the plea said, adding that global agencies report that more than three lakh children die every year in India because of hunger, whereas 38 per cent below the age of five are stunted.

"Implementation of community kitchens funded by state or in association with corporate social responsibility by a public-private partnership (PPP), may be implemented to complement the existing schemes, it said.

The petition also said that a 2010 report by the World Food Programme on the state of food insecurity in India indicates that increasing urban inequality, significant under-investment in urban health and nutrition infrastructure, workforce in casual or contract employment or even less remunerative self-employment, growth of slums and slum population lacking in most basic health and hygiene infrastructure has resulted in a permanent food and nutrition emergency.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Pakistani Taliban has confirmed that one of its key leaders and another member of the group were killed in a clash with security forces in Afghanistan.

In a statement published by the SITE monitoring group Friday, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said Sheikh Khalid Haqqani, who served on the group's consultative council and had been a deputy leader, had been killed January 31.

"Haqqani embraced martyrdom while fighting with slaves of the United States", the TTP said.

Haqqani's close confidant Qari Saifullah Peshawari was also killed in the clash that took place inside Afghanistan during a "mission", a senior Pakistani Taliban leader told AFP.

Afghan security forces declined to comment, and it was not immediately clear what type of mission Haqqani may have been on.

Haqqani was not thought to be related to the Haqqani network, which is also affiliated to the Afghan Taliban.

Both Islamabad and Kabul have long accused each other of allowing militants to shelter in the border regions and launch bloody attacks that threaten regional stability.

"Haqqani, also a writer of several books on different topics, was known for giving a befitting reply to so-called torch-bearers of democracy," the TTP said in its statement.

The "TTP resolves to carry forward the mission of Khalid Haqqani ... we have been taking revenge for martyrdom of our comrades in the past and we will avenge these martyrs," the group added.

Pakistan has been battling a homegrown Islamist insurgency for over a decade, with thousands of civilians and security personnel dying in extremist attacks, especially after the TTP began their campaign of violence in 2007.

But overall levels of extremist-linked violence dropped dramatically last year, with 2019 seeing the fewest deaths since 2007 -- the year the Pakistani Taliban umbrella group was formed.

Analysts have credited the fall to military offensives against the Taliban in the tribal areas of North Waziristan and Khyber where they were headquartered, as well as operations in the country's largest city of Karachi.

In 2018, the TTP was further degraded after a US strike in Afghanistan killed their leader Maulana Fazlullah, who was notorious for allegedly having ordered the attack on education activist Malala Yousafzai.
Inside the power plant are about 30 metal and plastic drums, most of which are not labeled while others are labeled as containing used oil, according to the state examination. In another building were dozens of of cans of paint thinner, and some barrels, the contents of which are not known, have been dumped in areas of the property.
The decision by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to bar New York residents from enrolling in Global Entry and other trusted traveler programs was not retaliation for the recently passed law that lets illegal immigrants apply for drivers licenses without providing a Social Security number, acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said on Feb. 9.

This has nothing to do with illegal aliens receiving drivers licenses. NY is the ONLY state to shut off CBP [Customs and Border Protection] access to DMV records used for law enforcement purposes in our homeland security mission, Wolf wrote on Twitter on Feb. 9. Without access, CBP cannot vet Trusted Traveler applicants. Its that simple.

This has nothing to do with illegal aliens receiving drivers licenses. NY is the ONLY state to shut off CBP access to DMV records used for law enforcement purposes in our homeland security mission. Without access, CBP cannot vet Trusted Traveler applicants. Its that simple.  Acting Secretary Chad Wolf (@DHS_Wolf) February 9, 2020

His comments came after House Democrats on Feb. 7 described his move as senseless and retaliatory and demanded that Wolf hand over documents related to the decision.

We write today to express our opposition to the decision by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to discriminate against residents of the State of New York by barring them from enrolling or re-enrolling in four U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Trusted Traveler Programs, they wrote in a letter (pdf). This senseless, retaliatory decision should be immediately reversed.

I made clear to the Governor yesterday that suspending Trusted Traveler Programs for NY had nothing to do with drivers licenses and everything to do with the breakdown in information sharing. My response to the press conference. pic.twitter.com/kzzZ18p1sc  Acting Secretary Chad Wolf (@DHS_Wolf) February 7, 2020

I made clear to the governor yesterday that suspending Trusted Traveler Programs for NY had nothing to do with drivers licenses and everything to do with the breakdown in information sharing, Wolf wrote on Twitter on Feb. 7.

Wolf announced on Feb. 5 that New Yorkers wouldnt be allowed to enroll or re-enroll in the Trusted Traveler Programs run by CBP, including Global Entry.

He said during an appearance on Fox News Tucker Carlson Tonight that New York residents cant join or stay in the programs because we no longer have access to make sure that they meet those program requirements, so we need to do our job.

Global Entry enables faster clearance when people go through customs when arriving in the United States; NEXUS enables quicker border crossing for enrollees traveling between the United States and Canada; the Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection, or SENTRI, facilitates faster clearance for travelers when they enter the United States; and the Free and Secure Trade program, or FAST, helps commercial shipments crossing the U.S. border from Canada or Mexico get quicker clearance.

DHS sent a letter to New York state officials informing them of the change. Wolf wrote that the states new law that lets illegal immigrants get drivers licenses precludes CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which are both part of DHS, from accessing and validating pertinent information contained in New York DMV records that is operationally critical in DHSs efforts to keep our nation secure.

The state Department of Motor Vehicle records have been used by immigration officers to verify or corroborate suspects date of birth, height, and other personally identifiable information. The records are also used to help identify targets, witnesses, and victims.

CBP, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement on Feb. 6 that the ban was effective immediately.

Nothing is more important than the safety of the United States and our citizens, and the New York Green Light law makes us less safe, and shields criminals, CBP acting Commissioner Mark Morgan said in a statement.

We recognize that many New York residents and businesses will be negatively affected by this change, but we cannot compromise the safety and security of our homeland. When states take negative measures that hinder our ability to protect our great country, we must respond.

In response to the plans, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced on Feb. 7 that the state will be suing the Trump administration, adding that the decision will negatively impact travelers, workers, commerce, and our economy.

This is political retribution, plain and simple, and while the president may want to punish New York for standing up to his xenophobic policies, we will not back down, James said. We plan to take legal action and sue the Trump administration for its unfair targeting of New York State residents.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
India has allowed the immediate export of at least two large consignments of protective clothing including masks to China setting aside the ban on the export of personal protection equipment imposed on February 1 amid the ongoing new coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) outbreak.

Indian officials are also in the process of clearing at least half-a-dozen more such consignments specifically for China, official sources in Beijing told the Hindustan Times.

These transactions will be done on a commercial basis between importers in China and manufacturers in India with the Indian governments sanction.

Separately, the Indian embassy in Beijing has also reached out to the Chinese government through Chinas foreign ministry to offer assistance in containing the NCP outbreak which has claimed over 900 lives and infected more than 40000 people until Sunday midnight.

This follows Prime Minister Narendra Modis letter to President Xi Jinping on Sunday in which he expressed solidarity with the Chinese people during the ongoing epidemic and offered New Delhis assistance to deal with the serious health emergency.

India, official sources added had sent about 40 boxes of protective clothing in the second Air India flight which was dispatched from New Delhi to Wuhan to evacuate Indians from Hubei.

The first two consignments which were cleared on an ad hoc basis contain at least 1.5 million masks.

The central Chinese province of Hubei, and its capital, Wuhan, the outbreak epicentre, are facing a severe shortage of protective equipment like masks, gloves and protective clothing.

Medical workers are facing a serious threat of being infected as a result.

Chinese importers had placed orders for protective clothing from India towards the end of January as NCP rapidly spread across the country.

The orders, however, were stalled after India banned the export of those goods on February 1.

Exports of all varieties of personal protection equipment including clothing and masks used to protect the wearer from airborne particles and/or any other respiratory masks or any other personal protective clothing (including coveralls and N95 masks)...is hereby prohibited with immediate effect till further orders, the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) said in the February 1notification.

No reason was given for the ban but it could have been a precautionary measure to ensure enough supplies if the infection spreads to India.

At a subsequent meeting chaired by the Cabinet secretariat, it was decided to waive the ban in a case by case basis, with a focus on Chinas shortage of protective clothing.

A multi-member screening committee has been set up by Indias ministry of health to look into each such request before waiving the ban.

It was learnt that the requests from Chinese importers were the first ones to be considered.

Until late last week, China had publicly acknowledged that 21 countries and the United Nations Childrens Fund had donated epidemic prevention and control supplies to China.

Those countries were South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Hungary, Belarus, Turkey, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Egypt, Australia, New Zealand, as well as Trinidad and Tobago, spokesperson Hua Chunying said at an online press briefing.

India wasnt mentioned in the list.

The US is said to have donated 18 tonnes and the EU around 12 tonnes of supplies to China so far.
Most of us are now looking for a place where we will spend our Valentine's Day with our loved ones. We look for places that offer the best amenities in the world for the most important persons in our lives.

Typically, we spent our Valentine's Day with our loved by having dinner in fine dining restaurants that are offering world-class menus. But this time, why not try something new by heading to sunny beaches or try to visit some romantic places in the Caribbean.

We have compiled a list of places in the Caribbean that you can visit this February 14 and spend a day or two. Here are some of them according to a published article in Forbes:

1. A Private Island

If you are looking for a private island resort, you can take your partner for a day or two days stay in Cayo Espanto. You will feel like celebrities while staying on this private island. You can also swim in the world's second largest coral reef system.

2. Belize

One of the places that every couple must visit in Belize is Victoria House Resort and Spa which offers the following:

A welcome cocktail

A massage for couples

Bottle of chilled Prosecco

A snorkel experience including equipment

And a private candlelight dinner

3. Dominica

One of the places that adventurous couples should visit is Dominica which is known as a Natural Island where both of you can hike in the pristine rainforests and enjoy world-class diving.

You will also find a treehouse villa in the place that overlooks the beautiful Caribbean sea. You can also choose an Absolute Aphrodisiac that offers a couple's massage, mindful yoga class, and a special romantic dinner.

4. Dominican Republic

Sanctuary Cap Cana is one of the most visited places by couples in the Dominican Republic. They offer an intimate five-course dinner with a bottle of Moet and Chandon. This place will remind you of how it felt when you fell in love with your partner.

5. Jamaica

Jewel Grande Montego Bay Resort & Spa located in Montego Bay, Jamaica offers a wellness-inspired romantic break that includes the Carribean's first Himalayan salt therapy lounge. Both of you can enjoy Ayurvedic treatments and a detoxifying soak in a treatment room intended for couples.

6. Anguilla

If you want to get away from a luxury beach houses, you can try a grown-up island at Zemi Beach House resort located in Anguilla. The place offers many food choices along with champagne, scallop's carpaccio, roasted pineapple and lime, mahi mahi, a beef tenderloin, and a white chocolate sphere with raspberry puree.

7. Aruba

This is part of the Carribean's Island known as the ANC Islands. This area includes Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao. Once you check-in you will have your sparkling wine and strawberries and most of all don't forget to include in your list a stay in the Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino.

8. St. Lucia

If you only plan to have a short Valentine visit in the Caribbean region but want to make it memorable, you can choose to have a short stay in Marigot Bay Resort & Marina that offers a complete Sweet Suite Valentine Escape package. The resort offers two night accommodation in a one-bedroom suite with a chilled bottle of prosecco for the entire month of February.

9. Canouan

This is a small island in the Caribbean which remains unknown to many lovers. The Mandarin Oriental, Canouan is located in a white powdery stretch of Godahl beach. Lovers will enjoy their stay here because of its suites and villas that offer an ocean view.

10. Grenada

The island is known for Spice Island Beach Resort. This is a family-owned beach resort with AAA Five Diamond Award-winning beach resort on the island and is one of the best resorts for couples who are in love with each other. Going here is just very easy, this is just 10 minutes away from the airport.
Sanders on women's gang-rape fantasies

By Mark Alexander



While endlessly waiting for the Demos' Iowa caucus comedy to conclude, the Socialist Democrats' 78-year-old Patron Saint of Witless Rants, Bernard Sanders, shared some feelings: "I have a strong feeling that at some point the results will be announced. ... I have a good feeling we are going to be doing very, very well here in Iowa."

That being said, the latest tabulations indicate Sanders is neck and neck with the 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, the latter's performance considered an Iowa anomaly. Trailing them by seven points is Bernie's chief socialist competitor, Cherokee candidate Elizabeth Warren. Trailing Sanders by a full 10 points is Joe Biden, which has the Demos in full panic mode.

Sanders and Warren are likely to be running first and second in New Hampshire.

Recall that after the last Demo debate, Bernie had a little powwow with Warren over whether a woman could be president. In the end, they agreed to disagree as to who said what  opting instead to call each other liars.

For what it's worth, I think Bernie did make that claim, and my theory is that he doesn't believe a woman could be elected president because she'd be too preoccupied with gang-rape fantasies.

Wait, I can explain.

Back in 1972, Sanders claimed in one of his pseudo-intellectual essays, "Man and Woman," that "A woman enjoys intercourse with her man  as she fantasizes being raped by 3 men simultaneously." Apparently, Sanders suffered from acute non compos mentis syndrome back then, too.

So, why the interest in something Sanders said in 1972? I mean, I said things in the '70s that don't reflect my views today  albeit nothing so profoundly asinine as Sanders's comment.

But for Sanders, the problem is that he did not attempt to walk back that assertion until 2015, and then only under pressure when he was running for president against a female opponent, Hillary Clinton.

As Sanders told MSNBC's Chuck Todd: "This is a piece of fiction that I wrote in 1972, I think. That was 43 years ago. It was very poorly written. If you read it, it was dealing with gender stereotypes. Why some men like to oppress women. Why other women like to be submissive. You know, something like 'Fifty Shades of Grey.' Very poorly written. Forty-three years ago."

Actually, it was social commentary, but it's clear that everything flowing from Sanders's head should be fairly classified as "fiction." And after #MeToo went viral, Sanders hoped against hope that his misogynistic missive would somehow escape further mention. It didn't.

To put his commentary into context, this rubbish was written after his divorce from Deborah Shiling Messing and his affair with Susan Campbell Mott, who gave birth to his out-of-wedlock son and only descendant, Levi. We're not sure to which of them Sanders attributes the fantasies, but despite his offensive denigration of women, he would later convince Jane O'Meara Driscoll to marry him. They had a taxpayer-funded honeymoon in the Soviet Union as part of Bernie's official capacity as mayor of Burlington, Vermont. That was his first public office, which he won by promising not to raise property taxes as much as the incumbent mayor.

Like his latest praise for the failed socialist state of Venezuela, he once argued that a sure sign of the Soviet economy's success was that people were standing in line for food. "That's a good thing!" he said.

Setting aside Bernie's odd fantasies about women and economics, his considerable lead over Biden is causing a lot of Democrat Party heartburn.

As National Review political observer Jim Geraghty notes, "Bernie is frightening the Democrats. Establishment Democrats suddenly realize Bernie Sanders might win the nomination." (Geraghty also compiled Twenty Things You Probably Didn't Know about Bernie Sanders.)

A year ago, in my column "Take Sanders's 2020 Campaign Seriously and Literally," I noted, "Sanders is crushing his opponents' fundraising efforts, and his campaign has already signed up more than a million collectivist volunteers." And that hasn't changed.

Indeed, so concerned are the establishment Demos that former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a charter member of the "Archenemies of Liberty" Club, has positioned himself as a convention insurance policy against Sanders's nomination. He's also planning to spend $1.5 billion on advertising to defeat Donald Trump regardless of who the nominee is. Make no mistake: Bloomberg, a longtime enemy of Trump, is the most dangerous Demo in the field  and if Biden continues to falter, Bloomberg may go from a Bernie firewall to brokered-convention nominee.

Last May, in "The Democrat Party's 'Collective Constituencies' Voter Strategy," looking through my dusty and barely opaque crystal ball into political futures, I projected that Biden will be the Demo nominee, if he can find a way to do what Hillary Clinton did to rig the primary against Sanders. And I suggested that he would choose a younger running mate from the opposite race, sex, and coast  Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA).

But it now increasingly appears that, after Nancy Pelosi and her cadre lost control of the impeachment charade, Biden became an unintentional collateral victim of that miscalculation.

What is certain is that Bloomberg and the eventual Demo nominee (if not him) are going to do everything they can to keep the Trump administration from Keeping America Great in 2020 and Beyond. They will use their considerable resources, combined with the enormous influence of their Leftmedia propagandists, to undermine Liberty and advance their statist agenda.

If that nominee is actually Sanders, he should have his feelings about female fantasies challenged at every stump speech. While Democrat Party strategists believe their women voters are emotionally incontinent idiots, they may have some second thoughts about gang-rape fantasies.

Meanwhile, there is one caucus result in Iowa that was clear. Donald Trump won 97% of the Republican support, with the remaining 3% split between "Never Trumpers" Bill Weld and Joe Walsh. And given the strength of his administration's record, as aptly outlined in his State of the Union Address, he is likely to overcome the odds and remain President Trump four more years.

Mark Alexander is the executive editor of the Patriot Post.
Nicholas Kristof didnt have to escape Yamhill, Oregon, on his way to some of the worlds most prestigious universities and eventually a vaunted columnist gig at the New York Times.

Kristof came from a family with tons of human capital  parents with good jobs, who instilled the importance of education in him from an early age.

But many of his friends and classmates werent so lucky.

Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope, a new book by Kristof and his wife, fellow Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Sheryl WuDunn, describes the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Yamhill and elsewhere in the United States -- one not so different from those the journalistic power couple have covered internationally.

On the latest episode of Beat Check with The Oregonian, Kristof and WuDunn explain why they decided to focus on Kristofs childhood town and why they still have hope for an American revival despite the abundant evidence of societal strife they documented.

Many of the dozens of kids who rode his Number 6 school bus to the rural country school Kristof attended, are gone. And the blame for their deaths of despair  by drugs, depression, suicide or obesity, Kristof and WuDunn argue should be shared by the country of their birth.

Their parents lost blue collar jobs amid an ever-changing economy. A toxic combination of drugs and alcohol, domestic violence, school dropouts and unexpected children led to what amounts in some cases to generational family tragedies. In their book, they argue that the social safety net has failed generations of Americans and that society has turned its back on millions, casting blame at their feet.

We also talked about The Oregonians Samantha Swindlers coverage of a U.S. Bank employee, and her supervisor, who were fired for helping a customer who was waiting on funds to become available by bringing him $20 hours before Christmas.

Heres the full episode:

You can subscribe to Beat Check with The Oregonian on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

-- Andrew Theen; atheen@oregonian.com; 503-294-4026; @andrewtheen

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
As Chinese people unite as one to bravely fight the novel coronavirus epidemic and take unprecedented control measures to curb the spread of the virus, some senior U.S. government officials remarks about the epidemic, which have included gloating, sarcasm, and slander, have been particularly shocking.

On Jan.30, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo viciously attacked Chinas national system under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) during his visit to UK, claiming that the CPC presents the central threat of our times.

On Feb.6, FBI Director Christopher Wray said at a conference at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the largest research institute of international studies in the U.S., that "no country poses a greater threat than Communist China."

On the same day, U.S. Attorney General William Barr told the conference China has emerged as the top geopolitical adversary of the U.S.

Wray has hyped up the so-called China threat repeatedly since he took office, saying that China, from a counter-intelligence perspective, in many ways represents the broadest, most challenging, most significant threat we face as a country.

After the World Health Organization (WHO) praised China for its proactive efforts to combat the novel coronavirus outbreak and curb the spread of the virus, and made clear its opposition to overreacting to the epidemic, the U.S. took the global lead in doing just that. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross even said that the epidemic could help bring jobs back to the U.S.

The acts of these senior U.S. officials, who attacked China from an ideological and political standpoint and thought only about taking advantage of Chinas difficulties when it is in a key stage of epidemic prevention and control efforts, and also while China-U.S. relations are seeing a general trend towards stable and sound development, go against human conscience and have added to Chinas misfortune.

Currently, Chinese people are sparing no efforts in fighting the novel coronavirus in a spirit of solidarity, and also contributing to safeguarding the health of the whole of mankind. The scale, speed, efficiency, and transparency of Chinas measures in combating the epidemic are seen as unprecedented in the world, thus gaining widespread praise and support from international organizations including the UN and the WHO as well as various countries around the world.

The international community has offered profound sympathy and help to China, fully demonstrating the spirit of a community with a shared future in the face of a major epidemic.

As leaders of the worlds strongest country, these U.S. officials should understand the significance of using this momentum to follow the general trend of the times.

The world today is characterized by peace, development, cooperation, coexistence of various political systems, ideologies, and patterns of development, as well as mutual learning and exchanges among various civilizations.

A mindset that sticks to old ways of thinking and goes against the general trend is, in fact, a virus too. This virus causes politicians to act against the general tide of the world and make misjudgments in governance, and erodes the health of the international community.

The international community should have a full understanding of this Cold War mentality virus. While combating the novel coronavirus epidemic, the international community should also make joint efforts to guard against this profoundly harmful ideological virus.
Its my view that the recent assassination of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani  by U.S. forces at an airport in Iraq  was done for Israeli interests.

America had no right to invade Iraq after 9/11, with a false claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Iraq had done no harm to America.

Our patriotic soldiers fell in Iraq. Many thousands more were severely wounded. Among our soldiers are so many loyal Americans who were lied to, and led to believe that our conflict with Iraq and with Iran promoted American interests.

Iraq had nothing to do with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Most of the attackers were from Saudi Arabia, our supposed allies.

I believe Soleimani  described as a terrorist by the U.S. government  was fighting against American aggression. America is are responsible for the misfortune stemming from our economic sanctions against Irans possible development of nuclear weapons.

I think President Donald Trump authorized the strike against Soleimani to win favor with U.S. Senate Republicans, so they would not join with the Democrats and vote to impeach the president.

The Republican leadership and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu really hate Iran. Netanyahu should fight his battles with his own military, not Americas military.

It appears Trump has become a puppet of Netanyahu, which is a terrible price for a president to pay to stay in power. What happened to America first? I think it has become Israel first.

Lee Lucas, Gibbstown

Cross words for how N.J. city protects students

Millville seems to have a shortage of school crossing guards.

Recently, one morning as I was driving through the center of Millville, I noticed a parent stepping out into the middle of the intersection of Broad and Dock streets to stop traffic and allow two young girls to cross on their way to school. There were no crossing guards there.

How can this be when I've seen many crossing guards posted at different areas throughout the city? A parent should never have to stop traffic to allow children to cross a street to go to school. That is a crossing guard's responsibility.

I don't know what the problem is. But, I sincerely hope it's something that can be resolved before a tragedy happens.

George I. Anderson, Millville

Send a letter to the editor of South Jersey Times at sjletters@njadvancemedia.com

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
As black history month unfolds, and we pause to reflect on the difficult legacy of racism in America, there's one conversation that's especially pertinent to entrepreneurs: Why to hire formerly incarcerated people. Not only is it a principled stand to create job opportunities for the formerly incarcerated. It's also smart business.

My personal understanding of this issue is derived from my upbringing as a black boy in Washington DC during the 1980s. It was a sad era marred by excessive sentencing that disproportionately affected black Americanssomething that most of the country agrees about now. We have the largest criminal justice system in the world, with three thousand prisons and jails housing 2.2 million people at an annual cost of $250 billion. Fractured and driven by private interests, our prison system is astronomically expensive, and ineffective.

Prison reform is just the beginning

The wheels of change are starting to turn, albeit slowly. The Trump administrations 2018 First Step Act, as well as state reforms across the country, aim to reduce prison sentences and reform the bail system. But the name of Trumps bill is accurate: Its only the first step, and we need to think many steps ahead. As more and more people are released from jail and prison, they need a fair shot at integrating back into society. Formerly incarcerated people need housing, healthcare, and most importantly, jobs. And as an entrepreneur overseeing a credit platform that manages billions of dollars, Ive seen the economic benefits for investors and corporate borrowers who increase employment opportunities for marginalized citizens. There is simply no business case for ignoring the swell of human capital emerging from a system operated at unsustainably high costs to taxpayers.

Related: Unlocked Potential: From Incarceration to Entrepreneurship

The economy needs formerly incarcerated workers

The truth is, our country produces too few skilled workers to meet the demands of modern industry. I hear this daily from CEOs and I see it in my portfolio companies. Bureau of Labor and Statistics data found 2 million job vacancies went unfilled in 2019. But six hundred thousand people were released from American prisons and jails in 2019 alone.

CEOs like Ron Bergamini of the waste collection business Action Carting are catching on. Bergaminis business employs 1,300 people. He uses a variety of recruiting methods, but after having a number of positive experiences with formerly incarcerated employees, he began accepting applications from job placement organizations focused on criminal justice reform. I have never met a business leader who believes finding good people is easy, he told me. The folks we meet through second chance programs are eager to learn and work. We offer middle class wages for professions in short supply nationwidecommercial truck drivers and mechanics. Any initial reluctance on our part to hire these folks is long gone. Some second chance workers have been with us nearly a decade.

Workforce training needs to happen inside and outside of prisons

Citizens returning home from incarceration should receive a warm welcome from employers, not a life sentence of exclusionary hiring practices. Now is the time to confront fears and prejudices in the workplace about people who have served time. But in addition to company recruiting practices, prisons should offer expanded human resource programs that prepare returning citizens for the workplace in advance. Investing in job training and skill development programs in local prisons and jails makes economic sense. Our domestic workforce is aging and living longer, so expanding the universe of job candidates provides a hedge against Americas demographic erosion. And data shows that higher education in prisons reduces the rates of recidivism. A bipartisan bill working its way through Congress now, called the Restoring Education and Learning Act (REAL Act), would allow incarcerated individuals to use Pell Grants to fund their college education while in prison, reversing a 1994 ban against Pell Grants for incarcerated people.

Related: What Budding Entrepreneurs Can Learn From a Nonprofit Helping ...

The government, the education system, and the business sector all have a role to play

Successful in-prison education efforts so far include the Bard Prison Initiative, which provides college courses, and the National Restaurant Association, which offers food and beverage industry training. And once incarcerated individuals get out, there are a number of socially conscious business venturesthe Society of Human Resource Management, Dave Killer Bread Foundation and Morgan Stanleyactively working to help companies develop best practices and roadmaps for accessing and developing returning citizens.

I am fortunate to be involved in the Georgetown University Pivot Program, an innovative partnership between the DC government and the Georgetown School of Business. Returning citizens enter a year-long program offering professional skills training and college-level coursework in business and entrepreneurship, along with an internship and an assigned mentor. Of the first graduating class, not a single participant has re-offended and virtually all are employed. The business sector, the government, and the higher education system should work together. The results will benefit the government, taxpayers, and the economy.

Preparing people to leave the criminal justice system before release and contemplating their re-entry to society befits a system intent on reform, not punishment. Helping shrink the system by hiring returning citizens is an act of patriotism. It acknowledges the long shadow cast by mass incarceration on the economy and society, and instead of shrinking away, moves forward to build a better future for all of us.

Related: How to Employ the Formerly Incarcerated to Help Grow Your Business

Related:

Hiring Formerly Incarcerated Employees Helps Your Bottom Line

3 Ways to Support Minority-Owned Businesses

From 25 Cents to $25,000 and Beyond: How 15 African-American Entrepreneurs Funded Their Businesses



Copyright 2020 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
COLLEGE PARK, Md., Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Meg Goldthwaite, chief marketing officer at NPR, and Sherika Ekpo, global diversity and inclusion lead for Google AI, will be the honored guests at this year's Women Inspire event, hosted by the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business. Both women are graduates of the school's MBA program.

Now in its ninth year, this is a new iteration for the annual event, previously known as Women Leading Women. The moderated forum discussion will take place on March 5, 2020 in College Park, Md.

"This event has always been about celebrating women leaders and inspiring attendees," said Ritu Agarwal, interim dean of Maryland Smith. "We are so pleased to welcome Meg and Sherika back to Maryland Smith's campus. We're looking forward to a rich discussion with the goal of inspiring not just women, but anyone in the campus community who hopes to reach their full potential."

Goldthwaite and Ekpo will each draw on lessons learned from their personal career journeys.

Goldthwaite, who earned her MBA in 1996, joined NPR in December 2016. She previously served as chief marketing officer for Conservation International. Her portfolio of mission-focused work also includes leadership positions at the World Wildlife Fund, Women for Women International and the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund. Goldthwaite's corporate background includes 15 years in the telecom industry, where she led teams in marketing, operations and strategic partnerships.

Ekpo, a 2009 MBA grad, joined Google as the global diversity, equity and inclusion lead for the Artificial Intelligence, Research and Health product areas. Prior to Google, Ekpo served as head of people operations at the United States Digital Service and as director of talent acquisition at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Both women look forward to returning to campus to share their experiences:

"My experience at Smith  the professors, my classmates, the curriculum  gave me the knowledge and experience I needed to confidently lead and continue to learn," said Goldthwaite. "I'm both happy and humbled to be honored by the Women Inspire program. I hope my stories encourage others to bravely take on challenges and fully enjoy lives of service and leadership."

"I am humbled by this recognition and grateful for the opportunity to share how my experiences at Smith influenced my career trajectory," said Ekpo. "I hope that my professional journey will inspire others to explore their passion, take calculated risks, and help others along the way."

Maryland Smith professor Nicole M. Coomber will moderate the discussion starting at 6:30 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom at the Adele H. Stamp Student Union on Maryland's College Park campus.

To learn more and for media inquiries, visit https://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/offices/alumni-relations/get-involved/women-inspire .

About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business

The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and part-time MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, specialty master's, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia. For more information, visit https://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/.

Contact: Greg Muraski at [email protected] or 301-405-5283

SOURCE University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business

Related Links

https://www.rhsmith.umd.edu


A 37-year-old convict serving life imprisonment allegedly committed suicide at the Harsul Central Jail in Maharashtra's Aurangabad city, an official said on Monday.

Saluji Yadav Magare hanged himself with a torn blanket from an exhaust fan inside the prison's toilet in the early hours of Sunday, jail superintendent Hiralal Jadhav told reporters here.

Magare, a resident of Thakurwadi in the neighbouring Jalna district, was serving life imprisonment for killing his wife some years back, he said.

He was in the Harsul jail since January 23, 2015, the official said, adding that a sessions court here pronounced the sentence on November 14, 2018.

Around 3.30 am on Sunday, Magare, who was lodged in barrack No. 14, went to the toilet carrying a piece of cloth which he tore from his blanket.

He allegedly hanged himself from the exhaust fan in the toilet using the torn blanket piece, the official said.

When Magare did not come out of the toilet, a sentry went to find out and saw him hanging.

The sentry then alerted the prison officials who rushed to the spot and brought Magare down.

Doctors attended to Magare at the prison but he could not be saved and was declared dead around 4.40 am, Jadhav said.

A prison official was suspended, he said, adding that an inquiry has been ordered into the incident.

According to Magare's family members, when they came to meet him eight-ten days ago, he told them that he was "disturbed" as his children stood as witness against him in the killing case, Jadhav said.

Magare's brother Jitendra tried to console him saying the sentence would end in 10 years, the official said.

"If Jitendra had conveyed all this to the jail administration, we would have kept an eye on Magare or arranged a counsellor for him," he said.

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

February 10, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - In Beijing, the foreign ministry indicated that China is against any foreign interference in the internal affairs of Venezuela and against the application of unilateral sanctions.



The Russian government rejected on Monday the U.S. threats to impose new sanctions against several Russian companies for their cooperation with Venezuela in the oil sector.

Last week, the United States special representative for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, warned Russia that its support for Venezuela will cost them economically as Washington is looking to sanction them.

"We classify this practice as harmful, we believe that many countries suffer because of this practice, we consider it contrary to international law," Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters Monday in regards to Washington's plans.

"The United States, especially, and several other countries, unfortunately use these trade and other restrictions very frequently against third world countries, which are illegal under international law."

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

Peskov added that "they use this practice more and more often in recent times to ensure their own interests in international commercial and economic affairs."

Also, spokesman Peskov stressed that Russia categorically opposes this practice.

On the other hand, in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, in a media briefing session offered online, said China is against any foreign interference in the internal affairs of Venezuela and against the application of unilateral sanctions.

The United States imposed sanctions on the airline Conviasa, the largest airline in Venezuela.

The Treasury Department published on its website that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) included 40 aircraft of this airline in the list of specially designated nationals and blocked persons (SDN).

"China's position on the problem of Venezuela is clear and remains unchanged. We stand against any foreign interference in the internal affairs of Venezuela and against unilateral sanctions," said the diplomat.

Since 2019, the United States in particular, and some other countries due to pressure from Washington, began applying new sanctions to Caracas, which seriously affected its economy, people's lives and Venezuela's relations with other nations, Geng Shuang recalled.

"We urge other countries to take into account the humanitarian reality of Venezuela, stop imposing uniteral and extraterritorial sanctions, and work to create necessary conditions that will lead to the stability of their economic growth," said Geng.

This article was published by "teleSUR" -

Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here

==See Also==
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LOS ANGELES  Paloma Marolf had an active childhood with no major health concerns until she went into a diabetic coma at age 15. Her diagnosis with type 1 diabetes meant Marolfs already struggling family gained a new financial burden, a monthly cost that ranged up to $2,000. There were times the University of Arizona freshman held off buying insulin for a day.

My pancreas doesnt produce insulin like everyone elses, the 19-year-old said, so the fact that I have to worry about if Im going to get my insulin for next month and if my parents are going to be able to afford it is a huge stressor because its life or death for me.

To save money, 25% of diabetics take less insulin than they are prescribed, and one-third didnt tell physicians or families they were doing so, according to a 2019 survey published by the Journal of the American Medical Association

Insulin isnt the only drug that patients struggle to afford these days. In Arizona, a survey of pharmacies in Phoenix, Tucson and Holbrook found drug prices are on the rise, with users of one SSR antidepressant, sertraline, reporting prices that are nearly 800% more than the national average price, according to a 2019 Arizona Public Interest Research Group report.

The issue of drug pricing took center stage at Tuesdays State of the Union address, when President Donald Trump called for a national strategy to solve a problem that has inspired a few state-based proposals  including a recent proposal for California to contract directly with pharmaceutical companies for generic insulin and other drugs.

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants California to reduce costs by shaping the generic drug market. In his annual budget proposal last month, Newsom called for the creation of a single market for drug purchasing that would additionally require manufacturers to contract with the state for generic drug production and set statewide prices.

We are already in active conversation with some of the major purchasers in this state, Newsom said during the January 10 news conference addressing his proposal. I can assure you things like insulin are top of mind in terms of that prescription generic program and strategy.

Those priorities aside, there are few details about how California would become the first state in the U.S. to license the manufacture of generic drugs, and some experts say they can not endorse the proposal without more details.

Paloma Marolf, who was 15 when she went into a diabetic coma, now attends the University of Arizona. Photo courtesy of Trisha Madrid

One skeptic of the plan is the Association of Accessible Medicines, a Washington, D.C., trade association representing drug manufacturers and distributors. They dont expect Newsoms plan to work because it only targets generic drugs and ignores the affordability of expensive branded drugs, said Rachel Schwartz, the organizations spokeswoman.

Low-income families like Marolfs and minority communities are expected to benefit most from Newsoms proposal, proponents and some health experts say.

Native Americans and Hispanic people, and people of lower economic status, are diagnosed with diabetes at a higher rate than the average, according to a 2017 report by the federal Centers for Disease Control.

Its low-income families who fall through the cracks, said Geoffrey Joyce, director of health policy for the University of Southern Californias Schaeffer Center, which studies health policy and economics. For many, prescription coverage hinges on whether they qualify for Medicaid, the government-funded health insurance for low-income people of any age.

If youre on Medicaid, for example, drug coverage is quite generous and cost sharing is minimal, Joyce said, but those who dont qualify for Medicaid are the ones who are more vulnerable to high drug costs.

Participants in a health and wellness walk are cheered on during the National Congress of American Indians 76th annual convention in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on October 23, 2019. Photo by Kevin Abourezk

Maintaining steady insurance coverage to deal with chronic diseases can be difficult for consumers. For Marolf, whose family is low-income, some of her biggest challenges arose when private insurance companies would stop covering her medication without notifying her family, forcing her mother to pay out of pocket.

Some families ration it because theyre scared they cant afford it, and people end up dying that way, Marolf said. It was a stressor for my mom, but she tried not to show it because she didnt want to stress me out.

Marolf said she hopes Arizona will begin to seriously address the issues of rising generic drug prices, although she believes political gridlock could prevent real change.

Newsoms proposal to have California license the production of generic drugs would reduce costs in the short term, Joyce said. But if manufacturers drop out, he said, competitors could move in to create monopolies, resulting in a less competitive market over time. If California produced generic drugs, it would create competition and prevent monopolies from happening.

We look at the Medicare data, and although the average generic drug is falling in price over time, we have seen an increase in the number of generic drugs that double in price in a year, he said.

The average wholesale price more than tripled among the four most popular insulin, rising from $93 in 2007 to $322.58 in 2017, according to Kaiser Health News

Joyce said the greatest impact of the California proposal would be on the price of insulin, and tracking that price could indicate whether the generic drug market is functioning.

If the state developed their own generic version of insulin, it would save people with diabetes who rely on it a lot of money because it is a very anti-competitive market, he said.

For the proposal to be approved, the Legislature would have to be included in the budget lawmakers send the governor in June.

Many solutions currently in the debate and proposal phase will take years to trickle down to the average consumer. Those changes cant come soon enough for the 1.7 million patients Southern California who are served by the nonprofit clinics in the Community Clinic Association, according to its president, Louise McCarthy. The majority of her clientele live in households with annual income at least 200% below the federal poverty level, and they are publicly insured or uninsured.

Our governor is bold and this is just one of many bold steps he has taken since coming into office last year, McCarthy said. He has clearly wanted to become a champion of healthcare and number of issue areas that are important to low-income communities.

Paramedics attend to Paloma Marolf after she went into a diabetic coma in December 2015. Photo courtesy of Trisha Madrid

If the governor is able to save more money for the budget, California can then further invest in health care for minority populations, she said.

Insulin is an indispensable drug, especially for low-income communities, McCarthy said, and a reduction in insulin prices could result in better health conditions among homeless populations.

Here in Los Angeles, we struggle with homeless clients who lose their medication in street sweeps and people rationing their insulin if its not covered by their insurance, she said. If they could reduce the cost of insulin, we would see less people losing their vision, less people needing amputation, and less unnecessary hospitalization.

Indianz.Com Video by Kevin Abourezk: Native Leaders Celebrate Fitness #NCAIAnnual19

Newsoms plan was proposed after years of efforts by Oregon and Connecticut to pass price-transparency bills to understand why drug prices increase. Florida, Vermont and Colorado have addressed the issue by importing drugs from Canada, a decision supported by the Trump administration in 2019.

Beyond state and federal efforts, the healthcare industry is making moves, too. Last month, Blue Shield of California and other insurers announced they are putting $55 million into not-for-profit Civica Rx, which they say will reduce rising costs of generic drugs within two years. Civica Rx was launched in 2018, when more than 500 hospitals agreed to create their own generic drug company , much like Newsoms proposal.

Note: This story originally appeared on Cronkite News and is published via a Creative Commons license . Cronkite News is produced by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University

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Eduardo Montero, who has been at large since allegedly going into a Worcester barbershop in 2013 and fatally shooting Eliezer Rivera, is now in custody and has appeared before a judge to face charges including murder.

The Worcester district attorneys office said Monday that Montero had been in the Dominican Republic and was picked up by authorities last year. After an extradition process, authorities brought him back to Massachusetts on Friday. Montero, formerly of 16 Laurel St. in Worcester, is a native of the Dominican Republic.

Montero, 42, was arraigned in Worcester Superior Court on Monday, where he pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, carrying a loaded firearm without a license, carrying a firearm without a license and possession of ammunition without an FID card.

Judge James G. Reardon ordered Montero held without bail. His case is scheduled to return to court on March 10. Details of the allegations against Montero were not discussed in court.

An arrest warrant was issued for Montero after the shooting, but police believed he fled the country.

Around 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 1, 2013, Worcester police received a report of shots fired at 42 Chandler St., then the Fadeaway Barbershop.

Upon police arrival, the officers observed that the business was in darkness with no employees inside the shop, police wrote in a statement at the time. Officers were in the process of locating witnesses at the scene when they were informed that a gunshot victim had just arrived at St. Vincents Hospital.

Authorities said 30-year-old Rivera got into an argument with Montero at the barbershop. They allege the argument turned into a physical fight and then Montero shot Rivera in the chest. Two men drove Rivera to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after getting to the emergency room, police said.

This arraignment is the result of a lot of hard work by a lot of people, said Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said. Credit goes to Worcester Police detectives who conducted a thorough investigation and identified Eduardo Montero as the suspect. I want to thank authorities in the Dominican Republic for their arrest of Mr. Montero and the U.S. Marshals in facilitating his return to face justice. I also want to thank members of my staff for their efforts in the lengthy extradition process.

A Worcester County grand jury indicted Mr. Montero on Aug. 12, 2015.

Montero was apparently ordered to turn in his passport in connection with an unrelated assault and battery case from 2013, according to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

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WEST SPRINGFIELD  The White Hut, like The Student Prince, might live again.

Six years after saving the Student Prince Cafe and The Fort Dining Room from certain closure, Peter Picknelly, the Yee family and their business partners Michael K. Vann and Kevin B. Vann are in preliminary talks to buy and reopen the restaurant, which closed abruptly Friday.

"We believe in this community. We believe in the people that live here. We don't want to see an 80-year iconic landmark close," Peter Picknelly, CEO of Peter Pan Bus Lines, said Monday. "If we can prevent that. That's what we want to do."

Picknelly said his grandparents took him to the White Hut  an experience he said he shares with nearly everyone who grew up in the region.

"It's part of the DNA of our community and we don't to lose that," Picknelly said. "There is nothing like the White Hut."

The Trustee who controls the real estate at 280 Memorial Ave. said Monday that hes been approached by multiple parties interested in it.

Ideally, Picknelly and the Yees would like to refurbish and reopen White Hut at that location.

Picknelly, Andy Yee and Edison Yee were in meetings all afternoon Monday trying to work out a deal. The Yees said theyve talked with Edward E.J. Barkett II, the restaurants third-generation owner, and with the Barkett family trust that controls the real estate. Theyve also talked with the restaurants creditors and with West Springfield city officials.

They are also talking with White Hut employees about keeping them on.

Barkett has not responded to messages seeking comment.

While optimistic, Yee cautioned that the team is only in the preliminary stages.

It seems like some of the stars are really starting to align, Yee said. We are not lacking for enthusiasm.

He acknowledged that people have an emotional attachment to White Hut, just as they do with The Student Prince.

But on a practical side, and a business side we are carefully analyzing all the numbers, he said. Coming into a situation like this, there are a lot of moving parts.

Picknelly acknowledged that the White Hut has deferred maintenance over the years. An awning on the building needs to be replaced, and the group has other upgrades in mind.

Neither Yee nor Picknelly wanted to talk very much about what led Barkett to close White Hut, instead expressing respect and thanks to him for keeping the icon going for as long as he did.

First of all, we have very high regard for the Barkett family. They created a great restaurant for our community, Picknelly said. Its a tough business. There is competition up and down that street.

Yee said hes interested in continuing White Huts presence at the Big E each year, where The Student Prince also has an offshoot called the Wurst Haus.

Restaurant rescues

Back in 2014, the Scherff family was on the verge of closing The Student Prince forever. Opened in 1935, The Student Prince is four years older than White Hut, which opened in 1939.

To save The Student Prince, Picknelly recruited the Vanns and the Yees as partners and bought the business. They spent $750,000 in remodeling and updating.

Both Picknelly and Yee see parallels between The Student Prince and The White Hut.

Its the return customers. They keep coming back. Thats whats been so rewarding, Picknelly said. Its been a two-way street. Its been good to us and its been great to the community.

The Yee familys Bean Restaurant Group owns several other restaurants in Massachusetts and Connecticut  both on their own, and with Picknelly and the Vanns. The list includes The Student Prince; Johnnys Bar & Grill, Johnnys Tap Room, the Halfway House, the Boathouse and Iya Sushi & Noodle Kitchen in South Hadley; Johnnys Tavern in Amherst; Johnnys Roadside Diner in Hadley; and McLaddens locations in West Hartford and Simsbury, Connecticut. This winter, they opened a Wurst Haus Student Prince concept in Northampton.

"We're not fly-by-nights," Yee said. "We are only going in if there is a chance that we can polish this up, bring it back to life."

Yee joked that if he  a man best known previously for Asian food at the old Hu Ke Lau  could learn bratwurst and sauerbraten at The Student Prince, he could certainly learn the secrets behind White Hut burgers.

Barkett apparently tried to move the restaurant before closing it.

Frank Colaccino, founder and CEO of The Colvest Group, said Monday that Barkett approached Colvest seeking to move the White Hut into the nearby plaza the company owns. The move would have allowed the White Hut to more easily renovate a building to meet modern standards for handicapped accessibility.

Those standards made it difficult, if not impossible, to renovate the White Huts original location.

According to Colaccino, Barkett said the rent the family-owned trust was charging at the current White Hut site was too high.

Colaccino said nothing ever came of the discussions about moving the restaurant.
Dublin, Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "North America LPG Supply and Demand Outlook to 2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



North America LPG supply-demand outlook to 2028 is a comprehensive research on the country-wise LPG markets in the region. Across the North America, 3 countries are analyzed in the research, presenting the outlook of supply and demand annually. The forecast period is from 2008 to 2028.



In addition, the North America LPG market trends, drivers and restraints are analyzed. The competitive scenario of LPG in the region is also included in the research. Further, the refining industry in the region is also assessed in detail including refining infrastructure, companies, capacity, and planned projects.



The report also details information on the leading North America refiners and also presents in-detail business profiles of three leading North America LPG companies with details of business description, SWOT analysis, and financial analysis. The latest market developments in the North America and their impact on companies and markets are also detailed in the research work.



The report scope includes:

Yearly forecasts of country wise LPG supply and LPG demand from 2008 to 2028

3 LPG markets across the North America are analyzed including Canada, US and Mexico

Refining, coking, FCC, and Hydrocracking capacity outlook for each of the refining markets in the North America are provided from 2015 to 2023

Market trends, drivers and restraints of investing in the North America LPG markets

CAPEX, commencement, location, company and capacity details of all planned and proposed refining projects in the North America

Business profiles of three leading LPG companies in the North America

Major recent North America LPG news and deals

The report enables users to:

Formulate new growth strategies based on detailed annual LPG forecasts

Gain a clear understanding of the short term and long term outlook of each of the LPG markets

Assess the feasibility of the development of new projects driving the LPG demand/supply

Stay ahead of the competition through detailed insights on LPG trends, drivers and challenges

Get clues from leading companies through detailed business profiles of market leaders

Key Topics Covered



1 Table of Contents



2 Introduction to North America LPG Markets

2.1 Market Snapshot, 2020

2.2 North America LPG Market Size Outlook, 2018-2028

2.2.1 Share of North America in Global LPG Market Size Outlook, 2018-2028

2.3 North America LPG Supply-Demand Outlook

2.3.1 North America LPG Production Outlook, 2008-2028

2.3.2 North America LPG Demand Outlook, 2008-2028

2.4 North America Refining Capacity Outlook, 2008-2023

2.5 Leading LPG Companies in North America



3 Canada LPG Market Overview

3.1 Canada LPG Market Snapshot, 2020

3.2 Canada LPG Production Outlook, 2008-2028

3.3 Canada LPG Demand Outlook, 2008-2028

3.4 Canada LPG Companies

3.5 Canada Refining Analysis-Current and Upcoming Projects

3.6 Canada LPG Market Developments



4 US LPG Market Overview

4.1 US LPG Market Snapshot, 2020

4.2 US LPG Production Outlook, 2008-2028

4.3 US LPG Demand Outlook, 2008-2028

4.4 US LPG Companies

4.5 US Refining Analysis-Current and Upcoming Projects

4.6 US LPG Market Developments



5 Mexico LPG Market Overview

5.1 Mexico LPG Market Snapshot, 2020

5.2 Mexico LPG Production Outlook, 2008-2028

5.3 Mexico LPG Demand Outlook, 2008-2028

5.4 Mexico LPG Companies

5.5 Mexico Refining Analysis-Current and Upcoming Projects

5.6 Mexico LPG Market Developments



6 Leading LPG Company Profiles

6.1 Business Description

6.2 SWOT Analysis

6.3 Financial Analysis



7 North America LPG Market News and Deals



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/65pw29

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.
The Department of Justice has charged four members of the Chinese military in its investigation of the massive Equifax data breach.

The four members of the People's Liberation Army of China were charged Monday with hacking into the networks of credit reporting agency Equifax and stealing the personal information of about 145 million Americans. They were also charged with taking Equifax's trade secrets in what Attorney General William Barr called "a deliberate and sweeping intrusion into the private information of the American people."

Essentially half of America's population and many other people worldwide had their personal data breached in the Equifax hack, first exposed in 2017. That data included names and Social Security numbers, giving the breach a reputation as one of the largest of all time, both in terms of scale and what data was released. Equifax's CEO Richard Smith was forced into resignation after the incident, which also spurred congressional hearings and eventually a settlement of around $650 million.

The Justice Department similarly charged PLA members with hacking other American corporations back in 2014. With Monday's charge, "we remind the Chinese government that we have the capability to remove the Internet's cloak of anonymity and find the hackers that nation repeatedly deploys against us," Barr said in a press conference.

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The political and economic models in Russia and Ukraine significantly differ, the expert notes.

Russia's attempts to pull Ukraine into the Eurasian Economic Union failed, and Kyiv pretty much disrupted the Kremlin's "Napoleonic" plans, which ultimately stood behind Russia's aggression against Ukraine, says Viktor Mironenko, head of the Center for Ukrainian Studies at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Moscow had a plan, Mironenko told Segodnya, to become the center of a powerful economic entity, the Eurasian Economic Union, in order to strengthen its global position. However, Ukraine wasn't going to share the path with Russia as it sought to walk along with Europe, which put an end to the Kremlin's plans.

The expert recalled that the Russian economy is not the former economy of the Soviet Union. In terms of global weight, it stands at about 1% of the total mass. It turned out that Russia, as a nuclear power, does have certain weight in the world, albeit insufficient. He notes that Russia cannot catch up with the powers they would like to speak with on equal terms, primarily the United States.

"Having come to power, Putin had his own vision of what Russia's global weight should be, and what kind of Russia he would like to see... And one of the ideas that his entourage prompted was the idea of economic reintegration of the post-Soviet space, more precisely, parts of it. This is indeed a very strong and powerful idea, which, if implemented, would have solved many problems for Putin, including raising Russia's weight as the center of such an association. However, achieving this goal without Ukraine is simply impossible. Therefore, it was precisely the 'taming of the obstinate' Ukraine that became the focal idea of this right plan, which, unfortunately, is unfeasible under the existing conditions. But today very few people in Russia are aware of and understand the new Ukrainian economy, its policy, even its history. And it seems to me that there are no such people hatsoever in the Russian leadership, in Putin's entourage. And a systemic mistake has been made. The fact is that the modern economic and political systems of Russia and Ukraine are objectively incompatible," Mironenko said.

Read alsoPompeo assures Ukraine of U.S. support in countering Russian aggression  MFA

He noted that while Russia's key economic resource is energy (about 70% of budget revenues is brought by energy exports), in Ukraine it is both energy (albeit on a much smaller scale) and fertile land with a good climate, while the main resource is people.

"This human resource alone would allow rising up  economically and politically. And different economies also involve different political systems. It's one thing if the economic model is to get some money from the sale of energy resources, and then partially let someone's friends embezzle and partially spread funds across the vast country in a thin layer. And it's completely different when people are the main resource of the economy. They must know that their work will be paid for, that they will manage the results of their work. This is a liberal economic model, which provides for economic freedom and political freedom. So these two models turned out to be almost incompatible," said the expert.

Mironenko added that all this has largely sparked Russian aggression against Ukraine since 2014, when the Russian leadership finally realized that an integration plan involving Ukraine was impossible.
While the book is largely set in modern-day Maine, Brown says he wrote about the fictional Howland family with this history in mind. I am interested in history, and how history is not forgotten, it's not even past, Brown said, paraphrasing William Faulkner.

The surface changes quickly but the subterranean surface doesn't. And that is what I am trying to evoke in some of these stories, How the past is always with us.

Yet, he also acknowledged that he pays careful attention to how he deploys pacing and time in his narratives, so that they're running on a kind of clock. In A Faithful But Melancholy Account of Several Barbarities Lately Committed, "the clock starts when the family arrives at the house, and the grandfather says he'll be dying tomorrow."

Time is one of the technical aspects his writing students often grapple the most with, he added. Managing time in a narrative is very challenging, but there are many ways to do it. That is what is exciting.

In his introduction to Brown at the reading, A. Leroy Greason Professor of English Brock Clarke praised Brown's writing for his control of tone, the way his stories can seem stately in one moment, wild in the next, and the way his stories reveal the inherent spookiness and terror in the mundane.

Clarke also admired how Brown honors his subjectsthat is, Maine and Mainerswhile also messing with the mythologies and self-mythologies attached to this place and people.

Brown, who grew up in Maine and attended Deering High School in Portland, writes frequently about Maine and New England. He has published two other collections of short stories, Driving the Heart and Other Stories and Why the Devil Chose New England For His Work.

At his reading, the alumnus marveled that he had gotten into Bowdoin, where he majored in religion and minored in English. Bowdoin took a chance on me. I wasn't a good high school student, he said. But he was a gifted writer, and thinks Bowdoin recognized that based on a play he wrote in high school.

This place was very good to me, he said. There's no other way to put it. I needed an education when I got here and I got one.

In his current job as an associate professor of creative writing at the University of Oregon's MFA program, he tries to follow the model he first encountered here at Bowdoin. I owe a lot to Bowdoin, the teachers here, and the system here that cares about a good education, he said.

*Look out for Jason Brown's essay Treecutting in the upcoming Bowdoin Magazine, in mailboxes soon.
Overdose deaths in East Baton Rouge Parish in 2019 hit the highest number recorded, a worrying pattern that has galvanized officials as they search for ways to respond to the opioid epidemic ravaging the state.

Drug overdose death numbers in the parish show a steady uptick since 2012, increasing nearly fivefold in the span of eight years. An official count from the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner's Office shows 127 people died of overdoses in the parish in 2019, with the majority being opioid-related. These numbers are compared with 28 overdose deaths in 2012.

Even as overdose deaths have continued to drop nationwide, Louisiana has maintained a high rate of opioid-involved deaths that continues to increase.

+2 Growing number of overdose deaths in East Baton Rouge linked to opioids, officials say Overdose deaths in East Baton Rouge Parish increased in 2017 by 25 percent compared to the previous year, a harrowing upward trend that offici

Numbers provided by East Baton Rouge Parish Emergency Medical Services show paramedics responded to 1,845 overdose calls in 2019 alone.

As officials work to understand these deaths and how to prevent them, advocates, medical professionals and counselors focus on educating the public about addiction as a disease in an effort to humanize the people fighting for their lives.

An indiscriminate impact

A confluence of events allowed the opioid crisis to spiral out of control, but medical experts tend to agree the epidemic was spurred by doctors overprescribing potent pain medication in the late 1990s and the early 2000s.

East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner Dr. Beau Clark noted that as medical providers came to learn that powerful opiates can lead to addiction and death, they began a crackdown on the very prescriptions patients had come to rely on. Patients, in turn, were forced to search for illegal means to address their addiction, seeking out unregulated opiates like heroin. Illicitly manufactured, synthetic opioids, like fentanyl, have also spiked in the last five years.

Although Clark said heroin overdose deaths in the parish have stabilized, deaths where lab tests show heroin and fentanyl were mixed together have continued to increase. Clark characterizes this rise in combined-opiate deaths as a major trend of 2019.

"It's a compounding effect," Clark said. "You take one deadly drug and another deadly drug  that's pretty bad."

Clark added that it's unclear why some dealers cut heroin with fentanyl, though he has two theories. The first is that some dealers don't know what they're getting when they purchase different drugs, largely because different types of white powder are not easily distinguishable.

His other suspicion is that dealers cut heroin with fentanyl to "supercharge" the heroin.

"The more opioids you use, the more powerful opioids you need to get the same response," Clark said. "They call it 'chasing the dragon.'"

Other trend breakdowns show people who died from overdoses are more likely to be male and white, he said. Location, however, is harder to analyze.

While data provided by the District Attorney's Office shows many of the overdoses take place at hotels and motels, known to be major trafficking hubs for everything from narcotics to prostitution, the reality is that opioid overdoses are scattered across the parish, indiscriminate in their impact on different communities.

Janzlean Laughinghouse, clinical director for addiction recovery services at Capital Area Human Services, has worked in addiction services since 1998. She has seen her share of patients struggling with substance use disorders, from computer programmers, to nurses, to social workers.

"This is the great equalizer," she said.

'These arent bad people. Theyre sick people.'

Laughinghouse describes people who suffer from opioid addiction as having their brains "hijacked."

Addiction is a brain disease, she said, and when people are addicted to a substance, the part of the brain responsible for reasoning and higher-order thinking is suppressed.

"Addiction has now risen to the level of importance of things that are life-saving, life-giving," she said. "Breathing, eating, procreating, connection to other human beings  addiction now lives in that part of my brain."

At some point, she said, people begin to use substances against their will.

But quitting opioids is not as simple as straight detoxification, even when someone musters the willpower to accept their disease. When those addicted to opioids begin withdrawal, "everything that makes you feel good will happen in reverse," Clark said. He said the commonly used phrase "quit cold turkey" comes from the chills opioid-addicted people experience during detoxification, which gives them goosebumps reminiscent of a supermarket turkey.

Detoxing from opioids is terribly miserable," Clark said. "But it will not kill you."

Evidence shows people with opioid addiction who attempt this "complete abstinence" method are likely to relapse, craving the drug to alleviate their suffering.

"If the withdrawal is too intense, theres a good chance youre going to say, 'To heck with this, Im going to go use opioids,'" Clark said.

This can be dangerous. The two most common types of overdoses Clark sees are the naive user unaware of heroin or fentanyl's potency and the chronic user, who has recently detoxed or gone through rehabilitation. Even though the experienced user has familiarity with the drug, their tolerance is lower after withdrawal, and the dosage they take kills them.

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To address this risk, some medical experts and addiction counselors have underscored the value of treating people suffering from opioid addiction with medications that suppress cravings and enable people to recover without the potential backsliding brought on by straight detox.

This medication-assisted treatment model involves treating addicted people with drugs like methadone and buprenorphine, which ease the discomfort of detox without producing the high of powerful opioids like heroin.

Along with individual and group behavioral therapy, Laughinghouse said, medications can help people function again.

"Addiction is a biological, psychological, social and spiritual disease," Laughinghouse said. "If youre just dealing with the biology, other things are unmet."

While medication-assisted treatment is not without its critics, who view this method as replacing one addiction with another, it has become more widely accepted as a treatment option for those struggling with opioid addiction in Louisiana and elsewhere.

Patients may remain on methadone for years, Laughinghouse said, but "they have a life to live, and that life has some quality to it, as opposed to living in the hell of addiction."

Identifying the risks

When East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore III examined the information from this year's overdose deaths, he looked for ways to head off the problem.

"Its really about identifying those that are most likely to overdose," Moore said. "Can we get to them sooner?"

Within the last year, his office has begun to pull together data to do just that. Moores office received a grant from the Department of Justice to combat the opioid crisis and related violence, an opportunity to address the problem as the numbers continue to rise.

Amid opioid crisis, grant aims to reduce overdoses and drug related crime in Baton Rouge The East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney's Office is starting work on a new grant aimed at reducing the death toll from the nation's opio

Jonathon Daily, project manager for the opioid grant, said they saw the grant as an innovative way to prosecute drug dealers and connect them with overdose deaths.

Where we're at today though, I think it's more of a way for us to get help to people and connect those resources that are out there, Daily said.

Moore's team has partnered with researchers at LSU to work with their crime strategies unit, developing a data hub. Agencies include the Drug Enforcement Administration, sheriff's office, police, prescription monitoring board, EMS and probation and parole. They enter various data sources that help researchers identify patterns across the drug landscape.

"Is there a connection between maybe unknown drug dealers and evidence, or maybe an unknown group and an overdose?" Daily said. "Is there a correlation between overdose victims and their known associates?"

The goal, said Clark, is to focus on the drug dealers.

"They're in the business to make money," Clark said. "They want to sell a product that's in high demand, which it is. They have a customer base that will do anything to get the product."

Hope

In addition to health officials collaborating with law enforcement, community partners at the local and state levels are raising awareness about the problem and searching for solutions.

In 2019, Gov. John Bel Edwards released Louisianas Opioid Response Plan, detailing the statewide problem and outlining steps to prevent future overdose deaths.

"The numbers of fatal and non-fatal overdoses are staggering in Louisiana, the report said.

In 2016, the Legislature established the Louisiana Commission on Preventing Opioid Abuse and in 2017 created the Advisory Council on Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education  HOPE for short.

As for East Baton Rouge, community leaders formed the Opioid Stewardship Task Force. Capital Area Human Services also released a communitywide response plan in 2018.

Law enforcement also stepped up efforts in overdose response. The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriffs Office uniform deputies, as well as other first-responder divisions, carry and are trained to administer Narcan  a life-saving opioid antagonist  on overdose patients.

Drug that reverses opioid overdose effects now available for online purchase in Louisiana Naloxone, a drug known to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, is now available online in Louisiana, announced Dr. Rebekah Gee, secretar

Laughinghouse, for her part, has her share of heartbreaking stories. But she also marks the successes, and fights for the patients struggling to get their lives back.

"By virtue of the fact that its a disease, thats where you find compassion," she said. "It steals some of our brightest and most beautiful people. Thats what drives me: the hate of the disease and how it absolutely destroys lives."
For Life, the new ABC drama about a Bronx inmate on a life sentence who becomes a lawyer, belongs in the small but increasingly relevant genre of the unjust-incarceration story, joining works like the currently screening film Just Mercy and Ava Duvernays Netflix documentary, 13th.

As a drama series focused on a particular social-justice issue, with specific reference to race, its in tune with the times  such shows are common on cable and streaming  but still a rarity on broadcast-network television. That might be why its arriving in February (13 episodes beginning Tuesday), away from ABCs more prominent fall premieres, the popcorn dramas Emergence and Stumptown. (It recalls Foxs spring showing of the police-shooting drama Shots Fired in 2017.)

So the debut of For Life serves as a small marker in an evolving national conversation. But its also an indication  and this is more interesting, from a critics point of view  that ABC is maintaining its current roll. The sci-fi adventure Emergence and the private-eye drama Stumptown emerged, along with CBSs Evil, as the most entertaining and emotionally engaging shows the Big 5 networks came up with last fall. And For Life also looks promising, though critics were given only three episodes to go on.

Better-than-the-network-average has been the byword of the shows creator, Hank Steinberg, whose previous series were The Nine, Without a Trace and The Last Ship. They played unusual variations on crime and combat formulas, and their inventiveness was always notable if not always successful. (One of the shows executive producers is Curtis Jackson, better known as 50 Cent, whos also a producer of the Starz series Power.)
Indonesian President Joko Widodo smiles at reporters as he arrives before delivering a speech ahead of Independence Day, at the parliament building in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Aug. 16, 2019. (Willy Kurniawan/Reuters)

Indonesias Widodo Warns Identity Politics Is Threat to Democracy

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has warned of the dangers of identity politics, and called on closest friend Australia to work together to defend their democratic values, human rights, and diversity and to stop terrorism.

Widodo made the comments during a speech (pdf) to the Australian Parliament on Feb. 10, when he signed a lucrative trade deal with Australia.

In a rare address to both houses of Parliament, Widodo celebrated 70 years of friendship between Indonesia and Australia and thanked the country for its continuous support.

Despite the cultural differences between Indonesia and Australia, we share the same values: heroism; diverse ethnic groups and tolerance; democracy and respect for human rights as well as a commitment to protect the environment and beyond, Widodo said.

Widodo proposed a number of priorities for the AustraliaIndonesia relationship, which include continuing to advocate the values of democracy, human rights, tolerance, and diversitystop intolerance, stop xenophobia, stop radicalism, and stop terrorism.

Identity politics must be discouraged in our countries and globally, regardless of its religious, ethnicity, or other identity basis. Identity politics is a threat to democracy, a threat to diversity, and a threat to tolerance. These threats will become even more actual when exploited for short-term political interests, resulting in hatred, fear, and even social conflict, he said.

The Indonesian president added that the two countries must work hard, side by side, standing together to defend the values of democracy, tolerance, and diversity and to prevent the world having a clash of civilizations.

He said the two countries must also work together to promote free and fair economic policies, stating that he believes an open and fair economic system will be beneficial for all.

Indonesia and Australia must become the anchors for development partners in the Pacific region, Widodo added, noting that Indonesia understands the development challenges in the Pacific region, and as a fellow island state, Indonesia faces similar challenges with countries in the Pacific region.

Indonesia and Australia must become true friends for countries in the Pacific region, collaborating as development partners, addressing the impacts of climate change, alleviating poverty and social inequality, and creating new centers of economic growth in the Pacific region, he said.

Finally, the two countries must also work together to protect the environment, to achieve sustainable development and reforestation in forest and river upstream areas, to prevent forest and land fires, to commit to lowering carbon emissions, and to develop renewable energy and other green technologies, he said.

Elsewhere in his speech, Widodo noted that his country had also provided relief, in the form of Army Corps of Engineers and personnel of the Indonesian National Agency for Disaster Management, to help New South Wales overcome the bushfire crisis and that teams from both countries are currently discussing possible cooperation for weather modification.

Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison also praised the two countries close relationship, but noted that there is still more to be done, especially on the economic front.

Together, Australia and Indonesia are motivated by our shared concerns for our region and our shared vision for an open, prosperous Indo-Pacific underpinned by strong institutions, rules, and norms, he said.

By continuing to work together, we can build the regions resilience and make our people safer and our economy stronger. Our ambitious comprehensive strategic partnership, which was finalized 18 months ago, gives us a framework for even closer ties. We now have a plan of action to take the next steps in our relationship.

The trade agreement, which has been eight years in the making, is aimed to boost multibillion-dollar ties and will provide a major boost for Australian farmers and businesses through lower tariffs and improved access.

Indonesia agreed to import 500,000 tons of grain tariff-free, while a lower tariff has been secured for live cattle, dairy, and vegetables, while Australia agreed to open universities in Indonesia and consider ways to simplify the visa application processes for Indonesians visiting the country.

Australias goods trade with Indonesia was worth $11.8 billion in 2018, making Indonesia its 13th-largest trading partner.
Some wildlife rescue organisations around the country are still yet to see a cent of the millions of dollars in donations raised from the bush fire relief drive.

The New South Wales Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Services (WIRES) received a staggering $60million after the catastrophic bushfire season.

But the group has only allocated $6.5 million to date despite smaller organisations across the country struggling to support the animals under their care.

Some wildlife groups haven't even heard back from their cries for help.

The New South Wales Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Services (WIRES) received a staggering $60million after the catastrophic bushfire season

WIRES launched two emergency relief fund grant programs on January 22, offering smaller groups a chance to get a cut of $3million.

But the offering has drawn the frustration of groups like Possumwood Wildlife, an organisation in the New South Wales Southern Tablelands.

The wildlife group and research facility hasn't received any cash from WIRES.

Owners Professor Steve Garlick and wife Rosemary Austen have been running their own donation drive on Facebook to keep afloat.

Wildlife carers feed a wombat in their care

Professor Steve Garlick told Daily Mail Australia because they're an unlicensed operation he didn't believe they'd be eligible for the 'measly' $20,000 grant process.

'We haven't received anything. We haven't put in an application because we are so busy treating animals with burns we haven't had a chance,' he said.

He was scathing of the operator's donations process.

'It's a bit pathetic really. They don't know what's happening on the ground. Frankly I don't think they care.'

A kangaroo recovers from burnt feet after being rescued by WIRES volunteers

Meanwhile Sunshine Coast carer Dee Smith told the Daily Telegraph she has been running a collection drive of medical supplies to give directly to shelters.

She said the money from WIRES was taking too long, and the groups needed help now.

'I also know of a group of 40 carers in Victoria who have all applied for funding through WIRES and have heard nothing back,' she said.

WIRES received about 60 million dollars from all around the globe after images of burnt wildlife went viral.

Donations flooded in from high profile celebrities like Ellen Degeneres, Leonardo Di Caprio and Nick Kyrgios.

Jenny the Koala was rescued from the fireground in Bilpin in the New South Wales Blue Mountains by WIRES volunteers

WIRES is rolling out its donations in a three staged process, the first which was launched two weeks ago through a grants process.

The organisation will soon launch Stage Two of its project, offering $25million for long term rehabilitation and threatened species research.

Stage Three will involve the preservation of remaining populations and increasing volunteer numbers through more training opportunities.

Funds allocated for this stage will be around $22million.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to WIRES for comment.
In a constituency that has only ever returned TDs from two traditional parties, one left-leaning candidate ran a close race, thanks in part to a perplexing transfer.

Generally speaking, Cork North West turned up no major surprises as the former minister for agriculture Michael Creed, Aindrias Moynihan and Michael Moynihan, both of Fianna Fail, all returned to their seats.

But it was Ciaran McCarthy, a barrister by trade based in Ballincollig, who perhaps had the most impressive run in the sprawling constituency, considered by most to lean towards the more conservative.

Mr McCarthy of the Social Democrats came fourth in terms of the race, capturing more than 8% of first preference votes.

With many of those gathered at the count commenting on how Sinn Fein had missed its chance to make an historic bid for a seat in the constituency, Mr McCarthy has managed to successfully establish his profile for any future runs.

John Paul O'Shea, a former county major on his first running with Fine Gael, had been the pundit's pick to come the closest to snatching a seat.

Mr O'Shea, who joined Fine Gael in 2018, made it to the final count in 2016 as an Independent. On that occasion, he fell just 249 votes shy of taking a seat from Michael Moynihan.

First count saw Tara Nic Domhnaill of the Irish Freedom Party and Independent candidate Sean O'Leary eliminated after they failed to reach the quota of 11,593 on first-preferences.

After candidates failed again to reach the quota on the second count, Colette Finn of the Green Party was eliminated. With each of the candidates still failing to reach the quota following the third count, Becky Kealy of Aontu was eliminated and her votes re-distributed.

At this stage, O'Shea was still snapping at the heads of the incumbent deputies.

A first time candidate with Aontu, Beaky Kealy from Kanturk said voters resonated with her party's pro-life message.

That made it all the more perplexing to some in the count centre when almost 2,200 of her transfers went to Mr McCarthy, leapfrogging him ahead of Mr O'Shea.

The Social Democrats had very vocally campaigned for a yes vote in the referendum to repeal the eighth amendment.

Sinn Fein did not run a candidate in the constituency, which according to sources at the count centre was a major mistake; Some polling stations had seen a number of young people querying where they could find the Cork North West Sinn Fein candidate for the party on their ballot papers.

Michael Creed, who topped the poll on the fifth and final count of the evening, said he did not want to speculate on why some of his party colleagues failed to hold on to their seats.

When it was put to him that voters seemed more concerned with health and housing rather than the economy, Mr Creed said:
The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the validity of the 2018 amendment to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (SC/ST Act) which had among other things reintroduced the bar on anticipatory bail to those accused under the Act.

The judgment was delivered by a bench of justices Arun Mishra, Vineet Saran and Ravinda Bhat.

Parliament had, by an amendment to the SC/ST Act, introduced section 18A in 2018. The government had resorted to this step to undo the March 2018 judgment of the Supreme Court in Dr. Subhash Kashinath Mahajan vs The State of Maharashtra.

In that judgment, the court had responded to allegations of abuse of the SC/SC Act and filing of false cases by introducing some safeguards. Foremost among them was that there would be no absolute bar on grant of anticipatory bail to a person accused under this law.

The court also mandated a preliminary inquiry prior to the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) and requirement of investigation officer getting further approval prior to effecting an arrest. In the case of a public servant, the court had said that arrest can be made only after the approval of the appointing authority and in case of a non-public servant, after approval by the Senior Superintendent of Police.

The judgment which virtually diluted the provisions of the act had led to widespread protests by Dalit communities.

The central government eventually moved to file a review petition against the judgment and also amended the SC/ST Act to get over the courts judgment.

Meanwhile petitions were filed against the amendment to the act on the grounds that it violates the right to equality and life under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.

In October 2019, the Supreme Court had allowed the review petitions and overturned its March 2018 judgment effectively sanctioning the amendment act.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 00:38:51|Editor: yan

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MAPUTO, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Monday that Mozambique is recovering well from the devastating impact of cyclones Idai and Kenneth that battered the country last year.

IMF's Deputy Managing Director Zhang Tao spoke to the press in Maputo after a closed-door meeting with Minister of Economy and Finance Adriano Maleiane, Bank of Mozambique Governor Rogerio Zandamela.

"The recovery is certainly the result of good policies and reforms that the country has been implementing for the past three years," Zhang said, adding that the IMF expects the set of policies to continue for the next three years, in particular in areas that promote macroeconomic stability and structural reforms, including government reform.

Zhang said the IMF believes that Mozambique will have a positive prospect and that the institute remains committed to working with the government of Mozambique and its people.

The IMF and other cooperation partners have suspended support for Mozambique's state budget since a "hidden debt" scandal became public in 2016.

Mozambique is currently negotiating with international partners over the form of resuming financial support for its state budget.
Experience Handling Ebola Epidemic May Help Africa Dodge Coronavirus Bullet

By Lisa Schlein February 08, 2020

The World Health Organization is scaling up measures to keep Africa free of the deadly coronavirus by shoring up the continent's fragile health system and increasing preparedness efforts to tackle the potential spread of the dangerous virus to the continent.

In its latest update Saturday, China reported 811 deaths inside China out of 37,198 cases. The WHO in its Friday update reported 270 cases in 24 countries, including two deaths outside mainland China, in the Philippines and Hong Kong.

The novel coronavirus has been moving with breathtaking speed since it was first detected in China's city of Wuhan in December. While the number of cases of the pneumonia-like illness has been expanding to more countries around the world, so far it has not gained a foothold in the African region.

But that is of little comfort to Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. "We are very concerned about it as we have watched it reach other continents around the world."

We know that there is quite significant travel of people from China to Africa and back ... business people working in different African countries. And we have an intense travel of African business people, particularly going to China," she said.

Moeti told VOA her team had begun working with member states to help them "get ready for the possible onset of the coronavirus." She said the WHO was providing overall guidance to ministers of health on how to manage possible cases and prevent the further spread of the disease.

She said the experience gained in tackling the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo could be usefully applied to a possible outbreak of the coronavirus on the continent."

The World Health Organization is scaling up measures to keep Africa free of the deadly coronavirus by shoring up the continent's fragile health system and increasing preparedness efforts to tackle the potential spread of the dangerous virus to the continent.

In its latest update Saturday, China reported 811 deaths inside China out of 37,198 cases. The WHO in its Friday update reported 270 cases in 24 countries, including two deaths outside mainland China, in the Philippines and Hong Kong.

The novel coronavirus has been moving with breathtaking speed since it was first detected in China's city of Wuhan in December. While the number of cases of the pneumonia-like illness has been expanding to more countries around the world, so far it has not gained a foothold in the African region.

But that is of little comfort to Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. "We are very concerned about it as we have watched it reach other continents around the world."

We know that there is quite significant travel of people from China to Africa and back ... business people working in different African countries. And we have an intense travel of African business people, particularly going to China," she said.

Moeti told VOA her team had begun working with member states to help them "get ready for the possible onset of the coronavirus." She said the WHO was providing overall guidance to ministers of health on how to manage possible cases and prevent the further spread of the disease.

She said the experience gained in tackling the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo could be usefully applied to a possible outbreak of the coronavirus on the continent."

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(Newser)  When authorities finally located Lori Vallow, a person of interest in the disappearance of two of her children, they also located a cellphone belonging to one of those children. That's according to a source who spoke to CBS News about the case; JJ Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17, were last seen in Idaho, where the family lived, in September. Lori Vallow fled the state shortly after police conducted a welfare check on the kids in November, and authorities located her and her husband, Chad Daybell (who is not the children's father) in Hawaii last month. The source says that authorities found Tylee's cellphone with her mother, and that someonebut it's not clear who had used it a few times since Tylee was last seen.

story continues below

On Oct. 25, more than a month after Tylee vanished, the source says a text was sent from the teen's phone to a friend who was concerned about her. "hi. miss you guys too luv ya." The recipient of the text says it didn't sound like Tylee. That same month, two small Venmo payments were sent from the teen's account to a relative. Last week, it was revealed that when Vallow left Idaho, she left behind a storage unit full of children's items. (Much more on the strange case, which involves the deaths of Vallow's brother and both Vallow's and Daybell's previous spouses, here.)
I ndia's foreign minister has spoken of his natural desire to see the repatriation of more treasures that were brought to Britain during colonial rule.

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said he welcomed the greater sensitivity about history and a slow trend in the return of colonial-era relics to their homelands.

The question of whether cultural and religious artefacts seized by Britain, and kept in UK museums, should be repatriated has been the subject of fierce debate in recent years.

They include the Koh-i-Noor diamond, which is a centrepiece of the Crown Jewels on display at the Tower of London.

The 105.6-carat stone, one of the largest diamonds in the world which was recut by Mayfairs Garrard & Co, is set in the middle of the Queen Mothers crown, left, which rested on her coffin at her funeral in 2002.

The Crown of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, with the Koh-i-noor diamond / Crown Copyright

Speaking at a press conference in Delhi, Mr Jaishankar told the Standard: I have a natural desire to see as many things which rightfully belong to India back in India.

The Koh-i-Noor fell into British hands in the mid-19th century and its destiny has taken on a symbolic significance for many Indians.

In 2016, the Indian government said it would make all possible efforts to get the diamond back, but its solicitor general ruled the gem was given voluntarily to the British by the Maharaja Ranjit Singh as compensation for war costs.

David Cameron said in 2010, when he was prime minister, that the Koh-i-Noor would stay put in Britain.

Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan have also laid claim to the diamond. Mr Jaishankar would not be drawn on the Indian governments position on one particular jewel or object, but praised a shift from what he called utter denial about how treasures were acquired.

He added: We have seen globally a return of heritage and artefacts from the colonial era to the original homes.

Its a slow trend, its still not that vast numbers of artefacts are coming back.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 05:42:35|Editor: huaxia

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Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez speaks with media representatives in Caracas, Venezuela, on February 8, 2020.(Xinhua/Marcos Salgado)

The vice president attributed the act to "opposition extremists" under direction from the United States.

CARACAS, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez on Sunday denounced a "terrorist attack" on a warehouse in the northern state of Carabobo belonging to two state-owned communications companies.

"A terrorist attack caused a fire in the CANTV and Movilnet Flor Amarillo Warehouse, resulting in the total loss of strategic telecommunications material," Rodriguez said through her Twitter account.

The fire occurred near midnight in the Flor Amarillo area of Valencia, where the warehouse of CANTV, the national telephone company of Venezuela, and Movilnet, the state-owned mobile communications company, was located.

Rodriguez added that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had called for "the immediate restitution of the indispensable material and the capture of those responsible."

The vice president attributed the act to "opposition extremists" under direction from the United States.

CANTV denounced the attack through its Twitter account, saying that it was a crime against services provided for the Venezuelan people. 
Stonington police stopped an 80-year-old wrong-way driver on I-95 Saturday night before anyone was hurt, and discovered he was driving on a suspended license.

Police were called about the wrong-way driver headed southbound on the interstate around 11:30 p.m. Saturday, Fox 61 reported.
No attacks have been reported since Monday midnight.

The number of Russian-led forces' attacks on Ukrainian positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, grew to nine on Sunday, February 9.

Read alsoOne Ukrainian soldier wounded amid enemy shelling in Donbas on Feb 9

"The enemy shelled our positions, using proscribed 152mm and 122mm artillery systems, 120mm and 82mm mortars, as well as grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns, and small arms," the press center of the Joint Forces Operation Headquarters said on Facebook in a morning update on Monday, February 10.

Under attack were Ukrainian positions near the villages of Lebedynske, Starohnativka, Novoluhanske, Novozvanivka, and Orikhove.

One Ukrainian soldier was wounded amid shelling on February 9.

No enemy attacks were reported from 00:00 to 07:00 Kyiv time on February 10.
Recruitment website Indeed has told its Ireland and Australia-based employees to work from home to prevent the potential spread of the coronavirus, the company said on Monday.

The company said one of its employees in Singapore might have been exposed to coronavirus after family members visited a facility caring for a coronavirus patient.

Since some employees who visited Singapore also recently visited Indeed's Dublin and Sydney offices, the company said it had asked all employees in both offices to work from home for now.

The company stressed that there were no confirmed cases of infection, and said the move was a precaution to avoid any possible risk to the health and safety of its employees.

Indeed employs around 9,000 people globally, with around 1,000 of those based in Dublin. There have been no cases of the coronavirus in Ireland so far. Australia declared its first confirmed case last month.

The company said that business continues "uninterrupted across the globe." (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie
TORONTO, Feb. 10, 2020 /CNW/ - Media headlines about increased commercial insurance premiums have grabbed the attention of many Canadians over the past few months. Commercial insurance is becoming challenging on a global level following years of significant losses. Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) is launching the National Commercial Insurance Task Force to examine how this is impacting Canadian companies and consumers.

National Commercial Task Force

The task force will bring together insurers, insurance brokers, local chambers of commerce, small businesses, trucking stakeholders, and risk experts to examine the impacts of the hardening global market and develop recommendations to help keep insurance affordable and available across the country. The task force will examine ways to help consumers mitigate risk and manage costs.

"We've heard from concerned parties across the country about challenges with finding affordable insurance and we want to know what can be done to overcome the problems," said Don Forgeron, President and CEO, IBC. "We strongly believe that if all stakeholders work together, we can find solutions to control costs and, ultimately, improve insurance availability."

The task force includes representatives from Canadian Condominium Institute, Canadian Trucking Alliance, Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Insurance Brokers Association of Canada, Risk and Insurance Management Society, IBC, the insurance industry and other stakeholders.

The task force will hold its inaugural meeting in Edmonton in February, followed by meetings in Vancouver, Halifax, Toronto and Montreal in the coming months. Its report providing recommendations is due this fall.

Condominium Action Plan

In Alberta, to further assist affected condominium corporations, IBC is developing a Condominium Action Plan that includes:

Engaging a risk manager to assist condominium corporations find reasonable insurance

Providing education and information on insurance and the importance of risk management and loss prevention strategies for condominiums

Providing the government with best practices used in other jurisdictions

Engaging insurers, stakeholders and government to directly assist condominium corporations facing issues in the marketplace

"The industry wants to work with all stakeholders to help condominium corporations find adequate and affordable insurance," stated Forgeron. "The Condominium Action Plan is a multi-faceted approach that will help consumers directly, ensure everyone has the best up-to-date information available and promote the critical importance of risk mitigation and loss prevention in condominiums in Alberta and across the country."

Consumers who have questions or want to learn more about commercial insurance, risk management or factors that impact premiums can call 1-844-2ASK-IBC or visit ibc.ca.

About Insurance Bureau of Canada

Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) is the national industry association representing Canada's private home, auto and business insurers. Its member companies make up 90% of the property and casualty (P&C) insurance market in Canada. For more than 50 years, IBC has worked with governments across the country to help make affordable home, auto and business insurance available for all Canadians. IBC supports the vision of consumers and governments trusting, valuing and supporting the private P&C insurance industry. It champions key issues and helps educate consumers on how best to protect their homes, cars, businesses and properties.

P&C insurance touches the lives of nearly every Canadian and plays a critical role in keeping businesses safe and the Canadian economy strong. It employs more than 128,000 Canadians, pays $9.4 billion in taxes and has a total premium base of $59.6 billion.

For media releases and more information, visit IBC's Media Centre at www.ibc.ca . Follow us on Twitter @InsuranceBureau or like us on Facebook. If you have a question about home, auto or business insurance, contact IBC's Consumer Information Centre at 1-844-2ask-IBC.

SOURCE Insurance Bureau of Canada

For further information: Media Contact: Vanessa Barrasa - Manager, Media Relations - 416-550-9062, [email protected]

Related Links

www.ibc.ca


Through his investigation, he received information to determine that the female party was taken and being held against her will in another state, Bell said. He was able to locate her phone in Kansas and requested assistance from the sheriffs department in that area.

From the time the call was received in Coweta until an arrest was made by deputies was only three hours.

Because of Officer Leaks determination, the female party was recovered and a dangerous felon was arrested on possible federal charges, Bell noted.

Patrolmen Austin King and Nick Winters were each presented with a General Commendation Award for their efforts at a Coweta home where an elderly male was having a medical emergency. The subject had fallen and required immediate attention to a head wound.

After the man was taken by EMS, his wife asked if the police officers would help clean up the blood.

Officer King and Officer Winters, without hesitation, donned their protective gear and cleaned the entire area for the citizen, Bell said. This is not part of their duties, but it truly shows their total dedication to the citizens of Coweta and their mission as police officers.
By Trend

Parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan were held in accordance with democratic norms, Member of the Hellenic Parliament Lazaros Tsavdaridis, who observed the elections, said at a press conference in Baku, Trend reports.

"We visited four polling stations. The election process went without any problems. I spoke with a number of voters, volunteers, observers, party representatives, and no one said anything bad about the election process. The elections were held at the highest level in accordance with the standards of democratic elections," the Greek MP said.

Another Member of the Hellenic Parliament Stella Biziou noted that the flow of people during the elections was normal, and the voting process was in line with democratic standards.

Stella Biziou also expressed the view that the new composition of the Azerbaijani Parliament will work with the goal of further growth, development and progress of the country.

The parliamentary elections of the sixth convocation were held in Azerbaijan on Feb. 9. Some 1,314 candidates were registered within the early parliamentary elections.

The candidacies of 246 people were nominated by 19 political parties, 1,057 were self-nominated, 11 - by initiative groups. Twenty-one percent accounted for female candidates while 79 percent  male candidates.

Throughout the day, 5,573 permanent polling stations operated in 125 constituencies of the country. There were 5,329,460 registered voters.

Some 883 international observers and 77,790 local observers monitored the voting process. Among the local observers, 35,152 were representatives of political parties. International observers represented 58 countries and 59 organizations.

Exit polls were conducted by AJF & Associates Inc. (US) jointly with Citizens' Labor Rights Protection League, the Rey Monitoring Center, and the French OpinionWay Research Institute together with the Human Rights in the XXI Century  Azerbaijan Foundation.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
A company which used call centres in India to sell vitamin and healthcare supplements using high pressure sales tactics has been wound up in a British court.

The UK's Insolvency Service said on Monday that it had conducted confidential investigations after it received complaints about Young Forever's trading practices.

"Young Forever's victims were the elderly and the vulnerable and many more people will be protected from their aggressive sales tactics thanks to the court's decision to wind-up the company," said Irshard Mohammed, Senior Investigator for the Insolvency Service.

Investigators discovered that the company sold vitamins and healthcare supplements through cold calling members of the public who were either elderly or vulnerable.

The court also heard that Young Forever's marketing and sales techniques were improper, applied excessive mark ups in excess of 1,000 per cent and the company failed to maintain or preserve adequate records.

"Young Forever used call centres based in India and victims said that sales staff were persistent and would call repeatedly," the Insolvency Service said in a statement.

"Sales staff also falsely claimed that Young Forever was linked to government bodies, healthcare providers or the NHS," it added.

Following the investigation, Young Forever Limited was wound up in the public interest last week in the High Court of Justice before Judge Sebastian Prentis and an Official Receiver has been appointed as liquidator to liquidate its assets.

At the hearing to consider the petition to wind up the company, the court heard that Young Forever was incorporated in June 2018, with registered offices in Kensington, west London.

The current recorded director of the company is Shadab Shaikh, who has a Mumbai correspondence address listed on the UK's Companies House records.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorney Allan M. Siegel has tried or settled more than a thousand cases in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, and has continually demonstrated his skill and expertise as a Civil Trial Advocate through rigorous examination and testing by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA).

Recently, Siegel successfully achieved recertification in Civil Trial Law  a distinction held by approximately 3% of all attorneys nationwide.

NBTA Board Certification: Legal Specialization

Accredited by the American Bar Association, the National Board of Trial Advocacy has been certifying attorneys since 1977 as a means to improve the quality of trial advocacy in U.S. courtrooms, and serve as a reliable resource for consumers in need of experienced and highly qualified counsel. In accordance with the ABA's Standing Committee on Specialization, the NBTA meticulously vets applicants in several core specialty areas  including Civil, Criminal, and Family Trial Law. As a personal injury attorney, Siegel has maintained his Board Certification in Civil Trial Law.

Board Certification is a credential for which attorneys must meet challenging and meaningful standards. In addition to demonstrating expansive knowledge, skill, and proficiency in their field of law, certified lawyers are screened for substantial trial experience, judicial and peer references attesting to their competency, and continuing legal education. Board Certification is valid for a period of five years, after which attorneys must apply for recertification.

Board Certification is one of the highest, most stringent, and most reliable honor an attorney can achieve, and the only legal industry distinction awarded by non-profit organizations. The NBTA and all board certifying organizations play an invaluable role in objectively evaluating top lawyers, and safeguarding the public's ability to choose a good attorney.

Allan M. Siegel: A Proven Advocate

A graduate of The George Washington University and The George Washington University's National Law Center, Attorney Allan M. Siegel has leveraged his expertise in Civil Trial Law to recover millions in compensation for victims injured by the negligent and wrongful acts of others. Over 25 years in practice, he has cultivated a proven record of success in civil litigation and personal injury matters involving motor vehicle collisions, brain injuries, commercial truck accidents, sexual abuse, wrongful death, premises liability, and other complex claims.

In addition to years of NBTA Board Certification, Siegel has been named one of DC's "Top Lawyers" by Washingtonian Magazine every year the publication has done its survey, since 2004, has been selected to the prestigious Washington, DC Super Lawyers list for 10 consecutive years, and chosen to key leadership roles, including his service as President of the Trial Lawyers' Association of Metropolitan Washington, DC. Siegel currently serves as the District of Columbia delegate to the American Association for Justice, is a member of the Board of Directors of its Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, and is an active member of the AAJ's Interstate Trucking Litigation Group, serving as co-chairman of multiple committees.

Allan M. Siegel is a nationally recognized civil trial lawyer and Partner at the personal injury law firm of Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C., where he's helped the firm recover more than $500 million in compensation for victims and families across DC, Maryland, and Virginia. More information can be found at: www.chaikinandsherman.com.

SOURCE Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C.

Related Links

https://www.chaikinandsherman.com


A recent controversy with the Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) amid a coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak in China has once again raised questions on whether it is wise to exclude Taiwan from specialized UN agencies.

A U.S.-based academic reached out to ICAO on its social media asking whether the organization would share time-sensitive information with Taiwan due to the health emergency and its proximity to China. The country of 23.5 million people serves as an important transportation hub in the Asia Pacific, with several flights to China daily.

ICAOs response was to block the account. As other academics and journalists learned of this development, they also reached out to ICAO and they, in turn, were blocked. The individuals in question, the ICAO communications unit claimed, had engaged in a campaign of disinformation, adding that inaccurate, compromising or offensive material would thenceforth result in blocked accounts.

At no point did the original academics refer to Taiwan being allowed to join the UN; the questions were technical in nature and pertained to whether alternative ways could be found to ensure that a dangerous blind spot in Asia could be plugged.

An ICAO communications officer later claimed that, to the best of our understanding [information is] all being promptly shared by China with all of the applicable aviation stakeholders and officials in its sovereign territories.

Two main problems with that contention stand out: for one thing, Taiwan isnt a sovereign territory of the PRC; and as Taiwanese authorities confirmed, neither ICAO nor the WHO has been sharing information with Taiwan. Without doubt, and given the precedent set during the 2003 SARS crisis, it was clear that the agencies were acting thus due to pressure from Beijing.

ICAOs contemptuous response would eventually result in the blocking of several dozens of accounts. Following reports in the media, the U.S. Department of State weighed in:

We call upon ICAO to immediately and permanently reverse its practice of blocking discussion of Taiwan on its Twitter properties and make clear publicly its understanding that freedom of expression must always supersede the political insecurities of member states.

Yet ICAO dug in its heels: campaigners and advocates were spreading disinformation. The ICAO even began claiming it hadnt blocked anyone for asking anything about anywhere  note their refusal to use the terms Taiwan or Chinese Taipei. Those who claimed to have been blocked or asked for the reasons why others had been blocked were, in their view, contributing to the spread of this misinformation.

The academics and journalists who reached out to ICAO fully understood that ICAOs hands are tied and that it would be invidious to expect the organization to go against UNs 1971 resolution that stipulates the Peoples Republic of China as the only legitimate representative of China to the United Nations. Instead, the academics only asked for alternative measures by which Taiwan could access information.

The communications team at ICAO behaved like someone who realizes hes been caught. Overwhelmed, it engaged in damage control and sought to cover its tracks. As a result, the organizations responses were self-contradictory, the accusations invidious, and the behaviour fell well short of what we should expect from a UN agency.

Another very high possibility is that ICAOs comms officers arent fully cognizant of Beijings designs on Taiwan, the complex history that surrounds its claims, or Chinas undue influence at the UN and its agencies, including ICAO (whose head is Fang Liu, formerly at the Civil Aviation Administration of China).

So, to use a rather impolite term, such individuals are useful idiots who are not necessarily bad intentioned  at least not initially  but who end up being complicit in Chinese Communist Party-style censorship.

This silly incident is emblematic of the deeper problems at the UN, where we have allowed an increasingly authoritarian regime to hijack international institutions. The coronavirus outbreak, like other health emergencies before it, raises the question of whether it is wise to stick to a UN resolution passed a half century ago, which clearly doesnt reflect current global needs.
India, Nepal, and Bangladesh have done well to decide on going ahead with the implementation of the Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA). The three countries, along with Bhutan, had signed on to the MVA in June 2015. However, Bhutan was unable to get it ratified. This proved to be a roadblock in the way of the Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) grouping implementing the landmark agreement. BBIN-MVA envisaged regulation of personal and public passenger vehicles as well as cargo vehicular traffic among the four signatory countries with a view to ensuring seamless travel among them. Its implementation was expected to provide a shot in the arm to sub-regional connectivity and cooperation, and to boost people-to-people contact, trade and tourism. The Bhutan roadblock prevented signatories from drawing on its benefits. By deciding now to implement the MVA sans Bhutan, Bangladesh, India and Nepal will be able to draw on the benefits of the connectivity plan. Bhutans road to participation in the MVA is not blocked, either. It will be able to climb on board whenever its Upper House of Parliament ratifies the agreement. Bangladesh, India and Nepal should keep Bhutan in the loop on all decisions, benefits and challenges encountered on the way of their implementation of the MVA.

Bhutan is concerned over the MVAs implications for its ecology and environment. A small mountainous country that is sparsely populated, Bhutan is keen to preserve its environment. Since vehicular traffic and flow of people between borders are expected to rise exponentially with the MVAs implementation, Bhutan is apprehensive that the consequent rise in vehicular pollution and footfalls will damage its fragile environment. While recognising that a boost to tourism will improve the livelihoods of the Bhutanese people, Bhutan prioritises quality of life over money and material benefits. This underlies the refusal of its Upper House to ratify the MVA. Bangladesh, India and Nepal must pay heed to the concerns raised by Bhutan as they have substantial merit. It should be possible for these three countries to address Bhutans concerns. For instance, they could consider placing a reasonable limit on vehicular traffic entering Bhutan. As for Bhutan, it should aim at sustainable development rather than no development. A compromise solution is possible.

Some in India will interpret Bhutans decision to stay out of the MVA for now as defiance of India. Such perceptions will gather strength especially in the context of Bhutan deciding to end free travel for Indian citizens to that country. These are flawed interpretations and should not impinge on bilateral relations. Bhutans primary concern is its environment and it wishes to avoid crowding its mountains and valleys with tourists. Indian must respect the values of the Bhutanese people.
The disengagement of troops along the entire contact line in Donbas is contrary to the Minsk agreements, Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Zahorodniuk has said in an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

"We have considered this issue very seriously at the Defense Ministry, the General Staff, other security agencies, and at NSDC meetings. The main thing is that this is contrary to the Minsk agreements. The Minsk agreements say that foreign military formations should leave Ukraine, and illegal military formations should be disarmed and disbanded. Of course, if the old agreements are replaced by the new ones, the new ones have more priority, and the new ones could speak of disengagement. Therefore, we would actually complicate any efforts to implement the Minsk agreements in this part," he said.

In addition, he said, the disengagement process does not in any way change the security situation.

"If there is political will on the other side to escalate the conflict, two kilometers will not make much difference. This is not a problem for snipers, for subversive and reconnaissance groups," Zahorodniuk said.

Earlier, the European Union expressed concern about the presence of Russian-led armed formations in disengagement areas in Donbas, including militants with armbands bearing the inscription "JCCC."

A relevant EU statement was read out during a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on February 6.

In this regard, the European Union called on Russia to influence Russian-supported armed formations with a view to ensuring the fulfillment of the commitments agreed upon during the Normandy Four summit in Paris on December 9.

op
More than six in ten regularly lose home internet access or suffer painfully slow speeds in a broadband blackout scandal.

At the same time, nine in ten received no compensation for repeated failures and poor performance of what has become an essential service.

The situation was made worse by the fact that four in ten of those who complained said their internet service provider handled their case badly.

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More than six in ten regularly lose home internet access or suffer painfully slow speeds in a broadband blackout scandal. At the same time, nine in ten received no compensation for repeated failures (stock)

The routine failures occur despite the fact households can be paying more than 1,000 a year for a full broadband, telephone and pay TV package, which is more than the cost of gas and electricity.

The problems stem from the fact that most of the UK's broadband service arrives over an ancient copper wire telephone network, some of which has been in place for more than a century.

During his bid to become Tory party leader, Boris Johnson, announced plans to deliver full fibre ultrafast broadband nationwide by 2025, however this deadline was subsequently set aside in favour of achieving it as soon as possible.

WHEN DO YOU GET MONEY BACK FROM INTERNET OUTAGES? Under the current voluntary compensation scheme puts no pressure on firms to improve services. Under the current structure, automatic compensation is not paid unless there has been a broadband blackout lasting at least two full working days. Even then, the level of compensation is just 8 with a further 8 for each full day it is not fixed after that. Advertisement

New consumer research found that 63 per cent of people suffer broadband outages or significantly slower internet speeds at least once a month. And 89 per cent did not receive any compensation.

Some 41 per cent of those who complained said their broadband supplier handled the case badly. Simply contacting the company often involves negotiating complex automated telephone systems and being kept on hold.

In fact, making a complaint is so difficult that very few people, around one in three ever make one on the issue of poor speeds.

The survey, by price comparison experts comparethemarket.com, found people who work from home are particularly hard hit by the failing broadband system.

At the same time, the current voluntary compensation scheme puts no pressure on firms to improve services.

Under the current structure, automatic compensation is not paid unless there has been a broadband blackout lasting at least two full working days.

Even then, the level of compensation is just 8 with a further 8 for each full day it is not fixed after that.

The majority of people - 61 per cent - pay a premium for so-called fast or ultrafast fibre broadband which should offer download speeds between 30-100 megabytes. However, one in four said they suffered from service failures and around the same number believe they are not getting value for money.

Head of Digital at comparethemarket.com, Holly Niblett, said: 'Poor connectivity is clearly a UK-wide problem which undermines the government's goal for all households to have access to superfast broadband.

During his bid to become Tory party leader, Boris Johnson, announced plans to deliver full fibre ultrafast broadband nationwide by 2025, however this deadline was subsequently set aside in favour of achieving it as soon as possible (stock)

HOW FAST ARE DIFFERENT FIBRE BROADBAND CONNECTIONS? Full fibre: 1 Gbps. HD video conference or hour-long webinar takes mere seconds to download. Ultrafast: 300 Mbps. Can handle multiple online activities for multiple users at once without major interruptions in service. Superfast: 30 Mbps. Under ideal conditions will be sufficient for your average internet user. Advertisement

'Too many customers suffer in silence, perhaps unaware that they could be missing out on compensation for poor connectivity. Switching broadband provider is one way to signal unhappiness with poor service, and could save you money every month, as the most attractive deals tend to be offered to new customers.'

The telecoms regulator Ofcom has drawn up a blueprint that will see the old copper wire network ripped out and replaced with fibre cables to all homes and businesses.

The total cost has been estimated at 33.4billion, which will be recouped over time from customers through their bills with 5bn coming from taxpayers.

Ofcom's interim chief executive, Jonathan Oxley, said: 'This is akin to building the Channel Tunnel, it is a huge undertaking.' 'There are some very ancient parts to the copper network and that is the issue, it is becoming obsolete.

'Full-fibre broadband is much faster and more reliable. It's vital that people and businesses everywhere - whether in rural areas, smaller towns or cities - can enjoy these benefits.'
G Ramesh Babu By

Express News Service

SRIKAKULAM: CVN Murthy, a former chief engineer of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Board (APSEB), spends 90 per cent of his pension on social service activities every month. He spends Rs 30,000 to feed more than 120 beggars daily at various temples in the district headquarters town.

The septuagenarian also offers medicines worth Rs 15,000 to the poor by conducting evening clinics at the Red Cross Medicine Bank and Panchayatana Siddi Vinayaka temple at PN Colony with the support of a senior doctor.

After the death of his only daughter CV Nagajyothi due to cancer about 15 years ago, Murthy started social service activities in her memory. He floated CV Nagajyothi Welfare and Service Society seven years ago to undertake social welfare activities.

He constructed CV Nagajyoti Ananda Nilayam, an old age home, at a cost of Rs 70 lakh in Srikakulam in July 2018. He disposed of one of his houses for constructing the old age home. For its maintenance, he provides Rs 50,000 every month.

Though he gets a monthly pension of Rs 1.2 lakh, he keeps only Rs 10,000 for himself. Murthy also spends interest accrued on his fixed deposits on constructing temples and other spiritual activities. He also looks after the welfare of stray dogs by feeding and treating the injured animals in collaboration with NGO Green Mercy.

I have decided to spend my total property for the cause of the poor. I have been extending services to the poor people in various forms with the support of Red Cross Society chairman P Jagan Mohan Rao, Murthy told TNIE.
Brad Jones and his business partners werent gambling.

As they worked to build more than 150 new apartments in downtown Harrisburg over the past five years, they let the market inform their decisions, Jones said, and all signs pointed to success.
After being almost wiped out in September 2019 by Hurricane Dorian, the Abaco Islands of Bahamas are showing signs of improvement although they are still struggling to recover before the next hurricane season hits.

Volunteers and work crews for one are cleaning streets, rebuilding homes and repairing roofs in Marsh Harbour. However, in some parts of the town, the only signs of life come from stray dogs and the deafening quiet is only disturbed by distant sounds of a chainsaw.

According CNN, there are still some areas in the islands that are abandoned and remained untouched since the hurricane's land fall on September 1,2019.

In a report by Bahamas Disaster Reconstruction's Katherine Smith, she said that utilities have little by little come back and that they expect power to be restored in Abaco by early summer, this year.

She also added that the urgency to recover and rebuild the place also comes from the thoughts of the coming 2020 hurricane season.

Also read: World War II Bomb Caused Panic in Soho's Dean Street London

In September 2019, CNN's Paula Newton covered the aftermath of the hurricane and said that there was 90 to 100 percent damage of properties during the hurricane's hit.

With the damage that it brought and the homes destroyed much of the population either displaced or evacuated leaving few people to living on the island which is not to completely rebuild the islands in a faster pace.

The Bahamian government has also provided dome structures that served as temporary housing for the residents who wanted to return to their homes in the islands.

Furthermore, the government is also launching a Home Repair Program to try to prepare the homes and get them ready for the coming hurricane season this year.

Debris brought by the hurricane's aftermath are still piling up along the streets of the islands which may be dangerous and deadly if the wind picks up in the coming hurricane season a few months from now.

Aside from the Abaco Islands, Grand Bahama was also severely devastated by hurricane Dorian. Vast parts of the island were submerged by almost 20 feet high storm surges which caused swamping of more than 4,200 homes on the island.

According to American Red Cross spokesperson Katie Wiles, one of the top needs on the island is a long term shelter due to the fact that although some homes are still partially standing they are not safe to stay in.

The storm surges also affected Grand Bahama's water supply, increasing its salinity causing the shortage of drinkable water in the island.

According to Bahamas' State Minister for Disaster Management and Reconstruction, 65% of households had their water supplies compromised when the water became salty in the aftermath of storm surges. He, however, emphasized that this number should significantly go down by the end of the summer.

On a brighter note, electricity is already back in most areas of Grand Bahama.

However, the hurricane's devastation has crippled the island's economy due to infrastructure damage. The unemployment rate shot up and remains high at the moment and there are infrastructure damage that is beyond repair making living difficult aside from meeting day-to-day needs.

Many international charities are still on the ground in the Bahamas after responding to Dorian's hit trying to rebuild the islands after the hurricane that almost wiped them out.

Related News: Australian Bush Fires: Heavy Rain Causes Flooding in Some Areas

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New Delhi, Feb 10 : Coming down heavily on the HRD ministry after the molestation incident in Gargi College, Mahila Congress President Sushmita Dev on Monday alleged that the HRD ministry has completely failed in providing security to the college campuses.

Students of Gargi women's college alleged they were molested and groped by a group of miscreants who were allegedly chanting "Jai Shri Ram".

The Congress leader said: "The main question arises that campuses are not safe and who has the responsibility to do this, the HRD Ministry and Vice Chancellor are supposed to provide security there".

"Students are saying that as right wing bodies have been named, the government doesn't want to take action," said Dev.

The students alleged they were molested by some people on February 6 when the annual fest was going on in the college. The Democratic Students' Federation also extended its support to the victims on Monday and staged a protest.

The DSF has alleged that the intruders raised 'Jai Sri Ram' slogans and waved saffron flags.

"Students were repeatedly groped by these men as well as locked inside the bathroom by them. One of the students lost consciousness due to the mental and physical trauma brought on by the presence of this mob of lumpen sexual harrassers," said a student.
New Delhi: Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Babulal Marandi met Bharatiya Janata Party's national President JP Nadda on Sunday (February 9), paving the way for Jharkhand Vikas Morcha's merger with the BJP. During the meeting, Jharkhand in-charge Om Mathur was also present.

The JVM is all set to formally merge with the BJP at a programme organised in Ranchi on February 17. On the occasion, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the BJP chief Nadda would remain present, along with Om Mathur.

Earlier on February 7, Babulal Marandi expelled MLA Pradeep Yadav from the party on the charges of anti-party activities. Yadav is the second legislator to be expelled from the party.

On February 4, the party had issued a show-cause notice to Poriyhaat MLA Pradeep Yadav for certain statements made by him which the party said were anti-party. Yadav has also been accused of making comments against Marandi.

On January 21, the JVM-P had sacked its Mandar MLA Bandhu Tirkey after accusing him of being involved in anti-party activities. Bandhu was also served a show cause notice.

The action against both the MLAs is being seen as the party's step to clear the path for the merger with the BJP.

In the recently concluded Assembly elections in Jharkhand, the JVM-P had won three seats, which included Babulal Marandi, Pradeep Yadav, and Bandhu Tirkey.

Both Yadav and Tirkey were against the merger with the BJP, according to the party sources.

Notably, the JVM has called a meeting of the party leaders on February 11, probably to discuss the merger proposal.

Babulal Marandi was the first Chief Minister of the BJP-led state government in Jharkhand, but he quit the party in 2006 and formed the new party.

(With Agency Inputs)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 10

Trend:

Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 23 times, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry on Feb. 10.

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.
SAN RAMON, Calif., Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- vCom Solutions , a leader in IT spend and lifecycle management software and services, today announced record organizational growth and aggressive momentum into 2020. Over the last 12 months vCom has seen a revenue increase in each of its four corporate business units, expanded its customer base by 20%, and hired a record number of new employees. The companys growth trajectory is indicative of significant market opportunity and a growing demand for comprehensive IT spend management capabilities within the mid-market.



"In 2020, we expect that mid-market IT spend in the U.S. will rise above $150 billion, with the majority of this spend growth being driven by cloud services and IT support services, said Hyoun Park, CEO and Founder of the technology research firm Amalgam Insights . As the use of technology continues to grow in mid-market organizations, companies with a strategy for rationalizing cost and service management will have a competitive advantage in supporting efficient cost structures and rapidly deploying new technologies."

vCom provides mid-market IT organizations with software and services that drive unparalleled lifecycle management of every IT asset, enabling them to make better decisions faster, maximize their time by focusing on core business initiatives, and create savings and significant shareholder value.

vCom is making the link between simplicity and flexibility with their IT spend management solutions, said Steve Gaston, CIO of Sierra Pacific Industries, one of the largest lumber producers in the United States. With vManager , we have company-wide visibility into our IT expenses across multiple vendors and a wide variety of technologies including our voice and data. The vCom team works with us to create an unprecedented experience that is clearly aligned with our corporate goals. The technology is robust, and the companys services and support make the experience top notch.

As part of this expansive growth, vCom has achieved a number of major milestones:

Customer Growth: vCom saw an acceleration in the number of mid-sized clients across key verticals ranging from banking to manufacturing. New additions to the company roster include AIPAC, Alliance Medical Center, Cochrane & Company, Goorin Brothers, Greenleaf Hospitality Group, The Hagadone Corporation, Jackson Lewis, Spero Therapeutics, and Wheatland Bank.

Spend Categories: vCom saw revenue growth in each of the 6 categories of spend that comprise the organizations IT spend management solutions due to an increase in the amount of spend under management for each of the Network, Mobile, Collaboration, Hardware, Cloud, and SaaS categories.

Software Business Unit: Increased adoption of vComs proprietary IT spend platform vManager spurred a 195% year-over-year (YOY) increase in software license fees. The latest release, vManager 12, launched in December 2019. The platforms mobile app, vManager 7, is slated for launch in Q1 2020, and will provide additional functionality to IT managers who need to manage their IT environment on the go.

Managed Services Business Unit: The company saw double digit YOY growth across key metricsincluding increased revenue and spend under managementfor its managed services portfolio. Those numbers are expected to increase in 2020 given heightened market awareness of the growing need to control cloud and SaaS spend.

Aggregator Business Unit: Revenue in the companys core Buyers Club segment continued to increase. The companys success in aggregating and consolidating IT services at a discount continues to grow along with the number of vendors vCom helps to manage.

Financing Business Unit: The business unit saw a 200% increase in revenue as more clients begin to take advantage of vComs ability to help them transition from CapEx to OpEx and replace hefty upfront investments with predictable monthly fees on a single bill.

Employee Growth: In 2019 vCom added 40 employees, including the executive-level hires of Chief Information Officer Shrihari Hosahalli and VP of Customer Experience John Adams. Although vCom retains its headquarters in San Ramon, CA, nearly 60% of all employees are remote, reinforcing the companys commitment to a distributed workforce in order to attract the most qualified employees.

vComs continued growth is a great indicator that our clients are seeing significant improvements in the management of their IT spend, said Gary Storm, President and CEO of vCom. Our four business unitsdedicated to solving the nine challenges around every IT asset across six categories of spendare delivering measurable success in the form of time savings, improved strategic visibility, and increased shareholder value.

About vCom Solutions

vCom is a cloud-based software and managed services company focused on helping enterprises manage IT spend from procure-to-pay. vCom improves visibility and control within a single software while decreasing expenses for networks, mobile, cloud, collaboration, hardware, and SaaS technologies. To learn more about vCom visit http://vcomsolutions.com .

Contact:

Renee Maler

Philosophy PR + Marketing

510.499.9746

renee@philosophypr.com

A video accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d011cbe3-7083-48e5-bdf2-24da7fb33629
Update Googles App

Open the Shortcuts app and create a new shortcut

Now, click on +Add Action

Type Google in the search bar to add it in the compatible apps

Choose a voice command action, such as Search Google

Tap on Done

Now, iPhone users can use their Siri voice assistant to search on Google . The new update in the Google app for iOS enables users to search through Siri by using Apples Shortcuts app.Apples Shortcuts app is available in the iPhones, but if not there, users can download it for free from the Apple Store.Heres how you can set up the Siri shortcut for the Google App.You can easily search for anything on Google through Siri without any hassle.However, if you are fond of listening to Siris voice when it shows you the answers, heres the bad news for you  Siri will no longer read the answers to you.It might be a little surprising, but the user will be getting more than just a voice read-over. Update your Google App and search all your queries in a simple manner.Read next: Google Chrome will soon put an end to disruptive ads during video content
Jackson, or Miss Janet Jackson as dubbed in the release, comes to the United Center on July 27. With a new album, Black Diamond, due for release this year, the time is ripe for Jackson to hit the road. The 34-date run kicks off in Miami on June 24, and concludes in Tacoma, Washington. The venues arent small but neither is the ambition. Black Diamond certainly be the deal, with a new production promised. Also promised is music from the 30th-anniversary release of Rhythm Nation, because you also have to give the people what they want, especially if Diamond isnt a gem.
Most memories fade in a matter of days or weeks, while some persist for months, years, or even for life. What allows certain experiences to leave such a long-lasting imprint in our neural circuits? This is an age-old question in neurobiology that has never been resolved, but new evidence is pointing to a surprising new answer.

In a study published February 10, 2020 in Nature Neuroscience, UC San Francisco scientists have discovered that mice quickly learn a fearful response to a situation perceived as threatening, but for such a conditioned response to become long-lasting requires brain cells to increase amounts of an insulating material called myelin, which may serve to reinforce and stabilize newly formed neural connections.

According to the UCSF researchers, continued research on this role of myelin in learning might one day lead to new treatments for afflictions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), in which unwanted, intrusive memories are continually retrieved because they are so strongly encoded in the brain.

"We find that a single, brief fear-learning experience can cause long-term changes in myelination and associated neurophysiological changes within the brain that can be detected even a month later," said study author Mazen Kheirbek, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and a member of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences.

"Investigating the role of new myelin formation in adaptive and maladaptive learning is an important opportunity both for understanding basic mechanisms of learning and memory, as well as for identifying new targets for the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders," he said.

Kheirbek, whose research at UCSF focuses on the neural circuits that generate mood and anxiety-related behaviors, jointly supervised the study with Jonah Chan, PhD, a Weill Institute member and the Debbie and Andy Rachleff Distinguished Professor in the Department of Neurology, whose research focus is on how the brain creates myelin and why it decays in multiple sclerosis (MS).

Growing Evidence That Myelin Plays Role in Learning

Myelin is formed during early development by brain cells called oligodendrocytes, which wrap themselves hundreds of times around the branching axons emanating from certain key neurons. This forms a thick sheath of protein and fat that acts like an insulator around an electrical cable, strengthening and speeding electrical signaling in the nerve pathways that connect one neuron to the next.

This insulation is particularly important for the brain's busiest information superhighways, like the high-speed nerve fibers that can extend three feet or more, giving your brain nearly instant command over your body's muscles. Damage to this myelin and an associated loss of muscle control are hallmarks of MS, but comparatively little attention has been given to the possibility that myelin could also undergo dynamic changes in the healthy adult brain.

However, in the past few years scientists have discovered new myelination forming within the brain during long-term learning, specifically in motor learning (mice learning to run on complex wheels, for example) and in spatial learning (mice learning to find their way back to a particular location within a maze).

Scientists have known for decades that learning depends initially on the brain's ability to rewire itself by forming new connections between neurons. These new studies represent growing evidence that myelin's ability to reinforce and maintain these new connections may determine what makes certain memories stick.

Robust Myelin May Stabilize Persistent Memories

The new study takes these findings a step further, showing that changes in myelin play a critical role not only in animals' physical movements, but also in laying down long-lasting emotional memories.

When mice receive a mild electrical foot shock in a conditioning chamber with various contextual cues, they quickly learn to associate the shock with this specific context: when they are later returned to the same chamber, they freeze, even in the absence of the shock. This is interpreted as a behavioral expression of remembered fear.

In their new study, the UCSF researchers determined that acquiring a memory of a foot shock in this way was accompanied by increased myelin formation in the medial prefrontal cortex, a brain region important for the formation of long-term memories.

To test whether this new myelin was required for the animals to learn, the researchers repeated the experiment with mice genetically engineered to be unable to form new myelin. These mice initially froze in the conditioning chamber, but unlike normal mice their fear appeared to fade away after about a month. The researchers concluded that new myelin formation is not needed for initial learning, but plays a specific role in the consolidation and maintenance of long-lasting fear memories.

Because myelin acts to increase the speed and efficiency of signals passing along axons, changes in myelination may influence important electrical signaling patterns within neural networks. In their new study the researchers discovered that losing the ability to form new myelin produced long-term changes in the activity of neurons in the mouse prefrontal cortex.

Simon Pan, a graduate student in UCSF's MD/PhD program and first author of the new Nature Neuroscience study, conceptualized and initiated the interdisciplinary project between the Chan and Kheirbek labs.

"This study is a significant advance in our understanding of how the brain remodels itself in response to a learning experience," Pan said. "A cardinal property of myelin is its stability, which uniquely positions it to support enduring, even life-long, memories in humans, mice, and other animals."

Understanding Myelin Plasticity Could Aid PTSD Treatment

In one experiment, the UCSF researchers discovered that mice first treated with the antihistamine clemastine fumarate, a potential MS therapy identified by Chan in 2014 that works by increasing myelin production, showed unusually robust long-term recall of the conditioned fear memory.

The study co-authors noted that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of combat veterans with PTSD suggests that they have increased myelin content in the brain's hippocampus, a region associated with consolidating experiences, transferring them from short- to long-term memory.

"This raises the possibility that aberrant myelination might be implicated in the pathophysiology of PTSD," Kheirbek said. "The intense fear responses observed in PTSD patients may be comparable to the increased fear responses exhibited by clemastine-treated mice with increased myelination. Myelin plasticity could be beneficial for skilled learning such as playing a piano or remembering locations, but also detrimental if it leads to persistent, overgeneralized fear responses to everyday situations."

Chan added, "We are now seeing that the process of oligodendrocyte generation and myelination can be quite dynamic in the normal adult brain. It's a form of plasticity that responds to experience and that causes long-lasting changes. This is a very recent concept that we are in the early days of exploring."

###

Authors: Additional co-authors of the UCSF study include postdoctoral fellow Sonia Mayoral, PhD, and research assistant Hye Sun Choi.

Funding: The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Adelson Medical Research Foundation, the Rachleff Family Endowment, a Weill Scholar Award, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Esther A. and Joseph Klingenstein Fund, and a One Mind Rising Star Award.

Disclosures: The authors declare no competing interests.

About UCSF: The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is exclusively focused on the health sciences and is dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. UCSF Health, which serves as UCSF's primary academic medical center, includes top-ranked specialty hospitals and other clinical programs, and has affiliations throughout the Bay Area. Learn more at https://www.ucsf.edu, or see our Fact Sheet.

MEDIA AVAILABLE: Microscope images of myelin formation triggered by learning in the mouse brain and photographs of researchers available here with caption / credit info.
Just about any time in the past half-year that any voter in Iowa or anywhere looked for the latest Joe Biden campaign news as it poured out of the Great News Funnel and onto their news screens or news pages, what they most often saw or heard following Biden's name was "and his son, Hunter." And then, "Burisma."

That's because they weren't really looking at Biden's campaign news after all, but the latest impeachment news about President Donald Trump. And of course it was impossible to talk about Trump's impeachment charges without also conveying, right at the top, some negative impression about Biden. After all, Trump's impeachment charges began with Trump's and Rudy Giuliani's determination to spread a negative message (never proven, just implied) about Biden. The Ukrainian gas company Burisma had apparently tried to buy influence a few years ago by paying huge bucks to Biden's untrained, inexpert, personally troubled son, Hunter. Just because his dad was President Barack Obama's vice president and point man for aid to Ukraine.

The tireless Giuliani and Trump had just spent the summer pressuring Ukraine's new president to announce he was investigating the Bidens and Burisma. Never mind actually proving impropriety, just make it seem there must be something smarmy that required investigation. Then let the mass and social media spread the smarmy news that would start the rumors and whispers that would do big-time damage to Trump's front-running Democratic opponent, Joe Biden.

And that's why, by any measure of objectives and outcomes, Biden's weak fourth-place finish in Monday's Iowa caucus debacle -- plus Trump's Republican-Senate impeachment acquittal on Wednesday -- means Trump and Giuliani have every reason to be celebrating today.

Romney got it right on Trump It is a speech that will forever affix itself to the tarnished legacy of this corrupt president, columnist Bill Lueders says.

Indeed, Trump and Giuliani could be veritably strutting across a flattop deck on a virtual aircraft carrier, high-fiving and posing beneath a huge banner that proclaims: "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!"

After all, Trump and Giuliani achieved just that -- aided by Biden's many mistakes and misplays this year and in past years in his handling of the crucial message politics that reaches voters. I have written for decades about the fact that voters make decisions based upon the clutter of facts, themes and impressions that reach them via print and video media, social media, late-night comic monologues, whatever.

Before going on, I really ought to explain that I have known Biden for decades. As a young correspondent for Newsday, I got to know Biden by riding from Washington, D.C., to Wilmington, Del., with him at the end of a workday. He went home; I caught the next train back to D.C. Sometimes I interviewed; other times we just talked.

So in 2014, when his eldest son, Beau, was battling his terminal cancer, I can understand the pain Biden felt as vice president when his other son, Hunter, who had battled alcoholism and drug abuse, landed a huge-paying job on the Ukraine gas company's board when his dad was Obama's point man for corruption-plagued Ukraine. I can guess Biden was probably reluctant to instruct Hunter to reject the job (not wanting to trigger new personal problems). But I can't understand why Biden then didn't tell Obama he must drop the Ukraine assignment because of that conflict of interest. I know Biden was shattered as Beau struggled and died.

Trump riding high at State of the Union, but it's a long way to Election Day The experiences of Jimmy Carter and George Bush are a reminder that the nine months from now to Election Day are a political lifetime, columnist Carl Leubsdorf says.

Biden's failure to resolve the conflict immediately is the real cause of the negative political message woes that were triggered in every Trump impeachment newsbreak. And that had a major role in the fact that Biden was unimpressive on the stump throughout the Iowa campaign. He has a strong case to make, but he mostly made it unconvincingly. Voters never did see a rollout of a new Biden innovation for his health care plan, for an international environmental climate initiative, or whatever. He was failed by his underperforming staff. But he was failed most by his underperforming self. No wonder he was shocked by a fourth place Iowa finish he never expected.

Yet this week, Biden just had a most extraordinarily impressive performance at a CNN town hall event. A member of the clergy asked Biden if he had any words to share with a young boy who stutters. And Biden was stunningly compassionate and more like his former self as he told the questioner and the world of his own ordeals and triumphs in curing his once-severe stuttering problem.

It's a tale he's told before. But this was Biden at his best. And as he revealed himself so caringly and compassionately, it began to seem that Biden's best may be yet to come.

Martin Schram, an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service, is a veteran Washington journalist, author and TV documentary executive.
While most of the other Democratic candidates for president were toiling through Iowa or New Hampshire, Mike Bloomberg was back in Texas recently doing the same thing he did weeks earlier: Trying to win over black voters.

Bloomberg, speaking in Greater Greenspoint, addressed hundreds of members of African Methodist Episcopal Churches from around the nation, bluntly telling them something he never talked much about as mayor of New York City.

The truth is, if I had been black I wouldnt have had the same opportunities and my life would have turned out very differently, the billionaire told the crowd. At the same time, I think its mostly true, that many black Americans of my generation would have ended up with far more wealth if they had been white.

Hes far from the only candidate making outreach to black voters a key part of campaign visits to Houston, and Texas overall.

During his last trip through Texas, in between private fundraisers, former Vice President Joe Biden spoke to the National Baptist Convention in Arlington, a predominately black audience. And in the fall Biden campaigned on the campus of Texas Southern University  one of nine historically black universities in Texas. Biden spent 45 minutes shaking hands, posing for selfies and hugging students.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

Other Democratic contenders such as Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren have participated in forums at TSU to make their case to black voters there. And before he dropped out of the race, Democrat Beto ORourke kicked off his campaign by holding a rally at TSU.

If any of them think they can win without us, they wont, said Aimee Allison, the founder of a group called She The People that is pushing candidates to address issues of importance to women of color.

The 2016 elections show just how critical black voters are to any Democrat hoping to win the White House. In 2016, a record 137.5 million Americans voted in the presidential election. But a report by the Pew Research Center shows that while almost every demographic group saw a corresponding boost, for the first time in 20 years black voter turnout declined, falling from 66.6 percent in 2012 to 59.6 percent in 2016.

Allison said already in this cycle she feels that candidates are doing much more to earn the votes of communities of color. She said Warrens addressed the maternal mortality rates among minorities aggressively, Sanders has decried the rise of white nationalism in the U.S., and Bloomberg is talking about income inequality and the wealth gap between white and black communities. These are all topics that Allison said candidates have rarely given much attention in presidential primaries in the past.

Recognizing and seeing us is an important first step, Allison said.

For subscribers: Democrats address drop in black voter turnout in Houston forum

President Donald Trumps campaign has also made a point to stress its work for minority communities. In speeches, including the State of the Union last week, Trump has honed in on unemployment data that shows black Americans are doing well under his administration.

Unemployment has reached the lowest rate in over half a century, Trump said in the State of the Union. African American, Hispanic American and Asian American unemployment have all reached their lowest levels ever recorded.

Early polling suggests Biden has a huge lead among black voters in the Democratic primary. In a survey released last month by The Washington Post and nonpartisan research firm Ipsos, Biden was the choice of 48 percent of black respondents. In second place was Sanders, who had 20 percent. Warren was next, at 9 percent, and Bloomberg was at 4 percent.

Bloombergs challenge is complicated by his tenure as mayor of New York City, where he pushed so-called stop and frisk policies that gave New York police broad authority to stop and search anyone suspected of a crime  a policy that disproportionately affected minority communities. Since announcing his White House bid, Bloomberg has publicly apologized for stop and frisk, acknowledging his error in allowing it to remain in place as long as he did.

I made a mistake, Bloomberg said. If you cant apologize, I dont know how you live with yourself.

In an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Bloomberg said his internal poll numbers show hes making up ground and hes convinced future poll numbers are going to show him doing much better with black voters.

Im addressing the issues they care about, said Bloomberg, who is expected to be back in Houston yet again Thursday.

In his speech in Houston, Bloomberg emphasized his history in helping the black community as mayor of New York City and his plan to address income inequalities in America. He has outlined a program he said will triple black family wealth in three years, double the number of black-owned businesses in the nation and help a million black families buy homes. He said while mayor of the city, his administration created 500,000 jobs and 175,000 affordable housing units.

I know something about creating jobs and building a business and generating wealth, Bloomberg said. Ive done it in the private sector and Ive done it in government for 12 years as the mayor of New York City.

He calls the plan the Greenwood Initiative. That name is taken from the Greenwood Massacre of 1921 in Tulsa, Okla., in which white mobs attacked black residents and businesses in the Greenwood District. Those attacks killed 36 and left 10,000 black people homeless.

Just acknowledging that history is a big deal for Susan Leath, a Philadelphia doctor who was at Bloombergs speech in Houston.

A lot of white people dont even know about that part of history, Leath said. I was very moved by it. I think he does have not only black people, but all people in mind.

But its not just their words that the candidates are being judged on. Who they hire and bring onto their campaigns has become a key topic as well.

In Texas, Biden has won praise for tapping veteran Dallas political consultant Jane Hamilton to lead his campaigns effort to win the Texas presidential primary. And Sanders has brought on former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner as his national campaign co-chair. While Sanders was in Washington, D.C., for the impeachment trial, Turner filled in for him before the African Methodist Episcopal Churches, making the case to voters that Sanders has a long history of working with the black community.

The fact that women of color are part of campaign teams now, and that the candidates are trying to reach out more in places like Houston, shows important change is happening in the Democratic Party, Allison said.

This is new territory in presidential politics, she said.

jeremy.wallace@chron.com
The Turkish Defence Ministry announced on Monday that the country's forces have struck 115 Syrian government targets, destroying 101 of them.

"According to preliminary data, 115 targets of the Syrian government army were fired upon, and 101 targets were hit, including three tanks destroyed and one helicopter shot down. The operation continues," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said further that it would retaliate against any attack on its forces, which have observation posts in northern Syria.

The development comes hours after the Turkish Defence Ministry issued a statement, saying that Syrian government forces had allegedly attacked one of its military posts in Idlib, killing five soldiers and injuring another five.

A week ago, eight Turkish nationals were killed after Syrian government forces shelled an observation post in Idlib.

Following the shelling, Turkish forces conducted a retaliatory attack, killing, according to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, 76 Syrian servicemen.

Days after the incident, media reported that Turkey was drawing up forces in the region as a convoy of 150 trucks carrying Turkish special forces troops, military equipment and ammunition was seen at the Turkey-Syria border in the province of Hatay.

Earlier in the day, the Turkish Defence Ministry issued a statement, saying that Syrian government forces had allegedly attacked its military post in the Taftanaz area of Syria's Idlib Province, killing five soldiers, while injuring another five.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Azizi Developments, a leading private developer in the UAE, said its community management provider VCM has signed a partnership agreement with Exalogic Consulting, the digital transformation leader in the property industry, to implement its RealCube Homeowners Association (HOA) Management System.



A cloud-based system, RealCube is a digital revolution in the realm of improving customer experiences through digitalising end-to-end property management functions, including registrations of owners and tenants, statement reviews, payments, booking amenities and registering community-related suggestions.



It has been implemented with the vision of empowering VCM Community Management, the entity responsible for maintaining Azizis flagship property communities across Dubai, said the statement from Azizi.



Through this new digital platform, VCM aims to address the existing inefficiencies in property management, guaranteeing hassle-free transactions and interactions among community members, it stated.



Encapsulating the solution to a multitude of common problems faced by owners and tenants, RealCube is a comprehensive system that resolves them single-handedly, it added.



RealCube is also integrated with Mollak, an initiative by the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), which will allow users to have the necessary transparency and governance in monetary aspects associated with the service charges through the continuous monitoring of accounts.



Naveen Kumar, Chief Digital Transformation Officer at Exalogic Consulting, said: "RealCube is the most advanced online software for owner associations, effectively guaranteeing a smooth flow of community management operations."



"It encourages online collaboration among residents through a plethora of advanced tools for helpdesk and facility management, online billing of service charges, tracking visitor details, accounting and payment gateways," noted Kumar.



"We have the very best subject-matter experts in the industry for property management, accounting & security, enabling us to deliver such revolutionary tools," he stated.



Commenting on the enhanced customer experience as RealCubes primary focus, Kumar said: "We adhere to global best practices, contributing to the true essence of Azizi Developments motto of bringing people closer, wherein RealCube offers a holistic approach to community management, keeping OA managers, board members, residents and homeowners all on the same page."



Some of the acclaimed features of RealCube include community management, service requests, discussion walls, user management and budget planning to prevent over-spending, he added.



Azizi's Senior Advisor to the CEO & Chairman Gibran H. Bukhari said: "The implementation of this powerful, state-of-the-art technology is a testament to the commitment that Azizi and Exalogic share for transparency, customer centricity and using the latest technology to enhance residential well-being and advance living experiences."



"Our partnership delivers a novel product that is the first of its kind in the region, granting our residents connectivity, clarity, and convenience at its finest," he noted.



VCM General Manager Jawad Faqir Hussain said: "We hope that the implementation of RealCube excites our valued residents as much as it does us. It represents a new age of digitised community management, one that we are proud to be the first to embark on. We look forward to introducing our residents to the many benefits this platform offers."



"We are delighted to introduce a paradigm shift in the after-sales support services for our customers by investing in advanced software systems that enable easy, hassle-free living within our communities," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Some stocks are best avoided. It hits us in the gut when we see fellow investors suffer a loss. Spare a thought for those who held China LotSynergy Holdings Limited (HKG:1371) for five whole years - as the share price tanked 96%. We also note that the stock has performed poorly over the last year, with the share price down 75%. Shareholders have had an even rougher run lately, with the share price down 20% in the last 90 days.

While a drop like that is definitely a body blow, money isn't as important as health and happiness.

See our latest analysis for China LotSynergy Holdings

Because China LotSynergy Holdings made a loss in the last twelve months, we think the market is probably more focussed on revenue and revenue growth, at least for now. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. That's because it's hard to be confident a company will be sustainable if revenue growth is negligible, and it never makes a profit.

Over half a decade China LotSynergy Holdings reduced its trailing twelve month revenue by 42% for each year. That puts it in an unattractive cohort, to put it mildly. So it's not that strange that the share price dropped 49% per year in that period. We don't think this is a particularly promising picture. Ironically, that behavior could create an opportunity for the contrarian investor - but only if there are good reasons to predict a brighter future.

The graphic below depicts how earnings and revenue have changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

SEHK:1371 Income Statement, February 10th 2020

We consider it positive that insiders have made significant purchases in the last year. Having said that, most people consider earnings and revenue growth trends to be a more meaningful guide to the business. Dive deeper into the earnings by checking this interactive graph of China LotSynergy Holdings's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

A Different Perspective

Story continues

While the broader market lost about 1.1% in the twelve months, China LotSynergy Holdings shareholders did even worse, losing 75%. However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 48% per year over five years. 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. 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 5 warning signs we've spotted with China LotSynergy Holdings (including 1 which is can't be ignored) .

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

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.
Members of the United States Force Korea (USFK) Korean Union hold a press conference at the National Assembly, Feb. 6, to call on South Korea and the U.S. to conclude the 11th Special Measures Agreement, the defense cost-sharing talks for this year's budget. The conference came a week after the USFK warned a potential administrative furlough of them starting April citing a possible budget shortage due to the stalled negotiations. Yonhap



By Jung Da-min



A year has passed since South Korea and the United States agreed on their defense cost-sharing for 2019. But talks for this year's cost-sharing that were supposed to be finished before 2020 started, show no end in sight with the two sides failing to narrow their difference during the past six rounds of negotiations.



After the last round in mid-January, the next was expected to be held early February. But the specific date for the meeting has yet to be decided, while the nation has been focusing more on efforts to battle the spread of the new coronavirus since last month.



In late January, the United States Forces Korea (USFK) warned of a potential administrative furlough of Korean staff that could occur starting April if the allies fail to conclude the 11th Special Measures Agreement for this year's cost sharing. An official from the USFK said the possible furlough would be due to a loophole in this year's budget from the South Korean side, which accounts for about 75 percent of the salaries of Korean staff.



The prospect for a compromise looks dim at the moment, however, as Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said at a press briefing last Thursday, the government cannot predict when and how the talks will be concluded. Kang said the two sides have noted the gap between them is "still wide."



Amid growing fears from the coronavirus outbreak, ranking diplomatic officials from South Korea, including Kang, have been busy arranging charter flights to evacuate Koreans from China's Hubei Province, and contemplating whether an additional entry ban on foreign travelers from China would affect Seoul-Beijing ties and Chinese President Xi Jinping's planned visit to Korea.



Although the epidemic is a serious issue, the defense cost talks are also an important matter with an April deadline.



The USFK Korean Union members held a press briefing at the National Assembly, Thursday, to condemn both sides for "repeatedly taking Korean staff hostage" in negotiations and call for a solution to be found by improving related systems. They also said they would continue to work for national security even though they would not get paid starting April, urging the two allies to solve the issue as soon as possible.



Political watchers are raising concerns that the delay in negotiations is raising diplomatic and military risks on the Korean Peninsula while sending the wrong message to neighboring China and North Korea.



Both parties of the South Korea-U.S. alliance need to show their firm commitment to each other, and the first step should be solving the defense cost-sharing issue.




UN on Monday said that a Russia backed offensive by the Bashar al-Assad lead regime on the last major rebel bastion in Northwestern Syria has displaced close to 7,00,000 people since December. Speaking to media reporters, David Swanson, the spokesman for the United Nations Humanitarian Coordination Office said that the violence in the provinces of Idlib and Aleppo has displaced close to 6,89,000 people. These numbers come as Syrian Troops consolidated control of Idlib town on earlier on Sunday, international media reported.

Read: Syria: 8 Civilians Killed, 14 Injured In Suspected YPG Attack In Afrin

29 civilians killed in the raids

Meanwhile, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the Russian and regime bombardment on the last major rebel enclave in Syria has killed 29 civilians in a day. Six children were among nine civilians reportedly killed early Monday in raids on the village of Abin Semaan, in Aleppo province where Russian-backed regime forces have been waging a fierce offensive to retake a key highway, said the international monitor.

Read: Syrian Troops Consolidate Control Of Idlib Town

Adding to the devastation, eight people were killed and seven others were left injured after a car bomb exploded in Syria's city of Afrin on Monday, international media reported. As per reports, the bomb detonated on a truck containing diesel-filled barrels and the attack was carried out by the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which Turkey designates as a terrorist group.

According to media reports, Afrin is under the control of the Turkish Armed Forces and Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army. The city was taken over by Turkish forces and Ankara-backed rebels in March 2018. Further details on the bomb blast are still awaited, however, certain media reports suggest that the injured are in critical condition.

Read: 20 Civilians Dead As Syrian Govt Set To Retake Key Highway: Monitor

Afrin district is part of Syria's Aleppo province which has a total population of 1,72,095 people living as of 2005 census. The town is named after the Afrin River that flows in the region. An estimated 50,000 to 70,000 people remained in the city after the Turkish Armed Forces and Free Syrian Army gained control of the area. The Kurdish-led People Protection Units (YPG) took control of the city after Syrian government forces withdrew following the civil war in the summer of 2012.

Read: Villagers Near Rebuilding Site Of Demolished Babri Masjid Hopeful For Development

(With Agency Inputs)
Boris and Carrie Johnson have enjoyed a date night at one of London 's most exclusive private members' clubs. The Prime Minister and his wife were photographed walking out of Oswald's in Mayfair last Thursday night at about 9.30pm accompanied by a security detail of six people before getting into a waiting Range Rover. Mrs Johnson, 33, was wearing a 695 Wiggy Kit black Marais midi dress made from cotton canvas with velvet panelling and white embroidery, accompanied by a 413 Anya Hindmarch eyes beaded shoulder bag. Earlier that day, Mr Johnson had visited a vaccination centre at Moulton Park in Northampton and said anti-vaccine campaigners who spread 'mumbo jumbo' and 'nonsense' on social media are 'completely wrong'. Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi was also said to have visited Oswald's on Albemarle Street last week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is believed to have been there last Wednesday. The exclusive club, which has a ground floor inspired by the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles, is known for its fine wines - with members also allowed to cellar up to 12 of their own there and no corkage fees applied. The club has aimed to attract female members as well as couples and is owned by entrepreneur Robin Birley who named it after his grandfather, the portrait artist Sir Oswald Birley who painted Winston Churchill.
by Melynda Fuller , February 10, 2020

The New Yorker is looking toward the future, appointing Monica Racic to the newly created role of digital director. Previously, Racic held the position of director of production and multimedia at the outlet.

Racics promotion was announced by New Yorker editor David Remnick in a memo to staff.

Remnick wrote: "As our digital footprint and ambitions have grown, so has the need for a position in senior editorial management that is devoted exclusively to the work of developing strategy, setting priorities, representing TNY Edit to our partners inside and outside Conde Nast, and serving as the TNY Edit lead as new products and initiatives are developed and existing ones rethought."

Racic, who joined the magazine's production team in 2008, has worked across digital, multimedia and production roles.

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After learning magazine production under Pat Keogh, Racic contributed to the development of The New Yorker app, several CMS migrations and product launches.

Remick called Racic "a great champion of digital storytelling," noting along with the multimedia team, she has "produced over a hundred free-standing special projects/stories, as well as multimedia elements for magazine stories." He added she "designed and built systems that integrate new workflows and old, most recently the editorial infrastructure to produce interactive stories."

In her new role, Racic will work with newyorker.com editor Michael Luo. Her new role begins when a replacement has been found for her current position.
- Lady flaunts her Mercedes Benz gift on Twitter

- The lady referred to as @GolddSoull on Twitter said the car was from her daddy

- Our manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

A lady has shared her joy on Twitter after she received a brand new Mercedes Benz from a man she called a daddy.

The lady who is a South Africa is known on Twitter as @GolddSoull.

READ ALSO: Yvonne Nelson advises Christians to pray for themselves and stop relying on pastors

She expressed her delight and said she will not have to go through the stress of picking Uber again.

@GolddSoulls post received loads of comments on social media.

ATTENTION: Read the best news on Ghana #1 news app. Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Ghana

YEN.com.gh earlier reported that another video of Nana Ama McBrown playing with her daughter Baby Maxine has surfaced online.

In the video, the esteemed actress was singing a birthday song for her colleague actress Roselyn Ngissah, while her baby sat on her laps.

READ ALSO: Theresa Samini: Beautiful photos of Samini's all-grown daughter who is a hairstylist pop up

Though Baby Maxines face was hidden as usual, YEN.com.gh saw her thick and beautiful hands going up to her mothers throat where she started playing with her necklace.

This is what makes 4-year-old Nii Omanye aka Kwame Nkrumah the smartest child in Ghana| #Yencomgh

READ ALSO: Yvonne Nelson advises Christians to pray for themselves and stop relying on pastors

Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page.

Source: YEN.com.gh
The U.S. peace plan: A return to the Rabin doctrine of defensible borders By Dan Diker

Much has already been written about the U.S. administrations recently published Vision for Peace in the Middle East. Most commentary has focused on the unprecedented U.S. recognition of Israels legal rights east of the 1967 lines and, simultaneously, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus willingness to operationalize his 2009 Bar Ilan speech. In Washington, on January 28, 2020, he acceded to the establishment of a sovereign demilitarized Palestinian state in some 70 percent of the disputed West Bank, located in the center of Judea and Samaria, the heart of Israels Biblical homeland. However, few observers have recognized the major paradigm shift that the U.S. administrations peace plan signals in the long and largely failed history of Palestinian-Israeli diplomacy: a return to the security-first approach of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and specifically, the concept of defensible borders. The U.S. plan should be closely compared to Rabins defensible borders approach to the Oslo Peace Accords that were first signed at the White House in 1993, and then detailed in 1995 interim accord between Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, under the stewardship of U.S. President Bill Clinton. On January 29, 2020, the day after the Trump plan was published, Shimon Sheves, former Director-General of Prime Minister Rabins office and one of his closest advisors, told Israels Army Radios evening news program, The Trump plan is essentially the Rabin plan. While critical of Prime Minister Netanyahus unilateral acceptance of the plan, Sheves still noted that the Trump plan is a continuation of Rabins legacy. Similarly, Ben Caspit, one of Israels leading journalists known for his unrelenting criticism of Netanyahu, penned a generally positive assessment of the Trump plan in the Maariv daily, calling it a modern incarnation of Rabins plan from 25 years ago. What were the principles behind Rabins defensible borders approach to Oslo that today anchor the U.S. administrations approach to a peace deal with the Palestinian leadership? Rabin had presented his vision of a final status peace deal during the ratification of the Oslo Interim Accords at the Knesset on October 5, 1995, just three weeks before his tragic assassination. Speaking from the Knesset podium, Rabin told the packed plenum, The borders of the State of Israel during the permanent solution will be beyond the lines that existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the June 4, 1967 lines. It should be noted that since 2017, when the Trump plan was initiated, U.S. peace interlocutors undertook a two-year listening tour in Israel and the Middle East, and had been advised that Rabin, in line with every Israeli prime minister since the fateful days of the 1967 war, had rejected an Israeli return to the unstable and indefensible pre-1967 war lines, providing an important point of reference for the current U.S. vision. Former Foreign Minister Abba Eban had famously referred the pre-1967 lines as Auschwitz borders. In 1995, Rabin further declared to the Knesset plenum, The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley in the broadest sense of that term. And serving as a precursor to the Trump vision, Rabin also emphasized that Jerusalem would remain Israels united capital. The Doctrine of Defensible Borders Rabins insistence, 25 years ago, on Israeli control of the strategically vital Jordan Rift Valley, was an antecedent to Trumps proposal of Israeli sovereignty in the Jordan Valley, both of which were rooted in the doctrine of defensible borders. The Israeli strategic doctrine of defensible borders at Oslo, now readopted in the Trump proposal, constitute a return to a security-first approach to peace negotiations. This term was referenced by former Defense Minister and IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Bogie Yaalon following several failed attempts at reaching diplomatic agreements with the Palestinians. These Israeli peace proposals, beginning with former Prime Minister Ehud Baraks offer at the Taba Summit in 2001, had shelved the defensible borders approach in favor of the far riskier plan of security arrangements, which Palestinian negotiators also rejected. The U.S. re-adoption of Rabins defensible borders doctrine also helps explain why Yaalons fellow leaders of the Blue and White Party, former IDF Chiefs of Staff Benny Gantz and Gabi Ashkenazi, also embraced the Trump plans call for Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea basin in the context of the overall vision. Notably, both Gantz and Ashkenazi have even incorporated Rabins nomenclature, calling for the Jordan Valley to be Israels eastern security border. Some commentators have mistakenly focused on the issue of settlements intertwined in the Trump plans proposal for the Jordan Valley. However, the Jordan Valley is one of the least populated areas in the West Bank and only includes some 5,500 Israeli residents, and approximately three percent of the West Bank Palestinian population. That is why the strategic importance of the Jordan Valley has been emphasized by Israels political and military leadership since 1967  including the leadership of both major political parties. The defensible borders concept that Rabin embraced was first formally outlined as a national security plan following the 1967 war by Gen. Yigal Allon, Rabins commander in the pre-state Palmach strike force, who subsequently served as Rabins Foreign Minister. Allon emphasized the importance of defensible borders to Western audiences in a 1976 issue of Foreign Affairs. He posited that Israel needs to retain a topographical barrier to defend itself from attacks from the east, a move that would constitute an additional defensive measure beyond insisting on the demilitarization of Palestinian independent areas or, in todays terms, a proposed sovereign Palestinian state. Allon and Rabin were particularly concerned at the prospect of hostile forces, and today terror groups or individual terrorists, firing rockets and anti-aircraft weaponry from the hilltops of the steep 3,200-foot high West Bank mountain ridge that overlooks Israels narrow coastal plain, that contains Israels major cities, 70 percent of Israels residents, 80 percent of its industrial capacity, major highways and infrastructure, and particularly, Israels major airport. Allon had insisted on Israel annexing the entire Jordan Rift Valley, including the hilly terrain facing eastwards toward Jordan, as well as the Jordan Valley below, constituting some 33 percent of the West Bank. This is virtually identical to the 30 percent of the territories the U.S. plan calls for today to remain under Israeli sovereignty. While Rabin had been less specific about annexing the entire area, the Allon plan, Rabins security doctrine at Oslo, and the current U.S. plan are all anchored in the concept of defensible borders. They saw that the Jordan Valley and the adjoining eastern hill ridge formed a natural topographical security wall that would protect Israels main airport and Mediterranean coastal cities from rocket, mortar, and anti-aircraft assault by terrorists firing down from West Bank hilltops. Rabins Oslo plan opposed Palestinian sovereignty. Rabin told the Knesset plenum, We would like this to be an entity that is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority. The Trump plans defensible borders concept for Israel is anchored in proposed Israeli sovereignty in the Jordan Valley and Northern Dead Sea area. In contrast, Rabin had envisioned an Israeli security border in the Jordan Valley, which did not require full Israeli sovereignty. Israeli defensible borders notwithstanding, the current U.S. plan, departing from Rabins vision of Palestinian autonomy, also establishes a blueprint for a sovereign Palestinian state, with a land connection to Gaza and additional swapped sovereign territory in the Western Negev. For his part, Rabin had sought to maintain an Israeli security presence and Jewish communities in parts of Gaza. Rabin also did not entertain land swaps from pre-1967 Israel. Why Six Negotiating Experiences Failed While defensible borders anchored both Oslo and the current U.S. plan, the past 25 years have witnessed six failed attempts by three U.S. presidents to reach a peace agreement between the Palestinian Authority and Israel since the signing of the Oslo Exchange of Letters in September 1993. In each instance, the Palestinian leadership turned down U.S.-mediated offers for sovereign independence. The Palestinian rejections of diplomatic compromises included: Clintons Camp David Summit in 2000, the Taba talks in 2001, President George W. Bushs Road Map in 2003, the U.S.-brokered Israeli Gaza withdrawal in 2005, the Annapolis peace summit in 2008, and the Kerry peace initiative under President Barak Obama in 2014. The U.S. administrations latest approach, therefore, has shifted the paradigm for peace by recognizing Jewish historical and legal rights to sovereignty on both sides of the 1949 armistice lines in the context of the overall plan, thereby eliminating the false international assumption that the Palestinians exclusively possess legal rights in the disputed territories. Second, the Trump plans re-adoption of Israels national consensus doctrine of defensible borders for Israel via the proposed application of Israeli law over the Jordan Rift Valley, as part of the overall plan, will enable Israel to secure its sovereignty while enabling Israel to defend itself by itself. This ironclad national security principle has always been an essential Israeli pre-condition to making any substantial concessions and taking significant additional risks for peace. Today, with the publication of the U.S. plan, Israel is taking unprecedented risks in considering the prospect of living next to a sovereign Palestinian state, particularly in a Middle East region that is plagued by radical regimes, proxy forces, political instability, and failed states. That is why defensible borders are critical in providing the essential protections that are a guarantor of an Israeli-Palestinian peace that will be lasting and durable. Dan Diker is a foreign policy fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and a research fellow at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at IDC Herzliya. He can be reached at diker@jcpa.org. Home
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As Valentine's Day nears, CyberScout, a global leader in identity theft resolution, data defense and employee benefits services, is sharing a list of common romance scams for consumers to watch out for all year long. Equally as important, CyberScout encourages businesses to take proactive steps to defend themselves against online activity by their employees that could increase their risk for cybercrimes.

"It's the time of year when people dust off rose-colored glasses and get hearts in their eyes, but that can lead to scam blindness. Criminals are constantly looking for easy ways to access information, whether that's developing a fake relationship in order to gain access to personal information or even to the organization that employs them," said Jennifer Leuer, Chief Executive Officer, CyberScout. "At CyberScout, we work to make cybersecurity attainable in order to help protect businesses and consumers. We're a romantic bunch here at CyberScout and we want to share a list of common scams consumers should watch out for so they don't end up heartbroken."

Consumer Scams:

Flower Delivery Scams  Be aware of emails or phone calls claiming that a florist needs more information for a flower delivery from a secret admirer. Criminals are looking to capture personal and financial information for fraud and identity theft.

 Be aware of emails or phone calls claiming that a florist needs more information for a flower delivery from a secret admirer. Criminals are looking to capture personal and financial information for fraud and identity theft. Fake eCards  Sending and receiving cards in this fashion is quick and convenient, but criminals are preying on consumers by sending emails that include suspicious links that go to copycat websites similar to popular greeting card companies. By clicking on suspicious links, criminals can gain access to the information and systems available on the individual's computer.

 Sending and receiving cards in this fashion is quick and convenient, but criminals are preying on consumers by sending emails that include suspicious links that go to copycat websites similar to popular greeting card companies. By clicking on suspicious links, criminals can gain access to the information and systems available on the individual's computer. Catfishing  Online dating is a popular way to meet the perfect match. However, because people can pretend to be someone else online, scammers set up fake profiles with online dating services and develop relationships with the sole purpose of accessing personal and financial information, or money. There are more well-known variations of catfishing including "The Soldier" (a criminal claims to be a servicemember), "The Hard Come-on" (a criminal quickly professes love and persuades a victim to engage on a different online platform allowing the criminal to gain access to victim's information) and "The Mule" (a criminal convinces a victim to receive and ship a package with unknown contents or travel with the package to another country resulting in the victim potentially being arrested for trafficking stolen goods or drugs).

Business Defenses:

Limit Personal Sites to Personal Devices  Firewalls can restrict employee access to social media, dating sites and personal email services. With limited exceptions, employees do not need to access social media or non-business related websites, such as dating sites, from their work devices. Block corporate-owned computers, laptops, smartphones, tablets and other devices from downloading these websites and apps.

 Firewalls can restrict employee access to social media, dating sites and personal email services. With limited exceptions, employees do not need to access social media or non-business related websites, such as dating sites, from their work devices. Block corporate-owned computers, laptops, smartphones, tablets and other devices from downloading these websites and apps. Put Limits on Personal Devices  Require BYO devices to be updated and maintain good password hygiene. Do not allow personal devices that are not part of a BYO program to access office WiFi or systems. Do not allow removable media that has been connected to a personal device to be connected to an office system.

 Require BYO devices to be updated and maintain good password hygiene. Do not allow personal devices that are not part of a BYO program to access office WiFi or systems. Do not allow removable media that has been connected to a personal device to be connected to an office system. Back Ups are Better than Chocolate!  When employees are hacked on their personal or business devices, their employer can become more vulnerable to cyberattacks including ransomware. Businesses that regularly back up data are better prepared to recover quickly from ransom attempts.

For more information on CyberScout security solutions, please visit https://cyberscout.com/en/solutions.

About CyberScout:

Since 2003, CyberScout has set the standard for full-spectrum identity, privacy and data security services, offering proactive protection, education, and data theft resolution as well as breach preparedness and response. Serving approximately 17.5 million households worldwide and the designated identity theft services provider for more than 770,000 businesses, CyberScout is offered globally by an ever-growing number of client partners. CyberScout combines extensive experience with high-touch service to help individuals, government and commercial clients minimize risk and maximize recovery.

Contact: Heather McLaughlin

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE CyberScout

Related Links

https://cyberscout.com


We all had our doubts that it would happen, but in a grand upset thats shocked and delighted movie fans from across the world, the impossible has happened - Bong Joon-Hos Korean masterpiece Parasite has dominated at the Oscars with a stunning four wins, bagging the awards for Best Original Screenplay, Achievement In Directing, International Feature Film and Best Picture.

Several of us watching the 92nd Academy Awards were holding out on the breakthrough film winning it big ever since the nominations were announced on January 13, 2020. After the month long wait, Parasite faced off a tough crowd of competitors for the coveted Best Picture award - beating out Ford v. Ferrari, The Irishman, Jojo Rabbit, Joker, Little Women, Marriage Story, 1917 and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

 Reuters

Only 11 non-English films in the history of the Oscars have ever made it to the nominations for the award, with Alfonso Cuarons Roma making the cut last year. Its been particularly surprising for director Bong Joon-Ho himself, who in multiple interviews has expressed his shock at the level of worldwide acclaim that the film has received from fans and critics alike.

 Reuters

On receiving the first award, Joon-Ho said, writing a script is a very lonely process, you never write to represent your country  but this is the very first Oscar for South Korea". Soon after he gave another quick speech for his International Feature Film win, and was in absolute shock and delight as he stepped up to win the most personal award of the evening for him - the one recognising his talent as a director.

"After winning best international feature, I thought I was done for the day and was ready to relax," Bong said upon receiving the award. "Thank you so much. When I was young and studying cinema, there was a saying that I carved deep into my heart, which is that 'the most personal is the most creative'." He went on to specifically thank and appreciate his co-nominees Martin Scorcese and Quentin Tarantino - two masters of the craft that he regarded as idols and inspirations.

"When I was in school, I studied Martin Scorsese's films. Just to be nominated was a huge honor. I never thought I would win. When people in the U.S. were not familiar with my films, Quentin always put my films on his list. He's here, thank you so much. Quentin, I love you."

We love you too, Bong Joon-Ho - people on Twitter erupted in an avalanche of congratulations and celebration for the historic win.

Congratulations @ParasiteMovie So so proud to be Korean  pic.twitter.com/aISEy1HUpz  Sandra Oh (@IamSandraOh) February 10, 2020





Language is a core expression of identity. Subtitles do not divide or disqualify - theyre gateways into incredible stories you might have otherwise never known.



Tonight I heard the language of my family on the Oscars stage.  I cant wait to hear many, many more... #Parasite pic.twitter.com/rqFdQwX4t4  Eugene Lee Yang (@EugeneLeeYang) February 10, 2020

Moments after winning Best Picture, cast and filmmakers from @ParasiteMovie stop by the #Oscars Thank You Cam. pic.twitter.com/ckyhJkvIFD  The Academy (@TheAcademy) February 10, 2020

What a night - I think this little snapshot of Bong Joon-Ho backstage says it all.





bong joon-ho (director of parasite) backstage at the oscars after winning best picture  #oscars pic.twitter.com/KFTAszWNgq   (@thewayq) February 10, 2020





A well-deserved win thats reinstated my faith in the awards, no doubt.
Argos recycled more than 1m bags in Colombia

ICR Newsroom By 10 February 2020

Colombia-based cement producer Argos recycled more than one million bags of cement last year, thanks to the Green Sacks Programme, which sees a more sustainable production line.



Between 2013, the start date of the programme, and 2019, we have recycled 808t of paper thanks to the return of more than five million bags, thus avoiding the cutting down of more than 8000 trees and saving about 64,000m3 of water, equivalent to 26 Olympic swimming pools, said David Restrepo, the companys supply chain manager.



The Green Sacks Programme works through reverse logistics: the bags used to pack the cement are cleaned and organised on site and then collected by company vehicles when new product is delivered.

Published under
By Trend

Azerbaijan has managed to hold parliamentary elections decently, member of the Georgian observers' delegation, Head of HR Management Department of the Georgian Central Election Commission (CEC) Giorgi Kalandarishvili told reporters in Baku, Trend reports.

The Georgian delegation, consisting of five observers, monitored the elections in polling stations of Baku, Kalandarishvili said. We watched the election process, and we didnt notice any outer interference in the electoral process. We monitored the course of the elections until the end. Before the elections, we met with representatives of Azerbaijans CEC. Our delegation congratulates the Azerbaijani people on the decently held elections.

In turn, member of the Georgian delegation, Deputy Chair of the Georgian CEC Giorgi Sharabidze noted that all necessary conditions for the elections were created for observers and voters.

We visited several polling stations of Baku, Sharabidze added. All stations were opened on time, at 8:00 (GMT +4), and all preparatory work was carried out at the highest level.

The deputy chair noted that all the necessary equipment was ready and in fully operational condition.

Both the observers and the voters were provided with all the conditions for the elections, said Sharabidze. The elections were monitored by both local and foreign observers. Everything went at the highest level, there were no violations recorded. Both party representatives and observers had the opportunity to monitor the elections.

The member of the Georgian delegation noted that Azerbaijans CEC has done a decent job, voters and observers followed all the norms and requirements.

Sharabidze added that they made observations at 10 polling stations.

For all this time, we have been observing calm, democratic elections, both members of the commission and voters maintained peaceful atmosphere, the delegation member said.

The parliamentary elections were held in Azerbaijan on February 9. Some 1,314 candidates were registered within the early parliamentary elections. The candidacies of 246 people were nominated by 19 political parties, 1,057 were self-nominated, 11 - by initiative groups.

Twenty-one percent accounted for female candidates while 79 percent  male candidates.

As many as 5,426 permanent polling stations operated in 125 constituencies of the country.

Some 883 international observers and 77,790 local observers were monitoring the voting process. Among the local observers, 35,152 were representatives of political parties. International observers represented 58 countries and 59 organizations.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Polling station, leaders and members of the Ayawaso Central Constituency of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) Friday picked nomination forms for the sitting Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency, Henry Quartey, to contest in the party's primaries slated for April this year.

In the early hours of Friday morning, hundreds of party sympathizers thronged the streets of Newtown in Accra, where they began a procession to the party's head office in the constituency situated at Alajo.

Led by their party executives, the crowd sang and danced to music blaring from loud speakers and countless brass bands and 'dzama' groupings, while they chanted, Four more for Nana; four more for Henry Quartey!

At the party's constituency head office, the NPP Ayawaso Central Youth Organizer, Stephen Mensah submitted a cheque for GH2000 to the election committee headed by Alhaji Haruna Salifu and picked the nomination forms on behalf of the MP.

The form was then submitted to the elders of the party in the constituency represented by Sheikh I.C. Quaye, former MP for the area and Alhaji Mohammed Quaye, Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for the Ayawaso Central Assembly.

After about 15 minutes, they filled the forms and resumed another procession to the party's head office where Sheikh I.C Quaye submitted the form and cheque of GH20,000 to the election committee on behalf of the MP.

Following the exercise, Abdul Rashid Kawawa Sambo, a polling station agent disclosed that the good people of the Ayawaso Central Constituency, seeing the good works done by the MP, had thought it wise to keep him on the seat by contributing monies and other resources to sponsor the nomination forms for the MP.

Describing the gesture as unprecedented, Mr. Sambo said heads of religious bodies, traditional leaders, market women and persons of different social and economic standing also contributed to the course, adding that the people are happy with the performance of the MP hence the move to support him.

He assured that, the MP would continue to work hard to bring development to his people while advancing and supporting the course and vision of President Akufo-Addo.

On his part, Sheikh I.C. Quaye touted the achievements of the MP and also assured that he would do more.

He called on the rank and file of the party to come together to support the good works of Quartey and support his quest to retain his seat for the next four years and beyond.

---Daily Guide
Easton Area Middle School has its second interim principal so far this year, according to the school district superintendent.

Karen Trinkle will serve as interim principal of grades 7 and 8 through the end of the school year, according to Superintendent David Piperato.

The school district agreed to add extra help due to the schools size and to explore options for improving our services to students and support for our educators, Piperato said. Easton Area Education Association President Kevin Deely recently called for accountability among the middle schools administration and said teachers there need support, not lip service." Behavior of students at the school has come under scrutiny recently.

Frank DAngelo was appointed on Jan. 7 as interim principal for grades 7 and 8. However, he resigned Jan. 13 for personal reasons.

Trinkle will spend most of her week there, Piperato said. Some of her time will remain devoted to her job as the districts director of student and community services.

Longtime middle school principal Charlene Symia is now tasked with overseeing sixth grade. Piperato said the decision to add an interim principal should not be interpreted as a criticism of Symia, whos been an Easton Area educator for more than 30 years.

Deely is pleased with Trinkles appointment. He said he worked with her when she was formerly head of district pupil services, an assistant principal at the high school and a guidance counselor at the former Easton Area Academy.

She is an incredibly hard worker and I have no doubt that she will give this position everything she has until a permanent replacement is hired - likely at the end of the school year, Deely said. As long as the staff has the much needed additional support in Mrs. Trinkle the climate should continue to improve in the school.

Piperato agreed Trinkle was well received at the middle school in Forks Township.

Im hearing good things," he said.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
Pope to visit Malta 31/5 with focus on welcoming migrants First trip abroad this year

(ANSAmed) - VATICAN CITY, FEBRUARY 10 - Pope Francis will be visiting Malta as his first trip outside Italy and Vatican City in 2020 and will try to draw attention to migrants' plight. The Vatican press office made the announcement on Monday and said that the pope would be visiting Malta and Gozo on May 31 and that his schedule would be published at a later date.



The logo and the motto show that the focus will be on migrants at sea. The first shows hands stretched towards the Cross from a ship being tossed about by the waves. The hands represent Christian welcoming of others and assistance to those in need, while the boat is reminiscent of the shipwreck of Apostle Paul on the island of Malta and how the island inhabitants welcomed him and the other survivors of the shipwreck. The motto for the visit is: "They showed us unusual kindness" Acts 28.2. The pope had in two previous general audiences, on January 8 and January 28, spoken of St. Paul's experience in Malta and the theme of the last Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was on hospitality.



In his January 8 audience, Pope Francis had urged all Christians to be sensitive to the plight of the many survivors of shipwrecks that land on Italian coasts, exhausted because this saves us from indifference and a lack of humanity. Pope Francis then praised the Maltese for how they had acted towards St. Paul and noted that migrants undertake dangerous journeys to flee violence, war, and poverty and that many later are subjected to indifference or hostility or are prevented from disembarking in ports. On January 22, Pope Francis noted that migrants are often exploited by criminal traffickers, treated like numbers instead of human beings and as a threat by some governments and are often rejected ''like a wave'' towards the poverty and dangers they had fled.(ANSAmed).




Princesses of all ages assembled at Midland Center for the Arts on Friday night for the touring Broadway Princess Party. The event featured Broadway veterans Susan Egan, Laura Osnes and Christy Altomare who portrayed Belle, Cinderella and Anastasia on stage, respectively.

Audience members came to the arts center, some an hour before the show, dressed in their finest. While a few wore gowns of pink and yellow, many chose to dress as princesses from Disney movies. Good friends Karly Grant, 9, of Mackinaw City and Kelsey Kloska, 7, of East Tawas, attended wearing identical Belle dresses. The concert was their Christmas present.

"I like her pretty golden dress," Grant said, adding that Belle from "Beauty and the Beast" is one of her favorite princesses.

Kloska's favorite princess is Cinderella.

"I like the color blue," she explained.

Emma Hammis, 6, of Saginaw, came dressed as Elsa from "Frozen" while her nanna Julie Kubin of Mount Pleasant was outfitted from head to foot as Elsa's sister, Anna. It was Hammis' first time at the arts center.

"I love her songs," Hammis said, adding she was looking forward to the concert's musical numbers.

"We dress up a lot at home and play games. I have a lot of costumes and so does she," Kubin said.

Karin Johannesson of Stockholm, Sweden, traveled to Midland specially to see the show and show her support to Altomare. She has seen "Anastasia" on Broadway 16 times and has seen the Broadway Princess Party once before.

"It's a mix of everything. They get to sing their most famous songs and they sing together. I like the dresses, of course," she said.

At the stroke of 7:30 p.m., Midland Center for the Arts President and CEO Terri Trotter appeared onstage to welcome everyone and introduce the show.

"Whether or not you're on stage, we have a lot of Broadway royalty here tonight," she said, gesturing to the audience.

Next was the show's co-creator, pianist and self-proclaimed "Fairy Godfairy," Benjamin Rauhala who in turn introduced the three actresses.

After an opening number of "For the First Time in Forever" from "Frozen," the three vocalists took the stage in turns, talking about their journeys. Altomare shared how she watched the animated film "Anastasia" and would sing songs from the movie for her parents. Osnes talked about how she met her future husband when the two of them were understudies for a stage production of "Aladdin" and that her "Cinderella" co-star Santino Fontana provided his voice for Prince Hans, the villain of "Frozen." Egan shared how little girls would try to talk to her while she was on stage as Belle and how she eventually got to audition for the character of Megara in the Disney film "Hercules."

Special moments included duets with Adam J. Levy, who is starring in the first national tour of "Waitress," and an audience sing-along with Egan for the song "Spoonful of Sugar."

At the beginning of the second act, it was time to highlight a local vocalist who was chosen through the show's Unleash Your Inner Princess contest. Saginaw resident Olivia Greanis, a theater major at Saginaw Valley State University, sang "Reflection" from "Mulan." For her, the song has a deep meaning she could connect to in her performance.

"Christina Aguilera is quaking," Rauhala said as the audience erupted in thunderous applause.

"It was so surreal," Greanis said after the performance. "They're so nice and welcoming. It was amazing to just sit and talk to them."

The show went to Port Huron on Saturday, West Bloomfield on Sunday and will continue to tour through the spring. For more information and future show dates, visit broadwayprincessparty.com.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Former Bolivian President Evo Morales, who has been in exile in Argentina, went to Cuba on Monday for medical treatment, officials said.

Morales office in Buenos Aires said it was a previously unplanned trip for health motives and said he planned to return to the Argentina capital by the weekend.

Earlier, Argentine President Alberto Fernandez said that as nothing impedes him as a political refugee from going to Cuba.

Neither specified what sort of treatment Morales would receive, but the leftist leader has several times turned to Cuba for medical care. In 2017 and 2018, he had surgery there for a nodule on his vocal chords.

Morales, who governed Bolivia for nearly 14 years, resigned the presidency in November when the police and army withdrew support after several weeks of demonstrations that erupted over allegations of fraud in the Oct. 20 presidential election. Morales claimed to have won reelection, but the Organization of American States said its audit found serious irregularities in the vote count.
Youve got Bloomberg buying his way into the Democratic nomination. You have the DNC changing the rules so that he can spend his own money and not have the right number of donors to qualify for the next debate. And then you have the Iowa Democratic Caucus, where the Democrats cant even get their act together and do that right. If you want the country to go to hell in a hand basket, vote for a Democrat.
The Privacy Protection Authority said in a statement that responsibility for complying with Israeli privacy law involving use of the voter registry lies with the parties themselves.

Explaining the ease with which the voter information could be accessed, Ran Bar-Zik, the programmer who revealed the breach, explained that visitors to the Elector apps website could right-click to view source, an action that reveals the code behind a web page.

That page of code included the user names and passwords of site administrators with access to the voter registry, and using those credentials would allow anyone to view and download the information. Mr. Bar-Zik, a software developer for Verizon Media who wrote the Sunday article in Haaretz, said he chose the name and password of the Likud party administrator and logged in.

Jackpot! he said in an interview on Monday. Everything was in front of me!

When we talk about hacking, we imagine people in hoodies doing technical stuff, he said, but in this case, no hacking skill was necessary.

Mr. Bar-Zik said he had received a tipoff about the problem on Friday night. The message was sent in English to Cybercyber, a podcast that he hosts with two colleagues, and as evidence, the tipster included Mr. Bar-Ziks own details from the voter registry, and those of his wife and son.

It was spooky, he said.

Mr. Netanyahu is in a fight for his political survival, under indictment on corruption charges and facing a third general election in less than a year, after the previous two failed to produce conclusive results.

He had encouraged supporters to download the Elector app. It was not clear if Likud or Elector had violated the governments standards for keeping data private, or what kind of security testing the app had undergone.
Read on for the most recent top news you may have missed in New York City.

Two NYC firefighters die of 9/11-related illnesses on the same day

Retired firefighters Paul Deo, Jr. and Richard Jones both died Friday, joining hundreds of other first responders who succumbed to diseases contracted at Ground Zero in the days and weeks after the Twin Towers fell.

Read the full story on New York Daily News.

Shooting inside New York police precinct leaves one injured: reports

A gunman opened fire inside a New York City police precinct Sunday morning, striking one victim in the arm just hours after another police officer was shot and injured in his patrol car in what officials called an attempted assassination.

Read the full story on Fox News.

British Airways sets speed record, crossing the Atlantic in under 5 hours

Propelled by strong winds, Flight BA112 topped the speed of 800 mph, by one expert estimate. It traveled from New York's JFK to London's Heathrow in 4 hours 56 minutes overnight Saturday.

Read the full story on NPR.

Two boys with the same disability tried to get help

Two boys with learning disabilities grew up just blocks apart in New York City. Public schools couldn't teach them. So their parents battled to place them in private schools, on the taxpayers' dime.

Read the full story on USA TODAY.

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.
Over the past couple of weeks, Chinese citizen journalists Chen Qiushi and Fang Bin have served as the worlds eyes and ears inside the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, the city of Wuhan. Broadcasting via their mobile phones, theyve offered a glimpse of how dire things have been. Many of those videos have been posted to Twitter and reposted on YouTube.

Now one of them is missing.

Chen has been out of reach for more than 20 hours. Fang, who was silent much of Friday until a video posted in the evening, was previously detained briefly by authorities for his video of corpses in a hospital. When he filmed the dramatic moment people in hazmat suits broke down his apartment door to take him into quarantine, it sparked hundreds of comments urging the authorities to release him.

Its no accident that their posts grew viral on American platforms. Chinas internet watchdog has stepped up its policing efforts, announcing on Wednesday it would conduct targeted supervision on the largest social media platforms including Weibo, Tencents WeChat and ByteDances Douyin. The regulator has already frozen a raft of social media accounts, then stepped up online scrubbing to quiet a wave of confused outrage over the death of the doctor that first raised red flags about the disease.

In this environment, US-based Twitter has emerged as the destination for locals seeking information about the spread of the virus. Its officially banned in the country, but many people hop the Great Firewall and access the platform via virtual private networks.

Theres a lot more activity happening on Twitter compared with Weibo and WeChat, said Maya Wang, senior China researcher at Human Rights Watch. There has been a Chinese community on Jack Dorseys short-message platform since before President Xi Jinping rose to power, she added, but the recent crackdown has weakened that social circle.

Chen, the most visible among scores of residents documenting the human disaster around them, has for many followers become the go-to source for real facts about the epidemic. Wuhan locals have filmed some of the most chilling videos during the outbreak, including images of untreated corpses, discontent among quarantined patients in hospitals and police knocking on doors to enforce censorship. Bloomberg News has not independently verified the authenticity of those videos.

Twitter was becoming the last line of defense for people to gather information and record the trauma that thousands of families were experiencing.

After lifting the lid briefly to give the press and social media some freedom, said Wang about Chinas ruling Communist Party, the regime is now reinstating its control over social media, fearing it could lead to a wider-spread panic.

Starting this week, scores of WeChat users complained that they were locked out of their personal accounts after people in their chat groups discussed issues around the virus outbreak. Thats meant losing access to all of their stored social contacts as well as the money in their WeChat wallets. Many others have gone into self-policing mode, reminding friends in their chat groups not to exchange information about the coronavirus.

Read more: Latest News on the Coronavirus OutbreakChen has been out of contact for a prolonged period of time. His friends posted a message on his Twitter account saying he has been unreachable since 7 p.m. local time on Thursday. In a texted interview, Bloomberg Newss last question to Chen was whether he was concerned about his safety as hes among the few people reporting the situation on the front lines.

His response has yet to come back.

To contact the reporter on this story: in Hong Kong at ychen447@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net, Vlad Savov, Edwin Chan

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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History Channel miniseries follows the Virginians path from British officer to Continental Army commander to revered first president

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin is executive producer of the History Channel miniseries Washington, premiering February 16 at 8 p.m. ET. The three-night series, narrated by Jeff Daniels, includes dramatizations and interviews with leaders including former President Bill Clinton and General Colin Powell as well as top authors and historians, including Pulitzer Prize recipients Annette Gordon-Reed, Joseph Ellis, and Jon Meacham. Goodwins most recent book is 2018s Leadership in Turbulent Times.

What was it like to immerse yourself in Washingtons life? I have lived with dead presidents for 50 years, thinking about them when I go to bed at night, waking up with them in the morning. But the one president I had not had the chance to live withthe one whose presidency set the standard for the restis George Washington. You can imagine how thrilled I was when History Channel asked me to be part of this miniseries. The last 18 months have been a great journey. We started working on Washington not long after I finished Leadership in Turbulent Times, which explores the unique journeys of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson as they grew through adversity and confronted the challenges and contours of their times. I was able to look at President George Washington through that lens and learn about his transformation from a young man seeking to rise as a military officer into a determined revolutionary who led a rag-tag army against the British Empire. Like my guys, as I often call Lincoln, the two Roosevelts and LBJ, Washington learns from mistakes. He develops the confidence to surround himself with strong-minded people. He becomes a great leader when his ambition for self becomes an ambition for something largerto lead a fledgling nation that will become a beacon for the world at large and a lodestar for every president who follows.

Which relationships and experiences most profoundly shaped young George Washingtons character and ambitions? His father, Augustine, died when he was just 11 and his relationship with his single mother, Mary Ball Washington, was central to helping shape him. As Washington biographers Edward Lengel and Alexis Taines Coe say, Mary Washington was strong, focused, ambitious, and savvy. She managed her estate carefully and transmitted to her son the need for self-discipline and a strong work ethic. General Colin Powell explains, Heaven knows how she handled all of that, but she did, and she played such an important role in his life to give him that structure of character, of competence and of believing in yourself.

Unlike other Founding Fathers, Washington had scant schooling. Washington is not remembered for being an intellectual like Franklin, Madison, Jefferson, and other contemporaries. His formal education ended when his father died and instead of going to school in England like his half-brothers, he developed skill at surveying and eventually inherited land and became a farmer and plantation owner. As Joseph Ellis explains, The education of George Washington was experience rather than schooling. John Adams went to Harvard, Thomas Jefferson went to William and Mary, George Washington went to war.

When named to lead the Virginia Militia, Washington is a novice at command. What enables him to perform in this role? Hes ambitious and has a will to succeed. As historian H.W. Brands explains, When he commands the Virginia militia he discovers, first of all, he has an aptitude for military command. People will follow him; people will listen to him. He is physically brave. He has the physical attributes to be a commander. He has this almost instinctive commanding presence but also understands, Aha, I can do this. However, he also makes serious mistakes and learns from them. As Washington biographer Edward Lengel aptly notes, George Washington was not born great. He took a journey to greatness. Thats one of my favorite lines of the series. It tells the viewer what they can expect to see over the three nights.

How did his service in the French and Indian War influence Washington? Nowhere does Washington make mistakes more glaring than on his early missions as a British commander in the Ohio Country and during the French and Indian War. Theres horrific carnage, but he escapes unscathed. In fact, he has two horses shot from under him, and bullet holes through his coat, but hes unhurt. Joe Ellis says, For the first time you hear him talking about Providence. He doesnt talk about God, but he talks about Providence and that luck. He survives that battle. And General Powell explains, Nobody who goes into battle for the first time comes out of battle the same way. When you see blood in front of you, when you see body parts laying all over. When you wonder did you do everything you could have done to make this more of a success or not a failure or reduce the number of casualties?

At one point, Washington vehemently opposed those who wanted the colonies to declare independence. What changed his mind? As our experts make clear, an escalating string of British actions in the wake of the French and Indian War turned Washington into a reluctant revolutionary. The process of separation from Britain began for him, as it did for many colonists, when the Proclamation of 1763 banned colonials from settling in the Ohio Valley, even veterans who had been promised land in return for their service in the French and Indian War. Then came a sequence of events: The Stamp Act, the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party. At what became known as the First Continental Congress, delegates agreed on an unanimous boycott of British goods by the colonies as a way to pressure the Crown to repeal the taxes and remove British troops from Boston. More blood will be spilt on this occasion if the ministry are determined to push matters to the extremity, Washington warned in October 1774. The following spring Washingtons fears were realized at Lexington and Concord. It was clear that the British would not back down. The only answer, Washington now believed, was war and independence.

During the Revolution, Washingtons forces often were on the verge of defeat. How did he achieve such an upset victory? He never lost hope. As President Bill Clinton says, He was flexible as to means, firm as to ends. The second thing was he had great situational awareness. That is whether on the battlefield or in a political struggle, he always knew where everybody else was and he was very good at figuring out after early defeats what would produce the most positive result.

Washington owned more than 300 slaves and energetically pursued any who fled his control. Describe how he navigated the uneasy path of advocating liberty and owning fellow human beings. There is no easy way to balance advocating liberty and owning people. Prosperity in Washingtons time was measured by land and if you had land you had enslaved people to care for your land. As Annette Gordon-Reed explains, Theres no sense that you can have one without the other. And we look at this now and understand that this requires the oppression of human beings. But it was the source of wealth for Washington and the members of the Virginia gentry, of which he wanted to be a part and wanted to be maybe at the pinnacle of it. Ellis says, You want him to take a leadership position on the slavery issue and youre going to be disappointed. It is only upon the reading of his willwhich provides for the emancipation of his slaves once Martha dies, except for his former valet William Lee, who is freed upon Washingtons deaththat his changed feelings about slavery are revealed. Hes the only member of the Virginia dynasty to do this, Ellis says. Jefferson doesnt do it, Madison doesnt do it. Patrick Henry doesnt do it.

Washington, the original man on horseback, could have been the king of America. Why did he instead embrace Americas new constitutional transfer of power? Washington could have led a military coup. He could have been a king, but his values would not allow him to be a king. Instead he chose to build a republic and will the power to the people. He wasnt interested in power, General Powell says. He had power. He gave up power twiceonce at the end of the Revolutionary War, when he resigned his commission and returned to Mount Vernon, and again at the end of his second administration, when he refused to seek a third term. In doing so, he set a standard for American presidents that lasted until the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. When King George III hears Washington isnt seeking a third term, he asks his American painter, Benjamin West, what Washington will do next. West replied, They say he will return to his farm. To which the king remarks, If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world. And then, as Jon Meacham says, In giving up power, he ultimately ensured that he would achieve ultimate power.



Washington made horrible mistakes as a junior British officer at Fort Necessity during the French and Indian War, but the experience made him a more thoughtful commander, says General Colin Powell. (Photo by Heather Pastorini)

What are the best and worst moments of Washingtons years in office? Some of his best moments come in the first 150 days when he, the new Congress, and the powerful team of advisors he has assembledThomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Henry Knox, and Edmund Randolphcreate the Executive Branch, the Judiciary Branch, the first tax laws, and the Bill of Rights, and choose a site for a capital city on the site of what becomes Washington, DC. Some of his worst moments happen when the cabinet he built begins to split apartwhen a partisan divide threatens the American experiment with failure.

What is George Washingtons legacy as president? He served two terms and led a peaceful transition from the highest power by returning to private life. So from his official title, to the tradition of creating a diverse cabinet of advisors, to length of service, to what powers the office would or would not possess, to influence over the military, to his personal and professional conduct, Washington shaped the role and function, formally and informally, of the presidency, inspiring future leaders for all time. Today, bringing the Revolutionary War and George Washington to life is more important than ever. The great protection for our democratic system, Lincoln counseled, was to read of and recount the stories of our countrys history, to rededicate ourselves to the ideals of our Founding Fathers. We ignore history at our peril, for without heartening examples of past leadership we risk falling prey to accepting our current climate of uncivil, frenetic polarization as the norm. In Washingtons Farewell Address, considered by many to be one of the greatest documents in American history, he warns against the baneful effects of sectionalism and the spirit of party.
Imagine getting a Flamin' Hot Cheetos craving, securing a bag for yourself only to open it and find just regular Cheetos.

That cheated Cheeto feeling is what happened to Ashley Garcia last week. She said she bought the bag from a vending machine at her job last Tuesday for $1.25. After shaking the bag up some, hoping to find the red dust that makes the spicy version of the chips so great, Garcia realized the heartbreaking truth that her package was incorrectly filled.
Additional reporting by Juno McEnroe and Press Association

The Tanaiste has ruled out holding any discussions with Sinn Fein on the formation of a government.

While Simon Coveney said a lot of counting remains to be done, and Sinn Fein has done very well, he said the Fine Gael position in relation to Sinn Fein was very clear during the election campaign.

"And I think people voted for us on that basis and we're not going to be changing our position," he said.

Mr Coveney was speaking as he arrived at the Cork city count centre in Nemo Rangers GAA Club in the last few minutes.

The fifth count has just be declared and Micheal Martin, Mr Coveney and Micheal McGrath have yet to be elected.

Mr Coveney said his party's position, which they made "very, very, clear during the election campaign" will not be changing.

"Fine Gael will not be going into government with Sinn Fein," he said.

He said Sinn Fein has a significant mandate - a vote which his party respects.

"But that's a different thing to trying to put a government together that can last, that's comparable that can make decisions for the county in a coherent way," he said.

"I've said many times that I just don't believe that the policy platforms Sinn Fein are outlining and the approach and policies that Fine Gael have committed to are compatible."

He also pointed to how the Taoiseach has described a partnership between the two as a "marriage that would be forced".

Mr Coveney added: Weve never ruled out Fianna Fail, the Taoiseach has been clear on that and I think Ive been clear on it for a number of years, the country needs a government.

Fine Gael is going work towards the creation of a government, and if we have to move into opposition, so be it.

Of course would be open to talk to Fianna Fail, and any other parties that believe theyre compatible with Fine Gael in terms of forming a balanced stable government that can protect the countrys interests.

Mr Coveney said the country has stated that they want a change in the polls.

They were restless, the electorate were restless, he said.

There wasnt so much an anger, it was more a willingness to vote for something quite different. And we see the result.

Mr Coveney said: Fine Gael will focus on trying to put a coalition together, that can take on those challenges and respond to peoples concerns, and if it doesnt work out well then well go into opposition.

I mean the one thing I would say is that, I think in the aftermath of this election, the likelihood of our confidence and supply type arrangements, I think is very unlikely.

I think Ireland needs a government that has the majority, that can make decisions, that can make things happen quickly and responding to what the electorate are looking for from government.

And so, certainly, my perspective, is that Fine Gael again, it will either play a constructive role in government, helping to put a coalition together that can work with country, or we will be a very active party in opposition.

Paschal Donohoe at the RDS count Centre Dublin. Photo:Gareth Chaney/Collins

Meanwhile, other senior Fine Gael figures have tonight firmly closed the door on working with Sinn Fein in government with the party also on track to lose up to 15 seats.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said that it was too early to assess Fine Gael's performance in the general election but that almost 450,000 people had voted for his party.

He said:

Our anticipation of the Fine Gael performance is that it will be between the mid to high 30s, that is our expectation at the moment. But if the ball bounces in a few ways in a couple of constituencies, it could go beyond that. But it is very early to say, and it's far too early to form a view as to what our actual performance will be.

Mr Donohoe firmly ruled out working with Sinn Fein in government, despite the fact the latter could potentially exceed his party in terms of support and Dail seats.

Asked about any chance of a coalition between Fine Gael and Sinn Fein, he answered:

There's absolutely no change no change in that stance for Fine Gael.

He said that the coming weeks would be very demanding and very complex.

However, with the prospect of the party's Dail numbers falling to the mid 30s, as the minister said, there will be casualties and there were a number of indications last night as to who would lose out on seats. Fine Gael originally elected 50 people to the Dail in 2016.

Outgoing TDs Noel Rock and Kate O'Connell were the first casualties in Dublin constituencies, with the former telling the Irish Examiner that his party needed to do an analysis on how it could connect more with the working class.

Elsewhere, Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty looked to be struggling to hold onto her seat in Meath East.

However, there were some positives for Fine Gael with the party expected to hold its seat in Cork North Central with the election of Colm Burke while both Health Minister Simon Harris and Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy looked set to be re-elected in their respective constituencies of Wicklow and Dublin Bay South.

Mr Murphy insisted during media interviews yesterday that the government's housing plan was starting to work, with a slow down in rent increases and house prices.

Elsewhere, Fine Gaels Rural Affairs Minister Michael Ring came out on top after the first count in Co Mayo and was elected to the Dail with 14,796 votes.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar also said earlier in the night that his party's position on working with Sinn Fein had not changed.

"Nobody can be forced into some sort of forced marriage or forced coalition," he added.
Drivers with a high number of moving violations, like speeding and drunken driving, already can have their license suspended or revoked. But speeding and red-light camera tickets are tied to the vehicle, not the driver, so violations caught on camera do not count toward an individuals license record.

Under the citys plan, owners of vehicles would have to take a safety course unless somebody else was driving when the tickets were issued and agrees to take the class.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who also supports the legislation, has made street safety a top priority. Besides speed cameras, the city has reduced the speed limit in much of the city to 25 miles per hour, has given pedestrians head starts at crosswalks and is spending $1.7 billion to add 250 miles of protected bike lanes.

The city also recently announced the formation of a special force of 100 police officers charged with enforcing traffic rules.

The safety campaign, known as Vision Zero, had steadily driven down traffic fatalities to their lowest rate in a century before last years reversal and has sparked a national conversation on making roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

This is an area where more work needs to be done, drivers need to drive safely and responsibly, and there needs to be more accountability, said Polly Trottenberg, the citys transportation commissioner.

Evidence suggests that drivers who routinely flout traffic laws are more dangerous.

A preliminary study by the citys Transportation Department and the University of Chicago of all camera-related violations between 2012 and 2019 found that vehicles with five or more camera violations during that period were nearly twice as likely as a vehicle with no violations to be involved in a crash that caused injuries.
Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Monday announced that a government job will be provided to one member of the 24-year-old lecturer, who succumbed to her injuries after she was set ablaze in Wardha district a week ago.

The woman succumbed to her injuries during treatment in Nagpur-based Orange City Hospital and Research Institute today morning.

Deshmukh expressed grief over the lecturer's demise and said that all necessary assistance will be provided to the family.

"I am extremely saddened. Despite taking all possible efforts, the victim couldn't be saved. The state government is with the bereaved family. A government job will be provided to one member of the victim's family and all necessary assistance will be provided to the family," the minister tweeted in Marathi.

On February 5, Deshmukh had said that the case of the woman lecturer should be heard in a fast track court.

Earlier in the day, Dr Anup Marar, Director, Orange City Hospital and Research Center told ANI that the victim's condition had been deteriorating from 4 am today with oxygen saturation getting low.

"The patient was declared dead at 6:55 am today. The probable cause of death was septicemic shock. Her body has been handed over to police authorities for postmortem," he said.

The lecturer was set ablaze allegedly by a jilted lover near Hinganghat area in Maharashtra's Wardha district on February 3.

The unmarried woman had suffered approximately 40 per cent burn injuries and was being treated in the hospital.

Police Inspector Satyaveer Bhandivar had said, "The incident took place when the woman was heading to her college at around 7 am on the morning of February 3. The man threw kerosene on the woman and set her on fire.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Some are resorting to dramatic and costly measures to procure necessities. On a recent flight back from Myanmar, a woman from Hong Kong was traveling with just one piece of luggage stuffed with surgical masks. She explained to staff at the check-in counter, who were questioning why she had been in Myanmar for less than 24 hours, that she was simply on a supply run.
The United States has started withdrawal of its troops from Iraq, Al Arabiya TV reported citing Iraqi parliament member Ali al-Ghanimi.



He said that U.S. troops are beginning to leave 15 military bases in Iraq. In his words, the American have confined their presence by two big bases, the one near the city of Erbil in northern Iraq and Ain al-Asad airbase in the Anbar province some 180 kilometers west of Baghdad.



According to al-Ghanimi, the U.S. were seeking to find a lodgement at these bases but "the Iraqi parliament and the Iraqi people insist that American troops be withdrawn from all the bases."

No official comments from the US side about the withdrawal of troops from 15 bases in Iraq have followed as of yet, TASS reported.

Deputy head of the Council of the Russian Diplomats Association Andrei Baklanov, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that the beginning of the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq should be seen only as a U.S. experiment. "It will probably not go beyond a certain regrouping and the subsequent understanding of what will happen next, as the final decision on no country has been made," he explained.

"Confidence in the U.S. as a country and as a partner has been undermined very badly. Trust in allegations of withdrawal or non-withdrawal of troops has been undermined. There must be confidence that if Washington makes a statement, it will be followed by the action. And we have seen many times that almost nothing was done after," Andrei Baklanov recalled.

On January 5, or two days after the United States missile strike near the Baghdad airport which killed General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, the Iraqi parliament passed a resolution demanding complete withdrawal of all foreign troops from the country. The resolution however was passed in the absence of several leading parliamentary factions, which say this resolution is illegitimate and unbinding and its legitimacy is to be confirmed by the countrys Federal Supreme Court.

The U.S. has been refusing to withdraw its troops from Iraq. Moreover, U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened Baghdad with unprecedented sanctions.
Four days after a group of men broke into the all-women Gargi College and allegedly groped, harassed and molested students, Delhi Police on Monday registered a complaint as hundreds of students protested demanding strict action against the intruders.

IMAGE: Students of Delhi University's Gargi College protest against the alleged sexual assault on students by the outsiders in the college campus. Photograph: ANI Photo

The outrage of Gargi students following the attacks during their college festival Reverie on February 6 found wide echo with students from other colleges sharing their anguish, political parties speaking out and the issue being raised in Parliament.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal termed the incident 'extremely unfortunate' while Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' said those involved in the act were outsiders and the college administration has been asked to take strict action against them.

The Delhi units of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress united on a common platform with both asking that the culprits be arrested at the earliest.

Delhi Commission for Women Swati Maliwal also reached the college, in the Siri Fort area in the heart of south Delhi, to take stock of the situation.

The DCW issued a notice the college and the Delhi Police for 'inaction'.

Fighting allegations that the college administration turned a deaf ear to their complaints and did nothing, Gargi College Principal Promila Kumar said a general body meeting was held with the students and the matter amicably resolved.

"The college has filed a police complaint and has also set up an internal inquiry committee to look into the matter and speak to complainants. The police have begun their probe and are collecting footage," she told PTI.

IMAGE: Security personnel of Gargi College checks the ID cards of students following a protest against the alleged sexual assault on students by the outsiders in the college campus in New Delhi . Photograph: ANI Photo

The students alleged that the men, in their 30s and drunk, groped and dragged girls and performed obscene acts, while security and Delhi Police personnel stood by like mute spectators.

Reliving the nightmare of the men gatecrashing into what they considered their safe space, a student said there was complete lapse of security.

"The students were groped, molested and even assaulted by the men. The college claimed to have made security arrangements. I don't think such an incident has taken place on any college campus across the country," she said.

Requesting anonymity, a political science student added that some men jumped over the gates while others jumped over walls.

"They were drunk and went berserk. Some girls ran towards washrooms, but the men followed them and locked them inside," she added.

The students alleged that they were threatened by the intruders, who also made objectionable remarks and used cuss words.

They also claimed that auto drivers, who had parked their vehicles outside the main gate of the college, also entered the campus.

"The college had hired bouncers for security. The security personnel were also standing right there and watching it all. My friend, who was molested, rushed to a security guard and pleaded him for help but he did not move," a student said.

Their ordeal aggravated after the college refused to take cognisance of the incident, the students alleged.

"The next day, on February 7, we took up the matter with teachers and the college management. The management said they had taken note of it.

"They didn't promise to take any action, after which many students shared their horrific experiences on Instagram," a B.Sc student added.

According to Atul Kumar Thakur, DCP (south), a case has been registered under IPC sections 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).

He said the case will be investigated by Inspector Pratibha Sharma, Crime Against Women Cell of south District.

Police are scanning the footage of CCTV cameras to collect evidence and speaking to students to ascertain facts, the officer said.

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, who raised the issue in the Lok Sabha, said sexual harassment and bullying often takes place in many higher education institutions and action should be taken in such incidents.

'What happened in Gargi festival is disgusting! Such festivals are opportunities to celebrate the cultural diversity & talent in Delhi. But the obvious anti-social elements saw this festival as another chance to inflict harassment & violence on students!' said Kejriwal.

Left-group All India Democratic Women's Association alleged that the Citizenship Amendment Act supporters were involved in the 'molestation' of students.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 21:48:29|Editor: huaxia

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ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) on Monday called for an end to external interference and enforcement of United Nations arms embargo on war-ravaged Libya.

"The AU is working to enforcing the cessation of hostilities. In order to effect that there needs to be an end to external interference and the enforcement of UN arms embargo," Smail Chergui, AU commissioner for Peace and Security, said on the sidelines of the 33rd ordinary session of the AU assembly of heads of state and government in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

"We want the cessation of hostilities to be respected. We want the UN embargo also strictly to be respected," he said. "We want immediate cessation of all external interventions and interferences in Libyan affairs."

"We want to join the UN in an assessment mission... to evaluate what is necessary to oversee the cessation of hostilities," Chergui said. "We want to be part of the deployment of the observer mission in Tripoli and elsewhere in the country."

Solving the crisis in Libya is crucial, as the civil war in the north African country has had a knockoff effect on the Sahel region and even the Lake Chad basin, with the proliferation of arms trafficking and terror groups, the AU commissioner said.

The AU welcomes the recent Berlin declaration on the Libyan conflict as a first step to solving the crisis in Libya, he said.

Last month, world powers convened in the German capital to find a way to end the Libyan conflict. In a draft communique released at the end of the gathering, parties attending the conference called for credible, verifiable, sequenced and reciprocal steps, starting with a truce implemented by all parties concerned and leading to a comprehensive and lasting cessation of all hostilities including air operations over the territory of Libya.

"The cessation of hostilities shall furthermore include the redeployment of heavy weapons, artillery and aerial vehicles and their cantonment and the termination of all military movements by, or in direct support of, the conflict parties, in and over the entire territory of Libya, starting from the beginning of the ceasefire process," the draft communique said.

Insecurity and chaos have been rampant in Libya following the downfall of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

The Libyan conflict escalated in 2014, splitting power between two rival governments: the UN-backed Government of National Accord in the capital, Tripoli, and a government in the northeastern city of Tobruk allied with self-proclaimed Libyan National Army led by Khalifa Haftar.
Several alleged members of a group called the Network were sentenced to prison terms ranging from six to 18 years after a trial on what critics say were trumped-up terrorism-related charges, in one of of several high-profile cases playing out this week in Russia. Court cases that the defendants contend are unfair have been a constant backdrop under President Vladimir Putin. What are the chances that could change? RFE/RL senior correspondent Robert Coalson joins host Steve Gutterman to discuss.
In an early decision after becoming chief minister, (pictured) had said he wanted to redesignate the office of the collector because it was an inheritance of the colonial era, when collectors were a tool to collect revenue for the British government. Now, after more than a year, he has constituted a committee headed by senior IAS officer I C P Keshari, for the task. He, along with four other IAS officers, is expected to suggest alternatives to the word collector. Some options such as jila prashasak (district administrator) and jiladheesh (ruler of district) were discussed recently by the government but no decision was taken. Most other states in India use the term district magistrate instead of collector.

Disproving slowdown theory

Its again a Bharatiya Janata Party leader who has proven there is no slowdown in the world, let alone in India. There have been discussions, in Delhi and the world, about a recession. If there was any recession, we would have come here wearing kurta and dhoti, not coats and jackets. If there was a recession we would not have bought pants and pajamas, Virendra Singh, MP from Uttar Pradeshs Ballia district, said. Last November, Union minister Suresh Angadi had dismissed the Oppositions criticism of the state of the economy, asserting that airports and trains were full and people were getting married, and that indicated the countrys economy was doing fine.

Yes, there is slowdown

While ruling party members fervently hope there is no slowdown  and have taken it upon themselves to prove there is none indeed  leaders of various opposition parties have not stopped criticising the Central government for failing to revive the economy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about doing surya namaskar to strengthen his back. It would be good if he could suggest a similar asana (yoga posture) to unemployed youngsters, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said at an event in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh. He was picking up where Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Modi had left. The prime minister, in his reply to the discussion on the presidential address, had referred to the Congress leaders comments about youngsters beating up Modi with sticks over the lack of jobs, and had said he would increase the number of surya namaskar so that his back could withstand the beating.
Syrian government forces attacked a Turkish military post in the Taftanaz area of northwest Syria's Idlib on Monday, Turkish officials said, and broadcaster NTV cited the Turkish Defence Ministry as saying five soldiers were killed.

The officials told Reuters that Turkish forces were retaliating after the strike on Taftanaz, where Turkey recently sent forces in response to advances by Syrian government forces.

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Burma Who Is Myanmars New Home Affairs Minister?

Lieutenant General Soe Htut, the new minister of home affairs and the former chief of military security affairs. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

NAYPYITAWMyanmars Chief of Military Security Affairs, Lieutenant General Soe Htut, was approved as the countrys new home affairs minister on Monday, replacing the outgoing Lt-Gen Kyaw Swe.

The Union Parliament on Monday approved the nomination of the military intelligence chief, who turns 60 next month, as the new home affairs minister, after President U Win Myint submitted his appointment last week. Union Parliament Speaker U T Khun Myat announced in Parliament on Thursday that the President had submitted his appointment as the new minister.

According to the 2008 Constitution, three ministriesDefense, Home Affairs and Border Affairsare controlled by the military, known as the Tatmadaw. The heads of the three ministries are nominated by the military chief and the President appoints them with the approval of the Union Parliament.

According to the Constitution, the Parliament does not need to vote to confirm ministerial appointments unless there is proof that the nominee doesnt meet the qualifications for the position.

Lt-Gen Soe Htut graduated from Intake 64 of the Myanmar militarys Officer Training School and won the best cadet award of that intake, which he attended together with Major-General Soe Shein, a close aide of retired Senior General Than Shwe.

He is the son of late Brigadier General Lun Maung, a minister in the Prime Ministers Office under the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) military junta, and for this reason, he led a life of ease as a junior officer in the military, according to a former major general who served as a regional commander who spoke to The Irrawaddy on condition of anonymity.

He is a hard worker. He also tries hard in schoolwork. But he is not an outstanding fighter. His combat capability is sort of so-so. As his father was a senior military officer, he was able to rise comfortably in the Tatmadaw with the support of his father, said the officer.

His father, Brigadier General Lun Maung, was killed in a helicopter crash in 2001 along with SPDC Secretary 2 Lieutenant General Tin Oo and other high-ranking military officials. Lt-Gen Soe Htut continued to receive favor from the military leadership as a son of a senior military officer who died in the line of duty.

U Hla Htay Win, who was then a colonel, survived the plane crash, and retired from the military as a general. He is now a lawmaker with the Union Solidarity and Development Party in the national legislature.

He [Lt-Gen Soe Htut] served as the commander of Division 88 in Magwe. He then became a regional commander in July, 2010, said the former major general.

He served as the commander of Eastern Central Command and Central Command. While he was still a major general and serving as the commander of Central Command in Mandalay, some of his juniors were promoted to lieutenant general. That was July 2015, he added.

Some sources said he also served as the commander of the 101st Light Infantry Division in Pakokku in central Myanmar.

In 2016, he was appointed Judge Advocate-General and promoted to lieutenant general. Soon after, he became Myanmars Chief of Military Security Affairs.

Later, he got very close with the sitting military chief [Senior General Min Aung Hlaing]. And he also won his trust. The military chief put him in a position of authority. He has always accompanied the military chief on all of his local and foreign trips. This shows that the military chief trusts and relies on him, said the anonymous source.

The home affairs minister position is critical for civil-military relations, and normally the military chief would only nominate someone he thinks is trustworthy and loyal to him for that post, said a senior military officer in active service who asked for anonymity.

He is moderate. Overall, he is a gentleman. If the Tatmadaw appoints someone, the Tatmadaw believes he is appropriate because the Tatmadaw always checks the personal history and past activities of the appointee to assess his suitability, he said.

Director U Aung Thu Nyein of the Institute for Strategy and Policy, a think-tank based in Yangon, suggested civil-military relations can improve if Lt-Gen. Soe Htut can perform well, as he has close ties with the military chief.

I think there will also be other changes besides this appointment, he said.

The Irrawaddy has learned that there will be a reshuffle of nearly 30 positions in the military according to a decision made at the Tatmadaws recent quarterly meeting. According to sources, Central Region Commander Maj-Gen Kyaw Swa Lin will succeed Lt-Gen Soe Htut as the Chief of Military Security Affairs. The Irrawaddy could not independently confirm those reports.

State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said in an interview during her visit to Singapore in 2018 that her relationship with the militarywhich held her under house arrest for nearly 15 yearswas not that bad and that the generals in her cabinet were rather sweet.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko

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THE National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission have said they are taking the corruption fight to cartels that have captured various institutions including the judiciary and media, crippling the economy in the process.





Speaking on the sidelines of a Political Actors Dialogue (Polad) anti-corruption capacitation workshop in Bulawayo yesterday, NPA and Zacc officials said addressing graft needs urgent attention as it is of concern to most citizens in the country.





Prosecutor-General Mr Kumbirai Hodzi said cartels were responsible for illicit deals that are contributing to the suffering of most citizens.





The cartels are responsible for most of the high-level incidences of corruption and the nature of the cartels cuts across all the institutions, the media, the legal profession, the judiciary, the NPA itself and all other institutions that are mandated to fight corruption. Members of the public and business people are also involved in those cartels, said Mr Hodzi.





He said the cartels constitute organised crime and are well co-ordinated to deliberately frustrate efforts to unearth them and once discovered, they use their sophistication to frustrate prosecution.





Mr Hodzi said State institutions should also up their game in dealing with cartels and the NPA is devising several measures to fight corruption in the country.





We will need to approach our fight against corruption in a thoroughly scientific manner. We have been fighting corruption in a very blind manner hence the challenges we have been facing, he said adding that he understood the frustration from the public as far as corruption matters are concerned.





I want you to understand the issue at two levels. At the emotional level, members of the public have a legitimate right to be concerned because they live with everyday results of corruption. The shortages that we are experiencing, the economic collapse which, however you look at it, is a result of corruption. That is at the emotional level, Mr Hodzi said.





The Prosecutor General said scientifically, fighting corruption entails understanding its causes, its nature and characteristics when it mutates as cartels use their systems to fight back to maintain the status quo.





They have got strategies and you need to have a holistic and integrated bi-scientific approach. You need to know exactly what you are doing at the end of the day. Its like performing brain surgery, you might be emotional that somebody needs to be operated on. But if everyone gets into the operating room, they might end up causing more damage than intended, he said.





Mr Hodzi said there is a need for co-ordination and collaboration from various bodies such as police, judiciary and Zacc to effectively deal with corruption.





The PG said he was also riding on the countrys political will from the top to effectively fight corruption in an apolitical manner.





Zacc spokesperson Commissioner John Makamure said while the issue of cartels is public knowledge, the anti-graft body needs evidence to descend on them.





The issue of cartels, we fully agree as Zacc that corruption is fuelled by cartels. So, we need to break those cartels. We can only break the cartels if one: there is a national consensus in the country on what the causes of corruption are and accepting the existence of cartels as a reality. This is why I keep coming to the point that we need to engage all the stakeholders so that they feel confident that we are serious about fighting corruption and they have space in that fight, said Comm Makamure.





That is the only way in which stakeholders and citizens can report to Zacc suspected cases of corruption because cartels are well known. What Zacc and other law enforcement agents are looking for is evidence that we can then use during our investigations and compile dockets. Again, its a stakeholder issue.




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Female Nasa astronaut breaks world record, returns home after spending 328 days in space



Expedition 61 Flight Engineer Christina Koch of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) returned home to Ellington Field in Houston, Texas, US on Friday. After setting a record for the longest single spaceflight in history by a woman, Nasa astronaut Christina Koch returned to Earth Thursday. After returning to Earth, Christina Koch - aboard a Nasa aircraft some 24 hours after a parachute-assisted landing in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in Kazakhstan - returned home to Ellington Field in Houston.



Christina Koch set a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman - 328 days - in a mission on the orbiting laboratory that spanned 5,248 orbits of the Earth and 22,36,99,000 km approximately. The mission is roughly the equivalent of 291 round trips to the Moon. Christina Koch performed six spacewalks during her mission and saw the arrival of a dozen visiting vehicles and the departure of a dozen spacecraft. Christina Koch, during her stay on space station, was also part of the first cookie baking session in space.



After setting a record and landing on Earth, Christina Koch on Twitter wrote, "This journey has been everyone's journey. Thank you to all involved in the success of our mission, and for giving me the opportunity to carry everyone's dreams into space. I'm filled with gratitude to be back on the planet!" Read More...


Strengths The best performing metal this week was palladium, up 1.44 percent as Jeffrey Currie, head of global commodities research at Goldman Sachs, commented he sees the potential for palladium to test $3,000. With Fridays gain, gold saw a third straight day of positive momentum as concerns of economic fallout surrounding coronavirus outweighed stronger-than-expected U.S. job gains. Holdings in gold-backed ETFs surpassed the record set in 2012, hitting 2,573.9 tons on Monday, according to Bloomberg data.



Russias gold reserves grew in January to $562.3 billion, up from $554.4 billion in December. Chinas gold reserves remained flat over the same time period. Turkeys holdings in gold rose $680 million from the previous week to now total $27.5 billion as of January 31.



Calibre Mining Corp announced initial drill results from its El Limon project in Nicaragua, including 18.65 grams per ton of gold over 5.1 meters. CEO Russell Ball said in the press release: We ramped up the program significantly in January and I am confident that our 2020 drilling campaign will deliver positive results in this world-class, low sulfidation epithermal district. Weaknesses The worst performing metal this week was silver, down 1.89 percent despite hedge funds boosting their bullish positioning in the metal this past week. The price of gold fell early in the week over fears that the coronavirus would hamper Chinese demand for the yellow metal. Analysts at Citigroup Inc. wrote in a note this week that retail coin and jewelry demand in Asia is a negative risk for gold markets, particularly in China where gold premiums have started to soften given GDP downgrades and coronavirus risks. China is the worlds top consumer of gold.



Indias gold imports fell to 21.7 tons in January from 45.9 tons a year earlier  a drop of 53 percent. Bloomberg writes that record-high domestic prices and a slowdown in economic growth are behind dramatic decrease. The World Gold Council (WGC) recently showed that full-year purchases fell 14 percent in 2019. Americas Gold and Silver Corp., a North American precious metals producer, said that it has temporarily stopped mining and processing at its Cosala Operations in Mexico due to a blockade by workers at the facility. JPMorgan Chase & Co might face criminal charges and be subject to fines regarding its involvement with alleged manipulation in the precious metals market, reports Bloomberg News.



According to a report by law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, private equity investments in mining fell to $500 million in 2019, down from $2 billion the year prior  a drop of 75 percent. The firm said private equity is now focused on raising additional funds for existing investments rather than looking for new deals. Opportunities The London Bullion Market Association (LMBA) released its gold price forecasts for 2020 and the consensus is looking for double-digit increases. The average forecast is $1,558.90 an ounce, with the highest at $2,080 and the lowest at $1,300. Analysts are expecting more volatility, as the range between the high and low prices is $780, much bigger than last years range of $325.



Anglo American Platinum Ltd. CEO Chris Griffith said in an interview this week that the rally in palladium isnt a bubble because there is still a supply deficit of about 1 million ounces. Thats a massive shortfall, and thats making prices rise. Griffith added that prices will be supported until automakers start substituting palladium with platinum.



Bloomberg reports that AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. is moving away from South Africa and instead toward the Americas. The worlds third largest gold producer is looking at projects in Colombia and Nevada, according to CEO Kelvin Dushnisky. The market will always be receptive to good projects, and there are quality assets. The reason we want to bring them into production is part of our objective to bring new, longer life, lower-cost operations. AngloGold has just one mine left in South Africa and is looking for a buyer. Angolan state-owned diamond mining company Endiama EP is looking at selling as much as 30 percent of its shares in an IPO in 2022, reports Bloomberg. Threats Barrick Gold CEO Mark Bristow confirmed that the company is not planning on merging with Freeport-McMoran, but that he is interested in Grasberg mine in Indonesia. Bristow said if youre going to be a world-class gold miner, youre going to have to accept copper. In ten years time the most strategic metal on this planet is copper, if you believe the EV story, and I do. The Freeport Grasberg mine in Indonesia is a tier-one copper asset because it is high grade and has a long life. However, the mine might not be the best potential acquisition, as Indonesia likely would not be considered a tier-one location by the market.



Sibanye Gold Ltd. CEO Neal Froneman expressed that South Africas president is running out of time to attract investments in the countrys mining industry, reports Bloomberg. There has been a distinct lack of turnaround, if anything we have gone backward. Sibanye is increasingly looking at doing business in West Africa, the Americas and Australia due to the risks of weak economic growth and high debt in his home country.



The Commerce Department announced on Monday that the Trump administration is moving ahead with new rules that would clear the way for the U.S. to apply punitive tariffs on goods from countries accused of having undervalued currencies, reports Bloomberg News. The rules would allow the U.S. to impose duties on goods from countries accused of manipulating their currencies, even in cases the country hasnt been found guilty of doing so by the U.S. Treasury. By Frank E. Holmes Contributing to kitco.com Follow @bulldogholmes www.goldnewsletter.com

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
By Express News Service

Aindrita Ray, an established actor in Kannada who has also made her mark in Bengali and Hindi films, will now foray into the digital medium. The actor will be seen in a pivotal role in the upcoming web-series, The Casino  My Game My Rules, on ZEE5. Directed and produced by Hardik Gajjar, and made under the banner of Hardik Gajjar Films, the series will also star Karanvir Bohra, Sudhanshu Pandey, and Mandana Karimi.

The 10-episode series is said to be a story involving a mystery and conspiracy of a rich, yet humble, Vicky, who is the heir to his fathers multi-billion dollar casino. Aindrita Ray will be participating in a month-long shoot schedule, which is currently going on in Nepal. The Casino will premier on April 10.
A Magistrates Court in Ipetmodu, Osun State, on Monday, sentenced a fake lawyer, Melvin Oromidayo, to three years imprisonment with hard labour.

Magistrate Abosede Sarumi, sentenced Mr Oromidayo after he pleaded guilty.

Ms Sarumi held that though the convict pleaded guilty to the three counts of forgery, Impersonation and fraud, a sinner must not go unpunished.

She added that the sentence would serve as a deterrent to other offenders and the convict.

Ms Sarumi condemned the conduct of Mr Oromidayo and wondered about the countless sorrows the fake lawyer must have caused aggrieved families who saw the lawyer as their saviour.

The magistrate said On count one, two, three, I sentence him to three years imprisonment on each count respectively with hard labour and without an option of fine.

She added that the terms would run concurrently.

Earlier, the prosecutor, Joseph Adebayo, said that the convict committed the offence on January 20 at Ipetumodu Magistrates Court, Ife North Local Government Area of Osun.

Mr Adebayo said that the convict forged a stamp with the inscription: MELVIN A OROMIDAYO ESQ, BARRISTER SOLICITOR REAL LEGAL CHAMBER.

He added that the convict intended that the same stamp be acted upon as genuine with the impression of presenting himself as qualified lawyer called to the Nigeria Bar.

The prosecutor stated further that the convict wrote a statement at the police station that he finished from Law School, Enugu, but failed at the final exam.

Mr Adebayo said further that on January 21, he opened up and confessed he was not a law student or attended any university, but went to Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, and studied Estate Management.

Mr Adebayo stated that the offence contravened the provisions of sections 467(4) and 484 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Osun, 2002.

(NAN)
A number of Texans have been put in 'self quarantine' in their homes in case they have the coronavirus after recently returning from China.

Officials in the city of San Antonio confirmed that an unspecified number of people in Bexar County were being confined to their homes for 14 days.

Their quarantine period began at 10am Sunday, News 4 San Antonio reported.

It follows 91 US citizens already in quarantine at Lackland Air Force Base in the county since they flew back from China last week.

US embassy staff in white hazmat suits were seen boarding a State Department plane home from Wuhan on Friday, as the first coronavirus death of an American citizen was confirmed

The number of cases is growing daily as the deadly virus spreads round the world

Dawn Emerick, the Metro Health Director said those in quarantine at home had not shown any symptoms yet.

But the virus has an incubation period of around two weeks during which time victims can be carrying it but showing no outward symptoms.

Dr Emerick said: 'Metro Health is monitoring a small number of travelers who have returned from mainland China.

'Per the President's public health emergency declaration, and consistent with state and CDC protocols, the travelers are in a 14-day self quarantine since their departure from China and they are not showing symptoms.

'They will monitor their temperature and check for signs or symptoms and report to Metro Health twice daily.

'If there is a confirmed case, we will share information as necessary, while also considering the privacy of these travelers.'

Currently, there are no reported cases of the deadly coronavirus in the area.

More than 900 people have died and 37,000 have become infected worldwide since the outbreak began in the Chinese city of Wuhan, which has been placed in lockdown to curb the spread.

The travelers in quarantine at the Lackland air base include people of all ages 'from babies to senior citizens.

Captain Jennifer McQuiston said: 'It may seem surprising to some that we are taking such aggressive legal measures.

'It has been over 60 years since we issued a federal quarantine like this.

A pedestrian passes the main gate at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio

The new coronavirus has killed at least 910 people and infected more than 40,640 globally

'We escorted the passengers off the plane, we screened them, took their temps and we are happy to report none of them had symptoms.'

Five planes have now returned to the US, carrying more than 800 passengers evacuated from Wuhan.

The first was chartered by the State Department to retrieve diplomats from the epicenter of the outbreak after Wuhan was put on lockdown.

Following that first flight, another four were chartered to rescue stranded visitors.

According to the White House's Friday press briefing, the US sent 18 tons of medical supplies - such as gowns, masks and gloves - on the flights to China, where shortages are a growing concern.

But following the Trump administration's travel restrictions, they and any citizen or close family member of a citizen who returns to the US within two weeks of travel to Hubei, will be held in a federally mandated quarantine for 14 days.

More than 900 people have died and 37,000 have become infected since the outbreak began in the Chinese city of Wuhan, which has been placed in lockdown to curb the spread.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Monday suggested that teachers in the state should be taught foreign languages so that they can work abroad.

At the same time, he lamented that a large proportion of applicants had failed the recruitment exam for graduate teachers conducted by the UP Basic Board, indicating that the system needed more attention.

"The demand for Indian teachers is the highest in the world, the chief minister claimed.

He said the country should upgrade the qualifications of its teachers so that they can be sent abroad,



"All educational institutions in Uttar Pradesh should identify countries where teachers are needed and the languages spoken there, he said at a seminar at Digvijaynath LT Training College.

He said the identified languages can then be made part of the curriculum for teacher trainees.

Adityanath said 70 per cent of graduate candidates had failed the last Basic Board exam last time.

This shows which way the quality of our system is going. We have to pay special attention to this," he said at the college named after a former mahant of Gorakhnath Math.

The chief minister, who is the current head of the math, also praised mahant Avaidyanath from whom he took over.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
[February 10, 2020] Altimetrik Opens Five New Offices to Support Continued Global Growth and Strong Client Demand

Altimetrik Corp., a pure play business transformation company helping clients in their business and technology transformation, today announced the opening of five new offices in Tokyo, Vancouver, St. Louis, Detroit, and Bangalore. The company is also expanding many existing offices to meet the needs of its rapidly growing global customer base. This expansion comes off a successful 2019 in which Altimetrik grew revenues 25% year-over-year and increased the number of employees nearly 40%, from 1,800 to 2,500. "By creating value through data solutions built in an iterative process, we can help companies gain significant business value and optimize its resources through new and more rapid insights," said Raj Vattikuti, CEO and founder of Altimetrik. "We're seeing success through our incremental and iterative approach as opposed to a boil-the-ocean approach that we've seen other companies take. The latter tends to fall short of expectations, costing organizations in terms of time, resources, and utilizing advances in technology that could help them more efectively compete in their market."



Altimetrik's new office in Tokyo marks the company's first official presence in Japan, established to support work with Altimetrik's expanding growing list of clients in the country. The office expansion reflects Altimetrik's continued initiatives to add local presences that service clients in their respective countries and regions. "Our new St. Louis and Vancouver offices were also specifically opened to establish a local physical presence to key global clients, fostering a closer working relationship with them," said Raj Sundaresan, Chief Operating Officer of Altimetrik. "Our client relationships are instrumental in our approach, so we won't hesitate to co-locate our teams to improve collaboration and client outcomes."

Altimetrik's new space in Detroit, Michigan, is the company's first Collider office designed to nurture a hyper-local technology community connecting with local executives, talent, prospective employees, and entrepreneurs. Collider serves as an innovation center for startups and a platform for investing in the technology skills of local talent. Altimetrik plans to open additional Collider offices in select markets. In addition to opening these five new offices, Altimetrik grew its existing offices in Pune, Chennai, and Hyderabad, reflecting the great demand for the company's services in India. Altimetrik now has 18 locations worldwide, with many other employees working on-site with clients or from an Altimetrik office. The company is currently exploring the opening of its first East European office to increase its presence and expand its clientele on the continent. About Altimetrik Altimetrik taps into organizations' technology, people, and other assets to fuel fast, meaningful business transformation. With practitioners of end-to-end business and technology transformation, the company has delivered measurable results for global enterprise customers across financial services, payments, retail, automotive, healthcare, manufacturing, and other industries. Founded in 2012 and with offices across the globe and over 2,500 energized employees, Altimetrik partners with Fortune 500 companies to help them become more agile, empowered, and successful. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200210005222/en/

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The Armenian government confirmed on Monday that an Iranian company sanctioned by the United States is exploring the possibility of taking over and reactivating Armenias largest chemical plant that has stood idle for the last ten years.

The Yerevan-based Nairit plant employed several thousand people in Soviet times. It struggled to remain afloat after the breakup of the Soviet Union, repeatedly changing foreign owners and operators in murky deals overseen by successive Armenian governments.

Nairit had around 2,300 workers when it stopped manufacturing synthetic rubber, its main product, in March 2010. It currently employs only 250 people mostly tasked with guarding its waste disposal and other facilities.

Varag Siserian, a senior aide to Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian, said that senior executives of Irans Tabriz Petrochemical Company expressed an interest reactivating the sprawling plant when they met with government officials in Yerevan on January 30.

Siserian said the company plans to conduct a feasibility study for that purpose by the end of next month. After the study we will be ready to discuss possible variants and formats of cooperation, he told RFE/RLs Armenian service in a written statement.

According to Economy Minister Tigran Khachatrian, the government is open to investment projects that would contain guarantees of long-term stability at Nairit. I cant give details, he said when asked about Tabriz Petrochemical Companys interest in the former chemical giant.

Khachatrian also would not be drawn on the amount of capital investments needed for restarting manufacturing operations there.

Siserian noted that the planned feasibility study could be followed by a financial audit of Nairit.

Nairit was declared bankrupt by a court in Yerevan in 2016 because of its failure to pay electricity bills totaling 1.24 billion drams ($2.6 million). It currently owes a total of $262 million to 300 other firms and individuals.

Tabriz Petrochemical Company was among Iranian entities which the United States blacklisted in 2018 as part of its renewed economic sanctions against Iran.

We have no information about the Iranian company being under U.S. sanctions, Siserian claimed in this regard.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A West Virginia man is accused of organizing a network of shoplifters, many of them drug addicts, to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars in store merchandise that he then resold on the internet.

Nedeltcho Vladimirov of Cross Lanes was charged Monday in a criminal complaint with acquiring nearly 3,700 stolen items that were later resold for profit, U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart said at a news conference.

Vladimirov, who is charged with with money laundering, allegedly paid cash to the shoplifters for a fraction of the stolen items worth. Many of the shoplifters then would use the money to support their drug habits.

Stuart called it an endless cycle for our community that has suffered so much from the opioid crisis. West Virginia leads the nation by far in the rate of drug overdose deaths.

Nearly $370,000 in goods were stolen from popular grocery stores and pharmacies over a two-year period, and Vladimirov is believed to have received more than $200,000 in sales from January 2019 to January 2020, Stuart said. Among the stolen goods were such things as electronics and vitamins, the prosecutor said.

Prosecutors believe 15 to 20 shoplifters acted at the direction of Vladimirov, who would then relist the items both domestically and internationally on websites such as Facebook Marketplace and eBay. Payments would be received through an online payment system. Investigators obtained records showing a user account believed to be associated with Vladimirov.

The scale of this shoplifting-for-profit scheme is extraordinary, Stuart said.

The ongoing investigation led by the U.S. Secret Service, West Virginia state police and other agencies began after store investigators apprehended shoplifters at several retail outlets in the South Charleston area.

A message to consumers who are on eBay or Facebook Marketplace or other websites where youre buying goods at extraordinarily low prices: Please be aware that what you might be buying are stolen goods, Stuart said. There may be a reason the prices are that low. When you buy those goods, youre feeding in to the addiction economy. Youre feeding in to the shoplifting economy. Youre feeding into undermining the very companies that employ us at our places of business and keep our economy moving.

Jail records didnt indicate whether the defendant has an attorney.
Technavio has been monitoring the food service market in APAC and it is poised to grow by USD 344.23 billion during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of over 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/20200210005725/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled food service market in APAC 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire)

Changing lifestyles and rise in demand for convenient food has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. However, growing preference for home cooked food might hamper the market growth. Request a free sample report

Food Service Market in APAC 2020-2024: Segmentation

Food Service Market in APAC is segmented as below:

Product

Food sales

Beverage sales

Type

Restaurants

Delivery and take away

Fast foods

Cafe/Bars

Others

Geographic segmentation

China

Rest of APAC

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=IRTNTR40970

Food Service Market in APAC 2020-2024: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our food service market in APAC report covers the following areas:

Food Service Market in APAC Size

Food Service Market in APAC Trends

Food Service Market in APAC Industry Analysis

This study identifies an increasing number of foodservice chains as one of the prime drivers of the food service market growth in APAC during the forecast period.

Food Service Market in APAC 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the food service market in APAC, including some of the vendors such as Barista Coffee Co. Ltd., Del Taco Restaurants Inc., Domino's Pizza Inc., McDonald's Corp., Papa John's International Inc., Restaurant Brands International Inc., Seven i Holdings Co. Ltd., Starbucks Corp., The Wendy's Co. and Yum! Brands Inc. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the food service market in APAC are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

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Food Service Market in APAC 2020-2024: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024

Detailed information on factors that will assist food service market growth in APAC during the next five years

Estimation of the food service market in APAC's size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the food service market in APAC

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of vendors in food service market in APAC

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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A leading member of the Pakistan Taliban has escaped custody more than two years after surrendering to authorities, a senior security official said Sunday.

The confirmation comes days after Ehsanullah Ehsan -- the former spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) -- released an audio message claiming he had escaped detention and was now in Turkey.

A senior security source told AFP Ehsan was "one of our major assets in identifying and later tracking down militants".

The source was unable to confirm claims that Ehsan was in Turkey, or provide details of how he escaped.

Ehsan was infamous for issuing chilling claims following TTP attacks and has been linked to some of the countrys most bloody attacks -- including the bombing at a park in Lahore during Easter 2016, and the targeting of education activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai.

Ehsan surrendered to authorities in 2017 and later gave high-profile interviews on Pakistani television, angering many in the country who believed he was being pampered by authorities after years of helping lead the bloody insurgency.

Pakistani security officials argued, however, that he had supplied valuable intelligence in the fight against militants.

Pakistan has been battling a homegrown Islamist insurgency for over a decade, with thousands of civilians and security personnel dying in extremist attacks, especially after the TTP began their campaign of violence in 2007.

Overall levels of extremist-linked violence have dropped dramatically last year, with 2019 seeing the fewest deaths since 2007 when TTP was formed.

Analysts have credited the fall to military offensives against the Taliban in the tribal areas of North Waziristan and Khyber where they were headquartered, as well as operations in the country's largest city of Karachi.

In 2018, the TTP was further degraded after a US strike in Afghanistan killed their leader, Maulana Fazlullah.
2019 Young Professional Exchange in Brazil.

For the past year Ive had the privilege of communicating the various ways World Council of Credit Unions carries out its mission of improving lives through credit unions and other financial cooperatives.

Engagements and immersion trips run through our Global Classroom provide me with the opportunity to showcase countless examples of that work.

At the end of each Global Classroom trip, I spend an hour or so on the phone with Thom Belekevich, our Program Manager for Member Services, listening to him passionately describe the incredible things he just experiencedso I can communicate their impact and importance to the rest of the world.

Without a doubt, some of the experiences Thom has been most passionate about derived from events designed for young credit union professionalsincluding the 2019 Young Professional Exchange and a January 2020 Immersion Trip, both held in Brazil.

It was at those forums a transformative ideaone that could literally change the global credit union movementcame into focus and gained momentum. That idea will move one step closer to reality in Marchat the 2020 Young Professional Exchange and Global Youth Summit in the United Kingdom.

Thats where young credit union professionals will finalize a toolkit that any credit union in the world can utilize to replicate the Sicredi Youth Committee model.

But instead of having Thom explain it to me over the phone, this time Ill be there to experience it myself and document the process as it happens. And youre about to read why Im so excited about that opportunity.

Why replicate the Sicredi Youth Committee model?

Sicredi, Brazils largest credit union system, created Youth Committees to attract and retain young people with an interest in community and professional development. By connecting cooperative education with professional development, Sicredi is building a community of engaged young people to advance sustainability.

The way they work is simple. Credit unions identify an employee who is an advocate for young members. This coordinator of cooperative development facilitates Youth Committee activities and provides strategic guidance to further sustainability goals. Once established, Youth Committee members explore the cooperative model as they implement an agenda of professional and community development activities based upon their individual and group priorities. The initiative builds awareness of the cooperative sector and strengthens the relationship between young people and their credit unionin many ways redefining that relationship. Youth committees are empowering young members by:

stimulating a culture of volunteering.

encouraging social responsibility.

providing professional development opportunities.

encouraging social entrepreneurship and the cooperative model as tools for social and economic development.

At the January 2020 Brazil Immersion Program, young professionals from outside the credit union space described how Youth Committees have helped their careers and communities.

Amanda Juliao recently completed university studies in law. She credited Sicredi for offering comprehensive training on the cooperative model and quickly became an advocate for the cooperative philosophy. Juliao is using that experience to promote financial education among children in her community.

Pedro Dantas, a university graduate in electrical engineering, said his Youth Committee inspired him to embrace the power of the cooperative philosophy. He changed his solar energy business to reflect a model of conscientious capitalism and cooperative principles, with a focus on social enterprise. Since then, his business has grown significantly. From installing three solar panel projects in the first year of business to 14 in the second, Dantas implemented 54 projects in year threecrediting that growth to the cooperative spirit he injected into his business model.

Our international delegation also learned how the Youth Committees are inspiring members to help their local communities through development projects. They visited the dairy farm of WYCUP participant and Sicredi Youth Committee member Marcos Paulino, who created a community development project that provides technical assistance to other farmers in the region. As a direct result of his efforts, the region is now recognized for producing the highest quality milk in the country and has led to new government standards based upon his techniques. Small farmers affiliated with the project have also increased productivity and improved the sustainability of their operations.

Bringing Sicredis Youth Committee model to the world

During an ideation session at the end of the Brazil Immersion Program, participants agreed on the tremendous potential for replicating the Youth Committee model at credit unions around the world and networking them through the World Council Young Credit Union Professionals (WYCUP) program. Credit unions can create an entirely new professional development opportunity for young people. The concept is already opening eyes on the potential for financial cooperatives in Brazil. Now, we want to bring it to the world.

During the 2020 Global Youth Summit in Manchester, our delegation of young professionals will build upon the lessons learned from Brazil and contribute to the development of toolkit for replicating the Youth Committee methodology at credit unions around the world. Their multinational perspective will provide useful guidance for implementing Youth Committees across the great diversity of credit unions and communities.

Im extremely excited about the opportunity to share this story with you as it unfolds. It is just the latest example of how World Council of Credit Unions is working to improve lives through credit unionsand I look forward to bringing those activities to life for credit union professionals across the globe going forward.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 10, 2020) - Jerritt Canyon Canada Ltd., a company controlled by Eric Sprott ("Sprott") announces that it has filed an early warning report (the "Report") announcing that, on December 9, 2019, it acquired ownership and control over 4,000,000 units (the "Acquired Units") of Stratabound Minerals Corp. ("Stratabound"). Each Unit is comprised of one common share in the capital of Stratabound (each, a "Common Share") and one half of one whole Common Share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a "Warrant") (the "Offering"). Prior to acquiring the Acquired Units, Sprott did not beneficially own any securities of Stratabound. Sprott beneficially owns approximately 9.08% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares on a non-diluted basis and approximately 13.04% on a partially diluted basis. The Acquired Units were purchased pursuant to a private placement financing at a price of $0.05 per Acquired Unit.

The Acquired Units were acquired for investment purposes. Sprott has a long-term view of the investment and may acquire additional common shares of Stratabound either on the open market or through private acquisitions or sell the common shares on the open market or through private dispositions in the future depending on market conditions, reformulation of plans and/or other relevant factors.

For further details relating to the acquisition, please see the Report, a copy of which is available on SEDAR.

Eric Sprott

200 Bay Street, Suite 2600

Royal Bank Plaza, South Tower

Toronto, Ontario M5J 2J1

(416) 945-3294

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52286
The work itself typically entails long hours, hard labour, low wages and few rights. Migration of this kind is a costly gambit both financially and interpersonally.





by Matt Withers





The post-millennium surge in global remittances  amounting to a net transfer of US$689 billion to the global south in 2019  has courted significant policy attention around prospects for migration-development. The World Bank and the Migration Policy Institute have heralded temporary labour migration as a triple win: a win for migrant workers, for the countries they hail from and for the countries they work in, with remittances positioned as the pivotal boon for migrant households and countries of origin. The argument assumes that remittances allow poor households to overcome poverty and make investments while providing much needed foreign exchange earnings at a macroeconomic level.









But the weight of evidence suggests that the picture might not so rosy, particularly for remittance economies that have become dependent on a strategy of migration instead of development.





Sri Lanka is one such remittance economy that has become increasingly reliant on temporary labour migration. The last headcount conducted in 2011 showed that Sri Lankas temporary migrant workers numbered over two million, equivalent to roughly a tenth of the countrys total population and a quarter of the local workforce at that time. Combined remittances amounted to US$7.16 billion in 2018, approximately 8.25 per cent of GDP and equivalent to 63 per cent of all goods exports. Remittances provide a larger share of foreign exchange earnings than the countrys three largest export industries combined.





The work itself typically entails long hours, hard labour, low wages and few rights. Migration of this kind is a costly gambit both financially and interpersonally. Prospective workers must pay substantial upfront recruitment fees to arrange their foreign employment, often necessitating usurious loans from local moneylenders. Under the notorious kafala system their visas are tied to a single employer who can delay or withhold payments with relative impunity given the dearth of legal recourse for aggrieved workers.





Even if these financial risks are weathered, multiple three-year stints are often required to amass meaningful savings, entailing decades of separation from family and community. As in the Philippines, the government of Sri Lanka has labelled these workers migrant heroes to celebrate their sacrifice as agents of development for kin and country despite falling considerably short of sustainable development outcomes.





Interviews with returned migrant workers in Sri Lanka indicate that migration is primarily a subsistence livelihood and that remaining remittances are rarely spent on business activities. Instead they are used to construct housing, for education and healthcare or to purchase consumer durables and jewellery.





Those who do start businesses typically pursue self-employment  opening a corner shop or operating a taxi  that substitute for the availability of a job rather than involving expansion or reinvestment, ideas conjured up by notions of migrant entrepreneurship. Remittance spillovers to local communities are also minimal beyond the construction sector, with demand instead routed toward the urban economy and imported goods.





At the macroeconomic scale, total foreign exchange receipts of these transfers help to maintain currency stability amid a persistent trade deficit. Maintaining a strong rupee has certain advantages: it helps finance imports and repay external debt accrued through developmental loans. Yet, the Dutch disease effects of remittances place additional constraints on how these developmental loans are spent. Sri Lankas already anaemic export sector has collapsed thanks to increasing remittance inflows  dwindling from 35 per cent of GDP in 2000 to just 13 per cent in 2017  with investment moving from the tradeable to the non-tradeable sector.





Hamstrung by an overvalued currency, government spending has not been earmarked for industrialisation or export diversification which are both central to Sri Lankas developmental roadmap. Spending has instead been used to finance a variety of pork barrel infrastructural projects built with Chinese loans and labour including a loss-operating port and the worlds emptiest international airport. Here, migration not only acts as a release valve for local unemployment and latent discontent but indirectly finances a vision of development that is manifestly non-inclusive.





Remittances are not yielding sustainable development outcomes for households or the national economy but fostering a deepening reliance on a volatile and extraneous source of foreign capital. Sri Lanka ultimately has three levers with which to address its relationship with temporary labour migration: by deregulating, delimiting or diversifying.





Deregulation has been state policy since 1977 and has overseen bourgeoning foreign employment leading to the present impasse.





Delimitation has been explored since 2013 but only insofar as imposing patriarchal restrictions on the mobility rights of women with young children  a policy that has been widely condemned for being both discriminatory and ineffective.





Diversifying away from migration and investing in local industries requires a jarring break from the path dependency of the remittance economy. The ever-increasing remittances needed to maintain the currency and repay existing loan obligations means that local employment generation threatens to kill the proverbial cash cow. Yet it is perhaps the only option that offers hope for having the choice not to migrate and still make ends meet.





Matt Withers is a Research Fellow at the Department of Sociology, Macquarie University. the article originally appeared on East Asia Forum
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 16:19:42|Editor: mingmei

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HAIKOU, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Forest police in south China's island province Hainan recently busted several cases related to wild animals poaching and trade and arrested one suspect, the provincial public security department said Monday.

The department said it has launched a special operation to inspect marketplaces, flower and bird markets, restaurants, breeding sites for wild animals and their habitats, in a bid to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus pneumonia through illegal wildlife trading.

Forestry police in the city of Wanning said a suspect, surnamed Huang, caught a rare and endangered python, which is under state protection, and kept it on a farm.

In Ledong Li Autonomous County, local police cracked a case of the illegal killing of an osprey and an illegal purchase of a macaque, both of which are also under state protection.

Wenchang police discovered that a suspect surnamed Xing, transported and killed wild animals. A total of 36 frozen Eurasian coots were found in Xing's home, and 88 live Eurasian coots were discovered on his duck farm.

A total of 97 red-eared slider turtles were seized by police in a marketplace in Dingan County.

China will continue to crack down on any form of illegal wildlife trade amid the coronavirus outbreak, according to the State Administration for Market Regulation. All trading of wild animals has been suspended nationwide to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- THE CHOCOLATIER, published by Goldmann Verlag/Random House in Germany in November, launches in English on February 10, 2020 from Sunny Palms Press. California author Jan Moran is an Amazon All-Star and Rizzoli Top Ten bestselling author. Barnes & Noble places THE CHOCOLATIER on its coveted BN RECOMMENDS List.

The Chocolatier: A Novel by Jan Moran. Audiobook edition narrated by Erin Bennett.

Moran explains the inspiration: "THE CHOCOLATIER grew out of a meeting with Chef Michael Antonorsi of Chuao Chocolatier in Encinitas, California. Valrhona Chocolates introduced me to Peruvian cacao farmers, who explained the rediscovery of a rare, once-extinct white cocoa bean in Peru: le gran blanc. These insights formed the basis for the story. THE CHOCOLATIER follows a young, widowed chocolatier who seeks to unite her son with her late husband's family in Amalfiand must overcome nearly insurmountable challenges. At the heart of the story is love in its many forms: the love of a mother for her child, the often complicated love between couples, and of course, the love of chocolate."

Earphone Award-winner and Audie-nominated voice-over actress Erin Bennett narrates the audiobook. Listen to an Audiobook Preview.

Advance Praise:

"A feel-good bookthe love between family members and the love for chocolate is central." About My Bookshelf

"A delicious novel that makes you long for chocolate." Ciao Tutti

"A compelling voice to follow." Booklist

" Jan Moran is the new queen of the epic romance." Rebecca Forster , USA Today Bestselling Author

Distributed through Ingram. Available from Amazon, AppleBooks, Barnes & Noble, Audible, Kobo, GooglePlay, IndieBound.

Genre: 20th-century Historical Fiction

Pub Date: February 10, 2020

Publisher: Sunny Palms Press (English), Goldmann Verlag/Random House (German)

Formats: Ebook, Hardcover, Trade Paperback, Audiobook, Large Print

Price: Hardcover $25.99 (978-1-951314-04-0)

Website: www.JanMoran.com

Contact:

Email: Jan Moran: http://www.janmoranwrites.com/home/contact-jan

Phone: (818) 920-8062

Media Kit: http://www.janmoranwrites.com/home/media/

SOURCE Sunny Palms Press

Related Links

http://www.JanMoran.com


Capt. Panteleimon Karamanis and the crew of the Methane Lydon Volney are not afraid of rough seas.

The liquefied natural gas tanker has divine protection in the form of two Greek Orthodox icons on the Bermuda-flagged ships bridge.

Icons of the Virgin Mary and St. Nicholas overlook the ships wheel and water ahead  and thats intentional.

Owned by the Greek liquefied natural gas shipping company GasLog, the Methane Lydon Volney carries a crew that is half Greek and half Filipino.

Given the name Theotokos or Mother of God, the Virgin Mary is venerated in the Greek Orthodox faith. Icons of the Virgin Mary with the Baby Jesus are common in Greek homes and businesses, while St. Nicholas holds a special place for the crew of the LNG tanker.

St. Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors and travelers, Karamanis explained. We pray to him for safety.

Exports: Cheniere eyes LNG industry growth after 1,000th cargo

That divine help, the crew believes, came in handy last month during a voyage from Turkey to Cheniere Energys Sabine Pass LNG export terminal in Cameron Parish, La.

While traveling near the Portuguese island of Madeira off the northwest coast of Africa, the Methane Lydon Volney hit a patch of 26-foot waves.

John Economou, the ships second mate and navigation officer, said the swells didnt have white crests typically seen in other types of waves, which made them hard to spot until the ship was already in them.

We call them invisible waves, Economou said. You can spot most waves because of the white foam at the top  but not these.

Fuel Fix: Get energy news sent directly to your inbox

Though the Methane Lydon Volney measures 928 feet long, 141 feet wide and 16 stories tall and weighs more than 95,000 tons, the large waves rocked the ship.

It kept us awake for a couple of days, Economou said. You cant sleep through waves like that.

When it became clear that the waves werent going to let up, the crew changed course, turning south and around the rough seas. The rest of the voyage was uneventful, passing through the Bahamas and along the coast of Cuba before arriving at the mouth of the Sabine River separating Texas and Louisiana.

In less than 48 hours, the crew loaded 145,000 cubic meters of LNG at Chenieres docks and left to deliver their new cargo in Manzanillo, Mexico  a voyage that would take them through the Panama Canal.

Reporters Notebook: Life aboard a VLCC tanker

A tour of the Methane Lydon Volney was included as part of a Jan. 28 event to celebrate Chenieres 1,000th liquefied natural gas cargo, a milestone shipment that ranks the company alongside global LNG exporters QatarGas, Total, Shell, Chevron, BP and Petronas, whose cargoes each number in the thousands.

The ship is one of 525 vessels the LNG industry had in its global fleet at the start of 2019, according to the International Gas Unions World LNG Report. There are reportedly about 170 in use at any time, moving LNG from 20 exporting countries to 26 importing nations.

Built at Samsungs shipyard in South Korea in 2006, the Methane Lydon Volney has a draft of 37 feet, meaning it can navigate almost any port in Texas and Louisiana.

As a safety feature, the ships four smokestacks can flare and burn excess natural gas if pressure builds up.

More: Read the latest oil and gas news from HoustonChronicle.com

Down in the galley, crew members can enjoy a global variety of food and condiments, with Louisiana hot sauce served alongside German pickled vegetables and Greek olives.

Greek members of the crew enjoy sweet treats such as baklava and loukoumi. Water and tea are the most common drinks consumed, but Coca-Cola bottled in South Africa is also an option.

With voyages that can last weeks, keeping the crews entertained is important. In addition to a gym and media lounge, satellite services provide television and internet.

And while smoking isnt allowed on the ship, there is one sealed room with an independent ventilation system among the residential quarters.

sergio.chapa@chron.com

twitter.com/sergiochapa
PITTSBURGH, Feb. 10, 2020 -A woman who is eight-months pregnant is the first participant to be enrolled into a study evaluating the safety and acceptability of two different HIV prevention approaches when used during pregnancy -- the monthly dapivirine vaginal ring, which is currently under regulatory review, and a daily antiretroviral (ARV) pill called Truvada, an approach already approved in several countries and commonly referred to as PrEP, short for pre-exposure prophylaxis.

The study, known as DELIVER, or MTN-042, is the first of its kind of the dapivirine ring in pregnant women and will also provide much needed information about the safety of Truvada as PrEP in this population.

DELIVER is being led by the National Institutes of Health-funded Microbicide Trials Network (MTN) and will be conducted at four clinical research sites in Malawi, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. A similar study involving breastfeeding mothers and their babies, called B-PROTECTED (MTN-043), is expected to launch in the coming months at these same sites. Both are Phase IIIb clinical trials.

Globally, more than half of all people living with HIV are cisgender women, and in sub-Saharan Africa, they are particularly vulnerable, especially during pregnancy and breastfeeding, when they are up to four times more likely to acquire HIV. For many women, the amount of time they are pregnant, breastfeeding, or both, represents a significant portion of their reproductive years. Ultimately, the goal of the DELIVER and B-PROTECTED studies is to ensure that women can have safe and effective HIV prevention options they can use throughout their lives, including during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Both Truvada as PrEP and the dapivirine ring have been shown to reduce the risk of HIV in previous trials involving nonpregnant and non-breastfeeding women, with safety parameters indicating these methods were also well tolerated. Women who were pregnant or breastfeeding were excluded from participation in these trials, and those who enrolled had to use contraception, and, if they became pregnant, stop using study product. Such measures, which are typical in clinical trials, are primarily intended to protect the fetus and baby from potential harm but also mean that little or no information about the safety of a drug during pregnancy or breastfeeding will be available. In particular, during pregnancy, the body undergoes many changes that could affect how a drug gets absorbed and distributed such that the drug may not be as effective, or its use may be harmful to the mother, her pregnancy, fetus or baby.

Information thus far about the safety of Truvada as PrEP and the dapivirine ring during pregnancy is encouraging but still quite limited. While Truvada (which contains the ARVs emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) is approved as PrEP in many countries, some national programs have yet to decide whether to offer it to pregnant women. The vaginal ring, which contains the ARV dapivirine, is a new product developed by the nonprofit International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM). IPM is seeking the ring's regulatory approval. If approved, the ring would be the first biomedical prevention option designed specifically for women - and the first long-acting method, but its use would not be recommended (contraindicated) for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. Specific data on the ring's safety and use among pregnant and breastfeeding women is needed before regulators would consider expanded approval for these populations.

"There is no question of the need for more definitive information about the safety of oral PrEP and the dapivirine vaginal ring during pregnancy and breastfeeding. National governments need it, clinicians need it, and, most of all, women need it so they can make informed decisions," said Bonus Makanani, M.B.B.S., F.C.O.G. (SA), associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Malawi College of Medicine in Blantyre. Dr. Makanani is overseeing DELIVER at the Malawi site as well as leading the overall study with Katherine Bunge, M.P.H., M.D., an assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

"Mothers - and their babies - deserve and need to be protected from HIV with methods they know are safe to use when they are pregnant or breastfeeding," Dr. Bunge added. "With DELIVER, it's all about safety. The purpose of the study is to assess the safety of two HIV prevention products - the ring and PrEP - during pregnancy, but also to do so in the safest way possible."

DELIVER will enroll 750 healthy, HIV-negative pregnant women ages 18-40 who will be randomly assigned to use either the monthly dapivirine ring or Truvada as daily PrEP. Of the 750 women who will be enrolled, 500 will be assigned to use the vaginal ring. All participants will be asked to use their assigned product until the time they deliver. Women will be followed for an additional six weeks, and their babies will remain in the study for one year.

The study will be conducted in four phases, enrolling one group of women at a time, beginning with women who are late in pregnancy, with each successive group of women at an earlier stage of pregnancy and using their assigned product longer. Interim reviews of study data by an independent panel of experts will take place after completion of each phase and before determining whether it is safe to proceed to the next phase.

One reason for this design is to be attentive to the potential risks and complications that can occur at different times during pregnancy and fetal development, and to ensure that use of the dapivirine ring or oral PrEP does not pose additional risk or harm to either the mother or her fetus.

The first group will consist of 150 women late in pregnancy, who are 36-37 or more weeks (8-9 months) pregnant, when it is believed use of PrEP or the ring would pose the least risk. The second and third groups will each enroll 150 women who are 30-35 weeks (7-8 months) and 20-28 weeks (5-7 months) pregnant, respectively; while the fourth group will comprise 300 women who will be 12-19 weeks (3-5 months) into their pregnancies.

Sites will work closely with nearby hospitals and health centers where women are receiving their primary care and are likely to deliver.

"The facilities that are collaborating with us have been quite receptive to this study, and the communities are fully supportive as well," commented Lee Fairlie, MBChB, FCPeds (SA), MMED (Paeds), who is the DELIVER protocol co-chair and also leading the study at the Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute (Wits RHI) Shandukani Research Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, where the first participant was enrolled.

Pending in-country ethics and regulatory approvals, the study should to begin within the next few months at the three other sites: the College of Medicine-Johns Hopkins University Research Project in Blantyre, Malawi; Makerere University-Johns Hopkins Research Collaboration in Kampala, Uganda; and the University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences Clinical Trials Research Centre, Zengeza.

Participants in the study will be seen every two to four weeks and asked questions about their health and experience using the ring or PrEP and whether they are having any problems, such as headache, nausea, pain or discomfort. In addition, women will undergo physical exams, and laboratory tests will be conducted. All women will receive HIV risk-reduction counseling and testing, and, as needed, be referred for any medical or counseling services not provided through the study or at the site.

The dapivirine ring is made of flexible silicone that slowly releases dapivirine in the vagina during the month that it is worn. Women can insert the ring themselves and replace it with a new one each month. In 2016, two large clinical trials - ASPIRE, conducted by the MTN, and The Ring Study, led by IPM, found the ring was well-tolerated and helped reduce the risk of HIV by approximately 30 percent. In 2019, results of two open-label extension studies - HOPE for former ASPIRE participants and DREAM for former Ring Study participants -suggested higher adherence - indicating women want and will use the ring - and safety findings consistent with the Phase III trials. Together, the results also suggest a greater reduction in HIV risk (about 50 percent) than seen in the Phase III studies.

Information about the use of the dapivirine vaginal ring during pregnancy and breastfeeding is still very limited. Though animal studies of dapivirine indicate no concerns related to pregnancy or fetal development, the only human data is from about 250 women who became pregnant while participating in ASPIRE and The Ring Study and stopped use of the ring as soon as it was known they were pregnant. Notably, there were no significant differences in pregnancy and infant outcomes between women assigned to use the dapivirine ring and those assigned to use a placebo. These findings are important for understanding outcomes associated with exposure during conception and early pregnancy and support moving forward with DELIVER, which will provide information about the safety of the ring during the second and third trimesters.

Most of the information about the safety of Truvada during pregnancy is in women living with HIV who are using Truvada as part of an HIV treatment regimen, with multiple studies showing it is not harmful. It is based primarily on these studies that the World Health Organization recommends Truvada as PrEP during pregnancy and breastfeeding, while also acknowledging the need for more data about the safety in HIV-negative women. Observational studies in which women who have become pregnant while using Truvada as PrEP and continued its use have thus far seen no cause for concern, but key questions about safety and outcomes remain unanswered.

The IMPAACT 2009 study, which is being conducted at the same sites as the DELIVER and B-PROTECTED studies, is evaluating the safety and drug absorption and distribution of Truvada when used as PrEP by pregnant adolescent girls and young women ages 16-24. Researchers have completed the first phase, which looked at how drug is taken up in the body during pregnancy and during the post-partum period. Pending results, the study will proceed to the next phase, enrolling up to 350 participants who are no more than 32 weeks into their pregnancies. Overall results are anticipated in 2022.

Complementing DELIVER and B-PROTECTED are two additional studies in MTN's research portfolio. MTN-041 assessed community and stakeholder's attitudes and beliefs about the use of daily PrEP and the monthly dapivirine ring by pregnant and breastfeeding women in each of the trial site communities where DELIVER and B-PROTECTED will be conducted. MTN-041 included focus groups with male partners, mothers and mothers-in-law, and women who were currently or recently pregnant or breastfeeding, as well as in-depth interviews with community and traditional leaders and service providers. Results are anticipated to be reported later this year. The other study, MTN-042B, has nearly completed recording data close to 8,000 medical records medical charts of pregnancy outcomes and complications occurring within a two-month period at centers and hospitals where DELIVER/MTN-042 study participants are expected to deliver. This data, together with data collected as part of an extensive review of published reports and scientific literature, will help serve as a basis for comparison of pregnancy and infant outcomes in DELIVER.

DELIVER is expected to take up to four years to complete, with results anticipated in 2024.

###

The MTN and the DELIVER study are supported by U.S. National Institutes of Health grants UM1AI068633, UM1AI068615 and UM1AI106707.

More information about DELIVER is at https://mtnstopshiv.org/news/studies/mtn042 and https://mtnstopshiv.org/research/studies/mtn-042 or click here [https://mtnstopshiv.org/deliverbprotected ]to watch a short video. For more information about the dapivirine ring go to http://www.ipmglobal.org.

About the Microbicide Trials Network

The Microbicide Trials Network (MTN) is an HIV/AIDS clinical trials network established in 2006 by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases with co-funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Institute of Mental Health, all components of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Based at Magee-Womens Research Institute and the University of Pittsburgh, the MTN brings together international investigators and community and industry partners whose work is focused on the rigorous evaluation of promising microbicides - products applied inside the vagina or rectum that are intended to prevent the sexual transmission of HIV - from the earliest phases of clinical study to large-scale trials that support potential licensure of these products for widespread use. More information about the MTN is available at http://www.mtnstopshiv.org/.
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Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that he is now talking about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and Pakistan to divert people's attention from the issues of unemployment and rising farmer suicides.

He was addressing a function organised to mark the birth anniversary of saint-poet Ravidas.

Nath alleged that under the Modi regime, unemployment and cases of farmer suicides have gone up.

"Now, he (Modi) does not talk about farmers and youths. He is now talking about the CAA and Pakistan to divert people's attention from these issues," the chief minister said.

"But people of the country have understood his gimmicks...There is a lot of difference between running a country and giving hollow talk," he added.

Nath also alleged that more industries have been shut down than they were opened during the 15-year-long rule of the BJP in Madhya Pradesh.

"Whereas the confidence of investors in the state has gone up under the present (Congress) government," he claimed.

Nath also assured that in the second phase, his government would waive farm loans of up to Rs two lakh of the remaining farmers in the state.

Before his address, he launched various development works worth Rs 3,000 crore.
SYRACUSE, N.Y.  A Holland Patent man has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for distributing and possessing child pornography.

John Angwin, 30, pleaded guilty to the charges after police found more than 1,500 images and 150 videos of child porn on his cell phone. Angwin said he sent the sexually explicit images and videos to others using the Kik Messenger app.

According to the Department of Justice, the images and videos showed the rape and sodomization of young children and toddlers.

The judge also sentenced Angwin to 25 years post-release supervision, and ordered him to pay $12,000 in restitution.
Chinese citizen journalist and lawyer Chen Qiushi is incommunicado, believed detained, after reporting from the front line of the coronavirus epidemic in the central city of Wuhan.



"In the past few hours, police from [a local] police station in Qingdao, along with some state security police, went to the workplace of Chen Qiushi's father and questioned him about the family," mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Xu Xiaodong, who is in contact with Chen's mother, said in a Feb. 8 announcement on Chen's YouTube channel.



"At the same time, they informed Qiushi's mother and father that he had been placed under restriction, in isolation," he said. "His parents immediately wanted to know where and how he had been placed in isolation. The police wouldn't answer that, just said they were informing them as required by law."



Xu said Chen's parents' suspicions had been aroused because their son's phone had been switched off for days since they last heard from him. Chen's last YouTube video was posted on Feb. 4 and had garnered more than a million views by .



"This suggests that Qiushi's phone was forcibly confiscated," he said, adding that Chen had been placed under "enforced" isolation, ostensibly because he had visited a number of hospitals in Wuhan.



He said Chen was no longer at an address near Hankou railway station given by the authorities as his location, and had likely already been taken elsewhere.



Xu also quoted Chen's emergency contact as saying that they had previously checked in with him three or four times a day, but had been unable to reach him, which would be unlikely if he were merely under quarantine restrictions.



They had lost contact with him after Chen visited the Fangcang Hospital in Wuhan, where conditions were said to be "pretty terrible."



Students report professor

One of Chen's last broadcasts was from the newly built prefabricated hospital in Wuhan, which he had reached on a borrowed electric motor scooter, and which he described as "not fit to house infectious disease patients, as it was obviously designed to be a battlefield hospital."



In a video posted about the events of Jan. 29, Chen had already expressed concerns that the authorities were on his trail.



"I have the coronavirus in my face, and the entire law enforcement system of China on my tail," he said. "But I will carry on reporting from Wuhan for as long as I am still alive."



"If I'm not afraid to die, why would I fear the Communist Party?"



Wuhan University philosophy professor Zhou Xuanyi was recently reported to the authorities by his students after posting to the Weibo social media site that the government hadn't been quick enough to tell people about the coronavirus threat.



He was reported for "questioning the Communist Party" and "hating his own country," according to recent social media posts.



Meanwhile, authorities in Beijing fired visiting lecturer and Hong Kong resident Zhou Peiyi after she made "inappropriate remarks" via her WeChat social media account about the ruling Chinese Communist Party's management of the coronavirus epidemic.



Zhou Xuanyi's words had "violated guidelines on the professional behavior of college teachers in the new era," a notice from her employer, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said.



Zhou's contract was terminated and she was notified on Feb. 7, it said.



Incapable of transparency

Constitutional scholar Zhang Lifan said the government has once more proved itself incapable of transparency.



"They only want to report good news, and tell us not to worry so that we receive positive energy," Zhang said. "The authorities haven't learned their lesson: they have instead violated the constitution, human rights, and even humanitarian principles."



"'s China is an upgraded version of the novel '1984,'" he said.



Police in Nanjing have also detained pro-democracy activist and former university lecturer Guo Quan, fellow activist Ai Wu told RFA.



"We are guessing that maybe he's in criminal detention, because there are indications from the police that he will be held for 30 days," Ai

said.



The detentions come after the death from coronavirus of whistleblowing Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang, who was questioned and harassed by police for "spreading rumors," after speaking out about a SARS-like virus in the early days of the epidemic, when more could have been done to contain it.



Writer Ye Du and other activists recently penned an open letter to premier Li Keqiang, calling on the country's cabinet, the State Council, to order officials in Hubei to apologize publicly to Li and seven other medical staff accused of rumor-mongering.



"China lacks freedom of speech and the rights of its citizens are not protected or respected," Ye told RFA. "It is not in the interest of this regime to do this."



Reported by Ng Yik-tung and Sing Man for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Gao Feng for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 17:43:55|Editor: Lu Hui

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NANCHANG, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- East China's Jiangxi Province has sent 135 medical personnel to the city of Suizhou, following a national "pairing-up support for Hubei" policy, which orders a dozen municipalities and provinces to aid cities in Hubei.

As of Sunday, Suizhou near the provincial capital of Wuhan had reported 1,049 confirmed cases and 10 deaths.

According to the Jiangxi provincial health commission, the medical team arrived in Suizhou at 4:30 a.m. on Feb. 7 and began working in the city's hospitals the next day.

The medical staff, including 42 doctors and 92 nurses, are from 77 medical institutions across the province.
Women are rushing to snap up a $15 racer-back singlet from Cotton On, with many declaring it the 'buy of the summer'.

The Turn Back Tank, $14.99, has been seen on the likes of Melbourne-based style influencer Rozalia Russian and other fashion insiders, in the past few weeks.

And while many love the fact that it's so affordable, others have praised the basic top for being extremely flattering.

Women are rushing to snap up a $15 racer-back singlet from Cotton On, with many declaring it the 'buy of the summer' (Rozalia Russian pictured in the tank)

The Turn Back Tank , $14.99, has been seen on many style insiders (pictured), who say it is both flattering, comfortable and budget-friendly

'This $15 Cotton On top has been my entire summer mood,' Rozalia posted on Instagram.

Others on the Cotton On website described the top as being 'fabulous bang for your buck' and 'so good for the price'.

'I live in mine and have one in every colour,' one woman wrote.

Others on the Cotton On website described the top as being 'fabulous bang for your buck' and 'so good for the price' (pictured)

The racer-back singlet comes in a number of colours, including white, black, light grey, blue, coral and white striped/light blue.

It is popular because the high neckline helps to accentuate the collarbone and shoulders, while the ribbed effect on the tank means it doesn't cling and look unflattering.

This isn't the first time the budget store Cotton On have had a huge fashion success.

The racer-back singlet comes in a number of colours, including white, black, light grey, blue, coral and white striped/light blue (pictured)

Cotton On also sold a $35 'non-clingy' silk skirt that looked identical to options more than five times the price (pictured)

In April last year, many fell in love with the Lena midi dress for $19.99 - which featured a figure-flattering fit and stretch for added comfort.

The fitted body-shaped dresses came in a variety of colours and patterns, including black, burnt orange, ivy green, nude and stripes.

Cotton On also sold a $35 'non-clingy' silk skirt that looked identical to options more than five times the price, while many swear by the store for budget, stylish swimwear.

Pieces from the collection were seen on a bevy of social media influencers, who have rocked the styles across Australia and to far flung destinations like Goreme, Turkey and picture perfect Positano in Italy.
Container trucks carrying dragon fruits at a parking zone near the Tan Thanh Border Gate in the northern province of Lang Son on February 4, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy.

Vietnamese authorities have decided to delay the reopening of several border gates with China from Monday to the end of this month.

China is keeping personnel in isolation and so does not have enough officers to clear goods passing through the border, Vietnams consulate in Chinas southern Nanning City informed the Vietnam National Border Committee and northern provinces on Sunday.

So gates like the ones in Na Hinh, Binh Nghi and Coc Nam in Lang Son Province on the border with Chinas Guangxi Province will remain closed.

Vietnamese authorities had closed them following the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday, leaving hundreds of containers carrying dragon fruit and watermelon unable to enter China.

Last Wednesday Huu Nghi, a major border gate in Lang Son Province, resumed customs clearance of goods, enabling dozens of containers with agricultural produce that were stuck at the border to enter China.

But drivers transporting goods from Vietnam to China would be isolated for 14 days upon their return as a precaution against the novel coronavirus, the Lang Son peoples committee said.

Chinese drivers will undergo medical examination before customs clearance. They then have to take the containers to be quarantined at the border gate parking lot and immediately return to China.

China is the largest market for Vietnamese agriculture, forestry and seafood products, accounting for 27.8 percent of the sectors exports of almost $8.5 billion last year.
As San Francisco rapidly loses its desperately needed residential care facilities for the elderly, homeless and mentally ill, the city has come up with a plan  and the money  to save two from closing.

Officials plan to purchase two board-and-care facilities: Grove Street House with nine beds and South Van Ness Manor with 29 beds. The purchases are the first of their kind in recent history, and part of the citys overall strategy to maintain the homes amid a dearth of long-term options for the citys most vulnerable.

While the citys purchases will save a total of 38 beds, they are only one small step toward stemming the tide of closures around the city.

San Francisco has lost more than a quarter of its board-and-care beds since 2012, according to city data. Many operators have blamed their woes on the citys high cost of doing business, trouble with hiring and retaining staff, and exhaustion from taking care of a demanding population for often little pay in return.

Those factors also increase temptations to sell the homes in San Franciscos hot real estate market.

Board-and-care facilities are an integral part of the citys system of care. They are home-like environments that provide care for formerly homeless, elderly and mentally ill people. Residents are some of the citys most vulnerable, and many would likely wind up homeless if not for the around-the-clock care.

As we work to improve our entire behavioral health system, we need to make sure our existing resources can continue providing the services that people depend on, Mayor London Breed said in a statement.

Amid a raft of closures last year, Breed and three supervisors announced a three-part plan to save the facilities: increase subsidies from $22 a night to $35 a night per person for board-and-care operators; make it tougher to convert the facilities into single-family homes; and encourage the city to purchase homes on the verge of closure.

Still, despite the new policies, The Chronicle first reported in October that South Van Ness Manor planned to shut its doors after 38 years of business. In a letter to the state, operator Andres Parangan Jr., said South Van Ness Manor had been struggling financially for years.

The cost of operating a facility like this in San Francisco has not been adequately compensated, Parangan wrote in the letter. Our monthly rent income was not sufficient enough to cover the cost of living in San Francisco or the ongoing necessary repairs.

As soon as it learned of the closure, the mayors office said, officials immediately started exploring how it could purchase the facility. Officials are now negotiating with the owner, but its still unclear how much it will cost to buy it.

Meanwhile, the city will pay $3.94 million to buy and fix up Grove Street House. The board-and-care home north of the Golden Gate Park panhandle is a 60-day residential mental health treatment facility. It will continue to be run by nonprofit PRC Baker Places. The funding comes from the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development.

The house will need about $675,000 in repairs, including seismic strengthening and upgrades to the electrical, plumbing and ventilation systems.

While these two board-and-care homes are now saved, many other facilities are still vulnerable.

Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle

A recent tour of Parkview Inn #1 on Buena Vista Park revealed more than a dozen empty beds in a sprawling, three-story mansion in the Haight-Ashbury. The home announced plans to close last year after caring for people who were formerly homeless and struggle with mental illness and substance abuse. The majority of the residents were moved to other facilities, while about five remained last month waiting for placements, according to the owner, Dellie Punla.

They are hard clients, she said last month. How can you kick them out?

The closure of the Parkview and other homes comes as more than 5,000 people  many mentally ill and drug addicted  sleep on the streets every night.

According to Shianne Kurkina, the listing agent for the home, Punla is asking for $7 million to $7.5 million for the home. Even Kurkina agrees that price is far too high to be realistic, and she is trying to convince the owner to go lower.

Anyone who buys a board-and-care home has to obtain a special permit to convert it into a single-family home, after an October rule change sponsored by Supervisor Rafael Mandelman. That change, Kurkina said, dramatically dropped interest from buyers for the home.

When asked by The Chronicle if the family would be willing to go lower, Lee Balingit, Punlas sister, said in a text message: Maybe.

Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle

City officials plan to do its own property appraisal soon, Kurkina said.

But until everyone can agree on a price, the critically needed beds will remain vacant.

I personally would love to sell it and keep it as a board-and-care home, Kurkina said. But no buyers in their right mind would buy this facility and keep it open, because it is a negative cash flow.

It just doesnt make sense for anyone to buy a business that is tanking, she added.

Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani
CALHOUN COUNTY, MI -- A Michigan Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officer was the first to respond to a life-threatening scene in Calhoun County on Sunday night.

Three minutes after a 911 call came in about a 25-year-old man suffering from a self-inflicted knife wound to the arm, Officer Jeff Goss arrived at a residence on Case Drive, according to a news release.

The man from Burlington Township was bleeding from an artery in his arm when Goss arrived at approximately 7:23 p.m., according to the release.

The officer found the mans father attempting to stop his sons arm from bleeding. Goss immediately applied a tourniquet to the victim, according to the release.

During this time, Burlington Township Fire Department personnel arrived and helped keep the victim alert. LifeCare Ambulance then arrived and transported the injured man to a local hospital. Michigan State Police also assisted at the residence, according to the release.

Officer Goss was able to respond to the scene so quickly because he was nearby on an investigation when he received the radio call from Calhoun County Dispatch, said Chief Gary Hagler, DNR Law Enforcement Division.

Goss was leaving another law enforcement matter and quickly transitioned to this event and saved the life of a young man  I hope this man, or anyone feeling troubled, seeks help through available resources," Hagler said.

The National Suicide Prevention Hotline can be reached at 1-800-273-8255.

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The following items were taken from Lincolnshire Police Department reports and releases. An arrest does not constitute a finding of guilt.

DUI

Jose Luis Bernal Salgado, 43, of the 900 block of Lake Street, Mundelein, was charged Feb. 2 with driving under the influence and speeding more than 26 mph over the limit at Half Day Road and Elm Road. Bernal Salgado is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 28.

Drugs

Ruben A. Lagunas, 18, of the 2600 block of Longmeadow Circle, Mundelein, was charged Feb. 2 with possession of cannabis with intent to deliver and operating an uninsured vehicle at Half Day Road and Oxford Drive. Lagunas is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 25.

Brian E. Nanthavinh, 30, of the 4700 block of Keeler Avenue, Chicago, was charged Feb. 4 with possession of a controlled substance and possession of a fake ID card in the 1000 block of Milwaukee Avenue. Nanthavinh is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 28.

Underage possession

A juvenile was charged Jan. 31 with unlawful possession of an electronic smoking device in the first block of Stevenson Drive. The juvenile is scheduled to appear in court March 11.

A juvenile was charged Feb. 3 with possession of alcohol by a person under 21 in the first block of Stevenson Drive. The juvenile is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 26.

Speeding

Paige E. Arnoldussen, 22, of the 2600 block of Patricia Lane, McHenry, was charged Feb. 2 with speeding more than 26 mph over the limit at Half Day Road and Milwaukee Avenue. Arnoldussen is scheduled to appear in court March 11.

Valentin F. Antonio, 42, of the 400 block of Central Avenue, Highwood, was charged Feb. 3 with speeding more than 26 mph over the limit and operating an uninsured vehicle at Half Day Road and Berkshire Lane. Antonio is scheduled to appear in court March 18.

Gautham Gali, 34, of the 900 block of Timber Valley Way, Virginia Beach, Virginia, was charged Feb. 5 with speeding more than 26 mph over the limit at Half Day Road and Riverwoods Road. Gali is scheduled to appear in court March 11.

Drivers license

Arvind Periyasamy, 37, of the 5300 block of Henry Court, Gurnee, was charged Jan. 31 with driving while license suspended at Half Day Road and Barclay Boulevard. Periyasamy is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 16.

Maja Sukoviv, 45, of the 100 block of Rivershire Lane, was charged Feb. 1 with driving while license suspended at Milwaukee Avenue and Rivershire Lane. Sukoviv is scheduled to appear in court March 11.

Jorge Martinez Alba, 23, of the 500 block of Piper Lane, Prospect Heights, was charged Feb. 2 with driving while license suspended at Milwaukee Avenue and Tower Parkway. Martinez Alba is scheduled to appear in court March 18.

Erik Rodriquez Santiago, 23, of the 2600 block of Woodview Court, Waukegan, was charged Feb. 5 with having no valid drivers license at Half Day Road and Berkshire Lane. Rodriguez Santiago is scheduled to appear in court March 18.

Negligent driving

Alexander J. Rutnarak, 18, of the 200 block of Willow Parkway, Buffalo Grove, was charged Feb. 3 with negligent driving in the first block of Stevenson Drive. Rutnarak is scheduled to appear in court March 11.

kedquist@chicagotribune.com

Twitter: @kaitlinedquist
Washington  Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, is calling on internal watchdogs from across the federal government to investigate "any and all instances of retaliation" against federal whistleblowers who have reported alleged misconduct by President Trump.

Schumer's request to the nation's 74 inspectors general, who serve as the internal watchdogs of federal agencies, follows the removal of Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman from his job with the National Security Council. Vindman testified during the House Democrats' impeachment inquiry into Mr. Trump and participated in the July 25 phone call between the president and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during which the president urged Zelensky to investigate his Democratic political rival.

"Our founders, having seen and studied societies governed by the iron fist of tyrants and the claimed divine right of kings, believed that truth was fundamental to the survival of our republic," Schumer wrote in a letter sent Monday to Defense Department Acting Inspector General Glenn Fine and the 73 other inspectors general. "Without the courage of whistleblowers and the role of inspectors general, the American people may never have known how the president abused his power in the Ukraine scandal."

The New York Democrat said it is "incumbent" on inspectors general that whistleblowers like Vindman "are protected for doing what we hope and expect those who serve our country will do when called: tell the truth."

In addition to requesting inspectors general investigate possible retaliation against "anyone who has made, or in the future makes, protected disclosures of presidential misconduct," Schumer also called for them to disclose when employees were last told of their legal rights to report misconduct anonymously and without retribution.

Vindman and his twin brother, Yevgeny, a lawyer with the National Security Council, were escorted from the White House on Friday, two days after the Senate acquitted Mr. Trump on impeachment charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Both were reassigned to the Pentagon.

Story continues

Vindman is sworn in to testify at House Intelligence Committee hearing on Trump impeachment inquiry on Capitol Hill in Washington

Alexander Vindman is sworn in to testify before the House Intelligence Committee as part of the impeachment inquiry into President Trump on Capitol Hill on November 19, 2019. JONATHAN ERNST / REUTERS

U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, who also testified in the impeachment probe, was also ousted from his post.

Schumer called Vindman's dismissal, as well as efforts to identify the anonymous whistleblower whose complaint about Mr. Trump's conduct with Ukraine sparked the impeachment inquiry, "shameful" and "illegal."

"These attacks are part of a dangerous, growing pattern of retaliation against those who report wrongdoing only to find themselves targeted by the president and subject to his wrath and vindictiveness," Schumer wrote.

The White House has claimed that Vindman's position with the National Security Council was temporary and his removal was part of an effort to trim down staff.

But Mr. Trump has not held back in criticizing Vindman, tweeting Saturday he was "very insubordinate" and received a "horrendous report by his superior."

Vindman's attorney said the president's tweets "conflict with the clear personnel record and the entirety of the impeachment record of which the president is well aware."

During his public testimony in November, Vindman said he told superiors of his concerns about Mr, Trump's call with Zelensky "out of a sense of duty." He also rejected accusations of being a "never Trumper," telling lawmakers he is "never partisan."

Vindman said the president's request during the phone conversation for Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden was "inappropriate" and "improper."

Aid groups warn of escalating humanitarian crisis in Syria

Trump to release budget proposal pushing for major border wall funding

Storm Ciara batters U.K. and northern Europe; political earthquake in Ireland
A US hedge fund manager has refused to apologize for saying the US should refuse to help China with the coronavirus outbreak and let the deadly virus 'rampage through the ranks' of the Communist Party.

Kyle Bass, founder and chief investment officer of Dallas-based Hayman Capital Management, got into a furious Twitter spat with the boss of Chinese newspaper the Global Times who had complained that American help was 'belated.'

Bass, who has since deleted the tweet, posted: 'You ungrateful b*****d. We should take our supplies and go back home.

'Let the Chinese virus rampage through the ranks of the GT and the rest of the communist party.'

Kyle Bass (right) has refused to apologize to Hu Xijin (left), editor-in-chief of Chinese newspaper the Global Times after calling him an 'ungrateful b*****d'

Bass called Hu Xijin an 'ungrateful b*****d' and said US should let coronavirus spread in China

He was responding to a tweet from Xijin, the paper's editor-in-chief, after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced up to $100 million to assist China and other countries impacted by coronavirus on Friday.

Xijin had tweeted: 'Aid organized by the US government, though belated, is still welcome and we appreciate it. But so far, aid that Chinese people heard from the US leaders are much more than the US aid that people actually saw in Wuhan.'

Bass deleted his furious response after a backlash but lashed out again after Xijin demanded an apology for his 'malicious curse'.

Xijin tweeted: 'You bring shame to investors community and social media users. CPC members are ordinary citizens, fathers, husbands, wives, daughters...

'You should apologize.'

Bass replied: 'I will not. You arrested, censured, and 'punished' (only God knows what you did to him and the other 7 doctors) the heroes of Wuhan. You are disgrace to humanity.'

Hu Xijin demanded an apology from the hedge fund manager for his Twitter outburst

Bass refused to apologize and launched another furious rant against Hu Xijin on Twitter

The Global Times is run by the Chinese Communist Party's People's Daily.

In a statement Bass later said he deleted the tweet because he 'felt that it was too harsh for the rank and file' of the Global Times, but that he will 'never apologize to a self-righteous, attempted manipulator of public opinion.'

Bass has long been a vocal critic of China's policies -- he forecast last month that Hong Kong will suffer a 'full-fledged banking crisis' this year and said it's unlikely that Beijing will adhere to a trade deal with the U.S.

The coronavirus disease surfaced in late December in Wuhan, China. The ensuing global outbreak has infected more than 40,000 people globally and killed more than 900.
Sinn Fein leads the race to form a government in Ireland after winning the most first-preference votes in the general election.

The left-wing party and former political wing of the IRA took 24.5% of all votes but only fielded 42 candidates - far short of the magic number of 80 that any government needs to have a majority in the Dail parliament.

Party president Mary Lou McDonald said she wanted to lead a coalition supported by smaller parties without either of the two centre-right superpowers which have long dominated Irish-politics.

:: Could McDonald become Ireland's first female PM?

Leo Varadkar, the current prime minister whose Fine Gael party got 20.9% of the vote, has also dismissed forming a government with their support.

For us, coalition with Sinn Fein is not an option, he said after the election result.

Paschal Donohoe, Fine Gael's director of elections, also confirmed on Monday that his party would have some form of engagement with Sinn Fein, but ruled out going into government with them.

Meanwhile Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail which won 22.2%, left the door open to an alliance with Sinn Fein.

He raised significant incompatibility" policy issues but refused to repeat a campaign pledge not to do business with the party.

The business of coalition building is still some way off given only 78 of the 160 seats have been allocated, as counting continues thanks to Irelands proportional representation voting system.

A Sinn Fein-led coalition without either of the other two main parties would be a "really tall order" which would "require virtually every other member of parliament to be on board", Sky News' senior Ireland correspondent David Blevins said.

He suggested Fine Gael and Fianna Fail could form a grand coalition, but that could be dangerous for them by making Sinn Fein the official opposition.

Or one of them could cross their red line and do a deal to go into government with Sinn Fein.

Story continues

"We talk about political earthquakes, this is something of a political tsunami," he added.

Ms McDonald will have to look to the Greens, Labour, Social Democrats, Solidarity/People Before Profit, and a sizeable number of independents if she does seek to become taoiseach.

In Ireland, where coalition governments are normal, the horse-trading involved in building them can go on for a long time.

It took 63 days for an executive to form back in 2016.

I dont think were going to see any white smoke in terms of deals being done between the different parties for certainly days, probably weeks, said Sky News Ireland correspondent Stephen Murphy.

:: Listen to the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Spotify , Spreaker

Downing Street is "following results carefully" as they unfold, the UK prime minister's spokesman said.

Asked about the possibility of Sinn Fein's success paving the way for a referendum on Northern Ireland joining the Republic of Ireland, he said: "We will not worry about that just yet.

"The close relationship between the UK and Ireland will continue regardless of the election result."
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang Sunday stressed the role of scientific research to win the battle against the novel coronavirus outbreak.





Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the leading group of the CPC Central Committee on the prevention and control of the epidemic, made the remarks while inspecting the Institute of Pathogen Biology at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

After hearing reports on the updates of the research on the prevention and control of the epidemic, Li expressed acknowledgement to the researchers' dedication and hard work.

Noting that it takes both nationwide action and scientific support to battle the virus, Li called for efforts to mobilize the best scientific research resources to tackle the most urgent challenges in epidemic prevention and control.

Li asked researchers to communicate with the public with their authoritative knowledge on how the virus is transmitted and other issues of public concern to facilitate scientific prevention and control.

Stressing the important role of effective drugs in curing patients and reducing mortality, Li urged researchers to "race against time" to pool wisdom and study treatments of cured cases in all-out research efforts on effective drugs.

Li also stressed respecting science and scientific rules in drug and vaccine research to ensure safety and effectiveness.
Today, learning self-defence techniques and getting trained in the martial arts like karate is a priority for many women, both in urban and rural.

Hyderabad: Although most women have never showed much interest in learning any form of martial arts for self-defence techniques, the Disha gang-rape and murder that shook the nation has forced a change of mindset.

Today, learning self-defence techniques and getting trained in the martial arts like karate is a priority for many women, both in urban and rural.

Martial arts instructors from Hyderabad are reportedly being flooded with calls from women, including college girls, to take them on board.

Many are willing to join classes over the weekends.

On their part, the Cyberabad, Rachakonda and Hyderabad police commissionerates are organising special drives in school, colleges, and other institutions to urge women to learn self-defence techniques.

Dr G.S. Gopal Reddy, who has 14 world records in martial arts, has started training sessions at the Madapati Hanumantha Rao School in Narayanguda. He says that women of every age group are keen to enroll themselves.

Cyberabad DCP SHE Team in-charge C. Anusuya said, we conduct special sessions for the IT sector. The number of sessions, and womens enrolment, have increased after the Disha incident. When girls become capable of defending themselves and fend off physical assaults, it changes the mindset of people and promotes gender equality.

Malleswari, a Class 12 student said, When I first saw the horrific incident on TV channels, I began thinking of my safety I now believe that self-defence skills are something every woman must have.

Radhika, pursuing an undergraduate degree said, when something wrong happens, we find we are not equipped adequately to defend ourselves or to avert an assault. I felt karate is something that will protect me without any weapon. I schedule my time everyday for karate after my classes.

Two other college students, Priya Diya and Anuroopa, are among the many who have decided to take self-defence courses. It is not just students showing an inclination to learn karate. A 47-year-old doctor who is also on the same path, said, I have been attending classes for the last two years. Its always frightening to go out late in the evenings, especially because I need to attend meetings. I learnt about pressure points and other techniques that are basic and simple to practice. This has bolstered my confidence. I wish every woman learns it because we dont know when an incident occurs and in what form. This technique will help us be prepared.

Saujanya, a college student, told Deccan Chronicle, we are targeted when we least expected it. It has been almost 18 months since I began learning karate. Seeing the way I am shaping up, I now get my friends to learn self-defence techniques.

Meanwhile, pepper sprays have also emerged as a secret weapon for many women.
Fake News Uses Coronavirus To Spread Malware

Cybercriminals are using fake email messages about coronavirus Covid-19 to spread the Emotet Trojan as well as other malware, according to a report released this week by Kaspersky.

In Japan the Emotet Trojan, a particularly damaging of malware that has been devastatingly effective, attacking governments and financial institutions.

An email discovered by IBM found that cybercriminals were sending emails under the guise of being part of a disability welfare service provider in Japan. The emails falsely claim that there are reports of coronavirus patients in the Gifu, Tottori and Osaka prefectures in Japan, urging victims to read an attached Microsoft Word document which contains the Emotet Trojan.

The messages are particularly dangerous because they were made to look like official government emails, equipped with legitimate addresses, phone numbers and emails.

Malicious files disguised as documents relating to the coronavirus have also been spotted by Kasperskys threat detection technology, exploiting peoples fears of infection to spread malware and other cyber threats. The malicious files discovered by Kasperskys researchers were disguised as pdf, mp4 and docx files about the coronavirus. In each case the filenames implied that they contained useful information on how to protect yourself from the coronavirus, information on how to detect it, and news updates.

In reality, the files contained various threats including Trojans and worms capable of destroying, blocking, modifying or copying and exfiltrating personal data, as well as interfering with the victims computing equipment or networks.

Coronavirus

Coronaviruses are a family of respiratory infections that includes both mild illnesses such as the common cold and more serious ones such as Sars and Mers. The variant in question emerged in Hubei province in central China in December 2019. It has now spread to every other province of mainland China and several other countries, including Australia, France, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the US. The nature of coronaviruses and the difficulty of reporting cases accurately in some areas means the true number is probably unknown. The new coronavirus variant has now been named Covid-19 by the World Health Organisation.

Coronavirus News Used To Spread Malware

The coronavirus, which is being widely discussed as a major news story, has already been used as bait by cyber criminals, said Anton Ivanov, a malware analyst at Kaspersky. So far, we have seen only 10 unique files, but as this sort of activity often happens with popular media topics then we expect that this tendency may grow. As people continue to be worried for their health, we may see more malware hidden inside fake documents about the coronavirus being spread.

High-profile events, news stories and offline threats are almost inevitably exploited by cyber criminals to spread malicious files or run scams on victims and often play on justified concerns. Already in 2020, criminal gangs have exploited the Travelex ransomware attack to conduct telephone scams. As always, users can take a number of simple steps to avoid falling victim to malicious files masquerading as legitimate content.

Recipients should avoid clicking on unsolicited, suspicious links sent to them that claim to be exclusive content, rather than going direct to official sources for accurate and trustworthy information on the coronavirus. It is also advisableto look closely at the three letter file extension as legitimate documents and video files will rarely if ever be in .exe or .lnk formats.

Elsewhere in the industry, the coronavirus outbreak has also begun to affect the IT supply chain. In its most recent quarterly results announcement this week, Apple said it was working on contingency and mitigation plans to protect production facilities in Chinas.

Computer Weekly: TechRepublic: BankInfoSecurity:

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Email Malware Targeting US Senators & Military:




The researchers say their findings, published Feb. 3 in Injury Epidemiology, suggest that adopting safety measures for rifles or shotguns may prevent suicides, particularly among young people and rural-area residents.

"Our goal as clinicians at Johns Hopkins Medicine is to save lives, and it's concerning to see that it's not just handguns, but long guns that are used commonly in youth suicide," says Paul Nestadt, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "Many of the safety protections that we have in place around the country typically don't apply to long guns, and the data suggest that our strategy needs to be modified."

In many states, there is no minimum age for owning long guns, and federal background checks are only required if buying from a licensed gun dealer. Requirements for permits and safety courses for rifles vary from state to state.

The public has long thought that handguns are more responsible for human deaths, including suicides, than long guns such as rifles and shotguns, which have been believed to be more commonly used for hunting or protection from wild animals. But now, in an analysis of data from 16 years of gun suicides in Maryland, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers found that long guns were used more often in suicides by kids and teens than by adults, and were more commonly used in suicide by people in rural counties.

The data analysis reviewed 3,931 gun suicides in Maryland from 2003 to 2018. About 45% of children and teens used long guns to die by suicide, compared to 20% of adults over age 65 who used long guns. The researchers found that 52% of rural firearm suicides were by long gun, compared to 17% in urban counties. Using rifles for suicide increased by 60% during hunting season, when researchers say rifles may be out and more available.

"In the midst of a suicidal impulse, a person will use what they have. Firearms are particularly lethal. If one is easily available, that will be the method of choice," says Nestadt. "Holidays and hunting season are times when many young people receive hunting rifles as gifts, and I would advise family members to also provide gun locks or gun storage cabinets with their present. Just adding an extra protective step could be enough of a barrier to protect their family member from making an impulsive decision."

###

Additional authors on the study are Kevin MacKrell, Alexander McCourt and Cassandra Crifasi of Johns Hopkins, and David Fowler, formerly Maryland's chief medical examiner.

Support for the study came from the James Wah Fund for Mood Disorders.

The authors don't declare any conflicts.
There was a heavy police deployment in New Delhi's Mandi House area on Monday morning in view of a protest call against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

According to a senior police official, they had refused permission for the protest march as the budget session of Parliament was going on.

"We have not given any permission to protest in the Mandi House area. If they want to protest, they can do it at Jantar Mantar, the designated place for any demonstration. Necessary actions will be taken if they hamper traffic movement and create law and order situations," the officer said.

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

A gunman went on a rampage against the police in the Bronx, officials said on Sunday, carrying out brazen attacks against officers in a patrol van and a precinct station house that left two wounded and the department shaken.

Local officials called the shootings "assassination attempts." The suspect was arrested at the 41st Precinct station house after he had walked in just before 8 a.m. and began firing, hitting one officer and injuring another, police officials said.

The shooting at the station house, which serves the Hunts Point neighborhood, occurred about 12 hours after an attack Saturday night on police officers who were sitting in a marked patrol vehicle.

"We are confident that he is the same person who attempted to assassinate our police officers last night," the commissioner, Dermot F. Shea, said at a news conference on Sunday.

Police said that they were questioning a woman in connection to the shootings but that she was not a suspect.

The injuries to the officers were not life-threatening. They were taken to area hospitals.

"An attack on a police officer is an attack on all of us," Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Sunday. "It's an attack on a democratic society, a decent society."

Shea said that in Sunday's shooting, the man, whom two officials identified as Robert Williams, entered the station house, pulled out a gun and started firing multiple rounds toward the desk area. Then he walked into an area beside the desk, and fired multiple rounds at police officers. A male lieutenant was shot in the upper left arm, the commissioner said.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Videos of the attack that appeared on social media show a man entering the station house, shooting a gun and then voluntarily laying on the ground and sliding his weapon to police officers, who then apprehended him.

"This coward immediately laid down, but only after he ran out of bullets," Shea said.

A 9 mm gun was recovered from the suspect and will be tested to see if it matches the gun used in Saturday's shooting, Shea said.

According to police officials and court documents, Williams had been convicted of attempted murder as a result of a shooting in 2002. Williams had shot someone, carjacked a woman in trying to flee the scene, wrecked the stolen vehicle and then engaged responding officers in a gunbattle, police said. He was convicted of attempted murder and was released on parole in 2017.

In the first shooting, the officer, who was not identified, was sitting in the driver's seat when he was hit in the chin and neck, near the carotid artery, Shea said Saturday night.
* Azerbaijan expects higher gas output this year

* But sees slightly lower oil production in 2020

* Aims to keep oil output stable before controlled decline

* Sees promising exploration activities

By Nailia Bagirova and Margarita Antidze

BAKU, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Azerbaijan plans to increase

natural gas production this year, but slightly lower oil

production due to the level of existing reserves, the vice

president of state energy company SOCAR said in an interview.

Yashar Latifov told Reuters the country planned to produce

38.4 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas this year, up from 35.6

bcm last year, and 36.5 million tonnes of oil, down from 37.5

million tonnes in 2019.

SOCAR extracts most of its oil from the

Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) fields together with foreign

partners led by BP, which is also involved in producing

natural gas at the huge Shah Deniz field.

Latifov said that SOCAR's own oil and gas production in 2020

was estimated at 7.6 million tonnes and 7.2 bcm respectively.

"Our task is to ensure stable oil production in the coming

four to five years, and then a controlled decline, which will be

managed by the planned expansion of exploration work at new and

existing fields," he said.

New drilling activity at Bulla-Deniz, West Absheron,

Pirallahi, Bank Darvin and some onshore sites was expected to

keep oil production stable, he said.

Azerbaijan has an estimated one trillion cubic metres of

reserves at its Shah Deniz gas field, the biggest in the

country, and is looking for more reserves in other areas.

Latifov said that output at Shah Deniz was seen at 18.96 bcm

of gas and 4 million tonnes of condensate in 2020, up from 16.8

bcm of gas and 3.7 million tonnes of condensate in 2019.

NEW DRILLINGS

After drilling the first exploratory early gas production

well at Absheron, SOCAR, together with France's Total,

is starting to perform a full field development study which

might result in the drilling of at least three more wells, he

said.

The start of production at Absheron is expected in mid-2021

and its reserves could exceed an estimated 300 bcm, allowing

output at a plateau level of 5 bcm per year, Latifov said.

Azerbaijan sees further gas prospects at the Umid and Babek

fields, where SOCAR works independently.

Latifov said SOCAR planned to increase gas production at

Umid to 960 million cubic meters this year from 850 million

cubic meters in 2019, and condensate to 143,000 tonnes from

140,000 tonnes.

The first exploration well is planned for drilling at the

neighbouring Babek field at the start of 2021, he said, while

appraisal well drilling at the Karabakh field together with

Norway's Equinor was expected to be completed by the

end of February.

(Writing by Margarita Antidze; editing by Andrew Osborn and

Kirsten Donovan)
Voting Begins in Cameroon French Areas, Timid in English Zones

By Moki Edwin Kindzeka February 09, 2020

Local and parliamentary elections have begun successfully in French-speaking areas of Cameroon but things are slow going in the English-speaking zones of the central African country where separatists fighters warned residents not to vote. Several election staff have been attacked. Cameroon president Paul Biya has encouraged and congratulated those who voted.

Hundreds of voters line up at the polling station at Government Bilingual Primary School Bastos in Cameroon's capital, Yaounde, to vote in the central African nation's local and parliamentary elections. Among those who voted in the early hours of the morning was Cameroon President Paul Biya. He says Cameroonians should come out massively and vote and should not listen to people he describes as detractors of his country's democracy.

He says he is very delighted and satisfied to have performed his civic responsibility and that he is calling on all citizens to ignore calls from some political parties to boycott the polls. He says as far as he is concerned, the elections indicate that democracy is progressing and is now inevitable in Cameroon.

Biya was reacting to some political parties like the Cameroon People's Party that had been calling for the cancellation of the elections in favor of a transition which will put an end to his regime. The Cameroon Renaissance Movement Party was also leading protests for the elections to be canceled.

Separatist fighters have vowed that the elections will not take place in the two English-speaking regions of the country and imposed a travel ban in Cameroon's Northwest and Southwest.

Emmanuel Acha, a 54-year-old English teacher who escaped from his northwestern village of Bafut, says he voted because he believes the Cameroon parliament needs committed people who can solve the separatist crisis in the English-speaking regions.

"I am particularly pleased to have accomplished my civic duty. This is the greatest weapon for peace and development. The greatest weapon to bring back normalcy," he said.

As many rushed to vote in the French-speaking regions, the turn out in the English- speaking Northwest and Southwest regions was very poor as many people were either scared of separatist threats or heeded calls on them not to vote.

Deben Tchoffo, governor of the English-speaking regions pleaded with voters to conquer fear and assured the population of their safety.

"I am appealing to all the citizens of the Northwest region to go to the polling stations to vote for our municipal counselors, for our parliamentarians. Those are the key persons that are going to implement the special status agreed upon after the major national dialogue," he said. "I am also asking everybody, mainly the youths of the north west region to come out massively to vote."

The special status governor Deben Tchoffo was referring to creates assemblies of chiefs, regional assemblies and regional councils for the two English-speaking regions, with each of them having elected presidents.

Many civilians have escaped from the English-speaking regions where there were battles between the military and rebels. The civilians said they did not believe the government will be able to protect them.

Early Sunday the government said suspected separatists torched a public building that hosted polling stations in the English-speaking northwestern town of Bafut. No one was wounded.

A military convoy transporting elections material to the English-speaking towns of Jakiri and Kumbo came under heavy attack from separatists in the village of Sabga on the night of the election.

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A company filed for bankruptcy on Feb. 6 in the wake of a massive explosion at one of its warehouses in Houston that killed two workers, injured 20 more and damaged hundreds of buildings.

Watson Grinding and Manufacturing said it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Houston federal court because of what it expects to be a long-term interruption of business operations due to the Jan. 24 blast.

Chapter 11 allows the metal fabricating and manufacturing company to reorganize as opposed to liquidating its assets and shutting down permanently.

Our hearts go out to everyone who has been affected by this tragedy and we are convinced that the best way to ensure our organization can play a positive role in the long-term recovery of the area is by remaining a viable business, John Watson, CEO of Watson Grinding and Manufacturing, said in a statement. We are a family business and through this reorganization, we intend to save the company and protect and restore the jobs for our dedicated and hardworking team.

The company said it had to lay off about 80 workers this week.

Mayor Sylvester Turner said he was disappointed the company filed for bankruptcy and fired employees.

The companys decision must not slow the pace of the recovery or the investigation. It is important that authorities determine both the cause of the blast and hold the responsible party accountable, Turner said.

Law enforcement officials have said an electrical spark likely ignited a propylene gas leak that led to the massive explosion. A final report on the cause is expected in about two months.

Officials have said there is no evidence to indicate arson, vandalism or other criminal wrongdoing was behind the explosion.

Company employee, Frank Flores and Gerardo Castorena died at the scene.

City officials say 450 structures  mostly homes  were damaged in the explosion.

Nearly 30 lawsuits representing hundreds of home and business owners have been filed in state court against the company since the explosion, including a wrongful death suit by Flores family.

The bankruptcy filing will put those lawsuits on hold.

But Robert Kwok, an attorney representing 227 people whose homes, businesses and apartments were damaged by the blast, said he and other lawyers plan to file a motion in bankruptcy court asking that Watson Grindings insurance proceeds be released so that they will be available to pay for repairs.

Days after the explosion, John Watson had said his insurance would repair all damaged homes, but hours later he took back his statement.

Mr. Watson started the process by saying he was going to make things right and repair these homes and now all of a sudden hes  filed bankruptcy and is hiding behind bankruptcy protection. Thats a shame, Kwok said.

Attorneys also plan to ask the bankruptcy court to let the lawsuits go forward against the other parties being sued, Kwok said.

Related:

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Lunarfest, a celebration of the Lunar New Year and Chinese culture, took place in New haven on February 8, 2020.

The day kicked off with a parade down Church Street and Whitney Avenue.
The buy-in will pave the way of SK Lubricant to the Vietnamese and ASEAN markets

SK Lubricant has acquired a 49 per cent stake in Mekong Petrol for KRW50 billion ($42.1 million), marking its first overseas investment in order to expand its business in the Southeast Asian country and the ASEAN market, according to newswire Pulsenews.co.kr.

The two parties signed the stock purchase agreement at an event held last week at Mekong Petrol headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Under the latest deal, SK Lubricants will supply its products to Mekong Petrol for sale in Vietnam. The production and sale of lube base oil will be entrusted to the Vietnamese firm for further business co-operation. They also agreed to ramp up storage, replace aged facilities, and bolster the sales network with a plan to expand business across the ASEAN countries. Vietnams lubricants market is estimated to grow to 6.4 million barrels by 2028 from 3.5 million barrels last year. The market is dominated by BP  the owner of Castrol , which is followed by Shell and Chevron, without leading local players.

Mekong Petrol held 6.3 per cent of the Vietnamese lubricants market in 2018. It has affiliates that run two tank terminals, lubricants production factories, and logistics centres, as well as 12 dealerships and sales shops. For business expansion, it is also planning to turn its distribution and sales units into subsidiaries.

Mekong Petrochemical JSC has a manufacturing factory in An Thanh industrial cluster, Ben Luc district, Long An province with the area of 38,084 square metres in total and the capacity of 34,000 metric tonnes per year.
Jameela Jamil has described coming out as queer as 'completely overwhelming' and said she chose an 'inappropriate' time after she received criticism for her role as a judge on new TV series, Legendary.

HBO Max announced that she would serve as MC and judge on its new voguing competition series, with some fans arguing Jameela, 33, a cisgender heterosexual woman, should not host the series.

Some viewers felt the actress was not representative of the show's ballroom culture, which was created by primarily black and Latin LGBTQ people in New York City in the 1980s.

Speaking out: Jameela Jamil, 33, has described coming out as queer as 'completely overwhelming' and said she chose an 'inappropriate' time

In response to the criticism she received for her role on the show, Jameela revealed that she identifies as queer.

Taking to social media days later, the Good Place star admitted she picked a bad time to come out but also said that, having kept the secret for decades, it always felt like she might blurt it out at anytime.

Alongside a selfie, she wrote: 'Well. Last week was a perfect clusterf**k. It was completely overwhelming.

'The sequence of events was insane, a misunderstanding was left uncorrected for too long, and misinformation spread too far, too fast, then my timing was bad, and in a moment of distress and pain, personal things were blurted out because when you have a secret for decades and youre traumatized, it always feels like it might just f*****g burst out of you at any given moment, even the most inappropriate and unfortunate ones.

Criticism: Some felt Jameela was not representative of the show's ballroom culture, which was created by primarily black and Latin LGBTQ people in the 1980s (pictured in January 2020)

'I thankfully chose the *most* inappropriate and unfortunate time, maybe ever, for mine. So now you dont have to feel embarrassed about yours. I PEAKED FOR ALL OF US!

'But timing aside. Better out than in, and thank you for the thousands of messages of kindness and deeply personal letters from strangers and people I know, coming out to me privately. I dont take it lightly and am happy for you that you felt ready to tell even one person.

'Do it whenever you feel the time is right, as long as you think youll be safe. Dont feel bad for hiding it for as long as you need, and move at your own pace.

Post: Jameela shared a lengthy message on social media where she said she picked a bad time to say she was queer after the criticism she received

'But feel no shame about getting it off your chest and know you arent alone. There is a huge community of people who understand you, respect you and stand with you.

'On we go, hoping this week will be calmer than the last, and sending everyone the most love. Jam'.

Producers of Legendary have since clarified Jameela will not serve as MC as was previously reported, but she will be a judge.

One user commented on Jameela's post and said that, while they appreciated her coming out, they still thought she should give up her judging role on the show.

Response: One fan said that they still felt Jameela should step back from her judging role on Legendary so it could be given to someone more involved in ballroom culture

Spotlight: Jameela then revealed the show struggled to be made for two years before she and rapper Megan Thee Stallion agreed to take part

They said: 'You are a wonderful person and I really appreciate your coming out! Youre strong and awesome!

'Nonetheless I still think that you should give your position on Legendary to someone who is more involved and connected with the ballroom scene!

'Im not blaming you for taking the job but when you hear that transgender people have been wronged and disregarded when they have so much experience in the scene, only because they dont have the following that you have, then you gotta do something sister! Love you, hope you make it right!'

Jameela quickly responded and revealed the show struggled to be sold for two years before she and rapper Megan Thee Stallion joined the production.

She wrote: 'Hello love. I only signed on because they hadnt managed to sell the show for 2 years even though its SO amazing.

'Megan and I jumped on board to make sure it got made, because it is 90 percent ballroom talent on and off screen.

Role: Producers of Legendary have since clarified Jameela will not serve as MC as was previously reported, but she will be a judge (pictured in December 2019)

'We are just here to bring our followings to the show, and to support and celebrate these talented and inspiring people. We really are a small part of the show, and when people see it, they will see that.'

HBO Max had initially announced that Jameela will be both MC and judge, and other judges include Megan Thee Stallion, Law Roach, and Leiomy Maldonado as judges. Dashaun Wesley will be a commentator, and DJ MikeQ will be the DJ.

Leiomy, Dashun, and DJ MikeQ all have ties to the dance at the center of the show. According to Out magazine, DJ MikeQ has 'helped to craft the sound of ballroom,' and Dashaun and Leiomy are visible performers.

While Law doesn't have any obvious ballroom ties, he is part of the community that created voguing.

And that was a problem with Jameela, according to critics, who said she had no ties to voguing, and as a cisgender (her gender identity matches her sex) heterosexual woman, she isn't an appropriate choice for the show.

Announcement: Jameela then came out in response to the online criticism she had received, describing Twitter in particular as 'brutal'

Jameela then came out in response to the online criticism she had received, describing Twitter in particular as 'brutal'.

She wrote: 'This is why I never officially came out as queer. I added a rainbow to my name when I felt ready a few years ago, as it's not easy within the south Asian community to be accepted, and I always answered honestly if ever straight-up asked about it on Twitter.

'But I kept it low because I was scared of the pain of being accused of performative bandwagon jumping, over something that caused me a lot of confusion, fear and turmoil when I was a kid.'

'I didn't come from a family with *anyone* openly out. It's also scary as an actor to openly admit your sexuality, especially when you're already a brown female in your thirties.

Pushed: The Good Place actress said she didn't want to come out, but the reaction on social media forced her to do so

'This is absolutely not how I wanted it to come out, I'm jumping off this hell app for a while because I don't want to read mean comments dismissing this. You can keep your thoughts.

'I know that being queer doesn't qualify me as ballroom. But I have privilege and power and a large following to bring to this show, (as does the absolutely iconic Megan Thee Stallion,) and its beautiful contestants and ballroom hosts.

'Sometimes it takes those with more power to help a show get off the ground so we can elevate marginalized stars that deserve the limelight and give them a chance.

'I'm not the MC. I'm not the main host. I'm just a lead judge due to my 11 years of hosting experience, being fully impartial, a newcomer to ballroom (like much of the audience will be) and therefore a window in for people who are just discovering it now, and being a longtime ally of the LGBTQ community.

She said: 'I kept it low because I was scared of the pain of being accused of performative bandwagon jumping, over something that caused me a lot of confusion, fear and turmoil when I was a kid'

'We start shooting tomorrow and I'm really excited to watch these stars shine and be celebrated. I'm excited to work with Leiomy, Dashaun, and Mike Q. As I am with my friend Law Roach and Megan.

'It's f***ing hard to be asked to continue to be patient after so long of waiting for what you want. I know that. South Asian stories are almost never told without white stars.

'But I hope you don't let a few castings designed to help the show get off the ground stop you from supporting the talent from Ballroom on this show.

'They really are f***ing amazing and I'm really honoured to work with them.'

Strike a pose! Voguing started at 1960s New York drag competitions called 'balls,' in which black and Latino dancers would participate in voguing competitions

Voguing evolved out of the 1960s Harlem ballroom scene. According to the National Museum of African American History & Culture, it started at New York drag competitions called 'balls,' in which black and Latino dancers would participate in voguing competitions.

The dance, which was named after the fashion magazine, involves exaggerated hand gestures and highlights gender as a performance.

It involved and grew in popularity through the '80s, eventually earning wider attention with Madonna's 1990 single Vogue.
The 20th 'All India Police Shooting Competition' was inaugurated by Bihar Director General of Police (DGP) Gupteshwar Pandey at BMP-2 ground here on Monday.

The competition will conclude on February 15.

In his inaugural address, Pandey said that its a matter of pride that Bihar got the opportunity to host the competition.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was supposed to inaugurate the competition but he could not do so because of his engagements, sources said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ten people killed, dozens wounded and thousands flee as brawl between Dungans and Kazakh police is followed by rampage.

An outbreak of violence in southern Kazakhstan that saw members of a local Muslim ethnic minority of Chinese origin come under attack has raised concerns and prompted calls for changes in a country that prides itself on tolerance.

At least 10 people were killed and dozens wounded after a brawl between Dungans (also known as Hui) and Kazakh police on Thursday was followed by a rampage the following day.

A group of men on Friday started torching buildings and cars in a cluster of five villages in the Zhambyl region, about 130km (81 miles) west of Almaty city, after videos were circulated on social media purportedly showing the clash between Dungans and the local police.

Thousands of people, mostly Dungans, fled across the border to Kyrgyzstan after the escalation.

Kanat Sultanaliev, the executive director of Tian Shan Policy Centre at American University of Central Asia, said, The conflict arose from nothing.

It was a usual bribery scene, he told Al Jazeera, quoting local media reports citing witnesses. A traffic police unit stopped a car with a couple of Dungans in it. They refused to pay, ended up beating the policemen, he said. Later, other Kazakh police guys (officers) went to the house where the Dungans involved in the initial fight lived and the conflict escalated immediately.

A local resident shows her burned house after the conflict in Shor-Tube [Vladimir Voronin/AP]

The authorities confirmed that the initial fight on Thursday involved a traffic incident, but did not mention the policemen or a bribery allegation.

Sultanaliev said the unrest has deeper roots.

They live almost in isolation, he said of the Dungans, who have lived in what are today southern Kazakhstan and northern Kyrgyzstan since they fled persecution in China in the 19th century.

They live in their communities and those communities are in several villages comprised of only Dungans in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. That is why there is some disintegration between them and the local population  Kazakh and Kyrgyz people, Sultanaliev said.

He said the Dungans often become the targets of discrimination, especially from the police and border guards.

Predominantly ethnic Hui community village of Masanchi today after yesterdays violence. Kyrgyz border service reported increased flow of women and children from Kazakhstan into Kyrgyz Republic. https://t.co/ceWJlUBH79 pic.twitter.com/B68wZrCcJ5  Ryskeldi Satke (@RyskeldiSatke) February 8, 2020

The Dungans have been prospering since the Soviet Union collapsed as they adapted quickly to a free market economy. When they cross the border, for example, they are charged more than [other] local people, Sultanaliev said.

Thats why there was already tension between the Kazakhs and the Dungans and the same can be said about the relationship between the Kyrgyz and the Dungans, he said.

A view shows buildings in Masanchi village in the Zhambyl province [Tengrinews/Shokan Alkhabayev via Reuters]

Kazakhs make the largest part (58.9 percent) of the population in Kazakhstan, where more than 100 ethnic groups live in peace, according to the government.

On Monday, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev sacked the governor, deputy governor and police chief of the southern Zhambyl province following the escalation.

The new governor is a former deputy prime minister who has also been appointed head of a government commission probing the violence.

Tokayev had earlier blamed the escalation on provocateurs, saying that justice will be served to anyone inciting hatred between ethnic groups.

But Oyan, Qazaqstan (Kazakh for Wake up, Kazakhstan)  a civil rights organisation founded in Almaty  denounced the government for the unrest.

In a statement on Sunday, it said the root cause of the deadly violence was a failed state that is not able to effectively manage, guarantee security and ensure the rule of law for all citizens, without exception, both Kazakhs and national minorities.

The activists of the organisation said a narrow group of people usurped the power in the oil-rich country, leaving the vast majority of citizens in poverty, creating feelings of injustice, distrust of each other and insecurity of tomorrow.

They called for the reform of the police and the local governance, saying corruption in these bodies encourage unlawful methods of resolving disputes and conflicts.

Day by day, more and more often we are witnessing an increase in the hostile language in society, dividing citizens into those who have the right by blood and those who need to be reminded of the once generous hospitality shown to them, the statement said.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev sacked the police chief and a deputy governor of Zhambyl [Vyacheslav Oseledko/AFP]

It also accused the authorities and political forces associated with the government of directly or indirectly encouraging intolerance of different political views and lifestyle.

Impunity, incitement and cowardice in these matters are destroying the state, Oyan, Qazaqstan said.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Helene Thibault, assistant professor of political science at Kazakhstans Nazarbayev University, said the authorities were not extremely concerned about the conflict.

She said it was unlikely for the government to take a stand on the ethnic intolerance, because this contradicts their narrative.

Kazakhstan prides itself on being multinational and having a lot of tolerance towards its own minorities, she said. The authorities do not comment, advertise or use ethnic issues for political purposes much because this contradicts their narrative.

Local residents are inside their burned house after the conflict in Shor-Tube [Vladimir Voronin/AP]

Thibault said the country has seen a number of violent attacks on people of Chinese origin over the last few years, but they mainly involved migrant workers and entrepreneurs.

This (the attack on local Chinese minority) is even more concerning, especially because it resulted in deaths, she said, claiming that the government did not seem to have a plan of action about how to tackle these issues.

Usually, they express their regret but do not plan ahead to avoid such clashes, she said.

Sultanaliev also argued it was unlikely for the situation to change any time soon.

The region as a whole has a very difficult ethnic landscape with dozens of potential inter-ethnic conflicts among minorities or between minorities and the core population of our countries. Authorities tend to avoid talking openly about ethnic tensions.

Follow Al Jazeeras Tamila Varshalomidze on Twitter @tamila87v




gettyimagesbank

By Lee Kyung-min



The fast-spreading new coronavirus will have a worse-than-expected impact on Korea's export-reliant economy due to the country's heavy dependence on intermediate goods imported from China, experts said Sunday.



The growing pessimism fuels concerns that Asia's fourth-largest economy, still reeling from a slowdown due to the drawn-out U.S.-China feud, should brace for a further drop in exports, investment and consumption.



Most international organizations and global investment banks have projected that Korea will not be able to see its exports grow even 3 percent in 2020, a target set by the government in its economic policy outlook at the end of 2019.



The most pessimistic view came from the London-based research group Oxford Economics, which said Korea's exports will only grow 0.5 percent year-on-year in 2020.



This was followed by JP Morgan Chase and Societe Generale which estimated Korea's export growth rate at 1.8 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.






N.J. Rep. Jeff Van Drew speaks as President Donald Trump stands behind him at a campaign rally in Wildwood last month. Read more

WILDWOOD, N.J.  Jeff Van Drew got the Trump stamp of approval. That might be all he needs.

The New Jersey congressman and longtime Democrat faced intense scrutiny after defecting to the GOP in December and pledging his undying support to President Donald Trump. Republicans already in the race accused him of political expediency after his opposition to impeaching Trump alienated Democrats, and Democrats who donated money asked for refunds.

But then Trump came to Wildwood for a rally in January, gave him three minutes on stage to bolster his standing with the party faithful  and, according to interviews with Republican voters in the South Jersey district, it seems to have worked.

If the commander-in-chief is endorsing Jeff Van Drew, we should welcome him," said Joseph Sterling, 53, of Leesburg, a former shipbuilding community in Cumberland County.

Sterling is a registered Republican. Now retired, he spent decades as a state corrections officer. He tends to vote for only Republican candidates. He went for Trump in 2016, and backed Van Drews GOP opponent in 2018. But this year, he plans to vote for the Democrat-turned-Republican because of Trumps endorsement and Van Drews long-standing ties to the district. Van Drew represented parts of the area for years as a state lawmaker.

Hes always been a guy that you can go to, and get a problem resolved," Sterling said. Im hoping hes doing it for the right reasons. I wanna believe that. If he is, its a win-win. He brings a lot with him.

For others, such as Cooper Terrell, 25, a manager at an amusement park in Mount Laurel, Trumps endorsement is enough.

Hes going to have my undying support, said Terrell, of Linwood, using the same language from Van Drews pledge to Trump. If a man is willing to sacrifice his political career to do whats right, thats more important than agreeing with him on every single topic.

In the saga of Trumps impeachment, Van Drew was a twist. He was a longtime Democrat who had won a Republican district in a deeply liberal state in 2018, and went on to be one of the only House Democrats to vote against impeachment.

 READ MORE: Weve got serious issues: Inside Jeff Van Drews impeachment-fueled defection to the GOP

He switched parties shortly after an internal campaign poll made clear how much his impeachment stance had imperiled his chances in a Democratic primary. And just days before the Wildwood rally, the strength of Van Drews newfound loyalty to the president was called into question with the emergence of a voicemail he had left for a voter shortly before his party switch, in which he said of Trump: I havent voted for him, I didnt support him, I will not vote for him."

But at a moment when Trumps impeachment acquittal shows that his control of the GOP is almost total, the quick embrace of Van Drew by local politicians and grassroots conservatives shows how much the party faithful are willing to overlook once Trump has spoken.

Very clearly Trump has remade the Republican Party in his image, said Ben Dworkin, director of public policy at Rowan University.

Van Drew didnt return messages seeking comment for this article.

His path to the Republican nomination in the June primary now seems far safer than even weeks ago. David Richter, Van Drews leading GOP challenger, folded up shop and decided to run in a neighboring congressional district represented by Democrat Andy Kim.

Having the president fully endorse [Van Drew] and embrace him, it just doesnt make sense for me to continue in this race, Richter said last month. I have endorsed Jeff Van Drew and will support his reelection campaign."

Republican Brian Fitzherbert also bowed out. His remaining challenger, Bob Patterson, had just $95,000 in campaign cash to start the year, compared with Van Drews $1.1 million.

Weve seen the full weight of the White House political operation bearing down on the Second Congressional district of New Jersey, Dworkin said.

Patterson, a former Trump administration official, has continued to emphasize Van Drews liberal voting record. Van Drew has voted with Trump only 7% of the time, according to an analysis by FiveThirtyEight, and he has a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

Switcheroo Van Drew wouldnt know conservative if it smacked him across the face," Patterson said in a statement last month.

Republican voters interviewed didnt see Van Drews voting record and party switch as much of a problem.

Trump switched, said Bob Newman, of North Cape May, referring to Trumps status as a former Democrat. I think he endeared himself to the Republicans. I think he did what his conscience told him to do."

Trumps support is also helping the congressmans bottom line. Van Drews campaign filings show hes starting to shed Democrats financial support and replace it with small-dollar Republican donations. He took in about $300,000 in individual contributions during the last quarter of 2019. Almost half  or about $145,000  came from conservative donors using WinRed, a Republican fund-raising platform that processes online donations. Only 5% of WinRed donations came from New Jersey.

If Van Drew wins the Republican primary, his general election contest will be much different.

A number of prominent local Democrats have decided to run for his seat. Many  furious at his betrayal  expect his party-switch will prompt angry voters to turn out to replace him. Democrats have already paid for a host of attack ads.

Van Drew now has a target on his back, said Patrick Murray, director of polling at the Monmouth University Polling Institute. I think whoever the Democratic nominee is, if they are halfway decent at fund-raising, a lot of money will be pouring in from around the country. ... I wouldnt be surprised if the Democrats out-raise Van Drew.

 READ MORE: Democrats are furious at Jeff Van Drew. But beating him wont be easy.

On the Democratic side, Brigid Callahan Harrison, a professor at Montclair State University, has shown some fund-raising strength, raking in $45,000 in the two weeks after filing election paperwork Dec. 16. And 57% of her haul came from small-dollar donors. Another Democratic candidate, Amy Kennedy  who wasnt required to file a 2019 campaign-finance report because she didnt enter the race until January  is expected to be a strong fund-raiser. Her husband, former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, once chaired the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

But 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, while Barack Obama won 53% of the vote there each time he ran.

For voters such as Sterling, the retired corrections officer, Trumps support is what matters most.

A Trump endorsement is a pretty big deal," he said. "Whatever candidate Trump touches usually wins.
By Tuvan Gumrukcu and Suleiman Al-Khalidi

ANKARA/AMMAN (Reuters) - Turkish forces struck dozens of Syrian government targets in northwestern Syria on Monday after five Turkish soldiers were killed in an attack on a military base in Idlib province, the Turkish defense ministry said.

The base at the town of Taftanaz was attacked a week after eight Turkish military personnel were killed by Syrian shelling in Idlib following Turkey's deployment of thousands of troops to stem a Syrian government offensive in the rebel-held region.

Hitting back after Monday's attack, in which five Turkish solders were also wounded, Turkish forces fired on 115 Syrian government targets and destroyed 101 of them, including three tanks, two mortar positions and one helicopter, the defense ministry said in a later statement.

The incidents are among the most serious confrontations between Turkish and Syrian troops in nearly nine years of conflict in Syria, and Turkey has said it will drive back Syrian forces if they do not pull back by the end of this month.

"Their attacks against our posts have made an operation necessary," Omer Celik, spokesman for President Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party, told reporters in Ankara.

The rapid advance by Syrian government forces in Idlib, the last major enclave of insurgents opposed to President Bashar al-Assad, has driven nearly 700,000 people from their homes toward the closed-off Turkish border.

Turkey, which already hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees, says it cannot absorb any more and is ready for military action to halt the Syrian government advances.

It has poured 5,000 troops and convoys of military vehicles across the border, carrying tanks, armored personnel carriers and radar equipment to bolster its existing military positions.

A Turkey-backed Syrian rebel commander said the insurgents had also launched a military operation near the town of Saraqeb, south of Taftanaz, with Turkish artillery support.

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'WAR OF ATTRITION'

As the conflict escalated in Idlib, Turkish and Russian officials met in Ankara for talks.

Turkey and Russia are on opposing sides in the fighting in Idlib although they collaborate for a political solution to the conflict in Syria, and Moscow's military intervention in 2015 helped swing the war decisively in Assad's favor.

The Turkish presidency said a visiting Russian delegation was told the attacks against Turkish troops were "unacceptable", must be stopped immediately and would not remain "unanswered".

Russia and the Syrian government say they are fighting terrorists in Idlib, which is largely controlled by jihadist fighters.

"This is a war of attrition between Moscow and Ankara in which they are testing limits," said Galip Dalay, a visiting scholar at Oxford University.

While there was a risk that the crisis could escalate further, Dalay said it could be managed with agreement between Ankara and Moscow on a buffer zone on the Syrian side of the border with Turkey, where displaced people could shelter.

But the challenge of meeting the needs of the wave of uprooted people is growing daily.

"Since 1 December some 689,000 women, children and men have been displaced from their homes in northwest Syria," said David Swanson, a U.N. humanitarian spokesman. "Thats more than 100,000 people in just over a week."

Swanson said the latest upheaval compounded an already dire humanitarian situation in Idlib, where 400,000 people were displaced between April and August last year by earlier fighting, many of them multiple times.

(Additional reporting by Khalil Ashawi in Azaz, Syria, Orhan Coskun in Ankara, Umit Bektas and Jonathan Spicer in Istanbul; Writing by Dominic Evans, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
A police manhunt is continuing for three robbers who stabbed property developer Bo Khan in the arm before yanking a 115,000 Breguet Tourbillon watch from his wrist in Mayfair.

Mr Khan, 55, said police had told him gangs were deliberately slashing the elbow tendons of victims to paralyse their arms and prevent them from fighting back.

He was targeted in Berkeley Square while with wife Karen in June.

They gave chase in a black Audi, whose driver stopped to help, but the muggers  caught on CCTV  fled down a side street.

Mr Khan, from Manchester, escaped lasting injury.
The Centre will likely notify the merger of 10 public sector banks to create four big banks this week. Once notified, board members of these banks will give their approval swap ratio for the mergers. Each bank is required to follow regulatory norms to protect minority stakeholders' interests. Reports say all 10 banks will complete the merger process by April.

"We are expecting the government to notify the merger this week," United Bank of India managing director Ashok Kumar Pradhan said, The Economic Times reported.

In the biggest consolidation exercise in the banking space, the government on August 30 last year announced four major mergers of public sector banks, bringing down their total number to 12 from 27 in 2017. The move was aimed at making state-owned lenders global sized banks.

United Bank of India and Oriental Bank of Commerce will be merged with Punjab National Bank, making the proposed entity the second largest public sector bank (PSB). Syndicate Bank will be merged with Canara Bank, while Allahabad Bank will be amalgamated with Indian Bank. Similarly, Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank will be consolidated with Union Bank of India.

Post the consolidation, Punjab National Bank will have a business size of Rs 17.94 lakh crore, becoming the second-largest PSB after SBI with a business of Rs 52.05 lakh crore. The consolidated Canara Bank will be the fourth-largest bank with a business of Rs 15.2 lakh crore, followed by Union Bank of India at Rs 14.59 lakh crore. After subsuming Allahabad Bank, Indian Bank will be the seventh-largest state-lender with business size of Rs 8.08 lakh crore.

Bank of Baroda, after the merger with Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank, had become the country's third-largest bank. It has a business of Rs 16.13 lakh crore.

Also Read: Punjab National Bank to be merged with Oriental Bank and United Bank

Also Read: Union Bank, Andhra Bank, Corporation Bank to merge to become 5th largest bank PSB

Also Read: Canara Bank, Syndicate Bank to merge to become 4th largest public sector bank
The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has explained why it has set a dress code for customers on its premises.

The dress code, which is to take effect from Monday, February 10, stipulates that all customers at the commissions premises to transact business must be corporately and decently dressed from Monday to Thursday of every week.

The spokesperson of the commission, Laraba Sharibu, said the directive was to caution lawyers on how to dress while coming to the commission for business.

What we discovered is that when lawyers come to transact business in the commission, some of them dress shabbily, in the sense that they wear torn jeans, mini, bumshorts, they dont dress properly.

When you dress properly, it is either you are in full traditional wear or you are wearing maybe a trouser and a shirt tucked, that is what we expect of them, she said.

Mrs Sharibu said the law which has been in existence before now, is not targeted at women alone, she said men also dress indecently to the commission.

No lawyer will go to the court premises, irrespective of if they are appearing before a judge or not, in three-quarter pants or ripped jeans.

As a corporate lawyer, you never can tell where you meet your clients, some of them meet their clients here in our premises, he said.

Earlier this year, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Garba Abubakar as the new Registrar General of the commission.

Mr Abubakar is a lawyer and a former special adviser to Bello Mahmud, the then Registrar General of CAC between August 2010 to October 2017.

READ ALSO:

The sudden enforcement of the law after years of being in existence is said to be a directive from the new management.

In 2017, the commission introduced online registration for businesses. This is said to be more convenient, simplified and fast as it takes 48hours.

Mrs Sharibu said the registration process has helped a lot in curbing corruption as money is not received in cash, and there has been less complaint about fraud between staff and clients.

With the registration, we have tackled the pre, we are looking at the post, which will be online and now there is a new administration in place and we are waiting to see what his agenda will be.

Commenting on the new directive, a legal practitioner, Kenms Akwarandu, said the law may be to differentiate the accredited agents at the commission from the touts that lurk around the premises.

Mr Akwarandu, who was seen dressed corporately in a suit after he came out of the premises, said, It may be a way to differentiate those who are called to practice and those who are touting, thats why there is an accreditation card for lawyers, chartered secretaries, and qualified accountants.

Whoever gave that instruction, gave it to be able to separate the wheat from the tares. If you must practice, be professional enough to dress decently.

He said the freedom of expression has nothing to do with dressing, and the dress code is professional etiquette.

Also, a female lawyer who pleaded to speak on anonymity supported the introduction of the code.

I believe that CAC as an organisation has the ultimate right to make policies to regulate the conduct of its business, including the dress code of customers coming to transact business within its premises.

So if you are a customer coming to do business at the CAC, you are bound by the rules and regulations of CAC, she said.

Shrinking of civil space

However, a legal practitioner and rights activist, Mbasekei Obono, had a different view of the directive. He said it is a move by government to shrink the civic space.

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Freedom of expression doesnt stop at what you say, it looks at how you are dressed, how to express yourself in various ways, people express themselves in different ways.

This is the problem with this administration, they are constantly doing everything humanly possible to clamp down on expression and expression is key to a democratic government.

You cannot stop people from expressing themselves. This government needs to stop shrinking the civic space, he said.

He said in as much as the commission is a corporate entity and no one is expected to dress shabbily to its premises, the commission is not visited by legal practitioners alone.

He said an artist that is trying to project his work through his dressing may decide to go to the commission and will be seen as not corporately dressed.

The law already lifted the part where the commission is visited by lawyers alone, every other person can register a business as far as you are registered with the CAC. So it is not an issue of how lawyers should dress, its just about everyone.

The fact that you are a lawyer doesnt mean you can not express yourself. Just like every other person, lawyers can express themselves in any way they are comfortable with.

He said the directive contravenes section 4 which is right of the dignity of the human person.

I have a right to my dignity, so you cant judge me based on how I am dressed as in section 35 of the constitution, which is right to personal liberty.
A stretch version of the Blue Moon lander can accommodate astronauts and an ascent vehicle. (Blue Origin Illustration)

While most discretionary spending is getting the axe in the White Houses newly released budget request, NASA and its Artemis program to put astronauts on the moon by as early as 2024 would receive a big boost.

For fiscal year 2021, which starts in October, NASA would be in for a 12% increase over current-year levels, with a budget of $25.2 billion.

Nearly half of that money, $12.3 billion, would go toward programs focusing on Artemis and the follow-up push toward a human landing on Mars in the 2030s.

And more than $3.3 billion of that figure would be set aside for the development of human lunar lander systems. Thats likely to be good news for the likes of Jeff Bezos and his Blue Origin space venture, which is leading a lunar lander team that also includes Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Draper.

The money would support going forward with at least two commercial concepts for lunar landers. In addition to Blue Origins team, Boeing and a partnership involving Dynetics and Sierra Nevada Corp. are known to be in the running. SpaceXs Starship seems likely to be under consideration as well. Contracts for further development will be announced in the coming months, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said.

The budget also supports continued development of NASAs heavy-lift Space Launch System ($2.3 billion) and Orion deep-space capsule ($1.4 billion), which are key pillars of NASAs current architecture for moon missions. However, the White House wants to defer funding for a future upgrade of the SLS, known as Block 1B, so that the program can concentrate on getting the initial Block 1 rockets flying.

Additional money would be been set aside for developing next-generation spacesuits, a surface habitat and rovers, and for funding commercial payload delivery services to the moon. Another $430 million has been earmarked for a Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative that would support technology development for operations on the moon and eventually on Mars, including research grants and X Prize-style competitions.

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Robotic Mars exploration, including preparations for missions aimed at bringing samples back to Earth from Mars and mapping deposits of water ice near the Martian surface, would get $529 million.

White House proposes, Congress disposes

There are lots of woulds in the preceding paragraphs because itll be up to Congress to turn the White Houses funding requests into the actual spending bills. Not everything in the total $4.8 trillion budget proposal is likely to turn out the way the White House expects. Even though space policy tends to be set on a more bipartisan basis than other policy areas (for example, building the wall), there are still likely to be substantial tweaks.

For example, the Trump administration calls for cutbacks in spending on Earth science and education, and would zero out funding for the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope and the SOFIA airborne telescope. Congress hasnt gone along with such cutbacks in the past, and were likely to see resistance this year as well.

In a statement, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., who chairs the appropriations committee in charge of funding NASA, said he was disappointed to see the White House proposing cuts to NASAs education program. He said it was encouraging to see a proposed budget that supports returning American astronauts to the moon, but he was eager to receive sufficient budget details to match our ambitious human exploration goals.

The timetable for NASAs Artemis moon plan could conceivably come in for adjustment. Back in November, a quartet of senators including Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., introduced a NASA authorization bill that called for continuing federal support of the International Space Station through 2030 and setting a 2028 goal for lunar exploration. The Houses version of the authorization bill also focuses on 2028, though theres nothing in the bill that would preclude a 2024 moon landing.

Research funding cuts criticized

Looking more broadly at research and development funding, the White House says it aims to spend $142.2 billion on R&D. Compared with fiscal 2020, that would represent a 6% increase for the budget request but a 10% percent decrease for actual estimated spending.

The top priorities would be industries of the future such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, advanced manufacturing, biotech and advanced communications such as 5G networking. For example, funding for AI-related grants and interdisciplinary research institutes through the National Science Foundation would be increased by 70% over the current-year budget, to more than $850 million. The NSF research budget for quantum information science would be doubled to $210 million.

The outlook is dimmer for areas of science and technology less favored by the Trump administration. For example, the Environmental Protection Agencys budget would be cut by 26%. The proposal calls for a 7% reduction in spending by the National Institutes of Health, to a total of $38 billion for fiscal 2021. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would see its overall budget cut by 9%. Officials say funds for dealing with the coronavirus outbreak would be preserved, however.

Although research related to AI and quantum computing would get a boost, the NSFs total budget would shrink about 7%, to a total of $7.7 billion.

One of the first reactions from the research community came from Benjamin Korb, public affairs director of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Todays budget request from the White House is just another in a series of proposals to cut federal support for the scientific research and innovation  funding that enables the discoveries and advances that keep Americans safe and healthy and keep the nation in a position of global leadership. By requesting $42 billion in cuts to nondefense spending, this proposal rejects Congress bipartisan budget agreement for fiscal years 2020 and 2021, which President Donald Trump himself signed into law last year.

Later in the day, the American Association for the Advancement of Science issued a statement from its CEO, Sudip Parikh:

The administrations proposed budget cuts to research risk slowing our nations science just when it is reaping benefits for all Americans in the forms of better health, a stronger economy, a more sustainable environment, a safer world, and awe-inspiring understanding. The proposed cuts risk slowing our nations scientific enterprise when other nations, including China, are increasing their investments to seize these benefits. In his recent State of the Union address, President Trump recognized the important history of our nation in advancing science and medicine to new heights. Unfortunately, the administrations proposed budget does not match the presidents words. We urge the U.S. Congress to act in the publics best interest and work in a bipartisan fashion to fund broad investment in research.

The federal governments science policy is sure to be a discussion topic when the AAAS conducts its annual meeting in Seattle this week. One of the scheduled speakers is White House science adviser Kelvin Droegemeier. Stay tuned for GeekWires coverage of the AAAS meeting.

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The Senna GTR, McLarens latest offering, is scheduled to appear at the Retromobile in Paris on Richard Mille stand. As if this alone isnt enough attraction, the new McLaren car will also be joined by four stunning McLaren F1s from the past, along with a rare McLaren M6GT.

As an annual showcase of motoring heritage boasting a display of 1,000 vehicles, its safe to say that any car you see at the Retromobile Paris event is an icon in history, if not in the making.

The past and future classics will be presented at the show by famed watchmaking brand and McLaren Automotive partner Richard Mille.

media.mclarenautomotive.com

While we are focused on creating future classics including the Senna GTR that will be on display at Retromobile, it is equally as important to celebrate McLarens incredible road car heritage, Alex Long, Managing Director, Europe, McLaren Automotive.

The F1 remains an enduring icon of motoring culture and the four cars on show perfectly represent its remarkable road and racing legacy. Yet a quarter of a century before, our founder had expressed a bold ambition to create high performance cars for the road starting with the M6GT  in many ways the inspiration for todays McLaren GT  and it will be wonderful to see this car joined by its descendants at Retromobile, he added.

McLaren calls the Senna GTR the latest and most extreme expression of the ultimate track car that the hypercar manufacturer can possibly muster. Freed from all road and motorsport rules, the McLaren Senna is designed to deliver the fastest McLaren lap times outside of F1, with a power-to-weight ratio coming in at 694 PS per tonnethe highest of any track-focused McLaren carand 1,000 kg of downforce.

As for the F1 lineup, these include the Le Mans winning Ueno Clinic-liveried F1 GTR, otherwise known as the GT01R driven by JJ Lehto, Yannick Dalmas and Masanori Sekiya. It is the number 59 car that powered McLaren into the history books with victory on its debut in the French endurance circuit.

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media.mclarenautomotive.com

Also appearing at the Richard Mille stand is the F1 GTR #42a guaranteed headturner because of its striking visuals. French team BBA Competition, whose founder Jean-Luc Maury-Laribiere commissioned famous compatriot, sculptor Cesare Cesar Baldaccini are the people responsible for its artistic facade.

The Longtail that inspired McLares extreme road cars, as well as the famous chassis 69, which was one of the last road cars to be built in the final year of production (1998), round out the four F1 McLaren icons on display at the Paris show.

The McLaren F1s will be complemented by one of only four McLaren M6GT cars ever built. Representing the genesis of McLaren Automotive, the M6GT was developed from the M6 Can-Am racer by Bruce McLaren with the intention of selling a race car for the road. Half a century later, the company he founded has fully realized that dream with a range of innovative supercars that includes the 720S, GT and Speedtail.

The Retromobile in Paris runs from February 5 to 9 at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, Paris, France.

media.mclarenautomotive.com

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The post Past, Present, Future McLarens Come Together at Retromobile Paris appeared first on Carmudi Philippines.
Jeremy Corbyn gave fans of Parliamentary procedure the finger today - as he was caught on camera picking his nose in the Commons chamber.

The outgoing Labour leader, whose public appearances have been limited since he lost the election in December, was in the chamber for an update on the impact of Storm Ciara.

As shadow environment secretary Luke Pollard asked questions of the Government over the floods which have struck across the country, Mr Corbyn could be seen behind him on the opposition front bench.

After rubbing his face and beard, his index finger disappeared up his right nostril for a cheeky rummage.

He was in the Commons to hear from Theresa Villiers that more than 500 properties are believed to have been flooded during Storm Ciara, with the number expected to rise further

Labour's green new deal? Mr Corbyn was caught on camera picking his nose dur9ing a statement on flooding caused by Storm Ciara

He was in the Commons to hear that more than 500 properties are believed to have been flooded during Storm Ciara, with the number expected to rise further.

Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers said between 40mm and 80mm of rain had fallen within 24 hours across much of northern England, with the most in Cumbria at 179.8mm.

Making a statement to MPs, Ms Villiers told the Commons: 'Particularly severe impacts have been felt in Yorkshire along the River Calder, in Lancashire along the River Ribble, in Great Manchester along the Irwell and in Appleby on the Eden.'

Ms Villiers added: 'The current estimate is that over 500 properties have been flooded but this number is expected to increase as further information is collected.

'The latest number of properties confirmed to have been flooded are 40 in Cumbria, 100 in Lancashire, 150 in Greater Manchester and 260 in Yorkshire.'

Ms Villiers said river levels in West Yorkshire and Lancashire are receding, before warning: 'We must expect high river levels further down the stream in South Yorkshire over the next few days.

'So we urge people in at-risk areas to remain vigilant, not to take unnecessary risks and to sign-up to receive Environment Agency flood alerts.

'Some coastal flooding is probable tomorrow but is not expected to be in the more serious category.'

Ms Villiers added 'at least 25,000 properties and businesses' in flood-hit areas were 'successfully protected' by flood defences over the weekend, telling MPs: 'We know more needs to be done and we are determined to deliver.'

She also confirmed the Government has activated the emergency Bellwin scheme for areas in the north of England affected by Storm Ciara.

The scheme - activated for qualifying areas in West Yorkshire, Cumbria and Lancashire - enables local authorities dealing with the storm to apply to have all of the eligible costs they incur, above a threshold, to be reimbursed by the Government.
A Brenham man that sparked a manhunt in Bryan-College Station on Sunday is facing multiple charges after being found hiding in the attic of a home.

College Station police charged 29-year-old Jamarious Davis with assault of a family member; evading arrest or detention; resisting arrest and criminal trespass.

Davis is accused of injuring a child early Sunday at a motel in College Station. Authorities said the child was seriously injured but didnt provide details.

The search for Davis Sunday afternoon prompted authorities to issue a shelter-in-place warning for residents in the Bryan neighborhood north of Northgate. Officials said he eluded authorities by jumping out a second-story window.

He was found after a search that lasted about two hours. He was being held in the Brazos County Jail Sunday night without bail.

The assault charge was from an unrelated case in April, according to court records, and additional charges are expected.
Tesla's experience in building electric vehicle battery packs is helping the electric car company extend its lead over other automakers, according to a new report. Cairn Energy Research Advisors, a consulting firm specializing in electric vehicle battery research, says the cost of a cylindrical cell battery pack dropped to $158.27 per kilowatt-hour last year, down by more than $100 per kWh from four years ago. Tesla is the only automaker to use cylindrical battery cells in its battery packs. Other automakers use battery packs that include pouch or prismatic battery cells. Those battery packs cost, on average, more than $200 per kWh in 2019, according to Cairn. "Tesla simply has been engineering these packs longer than its competitors, and therefore it has a technology lead that is significant," said Sam Jaffe, Cairn's managing director.

Tesla's Gigafactory

Jaffe says Tesla has two advantages that make it the industry leader in EV battery costs: More advanced engineering and the massive Gigafactory where it manufactures battery packs. Tesla's engineering advantage, according to Jaffe, is the automaker's use of more advanced cylindrical battery cells and its battery management system, the software that controls a vehicle battery pack.

A gigafactory of electric carmaker Tesla is seen in Shanghai, China October 18, 2019. Aly Song | Reuters

"Tesla has really revolutionized that part of the battery pack and made it much more sophisticated, and it gives them the competitive advantage," said Jaffe. Meanwhile, Tesla's Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada, gives CEO Elon Musk the size and scale to further drive down costs. Last year, the Gigafactory manufactured battery packs to power more than 365,000 new Tesla vehicles, with most of them for Model 3. During Tesla's fourth-quarter earnings call with analysts Musk talked about the push to increase output from the Gigafactory. "We have got to really make sure we get a very steep ramp in battery production and continue to improve the cost per kilowatt-hour of the batteries," he said.

Competitors play catch-up

Tesla's success in building more powerful batteries and at a lower cost has sparked other automakers to announce they will spend billions of dollars to get in the EV game. Last week, Toyota and the Japanese battery firm Panasonic, which also is a partner with Tesla at the Nevada Gigafactory, announced they will form a joint venture to develop and build prismatic battery packs that will power electric vehicles. Meanwhile, General Motors and South Korea's LG Chem are spending $2.3 billion to build a battery plant in northeast Ohio. That plant will supply battery packs to power a slew of electric vehicles GM plans to sell over the next several years, including the new all-electric Hummer pickup truck scheduled to roll out in 2022.

A 350-volt battery pack sits in a crate waiting to be installed in a General Motors Co. (GM) Chevrolet Express Van as engineers work in the background at the VIA Motors Inc. facility in Orem, Utah, U.S. on Monday, Feb. 17, 2014. George Frey | Bloomberg | getty Images

Since GM first rolled out the extended range Chevy Volt in 2011 and the all-electric Chevy Bolt in 2016, critics have called GM's work in EVs underwhelming. GM president Mark Reuss defended the automaker's EV program when talking with analysts last week. "I can guarantee you that no other company is doing what we are doing because no other company can do what we are doing," Ruess said. "No one can match our combination of advanced technology, flexibility and scale."

Respect for Tesla

While GM, Toyota and other automakers believe they are laying the groundwork to eventually sell millions of electric vehicles, the big question is how quickly they can lower their EV battery costs. Cairn ERA's forecast shows the cost of battery cells and packs moving steadily lower over the next decade. That should help those automakers become more competitive with Tesla. Still, analysts admit Tesla's head start is formidable. "At core there is really incredible battery technology within the organization and that is material science that they have been working on for well over a decade. We think they have some substantial advantages on that," said Colin Rusch, auto analyst for Oppenheimer.

A battery awaits installation in a Model S sedan at Tesla's assembly plant in Fremont, California Noah Berger | Bloomberg | Getty Images
More than half (55 per cent) of UAE residents said that Dubai Expo 2020 will boost the UAE and Dubais economy, according to data collected online by YouGov Omnibus, a unit of global market research provider YouGov.



Almost as many feel it will attract prospective investments (51 per cent) and will increase the influx of tourists in the country (50 per cent).



Many even think the Dubai Expo will enhance the UAEs reputation as a business hub (49 per cent) and will lead to the creation of more jobs (48 per cent). For all these areas, women seem more optimistic than men.



Similarly, compared to other age groups, people who are 40+ seem to be confident about the expo and are most likely to say it will deliver all the above mentioned positive outcomes.



Amongst the nationality groups, Arab expats (47 per cent) are most hopeful that the Dubai Expo will energise the hospitality, real estate and recreation sector.



While the lead up to expo is filled is anticipation and optimism, the survey revealed that there is low awareness around expos legacy. When asked about District 2020, only 28 per cent knew what it was. 36 per cent did not know about it and another 36 per cent had only heard of it but were not completely sure what it was.



Amongst those aware of District 2020, seven in 10 (69 per cent) identified it as part of expos legacy which will support the development of Dubai, 62 per cent identified District 2020 as the future name of the expo site, two-thirds feel it will be a commercial district (66 per cent) and 62 per cent believe it will be a residential district.



As Dubai is set to welcome visitors from across the globe at the Dubai Expo 2020 later this year, YouGovs new survey reveals that excitement levels within the country are high with a large majority of UAE residents (67 per cent) looking forward to attend the exposition.



Among those who are likely to visit the expo, people aged 30+ are more likely to be present than younger adults in the country. Similarly, working professionals are more likely than non-working residents (72 per cent vs 51 per cent) to visit the expo. Even married residents, especially ones with children, are more likely than the single people to attend the event.



Among those who are visiting the event, more than half (52 per cent) are planning to attend the expo at its launch while one in seven (15 per cent) are likely to be present for the closing ceremony. Two in five (40 per cent) will attend specific events. One in ten (10 per cent) will join the celebration only after going through attendee reviews and a similar proportion are unsure of their attendance at this moment.



In the past, World Expos have given us some iconic structures and inventions such as the Eiffel Tower, the Seattle Space Needle, the television and even Heinz Tomato Ketchup. Therefore, it is not surprising to see that most UAE residents (52 per cent) are eager to experience innovation at the expo.



Following that, many are excited to witness the spectacle of culture and education (38 per cent each) at the pavilions. A higher number of men than women are interested in exploring innovation at the expo (55 per cent vs 45 per cent) while more women than men are interested in the cultural aspect of the expo (46 per cent vs 34 per cent).



A considerable number of men are looking forward to the sporting events at the expo (35 per cent) while a large number of women are keen to experience architecture (41 per cent) and music (33 per cent) at the event.



Most people are likely to visit the expo on short frequency tickets. Three in ten (29 per cent) prefer the one-day ticket, just over a quarter (26 per cent) are planning to buy the three-day multiple entry ticket and one in five (21 per cent) prefer the monthly pass. Only one in ten (9 per cent) expressed an interest to buy the entire 6-month pass.  TradeArabia News Service
Kenyans formed long queues on Sunday to take a glimpse at the body of the countrys longest-serving leader, Daniel Arap Moi, lying in state ahead of a state funeral.

Moi, whose 24-year rule saw Kenya become a one-party state where critical voices were crushed, died on February 4 aged 95.

His body will lie for public viewing in Nairobi for three days, until a memorial service with full civilian and military honours on Tuesday.

The body of the late president who towered over Kenya between 1978 and 2002 was escorted by military guard through the streets of the capital to the parliament building, drawn on a gun carriage and wrapped in the national flag.



Foreign dignitaries, soldiers and ordinary citizens paused, bowed and saluted as they passed Mois body dressed in dark suit atop a velvet green plinth.

Many of those queuing Sunday had come to pay their respects to a ruler they revered, while others stood in disbelief that the man they had long feared was gone.

Magdalene Njoki, a vendor, travelled with her two children from Thia, about 50 kilometres (31 miles) from Nairobi, to thank the president who provided free milk in school under a Moi-era policy.

He was a good leader, she said.

But Moi leaves a mixed legacy. During his tenure, corruption became endemic and tribal divisions were stoked and turned bloody, but many also remember a period of relative peace in Kenya as east Africa was roiled by conflict.

Justin Otello, who also queued to see Mois body, said even the mention of his name could evoke fear.

I cant believe that is Mois body lying there. That man who terrorised this country is now sleeping there, motionless, he said.

Nixon Ind eche, a retired public servant, said she was going to see his body for closure.

He detained a lot of people without trial and destroyed our economy, but all that is in the past now because he asked for forgiveness publicly, he said.

In neighbouring Ethiopia, at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, a brief moment of silence was observed Sunday by visiting leaders and dignitaries before an annual two-day conference got underway.

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[February 10, 2020] TECHNIA Sign SOLIDWORKS Distribution Agreement With Dassault Systemes

STOCKHOLM, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- TECHNIA are recognized for expert knowledge of Dassault Systemes' industry solution experiences and share Dassault Systemes' vision of the value of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform as a business experience platform driving innovation and enabling business transformation. The agreement entitles TECHNIA to the rights to distribute Dassault Systemes' SOLIDWORKS software in EuroNorth. TECHNIA currently distributes Dassault Systemes' 3DEXPERIENCE platform and various applications such as CATIA, BIOVIA, DELMIA, ENOVIA, SIMULIA and more. TECHNIA also offer a wealth of Dassault Systemes certified Platinum Partner system integration and support services to their users. TECHNIA's global network of offices enables customers to find the expert service and support they require, wherever they require it. TECHNIA's successful implementation of both the 3DEXPERIENCE platform and SOLIDWORKS applications for customers such as Vanderlande positions TECHNIA as a unique force within the SOLIDWORKS community. The #1 PLM knowledge company has built a reputation based on: World class knowledge in global enterprise implementation and support of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.

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TECHNIA's complementary Software and Cloud Services enabling fast implementation with superior functionality and lower total cost of ownership. TECHNIA will provide customers in the SOLIDWORKS ecosystem with global support and business integration knowledge between SOLIDWORKS and the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. "With 30 years of PLM and CADCAM experience, offices in more than 14 countries with 680 strong professionals and subject experts, we're ready to serve the SOLIDWORKS community and to provide unique value with our knowledge of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, SIMULIA, DELMIA and BIOVIA. "We are excited about the value creation opportunity for larger SOLIDWORKS clients where we can support the global enterprise deployment of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform alongside added value through the introduction of Simulation and Manufacturing functionality." - Jonas Gejer, CEO TECHNIA. With the release of SOLIDWORKS 2020 earlier this year, more than six million SOLIDWORKS users worldwide can accelerate and improve product development, from conceptual design to manufactured products, and create value for their organizations. "We are delighted that TECHNIA have extended their partnership with Dassault Systemes to incorporate the SOLIDWORKS portfolio into their offering. This will ultimately create an even greater experience for customers enabling them to further realise their business objectives through digital continuity," notes James Aslin, Geo Leader, Professional Solutions, Dassault Systemes. For more information, please contact: Jonas Gejer, President Addnode PLM division & CEO of TECHNIA

Phone : +46-(0)-733-77-24-14, e-mail: [email protected] About TECHNIA At TECHNIA, we pave the way for your innovation, creativity and profitability. We combine industry-leading Product Lifecycle Management tools with specialist knowledge, so you can enjoy the journey from product concept to implementation. Our experience makes it possible to keep things simple, personal and accessible so that together, we transform your vision into value. With over 30 years' experience, more than 6000 customers worldwide and world-class knowledge in PLM & Intelligent Engineering, we work together as true partner and extension of your team to create an exceptional PLM experience. Our team of more than 680 people work from 14 countries around the world, across vertical industries, delivering a premium service with a global infrastructure and a local presence. We adopt the latest technology and agile methodologies so, even as technology changes, our relationships last a lifetime. For more information, visit www.technia.com Media Enquiries: For any media enquiries please contact Ghassan Sultan, CMO TECHNIA

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Additional reporting by Darragh Murphy

David Cullinane, the Waterford Sinn Fein poll-topper has sparked controversy after being recorded saying Up the Ra at an event after his election.

Speaking this evening, Mr Cullinane defended his comments and said he didn't mean to cause offence.

In a video, Mr Cullinane is seen speaking to a number of people and references the fact that Sinn Fein received over 20,000 first preference votes and was elected on the first count.

They didnt break the hunger strikers, they didnt break Bobby Sands and Kevin Lynch, theyll never break us, theyll never break Sinn Fein, he said.

He concludes: What we say is, up the Republic, up the Ra, and tiocfaidh ar la.

Speaking to Matt Cooper on The Last Word on Today FM, Mr Cullinane said that he never distanced himself at all from the IRA, or from Bobby Sands, and the people who died on hunger strike, or for those were involved in the armed struggle.

Im never one who will distance myself from Sinn Feins past, or the IRAs past. I dont agree with everything the IRA did. Of course I dont. Do I think Martin McGuinness was wrong to join the IRA? No I dont the bottom line is that the IRA is gone, it doesnt mean we dont celebrate or commemorate those volunteers, he said.

Mr Cullinane, when challenged by this reporter reiterated his refusal to apologise for being a republican.

Im not going to apologise for the depth of feeling I have for those people who made that sacrifice, he said about Sands and Lynch.

Mr Cullinane said it was a very emotional day for him but that the comments were not about the future.

"Obviously we were very excited and very proud of the vote we got in Waterford," he said.

"The 30-second clip was part of a broader and longer speech that I gave where I was reflecting back on the hunger strikes, reflecting back on the fact that Kevin Lynch stood in the Waterford constituency back in 1981.

"He was someone that inspired me and inspired many republicans, the comments were made in that context.

I know some people will think the comments were about the here and the now and the future, they weren't.

"It was reflecting back on that time in Irish history that I'm proud of and those hunger strikers and it was I suppose part of the excitement of the night when we were celebrating that victory.

"My comments were about the past, they were not about the future, the IRA is gone as everybody knows."

Mr Cullinane added: "We have a very successful peace process and what this election is about is the future and I think our focus now over the next while will be the talks that we will be involved and the issues that we campaigned on this election, and that's the mandate that I got from the people of Waterford to try and deliver on the promises that we made.

"I don't feel I have to apologise for reflecting back on that time period. What I'm saying is that I'm putting context on the comments that I made.

I in no way meant that this was about the here and now or the future.

"I was reflecting back - if people saw the full clip - on what was a very emotional time for republicans and as someone who stood in a constituency that a hunger striker previously stood in, in the context of a long campaign, a long day, and a long night.

"I think that's the context in which the comments were made, I think most people would see that, I certainly don't set out to offend anyone, that's not my style.

"I'm very proud of that republican legacy."

Mary Lou McDonald denied suggestions that the controversial video will hinder the talks process ahead.

"I do accept, and we all accept, that they can serve as a distraction," she added.

"I've asked everybody not to be making throwaway comments or comments that can be misconstrued or distract us from the work ahead and I know that certainly that's what happened in David's case."

Asked whether she has appealed to Sinn Fein TDs not to make any "throwaway comments", Mrs McDonald added: "I'm not their mammy and I don't censor them either.

"We're all adults and I do expect people to behave in an adult way and to cooperate with their dear leader and not to create distractions.

"Let's not get overexcited on this."

The Greens' Marc O Cathasaigh, a teacher from Tramore, began the day several hundred votes behind Fine Gael candidates John Cummins and Damien Geoghegan, but a surge of transfers from People Before Profit's Una Dunphy helped Cllr O Cathasaigh, who first came to prominence in the green wave of the 2019 local elections.

"It's mainly nervous exhaustion at this stage," O Cathasaigh said as he celebrated a surprise result for the Greens. "The processing of any finer options will happen later on. We have upwards of 25,000 doors canvassed, all day every day. We left nothing out on the pitch. It'll take a while for it to sink in, but the vote today was Left - and it stayed Left - and that helped me.

"It's been a very hectic last 12 months. It's been a steep learning curve in the council - the county development plan is coming down the tracks and Green thinking is essential for forward planning. We have to put climate action and biodiversity front and centre.

"We may have tripled our mandate. The main story is the rise of Sinn Fein, but there's also the rise of the Green Party vote. Last time out we narrowly broke 2% nationally. This time out we comfortable broke 7%."

The seventh and last count saw O Cathasaigh see off a late challenge from Fine Gael's John Cummins, who picked up 2,597 out of Damien Geoghegan's 5,549 votes - a big internal transfer - but not enough.

It means Fine Gael have failed to elect a TD in Waterford for the first time in party history (there was a brief interregnum from December 1966 to June 1969 without a Fine Gael TD, due to the death of TD Teddy Lynch and a subsequent by-election).
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 15:40:37|Editor: huaxia

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SUVA, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- For the first time, the Agriculture Census in Fiji will include four crops including sugarcane, livestock, fisheries and forestry.

With the Census beginning on Monday, the Ministry of Forestry anticipates not only relevant and critical data but also statistical information that they've never collected before.

According to Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC) on Monday, Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Agriculture Pene Baleibuli said the expanded focus of the 2020 Agriculture Census will for the first time give them a better stock take of the forestry resources.

Pene said that way they would be collecting all sorts of data to indicate the type of resources available in Fiji.

The census will be carried out over the next three weeks to Feb. 29.

The Fijian government has allocated 4.5 million Fijian dollars (about 2.05 million U.S. dollars) for the 2020 Fiji Agriculture census.

Since its inception in 1970, the census continues to be one of the platforms that assess Fiji's development and identifies the needs for international assistance. There was a high demand for agriculture information to be obtained from this census.

The integrated census which takes place every 10 years will cover the crop, livestock, fisheries and forestry sectors.

The 2020 Fiji agriculture census is expected to cover more than 72,000 farming households, compared to the 65, 000 covered in the 2009 agriculture census.
A society where greed, jealousy, and hate is a common thing, inevitably tends to trivialize trickery of all kinds in politics. The Ghanaian political arena is full of deceptive heartless politicians, whose motives are to give assurance to the common Ghanaians that they care but they think of their welfare first.

Ghanaian politicians believe that lies, cheating, greed, hate, and corruption, are part of politics, therefore, these malpractices must be applied in whatever they do with the intention to take power or keep it, with cunning ulterior motives, calculations, and strategies.

I wouldnt have known how cruel and heartless Ghanaian politicians are until I came to Europe three decades ago. In fact, the life of a common Ghanaian is valueless. The neglected communities, poor medical facilities, poor roads, and dirty environments kill Ghanaians, while the government shows less concern.

The latest assessment of the coronavirus epidemic reports over 900 deaths in China and more than 34,500 people were infected, almost exclusively in the country.

While a growing number of countries around the world are evacuating their nationals from Wutan, hit by the virus, the Ghanaian government has made it clear that they will not bow to pressure to evacuate Ghanaian students.

I find it hard to understand the Ghanaian government. Is it because of the cost involved in the evacuation or are scared the students may infect other healthy Ghanaians when they bring them to Ghana?

Whatever the reason that decision doesnt only undermine Akufo Addo's government but also shows that the life of a common Ghanaian is valueless. In every situation, the Ghanaian government must try to show care to Ghanaians both in and out of the country.

A true government that really cares for its nationals will definitely go for the students to quarantine or isolate them to be thoroughly examined because it is likely that not all of them might test positive and also possible that none of them has had the virus. This is what countries that have gone for their nationals have done.

With such a decision announced by the Special Advisor to the President Akufo-Addo on Health, Dr. Anthony Nsiah Asare, why do Ghanaian politicians often get angry when people accuse them that politics in the country is to enrich themselves but not for the common Ghanaian?

Selfish politics in Ghana will not yield any good results in the country. Akufo Addo made that decision because a few days ago, Mr. Samuel Okudjeto Ablakwa, Member of Parliament- North Tongu, asked his government to evacuate Ghanaians from Wutan.

To follow that decision, that may seem the government has obeyed instructions of a member of the NDC party and lowered their self-esteem at the same time to the member of parliament. That is how selfishness, ignorance, hate and jealousy reign in Akufo Addo's government.

Intelligent Ghanaians out of fear or whatever reason have failed to persuade Akufo Addos government to continue the uncompleted projects left by the former government but economically, Ghanaians will pay for that dearly.

What Ghanaians must understand is whatever greed, political hate, jealousy, and selfishness style of government Akufo Addo is depending on to rule Ghana, will not affect the politicians but the common Ghanaians.

Even in some of the constituencies, the NPP is preventing other prospective aspirants from picking nomination forms to contest in the party's upcoming parliamentary primaries. What kind of greedy and selfish politics is this?

I don't know how many times I will repeat this, Akufo Addo's ambition to be in office for the second time will be a dream of illusion in most developing countries let alone a developed country, the fact that he has left projects which belong to Ghana uncompleted because the former government, NDC started those projects, disqualifies him.

What a terrible stubborn leader without understanding, compassion, and integrity?
Mayor Jim Kenney speaks during the School Progress Report (SPR) Awards presentation at William Hunter Elementary in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, February 10, 2020. Avi Steinhardt / For the Inquirer Read more

City schools continued their slow but steady improvement based on the districts measurements over the past year, with more schools ranked in the top-performing tier and fewer in the bottom tier. But roughly two-thirds of the districts students in third grade and above still do not meet state standards in English language arts or math.

That information was unveiled Monday during a presentation at Hunter Elementary in North Philadelphia as the Philadelphia School District released its annual report cards for schools  216 traditional public and 87 charters. (One charter, West Philadelphia Achievement Charter, did not participate.)

This is a story of progress, Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said of the districts trajectory. The School Progress Report average has risen incrementally, but steadily since the measure was created.

As a group, district and charter schools in 2018-19 scored an average of 44 out of 100 possible points on the School Progress Report (SPR), a district-created assessment, weighted heavily on improvement, that takes into account academics, climate, and, for high schools, college and career readiness. The prior year, the average was 42. The district did not provide separate overall scores for district and charter schools.

Citywide, the average school score has jumped 11 points since the SPR was introduced in 2014-15, when the average was 33. Over those five years, the district has seen the number of schools in its top two tiers grow to 127 from 61. At the same time, 50% fewer schools are in the lowest category  56, down from 112.

Still, the majority of district students in third through eighth grade do not meet state standards in English language arts or math. District-wide, 36% of children scored proficient or advanced in English, and 22% in math. And at the high school level, 19% of students passed the Algebra I Keystone exam and 36% passed the literature exam. The districts graduation rate stands at 69%.

 READ MORE: Read more: The 2019 top SPR schools

Schools land in one of four tiers  model, with scores 75-100; reinforce, 50-74; watch, 25-49; and intervene, 0-24. Schools in the intervene category can be placed in the districts acceleration network, and receive extra support and scrutiny, with a school overhaul possible if progress isnt made quickly enough.

Those schools recognized included Penn Alexander Elementary in West Philadelphia, which was lauded for having the highest overall SPR score; George W. Nebinger School, Philadelphia Academy Charter, James Logan School, and Parkway Northwest, for highest year-over-year improvement; and F. Amedee Bregy School, Franklin Towne Charter High School, William M. Meredith School, Feltonville School of Arts and Sciences, and Maritime Academy Charter School, for highest four-year growth.

Students futures are brighter because of this progress, and our city is better off, Mayor Jim Kenney said at Hunter, where students began Mondays ceremony with a drum line and sing-along to Eye of the Tiger.

Saying education is the most important thing we do as a government, Kenney took a swipe at President Donald Trump, praising Hunter as this wonderful government school  as opposed to the failing government schools Trump criticized last week while promoting school choice.

Malika Savoy-Brooks, the districts chief of academic supports, acknowledged the progress.

I think were going in the right direction, but no, Im not happy. We have a lot of work to do, she said.I will be happy when the majority of our schools are at 100%.

Most Philadelphia schools have improved in every domain, with the most marked increases in climate scores, which measure things such as attendance, suspensions and parent engagement based on the percentage of parents who participate in a school survey.

Karyn Lynch, the districts chief of student support services, said the increase in overall school climate is a bellwether of improvement to come.

You really have to have good climate within your schools before youre going to see the progress and the academic achievement that you want to see, Lynch said.

Since growth counts significantly toward a schools score, schools that start with high scores, like Central and Masterman, have a much tougher time landing on the list of SPR standouts.

Principals who have overseen improvements credited the gains to a variety of factors: from community partnerships bringing resources into their schools, to an emphasis on professional development for teachers and activities and clubs geared to bolster student enthusiasm and attendance.

Theres not one puzzle piece thats more important than the other, said Roslynn Sample-Green, principal of Franklin Elementary in Crescentville, which improved its score to 53 from 40 last year. Like other principals, she credited the efforts of staff: Everybody is grinding at the same time.

At Hunter, a neighborhood school of 600 students in pre-K to eighth grade that was recognized for three years of improving scores, principal Heather Mull Miller said school staff had worked to reduce suspensions and emphasize reading, with children spending 30 minutes reading books of their choice each day. We try really hard to make sure they love it here, she said.
Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D Raja slammed "provocative statements" made by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray at an anti-immigrant rally stating that he has aligned with BJP and is being patronised by them. MNS workers on Sunday organised a rally at Azad Maidan in Mumbai demanding the ouster of illegal Bangladeshi and Pakistani immigrants from the State.

"It was a provocative statement. After Uddhav Thackeray aligned with Congress and NCP, Raj Thackeray feels left out and isolated and so he is trying to make his presence felt in Maharashtra politics. It is well known now that he has aligned with BJP and they have been patronising him and projecting him to make such provocative remarks," D Raja said.

READ | 'BJP Speaks In Multiple Voices & Confuses People': CPI's D Raja Not Believing NRC Reply

MNS reinvents Hindutva commitment

Raj Thackeray-led MNS launched its new party flag, ahead of its day-long Maha Adhiveshan (mega meeting). The new saffron-coloured flag of the party also features Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's Raj Mudra (royal emblem). Raj Thackeray's son Amit Thackeray has also been inducted into the party.

MNS recently put posters declaring 'India is not for Pakistani and Bangladeshi infiltrators'. The rally witnessed thousands of MNS supporters waving its saffron flag marching from Girgaum Chowpatty to Azad Maidan, while posters declared 'infiltrators are not my brothers and sisters'.

Raj Thackeray said, "When minorities in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan are persecuted because of religion, shouldn't we take them in Hindustan? The minorities there are Hindus. They say, even bring the Muslims. How do we get them? I had said, we have a population of 136 crore people, we still can't discipline them. What is wrong with CAA? Now the issue is NRC. Do they think my country is a dharamshala? They are coming from anywhere, living anywhere. I know we have issues of water, education, unemployment but the issue of infiltrators is equally important."

READ | Raj Thackeray Clarifies Stance On CAA, NRC; Asks, 'Is My Country A Dharamshala?'

MNS-BJP bonhomie?

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 Congress and NCP to form a government in Maharashtra. Congress and NCP are ideologically polar opposites of Shiv Sena, rooted in centrist and secular social policy.

READ | Raj Thackeray Questions Indian Muslims Protesting Against CAA At MNS Rally

READ | 'Shiv Sena Doesn't Need New Flag': Uddhav Thackeray Derides Cousin Raj On Hindutva Debate
Press Release

February 7, 2020 Pia: active participation of private sector key to achieving SDGs "Creating a sustainable future for all is an integrated responsibility. We all need to do things together to achieve our goals." Thus said Senator Pia S. Cayetano as she called for stronger public-private partnerships in fulfilling the country's commitment to the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). "The whole point of the SDGs is to look at it from an integrated point of view. Public-private partnership is so important. It's important that as we lead, we also follow. As we inspire people, we also aspire to be better," the senator said in a speech before top executives of the Alliance Global Group Inc. (AGI) during their SustainAGIlity Conference on Thursday (February 6). Cayetano stressed that private companies and corporations also carry the role of educating the public on the 17 Global Goals that the country seeks to achieve by 2030. "A lot of people still don't know what SDGs are. So the big challenge we have, and I'm sure all of you are onboard, is to share with everyone what these goals are. Right now, we lack information campaigns on the SDGs, so maybe you can help us share the news," she said. The chair of the Senate Committee on SDGs, Innovation, and Futures Thinking, Cayetano recently filed a resolution declaring 2020s as the "SDGs Decade of Action." This initiative seeks to encourage participation of experts from both government and the private sector to work towards achieving the SDGs. "We need people who can take a step back and ensure that we are thinking of the future. Because otherwise, we get stuck in the now. We need to think of this on a national level [and determine] our baselines," the senator said. "It's really necessary for people to be able to think creatively. Without sustainable plans, well-intended policies may not necessarily give us the outcomes we expect," she added. Furthermore, the senator also urged companies to look at the SDGs as a set of intertwined goals, instead of treating each goal separately. "It is erroneous to think that we have the option to choose just one goal that we want to deal with. It's not meant to work that way. These goals are all integrated and indivisible," she emphasized. "These goals balance the dimensions of sustainable development of the economy, society, and environment. So for any activity, it's not just about identifying one goal. It's about tying them all together," she added. In particular, Cayetano said private companies can be drivers of SDGs by helping make the country's cities and communities more sustainable, and by promoting the practice of sustainable consumption and production. "A lot of these companies are involved in building cities, communities, and places where people live. In a way, they are also planning the lives of these people, as they play a part in deciding how these people manage their families and improve their quality of life. So they need to consider that as they plan for sustainability," Cayetano said. "There is also a need for innovation on how they produce their services for everyday life. They need to reinvent our manner of consumption by making sustainable alternatives more available to consumers," the senator concluded.
Samsung has managed to surprise pretty much everyone, as the company just showed off the Galaxy Z Flip in an Oscars ad (courtesy of Nilay Patel). Samsung never reveals a phone in this manner before it gets officially announced, at least not when it comes to its prime offerings.

The Galaxy Z Flip is definitely a high-profile phone for the company. This will become Samsungs second foldable smartphone, and the first clamshell foldable device.

Samsungs Galaxy Z Flip Oscars ad is not exactly subtle

This Galaxy Z Flip Oscars ad is quite revealing, actually, which is even weirder. It would not be as weird if the company rolled out a teaser of some sort, but this is a full-fledged ad.

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This ad has a duration of about half a minute, and you can clearly see the device, and its UI. Two color variants of the phone are shown here, while you can see its outer Focus Display in action as well.

Youll notice both Black and Purple color variants in this ad, while the ad shows the phone both folded and unfolded. You will also notice that it has thin bezels, and a display camera hole.

In this particular instance, that outer Focus Display activated for an incoming call. It shows the person whos calling, while it also offers you an option whether to accept or decline that call. That suggests that the Focus Display is touch-sensitive, youll be able to interact with it.

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That display is extremely small, though, so dont expect miracles. The phones hinge is also clearly visible, as are its horizontally-aligned cameras on the back.

This ad pretty much confirms the leaks weve seen. This phone has been leaking like crazy in the last couple of weeks, as weve seen it leak in both renders, and real-life images even a hands-on video surfaced.

The device will become official on February 11

At the end of this ad, Samsung shares the launch date of the device. As we presumed already, the Galaxy Z Flip will become official alongside the Galaxy S20 on February 11. The company will host that even in San Francisco.

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The Galaxy Z Flip will be made out of metal and glass, in case you were wondering. It will include a side-facing fingerprint scanner, and will be fueled by the Snapdragon 855+.

The device will sport 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. You can expect to see UFS 3.0 flash storage being included in this phone. Android 10 will come pre-installed on the device, along with Samsungs custom UI.

The Galaxy Z Flip will offer powerful internals, but the Galaxy Fold 2 is expected to become the companys flagship foldable later this year. The device is rumored to arrive in H1, but well see if that will happen.

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https://twitter.com/reckless/status/1226678928120655872
A group of parliamentarians from different political parties have joined hands and formed a coalition to support India's efforts to eliminate malaria by 2030.

The group called 'Parliamentarians for Malaria Elimination' has eleven MPs belonging to different states, including many with a high malaria burden.

More MPs are expected to join in the future, a statement from the group said.

The group will advocate for increased investments in malaria elimination, development of specific strategies to reduce malaria burden among vulnerable populations, and increased multisectoral collaboration to end the disease, the statement said.

The group includes K J Alphons, BJP MP from Rajasthan, Gaurav Gogoi, Congress MP from Assam, Prabhakar Kore, BJP MP from Karnataka, Amar Patnaik, Biju Janata Dal MP from Odisha, Dr Vikas Mahatme, BJP MP from Maharashtra and Sanjay Jaiswal, BJP MP from Bihar.

"India is well placed to eliminate malaria by 2030 and we, as Parliamentarians, must play an active role in helping the country achieve that goal.

"We will work with key stakeholders at the central, state and district levels to accelerate malaria elimination not just in the states we represent but across the country," Alphons, the coordinator of the group said.

The MPs are committed in their resolve to raise the profile of the disease and act as the bridge between the government and other stakeholders in this fight, he said.

Successive Indian governments have prioritised malaria control and there was a sustained reduction in malaria mortality during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime, the statement said.

Subsequently in 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government demonstrated exemplary leadership when it made a commitment at the East Asia Summit that India would eliminate malaria by 2030.

Following the high-level commitment, the National Framework for Malaria Elimination 2016-2030 and National Strategic Plan 2017-22 for Malaria Elimination were launched. Recently, Union Health minister Harsh Vardhan reaffirmed that malaria elimination is a top priority for the government, the statement.

WHO's World Malaria Report 2019 acknowledged India's extraordinary progress in recent years.

India was one of the two high-burden countries that achieved a 28 per cent reduction in malaria cases in 2018, according to the World Health Organisation's (WHO) World Malaria Report 2019 released recently.

Malaria cases dropped by 28 per cent in 2018 compared to 2017, while there was 24 per cent decline in cases between 2016 and 2017.

India still remains one of the countries with the most number of malaria cases globally and real challenges remain.

Malaria is fast retreating to hard-to-reach areas in India. People living in tribal belts, forests, mountainous regions, and border districts who often have the least access to healthcare are the most vulnerable.

"Malaria is and will continue to be a disease of poverty. We want to build on the commitment made by the national government and ensure this is being translated locally and leaving no one behind," said Dr Prabhakar Kore.

Speaking on the importance of collective action, Gogoi said, "This group believes that collective action, beyond political parties and ideologies, will push the needle towards ending malaria for good.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a menacing protest, heavily armed soldiers and police dressed in fatigues and tactical gear briefly occupied parliament in El Salvador Sunday after legislators failed to approve a bill that would have provided the countrys security personnel with additional funding to combat spiraling gang violence. The worrisome show of force as protest was ordered by El Salvadors president Nayib Bukele after he was unable to advance a $109 million equipment loan through the legislature.

Bukele, who was elected in June, was pushing the loan as part of a Territorial Control Plan to combat the influence of gangs. Stymied in parliament by the opposition party that controls the body, the 38-year-old president called on supporters to swarm the parliament and for troops to stage what amounted to an armed show of force as Bukele prepared to address lawmakers. The BBC reports as many as 50,000 pro-government protesters responded to Bukeles call. Legislators condemned the presence of armed soldiers as an act of intimidation and authoritarianism. Speaking to supporters outside the parliament building, NPR reports, Bukele threatened to have opposition lawmakers forcibly removed from the chamber.

Lawmakers had previously failed to reach an agreement on Bukeles proposal because of concerns about the size of the loan and the presidents justification of some of the expenses that he had included in the application for the loan, CNN reports. After storming the parliament, Bukele said a prayer from a seat normally occupied by the president of the parliament Before leaving the building, Bukele gave lawmakers one week to approve his loan proposal.
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Like breathing or blinking, behaviors regulated by our circadian rhythms, such as digestion and sleep-wake cycles, go unnoticed by most people. But when circadian rhythms malfunction, the result can be any one of a broad range of serious, chronic disorders, from insomnia and depression to obesity, diabetes and bipolar disorder.

A key piece to the puzzle of circadian rhythms and the disorders they're involved in is the hormone melatonin, which the brain produces in the evening, to facilitate falling asleep and fine-tune circadian adjustments.

Now, a team of researchers from UC San Francisco (UCSF), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) and the University at Buffalo (UB) has discovered through a vast and novel computational library the first molecules that can modulate circadian rhythms by binding with high selectivity to the MT1 melatonin receptor in the biological clock, located in the hypothalamus at the base of the brain.

The research, published Feb. 10 online before print in Nature, will greatly facilitate the development of targeted therapies that can either mimic or counteract the actions of melatonin, which is implicated in numerous circadian disorders ranging from depression, blindness, seasonal affective disorder and sleep disorders to difficulties experienced as a result of jet lag and shift work.

Rhythms in sync

"This discovery allows us to now focus on the development of unique new molecules to generate a response that will help bring sleep patterns and other biological rhythms in line with environmental light and dark cycles, providing the sense of well-being that is only experienced when such rhythms are in sync," said Margarita L. Dubocovich, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB.

Dubocovich is one of three corresponding authors, with Brian K. Shoichet, PhD, professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at UCSF, and Bryan L. Roth, MD, PhD, Michael Hooker Distinguished Professor in the UNC School of Medicine.

They note that the new research represents a remarkable confluence of major, complementary achievements and expertise at three institutions. They are all three members of the Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health.

These achievements are:

The discovery of ligands unrelated to any known melatonin receptor ligands through the computational docking (simulating three-dimensional binding) of more than 150 million diverse, "make-on-demand" molecules (UCSF).

The discovery that these molecules (UCSF 7447 and UCSF 3384) that never existed before, attach with high strength and selectivity to human or mouse MT1 melatonin receptors. They generate cellular responses opposite to that of melatonin, which provided the rationale for the mouse circadian behavior. (UNC)

The discovery that the cellular responses seen in vitro translated directly to in vivo function, slowing down adjustment to a new environmental light/dark period in the mouse model of jet lag, with one unexpected finding demonstrating that they mimic melatonin to modulate rhythms in the absence of light cues (UB).

This work was further facilitated by the publication last spring of the first crystal structure of the MT1 receptor, providing the team with the "template" to fit new melatonin molecules into the receptor pocket.

"For us, it was at first exciting to see the novelty of the new ligands that emerged from fitting members of an ultra-large chemical library into the receptor structure," said Shoichet. "That's what one always hopes for in a structure-based program--finding new chemistries not imaginable from knowing the endogenous ligand (here, melatonin). What made this doubly exciting was to see the new chemistries lead to new signaling, in the Roth lab experiments, and to unexpected animal pharmacology in the Dubocovich lab."

Roth added: "My UNC lab spent more than a year characterizing the pharmacology and drug-like properties of the molecules before we could hand them off for animal testing in the Dubocovich lab at UB. We were all excited to see that the new compounds Brian and I had discovered had interesting properties in mice."

Fifteen-year search

The new research caps what Dubocovich says has been her 15-year search to discover MT1 ligands.

"Ever since we demonstrated that melatonin's effect of resetting biological clocks in vivo circadian models occurs through actions at the MT1 receptors, we have focused through various collaborations on searching for ligands that would better fit the human melatonin receptor," she said. "Our hope has always been to find selective MT1 -type molecules, either one that works to modulate circadian rhythms responses as with melatonin or its opposite as with the molecules discovered in this study."

The ultimate goal, she said, was always to develop drugs that could address all the disorders that disrupted circadian rhythms can cause. "So," she noted, "when Brian Schoichet called to ask about our interest in testing in our circadian mouse models the novel molecules they had identified from his ultra-large library of over 150 million compounds, we were eager to collaborate!"

The availability of the UCSF vast virtual library was a critical aspect of the research. Dubocovich described it as a "gold mine" of millions of molecules with distinct shapes, many of which have never been synthesized or seen in nature, and all of them available for mining and "docking" (fitting) into the pocket of the targeted receptor. The team advanced the research directly from discovery of these molecules to the assessment of their ability to mimic or oppose the effect of melatonin, to in vivo demonstrations of how these molecules impact the animals' circadian function.

The team found it especially interesting that the two molecules discovered in this study generate two distinct and opposite mouse circadian responses that are dependent on clock time and the environmental light conditions that the animals experience.

In the experiments where the onset of dark is advanced (known as reentrainment or the jet lag model) the molecules slow this reentrainment or adjustment, an effect opposite to that of melatonin. However, when mice were exposed to constant dark, the two molecules demonstrate an effect identical to that of melatonin.

"This could be potentially useful to entrain rhythms to the 24-hour day in populations removed from natural light/dark exposure, including the blind as well as some shift workers, submarine workers or those working in extreme environments, such as polar explorers," she said.

Jet lag and chronopharmocology

"When the body is exposed to an abrupt change in the light/dark cycle, like what we experience when we travel across continents, there isn't sufficient time for the biological clock to adjust upon reaching the destination," Dubocovich explained.

"Giving these new molecules at the appropriate clock time under a light/dark cycle would allow us to decelerate our ability to adjust to the new environment, potentially providing a treatment for certain types of jet lag and, more importantly, addressing other conditions affected by circadian rhythm disruptions, such as shift work, sleep disorders and depression," she said.

This finding reinforces the increased interest in chronopharmacology, the premise of which is that pharmaceuticals given at the time when a patient's biological clock is ready to receive them - given conditions of a precise time of day and environmental lighting - will produce a more effective outcome.

Dubocovich said the next step will be to identify the molecular and signaling pathways that translate the response exerted by these molecules from the time they interact with the receptors in the biological clock to the ultimate circadian behavior expressed in a mouse or human.

###

In addition to Dubocovich, Schoichet and Roth, co-authors are: Reed M. Stein and John J. Irwin from UCSF; Hye Jin Kang, John D. McCorvy (now at Medical College of Wisconsin), Tao Che, Samuel Slocum, Xi-Ping Huang and Terry Kenakin of UNC; Anthony J. Jones and Grant C. Glatfelter of UB (now with the National Institute on Drug Abuse); Olena Savych of Enamine Ltd.; Yurii S. Moroz of National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv and Chemspace and Benjamin Stauch and Linda Johansson of the University of Southern California.

The research was supported by NIH awards U24DK1169195 (to BLR & BKS), R35GM122481 (to BKS), the NIMH Psychoactive Drug Screening Contract (to BLR), GM133836 (to JJI), ES023684 (to MLD), UL1TR001412 and KL2TR001413 (to the University at Buffalo), PhRMA Foundation Fellowship (73309 to AJJ), Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences unrestricted funds (to MLD), R35GM127086 (to VC), EMBO ALTF 677-2014 (to BS), HFSP long-term fellowship LT000046/2014-L (to LCJ), postdoctoral fellowship from the Swedish Research Council (to LCJ), and the National Science Foundation (NSF) BioXFEL Science and Technology Center 1231306 (to BS & VC).
New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said he hoped Sri Lanka would carry forward the process of reconciliation and integration of the islands Tamil minority into the countrys mainstream after talks with his visiting Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa, reported by Live Mint. Rajapaksas is on a five day visit to India.

Terrorism and security are the two other key themes discussed during Rajapaksas visit to New Delhi, his first visit abroad after being named prime minister in November. Elections in the same month had brought Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the prime ministers you get brother, to power.

I am confident that Sri Lankan government will realise expectations of Tamil people for equality, justice, peace within united Sri Lanka I am confident the government will work towards reconciliation, Modi said with Rajapaksa standing by side after talks in New Delhi.

Modi said both India and Sri Lanka have faced the scourge of terrorism.

Terrorism is a major threat in our region. Both our countries have fought this problem vigorously. In April last year, there were barbaric terrorist attacks on Easter Day in Sri Lanka. These were attacks on the entire humanity, he said referring to the Islamic State claimed attacks that killed more than 250 people.

Modi also addressed the issue of Indian fishermen often arrested or fired upon by the Sri Lankan navy. We have decided to adopt humanitarian approach in dealing with issue of fishermen, he said.

The talks between the two prime ministers covered the entire spectrum of bilateral ties, two people aware of the discussions said, including areas of defence and security.

Mahinda Rajapaksa served as Sri Lankas president from 2005-2015 before losing the 2015 elections to Maithripala Sirisena. It was during his term in office that the Sri Lankan army crushed the rebel group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and brought to an end more than three decades of civil war after a massive offensive in 2009. However the government of the day came under scrutiny for alleged war crimes and human rights abuses against minority Tamils in the countrys north and northeast.

The Sri Lankan government denies that its armed forces committed any human rights excesses during and after the offensive that crushed the LTTE.

Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa offers prayers at Kashi Vishwanath temple

Varanasi : Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa offered prayers at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi before heading to pay a visit to Buddhist shrines in Sarnath on Sunday, reported TOI.

Rajapaksa reached Kashi Vishwanath temple and performed the  shodashopchar pujan in the sanctum sanctorum as priests chanted Vedic mantras. He then went to the mandap of the neighbouring Tarkeshwar Mahadev Temple, where UP tourism minister Neelkanth Tiwari felicitated him. Divisional commissioner Deepak Agrawal and district magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma showed the

In Sarnath, Rajapaksa lit a lamp at the Moolgandha Kuti Vihara and performed the circumambulation of the Bodhi Tree, where Gautam Buddha had given his first sermon. He then visited temple of Mahabodhi Society of India, where Buddhist priests blessed him with Buddhas relics. Bhikshu Medhankar Thero also performed a paritran deshna path for him.

In the visitors book of Moolgandha Kuti Vihara, Rajapaksa wrote, I am happy to visit the pilgrimage site of the followers of Lord Buddha. I feel fortunate. I got inner peace. He also went to Dhamekh Stupa and performed various religious rituals. He also toured the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) museum in Sarnath. ASI officials showed him the ruins excavated from the site between 1835 and 1929.
Rebecca Judd certainly knows how to throw a party.

Just months after her 'Juddchella' housewarming bash, the 37-year-old footy WAG spent Saturday partying on a yacht in Melbourne to celebrate her activewear brand, Jaggad.

Rebecca and her husband, Chris Judd, invited a slew of famous guests, including socialites Nadia Bartel and Jessie Murphy, radio producer Jack Charles and fashion designer Lana Wilkinson.

WAGs gone wild! Rebecca Judd showed off her skinny legs on Saturday as she partied on a super-yacht in Melbourne to celebrate her activewear brand, Jaggad

Rebecca showed off her skinny legs in a metallic lilac mini dress by Eliya The Label.

The futuristic frock featured a structured sweetheart neckline, panel detailing and sheer inserts around the waist.

She completed her glamorous look with silver stilettos, a silver handbag and a pair of sunglasses which hung from a beaded chain around her neck.

All aboard! Rebecca boarded the vessel with her husband and Jaggad co-founder, Chris Judd

Legs aplenty! Rebecca showed off her slim legs in a metallic lilac mini dress by Eliya The Label

Fashionista: Rebecca's futuristic frock featured a structured sweetheart neckline, panel detailing and sheer inserts around the waist

Not an inch to pinch! Rebecca put her slender physique on display in the figure-hugging dress

Dazzling: She completed her look with silver stilettos, a silver handbag and a pair of sunglasses which hung from a beaded chain around her neck

Sleek: The mother-of-four wore her chestnut hair in a half-up-half-down style and sported a deep golden tan

Stylish: Her husband Chris looked dapper as usual, donning a white button-up shirt, salmon trousers, a fedora hat and aviator sunglasses

The mother-of-four wore her chestnut hair in a half-up-half-down style and sported a deep golden tan.

Meanwhile, retired AFL star Chris looked dapper as usual, donning a white button-up shirt, salmon trousers, a fedora hat and aviator sunglasses.

At one point during the party, Rebecca was seen posing for photos with Jaggad's co-founder and creative director, Michelle Greene.

All smiles! Clutching a champagne flute, Rebecca partied up a storm with her fellow guests

Leggy lady! Meanwhile, mother-of-two Nadia Bartel paraded her slender legs in high-rise Dion Lee shorts and a ribbed crop top

The best revenge is looking good! The fashion designer, who separated from her husband, Jimmy, last year, accessorised with a pair of strappy white heels, a Louis Vuitton cross-body bag and gold hoop earrings

Glamour girl: Looking primped to perfection, Nadia wore a full face of makeup and styled her sandy blonde hair in tousled waves

The pair balanced on the front of the yacht while striking a series of playful poses.

Meanwhile, mother-of-two Nadia Bartel paraded her slender legs in high-rise Dion Lee shorts and a ribbed crop top.

The fashion designer accessorised with a pair of strappy white heels, a Louis Vuitton cross-body bag and gold hoop earrings.

She separated from her husband, retired Geelong Cats star Jimmy Bartel, last year.

Clink! Throughout the day, she was spotted chatting to Nova FM radio announcer Jack Charles (second from left), whom she is close friends with

Say cheese! At one point during the party, Rebecca was seen posing for photos with Jaggad's co-founder and creative director, Michelle Greene

Be careful! Rebecca looked rather uncomfortable as she tried to capture the perfect photo

Picture perfect! They balanced on the front of the yacht while striking a series of playful poses

Looking primped to perfection, Nadia wore a full face of makeup and styled her sandy blonde hair in tousled waves.

Throughout the day, she was spotted chatting to Nova FM radio announcer Jack Charles, whom she is close friends with.

The pair have been pictured together at social events in recent months and regularly interact on social media.

Flare for fashion! Elsewhere, Jessie Murphy turned heads in a striking pair of lilac flared pants

Chic: The wife of Carlton player Marc Murphy completed her look with a square necked white crop top, a beaded handbag and white sunglasses

Pals: Nadia and Charles, who are just good friends, have been pictured together at social events in recent months and regularly interact on social media. Pictured with Emily Mackay

Who needs a man? Nadia showed no sign of heartbreak as she partied up a storm on the yacht

Down the hatch! Jack documented the yacht party on Instagram, and even shared a video of Nadia swigging from a hip flask

Jack documented the yacht party on Instagram, and even shared a video of Nadia swigging from a hip flask.

Elsewhere, Jessie Murphy turned heads in a striking pair of lilac flared trousers.

The wife of Carlton player Marc Murphy completed her look with a square necked white crop top, a beaded handbag and white sunglasses.

A shoulder to lean on! Nadia spent much of her time on board in the company of Jack and Emily

What's the goss? At one stage, Nadia was spotted looking animated as she chatted to guests

Why so serious? Nadia was also seen in the midst of a more serious-looking conversation

The mother-of-one wore her blonde hair in a high ponytail and enhanced her pout with a slick of pink lipstick.

Rebecca and the Jaggad team went all out when it came to decorating the yacht for the event, which was co-hosted by Strongbow cider.

The vessel was festooned with pink and white flowers, glittery pool toys and a pink flag emblazoned with the Jaggad logo.

Guests were treated to free-flowing sparkling wine, custom cocktails decorated with branded stirring sticks, and a live DJ.

What a bash! Rebecca and the Jaggad team went all out when it came to decorating the yacht for the event, which was co-hosted by Strongbow cider

Lavish affair: Guests were treated to free-flowing sparkling wine, custom cocktails decorated with branded stirring sticks, and a live DJ

Stylish event: The vessel was festooned with pink and white flowers, glittery pool toys and a pink flag emblazoned with the Jaggad logo
The United States has high hopes that the European Union will begin accession talks next month with North Macedonia and Albania and considers the two countries' EU path essential, the U.S. special representative for the Western Balkans told RFE/RL on February 10.



France and the Netherlands halted the opening of membership talks with North Macedonia and Albania last year, sparking disappointment and concern in the Balkans as Russia and China vie for influence in the volatile region.



"The immediate question on the agenda, the question at the European Council will be faced with in the meeting in March, is whether to open accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania," U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Matthew Palmer said.



"The United States very much hopes that the answer to that question is yes. We think both countries qualify on the merits. We think it's an important signal to send to the region. We think it's essential that both North Macedonia and Albania have a clear European path and a European perspective."



Palmer, who was appointed to the job in August 2019, voiced concern about Russia making inroads into the region and what he said were attempts to undermine international backing for the year-old Macedonian-Greek deal that ended a 27-year dispute between the two neighbors and removed Athens' opposition to its neighbor eventually joining NATO and the EU.



"We are concerned about Russian intentions with respect to the Western Balkans," Palmer said. "I would also point to Russian efforts to undercut support for the Prespa Agreement between Skopje and Athens as another example of malign activity on the part of the Russian state."



He added that Russia "prefers a Western Balkans that is fractious, that is divided against itself, that is suspicious, that has an element of chaos, an area where the Russians can turn the level of tension up and down like a rheostat to use as a wedge between the Western Balkans and the international community, and the Western community of nations."
Images of alarming sulphur dioxide forecasts in Wuhan are not a sign of mass cremations, experts have said.

Maps from the weather service Windy.com were widely shared online last week, purporting to show high SO2 levels at ground zero of the coronavirus outbreak.

It prompted speculation that the gas was being emitted in vast quantities because of a surge in cremations.

But Windy.com says its maps are a forecast rather than a current snapshot, meaning they could not be reflecting events in recent days.

China's environment ministry has also rejected the claims, insisting that SO2 levels in Wuhan are normal.

This map was widely shared last week, purporting to show high SO2 levels in Wuhan - but the website Windy.com says it is a forecast, not a snapshot which could reflect current events

Windy.com gets its SO2 data from a NASA model called GEOS-5, but does not display archive data, the website says. The images which circulated on social media are not satellite pictures.

NASA meteorologist Dr Arlindo M da Silva told Full Fact the forecasts are based on past data and do not 'assimilate real satellite data'.

'These emissions do not account for the day-to-day variations in SO2 emissions and as such cannot account for sudden changes in human activity,' he explained.

'In [the model], day-to-day variations in SO2 are due to variations in the meteorological conditions, in particular winds.'

The images which circulated on social media had suggested that SO2 levels in Wuhan could reach a staggering 1,350 micrograms per cubic metre (g/m3).

For comparison, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says a dosage of 500 g/m3 should not be exceeded for more than 10 minutes.

However, Chinese authorities say that the figures 'could not be trusted'.

The country's National Environmental Monitoring Centre said the forecast was a 'serious distortion', according to the state-run Global Times.

Sulphur dioxide readings in Wuhan were never higher than 11.5 g/m3 in the week up to February 9, the centre said.

The Czech-based website's data for Beijing and other cities also 'deviated greatly from the facts', they said.

Wuhan has been in lockdown for weeks with 11million people in quarantine, meaning that claims about the city are difficult to verify.

China has decreed that the bodies of coronavirus victims should be cremated in low-key funerals to prevent large public gatherings.

The country's National Health Commission said earlier this month that bodies should be 'cremated close by and immediately'.

Health workers in protective suits stand by the body of a man wearing a face mask who died in Wuhan. China has decreed that virus victims be quickly cremated

Sulphur dioxide is released in cremations and when medical waste is incinerated, but also when fossil fuels are burned.

The World Health Organisation says that high or prolonged exposure to sulphur dioxide can cause 'serious risks to health'.

The gas can play a role in health problems such as asthma, lung inflammation and reduced lung function, experts say.

'SO2 can affect the respiratory system and the functions of the lungs, and causes irritation of the eyes,' the WHO says.

'Inflammation of the respiratory tract causes coughing, mucus secretion, aggravation of asthma and chronic bronchitis and makes people more prone to infections of the respiratory tract.

'Hospital admissions for cardiac disease and mortality increase on days with higher SO2 levels.

'When SO2 combines with water, it forms sulphuric acid; this is the main component of acid rain which is a cause of deforestation.'

The total coronavirus death toll jumped to 1,770 today after 105 more people died, China's National Health Commission said.

More than 70,500 have now been infected nationwide by the virus, which first emerged in December in Hubei province before spreading across the country.

Outside China, the biggest cluster of infections is from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan, where an additional 99 cases were revealed on Monday.

That brought the total to 454 diagnosed despite passengers being confined to their cabins during a 14-day quarantine.
Over the past two years, most everyone has applauded the motion picture academys decision to add nearly 1,500 new industry professionals as a long-needed step toward diversifying the groups ranks.

But the ever-increasing enrollment has created one small problem:

Its almost impossible to get a ticket to the Oscars these days unless youre willing to beg or engage in some serious wheeling and dealing.

The Oscars have always been the toughest ticket in town, and, as the academy has promised to keep adding new members in an effort to double the number of women and minorities in its ranks by 2020, the seating inventory will be squeezed even tighter with each passing year.

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Unfortunately, its only going to get harder, says an academy spokesperson who was not authorized to speak on the record about ticketing.

The reason is simple math. The Dolby Theatre, which has hosted the Oscars since 2002, seats 3,400 people on four levels and 20 opera boxes.

Oscar nominees  there are 200 this year  each receive a pair of tickets and can request an additional pair. Most do. Lead actor nominee Timothee Chalamet, for example, is bringing his parents and sister. Ive always been very lucky to have their support, so it only feels right to get to go with them, the first-time nominee says.

Lady Bird writer-director Greta Gerwig will be attending with her parents, her partner, Noah Baumbach, and her childhood best friend.

After nominees account for about 800 tickets, blocks are reserved for the shows broadcast network (ABC), the telecasts sponsors, the production team, the accountants, the legal team, media (including The Times), academy museum donors and various dignitaries, such as Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.

Movie studios receive a fair share too, proportional, in theory, to the number of nominations their movies earn. But in practice, executives from indie studios complain that the major studios  Warner Bros., Disney, Fox, Sony, Paramount, Universal  receive more than their fair share.

Paramount has zero nominations, and they still get a lot of tickets, griped a veteran publicist, adding that she had to scramble to find extra tickets for people connected to her films.

Presenters  and there are more than usual this year with the shows producers pulling out the stops for the 90th ceremony  each get a pair of tickets as well.

I always love going to the Oscars, Nicole Kidman, a presenter this year, tells The Times. Its nice to be invited.

Add it all up, and remove the spots that have obstructed views owing to the television cameras (seat fillers occupy those), and theres only a few hundred seats left for a group totaling 8,298 people.

Snagging those tickets involves a process that will be familiar to anyone who has tried to score Dodgers playoff tickets in recent years. Members receive an email around the holidays, inviting them to enter a ticket lottery. And while the academy has embraced online voting, the lottery is conducted the old-fashioned way. Names are written on slips of paper and then pulled out of a drum.

We dont use a hat, but its close, says an academy worker familiar with the process. And there are lots of slips of paper.

Should their name not be pulled, academy members say they move quickly past the first two stages of grief  denial and anger  and go directly into bargaining mode, calling studios, publicists and friends, faux and real. Dump your date. Ditch your spouse. Take me. Please!

Ticket-scrounging veterans emphasize the need to check egos and not get hung up over seat location. Thats because the seating chart follows a traditional hierarchy. Recognizable stars dominate the first few rows of the orchestra level, with big-category nominees placed near the aisle or the very front. Nominees in the crafts categories  production design, costumes, sound and the like  are seated farther back, typically resulting in a hike to the stage.

A few years ago, the producers floated the idea that the stars should be seated a longer distance from the stage because itd be more interesting to watch them make that minute-long walk, notes a studio executive. That proposal didnt get much traction.

Then there are three mezzanine levels, with the highest one, Mezzanine 3, containing the most seats. (Oh, man, if youre afraid of heights or have any kind of panic anxiety, thats a scary place, an academy employee says.)

But beggars cant be choosers. The increase in membership, plus the move into the cozier Dolby (the Shrine Auditorium, a former home of the Oscars, seats 6,300), has crunched the inventory. If you want to go and youre not nominated (or the designated Mayor of Hollywood as front-and-center Jack Nicholson was for many years), you have to be OK with the thinner oxygen, says a member who annually enters the lottery.

Of course, nominees and A-listers have their own set of concerns when it comes to the seating chart. Exes  spouses, lovers, partners, colleagues no longer on speaking terms  cannot be placed near each other. You wont see a reunion of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie at the Oscars or Pitt and Jennifer Aniston or Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow or  well, you get the idea.

There are a lot of ways this can go wrong, an academy spokesperson says.

Perhaps thats why the late Otto Spoerri held the job for nearly 25 years, dispensing tickets for the ceremony and the after-show Governors Ball and drawing up the seating chart until he retired in 2002. Spoerri is credited with creating most of the broadcast-friendly traditions still used today  spotlighting stars, placing nominees within the same category at a respectful distance from each other  and was handicapping races long before Oscar pundit sites existed so he could seat likely winners in a way that would get them to the stage in a timely manner.

He was the most easygoing guy with enormous responsibility that I had ever met, former academy President Sid Ganis told The Times upon Spoerris death in 2008. Everybody in Hollywood and way beyond was at his doorstep in trying to get him to give up some of his treasure.

That treasure, which has become even scarcer, is just another reason why its a thrill to be nominated.

It is amazing, Gerwig says. The filmmaker and actress has hosted her own annual Academy Awards party for years. This is the first time shell attend the actual ceremony, having wanted to wait until she was nominated.

Im excited to be sitting there and have the lights dim and hear the Welcome to the 90th annual Academy Awards!  she adds. I am excited for the commercial breaks because what happens during the commercial breaks? And speeches always make me cry, so Ill have plenty of opportunities for that.

And rest assured, shell be seated in a place where the camera can capture each and every teardrop as it falls.

Times staff writer Justin Chang contributed to this story.

glenn.whipp@latimes.com

Twitter: @glennwhipp
Senior Producers, Larger-Cap Near-Term Production

Royalty & Streaming Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld

Symbol Rating 7-Feb-20 (MM) (US$MM) 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2019E %

Altius Minerals Corp ALS 1.8 C$10.85 42 $343 0.42 0.50 0.48 21.5 22.8 0.35 0.96 1.03 11.3 10.5 -- 1.6%

Anglo Pacific Group PLC (UK) APF 1.8 GBP$1.58 181 $371 0.18 0.21 0.21 7.6 7.6 0.20 0.23 0.22 6.9 7.1 17.4 4.6%

Franco-Nevada FNV 2.3 US$112.88 189 $21,288 1.17 1.72 2.15 65.6 52.6 2.55 3.24 3.89 34.8 29.0 43.8 1.1%

Maverix Metals (CA) MMX 2.1 C$6.40 108 $520 0.04 0.06 0.15 NM 41.7 0.24 0.22 0.36 28.5 17.6 -- 0.0%

Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd OR 2.1 C$12.80 157 $1,516 0.20 0.25 0.33 50.4 39.2 0.53 0.63 0.74 20.5 17.3 52.9 1.6%

Royal Gold Inc RGLD 3.2 US$105.66 66 $6,928 1.60 2.07 2.78 51.1 38.0 4.45 4.52 5.36 23.4 19.7 25.5 0.9%

Sandstorm Gold Ltd (CA) SAND 2.2 US$6.70 175 $1,174 0.03 0.07 0.13 91.4 53.4 0.24 0.32 0.39 20.9 17.0 31.9 0.0%

Wheaton Precious Metals WPM 1.9 US$28.54 447 $12,783 0.48 0.57 0.88 49.7 32.4 1.22 1.17 1.49 24.4 19.2 22.6 1.4%

Average 48.2 36.0 21.4 17.2 32.4

Gold

Large Cap Gold

Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd AEM 2.0 US$58.14 239 $13,905 0.31 0.97 1.80 60.2 32.3 2.60 3.68 5.06 15.8 11.5 17.5 0.9%

Barrick Gold Corp ABX 2.1 US$18.19 1778 $32,334 0.35 0.50 0.70 36.5 26.1 1.51 1.76 2.26 10.3 8.0 11.4 1.0%

Kirkland Lake Gold (CA) KL 2.7 US$35.41 210 $7,439 1.36 2.73 2.83 13.0 12.5 2.58 4.27 4.48 8.3 7.9 38.8 0.3%

Newcrest Mining Ltd (AU) NCM 3.2 US$19.34 769 $15,000 0.66 0.86 1.02 22.6 19.0 1.90 1.88 1.95 10.3 9.9 11.5 1.0%

Newmont Goldcorp NEM 2.1 US$44.02 820 $36,089 1.34 1.30 1.90 33.9 23.1 3.41 3.88 4.77 11.4 9.2 17.6 1.5%

Polyus Gold International (UK) PGIL 2.0 RU$7,765.50 134 $16,467 617.74 681.87 850.37 11.4 9.1 589.63 874.03 979.91 8.9 7.9 -- 4.1%

Zijin Mining Group (HK) 2899 1.7 CNY$3.19 25377 $14,170 0.18 0.17 0.21 18.3 15.1 0.44 0.37 0.49 8.6 6.6 22.8 0.0%

Average 27.9 19.6 10.5 8.7 20.0

Mid Cap Gold Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld

Symbol Rating 7-Feb-20 (MM) (US$MM) 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2019E %

Alamos Gold AGI 2.2 US$6.10 391 $2,386 0.05 0.21 0.26 29.5 23.1 0.55 0.73 0.71 8.4 8.5 14.5 0.7%

AngloGold Ashanti Ltd AU 2.7 US$19.73 415 $8,277 0.51 1.15 2.25 17.1 8.8 2.05 2.60 4.82 7.6 4.1 6.6 0.4%

B2Gold Corp BTG 1.6 US$4.20 1026 $4,318 0.16 0.24 0.39 17.6 10.9 0.43 0.50 0.67 8.4 6.3 14.0 0.0%

Buenaventura (ADR) BVN 3.1 US$12.56 276 $3,452 (0.02) 0.40 0.62 31.6 20.2 1.36 0.58 0.99 21.5 12.7 12.3 0.8%

Centerra Gold (CA) CG 2.3 US$7.82 294 $2,302 0.26 0.72 1.08 10.9 7.3 0.74 1.45 1.98 5.4 4.0 6.8 0.0%

Endeavour Mining Corp (CA) EDV 1.8 US$18.68 110 $2,058 0.49 0.58 1.60 32.1 11.7 2.33 2.93 3.99 6.4 4.7 11.8 0.0%

Evolution Mining Ltd (AU) EVN 2.8 AUD$3.77 1704 $4,324 0.14 0.17 0.23 22.8 16.6 0.39 0.42 0.50 9.0 7.5 9.7 2.2%

Gold Fields Ltd (ADR) GFI 3.0 US$6.51 829 $5,738 0.07 0.22 0.46 29.6 14.2 0.75 1.08 1.43 6.0 4.6 6.2 0.5%

Kinross Gold Corp KGC 2.5 US$4.92 1254 $6,181 0.10 0.31 0.40 15.8 12.3 0.63 0.89 1.07 5.5 4.6 9.0 0.0%

Northern Star Resources (AU) NST 2.8 AUD$13.46 739 $6,699 0.30 0.44 0.74 30.8 18.2 0.58 0.79 1.14 17.0 11.8 22.6 1.2%

NovaGold Resources Inc NG 2.0 US$8.75 328 $2,866 (0.10) (0.09) -- -- -- -- -- (0.03) -- -- -- 0.0%

Polymetal International PLC (UK) POLY 2.4 US$16.44 470 $7,732 1.00 1.16 1.55 14.1 10.6 1.14 1.44 1.97 11.5 8.3 12.5 4.0%

Pretium Resources PVG 2.1 US$9.79 196 $1,918 0.54 0.50 1.09 19.7 9.0 1.07 1.13 1.74 8.6 5.6 -- 0.0%

Saracen Mineral Holdings (AU) SAR 2.0 AUD$4.05 1103 $3,006 0.10 0.17 0.27 23.9 15.1 0.25 0.32 0.42 12.9 9.6 46.5 0.0%

Sibanye Gold Ltd (SA) SGL 1.8 ZAR$37.42 2670 $6,704 (0.01) 1.75 8.82 21.4 4.2 5.31 2.65 11.73 14.1 3.2 11.7 0.0%

SSR Mining SSRM 2.2 US$17.67 123 $2,175 0.23 0.76 1.02 23.3 17.4 0.50 1.55 2.11 11.4 8.4 9.7 0.0%

Yamana Gold Inc AUY 2.5 US$3.84 950 $3,642 0.12 0.13 0.19 30.7 20.2 0.43 0.52 0.68 7.4 5.7 7.5 0.8%

Zhaojin Mining Industry Co Ltd (HK) 1818 2.3 CNY$7.51 3270 $3,509 0.15 0.21 0.32 36.2 23.2 0.53 0.78 1.10 9.7 6.8 19.9 0.5%

Average 23.9 14.3 10.0 6.8 13.8

Note: Currency shown is that used by the company for financial reporting. Currency does not always reflect the country/market in which the company/stock symbol trades. GAAP may differ between stocks due to countries and markets.

The tables are compiled from the Thomson Reuters database of consensus Ratings & Estimates of equity analysts. The historicals and estimates of earnings and cash flows exclude non-operating, special items.

Thomson Reuters Rating System: Buy (1.0), Buy/Hold (2.0), Hold (3.0), Sell/Hold (4.0), Sell (5.0) Source: Thomson Reuters.

Small Cap Gold Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld

Symbol Rating 7-Feb-20 (MM) (US$MM) 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2019E %

Acacia Mining PLC (UK) ACAA -- US$2.93 410 $1,200 0.11 0.22 0.25 13.5 11.7 0.31 0.44 0.52 6.7 5.6 -- 0.0%

Alacer Gold Corp (CA) ASR 2.6 US$4.50 295 $1,329 0.05 0.37 0.44 12.2 10.3 0.33 0.76 0.88 5.9 5.1 47.8 0.0%

Centamin Egypt (CA) CEE 2.3 US$1.70 1156 $1,968 0.06 0.07 0.11 25.3 16.2 0.19 0.11 0.15 15.7 11.5 4.2 4.8%

Continental Gold Inc (CA) CNL 2.3 US$4.09 214 $879 (0.16) (0.15) 0.13 -- 31.0 (0.07) (0.07) 0.35 -- 11.8 -- 0.0%

DRDGold Ltd (ADR) DROOY 5.0 ZAR$9.27 865 $538 0.06 0.38 0.80 24.4 11.6 1.17 1.26 -- 7.4 -- 19.9 0.0%

Dundee Precious Metals (CA) DPM 1.9 US$4.20 181 $758 0.16 0.29 0.58 14.7 7.2 0.55 0.72 1.05 5.8 4.0 10.9 0.0%

Eldorado Gold Corp EGO 2.8 US$7.37 159 $1,062 (0.17) 0.06 0.87 NM 8.5 0.42 1.01 2.14 7.3 3.4 9.4 0.0%

Equinox Gold Corp (CA) EQX 2.2 US$8.16 113 $926 (0.10) 0.16 0.61 51.5 13.3 (0.25) 0.78 1.30 10.5 6.3 -- 0.0%

Gold Resource Corp GORO 2.0 US$5.26 66 $343 0.15 0.44 -- 12.1 -- -- -- -- -- 0.7%

Gold Road Resources Ltd (AU) GOR 2.0 AUD$1.58 879 $935 (0.02) 0.00 0.09 NM 16.9 (0.02) 0.06 0.14 28.7 11.0 -- 0.0%

Golden Star Resources GSS 2.5 US$2.90 160 $318 (0.02) 0.16 0.27 18.5 10.9 (0.09) 0.32 0.71 9.1 4.1 8.1 0.0%

Great Bear Resources (CA) GBR 1.5 C$8.73 46 $301 (0.13) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.0%

Harmony Gold Mining Ltd HAR 2.1 ZAR$46.30 542 $1,685 1.80 4.55 7.83 10.2 5.9 8.56 11.42 15.36 4.1 3.0 6.8 0.0%

Hecla Mining Co HL 3.2 US$3.43 496 $1,700 (0.11) (0.13) 0.02 -- NM 0.22 0.23 0.35 14.7 9.9 9.0 0.3%

Highland Gold Mining Ltd (UK) HGM 2.0 US$2.71 364 $987 0.15 0.31 0.32 8.9 8.5 0.37 0.44 0.49 6.2 5.5 7.9 6.1%

Hochschild Mining PLC (UK) HOC 2.5 US$2.07 514 $1,063 0.05 0.12 0.15 16.8 14.2 0.36 0.45 0.46 4.6 4.5 3.6 1.7%

Iamgold Corp IAG 2.7 US$2.90 468 $1,356 0.06 (0.03) 0.18 -- 15.7 0.41 0.52 0.82 5.6 3.5 3.7 0.0%

K92 Mining (CA) KNT 1.4 US$2.83 213 $603 0.07 0.11 0.27 24.9 10.4 0.09 0.21 0.35 13.7 8.1 -- 0.0%

Leagold Mining Corp (CA) LMC 2.5 US$2.67 285 $764 0.07 0.14 0.31 19.5 8.6 0.20 0.47 0.63 5.7 4.2 -- 0.0%

Lundin Gold Inc (CA) LUG 2.1 US$7.30 224 $1,633 (0.12) (0.21) 0.38 -- 19.1 (0.17) (0.12) 0.62 -- 11.8 -- 0.0%

McEwen Mining Inc. MUX 2.0 US$1.14 363 $413 (0.13) (0.11) (0.01) -- -- 0.00 (0.05) 0.02 -- 57.0 -- 0.3%

New Gold Inc NGD 2.8 US$0.83 673 $562 (0.02) (0.07) 0.01 -- NM 0.33 0.37 0.40 2.3 2.1 3.7 0.0%

Oceanagold Corp (AU) OGC 2.1 US$1.91 622 $1,155 0.20 0.05 0.16 37.0 11.7 0.55 0.34 0.41 5.7 4.6 4.6 0.2%

Orla Mining Ltd (CA) OLA 2.0 C$2.43 187 $342 (0.17) (0.17) (0.09) -- -- (0.14) (0.12) (0.08) -- -- -- 0.0%

Osisko Mining Corp (CA) OSK 1.8 C$3.53 290 $769 (0.18) (0.09) (0.05) -- -- (0.03) (0.07) (0.04) -- -- -- 0.0%

Pan African Resources (UK) PAF 1.0 US$0.16 1928 $312 0.01 0.02 0.03 7.9 5.1 0.01 0.03 0.04 6.1 3.9 12.0 1.3%

Perseus Mining Ltd (AU) PRU 2.2 AUD$1.12 1168 $880 0.00 0.02 0.05 56.2 22.9 0.10 0.14 0.17 8.0 6.6 97.7 0.0%

Petropavlovsk PLC (UK) POG 2.0 US$0.22 3310 $736 0.01 0.02 0.04 13.9 5.8 0.07 0.02 0.03 14.8 6.8 6.6 0.0%

Regis Resources Ltd (AU) RRL 2.9 AUD$4.32 508 $1,477 0.33 0.38 0.44 11.5 9.8 0.53 0.56 0.60 7.7 7.2 8.2 3.0%

Ramelius Resources Ltd (AU) RMS 1.8 AUD$1.33 658 $587 0.05 0.06 0.10 21.8 12.9 0.23 0.23 0.26 5.8 5.1 9.5 1.4%

Resolute Mining Ltd (AU) RSG 2.1 AUD$1.10 1036 $767 0.06 0.19 0.22 5.8 4.9 0.14 0.28 0.33 3.9 3.3 -- 0.0%

St Barbara Ltd (AU) SBM 2.4 AUD$2.71 699 $1,275 0.32 0.25 0.29 10.9 9.4 0.52 0.41 0.46 6.6 5.9 3.3 2.7%

Sabina Gold & Silver Corp (CA) SBB 2.1 C$1.70 297 $380 (0.03) (0.02) (0.01) -- -- (0.02) (0.01) (0.01) -- -- -- 0.0%

Seabridge Gold SA 2.0 C$17.33 63 $822 (0.34) (0.12) (0.08) -- -- (0.16) (6.29) -- -- -- -- 0.0%

Semafo (CA) SMF 2.3 US$2.34 334 $786 (0.01) 0.26 0.30 9.0 7.9 0.34 0.76 0.70 3.1 3.3 5.8 0.0%

Silver Lake Resources (AU) SLR 2.8 AUD$1.60 880 $947 0.03 0.07 0.10 23.8 15.4 0.14 0.17 0.21 9.6 7.7 20.2 0.0%

Silvercrest Metals Inc SILV 1.8 C$8.05 105 $639 (0.07) (0.10) (0.06) -- -- (0.08) (0.08) (0.05) -- -- -- 0.0%

Teranga Gold Corp (CA) TGZ 1.3 US$5.48 108 $590 0.17 0.13 0.41 42.1 13.5 0.86 0.75 1.12 7.3 4.9 7.1 0.0%

Torex Gold Resources (CA) TXG 1.9 US$13.66 85 $1,166 0.23 0.69 0.97 19.7 14.1 2.68 3.26 3.13 4.2 4.4 7.8 0.0%

Victoria Gold Corp (CA) VIT 2.0 C$7.95 58 $344 -- 0.98 0.83 8.1 9.6 -- (0.40) 0.18 -- 45.4 -- 0.0%

Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd (CA) WDO 2.2 C$8.31 138 $861 0.11 0.33 0.44 25.5 19.0 0.34 0.57 0.58 14.5 14.4 65.5 0.0%

Westgold Resources Ltd (AU) WGX 2.0 AUD$2.22 400 $597 0.02 0.09 0.24 23.6 9.1 0.13 0.31 0.47 7.2 4.7 -- 0.0%

Average 20.3 12.2 8.3 8.9 16.0

Note: Currency shown is that used by the company for financial reporting. Currency does not always reflect the country/market in which the company/stock symbol trades. GAAP may differ between stocks due to countries and markets.

The tables are compiled from the Thomson Reuters database of consensus Ratings & Estimates of equity analysts. The historicals and estimates of earnings and cash flows exclude non-operating, special items.

Thomson Reuters Rating System: Buy (1.0), Buy/Hold (2.0), Hold (3.0), Sell/Hold (4.0), Sell (5.0) Source: Thomson Reuters.

Silver Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld

Symbol Rating 7-Feb-20 (MM) (US$MM) 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2019E %

Alexco Resource Corp* AXU 2.3 C$2.22 119 $198 (0.08) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.0%

Americas Gold & Silver Corp (CA) USA 1.8 US$2.82 83 $233 (0.25) (0.27) 0.14 -- 19.9 0.21 0.01 0.46 NM 6.1 53.8 0.0%

Coeur Mining Corp CDE 2.8 US$6.06 241 $1,458 (0.01) (0.26) 0.20 -- 30.5 0.11 0.49 0.99 12.3 6.1 7.9 0.0%

Endeavour Silver Corp EXK 3.2 US$2.01 140 $281 (0.10) (0.25) 0.04 -- 51.8 0.21 (0.02) 0.25 -- 8.2 8.0 0.0%

First Majestic Silver Corp AG 2.6 US$9.57 205 $1,960 (0.21) 0.08 0.23 NM 42.4 0.18 0.53 0.49 17.9 19.5 17.7 0.0%

Fortuna Silver Mines FSM 2.1 US$3.74 160 $600 0.24 0.17 0.45 22.0 8.3 0.52 0.36 0.88 10.3 4.2 8.0 0.0%

Fresnillo (UK) FRES 2.7 US$8.57 737 $6,315 0.46 0.22 0.31 38.5 27.9 1.09 0.86 0.95 10.0 9.0 6.7 2.9%

MAG Silver Corp MAG 1.9 US$10.34 87 $897 (0.09) (0.05) 0.28 -- 37.6 (0.05) (0.04) 0.08 -- NM -- 0.0%

New Pacific Metals Corp (CA) NUAG 2.7 C$5.74 147 $637 (0.03) (0.02) (0.02) -- -- (0.02) (0.01) -- -- -- -- 0.0%

Pan American Silver PAAS 2.4 US$22.29 210 $4,679 0.39 0.66 0.78 33.8 28.7 1.01 1.49 2.27 15.0 9.8 17.9 0.9%

Silvercorp Metals Inc SVM 2.0 US$3.91 172 $675 0.21 0.21 0.21 18.3 18.4 0.40 0.43 0.40 9.1 9.9 -- 0.4%

Average 28.1 29.5 12.4 9.1 17.1

Platinum Group Metals

African Rainbow Minerals (SA) ARI 2.1 ZAR$152.68 224 $2,294 25.61 29.31 29.65 5.2 5.1 13.97 17.61 22.93 8.7 6.7 32.6 7.1%

Anglo American Platinum Ltd (SA) AMS 3.1 ZAR$1,179.55 270 $21,345 28.22 73.05 102.56 16.1 11.5 59.17 82.37 115.44 14.3 10.2 33.8 2.2%

Impala Platinum (SA) IMP 2.3 ZAR$146.75 799 $8,568 1.23 11.70 22.09 12.5 6.6 9.05 18.57 24.65 7.9 6.0 40.4 0.0%

Lonmin PLC (UK) LMI -- US$0.96 290 $278 -- 0.41 0.40 2.3 2.4 -- 0.48 0.02 2.0 62.9 -- 0.0%

North American Palladium Ltd (CA) PDL -- C$19.73 59 $883 -- 2.30 2.49 8.6 7.9 -- 3.95 -- 5.0 -- -- 1.3%

Northam Platinum Ltd (SA) NHM 1.7 ZAR$123.81 510 $4,235 (0.92) 4.87 12.66 25.4 9.8 3.39 15.30 23.88 8.1 5.2 84.2 0.0%

Average 11.7 7.2 7.7 18.2 47.8

Select ( Precious Metals >US$20MM Mkt Cap)

Gold Springs Resource Corp (CA)* GRC 2.0 US$0.10 249 $24 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.0%

Lion One Metals Ltd (CA)* LIO 2.0 C$1.69 106 $135 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.0%

Minera Alamos Inc (CA) MAI 2.0 C$0.27 407 $81 (0.02) 0.01 0.03 26.5 8.8 0.03 -- -- -- -- -- 0.0%

Northern Vertex Mining Corp (CA)* NEE 2.0 US$0.19 247 $47 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0.0%

Paramount Gold Nevada Corp* PZG 1.7 US$0.98 28 $26 (0.26) (0.21) (0.15) -- -- (0.19) (0.13) -- -- -- 0.0%

Average 19.2 19.7

*includes research coverage by Scarsdale Equities.

Note: Currency shown is that used by the company for financial reporting. Currency does not always reflect the country/market in which the company/stock symbol trades. GAAP may differ between stocks due to countries and markets.

The tables are compiled from the Thomson Reuters database of consensus Ratings & Estimates of equity analysts. The historicals and estimates of earnings and cash flows exclude non-operating, special items.

Thomson Reuters Rating System: Buy (1.0), Buy/Hold (2.0), Hold (3.0), Sell/Hold (4.0), Sell (5.0) Source: Thomson Reuters.

Base Metals & Diversified

Large Cap Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld

Symbol Rating 7-Feb-20 (MM) (US$MM) 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2019E %

Anglo American PLC (UK) AAL 2.7 US$26.20 1367 $35,932 2.50 2.82 2.75 9.3 9.5 5.50 5.46 5.94 4.8 4.4 7.5 4.0%

Antofagasta PLC (UK) ANTO 2.7 US$10.94 986 $10,790 0.52 0.52 0.51 20.9 21.5 1.33 1.90 1.72 5.8 6.4 8.8 0.9%

BHP Billiton Ltd BHP 2.7 US$25.87 5058 $122,430 1.81 1.94 1.98 13.3 13.1 3.45 3.46 3.35 7.5 7.7 8.3 4.7%

China Molybdenum Co Ltd (HK) 3993 2.2 CNY$2.88 21599 $11,456 0.22 0.08 0.13 37.5 23.1 0.44 (0.18) 0.30 -- 9.6 47.3 0.0%

Freeport McMoran C&G FCX 2.3 US$11.80 1451 $17,121 1.52 0.02 0.40 NM 29.5 2.65 1.02 1.52 11.6 7.8 7.1 --

Glencore International PLC (UK) GLEN 2.0 US$3.01 13324 $40,055 0.41 0.16 0.23 19.1 13.4 0.81 0.59 0.63 5.1 4.8 7.2 2.9%

Grupo Mexico (MX) GMEXICOB 2.4 US$2.77 7785 $21,557 0.17 0.22 0.24 12.7 11.7 0.22 0.32 0.37 8.5 7.4 8.9 7.0%

Hindustan Zinc (IN) HZ 2.6 INR$195.05 4225 $11,571 19.47 17.85 18.81 10.9 10.4 21.39 21.57 23.63 9.0 8.3 5.9 0.0%

MMC Norilsk Nickel (RU) GMKN -- RU$5,429.84 158 $52,986 -- 899.94 1210.92 6.0 4.5 -- 689.72 1388.13 7.9 3.9 16.8 11.7%

Rio Tinto PLC (UK) RIO 2.8 US$53.97 1619 $91,914 5.12 6.22 5.45 8.7 9.9 6.88 8.59 8.07 6.3 6.7 8.2 5.3%

South32 Ltd (AU) S32 2.4 US$1.75 4900 $8,640 0.22 0.13 0.11 13.4 16.1 0.34 0.29 0.27 5.9 6.4 4.6 3.6%

Southern Copper Corp SCCO 2.4 US$38.64 773 $29,871 2.00 2.03 2.16 19.0 17.9 3.02 2.76 3.16 14.0 12.2 15.8 4.7%

Sumitomo Metal Mining (JP) 5713 2.3 JPY$3,215 291 $8,521 265.40 224.84 257.38 14.3 12.5 438.78 448.41 404.09 7.2 8.0 11.0 1.7%

Teck Resources Ltd TCK 2.0 C$17.78 547 $7,326 4.07 2.93 2.53 6.1 7.0 7.62 6.48 6.05 2.7 2.9 4.4 0.9%

Vale SA (ADR) VALE 2.5 BRL$52.02 5284 $63,727 5.27 6.05 7.18 8.6 7.2 9.94 9.52 9.52 5.5 5.5 9.7 4.1%

Average 14.3 13.8 7.3 6.8 11.4

Mid Cap

Assore Ltd (SA) ASR 2.8 ZAR$224.00 140 $2,098 55.70 59.26 51.68 3.8 4.3 14.60 18.27 27.33 12.3 8.2 7.5 6.5%

Aurubis AG (GR) NDA 2.9 EUR$52.34 45 $2,584 5.17 3.26 3.88 16.1 13.5 4.75 5.42 5.42 9.7 9.6 6.4 3.1%

Boliden AB (SW) BOL 2.7 SEK$234.80 274 $6,674 26.32 21.57 23.42 10.9 10.0 43.03 35.38 42.76 6.6 5.5 7.0 3.9%

Exxaro Resources Ltd (SA) EXX 1.7 ZAR$120.15 359 $2,892 20.57 26.14 27.06 4.6 4.4 (0.17) 15.24 11.81 7.9 10.2 7.4 8.8%

First Quantum Minerals (CA) FM 2.1 US$8.38 689 $5,787 0.71 0.28 0.38 30.2 21.8 2.87 1.50 2.46 5.6 3.4 15.1 0.1%

Iluka Resources Ltd (AU) ILU 2.9 AUD$9.74 423 $2,770 0.72 0.66 0.74 14.8 13.1 1.49 0.93 1.16 10.5 8.4 -- 2.2%

Independence Group NL (AU) IGO 2.9 AUD$5.97 591 $2,374 0.11 0.23 0.34 26.0 17.4 0.59 0.72 0.81 8.3 7.4 21.5 2.2%

Ivanhoe Mines Ltd (CA) IVP 2.1 US$2.63 1196 $3,151 0.03 (0.00) (0.04) -- -- (0.02) (0.03) (0.04) -- -- -- 0.0%

Jiangxi Copper Co "H" (HK) 358 2.3 CNY$8.36 3463 $5,819 0.70 0.74 0.83 11.4 10.1 2.36 1.57 1.14 5.3 7.3 14.2 2.2%

Kazakhmys PLC (UK) KAZ 2.2 US$6.12 472 $2,901 1.18 0.99 0.99 6.2 6.2 1.51 1.42 1.53 4.3 4.0 23.2 1.3%

KGHM Polska Miedz (PO) KGH 3.4 PLN$94.74 200 $4,887 8.29 10.96 10.12 8.6 9.4 19.30 20.40 19.13 4.6 5.0 5.8 0.0%

Lundin Mining Corp (CA) LUN 2.0 US$5.32 734 $3,906 0.30 0.21 0.47 25.9 11.4 0.65 0.73 1.13 7.3 4.7 7.7 0.0%

Mineral Resources Ltd (AU) MIN 2.0 AUD$17.35 188 $2,200 1.15 1.39 1.55 12.5 11.2 1.59 1.43 1.65 12.1 10.5 10.5 2.9%

MMG Ltd (HK) 1208 2.5 US$0.23 8055 $1,857 0.01 (0.01) 0.01 -- 34.9 0.21 0.09 0.14 2.6 1.7 11.9 0.0%

Oz Minerals (AU) OZL 2.6 AUD$10.19 324 $2,223 0.73 0.53 0.41 19.4 24.9 1.45 1.30 1.34 7.8 7.6 8.7 2.3%

Sesa Sterlite Ltd (ADR) SSLT 2.4 INR$144.60 3702 $7,516 17.89 15.81 16.98 9.1 8.5 60.18 53.92 49.94 2.7 2.9 4.3 1.2%

Vale Indonesia Tbk PT (ID) INCO 2.0 US$0.24 9936 $2,406 0.01 0.01 0.01 44.2 30.0 0.02 0.02 0.02 13.1 11.7 16.0 0.0%

Vedanta Resources PLC (UK) VED -- US$10.85 285 $3,089 -- 0.87 1.24 12.5 8.7 -- 9.96 12.60 1.1 0.9 -- --

Average 16.0 14.1 7.2 6.4 11.2

Small Cap Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld

Symbol Rating 7-Feb-20 (MM) (US$MM) 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2019E %

Adriatic Metals PLC (AU) ADT 1.7 GBP$0.85 312 $351 (0.02) 0.01 0.30 78.8 2.9 (0.02) -- -- -- 0.0%

Atalaya Mining PLC (UK) ATYM 1.2 EUR$2.30 137 $347 0.25 0.24 0.42 9.4 5.5 0.40 0.17 0.27 13.5 8.7 21.7 0.0%

Eramet (FR) ERA 1.7 EUR$40.00 27 $1,170 1.83 1.07 6.73 37.3 5.9 16.01 9.45 16.60 4.2 2.4 6.3 1.0%

Ero Copper Corp (CA) ERO 2.4 US$12.91 86 $1,107 0.03 0.60 1.03 21.4 12.5 0.94 1.46 1.71 8.9 7.6 -- 0.0%

Hudbay Minerals HBM 2.3 US$3.04 261 $793 0.40 (0.14) (0.04) -- -- 1.84 1.15 1.22 2.6 2.5 3.1 0.4%

Kenmare Resources (UK) KMR 1.8 US$3.42 110 $375 0.46 0.42 0.43 8.2 7.9 0.79 0.48 0.49 7.1 6.9 71.6 1.2%

Mitsui Mining & Smelting (JP) 5706 2.4 JPY$2,689 57 $1,401 58.51 114.59 224.10 23.5 12.0 649.22 624.86 732.96 4.3 3.7 6.4 2.7%

Nexa Resources NA NEXA 3.0 US$7.89 133 $1,051 0.25 (1.13) 0.13 -- 60.6 2.61 1.38 2.77 5.7 2.9 -- 6.4%

Outokumpu (FN) OUT1V 3.0 EUR$4.25 416 $1,941 0.34 (0.20) 0.15 -- 27.7 0.52 0.90 0.67 4.7 6.4 9.7 3.6%

Sandfire Resources NL (AU) SFR 2.6 AUD$5.23 178 $627 0.72 0.67 0.82 7.9 6.4 1.44 1.48 1.74 3.5 3.0 3.4 3.4%

SolGold PLC (UK) SOLG 1.6 US$0.24 1923 $460 (0.01) (0.01) (0.00) -- -- (0.00) 0.00 -- -- -- -- 0.0%

Trilogy Metals Inc TMQ 2.2 US$2.29 140 $309 (0.18) (0.14) (0.09) -- -- (0.18) (0.15) -- -- -- 0.0%

Turquoise Hill Resources TRQ 3.0 US$0.66 2012 $1,318 0.20 0.14 0.05 4.6 12.3 0.09 0.03 0.00 24.4 NM 7.1 0.0%

Volcan Cia Ninera VOLABC1 2.3 US$0.16 4077 $2,067 0.01 (0.00) 0.01 -- 12.3 -- -- -- -- -- 9.9 0.0%

Western Areas NL (AU) WSA 2.4 AUD$2.52 274 $464 0.04 0.15 0.26 17.2 9.8 0.32 0.43 0.50 5.8 5.0 8.8 1.0%

Average 16.2 15.7 7.7 4.9 14.8

Note: Currency shown is that used by the company for financial reporting. Currency does not always reflect the country/market in which the company/stock symbol trades. GAAP may differ between stocks due to countries and markets.

The tables are compiled from the Thomson Reuters database of consensus Ratings & Estimates of equity analysts. The historicals and estimates of earnings and cash flows exclude non-operating, special items.

Thomson Consensus Rating System: Buy (1.0), Buy/Hold (2.0), Hold (3.0), Sell/Hold (4.0), Sell (5.0) Source: Thomson Reuters.

Aluminum Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld

Symbol Rating 7-Feb-20 (MM) (US$MM) 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2019E %

Alcoa Inc AA 2.6 US$15.55 186 $2,886 3.58 (0.99) (0.24) -- -- 2.38 3.70 2.38 4.2 6.5 5.0 0.0%

Alumina Ltd AWC 3.2 US$1.46 2880 $4,245 0.24 0.12 0.08 12.4 19.2 0.22 0.15 0.10 10.0 14.8 5.7 11.2%

Aluminum Corp China Ltd (ADR) ACH 2.4 CNY$2.04 17023 $6,853 0.04 0.07 0.10 28.0 20.6 0.77 0.84 0.85 2.4 2.4 14.2 0.0%

Century Aluminum CENX 2.5 US$5.58 89 $496 (0.14) (1.45) 0.18 -- 31.0 (0.79) 0.06 1.01 93.0 5.5 26.0 0.0%

United Company Rusal Ltd (HK) 486 2.1 US$0.56 15193 $8,551 0.11 0.08 0.10 7.0 5.5 0.05 0.10 0.08 5.4 6.8 10.7 0.0%

Average 15.8 19.1 23.0 7.2 12.3

Iron Ore

Cliffs Natural Resources CLF 2.7 US$7.55 271 $2,049 3.71 1.09 0.71 6.9 10.6 1.57 1.85 1.01 4.1 7.5 10.6 3.1%

Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (AU) FMG 3.2 US$7.24 3079 $22,483 0.69 1.17 1.05 6.2 6.9 0.96 1.58 1.46 4.6 5.0 6.2 4.8%

Kumba Iron Ore Ltd (SA) KIO 3.8 ZAR$336.51 322 $7,273 30.06 56.56 46.20 5.9 7.3 47.32 88.62 66.02 3.8 5.1 5.5 9.3%

Labrador Iron Ore Royalty (CA) LIF 2.1 C$21.31 64 $1,025 2.01 3.29 2.59 6.5 8.2 2.32 3.56 2.67 6.0 8.0 14.5 5.2%

Mount Gibson Iron Limited (AU) MGX 3.3 AUD$0.88 1158 $682 0.07 0.12 0.10 7.4 8.5 0.07 0.10 0.15 8.6 5.8 30.0 3.9%

Average 6.6 8.3 5.4 6.3 13.3

Fertilizers

CF Industries CF 2.6 US$42.17 217 $9,169 1.24 2.21 2.34 19.1 18.0 6.40 6.60 6.84 6.4 6.2 18.1 2.4%

Compass Minerals CMP 2.2 US$58.89 34 $1,995 1.93 2.20 3.61 26.8 16.3 5.63 5.02 8.93 11.7 6.6 12.3 5.1%

Incitec Pivot Ltd (AU) IPL 2.8 AUD$3.13 1613 $3,399 0.18 0.11 0.18 28.1 17.9 0.36 0.29 0.39 10.8 8.0 10.2 1.4%

Intrepid Potash IPI 3.0 US$2.20 132 $290 0.09 0.12 0.13 18.7 16.9 0.49 0.33 0.32 6.8 7.0 -- 0.0%

Israel Chemical (IS) ICL 2.4 US$4.22 1280 $5,387 0.37 0.39 0.40 10.9 10.5 0.48 0.77 0.71 5.5 5.9 7.5 4.2%

K & S Aktiengesellschaft (GR) SDF 2.5 EUR$9.07 191 $1,907 0.22 0.50 0.70 18.1 13.0 1.61 2.69 2.74 3.4 3.3 8.9 2.0%

Mosaic Co MOS 2.3 US$20.25 379 $7,670 2.12 0.46 0.96 44.1 21.1 3.75 3.30 3.23 6.1 6.3 10.7 0.7%

Nutrien Ltd NTR 2.1 US$43.27 573 $24,828 2.69 2.31 2.73 18.8 15.9 3.28 6.61 5.44 6.6 7.9 -- 3.5%

Sirius Minerals PLC (UK) SXX 2.0 GBP$0.06 7020 $500 (0.00) (0.00) (0.01) -- -- -- (0.00) (0.00) -- -- -- 0.0%

Sociedad Quimica Minera (ADR) SQM 3.1 US$29.47 263 $7,501 1.67 1.06 1.22 27.8 24.2 1.99 1.58 1.56 18.7 18.9 10.8 4.6%

Yara International ASA (NO) YAR 2.3 US$40.70 272 $11,087 1.68 3.09 3.26 13.2 12.5 2.77 7.00 6.24 5.8 6.5 9.1 1.7%

Average 22.6 16.6 8.2 7.7 11.0

Coal

Large - Mid Cap Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld

Symbol Rating 7-Feb-20 (MM) (US$MM) 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2019E %

Adaro Energy TBK (ID) ADRO 2.6 US$0.10 31986 $3,066 0.01 0.01 0.01 6.6 7.4 0.03 0.02 0.02 4.0 4.3 5.0 9.5%

Banpu Public Co Ltd (TH) BANPU 2.8 US$0.33 5162 $1,723 0.08 0.02 0.03 14.1 9.6 0.08 0.07 0.06 4.5 5.4 15.7 5.8%

China Coal Energy Co (HK) 1898 2.4 CNY$2.46 13259 $7,091 0.34 0.49 0.47 5.0 5.3 1.54 1.53 1.53 1.6 1.6 11.3 2.7%

China Shenhua Energy Co (HK) 1088 2.5 CNY$12.82 19890 $44,510 2.22 2.22 2.07 5.8 6.2 4.44 3.98 3.43 3.2 3.7 4.6 6.3%

Consol Energy CNX 2.9 US$7.41 187 $1,383 1.36 0.60 0.33 12.4 22.2 4.13 5.12 4.04 1.4 1.8 7.1 --

Whitehaven Coal Ltd (AU) WHC 2.3 AUD$2.55 1026 $1,761 0.54 0.35 0.17 7.4 15.1 0.87 0.61 0.39 4.2 6.5 6.2 8.0%

Yancoal Australia Ltd YAL -- AUD$2.86 1320 $2,542 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 8.4%

Yanzhou Coal Mining Co Ltd (HK) 1171 2.8 CNY$5.61 4912 $5,382 1.75 1.83 1.59 3.1 3.5 3.71 3.63 3.36 1.5 1.7 16.0 0.0%

Average 7.8 9.9 2.9 3.6 9.4

Small Cap

Alliance Resource Partners LP ARLP 2.3 US$8.56 127 $1,086 2.99 0.67 0.61 12.9 14.1 5.31 1.81 1.90 4.7 4.5 2.7 19.8%

Arch Coal Inc ARCH 2.0 US$55.69 15 $838 15.15 12.58 10.73 4.4 5.2 20.26 24.26 22.19 2.3 2.5 -- 2.5%

Fushan Int'l Energy Group (HK) 639 2.3 HK$1.57 5302 $1,072 0.21 0.22 0.22 7.1 7.1 0.31 0.32 0.42 4.9 3.7 6.3 10.0%

NLC India Ltd (IN) NLCINDIA -- INR$56.40 1387 $1,098 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 8.1 --

Natural Resource Partners LP NRP -- US$19.49 12 $239 6.43 5.20 4.12 3.7 4.7 9.19 7.06 5.28 2.8 3.7 3.3 7.1%

New Hope Corp Ltd (AU) NHC 2.0 AUD$1.87 832 $1,047 0.31 0.28 0.21 6.8 8.9 0.44 0.36 0.34 5.2 5.5 12.3 6.8%

PT Tambang Batubara Bukit (ID) PTBA 2.7 IDR$2,320 11521 $1,963 477.00 370.79 328.43 6.3 7.1 746.44 297.65 315.30 7.8 7.4 8.1 15.0%

Average 6.9 7.9 4.6 4.6 6.8

Note: Currency shown is that used by the company for financial reporting. Currency does not always reflect the country/market in which the company/stock symbol trades. GAAP may differ between stocks due to countries and markets.

The tables are compiled from the Thomson Reuters database of consensus Ratings & Estimates of equity analysts. The historicals and estimates of earnings and cash flows exclude non-operating, special items.

Thomson Reuters Rating System: Buy (1.0), Buy/Hold (2.0), Hold (3.0), Sell/Hold (4.0), Sell (5.0) Source: Thomson Reuters.

Uranium Price Shrs O/S Mkt Cap Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Cash Flow Per Share Price/Cash Flow EV/EBITDA Div Yld

Symbol Rating 7-Feb-20 (MM) (US$MM) 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2018 2019E 2020E 2019E 2020E 2019E %

Cameco Corp CCJ 2.4 C$11.42 396 $3,396 0.53 0.10 0.02 NM NM 1.68 0.90 0.77 12.6 14.9 8.0 0.7%

Denison Mines DNN 2.1 C$0.47 590 $209 (0.04) (0.04) (0.03) -- -- (0.04) (0.04) (0.02) -- -- -- 0.0%

Energy Resources Australia (AU) ERA 4.0 AUD$0.16 3691 $397 0.03 (0.03) (0.09) -- -- (0.11) 0.17 (0.03) 0.9 -- 14.1 0.0%

Nexgen Energy Ltd (CA) NXE 1.7 C$1.41 356 $378 (0.06) (0.07) (0.08) -- -- (0.02) (0.04) (0.04) -- -- -- 0.0%

Uranium Participation Corp (CA) U 2.1 C$4.02 138 $418 (0.03) (0.15) 0.43 -- 9.4 (0.04) (0.06) (0.05) -- -- -- 0.0%

Average 9.4 6.8 14.9 11.0

Note: Currency shown is that used by the company for financial reporting. Currency does not always reflect the country/market in which the company/stock symbol trades. GAAP may differ between stocks due to countries and markets.

The tables are compiled from the Thomson Reuters database of consensus Ratings & Estimates of equity analysts. The historicals and estimates of earnings and cash flows exclude non-operating, special items.

Thomson Reuters Rating System: Buy (1.0), Buy/Hold (2.0), Hold (3.0), Sell/Hold (4.0), Sell (5.0) Source: Thomson Reuters.

Commodity Prices

Cash Price (7-Feb-20)

Silver ($17.67 / oz)

Palladium ($2213 / oz)

Platinum ($966 / oz)

Aluminum ($0.77 / lb)

Cobalt ($15.54 / lb)

Copper ($2.56 / lb)

Lead ($0.83 / lb)

Molybdenum ($10.83 / lb)

Nickel ($5.79 / lb)

Tin ($7.40 / lb)

Zinc ($0.98 / lb)

Uranium ($24.80 / lb)
PERKASIE  Considering its age, the South Perkasie Covered Bridge doesnt look bad.

Work is needed, though, on the bridge that was built in 1832 and moved in 1958 to dry land in Lenape Park, where it was reopened to the public a year later, according to organizations working on raising money for a planned restoration.

Its made of wood, of course, and wood does not last forever, said Lee Metzger, president of the Perkasie Historical Society.

Mother Natures taken its toll, he said. The bridge itself just needs repairs.

Information on the savethebridge.com website describes the things that need to be fixed.

Number one is that the bridge has begun to lean and is out of plumb, which puts all the bridges weight on one corner.

Also, the bridge abutments in the park are shorter than the ones when the bridge was on Main Street over Pleasant Spring Creek.

At its original location, the longer, deeper abutments supported the bridge, the information says.

Two planks on each of the four corners rested on the abutments at the time, but in the park only one of the eight is resting properly on the abutments, it says.

Portions of the bridge are also rotting, the information says, in part because the bridge is closer to the ground than it was to the creek, which allows ground damp to spread moisture to the wood.

In August of 2018, Perkasie Historical Society started raising funds for the restoration, Jerry Treffinger, the organizations treasurer, said. The bridge is one of four historic venues Perkasie Historical Society, which led the 1958 bridge move, helps preserve.

Perkasie Borough, the Bucks County Covered Bridge Society and Perkasie Historical Society have since started a combined effort to raise funds for and manage the project. The fundraising goal is to raise $100,000 by March 1 in order to qualify for a matching $100,000 Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Keystone Historic Preservation Construction Grant.

As of early February, about $52,000 has been received, with money that has been pledged but not yet received bringing the total raised to about $80,000, Treffinger said. The fundraising total also includes the recently announced $15,000 matching grant from Penn Community Bank, he said.

We are grateful to partner with the Perkasie Historical Society the Borough of Perkasie and so many area residents to preserve this historic landmark through this dollar-for-dollar matching donation. With your help, we can save the South Perkasie Covered Bridge, Penn Community Bank Jeane Vidoni said in a release announcing the matching grant.

Under the gift conditions, Penn Community will provide a one-to-one match of donations to the project to fix the bridge and make it an outdoor museum, starting now and ending when the $15,000 match is met by other contributors, the release said.

The museum will have information at both the bridge and online and will include information about all 51 covered bridges that once existed in Bucks County, according to savethebridge.com.

The South Perkasie Covered Bridge is a true landmark in the preservation of covered bridges not only in Bucks County, but nationally as well, Scott Bomboy, chairman of Perkasie Borough Councils Historical Committee, which is overseeing the project, said on the website.

Because it has been out of road service since 1958 and easily accessible, the South Perkasie Covered Bridge will make an ideal outdoor museum for people to learn about authentic covered bridges, he said.

The covered bridge is the most photographed location in Perkasie, the website says.

Its a popular attraction for wedding parties, Metzger said. They come and have their pictures taken there.

Treffinger said he often sees families taking photos at the bridge.

Free Will Brewing will have a Covered Bridge Sunday fundraiser for the project 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23.

Event information includes that there will be a new beer release related to the historic bridge. At 2 p.m., there will be a ceremony to mark the occasion, along with a presentation of rare photos of the bridge. Perkasie Historical Society will also have a display at the event.

Another fundraiser will be Monday, March 9 when Perkasie Covered Bridge Night at the Perk will be held from 5 to 9 p.m.

Donations may also be made through the savethebridge.com website.

The South Perkasie Covered Bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places. All the repairs will meet National Park Service and federal guidelines, the savethebridge.com information says.

Its one of those things nobodyll miss until its gone, Metzger said, so we want to make sure it doesnt get gone.

The work on the bridge will include fireproofing paint to automatically extinguish fire at the bridge, along with adding interior lights and security cameras.
Tulsa, Oklahoma--(Newsfile Corp. - February 10, 2020) - Just as Elon Musk announced his plans to launch marijuana into the cosmos, SPACE PICKS came out victorious in the cannabis space race, launching 20,000 mgs of dope into outer space four weeks ahead of the tech mogul's schedule. The company launched a High-Altitude Balloon (HAB) to the edge of space filled with 2,000 of their signature THC-infused toothpicks Wednesday morning from an undisclosed location somewhere in Oklahoma.

SPACE PICKS ignited a revolution in the cannabis industry, introducing an inconspicuous product made from ethically sourced, freshly harvested North American white birch wood that's imbued with natural ingredients and flavors. The toothpicks are handmade, dosage-controlled disposable and biodegradable, boasting fast activation and the utmost level of discretion. With premium THC concentrates infused into each toothpick, quality and delivery remain unmatched at its size and efficiency.

According to SPACE PICKS Brainchild-in-Chief and Commander Chris Beauchamp, "A package or two of SPACE PICKS requires just about zero space in your suitcase. It's the most discreet, effective and portable way to experience an amazing high anywhere. Great for long trips to space or short trips to your in-laws!"

Now that the batch of THC-infused toothpicks has made their safe return to Earth, they will be available to purchase along with the company's other five flavors later this month.

ABOUT SPACE PICKS



SPACE PICKS was developed by a team of ex-rocket scientists who reminisced about the 70s and their days of relaxing on the launchpad after a long day with a beer and a blunt. The group wanted to develop a low-profile way of getting high while on long trips to and from the launchpad that would also be safe to bring to a highly flammable environment. They settled on toothpicks as a delivery vehicle and spent many years engineering their secret solution for infusing the toothpicks with THC. Launching the toothpicks into space symbolizes the company's launch into the industry as well as it's launch into the future.

For media inquiries, contact Chris Beauchamp at chris@spacepicks.com or 407-797-1658 or visit our website https://spacepicks.com.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52232
The popularity of Chilean nuts has surged in the UAE, with the value of exported dry fruit products from the South American country, between January and September 2019, increasing 75 per cent to $43.8 million from $25 million during the same period in 2018.



According to the latest research from the Trade Commission of Chile, this growth has largely been attributed to robust Chilean walnut, hazelnut and almond exports.



During 2019, Chilean dry fruit exports to the world reached $572 million, with walnuts accounting for 76 per cent of these shipments while hazelnuts and almonds accounted for 13 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively.



At present, Chile is the second largest global exporter of walnuts in shells and the third largest exporter of no-shell walnuts, behind the US and Mexico.



The UAE  and indeed the wider GCC region  has become a melting pot of ethnicities, resulting in a globally attuned F&B destination.



Chilean nut exporters are keen to explore and capitalise on the opportunities in the region and introduce even more variations to both restaurants and supermarkets at the 25th anniversary of Gulfood 2020, which will be held from February 16 to 20, at Dubai World Trade Centre, in Dubai, UAE.



Carlos Salas, trade commissioner of Chile in Dubai, said: Chilean walnuts have amassed a global reputation thanks to their outstanding flavour, distinctive light colour and prolonged freshness. From the natural and nutritious conditions theyre grown in, to the sustainable and intrinsic processing procedure, weve developed a nut that is lauded the world over.



These attributes, combined with the high-quality standards demanded by countries around the world, has seen Chile become the number one walnut exporting country in the southern hemisphere and one of the top five exporters worldwide, he said.



A 29-strong delegation - the largest number of Chilean exporters to date - will be attending the 25th anniversary of the week-long gastronomic showcase, in a bid to increase the $21million worth of deals completed at last years show.



This year, for the first time, the Chilean delegation at Gulfood has elected to exhibit on two pavilions in separate halls  World Food (Booth S-H16) and Pulses, Grains & Cereals (Booth Z2-C3)  showcasing raisins, dried plums, walnuts with and without shell, almonds, cranberries, dried peaches and apricots, oatmeal, whole grains and other formats, olive oil, lupine and concentrated juices, amongst others.



The pavilion will be officially opened at 11 am on February 16, providing a taste of Chile everyday through a range of exquisite, sample dishes which will be cooked live across the pavilions. A networking evening will take place on February 18th at Toro Toro, Grosvenor House Dubai.



Gulfood has become a key exhibition for Chile over the years and we are excited about once again showcasing exactly what our country has to offer - as the region continues to become an increasingly important part of our overall export business, added Salas.  TradeArabia News Service


Yare Valley Filling Station set to relaunch Yare Valley Filling Station set to relaunch

The popular Yare Valley Filling Station, formerly in Bergh Apton, is being relaunched with meetings to be held at Poringland Community Centre, from February 21.

An introductory celebration evening will take place on Friday February 21, 7pm for 7.30pm and will start with coffee and cake. All adults are welcome, whether they have a Christian faith, or are just interested in finding out more.



Organiser Kevin Gotts, said: The Filling Station is an informal way of expressing and finding out about the Christian faith. We are part of a growing non-denominational network which now has over 100 meetings within the UK attended by 5000 people.



We are not a new independent church movement, rather a model of how existing churches can work together to bring new spiritual life to their areas and, in the process, bring many people to faith in Jesus Christ. One of our fundamental principles is to promote Christian unity. As it says in Psalm 133: 1 How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! ... for there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life for evermore.



We offer high quality speakers, contemporary sung worship and accessible prayer ministry. And we find that local churches are strengthened and helped in many ways, said Kevin.



Our vision includes to be an active, supportive part of the Christian community, and be beacons of light and hope, and reinforce Jesus words of Living Life to the Full (John 10 v10). We want to see local churches full and thriving, being a Blessing to members and the wider community.



The meeting will take place at Poringland Community Centre, Overtons Way, Poringland, near Norwich, NR14 7WB



More details from Kevin, yarevalley@thefillingstation.org.uk


The principal of a government



school was on Monday suspended for allegedly making students lug heavy sacks of foodgrain onto a handcart and transport them to a state-run school here from the house of a ration shop owner.

"Alok Kumar Yadav, principal of upper primary school, in Chanwari village in Gadwara block here has been suspended for allegedly maligning the image of the department by asking students to carry foodgrain to school," Basic Siksha Adhikari Shiv Narain Singh said.

The district administration had on Friday ordered a probe after a video showing primary school students lugging heavy sacks of foodgrain onto a handcart and transporting them to a government school here went viral on social media.

District Magistrate Hari Pratap Shahi had ordered the inquiry after eight students of class VI were seen in the purported video hauling as many sacks of foodgrain from the house of a ration shop owner and taking them on a handcart to the upper primary school.

Principal Alok Kumar Yadav had told reporters, "As the person who operates the cart was not available, the help of students was taken".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
This is not supposed to happen even once, never mind twice in the same area.

But last week, for the second time in two months, roaring flames and thick black smoke threatened the good people around the hamlet of Guernsey, Sask., after a Canadian Pacific train loaded with crude oil from Alberta derailed.

What if the 104-car train had been passing through Saskatoon and derailed?

Trains like these regularly roll through downtown Calgary.

In 2015, a Canadian National Railway oil train derailed and ignited into a roaring fire and thick smoke near the Gogama and Mattagami first Nations in Northern Ontario.

And what about all those reassurances after the catastrophic explosion of a runaway oil train in Lac Megantic in 2013? We were told then that the oil in those tanker cars was a highly flammable type of crude particular to the Bakken oilfields in North Dakota. Whereas most Canadian oil transported by rail, the story went, comes from the Alberta tarsands and its too heavy and thick to be flammable.

Well, apparently thats not the case.

We dont know yet what type of crude oil was loaded into those tanker cars that went off the tracks and exploded on the Saskatchewan prairie. Or which oil company produced it. But theres a good chance it was diluted bitumen, which means lighter petroleum products had been added to the tarry bitumen so it would flow more easily.

But whatever it was, it was highly flammable. It took fire crews over 24 hours to douse the blaze.

Given that over the last two years the amount of oil exported by rail has almost doubled because of strained pipeline capacity this should be worrisome to people across the country.

It was around this time last year that a CP train derailed in the mountains west of Lake Louise. Three crew members were killed when a runaway 120-car train hurtled down the tracks and then derailed on a snowy, freezing cold mountainside next to the Kicking Horse River.

That train wasnt loaded with oil or other petroleum products but many trains heading west, passing through towns, passing by rivers and lakes, are carrying that kind of load.

That fatal derailment is still under investigation by the federal Transportation and Safety Board. But meanwhile CBCs Fifth Estate has raised some serious questions about CPs attention to safety procedures and the internal investigation it conducted into the incident.

The train that derailed in Saskatchewan last week was likely carrying oil destined for refineries in the Great Lakes area in the United States  Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois.

A new pipeline  Enbridges Line 3  is slated to replace the pipeline that has served roughly the same route into the U.S as the railroad for over 50 years. The Canadian section has long been given the go-ahead. Former Premier Rachel Notley dug in the symbolic shovels just outside Hardisty, Alta., 18 months ago.

But it is being held up in Minnesota amidst long standing opposition by environmental and Indigenous groups. The proposed pipeline replacement would ship 760,000 barrels of oil a day which, according to Enbridge, is the equivalent of more than 10,000 loaded rail cars a day.

As the loaded oil trains and pipelines prove, oil is still in demand. How long that will last is anyones guess. But for now pipelines are much safer when it comes to transporting oil than trains.

Right after the latest explosion and fire in Saskatchewan federal transport minister Marc Garneau ordered all trains carrying hazardous materials to cut their speed limits by half for the next 30 days.

At least someone with authority is paying attention.

But will it be business as usual after that?

Or will CP, CN, the Transportation Safety Board, and the federal government step up their game and actually face the fact that potentially dangerous oil trains are criss-crossing the country every hour of every day? Until the Line 3 Replacement, Keystone XL (both are being held up in the U.S), or Trans Mountain actually starts shipping oil, that number will surely rise over the next two years.
As years of Brexit drama end with the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union, it is worth reflecting on the populist-nationalist upsurge there and elsewhere that has rocked the international establishment over the past decade. From rural England to Catalonia to the Arab Spring to the Rust Belt, diverse polities have come together to challenge established practices and norms of governance in ways not seen in generations.

Over half a century ago, the world saw similar upheavals in the waves of Asian, African, Middle Eastern and Caribbean decolonization that quadrupled the membership of the United Nations within a generation after 1945. Most of the new members were the "single-unit" nation-states we know today - Senegal, Kenya, India and others that inherited most or all of their borders from imperial maps.

But in a largely forgotten part of the story, the "federal moment" in postwar global history, according to historian Michael Collins, saw nearly a dozen federated entities proposed or attempted between 1945 and 1970. These experiments grouped together colonial units into larger, multiethnic federations. Most - the West Indies Federation, the Central African Federation and Malaysia, for example - were vehicles for decolonization. Others, such as the United Arab Republic and the "beta version" of the European Union, were the initiative of already independent states.

For their numerous champions in the global North and South, federations were the wave of the future. In less grandiose terms, they were seen as the surest path to postcolonial state and economic viability, especially for smaller, poorer and more isolated places whose prospects after decolonization seemed dire. But in almost all cases, their demise resulted from a version of the populist-nationalist surge familiar to us today: local, identity-driven popular resistance to distant, cosmopolitan-elite political projects. The disconnect can be fatal to such top-down designs.

The impetus to federate had several motives. Departing European officials saw in the federal model a way to preserve metropolitan influence after decolonization, by leaving in place economic, security and cultural links both between former colonies and with the former metropole.

Anti-colonial nationalists fighting for independence saw federation as a means to construct stable polities and viable economies capable of overcoming the poverty and underdevelopment bequeathed by colonial rule. Federation would create a cooperative apparatus for the state-directed planning seen as necessary to jump-start the "modernization" of postcolonial economies.

Some nationalists perceived symbolic as well as practical benefits. In the late French empire, actors such as Aime Cesaire, a writer from Martinique, and Leopold Senghor, the first president of Senegal, envisioned a radical remaking of "liberte, egalite, fraternite." This enlarged and redefined French-speaking polity would live under one of several proposed federated models, reorganizing citizenship and governance and keeping its former colonies connected to France. For others, such as Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana or Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, the symbolism was world-historical. They viewed federal experiments as having the power to erase the lines that the imperial era had artificially drawn across the Pan-African and Pan-Arab "nations," as the cooperative fusion of former colonies would demonstrate their solidarity in independence.

The Cold War superpowers, for their part, remained wary of any federation scheme that might produce a setback in the bipolar clash, but they were vaguely supportive of most such designs. And so it seemed, federations promised something for almost everyone. Yet their promise proved short-lived, with most collapsing sooner or later, peacefully or bloodily. What they had in common was that, in virtually all cases, insularity and identity trumped solidarity and cooperation as local non-elites rebelled against the elites who favored federations.

For example, the West Indies Federation was launched in 1958 as the vehicle for decolonization of most of the British Caribbean. It was meant to achieve full sovereignty within a decade: 10 islands under one flag.

But crosscutting rivalries complicated internal relations from the start. During the Jamaican referendum of September 1961, a popular majority of islanders voted to leave the union - voting, in effect, that they were Jamaicans first and "West Indians" second. Despite the entreaties of leaders like Trinidad's Eric Williams, who captured the zeitgeist among many elites when he declared "the entire world will federate or die!" popular opinion stubbornly resisted. Trinidad soon followed Jamaica out, and the West Indies Federation dissolved into smaller independent nations.

A similar story unfolded in Southeast Asia. The Malaysia of today is not the one intended by its British and Asian sponsors during the federal moment. That map added Singapore along with Borneo's Sarawak and Sabah to "Greater Malaysia," in hopes of ensuring a stable politico-ethnic balance among Malays, Chinese and Indians and forming the basis for a viable shared economy. Yet tensions that dated back to the wartime Japanese occupation and the postwar Malayan Emergency fueled division rather than solidarity. Explosions of street violence, primarily between Malays and Chinese fearing for their communal futures under the federation constitution, destabilized and doomed the union. In the end, Singapore departed for an uncertain future alone only two years after joining the expanded federation.

The story echoed in most of the other attempted unions of the federal moment in Africa and the Middle East. The exception to this failure of the federations was the early version of the European Union. The E.U.'s durability stemmed in part from its slower, piecemeal process of integration, reversing the sequence of the other 1950s federations. Rather than prioritizing political integration as a means to economic cooperation, the then-European Economic Community first reorganized trade and economic arrangements long before attempting any meaningful political fusion - an understandable approach, given the herculean task of rebuilding the European economy after the war.

Yet Brexit suggests that the E.U. has fallen victim to the same divisions that undermined earlier federations. Non-elite popular resistance to such projects finds expression in populist-nationalist identity politics.

The mid-century experiments in federation might seem far removed from Britain in the age of Brexit, but their underlying dynamics have much in common. They point to the ongoing challenges of citizenship, representation, identity, accountable governance - and crucially, to the flaws of projects that lack sufficient buy-in from non-elite members of a shared polity.

Accommodating all parties within a sustainable federal structure, one capable of sharing governance and protecting pluralism and equality, is a daunting challenge in the best of circumstances. Finding our way to doing so in the present day will require creative reimagining and attention to what the federations' rise and fall foretold about many of the conflicts shaking and shaping our own time.

_ _ _

Parker is professor of history and Cornerstone Faculty Fellow at Texas A&M University. He is author of "Hearts, Minds, Voices: U.S. Cold War Public Diplomacy and the Formation of the Third World" and "Brother's Keeper.
A Citronelle High School teacher was killed in a car crash on Alabama 217 Sunday morning.

ALEA troopers confirmed that Dylan Turner, 26, was killed in single vehicle accident Sunday morning around 7:59 a.m. The accident occurred on Lott Road near Gulfcrest Road in northern Mobile County.

Turner was driving a 2009 Toyota Tundra northbound when the vehicle left the roadway and struck a tree. Authorities stated that Turner was not using a seat belt and was ejected from the vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. A male passenger in the Tundra was transported by Life Flight to University Hospital for treatment of his injuries.

Randy Campbell, principal of Citronelle High School, confirmed the death of Turner in a public statement on the schools Facebook page. He also announced that the school would be holding a public memorial for Turner Monday morning.


Jokesters Comedy Club begins new residency with resident headliner Don Barnhart and a rotating cast of professional comedians nightly inside The Attic Showroom at the OYO Hotel & Casino.

Jokesters showcases comedians from around the world and many that you may have seen on Comedy Central, HBO, The Tonight Show, BET, Dry Bar Comedy, Conan, Netflix, Late Night, Showtime, The Bob & Tom Show, Howard Stern, YouTube, Amazon and more.

Since opening, Jokesters Comedy Club received the Best Comedy Club Award from the Las Vegas Review Journal and was named Best New Show by Vegas.com. Last summer, Mayor Carolyn Goodman proclaimed Jokesters Comedy Club Day in Las Vegas celebrating their 1000th show.

Mayor Goodman congratulated Barnhart saying, Special thanks are extended to Don Barnhart and all the performers for entertaining residents and visitors. Please keep the laughs coming as we offer best wishes for the next 1,000 shows and beyond.

Audiences say Dons wit reminds them of a young George Carlin with an animated delivery. Don Barnhart is a refreshing voice in the standup genre as he mixes a blend of hysterically funny and topical insights about our life and the world around us, pushing the boundaries of the PC culture without being offensive using well-written material delivering it with an improvisational flair.

VidAngel just released Don Barnharts new Dry Bar Comedy Special The Spinal Disintegration of Man which has already gone viral and is the inspiration for Barnharts one man show, The DeEvolution of Man.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEEji7BOhFg

Don Barnhart has been entertaining the troops and since 1992 and stars in the documentary I AM BATTLE COMIC by filmmaker Jordan Brady. Jokesters Comedy Club also produces Jokesters TV bringing the best of their nightly show to television available locally on The CW Las Vegas and worldwide in syndication and on the internet with Amazon Prime.

OYO Hotel and Casino Las Vegas is a refreshing change from mega-casino hotels and an awesome secret for those in the know and is also home to a variety of other shows including: Alain Nus The Man Who Knows, The World Famous Ink Spots Classic Hits, Amazing Magic Starring Tommy Wind, Motown Extreme 5 Star Motown Tribute Show and Cherry Boom Boom the Rock n Roll a Go Go Live Dance Show.

Tickets start at $44.95

OYO Hotel & Casino

115 East Tropicana

Las Vegas, NV 89109
Police have hit out at the "hypocrites" behind a shooting in Northern Ireland which saw three young children aged under five escape injury.

Two masked men forced their way into the house in the Loughanhill Park area of Coleraine at around 11.30pm on Sunday.

Three adults, a man and two women, and three young children were inside at the time.

Two of the children were downstairs, and the adults were in the kitchen when the gunmen fired a number of shots. The kitchen table was hit.

The men then left the scene.

Police said it was lucky no one was injured in the "reckless attack that was carried out by faceless thugs who clearly have no regard for the safety of others".

Detective Inspector Peter McKenna added: "What is clear is the hypocrites who carried out this violent attack dont care at all about the children in the community.

There is absolutely no justification for an attack like this, and we must all work together to bring those responsible to justice and to stop this from happening.

"An investigation is under way to establish why this attack occurred and who is responsible.

"I want to take this opportunity to appeal to anyone who has information about this incident, or who was in the area, prior to around the time the shooting occurred, and who saw anything out of the ordinary to contact detectives in Coleraine on the non emergency number 101, quoting reference number 1782 of 09/02/20 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Ill make it real clear off the top: you should pay your TTC fare.

I note that to avoid any confusion about what I am about to tell you about the Toronto Transit Commissions plan to step up fare enforcement, which is that its plan is bad. Just because I see red flags in the TTCs crackdown strategy does not mean I favour everyone skipping the fare box. Paying your fare is generally good. The TTCs plan is specifically bad.

Why? Lets count the ways.

First, the TTCs plan to hire 50 additional revenue protection officers, some of whom will patrol the system undercover in plain clothes, comes less than a year after Toronto ombudsman Susan Opler issued a report on an incident, caught on video, during which a young Black man was pinned to the ground by three transit officers. Opler found the TTCs internal investigation of the incident, which cleared the officers, was not adequately thorough, fair and transparent and failed to consider evidence that might have suggested unconscious racial bias.

After the report, TTC CEO Rick Leary set up an anti-racism task force, but the agency has given itself no time to build trust that officers will operate without bias or violence before ramping up enforcement efforts.

Viral videos like the one we saw last week, of officers getting physical with a rider and ordering an onlooker to stop recording them, dont help.

Second, theres evidence suggesting the TTCs fare evasion problem is not even one best solved by hiring a bunch of officers.

A new report says the TTC lost $70.3 million to fare evasion last year. Thats a lot, but a closer look at the numbers shows that evasion rate on the subway system is low at 2.4 per cent. The reported evasion rate on buses, at 6.3 per cent, is a bit high, but hardly worth sounding the alarm. Theres always going to be some level of fare evasion. Its the streetcar rate, at a whopping 15.9 per cent, that looks troubling.

But wait, before accusing one of every six streetcar riders of being a scofflaw, maybe there are other factors worth considering with those streetcar numbers. Like, say, Presto equipment with notorious reliability issues. Or on-board ticket vending machines that are also out-of-service 16 per cent of the time, according to TTC audits, and no longer accept debit cards or credit cards  something that isnt clear to riders until after they board.

Plus, have you ever tried to make your way to a functioning Presto machine when a streetcar is packed? Sometimes youd need to bodysurf.

Maybe streetcar evasion rates would still be high if all the equipment worked perfectly and was always accessible, but it would make sense to test that theory before jumping straight to enforcement.

Third, theres the greater context of the crackdown. Toronto is focusing on transit riders at the time enforcement for all sorts of other commuter behaviour has gotten lax. A recent Star analysis found traffic tickets issued for things like speeding and blowing stop signs declined significantly over the last decade. Meanwhile, the maximum $425 fine charged to riders for fare evasion is far higher than most traffic fines, despite fare evaders not generally moving at high speeds and killing people.

Its a question of priorities. Is protecting a $3.25 fare more important than protecting someones life?

Finally, theres the fact that all this crackdown talk is motivated by money. The TTC has put $10 million in new revenue from fare compliance in its 2020 budget. If it doesnt get it  either through more fare payments or more rider fines  its budget could be in deficit.

The budget implications could create a sense of urgency among enforcement officers and management that increases the potential for more conflict and violence. Add that to overcrowded vehicles, busted equipment and a context where transit riders get hounded while drivers get away with recklessness, and little about this fare crackdown seems fair.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 10)  Lawmakers called on their colleagues to begin discussions to renew the franchise of ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation, with some confident of enough support to get the bill passed.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri told reporters that majority of senators favor renewing the network's franchise, which has six weeks left before it expires.

At the House of Representatives, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said he has gathered 81 signatures from colleagues to back his resolution calling on the House Committee on Legislative Franchises to already discuss 11 bills seeking to renew ABS-CBN's legal mandate for another 25 years and send it to plenary for debates and voting.

A counterpart bill at the Senate has also not moved at the committee level.

Lagman, along with other lawmakers, denounced Solicitor General Jose Calida's quo warranto petition before the Supreme Court seeking to cancel the TV network's franchise. The government's top lawyer claimed ABS-CBN engaged in "highly abusive practices" that went against the Constitution, such as letting foreigners own and control the network through Philippine Depositary Receipts, and creating KBO as an entirely new channel without regulatory approval.

ABS-CBN: 'We did not violate the law'

"The quo warranto petition preempts or usurps the sole authority of the Congress to extend or not an existing and expiring franchise like that of ABS-CBN Corporation," Lagman said in a statement.

Agusan del Norte Rep. Lawrence Fortun, who also submitted a bill renewing the franchise of the Lopez-owned network, warned that the House panel could use this court filing as another reason to delay the proceedings.

"This is the sad picture Im seeing: the committee may not hear the franchise renewal bills saying theres a pending matter in the Supreme Court related to the validity of ABS-CBNs current franchise," Fortun said. "By the time the Supreme Court sets to resolve the petition after parties have sent in their answers and comments, the current franchise would have already expired and there would be nothing to revoke in the first place."

But Senator Joel Villanueva insisted that Congress has its own power to grant or reject legislative franchises for media and other public utility companies and services, regardless of a pending court case.

Duterte to ABS-CBN: Next year, you're out

Deputy Speaker and Batangas Rep. Vilma Santos-Recto, better known as the Star for All Seasons of national TV, added: "Let the Supreme Court evaluate the contents or merits of the petition. I believe House Committee on Franchises should once and for all hear the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN."

The TV network maintained that it did not violate the law, while pointing out the apparent intimidation by the state. Media groups have also denounced the apparent crackdown on press freedom, following a similar tack taken towards online outlet Rappler.

Laguna Rep. Sol Aragones, who was once an ABS-CBN reporter, said separately that lawmakers should work fast as Congress will go on break by March 11, leaving just a month to finish deliberations on the bills.

Temporary fix

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said there could be a quick fix to ABS-CBN's franchise expiring on March 30.

He said the network can actually secure a provisional authority from the National Telecommunications Commission. "The problem is, how can they go against the Executive's wish not to extend the franchise?"

"All of our members of the House and Senate should unite and we should not allow this encroachment," Rodriguez said in a briefing. "This will be a direct assault on press freedom... For these reasons, I believe this case should not have been filed at all."

Other solons like Albay Rep. Joey Salceda took offense with Calida's move, saying it violates the independence of the Legislative.

The University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication denounced the quo warranto plea, saying it was "another blatant attack" on the freedom of the press, which could rob Filipinos of a public watchdog for possible abuses in government.

Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson said Congress cannot be hindered from exercising its powers to decide on franchises, in the same way that Calida went to file the petition before the high court.

CNN Philippines' Xianne Arcangel and Joyce Ilas contributed to this report.
Rep. Doug Collins has announced that he will run for the Senate. He will challenge the incumbent, Kelly Loeffler, who was appointed to fill the seat that Johnny Isakson vacated.

Collins was prominent during the House impeachment proceedings as an aggressive questioner on President Trumps behalf. I didnt find his questioning particularly cogent, but thats just my opinion. He did his best, and gained good will from the president and the party for his efforts.

But there are good reasons not to support Collins over Loeffler. For one thing, Collinss record on immigration leaves plenty to be desired. He is part of a group of GOP Senators and congressman that has pleaded with DHS Secretary Chad Wolf to bring more foreign workers to the U.S. to compete against Americans for jobs. Breitbart has the details.

Sen. Loeffler did not join this plea.

Collins is worse on crime than he is on immigration. He helped lead the charge on the First Step Act. In fact, he supported even more drastic jailbreak legislation.

Collinss collaborator in this effort was Rep. Hakeem Jeffries. Jeffries is a radical Democrat from New York.

Like the First Step legislation that became law, the Jeffries-Collins legislation offered time credits to let certain federal prisoners out early. However, their legislation went further than First Step. This Townhall article by Reagan McCarthy has the details.

Under Jeffries-Collins, child pornographers would have been eligible for early release as long as it was their first offense. Other crimes covered by the bill included failing to register as a sex offender, importing illegal immigrants for prostitution, and female genital mutilation.

Id like to hear Doug Collins explain why, for example, he favored leniency for criminals who import illegal immigrants for prostitution.

President Trump has signaled that hes happy with Sen. Loeffler. Im happy she was selected instead of Rep. Collins. I hope she will still be in the Senate come this time next year.

CORRECTION: The original version of this post said that Collins and Jeffries are sponsoring current leniency legislation that expands time credits. That is incorrect. No such legislation is pending and Im told (and believe) that Collins is not currently working on the matter.

I regret the error and have changed the content of the post to eliminate it, in the hope that the incorrect information wont appear online to Collinss detriment.

However, it is fair to criticize Collins for sponsoring the broad leniency provisions he and Jeffries sought in 2017. I still wonder why he included criminals who import illegal immigrants for prostitution.
HAAH has a technical cooperation agreement with Chery Automobile, one of the top ten automakers in China and the leading auto exporter to over 80 countries. Chery manufactures and sells a full line of SUVs, passenger cars and electric vehicles under several separate brands, including the Exeed brand. As the first step in their cooperation VANTAS vehicles will be on the Exeed platform, which has been developed with global resources and technologies targeted specifically at United States and Canadian consumers.

The first of the vehicle models to be sold in North America will be a premium SUV. The specific model and other details have not been announced yet. Engineering development for homologation in the U.S. market has already begun.

"This is a historic agreement creating VANTAS. The brand will incorporate a number of new technologies from its Chinese partner, including "Intelligent Connected" for a wide variety of safety and driver assistance technology, various aspects of autonomous driving and, in the future, new energy vehicles. VANTAS is fully committed to building every one of its vehicles in the U.S. creating jobs in America. HAAH Automotive Holdings is proud to be working with Chery, launching the new VANTAS brand in North America," said Hale. "Chery is an automaker in China with outstanding vehicles. We are very proud they have selected HAAH to be their partner for North America. VANTAS vehicles will offer more choice in the premium category for U.S. and Canadian consumers with excellent safety, quality and reliability," Hale added.

The online sales process will be implemented using HAAH's unique modern digital platform with an industry-leading 100% cloud-based system which combines the ERP and Dealership Management System (DMS) to support VANTAS and Dealer Operations.

This unique system design comes from an integrated and open API platform which will provide real time transactions and visibility for all users increasing speed and precision.

This system is the next generation in the automotive industry, giving VANTAS technological superiority not available from any other manufacturer today. It will provide a 360-degree view of customers for dealers and VANTAS personnel with each having access to a single version of the data (single version of the truth) to provide customer excellence for service and support. Sharing this data allows HAAH to offer a new, transparent, customer friendly selling process, faster handling of customer purchase and service issues, and improved dealer parts fulfillment.

"We are glad to witness the launch and establishment of this new American automobile brand, VANTAS, said Ray Bierzynski, Executive Vice President of Chery Automobile. New technology, new energy and new retail are profoundly changing the global automotive industry. HAAH is an excellent auto company in North America, with a first-class team that has deep auto experience and an innovative sales and marketing model. Chery is an auto company renowned worldwide with a global R&D system, having R&D centers in Europe, America, Latin America and China. The technical collaboration with HAAH will provide support for the development of new products which will meet and exceed North American customer expectations for the VANTAS brand. I have no doubt that VANTAS will bring consumers in North America an outstanding customer experience," said Bierzynski.

Details on the vehicles to be sold and more information regarding the production of those models will be provided at a later time.

About HAAH Automotive Holdings

HAAH Automotive Holdings was formed by a group of leading auto industry executives and experts to create a unique customer experience from the beginning of the buying process and throughout ownership. Using a total of more than 300 years of experience in the industry, HAAH executives are committed to disrupting the auto buying and ownership process. Designed to meet the needs of 21st century car buyers, the company is creating new methods, processes and procedures to increase transparency, clarify pricing, and simplify purchase and vehicle service for the customer. The company is based in Irvine, Calif.

About Chery Automobile

Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. was established on January 8, 1997. Over the past 20 years, the company has always insisted on independent innovation and established a complete technology and product R&D system. Its products have been exported to more than 80 countries and regions around the world, created well-known product series such as ARRIZO, TIGGO and high-end brand EXEED. Chery's joint ventures have brands such as Jaguar Land Rover, Qoros, and Cowin. Chery has been the top brand for the export of passenger vehicles from China for 17 consecutive years.

More information is available at:

www.haahauto.com

www.vantas.com

https://en.exeedcars.com/

SOURCE HAAH Automotive Holdings

Related Links

https://haahauto.com


A job fair will be held for workers displaced by recent layoffs at the Subway headquarters in Milford, state and local officials said in a release.

The Career Assistance Program for those displaced is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 20 at Parsons Memorial Gymnasium at 70 West Road, Milford, the release said.

Subway announced last week is was cutting about 300 jobs from its world headquarters, based in Milford.

I feel deeply for the 300 hard-working employees who dedicated their lives to serving Subway and our community, said state Sen. James Maroney, D-Milford. I am grateful to Mayor (Ben) Blake and the City of Milford for holding a job fair for those displaced. I look forward to working with the city, the Department of Labor, and the Workforce boards to assist those in need during this difficult time.

State Rep. Kim Rose, also D-Milford, said, Taking direct and immediate action in the face of these layoffs is crucial.

Mayor Blakes leveraging of local and state resources to help these workers get back on their feet is a great start and I am committed to coordinating with the City to help those affected, Rose said.

Blake said he was disappointed to hear about the layoffs at Subway. This impacts our neighbors, friends and family, he said.

The City is prepared and committed to working with Subway and the Department of Labor, amongst other organizations, to ensure a pathway for continued employment through resume assistance, job fairs and more, Blake said in the release.

From my understanding, this downsizing is part of a long-term plan to improve efficiencies and performance within the company. I am hopeful that the end result will mean future growth for the company, making way for new opportunities in Milford and beyond, he said.

Those interested can contact Julie Nash at jnash@milfordct.gov for more information.
Ghanaian dancehall artiste, Stonebwoy, has said he is not hurt about the VGMA's indefinite ban on him and Shatta Wale.

According to him, he does not think the power lies in award schemes to make artistes successful at what he does and that he believes award schemes are only put in place to recognize and appreciate the works of artistes.

Speaking at his meet the press which is ongoing in Golden Tulip Hotel, he said, I'm not hurt at all.

There have been arguments and discussions to consider lifting the ban to allow the two artistes back on the scheme especially after the case has been taken to court for legal proceedings and the two have also shown regret, solved their differences and show a united front.

Musician, Rex Omar is one of the people who think this is to serve as a deterrent to up and coming artistes and that the ban should not be lifted.

What happened there, it shouldn't happen again and if I was Shatta Wale's manager I would go and tell Ghana Music Awards that what you're doing (the ban), let it go on. Because it'll send a signal to the up and coming artistes that that act is not good.

They're not bigger than the industry. No matter how big you become as an artiste, you're not bigger than the industry. Bigger artistes have been in Ghana before Rex Omar said on 3FM.

Answering questions on this today, Stonebwoy said he wished is it maintained to teach the young ones a lesson just like others are saying.

I would even wish that it's extended the more he stated.

---citinewsroom
NAKHON RATCHASIMA Thailand, Feb 9 (Reuters) - A mass shooter in Thailand killed a total of 20 people and wounded 42 before he himself was shot dead by security forces on Sunday, a health official said.

This revised down an earlier figure of 21 dead which had been given by officials.

"The official number of the dead right now is 20 and 42 wounded. Of them, 21 are still in hospital and 21 have gone home," Narinrat Phitchayakhamin, head of the Nakhon Ratchasima Provincial Office of Public Health told a news conference in the northeastern city. (Reporting by Panu Wongcha-Um; Writing by Matthew Tostevin; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
City Administrator Mark McFarland briefed the Park Hills City Council on the citys debt during their late-January work session, breaking down the current financial numbers.

Park Hills has seven outstanding loans totaling $4,832,219.54. Total annual payments on these loans during the current fiscal year will amount to $666,783.72.

McFarland explained that deficit spending this fiscal year is at the lowest amount its been for the previous four fiscal years, at $270,000. The citys deficit has been steadily decreasing since the 2016-17 fiscal year when it was $2.4 million.

McFarland said he believed now that the project adjacent to the fairgrounds area  referred to by developers as the Flat River Commons Project  and the ORV/hiking and biking trails into St. Joe State Park are nearing completion, the citys spending will significantly decrease and he hopes they can begin balancing out the budget completely as soon as next fiscal year.

The citys loans include a $615,445.74 loan for a fire truck, which currently carries a balance of $270,451 and will be paid off in September 2022.

A Missouri Transportation Finance Corporation (MTFC) loan of $844,944 was used for the Fairgrounds Drive extension project. That loan has a current balance of $111,196.79 and is projected to be paid off by October 2024.

Another MTFC loan in the amount of $529,668 borrowed for a paving project on East Main Street has a balance of $119,196.79 and is set to be paid in full in August 2024.

Park Hills has a $4.3 million Certificate of Participation (COP) which has a balance of $3.15 million remaining.

The COP is the largest debt currently owed by the city and was used to consolidate several of the citys previous loans which included a lease-purchase agreement with US Bank to build the Fairgrounds Drive overpass.

Also included in the COP consolidation is a separate lease-purchase agreement used to buy two new vehicles for the police department, a new truck for the parks and recreation department, and a new rock breaker for the street department.

The newest city debt was recently acquired for use on capital improvements. The $137,678 loan will be whittled down with monthly payments of $3,058 -- a $36,696 annual cost to the city budget over a four-year period.

The city's water department recently took on a loan of $614,040.53 for 3,100 new radio-read water flow meters. The first payment on this balance is due on Nov. 1, in the amount of $61,404.05. This payment will be made during the next fiscal year, with payments occurring annually until November 2029.

The city borrowed $144,000 for a sewer department sludge truck which only has one payment remaining. The truck will need a final payment in April of $30,667.52.

McFarland said the sludge truck balance will be paid out of the sewer fund and payments on the new radio-read water flow meters will come from the water fund.

He explained the other loans will be paid using money from the city's general fund.

While not classified as debts, the city plans to make payments back on two CDs)that were cashed in last month.

During Januarys regular monthly session, the council voted 6-1 to cash in two CDs held by the city, with Councilman Steve Weinhold voting in opposition. The CDs were each worth $100,000 and McFarland said he would like to see them both put back in the bank by the end of this fiscal year.

I would like to get that $200,000 back in CDs before Oct. 1, before our new budget comes in, said McFarland to the council members. It may not be possible.

If we can just get one, well just get one, but my goal is to put it back rather than take it and never put it back, he added. I hope thats the will of the council.

City Mayor Daniel Naucke said that getting the money back in those CD accounts was a priority.

I think all of us want it back, said Naucke. Theres no doubt about that.

The mayor went on to explain that the interest the city was earning on the CDs has increased so the quicker the funds can be placed back in the bank, the better it will be for the city.

Bobby Radford is a reporter for the Daily Journal. He can be reached at bradford@dailyjournalonline.com

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The Supreme Court Monday took up the issue of an infant dying on returning home from Shaheen Bagh where his parents had taken him along to the ongoing protests against the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA).

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde took strong exception to some of the lawyers opposing the court's taking suo motu (on its own) cognisance of the matter.

"Can a 4-month-old child be taking part in such protests," the bench asked women lawyers appearing in the matter.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said it was not correct that minors like the 4-month infant should be taken to the protest site.

The apex court took suo motu cognisance of the matter following a letter written to it by a national bravery award winner Zen Gunratan Sadavarte, who said that minors be barred from participating in any type of protest and agitation.

The top court issued notices to the Centre and the Delhi government seeking their responses on the issue.

The bench, also comprising Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant, expressed anguish over the two women lawyers who made a statement that children who participated in the protests have been dubbed as 'Pakistani' and 'anti-nationals' in their schools.

"We do not want people to use this platform to further create problems," the bench said, expressing unhappiness that the lawyers were deviating from the main issue it taken cognisance of.

"We are not considering either CAA or NRC. We are not considering the abuses like Pakistani hurled in schools, the bench said.

The bench made it clear that it was not stifling anybody's voice.

"We are not stifling any voice. This is a properly constituted suo motu proceedings by the Supreme Court of India," the bench said.

The two women lawyers said they were seeking intervention on behalf of journalist and activist John Dayal and a woman who is the mother of two children.

The 4-month-old baby had passed away in his sleep on the night of January 30 after returning from Shaheen Bagh where his parents had taken him during the anti-CAA protest.

The petitioner, a recipient of the 2019 Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW) National Bravery Award, said in the letter to the CJI's office that the parents of the baby and the organisers of the anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh had "failed" to protect the rights of the kid, resulting in his death.

Sadavarte, a student of Class 7 from Mumbai, has alleged that the protesters at Shaheen Bagh include infants and children, who are exposed to conditions unfavourable to them, which is violation of their rights.

"The Shaheen Bagh protesters at New Delhi, include women, senior citizens, newborns and children, ignoring the fact that new born babies need a lot of attention and care as they cannot express their pains in particulars thereafter also ignoring the conditions unfavourable to the children, they are brought to the protest place which is violative of their child rights and natural justice," the letter said.

It also alleged that the police failed in stopping children from participating in such agitations harmful to their health.

It expressed surprise over the fact that even the death certificate of the 4-month-old does not mention the cause of death.
An outbreak of norovirus, a highly contagious virus, sickened at least 200 people at a Louisiana casino, according to state health officials. (Google Maps)

Norovirus Outbreak at Louisiana Casino Sickens at Least 200, Officials Say

An outbreak of norovirus, a highly contagious virus, has sickened at least 200 people at a Louisiana casino, according to state health officials.

The agencys regional medical director Dr. Lacey Cavanaugh confirmed that more than 200 people were infected after visiting the LAuberge Casino in Lake Charles, according to WVUE and The Associated Press.

Norovirus is a gastrointestinal illness that causes vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach pain. It is rarely fatal and usually clears up in a few days, according to the Mayo Clinic.

How it started at this point doesnt really matter anymore, because now we are getting transmission within the community. So, however, people picked it up in that setting they are now taking it home and spreading it from one family member to another family member to another family member, Cavanaugh said.

She added that the virus spreads easily and added that people are contagious up to three weeks after symptoms are gone.

Health officials told The Advocate that numerous people got sick at the casinos Mardi Gras ball.

The Louisiana Department of Health is aware of reported illnesses among visitors to LAuberge Casino in Lake Charles and are in the process of conducting an investigation. In the event that there is a further threat to the public, we will proceed in a manner to protect the publics health, the health agency also told the paper.

The LAuberge Casino issued a statement on its website and directed people to the Louisiana Department of Health site.

Please see advisory from Louisiana Department of Health regarding possible norovirus outbreak in Calcasieu and Vernon Parishes, which includes the Lake Charles Area. LAuberge Lake Charles has stringent sanitation procedures in place. In addition, we are reminding guests and team members to regularly wash their hands and take other health safety precautions, the casino wrote.

The casino has not responded to a request for comment.

Louisianas Department of Health said in a statement that a virus outbreak was reported around Lake Charles and appears to be spreading in the Calcasieu and Vernon Parishes in Louisiana.

According to the agency, norovirus symptoms begin between 24 to 48 hours after infection and include vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, headache, body aches, a mild fever, and nausea.

Norovirus is not at all similar to the novel coronavirus that has sickened numerous people across China and spread to multiple countries in recent weeks. There have been reports of tens of thousands of cases of coronavirus inside mainland China, and officials believe it began spreading in Wuhan.
Fifteen New Orleans firefighters who were passed over for promotion despite high scores on an exam two years ago should be elevated to captain, a state appeals court has ruled.

The state 4th Circuit Court of Appeal said in a Dec. 27 ruling that the New Orleans Civil Service Commission, which agreed that the firefighters were wronged, was incorrect to find that it could do nothing to remedy their situation.

The commissions broad powers include the ability to order the New Orleans Fire Department to promote the firefighters, the court said.

The power of the commission to promote firefighters who were otherwise qualified for the position of fire captain, but who were unconstitutionally denied promotions for non-merit-based reasons, is essential to the competitive selection and promotion of public employees on the basis of merit, fitness and qualifications, the court said.

Judge Sandra Cabrina Jenkins wrote the opinion, which was joined by Judge Paula Brown.

Jenkins and Brown found that the city had violated the state constitutions provisions on civil service.

In a separate concurrence, Judge Roland Belsome went further, arguing that the city had violated the state and U.S. constitutions' guarantees of due process of law.

The city did not immediately comment on whether it will appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court.

The majority opinion relied heavily on a November 2017 study from the citys Civil Service Department. Staffers there found evidence that Fire Superintendent Timothy McConnell skipped over dozens of candidates for promotion to captain in favor of lower-ranked applicants.

Of the 128 applicants who took the test, 120 passed it. Under previous civil service rules, McConnell would have picked firefighters for promotion in bands, selecting from a group of three similarly ranked candidates. When that band was exhausted, he would have moved on to the next group.

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But under the so-called Great Place to Work Initiative, a controversial restructuring of civil service rules under former Mayor Mitch Landrieu in 2014, McConnell had the ability to select from the entire list of 120 candidates who passed the test  in any order.

McConnell said he relied on factors like training, disciplinary history and interviews to pick firefighters for promotion. But the Civil Service Department said McConnell couldn't provide any documentation justifying his picks, leaving open the possibility that they were influenced by racial or political bias.

The Civil Service Commission agreed with the judgment of its staff. But the commissioners said they could not fix the situation because they had no power to order the Fire Department to promote the firefighters passed over for promotion in favor of lower-scoring candidates.

The appeals court said the commission does have that power and sent the matter back to the commission to implement the promotions.

The courts decision could be a sign of future victories for labor organizations in their continued battle with the city over the Great Place to Work Initiative.

Landrieu cast the initiative as an attempt to modernize the civil service process and place more emphasis on truly merit-based promotions, while opponents said it was an end-run around a system designed to prevent political influence in human resources decisions.

Christy Carroll, an attorney for the New Orleans Fire Fighters Association who argued the appeal, said she thought the courts ruling could apply to other promotions affected by Great Place to Work.

Under that initiative, she said, department heads get to decide with no rules who (they) want to promote. The system was set up to prevent that, to prevent political favoritism. So were very happy. The union wants a fair and transparent and merit-based system.
President Donald J. Trump on Monday proposed a $4.8 trillion national budget that includes $5 million to test for and mitigate cancer-causing radon gas in public housing.

The inclusion of radon funding exclusively for public housing is a first for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and it comes three months after an investigation by The Oregonian/OregonLive exposed insufficient testing across the country.

The budget requests $5 million for radon testing and remediation in public housing, Trumps budget states, without addressing the underlying need or how many units might be covered by the funding.

HUD officials on Monday did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the radon money. Trumps decision to include $5 million for radon comes even as advocates complain his proposed budget for fiscal year 2021 would slash important safety-net and housing programs for impoverished families.

The proposed funding is part of a new demonstration project focused on two environmental hazards exposed by investigative reporting. In addition to the $5 million for radon in public housing, Trump proposed $35 million in response to an NBC News investigation for the installation of carbon monoxide detectors in federally subsidized housing programs.

These small increases pale in comparison to HUDs proposal to cut other funding, Diane Yentel, chief executive and president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, said in a statement to The Oregonian/OregonLive.

The coalition noted that HUD under Secretary Ben Carson has proposed cutting operational funding for public housing by $1 billion and to eliminate in full the $2.7 billion capital improvement fund.

By eliminating funds to repair public housing, Secretary Carson puts the health and safety of public housing residents at risk, Yentel said.

The Oregonian/OregonLives investigation found that many housing authorities are not testing for radon, which is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in America. Radon exposure is estimated to cause 21,000 deaths annually.

Although Congress told HUD in 1988 to protect public housing tenants from exposure, the agency does not require radon testing. HUD didnt begin strongly encouraging testing until 2013.

The newsroom surveyed 64 housing authorities across the country responsible for about 125,000 units of public housing. Fewer than one in three housing authorities could produce radon testing records. Some agencies tested for the cancer-causing gas but didnt fix problems they identified.

Responding to the Cancer Cloud investigation, a bipartisan group of 10 U.S. senators have pressed HUD to address radon in public housing. Led by Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden, the senators have also requested a meeting with Carson, the housing secretary.

For too long, radon has threatened the health and lives of people living in public housing. This is one welcome step toward better protecting these families, but the work doesnt stop here," Wyden said in a statement. "I will continue to press for the additional funding and solutions needed, seizing any opportunity we have to work across the aisle and get the job done.

Its unclear how Congress may ultimately look to reshape Trumps proposed budget. Lawmakers have previously ignored sweeping cuts to public housing programs advanced by the president.

Also unclear Monday was how far the proposed $5 million would go across housing authorities that are collectively responsible for about 1 million units of public housing.

For example, one of the housing authorities identified in The Oregonian/OregonLives investigation recently completed a cost estimate to address radon. The Omaha Housing Authority estimates it would need nearly $250,000 alone to test about 500 units of public housing and remediate radon in about 225 units, records show.

At that rate, the proposed funding could help only 20 housing authorities in America.

The proposed $5 million marks the first funding for HUD to directly combat radon in public housing. But the budget notes that unspent money from one health program could be moved to another area, meaning lead paint, carbon monoxide and radon funding could be shifted based on demand.

-- Brad Schmidt; bschmidt@oregonian.com; 503-294-7628; @_brad_schmidt

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Chinese President Xi Jinping, wearing a mask, on Monday toured Beijing city to oversee the efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak and said though the situation remained "very serious" China can score a full victory over the epidemic, which has emerged as the biggest challenge to his leadership.

The death toll from the outbreak rose to 909 with 98 new fatalities reported on Sunday, mostly in the worst-affected Hubei province. The confirmed cases of infection spiralled to 40,235, Chinese health officials said.

Xi, who mostly remained indoors while his No 2 Premier Li Keqiang, and other senior Communist Party officials toured affected areas including virus-hit Wuhan, on Monday went on an inspection of the epidemic prevention and control work in Beijing.

Wearing a mask, Xi spoke to the doctors and learnt about the treatment of infected patients. He made video calls to hospitals in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, state -run Xinhua agency reported.

Speaking during the visit, Xi regarded as the most powerful leader of the ruling Communist Party in recent times, said China can certainly score a full victory in the fight against the novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic.

Xi had earlier described the virus as a devil.

"We cannot let the devil hide, Xi said in a meeting with Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, in Beijing last month.

"The situation at the moment remains very serious," he said, adding that the whole party, the armed forces and the people of all ethnic groups in China stand together with the people of Hubei province and its provincial capital Wuhan.

Hubei and Wuhan are the top priority for the epidemic prevention and control, he said amid reports of increasing public criticism over the way the government ignored early warnings of the virus until it turned pandemic.

"Wuhan is a heroic city and people of Hubei and Wuhan are heroic people who have never been crushed by any difficulty and danger in history. As long as our comrades work together, fight bravely and overcome difficulties, we certainly can score a full victory in the fight against the epidemic," Xi said.

The coronavirus outbreak infected 27 foreign nationals in China and two of them have died, Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

China awaited a team of international experts led by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The team is scheduled to arrive here on Monday night to assist the Chinese health officials in containing the coronavirus outbreak.

"I've just been at the airport seeing off members of an advance team for the @WHO-led 2019nCoV international expert mission to China, led by Dr Bruce Aylward, veteran of past public health emergencies," WHO director general Ghebreyesus said in a tweet.

China and the WHO will form a joint expert team to conduct in-depth discussions on and evaluations of the novel coronavirus epidemic and the containment, a spokesperson with the National Health Commission (NHC) said.

They will provide suggestions on joint prevention and control of the coronavirus outbreak to China and other affected countries in the next step, Mi Feng, an official with the NHC, told a press conference in Beijing.

"We welcome international experts including those from the United States to take part in the joint expert team," Mi said, adding that appropriate arrangements for the team will be made after thorough consultation and communication.

Meanwhile, India cleared some consignments of medical gear placed by China to combat the deadly coronavirus after setting aside export bans on all kinds of personal protection equipment.

The decision came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote a letter to President Xi offering solidarity and assistance to deal with the coronavirus outbreak in China that has claimed over 900 lives.

In the letter to Xi, Modi expressed solidarity with the president and people of China over the outbreak of the virus that has also infected over 40,000 people.

Prime Minister Modi also offered India's assistance to China to face the challenge, besides conveying condolences over the loss of lives due to the outbreak.

On January 31, India banned exports of all kinds of personal protection equipment, including clothing and masks used to protect people from air borne particles.

Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said a candidate vaccine targeting the novel coronavirus has been tested on animals.

The mRNA vaccine samples were injected into more than 100 mice on Sunday, Xinhua reported.

This came just two weeks after the centre successfully isolated the first new coronavirus strain on January 24.

A CDC official warned that the animal testing is in a very early stage of vaccine development and there are still many steps to be taken before the vaccine is ready to be used on humans.

Meanwhile, concerns about the virus rose in Beijing, Shanghai and several cities as millions of Chinese returned to work at the end of 17-day extended holidays as part of the Chinese New Year.

The Chinese government has asked to people to work from home.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Likud, like all Israeli political parties, was given a copy of the national voting registration for campaign purposes, pledging not to pass information to a third party and to purge the data after the election. But an anonymous tipster pointed Haaretz to a vulnerability in the app used by Likud that allowed any user to access the entire registry. The tipster showed the paper personal details about Israeli VIPs to illustrate the kind of information available.
One motorist was killed Saturday and three others were seriously injured in a late-night crash in Spotsylvania County.

According to Virginia State Police, Charles Petty, 60, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was traveling southbound on Interstate 95 at 11:45 p.m., when he lost control of his 1994 Dodge Ram and collided with a 2003 Suzuki XL7, driven by a 42-year-old woman from North Haven, Conn.

The impact, which occurred about a mile north of the Massaponax interchange, caused the Suzuki to run off the left side of the highway and overturn twice on the paved shoulder of the road.

The driver of the Suzuki, who was not wearing her seat belt, was ejected from her vehicle as a result of the crash. Two passengers in her car, ages 25 and 46, were also not wearing seat belts. All three suffered serious injuries and were transported to Mary Washington Hospital.

Petty, who was wearing a seat belt, was transferred to Mary Washington Hospital, where he later died from his injuries, state police said.

The crash is still under investigation.

James Scott Baron

James Scott Baron: 540-374-5438 jbaron@freelancestar.com

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 11:02:03|Editor: Xiaoxia

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YAOUNDE, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Seven armed separatists were killed on Sunday during their attempted arson attack on polling stations in Cameroon's English-speaking region of Southwest, the army said.

The incident at the town of Bangem occurred during the legislative and municipal elections held Sunday in the central African country. The elections were the first in seven years after two delays.

Separatists seeking independence of the English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest since 2017 had threatened violence to disrupt the elections. Despite this, Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji on Sunday evening told a press conference that the voter turnout was "massive" in the regions.
A special court to try MPs and MLAs here summoned UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu in a defamation case filed by a state cabinet minister.

Taking cognisance of the offence under Section 500 of the IPC, the court of Judge P K Rai fixed March 2 as the next date of hearing on a plea filed by UP Power Minister Shrikant Sharma.

In his complaint, Sharma alleged that Lallu had levelled false and defamatory allegations against him in the DHFL case.

Lallu had accused the minister of misleading people in connection with the Rs 2,600-crore EPF scam.

He had said that power employees' provident fund was invested in Dewan Housing Finance Limited under Sharma's tenure and had sought a probe into the minister's alleged Dubai visit in September-October 2017, saying it smacked of national security issues.

In his plea before the court, Sharma alleged that the Congress chief made false and highly defamatory comments against him in the case, which were telecast on several TV channels and published by different newspapers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Union government said on Monday that it will take appropriate steps on a recent Supreme Court order on reservations, and stressed that it was committed to the welfare of Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs), even as a combative Opposition led by the Congress accused the ruling side of hatching a conspiracy to end the quota system.

Union social justice and empowerment minister Thawarchand Gehlot said in both Houses of Parliament that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government was not a party to the case that arose from a decision taken by the Uttarakhand government in 2012, when the Congress ruled the state.

The court, in its February 7 order, said that a state government is not bound to provide reservation for appointments and promotions to public posts, and an individual does not have a fundamental right to claim such quotas.

Our government is dedicated and committed for the welfare of SCs [Scheduled Castes], STs [Scheduled Tribes] and other backward castes, Gehlot said, but his statement failed to douse the raging political row and triggered a fresh one instead.

Soon after, the Congress accused Gehlot of misleading the House and said it will move a privilege motion against him. The quota judgment has come on a special leave petition that the BJP-ruled Uttarakhand government filed in the Supreme Court in November 2019, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said at a press conference at Parliament complex.

The case is related to the Uttarakhand governments 2012 decision to fill up all posts in public services in the state without providing any reservations to SC/STs.

The Uttarakhand high court struck down the decision in April 2019. Later in November, it directed the state to collect data on the representation of SC/STs in government jobs and then take a considered decision.

Subsequently, the state filed an appeal against this order in the Supreme Court, saying that there is no fundamental right to claim reservation in appointments or promotions to public posts.

The top courts February 7 verdict said that courts could not direct state government to grant reservation, which is an enabling provision; and it is for the government to decide whether reservations are required in appointments and promotions.

Reservation is a sensitive issue in India where caste-based politics and leaders have a significant clout. SCs and STs, who account for a sizeable chunk of voters, are Indias most marginalised communities.

A dominant view is that reservation is a means to correct historical wrongs committed against them. The implementation of the Mandal Commission recommendations in the early 1990s  a watershed in Indian politics  saw the extension of reservations in government positions to the OBCs, but also triggered widespread protests by a section of upper caste groups against quotas. A fine balance on the subject has been high on the agenda for Indian policymakers.

In Parliament, Gehlot said that the Centre was not asked to file an affidavit in the matter. And when he mentioned the Supreme Court ruling was on an order that was issued when the Congress was in power in Uttarakhand, members of the opposition party shouted shame shame and walked out of the House.

This is my charge that the Congress is politicising the sensitive issue, defence minister Rajnath Singh said in the Lok Sabha before Gehlots reply.

Parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi urged Speaker Om Birla to expunge remarks made by opposition members against the government. Birla said he will look into the issue.

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Trinamool Congresss Kalyan Banerjee, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader A Raja and Bahujan Samaj Party leader Ritesh Pandey targeted the government in the Lok Sabha.

I urge the central government that they should file a review petition on this and also put the subject in the Ninth Schedule, Raja said. Communist Party of India (Marxist) member AM Ariff seconded the demand for a review.

A similar demand for a review petition rang out from the Rajya Sabha. And later, not satisfied with Gehlots response, a section of the Opposition staged a walkout.

There is no need to worry. The [Narendra] Modi government will protect and will do whatever best possible to protect the interest of SCs and STs, Lok Janshakti Party leader and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan said.

Paswan, an ally of the ruling National Democratic Alliance, too, said the reservation issue should be brought under the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution.

A law under the Ninth Schedule is supposed to be immune from judicial review, and cannot be challenged in courts, though this position has been disputed after a 2007 Supreme Court judgment.

In the evening, it was decided at a meeting convened by Paswan that parliamentarians belonging to SC/ST communities will meet PM Modi with the demand to put matters related to reservations in the Ninth Schedule. Leaders cutting across party lines attended the meeting.

Notwithstanding the governments efforts to assuage concerns, the Congress launched a three-pronged attack on the ruling dispensation both inside and outside Parliament.

First, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP and its ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), of conspiring to end reservation. We wont allow them to abolish reservation... its an attack on Constitution, Gandhi said.

Second, after Gehlots reply, Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal said that his party will file a privilege motion against him for what it described as misleading the House.

And third, the party also said that it will stage protests and agitations at the district level on the issue in the coming weeks to expose the governments conspiracy to end reservation.
More Than a Quarter of WeWorks Committed Space Remains Unsold After Failed IPO

HOUSTON, Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A number of U.S. markets could feel the impact of WeWorks setback as landlords wrestle with how to fill space in a cooling economic environment. This analysis is shared in Transwesterns latest research report, Where WE Go From Here, which examines the extraordinary growth of the coworking sector, WeWorks strategy and circumstances before and after its failed IPO, and practical considerations for stakeholders in markets with high WeWork saturation.

According to the study, when comparing coworking expansion to the growth of top industries nationally since 2015, coworking ranks ninth. Just prior to WeWorks IPO, momentum in the sector accelerated dramatically, improving its ranking to sixth among all industries through the third quarter of 2019, and by itself accounting for nearly 8 million square feet of absorption.

WeWorks U.S. portfolio currently comprises approximately 27 million square feet in 35 U.S. metros, with New York accounting for the lions square of that total at 10.3 million square feet, followed by Los Angeles (2.2 million square feet), San Francisco (1.8 million square feet), Washington, D.C. (1.6 million square feet), and Boston (1.5 million square feet). Certainly, the success or failure of the companys locations in these markets has the potential to affect availability, lease terms and other real estate fundamentals, impacting neighboring properties and entire submarkets.

WeWork committed to more than half the total space it has leased within the past two years, at a time when rent was rising nationwide, said Jimmy Hinton, Senior Managing Director, Investments and Analytics. Notably, more than a quarter of that space remains unsold, presenting a significant amount of financial liability for the company. Today, WeWork is pressed to try and market more than 7 million square feet of space to users as the economy is beginning to slow and businesses are taking a cautious stance in an uncertain political environment.

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Hinton explains that WeWorks business model, grounded in its strategy to build communities by saturating select markets, was predicated on positive leasing spreads between its own base rent and that of its sublessees, an increasingly difficult balance as prevailing market rents increased over time.

As a result, risks inherent in WeWorks business plan would most probably have played out in periods of adverse market conditions, he said. As we now know, such circumstances came in the form of restrictive capital supply to WeWork, not from a dearth of tenant demand.

As the company explained in its IPO, WeWorks workstation pipeline included five distinct phases  Find, Sign, Build, Fill and Run. The first three categories captured locations before opening, while the last two reflected open locations. As of November 2019, 66.6% of WeWorks Build space, 20% of Fill space, and 6.5% of Run space was vacant nationwide, with Atlanta exhibiting the greatest percentage of availability, at 42.4%, compared to the total market portfolio.

The report concludes that the overwhelming majority (90.5%) of risk is related to lease commitments still in the Build and Fill phases  in other words, where WeWork is constructing space it intends to sublease, or is currently subleasing, to corporations or individual memberships. Of the top five metros as measured by WeWork total square feet, New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles have the greatest percentage of available space classified in these phases.

By no means are we undermining the value of the coworking model, which has strong merits and a host of viable providers, albeit all with significantly smaller portfolios than WeWork, Hinton said. Rather, we aim to proactively equip coworking space users, building landlords leasing to WeWork, and investors near WeWork locations with market intelligence that will inform their decisions in the months ahead.

Access the full report here: www.twurls.com/wework

ABOUT TRANSWESTERN

The Transwestern enterprise comprises diversified real estate services, investment management and development companies. The privately held, fully integrated organization leverages competencies in office, industrial, retail, multifamily and healthcare to add value for investors, owners and occupiers of real estate. Transwestern has 34 U.S. offices and assists clients from more than 200 offices in 37 countries through strategic alliances with France-based BNP Paribas Real Estate and Canada-based Devencore. Experience Extraordinary at transwestern.com and @Transwestern.

Stefanie Lewis

Transwestern

713.272.1266

stefanie.lewis@transwestern.com


Alitalia's record flight time aided by Storm Ciara jet stream.

Alitalia made record time crossing the Atlantic on 9 February, recording a flight time of six hours and 38 minutes between New York and Rome.

The Boeing 777, which took off from JFK airport at 17.18 (23.18 in Italy) on 8 February, landed at Leonardo da Vinci airport at 5.56 the next morning, more than an hour ahead of schedule.

The record, which saw the plane beat the normal flight time of seven and a half hours, was aided by a particularly intense jet stream blowing from America to Europe, helping the aircraft to reach speeds of 1,164 km per hour.

Milan

Alitalia also made history the same night in Milan after a flight from New York to Malpensa took just six hours and 12 minutes, compared to the average time of just over seven hours.

London

Meanwhile a British Airways flight BA112 crossed the Atlantic in just four hours and 56 minutes, with aviation experts hailing the flight as the fastest subsonic New York-London journey.

The Boeing 747-436 reached speeds of 1,327 km per hour as it rode a jet stream accelerated by Storm Ciara, landing in Heathrow 80 minutes ahead of schedule on 9 February.

The BA flight beat Norwegian Air's previous record of five hours 13 minutes, however the fastest transatlantic crossing belongs to BA Concorde, which flew from New York to London in two hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds in 1996.
HONOLULU (AP)  Growing up in American Samoa, Filipo Ilaoas neighbors were his cousins on a plot of land full of banana and breadfruit trees shared by his extended family and overseen by a chief elected by his relatives.

He worries a federal judge's recent ruling in Utah saying those born in the U.S. territory should be recognized as U.S. citizens could threaten faa Samoa, the Samoan way of life, which includes cultural traditions like prayer curfews, communal living and a belief that the islands' lands should stay in Samoan family hands.

Basically, what it comes down to is freedom  the freedom to own communal land, said Ilaoa, 66, a retired Marine Corps sergeant major who works at the American Samoa governments office in Hawaii.

In December, U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups sided with three people from American Samoa who live in Utah and sued to be recognized as citizens. The judge ruled the Utah residents are entitled to birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment. He then put his ruling on hold pending appeal.

The U.S. government, which argues automatic citizenship should be a decision for Congress, filed an appeal Friday. The American Samoa government filed its notice of appeal Monday, said Michael Williams, a Washington, D.C., lawyer representing the territory in challenging the lawsuit.

We look forward to showing the Court of Appeals that Judge Waddoups decision is incorrect as a matter of law and needlessly dismissive of Samoans self-determination rights," he said in a statement.

American Samoa is the only U.S. territory where residents have no birthright claim to citizenship. Instead, those born in the cluster of islands some 2,600 miles (4,184 kilometers) southwest of Hawaii are granted U.S. national status, meaning they can't vote for U.S. president, run for office outside American Samoa or apply for certain jobs. The only federal election they can cast a vote in is the race for American Samoa's nonvoting U.S. House seat.

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Supporters of automatic citizenship say it would particularly benefit the estimated 150,000 to 160,000 nationals who live in the states, largely concentrated in California, Hawaii, Washington, Utah and Alaska.

The territory's population is only about 55,000. Yet many there say they're happy being nationals and worry birthright citizenship would influence customs, like their unique land ownership system.

Right now the government of the United States doesn't own a square inch of land in American Samoa, said Ilaoa, who left his village of Leone at 18 to join the Marine Corps and later became a citizen to qualify for military jobs that require top-secret clearance. We build what we want. Any time we want.

Most property in American Samoa is owned communally among families. Within villages, there are communal lands where extended families live together. Family members select chiefs, or matai, to regulate village life and oversee the land.

Samoan law restricts the sale of most property to anyone with less than 50% Samoan ancestry.

There are still blood quantum racial restrictions on the ownership and alienation of land," Williams said. "And to say that U.S. citizens can't own land because of racial restrictions, that's the sort of thing that one would expect would come under scrutiny from the courts.

Some are uncomfortable with a faraway judge making decisions about their relationship with the United States, Williams said.

Everybody else will come and impose their right in the village that is perfectly designed to fit every familys need that occupies that land, said Tisa Faamuli, who owns Tisas Barefoot Bar in the village of Alega on Tutuila, the largest island in the American Samoa archipelago.

At the end of the day, we are so proud of who we are," she said. We love who we are, and we dont want to change that.

There also are concerns that automatic citizenship would disrupt religious norms such as prayer curfews that are enforced by local leaders in a territory where 100% of Samoans report being Christian, according to the American Samoa government.

Bonnelley Pauulu, acting director of the American Samoa governments office in Hawaii, remembers how village police would ring a 6 p.m. bell that signaled it was time to go indoors for family prayer.

Imposing blanket adult curfews to United States citizens could be unconstitutional under existing case law," the American Samoa government said in a court filing opposing the lawsuit.

A path toward U.S. citizenship exists for those who want it. But some say it's costly and cumbersome.

Roy J.D. Hall Jr., who lives in the village of Viatogi, says he became a citizen more than 50 years ago, when it was easier. As an attorney, he helps others obtain citizenship, which he said now requires more documents and a $750 fee.

Such roadblocks are unfair, he said: Why should those that live in the United States be denied citizenship and all the benefits that come with it?

Sailau Timoteo was running for Hawaii's state House in 2018 when she learned she wasn't eligible for the race because she wasn't a U.S. citizen.

She said at the time she didn't realize being born in American Samoa gave her second-class status."

Pauulu opted to remain a national, even though her Army soldier husband became a citizen.

She doesnt feel like shes missing out any anything as a national  shes able to travel freely.

Maintaining the land ownership structure is important to Pauulu, in part because she plans to return someday. The land ties you back to your family name, and its like where you belong, she said.

American Samoa's traditional leaders voluntarily ceded sovereignty to the United States government in 1900.

The territory's customs and cultures evolve, and there are laws protecting them, said Charles Alailima, one of the attorneys representing the three who want citizenship.

The custom and culture of Samoa 200 years ago did not include Christianity," he said. But guess what? Nobody would say now that the custom and culture of Samoa does not include Christianity.

From a legal perspective, citizenship won't lead to the downfall of American Samoa's land ownership system, said Rose Cuison-Villazor, an expert in immigration, citizenship and property law at Rutgers Law School in New Jersey.

She is from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory that grants birthright citizenship, where U.S. courts have upheld a land ownership requirement of 25% Northern Marianas blood.

Citizenship would not have the domino effect people are worried about, said Sean Morrison, a former American Samoa assistant attorney general now living in New Orleans. I think the biggest worry is ... you don't know what a future judge might say.

Before the ruling, Amata Coleman Radewagen, American Samoa's U.S. House delegate, introduced a bill to make citizenship for American Samoans easier. The bill would allow nationals to become citizens without having to leave American Samoa, as is currently required. American Samoans also would no longer have to take a citizenship test, and there would be a hardship waiver for application fees.

The bill is pending in the Natural Resources Committee with a likely hearing in the year ahead, said her spokesman, Joel Hannahs.
MURDER accused Kieran Greene was visited in prison three times by his girlfriend Louise OConnor in the months after he is alleged to have killed her mother Patricia, a jury has heard.

Prison records showed over the course of six months in 2017, Mr Greene was visited by Ms O'Connoronce on her own and twice with her ex-partner Keith Johnston, both of whom are accused of impeding Mr Greene's prosecution for murder.The evidence was tendered at the request of the defence when the trial resumed at the Central Criminal Court this afternoon.

Four people are charged over grandmother-of-seven Patricia O'Connor's death.

Mr Greene (34) is accused of murder, while Louise O'Connor (41), Keith Johnston (41) and their daughter Stephanie O'Connor (22) are charged with impeding the investigation.

They all deny the charges.

Patricia OConnor (61), a retired hospital cleaner, was allegedly murdered on May 29, 2017 at the house at Mountainview Park, Rathfarnham she shared with family including Louise, Stephanie and Mr Greene.

Her dismembered remains were found in 15 parts, scattered in the Dublin and Wicklow mountains between June 10 and 14, that year. She died from blunt force trauma to the head caused by at least three blows from a solid implement.

Stephanie OConnor is accused of disguising herself as her grandmother after her alleged murder to pretend that she was still alive, while her mother Louise allegedly agreed to this.

Mr Johnston is accused of assisting Mr Greene in buying implements to use in the concealment of Ms OConnors remains, and refurbishing the bathroom at the house to destroy or conceal evidence.

Today, Walter Burke, a senior manager with the Irish Prison Service was tendered as a witness by the prosecution, at the request of the defence.

He said a request was made for records of visits to Mr Greene since he was in prison at Cloverhill on remand, covering the period June 17, 2017 to December 7, 2017.

He told Conor Devally SC, for Mr Greene, that he provided a list of visitors.

Louise OConnor was recorded as Mr Greene's girlfriend, visiting on June 17. On September 2, Mr Johnston was recorded visiting as friend.

Both Ms OConnor and Mr Johnston visited on October 14, and again on November 16.

Mr Burke told Michael Bowman SC, for Louise OConnor, that the records showed his client and Mr Johnston were there with two children when they attended together. There were no children present when Louise OConnor or Mr Johnston were there alone.

The only other time children were recorded ws on August 26, when three children attended with a party other than Louise OConnor.

Hours of CCTV footage taken of the outside of the house at Mountanview Park has already been seen by the jury.

Senior investigating officer Inspector Brian OKeeffe agreed with Garnet Orange SC, for Stephanie OConnor, that in relation to footage, particular consideration was given to a woman carrying a suitcase, leaving the house at 9.34pm on May 29, 2017.

A number of pieces of footage were sent to a forensic video analyst for assessment .

You were trying to see if anything could be garnered from the analysis of the CCTV footage that would indicate who particular persons might be on the footage, Mr Orange said.

Insp OKeeffe agreed this assessment was only given to the defence after the trial had begun.

Garda Roisin Rowley Brooke said she viewed CCTV footage of the front of the house at Mountainview Park between 7am on May 29 and 2pm on June 12, 2017.

The last time a person believed to be Patricia OConnor was seen at that camera was 3.08pm on May 29, she said.

After Louise and Stephanie OConnor, the children and Patricia's husband Gus OConnor left by the driveway later, she did not observe any other person enter or exit the driveway until 9pm when Louise, Stephanie and the children returned, she said.

The Toyota Corolla remained in the driveway during that time.

She agreed with Mr Orange that the camera did not cover the front door or side passageway.

The trial continues before the jury and Mr Justice Paul McDermott.
Marie Beth Jones, a published author and freelance writer based in Angleton, is a member and former chairwoman of the Brazoria County Historical Commission. Contact her at 1mbjones@nwcable.net.
Explained: Everything you need to know about the SC/ST Atrocities Act

BJP-RSS are against reservations, the duo wants removal of SC/ST progress: Rahul Gandhi

India

oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P

New Delhi, Feb 10: Congress leader and former party president Rahul Gandhi on Monday lashed out at the BJP-RSS and said that they are against the reservation. This comment, by the Congress leader came following the Supreme Court upholding 2018 amendments to the SC/ST Act.

Addressing a gathering, Rahul Gandhi said, "BJP and RSS ideologies are against reservations. They never want SC/STs to progress. They are breaking the institutional structure."

The Congress leader also said that erasing the reservation for the SC/ST/OBC and Dalits were in the DNA of RSS and BJP. "I want to tell SC/ST/OBC and Dalits that we will never let reservations come to an end no matter how much Modi Ji or Mohan Bhagwat dream of it," he said.

SC upholds constitutional validity of SC/ST Amendment Act, 2018

On Monday, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of the SC/ST Amendment Act, 2018, and said a court could grant anticipatory bail only in cases where a prima facie case is not made.

A bench, headed by Justice Arun Mishra said that initial inquiry is not essential before lodging an FIR under the act and the approval of senior police officials is not needed.

Other member of the bench, Justice Ravindra Bhat said that every citizen needs to treat their fellow citizens neutrally and uphold the concept of fraternity.

The Supreme Court's verdict came on a batch of Public Interest Litigations (PIL) challenging the validity of the SC/ST Amendment Act of 2018, which was brought to annul the effect of the court's 2018 ruling, which had weakened the provisions of the stringent Act.

Disagrees with SC order on quota in jobs, will raise issue in Parliament: Congress

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had lashed put at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his "tubelight" barb and said he does not behave like a prime minister.

"Normally, a prime minister has a particular status, a prime minister has a particular way of behaving, a particular stature, our prime minister doesn't have these. He does not behave in a prime ministerial way," he had told reporters outside Parliament.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, February 10, 2020, 17:35 [IST]
By PTI

ISLAMABAD: Amid growing pressure to bring back its nationals, mostly students, from coronavirus-hit Hubei province, the Pakistan government has said it is closely monitoring the situation in China and will soon take a decision on their evacuation.

Pakistan came under criticism after it said that Pakistani students should not be evacuated from Wuhan as medical facilities back home do not meet the standards required to treat a patient diagnosed with coronavirus.

The Pakistani nationals stuck in areas affected by the novel virus have been making requests to the government on social media platforms to evacuate them.

"The matter is being considered at a high level and best possible decision would be taken after considering all possible aspects. Rest assured that we care about you," said Zafar Mirza, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health, on Sunday.

Mirza said that the government has been keenly observing the situation in China, the Dawn newspaper reported.

He said that all options were being explored and the government wanted to maintain a balance on the issue.

"We have to consider all aspects including situation of the Pakistanis (in China), Chinese regulations and advisories of the World Health Organisation (WHO). All the stakeholders are involved over the issue and we have kept all options open," he said.

Addressing students in China in a tweet, Mirza said, "My very dear students in China and your respectable family members, we are intensely discussing the situation at highest level and will make the best decision in view of all factors with reference to devastating coronavirus potential global pandemic."

Meanwhile, Pakistan's Ambassador to China Naghmana Hashmi said that they could not reach the stranded Pakistani students in Wuhan due to the complete lockdown of the city, the capital of Hubei province.

Pakistani officials are in contact with their Chinese counterparts in Beijing and Wuhan and will promptly reply to any query by a Pakistani citizen in China, she was quoted as saying by Geo News.

However, Pakistani nationals vent out their anger on social media after Mirza's tweet, the Dawn report said.

"Dear sir, if you care about us then please spend at least one day with us in Wuhan, China at least one day please after this we will never say to evacuate us. Please consider my suggestion thanks," a Pakistani national living in Wuhan tweeted.

Another Pakistani student tweeted, "it is a humble request not to tweet if you won't change things."

The death toll in China due to the novel coronavirus increased to 908 and the number of confirmed cases surged over 40,000, Chinese health officials said on Monday.

Five persons with symptoms of coronavirus were reported from Pakistan on Sunday after they arrived from a flight from China.

There were up to 800 Pakistanis studying in various universities in Wuhan - a city of 11 million people which has been quarantined by the Chinese authorities in an effort to stem the spread of the deadly virus.

Earlier, Foreign Office said that there were 28,000 Pakistani students currently in China apart from hundreds of businessmen.
Joan Collins said she had to turn Parasite off for the last 20 minutes (Ian West/PA)

Joan Collins has said that she does not think Parasite deserved its Oscars success after it became the first film not in English to win the award for best picture.

Speaking on ITVs Good Morning Britain, the actress said that she had to turn the South Korean film off for the last 20 minutes.

She added that while it was a good film she did not think it was the best one made this year.

Our guest @Joancollinsdbe doesn't think Parasite was the best film of the year.



Do you think the South Korean satire deserved to bag Best Picture at the #Oscars? pic.twitter.com/0E959FofGS  Good Morning Britain (@GMB) February 10, 2020

She said: I have watched it but I have to say I didnt watch the last 20 minutes because it got incredibly dark.

I couldnt see half of what was going on and also because it had very small writing at the bottom, so I had to kind of lean forward because we watched it on a DVD.

So I saw three quarters of it.

In total Parasite, which is a satire on class, picked up four awards at the ceremony in Los Angeles.

In addition to the award for best picture the film also picked up gongs for best director, best original screenplay and best international feature.

Collins added: It was enough for me to say yes, it is a good film, but it is not the best film of the year in my opinion.
Leading Kuwaiti corporate law firm Al Ruwayeh & Partners (ASAR) said it is playing a key role as a legal counsel for the consortium led by Germany's WTE Wassertechnik GmbH Group which has secured a $719-million wastewater treatment plant contract in the country's Umm Al Hayman region.

Kuwait had in 2018 signed up the WTE consortium, which also included International Financial Advisors Holding, for developing the plant as a Public Private Partnerships (PPP) project under the auspices of the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (KAPP) and the Ministry of Public Works.

As the main contractor, WTE will be responsible for the design and construction of the sewage treatment plant and in partnership with other contractors, the construction of a 450-km sewage transmission network including pumping stations with a contract value of $1.1 billion.



The scope of work includes the construction of a new sewage treatment plant within the boundaries of the current Umm Al Hayman water purification plant, to treat wastewater with an initial capacity of 500,000 cu m of average daily flow, as well as the construction of 450 km of sewage and treated water transmission lines and the construction of an electricity substation.



The sewage treatment plant, that will utilize the latest wastewater treatment technology, will be designed with a 200,000 cu m per day capacity and on completion, the plant will boast a total capacity of 700,000 cu m per day.



The project is being developed in two parts: First as per the build, operate, transfer (BOT) system and the Second according to the design, build and operate system (DBO), said ASAR in its statement.



With an estimated total construction cost of $1.8 billion (excluding financing and operating costs), the Umm Al Hayman Wastewater Treatment Plant Project will be one of the world's largest and most complex water treatment projects.



This large and complex PPP project sets numerous precedents in terms of the documentation, structuring, procuring and financing of PPP projects in Kuwait that is bound to influence future PPP projects in Kuwait, and in the rest of the Gulf region, said the statement.



In addition to advising on this ground breaking PPP project, the first one to be successfully procured under the PPP Law, ASAR has worked alongside Hogan Lovells LLP- Frankfurt (international counsel) and the consortium on the negotiation of all the project agreements (including the TST PPP Agreement, the shareholders agreement and the EPC agreements).



The ASAR team involved in the project included: Ibrahim Sattout (Partner), Mohammed Abulwafa (Partner), Akusa Batwala (Partner), Dania Dib (Senior Associate), and Talal Bijjani (Senior Associate) along with other associates in the firm, it stated.



On its role, Sattout said: "ASAR is delighted to have acted on behalf of the consortium on this landmark project of utmost importance to Kuwait. Following our involvement in Az Zour North I IWPP, the first-ever IWPP project concluded in Kuwait, our involvement in this project is a testament to the strength and depth of the confidence that international investors have put in us."



"This latest deal highlights ASARs capabilities in servicing international investors in the Kuwaiti market," he added.



Batwala said: "ASAR is thrilled to have been a part of this ground breaking and precedent setting PPP project that was over four years in the making."



"We were privileged to have worked with and represented the world class consortium in this high profile transaction and we appreciate the confidence and trust that they put in our firm. We look forward to continuing to assist our clients in delivering this project," he added.



With dedicated offices in Kuwait and Bahrain coupled with its associated offices and relationships, ASAR provides clients across an extensive range of industry sectors with comprehensive legal advice and support for their business activities in Kuwait, across the GCC and beyond.-TradeArabia News Service
An H-6 bomber of Chinese PLA Air Force flies near a Taiwan F-16 in this Feb. 10, 2020 handout photo provided by Taiwan Ministry of National Defense. In a statement, the ministry said Chinese J-11 fighters and H-6 bombers flew into the Bashi Channel to the south of Taiwan, then out into the Pacific before heading back to base via the Miyako Strait. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense/Handout via Reuters)

Taiwan Again Scrambles Jets to Intercept Chinese Planes; Tensions Spike

TAIPEITaiwans air force scrambled for a second day in a row on Feb. 10 to intercept Chinese jets that approached the island claimed by Beijing as its own, as tensions between the two took on a potentially dangerous military dimension.

Taiwans Defense Ministry said Chinese jets, accompanying H-6 bombers, briefly crossed an unofficial mid-line in the Taiwan Strait that separates the two, prompting its air force to rush to intercept and give verbal warnings to leave.

The Chinese aircraft then withdrew to the western side of the line, the ministry added, without identifying the jets.

The H-6s were on a training mission in the Pacific having passed through the Bashi Channel that separates Taiwan from the Philippines, the ministry added and shared a picture of a Taiwan F-16 accompanying one of the H-6 bombers.

China has been flying what it calls island encirclement drills on-off since 2016 when Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen first took office. Beijing believes Tsai, who won re-election last month, wishes to push the islands formal independence.

Democratically governed Taiwan says it is an independent country called the Republic of Chinaits formal nameand has never been part of the Chinese regime.

On Sunday too, Chinese jets, including J-11 fighters, flew into the Bashi Channel then out into the Pacific before heading back to base via the Miyako Strait, located between Japans islands of Miyako and Okinawa, to the northeast of Taiwan.

According to Taiwans official Central News Agency, the F-16s scrambled on Sunday carried live missiles.

There was no immediate comment from China on Mondays incident. This is only the second time since 2016 that Taiwan has said that Chinese jets had crossed the straits median line. Their military aircraft tend to keep to their own sides.

Chinas Taiwan Affairs Office, though, urged Taiwans ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) not to play with fire.

Chinas Eastern Theater Command described Sundays fly-by of militarys combat ready patrol as a necessary action aimed at the current situation in the Taiwan Strait and safeguarding national sovereignty.

The Chinese regime has never renounced the use of military force to unite Taiwan with the mainland.

Taiwan-China Tensions

The latest fly-bys came as Taiwans vice-president elect, William Lai, was returning from a visit to Washington, where he attended the high-profile National Prayer Breakfast, at which U.S. President Donald Trump spoke. China denounced Lais trip.

Washington is Taipeis most important backer and arms supplier, despite the absence of official diplomatic ties.

China says Taiwan is the most sensitive issue in its relations with the United States.

Relations between Taipei and Beijing have further soured recently over the coronavirus outbreak, with Taiwan accusing China of preventing the island from accessing full information from the World Health Organization (WHO) or attending its meetings.

China should focus on controlling the spread of the virus, rather than threatening Taiwan, Tsai said on Monday.

Taiwans China-policy making Mainland Affairs Council said the islands 23 million people would not bow down to threats.

In recent years, Communist aircraft and warships have frequented the vicinity of the Taiwan Strait and attempted to use arms to force unification, it said.

Various provocative acts have seriously damaged the status quo of the Taiwan Strait and have increased regional tensions.

By Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee
A neighbour says she heard loud suspicious banging from the inside of a toolbox before it was dumped in a lagoon with two drug dealers inside.

Cory Breton and Iuliana Triscaru's decomposing bodies were found in a large metal box in February 2016 at Scrubby Creek, south of Brisbane.

Tuhirangi-Thomas Tahiata, 28, has pleaded not guilty to murdering the pair after they were lured to a townhouse in Kingston 18 days earlier.

But Jahquita Rewa Mareikura Halbert told the Brisbane Supreme Court on Monday she heard banging from a toolbox on the back of a ute in the unit complex.

Iuliana Triscaru and Cory Breton's decomposing bodies were found in February 2016 after police dragged the large metal box from Scrubby Creek, south of Brisbane

'As the ute slowly drove out of the carport the noise from the toolbox, banging, was getting louder and louder,' she said.

'Weird banging ... I was suspicious.'

Prosecutor David Meredith has previously told the trial Tahiata's green Toyota Hilux ute was used to transport the toolbox with Cory Breton and Iuliana Triscaru still alive inside to the waterway beside the Logan Motorway.

Ms Halbert described seeing the same ute on January 24, the day the pair disappeared.

'It had a bullbar on it with a teddy,' she said.

Jahquita Rewa Mareikura Halbert told the Brisbane Supreme Court on Monday she heard banging from a toolbox on the back of a ute in the unit complex

Earlier, Mr Meredith told the jury that after Tahiata helped load the toolbox on his ute, he and a man named Trent Thrupp drove to the nearby creek.

Tahiata allegedly then helped carry the box to the shore as Mr Breton and Ms Triscaru screamed for help from within.

Thrupp then pushed the toolbox into the water but it didn't immediately sink, Mr Meredith said.

He said Tahiata then handed Thrupp a hammer so he could punch holes into the side of the box.

The trial continues.
Dionne, a Brookings Institution senior fellow and Washington Post columnist, tells a story about American politics that I find clarifying. In the past, thorny policy debates typically took place between the two parties. Examples include the best way to expand health insurance (through the private sector or government), control pollution (through taxes or regulations) and reduce the deficit (through spending cuts or tax increases).

Today the Republican Party has become so radicalized that it opposes almost any government action to solve problems. Its domestic agenda consists largely of cutting taxes for the rich and freeing companies from oversight. The substantive part of many policy debates now happens within the Democratic Party  which means that tensions are only natural.

And yet progressives and moderate Democrats still agree on far more than they disagree. Each side would be more effective if it were open to learning from the other, Dionne writes, rather than lapsing into an unseemly moralism that feeds political superiority complexes.

Progressives are right that over the past half century Democratic moderates have often allowed conservatives to dictate the terms of political conversation, on economic growth, criminal justice, family values and more. Id add that moderates have also spent too much time designing technocratically elegant policies (like tax credits) rather than creating easily understandable, popular programs.

Moderates, for their part, are right that every great progressive victory in American history  abolition, womens suffrage, the income tax, labor rights, Social Security, civil rights, Medicare, marriage equality and more  has required compromise in the service of persuading allies who disagree with progressives on other issues. Its not enough to state your case purely and wait for a silent progressive majority to emerge as never before.

In the long run, each side is likely to accomplish much more if it can recognize that the other isnt the enemy. In the short run, obviously, there is an inescapable dilemma: The party can nominate only one person.

Before that choice is made  while both sides are fighting hard for their preferred nominees, as they should  they should pause to reflect on the strengths of the other side. For progressives, that means recognizing that moderate congressional candidates really did fare better in swing districts in 2018. It also means celebrating (quietly, for now, I realize) the progressivism of, say, Buttigiegs agenda.
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Linkedin Ivany Atina Arbi and Marchio Irfan Gorbiano (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 10 2020

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has urged journalists to tackle the rampant spread of false news in the media through reliable and accountable journalism.

Journalists, he said, should be at the forefront of eliminating hoaxes and easing people's anxieties as a result of misleading news.

"The press's role in conveying reliable information is extremely needed, especially when the country is facing such unexpected situations like the coronavirus outbreak," Jokowi said on Saturday while attending a celebration for National Press Day in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan.

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The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus on the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship has nearly doubled.

Sixty-six more people, including another 11 Americans, have fallen ill on the Princess Cruises cruise ship that is quarantined off the coast of Japan, meaning at least 135 passengers onboard have been diagnosed with coronavirus. At least 20 Americans in total have been diagnosed onboard.

The ship was carrying 2,666 guests and 1,045 crew onboard when it set sail on Jan. 20.

Due to the quarantine, "it was not unexpected that additional cases would be reported involving individuals who were exposed prior to the start of the quarantine," Princess Cruises said in a statement provided by Negin Kamali, director of public relations. The cruise line is working to confirm the total number of cases and the nationalities of all those infected.

Princess Cruises is working with authorities to plan for the passengers who have recently become ill to disembark so that they can be taken to a hospital.

The Diamond Princess cruise ship sits docked at Daikoku Pier in Yokohama, Japan, Feb. 7, 2020 where it is resupplied and people with newly diagnosed coronavirus cases taken for treatment as the ship remains in quarantine.

The cruise ship is one of several affected by the deadly coronavirus outbreak, which has prompted cruise lines to issue quarantines and perform screenings onboard. Meanwhile, some ports are denying at least one cruise ship entry over fears of the virus.

The coronavirus, which was first identified in Wuhan, China, has spread across the globe with more than 42,763 confirmed cases and 1,013 deaths as of Monday evening. The majority of the cases are in mainland China. Common signs of infection include fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.

One American has died in China, the U.S. embassy in Beijing reported Saturday morning. And the coronavirus death toll surpassed the SARS outbreak of 2002 to 2003.

The Diamond Princess is scheduled to remain under quarantine until Feb. 19, pending any unforeseen circumstances.

'It's almost like we're on the ship alone'

Passengers on the ship have been instructed to stay in their suites or cabins during the quarantine.

Story continues

Those in interior cabins with no window or outdoor access have been able to go on deck for up to an hour and a half but must stay at least a meter (about 3 feet) from fellow passengers, Matt Smith, an attorney from Sacramento, California, told USA TODAY on Friday.

Smith says the situation is inconvenient, but that he and his travel companion, Katherine Codekas, are comfortable on board, with fresh water, electricity and meals dropped off at the door by the ships crew.

Internet service has sometimes been spotty, but he said the cruise line has provided more on-demand movies and added live TV channels to help passengers while in quarantine. They requested and received clean sheets but changed the bed themselves after crew dropped them at the door to avoid close contact.

Status updates from the ships captain have increased and improved as the quarantine has gone on, Smith said.

On Monday, Smith told USA TODAY that they are still doing fine, though they had a moment of worry hearing about more confirmed cases. As for how the atmosphere is on the ship, he said it's hard to tell, isolated in their cabin.

"It's almost like we're on the ship alone except for the crew who bring us food and things and occasional voices from nearby balconies," he said.

All guests will receive a full refund for the cruise including airfare, hotel, ground transportation, pre-paid shore excursions, gratuities and other items. No guests will be charged for incidental charges during the added time on board, Princess Cruises said in a statement Sunday afternoon.

And Princess Cruises will provide guests with a future cruise credit equal to the cost of the cruise, which was scheduled to end on Feb. 4.

Though all gratuities will also be refunded to guests, Princess Cruises said that the company will make sure that crew members receive their designated gratuities for their work.

Holland America ship will disembark on Thursday

Meanwhile, Holland America's MS Westerdam cruise ship has now been scheduled for disembarkation later this week.

The ship is sailing to Laem Chabang, Thailand, according to a release from Holland America Line issued early Monday. It is scheduled to arrive in port on Thursday. Guests will continue on their routes home from Bangkok and will be fully refunded for their cruise and provided with a future cruise credit.

The Westerdam, which has 1,455 guests and 802 crew members, made a stop in Hong Kong last week. It was subsequently denied entry to ports in Guam, the Philippines and Japan.

There are no known cases of coronavirus on board despite reports to the contrary, the cruise line said, and the MS Westerdam is not in quarantine.

"We have no reason to believe there are cases of coronavirus on board," Erik Elvejord, Holland America's public relations director, said in an email Friday morning.

The next scheduled cruise on Feb. 15 has been canceled. The cruise line is assessing the impact of port restrictions in Asia on cruises departing Feb. 29 or later.

World Dream passengers have disembarked

Passengers aboard the World Dream disembarked Sunday at Hong Kong's Kai Tek Cruise Terminal after tests revealed no one on board had coronavirus.

"Dream Cruises is pleased to report that the Department of Health has confirmed that all guests and crew on board World Dream have passed extensive health screenings and temperature checks, and all of the samples taken from the 1,814 crew members have tested negative for the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)," the cruise line said in post on its website.

"Guests onboard World Dream have been cleared to disembark the ship this afternoon, and Dream Cruises will be arranging shuttle transportation and assisting international guests with complimentary hotel accommodations and the rebooking of onward travel arrangements."

The ship spent Saturday under quarantine near Hong Kong while it waited for the test results to come back. As of 5:30 p.m. Sunday local time, all passengers had disembarked.

World Dream operations will be suspended until further notice, according to the cruise line.

Royal Caribbean ship cleared of coronavirus concern, scheduled to depart Monday

Another ship affected by the coronavirus is Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas, which is docked in Bayonne, New Jersey, where four passengers were sent to a hospital to be tested Friday.

The ship is now likely to depart Monday afternoon after the passengers tested negative for coronavirus. The itinerary has been changed from a Bahamas cruise to Bermuda, in light of the delayed departure.

Passengers who do not want to reembark on the cruise will receive a refund from Royal Caribbean, the cruise line said. Passengers choosing to embark on the cruise will receive a 50% refund and a 50% future cruise credit, Royal Caribbean announced Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Costa Smeralda, one of Costa Cruises' ships, had a coronavirus scare at the end of January that locked down the ship for almost a day in Civitavecchia, Italy. The scare turned out to be a case of the flu.

New Jersey: Four cruise passengers test negative for coronavirus on ship

Cruise industry bolstering coronavirus screening; some ships ban China, Hong Kong passport holders

Norwegian and Royal Caribbean International cruise lines announced Friday they would bar passengers holding passports from China, Hong Kong or Macau.

Royal Caribbean listed new health screening protocols on its website Friday, noting "these steps are intentionally conservative, and we apologize that they will inconvenience some of our guests."

This protocols included, "all holders of China, Hong Kong and Macau passports, regardless of residency."

Norwegian Cruise Lines updated its coronavirus procedure Friday, also stating that "any guest that holds a Chinese, Hong Kong or Macau passport will be unable to board any of our ships, regardless of residency." This ban extended to crew members, as well.

Cruise Lines International Association, an industry group representing most of the ocean-going cruise ships around the globe, said Friday its members would restrict boarding access to anyone who may have come in contact with coronavirus.

Member ships will deny boarding to anyone who has been in close contact with or helped to care for someone suspected or diagnosed with coronavirus. Those who are being monitored for potential exposure to the virus are also to be turned away.

Ships are also to deny boarding to all who have traveled from, visited or been through airports in China, the epicenter of the outbreak, within a two-week period prior to embarkation. That includes Hong Kong and Macao in addition to mainland China.

CLIA cruise member ships are to conduct screening before boarding. Enhanced screening and medical support are to be provided by ships as needed to anyone with coronavirus-like symptoms.

Crew members and passengers alike are subject to these precautionary measures.

What is that? Should I be worried?: The new coronavirus could become a pandemic

U.S. has screened: 17,000 passengers for coronavirus at 11 airports since Sunday

Contributing: Bill Keveney, Jayme Deerwester, Grace Hauck, USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan now has 135 cases
(Newser)  A California man whose wife was killed in a hit-and-run may have tracked down the killer all by himself, NBC Los Angeles reports. Rod Richardson's wife Brenda, 48, died Thursday in Corona after a white Lexus hit her motorcycle the day before. For Rod and their children, the grief was crushing: "When you have your older kids falling on the ground crying cause they have no control," he says. "Your younger kids waking you up in the middle of the night saying they missed her, it's a lot." Feeling the need to take action, Rod says he went looking for the white Lexus, and at the intersection where the hit-and-run happened, he noticed a gated entrance for an apartment block nearby.

story continues below

"Something was on my heart, tugging me, saying you need to go in," he says. So he walked in, and there it was: a white 2006 Lexus ES330 with damage to the sun roof and passenger's side door, per the Press-Enterprise. On Friday, police arrested car owner Tashiro Isa, 85, on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run. Whether this curbs any grief is something else. "I loved my wife with all my heartthe pain is horrible," Rod writes on Facebook. "She was the person I was going to grow old with that helped with all the crazy ideas.  She was the feather people fell on for comfort." A GoFundMe page to help with funeral costs says Brenda was "a very proud Navy veteran" who leaves behind eight children. (Read more hit and run stories.)
LOS ANGELES (AP)  The Latest on the 92nd Academy Awards, which are being bestowed Sunday at the Dolby Theatre (all times local):

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8:30 p.m.

Parasite has won the best picture Academy Award, making history as the first foreign language film to win the ceremony's top honor.

Bong Joon Hos thriller has been one of the seasons darlings, despite failing to garner any Academy Award nominations for its cast.

Bongs acumen in creating his tale of a grifter family that insinuates itself into the lives of a wealthy family has been widely recognized.

The film won four Oscars on Sunday, including best director for Bong and best international film.

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8:20 p.m.

Renee Zellwegger has won the best actress Academy Award for her portrayal of Judy Garland in the tumultuous final year of her life.

It is Zellwegers second Oscar; she won the supporting actress award in 2004 for Cold Mountain.

The actress has enjoyed front-runner status throughout awards season, picking up top Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild honors last month.

Zellweger undertook the huge challenge of playing the beloved star by focusing on every aspect of Garland, including her voice, hair, makeup and stage presence.

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8 p.m.

Bong Joon Ho has won the best director Oscar for his class satire, Parasite.

The South Korean directors acumen in creating a film about the intertwining of two families  one poor and another rich  has been roundly praised.

It is the first best directing Oscar for Bong, whose previous films include Okja and Snowpiercer.

Parasite is among the contenders for best picture, the evenings top prize. It is the third Oscar that it has won Sunday, including best original screenplay and best international film.

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7:45 p.m.

Elton John and his longtime songwriting partner Bernie Taupin are Oscar winners  together  for a song they created for the biopic Rocketman.

The pair wrote Im Gonna Love Me Again for the musical biopic that charted Johns rise to superstar status, warts and all.

Story continues

The pair won a Golden Globe earlier this year, and noted that they had never won a Grammy Award together.

John paired with Tim Rice to win an Academy Award for Can You Feel the Love Tonight from the original Lion King.

John thanked Taupin for being with him throughout his career, even when he was screwed up.

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7:40 p.m.

Hildur Gunadottir has won the best original score Academy Award for Joker, becoming the first woman to win in the category since 1998.

Anne Dudley was the last female composer to win the honor. She took home the Oscar in 1998 for The Full Monty.

Her win was also the first for "Joker" of the evening.

Gunadottir was overwhelmed with emotion, appearing to tear up as she held the award.

She urged women to speak up, ending her speech by saying, We need to hear your voices.

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7:30 p.m.

Cats has clawed its way onto the Oscars stage.

James Corden and Rebel Wilson  two stars from the maligned film adaptation of the Broadway hit  dressed in head-to-toe cat costumes to present the Academy Award for special effects.

Nobody knows, better than us, the importance of good visual effects, they joked.

The duo had a groomer backstage brushing out their coats before the appearance, and Corden let out a bemused sigh and said, This is it, this is ... show biz.

After introducing the candidates but before revealing the winner, Corden and Wilson took turns batting around the stage mic as if it were a cat toy. The Oscar technician who operates the pop-up mic re-calibrated and tested it during the next commercial break and said it seemed to be fine, though he was keeping a close eye on it. "They really beat the crap out of it," he said.

After it was all done and they came offstage, Wilson said, Now Ive got to get back in my regular makeup.

 Lindsey Bahr (@ldbahr) and Andrew Dalton (@andyjamesdalton) at the Oscars.

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7:20 p.m.

South Koreas Parasite has won the international film Academy Award.

Director Bong Joon Hos social satire has received widespread acclaim and was considered a front-runner in the category headed into the Sundays Oscars. It is the South Koreas first win in the category.

Parasite has several opportunities to win more awards, including best picture honors. If Parasite, the story of two Korean families who become intertwined with each other, wins the best picture, it will become the first foreign language film to do so.

Despite contending in some of the nights biggest categories, none of the films cast received Oscar nominations. The film also won the best original screenplay earlier in the ceremony.

The category was previously known as foreign language film.

Bong ended his speech by saying he was ready to drink to celebrate the win.

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7:15 p.m.

While many famous nominees and presenters stride across the room to talk to their fellow stars during commercial breaks, Joaquin Phoenix was more interested in a guy with a different job.

The best actor nominee walked up and had a friendly and animated conversation toward the front of the Dolby Theatre Sunday with the guy who works intensely throughout the show to wrangle the people who fill empty seats, appearing to congratulate him on doing a tough job well.

Those droves of roaming seat-fillers work to stay invisible during the show but suddenly appear in droves during the commercials, holding up their credentials whenever their supervisor holds up his.

Commercial breaks can also provide a bonus round of applause for Oscar performers. Idina Menzel and the ensemble of international Annas and Elsas who sang Into the Unknown with her were still on the stage congratulating one another, laughing and hugging when the show went to commercial.

Menzel stepped to the front of the stage, gave a quick curtsy, and the crowd loudly clapped as the crew of women sailed off the stage together.

Later, the standing ovation for Cynthia Erivos performance of Stand Up from Harriet extended long after the cameras had moved and the house lights had gone up.

 Andrew Dalton (@andyjamesdalton) inside the Oscars.

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7 p.m.

Capturing the terror of a daring World War I in what appeared to a single shot has earned 1917 this years visual effects Oscar.

Director Sam Mendes and his team shot the film about a frantic mission through hostile territory to try to stop a doomed mission.

The effects brought a frenetic urgency to the story and has made it a hit with critics and audiences alike. 1917 beat out Star Wars, Avengers: Endgame, Lion King and The Irishman for the visual effects honor. The Irishman and 1917 will also compete in the best picture category, the nights top honor.

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6:45 p.m.

Nearly twenty years after skipping the Academy Awards, Slim Shady finally arrived on the Oscars stage.

Eminem made a surprise appearance and performed Lose Yourself, a best original song winner in 2003 from the soundtrack to 8 Mile. His performance rocked the Dolby Theatre  Zazie Beetz was among the many who rapped along, and Billie Eilish watched with her jaw dropped.

The appearance was a big deal for the awards show after Eminem didnt perform as a nominee in 03. Backstage producer Lynette Howell Taylor was especially excited, save for a momentary panic that he didnt have his mic. Afterward, she squealed We did it! Fitting for a performance that required a few bleeps, Howell Taylor also let out some expletives of her own in excitement.

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6:30 p.m.

Commercial breaks at the Oscars offer the nominees, presenters and other stars a chance to do some quick power-mingling, stretch their legs and check their texts before the show returns to air.

Tom Hanks, always the life of the party when hes at the Oscars, walked down the front row at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday and had a long and animated chat with Leonardo DiCaprio during the first commercial break, moments after DiCaprios Once Upon a Time  in Hollywood castmate Brad Pitt beat Hanks for best supporting actor. He later shouted back and forth with Julia Louis-Dreyfus during another commercial.

Actress Beanie Feldstein used a break in the show to gleefully run down the aisle to talk to last years best actress winner Olivia Colman.

Charlize Theron was especially entranced by her screen during one break, and it took Wonder Woman to snap her out of it. Gal Gadot leaned down and gave her a hug and a kiss as she passed.

 Andrew Dalton (@andyjamesdalton) inside the Oscars.

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6:15 p.m.

Laura Dern is the winner of the best supporting actress Academy Award for her role as a high-powered divorce attorney in Marriage Story.

It is Derns first Oscar win and caps an awards season where the actress has also collected honors from the Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globes.

Marriage Story shows the disintegrating relationship between a showbiz couple played by Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver. Derns well-heeled lawyer helps Johansson outmaneuver her estranged husband in the courtroom, causing more strain on the pair and their young son.

Dern thanked her co-stars and Marriage Story director Noah Baumbach. She also thanked her parents, Diane Ladd and Bruce Dern, calling them her heroes.

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6:12 p.m.

Shia LaBeouf presented the Academy Award for best live action short with Zack Gottsagen, his co-star in The Peanut Butter Falcon and an actor with Down syndrome.

Some viewers on social media grilled LaBeouf after he appeared to roll his eyes as Gottsagen hesitated reading the card, perhaps sensing a star grousing about sharing the stage with a special needs co-presenter.

To the contrary, LaBeouf and Gottsagen are close friends from their time filming in the Georgia countryside. T hey recounted to The Associated Press in August how then spent evenings watching wrestling between 12-hour shoots. LaBeouf has even credited Gottsagen for helping him get sober.

He knows about my pain intimately. Wed be sitting there watching wrestling every night. Hed be eating ice cream. Id be drinking gin. Id tell him, You gotta stop eating all that ice cream. Hed say, You gotta stop drinking that gin, says LaBeouf. This mans a year older than me. Hes been acting longer than me and hes healthier than I am. He has more friends than I have, has longer lasting loving relationships.

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6:10 p.m.

American Factory has won of the documentary film Academy Award.

It is the first feature backed by Barack and Michelle Obamas production company, Higher Ground, but the former president and first lady are not technically Oscar winners.

The film focuses on the efforts of a Chinese company to repurpose a shuttered General Motors plant in Ohio, and the cultural tensions that arise.

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5:45

Taika Waititi is the winner of the best adapted screenplay Academy Award for Jojo Rabbit."

It is the first Oscar for the writer-director-actor, who thanked his mother and also dedicated the award to all the indigenous kids in the world who want to make art.

Waititi directed and starred in Jojo Rabbit," playing Adolf Hitler, who is the imaginary friend of the title character. The film is also competing for best picture.

5:35 p.m.

"Parasite" is the winner of the best original screenplay Academy Award, delivering Bong Joon Ho his first Oscar.

The South Korean writer-director held the Oscar up and said to the audience Thank you, great honor. He dedicated the win to his country.

He shares the honor with Han Jin Won, who paid thanks to the Korean film industry.

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5:30 p.m.

Natalie Portman has walked the red carpet in a cape lined with the names of female filmmakers who werent nominated for best director.

The black cape featured gold lettering that included Lulu Wang (The Farewell), Greta Gerwig (Little Women) and Mati Diop (Atlantics).

This years nominees for best director are all male, and Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker is the only woman to win the award. Gerwig was the most recent female nominee, in 2018 for Lady Bird.

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5:25 p.m.

Woody, Buzz and Bo Peep have done it again -- Toy Story 4 is the winner of the Academy Award for best animated feature film.

The fourth installment in the Pixar franchise about the adventures of toys that come to life reunited several beloved characters and introduced a new one: Forky. The craft project made from a spork comes to life and realizes his worth, despite the strong sense that he would rather be in the trash.

The third film was widely seen as a fitting ending to the franchise, but audiences flocked to the film, which earned more than $430 million in North America alone.

Hair Love won the Oscar for best animated short film.

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5:15 p.m.

Brad Pitt finally has his acting Oscar.

The four-time nominee won the best supporting actor Academy Award for his role as a stuntman in Once Upon a Time  in Hollywood.

Pitt had been expected to win the category after scooping up a series of honors this year, including at the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards. Pitts treated the previous wins with jokes and breezy speeches.

Pitt was more somber on Sunday, calling his win incredible as his peers cheered.

The actor plays the stunt double of an aging cowboy actor played by Leonardo DiCaprio, a best actor nominee, in Quentin Tarantinos 1969 Hollywood fable Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood.

Once Upon a time in Hollywood, ain't that the truth, Pitt said. He thanked his children, Tarantino and DiCaprio. Ill ride on your coattails any day, he said of his co-star. The views fantastic.

The film is a 10-time nominee at Sundays Academy Awards.

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5:10 p.m.

Chris Rock and Steve Martin have helped open the Oscars by delivering an opening monologue.

Both funnymen have hosted the Oscars before, prompting Martin to note the appearance on Sunday was a demotion.

The show opened with a rousing musical medley by Janelle Monae.

Martin also poked fun at the Oscars announcing the wrong best picture winner a few years back, taking a dig at the recent Iowa caucus that was marred by delayed results.

Rock ribbed The Irishman" director Martin Scorsese, telling him he loved the first season.

The pair also noted the lack of female directing nominees and the lack of diversity.

Martin joked they had a great time not hosting tonight.

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5:05 p.m.

Janelle Monae has kicked off the Academy Awards with a musical tribute to this year's nominees.

Monae started off the show donning a red sweater like Mister Rogers wore in a nod to A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. She walked into the audience and serenaded the film's star, Tom Hanks, and other nominees.

The show, which is airing live on ABC, is going hostless for the second year in a row.

She shifted into an upbeat number with several dancers wearing attire honoring other nominees. Monae shed the sweater as she sang and danced.

The performance also featured an appearance by Billy Porter.

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4:40 p.m.

Oscar Isaac and Laura Dern were among those inside the Dolby Theatre who arrived early and stood to greet well-wishers and take photos some 20 minutes before the show began.

The orchestra was warming up as a recording urged everyone to take their seats.

The cast of "Parasite" listened, with all of them filling their fourth row section early in what was the first trip to the show for many of them, and certainly the closest any of them have sat. Across the auditorium, Spike Lee and Martin Scorcese hugged and had a long, laugh-filled conversation.

Just a few feet away, best actor nominees Joaquin Phoenix and Antonio Banderas gleefully greeted each other, hugging and touching each other's faces, appearing to wish each other good luck.

 Andrew Dalton (@andyjamesdalton) inside the Oscars.

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4:30 p.m.

Geena Davis will be recognized during Sundays show with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for her work combating gender inequality. Fittingly, she kept up the fight even on the red carpet.

Every year when the Oscars come around, we always say, Well, its really a systematic problem. You cant blame the academy necessarily for what Hollywood is making, she said. I think we really need to be mindful that, lets go already. Lets make this happen. Theres no need to wait any longer.

An Oscar winner for The Accidental Tourist" in 1989, Davis founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media in 2004. On the red carpet, she touted improvements made in gender representation for childrens TV and movies while noting we still have a lot of work to do with the world of the movie, and also other types of diversity.

___ 4:15 p.m.

Can someone help with my train? Little Women asks director Greta Gerwig on the Oscars red carpet. Her publicist ran over to adjust the thick green skirt before she resumed posing for photographs.

Gerwig, nominated for best adapted screenplay, was accompanied by her fiance Noah Baumbach, who was nominated for his original screenplay for Marriage Story.

Gerwig also made sure to thank the photographers.

The two posed together and separately and Baumbach looked on lovingly as Gerwig stopped to say hi to Billy Porter.

Later, Little Women star Saoirse Ronan spotted Gerwig across the red carpet and chased her down for a big hug. Ronan is nominated for best actress.

 Lindsey Bahr (@ldbahr) on the Oscars red carpet

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4 p.m.

Antonio Banderas is grateful that his first Oscar nomination came for a film in his native Spanish.

Banderas is up for best actor for his role in Pain and Glory, which was directed by long-time friend Pedro Almodovar. The Spanish actor says he welcomes the calls for more diversity in Hollywood and in the film academy.

I have seen this community fighting very, very hard, Banderas said. Struggling to get their kids in university to become better, to become a part of the American society. That has to happen, be reflected in Hollywood.

Rodrigo Prieto, a Mexican cinematographer nominated for The Irishman, said his awareness of biases in Hollywood has heightened with time.

When I moved here and I started working in the film business here in America, myself, I never felt any sort of prejudice, he said. But I did eventually start noticing the crews did lack diversity. I do think there is change happening. It does have to be a conscious thing we all do because the pool of talent is not that diverse yet, but its definitely happening.

 Marcela Isaza (@misaza) on the Oscars red carpet, with Jake Seiner in New York

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3:45 p.m.

Roman Griffin Davis and Archie Yates, the young stars of Jojo Rabbit," hammed it up for photographers on the Oscars red carpet in various poses. One photographer shouted that they should try jumping. The two youngsters readily obliged, and while it was a little less than coordinated, it was still pretty cute.

Davis and Yates then joined their parents and made their way down the rest of the carpet.

A few minutes later, best actor nominee Antonio Banderas, for Pain and Glory, wrangled his family for a photo, but then advised his daughter to just keep moving.

 Lindsey Bahr (@ldbahr) on the Oscars red carpet.

___

3:30 p.m.

Spike Lee is honoring Kobe Bryant on the Oscars red carpet.

The BlacKkKlansman director wore a purple suit trimmed in yellow adorned with Bryants No. 24 on the lapel and back. He also wore a pair of Bryants Nike sneakers.

Lee walked the red carpet in a purple suit last year, too  a nod to late musical artist and close friend Prince.

Bryant, who died Jan. 26 in a helicopter crash, will be part of the Oscars' In Memorium segment.

Roots frontman Questlove said Bryant was a great person, a stand-up guy. The Philadelphia native recalled the waves Bryant made in 1996 when he convinced Brandy to be his date at prom. Bryant and Questlove had since struck up a friendship based in part on their Philly upbringings.

Anytime I saw him or his family theres always been love, Questlove said. Its very devastating. Were all grieving right now.

 Jake Seiner

___

3:15 p.m.

Hair Love director Matthew A. Cherry has brought a special guest to the Oscars red carpet  Deandre Arnold, a Texas high school student who was told he couldnt attend graduation unless he cut his dreadlocks.

Arnolds story brought national attention and prompted the Texas Legislative Black Caucus to work up a bill that would ban discrimination based on hair textures and styles commonly associated with race. Cherry was eager to lend his support  his film about a young black girl who asks her inexperienced father to help style her hair is nominated for best animated short.

It means the world to us to have him here with us, Cherry said. We wanted people to see how good of a kid he is, but also theres no reason people should be policing our hair.

Arnold said its been validating to get backing from Cherry and other celebrities, including Ellen DeGeneres, who gifted him $20,000 toward his education.

Im standing strong because of the support system I have behind me, Arnold said.

 Amanda Lee Myers (@AmandaLeeAP) on the Oscars red carpet and and Jake Seiner in New York.

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3 p.m.

Win or lose, Parasite director Bong Joon Ho is confident a foreign-language film will soon win an Oscar.

Regardless of the outcome, I think the door has been opened, the director from South Korea said. I think as long as we continue this effort, the door will just open wider and wider.

Parasite has a chance to be the first non-English film to win best picture  a credit to its poignant story about income inequality, a talented ensemble cast and an academy membership that has grown more international in recent years. Bong walked the red carpet with eight actors from the film, noting that actors and others from the American film industry were excited to meet them.

I dont necessarily think its fair to separate films into English and non-English, he said. I think as long as theyre beautiful, its cinema.

Bong isnt sweating whether he leaves with a trophy. Mostly, hes excited that the Oscars end a five-week trip away from his home in South Korea.

After the ceremony, there will be a party, and after the party I will get to go home, he said. So thinking about those two things, doesnt make me nervous at all.

 Amanda Lee Myers (@AmandaLeeAP) on the Oscars red carpet and and Jake Seiner in New York.

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2:40 p.m.

Frozen 2s Kristen Anderson-Lopez has a secret hiding under her emerald gown: Sneakers.

An award-winning composer along with husband Robert Lopez, Anderson-Lopez lifted her dress proudly to show off her comfortable kicks, shouting to the fan bleachers that its the only way to do the Oscars.

Already Oscar winners for Let It Go and Remember Me, from Coco, the couple is nominated this year for the song Into the Unknown.

The footwear isnt reflective of her excitement, though. She says an Oscar win feels like a second wedding for them.

 Lindsey Bahr (@ldbahr) on the Oscars red carpet and Jake Seiner in New York.

___

2:30 p.m.

Zazie Beetz says she considered her role in Joker to be a career-changing and life-changing experience  and that hasnt been shaken by criticisms that the film is dangerous or irresponsible.

I was so thrilled to see a story like this and see it get shared, Beetz said Sunday before the Oscars. To be a part of it has been wonderful.

Joker is the leading nominee heading into Sunday's ceremony with 11 nods, including for best picture.

An origin story about the classic Batman villain, Joker has been a blockbuster hit but divisive with critics, some of whom worried audience members might see Joaquin Phoenixs character as an inspiration or excuse to act out. Warner Bros. was even prompted in September to declare the film is not an endorsement of real-world violence of any kind.

Its been in my heart from the beginning, said Beetz, who also praised Phoenix for calling out the industrys issues with diversity.

Joker composure Hildur Gunadottir also praised Phoenix, and recalled watching the best actor nominee listen to her score on set.

 Amanda Lee Myers (@AmandaLeeAP) on the Oscars red carpet and and Jake Seiner in New York.

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1:15 p.m.

The Oscars red carpet has started with an unwelcome guest  hard rain and a blast of cold air.

Rain was a possibility for Sunday, so the carpet is protected with a large tent. But just as stars like Billy Porter and Tamron Hall arrived, the skies above the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood opened up in a downpour.

The position of some camera crews had them just outside the tent, sending them scrambling to find tarps and plastic to protect their gear.

Oh my God the tent is leaking, said one photographer who noticed a hole over the massive Oscars sign.

Harried staff are running around with squeegees trying to bump excess water off the tent.

Temperatures were in the high 50s on Sunday, which is considered cold in Los Angeles.

The downpour didn't dampen the red carpet looks of early arrivals, including Porter. The Pose star wore a glistening, gold metallic top with a feather effect and a full skirt depicting the interior of the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace.

 Nekesa Mumbi Moody and Lindsey Bahr on the red carpet (@nekesamumbi and @ldbahr on Twitter)

___

3 a.m.

The Oscars are here, already.

After the shortest awards season in decades, the 92nd annual Academy Awards will get underway Sunday evening at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The red carpet is being rolled out two to three weeks earlier than usual in a bid to freshen up a ceremony and potentially boost ratings.

Fittingly for a fast race, a movie about a mad dash has risen to the top of the heap. After winning nearly every major precursor award, Sam Mendes 1917 is the favorite for best picture. But many believe the Korean thriller Parasite has a chance at an upset.

The ceremony begins at 8 p.m. EST, telecast live on ABC.
Republican committees in two central New York counties endorsed U.S. Rep. John Katko to run for another term in Congress.

Katko, R-Camillus, won the unanimous support of the Onondaga County Republican Committee at the party's designation meeting Friday. The Cayuga County Republican Committee followed with its endorsement on Saturday.

Onondaga County Republican Chairman Tom Dadey is confident Katko, who is seeking a fourth term as the 24th Congressional District's representative, will win re-election.

"With Democrats at all levels of government pushing out-of-touch policies, it is more important than ever that we elect representatives to fight back against costly and dangerous proposals like Medicare-for-all and bail reform," Dadey said. "Congressman Katko has always been a strong and effective leader for central New York, and the Onondaga committee stands firmly with him."

Cayuga County Republican Chairwoman Roberta Massarini said her committee is proud to stand with Katko.

"Cayuga County is proud to be represented by John Katko in Congress," she said. "He is a leader in Washington on national security, works tirelessly to end the opioid epidemic and is fighting back against far-left proposals which would cause every family in our community to pay more in taxes."

On the Onondaga County GOP's endorsement, Katko said he's proud to work on local issues, such as the economy, national security, addressing the opioid crisis and increasing access to mental health care.

After receiving the Cayuga County Republican Committee's support, he highlighted his work to ensure residents have access to clean drinking water and farmers and local manufacturers "can compete on a level playing field."

"I'm grateful to have once again earned the support of the Cayuga County Republicans, and I share the goal of Chair Massarini and the committee of growing our economy and working to create better opportunities for families in Cayuga County and throughout central New York," Katko said.

Katko already had the support of one GOP committee. The Oswego County Republican Committee endorsed Katko in November. The Wayne County GOP will meet later this month to make its endorsement.

The 24th district is being closely watched by national Democrats and Republicans. Katko has been identified as a top target for Democrats. There are three Democrats  Dana Balter, Francis Conole and Roger Misso  vying for the party's nomination.

Democratic committees will meet this week to designate a candidate in the race, but a primary is likely. The primary election will be held Tuesday, June 23.

Katko was first elected to Congress in 2014. He won re-election by a 22-point margin in 2016. In 2018, he defeated Balter by five percentage points to win another two-year term.

Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a California law that forbids California state employees from taking taxpayer-funded business trips to expos or conferences in Texas.

California adopted the sanctions in response to a 2017 Texas law allowing foster care and adoption agencies to deny services based on religious beliefs. Opponents decried the law for giving the child-placement agencies legal cover to discriminate against LGBT people and others.

Supporters said the law does not have a discriminatory effect because it requires the child placement agencies, upon refusal to work with a family, to make referrals to other organizations.

Paxton, in a statement Monday, called Californias ban economic warfare and an attempt to punish Texans for respecting the right of conscience for foster care and adoption providers.

The law California opposes does not prevent anyone from contributing to child welfare, Paxton said. Boycotting states based on nothing more than political disagreement breaks down the ability of states to serve as laboratories of democracy while still working together as one nation  the very thing our Constitution intended to prevent.

A case generally has to escalate from lower courts before it reaches the Supreme Court, but the high court has exclusive jurisdiction over civil disputes between two or more states.

For subscribers: California travel ban to Texas over LGBT adoption bill could spell trouble for tourism industry

California lawmakers passed the ban on state-funded travel in a law, which became effective at the start of 2017.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But in mid-2017, when adding Texas to the list of restricted-travel states, he said it was because California will not tolerate discrimination. The ban affects 11 states, including Alabama, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky and South Carolina; one of the states, Oklahoma, has imposed a retaliatory ban on California.

Discriminatory laws in any part of our country send all of us several steps back, Becerra said. That's why when California said we would not tolerate discrimination against LGBTQ members of our community, we meant it.

For subscribers: Texas House approves bill that would allow private adoption agencies to deny adoptions based on religion

The action Monday marks the latest battle between the largely liberal California and the red state of Texas in a long-running feud, which has lately been playing out not just in the political arena but more and more in federal court. Texas is leading the multi-state suit seeking to strike down the Affordable Care Act, for example, while California leads a coalition of states defending the ACA.

The two states are on opposite ends of lawsuits that will determine the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows children of undocumented immigrants reprieve from deportation while they study and work.

The Texas v. California legal clashes also underline the increasing influence of politics on the types of cases that the attorney general decides to pursue.

Religious liberty has become one of Paxtons passion issues throughout his tenure. Just within the past year, he has sued the city of San Antonio for rejecting Chick-fil-A from its airport because of company leaderships anti-gay marriage views. And Paxton has said he will not defend a state agency being sued for punishing a Waco judge who wont officiate same-sex marriages because of her religious beliefs.

Ricardo Martinez, CEO of Equality Texas, said the California travel ban is just one example of the economic effects that discriminatory legislation can have. He added that Texas foster children have slept in state offices for years in part because of a lack of placements.

Paxtons religious liberty excuses are a false argument to continue his clear and ongoing war on LGBTQ Texans, as evidenced by the dozens of actions he has taken against our community while in office, Martinez said.
The Iranian regime has been ridiculed for appearing to pass off a NASA fancy dress costume as one of their own spacesuits.

Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi, Tehran's information and communications technology minister, last week tweeted a picture of the silver outfit with the words: 'astronaut costume #brightfuture'.

But social media users instantly accused him of flaunting a child's costume which can be bought on Amazon for 20, and simply tearing off the NASA badges.

Closer inspection of the costume does appear to show the faint outline where the logos have been removed.

The spacesuit tweeted by the Iranian minister (left) bares a striking resemblance to a NASA fancy dress costume which can be bought on Amazon (right). Closer inspection of the costume does appear to show the faint outline where the logos have been ripped off

They are exactly the same shape and placement of an Underwraps product sold on Amazon as 'astronaut silver child space explorer costume'.

Other than expunging the NASA badges, the only noticeable difference is the Iranian flag sowed on to the sleeve.

It is unclear if Jahromi was trying to pass off the costume as a genuine cutting-edge spacesuit or just an Iranian fancy dress costume, but he was still scorned by Twitter uses.

One person, who tweeted the picture of the Amazon product, wrote: 'The lack of a 'brain in the Iranian regime has been a constant problem! Minister of Communications buys Halloween costumes and removes the NASA logo, stitches the Islamic Republic flag on it and seeks to frame it as the regime's achievement!'

Exposed as replicating the American space agency design would be embarrassing for Iran, which is locked in a bitter cold war with the Washington.

Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi, Tehran's information and communications technology minister, last week tweeted a picture of the silver outfit with the words: 'astronaut costume #brightfuture'

Social media users instantly accused him of flaunting a child's costume which can be bought on Amazon for 20, and simply stitching the NASA badges

It comes after a major setback to Tehran's space program when a rocket failed to launch a satellite into space.

The scuppered rocket launch happened yesterday at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran's Semnan province, some 145 miles southeast of Tehran.

A Simorgh, or 'Phoenix', rocket could not put the Zafar 1 communications satellite into orbit due to a low speed, state TV reported.

Defence Ministry space program spokesman Ahmad Hosseini said: 'Stage-1 and stage-2 motors of the carrier functioned properly and the satellite was successfully detached from its carrier, but at the end of its path it did not reach the required speed for being put in the orbit.'

Hosseini still sought to portray the failure as a 'remarkable' achievement for its space program.

Previous Simorgh launches of the 80-ton satellite carrier suffered other failures.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The nation's third next-generation GPS III satellite  and the first delivered by Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) to the new U.S. Space Force -- has arrived in Florida for an expected April launch.

On Feb. 5, the third Lockheed Martin-built GPS III space vehicle (GPS III SV03) was shipped to Cape Canaveral from the company's GPS III Processing Facility near Denver aboard a massive Air Force C-17 aircraft traveling from Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado. In keeping with its tradition of nicknaming satellites after famous explorers, the GPS III team nicknamed GPS III SV03 "Columbus" after the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus.

GPS III SV03 is the latest of up to 32 next-generation GPS III/GPS III Follow-On (GPS IIIF) satellites Lockheed Martin has designed and is building to help the Space Force modernize today's GPS constellation with new technology and capabilities.

"Every day, more than four billion civil, commercial and military users rely on the Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) services provided by 31 GPS satellites launched since 1997," said Tonya Ladwig, Lockheed Martin's Program Manager for GPS III. "We are excited to help the Space Force refresh the constellation to ensure U.S. and allied forces always have the best technology and that the U.S. Global Positioning System remains the gold standard for PNT."

GPS III is the most powerful and resilient GPS satellite ever put on orbit. Developed with an entirely new design for U.S. and allied forces, GPS III has three times greater accuracy and up to eight times improved anti-jamming capabilities over any previous GPS satellites in the constellation. GPS III is also the first GPS satellite to broadcast the new L1C civil signal, which is shared by other international global navigation satellite systems, like Galileo, to improve future connectivity worldwide for commercial and civilian users.

GPS III was intentionally designed to evolve with new technology and changing mission needs. The satellite's evolutionary modular design will allow new "GPS IIIF" capabilities to start being added at the 11th satellite. These will include a fully digital navigation payload, a Regional Military Protection capability, an accuracy-enhancing Laser Retroreflector Array, and a Search & Rescue payload.

Meanwhile, GPS III satellites are beginning to join the constellation. On Jan. 13, 2020, the first Lockheed Martin-built GPS III satellite, GPS III SV01 ("Vespucci"), was set "healthy and active" by the 2nd Space Operations Squadron (2 SOPS) at Schriever Air Force Base, in Colorado. 2 SOPS is now using the GPS III Contingency Operations (COps)-upgraded OCS ground control system to operate both the new GPS III and previously launched GPS satellites.

GPS III SV02 ("Magellan"), launched on Aug. 22, 2019, has completed its on-orbit testing and is currently awaiting its turn for integration into the constellation. GPS III SV03 has now been shipped to the Cape and on Jan. 21, 2020, the Space Force called up GPS III SV04 for a launch later this summer. GPS III SV05-09 are now in various stages of assembly and test at Lockheed Martin's commercial-like large satellite production line for GPS III satellites near Denver.

The company is expected to soon complete its critical design review with the Space Force to begin production on the first two GPS IIIF satellites under contract.

"It's an exciting time across the GPS mission as we bring together the best of our space, ground, and operations systems to help the United States Space Force modernize this critical national capability," commented Johnathon Caldwell, Lockheed Martin's vice president for Navigation Systems.

Lockheed Martin is proud to be a part of the U.S. Space Force's GPS III team. The GPS III team is led by the Production Corps, Medium Earth Orbit Division, at the Space Force's Space and Missile Systems Center, at Los Angeles Air Force Base. 2 SOPS, at Schriever Air Force Base, manages and operates the GPS constellation for both civil and military users.

For additional GPS III information, photos and video visit: www.lockheedmartin.com/gps.

About Lockheed Martin

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 110,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.

SOURCE Lockheed Martin

Related Links

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By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Since assuming power in 2018, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has proven to be more hardliner and pro-occupation than his predecessors and has crushed all hopes for potential breakthrough in talks over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

He had earlier called for annexation of Armenian-occupied Karabakh and his defence minister had threatened to capture more Azerbaijani territories in case the war resumes between the two countries.

Pashinyan recently questioned Madrid principles - in particular the provision calling for the return of the Armenian-occupied territories to be returned to Azerbaijan. He equated the Madrid principles with the legacy of former Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan.

During a press conference in Armenias Kapan region on January 25, Pashinyan noted that recently a publication appeared in the press, which cited excerpts from a document that was on the negotiating table on the Karabakh settlement, and which Serzh Sargsyan left as an inheritance.

He dwelled on the legacy, which was published, and about which there were no rebuttals from the previous Armenian government. In particular, the return of seven regions to Azerbaijan - Aghdam, Fizuli, Jabrail, Zangilan, Gubadli, Kalbajar and Lachin with the condition of providing direct ground communication between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. In addition, settlers must leave five regions, the Azerbaijani authorities would gain control of these areas after peacekeeping forces were deployed with the withdrawal of all armed forces. It was also planned that until the conflict was fully resolved, Nagorno-Karabakh should be given special status.

Pashinyan called on all "candidates for presidency" in occupied Karabakh to declare whether this text suits them or not.

The former "prime minister", now a "presidential candidate" for the separatist entity in Karabakh Arayik Harutyunyan was the first to respond to Pashinyans appeal. In particular, he said that such an option to resolve the conflict is "unacceptable."

He even added that immediately after the so-called "elections", work will begin on the development of all adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh Azerbaijani regions and their settlement.

Ashot Gulyan, the "speaker of the parliament" of the regime also spoke out in defense of the thesis we will not return an inch of land. He considers the "independence" of Nagorno-Karabakh as the minimum goal, while the main task is to "unite" with Armenia. Gulyan added that one cannot even discuss the issue of returning territories to Azerbaijan.

The only opposition candidate in the "elections" Hayk Khanumyan, also said that the return of lands to Azerbaijan cannot be negotiated.

Another "candidate", Ruslan Israelyan, joined the discussions, who noted that all occupied Azerbaijani territories "belong to the people of Nagorno-Karabakh." He believes the negotiations should not be based on mutual concessions, and Azerbaijan must "recognized" the "independence" of Nagorno-Karabakh with adjacent territories.

It should be noted that the Madrid principle is the current negotiating framework under which discussions, brokered by the Minsk Group of the OSCE, have been going on for more than a decade. The talks aim to bring to an end the conflict that has now lasted more than three decades over Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but which was occupied by Armenian forces since the two sides signed a ceasefire in 1994.

---

Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Naftogaz mulls gas purchases at stock exchange by late February

22:10, 10.02.20 986

The target minimum daily purchase volume is set at 10 million cubic meters, with a lot size of 1 mcm.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 06:37:17|Editor: yan

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- The White House said on Monday that President Donald Trump will pay a two-day visit to India in late February, his first trip to the South Asian country since his presidency.

Trump, accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, will visit India on February 24-25, during which they will travel to New Delhi and Ahmedabad, a city in Indian Prime Minister Modi's home state of Gujarat, said the White House in a statement.

The two leaders, during a phone call over the weekend, agreed to use the trip to further strengthen the bilateral ties, the statement added.

Trump's visit comes as protests against a controversial new citizenship law in India linger on. The law, which was passed in December, was criticized as contrary to secular principles enshrined in India's constitution as it excludes Muslims.

Modi paid a week-long trip to America in late September, during which Trump shared a stage with him at a Houston rally.
By Darragh Murphy

For the first time in Fine Gael history, Waterford failed to elect a TD in a general election after a surge of left-leaning transfers handed the fourth and final seat to Green Party newcomer Marc O Cathasaigh.

In the early hours of this morning, O Cathasaigh joined Fianna Fail's Mary Butler and Independent Matt Shanahan, who were also elected on the seventh and final count at Waterford IT.

They joined Sinn Feins David Cullinane, who was elected many counts before after topping the poll with with 20,569 first-preference votes  twice the quota - recording the largest first-preference vote in Waterford history in the process.

The Greens' Marc O Cathasaigh, a teacher from Tramore, began the day several hundred votes behind Fine Gael candidates John Cummins and Damien Geoghegan, but a surge of transfers from People Before Profit's Una Dunphy helped Cllr O Cathasaigh, who first came to prominence in the green wave of the 2019 local elections.

"It's mainly nervous exhaustion at this stage," O Cathasaigh said as he celebrated a surprise result for the Greens. "The processing of any finer options will happen later on. We have upwards of 25,000 doors canvassed, all day every day. We left nothing out on the pitch. It'll take a while for it to sink in, but the vote today was Left - and it stayed Left - and that helped me.

"It's been a very hectic last 12 months. It's been a steep learning curve in the council - the county development plan is coming down the tracks and Green thinking is essential for forward planning. We have to put climate action and biodiversity front and centre.

"We may have tripled our mandate. The main story is the rise of Sinn Fein, but there's also the rise of the Green Party vote. Last time out we narrowly broke 2% nationally. This time out we comfortable broke 7%."

The seventh and last count saw O Cathasaigh see off a late challenge from Fine Gael's John Cummins, who picked up 2,597 out of Damien Geoghegan's 5,549 votes - a big internal transfer - but not enough. Fine Gael is without a Waterford Dail seat for the first time in its history. West Waterford is also left without any TD, for the first time since the 1940s, as the combined Sinn Fein and Green wave unseated Fine Gael.
Mainland China has reported another rise in cases of the new virus after a sharp decline the previous day, while the number of deaths grow by 97 to 908, with at least two more outside the country

Beijing: Mainland China has reported another rise in cases of the new virus after a sharp decline the previous day, while the number of deaths grow by 97 to 908, with at least two more outside the country.

On Monday, China's health ministry said another 3,062 cases had been reported over the previous 24 hours, raising the Chinese mainland's total to 40,171.

Earlier, France closed two schools after five British visitors contracted the virus at a ski resort. Malaysia, South Korea and Vietnam reported one new case each. Meanwhile, the mother of a physician who died last week in the hardest-hit city of Wuhan said she wants an explanation from authorities who reprimanded her son for warning about the virus.

Monday's rise was a turnaround from a significant reduction in new cases reported Sunday, 2,656, down by about 20 percent from the 3,399 new cases reported in the previous 24-hour period. That had prompted optimism that the joint control mechanism of different regions and the strict prevention and control measures have worked, in the words of a spokesman for the National Health Commission, Mi Feng.

Also Sunday, new cases were reported in Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, the UK and Spain. More than 360 cases have been confirmed outside mainland China.

Dramatic reductions in the pace of the disease's spread should begin this month if containment works, Dr. Ian Lipkin, director of Columbia Universitys Center for Infection and Immunity, said in an online news conference on Sunday. He assisted the World Health Organization and Chinese authorities during the outbreak of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome.

Warmer weather will reduce the virus's ability to spread and bring people out of enclosed spaces where it is transmitted more easily, Lipkin said. However, he said, if new cases spike as people return to work after the Lunar New Year holiday, which was extended to reduce the risk of spreading the virus, then well know were in trouble."

The new UK case was the nation's fourth, while Spain reported its second, as European authorities sought to contain the spread of the virus by tracking down people who came into contact with those infected.

Both of the new cases were acquired during trips to France, officials said. The new UK case is a known contact of a previously confirmed case there, the countrys Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said, adding that experts "continue to work hard tracing patient contacts."

In Spain, authorities were working to identify everyone who came into contact with a British man whose case was detected in Mallorca, a popular vacation island in the Mediterranean Sea, Spain's National Microbiology Center said.

The fatality toll has passed the 774 people believed to have died of SARS, another viral outbreak that originated in China. The total of 37,198 confirmed cases of the new virus vastly exceeds the 8,098 sickened by SARS.

Japan reported six more cases among 3,700 passengers and crew aboard the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess, bringing the number of infections on the vessel to 69. The new cases are an American passenger in her 70s and five crew members  four Filipinos and a Ukrainian. South Korea reported a new case in a 73-year-old woman whose relatives visited Guangdong province in southern China, raising its total to 27. The family members, a 51-year-old South Korean man and a 37-year-old Chinese woman, were confirmed infected later Sunday.

Vietnam reported its 14th case. The Health Ministry said she is a 55-year-old woman in Vinh Phuc province, northwest of Hanoi, where six earlier patients were found to be infected. Malaysia reported its 17th case. The 65-year-old woman's son-in-law was diagnosed earlier with the virus. Spain confirmed its second case in Mallorca, a popular vacation island in the Mediterranean. The first case was a German tourist diagnosed a week ago in the Canary Islands off northwest Africa.

The 1,800 passengers and 1,800 crew members of the cruise ship Dream World were released from quarantine after Hong Kong authorities said tests of the crew found no infections. The ship was isolated after eight mainland Chinese passengers were diagnosed with the disease last month. Port official Leung Yiu-hon said some passengers with symptoms tested negative but there was no need to test all of them because they had no contact with the infected Chinese passengers.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong began enforcing a 14-day quarantine for arrivals from mainland China. The territory's chief executive, Carrie Lam, has refused demands by some hospital workers and others to seal the border completely. The mother of a physician who died last week in Wuhan said in a video released Sunday she wants an explanation from authorities who reprimanded him for warning about the virus in December.

The death of Li Wenliang, 34, prompted an outpouring of public anger at Wuhan officials. Some postings left on his microblog account said officials should face consequences for mistreating Li. My child was summoned by the Wuhan Police Bureau at midnight. He was asked to sign an admonishment notice," Lu Shuyun said in the video distributed by Pear Video, an online broadcast platform. "We wont give up if they dont give us an explanation.

The video shows flowers in her home with a note that says, Hero is immortal. Thank you.

A 1,500-bed hospital built in two weeks in Wuhan, the city of 11 million people at the center of the outbreak, accepted its first patients on Saturday, the government announced. Another 1,000-bed hospital built in 10 days opened last week.

The government of the surrounding province of Hubei it will pay subsidies to farmers, other food producers and supermarkets and give tax breaks to companies that donate to anti-virus work, the official Xinhua News Agency said. It said overtime for employees of companies making medical supplies will be subsidized.

China's leaders are trying to keep food flowing to crowded cities despite anti-disease controls and to quell fears of possible shortages and price spikes following panic buying after most access to Wuhan and nearby cities was cut off.

Two more flights from Wuhan carrying American citizens, permanent residents and close relatives landed in the United States, the State Department said. A spokesman said more than 800 Americans have been evacuated from Wuhan.

A plane landed Sunday in Britain carrying 200 people from Wuhan. Officials said Britain's second evacuation flight carried 105 British nationals and 95 citizens of other European countries and family members. The passengers will be quarantined at a hotel for 14 days.

Dozens of repatriated Brazilians, some waving small Brazilian flags, landed Sunday morning at an airbase in the state of Goias, where they will spend the next 18 days in quarantine. A charter flight carrying Filipinos from Wuhan arrived in the Philippines. The 29 adults and one infant will be quarantined for 14 days.

Elsewhere in China, the industrial metropolis of Chongqing in the southwest told residential communities to close their gates and check visitors for fever. The government said the spread of the virus through family gatherings had been reported in Chongqing but gave no details.

France closed two schools and tried to reassure vacationers in the Alps after five Britons contracted the virus at a ski resort. France stepped up a travel alert, recommending against all visits to China except for imperative reasons. Italy recommended students returning from China stay home from school for two weeks after the government reported three cases.

The WHO director-general said it will send experts to China starting Monday or Tuesday. Asked whether that will include members of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus replied, "We hope so."
Even if you're not an avid royal watcher, you've certainly heard by now that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are stepping away from their official duties in order to live a new life away from dear old England. And for the time being, they're also stepping into a new home: a gorgeous $14 million mansion on Vancouver Island in Canada!

According to the Mirror, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are settling in at a 10,000-square-foot estate on the Saanich Inlet in British Columbia. Known as Mille Fleurs ("thousand flowers" in French), it is reportedly owned by a Russian oligarch.

The estate features eight bedrooms, a wine room, double-height living room, and game room with wet bar. For late-night snacks, the home comes equipped with a pizza oven, and the royals can snuggle up on cool Canadian nights by the 17th-century fireplace imported from France.

The outbuildings include a summer house and a 2,000-square-foot guest cottage, which means there's ample room for Meghan's mom, Doria Ragland, who will be a big help with uber-adorable baby Archie during her visits.

Rocky shores and pretty fir trees guard the waterfront estate. Mark GOODNOW / AMARK GOODNOW, Getty Images

Why Meghan and Harry chose Canada as their new home

For a while, it seemed as if the couple might pick a home in sunny California, but the Great White North won out in the end (it's part of the British Commonwealth, after all). There's no word yet on whether they plan to purchase this property or simply rent it and try the area out.

When Harry and Meghan are back in the United Kingdom, they'll continue to drop their bags at Frogmore Cottage. And while their Canadian digs appear to be a bit more modest than Frogmore, in many ways, experts say, it's actually better than the old pad.

For one, it's surrounded by mountains, miles of hiking trails, lakes, glaciers, and waterfalls. Vancouver Island is home to whales, harbor seals, and temperate weather that beats the reliable drizzle they're escaping in England.

And although this house might ooze Old World charm, it's actually not so old.

"The house is built in the style of a European estate, and it's only 10 years old, so it should have all the major amenities the couple require without needing to upgrade other than personal preferences," says Reba Haas, a real estate agent with Team Reba at Re/Max Metro Eastside in Seattle.

"This place is definitely right for the royal couple," says Jeanine Boiko, a real estate agent with Exit Realty Dreams in Massapequa, NY. "Talk about pomp and circumstance!"

Canada makes great sense for Meghan personally, as she lived in Toronto for six years while working on the TV series "Suits" and she has close friends in the same city.

Plus, "Meghan and Harry are near Victoria and also just a helicopter ride away from the city of Vancouver with access to flights all over the world," says Haas.

And Harry might feel surprisingly at home here, too.

"I bet this part of the world feels like where Harry grew up," says Haas. "And it's certainly got some of the most stunning landscapes you can find."

__________

Watch: Take a Peek at Meghan Markle's Former L.A. Home, Now on the Market

__________

How Meghan and Harry will maintain their privacy

The massive estate sits on acreage that juts into Saanich Inlet, which is about 30 miles north of Victoria, British Columbia's capital. The entrance is gated, of course, and security cameras surround the property. Meghan and Harry took additional privacy measures by covering the bars of the front gate with a tarp. However, Haas points out, "they'll likely have to deal with drones near this property."

Another exposed area is the waterfront: "There's water on three sides, which might present privacy problems as the paparazzi could intrude by boat, " says Boiko.

That said, water has its upsides, too. "From a security point of view, it's excellent," Boiko adds. "If the beach has limited access, it's definitely safer. And living in Canada means they'll probably have fewer people bugging them than if they had chosen the U.S."

The post Why Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's New Home Trumps the Old appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.
Award-winning filmmaker Bong Joon-ho's formula for success is pretty simple. According to an interview with The Telegraph, his creative secret is leading a "very simple lifestyle," which involves drinking coffee, writing and not meeting a lot of people.

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The strategy seems to have paid off. The writer and director took home four Oscars for the film "Parasite" at the 92nd Academy Awards on Sunday in the categories of best picture, director, international feature film and original screenplay.

Bong, who studied sociology and starting making films in college, closed out awards season on a high note after completing a nearly year-long media tour surrounding his dark comedy about two South Korean families on opposites ends of the wealth spectrum.

Long before the director's major wins, Bong learned the importance of staying focused on his work and true to his creative vision, even under pressure from other powerful figures in his field.

While working on his first major U.S. release "Snowpiercer," Bong reportedly came to a disagreement with producer Harvey Weinstein about the action-thriller's editing. When the Weinstein Company bought the movie's distribution rights in 2012, the producer demanded roughly 25 minutes be cut out of the film.

"It was a doomed encounter," Bong told Vulture in an October 2019 interview. "I'm someone who until that point had only ever released the 'director's cut' of my films. I've never done an edit I didn't want to do."

After months of back and forth, the director was able to claim one small victory. He told Weinstein that he didn't want to remove a scene where a train guard guts a fish in front of rebels, as a show of intimidation. While Weinstein reportedly insisted it be cut, Bong attempted a Hail Mary and told him, "Harvey, this shot means something to me ... It's something personal. My father was a fisherman. I'm dedicating this shot to my father."

The producer ultimately backed off, saying that he understood retaining the detail because family is important.

"It was a f------ lie," Bong told Vulture. "My father was not a fisherman."

After news of the conflict became public, Weinstein moved the project to the company's independent arm and gave the film a limited release. While "Snowpiercer" didn't get wider publicity despite a blockbuster cast and story, Bong said it was worth being able to present his director's cut to audiences.

Bong took these lessons to his next venture in 2017, when he worked with Netflix and a budget of $57 million to direct "Okja," an action-adventure film about a Korean girl who raises a genetically modified super-pig.

The director's decision to work with Netflix wasn't well received by everyone, however. When the Netflix title card appeared ahead of "Okja's" screening at the Cannes Film Festival that year, several audience members booed, stoking the discussion as to whether the streaming giant deserved to be considered a part of the film industry. (It's unclear whether the reactions were due to technical difficulties with the screening, or as a response to the Netflix logo.)

For his part, Bong says he made the deal with Netflix specifically because the studio gave him complete creative control. Despite the Netflix debate, Bong's work was critically acclaimed. "Okja's" second Cannes screening received a four-minute standing ovation, and it was named by The New York Times as one of the most influential movies of the decade.

Now with his latest work on "Parasite," Bong has demonstrated that trusting his creative instincts pays off. The film became the director's first to gross over $100 million worldwide, and it's earned him awards from the Academy, British Academy Film Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Cannes Film Festival and more.

During his Oscars acceptance speech for best director, Bong thanked his fellow nominees for their work and inspiration. He specifically recognized and quoted Martin Scorsese: "When I was young and studying cinema, there was a saying that I carved deep into my heart, which is that, 'The most personal is the most creative.'"

According to Insider, Bong revealed at a London screening of "Parasite" that the film was indeed inspired by true events  at least to an extent. The film follows the Kim family, who live in a cramped basement apartment, as they plot to become employed by the wealthy Park family and infiltrate the lavish household one person at a time.

When he was younger, "my girlfriend was teaching English to a boy in a wealthy family and he needed a math tutor, so she introduced me to the family," Bong told the Q&A audience. This is the same way the son of the Kims becomes a tutor for the daughter of the Parks, which kicks off events in the suspenseful home invasion plot.

"I worked with her in that house, but the story ends there, we didn't do anything bad," Bong added. "I was fired after two months. That girlfriend, however, is now my wife."

While Bong has reveled in "Parasite's" historic win  it's the first non-English film to win best picture  the first Korean filmmaker to win best director said he shares the honor with fellow nominees Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Sam Mendes and Todd Phillips.

"When people in the U.S. were not familiar with my films, Quentin always put my films on his list," Bong said. "And Todd and Sam, great directors that I admire. If the Academy allows, I would like to get a Texas chainsaw, split the award into five and share it with all of you. Thank you. I will drink until next morning, thank you."

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The 2019 winners of the Art of Building competition, run by the Chartered Institute of Building, have been announced.

Photographer Pedro Luis Ajuriaguerra Saiz took a nighttime shot of the Hemisferic science museum in Valencia, Spain -- and the stunning result not only made the building appear to be a giant, translucent fish with glowing organs visible inside, but also won the Judges' Prize in the Art of Building Photographer of the Year contest.

Fittingly, the photo is simply titled "Fish."

Take a look at the winners from the competition.

(Click on the images for a full-screen resolution)

Fish A nighttime shot of the Hemisferic science museum in Valencia, Spain ."Due to the reflection of the water at night, the architecture of the buildings shows us the figure of a fish." Photograph: Pedro Luis Ajuriaguerra Saiz/CIOB19

Skywards The House of the Black Madonna is a cubist building in the "Old Town" area of Prague, Czech Republic. The building was designed and built between 1911 and 1912 . Josef Gocar built the house as the first example of cubist architecture in Prague, and it remains probably the most celebrated." Photograph: Debdatta Chakraborty/CIOB19

At Work "This photo, taken in Abu Dhabi, is an example of needful interaction between humans and buildings. Without the busy people cleaning the giant glass frames of the tower, the building would look quite ugly." Photograph: Volker Sander/CIOB19

Metrostation This shot of a train station in Moscow won the competition's public choice award. The photographer said that the station, pictured, is one of the newer ones on the network and that it has been built in a 'futuristic style'. Photograph: Alexandr Bormotin/CIOB19

Colourful Mixture Taken in Hamburg, Germany, this picture shows the peaceful coexistence of old and new architecture. The buildings dont fit together, but they are not fighting against each other. Photograph: Volker Sander/CIOB19

Bank This dramatic shot, called Bank, was captured in London by photographer Jonathan Walland. He explained: 'I use minimalism as a method of enabling clarity. My process eliminates distraction, keeping the viewer focused on the purest elements of photography; form, light, texture and the way these components amalgamate'. Photograph: Jonathan Walland/CIOB19

Eiffel Bridge This image was taken in Portugal: "People were waiting for the street festival Senhora da Agonia, one of the biggest in Portugal. From the street, I saw these beautiful silhouettes, the bridge, the green crosses and the building behind in harmony." Photograph: Jose Pessoa Neto/CIOB19

Kunststuck Pegova Olya shot this fascinating picture showing a building covered in a faux facade in Russia. She said: 'In the past, faux facades were rare and temporary interventions in urban spaces, but today they have become a part of the city landscape, only being changed from time to time'. Photograph: Pegova Olya/CIOB19

Sea and Humans This image was captured in Peru. The photographer said: 'The intervention of man in nature is not always bad. The photo shows the tranquillity of nature and a balcony from where people can appreciate it better'. Photograph: David Martin Huamani Bedoya/CIOB19

Bexhill Promenade Shelter The promenade shelter is an elegant and appealing solution to a mundane problem. Photograph: Adam Regan/CIOB19

Muralla Roja "When I photographed La Muralla Roja, (a postmodern apartment complex in Calpe, Spain) it felt like being in a De Chirico painting, for the dream-like feel of the place. This image encapsulates for me the sense of light and colour in photography that I enjoy most, and which are important to my work." Photograph: Agnese Sanvito/CIOB19

Axonometry This is an aerial view of one of the underground entrances to the National Forum of Music in Wroclaw, Poland. It is an excellent example of axonometry in architecture. Photograph: Grzegorz Tatar/CIOB19
Sat-fishers.com scored 41 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

This CoolSocial report was updated on 9 Jan 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

The total number of people who shared the sat-fishers homepage on StumbleUpon. The total number of people who shared the sat-fishers homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the sat-fishers homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if sat-fishers has a Facebook fan page). This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the sat-fishers homepage on Twitter + the total number of sat-fishers followers (if sat-fishers has a Twitter account). The total number of people who shared the sat-fishers homepage on Delicious.

Basic Information

PAGE TITLE Sat Fishers community -   DESCRIPTION     ,    .            KEYWORDS  , , , grabing, grabbing, skynet,   , , , sat, fishsat, sovietsky, BDADataEx OTHER KEYWORDS



The title found in the head section of the homepage. CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage.

Domain and Server

DOCTYPE XHTML 1.0 Transitional CHARSET AND LANGUAGE Russian WINDOWS-1251Russian DETECTED LANGUAGE Russian Russian SERVER Apache (PHP/5.4.0-3) OPERATIVE SYSTEM Linux Linux

Character set and language of the site. The language of sat-fishers.com as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) Operative System running on the server. Type of server and offered services.

Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world.

Referring domains for sat-fishers.com by MajesticSeo. High values are a sign of site importance over the web and on web engines.

Facebook link

FACEBOOK PAGE LINK NOT FOUND

The URL of the found Facebook page. The type of Facebook page. The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages. A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file. The total number of people who like website Facebook page. The total number of people who tagged or talked about website Facebook page in the last 7-10 days.

Twitter account link

TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND
In a move to help China fight the Coronavirus, the Centre on Monday lifted the ban on the export of all personal protection equipment including clothing and masks to China, with certain exceptions. The move comes even as the death toll from the epidemic rose to 908 and infected more than 40,000.

As per the new notification, India can export disposable and surgical masks and gloves. However, a ban on the export of NBR (nitrile butadiene rubber) gloves and N95 masks will remain in place.

As per the notification, "The items such as surgical masks/ disposable masks (2/3 ply) and all gloves except NBR gloves are allowed freely for export. However, the export of all other Personal Protection Equipment including N-95 and other Personal Protection Equipment accompanying masks and gloves in the exceptions... shall remain prohibited."

India had on January 31, banned exports of all kinds of personal protection equipment, including clothing and masks used to protect people from airborne particles.

"Exports of all varieties of personal protection equipment including clothing and masks used to protect the wearer from air borne particles and/or any other respiratory masks or any other personal protective clothing (including coveralls and N95 masks)...Is hereby prohibited with immediate effect till further orders," the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) had said in a notification.

In India, over 1.97 lakh passengers travelling in 1,818 flights have been screened for novel coronavirus, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Monday. Issuing a suo motu statement in Lok Sabha, Vardhan also said that screening of passengers has been initiated at 12 major seaports and all minor ports in the country to identify passengers and crew members coming from China and to isolate them in case they are found symptomatic.

"In our country, three positive cases have been reported so far from Kerala. All these cases have a travel history from Wuhan, China. They have been isolated and are reported to be clinically stable," Vardhan said.

So far, 1,510 samples have been tested of which 1,507 were found negative. Three samples have tested positive and 27 samples are under process.

China reported the outbreak of novel coronavirus on December 31, 2019. A total of 354 confirmed cases have been reported outside China from 27 countries (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan).
Photo: Hush Naidoo/Unsplash

Tampa's health care industry is experiencing strong job growth. Local employers posted 484 new jobs over the past week and 1,084 in the last month, more than any other local industry, according to ZipRecruiter, a leading online employment marketplace.

The health care industry also came in third in terms of local employers adding new jobs. In the past month, 211 companies listed open jobs for Tampa-based workers in that area.

Top companies hiring locally in health care include Assisting Hands - Tampa Bay, DACCO and Healthcare Staffing Professionals, Inc. According to one of Assisting Hands recent job postings, "Our agency offers flexible scheduling, competitive pay and a friendly, knowledgeable support staff."

Jobs posted by Assisting Hands in the past month in Tampa included certified nursing assistants.

This story was created automatically using local jobs data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
Performance

10 February 2020

Performance results were mixed but mostly steady across the hostel markets in Amsterdam, Berlin, Edinburgh and London, according to 2019 data from STR.

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London

London hostels filled more than eight of every 10 beds on average, reaching 83.8% occupancy for the yearthe highest among the four markets and a 2.2% increase from 2018. London also reported increases in average daily rate (ADR), revenue per available bed (RevPAB) and total revenue per available bed (TrevPAB).

"While the occupancy level is impressive, it is not unusual for London accommodations to achieve such occupancy," said Patrick Mayock, STR's Senior Director, Research & Development. "For comparison, Midscale and Economy class hotels in London exhibited similar occupancy at 84.9%. Regardless of accommodation type, London has shown the ability to overcome the back-and-forth of Brexit to achieve positive performance."

Photo: STR

Amsterdam

Amsterdam led the four markets with an absolute ADR of EUR35.31 per bed, which was more than EUR11.00 higher than the other three markets, and the highest absolute RevPAB (EUR28.14).

"Amsterdam rounded out the year with modest growth, which is not surprising given the measures the city has taken to curb over-tourism," Mayock said. "The city placed a moratorium on both hostel and hotel development and encouraged visitors to stay outside of the city center. That limited supply growth in a high demand environment leads to stronger pricing power for industry operators. What also stands out for Amsterdam is a high TrevPAB, which suggests that operators are driving additional revenue through amenities."

Berlin

While Berlin ranked behind the previously mentioned markets in most absolute values, the city's year-over-year increases in ADR (+4.5%), RevPAB (+3.9%) and TrevPAB (+4.1%) were the highest.

"Berlin's gap between RevPAB and TrevPAB was just EUR3.61, suggesting that the market's amenity offerings are not as robust as Amsterdam, for instance. However, the market was able to grow bed rates, and subsequently RevPAB and TrevPAB, even though occupancy was down 0.6% for the year."

Edinburgh

Edinburgh hostels recorded decreases in each of the KPIs. RevPAB was down 3.3%, but an increase in other revenues softened TrevPAB's fall to only -0.4%.

"Fortunately for the Scottish capital, other revenue saved the day," Mayock said. "Considering occupancy and ADR fell nearly 2% each, we can be optimistic about the relatively flat comparison in TrevPAB."

2020 projections

"The popularity of Amsterdam and London as travel destinations, along with the ongoing political climate in both markets, make them interesting markets to watch moving forward," Mayock noted. "Both markets could experience the impact of the U.K.'s recent exit from the European Union, while the tourist tax in Amsterdam may over-impact budget accommodations. Edinburgh will continue to experience the effects of high hotel supply growth, which might take away from hostel demand. With its vibrant nightlife and rates relatively lower than other European cities, Berlin should anticipate slowed growth."
Former White House National Security Advisor Michael Flynn leaves the Prettyman Federal Courthouse following a sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court December 18, 2018 in Washington, DC.

A federal judge on Monday delayed  once again  the sentencing of President Donald Trump's former national security advisor, Michael Flynn.

Flynn had been scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 27 for lying to FBI agents about his contacts with former Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the weeks between the 2016 presidential election and Trump's inauguration.

Judge Emmet Sullivan canceled that sentencing in his order Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. Sullivan did not immediately set a new sentencing date.

On Sunday, prosecutors asked Sullivan to give them more time to reply to Flynn's pending bid to withdraw his guilty plea.

Prosecutors also asked the judge to confirm that Flynn had waived his attorney-client privilege with his prior defense team when he accused them of giving him "ineffective" legal representation.

"It is well-settled that a defendant waives his attorney-client privilege by filing a motion to vacate a conviction based on ineffective assistance of counsel," the prosecutors wrote.

If Sullivan approves that request, then prosecutors could ask Flynn's former attorneys for testimony to help them fight Flynn's withdrawal effort.

Sullivan ordered the prosecutors to file a status report on Feb. 20 evaluating Flynn's claim that his old lawyers had been ineffective. The judge also ordered both parties to hash out the terms of a proposal to waive Flynn's attorney-client privilege with his past legal team by Feb. 24.

It is far from clear that Flynn's new attorney would agree to any waiver of confidentiality with his former lawyers. On Sunday, that current lawyer, Sidney Powell, said, "It is imperative that Mr. Flynn have time to brief the issues raised by the government's new motion regarding the attorney-client privilege."

If no agreement can be reached, Sullivan ordered that Flynn must file an opposing brief by Feb. 24, and the prosecutors must submit their reply no more than a week later.

Flynn was originally set to be sentenced in December 2018, a year after he pleaded guilty as part of then-special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe.

That sentencing hearing was aborted after Sullivan implied that Flynn might be sentenced to jail, as opposed to mere probation. The delay in sentencing gave Flynn more time to complete agreed-to cooperation with Mueller's team, which Sullivan had suggested could weigh in his favor when he was ultimately sentenced.

Months later, Flynn dropped his team from D.C.-based law firm Covington & Burling, and hired Powell, an attorney who has been deeply critical of Mueller generally and the prosecution of Flynn specifically.

Powell for months in legal filings laid the groundwork for Flynn's formal request to withdraw his guilty plea.

Legal observers say Flynn faces long odds in getting Sullivan to allow him to retract his plea.
A free, public Chattanooga premiere of "The Six Triple Eight," will be held Thursday at 3 p.m. at the UTC University Center Auditorium. The award-winning documentary highlights the only all African American, all-female unit to deploy overseas during World War II.

The 50-minute documentary will be followed by a Q&A with the following subject matter experts: Jim Theres, executive writer, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, producer, "The Six Triple Eight"; Colonel Edna Cummings (Ret.), U.S. Army, producer, "The Six Triple Eight"; Brian Autry, interpretive ranger, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park; and Beverly Foster, president, Walker County Georgia African American Historical and Alumni Association.

In February, 1945, hundreds of Americas highly skilled and educated women, many from the Southeast, shipped out to Europe for the opportunity of a lifetime. The United States Armys 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was the only all-female, all-African American unit to serve overseas during World War II. Their story began right outside of Chattanooga, at the Third Army Womens Army Corps Training Center at Fort Oglethorpe.

The 6888ths story, long forgotten, is now the subject of an award- winning documentary called The Six Triple Eight. The 50-minute film will premiere in Chattanooga on Thursday at 3 p.m. at UTC's Center Auditorium.

The screening, which is free and open to the public, will be followed by a Q&A with film producer, James W. Theres, producer Edna Cummings, Colonel, Ret., U.S. Army, National Park Service interpretive ranger Brian Autry, and Beverly Foster, president of the Walker County, Georgia African American Historical and Alumni Association.



The event is sponsored by UTC, Groove 93 and Power 94 FM, and the 6th Cavalry Museum.

This is an amazing story that is finally coming to light, said Operation Manager Keith Landecker of Power 94 FM. These women faced enormous hurdles, both at home and abroad, to accomplish their mission.

The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion completed their overseas training at Fort Oglethorpe, then deployed to Birmingham, England in February 1945. Their assignment was to clear over 17 million pieces of backlogged mail, two years worth, to American G.I.s serving in the European theater of war. The 855 members of the battalion were given one year to clear the backlog. Working round the clock in triple shifts, the women accomplished their task in six months.

The 6888th were completely unique for their time, said 6th Cavalry Museum Executive Director Chris McKeever. They were part of a new, professional Womens Army Corps, commissioned by General Dwight D. Eisenhower and President Roosevelt to support combat troops during World War II. They were the best and the brightest of African American women in the U.S. and their story started right here in Fort Oglethorpe.

"The Six Triple Eight" Chattanooga premiere is the first event in a larger project to commemorate the 6888th in Fort Oglethorpe with a permanent exhibit and educational program at the 6th Cavalry Museum. An essential part of that project is to locate descendants of the 6888th living in the tristate region around Chattanooga.

We have a full list of all the women who served in the 6888th, particularly from Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama, says Ms. McKeever. If your grandmother or great-aunt served with the 6888th, we would love to hear the stories that she passed down. Her letters, pictures, memories will be an important part of remembering these veterans and sharing their story with the regions school children.

A full listing of the 6888th veterans can be found on the 6th Cavalry Museum website (https://www.6thcavalrymuseum.org/the-six-triple-eight). Any family members or descendants of 6888th veterans may contact Ms. McKeever at the 6th Cavalry Museum at (706) 861-2860.
A priest and former teacher has brought a High Court action aimed at stopping his trial on child sex abuse charges.

The man who is aged in his eighties is facing charges of gross indecency and indecent assault against a male pupil at the private fee-paying school where he worked in the mid-1970s. He claims he cannot get a fair trial on grounds of ill health.

The alleged abuse is said to have occurred after the complainant was called to the office of the accused on three separate occasions.

Today the man's lawyers argued before the High Court that he cannot get a fair trial because he suffers from age-related dementia and cognative impairment, which means he cannot properly defend himself at trial.

The man, who is due to be tried before the Circuit Criminal Court, was the subject of a complaint made to gardai in late 2016. However, he was not required to attend at a Garda station in connection with the complaint until April 2018.

Represented in court by Hugh Hartnett SC the man has brought High Court judicial review proceedings against the DPP where he seeks orders and declarations including an order preventing his trial from proceeding.

Counsel said that as well as the man's ill health he was also claiming that there was a delay over more than 45 years in the time when the alleged offences are said to have occurred and the man's proposed trial date.

in all the circumstances it would be wholly unfair and a breach of the accused man's constitutional rights and rights under the European Convention on Human Rights if his trial was to proceed, counsel added.

Permission to bring the challenge was granted on an ex-parte basis by Mr Justice Charles Meenan at the High Court.

The judge, who put a stay on the man's trial proceeding pending further order of the court adjourned the case to a date in April.
Like on a battlefield, the political survivors of Catalonias independence bid have got back on their feet. Like in war, there is no better source of courage in politics than ones own survival instinct and nothing paves the way for an armistice better than recalling the drama you have experienced, the fear of making the same mistakes and taking further casualties. This week PM Pedro Sanchez, whose own side left for dead in so many battles, has pulled out the survival manual and turned a necessity into an opportunity as he paid Catalonia a leisurely visit. The trip had initially been met with massive distrust by both sides, but Sanchez managed to stroll through Barcelona city with his Catalan interlocutors on their best behaviour. Unlike what happened at the citys Hospital de Sant Pau only a few months earlier, this time the Spanish leader wasnt heckled by any members of the public protesting over the States utterly outrageous abuse of power in Catalonia.

Now that president Torra and his Spanish counterpart have shown they are capable of civil behaviour and able to grin and bear it, it is time for them to turn a new page and start a dialogue, despite all the many difficulties.

This is not a love story and we will see whether it leads to sex, but it is good thing that it has begun. Pedro Sanchez needs ERCs votes in the Spanish parliament to approve his budget. Amid the shouting from some of Madrids most belligerent media and the unrelenting opposition, the PSOE leader has made a substantial policy change with an institutional visit that has met its objective: to ease the strain and start an institutional dialogue in Catalonia, not merely with the Catalan executive, but also with the City and the provincial government.

As ever, this is also about managing expectations and both sides harboured little hope of any progress, which meant that the meeting between both presidents turned out to be a first step forward. Despite the huge mutual distrust that had built up between Madrid and Barcelona and a fear of possible surprises, the conversation between Torra and Sanchez proceeded with institutional respect and, as expected, neither of them budged an inch. The gestures and symbolism at the Barcelona meeting brought back the image of institutional dignity after president Torra had been scorned. The two leaders agreed to hold two further meetings with different agendas. One will deal with eternally unresolved bilateral matters, whereas the other will address the key political issues: self-determination and an amnesty. The fact that Pedro Sanchezs room for manoeuvre seems rather scarce and the difficulty of the negotiation itself would advise a modicum of restraint. That is why it is crucial to refer back to previous instances of talks between Barcelona and Madrid and remember how [in the late 1990s] Spanish PM Jose Maria Aznar ditched his partys anti-Catalan rhetoric and devolved further powers to Catalonia [in exchange for parliamentary support], only to break off any ties with the Catalan government after he got drunk on the outright majority he secured in 2000.

Now we are being presented with a window of opportunity and everyones influence is commensurate with the number of seats they hold in parliament. Therefore, we ought to insist that talks dont break down before they have even started. For lack of a rapporteur [which Madrid has objected to], sophisticated negotiation methods could be put in place if required to foster the necessary trust that is nowhere to be seen today.

Gearing up for the snap elections

President Torra is steering the boat towards the polls whilst bringing back the most amenable version of himself and singing the praises of his own government. JxCats campaign kicked off on Saturday. The next two weeks will be crammed full of internal talks to establish what message their slate will send out. Some prominent figures within the PDECat demand more political action, greater emphasis on the management of government affairs, less gesticulation and fewer independent candidates. The latter are also asking to receive some credit over the election result on 21 December 2017, after the painstaking process by which the slate was put together. PDECat leader David Bonvehi is expected to step up talks with Carles Puigdemont and the jailed political leaders in the coming days.

A Nazi is a Nazi

We will miss Angela Merkel. Despite her obsession with imposing austerity on the South during the worst years of the debt crisis, Merkel has played a constructive role in the EU and has kept the ghosts of racism, bigotry and Nazism at bay until the very last day. This week the conservative German leader signalled to her liberal partners in Thuringia who were willing to govern their region with Merkels CDU and the backing of AfD, the far right party that she wasnt having any of it. Merkel came out saying that the outcome marked a bad day and that the decision would be rectified because the basic principle of not forming a majority with the far right had been violated. This is how Merkel showed the door to Thuringias newly-appointed president Thomas Kemmerich, who was sworn in on Wednesday and had to step down the next day. Angela Merkel knows that a Nazi is a Nazi and she wont compromise with the devil. This is in stark contrast with Spain, where the far right is making the most of their pacts with the PP and Ciudadanos to attain recognition and normalisation, aided by their constant presence on some Madrid-based media who are only looking to put on a show. For some political leaders, a Nazi is a Nazi and the far right is the far right. They wont stand by shameful compromises that take us back to the past.
By Kim Hyun-bin



SAN FRANCISCO  Ahead of Samsung's mobile Unpacked event, attention seems to be on how Samsung's new mobile chief Roh Tae-moon will articulate his plans to revive the unit's sagging growth momentum.



Roh 52, is the youngest ever president to be appointed at Samsung and is scheduled to make the opening speech at the upcoming event to be held at San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts on Feb. 12 (KST). It will mark his first public appearance since he was assigned the new role on Jan. 20, according to the company.





Roh Tae-moon, head of Samsung Elec. mobile division
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh general secretary Suresh 'Bhaiyyaji' Joshi said 'gurukul' system of should be revived in the country and Sanskrit should be made part of the curriculum, irrespective of who will feel "good or bad".

Speaking at Dona Paula near here on Sunday, Joshi said the Centre should encourage those "who positively experiment in the educational system".

"Sanskrit should be taught in every school. The government has to seriously think about it. We feel Sanskrit is the mother of all languages and if you have to understand India, you can't do it without Sanskrit. That is why without thinking of who will feel bad or good, Sanskrit should get its position," he said.

Stressing on revival of the "gurukul" system (a residential schooling method centred around a guru and based on Vedic principles), Joshi said, "We can't think of an ashram like arrangement in present days, but when we talk about the gurukul system, is the focus of the institution."



He said the need of the hour was to have institutions which consider imparting as a mission rather than a business.

Joshi said the country had accepted a "British-era educational pattern" in which all educational institutions had to abide by the policy set down by the government, but the need was for the government to provide flexibility in its educational policies.

"There are a few institutes who have tried to adopt their own policies and they have successfully implemented it. I feel those who positively experiment in the educational system should be encouraged," Joshi added.

He said the government, at times, must brush aside public sentiments (on education) and think about the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The counting of votes for the Delhi Election 2020 will commence on Tuesday, February 11. The voting process for the 70-member Delhi assembly elections took place on Saturday, 8 February, when the nation's capital saw a triangular contest between Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party, Bharatiya Janata Party, and the Indian National Congress.

The counting of votes will be live on the Election Commission of India's websites. The live coverage on the results can be watched on the Business Today website, or on Aaj Tak and India Today website and TV, from 7 am onwards.

Business Today will run a live blog for counting of votes for Delhi elections as well as its results, with a detailed analysis of early trends and political opinions.

As per the Election Commission of India (ECI), 62.59 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the state's assembly elections. Earlier in 2015, the final voter turnout in the Delhi came to 67.47 per cent. The highest turnout (71.6 per cent) was recorded in Ballimaran constituency while the lowest with 45.4 per cent was the Delhi Cantonment constituency.

The male-female ratio was fairly balanced as 62.62 per cent male voters and 62.55 per cent female voters cast their votes on February 8. As per the final electoral list for Delhi, a total of 1.46 crore voters were eligible to exercise their franchise in Delhi Assembly elections, out of which 80.55 lakh were males and 66.35 lakh were females.

The exit poll, which are sample surveys conducted among voters exiting polling booths, predicted an easy win for Arvind Kejriwal, who is set to return as the capital's chief minister. As per the polls prediction, voters have responded well to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)'s campaign.

As per India Today-Axis My India exit poll prediction, the incumbent Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is likely to get 56 per cent vote share in the Delhi Assembly polls. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is predicted to receive 35 per cent vote share and the Congress is likely to lag behind at 5 per cent.

This was the first election held in the national capital since the Narendra Modi-led-BJP swept to a massive win in Lok Sabha polls in 2019, with the party taking all 7 parliamentary seats in Delhi. In Delhi Election 2015, the Aam Aadmi Party had swept 67 seats with a landslide majority, with a total vote-share of 54 per cent, while the BJP was reduced to only 3 seats and Congress to zero.

The tenure of the current Delhi Legislative Assembly ends on February 22.

Also read: Delhi Election Results 2020: Date, vote counting time, FAQs, exit poll results

Also read: Delhi Election Result 2020: Counting time; when will trends start coming in?
The Opposition in Lok Sabha on Monday expressed concern over the "decline" in investment in the country and said the expected GDP growth rate and tax collection figures appear unrealistic.

Participating in the discussion on the Union Budget 2020-21, BJD member B Mahtab said that investment in India has been the main driver of growth, but it has been declining since 1991.

"We are measuring GDP growth... more the investment, the growth would be faster and quicker," he said.

In this Budget, he said, adequate corrective measures are necessary.

The banks were not in a position to lend for infrastructure, Mahtab said, adding that government should not lose sight of wider reforms in the public sector.

"There is a need to bring competition within the banking sector," he said.

NCP's Supriya Sule termed the budget as "long and tiresome" and attacked the government saying "they are living in a fairy-tale world".

The Budget, she said, exposed the failure "of this government when it comes to fiscal health".

She said while the government is talking about achieving USD five trillion economy, "we are not even barely crossing five per cent (growth)."



She said that the government was talking about bullet train but the fact was not even a single acre of land was acquired for the same.

"They are in fairy-tale world... they live in make- believe world," Sule said.

She was also of the view that there was a need for revival of economy and promotion of private sector investment.

Expressing apprehension over the Budget numbers, Preneet Kaur (Cong) said presumption of 10 per cent nominal GDP growth and 12 per cent rise in tax collection seem "optimist and unrealistic given the low economic growth and falling exports".

Agriculture sector seems to be an area of concern, she said, adding, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana needs to be reviewed.

For the benefit of farmers, he said, the premium needs to be shared by both the Centre and the state.

Observing that Indian growth story is at cross-roads, Kaur said that cautious pragmatism has crept in and the country has fallen in middle income trap.

However, BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi said there is a balance between intent and content, and vision and provision in the Budget.

"We have moved from policy paralysis to policy action under the Narendra Modi government," she said.

The focus is on growth and the Budget will strengthen the foundation of Indian economy in the new decade, she said.

The Budget promotes six major sectors against the backdrop of current economic scenario, she said, adding it will help facilitate investment, spur consumption while giving a push to infrastructure and fillip to agriculture sector.

Observing that the this is an age of technology, Sarangi said the Budget has recognised this and made several announcements in this regard. The technology will help ease living condition of people, she added.

Rubbishing the opposition claim of reduction in rural Budget, she said the government has always pitched in when there was a need in the past.

On spurring investment, Sarangi said the Budget announcement of abolishing Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT) will free up about Rs 25,000 crore for the corporates.

Besides, National Infrastructure Pipeline will promote investment in the infrastructure building.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ALBANY, N.Y.  The startling disclosure came two minutes into a State Capitol news conference.

State Senator Peter Harckham, a first-term Democratic lawmaker, announced his support for legalizing recreational marijuana, but he first acknowledged his own struggles with addiction.

As someone in recovery myself for many years, I look at it from that lens, Mr. Harckham said last month.

As someone in recovery, my job in life is not to outlaw every mood-altering chemical on the planet, he said. My job in life is to learn how to navigate that environment in a sober manner and help others do the same.

He introduced five of the 17 bills the State Senate passed last Tuesday to fight drug abuse and the scourge of overdose deaths. The raft of bills is aimed at plugging a series of holes in the way opioids are prescribed, health providers are trained and naloxone  a drug that can reverse overdoses  is distributed.
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The public's confidence that jobs are plentiful is helping persuade more people outside the workforce to begin looking for one.



By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER

AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON  Hiring jumped last month as U.S. employers added a robust 225,000 jobs, bolstering an economy that faces threats from China's viral outbreak, an ongoing trade war and struggles at Boeing.

The Labor Department also said Friday that a half-million people streamed into the job market in January, though not all of them found jobs. That influx meant that more people were counted as unemployed, and it boosted the jobless rate to 3.6% from a half-century low of 3.5% in December.





. . .
Whenever the history of India's National Law Schools is written, N R Madhava Menon's name will be deeply inscribed in it, says Mohammad Zeeshan Ahmad.

On the eve of Republic Day, the Government of India announced that Professor N R Madhava Menon would be posthumously awarded the Padma Bhushan for public service.

Professor Menon passed away on May 8, 2019. He was 84 and left behind swathes of deep and insightful scholarship for generations to come.

The monumental role he played in the conceptualisation and realisation of various National Law Schools in India marked a renaissance in legal education and for this he will be remembered for generations to come.

The passion for law did not dawn on Professor Menon all of a sudden. It came piecemeal.

The institutes with which he was associated his entire life chiselled him.

Be it the Aligarh Muslim University from where he did his LLM and PhD or be it the Campus Law Centre, New Delhi, where he taught and was later head of the department.

'The training and scholarship at Aligarh Muslim University shaped my career which I continued even after I left with an LLM and PhD degree', Professor Menon acknowledged in his memoir, Turning Point.

IMAGE: Professor N R Madhava Menon presents the report on the draft National Policy on Criminal Justice to then Union home minister Shivraj V Patil, August 1, 2007. Photograph: Press Information Bureau

Professor Menon was the harbinger of the National Law School movement in India.

It was because of his unflinching resolve and undiminishing vision that some of India's National Law Schools finds a place in the legal map of the world.

It is to his credit that a three year LLB course that was considered quite mundane and had been stereotyped as the domain of a particular class of people in the post-Independence era became a much sought after profession with the advent of National Law Schools.

In the early 1980s, the Bar Council of India decided to start a model law university so that legal education could become socially relevant and professionally useful.

The 14th Law Commission report stated that 'The main purpose of university legal education seems hitherto to have been not the teaching of law as a knowledge of certain principles and provision of law to enable them to enter the legal profession...'

To fix this, the Bar Council Of India floated the idea of a five year BALLB course.

Some critics did not consider this a suitable idea. A petition was filed citing that the Advocate Act only allowed for a three year course.

Professor Menon along with other stakeholders fought this tooth and nail and eventually won the case.

Thus was laid the foundation of the National Law School in India.

The changing contours of legal studies globally and the advent of MNCs in the international market in the mid-1980s prodded the concerned authorities for a much needed overhaul in the landscape of legal education.

The challenging task of conceptualising and the subsequent realisation of the vision for a National Law School fell on Professor Menon's shoulders.

He felt that the law should not be confined to producing lawyers, that it is an instrument for social engineering.

The National Law School of India University, Bengaluru; the National University of Juridical Sciences, West Bengal; the National Judicial Academy, Bhopal are quintessential examples of Professor Menon's passion for the cause of legal education.

Professor Menon was the first director and VC of the National Law School of India University; he served the institution for 12 long years.

He served the National University of Juridical Sciences as founder-VC.

On Justice B N Kripal's request, Professor Menon served as the National Judicial Academy's founder director.

In the word of the distinguished lawyer Fali Nariman, 'NR was transmitting civilisation' to generations.

Mr Nariman called Professor Menon 'the lawyers's master'.

Professor Menon was a maverick.

He instutionalised pedagogic innovation at the premium law institutes, which he had learnt over the years by way of rigorous hard work and scholarship.

Innovative techniques and syllabus gave the National Law Schools an edge over others in the field.

Professor Menon implemented teaching by the Socratic method. Legal aid clinics were mandatory for students.

The National Judicial Academy was established to cater to the training of judges.

Professor Menon was not dwarfed by this colossal and challenging assignment. New training modules and programmes were designed from the 'social context judging' point of view, an idea which he imbued from the Canadian supreme court.

The National Judicial Academy acquired a reputation in judicial education and training within a short period of time.

IMAGE: Professor Menon addresses the National University of Juridical Sciences. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons

Professor Menon was awarded the Padma Shri in 2003. He was conferred with the title 'Living Legend of Law' by the International Bar Association in 1994.

The Government of India asked Professor Menon to help draft the National Policy on Criminal Justice.

While working with the Commission on Centre-State Relations, Professor Menon was given the responsibility to examine the TRIPS Agreement's compatibility with the amended Patent Act, 2005.

After retirement, he served as chairman of the prestigious Centre for Development Studies for two terms, before calling it a day.

A writer par excellence, his books, journals, essays are rare for their scholarship and erudition.

A special mention I would like to make is the Rule of Law in Free Society, Law and Ethics, Law and Poverty, Clinical Legal Education, Population and Law: Justice For All.

His research and journals have often been cited by the Supreme Court.

Professor Menon was that rare figure who took praise and criticism on the same wavelength.

His popularity among young legal minds was undisputable.

Through the Menon Institute of Legal Advocacy Training, Professor Menon tried to serve society and disseminate legal education in his home state Kerala after retirement.

In collaboration with Justice V R Krishna Iyer, Professor Menon did monumental work in the fields of legal aid, legal clinics and Lok Adalats to ensure that the poor and needy do not languish in getting justice.

Professor Menon was of the view that lawyers are social engineers and have a role to play in transforming society.

He wanted to give the youth of this country a platform where they were not bereft of any opportunity and worked for it tirelessly.

Whenever the history of the National Law Schools is written, N R Madhava Menon's name will be deeply inscribed in it.

Mohammad Zeeshan Ahmad is a law student at the Aligarh Muslim University.
Open fighting between Syrian government troops and Turkish forces has flared again, once kept at bay by mediation from Russia.

At least five Turkish soldiers were killed on Monday (February 10) when Syrian artillery hit their outpost in the northwest, according to the Turkish defense ministry. More were wounded.

Meanwhile rebels backed by Turkey's own artillery are said to have attacked the Syrian government positions. It's not immediately clear how many casualties may be on the Syrian side.

Turkish sources say it was the Syrians who struck first. Video obtained by Reuters is believed to show a Turkish helicopter evacuating their wounded.

The fighting between these two militaries, Turkey a NATO member, is the latest in a dramatic new chapter in Syria's civil war.

Russia had been keeping the two sides apart, more or less, after the United States withdrawal left a power vacuum in the conflict.

That all but collapsed last week when eight Turks were killed in shelling by Syrian forces, prompting a massive retaliation of air strikes against them and troop buildup.

Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad are on the offensive trying to take the last rebel stronghold in Syria.

Turkey says it can't handle any more refugees streaming across its border.
A 17-year-old boy has been detained in Singapore for being a staunch supporter of the Islamic State terror group in Iraq and Syria, according to an official statement.

The secondary school boy, who has not been identified by the officials, has been detained under the Internal Security Act.

He was first investigated in September 2017 when he was 15 years old, after he posted defaced images of President Halimah Yacob on social media and called on the ISIS to behead her for supporting Singapore, which he viewed as an "infidel" state, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement on Monday.

The ministry said he had been radicalised by a foreign online contact, who introduced him to the pro-ISIS social media groups in 2017.

Through these groups, the boy gained access to what he believed was exclusive ISIS content, the MHA said.

"In his eyes, ISIS was a powerful group that was fighting for Islam and its use of violence against its opponents was therefore justified," The Straits Times reported quoting the statement.

After this came to light in 2017, the ministry said it has tried to steer the boy away from the radical path, but he remained a staunch supporter of the ISIS.

He continued to believe in ISIS, even with the demise of the terrorist group's so-called caliphate in Syria and Iraq, and was willing to assist it in its online propaganda efforts, said the MHA.

He was also willing to undertake other activities if called upon by the ISIS to do so, the ministry added.

It noted, however, that there were no signs that he had spread his pro-ISIS views to others around him.

Singapore's 5.5 million multi-national community includes a diversified religious groups, including followers of Islam.

A number of ISIS-radicalised cases have been reported in the city state in recent years.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Taking a jibe at MNS chief Raj Thackeray for his comment that India was not a dharamshala (sanctuary), NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik on Monday stated that his party agreed on this contention with caveats. He claimed that the Citizenship Amendment Act was the real problem which would result in India becoming a 'dharamshala'. Moreover, Malik who is also the Minority Affairs Minister in Maharashtra, asserted that the NCP is opposing to the CAA as the law discriminated on the basis of religion.

Raj Thackeray has said that this country has become a dharamshala. Yes, we agree. The way the Citizenship Act has been amended, the way people got citizenship and the way the government is willing to give citizenship, it will become a dharamshala.We oppose religion based the CAA  Nawab Malik     (@nawabmalikncp) February 10, 2020

Read: CM Uddhav Echoes Cousin Raj Thackeray On Throwing Out Infiltrators, Rules Out Need For NRC

'Do they think my country is a dharamshala?'

Addressing a massive rally at Azad Maidan in Mumbai on February 9, Raj Thackeray staunchly defended the CAA and the possible implementation of the National Register of Citizens. While maintaining that Hindus faced religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, he questioned the demand of the anti-CAA protesters to allow Muslims from the aforesaid countries into India. Stressing that India already had a huge population, Thackeray noted that India was not a dharamshala.

Raj Thackeray remarked, "When minorities in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan are persecuted because of religion, shouldn't we take them in Hindustan? The minorities there are Hindus. They say, even bring the Muslims. How do we get them? I had said, we have a population of 156 crore people, we still can't disciple that. What is wrong with CAA? Now the issue is NRC. Do they think my country is a dharamshala? They are coming from anywhere, living anywhere. I know we have issues of water, education, unemployment but the issue of infiltrators is equally important."

Read: BIG: Govt Puts It In Writing, Confirms 'No Decision To Prepare National Level NRC' In LS

What is the CAA and the NRC?

There have been nationwide protests against the implementation of the CAA 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.

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: Raj Thackeray Catches Congress' Eye; Party Says 'BJP Has Taken MNS Engine On Rent'
An emerging scientific consensus is that gases--in particular carbon gases--released by volcanic eruptions millions of years ago contributed to some of Earth's greatest mass extinctions. But new research at The City College of New York suggests that that's not the entire story.

"The key finding of our research is that carbon from massive, ancient volcanic eruptions does not line up well with the geochemical clues that tell us about how some of Earth's most profound mass extinctions occurred," said Benjamin Black, assistant professor in CCNY's Division of Science, whose expertise includes effects of volcanism on climate and mass extinctions.

The study by Black with his M.S. in geology student Ellen Gales, the lead author, is entitled "Carbonatites as a record of the carbon isotope composition of large igneous province outgassing." It appears in the current issue of the journal "Earth and Planetary Science Letters," and is a product of Gales' thesis work.

The new data does not rule out volcanism as the culprit in driving past mass extinctions, the article points out. But it does conclude that there must have been something extra at work.

"Ellen's work is new in that scientists have previously guessed what the geochemical fingerprint of CO2 from these giant eruptions might be, but our findings are some of the first direct measurements of this fingerprint," said Black.

"Our finding challenges the idea that carbon from this kind of eruption might be special, and therefore capable of easily matching changes in the carbon cycle during mass extinctions. It also helps us understand how volcanic eruptions move carbon--a key ingredient for life and climate--around inside the Earth and between the solid Earth and the atmosphere," said Gales.

In addition, the CCNY research also offers insights into Earth's current climate. "Right now, people are releasing large quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere. In a way, we are heading into almost uncharted territory," noted Black. "This scale of CO2 release has only happened a few times in Earth's history, for example during rare, enormous volcanic eruptions like the ones we studied."

Consequently, Black pointed out, even though volcanic eruptions on the scale of these enormous volcanic provinces are not expected any time soon, understanding the environmental changes triggered by prodigious volcanic CO2 release in the deep past is important for understanding how Earth's climate could change in the coming centuries.

The researchers used samples collected from ancient volcanic eruptions including the 252-million-year-old Siberian Traps. They included data collected at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Lindy Elkins-Tanton at Arizona State University also contributed to the work, which received support from the National Science Foundation.

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As a former U.S. submariner who has had the chance to work with former Russian submariners, I can say the threat of total destruction was and is real. Those of us who have been in this business also know the kind of mistakes that can happen. It is, therefore, disturbing to read that an obedient U.S. military and shoot-from-the-lip politicians are implementing this crazy tit-for-tat nuclear war option. It sounds like the 1964 movie Dr. Strangelove. I recommend that this issue be debated at the United Nations with a goal of drastically reducing the nuclear arsenals worldwide.
The Delhi BJP and Congress on Monday condemned the alleged molestation of students at the all-women Gargi College during a cultural festival and demanded that the culprits be arrested at the earliest.

Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari said the college administration should immediately provide CCTV camera footage of the campus to the police.

"What happened at Gargi college is highly condemnable, culprits should be apprehended at the earliest. College admin should get CCTV footage and release the same to investigation agency and media on priority..so that culprits can be booked," Tiwari tweeted.

Delhi Congress president Subhash Chopra slammed the police and the government for "failing" to protect women.

"I am very much anguished by the Gargi college incident. What could be more sorrowful that the girl students are not safe in their own college in the national capital. Its highly shameful that Delhi Police silently watched the atrocities against women. The Centre and Kejriwal government can not escape the responsibility of women safety," Chopra said in a tweet.

The college students were allegedly molested by a group of men who had gatecrashed a cultural festival on February 6. The incident came to light after some students took to Instagram to narrate their unpleasant experiences during the college fest.

Delhi Police registered a case in this connection on Monday after receiving a complaint by the college authorities.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 00:17:49|Editor: yan

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DAR ES SALAAM, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania's former Prime Minister Frederick Sumaye on Monday rejoined the country's ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), becoming the second former Prime Minister to rejoin the party in less than a year.

Sumaye, who quit leading opposition party Chama Cha Demokrasia Na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) about two months ago, announced his rejoining of CCM during a meeting of CCM's Board of Trustees in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.

Sumaye decamped to CHADEMA after he unsuccessfully vied to run for the presidency on CCM's ticket in 2015.

In December 2019, Sumaye quit the opposition party after his bid to retain his seat as the party's Coastal zone chairman flopped.

In March 2019, former Tanzanian Prime Minister Edward Lowassa also quit CHADEMA and rejoined CCM in a move that tilted the nation's political landscape.

Lowassa, 66, rejoined CCM at an event witnessed by CCM national chairman President John Magufuli at the party's sub-headquarters in Dar es Salaam.

After CCM failed to nominate Lowassa as its candidate for the October 2015 presidential election, he left the party and stood instead as an opposition candidate but he was defeated in the election by then CCM candidate Magufuli.
President Trump waited barely 48 hours after his acquittal by the U.S. Senate to exact revenge against witnesses who gave sworn testimony to Congress about the administrations withholding of military assistance to Ukraine. The retaliation was raw, in the open and reminiscent of the purges seen in an authoritarian regime that equates truth telling with disloyalty.

First to go Friday was Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a National Security Council official who had testified in the House impeachment inquiry that he flagged a White House lawyer about what he regarded as Trumps improper call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy. Next out was his twin brother Yevgeny, who served as a senior lawyer on the NSC.

Vindman had listened in on that July 25 phone call between the two presidents.

Lt. Col. Vindman was asked to leave for telling the truth, said David Pressman, an attorney for the decorated Iraq War veteran. His honor, his commitment to right, frightened the powerful.

As if there were any doubt that vengeance was driving the day, by sundown Gordon Sondland was recalled as ambassador to the European Union. Gordon had been working behind the scenes with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani to pressure Zelensky to announce an investigation into Hunter Bidens lucrative deal with a Ukrainian gas company while his father, Joe, served as vice president.

Sondland testified that, yes, there was a quid pro quo behind the withholding of $400 million in military aid and investigations into Trumps political enemies. The ambassador, a Trump appointee and a $1 million donor to the presidents inaugural committee, added that everyone was in the loop about the scheme.

Vindman and Sondland provided some of the key testimony that led the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives to approve two articles of impeachment against Trump. On Wednesday, the Senate acquitted the president on each count, with Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah the only Republican to vote for conviction (on abuse of power).

Susan Collins, R-Maine, who voted for acquittal, suggested Trump has learned from this case and will be more cautious in the future.

His subsequent actions  from his lashing out at critics at a bizarre East Room celebration on Thursday to the ouster of Vindman and Sondland on Friday  suggest otherwise. It seems his takeaway from what he calls the impeachment hoax is that he can be as imperious as he wishes without fear of accountability.

This attack on public servants who came forward under oath sends a chilling message to others who may suspect or witness wrongdoing in government. Equally disturbing is the talk among some of Trumps allies on Capitol Hill to launch an investigation of the whistle-blower who brought the Ukraine scandal to light.

In his House testimony, Vindman spoke of his late fathers decision to leave the Soviet Union 40 years ago for a better life of American freedom for his family.

Do not worry, Vindman would have assured his late father on that day. I will be fine for telling the truth.

In the Trump White House, however, it proved a firing offense.

This commentary is from The Chronicles editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters.
(Photo : Screenshot From NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration Official Facebook Page) solar orbiter

NASA has joined forces with the European Space Agency spacecraft for an interesting mission of seeing the Sun's top and bottom. The next decade should look interesting as a Solar Orbiter rocket is tasked with a mission to take pictures from the top and the bottom of the Sun. This launch took place on Sunday Night just as the Oscars were being given away during the 2020 Academy Awards.

Quite an important mission to happen low key, the Solar Orbiter illuminated the dark sky of Florida's Atlantic coast, which was a bit low-key to put the spacecraft into orbit around the scorching sun. This collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency has become one of the most successful collaborations in space exploration in history! For now, the Solar Orbiter will make sure that its instruments are working well and prepare the necessary additional research and improvement for a full decade of more solar discoveries.

Read Also: Another Fail!? Boeing Experiences another Problem with the Starliner Capsule

The sun in a new perspective

Have you ever noticed that we do not have many photos of the sun? This is due to the lack of equipment and preparedness for an actual mission to be launched for us to understand the sun better. The Solar Orbit is said to travel in an ecliptic way just like other planets and travel around the sun documenting the whole journey.

An external complication that the Solar Orbiter has to endure

The Solar Orbiter will have to cross paths with Venus after Christmas day, and this will result in Venus sucking the Solar Orbiter out of its natural rotation. We can expect this to take place around 2025, and this disorientation might even result in 17 degrees, which may cause the Solar Orbiter to get a good view of the Polar Regions.

The instruments of the Solar Orbiter

There are 10 specific scientific instruments that the Solar Orbiter uses, and they are used to measure the magnetic fields and particles of the solar wind. Of course, there are also high powered cameras in the mix to take extra high-quality pictures of the moon. One thing about this camera is that they have heat-resistant windows that serve as protection from extreme temperatures and harsh conditions that the Solar Orbiter may find itself in space.

The partnership of NASA and the European Space Agency

The tasks were divided among the two agencies as the European Space Agency took charge of creating the spacecraft along with its instruments and NASA funded the Atlas 5 rocket, which was used to launch it into space.

Read Also: The Shores of the Mid-Atlantic: NASA's New Rocket Launch Site





Space exploration has become a global endeavor as different agencies are working together to make sure that the extraterrestrial field is better discovered for the good of mankind in general. The sun is just one of many inter-agency collaborations, including NASA and the European Space Agency. We can look forward to many more collaborations in the future.





 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Vietnamese citizens at Quang Ninh's Van Don airport (Source: VNA)

The move was made under the instruction of the Prime Minister through the coordination among the Foreign Ministry, the Vietnam Embassy in Beijing (China) and related ministries, agencies and localities.

The aircraft carrying the citizens landed at Van Don International Airport in Van Don island, the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh, at 05:04 am on February 10.

The citizens, including an eight-month pregnant woman, were in stable health. They will be carried to the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases for isolation and medical monitoring.

The aircraft performing the flight was the one which earlier transported medical supplies presented by Vietnam to China, along with 11 Chinese citizens back to Wuhan.
With a capital gain of 4.75% for the last 12 months, Holloways Beach, 4878 has performed for property investments than its average annual 1.94% property growth over the last 5 years.

The five-year average increase in median property values for Holloways Beach,4878 has given property investors a potential capital gain of 10.14% across each of those five years.

Property investors looking for a bargain in Holloways Beach should be aiming for at least -4.62% off the asking price, which is the average vendor discount being achieved at the moment.

In the last year 47 properties changed hands in Holloways Beach, which puts it as the 595th most active market in QLD when comparing the number of sales per suburb.

With the median price for a house in Holloways Beach being $440000 and the advertised rent reaching $420 the gross rental yield for property investors calculates out to be 4.96%
Saigon police arrested John David Ablett for robbing a convenience store in HCMC's downtown District 1 on Sunday.

John David Ablett (C) is held at a police station in District 1, HCMC, February 9, 2020. Photo courtesy of HCMC Police.

Ablett, 44, visited the store on Nguyen Trai Street at midnight. Discovering Luong My Linh, 25, to be the only staff member on duty, he used a 20 cm knife to force VND3 million ($128) out of the cash register.

When the culprit left the store, Linh called the police, who apprehended him soon after.

At the station, Ablett admitted targeting 24 hour convenience stores due to financial difficulties.

The investigation remains underway.

Vietnam has thousands of convenience stores, mostly in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Among these, many are open 24 hours, with just one or two employees working in the late hours, protected by no guards.
(Alliance News) - Chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier on Monday urged London to meet what he sees as its promise to compete fairly with Europe as both sides gird for a tough talks on a post-Brexit relationship.

In the upcoming trade discussions, Europe's top concern is that Britain, which has just split with the European Union, will choose to deregulate certain strategic sectors of its economy to gain an advantage over its neighbours.

"We heard (British Prime Minister Boris Johnson) last Monday explain that he wanted a free trade agreement with the EU while reserving for the British the right to diverge from European rules on competition, state aid, social protection or the environment," Barnier said after a meeting in Luxembourg with Prime Minister Xavier Bettel.A

"We respect the British desire to reappropriate their rules, standards and laws: it is a sovereign choice. But we must be clear: the political declaration, which was agreed word for word, line for line, with Boris Johnson last October, remains and will remain the foundation of all negotiations," he added.A

Barnier was referring to the joint political declaration, a wish list for the future that was agreed alongside the EU-UK divorce deal, but is not legally binding.

London and Brussels will have to negotiate "strong guarantees to ensure fair competition and high common standards," Barnier added in his first comments since Johnson laid down his red lines for the upcoming talks.

He also underlined that contrary to Johnson's wishes, Brussels intends to give the EU Court of Justice, the bloc's supreme court, a role in interpreting European law in the future relationship.

"It is on this basis and only on this basis that we are ready to negotiate", the former French minister warned.A

"In a time that is necessarily constrained, if we want to move forward, we must avoid taking two or three steps backwards at the outset."

Since leaving the EU on January 31, the UK has entered a transition period until December 31, during which it will continue to apply European standards.A

It is during this period that the future relationship will have to be negotiated with formal discussions only expected to start in early March.

source: AFP

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
The value of orders ranges from Rs 2500 cr to Rs 5000 cr

The power transmission and distribution business of L&T Construction has secured orders from prestigious clients in India and abroad.

In the Philippines, the business has won an order to construct a 500kV Substation, in association with a prominent local player, that will cater to the growing demand for electricity in the metropolitan area of Manila.

In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, orders to construct a 380kV Substation with an associated 230kV cable network and establish 380kV and 230kV Transmission Line corridors have been bagged. Another order to construct EHV Overhead Lines has been received from a reputed customer in the Middle East.

On the domestic front, the business has won an order in Gujarat to construct a 765kV Double Circuit Transmission Line that will help transmit power from renewable energy sources.

Another order has been secured to build a 20MW floater solar power project at a reservoir of NTPC's Auraiya Gas Power Plant in Uttar Pradesh.

Additional orders have been received from ongoing substation jobs in India.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Meanwhile, First Secretary Anil Kumar Kalra of the Indian Embassys consular wing at Tokyo told Deccan Chronicle on Monday that there were no Indian passengers that tested positive.

Hyderabad: With reports of another 66 passengers on board the cruise ship Diamond Princess testing positive for coronavirus on Monday, taking the total to 136, Indian crew members issued an urgent appeal to the Centre to rescue them.

In a video shared on Monday, Binay Kumar Sarkar, a crew member who first took to Facebook days ago explaining the fear that has gripped the ship, said we are scared. There are more than 60 positive cases today.

I appeal to the Prime Minister of India to intervene. I urge the United Nations for help. Urgent segregation is needed of those who are healthy, he said in the video that also showed some of his Indian crew colleagues.

What is the use of coming to rescue after things get out of hand? he asked.

Please save us. Life is more important than a job, he told Deccan Chronicle via a phone message.

Meanwhile, First Secretary Anil Kumar Kalra of the Indian Embassys consular wing at Tokyo told Deccan Chronicle on Monday that there were no Indian passengers that tested positive.

We are in touch with the Indians on board through the Foreign Ministry and the Japanese Health Ministry. Some of the passengers are in touch with us directly through email, Mr Kalra said.

Reports in Japanese media quoting Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said the government was considering testing all crew members and passengers. The ship has about 3,700 passengers and crew.

So far only 500 people have been tested, Sarkar said. Right now, only those who are reporting more than 37.5 degrees of body temperature are being tested, he said.

In an update, Princess Cruises confirmed an additional 66 cases of Coronavirus from Australia (four), Canada (one), England (one), Japan (45), Philippines (three), Ukraine (one) and USA (eleven).

We are following guidance from the Japan Ministry of Health on plans for disembarkation protocols to provide medical care for these new cases. Since it is early in the quarantine period of 14-days, it was not unexpected that additional cases would be reported involving individuals who were exposed prior to the start of the quarantine, the company said.
In certain cases, the cost of production alone exceeded the income farmers received from the market as well as the MFP, and some farmers were forced to sell equipment or their business to pay off bank or USDA operating loans.

Applicants to the MFP through Wisconsin Farm Service Agency offices received more than $432 million in aid between September 2018 and November 2019, according to data provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Those payments to farmers ranged from more than $850,000 to as little as $2, with 700 out of 23,307 recipients receiving more than $100,000 from the program.

More than 2,600 Wisconsin payment recipients received less than $1,000 in an industry where the producers often rely on operating loans, sometimes exceeding hundreds of thousands of dollars, that theyre required to pay off in less than a year.

And often, the MFP payments didnt come close to covering the damage inflicted by the recent trade wars.
GUEST OBSERVATION

A top fund manager for some of Australias most wealthy future Chinese citizens, Atlas Advisors Australia, is urging the Australian Government to improve the Significant Investor Visa industry regime to encourage greater investment into the nation.

Executive Chairman of Atlas Advisors Australia, Guy Hedley said he supported the Australian Governments review of Investor visas and Significant Investor visas as part of its Business Innovation and Investment Program: Getting a better deal for Australia inquiry.

The Federal Government is working hard to maximise the opportunities and benefits to Australia from the program, Mr Hedley said.

The best way to achieve this is through ongoing collaboration with key industry participants after the public consultation period for the inquiry closes on February 14.

Mr Hedley urged the Australian Government to stay committed to the SIV program and to increase incentives for applicants.

Tweaks to improve the system could include extending the significant investor visa period from four years to five years which would equate to a 20 per cent increase in economic benefit without changing the asset mix, he said.

Alternatively, investors riskier exposure to emerging companies and venture capital could be increased with a reduced visa period of three years rather than four years.

Mr Hedley said it was critical to remember that SIV applicants were future citizens who were pouring millions into the Australian economy without any certainty about their applications.

This is boosting local businesses and funding startups in important areas such as health and technology as well as lifting Australian exports, employment and international trade connections, he said.

Atlas Advisors Australia manages the investments of many of the highest net worth Chinese investors into Australia with more than $1.7 billion of funds under management.
Cotonou, Benin (PANA) - A police officer was killed and another seriously injured on Sunday in an attack on the outpost in the northern town of Keremou, near the border with Burkina Faso, the public service daily "La Nation" reported on Monday
A man from Monroe has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison for peddling an unapproved weight-loss drug that has been linked to the death of at least two of his customers.

Barry Clint Wright, 38, used several websites to sell a drug known as DNP  short for 2,4-Dinitrophenol  that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared dangerous and unfit for human consumption in 1938, according to court records.

The drug causes rapid weight loss but also has been associated with cataracts, heart problems and death.

Two of Wrights customers  one from Marietta, Ga., and the other from London  died shortly after using the drug that Wright sold, court records show. The official cause of their deaths was DNP toxicity.

Another customer, from Lake Mary, Fla., died from cardiac arrhythmia, which can be caused by the use of DNP, according to the U.S. Attorneys office in Orlando, Florida, which prosecuted the case.

Barry Clint Wright

Wright purchased DNP in bulk and encapsulated it into digestible pills, but he didnt label the pills as DNP or include any warnings about the drug when he mailed it to consumers, according to court records.

Wright marketed the drug through the website crystaldnp.com, but Google suspended that site following a complaint from the FDA, according to court records. Subsequently, Wright began selling the drug through other websites, including buycrystaldnp.com, court records show.

Undercover officers with the FDA bought the drug from Wright, using his websites. The packages included Wrights name and return address, along with capsules that were later found to include DNP, according to court records.

Wright later told FDA investigators that he made about $2,000 a month from selling DNP. He pleaded guilty on Nov. 1.

U.S. District Judge Paul Byron, in Florida, sentenced Wright to the maximum statutory sentence  seven years  for introducing an unapproved drug into interstate commerce, introducing a misbranded drug into interstate commerce, and introducing an unapproved drug into interstate commerce with the intent to defraud or mislead.
[February 10, 2020] Town of Davie and Surrounding Communities Celebrate Opening of Staybridge Suites

Local government, community and industry leaders gathered Wednesday, January 22, to welcome the new Staybridge Suites to the community of local businesses. The property is poised to make a significant positive impact on the local economy. The hotel hosted the Town of Davie Mayor as well as representatives from community leadership, the regional chamber of commerce and key investor American Lending Center (ALC) to showcase the property and celebrate this new addition to the local tourism industry. The Staybridge is located just minutes from the white sand beaches of South Florida, the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, and attractions like the mangroves of Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park and Anne Kolb Nature Center. The property received key funding from ALC and the EB-5 program, through which ALC brings international investment into developing areas and supports new job creation. "We are proud to partner with the Staybridge and support local American entrepeneurs," stated John Shen, CEO of ALC. "This property demonstrates the significant and lasting impact international investment can have in supporting communities across the country."



ALC has achieved a 100 percent construction success rate over its 75 investment projects across 19 states since 2010. The company's focus on placing investments exclusively in the senior loan structure has created the best capital protection for investors throughout the EB-5 process. Its rigorous construction management system led by highly successful third parties, in coordination with the senior loan operation, has driven the consistent success of its investments. "We are thrilled to celebrate with our partners and investors as we join the regional tourism industry add new energy," remarked Amin Gulamali, Owner of the Staybridge Suites. "Staybridge is committed to cultivating local economic growth and enhancing the community as a whole."

About American Lending Center American Lending Center (ALC) is a licensed finance lender and U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Service designated regional center held by Regional Centers Holding Group. ALC offers senior loan investment opportunities to immigrant investors through the employment-based fifth preference visa (EB-5) program. The company has successfully provided over 350 million dollars to American ventures and created over 10,000 full-time jobs throughout the US, and is committed to senior loan participation in support of growing credit worthy small-to-medium sized businesses in underserved areas. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200210005653/en/

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New Delhi, Feb 10 : Posters expressing solidarity with JNU student Sharjeel Imam who is currently facing charges of sedition were seen during an anti-CAA protest by students of Jamia Millia Islamia here on Monday.

Some protesters were seen holding posters saying 'Stop Vilification' and 'Solidarity with Sharjeel Imam'.

Imam, who was arrested by Delhi Police from Bihar, was among the organisers of Shaheen Bagh protests and sparked a controversy after a video of his went viral where he was seen calling for splitting the north-east from India.

The protest march to Parliament called by the Jamia Coordination Committee was blocked by Delhi Police after the protesters were stopped near Holy Family Hospital which is walking distance from Jamia Millia Islamia.
Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday slammed the Mamata Banerjee government for not allowing the live telecast of his address on February 7.

Kolkata: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday slammed the Mamata Banerjee government for not allowing the live telecast of his address on February 7 in the state Assembly which also marked the opening of the budget session. Noting a sharp deviation he complained of facing intolerance and censorship while comparing himself with state finance minister Amit Mitra whose budget presentation was broadcast live from the House however during the day. After Dr Mitra finished the budget presentation Mr Dhankhar tweeted, The State Finance Minister Dr Mitra budget speech was live while the address of the Governor under Article 176, an important occasion, in sharp deviation to practice was not allowed live coverage and media was also kept away. Leave to judgment of the people of the State! This is of critical consequence for media. He added, Is this acceptable expression of ideas? Is it not intolerance of the constitutional head? Is it not a kind of censorship? I am sure the media and public would not be just silent spectators.
Turkeys military intervention in the nine-year-old Syrian conflict took a further deadly turn when regime forces killed five Turkish soldiers in the rebel-held northwestern province of Idlib today.

Turkeys Ministry of Defense said another five Turkish troops were wounded when Syrian government forces opened fire on them. The attack on the Taftanaz military base, which the Turkish army took over from the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad last week, came as Turkey poured fresh troops and equipment into the province following Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans vows to retaliate for a separate attack seven days ago. Eight Turkish soldiers died in that attack.

Erdogan said Damascus must pull back its forces from new territory it has captured in recent weeks or face a full-scale Turkish offensive. But regime forces kept advancing over the weekend, entering the strategic town of Saraqeb.

The escalation highlights Turkeys failure to persuade Russia, which is backing the regimes ongoing offensive to wrest Idlib from the jihadi Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, to pause hostilities. A Russian delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin and special envoy on Syria Alexander Lavrentiev has been in Ankara since Saturday and met today with presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said no consensus had been reached between the sides so far, and Ankara shows no sign of backing down. Government spokesman Fahrettin Altun said Turkey would crush anyone who dares to target our flag. The Ministry of Defense claimed 101 regime soldiers had been killed in response to todays attack on Turkish troops. Omer Celik, a spokesman for Erdogans Justice and Development Party, said it was out of the question for Turkish troops to withdraw from 12 observation posts set up in Idlib as part of a de-escalation zone agreed in 2018 between Erdogan and Russias Vladimir Putin.

Turkey pledged to use its presence to defang Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and fold so-called moderates into the rebel forces under its wing. The opposite happened, with the jihadis seizing more territory. Moscows reluctance to rein in Damascus is a clear indication that its no longer willing to indulge Erdogans pleas for more time. Its also not opening Syrian airspace to Turkey, denying Turkish forces the ability to strike back more effectively.

Celik said Turkey expected NATO to stand with it in the fight against terrorism and added that Turkey wants to see whether those who constantly talk about Turkeys importance will take a stand.

NATO has yet to react.

US President Donald Trumps special envoy for Syria engagement, Ambassador Jim Jeffrey, is expected to arrive in Ankara Wednesday. Washington has made statements in support of Turkey but its unclear what if anything it's actually prepared to do. Well-informed sources told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that Jeffrey sees the drama unfolding in Idlib as an opportunity to pull Turkey out of Russias embrace. Yet at the same time, it could upend balances in ways that would deal a further blow to the already faltering UN-led Geneva peace process backed by Washington.

Nicholas A. Heras, Middle East portfolio manager at the Institute for the Study of War, noted that if regime forces with Russias close backing conquer Idlib, the end result would be that the only regions of Syria that would remain separate from Assads rule would either be directly Turkish or American administered. Heras went on, This situation would look like foreign actors imposing an imperialist order on Syria, frustrating attempts to return all of Syria under one sovereign authority led by Assad. This in turn, Heras told Al-Monitor, would allow Russia to shatter the hard-won, delicately balanced US effort to maintain the international consensus against renormalizing Assad as the once and future leader of Syria.

Either way, Idlibs estimated three million civilians, nearly half of them displaced by conflict elsewhere in Syria, are the biggest losers, with the United Nations warning of a looming humanitarian catastrophe. Mark Cutts, the UNs deputy regional humanitarian coordinator, told the BBC, This is a winter exodus, with ice on the ground, sub-zero temperatures, people freezing & trying to keep their babies alive, people sleeping on the backs of trucks ... Scale of crisis is unimaginable.

At least 1 million people are estimated to have been displaced within Idlib itself since the regime unleashed its most recent offensive in April. Hundreds of thousands have headed toward the Turkish border, which remains sealed. Turkey is already home to over 3.5 million Syrians fleeing the war, leading to growing resentment as the country grapples with a weakening economy.

Erdogans decision to engage Syrian forces directly for the first time since the start of the conflict is a measure of Ankaras desperation to staunch a further flow.
Attorney General William Barr said Monday that the Department of Justice will accept and review information gathered by President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who has been investigating the Bidens in Ukraine.

But Barr stressed that anything Giuliani might provide would be treated with skepticism.

"The DOJ has the obligation to have an open door to anybody who wishes to provide us information that they think is relevant," said Barr, who spoke at a news conference scheduled to announce espionage charges against four Chinese military members accused of hacking credit ratings agency Equifax.

"We have to be very careful with respect to any information coming from Ukraine. There are a lot of agendas in the Ukraine. There are a lot of crosscurrents. And we can't take anything we receive from the Ukraine at face value," Barr said.

Barr's acknowledgement appeared to confirm recent claims made by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who said Barr told him the DOJ was receiving information from Giuliani.

"He told me that they have created a process that Rudy could give information and they would see if it's verified," Graham said in a CBS interview Sunday.

Giuliani's alleged shadow foreign policy efforts in Ukraine became a central feature of House Democrats' impeachment case against Trump.

The president was impeached Dec. 18 on articles of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, both related to pressuring Ukraine's president to announce investigations into Trump's political rivals, including former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

Democrats accused Trump of trying to cheat in the 2020 presidential election by coercing a foreign ally to smear his possible opponent with the stain of a criminal probe while withholding nearly $400 million in military aid to Kyiv. They also contended that Trump obstructed Congress by refusing to hand over any documents in the House's probe, and by pressuring potential witnesses not to comply.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing. The Republican-led Senate acquitted him on both charges last week.

Giuliani had worked with multiple associates as part of his investigation  including Lev Parnas, who was arrested in October on campaign finance charges and has since shared thousands of documents with Congress related to his work in Ukraine.

Barr, at the news conference Monday, said that anything coming out of Ukraine would be "carefully scrutinized" by the DOJ and its partners in the intelligence community.

"And that is true for all information that comes to the department relating to the Ukraine," Barr said, "including anything Mr. Giuliani might provide."
By Abdul Kerimkhanov

The memory of the National Hero of Azerbaijan Mubariz Ibrahimov was commemorated in Azerbaijan's Bilasuvar region on 7 February 2020.

One of the events took place in Ibrahimovs fathers house in the village of Aliabad. Public representatives, region executive power, heads of law enforcement agencies,as well as youth attended the event.

The guests spoke about Ibrahimovs courage shown during the defence of his native lands.

Although Mubariz lived a short life, he left us an example of courage. Today, every Azerbaijani is proud that he is a compatriot of Mubariz. He looking at the death in the face and proved that there is nothing stronger and more important than love for ones motherland," was noted at the event.

Father of the National Hero Agakerim Ibrahimov expressed gratitude to the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev for the care and attention given to their family.

Then the participants of the event got acquainted with the corner, which contains photos of the hero, books written about him, magazines and newspaper articles.

Events in honor of Ibragimov continued at educational institutions and other organizations of Bilasuvar region.

Ibrahimov was born on 7 February 1988, in Aliabad village of Bilasuvar region. After completing his secondary education in 2005, Ibrahimov was drafted to Azerbaijani Armed Forces serving from 2006 through 2007. In September 2009, he entered the courses for warrants, after which he served in Naftalan.

On 19 June 2010, Ibrahimov was killed in a shootout along the frontline between Azerbaijani and Armenia forces illegaly deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh. Four Armenian soldiers also died in the shootout. Azerbaijani Defense Ministry press release said Ibrahimov died while fighting back against Armenian soldiers in the Chayli village of the Terter region. The Azerbaijani government has attributed the deaths of the around 50 Armenian soldiers to Ibrahimov, and have posthumously granted him the title of National Hero of Azerbaijan.

In his letter to parents, Ibrahimov said that he took this step voluntarily.

On 22 July 2010, President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree that conferred Ibrahimov with the status of national hero. The Cabinet of Ministers is empowered to ensure the naming of one of the secondary schools of Bilasuvar after Ibrahimov and the executive powers of Bilasuvar are empowered to ensure the naming of one of the streets after hero.

Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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Linkedin Sridewanto Pinuji (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 10, 2020 17:18 700 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad2063a59bd 3 Opinion park,natural-disaster,natural-disaster-Indonesia,green-space,disaster-mitigation Free

In a world of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, cities will need more parks to help people prepare for disaster. Global threats, such as climate change, have increased and intensified disasters and their effects.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) data shows almost 2,000 disasters occur every year in Indonesia, 90 percent of them due to hydrometeorological factors.

The country, which is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, with high tectonic activity also suffers from geological hazards. In 2018, liquefaction following an earthquake and tsunami in Palu, Central Sulawesi; and a silent tsunami triggered by volcanic activities at Mount Anak Krakatoa in the Sunda Strait, West Java, were new types, at least in Indonesias history.

Facing such challenges, Indonesia should be prepared to reduce the effects of disaster. Mitigation measures comprise structural and non-structural strategies.

Structural measures include development of infrastructure such as dikes, river normalization and enforcement of building codes.

Meanwhile, non-infrastructure measures include education, earthquake and tsunami drills, campaigns and capacity development of communities to prepare themselves for disasters and overcome them.

One rarely mentioned example of structural measures is parks, which usually consist of childrens playgrounds and are centers of sporting activities and networking. Parks have also become popular venues for musical concerts, festivals and other community activities.

In terms of disaster preparation, we should also consider the role of parks. In this open area, responders from government and humanitarian actors can set up emergency operation centers. Moreover, parks potentially provide space for shelters for internally displaced persons (IDPs).

In such situations, the parks would need to be facilitated with various amenities. First these would be water supply facilities both for responders and IDPs, toilets and latrine facilities.

Second, the parks also should have power outlets and enough lighting for normal conditions and emergencies. Fourth is the development of nearby warehouses to store logistics and equipment.

The fifth aspect is that parks also need to consider traffic arrangement in their surroundings. Good traffic management would enable the smooth entry and exit of vehicles with minimal congestion, thus supporting evacuation and logistics delivery.

Finally, parks should be far from disaster risks.

Additional facilities such as those related to health and education should be near the location of IDPs.

In many cities in Java, the traditional location of parks are in alun-alun (fields) in the middle of the cities. Their location in the middle of four different directions would serve diverse objectives. The east of the field are usually occupied by markets. The west side is usually the site of houses of worship, while government offices are in the north and southern sides. Such a setting is ideal for an emergency operation center and IDP camp.

Disaster management activities can run smoothly with such surrounding facilities.

However, such alun-alun are usually limited to one area in every city while disasters often happen in remote areas far away from such fields.

Therefore, similar fields might be smaller in scale but with similar surrounding facilities should be built in every subdistrict as part of mitigation against disasters.

***

Head of disaster risk assessment at the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), Master of environmental management and development, Australian National University.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
SAN DIEGO, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Fowler College of Business at San Diego State University (SDSU) will host the 4th annual Women in Entrepreneurship & Leadership forum on February 27 with nine-time Olympic medal winner, Allyson Felix, serving as keynote speaker. This year's event will focus on developing SDSU students and other budding businesswomen into the female leaders of the future by offering interactive panel sessions, workshops and presentations by women who are high-level corporate managers or organizational founders.

Felix, with six gold medals and three silver medals, is the most decorated female athlete in the history of U.S. Olympic track and field. Her presentation titled "The Power of She" will focus on how women can develop their own brand to empower and promote themselves in very competitive environments.

In addition to Felix, female corporate executives from Frito-Lay, Adobe Inc., Disney, the San Diego Padres and PepsiCo will deliver first-hand knowledge and information to students and other event attendees with corporate management ambitions.

"Having founded several businesses myself, I personally witnessed the challenges and barriers women faced in the corporate world," said Steven Osinski, the event's founder and major sponsor. "The inequities I saw impacted me on a personal level since I am the father of two daughters with business aspirations. It became a personal goal of mine to do everything I could to help level the playing field." Osinski is also a long-time faculty member at the Fowler College of Business.

The Women in Entrepreneurship & Leadership forum will be held on Thursday, February 27 at Montezuma Hall in the Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union. For directions and parking information, please visit business.sdsu.edu/support/wiel. There is no charge to attend.

About the Fowler College of Business

With over 6,000 students, the Fowler College of Business at San Diego State University is one of the largest business schools in the U.S. For over 60 years, the college has produced some of the most successful and influential business leaders in the world. For more information, visit business.sdsu.edu.

Contact: Suzanne Finch

Public Affairs Officer

Fowler College of Business

(619) 594-0206

[email protected]

SOURCE The Fowler College of Business at San Diego State University

Related Links

https://business.sdsu.edu


BJP MP Bhupender Yadav on Monday hit out at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi for his comments that the BJP and the RSS are against reservation and progress of Scheduled Castes/Tribes and Other Backward Castes in the country.

Speaking to ANI, Yadav said, "Rahul Gandhi has a habit of lying. The decision which was reviewed by the Supreme Court was the Congress government's decision made in Uttarakhand in 2012. Congress should look within themselves."

"As per the Constitution, there are reservations for SC/ST and OBC and 10 per cent for poor. This has not been touched. Today in Parliament, when Minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot brought this issue then despite the central government not having any part in the decision of the Supreme Court, has decided that it will analyze the decision," he said.

"But the Congress has to decide whether this boycott of the House today was done on the decision of their government in Uttarakhand in 2012," he added.

On Friday, the Supreme Court had said that reservation in promotions for government jobs is not a fundamental right, in connection with a case concerning the BJP-ruled Uttarakhand government.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) will issue a notice to both the Gargi College administration and police to find why no action has been taken in the matter of alleged sexual harassment of female students in the college by a number of unidentified men during their annual cultural fest on February 6.

DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal on Monday visited the college premises and held talks with the girl students, following which she spoke to mediapersons.

"We met many students at the Gargi College today, who narrated horrifying ordeals faced by them during the fest held a few days back. Neither the college administration nor the police has taken any action in the matter. Delhi Commission of Women is issuing a notice to both the college and the police to find out why an FIR has not been registered nor have any arrests taken place?" Maliwal told reporters here.

"When the DCW can reach and record the statements of the girls in the college then what was the administration waiting for? The girls have told us that molestation happened in front of the security personnel but no action was taken," Maliwal said.

Delhi police have begun a probe into the matter of alleged harassment and sexual abuse of female students in the college by a number of unidentified men during their annual cultural fest on February 6.

"We are inquiring into the matter. However, we have not received any complaint so far," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) South, Atul Thakur.

While speaking to ANI on Monday a woman student said that over 100 middle-aged men crashed the college gate on February 6 and misbehaved with the women inside the campus.

"The three-day annual college fest began on February 4 and on February 6 over 100 middle-aged men crashed the college gate and came inside where the fest was being held. They started misbehaving with girls. Luckily nothing happened with me but my friends told me that those men groped them and much more," she said.

"I have no idea if those girls have filed an FIR or not. The college principal is also not supporting us. A protest is also being staged in the college and the principal will also be coming here and I think she will be discussing the incident with us," she added.

Speaking about the incident on Thursday, a second-year student had told ANI that the men who had entered the college groped the girls and made them uncomfortable.

"Taking advantage of the crowd, the men followed girls everywhere and groped them. They made girls uncomfortable and showed us that they have control over us. They derived pleasure from it," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 23:58:46|Editor: yan

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BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- China will step up efforts to ensure smooth transportation of agricultural materials for spring plowing amid the country's ongoing combat against the novel coronavirus.

Unauthorized traffic interruptions at the local level are strictly forbidden, said a circular issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Monday.

Local authorities are urged to guide farmers and all types of business entities to work in an orderly manner, said the circular.

The circular stressed support for manufacturers of agricultural materials to resume production capacity as soon as possible, increase market supply and ensure the needs of spring plowing.

Local workers are encouraged to work in nearby areas and participate in agricultural production, said the circular.
Actress Natalie Portman ensured that while the Academy failed to recognize any women in the Best Director category, her outfit would not.

Portman embroidered the names of eight deserving female directors who were snubbed of nominations at the 2020 Oscars on her Dior cape, including Lorene Scafaria ("Hustlers"), Lulu Wang ("The Farewell), Greta Gerwig ("Little Women"), Mati Diop (Atlantics), Marielle Heller ("A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood"), Melina Matsoukas ("Queen & Slim"), Alma Har'el ("Honey Boy"), and Celine Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire).
This piece was originally published on Just Security, an online forum for analysis of U.S. national security law and policy.

What has been labelled the Friday Night Massacre should be understood as an escalation in President Donald Trumps ongoing efforts that threaten American democratic institutions. We wish other observers were correct that these most recent actions simply represent a president who has the right to have people on his staff whom he trusts. But the broader pattern in which the Friday events fit leads us to a far more ominous conclusion. These recent purges of U.S. officials are a direct extension of Trumps three-year project of politicization of the executive branch, an early move generally taken by autocrats who seek to exploit their election by consolidating power. It is important to take a step back and diagnose, as precisely as possible, the threat to American democracy and the broader pattern.

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Fridays developments were dizzying, even by recent standards. President Trump ordered dismissed from the National Security Council staff a key impeachment witness, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, andeven more inexplicablyhis twin brother, an ethics attorney on the NSC legal staff. That action was followed within hours by the firing of Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, another key impeachment witness, who reportedly refused to resign. The Vindman brothers were publicly escorted out of the White House, a method that current and former officials readily understood as a form of stigma rather than any decent expression of appreciation for their service. In case there were any doubt about the motivation for all of this, a series of tweets by the president and his son made clear that Lt. Col. Vindmans ejection was a direct response to the testimony he provided Congress that pointed to the presidents wrongdoing.

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Some have suggested that the outcry sparked by Fridays reprisals was overblown. After all, any president is, on some level, entitled to surround himself at the White House and be represented overseas by those he trusts. But the question raised by Fridays purge is: trusts to do what? And thats where these actions raise serious concerns for American democracy: because Trump increasingly wants an executive branch thatll serve not the United States of America but Donald J. Trump personally.

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Trump was punishing key witnesses for doing precisely what the United States Congress swore them in to do: explain what theyd seen and heard. Sondland, a major financial supporter of Trumps inaugural committee, certainly wasnt keen to see the president impeached through Sondlands own testimony; and Vindman, an apolitical detailee serving at Trumps own White House on loan from the Army, surely never expected when he accepted that assignment to end up testifying before Congress and the world. But thats what Trumps actions ultimately forced them both to do as firsthand witnesses to Trumps Ukraine extortion scheme.

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Retaliating against them for their testimony was precisely the point for Trump. It wasnt just petty vindictiveness. As a former Trump NSC official Fernando Cutz said, The broader message to career officials is that you cant speak up. Even if you see something illegal, something unethical, you cant speak up. Thats the message the president wants to send. Punishing and intimidating the truth-tellers is important to Trump as he attempts to tighten his grip on the executive branch. As Vindmans lawyer Ambassador David Pressman put it, If we allow truthful voices to be silenced, if we ignore their warnings, eventually there will be no one left to warn us. In this sense, Fridays ousters are an extension of the second article of impeachment against Trump: obstruction of Congress, and more broadly obstruction of the publics access to the truth.

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The Friday Night Massacre continued the transformation of the instruments of national power into tools of Trumps personal advancement. This exploitation of Americas diplomatic, military, and law enforcement mechanisms was the very usurpation of power that got Trump impeached in the first place. At the heart of the Ukraine extortion scheme was Trump and his personal lawyers appropriation of those mechanisms for political benefit and to the detriment of the countrys national security interests. Having survived impeachment, Trump now seeks to accelerate the redirection of Americas instruments of power into his own instruments of power. Thats why an actual Ukraine expert like Vindman no longer has a place at the National Security Council staff, but the man whom Fiona Hill testified Trump thought was his Ukraine expert, because he facilitated Trumps preferred channel, was recently promoted to a coveted NSC senior director slot (for counterterrorism, even more disturbingly). Trump wants NSC staffers at the White House, ambassadors in the field, and other officials throughout the executive branch to understand their missions as he sees it: to serve him, not the country or the office of the presidency.

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It would be a dangerous mistake to miss the connection between Trumps actions toward the Vindmans and Sondland and the presidents public rhetoric intimidating the original whistleblower and suggesting the death penalty was appropriate for other officials who provided information to the whistleblower and to the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community. The presidents real message was not just about them for what they had done. It was about other truth-tellers who might come forward on Ukraine or other abuses of power in future.

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Here, too, Fridays reprisals involve an escalation of a long series of removals of U.S. officials who dare to speak up even when legally required. Other key impeachment players like Americas top diplomats in Ukraine, Maria Yovanovitch and Bill Taylor, and vice presidential aide Jennifer Williams are already gone.

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Trumps expectation for officials is a personal loyalty to himas former FBI Director James Comey learned in his early White House meeting with Trump and as his immediate successor as Acting Director, Andy McCabe, faced when Trump asked McCabe for whom he voted in 2016.

Trump directed fury at then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions when his recusal from the Russia investigation meant that Sessions wasnt personally protecting Trump. Wheres my Roy Cohn? Trump reportedly said to other officials in his frustration over Sessions. When Sessions provided Trump with a resignation letter at one point, Trump held onto it as leverage. Trumps own chief of staff Reince Priebus told Sessions it was not good for the President to have the letter because it would function as a kind of shock collar that the President could use any time he wanted; Priebus said the President had DOJ by the throat, according to the Mueller report. Current Attorney General Bill Barr is a much better fit for Trump, seemingly willing and indeed eager to offer himself up as the presidents personal lawyer, protector, and even spokesperson at times and to bring the Justice Department into line with that vision.

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Contrast this stockpiling of personal loyalties with the Trump administrations deliberate hollowing out of the type of expertise that can serve the nation rather than Trump himself. This effort has hit our diplomatic corps particularly hard, with our embassies seeing career foreign services pushed out and our broader State Department hollowed out. This drive for personal and political loyalty over service to the nation also manifests itself in Trumps self-avowed preference for acting officials even in vital, cabinet-level national security posts. As one of us has, with Carrie Cordero, argued here on Just Security, this choice by the president denigrates American national security in favor of providing Trump with political sway over key officials in order to demand personal fealty from them. Thats the Trump trade-off in a nutshell: choosing himself over the nation in purely transactional terms that do not distinguish between the two sets of interests, and refashioning the executive branch to reflect that choice.

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What shoe might drop next? Trump is reportedly considering, in consultation with his advisors, firing the intelligence communitys inspector general, Michael Atkinsonanother official installed in his current role by Trump himself. Atkinson, very much to his credit, battled others within the executive branch to ensure that the whistleblower complaint that began to unravel Trumps extortion of Ukraine reached congressional overseers in both the House and Senate, where it belonged. Simply put, he did his jobin the words of Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire when testifying before Congress, I have no reason to doubt that Michael Atkinson did anything but his joband, yet again, thats exactly why Trump now might fire him. The job of an inspector general and of other internal watchdogsincluding ethics attorneys and, in a broader sense, lawyers in generalis to keep the government within the rule of law. As Trumps former head of the Office of Government Ethics, Walter Shaub, warned, Firing an Inspector General for processing a whistleblower complaint would be an extraordinary blow to whatever shred of government integrity remains. It would be an atom bomb.

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If Trump can intimidate the truth-speakers and remove the watchdogs, then he can utilize the instruments of national power hes increasingly appropriating for himself with virtual impunity. That suits his fundamental vision of governance, and it does so even if a rumored firing never in fact comes to pass: the news reports anticipating it can be enough to spread the intimidation and fear Trump intends to stoke. As Trump said in an interview with Bob Woodward, Real power isI dont even want to use the wordfear, the basis for Woodwards book by that title.

These threats hovering over Atkinson and others also puts the Friday Night Massacre in context. For months, the Trump administration has, more quietly than on Friday, been firing those whove insisted on adherence to the rule of law when that insistence is at odds with the White House. One of the most notable examples came in September, when the general counsel of the Department of Homeland Security appointed by Trump himself was abruptly fired after telling the White House that proposals such as releasing undocumented immigrants into so-called sanctuary cities were unlawful.

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What to make of all of these points in the overall pattern and their trajectory? Steven Levitsky, professor of government at Harvard University and co-author of How Democracies Die, told Just Security:

This is classic politicization of state institutionsa first early move of every elected autocrat I have studied. This allows law enforcement and intelligence institutions to be used as both a shield against investigation and a weapon against opponents. U.S. institutions are more robust to politicization than others, but another four years of this will do an extraordinary amount of damage.

While the Friday Night Massacre unfolded quickly, President Trump surely intends for its effects to endure. This was no mere intemperate outburst in the wake of Trumps impeachment acquittal. He waitedpatientlyto strike until the Republican-controlled Senate acquitted him. Then he took an important step in the consolidation of power by a president who intends to take the very sins for which he was impeachedexploiting American national power for Trumps personal power, and silencing those who try to call him out for itand indulge in them more aggressively, even more brazenly. Resisting Trumps threat to American democracy begins with clear-eyed recognition of what designs he has on political power. It also should be a wakeup call to those who have become witting and unwitting accomplices in that transformation.

More From Just Security:

Never Mind America FirstTrumps Newly Expanded Immigration Ban Puts Americans Last

The CIA in the Age of Trump
As the regime's inexorable push in north escalates tensions with Turkey, a monitor said on February 10 that Russian and regime strikes on the last major rebel enclave in Syria has killed 29 civilians in a day. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that in the raids carried out on Monday, six children were also among the civilians who were killed in the village of Abin Semaan in Aleppo province where the Moscow-backed regime forces have been showcasing retaliation to retake a key highway.

According to international reports, a rescue worker carried out the body of a little girl in a woolen blanket while one of her relatives was pleading to take her body. In the near-freezing temperatures, the volunteers were shivering while removing mounds of rubble and rescued a dust-covered man along with a little child who had been trapped beneath.

Read - Syria: 8 Civilians Killed, 14 Injured In Suspected YPG Attack In Afrin

The latest airstrikes by Russia and regime were followed by an attack which had already killed at least 20 civilians in the neighbouring provinces of Idlib and Aleppo. Since December, Syrian government forces backed by Russia have been pressed a blistering assault against the Idlib region in country's northwest. The violence regarding this issue has killed more than 350 civilians and sent nearly 586,000 towards the Turkish border for relative safety.

UN, aid groups call for an end

The United Nations and aid groups have reportedly appealed for the hostilities to end and also warned that the exodus risks are creating one of the worst humanitarian disasters of the nearly nine-year-war. However, the number of strike shave increased and continued. Both Turkey and Russia had agreed on a de-escalation deal for Idlib in 2017 which is currently held by Syria's opposition, but it has been violated.

Read - NW Syria Violence Displaces 500,000 In Two Months

The Idlib province, along with some parts of neighbouring Aleppo and Latakia provinces is dominated by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham alliance along with their rebel allies. Nearly three million people live in the area including half of the civilians who have already fled the provinces due to violence. At least 50, 000 fighters are also in the disputed area, reportedly majority of them are jihadists but majority still remain the allied rebels.

The Observatory said that a raid which occurred a day ago on Sunday by Russia had killed 14 people including nine in the village of Kafr Nuran in southwestern Aleppo province. Furthermore, Syrian air raids with crude barrel bombs had also claimed lives of four civilians in the Atareb district east of Aleppo and one more was killed in an artillery fire near the city of Jisr Al-Shughur and one in Ketian village in southern Idlib.

Read - Islamic State Steps Up Attacks In Syria & Iraq After Losing Territory: UN Experts

Read - UN Experts: Islamic State Steps Up Attacks In Syria And Iraq

(With agency inputs)
Jessie Royer of Seeley Lake won the 300-mile Montana Race to the Sky Monday night, building on her legacy as the musher with the most wins in the annual sled dog race.

At 9 p.m., four of the other five mushers remaining in the race were all still resting at Whitetail Ranch for their mandatory six-hour rest. First among them to arrive was Gabe Dunham of Darby, followed by Clayton Perry of Choteau, Cindy Gallea and Damon Ramaker of Minnesota. Kevin Mathis of Monona, Iowa, was still almost 10 miles out.

Royer started her winning career in the Race to the Sky in 1994 at age 17 and continued with wins in 2015, 2016 and 2018. She still holds the record for youngest champion from her 1994 win. Seven of the last eight champions were also women.

"She has a level of understanding of the dogs people would only have a hope to have," Pam Beckstrom, race secretary, said about Royer's skills.

Royer is set to compete in her 18th Iditarod, which kicks off March 7 from Anchorage, Alaska. She placed third last year, bringing her career total Iditarod winnings to over $430,000.

Trail conditions were spectacular this year, according to Beckstrom. She credited the trail groomers for a nice hard-packed trail, she credited the volunteers for a well-marked trail and she credited Mother Nature for weather conditions conducive to a good sled dog race.

Three first-time Race to the Sky teams withdrew from the race Sunday: Jesse Flory of Hesperus, Colorado; Patrick Roy of Paradise; and Jed Stephenson of Sandpoint, Idaho. According to Beckstrom, some dogs on the teams were less experienced and tired quicker than expected.

"They all did great though and they all had a great attitude," Beckstrom said. "They usually end up going home, talk to other mushers, get encouraged and come back the next year."

In the 100-mile race, Josi Thyr of Seeley Lake placed first early Sunday at the Morrell Creek snowmobile parking lot near Seeley Lake. Thyr, originally from Cataldo, Idaho, was awarded the Jack Beckstrom Best Cared for Team Award.

"Every single 100-mile musher had a big smile on their face when they crossed the finish line," Beckstrom said.

Roy Etnire of Seeley received the Jack Beckstrom Sportsmanship Award for his work on the trail and sacrificing running time to help the Race to the Sky. Etnire, a two-time winner of the 100-mile race, finished seventh Sunday.

Charmayne Morrison, a 19-year-old Montana State University student from Polson, received the Rocky Mountain Triple Crown award. She competed in and finished the Eagle Cap Extreme 100 in Oregon in January and the Idaho Sled Dog Challenge in McCall, Idaho, two weekends ago before taking third place in Race to the Sky 100.

The Rocky Mountain Triple Crown is an effort by the three races to conform the rules of each race so people know what to expect going into them. The group is also planning a dog-mushing symposium in Missoula in September.

According to Beckstrom the last symposium they held was 18 years ago in Helena and it drew about 150 mushers from around the country.

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A UK court ruling named Ghana among 20 other countries involved in a questionable deal with Europes largest aircraft manufacturer, Airbus.

Our manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

The UK Crown Court ruling revealed that Ghana went into a fictitious agreement with Airbus, an arrangement which the UKs Serious Fraud Office describes as fraudulent.

The document from the UK Crown Court further states that Airbus failed to prevent persons associated with it from bribing others concerned in the purchase of military transport aircraft for the government of Ghana.

READ ALSO: University of Ghana SRC President allegedly spends GHC 66,138 from students dues

Between July 1, 2011, and June 1, 2015, the government of Ghana went in an agreement with Airbus to purchase three military aircrafts.

It is in this transaction that the UKs Serious Fraud Office has revealed that some persons from within the Ghana government were compromised.

It has been revealed that these persons were bribed by the Airbus officials so as to retain or even obtain business advantage for Airbus in the future.

It is on the back of such shady deals that the Airbus was fined 3 billion by the UK court for attempting to bribe and corrupting officials of countries they enter into agreement with.

YEN.com.gh investigations has revealed that the agreement to purchase the aircrafts was approved by parliament on March 25, 2015.

READ ALSO: Government to ban completely importation of vehicles that are 10 years old

Our checks further revealed that the agreement happened during the Atta-Mills and John Mahama era.

The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) are pointing accusing fingers at the NDCs flag bearer John Dramani Mahama as the government official who was bribed by the Airbus officials.

The NDC has vehemently denied and rejected the allegations of their opponent.

President Nana Akufo-Addo has also directed the Office of the Special Prosecutor to also take a look into what has become the Airbus Scandal.

ATTENTION: Read the best news on Ghana #1 news app. Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Ghana

The Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu is required to investigate to determine the complicity or otherwise of any Ghanaian government official, past or present, involved in the scandal.

The Special Prosecutor in a statement said his office began investigations into the Airbus saga on February 4, 2020. He opined that preliminary investigation is underway and urged Ghanaians not speculate or politicize matters.

YEN.com.gh earlier reported that Africas biggest airline, Ethiopian Airlines, is in the process of cutting down a number of its flights to China.

This comes in the wake of the coronavirus scare which has plagued the Asian country in recent times.

Information available shows that about 725 people have lost their lives to the deadly virus.

President Akufo-Addo is a "wicked old man" - Angry protester fumes | #Yencomgh

READ ALSO: NPP's John Boadu makes serious accusation; says NDC is the most corrupt party

Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page.

Source: YEN.com.gh
Ms. Doringo had been sitting at the gate, watching as the crew waited for approval to board the flight and listening as airline employees repeated an announcement about the new travel ban. At 4 p.m., all Filipino passport holders were asked to go to immigration. Around her, domestic workers called their employers in Hong Kong, their voices rising in panic.

Then her suitcase got lost. But there was little else she could do besides huddle together with the other grounded passengers. Most of them had not eaten since that morning. Rather than splurging at the airports restaurants, they snacked and skipped dinner.

At 11 p.m., Ms. Doringo left the terminal empty-handed.

She had moved to Hong Kong two years ago with dreams of creating a better life for her family. The job in Hong Kong paid a better salary than what she would have earned back home, and soon after starting she was able to buy a plot of land in her rural province. She began setting aside money every month to build a house for her family.

She missed them constantly, particularly during the chaos of the past seven months when Hong Kong was rocked by antigovernment demonstrations. Her homesickness only intensified in late January as the coronavirus spread.

Protests, disease, the loneliness of living alone  all of this triggers the longing of going back home, she wrote in an Instagram post on Jan. 25 before she returned to the Philippines for a nine-day vacation. To your real home.
A 10-year-old boy from Nepal was on Monday handed over to a representative of the Embassy of Nepal in New Delhi, nearly ten months after he was found in Jharkhand's Ramgarh, a senior official said here.

The boy, who was found by the police in Ramgarh on April 20 last year and put up in a children's home here, was handed over to the Nepalese authorities after proper verification, district Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Singh told reporters here.

"Ramu Pun Magar, son of Mitralal Pun and Shova K C, who hail from Dang district of Nepal, was handed over to the representative of the Embassy of Nepal in New Delhi, Bhumi Raj Bhattarai," Singh said.

The child was given a warm send-off with gifts as he is set to reunite with his parents in Nepal, he said.

The boy will leave for his country from New Delhi, Singh said.

During the investigation, it was found that the boy was missing from his residence in Nepal two years before he was found in Ramgarh, the deputy commissioner said.

He said the Jharkhand government had then approached the Embassy of Nepal and sought identification of the boy for repatriation to his country.

The boy recognised his parents through photographs and was repatriated after documents submitted by the Nepalese authorities identified his family, Singh said.

Bhattarai, the representative of the Embassy of Nepal, said, "It could be a case of cross-border human trafficking as the boy had travelled a long distance from Bihar to Ranchi before reaching Ramgarh and it was found that someone had paid him the bus fare.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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The Oscars seemed poised to honor a history movie, the World War I drama, 1917. Instead, Academy Award voters made movie history, as Parasite became the first foreign-language film to win the best picture trophy.

The 92nd Oscars were in many ways a litmus test for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. With just a single person of color, Cynthia Erivo (Harriet), among the 20 acting nominees, and no woman nominated for directing, Sunday night's lineup was widely criticized for its glaring lack of diversity before the show even began. Had the largely all-white (both in front of and behind the camera) 1917 won the top Oscar, the evening would have concluded on a similar exclusionary note.

But thanks to Parasite, this year's Oscars had an ending that -- even by Hollywood standards -- was a shocker, and perhaps just as startling as the film's crazy final 15 minutes. And its triumph may prove, at least for the moment, that the academy's deep investment in diversifying its membership is paying dividends.

All The Winners Of The 92nd Academy Awards

Director and co-screenwriter Bong Joon-ho took home four statuettes for Parasite: best director; original screenplay; international feature; and best picture. While 1917 won some lesser awards, including cinematography for Roger Deakins, it lost in several categories where it was favored, especially for its director and co-writer, Sam Mendes.

While Parasite's victories for best picture and director were surprising, very few of the other top winners were unexpected, particularly in the acting races: Joker's Joaquin Phoenix; Brad Pitt from Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood; Renee Zellweger from Judy; and Marriage Story's Laura Dern were all forecast to take home Oscars.

Actress Laura Dern poses with her engraved award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for "Marriage Story" as she attends the 92nd Oscars Governors Ball at the Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood on Feb. 9, 2020. (Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images)

In its selection of presenters and performers (including a performance by Eminem kept so secret that only four academy people knew of the plan until the last minute), the ceremony's producers tried to cast a wide net. But even that strategy helped highlight the disparity when the nominees were introduced and the hardware handed out. In her opening musical number, Janelle Monae said, "We celebrate women who directed great films." Of course none of those women, most notably Greta Gerwig (Little Women), were up for a directing honor.

After the ceremony, I had a chance to talk to a former and the current president of the academy. Cheryl Boone Isaacs was in charge in 2012 when I and a team of Los Angeles Times reporters spent a year investigating the demographics of the Oscar voters. The paper found that the membership was 94% Caucasian, and 77% male with a median age of 62. Isaacs, in the wake of that report, helped push for an academy initiative, called A2020, to ensure that new members were dramatically more diverse.

David Rubin, the current president, inherited the fruits of that effort. While he didn't tip his hand as to how he voted on best picture, he was nevertheless quite pleased that Parasite made Oscar history. "That," he said, "was a really good night."
JERUSALEM, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The digital impact agency, Metropolis Digital just released their newest list of the top 500 fastest growing companies in Israel, which included WishTrip. WishTrip joins the ranks of Wix, Armis, Appsflyer, Syte and IMGN Media who are also included on the list.

Metropolis Digital releases a new list twice a year using data on workforce expansion harvested from LinkedIn. As Tsur Charles Shraibman, Metropolis's CEO explains "Most of these are private companies, [therefore] it's not possible to factor in revenue. However, companies with a fast headcount trajectory indicate that they are doing something right from a revenue standpoint, or are about to raise a serious round, or have recently done so."

As expected, the list is dominated by some of the biggest growth sectors in Israel like Auto-tech, cyber-security and fintech.

WishTrip's inclusion on this important list is further evidence of the company's amazing growth and the impact it is having in the travel-tech field. The past 18 months have seen the company almost double its staff taking on new employees in almost every department from app development to sales and customer success.

The increased staff is to accommodate WishTrip's global growth and its penetrating new markets by adding attractions like zoos and amusement parks to its existing client base of tourism destinations.

Co-Founder and CEO Bezalel Lenzizky observed "First, we were named one of UNWTO's top 20 travel-tech companies worldwide. Now we have joined the list of Israel's top 500 fasting growing companies across all sectors. We are grateful for our success and look forward to a bright future with the help of God."

About WishTrip

WishTrip is a SaaS-based tourism experience management platform that enables tourist destinations to play a more active role in shaping visitors' travel experiences. WishTrip helps destinations learn more about their visitors, personalize their experiences and improve their online reputations. For visitors, WishTrip is a smartphone application that helps travelers seamlessly navigate customer sites, find information and record their memories.

Contact:

Sarah Hein

Director of Marketing

[email protected]

SOURCE WishTrip

Related Links

https://wishtrip.com/






Haiti - FLASH : The Minister a.i. of Finance contradicts the BRH





The note from the Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH) on Monetary Policy in the 1st quarter of fiscal year 2020 (October-December 2019) indicates "[...]

The slight quarterly increase in government revenues, however, could not compensate for the increase in government spending and consequently, a deterioration in the government's overall net position vis-a-vis the BRH was recorded, materialized by a level of monetary financing of 15.8 billion at December 31, 2019 compared to 5.3 billion in the previous quarter [...] In terms of assets on the Central Banks balance sheet, net claims on the State increased by 22.19% as of December 31, 2019, compared to 8.18% in the previous quarter [...]"



Download the complete BRH Note (French PDF) : https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/note_polmon1t20.pdf



Joseph Jouthe the Minister ai of the Economy and Finance affirms that contrary to what the BRH says "There are not 15 billion Gourdes of monetary financing" affirming to have "acted within the framework of the economic governance pact" and according to him to be at 9.6 billion Gourdes specifying that due to the subsidy of petroleum products he had to borrow an additional 5 billion from the BRH which he must reimburse in the coming days, to pay the State suppliers.



Whatever the Minister of Finance's desire (monetary financing, governance pact, loan, etc...) to minimize the size of the deficit in the first quarter, and whatever the accounting language used by the BRH, the fact remains that the Central Bank financed the Public Treasury to the tune of 15.8 billion Gourdes to cover the expenses of the first fiscal quarter of the Government due to a deficit in revenue.



Let's remind our readers that the economic and financial governance pact signed between the BRH and the Ministry of Finance in November 2019 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29375-haiti-flash-the-state-signs-an-economic-governance-pact-with-the-brh.html aiming to maintain the balance between the expenses and the available resources and reduce the increase in the financing needs of the State



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29948-haiti-economy-the-deficit-explodes-in-the-1st-fiscal-quarter-and-exceeds-15-billion.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29375-haiti-flash-the-state-signs-an-economic-governance-pact-with-the-brh.html



SL/ HaitiLibre


















Got a question or tip? Contact us at bizmojoidaho@gmail.com.
SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OpsRamp, the service-centric AIOps platform, announced today that CRN , a brand of The Channel Company , has named Brian (Hart) Hartwell, Vice President of Worldwide Channel Sales at OpsRamp, to its 2020 list of Channel Chiefs. This annual list recognizes the top vendor executives who continually demonstrate exemplary leadership, influence, innovation, and growth for the IT channel.



Hartwell is a 15-year veteran of technology sales, most recently serving as the Vice President of Alliances for Rubrik. Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Alliances for Nimble Storage and served in several other sales leadership roles for Dell, Data Domain, and others. Hartwell also possesses a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) in Law from Michigan State University College of Law.

Brian Hartwell and his long track record of success demonstrates our companys core commitment to the channel, said Mike Munoz, Chief Revenue Officer of OpsRamp. Our platform offers new opportunities for partners looking to move into the recurring revenue of hybrid cloud monitoring and management. Were proud that Hart has been recognized for his dedication to channel partnership.

CRNs 2020 Channel Chiefs list honors the distinguished leaders who have influenced the IT channel with cutting-edge strategies and partnerships.

The 2020 Channel Chiefs have shown outstanding commitment, an ability to lead, and a passion for progress within the channel through their partner programs. The Channel Chief honorees were chosen by the CRN editorial staff for their dedication, industry prestige, and exceptional accomplishments in driving the channel agenda and evangelizing the importance of channel partnerships.

The IT channel is undergoing constant evolution to meet customer demands and changing business environments, said Bob Skelley, CEO of The Channel Company. CRNs Channel Chiefs work tirelessly, leading the industry forward through superior partner programs and strategies with a focus on helping solution providers transform and grow. Our team here at The Channel Company congratulates these outstanding individuals for their dedication to the channel.

CRNs 2020 Channel Chiefs list will be featured in the February 2020 issue of CRN Magazine and online at www.CRN.com/ChannelChiefs .

About OpsRamp

OpsRamp enables IT to control the chaos of managing their hybrid IT operations and act like a service provider back to the business. Built in the cloud, the OpsRamp service-centric AIOps platform drives total visibility across hybrid infrastructures, offers complete multi-cloud infrastructure monitoring and management of business-critical services, and optimizes services through automation and integration with ITSM and DevOps tools. Now enterprise IT can deliver IT operations as a service and power a digital operations command center thats built for the challenges of modern, hybrid infrastructure.

Follow OpsRamp on Twitter

Find OpsRamp on LinkedIn

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Visit the OpsRamp Newsroom

About The Channel Company

The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequalled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelcompany.com

Follow The Channel Company: Twitter , LinkedIn, and Facebook .

 2019. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

The Channel Company Contact:

Jennifer Hogan

The Channel Company

jhogan@thechannelcompany.com
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) announced on Monday that it has been in active discussions with the Chinese government to strengthen the country's emergency public health infrastructure.





Subject to the approval of its Board of Directors, AIIB stands ready to support China through public health infrastructure loans to meet the country's immediate and longer-term public health needs, according to an AIIB press release.





AIIB President Jin Liqun said, "People from over 50 nations work at AIIB and we have all made China our home. With the full impacts of this epidemic still unknown, we want to do our part as residents of China to help stop its spread."





"In line with AIIB's mission, we will also work with the Chinese government to identify effective public health infrastructure investments that will prevent the rapid spread of future outbreaks," Jin said.





To give back to the community where AIIB staff live and work, the bank is also matching staff donations to purchase medical equipment to help China control the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), said the press release.





The statement cited the World Health Organization: "Public health infrastructures contribute directly to final global public goods for health provision (e.g., sewers) and indirectly (e.g., education)."





The press release stated that further investment from multilateral partners, such as AIIB, can help strengthen China's public health infrastructure, which can have a lasting and global health impact.





Jin noted, "We look forward to working with other multilateral development banks, private partners, and other funders who wish to join hands in bolstering China and other members' ability to respond to and deal with epidemics and other public health emergencies. These types of investments will not only improve the health of Chinese citizens but can have a global impact in terms of prevention and education."





Headquartered in Beijing, AIIB began its operations in January 2016 and has now grown to 102 approved members worldwide.




The Justice Department charged four Chinese intelligence officers on Monday with a 2017 hack of credit-reporting giant Equifax, which compromised the personal data of nearly 150 million Americans.

This was a deliberate and sweeping intrusion into the private information of the American people, Attorney General William Barr said in a press conference on the announcement.

Wu Zhiyong, Wang Qian, Xu Ke, and Liu Lei, members of the Peoples Liberation Armys 54th Research Institute, are charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit computer fraud, conspiracy to commit economic espionage, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, as well as two counts of unauthorized access and intentional damage to a protected computer, one count of economic espionage, and three counts of wire fraud.

The indictment, returned by a federal grand jury in Atlanta last week, alleges that the soldiers used a vulnerability in Equifaxs online dispute portal to access its secure servers over several weeks. The group ran approximately 9,000 queries while routing traffic through 34 servers to secretly obtain names, birth dates, and social security numbers for nearly half of all American citizens, before compressing and exporting the data.

Senator Ben Sasse (R., Neb.) released a statement calling for greater cyber security in the wake of the announcement.

The Chinese Communist Party will leave no stone unturned in its effort to steal and exploit American data, Sasse said. These indictments are good news, but weve got to do more to protect Americans data from Chinese Communist Party influence operations.

The multi-year investigation involved tracing the IP addresses and software tools used in the cyberattack.

Todays announcement of these indictments further highlights our commitment to imposing consequences on cybercriminals no matter who they are, where they are, or what countrys uniform they wear, FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich said.

The announcement is the latest in a underhanded technology war between the U.S. and China. President Trump reportedly slammed U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a private phone call last week, after Johnson ignored the U.S.s warnings and announced that Britain would allow Chinese telecom giant Huawei to help build the countrys 5G network.

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Secretary Commerce, Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera on Monday said that Pakistan wanted to double its trade with African region from $4 billion to $8 billion by tapping the huge potential existing in the region

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Feb, 2020 ) :Secretary Commerce, Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera on Monday said that Pakistan wanted to double its trade with African region from $4 billion to $8 billion by tapping the huge potential existing in the region.

He said that the government was focusing to enhance production of goods in all priority sectors to exploit new potential markets and increase the country's exports.

Talking to APP, he said that Pakistan-Africa trade was well below its true potential.

The both sides wanted to enter into long-term partnerships, which would be proved mutually beneficial, he added.

He stressed that there was a need to enhance Pakistan-Africa trade and develop banking and transportation channels.

Pakistan was on a path of economic growth and had attracted Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from leading investors in the last year, he said. He informed that President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta had also addressed Pakistan-Africa Trade Development Conference 2020 (PATDC-20) at Nairobi, Kenya. The Secretary Commerce said that by choosing Kenya, it had been proved that Kenya was the gateway to Africa.

He said the Kenyan Ministry of Commerce and East African Association also presented business opportunities in East Africa at the PATDC-20.

 Leading Pakistani companies and African companies held over 1000 B2B meetings on the sidelines of the conference.

He said that Pakistani exporters of Rice, sports, Pharmaceutical, Fans also arranged the Business to business and government to government meeting during the conference. He said that over all 2200 Business to business meeting was conducted between Pakistani and Africans business to enhance the trade cooperation between both the sides.

"The government is working on Strategic Trade Policy Framework for changing the trade strategies according to the new market trends for searching the new markets for Pakistani exports," he added.

He said that the government had focuses on different potential regions including Africa, North America for increasing economic and business cooperation.

He said that "We want to promote the e-commerce for giving the new employment opportunities to the local youth."With regard to successes of the government, he informed that Finalization of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) II with China, current exploration of African and Russian markets and last review of Generalized Schemes of References (GSP-Plus) with European Union were huge success of the government.
Providing Advanced Data Capture and Intelligent Document Classification Solutions We are really looking forward to working with Savvior, said Nick Bova, Vice President of Sales at ancora. They have years of experience implementing business process automation solutions.

ancora Software is very happy to announce that Savvior headquartered in Pittsburgh has joined the ancora Alliance of authorized resellers of ancoras industry leading Advanced Data Capture and Intelligent Document Classification solutions.

Savvior focuses on business process automation solutions to better implement their clients business strategies to enhance their service offerings. With over 25 years experience, the Savvior team has built both enterprise and strategic deployments for their global clients to deliver impactful results.

Savviors first closed opportunity with ancoraDocs is with a large auto dealer group in the Pittsburgh area. The auto dealer group with 9 stores in the area will be using ancoraDocs for both AP invoice processing and deal jackets. They will be using ancoraDocs Intelligent Document Classification solution for identifying the many different document types that make up a deal jacket. For compliance reasons it is very important to be able to identify all doc types in the jacket. There are over 17,000 auto dealerships across the US, all of them can benefit by using ancoraDocs for AP invoice processing and deal jacket management.

ancoraDocs is available either on premise or as a true multi-tenant cloud service hosted by ancora on Microsoft Azure. It can also be deployed as a hybrid solution, utilizing zero footprint browser-based clients.

ancoraDocs is designed to bring simplicity to a market where applications have historically been complex and overpriced, as well as difficult to configure, install, use, and maintain, said Noel Flynn, CEO at ancora Software. It can be deployed in a matter of hours or days, not the weeks or months you often see with traditional capture. This helps users start realizing their benefits sooner and produces a faster time to ROI. In addition, it opens the market to SMB organizations, which have historically not been able to take advantage of automated document capture due to the significant costs of getting started.

We are really looking forward to working with Savvior, said Nick Bova, Vice President of Sales at ancora. They have years of experience implementing business process automation solutions, added Bova. They understand how to help their clients improve their internal processes.

ancoraDocs from ancora Software really delivered a best of breed solution for our client. The ability to get our clients up and running quickly and integrating into their current process is key for our clients, said Keith Giuliani, President and CEO of Savvior. ancoras staff is both knowledgeable and professional and represented well with our customer, added Giuliani.

About Ancora Software

ancora Software, Inc. is an innovative provider of Business Process Automation solutions including Intelligent Document Classification and Data Capture. ancoraDocs, our flagship product, was developed to bring simplicity to a technology that historically has been complex, over-priced, and difficult to configure, install, use and maintain. Our Business Process Automation solutions with patented artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies help companies eliminate costly manual steps in their business processes such as; document classification, document analysis, manual data entry, manual filing, etc. Businesses using ancora Software achieve faster and less expensive business process automation and better controls over valuable critical information. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, ancora Software maintains sales and support operations throughout North America and the UK.

For more information about ancora Software, Inc. visit http://www.ancorasoftware.com
Is Mayor Pete prepared to be president? California mayors in South Bend-size cities say yes
A 53-year-old man, who was detained for interrogation in connection with a theft case, died in police custody inside a police station in north sub-urban Kolkata on Monday evening.

The victim has been identified as Raj Kumar Sau. The victims family members and neighbours ransacked the Sinthe police station alleging that he was tortured by the police during interrogation.

Police, however, said he was ill and suffered a cardiac arrest during interrogation.

Police told us that Sau was picked up on charges of buying metal taps, which were stolen by a woman. These are baseless allegations. He was a trader in the locality and owns a shop. He was taken to the police station and then tortured to death, said Parimal Jana, Saus neighbour.

Police said that the Shaw was detained for questioning around 11:30 am on the basis of information provided by a woman who had stolen some items.

The accused woman, during grilling, told police that she had sold the stolen items to Sau. Based on that information he was brought to the police station for questioning. Around 6 pm he suddenly fell unconscious. He was immediately rushed to the nearest state-run hospital where he was declared dead on arrival, said a senior police officer.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 10, 2020 13:04 701 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206390f9f 1 City Grab,GrabCar,ride-hailing-application,ride-hailing-service,emergency,Twitter,Instagram,viral,Gojek Free

A harrowing account of a woman using the Emergency Help feature provided by ride-hailing app Grab to extricate herself from a sticky situation went viral over the weekend, drawing attention to the features provided by such apps to protect both drivers and passengers.

On Saturday, Twitter user @mllerasya shared posts from Instagram user @tiannnwu, who recounted a frightening car ride she experienced while using the GrabCar service, and how the emergency button feature possibly saved her life.

Mau share kejadian yang cukup mengerikan yang dialami temenku sewaktu naik grabcar di Jakarta.@CeritaTranspOL pic.twitter.com/LFrV8T3x7x  Rasya (@mllerasya) February 8, 2020

The Instagram user wrote on her post that she was using the GrabCar service to go to two different places, the first was to my office in the Dharmawangsa area [in South Jakarta] to pick up my friend, then to a wedding expo at the Indonesia Convention Exhibition in Bumi Serpong Damai town [in South Tangerang], she wrote in her post.

The driver of the car that she ordered did not follow her directions and took a different route, claiming to be directed there by a navigation app.

During the ride, she suddenly heard a sound of what she thought to be a walkie talkie coming from the driver seat. I felt uneasy when I heard it. The driver repeatedly looked at me in the backseat while I tried not to panic, she wrote.

She said the car then suddenly veered onto a toll road, going even further away from her destination. She tried to tell the driver to go back to the right way while trying to contact her boyfriend. The driver kept whispering something and saying some kind of code, I dont know who he was whispering to, she continued.

She said the driver made a sudden change in speed, possibly in an effort to make her drop her phone. But then I remembered there is an emergency button in the Grab app, so I pressed it and got connected to its emergency care, she wrote.

She explained her situation to the emergency operator while putting them on loudspeaker. The driver started speeding and saying loudly that he was going in the right direction.

I asked if they could track my location and the operator told me that a Grab task force was on the way to my location. [...] the driver started panicking and he dropped me off on the toll road, she wrote, adding that the emergency operators stayed on the line until she was picked up by a Grab officer, who then reported the incident to the police with her.

Grab provides an Emergency Help feature in its app so users can contact its call center and emergency team in case either the passenger or driver feel that they are in danger. The feature also informs user-assigned emergency contacts when it is used.

Grab Indonesia public relations manager Andre Sebastian said the driver from @tiannnwus story had been removed from the platform pending further investigation into the matter.

The incident has been handled in accordance with our commitment to provide passengers with the support and help that they need, Andre said on Sunday as quoted by kompas.com. The safety and security of passengers and drivers is Grabs main priority.

He added that he hoped the viral post would increase Grab users awareness of the apps emergency features.

Grabs rival, homegrown ride-hailing app Gojek, also provides a similar feature called Emergency Button to connect users who felt threatened during rides to its emergency hotline. (mfp)
T he Solar Orbiter has now set out on its quest to the Sun in a mission to unlock its secrets.

Designed and built in the UK, the spacecraft was launched into space on Monday from NASA's Cape Canaveral site in Florida.

The probe catapulted into the atmosphere aboard an Atlas rocket at 4.03am GMT on Monday (11.03pm local time on Sunday).

It marks the beginning of a journey to understand the Sun's power and its effect on the Earth and its inhabitants.

What is the Solar Orbiter's mission?

The Solar Orbiter spacecraft, built for NASA and the European Space Agency, lifts off from pad 41 / REUTERS

The Solar Orbiter (SolO)'s main mission is to understand how the Sun's magnetic field is generated.

The Sun's magnetic field can create flares and other eruptions producing the energetic particles that lead to extreme space storms.

These space storms can disrupt electrical equipment and power grids on earth and put satellites at risk.

If governments have the ability to predict when these storms will occur it could help companies protect their satellites and other communications infrastructure.

There is a desire also to understand the star's influence on the Solar System as a whole as part of the European Space Agency (ESA) mission.

"Solar Orbiter is all about the connection between what happens on the Sun and what happens in space," explained Prof Tim Horbury from Imperial College London.

"We need to go close to the Sun to look at a source region, then measure the particles and fields that come out from it. It's this combination, plus the unique orbit, that makes Solar Orbiter so powerful in studying how the Sun works and affects the Solar System."

That unique orbit will lift SolO out of the plane of the planets to look down on the Sun's poles.

"We don't yet have a detailed understanding of why the Sun has an 11-year cycle over which activity rises and falls," said Prof Lucie Green from University College London.

"There are missing observations that prevent us from knowing which of our theories are correct, and those missing observations are the ones we've never made of the poles."

What the researchers will see, they cannot say for sure. But the expectation is that SolO will detect signals of when the Sun's activity is about to change.

"We believe we will see indications of the next cycle early on in the polar regions," speculated Esa project scientist Dr Daniel Muller. "These are small concentrations of magnetic field."

What role did the UK play?

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket as it is prepared for launch at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station / REUTERS

The Solar Orbiter mission is a 1.3 billion project, of which the UK space agency provided 20 million of funding.

It is the flagship venture of the ESA, with its US counterparts NASA participating.

Scientists in the UK helped design four of the 10 instruments on the Solar Orbiter.

It was also designed and put together by aerospace company Airbus at their site in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.

The responsibility of launching the probe then fell to the Americans.

Chris Lee, the UK Space Agencys chief scientist, called the launch, "The most important UK space science mission for a generation.

"Both because of its leading roles for UK science and industry but also because of the crucial information it will give us about living near a star like the Sun.

How will the spacecraft reach the sun?

The moment the spacecraft was catapulted into space / REUTERS

The spacecraft will take two years to reach the Sun.

It will use the gravitational force of Venus and Earth to adjust its trajectory, which will place it into an elliptical orbit around the Sun.

The Solar Orbiter will make a close approach to the Sun every five months, and at its closest will only be 26 million miles away, closer than the planet Mercury.

During these times, it will be positioned for several days over roughly the same region of the Suns surface, as the Sun rotates on its axis.

This will allow the orbiter to observe magnetic activity building up in the atmosphere that can lead to powerful flares and eruptions.

To survive the unbelievable heat and other environmental factors it will have to work from behind a large titanium shield.

"We've had to develop lots of new technologies in order to make sure that the spacecraft can survive temperatures of up to 600C," said Dr Michelle Sprake, a systems engineer with European aerospace manufacturer Airbus.

One of the spacecraft components is made out of baked animal bones.

What will happen to the Solar Orbiter at the end of the mission?

It will take over a decade to gather its research and then will become a piece of space junk / AP

The mission is expected to last 11 years. Once the Solar Orbiter runs out of fuel and power, scientists will lose all communication with the spacecraft.

It will then continue to orbit around the Sun somewhere between Mercury and Venus as a piece of space junk.
In addition to career fairs offered on campus in spring 2020, job-seeking students who attend the University of North Georgia (UNG) will have the opportunity to travel to the Georgia Association of Colleges and Employers (GACE) Statewide Career Fair through Career Services' Driven to Succeed Bus Trip.

Known as the largest career fair in the state, the GACE career fair gives job seekers the opportunity to network with employers from around the region.

In January, Career Services specialist Lori Cleymans sent out a mass email to alert students about the free transportation to the fair. She hopes this will make the fair more easily accessible to students.

"Often, our students are unable to attend such events due to transportation difficulties, which causes them to miss these valuable opportunities," Cleymans said. "At the GACE Statewide Career Fair, students will have access to more than 100 employers who are hiring for internships and full-time and part-time positions."

UNG's Career Services will provide a free lunch to attendees, as well as resume workshops and online preparation modules before the event. Students who are interested may register via Handshake or stop by the Career Services offices on UNG's Dahlonega, Gainesville and Oconee campuses.

However, students don't have to travel for a face-to-face with potential employers. This semester, career fairs will be on the Dahlonega, Gainesville and Oconee campuses.

Diane Farrell, director of Career Services, encourages every student, no matter their year, to attend these events because it is never too early to begin interacting with potential employers.

"It will never again be this easy to interact in person with a large group of interested employers," she said. "Career fairs are for students at any point in their college experience, whether they are a freshman looking for their first summer internship or a senior looking for a full-time professional position."

In addition to the traditional career fairs, a UNG Teacher Recruitment Fair will be at the Mike & Lynn Cottrell Junior Achievement Discovery Center at North Georgia, which is in Cumming. Education majors will have the opportunity to meet with representatives from various school districts throughout the area to learn about teaching opportunities.

Farrell recommends students gather employer business cards and start practicing good networking skills at these events. A post-event survey from last year's career fairs concluded that 100% of employers planned to follow up with students they spoke with at the fair.

Farrell also advised students to dress professionally, bring several copies of their resume, research the companies, and come prepared with questions. The list of companies attending can be found on Handshake.

Dates for spring 2020 career fairs are:

UNG Business & Beyond Career Fair, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 13 in the Convocation Center on the Dahlonega Campus.

UNG Teacher Recruitment Fair, 4-6 p.m. March 12 at Mike & Lynn Cottrell Junior Achievement Discovery Center at North Georgia in Cumming.

UNG Spring Job Fair, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 18 in the Robinson Ballroom on the Gainesville Campus.

UNG Summer Job Fair, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 8 in Multi-Purpose Room 522 on the Oconee Campus.

GACE Statewide Career Fair, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 14 at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta.

For more information, visit Career Services webpage.
Iceland is a country surrounded by hot springs, bio reserves, and beaches. The architecture and heritage monuments attract millions across the world. Iceland never ceases to amaze tourists and travel lovers. There are several interesting things to do in Iceland. Read on to know more about this country:

Things to do in Iceland

Take a dip in the natural hot pool

The nation is known to be located on a geothermal zone and hence is endowed with numerous hot springs. These hot springs are no less than heated luxury pools. They will offer one of the most refreshing bathing experience. There are various hot pools in Iceland, some being free while some charge you. Famous natural hot springs in Iceland are Secret Lagoon, Blue Lagoon, and Fontana Geothermal Baths.

ALSO READ | Alleppey To Goa, Hit These Tropical Destinations For Soaking Up Some Sun During The Winter

Reykjavik helicopter tour

If you are on a vacation in Iceland, the helicopter tour at this place should definitely be on your bucket list. This is one of the most exciting things to do in Iceland. The experience lasts from half an hour to two hours, depending on the package you opt for. You will get to see some jaw-dropping views of glaciers, national parks, and volcanoes. You will get to admire the beautiful landscapes of Iceland.

ALSO READ |Solo Trip: Three Important Tips To Follow When You Plan For Your Trip

Explore the black sand beach

This black sand beach is a wonderful place in Iceland. The sand appears to be black due to the presence of basalt rocks that are broken from the surrounding mountains. Adorned with the rising sea, rough waves and spectacular views, this black sand beach in Iceland looks beautiful. Strolling along this unconventional beach is one of the best things to do in Iceland.

ALSO READ | Embark On These Day Trips From Chennai For Great Weekend Getaways

Spend time at the Glacier Lagoon

Located in the southern part of Iceland, Jokulsarlon is a huge lagoon that is endowed with chunks of ice. This is one of the most beautiful places to visit in Iceland. The broken ice chunks glitter on the lagoon, making it one of the best sights to watch. Visit this beautiful landscape and take some beautiful snaps, especially if you are looking to explore Iceland during the summertime. You will also get to spot seals in this lagoon during the cold season.

ALSO READ | New Year In Thailand: Here Are Some Of The Most Fascinating Ways To Celebrate The Event
Vietnam jumped one spot to 22nd in the 2020 Military Strength Ranking by U.S. website Global Firepower.

The website ranks the military strength of 138 countries and territories based on 50 factors across eight pillars - manpower, airpower, land forces, naval forces, natural resources, geographical features, finances and logistics.

A perfect score in the index is 0, and the closer a country is to this number, the more powerful its military.

Vietnam remains the second strongest military power in Southeast Asia, with its score reducing from 0.3988 to 0.3559 this year, behind Indonesia, which is 16th strongest at 0.2544.

Thailand is in 23rd place, followed by Myanmar (35th), Malaysia (44th), the Philippines (48th), Singapore (51st), Cambodia (107th), and Laos (131st).

Cambodia and Laos are the only two countries in Southeast Asia to see its rankings drop.

The report said Vietnam has 25 attack helicopters, placing it 23rd in this category, while its combat tanks strength of 2,615 is ranked 10th.

Its naval strength, with 65 ships, places it in 35th position.

The country's annual defense budget rose to around $5.5 billion from $3.3 billion in the previous report.

Vietnam, with a population of over 97 million, has 5.48 million military personnel, including 482,000 active personnel, the ninth highest in the world.

Some 1.65 million people reach military age every year. Compulsory enlistment has existed in the country since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, and thousands of young people join the army every spring. Men aged between 18 and 27 have to serve two years, while for women it is voluntary.

The U.S. retains its top position with 0.0606 points, followed by Russia, China, India, and Japan.

The bottom three are Somalia, Liberia and Bhutan.
[February 10, 2020] Muthoot Blue Empowers Common man's Financial Well-being Through Technology With Digital Blue Initiative in Partnership With UST Global BANGALORE, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Muthoot Pappachan Group, popularly known as Muthoot Blue, a diversified conglomerate in the financial services industry, today announced the kick-start of an end-to-end 'Digital Transformation' of its Financial Services business, as a significant part of group-wide business transformation exercise. This transformational journey, aptly branded as Digital Blue, is in partnership with UST Global, a reputed global information technology solutions and services company. The Digital Blue initiative has been divided under different towers aiming specific outcomes. These towers include IT Infrastructure, all-new Gold Loan platform, new Loan Management System, CRM, Data Warehouse & Analytics; which will all fit into a new enterprise-level architecture. This digital transformation exercise is primarily aimed at easing scalability, building quick and agile decision-making capability, increased productivity and efficiency from business and cost standpoints. As a comprehensive & complete tech-led transformation, Digital Blue is an intensive & extensive six-year-long journey with the ultimate objective to add wings to Muthoot Blue's Purpose, 'To Transform the Life of the Common-man by improving their Financial Well-being'. With tomorrow's business being technology-driven, digitalization will provide the foundation for sustainable growth, keeping Muthoot Pappachan Group abreast of the rapidly changing environment and staying relevant for the future. Speaking on the partnership, Mr. Thomas John Muthoot, Chairman and Managing Director, Muthoot Pappachan Group said, "If the unbanked in India were to be a country, it would be the 7th largest country in the world. Real change in the lives of the people in the lower strata of the socio-economic pyramid comes with an improvement in their financial status and hence, Financial Inclusion for more & more of the common man is at the core outcome for us at Muthoot Blue. Digitalization, which helps in detailed, sharp & intimate customer data, in agility, inefficiency, inflexibility and in customer service & experience, therefore, is a key strategic pillar for us.

Accordingly, we went with one of the Global Leaders in the tech-business, UST Global and am so very happy to announce the birth of Digital Blue." Emphasizing on the omnipresent & omnipotent impact of the Digital Blue, Mr. Eugene Koshy, Chief Purpose Officer and the Lead behind the group-wide business transformation exercise of Muthoot Pappachan Group, said, "Our goal of being the preferred financial service provider of choice to the Common Man can only be realized if we digitalize our financial services delivery. Our engagement is such that we are servicing over 100,000 customers every day at 4,200 fully owned branches through 26,000+ employees. Accordingly, we have kept our PURPOSE and our customer at the center of all digital inititives under this transformation journey. This primarily involves developing a state-of-the-art-infrastructure for cutting edge applications across all our key products and services, which will ensure superior customer service and delight, including all the regulatory compliance as expected from a systemically important NBFC. UST Global was chosen as our partner in this exercise not just because of its global prowess in Technology, but also due to the close alignment & synergy we had in our business culture." "UST Global and Muthoot Pappachan Group have a common mission - To Transform Lives. Muthoot has been touching and transforming lives of common man by catering to their financial needs. UST Global is into transforming lives using cutting edge technology. When the power of transformation is enhanced with digital technology, the most benefitted is the common man. UST Global with extensive experience in digital transformation across the globe, is fully committed to Muthoot Pappachan Group in helping them to stay ahead in the highly competitive NFBCs market," says Alexander Varghese, Chief Operating Officer, UST Global. "The state-of-art cloud solutions built around UST's own cloud offerings will accelerate the digital transformation initiatives of Muthoot Pappachan Group. It will add great impetus to Muthoot' s business operations and help them establish a long-lasting relationship with their end customers. Digitalization and IT modernization will pave way not just for stronger customer and user experience but also improve IT security and operations for Muthoot Pappachan Group", added Gilroy Mathew, Vice President, UST Global. About Muthoot Pappachan Group Muthoot Pappachan Group (MPG), the much-diversified business conglomerate has been providing solutions, services and expertise to millions of customers across the country in various domains like financial services, automotive, realty, hospitality, IT and alternate energy. Over the years, Muthoot Pappachan Group has grown to become a significant entity in the Indian business landscape. Muthoot Pappachan Group, in fact, is one of the largest employees in the country, across industries, providing employment to over 26,000 people and endeavouring to give them a family-like work environment. The Group's customer-centric approach and innovation in terms of new products that cater to changing customer needs, have helped in gaining the loyalty of innumerable customers, as well as attracting new ones. The Group adopts the latest technology and new ways of catering to the needs of customers, coupled with an uncompromising stand on values, principles and ethics. Do visit us at www.muthoot.com and at www.muthootblue.com to know more. About Muthoot Fincorp Ltd. The flagship company of Muthoot Pappachan Group is one of the largest NBFCs in India with around 3600 branches, pan India. Muthoot Fincorp is a provider of retail finance, predominantly in the form of secured and unsecured loans, to the middle and low-income customer. Decades of customer-centricity, dedicated research and experience with the customers & their families have enabled the Company to provide quick and customized financing options & investment schemes for millions of customers. Muthoot Fincorp is one amongst the largest Gold Loan companies in India. At the same time the Muthoot Fincorp branches offer a diverse mix of retail offerings - including products of its Group companies - catering to the various needs of its customers including MSME Loan products, Affordable Housing Loan, Two-Wheeler Loan, Used-car Loan, Domestic & International Money Transfer, Chits, Foreign Exchange, Insurance Products & Services Wealth Management Services, Affordable Gold Jewellery and so on. About UST Global UST Global is a technology partner dedicated to transforming businesses, communities, and the people who live within them. Operating in 25 countries, we deliver future-ready digital transformation strategy services, products, and platforms that create new possibilities and help you imagine what's next in banking and finance, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, semiconductor, technology and media. But what matters most is the deep partnership we forge with you to solve the unique challenges you face today, while preparing you for tomorrow. That's us together. That's UST Global. Visit us at www.UST-Global.com For media inquiries, please contact:

Cherian Tinu Abraham

CherianTinu.Abraham@ust-global.com|

+1 (949) 415-9857

+91-7899045194 Neha Surender Misri

neha.misri@ust-global.com|

+91-9284726602 For further information, please contact:

Sucharita Das

sucharita.das@archetype.co

+91-9899128886 Subhechha Mitra|

subhechha.mitra@archetype.co

+91-8697332073 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/540539/UST_Global_Logo.jpg

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Few people are in a position to influence Jamie Dimon, the chief executive who turned JPMorgan Chase & Co. into the biggest U.S. bank. The longtime climate skeptic who turned Exxon Mobil Corp. into the biggest U.S. oil company is one of them.

Lee R. Raymond, 81, holds the top position on JPMorgans 11-member board after Dimon. He has occupied his seat for 33 years, making him both the longest-serving and oldest director among Wall Streets biggest banks. He helped guide JPMorgan through mega-mergers after mastering them at Exxon, backed Dimon during his rise and has stood by him. Even as the bank draws fire for lending billions to the fossil-fuel industry, the former oil executives power inside the $2.7 trillion financial firm has gone little noticed.

Thats about to change.

A nonprofit group called Majority Action is beginning a fight this week to use shareholder voting to remove Raymond from JPMorgan. The group argues that Raymonds role as the lead independent director and his coziness to Big Oil compromises JPMorgans capacity to react to the climate crisis.

This is really going to be an important moment, said Eli Kasargod-Staub, executive director of Majority Action. The gap between what is needed and JPMorgans behavior is egregious.

'IT WAS A REAL SYSTEM': Exxon climate plan wasnt fake, Tillerson says in N.Y. trial

The oil veterans relationship with Dimon gives him special status inside the bank, and makes the campaign against him a longshot. Raymond is described in public filings as the chief executives sounding board, adviser on long-term strategy and guide for annual performance reviews, as well as a key voice in who will one day succeed him. He oversees the boards agenda, has the discretion to call members together whenever he wants, and runs meetings in Dimons absence.

Raymond has a reputation among colleagues for being brilliant, logical and gruff, an old-school businessman. After everyone had his say or her say, Lees point of view was heavily influential with everyone else, said former Hearst boss Frank A. Bennack Jr., who served on JPMorgans board until 2004. I would describe him as eminently able to influence. Hearst publishes the Houston Chronicle.

A spokesman for the bank said Raymond contributes to the success of the company in countless ways. In his leadership, the spokesman added, he ensures that the board represents a wide range of views and perspectives and hears from them as well.

Majority Action, which works with investors to hold corporations accountable, has managed to win attention from shareholders. The group failed to topple Facebook Inc. boss Mark Zuckerberg but helped pressure gun maker Sturm Ruger & Co. into engaging with investors over safety concerns. Theyre now trying to sway JPMorgan into not re-nominating Raymond or else persuade investors to vote against him at the annual board election in May. Even though he left the top job at Exxon Mobil in 2005, the group sees him as intertwined with the fossil-fuel industry.

The length of Raymonds tenure may help the effort to end it. He should have aged out almost a decade ago, but he has received special approval to stay on past the boards own retirement age of 72. His 33-year run is three times longer than what JPMorgans own asset-management arm considers appropriate for independent directors across most of the world.

TRIAL'S END JUST THE BEGINNING: After Exxon victory, oil sector faces lengthy fight

Dimon is the only top executive to remain at the helm after leading a big U.S. bank through the financial crisis, and hes the one who ultimately decides how JPMorgan navigates global warming. It had $44 billion of loans out to the oil and gas industry as of the end of the September 2019, the most after Citigroup Inc. Those loans accounted for just 4.7% of JPMorgans corporate total, a slight decline from a year earlier.

Climate change is already changing Wall Street. JPMorgans environmental policy now recognizes that climate change poses global challenges and risks, and the firm is expected to discuss environmental issues at its investor day later this month, according to a person briefed on its plans. Joe Evangelisti, a spokesman, said JPMorgan supports the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change and is more than halfway to a goal of facilitating $200 billion of clean-energy financing through 2025. We continually strengthen our practices and policies around environmental issues, with more to come, he said.

Last year, in another example of climate concern reaching into high finance, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. pledged to turn down financing that supports new coal mines and upstream Arctic oil exploration. The European Investment Bank, the lending arm of the European Union and the biggest multilateral financial institution in the world, recently adopted an unprecedented strategy to end funding for fossil-fuel energy projects.

Things were different when Raymond was a master of the oil industry. He joined Exxon Corp. in 1963 and rose to the top job three decades later. During his time at the helm he cut investment in renewable fuels, pushed countries to unite against emission limitations, and in 1997 said the planet was cooling. The head of Greenpeaces climate campaign once called him the Darth Vader of global warning.

I would describe him as eminently able to influence

JPMorgan has been a top banker to Exxon for decades and advised on two of its biggest takeovers, including the merger that created Exxon Mobil in 1999 by reuniting two old pieces of the Standard Oil monopoly. Only a few months later, as a board member of what was then J.P. Morgan & Co., Raymond encouraged the merger with Chase Manhattan Corp., according to a person who worked with him. The two corporate giants Raymond helped put together are among the few public U.S. companies to have ever made more than $35 billion in annual profit.

JPMorgan has relationships with other members of Raymonds family. It has extended credit to an energy-investment firm run by one of Raymonds triplet sons, according to public disclosures, and companies connected to Energy & Minerals Group, a private equity firm run by a second. The third son runs a drilling company in which the four men have owned stakes, according to a 2018 filing. (JPMorgan said it doesnt comment on specific clients.)

Wall Street's profits from the oil industry are under more scrutiny than ever. Dimon said at the World Economic Forum in January that climate change will be solved by government policy, not beating up on fossil fuel companies and banks. A few weeks later, environmental activists disrupted a talk he gave in Florida.

Theyve criticized his rivals, too. Climate protesters with whistles and drums stopped traffic outside Goldmans London office last April, and others kept Wells Fargo & Co. employees from entering its San Francisco headquarters in September.

Majority Actions new effort against Raymond, backed by environmental group Rainforest Action Network, shows there are more targets at big banks than chief executives. In an era when the world is clearly coming to understand that climate change is the greatest threat weve ever faced, that annual vote is a big slap in the face to anyone who cares about the future, said environmental activist Bill McKibben, who was arrested at a branch of the bank in Washington last month while protesting against oil investments.

Theres a big campaign against Chase, he said, and its going to get bigger.
A 99-year-old Tennessee church member who has read through the Bible 60 times recently embarked on her 61st journey through Scripture because, she says, God shows me something new every time.

The woman, known as Miss Helen to members of her congregation at The Church at Station Hill, in Spring Hill, Tenn., began reading through the Bible the 61st time after learning of a challenge by pastor Jay Strother, who urged church members to read through the Bible in one year.

The Baptist & Reflector recounted the inspiring story. The Bible-reading plan is part of Strothers The Whole Church in the Whole Word challenge.

Ive been through the Bible 60 times and I might as well make it 61, she told Strother.

The U.S. was embroiled in World War II the first time she read through the Bible. The challenge that year was Read the Bible through in 42.

Miss Helen still attends the Sunday morning 8 a.m. service, in person, the Baptist & Reflector reported.

Strother asked her, Miss Helen, why do you still do it? She replied, God shows me something new every time.

She said youd think Ive heard these stories, but every time I read it or hear it being read, I catch something new, Strother told the Baptist & Reflector.

Miss Helens commitment to reading Scripture, Strother said, should convict and inspire other Christians to read their Bible.

You could read the entire Bible through out loud in about 72 hours, he said. So in just a little more in the time that people usually watch TV  the typical American in two weeks  you could read the Bible through.

Strother added, So, its not that we dont have the time, its that we dont choose the time.

More than 550 others signed up for the challenge after Miss Helen committed to read through the Bible again, Strother told the Baptist & Reflector.

I love the idea that our senior saints can lead the way in setting that example for us, he said.

Miss Helen turns 100 in March.

Photo courtesy: Getty Images/Halfpoint

Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Former NSW mining minister Ian Macdonald has angrily dismissed a claim that wealthy property developer Ron Medich organised a $10,000 cash payment to be delivered to him via an intermediary.

Ian Macdonald, right, arrives at court on Monday with his barrister Jonathan Martin. Macdonald is facing a five-month long trial for misconduct in public office over a mining deal. Credit:Dean Sewell

Fortunato "Lucky" Gattellari, who was recently released from jail after serving time for organising the murder of Sydney businessman Michael McGurk at the behest of Medich, told the Herald that Medich instructed him to give the cash payment to a named intermediary to pass on to Macdonald.

Gattellari has previously made this claim in a lengthy statement to police following his guilty plea in relation to the murder.

They are fabrications concocted by a convicted murderer and self-confessed liar, said Macdonald, 70, outside the NSW Supreme Court on Monday.
Pest-control sprayers demonstrate their work on the thorny bushes in the desert that is the breeding ground of desert locusts for a visiting delegation of Somali ministry officials and experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in the desert near Garowe, in the semi-autonomous Puntland region of Somalia on Feb. 4, 2020. (Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

Where It Begins: Young Hungry Locusts Bulk up in Somalia

GAROWE, SomaliaAt a glance, the desert locusts in this arid patch of northern Somalia look less ominous than the billion-member swarms infesting East Africa in the worst outbreak some places have seen in 70 years.

But their time will come.

Small and wingless, the hopping young locusts are the next wave in the outbreak that threatens more than 10 million people across the region with a severe hunger crisis.

And they are growing up in one of the most inaccessible places on the planet. Large parts of Somalia south of this semi-autonomous Puntland region are under threat or held by the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group. That makes it difficult or impossible to conduct the aerial spraying of the locusts that experts say is the only effective control.

Somalia has declared the outbreak a national emergency. Across the region, it has the potential to be the most devastating plague of locusts in any of our living memories if we dont reduce the problem faster than were doing at the moment, UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said.

Young desert locusts that have not yet grown wings cover the ground in the desert near Garowe, in the semi-autonomous Puntland region of Somalia on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. (Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

Young desert locusts that have not yet grown wings cover the ground in the desert near Garowe, in the semi-autonomous Puntland region of Somalia on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. (Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

Pest-control sprayers demonstrate their work on the thorny bushes in the desert that is the breeding ground of desert locusts for a visiting delegation of Somali ministry officials and experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in the desert near Garowe, in the semi-autonomous Puntland region of Somalia on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. (Ben Curtis/AP Photo))

As an armed Somali policeman stood by, experts on Thursday walked across the dry land crawling with the young locusts and explained the threat to come if the world doesnt act right now.

The world needs to know this is where it all begins, said Alberto Trillo Barca, a spokesman for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. In the next three or four weeks, these nymphs, as we call them, will develop wings.

Then they are expected to set off for neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia, where a handful of planes spraying pesticides can only do so much if such swarms keep arriving.

Climate experts have pointed to unusually heavy rains, aided by a powerful cyclone off Somalia in December, as a significant factor in the outbreak. The locusts were carried in by the storms winds from the Arabian Peninsula and parts beyond, and now they are feeding on Somalias fresh vegetation.

With more rains expected in the region in the coming weeks, the number of locusts if unchecked could grow by up to 500 times by June, when drier weather is expected.

But that drier weather is not necessarily the solution, said Dominique Burgeon, the FAOs emergency and resilience director.

The density of the locusts is now so high that even normal moisture can lead to another generation, he said.

We cannot believe in Mother Nature to solve it, he explained.

Without enough spraying to stop the swarms, the already worrying outbreak could turn into a plague, and when you have a plague, it takes years to control, he said.

Against that sweeping outlook, a few masked workers with white protective suits and pesticide containers strapped to their backs stood in the camel-crossed Somali desert, spritzing the thousands of locusts clinging to thorny bushes.

The worlds changing climate brings the risk of more cyclones coming in from the warming Indian Ocean off East Africa, climate experts say. With that, the likelihood of further locust outbreaks grows.

The sort of new normal, Burgeon said.

And that means Kenya, Ethiopia and other East African countries that rarely see such outbreaks and found themselves mostly unprepared for this one could join frontline countries in parts of West Africa and the Middle East, experts say. Those countries have well-trained monitoring and prevention systems in place for more frequent locust outbreaks.

The FAO has asked international donors to give $76 million immediately to help control this outbreak. So far, $19 million is in hand, Burgeon said.

The biggest challenge is the scale of the breeding, as you can see all around us, Barca said. These locusts, he said, will be migrating to southern Somalia and parts of Kenya and Ethiopia just as crops are germinating there.

If at that time there are huge quantities of locusts around, it will have a devastating impact on the crops, Burgeon said.

Other East African countries, including South Sudan, Eritrea, and Djibouti, are also at risk, Burgeon said. Millions of people in some of these places are already facing hunger in the wake of civil war or more common challenges such as poverty.

Locusts began to arrive Sunday in Uganda, reaching a village near the Kenyan border, according to Martin Owor, the countrys commissioner in charge of disaster preparedness.

The swarm spotted in Amudat district was certainly big, and the prime minister was expected to lead an evening emergency meeting on Ugandas first major locust outbreak since the 1960s, Owor said.

Here in rural Somalia, where about 50 percent of the people depend on animals for their livelihoods, the locusts are eating the pasturage. The animals weaken, their milk decreases, and small children, who depend on the milk to survive, suffer skyrocketing malnutrition, the experts said.

Those fighting the locust outbreak may try to negotiate with Somalias extremist fighters to allow spraying in rural areas where they are active, Burgeon said. Already emergency workers are going in where they can.

In a few weeks, the young locusts will shed their skin, said Keith Cressman, a senior locust forecasting officer with the FAO.

It takes a few days to warm up their wings, he said. Some test flights follow, and theyre on the move.

The locusts at that stage are bright pink and in their most voracious state, like very hungry teenagers, Cressman said. By now, many people in Kenya and Ethiopia know them well.

After a month or so, the locusts will be mature adults, ready to reproduce.

Soon after copulating and laying eggs, the locusts will die, but their progeny will be hatching, Cressman said. And we have another generation of locusts to contend with, with about another 20-fold increase.

By Josphat Kasire and Ben Curtis
At the Oscars, Choi joined Bong onstage four times: as he accepted the awards for best director, original screenplay and international feature, and to interpret for Kwak Sin Ae, a producer, in her speech for the films best picture win.

Choi has been at Bongs side since May  when Parasite won the Palme dOr, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival  according to The Korea Herald, an English language newspaper in South Korea.

For someone whos appeared on several awards stages and live television broadcasts, though, Choi doesnt seem to cherish being in the spotlight  This is so embarrassing, she said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter at the Golden Globes last month when the questions pivoted to her.

But Choi has ended up there anyway, thanks to the visibility that comes with critical success and awards domination: Parasite, after winning at Cannes, also nabbed best foreign film at the Golden Globes, the Writers Guild Award for original screenplay and best ensemble at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Bong has another explanation: Shes perfect, and we all depend on her, he said in English in The Hollywood Reporter interview. And shes also a great filmmaker, he added. (Choi laughed: Yes, I want to direct.)
Angela Merkel's party was thrown into crisis today as the chancellor's heir apparent quit the race for the top job.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer announced she was resigning as party leader and would not seek the chancellorship when Merkel stands down at next year's election.

AKK, as she is widely known, had been the favourite to succeed Merkel since she was elected party chair in 2018 but her leadership of the CDU has been plagued by gaffes and party divisions.

She finally threw in the towel today after a bitter row over the CDU's role in electing a state premier in Thuringia with the help of the far-right AfD last week.

Merkel's spokesman said today that the chancellor would still stand down in 2021 - leaving the succession in turmoil.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, pictured in Berlin today, said she was resigning as chair of the CDU and would not seek the chancellorship in 2021

Kramp-Karrenbauer said today that she had endured a 'difficult time' as party leader.

'At present, we can feel powerful centrifugal forces in our society and in our party,' she told reporters in Berlin.

The 57-year-old will stand down as party chair and will not seek the chancellorship in 2021, but remains defence minister for now.

Economy minister and close Merkel ally Peter Altmaier said today's developments were an 'unusually serious situation for the CDU'.

Merkel, who has been chancellor of Germany since 2005, announced in 2018 that she would not seek a fifth term at next year's election.

The 65-year-old had seen her authority weakened by poor state election results as her party was outflanked on the right by the anti-immigrant AfD.

Kramp-Karrenbauer was elected party chair in December 2018 and appeared set to succeed Merkel, but failed to stamp her authority on the CDU and made a series of gaffes.

Last May she faced a backlash after appearing to call for online censorship in response to a viral YouTube video which took aim at her party.

She also drew sharp criticism from her Social Democrat coalition partners for poking fun at transgender people in a light-hearted carnival speech.

Angela Merkel (pictured last Friday) still intends to stand down in 2021 after 16 years as German chancellor - leaving the succession in turmoil

Her appointment as defence minister, intended to boost her credentials, also embroiled her in a series of difficulties with the German army.

Last week the party was divided further after regional CDU lawmakers went rogue and voted with the far-right AfD to oust a left-wing state premier in Thuringia.

The result broke a post-war taboo about aligning with the far right in a country still haunted by its Nazi past.

Merkel rebuked her party colleagues and Kramp-Karrenbauer said today that 'any convergence with the AfD weakens the CDU'.

However, AKK said she did not believe her retreat would endanger 'the stability of the grand coalition government'.

She said she hopes to set up a process for choosing the CDU's election candidate by this summer.

One possible candidate is Friedrich Merz, who was narrowly beaten by AKK for the party leadership in 2018 and has been waiting in the wings ever since.

Just last week he gave up his job at BlackRock to 'support the party more strongly in its renewal and re-enter politics', he said.

AKK's decision to quit 'deserves respect,' Merz tweeted today.

'I will give her every support to lead from the front the process for her succession and the chancellor candidacy.'
Diplomats of about 20 countries, including European nations, are expected to visit Jammu and Kashmir by the end of this week, sources said.

According to the sources, a comparatively larger batch of diplomats will be visiting Kashmir in the second round and will include representatives from large and small nations across the globe. The contours of the upcoming visit will be akin to the first two-day visit organised by the government for foreign diplomats on January 9.

Representatives of the Indian government and countries involved in the visit are very tight-lipped about the schedule and planned meetings.

ALSO WATCH | Indian govt clarifies on absence of EU envoys in delegation visiting J&K

Those who will be part of the delegation include envoys from European Union, sources said.

Last month, a group of 15 envoys and diplomats including the US ambassador to India Kenneth Juster had visited Jammu and Kashmir for two days where they met security officials, politicians and civil society representatives in Srinagar.

It was the first such visit organised by the government since Jammu and Kashmirs special status was revoked on August 5, 2019, restrictions on movement and communication imposed, and many political leaders detained.

The external affairs ministry had then said that the objective of the visit was for the envoys to see first-hand the governments efforts to normalise the situation and and how normalcy has been restored to a large extent.

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Last month Apple was honoured by IDA Ireland for its contribution to Ireland as they celebrate 40 years here.

The CEO of Apple, Tim Cook described Ireland as Apples second home and called out Irelands commitment to openness, innovation and cooperation as the reasons why Ireland will be part of the next generation of world-changing ideas.

There are countless examples of companies that demonstrate longevity and our well-earned reputation as a small country with a global impact.

It is not by chance that Ireland can boast being home to the top five global software companies, the top ten Pharmaceutical companies and many of the worlds most successful financial services companies.

Our starting point for 2020 and this decade is strong, but we must not be complacent.

There are more than 700 Irish companies exporting to the US, and there are 106,000 people employed by Irish affiliated entities across 50 US States and conservative estimates suggest that the economic spill-over from US companies leads to a further 128,000 jobs in the broader economy.

Altogether, this accounts for around 20% of all employment in Ireland, and a US$446 billion total investment which is almost 70% of all foreign direct investment coming into the country.

The connections between indigenous companies and the multinational sector in Ireland should never be understated  it is of substantial strategic importance to all concerned.

On the one hand, it enables many Irish companies to learn, develop and grow, and on the other hand, a robust supporting eco-system for US FDI elevates Ireland as a home for new investments.

The recent IDA results show that over fifty thousand FDI jobs were created outside of Dublin over the past five years, leading to over thirty thousand additional direct jobs.

Regional balanced development is not just critical for our country, it is also essential for our offering.

Viable options for potential inward investment outside the large urban cities help Ireland Inc.

While the progress has been impressive, AmCham remains alert to the factors that can often constrain regional development such as the pace of delivery of critical infrastructural projects, for example, the M8/N25 Dunkettle Interchange or the N20 Cork to Limerick Road.

Notwithstanding this, strong sector clustering and an excellent eco-system to match plays well on the international stage.

For example, Corks reputation for Pharmaceuticals, Advanced Manufacturing and Cyber Security is well understood by those looking at Ireland for their next growth opportunity.

The impact of US companies is never far away for most communities. Each year the employees of US companies donate 600,000 work-supported volunteer hours to 7,300 community projects.

US companies take pride in the strong linkages formed with the communities they operate in. When it comes to tackling the issues of our time, such as carbon neutrality, these linkages will serve an even greater purpose.

The collective approach required by businesses, civil society and communities is critical if we are to succeed.

When we reflect on the decade that has just passed, the US-Ireland Business relationship has changed somewhat.

The most significant change has been the two-way nature of it. Over the last decade, Irish companies in the US have gone from strength to strength and the two-way US-Irish relationship is at an all-time high.

There are more than 700 Irish companies exporting to the US, and there are 106,000 people employed by Irish affiliated entities across 50 US States.

This trend looks set to continue and develop.

We also see that Irish investment in the US is no longer confined to the traditional investment hotspots of the East and West Coast but in many other places such as the US Mid-West.

In Ireland, US FDI is remarkably resilient. That can be largely attributed to our ability to anticipate and adapt to change.

In the context of changes ahead in 2020, we must find the new ideas that will help us to adapt and stay resilient.

The opportunity for greater inward investment is strong. But we have to solve the challenges slowing us down.

Challenges like talent attraction and retention issues, like high personal taxation costs, accommodation, transport infrastructure and access to amenities and services like childcare.

The good news is that US companies and their leadership teams are entirely in tune to what is happening on the ground.

These include the future of work, the advantages of digital transformation, inclusive talent strategies, and sustainability.

In 2020 and into this decade, I believe there is a real opportunity for Ireland to be a shining example in these areas.

Carin Bryans is the President of the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland.

amcham.ie
Appointment

10 February 2020

Nambiar will be responsible for generating maximum revenue and executing strategies that will drive sales across all four Hyatt Place hotels in Dubai, namely Hyatt Place Dubai/Al Rigga; Hyatt Place Dubai/Baniyas Square; Hyatt Place Dubai/Wasl District and the recently opened Hyatt Place Dubai/Jumeirah.

The India native brings more than 15 years of experience to his new role, acquired from working for prestigious hospitality brands in the UAE. With an array of regional experience, including Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as well as Hyatt Regency Creek Heights in Dubai, he took on the role of managing the sales and marketing team for Hyatt Place Dubai in 2016. Since then, the Hyatt Place brand has expanded in Dubai, with the number of properties growing two-fold in the last nine months. Nambiar has pioneered driving the revenue for the four properties, while maintaining a strong Average Daily Rate (ADR) and has been instrumental in establishing a solid reputation for the Hyatt Place brand in the UAE.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New Pacific Metals Corp. (TSX-V: NUAG) (OTCQX: NUPMF) (New Pacific or the Company) is pleased to report a summary of exploration activities on its 100% owned Silver Sand Project, and a summary of acquisition and agreements with third parties on the properties surrounding its 100% owned Silver Sand Project.



New Pacific Metals wholly-owned Bolivia subsidiary, Empresa Minera Alcira S.A. (Alcira), owns 100% interest in the Silver Sand Project which is not subject to any third party interests. The Silver Sand Project, located in the Potosi Department of Bolivia, has an area of approximately 3.17 square kilometres, which Alcira has owned for a long time, but was only explored by Alcira between 2012 and 2015 through intermittent mapping, surface and underground sampling, and limited diamond core drilling.



Since acquired by New Pacific in 2017, Alcira has carried out extensive risk exploration drilling program on its 100% owned Silver Sand Project. During 2017-2018 discovery exploration drilling campaign, a total of 195 holes in 55,011.8 metres (m) of drilling were completed. During the 2019 drilling campaign, a total of 191 drill holes in 42,607.25m of drilling were completed. From 2017 to the end of 2019, Alcira has completed 97,619.05m of drilling in 386 drill holes.



As silver mineralization was discovered on its 100% owned Silver Sand Project through extensive 2017-2019 drilling, Alcira sought to expand its property through agreements and acquisition in the areas surrounding the Silver Sand Project.



Agreement with COMIBOL through Mining Production Contract (the MPC)



On July 25, 2018New Pacific announced that Alcira signed a memorandum of understanding (the MOU) with Corporacion Minera de Bolivia (COMIBOL), allowing Alcira to explore and develop 38 Special Temporary Authorizations (ATEs) adjoining south and west to Alciras Silver Sand Project. The open signing of the MOU occurred at the Silver Sand Project site attended by then Minister of Bolivias Ministry of Mining and Metallurgy, then Vice Minister of Bolivias Ministry of Development and Planning, then President of COMIBOL, official from Autoridad Jurisdiccional Administrativa Minera (AJAM), and representatives of the local communities.



On January 11, 2019: New Pacific announced that Alcira entered into a Mining Production Contract (the MPC) with COMIBOL granting Alcira the right to carry out exploration, mining, and production activities in the areas adjoining the Companys Silver Sand Project. The MPC covers an area of up to 56.9098 square kilometres, involving two separate areas. The first area consists of 29 ATEs, which the COMIBOL already owns, to the south and west of the Silver Sand Project. In comparing to the MOU, nine ATEs that may affect third parties interest was striked out from the MPC. The second area includes additional properties to the north, the east and the south of Silver Sand Project are open ground and COMIBOL will apply first with AJAM. Once COMIBOL is granted right to the second area by AJAM, COMIBOL will then contribute these additional properties into the MPC.



Major Terms of the MPC:

Alcira will commit to a minimum US$5,935,000 risk exploration investment during the first five years of the MPC for mineral exploration and related activities and make a monthly cash payment of US$10,000 to COMIBOL. If an economic mineral deposit is discovered, Alcira will cover all cost of further exploration, environmental studies, engineering studies, pre-feasibility and feasibility studies as well as development and production. If commercial production commences, COMIBOL will receive a 4% gross sales value of all minerals produced from the areas covered under the MPC.

The MPC was approved by Bolivias Ministry of Mining and Metallurgy on January 7, 2019, but remains subject to ratification and approval by the Plurinational Legislative Assembly of Bolivia. As of today, the MPC has not been ratified nor approved by Plurinational Legislative Assembly of Bolivia.



At the time of signing of the MPC, there is no known economic mineral deposits, nor any previous drilling or exploration discovery in the MPC areas. Alcira has not received any geological maps nor any assay results from COMIBOL on the properties covered by the MPC areas before or after signing of the MPC. Alcira has entered into the MPC with COMIBOL in order to explore and evaluate the possible extension of the mineralization outside its 100% owned Silver Sand Project. Based on the information provided by the COMIBOL, signing the MPC will not affect any third parties existing interest or agreement with COMIBOL.



Acquisition from Private Property Owners



In 2018 and 2019, New Pacific through Alcira has also acquired 100% interest in three mineral ATEs, Jisas, Jardan and El Bronce, located adjacent to the North of the Silver Sand Project from two groups of private owners. Alcira is expecting to carry out exploration drilling on these properties.



Investment in Bolivia



New Pacific will continue to work with government of Bolivia, COMIBOL, co-operatives, local communities, and private sectors to invest more funds in Bolivias mineral resource industry. While waiting for the MPC being ratified, approved, or re-worked, New Pacific will focus on defining an economic resource in its 100% owned Silver Sand Project.



A map accompanying this announcement is available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/bfa01b6c-248f-4792-a3f9-f4002ee52364

ABOUT NEW PACIFIC

New Pacific is a Canadian exploration and development company which owns the Silver Sand Project in Potosi Department, Bolivia and the Tagish Lake gold project in Yukon, Canada.

For further information, contact:

New Pacific Metals Corp.

Gordon Neal

President

Phone: (604) 633-1368

Fax: (604) 669-9387

info@newpacificmetals.com

www.newpacificmetals.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 news release.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

Certain of the statements and information in this news release constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian provincial securities laws. Any statements or information that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as expects, is expected, anticipates, believes, plans, projects, estimates, assumes, intends, strategies, targets, goals, forecasts, objectives, budgets, schedules, potential or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements or information.



Forward-looking statements or information are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements or information, including, without limitation, risks relating to: fluctuating equity prices, bond prices, commodity prices; calculation of resources, reserves and mineralization, foreign exchange risks, interest rate risk, foreign investment risk; loss of key personnel; conflicts of interest; dependence on management and others.



This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Companys forward-looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements or information are statements about the future and are inherently uncertain, and actual achievements of the Company or other future events or conditions may differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements or information due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors, including, without limitation, those referred to in the Companys Annual Information Form for the year ended June 30, 2019 under the heading Risk Factors. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, described or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.



The Companys forward-looking statements or information are based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management as of the date of this news release, and other than as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements or information if circumstances or managements assumptions, beliefs, expectations or opinions should change, or changes in any other events affecting such statements or information. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.

CAUTIONARY NOTE TO US INVESTORS

This news release has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of NI 43-101 and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Definition Standards, which differ from the requirements of U.S. Securities laws. NI 43-101 is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators that establishes standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning mineral projects.
The Lok Sabha on Monday witnessed an uproar over the Supreme Court ruling that quotas and reservations in government jobs is not a fundamental right with Congress members accusing the government of attempting to snatch away the rights of SCs and STs and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stating that the Opposition party was trying to "politicise the issue".

Raising the issue in the Zero Hour, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that the petition was filed by the Uttarakhand government in the apex court.

He said the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes comprise about one-third of the country's population and the Constitution has given them rights for socio-economic progress.

Chowdhury said the party-led UPA government had taken several steps for the welfare of SCs and STs.

"What has happened, the government is trying to snatch the rights," he alleged while accusing the BJP government of spreading "manuvaad".

BJP members strongly objected to his remarks with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi saying that it was the verdict of the Supreme Court and the government has nothing to do with it.

"Whose government was (in Uttarakhand) in 2012. It was of Congress. The government has nothing to with it," he said.

Chowdhury said that the affidavit was filed on behalf of Uttarakhand government and BJP is in power in the state.

Joshi demanded that allegations against the government by the Congress member should be expunged.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal said the government was committed to providing reservations to SCs and STs.

Rajnath Singh, Deputy Leader of the House said Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawarchand Gehlot will make a statement in the House.

He said there was Congress government in Uttarakhand in 2012. "An attempt is being made by Congress to politicize this sensitive matter. It is a serious issue," he said.

Speaker Om Birla then adjourned the House till 2 pm.

Earlier, DMK member A Raja alleged that there has been "onslaught on the reservation since this government came". He said that the government should go for a review petition or the matter should be brought in the Ninth Schedule of Constitution.

Raja and Kalyan Banerjee of Trinamool Congress said that these arguments in the apex court were made by Uttarakhand government which is run by the BJP.

BSP's Ritesh Pandey also accused the government of being "anti-Dalit".

Members of Congress and some other parties also came to the well of the House and raised slogans against the government.

LJP's Chirag Paswan demanded intervention of the central government on the issue. He said that all laws relating to the welfare of SCs and STs should be put in the Ninth Schedule so that "the debate ends" and the practice of going to the apex court from time to time stops.

He said the government was committed to the welfare of the weaker sections and rejected opposition charges that the government was "anti-Dalit".

JD-U's Rajiv Ranjan Singh accused the opposition members of trying to politicize the apex court verdict and said the NDA government had always taken measures to protect the rights of weaker sections.

Anupriya Patel of Apna Dal said the central government should intervene and bring an ordinance on the issue.

The matter was earlier sought to be raised by Congress members during question hour. Rajnath Singh said that Gehlot will make a statement on the issue.

The Supreme Court had on Friday said that reservation in promotions for government jobs is not a fundamental right. The top court also said the States cannot be directed to provide promotions to the members of the SC/ST community.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 Close Trump denies interfering in Roger Stone sentencing

Donald Trump is receiving swift backlash for claiming without evidence that rogue prosecutors were possibly responsible for handing his longtime associate Roger Stone a lengthy prison sentence, as Bernie Sanders' celebrates victory in New Hampshire.

The president's comments were described as a "vile smear job" by a key witness as former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said in a tweet: "Justice must be blind." Mr Trump's incendiary tweets came shortly after prosecutors said Stone should be sentenced to seven-to-nine years for lying to Congress during an investigation into Russian interference in the 2020 election.

Meanwhile, results from New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary continued to be dissected throughout the day, as Mr Sanders' strong showing appeared to place him on a clearer path to securing the Democratic nomination than ever before. Pete Buttiegieg and Amy Klobuchar, who trailed the Vermont senator respectively, have also since thanked supporters for their solid performances on Tuesday night.

The attorneys then resigned from the case after the Justice Department overruled them and said it would take the extraordinary step of lowering the amount of prison time it would seek for Stone.

The departures on Tuesday raised immediate questions over whether Mr Trump, who earlier in the day had blasted the original sentencing recommendation as very horrible and unfair, had at least indirectly exerted his will on a Justice Department that he often views as an arm of the White House.

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 department insisted the decision to undo the sentencing recommendation was made Monday night  before Mr Trumps tweet  and prosecutors had not spoken to the White House about it.

Even so, the departures of the entire trial team broke open a simmering dispute over the punishment of a Trump ally whose case has long captured the Republican presidents attention.

Recommended Trump refuses to rule out pardoning Roger Stone

The episode was the latest to entangle the Justice Department, meant to operate free from White House sway in criminal investigations and prosecutions, in presidential politics.

The four attorneys, including two who were early members of special counsel Robert Muellers Russia team, comprised the entire Justice Department trial team that won convictions against Stone last fall.

Additional reporting by AP. Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load
Technavio has been monitoring the global tea market and it is poised to grow by USD 13.24 billion during 2020-2024, 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 has announced its latest market research report titled global tea market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire)

Functional benefits of tea has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. However, impact of overconsumption of tea might hamper market growth. Request a free sample report

Tea Market 2020-2024: Segmentation

Tea Market is segmented as below:

Product

Black Tea

Green Tea

Others

Distribution channel

Offline

Online

Geographic segmentation

North America

APAC

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=IRTNTR40978

Tea Market 2020-2024: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our tea market report covers the following areas:

Tea Market Size

Tea Market Trends

Tea Market Industry Analysis

This study identifies rapid rise in consumption of green tea as one of the prime drivers of the tea market growth during the forecast period.

Tea Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the tea market, including some of the vendors such as Arteasans Beverages LLC, Associated British Foods Plc, ITO EN Ltd., Nestle SA, Numi Inc., Starbucks Corp., Tata Global Beverages, The Hain Celestial Group Inc., The Republic of Tea and Unilever Group. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the tea market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

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Tea Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024

Detailed information on factors that will assist tea market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the tea market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the tea market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of tea market vendors

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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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With rise in Omicron cases, SC to conduct hearings virtually for next two weeks

Can't allow every person who thinks of some solution to COVID-19 to file petition: SC

Blocking a road not desirable says SC: Notice to Delhi cops on Shaheen Bagh protests

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Feb 10: The Supreme Court has issued notices to the Delhi Police on a plea to clear the protesters from Shaheen Bagh. The matter will be heard next on February 17. The court also observed that blocking a road is not desirable.

The plea was filed to clear the protesters from Shaheen Bagh. The petitioner said that as a result of this protest, the public was being put to inconvenience.

The plea also said that various other arterial roads of Delhi have been facing traffic congestion due the protest at Shaheen Bagh.

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.

Shaheen Bagh Baby's death: SC takes note to stop minors from participating in protests

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.

NEWS AT NOON JAN 10th, 2020

It said the Shaheen Bagh protest is "undoubtedly within the constitutional parameter" but it has lost its legality as constitutional protection 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.

Meanwhile, the apex court has already listed for hearing on February 7 a similar plea filed by lawyer and activist Amit Sahni.

BJPs Parvesh Verma appeals to nationalist voters, claims 'Shaheen Bagh voting for AAP'

Sahni has filed a special leave petition in the apex court against the Delhi High Court''s order directing the local authority to deal with the situation keeping in mind the law and order.

The plea has sought directions to the police to ensure smooth traffic flow on Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch.

It has sought supervision of the situation in Shaheen Bagh, where several women are sitting on protest, by a retired Supreme Court judge or a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court in order to circumvent any violence.
Moxie, a vertically integrated cannabis company with operations in five states, announced last week signing a Management Services Agreement with Cansortium Inc. (CSE:TIUM.U) (OTC: CNTMF).

Per the deal, Moxie will provide management and operational consulting services for two years, bringing operational and product expertise to accelerate Cansortium's presence in Florida, where Cansortium has two cultivation facilities and 18 dispensaries under the Fluent brand.

Additionally, Cansortium completed a non-brokered private placement offering of approximately $4.6 million. The company plans to use the funds for strategic growth opportunities and general corporate purposes.

Benzinga's Cannabis Capital Conference returns to Miami Feb. 24-25 with North America's largest B2B cannabis gathering, bringing together capital, cannabis executives, thought leaders and more!

The Florida market represents an incredible opportunity for our team to bring the holistic Moxie experience to a vast medical cannabis patient base of over 300,000 people," Jordan Lams, CEO of Moxie, told Benzinga. "At the core of our values as a company is the need to provide a consistent supply of high-quality medicine to all patients and teaming up with Cansortiums incredible footprint will provide a platform for us to do just that. We are grateful and humbled by the opportunity and look forward to beginning the collaborative effort with the Cansortium team."

Photo by Javier Hasse.

0

See more from Benzinga

 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Monday compared BJP leaders to Marie Antoinette, the last Queen of France before the French Revolution, for "mocking the poor" of India and said they were worse than her.

His comments came after a BJP MP cited the clothes people wear as evidence that there was no recession.

ALSO READ | No recession in country, people are buying jackets and pants: BJP MP

Antoinette, the wife of Louis XVI of France, on being told that the French peasants were unable to afford bread, had infamously responded that they should develop a taste for "brioche", a form of cake.

In a tweet, Yechury said, "Not only has the BJP created this situation of grave economic crisis and social disharmony, it also wants to mock the poor of this country who are suffering heavily. Their leaders shame Marie Antoinette."

Not only has the BJP created this situation of grave economic crisis and social disharmony, it also wants to mock the poor of this country who are suffering heavily. Their leaders shame Marie Antoinette https://t.co/84JBMEdNCu  Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) February 10, 2020

Addressing a programme in Ballia on Sunday, BJP MP Virendra Singh Mast argued they would have worn dhoti-kurtas had the economy been that bad.

"Had there been recession, we would have come here wearing dhoti and kurta and not coats and jackets. Had there been recession we would not have purchased clothes, pants and pajamas," Mast said.
Belarus To Buy Russian Oil At 'Global Market' Prices

By RFE/RL February 09, 2020

Belarusian First Deputy Prime Minister Dzmitry Krutoy has been quoted as saying Minsk will pay "global market" prices for oil from Russia this year.

"The Russian side has agreed that Belarusian refineries will buy oil through agreements with Russian oil companies at prices that are set on the global market," Reuters quoted Krutoy as saying, according to Belarusian state BelTA news agency, on February 9.

Belarus is heavily reliant on Moscow for cheap oil and billions in annual subsidies to prop up its Soviet-era economy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka reportedly made little reported progress in talks in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on February 7 on the increasingly intertwined issues of energy prices and closer integration.

Lukashenka had predicted that meeting would present a "moment of truth."

There was no official statement that emerged, but Putin's deputy chief of staff Dmitry Kozak said late on February 7 that oil supplies, which Russia cut off at the start of the year, could be delivered to Belarus only at market prices.

He added that a deal had been reached to supply natural gas -- which was also interrupted earlier this year but restarted -- for this year at the same price as in 2019 -- $127 per 1,000 cubic meters.

The unification talks pursuant to an unfulfilled 1999 agreement on forming a unified state have exacerbated tensions between the two and sparked protests on the streets of Minsk.

Lukashenka, who has been in power in Belarus for more than 25 years, has faced growing pressure from Moscow in recent years to agree to deeper integration under the unification agreement, which envisaged close political, economic, and military ties but stopped short of forming a single nation.

The two leaders in December were supposed to sign a series of road maps laying out concrete steps toward the union state, but Lukashenka balked.

Since then, Russia has sent strong signals to Minsk, mainly in the form of reduced oil supplies and higher prices.

Revenues from refined Belarusian oil products sold to European markets have long been a major economic driver for the country, which has a highly centralized economy with the exception of a few sectors.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo became the highest-level U.S. official to visit Minsk in more than two decades on February 1. During the talks, which were characterized by U.S. officials as cordial, Pompeo suggested that the United States could supply Belarus with plenty of oil.

Based on reporting by Reuters, BelTA, and Interfax

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/belarus-to-buy-russian-oil-at- global-market-prices/30425183.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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Googles decade-long antitrust fight with the European Union is set for more twists and turns this week as the internet giant battles the first in a trilogy of fines that cost the company nearly $9 billion.

The EUs General Court in Luxembourg will host a three-day hearing starting on Feb. 12 as the Alphabet Inc. unit seeks to topple a 2.4 million-euro ($2.6 billion) penalty in 2017 for thwarting smaller shopping search services.

Lawyers say the court clash will help set the scene for a broader crackdown on U.S. tech giants by Margrethe Vestager, the EUs competition commissioner. Apple Inc. is separately battling her massive back-tax order and Amazon.com Inc. is currently being investigated for potentially favoring its own products over those of third-party sellers on its platform.

EU regulators will be hoping to repeat a 2007 victory against Microsoft Corp., a narrow win in a contentious investigation that led the company to settle another probe into web browsers. The Microsoft case emboldened the EUs small team of antitrust watchdogs to take on the likes of Intel Corp., Qualcomm Inc. and in 2010 to pick up complaints against Google.

Defeat for the EU will be a blow to its attempt for a new enforcement approach in the high tech sector, said Ioannis Kokkoris, a law and economics professor at Queen Mary University in London. It will make it think twice how it can bring a successful case against conducts that are not clear cut in markets that are rapidly changing.

The European Commissions path to punishing Google was circuitous. The company argued that tiny comparison shopping services didnt rank high in search because they provided poor quality, that competition was only a click away.

Regulators appeared to waver by seeking a settlement where Google would make changes to search display to end the probe without fines. That sparked furor from European publishers and politicians and led to the EU reversing direction and moving toward a penalty after Vestager took charge in 2014.

Since the first decision in 2017, the Dane has also levied separate fines for unfairly linking apps to Android software and for thwarting advertising rivals.

Google is set to argue that the EU decision is wrong on the law, the facts, and the economics, the Mountain View, California-based company said in an emailed statement. It will show that we have improved quality and increased choice for customers with shopping ads that aim to help people find the products they want and link retailers to potential customers.

Small Army

The EU and a small army of companies and other organizations cheering it on will argue the opposite, that Googles actions smothered or hobbled nascent competitors that didnt appear prominently enough in Googles search or shopping ads to ever gain the crucial traffic needed for commercial success. The EU has long been poised to move on similar complaints from local search service Yelp Inc., as well as travel and job search services.

This case is important for the commission because it will test a so-called self-preference theory of harm, whereby Google is accused of promoting its own services at the expense of those of rivals, said Aitor Ortiz, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence.

Its a novel interpretation of EU antitrust rules, and the final ruling may have implications not only for future probes against Google, such as searches in maps and restaurants, but also for other platforms that may have a dual role and self-prefer its own products.

Google and the commission will kick off the hearings on day one, followed by arguments from each of the groups supporting their side. The Brussels-based EU authority has nine groups on its side, including Europes main consumer advocacy group, the German government and comparison sites such as Foundem, Kelkoo and Twenga.

Google will call on only one flag-waver, the Computer and Communications Industry Association, which lobbies for the technology sector.

Long Wait

Fighting on can drag out legal proceedings for years. More than 10 years after its fine, Intel is still waiting for a final ruling after winning a round at the EUs top court that told a lower tribunal to re-examine the case.

The judges decision in Googles court challenge might only come next year. Before then, a busy 2020 may see the EU introduce regulatory responses where online platforms have effectively become large private gatekeepers and rule-setters, according to an EU document leaked recently.

I cant see the commission backtracking on its view on gatekeeper role of Google, said legal academic Kokkoris. Even a loss would still allow the commission to maintain its view of Google being gatekeeper in search, unless the judgment is an extensive rebuttal of the EU case.

Now read: Google mistakenly sends private user videos to strangers
Not many readers of the 21st century seek out the work of popular writers of the 19th century, but when they do, they often seek out the work of Jules Verne. Journey to the Center of the Earth, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Around the World in Eighty Days: fair to say that we all know the titles of these fantastical French tales from the 1860s and 70s, and more than a few of us have actually read them. But how many of us know that they all belong to a single series, the 54-volume Voyages Extraordinaires, that Verne published from 1863 until the end of his life? Verne described the projects goal to an interviewer thus: to conclude in story form my whole survey of the worlds surface and the heavens.

Verne intended to educate, but at the same time to entertain and even artistically impress: My object has been to depict the earth, and not the earth alone, but the universe, he said. And I have tried at the same time to realize a very high ideal of beauty of style. This he accomplished with great success in a time and place without even what we would now consider a fully literate public.

As philosopher Marc Soriano writes of the 1860s when Verne began publishing, The drive for literacy in France has been underway since the Guizot Law of 1833, but there is still much to do. Any well-advised editor must aid his readers who have not yet achieved a good reading proficiency.

Hence the need for illustrations: beautiful illustrations, scientifically and narratively faithful illustrations, and above all a great many illustrations: over 4,000 of them, by the count of Arthur B. Evans in his essay on the series artists, an average of 60+ illustrations per novel, one for every 6-8 pages of text. Still today, most modern French reprints of the Voyages Extraordinaires continue to feature their original illustrations  recapturing the feel of Vernes socio-historical milieu and evoking that sense of faraway exoticism and futuristic awe which the original readers once experienced from these texts. And yet, to date, the bulk of Vernian criticism has virtually ignored the crucial role played by these illustrations in Vernes oeuvre.

Evans identifies four different types of illustrations in the series: renderings of the protagonists of the story  e.g., portraits like the one of Impey Barbicane in De la terre a la lune; panoramic and postcard-like views of the exotic locales, unusual sights, and flora and fauna which the heroes encounter during their journey, like the one from Vingt mille lieues sous les mers depicting divers walking on the ocean floor; documentational illustrations like the map of the Polar regions (hand-drawn by Verne himself) for his 1864 novel Les Voyages et aventures du capitaine Hatteras; and portayals of a specific moment of action in the narrativee.g., the one from Voyage au centre de la terre where Prof. Lidenbrock, Axel, and Hans are suddenly caught in a lightning storm on a subterranean ocean.

Verne and his editor Pierre-Jules Hetzel commissioned these illustrations from no fewer than eight artists, a group including Edouard Riou, Alphonse de Neuville, Emile-Antoine Bayard (previously featured here on Open Culture), and Leon Benett  all well-known artists in late 19th-century France, and made even more so by their work in the Voyages Extraordinaires. You can browse a complete gallery of the series original illustrations here, and if you like, enrich the experience with this extensive essay by Terry Harpold on reading these images in context.

Together with the stories themselves, on the back of which Verne remains the most translated science-fiction author of all time, they allow Harpold to make the credible claim that the textual-graphic domain constituted by these objects is unmatched in its breadth and variety; no other corpus associated with a single author is comparable. Human knowledge of the universe has widened and deepened since Vernes day, but for sheer intellectual and adventurous wonder about what that universe might contain, has any writer, from any era or land, outdone him since?

Related Content:

Emile-Antoine Bayards Vivid Illustrations of Jules Vernes Around the Moon: The First Serious Works of Space Art (1870)

Jules Verne Accurately Predicts What the 20th Century Will Look Like in His Lost Novel, Paris in the Twentieth Century (1863)

How French Artists in 1899 Envisioned Life in the Year 2000: Drawing the Future

Hear Rick Wakemans Musical Adaptation of Jules Vernes Journey to the Centre of the Earth, One of Prog Rocks Crowning Achievements

Petite Planete: Discover Chris Markers Influential 1950s Travel Photobook Series

The Art of Sci-Fi Book Covers: From the Fantastical 1920s to the Psychedelic 1960s & Beyond

Based in Seoul, Colin Marshall writes and broadcasts on cities, language, and culture. His projects include the book The Stateless City: a Walk through 21st-Century Los Angeles and the video series The City in Cinema. Follow him on Twitter at @colinmarshall or on Facebook.
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Linkedin Panca Nugraha (The Jakarta Post) Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara  Mon, February 10, 2020 14:52 701 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20639a463 1 News bau-nyale-festival,festival,Central-Lombok,West-Nusa-Tenggara,tourism,travel Free

The main event of the annual Bau Nyale Charm Festival is set to be held on Feb. 14 on Tanjung Aan beach in the Mandalika Special Economic Zone (KEK), Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB).

The festival kicked off on Sunday evening with a perisaian (shield fighting) competition on Kuta Mandalika Beach.

"Hopefully this festival can attract more tourists to Lombok," said NTB Tourism Agency head Lalu Mohammad Faozal on Sunday during the competition's opening ceremony.

Bau nyale itself is a traditional festival devoted to catching wawo sea worms on the shore of South Lombok Beach. For the past five years, the festival has been included in the province's tourism calendar of events and the Tourism Ministry's 100 Wonderful Indonesia list.

For many years, the main event of the festival was held on Seger beach. "This year we moved the location to Tanjung Aan, due to the ongoing MotoGP 2021 preparations in the Seger beach area," said Faozal.

Among the events set to enliven the festival are a photo contest, a perisaian event, a creative economy dialogue, the Princess Mandalika Pageant and the Mandalika Fashion Carnival.

According to Central Lombok historian Lalu Putria, the festival is closely related to the legend of Princess Mandalika. She was described as a very beautiful princess of the Tunjung Beru Kingdom. Many princes fell in love with her and asked her to marry them, which prompted the king of Mandalika, King Sed, to hold a contest. Those who wanted to marry his daughter had to fight one another, and the winner would be granted her hand in marriage. However, Princess Mandalikam, refusing to cause any bloodshed on her behalf, decided to drown herself in the waters off Seger beach instead. Legend has it that those who miss her can visit the beach on the 20th day of the 10th month according to the Sasak calendar, which, this year, will fall on Feb. 14.

"Bau Nyale is more than just hunting for sea worms. It's closely related to the legend of Princess Mandalika, which makes [the festival] even more interesting," added Lalu. (kes)
Taiwanese experts to participate online in WHO global forum

ROC Central News Agency

02/09/2020 03:52 PM

Brussels, Feb. 8 (CNA) Taiwanese experts will participate online in a World Health Organization (WHO) forum next week to combat the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak, a WHO official said Saturday, although Taiwan is fighting for greater inclusion.

"We will have Taiwanese colleagues online, as we will have experts from the rest of China online," Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, said at a press conference.

Ryan was responding to a reporter's question on whether Taiwan will be participating in a WHO global research and innovation forum on the virus, which is being held Feb. 11-12 in Geneva, Switzerland, and whether Taiwan's inclusion would indicate a reversal in WHO policy.

Since 2017, the WHO has barred Taiwan from the World Health Assembly (WHA) and its meetings at the insistence of China, following the election of President Tsai Ing-wen () of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party in May 2016.

Taiwan is also the only country with confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus to be excluded from the WHO Emergency Committee discussions held recently in Geneva.

In the past week, however, a number of countries, including the U.S., Canada, Japan and the European Union, have renewed their support for Taiwan's inclusion in the WHA amid the ongoing outbreak.

With regard to the upcoming forum, Ryan did not explain the sudden inclusion of Taiwanese experts, nor did he confirm whether anyone from Taiwan has been invited to attend the forum in person.

He did say, though, that "many colleagues who are in high-risk countries (were) taking the opportunity not to travel," and that he was certain that experts participating in the forum online would "contribute equally to the discussions."

Ryan also emphasized that the WHO has been communicating with Taiwanese officials and public health experts.

Taiwanese experts have been engaging with officials from China and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control as well, Ryan said.

Asked about the forum, Taiwan's Cabinet spokesperson Kolas Yotaka said it was still negotiating with the WHO for greater inclusion.

Kolas told reporters that Taiwan's sharing of its measures against the spread of the virus could contribute to global society, as Taiwan has managed the outbreak so far, with no signs of community transmission and one of the confirmed cases already discharged from hospital.

The WHO should not exclude Taiwan in the midst of a global health crisis, she said, and it is a mistake if the organization continues to pander to China in doing so.

In a statement issued Sunday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said it is negotiating with the WHO for Taiwanese experts to attend the forum in person.

A decision on the issue will be made before Tuesday, Chuang Jen-hsiang (), deputy director-genral of Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control, told reporters.

(By Tang Pei-chun and Chiang Yi-ching)

Enditem/J

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People from various walks of life, including leaders from across the political spectrum, bid adieu to veteran RSS ideologue P Parameswaran as his mortal remains were cremated at his native Muhamma village in Alappuzha district in Kerala on Monday.

The body of the 93-year old thinker and writer, who died on Sunday, was brought from Thiruvananthapuram to the sleepy Muhamma village where a large number of people and leaders of different political parties besides the BJP-RSS workers paid their last respects.

Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan paid floral tributes to the veteran on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president J P Nadda.

Full state honours were accorded as Parameswaran was a Padma awardee.

After the last rites were completed, the funeral pyre was lit by his nephew. Parameswaran was a bachelor.

Earlier, when the body was kept for public homage at the state capital, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, veteran Congress leader Oommen Chandy, Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly Ramesh Chennithala, state ministers -- Thomas Isaac and A K Balan -- were among those who paid their tributes.

Mizoram Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai, Union Ministers Sadanand Gowda and V Muraleedharan and RSS General Secretary Sunil Bhaiyyaji Joshi also paid homage to the founder-director of the Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram.

Parameswaran breathed his last in the wee hours of Sunday at Ottappalam in Palakkad district where he was undergoing Ayurvedic treatment.

His body was brought to Kochi and later shifted to Thiruvananthapuram on Monday night.

A leader of the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Parameswaran, who had worked with leaders including Deendayal Upadhyaya, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani during the Sangh days, was honoured with the country's second highest civilian award Padma Vibhushan in 2018 and Padma Shri in 2004.

Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and a host of leaders had condoled his death.

Fondly called as Parameswarji by the Sangh Parivar members, the late leader was a prolific writer, poet, researcher and a widely-respected RSS ideologue.

He was the Bharatiya Jana Sangh's secretary (1967-1971) and vice-president (1971-1977) as well as the director of the Deendayal Research Institute (1977-1982) in New Delhi.

Parameswaran focused his entire energy on laying a strong foundation for RSS ideology in Kerala and other parts of the country through his writings, teachings and discourses.

In 1982, he set up the Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram headquartered in Thiruvananthapuram with the aim of national reconstruction through study and research.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nguyen Vu Tung, president of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV) and the country's ambassador-designate to Seoul, speaks with The Korea Times during an exclusive interview at DAV in Hanoi, Jan. 7. A career diplomat, he has served as president of DAV, an academic institution operated under the auspices of the Vietnamese foreign ministry, since 2016. / Korea Times photo by Yi Whan-woo



By Yi Whan-woo



HANOI  Serving as the Vietnamese ambassador in Seoul this year will mean shouldering heavier responsibilities than usual, in accordance with Vietnam's expanding presence in ASEAN-South Korea relations that marked their 30th anniversary in 2019.



Vietnam has taken the chair in the one-year, rotating chairmanship of the 10-member ASEAN, with which President Moon Jae-in wants to build on the success of the ASEAN-Republic of Korea (ROK) Commemorative Summit in Busan last year and enhance his signature New Southern Policy.



Vietnam is also serving as a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council from 2020 to 2021, with denuclearization dialogue being further jeopardized after North Korea dropped its moratorium on tests of nuclear weapons.



It appears that bilateral relations are at a high, with Vietnam being South Korea's No. 1 investment destination and the most-visited country in ASEAN. Of course, Park Hang-seo fever is another plus factor.



And this is where Nguyen Vu Tung will come in as the next Vietnamese ambassador to South Korea, possibly by the end of June, after serving as president of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV).



Celebrating 60 years in 2019, DAV is an elite academic institution nurturing aspiring diplomats under the auspices of the Vietnamese foreign ministry.



"You heard it right. My term is expected to begin in the middle of this year," he said in an exclusive interview with The Korea Times last month on the sidelines of its coverage of the ASEAN-Korea Youth Academic Workshop in Hanoi.



South Korea's foreign ministry confirmed its agreement for his appointment as the next ambassador to Seoul, Jan 28. He will replace Nguyen Vu Tu, who has served here since April 2017.



DAV was one of the academic institutions visited by the participants in the workshop hosted by the ASEAN-Korea Centre, an intergovernmental organization in Seoul tasked with promoting economic and socio-cultural cooperation in the region.



"I would like to elevate the bilateral relationship to a higher pitch and look forward to working with my partners in Korea soon," Nguyen Vu Tung said. "We can promote better relations between Vietnam and Korea and share a better understanding of each other and our societies."



Regarding ASEAN-South Korea relations after their 2019 commemorative summit, he said he would like to "help implement the next phase of relations and consolidate the success" of the New Southern Policy.



Introduced in 2017, the policy is aimed at deepening ties with ASEAN. President Moon is seeking fresh momentum from the Busan meeting for a New Southern Policy 2.0 in the latter half of his 2017-22 presidency.



"The summit marked a new stage in developments between ASEAN and South Korea," Nguyen Vu Tung said, adding this will speed up the policy's goal of building a community of people, prosperity and peace  collectively known as the 3Ps.



A career diplomat, Nguyen Vu Tung was deputy chief of mission at the Vietnamese Embassy in the United States from July 2010 to January 2014, before becoming DAV president in 2016.



He earned a master's degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1998 and a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University in 2003.



He is one of DAV alumni who have taken top posts in Vietnamese and international diplomatic circles.



Among the alumni are Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, head of the Vietnamese Permanent Mission to the U.N. Dang Dinh Quy, former ASEAN Secretary General Le Luong Minh, ASEAN Deputy Secretary General Hoang Anh Tuan and incumbent Vietnamese Ambassador to South Korea Nguyen Vu Tu.



Nguyen's main areas of teaching, research and publications include international relations theories, international relations in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific, Vietnam's foreign policy and its relations with the U.S., China and ASEAN.





A banner celebrating 60 years of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV) last year hangs on a wall during DAV President Nguyen Vu Tung's talks with The Korea Times at DAV in Hanoi, Jan. 7. / Korea Times photo by Yi Whan-woo
Pia Miller has officially traded Summer Bay for Hollywood.

The 36-year-old former Home and Away star attended the Oscars in Los Angeles on Sunday, on the arm of her millionaire Hollywood agent boyfriend, Patrick Whitesell.

Clearly excited to be in attendance at this year's star-studded awards show, Pia shared a series of photos and videos from the event on Instagram.

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Rubbing shoulders: Pia Miller (pictured) has officially traded Summer Bay for Hollywood, with the former Home and Away star attending the Oscars in Los Angeles on Sunday

'Oh my...' she simply captioned a photo of herself posing for pictures on the red carpet in front of the Oscar's signage.

She also shared a series of behind the scenes photos and videos of herself getting ready for the event on Instagram Stories.

One photo showed off her makeup artist's kit, while a second showed her jewellery for the night, with Pia branding it 'essentials'.

Behind the scenes: She shared a black and white photo of herself getting ready on Instagram Stories, with a hairstylist and makeup artist seen working on her as she stood in her dress

She also shared a black and white photo of herself getting ready, with a hairstylist and makeup artist seen working on her as she stood in her dress.

Later filming herself of the red carpet, the smiling star shared a short video of herself and Patrick, 55, at the awards show.

Clutching her boyfriend's arm, the couple smiled happily as they enjoyed their glitzy night out together.

Coupled up: Pia stepped out on the arm of her millionaire Hollywood agent boyfriend, Patrick Whitesell

Cheers to love: Another photo posted to her Instagram Stories showed Patrick clutching a wine glass, with Pia drawing a white love heart on the picture

Another photo posted to her Instagram Stories showed Patrick clutching a wine glass, with Pia drawing a white love heart on the picture.

Pia attended the prestigious awards ceremony in a floor-length navy blue and white polka dot dress.

The figure-hugging gown featured spaghetti straps, and she accessorised with a diamond necklace.

City of love: She finally made their relationship Instagram official on Christmas Eve, sharing a loved-up photo with him outside of the Louvre in Paris, and captioning it 'P'

Pia was first linked to the Hollywood power agent in August last year, following her split with her longtime fiance, Tyson Mullane, 31, in April.

The couple made their public debut at a Halloween party in Los Angeles in October, amid reports they started dating back in May.

She finally made their relationship Instagram official on Christmas Eve, sharing a loved-up photo with him outside of the Louvre in Paris, and captioning it 'P'.
KABUL, Afghanistan  A soldier from Las Cruces was one of two killed in an insider attack in eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar province late Saturday when an Afghan wearing an Afghan army uniform opened fire, the U.S. military said.

The U.S. Department of Defense on Sunday announced that Sgt. Antonio Rey Rodriguez, 28, died on Saturday of the wounds he suffered in the attack. Rodriguez was born in Las Cruces, graduated from Mayfield High School in 2009 and enlisted in the Army soon after, according to a news release from U.S. Army Special Operations Command.

Sgt. Javier Jaguar Gutierrez, 28, of San Antonio, Texas, was also killed, and six more U.S. soldiers were wounded in the attack.

The soldiers were assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) out of Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

Sgt. 1st Class Rodriguez was selfless and served honorably; he was certainly among the best in our unit, Col. John W. Sannes, 7th Special Forces Group Commander, said in a statement. Here at the Red Empire, we take care of our own, and Sgt. 1st Class Rodriguez' family will forever be a part of us. We will assist them in any way we can to help them through these trying times.

Rodriguez was deployed eight times with the 75th Ranger Regiment and twice with 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel in Afghanistan.

Rodriguez was posthumously promoted to Sgt. 1st Class and awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart.

New Mexicans have long contributed to the fight to protect our freedoms, Rep. Xochitl Torres Small wrote in a tweet. Today, we learned of a New Mexican son who paid the ultimate price for our liberty. SFC Antonio Rey Rodriguez, 28, of Las Cruces, New Mexico gave his life to protect the country he proudly served. My deepest condolences to SFC Rodriguez's family, friends & fellow service members.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham tweeted: My prayers are with the family & friends of New Mexico's own SFC Antonio Rey Rodriguez. He served his country proudly & selflessly  his sacrifice will not be forgotten. My thoughts are with his loved ones & with every one of the nation's servicemembers.

A member of Nangarhar's provincial council said the gunman was killed. Neither the U.S. military nor the Afghan defense ministry have confirmed the attacker's fate.

One Afghan soldier was also killed and three injured in the assault.

Afghan national army soldiers have made numerous attacks on their allied partners during America's 18 year war in Afghanistan.

Six U.S. service members have been killed in Afghanistan since the start of 2020, including Saturday's casualties. Last year, 22 U.S. service personnel died in combat there.

An Afghan official said the shooter was an Afghan soldier who had argued with the U.S. forces before opening fire. He was not a Taliban infiltrator, the official said.

In a statement, the U.S. military said an individual in an Afghan uniform opened fire on the combined U.S. and Afghan force with a machine gun. We are still collecting information and the cause or motive behind the attack is unknown at this time.

The attack took place in Nangarhar province's Sherzad district.

The U.S. military said American and Afghan military personnel were fired on while conducting an operation.

The incident came as Washington has sought to find an end to the war in Afghanistan.

Washington's peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has met with Taliban representatives in the Middle Eastern state of Qatar in recent weeks. He's seeking an agreement to reduce hostilities to get a peace deal signed that would start negotiations among Afghans on both sides of the conflict.

In his State of the Union Address on Tuesday, President Donald Trump referenced the peace talks, saying U.S. soldiers were not meant to serve as law enforcement agencies for other nations.

In Afghanistan, the determination and valor of our war fighters has allowed us to make tremendous progress, and peace talks are now underway, he said.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 10, 2020 15:48 701 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20639d2e7 1 World Jokowi,Scott-Morrison,Indonesia,Australia,IA-CEPA,trade-deal Free

President Joko Jokowi Widodo has expressed his hopes that the ratification of the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) will also have a positive impact on the peoples of both countries in addition to strengthening bilateral ties.

Jokowi met with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday, during which the two leaders held a meeting and discussed the landmark trade deal and other issues as the two countries commemorated 70 years of bilateral relations.

The IA-CEPA has been ratified by both countries, which means economic relations between the two countries will improve comprehensively and the people of the two nations should also benefit from [the trade deal], Jokowi said during a joint press statement on Monday.

The IA-CEPA, which was inked last year and ratified by the House of Representatives on Feb. 6, aims to significantly reduce tariffs on commodity exports between the two neighboring countries and offer various investment privileges, as Indonesia strives to boost exports and attract foreign investment to help spur its sluggish economic growth.

Read also: Trade pact expected to boost Indonesia-Australia ties

Indonesia recorded a trade deficit of US$3.2 billion last year, marking a significant improvement over the $8.7 billion recorded in 2018.

The trade deal also promises improved access for Australian cattle and sheep farmers to Indonesias market of 260 million people, while greater access to the Australian market is expected to help Indonesias textile and automotive industries and boost exports of timber, electronics and pharmaceuticals.

Jokowi went on to express hopes that the trade deal could be promptly implemented through the IA-CEPA 100-day implementation program, including through Australia Business Week in Indonesia, as well as the visit of some major Australian private investors to the archipelago.

Morrison, meanwhile, said the trade agreement would strengthen cooperation between Jakarta and Canberra as he hoped that the agreement would boost economic growth for the next decade.

Indonesia will become one of the biggest economic powers in the world. The mutually beneficial agreement will ensure that our economies will be integrated in the future, Morrison said.

Read also: Australia and Indonesia must be partners in Pacific development: Jokowi

Prior to the bilateral meeting between the two countries delegations, Jokowi held a tete-a-tete with Morrison at the Prime Ministers Suite, where the President expressed his condolences and sympathy to the victims of the Australian bushfire crises.

My visit to Australia also shows that Indonesia will always stand together with the Australian people in good and bad times. A friend in need is a friend indeed, Jokowi said.

Jokowi also said that his state visit to Australia  the fourth since he took office  was also a special moment as it coincided with the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Australia.

He said that while there was a lot of progress that had been achieved during the past seven decades, both countries must work hard to ensure a robust relationship between them.

Jokowi and Morrison also oversaw the signing of two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on the action plan of the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership as well as transportation security cooperation by the two countries ministers following the bilateral meeting. (mpr)
Christopher Eccleston poses for a photo prior to Fantastic! A Conversation with Christopher Eccleston conversation at the New York Comic Con at Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on October 03, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images for ReedPOP )

Actor Christopher Eccleston has discussed his battles with depression and anorexia in a candid new interview.

The former Doctor Who actor is currently promoting a book, I Love the Bones of You, written about coming to terms with lifes challenges, including his late father Ronnies death from dementia in 2012, as well as his own breakdown and battles with eating disorders.

Eccleston says the most difficult thing about the book is promoting such a personal project on magazine shows where they would go from talking to him about something deeply personal, to going straight from me to a piece about badgers.

Read more: Why Christopher Eccleston turned down 'Doctor Who' 50th anniversary special

Talking to The Guardian about his battle with mental health issues, the 55-year-old said: Im male and northern and from a working-class background, so you were not supposed to speak about your feelings.

He went on to admit to feeling ashamed about his depression and eating disorder, which eventually lead to a breakdown in 2016 coinciding with the end of his relationship with wife and mother of his children Mishka.

He said: I do think that the breakdown and hospitalisation changed my life.

It changed my view of myself and existence. I really felt that I was going to die.

He also says he suffered with intrusive thoughts and revealed he battled with feeling he wanted to be androgynous growing up, though this was something he didnt consider an option while living in working-class Salford.

Read more: Christopher Eccleston to star in first production of Anthony Burgess screenplay

He added it felt f*****g brilliant when he was able to wear mascara for his debut stage play Lock Up Your Daughters at Eccles college as it allowed him to express on the outside what I felt on the inside.

Eccleston came to prominence in the 1990s thanks to TV and film roles such as Shallow Grave, Cracker and Our Friends in the North.

He then appeared in a number of Hollywood movies such as Gone in 60 Seconds and The Others before taking the title role in the BBCs revitalisation of Doctor Who in 2005.
It was the bleep no one saw coming.

Comedian and actor Ray Romano, presenting the Oscar for best makeup and hairstyling with actor Sandra Oh, earned the censor treatment mid-statement Sunday night at the 92nd Academy Awards, to the surprise of Twitter.
The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, has commiserated with the family of Ignatius Longjan, the senator who died at a Turkish hospital in Abuja on Sunday after a brief illness.

Mr Lawan also condoled with the government and people of Plateau State over the sad loss of the senator who represented Plateau South Senatorial District until his death.

In a statement by his media aide, Ola Awoniyi, the Senate President acknowledged the contributions of Mr Longjan both at the state and national levels as former Chairman of the Board of Governors of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies(NIPSS), Kuru; former Chief of Staff at the Government House in Jos and Plateau State Deputy Governor between 2011 and 2019.

While he prayed to God to grant those he left behind the fortitude to bear the great loss, Mr Lawan said the Senate will miss the lawmaker who was Vice Chairman of the Committee on Culture and Tourism.

In a similar message, the governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, expressed shock over the death of Mr Longjan.

Mr Lalong, in a statement by the Director of Press and Public Affairs, Makut Macham, described as devastating, the death of the senator. He said the death is a huge loss, not only to his family, the people of Plateau South Senatorial District but the entire state because of his immense contributions to the development of the state and the nation.

We have lost a man of honour and candour, who, in all his affairs, always put the interests of Plateau State first. His humility, humanity and wealth of wisdom were always at display when he weighed on any issue that concerns people. We will surely miss him, he said.

The governor recalled how the former deputy governor served Plateau State steadfastly and loyally from 2011 to 2015, and also played a significant role in ensuring political stability in the state all through the period of various security challenges that the state passed through.

He equally recognised the enormous contributions of the deceased on the floor of the Senate where he represented his people with so much passion and projected the interests of Plateau State and the nation in all his contributions.

Mr Lalong, while sympathising with his immediate family, urged the people of Plateau State to accept the sad event as the will of God and pray for the repose of his soul.

Speaking in the same vein, Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, said the late lawmaker lived a productive life, represented the people of Plateau South Senatorial District with unalloyed faithfulness, was a loyal member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and a patriotic citizen to the very end.

In a statement by his media aide, Yomi Odunuga, Mr Omo-Agege expressed regret that his death was coming so soon after the death of Senator Benjamin Uwajumogu, who represented Imo North Senatorial District, in December last year.

He commiserated with members of Mr Longjans family and the people of Plateau South Senatorial District over the transition of a highly experienced and very patriotic citizen.

Senator Longjan climbed the political ladder by dint of hard work and conscientious representation, becoming Chief Of Staff at Government House, Jos from June 1, 2007 to May 29, 2011 and Deputy Governor of Plateau State from 29th May, 2011 to 29th May, 2015.

In recognition of his nationalistic disposition, the Federal Government appointed him as Chairman of Board of Governors at the National Institute for Policy & Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in Kuru, Jos in 2019 and thereafter, his people elected him as Senator, he said.

He also prayed that God Almighty grant his soul eternal repose and comfort the family he left behind.

On his part, Kaduna senator, Uba Sani, mourned his colleague whom he described as a patriotic Nigerian whose contributions to national development cannot be ignored.

Mr Sani, on his official twitter handle, extended his deepest and sincerest condolences to the late lawmakers family, the Senate, APC, Plateau State and the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This is even as he prayed that God gives his family the strength to bear the irreparable loss.

Until his death, Mr Longjan, 75, was the Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Culture and Tourism.

Prior to his election as senator, he was a former deputy governor of Plateau State between 2011 and 2015. He replaced Jeremiah Useni of the Peoples Democratic Party who contested for the governorship seat in 2019.

His death comes barely two months after Imo senator, Ben Uwajumogwu, died.
A sea of red MAGA hats lined up in an orderly fashion outside the SNHU Arena awaiting President Donald J. Trump.

Manchester Chief of Police Carlo Capano tweeted that lines were already forming at the SNHU Arena at 6 a.m.

Vice President Mike Pence is also scheduled to appear.

The streets in the center of Manchester, N.H. were bursting with supporters of Trump, who is speaking at a rally in the city this evening.

Vendors patrol up and down the lines of people waiting to enter the rally in Manchester, N.H. (Douglas Hook / MassLive)

One woman, wearing a Make America Great Again red cap said that she has to hide her support back in central Mass. She asked MassLive to remain anonymous.

If I said I was a conservative and supported Trump Id lose friends, she said. I feel good that I can walk proudly around and not have to worry about being judged at these rallies.

She was just one of many Bay State residents that had traveled up to show their support.

Alyssa Gould has come to the rally with her step-mother, Lena Gould who is from Vietnam but both live in the greater Boston area. Lena has hopes of being an American in the future. Lena supports the president for his stance on immigration and feels that only immigrants that want to work and pay taxes should be allowed in. (Douglas Hook / MassLive)

Lena Gould, a Vietnamese citizen and came to the rally with her American step-daughter Alyssa.

If [immigrants] want to come to the U.S. they need to show some evidence that they have the finances, said Gould. You cannot come here and receive all the Social Security.

Gould has been in Boston, Mass. for two years and feels passionate about Trumps immigration policy.

A sprinkling of protesters were there to show their dislike of Trump and his presidency. Arlington, Mass. resident Steven Austerer held a sign saying Real news, Fake President.

I think its very important that regardless of peoples political beliefs they see that someone has other beliefs, said Austerer. We are in the midst of a cultural Civil War.

One of the Trump supporters in the que shouted over to Austerer as he held up his sign. Quite honestly, I didnt know if he wanted to punch me or what, Austerer said. However, when the gentleman came over he gave Austerer a hug and they started a dialog about their respective beliefs.

I said, I abhor your views but I totally respect that you have the right to have them, and he said, I feel the same way," Austerer told MassLive.

Weymouth, Mass. resident and US army veteran, Steven Fuller has come to the rally to show his support for a president that he feels supports veterans. (Douglas Hook / MassLive)

I come from a family that emigrated from Ireland and I have nothing against people trying to come to this country and make themselves better, said Army veteran Steven Fuller from Weymouth, Mass. But I just don't feel like I should be having to support Healthcare for people who are not coming in this country the legal way.

Fifteen-year-old Max Brown told MassLive that the younger generation has been inspired to stand and fight for what they believe in. This will be the second rally for the president he has been to.

Brothers 15-year-old Max and 12-year-old Hayden Brown have come to the rally to enjoy the atmosphere at the rally. He feels even at 15 years old the president speaks to his generation. (Douglas Hook / MassLive)

He expressed his concern over the Democratic party coming after his right to bear arms. Gun control, don't want any of that. Because, if we don't have [guns], were all in trouble.

The rally will kick off at 7 p.m. The doors opened at 3 p.m.
HOLYOKE  The city building commissioner said residents displaced Sunday by a partial building collapse Sunday on Essex Street will not be allowed to return until the building owner secures the remaining structure.

Building Commissioner Damian Cote said how quickly residents will return depends on how quickly the buildings owner, Windsor Realty of Bedford, addresses the problem.

Residents of an apartment building at 212 Walnut St. were evacuated Sunday night when a portion of the buildings parapet on the Essex Street side of the building gave way. A parapet is an extension of a buildings facade up past the roofline.

The collapse sent a shower of bricks raining down on the sidewalk five stories below.

No one was injured, but two vehicles parked in the street were damaged.

On Monday, Holyoke blocked off Essex Street between Walnut and Elm streets to prevent anyone from being injured by additional collapses.

The area will be fenced off until the owner can repair the damaged area and address the second length of the parapet wall on the Essex street side, Cote said. So the re-occupancy depends solely on how fast the owner takes care of the situation.

The building, according to city records, has a total of 30 units.

Jeff Hall, spokesman for the American Red Cross of Massachusetts, said the agency was called to the scene to assist Sunday night, but it did not help anyone to find temporary shelter. He said the propertys landlord made arrangements for tenants to be placed in other accommodations.

He said he was told a total of 12 apartments and a total of 35 tenants were displaced.

A spokesman with Windsor Realty did not return calls for comment Monday afternoon.

According to the Holyoke Assessors Office, the six-story property has a total valuation of $835,000, and has been owned by Windsor Realty since October 2002.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah is likely to address a pro-Citizenship Amendment Act meeting in Telangana soon, BJP sources said on Monday.

However, details of the event, includingits date, had not yet been finalised, they said.

The BJP's state unit has organised various events in support of the amended citizenship law in recent weeks.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Quot;afsos" : Cast: Gulshan Devaiah, Anjali Patil, Heeba Shah

Created by: Anirban Dasgupta and Dibya Chatterjee

Rating: * * & 1/2 (two and a half stars)

By Vinayak Chakravorty

The good thing about OTT is that the platform has allowed the entry of narratives and narrative styles that would so far have struggled to find acceptance in the mainstream space.

"Afsos", created by stand-up comedian Anirban Dasgupta and Dibya Chatterjee, is an instance. The eight-episode limited web series is a slice of cheeky black humour that drives existential questions about life and death, and why both matter for an individual.

The tone of wry wit is set right at the onset as we meet Nakul (Gulshan Devaiah), who is resolutely gearing up for suicide at a rail track. He has made 11 attempts before this, and is still trying. As an approaching train's headlight grows bigger, Nakul suddenly decides he needs to fish for a pillow as headrest on rail track. We understand he is good for nothing - the sort of guy who cries out for help while jumping into the sea. Even the neighbourhood kids call Nakul a loser.

Creators Dibya Chatterjee and Anirban Dasgupta, along with co-writer Sourav Ghosh, start off on that quirky note, as the suicidal hero finally gives out a contract for his own killing. And then, just when all is ready for his foolproof death in the hands of a professional expert (Heeba Shah), Nakul finds a reason to live.

The catch is, the assassin assigned to 'help' Nakul end his life, isn't giving up on her commitment to kill him.

"Afsos" talks of life and death in the most matter-of-fact manner, through cheeky scenes that would define everyday humdrum. In a random sequence, a couple of housepainters perched precariously high up on a multistoreyed building's wall are discussing how a slip in balance could actually be lucrative for their families. In another scene, when a character complains to a cop about an errant assassin, the thana OC refers the case to the consumer court with a straight face. The story gets a sarcastic edge as some people start regarding Nakul as 'the celebrity who can never die' The problem begins as the series shifts gear to move into its middle act. The series has eight episodes of below 30 minutes each and you begin to realise, given the story, this should ideally have been made as original film of a maximum runtime of around two hours -- or, at most a limited series of around four to five episodes.

Trouble is after the initial novelty of the story idea wears off, the narrative slows down around the middle episodes, and never really picks up afterwards. Although credibly acted out by its cast and offering a few interesting twists in the two final episodes, these are never enough to lift the show from the level of average to excellent.

An interesting dash of humour precedes every episode if you look closely, and if you understand Bengali. The series, the casting declares, is based on a Bengali novel named "Golper Goru Chaande". Translated, that means 'in fiction, a cow can scale the moon'. The catch is no such novel exists. It is a tongue-in-cheek assertion of the fact that the series is narrating a story that cannot happen - just like the fictional cow jumping right up to the moon.

That bit of casting humour is a throwback on the famous pre-credits announcement gag in Coen Brothers' "Fargo", declaring the film is based on true events, which it wasn't. On cue, "Afsos" creators Dasgupta and Chatterjee have a van displaying a fictitious product named Fargo in a pivotal scene.

Such plot vehicles reveal an intelligent slant at humour, which is welcome in Indian showbiz. It reflects an intention of good creativity, as does a narrative track that discusses the eternal tussle between science and religion.

In fact, while narrating the story of a man who simply cannot kill himself, the film intelligently pitches a science-versus-religion tussle over the fantastical 'amrit', or elixir, which can render a man immortal. And while it does so, the script also leaves you with an uncomfortable question -- if indeed there is a man who becomes immortal, wouldn't life ultimately become a terrifying trail of 'afsos' (regrets) for him?

-- Syndicated from IANS
Orlando Ezequiel Marquez Montes de Oca and Yosbel O'farrill Carrera are two of the Cuban emigrants that Mexico has deported to the island. For both of them it was the end of an 18-month odyssey that took them to Trinidad & Tobago, and Venezuela, where they faced a set of perils, and saw them cross the Darien jungle.

In Mexico they suffered arrests and robberies at the hands of the Federal Guard. They paid a $200 bribe for protection from the National Migration Institute. However, shortly thereafter members of the Federal Police attacked them and destroyed their documents, they told DIARIO DE CUBA.



They reported the incident, but in vain. In the early hours of May 25, 2019 they were returned to Cuba.

"An INM official told us that we had become a hot potato for the Federal Police because of our complaints, since they had a license plate number and an exact description of the police officers," explained Yosbel O'farrill Carrera.

Now they have been on the island for eight months, dogged by State Security and the Cuban Police.

Yosbel was not able to retrieve his ID and rationing book until two months ago.

"It cost me 100 dollars. If the situation is difficult today, you can imagine what it was like living without being able to certify being a national of the country you were born in," he says.

"Today I have a right to the quotas in the [rationing] book, but the authorities have it in for me. They won't give me work anywhere, and the Police breathe down my the neck as if I were a criminal. My only crime is disagreeing with the regime," he says.

His plan is to "process the passport again, seek help from relatives abroad, and sell whatever I can", to leave the island again. "Another option is los garroteros," he says.

"They are lenders that give you money, at high interest, but with collateral, either abroad or in Cuba," he explains. "There are families that have totally run out of money along the way, and their parents have put up their houses Cuba, and many have lost them. I don't want to go into that any further."

Although the situation has become increasingly difficult for Cubans trying to reach the United States across the border with Mexico, Yosbel believes he has no other choice.

"If life for everyday Cubans is difficult, you can imagine what its like for a returnee. Despite the dangers and xenophobia, there is at least the hope of emigrating. Everything here is darkness for me."

"There is no future for me or my family in Cuba"

In October 2019 Orlando Ezequiel Marquez Montes de Oca told DIARIO DE CUBA about his first experiences as a returnee lacking papers in his own country.

Now he has a passport again. Like Yosbel, he wants to keep seeking a future elsewhere.

"Since May 25, 2019 my life has been an ordeal. I have no rights. A returnee is watched every time he leaves his home," he laments.

"On December 9, the day before International Human Rights Day, the police came to my house in the morning to tell me that I could not go out for the next 48 hours," he says. "Then I found out and it wasn't just me, but everyone who the regime considers an opponent."

Despite being returned against his will, like Yosbel, Orlando had to complete the repatriation process, and pay 100 dollars for it. "But between the documents and administrative expenses, it's about 200 dollars."

"There is no future for me or my family in Cuba. I have resolved to seek what I most yearn for: freedom in another country, to be able to offer my two teenage children other opportunities," he says.

"I already have a new passport, and I'm trying to scrape together enough money to leave again. It's an uncertain path, but my future in Cuba is bleaker. The only sure thing I have here is a cell."
(Newser)  In the strongest defense testimony yet, a Mexican model and actress denied a Harvey Weinstein accusers claim that she stood by and did nothing while the once-powerful movie mogul groped the accuser in a Beverly Hills hotel in 2013. Never happened," Claudia Salinas told jurors Monday at Weinsteins rape trial in New York City, per the AP. Testifying last week, model Lauren Marie Young said Salinas closed the door behind her and Weinstein as they went into the bathroom, where she said he stripped off his clothes, grabbed her breast, and masturbated. Young said Salinas was standing right there when Weinstein was finished and she managed to get out. If I had done that, I would remember that, Salinas testified. I would never close the door on anybody.

story continues below

Salinas, now 38 and working as a social media influencer, took the witness stand as the defense called witnesses for a third day after more than two weeks of prosecution testimony. She said she met Weinstein in 2012 while an aspiring actress and never had a romantic relationship with him, adding that he had a very strong personality" and "at times, he wasnt nice to me. Among the prosecution witnesses were six women, including Young, who say the once-powerful Hollywood boss subjected them to vile sexual behavior. Jurors also heard Monday from the former roommate of the woman Weinstein is on trial for allegedly raping. Talita Maia said that the woman spoke highly of Weinstein and once called him her spiritual soulmate."

(Read more Harvey Weinstein stories.)
The outbreak of the novelcoronavirus pneumonia has caused panic and anxiety, triggering overblown psychological reactions or even unfounded fears. As such, the battle against the coronavirus pneumonia outbreak should be on both the medical and psychological fronts. Currently, efforts are being made, on the governmental and non-governmental levels, to help the public quell their anxiety and maintain good mental health amid the coronavirus outbreak.



"Since the outbreak, whenever my son coughs or displays normal cold symptoms, I feel so uneasy that I can't get to sleep. Do I have a mental disorder? "

"How can a family member comfort their loved ones who are being quarantined? "

"I feel so insecure without face masks, what should I do? "

These are some of the many questions that came up during a public live-streaming lecture on Feb. 7. Li Xiaolong, a psychotherapist from the Wuhan Mental Health Center (Wuhan Psychological Hospital), responded to audiences' questions concerning psychological problems caused by the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak and offered advice on how to maintain good mental health in the face of the crisis.

"Avoid exposing yourself to a constant stream of negative information. Turn to scientific sources of information and stick to facts. Don't imagine the situation to be worse than it really is. Be aware of your emotional state and seek professional psychological help if you feel overwhelmed," Li advised.

Apart from Li Xiaolong, other psychological consultants and mental health experts from renowned hospitals or medical schools have also done "live" broadcasts on various online platforms, providing psychological advice to the public.

As China continues to take tough measures to curb the spread of the virus, negative psychological reactions are beginning to set in. Medical staff face enormous mental pressures due to overwork, social isolation and the high risks of infection from their exposure. Media outlets as well as the government's strict quarantine measures have also sparked fear and anxiety among the citizens.

"If psychological assistance or intervention are not provided in time,consequences ranging from the decrease in immunity against the virus to emotional and psychological traumamay arise. It may result in a negative impact on society or even mass panic," said Qiao Zhihong, professor at the faculty of Psychology at the Beijing Normal University (BNU).

As such, the battle against the coronavirus pneumonia outbreak should be on both the medical and psychological fronts. On Jan. 27, 2020, the National Health Commission of China published the national guidelines for psychological crisis intervention on the 2019-nCoV outbreak.

According to a notice from the State Council's joint prevention and control work mechanism released on Feb. 2, local governments are required to set up psychological assistance hotlines at the provincial and city levels to help address public mental health concerns triggered by the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The mental health hotline run by the Wuhan Mental Health Center (Wuhan Psychological Hospital) is a free official hotline that offers psychological counseling to the public. This hotline, which has been in operation for over 20 years recently extended its working hours from Feb. 5. Now over 150 volunteers take turns to answer calls and offer advice round the clock, 7 days a week.

Currently, almost all the provinces in China have launched and announced free official psychological assistance hotlines to provide mental health services to people who face various trauma due to the virus outbreak. The public can now access these hotline numbers of different provinces and cities through various WeChat mini-programs.

Aside from the psychological counseling hotlines set up by official agencies, universities also play a role in fighting psychological trauma. The BNU has taken the lead in this effort.

Since Jan. 27, the BNU's faculty of Psychology as well as its Student Counseling Service Center jointly launched a program to set up mental health hotlines as well as offer online counseling services to people going through psychological distress due to the coronavirus outbreak. The hotlines and counseling services operate from 6 a.m. to midnight every day, and their 300 professional counselors are reported to have helped thousands of people from around the country.

Wei Wei graduated from the BNU and now works as a teacher at the mental health education center of the Zhejiang Chinese Medical University (ZCMU). Upon hearing the news that counselor volunteers were urgently needed, she volunteered to become a telephone counselor.

"Our team is divided into the hotline group and online counseling group. A crisis intervention group was added later. After receiving some training, I started to answer the hotline calls. Each shift is three hours and each counseling session lasts about 30 minutes. I received 8 phone calls back-to-back the first time I was on duty from 6 to 9 a.m. on Jan. 27," Wei said. "The consultation calls I received were mainly from regular citizens who were not infected but were going through anxiety. For some people who had mental illnesses before, being constantly exposed to news reports about the virus and stuck at home every day aggravated their symptoms."

While Wei believed that counselors like her can't solve every problem, they have helped alleviate the concerns of many people affected by the crisis. "For some of the more complicated cases, psychological intervention over the phone was not that effective. But in most cases, those who called in told me that their anxiety was relieved just by verbalizing it to someone. They then began to focus on what they could control rather than worry all day," Wei said.

Wang Bin, the deputy head of the bureau for disease control and prevention of the National Health Commission said in a press conference on Feb. 3 that during such a special period of epidemic prevention and control, it is very important for everyone to maintain a rational and objective mood. "Optimism and self-confidence is the most powerful immunity," he said.
Queen Elizabeths impressive reign has just reached yet another milestone. This month, Her Majesty marked the 68th anniversary of her accession to the throne, extending her streak as the longest-reigning monarch in the history of Britain. Of course, this major milestone comes amid all the drama surrounding Prince Harry and Meghan Markles desire to stop being senior members of the royal family and live independently. With Queen Elizabeth poised to sit on the throne for at least another year, heres a look at how she celebrated the big anniversary.

Queen Elizabeth | Samir Hussein/WireImage

A look at Queen Elizabeths coronation

Queen Elizabeths rise to the throne was an unlikely one. Born the oldest daughter of King George VI, she was never expected to inherit the crown. Her fathers older brother, Prince Edward, was first in line to the throne and was supposed to sit on the throne next.

That all changed, of course, when Edward abdicated and George became the King. From that moment on, Elizabeth knew that she would one day sit at the head of the monarchy.

Elizabeth ascended to the throne following King George VIs death on February 6, 1952. Her official coronation took place the following year.

Ever since then, Elizabeth has ruled as the Queen of the United Kingdom, becoming the longest-reigning monarch in the history of Britain.

On February 6, 2020, Queen Elizabeth celebrated her 68th year on the throne, though she did not mark the occasion as some fans might expect.

How did Queen Elizabeth celebrate her 68th anniversary on the throne?

When King George VI died in 1952, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were on a royal tour in Kenya. It was actually Philip who broke the news to Queen Elizabeth, who was understandably devastated.

Elizabeth and Philip canceled the rest of their tour and immediately flew back to London. But her mourning clothes were famously sent to another city in Kenya, so Queen Elizabeth was forced to return home without them.

While the world celebrates her 68th year on the throne, Queen Elizabeth marks the anniversary like she does every year: behind closed doors with her husband, Philip.

This year was no different. Before heading back to Buckingham Palace to resume her royal duties, the Queen stayed at her Sandringham Estate with Philip and honored her fathers memory in private.

Queen Elizabeth honors her fathers memory

According to Town and Country, prior to celebrating her 68th anniversary as Queen, Her Majesty spent the past week doing things in honor of her fathers memory.

Queen Elizabeth, for example, was present for the opening of the Wolferton Pumping Station, which was a revamped version of the same building her father dedicated in 1948. King George was very interested in the station and had a particular fondness for Sandringham in general.

This is one reason why the Queen decided to stay at her estate in Sandringham for the anniversary. In previous years, Her Majesty waits to return to official duty until after February 6.

But she opted to make an appearance at the pumping station earlier in the week, which was a nice nod to her father.

The royals celebrate New Zealands Waitangi Day

While Queen Elizabeth gets ready to return to her royal duties, the rest of the royal family is celebrating New Zealands Waitangi Day. The event is done in commemoration of the Treaty of Waitangi, in which the British Crown was given sovereignty over the land.

Members of the royal family took to social media to congratulate citizens of New Zealand on their special day. This includes a shout-out from Prince William and Kate Middleton, who posted images from their tour of the region.

Even Prince Harry and Meghan Markle got in on the fun and posted a tribute to New Zealand. As fans will recall, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited the country in 2018 and wished everyone a joyful Waitangi Day.

Her Majesty, of course, also shared some pics of her and Philip visiting New Zealand over the years. The photos were posted on the royal familys main Instagram account.

Queen Elizabeth has not commented on the reports surrounding her 68th anniversary on the throne. She is expected to return to Buckingham Palace in the coming days.
After more than 200 evacuees from the virus outbreak epicentre of Wuhan landed in Darwin, hundreds remain stranded overseas.

The Qantas evacuation flight carrying 266 evacuees including 92 children arrived in Australia on Sunday.

After undergoing four health screenings that confirmed all passengers were physically well, they were sent to the Manigurr-ma Village at Howard Springs, 30 kilometres from Darwin.

The evacuees were initially expected to be quarantined on Christmas Island, before a decision on Friday to redirect them to Darwin because the island facility was unable to house another couple of hundred people.

There are no further plans at this stage to extricate more Australian citizens and permanent residents back home.

The Department of Foreign Affairs is in contact with people on the ground in Wuhan and we have certainly brought off the people at greatest risk, Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy said on Sunday.

They will review that situation and if there were any further flights, there is more capacity at Howard Springs but Christmas Island also may become vacant again.

Meanwhile, more than 200 Australians remain trapped overseas aboard three cruise ships affected by the virus.

The Diamond Princess remains quarantined at Yokohama in Japan with 3,700 people on board, including 219 Australians who are well, and another seven among the 70 passengers and crew who have tested positive.

They were lucky to be in Japan because they have a wonderful health system and they are being well looked after, Murphy told reporters.

Obviously the Department of Foreign Affairs is providing consular assistance to others on board the ship.

Sixteen Australians are among 18 passengers and crew released from quarantine on the World Dream cruise ship in Hong Kong.

The 3,600 passengers and crew members on the World Dream cruise ship in Hong Kong were released from quarantine after Hong Kong authorities gave the all-clear.

The passengers included 16 Australians, none of whom are ill.

Another ship, the Westerdam, has been stranded at sea after the Japanese, Philippines, and South Korean governments refused it permission to dock despite no reported cases of the virus on board.

Westerdam passenger David Holst, from Adelaide, posted on Facebook on Sunday that Guam has also rejected the ship.

We are 8 days out of Hong Kong and I dont imagine any country will let us off until we are 14-15 days virus-free, he wrote.

A Facebook post from the cruises company, Holland America Line, claimed they had received preliminary clearance for guest disembarkation from two different ports and expect to announce their new destination by Monday evening.

With agencies
The Union environment ministrys Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) has given the go-ahead for a 30-year environmental clearance extension for state-owned Coal India Limiteds Dipka opencast coal mine in Chhattisgarhs Korba even as residents of the area have called for its closure citing environmental concerns.

At an EAC meeting on January 24, the minutes of which have been published on the ministrys website, the panel has recommended continuance of the clearance for 30 years or the life of the mine--whichever is earlier.

The mine was submerged during the last monsoon when the Lilagar river, a tributary of Mahanadi, was in full spate in September. Local environmental activists like Bipasha Paul of Raipur-based Jan Abhivyakti, who visited the spot soon after the flooding, found that fly ash washed away from the mine polluted the river.

A video of the flooding was shared widely on social media. Environmental expert, Shashank Shekhar, assistant professor, department of geology, Delhi University, had said having an opencast coal mine so close to a river was a recipe for such accidents and toxic pollution. Erik Solheim, a former executive director of the UN Environment Programme, had tweeted a video of the flooding saying nature has its own plans.

The environmental clearance for the Dipka mine, with a capacity of 35 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) and spread over a mining lease area of 1999. 23 ha, was to expire on March 20.

The project was granted clearance for expansion from 31 to 35 MTPA in a letter dated February 20, 2018. Its expansion was to be reviewed after a year. In a letter dated March 20, 2019, the expansion was allowed to continue for one more year subject to compliance of various provisions of the environmental clearance. HT has seen a copy of the letter.

The minutes of EACs meeting is silent on the impact of the mining operations on the Lilagar river.

Villagers living near the mine wrote to the ministry on January 21, saying despite evidence that the mining activities had breached the floodplains of Lilagar river and endangered it, the mine was granted permits to expand. The letter in Hindi, seen by HT, also states that the mine has caused air and water pollution in violation of the conditions of the environmental clearance granted to it and hence should be shut down.

EAC chairman Navin Chandra said he did not have details of the mine or the flooding and hence will be unable to comment on why the clearance for it has been recommended for 30 years.

Kanchi Kohli, a researcher at the Centre for Policy Research, called it yet another case wherein the EAC has used an extremely perfunctory approach to award a 30-year extension to a coal mine that has severely violated environmental safeguards as per the governments own records.

The minutes [of the EAC meeting] does not record any mention of the flooding of the Lilagar river less than six months back, which had severely impacted the villages and farmlands downstream. Such decisions are likely to discourage environmental compliance as illegalities have no bearing on project approvals, said Kohli.

A Coal India Limited official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Dipka mine started functioning again only two days after the flooding. Its output now is about 1.10 lakh tonnes per day. A non-seasonal local river had flooded on September 29 but we immediately conducted dewatering and the mine became functional gradually.
This space at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts  a massive one-night-only addition constructed with walls and floors trucked in for the occasion  is so vast that if you spend too much time getting smoke-filled air on the patio, you will miss seeing Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, Marilyn Manson, Rep. Maxine Waters back inside. Filmmaker Janicza Bravo will tell you that you also missed the person who everyone is freaking out about being here, Jerry from the Netflix series Cheer. She touched his arm and she made him hug her, she just felt so connected to him and couldnt help it. Jerry still has a year left at Navarro Junior College, but hes signed with United Talent Agency, so hell be back.
The ledger document, which suddenly appeared in Kiev during the 2016 U.S. election, showed alleged cash payments from Russian-backed politicians in Ukraine to ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

The ledger was completely made up, cooperating witness and Manafort business partner Rick Gates told prosecutors and FBI agents, according to a written summary of an April 2018 special counsels interview.

In a brief interview with Just the News, Gates confirmed the information in the summary.

The black ledger was a fabrication, Gates said. It was never real, and this fact has since been proven true.

Gates account is backed by several Ukrainian officials who stated in interviews dating to 2018 that the ledger was of suspicious origins and could not be corroborated.

If true, Gates account means the two key pieces of documentary evidence used by the media and FBI to drive the now-debunked Russia collusion narrative  the Steele dossier and the black ledger  were at best uncorroborated and at worst disinformation. His account also raises the possibility that someone fabricated the document in Ukraine in an effort to restart investigative efforts on Manaforts consulting work or to meddle in the U.S. presidential election.

Much mystery has surrounded the black ledger, which was publicized by the New York Times and other U.S. news outlets in the summer of 2016 and forced Manafort out as one of Trumps top campaign officials.

After gaining wide attention as purported evidence of Russian ties to the Trump campaign, the ledger was never introduced as evidence at Manaforts 2018 trial or significantly analyzed in Muellers final 2019 report, which concluded that Trump did not collude with Russia to influence the 2016 election. No FBI 302 interview reports have been released either showing what the FBI concluded about the ledger.

Gates interview with the Mueller team now provides a potential clue as to why.

By April 2018, Gates had reached a plea deal to testify against Manafort in a criminal case that ultimately resulted in Manaforts conviction on tax and illegal lobbying charges. As the day-to-day manager of Manaforts political consulting and lobbying efforts for former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, Gates handled Manaforts operations and was deeply familiar with when and how payments were made and from whom.

During a debriefing with Muellers team on April 10, 2018, Gates was asked about the August 2016 New York Times article that first alerted the public to the existence of the black ledger and eventually led to Manaforts downfall.

The article was completely false, Gates is quoted as telling Muellers team in a written summary of the interview created by some of the attendees. As you now know there were no cash payments. The payments were wired. The ledger was completely made up.

When pressed as to why he was so certain, Gates explained the ledger did not match the way Yanukovychs Party of Regions made payments to consultants like Manafort.

It was not how the PoR [Party of Regions] did their record keeping, Gates told the prosecution team, according to the written summary.

Furthermore, Gates revealed that Manaforts team had confirmed with the partys former accountant that the black ledger could not be a contemporaneous document because the partys official accounting books burned in a 2014 fire during Ukraines Maidan uprising.

All the real records were burned when the party headquarters was set on fire when Yanukovych fled the country, Gates told the investigators, according to the interview summary.

The Party of Regions accountant reached by Manaforts team told them that the black ledger was a copy of a document that did not exist and it was not even [the accountants own] handwriting, Gates told the prosecutors.

Gates account to prosecutors closely matches what several Ukrainian officials have said for more than a year.

Ukraines Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Nazar Kholodnytskyy told me last spring that he believed the black ledger was not a contemporaneous document, and likely manufactured after the fact.

It was not to be considered a document of Manafort, Kholodnytskyy said in an interview. It was not authenticated. And at that time it should not be used in any way to bring accusations against anybody.

Likewise, one of Gates and Manaforts Ukrainian business partners, Konstantin Kilimnik, who is now indicted in the same case as Manafort but remain at large, wrote a senior U.S. State Department official in summer 2016 that the black ledger did not match actual payments made to Manaforts firm.

I have some questions about this black cash stuff because those published records do not make sense, Kilimnik wrote the State official in August 2016. The time frame doesnt match anything related to payments made to Manafort.  It does not match my records. All fees Manafort got were wires, not cash.

In December 2018, a Ukrainian court ruled that two of that countrys government officials  member of parliament Sergey Leschenko and Artem Sytnyk, the head of the National Anticorruption Bureau of Ukraine  illegally interfered in the 2016 U.S. election by publicizing the black ledger evidence.

While that ruling has been overturned on a technicality, the role of Sytnyk and Leschenko in pushing the black ledger story remains true.

In an interview last summer, Leschenko said he first received part of the black ledger when it was sent to him anonymously in February 2016, but it made no mention of Manafort. Months later, in August 2016, more of the ledger became public, including the alleged Manafort payments.

Leschenko said he decided to publicize the information after confirming a few of the transactions likely occurred or matched known payments.

But Leschenko told me he never believed the black ledger could be used as court evidence because it couldnt be proved beyond a reasonable doubt that it was authentic, given its mysterious appearance during the 2016 election.

The black ledger is an unofficial document, Leschenko told me. And the black ledger was not used as official evidence in criminal investigations because you know in criminal investigations all proof has to be beyond a reasonable doubt. And the black ledger is not a sample of such proof because we dont know the nature of such document.

In the end, the black ledger did prompt the discovery of real financial transactions and real crimes by Manafort, which ultimately led to his conviction.

But its uncertain origins raise troubling questions about election meddling and what constitutes real evidence worthy of starting an American investigation.
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DUBLIN  Sinn Fein, a leftist party long ostracized from Irish politics over its ties to sectarian violence, won the popular vote and seized its largest-ever share of parliamentary seats in the countrys national elections this weekend, according to results released on Sunday.

The vote loosened a 90-year stranglehold on power by two center-right parties in Ireland and put Sinn Fein on the doorstep of joining a coalition government, a remarkable rebuke to a political establishment that tried to paint it as aberrant and unelectable throughout the campaign.

Defying a reputation for extreme risk aversion, Irish voters ignored those warnings.

They gave Sinn Fein more votes than Irelands prime minister, Leo Varadkar, in his Dublin district, though Irelands system of vote allocation allowed Mr. Varadkar to hold onto his parliamentary seat.

Irish voters delivered more votes to left-wing parties than they had in decades, realigning a center-heavy political system along class and ideological lines.
[February 10, 2020] Morgan State University to Offer Three Degree Programs in Ghana Following Board Approval

BALTIMORE, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Morgan State University (MSU) is slated to establish an international presence on the African continent by way of a new pilot program. During the recent public session of the MSU Board of Regents' winter quarterly meeting, the Board unanimously approved a proposal for the university to begin offering three degree programs  a Master of Business Administration, a Master of Science in Global Multimedia Journalism and Communications, and a Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurship  in partnership with the African University College of Communications (AUCC) in Adabraka, ccra, Ghana. The pilot program is scheduled to begin in fall 2020, creating opportunities for western African students to pursue degrees from Morgan. The collaboration marks a first of its kind for an HBCU in Ghana, with Morgan poised to join only a select few American universities offering degree programs in Africa.





"Over the past five years, we have been very interested in Africa and have been eyeing expansion into new markets. We look forward to piloting these three academic degree programs in Ghana, and if this initiative is successful in attracting top-notch students and awarding them highly valued Morgan degrees, we will consider establishing a more physical presence in Africa," said Morgan President David Wilson. "So long as I am the president of this institution, Morgan will never be in stasis. We cannot afford to stand still. It is incumbent upon the university to always lean forward and continuously explore all viable opportunities in this rapidly transforming higher education environment." Coinciding with the expansion abroad, domestically the Board also authorized the University to pursue the addition of a new Master of Science in Advanced Computing degree program. Pending Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) approval, the M.S. in Advanced Computing would be the only degree of its kind offered at a Maryland university, and Morgan would be the sole HBCU in the nation to offer it. The availability of the program at Morgan would offer students a solid foundation in emerging areas of computer sciences such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data science, machine learning and cloud computing. To read release in its entirety, please click here. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/morgan-state-university-to-offer-three-degree-programs-in-ghana-following-board-approval-301002107.html SOURCE Morgan State University

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Hyderabad: The Telangana Rashtra Samithi has created a record by having party offices in all districts in the state.

Construction of offices remains to be completed only in two districts  Peddapalli and Suryapet.

The offices will be inaugurated as soon as Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao has the time to do so. The TRS has spent Rs 19.20 crore on these party offices at the rate of Rs 60 lakh for each office.

The state government allotted one acre of land to the TRS in each district to construct the party headquarters. The land was allotted at the market rate of Rs 100 per square yard, which works out to Rs 4.84 lakh per acre. The project began on June 24, 2019 and the CM wanted all the offices to be ready by Dasara last year. But the construction in some districts was delayed.

Now that all the offices bar two are ready, inaugurating them depends on the CM. With the budget session of the state assembly coming up in the last week of this month or first week of March, the inauguration cannot be held then, so if it is not done before, then March 25, the eve of Ugadi (Telugu New Year) is the likeliest date for the inauguration.

No other political party has offices in all districts. The decades old Congress party does not have a party office in the state capital, Hyderabad  the Telangana Congress party office is run from the Gandhi Bhavan Trust in Hyderabad for which a nominal rent is paid. When Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy was CM of the undivided state, his government allotted land to the party for construction of an office at Ambedkar Basthi near Nampally, but it was stuck in a legal dispute.
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One of the old sayings is that there are lies, damned lies and statistics, with the implication being you really cant trust most reported numbers. Still, weve often thought, at least with major vendors, that you could trust rankings.

One current set of rankings involves cloud providers. The general impression was that Amazon was first, Microsoft second, and Google third. However, both Google and IBM reported numbers this month  and surprise. Google isnt third, IBM is.

That isnt the only thing I found interesting this month. IBM did what few firms never seem to do and followed the best practice of another firm  in this case, Microsoft  in making its CEO choice. This suggests that IBM eventually should be able to challenge for the No. 1 spot in the cloud. If it does, it could point the way for other firms, like Dell, to pass Amazon as well.

Since the subject is the cloud, Ill shine a light on my new favorite cloud service: Nvidias GeForce Now, just released this month.

Cloud Rankings

The cloud is important. Much of what we now watch (Netflix) and buy (Amazon), as well as systems to guard our homes security (like Arlo and ADT Plus) reside in the cloud. Much of it resides on the Amazon, Microsoft or Google cloud. It seems like a no-brainer to rank the players in order, with Amazon first, Microsoft second and Google third.

The only issue is that until recently, we didnt know how much of Googles revenue came from their cloud. Yes, it uses its cloud for massive services like YouTube, but we typically rank vendors based on what they sell, not what they use internally.

For instance, if Shell Oil built its own trucks and used thousands of them, it still wouldnt displace GM or Ford in the rankings.

Google reported a decent US$2.6 billion in cloud revenue for the quarter, and $8.9 billion in cloud revenue for the year. However, IBM reported a whopping $6.8 billion for the quarter and $21.2 billion for the year. Note that IBMs quarterly cloud revenue is within the shooting distance of Googles annual cloud revenue.

IBM isnt behind Google, and it isnt a rounding error ahead either. It is almost three times the size of Google in the cloud market  which, by the way, suggests Google may be lower than fourth place.

If you think about it, it was Azure, Microsofts Cloud effort, that put the company back on the technology map and founded its valuation increase so it could challenge Amazon, Apple and Google for the most valuable company title. The same could happen to IBM as it further ramps its cloud efforts.

Dell has advanced its cloud offerings recently with the Dell Technologies Cloud, and I believe it also is in the hunt to take out Google and Amazon.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Why Google and Amazon Are Vulnerable

As much as you might like Samsung or Apple, would you buy a car from them? Some might, but most probably would feel, rightly, that cars arent these companies strengths, as both firms primarily make personal electronics.

IT buyers are even more pragmatic. Generally, they have avoided services  like Amazons  that come from a firm that doesnt specialize in them.

This specialization mismatch is one of the reasons Apples server failed. It wasnt a bad product  it was a decent server. It was that people didnt trust a personal technology vendor to build a good server. If something bad happened, the buyer would look stupid. Looking stupid as an IT buyer is a quick way to discover you suddenly have no job and need to search for a new career.

Amazons primary business is retail. Would you buy a cloud service from Walmart? The reason Amazon rose to power is that companies like IBM didnt have services like AWS  but they do now. Regardless of how many people now use AWS at the end of the day, IT buyers trust companies like IBM and Dell more than theyll ever trust a retail store vendor for an IT technology.

Google is worse, by almost any measure, because its business is selling user data. If you discovered your confidential information had leaked to a competitor or hostile foreign government  even if Google didnt do it  youd wonder if someone in Google sold it.

With the chief security officer asking you how the breach happened  often the sources arent found  the fact that you used a vendor that sold customer information certainly would make it look like maybe you were the problem that needed to be solved.

Since pointing at a scapegoat is common when theres an embarrassing breach, your decision to use Google wouldnt bode well for your job longevity. IT folks know that, which likely is why IBM was able to roar past Google to claim the No. 1 spot and why I expect Dell will follow.

IBMs Unusual Move

This progression of potential events takes us to IBMs unusual move. Now I say unusual, because, for whatever strange reason, companies dont like to copy other companys brilliant moves.

For instance, Apple put in a CEO who was marketing-oriented with Steve Jobs and became the most valuable company during his time. Not even Apple followed that example, and youd be hard-pressed to find any major company run by a marketing type today.

Microsoft replaced Steve Ballmer with a cloud subject matter expert (Satya Nadella) and now regularly challenges to be the most valuable company in the world. IBM just surprised the crap out of me and did the same thing, replacing Ginni Rometty with Arvind Krishna.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Both Microsoft and IBM are complex, and both firms have reputations that suggest their peers betray a lot of top executives in both firms, so this wasnt a trivial move by either firm, or for the executives who took the jobs. However, I think IBM now will replicate Microsofts success.

In Praise of Steve Ballmer and Ginni Rometty

Before we move off this subject, I want to point out that neither Microsoft nor IBM would be in this place if it werent for Steve Ballmer and Ginni Rometty, both of whom set the foundations for success in their respective firms. Both took over when their firms were in deep trouble, and both built up the foundational elements in their firms, including making the initial cloud investments that created the platform and the subject matter experts who later took the CEO job.

If Ballmer hadnt executed, there never would have been an Azure or a Satya Nadella. If Rometty hadnt bought Soft Layer and restructured IBM, there would be no Arvind Krishna. It often is easy to contrast successful CEOs with challenged ones and find the latter wanting, forgetting that the successful CEOs wouldnt have a place to be successful in, and often wouldnt even have been considered for the job, had their predecessors not done their job.

Neither Steve nor Ginni will go down in history as their respective firms saviors, but they should. Without them, there never would have been a Satya Nadella or an Arvind Krishna.

Wrapping Up

At the end of the decade, I dont expect either Amazon or Google to be at the top of the cloud market if we even call it that then. My expectation is theyll have to spin out their cloud businesses to get them away from their non-aligned core brands, or they will be passed by more focused vendors like Microsoft, IBM and Dell.

I also think few companies will follow Microsoft and IBMs lead and place CEOs in positions that require subject matter expertise  and that, as a result, the success of these policies will be lost to history. I truly hope I am wrong here, and the fact that IBM did follow Microsoft suggests I am. Lets hope Im right about being wrong in this case.

One of the most powerful demonstrations of what the cloud is capable of is cloud gaming. It has historically been an ideal way to see the weakness in these platforms, because PC gaming requires very high performance and very low latency.

I once got in an argument with Robby Bach, who then ran Microsoft gaming. I argued that cloud gaming was the future, and he felt I was mentally challenged because he believed youd never get the needed performance out of the cloud.

Now a cloud guy is running Microsoft, Robby Bach is gone, and even Microsoft is rolling out a cloud gaming platform  the xCloud.

Well, Nvidia just released its GeForce Now platform with 50 top-flight games initially  more are coming  and thousands that can be played with single-session installs.

One fascinating thing is that Nvidia has done this first, not any of the leading cloud vendors, although Nvidia typically isnt even on the cloud vendor list. As a specialized offering, this is an incredible service.

It does require decent Internet service and low latency, which means it will get a lot better when 5G rolls out. However, in anticipation of 5G, the telco and cable providers have been improving their infrastructure, and the service is very playable now.

I played League of Legends last week, and it played like it was on my gaming system, which is anything but underpowered. It was my product of the week last week. Oh, and that system is AMD-based, and GeForce Now had no issue with it.

The service works on both Windows and macOS machines, Android, and Nvidias Shield set-top box (one of the more powerful set-top box offerings). Service can be used for free with a one-hour play limit and no access to RTX technology. If the servers are at capacity, the free folks will have to wait to game. Priority access, at US$4.99 a month, comes with a 6-hour limit, and RTX turned on for better graphics.

Because this is a great game service  but mostly because I can now say neener, neener, neener to Robbie Bach  the GeForce Now service is my product of the week.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ECT News Network.
The Manchester Arena killer and his brother bought bomb equipment with their mother's benefits money - which was paid even after she had left the country to live in Libya, a court heard today.

Hashem Abedi, 22, allegedly encouraged older brother Salman to kill 22 and maim hundreds more when he detonated his rucksack bomb at the Ariana Grande concert on 22 May 2017.

But Hashem insists if he knew of the murderous plan he would have told his mother about it. Their mother Samia Tabbal was in receipt of housing benefit for her husband Ramadan and their six children from 2008 to 2011, the court heard today.

In August 2013 the claim was resumed for her and the youngest five children.

Samia travelled from Manchester to Istanbul via Athens with three of her children on October 20 2016, and from there on to Libya. The benefits then continued solely for the mother until 26 May 2017, four days after the bombing, the court heard.

In the run up to the attack her bank account was accessed to buy a large 300 industrial sized battery and to buy other alleged bomb making equipment from B&Q, jurors have been told.

Artist's impression of Hashem Abedi, appearing in the dock at the Old Bailey, February 10

Hashem Abedi (pictured), 22, allegedly encouraged older brother Salman to kill 22 and maim hundreds more when he detonated his rucksack bomb at the Ariana Grande concert in 2017

The jury was shown Samia Abedis bank statements detailing monthly income payments of 692.32 housing benefit from Manchester City Council along with weekly payments of 302.76 working and child tax credit and 61.80 child benefit, giving a monthly income of 2,147.

Hashem Abedi was arrested in Libya shortly after Salman, 22, blew himself up as thousands of people left the concert.

He faces 22 charges of murder, one of attempted murder against the 260 others injured in the outrage and conspiracy to cause explosions.

Hashem denies involvement in helping prepare and plan the attack.

The court was also told today that Salman Abedi visited a convicted terrorist in prison before carrying out the suicide attack.

Salman met Abdalraouf Abdallah, 26, four months before he detonated a homemade bomb, killing 22 people and injuring many more as they left an Ariana Grande concert, jurors heard.

On January 18 2017, Salman, 22, along with two other men, travelled from his home in Fallowfield, south Manchester, to visit Abdallah, who was serving nine and a half years for terrorism offences at HMP Altcourse in Liverpool.

The scene close to the Manchester Arena after the terror attack at an Ariana Grande concert

A second visit was scheduled for March 6, but Salman Abedi did not attend, the court heard.

The jury was told Abdallah, from Manchester, left the UK to fight against the Gaddafi regime in 2011. He was shot in the back, became paraplegic, and remains in a wheelchair, the Old Bailey was told.

On May 11 2016, Abdallah was convicted of preparation of terrorist acts by assisting others and funding terrorism by sending 2,000 to his brother.

The court was told he organised the terrorist activities of a group in Manchester, assisting two men in their attempts to enter Syria via Turkey.

It was planned they would join his brother Mohammed Abdallah and engage in fighting, according to the agreed facts read out in court.

Jurors heard one of the men succeeded in entering Syria and became an Islamic State fighter.

Abdallah was handed an extended sentence of nine and a half years, including five and a half years in jail.

The 22 victims of the terror attack during the Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena

Salman and Hashem Abedi's uncle Adel Forjani, 49, said the siblings began wearing Islamic clothing which they had not worn previously and began to act differently over time, telling the court: 'There were changes in their style of behaviour it felt they were more radical.

'I do not know but we are all from the same culture so you can see and hear when someone is changing - the way they were dressing.

'Most of the time they started wearing Islamic clothing like these long dresses. Both of them.'

Jurors heard Mr Forjani's children attended the same primary schools as youngsters from the Abedi family but did not go to the same secondary establishments.

But the brothers stopped attending school and started to take drugs, jurors were told. They associated with Abdallah, a convicted terrorist at a barber shop owned by Mr Forjani but staffed by his children, the court heard.

'My son told me that this man had an Islamic way of thinking and I told him I did not want him mingling with him,' Mr Forjani said with the aid of an Arabic interpreter.

'I used to go there every day just to check. I would not stay there for the full day. I would just stay there for a few minutes.'

He admitted he could not be sure if Hashem Abedi met with Abdallah.

Stephen Kamlish QC, representing Abedi, suggested Mr Forjani had been describing Salman when he told police the brothers had changed their style of dress.

Mr Forjani married the sister of Abedi's mother and came to Britain in 1994 from Libya with two children.

Duncan Penny, QC, prosecuting, asked the witness: 'On the occasions when Salman was expressing radical views was Hashem there, in the room?'

'They never expressed anything personal to me, but I understood it was an overview from all of us about their change in attitude,' replied Mr Forjani.

Jurors were told Salman stopped going to a mosque in Rusholme and went to one in Whalley.

Mr Forjani said he attended the prayer centre in Rusholme where extremism was not tolerated.

Salman Abedi on the night he carried out the Manchester Arena terror attack

School records show Salman Abedi got an A* in Arabic but failed in English with a D grade and scored an E in religious studies exams and a F in physical education.

The brothers attended Burnage High School but were two years apart.

'Samia Tabbal was a tenant at Elsmore Road, from 2008 until 2011, and in receipt of housing benefit there in respect of herself, Ramadan Abedi, and their six children,' said Jocelyn Ledward, prosecuting.

'In 2011 her claim for housing benefit was withdrawn. Manchester City Council were informed that the family were going abroad.

'Samia Tabbal resumed claiming housing benefit in respect of herself and her five youngest children on 23 August 2013.

'From 25 September 2013, the family lived as tenants at Claremont Road, Manchester.

'From 1 November 2013, the family lived as tenants at Elsmore Road.

'Housing benefit continued to be paid in respect of Samia Tabbal's tenancy at that address until 26 May 2017.'

Saffie Rose Roussos, eight, was the youngest victim to die in the attack.

The others were: Martyn Hett, 29, Georgina Callander, 18, Olivia Campbell, 15; Off-duty police officer Elaine McIver, 43, John Atkinson, 26, Kelly Brewster, 32, Alison Lowe, 44, and friend Lisa Lees, 43.

Marcin Kils, 42, and Angelika Kils, 39, Nell Jones, 14, Jane Tweedle-Taylor, 50, Michelle Kiss, 45, Sorrell Leczkowski, 14, Chloe Rutherford, 17, and Liam Curry, 19, Eilidh MacLeod, 14, Wendy Fawell, 50, Courtney Boyle, 19, and her stepdad Philip Tron, 32, and Megan Hurley, 15, was the final victim to be named.

Abedi, formerly of Manchester, denies 22 charges of murder, one of attempted murder in relation to those injured and one of conspiracy to cause explosions.

The trial continues.
Search engine optimization (or SEO) can help you to build your credibility, draw in new leads, and explode your bottom line. The benefits of earning a top spot on Google are so well-known to business owners and executives that some consider it to be the only form of online marketing worth their time and effort over the long run.

The only problem with SEO, in fact, has to do with those two words: long-term.

Being a leader in digital marketing, we here at MAXBURST know that gaining search visibility is so important that nearly every business tries to do it. Consequently, in competitive markets it can take many months before an SEO campaign will show tangible results. Unfortunately, lots of marketers will give up on optimization, content creation, and other activities before they reach that point.

As with most things in life, the best answer to that conundrum is to simply be patient. Take the right steps with regards to SEO and you will get results over time.

If that answer doesn't satisfy you, though, the next best solution is to take the right kinds of shortcuts. Note that we aren't talking about keyword stuffing or other ineffective gimmicks. Instead, we mean a handful of strategies you can follow to work your way to the top of Google's search listings to get to maximum profitability in a minimum amount of time.

Let's look at five in particular that have proven to be effective with our clients...

#1 Know Your Search Market and Searcher Patterns

Far too many marketers (and web designers) jump into search engine optimization without having a clear idea of the challenges and opportunities in front of them. We don't want you to make the same mistake.

Before you start optimizing your pages, or have someone do it on your behalf, get a good sense of what your target market looks like. Know which men and women you want to sell to, where they spend their time online, and what kinds of messages appeal to them. This won't just help you to gather the right list of keywords and search phrases, but also to craft winning offers that help you turn visits into sales.

There is no substitute for information and insight, especially when it comes to SEO. Make sure you don't begin until you have all the facts and insights you need.

#2 Focus on a Very Specific Set of Search Terms

Once you know who you're trying to reach and what they search for online, pick a very narrow set of terms and ideas to focus on. This runs contrary to a lot of search engine optimization advice you'll read (especially when it comes to context and authority), but it makes sense in the short-term.

When you're just getting started, you can't attempt to corner the entire search market for your industry or take on all competitors at once. Instead, you should focus on search phrases that have a relatively low amount of competition, and that represent a near-perfect match for the products, services, or advantages your company brings to the marketplace.

This is all a detailed way of saying you should look for spots where you can earn easy wins at the beginning of your SEO campaign. It's easier to gather those and build on them than it is to be overly ambitious and see your plans come to nothing for a long period of time.

#3 Optimize Your Website for Local Search

If there is any kind of geographic component to your business, then you should make sure your site is optimized for local search.

Use the big home field advantage Google gives you with customers in your city or neighborhood. Add city and state names, street addresses, ZIP Codes, phone numbers, and driving directions to your pages. Create location-specific pages for different branches if needed. Add maps and make sure the information you provide is consistent with any social listings you have online.

Case studies have demonstrated that Google updates search listings for geographic areas faster than larger industry categories. That means you can jump to the head of the line - and give your business an immediate boost - just by letting search engine spiders and real-world customers know where to find you. These are easy changes to make on your website, and they can pay off in a very big way.

Most business owners and executives recognize that Google and the other search engines will look at content and links when matching search queries to known websites. However, many don't realize that the search algorithms take dozens of factors into account, with technical issues sometimes serving as "tiebreakers" that can make or break a search engine optimization effort.

If your website has performance issues like slow page-loading times, broken links, and errors due to incompatibility with certain devices then it's going to hurt your search rankings. Each of these makes your site seem less trustworthy, which impacts the way search engine spiders and real-world customers see you.

Because most technical website issues aren't visible to the naked eye, the best way to find and correct them is with a simple website audit. This process is fast and inexpensive. Even better, it can tell you whether you have any problems lurking beneath the surface in your HTML while helping you to identify opportunities for growth. If you haven't had a website audit in the past, this is a great time to schedule one.

#5 Supplement Organic SEO With Paid Search Ads,

In a perfect world your business would attract so much organic search traffic from Google, Bing, and other online portals that you wouldn't ever think about using paid search ads. In reality, though, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can be a perfect supplement to SEO.

For one thing, search ads can be set up, run, and adjusted very quickly. In fact, we can often have new clients up and running within just a few hours. That means they don't have to wait to start bringing targeted traffic to their websites.

What is possibly more important, though, is that PPC campaigns can be carefully tested and configured. So, if there's any doubt about the viability of a keyword, message, or offer, answers and solutions can be found before months are devoted to an ongoing organic SEO project. For that reason, it's often better to start any search visibility campaign with a handful of search ads and then let things progress from there.

Want to Hit the Ground Running this Spring?

There's nothing wrong with wanting to get faster results from search engine optimization and online marketing. After all, you do these things to increase your profits, not because you have free time and money you want to spend in a creative way.

However, it's important that you use your schedule and resources to pursue ideas that are actually going to work, rather than following fads or gimmicks that could end up hurting your business in the end.
 Flash

Senior diplomats from South Korea and the United States held talks in Seoul Monday to discuss the Korean Peninsula affairs, according to local media reports.

Rhee Dong-yeol, director general at the South Korean foreign ministry's Korean Peninsula peace regime bureau, met with Alex Wong, deputy U.S. special representative for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) policy.

The talks were held in Seoul for the working-group meeting that was launched in November 2018 to consult about the peninsula's denuclearization, inter-Korean relations and sanctions toward Pyongyang.

Yoh Sang-key, Seoul's unification ministry spokesman, told a regular press briefing that he was told that during the meeting, the two sides would discuss inter-Korean cooperation, which South Korean President Moon Jae-in offered to make during his New Year speech.

Moon said in his New Year speech and press conference last month that his government will push this year for the inter-Korean cooperation projects, including the reconnection of railways and roads along the eastern and western Korean Peninsula across the inter-Korean border, and other cooperation in border areas.

Yoh reiterated the South Korean position that individual tour by South Koreans to the DPRK's scenic resort of Mount Kumgang was not subject to consultations between Seoul and Washington, saying that South Korea would explain its stance to the United States from the cooperation perspective.

Tour by South Koreans to Mount Kumgang, launched in 1998, had been urn for about 10 years before being shutdown in 2008 when a South Korean tourist was shot dead by a DPRK soldier after allegedly venturing into off-limit areas.
Conservatives should learn that the Academy Awards cannot be taken seriously, despite the nagging desire to participate in the cool-kids-fun aspect of popular culture even when it goes against good taste and particularly offends everything they claim to believe in. This years big winner, Parasite, confirms that the Academys basic history of film-industry acclamation has always been a matter of celebrityhood, mitigated by the memory of real glamour, and combined with airhead simple-mindedness.

But Hollywoods historic liberal tendencies lean even more to the left now. This became especially apparent in the Academys recent reorganization of its membership rolls and categories around race and gender equity, a purge that resulted in new political-correctness statutes such as the one that renamed its former Best Foreign Language Film category as Best International Film. That decision obliges Academy voters to march to the faint melody of the Communist Party anthem The Internationale. It contradicted itself embarrassingly when Parasite, a South Korean import, took that specialized category as well as the overall Best Picture prize.

Im reminded of the year the New York Film Critics Circle initiated its Best First Film prize with Kenneth Branaghs Henry V and then went on to the give its Best Film prize to My Left Foot, which was Jim Sheridans first film. These inconsistencies are the quirks of democratic participation when it replaces scholarly discrimination. Reason has little to do with the Oscars; they are essentially a popularity contest under the guise of artistic consideration. Anyone who cares about cinematic art knows that Oscar judgments are officially unofficial and to be trusted only as a bellwether of the industrys liberal sentiment, a confirmation of group consensus  the 99 percent assuming the authority of the 1 percent.

For this reason, Parasite, a sitcom about a family of grifters who invade and destroy an upper-middle-class home, appeals to the festering resentments of today  a time of social flux and political ignorance. It is the first non-English-language film to win the Best Picture Oscar because American liberalism (Hollywoods conscience) is in such crisis that it has begun to cannibalize its former humanism, violating even its own professed principles. Pop Will Eat Itself.

Story continues

Some background: When the Oscars used to be part of film cultures advancement, the Academy initiated a special award for a non-English film  honestly acknowledging U.S. primacy  and then standardized that recognition into the annual Best Foreign Language Film category. This was after World War II, when Italian neorealism and powerful, innovative films such as Shoeshine, Bicycle Thieves, and Open City shook the world, appealing to the then-burgeoning art-movie market. During the 1960s70s era known as high modernism, European films such as La Dolce Vita, 8, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, and A Man and a Woman competed in major Oscar categories. (Federico Fellini was a frequent Best Director nominee and Foreign Film winner.)

But after that period of openness, creative fertility, and sophistication, Hollywoods taste closed in. Its perspective became parochial again and has stayed that way since the early 80s. (Harvey Weinsteins successful, high-pressure campaigns for middlebrow foreign films like Life Is Beautiful and The Artist notwithstanding.)

Now, progressivism has had a worse impact on the Oscars than Harvey Weinstein, resulting in award winners that few moviegoers actually care about  only the Fake News elite who have corrupted whats left of film culture by prioritizing the medias political bias. Thats how such junk as Moonlight, Argo, Spotlight, The Shape of Water, and Green Book got the Oscar rubber stamp. Parasite is the most odious of all, partly because it is technically more proficient than those films yet without being any more sophisticated. (It builds toward cruel, action-movie sensationalism complete with a maudlin ending.)

Parasite reflects post-Tarantino fanboyism and sadism ironically at the moment when Tarantino made his most mature film with a genuine social context. Director Bong Joon-ho continues the simplistic political allegories of his previous films The Host, Snowpiercer, and Okja, which pushed progressivisms predictable buttons on ecology, class struggle, and consumerism. What Parasite lacks, and what marks it as of this political moment, is a capacity for empathy and historical perspective  traits distinguished the great Italian neorealist films from Bicycle Thieves to La Strada, even The Battle of Algiers. (The best recent foreign films  The President, Being 17, Vincere, Wild Grass, and Broken Sky  have gone unrecognized.)

The petulance of Parasite caters to the insidious selfishness of Millennial liberals; Bongs bratty snark credits the Occupy movement and sides with Antifa, cancel culture, and the oxymoronic Democratic socialists  perspectives taken on by poorly educated students and mainstream-media dupes. (In fact, the Oscar winner who urged Workers of the world, unite was the woman who co-directed American Factory, the Obama-sponsored propaganda film. Perhaps Bong understands South Koreas secret longing for dictatorship; call it Seouls Pyongyang Syndrome.)

Parasite amuses idiots who yearn for revolution regardless of its cost, who consider the Communist slogan Property is theft as the basis of a thrill ride. The films non-ironic title represents the invasive, Trojan-horse squad favored by media and power-mad politicians who now act out Hollywoods Vietnam-era curse: American self-hatred. (Hollywood millionaires are always feeling guilty and are always finger-pointing.)

Anti-Americanism has returned to the Oscars fiasco so that its TV spectacle relentlessly promotes a climate-change-health-care-representaton-of-indigenous-peoples-womens-rights-veganism-black-queer platform  everything except great, challenging film art.

More from National Review
CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami termed on Monday the grounds for booking former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti under Public Safety Act (PSA) "hilarious" and said it shows the "intellectual and moral bankruptcy" of the BJP government at the Centre.

Former chief minister Omar Abdullah's "considerable influence" over people, including the ability to attract voters to polling booths despite poll boycott calls and the potential for channelling energies of public for any cause, has been cited in support of his detention under the stringent PSA.

His political opponent and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti has been accused of making anti-national statements and extending support to organisations such as the Jamaat-e-Islamia of the state, which has been banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

Tarigami, in a statement here, said, "The PSA dossier of Mehbooba states that the 'green colour of party (PDP) flag' reflects radical origin. Was not the colour of PDP flag same when the BJP entered into an alliance with it to share the power in Jammu and Kashmir in March 2015?"



He also said that Omar Abdullah's PSA dossier states his ability to convince the electorate to vote in huge numbers even during the peak of militancy and poll boycott calls by separatists and militants.

"Is it a crime to have influence over voters and convince them to vote despite threats by militants and separatists?" Tarigami asked and asserted that in a democratic setup every leader has influence over people and voters which is not considered as crime in any part of the country or the world.

"It shows the BJP government has lost the plot in Kashmir and in desperation they are taking such steps," he said.

The CPI(M) leader said that on one hand the BJP government claims that normalcy has been restored in Jammu and Kashmir after its "unilateral decision to scrap it's special status under Article 370" in August, while on the other senior political leaders, including former chief ministers are being slapped with charges under PSA.

"The decisions of the BJP government on Jammu and Kashmir are a violation of the spirit of democracy. It is showing utter disregard for people's voice and opting brutal methods to suppress dissent," he said.

In a democracy, people have the right to raise their voices against government policies and register their concern, he said, and urged the democratic forces across the country to raise their voices against this "oppression".

Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were booked under the PSA on the night of February 6, barely a few hours before their preventive detention was to end. According to rules, preventive detention can be extended beyond six months only if an advisory board, constituted two weeks before the completion of the 180-day period, recommends for that.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 17-year-old boy has died just over a week after being shot in the eye with a BB gun by an eight-year-old family friend.

Ivan Johnson had been clinging to life in the hospital since being shot in the eye on February 1.

He was sitting in the passenger seat of a family friend's car in the parking lot of a Bank of America in Tampa, Florida, when the family friend got out of the vehicle to go inside to the bank branch.

The friend's young son was in the backseat.

Ivan Johnson had been clinging to life in the hospital since being shot in the eye on February 1. He has now been taken off life support

He somehow got access to the gun and accidentally shot Ivan while his father was inside the bank.

Police are investigating the case.

It is not exactly clear what his injuries were.

The teenager's grieving family say he was a 'good kid' who was an enthusiastic member of the church.

He loved music and planned to open a landscaping business when he graduated high school, they said.

'Ivan was a good kid, he stayed out of trouble.

'He didnt put himself in dangerous situations. He wasnt running around the city playing with BB guns, doing dumb things like that.

'It was just really unexpected for the family,' one of his relatives told Bay News 9.
CHICAGO, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Xcite Automotive, a leading automotive vehicle merchandising, lot services and advertising company announced the launch of VehicleStickers.io, a single-point solution dedicated to helping dealer groups and OEM modernize the way they display their vehicle information for shoppers.

While much of the car-buying process has moved online, dealership visits remain a crucial step for many car buyers. According to Google internal data, searches for "car dealerships near me" has doubled in the past year. This is why it is crucial that when the shoppers are visiting dealership lots, the vehicle information and branding being displayed captures and connects the shoppers from online to in person. VehicleStickers.io holds your brand accountable for making this connection.

VehicleStickers.io elevates the shopper's experience with their customizable external legal-size window stickers so those pre-owned and certified vehicles get displayed prominently. The larger exterior stickers allow dealerships to display more options and features about the vehicle but includes space to add a "Dealer and/or OEM Brand Promise" and the "Why Buy from Me Story." In addition, the vision behind VehicleStickers.io is to make the process easier, more efficient and cost-effective for the dealership and its staff. This process has been designed and perfected through work done with many of the nation's largest dealers and dealer groups.

VehicleStickers.io's design team is in-house, so everything is customized and printed directly on company-owned, own industrial printers. Orders are processed quickly for speedy and reliable fulfillment.

Phil Penton, CEO of Xcite Automotive and the vision behind the launch of VehicleStickers.io, recently stated, "The opportunity to reinforce the dealers and the OEM's brand in a beautiful and consistent manner on each vehicle is significant! We have developed the right product that looks great and is affordable and easy to apply."

About VehicleStickers.io

VehicleStickers.io was launched after years of working and finding solutions for thousands of dealerships experiencing the disconnect and inefficiency with their marketing. With the increase and demand to spend money with digital marketing, VehicleStickers.io provides vehicle information displayed on vehicles and on the lots of dealers to connect the digital marketing with lot merchandising. Not only has this promote consistency across all marketing channels, but the printed materials are also more cost-effective and efficient, saving dealerships thousands of dollars every year. The growing success of VehicleStickers.io has a lot to do with their parent company, Xcite Automotive. Xcite Automotive specializes in creating, managing, and syndicating a wide array of vehicle media, data, and physical merchandising content for retailers and their digital marketing partners nationwide has transformed it into one of the fastest-growing solution providers in the automotive industry. Contributing to this growth is the company's continued investments into new innovations designed to increase digital and on-the-lot engagement with car shoppers, improve the operational efficiencies of car retailers and remarketers, as well as to facilitate accurate and reliable transactions for dealers and OEMs.

For more information, visit us at vehiclestickers.io or call us at 855-423-6328.

Media Contact:

Skip Dowd

(855)423-6328

[email protected]

SOURCE Xcite Automotive
Today's Romania is the fruit of history that brought Romanians in contact with peoples and communities of cultural identities that enriched not only our cultural heritage, but also the diversity of European civilization, says President Klaus Iohannis, in a message transmitted on Monday on the occasion of the Greek Language Day.

"The Greek Language Day gives me the opportunity to send congratulations to the members of the Greek community in Romania and to their representatives in the structures of public authorities and institutions. (...) The Greek spoken today is the continuation of the language of the first Greeks who settled on the Black Sea coast. Over two and a half millennia since then, the Greek language has been the vehicle through which the first ideas that prepared the revolutionary movements of 1821 and 1848 entered the Danube principalities. The Greek language helps us talk about democracy, condemn xenophobia; through philosophy we understand the world and through politics we avoid crises and tragedies," says Iohannis, in the message read by presidential adviser Sergiu Nistor during the event organized on this occasion at the Romanian Academy.The head of the state shows that the promulgation in our country's centenary year of the Greek Language Law and the provisions of this act demonstrate that the Romanian state and the Romanians regard the identity inheritance of the Greeks in Romania as a shared and valued heritage for the common good."Today's Romania is the fruit of history that brought Romanians in contact with peoples and communities of cultural identities that have enriched not only our cultural heritage but also the diversity of European civilization. Romania respects and appreciates the culture and language of national minorities, as an expression of our country's commitment to the protection of all identities, both of the majority and of citizens belonging to national minorities. Between these events, the Greek Language Day reflects the mutual appreciation that characterizes, traditionally, the relationship between Romanians and Greeks," Klaus Iohannis underscores".

AGERPRES
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 11:36:07|Editor: huaxia

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ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) has excellent health cooperation with China and the two sides are coordinating on the novel coronavirus outbreak, officials said Sunday.

John Nkengasong, director of African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said the AU has excellent health cooperation with China in dealing with various health challenges on the continent.

"We believe our relationship with China is very trusting," Nkengasong said on the sidelines of the 33rd ordinary session of the assembly of AU heads of state and government held in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

The African CDC, officially launched in January 2017, has been undertaking various activities to deal with disease outbreaks in AU member states.

The director said the African CDC is currently coordinating with China to address the novel coronavirus outbreak and warned against baseless fearmongering.

"So far, the World Health Organization (WHO) has made it clear there should be no restriction in flights to, in and out of China, and we adhere to the WHO advisory," he said.

"I think we can count on the media to spread facts and not fears. If we promote fear and misinformation it will be very difficult to control this epidemic," Nkengasong told journalists.

The AU Commissioner for Social Affairs Amira El Fadil also hailed the continental body's health cooperation with China.

Noting that China is one of Africa's main partners in building the African CDC, the commissioner said, "There are no confirmed novel coronavirus cases in the continent. But we're working on the prevention method, doing a lot of awareness to African public on how to avoid this virus."

"We're also working on diagnostics and working with member states on how to deal with suspected cases of novel coronavirus," El Fadil told journalists.
Jim Geraghty compares the 2020 Democratic nomination battle to the one Republicans waged in 2016. In 2016, he recalls, Trump profited from the fact that a crowded field of Trump rivals focused their fire on one another.

Geraghty writes:

[T]he other candidates were all convinced they could be the last man standing against Trump, and then beat him in a one-on-one matchup. Perhaps one of those non-Trump candidates could have beaten the Manhattan mogul in a two-man race; Trump finished with 14 million votes and the other candidates combined finished with 17 million votes. But that one-on-one race never happened. . . . The other Republicans spent far too much time and too many resources trying to beat each other; while they were focused on winning lanes, Trump went out and won the nomination. The Republican primary was a classic tragedy of the commons. The best outcome for those other 16 (generally) conservative candidates was to unite behind one alternative to Trump. But nobody wanted to give up his or her dreams of being president to help the party as a whole. By the time those candidates faced reality, it was too late.

The parallel with 2020 is clear. In New Hampshire, Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg are attacking each other, while Bernie Sanders, the outsider whom the party establishment fears, has become the frontrunner. He was the co-winner in Iowa and has a very good chance of prevailing in New Hampshire.

Geraghty writes:

The Democrats could stop Sanders if they quickly united around one rival. But that requires candidates to recognize the long odds, accept reality, and give up their presidential ambitions to protect and advance the causes the claim to support. Funny how all of these people who insist theyre public servants and proclaim this campaign isnt about me find that so hard to do.

Its certainly hard to do at this early stage of the voting. In 2016, John Kasich stayed in the race long after voters had rejected him in state after state. This year, voters have yet to reject Buttigieg, and the others have been rejected only in one caucus state. Well see what happens after the upcoming pre-Super Tuesday contests.

There was always a chance that Sanders could emerge from the crowded field as the likely nominee. After all, he made a strong run at the nomination in 2016 in what was essentially a two-person field.

However, I thought the presence of Elizabeth Warren would block Sanders. Whereas Trump competed in his own lane in 2016, Warren and Sanders seemed to be competing in the same left lane. Thus, Sanders did not appear to have a structural advantage over Joe Biden and whichever other candidate emerged in the less radical lane.

But Warren isnt holding up her end of the bargain. Shes just not very popular, it seems.

In addition, I failed to recognize the extent to which Sanders and Warren are competing for a different set of voters  Warren for well educated white women, Sanders for working class voters.

The latest New Hampshire polls show Sanders with around 28 percent support. Warren comes in with less than half of that. Distribute their combined vote more evenly and Sanders would be roughly tied with Buttigieg in the polls.

As I said, there is time for a reshuffle after New Hampshire, with some once-major candidates dropping out and the composition of the relevant electorate changing.

But, as Geraghty says, the clock is ticking for establishment Democrats and for others who want to see Sanders fail.
Human Rights Watch on Monday called on Mali to bring to justice jihadist and ethnic militants who killed more than 450 people in the centre of the war-torn country last year.

Massacres committed in the centre of the West African country amounted to "the deadliest year for civilians" since 2012, the NGO said in a report.

Mali has been struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency that erupted in the north in 2012, and which has claimed thousands of military and civilian lives.

Despite the presence of foreign troops, the conflict has since spread to the centre of the country as well as neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

Human Rights Watch pointed to the ethnic mosaic of central Mali as the "epicentre" of violence in the country.

"Armed groups are killing, maiming, and terrorizing communities throughout central Mali with no apparent fear of being held to account," said report author Corinne Dufka in a statement.

Ethnic killings increased in central Mali following the emergence of the Katiba Macina group in 2015.

Led by jihadist preacher Amadou Koufa, Katiba Macina has recruited mainly from among the Fulani people and has been accused of ethnically-motivated attacks.

Other ethnic groups such as the Bambara or the Dogon have formed self-defence groups, which have in turn been accused of reprisal massacres.

Fourteen Fulani people were killed in central Mali in January, for example, in an apparent spate of ethnic violence.

Interviewing 147 victims or witnesses to attacks, Human Rights Watch said that at least 456 people were killed in central Mali last year, and hundreds more were wounded.

It said while Malian authorities convicted about 45 people for "smaller incidents of communal violence," they had yet to question or prosecute the leaders of armed groups.

"The Malian government's failure to punish armed groups on all sides is emboldening them to commit further atrocities," Dufka said in a statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Supreme Court on Monday sought response from the Kerala government on pleas by Kochi's Maradu flat owners, whose apartments were recently demolished for being constructed in violation of coastal regulation zone norms, seeking setting up of a tribunal for exact valuation of the land.

A bench of justices Arun Mishra and Indira Banerjee issued notice to the Kerala government on the application filed by the flat owners, who sought exact valuation of their property.

Senior advocate P S Patwalia, appearing for some flat owners, said a retired apex court judge should be appointed as a tribunal judge for assessing the exact valuation of the property.

He said otherwise they will be at the receiving end for not being able to get the price, which they have paid to the builders of the apartment.

Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, also appearing for another set of flat owners, sought a similar relief and said that a tribunal should be appointed to assess their loss.

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for some home buyers, said on the apex court directive they have been paid an interim compensation of Rs 25, lakh but the exact value was much more and they need to be paid more for the loss.

He said the land on which apartments were constructed can be monetized so that the flat owners can get more money to compensate their loss.

The bench issued notice in all the intervention applications filed by the flat owners and sought response from the state government in four weeks.

It listed the matter on March 23.

On January 13, the apex court had directed the Kerala government to remove the debris, including from backwaters, of four apartment complexes in Kochi's Maradu area that were demolished on the apex court's order for being built in violation of the coastal regulation zone (CRZ) norms.

The top court had asked the state government to restore the area by removing the debris as early as possible.

Regarding other issues, including setting up of one court to deal with pleas filed by buyers to initiate appropriate proceedings against the builder, the court had asked them to file proper applications.

The top court had asked the state government to file report before it with regard to removal of debris of the demolished buildings.

On May 8, 2019 the apex court had directed that these buildings be removed within a month as they were constructed in a notified CRZ, which was part of the tidally-influenced water body in Kerala.

It had passed the order after taking note of a report of a committee, which had stated that when the buildings were built, the area was already notified as a CRZ and construction was prohibited.

It had on September 27 last year directed demolition of these flats within 138 days, a timeline given by the Kerala government, and had asked the state to pay Rs 25 lakh interim compensation to each flat owner within four weeks.

The top court had on September 30 last year refused to entertain a plea of flat owners seeking stay on its order to demolish the apartment complexes.

The counsel appearing for Kerala had earlier told the apex court that in compliance of its earlier order, the state had paid Rs 27.99 crore as interim compensation to the Maradu flat owners and it will be paying Rs 33.51 crore more to them.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(Alliance News) - SIG PLC said Chief Executive Officer Meinie Oldersma was back to work on a full-time basis on Monday, following a leave of absence of just under two months.

Back in December, the Sheffield-based building materials company said Oldersma had taken a leave of absence of "a number of weeks" due to a family illness.

With Oldersma's return, Chief Financial Officer Nick Maddock and Non-Executive Chair Andrew Allner have reverted to their normal roles, having filled in to run the company.

SIG shares were up 0.2% at 92.55 pence at midday on Monday in London.

By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
A four-year-old boy had his whole hand reattached after slicing it off with his father's lawn mower.

Shaurya Undre amputated his left hand in an agonising accident, but x-rays showed most of the wrist bone remained.

At hospital near his home in Manjri, India, surgeons were keen to give him the best chance because he was so young.

They stitched every nerve and blood vessel back into place under a microscope during a painstaking six-hour operation.

Pictures show Shaurya smiling after the procedure, and he has been able to wiggle his fingers since, local media report.

Shaurya Undre had his whole hand reattached after slicing it off with his father's lawn mower

X-rays showed most of the wrist bone remained after the accident

Shaurya amputated his left hand on January 31 when he was playing with his father Mukesh's grass cutting machine.

He was taken five miles from his home to Noble Hospital, where specialist micro-vascular surgeon Dr Abhishek Ghosh treated him.

He said: 'Seeing the young age of the child it was decided to attempt to salvage the hand.

'The patient was taken up for surgery immediately and given anaesthesia.'

Part of Shaurya's bone was still attached to his body, while the hand skin and muscle had been cut off.

Medics looked at his amputated hand closely and found they could reattach some of the blood vessels.

They used skin and vein grafts from his leg to patch the amputated hand and his wrist back together.

Dr Abhishek Ghosh treated Shaurya at Noble Hospital in Manjri, India. He said: 'Seeing the young age of the child it was decided to attempt to salvage the hand'

Dr Ghosh and his team used skin and vein grafts from his leg to patch the amputated hand and the wrist back together. Pictured, Shaurya after the operation with his father, Mukesh

Shaurya's hand muscle and skin had become detached in the accident. It is pictured after being sewn back on by medics

Dr Ghosh said: 'His left hand was completely avulsed with part of the bones attached to the body while the hand skin and muscle got detached.

'It was very difficult to rejoin the hand because all the muscle, blood vessels and soft tissue of the palm were torn off and there was no blood vessel which could be connected.

'The amputated hand was closely observed under the microscope and a small blood vessel inside the muscle was noticed.

'This tiny blood vessel was then joined to the main artery of the forearm with the help of a long vein graft taken from the leg.'

Once circulation to the amputated hand began again, the medics had to join the rest of the blood vessels using microsurgery.

The delicate work took around six hours and can only be done by specialists in the field.

The operation took six hours and Shaurya stayed in hospital for a week to recover. He will be given physiotherapy to help him learn how to use his hand again.
A Mauritanian court has jailed eight men for two years for "committing indecent acts" after a video showed them at a gay birthday party, their lawyer and Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Monday.

The party at a restaurant in the capital Nouakchott on January 11 was initially described as the first "gay wedding" in the history of semi-desert country, which bans homosexual behaviour between Muslim adults.

Police later said the occasion was the birthday party "of a homosexual to which he invited only those like him".

Video footage of the party went viral on social media, in the local press and in that of neighbouring countries such as Senegal, which is mostly Muslim like Mauritania.

Ten people accused of attending the party were arrested 10 days later and charged with "committing indecent acts" and "inciting debauchery," HRW said.

The police appear to have arrested the men on the basis of their appearance and behaviour, describing them in the report they submitted to court as "imitating women" and "sodomisers," the rights group said in a statement.

The defendants' lawyer, Mohamed Ould Obeid, told AFP that eight of them received two-year jail terms on following a little publicised trial on January 30.

He said he appealed the verdict on behalf of his clients, who had pleaded not guilty.

"Mauritania's authorities have no business sending someone to prison for attending a peaceful birthday celebration," HRW's director for LGBT rights, Graeme Reid, said in a statement, demanding the defendants' "immediate release".

Mauritania's criminal code, based on Islamic Sharia law, describes sexual relations between gay men as "acts against nature", punishable by death by stoning. However, a 2018 report by HRW said the former French colony appeared to be observing a "de facto moratorium" on capital punishment as well as corporal punishments inspired by the Sharia.

More than half the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, 28 out of 49, forbid homosexuality including several where it is punishable by death.

Mauritanian society tolerates gays and lesbians in certain circumstances, but they are for the most part ostracised and tend to keep a low profile.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Egyptian Copt Amal Hanna says she is determined to fight the long-standing application of Islamic inheritance laws to Christians, as recent court victories embolden Coptic women. For decades, Egyptian courts have largely applied Islamic inheritance laws -- which mostly allocate a bigger share of inheritances to men than to women -- to both Muslims and the country's significant Coptic Christian minority. But Coptic Orthodox customs call for gender equality in inheritance matters. Hanna has twice been faced with the unbalanced division of family estates. The first was more than 20 years ago, when a court granted her brother double her share of their parents' property. Then, after her aunt died last year, another court awarded the entire inheritance to Hanna's brother. "I was dumbstruck," she said. "It really upset me, especially as my family raised us -- me and my brother -- as equals." Hanna has appealed against the ruling. But Christian women's hopes were rekindled late last year after Coptic lawyer Hoda Nasrallah and her brothers were granted an equal share of their father's inheritance. The November ruling by a Cairo family court took into account a constitutional article allowing Christian principles to be the basis of rulings on the minority's personal status affairs. Nasrallah's rare victory generated a buzz across Egypt, but it was not the first of its kind. In 2016, a Christian woman won a legal dispute with her brother, obtaining equal inheritance. - Overcoming resistance - Coptic Christians have long complained of discrimination and underrepresentation in Egypt. They are the largest non-Muslim religious minority in the Middle East, and account for 10-15 percent of Egypt's predominantly Sunni Muslim population of 100 million. They have also been the target of Islamist militant attacks that have left more than 100 dead since December 2016. Elizabeth Monier, an expert on Coptic affairs at the University of Cambridge, said applying Christian inheritance rules would meet resistance from within the legal system. Their application "has had to overcome resistance from entrenched practises and norms, both in the judiciary and society," she said. Though Nasrallah had already agreed with her brothers to split the estate equally, it took her around a year to have a court rule in her favour. She said she pursued the case in order to set a legal precedent for other Christian women. "My fight was about ensuring that the constitution is applied," Nasrallah said. "Many judges are against applying Christian norms," she added. "It can be even more challenging when the heirs are in disagreement." Hanna also criticised a lack of legislation forcing judges to apply Christian rules. In building her case, she said she invoked the constitution and used the 2016 ruling as precedent. Hanna said she feared her appeal would be rejected, but would keep on challenging the decision. "I will even take it to the constitutional court if I have to", she said. - 'Progress' - Lawyers say the lack of a personal status law for Christians is partly to blame for courts' resistance. "Coptic males sometimes push for Islamic laws to be applied since it's in their interest," lawyer Atef Nazmy said. "It is vital that a personal status law for Christians be created to regulate these issues." Christian denominations have for years been locked in talks over a unified personal status law. They have yet to reach agreement or present a bill to parliament. Nazmy said issues like divorce were at the core of the divisions. Egypt's strict Coptic Church applies rigid rules to divorce, granting it only in cases of adultery or conversion to other faiths. Monier said courts might also resist granting Christian women equal inheritance because they fear Muslim women would seek the same rights. In 2018, then Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi sparked controversy across the Islamic world by proposing a bill on equal inheritance for Muslim women. The move drew praise from secularists and women's rights activists across the region, but stern rebuke from Egypt's Al-Azhar, the Sunni Muslim world's most prestigious educational institution. Despite the resistance, Monier remains optimistic. "That a Coptic woman has taken her case to court and won suggests there is some progress being made," she said. "This is another step that is part of the journey towards greater gender equality." Copts, who make up 10-15 percent of Egypt's population, have long complained of discrimination Coptic traditions call for gender equality in inheritance matters Egyptian Coptic churches have suffered a string of deadly jihadist attacks in recent years
This was the worst week for Democrats since Donald Trumps election-night shocker of 2016.

Why it matters: In less than 200 hours, Democrats botched Iowa, watched Trump hit an all-time popularity high, debated ousting the DNC chair, and watched a socialist soar and an ideological civil war intensify.

Axios' Margaret Talev reports from New Hampshire that amid real enthusiasm at candidate rallies, there's an underlying unease about unifying the party enough to get the kind of turnout needed to win in November.

What we're hearing: There's a new fatalism in my conversations with Democrats, with many telling me that what once seemed unthinkable  Trump's re-election in November  is now starting to look more likely than ever.

In a CNN segment this morning that included Friday's rosy economic statistics, a graphic asked: "IS TRUMP'S RE-ELECTION PATH WIDENING?"

this morning that included Friday's rosy economic statistics, a graphic asked: "IS TRUMP'S RE-ELECTION PATH WIDENING?" This is all the more galling to Democrats because they believe he truly sees himself "above the law," as House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff tweeted Friday night, after Trump's impeachment acquittal.

Reality check: A New York Times live fact-check blog on Trump's State of the Union address on Tuesday came up with 8 statements labeled "misleading," 7 "lacks"/"needs context," 6 "false," 5 "true," 4 'exaggerated," 3 "mostly true," 2 "partly true," 1 "weighted but mostly true" and 1 "lacks evidence."

The entries became shorthand for how Democrats see the presidency.

Between the lines: Talk to well-wired Republicans and they'll tell you Trump is fully capable of self-sabotage  that enough exhausted voters will finally say: "Just make it stop." But here's why Dems are apoplectic about the terrain:

In the Gallup poll this week that put Trump at 49% approval, a record for his presidency, just 1% had no opinion  leaving few persuadables.

this week that put Trump at 49% approval, a record for his presidency, just 1% had no opinion  leaving few persuadables. Whoever is ultimately nominated will start in a tremendous hole against a Trump campaign has been relentlessly organized and optimized over the past three years. Axios' Sara Fischer has documented how the Trump campaign is mastering Facebook and Google ads.

will start in a tremendous hole against a Trump campaign has been relentlessly organized and optimized over the past three years. Axios' Sara Fischer has documented how the Trump campaign is mastering Facebook and Google ads. The constant Trump rallies serve as an ongoing dry run for Election Day, with eye-popping metrics.

What's next: Recriminations over the botched count of the Iowa caucuses are continuing into a second week. Rep. James Clyburn, the highest-ranking African American in the House, told C-SPAN "Newsmakers" (via AP):

"There are some serious discussions taking place here on Capitol Hill as to what ought to happen at the DNC."

taking place here on Capitol Hill as to what ought to happen at the DNC." Asked whether DNC chair Tom Perez must go, Clyburn said: "That's a decision for him."

P.S. Changing tides:
Goa BJP leader Narendra Sawaikar on Monday hit out at Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao for criticising Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC), saying church-run educational institutions not to claim the benefits of taxpayers money and minority status. He even said that Article 30 of the Constitution, under which these institutes claim these benefits, is discriminatory.

If [the] CAA is discriminatory then Article 30 of [the] constitution of India is more discriminatory. Dont claim benefits at taxpayers money by claiming minority status, Sawaikar said on Twitter. The said article gives rights to minorities to establish and administer educational institutions.

If #CAA is discriminatory for Goa #Archbishop, than Article 30 of Constitution of India is more discriminatory. Don't claim benefits at taxpayers money by claiming minority status! #CAA@Pontifex  Narendra Sawaikar   (@NSawaikar) February 10, 2020

Sawaikar, who was defeated at last years Lok Sabha elections while seeking a second term from South Goa, said that the Archbishops statement is based on ifs and buts. Without any logic, reasoning and rationale. In fact, CAA is not divisive but the statement is, Sawaikar said.

#Archbishop's statement statement is based on ifs and buts. Without any logic, reasoning & rationale. In fact #CAA is not #divisive but the #statement is.  Narendra Sawaikar   (@NSawaikar) February 10, 2020

Sawaikar is currently appointed as the NRI Commissioner for Goa, a post with a cabinet rank.

In a statement on Saturday, Goa Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao had urged the central government to revoke the CAA and desist from implementing the NRC and the National Population Register (NPR).

The very fact that the CAA uses religion goes against the secular fabric of the country. It goes against the spirit and heritage of our land which, since times immemorial, has been a welcoming home to all, founded on the belief that the whole world is one big family. Such exercises will result in a direct victimisation of the underprivileged classes, particularly the Dalits, the Adivasis, the migrant labourers, the nomadic communities and the countless undocumented people, who, after having been recognized as worthy citizens and voters for more than seventy years in this great nation, will suddenly run the risk of becoming stateless and candidates for detention camps in their teeming millions, the Archbishop said in the statement.

The CAA, the NRC and the NPR are divisive and discriminatory and will certainly have a negative and damaging effect on a multicultural democracy like ours, the Archbishop further said in the statement.

The BJP has consistently claimed that no one will be asked to show documents and that no decision has been taken on the countrywide roll out of the NRC and hence no one should worry.

Why should [the] Archbishop oppose CAA? When: 1. SC is hearing and will decide a challenge to the law; 2. [a] 14 year [C]atholic girl is fighting for justice in Pakistan 3. Crores of people are supporting CAA. Unfounded opposition. [The] Archbishop says that CAA shld be withdrawn as it is being opposed. My question is why? When Crores of people are supporting CAA, including Goans. #StopSpreadingFalsehood, Sawaikar said in a series of tweets.

Court would struck (sic) down a law if it is discriminatory. Why [do] institutions practising law (cannon) rush to conclusions? Sawaikar also said.

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WE3ST CHESTER  The state Attorney Generals Office has decided to drop the prosecution of a Coatesville mother of an alleged child abuse victim who was accused of committing perjury during a 2016 trial, a case that grew to have political implications in last years race for Chester County District Attorney.

Senior Deputy Attorney General Christopher Phillips presented Common Pleas Judge David Bortner, who was presiding over the case, with a nolle prosse order on Monday, withdrawing the perjury charge against the woman, who sat silently at the defense table next to her attorney, Amparito Arriaga of West Chester.

Phillips told Bortner that his office had decided not to proceed with the prosecution in its exercise of prosecutorial discretion and because of a concern with the sufficiency of the evidence. He did not elaborate, and declined to comment before leaving the courtroom.

Is that it? Asked Bortner, signaling an end to the matter that made headlines both at the time of the 2016 trial, and then in the past year after charges were leveled that former District Attorney Tom Hogan was using the case in an attempt to damage the reputation of current District Attorney Deborah Ryan, a political opponent. The two were facing off against one another in the race for the countys top prosecutors position until Hogan abruptly withdrew his name from the ballot in July.

From the Commonwealths perspective, it is, answered Phillips. The Attorney Generals Office took over the case last month after Ryan said her office would not handle it any longer to avoid the appearance of bias. Ryan was the prosecutor in the underlying child abuse case, and was at one time sought as a witness in the matter.

Arriaga told Bortner that she had no objection to the withdrawal, and thanked Phillips supervisor, Chief Deputy Attorney General Kirsten Heine, for her attention to the matter and her objective evaluation of the case. We are in agreement.

The perjury case was to have gone to trial last summer, but after an attorney for Ryan complained that it was being used as a political tool against her candidacy Bortner decided to continue it until after the November election so as not to have the county courts used as a theater of political contention.

That alleged political bias in the case  those opposed to Ryans candidacy in November eventually used it in flyers sent to prospective voters just prior to Election Day to call her fitness for office into question  was behind a move by Arraiga to have the case dismissed, or transferred to the Attorney General.

Hogans office, led by former Assistant District Attorney, denied here was any political motivation behind the prosecution.

Ryan, contacted after the proceeding before Bortner, declined comment.

Outside the courtroom, Arriaga said she and her client were satisfied with the resolution of the matter, to an extent.

I feel good, but I feel bad at the same time, said the woman, whose name is being withheld to protect the identity of her daughter. There was no justice for (her daughter.) The Daily Local news does not identify the alleged victims of sexual assault unless they give permission or speak publicly about their case.

The woman said her daughter continues in therapy, but is enrolled in school and living at home with her brothers and sisters. She is now 11.

The perjury case  one of very few such prosecutions brought in the county  involved the 35-year-old Coatesville woman, who in 2015 accused a family friend of sexually assaulting her autistic, then 6-year-old daughter. The woman, however, admittedly lied at the mans November 2016 trial about the extent of the relationship she had with him.

She faced felony perjury charges, as well as two counts of false swearing, a misdemeanor. If she was convicted of all three counts, she would have faced a maximum prison term of 5 1/2 to 11 years.

The Attorney Generals decision was criticized by the defense lawyer for the man accused of the molestation. Attorney Joel Benecke of West Chester had pushed for the woman to be prosecuted and suggested that his client had been falsely accused of having molested the girl as a way of the woman getting back at him for breaking off their relationship.

It is extremely frustrating and disappointing that the Attorney Generals office would seek to dismiss a case in which a person repeatedly committed the alleged crime and subsequently admitted to doing so, Benecke said in an e-mail statement. This was literally an open and shut case. The fact that (the mother) repeatedly perjured herself resulted in (his client, Mario) Serrano being jailed for nearly eighteen months for a crime he did not commit.

Allowing that type of behavior to occur without consequence is a slap in the face to those that expect the law to be enforced, Benecke said. It seems the Attorney Generals office is taking a cue from our leaders in Washington by refusing to do the right thing and refusing to uphold the rule of law. Allowing politics to replace the proper administration of justice is a travesty and should not be tolerated by anyone.

According to the perjury arrest warrant filed against the woman in 2017 by Chester County Detective Keith Cowdright, in 2015 the woman reported to police in Coatesville that she had witnessed a family friend, Mario Serrano, sexually assault her daughter while sitting on a sofa in her living room. Because the child is non-verbal, the woman was the sole witness who could testify to the alleged offense.

After Serrano was arrested in July 2015 and charged with child sexual abuse, he told authorities that he and the woman had a prior sexual relationship and that she was fabricating the story about his behavior as revenge for him ending their relationship. Later, at Serranos trial, the woman falsely testified that she had no prior romantic relationship with Serrano.

But following her cross-examination by Benecke about the relationship, the woman admitted to a county investigator that she had indeed had a four- to five-year-long sexual relationship with him, and believed that he might be the father of one of her children. The following day, the woman retook the stand and acknowledged that she had not testified truthfully about their relationship. The trial ended in a mistrial after the jury told Judge James P. MacElree Ii that it could not reach a unanimous verdict.

In 2017, the DAs Office withdrew charges against Serrano, saying the prosecution did not have sufficient evidence to prove the case against him. It filed the perjury charges that same year.

The perjury charges against the woman do not involve her original accusations about the alleged sexual assault on her daughter. Some observers say she could have won a not guilty verdict in the case because she had recanted the lie about her past relationship with Serrano at his trial, thus purging herself of the crime.

The political implications Bortner vowed to guard against concern allegations made by Ryan that she was being called as a witness in the perjury trial specifically for the purpose of embarrassing her in the eyes of county voters, to the advantage of Hogan.

West Chester attorney Samuel Stretton, representing Ryan, told Bortner that he believed that Hogan wanted Ryan, who handled the original case involving the mothers allegations, to be taken to task at the trial for a claim that she had not properly investigated the stories about the involvement between the woman and Serrano.

Hogan had told others, including Bortner himself, that he wanted Ryans testimony in court to obtain a finding of prosecutorial misconduct on her part, according to Stretton. He would then be able use that against her in his campaign for re-election, the noted local defense attorney suggested.

That is wrong, Stretton said. They are not interested in finding the truth in this matter, he said of the Hogans office. They are interested in embarrassing her. He has a vendetta.

To contact staff writer Michael P. Rellahan call 610-696-1544.
DOVER, N.H. - Pete Buttigieg has been on defence all weekend as his Democratic presidential rivals attacked him on everything from his struggle to connect with black voters to accepting campaign contributions from large donors in an effort to blunt any momentum heading into Tuesdays New Hampshire primary.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who essentially tied with Buttigieg in last weeks Iowa caucuses, blasted the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, for taking contributions from the very wealthy, suggesting Buttigieg wont stand up to Wall Street tycoons or the corporate elite. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren voiced similar criticism, telling ABCs This Week that the coalition of billionaires is not exactly whats going to carry us over the top. Former Vice-President Joe Biden told the same program that Buttigieg hasnt been able to unify the black community.

The volley of criticism Sunday was fresh evidence that Buttigieg, who was virtually unknown in national politics a year ago, has become an early front-runner in the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination. The developments usher in a new phase of the campaign that will test how Buttigieg responds to the pressure, especially as the contest moves to more racially diverse states where he has struggled to gain traction.

Buttigieg hit back at Biden, who on Saturday lamented comparisons between the former mayor and former President Barack Obama.

Oh, come on, man, Biden told reporters. This guys not a Barack Obama.

Well, hes right, Im not, Buttigieg responded on CNNs State of the Union. And neither is he. Neither is any of us running for president.

He later offered an oblique critique of Sanders combative call for revolution.

Lets remember were facing the most divisive president of our time, which is why we cant risk dividing Americans further, Buttigieg told more than 1,800 people at an event in Nashua, New Hampshire.

Later in Dover, he declared himself the candidate on the rise. We are the campaign with the strongest momentum in the state of New Hampshire, thanks to you, he told a crowd of several hundred.

While responding to some of the attacks, Buttigieg didnt escalate any feuds on Sunday. That could help him maintain the energy of his optimistic Iowa campaign in which he portrayed himself as above the Washington fray.

Part of the reason why hes doing well is hes got a pretty sunny and upbeat presentation, said David Axelrod, a former senior adviser to Obama. Tactically, I think its smart to handle it the way hes handling it. We still dont know what the impact any of this will have.

But in a sign of potential hurdles ahead for Buttigieg, even voters in an overwhelmingly white state like New Hampshire said they wanted to see evidence that he could build relationships with people of colour. Kim Holman of Brookline, New Hampshire, said she was undecided but leaning toward Buttigiegs energy and passion. Yet his struggle so far especially with black voters weighs on her decision.

Its definitely a concern. New Hampshire is a super-white state, the 52-year-old personal trainer said. Im hoping he resonates more with people of colour.

Buttigiegs standing has posed a challenge to Sanders. The two contenders represent opposite ideological wings of the party, yet Sanders is under pressure to show that he can unify Democrats if he is the nominee. With that in mind, the progressive Vermont senator has sought to qualify his criticisms of Buttigieg.

When a Sanders supporter in Plymouth laughed at the mention of Buttigieg, Sanders interjected, Were not here to denigrate Pete.

But Sanders nonetheless proceeded to blast Buttigiegs ties to large donors. And one of his most prominent surrogates, former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner, ripped into both Buttigieg and billionaire former Mayor Michael Bloomberg at a separate event later Sunday.

She slammed Buttigieg for fundraising with billionaires in a wine cave featuring a Swarovsky crystal chandelier. And she laid into Bloomberg for skipping the early voting states and running a campaign funded by hundreds of millions of dollars of his personal fortune.

Whose side are you on? she repeatedly asked the crowd to cheers.

There were other awkward moments Sunday during the final stretch of the New Hampshire campaign. During a rally in the state capital of Concord, Warren declared, Its up to you, Massachusetts.

During an event in Hampton, a woman asked Biden to explain his underperformance in Iowa. He said it was a good question, then asked her if shed been to a caucus. When she said she had, Biden responded, No, you havent and proceeded to call her a lying, dog-faced pony soldier. The audience laughed during the exchange.

The chaos from the Iowa caucuses lingered over the New Hampshire contest. Problems with an app led to delays in results and prompted questions about the accuracy of the vote count. Nearly a week after the caucuses, The Associated Press hasnt declared a result.

In an interview on CNNs State of the Union on Sunday, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez said he was mad as hell about the situation.

___

Associated Press writer Kathleen Ronayne in Plymouth, N.H., contributed to this report.
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.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-10 09:40:52|Editor: Xiaoxia

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LAGOS, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian government on Sunday confirmed nine more cases of Lassa fever in the country after it killed four people in the central state of Kogi.

State epidemiologist Austin Ojotule told reporters in Lokoja, capital of the state, that the fresh cases of Lassa fever, a disease carried by rodents, broke out in the state about a month ago.

Ojotule said the state's statistics showed that there were a total of 31 suspected cases and 177 contacts in the state as of Saturday.

The death toll from the latest round of Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria has risen to 47 so far, with 365 confirmed cases as the acute viral hemorrhagic fever continued to spread in the most populous African country, according to the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) on Thursday.

At least 23 states have now been affected by the Lassa fever outbreak, with most cases recorded in the southern states of Ebonyi, Edo, and Ondo, the NCDC said.

Lassa fever is reportedly transmitted when saliva, urine and excreta of rats come into contact with humans. In some cases, Lassa fever has similar symptoms as malaria.

The latest outbreak is said to be the worst in Nigeria in the past years. It erupted in November and the first case was reported in the northeastern state of Bauchi.

In 2012, Lassa fever killed more than 40 people in 12 states across Nigeria.
For 24-hour patrolling, the military of the operational designation regiment named after Ivan Bohun and guardsmen of the Second Halytska brigade arrived in the city

The National Guard and polices Special Force have started 24-hour patrolling of Mukachevo, Zakarpattia region, for protection of public order and fight against criminal groups, as the National Guard press service reports.

Due to the operating environment, commitment of the number of the criminal offenses in city Mukachevo, for provision of the assistance to the bodies of the National Police, for stabilization of the crime situation in the city and Mukachevo area, Zakarpattia region, the operating reserve of the National Guard of Ukraine is attracted, the message said.

For 24-hour patrolling, the military of the operational designation regiment named after Ivan Bohun and guardsmen of the Second Halytska brigade arrived in the city.

There was a shootout of two men on the off-road vehicles in Mukachevo, Zakarpattia region, at about 10 a.m. February 7. Two people were injured.

The crime was qualified as intentional homicide attempted of two citizens and illicit arm handling.

As we reported, workers of Ukraine's State Border Guard detained a group of illegal migrants in Zakarpattia region, westernmost Ukraine. The incident occurred in Goronglab in Berehove district.
A brick company in Son La Province__Photo: Huu Quyet/VNA

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Access to resources was vital for the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.The Law on Supporting SMEs came into force more than two years ago, but SMEs were still struggling to access credit, land and support programs.According to Nguyen Van Than, chairman of the Vietnam Association of SMEs, problems remained in the implementation of the law.Than pointed out that the resources available to implement the law remained limited, adding that many localities had not allocated resources to support SMEs.He said the number of SMEs able to access bank credit and support funds was modest.High logistics costs were affecting SMEs market expansion as well as lack of competitiveness, plus complicated administrative procedures and slow issuance of preferential policies had made it difficult for them to tackle these difficulties, Than said.Mac Quoc Anh, deputy chairman of Hanoi's Association of SMEs, said there were gaps between policies and enforcement as well as the real demands of SMEs.Quoc Anh said that SMEs still faced problems such as complicated administrative procedures, inconsistent business requirements and vague regulations.The biggest problem for SMEs was a lack of capital which resulted in small-scale operations and the lack of a long-term strategy, he said, adding that they did not have money to invest in advanced technologies.The majority of SMEs were using outdated technologies and renovation among SMEs remained slow, he said.Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Vu Dai Thang said that support for SMEs mainly came from local authorities.As of the end of 2019, 50 out of 63 provinces and cities had developed plans and projects to allocate resources to support SMEs, the ministrys statistics showed. However, localities were still facing problems bringing support policies into real life or identifying areas of strength.The ministry said that policies on corporate income tax, non-agricultural land fees and incentives for SME investments must be more specific. In addition, policies must encourage business households to transform into enterprises.Priority should be given to allocating resources to support SMEs, the ministry said, adding that a program to support SMEs and start-up firms from 2021-25 period would be proposed to the Prime Minister soon for approval.There were around 760,000 enterprises in Vietnam as of the end of 2019, around 98 per cent of which were SMEs.-
A couple wearing masks attend a mass wedding ceremony in Gapyeong, South Korea, February 7, 2020. REUTERS

Jabin T Jacob

The Chinese city of Wuhan saw the emergence of a novel coronavirus  officially designated 2019-nCoV  in December last year. Information about the virus was communicated to the World Health Organisation (WHO) at the end of the month but it was only towards mid-January that the Chinese leadership found it necessary to reveal the information to its own people.

Wuhan had come to the attention to the average Indian because of the eponymous informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in April 2018 that followed the Doklam standoff the previous year and was supposed to have mended bilateral ties. It might be more relevant, however, for Indians to think about Wuhan as a sign of the failure of China's vaunted efficiency and of the selection system of its supposedly meritocratic leaders.

In 2015, the Uttar Pradesh government wrongly arrested Kafeel Khan a doctor posted at a Gorakhpur hospital on false charges of negligence following the deaths of 30 infants owing to their oxygen supply running out. The supply had run out because bills had been unpaid  an administrative failure on part of state government officials. In Wuhan, meanwhile, authorities took legal measures against eight doctors who had shared information of the growing epidemic in chat groups at the end of December. The authorities even widely publicised the punishment of the eight rumor spreaders. It was not until a month later on January 29 that the Wuhan city mayor finally admitted a failure to disclose information on the outbreak to the people in a timely manner.

The admission of guilt by the Wuhan mayor is part of a common Chinese political practice of local authorities becoming the fall guys for mistakes that often have their genesis in policies and practices of the central government. Indeed, the Wuhan mayor did hint that it was existing central government instructions restricting disclosures on disease outbreaks that were responsible for his decision to delay informing the general populace.

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

While restrictions can be justified on grounds of ensuring time for verification of information, the massive delay in informing the public despite the clear signs of an epidemic outbreak also suggest that authorities saw this as a political issue of management and control of the population rather than of safeguarding their health. This is not a reality that is lost on Chinas educated and digitally-connected population  there are no Internet shutdowns in China  who have their ways to get around online censorship. It is, therefore, no surprise that after a brief period of openness of a few days, the authorities appear once again to be clamping down on free flow of information within China.

The Chinese province of Hubei of which Wuhan is the capital had a GDP of approximately of $560 billion in 2018 which is a little more than the GDP of Indias two richest states Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu put together. The city of Wuhan itself is the sixth most populous in China with approximately 9.8 million people, or roughly a million fewer than Delhi. It had a GDP of over $210 billion in 2019 the ninth-largest among cities in China and about the same as the GDP of Kolkata and Chennai put together.

The economic consequences of the shutdown of an economy of this size is, therefore, quite considerable. The Lunar New Year that began on January 25 is one of Chinas two main holiday seasons and the epidemic has already cost its restaurant, tourism and movie industries more than $144 billion. There are likely to be political consequences too which need to be added to those the leadership already faces from the US-China trade war, the protests in Hong Kong against Chinese central government high-handedness and the recent electoral victories of pro-independence forces in Taiwan.

The Wuhan coronavirus epidemic and its management underlines the fact that the Chinese system is one that actually muddles along in times of crisis as badly as, if not worse than, the open, democratic polities that the Chinas propaganda machinery advertises its Communist Party-run State is better than.

Indias and Chinas economic and development challenges might look similar and, suggest therefore, similar approaches and remedies, but India must also necessarily answer to a different political values system and set of objectives despite the temptation of the quick-fixes the so-called Chinese model offers.

Individual liberty and civil rights are not encumbrances or obstacles to the State in the path towards development. Freedom of speech and the diversity of opinion that it engenders are not a reflection of seditious tendencies endangering State security even if they might threaten the regime in power. On the contrary, these are enablers that strengthen and sustain institutions and processes, in a democracy, including a system of checks and balances that guarantee genuine efficiency and meritocracy.

Chinas repeated crises, whether man-made such as environmental disasters or industrial accidents  recall the Tianjin explosion of 2015 that killed over a 170 people, including a 100 firefighters alone, or the handling of natural ones such as the 2003 SARS epidemic and the latest coronavirus epidemic  also point to the weaknesses in the political system of reporting and accountability. Building 1,000-bed hospitals in record time, while impressive and worthy of emulation, is also a case of locking the stable door after the horse has bolted.

As of the night of February 9, 2019-nCoV had claimed over 800 lives, more than SARS did. Li Wenliang, one of the eight aforementioned doctors was among those who died, leading to an outpouring of public grief and criticism of Chinese authorities. In one of his last statements he had said, there should be more than one voice in a healthy society, and I dont approve of using public power for excessive interference.
Syrian and Turkish forces exchanged fire on Monday in another deadly clash in northwest Syria, where nearly 700,000 people have fled escalating violence in the last major opposition bastion. Turkey, which backs Syrian rebel factions, said five of its troops were killed by Syrian regime fire in Idlib province, and that it had "neutralised" 101 Syrian soldiers in response. It was not possible to verify that claim and neither Syrian state media nor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, immediately reported casualties among Syrian army ranks. The exchange was the second in eight days and took place in the area of Taftanaz, where Turkey recently sent in troops, the Britain-based Observatory said. Regime shelling a week earlier killed eight Turkish soldiers, prompting a deadly response by the Turkish army. The clashes are further straining relations between Damascus and Ankara, while also increasing tension between Russia and Turkey -- the conflict's chief foreign protagonists. Syrian government forces backed by Moscow have pressed a blistering assault against the last major rebel bastion in Syria's northwest for more than two months. Violence in the provinces of Idlib and Aleppo has displaced 689,000 people, said David Swanson, spokesman for the United Nation's humanitarian coordination office, OCHA. "The number of people being displaced in this crisis is now spiralling out of control," he told AFP on Monday. The exodus is one of the largest of the nine-year civil war and risks creating one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes of the conflict. It has sparked alarm from Turkey which already hosts some 3.7 million Syrian refugees and fears another influx. Turkey's defence ministry said the troops targeted on Monday had been sent "as reinforcement to the region with an aim to prevent clashes in Idlib, ensure our border security, and stop migration and human tragedy". The ministry warned that Ankara would respond "in the strongest possible way" to any new attack. In a sign of growing tensions, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday night held a meeting in Ankara with ministers, the army chief of staff and intelligence chief to review the situation in Idlib, local media said. - Turkish reinforcements - Since Friday, large convoys of vehicles carrying commandos, tanks and howitzer artillery pieces have reinforced 12 Turkish military posts in Idlib installed by Ankara under a 2018 deal with Russia to stave off a regime offensive. But the agreement has failed to stop the government's advance, with Turkey saying regime forces have surrounded three of its outposts. Fahrettin Altun, Erdogan's top press aide, wrote on Twitter that "Turkey retaliated against the attack to destroy all enemy targets and (avenge) our fallen troops". Erdogan has given Damascus until the end of the month to retreat from its outposts, and urged Russia to convince the regime to halt its offensive. A Russian delegation has been in Ankara for talks on Idlib since Saturday, with further meetings expected on Monday. The two countries have worked closely together despite supporting opposing sides of the war. - Intensifying bombardment - The escalation between Turkey and Damascus comes as intense bombardment by the Syrian regime and Russia killed 16 civilians including 8 children on Monday in Aleppo and Idlib provinces, the Observatory said. That toll included six children among nine civilians who lost their lives early Monday in Russian raids on the village of Abin Semaan in Aleppo province, it said. Russian-backed regime forces have been waging a fierce offensive in that province to retake a key highway, it said. At the site of the raids, a rescue worker carried a dead girl in a thick blanket, while one of her relatives pleaded for the body, said an AFP correspondent. Volunteers shivering in near-freezing temperatures dug at mounds of rubble, rescuing a dust-covered man and a child who had been trapped beneath. The latest air strikes follow a night of heavy bombardment by Russia and the regime that had already killed at least 20 civilians in both the provinces of Idlib and Aleppo, according to the Observatory. Around half of Idlib province, along with slivers of neighbouring Aleppo and Latakia provinces remain outside government control. Some 50,000 fighters are estimated to be in the shrinking pocket, including many jihadists from the dominant Hayat Tahrir al-Sham alliance but mostly their rebel allies, according to the Observatory. Some three million people, half of them already displaced at least once by violence elsewhere in Syria, live in the area.
Sir David Lidington was Theresa May's effective deputy as Cabinet Office minister

Theresa May failed to realise how difficult Brexit would be and refused to offer an olive branch to Labour until it was too late, her former deputy said today.

David Lidington said mistakes were made early in Mrs May's premiership and 'ultimately' she bore responsibility for the turmoil that saw her ejected from office last year.

He suggested the PM should have 'reached out' to Labour in 2016 rather than taking a tough approach - saying ministers did not understand 'how hard some of the political choices' would be in negotiations with the EU.

Sir David, who was Mrs May's effective deputy as Cabinet Office minister, gave his assessment at an event organised by the Institute for Government think-tank.

Asked whether Mrs May was to blame for what happened, Sir David said 'ultimately every prime minister has responsibility for what happens in their government'.

He said: 'I do think the mistakes were made early. I think that if you go back to 2016, I don't think that there was sufficient recognition of, you know, how hard some of the political choices in the negotiations would be.

'And I think it is possible - you never know, we are looking at it with hindsight, but it is possible - what I think should happen is there should have been a different approach to the negotiations at the start, because I think it would have been possible then to come to the deal earlier.

'And possibly, you know, an attempt to reach out to the other parties early on, saying: ''This is a national decision, we have had a vote in the referendum, now we need to move forward together''.'

Sir David said the cross-party talks between the Tories and Labour in the early part of last year came 'pretty close' to finding a compromise over Brexit.

'I think, at the end of the day, perhaps late in the day, it was just there was an unwillingness on both sides, I think, to make the final leap.

'The two issues on which it broke down were customs and a second referendum, where we couldn't quite get agreement,' Sir David added.

Sir David also said it was a mistake to create a separate department to deal with Brexit.

The Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) should have been 'an annex to the Cabinet Office and Number 10'.

DExEU was closed abolished when Brexit happened at 11pm on Friday, January 31.

'I think that, as is now recognised, it was a mistake to create DExEU (The Department for Exiting the European Union) as a separate department,' Sir David said.

'Now, that's not to denigrate the officials or the ministers who work there, but the fact you had then DExEU try to do things and Number 10 and the Cabinet trying to do things as well... and the contingency planning as a function sits in the Cabinet Office anyway, because all this stuff about the reasonable worst-case scenario, that is standard civil contingency planning language.

David Lidington said Mrs May (pictured in Downing Street in July) made mistakes early in her premiership and 'ultimately' bore responsibility for the turmoil that saw her ejected from office

'That was how the Cabinet Office was looking at, well, what happens if your DExEU mitigation doesn't work, what happens then?

'But trying to knit that together just took more energy and time than should have been necessary.

'So in my ideal world, I would not have invented DExEU as a department.

'I would have had a big unit, but I would have located it as, you know, an annex to the Cabinet Office and Number 10, because the Prime Minister was going to be driving the negotiations,'

The Brexit department was set up by Mrs May in 2016 in the wake of the referendum result.

DExEU had three Brexit secretaries in its three years - starting with David Davis, who resigned in 2018 in disagreement with Mrs May's plan to leave the EU.

He was followed by now-Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who also resigned over Mrs May's approach four months after taking up the position

Stephen Barclay took over in November 2018 and was kept on by Mr Johnson after he took over as Conservative Party leader.
Ascension St. Mary's Hospital continues its monthly Wellness Wednesday series, designed to inform and educate the community about health and wellness topics, introduce new providers and physicians, and highlight services and programs.

Dr. Elizabeth Paulus, surgical oncologist and general surgeon, will provide relevant information about surgical techniques for cancer including the latest in robotic procedures. She will also address common cancer myths during the Wellness Wednesday program from 1 to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19, at Ascension St. Mary's Hospital, 800 S. Washington Ave. in Saginaw. The program will be the Health Education Center, Classroom 6, located on the 2nd floor. The program is free and open to all community members.
The British government on Monday warned the outbreak of novel coronavirus was a "serious and imminent threat", doubling the number of cases recorded in the country from four to eight. Anyone with the virus can now be forcibly quarantined and sent into isolation if they are deemed to pose a public health threat, the government said. Two hospitals have been designated as "isolation" facilities, both of which currently house Britons who have returned from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak. "The incidence or transmission of novel coronavirus constitutes a serious and imminent threat to public health," the health ministry said. Britain's Press Association news agency quoted a government source saying the new measures had been announced because one person who returned from China on an evacuation flight "was threatening to abscond" from 14-day isolation. Public Health England said the four new cases included two healthcare workers, adding that it was now urgently trying to identify patients and medics who may have come in contact with them. The four new patients who tested positive in Britain are all known contacts of a previously confirmed case in France, the UK health ministry said. Health authorities were unable to say if these are the same cases reported by the French authorities on Saturday when contacted by AFP. Five UK nationals who tested positive in France came into contact with a Briton who had returned from Singapore and stayed at a ski chalet near Mont Blanc in the French Alps. The man was originally from Brighton, southeast England, where he was diagnosed on his return before being transferred to London. A medical centre in Brighton said Monday it had temporarily closed for "an urgent operational health and safety reason". An AFP photographer at the scene saw health workers in hazmat suits at the surgery. "Two of these new cases are healthcare workers and as soon as they were identified, we advised them to self-isolate in order to keep patient contact to a minimum," Public Health England said. "We are now working urgently to identify all patients and other healthcare workers who may have come into close contact, and at this stage we believe this to be a relatively small number." The UK health ministry insisted it was "extremely well prepared" to manage and treat cases. The SARS-like virus, which first emerged at the end of last year, has killed more than 900 people, and spread around the world. Some 40,000 people have been infected in China and 350 elsewhere. Most of deaths have also been in China.
The Town of Tecumseh is using highly-trained border collies to keep Canadian geese out of Lakewood Park.

"Over a number of years, the geese population has grown ... and it's caused us a number of problems with maintenance  keeping the walkways clean," said the town's parks and recreation director Paul Anthony.

Apollo, Archer, Aura, Brigid, Celeste and Evelyn with Leamington-based Caora Border Collies were on the job this week, disrupting geese which flock throughout the park. They work off leash and are clearly identifiable by their reflective vests which read "Goose Dog."

The geese problem at Lakewood Park is "multiplying" on an annual basis, according to Anthony, who points to poop droppings in the park and grass being eaten as two of the major problems that arise because of the birds.

"There's mess everywhere," he said. "It's a 57-acre park  plus another four acres on the waterside  so there's a lot of open area with water and grass that they certainly like."

Sanjay Maru/CBC

Parks staff have tried a number of control options in the past to try to deter the birds from nesting and settling in the parks, Anthony added.

"Border collies have been shown to be successful in other park areas which is why we decided to use this method in Lakewood."

Geese rushing toward park-goers

Lakewood Park sees two populations of geese descend throughout the year. The "migratory population" leave during the winter and return during the spring, while the "winter population"  as the name suggests  appear during the snowy months of the year.

Both populations set up nesting sites in the spring, Once the goslings hatch, they either stay for the winter or take off. But those that take off will always return home to Lakewood Park.

That results in the population of geese at the park getting "larger and larger" each year.

Sanjay Maru/CBC

"With that growth comes huge costs in grass maintenance, poop cleanup, keeping the paths clean and there's also incidents of aggression in the geese. They don't like people getting in their way  especially during nesting season," said border collie handler Lindsay Logsdon.

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"You will actually sometimes see geese with their wings spread out and their heads forward hissing and charging at people."

Why border collies?

Border collies are the breed of choice for geese herding, according to Logsdon who has been training dogs for about 20 years and has worked specifically with border collies for about half that time.

She said much of the training that the dogs at Caora Border Collies undergo relate to sheep herding  but they also learn to herd domestic ducks and geese as well.

"The birds are so flighty compared to sheep. It really teaches the dogs self-control and obedience skills because they can't just rush up on these delicate birds," said Logsdon, who offers geese herding services across Windsor and Essex County.

Sanjay Maru/CBC

Their herding behaviour is also different from any other breed of dog, in that they take on a body position that "mimics a wild predator."

"This is why they're so successful in sheep herding. The sheep are really intimidated by their body language and will agree to move for them," said Logsdon. "The same thing happens with the birds."

Body positioning also helps border collies stand out from the average pet walking throughout Lakewood Park with their owners.

"Canada geese are very used to people's pet dogs. They encounter them everywhere they go along their migration routes, especially in parks ... As soon as the birds fly up, [pets] will go off with their owner and on their way. So the geese actually learn to mostly ignore people's pet dogs," she said.

"But because of the way the border collies move, the birds perceive them as a predator and a threat. They're biologically programmed to be unable to get used to their presence or start to tolerate them."

Geese herding also serves to help the birds, since it forces them to raise their young in a more stable environment.

"This means they're going to be finding safer places for nesting, safer places for raising goslings and, in the long run, it's a benefit to the birds as well," said Logsdon.

The geese-herding program will run as a trial for the next three months and will be reviewed afterward to determine if the dogs need to be brought out for additional days and times throughout the summer and fall.
Nagpur, Feb 10 : A wave of anguish and anger swept Maharashtra as 24-year old woman college lecturer, Ankita Pissude, who was set ablaze by a stalker seven days ago, succumbed to her burns at a private hospital here on Monday morning.

Tension gripped Daroda village where the incident occurred on February 3 with some angry villagers resorting to pelting stones and police retaliating with a baton charge when the ambulance carrying the victim's body reached there.

Daroda and Hinganghat town - where jilted suitor Vikesh alias Vicki Nagrale poured petrol on Pissude and set her afire on a road outside her college gates - observed a spontaneous shutdown, while villagers resorted to a road block demanding immediate action against the accused.

As tempers cooled by evening, thousands of grieving villagers joined her funeral procession and her mortal remains were cremated.

Earlier, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray expressed grief over Pissude's demise and reiterated that the guilty would be given the most stringent punishment.

"We have appointed Ujjwal Nikam as the special public prosecutor, investigations will be speeded up and the case assigned to a fast track court. We will ensure that they are no delays of any kind," Thackeray told media persons.

The Maharashtra government also plans to study the 'Disha' Law of Andhra Pradesh which envisages completion of investigations in a week, a trial in two weeks and where there is sufficient conclusive evidence, reduce the total judgement time to three weeks, said an official.

Pissude, who fought 168 hours for her life, was a post-graduate in Botany and worked as a part-time lecturer at the Matoshree Ashatai Kumawar Mahila Mahavidyalaya.

The accused Nagrale, currently in police custody, is married with a small child and knew the victim as they hailed from the same village.

Home Minister Anil Deshmukh described Pissude's demise as unfortunate and said Pissude's brother would be given a government job.

"The medical teams tried their best to save her, but could not. The best of doctors from Mumbai and Nagpur attended to her. It is unfortunate that she passed away," Deshmukh said.

Protestors in Daroda and Hinganghat vociferously demanded a 'Hyderabad-style' justice for Nagrale where four gangrape-cum-murder accused were killed in a police encounter when they tried to flee from custody on December 6, 2019.

Pissude had suffered extensive burns on her face, head, respiratory system, heart, she remained critical throughout her treatment and was placed on ventilator since 2 days. Late on Sunday, she became critical with the end finally coming at 6.55 a.m. on Monday after her heart, lungs and kidneys failed, said Orange City Hospital & Research Institute Director Dr. Anup Marar.

Her distraught family and relatives have accepted the body for the last rites even as tearful students across college campuses in the state expressed grief and outrage.

The incident triggered a series of protests, processions, shutdowns, candle-light vigils and prayers while her plight was highlighted twice in Lok Sabha last week.

Pissudde's demise sparked outrage among state political, academic, social circles with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, MP Supriya Sule, (both NCP) Shiv Sena Deputy Chairperson in the Legislative Council and activist Neelam Gorhe, Congress state President Balasaheb Thorat, Minister Yashomati Thakur, MLA Praniti Shinde, Bharatiya Janata Party state President Chandrakant Patil, Vice-President Chitra Wagh, Bhumata Ranragini Brigade chief Trupti Desai.

Many other social and youth leaders, NGOs, feminists, activists, teachers, students and commoners demanded the most stringent punishment for the accused in a time-bound manner to serve as a deterrent to potential criminals and those who indulge in atrocities on women.
Conservative-backed Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly has again outraised liberal-supported rival Jill Karofsky, a Dane County Circuit Court judge, in the race for state Supreme Court, bringing in nearly three times her fundraising amount.

The numbers give Kelly, the only conservative-supported candidate in the race, a leg up before he faces Karofsky and Ed Fallone, a Marquette Law School professor who is also backed by liberals, in a three-way primary Feb. 18.

The top two vote-getters will advance to the April 7 general election where they will vie for a 10-year term on the court. The April 7 election coincides with the presidential primary in which Democrats could still have a competitive race and Republicans will not.

Over the latest reporting period covering Jan. 1 to Feb. 3, Kellys campaign raised $187,463, according to preliminary data provided by the campaign. During that time, the campaign spent $297,567, ending the period with $462,864 in the campaign bank account. No outstanding loans were reported.

Kellys performance over the past month mirrors the previous period covering the last half of 2019, when he outraised his rivals by taking in $556,184, compared with $227,553 for Karofsky and $76,309 for Fallone.

Over the most recent reporting period, Karofsky took in $65,354, spent $163,236 and ended the period with $83,393 in the bank. Fallone has not yet provided his fundraising figures. The campaign has $15,000 in outstanding loans.

Fundraising numbers are important because they can give an indication of general support and a campaigns organizing ability.

The lower fundraising numbers among the two liberal-backed candidates may be explained by the fact liberal support may be split between them, while Kelly is the lone conservative-supported candidate in the race.

A win by a liberal-backed candidate this year would give liberals the chance to retake the majority on the court in 2023, when conservative-supported Chief Justice Patience Roggensacks term expires. If Kelly wins election in April, conservatives will hold onto the majority until at least 2025.

Kelly was appointed to the court by former Republican Gov. Scott Walker in 2016 and is seeking a full term on the court.

Karofsky won a seat on the Dane County Circuit Court in 2017 and has also served as assistant and deputy district attorney in the Dane County District Attorneys Office from 1992 to 2001. She has also held two posts in the state Department of Justice, as violence against women prosecutor and as head of the Office of Crime Victim Services.

Fallone, who has been a Marquette Law School professor since 1992, previously worked as an attorney specializing in civil and business law. He also has experience in criminal defense. He ran for the Supreme Court in 2013.

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A former attorney-general, Bello Adoke, has been freed from custody after he was granted bail by another federal judge in Abuja on Monday.

The former AGF met with his lawyers at Mike Ozekhome Chambers in Abuja on Monday evening before heading home to his family, PREMIUM TIMES gathered. Aliyu Abubakar, a Nigerian businessman charged alongside Mr Adoke, was also released.

The duo had been facing a slew of corruption charges filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which accused them of benefitting from the controversial $1.1 Malabu Oil deal.

Mr Adoke was granted bail by Binta Nyako, a judge at the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, on Monday afternoon. He was arraigned before the judge on multiple counts of graft. He strongly denied all the allegations.

Mrs Nyako mandated that Mr Adoke must be released immediately on the same terms as those imposed on him when he was previously arraigned on January 6 before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Gwagwalada.

Although Mr Adoke met the January 6 bail conditions, the EFCC declined to release him, frustrating him and his lawyers. The anti-graft office was criticised for displaying lawlessness by defying a valid court release order.

Although the EFCC did not issue an official statement on why it failed to comply with a court order for Mr Adokes release, its officials defended the action off record as necessary because there were pending charges that had not been filed.

They said Mr Adoke was kept in custody to prepare him for additional charges that were to be filed at the Federal High Court.

Even though the Federal High Court and the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory have corresponding judicial authority, they are operated by different tiers of government.

READ ALSO:

While the Federal High Court is a body directly under the federal judiciary, the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory is the judicial arm of the Federal Capital Territory, the state-like administrative body in charge of the Nigerian capital.

Mrs Nyako emphasised the coordinate powers of both courts while hearing the charges against Mr Adoke and the reason for granting him bail.

She said Mr Adokes offenses were bailable and the previous bail terms that he had met at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory were sufficient.

The judge said Nigerians should be able to hold a strong confidence in the ability of the judiciary to protect their fundamental rights even when accused of a wrongdoing.
A mum has been praised for sharing the reality of motherhood with a photo of her breastfeeding on the floor of a department store in New South Wales.

For Sarah Mills, the dreaded 'back-to-school-shop' was not an event she looked forward to  but with her two oldest kids Hendrix, 10, and Monroe, seven, heading back to their classes, it had to be done.

The 33-year-old from Mid North Coast said she has suffered with anxiety for most of her life and knows that if an attack is creeping up on her, she will need to take a moment to sit still and breathe.

The blogger explained that during a trip to her local Target to get school supplies, she became overwhelmed after her two older kids were fighting, and her youngest, Morrison, three, was being a 'typical three-nager'.

As Sarah's anxiety began rearing its ugly head, she needed a moment to recuperate  so she sat in the middle of the children's shoe aisle at Target to take a breath.

And after Morrison became hungry, Sarah breastfed him on the floor in the aisle  and her daughter decided to snap a photograph.

"I'd had a really tough couple of days, and I was completely overwhelmed. The kids needed school supplies and as much as I needed to just be in bed, I had no choice but to take all three out for the dreaded back to school shop," said Sarah.



"We'd been to several shops, the kids kept changing their minds about what they want, the fighting was non-stop, the toddler was being a typical 'threenager' and my heart started racing.

"I thought to myself 'here we go'. Over the years I have learnt to recognise when a massive anxiety attack is about to hit. I needed a moment. I knew all three children weren't about to stop what they were doing and put everything back so mama could go and ground herself."

Sarah said she's "too deep into single parenting" to worry about people being offended by her breastfeeding.

The quiet moment helped relax and calm both her and the three kids, she said  but added she did receive a 'disgusted' look from another customer who walked past.

"I had a woman look at me in disgust, I don't know if it's because I was on the ground, because I was breastfeeding in public, or because I was feeding a giant toddler," she said.

"But in that moment, nothing could bother me. For my own sanity I needed that moment.

"After about 15 minutes I got up and carried on with our trip. Still a little rattled, but strong enough to carry on with the day."

The photo of her breastfeeding has racked up hundreds of likes, shares and comments on Facebook from other parents from praising Sarah.

And she has received some hateful comments online, most of the feedback has been positive and Sarah has received many messages from other mum's who said they can relate.

"My post resonated with a lot of women who have said it was so real and that they had gone through similar experiences," said Sarah.

"Later stage breastfeeding is still frowned upon unfortunately, and I've gotten lots of negative comments when I've breastfed in public.

"It's the most natural thing in the entire universe. It's nasty that a lot of women are subjected to negativity because of it."

Source: Newshub
New Delhi: Mouni Roy, who gained immense popularity after featuring in Ekta Kapoor's Balaji Telefilms' 'Naagin' went to enter the showbiz world with Akshay Kumar's 'Gold' in 2018. Her style game has always been on point and often her fans on social media eagerly await to check her fresh posts.

Mouni, in her recent bunch of pictures, can be seen donning a shiny candy pink tube dress. She glammed it up with a tan coloured overcoat, looking simply stunning. She captioned it as, "Neither Betty nor Veronica."

The 'Naagin' of small screens enjoys over 11.3 million followers on Instagram, making her a popular social media celeb.

Her style can surely inspire a few to take some tips on how to dress-up for a glam night out or a party.

On the work front, Mouni was last seen in 'Made In China' opposite Rajkummar Rao. Next, she will be seen in 'Brahmastra' which stars Amitabh Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt in lead roles.

'Brahmastra' happens to be the first part of the trilogy, produced by Dharma Productions. The film will hit the screens next year. Mouni, who won a million hearts as 'Naagin' in small screens will be seen playing a negative role in Ayan Mukerji's 'Brahmastra'.
The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis in North America has put together a group of experts to provide technical support to further advance processes towards the decriminalization of cannabis and the establishment of a marijuana industry.



The broad based Cannabis Core Committee of experts will focus on ensuring that the St. Kitts and Nevis cannabis legislation is the most modern and progressive in the region.



The Committee shall advice on the necessary systems to put in place that would make the industrialization of cannabis real and substantial in order to contribute to the health and wellness of people, create jobs and help generate economic revenue.



Notably, the establishment of a modern cannabis industry requires a lot of work and preparation in the light of deeply held ideas regarding its use, its legitimacy, and even its legality. With a sustained public-private engagement however, awareness of the many beneficial uses of hemp will open up the conversation and lead the path onto industrialization.



Dr. Wycliffe Baird who has been involved with the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines with their cannabis legislation and industrial exploits deliberations alongside the delivery of many interventions in Africa chairs the Committee with colossal knowledge in the economic impact of cannabis.



Members of the Cannabis Core Committee are drawn from critical stakeholder groups such as the Christian Council, the Rastafarian Community, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Youth, the Office of the Attorney General and other cannabis experts in the likes of Dr. Andre Gordon, Ms. Lisa Grant, Dr. Annabelle Manalo and Mr. Marcus Ramkissoon provided inputs at

the meeting.

Source: Focusghonline.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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When they do connect, its very intense and well-thought out, he said. Couples often make plans like theyre touring their own city, and they spend all their time together. Its not always going to stay like that, said Wagner. Its kind of like a summer fling. There are going to be times where a persons going to be upset.
Tyre major MRF Ltd on Monday reported a 17.02 per cent decline in its consolidated net profit to Rs 241.32 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2019.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 290.83 crore in the October-December period of 2018-19.

Total income declined to 4,149.76 crore as against Rs 4,221.45 crore in the year-ago period, MRF Ltd said in a regulatory filing.

Its board has declared a second interim dividend of Rs 3 per share (30 per cent) for the financial year ending March 31, 2020.

The tyre maker said it has fixed February 21, 2020, as the record date for the purpose of dividend payment which will be paid on or after March3, 2020, it added.

Shares of MRF on Monday ended 3.58 per cent higher at Rs 73,363.25 apiece on the BSE.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Delhi High Court Monday said it will hear in April the Enforcement Directorate's plea challenging the bail granted to businessman Ratul Puri, nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, in a money laundering case related to bank loan fraud.

Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar listed the matter for hearing On April 27.

When the plea came up for hearing, a junior counsel for ED sought a passover saying the Additional Solicitor General will be available for arguments post lunch.

However, senior advocate Rajiv Nayar and lawyer Vijay Aggarwal, representing Puri, said they will not be available post lunch after which the court listed the matter in April.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has challenged a trial court's December 13 last year order by which Puri was enlarged on bail on a personal bond of Rs 5 lakh with two sureties of like amount.

He was earlier granted bail in the AgustaWestland chopper deal case.

While granting bail in the bank fraud case, the trial court had directed him not to leave the country without its prior permission and to join the probe as and when called for.

He was also asked by the court not to influence the prosecution witnesses or tamper with the evidence in any manner.

The court had said, "Multiple raids have been conducted by different investigating agencies at the residential as well as the official premises of the investigating agency."



"In fact, the entire record of the accused company is in the custody of the official liquidator. Thus, the apprehension of the probe agency that the applicant would tamper with the evidence appears to be far-fetched," it had said.

The ED, in its plea before the high court, contended the trial court erred in holding that the agency's apprehension that Puri would tamper with the evidence appears to be far-fetched.

"The relevant records/documents are not available with the official liquidator and are in fact now accessible to the respondent (Puri) and vulnerable to tampering," it said and sought setting aside of the trial court's bail order.

The ED had in November last year filed a charge sheet against Puri and his company Moser Baer.

It had arrested Puri on August 20 last year in the case, which emerged from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR of August 17 last year.

Puri, his father Deepak Puri, mother Nita (Nath's sister) and others were booked in connection with the Rs 354 crore bank fraud case file by the Central Bank of India.

Puri was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the bank fraud case after he appeared before the central probe agency in the VVIP chopper scam.

The court had on December 2 last year granted bail to Puri in the AgustaWestland money laundering case while directing him not to "tamper with evidence" or "try to contact or influence the witnesses".

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

Azerbaijans First Deputy Minister of Defense, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Colonel General Najmeddin Sadikhov has praised NATO's position on supporting territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan and expressed confidence that the Alliance will continue its efforts in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution.

Sadikhov made the remarks while meeting the delegation led by the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), Commander of U.S. European Command, General Tod Wolters in Baku on February 6.

Touching upon the military-political situation in the region, Sadikov recalled that Armenia occupies nearly 20 percent of Azerbaijans internationally-recognized territories and that the negotiations have yielded no results so far.

He emphasized that the solution to this conflict is through compelling Armenia to fulfill the requirements of the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council on the basis of the norms and principles of international law.

Sadikov recalled the meeting held in Baku in July, 2019 and highlighted the development of NATO-Azerbaijan relations over the course of the past 26 years, the activities of the Azerbaijan Army in various programs and the contribution made by Azerbaijani servicemen to the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan.

He stressed that the main goal of Azerbaijan-NATO cooperation carried out in various fields is to eliminate instability, conflicts, and threats in the Euro-Atlantic area, as well as in the establishment of indivisible security system worldwide.

For his part, General T. Wolters noted that Azerbaijan is a reliable partner of Alliance and highly appreciated the participation of the country in the fight against terrorism, the significant contribution in providing airspace to cargo transportation for peacekeeping operations, including the high level of professionalism of Azerbaijani peacekeepers in Afghanistan.

Wolters stressed that the Alliance is in favor of a peaceful solution to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
The Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC) on Monday took out a protest march from Jamia University against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the Population Register (NPR) and the proposed Register of Citizens (NRC).

The protesters, who had planned to march up to Parliament House, was stopped by security forces near Holy Family Hospital in Okhla.

Jamia Millia Islamia University Chief Proctor Waseem Ahmad requested the students to move back.

"I request both students and police to deal with the situation in a calm manner. I appeal to students to move back," Ahmad said.

The CAA grants citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist and Christian refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, 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.)
The times, they are a-changin, comes to mind when we look at technology or pop culture. Technology is advancing at a staggering rate and one just has to watch a current movie to see the incredible graphics that transport us to a completely different world. Well, times are changing for government as well, especially when it comes to the ability to recruit and retain the best technology talent possible. Government is in a pitched struggle to staff their organizations with quality professionals. Why is this happening?For one, technology is changing so fast that the skills of technology professionals become outdated faster than ever before. Coupled with the massive retirements on the horizon  some say 30 percent of staff will retire in the next five years  the inability to recruit replacements places government at a disadvantage. The private sector is recruiting technology workers before they graduate from college, before they attend college or even earlier. These same companies are planning culture-altering technology shifts by moving forward with technologies like artificial intelligence and blockchain

Making it even harder for government to compete with private-sector opportunities is the fact that government is also perceived by many as less than innovative and a home for the working retired. Government work environments are also perceived to be stale and inefficient. Newer technology professionals do not want to work in a lackluster work culture so many will not even entertain the possibility of taking a job in government. At the Center for Digital Government (CDG), we see the issue of recruitment and retention as a top priority right alongside cybersecurity. But what can we do?

We can start by changing the perception of government. Todays government is not your parents government any longer. The work is innovative and the core mission aligns well with the purpose-driven work sought by so many in the newer generations of workers. Government exists to provide, serve and help people which satisfies the latest generations need to make a difference. And technology is booming in state and local government: just look at the CDG estimate of government technology spending for 2020, over $100 billion.

Next, we need to be part of a cultural shift in how we engage newer technology experts. We should implement more flexible work environments that enable telework, nontraditional workweeks, and redesigned physical environments to mirror those of more desirable private-sector workplaces. I am sure that we all agree that we will never have cargo nets to climb or slides from floor to floor but, at a minimum, we can open up floorplans to provide more collaborative workspaces. For example, the simple addition of sit-to-stand desks, costing about $400 each, transforms traditional surroundings into more modern workspaces almost immediately.

To round out our efforts, we must invest in our teams by providing the education they need to keep up with the incredible pace of technology change. And that investment must go beyond just education. It must be part of a larger organizational transformation where the entire attitude of the organization shifts with the times. Again, we can all agree that not every team member will be able to grow their skills in every emerging technology, but investing in professional development is a major contributor to employee satisfaction. A lack of investment leads to a workforce that will become limited in ability and totally disengaged.

We intend to engage government technology leaders on this very issue during 2020. The impending Digital States, Cities and Counties surveys inquire about what you are doing as government leaders to work these people issues. Success in building your teams is part of our mission and we look forward to working with you all to get it done. The times are a-changin' and we are ready to help you change too.
Photograph: Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

There was a moment about five minutes into Joe Bidens rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, that jolted members of the crowd up in their seats.

The former vice-president and Democratic presidential candidate, who has spent the past few months turning in soporific performances both on the debate stage and at his campaign events, became animated.

Related: Democrats step up attacks against each other as New Hampshire primary looms

Donald Trump was ruining America, Biden shouted into the microphone at the event on Saturday. He criticized the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders and former mayor Pete Buttigieg, who both claimed victory in Iowa and are running far ahead of him in the New Hampshire polls. This, at last, was the Biden his campaign talks about; the great campaigner, the king of the soapbox, coming out swinging.

It didnt last long  moments later, Biden was struggling to remember the name of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that he had touted as a key achievement of his time in office with Barack Obama  but at least it gave his supporters something to cling to.

They needed it, because bright spots have been few and far between for Biden of late. After the catastrophic performance in Iowa, where he finished a distant fourth, Biden is polling fifth in New Hampshire, too, unthinkable for someone who spent most of 2019 in the lead.

Perhaps it has, at last, jolted Biden into action. On Saturday, once he moved past the nuclear deal  the proper title is the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action  the former vice-president was back in his stride. After railing against Trump, he invoked his personal story.

You know, Ive lost a lot in my lifetime, like many of you have, Biden told the crowd.

A car accident took away my wife and daughter. Lost my son, Beau, like many of you have done. But Ill be damned if Im going to stand by and lose my country, too.

The last line was delivered with a growl, and brought a roar of applause. This is a new part of Bidens patter, and it went down so well that he used it again  and tweeted it  later that day.

Story continues

Joe Biden shakes hands as he arrives to talk to voters in Hampton, New Hampshire, on Sunday. Photograph: Justin Lane/EPA

For all the criticism of Biden personally, his lackluster performances dont stand in isolation. There are things about his campaign, too, that just dont quite work.

His slogan here, Biden: works for New Hampshire, scans as a shrug-of-the-shoulders acceptance, while on Bidens yard signs the New Hampshire outline has been rendered in such a way that it looks like a raised middle finger. At events his staff display cardboard cutouts of Ray Ban-style sunglasses, in blue and red, a fun reference to Bidens penchant for summer spectacles, but one that really had its day as a popular source of amusement back in 2014.

While the optics are awkward, there are signs, too, that the campaign has been guilty of resting on its laurels. In Iowa, where Biden struggled to turn out large crowds to his rallies, a campaign surrogate reassured the Washington Post ahead of the caucuses that people know Biden  they dont need to come to events.

The primaries and caucuses are a series of contests, in all 50 US states plus Washington DC and outlying territories, by which each party selects its presidential nominee.

The goal for presidential candidates is to amass a majority of delegates, whose job it is to choose the nominee at the partys national convention later in the year. In some states, delegates are awarded on a winner-take-all basis; other states split their delegates proportionally among top winners.

That analysis was wrong, clearly, and illustrated a gap in excitement between Bidens supporters and those of his rivals  a gap which was on display on Saturday night, when Biden appeared with eight of the other candidates at the McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club dinner in downtown Manchester.

The dinner is a litmus rest of enthusiasm in the Democratic party, and thousands of people had packed into the arena. Candidates supporters are assigned different sections of the arena, and Buttigiegs crowd was the most visible, hundreds of yellow-clad acolytes sprawled across the far end of the arena, waving handed-out clackers and chanting: President Pete.

The Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warrens supporters, wearing light green, waving glowsticks and dancing to the Village Peoples YMCA, occupied a broad swathe behind the speakers podium, next to a smaller but vocal mass of Sanders advocates, many waving neon pink Bernie signs.

Biden, by contrast, had lured out a tiny sliver of support. About 100 Bidenites were sitting in a little slice of the arena, boxed in on either side by Warren fans. Some of them had T-shirts, and several of them were holding signs that collectively spelt out Biden 2020, but as Biden, blood pumping with newfound vigor, jogged on to the stage, he would have struggled to pick them out.

Supporters of Joe Biden hold signs at the Democratic partys McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club dinner in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Saturday. Photograph: Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

Were being led by a president, a president, who actually has no empathy, no sympathy, who mocks people, who makes fun of people with disabilities, who does everything he can to demean. He doesnt have a shred of decency in him, Biden said.

Ill be damned if Im gonna stand by and lose this election to this man.

Bidens performance wasnt perfect  it might have been a good idea for him to take his hand out of his pocket, for one thing  but for those supporters who showed up it will have proved a nice fillip.

Most states hold primary elections, in which voters go to a polling place, mail in their ballots or otherwise vote remotely for a presidential nominee. These are much simpler than caucuses, which are hours-long meetings with multiple rounds of balloting.

The first caucuses took place in Iowa on 3 February. Donald Trump won the Republican contest by a landslide, but the Democratic vote ended in chaos, with Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg both emerging as winners in a contest that was too close to call.



New Hampshire traditionally hosts the first primaries of the election year and has done so since 1920. All eyes will be on the competitive Democratic primary to see which candidate comes out on top. There will also be a Republican primary, though as Trump faces no serious competition, he is expected to win that contest by a huge margin.

The next morning, however, as Biden returned to action at a plush hotel in the seaside town of Hampton there were signs that he is still getting used to his new tub-thumping role. Biden spent the first 10 minutes wandering slowly about the stage, reminiscing about interactions he had with political figures in the 1970s, before new Biden took over, raising his voice and laying into Trump.

The change was marked enough that it caught out Bidens sound man, and the microphone began popping.

Related: Pizza, sushi, Ben & Jerry's: what 2020 Democrats are feeding their staffers

I understand the criticism, because we are a really almost like a visual audience these days, said Paula Kougeas, 67. She was wearing a Biden T-shirt that she had purchased on the day he announced he was running for president.

But you know, what we have is a really fast-talking, TV-ready slick guy in the White House right now, and thats exactly what we dont need in a president.

When Biden announced his third presidential campaign, in April 2019, some wondered if he had left it too late in life. He first ran for president in 1987, and at 77 years old, after five decades in public office, he has visibly slowed.

While Iowa traditionally holds the first caucuses in the presidential election, New Hampshire has held the first primary since 1920.

The goal for presidential candidates is to win early-voting states and create name recognition and a sense of momentum, as well to pick up their first delegates, who will eventually choose the nominee in summer.

Sometimes a clear favorite for the nomination emerges quickly, but the last two major Democratic primary contests, pitting Barack Obama against Hillary Clinton and then Bernie Sanders against Clinton, have lasted from the Iowa caucuses in January through to late spring.

There is a video on C-Span, the non-profit which televises the process of US government, of Biden campaigning in 1987, during his run for president. His hairline  improbably  and bright smile are the same, but as a public speaker he is unrecognisable. The younger Biden speaks clearly and confidently, with a quicker cadence. He seems to be enjoying himself.

This is the Biden people think of when they talk about him as a great campaigner, and this week, in New Hampshire, crowds have seen a version of Biden that feels far closer to the 87 version than what his supporters witnessed in Iowa.

Perhaps Biden, after his months of stagnation, and brutal Iowa wake-up call, has finally been shaken into life. He might be able to keep up his newfound fire, recapture some of his late-1980s vigor, and turn things around in New Hampshire, and beyond.

Or, maybe, Biden has left it too late in more ways than one.
A Clark County sheriffs deputy was hurt early Sunday after driving into the path of an intoxicated driver to stop him from going the wrong way on Interstate 5, troopers say.

The Washington State Patrol said Deputy Gregory Agar drove into the path of the wrong-way driver about 2:45 a.m. Sunday on the northbound interstate. The two cars hit head-on, and they came to rest on the interstate.

Agar, a 28-year-old Vancouver resident, was hurt and taken to a hospital. Troopers didnt describe the extent of his injuries.

The other driver, 27-year-old Vancouver resident Miguel Jimenez Jimenez, wasnt injured, according to the Washington State Patrol. He was jailed on suspicion of intoxicated driving and remained in custody early Monday.

Both cars were totaled.

-- Jim Ryan; jryan@oregonian.com; 503-221-8005; @Jimryan015

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Photograph: Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images

The Trump administration has submitted to Congress its 2021 budget proposal, a $4.8tn plan which has no chance of passing into law and is instead a purely political exercise, designed to put daylight between the Republican president and whichever Democratic candidate he will face at the polls in November.

To Donald Trump, every event on the presidential stage is now a re-election pitch to voters. Democratic presidential contenders will pick over his budget proposals for lines to attack on the stump.

Related: Facebook and Twitter reject Pelosi's request to remove edited Trump video

Trumps wish list includes a $700bn increase over federal spending in 2018 and represents as clear a statement of Republican priorities as the administration is likely to produce. It includes billions more for defense and a mission to Mars alongside deep proposed cuts to foreign aid and environmental protection and new restrictions on social welfare programs.

On Saturday, Trump tweeted a promise that we will not be touching your Social Security or Medicare in Fiscal 2021 Budget.

The proposal released on Monday would nonetheless cut Medicaid spending by about $920bn over 10 years, a reduction in the rate of growth critics warn could effectively reduce funding to dozens of social welfare programs.

Trump would also cut by more than 20% the budget for the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the agency charged with combating the spread of coronavirus.

Cuts would also include reducing food stamp spending  a key programme for lower-income Americans  by $181bn over a decade. Reforms to medical liability and how hospitals are paid for uninsured care are also proposed though spending on such programs is still projected to rise over a decade.

John Yarmuth, the Democratic chair of the House budget committee, said the budget included destructive changes  while extending [Trumps] tax cuts for millionaires and wealthy corporations.

Story continues

The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, called the budget a statement of values, adding: Once again, the Trump budget makes it painfully clear how little the president values the good health, financial security and wellbeing of Americas hardworking families.

The budget proposes non-defense spending cuts of 5%, to $590bn, and a military spending increase by 0.3%, to $740bn.

It includes a 12% increase to Nasa for proposed travel to Mars and $2bn for Trumps wall on the US-Mexico border, a reduction on previous requests. Officials have claimed the project is approaching 80% of required budget and said 400 miles of new fence will have been completed by the end of the year.

Within the overall reductions proposed are an 8% cut to education spending, a 13% cut for the interior department, a 15% cut for the Department of Housing and Urban Development and a 26% cut to the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Environmental Protection Network called the proposed EPA cuts wholly unacceptable.

For the fourth straight year, President Trump has proposed an EPA budget that undermines a half century of public health and environmental gains, and undercuts the agencys ability to protect peoples health and the natural world that sustains us, the environmental lobbying body said in a statement.

undermines a half century of public health and environmental gains, and undercuts the agencys ability to protect peoples health and the natural world that sustains us.

If passed, Trumps budget would have little impact on the federal deficit, which the administration has promised to eliminate by 2028, a goal it has now sidestepped for the third time in as many years.

White House officials claimed their budget proposal would close the deficit by 2035. Even that would be unlikely if the budget ever went into effect, since it would require the US economy to grow at 3% for five years, a rate it has not hit since Trump took office.

Trump has presided over ballooning government debt. In 2017 he said he aimed for a budget deficit of $456bn by 2021. The shortfall is now more than double that figure.

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the deficit is projected to reach $1.02tn this year, as spending of $4.6tn outpaces $3.6tn in tax revenue.

During Barack Obamas last year in office, the deficit was less than $600bn.
February 10, 2020 - Men with localized prostate cancer are faced with deciding among a range of options for treatment - including a choice between robot-assisted versus conventional prostatectomy. A new follow-up study in The Journal of Urology finds that most patients choosing surgery for prostate cancer don't regret their decisions. The Journal of Urology, Official Journal of the American Urological Association (AUA), is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

Patients who play a more active role in making decisions about prostate cancer surgery are less likely to experience "decision regret" about their choices, according to the new research by Johannes Huber, MD, PhD, of Technische Universitat Dresden, Germany, and colleagues. The study also finds no difference in decision regret in men opting for open versus robot-assisted surgery.

Study Looks at Decision Regret after Prostate Cancer Surgery

The study included data from a large-scale German healthcare research project, called HAROW, that analyzed outcomes for men choosing different treatments for localized prostate cancer - meaning that the cancer hasn't spread beyond the prostate gland. "The name HAROW refers to the major treatment options for patients with this diagnosis - namely hormone therapy, active surveillance, radiation, operation (surgery), or watchful waiting," explains study coauthor Dr. Lothar Weissbach, founder of the HAROW project.

In recent years, robot-assisted prostatectomy has become an increasingly popular alternative to conventional open surgery. While the robot-assisted procedure may enable faster recovery, studies have shown "no definite advantage" in terms of prostate cancer outcomes.

Few studies have looked at decision regret by men choosing among prostate cancer treatments. "Decision related regret is a negative emotion associated with thinking about a past choice and comparing the status quo with a hypothetical situation which might have taken place with having chosen a different treatment alternative," Dr. Huber and coauthors explain.

The authors analyzed decision regret in 936 men who underwent prostate cancer surgery, of whom 532 underwent open prostate surgery and 404 underwent robot-assisted surgery. At follow-up of about six years, patients rated their "distress or remorse" about their treatment choice using a 0 to 100 Decision Regret Scale (with 100 being the highest level of regret).

Men who underwent robot-assisted surgery showed a more "self-determined role" in treatment decision-making. They were more likely to use the internet to research their treatment options and were more active in selecting the hospital where the procedure would be performed. They also chose hospitals that performed a higher volume of prostate cancer surgeries, where robot-assisted surgery was more likely to be available. "[A]ctively involved patients may choose another hospital if there is a strong desire for robotic surgery," the researchers write.

Overall, rates of decision regret about prostate cancer surgery were low: average score on the Decision Regret Scale was just 14 of 100. Decision regret scores were similar for men undergoing robot-assisted versus open surgery, with scores of 12 and 15, respectively.

Not surprisingly, patients with better treatment outcomes - which included no cancer recurrence, good erectile function and no incontinence - had fewer regrets. Men who played a more active role in treatment decision-making were about twice as likely to have a low decision regret score (less than 15). Shorter follow-up times were also associated with lower decision regret.

Decision regret could have a lasting impact on patient satisfaction with choices for prostate cancer treatment. The new results suggest generally low levels of decision regret several years after prostate cancer surgery, regardless of the choice of surgical approaches.

While good outcomes are obviously important, being more actively involved in treatment decision-making may also lead to fewer regrets. In a discussion accompanying their paper, Dr. Huber and coauthors write, "As our study shows, personal responsibility for one's own decisions has a significant influence on decision regret."

###

Click here to read "Decision Regret after Radical Prostatectomy does not Depend on Surgical Approach: 6-Year Followup of a Large German Cohort Undergoing Routine Care."

DOI: 10.1097/JU.0000000000000541

About The Journal of Urology

The Official Journal of the American Urological Association (AUA), and the most widely read and highly cited journal in the field, The Journal of Urology brings solid coverage of the clinically relevant content needed to stay at the forefront of the dynamic field of urology. This premier journal presents investigative studies on critical areas of research and practice, survey articles providing brief editorial comments on the best and most important urology literature worldwide and practice-oriented reports on significant clinical observations. The Journal of Urology covers the wide scope of urology, including pediatric urology, urologic cancers, renal transplantation, male infertility, urinary tract stones, female urology and neurourology.

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Rockton Software today announced that its software has been recognized as an Acumatica-Certified Application (ACA). Acumatica, the worlds fastest-growing cloud ERP company, has been recognized as a Visionary in Gartners Magic Quadrant for Cloud Core Financial Management Suites for Midsize, Large and Global Enterprises 2019, as well as in The Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP for Product-Centric Midsize Enterprises.

Acumatica is a comprehensive, browser-based Cloud ERP solution optimized for ease of use, adaptability, mobility, speed, and security. The ACA title highlights outstanding development partners whose applications have met the highest standards set for Acumatica integration and functionality.

Customers who want to stay competitive need flexible, responsive technology to execute their long-term business strategies, said Christian Lindberg, Vice President of Partner Solutions at Acumatica. Our ACA label is built to help customers find applications capable of delivering that. Were proud to recognize Rockton Pricing Management as an Acumatica-Certified Application. It masterfully utilizes the Acumatica platform to meet customers growing business demands.

To become an Acumatica-Certified Application, Rockton Software has demonstrated commitment to quality by passing the Acumatica software test and aligning to future Acumatica roadmap releases.

Were honored to receive this kind of recognition from the Acumatica developers themselves, said Mark Rockwell, Rockton Software. This is a testament to the strength of our application and the depth of our integration with the Acumatica platform. With our suite of enhancements and Acumaticas solid foundation, I believe the skys the limit for us.

About Rockton Software

Rockton Software is a virtual company with employees in seven states and its headquarters in Erie, Colorado. Serving over 100,000 users worldwide, Rockton Software supports innovation by offering Microsoft Dynamics and Acumatica add-ons for all industries. Whether youre in need of auditing, pricing, searching, reporting, or general user enhancements, weve got the solution for you! Learn more by visiting, http://www.rocktonsoftware.com.

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.
Coronavirus Single-Day Death Toll Reaches New High

By VOA News February 08, 2020

The coronavirus claimed 86 lives during a one-day period ending Saturday morning, the biggest single-day increase to date, as the virus continues to takes its toll in China and other parts of the world.

Among the new fatalities are a U.S. citizen in Wuhan, China  the epicenter of the outbreak  officials at the American Embassy in Beijing said Saturday.

The embassy said that the 60-year-old American died February 6. A Japanese citizen is also reported to have died in Wuhan of viral pneumonia, likely caused by the corona virus, although that has not been confirmed.

The United States says it offering up to $100 million to China and other countries affected by the deadly coronavirus to combat its spread, as the death toll rises in China to 722.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made the announcement Friday, saying, "This commitment  along with the hundreds of millions generously donated by the American private sector  demonstrates strong U.S. leadership in response to the outbreak."

Earlier Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump praised Chinese President Xi Jinping's efforts to combat the coronavirus as Xi faced mounting domestic criticism following the virus-related death of a physician who issued an early warning about the outbreak.

After a Friday telephone conversation with Xi, Trump praised China's response and said Xi was leading "what will be a very successful operation." Trump continued to applaud Xi on Twitter Friday, describing him as "strong, sharp and powerfully focused."

"Great discipline is taking place in China, as President Xi strongly leads what will be a very successful operation. We are working closely with China to help!," Trump added.

The death of a Chinese doctor who was censored by Communist Party authorities after warning of a new, then-unidentified virus in December has triggered an outpouring of anger online at party authorities for its tight control on information about the crisis.

Police had accused Dr. Li Wenliang, who died Friday morning local time at Wuhan Central Hospital, of "spreading rumors online" and "severely disrupting social order."

However, Li was widely praised by many, including by China Center for Disease Control chief scientist Zeng Guang.

"A hero who released information about Wuhan's epidemic in the early stage, Dr. Li Wenliang is immortal," Zeng wrote on the Sina Weibo microblog page.

The ruling Communist Party's People's Daily wrote on Twitter, "We deeply mourn the death of Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang. ... After all-effort rescue, Li passed away."

In response to the uproar in China over the government's treatment of Li, the Communist Party announced Friday it would send a team to Wuhan to "fully investigate relevant issues raised by the public."

Officials in China said the death toll on the mainland by the end of Friday was 723 while new cases jumped to 34,546. The death toll has now surpassed the number of deaths from the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak in China and Hong Kong. The WHO said Saturday the coronavirus is on pace to surpass the 774 SARS deaths that were recorded worldwide.

Chinese President Xi has declared a "people's war" on the coronavirus outbreak, as the death toll grows by the day.

"The whole country has responded with all its strength to respond with the most thorough and strict prevention and control measures, starting a people's war for epidemic prevention and control," China's state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying.

World Health Organization Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Saturday it would send an international team of investigators to China on Monday or Tuesday. Tedros did not name the team members, saying the organization will "publicize everything as soon as we're ready."

The WHO said Friday it is too early to confirm one Chinese official's belief the outbreak is about to peak.

But WHO public health specialist Mike Ryan said Saturday the number of new cases in the Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, had stabilized over the last four days, "which may reflect the impact of control measures put in place."

There are more than 320 confirmed cases in at least 25 other countries, including one death in the Philippines  the first outside of China -- and one death in Hong Kong.

Three more new cases were confirmed by Japan aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, moored off Japan, raising the total to 64. The 3,700 passengers, who are confined aboard this ship, face a 14-day quarantine. Fourteen days is the virus' incubation period.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said foreign passengers on another ship carrying about 2,000 people will not be allowed to enter Japan. Abe said virus-infected passengers may be on board, while the operator of Holland America's Westerdam denied anyone was infected. The ship is currently near Ishigaki, an island of Okinawa.

About 3,600 passengers are stuck aboard another ship remains off the Hong Kong's coast, with three cases on board.

Hong Kong has shut down nearly all land and sea border crossings with the Chinese mainland after more than 2,000 medical workers walked off the job earlier this week. The city announced it would quarantine arrivals from mainland China beginning Saturday.Taiwan announced Thursday it was banning all international cruise ships from docking at the island. Taiwan is also halting most flights between Taiwan and china, beginning Monday. All direct passenger and freight shipping between the island and China are also being suspended.

A U.S. State Department-charted plane carrying Americans who evacuated from Wuhan landed Friday morning at a military base in Southern California. A second chartered plane with Americans on board landed at a military base in Northern California later Friday. The returning Americans, about 530 in all, are being quarantined for 14 days and watched for signs of the illness.

The WHO has declared the coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency and is appealing for $675 million to fight the virus.

WHO Director Tedros said Friday the world is experiencing a "chronic shortage of personal protective equipment, such as masks and gowns. Ghebreyesus said he was searching for potential solutions.

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In Africa, charcoal is ubiquitous as an energy source for cooking, even in urban areas where electricity and gas are available. Yet when Catherine Nabukalu was taking courses on energy as part of her master's degree in environmental studies at Penn, she noticed charcoal was often left out of the conversation about energy sources and their contribution to global carbon emissions.

"We would systematically go through coal, then nuclear, then hydropower, then geothermal, solar, etc.," says Nabukalu, now a project coordinator at the District of Columbia Sustainable Energy Utility. "You become aware that something is missing. Just because you don't have electricity, doesn't mean you don't have energy."

Reto Giere, a professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science, encouraged her to research charcoal as an energy source for her final paper in his course, Energy, Waste, and the Environment. He then helped her get funding to travel to her native Uganda to continue to pursue the topic as an independent project that they conceptualized together. Nabukalu and Giere shared the findings in a paper published in the journal Resources.

"I'm African, and I've used charcoal personally," says Nabukalu. "It's not fun to use, cooking is often not a healthy or enjoyable experience, but it's a big part of the energy mix. It's not the only source, but it's one of them."

As a step toward better understanding the full life cycle of charcoal, from creation to consumption, Nabukalu spent time at a number of sites in Uganda where charcoal is created, traded, sold, and consumed. She observed and interviewed participants at each of these stages and reviewed the literature about charcoal production and use worldwide. Giere and Nabukalu shared some of the key results from this research with Penn Today that shed light on an overlooked source of energy.

Producing charcoal supports a nomadic lifestyle

In the locations Nabukalu visited, people produced charcoal by felling trees, stacking their trunks, and covering them with branches and leaves. A final layer of damp soil serves to keep as much oxygen as possible out when the pile is set alight. In this way, the wood undergoes pyrolysis instead of combustion, leaving behind carbon-dense charcoal.

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These kiln installations are created and used only once. "In some cases, this necessitates that the people who use them are nomads," Giere notes.

Indeed, some workers interviewed had moved to northern Uganda from the central region specifically for the opportunity to produce charcoal. "Some were entrepreneurs who moved on their own because they thought the trees were disappearing in the more southern areas," says Nabukalu. "But others were contracted by entrepreneurs that had informal companies to do this work."

Charcoal production takes a serious environmental toll and is difficult to regulate

Despite efforts by the Ugandan government to regulate charcoal production, it takes place by and large on private lands and thus is nearly impossible to suppress. "Partially, it's because the government has limited power on private land, but also there is strong demand for the product," Nabukalu says. Neighboring Tanzania attempted a ban that lasted only a couple of weeks, she found, as prices for charcoal soared on a quickly established black market.

For landowners, allowing charcoal production on their property can be a win-win. They may wish to clear land for agriculture and can invite charcoal producers onto their land, receiving a portion of the proceeds of the product's eventual sale. For the producers, it gives them a source of income without needing to own land.

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While this type of small-scale charcoal production doesn't involve clearcutting, it still leads to forest degradation as the felled trees are unlikely to be replaced. Each year, Africa produces 24.5 million metric tons of charcoal, nearly 60% of the world's supply. In addition, much of the supply chain is informal, without any oversight. With traders selling charcoal far from where it is sourced, it is hard to track or quantify how much is actually being produced.

"I think a lot of reports grossly underestimate how much charcoal is being produced and used," Nabukalu says.

Access to alternative energy sources does not eliminate the use of charcoal

Nabukalu knew from personal experience that access to electricity did not obviate charcoal use. "It's a matter of home economics," she says. "When cooking, either you're going to use charcoal which you've already paid for, or you're going to turn on the gas or the electricity, but you don't know how high the bill will be."

In her research she found that Egypt, a country with a diversified mix of modern sources of energy, was still a top producer and importer of charcoal.

That's true not only in Africa but around the world.

"Take a look at Europe: Having wide and reliable access to electricity hasn't stopped usage there," she says, noting that Germany is the world's top charcoal importer. "You could ask," Giere says, "do people in Germany really need to be using it? There it's for a Sunday barbecue as a leisure fuel, whereas in Uganda it's used for daily cooking."

Cooking with charcoal can be dangerous

Nabukalu and Giere note the health impacts of cooking with charcoal, especially when done without proper ventilation.

"Burning biomass of any kind, whether it be firewood or charcoal, in a confined space exposes those nearby to fumes containing gases and particulates," says Giere. "Similarly, producing the charcoal generates vapors during the pyrolysis process, including carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and methane, which all deteriorate air quality in the area surrounding the kilns."

In follow-up work, Hope Elliott, a student in Penn's Master of Science in Applied Geology program, also working with Giere, is analyzing samples of the charcoal Nabukalu collected. In her research, Elliot is determining the chemical makeup of the charcoal and, by extension, the potential health effects of burning it.
We have been having ongoing productive conversations with state leaders and appreciate the opportunity to work with the governors office and the General Assembly this session, spokeswoman Anel Ruiz said in a statement. We look forward to meeting with leadership and will be working with them closely to prioritize the casino and other opportunities to generate new revenues and opportunities that will move Chicago forward.
MIDDLETOWN - The following are recent arrests made by the Middletown Police Department.

Feb. 3

A 44-year-old Plaza Drive woman was charged with operating under the influence, first-degree criminal trespass and traveling too fast. She was held on $25,000 bond and given a court date of Feb. 3.

A 72-year-old Berlin man was charged with second-degree failure to appear in court. He was held on $25,000 bond and given a court date of Feb. 3.

Feb. 2

A 31-year-old Pearl Street woman was charged with disorderly conduct. She was released and given a court date of Feb. 10.

Feb. 1

A 30-year-old New Britain man was charged with reckless driving, breach of peace and second-degree reckless endangerment. He was held on $25,000 bond and given a court date of Feb. 3.

A 34-year-old Greenlaw Avenue man was charged with operating under the influence, failure to maintain proper lane, disobeying officer's signal and disobeying a control signal. he was released on a $500 non-surety bond and given a court date of Feb. 12.

Jan. 31

A 25-year-old Main Street woman was charged with three counts of second-degree failure to appear in court. She was held on $11,000 bond and given a court date of Feb. 3.

A 31-year-old North Adams, Mass., woman was charged with second-degree failure to appear in court, possession of drug paraphernalia, criminal impersonation, interfering with police and a license violation. She was held on $8,000 bond and given a court date of Feb. 3.

A 31-year-old East Main Street woman was charged with sixth-degree larceny. She was held on $5,000 bond and given a court date of Feb. 3.

A 52-year-old Liberty Street man was charged with possession of narcotics. He was released on a $15,000 non-surety bond and given a court date of Feb. 14.

A 20-year-year Plaza Drive man was charged with sixth-degree larceny. He was released on a $1,500 non-surety bond and given a court date of Feb. 13.

A 31-year-old Berlin Road woman was charged with violation of probation. She was released on $10,000 bond and given a court date of Feb. 13.

Jan. 28

A 20-year-old Durham man was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, sale of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to sell and possession of marijuana. He was released on a $50,000 bond and given a court date of Feb. 10.
An Oregon woman told neighbors she wanted to stay at her home on Feb. 6 despite heavy flooding in the area. Days later her body was found near the property where she was last seen.

Janet Conley, 62, was found dead Sunday by search and rescue workers and neighbors, according to a news release from the Umatilla County Sheriffs Office.

It appears she was swept away by rushing water, the release said.

Our sympathies go out to the family and friends of Ms. Conley in this difficult time, Umatilla County Sheriffs Office Sgt. and Incident Commander Dwight Johnson said in the release.

More than 50 people have been rescued from flooded areas in eastern Oregon since Thursday, authorities said.

Parts of Umatilla County have experienced significant flooding since Thursday, leaving many residents trapped in their homes or vehicles.

Umatilla County Sheriff Terry Rowan said the flooding progressed rapidly, washing out bridges and roads and making access for residents and emergency personnel difficult.

On Friday, Gov. Kate Brown declared a state of emergency in Umatilla, Union, and Wallowa counties due to the severe flooding conditions.

Weve had two days of rain, said Kevin Jeffries, a spokesman for the Umatilla County Joint Information Center. Usually its snow this time of year.

The rain created a massive snow melt in the mountains leading to some pretty wild flooding, Jeffries added.

Several helicopter crews rescued dozens of residents and continue searching for flooding evacuees on Saturday.

The-CNN-Wire

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A few years ago I showed my father Picasa under Linux, he liked it and started to use it to upload his photos, and has been using it for alm...
The exhibition From Nanjing to Beijing: 600th Anniversary of Moving the Capital of Ming Empire showcases 267 cultural relics to reflect the prosperity of the two capital cities of the Ming Dynasty. [For China Daily/Wang Kaihao]

What's in a name? For people it is a sense of identity and heritage. The same for cities. For instance, only two Chinese cities contain the word jing, meaning "the national capital," in their names.

Beijing (the "northern capital") and Nanjing (the "southern capital") the Jiangsu provincial capital, are both steeped in history. But one pivotal point was an event in 1420 during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

That year, upon the completion of an ambitious urban construction project, Zhu Di, also known as Emperor Yongle, announced moving China's capital from Nanjing to Beijing. Perhaps, this decision changed the direction of Chinese history: Beijing has been the national capital since then with only a short interlude from 1927 to 1949.

A construction component of a Ming temple in Nanjing. [For China Daily/Wang Kaihao]

To mark the anniversary, the exhibition Nanjing to Beijing: 600th Anniversary of Moving the Capital of Ming Empire opened at the Capital Museum in Beijing on Jan 17 and was scheduled to run through June 28. Among the exhibits, 267 cultural relics were selected from museums in the two cities.

The Capital Museum is temporarily closed due to the coronavirus outbreak, but the exhibition continues in a digital format. Albums and introductory texts of some highlighted exhibits and the galleries are showcased on the official website of the museum.

"We'd like to guide visitors back to the early years of the Ming Dynasty to see how the foundation of a country's lasting stability and prosperity was built," Gao Hongqing, curator of the exhibition, says. "People can have a panoramic understanding of that dynasty."

Symbolizing the craftsmanship involved in transferring the capital are thick blocks placed at the entrance of the exhibition hall. Each block, weighing about 15 kilograms, has the artisan's name as well as the supervisor's carved into it. If any of the blocks had a fault those who were responsible could be immediately identified.

According to Gao, the blocks were made by a traditional formula of mixing sticky rice and kaolin, a special variety of clay used to make top-tier porcelain, to ensure solidity and firmness.

A set of Ming royal gold ornaments on display. [For China Daily/Wang Kaihao]

After Zhu Yuanzhang (Emperor Hongwu), the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, established the empire in Nanjing in 1368, toppling the Mongol Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), he organized about one million laborers to construct his mighty city.

For the ongoing exhibition, some exhibits on loan from museums in Nanjing reflect that booming period. As the emperor's mausoleum in Nanjing has remained untouched, recent archaeological discoveries, all over the city, provide an intriguing glimpse of the lifestyle of high officials at the time.

Findings from the glittering underground world  gold ingots, jewels and jade  portray the earliest days of a newborn empire.

Zhu Yuanzhang died in 1398, leaving the throne to his eldest grandson, Zhu Yunwen (Emperor Jianwen). The young ruler and Zhu Di, the founding emperor's fourth son, who was stationed in Beijing, soon found themselves in bitter dispute.

In 1399, Zhu Di rebelled and took Nanjing after a four-year civil war. The whereabouts of Emperor Jianwen has remained a mystery, and rumors said he escaped overseas. Some historians speculated that this was the reason why Zhu Di ordered the great mariner Zheng He to lead a giant fleet on overseas expeditions.

"And as the threat brought by Mongols was still imminent in the north, Zhu Di decided to move the capital north to better safeguard the frontline," Gao explains.

Zhu Di began his long project constructing a Forbidden City in Beijing. That 720,000-sq-meter compound is known as the Palace Museum today. It functioned as the imperial palace until 1912.

Through the exhibition, Gao reminds people "there was an even bigger Forbidden City" in Nanjing, which Zhu Di copied. That original compound, which was a royal palace until 1420, is believed to have covered more than one million square meters. However, it was gradually reduced to ruins by conflicts.

After the capital was moved to Beijing, Nanjing was still considered the "secondary capital" by the Ming Dynasty government. Nanjing Mandarin, which has tonal and pronunciation differences from today's Mandarin, based on the Beijing dialect, continued to be the official language throughout that dynasty.

A visitor takes a picture of bricks taken from the Ming city walls in Nanjing. [For China Daily/Zou Hong]

"Moving the capital in 1420 didn't mean the end of Nanjing's prosperity," Cao Zhijun, director of the Nanjing Museum Administration, says. "Instead, thanks to a symbiosis of the two cities, China's stability to govern a huge territory spanning from the north to the south was secured at that time."

According to Gao, the change of capital in 1420 marked a split between the political and economic centers.

"Moving the capital saw a population surge in Beijing," he says. "And the Grand Canal (connecting Beijing and the Yangtze River Delta) also supplied the capital with abundant goods from the south. Nanjing continued to enjoy prosperity as a transportation crossroads."

A sundial unearthed from Nanjing's Forbidden City ruins. [For China Daily]

Consequently, a focus of the exhibition emphasizes broader development in the mid-Ming Dynasty benefiting different social strata. A blue-and-white porcelain vase, depicting ripe plums, may indicate the literati's cultured taste. A group of colorful glazed bricks portraying elephants shows Sino-foreign cultural exchanges, and gilt Buddhist statues also reveal religious adherence during that dynasty.

Bai Jie, head of the Capital Museum, says: "We can also see how Beijing has gradually become a metropolis."

In Beijing, in spite of the fascinating Forbidden City, which will also embrace its 600th birthday this year, and the vast hutong area  the ancient residential communities  most sections of the Ming Dynasty city wall in the capital have been demolished. However, the city walls in Nanjing are well preserved though the palatial compound they protected no longer exists.

"Perhaps, if we could put the two cities together, we could have a complete example of how an ancient Chinese capital was constructed," Gao says.

(Source: China Daily)
President Xi Jinping urges Chinese to have confidence in their ability to fight the coronavirus outbreak.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has told people in China they must have confidence that the country will win its battle against the coronavirus epidemic that has killed more than 900 people on the mainland.

His first public appearance since the outbreak  which originated in the central city of Wuhan  began came as the World Health Organization (WHO) deployed an expert team to China to investigate.

A total of 40,171 infections have been confirmed in mainland China, with 908 deaths  most of the fatalities are in Wuhan and the surrounding Hubei province.

Two deaths have been recorded outside mainland China  one in Hong Kong and one in the Philippines.

At least 25 countries have confirmed cases and several nations have evacuated their citizens from Hubei.

Here are the latest updates:

Monday, February 10

Briton with new coronavirus travelled through Geneva airport

A Briton who infected at least five people with the new coronavirus in a French ski resort travelled there and back via Geneva airport in Switzerland, the Swiss government said.

In response to a question, the Federal Office of Public Health said it had not taken additional measures to identify those with whom he may have had contact.

China introduces coronavirus close contact detection app

China has rolled out a close contact detector, a mobile app enabling people to check whether they are at risk of catching the coronavirus.

Users enter their name and ID number to find out whether they have been in close contact with someone infected. Those who have been are advised to stay home and get in touch with local health authorities.

The app was developed by the General Office of the State Council, the National Health Commission and China Electronics Technology Group Corporations (CETC).

UAE confirms new case

The United Arab Emirates has confirmed an eighth case of the coronavirus.

The countrys health ministry said the patient was an Indian national who had interacted with a recently diagnosed person.

The Ministry of Health and Prevention announced today the eighth confirmed case of new #coronavirus in the UAE, which is an Indian national who had interacted with a recently diagnosed person.#mohap_uae        MOHAP UAE (@mohapuae) February 10, 2020

Find out more about which countries have confirmed cases here.

Hong Kong to evacuate residential building, home to two patients

Hong Kong is evacuating people from a residential building in the New Territories district of Tsing Yi, where two people confirmed with coronavirus live on different floors, authorities said.

The director of the Centre for Health Protection, Dr Wong Ka-hing, said the government was investigating the suspected environmental transmission of two cases in the building.

Hong Kong has confirmed 42 cases of the virus. Dr Wong said it was unclear how many residents were in the building but those who showed symptoms would be put in quarantine as a precautionary measure.

BA cancels mainland China flights until end of March

British Airways has cancelled all flights to mainland China until the end of March as the UK government continues to advise against all but essential travel to China.

We have cancelled flights to and from Beijing and Shanghai until March 31, 2020, a BA spokesman said in a statement.

Flights to and from Hong Kong continue to operate as normal. We are contacting customers on cancelled flights so we can discuss their travel options, including rebooking onto other carriers where possible, full refunds or booking with BA for a later date of travel.





UK says two of its confirmed cases are healthcare workers

Two of the new coronavirus cases the UK announced on Monday are healthcare workers, Public Health England said.

Earlier, the UK said the number of cases had doubled to eight as the government declared the virus a serious and imminent threat, giving it additional powers to isolate those suspected of being infected.

We are now working urgently to identify all patients and other healthcare workers who may have come into close contact, and at this stage we believe this to be a relatively small number, Public Health England Medical Director Yvonne Doyle said in a statement.

IMF warns of virus hit to Japans economy

A prolonged and widespread coronavirus outbreak could hit Japans economy, affecting tourism, retail and exports, among other areas, a senior International Monetary Fund official has warned.

The spread of the coronavirus poses an emerging risk to Japans economy, although the economic impact will depend on the extent of the spread of the disease and policy responses, Paul Cashin, the IMFs mission chief for Japan, told Reuters news agency.

If prolonged and widespread, this would likely affect Japans tourism and retail activities through a decline in tourist arrivals and spending from China and elsewhere, he said in a written interview.

Global Grain conference in Singapore postponed

The Global Grain Asia conference scheduled for March 9-11 in Singapore has been postponed by at least three months due to the coronavirus outbreak, organisers of the event told Reuters news agency.

The event will now take place either on June 17-19 or on June 29-July 1, they said.

The WHO investigation in China: What to expect

The arrival of the WHO investigation team in China will hopefully give the world a good glimpse of whats going on in China, Dr Amesh Adalja of John Hopkins University said.

That team will be bringing some of the world class epidemiologists from the WHO who will be able to really understand the transmission dynamics going on, understand the severity of illness, understand the challenges that China is facing with this outbreak, he told Al Jazeera.

Apple iPhone maker Foxconn approved to resume production: Reuters

Apple iPhone maker Foxconn has received Chinese government approval to resume production at a key plant in the southern city of Shenzhen, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters news agency.

The plants reopening after the Lunar New Year holiday had been delayed due to the spread of the coronavirus in China.

About 20,000 people, or roughly 10 percent of Foxconns workforce in Shenzhen, had returned to the plant as of Monday, the source said, adding that the company told some of its employees there late on Monday to return to work the next day.

Delivery men in China providing a lifeline despite risks

Delivery men in China have become a lifeline as concerns over the spread of the coronavirus persuade many people to remain indoors, but the threat of the virus is taking its toll.

Of course Im scared. This virus is very serious but what can I do? I have to keep this job, Wang Yan Ling, a delivery driver in Beijing told Al Jazeera. All I can do now is wear the mask and gloves.

Delivery drivers have been bringing food and other essentials to Chinese choosing to stay indoors [Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo]

Despite relying on such drivers for food and other essentials, some have become wary about these well traveled individuals.

That delivery driver has been to too many places and has had contact with too many people, Li Dahe, a shop owner said, referring to a different driver from the man quoted above.

I need to be more cautious around workers like him.

WHO team arrives in China

An advance WHO team of experts have arrived in China to investigate the coronavirus outbreak, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

Tedros, who visited Beijing for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chinese ministers in late January, returned with an agreement on sending an international mission. It took nearly two weeks to get the Chinese governments approval on its composition.

Tedros, speaking in Geneva, said there had been concerning incidents of an onward spread of the virus in people with no history of travel to China which could be the spark that becomes a bigger fire.

Nissan to halt production at Japan factory

Nissan Motor Co will temporarily halt production at its plant in Kyushu, southern Japan, due to the coronavirus, the Japanese carmaker said.

In a statement, Nissan, the first carmaker to halt production at a plant in Japan because of the outbreak, said that output would be affected on Friday and February 17 due to supply shortages of parts from China.

The stoppage could impact production of around 3,000 vehicles, the Nikkei reported, underlining the extent to which manufacturers in the worlds third-largest economy are reliant on China for supplies.





Russia quarantines top Chinese consul as precaution: Interfax

Russian authorities have quarantined a top Chinese diplomat as a safety precaution against coronavirus shortly after he arrived in China to take up his new post, Interfax news agency reported.

Consul General Cui Shaochun arrived in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on Thursday to start his new job but instead of having scheduled meetings, he was told to stay at home for two weeks, Russian foreign ministry official Alexander Kharlov was quoted as saying.

Xi: China must have confidence that it will win battle against virus

Chinese President Xi Jinping said his country must have confidence that that we will eventually win this battle against the epidemic.

Wearing a surgical mask to visit medical staff at Ditan Hospital in the Chinese capital Beijing, Xi had his temperature checked by a community worker and waved to residents in their apartments, footage from state broadcaster CCTV showed.

Xis appearance at Ditan Hospital was his first among the public since the outbreak began [Pang Xinglei/Xinhua via AP Photo]

We must fight the battle, the total warfare and the peoples war against the epidemic with full confidence. We must have the confidence that we will definitely win, he said.

It is the first time the president has appeared among the public since the epidemic started.

Schools, offices deserted as holiday ends in China

The extended Lunar New Year holiday has ended, but this did not lead to the widespread reopening of businesses amid concerns of a potential uptick in coronavirus cases.

Most companies that can function with staff working remotely have told employees to work from home.

Schools were also due to welcome back students in recent days, but the epidemic has forced most schools to postpone return dates.

Read more here.

Xi says will prevent large-scale layoffs

Chinese President Xi Jinping said the government will prevent large-scale layoffs amid the coronavirus outbreak that has severely disrupted the worlds second-largest economy, state television reported.

Xi also said China will strive to meet its economic and social targets for the year, as he reiterated that Beijing would win the battle against the outbreak.

Xi donned a blue mask and white surgical gown to meet doctors at Beijing Ditan hospital, observe the treatment of patients and speak via video link to doctors in Wuhan, state media said.

Read the full story here.

People wearing masks pass by portraits of Chinese President Xi Jinping and late Chinese chairman Mao Zedong as the country is hit by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, on a street in Shanghai, China [Aly Song/Reuters]

EU calls emergency talks on new coronavirus

The European Union will host an extraordinary meeting of health ministers on Thursday, along with a WHO envoy, to discuss the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Now is the time to join forces to stop this epidemic, said European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic.

So far, 33 cases of the new strain have been detected in EU countries.

Mongolia suspends coal exports to China

Mongolia will suspend deliveries of coal across its southern border into China until March 2 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the countrys National Emergency Commission said.

Exports via the border points of Gashuunsukhait, Shiveekhuren, Bichigt and Bulgan will all be stopped, the commission said. The body is also recommending that Mongolias Tsagaan Sar new year celebrations be suspended.

Ukraine to evacuate citizens from Wuhan

Ukraine is preparing to evacuate its citizens from the city of Wuhan in Chinas Hubei province on Tuesday by special charter plane to Kyiv, a statement from the countrys embassy in China said.

Returning citizens would be put into mandatory quarantine for two weeks, the statement said.

Four new coronavirus cases in UK

Four more patients in the United Kingdom have tested positive for coronavirus, taking the total number of cases in the UK to eight, Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said.

The new cases were all known contacts of a previously confirmed British patient in France, and were identified by public health officials working to trace possible cases.

Read more about where cases have been confirmed here.

Sixty-five new infections confirmed on cruise ship in Japan

Sixty-five new infections of the coronavirus have been confirmed on board the Diamond Princess ship, Japans health ministry said.

That brings total cases on the ship docked in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, to 135.

Princess Cruises, the ships operator, said the newly diagnosed cases included Japanese nationals, Americans, Australians, Filipinos, a Canadian and a Ukrainian.

China says 27 foreigners infected

Chinas Foreign Ministry said 27 foreigners in the country have been confirmed as being infected with the new coronavirus, and two had died.

Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang confirmed that a US citizen died on February 6 and a Japanese on February 8.

Three of the cases have been discharged, he told reporters in Beijing.

UK declares coronavirus imminent threat

The UK said the new coronavirus was a serious and imminent threat to public health, a step that gives the government additional powers to fight the spread of the virus.

Measures outlined in these regulations are considered as an effective means of delaying or preventing further transmission of the virus, UKs health ministry said in a statement.

The ministry designated Arrowe Park Hospital and Kents Hill Park as an isolation facility and Wuhan and Hubei province in China as an infected area.





Airbnb suspends bookings in Beijing until February 29

Airbnb said it has suspended bookings in Beijing until February 29, Reuters news agency reported.

In light of the novel coronavirus outbreak and guidance from local authorities for the short-term rental industry during this public health emergency, bookings of all listings in Beijing with check-in from 7 February 2020 to 29 February 2020 have been suspended, the short-term home rental company said in an email statement.

The decision was only for Beijing, a spokesperson for Airbnb China said, adding that the company evaluates the situation and works to comply with guidance from local authorities.

Sixty more confirmed with coronavirus on cruise ship in Japan

Testing on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan has found 60 more confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, domestic broadcaster TBS TV said via Twitter.

That brings total cases on the ship docked in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, to 130, according to TBS.

The liner was placed on a two-week quarantine after arriving at Yokohama on February 3.

Passengers stretch on the balcony of their cabins on the cruise ship Diamond Princess, where scores of passengers have been found to have the coronavirus [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]

Coronavirus sends China prices higher

Consumer prices in China rose the fastest in more than eight years in January, official data showed on Monday.

The consumer price index (CPI), a key gauge of retail inflation, came in at 5.4 percent in January, up from 4.5 percent in December as prices of pork and fresh vegetables rose.

Food prices spiked 20.6 percent.

The new coronavirus has disrupted businesses, travel and supply chains and is already affecting Hong Kongs economy.

Southeast Asian countries popular with tourists from mainland China are also feeling the pinch.

Golf: LPGA cancels Thailand, Singapore events due to coronavirus

The LPGA Tour, the elite womens professional golf circuit, said on Monday it was cancelling tournaments in Thailand and Singapore that were supposed to take place later this month because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The LPGA said it would not hold the Honda LPGA Thailand event in Pattaya, which was scheduled for February 20-23, or the HSBC Womens World Championship, which was supposed to take place in Singapore from February 27  March 1.

It is always a difficult decision to cancel events and the LPGA greatly appreciates the understanding and all the efforts made by our title sponsors as well as IMG to host incredible events for our players, it said.

The health and safety of our players, fans and everyone working on the event is always our highest priority.

WHO expresses concern about virus among people with no China travel history

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there had been concerning instances of coronavirus among people who had no history of travelling to China and urged all countries to prepare for the possible arrival of the virus.

The detection of a small number of cases may indicate more widespread transmission in other countries; in short, we may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg, Tedros said in a series of tweets on Monday morning.

Announcing an advance team for a WHO-led international expert mission to China led by Dr Bruce Aylward, a veteran of past public health emergencies was on its way to the country, he urged countries to share their knowledge about the virus with the agency in real-time and to remain calm.

I reiterate my call on all countries to share what they know about #2019nCoV in real time with @WHO. I reiterate my call for calm. I reiterate my call for solidarity  human, financial and scientific solidarity. Any breach in solidarity is a victory for the virus.  Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) February 9, 2020

Read the updates from Sunday, February 9 here.
New Delhi: Supreme Court on Monday (February 10) will hear pleas seeking removal of anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protesters from Delhi's Shaheen Bagh area, where protests have been going on for almost two months.

The Shaheen Bagh had lately gained nationwide attention due to a continued anti-CAA sit-in by people, especially Muslim women against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Population Register and National Register of Citizens.

Anti-CAA protests erupted in various parts of the country, including the Shaheen Bagh area of Delhi, after Parliament gave its nod to the Citizenship Amendment Bill in December last year.

Earlier on February 7, the apex court had deferred hearing till Monday on pleas seeking directions to the Delhi Police to take action to ensure smooth traffic movement on the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch. The road remains blocked due to the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests for over 50 days now.

On January 20, lawyer-activist Amit Sahni had submitted his plea seeking 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," the plea had stated.

Sahni had submitted before the top court that the Delhi High Court did not order the forthwith removal of traffic restrictions observing 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.

The Delhi HC had asked the police to examine the issue while bearing in mind that law and order are supposed to be maintained.

Another petition was also filed by BJP leader Nand Kishor Garg seeking the apex court's directions for removing anti-CAA protesters from Shaheen Bagh.

A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde had asked Garg, the petitioner seeking court direction to remove road blockade at Shaheen Bagh, to approach the mentioning officer.

The anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh caused obstruction to entire vehicular and pedestrian movement from the road connecting two important cities i.e. Delhi and Noida.
Working in close partnership with patients, scientists at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Count Me In have identified new causes of a rare cancer of blood vessel walls called angiosarcoma. The research also points to possible therapeutic options for patients with this aggressive disease, who often have a poor prognosis.

The study is a result of the Angiosarcoma Project, a unique partnership between patients and scientists that empowers patients to contribute their medical records, biological samples, and voices to accelerate research. The work also shows how a crowd-sourced effort that unites a small and scattered group of patients can yield unexpected findings about a disease that has been difficult to study because it is so rare.

In the study, published in Nature Medicine, the researchers analyzed the genomes of nearly 50 tumor samples donated by angiosarcoma patients from across the United States and Canada. The team found dozens of mutated genes in various forms of the cancer, as well as clues suggesting that drugs approved for other types of cancer might be useful in treating some kinds of angiosarcoma.

"This work was only possible with our patient partners," said senior author Nikhil Wagle, an institute member at the Broad, a medical oncologist at Dana-Farber, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, and director of Count Me In. "The scientific insights they've helped generate have shed new light on the poorly understood roots of angiosarcoma, which urgently needs new treatment options for patients."

"When we saw the data for the first time, we were excited to see these discoveries were evident from the genomic data from the very beginning," said co-first author Corrie Painter, associate director of operations and scientific outreach for the Broad Cancer Program and associate director of Count Me In. "Working with patients to design and build the project from the start has been a phenomenal experience." Painter, a scientist, became a patient advocate after her own angiosarcoma diagnosis in 2010.

Patient partnership

The Angiosarcoma Project launched in 2017 and is part of Count Me In, which aims to catalyze research on several cancer types by directly engaging cancer patients online to enroll in biomedical studies, no matter where they live in the United States or Canada. Count Me In was built off the success of the initial effort, the Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) Project, which has also resulted in numerous discoveries. The Angiosarcoma Project aimed to assess this model of patient partnership in the context of a rare disease, where research is greatly needed to improve patient outcomes.

Angiosarcoma arises in endothelial cells, which form the inner linings of blood vessels and can occur anywhere in the body, but it is most commonly found in the skin, breast, liver, and spleen. It is an extremely rare cancer, with only 300 new cases each year in the United States, and prognosis is generally poor. Patients are scattered across the country, so large studies to find the illness's molecular underpinnings have not been feasible until now.

The ASCproject team established a social media working group to connect patients with angiosarcoma and loved ones online and invite them to help shape the project's outreach strategy. With feedback from patient partners, the team built an online portal at ascproject.org that allows patients in the U.S. and Canada to join the study and contribute their medical history and tumor or blood samples for DNA testing. Within 18 months of launching the ASCproject, 338 patients had registered, a large proportion of all patients in the U.S. with angiosarcoma.

With patient consent, the project staff obtained medical records and tumor samples from a subset of the registered patients. The Broad's Genomics Platform sequenced the exome, or protein-coding regions, of 47 of these tumor samples along with germline (inherited) DNA from the same patients. Co-first author Esha Jain, a computational biologist in the Wagle lab, led the analysis of the data, which revealed 30 genes that were frequently mutated in several tumors. Some of these genes had never been associated with angiosarcoma, such as PIK3CA, GRIN2A, and NOTCH2.

Potential treatment options

Most of the samples with mutations in PIK3CA were in cases of angiosarcoma of the breast. The researchers looked at where the mutations fell in the gene itself and deduced that they were likely to be "activating" mutations, meaning they give the protein a new or enhanced function. This suggests that blocking the PIK3CA pathway with an FDA-approved drug known as a PI3 kinase inhibitor could be helpful for patients with breast angiosarcomas that carry one of these mutations.

The PIK3CA gene is also mutated in breast adenocarcinoma, a different type of cancer that happens to occur in the same tissue, suggesting that something about the cellular environment of the breast encourages these tumors to develop.

"Findings like this can really open up the doors in terms of how we think about genes in tissue-specific contexts for cancer tumorigenesis," said Painter. "We never would have had that insight without this data."

The team measured the tumors' overall rate of mutation and learned that angiosarcomas of the head, neck, face, and scalp (HNFS) have a higher burden of mutations than the others. The pattern of those mutations has previously been linked to damage from ultraviolet radiation, suggesting that sun damage may have led to disease in these patients.

Because other tumors with excessive mutations have responded to treatment with drugs known as immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), the researchers hypothesized that these medicines might help patients with HNFS. In fact, they found two patients in the study with HNFS angiosarcoma who, after failing to respond to standard treatments, were given off-label ICIs and responded exceptionally well to the therapy. Despite needing to discontinue the treatment because of side effects, those patients remain disease-free today without any further treatment for their cancer. This suggests that ICIs could potentially help some patients with this subtype.

Growing impact

More work is needed to prove whether these non-standard treatments are effective for patients, but the findings have invigorated angiosarcoma research. At least three clinical trials are underway that now include angiosarcoma patients because of the data in this study, which was shared with the scientific and medical community before publication.

The ASCproject continues to enroll patients and analyze data, and it has now reached nearly 500 registered patients. "It was an aspirational goal that I honestly didn't know if we would ever reach, let alone achieve in two and a half years," said Painter.

Jim Chapdelaine, a guitarist and Emmy Award-winning recording musician in Hartford, Connecticut, was first diagnosed with angiosarcoma in 1976. He enrolled in the study in the hopes that his experience as an exceptionally long-lived survivor might help benefit other patients. "It feels amazing to know that I and others in the patient community helped fuel these new discoveries," he said. "I hope for a cure one day, but this study helps open scientific doors and we hope that people will now walk through them."

Painter explained that the new findings are hopeful, but also bittersweet, as she remembers friends in the angiosarcoma community who did not survive the illness. "The participants in the ASCproject have signed up in the hopes that this will help people down the road," she said. "We are grateful that in the midst of their own diagnosis, they wanted to do their part to help prevent the suffering of other patients."

###

Paper cited:

Painter CA, Jain E, Tomson B, et al. The Angiosarcoma Project: enabling genomic and clinical discoveries in a rare cancer through patient-partnered research. Nature Medicine. DOI: 10.1038/s41591-019-0749-z

About the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard was launched in 2004 to empower this generation of creative scientists to transform medicine. The Broad Institute seeks to describe the molecular components of life and their connections; discover the molecular basis of major human diseases; develop effective new approaches to diagnostics and therapeutics; and disseminate discoveries, tools, methods, and data openly to the entire scientific community.

Founded by MIT, Harvard, Harvard-affiliated hospitals, and the visionary Los Angeles philanthropists Eli and Edythe L. Broad, the Broad Institute includes faculty, professional staff, and students from throughout the MIT and Harvard biomedical research communities and beyond, with collaborations spanning over a hundred private and public institutions in more than 40 countries worldwide. For further information about the Broad Institute, go to http://www.broadinstitute.org.
Crop on over 1.49 lakh hectares has been damaged in various districts due the locust attack since May, Rajasthan Agriculture Minister Lal Chand Kataria informed the state assembly here on Monday.

He, however, said no significant damage was caused to the kharif crop due to a prompt action by the authorities when swarms of locust entered Jaisalmer on May 21 last year.

"Fresh locust swarms entered the country in December 2019 due to wind intensity and lack of effective control over locusts by neighbouring country Pakistan," he said amid the BJP criticism that the state did not take timely action to tackle the problem.

He said the crop on 1,49,881 hectares--54,989 hectares in Jaisalmer, 53,682 hectares in Jalore, 33,788 hectares in Barmer, 2,549 hectares in Bikaner, 2,308 hectares in Jodhpur--was damaged.

He said till date the locust control exercise had been taken up on 5,29,602 hectares and pesticides were given to farmers at 100 per cent subsidy.

Earlier, Deputy Leader of the Opposition Rajendra Rathore said that state government could shy away from its responsibility.

On this, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot intervened and said he was speaking without complete knowledge.

Gehlot said, "Your Union minister in the Rajya Sabha has said that the Rajasthan government did the best job in locust control. Even if you don't believe us, trust the Union minister of your government.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
It was a mistake to create a separate department to deal with Brexit, a British former minister has said.

Former prime minister Theresa May's de facto deputy David Lidington said the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) should have been "an annex to the Cabinet Office and Number 10".

The former Tory cabinet minister added that with a different approach to Brexit negotiations at the start of the process "it would have been possible then to come to the deal earlier".

DExEU was closed on Friday, January 31, Brexit deadline day.

"I think that, as is now recognised, it was a mistake to create DExEU as a separate department.

"Now, that's not to denigrate the officials or the ministers who work there, but the fact you had then DExEU try to do things and Number 10 and the cabinet trying to do things as well.

"But trying to knit that together just took more energy and time than should have been necessary."

He also revealed that the cross-party talks between the Conservatives and the Labour Party came "pretty close" to finding a compromise over Brexit.

"I think, at the end of the day, perhaps late in the day, it was just there was an unwillingness on both sides, to make the final leap."

Asked whether Mrs May was to blame for what happened, he said: "Ultimately, every prime minister has responsibility for what happens in their government.

"I think that, I do think the mistakes were made early," he said.

"I think that if you go back to 2016, I don't think that there was sufficient recognition of, you know, how hard some of the political choices in the negotiations would be."
YEREVAN.  Jon Farkhoyan former Head of the Yerevan Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of Armenia, has been released on bail, the National Security Service (NSS) today informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

The NSS had petitioned to the court with a request to arrest Farkhoyan.

According to information Armenian News-NEWS.am has ascertained, Farkhoyan was earlier detained as part of the indictment against Vahagn Vermishyan, Chairman of the Urban Development Committee.

As reported earlier, the court has granted the investigator's motion to arrest Vermishyan.

Within the framework of a criminal case initiated by the NSS into taking large-scale bribe, the crime suspects were apprehended, two of themincluding the chairman of the aforementioned committeewere detained.

Moreover, while being questioned as a suspect, this bribe-taking official confessed to committing the crime.

The investigation is still in progress.
ONTONAGON, MI  Police are investigating a shooting just outside the Upper Peninsula village of Ontonagon.

Troopers from the Michigan State Police Wakefield Post were among those who responded to the scene around 8:35 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 9. The Ontonagon County Sheriff Department also responded.

An investigation revealed that a 24-year-old male from Greenland Township shot a 23-year-old male from the Ontonagon. The victim was transported to the Aspirus Ontonagon Hospital where he was later transferred to the Aspirus Wausau Hospital in Wisconsin.

The suspect was located and taken into custody. He was lodged in the Ontonagon County Jail. The Investigation into what caused the shooting is ongoing.

The Marquette Forensic Lab and MSP Iron Mountain Post assisted are assisting in the investigation.
Beginning its maiden deployment, USS Little Rock (LCS 9) departed its Mayport, Florida, homeport Feb. 6 for the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility, where the Freedom-variant littoral combat ship will operate.

Beginning its maiden deployment, USS Little Rock (LCS 9) departed its Mayport, Florida, homeport Feb. 6 for the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility, where the Freedom-variant littoral combat ship will operate.

The Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Little Rock (LCS 9) departs Naval Station Mayport for the ship's maiden deployment.(Picture: US Navy)

U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet employ forces in cooperative maritime security operations to maintain access, fortify the ability of U.S. forces to work with partner nations, and build enduring partnerships, with the goal of enhancing regional security and promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the Caribbean and the Central and South American regions.

Little Rock is expected to conduct operations in support of the multinational Campaign MARTILLO targeting illicit trafficking routes in coastal waters along Central America. The ships operations will involve practical exercises and exchanges with partner nations in support of Campaign MARTILLO, launched in January 2012. Little Rock will also support 4th Fleet interoperability and reinforce the U.S position as the regional partner of choice.

This deployment will be the third to this region and third to include a Freedom-variant LCS in support of Joint Interagency Task Force Souths Campaign MARTILLO. The first deployment was made by USS Freedom (LCS 1) in 2010, followed by USS Detroit (LCS 7) in October 2019.

Little Rock will also demonstrate its operational capabilities and allow the Navy to evaluate crew rotation and maintenance plans. While in the Caribbean, Central and South American regions, the ship will rotate deployments of two crews, Blue and Gold, who will rotate aboard every four to five months, maintaining consistency and allowing a continuous presence in the region.

Little Rock will initially be manned by its Gold Crew of more than 90 Sailors, including surface warfare mission-package personnel; a U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement detachment; and an aviation detachment, who will operate an embarked MH-60 helicopter and MQ-8B Fire Scout Vertical Takeoff Unmanned Vehicles.

"I expect this deployment to offer a great opportunity to work together with regional partners throughout Southern Command [AOR]," said Cmdr. Brad Long, USS Little Rock Gold Crews commanding officer. We hope to advance and strengthen these partnerships to enhance the security in that region.

An LCS is a fast, agile and networked surface combatant, optimized for littoral zones. The primary missions for the LCS include countering threats from diesel submarines, littoral mines and attacks by small surface craft, to assure maritime access for joint forces. The strength of the LCS lies in its innovative modular design, which increases operational flexibility. USS Little Rock was commissioned Dec. 16, 2017, and is the second ship named for the Arkansas capital city.
How Was The Wuhan Coronavirus Outbreak Turned Into a Political Show?  Dr. Lin Xiaoxu

Narration: Two months into the Wuhan Coronavirus Epidemic

Dr. Lin Xiaoxu: If you look in the Chinese media on the CCTV, youll still see maybe 99% of the reports regarding the outbreak, which is emphasizing how much effort is the government already doing.

Simone Gao: They reported the medical authorities limited the testing kit that the hospitals can use.

Mr. Lin: So my appeal to the United States CDC is: Dont use the Chinese official data as your only source to know about the true situation of this outbreak.

Narration: Entire China is in self quarantine.

Ms. Gao: What other problems will emerge from this long shutting down of cities and provinces and basically the whole country.

Mr. Lin: I think these will change in a very fundamental way about how Chinese peoples, uh, live their life or next few months

Narration: And reports emerged that the Chinese Communist Party has prepared for the worst.

Ms. Gao: What do they mean by that? They can, they only have the resources to protect those 11 cities and they dont have the resources to protect the rest or they dont care. They just only care about the 11 cities. What do they mean?

Narration: Is the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak going to stay at the level of SARS, MERS and Ebola or is it going to be much worse? How are the Chinese people coping with the crisis? And whats the Communist leaderships bottom line if the epidemic grows out of control ? My interview with Dr. Lin Xiaoxu, a Chinese and American trained microbiologist. He was lab director of viral disease branch of the walter reed army institute of research who was involved in the outbreak response for MERS in the Middle East in 2014.

Host: I am Simone Gao, and you are watching Zooming In.

Title: How Was the Wuhan Coronavirus Outbreak Turned into a Political Show: Dr. Lin Xiaoxu

Simone Gao: Thank you very much Dr. Lin for being with us today on Zooming In.

Dr. Lin Xiaoxu: Thank you very much. Its my pleasure to be with you.

Ms. Gao: A Lancet article suggested that the market is not the only source of the virus and it might not be the origin of the virus either. Science Magazine went along with that conclusion and said the origin of the virus has not been found. What does that say to the development of the vaccine and what does that mean to the containment of the epidemic?

Mr. Lin: Okay, so lets first talk about this report from a Lancet journal. So basically this study studied the first 41 patients that were initially identified in Wuhan, China. So among them only 27 of them actually had a history related to the Huanan seafood market. So its called seafood market, but basically it is a live animal market that sells live poultry too. So actually14 of the 41 patients dont have any history of visiting the Huanan seafood market. So this is a big question. So how did these people got infected? And now that these people are actually like interacting with the other 27 patients who are not this case. And also another Lancet report studied six patients actually from Shenzhen thats way south in China, and among these six patients, five of them visited Wuhan, two of them visited the local hospital, but when they went back to Shenzhen, they also transmitted the virus to another family member. So all these cases they are not related to the Huanan seafood market. And also another report mentioned that one of the earliest patients identified was actually on December 1st. And that case was also not related to Huanan seafood market. So this raised a big question. The Huanan seafood market may be causing a large number of the patients to get infected but they are not the original one. It may not be the only one. So thats why its a difficult situation to identify the true origin of the infection.

So this has become a completely different story from what the government originally said because if you read the public health alert from the public health commission or the health commission in Wuhan cityon December 31st and January 3rd and January 5th they released the initial public health alerts. They always mentioned that this is related to the Huanan seafood market.

Ms. Gao: They said its related. But I think one article even said the seafood market is the cause of the epidemic.

Mr. Lin: Yeah, Because if you only release very brief information from media interpreting these stories, quite often they will simplify and they all say this is related to the seafood market, but I think the public health officers in Wuhan probably know the situation is a lot more complicated than just one seafood market. Right? So thats why it presents serious challenge.

Ms. Gao: In other words you think theyre misleading, they just simplify the situation and give people the impression that this comes from the seafood market.

Mr. Lin: Yeah. It could be like that. And it could be they simplify their assumption. They think most of the cases are related to the seafood market. But I think the problem is that in China, the official data that had been released in early January was so limited. And in those early public health alerts, they didnt mention any patients demographics, like you didnt know any patients age, their sex or their occupation, no information like that. So from a public health aspect there is so much of a dark side that you dont know. (Like) A black hole and they already had this information its just that the government didnt want to release it. Right? Or the hospital knewit was simple, right? Among these 41 patients, how many people are male and the age range..this is simple information that you can release to the public and it wont cause panic. Right? But the government even didnt release this information in the early alert. Thats why people dont know enough. And even for scientists overseas, they try to understand this outbreak. It may be a small cluster outbreak right? But it may be a serious one. But (from the) outside its so hard to understand whats going on in Wuhan.

Ms. Gao: Right. Tell me why identifying the origin of the virus is essential.

Mr. Lin: When you know where is the origin of the virus, then you may know, for example, a certain animal actually brought the virus to humans, right? If its a zoonotic infection, then people know how to handle it much better. For example, if you know its swine fever, right? You know, maybe a pig is the one that transmitted the virus to humans. Then of course you see that the government can take measures to close down this slaughter house for the pigs and pig farmsclose it down. Right? So you know where it comes from. If its a rat, you know how to eradicate rats. If its a mosquito transmitted disease you need to do more environmental cleaning and clear up the mosquitoes source. Right?

Ms. Gao: If for example this virus originated from a bat and then jumped into like a cat or a chicken or something, but now people understand. They detect the virus from the chicken instead of the bat and they think thats the origin. That could cause problems, right? They would limit the chicken but not the bat.

Mr. Lin: Yeah. So in this scenario the bat could be the original source and then a chicken or other poultry is an intermediate host, Right? So if you know the original one, you know maybethose people who were selling the chicken, they maybe visited some other (place like a) bat cave for (for example), in Southern regions they have a lot of bat caves and they got infected because a bat virus needs a certain chance to transmit into these other animals and adapt for awhile before it can transmit to humans. So if you know the transmission route, then you can easily check what would be the root source. Right? But if you only know only one seafood market and they are selling so many different animals there, how do you know which one is causing the problem? And if the cave is very far away from Wuhan, then maybe it can cause another class outbreak in other cities too. That is why it becomes even harder to contain the problem.

Ms. Gao: Right. Is not being able to identify the origin of the virus a big hurdle in terms of developing vaccines?

Mr. Lin: It may not be a big huddle right now cause with, uh, the reason that the advancement in, uh, uh, vexing industries, uh, also in the virology or immunology. So now as long you got the virus a sequence, you, if youve got the virus culture, youve got the virus stock, uh, you can use different ways to develop our sayings. So, um, you can do the kill the vaccines, you know, and if you know the sequence, you can do certain sub unit, uh, vaccines. For example, the virus, uh, Greg reporting on the surface, despite protein, you can use a subunit and in to stimulate an immune response into peoples bodies. So you may not be a whole virus vaccine, you can be a small subunit vaccine. We can try these different ways. And so thats why the vaccine industry nowadays has more tools in their hands and to develop vaccine. So even if you dont know where the virus come from, you can probably develop certain vaccine there can be somewhat effective in control of the situation.

Ms. Gao: Right, because an article from the Institute of a virology indicates that it will have virus lab, [inaudible] lab, the highest security level lab in new Haven. They study viruses like the one thats fund in the epidemic, almost identical ones. So if they already know the virus, they have been studying the virus virus, why have they not being able to develop a vaccine in time?

Mr. Lin: So the study of the virus, the coronavirus has many aspects, right? So you can start a virus pathogenicity you can start its origin, you can study, its a vaccine developments, right? So in, uh, in the East to the virology, which is definitely one of the top, uh, uh, virology Institute in China, or you can say even in the whole molecular biology field, they are one of the top Institute in China. So thats why in 2017, they did identify, uh, the bad coronavirus and they collected in one of the cave in Yunnan.

Ms. Gao: Oh, so they said they collected the virus from Yunnan, not from the seafood market in Wuhan.

Mr. Lin: Yeah. And thats not related to Wuhan at the time. So it was related to Yunnan, and they actually found the virus went through so many cycles of recombination and can generate a really SARS-like coronavirus. But anyway, SARS coronavirus is in the genetic pool of the bet coronavirus. So when they found (out about) this situation, they actually said we helped the Civit to clear his name, because originally people blamed Civit (for being) the animal that caused the SARS outbreak. So now they said, actually they trace it back to the bet. And so when they got this bet coronavirus or you got a recombination of a new bet coronavirus through your experiments, youve got this in your hand, of course you have a very powerful tool that you can further develop a vaccine against it.

Mr. Lin: But I dont know, like how much effort theyve already done with the vaccine development. I believe they will be trying to, cause even in 2004 right after SAS outbreak, Chinese scientists started developed works vaccine for the virus. But overall vaccine development is always challenging. Even though there are quite often people saying we found potential vaccine candidates but not too many vaccine trials were successful passing phase one, phase two. So you can develop different ones, especially the subunit vaccines and different tools. You can develop it, you can try it on animal tests and then when you go to a human level, phase one, phase two, it is quite difficult. For example, in 2014 when the Ebola broke out in Africa, very soon in three months, the scientists in the world develop a vaccine against Ebola virus.

Ms. Gao: You said three months is quick?

Mr. Lin: Three months is quick. Very quick, actually.

Ms. Gao: Still too late for the Ebola outbreak.

Mr. Lin: Its kinda late, and the problem is that it was only partially effective. And then when people were using these vaccine again in the 2018 Ebola outbreak in Congo, their local public health officer actually later on claimed that this is not effective.

Ms. Gao: Because the virus had mutated.

Mr. Lin: It could be mutated and you know, and it could be at a time when you first try in such an emergency response, it was a very limited try. You only have few patients can test this vaccine, right. So theres a lot of questions regarding about the scale of the trial.

Ms. Gao: Right. So give us an assessment of the current stage of vaccine development for this new virus.

Mr. Lin: I think its at the very beginning age for this vaccine development. One good thing is that you know the full genome sequence already and some of the labs already got the virus collected from the patient samples. So you definitely have ways to design different vaccines. Thats why so many scientists globally are actually kind of racing to develop different type of vaccines.

Ms. Gao: So how long is it gonna take for them to make this thing?

Mr. Lin: It will take several months. Especially (since) it has to go through animal tests and then phase one trials before they can actually use it on humans.

Ms. Gao: Is that going to be too late?

Mr. Lin: We dont know. We dont know how long this epidemic may last. So a universal vaccine can be like a fundamental way to prevent the disease further spread. But this also relates to another serious issue which is about the immune response that people can generate against different types of vaccines. And for people who are doing vaccine development for a long time, theyre always facing the issue in the modern age because people, so many people, their health condition is not ideal, right? So even the same vaccine you put on the people now, they may not generate a strong enough vaccine or the antibody type generated from this vaccine may not be so sustainablemay not last for long time.

So you can develop different drugs, but people change, peoples immune systems have become weaker than before. Especially so many younger generation people they sleep late, they have all kinds of computer games and they dont engage in too much exercise. So their overall physical condition is a weaker. Even in the military you can see the young recruits, their physical condition is weaker than previous generations. So your immune system in the whole society is over all weaker. So the same vaccine given to people (today) stimulates less immune response. So the key issue is for people to defend themselves. You still (need to) build up your own immune strengths. This is still fundamental. The vaccine is only helps to stimulate it, right? If youre weaker, I cannot stimulate you to become stronger.

Ms. Gao: I think a more pressing issue is antibiotics for this virus. The real cure for this virus is

Mr. Lin: Is antivirus drugs.

Ms. Gao: How is that going?

Mr. Lin: So antiviral drugs may have some potential candidates because we dont have specific anti-novel coronavirus drugs. Definitely it will take an even longer time.

Ms. Gao: (It will take longer) than the vaccine?

Mr. Lin: It will take longer time than the vaccine.

Ms. Gao: So we shouldnt put hopes on a cure for now.

Mr. Lin: (Finding a) cure is always difficult. Basically you try to contain the situation. You try to slow down, for example, the inflammatory response, that is stimulated by this novel coronavirus because the virus may cause overproduction of cytokines which can lead to more severe inflammatory responses in their lungs. It can be systematic inflammatory response in the human body. And so basically a lot of treatments try to slow down the symptoms, slow down the virus replication or reduce the scale of the overproduction of your cytokines, things like that. So there are different drugs used for previous explosions of other outbreaks (which) you may use for this novel coronavirus.

Ms. Gao: Are you saying theres no cure?

Mr. Lin: I dont think it has a cure. Even SARS, for 17 years, nobody says, I can cure SARS right? Even AIDS, Nobody says I cure AIDS. I only can help people live with AIDS for a longer time. And you can live with AIDS, you can live with HIV infection without symptoms.

Ms. Gao: Lets talk about the Wuhan situation right now. You know, half of China is shutting down and in Wuhan, 8 million people11 million peopleconsidering a lot of them already left Wuhan. So say 8 million people are quarantined. We have seen reports from social media that theres still a big difficulty in the patients gettingthe confirmed patients getting treatment from the hospitals because theres a line, theres a long line and they have to wait for days to be called. And its even more difficult for those who develop the symptoms. They cant even go to the hospital because they dont have a car. So how do you assess the situation in Wuhan and how do you think it will evolve?

Mr. Lin: I think overalllet me say it this way. OverallI think the Chinese government needs to treat these outbreaks more seriously than it is right now. To me this is like a tsunami coming. So if you think the 2003 SARS outbreak, its like a big wave, a big tide. And this time I think its a tsunami.

Ms. Gao: What do you mean they need to be more serious? It seems to me, I mean from the media reports, from the official media reports, they are all in. They have done what they can. They have sent like hundreds of doctors to Wuhan city. Theyre building new hospitals and they are opening up hospitals and stuff. Why do you say theyre not serious enough?

Mr. Lin: The one aspect I talk about (regarding the) seriousness is to fully appreciate the potential risk there is that the outbreak could be spread more globally and it could be a real pandemic situation and the Chinese government still needs to be more transparent in releasing more information. So for example, the animal testing results for this virus. I know many of the institutes are probably already doing that. We dont have this information. This is also very important for global scientists to find a way to stop this transmission. And also its very important for the Chinese government to let the many hospitals in China that are dealing with these patients to have the authority to release information to the public. Like how many patients are hospitalized in your local hospitals, how many people have severe symptoms.

And how many people died. And this number needs to come from the hospital directly. And also local hospitals need to play a more important role to let the public know about any effective treatments so far and how many people are still infected in the community without treatment. Are they in self-quarantine situations? So the local authorities need to have more rights to release information to the public. So the whole world, not only Chinese people, the whole world will know the true scale of the outbreak thats happening in China. The reason that I say that the Chinese government is not really, really serious about it is because they do a lot of big scale government tactics, right? So you can lock down a whole city, but just as you mentioned, 5 million people already left Wuhan. So how about these 5 million people?

China has always claimed they have a big data. Now theyre a surveillance state, right? How about these 5 million people? Are you tracking down them, right? At the same time, if you look at the Chinese media on the CCTV, youll still see maybe 99% of the reports regarding the Wuhan outbreak, are emphasizing how much effort the government is already doing. How much effort the (communist) party is doing. Very, very little do you see the real problem that comes from the community. You didnt see CCTV interviewing people being self-quarantined or people that went to the hospital and cannot find any treatment and were forced to go home. So theres very little negative reporting. When they mentioned anything negative it is to try to use it as a backdrop for saying the government did so good to overcome the problem.

Ms. Gao: The Government is working so hard

Mr. Lin: Yeah, they are working so hard. They always bring so many different medical troops from different cities to support Wuhan right?different medical supplies arrive, the big corporation donate money, right? And people organize to help themselves. Youll find so many positive reports. Thats why you feel that the situation may be contained.

Ms. Gao: Yeah, theyre all in. Like if the government is really on top of this, we can trust the situation will be under control very quickly. I think thats the mentality. Of most of the Chinese people.

Mr. Lin: Yeah. Especially when youre watching CCTV all day long. Because when you are self-quarantining at home, you probably watch this news all the time, right? So you feel probably that this will pass in two weeks. But (knowledge of) the real situation is always only in the governments hands. The public still doesnt know. Thats why I said the government still hasnt treated this very, very seriously in a transparent way.

Ms. Gao: Right? So whats your assessment of the situation in Wuhan?

Mr. Lin: I think the situation definitely is much worse than what the government tells the world right now. And we see the estimate, from scientists from the UK, from Hong Kong. Theyve all predicted the number of infections (would be) about a hundred thousand in Wuhan alone? With so many people infected with very limited medical resource available. Its very hard to contain the spreading, the transmission of this virus, even just in one city. Even though the government tried to basically shut down all the transportation, no traffic flow in the cities, but its still very hard to contain it. And the government is very good at showing people that they do very draconic measures, right? They build the two hospitals with thousands of beds, but at the same time, you wonder before the bed is built, how about tens of thousands of people?

Ms. Gao: What have they done before?

Mr. Lin: Yeah. And if you think about the different potential tools that you can use in a city, in Wuhan, how many apartment buildings that are empty right? In China, you know, there are so many

Ms. Gao: They can just simply move those patients to those empty apartments.

Mr. Lin: And even whole building, theyre empty. Theyre many of the projects that are kind of stopped in the middle, right? So you can quickly finish something and fill these people in these empty apartments. And even you can use some of the big hotels that you can contain people in there. You dont have to build a whole new one, you can quickly do modification in the ventilation system, in a hotel, in apartment buildings to make them shoot better for quarantines right. But at least you can put thousands of people in these apartment buildings, hotels, and then you can easily start to treat them or at least isolate them in a better situation, maybe even one room per person. Thats even better than a hospital environment, because in these kinds of outbreak, hospitals are always one of the most dangerous place to cause additional transmission.

Ms. Gao: So do you think things will get a lot worse in Wuhan in the coming days, weeks?

Mr. Lin: I think youll still see another major rise of the infected cases in Wuhan and throughout China. More provinces will have more case reported. Especially now the government is at least producing more diagnostic kits and supplying to different regions. So the many other places started to be able to test the new coronavirus. So you will see more cases being reported. But at the same time, I also question these government management tools. Because once the diagnostic measures are identified by the WHO, by the Chinese scientist, every hospital in China, as long as you have the capacities, you can order these primers, to order these testing kit through commercial source. You can even use foreign pharmaceutical companies products to support it. You should open up and let people order it through different ways instead of waiting for the central government to do it.

Ms. Gao: Yeah. I assume you must have seen that report, I think its from the Epoch Times. They reported the medical authorities limited the (number of) testing kits that the hospitals can use. But by doing that, they can limit

Mr. Lin: The number of cases confirmed

Ms. Gao: I mean

Mr. Lin: Thats why, from the United States, from an overseas perspective. You always have (a hard time to) tell the true situation in China if you only read the official data. So my appeal to the United States government and to the CDC is: dont use the Chinese official data as your only source to know about the true situation of this outbreak. Definitely try to work with independent medias and get information through Chinese social networks. And you know, a lot of hospitals, maybe doctors, nurses, they will actually tell you the situations through their own selfie videos.

Ms. Gao: You just said do not use the official government source as their only source I would say probably not use them at all because it probably serves the opposite. If you listen to them, they gave you probably the very misleading information.

Mr. Lin: Yeah, it can be very misleading and thats why you have to decipher the message behind the communist message. And I used to do it and its so hard, right? So why the government gave people the very positive image that we may be able to control the situation, but at the same time, you see messages about the Wuhan municipal city agent request the central government to allow them to extend the holiday time to February 14? So this is even longer than the two weeks period, right? Because if you think about the coronavirus may have an incubation period for two weeks. So assume you close down the city on January 23rd, right? So suppose by February 8, most people may have been infected. If you dont have the disease, you probably already passed the most critical time. Right? But now the government wants to extend it, what does that mean? Right? So thats why I said the true situation is always a lot more serious than the government presented to the world.

Ms. Gao: So explain that to me. That means a lot more people are infected than they reported?

Mr. Lin: So the truth situation is always a lot more serious than what the government presented to the world regardless of whether its the number of severe patients or the death number and also suspected cases. In the United States we call it PUI (patient under investigation). So all of these numbers, if you time 10 times the official data, it may be more close to reality.

Ms. Gao: So you just talked about the government is going to extend the spring festival holiday to February 14th, and now basically China is shut down. What other problems will emerge from this long shutting down of cities and provinces and basically the whole country?

Mr. Lin: I think this will change in a very fundamental way about how Chinese people live their life for next few months, because if you just shut down for a few days, people can survive easily. Right? But if you lasted for three weeks, four weeks, then you see a lot of problems surfacing. And of course you can see the government try to mobilize different ways to supply food, vegetables, and all kinds of essentials to the cities, but thats

Ms. Gao: Have they been effective in that? Efficient and effective?

Mr. Lin: In certain ways, it definitely is effective because the government mobilized so many resources to support a city. Right?

Ms. Gao: But I heard stories from Wuhan that sick people dont get to go to the hospital and people who have symptoms have to wait in days. They didnt, they dont get picked up from the taxi or whatever the community cars theyre supposed to be able to use.

Mr. Lin: Yeah. Thats why people cannot rely simply on the governments supply, the government official way to support yourself. So I think its very important for people who are living in Wuhan, that are being quarantined down, they need to find a way to self-organize, to support themselves and collaborate with the hospital directly. You know, medical staffs directly. If you have people you know, sick at home, if they showing severe symptoms, dont just bring them to the hospital by yourself. Contact the hospitals, each hospital to have any additional manpower to come to pick up the patients. So it seems like theres some people need to find a way to support themselves and the governments try to find different way to support the city. But the government can always say this place is more important. I want to sacrifice other cities. And it was unavoidable that the governments like, I can see why its so important. I can maneuver all resources to support Wuhan. But how about other cities, other certain cities in Hubei province that also need a lot of resource, right?

Ms. Gao: Oh, by the way, did you see that report that says the central government has identified 11 cities that they want to safeguard?

Mr. Lin: Yeah. How about other places, right?

Ms. Gao: Yeah. What do they mean by that? That they only have the resources to protect those 11 cities and they dont have the resources to protect the rest or they dont care? They just only care about the 11 cities. What do they mean?

Mr. Lin: I think at first that it means these cities that they identify are facing very dire situations, so they have to support them. So you know, in China, these cities, they are not small and in many of them, maybe even midsize cities, millions of people (live) there. (These Are) not mega cities like Wuhan but they can still have a million people, Right? So the government has to identify some of the cities they can at least quickly mobilize resources to support these cities. But at the same time, they are basically saying for the countryside or other smaller cities, we wont be able to take care of you if you have an outbreak right now. So better prepare yourself. So basically you can interpret this in two different ways. These are very important like epicenters for this outbreak. Because I think right now maybe other smaller cities also have a large number of cases but the government didnt release (that information) yet. So the true situation is probably more than (just) Wuhan as the epicenter. Now maybe other cities already may have a significant number of cases. Especially in Hubei province. Because as you can imagine in Wuhan, how many people travel to nearby cities or the countryside. Right? So actually the whole Hubei province probably is in big trouble.

Ms. Gao: Right. Lets imagine that scenario a little bit. If the Chinese central government is only able to take care of 11 cities or whatever and all the rest of the country is left alone and if the epidemic really broke out. At that stage, dont you think the Chinese people are going to be very upset with the government? What would happen then?

Mr. Lin: The Chinese people definitely are upset with the government.

I think a lot of Chinese dont have other alternative ways to put their hopes on, right? Because Chinese government controls society in such thorough ways. So almost every aspect of their life you need the governments monitoring support or these kind control measures. So the government shut down the city. So you feel your only chance is to wait for the government to support you. Thats why its very, very difficult. But right now, the Chinese government still tries to make these major cities that have a lot of infection cases, as like a model case. They want to show the world they can contain the situation. Other cities, even a big city like Shanghai, there is news saying the Shanghai, (which is) probably the second largest city and in the list of potential infections. So what about Shanghai? Right? So theres another city with more than 10 million people. So what does Shanghai do to protect themselves? So of course a big city has different way to mobilize a neighboring province or city to support themselves. But overall it just becomes very difficult forthe overall situation has become very difficult for Chinese people to go through what I call calamity.

Ms. Gao: So whats your assessment of the Chinese communist partys ability to handle such a large scale public health crisis?

Mr. Lin: I think we can address this issue from different angles. So first, whats their purpose? Right? For the Chinese government, their fundamental purpose is to maintain their own power. So handling public crises is very important for them in terms of how they can maintain their own power in China. So they can do all kinds of (things) to show the people they can try to contain the situation and contain the outbreak. But the fundamental purpose is to keep the Chinese government in power, so they will portray all the very positive images and then try to keep all the challenges, the difficulty and the disaster aspects in the dark. And so to the Chinese people, you will continue to see the media reporting so many positive signals, right? So many government measures to support the community, support the hospitalthe military is engaged to support the hospitals. So thats some of the positive ones.

Ms. Gao: I just want to mention one news report I saw. Its actually a video clip. The vice premier, Li Keqiang, Li Keqiang is the premier. So premier Li Keqiang went to Hubei and asked a bunch of bureaucrats, high level officials from Hubei province. Do You have any difficulties? Do you have any thing that we need to help you with? All the officials are like, No we dont. Is that the typical Chinese communist party mentality?

Mr. Lin: Yes. And especially what you saw on the news because its the official tone. They want to show people the Chinese communist party is always so glorious. They are so good at serving people. They can overcome all the difficulty. So their propaganda tone is that, this is a disease, the communist party can lead the Chinese people to overcome. We can Conquer, under the communist party leadership. So thats a problem. Their purpose is not really to help people overcome the challenge that the disease brought, their purpose is to (be able to say), Okay, I can use this challenge to maintain my power. Thats the fundamental problem on this one. And then practically from that

Ms. Gao: I think if this happens in America, I think all the officials would say, I have this problem or I have that difficulty, why dont you help me? The federal government, you should do this, do that. But in China, thats not the case. Not even one official said anything. All of them said, yes, we got this under control.

Mr. Lin: Thats why sometimes when you read news from China, you feel very sad. You just feel the Chinese people, many people are very hopeless. But these peoples voice can never be heard. And the government does not allow them to be interviewed by the media. And even for example, the mayor of Wuhan, he publicly admitted that already 5 million people left China before he shut down the city.

Ms. Gao: And the reason he didnt report the case is because he has to get the approval from his supervisors, from the central government.

Mr. Lin: He doesnt have the authority to release the information to the public in a timely way. If this happened in the United States, of course, probably in the municipal government, many people would need to resign right? Because you are causing the problem. But the Chinese government says, we caused a problem but we dont talk about it. We just talk about how we can conquer the problem now.

Ms. Gao: Right. So, but on the other hand, they are an authoritarian regime. They do have power. So in that sense, are they effective in, you know, doing all this effort and controlling everything?

Mr. Lin: So I think that they will be able to control the situation in certain ways in certain scale and degrees. Because of course you mobilize so many national resource to Wuhan, for example. Of course, you will completely slow down the food traffic in the cities or you slow down the disease transmission. You know, these kinds of ways. But what about other problems that are already in your hands like the 5 million people (who fled from Wuhan to) other cities, right? How do you handle this situation? So thats why their purpose is not really completely seriously deal with the whole situation. They would just try to see, okay this is a spot I can make a political show, I can show people Chinese communist party is so glorious. So thats why the first issue is their purpose and then practically because the government system is hierarchical,

And so you will know that Chinese local officials, they only need to follow the order from the top. And they are not really elected officials so they dont have the responsibility to the people basically. So of course they have to follow the leadership from the central government. Right? So in China you see many cities start to copy from Wuhan. Now we are at level one response, we also try to close down the traffic, all of these different measures. So it will show people they were taking a very active measures, but at the same time, how about all the other resources? How do you mobilize them? How do you support peoples lives in a very comprehensive way? And so, uh, how about any transparency that people need to see, you know, on a local level what kind of challenges it is? Okay. So this is the most difficult part that in China the government dont tell you the difficult, the dark side, the challenging part, the tragedy that people suffer, you know, so thats why its very hard to know the situation

Ms. Gao: But at some point, they have to face the reality. 5 million people have already left Wuhan. If there is another major outbreak in other parts of China while they are busy putting on this political show, wouldnt that make the Chinese people really mad and bring danger to their rule?

Mr. Lin: I think the Chinese government, the central government right now, they hope this outbreak is like SARS, eventually manageable by them.

Ms. Gao: By itself. I mean, just disappear by itself?

Mr. Lin: In a certain way it disappeared by itself and in a certain way they can show that they can mobilize resources. Like in Beijing, they build up these hospitals Xiao Tangshan, building these models showing the people that we can contain thousands of people and then eventually conquer the problem. So they hope the problem is only like the SARS. And so thats their betting.

Ms. Gao: They have some wishful thinking.

Mr. Lin: Their wishful thinking is that this is a situation that eventually, maybe in a few months, I still can manage it. I still can handle it like SARS, even though its a bigger scale. But I can use the same tactic. Thats why they built a hospital in Wuhan. It was the same model in Beijing, they hope in maybe three, four months, Eventually I conquer it. And this is another proof that communist party is so righteous in helping people. Right? So thats their bet game. But I think the situation is a lot worse than they realized, because in the Chinese government another problem is, when its so hierarchical and a local officer does not tell the true situation to the top, just like the situation you mentioned. When premier asks people, do you have problems? They said no. Its same in the city level, in the county level and the village level. They dont tell the true situation to the top. For officers, if you tell the truth, you may be kicked out of the system. So thats why, I think its still very difficult for Chinese people to go through this very, very challenging time.

Ms. Gao: So keeping all of these in mind, what do you think the American government should do? I mean, so far five cases have been confirmed in America. Uh, do you think the city sees a precautionary measure is enough? What other steps do you think they should take?

Mr. Lin: Hmm. I think the CDC has been taking more effective measures to monitor the situations. For example, theyve probably expanded to more airports to do the body temperature measurements.

Ms. Gao: But thats not even effective, right?

Mr. Lin: It will be effective in certain ways. At least you enhanced the measures because some people were showing symptoms even though some people may not have symptom. But at least you are taking additional measures, not just the three major cities or airports like in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York. Thats not enough.

Ms. Gao: One last question. Under what circumstances do you think the Chinese communist party will lose the heavens mandate? According to the Chinese people?

Mr. Lin: I think the last few years, especially after Xi Jinping took power, the Chinese government tried to present to the Chinese people that China is in a very glorious stage in history, right? Its the most glorious period. Even better than some of the old emperor periods. The Chinese government tries to say that China is in the most prosperous moment. So they try to present this image to the whole Chinese society. But I think this epidemic in China would (cause) this image to shatter. I think this epidemic will totally crash this false image that the Chinese government presents to the people. People will see the incompetence and the corruption that the Chinese government has. People will see it a lot more clearly than before and they will suffer more in this epidemic. So I think it will fundamentally shaken the rule of the communist party. So in Chinas history, quite often, before the transition into a new dynasty, there are different disease outbreak (such as) a plague, different epidemics happened at the end of the Ming Dynasty and the Ching dynasty. So I think this could be another sign of another situationhistory repeats itself.

Ms. Gao: A dynasty ending pandemic.

Mr. Lin: Yes. It could be the dynasty ending pandemic. Thats why I say seriously, yeah, it is. Its a red dynasty-ending epidemic already happening in front of Chinese peoples face. But people may not realize it.

Ms. Gao: Thank you so much Dr. Lin.

Mr. Lin: Thank you.
Xiaomi has officially confirmed launch dates for its new flagship smartphones. The Xiaomi Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro will become official on February 13 in China, while the company will be launching global variants of the Mi 10 on February 23.

The company will initially announce its flagships during an online-only event. The company announced this via its official Weibo page. Xiaomi decided to do this due to a recent Coronavirus outbreak, no doubt.

Xiaomi usually launches its flagship smartphones during regular events in China, after which global launches follow. Well, while the company will host a regular press conference on February 23, that will not happen on February 13.

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Xiaomi will be launching the Mi 10 & Mi 10 Pro globally on February 23

Xiaomi will be launching the Mi 10 series in Barcelona on February 23. That event will take place just a day before the Mobile World Congress (MWC) officially kicks off.

We already have plenty of information when it comes to the Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro. The company confirmed a while back that the Mi 10 series will be fueled by the Snapdragon 865. The company also indirectly confirmed that well be getting both a regular, and a Pro version of the device.

Along with these launch dates, the company also confirmed that the Mi 10 series will pack in UFS 3.0 flash storage. That confirmation came via a separate post on Weibo.

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Before the weekend, Micron confirmed that the Mi 10 will be the first smartphone to feature its LPDDR5 module. Both Micron and Samsung will supply LPDDR5 hardware to Xiaomi for the Mi 10 smartphones, by the way.

The two phones will be quite similar in terms of the design

Based on the leaks, the Xiaomi Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro will be quite similar in terms of the design. Both will be made out of metal and glass, and includes really thin bezels. Both will include a display camera hole in the top-left corner.

You can expect both devices to offer curved displays as well, and multiple cameras on the back. The Mi 10 Pro will have one camera sensor more than the Mi 10 on the back, while those cameras will be vertically-aligned.

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Android 10 will come pre-installed on both of these phones, along with Xiaomis MIUI 10 UI. Both of these phones will pack in plenty of RAM, and will be water and dust resistant. You can also expect to see wireless charging to be included.

The Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro will probably pack in more RAM than the regular model, and the same will probably happen with storage. That handset will also offer faster charging, if rumors are to be believed, 65W wired charging, to be exact.

Both the Xiaomi Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro are expected to be quite affordable, compared to the competition. Were just not sure how affordable will they be. Xiaomi will release more information during the launch event in a couple of days, though, so stay tuned.
Two Class XI students were killed and 21 people injured when their bus overturned near Ramkhiriya village in Madhya Pradesh's Panna district on Monday morning, police said.

The incident happened at 10:30am when the bus was on its way to Panna from Pahadikheda village, said Sub-inspector Siddharth Sharma of Brijpur police station.

"Class XI students Ram Bharose and Laxman Yadav, both residents of Gajna Dharmpur village, died on the spot. They were on their way to the Government Higher Secondary School in Brijpur. Twenty-one people, including 15 students, were injured," Sharma said.

Panna Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) LK Tiwari said the 21 injured are likely to be discharged from hospital by late Monday evening.

Sharma said the bus driver fled and efforts were on to nab him.

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

The Verdict was first published in 1978. Since its inception, there have been 11 editors and Kristen will be the 12th. She will be only the third female editor and will serve alongside co-editor Kelly Centofanit, marking the first time in The Verdicts history that the publication will be edited by a team of women lawyers. Kristens dedication and involvement with WAJ allows her to maintain a critical working knowledge of legislative changes and proposed legislation that affect her clients rights.

After earning her Juris Doctor degree from Marquette University Law School in 2010, Kristen joined Herrling Clark Law Firm in 2010 as an Associate Attorney, and she was named a Partner/Shareholder in 2016. Her practice areas are focused on personal injury litigation; however, she also handles municipal prosecution for a local municipality.

Kristen has been recognized on the Wisconsin Super Lawyers Rising Star list for several consecutive years and she was also named to the Top 40 Under 40 list by the National Trial Lawyers organization in 2014. In addition, Kristen was recognized in the Wisconsin Law Journals as one of the 2016 Women in the Law honorees. She is also actively involved in the Wisconsin Association for Justice (formerly the Wisconsin Association of Trial Lawyers).

About Herrling Clark

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.
Mundelein officials must be high over the success of one of the few marijuana dispensaries in Lake County operating in the first months of legal sales. Waukegan aldermen must be asking themselves why they didnt move sooner to allow pot sales to ease one of the countys highest property tax rates. For every $1 million in marijuana sales, the city would be receiving $30,000 in tax revenue.
By Associated Press

FORREST CITY: At least three people, including two police officers, were shot Monday morning at a Walmart in eastern Arkansas, police said.

Arkansas State Police said in a Facebook post that two Forrest City police officers were injured in the shooting at the Walmart in Forrest City. Authorities have not released the names of the people who were shot or the circumstances of the shooting.

Forrest City Police dispatcher Chastity Boyd told The Associated Press that three people were shot inside the Walmart, but she didn't have information about who they are or the extent of their injuries.

Boyd said she doesn't know whether a suspect has been detained.

Walmart spokesman Scott Pope said the company was working with the Forrest City Police Department with its investigation but declined further comment. Walmart is based in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Tammy Priddy, 57, works at Simmons Eye Center in the Walmart. She said she was preparing patient records for the day when she heard eight shots. She said she hid under a counter in the lab until the gunshots stopped.

"The first two shots kind of startled me, and then a coworker came in and said it was gunfire," Priddy said.

She and a coworker ran from the building and officers outside the Walmart ordered her to get as far away from the building as possible. She was not injured.

"I was too afraid to think of anything except to get to safety," she said. We kept our minds straight to where we were safe and we were able to get to safety.

Forrest City is about 45 miles (70 kilometres) west of Memphis and about 85 miles (135 kilometres) east of Little Rock.

The Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division was investigating the shooting.

It's not the first time in recent months that a Walmart store has been the scene of a shooting. A man was injured in a shooting at a Walmart in Hickory Hill, Tennessee, earlier this month, three people were fatally shot at a Walmart in Duncan, Oklahoma, in November, and a gunman killed 22 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, on Aug. 3.

The retailer came under criticism for having insufficient security at the El Paso store on that day has since quietly expanded security at all its stores in the city to include an armed off-duty police officer and a security guard.

A spokeswoman for the company said in November that the hiring of off-duty officers in El Paso was not a blanket policy. Its unclear what security measures were in place at the Forrest City store on Monday.
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (INO) said the U.S. FDA has accepted its Investigational New Drug application to evaluate its DNA medicine INO-3107 in a Phase 1/2 trial for treatment of Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis. The open-label, multicenter phase 1/2 trial will enroll approximately 63 subjects in the U.S. and will evaluate the efficacy, safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of INO-3107. In addition to initiating the efficacy trial, the company also plans to attain Orphan Disease designation with the FDA's Office of Orphan Products Development. 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.
Trump was protecting the nation

The film relied upon clearly showed Joe Biden threatening to withhold a billion dollars, and put a six-hour time limit on the time available for capitulation. The arrogance is astounding. Not only did he name his price, but he gave a short time limit to force the issue. He told that story and then laughed about the fact, his solicitation of the bribe was a humorous display of his power. What is important about Trumps request for a favor is that it is not a wrongful act. (It would be nice if we could get a quid pro quo for all the billions we shell out.) Trump was attempting to obtain proof of bribery by the Biden family. (Do we really want to elect someone who is openly proud of such a use of the office?)
NINETEEN police recruits have begun a six-month long constable training course at the Police Training College in Grand Bahama.





They jetted off to begin their training on Friday, January 31, after completing competency-based interview assessments in December 2019.





The course will enable them to gain the skills and attitudes needed to function competently as police constables in general beat and patrol duties.





The recruits will be introduced to the history, mission and organisation of policing, inculcate habits of fitness and safety, and develop personal character and mental fitness.





Commissioner of Police Trevor Botting said: "I was delighted to swear in 19 recruits to the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force on the January 29, 2020.





"The swearing-in through taking the oath, marks the start of a career in the public service, serving and protecting the communities of the Turks and Caicos Islands.





"In spending time with the recruits, I wished them well on their initial training with the Royal Bahamas Police Force and I look forward to their return at the end of their training.





"I am sure they will represent the force and themselves with pride.





In October last year, the Government committed $500,000 for a national campaign to recruit 20 new police constables, following an increase in firearm related crimes.





Botting said: "All of the officers I swore in were recruited from within the Turks and Caicos Islands, some having previous experience as a district constable with the force.





"I am grateful to the Government for their support and commitment to increasing the number of police officers for the force.





"This will make a real difference as we work to keep the Turks and Caicos safe and secure.





He added: "The force is committed to fighting serious crime and dealing with those who are seeking to cause the most harm to our communities and these officers will assist in that work.





Sergeant Damien Mitchell of the Royal TCI Police Force is one of the instructors assigned to the 19 recruits.





They will complete their training in August 2020 when they will return to the Royal TCI Police Force to take up duties.




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Linkedin Emmeline Moore (Agence France-Presse) Milan, Italy  Mon, February 10, 2020 10:42 701 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad20637ec2b 2 Sports soccer,Inter-Milan,Serie-A,AC-Milan Free

Inter Milan moved top of Serie A on Sunday after storming back from two goals down to snatch a 4-2 win over AC Milan in a pulsating derby at the San Siro.

Inter pulls level on 54 points with Juventus, who lost 2-1 at Hellas Verona on Saturday, but is ahead of the champions on goal difference thanks to a thrilling second half turnaround after Ante Rebic and Zlatan Ibrahimovic had put Milan 2-0 up at the break.

Lazio is just a point behind in third after Felipe Caicedo scored the only goal in a hard-fought win at Parma earlier on Sunday.

"It's a special night because in the first half we were in great difficulty like we hadn't been this season. There was the risk of taking a hammering," said Inter boss Antonio Conte.

"Credit to these lads because they were able to resist the blows which means that we are ready for something good.

"It's absolutely too early to talk about things that we can still dream of today."

Milan had dominated the first half with Inter struggling to deal with Ibrahimovic, who soared above Diego Godin before knocking down for Rebic to tap the opener past Daniele Padelli.

Stefan De Vrij blocked another cross to deny Rebic a second tap in but Franck Kessie flicked on for a waiting Ibrahimovic to turn in the second.

The comeback began five minutes after the break when Brozovic lashed home a stunning volley and two minutes later Mattias Vecino finshed off an Alexis Sanchez pass to level the scores.

De Vrij put Inter deservedly ahead with a superb diving header with 20 minutes to go, and after Ibrahimovic hit the post for Milan Romelu Lukaku then headed home substitute Victor Moses' cross three minutes into injury time to maintain Inter's charge for a first Serie A title in a decade.

Milan's collapse means they missed the chance to move into the Europa League places and sit 10th.

"It's difficult to explain. The first half was almost perfect, the second half the opposite." said Ibrahimovic.

"We conceded the first goal and the squad lost faith, then conceded a second and everything fell apart.

"Inter in the first half didn't look like a team who were second but then demonstrated why they were after the break."
The mobile app market is growing daily, and there is no end in sight. Expectedly, mobile app seekers have boomed; thus Top Mobile App Development Companies are assisting the wide range of industries in building iOS and Android apps to enhance customer engagement, improve brand awareness and expand their business globally. So far, the mobile app market is dominating in banking, shopping, booking tickets, social media, and entertainment apps.

As the mobile apps in the market have hit new height, most of the entrepreneurs and individuals are wondering how much it does cost to make an app. Here according to recent research on Cost to Develop an App by GoodFirms has unveiled app development costs by regions. To build a simple app in the USA would be around $38200 to $91000, in Australia and Canada, it would cost you about $34,380 to $81,900. The cost of building a simple app in India ranges from $7,640 to $18,200 and in Ukraine, it is around $11,460 to $27,300.

But it is also important to know that the cost and time may vary according to the platform (iOS, android, windows) and complexity such as app functionalities, user features, UX/UI design, testing, maintenance, security etc. Thus, these are the significant factors a Top Mobile App Design Companies (UX/UI) considers to give you the right app development cost and time.

In the survey of cost to develop an app conducted by GoodFirms presents the pricings based on geography, platforms, app complexity and development phase. The participants in this research were about 150+ mobile app development companies across the world to assist the businesses and individuals to have a basic understanding of app development cost and time.

Apart from this GoodFirms had also conducted a research on Mobile App Download & Usage Report to help the businesses and app makers to get familiar with common user habits and experiences. In this survey 450+, mobile app users participated in the study of current mobile apps usage. The mobile users were interrogated regarding their mobile apps usage like which platform device they use, what kind of app stores they use and reasons, how they reveal a new mobile app, dominating mobile app categories, daily and monthly app usage, app permissions, app deleting, and app re-installations.

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SARATOGA SPRINGS  The painting of a thoroughbred that hung for decades in Marylou Whitneys Kentucky living room has sold for $3.1 million.

The large oil-on-canvas work was sold Jan. 31 as part of a Sotheby's auction of 19th century European art. It was considered one the finest examples of English artist Alfred J. Munnings output. Still, the sale price for Mahmoud Being Saddled for the Derby, 1936"  purchased in 1940 by Whitney's second husband, Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney  fell short of the $3.5 million the auction house hoped it would fetch.

All proceeds from Sothebys sales will go to my greedy relative: Uncle Sam, Whitney's widower, John Hendrickson, said Monday. I didnt want to sell anything, but I have to make business decisions.

The painting is one of several items Hendrickson is selling to pay off the taxes on the estate of the late philanthropist and socialite, who died in July at age 93. The collection also includes another Munnings oil-on-canvas, My Horse Anarchist, that Sotheby's sold for $200,000.

While less than estimated, Seth Armitage, co-head of the 19th century European art department at Sotheby's, said the auction house was pleased with the price.

(It's) the highest price achieved for the artist in the past decade, and the sixth top price for the artist ever at auction," Armitage said. "It was a pleasure to have been entrusted with this masterwork from such a legendary figure as Marylou Whitney, whose passion left an indelible mark on the horse-racing world.

The paintings were just two of Whitney's valuables that are expected to be sold by the high-end auction house. Next up will be four pieces of her jewelry, which are expected to go for a combined $1 million.

The jewelry includes a 21.26-carat diamond ring expected to attract between $250,000 and $350,000 and a natural-pearl-and-diamond necklace expected to sell for between $300,000 and $500,000.

Hendrickson will also sell a turquoise-and-diamond necklace, created around 1960, for between $15,000 and $20,000, and a 50-year-old emerald-ruby-sapphire-and-diamond necklace that is expected to bring in between $75,000 and $100,000. Both necklaces were designed by David Webb, a New York jeweler to the stars who also made pieces for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor and Barbra Streisand.

In addition to the jewelry, a Thomas Hart Benton painting owned by Whitney is headed to auction, though Sotheby's has yet to set a date for that work.

Hendrickson said an infamous necklace that lost an emerald at Whitneys 1994 Canfield Casino gala will not be sold. The high-profile hunt for the jewel ended with its discovery the next day. Whitney rewarded the man who found it with a check for $5,000 and a day with her at the Saratoga Race Course.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Earlier: Marylou Whitney leaves $17.2 million to kids, homes to staff, rest to husband

Saratoga socialite, philanthropist MaryLou Whitney dies at 93

Marylou Whitney, a deserving Hall of Famer

While some of her most precious gems will be sold at Sotheby's, the bulk of her jewelry as well as her Jaguar sedan are being sold this summer as a benefit for Saratoga Hospital, which will build a clinic at the race courses backstretch. The cost of the project is estimated to be around $1 million; Hendrickson has promised to pay the balance if the auction does not bring in enough to cover the price tag.

Hendrickson said that hes building the clinic because improving the lives of backstretch workers was one of his wifes passions. For decades, Whitney hosted meals and activities for the workers who came into town for the summer's racing season.

In keeping with her philosophy, most of her belongings will go to a greater good, Hendrickson said.
As Indians debate the incarceration of three former chief ministers under the PSA  Sheikh Abdullah's son, Farooq Abdullah; grandson, Omar Abdullah; their dogged opponent, Mehbooba Mufti it's critical to understand the PSA isn't significant just for its constitutional perversions

Early in the summer of 1978, in an India illuminated by the restoration of its democracy after then-prime minister Indira Gandhi's Emergency, the police dragged Ghulam Nabi Patel from his home in Srinagar's Batamaloo into the darkness of the city's central jail. The bus driver's offence, such as it was, seemed to have been to fight the elections of 1977 against the state's political patriarch, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah. He was the first prisoner held a new law enacted that year, the Public Safety Act, giving the state the power to arrest people for no actual crime.

No-one really noticed, not even Patels allies in the Janata Party  who were, until the previous year, themselves victims of illegal arrests and torture by the prime minister's regime.

Forty years after his arrest, Patel was executed by a Hizbul Mujahideen hit during a rare visit to the village of Yader Shadimarg, to finalise arrangements for his daughter's wedding. The bullets ended a long, if less-than-illustrious career that had led him through the Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party.

No-one really noticed: Indeed, the Congress claimed he was a PDP worker, and the PDP insisted he belonged to the Congress. In 2018, with a great Islamist-led uprising looming over south Kashmir, neither party wanted to condemn the Hizb.

***

As Indians debate the incarceration of three former chief ministers under the PSA  Sheikh Abdullah's son, Farooq Abdullah; grandson, Omar Abdullah; their dogged opponent, Mehbooba Mufti it's critical to understand the PSA isn't significant just for its constitutional perversions. Instead, it's the keystone of the dysfunction at the heart of India's troubled relationship with Kashmir. In the course of its decades-old struggle against Pakistan-backed Islamists, the Indian republic has ended up undermining its own values and promise.

In August, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government de-operationalised Article 370 in the Valley, promising to end the special status it argued had sundered Kashmir from the country. Instead, it's ended up reliant on the worst features of that dystopia.

The government fears popular political leaders could, if let out of jail, mobilise against its policies, endangering the fragile peace its succeeded in ensuring. There's a price to be paid for all political action, though  and history teaches us that, in this case, the bill could be substantial.

Legislated into force in 1978, the PSA allows the Jammu and Kashmir government to detain, without trial, "persons acting in any manner prejudicial to the security of the State" for up to two years. In addition, it allows detention for up to one year where "any person is acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order". These determinations are made by executive officials  not judges.

In 1977, when the PSA was first introduced as an ordnance  kept secret from the public for eight days, before news leaked  Sheikh Abdullah had argued it was needed to fight crimes like timber-smuggling. He never bothered to explain why police and regular courts weren't up to the job.

The truth was the PSA had everything to do with politics, not timber-smugglers. In the 1977 Jammu and Kashmir elections, the Janata Party had allied with Kashmir's Islamist party, the Jama'at-e-Islami, the first credible political threat to the National Conferences long-standing hegemony.

Faced with credible opposition, Sheikh Abdullah turned to stoking Kashmir's communal anxieties. He accused the Jama'at of allying with "those whose hands were still red with the blood of Muslims". National Conference leaders began administering oaths to their cadre on the Quran and a piece of rock salt  a popular symbol of Pakistan.

The campaign paid off: Even though the National Conference was decimated in the Hindu-majority constituencies of Jammu, it won all 42 seats in Kashmir. Then, to make sure the Opposition didn't recover, the police was unleashed against Jama'at leaders like Patel.

But there was worse to come: The law used to arrest Ghulam Nabi Patel would also breed the terrorists who would kill him.

***

Kashmirs long jihad saw the PSA holding up an incarceration perpetual-motion machine, with the state rearresting individuals on fresh warrants as soon as they were released. Although no official statistics have been published, Amnesty International estimates that there have been some 20,000 arrests under the Act since 1978. Between March 2016 and August 2017  the period of the uprising sparked off by the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani  there were over 1,000 arrests under the PSA, researchers Ayjaz Wani and Dhaval Desai have recorded.

Even though the courts stepped in  quashing 1,706 detention orders between 2008 and 2017; 215 in 2016 alone  the state government essentially did as it wished, even choosing not to frame rules for the implementation of the PSA.

This ought not, of course, surprise us: Panicked States across the world behave in much the same way. The United Kingdom interned prisoners without trial in Northern Ireland; in Kenya, it set up gigantic concentration camps. The United States did much the same in Iraq. In the United Kingdom and Australia, control orders allow the state to impose restrictions on the liberties of terrorism suspects, without conviction for any crime.

Experience, though, teaches us this: It doesn't work.

Britain left Kenya a generation earlier than it planned; in Iraq, the United States faces defeat. And there's nothing to show control orders have stamped out jihadism.

***

Far from crushing dissent, the use of the PSA by Sheikh Abdullah gave the religious Right legitimacy and social capital. In the build-up to the 1987 elections, the Right had coalesced into the Muslim United Front  whose leaders, clad in the white robes of the pious, publicly declared that Islam could not survive under the authority of a secular state. The elections were rigged to prevent an Islamist victory, and figures like Hizbul Mujahideen's chief, Muhammad Yusuf Shah, later incarcerated under the PSA.

Prem Nath Bazaz noted that Abdullah's use of the PSA led young Kashmiris to conclude that New Delhi had "had thwarted their progress and deprived them of several political and human rights enjoyed by all the other Indians".

These weren't the only costs. The police lost reason to gather evidence and build credible prosecution cases. Each year, India has had to repatriate Pakistani terrorists, because investigators haven't troubled themselves to find evidence. Among them: Muhammad Suhail Malik and Waseem Ahmad, alleged to have participated in the killing of 36 Sikhs in the south Kashmir; Nasrullah Mansoor, the jihad commander who co-founded the Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami, and claimed responsibility for dozens of terrorist attacks.

In effect, the PSA has enabled terrorists, kleptocrats, extortionists and hawala-dealers to claim the halo of martyrdom.

Kashmir's political leadership long recognised this  but found, in office, that its lure is irresistable. Both Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah railed against the PSA, but used it against secessionist leaders. Then, facing public ire, both politicians swung the other way granting amnesties thousands of rioters arrested after the uprisings of 2010, 2012 and 2016.

For generations, India has failed to uphold its own constitutional values in Kashmir. Put simply, the justice was released to a political whim. That, in turn, legitimised the macabre politics, and savage violence, of the jihadists committed to destroying it. Like the addict's fix, Kashmirs PSA makes pain disappear  but the price is the slow, agonising death of our republic.
Turkish security forces conducted an operation in 16 provinces of the country, detaining 24 suspects of involvement in an attempted coup in July 2016, RIA Novosti reported referring to IHA.

A total of 14 officers, who are on active duty, are among the detainees. Balikesir prosecutors office charged them with creating a communications system to organize an opposition preacher Fethullah Gulen, who was banned in Turkey.

Turkish authorities accuse Gulens organization, which they call FETO, of having been involved in a coup d'etat in July 2016. After the rebellion in Turkey, over 80 thousand people were arrested, more than 160 thousand civil servants, including military personnel, were dismissed or suspended from work. Gulen, who is in the US, condemned the coup d'etat and rejected the allegations.
Sanders, Buttigieg Campaigns File for Partial Recanvass of Iowa Caucuses

The presidential campaigns for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and ex-South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg on Monday filed a request for a partial recanvass of the Iowa Democratic caucus results.

The Sanders campaign cited mathematical errors and inconsistencies in more than two dozen locations that it says would change the results if amended. Meanwhile, the Iowa Democratic Party said the Buttigieg campaign requested the party check the results in 66 precincts.

The request came just before a noon deadline set by the party.

On Sunday, the Iowa Democratic Party released updated caucus results that gave Buttigieg, 38, a lead over Sanders, 78, of two state delegate equivalents out of 2,152 counted, or 0.09 percentage points.

Right now, Buttigieg has 13 of Iowas 41 national delegates, followed by Sanders with 12.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), 70, has eight; former Vice President Joe Biden, 77, has six; and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), 59, has one.

The 41st and final delegate from Iowa will go to the overall winner. While the state party said Sunday that it belongs to Buttigieg, the caucus wont formally come to an end until Sanderss requested recanvassand any potential recount to followis complete.

The Sanders campaign said a recanvass could help ensure voters in Iowa trust the results even if it doesnt change them.

While a recanvass is just the first step in the process and we dont expect it to change the current calculations, it is a necessary part of making sure Iowans can trust the final results of the caucus, Jeff Weaver, senior adviser for the campaign, said in a statement.

Weaver said that the state party even admits some of the calculations used in the current final tally arent correct.

Once the recanvass and a subsequent recount are completed in these precincts, we feel confident we will be awarded the extra national delegate our volunteers and grassroots donors earned, he said.

Pete Buttigieg, Democratic presidential candidate and former South Bend, Indiana mayor attends a campaign event in Merrimack, New Hampshire on Feb. 6, 2020. (Reuters/Eric Thayer)

The Iowa Democratic caucuses were roiled by a faulty app, which caused a significant delay in reporting the results. Initial results showed Buttigieg in the lead but each release showed Sanders gaining until the final count showed Buttigieg ahead by a sliver, which the Sanders campaign is challenging.

The Sanders campaign has outlined 25 precincts and three satellite caucuses where it believes correcting faulty math could swing the delegate allocation in Sanderss favor and deliver him, not Buttigieg, that final delegate.

These errors and inconsistencies are ripe for review because their correction would change the national delegate allocation by moving, at a minimum, one [national pledged] delegate from Mayor Buttigieg to my campaign, Sanders wrote in a letter to Iowa Democratic Party Chair Troy Price on Monday.

Price said at a Feb. 7 press conference after the party released 100 percent of the results that officials were still working on making sure the data was accurate. The final results were confirmed on Feb. 9.

Troy Perez, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said last week that the state party should conduct a recanvass, a suggestion rejected by Price, who pointed out that state party rules dictate that a campaign needs to request a recanvass or recount. Price told reporters last week that he wanted an independent investigation into the caucuses.

A recanvass is not a recount, but a check of the vote count against paper records to ensure the counts were reported accurately.

Sanders was campaigning in New Hampshire on Monday ahead of the Feb. 11 Democratic primary there. He told people at a campaign stop that he could win the state, which would put him on the path to earning the Democratic nomination.

Not only is the whole country looking at New Hampshire tomorrow, but the world is looking at New Hampshire, Sanders said in Rindge. What is New Hampshire going to do?

Buttigieg was scheduled to speak in Exeter later in the day.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
FILE PHOTO: A pedestrian looks at his phone as he walks past a logo for Australia's Westpac Banking Corp located outside a branch in central Sydney

(Reuters) - Australia's No.2 lender Westpac Banking Corp was hit with another U.S. class-action lawsuit in less than a week on Monday, over issues with its financial crime monitoring amid a recent money laundering scandal.

Westpac was sued by Australia's financial crime watchdog AUSTRAC in November for 23 million alleged breaches of anti-money laundering laws, including payments between known child exploiters.

The latest suit, filed by investor rights law firm Bernstein Liebhard in a U.S. court, comes just days after six U.S.-based law firms announced similar class-action lawsuits against the lender.

Westpac on Saturday had cautioned that similar suits may follow, while responding to New York-based Rosen Law Firm's suit.

Bernstein said in a statement the class action was filed on behalf of investors who bought Westpac's securities between Nov. 11, 2015 and Nov. 19, 2019.

The law firm accused the lender of not carrying out appropriate due diligence on transactions in Southeast Asia and the Philippines, and failing to monitor terrorism financing risks with movement of money into and out of Australia among others.

Last month, the lender appointed a former Barclays boss as its chairman to steer it through the money-laundering scandal.

Westpac media representatives did not immediately respond to an email and a call seeking comment

(This story corrects paragraph 1 to say Westpac was hit with "another" lawsuit, not "second")

(Reporting by Shriya Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Stephen Coates)
Donald Trump slammed Mitt Romney again on Monday as he continued to seethe from the GOP senator's vote to remove him from office.

The president has been sharply critical of the Utah lawmaker and 2012 Republican presidential nominee since Wednesday evening's Senate vote to acquit Mr Trump on counts of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Mr Romney voted with Democrats to convict and remove him on the former charge before voting to acquit on the obstruction article.

"How's Mitt Romney? You keep him. We don't want him," Mr Trump said to Utah Governor Gary Herbert, a Republican, during an event with state chiefs executive at the White House.

Herbert did not respond.

The president's attacks on Mr Romney represent a rare instance of GOP-on-GOP tension during his term, when he has kept just about every member of his party living in fear of a critical tweet or remark that might draw a primary challenge from their right.

Related Video: Romney Faces Backlash From GOP Congressman

Conservatives have been outraged by Mr Romney's decision, which he pinned, in large part, on the oath he took at the Senate impeachment trial's start.

"I swore an oath before God to apply impartial justice. And, as you know, I'm a very religious person. I take that very seriously," an emotional Mr Romney said on the Senate floor before casting the removal vote.

"And so I looked at the evidence in a very unbiased manner and concluded that that the president had done as was alleged -- that he did ask a foreign government to interfere in the election, that he did pressure that government by withholding aid," Mr Romney said. "That's as egregious an assault on the Constitution of our country as I can imagine that a president might make."

The president took several shots at the moderate senator the next day during a wild East Room "celebration" during which he mocked the Utah senator and his other political foes - including his House Democratic accusers - at another surreal White House event.

Story continues

"And then you have some that used religion as a crutch. They never used it before. An article written today - never heard him use it before but today, you know, it's one of those things," he said of Mr Romney. "But, you know, it's a failed presidential candidate so things can happen when you fail so badly when you're running for president."

Read more

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Trump used acquittal speech to deliver swift retribution on Romney

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Romney v Trump: Five key clashes that define their relationship
VANCOUVER, British Columbia and KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Feb. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Solar Alliance Energy Inc. (Solar Alliance or the Company) (TSX-V: SOLR, OTC: SAENF) is pleased to announce it has signed an agreement to build a commercial solar system at Lick Skillet Farm in Tennessee. The project will also include a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant application, which provides significant support for renewable energy projects for agricultural producers. Solar Alliance is proud to be working with Lick Skillet Farm, a multi-generational family business committed to restoring and protecting the environment.



The combination of low cost, renewable solar power and a USDA grant provides an excellent solution for agricultural businesses to lower their operating costs and reinvest the savings into their businesses, said Solar Alliance CEO Myke Clark. Lick Skillet Farm has strategically designed their company to build community. One of their mottos very appropriately is No Margin, No Mission. The addition of solar plays perfectly into a healthier community and builds their margin to help carry out their mission. Lick Skillet Farm is committed to sustainability in its farming practices, and installing solar contributes to that goal. We are pleased we have this opportunity to support such a great organization with such high standards.

In all our operations, we stress environmental stewardship. We finish our animals on lively, bio-diverse pastures rich in organic matter: infiltrating water, sequestering carbon, and supporting a host of buzzing, flying, and hopping wildlife, said Shannon Miller, Lick Skillet farmer. We choose to steward this land with conservation practices, regenerative grazing techniques, appropriate technology, pollinator support, and an eye to future generations that will rely even more heavily on the myriad ecosystem services it provides. Our farm believes that besides producing high quality meat ethically and sustainably, we must educate our community, and be an example of environmental stewardship. We hope others will follow our lead and choose the solar option.

The agricultural sector is a growing part of the Solar Alliance business model. In addition to this project, Solar Alliance is also partnering with Whayne Supply, a Caterpillar dealership, on signing an additional six near-term solar systems for agricultural businesses located in Southern Indiana and Kentucky. According to the Kentucky Poultry Federation, there are more than 850 large-scale poultry farms in Kentucky, and together, Solar Alliance and Whayne Supply are targeting them for solar deployment.

Myke Clark, CEO





For more information:







Solar Alliance Sales

(865) 309-4674







Solar Alliance

Myke Clark, CEO

416-848-7744

mclark@solaralliance.com





About Solar Alliance Energy Inc. ( www.solaralliance.com )

Solar Alliance is an energy solutions provider focused on residential, commercial and industrial solar installations. The Company operates in California, Tennessee, North/South Carolina and Kentucky and has an expanding pipeline of solar projects. Since it was founded in 2003, the Company has developed $1 billion of wind and solar projects that provide enough electricity to power 150,000 homes. Our passion is improving life through ingenuity, simplicity and freedom of choice. Solar Alliance reduces or eliminates customers' vulnerability to rising energy costs, offers an environmentally-friendly source of electricity generation, and provides affordable, turnkey clean energy solutions.

Statements in this news release, other than purely historical information, including statements relating to the Company's future plans and objectives or expected results, constitute Forward-looking statements. The words would, will, expected and estimated or other similar words and phrases are intended to identify forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Companys actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different than those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: uncertainties related to the ability to raise sufficient capital, changes in economic conditions or financial markets, litigation, legislative or other judicial, regulatory and political competitive developments and technological or operational difficulties. Consequently, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.

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."
Division wins award for the second year in a row

By Andrew Addessi

For the second year in a row, Bowling Green State University has been named among the Most Promising Places to Work in Student Affairs. Winners will appear in the March issue of Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. The award will be presented at the American College Personnel Associations (ACPA) annual meeting in March.

BGSU has always aimed to create an inclusive and welcoming environment to foster a sense of belonging for all populations, said Dr. Thomas Gibson, vice president for Student Affairs and vice provost. Student Affairs has embraced this strategic imperative. Were honored to be counted among the best in the country.

BGSUs Division of Student Affairs promotes student learning, leadership development, diversity and personal growth, and developing communities that share these ideals. The division includes Residence Life, Recreation and Wellness, the Office of the Dean of Students, Student Insurance Office, Counseling Center and Accessibility Services.

This is the seventh year the national recognition of Most Promising Place to Work in Student Affairs has appeared in the magazine. Other colleges that made the cut include Ohio State University, Virginia Tech and the University of Florida.

Using a web-based survey approach, Diverse magazine examined a number of factors to determine this list. They looked at the moralistic side of things, such as family friendliness, workplace diversity and environment, as well as more economic practices like professional development opportunities, staffing practices, and salaries and benefits.
Secret Service seized money

Claimed to be firm accountant

Servers, registry in India

Protect against cybersecurity threats

Similar fraud schemes

(TNS)  A fraudster who stole $740,000 from Benton County concocted an elaborate scheme with very detailed knowledge of a contractor working on county projects.Its a scam that keeps tripping up public agencies.Ellensburg officials fell for it last year, sending $186,000 to a bogus account.And a few years ago, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland fell victim to the same con for $530,000.Human beings are trusting and they want to believe the best in everybody and rely on everybody to do a good job, and thats the thing that these hackers take advantage of, Kathleen Cooper, spokeswoman for the Washington State Auditors Office, told the Tri-City Herald.Were all vulnerable to it in our personal lives and at work too. Just raising peoples conscience of, Dont click on something that you dont recognize, will go a really long way.In the Benton County case, the thief was traced to India. The person went so far as to create an online domain name using the Kennewick construction firms name  minus one letter, according to a document filed in U.S. District Court.And the name on the fake email address was strikingly similar to the name of a real employee with the legitimate company.The email claimed to be from an accountant with the construction firm.Employees with the Benton County Auditors Office exchanged about 20 emails with the purported accountant over three weeks about a bill the county owed for several building projects.The document filed recently in federal court reveals what led up to the electronic transfer of $740,000 in November from the county to an Atlanta-based bank.Just over $23,000 of that was withdrawn from the account in a series of small transactions before SunTrust Bank identified it as a fraudulent account and froze it, the court document shows.The U.S. Secret Service is investigating the crime.The $717,200 still left in the account was seized by the Secret Service on Jan. 6. Benton County went public with the news Thursday that it had been the victim of a social engineering phishing scam.As a result of the investigation, the county now is reviewing its internal policies and procedures to minimize the risk of a similar incident occurring in the future, the county news release said.Benton County Auditor Brenda Chilton could not be reached by the Herald about the incident.The court filing is a civil forfeiture of wire fraud proceeds and is a necessary legal move to help Benton County recover the money that currently is in federal evidence.We are continuing to work with federal authorities to have the seized funds returned to us as quickly as possible, said the county news release.Benton County has long done business with Banlin Construction for both building construction and road maintenance, including a major upgrade inside the jail i n Kennewick.Also, the firm was just awarded a $13.6 million contract to build a new county administration office building near the Justice Center in Kennewick.The scam started Oct. 28 with the first email to the auditors office. County employees did not notice that the i had been dropped from the word construction in the alleged Banlin Construction accountants email address.Emails went back and forth between the fraudster and the county office until Nov. 15, when the payment was made.It appears the fraudulent email account was intended to mislead Benton County into believing that the fraudulent emails were in fact from Banlin Construction and that the fraudulent individual ... was a legitimate employee of Banlin Construction, according to the court document.The federal filing was done by Special Agent Nicholas Provoncha in the Secret Services Spokane office and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian M. Donovan.Agents were able to determine that emails sent on three dates in October came from IP addresses associated with servers in India, and the public domain registration information for the misspelled Banlin Constructon also was done in India.The emails from the fraudulent account directed the Benton County Auditors Office to change the banking deposit information for Banlin Construction, the court document stated. The emails further requested that Benton County expedite their updating of the new, fraudulent banking information and the payment as soon as possible.On Nov. 15, county employees transferred the money from Key Bank to the SunTrust Bank account.It was authorized by the county based on transfer directions received in the emails. The money was for legitimate invoice bills from Banlin Construction for ongoing projects.After the transfer was completed, the auditors office sent a follow-up email to confirm receipt. The person behind the fraudulent email never responded, the document states.Federal officials say the SunTrust Bank account is in the name of Kelly A. Simpson, and neither SunTrust nor Simpson are associated with Banlin.The Secret Service was notified Dec. 6 by Benton County officials and the Benton County Sheriffs Office.Federal investigators spoke Dec. 16 with an investigator for SunTrust Bank, which only has branches along the East Coast.The bank investigator confirmed the fraudulent activity, but only caught it after the cyber criminal withdrew about 3 percent of the deposit.As soon as Benton County officials suspected a potential loss of public funds, they did what is required of them by state law and contacted the State Auditors Office in December, confirmed Cooper.The state agency decided that since the Secret Service already is involved, it will wait for that investigation to be completed and use those reports in the next county audit. That will save public resources by not doubling up on the investigation.The audit report that will address the theft from Benton County likely will not be issued until 2021 since counties are on an annual audit cycle.The current issue falls under its review of internal policies and procedures, making sure the local government has checks and balances in place to catch any errors, said Cooper.The State Auditors Office knows local governments are facing ever-evolving cybersecurity threats, and has been taking steps to help agencies protect themselves.In recent years, the office added an evaluation of internal controls dealing with electronic funds transfers, or EFTs, as part of the regular audit risk assessment, she said.Cooper said the state office recognizes local governments and public education institutions are facing a lot of challenges in the cybersecurity realm because its coming at them from everywhere.On top of that, agencies have a lot of sensitive information that people must divulge in order to do business or go about their daily lives.Washington state Auditor Pat McCarthy has made it an office priority and reorganized resources to focus on auditing local governments cybersecurity posture.In 2019, the office completed cybersecurity audits on seven local governments and worked with nine more. The Legislature gave the office a boost for the 2019-21 biennium by recognizing the value of those performance audits and appropriating $2.8 million.There are more than 2,000 local governments in the state of Washington so our waiting list is quite long, said Cooper. But this is something that started in the office in 2014 and we had to sort of ramp up our own expertise.And finally, the offices small Center for Government Innovation team created a #BeCyberSmart campaign to help government employees realize they all have a duty to help protect their systems and data, instead of leaving it up to the information technology department. Tips from the Center for Government Innovation include: never install software or connect hardware without IT permission; use strong passwords; think before clicking on links or popup boxes; verify a strangers identity; and delete questionable emails, even from someone you may know.Local governments are facing more and more of these attacks and nobody is safe. If you have an email address and computer connected to the Internet, then hackers are looking for you, said Cooper. All of us have a role to play to make sure that the information that we receive is protected.The scam is not that different from one that hit the city of Ellensburg last August.The city received an email from someone claiming to be the accountant for an existing vendor and requesting that the next payment for an ongoing construction project be made by electronic transfer.The city had been sending the vendor paper checks, but the email requested that payments instead be made by electronic transfer to an account at a Wells Fargo Bank branch in Texas.City staff unknowingly sent almost $186,000 to the fraudsters.The Daily Record reported in October that the money was recovered, other than a bank handling fee , because the city discovered the cyber attack immediately and contacted Wells Fargo.And in late 2016, the Department of Energys PNNL in Richland sent $530,000 to a bogus account after receiving an email that it needed to change electronic payment information for a local construction firm.The payment was meant for Fowler General Construction of Richland, which had a contract to build a $9.8 million Collaboration Center on the PNNL campus in Richland.PNNL did not check with its contractor before making the change.Battelle, which holds the DOE contract to operate PNNL, covered $430,000 of the fraudulent payment. Investigators were able to recover the remaining $100,000 with help from the bank where the money was sent.The investigation was led by the Department of Energy Office of Inspector General. The theft became widely known in the Tri-Cities after it was part of a whistleblower lawsuit.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat will hold a closed door "idea exchange programme" on February 18 with more than 70 people, including writers, social media influencers and opinion leaders as part of the Sangh's outreach programme, sources said on Monday.

In his keynote address at the programme, Bhagwat is expected to cover all relevant social and cultural subjects under discussion in the current scenario, including the Citizenship Amendment Act -- the legislation that has sparked nationwide protests in India.

Apart from Bhagwat, other Sangh leaders including Manmohan Vaidya and Krishna Gopal are also expected to take part in the programme.

In September last year, Bhagwat had met correspondents from foreign media to portray a picture of the Sangh as one whose primary objective is to contribute in nation building.

As many as 80 foreign correspondents from around 30 countries had taken part in the programme.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussexs plans to leave the royal family were finalized, Harry shared in a devastating speech how they felt that was their only option. After living in the spotlight and being constantly scrutinized by the public and media, Prince Harry and Meghan were hopeful that their move to Canada could provide the peace theyre seeking. According to one royal expert, however, there is concern that leaving the royal family could backfire on the couple.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | TOBY MELVILLE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Prince Harry and Meghan decided to take a step back

In January, Prince Harry and Meghan shared their future plans with their fans on Instagram, noting their desire to take a step back from their royal duties. The queen sorted out the details and approved of the Sussexes plan, with the agreement that they would give up their HRH titles and any public funding.

Following the queens statement on the matter, which shared that she supported the couple wanting to start building a happy and peaceful new life, Prince Harry delivered a speech that further explained the reasons behind the Sussexes decision.

The decision that I have made for my wife and I to step back is not one I made lightly, he shared with guests at a London fundraising dinner. I know I havent always gotten it right, but as far as this goes, there really was no other option.

Canada may offer the peace theyre seeking

The couples need for privacy led them to make their extreme decision, but is giving up the royal life and fleeing to Canada the answer to their problems? One royal expert believes that they might have set themselves up for failure by making the move.

Following Meghans departure to Canada, images of the duchess with baby Archie made the rounds, showing that having absolute privacy is still going to be a challenge.

In a piece for Macleans, author Patricia Treble poses the question: how much privacy can Harry and Meghan actually have now that they are leaving the protection of the royal family and its vast estates?

Treble notes that few paparazzi images of them ever made it into the British media before they announced they were leaving behind their royal duties. Thats partly because their residences are tucked behind layers of government-funded protection. Their home in Britain, Frogmore Cottage, is located within the secure confines of the large home park of Windsor Castle. Their current residence is on a secluded peninsula near Victoria on Vancouver Island, and guarded 24/7 by British and Canadian government security personnel, Treble writes.

Canada may provide the Sussexes with the best chance for the private family life they want, Treble notes. Unlike in Britain and the United States, Canadian culture  and media  have a reputation for not delving into the private lives of public figures unless they directly impact their jobs.

It seems to me that everyone  whether you have a title attached to your name or not  is entitled to some degree of privacy, Michael McEvoy, British Columbias privacy commissioner shared. McEvoy pointed out the way that people crossed paths with Prince Harry and Meghan on hikes but they maintained a reasonable amount of privacy. I think it says something about the culture of B.C. and Canada, the civility that exists here. People generally respect each others space, McEvoy noted.

Will their decision backfire on them?

The move may certainly cut down on the way the Sussexes have had their privacy invaded when they were in the royal spotlight, but Treble shares the concern that they may end up with less privacy.

Canadas reputation for respecting privacy may also have its limits, she writes, pointing to the media photographers who were on hand when Harry arrived in Canadas Victoria airport after finalizing the deal to leave the royal family.

Will the Sussexes move work out how they hope? In fact, the Sussexes may end up with less privacy than they had as full-time working members of the most famous family in the world, Treble shares.

They will never be ordinary citizens living regular lives, the author continues, noting that they have thrown the dice, gambling that the initial flurry of attention will fade, allowing them to forge a high-profile path through the commercial and philanthropic worlds while also controlling how much information is released about their most private moments.

Treble wonders, as do many royal fans: If their bet doesnt pay off, will they manage to live happily ever after?
Social clusters including mothers' groups play an important role in the life of southern Australian bottlenose dolphins, a new study shows.

Like giraffes, lions, hyenas and grey kangaroos, bottlenose dolphins appear to form social bonds with kin and other females in similar reproductive condition, while maintaining moderate and loose social bonds with some same-sex individuals.

A study at a popular holiday destination in South Australia found female bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops cf. australis) raise young in select group and local bays, further highlighting the need for more protection from marine sanctuary and controls on aquaculture and fishing.

Marine biologist Dr Fernando Diaz-Aguirre, who studies and photographs marine wildlife, has supported long-term observations of bottlenose dolphins in the Coffin Bay region of SA's Eyre Peninsula.

Just like in human communities, he says the dolphins tend to form family groups, with those females most closely related genetically forming close social relationships in specific areas of the large open Coffin Bay.

"These close social groups among related females appear to be vital for them while raising young calves, or for those without calves who also combine due to similar biological requirements related to feeding and mating," Dr Diaz-Aguirre says.

"As well as key pointers on social evolution and behaviour in these highly complex marine mammals, our study also provides important information for the conservation of the Coffin Bay population."

Depending on kinship and other ties, specific females and their young either live in Kellidie Bay, Mt Dutton or near Port Douglas - giving key clues for reducing anthropogenic threats such as boat strikes, entanglement in fishing gear, or habitat displacement due to aquaculture and pollution.

Dr Diaz-Aguirre is lead author of the latest study, published this month in Scientific Reports, with Flinders University Cetacean Ecology, Behaviour and Evolution Lab (CEBEL) researchers.

Senior author, dolphin and whale expert Flinders University Associate Professor Luciana Moller, says the study sheds light on how dolphin societies are developed and maintained, including special adaptations such as hunting skills, and how social learning is passed from one generations to the next.

"Our field studies are not only important for understanding the evolution of complex animal societies, but for providing information to conservation managers to sure the future survival of these unique dolphin populations," Associate Professor Moller says.

"Small resident populations of dolphins, as the one in Coffin Bay, are particularly vulnerable to changes in the environment, and represent sentinels of the health of coastal ecosystems."

###

The paper, 'Kinship and reproductive condition correlate with affiliation patterns in female Southern Australian Bottlenose Dolphins' (February 2020) by F Diaz-Aguirre, GJ Parra, C Passadore and L Moller can be found in Scientific Reports DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-58800-2

This research received funding from Flinders University, Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment (ANZ and Equity Trustees), Nature Foundation SA, and Lirabenda Research Endowment of the Field Naturalists Society of South Australia.
An Offaly designer has been announced as one of the Designer of the Year nominees at the Irish Fashion Innovation Awards.

Charlotte Lucas was also honoured in the One To Watch category this time last year, a prediction that certainly now seems to have been prophetic indeed.

This glamour-filled event, hailed as the country's Oscars for fashion, will take place on March 26th at the Galmont Hotel in Galway. The Awards pride themselves on providing a platform not just for more established names, but for emerging talents as well. And for Charlotte, returning as one of the main award nominees this year after being singled out as One To Watch in 2019, the feeling is a combination of surprise, gratitude, and excitement.

"Last year was amazing, it was such a privilege to be involved in the Irish Fashion Innovation Awards for the first time, and to be recognised in any way at all. To be going back twelve months later as one of those nominated for Designer of the Year itself, well I'm over the moon about that. It's such an incredible honour. We're a country brimming over with unbelievable talent in design, something which always serves as both motivation and inspiration. And the last year has been such a busy one, so intense in so many ways. But that's the life of anyone who strives to be successful in fashion. To reach a moment like the one where you get the news of a nomination like this, and then the feeling when the night itself comes, that's when you forget about the million late nights, early mornings, and all the rest of it. Those are the moments when you remember that you do this because you love fashion. So I'm very grateful for this nomination in every way possible."

Past winners include names Carla Johnson, Natalie B. Coleman, Una Burke, Niamh O' Neill, Martha Lynn, Blaithin Ennis, Deirdre Duffy, Rebecca Marsden, and last years main winner, Katie Ann McGuigan. Charlotte will be hoping to see her name added to that list come March.

Patricia McCrossan, managing-director of Golden Egg Productions who host the awards, points out that they're unique to Ireland, saying, "They are seen as providing a rite of passage for many of our top designers as they make their way up the rungs of the fashion ladder. This competition is a wonderful opportunity to emphasise our ethos of encouraging up and coming talent."

Tickets for the Irish Fashion Innovation Awards 2020 are available on eventbrite.ie. You can follow Charlotte Lucas on Instagram.
The deportation of dozens of foreign offenders to Jamaica has been halted by court because they 'weren't given access to legal advice'.

The Court of Appeal ordered the Home Office has been ordered not to deport detainees of Heathrow removal centres who haven't had access to a working sim card following a mobile phone outage at the facilities.

The ruling means that no one can be deported on Tuesday morning unless they have had access to a working non-O2 SIM card since February 3.

Lady Justice Simler said: 'At best some individuals have had a functioning Sim card for three working days. At worst, the evidence indicates that some have still not received a functioning sim card.'

Home Secretary Priti Patel dismissed the calls for the flight to be cancelled despite accusations from Labour's Diane Abbott that the government has not learned the lessons of the Windrush scandal

It is expected to affect at least 56 people, The Independent reports, in what Detention Action said was a 'landmark' decision.

It came despite ministers sounded defiance today as MPs demanded the flight's cancellation.

Home Secretary Priti Patel dismissed the calls from Labour despite accusations that the government has not learned the lessons of the Windrush scandal.

MPs clashed after the deportation flight was raised as an urgent question in the House today

She insisted everyone being deported to Jamaica at 6.30am tomorrow had committed a 'serious offence' and been sentenced to at least a year in jail. In total, their terms - some for crimes such as rape and manslaughter - add up to around 300 years.

Duncan Lewis Solicitors, which is representing 15 people due to be on the plane, has launched a last ditch legal bid to stop it taking off.

In the Commons this afternoon, shadow home secretary Diane Abbott branded the proposed deportations 'double jeopardy' as she said more than 170 MPs had written to the PM.

She said many of those being removed came to the UK as children and 'have no memory of Jamaica', adding: 'Does the Home Secretary accept that these deportations constitute double jeopardy because the persons have already served an appropriate sentence for their crime.

'And is the Home Secretary aware that over 170 MPs from all political parties have written to the Prime Minister calling for this deportation flight to be halted.'

But Ms Patel said: 'Under the UK Borders Act 2007, a deportation order must be made in respect of foreign criminal activity sentences for a period of 12 months or more in prison.

'And therefore every person on this flight has been convicted of a serious offence and received a custodial sentence of 12 months or more which means that under the Act introduced by the Labour government in 2007, a deportation order must be made.'

Tajay Thompson (pictured as a boy) is one of those facing deportation to Jamaica having served half of a 15-month sentence in 2015 after being convicted of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply at 17

Asking an urgent question in the House, Labour MP David Lammy asked 'when will black lives matter again?'

But Home Office minister Kevin Foster responded: 'We cannot breach the Act and we will not allow foreign nationals who are convicted of the most serious offences including rape and child sexual abuse to remain in Britain.

'Tomorrow's flight is about keeping the public safe. It cannot and should not be conflated with the wrongs suffered by the Windrush generation.'

Earlier, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Rishi Sunak said those being forcibly removed had committed 'very serious offences' and their deportations were 'reasonable'.

The legal challenge calls for the flight to be halted over concerns that detainees are struggling to access legal advice and over the claims made over the criminality of those due to be on board.

Toufique Hossain, director of public law at Duncan Lewis - who is leading the legal challenge, said many of the clients had come to the UK as young children aged between four and 13.

A number of the people due on the flight are thought to have been convicted of drug offences when they were young.

Mr Hossain said: 'We are about to submit court papers to launch a judicial review and have asked for an urgent oral hearing in the High Court this afternoon.'

He said many of the people on the flight have lived in the UK 'for most of their lives' and there needs to be a 'proper overview and consideration' given to how the Home Office approach such individuals.

Mr Sunak said he believed the flight is 'right' and the British public would expect foreign national offenders to be deported.

'Many of these people have committed crimes such as manslaughter, rape, other very serious offences,' the Tory told Sky News.

Tajay Thompson is one of those facing deportation to Jamaica having served half of a 15-month sentence in 2015 after being convicted of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply at 17.

Now 23 and living in south London, he told reporters he has no links to the Caribbean nation which he has only visited twice since coming to the UK aged five.

'I feel like I was born here. Jamaica is not my country,' Mr Thompson said as he insisted he was groomed into a gang as a teenager.

'It's not like I'm a rapist or a murderer, I've made a mistake when I was 17 and it's now going to affect my whole life.'
(Photo : Screenshot from: Warner Bros. Pictures Official Youtube Account) [WARNING] Don't Download Oscar-Winning Films; Phishing Scam Found on Online Websites (Photo : Kaspersky) [WARNING] Don't Download Oscar-Nominated Films; Phishing Scam Found on Online Websites

On Thursday, Feb. 6, a research firm identified a massive number of phishing scam websites that were disguised as 'free' movie streaming sites that anyone can access online.

Apparently, audiences are now searching for more updated types of films like the last year's Oscar-nominated movies that were being used as 'bait.' In order for movie-watchers to open their website, infiltrate the user's gadgets and then allow them to access financial scams like phishing.

Malware websites disguised as movie streaming sites

According to the recent report of Kaspersky Lab U.S-- a global security company that detects malware and harmful security features-- hundreds of online websites can be access nowadays that were malware sites.

This means that once you open websites like these, the possibility of getting hacked by third-party sources are more evident.

Aside from these, more than 20 movie streaming sites were now identified as phishing websites that are being used by hackers to access financial data from their victims.

There were also Twitter accounts that were being used to post 'free movie streaming sites' to promote fraudulent websites.

"The uncovered phishing websites and Twitter accounts gather users' data and prompt them to carry out a variety of tasks in order to gain access to the desired film. These can vary from taking a survey and sharing personal details, to installing adware or even giving up credit card details. Needless to say, at the end of the process, the user does not get the content," written by Kaspersky.

Oscar-nominated films being used as a 'bait'

As a way to lure audiences unto opening their websites, hackers use the fame of the past 92nd Academy Awards known as Oscars Awards and take their award-winning films to use as 'bait' for free movie streaming.

In fact, the 2019 film 'Joker' was found to be the most popular film among cybercriminals that contains 304 malicious files. War-themed movie '1917' had the 2nd spot with 215 files. While 'Irishman' goes third, but South-Korean film 'Parasite' found not having any malicious files from websites.

How to spot fake movie streaming websites

As explained by the firm, there are a lot of ways for users to identify which site is safe for streaming and which is not.

Pay attention to the official movie release dates in theaters, on streaming services, TV, DVD, or other sources

Don't click on suspicious links, such as those promising an early view of a new film; check movie release dates in theaters and keep track of them

Look at the downloaded file extension. Even if you are going to download a video file from a source you consider trusted and legitimate; the data should have a .avi, .mkv or .mp4 extension, or other video formats; definitely not .exe

Check the website's authenticity. Do not visit websites allowing you to watch a movie until you are sure that they are legitimate and start with https. Confirm that the site is genuine, by double-checking the format of the URL or the spelling of the company name, reading reviews about it and checking the domain's registration data before starting downloads.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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Linkedin Norman Harsono (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, February 10, 2020

Publicly-listed tin miner PT Timah Tbk appointed on Monday a retired marine general, a former intelligence officer and a former Bangka Belitung governor as new commissioners to oversee the companys business activities.

Retired general Alfan Baharudin, former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) officer Satriya Hari Prasetya and former governor of Bangka Belitung province Rustam Effendi were appointed as president commissioner, independent commissioner and commissioner for the state-owned company, respectively, during a shareholders meeting in Jakarta.

This is part of our effort to freshen up and accelerate the company's operations with big challenges ahead, said Timah president director Mochtar Riza Pahlevi Tabrani after the meeting.

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The telecom market has shown some resilience in recent years following the significant economic downturn a decade ago,

Sydney, Feb. 11, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Just released, this edition of Paul Budde Communications focus report on Iceland outlines the major developments and key aspects in the telecoms markets.

Click here to access the report : https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Iceland-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses





Iceland has one of the smallest yet most progressive telecom markets in Europe. There is effective competition in the mobile and broadband markets, with a number of players having emerged to challenge the dominance of the two leading operators Siminn and Syn, which have interests across the telecom sectors. Syn was formerly Vodafone Iceland before being rebranded to reflect the companys move into broadband and broadcasting following its December 2017 acquisition of most of the telecoms and media interests of 365 Media. The new entrant Nova has become the leading player in the mobile market and has quickly expanded its presence in the fixed-line segment, particularly in fibre.

The telecom market has shown some resilience in recent years following the significant economic downturn a decade ago, supported by continuing investment in mobile and fixed-line broadband infrastructure by operators and well as by the governments Telecommunications Fund which is supporting Next Generation Access networks, particularly in rural areas.

Key developments:

Regulator increases MTRs;

Government adds ISK450 million to Telecommunications Fund for fibre network builds;

Farice planning new IRIS submarine cable to Ireland and the UK;

Syn extends 500Mb/s FttP service to northern areas of Iceland;

Siminn's LTE network delivering data at up to 300Mb/s;

LTE licensees providing 99% population coverage;

Report update includes the regulator's market data to June 2019, operator data to Q3 2019, Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, recent market developments.

Story continues

Companies mentioned in this report:

Syn (Vodafone Iceland), Siminn, Nova, Tal, 365 Media.

Table of Contents

Key statistics

Regional European Market Comparison Europe Telecom Maturity Index by tier Market Leaders Market Challengers Market Emergents TMI versus GDP Mobile and mobile broadband penetration Fixed versus mobile broadband penetration

Country overview

Telecommunications market Historical overview

Regulatory environment Historical overview Regulatory authority Fixed-line developments Privatisation Interconnect Access Number Portability (NP) Carrier preselection (CPS) Mobile network developments Roaming Network sharing Mobile Termination Rates (MTRs) Licensing Mobile Number Portability (MNP) Spectrum auctions

Mobile market Market analysis Mobile statistics General statistics Mobile infrastructure Analogue networks Digital networks M2M networks Mobile data services Mobile broadband Major mobile operators Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO)

Fixed-line broadband market Market analysis Broadband statistics Government policies Fixed-line broadband technologies Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) networks Other fixed broadband services

Fixed network operators Siminn Syn

Telecommunications infrastructure Overview of the national telecom network VoIP International infrastructure

Data centres

Appendix  Historic data

Related reports





List of Tables

Table 1  Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities  Iceland  2019 (e)

Table 2  Development of telecom market revenue by sector  2009  2019

Table 3  Development of telecom market investment by sector  2009  2019

Table 4  Change in the number of fixed number portings  2013  2018

Table 5  Growth in the number of mobile numbers ported  2013  2018

Table 6  Growth in the number of mobile voice subscribers and penetration rate  2009  2024

Table 7  Change in the number of mobile voice subscribers by operator (regulator data)  2005  2019

Table 8  Change in mobile market share of voice subscribers by operator 2006  2019

Table 9  Growth in mobile voice traffic by type  2000  2019

Table 10  Change in mobile sector revenue  2007  2019

Table 11  Change in the number of prepaid and contract market subscribers  2009  2019

Table 12  Development in the number of prepaid subscribers by operator  2006  2019

Table 13  Change in the number of active mobile phone cards by type  2006  2019

Table 14  Change in the proportion of active GMS and UMTS cards  2008  2019

Table 15  Growth in the number of M2M subscriptions  2013  2019

Table 16  Growth in mobile data only traffic by operator  2008  2019

Table 17  Growth in mobile data traffic by type  2008  2019

Table 18  Increase in the number of mobile data-only subscribers  2009  2019

Table 19  Decline in the number of SMS traffic by operator  2009  2019

Table 20  Change in the number of MMS traffic by operator  2007  2019

Table 21  Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers by operator (voice and data)  2009  2019

Table 22  Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration  2009  2024

Table 23  Growth in the number of mobile broadband data only subscribers  2014  2019

Table 24  Growth in fixed internet and data revenue  2007  2019

Table 25  Development of fixed broadband subscribers by platform  2009  2019

Table 26  Broadband penetration by access type  2004  2018

Table 27  Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration  2009  2024

Table 28  Annual growth in DSL and fibre lines  2009  2019

Table 29  Change in the number of fixed broadband subscribers by operator  2008  2019

Table 30  Decline in the number of DSL subscribers by operator  2009  2019

Table 31  Change in the number of fix broadband connections by speed  2016  2019

Table 32  Change in the proportion of broadband connections by speed, new style (Mb/s)  2015  2019

Table 33  Growth in the number of fibre subscribers by operator  2009  2019

Table 34  Growth in fibre market share of fixed broadband connections  2009  2019

Table 35  Decline in the number of wireless broadband subscribers  2009  2019

Table 36  Development of Siminn Groups financial data  2009  2019

Table 37  Change in Siminn Group revenue by type  2016  2019

Table 38  Development of Syns financial data  2012  2019

Table 39  Development of Syns revenue by sector  2017  2019

Table 40  Change in the number of fixed-line access channels: PSTN and ISDN  2010  2019

Table 41  Decline in the number of fixed-lines in service and penetration  2009  2024

Table 42  Change in the number of fixed-line subscribers by operator  2015  2019

Table 43  Change in fixed-line subscriber market share by operator  2006  2019

Table 44  Decline in fixed-line traffic (PSTN/ISDN)  2009  2019

Table 45  Development of fixed-line revenue  2007  2019

Table 46  Change in the number of VoIP and IP connections  2007  2019

Table 47  International internet bandwidth  2009  2017

Table 48  Historic - Telecom market revenue by sector  2004  2009

Table 49  Historic - Telecom market investment by sector  2004  2009

Table 50  Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate  1997; 1999  2009

Table 51  Historic - Mobile subscribers: analogue and GSM  1995; 1997; 1999  2012

Table 52  Historic - Mobile voice traffic  2000  2009

Table 53  Historic - Prepaid and contract market subscribers  2000  2009

Table 54  Historic - SMS traffic by operator  2000  2009

Table 55  Historic - Internet users and penetration rate  1996  2015

Table 56  Historic - Broadband subscribers  2002  2009

Table 57  Historic - DSL subscribers by operator  2004  2009

Table 58  Historic - Fibre subscribers by operator  2005  2009

Table 59  Historic - Annual growth in DSL and fibre lines  2001  2009

Table 60  Historic - Fibre market share of fixed broadband connections  2003  2009

Table 61  Historic - Dial-up internet calls  2007  2017

Table 62  Historic - Fixed-line access channels: PSTN and ISDN  1995; 1997; 1999  2009

Table 63  Historic - Fixed-line traffic (PSTN/ISDN)  2000  2009

Table 64  Historic - Fixed-line (PSTN) subscribers by operator  2006  2016

Table 65  Historic - Proportion of broadband connections by speed, old style (Mb/s)  2015  2017

Table 66  Historic - Satellite broadband subscribers  2005  2017

Table 67  Historic - Wireless broadband subscribers  2004  2009

Table 68  Siminn Group financial data  2006  2009

Table 69  Historic - International internet bandwidth  2001  2009

List of Charts

Chart 1  Europe Telecoms Maturity Index  Market Leaders (top tier)

Chart 2  Europe Telecoms Maturity Index  Market Challengers (middle tier)

Chart 3  Europe Telecoms Maturity Index  Market Emergents (bottom tier)

Chart 4  Overall view - Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per Capita

Chart 5  Europe - mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration

Chart 6  Scandinavia and Baltics: mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration

Chart 7  Northern Europe mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration

Chart 8  Southern Europe mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration

Chart 9  Eastern Europe mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration

Chart 11  Northern Europe fixed and mobile broadband penetration

Chart 12  Southern Europe fixed and mobile broadband penetration

Chart 13  Eastern Europe fixed and mobile broadband penetration

Chart 14  Development of telecom market revenue by sector  2009  2019

Chart 15  Development of telecom market investment by sector  2009  2019

Chart 16  Growth in the number of mobile voice subscribers and penetration rate  2009  2024

Chart 17  Change in the number of mobile voice subscribers by operator (regulator data)  2005  2019

Chart 18  Change in mobile market share of voice subscribers by operator 2006  2019

Chart 19  Growth in mobile voice traffic by type  2009  2019

Chart 20  Change in mobile sector revenue  2007  2019

Chart 21  Change in the number of prepaid and contract market subscribers  2009  2019

Chart 22  Change in the number of active mobile phone cards by type  2006  2019

Chart 23  Change in the proportion of active GMS and UMTS cards  2008  2019

Chart 24  Growth in the number of M2M subscriptions  2013  2019

Chart 25  Growth in mobile data traffic by type  2012  2019

Chart 26  Decline in the number of SMS traffic by operator  2009  2019

Chart 27  Change in the number of MMS traffic by operator  2007  2019

Chart 28  Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers by operator (voice and data)  2009  2019

Chart 29  Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration  2009  2024

Chart 30  Growth in fixed internet and data revenue  2007  2019

Chart 31  Development of fixed broadband subscribers by platform  2009  2019

Chart 32  Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration  2009  2024

Chart 33  Change in the number of fixed broadband subscribers by operator  2008  2019

Chart 34  Decline in the number of DSL subscribers by operator  2009  2019

Chart 35  Change in the number of fix broadband connections by speed  2016  2019

Chart 36  Change in the proportion of broadband connections by speed, new style (Mb/s)  2015  2019

Chart 37  Development of Siminn Groups financial data  2009  2019

Chart 38  Change in Siminn Group revenue by type  2016  2018

Chart 39  Development of Syns financial data  2012  2019

Chart 40  Development of Syns revenue by sector  2017  2019

Chart 41  Decline in the number of fixed-lines in service and penetration  2009  2024

Chart 42  Decline in fixed-line traffic (PSTN/ISDN)  2009  2019

Chart 43  Development of fixed-line revenue  2007  2019

Chart 44  Change in the number of VoIP and IP connections  2007  2019

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1  Generalised Market Characteristics by Market Segment

Exhibit 2  Spectrum auction results (700MHz, 800MHz, 2.1GHz, 26.8GHz)  June 2017





Click here to access the report : https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Iceland-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses

Nicolas Bombourg

nbombourg@budde.com.au



Within Australia

(02) 8076 7665



Outside Australia

+44 207 097 1241
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], Feb 8 (ANI): A day after the Kerala government decided to withdraw the 'state disaster' status given to the feared epidemic of coronavirus, officials from the health department said that strict vigilance will still continue.



While the government took a sigh of relief when the repeat test of a coronavirus patient, who had earlier tested positive and was undergoing treatment at Alappuzha Medical College, came out as negative, the health officials maintained that the surveillance will continue.

Dr Indu PS, Head of Community Medicine and State Coordinator of Prevention of Epidemics and Infectious Diseases Cell, said, "Though the Kerala government has withdrawn the 'state disaster' status, the vigilance will continue. As of now, about 3,000 people are under surveillance."

The people currently under surveillance include the 72 people who returned from Wuhan in China and their family members. Among all the Wuhan returnees, only two persons' results are still awaited.

Dr Indu also said that caution is being maintained on high-risk contacts of the coronavirus patients.

V Meenakshi, Additional Director, Public Health, said, "The health condition of all the positive patients is satisfactory. Their family members have tested negative."

Meanwhile, Amar Fettle, state nodal officer for corona and H1N1, thanked the people of Kerala, especially those under home isolation, for their cooperation.

Amar said, "We are maintaining a strict surveillance system and it will continue. We have issued advisories to some special sectors like schools and tourism. We had called a meeting in Trivandrum today where managers of the tourism sector were briefed about the advisory."

"Even as the 'state disaster' tag has been withdrawn, we want voluntary cooperation of people to tell us if new people arrive in the state with any coronavirus-like symptoms," he added.

Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja on Friday said that the state government had decided to withdraw 'state disaster' status given to n-coronavirus. However, she said that the alert will continue and health guidelines have to be followed.

The state disaster status was declared after 72 persons in Kerala arrived from Wuhan in China of which three tested positive. Of them, 67 have tested negative. The test results show that the close contacts of all the three confirmed patients are negative, Shailaja said. (ANI)


Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 05:37:12|Editor: yan

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ISTANBUL, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Turkey retaliated against the attack of the Syrian government forces, which killed five Turkish soldiers in northern Syria on Monday, Fahrettin Altun, communication director of the Turkish presidency, tweeted.

"Turkey retaliated against the attack to destroy all enemy targets and avenge our fallen troops," Altun said.

"The war criminal, who ordered today's heinous attack, targeted the entire international community, not just Turkey," he added.

He added that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government is the "root" cause of the Syrian issue.

Turkish Defense Ministry on Monday said that five Turkish soldiers were killed and many others were injured at a shelling carried out by the Syrian government forces in Idlib, the last rebel-held stronghold in northwestern Syria.

Early in February, eight Turks, including five soldiers, were killed in another artillery shooting of the Syrian forces in Idlib.
For years, Pakistani officials touted apparent successes against the countrys ultra-radical Islamist Taliban militants as evidence of their counterterrorism achievements.

But the recent escape of a former Taliban spokesman while in detention by the Pakistani intelligence services has raised new questions about Islamabads covert ties with the militants. It even challenges the notion that Pakistans powerful military only supports the Afghan Taliban insurgency but has successfully eradicated various domestic factions.

Critics cite the escape as an instance of Islamabads keenness to bring violent extremists into the mainstream while cracking down on unarmed protesters who question the militarys conduct in its domestic war on terrorism. More than 70,000 people, predominantly members of the ethnic Pashtun minority, were killed while another 6 million were displaced by nearly 15 years of Taliban attacks and military operations since 2003.

Officials remain tellingly silent since Ehsanullah Ehsan, nom de guerre for Sajjid Mohmand or Liaqaut Ali, claimed to have escaped official detention in a purported audio message on February 6. He claimed to have fled to Turkey from nearly three years of detention on January 11.

Surely, this official silence will create misgivings and is unacceptable. It is time for a full disclosure, noted a February 8 editorial in Pakistans English-language daily Dawn. The people have a right to know if his escape was a massive security failure or part of an immunity deal negotiated before his surrender.

The countrys defense and interior ministers, the spokesman for the armed forces, and other senior officials have either refused to comment on Ehsans escape or have simply said they knew nothing more than what the media had reported.

But the government apparently tried to build an alternative narrative about his escape by telling newspapers, journalists, and television stations that he fled during an operation targeting terrorists affiliated with the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Jamaatul Ahrar (JUA). Ehsan regularly claimed responsibility for TPP attacks from 2011 to 2013 that killed civilians. Later that year, he joined JUA, a splinter of TTP. He ultimately surrendered to the Pakistani spy services in February 2017.

Ehsan provided highly sensitive, valuable, and accurate information which led to the busting of several hardcore terrorists networks and capture and targeting of TTP and JUA terrorists both inside as well as outside the country, said one of the insights attributed to the unnamed sources. The sources added that Ehsan had to be tried for his crimes but before the trial, maximum information had to be extracted from him to conclude the operations. They said it was during one such operation that he was able to flee, daily Dawn reported.

But there is no evidence Ehsan was in a proper prison or even being closely guarded. Officials have also provided no evidence of his purported role in busting terrorist rings.

According to the New York Times, Ehsan was living with his family in an upscale neighborhood of the northwestern city of Peshawar. He fathered a child there and had phone and Internet access. A February 7 article in the newspaper said Ehsan was promised a hefty sum for surrendering to the authorities, but the money was never paid, which prompted him to flee. Pakistani security forces are now offering Mr. Mohmand [Ehsan] more money to turn himself back in, but he has refused the offer, officials say, the paper reported.

Such obvious differences between the government's claimed treatment of Ehsan and the reported reality of his handling has led many to question Islamabads ties with the Pakistani Taliban. Since Ehsan surrendered in 2017, activists have called for a trial.

Fazal Khan, a lawyer who lost his son in an alleged Taliban massacre of schoolchildren in Peshawar in December 2014, launched a court case against Ehsans potential release. In December 2017, the Peshawar High Court, the apex court in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, ruled that the authorities should not release Ehsan.

Khan has now launched another court case against Pakistans powerful army chief, the head of the Inter Services Intelligence spy service, and some senior civilian bureaucrats for failing to implement the courts ruling by preventing Ehsan from escaping.

The petitioner has been informed through reliable sources that clemency was in order of Ehsanullah Ehsan for his full and frank disclosure, which is not only highly deplorable but also outrightly illegal and unconstitutional, Khan wrote in his application for lodging the case in Peshawar High Court on February 7. He now heads an association of parents of some of the nearly 150 children killed at Peshawars Army Public School.

Despite clear-cut directions of this honorable court  now it has come to light that [a] luxurious home [was provided to Ehsan] from which the terrorist has made his escape: a fact not denied by the respondents, the application added.

Some prominent opposition figures have taken up the issue.

One of the two explanations [are] possible; complicity or sheer incompetence, former lawmaker Farhatullah Babar, a senior leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, wrote on Twitter. Jailing human rights defenders and freeing self-confessed terrorists. Demand explanation.

Lawmaker Mohsin Dawar, a leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), a civil rights movement, says Ehsans escape supports their claims that Pakistans war against terrorism was only geared toward garnering funds from the United States by ostensibly allying in its war on terrorism. All the false operations against the terrorists were conducted toward this end, he told Voice of America.

Mohsin says that during the past two years, numerous members of the PTM have faced sedition, rioting, and terrorism charges for campaigning for rights and demanding accountability in Islamabads war on terrorism in their homeland. The state is extending special treatment to people like Ehsanullah Ehsan, who killed our children and engaged in the mass killings of our people, he said.

Islamabad claims to have defeated TTP in more than a dozen military operations in the seven districts of the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the northwestern alpine Swat Valley.

But most senior Taliban leaders in these regions, which are part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, have been killed in suspected U.S. drone strikes. Mullah Fazlullah, one of the most prominent TTP leaders, was killed in eastern Afghanistan by a U.S. drone strike in June 2018.

For more than a quarter-century Islamabad has supported the hard-line Taliban movement in Afghanistan. Senior Pakistani officials have admitted housing the Taliban and retaining influence over its leaders. Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansur was killed by the U.S. in the southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan after returning from Iran. Islamabad now says it supports an agreement between the Taliban and the United States to end the war in Afghanistan.

The aftermath of Ehsans escape, however, appears to have revived questions about Islamabads opaque ties with the various Taliban factions.
A court here on Monday sentenced a constable of Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary to life imprisonment for burning his wife to death four years ago.

The Judge also imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on the accused, Rajiv Panvar, after convicting him under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code and directed that the money be distributed among the deceased's brother and two sons.

The court, however, acquitted the woman's father-in-law and mother-in-law in the dowry death case due to lack of evidence.

According to lawyer Yashpal Singh, the woman, Rajni, was allegedly burnt to death by her husband and in-laws over dowry demands at Baili village in Budhana on February 27 ,2016.

Rajni sustained 98 per cent burns and later succumbed to injuries in a hospital, Singh said.

After the incident, Rajni's brother had lodged an FIR alleging that she was harassed by her husband and in-laws over dowry demands, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Shipyards around the country have run into labor shortages, said Tim Huxley, the chief executive of Mandarin Shipping, a Hong Kong freighter shipping company. Shipbuilders and ship repair providers have begun citing these labor shortages to invoke clauses in their contracts that allow them to delay completion of projects for events beyond their control, he said.

Aside from fear of disease, the countrys nearly 300 million migrant workers  almost two-fifths of the labor force  now have another reason to be reluctant to travel to distant cities: Their children are still home. Depending on the province, many schools are not scheduled to resume until Feb. 25 or even March 1.

Even factories with enough workers are running into further problems. The packaging industry is almost shut down, so everything from plastic packing to steel drums is running out, Mr. Wuttke said.

Local regulators are putting up even more barriers.

Before businesses in big manufacturing hubs like Shanghai, Shenzhen, Suzhou or Nanjing can reopen, they must now verify the travel history and health of every employee over the past two weeks. They must have frequent temperature checks of employees, hand-washing procedures and a plan to isolate and refer to hospitals anyone showing even fevers as low as 99.1 degrees Fahrenheit.

Most difficult of all, businesses cannot reopen without approval of their health plans by municipal officials  and larger operations also have to wait for a site visit from a health official.

Shenzhen, a vast sprawl of electronics factories and skyscrapers next to Hong Kong, issued new health and safety rules on Sunday and said factories that made iPhones and other Apple products would have to meet them before opening. Foxconn Technology, a Taiwanese company that owns the factories, said it met all health and hygiene rules but declined to comment on when production would restart at specific locations. Apple declined to comment.
Judy star Renee Zellweger dedicated the Academy Award she won playing Judy Garland to the late star on Sunday.

'Judy Garland, you are certainly among the heroes who unite and define us,' Zellweger, 50, said. 'And this is certainly for you.'

In her Tinseltown career, Garland was awarded by the Academy a Juvenile Award in 1940 coming off her signature performance of Dorothy in the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz.

Somewhere under the rainbow: Judy star Renee Zellweger, 50, dedicated the Academy Award she won playing Judy Garland to the late star on Sunday

She was also nominated twice for Oscars but did not win: In 1962 for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Judgment at Nuremberg; and in 1955 for her work in A Star Is Born the previous year.

Zellweger noted this much in her speech, saying, 'Judy Garland did not receive this honor in her time.'

She said that Garland's spirit was present throughout the latest cinematic endeavor, and the celebration of such.

'I am certain that this moment is an extension of the celebration of her legacy that began on our film set,' she said, 'and it is also representative of the fact that her legacy of unique exceptionalism and inclusivity and generosity in spirit, it transcends any one artistic achievement.'

Recognition: The double Oscar winner praised Garland's 'legacy of unique exceptionalism and inclusivity and generosity in spirit'

Stylish: Zellweger dazzled in a one-shoulder white gown by Armani Prive at the event

In her acceptance speech, the Katy, Texas native pressed on how heroic figures in all walks of life bring people together.

'This past year of conversations celebrating Judy Garland across ... generations and across cultures has been a really cool reminder that our heroes unite us,' said the actress. 'Now, the best among us, who inspire us to find the best in ourselves, when they unite us, when we look to our heroes, we agree, you know? And that matters.'

Zellweger thanked everyday heroes such as troops, firefighters and first responders, in addition to staples of Americana including activist Harriet Tubman, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Sally Ride, athletes Venus and Serena Williams, and artists/entertainers including Martin Scorsese, Fred Rogers, Selena and Bob Dylan.

Accolades: Zellweger previously took home Best Actress in a Supporting Role Oscar for her work in 2003's Cold Mountain

Golden achievement: The beaming beauty basked backstage with her Oscar

My night: Renee held her trophy aloft as she celebrated her win on Sunday evening

In good company: The actress was joined by producer David Livingstone (L) and theatre director Rupert Goold (R) as she made her way to the Vanity Fair party later that night

Well done Renee: Fellow Academy Award winner Rami Malek and Jane Fonda were on hand to congratulate the actress

It's all about us: While Renee won Best Actress, Laura Dern won Best Supporting Actress for her role in Marriage Story

'When we celebrate our heroes,' she said, 'we're reminded of who we are as one people united.'

Zellweger outlasted a strong field of competition up for the prize, including Harriet's Cynthia Erivo, Marriage Story's Scarlett Johansson, Little Women actress Saoirse Ronan and Bombshell beauty Charlize Theron.

The victory made Zellweger a two-time Oscar winner, as she previously took home Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her work in 2003's Cold Mountain.

Tragic end: Garland died at the age of 47 in London in June of 1969. She was pictured in London on New Year's Eve of 1968
The Maharashtra government on Monday appointed renowned lawyer Ujjal Nikam as special public prosecutor (SPP) in the Hinganghat case in Wardha district where a 25-year-old woman lecturer was burned to death by her stalker.

Making the announcement here, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray assured that the case, which has triggered widespread public anger and outrage, will be tried in a fast- track court to ensure speedy justice to the victim and her family.

The victim, Ankita Pisudde, a resident of Hinganghat town, was set afire allegedly by her stalker Vikesh Nagrale (27) a week ago.

The woman died in a Nagpur hospital, where had been undergoing treatment, on Monday morning.

An official statement quoted Thackeray as saying that Nikam, who was the prosecution's main lawyer in the state's case against 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab, will be the SPP in the Hinganghat matter.

During his decades-long career, Nikam (66) has handled several high-profile cases like the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts and the film producer Gulshan Kumar murder case.

Thackeray said speedy investigation will be carried out in the case.

The accused must be convicted for the crime. Investigating agencies will work to ensure he is punished severely, the chief minister said.

Thackeray said government departments concerned will work in coordination to ensure justice to the victim and her family.

The woman was set on fire by the accused, who was later arrested, while she was on way to her college on February 3, police have said.

Nagrale and the woman were friends till two years ago when she severed ties with him due to his "irrational behaviour", the police have said.

Since then, Nagrale, who is married, had been stalking her, they have said.

A special team led by Wardha Deputy Superintendent of Police Trupti Jadhav is handling the case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ten members of an inter-state gang were arrested along with arms in Bihar's Rohtas district, police said on Monday.

Acting on a tip-off that some criminals have gathered at a place behind Takia bazar samiti, a police team raided the place and arrested the 10 members of the inter-state gang along with arms, Superintendent of Police, Satyaveer Singh told reporters in Dehri-On-Sone.

Police seized two countrymade pistols, one air pistol, 13 mobile phones, 35 SIM cards, three motorcycles from their possession, the SP said.

The arrested gang members were involved in several criminal cases, lodged in various police stations of Aurangabad, Arwal, Bhojpur, Purnea and Rohtas district, Singh said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Behind the Wheel is a video series that shows you a bit of what its like to work at Autoblog. The editors and video producers will show you the cars we have in our fleet, and youll get a behind the scenes look at some of the personalities that help make the site run.

In this episode, Senior Producer Christopher McGraw travels to the windy city for the 2020 Chicago Auto Show and walks the floor, pointing out his five favorite vehicles. Some of them might not be what you think.

What new vehicles are you anticipating the most in 2020? Wed love to hear from you, so please comment below!

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Pete Buttigieg poses for selfies with supporters while campaigning at Dover Middle School in New Hampshire: EPA

In below freezing temperatures, the line to see Pete Buttigieg in Nashua, New Hampshire stretched out from the gym doors at Elm Street Middle School. Down the block, the line snaked around the corner, then around yet another corner.

The turnout was a testament to the newfound celebrity of the candidate, a former mayor of a mid-sized city in Indiana who, just a year ago, virtually nobody in America even knew existed.

But they certainly know him now. Just at the start of the 2020 primary process, Mayor Pete  as many like to call him, due to his tongue twister of a last name  has shown that in American politics, no candidate is inevitable.

Instead, a 38-year-old newcomer to national politics can seemingly topple the candidate folks thought was unstoppable, and head into the nation's first primary as a front-runner and candidate just about everyone is talking about. That quick rise in political fortunes does not seem lost on him.

"I know how seriously voters here in New Hampshire take that responsibility, that influence, that thumb on the scale that you've got," Mr Buttigieg told the crowd on Sunday. "In the New Hampshire tradition that had a lot of you in the summer and the fall coming to my events and hearing me out and at the end saying, 'You know, that was pretty good. I think you're in my top seven now.'"

Mr Buttigieg heads into the Tuesday primary on the heels of a strong performance in Iowa, when voters came together last week for the bizarre spectacle that is the state's caucuses.

While the reported results from that contest have been criticised for inconsistencies and muddled reporting that took days before a full account was released publicly, Mr Buttigieg's status as a front-runner out of the state alongside Vermont senator Bernie Sanders is uncontestable  even if he was criticised for seeming to claim victory far too early.

The former midwestern mayor now finds himself ahead of the former vice president, Joe Biden, who once seemed like the obvious choice for moderate Democrats seeking to find a candidate with a vision that can win a Democratic nomination in a cycle marked for a surging progressive sentiment, while avoiding the kinds of policies and labels like "socialist" that some view as a liability for Mr Sanders should he face off against Donald Trump.

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Pete Buttigieg poses for selfies with supporters while campaigning at Dover Middle School in New Hampshire (EPA)

"I'm 98 per cent sure that I'm voting for Pete at this point," said Mary Rioux, 42, of Manchester.

Ms Rioux said she made her decision just after the CNN town hall late last week. Still, she said she also likes Amy Klobuchar quite a bit.

Mr Buttigieg still faces several notable obstacles on his path to the Democratic nomination. At 38, he is the youngest candidate in the field, a potential liability that is underscored by the fact that his highest elected office sits several rungs down from some of his most prominent opponents.

On Sunday, Mr Buttigieg was introduced by Nashua's mayor and himself recognised that fact, but cast his distance from Washington as a political strength in spite of the brutal attack ads placed by Mr Biden, mockingly comparing his experience as vice-president with the kind of decisions Mayor Pete made in South Bend, like whether to put colourful lights underneath a bridge or whether to change pet chip regulations.

"I'm so glad to have the support of a fellow mayor at a time like this. Remember, mayors have to get things done. You're never gonna hear of a city government shutting down because two parties don't agree. We just have to make sure that the water keeps flowing through your taps so we figure it out," Mr Buttigieg said.

"We need to make Washington look like our best run cities and towns, instead of the other way around," he said.

Still, Jamie Bourgeouis, a 43-year-old Nashua voter, said that Mr Buttigieg seems like a sensible choice heading into 2020. She said he's not quite as progressive as she might like, but that he might do the trick.

"I don't know who I'm voting for yet, but I like Pete," she said. "I'm torn on who to vote for. I want someone who can beat Trump. So, I'll probably go for someone who's a bit away from my personal politics."

Days before the primary, Mr Buttigieg trails Mr Sanders in aggregates of polls, with 21.3 per cent support in the state compared to the Vermont senator's 26.1 per cent. Eight points below that is Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts senator who came in third place in Iowa and is seeking a strong showing in New Hampshire, where she has focused a considerable ground game.

And so, before he can begin counting his chickens, Mr Buttigieg must prove himself in the Granite State, where voters like to tout their sense of independence, and many say they don't really care what Iowa had to say about the candidates  they want folks like Mr Buttigieg to prove they're the right choice again.

"I'm just here evaluating," Carl Dubois, a 48-year-old voter from Hudson, New Hampshire, said outside of the event. He said he planned on seeing Mr Biden and Amy Klobuchar before making a final decision. "I wasn't really paying attention to the Iowa caucuses. I don't really engage until New Hampshire."

When will he decide? "Last minute, right when I walk into the polls."

Read more

Biden escalates attack on Buttigieg before tepid performance in NH
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Sunday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and stated that there is a difference between 'hollow talk' and running the country. Kamal Nath also accused the Prime Minister of talking about nationalism and Pakistan in an attempt to distract and divert people.

"Modi Ji will talk about nationalism and Pakistan to divert the attention of people. But he will not talk about youth and farmers. There is a lot of difference between hollow talk and running the country," Kamal Nath Nath stated while addressing a gathering at Sagar, Madhya Pradesh.

READ | PM's CAA & Pak talk to divert attention from key issues: MP Chief Minister Kamal Nath

Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath in Sagar yesterday: Modi Ji, dhyaan modhne ke liye kabhi rashtravaad ki baat karenge, kabhi Pakistan ki baat karenge lekin naujavano aur kisaano ki baat nahi kaarenge....muh chalaane mein aur desh chalaane mein bahut antar hota hai. pic.twitter.com/bwICecCEcD  ANI (@ANI) February 10, 2020

CM Kamal Nath's statement comes after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's statement where he had said that youth will hit Prime Minister Narendra Modi with sticks if he is unable to address the issue of unemployment in the country.

READ | Ramdas Athawale throws 'anda' counter at Rahul Gandhi's 'danda' attack

Rahul Gandhi's 'danda' remark

The Gandhi scion stoked a controversy on February 5 while addressing a campaign rally for Delhi Assembly polls. In his address, he claimed that Prime Minister Modi will not be able to step out of his residence after some months, citing the extreme anger of the youth of this country. In his address, he said that the youth will "lathi-charge" the Prime Minister to make him understand the problem of unemployment.

Addressing a rally in Delhi, Rahul Gandhi said, "Narendra Modi, who is giving speeches, will not be able to move out of his house in the next six months. The youth of India will lathi-charge him to make him understand that without employment, the country can never progress." He further said that the Prime Minister is only delivering false promises of employment to the people of India. The Congress leader addressed rallies in Kondli and Mataia Mahal ahead of the Delhi elections. The second rally was jointly held with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is the General Secretary of East UP.

READ | Send Rahul to 'political playschool': Naqvi on 'danda' remark

READ | 'Budget just a labyrinth of data': Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath

(With ANI inputs)
Professor Jonathan Turley of Georgetown University Law School wrote in The Hill of the Speakers State of the Union behavior, Pelosi has shredded decades of tradition, decorum and civility that the nation could use now more than ever. He also described her with the words petty, distempered, and inappropriate. She failed to introduce the President properly, and then was particularly out of line when she tore up his speech after grimacing and showing petulant expressions throughout the Presidents speech.

Turley asserted that she should resign from office as the Speaker as her breaches of decorum at the State of Union were the worst of all those he has criticized over the years. For Turley, it is important because decorum is a kind of unifying glue. It is the fallback M.O., the detachment whereby differences of person and policy are transcended in our republic. He might just as well have called for the entire Democrat caucus to resign and be replaced by people of honor and integrity. It is at that point that the analysis seems to fade into fantasy.

Sadly, at this time in history, Turleys view is a case of not seeing the forest for the trees. Instead of decorum being the way unity is maintained as in the past, decorum now serves mainly as a mask covering a profound dislocation, a profound disunity. Her lack of decorum and the unconscionable, implacable hostility of the Democrats of the House and Senate reveals the extreme political animosity that presently afflicts our country.

We are faced with an incredible disunity, so intense that no appearance of unity in the form of decorum can cover it up. The grim face of that disunity appeared at the State of the Union address, and was most visible in the egregious behavior of Speaker Pelosi.

Decorum is only one aspect of unity, but can never substitute for unity. If unity of purpose, of conscience, and of our varied constituencies is not present then decorum becomes a mere cover-up. Our national motto is e pluribus unum not e pluribus decorumatum.

Decorum has morphed over the past few decades into being a mask over the truth that laws have been passed and policies enacted that have not been of the people, by the people nor for the people. Ill-conceived and destructive policies have been implemented and decorum is only the veneer of bi-partisanship.

The jungle rot of the past 40-50 years of identity politics, globalism (i.e., the dilution of our national sovereignty), shift in our national identity  for approximately half the citizens -- from land of opportunity to land of exploitation, out of control immigration (fueled by our ever-expanding welfare system), and the decline of education owing to circumvention of the Tenth Amendment and the leftist ideology of too many educators, have all taken place behind the closed door of decorum.

Decorum was in place when China was admitted to the WTO. This giant step towards globalism took place under Democratic initiatives that carried over into the Bush administration. This admission made it easier for multinational corporations to open new markets in the Peoples Republic of China, but it also made China wealthier, and enabled the tyrants heading up that country to consolidate their power. We aided and abetted tyranny thereby, but because of decorum  to maintain a veneer of gentlemanly acceptance  the utter horror of that decision was not brought to the fore. Bi-partisanship and decorum merged to create a false face of progress.

There was a ridiculous decorum shown by Pres. G.W. Bush when he was vilified incessantly as Hitler and insulted day and night by the Dems. Unlike Pres. Trump, he did not say a peep. He remained above the fray, determined not to stoop to the level of his critics and the mean-spirited ones who heaped scorn upon his word choice errors and scorned him publicly and incessantly as a mental midget.

Decorum was in place by upping federal invasion of local prerogatives in education with the No Child Left Behind legislation and with Race To The Top Moneys. These initiatives enabled federal leverage on state education policy via implementation of social engineering through Common Core. Not only are the educational premises of this program dubious, but students must answer 400 personal questions which go into a federal database permanently.

When this writer was growing up prior to 1973, both major parties accepted the value of every life, including the unborn. Some objected, but it was a moral norm not to abort babies although many still did so. The Republicans, believing in decorum, did not denounce Democrats relentlessly, nor did they organize protests against the Democrats at their conventions for their stand on this issue. Yes  children can be dismembered and killed because mommy lacked self-control and couldnt stay in a vertical position, and then, feeling that a newborn will interfere with her party life or other indulgences and comforts decides to do away with the child.

Just as the cultural Marxists have aspired to destroy the American family, we see Obergefell v. Hodges allowing the marriage of two men or two women cutting against thousands of years of family identities in all tribes, nations, cultures, and continents. But decorum says there will be differences of opinion on the most controversial matters, and we must applaud politely for the rights of others with whom we disagree. How can homosexual marriage be considered a Constitutional right when it was voted down in 36 states including twice in California? Education, birth, and marriage are not governed from Washington under the enumerated powers; yet, at present, they are so governed with relatively little pushback. Why so little pushback? The answer: decorum.

Professor Turleys concern for decorum is a call to continue the false face of a false unity and a false message to the American people. When candidate Trump called Hillary a crook, he broke all decorum since Hillary had been a First Lady, Senator, Secretary of State, and Presidential nominee of the Dems. With a resume like that, calling her a crook was deemed by many as rude and unacceptable. Yet, many of us loved that insult of her majesty, Ice Queen of Narnia. The days of decorum as a valid hiding place were coming to an end. We all know a fish rots from the head down. Nancy revealed herself at the State of the Union as the source of the stinking, rotten, soulless behavior of the Leftocratic House. Her mistakes are actually a revelation.
Srinagar, Feb 10 : Former J&K Finance Minister Altaf Bukhari on Monday termed the compensation announced by the government to the fruit growers, who suffered huge damages in recent heavy snowfall, as a 'cruel joke'.

In a statement Bukhari said that the horticulture sector in Kashmir Valley suffered huge losses on account of heavy snowfall in November last year coupled with frequent closure of Srinagar-Jammu national highway.

"Due to November 2019 untimely snowfall around 70 per cent to 90 percent trees carrying un-plucked crop collapsed and around 40 to 60 per cent of crop producing fruit trees were uprooted. Now paying Rs 900 per Kanal to the fruit growers, as announced by the government, is akin to rubbing salt into their wounds," Bukhari observed.

"We all know that fruit industry is considered to be the backbone of J&K's economy. However, the hostile climatic conditions shattered all the expectations of this industry resulting into huge losses to growers, most of whom have lost their livelihood,"he remarked.

"The fruit growers were expecting a generous package from the government as compensation for their losses as was assured by the government itself. However, the peanuts offered by the government this time have disappointed lacs of families associated with this industry directly or indirectly," Bukhari added.

He said the compensation offered to fruit growers must be revised and should commensurate with the magnitude of damages suffered by the growers.

"The government must keep into consideration the damages suffered by the fruit growers which were unprecedented this year and revise its compensation accordingly," he demanded.

Similarly, he said that in Jammu region, the farmers suffered heavy losses due to untimely rains due to which paddy/Basmati crop was damaged. "The farmers of Jammu region have been crying for compensation, but nobody in the government seems paying any heed to their pleas," he observed. .

The former finance minister said that the losses suffered by the farmers and fruit growers in Jammu and Kashmir must be re-assessed and the compensation be paid as per national natural calamity norms.
At this time of the year, buyers from Western markets travel to China to negotiate with garment exporters for the next season. Because of the coronavirus spread, most of them have reportedly cancelled the trip and started discussing with exporters from other countries, including India.

T Rajkumar, chairman, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, says it is possible for export of finished textile goods, clothing and fabric to rise by at least 20-30 per cent this year, due to the Chinese virus issue. The flip side is exporters saying they are not in a position to convert such ...
This is the unexpected moment tube travellers broke into song and dance at a London Underground station.

The footage - filmed at Leicester Square station in central London - shows a group of enthusiastic dancers as they boogie around the busker.

The musician - named as Wilfy Williams on Twitter - plays the classic song Twist and Shout by the Beatles as more people join in the group dance and others gather to watch around them.

The footage - filmed at Leicester Square station in central London - shows a group of enthusiastic dancers as they boogie around the busker

The clip begins with people happily dancing in pairs or on their own before a group of three come into the view of the camera doing the conga.

They move through the crowd and then suddenly others start to join the line until everyone is involved.

Others wave their hands in the air and jig around to the catchy tune.

Facebook user Helena Whittle captured the moment on Friday night as she was passing through the station.

The clip begins with people happily dancing in pairs or on their own before a group of three (pictured left) come into the view of the camera doing the conga. Others wave their hands in the air and jig around to the catchy tune (right)

The musician has been named as Wilfy Williams on social media. He is a songwriter who regularly shares YouTube videos showcasing his new music.

He also shared the clip online saying: 'Busking at Leicester Square last night and the crowd started doing the conga!

'75k views! Unreal add that to the Facebook video views and theres 1million people that I've managed to put a smile on their face.'

Social media users were quick to comment on the footage, with one person saying: 'I adore that. We need more of this, everywhere!'

Another said: 'Absolutely wonderful. I've often felt like dancing but you need other like-minded passengers to join in the party - very quickly. Well done everyone. Happy happy days...'

Others saw the funny side claiming that they were far too happy to be Londoners and that usually people are not in such high spirits when travelling on the underground.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-11 06:06:14|Editor: yan

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BUENOS AIRES, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Former President of Bolivia Evo Morales has travelled to Cuba "for health reasons" and will return to Argentina next weekend, Morales' press office reported on Monday.

"Former President Evo Morales undertook an unscheduled journey to Cuba last night for health reasons. His return is scheduled for next weekend in order to fulfill the programmed agenda," a press release said.

Morales had a larynx operation in Cuba in April 2017 in which a benign tumor was removed from his left vocal cord.

Morales' trip was also confirmed by Argentine President Alberto Fernandez.

"So they have told me, and it seems to me that he needed some (medical) treatment and had to travel. I spoke with him a few days ago and he commented on it," Fernandez told Argentina's Radio Continental on Monday.

Morales arrived in Argentina under refugee status on Dec. 12.
HAMPTON, N.H.  The former Democratic front-runner, Joe Biden, gave two public speeches Sunday, and at both events he told the moving story of a supporter, Gene, whos dying of Stage 4 prostate cancer. He also spoke lovingly about his son, Beau, who died of brain cancer, and gave a hint of the pain surrounding the deaths of his wife and daughter in a 1972 car crash.

At one point, before a hushed crowd that consisted largely of older voters, the former vice president nearly cried into the microphone recalling his sons diagnosis.

The current front-runner, Bernie Sanders, had a very different day.

He held twice as many events, before energized crowds of mostly younger voters. At an evening rally at Keene State College, nearly 2,000 people attended, with lines snaking around the campus. Students danced as they awaited the event speakers. Even prior to Sanders appearance, his supporters stamped their feet so hard it thundered throughout the gym.

The split screen offered a revealing look at the on-the-ground dynamics that have brought Biden to the brink of defeat here in New Hampshire  where he has practically conceded he wont win  and Sanders to the brink of victory.

Biden has struggled to generate grassroots energy around his candidacy, at least in part because of his failure to excite younger voters. At the annual McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club Dinner Friday in Manchester, his contingent of supporters couldnt match the size, organization, level of energy and enthusiasm mustered by the Sanders, Warren and Buttigieg camps. In Iowa, entrance polls reported the former vice president performed abysmally among the youngest voters  just 3 percent favored him.

The nature of his events give a hint as to why. Bidens Sunday had a promising start. He spoke before hundreds in the towns of Hampton and Hudson, unusually large crowds for the former vice president. Yet it wasnt long before the events took on a funereal mood as he talked about the somber themes hes dwelled on since his campaign launch in late April: loss, illness, the dwindling ranks of the middle class.

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Former Vice President Joe Biden speak at a campaign event on Sunday in Hampton, New Hampshire.

Those stories of grief are typically interwoven into his discussion of policy. When he spoke about cancer, for example, he connected it to the Affordable Care Act that he helped pass, or the initiative named after Beau.

Ive experienced loss, Biden said in Hudson. But I will be damned if I stand by and lose my country! It will not happen!

The line, which Biden rolled out the day before, earned loud applause.

After all his speeches, Biden works the rope line, meeting voters one-on-one. His gift of empathy is undeniable as some grieve with him over mutual loss. Others petition him to help with their health problems.

Hes a great man. It feels like you know him, that he cares about regular people, that he cares about decency, said James Graham, a 71-year-old Vietnam War veteran who talked to Biden Tuesday in Somersworth about the death of a friend of his in the war and related it to Beau Biden.

Biden knew what to do. He hugged Graham so tightly that his Vietnam vet cap almost popped off his head.

Biden makes certain to be sunnier at times during his remarks, cracking a joke or two off the cuff. On Sunday, he delivered his familiar line that I have never been more optimistic about our future.

Yet his message doesnt exactly convey that. It is about restoring an old order, one that resonates with the middle aged and elderly attendees who tend to populate his events but fails to animate younger voters. His top surrogates underscore that message: Biden leans on John Kerry, the former secretary of state and 2004 Democratic nominee, to attest to his qualities; Sanders employs Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the recently elected firebrand who electrifies the progressive movement.

The entire package, beginning with the tone of Bidens message and his subdued style of speaking, falls flat with many younger people.

Frankly, when he speaks, a lot of what hes saying seems very sad, said Madison Moore, a 21-year-old student from Mercer College in Georgia who came to New Hampshire with her class to witness the first-in-the-nation primary. We heard a lot about deaths, and cancer and people losing their jobs. He doesnt really seem solution-oriented in how we fix those problems.

Sanders, by contrast, is dominant among those aged 17 to 29  in Iowa, he won 48% of their vote, more than double anyone else  and his message resonates strongly among them. At a town hall in Hanover, a college organizer for Sanders opened the event by mentioning her own struggle to pay for school and friends who had to sell blood plasma to pay tuition bills. The next student talked about her deep skepticism about the American Dream. She was followed by another volunteer who described how Sanders had inspired him to action, and how he admired the senators fight against the establishment.

On Sunday, he traveled to three college towns. Hes slated to hit two more on Monday. The last is a get-out-the-vote concert rally with The Strokes, another of the popular bands that have stumped for him in recent weeks.

Those voters will make a big difference on Tuesday. In 2016, voters under 30 cast nearly 20 percent of the New Hampshire primary vote, according to exit polls.

While Bidens strongest supporters, voters over 65, delivered about the same share of the vote, he cant necessarily rely on them to win. According to this years Iowa entrance polls, Sanders was far more dominant with younger voters there (he captured 48 percent of their vote) than Biden was with older voters (he won 33 percent).

At a boisterous breakfast Monday for Sanders in Manchester  where the crowd chanted Feel the Bern! and the campaign motto Not Me, Us!  one attendee described the room as having a very positive energy.

I believe theres no other candidate like Bernie Sanders. For many years, hes been working for the working class, said Michael Bane, a 27-year-old Northwood, N.H. resident who works as a direct support professional for people with disabilities. The last time he ran, he had huge support and I believe hes going to get that again. And I think its going to lead him to the top and I think hell do very well against Trump.


Myanmar Officials, Ethnic Leaders Monitor China Border for Coronavirus

By Moe Zaw, Zaw Htet February 08, 2020

Intent on preventing an outbreak of the coronavirus in Myanmar, local officials and members of ethnic armed organizations, or EAOs, along the border with China have imposed travel restrictions, increased health checks, called for monitoring of Chinese workers and, in some areas, imposed fines.

The border area  known for its rugged terrain beyond the government's control, enterprising smugglers, and long-simmering ethnic wars  concerns health authorities due to lax checkpoint controls.

The measures in Myanmar by both the government and EAOs are being enacted as the number of deaths continue to increase in China, where coronavirus 2019-nCoV was first identified in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province.

According to the government, there are no confirmed cases or deaths in Myanmar. However, the swift spread of the not fully understood virus has alarmed many, leaving officials to quell rumors born of fear and long-held anti-Chinese sentiment.

Zaw Win, the social affairs minister of Myanmar's Sagaing region, told VOA Burmese on Thursday he had to contain widespread rumors of a coronavirus outbreak at a copper mine. That meant educating people that 34 Chinese workers there were under observation, not in quarantine. Health workers reported none of the Chinese mine workers had fevers, and none had been in Wuhan in the past 14 days.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, believes that symptoms of 2019-nCoV may appear in a person as few as two days or as long as 14 days after exposure to someone infected with the virus.

Win Htay, the Myanmar labor team leader at the Chinese-owned mine, Myanmar Yang Tse Copper Limited, told VOA on Thursday that 300 workers on his team decided to stay away and not share the job site with Chinese workers who might be contagious. The Myanmar workers also wanted assurances from the company that there was no truth to the rumor that a Chinese worker had died of the virus.

Dr. Thein Myo, chief health department officer in the Wynemaw district near the border with China, told VOA Burmese, "Kachin state health workers are on high alert to monitor incoming Chinese for not only 14 days, but also closely watching  the Chinese community."

Dr. Myint Kyaw, the health department chief of eastern Shan state, told VOA Burmese, "All health workers in my jurisdiction [are] to follow WHO (World Health Organization) guidelines to monitor Chinese entering to Myanmar and report back." WHO guidelines for prevention include the instruction to wash hands frequently.

The containment effort includes a public awareness campaign launched by the KIA-Kachin Armed Group, one of the largest anti-government EAOs.

Colonel Naw Bu, its spokesperson, told VOA the EAO was also monitoring people passing through the territory it controls along the border with China.

"There are no suspected cases in our territory, not even people with similar symptoms," he said. "We follow WHO guidelines for public awareness. For example, use a mask, do not hold public assemblies, take care of personal hygiene. We use multi-media  TV, radio and social media  to advocate to the public to be aware of coronavirus."

U Nyi Yang, spokesman for the United Wa State Party (UWSA)-Wa Autonomous Region, posted on Facebook earlier this week that the EAO had deployed health workers at checkpoints along the border with China.

Officials in the Shan state regions controlled by the EAO, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), and in the Mong Lar Special Region, both areas outside control of the Myanmar government, imposed travel restrictions and banned the trade in wildlife along the border with China. Early in the outbreak, many patients in Wuhan had some link to a large seafood and live animal market selling wild animals. That suggested the coronavirus spread from animals to people, but person-to-person transmission has since been reported, according to the CDC.

A statement from officials in Myanmar's autonomous Mong Lar Special Region in Shan state said that travelers without health certificates would be fined from $28,565 to $71,412 and detained for 30 days.

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Despite Irans much-publicized satellite launch on Feb. 9 that failed to reach orbit for the third time, Iranian officials have put a positive spin on the endeavor and stressed the country will continue to progress in its space program.

Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi addressed the failure on social media, posting a video on Instagram. Dear people of Iran. Hello, began a solemn Jahromi, standing behind a podium in a similar fashion to US presidents making important announcements. Our third effort to launch a satellite was successful despite the fact that the Zafar satellite did not reach its final destination, which was  space. He added, If it did not reach space, then how was it successful? Because every step we take, regardless of its results, makes us one step closer to our desires.

Jahromi continued, More than 80 scientists worked for more than six months to build this satellite with all of the limitations and relying on their confidence. He added, Our effort was not successful, but our goal is still in place.

Jahromi told reporters the satellite, which was launched with the Simorgh rocket, did not reach adequate speed and fell into the Indian Ocean. He said the next launch of the satellite would be in the summer of 2020. According to Iranian media, the satellite was designed for imaging for the purpose of mapping and dual-purpose (sending and receiving) messaging. Had it succeeded, it would have assisted in surveying territory for oil reserves and monitoring of agriculture lands, and assisted in the surveying of land after natural disasters such as earthquakes.

Irans space program is currently under sanctions. US officials worry that Iran will use the technology from the rocket launch on its missile program. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has previously tweeted that the technology for a space satellite launch is virtually the same as the technology for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Most experts, however, believe this claim by US officials that Iran can use rocket technology from their space program directly for the use of ICBMs to be dubious.

Jahromi, who touts himself as a young minister and sees himself as the new generation of Iranian officials, also tweeted about the satellite launch: I wanted to make you all happy with good news, but sometimes life does not go how you want." He also tweeted in English that the United States also had a number of failures in their space program, including Falcon 9, Juno II, Atlas, Proton M and Antares.

Jahromi also retweeted tweets with the hashtag that he originated  the narrative of Zafar. Many of the tweets were nationalistic in nature, talking about the pride in Iranian scientists and reiterating Jahromis claim that the country is one step closer to reaching its goals. Many tweets also focused on the program being an indigenous one and thriving despite sanctions. The hashtag was used by both well-known Reformist and conservative accounts to praise the work of Iranian scientists and their space program.




Basil Chukwumeze

When Chief Basil Chukwumeze Obiefule Ejesi died on December 26 last year in Kano State, his family members and kinsmen had hoped to carry his remains back to his hometown in Amucha, Njaba Local Government Area of Imo State for burial.

But his final journey back home turned out to be a very long one as he was mistaken for another deceased person and buried in Kano in a grave marked for a Muslim, one Abdullahi Obinwa, who hailed from Anambra State, but changed his faith while in Kano.

The late Ejesi, who was said to have been born in Kano some 60 years ago, was survived by his wife and children, among them a pharmacist. He lived in his own house at Number 18 Aitken Road in Sabon-Garri Area of the state capital.

A family relation of the deceased, Mr Felix Ezeala, told the story of the fatal error of mistaken identity of Egesi who was finally buried at Amucha on January 30, 2020, saying that his late towns man had suddenly taken ill and was rushed to the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, on December 24, last year, where he eventually died on the morning of December 26, following complications related to hypertension.

His corpse was taken to the mortuary section and the deceased tally number was 22. Two of his immediate relatives were there, in the person of Felix Nwanze and Bath Ejesi, his cousin. They registered their names as the people with the tally number and who would visit the corpse and see how it was, until the time to take it to the East.

A wake-keep was arranged to hold on the 24th January 2020. However, when the relatives of the deceased went to the hospital on that Friday  that date was billed for his wake-keep, they were shocked at their finding.

They went there with his casket and the clothes for his dressing, but when they went there with the tally number, hoping to see the corpse in good condition, surprisingly the Chief Morticians, one Abdulwahid Buhari, told them that the corpse had been released to Hisbah.

They asked him what had the corpse of their brother to do with Hisbah? They were told that it was an order of a Sharia Upper Court, situated opposite the Emirs inside the city. They were totally confused. It was at this point that they called on my attention to the development.

When they called me, I was equally uncomfortable with the development. I know the late Basil as a complete gentleman to the core. He was not a troublesome person during his lifetime. I wondered in my mind. What could have led to his corpse being taken away by Hisbah?

We then decided to go the said Sharia Upper Court to establish what had transpired. All of us went to the Sharia Upper Court. We inquired from the registrar what had actually transpired. He said yes that it was from this court that they issued the order.

He explained that there was a complaint that he was a Muslim and had died and that they (Hisbah) wanted to bury him according to Islamic rites, but his family had refused.

But we told the registrar that there was a mistake because our brothers profile did not fit into what he had described as our brother Basil who had died as a devout Christian.

At this point, the registrar asked us to go and come back when the judge who gave the order would return. He said that the judge was not around to give us the comprehensive details of the judgment.

At that moment I called the Director of Department of State Services to intimate him on what was going on. I also called the Commissioner of Police to also to intimidate him.

But before the judge could come back, we went back to the hospital and met the Chief Medical Director. He called the acting HoD of the Pathology Department. He asked him about the court order that was minuted to him, including what exactly transpired?

He brought out the paper and what the paper read was one Abdullahi Obinwa. He then said that if the name of the intended corpse was Abdullahi Obinwa, how come they released the corpse of one Basil Ejesi to Hisbah?

The pathologist responded that he only minuted on the same memo to the Chief Mortician for appropriate action, saying that the Mortician was in the best position to answer the question about the mix-up. Then, they called the Chief Morticians and asked him to bring the record.

In the record, we saw the exact name of our brother written, his age, 60 years was also written and his tally number. It was there that they discovered that it was a wrong corpse that they released to the Sharia police.

Then we went back to the court, with the Chief Legal Adviser of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, one Barrister Nasidi, alongside the acting HoD of the Pathology Department and the Chief Mortician. The judge told us that they acted based on the application made by Hisbah in respect of one Abdullahi Obinwa, who had been a Moslem since 1978.

The judge said that his order was very clear to them that when they get to the mortuary, they should ensure that the corpse they were to take was that of the late Abdullahi Obinwa and no other persons.

He added that his order included that they were to get three witnesses to also confirm and sign the paper that it was Abdullahis corpse. He showed us documented evidence that he actually gave those orders.

The judge said that he made room for the family of the said Abdullahi Obinwa to be contacted, saying that they contacted his wife, but they returned to say that his wife was not cooperating.

He said that he sent for the wife, but she refused to come. And even when they gave her paper to write why, she wrote something that was immediately clear.

It was there and then that they decided to take the corpse to the Gandu Albasa Mosque and call on the Chief Imam who knew the late Obinwa well enough. Again the judge said that he ordered that the Chief Imam should also get three others to reconfirm the deceased and after their signing the papers, they should bring them back to him for the record of the court.

The record he showed indicated that they went through all the directives of the court and returned the signed papers. It was then that they buried the man on 20th January, 2020.

The judge then asked us what we wanted. In response, we demanded for the corpse of our late brother. At that point, he explained that he could not ask for the corpse to be exhumed immediately until he has heard from the other party. For equity and justice to prevail, all the parties should return back by 9:00a.m on Monday.

On Monday, we set out to the Sharia court in the company of the wife of the deceased and his first son, who is also a pharmacist. On arrival, we were met by those who gave the wrong information to the judge. When the life photograph of our late brother was presented, it became clear that a mistake had occurred. The person who helped out the most was the one who went and brought an album of the late Abdullahi Obinwa.

It was now easy to compare the two deceased persons. They showed them to the judge and the judge showed it the complainants who immediately confessed that they had made a mistake. There and then the judge rebuked them for their mistake and drew our attention to the fact that he acted on the information given to him, pointing out that he neither knew the late Obinwa or the late Basil.

The judge, however, observed that only a superior court has the power to upturn his judgment. But I think the lawyers there, including the legal adviser of the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, and our own lawyer reminded him that ab initio his order was improper as he had no jurisdiction over Aminu Kano Teaching hospital, which is a federal establishment.

Somehow, the lawyers settled their thing and the judge reasoned with them. He thereafter wrote a letter to the DPO at Sharada, asking him to provide cover for the Hisbah officials and the staff of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital to go and exhume the corpse from the cemetery and hand it over to his family.

He ordered that they should open the corpse, invite the family to see and certify that what they were about to be given was their brothers corpse, while saying that he would not like another complaint to arise from the present order.

The deceased was exhumed, taken to the hospital and he was okay. Nothing was tampled with. His body was complete when we received it. The Hisbah officials gave us a paper to sign that we met his body in good condition for which I was a signatory.

The body of the deceased was released to us and departed from Kano on Tuesday in the morning by 8 Oclock and arrived at Orlu by Wednesday. The corpse was buried on Friday by 12:00 midday in his home, he narrated.

THE IMAMS SIDE OF THE STORY

According to a BBC report, Aminu Adam, the Chief Imam of Gadun Albasa Mosque, who led in the burial rites, admitted that he made an error.

We were told that Abdullahi Obinwa was number 22 on the mortuary and when I went to identify the corpse, Basil Ejensi looked like Obinwa, who had lived with us for 40 years.

They were both chubby and not too tall, but there was no beard. When I asked the mortuary attendant, he said that they sometimes remove beards from bodies so I assumed it was Obinwa, he explained.

THE MISSING CORPSE OF LATE ABDULLAHI OBINWA

It is a tradition of Igbo people outside Igbo land to take their corpses home.

However, problem always arises if the deceased had changed his faith or had been converted to another faith during his life-time.

The thinking of members of the host community was that if the corpse was taken to Igbo land, the deceased would certainly not be buried according to the faith he had professed during his life time.

That was the case of the said Abdullahi Obinwa, who hailed from Onitsha in Anambra State.

Checks conducted by Sunday Sun showed that the deceased came to Kano years ago through the invitation of a sister who was also not a Christian.

He was the Secretary to the council of the former Eze Ndigbo, Igwe O. T. Nnadi and played a role in the Igbo traditional association in the state in those days. He was a professed Muslim who had lived in Shagari Quarters in the 90s.

A source from the late Obinwas community in the state told Sunday Sun that towards the later part of his life, he moved out of Kundila Estate to a predominantly Christian residential quarters on Ijebu Road in Sabon Garri Area. It was gathered that he was sick for some years and eventually gave up recently.

When he died, the source said, his corpse was taken to the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, from where he was quietly conveyed to his hometown a few days before the court order from the Sharia Court reached the hospital.
OTTAWA  New figures show just how much of a wallop was delivered to Manitobas economy by a drastic cut in exports to China last year, after that country banned Canadian canola and pork products.

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This article was published 10/2/2020 (701 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  New figures show just how much of a wallop was delivered to Manitobas economy by a drastic cut in exports to China last year, after that country banned Canadian canola and pork products.

Federal statistics show exports to China plummeted by 42 per cent in 2019, when Manitoba sold $531 million worth of goods to China, down from $1.2 billion in 2018.

"Im not surprised, but I wasnt expecting a drop of this magnitude," said Gustavo Zentner, the head of International Point of Commerce, a trade consultancy in Winnipeg.

"Without a doubt, the China embargo on Canadian canola has hit our economy quite hard," he said.

Nationally, Canadas exports to China dropped 16 per cent last year, the first decline since 2014.

China banned most canola from Canadian companies in March 2019 on so-called scientific grounds. The country also barred Canadian pork and beef for four months, until last November.

Both bans are widely viewed as the result of the arrest of a top Huawei executive, Meng Wanzhou, by Canadian authorities in late 2018, at the request of the United States.

Manitoba food exports to China dropped to $300 million last year from $824 million in 2018. It marked the lowest amount of grains, meats and food products Manitoba has sold to China since 2011.

The data, released by Statistics Canada, show that Japan has overtaken China as Manitobas second-highest export market. Exports to that country rose eight per cent from 2018 to 2019.

Manitoba Economic Development Minister Ralph Eichler, who oversees trade, was not available for an interview on Friday, but his office said the province would continue to press Ottawa to resolve political tensions with China.

"Manitoba is open for business. Despite bans, barriers, and geopolitical issues, China remains one of Manitobas largest export destinations and we continue to supply China and the world with high-quality products in a range of sectors," a spokesman wrote.

"Though trade uncertainty worldwide is taking a toll on Manitobas exports, Manitoba is working closely with the federal government on finding a solution to the canola issue, including a recent meeting with the ambassador to China to discuss this and other issues to bolster our exports," the statement said.

The United States is by far Manitobas most lucrative export destination, accounting for 75 per cent of export dollars.

Zentner said this likely includes indirect exports to China, such as Manitoba-made parts and crops that end up in American machines and packaged food sold overseas.

He advises Manitoba companies that are looking at how the recent interim trade agreement between the U.S. and China could benefit them. He believes more businesses need to consider economic collaborations with the Chinese government through the Belt and Road Initiative, and they need to better understand how they trade directly or indirectly with the country.

"You cannot be a Manitoba business and deny the importance of China; you cannot be in business today without having a China strategy," Zentner said.

Another explanation for the drop in exports to China from Manitoba, he said, could be that companies are diversifying their client base, and getting into higher-value exports. Taking raw foods and processing them into consumable goods means employing more people and investing in technology in Canada, and selling the results abroad at a higher mark-up.

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"It really is better for our economy, instead of exporting raw material."

Despite an overall rise in exports to all countries, Manitoba sold less in half of its 10 main product sectors, including packaging materials and electronics.

Metals and minerals had the most drastic drop, from $193 million to just $6 million in 2019.

"Our mining sector has struggled quite a bit over the last few years," Zentner said, arguing its the result of years-long contracts coming to a close.

"These numbers will bring home the message of the importance of diversifying, and also streamlining our exploration permits."

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
10.02.2020 LISTEN

If we speak about retirement Africans think about the period in our 60s and 70s where no company acknowledges our services any longer. Retirement is no longer an era of inactivity but a system of rest from active service so one can focus on building ones own dream. A young man of age 20 can decide to retire at age 40 to focus on other things than the 8 am to 5 pm rigor of work and monthly targets. That mean he has 20 years to plan his financial independence.

Statistics shows that in Ghana out of every 100 retirees only 2% retire comfortably: these group of people can buy a 4 bedroom apartment for their daughter after her wedding ceremony with the man of her dream without frowning on the effect of the figures in their bank account after such transaction. 23% of these retirees must continue to work after retirement to increase their financials and sustain their livelihood.

They make statements like I like to work for a hobby. Its not true, nobody works for a hobby rather everybody works for returns. The remaining 75% will have to rely on their family and friends to survive because of their financial unpreparedness during their youthful years or working lives. And most of our parents in Africa falls in these categories of folks who have to rely on family and friends to work. They now make their children their retirement plan and use them as an escape route out of the present gloom of financial decadence.

Statistically proven, you need not less than GHC 180,000(USD 36000) to take care of a child from age 4 to 18 years. In Africa, it is at the age of 35 years that the average worker in Africa starts making a meaningful income. We call it take-home-pay meanwhile that figure cannot take you home because of myriads of expenses awaiting you. And less than 50% of the working class earn more than GHC 4,999 irrespective of their qualification.

The load on Africa alone can prevent you from planning your retirement because the current financial meltdown has enough facts to convince you not to put your money in any financial sector, however, you cant toil with your retirement.

Few years ago I had the privilege of meeting 2,000 pastors of one of the outstanding ecclesia in this nation on the caption RETIREMENT PLANNING SEMINAR BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER. These were my closing remarks: every living being has the responsibility of having 4 astute financial independent products which is RETIREMENT ACCOUNT, SAVINGS ACCOUNT, INSURANCE ACCOUNT, and INVESTMENT ACCOUNT. If any of these four is not captured in your living on earth then your existence is questionable.

I know many of the pastors took offense but I know the truth always hurts. If you have these things in place then you are at the position of fulfilling the scripture that says A good man leaves an inheritance for the childrens children. Plan your retirement, as you eat for a living plan your retirement. As you jog and exercise for longevity, plan your retirement. As you seek a partner's hands in marriage and making babies, plan their future. Take time out and plan because retirement comes with challenges, it takes serious financial planning to avert the consequences.

Send us an mail or call us to give you FREE RETIREMENT PLANNING SEMINAR with your church, your staff or family. We will ensure you take the RETIREMENT PLANNING BAROMETER to ensure the surety of your financial preparedness. You can start little and end with a mega amount in your account. As we all journey towards preparing for eternity, let us plan for our retirement. Drop a CEDI today, earn a MILLION tomorrow.

R. Duafah

(Financial Wellness Advisor)

[email protected]
Bengaluru, Feb 10 : India's premier business school -- IIM-Bangalore -- is offering an advanced course to family business owners in its campus here, the institute said on Monday.

"Though we have been offering a management course for entrepreneurs and family businesses since last 13 years (2006-07) and about 400 owners from diverse sectors have successfully completed it. Many of them have sought an advanced course due to the business environment growing in complexity," the state-run institute said in a statement.

As a result, IIM-B responded with the Family Business Advanced Management (FAME) programme, with the ambition to train the next generation of Indian family business owners with knowledge and skills to propel their companies.

Professors K. Kumar and Dalhia Mani designed the curriculum for the family business course.

Comprising 21 days of on-campus modules spread over six calendar months, the family course enrolled students are required to conceive and implement a business challenge.

However, FAME has an intake limit of only 25 students.
Bengaluru, Feb 10 : The Karnataka Health and Family Welfare Services department is observing 172 people across the state for coronavirus symptoms, a health official said on Monday.

"We are observing 172 people across the state, including in Bengaluru for coronavirus symptoms," the department's communicable diseases wing Joint Director Prakash Kumar told IANS.

However, no positive coronavirus case has been reported from Karnataka yet as 22 people were added to the monitoring list on Monday.

Under home isolation observation, the department is monitoring 168 people across the state.

Currently nobody is admitted in hospital for coronavirus symptoms, Kumar confirmed.

Five Karnataka districts bordering Kerala - Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Udupi, Chamarajanagar and Mysuru - continue to be under surveillance after three positive coronavirus cases were reported in Kerala.

Starting January 20 till Monday, 17,316 passengers have undergone thermal screening for coronavirus at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA).

Of all the people screened at the airport, only three people had a history of visiting coronavirus epicentre Wuhan in China.

According to the state Health and Family Welfare Services department bulletin, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared coronavirus epidemic affecting 28 countries as an 'International Public Health Emergency'.

Of the 111 coronavirus symptomatic samples sent for examination, 106 were marked as eligible for testing even as 102 samples have been declared negative from the state.

The 104 Arogya Sahayavani call centre, assigned to receive calls to provide guidance on coronavirus, attracted 2,039 calls thus far.

"In case people with recent travel history to China and other affected countries develop any symptoms, they are requested to call 104 or health authorities and provide all necessary details in order to take precautionary measures and are requested to be home isolated," reiterated the department.

However, no passenger screened by the department is yet to complete the 28-day observation period.

Globally, close to 812 people have already succumbed to coronavirus, 811 in China alone and one in the Philippines, as more than 37,300 confirmed cases have been reported.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Press Release

February 10, 2020 Statement of Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon On VFA I will wait for the announcement of the President. If the President directs the termination of the VFA, a Senate review of the agreement is a waste of time. Without the VFA, EDCA cannot stand legally. EDCA is an Executive Agreement. The legality of EDCA is drawn principally from the VFA. The Supreme Court in 2016 upheld the legality of EDCA because the US and the Philippines have an existing treaty that is already concurred into by the Senate, which was the VFA. Specifically, the Supreme Court, in Saguisag v. Executive Secretary, ruled, "EDCA seeks to be an instrument that enumerates the Philippine-approved activities of U.S. personnel referred to in the VFA." Now if you terminate the VFA, EDCA is dead. Without the EDCA, MDT is rendered inutile. I agree with Foreign Affairs Secretary Locsin that without the VFA and EDCA, MDT "is just a piece of paper." To me, the termination of the VFA is a death sentence to long-standing Philippines and United States defense alliance. This is because the presence of US personnel, vessels and aircrafts in the Philippines is allowed by virtue of the VFA. If and when the VFA is terminated, the US is likely to terminate ongoing activities by its troops and personnel in the country and halt information, surveillance and reconnaissance operations. The pullout of US rotating troops and military equipment out of the country will leave some parts of the country vulnerable (Mindanao, Sulu and the West Philippine Sea). On Quo Warranto vs ABS-CBN I do not know what the SolGen wants to achieve in filing a quo warranto case against ABS-CBN. The franchise of ABS-CBN will expire on March 30. Hence, a quo warranto becomes moot by then if Congress does not act on extension. If between now and March, Congress decides to hear the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN- all these issues raised by SolGen Calida in his quo warranto petition can be taken up during the hearing. On the DOJ filing of a case vs Sen. Trillanes, et. al. My understanding of the crime of conspiracy is that it is committed when two or more persons come to an agreement concerning the commission of a felony and decide to commit it. The parties, in agreement, must have made up their minds to commit the crime, and must have intended to bring about or achieve a common objective. I am very interested to find out how the prosecution panel was able to resolve that Trillanes et. al., plotted to commit sedition, considering that the crime of conspiracy deals with the state of mind of the defendants, and especially given the fact that the information was solely based on the testimony of one person. It is incumbent on the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Trillanes et. al., unified by the common design and purpose, agreed to rise publicly and tumultuously, through the use of force, intimidation or other illegal means, to attain the ends of sedition enumerated under the Revised Penal Code.
Authorities on Monday asked residents of Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district to avoid unnecessary movement during shelling and not to touch the mortar shells lying scattered in various localities, after two days of intense firing by Pakistan along the LoC.

The heavy shelling of mortar bombs from across the border killed a soldier on Saturday.

There was no report of ceasefire violation by Pakistan after 8 pm on Sunday, officials said.

The heavy shelling of mortar bombs from across the border also triggered a forest fire in Mendhar sector and efforts are on to douse the flames, they said.

Naik Rajeev Singh Shekhawat, 36, was killed and three others were injured in the intense Pakistani firing in Degwar sector on Saturday, while several residential houses and cattle sheds suffered damages in heavy shelling in Mendhar and Balakot sectors on Sunday.

"The Pakistani guns fell silent around 8 pm and there was no report of ceasefire violation by Pakistan from anywhere along the LoC," an army official said.

He said the Pakistan Army used artillery guns and long-range mortar bombs to target forward posts and villages in the three sectors in the past two days. The Indian Army retaliated befittingly, resulting in a number of casualties on Pakistani side.

He said the army guarding the LoC are on high alert and keeping a close vigil as Pakistan is using the cross-border shelling to push terrorists into this side.

"The district administration has advised people to remain cautious and avoid unnecessary movement during shelling," a police official said, adding that the local residents have also been directed not to touch the mortar shells lying scattered in different localities.

Nearly a dozen shells failed to explode during the cross-border shelling and are being defused by experts, he said.

"We are lucky to survive the intense shelling by Pakistan on Sunday. Life has become a virtual hell for the border residents due to frequent cross-border shelling," Mohammad Aslam, 68, a resident of Drana village of Mendhar told PTI on phone.

He said the situation is peaceful today but nobody knows when the guns start roaring again.

"We appeal to the government to speed up the work on the community and individual bunkers for our safety. The 15 community bunkers and a few individual bunkers have been sanctioned for our village but only one had got completed so far while the work on the others is going on," he said.

Aslam said he, along with his family, hid inside their house to escape the intense shelling.

"It is the grace of the almighty that nobody is our village was hit despite heavy shelling," he said and demanded more individual bunkers to cover all residents in the village given its proximity to the LoC and frequent ceasefire violations from across the border.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
DUBAI, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Iran will launch a satellite on Sunday, a government minister said, as part of a fledgling programme the United States says is a cover for ballistic missile development.

"The Zafar satellite will be placed in orbit today from Semnan at a speed of 7,400 kilometers," Iranian Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi said, according to the official IRIB news agency. (Reporting by Babak Dehghanpisheh; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal expressed grave concern on Monday about the incident of outsiders entering campus and molesting women students at Gargi College during a fest held last week.

Misbehaviour with our daughters in Gargi College is very sad and disappointing. Incidents like these cannot be tolerated.Culprits should be caught and given the harshest possible punishment and we must ensure that children studying in our colleges feel safe, Kejriwal said in a tweet.

On Monday, students of the all-women Gargi College held a protest against the alleged molestation of girls by a group of unidentified men who had gatecrashed the colleges cultural festival. The students have demanded strict action against the intruders.

Also Watch l Gargi college molestation raised in Lok Sabha; NCW team visits campus

Over 100 students were present at the protest outside the gate of Gargi College. They alleged that the college management did not take any action even after the students took up the matter with it.

They also said that the Rapid Action Force and Delhi Police personnel were deployed close to the gate from where the men had entered the college, but they did nothing to control the unruly crowd.

The Delhi Police, meanwhile, has registered an FIR in connection with the alleged molestation of women students on the college campus. A complaint has been received from the college authorities and a case has been registered at the Hauz Khas police station.

The police said it had also launched an investigation into the incident and is scanning CCTV footage to gather evidence. A senior police officer revealed that the police, however, had not received any complaint in this regard.

The incident came to light after some students took to Instagram to narrate their unpleasant experiences during the February 6 college fest held on the campus of Gargi College.
Dubai-based AWJ Investments, a fast-growing food & beverage holding group, said it will open Operation: Falafel restaurants in New York, London and Paris  with the first expected in the second quarter (Q2) of 2020 in the Big Apple.



The brands first opening outside the Middle East marks the latest ongoing success story both locally and regionally for AWJ Investments, a proudly home-grown Dubai company that currently runs eight unique culinary concepts across 24 outlets in the Middle East.



The popular restaurant chain, known for its modern twist on casual Middle Eastern street food, will be rolled out across multiple locations in the worlds most famed culinary destinations, New York, London and Paris, following diligently selected franchise partnerships with a plan to sign 400 units by 2022 across the world.



Carefully taking into consideration lifestyles in the Western Market and building on the success of the popular casual dining format from the GCC region, AWJ Investments have adapted a quick serving concept to fit time-conscious consumers along with an exciting menu tailored to these tastes and dining trends.



Manhal Naser, CEO and co-founder of AWJ Investments, said: Were incredibly proud of the regional success of Operation: Falafel and we know that the time is right to take the brand into unchartered international markets. Being a UAE home-grown brand and moving into the western market is almost unheard of and were excited to be one of the first.



In the region we see many global F&B concepts coming into Dubai but rarely see the opposite, a local brand taking international markets by storm. Were proud to mark this change.



Our challenge was to find the right investors and operators to work with - people who share our values and vision for the brand. We have taken the time to get everything in the right place as we will never compromise on quality and consistency  when someone enjoys one of our falafels in New York, London or Paris it must be just as good as in Dubai, he added.- TradeArabia News Service
Coronavirus update

One day after deaths from the mysterious new coronavirus exceeded the death toll from SARS, the authorities announced a chilling new statistic, a record number of deaths in a single day.

Ninety-seven people died from the coronavirus on Sunday, a new daily record since the new coronavirus was first detected in December, as the death toll rose to 908, Chinas National Health Commission said on Monday.

An additional 66 cases of the new coronavirus have been confirmed on a cruise ship quarantined in Yokohama, Japan, raising the total number to 136, the ships captain told passengers. (New York Times)

A woman who was able to get out of Terminal 21 Korat mall gestures with her hands on her face in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. A soldier who holed up in a popular shopping mall in northeastern Thailand shot multiple people on Saturday, killing at least 20 and injuring 31 others, officials said. (Sakchai Lalitkanjanakul, Associated Press)AP

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Blueprints to create the planet's first floating city could be made reality within the next decade as scientists ratchet up efforts to safeguard communities threatened by rising sea levels.

The United Nations is spearheading the revolutionary project, which will see self-sufficient buoyant platforms anchored to the sea bed upon which houses can be built.

Each one would be sturdy enough to home tens of thousands of people while also boasting typical town features such as public squares and markets.

When the plan was unveiled last year it grabbed headlines because of its scale of ambition, but this week senior figures breathed new life into the idea by speculating a 10-year timetable for the first floating city could be achievable.

UN-Habitat's deputy director Victor Kisob said: 'Floating cities sound like a crazy idea but they could lead to all sorts of possibilities if done in the right way,' according to the National.

He added: 'The next step would be to design a prototype with partners from the private sector that could be tried and tested.'

Ninety per cent of the world's largest cities are vulnerable to submergence as glaciers melt and seas rise on a warming planet.

UN-Habitat, which works on sustainable urban development, has teamed up with private firm Oceanix, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and The Explorers Club, a professional society, to advance the concept.

A UN-backed partnership will study the futuristic prospect of floating cities, looking at how platforms at sea might help bail out coastal cities at risk of flooding due to climate change (artist's impression)

UN-Habitat, which works on sustainable urban development, will team up with private firm Oceanix, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and The Explorers Club, a professional society, to advance the concept

Scientists are also thrashing out plans to insulate these cities, which will be located roughly a kilometre from the mainland in the shallows, from being crippled by freak weather.

Marc Collins Chen, chief operating officer of Oceanix, said today at the World Urban Forum in Abu Dhabi: 'I often get asked if these settlements would be robust against tsunamis, hurricanes and other severe weather extremities.

'We are working with MIT's Centre for Ocean Engineering to see how these modular structures can sustain category five weather conditions.'

The floating cities concept is wrapped into a wider package to develop sustainable cities, which is one of UN-Habitat's sustainability development goals (SDGs) it hopes to meet by 2030.

Maimunah Mohd Sharif, executive director of the UN arm, told delegates at the WUF: 'What I hope to see from the Tenth session is a set of declared actions.

'Commitments that we will make on a voluntary basis as individuals, communities, cities and countries, at local, regional and global levels, that help mark this Decade of Action to accomplish the SDGs by 2030.'

The partnership plans to build within months a prototype open to the public, which it hopes to dock on the East River next to UN headquarters.

Compared with another located in Copenhagen, the New York City version aims to grow its own food and meet its water and energy needs, said U.S. company Oceanix, which will build it.

With 90 per cent of the world's largest cities vulnerable to inundation as glaciers melt and seas rise on a warming planet, modular platforms anchored to the sea floor could be connected in a ring to house communities atop the oceans, members said

With 90 per cent of the world's largest cities vulnerable to inundation as glaciers melt and seas rise on a warming planet, modular platforms anchored to the sea floor could be connected in a ring to house communities atop the oceans

The partnership plans to build within months a prototype open to the public, which it hopes to dock on the East River next to UN headquarters

The concept has prompted cutting-edge research in water management, ocean engineering and farming that could produce floating cities which are self-sufficient and safe from extreme weather like storms, a discussion at the United Nations heard

The vision for floating cities has raised questions over whether they could divert attention from dealing with the root causes of climate change, which by boosting sea levels threatens low-lying coastal communities with storm surges and flooding.

Some have also warned the cities may end up being only for the ultra-rich - such as floating villas currently being sold off the coast of Dubai - a risk the new project aims to address by exploring sea-borne homes for the neediest too.

The concept has prompted cutting-edge research in water management, ocean engineering and farming that could produce floating cities which are self-sufficient and safe from extreme weather like storms, a discussion at the United Nations heard.

The vision for floating cities has raised questions over whether they could divert attention from dealing with the root causes of climate change, which by boosting sea levels threatens low-lying coastal communities with storm surges and flooding

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said that much of the technology emerging from research on floating cities could also be used to improve existing cities on solid ground

Some experts have warned the cities may end up being only for the ultra-rich - such as floating villas currently being sold off the coast of Dubai - a risk the new project aims to address by exploring sea-borne homes for the neediest too

Should global average temperatures increase 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7F) from pre-industrial times, sea levels could rise as much as 30.3 inches (77cm) by 2100, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

'We're basically building resilience at the platform level,' said Marc Collins Chen, Oceanix chief executive.

Should global average temperatures increase 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7F) from pre-industrial times, sea levels could rise as much as 30.3 inches (77cm) by 2100, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The lower 1.5C limit enshrined in the Paris Agreement is likely to be breached between 2030 and 2052 if global warming continues at its current pace and unprecedented measures are not taken to stem the increase, a 2018 IPCC report said.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz told Reuters that much of the technology emerging from research on floating cities could also be used to improve existing cities on solid ground.

'The benefits are not just going to be what you will be doing on water, but on land,' he said.

The lower 1.5C limit enshrined in the Paris Agreement is likely to be breached between 2030 and 2052 if global warming continues at its current pace and unprecedented measures are not taken to stem the increase, a 2018 IPCC report said

Small pod-like devices will be used to ferry people around the floating cities which will be fitted with everything a normal ground-based society would have access to - such as restaurants, markets and even parks
By Joey Roulette

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new probe built by NASA and the European Space Agency set off on a blazing hot journey to the sun on Sunday to take the first close-up look at the star's polar regions, a mission expected to yield insight into how solar radiant energy affects Earth.

The Solar Orbiter spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:03 p.m. ET (0403 GMT Monday), kicking off a 10-year voyage.

"This was picture perfect. And suddenly you really felt you are connected to the rest of the solar system," Daniel Mueller, a scientist for ESA who worked on the mission, said after lift-off.

The minivan-sized spacecraft will deploy solar panels and antennas before carrying on toward the sun, a trek assisted by the gravitational forces of Earth and Venus. It eventually will reach as close as 26 million miles from the sun's surface, or about 72 percent of the distance between the star and Earth.

"I have been in solar physics for many years; I just never thought I would actually witness something come to fruition like this and actually launch. It's amazing," said Holly Gilbert of NASA.

Solar Orbiter's primary mission of examining the sun's polar regions will help researchers understand the origins of solar wind, a soup of charged particles highly concentrated at the two poles, which blast through our solar system, affecting satellites and electronics on Earth.

The mission is also expected to glean insight into how astronauts can be protected from radiation in space, which can damage DNA.

Solar Orbiter carries 10 instruments packed behind a massive 324-pound (147 kg) heat shield, three of which will peer through tiny windows to survey how the sun's surface changes over time.

(Reporting by Joey Roulette in Washington and Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The shooting of a 6-year-old Syracuse boy by his uncle is gaining national attention in the fight against so-called ghost guns.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-NY, cited the near-fatal shooting of little Miguel Everson in his call Monday for federal officials to crack down on the troubling trend of untraceable guns, assembled from legally obtained parts.

Eversons uncle, Miguel Russo, had such a gun -- built on the black market -- when he inexplicably shot his namesake nephew in the back Dec. 3 inside a Syracuse residence. The uncle was shot and killed by police; the young boy survived.

That shooting isnt an isolated case: Onondaga County has seen the biggest spike across the state in ghost guns in the past couple of years, Schumer said during a news conference Monday morning with DA William Fitzpatrick.

There have been 33 such ghost guns confiscated since 2016 in the county. That includes 23 guns in 2019 alone, according to the DAs office. Once assembled, the guns are considered illegal under state law.

Schumer said the solution is simple: The feds need to update their decades-old definition of a firearm to include the key parts of the weapon, not simply the finished gun.

That would help prevent, he said, the sale of untraceable gun parts, because those parts would need be registered and buyers would have to undergo background checks to buy them.

It can just happen with the stroke of a pen," he said, calling the fix just ridiculously easy.

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer urges federal officials to restrict parts of so-called ghost guns during a stop by the Onondaga County DA's Office. He's flanked on by DA William Fitzpatrick (blue suit, pink tie) and other members of local law enforcement.

No new laws would have to be passed: it would simply be up to the federal Department of Justice and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to change their interpretation of existing law.

Without such a fix, convicted felons -- who have no right to possess a gun -- or the mentally ill can legally obtain everything needed to make a gun, despite laws barring them from possessing one, Schumer said. Even worse, theres no way for police to trace where a gun was purchased and who owns it.

Fitzpatrick has been warning of ghost guns -- or Frankenstein guns, as he calls them -- for several months now. He publicly applauded Gov. Andrew Cuomos vow to crackdown on such guns.

But the solution has to come on a federal level, Schumer said Monday. Thats because most of the gun parts are moving across state lines.

So how does this easy fix work?

The justice department and ATF have long defined only the finished product as a firearm, for the purposes of federal law. By changing that definition to include frames and receivers, the feds would require all the appropriate checks on two vital parts of a finished gun, Schumer said. In other words, someone couldnt buy two necessary parts of a gun without being vetted as though he or she were buying a finished product.

This would help ensure that only law abiding citizens have access to potentially dangerous weapons and that Central New York law enforcement is able to track these weapons and keep our communities safe, Schumer said in a news release.

Schumer also called on federal authorities share information on ghost guns with local law enforcement.

List of crimes, shootings linked to ghost guns

Fitzpatrick released details on incidents involving 21 ghost guns in Onondaga County (generally in reverse chronological order):

Jan 16, 2020: A 9mm semiautomatic pistol was recovered with 4-plus ounces of cocaine, $4,200 cash and drug paraphernalia.

Dec. 23, 2019: A 9mm semiautomatic pistol was used to injure a pregnant mother.

Dec. 3, 2019: A .40 caliber automatic pistol was used to shoot a 6-year-old boy (the Miguel Everson case).

Dec. 19, 2018: The same gun as above was also used in an attempted murder, in which the suspect fired three times into a crowded bar, hitting the victim three times.

Nov, 4, 2019: 9mm semiautomatic pistol recovered with 300 doses of heroin, cash and drug paraphernalia during drug search.

Oct. 27, 2019: 9mm semiautomatic pistol recovered from gun battle, in which injured victim used it to return fire.

May 26, 2019: Same gun as above used in shots fired on Kellogg Street; no injurie

July 3, 2019: Same gun as above fired 17 times outside Parkside Commons apartments on East Fayette Street; no injuries.

Oct. 16, 2019: 9mm semiautomatic pistol recovered during search by probation department.

Sept, 25, 2019: 9mm semiautomatic pistol and three unfinished semiautomatic rifles recovered during marijuana growing investigation.

Aug. 25, 2019: 40 caliber semiautomatic pistol left by anonymous citizen for police to recover. Not used in other crimes.

Undated in 2019: 9mm semiautomatic pistol recovered during investigation into drug overdose. Warrants recovered gun, 1 kilogram of fentanyl, plus more heroin, fentanyl and cocaine.

Undated in 2019: 9mm semiautomatic pistol recovered from a 16-year-old boy during a shots fired investigation.

April 13, 2019: 9mm semiautomatic pistol recovered from vehicle in village of Liverpool.

April 7, 2019: 40 caliber semiautomatic pistol recovered after eight shots fired on Lincoln Avenue.

April 1, 2019: Same gun as above used in a different shooting, in which a woman -- not the intended target -- was struck in the arm.

Undated in 2019: 9mm semiautomatic pistol recovered from man who robbed drug dealers. Also found were six other weapons and high capacity magazines, as well as cocaine and $75,000.

Jan. 7, 2019: Semiautomatic rifle found during investigation of domestic incident in town of Manlius. Also recovered five high-capacity magazines. Gun not used in other crimes.

Undated in 2018: 9mm semiautomatic pistol possessed by homicide suspect (but not the murder weapon).

Oct. 21, 2018: .223 semiautomatic rifle (also capable of firing fully automatic) recovered during investigation into home-invasion robbery. Found hidden with stolen property.

Oct. 19, 2018: 40 caliber semiautomatic pistol found during traffic stop on Putnam Street.

Sept. 23, 2018: 40 caliber semiautomatic pistol recovered during drug and shots fired investigation.

Aug. 5, 2018: Same gun as above used in 9 shots fired on Fitch Street.\

Aug. 22, 2018: Same gun as above used in 11 shots fired on Sabine Street

Aug. 24, 2018: Same gun as above used in 12 shots fired on Merriman Avenue.

Sept, 9, 2018: Same gun as above used in 14 shots fired on Putnam Street.

Sept, 15, 2018: Same gun as above used in 17 shots fired on Merriman Avenue.

Undated in 2018: 9mm semiautomatic pistol recovered in the town of Camillus. Man accidentally shot himself while disassembling weapon.

Aug. 9, 2018: 9mm semiautomatic handgun found in the possession of a robbery suspect, as well as 17 rounds in the magazine.

July 22, 2018: 40 caliber semiautomatic handgun (also capable of firing fully automatic) recovered during a vehicle search stemming from a drug investigation. Another handgun was also found in vehicle.

Schumer said restrictions on gun parts could happen within a couple of months if federal agencies acted quickly.

The senators staff told reporters that Schumer would not be taking questions about other topics during his stop at the DAs office.

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Oscars 2020 Winners: Joaquin Phoenix Wins First Oscar For Best Actor, Emotionally Remembers His Late Brother's Words
Irish politics received a much-needed shock after voting ceased and counting began in the Republic of Irelands general election yesterday.

Sinn Fein, under leader Mary Lou McDonald, topped the national poll, winning just shy of 25 percent of the vote and thus increasing its vote-share from the 2016 general election by more than ten points. Due to Irelands proportional-representation system, that share wont be enough for the party to win a majority of seats and form a government. But it does make the party a powerful force in the coalition-building negotiations to come.

No one is more surprised by this turn of events than the members of Sinn Fein themselves. They fielded just 42 candidates in the general election, when at least 80 elected representatives would be needed to form a majority government. They expected any gains in this election to be minor, and not without reason: They had lost seats in the May 2019 local elections, and were hoping simply to hold the line this weekend.

Instead, the general election proved the culmination of the partys decades-long rise to prominence in Irish politics. For most of its history, Sinn Fein, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, refused to take seats won in any parliament in Ireland or Britain, because the Irish Republican movement did not recognize either the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland as legitimate. In 1986, the party dropped its abstentionist policy in part, deciding to take seats it won in the Republic of Irelands parliament (while still abstaining from participation in the U.K.s parliament). Since then, it has seen its vote-share and its number of seats in Ireland slowly grow, election by election. Its better-than-expected results in 2020 are one more step on that journey to prominence in the politics of the Irish Republic.

When Sinn Fein began fielding candidates south of the Irish border in the 1980s, the Troubles were still very much ongoing in Northern Ireland. The IRAs violent campaign for Irish reunification took the daily form of bombings and killings. While the physical impact of the violence in the south was minimal, the psychological effect was not. So much was this the case that Sinn Fein was seen in the South more as a political front for paramilitary violence than as a political party. It was dismissed as such by the media and both the main political parties  Fine Gael and Fianna Fail  in the Irish republic, and struggled to build voter support.

Story continues

Still, Sinn Fein persevered. As the violence in the North subsided and then effectively ceased with the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the party noticed that its vote-share began to increase, not just in the North but also in the South. Slowly, it broadened its message beyond calls for reunification. As the only major party that contests elections on both sides of the Irish border, it began to position itself across Ireland as the voice of protest against the elites and the political establishment. In the North, this meant attacking Unionism and British rule; in the South, it meant taking on the historic stranglehold that Fianna Fail and Fine Gael had on power.

The progress of these efforts has been eye-catching. In just over two decades, Sinn Fein has become the dominant nationalist party in Northern Ireland. The partys electoral progress in the south has been more gradual but nevertheless marked, culminating in the breakthrough that the party has worked toward for so long this past weekend. Eclipsing the Irish Labour Party and other factions on the left, republicans have managed to position Sinn Fein as the main left-wing party in politics on both sides of the Irish border today. The partys chief aim is no longer merely Irish reunification but, according to its website, the establishment of a democratic socialist republic across Ireland.

In short, this weekend Sinn Fein finally moved from the fringes of Irish politics to the center. Its ascendance leaves Fine Gael and Fianna Fail with some difficult questions to resolve: Do either one of these parties want to go into coalition with Sinn Fein, which both of them have for so long shunned due to its links with the IRA? Such a government would mark a sea change in the Irish political landscape. But then, so would the chief alternative, a coalition between the two major parties, which would signal that their leaders concluded they have more in common with each other than with any other Irish political party, especially Sinn Fein.

More from National Review
Deputy Minister of Economy of Armenia Varos Simonyan today received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Armenia Jun Yamada.

The agenda and organizational issues in regard to the upcoming visit of the delegation led by Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Japan Eiichi Hasegawa to Armenia were considered during the meeting.

The main goal of the delegations visit is to consider the prospects for effective economic cooperation between Japan and Armenia and expansion of business relations.

At the end of the meeting, once again, the parties affirmed their willingness to combine their efforts and do their best to help enhance the economic cooperation between Japan and Armenia.
KASSON  If you'd like to talk about transportation, MnDOT is ready to chat.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation has two scheduled meetings next week in Southeast Minnesota where it hopes to engage the public about upcoming projects.

The first is a Coffee and Conversation session on transportation at 9 a.m. Feb. 18 at Daniel's restaurant in Kasson. MnDOT and Dodge County officials will be on hand to answer questions from interested residents during an informal gathering. MnDOT district engineer Mark Schoenfelder and Guy Kohlnhofer, Dodge County engineer, will be present to answer questions on any upcoming transportation projects.

A short presentation on transportation projects in the area will be made, but much of the time will be left for residents to ask questions and learn about transportation efforts and challenges in the communities of Dodge County and Southeast Minnesota. Community presentations may also be included.

"We'd like to see as many folks come out and share their thoughts on transportation issues, and also hear about some of our plans," Schoenfelder said. "We meet with different communities in our 11-county district, and this is one way we can connect."

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On Feb. 20 at 4 p.m., MnDOT will host an open house in the city council chambers in Lake City to review proposed detours and discuss the upcoming realignment and reconstruction project for U.S. Highway 61 beginning this spring in Lake City. No formal presentation is planned, but maps of the project and detours during construction will be on hand for discussion.

To learn more about MnDOT projects, construction and other news in Southeast Minnesota, join the MnDOT SE Minnesota Facebook group, at www.facebook.com/groups/MnDOTsoutheast .
U.S. Marines from the 1st Marine Division return from a six-mile march near the Iraqi border in Kuwait on Feb. 15, 2003. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

24 US Marines Discharged for Human Smuggling, Drug-Related Charges

Two dozen U.S. Marines have received less-than-honorable discharges following allegations that they were involved in drug-related and human trafficking crimes, according to Military.com.

The Marines, who are all members of the California-based 1st Marine Division, have been kicked out of the service following an investigation, and at least one has received a prison sentence, a spokeswoman for the unit told Military.com.

The 24 Marines were arrested during battalion formation at Camp Pendleton in July 2019, and were handed varying punishments of either judicial or administrative action over the offenses, with one sentenced to 18 months in a military prison, spokeswoman Kendra Motz said.

Nine Marines with the most serious cases were sent to courts-martial. Eight who faced trial pleaded guilty and were dismissed under less-than-honorable discharges, including two bad conduct charges, Motz confirmed.

Another Marine is pending general court-martialconsidered the most serious of military trialswhile a further 15 Marines charged with lesser offenses were also dismissed under less-than-honorable conditions.

All cases were handled at the appropriate level and with respect to the rule of law, Motz said.

The investigation into the group of Marines began early July last year when U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested Lance Cpls. Byron Darnell Law II and David Javier Salazar-Quintero about 7 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.

The agents reportedly spotted three undocumented immigrants get into a vehicle near Tecate, and determined that they were being transported by the Marines. They said Francisco Saul Rojas-Hernandez had recruited them to transport people whod crossed the border.

Rojas-Hernandezbelieved to be the ringleader of the operationwas arrested in January in San Diego County after investigators learned he had recruited and paid individuals to carry out smuggling operations and transport unauthorized immigrants through San Diego after they crossed the U.S.-Mexico border.

Following the initial arrests of Law and Salazar-Quintero, officers learned of the other crimes that the 24 Marines are accused of, according to court documents. The remaining Marines were arrested by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) days later.

Motz said the Marine Corps has a duty to the American people to be the most ready when the nation is least ready, according to Military.com.

We will continue to enforce the standards of honor, courage, and commitment that serve as the great hallmarks of our Corps.
Mike Bloomberg's ad-buying spree may be rankling his fellow Democrats and President Donald Trump, but local broadcasters are loving it.

Bloomberg is worth about $60 billion and is self-funding his campaign to be president. The former three-term New York mayor has spent more than $250 million on TV and radio ads and $45 million to $50 million on digital  more than twice that spent by Trump and all the other Democratic candidates combined, according to Advertising Analytics and Acronym.

Following the Iowa caucuses  in which former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Bernie Sanders finished ahead after a counting process riddled with inconsistencies  Bloomberg's campaign announced plans to double its spending.

All that spending has created a windfall for local TV broadcasters, especially in Bloomberg's top target states  California, Texas, Florida, New York and Pennsylvania. California and Texas hold their primaries on March 3, aka Super Tuesday. Florida holds its primary March 17, while New York and Pennsylvania hold theirs April 28.

Shares of publicly traded companies that own local broadcasters have also risen, a welcome surprise for an industry that's being eroded by digital media. Shares of Nexstar Media Group, the largest of the local broadcasting companies, are up over 20% since news of Bloomberg's run broke in late November. Shares of Gray Television are up about 10%.

Broadcast companies "are jazzed to have Bloomberg in the fray," wrote Wells Fargo analyst Steven Cahall. "His spending has caused a meaningful uptick in Q4 political revenue vs. company plans."

Cahall said total political-ad spending in the 2020 elections on broadcast could top $3.5 billion, up 11% from 2016 and a new record. In 2016, both Hillary Clinton and Trump spent less than broadcasters expected. Trump favored digital advertising and didn't need to spend on broadcast, and Clinton's campaign felt confident it didn't need a larger TV-ad blitz.

This time, the combination of Trump's massive war chest, Bloomberg's intention to spend at least $1 billion and a drawn-out Democratic primary could give a lift to the entire broadcast industry and its shareholders.

"When politicians go to war, own the arms dealers," Cahalll wrote in a recent report.

Perhaps the biggest beneficiaries will be Nexstar and Sinclair. Nexstar, based in Irving, Texas, bought Tribune Media Company last year and now has stations in many of Bloomberg's top markets. Bloomberg has spent $36 million in California, his top market, according to Advertising Analytics. Nexstar owns and/or operates eight stations in California, while Sinclair owns and/or operates 13.

In Texas, where Bloomberg has spent $30 million, Nexstar has 27 stations and Sinclair has 16. In Florida, where Bloomberg has spent $27 million, Sinclair has 13 stations, while Gray has five and Nexstar has three.
Fix Auto Orangevale, a recognized leader in auto body repairs throughout the Sacramento area, has won the Best of Orangevale Auto Body Repair award 3 years in a row. This year they are getting nominated for their 4th award, and the winner will be decided by online voting. The results will be announced at the Best of Orangevale Annual Awards Banquet on Saturday, February 22.

There are many good auto body shops in the Sacramento area, says Fix Auto Orangevale owner Jesse Hord. The fact that we have been nominated four years in a row  and have won the award three times  speaks to the knowledge, skills, and dedication of our team in providing the highest quality auto body repairs in Orangevale and surrounding areas.

Formerly known as North Star Collision, Fix Auto Orangevale is a full-service auto body collision repair and paint shop with a reputation for quality repairs done right the first time. The shop regularly receives 5-star reviews from customers for their attention to detail, quality work, and fair pricing.

Fix Auto Orangevale is especially known for their state of the art paint shop, which uses precision color-matching technology to achieve dazzling results on all makes and models of cars and small trucks. Customers also appreciate the exceptional customer service, which includes keeping them up to date on the status of repairs until they are complete. Fix Auto Orangevales lifetime warranty is recognized as one of the best in the auto repair industry.

A proud supporter of the Orangevale community, Fix Auto Orangevale has also been voted Best Community Sponsor of Orangevale. The shop currently sponsors Lumberjack Racing #4846, the Orangevale/Fair Oaks Little League, and various Casa Robles High School events.

About Fix Auto Orangevale:

Fix Auto Orangevale is a leading industry expert and collision repair shop servicing the Sacramento area including Folsom, Fair Oaks, and Roseville. For more information about Fix Auto Orange, visit https://fixautousa.com/orangevale/
A Hong Kong Customs officer (L) stands next to seized endangered species products (R) including elephant ivory tusks, pangolin scales and shark fins at the Kwai Chung Customhouse Cargo Examination Compound in Hong Kong, Sept. 5, 2018.

China is closing wildlife markets to curb the rapidly spreading new coronavirus.

Experts say that the first victims of the virus in the Chinese city of Wuhan appear to have had contact with animals in these markets.

The markets are called wet markets, because the floors are often wet. The markets contain both wild and dead animals. Blood from the dead animals on sale sometimes mingles with water, creating unhygienic conditions for both sellers and consumers.

China has in the past banned such markets, but they later reappeared as black markets.

It has been difficult to control the markets in the past partly because of popular demand. Some Chinese believe that animal parts can be turned into foods or drinks that have medicinal value, although scientific evidence to support such a belief is lacking.

The main consumers appear to be middle-class Chinese who can afford to pay for exotic animals.

David Quammen is a writer who made himself an expert on viruses that originate in animals but that can spread to humans.

In an interview with National Public Radio (NPR) on Feb. 5, Quammen said that the current coronavirus is still very unpredictable.

He added that it hasnt helped that the Chinese government was slow to react following the first reports that came in December from doctors in Wuhan.

Quammen said that having both dead and live animals closely packed together in Wuhans wet markets had created a kind of mixing bowl for viruses.

What sparked Quammens interest in doing research on this subject?

He explains that it started during a trip that he made to Brisbane, Australia, where he visited a horse farm where horses were falling ill with fevers and dying. A man tending to the horses had also died, and it took months to discover that the cause was a virus that traveled from a tree-dwelling bat to a horse and then from a horse to the man.

The bats had lived undisturbed for centuries in Queenslands eucalyptus forests.

As a result of his findings, Quammen wrote a book titled Spillover, which concludes that as humans destroy ancient ecosystems they encounter strange and dangerous infections that originate in animals but can be transmitted to humans.

Diseases that were contained are being set free, and the results are potentially catastrophic, he says.

When the first victims of the coronavirus appeared in mid-December of last year the cause was probably animals in the wet markets, Quammen concludes.

The World Health Organization said on Feb. 6 that it was still too early to declare a peak in the spread of the virus.

In 2003, a coronavirus known as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, appeared in China. The symptoms included coughing, fever, and in some cases pneumonia.

SARS infected 8,098 people and killed 774 before it was contained.

At least 42,000 people in China have been infected by the virus, and the death toll has now reached more than 1,000, according to the World Health Organization, thus greatly exceeding the number killed by SARS.

When it comes to foreigners, one American in Wuhan died after being infected with the virus.

The Asia Times said that the only fatalities outside mainland China have been a Chinese man in the Philippines and another in Hong Kong.

Chinese government was slow to react

Li Wenliang, a Chinese doctor in Wuhan, warned early on that the coronavirus was spreading in the central Chinese city. But as The New York Times Chris Buckley described it, both medical officials and the police called Li in for a middle-of-the-night reprimand and forced him to sign a statement denouncing his warning as unfounded.

Li died on Feb. 7 after he himself contracted the virus. Even before his death, says Buckley in a report from Wuhan, Dr. Li had become a hero to many Chinese after word of his treatment at the hands of the authorities emerged.

When the central government finally acknowledged the viral threat that Li had warned about, it resorted to increasingly extreme measures to try to halt the spread of the coronavirus, according to another report from Wuhan published by the Times

Those measures included house-to-house searches, rounding up the sick, and warehousing them in enormous quarantine centers.

Perhaps the most comprehensive report on the viruss origins and impact came from a team of reporters sent to Wuhan by The Financial Times.

Piecing together the timing of events and the accounts of medical experts, three of the newspapers reporters concluded that the local government in Wuhan knew about the risks from the coronavirus long before it took action.

The delay, they said, allowed the disease to spread much more widely.

On Jan. 18, roughly six weeks after the virus began to spread, the Baibuting district in Wuhan went ahead with annual mass banquets in an attempt to break a world record for the number of dishes served.

Long tables were laid out with a total of 13,986 dishes, some bearing names such as Motherland in My Heart, made of cucumber and ham.

The Financial Times said that the Baibuting banquets now stand as a symbol of Chinas mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak.

It describes the ensuing epidemic as the biggest crisis to have hit Xi Jinping, Chinas Communist Party leader, since he took power in 2012.

It has also undermined the Partys aura of competence, the Financial Times said.

As for the Baibuting district, it now faces a rising toll of infected citizens.

Photographs show notices saying fever block in red and black letters on 57 communal stairwells in the district.

The Washington Posts Gerry Shih reported that in the early stages when the Wuhan outbreak exploded into an international emergency, it set off a swell of outrage in China, where citizens have long chafed at the governments penchant for snuffing out any speech deemed threatening to social stability.

Shih reported that in recent weeks, investigative-minded news outlets such as Caijing had detailed the haphazard public health response by officials in Wuhan at the center of the outbreak.

Sanlian Zhoukan, or Life Week, described how doctors in Wuhan lacked supplies.

Shih said that readers had been digesting a slew of hard-hitting and plucky reports by the countrys fading journalism industry.

But with the government now tightening control over news reports, it appears that this flicker of free speech in China, as the Post described it, wont last much longer.

As the world adds up the costs of the epidemic that is spreading outside Wuhan, the World Health Organization (WHO) is also facing criticism. According to the Financial Times, the WHO declared a global health emergency on January 30, by which time the virus had spread well beyond China.

John MacKenzie, a member of the WHOs emergency committee, blamed China for the slow response from the international organization. He told the FT that China must have been withholding information on new cases from the WHO.

Had they been a bit stronger earlier on, they might have been able to restrict the number of cases not only in China but also overseas, he said.

Dan Southerland is RFAs founding executive editor.
SAN DIEGO, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Shareholder rights law firm Johnson Fistel, LLP has launched an investigation into whether the board members of Taubman Centers, Inc. (NYSE: TCO) ("Taubman") breached their fiduciary duties in connection with the proposed sale of the Company to Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE: SPG) ("Simon").

On February 10, 2020, Taubman announced that it had signed a definitive merger agreement with Simon. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Taubman shareholders will receive $52.50 in cash per share.

The investigation concerns whether the Taubman board failed to satisfy its duties to the Company shareholders, including whether the board adequately pursued alternatives to the acquisition and whether the board obtained the best price possible for Taubman shares of common stock. Nationally recognized Johnson Fistel is investigating whether the proposed deal represents adequate consideration, especially given one Wall Street analyst had a $65.00 price target on the stock.

If you are a shareholder of Taubman and believe the proposed buyout price is too low or you're interested in learning more about the investigation, please contact lead analyst Jim Baker ( [email protected] ) at 619-814-4471. If emailing, please include a phone number.

Additionally, you can [Click here to join this action]. There is no cost or obligation to you.

About Johnson Fistel, LLP:

Johnson Fistel, LLP is a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm with offices in California, New York, and Georgia. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in shareholder derivative and securities class action lawsuits. For more information about the firm and its attorneys, please visit https://www.johnsonfistel.com. Attorney advertising. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

Contact:

Johnson Fistel, LLP

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UP: Elections not won on exit polls basis, results will be surprising: Kamal Nath

Modiji's CAA, Pakistan talk to divert attention from key issues, says MP CM Kamal Nath

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Sagar (MP), Feb 10: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Sunday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that he is now talking about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and Pakistan to divert people's attention from the issues of unemployment and rising farmer suicides.

He was addressing a function organised to mark the birth anniversary of saint-poet Ravidas.

Nath alleged that under the Modi regime, unemployment and cases of farmer suicides have gone up.

Would have been good if PM Modi suggested any 'aasan' for unemployed youngsters: Akhilesh

"Now, he (Modi) does not talk about farmers and youths. He is now talking about the CAA and Pakistan to divert people's attention from these issues," the Chief Minister said.

"But people of the country have understood his gimmicks...There is a lot of difference between running a country and giving hollow talk," he added.

NEWS AT NOON JAN 10th, 2020

Nath also alleged that more industries have been shut down than they were opened during the 15-year-long rule of the BJP in Madhya Pradesh.

"Whereas the confidence of investors in the state has gone up under the present (Congress) government," he claimed.

PM Modi defends NPR, CAA in Rajya Sabha, slams Opposition for spreading 'misinformation

Nath also assured that in the second phase, his government would waive farm loans of up to Rs two lakh of the remaining farmers in the state. Before his address, he launched various development works worth Rs 3,000 crore.
Three children have been killed in an early morning horror car crash in Maine.

The dead include two sisters while another two youngsters are seriously injured after the car crash in Clinton, west of Bangor, in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The three children who lost their lives include 15-year-olds Thomas Porfirio and Emily Baker, and her 12-year-old sister Ashlin.

The three children were already dead by the time first responders arrived on the scene according to spokesman for Maine Department of Public Safety Steve McCausland, who spoke to NewsCenter Maine.

The three children who have been killed include Thomas Porfirio and Emily Baker, pictured, who were both 15-years-old

Emily's 12-year-old sister Ashlin also lost her life in the horrific crash early on Sunday morning

Thomas Porfirio, 15, was also killed when the car lost control and hit a tree after skidding on black ice

Two others, 12-year-old Neveah Wilson and another 16-year-old boy from Clinton were taken to Maine Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.

The boy who was driving did not have a driver's license at the time of the crash which happened at around 7:15am on Sunday morning.

It's believed the 2007 Toyota Corolla which was bring driven by a 16-year-old Clinton boy was already travelling at high speed before it hit black ice sending the vehicle into an uncontrolled skid sending it careering into a tree.

The car was a mangled mass of metal according to CentralMaine.com.

The car was a mangled mass of metal and shattered glass after it crashed into a tree

Maine State Police Lieutenant Jason Madore said the speed and inexperience of the driver were the most likely causes of the crash

Disposable coffee cups, soda bottles and fast food containers were strewn all about the crumpled wreck.

Maine State Police Lieutenant Jason Madore said the speed and inexperience of the driver were the most likely causes of the crash.

Investigators and the district attorney's office are continuing to investigate the crash.

The state police reconstruction unit are also working with the Clinton Police Department to establish the causes of the crash.

'They had their whole life ahead of them,' Dan Bickford who lives nearby said of the teens youths to CentralMaine.com. 'There was nothing left of that car.'

The car is believed to have skid on black ice and swerved off the road before hitting a tree

The victims were all students at Lawrence High School and Lawrence Junior High School.

'Our community is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our students, sisters Ashlin and Emily Baker, and Thomas Porfirio. Our hearts break for their families at this most unimaginably painful and difficult time, and through the grief they will face for their much beloved children,' Maine School Administrative District 49 Superintendent Roberta Hersom wrote in a statement.

'Students, staff, parents, friends and community members of this district will continue to support one another, and seek assistance from the schools as much as is needed. I am certain that all those associated with this very special community will serve with heartfelt concern and caring,' Hersom wrote in a Facebook post.
The U.S. military marked its 18th year in Afghanistan last year and, in the process, set a depressing new record by dropping 7,423 bombs in the country, the highest number since U.S Air Forces Central Command began tracking the figures in 2006.

This number comes on the heels of the December publication of internal government documents by The Washington Post. These documents, which came from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, confirmed what millions of Americans already knew: The war in Afghanistan, costing more than $1 trillion in taxpayer money as well as the lives of thousands of U.S. soldiers, is a war without a mission.
A record-high 1.5 million students were homeless during the 2017-18 school year, 11 percent more than the previous year and nearly double the number a decade ago, according to new federal data.

To put that in perspective, imagine a school district bigger than New York City and Miami-Dade put together, made up of children who are trailing other studentseven those in povertyby 10 percentage points or more in math, reading, and science. Eighteen percent of them have learning disabilities. Nearly that many are still learning English. Virtually all of them experience stress and trauma.

Sixteen states have seen student homelessness rise 10 percent or more in the last three years alone, according to the analysis released this month by the federally funded National Center for Homeless Education, part of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Districts from Chicago to Grand Forks, N.D., from Paducah, Ky. to the Austin, Texas, suburbs are struggling to keep up with the swell of their most vulnerable studentsmostly with limited money. While federal homeless education funding rose $12 million from 2015 to 2017, there was no increase in the number of districts receiving those subgrants. On average, per-pupil spending for homeless students increased only $3 during that time.

Theres no one thing driving the rise in student homelessness, said Barbara Duffield, the executive director of SchoolHouse Connection, a national homeless education organization. There are parts of the country where the costs of housing have gone up. There are parts of the country hard hit by disasters, parts of the country where opioids and methamphetamines have definitely had an impact. There are challenges around persistent poverty, poverty that isnt necessarily impacted by rising economy or wages because people arent working at all.

The 2017-18 school year saw wide displacements from natural disasters such as wildfires in the West and hurricanes along the Gulf Coast, but Norma Mercado, the homeless liaison for the Bastrop, Texas, school district outside Austin, said the rising homelessness there has been caused by deeper and less sporadic problems, including gentrification, poverty, lack of affordable housing, unemployment, and underemployment.

Mercado said community partnerships and wraparound services have proven crucial to advocate for and support the 100 new homeless students Bastrop has seen each year since 2015.

Rebeka Beach, manager of Cincinnati public schools Project Connect, which identifies and supports homeless students, said she has also seen a nearly 100-student increase since last year, and the district is bracing for more, as Beach has found even larger increases in the communitys preschool-age homeless population.

Academic Struggles

The Every Student Succeeds Act requires states to track homeless students academic achievement and high school graduation rates, and while many states have been slow to report the data, deep academic gulfs have come to light between homeless students and low-income students with stable housing.

As of 2017-18, homeless students lagged behind housed students in poverty at every grade and subject tested under ESSA. Overall, only 29 percent of homeless students performed proficiently in reading and language arts, 8.5 percent fewer than other low-income students. Roughly 1 in 4 homeless students was proficient in math and science overall, compared to a third or more of housed low-income students.

Those intense academic needs are compounded when schools begin to see multiple homeless students in the same schoolsmany of which also serve other low-income students.

I do notice some performance gaps between students experiencing homelessness and their housed peers, said Beach of Cincinnati. The district now provides therapeutic writing groups, tutoring and college exam preparation, peer mentoring, and parent engagement sessions at homeless shelters, among other supports.

I think that [a] relationship with students is such a powerful intervention, and I think having the capacity to do this in a meaningful way requires more feet on the ground, said Beach.

Capacity to support homeless children has become such a concern in Chicago that the teachers union negotiated it into its most recent contract. Each school that enrolls 75 or more homeless students will now get one new full-time homeless coordinator, and the handful of schools that enroll 140 or more homeless students will get two full-time staff members.

While federal law requires schools to identify and serve homeless students, in most schools, one teacher or staff membera social worker, Title I director, or foster care advocate, for exampleadds those duties to an already-full plate, according to Patricia Nix-Hodes, the director of the Law Project of the Chicago Coalition of the Homeless, which helped inform the new staff requirements.

Clearly, as the numbers increase, someone who has this role on top of many other roles would not have the time or capacity to serve those families or even to identify all the students who might be in homeless situations, Nix-Hodes said.

Jennifer Modeen, homeless education director for the 7,400-student Grand Forks, N.D., school district, agreed. Grand Forks has 161 homeless students10 percent more than last yearand Modeen manages their cases along with the districts foster students and others who need social services. With students scattered across 18 distant campuses, Modeen had to buyand occasionally drivea van just to help get homeless students to and from school, therapy, and other appointments.

This is really a very hidden population for a number of different reasons, which makes the advocacy and the community response more challenging, Modeen said.

Falling Through Cracks

Amid the overall nationwide rise in homeless students, the number living on their own, without a parent or guardian, also roseby nearly 17 percent, to more than 129,000 students. Unaccompanied children now make up more than 1 in 10 homeless students in 29 states, and 8.6 percent of homeless students nationwide.

These unaccompanied students worry Heather Anderson, the homeless and foster student case manager for the 3,200-student Paducah school district, in Western Kentucky.

Anderson has identified more than 200 homeless students so far this yearabout 70 more than she typically has. For unaccompanied homeless students, she said, the growth has been especially dramatic.

I usually have like six, and I have 28 right now, which is blowing my mind. I have never had that many, ever, she said.

Some were left behind when a parent sought work in another city. Others left home because of parents abuse or drug problems. But these students can have even more difficulty navigating school and life than other homeless students, she said, because insurance, housing, and other school or social programs often require an adult guardians signature.

Paducah offers dental and basic medical care on site for uninsured students, and partners with community groups and the local library to provide after-school tutoring programs, extracurricular activities and social cafesanything to give children safe places to do homework and hang out for a few more hours of the day.

But even with supports available, its easy to overlook students like Cara, a 12th grader in Paducah, who became homeless two years ago, when she and her grandmother lost their house. (Cara spoke under a pseudonym.)

Caras mother gave her up as a newborn and moved to Tennessee to live near a hospital that treats her younger brothers cancer. Caras father was also homeless, and all three lived in her grandmothers car until Cara found space with her best friend.

Her grades dropped and she frequently came to school exhausted, Cara said. But that first year, I didnt really tell anybody. I just kind of went through it.

I know some of my teachers noticed when I walked in on a bad day. She said, Theyd say, You look kind of pale, you look like you dont feel good. ... But you know, they dont really ask me about it, more like, you know, Oh, shes having a bad day, so lets just leave it alone. 

This year, Cara reached out to Anderson for help, as her grandmother and father cycled in and out of hospitals for ongoing respiratory illnesses and chronic, untreated diabetes. Anderson has helped Cara find academic help to bring up her grades and get accepted into Middle Tennessee State University, where she will live in the fall with an older sister on campus.

In graduating, Cara provides reason for hope. States have varied wildly when it comes to helping homeless students make it through high school, with four-year graduation rates ranging from 44 percent to 87 percent. In 22 states that provided five-year graduation rate data, 41 percent to 83 percent of homeless students earned a diploma in five years.

But Caras the kind of student who keeps Anderson up at night.

It bothers me that she wasnt identified last year, and Im wondering how can I get better at identifying the students who keep it a secret? she said.

Anderson isnt alone in her concern.

Even as their numbers rise rapidly, homeless students are getting harder for schools to find. Federal law defines as homeless any child who doesnt have a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, but the number of homeless students staying in shelters, transitional housing, or temporary foster care placementsplaces operated through agencies or community groups that give schools a heads up when new children arrivehas declined since 2015-16.

By contrast, tens of thousands more homeless students stayed in hotels or doubled up with other families than was the case previously, in part due to housing policy changes that favor providing homeless families with hotel vouchers instead of shelter space.

And the number of students living entirely unsheltered, such as in a car as Cara did, more than doubled from roughly 43,000 students in 2015-16 to nearly 103,000 students in 2017-18.

In shelters at least theres more services, theres stability, we can do transportation easier, said Duffield of SchoolHouse Connection. But when families are diverted to motels or to these really precarious situations with other people ... then we see kind of persistent homelessness because families kind of had the rug taken out from underneath them and they have even fewer supports.

Related Video

Over 1 million students in the U.S. are homeless, and that instability means they are more likely to drop out of school. In this video, Kansas City, Kan. high school students Grace Wright and Malik Ali Cushon talk about their experiences being homeless, and what their school has done to help:
Assam is likely to conduct an exercise to identify the state's indigenous Muslim population and segregate them from illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, even as doubts over the accuracy of the NRC are yet to be addressed

Guwahati: Assam is likely to conduct an exercise to identify the state's indigenous Muslim population and segregate them from Bangladeshi origin people, even as doubts over the accuracy of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) are yet to be addressed.

As per the plans, the survey will be conducted to identify people of four communities - Goria, Moria, Desi and Jolah of the tea tribes, considered as indigenous.

Assam Welfare of Minorities Minister Ranjit Dutta has convened a meeting on Tuesday with various organisations of the four communities and other stakeholders to finalise the plan. "Assam has about 1.3 crore Muslims population, of which around 90 lakh are of Bangladeshi origin. The remaining 40 lakh are from different tribes and they need to be identified," Assam Minority Development Board Chairman Muminul Aowal told PTI.

The indigenous Muslims are deprived of benefits of the government welfare schemes in absence of proper identification, he claimed.

Aowal, who is also the convenor of Janagosthiya Samanway Parishad Asom (JSPA), said the entire rationale behind such an exercise is to give protection to the indigenous people from demographic changes in the state. "The NRC included lakhs of Bangladeshi-origin people. So, we cannot rely on that. If we do not act now, one day all the indigenous tribes will be wiped out from Assam," he added.

"Once the indigenous tribes are officially recognised, it will be better and easier to work for the development of these people. I, as a representative of these tribes, had in 2015 met the then Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh," Aowal said. The indigenous groups had urged Singh for such a survey, he said.

When asked how the exercise will be carried out, Aowal said, "We will request the state government to get an approval from the RGI (Registrar General of India). Without the RGI's approval, the findings may not be legally tenable."

The organisations representing the Muslim tribes want the paper works to be completed by March so that the actual fieldwork of enumerating people can begin early next fiscal, he said. "The entire initiative is of the Minority Department of the state government, but it does not have the required manpower to carry out such a state-wide exercise. That is why it can be conducted through the Revenue Department, which is present at the village-level," Aowal explained.

The NRC, which was published last year under the supervision of the Supreme Court with over 19 lakh exclusions, is being criticised by all sections for the "minimal number" of people left out.

It is being alleged that genuine Indians, mostly Hindus, were left out and many illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, mostly Muslims, were included. The apex court is still hearing a number of petitions on the issue.
London born hedge fund boss Sanjay Shah is suspected of swindling Danish tax authorities by setting up sham trades

A London-born hedge fund boss accused of masterminding a 1.5billion tax fraud is facing one of the most expensive trials in British legal history.

Sanjay Shah is suspected of devising an elaborate scheme to swindle Danish tax authorities, which have brought a civil case against him in London's High Court.

Experts have warned legal fees alone for the 'super-trial' are likely to hit 250million. It is also set to drag on for more than a year and involve the analysis of millions of documents, including financial records from the US, Malaysia and Luxembourg.

In the latest twist, the Danish State Prosecutor for Serious Economic and International Crime (SIK) has seized a 14.7million property near Hyde Park in central London from an unnamed 'suspect'. It emerged the property is a luxury block of flats owned by Shah and rented out.

Shah has denied any wrongdoing and insisted he was merely exploiting a legal tax loophole.

Around 500million of his assets around the world  including homes in Dubai and London  are reported to have been frozen during investigations in multiple jurisdictions into his business activities.

The 49-year-old married father of three who has staged concerts by Sir Elton John and Ed Sheeran for his charity Autism Rocks  lives on a private island in the Palm Jumeirah development in Dubai.

Super-rich owners of neighbouring properties include David and Victoria Beckham and Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty.

But Shah's business empire and fortune are under threat. The tycoon, his hedge fund Solo Capital Partners  which was shut down in 2016  and up to 80 other defendants, including his wife Usha, are accused of designing 'sham transactions' to apply for tax relief on share dividends from Danish authorities.

Under Danish law, companies withhold 27 per cent of share dividends to pay directly to the taxman, but foreign investors can have the tax refunded.

The Danish tax authority Skat says it was tricked into paying huge refunds to Shah and his alleged associates between 2012 and 2015.

Shah lives on a private island in Dubai's Palm Jumeirah development. Owners of neighbouring properties include David and Victoria Beckham and Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty

The alleged scam involves the use of so-called 'cum-ex' trades. Cum-ex is Latin for 'with-without' and refers to the status of shares before and after a dividend is issued.

Other countries including Germany, France and Italy claim they have lost tens of billions of euros in similar scams, perpetrated by hundreds of individuals and dozens of investment banks, private banks and funds.

But it has become a national embarrassment for Danish tax authorities, which have been pursuing Shah for five years.

Skat has described Shah as the 'primary individual responsible for the fraudulent scheme'.

A judge last month gave the go-ahead for the trial.

The expected 250million in legal fees excludes the cost to the British court system. Judge Mr Justice Andrew Baker warned the length of the trial was 'sufficiently massive' to raise 'gross concerns about practicability from the court's point of view'.

He also warned the trial could tie up the court for up to 50 weeks, and is likely to exceed a year when breaks in the court schedule are taken into account.

London is seen as a hub for cross-border financial disputes, which is why it will stage the huge legal battle.

Married father of three Shah has staged concerts by Sir Elton John, left, and Ed Sheeran, right, for his charity Autism Rocks

But judges are said to be furious that a case brought by Danish tax authorities is set to bog down the British courts.

The case could potentially prove embarrassing for the Government after it emerged that Shah enlisted the services of Geoffrey Cox QC, then a backbench Tory MP but now Attorney General, during the period covered by the alleged fraud.

The Attorney General's Office said Cox has had no involvement with the case since he was appointed to the Government role in July 2018.

Before his appointment as Attorney General, Cox established himself as one of the country's highest-earning MPs through his work as a barrister.

A spokesman said: 'Mr Cox's involvement with Mr Shah was as a leading barrister instructed in the normal way to advise on and appear in proceedings in the English courts.

'The Register of Members Interests contains details of any financial interest a Member has, or any benefit they receive. I can confirm that Mr Cox's register is up to date.'

Shah grew up in Marylebone, London, and dropped out of a medicine degree at King's College London before qualifying as a chartered accountant.

He was employed by the likes of Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and the Dutch bank Rabobank.

When he lost his job following the 2008 financial crash, he created Solo Capital, primarily running the firm from Dubai, where he moved in 2009.

A spokesman for Shah said: 'Sanjay continues to maintain his innocence and his position was that he had two sets of legal advice that the trades were legal.'
The novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV or Wuhan coronavirus) is spreading like wildfire across the globe and health officials are racing to contain the virus. Experts in the United Kingdom warn that the country is facing a major coronavirus outbreak in the coming weeks as the number of confirmed cases rises to four, as more than 25 countries have reported increasing case toll.

The coronavirus started in Wuhan City in Hubei province in China in the last weeks of December 2019. In a matter of two months, the virus has spread to other countries across the globe, with the death toll topping 900, surpassing the SARS outbreak fatalities in 2002-2003. The number of confirmed cases increased to a staggering 40,000. Outside China, there are 288 confirmed cases, with one death in the Philippines and one in the USA.

Medics in white hazmat protective suits checking and scanning passengers on a plane for Wuhan coronavirus. Image Credit: Delpixel / Shutterstock

UK facing major outbreak in coming weeks

Professor Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said the outbreak is more likely to become a pandemic, with the increased and fast rate of infection. Piot co-discovered Ebola and the presence of HIV-AIDS in Africa. He said that due to the mode of transmission of the present coronavirus outbreak, the potential spread is higher, and it poses a greater threat to people across the globe.

The statement comes after a fourth patient has been diagnosed with coronavirus in the country, who contracted the virus in France after coming in contact with a previously confirmed case in the U.K.

Another patient in Majorca has tested positive for the coronavirus. Though his immediate family has not contracted the virus, health officials are working double-time to tract all individuals who may have met or encountered the patient.

The patient is being treated at the Royal Free Hospital in London. The countrys four cases have tested positive of the infection, from over 600 persons under investigation.

Final evacuation of Britons

The U.K. has repatriated the last batch of Britons who were stuck in the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan. The last batch and final evacuation landed in the country. More than 200 passengers landed at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on Feb. 9, with all passengers subjected to medical evaluation and quarantine for 14 days.

The incubation period of the virus lasts between 7 and 14 days, so people who need to be in isolation may need two weeks to make sure they didnt contract the infection.

The patients were taken to the Kents Hill Park Hotel in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire for the duration of the quarantine period to contain the virus and prevent its spread. Meanwhile, two British residents who wanted to go back to the U.K. from China were denied entry to the flight because they failed temperature checks.

No-Deal Brexit Style

The country ministers have imposed a no-deal Brexit style emergency plan as fears that China will shut down factories and cities for the coming months, leaving many nations, including Britain with the low supply of goods manufactured there.

The emergency plan aims to secure vital and important goods to conserve them until supply levels return to normal. The Department of Health has also been informed to make sure all medical supplies are enough to cover the period, especially that the virus is spreading in the country. Further, the business department is looking for alternative sources of some supplies, which may have high exposure in China.

Spread of infection outside China

The World Health Organization (WHO)s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the transmission of the coronavirus outside China may continue to increase, hence, countries should prepare for the possibility.

The health agency is pioneering a global research and innovation forum to fight the current coronavirus outbreak. Health officials will conduct the forum between Feb. 11 and 12 in Geneva, in collaboration with the Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness. Leading scientists, government representatives, and health agencies will attend the forum to help develop new tools, vaccines, diagnostics, therapeutics, and other innovations to contain the spread of the deadly virus.
Piramal Realty, the real estate arm of Piramal Group, on Monday said it has sold 300 units worth Rs 200 crore in its 'value housing' segment project in Thane within nine days of launch.

The company recently entered the 'value housing' segment where it has configured the sizes of the apartments with prices starting from Rs 57 lakh to attract millennials with relatively smaller budgets.

The project is part of the 32 acre township project Piramal Vaikunth, which will be spread across five acres and have a development potential of 2 million sqft.

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* President Kovind to be chief guest at NIBM's golden jubilee celebrationPune-based National Institute of Bank Management (NIBM) on Monday said President Ram Nath Kovind will be the chief guest at its golden jubilee celebration to be held on February 12.

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari will be the guest of honour and Reserve Bank of India Governor and chairman of NIBM's governing board, Shaktikanta Das, will preside over the function.

RBI's deputy governors and executive directors, heads and directors of various banks and financial institutions are also expected to participate in the celebrations, NIBM said in a release.

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* * IDFC AMC launches open-ended equity fund



IDFC Asset Management Company (AMC) has launched an open-ended equity fund, which will predominantly invest in small cap stocks.

The new fund -- IDFC Emerging Businesses Fund -- is mandated to invest at least 65 per cent in small cap segment, a company statement said.

The fund will also look to participate in new businesses via IPOs.

The new fund offer opened on February 3 and will close on February 17.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
For the past year and a half, members of Women of Michigan Action Network have been learning about racism in our culture.

Why? Like the words of Maya Angelou, we want to know better so that we can do better. Through workshops, speakers, and book groups, we have discovered a great deal more about racism than our history books taught us.

During the past year, this column has broached the topics of white privilege, racial issues in Midland, and systemic racism. On a quest to know more about our nation's racial history, nine women from our group traveled to Montgomery, Alabama this past summer.

The following, written by group member Sarah Schulz, is a poignant first-person account of that journey.

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice brings visitors face-to-face with the truth of the domestic terrorism that lynchings perpetrated on African Americans in the 19th and 20th centuries. The memorial displays man-sized rust-colored metal pillars suspended from the ceiling to evoke the reality of lynching. There is one for every county in the U.S. that has had a documented lynching. Etched on each pillar are the names of each known lynching victim. Some pillars have one name. Some record hundreds.

As we debriefed on this day, we all reported noticing a man who wept openly throughout the museum. He was African American and about 35 years old. We saw him as he read and re-read the quotes from slave owners and former slaves. We noticed he sat through videos of the prison and the Montgomery Bus boycott more than once.

At one point, he squatted down and put his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands saying "my people" over and over again. One person in our group said she had made it into the main room of the museum successfully holding back tears until she heard him sobbing next to her. She talked to him as he told her his "lady" had been overcome by the exhibit and left him to walk through it alone.

We talked about the wretched trait of humanity that allows us to dehumanize each other. This is acutely on display as the museum takes you through listings of slaves for sale. One of our group was struck by a listing that she felt described her: "Hannah, about 30 years old, faithful and trustworthy, good cook, not very able bodied but willing, good natured diligent and reliable. An excellent woman."

And there were many quotes from former slaves that illuminated how they were dehumanized as property. One read: "Selling is worse than flogging. My back has been beaten many times but has always healed. They sold my husband away. My heart is not right yet."

I want to say this abject cruelty stemming from the inability to see the humanity in others is inhuman. But, of course, that's not true. It is one trait that is uniquely human. We saw this cruelty in the holocaust. We saw it in Dr. James Marion Sims, who was called the "Father of Gynecology" after his surgical experiments without anesthesia on black women slaves led to successful treatments for white women. We saw it again in our history with indigenous children who were forced from their families into government or church-sponsored boarding schools. This includes one right near Mt. Pleasant in our own area of Michigan.

We saw it in the thousands of lynchings in our country, intended to terrorize and dehumanize African Americans by telling them that they didn't have agency over their own bodies, and that they were not worthy of due process.

And we see this cruelty again today as children at our Mexican border are stripped of their parents for the sake of psychological trauma with no effort or plan to be reunited. This reflects the complete lack of effort by our government to reunite the slave families after emancipation. Once again on this trip we are confronted by the worst of our history repeating itself.

Editor's note: This is the first column in a two-part series penned by Cherie Marks, with Sarah Schulz, both of the Midland Chapter of Women of Michigan Action Network.
The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the validity of the 2018 amendment to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (SC/ST Act) which had, among other things, reintroduced the bar on anticipatory bail to those accused under the Act.

The judgment was delivered by a bench of justices Arun Mishra, Vineet Saran and Ravindra Bhat.

Parliament had, by an amendment to the SC/ST Act, introduced section 18A in 2018. The government had resorted to this step to undo the March 2018 judgment of the Supreme Court in Dr Subhash Kashinath Mahajan vs The State of Maharashtra.

In that judgment, the Supreme Court introduced some safeguards to the SC/ST Act in response to allegations of abuse of the SC/SC Act and the filing of false cases. Foremost among them was that there would be no absolute bar on the grant of anticipatory bail to a person accused under the Act if no prima facie case is made out, or where, on judicial scrutiny, the complaint is found to be false.

The court in that judgment had also mandated a preliminary inquiry by a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) prior to the registration of a first information report (FIR) and requirement of investigation officer to get further approval prior to effecting an arrest.

In the case of a public servant, the court said that arrest can be made only after the approval of the appointing authority and in case of a non-public servant, after approval by the senior superintendent of police (SSP). The judgment, which virtually diluted the provisions of the act, led to widespread protests by Dalit communities.

The central government eventually moved to file a review petition against the judgment and also amended the SC/ST Act to get over the courts judgment.

The August 2018 amendment inserted section 18A in the SC/ST Act. This new provision did away with the three major requirements which were mandated by the Kashinath judgment.

As per this new provision, preliminary enquiry shall not be required for registration of FIR against any person and the investigating officer shall not require approval for the arrest of any person under the act.

Further, it also said that the provisions of Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) dealing with anticipatory bail shall not apply to a case under the SC/ST Act.

Concerning the applicability of provisions of section 438 Cr.PC, it shall not apply to the cases under Act of 1989. However, if the complaint does not make out a prima facie case for applicability of the provisions of the Act of 1989, the bar created by section 18 and 18A (i) shall not apply, the Mondays judgment said.

Petitions were filed against the amendment on the ground that it violates the right to equality and life under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.

In October 2019, the Supreme Court had allowed the review petitions and overturned the Kashinath Mahajan judgment effectively sanctioning the amendment to the act. Subsequently, it heard the petitions challenging the amendment and reserved its verdict on October 3.

Union minister and Lok Janshakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan hailed the Supreme Court order, asserting that the Centre is committed to protecting the constitutional rights of the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).

I welcome the decision of the Honble Supreme Court to uphold SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2018.The Central govt is committed to protecting SC/STs from atrocities and their constitutional rights, and today the apex court has also put its stamp on it, Paswan said.

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, too, welcomed the decision. Thanks to the struggle of SCs and STs, the Central Government in 2018 passed a new law which abolished changes in the SC/ST Act and maintained its provisions as before. Today, Supreme Court has upheld the new law. Congratulations to SCs and STs, I salute their struggle and welcome the court verdict, a rough translation of her tweet in Hindi read.

Mahesh Menon, Assistant Professor at National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata, said: The whole exercise was an academic one and the judgment also says so. One bench passed the conditions diluting the act, and that order was overturned in a review.

Meanwhile, parliament swiftly chose to rectify the error of law. All said and done, there is the larger issue of increase in number of laws where the right to anticipatory bail is sought to be diluted. That poses the question of whether the criminal justice system is going in the right direction because we seem to be inclined towards curtailing the rights of the accused. It does not fit well within any understanding of human rights. The larger issues in criminal justice system are left unaddressed and instead we resort to such quick fixes which probably make the people happy  its just playing to the gallery, he added.

(With agency inputs)
Gaza, Feb 10 : Israeli war jets bombed the Gaza Strip on Monday as an Egyptian security delegation arrived in the Palestinian enclave for its ceasefire with Israel, security sources said.

Israeli war jets struck several sites belonging to the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, in southern Gaza, Xinhua quoted Palestinian security sources.

No injuries were reported.

Meanwhile, Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a press statement that Israeli war jets targeted Hamas facilities including a "military training facility" in southern Gaza.

Hamas should "bear responsibility for the terrorist acts against Israelis," Adraee added.

Israeli public radio reported that around 20 rockets had been launched from Gaza toward Israel since January 15.

An Egyptian security delegation arrived in Gaza for meetings with leaders of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad over the ceasefire agreement with Israel.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is ready to wage a military offensive against "terrorist organizations" in the Gaza Strip to protect Israeli citizens.

Tensions have been mounting in the past few weeks as rockets were launched from Gaza toward southern Israel, mostly landing in open fields with no reported injuries.
Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald said Sunday evening that the party would try to form a government in coalition with other parties, following its unprecedented success in Saturdays Irish Republic general election.

With 96 percent of first preference votes counted Sunday evening, Sinn Fein was leading with 24.1 percent, with Fianna Fail on 22.1 percent, Fine Gael on 22.1 percent and the Greens on 7.4 percent.

After winning nearly a quarter of first-preference votes, McDonald described the result as a revolution, declaring, in a reference to the traditional bourgeois ruling partiesFianna Fail and Fine GaelThis is no longer a two-party system.

As the party has only stood 42 candidates in the 39 constituencies, each of which returns 3 or 4 TDs (Teachta Dala, members of parliament), Fine Gael or Fianna Fail will likely still hold the largest number of seats in the 160-seat Dail Eireann. But Sinn Fein, the political wing of the disbanded Irish Republican Army (IRA), could win as many as 36 seatsup from 23 in the present Dail.

Sinn Fein are the undeserving beneficiaries of an election dominated by rising opposition to deepening social inequality and of a search by workers and young people for a solution. The results attest to a sharp political shift to the left underway among broad layers of working people after a decade of brutal austerity.

Exit polls asked people which issue most influenced their voting decision. Nearly a third (32 percent) of respondents identified health as their most pressing concern, while 26 percent flagged housing/homelessness and 8 percent the change in pension age. Six percent identified both climate change and jobs as of greatest importance. Only 1 percent flagged Brexit and immigration. Some 80 percent considered the economy as important in their choice.

Sinn Feins electoral pitch was a combination of social promises they have no means of keeping, calls for Irish unification and Republican flag waving. Their manifesto, Giving workers & families a breaka Manifesto for Change, promised more houses, more health jobs along with criticism of the ruling parties.

But while having to make appeals to the growing social concerns of millions, Sinn Fein, as a bourgeois nationalist party, put forward an agenda aimed at servicing the transnational corporations and insurance companies that dominate the Irish economy. They also offered support to small- and medium-sized business impacted by the likely deeply damaging impact of Britains departure from the European Union (EU).

Although constitutional questions were not primary among voters concerns, Sinn Feins manifesto proposed a poll on Irish unificationprovision for which is made in the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 which brought the civil war in British-controlled Northern Ireland to an end.

Brexit has completely destabilised both the Republic of Ireland, which remains part of the EU, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK. The withdrawal agreement negotiated between Boris Johnsons Conservative British government and the EU effectively creates some form of trade border in the Irish Sea and on the border of Northern Ireland. This will have a ruinous impact on the economy of both sides of the border on which Sinn Fein will seek to capitalise.

On these grounds, Sinn Fein picked up support among all age groups under 65. This is particularly pronounced amongst young voters where Sinn Fein has, according to exit polls, 32 percent support, compared to Fine Gael at 16 percent, and Fianna Fail and the Greens both around 14 percent. Among 35- to 49-year-olds and 50- to 65-year-olds, Sinn Fein are tied with both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail at around 22 percent. Only among those over 65 does Sinn Feins support fall far behind the establishment parties.

Significantly, among 18- to 24-year-olds, 75 percent supported a unification poll.

Entirely absent from Sinn Feins manifesto was any reference to its record in Northern Ireland. For 10 years to early 2017, Sinn Fein ruled in Northern Ireland alongside the Democratic Unionist Party. The power sharing government in Stormontonly revived last month after three yearsimposed all the spending cuts demanded by the British government in Westminster, ruthlessly attacking social spending while manipulating sectarian divisions in the working class. The word Stormont does not appear in their manifesto at all.

The election result is politically explosive on both sides of the border. Sinn Feins manifesto notes, The defence of the Good Friday Agreement and the issue of a referendum on Irish Unity is now centre stage.  It is totally inconsistent for the Irish Government, the Fianna Fail leadership and others to laud and correctly seek support for the Good Friday Agreement, while resiling from elements of it, including the referendum. However, it is clear that despite resistance from the Irish and British Governments and the main unionist parties, a referendum on Irish Unity will be held in the next few years. Demographic trends suggest a nationalist voting majority in the North is close. Political unionism has lost its electoral majority in four consecutive elections and the exit poll conducted across the 26 counties [the Republic] in the wake of the Local Government and European elections in 2019 showed a huge majority in support of Irish Unity.

The document passes over the implications and impact in the North of their unification poll proposal. Northern Ireland remains deeply polarised on sectarian lines. While the recent British general election saw Unionist parties finally lose the majority they have held since Irelands partition by British imperialism in 1920, a substantial proportion of the population, including most Protestant workers, are opposed to Irish unification.

These fractious circumstances, overshadowed by deepening world economic crisis, are set to dominate the horse trading over the terms of prospective coalition agreements over the next weeks. Both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have ruled out a coalition with Sinn Fein, but cannot simply go back into government with each otheron the basis of their existing confidence and supply agreementas it would generate further social anger.

Some form of coalition involving Sinn Fein is therefore a real possibility, which would mean the party being in government on both sides of the Irish border.

Fianna Fail leader Michael Martin has hinted that his party could be open to an agreement with Sinn Fein, while elements within Fianna Fail have long seen Sinn Fein as a viable partner in government. Sinn Feins McDonald has made clear that their red-line terms for a coalition deal would be the border poll within the lifetime of the government.

McDonald will also be able to bring some of the smaller parties along with her. She said as the count was ongoing that she had already been in touch with the Greens, the Social Democrats and the pseudo-left People Before Profit. The smaller parties have all indicated their willingness to, in the words of People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett, participate in a a broad left alliance to form a government with Sinn Fein.

The challenge facing workers in Ireland is stark. Sinn Fein is entirely incapable of fulfilling any of the urgent social demands that have driven its unexpected electoral success. To avoid being trapped behind the partys nationalist and pro-capitalist machinations, workers in Ireland, North and South, must adopt an independent socialist political strategy based on unity with workers in Britain, Europe and internationally to advance their interests.

Contact the Socialist Equality Group, Irish supporters of the International Committee of the Fourth International today.
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday sought review of Supreme Court's verdict which has said that reservation in promotions for government jobs is not a fundamental right.

"I had thought that he (Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawar Chand Gehlot) will say that the government will go to Supreme Court today and get this reversed. If the Supreme Court does not reverse this then they will bring a Bill into the House to make this null and void. It's no reply that government has taken a view on this at the highest level," Azad said in Rajya Sabha.

"It's a serious matter pertaining to the future of 1/4th population of India. I request Centre to hold a Cabinet meeting and say that they will move to Supreme Court, asking them to review and withdraw it. If that doesn't happen then they will bring a Bill to make it null and void," he added.

Gehlot had on Monday told the Lok Sabha that the issue was very important and the government was discussing it "at a high level". He said neither the opinion of union government was sought nor was it made a party to the case in the Supreme Court.

He said that Supreme Court verdict about states not being bound to provide reservation in appointments came in the wake of a decision of the Congress government in Uttarakhand in 2012.

Congress MPs and some other Opposition parties staged a walkout after they were not given permission to speak following the minister's brief statement in the House.

"Here, I want to make it clear that in this matter, neither was the Government of India was made a party nor an affidavit sought," he said.

The minister said the petition was filed due to the decision of the Uttarakhand government taken in September 2012 about not implementing reservations in promotions.

"It will be appropriate to mention here that there was a Congress government in Uttarakhand in 2012. Our government is committed to implementing measures for the welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes. After considering it a high level, the Government of India will take appropriate steps," he said.

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury sought to speak after Gehlot's remarks but Speaker Om Birla said that there cannot be further discussion on the issue after the minister's statement.

The Supreme Court had on Friday said that reservation in promotions for government jobs is not a fundamental right. The top court also said the States cannot be directed to provide promotions to the members of the SC/ST community.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pete Buttigieg has fallen behind Bernie Sanders in the latest New Hampshire polls and, in a surprise twist, Amy Klobuchar has moved up to third place as the Democratic disarray has leaders fearing it's Donald Trump who could emerge the real victor in the end.

A new dynamic has appeared in New Hampshire in the 24 hours ahead of its crucial primary: Klobuchar, coming off a strong debate performance Friday night, has burst ahead of Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren in two polls.

The Minnesota senator moved up in a Suffolk University/Boston Globe/WBZ and an Emerson poll - both of which also showed Sanders solidifying his lead over Buttigieg.

The polls also show a third of New Hampshire voters remain undecided, making the last 24 hours in the state crucial for the candidates ahead of Tuesday's primary.

In a surprise twist, Amy Klobuchar has moved to third place in latest New Hampshire polls

Pete Buttigieg has fallen behind Bernie Sanders

Candidates are spending the day racing across the state and planing big close out rallies on Monday night before voters head to the polls.

And voters are making the rounds to check out the candidates.

Buttigieg, Sanders and Klobuchar's campaigns have all been bragging about record crowd size in the state: 1,800 people turned out to Butigieg's town hall meeting in Nashua and 1,113 were in Dover; while Sanders had 1,981 attendees at a Keene rally; and Klobuchar saw 1,100 at her Sunday rally.

But the chaos of Iowa's caucuses and the infighting among the Democratic candidates in New Hampshire has sparked fears Trump could come out of a wounded Democratic primary stronger than ever headed into the November election.

The winnowing of candidates Democratic party elders had hoped for has not happened as no clearer winner emerged from Iowa.

Additionally Biden, who many privately saw as the strongest challenger to the president, has had a poor showing.

The former vice president came in fourth in the Iowa delegate count - although many major news outlets have yet to call that contest given the counting problems after an app failed - and Biden is showing a steady fourth in New Hampshire polls.

On top of all of this, the president is swooping into Manchester on Monday night to hold a rally ahead of the Tuesday's vote.

And he was trolling the Democrats via Twitter Monday morning.

'Will be in Manchester, New Hampshire, tonight for a big Rally. Want to shake up the Dems a little bit - they have a really boring deal going on,' he wrote.

Donald Trump was trolling Democrats Monday morning ahead of his New Hampshire rally that night

He will hold his rally at the same arena New Hampshire Democrats welcomed their presidential contenders on Saturday night at a party gathering where Sanders' supporters booed Buttigieg and Biden's section of support was noticeably small.

Democrats have vowed to unify around their eventual nominee.

I know no matter who wins the Democratic nomination we are going to come together to defeat the most danger president in the history of country,' Sanders said Saturday night.

'Look, the thing that changes this election is, everybody in the Democratic Party is united on one thing. You have to beat Donald Trump,' Biden told ABC's 'This Week' on Sunday.

Butigieg and Sanders attacked each other directly on Sunday as they criss crossed the state.

'I'm running against some guys, Pete Buttigieg, who have raised campaign funds from over 40 billionaires,' Sanders, 78, told a crowd of nearly 600 supporters in Hanover, repeating his criticism of the former mayor's donors that he's been using for the past week.

It's a charge his supporters have taken up. At a Democratic Party event in Manchester Friday night, Sanders supporters booed Buttigieg, 38, during his remarks and blasted him as 'Wall Street Pete.'

Five new polls out on Sunday showed Sanders leading Buttigieg in the state: by 7 points in a CNN poll; 3 points in a Boston Herald poll; 2 points in a Boston Globe poll; 10 points in an Emerson University poll and 4 points in a CBS News poll.

And Buttigieg also attacked Sanders by name when he was on the stump.

The former mayor of South Bend attacked Sanders for his talk of a 'revolution,' saying most people don't share that vision.

'I respect Senator Sanders, but when I hear this message go out that you're either for a revolution or you got to be for the status quo, that's a vision of the county that doesn't have room for most of us,' Buttigieg said.

He also criticized Sanders' Medicare-for-All universal healthcare plan.

'What we could do without is a plan so expensive that Senator Sanders himself freely admits he has no idea how it's supposed to be paid for,' he said.

Buttigieg also drew fire from Klobuchar and Biden about his lack of experience - he has never held national office - but he has fought back by arguing 'mayors get things done.'

Biden launched a vicious attack on Buttigieg over the weekend.

'I do believe we're a party at risk if we nominate someone who's never held an office higher than mayor of South Bend, Indiana,' the former vice president told a crowd at the Rex Theatre in Manchester Saturday afternoon.

Bernie Sanders is leading almost all polls in New Hampshire

Joe Biden has dropped to fourth place

And at an event later in the day he said of Buttigieg, 'This guy's not a Barack Obama.'

And his new ad, which put the two candidates' records side-by-side, was tougher on Buttigieg than the digs Biden deployed onstage. The campaign has been pushing the ad on social media, where it's racked up $2.7 million views on Twitter and 69,000 views on Facebook.

While Biden helped get the Affordable Care Act passed giving healthcare to 20 million Americans, the ad boasted, Buttigieg 'installed decorative lights under bridges giving citizens of South Bend colorfully illuminated rivers.'

And while Biden saved the auto industry after the 2008 crash, the spot said, Buttigieg 'revitalized the sidewalks of downtown South Bend by laying out decorative brick.'
A cargo ship crew member is being tested for coronavirus after docking at Port of Hastings on Monday, after a journey from China.

A spokesman from Victoria's Department of Health and Human Services said the man had fallen sick with a "mild illness" and was being tested for novel coronavirus as a precaution.

Port of Hastings. Credit:Sandy Scheltema

He was taken from the ship to hospital on Monday. If the man tests positive for the virus, it would be the fifth case recorded in Victoria.

Victorian health authorities say there is a low likelihood the man is infected, because he had not disembarked when the ship docked in China and it had been more than 14 days before symptoms developed. Test results are expected later on Tuesday.
BOSTON and NASHVILLE, Tenn., Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Parents who want to protect their children when calling a taxi from Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) or Nashville International Airport (BNA) can now be thankful they have a safe, convenient, no-hassles solution with the Kidmoto app, a car transportation service that provides pre-arranged transportation rides with child car seat services for families.

Kidmoto Comparison

"Parents fear traveling with young children because it's terrifying to travel in a car with no car seats, unsecured car seats or the wrong car seats. Plus, it's inconvenient to travel with multiple car seats. Taxis and car services do not provide securely harnessed and installed car seats for children. The Kidmoto app connects parents to a network of professionally trained drivers who provide secured child car seats for safe airport and cruise car transportation," said Nelson Nigel, founder of Kidmoto which should not be confused with a ride-share service or an "on demand" service.

"Travelling with children can be a nightmare. Kids can be tired, cranky, and irritable. The last thing parents need is to worry about traveling with a 25-pound car seat  or wondering if the taxi driver has car seats that are the right size for their child, or children," he said. "Kidmoto removes the stress parents feel when traveling with children by providing airport car transportation with installed child car seats."

Fox 5 in New York City exposed the problem of transporting your "most precious cargo" -- your children  when traveling. See the 2:16 minute video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn-eyxAmUUk

To interview Nelson Nigel and find out the five things parents must do to protect their children when using a taxi, call 516-584-5391.

Kidmoto uses Federally approved car seats and trains all their drivers on the proper use and installation.

"When I first started as a yellow taxi driver in New York City in 2008-2009, I didn't know the different car seat options, like front facing, rear-facing, or booster seats," Nigel said. "Now I'm an expert and trained all our drivers so they know which seat to use so children are safe and secure. We are a kid-friendly service."

All car seats comply with state and city laws.

"Your children need to be safe when traveling to and from the airports. Car seats are important for their maximum safety. Parents generally do not travel with small children because of the inconvenience of traveling with car seats and others worry about getting transportation. Many parents can now travel into or out of Tampa. with their small children because they now have an option for safe and convenient family travel with Kidmoto," said Nigel.

In addition, Kidmoto is a reservation based service. Parents schedule their rides in advance to make sure they have a car at the airport to transport them and their kids.

Kidmoto provides transportation in 3 different vehicle classes- sedans, minivans, and large SUVs. These vehicles can be equipped with 1 to 4 car seats. Kidmoto encourages parents to keep children rear-facing as long as possible because it's the best way to keep them safe. Kidmoto car seats are designed to keep a child rear-facing seat until 45 pounds.

Kidmoto's driver recruitment process promotes a safe environment for both the driver and the passengers. Drivers undergo rigorous employment screening which includes local and national criminal, terrorist, and sex offender registry searches.

For information or to book a ride, go to https://kidmoto.taxi/ or download the Kidmoto app.

TESTIMONIALS

Mommy Poppins listed Kidmoto as a "staff favorite" and said finding a car service that can offer child seats "it's probably one of the most frequent questions we get asked by tourists and locals alike."

We had a wonderful experience with Kidmoto when traveling to NYC with our toddler. The driver was on time (even early and waiting on us for the pick-up/return!), the car seat was installed, the vehicle was clean - just a wonderful experience all around!" said Jenny Sullivan of Excelsior, Minn.

"When I was organizing our trip to NYC, I found Kidmoto's website and I couldn't be happier. The driver was looking after us (and the baby, playing with him) all the time in both our rides (from and at the airport). He takes great care of us," said Chantal Blanco of Barcelona.

About Kidmoto

Founded in 2016, Kidmoto operates in New York City, Orlando, Tampa, Charlotte, Nashville, Boston, and Philadelphia. Plans are underway to operate in several other cities along the Eastern seaboard. The company's goal is to be recognized as the leading ground transportation provider for families with young children.

Media Contact:

Nelson Nigel

516-584-5391

[email protected]

SOURCE Kidmoto

Related Links

https://kidmoto.taxi


Coronavirus Spread Outside of China May Be the Tip of the Iceberg: WHO Chief

All countries should prepare for the arrival of the new coronavirus, the head of the World Health Organization said on Sunday, as he warned that the current number of cases confirmed in countries outside of China might be the tip of the iceberg.

The overwhelming majority of the confirmed cases around the world are in China, where the new virus started in December 2019. But a growing number of cases have been confirmed in other countries, with patients testing positive in over two dozen countries.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), urged countries to take advantage of the window of opportunity created by the containment strategy to prepare for the viruss possible arrival.

There have been multiple concerning instances of human-to-human transmission from people who havent traveled to China, Ghebreysus added on Twitter.

The detection of a small number of cases may indicate more widespread transmission in other countries; in short, we may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg, he said.

Passengers wait in their cabins on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship as it remains in quarantine after a number of the 3,700 people on board were diagnosed with the new coronavirus, in Yokohama, Japan, on Feb. 10, 2020. (Carl Court/Getty Images)

China has officially reported nearly 1,000 deathsthe true number is believed to be higherwhile the only confirmed death outside of the country took place in the Philippines last week. But transmission between patients outside of China has prompted wider fears that the virus spread could continue for some time.

In France, authorities said Saturday that five British nationals became infected after spending time at a ski chalet with another Briton who had come from a business conference in Singapore, where he got infected. Spanish authorities said a Briton in Mallorca tested positive for the virus; he was believed to have contracted it from an infected person in France. And British authorities said five patients in the country became infected while in France.

Japanese authorities, meanwhile, reported more confirmed coronavirus cases on a cruise ship quarantined in Yokohama that has some 3,700 people on board. Some of the patients didnt travel to China.

U.S. health officials said on Friday that experts around the world were looking to see if a country outside China experiences sustained human-to-human transmission. Two human-to-human cases have been confirmed in America.

A staff member wearing a protective mask and suit works at a supermarket in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak of a novel coronavirus, in Chinas central Hubei province, on Feb. 10, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

What youre really looking for is when you get a sustained human-to-human community-based transmission, and obviously being on the lookout for where that occurs. And then try to get the collective effort of the worlds public health community to try to prevent a second China right now as we try to help China contain their outbreak they currently have, Dr. Robert Redfield, the CDC director, said at a press conference in Washington.

The virus can be spread through aerosol transmission, Chinese authorities said over the weekend. Researchers in the country said in a paper that the incubation period for the virus can stretch for 24 days, 10 days longer than U.S. health experts had said.

Tedros said that the WHO hasnt raised the $675 million it wants to support the efforts to contain the coronavirus. He also said the WHOs team of international experts was finally let into China by authorities there, led by Bruce Aylward, a Canadian doctor who is an expert on emergencies and epidemiology. Four hundred other experts would gather at the WHOs headquarters in Geneva to share research and tools about the virus and efforts against it.

Tedros urged countries to share information in real-time with the WHO and called for people to remain calm.
Amazon is seeking testimony from President Trump and other top officials about how the tech giant was shut out of a $10billion US military cloud computing contract, according to court documents made public on Monday.

As part of an evidence gathering phase of an appeal on the awarding of the 'JEDI' contract to upgrade the US military's computing networks, Amazon asked a judge to call for depositions of Trump and other administration figures including Defense Secretary Mark Esper and his predecessor, James Mattis.

'President Trump has unique knowledge about his involvement in the bid process, including private conversations with and instructions to others about the process and the award,' the filing read.

The other individuals 'can testify about specific conversations he had with them,' Amazon's lawyers said.

Amazon wants President Trump (left) to testify as part of a lawsuit filed by the company which claims that it was improperly shut out of a Pentagon cloud computing contract because of his personal animus toward CEO Jeff Bezos (right)

Amazon says the Pentagon's procurement process that gave the US military's $10 billion JEDI cloud computing contract to Microsoft included 'clear deficiencies, errors, and unmistakable bias'

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's company won the 10-year contract for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure program, better known as JEDI, which will ultimately see all military branches sharing information in a system boosted by artificial intelligence

Amazon has alleged that Trump improperly intervened in the procurement process to deny the company the massive contract in late October.

An Amazon spokesperson said Trump 'has repeatedly demonstrated his willingness to use his position as president and commander in chief to interfere with government functions - including federal procurements - to advance his personal agenda.'

The court should require evidence on whether a decision was made 'to screw Amazon,' the spokesperson added.

The Department of Defense strongly opposes Amazon's effort to question some of its leaders, DoD spokesman Lt Col Robert Carver said in response to an AFP inquiry.

'The request is unnecessary, burdensome and merely seeks to delay getting this important technology into the hands of our warfighters,' Carver said.

The 10-year contract for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure program, better known as JEDI, will ultimately see all military branches sharing information in a system boosted by artificial intelligence.

An earlier court filing by Amazon detailed alleged errors that ended with Microsoft being chosen over its Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud computing division, part of the technology group led by Amazon chief Jeff Bezos.

Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post, is a frequent target of the president.

In a filing with the US Court of Federal Claims unsealed Monday, Amazon said Trump has a 'well-documented personal animus towards' Amazon, Bezos, and the Post.

Amazon said Trump is the only one who can testify about the 'totality of his conversations and the overall message he conveyed' about the bidding process.

Amazon was considered the lead contender to provide technology for JEDI, with AWS dominating the cloud computing arena and the company already providing classified servers for other government outfits including the CIA.

The Pentagon's mistakes in the contract were 'hard to understand and impossible to assess' when separated from Trump's 'repeatedly expressed determination to, in the words of the president himself, "screw Amazon",' court documents filed by Amazon argued.

The bid protest filed in US Court of Federal Claims urges that the rival JEDI bids be re-evaluated and a new decision reached.

The lawsuit filed by Amazon will not delay implementation of the project, a senior Pentagon official said in December.

Last summer, the Pentagon was preparing to announce its decision between finalists Amazon and Microsoft when Trump publicly waded into the fray in July.

Trump said then that other companies told him the contract 'wasn't competitively bid,' and he said the administration would 'take a very long look.'

Oracle had also protested after it and IBM were eliminated from an earlier round of bidding.

Besides seeking Trump's deposition, Amazon is also asking to depose Mattis, Esper, and other government officials.

Amazon said it wants more information about the 'unusual timing' of Esper recusing himself from the decision-making process because of his son's work for IBM.

Amazon also wants to hear testimony from Defense Secretary Mark Esper (left) and his predecessor, James Mattis (right)

That came in October, long after IBM was no longer in the running for the contract.

Trump has accused Amazon of not paying its fair share of taxes and of putting brick-and-mortar stores out of business.

Trump has also gone after Bezos personally and accused the Post of being Amazon's 'chief lobbyist.'

The Justice Department said it does not comment on ongoing litigation.

The White House and the Pentagon didn't immediately return requests for comment Monday.

Amazon said in a statement Monday that it's important to discover what happened to preserve public confidence in the procurement process because Trump has repeatedly demonstrated his willingness to interfere with government processes to advance his personal interests.

'The question is whether the President of the United States should be allowed to use the budget of the DoD to pursue his own personal and political ends,' the company said.

A judge is expected to decide as early as this week on whether Microsoft can start working with the Pentagon on the cloud computing project.

Amazon has asked for work to be halted as its lawsuit proceeds.
Rumors on parliamentary sidelines about castling in the government of PM Oleksiy Honcharuk replenished with a new name. Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko allegedly might lose his office

Rumors on parliamentary sidelines about castling in the government of PM Oleksiy Honcharuk replenished with a new name. Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko allegedly might lose his office.

He himself speaks of groundless rumors, although everything is in the hands of President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose formal quota includes the post of head of the Foreign Ministry.

But Strana already knows the name of Prystaikos potential successor.

Strana has already examined in detail the staffing situation and impending changes in the current Cabinet. They want to shuffle its composition, and one replacement managed to take place. Aliona Babak as Minister of Development of Communities and Territories was replaced by Denys Shmygal, who has also become deputy prime minister - the third in a row in the Cabinet of Honcharuk.

However, further permutations were postponed due to the epic with the bill on land.

But this does not mean that the topic has been removed from the agenda. On the contrary, the names of new potential candidates for departure emerge. So, people on the sidelines of the parliament and in the media talked about the shaky position of the head of the foreign affairs department.

For example, Ukrainska Pravda outlet, citing an unknown interlocutor in the Office of the President, reported that the president evaluates the work of representatives of his quota in the government.

Situation with Vadym Prystaiko is quite strange: he is a good diplomat, but as a minister he did not show himself. Over the past few months, he has ruined relations with almost everyone on the team, the article reads.

I am a professional diplomat, I have been to different countries, I have been working there, I have changed my jobs. I had an agreement with President Zelensky from the very beginning that we would work as long as I can be useful for him, Prystaiko said.

However, he believes that rumors have no reason.

At least President Zelensky and I did not talk about this, the Foreign Minister noted.

Ex-speaker of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the deputy head of the parliamentary committee for Ukraines integration with the European Union, Oleg Voloshyn (Opposition Platform - For Life party) says that he expected the minister to be more persistent in finding opportunities to resolve the conflict in Donbas.

There were hints that Prystayko will try to move forward on the path of implementation of the Minsk agreements The West is already looking askance at some figures, and it was possible to at least informally talk with partners, saying that everyone who disrupts the peace process in Donbas from our side, including people behind the scenes, will have problems, for example, asset seizure. I am sure that a lot would have changed in the behavior of nationalists. But Prystaiko took a compromising position, in his opinion, even unspoken requests would aggravate the situation. He is clearly afraid of criticism from Petro Poroshenko and his associates, despite the fact that they have similar foreign policy guidelines, Voloshyn comments.

There is no guarantee that it will come to a vote for a re-arrangement of the Foreign Ministry leadership. Nevertheless, according to Strana, in any case, there is already one candidate to replace Prystaiko. This is the adviser to the president on foreign policy Ruslan Demchenko, who was appointed to his post on July 23, 2019.

Career diplomat Demchenko worked in various countries, including the United States, he was the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, when Konstantyn Hryshchenko and Leonid Kozhara were in the office, and also headed the Office of President Victor Yushchenko.

Almost the entire presidential term of Petro Poroshenko, he was his adviser on relations with Russia.

A source in the Foreign Ministry, who knows Demchenko well, claims that he already continued to work in the Russian direction at the Zelenskys office. At the same time, he says that the main burden of the negotiation process with Moscow lies with Demchenko, and not with the presidential aide, Andriy Yermak, who, they say, is purely situational.

For example, what is happening in the Minsk contact group (Trilateral Contact Group for the Settlement of the Situation in Donbas, - ed.) is led by Demchenko. Kuchma is only externally represented there. And Demchenko has been deep in the subject for many years and is considered a dock, our sources from MFA assure.

He (Demchenko, - ed.) will definitely be able to clean up the ministry with a hot iron. When he was the first deputy, everything turned around thanks to him He is a delicate person, able to get along with anyone, but always with his own opinion and, moreover, financially independent, the source said.

In the case of the appointment of Demchenko, the interlocutor expects the president to pursue a more clear foreign policy.

If Zelensky still decides to replace Prystaiko, what is the likelihood that the parliament will support the proposed candidate, whoever he is?

The mono-majority and the satellites will vote for any proposal of Zelensky on this issue. All groups of influence, especially in the Zelensky faction, do not care about the Foreign Ministry. Theres nothing to bargain for, the votes will definitely be there, Oleg Voloshyn believes.
Mom, can you come pick us up? The President is acting like a fascist again.

On Friday, key impeachment witness Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman was ousted from his position as Director for European Affairs at the National Security Council, as was his twin brother Yevgeny, an attorney at the NSC; the two were escorted off the premises.

Subsequently, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer sent letters Monday to 74 inspectors general asking them to investigate retaliation against whistleblowers and ensure agency employees be informed of their rights as whistleblowers.

In October 2019, Vindman became the first White House official to testify in the House impeachment inquiry who was actually on that July 25 phone call in which Trump pushed Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden (who, at the time, hadnt yet chomped on his wifes fingers in public during daylight hours, or begged for an invite to the cookout by claiming he comes from the Black community and subsequently looked like a formidable general election opponent for Trump).

Vindmans testimony also demonstrated that the call heard round the world wasnt an anomaly; he recounted a July 10 meeting at which Gordon Sondland, U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, requested that Ukraine investigate Biden in order to get a meeting with Trump.

Two days after Trumps acquittal, Vindman was dramatically removed from his position at the NSC, which, notably, he had while on active military duty.

The next day, Trump tweeted his characteristically diplomatic comment;

Fake News @CNN & MSDNC keep talking about Lt. Col. Vindman as though I should think only how wonderful he was. Actually, I dont know him, never spoke to him, or met him (I dont believe!) but, he was very insubordinate, reported contents of my perfect calls incorrectly, &...  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 8, 2020

The president notes that Vindman was given a horrendous report by his superior, the man he reported to, who publicly stated that Vindman had problems with judgement, adhering to the chain of command and leaking information. Vindman also has a Purple Heart following two decades of military service and a tour in Iraq.

During the opening statements at his testimony, Vindman gave somewhat of a soaring oration, explaining that he spoke out both within the NSC and to Congress out of a sense of duty and concern that Trumps behavior would destabilize Ukraine and its international position. He expressed gratitude for his ability to speak out about misconduct: In Russia, my act of expressing my concerns to the chain of command in an official and private channel would have severe personal and professional repercussions  Do not worry, I will be fine for telling the truth.

Vindman will be reassigned to the Pentagon. But for many, the Presidents retaliation has meant the end of a career. Throughout his term, Trump has made a habit of brazenly retaliating against government officials who refuse to do his bidding, or who shed light on his wannabe-House of Cards antics.

Schumer wrote in one letter that the Vindman firing was part of a dangerous, growing pattern of retaliation against those who report wrongdoing only to find themselves targeted by the President and subject to his wrath and vindictiveness.
Home Search ICH Italy Tries to Kick Out Their Right-Wing Extremist from the Gladiator Cloister By Andre Vltchek February 10, 2020 " Information Clearing House " - Steve Bannon, a former White House strategist and Breitbart editor,was finally kicked out of an Italian monastery, which even Newsweek wittily described as afar-right boot camp. This author, along with a few others, has been warning for some time that the former Trumps top advisor had crossed all lines, and began directly interfering in the internal affairs of the European Union, by promoting and amalgamizing dangerous extreme right-wing alliances of all natures; political, philosophical and religious. The monastery was supposed to offer classes, which Bannon described as the kind of underpinnings of the Judeo-Christian West. Tactics? A modern gladiator school, according to Steve Bannons own assessment. Journal NEO (New Easter Outlook) has already published one essay in 2019, analyzing Bannons activities in Italy and beyond: Steve Bannon  a Profile of a US Apparatchik. From China to the Pope. There, it was argued: Steve Bannon is a talented propagandist and promoter of Western supremacy and imperialist culture. He is extremely dangerous, mainly because he knows precisely what he is doing and what he wants to achieve: total control over the world. Last year, it was hard to imagine that Italy would dare to rock the boat, disturbing the activities of one of the most powerful and canny neo-cons in the world. But the unimaginable suddenly took place. Reported by Newsweeks Rosie McCall: The Italian culture ministry has announced it evicted what has been described as a far-right political bootcamp from a thirteenth-century monastery, AFP reports. The bootcamp has ties to Steve Bannon, a former adviser to President Donald Trump, through its DignitatisHumanae Institute (DHI), which Bannon funds. According to AFP, the bootcampwhich had been established to train students to defend the Westhad been given a 19 year lease on Trisulti Charterhouse in the Province of Frosinone, central Italy, in February 2018. However, the ministry said on Thursday that the group had falsely tendered for the lease, and thus they were evicted. This follows reports from May that the ministry was intending to revoke the lease due to violations of various contractual obligations, according to The Telegraph. This will come as a blow to Benjamin Harnwell, a British conservative and the director of DHI, who had hoped to launch the first three-week course to a small group of students this year and was in the process of securing planning permission to revamp the venue. Harnwell is an associate of Bannon, who had reportedly promised to give $1 million to the project. Of course, the boot camp has been evicted on technicalities, not on ideological bases. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter My contacts inside the ruling 5-Star-Movement (Movimento 5 Stelle) are hushed and cautious on the topic. Usually outspoken, they are reluctant to go on the record. I am only receiving bits and pieces of news. But what I get is telling. This are big, and extremely dangerous issues. Mr. Bannon has not been on Donald Trumps team, for quite some time, but only few have any doubts that he is still working on behalf of the Presidents neo-con crew. What do I get from Rome? Barks of confused inside news, and requests not to use real names in my essays, when it comes to Bannons case: We have orders not to speak to the press, Andre Until a decision is made by State Council Here, inside the administration, it is a war; more than a war; a battle inside the government and the Church. Pope Francis is against conservatives. The new Minister of Culture, Franceschini (PD) is linked to the Church Things are uncertain until now. The Tar (Administrative Tribunal), threw its support behind Bannon and blocked the decision of the Minister of Culture. And now the State Council has to decide. Another source coming from Rome offered much more concrete analyses: There are parties in Italy, like the Northern League and Fratelli dItalia [Italian Brothers] who are producing propaganda and take direct orders from Bannon, yielding to his hate towards China. Of course, this is big. The Northern League and Fratelli dItalia are some of the most powerful political forces in Italy. The fact that they are under the boot of a U.S. right-wing extremist, is tremendous and scandalous news. *** For a long time, Steve Bannon has been cheering right-wing forces in Italy and beyond. According to La Presse (23 September, 2018), he praised Italian right-wing movements, claiming that with them here in Italy the revolution works: On the Roman stage of Atreju, the event of Fratelli dItalia, Steve Bannon praises the parties of Salvini and Meloni: In the elections the Italians spoke against the system,saying that it is time for a change. They are tired of the feeling of being told that they are racist and xenophobic, just because they want to defend their culture and their country,said the former White House strategist. Yours is the most important experiment, if the revolution works here, then it will spread, added Bannon. Unsurprisingly, Steve Bannon evokes wrath in those on whose behalf he is claiming to be speaking for; the modern-day Catholic Church, and even Christianity in general. Pope Francis, whom Bannonhas personally insulted on several occasions, is clearly against his politics. I also approached one of the most important living theologists/philosophers, my friend John Cobb Jr., who clearly stated his point for this essay: Steve Bannon makes it clear that one can today renew Charlemagnes kind of Christianity without embarrassment and gain significant support from other Christians. He makes little if any pretense to follow Jesus or the Hebrew prophets. His heroes are the gladiators. He is preparing people to fight in all sorts of ways including, it seems, violent ones. The war is in support of the West rather than any one nation, what we once calledChristendom. From the point of view of the Bible, devotion to a nation state or to the West is idolatry. John Cobb concluded: Christians of the first sort, those who seek to be followers of Jesus are called to love even those who spread hatred. But one aspect of that love must be to identify those who make the defense of the West their highest priority as idolaters. Christians should go on to show the consequences of this idolatry. It is destructive of society. It also damages the idolater. If we truly love Steve Bannon, we are called to try to reduce the damage that his idolatrous thought and action does both to others and to himself. If his understanding of Christianity gives any place at all to the teachings and ministry of Jesus, we can point out how radically his work opposes that of Jesus. If he has any interest in the Biblical God, we can point out that he is profoundly failing to serve those whom God calls him to serve. If he really cares about the future of the West we can show that he is blocking paths to a flourishing future. Perhaps, just perhaps, he can listen. It becomes clear that for Steve Bannon, it is not going to be easy to sail through the turbulent waters of European politics. True, Europe has been moving, consistently and alarmingly, towards the right. Some would even say, towards the extreme right. But it is not the Bannons right, not Trumps right. Europe feels that it does not need yet another U.S. apparatchik, to dictate to it in which direction to go. The European right is exceptionally nationalist. But Mr. Bannon is trying to create a united fascist European front. It does not appear that the European countries are searching for unity, of any type. U.K., Hungary, and even Italy are proving this point. Europeans are willing to work with Russia or China, if it serves their interests (and very often, it actually does). People like Bannon are cultural and religious fundamentalists. They are made exactly from the same stuff as the colonialists and fascists were, who attacked countless countries and murdered millions of people precisely in countries like Russia and China.At least now, this kind of attitude is not very popular in Berlin, Rome and Madrid. There, populations want all the benefits they have been getting from neo-colonialism, but without the risks of wars or any other direct belligerent interventions. Bannon is ready to go all the way; to bomb and even to put Western boots on the ground. And he provokes, arrogantly and undiplomatically. Even when the tiniest detente is forged, with Russia, China or other adversaries of the West, he immediately begins pouring salt into the wounds. Just recently, he insulted China and its diplomacy, in a most vulgar way. On January 20, 2020, Forbes wrote: What you are seeing in the signing today with China and with the USMCA is the beginning of the end of the managed decline of the United States, said Steve Bannon, former Trump advisor, speaking on CBNC Wednesday. This is a huge win for the U.S., and its why you dont see Xi Jinping over here signing it and no one in the Chinese media writing about it. Trump has changed the center of gravity from the way the elites have to think of China. But even Forbes is doubtful about such shots off the hip. Things get even deeper and more sinister. Bannon is searching for funding, teaming up with the most anti-PRC and anti-Communist individuals, be they from the West, or originally from China (PRC) itself. In October 29, 2019, Axios reported: The mystery of whos funding Steve Bannons work has been at least partly solved: Guo Media, a company linked to a controversial Chinese billionaire, has contracted Bannon for at least $1 million for strategic consulting services, according to contracts obtained by Axios. Why it matters: The billionaire fugitive  a man named Guo Wengui, also known as Miles Kwok  is embroiled in the U.S.-China conflict. Hes a vocal critic of the Chinese Communist Party and is reportedly a member at Mar-a-Lago. Hes on Chinas most-wanted list for alleged bribery, fraud and money laundering, per the New York Times *** Steve Bannon does not do analyses; he manipulates, he does politics as he speaks or writes. And now it appears that Italy has had enough. Or at least some people inside the Italian administration. The country is going through a complex period of transformation. It does not appreciate the U.S.-style right-wingers, anymore. Italy needs China. And China has various allies in the 5-Star Movement. And the same could be said about countries like Venezuela and even Iran. This is not Berlusconis Italy, anymore. If Bannon is kicked out of the gladiator cloister for good, it may be a signal that yet another Italian and European beginning has arrived. Not necessarily a left-wing or a progressive beginning, but a beginning nevertheless. It could signal that Washington is not going to be allowed to rule from across the ocean totally unopposed, through ideological gladiators obsessed with lethal combat. Bannon miscalculated both geography and the era: 21st Century Rome and its vicinities have nothing to do with the ancient Greek city of Sparta. Andre Vltchek is a philosopher, novelist, filmmaker and investigative journalist. He has covered wars and conflicts in dozens of countries. Five of his latest books are  China Belt and Road Initiative: Connecting Countries, Saving Millions of Lives ,  China and Ecological Cavillation  with John B. Cobb, Jr., Revolutionary Optimism, Western Nihilism , a revolutionary novel Aurora and a bestselling work of political non-fiction:  Exposing Lies Of The Empire . View his other books here . Watch Rwanda Gambit , his groundbreaking documentary about Rwanda and DRCongo and his film/dialogue with Noam Chomsky On Western Terrorism . Vltchek presently resides in East Asia and the Middle East, and continues to work around the world. He can be reached through his website and his Twitter . His Patreon Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here ==See Also== The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Search Information Clearing House === Click Here To Support Information Clearing House Your support has kept ICH free on the Web since 2002. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load.
DELPHI, Ind. (WISH)  Nearly a year has passed since the bodies of Abigail Williams and Liberty German were found along a trail in Delphi.

Investigators provided a brief update Monday in that the base of the investigation operations will change from the REMC Building back to the office space above Delphi City Hall, which is where the investigation was originally headquartered.

Officials that were assigned the case had been using the building since February of 2017.

The case has gone on to receive nationwide attention in an effort to help investigators make an arrest.

Police are urging people to submit more tips, no matter how insignificant those tips might seem.

If you have any information in the case, you are urged to contact the tip hotline at 844-459-5786 or email the tip to abbyandlibbytip@cacoshrf.com.
New Delhi, Feb 10 : The government on Monday said that the draft detailed project report (DPR) for connecting Godavari and Cauvery rivers has been prepared.

Union Minister of State Rattan Lal Kataria informed the Rajya Sabha that the draft DPR was sent to the party states in March 2019.

In a written reply to the Upper House, the minister stated that the ambitious project to connect the two major rivers consists of three links -- Godavari (Inchampalli/Janampet)-Krishna (Nagarjunasagar), Krishna (Nagarjunasagar)-Pennar (Somasila) and Pennar (Somasila)-Cauvery (Grand Anicut).

As per the draft DPR, about 247 TMC of water can be diverted from Godavari river to Nagarjunsagar dam (through lifting) and further south for meeting the demands of Krishna, Pennar and Cauvery basins, said the minister who's the MoS for Jal Shakti and Social Justice and Empowerment ministries.

As per the draft DPR, the cost of the project has been estimated at Rs 60,361 crore at 2018-19 price level by the National Water Development Agency (NWDA).

The stage of implementation of the project would be reached after the DPR is prepared with the consensus of concerned states and the requisite statutory clearances are obtained. Pooling of resources will be decided after the completion of the final DPR.

The draft DPR has been prepared by NWDA.
Shares of Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) hit 10% upper circuit at Rs 18.15 after media reports suggested that DBS Bank, Indostar Capital and Capri Global were among the top suitors for infusing funds in the cash-strapped bank.

LVB was placed under prompt corrective action (PCA) by the RBI in September 2019. The following month, the RBI declined its proposal to merge with Indiabulls Housing Finance.

On the media reports, the bank clarified that it is not aware of any such interest shown by companies' viz., DBS Bank India or lndostar Capital Finance or Capri Global any other private sector bank as mentioned in the articles. The Bank hence denies the news articles pertaining to the same.

LVB is reportedly the only private-sector lender facing operational curbs from the banking regulator.

The stock has added 22.63% in three sessions from its recent closing low of Rs 14.80 recorded on 5 February 2020.

The bank will declare its third quarter earnings on 14 February 2020. LVB reported a net loss of Rs 357.18 crore in Q2 September 2019 as compared to a net loss of Rs 132.31 crore in Q2 September 2018. Total income declined 16.9% to Rs 665.33 crore in Q2 September 2019 over Q2 September 2018.

The bank's gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at Rs 4091.05 crore as on 30 September 2019 as against Rs 3556.58 crore as on 30 June 2019 and Rs 2964.89 crore as on 30 September 2018.

The ratio of gross NPAs to gross advances stood at 21.25% as on 30 September 2019 as against 17.30% as on 30 June 2019 and 12.31% as on 30 September 2018.

The ratio of net NPAs to net advances stood at 10.47% as on 30 September 2019 as against 8.30% as on 30 June 2019 and 6.88% as on 30 September 2018.

The bank's provisions and contingencies soared 54.6% to Rs 316.81 crore in Q2 September 2019 from Rs 204.87 crore Q2 September 2018.

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The government has approved a 47-km expressway between the southern provinces of Dong Nai and Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

It recently gave the green light to Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province authorities to do a feasibility study on the six-lane, VND9.3 trillion ($400.4 million) expressway.

It is the first section of a 77.8 km expressway which connects Bien Hoa Town in southern Dong Nai Province with Vung Tau Town in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province that has been approved in policy since 2016.

The 47 km section, which runs from Bien Hoa to Thi Vai  Cai Mep International Terminal in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, is set to cost VND9.3 trillion, in which $3.2 trillion ($137.8 million) is for land clearance.

Construction is scheduled between 2021 and 2025 in a public-private partnership model. The investor, which will be selected via bidding, is allowed to set up tolls to recoup investment for 23 years.

The expressway is set to reduce traffic on the existing National Route 51, which suffers regular congestion as it connects the two southern provinces with Ho Chi Minh City and the Thi Vai  Cai Mep deepwater port.

Vietnam is planning major expressways in the southern region to improve connectivity between HCMC with neighboring provinces, among them the My Thuan-Can Tho Expressway, whose construction is set to start in Q1, and the 10-year delayed Trung Luong-My Thuan Expressway, which could open to traffic at the end of this year.
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, left, is congratulated by Angela Merkel after receiving the most votes to become the next leader of the German Christian Democrats (CDU) at a federal congress of the CDU on December 7, 2018 in Hamburg, Germany.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the leader of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the one-time favorite to succeed Angela Merkel, confirmed Monday that she will not run for chancellor.

Reports of Kramp-Karrenbauer's departure came earlier in the day, but she later gave a press conference confirming the news.

Known colloquially as "AKK," the CDU leader said she will remain as defense minister until the end of the legislative period and chair of the CDU until another candidate is found. A leadership contest is expected to take place in summer.

She said that the question of who will run for chancellor was "weakening" the CDU and said her departure would have no impact on the stability of the governing coalition made up of the CDU, its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU), and Social Democratic Party (SPD).

The announcement throws the CDU's political future, and that of Europe's largest economy, into doubt once Merkel steps down from the chancellorship in 2021.

Kramp-Karrenbauer had taken over the party leadership in December 2018 and was widely seen as a successor to Merkel, who has led Germany since 2005.

The move comes at a difficult time for the awkward and troubled CDU/CSU-SPD coalition, however, and the CDU has seen its popularity decline in several regional elections in recent months.

There was uproar last week when the CDU party in the small state of Thuringia joined forces with the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party to elect a new state premier. The politician was from the Free Democratic Party (FDP) but he has since stepped down from the role following the furor caused by the vote.

However, the move sent shockwaves to Berlin as mainstream parties had vowed not to work with the AfD before now. The decision by the local branch of the CDU to help a candidate into office, alongside the AfD, was seen as a defiant message against the party's leadership  and a reason for the departure of Kramp-Karrenbauer.

Christian Schulz, director of European economics at Citi, said Monday that Kramp-Karrenbauer announced her intention to step down in a CDU board meeting on Monday "and cited divisions over cooperation with the far-left and far-right parties after the shock event in Thuringia" with Merkel reportedly favoring cooperation with the Left Party in Thuringia, which Kramp-Karrenbauer ruled out.
Those eligible can purchase up to four tickets for opening day and up to eight for any of the other regular-season games against the Cubs (March 28-29, May 22-24 and Aug. 7-9).
This is the moment friends on a lads trip to France opened the back of their van to find two grinning MIGRANTS hiding inside -- asking "in England?" Charlie Cox, 23, and five pals were parked up in a supermarket near Dunkirk when the father and son from Afghanistan sneaked into the back of their van. They didn't notice until they'd driven 20 minutes to a nearby motocross track - still in France - for a day of racing bikes. This video was filmed on the 5th January 2020.
Taiwanese cement producers see revenue decline in January

10 February 2020

Taiwans cement manufacturers have recorded a challenging start to the year, with Taiwan Cement Corp noting a 20.1 per cent decline in January revenue to TWD7.50bn (US$249.3m) from TWD9.39bn in the year-ago period.



Elsewhere, Asia Cement Corp recorded a 34.1 per cent YoY decrease in revenue to TWD5.21bn for the first month of 2020.



Lucky Cement saw a 16.1 per cent YoY fall in revenue to TWD296.4m from TWD353.19m in January 2019.

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This partnership, along with other collaborations with global industry partners, will help address technical barriers and enable progress in hydrogen and fuel cell technologies across applications and sectors.

As part of the partnership, Hyundai will provide the DOE with five NEXO fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) for use in various regions of the country including Washington, D.C., to help advance research and development of fuel cell technologies. Data from the vehicles and infrastructure will be collected, analyzed and published to identify additional research needs in key areas such as durability, performance and reliability. Activities will also help support training and workforce development programs.

In addition to supporting the U.S. Federal Government's advancement of fuel cell technologies, Hyundai will contribute funding to install a small-scale hydrogen fueling station in the Washington, D.C. area this fall, previously developed through the Department of Energy's H-Prize H2Refuel competition.

"Hyundai Motor is proud to partner with and support the U.S. Department of Energy's Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program as part of our commitment in supporting the transition to clean energy," said Euisun Chung, Executive Vice Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group. "With the potential for application across multiple industries, we firmly believe that hydrogen fuel cells are necessary for a sustainable future. We are delighted that our technologies can help the U.S. Department of Energy as it continues to explore the future potential of hydrogen."

"The Trump Administration is committed to utilizing every source of energy to ensure America's transportation needs and challenges are aptly met and resolved," said Under Secretary of Energy Mark W. Menezes. "To meet this commitment, it is essential that we collaborate with industry. We are pleased to partner with Hyundai to help advance fuel cell and hydrogen technologies and ensure our nation's sustainable transportation future."

Hyundai provided its first NEXO SUV to the U.S. Department of Energy in 2019. The additional five vehicles will support the Department of Energy through the work to accelerate the progress of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies across a diverse range of applications. This will include work with the Department of Energy's partners such as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, as well as other agencies and stakeholders.

Hyundai and the U.S. Federal Government's cooperation in hydrogen and fuel cell technologies dates back to 2004, when the South Korean automotive corporation and its affiliate Kia Motors Corporation offered 33 fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) for the U.S. Department of Energy's "Controlled Hydrogen Fleet and Infrastructure Demonstration and Validation Project." From 2012 to 2017, Hyundai took part in the U.S. Department of Energy's fuel cell vehicle confirmation program, which was launched to help validate the performance of emerging hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.

In December 2018, the wider Hyundai Motor Group (The Group)  including automotive affiliates Hyundai Motor Co. Kia Motors Corp. and parts-maker Hyundai Mobis Co.  announced its long-term roadmap "Fuel Cell Vision 2030" plan, as it reaffirmed its commitment to accelerate the development of a hydrogen society by leveraging its global leadership in fuel cell technologies. As part of this plan, Hyundai Motor Group will boost its annual fuel cell systems production capacity to 700,000 units by 2030.

In 2017, Hyundai became one of the 13 founding members of the Hydrogen Council, which has grown into a global coalition 81 leading energy, transport and industry companies with a united long-term vision to foster the transition to clean energy with hydrogen. Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung was named co-chair of the Hydrogen Council in January 2019 and has helped to accelerate significant investment in the development and commercialization of hydrogen fuel cell sectors. Through his role, he has encouraged key stakeholders around the world to increase their backing of hydrogen as part of the future energy mix with policies and supporting schemes.

Today, a separate memorandum of understanding was inked between the U.S. Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Energy Association (FCHEA) and H2Korea  a South Korean private-government body promoting hydrogen convergence  at the FCHEA office in Washington, D.C. to strengthen cooperation between the two countries to vitalize the global hydrogen economy. Morry Markowitz, President of FCHEA and Jae-do Moon, Chairman of H2Korea have agreed to exchange hydrogen technologies, propose joint policies and establish organizations to promote international cooperation on scaling-up the hydrogen industry.

About Hyundai Motor Company

Established in 1967, Hyundai Motor Company is committed to becoming a lifetime partner in automobiles and beyond with its range of world-class vehicles and mobility services available in more than 200 countries. Hyundai sold more than 4.5 million vehicles globally in 2018 and is currently employing more than 110,000 employees worldwide. Hyundai Motor continues to enhance its product line-up with vehicles that are helping to build solutions for a more sustainable future, such as NEXO, the world's first dedicated hydrogen-powered SUV.

More information about Hyundai Motor and its products can be found at:

http://worldwide.hyundai.com or http://globalpr.hyundai.com

Disclaimer: Hyundai Motor Company believes the information contained herein to be accurate at the time of release. However, the company may upload new or updated information if required and assumes that it is not liable for the accuracy of any information interpreted and used by the reader.

SOURCE Hyundai Motor Company
A senior Victorian Liberal has slammed the partys central decision-making committee as dysfunctional and self-interested in a sensational parting spray as she quit her leadership position.

In her resignation letter, obtained by The Age, administrative committee member Jean Hawkins said she was ashamed of the decision to hold preselections early this year with the next federal election possibly two years away.

"A majority of committee members have proven to be focused on self-interest and factional interest, not the best interests of our great party or our great country," she wrote.

"In my view, the current administrative committee is dysfunctional."
'The more emphatic denial of any proposal for an OIC foreign ministers meet in Islamabad appears aimed at keeping Pakistan on a leash,' notes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).

IMAGE: President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at Rashtrapati Bhavan, February 20, 2019. Photograph: Vijay Verma/PTI Photo

At the end of December 2019, there was much hype in Pakistan about a potential Organisation of Islamic Cooperation meeting of foreign ministers in Islamabad in April 2020. It was supposed to be an event in which Kashmir would be one of the main items on the agenda, thus progressing Pakistan's core ambition of internationalising Kashmir; it would have been a decided diplomatic coup after India had largely staved off the Islamic world from any statements on Kashmir.

The proposed meeting was rumoured to be a sequel to Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud's rushed visit to Islamabad on December 26, 2019 essentially to thank Pakistan for having pulled out of the Kuala Lumpur summit of Islamic nations.

Now it has been made known that no such OIC conference is in the offing in Islamabad. So what is this game being played within the Islamic world?

Behind this flip flop are the dynamics of competition for power between important nations which form part of the 1.8 billion Muslim population of the world; a Great Game of sorts.

Essentially it is about six nations -- Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. A seventh should have been Egypt which earlier under presidents Gamel Abdel Nasser and Anwar Sadat had assumed a leadership role which could not be sustained after the Camp David Accords in 1978.

Of these six nations, Indonesia is the most populous Muslim nation. Two factors seem to militate against its potential leadership role.

First is that its Islam is an evolved one, much more syncretic and secular. Second is that geographically it is too far distanced from the symbolic core centre of Islam, the holy shrines of Mecca and Medina. Indonesia may improve its economic strength in the future but will yet likely remain outside Islam's strategic circle.

With Mohammad Mahathir's return as Malaysia's prime minister there is a spurt in Malaysia's ambition. It has a 62 percent Muslim population of a total of 32 million people and a comparatively better developed economy with a reasonable level of technical manpower. Although it too is geographically far placed from West Asia aspirationally it feels it needs to play a more important leadership role in the world of Islam.

Turkey, which first turned its back on West Asia and the Arab world as a legacy of its iconic leader Kemal Ataturk and sought to be a part of Europe, is now turning its back on the latter. Under its leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has adopted revivalism with a shift towards greater Islamist ideology.

As a nation of 81 million almost wholly Muslim population and a history of leadership delivered through the Ottomans it is powerful enough to re-invent itself to play a more active role in the Islamic world once again.

Currently, it is Saudi Arabia, which by virtue of two major factors, has dominated the proceedings. First is the emotional advantage of custodianship of the holy shrines at Mecca and Medina; the second is the wealth that it enjoys by virtue of its energy resources.

Saudi Arabia hosts the OIC secretariat in Jeddah and plays a leading role in the organisation. The OIC's mission statement bills it as the collective voice of the Muslim world that works to protect the latter.

With 57 member States from four continents, the OIC is the second largest intergovernmental organisation in the world after the United Nations. Iran is a member of the OIC, but being a Shia nation, the sectarian divide within Islam prevents it playing the role it seeks.

The sixth nation of significance is Pakistan which has always attempted to gain significance although its impoverished economy dilutes its higher political importance within the OIC. In order to pursue a dominant role, Pakistan has always maintained a special relationship with Saudi Arabia through support to the royal family and in recent years in hosting and promoting its obscurantist ideology.

The Saudi-Iran ideological tussle has brought a level of turbulence within the OIC. Iran may pursue a greater role towards assuming the mantle of leadership, but for sectarian reasons this may not fructify.

Yet, it continues to support the one identified pan Islamic cause more energetically than any other nation; the cause of the Palestinians. That gives it a higher moral platform.

To further complicate the dynamics, diluting Saudi power due to economic factors is now leading to other major Islamic powers vying for a more significant role. The most prominent are Turkey and Malaysia.

This is the backdrop to the decision of both nations joining hands in setting up an Islamic summit in Kuala Lumpur outside the ambit of the OIC with Pakistan, Indonesia and Iran among the important Islamic nations also persuaded to attend the same.

Stung by the first overtly visible political and diplomatic effort to upend its leadership, Saudi Arabia used its diplomatic clout to prevail upon Indonesia and Pakistan to pull out of the summit in December.

IMAGE: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in Islamabad, February 18, 2019. Photograph: Kind courtesy Arab News/Twitter

The Saudi-Pakistan special relationship in recent times has seen the Saudis economically bail out Pakistan from the depths of a serious economic crisis Pakistan seems to find no answers to.

The Saudi foreign minister's rushed visit to Islamabad was a kneejerk response by Saudi Arabia and the rumoured promise of holding an OIC foreign ministers meeting in Islamabad in April with Kashmir on the agenda too was perhaps an act of desperation not thought through.

Saudi Arabia under Prince Mohammad bin Salman is viewing its future far more pragmatically while evolving plans for 2032 as the cut off year by when an economy independent of dwindling energy resources is aimed to be built.

For that it needs engagement with both China and India who are major buyers of its energy resources, without exclusion of either of them.

For over half a decade it has displayed all the ingredients of developing stronger bonds with India and thus took a decidedly neutral view on Kashmir, terming it India's internal issue. Yet it needs Pakistan for support within the Islamic world.

Thus, a dilemma of sorts exists for the Saudis forcing them to tread a careful path. The decided advantage that the Saudis have is that financially no other country can bail out Pakistan and support to it is also viewed positively by the US for its Afghanistan strategy and by China which too chips in to economically support and exploit Pakistan.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's recent visit to Kuala Lumpur to make up for his absence at the December 2019 Islamic Summit would surely have had Saudi Arabia's nod. However, the more emphatic denial of any proposal for an OIC foreign ministers meet in Islamabad appears aimed at keeping Pakistan on a leash lest the unpredictable dynamics at such an event turn the tide against Saudi interests.

For India, this as a positive turn and augurs well towards building upon the obvious value that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations such as the United Arab Emirates and Oman attach to their Indian relationship.

Opportunities such as the unfortunate passing away of Sultan Qaboos of Oman, a long time well-wisher of India, must be used to express empathy. By not sending a leader of appropriate status for his funeral, such an opportunity was lost besides displaying a lack of sensitivity towards mutual interests.

The Islamic Great Game is unlikely to find any winners for long. In the bargain, Pakistan will find opportunity to exploit situations to embarrass India for which India needs to be diplomatically prepared at all times.

We have not witnessed the end of Pakistani efforts at internationalising Kashmir.

Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd) -- former general officer commanding of the 15 Corps in the Kashmir valley -- is one of India's most astute commentators on strategic affairs.
The growth in dwelling approvals does not appear to be responding as strongly as expected to the low interest-rate environment, said a Westpac economist.

Dwelling approvals fell by 0.2% over the three months to December, a turnaround from the 10.9% jump recorded in the previous month. On an annual basis, approvals increased by 2.7%.

The strong November figures were driven by a 50% rise in approvals in New South Wales, which recorded a 50% rise in approvals. Excluding the state, approvals over the month actually went down by 0.9%.

"We attributed much of this to a delayed effect associated with regulatory changes rolled out in October with December expected to see the spike reverse," said Matthew Hassan, an economist at Westpac, in a think piece in Property Observer.

This is exactly what happened in New South Wales: It recorded a sharp decline in approvals in December, down by 30% on a monthly basis. This, however, was eclipsed by the steeper drop in Victoria at 34%.

Also read: Building Approval Rebound Likely To Be "Short-Lived"?

The weakness in approvals was also apparent in other states: South Australia and Queensland reported respective declines of 20% and 5% during the month.

"Our initial take is that this is, again, largely a temporary effect relating to the lumpy high-rise project pipeline. That said, Victoria is showing a decent lift in non-high-rise approvals as well that may be an early sign that the wider market upturn is starting to flow through to non-high-rise segments," Hassan said.

In terms of housing type, non-high-rise approvals were up 4.1% monthly but still down by 0.8% on yearly terms. Meanwhile, approval went up by 19% in the low- to mid-rise segments. High-rise approvals, on the other hand, fell by 11% after a 40% surge in November. Private house approvals also declined by 0.1%, bringing the annual drop to 7.1%.

Approvals for renovation also lagged, falling by 1.8%. On a quarterly basis, approvals in this segment fell by 5.5%, the fastest pace of decline since 2016.

Also read: Approval Decline Becomes Alarming?

Hassan said these figures should be taken with extra caution given the volatility in the December to January period.

"On balance, we continue to expect approvals to show a muted and slow response to rate cuts," he said.

While Hassan expects the high-rise segment to remain on an approval lull, he thinks there would be gradual growth in the non-high-rise segment by mid-2020, slightly boosted by bushfire-related rebuilding.

"While the monthly profile for total approvals may be shaping into a sharper turning point, the detail suggests the underlying cycle is turning more slowly. Either way, it's likely to be a few more months before we get a clear read," Hassan said.

Despite this, the slight improvement witnessed in the final months of 2019 could suggest that the building industry will not be a drag to Australia's economic growth, said Angela Lillicrap, an economist at the Housing Industry Association.

"The start of 2019 was tough for the residential building industry with the credit squeeze, falling house prices, and uncertainty surrounding the federal election putting a dampener on confidence," she said in a separate analysis.

Lillicrap said the continued growth in house prices will help attract more investors and increase activity in the market.

Maree Kilroy, an economist at BIS Oxford Economics, said the positive momentum in the established property market could set the scene for a recovery in approvals this year.

"All states and territories are expected to see growth over the next 12 months, driven mostly by the house and medium-density segments of the market," Kilroy said.
New Delhi, Feb 10 : Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan on Monday gave a detailed account in Parliament of the action taken by his ministry to stop and contain the novel coronavirus infection in India.

The minister informed the Lower House that a total of 1,818 flights had been screened covering at least 197,192 passengers since January 18 till date.

"Teams of specialist doctors were sent to all the airports to ensure effective screening and arrangement for isolation in the attached hospitals," he said.

He said a Group of Ministers consisting of the Minister of External Affairs, Minister of Civil Aviation, Minister of State for Home Affairs, Minister of State for Shipping and Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare has been constituted to monitor the situation.

He said that the Cabinet Secretary had been taking review meetings on a daily basis with all the officials of the concerned ministries including the state chief secretaries.

"Screening of passengers was initiated on January 18. Initially airports at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi were covered and subsequently expanded to a total of 21 airports," said the minister in the Lok Sabha.

"Universal thermal screening has been made mandatory for all flights from Singapore and Thailand besides Hong Kong and China and these flights will park at earmarked aero-bridges to facilitate screening. Signages have been displayed at prominent places in the airports and the ports. In-flight announcements are being made and self-declaration forms are being filled up by all passengers," the minister said.

"Screening of passengers has also been initiated in 12 major seaports and all minor ports in the country to identify passengers & crew coming from China and to isolate them in case they are found symptomatic," he added.

In the backdrop of the outbreak of novel coronavirus in China and a confirmed case in Nepal, the Indian Government initiated screening in all integrated check posts from Nepal in collaboration with the states of UP, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Sikkim and Bihar and the Seema Sashastra Bal (SSB) and Land Port Authorities. Gram Sabhas have been conducted in villages adjoining the borders with Nepal to create awareness amongst the people about the disease and precautions to be taken in collaboration with the Panchayati Raj Ministry.

China reported an outbreak of novel coronavirus on December 31. The outbreak was initially noticed in a seafood market in Wuhan city in Hubei Province of China in early December and in a short span has spread to all the provinces of China.

A total of 37,198 confirmed cases and 811 deaths have been reported in China as on February 9 and 354 confirmed cases have been reported outside China from 27 countries including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. The World Health Organization declared this outbreak as a 'Public Health Emergency of International Concern' (PHEIC) on January 30.

Given the fact that the number of cases and deaths reported from China has been showing an upward trend, the Indian government also took several other measures to control the novel coronavirus infection spreading in India.

A First Advisory of the Health Ministry was issued on January 17 and as the situation is evolving, the travel advisories are accordingly getting revised. Existing visas (including eVisa already issued) are no longer valid for any foreign national travelling from China at present. Those having compelling reasons to visit India have been asked to contact the Indian embassy in Beijing or the consulates in Shanghai or Guangzhou.

People have already been advised to refrain from travelling to China through an earlier advisory. People travelling to China are being quarantined on return.

At least 654 people were evacuated from Wuhan by the Indian government on January 30 and February 1.

After evacuation, they are presently under quarantine at special facilities created by the Indian Army in Manesar and by the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in Chhawla Camp.

"10 of the evacuees who were symptomatic have been shifted to isolation. All of them have tested negative for this disease and are stable. All other evacuees are being medically examined on a daily basis and are healthy," said the Minister.

Through the Integrated Disease Surveillance network all persons having a travel history from China and people having contact with such persons and showing symptoms, are being tracked. At least 9,452 people across 29 States and Union Territories are being followed up.

The state surveillance officers, district surveillance officers and rapid response teams of health professionals under the leadership of state Health Secretaries are monitoring all such people on a daily basis.

"Sufficient isolation beds have been made available in the tertiary facilities across the country to manage any outbreak. 369 symptomatic travellers have been referred to isolation facility and are being monitored," the Union Health Minister informed the Members of the House.

He also said "Government of India is in regular touch with WHO headquarters, regional office and country office to get updates on evolving scenario."

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 10

By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:

The number of those hospitalized in Kazakhstan due to fever and sickness symptoms amounted to 127 people as of Feb. 10, 2020, Trend reports with reference to Kazakhstans Ministry of Health.

Some 106 of them were released from the hospital, whereas another 21 people remain in the hospitals.

Over the period from Jan. 6, 2020 till Feb. 8, 2020 the number of people who crossed checkpoints on Kazakhstan-China border amounted to 30,827 and some 30,804 of them were checked by doctors.

Thirteen Kazakhs out of those 83 who were evacuated from Chinas Wuhan continue displaying light sickness symptoms without high body temperature. Those evacuated to Russia and Uzbekistan display no sickness symptoms.

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 900 people have died and over 40,000 people have been confirmed as infected.



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 Japan, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, Australia, Germany, the US, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Macau, France, Canada, the UAE, India, Italy, Russia, Philippines, the UK, Nepal, Cambodia, Belgium, Spain, Finland, Sweden and Sri Lanka.

---

Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh
Prime minister Boris Johnson (left) and the chancellor Sajid Javid during a visit to Bestway Wholesale in Manchester. Javid will unveil the 2020 budget on 11 March. (PA)

Britains highest earners and wealthy homeowners could face tax hikes after the UK budget next month, according to multiple reports.

The government is said to be weighing up a mansion tax on the owners of more expensive homes, as well as cuts to tax relief for workers on higher salaries. Officials are even reported to have floated inheritance and capital gains tax hikes.

Higher taxes could help prime minister Boris Johnson raise public spending and send a message to less well-off voters who backed the Conservatives in last years election.

But the controversial policy ideas have sparked disbelief among Conservative supporters, who typically support lower taxes. An editorial in the Daily Telegraph dubbed them ridiculous, while Mark Wallace, chief executive of the Conservative Home website, called them bad, counterproductive policies.

Johnson himself called former Labour leader Ed Milibands planned levy on homes worth more than 2m ($2.6m) a tax on London in 2014. He warned it would prove deeply unpopular in the capital as property prices have soared.

That proposal also appeared too radical even for Labours left-wing shadow chancellor. John McDonnell, who represents a London constituency, said he opposed a mansion tax in 2017.

READ MORE: HS2 set for green light as chancellor backs controversial line

Details remain scarce over the form a new tax on higher-value properties could take. The idea has reportedly been floated at high levels of government, but has not yet been signed off as chancellor Sajid Javid prepares to unveil the 2020 budget on 11 March.

The Sunday Telegraph reported it could be a Miliband-style levy, or a new higher band of council tax.

Another proposal said to be under discussion would see pension tax relief slashed for higher-rate taxpayers.

The move would see workers earning more than 46,350 a year forced to pay more tax on their private pension contributions. But it could raise the Treasury more than 10bn a year, according to the Financial Times.

Story continues

READ MORE: Pound slides as Boris Johnson threatens hard Brexit

Daniela Silcock, head of policy research at the Pensions Policy Institute, said pension tax relief was designed to encourage workers to build up private pots for retirement.

But she said high earners enjoyed the vast majority of the benefits from the current system, with a higher proportion of their contributions going untaxed. Around 11.7% of taxpayers attract half of the tax relief given by the government, she told BBC Radio 4s Today programme on Monday.

Silcock also said the move could encourage high earners to contribute less to their pensions or change products, with a knock-on effect on some UK pension schemes.
During his official visit to the Holy See, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky had a meeting with Secretary of State of the Holy See, Cardinal Pietro Parolin with the participation of Secretary of the Holy See for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher.

Ukraine is willing to develop closer cooperation with the Holy See. We share common values and a common vision for the future, Volodymyr Zelensky noted, the press service of the Head of State reports.

The Head of State praised the fruitful cooperation developed between Ukraine and the Holy See over 28 years of diplomatic relations, the date of establishment of which symbolically coincided with the visit of the Ukrainian President to the Vatican on February 8.

The President informed that he had invited His Holiness Pope Francis to Ukraine.

The Head of State stressed that Ukraine strived for peace and therefore appealed to the Holy See and personally to His Holiness Pope Francis asking for support and assistance in the peaceful settlement and ending the war in Donbas.

Volodymyr Zelensky also appealed to the Holy See with a request to help Ukraine release its citizens.

He emphasized that interfaith dialogue in Ukraine could serve as an example for other countries, and noted the important role of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations in the state's activities.

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Two commandos of the Central Reserve Police Force were killed and six other CRPF personnel, including an officer, injured in an encounter with Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Monday, officials said.

A Naxal was also died in the gun-battle, they said.

The gunfight started around 10.30 am in a forest in Irapalli village under Pamed police station limits, located over 400km from here, when security forces were out on a counter-insurgency operation, a senior CRPF official said.

The patrolling team of 204th battalion of CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA - an elite unit of CRPF) had launched the operation on Sunday evening from Tippapuram camp in forests along the border of Sukma-Bijapur districts, he said.

When security personnel were advancing through Irapalli forest, they came under fire from Naxals, triggering a fierce gun-battle between the two sides, he said.

"Two constables - Vikas Kumar and Purnand Sahu - were killed in the gunfight, while six others, including an officer, sustained injuries", he said.

While Kumar was a native of Banda district in Uttar Pradesh, Sahu hailed from Rajnandgaon district in Chhattisgarh.

The injured CRPF personnel were identified as deputy commandant Prashant Kumar, head constable Ajit Singh and constables Giriwar Oraon, P Pawan Kumar, Bibha Basu Mahata and Pawar Pandurang, he said.

The exchange of fire lasted for about two hours after which the ultras escaped into dense forest, he said.

According to the official, a Naxal was also killed in the encounter and a weapon was recovered from the spot.

The injured personnel were being airlifted to the state capital Raipur for treatment, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
LONDON, Feb. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CRU Economics ran its fourth annual survey to gauge our clients' expectations of economic conditions for 2020. We elicited responses across CRU's full product portfolio and received information from 182 clients, working in 41 different countries. This feature presents the results of the survey, alongside our own expectations for the economy in 2020.

Policy uncertainty remains a top risk as we enter the 20s

Macro Survey Results: Not the Roaring Twenties (PRNewsfoto/CRU)

Compared to the survey on 2019 economic conditions, our clients seem to be generally less worried as we enter the new decade.

There was a high level of policy uncertainty during 2019 that spanned the range of fiscal, monetary, trade and other commercial measures. As China's economy began to slow, the rest of the world wondered whether China would raise government spending, as it had done in the past when growth slowed. It seemed that from one day to the next, US President Trump would tweet a new direction for trade policy whilst his conflict with the Democrats in the US House of Representatives thwarted a potential infrastructure bill. The exit of the UK from the EU, the first of its kind, weighed on European growth. Finally, higher emissions standards depressed vehicle demand and production in the US, China and India.

The downside risks to growth for 2020 are not dissimilar to those expressed in 2019: policy uncertainty, trade protectionism and slower growth from the world's major economies.

The upside risks are almost a mirror to these, with a potential fiscal stimulus in Europe, lower tariffs and a stronger US economy countering the downside potential.

The risks not captured in these Top 5 include a potential US recession (21%), the uncertainty related to Brexit (14.3%) and, marginally (<5%), emerging market currency contagion, monetary policy, and higher oil prices. However, in the free text box, several respondents suggested climate change and environmental constraints as possible downside risks to global growth. This last point is a sentiment that is gaining traction, particularly after worldwide automotive production plummeted in 2019, in part due to new emission standards.

Overall, the Top 5 downside and upside risks highlight the weight of US trade policy, Chinese growth and monetary policy in the fortunes of the global economy.

Read the full story:

https://www.crugroup.com/knowledge-and-insights/spotlights/2020/macro-survey-results-not-the-roaring-twenties/

Read more about CRU: http://bit.ly/About_CRU

About CRU

CRU offers unrivalled business intelligence on the global metals, mining and fertilizer industries through market analysis, price assessments, consultancy and events.

Since our foundation by Robert Perlman in 1969, we have consistently invested in primary research and robust methodologies, and developed expert teams in key locations worldwide, including in hard-to-reach markets such as China.

CRU employs over 280 experts and has more than 11 offices around the world, in Europe, the Americas, China, Asia and Australia  our office in Beijing opened in 2004 and Singapore in 2018.

When facing critical business decisions, you can rely on our first-hand knowledge to give you a complete view of a commodity market. And you can engage with our experts directly, for the full picture and a personalised response.

CRU  big enough to deliver a high-quality service, small enough to care about all of our customers.

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Working with BLaST Intermediate Unit 17, Lycoming College played host to the Governors STEM Competition for students in grades 9-12 from Bradford, Lycoming, Sullivan, and Tioga counties. Lycoming College congratulates Towanda Area School District for its winning presentation.

The Towanda Area School Districts team, consisting of sophomores, John Schoonover and Hannah Ryck, and seniors Noah Poll and Kaigan Stroop, was led by advisor Jonathan Sayre. With their winning project, The Snow Buggy, a robotic shoveling device for clearing snow during the winter months, the team will advance to the state-level competition in May.

The Governor's annual STEM Competition challenges student teams from across Pennsylvania to research, design, and present an idea that can improve quality of life better for Pennsylvanians using only a $500 stipend to design and build a device. The event, consisting of team presentations and a ceremony announcing the winners, took place in Lycoming Colleges Keiper Recreation Center.

Lycoming College will also host BLaST IU 17s KNex Competition on March 26, and Media Day and Design on May 5.

Created by the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1971, BLaST Intermediate Unit 17 is an educational service agency meeting the needs of Bradford, Lycoming, Sullivan, and Tioga Counties. Serving 19 public schools, two career centers and 12 non-public schools, BLaSTs vision is to transform lives and communities through educational services. These services are organized into four major divisions: Student Services, Educational Planning, Technology, and Management Services. In partnership with Educational Staffing Solutions (ESS), BLaST employs approximately 339 staff with a majority of staff working in the division of Student Services providing early intervention and school-age special education services.
An FIR has been registered against 21 people for violation of Section 144 during a demonstration held at Lucknow's Clock Tower against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and proposed Registrar of Citizens (NRC), Lucknow police has said, adding that 2 accused have been arrested so far.

A case was also filed against the 21 named and several other unnamed accused for sharing a social media post inviting people to the protest, police added.

Lucknow's Clock Tower has witnessed anti-CAA, NRC protests since January 17. As many as 50 people have been arrested, while 8 FIRs have been registered since the beginning of the protest at the named site.

Meanwhile, Lucknow Police has issued notice to Islamic cleric Maulana Saif Abbas, asking him to not take part in the anti-CAA, NRC protest at the Clock Tower.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Charlottesville Survivor Blasts Terry McAuliffe's 'Ahistorical' Book About Deadly AttackFormer rs 2007 gold Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe new book, Beyond Charlottesville, tries to tackle the issues of white supremacy that resulted in a deadly neo Nazi rally in August 2017. Beyond Charlottesville centers on Unite the Right, the 2017 white supremacist rally where a neo Nazi drove his car into a crowd of anti racist protesters, killing one.

PSYCHIATRISTS NOW FOR ALL WHO ARE THE OTHER SIDE IF YOU SEE THESE MESSAGES OF QUESTIONS FOR WHICH WE HAVE DONE THAT SOMETIMES AND SOMETIMES hacked 13,000. You were too polite to say it so I will: Our so called mental health system is a joke. Often the families of the severely mentally ill are screaming for help but all they get is the runaround because there is nothing anyone can do. Our current laws have tied everyone hands. It is like a nightmare where you are on the railroad tracks and the train is coming but you can not move. Nothing can be done until AFTER a tragedy has occurred.

Another consideration is the reticle and how it is adjusted. For scopes that are to be zeroed and left alone, many adjustment turrets have a coin slot. As the scopes are made more adjustable for wind, bullet weight, range, etc., these adjustments may have to be made in the field.

Terrorism and Israel are synonymous. Begin, Shamir and Ben Gurion all terrorists and all prime ministers of Israel and of course Sharon is the butcher of Lebanon (Israeli troops led by Sharon provided light from flares while Phalangist slaughtered old men, women and children in the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila.)

Now, back in the light and happily remarried, Steve has felt compelled to reach out a hand to anyone struggling to find their way back to true happiness. That why he wrote Climbing Back: A True Story Guide: One Man's Return After Moral Transgression, much needed in today world of metoo and celebrities, politicians and CEOs accused of immoral behavior.

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The ease with which internet of things devices can be compromised, coupled with the potentially extreme consequences of breaches, have prompted action from legislatures and regulators, but what group is best to decide?

Both the makers of IoT devices and governments are aware of the security issues, but so far they havent come up with standardized ways to address them.

The challenge of this market is that its moving so fast that no regulation is going to be able to keep pace with the devices that are being connected, said Forrester vice president and research director Merritt Maxim. Regulations that are definitive are easy to enforce and helpful, but theyll quickly become outdated.

The latest such effort by a governmental body is a proposed regulation in the U.K. that would impose three major mandates on IoT device manufacturers that would address key security concerns:

device passwords would have to be unique, and resetting them to factory defaults would be prohibited

device makers would have to offer a public point of contact for the disclosure of vulnerabilities

device makers would have to explicitly state the minimum length of time for which the device will receive security updates

This proposal is patterned after a California law that took effect last month. Both sets of rules would likely have a global impact on the manufacture of IoT devices, even though theyre being imposed on limited jurisdictions. Thats because its expensive for device makers to create separate versions of their products.

IoT-specific regulations arent the only ones that can have an impact on the marketplace. Depending on the type of information a given device handles, it could be subject to the growing list of data-privacy laws being implemented around the world, most notably Europes General Data Protection Regulation, as well as industry-specific regulations in the U.S. and elsewhere.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, noted Maxim, has been particularly active in trying to address device-security flaws. For example, last year it issued security warnings about 11 vulnerabilities that could compromise medical IoT devices that had been discovered by IoT security vendor Armis. In other cases it issued fines against healthcare providers.

But theres a broader issue with devising definitive regulation for IoT devices in general, as opposed to prescriptive ones that simply urge manufacturers to adopt best practices, he said.

Particular companies might have integrated security frameworks covering their vertically integrated products  such as an industrial IoT company providing security across factory floor sensors  but that kind of security is incomplete in the multi-vendor world of IoT.

Perhaps the closest thing to a general IoT-security standard is currently being worked on by Underwriters Laboratories (UL), the security-testing non-profit best known for its century-old certification program for electrical equipment. ULs IoT Security Rating Program offers a five-tier system for ranking the security of connected devices  bronze, silver, gold, platinum and diamond.

Bronze certification means that the device has addressed the most glaring security flaws, similar to those outlined in the recent U.K. and California legislations. The higher ratings include capabilities like ongoing security maintenance, improved access control and known threat testing.

While government regulation and voluntary industry improvements can help keep future IoT systems safe, neither addresses two key issues in the IoT security puzzle  the millions of insecure devices that have already been deployed, and user apathy around making their systems as safe as possible, according to Maxim.

Requiring a non-default passwords is good, but that doesnt stop users from setting insecure passwords, he warned. The challenge is, do customers care? Are they willing to pay extra for products with that certification?
First, we know that there is no single reason why these folks left in the first place. For some, it was conflicts between school and work, for some financial pressures, and for others life events, like pregnancy. People who dropped out were also much more likely than completers to report that they had fair or poor academic or career counseling from the school they were attending  they werent getting good help.

But only a very small percentage of them (19%) say they are not interested in coming back. That makes some sense. According to the survey, nearly half (47%) of those SCNDs are making less than $35,000 a year. Among those surveyed, young people, people of color and those working in food preparation were particularly likely to want to come back and complete.

But what would it take to attract them back? The survey highlights three things:

 Affordability: 52% say free community college would make a great deal of difference in a decision to come back to school. Helping people figure out how to balance the costs of school and work will be critical to encouraging them to return.


Search News Archive : Fast Travel News Promotion Via Search, Social Media + Email Follow Us On : WALKING THROUGH INDIA'S FORTS AND PALACES: A ROYAL LEGACY Industry: Tours

Almost every city of the spectacular desert land Rajasthan is lined with fabulous forts and palaces built by various rulers and architects. Now, they have been opened to the tourists who come here to see a wonderful presentation of their rich heritage and splendid artistic architecture.



(TRAVPR.COM) INDIA - February 10th, 2020 India's eternal history is brimming with myriad tales of battles, triumph and vigour. The magnificent secular edifices, invincible forts, palaces and mansions narrate countless stories of courage, romance, chivalry and tragedies that befell the region. Built during the medieval period, these formidable forts were constructed to protect the territory from attacks. These living legends have been witness to the rise and fall of many fortunes and kingdoms; today they stand testimony to the bygone era of decadence, elegance and royalty. Most of India is dotted with grand forts and opulent palaces especially in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. With the advent of the British Raj, there was a need for security against local kings as well as European nations, leading to the construction of forts such as the Mumbai Fort, Fort William in Kolkata and Fort St. George in Chennai. The Agra Fort and the Red Fort in Delhi have been recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage sites amongst others.



The Rajput rulers in Rajasthan were prolific builders who left behind a legacy of some of the most imposing and awe-inspiring constructions which were the formal seat of these gallant warriors. Enduring the harsh environs, the desert winds and the scorching sun these forts have stood unshakable against many sieges. Retaining the splendour and their old charm, they are open to the public as a presentation of the rich heritage and splendid architectural prowess.



Many of these stately palaces have been converted to heritage hotels for guests to experience the enchantment and grandeur of India's imperial past.



Compass India Inc. is a leading luxury travel company committed to delivering seamless and authentic travel experiences with the highest level of professionalism. "Our specially designed sample itineraries are extremely popular with our guests and the 21 days tour of Rajasthan's fort and palaces beckons the travellers to keep coming back for many such authentic experiences. It is our endeavour to offer the discerning travellers a glimpse of this splendour in the lap of luxury and unrivalled comforts" said Mr Durjay Sengupta, the CEO of Compass.



Amongst the most prominent ones to visit are, the Red Fort, Agra Fort, Amber Fort, the Lake Palace, Kumbhalgarh Fort, the Jaisalmer Fort and the mighty Mehrangarh fort at Jodhpur. This tour will take you on a mesmerizing journey through the magnificent Indian heritage.



The tour begins in the capital city of Delhi, a vast urban sprawl of contrasts and paradoxes, a harmonious blend of the past and the present. Explore the first of many forts on this tour - the colossal sandstone Red Fort is an excellent example of the artistic brilliance of the Mughal reign. Inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, this magnificent red citadel was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in the 17th century AD.



Drive to Agra to witness the pristine white marble monument Taj Mahal, a stunning example of the perfect interplay of art and architecture, an extraordinary sight that is sure to leave one spell-bound.



Walk through the Buland Darwaza (Gate of Victory) of the walled deserted city of Fatehpur Sikri and experience the magic of Mughal architecture at its best!



Next in line is Jaipur that is blessed with a wealth of architectural wonders, especially the pink, delicately honeycombed sandstone windows of the Palace of the Winds, the Observatory and the Maharaja's City Palace.



The Amber Fort, an apt example of Rajput architecture, is stunningly situated on a hilltop overlooking Maota Lake. A blend of Hindu, Rajput and Mughal architectural styles, intricate marble, glass, metal and wood carvings adorn the fort. One of the most spectacular buildings contained in the fort is the Sheesh Mahal (Hall of Mirrors). With its walls completely covered with tiny mirrors, it becomes a dazzling fantasy with the light of a single match.



Visiting the town Bundi, the sojourn continues to witness the magical and mighty Chittorgarh Fort. The pride and glory of Rajasthan, Chittor echoes with tales of romance and valour unique to the Rajput tradition. This resplendent hill fort in Rajasthan covers an area of 700 acres and extends up to 3 kilometres in length. Chittorgarh Fort is perched atop a hillock. This is a ruined citadel, where the royal past lives in its myths, legends, imposing forts, graceful palaces and spectacular cenotaphs. Entrance to this massive hill fort is through seven large gates, and each of these gates has been built as massive stone structures with protective ramparts for defence.



The guests can choose to stay at the opulent and ultra-luxurious Lake Palace hotel in the charming city of Udaipur, with spell-binding views of the azure Lake Pichola before proceeding to visit the grand Kumbhalgarh Fort.



The beauty of Udaipur is as defiant against the arid roughness of the rest of Rajasthan as its warmongering past. Be sure to visit the massive City Palace overlooking the Lake Pichola, a glittering example of Rajput architecture and Mughal-style decorative techniques. Behind the strong walls of the palace, dark, steep and narrow staircases connect a maze of royal chambers and courtyards. Dazzling, intricate miniatures, antiques and paintings are on display everywhere. A noteworthy sight is that of gorgeous mosaics of peacocks in More Mahal and a yard full of shady trees on the terrace of Amar Vilas.



Like a gigantic snake, the magnificent ramparts of the Kumbhalgarh fort wind along the rugged contours of the Aravali hills for 36 km, making it the second-largest wall in the world after the Great Wall of China. It was built by Rana Kumbha, one of the greatest kings of Mewar to defend his kingdom.



For assistance on any travel-related service you can browse our website:

https://www.compassindiainc.tours/



Compass India Inc.

Office One, Floor One,

LSC, Neeti Bagh,

New Delhi - 110049 ### Please contact the person or company listed above for information regarding the content of this press release. TravPR.com are not the issuers of this press release and are not responsible for the accuracy of the content. Share Release :



CONTACT INFORMATION Name: Durjay Sengupta Company: Compass India Inc. Phone: 9873322258 Email: durjay@compassindiainc.tours Web: compassindiainc.tours PRESS RELEASE TAGS MEDIA GALLERY Visit Our Site
Mask-clad commuters get off a train at a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) stop in Taipei following the Lunar New Year holidays on Jan. 30, 2020. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images)

WHO Denies Taiwan From Attending Forum on Fighting Coronavirus

TAIPEI, TaiwanLocal officials continued to fight for participation in the World Health Organization (WHO) as countries around the world seek to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, took a reporters question about whether Taiwan could attend an upcoming WHO forum scheduled for Feb. 11 and 12 in Geneva.

We will have Taiwanese colleagues online, along with experts from the rest of China, Ryan said during a press conference at the agencys headquarters on Feb. 10.

Taiwanese experts would be allowed to take part remotely but would not represent Taiwan.

Ryan did not elaborate on whether anyone from Taiwan had been invited to attend the forum in person. He said WHO has continued to engage Taiwanese colleagues during efforts to combat the virus.

Taiwan has continually sought to become a WHO member. But Beijing, which views Taiwan as a renegade province that is part of its territory, has sought to diminish the islands sovereignty by blocking it from joining international organizations such as the WHO.

From 2009 to 2016, Taiwans health ministers took part in the World Health Assembly (WHA), the decision-making body of the WHO, as observers. Since 2017, Taiwan has been barred by China from taking part in the assembly and its meetings.

According to the WHO website, the upcoming forum, organized with the international alliance Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness (GloPID-R), will bring together scientists, public health agencies, ministries of health, and research funders, in response to the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak.

Taiwan currently has 18 confirmed cases of coronavirus, and has been excluded from taking part in recent meetings about the outbreak held by the WHO Emergency Committee.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has previously called out the Chinese regime for reporting incorrect information to the WHO about the viruss spread on the island.

In response to the invitation, Tsai said on Monday that online participation was just a first step.

We will continue working to achieve substantive participation, Tsai said.

I want to thank our allies & like-minded friends from around the world for courageously speaking up for the necessity of #Taiwans participation in the @WHO. Disease knows no borders, & we must be able to freely share information to stop the spread of #2019nCoV. pic.twitter.com/dU3n1cX3nH   Tsai Ing-wen (@iingwen) February 8, 2020

Chuang Jen-hsiang, deputy director-general of Taiwans Centers for Disease Control (CDC), said on Monday that Taiwan has sent a list to WHO of local experts to take part in the forum, pending its review. They will take part under the name Taipei, according to local media.

Chuang added that Taiwanese diplomats were working to have these experts attend the forum in person.

Chou Jih-haw, director-general of Taiwans CDC, said that it would be better for local experts to go in person, since they would be able to interact with other experts around the world.

Many countries, including the United States, European Union, Japan, Australia, Paraguay, and Guatemala, have all recently voiced support for Taiwans participation in the WHO.

I want to thank the representatives from #Eswatini, #Paraguay, & #Guatemala for taking a stand for global health & safety by supporting #Taiwans @WHO participation & highlighting ways that #TaiwanCanHelp combat the spread of #2019nCoV. pic.twitter.com/Q2niR21y7H   Tsai Ing-wen (@iingwen) February 5, 2020

Andrew Bremberg, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, urged the WHO Executive Board in Geneva on Feb. 6 to allow Taiwans participation in meetings related to the coronavirus outbreak.

For the rapidly evolving coronavirus, it is a technical imperative that WHO present visible public health data on Taiwan as an affected area, and engage directly with Taiwan public health authorities on actions, Bremberg said.
Prasanta Mazumdar By

Express News Service

GUWAHATI: The Assam governments move to carry out a survey to identity the states indigenous Muslims has ruffled the feathers of several Muslim organisations.

The organisations, particularly opposition party All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) and All Assam Minority Students Union (AAMSU), are enraged that the Welfare of Minorities and Development Department convened a meeting on the socio-economic census of the states indigenous Muslims such as Goria, Moria, Ujani, Deshi, Jola, Maimal and Syed.

Leaders from these communities and other stakeholders will sit along with senior government officials to finalise the plan on Tuesday. The AIUDF viewed the move as a ploy to divide the Muslims of the state.

This is nothing but an attempt to divide the Muslims in Assam. I warn the government to refrain from indulging in such divisive politics, AIUDF spokesman Aminul Islam told people at a programme which they had organised to stage a protest at Dhing in Nagaon on Monday.

Assam has 1.21 crore Muslims (out of 3.3 crore population). They have accepted Assamese culture and language and identify themselves as Assamese. They are Assamese to the bones. They study in Assamese medium schools and speak the Assamese language. In every aspect of life, they use the Assamese language. It is unfortunate that even after that, they are seen as doubtful citizens. We cannot accept it, Islam said.

He said the Miyans (migrant Muslims) had never been a threat to Assam or the Assamese language. Without naming the RSS, he alleged that the Assam government was playing at the hands of Nagpur.

The Miyans in Assam trace their roots to undivided Bengal.

The AAMSU said the governments move was uncalled for as Assam had not yet got a widely-accepted definition of who in the state are the indigenous people.

I dont know how the government will carry out a population census to identify the indigenous Muslims. We want the government to first assert who in the state are the indigenous people and then, go ahead with the exercise, advisor to AAMSU, Azizur Rahman, told this newspaper.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is going into marketing. It wants you to buy Canadian.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/2/2020 (701 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is going into marketing. It wants you to buy Canadian.

The federal government intends to spend $25 million over five years, starting this summer, to promote Canadian food products and instill pride in what our country can put on our tables.

This is a great idea. But promoting Canadian products may not be quite so simple.

The idea is to tell the story of our food sector and highlight the advantages of Canadian-made food products. The initiative also intends to provide transparency so Canadians can understand how our products are made. The focus is to build public trust in our food sector and promote Canadas brand, if it can be defined.

The government is looking for a marketing firm to promote Canadian food products and honour the mandate put forward by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. To deliver on such an important task, the firm will need to rely on how we see Canadas brand in food. But other than among a few bureaucrats, its unclear whether theres consensus on the matter. It will require some clarification.

Its also unclear whether the Buy Canadian initiative will support "Products of Canada" or products "Made in Canada"  there are subtle but important differences. "Products of Canada" means that all the noteworthy ingredients of a food product are Canadian and that non-Canadian material is insignificant. A "Made in Canada" product suggests the last step of processing occurred in Canada, regardless of where its ingredients came from.

These two labels have Canadians confused about what food products are truly Canadian. The Buy Canadian campaign could support one, the other or both of these labels. Canadians could end up wondering what the campaign is actually supporting.

Naturally, this could be about "Products of Canada," however, given our climate and the fact we cant grow everything year-round, some "Made in Canada" products are worthy of support since the processing required generates important manufacturing jobs here. But consumers need to know the difference.

The "buy local" movement built by many provinces could further complicate things. Many provinces have been at it for years and, in some cases, decades. Foodland Ontario, Canadas Food Island in Prince Edward Island and Aliments du Quebec have all successfully promoted local products to their constituents. Because of these programs, buying local for many Canadians is about buying within a province or close to the city where they live.

Adding a federal layer of marketing would only add more noise. And promoting Buy Canadian in some parts of the country, such as Quebec, may not be the greatest idea. Just ask Walmart. Its Buy Canadian campaign was a disaster in Quebec.

Perceived protectionism can also become an issue. As a trading nation, Canada cant be seen as a country that gives an unfair advantage to domestically grown and produced food products. The Americans lost their case at the World Trade Organization when country-of-origin labelling was implemented a few years ago. Canadian cattle and hog producers will certainly remember.

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And then we have Canadian cuisine. Its highly unlikely that poutine, shepherds pie, Nanaimo bars, donair, Hawaiian pizza and butter tarts  all intrinsically Canadian  would be part of this initiative. These Canadian recipes have endured the test of time.

Perhaps its high time we promote Canadian cuisine and inspire our food industry to do more. Innovation takes many forms; its not just about carrots, tomatoes, Canadian beef or wheat. Promoting Canadian food should be about consumers and not just about farm-gate issues. Farmers feed cities, but so do processors, distributors, grocers and the food-service industry.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada doesnt have the greatest reputation when it comes to serving the food industry. Farmers are often critical of our food systems. But other elements of the supply chain shouldnt be forgotten. If this initiative is about promoting the industry and providing transparency, then processing, distribution and service need to be in scope.

If not done properly, this program could be a complete disaster.

Sylvain Charlebois is senior director of the agri-food analytics lab and a professor in food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University.

 Troy Media
New Delhi, Feb 10 : Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi will address the party's first kisan rally in Uttar Pradesh's Basti on February 23 to highlight the plight of the farmers in the state, party leaders said on Monday.

The party has launched a state-wide 'kisan janjagran abhiyan' (farmers' awakening stir) on February 6. In a massive outreach programme, the Congress, on the direction of Priyanka Gandhi, plans to reach 50 lakh farmers within two weeks from February 6.

The party, after taking lead against the CAA, is now reaching out to farmers who are upset with the state's Yogi Adityanath government on many issues including the problem of stray cattle who are destroying crops. The party has demanded shelter homes for cattle from the government or giving a bonus to farmers.

The party has roped in block-level workers to reach every household in a fortnight. In each block, 50 Congress workers will go to 10 farmer households per day, and in this way, in two weeks, the party will reach farmers living in 840 blocks of the state.

The party has prepared two forms which will be given to each farmer by party workers to fill in. One form lists a host of problems faced by the farmers. "All that a farmer has to do is tick those problems which affect him the most," said a party leader.

The second form involves details of a farmer's family and his financial status. "In this form, a farmer can spell out his suggestions," said the party leader.

The party has also planned street corner meetings, many of which could be addressed by Priyanka Gandhi.
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
UWs Wyoming Center on Aging Receives $3.75 Million Grant to Address Needs in State

The Wyoming Center on Aging (WyCOA), located at the University of Wyoming, recently received a $3.75 million grant that will strengthen and enhance partnerships to help address the needs of Wyomings aging population and practicing health professionals.

The Health Resources and Services Administration awarded the funds through its Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP). This is the second award of this type for WyCOA.

The purpose of the Wyoming GWEP (WyGWEP) is to collaborate with partner organizations to improve the health and well-being of Wyomings older adults by developing a workforce that embraces age-friendly health care, better population health and more cost-effective health care.

This will be accomplished by maximizing patient and family engagement in the care of older adults and by integrating age-friendly practices into primary care, says Christine McKibbin, WyCOA director and UW psychology professor.

The Wyoming Department of Health Aging Division predicts that -- from 2016 to 2030 -- the number of Wyoming residents aged 65 or older is expected to grow from approximately 90,000 to 138,000, a 56 percent increase. Wyomings entire population is expected to increase by less than 12 percent during that time, which means the majority of growth will come from the senior citizen population.

The University of Wyoming has expressed a commitment to respond to the challenges of this rapidly aging population, McKibbin says. Our age-friendly programs will take a comprehensive approach to providing health care to Wyomings aging population.

The goals of the program include:

-- Implementing training to increase rates of advance care planning and chronic care management.

-- Training health care providers to assess and address the needs of older adults.

-- Enhancing the skills of older adults and caregivers to manage chronic disease and dementia.

-- Building partnerships with community-based organizations to address gaps in health care communities while also addressing social determinants of health.

It is said that Wyoming is one big town with really long streets, and it will be the partnerships we build within communities that will help our aging population the most, McKibbin says.

WyGWEP key partners include the Wyoming Department of Health Aging Division, Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, Ivinson Medical Group and Eastern Shoshone Tribal Health.

To learn more about the WyGWEP partnership and the work of UWs WyCOA, visit www.uwyo.edu/wycoa.
KABUL -- Two U.S. soldiers have been killed and six wounded in a firefight in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar Province, with the U.S. military saying initial reports indicate an attack was carried out by a man in an Afghan National Army (ANA) uniform.



Colonel Sonny Leggett, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement early on February 9 that the incident occurred after a combined U.S.-Afghan force was returning from a "key-leader engagement" in which U.S. forces meet with important individuals of selected areas.



"Current reports indicate an individual in an Afghan uniform opened fire on the combined U.S. and Afghan force with a machine gun," Leggett said.



"We are still collecting information, and the cause or motive behind the attack is unknown at this time," he added.



Shah Mahmood Miakhel, the governor of Nangarhar Province, earlier told RFE/RL that at least three Afghan soldiers were injured in the attack that he also said appears to have been carried out by an assailant in an ANA uniform.



He added that the man had been killed and that his motive for the attack was not known.



Nangarhar Provincial Council member Ajmal Omer also told AP that the gunman was killed, adding that the incident took place in Nangarhar Province's Sherzad District.

The New York Times on February 8 quoted an unnamed U.S. military official saying there were at least six American casualties and confirmed that there were fatalities without saying how many.

Assaults by rogue Afghan soldiers -- so-called green-on-blue attacks -- became a regular occurrence in the conflict, although they have become less frequent in recent years.



"We are not ruling any possibility out, but we are not calling it an insider attack, Taliban attack, or 'green-on-blue' at this stage," an Afghan defense official told Reuters.



Sohrab Qaderi, a provincial council member in Nangarhar, said it was possible a tactical mistake occurred between Afghan and foreign forces.



U.S. spokesman Leggett said in a statement earlier that both Afghan and U.S. personnel were "engaged by direct firing."



The Taliban and an Islamic State (IS) affiliate both operate in eastern Nangarhar Province. Taliban sources could not immediately be reached for comment.



Some 14,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Afghanistan as part of the U.S.-led NATO mission to train, assist, and advise Afghan forces and to carry out counterterrorism missions.



Washington has conducted talks with the Taliban in Qatar in an effort to find an end to Afghanistan's 18-year war, but a deal has not yet been reached.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and The New York Times
Oilatum ProtectKNOWLogy Bath Time Summit

The ever-changing weather makes it quite a challenge for us to take care of our little ones skin. The cold weather makes their skin dry while too much heat causes sun damage. We cannot control the weather, but we can control what we put on our childrens skin.





Oilatum, a globally trusted skincare brand, has recently launched ProtectKnowlogy Bath Time Summit to empower mothers to show their love through healthy skin. This summit is part of STADAs game plan to help improve healthcare in the Philippines by providing quality products to the Filipinos such as Oilatum.



Oilatum ProtectKNOWLogy Bath Time Summit

Oilatum ProtectKNOWLogy Bath Time Summit was held last February 6, Thursday at Shangri-la The Fort in Taguig, it was a fun learning event for moms on keeping their kids skin healthy! It was also intended to help kids build their confidence by having soft, smooth, and healthy skin. Lots of mothers and kids attended and enjoyed the said summit. The event venue was dressed up as a kids playroom. There were several instagrammable spots where moms and kids had a blast taking photos. There were a few designated areas for children to play while their mothers listened to seminar speakers as well.



Oilatum ProtectKNOWLogy Bath Time Summit







Oilatum ProtectKNOWLogy Bath Time Summit

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There were games and fun activities for both moms and kids in between discussions. Oilatum lived up to its promise of coming up with a fun-filled, educational, event where mothers could bond with their kids and other moms with their children! Oilatums ProtectKnowlogy Bath Time Summit is definitely a success! Congrats to Oilatum and Stada for a very successful event.





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(Photo : REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo) FILE PHOTO: Google Play's logo is seen at Tokyo Game Show 2019 in Chiba, east of Tokyo, Japan, September 12, 2019.

Chinese Android giants Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi, are creating a new platform to distribute apps onto all of their online shops. The move analysts said is meant to venture the dominance of Google Play.

The four technology groups are expected to roll out twists in the Global Developer Service Alliance (GDSA) platform. This platform aims to make it less complicated for developers of games, music, movies, and other apps for Android smartphones to amplify in markets around the world.

GDSA to roll out in March

The sources told Reuters that GDSA will start in March, even though it is not clear how to endure the coronavirus outbreak.

A prototype website stated the platform will begin with cover nine "regions," including India, Indonesia, and Russia. All four predominant Chinese companies declined to comment on the matter.

Katie Williams, an analyst at Sensor Tower, said Google, whose applications are banned in China, earned about US$8.8 billion globally from Google Play in 2019.

Google also sells content material such as movies, books, and apps on its eponymous app. Google, the primary subsidiary of tech conglomerate Alphabet, did not respond to confirm reports.





ALSO READ: Google Play Store Gets Clean And Simple Redesign





Alliance to take on other benefits in exclusive regions

"By forming this alliance, each enterprise will be looking to take on others' benefits in exclusive regions in Asia and Europe," stated Nicole Peng, the vice-president of mobility studies at Canalys.

Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi combined make up 40.1 in step with cent of global phone shipments in the fourth region of the closing year, in step with the technology studies organization IDC.

While Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi have complete access to Google services in global markets, Huawei lost access to Google for its new devices last year after Washington brought the Shenzhen-based organization to a US trade blacklist over security concerns. That bars American hi-tech providers from promoting goods and offerings to Huawei.

ALSO READ: Huawei Loses Android License As Google Cut Ties With The Chinese Company: Here's What This Means

Will Wong, a smartphone analyst with IDC, said Chinese companies are trying to gain more share of software program and offerings as hardware income slow. "App store, pre-loading apps, commercials, and gaming are areas that might generate new revenue," Wong stated.

Huawei has initiated efforts to veer away from Google by using growing its very own Harmony OS as an alternative.

The GDSA's website consists of the logo of Wanka Online, a Hong Kong-indexed Android "ecosystem" platform next to the touch for the GDSA's General Secretariat. Wanka declined to confirm its involvement.

Analysts stated the GDSA might be capable of luring a few app developers through providing extra publicity than the already-crowded Google Play. The new platform can also offer higher monetary incentives.

"By making it simple for developers to increase their reach across a couple of app stores, Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi stand to attract greater builders and, ultimately, more apps," stated Sensor Tower's Williams.

Managing the alliance, however, can be an undertaking in keeping with Peng of Canalys. "The execution is difficult, as it's hard to say which business enterprise is pulling extra weight and investing more in it. We haven't visible the alliance version paintings well within the past."





 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
[February 10, 2020] Great Lakes Cheese Completes Its Human Resources Digital Transformation Led by Capgemini

Capgemini today announced the successful launch of a bold new human resources transformation initiative on behalf of Great Lakes Cheese (GLC), the premier manufacturer and packer of natural and process bulk, shredded and sliced cheeses. The new Human Resources Information System (HRIS), built by Capgemini (News - Alert) on SAP SuccessFactors solutions and Benefitfocus, is designed to improve employee engagement by leveraging cloud, real-time data and insights and mobile applications. With more than 3,000 employees, multiple plants in various locations and a primarily paper-based HR system, GLC sought to update its HR processes and scale them to support the company's high growth trajectory. GLC selected Capgemini to lead the enterprise-wide transformation because of its successful track record in connecting business and IT strategy to unlock value for organizations looking to establish leadership positions with their customers and employees. "We needed a completely reimagined HR system and a next-generation IT platform for our employees that empowers them to make decisions and provide a level of engagement and experience," says Mara Kamat, Vice President, HR, Great Lakes Cheese. "We chose to work with Capgemini because they are trustworthy, collaborative, detail-oriented and relentlessly focused on our success. They also have the strong technical and sector-specific expertise to lead the project, enabling us to stay on time and budget in the 18-month delivery window." The digital transformation includes a new self-service option and mobile integration that replced thousands of paper forms and has been transformative for the company and employees. Employees now have ownership of their data and can see their benefits, make changes, and validate their personal information rather than having to make requests to HR.



Additionally, the new Human Experience Management platform allows GLC to more quickly see consolidated information on payroll, diversity, retention, hiring and compensation, equipping the business with information that is designed to enable data-driven decision making at all levels of the organization, to keep up with the needs and expectations of today's employees. "Digital technologies are drastically changing the traditional methods of attracting, hiring and retaining employees, impacting how employees and job seekers are communicating and connecting with organizations," says Reese Dunbar, VP and Director of the Digital Employee practice at Capgemini North America. "Organizations engaged in agriculture and food processing are seeing rapid changes in employee expectations in areas of sustainability, lifestyle and social matters. People are at the center of every kind of business transformation and HR processes define and drive the employee experience. A world-class Human Experience Management system modernizes policies, processes, and people in a way that helps drive enterprise-wide transformation."

Capgemini also recently expanded its partnership with SAP (News - Alert) to offer clients the SAP Enable Now solution, a modern approach to help clients drive ongoing workforce education that enables skills upgrades throughout their digital transformation journeys. As an SAP global strategic services partner and as an SAP global platinum reseller, Capgemini is one of the world's largest and most experienced SAP systems integrators, with more than 18,000 SAP practitioners worldwide and 40 years of experience. Capgemini works closely with SAP across technologies and solutions to bring innovation and transformation to organizations. To learn more about the project, click here. About Capgemini A global leader in consulting, technology services and digital transformation, Capgemini is at the forefront of innovation to address the entire breadth of clients' opportunities in the evolving world of cloud, digital and platforms. Building on its strong 50-year heritage and deep industry-specific expertise, Capgemini enables organizations to realize their business ambitions through an array of services from strategy to operations. Capgemini is driven by the conviction that the business value of technology comes from and through people. It is a multicultural company of over 200,000 team members in more than 40 countries. The Group reported 2018 global revenues of EUR 13.2 billion (about $15.6 billion USD at 2018 average rate). Visit us at www.capgemini.com. People matter, results count. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200210005064/en/

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Ejaz Kaiser By

Express News Service

RAIPUR: Two jawans of Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA)  a special unit of CRPF, were killed and five others seriously injured in a fierce gunfight with the Maoists near Irapalli in the interior areas of strife-torn Bijapur district, about 400 km south of Raipur, on Monday.

The deceased have been identified as constable Vikas from Banda in Uttar Pradesh and constable Purnanand Sahu from Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh. Deputy commandant of the CRPF is among the injured.

In an exchange of fire, the troopers shot dead a Maoist and recovered a weapon from the spot.

Based on an intelligence input, a team of CoBRA unit from 204th battalion was out on an anti-Maoist operation. Close to Pamed in south Bijapur, the Maoists opened fire resulting in an encounter. The attack was swiftly retaliated but unfortunately, we lost our two jawans. A body of Maoist was recovered from the gunbattle site, said the CRPF spokesperson B C Patra. The forces believed the casualties of the Maoists could be more.

Efforts were on to airlift the injured five personnel to Raipur for immediate medical attention. Owing to bad weather conditions, there was some delay in airlifting the jawans by chopper, a local police officer said.

There was no information available from the Chhattisgarh police on whether the additional forces were rushed to the area to carry out an intensive search operation after the gunbattle.

Bijapur is among the seven districts of conflict zone of Bastar in south Chhattisgarh affected by the Maoists violence.




SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.  The National Museum of Dance announced its Night at the Museum Live! on Thursday, Feb. 13. From 6 to 6:40 p.m., dancers and movers of all ages and levels are invited to create movement inspired by the exhibitions.

From 6:45 to 8 p.m., doors will open for visitors to view the exhibitions with dancers bringing the Museum to life.

Exhibitions that will come to life include Art of the Dance: Posters from Hollywoods Golden Age, On Being Still: Portraits by Joanne Savio, and the Mr. & Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame.

The single night event focused on current exhibits inspire movers to bring the installations to life with their own choreography and improvisation.

Participating dancers and movers arriving at 6 p.m. are free. Visitors arriving at 6:45 pm pay admission: free for members, $10 for adults, $8 for students, seniors, and military, $5 for children 10 & under, and free for children under 5.

For more information contact Mary Anne Fantauzzi at (518) 584-2225 x 3004 or tours@dancemuseum.org. Reservations are not necessary.

The National Museum of Dance is open for winter hours Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Visit their website at www.dancemuseum.org for more information about upcoming exhibitions and programming. To volunteer at the National Museum of Dance email info@dancemuseum.org or call (518) 584-2225 x 3001.
Pakistan, repeated it overtly attempt to interfer in India's electoral process on Monday. A day before the counting day, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the foreign minister of Pakistan asserted that PM Modi's BJP is facing 'a huge defeat' in the Delhi Assembly Elections citing "contentious moves concerning new citizenship laws". Addressing the audience at the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) in Islamabad, Shah Mehmood Qureshi further reprimanding PM Modi claimed that India's economic growth had 'halved' since the BJP came to power in 2014. In further condemnation, accused the government of flagging a 'Pulwama-like operation' to divert the minds of people.

According to Dawn, he said, "As for the Delhi elections, where results will be announced tomorrow, it is expected the BJP will face a lot of difficulties and is facing a huge defeat." "We are worried that India may try to stage a Pulwama-like false flag operation to move its own peoples' focus on Pakistan, instead of on its own economic situation," Qureshi added.

READ| "You censorious thug!": Canadian journalist blasts Pak Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in London

Prior to the Pakistani Foreign Minister, Pakistan's controversial Fawad Choudhry rejoiced as the exit polls predicted a loss for the ruling BJP in the national capital. On Saturday, Fawad Chaudhry said that he was 'very happy' at the defeat of the 'extremists regime' in Delhi elections.

He said, "Very happy on extremists regime defeat in Delhi elections, hope Modi will learn from his defeat and review policies of hatred." The result of the Delhi Assembly polls will be declared on February 11. Apart from India, in 2018, Pakistan's general elections left the country with little credibility after the Pakistan Army's blatant intervention in their own domestic electoral process.

Delhi Assembly Elections

With 672 candidates in the fray, the Delhi Assembly Elections saw a fierce election campaign of the ruling AAP and the BJP. Meanwhile, the Congress party's, reeling from the leadership vaccum since the demise of stalward Sheila Dixit was almost missing from the picture. The AAP is eyeing a redo of their stellar 2015 Assembly Elections performance 67 seats out of the 70. Meanwhile, the BJP is fighting a prestige battle to win the national capital following months of anti-government demonstrations across the country, with Delhi's Shaheen Bagh at the crux of their campaign. Republic's Jan ki Baat exit polls projected that the incumbent AAP is slated to win 48-61 seats, taking a huge leap over the BJP which is predicted to in only 9-21 seats, followed by Congress at 0-1 seat.

READ| Pakistan & Terrorism: 6 Freudian slips by Pak leaders on Osama, Hafiz Saeed & Masood Azhar that give it all away
In a novel development in the countrys veterinary annals, a seven-and-a-half-year-old cocker spaniel has undergone a pacemaker implant surgery which vet surgeons claim to be the first in India.

An imported pediatric pacemaker was implanted in the female dog, Khushi, who had developed a complete heart block that led to her heart rate dropping to 20 beats per minute as against the normal 60-120.

Her heart was not able to conduct impulses necessary for normal cardiac functioning. The amount of blood which flows out of the heart had reduced significantly and the dog was having frequent episodes of syncope.

Khushis heart rate was dangerously low at 20 beats per minute compared to normal 60-120 beats per minute, Dr Bhanu Dev Sharma, interventional cardiologist for small animals at Max Vets Hospital, Greater Kailash, said.

Sharma said according to her owners Khushi was a lazy dog.

During an emergency ear operation in February last year she had collapsed but the surgeons managed to revive her. It was then when we realised that she has a much more serious issue, said Sharma, who holds a Masters degree in small animal cardiology from the University of Luxembourg.

Once Khushi recovered from her ear surgery, doctors evaluated her and a holter ECG showed a complete heart block.

A team at Max Vets super speciality hospital led by Dr Bhanu and Dr Kunal Dev Sharma discussed the case with their European colleagues and planned the pacemaker surgery which was never done before for a dog in India.

The dog was operated on December 15 and the pacemaker was implanted after an one-and-a-half hour long surgery.

Post the pacemaker implantation Khushi who used to be extremely lethargic and lifeless before the surgery is back to her normal active self, feels as if she is back to puppyhood, said its owner manu, a resident of Gurgaon.
"We are excited to collaborate with method to celebrate these timeless artists and their work from Cooper Hewitt's vast collection," says Caroline Baumann, Director of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. "These women transcended the stereotypes of their generations and made a lasting impact on the design world. Showcasing these stunning textiles and drawings from 1930-1970 on the bottles brings powerful design right into homes across America, advancing the public understanding and appreciation of design thinking."

"At method, we truly view cleaning as an act of creative expression," said Connie Chen, VP of Brands, method. "Our partnership with Cooper Hewitt is meaningful because, together, we are shining a light on pioneering women in design, whose impressive lives, talent and vision are an inspiration for designers  and the greater creative community  to this day."

method has created three new fragrances for this limited-edition hand collection, inspired by the design work of these three visionary women:

Marguerita Mergentime : An influential force in 20th-century modernism, Marguerita Mergentime was known for her witty table linens featuring political slogans and conversation starters that were a hit with housewives. And the textiles she created for Radio City Musical Hall are still in use today. Marguerita inspired the new Island Rain , which features a bold botanical print that pairs perfectly with a luscious, tropical fragrance to put you in an island state of mind.

An influential force in 20th-century modernism, was known for her witty table linens featuring political slogans and conversation starters that were a hit with housewives. And the textiles she created for Radio City Musical Hall are still in use today. Marguerita inspired the new , which features a bold botanical print that pairs perfectly with a luscious, tropical fragrance to put you in an island state of mind. Ilonka Karasz : While maybe best known for her cover illustrations for The New Yorker magazine, Ilonka Karasz helped popularize a modern aesthetic in the United States . She worked in a wide variety of media, including textiles, carpets, lighting, ceramics, metalwork, toys and furniture. She used a novel printing technique that preserved the expressivity of her drawings. Ilonka inspired Wild Meadow , which features a whimsical folk art print that springs to life with a fresh and floral fragrance led by notes of wild violet.

While maybe best known for her cover illustrations for magazine, helped popularize a modern aesthetic in . She worked in a wide variety of media, including textiles, carpets, lighting, ceramics, metalwork, toys and furniture. She used a novel printing technique that preserved the expressivity of her drawings. Ilonka inspired , which features a whimsical folk art print that springs to life with a fresh and floral fragrance led by notes of wild violet. Barbara White : Barbara White became interested in Japanese paper while in high school and began experimenting by folding and painting it, ultimately traveling to Japan on a Fulbright Grant. Karl Mann discovered her work and commissioned her for a new wallpaper collection yearly. She also developed a unique technique of glass monoprinting, and later experimented with larger, heavier paper and more complicated folding techniques. Barbara inspired Orange Slice, which features a bright, graphic and sunshiny print that pairs with a juicy citrus scent starring notes of orange and lemon.

For more information on the method x Cooper Hewitt collection, visit www.methodhome.com.

ABOUT METHOD

Method is a company filled with fearless thinkers, mad scientists and adventurous designers who believe in defying the status quo with innovation and optimism. We take cleaning seriously  but not ourselves. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in San Francisco, method (methodhome.com) is the pioneer of premium planet-friendly and design-driven home, fabric and personal care products. Formulated with naturally derived, biodegradable ingredients, method puts the hurt on dirt without doing harm to people, creatures or the planet.

ABOUT COOPER HEWITT, SMITHSONIAN DESIGN MUSEUM

Cooper Hewitt is America's design museum. Inclusive, innovative and experimental, the museum's dynamic exhibitions, education programs, master's program, publications and online resources inspire, educate and empower people through design. An integral part of the Smithsonian Institutionthe world's largest museum, education and research complexCooper Hewitt is located on New York City's Museum Mile in the historic, landmark Carnegie Mansion. Steward of one of the world's most diverse and comprehensive design collectionsover 210,000 objects that range from an ancient Egyptian faience cup dating to about 1100 BC to contemporary 3-D-printed objects and digital codeCooper Hewitt welcomes everyone to discover the importance of design and its power to change the world. Cooper Hewitt knits digital into experiences to enhance ideas, extend reach beyond museum walls and enable greater access, personalization, experimentation and connection. The museum is fully accessible.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Method

Stephanie Christman, PR manager [email protected]

Skoog

Travis Paul Martin

[email protected]

SOURCE method products

Related Links

http://www.methodhome.com


Nepal can be explored in different ways. One can trek through the varying landscapes, travel by bus or other means of land transport to different places, take an Aeroplan flight to major places, or take a helicopter tour. Helicopter Tour can be a quick and comfortable way of exploring Nepal because you can reach a place and return back effortlessly within just a few hours.

Trekking is usually considered first when someone wants to explore Nepal, but it may bore you or you may not have enough time or you may not be a person who likes it. That's not a problem at all. You can opt to take a Helicopter Tour to a number of places in the country such as Mt Everest, Muktinath Temple, Langtang valley, Pokhara and Lumbini. These are just the popular ones. In fact, you can book a helicopter tour to any location in Nepal.

Approximately it takes about 2 to 5 hrs for Helicopter tour in mountain territories of Nepal. Helicopter tour to mountain region is quite common because of their uneven and high altitude that makes people difficult to reach them.

Nepal has a trusted helicopter tour industry that provides service with safe helicopters. Various models of helicopter fly in the Nepali sky providing excellent service.

We are presenting you a list of a few popular Helicopter Tours in Nepal. You may want to go through them in order to understand more about helicopter journey in Nepal.

Kathmandu Helicopter Tour

Imagine flying over the ancient Kathmandu valley with guides pointing you out the historical monuments such as Pashupatinath, Swayambhunath, Baudhanath, Basantapur Durbar Square, Patan Durbar Square, Bhaktapur Durbar Square, Changunarayan, and more. That is what this tour offers. You will also be able to have a view of high peaks such as Annapurna, Langtang, and Ganesh.

It takes more than a day to see all the cultural heritage sites of Kathmandu valley if you travel by roads, but with the helicopter tour, it is a matter of just half an hour. You can take the tour if you are short on time but still want to take a glimpse of the heritage sites which have been listed in the World Heritage List by UNESCO.

The duration of this helicopter tour is 30 minutes. Its total cost is .

Langtang Helicopter Tour

Langtang is a region in the Himalayas that lies north to Kathmandu and borders with Tibet. Langtang National Park lies in this region. Gosainkunda lake, a sacred lake for Hindus, lies within the national park.

You fly from Kathmandu to the terrains of Ghoretabala. Ghoretabala is the place where you can start your trekking to Langtang valley. You can observe the beautiful Langtang National Park, Gosainkunda lake, Sherpa settlements from air. If you choose to trek alongside the Helicopter Tour, you can enjoy the local flavor of Langtang in detail. You will be brought back to Kathmandu from Ghoretabala by helicopter. If you do not want to trek, you can just fly over Langtang area in the helicopter.

The complete helicopter tour duration (excluding trekking) takes around 2 hours. The total cost for this tour is ...

Everest Base Camp Helicopter Tour

One of the most sought Helicopter Tour in Nepal, Everest Base Camp helicopter tour (5643 meters) is something that nobody would want to miss. This tour is popular for a sole reason--Mt Everest (8848 meters). It is obviously a lifetime experience to view the world's highest mountain from its base.

After leaving Kathmandu early in the morning, you will fly over the hilly and mountain region of Nepal. While on your way to the base camp, the helicopter will stop at Lukla airport for refuelling. The airport is considered dangerous for airplane flights, but you need not worry about that since you will be in a safe and trusted helicopter. Landing at the thrilling airport itself can be an experience to grab.

The tour will give you a glimpse of the settlements of Tengboche, Dingboche, and Gorakshep and also the Khumbu Glacier and Gokyo lake while on your way to Kala Patthar--the location of Everest Base Camp.

You will be given 10-15 minutes at Kala Patthar so that you can enjoy the still view of the gorgeous Mt Everest and the neighbouring peaks including Lhotse (8516 meters), Nuptse (7861 meters), Makalu (8,481 meters), Cho Oyu (8201 meters), etc.

After your time at the Base Camp, you will fly to the Hotel Everest View--the hotel at the highest altitude in the world. After having your breakfast at the hotel, you will return back to Kathmandu via the same flight.

The tour takes about 4 hours to complete and costs you $1,000.

Helicopter Tour to Everest region

Unlike Helicopter Tour to Everest Base Camp, you will not land at the base camp during this tour. The helicopter will take you from Kathmandu to Everest region in this tour, just the difference is that you will not land at the base camp and will be in the sky throughout the tour before landing back in Kathmandu.

You can see much of the things that you would see with the help of the tour to the Everest Base Camp. Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Khumbu glacier and Gokyo lake can be seen during this tour as well. You can also take the photographs, although they might not be as good as those from the Everest Base Camp. Notably, you will fly very near to Mount Langtang and Jugal himal which can provide you a unique experience.

This helicopter tour also takes 4 hours to complete and costs you $1000 to $1500 per person

Muktinath Helicopter Tour

Located in Mustang district, Muktinath Temple is a sacred place for both Hindus and Buddhists. The temple is situated at a height of 3800 meters from the sea level. The temple has a flame which is believed to have been ignited by the Lord Brahma, the god of creation in Hinduism. The temple also has three statues of Lord Vishnu--the caretaker god, Garuda--the carrier of Lord Vishnu, and Goddess Lakshmi--wife of Lord Vishnu. A bath at Muktinath is believed to free one from any kind of known or unknown sin.

Muktinath Helicopter Tour provides you an overall experience of seeing Annapurna region rather than just reaching Muktinath. You will get a chance to see mountains such as Annapurna, Machhapuchhre, Manaslu and Dhaulagiri. Apart from these, the thrilling view of deep gorges is something that might interest you.

This helicopter tour takes approximately 4 hours to complete.

Annapurna Base Camp Helicopter Tour

Annapurna Base Camp is the foot of Annapurna I (8091 meters)--the world's tenth highest peak. Trekking is usually chosen as a way to reach Annapurna Base Camp, but this helicopter tour makes it easier to reach the base camp for those who are not fond of trekking or lack time.The helicopter tour starts from Pokhara in the morning, takes you to Annapurna Base Camp, and brings you back to Pokhara.

The helicopter will land at Chomrong, a place at Annapurna Base Camp. You can enjoy a spectacular view of mountains such as Annapurna I, Machhapuchhre, Dhaulagiri, and Himchuli, among other that constitute the Annapurna Massif. You will enjoy a breakfast at the base camp before returning back to Pokhara.

Once you are in Kathmandu, we will manage your trip to Pokhara from where you can take a helicopter tour to Annapurna Base Camp.

The duration of the helicopter tour is approximately 4 hours and it costs US $ 450, excluding the cost of travelling from Kathmandu to Pokhara.

Chitwan Wildlife Tour by Helicopter

Chitwan National Park is one of the two national parks of Nepal enlisted in the world heritage list by UNESCO, the other being Sagarmatha National Park.

You will fly from Kathmandu to Chitwan to enjoy experience the wildlife of the national park. According to the Chitwan National Park Office, a total of 68 species of mammals, 56 species of herpeto fauna, 126 species of fish and 544 species of birds have been recorded in the park. The park is known for its protection of One Horned Rhinoceros, Royal Bengal Tiger and Gharial Crocodile.

To witness the biodiversity of Chitwan National Park, you can take an elephant safari or jeep safari. A guide will take you through the park before your return to Kathmandu.

The tour takes approximately 2 hours to complete. You can take more time to explore the national park depending on your choice. The price of this tour depends on how much time you want to spend at the national park.

Pokhara and Annapurna Tour by Helicopter

Pokhara is a major tourist destination in Nepal with attractions such as Fewa lake, Davis Falls among others. Imagine flying in the sky of the city of Pokhara as well as its surrounding. And again think about flying to Annapurna after that. What a great combination it would make!

This special tour will fly you over the numerous lakes of Pokhara--Fewa, Begnas, Rupa--which the city is known for. Then you will reach Poonhill to enjoy the spectacular view of mountains of Annapurna range, namely Annapurna, Dhaulagiri, Machhapuchhre, Lamjung Himal, among others.

After having an experience of Pokhara and Annapurna region, the helicopter will take you back to Kathmandu. You can enjoy watching the Trishuli river on the way back.

The tour takes approximately 2 hours to complete.